that although Christ Jesus were born six Months after John yet he was in Dignity before him Yet this was a Mystery which as I remember Faustus Socinus glories in that his Uncle Loelius obtained by Revelation 2. It is a more reasonable thing to suppose that a Divine Person should assume humane Nature and so the Word to be made Flesh than to say that an Attribute of God his Wisdom or Power is made Flesh which is a Mystery beyond all Comprehension There may be some Difficulties in our Conception of the other but this is a thing beyond all Conception or Imagination For an Accident to be made a Substance is as absurd as to imagine it to subsist without one 3. It is more reasonable to suppose that the Son of God should come down from Heaven and take our Nature upon him than that a Man should be rapt up into Heaven that it might be said that he came down from thence For in the former Supposition we have many other Places of Scripture to support it which speak of his being with God and having Glory with him before the World was whereas there is nothing for the other but only that it is necessary to make some tolerable Sense of those words 4. It is more reasonable to believe that God should become Man by taking our Nature upon him than that Man should become God For in the former there is nothing but the Difficulty of conceiving the Manner of the Union which we all grant to be so between Soul and Body but in the other there is a Repugnancy in the very Conception of a Created God of an Eternal Son of Adam of Omnipotent Infirmity of an Infinite finite Being In the former Case an Infinite is united to a Finite but in the other a Finite becomes Infinite 5. It is more reasonable to believe that Christ Jesus should suffer as he did for our sakes than for his own We are all agreed that the Sufferings of Christ were far beyond any thing he deserved at God's Hands but what Account then is to be given of them We say that he made himself a voluntary Sacrifice for Expiation of the Sins of Mankind and so there was a great and noble End designed and no Injury done to a willing Mind and the Scripture as plainly expresses this as it can do in Words But others deny this and make him to suffer as one wholly Innocent for what Cause To make the most innocent Persons as apprehensive of suffering as the most guilty and the most righteous God to put no Difference between them with respect to Suffering 6. It is more reasonable to suppose such a Condescension in the Son of God to take upon him the Form of a Servant for our Advantage than that a meer Man should be exalted to the Honour and Worship which belongs only to God For on the one side there is nothing but what is agreeable to the Divine Nature viz. Infinite Love and Condescension and Pity to Mankind on the other there is the greatest Design of Self-exaltation that ever was in Humane Nature viz. for a meer Man to have the most Essential Attributes and Incommunicable Honour which belongs to God And whether of these two is more agreeable to the Spirit and Design of the New Testament let any Man of understanding judge For as it is evident that the great Intention of it is to magnifie the wonderfull Love of God in the sending of his Son so it is as plain that one great End of the Christian Doctrine was to take Mankind off from giving Divine Worship to Creatures and can we then suppose that at the same time it should set up the Worship of a meer Man with all the Honour and Adoration which belongs to God This is to me an incomprehensible Mystery indeed and far beyond all that is implied in the Mysteries of the Trinity and Incarnation For it subverts the very Foundation of the Design of Christianity as to the reforming Idolatry then in Being it lays the Foundation for introducing it into the World again for since the Distance between God and his Creatures is taken away in the Matter of Worship there is nothing left but the Declaration of his Will which doth not exclude more Mediators of Intercession but upon this Ground that the Mediation of Redemption is the Foundation of that of Intercession And it is far more easie for us to suppose there may be some things too hard for us to understand in the Mystery of our Redemption by Jesus Christ than that at the same time it should be both a Duty and a Sin to worship any but the true God with proper Divine Worship For if it be Idolatry to give it to a Creature then it is a great Sin for so the Scripture still accounts it but if we are bound to give it to Christ who is but a Creature then that which in it self is a Sin is now become a necessary Duty which overthrows the natural Differences of Good and Evil and makes Idolatry to be a meer Arbitrary thing And I take it for granted that in Matters of Religion Moral Difficulties are more to be regarded than Intellectual because Religion was far more designed for a Rule of our Actions than for the Satisfaction of our Curiosity And upon due Examination we shall find that there is no such frightfull Appearances of Difficulties in the Mâ—stery of the Incarnation as there is in giving Divine Worship to a Creature And it ought to be observed that those very Places which are supposed to exclude Christ from being the true God must if they have any force exclude him from Divine Worship For they are spoken of God as the Object of our Worship but if he be not excluded from Divine Worship then neither is he from being the true God which they grant he is by Office but not by Nature But a God by Office who is not so by Nature is a new and incomprehensible Mystery A Mystery hidden from Ages and Generations as to the Church of God but not made known by the Gospel of his Son This is such a kind of Mystery as the Heathen Priests had who had Gods many and Lords many as the Apostle saith i. e. many by Office although but one by Nature But if the Christian Religion had owned one God by Nature and only one by Office the Heathens had been to blame chiefly in the Number of their Gods by Office and not in the Divine Worship which they gave to them But St. Paul blames the Heathens for doing Service to them which by Nature are no Gods not for doing it without Divine Authority nor for mistaking the Person who was God by Office but in giving Divine Worship to them who by Nature were no Gods which he would never have said if by the Christian Doctrine Divine Worship were to be given to one who was not God by Nature But these are indeed
