are quick and knowing Spirits they could not but immediately perceive their Unhappiness and make a just Estimate of the Greatness of it The Sense of this indeed could not but make them lament their Folly and repent also if a violent Sorrow only for past miscarriages could be called Repentance For that the Devils have such sorrow cannot be denied since in this consists their Torment but an unsuccessful Sorrow a Sorrow without submission to the just hand of God a Sorrow which God will not accept and which therefore will continue for ever heightened by the greatest Aggravations as being the result of an unspeakable and which is more irrecoverable Loss not to be ended by Death nor diverted by a stupid inconsideration but placed in a knowing active always thinking and immortal Spirit Such a Spirit endued with such active Faculties and tormented with such dismal Thoughts of Unhappiness may well be supposed to conceive the utmost Degree of Rage and Malice The Disappointment of Pride naturally produceth those Effects in Men which Effects could not but be so much the stronger in the fallen Angels by how much their Faculties were more lively and capacious In Men indeed there are many sins which they are not capable of as all those which arise from the inordinate Appetite of the Body as Lust Intemperance and Covetousness but there are others which are purely immaterial and take place only in the Soul as Malice Hatred Envy and Revenge These those unhappy Spirits possess in their full Perfection which they continually exert either aganist God who inflicted that Unhappiness as a Punishment upon them and altho' he might have annihilated them in their first Attempt yet continues their Existence to them and therein their Misery or against Man who by the Favour of God is made capable of attaining that Happiness which they lost and placed in Dignity above them who had endeavoured to set themselves above their fellow Angels and even equal to God himself Inspired with these wicked Thoughts they employ themselves continually in opposition to the Will of God and because this Opposition can take place only in hindring the Happiness of Man designed and desired by God use their utmost Endeavours to effect it The Disposition of all inanimate Bodies and the Course of the material World God hath determined by fixed and certain Laws of Motion which it exceeds their Power to reverse or change but Man being left to the use of his own Free-will and not determined by the Power of God to any certain Actions admits the interposition of evil Spirits It is true they alleviate not their own Torments nor gain any real Advantage hereby yet ought not this to make us believe that they do not busie themselves in tempting of us since it cannot be denied that Man reaps no real Profit by his sins and yet it is too sad a Truth that Men do often sin and that false satisfaction which Men receive from gratifying their Lusts the Devils obtain by serving their Revenge and Envy So then that the Devils should desire to draw us into the same Unhappiness with themselves is no wonder It is only somewhat difficult to conceive how they should effect their Desires and have any influence upon our Wills To satisfie this Difficulty many have entertained false Notions of things which it will be adviseable to remove before I enter into the direct Consideration of the manner whereby evil Spirits tempt us And first It were needless to refute the Errour of the Manichees or Valentinians who gave to the Devil an independent Existence from God and uncontrolable by him nay all the Attributes of God save that of Goodness allowed him an infinite Power whereby he could force the Wills of Men and bind them to the Observation of his wicked Counsels It is not much to be feared that any Christian would at this time be guilty of such an absurd Heresie Yet many perhaps from the frequent Experience of their own yielding to the Temptations of the Devil may be so far corrupted in Judgment as to believe them irresistible or at least plead this in excuse of their Impenitence To such it may not be amiss to observe that it exceeds the Power of any finite Being to force the Will of Man for that were to overthrow the very Essence of Man and thereby change the ordinary Laws of Nature to which all Creatures and amongst them Devils also are subjected Add to this the many Exhortations in Scripture to resist their Temptations which would have been vain if these had been irresistible the Promise of God also that we shall not be tempted above what we are able to bear which would not have taken place if we could not overcome all Temptations and the Experience of good Christians who daily resist and surmount them Even the worst of Men might baffle them if they would use the natural Power of their Souls assisted with that common Grace which is denied to none So that what the Aposte saith of some Men 2 Tim. II. 26. That they are taken captive by him at his Will is not to be understood without their own Consent yielding up themselves to his Conduct and voluntarily following his Suggestions which also appears from the Apostles command to Timothy in the precedent words of instructing them That they may recover themselves out of the snare of the Devil A second Errour in this Matter is that God giveth to the Devil an extraordinary Power of tempting Men a Mistake which may be observed in many of the ancient and even modern Writers who hence take occasion to magnifie the Grace of God and the Merits of Mans obedience the First in that God hath graciously contrived this impediment of obedience to Man that so his obedience might become the more meritorious and the latter in that Man performs his Duty notwithstanding so great Impediments This opinion altho' received would not in the least clear our doubt since it would still remain to be enquired in what manner the Devils exercise this delegated Power but that it should not be admitted it is enough to say That it is injurious to the Honour of God If it were is God might justly be said to tempt us contrary to what the Apostle teacheth Let no man when he is tempted say that he is tempted of God For God tempteth no man It is impossible that so excellent a Being should be guilty of such double Dealing as to command the Observation of his Laws and at the same time tempt us to the Violation of them to allure and enable us to obey him by Promises by Threats and by the assistance of his Holy Spirit and to divert us from it by the interposition of evil Spirits employed by him This were to ascribe no less Injustice to him than to the Devils themselves Nay to blacken Him and to clear them in the matter of Temptation For if the Devils herein act by the extraordinary Power of God they act
