nearer we resemble him the more we shall enjoy of him in which the Happiness of our future State doth consist 'T is a State of perfect Purity and Holiness and consists in repeated Acts of Love and Zeal and Devotion and therefore the better fitted and prepar'd we are in this World by furnishing our Souls with vertuous Habits and those Divine Qualities of Humility Meekness Charity c. the more capable we shall be of partaking of those heavenly Pleasures Psal 16.11 Which are at Gods right hand for evermore Our time in this World was given us for this very Purpose that we might furnish our selves with such Vertues and Graces those wedding Garments which will render us fit Guests for the Marriage of the Lamb. 'T was easie for me to demonstrate that every Vertue has an influence upon our future Happiness and is a necessary Qualification which we must obtain before we are capable of enjoying it but this would take up too much time at present Dr. Scot in his Christian Life Part. 1. and has been already largely treated on by an excellent hand I shall therefore only remark That nothing can be more absurd than to frame a Notion of our future State from the Pleasures and Delights of our present Condition Or to take those figurative Descriptions of it which we meet with in the Holy Scripture in a literal Sence Our Saviour Christ has plainly told us That in Heaven we shall neither eat nor drink Mark 12.25 nor marry nor be given in marriage A sensual Paradise might reasonably be expected by a Turk or Pagan but not by a Christian whose Religion teaches him to Crucifie the Flesh with the sinful Lusts and Desires of the same It permits him indeed the moderate use of the good things of this World to render his Pilgrimage more easie and his Journey to Heaven more comfortable But yet it teaches him that his chief Happiness ought not to be plac'd in transitory Delights that they are Joys of a more Sublime Nature Such as neither eye hath seen 1 Cor. 2.9 nor ear heard neither hath it enter'd into the heart of man to understand which God hath prepared for those who love and serve him such Blessings as are agreeable to our immortal part such as the blessed Society of Saints and Angels and the Spirits of just Men made perfect the Vision of God in which our Souls being transform'd into his Image will be continually delighted and transported in admiring and adoring the Perfections of their Creator If therefore we hope to be Happy hereafter Heb. 12.14 we must practise Holiness in this Life For without Holiness no man can see God We must make it the business of our Lives to keep our Passions within their due Bounds and under the Government of our Reason to mortifie our immoderate Appetites and exercise our Graces such as Faith Hope Patience and Charity This is that Godliness which has the Promises of the Life that now is and that which is to come And now what remains but that every one who hears me this day be perswaded to embrace this pleasant Course of Life And methinks there should need no more Arguments to prevail with you presently to enter upon it since I have already prov'd that it is unquestionably both for your temporal and eternal Interest For what doth God require of you which is not highly just and reasonable What doth he command you But to do Justice to love Mercy Micah 6.8 and to walk humbly with your God i. e. to live up to the Dignity of your Natures and to Act as becomes reasonable and dependent Beings Consider what can you wish for which is not to be obtain'd by observing the Precepts of Religion Length of days are in her right hand and in her left hand riches and honour she shall give thy head an ornament of Grace Pror 3.16 and a Crown of Glory Exalt her and she shall promote thee and bring thee to Honour it shall be an Ornament of Grace to thy head and as a Chain about thy neck What Allurement can there be in the Pleasures of Sin which are but for a Season and perish even in the Enjoyment that you should prefer them before those which flow from a vertuous and religious Life And now may not God justly expostulate with us as he did with the People of Israel and Judah Isa 5.4 What could I have done to my Vineyard which I have not done unto it What more probable and more rational Methods could God have taken to perswade us to be Good and by consequence Happy than he has made use of He has address'd himself both to our Hopes and Fears he has plac'd eternal Happiness on one hand and eternal Misery on the other And moreover has strow'd our way to Heaven with the good things of this Life And now if notwithstanding all that God has done for us we resolve to be miserable and to take even Hell by force we have nothing to blame but our own stupendious Folly We can't sure be so silly as to imagine that God reaps any benefit by our Service or that our Praises make any addition to his Glory Job 35.6 for as Elihu very well argues If thou sinnest what dost thou against him or if thy transgressions be multiply'd what dost thou unto him if thou be righteous what givest thou him or what receiveth he at thy hand thy wickedness may hurt a man as thou art and thy righteousness may profit the son of man And therefore 't is evident that 't is only our Welfare God seeks 't is our Good he is so sollicitous for and as he made us at first with a Design to communicate Happiness unto us so he still retains the same gracious Intentions towards us And shall not we be wise for our selves Shall we willfully and obstinately go on to defeat all the gracious Purposes of his Mercy and Goodness to trample under feet the Blood of his dear Son and grieve his Holy Spirits Shall not these Cords of a Man be able to move us Shall neither our eternal nor our temporal Interest have any influence upon us This would certainly be such unaccountable Folly and monstrous Ingratitude as no considering Person can be Guilty of Let me therefore beseech you by the Mercies of God Rom. 12.1 that you present your Bodies a living Sacrifice holy acceptable unto God which is but your reasonable Service Let me beg and entreat of you in the name and for the sake of your blessed Lord and Redeemer that you would so far consult your own Interest as to lead a pure holy and devout Life which is the only way to pass your time chearfully and comfortably in this World And to make sure of everlasting Happiness in the world to come SERMON II. PSALM CXIX 59. I thought on my Ways and turned my Feet unto thy Testimonies THERE is nothing which with greater Reason hath
Apostles Advice That we should not only think on those things which are just and honest Phil. 4.8 but whatsoever things are lovely whatsoever things are of good report if there be any Vertue if there be any Praise think on these things But here I shall interpose one Caution that in all these Cases 't is suppos'd that the Action still remains indifferent For those Actions which are in their own Nature indifferent may become necessary by some Circumstance limiting and bounding them and if my indifferent Action is annex'd to a necessary Duty or determin'd by a lawful Authority I am no longer at Liberty which way to Act nor will an appearance of Evil be a sufficient Excuse for my abstaining from it These are some of those Rules which the best Casuists have laid down but yet they will not reach to all particular Cases and where they fall short our Christian Prudence will be the best Guide and Director hereby following the Example of the Apostles of our Saviour Christ who did not live themselves up to any particular Rule but in indifferent Matters suited their Actions to the Exigences of things and comported themselves so as that they might best promote the Glory of God the good of the Church If therefore we have to deal with such as having had leisure and parts and Opportunity to examine things may reasonably be thought to dissent from us our of Interest and Design and are so unjust as to deny us that Freedom which they themselves enjoy my Advice is to stand fast in that Liberty with which Christ has made us free Gal. 5.1 least by any mean and undue Compliances we should confirm the Erroneous shake the Faithful encourage the Adversary and disturb the Peace of the Governmentâ— both in Church and State which is setled amongst us But of others let us have Compassion Jud. 22. making a difference those who are indeed weak in the Faith and for want of a due Information are scrupulous in the lesser matters of Religion let us instruct them in the Extent of their Christian Liberty and the Lawfulness of those indifferent things they are offended at let us be careful that we do not give them just occasion of offence or disgust them either by our Words or Actions but endeavour to win them over by all the lawful Arts and Endearments of Kindness and Condescention And if we must still differ in smaller Matters let us love as Brethren If we cannot be of one Mind and of one Opinion Yet let us be all of one Heart and of one Soul Amen and Amen SERMON VII ECCLES V. 1. Keep thy foot when thou goest into the House of God and be more ready to hear than to give the Sacrifice of Fools for they consider not that they do Evil. THE Design of the Royal Preacher in these Words is to perswade his Hearers to approach with humble Reverence both of Body and Soul into God's immediate Presence and to behave themselves during the time of Publick Worship with a becoming Decency and Devotion to come into his House with â—ouls affected with awful and reverential Apprehensions of his Divine Majesty with open Ears and obedient Hearts disposed to do whatsoever he commands them Keep thy foot says the Wise Man when thou goest into the House of God i. e. Prepare and fit thy self to partake of these holy Ordinances compose thy Mind and thy Body to a Behaviour suitable to the Dignity of those Duties thou art about and the weight and importance of them The Expression is a plain Allusion to the Custom of the Eastern Countries of plucking off their Shooes when they made any Profession of solemn Respect or trod on Consecrated Ground and of washing their Feet before they entred the Palaces of their Kings or the Places dedicated to God's Publick Worship Of these Customs we have several Instances in the holy Scriptures Exod. 3.5 when God appeared unto Moses in the Bush he commanded him to put his shooes from off his feet because the place whereon he stood was holy ground And the Captain of the Host said unto Joshua Josh 5.15 loose the shooe from off thy feet for the place whereon thou standest is holy Loosing or plucking off the Shooe was a Ceremony of the same import with uncovering the Head amongst us a Token of Respect and Reverence And therefore they wash'd and made clean their Feet when they went into Publick Assemblies So that Keeping the feet is a very proper Expression to denote that Respect and Veneration that Humility of Mind which is a requisite Qualification for every devout Worshipper who enters into the House of God and that Reverent demeanor of himself whilst he is there Keep thy feet when thou goest into the House of God or as the Original may be rendred when thou comest into the House of God which denotes to us both how we ought to Prepare our selves before we come to the place of God's Publick Worship and how we must comport and demean our selves when we are there And therefore 't is presently added And be more ready to hear than to give the sacrifice of fools i.e. be sure to bring an attentive Ear and an obedient Heart along with thee with which God will be better pleas'd than with those Sacrifices whereby wicked Men think tho' very foolishly to appease the Anger of God and to render him favourable and propitious to them tho' they lead their Lives and Conversations never so contrary to his Laws for they consider not that they do Evil they do not consider that God has openly declar'd That he hates and abhors the Sacrifices of such Men who offer them up with unclean hands and an impure heart such as those who think that their Attendance upon the publick Offices of Religion will atone and make amends for the wickedness and immorality of their Lives This being the plain meaning of the words I propose to make some Enlargement upon them under these following Heads I. I shall consider how we ought to Prepare our selves before we joyn in the Publick Worship of God II. How we ought to demean our selves whilst we are Worshipping him III. What is to be done after the performance of the publick Duties of Religion 1. How we ought to Prepare our selves before we joyn with the Congregation in the Publick Worship of God For our Edifying and receiving benefit by the Publick Duties of Religion in a great measure depends on a due Preparation for them 't is to no Purpose to sow the good seed of the Word unless our Hearts are manur'd and cultivated Prepar'd and dispos'd to receive it Our Prayers will be turn'd into Sin Isay 29.13 if whilst we speak to God with our lips our hearts are far from him nor will our receiving the Sacrament of the Lord's Supper be of any use to us if whilst we are partaking of the Holy Elements we cherish and harbour sinful and impure Thoughts
