I fear too great evidence of this and discern that it 〈◊〉 rather Cunning than Ignorance and a Desire of doing not a fear of suffering Inâ—â—ry that brings so many Causes before them All they whose Work is to end Debates 〈…〉 Peace and that 's the Work of Lawyers and Ministers and every good an all these can sufficiently witness what a Breaker of the Peace and an Enemy to all Soceity and Order Desire is And if this Evidence which hath been brought in be full what remains but that 〈◊〉 grand and Malefacton this Cheat this Robber this Murderer this Traytor should receive his Sentence or rather that Senentence which hath been given against him long since by the Judg of all the World should now be executed For he hath bid us 〈…〉 or kill our earthly Affections and in the Words of my Text hath commanded us not to desire hath made it every ones Duty he speaks indeed to one but intends all and therefore speaks to one that all may the more regard him As if be had said Thou whoever thou art 〈◊〉 ownest God for thy Sovereign and his Law for the measure of thy Duty this is thy Charge not to desire or cover as we â—ender iâ— Object That may some think is a hard saying Doth God oblige us to impossibilities Or how can he require this of us who made it natural to us to desire Is he fallen out with himself or displeased with the works of his own Hands Doth he first give us a faculty and then forbid us to use it Or is Christianity a piece of Stoicism Doth our Religion teach us to maim our Natures to cease to be Men Doth it instruct us unto Apathy Is this the perfection it points and leads to Answer Far be it from us to suffer such a blemish as this to lie on our Profession let none have such an unworthy thought of our Religion as if it should be at variance with Nature as if the Disciple of Jesus could not be a Son of Man For surely never any Religion in the World did so be-friend nor was so perfective of Humane Nature as ours And 't is only a mistake of the true meaning of these Words that can make any to think otherwise For they do not as they seem forbid all Desire but only that which is Evil and Vnreasonable of that which we either have not or cannot have a Right to This appears because the word in the Original is mediae significationis in all Writings and may indifferently signifie good or ill and in Scripture seems generally to be taken in the worser part and so our Interpreters usually render it by Concupisence or Coveting which words we now generally understand in an ill sence Besides these words refer to the tenth Command of the Decalogue and that speaks of other Mens Goods they are an Abridgment of it and yet because the object of the Desire is not expressed may give us the liberty of a larger Discourse than if we only confined our selves to speak of desiring what is another Man's And I shall accordingly I. Discourse briefly and in general what may and what may not be desired what Desires are approved or forbidden And then more particularly II. How far the desires of another Man's Goods are prohibited And here it will be requisite to discourse what that is which gives Propriety and makes any thing to be a Man's Peculiar III. I shall offer some Considerations which both by perswading and directing may assist us in the restraining all unreasonable and unjust Desires 1. Concerning Desires in general I will not go about to prove but will suppose that all are not evil but that some are lawful nay and good too that some may and should be are not only matters of our Liberty but Duty This is Evident to him that considers that they are natural to us and therefore necessary that Humane nature cannot in this Estate be without them Also that many of our Duties towards God our selves and the Publick cannot be performed without Desire such are Prayer and Hope and Submission to the Divine Will and exercising our selves in seeking after such a condition as may be best both for us and others These and the like Considerations may serve to convince those that question whether they may have any desires at all This then supposed we will now consider of what sort they are which may and must be had 1. Therefore all Men may and ought to desire what is and appears to be good for them and they have not But yet here are three Cautions to be attended to which indeed are all implied in this Rule but deserve to be more expresly taken notice of 1st That the Good we desire be possible 2dly That that which is good for our selves be also good at least no detriment to the Publick And 3dly That it be not prejudicial however not near so much as the want of it would be to us and the publick to any other Man Our Desires should not be extended beyond what is good to us nor can they beyond that which seems so If that seem good which is not the fault is in our Understanding not in our Affection our Guide hath made us to wander Again if there be good which yet appears not here also we are to blame our Understanding now for not informing us at all as before for misinforming Our Spy before gave us Intelligence that our Friends were coming and they proved Enemies and now that our friends are indeed near we have no notice All this while I suppose that the thing we desire we want and we want only that which we can use So that if we either have it or do not want it neither should we desire it Such Desires are superfluous and vain and engage us in a needless labour And the cause of all this is our Ignorance of what we have or want This Rule as I said doth imply 1. That the thing we want and seek is Possible for that cannot be good for us that cannot be nor can we stand in need of impossibilities nor can we desire what appears to be such But this is not all what I understand by this word Possible viz. all that is not a contradiction absolutely but that which is not repugnant on supposition of such and such an order of things And thus we generally observe God himself doth not do all that absolutely implies no contradiction to be done but he doth all that is consistent with such Beings and Natures such a Constitution as he hath ordained which was the best that could be And this well considered would be sufficient to free us from either suspicions of inflexible Fate or from unworthy and hard thoughts of God we should not tax him for want of Goodness because he doth not all that 's absolutely possible since he doth all that in such a constitution which is the best that can be thought on can be done But to return
A Second Volume OF DISCOURSES THE CONTENTS of which follow in the next Leaf BY HEZEKIAH BURTON D. D. Late Rector of Barns near London and Prebendary of Norwich LONDON Printed for Richard Chriswell at the Rose and Crown in St. Paul's Church-Yard MDCLXXXV AN ELENCHUS OF THE Several Discourses in this VOLUME OF Walking Exactly On Ephes 5. 15 16 17. Of Redeeming the Time On Ephes 5. 16. Of Understanding the Will of God On Ephes 5. 17. Of the Advantages of Christianity On Ephes 3. 16. Of Loving our Enemies On Mat. 5. 44. Of calling no Man Master On Mat. 23. 8 9 10. Of Inordinate Desire or Coveting On Rom. 13. 9. Of Doing our own Business On 1 Thess 4. 11. Of Studying to be Quiet On 1 Thess 4. 11. Of Education On Prov. 22. 6. Of Hospitality On Rom. 13. 12. Of Doing Good to All Men. On Gal. 6. 10. ERRATA PAge 124. line 3. for 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 read 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 P. 137. line 9. after betwixt a Comma P. 184. l. 4. c. quas caditirim gravit invait 〈◊〉 adminibus P. 190. l. 3. for 〈◊〉 read â—e P. 193. l. 5. for 〈◊〉 read cursqily P. 217. l. 33. dele them P. 224. l. 4. for altogether read all together P. 256. l. 8. read 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 P. 362. l. 31. for your read the. P. 426. l. ult for others read our selves P. 434. l. 10. read be blessed P. 448. l. 27. read on them P. 468. l. 30. for should read shall P. 490. l. 4. for certainly read 〈◊〉 P. 519. l. 10. for Finland dele 〈◊〉 read intend P. 524. l. 30. for that all read that of all P. 636. l. 3. read is P. 558. l. 21. read Mens P. 556. l. 13. for driss read dress P. 574. l. 33. dele inflaming our heaâ—iness Books lately printed for RICHARD CHISWELL THE Works of John Lightfoot D. D. late Master of Katherine-Hall Cambridg in 2 Vol. with useful Tables to the whole Fol. The first Volume of Dr. Burton's Discourses of Purity and Charity of Repentance and of seeking first the Kingdom of God 8o. Several Treatises and Sermons of William Falkner D. D. 4o. An Explication of the Creed by Gab. Towerson D. D. Foliâ— Dr. W. Cave's Sermon before the King Jan. 18. 