all Temptations That Excuse is overthrown by the constant Continuation of the kind Influences of the Holy Ghost We receive not now indeed those miraculous Gifts with which the Apostles were once endued Nor is it necessary that we should receive them Those contribute not directly to the securing of our Salvation which may be equally obtained without them and lost with them All that is necessary all that is convenient for us is yet continued to us The Holy Ghost still diffuseth his inestimable Benefits to the Souls of Men excites them by inward Motions confirms them by his Assistance perfects them by his Graces which least we should doubt that he still plentifully bestoweth on us for want of some external Assurance he hath instituted the Holy Sacraments more particularly the Eucharist as visible Pledges of his Distribution of Grace to all faithful Believers herein bestowing no less a Benefit to the Members of the Church than he did when he formerly descended as upon this day attended with mighty Signs and Miracles with the Gift of Tongues and Cure of Diseases We are assured that altho' any one speak with the tongues of Men and Angels altho' he be able to remove Mountains yet it is possible for him to miscarry and become a cast-away But to him that receiveth this Holy Sacrament worthily to him that bewails his former Sins and seriously endeavours to reform them to him that enters a new into Covenant with God and lays hold of the Merits of his Crucified Saviour in the Participation of these sacred Mysteries to him that herein reconciles himself to Christ his head by a lively Faith and Repentance and to all the Members of the Church by unfeigned Charity it is not possible to miss his desired end the Salvation of his Soul because God who cannot lie hath promised it by his Word and Spirit the Son hath sealed it by his Blood and the Holy Ghost confirmed it as at first by his Descent upon this day so now also by the sensible effects of his Grace which he diffuseth to all worthy Communicants To these three Persons but one God Father Son and Holy Ghost be ascribed all Honour Power and Glory henceforth and for evermore The Second SERMON ON TRINITY-SUNDAY 1689. At LAMBETH CHAPPEL 1 Cor. II. 11. The things of God knoweth no Man but the Spirit of God THE Doctrine of the Holy and Ever-blessed Trinity in Honour of which this Day hath for some Ages been Instituted and Celebrated in the Church is that alone among all the Principles of Christianity which carrieth an undeniable difficulty along with it and hath been always made use of by the Enemies of the Cross to oppose the Revelation of Christ. Other Doctrines such as the Resurrection of the Body Incarnation of the Son of God and such like may appear Incredible but at the same time it cannot be denied that they are possible And when the Motives of Faith are added to them must by all men rightly Judging be allowed to be credible But it is pretended that the Existence of a Trinity of Persons in the same Divine Nature is even contradictory and therefore impossible that it overthroweth the Primary Notions of our Understanding and allowed Principles of Reason Even many Professors of Christianity who acknowledge all the Revelations of Christ to be true and believe him to have acted by a Divine Mission yet Stumble at this Stone of Offence and therefore to avoid it have taken up unwarrantable Opinions plainly repugnant to the whole Tenour of the Gospel as the Arrians of old and Socinians in later Days That we therefore may not be scandalized with the same Difficulties that we may be able to resist the Delusions and even overcome the Prejudices of these Men it will not be amiss to consider as far as we may with Safety and Modesty that Doctrine which is the peculiar business of this Day For altho ' it becomes us not too narrowly to pry into the Secrets of Heaven and rashly determine Matters the cognizance of which belongeth not to us yet since it hath pleased God to reveal this Mystery to Mankind and make it an Article of Faith it now ceaseth to be a Secret of Heaven and it is both our Duty and Concern to enquire into the Credibility of it For the Christian Religion debars us not from a scrupulous search into the Truth of her Doctrines and placeth no Merit in a blind belief of her Propositions It is accepted indeed by God as an act of Obedience and Merit I mean Merit in a large sence to believe his Promises of a Resurrection and eternal Life after Death as it was imputed unto Abraham for Righteousness that trusting in the Promises of God of giving him a better Inheritance in another Land he forsook his own Country and his Father's House although neither we nor he have received the Assurance of those Promises by the Evidence of Sence He had not yet seen the Land of Canaan and we do not yet enjoy the Possession of those Glorious Promises Notwithstanding all this God neither requires nor accepts an irrational Belief in Man but as He at first endued him with reasonable Faculties so He expects he should make use of them to his Glory which is by no other thing so much diminish'd as by affixing to him Revelations repugnant to Reason and including Contradictions and that the Doctrine of the Trinity is not such I will endeavour to manifest as plainly as the obscurity of the Subject will permit The Foundations of my intended Discourse are laid down by the Apostle in the Text and in the Context