Reason to quarrel with Christianity than any other Religion if their quarrel were not really against all as I fear it is Let them look abroad over the Unchristian World and they will find such foolish Notions such vain Superstitions such incoherent Fables such immoral Practices allowed by their several Religions as would make a considering Man wonder how the Notion of Religion could be so debased among Men. Let them look backward upon the Passages of elder Times and they shall find either they set up false Gods with the true or the false Worship of the true God or a Worship disagreeable to the Divine Nature by mean Representations or uncouth Sacrifices or impure Rites or else there were some horrible Flaws as to the common Principles of Morality as to conjugal Society or the Rights of Property or the due Regard to the Preservation of Mankind or they give such a pitifull Representation of the Rewards and Punishments of another Life as if they had a Mind to have them look'd on as Fables or despised as unworthy our regarding them above the present Pleasures of Life But I dare challenge the most cavilling Sceptick to find any just Fault with the Duties of Christianity for the Worship of God required therein is pure holy spiritual very agreeable to the Divine Nature and the common Reason of Mankind The Moral Precepts of it are clear weighty and comprehensive And those who have delivered them to us neither commend any Vice nor sink the Reputation of any Vertue they never lessen our Duties to God or to one another all the just Complaint is that the Precepts are too strict and severe too good and too hard for Mankind to practise them But is this an Objection against our Religion or against Mankind If they think that let our Religion require what it will the generality of the World will still live and act like Brutes and go against all Reason and Religion how can we help it But we hope the blame is not to be laid on Reason or Religion that so great a part of Mankind are either Fools or Mad-men i. e. either want Sense to understand their Duty or are resolved not to practise it Especially considering that the Rewards and Punishments of another Life are set forth in the Gospel with that Clearness that Force that Authority that if any thing of that Nature would work upon Mankind these must But all these things I pass over and come to that which I proposed as my chief Design which is to prove That none who truly believe the Principles of Natural Religion can have any Reason to reject this fundamental Article of it as to God's sending his Son into the World And that upon two Accounts I. That the Principles of Natural Religion make this Design appear very credible or fit to be believed by Men of Sense and Understanding II. That the Principles on which this fundamental Article of our Revealed Religion stands afford sufficient Evidence to prove it true and therefore that we are bound to believe it As to the former the Grounds or Principles which I go upon are these I. That the great End of Christ's coming into the World viz. the Salvation of Mankind is most agreeable to the infinite Wisdom and Goodness of God No one who believes a God can deny him to be of infinite Wisdom and Goodness for the very same Reasons which move Men to believe a God do convince them that he must be of infinite Wisdom and Goodness seeing the strongest Evidences to prove his Being are from the Instances of them in the World These being then supposed as essential and inseparable Attributes of the Divine Nature we are to consider what End with respect to Mankind is most agreeable to these to carry on and we must suppose Mankind to be made up of Soul and Body which are capable of Pleasures and Satiâ—faction both in this World and another But our Souls are of an immortal Nature that will subsist in Happiness or Misery after this Life otherwise the Rewards and Punishments of another World signifie nothing the Question then is if it can be made a Question Whether it be more agreeable to the infinite Goodness and Wisdom of God to provide for the Well-being of Mankind in such a low and gloomy Region as this Earth is or to advance them into a far better Place and better Company and more Noble and Divine Delights and those not depending on a fading drooping dying Life but on the perpetual Enjoyment of a complete Happiness both of Soul and Body No one that ever dares to think or consider of these things can believe there is any Comparison between them so that the Salvation tendred by the Gospel is the most agreeable End which the Wisdom and Goodness of God could carry on for the Benefit of Mankind But why should Mankind flatter themselves with the Hopes or Expectation of a Happiness so far above what they can pretend to deserve There were some Grounds for such an Objection as this if we supposed the Rewards of another Life to come from any other Fountain than the infinite Goodness of God towards those who sincerely love him and endeavour to please him although with many Failings and Imperfections But this is the only Hypothesis which we maintain to be the Christian Doctrine And what is there in it which is repugnant to the Wisdom and Goodness of God What was it but infinite Goodness which gave a Being to the World at first and hath preserved it ever since and made it so usefull and beneficial to Mankind What is it but infinite Goodness that suffers us to live and enjoy so may Comforts of Life after so many great and continual Provocations If we were to argue from our Deserts it were impossible for us to justifie the wonderfull Patience and Long-suffering of God towards the sinfull Race of Mankind for we are certain that they have long since deserved to be cut off from the Face of the Earth If we consider the Justice and Holiness of God whereby he is daily provoked to punish Offenders and the Power he hath to execute his Justice in a Moment without any opposite Power to controll or resist him we have Reason to be astonished at the wonderfull Patience and Forbearance of God of which we every day see so large Experience But this is not all he doth not only suffer them to live but often makes their Condition easie and prosperous as to this World having Health Riches and Honour and the Hopes of their Posterity enjoying the same things after them Now these to such who do not believe or value another Life are the greatest things God can do to their Satisfaction But if they can allow so much Goodness in God towards those who continually offend him why should they question greater Instances of it towards those that endeavour to please him I do not mean as to this World but as to another which they value
