that those who have made Conscience of their Duty to God and men and have lived soberly righteously and godly in this present World shall be unspeakably and eternally Happy in the next but those who have lived lewd and licentious lives and persisted in an Impenitent Course shall be extreamly and everlastingly miserable without Pity and without Comfort and without Remedy and without Hope of ever being otherwise I say if men were fully and firmly perswaded of these things it is not Credible it is hardly Possible that they should live such Prophane and Impious such Careless and Dissolute Lives as we daily see a great part of Mankind do That Man that can be aw'd from his Duty or tempted to Sin by any of the Pleasures or Terrors of this World that for the present enjoyment of his Lusts can be contented to venture his Soul what greater Evidence than this can there be that this Man does not believe the threatnings of the Gospel and how fearful a thing it is to fall into the hands of the living God That Man that can be willing to undergo an hard Service for several years that he may be in a way to get an Estate and be rich in this World and yet will not be perswaded to restrain himself of his Liberty or to deny his Pleasure or to check his Appetite or Lust for the greatest Reward that God can promise or the severest Punishment that he can threaten can any Man reasonably think that this Man is perswaded of any such Happiness or Misery after this Life as is plainly revealed in the Gospel that verily there is a reward for the righteous and verily there is a God that judgeth the Earth For what can he that believes not one syllable of the Bible do worse than this comes to A strong and vigorous Faith even in Temporal Cases is a powerful Principle of Action especially if it be back'd and enforc'd with Arguments of fear He that believes the reality of a thing and that it is good for him and that it may be attained and that if he do attain it it will make him very happy and that without it he shall be extreamly miserable such a Belief and Perswasion will put a Man upon difficult things and make him to put forth a vigorous endeavour and to use a mighty industry for the obtaining of that concerning which he is thus perswaded And the Faith of the Gospel ought to be so much the more powerful by how much the Objects of hope and fear which it presents to us are greater and more considerable Did men fully believe the Happiness of Heaven and the Torments of Hell and were they as verily perswaded of the truth of them as if they were before their Eyes how insignificant would all the Terrors and Temptations of Sense be to draw them into Sin and seduce them from their Duty But altho' it seems very strange and almost incredible that men should believe these things and yet live wicked and impious lives yet because I have no Mind and God knows there 's no need to increase the number of Infidels in this Age I shall chuse rather to impute a great deal of the wickedness that is in the World to the Inconsiderateness of men than to their Unbelief I will grant that they do in some sort believe these things or at least that they do not disbelieve them and then the great cause of mens ruin must be that they do not attend to the Consequence of this Belief and how men ought to live that are thus perswaded Men stifle their Reason and suffer themselves to be hurried away by Sense into the embraces of sensual Objects and things present but do not consider what the end of these things will be and what is like to become of them hereafter for it is not to be imagined but that that Man who shall calmly consider with himself what Sin is the shortness of its Pleasure and the Eternity of its Punishment should seriously resolve upon a better Course of life And why do we not Consider these things which are of so infinite Concernment to us What have we our Reason for but to reflect upon our selves and to mind what we do and wisely to compare things together and upon the whole matter to judge what makes most for our true and lasting Interest to Consider our whole selves our Souls as well as our Bodies and our whole duration not only in this World but in the other not only with regard to Time but to Eternity to look before us to the last Issue and Event of our Actions and to the farthest Consequence of them and to reckon upon what will be hereafter as well as what is present and if we suspect or hope or fear especially if we have good reason to believe a future state after Death in which we shall be happy or miserable to all Eternity according as we manage and behave our selves in this World to resolve to make it our greatest Design and Concernment while we are in this World so to live and demean our selves that we may be of the number of those that shall be accounted worthy to escape that Misery and to obtain that happiness which will last and continue for ever And if men would but apply their Minds seriously to the Consideration of these things they could not act so imprudently as they do they would not live so by chance and without design taking the Pleasure that comes next and avoiding the present Evils which press upon them without any regard to those that are future and at a distance tho' they be infinitely greater and more considerable If men could have the Patience to debate and argue these matters with themselves they could not live so preposterously as they do preferring their Bodies before their Souls and the World before God and the things which are Temporal before the things that are Eternal Did men verily and in good earnest believe but half of that to be true which hath now been declared to you concerning the miserable state of impenitent Sinners in another World and I am very sure that the one half of that which is true concerning that state hath not been told you I say did we in any measure believe what hath been so imperfectly represented What manner of persons should we all be in all holy conversation and godliness waiting for and hastening unto that is making haste to make the best preparation we could for the coming of the day of God! I will conclude all with our Saviour's Exhortation to his Disciples and to all others Watch ye therefore and pray always that ye may be accounted worthy to escape all these things and to stand before the Son of Man To whom with the Father and the Holy Ghost be all honour and glory world without end Amen SERMON VIII Serm. 8. The present and future Advantage of an Holy and Virtuous Life The Fourth Sermon on this Text.