to the Soul We believe indeed That our Bodies shall be hereafter invested with Immortality and made Partakers of the Glories of Heaven but then they shall be changed into a spiritual Nature devested of these gross Senses which now accompany us and are the great Instruments of our Worldly and admired Pleasures For then There will be neither eating nor drinking marrying nor giving in marriage but we shall be like the Angels of heaven in the Fruition of purely spiritual Delights Which is an invincible Argument of the Vanity and Vileness of earthly and carnal Enjoyments that we cannot be made happy without the loss of them If they had been indeed of any real worth God would have continued them to us in another Life But since he hath made way to the Consummation of humane Happiness by the Abolishment of all gross and sensual Pleasures and despoils the Body to enrich the Soul We cannot but conclude these transitory Enjoyments are light and trifling incompatible with real Happiness and unworthy the Spirits of just men made perfect I come next to consider the Excellency of those peculiar Perfections and Rewards which the Soul is capable of beyond the Body Those Pleasures of which alone our Body is capable and which we are apt so much to admire here below consist only in the Gratification of our Senses Delights which are so far beneath true Happiness that they are common to Beasts finite short and contemptible The frequent Repetition of them may be thought to increase their worth but then this very Repetition becomes nauseous and is nothing else but the Reiteration of the same thing The desire of them is commonly produced by an irregular Appetite but always by the infirmity of our Nature and when performed they leave no Satisfaction behind them They cloy the Appetite and by their frequency become troublesome and even odious to us are finished in a few moments and then leave nothing grateful behind them But which is chiefly to be considered end with our Life and even in Life may be obstructed by Diseases and Calamities An eminent Instance of this we have in Solomon in whom all the Greatness and â—leasures of the World were joyned He presided over a mighty and powerful People and that in greater Glory than all the Kings before or after him So that if Ambition worldly Honour and Pomp could make him Happy he possessed them all in great abundance If the Fame of Wisdom and a profound Veneration among neighbour Nations could increase this Happiness it was not wanting to him to whom the Queen of Sheba came from the farthest parts of the East to hear the wisdom of his mouth If Riches can confer any thing to this desired Perfection none can put in a better Claim for it than he in whose time Gold was esteemed no more than Iron and Silver as stones for the abundance of it Lastly if the Pleasures of Sense can compleat our Happiness none had greater Advantages than he at whose Command was the most fruitful part of the World and who was Blessed with a profound and uninterrupted Peace all his Life And least we should imagine that he made no use of all these Advantages and supposed means of Happiness he assureth us Eccles. II. 10. That whatsoever his eyes desired he kept not from them nor with-held his heart from any joy Nay by a strange kind of Curiosity that he might leave nothing unattempted he tells us That he gave his heart to know madness and folly Eccles. I. 17. One who had all these Advantages had run thro' all the Scenes of Pleasure and could by his exquisite Wisdom and Knowledge of the Nature of things heighten and refine these Pleasures must be allowed to be a competent Judge of the worth and value of them Yet after all he gives this Verdict of them Vanity of Vanities all is Vanity If then no real Happiness if no solid Pleasure can be had from the Enjoyments of Sense from Riches and the outward Pomp of the World we must recurr to the Faculties of the Mind where we shall find an Happiness truly solid and which is more eternal None but a vast and infinite Good can satisfie the unbounded Desires of our Mind nothing less than Eternity it self can satiate an immortal Being For however our Souls be finite as all other Creatures are yet our Wills have no limits but continually desire somewhat more unless that Good which they already possess can receive no farther Additions This Good is no other than God who alone can fix our restless Wills and by his infinite Perfections ravish them with Wonder and Pleasure at the same time This is a Happiness truly peculiar to spiritual Beings who alone can contemplate the Majesty and inimitable Goodness of their Creator and by so doing secure to themselves an Happiness infinite in it self not inferior to the vast Desires of the Will which surviveth all the changes of Fortune Malice of Men and even Death it self If we cannot or will not believe the Greatness of these spiritual Pleasures their convenience to the Nature of our Souls and the infinite duration of them 't is because we are unacquainted with them immersed in gross and earthly Delights so far that