And here it may be seasonable to take notice of a dangerous Mistake which many of the Professors of Christianity are guilty of They pretend to have a deep and serious Sense what a weighty and solemn Duty the receiving the Sacrament of the Lord's Supper is and 't is for this Reason that they forbear it because they think they are not sufficiently prepared for it and yet at the same time these very Men presume to come to the Church to address themselves unto God's Throne and hear his Holy Word without any Preparation at all as if the Sacrament of the Lord's Supper was the only Duty of Religion which required Care in the performance of it Thus they are too nice and scrupulous on the one hand whilst they are too negligent and prophane on the other they wholly omit one Ordinance of God because they do not think themselves sufficiently prepared for it and lose the benefit of all the rest because they will not Prepare themselves at all For what other Reason can be given why Men who live so long under the most powerful Preaching of the Word of God Edifie so little by it why their Understandings are so little improv'd in Spiritual Matters and their Lives and Conversations so little better'd thereby but because they do not bring prepared Minds and good Dispositions along with them their Thoughts are taken up with worldly Affairs their Hearts are fill'd with corrupt Affections and many wicked and impure Spirits have taken Possession of their Souls and then no wonder that the Holy Spirit of God doth not take up his abode with them when they are not in a Capacity to give him any suitable Entertainment Some Preparation therefore is absolutely necessary to be made before we attend on the Publick Worship of God Which may be perform'd after this or such like manner Upon the Lord's Day or any other day Dedicated to the Publick Service of God and set apart from our private Employments to the more solemn Worship of our Creator as soon as ever we awake let our Souls be season'd with some holy and devout Meditation Let us consider that at the same time the Sun salutes our Eyes and refresheth our Bodies with his comfortable Beams Mal. 4.2 The sun of Righteousness doth arise with healing in his wings and makes us the Overtures of some peculiar Favours That this Day is set apart by the great God of Heaven and Earth to receive the Homage of his Vassals and to give them the Liberty of entring his Courts appearing before his Throne admiring his Excellencies adoring his Perfections celebrating his Praises and laying open their Wants before him and begging Supplies and that therefore 't is both our Duty and Interest to improve these Seasons of Grace to Prepare our selves to meet our God and not only to put our Bodies into a Decent and becoming Dress but to adorn our Souls with such Qualifications and Dispositions as are requisite for Poor sinful Men when they appear before the great Creator and Governour of the World And because the Preparations of the heart are from the Lord Prov. 16.1 it will be necessary to prostrate our selves before the Throne of his Grace and to beseech God Jam. 1.17 Who is the Author and Giver of every good and perfect Gift that he will inspire our Hearts with holy Dispositions and afford us the Assistance of his Holy Spirit to enable us to cast out of our Minds all vain and worldly Thoughts to subdue all Carnal and corrupt Affections and to offer up to him our Bodies and Souls a pure undefiled and acceptable Sacrifice That we may spend this day especially that part of it which iâ—â—edicated to God's immediate Service â—â—ter so Holy and Devout a manner as may promote our Spiritual Welfare and hereby Glorifie our Father which is in Heaven Matth. 5.16 Let us beseech Almighty God that his good Spirit may go along with us through all the Duties of the day and incite strengthen and confirm us in every good Work That he would teach us to Pray with Fervency and an holy Assurance that all our Requests which are conformable to the Will of God shall be granted us to hear his Word with Attention and firm Resolutions of performing whatsoever we are convinc'd is our Duty and to Praise him with gladness and cheerfulness of Soul with Hearts fill'd with the grateful Resentments of his Benefits and Loving kindness towards us In the next place let us read some Portion of the Holy Scripture and make this the Subject of our Meditation till the hour approaches when we are call'd upon to joyn with the Congregation in our Devotions and we hear the Summons to attend God's Publick Worship It will then be time to enter upon a more particular Consideration how we have pass'd the last Week how well we have perform'd those Resolutions which we have formerly taken up what Sins we have since been guilty of what good Duties we have omitted and that we should be sorry for these our Neglects and bewail our Mis-carriages and resolve that we will amend our Lives and never be guilty of the same Sins for the time to come but that we will walk more uprightly and more exactly in Obedience to all the Commands of God This is that Preparation of Soul which every one ought to make before he enters into the House of God For God will not be serv'd with unclean hands and an unsanctify'd heart he abhors even the most solemn Fasts of those Men who smite with the Fists of wickedness Isa 58.4 he expects that the sprinkling water should be sprinkled upon us 2 Cor. 7.1 and that we should cleanse our selves from all filthiness both of Flesh and Spirit when we draw near unto him And wash our hands in innocency Psal 26.6 before we compass God's Altar Let us therefore never omit this Examination of our selves before we enter into God's House when we have time and opportunity so to do For tho' upon some sudden Emergencies all this Precaution is not to be us'd this Exactness of Preparation may be omitted and a general and habitual Preparation of Mind will suffice yet this will in no wise excuse the constant Neglect of this Duty nor take off the blame from those Men who live in the constant Omission of it for 't is highly reasonable to believe that Self-Examination is a Duty in some Degree as absolutely necessary to be perform'd before we attend God's Publick Worship as 't is before the receiving the Sacrament of the Lord's Supper Which Sacrament was anciently an Essential part of the Publick Worship of God tho' of late years it has been scandalously neglected And therefore as when Men come to the Table of the Lord without due Preparation 1 Cor. 11.29 they trample under feet Christ's holy Body and Blood and eat and drink Condemnation to themselves So when they frequent the House of God and attend upon
us the Blessings we pray for he will give us some better thing instead of them Or if he doth not deliver us out of that Affliction or Trouble we groan under he will bestow upon us a suitable Measure of Grace to support us under it Either of these Considerations may be a sufficient Encouragement to place our Trust and Confidence upon God and to Persevere in our Addresses at the Throne of his Grace SERMON IX PROV IV. 23. Keep thy Heart with all Diligence For out of it are the Issues of Life IT was deservedly look'd upon as one of the chief Excellencies of the Persian Laws that they did not so much design the Punishment of Wickedness and Vice as the using means to prevent the Commission of it that by a careful Education of Youth in the Principles of Vertue and Morality they took away the Cause of all inordinate Desires and Affections and render'd their Duty so familiar and habitual to them that they had no need of those terrible Tortures and Bloody Executions whereby other Law-givers frighted their Subjects into Obedience And of this Nature is the Duty recommended in the Text For was but this one Precept sincerely conform'd to did we but perform this one Duty conscientiously and honestly we should find very little Difficulty in yielding Obedience to all the rest For that Man would never commit Murder that durst not be angry without a Cause nor be adulterous in the Act who did not first transgress in his Desire Can we think he would be Guilty of a deliberate Perjury that fears an Oath or defraud another who permits not himself to Covet For if the first Sparks of ill were quench'd within they would never break out into a Flame and therefore it was Advice well becoming the Wisdom of Solomon To keep our Hearts with all Diligence For out of them are the Issues of Life In which Words be pleas'd to take Notice I. Of a Duty recommended to us To keep our Hearts II. Of the manner how this Duty ought to be perform'd With all Diligence III. Of the Motive to engage us thus to perform it For out of them are the Issues of Life IV. I shall add some Directions to facilitate this Duty to us and to assist us in the due Government of our Hearts 1. Here is a Duty enjoyn'd us Psal 12.2 2 Kin. 10.30 Matth. 