gone so far in Sin and have waded so deep in a vicious course as to be confirmed and harden'd in their Wickedness to that degree as to be past all Shame and almost all sense of their Faults especially in regard of the more common and ordinary Vices which are in vogue and fashion and in the commission whereof they are countenanc'd and encourag'd by Company and Example Such were those of whom the Prophet speaks Jer. 6.15 Were they ashamed when they had committed abomination nay they were not ashamed neither could they blush But yet even these Persons when they come to be sensible of their guilt so as to be brought to Repentance they cannot then but be ashamed of what they have done For what face soever Men may set upon their Vices Sin is shameful in it self and so apt to fill Men with confusion of face when they seriously reflect upon it that they cannot harden their Foreheads against all sense of Shame And whatever Men may declare to the contrary this is tacitly acknowledged by the generality of Men in that they are so solicitous and careful to conceal their Faults from the Eyes of others and to keep them as secret as they can and whenever they are discovered and laid open 't is matter of great Trouble and Confusion to them and if any one happen to upbraid and twit them with their Miscarriages of any kind they cannot bear with Patience to hear of them There are indeed some few such Prodigies and Monsters of Men as are able after great struglings with their Consciences to force themselves to boast impudently of their Wickedness and to glory in their shame not because they do really and inwardly believe their Vices to be an Honour and Glory to them but because conscious to themselves that they have done shameful things and believing that others know it they put on a Whore's Forehead and think to prevent the upbraiding of others by owning what they have done and seeming to glory in it but yet for all that these Persons if they would confess the Truth do feel some Confusion in themselves and they are inwardly sensible of the Infamy and Reproach of such Actions for all they would seem to the World to bear it out so well For when all is done there is a wide difference between the Impudence of a Criminal and the Confidence and Assurance of a clear Conscience that is fully satisfied of its own Innocence and Integrity The conscientious Man is not ashamed of any thing that he hath done but the impudent Sinner only seems not to be so but all the while feels a great deal of Confusion in his own Mind The one is sensible and satisfied that there is no cause for Shame the other is conscious to himself that there is cause but he offers Violence to himself and suppresses all he can the sense and shew of it and will needs face down the World that he hath no Guilt and Regret in his own Mind for any thing that he hath done Now that Sin is truly matter of Shame will be very evident if we consider these two things First If we consider the nature of this Passion of Shame Secondly If we consider what there is in Sin which gives real ground and occasion for it First For the nature of this Passion Shame is the Trouble or Confusion of Mind occasioned by something that tends to our Disgrace and Dishonour to our Infamy and Reproach Now there is nothing truly and really matter of Shame and Reproach to us but what we our selves have done or have been some way or other accessary to the doing of by our own fault or neglect and by consequence what it was in our Power and Choice not to have done For no Man is ashamed of what he is sure he could not help Necessity unless it be wilful and contracted and happens through some precedent occasion and fault of our own does take away all just cause of Shame And nothing likewise is matter of Shame but something which we ought not to do which misbecomes us and is below the Dignity and Perfection of our Nature and is against some Duty and Obligation that is upon us to the contrary and consequently is a Reproach to our Reason and Understanding a Reflection upon our Prudence and Discretion and at first sight hath an appearance of Ruggednss and Deformity And all Actions of this nature do receive several Aggravations with respect to the Persons against whom and in whose Presence and under whose Eye and Knowledge these shameful things are done Now I shall shew in the Second place That Sin contains in it whatsoever is justly accounted infamous together with all the Aggravations of Shame and Reproach that can be imagined And this will appear by considering Sin and Vice in these two respects I. In relation to our selves II. In respect to God against whom and in whose sight it is committed I. In relation to our selves there are these four things which make Sin and Vice to be very shameful 1. The natural Ruggedness and Deformity of it 2. That it is so great a Dishonour to our Nature and to the Dignity and Excellency of our Being 3. That it is so great a Reproach to our Reason and Understanding and so foul a Reflection upon our Prudence and Discretion 4. That it is our own voluntary Act and Choice Every one of these Considerations render it very shameful and all of them together ought to fill the Sinner with Confusion of face I shall speak to them severally 1. The natural Ruggedness and Deformity of Sin and Vice render it very shameful Men are apt to be ashamed of any thing in them or belonging to them that looks ugly and monstrous and therefore they endeavour with great Care and Art to conceal and dissemble their Deformity in any kind How strangely do we see Men concerned with all their Diligence and Skill to cover and palliate any Defect or Deformity in their Bodies an ill Face if they could however a foul and bad Complexion or blind or squinting Eye a crooked Body or Limb and whatever is ill-favour'd or monstrous Now in regard of our Souls and better part Sin hath all the monstrousness and deformity in it which we can imagine in the Body and much more and it is as hard to be covered from the Eye of discerning Men as the deformity of the Body is but impossible to be conceal'd from the Eye of God to whom Darkness and Light secret and open are all one But then the moral Defects and Deformities of the Mind have this advantage above the natural Defects and Deformities of the Body that the former are possible to be cured by the Grace of God in Conjunction with our own Care and Endeavour Whereas no Diligence or Skill can ever help or remove many of the natural Defects and Deformities of the Body Sin is the blindness of our Minds the perverseness and crookedness of our Wills
so I might instance in all other sorts of Sins I say he that considers this well and wisely tho' there were no Law against Sin and if it were a possible case and fit to be supposed tho' there were no such Being as God in the World to call him to account and punish him for it yet out of meer Generosity and Greatness of Mind out of pure respect to himself and the Dignity and Rank of his Being and of his Order in the World out of very Reverence to Humane Nature and the inward Perswasion of his own Mind however he came by that Perswasion concerning the Indeceny and Deformity and Shamefulness of the thing I say for these Reasons if there were no other a Man would strive with himself with all his might to refrain from Sin and Vice and not only blush but abhor to think of doing a wicked Action 3. Sin will yet farther appear shameful in that it is so great a Reproach to our Understandings and Reasons and so foul a Blot upon our Prudence and Discretion Omnis peccans aut ignorans est aut incogitans is a Saying I think of one of the School-men as one would guess by the Latin of it Every Sinner is either an ignorant or inconsiderate Person Either Men do not understand what they do when they commit Sin or if they do know they do not actually attend to and consider what they know Either they are habitually or actually ignorant of what they do for Sin and Consideration cannot dwell together 't is so very unreasonable and absurd a thing that it requires either gross Ignorance or stupid Inadvertency to make a Man capable of committing it Whenever a Man sins he must either be destitute of Reason or must lay it aside or asleep for the time and so suffer himself to be hurried away and to act brutishly as if he had no understanding Did but Men attentively consider what it is to offend God and to break the Laws of that great