we are neither willing nor perhaps able to receive these greater and more real Enjoyments by attending so much to the things of this World we have even changed the Nature and Nobleness of our Souls and from Guides and Directors made them mere Instruments to our Bodies devested them of all remembrance of their Divine Original degraded them into a servile Condition and were we not sometimes put in mind of the interest of another World should perhaps forget that we were created in a Condition little lower than the Angels Thus far Reason teacheth us That the interests of the Soul are to be preferred to those of the Body Revelation doth the same no less fully This was the great end of the Christian Religion to wean our Affections from worldly Pleasures and fix them upon things above to withdraw us by degrees from the Earth and seat us at last in Heaven To this the whole Genius and Temper of our Religion plainly tends commanding us to be ready at all times to take up the Cross undergo Persecutions embrace Afflictions and even suffer Death when the interest of our Souls requireth us to do it Thus our Saviour tells us He who loveth Father and Mother Wife or Possessions beyond him is not fit to be his Disciple and among other Precepts commands that his Followers should deny themselves that is be ready to part with all the Pleasures of the World and imaginary Delights of Nature when they stand in Competition with the interests of another Life This Duty is so strict that for the Observation of the most minute Precept all Considerations of wordly Profit and Pleasure must be foregone and the whole Body destroyed rather than the Soul in the least be injured Our
directly affected not his Mind which still remained untouched exposed indeed to the ordinary assaults of the Devil which assaults as they were not suspended by God so neither were they assisted by him Which assaults how they are affected by the natural power of the Devil I come next to enquire having first observed to you that although we could not conceive or explain the manner of it we should have no reasonable cause to doubt of it Our own experience will not suffer us to admit such doubts and that the Faculties and Operations of immaterial Beings are imperceptible to us we have the example of our Soul which although it be so nearly related to us we know but very imperfectly the manner and spring of all her Actions The Devil is said to tempt us two ways properly and improperly Innumerable Examples of each may be brought from Scripture The latter is not hard to be conceived and is no more than this that as the Devil was the first Apostate and Rebel against God and still continueth his opposition to him so he is the Captain and Head of all which opposeth God as are the Lusts the Passions and the Sins of Men Which being excited by sublunary Objects by worldly Pleasures whatsoever is done by these in opposition to God is ascribed to him as done after his Example and under his Banner Since his Fall the World is in a manner divided between God and him whatsoever is good and excellent proceeds from God and is done by his Influence Command Direction and Perswasion Whatsoever is bad and repugnant to the Laws of God is done by the example of the Devil by imitating him following his Conduct and entring into his Government For thus all Beings disobedient to God may be said to constitute one Society whereof the Devil is the Head And because this Society busie themselves wholly in the things of this World and are deluded by gross Pleasures he is called the Prince of this World and the Prince of the Air not that he hath or ever had the disposition of things here below the disposal of Kingdoms or distribution of temporal conveniencies or inconveniencies which hath been the mistake of some Such Power never belonged to him He told our Saviour indeed in tempting of him that all the Kingdoms of the World and the Glory of them were his and that he would give them to him if he would fall down and Worship him But he was a Liar from the Beginning it was more than he could perform The Devil is said properly to tempt Men by acting immediately upon their Souls by suggesting wicked thoughts unto them by instigating them to Wickedness and Disobedience And this is that temptation by which we so much suffer which we so much fear and by which he executes his Malice and Hatred upon Mankind There are but two possible ways by which this can easily be supposed to be performed since an extraordinary Derivation of Power from God is rejected The first is by moving the imaginations of Men and producing whatsoever Thoughts and Ideas he thinks fit by moving their Animal Spirits which in Man have so near a Connexion with the thoughts of the Soul that such motions in them will infallibly and unavoidably produce such thoughts in the Soul Now it is not impossible to conceive that the Devils as they are most sagacious Spirits and of long experience may have observed and found to which motions of the Spirits such and such thoughts of the Soul are annexed and accordingly procure those motions as often as they desire to introduce such thoughts For it is highly probable that all immaterial Beings have a natural power of moving matter We find that in our own Soul which is the lowest of all such Beings that moveth our Spirits and by the assistance of those our whole Body It no sooner formeth an Idea but the Spirits attend the Formation of it and are moved according to its Diversity There is no more necessary Connexion between the Thoughts of the Soul and the Motions of the Body than between the latter and the Thoughts of any other immaterial Being So that the Devil may well be supposed to be able to make impressions on our Imagination by the Motion of these Spirits Yet it will not follow from hence that he is able to move or disorder our whole Bodies since to the former is required the consent of our