of it which therefore it will be necessary to explain and therein I desire you to accompany me by looking upon the place The Apostle had in the first eight Verses of this Chapter declared the nature and simplicity of his Preaching and Doctrine that it was not recommended by pompous and affected Ornaments of Rhetorick that it depended not upon Sillogisms and nice Speculations as did that of the Gentile Philosophers who were esteemed the only knowing Men of the Age that the Matters declared by him were not such as might be found out by the natural Light of Reason or when found out were such as would be applauded by the World as extraordinary flights of Speculation They were not the Wisdom of Men nor the Wisdom of this World Ver. 5 and 6. But the Wisdom of God Matters not to be found out by the sole Guidance of Reason but deliver'd by the infallible Revelation of God who had attested the Truth of them by the wonderful effects of his Power and Spirit manifested in the Miracles and successful Preaching of Christ and his Apostles And least it should seem incredible to any that the Matters of Divine Revelation should be inconceivable to Human Reason acting by its own Power he sheweth us in the ninth Verse That this was no more than was foretold by the ancient Prophets whose Veracity was allowed by
more having more largely treated of it in my Discourse upon Easter-day which I will not repeat The Nineteenth SERMON Preach'd on June 1st 1690. At LAMBETH CHAPEL Mark XVI 19. So then after the Lord had spoken unto them he was received up into Heaven and sat on the right hand of God WE lately celebrated the Memory of the Ascension of our Lord and the Offices of our Church direct us to employ our thoughts upon it in this intermediate time between that and Whitsunday To do this we are not only induced by that near Relation which it bears to Christ who by it took his last Farewel of his Disciples and entred upon the Possession of his Kingdom but also by those eminent Benefits which the whole Church received from it the Gift of the Holy Ghost the Confirmation of Faith and the increase of Hope In Discoursing of it I will confine my self to these three Considerations I. The necessity and convenience of the Ascension of Christ. II. The Truth of it III. The Advantages and Benefits which we receive by it I. That it was necessary our Lord should leave the Earth and ascend into Heaven himself often declared and in Joh. XVI 7. gives the Primary Reason of it Nevertheless I tell you the truth it is convenient for you that I go away for if I go not away the Comforter will not come unto you but if I depart I will send him unto you The Mission of the Comforter that is the Holy Ghost was absolutely necessary and the necessity of it confessed by the Disciples of Christ yet could not this be effected untill Christ should ascend into Heaven It was convenient for the Apostles that the Comforter should be sent as by whom they received a most invincible Confirmation of their Faith and their Hopes What greater Consolation can be imagined to Disciples afflicted for the Departure of their beloved Lord than to receive such an infallible Assurance of his Being placed in Power and Glory in Heaven as did arise from the eminent Operations of Divine Power brought down by the Holy Ghost at his Intercession What stronger Confirmation of their Faith could they receive than that the Promises of their Master concerning a Comforter were effected which demonstrated the Truth of all he had said the actual Possession of that Glory which was vailed in the Infirmities of his humane Nature while he conversed upon Earth and the Prevalency of his Intercession with God the Father in their behalf What more could be desired to assure them of the continuance of their Masters Love after his Departure or to enable them successfully to discharge that Office of converting an unbelieving World which was imposed on them than that such Gifts should be conferred on them as were never before vouchsafed unto Mankind the knowledge of all Tongues the Faculty of speaking Eloquently and Boldly and the Power of working Miracles All these Reasons made it convenient and desirable to the Apostles that the Comforter should be sent unto them To the whole Church this was much more necessary which without that Mission could never have had Existence being founded and maintained by those Divine Gifts and Influences which were derived from thence Yet neither could the Apostles nor the Church have been Blessed with this so necessary so often Promised and so much to be desired Mission of the Holy Ghost had not our Lord first ascended into Heaven and there by his Power and Intercession have procured it The Comforter as he was to be the Advocate the Deputy to plead the Cause of Christ on Earth could not naturally take place but in his Absence and the very Mission of him as it was an Act of Regal Power could not be administred by Christ until he had taken Possession of his Kingdom which commenced at his Ascension into Heaven Nor is this the only Reason which made it convenient for the Church that our Lord should remove his visible Presence from us but the Possibility at least the increase of Man's Reward did depend upon it The Design of the coming of the Messias so long expected was known and confessed to be to restore the lost Happiness of Mankind to redeem them from their former Misery and to advance