Year depends upon certain and natural Causes viz. the Diurnal and Annual Course of the Sea All that can be proved hence is that things may not always remain in the same State of Darkness and Inactivity but that the same God who hath appointed the Times and Seasons for other things may if he please restore Mankind after a long Night and cold Winter in the Grave to a State of Life and Vigour at the Day of Resurrection The Story of the Phoenix so often mentioned by the Ancients holds well enough against the Authors of it for the Christians had it from the Heathens viz. to prove there is no Absurdity in believing the Possibility that Life may be restored after the Corruption of the Body and that they had no reason to deride Christianity for a Doctrine which themselves owned in their famous Tradition of the Phoenix But when they argued strictly about this Matter they resolved it into the same infinite Power of God whereby he made the World And according to the due order of our Creed we must first believe in God the Father Almighty maker of Heaven and Earth before we are to believe the Resurrection of the Body And although the Matters of Faith be not capable of strict Demonstrations yet we have this strong Evidence to convince Mankind of the Credibility of it viz. If they do believe that God made the World and the Bodies of Mankind at first they can have no reason to question his Power to new make them if they do not they must believe something far more absurd than the Doctrine of the Resurrection viz. that this World should make it self and that all things should fall into that admirable Order they are in without the Power and Management of an infinitely Wise Creatour And setting aside the Consideration of infinite Power such Persons ought not to find fault with asserting the Possibility of the Resurrection for why may not the same Particles of Matter in a long Tract of time hit together again to make up the same Body as well as such are at first supposed to have made up not only the visible World but the wonderful Fabrick of any single Body of Mankind Why should it be more incredible that a dead Body should be raised out of its Grave than that the Body of a Man should spring out of the Earth at first from a meer Fermentation of Matter So that the most Atheistical Persons have no reason to reject the Doctrine of the Resurrection as a thing incredible to them But yet there are some Difficulties which deserve to be cleared to remove any Temptations to Infidelity and those relate 1. To the quantity of the Matter to make up such a number of Bodies 2. To the sorting and Distribution of it for the making so many distinct Bodies as were before 1. As to the quantity of Matter not as to the main Body of the Earth out of the dust whereof Man's Body was framed at first but as to that which makes up the Bodies of Men as now they are And I think one Observation is sufficient to clear the Difficulties which relate to this that what passes away from us by insensible Transpiration was once as really a part of our Body as that is most visible and discernible in us now or will be when our Bodies corrupt in the Grave and are turned into Dust. I need not run to the Statick Experiments to prove the vast quantity of Matter belonging to our Bodies which passes continually away from us for there is one thing which sufficiently proves it and no Body can doubt of and that is we find all Persons grow and shoot up till they come to such a Stature and when they are attained to it all the Art and Contrivance and Nourishment they can use cannot make any addition to it To what a prodigious height would Mankind grow if every seven years they should shoot up in Proportion to the first Seven And if those parts which receive Nourishment did not spend themselves all Men when they cease growing upwards must have a vast Bulk For they take in greater Nourishment than when they shot up so fast But we find it otherwise in Mankind and therefore those which were once the real parts of the Body do insensibly go off and spend themselves and others come in their room And those which were the substantial Parts of the same Body are scattered up and down in our Atmosphere being wholly indiscernable by us but yet they are not annihilated nor lost to infinite Wisdom who ranges and disposes those minute Particles of our Bodies in such order that he can command them together as he pleases and so make up the same Body again But this carries me to the second Difficulty 2. As to the sorting and distribution of these dispersed Particles into so many distinct Bodies again It is but a mean Representation of the Possibility of this which the Chymists boast off viz. that they can reduce some Metalline Bodies to their own shapes and natural appearances from those wonderful Disguises they can put them into But from thence we may infer that the infinitely Wise God knows all the secret passages of Nature and every small part of a Body and can trace it through all its Changes and Shapes and bring it back again to unite with the other parts of the same Body The truth is we are mighty Strangers to the invisible Kingdom of Nature we make a shift to talk and reason a little about the Frame and Contexture of gross and visible Bodies but for those innumerable Parts which are out of the reach of our Senses we know they must be and are somewhere but in what Order and Variety we know not But this we know that the most minute parts we can discern by the help of Glasses although they appear rough and deformed to our naked Eyes as the Moss which grows upon the Earth yet when it is more narrowly searched into by the help of Glasses is found to have in it admirable Beauty and Curiosity And it is very observable that the more we look into the Works of Art the less we admire them but the more we search into what we account the most disorderly and confused parts of Nature even the least and most contemptible the more we are surprized with admiration Which shews the infinite Wisdom of the Maker of all things who hath all those things in due Order which seem to us impossible to be sorted or numbred And since God hath declared it to be his Design to raise the Bodies of the Dead we have no reason to question but that he disposes the several parts of them so as none shall be either lost or mislaid The Psalmist speaks of a Book in God's keeping wherein all our Members are written which in continuance were fashioned when as yet there was none of them And he hath a Book too wherein all the scattered parts