Will which is in our own Power and doth not necessarily follow any Motion of the Spirits To the latter is required a Power transcending the ordinary Laws of Nature whereby the Causes and Effects of Health and Strength are settled and preserved which are not in the least violated by such Motions in the Brain as produce a bare Idea or naked Conception of any thing This way of impressing Thoughts in our Mind is possible But it is more probable that all immaterial Beings can communicate Thoughts and make impressions on each other Without this it not be imagined how a Society of Angels or Devils can consist and yet that there are a Society of each the Scripture assures us If one Man cannot immediately impress a Thought in the Soul of another it is no wonder We are here inchained in a Body in which state no approaches can be made to us but by the Organs of the Body Nature hath provided another way for Men to communicate their Thoughts which when it shall cease by putting off the Body we have just ground to believe that we shall obtain that Priviledge common to other imaterial Beings of communicating our Thoughts to each other by immediate influence At least it is most certain that Angels and Devils have that Priviledge because they have formed Societies which they could not have done without it And if they can impress any Thoughts upon each other that is upon Beings of equal Dignity they are surely much more able to do it upon those of an inferiour Rank and Capacity such as are the Souls of Men. Both these ways are possible but that the Devils do tempt us by either of these Methods I dare not determine It is sufficient to shew that what we believe concerning the Temptation of evil Spirits is possible and agreeable to Reason And this I have spoken to you as Persons desiring satisfaction in the Truth of this Article of Christianity I will now return and speak to you as Christians firmly perswaded of this Truth that the Devils do tempt us From what hath been said you may take a just Estimate of the efficacy of the Devil's Temptations and our Ability to resist him He can proceed indeed no farther than to suggest the first Cogitations of any Object and if Man also stopped here he would never forfeit his Innocence the Devil would never obtain his desired End He can do no more indeed yet this he improves to great advantage and with that success which we all lament He knoweth the Constitutions of all Men and
Conviction would be no less unuseful and unsuccessful than are the ordinary means And that will appear either if we reflect on the Reasons which defeat the Success of the ordinary means or the force of those Objections to which both Methods are liable The true Cause which renders the ordinary means unsuccessful is not the want of Evidence but the opposition of it to the Lusts and Passions of Men. It finds no welcome Reception in World because contrary to the Genius the of it it abridgeth the Sensuality the corrupt Desires and inclinations of Mankind A covetous Man will not obey it least he should forgoe the immoderate Love of Riches A carnal Man will not receive it least he be obliged to restrain his admired Enjoyments It forbiddeth Revenge Envy and Malice and therefore Minds possessed with these Vices cannot bear it These are the Impediments which defeat the Efficacy of the Christian Religion they plead more strongly and perswade more effectually than the Arguments which recommend that excellent Religion Few or none who enter into the Consideration of it perceive not the just Motives of its Credibility They acknowledge it reasonable to Assent to it but then comparing the Pleasure of sin forbidden by it with the certainty of those Promises and Threats which are annexed to it they willingly over see and reject the latter that they may not forego the former And while Men act thus against the Dictates of Reason no Evidence of Miracles will be able to reform them If any such were performed for their satisfaction it could have no other Effect than to convince them of the reasonableness and truth of that Religion in Confirmation of which they were wrought and this Conviction is already sufficiently performed by the ordinary means So that in both Cases Reason directs them to embrace and obey this Divine Revelation and if in one Case the direction of reason be rejected it can scarce be hoped that in another it will be admitted For all true Piety and Religion proceeds upon this Principle a Resolution of performing whatsoever Reason shall direct And if this Principle be once violated it is no matter whether the Evidence of Reason be greater or less since the Man is resolved not to obey it any farther than it shall agree with his own Lusts. For Miracles affect the understanding only they reform not the Will of Man They induce him indeed to look up to the Author of them from whom he is to receive direction but remove not those Lusts and Passions which oppose the performance of that Divine Direction The same irregular Desires continue the same Affections possess his Soul and will infallibly render the greatest Evidence of Duty unsuccessful until a firm Resolution be formed by him of performing whatsoever shall appear to be his Duty of submitting to whatsoever Reason shall direct of Assenting to whatsoever it shall recommend And when this Resolution is once formed the ordinary means setled for the Conveyance of Religion will obtain equal Success with any extraordinary methods whatsoever since even in that sufficient Evidence may be found to convince Mankind of the truth of it and therefore Reason directs and requires Obedience and Assent to it No wonder then that the Jews even under the Government of Moses while they enjoyed the sight of frequent Miracles nay for Forty years together were fed by a constant Miracle continued still no less disobedient made frequent Apostacies from God rebelled against his Prophet by