Law-giver who is able to save or to destroy they would discern so many invincible Objections against the thing and would be filled with such strong Fears and Jealousies of the fatal Issue and Event of it that they would not dare to venture upon it And therefore we find the Scripture so frequently resolving the Wickedness of Men into their Ignorance and Inconsiderateness Psal 14.4 Have all the workers of iniquity no knowledge intimating that by their Actions one would judge so And the same account God himself also gives elsewhere of the frequent Disobedience and Rebellion of the People of Israel Deut. 32.28 29. They are a nation void of counsel neither is there any understanding in them Oh! that they were wise that they understood this that they would consider their latter end Knowledge and Consideration would cure a great part of the Wickedness that is in the World Men would not commit Sin with so much greediness would they but take time to consider and bethink themselves what they do Have we not reason then to be ashamed of Sin which casts such a reproach of Ignorance and Rashness upon us and of Imprudence likewise and Indiscretion Since nothing can be more directly and plainly against our greatest and best Interest both of Body and Soul both here and hereafter both now and to all Eternity And there is nothing that Men are more ashamed of than to be guilty of so great an Imprudence as to act clearly against their own Interest to which Sin is the most plainly cross and contrary that it is possible for any thing to be No Man can engage and continue in a sinful Course without being so far abused and infatuated as to be contented to part with Everlasting Happiness and to be undone and miserable for ever none but he that can perswade himself against all the Reason and Sense of Mankind that there is pleasure enough in the transient acts of Sin to make amends for Eternal Sorrow and Shame and Suffering And can such a Thought as this enter into the Heart of a considerate Man Epicurus was so wise as to conclude against all Pleasure that would give a Man more Trouble and Disturbance afterwards against all Pleasures that had Pain and Grief consequent upon them and he forbids his Wise Man to taste of them or to meddle with them and had he believed any thing of a future State he must according to his Principle have pronounc'd it the greatest Folly that could be for any Man to purchase the Pleasures and Happiness of a few Years at the dear rate of Eternal Misery and Torment So that if it be a Disgrace to a Man to act imprudently and to do things plainly against his Interest then Vice is the greatest reproach that is possible The 4 th and last Consideration which renders Sin so shameful to us is that it is our own Voluntary Act and Choice We chuse this Disgrace and willingly bring this Reproach upon our selves We pity an Ideot and one that is naturally destitute of Understanding or one that loseth the use of his Reason by a Disease or other inevitable accident But every one despiseth him who besots himself and plays the fool out of carelessness and a gross neglect of himself And this is the Case of the Sinner there is no Man that sinneth but because he is wanting to himself he might be wiser and do better and will not but he chuseth his own Devices and Voluntarily runs himself upon those inconveniences which it was in his Power to have avoided Not but that I do heartily own and lament the great Corruption and Degeneracy of our Nature and the strong Propensions which appear so early in us to that which is Evil but God hath provided a Remedy and Cure for all this For since the Grace of God which brings Salvation unto all men hath appeared under the influence and through the assistance of that Grace which is offer'd to them by the Gospel men may deny ungodliness and worldly lusts and live soberly righteously and godly in this present World For I make no doubt but since God hath enter'd into a new Covenant of Grace with Mankind and offered new Terms of Life and Salvation to us I say I doubt not but his Grace is ready at hand to enable us to perform all those Conditions which he requires of us if we be not wanting to our selves There was a way of Salvation established before the Gospel was clearly reveal'd to the World and they who under that Dispensation whether Jews or Gentiles sincerely endeavour'd to do the will of God so far as they knew it were not utterly destitute of Divine Grace and Assistance But now there is a more plentiful Effusion of God's Grace and Holy Spirit so that whoever under the Gospel sins deliberately sins wilfully and is wicked not for want of Power but of Will to do otherwise And this is that which makes Sin so shameful a thing and so
for them who will bring every work into judgment and every secret sin that ever we committed and take Vengeance upon us for all our iniquities So that whenever we sin we shamefully entreat our selves and give the deepest wounds to our Reputation in the esteem of him who is the most competent Judge of what is truly Honourable and Praise-worthy and cloath our selves with shame and dishonour We are ashamed of Poverty because the poor Man is despised and almost ridiculous in the Eye of the proud and covetous rich Man whose riches are his high Tower and make him apt to look down upon the poor Man that is below him with contempt and scorn we are ashamed of a dangerous and contagious Disease because all men fly infectious company but a Man may be poor or sick by misfortune but no Man is wicked but by his own fault and wilful choice Ill-natur'd and inconsiderate men will be apt to contemn us for our poverty and affliction in any kind but by our Vices we render our selves odious to God and to all good and considerate men II. Consider that shame for sin now is the way to prevent Eternal Shame and Confusion hereafter For this is one great part of the Misery of another World that the sinner shall then be filled with everlasting shame and confusion at the remembrance of his faults and folly The Eternal Misery of wicked men is sometimes in Scripture represented as if it consisted only or chiefly in the Infamy and Reproach which will then overwhelm them when all their crimes and faults shall be exposed and laid open to the view of the whole World Dan. 12.2 where the general Resurrection of the just and unjust is thus described Many of them that sleep in the dust of the earth shall awake some to everlasting life and some to everlasting shame and contempt Where everlasting life and everlasting shame are opposed as if Eternal shame were a kind of perpetual Death In this World sinners make an hard shift by concealing or extenuating their faults as well as they can to suppress or lessen their shame they have not now so clear and full Conviction of the evil and folly of their sin God is pleased to bear with them and to spare them at present and they do not yet feel the dismal effects and consequences of a wicked life but in the next World when the righteous judgment of God is revealed and the full Vials of his wrath shall be poured forth upon sinners they shall then be cloathed with shame as with a garment and be covered with confusion then they will feel the folly of their sins and have a sensible Demonstration within themselves of the infinite Evil of them their own Consciences will then furiously fly in their faces and with the greatest bitterness and rage upbraid and reproach them with the folly of their own doings and so long as we are sensible that we suffer for our own folly so long we must unavoidably be ashamed of what we have done So that if sinners shall be everlastingly tormented in another World it necessarily follows that they shall be eternally Confounded Is it not then better to remember our ways now and to be ashamed and repent of them than to bring everlasting Shame and Confusion upon our selves before God and Angels and Men This is the Argument which St. John useth to take men off from sin and to engage them to Holiness and Righteousness of Life 1. Joh. 2.28 That when he shall appear that is when he shall come to judge the World we may have confidence and not be ashamed before him at his coming III. And lastly Consider that nothing sets men at a farther distance from Repentance and all hopes of their becoming better and brings them nearer to Ruin than Impudence in a sinful course There are too many in the World who are so far from being ashamed of their Wickedness and blushing at the mention of their faults that they boast of them and glory in them God often complains of this in the People of Israel as a sad presage of their Ruin and an ill sign of their desperate and irrecoverable Condition Jer. 3.3 Thou hadst a whore's forehead and refusedst to be ashamed and Jerem. 