22.37 2 Sam. 24.5 Rom. 7.22 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the Man within us 1 Pet. 3.4 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the hidden Man of the Heart To keep our Hearts Now the Heart has different Acceptations in the Holy Scripture 't is sometimes taken for one Faculty of the Soul and sometimes for another for the Understanding the Will the Affections the Conscience and sometimes for the whole Soul I shall take it in the most comprehensive Sence and then it will denote to us all the Thoughts and Inclinations the Passions and Affections of the Soul For 't was the Opinion of the Ancients that the Heart was the Seat of the Soul and the Instrument of its most noble Operations So that by keeping the Heart is meant a looking into the most private Recesses of our Soul a curious and particular Observation what is transacted there the taking a view of all our Inclinations Passions Desires and Affections and comparing them with the Rule of God's Word approving those which are Good and disallowing those which are Evil. It denotes also the making use of such Means as may be effectual to bring our Souls into a due Frame and Temper the taking Care that the Thoughts of our Hearts may not be taken up with any unlawful Object or drawn out too far on any sensual Pleasure or worldly Advantage but that we sincerely desire and heartily endeavour to render them entirely conformable to the Laws of God Not that it is possible for the best and most Holy Men to govern their Hearts so exactly as never to transgress the strict Rules of their Duty or never to offend in Thought Alass Vain and sinful Thoughts will continually spring up in our Minds they are the necessary Effects of our deprav'd Natures and the Devil will take all Opportunities of inciting them in our Souls and presenting such tempting and alluring Objects to our Phancies as will produce inordinate Affections and Desires 'T is not in our Power and therefore it cannot be our Duty so to keep our Hearts as that no vain Thoughts should intrude themselves there Whilst we continue in these frail Bodies and Houses of Clay we shall be subject to many Passions and the Fumes which arise from our inferiour Appetites will cloud our Understandings and in some measure captivate our Reason 'T is plain and Evident that many of our Thoughts proceed from the Frame and Constitution of our Bodies and do in a great measure depend on the present Circumstances we are in and the Objects we converse with If we are of a cold and Phlegmatick Constitution we shall be affected with Melancholy and distrustful Thoughts and Phancies if of a Cholerick Temper Passion will sometimes get the upper hand of us when we are at Ease and in Prosperity our Thoughts will be apt to be too gay and volatile if in Pain or Misery we must needs be sensible of it and poring on it And therefore all that a good Christian can do is to Endeavour to keep his Heart in as good a Frame as he possibly can to be continually on his Guard and though he cannot attain to Perfection in this Life yet to endeavour after it by curbing his unruly Passions governing his Affections and Appetites by the Laws of Reason and whenever they break out and Act irregularly reducing them within their due Bounds and not allowing or delighting in the least sinful Thought or suffering it to dwell or remain in our Hearts but casting it out with all speed and Indignation imaginable And this must be done II. With all Diligence which denotes these two things 1. That this Duty ought to be our constant Employment that we do not let any day slip without examining the Frame of our Hearts for if we sleep never so little The Evil one will take the Opportunity of sowing his tares in our Souls if we are not always upon our Guard the Cares and Business of Life or the Pomps and Vanities of the World will imprint either such light and garish or such Melancholy and distracting Ideas of things in our Minds as will produce a fruitful Crop of Vain Sollicitous and Sinful Thoughts This must be the business of every day for the Thoughts of our Hearts are apt to be disorder'd with every Gust of Passion and will require a watchful Eye and a continual Care to keep them in any tolerable Order 2. The keeping our Hearts with all Diligence implies the greatest Intenseness and Application of Mind imaginable For we must take a great deal of Pains to come to a through knowledge of the thoughts of our Heart
Thoughts were not sinful unless immediately Blasphemous against God and therefore they did not blame the Intention of the Heart to commit Murder or Adultery unless 't was actually put in Execution which we have the less reason to wonder at because there are so many amongst us who maintain this absurd Opinion and Fansie their Thoughts are so free that they shall never be call'd to Account for them if they can but Act so cunningly as to escape the Censures of Men Psal 55.21 if they can but speak words smoother than Oil they are not at all sollicitous how their Hearts stand affected But let these Men consider Rom. 2.15 that at the last day when God shall judge the secrets of Men we shall be call'd to an Account for all the Thoughts and Intents of our Heart as well as for the loudest Words and most publick Actions in God's Book not only the Members of our Body but the Thoughts of our Mind are written and therefore we are commanded not to make Provision for the Lust of the Flesh Rom. 13.14 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 not to contrive before-hand how we may fulfil our sinful Appetites and Desires Solomon tells us That the Thought of Foolishness is sin i. e. Prov. 2.4 9. a foolish Thought and that a Man of wicked Devices or Thoughts God will condemn Prov. 12.2 And St. John affirms 1 Joh. 3.15 That whosoever hates his Brother or retains any Rancour or Malice in his Heart is a Murderer Now as on the one hand God will accept of the sincere Intention of those Persons who fail in their Obedience only for want of Power and Ability to perform what he has commanded them So on the other our Thoughts may be sinful in the sight of God though we have neither Will nor Power to put them in Execution Abraham only intended to Sacrifice his Son Isaac Heb. 11.17 and this holy Purpose of his Heart was imputed to him for Righteousness Gen. 18.12 and when Sarah dis-believ'd the Promise of God and derided it in her Heart she is said to laugh within her self and God resents the Provocation And though 't is true that when a wicked Thought is put into Execution and breaks out into a wicked Act Jam. 1.15 when Lust has conceiv'd and brought forth Sin 't is of a far more heinous Nature and deeper Dye than when it was only an Embryo or in the Birth yet in many Respects our Thoughts may be more wicked than either our Words or Actions can be For 1. Our Thoughts are more numerous than our Actions There must be many Preparatory Motions of the Mind many Thoughts twisted together to produce one deliberate sinful Action How many Plottings and Contrivings Desires and Hopes Wishes and Complacencies must go before the Commission of every evil Deed There must be first a Scheme erected in our Minds the Means and Methods must be resolv'd on the Instruments must be chosen and the thing frequently acted over in our Thoughts before any notorious sinful Action can be committed 2. The same Sin may be acted over a thousand times in the Mind which can only be once perform'd in the outward Action We may take a great deal of Pleasure and Delight in recalling the Sins we have formerly committed in representing them in our Fancies and re-acting them over in our Imaginations and hereby draw down a fresh Guilt upon our selves Nay 3. We may be guilty of those Sins by contriving them in our Minds which can never possibly be really acted thus the Covetous Man may rob his Neighbour of his Wealth though he never obtain the Possession of it the Malicious and Revengeful may murder his Enemy when out of his reach and the Cruel and Blood-thirsty may imagine all Mankind to have but one Neck and then cut it off Psal 14.1 and the Atheist may say in his Heart there is no God and fancy him excluded out of the World From these and such other Considerations 't is obvious to conclude That we are not left at liberty to think as we please but that the Government of our Thoughts is a necessary and indispensable Duty Nay so absolutely necessary is it to our eternal Welfare to keep our Hearts that no Word or Action can be good or acceptable unto God which doth not proceed from a sanctify'd Heart A wicked Man may perform many Acts of Justice and Charity but if they do not proceed from a good Disposition of Mind they are only splendida peccata counterfeit Vertues and therefore the Apostle tells us 1 Cor. 13.1 That if we give our Goods to feed the Poor and have not Charity i. e. a sincere Love to God and our Neighbour which is seated in the Heart all those good Deeds will profit us nothing 2. The Keeping of our Hearts is conducive to our eternal Happiness because the maintaining our Communion with God depends on it Now our Communion with God is maintain'd by our offering up Prayers and Praises unto him and his Acceptance of them and bestowing on us the blessed Influences of his Holy Spirit and if so then what Sacrifice of Prayer and Thanksgiving can be acceptable unto God which is offer'd up from a Heart full of impure Desires and Affections reeking with Lust or Anger or Revenge He is a pure and holy Spirit and delights to dwell in a humble and contrite Heart Isa 57.15 and if our Hearts are infected with Envy Malice Pride or Lust we shall grieve him and he will depart from us and then the Devils those impure Spirits will take Possession of our Souls they will become a Cage of these unclean Birds a fit Habitation for these Legions to dwell in 3. A right Frame of Heart is a Qualification absolutely necessary to render us capable of enjoying eternal Happiness in the Life to come For our Happiness in the other World will in a great measure depend on the Preparations we have made for it in this Our Life here is a State of Probation and Trial a small Span of time allotted us to furnish our selves with vertuous Habits and Divine Qualities those wedding Garments which will render us welcome Guests at the Marriage of the Lamb. And therefore if we would have any well-grounded Hopes of Happiness in the other World we must make it our Employment here to restrain our Passions moderate our Affections enflame our Hearts with Zeal and Devotion and accustom our selves to holy Meditation these are Qualifications absolutely necessary to make us relish the Pleasures of another Life For we may with as good Reason hope to satisfie our Hunger with precious Stones and Diamonds or our Thirst with the sight of stately Buildings or goodly Apparel as that a malicious envious lustful or covetous Person whilst he continues so should take delight in the Beatifical Vision and in singing Praises and Hallelujahs unto God So necessary is it that we cleanse and purifie our