whose Ministration those Miracles were performed and could never be brought to any tolerable sense or practice of Religion In departing out of Egypt they had not left their vicious Inclinations behind them but retained the same Sensuality and Perverseness of mind In which Case it was not possible that the clearest Demonstration of Divine Revelation could make any impression on them It was all one whether God wrought one or ten thousand Miracles for their satisfaction since one alone might convince them and all together could do no more as a blind Man receives no more advantage from the light of the Sun than from a single Star Our Lord indeed saith in Matth. XI 21. That if the mighty works which were done in Bethsaida among the Jews had been done in Tyre and Sidon they would have repented long ago in sackcloth and ashes But this may well be supposed to have been said rather to exaggerate the Impenitence and Perverseness of the Jews than to declare what would have been the certain Event if those Miracles had really been performed in Tyre and Sidon Besides the Case was infinitely different between the Jews and the Tyrians The former had a standing Rule of Faith whereby to receive the Knowledge of the Will of God in the Writings of Moses and the Prophets the others wanted that advantage The Tradition of the first Patriarchs whence they also descended had been worn out by a long Succession of time and the Notions of natural Religion had been defaced by long disuse so that Miracles were even necessary to supply that defect and restore the Knowledge of true Religion among them and had they seen the mighty works of the blessed Jesus it is not improbable but that they would have repented in sackcloth and ashes Farther if we consider the common Objections to which the ordinary method of conveying Religion long since setled without Miracles and the extraordinary method by Miracles are subject we shall find them equal on both sides The general Objection against the ordinary method is the want of absolute Demonstration and even altho' Miracles should be always continu'd that still would be wanting Men desirous to retain their Vices in Contradiction to the Precepts of Religion would still alledge That those Miracles were no other than Illusions that their Senses deceived them or were imposed on by Tricks and Impostures Particularly that sort of method which the rich Man in the Text desired might be employed for the Conversion of his Brethren would be of all others the most exceptionable I mean the Apparition of the Spirits of deceased Men assuring the living of the reality of another Life It would be impossible to form Rules whereby to distinguish true from imaginary Apparitions the appearance of humane Souls from Illusion of evil Spirits Or if such Rules could be formed Men could never be assured of the Truth of what they should reveal since the Souls of Men put not off their Vices with the Body and may still retain such Sins as may be Exercised without the assistance of corporeal Organs such as Envy Malice Lying and Fraud Or if all these Difficulties were removed the Terror and Affrightment attending such Apparitions would infallibly hinder all clear Perception either of the reality of the Apparition or of the Matters revealed in it If then there be any here as it is a Prejudice common to many Christians who imagines that if he had lived in the time of Christ and his Apostles and had seen with
eternal Happiness and true Christian Obedience which no change of Fortune can dissolve no unforeseen Calamity can overthrow Therein the Undertaker is only to answer for his Diligence nor is any thing required to compleat his Success but what is intirely in his Power If he be not wanting to himself he may rest secure of the Reward the Nature the Extent the Duration and the Seat of which our Lord hath fully made known unto Man that so he might not any longer be distracted with anxious Thoughts about it and so hath upon that account also as he Promised in the precedent Verses given Rest unto his Soul wearied before with a Fruitless and uncertain Search of Happiness The last Argument which I proposed to speak of is taken from the external Assistance which Christ hath Promised and doth still continue to his Disciples in the Exercise of their Duty Our Lord in imposing his Yoke upon Mankind knew very well the Infirmities of their Nature the Opposition of his Precepts to their ordinary Passions the Tenderness and Clemency which became the Saviour Redeemer and Mediator of Mankind and therefore did not abandon them to the Conduct of their Free-will alone but assisted their Obedience with the Motions of his Holy Spirit with those supernatural Gifts and Graces which he bestows upon all his sincere Disciples which render the imposition of those Precepts which he laid upon them Easie and Pleasant to them To convey this Grace to all the worthy Receivers of it he hath founded a Church a Society of Men professing and publickly declaring Obedience to him in that manner and with those Rites which himself hath instituted He hath made himself the Head of this Body and as such Communicates the influences of his Blessed Spirit to all the Members of it to us who continue in Communion with it If any separate themselves from this Body whereof himself is the Head they cease to have any Relation to him receive none of those supernatural Assistances which are derived from the Head to all parts of the Body At least they cannot receive them by the ordinary method appointed to convey them And if any pretend new Lights and new Ways they are such as have no Promise annexed to them It is not to be admired therefore what may be truly observed That all Hereticks and Schismaticks dividing themselves from the Communion of the Church have in all Ages endeavoured to take away the Obligation of moral Duties and set up the Pretence of greater Lights of a more