them to a State of Glory In prosecution of this Design if we consider either the Wisdom of God or the Nature of Man it could not but be expected that this Happiness should be affixed to certain Rules consequent to certain Conditions to be performed by Man not indifferently bestowed on all nor yet on any without Respect to their peculiar Merits The Application of it was to be directed and determined according to the right use of Reason and Free-will in every Man The whole of this consists in Obedience to the Laws of God and one great Branch of it in assenting to his Authority and believing all his Revelations And as an Assent to all the Revelations of God made at all times was the Duty of Man so more especially an Assent to those last and most considerable Revelations made by his own Son incarnate was required of Man and was farther intended to qualifie him for the Reception of that super-natural Happiness which was by him to be conveyed unto the World Since no greater Evidence of a right use of Reason and Veneration of the Divine Majesty could be offered than to inquire after to Assent to and obey the Revelations communicated by him It would be tedious and unnecessary to repeat those great Commendations of this eminent Act of right Reason call'd Faith and those many Promises of Reward annexed to it which may be found in the Scripture But from the whole it appeareth that this was to be the principal Condition of the Justification and therein of the Happiness of Man That this Act therefore might be the more Illustrious and might be Crowned with a more noble Reward it was convenient that Christ should withdraw his visible Presence from the World and therein give way to the Operation of Faith which is the Evidence of things not seen Had Christ continued for ever upon Earth in that glorious Majesty which was to take place after his Resurrection had he presented to the Senses of every Man sensible Demonstrations of his Divine Power in that Case to have believed on him would have been no more praise worthy no more meritorious than to assent to the ordinary Reports of Sense Who ever pretended to have acquired Merit by believing an Axiom of Mathematical Demonstrations Or who ever thought it an Argument of a true and just â—anagement of the Will and Understanding to believe that one Colour differeth from another or that the Sun doth shine These things strike our Senses and force a Belief whether we will or no in this Case to offend while the Soul enjoys its Reason and the Body the Organs of Sense is not so much as possible To have believed the Divinity of Christ while the Sense of an illustrious
justly to be accounted laudable For if we consider the great Lines and main Parts of the Doctrine of Christ they will be found to direct the Practice of those Actions which by all the World must be acknowledged to be good and excellent to be laudable and divine such as are Justice Sobriety Devotion and Charity It is not among Christians alone that such Actions are esteemed Praise-worthy All Parties of sober Men as well Heathens as those professing revealed Religions have agreed in this common Sentiment in the Veneration and Praise of all such Vertues From hence it was that even when the Heathens derided the Faith of the Cross they still acknowledged the Excellency of those Persons who professed it They also were convinced that all those moral Vertues were the Perfection of Mankind only in this they disagreed that whereas they accounted the uniform Practice of them to be an undertaking possible only to more exalted Minds Christ had made it the Duty of all his Followers Although even this difference of Opinion could not but raise their Thoughts to an extreme Veneration of that Divine Person who formed these Laws and even forced from them a Confession of that Praise which was due to such an Institution and the Author of it Thus the very Nature of a Christian Life as it is directed by the Precepts of our Lord fitteth it to be an eminent Example to others He distinguished his Religion from all others by the Excellency of his Laws and Precepts so that whosoever should observe them must distinguish themselves from the rest of the World by a more perfect exercise of Vertue and Holiness And hence it is that he naturally infers in the twentieth Verse Except your Righteousness exceed the Righteousness of the Scribes and Pharisees ye shall in no Case enter into the Kingdom of Heaven The Righteousness of the Scribes and Pharisees was the exact performance of all the Legal Institutions of the Mosaical Law of Sacrifices Washings and other Ceremonies which abstracting from the positive Command of God had nothing excellent in the Practice of them To see the Jews killing their Sacrificed Beasts washing their Bodies often or Circumcising themselves was no Motive of Holiness or giving Glory to God to those who were not of the same Religion They discerned nothing laudable in all this and were rather prompted to pity the Slavery than to imitate the Devotion of their Service Whereas the Practice of those good Works which Christianity imposeth is amiable and lovely in the sight of all Men ever carrieth along with it the Commendation and Approbation of all Spectators Thus our Lord fitted his Doctrine to be a light to the World and least it should fail of its designed End he hath commanded us to improve it to its right use and therein hath led the