6.15 Were they ashamed when they committed abominations Nay they were not ashamed neither could they blush therefore they shall fall among them that fall and in the time that I visit them they shall be cast down Hear likewise how the Apostle doth lament the case of such Persons as incurable and past all remedy Philip. 3.18 19. There are many of whom I have told you often and now tell you even weeping that they are enemies to the Cross of Christ whose end is destruction whose God is their belly whose glory is in their shame Such Persons who glory in that which ought to be their shame what can their end be but destruction There is certainly no greater argument of a degenerate Person and of one that is utterly lost to all sense of goodness than to be void of shame and as on the one Hand they must be very towardly and well disposs'd to Virtue who are drawn by ingenuity and meer sense of Obligation and Kindness so on the other hand they must be very stupid and insensible who are not wrought upon by Arguments of fear and sense of shame There is hardly any hopes of that Man who is not to be reclaimed from an Evil course neither by the apprehension of danger nor of disgrace and who can at once securely neglect both his Safety and Reputation Hear how the Prophet represents the deplorable Case of such Persons Isa 3.9 The shew of their countenance bears witness against them in the Hebrew it is The hardness of their countenance doth testifie against them and they declare their sin as Sodom they hide it not Wo unto their Souls for they have rewarded evil to themselves When Men are once arrived to that pitch of Impiety as to harden their Foreheads against all sense and shew of Shame and so as to be able to set a good face upon the foulest Matter in the World wo unto them because their Case seems then to be desperate and past all hopes of Recovery For who can hope that a Man will forsake his Sins when he is not so much as ashamed of them But yet one would think that those that are not ashamed of their Impiety should be ashamed of their Impudence and should at least blush at this that they can do the vilest and the most shameful things in the World without blushing To conclude this whole Discourse let the Consideration of the evil and shamefulness of Sin have this double effect upon us to make us heartily ashamed of the past Errors and Miscarriages of our Lives and firmly resolved to do better for the future I. To be heartily ashamed of the past Errors of our Lives So often as we reflect upon the manifold
they are these three which I have mentioned I. The Anguish of a guilty Mind II. The lively Apprehensions of the invaluable Happiness which they have lost III. A quick Sense of the intolerable Pains which they lie under I. The Anguish of a guilty Conscience And this is natural for there is a Worm that abides in a guilty Conscience and is continually gnawing it This is that our Saviour calls the Worm that dyes not And tho' God should inflict no positive Punishment upon Sinners yet this is a Revenge which every Man's Mind would take upon him for things are so order'd by God in the original Frame and Constitution of our Minds that on the one hand Peace and Pleasure Contentment and Satisfaction do naturally arise in our Minds from the Conscience of Well-doing and spring up in the Soul of every good Man And on the other hand no Man knowingly does an evil Action but his guilty Conscience galls him for it and the remembrance of it is full of Bitterness to him And this the Sinner feels in this World he disguiseth and dissembleth his Trouble as much as he can and shifts off these uneasie Thoughts by all the Diversions he can devise and by this means palliates his Disease and renders his Condition in some sort tolerable unto himself but when he is alone or cast upon the Bed of Sickness and his Thoughts are let loose upon him and he hath nothing to give them a Diversion how does his Guilt ferment and work and the Feaver which lurkt before does now shew it self and is ready to burn him up so that nothing can appear more dismal and ghastly than such a Man does to himself And much more when Sinners come into the other World and are entred into the Regions of Darkness and the melancholy Shades where Evil Spirits are continually wandring up and down where they can meet with nothing either of Employment or Pleasure to give the least Diversion to their pensive Minds where they shall find nothing to do but to reflect upon and bemoan themselves where all the wicked Actions that ever they committed shall come fresh into their Minds and stare their Consciences in the face It is not to be imagined what sad Scenes will then be present to their Imaginations and what sharp Reflections their own guilty Minds will make upon them and what Swarms of Furies will possess them So soon as ever they are entered upon that State they will then find themselves forsaken of all those Comforts which they once placed so much Happiness in and they will have nothing to converse with but their own uneasie selves and those that are as miserable as themselves and therefore uncapable of administring any Comfort to one another They will then have nothing to think on but what will trouble them and every new Thought will be a new increase of their Trouble Their Guilt will make them restless and the more restless they are the more will their Minds be enraged and there will be no end of their Vexation because the Cause and Ground of it is perpetual For there is no possible way to get rid of Guilt but by Repentance and there is no Encouragment no Argument to Repentance where there is no hope of Pardon So that if God should hold his Hand and leave Sinners to themselves and to the Lashes of their own Conscience a more severe and terrible Torment can hardly be imagin'd than that which a guilty Mind would execute upon it self II. Another Ingredient into the Miseries of Sinners in another World is the lively Apprehension of the invaluable Happiness which they have lost by their own Obstinacy and foolish Choice In the next World wicked Men shall be for ever separated from God who is the Fountain of Happiness and from all the Comforts of his Presence and Favour This our Saviour tells us is the first part of that dreadful Sentence that shall be passed upon the wicked at the great Day Depart from me which Words tho' they do not signifie any positive Infliction and Torment yet they import the greatest Loss that can be imagined And it is not so easie to determine which is the greatest of Evils Loss or Pain Indeed to a Creature that is only endowed with Sense there can be no Misery but that of Pain and Suffering but to those who have Reason and Understanding and are capable of knowing the value of things and of reflecting upon themselves in the want of them the greatest loss may be as grievous and hard to be born as the greatest pain 'T is true that sinners are now so immerst in the gross and sensual delights of this World that they have no apprehension of the Joys of Heaven and the Pleasures of God's presence and of the Happiness that is to be enjoyed in Communion with him and therefore they are not now capable of estimating the greatness of this loss But this insensibleness of wicked men continues no longer than this present state which affords them variety of Objects of Pleasure and of Business to divert them and entertain them but when they come into the other World they shall then have nothing else to think upon but the sad Condition into which they have brought themselves nothing to do but to pore and meditate upon their own Misfortune when they shall lift up their Eyes and with the rich Man in the Parable in the midst of their Torments look up to those who are in Abraham's bosom and their Misery will be mightily increased by the Contemplation of that Happiness which others enjoy and themselves have so foolishly forfeited and fallen short of insomuch that it would be happy for them if that God from whose presence they are banisht that Heaven from which they have excluded themselves and that everlasting Glory which they have despised and neglected might be for ever hid from their Eyes and never come into their Minds III. This is not all but besides the sad Apprehension of their Loss they shall endure the sharpest Pains These God hath threatned sinners withal and they are in Scripture represented to us by the most grievous and intolerable Pains that in this World we are acquainted withal as by the Pain of Burning Hence the wicked are said to be cast into the Lake which burns with fire and brimstone and into the fire which is not quenched which whether it be literally to be understood or not is certainly intended to signifie the most severe kind of Torment but what that is and in what manner it shall be inflicted none know but they that feel it and lie under it The Scripture tells so much in general of it as is enough to warn men to avoid it that it is the effect of a mighty Displeasure and of Anger armed with Omnipotence and consequently must needs be very terrible more dreadful than we can now conceive and probably greater than can be described by any of those Pains and Sufferings which