confess that no Sacrifices are so pleasing to him as a Pious devout and vertuous Mind but then they were to seek as to the Measures of Piety and Vertue But that is the Infinite Advantage by the Scriptures which we enjoy that by them we know what is most pleasing to God He hath shewed thee O Man what is good and what hath the Lord required of thee but to do justly and to love Mercy and to walk humbly with thy God When God sheweth us our Duty we have no longer any ground to dispute it especially when it is so agreeable to the Divine Nature and our own What can we do better with respect to Mankind than to do justly and to love Mercy What can become us more with respect to God than to walk humbly with our God To walk with God is to have a constant Regard to him in the Course of our Lives thus Enoch walked with God and Noah and Abraham and to walk humbly with him is to maintain a due Sense of our Distance from him and our Dependence upon him And this Humility of Mind doth not take off from true Magnanimity for it is the Magnanimity of Christians that I am speaking of The Magnanimity of Philosophers carried them beyond the due bounds of their Dependence upon God for they presumed upon their own Sufficiency both as to the Support of their Minds under Difficulties and the making themselves happy In both which they were lamentably mistaken But the Humility of Christians in depending upon God for Assistance and Happiness is so far from being inconsistent with Magnanimity that it is not to be had without it For saith St. Paul I can do all things Can any thing be said greater than that But how Through Christ which strengtheneth me And this Dependence upon God for his Grace is no more inconsistent with Magnanimity than a Favourite's Greatness is with his Duty and Service to his Prince The Christian's Magnanimity lies in having but one to please but such a one as is the greatest the wisest the happiest Being in the World 2. But if he cannot please God and the World together then this Magnanimity carries him rather to choose suffering under the World's Displeasure than to displease God This seems a hard Choice but there would be no Magnanimity without Difficulty It may please God that our Duty and Interest may lie together and then it is Folly and Humour to choose to suffer when we need not Where there is true Magnanimity in suffering there is an impartial and prudent weighing and balancing all Circumstances together before there can be a just Resolution of suffering And a Man's Courage in suffering depends very much upon the Motives induced him to it which every Man's Conscience must judge of But there are two sorts of sufferings Magnanimity may shew it self in 1. The Necessary and unavoidable Accidents and Calamities of Life 2. The voluntary preferring a suffering Condition rather than sinning against God 1. As to the common Accidents of Life It is observed by the Moralists that it is a harder thing to bear things that are troublesome than to abstain from things that are pleasant The Sense of Pain and Suffering being much more uneasie than the forbearing what is delightfull which is only crossing a natural Inclination And though many Persons choose rather to yield to their vicious Inclinations than to avoid the Pains and Diseases which follow them yet that is because they look on them as uncertain and at a Distance and hope they may escape them But when it is certain and present humane Nature is very tender and sensible of Pain and shrinks from it and requires inward Courage to support it self under it It is observed by the Roman Orator that a peculiar kind of Courage is necessary for suffering Pains and Diseases for many that have been brave Men in the Field yet could not viriliter oegrotare behave themselves like Men when they came to be sick The truth is all Mankind abhorr suffering so much that one of the great Inducements to the study of Morality of old was to find out some Antidotes against the common Accidents of Life For they soon found there were some Sufferings incident to humane Nature which all the Art and Skill of the wisest Men could never prevent Our Bodies are continually subject to Pains to Diseases to Corruption and Dissolution Our Estates to Violence Fraud and Misfortune Our Houses and Cities to Flames to Earthquakes to Inundations Our Friends and Relations are all liable to the same Calamities with our selves and that makes our Trouble the greater What now should wise Men do Can they hope to stem the Tide and to turn back the Stream No that is too violent for them Can they raise any Banks or Sea-Walls against them to keep them out All such are vain and fruitless What then Shall they strip themselves of all the Comforts of Life that they may leave nothing to Misfortune So some did to no great purpose unless they could shake off their Passions too But this doth not look like Magnanimity but Cowardice not overcoming an Enemy but running away from him By the same Method they must go naked to avoid Robbery and live on the Tops of Mountains to escape a Deluge But some thought these things look'd most terrible at a Distance whereas if they consider'd how common they were they would learn to bear them better But Carneades said well Malevoli animi Solatium est turba miserorum it is a kind of ill-natur'd Comfort which one draws from the commonness of Calamities And after all it is no real Satisfaction to a Man's mind to think that so many suffer as he doth it is like the unnatural Pleasure of Revenge which one Man takes in anothers Pain There is one thing it serves well for and that is to shew the Folly of great Impatience under such things which the rest of Mankind bear Thus Julian in his Epistle to Amerius relates a Story of Democritus his dealing with Darius upon the loss of his beloved Wife After several ineffectual Ways of comforting him at last he asked him whether bringing her to Life would not put an End to his Grief No doubt of it But how should this be done Let me alone for that said the Philosopher if you will provide me all the things I shall desire in order to it After great Care taken in providing many things for him Darius asked him if he had all he wanted No said he there is one thing more I must have and you are the most likely Person to furnish me with it In short you must get me three Names to be put upon her Monument of such Persons who have gone to their Graves without Sorrow or Trouble and you said he have very large and populous Dominions and no doubt if such a thing be to be had you can procure it Darius was struck with this and after some consideration