excited the Admiration of considerate Men than the ill Entertainment which Religion and its Professors have found in the World For its Precepts are so rational so easie so much for the good of Mankind in the general and the Contentment and Satisfaction of every particular Person even in this World that they would be every wise Man's Choice were they not his Duty And yet besides the internal goodness and conveniency of those Commands God has been pleas'd to lay upon us he has inforc'd them with many powerful Motives he has denounc'd many dreadful Punishments against those Persons who disobey them Punishments so intolerable that they are not to be conceiv'd even by those who must undergo them He has propos'd many excellent Rewards to those who comply with them such as neither eye hath seen nor ear heard nor hath it entred into the heart of man to understand These things being duly weigh'd and consider'd one would think the Christian Religion could not miss of a candid Reception but that all Men to whom these joyful Tidings came would soon become its Proselytes and that it was impossible for us to be Men i. e. reasonable and thoughtful Beings and not be Christians And yet our Experience convinces us to the contrary 't is visible to every inquisitive Observer that Piety decays Devotion grows cold in our Age and those who live under the best Laws are most tainted with Vice and most dissolute in their Manners There are many indeed who are entred into the Church of Christ by Baptism who wear his Badge and make profession of his Religion but there are few very few who obey his Commands and live by those Rules he has laid down in his Holy Gospel Now amongst the many Causes which concur to produce this strange Effect there is none which is assign'd with more appearance of Reason than the want of Consideration that general Stupidity and careless Temper which has seiz'd the generality of Mankind Most Men are so taken up with the earnest pursuit after Riches Honours or Pleasures with the Business of their Callings and the Cares of this Life that they seldom think of a Life to come or consider what their Condition will be hereafter Nay the very thoughts of their Mortality and Consideration that they must shortly leave this World seem as unwelcome to them as Death it self for did we but frequently and seriously think on our ways we should turn our feet unto God's Testimonies From which words I shall endeavour to shew First What is meant by thinking on our Ways Secondly What the Consequences would be of a due performance of this Duty We should turn our feet unto God's Testimonies First What is meant by thinking on our Ways Way is a Metaphor very often made use of in the Holy Scripture to signifie the whole Course of a Mans Life The time of our continuance in this World is very fitly set out by a Journey or Pilgrimage 't is begun at our Birth and every moment which passes afterwards is as it were a step which brings us nearer our Long-home By Thinking on our ways may be meant Either 1. A comparing a vertuous and religious Course of Life with a vicious and debauch'd one a considering what Pleasures and Conveniencies each of them affords what Effects they produce and a determining within our selves whether 't is best and most for our Interest to take up with the Pleasures and Advantages the Pomps and Vanities of the world or to live an honest sober and devout Life tho' attended with many Troubles and Afflictions and expos'd to many Sufferings but this has been the Subject of a former Discourse Sermon the First Or else 2. The Thinking on our Ways may denote a Reflection on our own particular Actions a Calling our selves to a strict Account and examining our Consciences whether we have liv'd up to the Rule of God's word and from thence concluding what the present State of our Soul is and what Expectations we may reasonably entertain of being Happy hereafter And if we take these Words of my Text I thought on my Ways in this last Sence then they imply these three things First A setting apart some time to recollect our selves and to consider what the past Actions of our Lives have been Secondly A comparing our Actions with the Rule of God's word Thirdly A serious Resolution to persevere in that which is good and to reform what is amiss And that we may be prevail'd with to put these things in Practice and perform them with the better Success I shall shew I. How necessary 't is for every one who designs to lead a Holy and Religious Life thus to consider his ways II. I shall shew after what manner we ought to perform this Duty III. What excellent Effects a due performance of it would have upon our Lives and Conversations We should turn our feet unto God's Testimonies First How necessary 't is for every one who designs to lead a Holy and Religious Life to consider his Ways And this is evident 1. Because 't is so frequently enjoyn'd us in the Holy Scripture The God who made us and is best acquainted with our Frame and Dispositions and what means will be most useful to enable us to walk in the way of his Commandments frequently exhorts us to look back into our past Lives to consider the Nature and Quality of our Actions by comparing them with his Holy Word and from thence to pass a Judgment upon them and if we find we have done amiss to repent and do so no more In the 4th Psalm Verse the 4th the Psalmist advises us Commune with your own heart upon your Bed and be still Upon which words St. Chrysostom thus Dictates 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 c. That is before you compose your self to Sleep Summon a Court of Judicature in your own Conscience and exact a severe Account of your self Consider what wicked Purposes and Designs you have harbour'd and how many of these have taken Effect Arraign and condemn your self for those Sins and resolve that you will never be Guilty of them any more St. 1 Cor. 11.31 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 if we would discern or distinguish our selves Paul tells us That if we would judge our selves we should not be judged i. e. we should avoid those Sins which bring the Divine Judgments upon us And the same Advice is couch'd in those Parables Luk. 14.28 29. and the following Verses For which of you intending to build a Tower sitteth not down first and computeth the cost whether he hath sufficient to finish it Least happily after he have laid the foundation and is not able to finish it all that behold him begin to mock him saying This man began to build and was not able to finish Or What King going to make War against another King sitteth not down first and consulteth whether he be able with ten thousand to meet him that cometh against him with
Labour of proving to you the absolute and indispensable necessity which lies upon every one to continue in the Practice of this Duty And in truth this has been the usage of good and vertuous Men in all Ages of the world not only of those whose Examples are recommended to our Imitation in the Holy Scripture but also of those Heathens who have been eminent for Vertue and Morality The Psalmist tells us Psal 77.6 That he us'd constantly to call himself to an Account I call to remembrance my song in the night I commune with my own heart and my spirit made diligent search Amongst the Fathers of the Primitive Church we find all those who wrote upon practical Subjects pressing this Duty of Self-examination The time would fail me should I instance in the Precepts of St. Chrysostom Basil Gregory and the rest Neither were the Heathen Moralists wanting in the recommendation of it both by Precept and their own Examples That Precept of Pythagoras in his golden Verses is generally known 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Ask thy self says he every Night What Sin have I committed this day What Good have I done What Good have I left undone which I ought to have done Seneca tells us Quotidie apud me causam dico I every day pass Judgment upon my own Actions when I am in Bed and the Light is taken away I run over all my Words and Deeds I consider how I have spent that day I omit nothing which I can recollect for why should I be afraid to reflect on my own Failings when I can say to my self this was not well done but do so no more He also tells us of his Friend Sixtus the Philosopher who duly thus examin'd himself before he went to rest What Disease of thy Soul or what Vice hast thou cur'd this day What Sin hast thou subdu'd Art thou a better Man to day than thou wast yesterday If so thou hast liv'd to some Purpose but if not thou hast but consum'd and lost thy time And to name no more the Divine Plato when he saw any Man do a wicked or unbecoming Action us'd to ask himself this Question 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 have I never been guilty of this Crime If this Sin looks so ill in that Man is it not worse in me If I have never been guilty of it let me be sure to avoid it for the time to come I might easily heap up many like Instances for this has been the Practice of good and vertuous Men in all Ages and in truth 't is hardly possible for a Man to be good and vertuous who omits or neglects the Performance of it And therefore I shall take this for granted And proceed Secondly To lay down some Directions how we may perform this Duty to the best advantage And 1. When we design to perform this Duty of Self-examination let us first free our Minds from all the Cares and Business of Life from every thing which will take up our Thoughts and apply our selves to this Task with seriousness and attention For since the Interests of this World and the next are widely different it will be impossible to attend on the one whilst our Thoughts are taken up about the other And we may as well fix our Eye upon two opposite Objects at the same time as keep our apprehensive Faculty intent both on Things temporal and Things spiritual When we have cleans'd and purg'd our Souls from all carnal and worldly Thoughts and Affections let us beseech God from whom are the Preparations of the heart that he will enable us impartially to examin and search into our own Souls enlighten our Understandings assist our Memories and discover to us those Sins which lie hid in our Consciences and teach us those things we know not which either we never took notice of or which we have forgot That we may have the same apprehensions of them at present we shall hereafter be affected with when we come to lie upon a Sick-bed and to have a Prospect of the other World Having thus fitted and prepared our selves let us consider how and after what manner we must Examine our selves And I. The time when we ought to employ our selves about this Duty II. What ought to be the Subject of our Examination And 1. As to the time when this Duty will be most seasonably perform'd I have already made it appear That it has been the Practice of good Men in all Ages to examine themselves daily and this with very good Reason For since Confession of Sin is one Condition which God requires of us before he will Seal the pardon of our Sins 't is impossible we should make a full and particular Confession of them unless we examine our selves daily The number of our Sins is so great that should we defer it till a farther time many of them would slip out of our Memories and then God has reveal'd to us no other Condition of Pardon but that general Confession of them Psal 19.12 cleanse thou me from my secret Sins and how can we call those Sins secret which are conceal'd from us only because we will not take the Pains to discover them What time of the day is most proper for this Employment every Man's Prudence must determine this must be directed by the Exigency of his Affairs but for the most part it will be requisite even in this Case Eccles 11.6 to follow the Advice of the wise Man In the morning sow thy seed and in the evening with-hold not thy hand To consider in the Morning what Temptations we are like to meet with that day what opportunities of doing good and making the most strong and firm Resolutions that we will resist the one and embrace the other And to call our selves to account in the Evening how well we have put these Resolutions into Execution whether we have perform'd our vows unto God or else shamefully given up his Cause and yielded to the importunity of a prevailing Temptation But besides this daily Examination of our selves there are other times when we ought to call our selves to an Account 'T is the great Duty of the Lord's Day A Day set apart on purpose that those Persons who all the week long are cumber'd with the Cares of this world employ'd in the Business of their Callings and in making provision for their Bodies might have some time to recollect themselves and to secure the eternal Welfare of their Souls And how can Men employ this day better I mean that part of it when they are not call'd upon to joyn in the publick Offices of Religion than in recollecting themselves how they have spent the week past what Sins they have been guilty of what good Actions they have perform'd what Progress they have made in a holy and vertuous Life and in considering what Temptations they are like to be expos'd to the following Week and in taking up Resolutions of walking more strictly and more