now we are acquainted withal for who knows the power of God's anger and the utmost of what Almighty Justice can do to Sinners Who can Comprehend the vast significancy of those Expressions Fear him who after he hath killed can destroy both body and soul in Hell and again It is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God One would think this were Misery enough and needed no farther Aggravation and yet it hath Two terrible ones from the Consideration of past Pleasures which Sinners have enjoyed in this World and from an utter Despair of future Ease and Remedy 1. From the Consideration of the past Pleasures which Sinners have enjoy'd in this Life This will make their Sufferings much more sharp and sensible for as nothing commends Pleasure more and gives Happiness a quicker taste and relish than precedent Sufferings and Pain there is not perhaps a greater Pleasure in the World than the strange and sudden Ease which a Man finds after a sharp fit of the Stone or Cholick or after a Man is taken off the Rack and Nature which was in an Agony before is all at once set at perfect Ease So on the other Hand nothing exasperates Suffering more and sets a keener Edge upon Misery than to step into Afflictions and Pain immediately out of a state of great Ease and Pleasure This we find in the Parable was the great Aggravation of the rich Man's Torment that he had first received his good things and was afterwards Tormented We may do well to consider this that those Pleasures of Sin which have now so much of Temptation in them will in the next World be one of the chief Aggravations of our Torment 2. The greatest Aggravation of this Misery will be that it is attended with the Despair of any future Ease and when Misery and Despair meet together they make a Man compleatly miserable The duration of this Misery is exprest to us in Scripture by such words as are us'd to signifie the longest and most interminable duration Depart ye cursed into everlasting fire Matt. 25.41 Where the worm dieth not and the fire is not quenched Mark 9.43 and 2 Thess 1.7 It is there said that those who know not God and obey not the Gospel of his Son shall be punisht with everlasting destruction from the presence of the Lord and from the glory of his power And in Rev. 20.10 That the wicked shall be tormented day and night for ever and ever And what can be imagined beyond this This is the perfection of Misery to lie under the greatest Torment and yet be in despair of ever finding the least Ease And thus I have done with the First thing I propounded to speak to from this Text viz. The manifest Inconveniences of a sinful and vicious Course of Life that it brings no present Benefit or Advantage to us that the reflection upon it causeth Shame and that it is fearful and miserable in the last Issue and Consequence of it What fruit had you c. I should now have proceeded to the Second Part of the Text which represents to us the manifold Advantages of an Holy and Virtuous Course of Life 22 v But now being made free from sin and become the servants of righteousness ye have your fruit unto holiness there 's the present Advantage of it and the end everlasting life there 's the future Reward of it But this is a large Argument which will require a Discourse by it self and therefore I shall not now enter upon it but shall only make some reflections upon what hath been said concerning the miserable Issue and Consequence of a wicked Life impenitently persisted in And surely if we firmly believe and seriously consider these things we have no reason to be fond of any Vice we can take no great Comfort or Contentment in a sinful Course If we could for the seeming Advantage and short Pleasure of some sins dispense with the Temporal Mischiefs and Inconveniences of them which yet I cannot see how any Prudent and Considerate Man could do if we could conquer Shame and bear the Infamy and Reproach which attends most sins and could digest the upbraidings of our own Consciences so often as we call them to remembrance and reflect seriously upon them tho' for the gratifying an importunate Inclination and an impetuous Appetite all the Inconveniences of them might be born withal yet methinks the very thought of the End and Issue of a wicked Life that the end of these things is Death that indignation and wrath tribulation and anguish far greater than we can now describe or imagine shall be to every soul of Man that doth evil should over-rule us Tho' the violence of an irregular lust and desire are able to bear down all other Arguments yet methinks the Eternal Interest of our precious and immortal Souls should still lie near our Hearts and affect us very sensibly Methinks the Consideration of another World and of all Eternity and of that dismal fate which attends Impenitent Sinners after this Life and the dreadful hazard of being miserable for ever should be more than enough to dishearten any Man from a wicked life and to bring him to a better Mind and Course And if the plain Representations of these things do not prevail with men to this purpose it is a sign that either they do not believe these things or else that they do not consider them one of these two must be the reason why any Man notwithstanding these terrible threatnings of God's Word does venture to continue in an Evil Course 'T is vehemently to be suspected that men do not really believe these things that they are not fully perswaded that there is another state after this Life in which the righteous God will render to every Man according to his deeds and therefore so much Wickedness as we see in the lives of men so much Infidelity may reasonably be suspected to lie lurking in their Hearts They may indeed seemingly profess to believe these things but he that would know what a Man inwardly and firmly believes should attend rather to his Actions than to his Verbal Professions For if any Man lives so as no Man that believes the Principles of the Christian Religion in reason can live there is too much reason to question whether that Man doth believe his Religion he may say he does but there is a far greater Evidence in the Case than Words the Actions of the Man are by far the most credible Declarations of the inward Sense and Perswasion of his Mind Did men firmly and heartily believe that there is a God that governs the World and regards the Actions of men and that he hath appointed a day in which he will judge the World in righteousness and that all Mankind shall appear before him in that day and every Action that they have done in their whole lives shall be brought upon the Stage and pass a strict Examination and Censure and