may build as presumptuous hopes upon Privileges of another kind which may be as ineffectual to our Salvation as these were when Christ said to those very Persons Depart from me all ye workers of iniquity We all bear the Name of Christ and own his Doctrine and partake of his Sacraments and in one of them profess to eat and drink in his Presence and at his Table and renew our solemn Baptismal Vow and Covenant with him as our Lord and Saviour and so we pray to him and profess to depend upon him for our Salvation and therefore we are as deeply concerned in the Scope and Design of these Words as ever the Jews were to whom our Saviour spake them But that I may the better Apply them to the Consciences of all those who hear me this Day and to make my Discourse more usefull and Practical I shall single out some of the most Remarkable Instances of those Duties which Christ hath enjoyned to his Disciples of all Ages and Nations and then shew how just and reasonable it is that all who call Christ Lord Lord should do what he saith about them and yet that the Generality of those who do so do very little Mind or Regard them The main part of those Duties which Chriâ—t requires from all his Disciples may be reduced to these three Heads I. Such as relate to the Government of our Passions II. To the Government of our Speech III. To the Government of our Actions so as that we lead a Sober Righteous and Godly Life I. As to the Government of our Passions And that may be considered three ways 1. As to the things which are apt to Provoke us 2. As to the things which are apt to Tempt us 3. As to the things which Concern us in respect of our Condition in this World 1. As to the things which are apt to Provoke us Such is the frame of human Nature that we are very tender and sensible not only of any real Hurt or Injury which may be done to our Bodies or Estates but of any thing we apprehend may do so or that touches upon our Reputation And where the Injury is real yet that which often touches most to the quick is the Contempt which is expressed in it For if the same thing be done by one we are satisfied did it not out of any Unkindness or Ill-will the matter is easily passed over and makes no breach or difference between them But if it be intended for an Affront although it be never so little then the brisker mens Spirits are and the higher Opinion they have of themselves so much deeper Impression is presently made in the Mind and that inflames the Heart and puts the Blood and Spirits into a quicker Motion in order to the returning the Affront on him that gave it But there is a considerable difference in Mens Tempers to be observed some are very quick and hasty others are slower in the beginning but more violent afterwards the Passions of the former are like a Flash of Gun-powder which begins suddenly makes a great Noise and is soon over but the other are like a burning Fever which is lower at first but rises by degrees till the whole Body be in a Flame The one is more troublesome but the other more dangerous the Care of the one must be in the beginning of the other in the Continuance of Passion lest it turn into Hatred Malice and Revenge But what through the Natural Heat of Temper in some the Jealousie and Suspicion in others the crossing each others Designs and Inclinations the misconstruction of Words and Actions the Carelesness of some and the Frowardness and Peevishness of others Mankind are apt to lead very uneasie Lives with respect to one another and must do so unless they look after the Government of themselves as to real or imaginary Provocations There are two Things I shall therefore speak to 1. That it is Reasonable that a Restraint should be laid on Mens violent Passions 2. That Christ hath laid no unreasonable restraint upon them 1. That it is Reasonable that a Restraint should be laid on mens violent Passions And that on a twofold Account 1. With Respect to the common Tranquility of humane Life 2. To the particular Tranquility of our own Minds 1. To the common Tranquility of human Life The great Comfort and Pleasure of it depends on the mutual benefit Men have from Society with one another This cannot be enjoy'd without particular Persons abridging themselves of some natural Rights for a common Benefit If we could suppose no such thing as Government or Society among men we must suppose nothing but Disorder and Confusion every one being his own Judge and Executioner too in case of any apprehended Wrong or Injury done to him Which condition of Life having all imaginable Uneasiness attending it by perpetual Fears and Jealousies and Mistrusts of one anothers Powers there was a Necessity that they must come to some common Terms of Agreement with each other so as to fix their Rights and to establish a just Measure of Proceeding in case of Wrong For every Man's Revenging his own Injury according to his own Judgment was one of those great Inconveniencies which was to be remedied by Society Laws and Government And Mankinds entering into Society for this End doth suppose it possible for them to keep under their violent Passions and to submit their private Injuries to the equal Arbitration of Laws or else they are made to no purpose unless it be to punish men for what they cannot avoid For many of those Crimes which all the Laws of Mankind do punish as wilfull Murder may be committed through the force of a violent Passion and if that be irresistible then the Laws which punish it are not founded on Reason and Justice But if such Laws are very Just and Reasonable as no doubt they are then all Mankind are agreed that mens violent Passions may and ought to be Restrained in some Cases The only Dispute then remaining is whether it may not be as fitting to restrain our Passions in such Cases which the Law takes no notice of For there is a Superiour Law viz. that of Reason whereby we are to be Governed and the Publick Laws do not forbid or punish Offences because they are unreasonable but because they are dangerous and hurtfull to human Society And And if it be allow'd to be fitting and necessary for men to keep their Passions within the Compass of Laws why not within the Conduct of Reason Especially when a great deal of Disorder may happen and disturbance of the Peace and Quiet of human Society by the Violence of Passions which may be out of the Reach of human Laws And every man is bound by virtue of his being in Society to preserve the Tranquility of it as much as he can 2. The Tranquility of our own Minds depends upon it And certainly that is a very reasonable Motive for the