way by his own Example He confined not himself to a Desart as did John the Baptist but conversed in their Cities and more frequented Meetings that all Men might see the constant Piety Goodness and Charity which attended all his Actions be instructed by them and drawn to the Imitation of them He indulged his Conversation to Publicans and Sinners that he might gain them first to a love of his Person and then to an imitation of his Vertue He disdained not the Company of any who might receive advantage from his Doctrine or Example And that he might fit his Life for an universal Pattern to all his Followers he engaged not in the constant Practice of extraordinary Austerities as did John the Baptist but amidst the most severe and strict Exercise of all Vertues allowed to himself the innocent Pleasures and Entertainments of the World He refused not to sit down with those who invited him to splendid Entertainments as with Levi and Zacheus nor to be present at the Marriage-Feast At other times he was content to suffer Hunger and Cold Contempt and the vilest Injuries to undergo long watching in Prayer and Fasting For so it behoved him even in this Sense also to perform all Righteousness who was to be the grand Exemplar to all succeeding Ages Not to confine himself to any one method of Life least thereby his Example should become deficient to those who should be engaged in another but to pass through all the more ordinary Actions and Varieties of humane Life that in all Cases we might be able to approve and direct our Actions by conforming them to his Practice and if any doubt should arise concerning them might be able to justifie them by the Authority of his Example Both the Observation therefore of the Precepts and the Imitation of the Practice of Christ which are equally the Duty of every Christian engageth him to be exemplar in his Life and Conduct And thus first the whole Body of Christians will become a light to the rest of the World and then every Member of the Church to each other Our Lord describeth both in this place very lively Ye are the Salt of the Earth Verse 13. The rest of the World will remain in Sin and Corruption but in the numerous Society which I shall found and call by my Name Piety and Vertue and whatsoever is good and excellent shall be maintained Yet not to be confined to that Society alone but to be communicated to all who shall receive Instruction from it Ye are the light of the World Verse 14. The greater part of Mankind remain in Darkness and Ignorance but I have placed my Church as a glorious Light to dispel this Darkness and remove this Ignorance that so all who do but lift up their Eyes have the least inclination to Truth and Goodness may there discover the light and repair to it And this cannot fail to take effect while the brightness of this Light shall remain while the Church shall continue glorious and unspotted while the Members of it shall all or the more part of them perform their Duty For as it followeth a City placed on a Hill or a Light placed in a Room cannot be hid If indeed those Vertues which I command be observed by those who profess my Name if Justice Chastity Beneficence and other Marks of Goodness be indeed so eminently exercised by so numerous a Body of Men it cannot be but the rest of Mankind will take notice of it and as many as desire to be freed from Darkness will approach to this Light Or if thro' sloth and negligence they still continue afar off however they will not be able to deny that they see the Light and must admire both it and the Author of it Thus the meanest Christian may make himself truly Exemplary by performing his Duty conscientiously in the Station in which God hath placed him Although his Understanding and Abilities have not fitted him to be an Example to others singly considered If he well dischargeth his single Station although never so mean in the Church he contributeth to this great Design of Christ of making his Church a
them intends it or not they cannot be concealed or pass unregarded Upon which account Christ justly resembleth them to a City placed on a Hill and to a Candle set on a Candlestick in the 14th and 15th Verses which naturally appear and give Light to all round about them as if he should say Do but you take care to perform good Works and the very Nature of them will cause them to become Exemplar I do not require you to publish and Blazon them abroad nor is there any need of it For if they be indeed performed they cannot escape the Knowledge and Observation of other Men. Farther not only the Nature of good Works maketh the Ostentation of them to be unnecessary in order to become Exemplar but also they carry with them less Temptation to Pride and Arrogance than any other Acts either of true or supposed Religion If the grounds and more ordinary Reasons of Pride and Self-conceit in Religion be searched it will be found that they are wont to be grounded in the more easie and commonly in mistaken Points of Religion As of old among the Pharisees in the punctual performance of Washings and other Ritual Observations among the more Ignorant of the Church of Rome at this day in Pilgrimages Beads and other Trifles among their Saints in extraordinary Austerities or unusual Acts of Self-denial among Enthusiasts in Raptures and pretended Inspirations All these naturally tend to foment the Pride and Self-conceit of Men they draw the Eyes of