1684 5. A Discourse concerning the necessity of Reformation with respect to the Errors and Corruptions of the Church of Rome 4 o A Discourse concerning the Celebration of Divine Service in an unknown Tongue 4 o The right Notion of Honour A Sermon preached before the King at New market by Nath. Vincent D. D. with Annotations 4 o De Legibus Hebraeorum earum Rationibus libri tres Authore Joanne Spencero S. T. D. Fol. A DISCOURSE OF Walking Exactly EPH. 5 15 16 17. See then that ye walk circumspectly not as Fools but as Wise redeeming the Time because the Days are Evil. Wherefore be ye not unwise but understanding what the Will of the Lord is I Will first give some account of the Words and then proceed to that which I intend to make the Argument of my further Discourse The Particle 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 which we here render then and in other Places therefore seems to refer us to what went before and shews that the Text has some Connexion with or Relation to it It seems to be a Repetition and summary Comprehension and it may be a farther Enforcement of the foregoing Exhortations See then or therefore how ye walk circumspectly i. e. accurately or exactly 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 This exact Walking is here partly explained and partly commended by the following Expressions Not as Fools but as Wise i. e. Not as the Gentiles but as those who are enlightned by the heavenly Wisdom of our Saviour not as Infidels but as Christians The other Expression which I take to be a particular under or a means of this general walking exactly is redeeming the Time i. e. Season or Opportunity which is time of acting the best of time This is the literal rendring of the Original Words but probably it does not altogether reach the Sence of that form of Speech in the Greek and other Languages In Dars Chap. 6. Vers 8. Nebuchadnezzar blaming the Caldeans that they did not tell him his Dream which he had forgot as well as the Interpretation which they said was not to be expected from any Man but only the Gods that dwell not in Flesh He would not admit of the Excuse but tells them I know that ye gain time 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Which is paraphrased by Grotius moras quaritis Ye delay agreeably to that Expression in the following Verse 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Till the Time be gone or pass away i. e. you by Delays hope to get advantage and conctive something to impose upon me and to save your selves from the Punishment which I have decreed shall be inflicted on you In which reply he refers to the Delay whereby they hoped to save themselves from Danger This seems to be the Sense of this form of Speech in Daâ—ul Let us also consider it in almost a parallel place to my Text Col. 4. 5. Walk in Wisdom towards these that 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 redeeming the time i. 〈◊〉 as I conceive by all lawful and prudent mean avoiding those Evils and decliâ—ing those Dangers with which the Times threaten you And in my Text the reason which follows shews that this is much of the Sense of these Words here Redeeming the time because the days are Evil i. e. taking all wise and honest Courses whereby ye may escape the many Dangers of which your days are full Naziâ—nzen says of Juliâ—n 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 where his buying or redeeming of time is explained by his cunningly concealing his ill-Disposition under the disguise of Gentleness Thus then He that by care and contrivance so accommodates himself to the Times so manages himself that he may escape the danger and avoid the evils of the Times and not only so but serves himself of them and turns them to 〈◊〉 advantage He is said to buy or redeem the Time in the largest import of that Phrase According to this It is a form of Words that may signify either good or bad as the matter is which is joyned with it He that basely and cowardly declines dangers which he is obliged to encounters Or He who dexterously strikes in with the Times to do any ill things or to neglect his Duty may be said 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 or 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 as was said of Julian the Apostate When a Man does unhandsomly comply with the Times and dishonestly catch at and lay hold of every advantage to save himself tho it be to the betcaying of his Countrey or the renouncing of his Religion he may be said to redeem the time But the Apostle does not use the Phrase in this Sense 〈◊〉 for by it he intends no more than that in all prudent and honest ways they
should decline all the Inconveniences and shun the Dangers of which those Times were so full whereby they should be hindred or taken off from doing the good which they ought And that they should use all honest Care and prudent Circumspection in closing with those fit seasons they might meet with of doing that which by their Religion they were obliged unto The following Reason which the Apostle uses confirms this to be his Sense For the Days are Evil. Evil i. e. in the largest Notion of that Word as it denotes Sin as well as the Misery that is consequent upon it difficult perilous times Therefore be wise and careful to avoid the Danger to decline the Temptations to shun the Disadvantages to lay hold on the few Opportunities which such Evil Days afford To this he subjoins the last Clause which contains the Direction to and implies the necessary Cause of all that he had required before And this is propounded in form of an Exhortation 1. Negatively and Generally Be not unwise or Fools 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 2. More Particularly and Positively But understanding what the Will of the Lord is Understanding 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the Word signifies an exact Knowledg such as is got by comparing one thing with another For this Cause that ye may walk circumspectly declining the Disadvantages and escaping the unnecessary dangers of the Evil Times in which we live be not without understanding but endeavour after a very perfect Knowledg of what the Will of the Lord is Having given this account of the Words I shall offer the Sense of them in this short plain Parephrase That ye may behave your selves as becomes Children of Light and not be partakers with Insidels in the unfruitful Works of Darkness c. Be very accurate in your Lives and in all your Actions as becomes those that are endued with that divine Wisdom that certain and excellent Knowledg which with our Saviour came down from Heaven Live not like those who are uninstructed in and uâ—â—cquainted with the excellent Religion of the Blesseâ— Jesus And altho the Times in which you live be full of Evil tho you meet with Temptations to Sin and be environed with danger of Suffering tho you find many hindrances and few helps to do well yet be wise and dexterous in declining all needless fruitless Dangers escaping the Evils and closing with the Opportunities you shall have And that you may be better assisted for and in the doing all this that you may be thus exact in your selves and prudent in your Carriage in reference to the Times inform your selves fully what the Will of God is get as certain knowledg as you can of what ever God has commanded or would have you do The Words contain many Propositions But I shall only insist upon those for the matter of my Discourse which seem to be most express and to take in the main scope of the Text. I shall reduce them to these three I. All Christians ought to live exactly II. They ought to make the best of bad Times when they fall into them III. They ought to use their best endeadeavours to understand what the Will of the Lord is Of the First Proposition 〈◊〉 Christians ought to see to take good heed that they live exactly In discoursing of which I shall First Show what it is to live Exactly And Secondly What Obligations lie on Christians to live so and to take heed to it Thirdly I shall give some Directions And Lastly Make some Inferences First To walk Exactly is to use due Care and Caution Circumspection and Diligence that we live according to the best and most perfect Idea of good Life 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 seems to signify this It may refer to to the thing done and then it denotes the perfection of that work Or to the Doing or Doer and then it means his Care and Diligence It often bears a respect to both and signifies the care that is taken in order to the doing any thing as well as it can be done So that by this we are at once directed to the End and to the Way or Means by which it is to be attain'd The End is a perfectly good Life The Way to it is by a diligent Care Now as 't is commonly said that to live signifies more than doing some single Actionâ— so I must say that 't is more than all our Actions For as it is requisite to make the whole not only that all the parts be there but they must be united too So 't is in the matter before us To make up a good Life the Actions must not only be good singly and by themselves but in that Relation Proportion and Order which they have unto each other So that in short To walk or live exactly is to take care that the whole course of our Life be such as it cannot be better omitting nothing that is Good doing nothing that is Evil that we do thus universally at all times in all places whatever we do that respects God or our Selves or our Brethren That our Actions be in nothing deficient neither as to Matter or Manner as to the Principles the Reasons and Eâ—ds of them That in all these respects they be exactly agreeable to human Nature in general to our Condition and Circumstances in particular that is that they be as good as such Men as we are can do If any enquire yet more particularly what a perfectly good Life is I may answer that as the Apostle here supposes it so may I suppose that all Men know it All Men have an Idea of Goodness which upon several Occasions they take notice of and refer to as when they approve and commend or blame and condemn several Practices And whenever they hear such a description of good Life as they understand they give an immediate assent to it But because in too many this Idea is not so actually observed as it would be well if it were that I may raise those Thoughts and help to make them more explicit I will propound this general Dedescription of it viz. When a Man's Will and Affections and all his Actions are so guided by a true and clear and large knowledg of God and himself aâ—d the rest of the World that he loves God with all his Heart and bears good will to other Men as he does to himself that he glorifies God and promotes his own and his Brethrens best state in all he does and the most he can And does all this knowingly and intentionally or with the design of doing it This in general every one will think a good Life I must not go on to Particulars These are some of the most essential parts of that Life which the Apostle requires an exactnâ—ss in i. e. that Men should aim at the perfecâ—ion of it and in order to this that they should take great care and pains that they should mind it and give good heed unto it Secondly I proceed to