refined Knowledge to compensate the neglect of Temperance and Meekness of Justice and Charity They having divided themselves from the Body of the Church cut off the ordinary Communication between Christ and them and thereby depriving themselves of the benefit of those Divine Graces and Assistances which are conveyed by that Channel found themselves unable to Practise those Christian Vertues which our Lord requireth of his Disciples and therefore endeavoured to annul the necessity and Obligation of them But this is not to alleviate but to cast off the Yoke of Christ to Claim the Benefits and refuse the Conditions of the Covenant which he made with Mankind and in the mean while to cheat themselves and others with vain Perswasions and arrogant Pretences Our Lord hath Promised the Assistance of his Spirit and therein he will not fail he hath settled the means of conveying it and that he Will not change If we slight the Assistance we are unworthy of it if we forsake the means we are incapable Let us rightly esteem and implore this Assistance to our selves let us hold fast the means whereby we may receive it that is a constant Communion with his Body the Church in all her Holy Offices and Sacraments so shall we Experience that his Commands are not only Excellent in themselves agreeable to our Nature and rendred Pleasant by their Reward but are also made Easie by his Grace and the Influences of his Spirit In the whole we shall be convinced of the Truth of what he affirmed That his Yoke is easie and his Burden light and find assurance of what he Promised Rest to our wearied Souls The Thirteenth SERMON PREACH'D At LAMBETH CHAPEL Rom. XII 19. Dearly beloved avenge not your selves but rather give place unto wrath For it is written Vengeance is mine I will repay saith the Lord. THE Apostle having exhorted to the Duty of Charity throughout this whole Chapter and enforced his exhortation with many Arguments at last concludeth his Arguments with these words whereby he proveth that to act in a contrary manner were to encroach upon the Prerogative of God and invade what he claimeth peculiarly to himself And surely no less an Argument than the fear of violating the Majesty and the Power of God could deter Men from the Practice and Prosecution of revenge which at first Sight appears to be so natural a Passion in Man and can plead for it self with more plausible Arguments than any other sin whatsoever As that Nature directeth all Creatures to defend themselves and repel the Assaults of Enemies that for this Purpose all Animals are endued with proportionable Strength and Courage that to pass by one Enemy unrevenged exposeth a Man to the insults of Enemies to the scorn of Friends and to renewed Wrongs that it is no other than Baseness and Cowardize an Argument of a mean and timorous Soul to submit patiently to the Affronts and Wrongs of another Man and that to return evil for evil to punish the Malice of an Offender by procuring Loss or Grief to him is no other than a part of distributive Justice of which every Man may be allowed to be the Administrator that so as the smart of Revenge inflicted may punish the Malice of the Aggressor the Pleasure of inflicting Revenge may make some amends for the undeserved Sufferings of the injured Party Such Arguments Men are wont to plead in behalf of Revenge and such did once introduce an universal Opinion in the World that Revenge was not only a Matter allowed but even a Vertue the Duty of every Noble and Couragious mind Consonant to the intentions of Nature and the Office of every private Man Thus the great Masters of Morality among the Heathens among whom nothing is more frequent than such Expressions as these that Revenge is sweeter than Life it self that Moderation is to be observed in creating but none in revenging Injuries that not to revenge a Wrong is an Argument of Fear and Sloth of an unmanly and degenerous Mind On the contrary we are taught throughout this whole Chapter to bless them which persecute us to recompence to no Man evil for evil to live peaceably with all Men and in the last place which concerns my present Design not to avenge our selves but rather give place unto wrath not to take upon us to inflict the Punishment due to any sin of Injustice committed against us but to leave that to be inflicted by God either by
Worship that is in the Church All which put it beyond all doubt that St. Paul doth in this place treat of the publick worship of God and of publick Prayer to be used in Churches In the first place then if all Prayer be an Act of Worship publick Prayer is more eminently so The intention of private Prayer is in the first place to obtain Supplies to the wants of the Petitioner and then to worship God Whereas in publick Prayer on the contrary the worship of God is the chief design and the supply of Necessities but a Secondary intention So that to intermit the use of publick Prayer and pray only in private is for Man to worship God only in Subordination to his own designs It cannot be denied that publick Worship and Prayer do far more effectually tend to the Honour and Glory of God when Men do openly and in the hearing of all others confess their Subjection to God magnifie his Benefits deprecate his Anger and acknowledge their own unworthiness This is truly and properly to give Glory to God Whereas he who confineth his Devotion to a Closet may perhaps be allowed to have a just Esteem of the Divine Benefits but seems ashamed to confess so much to other Men that he is the Creature of God as well as others that he equally depends upon him that he hath also violated his Commands and wants his Mercy The Psalmist therefore upon the receiving of great and eminent Benefits is wont to affirm that he will praise God in the Congregation as well knowing that such a publick acknowledgement of them did far more contribute to the Honour of God and was also more pleasing