others on them and serve to make unwary People believe them extremely Conscientious and have this farther advantage towards the Design of Hypocrites that they are cheaply performed cross no Passion restrain no Lust make a great shew and cost them nothing And when they are performed not affording any inward Satisfaction of Mind as having no internal worth it is but natural for the Actors of them to seek that Satisfaction from the Praises and Applause of other Men which they reaped not from the Reflections of their own Conscience Whereas the performance of good Works raiseth in the Soul of Man so sweet a Complacency when reflected on that external Commendations can add nothing considerable to the internal Satisfaction of the Mind and will be neglected when compared with it To which I may add that the Exercise of many good Works and most signally the greatest of them that of Charity towards the Poor do naturally dispose to Humility accustoming the Mind to consider and compassionate the Wants and Infirmities of inferior Persons and condescend to the relief of their Condition It being most certain that Pride or an over-valuing of their own Dignity is in some Men the Cause of uncharitableness as well as the love of Riches betraying them to imagine it beneath their Quality to take into their Consideration the necessities of distressed Persons and to be aggrieved for them Which sort of Pride cannot consist with real Charity and where this is to be found the former can have no place At least it is most certain that Hypocrisie may consist with all those mistaken Indications of Holiness I before mentioned but with good Works with Mercy Justice Truth and Charity it is impossible it should consist For that whosoever performeth these doth really perform what he pretends to do that is satisfieth the Obligation of the Religion which he professeth However although ordinarily it be not necessary so to direct the performance of good Works that they may not escape the Knowledge of Men and it be always unlawful to direct them in that manner for this end alone to obtain the Praise of Men Yet in some extraordinary Cases it is not only lawful to perform them publickly with this Design that they may be seen of others not to obtain their Praise but to promote the Honour and Glory of God but it is also highly acceptable to God and serviceable to his Church This is warranted by the express words of our Lord in the Text which require his Disciples to cause their Light so to shine before Men that they may see their good Works and glorifie God If this Design doth at last terminate in the Honour of God and be so intended it is not only warrantable but recommendable by God and will be certainly rewarded by him Only great Caution is to be used in the Management of it and a scrupulous Care to be observed least any thing of vain Glory any sinister End should intervene and is to be put in Practise only in Cases of exceeding moment Such are when any Age or large Society of Men are especially deficient in any Duty In which Case it is a laudable and noble Undertaking for any private Persons to give the greatest and most publick Lustre to their performance of that Duty that so if it be possible by their eminen Example therein they may retrieve the publick Practice of it and whensoever any great and common Good altho' of another Nature may be attained or promoted thereby Such was the Case more particularly of the Apostles who were sent to preach Faith and Repentance among Jews and Heathens generally devoid not only of Faith but of all Moral Vertues For this Reason it was necessary that those noble Acts of Charity which they exercised in healing the Sick and restoring the use of their Limbs and Senses to those who before wanted them should be performed publickly that themselves should decline no opportunity of manifesting the Excellency of the Christian Religion and the deep Impression of it upon their own Minds For this Cause also St. Paul was not ashamed to relate at large and to Glory in the many Afflictions Hazards and Persecutions which he had undergone for the Testimony of Christ because the amplifying of his Labour and Patience tended to the spiritual Good of the Corinthians to whom it is directed and consequently promoted the Honour of God This Design also justified the Bravery of those ancient Christians who voluntarily and unsought for delivered up themselves into the hands of their Persecutors when they observed a general Cowardize and frequent Examples of Apostacy among other Christians who were apprehended and brought before the Heathen Tribunals that so by their Courage and Constancy they might excite others to persist resolutely in the Profession of their Faith It must be acknowledged that simply to throw themselves into Danger to expose themselves to the Fury of their Persecutors was unlawful Our Lord in Matth. X. 23. had commanded his Disciples When they should be persecuted in one City to fly into another And the Doctrine and Discipline of the ancient Church had forbidden the ordinary Practice of such rash Undertakings Yet whensoever so great a Good might be attained thereby as to raise the dejected Courage of other Christians and to assert the Honour of Christ against the Heathens boasting in the subversion of many weaker Christians it was not only lawful to engage in voluntary Martyrdom but highly meritorious and rewarded as such by