same pitch of Devotion But when he is at the lowest Ebb he endeavours to quicken and raise his Affections he begs of God to enflame his Heart with a Coal from the Altar and cannot rest satisfied till the Light of God's Countenance shines in upon his Soul and he is in some measure assur'd of God's Favour and Good-will towards him These are the four Marks by which we may certainly discover if we will but bring our selves to the Tryal whether we have the Power of Godliness or the Form only I come now Fourthly To shew How far we must turn away from such Persons as have only the Form but not the Power of Godliness And I. We must Examine their Doctrine II. Detest their evil Examples III. Avoid their Company I. We must Examine their Doctrine and the Ends of it St. Paul gives us a hint of both Now I beseech you Brethren Rom. 16.17 18. mark them which cause Divisions and Offences there 's their Doctrine contrary to what they have heard and avoid them for they that are such serve not our Lord Jesus Christ here are their Ends and Designs but their own Bellies and by good Words and fair Speeches deceive the hearts of the Simple Whatever Doctrines have a shew of seeming Holiness and Piety and yet by probable Consequence tend to promote any evil and wicked Designs ought not to be receiv'd till try'd by the Touch-stone of God's word and are found exactly conformable to the Holy Scripture II. We must detest their evil Examples for this is an absolute and certain Rule that unless we dislike their evil Practices and alienate our Affections from them we shall write after the same Copy Our Life will be according to our liking and therefore we must hate and detest their Hypocrisie though we love the Men we must abhor the Uglyness of their Vice tho' we bear no ill will to their Persons In this sense we must hate them right sore and with a perfect hatred Psal 139.22 even as though they were our Enemies III. We must avoid their Company and this is the literal meaning of the Text. From such turn away It was a subtil though a wicked Policy of Jeroboam to set up two golden Calves the one at Dan the other at Bethâ—el that he might detain his People at home least going up to Jerusalem and conversing with the Subjects of Rehoboam they should contract a Friendship and Familiarity with them and be perswaded to return to their Obedience He knew how much Company and Conversation wins upon Mens Affections and that Society and Familiarity has by degrees wrought out what the most perswasive Rhetorick could never accomplish Be ye not therefore unequally yoked says the Apostle for what fellowship hath righteousness with unrighteousness c. 2 Cor. 6.14 16. Wherefore come ye out from among them and be ye separate saith the Lord and touch not the unclean thing and I will receive you But this is the Rock upon which too many split they first look upon all other Men as common and unclean who in Truth are much better than themselves and then not only avoid their Conversation but conclude that they are not to be treated by the Rules of common Honesty And thus by straining the String too high make it Jar and spoil all the Harmony and Consort And therefore I shall more particularly set out the Bounds and Limitations of this Precept and consider how far we must turn away from such Men as have the Form but not the Power of Godliness And first We are not hereby engag'd to quit our particular Engagements or to separate our selves from our Friends and near Relations For the Servant is ty'd to his Master the Child to his Parent the Husband and Wife to each other and no Pretence of greater Sanctity and Purity is sufficient to excuse them from the performance of their Duty Nay we must not so turn away from any Man as to refuse doing good and charitable Offices either to his Soul or Body But rather imitate the Example of our Heavenly Father Matth. 5.45 Who makes his sun to shine and his rain to descend on the just and the unjust Tâ—â— more wicked any Man is and the more infected with the Leprosie of Sin the more need he has of a Physician If therefore we see a Man who has the Form but not the Power of Godliness let us omit no opportunity of reclaiming him from the Evil of his ways let us assist him with seasonable Counsel and Advice and do him all the good Turns that lie in our way remembring that excellent Saying of a Heathen Homo sum humani nihil à me alienum puto I my self am but a Man and therefore no Affliction can happen to any one but I bear my part in it But let us not contract a Familiarity with a vicious or heretical Person let us not lay such an one in our Bosoms or make him our particular Friend but keep such a strict Guard over our selves and be so cautious in our Dealings with him that we may receive no Prejudice by his evil Example We must treat him as we usually do those who are sick of an infectious Disease furnish him with those things he wants Administer to all his pressing Necessities But we are not oblig'd to converse frequently with him or to expose our selves to the Danger of catching that Distemper under which he labours such a Familiarity as this 't is our Duty to avoid Psal 1.1 Blessed is the man says David that walketh not in the counsel of the ungodly nor standeth in the way of sinners nor sitteth in the seat of the scornful And in another place I have not dwelt with vain persons Psal 43.4 neither will I have fellowship with the deceitful I have hated the Congregation of the wicked and will not sit among the ungodly I will wash my hands in innocency O Lord and so will I compass thine Altar And when ever the Duties of our Callings oblige us to frequent their Company we must say with the Psalmist Wo is me that I dwell in Mesech Psal 120.5 and take up my Habitation in the tents of Kedar In short let us observe these three Rules 1. Let us imitate them in good things The Form of Godliness the outward Profession of Religion is highly necessary and Praise-worthy Let us therefore imitate them in this Nay Let us go beyond them in a constant attendance on the publick Duties of Religion in the Devotion of our Prayers the Solemnity of our Fasts the becoming Decency of our Worship and in avoiding all such Sins as are not only heinous Offences against God but scandalous amongst Men and uneasie to modest and vertuous Conversation Let that Face and outside of Religion which they put on incite in us a Holy Emulation to outdo them in their own Art For good is still the same in whatsoever Subject 't is found we have no Reason
Divine Joy to see those Churches rais'd to a greater heighth and adorn'd with a more splendid Magnificency than their first Founders had bestow'd upon them 'T is plain to any one who consults Ecclesiastical History that as the Christian Religion encreas'd and Kings and Emperors became the nursing Fathers of the Church more stately and magnificent Structures were built and Dedicated to the Service of God No Cost was spar'd nothing was thought too good for this sacred Use The whole Christian World did seem to rejoyce that they had the Liberty of bestowing their Goods to this holy Purpose and their profuse Liberality was spoken of with Honour and Approbation St. Jerom. ad Nepotian de vitâ Clerici Ad Demetr Epist 12. Ad Gaudentium 'T is confess'd there are some Passages in the Fathers which seem to condemn these expensive Buildings but then 't was only comparatively when there was so much laid out upon these Structures that there was nothing left to bestow on the living Temples of the Lord and they had such a mistaken Zeal for adorning Churches that they starv'd the Poor and did not provide a competent Allowance for those who serv'd at the Altar And now what remains but that we who profess our selves Members of the Church of England endeavour to adorn our Profession by a diligent and constant Attendance on the Publick Offices of Religion by a due Preparation of our Minds for these Holy Duties and a devout Comportment of our selves in the performance of them and a Filial regard to all those Devout Rites and Solemnities enjoyn'd us by our Superiours That so we who are now Members of the Church Militant may as far as the frailty of our Condition will permit resemble that hidden Dignity and Glory wherewith the Church Triumphant in Heaven is glorified and Worship our God in the Beauty of Holiness SERMON VI. 1 THES V. 22. Abstain from all appearance of Evil. THE latter part of this Chapter is a Recapitulation of several Truths deliver'd in the Body of this Epistle between which there is no strict Connection neither have they any exact dependance one upon another only the words of the Text and those which go immediately before do bear some Relation For in the Verse before the Text the Apostle gives Directions concerning our Practice of those things which are Good We must carefully examine all things by the Touch-stone of God's word whether Doctrines or Practices and we must distinguish between those which seem and appear to be good and those which are really so We must reject the one and hold fast the other Prove all things hold fast that which is good But we must take quite different Measures in relation to those things which are Evil which either are plainly contrary to the Law of God or which we have any probable Reason to suspect are so We must abstain from all appearance of Evil. There is indeed another Interpretation of these words those who follow the Syriac Version render them Abstain from every kind of Evil But since this Word is not so rendred in any other place of the New Testament nor is there any Reason from the Scope and Coherence of the words to translate it so I shall rather chuse with the Generality of Interpreters to follow the vulgar Translation and render it as in my Text Abstain from all appearance of Evil and the rather Phil. 4. â—â— because the positive part of this Precept is contained in other places of the Holy Writ The words thus understood may be consider'd either as they relate to the Articles of our Faith or as a Rule for the directing our Lives and Conversations The latter of these is chiefly intended in the Text and therefore my present Enquiry shall be What those Actions and Practices are which have the appearance of Evil and from which we are commanded to Abstain That I may give a more plain and satisfactory Answer to this Question I shall consider these words 1. Absolutely and 2. As they bear a Respect and Relation to our Neighbour First Taken absolutely they may be resolv'd into this Proposition That we must not do any Action which either really is or has the Blush or appearance of Evil. Secondly If consider'd with Respect to our Neighbour they import That we must abstain from all such Actions which may probably be an occasion of Offence or Scandal to our Brother First I shall consider the words absolutely and then they import these three things I. That we must abstain from every Action Word or Thought which is contrary to the Divine Law II. That we must abstain even from lawful Actions if they appear Evil to us III. That we must abstain from all such Actions which have any Tendency to incite insnare and tempt us into Sin 1. That we must abstain from every Action Word or Thought which is contrary to the Divine Law though it may appear of never so little Concernment Whatsoever is a breach of God's Law tho' in the smallest and most inconsiderable Circumstance must be carefully avoided by us because every such Transgression will expose us to God's Anger and by Consequence render us liable to everlasting Punishment Let us therefore carefully avoid even the lighter breaches of our Duty let us make a Covenant with our Eyes and set a watch over the thoughts of our hearts and take Care that we do not offend with our Tongue remembring that at the last day every idle word must be accounted for and that in God's Book all the Thoughts and Intents of our Hearts are recorded Some Sins are indeed of a deeper Dye than others and do admit of more heinous Aggravations Sins committed wilfully and presumptuously are more hateful to God wast the Conscience more and by consequence are more dangerous to the safety of our Souls than those Sins into which we are betray'd by the frailty of our Natures and the surprize of a Temptation But if we consider Sin in it self and in its own Nature no Sin can be small or little or as the Papists speak Venial for every Sin is a willful Transgression of the Law of God 1 Joh. 3.4 and whoever wilfully offends God justly incurrs the Sentence of eternal Damnation Nay even the lighter breaches of our Duty may be attended with such Circumstances and Aggravations as may render them of more pernicious Consequence unto us than those which in their own Nature imply a greater Guilt a small Injury done on purpose to vilifie and reproach us is resented more heinously than when we sustain a greater Damage thro' the Folly and Inadvertency of our Neighbour and therefore we have Reason to conclude That the least Sin willfully committed and obstinately persevered in will deprive us utterly of God's Favour and Protection How vain and dangerous then is that known distinction of Sin amongst the Papists into Sins venial and Sins mortal i. e. as they explain it into such Sins as do deserve eternal