mixture of so many infirmities and pains of so much trouble and sorrow I say that even this sort of Life for all that we are so fondly in love with it does hardly deserve the name of Life But the Life of the world to come of which we now speak this is Life indeed to do those things which we were made for to serve the true Ends of our Being and to enjoy the Comfort and Reward of so doing this is the true notion of Life and whatever is less than this is Death or a degree of it and approach towards it And therefore very well may Heaven and Happiness be describ'd by the notion of Life because truly to live and to be happy are words that signifie the same thing But what kind of Life this is I can no more describe to you in the particularities of it than Columbus could have described the particular Manners and Customs of the People of America before he or any other person in these parts of the World had seen it or been there But this I can say of it in general and that from the infallible testimony of the great Creator and glorious Inhabitants of that blessed place that it is a state of pure Pleasure and unmingled Joys of Pleasures more manly more spiritual and more refined than any of the Delights of sense consisting in the enlargement of our Minds and Knowledge to a greater degree and in the perfect exercise of Love and Friendship in the Conversation of the best and wisest Company free from self-interest and all those unsociable passions of Envy and Jealousie of Malice and Ill-will which spoil the Comfort of all Conversation in this World and in a word free from all other Passion or Design but an ardent and almost equal desire to contribute all that by all means possible they can to the mutual Happiness of one another For Charity reigns in Heaven and is the brightest Grace and Virtue in the Firmament of Glory far out-shining all other as St. Paul who had himself been taken up into the third Heaven does expresly declare to us Farther yet this blessed state consists more particularly in these two things In having our Bodies raised and refined to a far greater Purity and Perfection than ever they had in this World and in the consequent Happiness of the whole Man's Soul and Body so strictly and firmly united as never to be parted again and so equally match'd as to be no trouble or impediment to one another 1. In having our Bodies raised and refined to a far greater Purity and Perfection than ever they had in this World Our Bodies as they are now are unequally temper'd and in a perpetual flux and change continually tending to Corruption because made up of such contrary Principles and Qualities as by their perpetual conflict are always at work conspiring the Ruin and Dissolution of them but when they are raised again they shall be so temper'd and so refin'd as to be free from all those destructive Qualities which do now threaten their change and dissolution and tho' they shall still consist of Matter yet it shall be purified to that degree as to partake of the Immortality of our Souls to which it shall be united and to be of equal duration with them So the Scripture tells us 1 Cor. 15.52 53. That our dead Bodies shall be raised incorruptible for this corruptible must put on incorruption and this mortal must put on immortality Our Bodies when they are laid down in the Grave are vile Carcases but they shall be raised again Beautiful and Glorious and as different from what they were before as the Heavenly Mansions in which they are to reside for ever are from that dark Cell of the Grave out of which they are raised and shall then be endowed with such a Life and Strength and Vigour as to be able without any change or decay to abide and continue for ever in the same state Our Bodies in this World are gross Flesh and Blood liable to be affected with natural and sensual Pleasures and to be afflicted with natural Pains and Diseases to be prest with the natural necessities of Hunger and Thirst and obnoxious to all those Changes and Accidents to which all natural things are subject But they shall be raised spiritual bodies pure and refin'd from all the dregs of Matter they shall not hunger nor thirst nor be diseased or in Pain any more These Houses of Clay whose Foundation is in the dust are continually decaying and therefore stand in need of continual Reparation by Food and Physick but our House which is from Heaven as the Apostle calls it shall be of such lasting and durable Materials as not only Time but even Eternity it self shall make no impression upon it or cause the least decay in it They says our Blessed Saviour who shall be accounted worthy to obtain that World and the Resurrection from the dead cannot die any more but shall be like the Angels and are the children of God i. e. shall in some degree partake of the Felicity and Immortality of God himself who is always the same and whose years fail not Nay the Apostle expresly tells us that our Bodies after the Resurrection shall be spiritual Bodies so that we shall then be as it were all Spirit and our Bodies shall be so raised and refined that they shall be no clog or impediment to the Operation of our Souls And it must needs be a great comfort to us whilst we are in this World to live in the hopes of so happy and glorious a change when we consider how our Bodies do now oppress our Spirits and what a melancholy and dead weight they are upon them how grievous an Incumbrance and Trouble and Temptation they are for the most part to us in this mortal state 2. The blessedness of this state consists likewise in the consequent Happiness of the whole Man Soul and Body so strictly and firmly united as never to be parted again and so equally matched as to be no trouble and impediment to one another In this World the Soul and Body are for the most part very unequally yoked so that the Soul is not only darkned by the gross Fumes and Clouds which rise from the Body but loaded and opprest by the dull weight of it which it very heavily lugs on and draws after it and the Soul likewise and the vicious Inclinations and irregular Passions of it have many times an ill influence upon the Body and the humours of it But in the next World they shall both be purified the one from Sin and the other from Frailty and Corruption and both admitted to the blessed sight and enjoyment of the ever blessed God But the Consideration of this as I said before is too big for our narrow apprehensions in this mortal state and an Argument not fit to be treated of by such Children as the wisest of men are in this World and whenever we attempt
to speak of it we do but lisp like Children and understand like Children and reason like Children about it That which is imperfect must be done away and our Souls must be raised to a greater Perfection and our Understandings fill'd with a stronger and steadier Light before we can be fit to engage in so profound a Contemplation We must first have been in Heaven and possest of that Felicity and Glory which is there to be enjoyed before we can either speak or think of it in any measure as it deserves In the mean time whenever we set about it we shall find our Faculties opprest and dazled with the weight and splendor of so great and glorious an Argument like St. Paul who when he was caught up into Paradise saw and heard those things which when he came down again into this World he was not able to express and which it was not possible for the Tongue of Man to utter So that in discoursing of the state of the Blessed we must content our selves with what the Scripture hath revealed in general concerning it that it is a state of perfect freedom from all those Infirmities and Imperfections those Evils and Miseries those Sins and Temptations which we are liable to in this World So St. John describes the Glory and Felicity of that state as they were in Visions represented to him Rev. 21.2 3 4. And I John saw the holy City the new Jerusalem prepared as a Bride adorned for her Husband And I heard a great voice out of Heaven saying Behold the Tabernacle of God is with men and he will dwell with them and they shall be his people and God himself shall be with them and be their God And God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes and there shall be no more death neither sorrow nor crying neither shall there be any more pain for the former things are passed away that is all those Evils which we saw or suffered in this World shall for ever vanish and disappear and which is the great Privilege and Felicity of all that there shall no Sin be there v. 27. There shall in no wise enter into it any thing that defileth and consequently there shall be no Misery and Curse there So we read Chap. 22.3 4. And there shall be no more curse but the throne of God and of the Lamb shall be in it and his servants shall serve him and they shall see his face In which last words our Employment and our Happiness are exprest but what in particular our Employment shall be and wherein it shall consist is impossible now to describe it is sufficient to know in the general that our Employment shall be our unspeakable Pleasure