whatever Habit of doing well he may have yet all this will be of little or no use to him if he be under a present indisposition It is requisit that he keep his many-stringed Instrument always in good tune for else tho it self the Instrument the Strings and all be very good yet it will not make musick till it be tuned till all the Strings sound concordantly to each other and together make an agreeing Harmony And whosoever considers the many Faculties and Appetites which are in him and that they must all be tuned to one another that they must answer and serve each other conspire and harmonize into one end that is terminate in the greatest good He will be satisfied that this is not to be done without great care and exactness And thus I hope I have answered the Objection That it is needless and shewn that there is great necessity of Exactness that is if we would live well If any think this an infinite toil I would ask him Whether it would not turn to account at last and whether any thing so much deserves his care as this To live well Thou that art so extreamly cautious and circumspect wary and accurate in petty Trifles in some of the most inconsiderable things thou dost How canst thou be negligent and heedless how thou livest whether thou dost well or ill when nothing can possibly be so important to Man as this But perhaps some to excuse themselves from this Exactness will say They have never observ'd much to come of it but rather that they who have been so very exact have lived worse than they who have lived carelesly To such I reply 1. All who seem careful or negligent are not really so 2. Men have been careful only of some particular Actions and neglected all the rest Now it may perhaps make better musick if none of the Strings be wound up than only one of them I am sure there is greater discord and deformity in our Actions when a Man shall be devout and unjust or uncharitable or intemperate than if he had no Religion as well as no Justice and it is I think more ungrateful to the beholder 3. It may be their care has been wrong directed and they have striven to be exact but have all the while had a false Notion of what Exactness is As a Ship that plays up and down the Seas as the Wind and Tide carries it will not tho no care be taken be so far from the Port whither it should go as that Ship whose Pilot steers a quite contrary Course So I count that he who suffers himself to be driven by every Inclination and Appetite will not be so far off his Perfection as he that aims and strives at the state which is opposite to it And alas How many are those who call Good Evil and Evil Good How many who think that to be their Perfection which is most opposite to it So the Monkish Perfectionists have esteemed it an high attainment to be without all sense of this Body and to be wholly unaffected by it which is certainly a most unnatural state and very unsuitable to humane Condition in this World and a great hindrance to a Man from attaining Perfection and will make him uncapable of doing that good which God intended he should do in this Life and by this Body Others again think it their Perfection to be in a passionate emotion of Mind having no regard to the good use of their Understanding or their other Faculties which yet are far more necessary to them and beneficial to others than that Passion is Now whilst Men have been thus mistaken in their Notion of Perfection or what it is to be exact no wonder if their care and endeavour to be so have done them little good Nay it may be more harm than good After all this if any imagine that this exactness will be a matter of infinite Scrupulosity and Anxiety and fill his Mind with perpetual Disquiet and Trouble of Pains and Toyl Let him know that when he is persuaded that it is good and useful and necessary and when he has accustomed himself to it it will be no longer hard and troublesom but a pleasant and delightful Work And the harder it seems at first the greater reason has he to think it is so much the more necessary and excellent The Sum of what I have exhorted and which I take to be the true and full Sense of the Apostle's Words is That we should take care give good heed use great caution and diligence that we never do any ill nor omit any good we should not And that we constantly do all we should And whatever we do that we endeavour to do it as well as is possible as it can be done That we neither through Negligence and Heedlessness through Ignorance or Mistake or Inadvertency omit nor knowingly prevaricate in nor willingly violate nor carelesly and lastily perform our Duty nor do it by halves lamely and imperfectly And that we thus behave our selves not in some single actions only but in the tenour and course of them and in our whole Life The Arguments I have used to persuade to this have been such as these 1. That it 's very agreeable to the Christian Dispensation under which we are that we should be thus exact in our Lives 2. That the most absolute and universal perfection of Life and Action is intrinsecally and essentially necessary to our compleat Happiness And as 't is necessary so 't will most certainly procure and effect it And such care and caution endeavour and diligence is no less necessary nor will have less Efficacy to make us live perfectly well and virtuously than that has to make us happy Which I have shewed as from several other Arguments so from a Consideration of the likeness and nearness of Vice to Vertue of the great tendency there is in many good Actions and Things to that which is ill of the great difficulty there is in setting bounds to several Vertues and giving each its due place and order And lastly of the many things which must be done to keep our selves in a disposition and readiness to know and will and do the will of God I might also have pleaded this from the honour that will come to God and Religion and the great benefit and advantage that will accrue to other Men that shall behold and converse with us if we live thus exactly But I think what has been said is sufficient to persuade any one who will consider I shall therefore leave this and proceed to the second Proposition which I propounded to discourse of A DISCOURSE OF Redeeming the Time Of the Second Proposition EPH. 5. 16. Redeeming the Time because the Days are Evil. WE ought to make the best of bad Times when we fall into them from those words Ephes 5. 16. Redeeming the Time because the Days are Evil. I proceed to suggest some few of those many useful
so formed that we can will nothing but what seems good And if we follow our natural Inclinations and seek after the greatest Perfection of Knowledg that will seem so to us which indeed is so III. A third way whereby the Will of God is notified to us is the Consent of Mankind at least of the generality and of all the wise and good when they shall agree that this ought and that ought not to be done we should look on that about which they are so agreed to be commanded or forbid us by God himself It is certain they think so for else they could not look on Mankind under Obligation there being none that has Authority to lay Commands on all Men but God himself But they do look on all Men as obliged to certain things as appears by their saying they ought to do so or so For this denotes an Obligation and that a Superiority Now there is none but God who is superiour to all Men to Kings as well as Subjects to Societies as well as to single Persons And yet of all these it is agreed that they ought or ought not to do several things Two things should here be spoken to 1. That this Consent of the Community is and may be looked on as a Declaration of the Divine Will 2. An Enumeration of some of those things in which they thus agree 1. It is not likely that Men of such different Capacities Tempers Interests Times and Places should agree in this if it were not certainly true and somewhat evident There must be some one cause of this so universal Effect and I know none to which it may so probably be imputed as this that the Wisdom which formed us has inspired us with this Knowledg which was either impressed on us at first or else our Minds did with an undiscernable quickness infer it That the Wise and the Vertuous agree that every Man ought that is in other Words that it is the Will of God that every Man should do this or not do it that is a sufficient Declaration to the rest of the World that it is indeed the Will of God For we may well suppose Men so qualified to have this Knowledg vouchsafed to them and that they are the Persons to whom God will especially make known his Laws But where not only they but all or the far greatest part of Mankind agree with them this makes the Testimony yet stronger and shews the Notoriety of the Thing And that there is a concurrence of the generality will appear by the Instances which I shall produce This Consent will at least amount to a high Probability and those who make least of it yet must think it to outweigh the sense of one or some few But where it is in concurrence with the other way it ought to be looked on as a farther publication of the Divine Law and a confirmation to us that this is it 2. The Community of Men tho they have never seen nor discoursed with each other tho they live at the remotest distance and understand not one anothers Language nor ever maintained any Converse yet agree in abundance of Particulars Which I must not now enumerate Take these few 1. That we should all live soberly that is in such a government of our Appetites and Passions as to be in the best use of our Understandings and of all our Faculties that Men should not indulge their brutish life so much at any time as to lose the use of themselves and to have the sense of what is good and evil fit and unfit extinguished or the care of doing what becomes us laid aside That what we do in compliance with our bodily Appetites