to him It is not enough to say that God receiveth no increase of Honour from our Praises For neither doth he receive any such advantage from private Worship yet it would be impious to say that the worship of God is not the Duty of Man But by publick worship Men do more evidently manifest their gratitude to God and the Sense which they have of his Benefits and their own Obligation than by private Prayer and Adoration And upon this account the former is more acceptable to God who delights in the good of his Creatures which good can be no otherwise procured or maintained but by an exact discharge of their Duty one part of which is a just return of Gratitude and Worship to himself God receiveth not increase of Honour from the Praises of Angels any more than from those of Men. Yet all the Descriptions which we find of Heaven represent them as incessantly singing Praises to their great Creator Who not content to retain a reverent Conception of the Divine Majesty in their own thoughts communicate them to each other and publish them to the whole World And indeed to what purpose can we imagine that God should both under the Old and the New Testament found Churches that is separate Societies of Men united by certain Laws and under one common Form of worship if it be not the Duty of all the Members of those Churches to meet together at certain times and places and adore him by one common Form If God had intended to rest satisfied with private Worship in vain did he contrive and found Churches by wonders of Providence as he hath that both of the Jews and Christians in vain hath he given to them particular Laws and annexed many Priviledges and Promises to the whole Society and to the Members of it as such Under the Old Law he required every Male to appear before him in the publick Place of worship three times in the year and commanded publick Worship to be continually paid to himself in daily Sacrifices Yet as he declared altho' he cared not for ten thousand Bullocks nor for Rivers of Oyl he would not remit the Duty and adjoyned Rewards to it because it publickly declared the Subjection of the devout Sacrificers to himself In these publick Forms of worship in the Jewish Temple our Lord while one Earth constantly gave his Attendance at appointed times After his Ascension and the Gift of the Holy Ghost the Apostles as we find in the III. of the Acts frequented the Temple at the usual hours of Prayer and joyned in the common Forms of Prayer there made use of altho' by the Operation of the Holy Ghost then received by them they could have poured out Extempore far more excellent and devout Prayers than those received in the Temple which were of humane Composition If then God so strictly exacted the Practice of publick Worship in all times if Christ and his Apostles so exactly performed it if for this very Purpose God hath gathered and united a Church under common Laws and the hopes of a common Reward what account can they make who either lay aside all publick Worship as superfluous or decry the daily Sacrifice of prayer and praise to God offered up in the Church or when themselves meet once a week to worship God place the Religion of the day in hearing a Sermon which is properly no part of Worship but only an Exhortation to and direction how to worship God In the next place as the Obligation of publick Prayer is greater than that of private so the Promises made to the one are far greater than to the other Our Lord hath promised That wheresoever two or three shall be gathered together in his name wheresoever there shall be an Assembly of Christians joyned together to offer up Prayer and to worship God he will be in the midst of them He will watch over them with his Providence he will own them as Members of his Body he will excite and render effectual their Devotion by the Operation of his Holy Spirit he will intercede with God for the Grant of their Petitions And how effectual must those Prayers be wherein our Lord himself concurrs Or what doubt can remain of the acceptance of our Worship and the grant of our Desires when he is present with us All the glorious Promises of Assistance Pardon Favour and Protection which were anciently made to the Jews worshipping God at the Temple in Jerusalem are now translated to the Christian Churches The only difference is that whereas among them the publick worship of God was confined to one place in the Christian Religion which was given not to one Family or Nation but to the whole World the same Priviledge is made common to all places of publick Worship in all parts of the World wherever Christianity doth prevail To Worship offered up from publick places alone the Promises of the greater and more illustrious Blessings of God are annexed And no wonder since by this alone the publick Religion of any Nation doth appear by this alone the publick Honour of God is maintained in the World While the Tabernacle made by Moses and afterwards the Temple at Jerusalem stood while daily Sacrifices and Worship were performed therein it was an undeniable Evidence that the Jews worshipped the