and every way suitable to the Glory and Happiness of that state and as much above the noblest and most delightful Employments of this World as the Perfection of our Bodies and the Powers of our Souls shall then be above what they are now in this World For there is no doubt but that he who made us and endued our Souls with a desire of Immortality and so large a Capacity of Happiness does understand very well by what way and means to make us happy and hath in readiness proper Exercises and Employments for that state and every way more fitted to make us Happy than any Condition or Employment in this World is suitable to a temporal Happiness Employments that are suitable to the spirits of just men made perfect united to Bodies purified and refined almost to the Condition of Spirits Employments which we shall be so far from being weary of that they shall minister to us a new and fresh delight to all Eternity and this perhaps not so much from the variety as from the perpetual and growing Pleasure of them It is sufficient for us to know this in the general and to trust the infinite Power and Wisdom and Goodness of God for the particular manner and circumstances of our Happiness not doubting but that he who is the eternal and inexhaustible Spring and Fountain of all Happiness can and will derive and convey such a share of it to every one of us as he thinks fit and in such ways as he who best understands it is best able to find out In a word the Happiness of the next Life shall be such as is worthy of the great King of the World to bestow upon his faithful Servants and such as is infinitely beyond the just Reward of their best Services it is to see God i. e. to contemplate and love the best and most perfect of Beings and to be for ever with the Lord in whose presence is fullness of joy and at whose right hand there are pleasures for evermore I will say no more upon this Argument lest I should say less and because whoever ventures to wade far into it will soon find himself out of his depth and in danger to be swallowed up and lost in that great abyss which is not to be fathom'd by the shallow Faculties of Mortal men I shall therefore only mention the 2. Thing I proposed to speak to viz. The Eternity of this Happiness And the end everlasting life by which the Apostle intends to express the utmost Perfection but not the final Period of the Happiness of good men in another World For to a perfect state of Happiness these two Conditions are requisite that it be immutable and that it be interminable that it can neither admit of a change nor of an end And this is all that I shall say of it it being impossible to say any thing that is more intelligible and plain concerning that which is infinite than that it is so I should now have proceeded to the II. Thing I proposed viz. By what Way and Means we may be prepared and made meet to be made partakers of this Happiness and that is as I have told you all along by the constant and sincere endeavour of an Holy and good Life for the Text supposeth that they only who are made free from Sin and become the Servants of God and who have their Fruit unto Holiness are they whose end shall be everlasting Life But this is an Argument which I have had so frequent occasion to speak to that I shall not now meddle with it All that I shall do more at present shall be to make an Inference or two from what hath been said upon this Argument I. The Consideration of the Happy State of good men in another World cannot be but a great comfort and support to good men under all the Evils and Sufferings of this present Life Hope is a great Cordial to the Minds of men especially when the thing hoped for does so vastly outweigh the present grievance and trouble The Holy Scriptures which reveal to us the Happiness of our future state do likewise assure us that there is no comparison between the Afflictions and Sufferings of good men in this World and the Reward of
them in the other I reckon saith St. Paul Rom. 8.8 that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory that shall be revealed in us Particularly the Consideration of that glorious change which shall be made in our Bodies at the Resurrection ought to be a great comfort to us under all the Pains and Diseases which they are now liable to and even against Death it self One of the greatest burdens of Humane Nature is the frailty and infirmity of our Bodies the necessities which they are frequently prest withal the Diseases and Pains to which they are liable and the fear of death by reason whereof a great part of Mankind are subject to bondage against all which this is an everlasting Spring of Consolation to us that the time is coming when we shall have other sort of Bodies freed from that burden of Corruption which we now groan under and from all those Miseries and Inconveniences which Flesh and Blood are now subject to For the time will come when these vile Bodies which we now wear shall be changed and fashioned like to the glorious Body of the Son of God and when they shall be raised at the last day they shall not be raised such as we laid them down Vile and Corrruptible but Immortal and Incorruptible for the same Power which hath raised them up to Life shall likewise change them and put a glory upon them like to that of the glorified Body of our Lord and when this glorious change is made when this corruptible hath put on incorruption and this mortal hath put on immortality then shall come to pass the saying that is written Death is swallowed up in victory and when this last enemy is perfectly subdued we shall be set above all the Frailties and Dangers all the Temptations and Sufferings of this mortal state there will then be no fleshly lusts and brutish Passions to War against the Soul no law in our members to rise up in Rebellion against the law of our minds no diseases to torment us no danger of Death to terrifie us all the Motions and Passions of our outward Man shall then be perfectly subject to the Reason of our Minds and our Bodies shall partake of the Immortality of our Souls How should this Consideration bear us up under all the Evils of Life and the fears of Death that the Resurrection will be a perfect Cure of all our Infirmities and Diseases and an effectual Remedy of all the Evils that we now labour under and that it is but a very little while that we shall be troubled with these Frail and Mortal and Vile Bodies which shall shortly be laid in the dust and when they are raised again shall become Spiritual Incorruptible and Glorious And if our Bodies shall undergo so happy a change what Happiness may we imagine shall then be conferr'd upon our Souls that so much better and nobler part of our selves As the Apostle reasons in another Case Doth God take care of Oxen Hath he this Consideration of our Bodies which are but the brutish part of the Man What regard will he then have to his own Image that spark of Divinity which is for ever to reside in these Bodies If upon the account of our Souls and for their sakes our Bodies shall become Incorruptible Spiritual and Glorious then certainly our Souls shall be endued with far more Excellent and Divine Qualities if our Bodies shall in some degree partake of the Perfection of our Souls in their Spiritual and Immortal Nature to what a pitch of Perfection shall our Souls be raised and advanced even to an equality with Angels and to some kind of participation of the Divine Nature and Perfection so far as a Creature is capable of them II. The Comparison which is here in the Text and which I have largely explain'd between the manifest Inconveniences of a Sinful and Vicious Course and the manifold Advantages of an Holy and Virtuous Life is a plain direction to us which of these two to chuse So that I may make the same appeal that Moses does after that he had at large declared the Blessings promis'd to the Obedience of God's Laws and the Curse denounc'd against the Violation and Transgression of them Deut. 30.19 I call Heaven and Earth to record against you this day that I have set before you life and death blessing and cursing therefore chuse life that you may be happy in Life and Death and after Death to all Eternity I know every one is ready to chuse Happiness and to say with Balaam Let me die the death of the righteous and let my latter end be like his but if we do in good earnest desire the End we must take the Way that leads to it we must become the