be rather a relief than a gratification that it be not a thing in which we take a full and final satisfaction but that it be subservient to some greater and better work Tho all Men may not thus express themselves yet these are their Thoughts and tho many practise otherwise yet it is without the allowance and against the sense of their Minds Or if any have brought themselves to such a Reprobacy of Mind as to call Good Evil and Evil Good they are by the rest looked on as Monsters and their Judgment is of no value nay in their sober intervals they condemn themselves Thus then not only the Wise and the Good but the rest of Mankind are of the Mind that Men should live soberly 2. That we should be just and honest true and faithful in our dealings and conversation one with other And that we should do to all Men as we would have them do to us Even those Men that are unrighteous will yet blame that in others which they practise themselves And those very Societies which are Factions bandying against the common Society of Men are yet upheld by Truth and Justice among themselves 3. Besides these I might mention Gratitude to Benefactors Honour to Parents Veneration of the Deity Pity of the Miserable and many more such things In which all Mankind agree excepting a very few Monsters that are using all the Arts they can devise to un-man and un-make themselves Now whence can so universal an Agreement arise but from Nature it self And that which derives from Nature must be thought to proceed from the Counsel of the Author of Nature to whom all such things are seen and by whom they are allowed and consequently must be reckoned as his Will IV. God has inspired some holy Men with the knowledg of his Will which by them has been delivered to others and it has been made credible to all that this was indeed the Will of God and by him in a very extraordinary manner revealed to the inspired Persons And this partly from the sublimity and excellency of the matter contained in it partly from the fitness the usefulness the necessary importance the great goodness of it to Men both which argue it to come from him who only knows such things and is the great lover of Mankind The Phrase and Stile also are such as do not misbecome so wise and great an Author And then the Miracles wrought in confirmation of it by some of the Pen-men and by others who owned them to be divinely inspired Particularly the Prophecies and Predictions which are punctually fulfilled c. Such a revelation of the Divine Will we have in the Bible that part especially which is in the Gospel where we have a clear and full declaration of all that which by Nature and Reason and the Sense of Mankind we were taught was the Will of God That which the Wise and the Good came to understand in those ways the Unlearned and Inconsidering and all to whom thesâ— Oracles come are instructed and satisfied in by them Thus God has dealt with Men in the same manner that our Earthly Lawgivers have done that is he has caused his Laws to be Printed and Published And the Bible is the Divine Pandects and Code 'T is Heaven's
Particular Precepts which God has any ways published to the World and to a proper use of all those Helps which the Divine Wisdom has afforded us This is one way but there are divers others Every one may take that which best suits him There is no Man who considers but will confess that the Knowledg of the Will of God is the most excellent and useful Knowledg we can have and that it is a principal Ingredient in and essential to all true Wisdom and whosoever is destitute of it he must live like a Fool For he wants that sure Direction of his whole Life which he can only have from the understanding of the Divine Will he wants that Principle which is powerful enough to determine him He that is ignorant or mistaken in this matter must in proportion want Wisdom and Goodness And this I think sufficient to raise the price of this Knowledg in every Man's esteem to assure him that without it he can neither be wise nor live well If I should be particular I should enumerate abundance of Mischiefs into which Ignorance or Mistake of the Will of God and his Law betrays us I will only say this That as Ignorance of it pulls up the Floodgates takes away all Restraints and gives free Passage to every vicious Inclination and unreasonable Appetite setting them all loose So Error and Mistake about it lays a kind of Obligation on and makes it in a sort necessary for us to do ill For if any wicked Practice how monstrous and mischievous soever it be come vvith a Commission from Heaven and pretend the Authority of a Divine Law vve shall look on our selves as bound to obey Nay and the better we are disposed i. e. the more inclined to be obedient to God the more zealous and carnest we shall be to do this vvhich vve by a mistake think to be his Will And if it do as it certainly vvill oppose something that 's in our Nature and be never so contrary to our Inclinations we shall break through all this opposition and do Violence to our Nature I mean to our Mind which is the best and highest thing in us to do it Nay tho it should be never so prejudicial to the Society in which we live confound the Order and disturb the Peace of it tho it should be attended with Tumult and War and Bloodshed yet a false Conceit that it is the Will of God will make us break all Bonds and nothing will hold us but we shall like the Daemoniac among the Tombs be hurting our selves and disturbing others This is that which under the Pretence of Religion to vvhich it is most contrary has wrought so much Mischief in the World I am sure the worst things that have ever been done by Men have proceeded from their thinking that to be the Divine Will which vvas not vvhich vvas most opposite to it It may be some vvill infer from this kind of Discourse that God has not made a clear Discovery of his Will to us because if he had hovv should Mankind be so void of the true Knowledg of it how could they so grosly err about it To this I reply That God has made it so plain what he would have us do that no Men in the World can be wholly ignorant of it And there is such a Connexion betwixt the Divine Laws they are so uniform that the Knowledg of one will lead us to the understanding of more and if we will obey those we know 't is the sure way to understand more and by degrees all I say all this on Supposition That Men will use their Understandings and consider what is before them For if they will not do this they must continue in Ignorance and Error in all Cases But as it is no Argument the Sun does not shine because he that winks does not see it no more is it that our Creator has not discovered his Mind to us because they who will not consider do not discern it or are deceived about it But that God has made a clear Discovery of his Mind to us is I hope out of doubt with us by what has been said concerning the ways in which he has done it For whosoever believes God to be what his own Mind tells him He is what his Works declare He is what the common Sense of Mankind in all Ages report Him to be i. e. Wise and Good Holy and Just and True he cannot be ignorant what it is that God wills him to be For God cannot but will that Man should according to his Capacity be like unto Himself He that is not wholly ignorant of or mistaken in himself cannot but have some certain understanding of God's Law For if he know the Faculties with which he was made the Order in which they are set to each other the Inclinations and Appetites that are natural to him he is assur'd that the Exercise and Perfection of these Faculties the Preservation of this Order the pursuit of these Inclinations is the Will of his wise and good Creator He that understands what it is that the wise and good nay the generality of Men agree ought to be done what in their constant unprejudic'd unbiass'd Sense which is not hard to know he does hereby discover the Will of the Lord of all And this Law is in the Bible writ in most legible Characters All the weighty matters are there set down in so plain Words that they are understood by all that understand the Languages And by help of that Learning which God has given Men are translated into their own Native Language As many as have and can understand the Language of the Bible cannot possibly be ignorant of or misunderstand the Fundamental Laws of Heaven And the rest are to be understood with relation to them And then over and above all these ways God teaches Man by his Spirit In these several ways I have shewn how God discovers and we may come to the Knowledg of his Will But because notwithstanding all many continue ignorant and not a few are mistaken thinking that not to be the Will of God which is and that to be which is not and because of the great Mischiefs that come upon themelves and others through these their Errors Before I dismiss this Argument I will lay down some Directions and Cautions that so we may be preserv'd from so baleful an Ignorance and so fatal Errors 1. In general as I have intimated we must use our Minds diligently attend to and carefully consider whatever it is that pretends to be the Will of God and Law of Heaven Think whether it be agreeable to the Wisdom and Goodness and the other acknowledged Perfections of God Whether it be suitable to the Nature he has given you whether it be matter that falls under common Observation and not only the Wise and the Vertuous but the Community of Mankind think themselves and all obliged To the Law and the Testimony search