his Ordinances carelesly and negligently they grieve God's Holy Spirit provoke him to leave and forsake them to give them up to hardness of Heart and a reprobate Mind Isa 29.13 14. Forasmuch as this People Says the Prophet draw near me with their mouth and with their lips do honour me but have remov'd their heart far from me therefore behold I will proceed to do a marvellous work and a wonder for the Wisdom of their wise Men shall perish and the understanding of their prudent Men shall be hid God doth not now always punish Prophaneness and Coldness in our Devotions with temporal Evils and sickness in the Body as formerly in the Primitive Church But he has exchang'd them for such as are far more dreadful such as endanger the Soul and take away the spiritual Life of a Christian Every unsanctify'd approach which we make unto him renders us more cold and indifferent in our Devotions till at last iâ— leads us by degrees into open Prophaneness and Atheism Let therefore every one who desires to receive the blessed Influences of God's holy Spirit and that his Soul may be a Temple fitted and prepared for him to dwell in Let him I say first cleanse his Heart by a due and strict Examination of himself and a serious and hearty Repentance for the Errors of his ways Let him thus keep his feet before he goes into the House of God i. e. observe what Paths he has walked in how the Affections of his Soul are fitted and dispos'd to partake of these holy Ordinances Lastly Whilst we are going towards the House of God let us entertain our selves with such Meditations as these Let us consider the Glorious Majesty of that God before whom we are going to appear that he is the great Creator Preserver and Governour of the World who humbles himself to look down upon the Sons of Men being exalted above all Praise and exceedingly Happy and Glorious above all that we can conceive and think 'T is this God who grants us Audience and vouchsafes us the Favour of making our Addresses unto him Let us consider also our own Vileness and Sinfulness how unworthy we are of so great Favours and hereby raise up in our Souls that humble Awe and devout Reverence of the Supream Being Levit. 26.2 which is requir'd of every one who Worships God Thus the devout Cornelius tells Peter That he and all the rest were present before God Acts 10.23 to hear all things which were commanded them by God i. e. they had considered with themselves who it was that was to speak to them and that the words they were to hear were not the words of Peter a frail sinful Man like themselves but the words of God Thus before we present our Petitions unto God we are commanded to consider that God is in Heaven and we on Earth i. e. that there is an infinite Distance between the Creator and his poor Creature that he is the most Perfect the most Glorious and the most Holy Being but we only dust and ashes vile Earth and miserable Sinners vile we are in our own Nature but we have made our selves much more so by our manifold Sins and repeated Transgressions When therefore we approach the Holy Temple of the Lord Let us say thus within our selves Gen. 28.17 How dreadful is this place this is certainly the place where the Lord dwells I am now going to the House of God to appear before the Lord Almighty who has my Soul in his hand and the breath of my Nostrils at his disposal in whom I live and move and have my Being I am drawing near to the King of Heaven and Earth to present my self before his Face to pay him my Homage and to make him the Tenders of my bounden Duty and Service Let me therefore put my Mind into such a devout Frame as he will accept of and take Care that I behave my self with Reverence Decency and Devotion And now having brought you to the Temple I proceed to shew 2. How we ought to demean our selves when we enter into the House of God and whilst we are performing the Duties of Religion And here I am to consider 1. The Frame and Disposition of our Souls Joh. 41.24 2. The Gesture of our Bodies God is a Spirit and will be worshipped in Spirit and in Truth i. e. requires principally and in the first place the Worship of our Souls and then that of our Bodies Now to a due worshipping God with our Souls there are requir'd these three things I. Attention of our Minds to the Duty we are about II. The Intention and Ardency of the Affectons III. The Consent of our Wills and their Conformity to the Divine Will and Pleasure 1. If we would offer up unto God an acceptable Service our Minds must be attentive to the Duty we are about whilst we are praying to God for those Blessings we stand in need of or praising him for those we have received we must either be meditating on the God we Worship or the thing we desire or praise him for For since Worship is the Acknowledgment of those Excellencies and Perfections which are in the Divine Nature 't is impossible we should have any serious Sense or make any due Acknowledgment of these Perfections unless we keep our Minds intent upon them We may as well commend the beauty of an Object we never saw and be taken with that Musick we never heard as admire and acknowledge those Excellencies we never thought on or consider'd For to serve God with our Mouths when our Thoughts are wandring some where else and employ'd about some other Business is but Lip-Worship at the best a Sacrifice without an heart which God will utterly detest and abhor 'T is therefore one of the principal Devices of the Devil 2 Cor. 2.11 of which we ought not to be ignorant to excite and stir up vain Thoughts in our Minds during the time of Divine Worship to divert them upon worldly and sinful Objects and hereby to deprive us of that Benefit we might otherwise obtain by a due and conscientious performance of these Duties And therefore it ought to be the Care of all good Christians to stand continually upon their Guard to bear a strict Eye over their Hearts and as soon as ever they find any vain and sinful Thoughts spring up in their Minds to cast them out To restrain and bring back their wandering Thoughts and never to make them their own by consenting to them or dwelling upon them Some Men are more addicted to roving and volatile Thoughts than others are from their natural Temper and Constitution and therefore are not so blameable for that which they cannot help But 't is then only they are faulty when their Will closes with them when they do not make Use of the most proper means to prevent them i. e. A due and conscientious Preparation of their Hearts for Religious Duties then do
they corrupt their most Holy Offerings and turn the Sacrifices of their Prayers and Thanksgivings into sin Let it therefore be our first and principal Care to fix our thoughts and keep them attentive to the Duties we are about and we shall soon find that he who has thus well begun has half finished his work If we can but once bring our selves to be serious and attentive to apply our Minds to the Worship of God this will naturally produce 2. The Intention and Ardency of our Affections Rom. 12.1 For the Duties of Religion are in themselves so reasonable a Service so excellently fitted to bring about those Ends for which they were appointed and so agreeable to the Faculties of our Soul that there is requir'd little more to recommend them to our liking and delight than a sober and serious Application of our Minds and a daily and constant accustoming our selves to them It will be tedious and irksome to us at the first to spend our time in Religious Duties to pray and hear God's word and meditate upon it but when we have once got the Victory over our corrupt and stubborn Natures by a daily Practice of these Duties nothing will yield us so much Pleasure and Delight on this side Heaven as the pouring out our Prayers before God the laying open our Wants and begging Supplies the magnifying his Name for Benefits bestow'd upon us and communicating to others the grateful Resentments of our Souls These are the Employments of Saints and Angels above and will create a kind of Heaven in every good Man's breast whose Mind is taken up with such glorious Conceptions and joyful Resentments as these Psal 19.10 These as David tells us are sweeter than the honey and the honey comb Which made him chuse rather to spend one day in God's Courts Psal 84.10 than a thousand else-where Let us therefore Worship the Lord our God with all our heart and all our mind and all our soul Let us embrace his Truth with our Understandings treasure it up in our Memories and caress it with our Affections Let us pray unto him with Faith Zeal and Fervency and praise him with a due Admiration of his Goodness and grateful Resentments of his Mercy and Loving-kindness and then nothing will remain but that 3. We close with it by our Wills and conform them to his Divine Will and Pleasure That we resolve to amend our Lives in every particular wherein we have done amiss and to yield a sincere Obedience to the Laws of God in every known Instance of our Duty that we may not perform our Devotions only that we may be thought to be Religious but that we may be really so and not only be wiser Men but better Christians For the end of all the Devotional parts of Religion is chiefly to lead us unto Practice they are enjoyn'd us as helps and means to assist us To direct our Conversations aright and that hereby we may be the better enabled to live up to the Rules of Reason and Religion Do but take any particular Duty into your Consideration and you will find that it has a necessary influence upon our Lives and a direct Tendency to assist us in a due performance of our Duty For Instance would it not be absurd to imagine that God has commanded us to Repent of our Sins because he takes delight in the Sighs and Tears of the Penitent Sinner For he who is a Being of infinite Goodness is never better pleas'd than when he is doing us good and