to his former Practices If we had been to judge of Ahab in the time of his Humiliation and of David in the time of his Impenitency after his Sins of Adultery and Murther we should have thought in common Justice and Charity the latter had been the carnal and the former the spiritual minded Man But it was quite otherwise which shews that we are not to judge of Men's spiritual Condition by sudden and violent Motions whether good or bad but by that Interest which prevails with them in the whole Course of their Lives To give a general Character of a Man from some violent Passion against the Tenour of his Life would be like drawing the Picture of a Man in a Fit of an Epilepsy or a convulsive Motion of his Face And to believe a Man to be a good Man because he hath some good Moods and passionate Fits of Devotion is as if we should take a piece of rotten Wood for a true Phosphorus because it shines sometimes or suppose Judas to be a Saint because he was so much in our Saviour's Company The inward Habits and Dispositions of Men's minds may be cover'd over and disguised a great while but a tempting Occasion lays them open as no doubt Judas did not get his Habit of Covetousness of a sudden but it was still growing and ripening under a fair Appearance and when the proper Season came the secret Malignity brake forth and the Temptation of Thirty Pieces of Silver discover'd the Baseness and Hypocrisie of his Heart Sometimes the Vein of Hypocrisie lies deep and is cover'd over with such a fair out-side that no one can have Reason to mistrust it till it discovers it self and then the Corruption is found so loathsome as to render ordinary Sincerity suspicious But this is a common Fault either to be too easily deceived or too unreasonably mistrustfull there is no certainty in a Deduction from particulars but where the Causes are equal and necessary It is as absurd an Inference that there is no such thing as a spiritul Mind because some who have pretended to it have been found Carnal as that there is no such thing as common Honesty among Men because some who have long born the Name of honest Men have been found great Cheats and Impostors But when a predominant Habit doth discover it self the Person must bear that Title and Denomination which it gives him 3. A Spiritual Mind is known by the general Conformity of Actions to a Divine and Spiritual Rule and so a carnal Mind by following the Bent and Inclinations of the Flesh. And there lies a great Part of the Difference for such who lay no Restraint upon their Natural Inclinations must needs be carnally minded because the Flesh as St. Chrysostom observes is not taken by St. Paul meerly for the Body but for the corrupt Part of our selves as consisting of Soul and Body It is observed by Cicero 3. de Rep. That Mankind came into the World in a very ill Condition with a Body naked frail and infirm with a Mind subject to Troubles dejected with Fears impatient of Labour prone to Lust but in the midst of all this there is a certain Divine Flame of Wit and Understanding which lies as it were buried and overwhelmed but with great Care and Industry may be so preserved and improved as to command our Appetites and governour Passions But alas How little doth the Reason of Mankind signifie to the greatest Part of them It helps them to see their Folly and like a Sea-light to a sinking Ship in a dark Night makes those who are aboard to behold their Misery without helping them out of it If the Frame of human Nature be considered in it self and by way of Speculation we have no Cause to complain of it for as God hath given us inferiour Faculties suitable to the Constitution of our Bodies so he hath likewise Superiour which are capable of controlling and covering them But when Habit and Custom is joyned with a vicious Inclination how little doth human Reason signifie All the Considerations of Natural Order and Decency and Regularity and good Example are easily over-born by the strong Propensities of a corrupt Inclination which hurries Men on to satisfie first their brutal Appetites and leaves Consideration till afterwards So that Reason seems by such an After-game rather given to torment than to reform them Therefore the wise God hath superadded his own Law to inforce that of Reason by a greater Authority that Men may think themselves more concerned to take care of their Actions when they must give an Account of them to one infinitely above them But what can Mankind do in such a wretched Condition For the Law of it self is but like a Toyl to a wild Beast the more he struggles the more he is intangled so that he sees his Misery by it but not his Remedy But such is the Goodness and Mercy of God towards Mankind that he hath never refused to accept those who have sincerely endeavour'd to do his Will according to the Measure of that Assistance which he hath given them Thus we find Characters of Men in all Ages who were said to be Righteous before God just and upright and perfect Men and yet some of the most eminent of these had remarkable failings as Noah Abraham and Job yet they had extraordinary Testimonies of God's approving their Integrity and passing by those Faults which were contrary to the general Design and Tenour of their Lives I confess we meet with two Instances to the contrary in Scripture which deserve our Consideration and those were of extraordinary Persons too eminent for their long and faithfull Service of God and yet upon single Faults committed by them he was very severe with them Which may seem to take much off from this Lenity and Goodness of God towards such who have a general Sincerity of Mind towards him But if we more strictly consider these two Cases we shall find there was something very provoking in the Circumstances of them which made God so much more displeased with the committing them For they were Sins committed by them in their publick Capacities and about such things wherein the Honour of God was more particularly concerned The first is the Case of Moses who was a great Pattern of Wisdom and Meekness and Faithfulness for forty Years together in the Conduct of a very froward People in the Wilderness yet at last he happen'd to fail in some Part of his Duty and God was so angry with him that he would not hear his Prayer for going into Canaan but he cut him off in the Wilderness at last as he did the People for their Unbelief But what was this Sin of Moses which made God so highly displeased with him If we read the Passage as it is related in the History of the Fact it is not so easie to find it out The People murmured for want of Water God upon Moses his