it doth it to his own Hurt that he ruines himself and depraves his Nature This Error tends to the utter Subversion of Christianity For it makes it impossible to be either believed or practis'd For no Man can give Credit to that which contradicts what he cannot doubt and no Man can do that which he is assured tends to his Destruction as all Actions do which are repugnant to his Nature No Man can believe what he cannot conceive nor can he conceive a Contradiction not apprehend what is impossible nor can he do that which he thinks so evil as that is which is intrinsecally repugnant to his Nature He that hath entertain'd this Conceit must also assert that he who will believe the Articles of our Faith must lay aside his Reason and he who will obey the Precepts of Christ must put off his Nature and cease to be a Man if he will be a Christian But how unworthily doth this reflect upon God by making him thus at odds with himself that what he made at first he after destroys that his Works of Creation and Redemption clash It argues him to have forgot the Capacities of his Creatures when he makes a Revelation of that which is unconceivable by them or hath required them to do what is not possible they should do and doth all this for their Advantage which will infallibly ruine them Besides What a disparagement is this to Religion How justly is that suspected for a Cheat where to the belief of its Articles and practice of its Duties Men must be Unreasonable and Unnatural And how doth this open a door to Error and evil Practice by deposing Reason and casting off Nature For he that doth this in any Case may for ought I know do it in every one and then he must believe all that is told and do all that is bid him and then he will believe Lies and practise Wickedness In short This Opinion takes away from Christians all means of distinguishing Truth from Falshood it subverts the Foundations of all Discourse it leaves no differences of Good and Evil. All this is most true if Man must believe what is contrary to the undoubted Principles and the truest Discourses of his Reason or do what is repugnant to his Nature He that is thus perswaded hath cast off his sure and faithful Guide and now must wander after Fancy and be at the Mercy of every one who will pretend Inspiration This evil and false Opinion 〈…〉 by some Mens Mistake of 〈◊〉 some few other Texts which yet to them that have well consider'd appear both consonant to Reason and agreeable to Nature The Design of this Discourse is to remove that Prejudice which many have entertained against this Precept of our Saviour and to shew that it is not unreasonable as many whose Mistake and Passion make them unwilling to practise it pretend it to be This will be very evident to them that consider I. The true Sense and Import of the Words II. The Reasonableness of that Practice which they direct to and the Arguments which perswade to it And III. The Falseness of those Objections that are against it I. The true meaning of the Words will be apparent if we consider 1. The common Acception of them 2. How they were understood of old for they are here brought in in opposition to what was then spoke and so the Words must have the same Sense they then had 3. The Relation and Order they have to other Precepts for without this Comparative Knowledg of the Law it cannot be understood 1. As to the common Acception of the Words there can be no Controversy because the Philosophers who have frequently taken to themselves a Liberty of imposing their Sense upon Words yet in this agree with the Vulgar both of them understanding these two things by Love 1. To wish and desire well to any 2. To do well to them 1. To think well of and towards another to wish and desire their Welfare that is the Soul to do them that Good which is wished them that is the Body of Love both are essential and necessary to the being of a real Love This Love will express it self variously according to the different Conditions of its Object and the divers Degrees of its own Power If the thing loved be very good then Love puts on the Garment of Gladness and is delighted in it If it be in very bad State and destitute of Good then Love turns into Pity and commiserates If it be unable to help it stays in Desires and good Wishes but if it have any Power it exerts it and goes forth into Action All agree that to love is according to St. James not only to speak good Words but to have good Thoughts and Desires not only to wish well but also to do well where we can To speak well is but the Picture of Love to think well is Love in the Womb but to do well also is Love brought forth and perfect now it is finished Our Enemies are those that hate us that is who both think and do us evil who both desire and do us Mischief Neither of these alone are sufficient to denominate Men our Enemies All grant our Friends may do us ill Offices and they that heartily wish us well may do that which they desire to do who intend to ruin us and yet we call them not Enemies Nor on the other part can we justly call any Man so who hath Power to hurt us and doth not for we have no other way to know his Thoughts but by his Works and if they do not yet come to these it is an Argument they are not the setled Judgment of a Man's Mind that they are not consented to and no Man is to be censur'd for that which is a matter of Practice and is not his practical Judgment No Man can be said to be or to do any thing that merits Praise or Blame where he hath not given his Consent and where the Action is within his Power and follows not there he doth not consent 2. These Words were so understood by them of old as they generally are This appears sufficiently by both the Doctrines and Practices of those Jews who were phariseiz'd and wholly adhered to the Traditions of the Elders and the Opinions of their Doctors and Rabbies Their Carriage was such as shewed they thought themselves not only permitted but commanded to desire and do Evil to their Enemies and all were such in their Esteem who were not Jews or Proselites And therefore they denied them common Offices of Civility would not Monstrare vias eadem nisi sacra colenti so much as direct a Stranger in his way if he were not of their Religion And besides call'd them by most uncivil Names as Dogs c. and would injure them by Fraud or Violence and did all that which I before said of Love to those of their own Nation So then the Words of the Text being spoken
Title affected a greater Authority then is competible to Men. 2. Their wretched Covetousness which shewed it self in the Instances of devouring Widows Houses of esteeming the Gifts and the Gold above the Altar and the Temple 3. Their abominable Hypocrisy which appeared in their teaching others to do what themselves would not do in serving a carnal Interest by a Religious Carriage making long Prayers in pretence and wearing broader Phylacteries that so under these Vizards they might pass more unsuspected and have a better Opportunity to seize on their prey This further appeared in their partial Obedience chusing to obey those Commands that were least considerable but yet make the greatest appearance of an extraordinary Holiness whilst they omitted the weightier and more necessary but which have less of Pomp and Ostentation They were much in external Washings and Purifications neglecting to wash their Hearts from Wickedness They 〈◊〉 Mint and Anise and Cummin in which they would seem to supererrogate their Goodness transcending the too narrow Bounds of the Law whilst they omitted Faith and Judgment and Meroy They would build the Sepulchres of the Prophets whom their Fathers had slain whilst themselves persecuted and at last murdered the greatest Prophet that ever the World had Who could have believed that they who pretended to such as honourable Esteem of the Dead should have so little Affection for the Living The fairest account of this Carriage is this Nos mericles ca qua per didimus bona magni facimus qua habimus nihili But perhaps the truest is mortui non â—â—rdent The Prophets that were dead could not be Witnesses of their Wickedness nor rebuke them otherwise than by their Writings which themselves having both the keeping and the interpreting of would be sure to make them speak nothing to their Disparagement But tho they could either conceal or put a false gloss on the Writings of dead Men yet they could not either silence our Saviour or by any Arts of interpreting clude the sense of his Words No he would speak and tell them their Faults truly and plainly These and such like were those great Crimes in these Enemies of our Religion which our Blessed Saviour so severely taxed and threatned Whereupon it might have been supposed that his Disciples had been out of danger of these Evils that they would not have come near the place where their Pilot had set a Sea-mark But not to go further back whose takes a view of the Christian Church at least a great part of it in these Western Parts as Erasmus hath represented it he 'll say that Pharisaism then lived and râ—â—gned as much as ever Our Saviour had not it 〈◊〉 by all those terrible Denunciations afrighted this unchristian Temper out of the World but it appeared rather to have gotten ground and to have prevailed against the true Christian Spirit Now as Erasmus complains the Disciples of Christ are more truly Pharisees than the Pharisees themselves and Christians are become more ceremonious than Jews How every where doth so far this in the Romish Church even in those that should have been Examples of good Works And what Reformation hath since been made let every Man judg who doth not only judg of Things by Names and of Men by Professions There hath indeed been a very great and good Change made for which thousands of Souls must bless God but that much of this Leaven of the Pharisees still remains is too notorious that this Proteus who can change himself into any Shape or Colour who is of all Sects and Professions who can be Pagan or Jew or Mahometan or Christian Papist or Protestant a Member of the Church of Rome or Geneva Scotland or England a Teacher or a Learner That he is under these several Forms that this Pharisee is to be found in the Christian Church as well as the Jewish Synagogues that he is both of 〈◊〉 and Bellarmine's Persuasion