Servants of God and have our fruit unto holiness if ever we expect that the end shall be everlasting life SERMON IX Serm. 8. The Nature and Necessity of holy Resolution The First Sermon on this Text. JOB XXXIV 31 32. Surely it is meet to be said unto God I have born chastisement I will not offend any more That which I see not teach thou me if I have done iniquity I will do no more THESE words are the words of Elihu one of Job's Friends and the only one who is not reproved for his Discourse with Job and who was probably the Author of this ancient and most eloquent History of the sufferings and patience of Job and of the end which the Lord made with him Vol. 8. and they contain in them a Description of the temper and behaviour of a true Penitent Surely it is meet c. In which words we have the Two essential parts of a true Repentance First An humble Acknowledgment and Confession of our Sins to God Surely it is meet to be said unto God I have born chastisement Secondly A firm Purpose and Resolution of amendment and forsaking of Sin for the future I will not offend any more if I have done iniquity I will do no more First An humble Acknowledgment and Confession of our Sins to God Surely it is meet to be said unto God I have born chastisement that is have sinned and been justly punish'd for it and am now convinced of the Evil of Sin and resolved to leave it I have born chastisement I will offend no more Of this First part of Repentance viz. An humble Confession of our Sins to God with great Shame and Sorrow for them and a thorow Conviction of the Evil and Danger of a sinful Course I have already treated at large In these Repentance must begin but it must not end in them for a penitent Confession of our Sins to God and a Conviction of the evil of them signifies nothing unless it bring us to a Resolution of amendment that is of leaving our Sins and betaking our selves to a better Course And this I intend by God's assistance to speak to now as being the
him as far as he can And indeed this is the Reason why things of great moment are said to be things of Consequence because great things depend and are likely to follow upon them and then surely that is the greatest concernment upon which not only the Happiness of this present Life but our Happiness to all eternity does depend and if the good and bad Actions of this Life be of that consequence to us it is fit every Man should consider what he does and whither the Course of Life he is engaged or about to engage in will lead him at last For this is true wisdom to look to the end of things and to think seriously before hand what is likely to be the event of such an Action of such a Course of Life if we serve God faithfully and do his Will what will be the consequence of that to us in this World and the other and on the other hand if we live wickedly and allow our selves in any unlawful and vicious Practice what will be the end of that Course And to any Man that consults the Law of his own Nature or the will of God revealed in Scripture nothing can be plainer than what will be the end of these several ways God hath plainly told us and our own Consciences will tell us the same that If we do well we shall be accepted of God and rewarded by him but if we do ill the end of these things is Death that indignation and wrath tribulation and anguish will be upon every soul of Man that doth evil but honour and glory and peace to every Man that doth good in the day when God shall judge the secrets of men by Jesus Christ according to the Gospel So that God hath given us a plain prospect of the different Issues of a virtuous and a wicked Life and there wants nothing but Consideration to make us to attend to these things and to lay them seriously to heart For while men are inconsiderate they go on stupidly in an evil way and are not sensible of the danger of their present Course because they do not attend to the consequence of it but when their Eyes are once opened by Consideration they cannot but be sadly apprehensive of the mischief they are running themselves upon If men would take but a serious and impartial view of their Lives and Actions if they would consider the tendency of a sinful Course and whither it will bring them at last if the vicious and dissolute Man would but look about him and consider how many have been ruined in that very way that he is in how many lie slain and wounded in it that it is the way to Hell and leads down to the Chambers of Death the serious thought of this could not but check him in his Course and make him resolve upon a better Life If men were wise they would consider the consequence of their Actions and upon Consideration would resolve upon that which they are convinc'd is best I proceed to the III. Thing I propounded which was that Consideration of the consequence of our Actions is an excellent means to prevent the mischiefs which otherwise we should run into And this is necessarily implyed in the wish here in the Text that if we would but consider these things they might be prevented For how can any Man who hath any love or regard for himself any tenderness for his own Interest and Happiness see Hell and Destruction before him which if he hold on in his evil Course will certainly swallow him up and yet venture to go on in his Sins Can any Man that plainly beholds Misery hastning towards him like an armed Man and Destruction coming upon him as a whirl-wind think himself unconcerned to prevent it and flie from it The most dull and stupid Creatures will start back upon the sight of present danger Balaam's Ass when she saw the Angel of the Lord standing in the way with his Sword drawn ready to smite her starts aside and could not be urged on Now God hath given us not only Sense to apprehend a present evil but Reason and Consideration to look before us and to discover dangers at a distance to apprehend them as certainly and with as clear a Conviction of the reality of them as if they threatned us the next moment and will any considerate Man who hath calculated the dangerous events of Sin and the dreadful effects of God's wrath upon sinners go on to provoke the Lord to jealousie as if he were stronger than he It is not to be imagined but that if men would seriously consider what Sin is and what shall be the sad Portion of sinners hereafter they would resolve upon a better Course Would any Man live in the Lusts of the flesh and of intemperance or out of Covetousness defraud or oppress his Neighbour did he seriously consider that God is the avenger of such and that because of these things the wrath of God comes upon the Children of disobedience I should have great hopes of mens Repentance and Reformation if they could but once be brought to Consideration for in most men it is not so much a positive disbelief of the Truth as inadvertency and want of Consideration that makes them to go on so securely in a sinful Course Would but men consider what Sin is and what will be the fearful consequence of it probably in this World but most certainly in the other they could not chuse but flie from it as the greatest evil in the World And to shew what Power and Influence Consideration will probably have to bring men to Repentance and a change of their Lives I remember to have some where met with a very remarkable story of one that had a Son that took bad Courses and would not be reclaimed by all the good Counsel his Father could give him at last coming to his Father who lay upon his Death-Bed to beg his Blessing his Father instead of upbraiding him with his bad Life and undutiful Carriage toward him spake kindly to him and told him he had but one thing to desire of him That every day he would retire and spend one quarter of an hour alone by himself which he promised his Father faithfully to do and made it good after a while it grew tedious to him to spend even so little time in such bad and uneasie Company and he began to bethink himself for what Reason his Father should so earnestly desire of him to do so odd a thing for his sake and his mind presently suggested to him that it was to enforce him to Consideration wisely judging that if by any means he could but bring him to that he would soon reform his Life and become a new Man And the thing had its desired effect for after a very little Consideration he took up a firm Resolution to change the Course of his Life and was true to it all his days I cannot answer for the truth of