Mysterious Doctrine of the Resurrection although artificially couched by wayâ— of Insinuation and Address 1. It is not a vain thing to suppose it because God had Promised it For no Tradition of Fathers no Conjectures of Philosophers no Power of Nature could be a sufficient Foundation to build such an Article of Faith upon nothing short of the Promise made of God 2. It is not a new thing started by him to disturb and perplex the Minds of Men it was a Promise made to our Fathers i. e. it was involv'd and implied in the great Promise of the Messias and the Happiness to come by him which was not with Respect to this World but the World to come the full and compleat Enjoyment whereof must suppose a Resurrection of the dead 3. It is not an unreasonable thing which appears by S. Paul's putting it to them in such a manner Why should it be thought a thing incredible with you that God should raise the dead Wherein the Apostle hath shew'd us the true Method of asserting and defending the Mysteries of the Christian Faith viz. not to undertake to demonstrate things by natural Reason which are uncapable of it but first to prove them to be of Divine Revelation and then to shew that there is no Objection from Reason which can make that Revelation incredible And this I shall endeavour to make out as to the Subject here mentioned and that 1. In General with respect to the Doctrine of the Resurrection 2. More particularly 1. As to the Resurrection of Christ 2. As to the Resurrection of the Dead at the great Day 1. In General as to the Doctrine of the Resurrection It is no unreasonable Method of proceeding with Mankind to suppose some general Principles agreed on before we undertake to prove particular Doctrines For when we go about to reason at all we must suppose the Foundations of certainty without which it is to no purpose to undertake to convince any Man of any thing When we prove that there is a God we must suppose something that is without our selves in the Frame of this visible World and from the order of Causes the variety of Effects the nature of successive Beings we justly infer that it could not be always just as it is and therefore it will be produced by a Being Superiour to it whose Power must be Infinite as giving Being to that which had none and disposing things in such a manner as we see them For as nothing can be without a Cause so it is most unreasonable to suppose that which once was not should put it self into Being or a blind and unactive Cause should produce such admirable Effects An infinite Power being then necessarily supposed as to the Production of the World it cannot be unreasonable to apply it to a particular Effect although above the power of natural Causes if it be such a one as is agreeable to the infinite Wisdom of God It is an unreasonable thing to suppose any absurd Doctrine to be true because God's Power is infinite For he doth not imploy his Power but in a way most agreeable to his Wisdom and his Wisdom is discovered in the suitableness of the End and the clearness of Divine Revelation It is as possible for God now to raise the Dead as at the great Day but we have no reason to believe it because it doth not now answer the great End of the Resurrection which is in order to an eternal State Therefore altho' there be an equal Possibility in the thing yet there is not an equal Credibility because this doth by no means come up to the declared Purpose of God's raising the Dead which is of very great moment for Mankind to believe and expect If I could believe it possible for the Body of Christ to be in ten thousand places at the same time which I cannot yet if it were not to attain some great and spiritual End which cannot be carried on another way I have the same reason to think it incredible as I have to believe that God will not imploy his infinite Power as often as a Priest shall think fit by repeating the words of Consecration And we never find in the whole History of Scripture the infinite and miraculous Power of God tied to a certain Form of words and that to no spiritual End viz. either for the Conviction Conversion or Sanctification of Mankind to which other means more proper and agreeable are appointed But in the Case of the Resurrection of the Dead our Saviour hath sufficiently declared the End and Design of it to be such that we may justly suppose that if God will imploy his infinite Power it would be for such a Purpose The hour is coming saith Christ in which all that are in the Graves shall hear his voice and shall come forth they that have done good unto the Resurrection of Life and they that have done evil unto the Resurrection of Damnation Can we imagine the Power of God to be imployed for a more suitable End to the Design of his Providence than this It is not to make them capable of acting over again all that Folly and Vanity and Vice which they live in now it is not meerly to shew his Power over all the scattered Atoms of our Bodies and that he can when he pleases fetch them of their secret Repositories and dispose and unite them so as to make the same Bodies it is not to convince then the unbelieving part of Mankind when they see that effected which they before thought incredible for they who will not believe now upon the Evidence which God hath given so as to prepare themselves for that great Day shall then be forced both to believe and tremble Altho' then we do own that without God's infinite Power we look on the Resurrection as impossible yet this ought to be no disparagement to the Doctrine since the End of it is such as doth so fully agree with the Wisdom and Design of Providence It 's true the ancient Fathers who discoursed much to the Heathens upon the Argument of the Resurrection which they thought one of the most incredible Parts of the Christian Doctrine do make use of many comparisons and Similitudes from natural Causes and Effects But we are not to look on them as strict Proofs but as handsome Illustrations being designed to take off the Scorn and Derision with which the Heathens entertained the Doctrine Thus they speak of a Diurnal Resurrection viz. Of the Day dying into Night and being buried in Darkness and in the Morning springing out of its Grave of Obscurity and Silence with a fresh Glory and Splendour of an Annual Resurrection when the Trees begin to have a new Life in them and the precious Liquor which shoots up into the withered Body and Branches and so brings forth new Leaves and Flowers and Fruit. But after all we know that such a Revolution of Days and Nights and the several Seasons of the