a Follower of Calvin and of Arminius In brief I know no Way no Sect but this Serpent insinuates it self amongst them That I be not mistaken I understand by all this what our Saviour plainly taxes viz. a Spirit of Pride that affects and arrogates undeserved Titles and a Power which no Man can reasonably challenge of Covetousness or an Humour of monopolizing all the World a neglect of the greatest Commands with endeavours to make amends by a Zeal in the lesser matters An exact Observance of Externals with a Supine Omission of the Intrinsicks and Essentials of Religion such are Truth and Justice Love to God and Men. This is what I understand by a Pharisee Whilst I am on this Argument I must insert this necessary Caution that all I aim at is to tax the Vices of some Men in our Church not to disparage all Let none therefore take occasion from what I say to wrest my Words and think me an Enemy to the Church who if I had been so I should then have been silent or flatter'd and said all is well Let none be so unreasonably suspicious of my honest Intentions as to think me to be undermining whilst I am really using the best Method I know to build and settle That I take to be a free and plain censuring a publick Notice-taking of those Sins that are done openly in the Face of the Sun such we are guilty of and these are the Disturbers of our Peace these shake our Foundations These are they that cause Earthquakes and raise those Tempests that threaten our Subversion Whilst we pretend to instruct others who are grosly ignorant our selves to exhort them to a diligent Observance of those Commands which we neglect and so pull down what we would seem to build Whilst we are frequently guilty of profane Swearing Intemperance and other Immoralities we open other Mens Mouths but stop our own for we cannot condemn that in them which we allow in our selves nor can they approve that in us which we have taught to condemn in them Whilst we live in the neglect of God are really without any Sense of or Love to him in our Minds have not Faith and Hope in him Whilst we are void of true Love to Men are so far from Charity from Bounty and Kindness that we are not Just Whilst we omit Judgment Mercy and Faith tho we be very punctual in all lesser Observances both of God's and the Churches Commands we are no better than they who tithed Mint and Anise and Cummin and made long Prayers And if we be such our Saviour threatens us and Men not only threaten us but our way too by such Practices a good way is evil spoken of Assuredly those are the things that have given Men that Advantage against us which else they could never have had for Who shall harm us if we do well No certainly if we lived in the Love of God and of all Men in Humility and meekness in Temperance in Justice and Truth in Mercy and Goodness tho our Church-Constitutions were
is God's peculiar or is proper to himself whom God has anointed viz. To be Absolute over Mens Faith or Manners He requires they should not challenge to themselves such a Soveraignty as admits of no Controul such an Authority from whence no Appeal may be made or which must not be contradicted They must not take to themselves nor give to others such a Power whereby they or others shall be confined to the Opinions no 〈◊〉 universally held to thâ— Words of any Man Our Saviour will not have his Followers to affect those Titles which denote a Superioriâ—â— that cannot belong to them who are equal who are Brethren and have all one common Father who are Fellow-Servants and have one Lord and Master He doth not allow that any one person or 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 of Men should take the Chair and dictate and all the rest to be coâ—â—luded and dâ—termined absolutely necessarily by what they 〈◊〉 That this is the meaning of these Words â—ppears thus Here our Heavenly Father and our Blessed Saviour are owâ—ed as above all other as â—upream and therefore the Name of Fâ—ther and Lord are most truly and properly given to them There must be some reason why God is 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 to be called Father and Christ Mastâ—r and I know none other account can be given of this Superiority and â—â—â—heminence above others but 〈◊〉 that God is Absolute Supream Lord and Law-giver Therefore what he saith must stand if an Article of Faith our Assent is concluded if God propose it and if a Precept of his Obedience must be given But this is the Prerogative of Heaven no mere Man can challenge it Thus having declared what I take to be the true Sense of the Words it will be needless for me to add any more to shew their Mistake who think from this place that the use of these Words Master Father c. is forbidden No surely our Saviour did not condemn the Words but as they carried a bad Signification and did humour Mens Pride He was displeas'd that the Pharisees would under these Titles arrogate a Power that did not belong to them and that they could be so hugely pleased with a Lie of their own making that they could be delighted with the empty Titles of Master and Doctor which themselves had assumed And it is a sufficient Argument that he did not forbid the use of these Titles because himself allowed and used that of Father and Mother And his Apostle St. Paul called himself a Father and a Teacher of the Gentiles which we must think he would not have done if he had understood our Saviour to have absolutely forbid it and surely he would have understood it if it had been so Having said what I think necessary for the Explication of these Words I proceed in the next place to lay down those Propositions which may be deduced from and also those that are more expresly contained in the Words I. Christians have a Master and a Father In the largest Notion wherein these Words are sometimes taken it is true of all Men in the World for every Man living is dependent and subject they may all make that Confession It is he that has made us and not we our selves we are his People and the Sheep of his Pasture It is true also in that more restrained Sense wherein these Titles signify instructing and teaching and thus I understand them here for all Men will acknowledg some Superiour who teaches them and from whom they can make no Appeal That this is very natural to the Mind of every Man thus to think will appear if we consider how generally the most part acquiesce in the Testimonies of Men and it is almost necessary that both they and others should do so if we consider the way we are all educated for we take all our Words upon trust from others and we derive our Actions too from an Imitation of what we see them do And whilst we do thus we acknowledg Superiours And for them that are more wise that perceive themselves to stand upon pretty equal Ground with other Men yet they find they are liable to be deceived and therefore they make their last Appeal to the Veracity and Goodness of God This made the Principle from which they infer the Truth and Certainty of all the Knowledg they have There is no Man who considers himself and his ways of working but will acknowledg he is beholden to some other than himself for his Understanding but whether he will own it or no there is a Light that enlightens every Man that comes into 〈◊〉 World from vvhence the Candle of the Lord the Spirit of a Man derives its Light Every Man is conscious that himself was not the sole cause of his first Thoughts â—â—deed he knows not how he came by them but this he probably thinks there is some very wise knowing Mind that teaches his Ignorance by divers natural Impressions oâ— him as well as by some more secret Inspirations Whosoever will confess himself wholly beholden to another for his Soul for his Faculty and in particular for the Exercise of this Faculty he plainly confesses a SSuperriour one above him and an Instructor also And if he further shall acquiesce iâ— the Judgment which this Mind thus directed shall make as certain he saith in effect that this Guide is infallible and no Appeal to be made from him which is the true Notion of the Word Father c. in this place Now every Man doth thus upon several Motions he hath divers Thoughts suggested to him which without demur without all hesitancy he entertains and proceeds to observe he doubts not of the Testimony which his Senses bring in and proceeds forthwith to pass Judgment All which supposes him to make no Appeal from that Caâ—se that hath led him into thâ—se Thoughts he acquiosces there But for Christians their very Name implies them to have a Master one whom they believe and follow A Christian is a Believer and so every Scholar ought to be and they profess themselves to be the Scholars of Christ If this be true of all Christians that they have a Master a Father then none of them are to assume this Honour to themselves They must carry themselves as Fellow-Scholars as Brethren that is they must not propose their own Doctrines such as are properly their own which they have not received from their Master to be assented to as infallible Indeed they must not propose them at all so as to determine others for in so doing they desert their Stations forget they are but Scholars If they will propound to others that which shall determine them it must be their Master's not their own for otherwise they will not be so much Praecones Nuncii as Inventores Autores Dogmatum They that demand Mens Assent to their Opinions and Obedience to their Commands which are theirs and not their Master's do by this make themselves Masters All they then fall