communicating his Blessings unto us But the Reason why he commands us to Repent is that he may make us sensible of the Evil Nature of our Sins and the Misery and Ruin which our Vices betray us into and that hereby we may be deterr'd from those Actions which are so dishonourable to God and so prejudicial to our selves Nor would it be more reasonable to Fancy that our Prayers and Praises make any addition to his Glory or increase his Happiness for he is infinitely and therefore perfectly happy in the Enjoyment of himself but these Duties are enjoyn'd us that by the performance of them our Souls may be more seriously affected with a humble Sense of our own weakness and a grateful Resentment of God's Goodness whereby we may be inclin'd to yield the readier Obedience to his Commands and be drawn by these cords of a man to obey his Laws I might instance in all the other Duties of instituted Religion Hosea 11.4 but from what I have already said it plainly appears That all the parts of Publick Worship do directly tend to make Men more Holy in this Life in order to make them more Happy in that which is to come and that then it doth obtain the End for which it was appointed when we take up Resolutions of living better and of conforming our Wills to the Divine Will and Pleasure Thus I have shew'd what that Worship of our Souls is which God requires of us that it consists in the Attention of our Thoughts the Intention of our Minds and the Harmony of our Wills with God's Divine Will I come to consider 2. How we ought to Worship God with our Bodies For since our Bodies as well as our Souls were the Workmanship of his hands 't is but highly reasonable we should pay him the Homage of them and serve him also with our Bodies which are his That we should dispose our selves during the time of Divine Worship to such Decent becoming and reverential Gestures that we may make it evident to all Men that our whole Man is dedicated to his Service And this will be best perform'd by bearing in mind this general Rule That we put on that Gravity and seriousness of Looks and Behaviour and deport our selves after such a manner as the belief of God's immediate Presence and the solemnity of his Worship requires from us For though Irreverence and Indecency in the Publick Worship of God is by too many esteem'd a light and trivial Offence and hardly worth taking notice of which proceeds from this false Notion they are prepossessed with That if they serve God with their Minds and Spirits 't is no matter what their bodily Behaviour is Yet this will be found to be a gross Mistake and of dangerous and pernicious Consequence if weigh'd in the Balance of the Sanctuary and of unprejudic'd Reason for 1. Why should we believe those Men will Worship God with their Souls and Spirits who will not Worship him with their Bodies If they will not do so easie a thing as to comport their selves decently and affectionately during the time of Divine Service 't is not probable that they should perform that which is far more difficult to Worship him with Intention of Soul and Ardency of Affection It requires their utmost Diligence and Application to keep their Minds attentive and to go along with the Congregation in all the parts of Publick Worship which these Men will
never take the Pains to perform who both by their Looks and Gestures declare That their Minds are in some other place and employ'd on some other Business A multitude of needless and insignificant Ceremonies such as are enjoyn'd in the Church of Rome tend to divert our Minds from the business we are about and make so much imployment for our Bodies that 't would be very difficult to serve him with our Souls But this cannot be laid to the Charge of our Religious Worship nor do I plead for them 't is only a devout and reverential Deportment of our selves I would inforce a behaving our selves with that Decency and Uniformity our Church prescribes that Gravity and Seriousness that humble Prostration of our Bodies and Souls which becomes Men who are in the immediate Presence of the great God of Heaven and Earth That this is our Duty will appear 2. From the Nature of Divine Worship which as I have formerly observ'd consists in that Awe and Reverence which Men have for the Divine Majesty and the Sense of that infinite distance which is between the Creator and his poor Creatures who continually depend upon him for every thing they enjoy which makes them approach his Presence with Humility of Mind and a profound Adoration of his infinite Perfections and will discover it self in their Looks Words and Actions For there is so close an Union between our Souls and Bodies that when the one is seriously affected the other cannot remain unconcern'd when our Minds are fill'd with glorious Ideas of God's wonderful Perfections his Majesty Power Goodness and Loving-kindness towards us we may as well think to carry Fire in our Bosoms and not be burn'd Prov. 6.27 as to contain our selves from discovering the Sentiments of our Minds by visible Demonstrations Besides 't is Essential to Publick Worship that we make known the Thoughts of our Souls by Publick Tokens of Reverence and Signs of Honour this being one chief end of our Worshipping God in Publick Rom. 15.6 that we may with one mind and one mouth glorifie God and incite and stir up one another to praise and adore him and declare to the whole World what a Reverence we retain for his infinite Perfections which can no other ways be done but by our external Behaviour and devout Deportment of our selves And therefore 't is worth our Observation That there never was any man deservedly eminent for Piety and Devotion who did not joyn Bodily Worship with his mental Adorations I shall only add a third Consideration 3. That God and his holy Angels are present in our Congregations and therefore we ought to be more careful that we behave our selves Decently and carry our selves with Humility and Respect uncovering our Heads and bending our Bodies and giving all the Signs of Attention and readiness to yield Obedience to his Commands than we would be in the Presence of a temporal Prince Did God appear in our Churches in a visible manner as formerly he did in the Congregation of the Jews there is no question but that the Dread of his glorious Majesty would put every one of us into the most humble and devout Postures yet God is here present of a truth though we know it not God and his holy Angels do not only look down and behold us but are as certainly present in this Congregation as if we beheld them with our Bodily Eyes Let us therefore prostrate our selves before God Psal 95.6 And kneel before the Lord our Maker let us give him the Worship of our Souls and of our Bodies And praise him in the Congregation of his Saints and bow down our selves before him 3. I come to consider in the last place what is to be done after the performance of the Publick Duties of Religion And here that the good Seed of the Word may take deep root in our Hearts let us not give up our Minds to our secular Affairs and worldly Thoughts as soon as ever Divine Service is ended much less should we let loose our Thoughts to Pastimes and Recreations though never so innocent and harmless for were there no Divine Command common Prudence would dictate to us that the best way to fix those Truths we have heard upon our Memories is to take some time to recollect our selves and to digest what we have heard by serious Meditation and that in all Probability the diverting our Thoughts to other Employments will deface all those good Impressions the word of God has made on our Minds blot them out of our Memories and make those Truths which have been deliver'd like the Seed sown by the way side Matth. 13.5 which becomes a prey to the Fowls of the Air. Let us therefore spend some time in recollecting what the Preacher has deliver'd to us in considering what Article of Religion has been explain'd what Vertue has been recommended what Vice reprov'd what Arguments and Motives have been us'd and in short in comparing the Doctrine deliver'd with the written word of God and if we find it agreeable to it then let us treasure it up in our Minds and transcribe it into our Lives Let this be the chief end of hearing God's Word that we may yield a more exact Obedience to his Commands 2 Tim. 3.15 and grow wise unto Salvation To this End let us conclude all with our affectionate and fervent Prayers to God that he would be pleas'd to inlighten our Understandings open our Hearts and incline our Wills and to render his good Word effectual to the accomplishment of those Ends for which it was design'd that we may not be only bare hearers of the Word but doers of the same Let us praise and magnifie his Name for the many gracious Opportunities he has given us of entring his Courts and approaching his Sanctuary that we have the Liberty of Worshipping him in Publick and enjoy the glorious Light of his Gospel whilst so great part of the World sit in darkness and the shadow of Death Psal 107.10 And let us not only content our selves with making a verbal Acknowledgment of these Favours but testifie our Thankfulness by a constant Attendance on his Worship and Word and making it the standing Rule for the Government of our Lives and Conversations SERMON VIII 2 COR. XII 9. And he said unto me my Grace is sufficient for thee WONDERFUL good and Gracicious are the Designs of Providence towards Mankind both as to this World and the next and the end of all God's Dispensations in this Life is so to exercise their Graces to implant in them such vertuous Dispositions and Habits that they may be capable of the Enjoyment of that infinite and eternal Happiness which he has prepared for them hereafter And therefore 't was excellent Advice tho' from the mouth of an Heathen Si vis consilium Permittes ipsis expendere numinibus quid Conveniat nobis rebusque sit utile nostris Nam pro jucundis aptissima quaeque dabunt