all the Signs and Tokens which God had given to Mankind to discover his Power thereby in the Accomplishment of this Mystery are come to pass But not only is it just and reasonable that from the Consideration of the Incarnation of Christ Glory should be given to God but also this effect hath actually been produced and greater Glory hath thence ensued than from all other Causes whatsoever I will not insist upon the Praise which the ancient Patriarchs Prophets and good Men gave to God when they foresaw this Incarnation altho' it all ought to be resolved into this Cause I will only alledge the increase of Divine Glory subsequent to the Birth of Christ And do that by comparing the State of the World at that time with that which followed to it Before this Sun of Righteousness arose an universal darkness had overspread the face of the Earth The worship of Idols and Devils had in every place prevailed The true God so far from being honoured that he was not so much as known No Praises Honour or Glory given to him but his Laws violated without Remorse his Authority not acknowledged and his Benefits wholly forgot Indeed the small Country of Judea is to be excepted altho' that was now possessed by a Pagan Government and was shortly to be wholly destroyed by them And even of this small part of Mankind an inconsiderable Proportion maintained their Obedience to God entire Their Teachers had made void the Commandments of God by their Traditions the most Sacred Offices of their Religion were slighted and publickly set to Sale and what remained of true Piety just then expiring Consider now the State of the World in after times We find this Darkness dispelled this impiety removed Armies of Saints Martyrs and devout Persons who should for ever continue to sing that Hymn to God which the Host of Heaven began upon this day The knowledge of the true God was introduced in all parts of the World vast numbers of Persons professing the Worship of him converted in a few Years their number daily increased until after three hundred Years the whole civilized World did in a manner embrace the Christian Faith and joyn in offering up Praise to God in magnifying his glorious Attributes in confessing his Authority in adoring his Majesty in obeying his Laws if not in reality yet at least in Profession These blessed Times indeed were not for ever to continue it was foretold That in the latter times Men and that the greatest number should depart from the true Faith walking after their own Lusts. And the effect of this Prophesie the Church hath now for many Ages lamented Yet after all the publick Worship of the true God is still kept up if not in the greater yet in the more understanding part of the World vast numbers of devout Persons yet remain continual Praise is daily offered up to God and all this is owing to the happy Incarnation of our Lord as upon this day And to acknowledge this and give Glory to God for it we are this day met together and so are all other true Members of the Catholick Church in their several places The second Branch of the Angelick Hymn in the Text is Peace on Earth By Peace according to the usual Expression of the Jews we may well understand all manner of Happiness of which Mankind is capable to be inferred yet in considering it I shall confine my self to the strict Acception of it This day then were signally accomplished the ancient Prophesies concerning the peaceable Times of the Messias Now was God reconciled to Mankind and those Reasons founded upon which Men should for ever be reconciled one to another This was the greatest Benefit which Men could possibly receive to be restored to the favour of their Creator and the Love of one another God could receive no other from the Incarnation of his Son but the increase of Glory and Man no greater than the Gift of Peace justly therefore after Glory to God in the highest the Angels subjoyn Peace on Earth Peace in the first Sense as it is Reconciliation to God was foretold by Isaias of the times of the Messias LVII 19. And that to be granted to all Men who should accept the Condition of it Peace Peace to him that is far off and to him that is near saith the Lord and I will heal them This Reconciliation was actually begun in the Incarnation of our Lord and finally compleated by his Preaching and Suffering here on Earth upon which Account he is called the Prince of Peace And we are said Rom. V. 1. To have Peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ. Before Men had by their Sins proclaimed themselves Enemies to God and more eminently by putting themselves under the Dominion of the grand Enemy of God the Devil and the protection of evil Spirits which was notoriously done among the Heathens Christ by taking our Flesh upon him and doing and suffering what afterwards he did brought a great part of Mankind to the acknowledgment and subjection of the true God and having done so offering up his Life as a Ransom for their Sins obtained of his Father to be reconciled to them In the Second Sense Peace upon Earth signifieth the mutual Peace of Men. This also was foretold by the Prophets concerning the times of the Messias particularly by Isaiah in XI and LX. Chapters under the Representation of that peaceable Temper which should then be visible even in Beasts of Prey It cannot be denied that the Principles of Christianity do strangely incline Men to the Observation of this excellent temper of Mind that if the Precepts of our Lord were indeed universally regarded Hatred Malice and Revenge would necessarily vanish out of the World And if Experience doth not justifie this it is to be ascribed to the Perverseness of Men not to the defect of the Christian Laws Our Lord reconciled all Men to God yet so as that he left several Conditions to be performed by Man in order to it which if he neglects he will receive no benefit by the Incarnation of Christ and be punished as an Enemy of God In like manner Christ hath settled Peace on Earth yet not forced the Will of Men to observe it but hath given such Rules and Precepts as if observed cannot but produce an universal Peace And so the ancient Prophesies are to be understood not of the effect but of the Tendency of the Religion of the Messias altho' it cannot be denied that in a great measure they actually were accomplished and to have taken place wherever the true Spirit of Christianity was retained Our Lord was born in the most warlike Empire that ever the World saw which in more than seven hundred Years had enjoyed no more than two years Peace Yet at the time of his Birth the Wisdom of God directed that an universal Peace should then obtain as well to typifie the Peaceableness of his Doctrine and Gospel as to facilitate