the Doctrine of Indulgences for Sins to come of Masses for the Dead and the like which whosoever considers in their tendencies I doubt not but they 'll be satisfied it 's the Interest of Money not of Goodness that is carried on by the Asserters of those Opinions that they serve Mammon and their Religion is Covetousness This Inordinacy of Desire turns Apostles into Judas's Pastors into Robbers the House of Prayer into a Den of Thieves and it doth as easily transform the Flocks of Sheep into Herds of Wolves For notwithstanding the Sheep's Coat and Shape if there be a ravening Appetite an unsatisfied Desire 't is a Wolf tho it seem a Sheep a Wolf in Sheeps cloathing Nor can it be expected it should be otherwise but if the Sea hath overflown its high Banks the lower Marshes must needs be drowned and if the Physician be seized with this Disease the unskilful Patient must be so much more If the Spiritual Men whose Converse is in Heaven yet be so much within the Influences of this Earth the Laity they whose Employment is in it must be more under the power of them If the Light of the Heavenly Bodies be obscured by terrestrial Vapors then the Candle which is in the Earth must be put out by its Damps And if the Disciples of Jesus be under the Power of Desire it 's not to be imagin'd that Moses's Scholars or the Followers of Mahomes or the Worshippers of many Gods should be free from its Dominion We 'll therefore take it for granted that if Christendom be not exempt from this Tyranny of Desire the rest of the World is not If the Gospel hath not rectified Mens Affections neither the Pentateuch nor the Alcoran nor the Traditions of the Gentiles have or can do it Thus we see that Desire hath an Empire further extended than ever they had who would be call'd Lords of the World We 'll next consider how this Catholick King this universal Bishop this proud Sultan this great Cham manages his Affairs And we may observe that this Vsurper who hath dethroned Reason the lawful Sovereign of the World and hath assumed his Scepter does use the same evil Arts which all others do Where he hopes to gain the Affections of his Subjects he practises Flattery gratifies them tho to then Ruine and pleases tho in that he undoes them Where they will not love they shall fear and if he cannot court them by Flatteries he will rule them as a Tyrant and in both ways his Government is arbitrary and irregular Either Laws are never made or never kept in his Dominions That which is commanded is for the most part evil or impossible no Reason to be given of it besides Will And tho it were not yet sooner might the free Air be hedged in or the Winds chained up than the Subjects of this Prince who are Sons of Appetite be restrained Nor can they be turned from their Purpose unless by a Passion accompanied with more Power than they have As the Stream of a great River cannot be turned from its Course except it be met by the fiercer Tide The calm and quiet Decisions of Controversies that used to be in Courts of Judicature where Reason ruled are either wholly laid aside or strangely degenerate and so either to bad purpose or to none at all Here the Clients do not consider Justice but Interest neither do they regard Right or Title if they can make the least Pretence and therefore will desire in their Advocates not Law but Oratory and Sophistry They will also suborn Witnesses that shall swear for Hire not for Truth and will corrupt their Judges to pervert the Sense of the Law and under colour of Justice to be unjust In these Courts the richest Client hath most Right and the best Purse carries the Cause Or if this will not do they try another If they either want Craft or Money they will fly to Power if they cannot out-wit their Neighbours they will try to out-master them if the Court and the Law will not give it for them they 'll see what the Camp and Army will And now the Armour is put on the Sword girded on the Thigh and the Trumpet sounds to Battel the Guns begin to thunder and lighten thousands are murdered Cities burnt whole Countries laid waste Or if this fail too and be found insufficient to execute the Commands of inordinate Desire the Souldier then will turn a Religionist and he that wore a Vizard of Justice will put on a Form of Godliness will persuade People to gaze into Heaven whilst he picks their Pockets and will tell them they cannot make sure of an Inheritance there unless they part with their Possessions here falsifying the Gospel now as he did the Law before and wresting our Saviour's plain Words to the enriching himself and impoverishing his Brother Thus I have given a brief Representation of the State where Desire rules by which Fiction we may a little guess at the Truth of Things and how they are and have been and are likely to be in the World because of Covetousness Assuredly this was it that made the Grecian and Romans in former days and the Turks in these later to make so great a part of Mankind their Tributaries This hath made Men seek after new Worlds as if the old were too little to bound their Desires This took away the Land and Liberties and Lives too of many thousand Americans This made the Goths and Vandals invade Italy the Moors Spain and the Danes and Saxons to mention no other England But need we go to Histories and past Times for proof of the evil Effects of Desire No surely our own Observation and the Days we live in will give us too many Nor will I rake into the Ashes where lie hid the Sparks of Contention that kindled our late Wars no let them lie buried in eternal Oblivion Nor do I care to uncover the Graves of the Dead let their Dust rest in Peace for me Nor will I discourse of the Actions of our Governors where we are for the most part unable to understand and therefore incompetent to judg whether they proceed from Desire or Understanding for so I should speak rashly and perhaps falsely too of my Rulers Let us therefore consider the Mischief Desire doth amongst our selves and so we shall keep within the compass of our Knowledg What Havock doth it make whilst the poor envy their rich Neighbours and they again grind the Faces of the Poor Whilst they that have much grasp at all and would leave their Brethren Possessors of nothing and in this Sence seem to construe our Saviour's Words To him that hath shall be given and from him that hath 〈◊〉 that hath little that makes no Increase shall be taken what he hath But I need not insist on the Oppression Force Extortion Over-reaching that is amongst us which is the Issue of unlawful Desire They whose Employment lies in Courts of Judicature have
〈◊〉 〈◊〉 that they would lay out themselves and do their best 1. To be quiet To give no occasion of Disturbance to others to be no way accessory to the Disquiet of their Neighbours to prevent as much as in them lies all Molestations that might arise in the Society whereof they are Members neither to say nor do nor leave unsaid or undone any thing from whence Commotions and Quarrels Anger Enmity or any foolish and hurtful Unquietness might ensue But on the contrary to preserve Peace and Love and Friendship and Kindness amongst Men. And as one of the Means that lead and contribute to this Quiet 2. To do their own Business their proper particular Work On which how much the Quiet and State of Men depends may appear in the Sequel of this Discourse And I hope to make it evident that this is a thing more considerable and of far greater moment than at first it may seem and that it deservedly challenges our utmost Care and Diligence And this latter Duty being in order and a help to our Discharge of the former I shall begin with it And shall enquire I. Into the Occasion of this Precept when it was given by St. Paul II. Into the true Meaning and Impose of the Words here used When I have done this I shall offer some Considerations which will make it appear to be good and fit and profitable and necessary for us to do as we are here directed I. As to the Occasion of this Precept It was probably the same with that in 2 Thess 3. 12. We command and exhort that with Quietness they work and eat their own Bread Such he means as he described Vers 11. Who walk disorderly 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 out of their Rank working not at all but Busyâ—â—die◠〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 very busy yet did nothing nothing they should do nothing to the purpose that which they did or seem'd to do was next to nay worse than nothing They neglected their own Business but would be thrusting themselves into other 〈◊〉 By this neglect of their own Affairs they were reduced to such Straits that they could not live of themselves and by their overâ—â—â—oâ—ousness they so insinuated into others that they lived upon them Which dependent parasitical Life being so unbecoming and base and casting so much Ignominy upon the Religion they profess'd Nay it being so unjust that they who did nothing and therefore deserved nothing should have anything the Apostle enjoyns them as he had before that they who would not work should not eat And that they should work 〈◊〉 Quietness and eat their own Bread This was the occasion of that Exhortation in the second Epistle and 't is most likelyâ— that on the same occasion he had before given them the same Precept in the Text To do their own Business In which we may be further confirm'd by what follows in the end of the 11th and 12th Verses Working with your own Hands that ye may walk honestly towards the Gentiles and that ye may have need of nothing By which as he plainly intimates that the very Heathens did not approve of Idleness and Beggary but thought it unseemly for Men to live the Lives of Drones and Parasites so likewise that he should prevent such foul Miscarriages with the ill Consequents of them if he could engage them to mind and do their own Business This would raise them from the Bed of Sloth this would keep them from being Eves-droppers and Interlopers in other Mens matters and thereby cut off many Occasions of great Troubles both to themselves and their Neighbours This would probably secure them from necessitous Dependances and their Religion from Contempt Thus we see the Occasion of this Precept partly from the History set down in the second Epistle where it is repeated partly