The Heart of Man is deceitful and desperately wicked Jer. 17.9 who can know it Which Text though primarily intended to denote the Difficulty of knowing what other Men think or what Opinion we shall have of things hereafter as appears by the coherence of the Words with those which went before yet they may well serve to intimate to us the Difficulty of giving an impartial Judgment of the present Sentiments of our Minds and what the true bent and Tendency of our Desires and Affections are for we are so fond of our Bosom sins and those darling Delights which either Custom or Inclination has endear'd to us that we think we can never sufficiently caress them and though our Affections are drawn out after the most extravagant manner after them yet we cloath them with such plausible and specious Pretences as make the most criminal Enjoyment of them appear at least to us harmless and lawful Who is there that will not readily acknowledge that we ought to Love God with the most intense and zealous Affection With all our Soul and with all our Strength and the good things of this World in a lower and subordinate Degree and yet how difficult a Task would it be to persuade the most sordid and miserable Worlding That his Affections are not plac'd on things above but on things below and though he is notoriously guilty of this Vice of Covetousness and sees the Folly of it in other Men yet is he not able to turn his Eyes inward and to discover it in himself so great Diligence and Industry doth it require to range over all the turnings and windings of our Hearts and to be acquainted with all those crooked Paths which Sin and Error have made in our Souls And if there is so much Diligence requir'd to know the thoughts of our Hearts it must needs call for our utmost Care to manage them aright and keep them in due Order And therefore there will be the more need to consider III. The Motive made use of in the Text to engage us to the Performance of this Duty For out of them are the Issues of Life i. e. our Happiness both in this Life and the next doth depend upon a diligent and conscientious Discharge of this Duty 1. Our Happiness in this World depends upon it For 1. By keeping our Hearts we shall learn to manage our Affairs with Prudence and Discretion For the greatest part of those extravagant Actions which Men commit proceed either from the want of a due Deliberation before they enter upon Action Or a discreet executing what their Reason tells them is fit and ought to be done Either they are hurried on by the Violence of their sensual Appetites and head-strong Passions or byass'd by some inordinate Lust and corrupt Affection and these betray them into indiscreet absurd and sinful Words and Actions Now he that is accustom'd to keep his Heart considers well and deliberately every Circumstance of an Action before he puts his Thoughts into Excution he weighs first his own Power and Ability and then enquires both into the Lawfulness and Expediency of the thing he undertakes by which means he avoids those Rocks upon which so many split i. e. Rashness in setting upon those things he has neither Power nor Skill to perform on the one hand and a too great Diffidency and distrust of his own Abilities on the other The first of these produces Shame and Disappointment when a Man finds himself not able to compass the End he aim'd at and falls short of his too bold and daring Designs the second deprives him of many valuable Benefits and Advantages which lie in his way and require only the Pains of seeking after them and possessing himself of them And in truth since all our Words and Actions are the Streams which flow from the Fountain of our Hearts therefore it must needs follow that he who governs his Heart wisely and prudently cannot go far astray in his Words and Actions all our vital Operations will savour of that Root and Principle from whence they proceed and a Holy Life must needs be the necessary Effect of a sanctified Heart 2. A due Government of our Hearts will produce Peace and quiet of Mind by freeing us from those raging Passions and sensual Affections from proud malicious and envious Thoughts which disturb our Peace and Quiet and render our Lives uneasie and burthensome to us For it has been an old and a very true Observation that Content and Satisfaction and by consequence Happiness in this Life doth not proceed from the abundance of the Goods of this World or the indulging our selves in sensual Pleasure but from the Temper and Constitution of our Minds in a contentedness and satisfaction with that Condition the wise Providence of God has allott'd us and a discreet Enjoyment of those good things he has made our Portion in this World A sound Mind in a sound Body was the wise Wish of a Heathen Poet for that Man whose Heart is full of Envy or Malice or sollicitous Care or Pride would be uneasie on a Throne and miserable amidst the most plentiful affluence of worldly Enjoyments but he who has obtain'd the Art of Governing his Thoughts by the Laws of Reason and Religion will enjoy the Pleasure of a quiet and compos'd Mind amidst all the noise and hurry of this World and remain contented and satisfy'd with his Condition without casting either an envious Eye on the Possessions of those who are above him or a disdainful Look on those who are in a meaner Condition than himself From hence will flow 3. Peace of Conscience 1 Joh. 3.21 for if our Hearts condemn us not then have we confidence towards God that Man who has been so careful as to set a strict and diligent Watch over his Thoughts will be from thence assur'd that his Heart is upright towards God and has good grounds to believe that he is in his Favour and under his Protection and this will produce the greatest Joy and Satisfaction imaginable and therefore 't was good Advice which the Oracle gave Craesus 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the way to be Happy is to know thy Self for a through Knowledge of our own Hearts and the Government of our Thoughts according to the Rule of God's Word is a chief Ingredient as well as the principal Cause of a happy Life in this World These are the blessed Effects of Keeping our Hearts as to the Concerns of this Life but if we consider 2. It s influence on our eternal Happiness we must needs judge it highly reasonable to use our utmost Care and Diligence in the Performance of this Duty For 1. God has made the Keeping our Hearts one part of our Duty The words of the Text are not only a prudential Councel containing Matter of Advice but a Positive Command God expects we should comply with it and yield our Obedience to it 'T is true the Jews of old did imagine that
of our Duty it commands the Practice of the most necessary Precepts such as are those which are enjoyn'd in this and the preceding Chapters and leaves our Reason to work out what ought to be done upon particular and casual Emergencies to direct in some Cases what is lawful and in most what is prudent and expedient And for our greater Security has laid down some general Rules which if seriously consider'd and carefully attended to will be sufficient to direct our Reason in all its Judgments and Determinations Thus in Relation to the Duties of the first Table which principally concerns the Worship of God the Holy Gospel commands us Joh. 4.24 24. To Worship him in Spirit and in Truth to direct our Addresses to God alone through one Mediator our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ and several other particular Precepts it gives us as to the necessary and Essential parts of Divine Worship But our Directions how to behave our selves as to the Circumstances of Worship are all referr'd to this general Rule 1 Cor. 14.40 Let all things be done decently and in order And thus in Relation to the Duties of the second Table which concern our Neighbour our Saviour has laid down many excellent Precepts in this admirable tho' short Epitome of Morality his Sermon on the Mount and then Closes all with this Rule of universal Influence Whatsoever ye would that Men should do unto you do ye so unto them for this is the Law and the Prophets The End and Design then of this Rule is to teach us how to behave our selves towards our Neighbour which is the most difficult and most neglected part of our Duty For we are generally so much byass'd by Self-Love that when any Controversie is started in which our own Interest is concern'd we are very nice and exact in Claiming what belongs to us and is our due but when the Scales are turn'd and 't is our Duty to weigh and consider what our Neighbour may justly expect from us then we make use of false Weights and Measures and too often determine directly contrary to the plain Rules of Justice and Honesty We are not so apt Scholars in learning this Lesson of Charity as we are severe Masters in exacting it from others And therefore II. I shall mark out the Bounds and Limitations of this Rule and consider the just extent and Latitude of these words Whatsoever ye would c. 1. 'T is evident that this Rule is determin'd to the Duties of the second Table for so 't is limitted in the very words of the Text. 'T is whatsoever ye would that Men should do unto you c. Some there are indeed who would have this Rule extend also to the Duties of the first Table and to be the measure of our Duty towards God but this without the support of any good Reason for though Religion may properly be said to be Justice towards God because all the Service which we owe and are able to pay unto God is highly just and reasonable and what is but our bounden Duty and Service yet the distance is so great between an infinitely perfect Being and us Poor vile Worms His Works are so wonderful and his ways past finding out that 't is utterly impossible and 't would be the highest Presumption for us to weigh our Actions in the same Balance with his These words are therefore limitted to the Duties of the second Table as may be plainly made out from that parallel Place where our Blessed Saviour being ask'd this Question Matt. 22.3 Master which is the great Commandment of the Law Returns this Answer Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy Heart and with all thy Soul and with all thy Mind and this is the first and great Commandment and the second is like unto it Namely Thou shalt love thy Neighbour as thy self And then adds on these two hang all the Law and the Prophets Where we may see that this Rule is made to be the Sum and Substance only of the second Table 2. This Rule is determin'd to those things which tend to the benefit and advantage of our Neighbour And therefore St. Austin reads the Words Quaecunque bona c. Whatsoever good things ye would that Men should do unto you do ye so to them For there are some Men of such envious and malicious Tempers that they would willingly undergo any severity themselves on Condition that their Enemy might endure the same and suffer their own Houses to be burnt that his might perish in the Flames nay lose one of their own Eyes that he might be depriv'd of the like Advantage Like the pretended Mother of the living Child would say 1 Kin. 3.26 Let neither of us have it but let it be divided Others there are of so proud and churlish a Disposition that they scorn to be oblig'd and had rather be without a Benefit than to be beholding for it to one they hate Such a Man as this would sooner die than owe his Life to an Enemy and in regard to these Men this Rule must be understood thus 3. Whatsoever ye would that any Man not this or that particular Person should do unto you do ye so unto them 4. If we would put the Case right we must suppose the Circumstances to be the same between our Neighbour and our selves For one different Circumstance will very much alter the Nature of an Action thus upon Supposition that I am stronger and more healthy than my Neighbour I may be willing that he may do some things to me which if I should do the same to him would tend very much to his Prejudice and Disadvantage A rich and wealthy Man may be willing that others should with-hold their hands from doing him good that he might have the same Excuse to deny his charitable Relief to the Poor Nay meer difference in Opinion may make it unreasonable that I should desire some things of such a Man which he might very reasonably demand of me and I should readily comply with 5. We must take Care in applying this Rule that our Desires be restrain'd to those things which we have just and reasonable cause to expect from our Neighbour and then this Rule will run thus Whatsoever ye have just and reasonable cause to desire that any Man in the same Circumstances should do unto you do ye so unto them For every Malefactor who is Sentenc'd to Punishment for his Evil Deeds would willingly have his Punishment remitted and the Judge himself would desire it if he was in the same Circumstances and a Criminal at the Bar But yet it is not just and reasonable that all Criminals should be pardon'd for this would make the Law it self uâ—eless by relaxing the co-ercive Power of it and render Magistrates cheap and contemptible when they are no longer ble to be a Terror to evil Doers Rom. 13.3 but only Encouragers of those who do well These are the most