from the Reasons annexed to it in this From which we may conclude in order to our next Enquiry that this doing their own Business was something that was good and honest in the account of the Heathens and that by natural Light might be discover'd to be so Something also that would be a means to secure them from a Dependance on other Men for Necessaries which is one of the worst States of Humane Life Erasmus thinks the Apostle had in his Eye both the Idle and the Busy-bodies Deterret says he ab otio ab alienis Appetendis Grotius is of the same Mind and tells us that they who offend against this Rule are by St. Peter called 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 and by St. Paul 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 and by the Greeks commonly 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Of which number he reckons parasitical Smell-feasts drolling Buffoons and such like Flies with which Greece then swarm'd II. Having seen the Occasion let us now proceed to the Sense and Import of the Words And here the main Enquiry is What is meant by the 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 your own private matters those which are peculiarly and properly yours 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 seems here to be opposed to 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 and to be distinguished from the 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 our own in opposition to other Mens and in distinction from what is common both to us and them Do your own not others Mens Business Do not only what belongs to all Men but that also which particularly appertains to you For our better understanding this we may consider Man under a fourfold respect 1. Of his Nature as he differs from Beasts and as he differs from other Men i. e. we may look on him as endowed with Understanding and Liberty in general which is common to all Men or as with greater Understanding with all those Inclinations and Aversations which may be supposed to be born with Men that are peculiar to this or that Man 2. We may consider a Man under the various Changes that are made in his Nature the several Accessions to his natural Faculties with all that Knowledg with which Study and Experience has enriched him with all those Arts and Habits which by Time and Exercise he has acquired or else with all inculpable Impairments and Lessenings of the Faculties either of his Body or of his Soul 3. We may consider him in that Condition in which he is in respect of outward things such as Poverty of Riches Liberty or Confinement Honour or Disgrace c. 4. Consider him in those Relations in which he is to other Men whether he came into them by Necessity arising either from Nature or Laws or voluntarily and out of Choice As Husband or Wife Parent or Child Master or Servant Magistrate or one of the People Teacher or Learner of the Clergy or the Laity c. This with some Addition is Tully's Quadruplex Persona which every Man bears Now as to the Business before us Whatever Work is sutable and proper to Man under any of these Considerations that may be said to be his Work he was as it were made and fitted
is the Way walk in it The Sum of these Arguments is That if we will not transgress the express Law of God if we think our selves bound to follow the Examples of good Men if we will obey God in an Instance where Obedience has procured most singular Blessing if either the Sense of what 's just and fit or the Desire of Benefit and Advantage will prevail with us if we either love God or our selves or our Children if we either follow the Inclinations of Nature or the Directions of Reason if we will be concluded either by the common Sense of Mankind or the Divine Oracles if we would secure our Souls from the Guilt of inhuman unnatural Cruelty and our Children from the greatest Misery We must take care to train them up betimes in the Way in which they should go OF HOSPITALITY Preach'd to the Company of Inn-holders ROM 13. 12. latter part Given to Hospitality THE Occasion of our present Assembly as I am informed is to fulfill the Will of Mrs. Anne Astel who having bequeath'd a yearly Revenue toward the Maintenance of a Lecturer in the Parish of St. Lawrence Jury out of good respect she had to the Worshipful Company of Inn. holders obliged that her Lecturer once a Year to preach a Sermon to them In which she shewed her self a prudently pious and charitable Person that when she had taken care for the good Instruction of her own Parish she would improve and extend her Charity to others and make it as diffusive as she could that others and particularly You to whom she seems to have had particular Good-will might partake of her Bounty That we might perform the Will of this religious and good Person we are here assembled and that you may receive that Benefit which she piously design'd I have chosen to discourse of a Text of Scripture the Consideration of which will set before you a great part of the particular Duty of Inn-holders whose Name this Company bears And that I look on as the main Business of Sermons and such Exercises as these to put Men in mind of and persuade them to the faithful discharge of their respective Duties which when in all our several Places Stations and Employments we shall faithfully do then and not till then shall we all be happy and Glory shall dwell in our Land To make way for what I intend The Word 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 which the Translators here render Hospitality is compounded of two Words which signify Love of Strangers and in its common use it doth not much depart from this Signification that 's imported in the Original The more simple word 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 hath the same Sense only leaves us to guess what Affection or Deportment we should have to Sttangers which is exprest in the Compound The other word 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 which we here translate given to more properly signifies and in other places is rendred following It denotes the study of and earnest pursuit after a thing So that the Sense of the Apostle's Exhortatio◠to the Romans and to us and all Men as well as to them is that they and we should diligently and studiously with Care and Pains Earnestness and Industry set our selves to exercise Hospitality Concerning which I shall endeavour to shew three things in general First What that is which is here signified to us by Hospitality Secondly How good and necessary it is From whence it will appear that there is an Obligation on all Christians nay on all Men to practise it And having done this I shall proceed to shew that you especially of all Men are most peculiarly and most strictly bound to be hospitable And here I shall discourse of the Benefits that will redound to those that carefully and conscionably practise this Duty likewise I will mention some of those Practices which are notorious Violations of the Laws of Hospitality And shall also offer some Directions which may help to the better Performance of it First In general To have such Affections such inward Dispositions toward Strangers as are fit for us to have is to be hospitable and to carry and demean our selves toward them in a becoming manner is to exercise Hospitality This is all that 's imported by the word Hospitality which is originally Latin or by the Greek 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 which denotes that inward Affection or outward Deportment that should be towards Strangers And if the generality of Mankind were asked what that is they would answer that it is to be just and honest faithful and true in our Dealings with them 'T is to be civil courteous humane loving kind in our Disposition and Carriage 'T is to be inclin'd and ready to do all Good Offices for them that are in our Power which their Condition calls for and which they either do or if they understood would desire That is to inform them when they are ignorant to rectify their Mistake to assist them in the Government of their Passions about those matters with which they are unacquainted To withhold them what in us lies from doing any foolish evil Actions to which their Unexperience might betray them To supply them with those things of which by reason of their Absence from their Acquaintance they are destitute In short It is to bail and screen them from that Evil and those Mischiefs and Dangers to which by being Strangers they are exposed to secure them from all that Harm to which their Condition makes them liable and to do all that Good to and confer those Benefits on them which if they were where they are known they might expect and would have It is to be their Friends to do them any good Office that they want and we can do civilly to converse with them to advise and counsel to relieve with Money or any other way to entertain them at our Tables to lodg them and to do this with a willing Mind and a chearful Countenance which is more than a Circumstance in this matter for this hospitable Look if I may so call it is no small part of the Behavior that 's intended in Hospitality And tho in our modern use of it the Word imports no more than an entertaining a Person with whom I have no great Acquaintance at my Table and lodging him yet anciently it signified all sorts of Civility and Kindness which is shewn to Stangers So that this is the Sum of vvhat I mean by Hospitality to be kind and friendly to Strangers I proceed Secondly To make it appear that this is very good That is 1st It 's fit and becoming 2dly It 's profitable and advantageous 1st It 's a piece of that good Nature which so well becomes Man that it is called Humanity and therefore the Ancients call our Kindness to Strangers by this Name Humanity and the defect of this is ever censured by them with this Expression of Barbarous and Inhumane And we have further Reason to think this good