of the Body are enter'd which he knows exactly and so can easily bring them together We all know that if the leaves of a Book are scattered up and down thro' many hands and carried to the most distant places if the Author of it knows where they are although they were bound up in other Books yet he can easily find out the several parts of it and put them together again so as to make the same entire Book which they were before If therefore God certainly knows and disposes the several parts of our Bodies for although they are under many Disguises to us they are under none to him he can much more easily gather them and joyn them together as his Wisdom and Power is infinitely greater than ours But Suppose the parts of one Body be turned into the Substance of another as in those who eat Man's Flesh how is it possible there should be distinct Bodies when the Substance of one goes into the Substance of another This hath been thought by some a terrible Objection against the Possibility of the Resurrection but according to the Principles I have already laid down it will admit of a clear and distinct Answer For 1. The Difficulty would appear much greater if there were any such Cannibals in the World as lived wholly upon Man's Flesh. It cannot be denied that there are Instances of People so rude and barbarous as to account it a piece of Gallantry to devour their Enemies whom they have taken in Battle and of others who by extremity of Famine have been driven to it But such extraordinary Instances have no force against a general Doctrine unless it be proved to be impossible by them for against extraordinary Cases extraordinary Care may be set to make up the parts of those Bodies But 2. It is but a very inconsiderable part of one Body which in such Cases goes into the Substance of another That which may stop a ravenous Appetite may go but a little way towards increasing the Substance of the Body How little of what we take into our Stomachs is united to the solid parts of the Body The Flesh is dissolved into a spirituous Liquor which at last turns to a Nourishment but after many Passages and refinings in the several Vessels for that purpose the grosser part and far greater quantity going off So that according to the most received Doctrine of Nutrition suppose the Body of a Man were eaten by Cannibals a very small part of it would pass into the Substance of their Bodies 3. Suppose there were more yet there cannot be so much as is already gone off from the Body of the same Man If a Man lives to thirty or forty years his Body hath undergone many new Repairs in that time and all the old Materials were as true and real parts of the Body as the new ones and yet it is the same Body in the sense of all Mankind Why should it not be then the same Body at the Day of Resurrection if some of the parts before consumed be taken to make it up as well as those very individual parts which a Man had at the time of his Death Suppose a corpulent Man to fall into lingring Diseases or a gradual Consumption of all the parts of his Body must this Man at the Day of Resurrection have no more as belonging to his Body than he had left upon him at the hour of his Death Would it not be the same Body if it were made up of the parts he had at the beginning of his Consumption If it be then the same Reason will hold as to other times of his Life and so this mighty Objection from the Cannibals devouring those parts of the Body which a Man had at the time of his Death can be of no force to overthrow the Possibility of the Resurrection 2. Having thus endeavour to clear the Notion of the Resurrection in general I come to the particular Consideration of it 1. With respect to the Resurrection of Christ which St. Paul had here a regard to that being the chief Point contested at that time between the Jews and the Apostles as the Foundation both of the Faith and Hope of Christians For saith St. Paul If Christ be not risen then is our Preaching vain and your Faith is also vain And St. Peter That they are begotten again to a lively Hope through the Resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead It was by this saith St. Paul That he was declared to be the Son of God with Power It was by this saith St. Peter that God exalted him to be a Prince and a Saviour to give Repentance to Israel and remission of sins And therefore the Apostles after the pouring out of the Holy Ghost upon them insist chiefly upon this Point and that not in distant places at first where Circumstances could not be known or examined but at Jerusalem while all things were fresh in their Memories and all Matters of Fact might be strictly examined Thus St. Peter on the Day of Pentecost standing up with the eleven said Ye Men of Judea and all ye that dwell at Jerusalem hearken unto my words And then follows his Charge upon them for the Death of Christ Jesus of Nazareth a Man approved of God him have ye taken and by wicked hands have crucified and slain And what then Whom God hath raised up This might seem incredible to them at first hearing but St. Peter goes on and having proved it foretold by David he saith again This Jesus hath God raised up But how doth this appear Whereof saith he we all are witnesses i. e. We that stand here before you and are ready to undergoe any Trial of our Sincerity in the Matter we do not tell you of Witnesses that live at a great distance but we whom you see and hear testifie what we have seen and heard If you are unsatisfied go and search the Monument where his Body was laid examine the Soldiers that were to guard it go to the Council and let them search into the bottom of it here we stand and are ready to give our utmost Testimony to the Truth of it Not long after as Peter and John were going into the Temple and a great number of People were gathered together upon a Miracle wrought by them St. Peter again tells them That they had killed the Prince of Life whom God hath raised up from the Dead whereof we are Witnesses This extremely galled the Priests and Sadduces present as appears afterwards and they seized upon them and the next day a solemn Council was called to examine them But do they flinch from their Testimony then No so far from it that St. Peter speaks more boldly to them Ye Rulers of the People and Elders of Israel be it known unto you all and to all the People of Israel that by the Name of Jesus of Nazareth whom ye crucified whom God
made And what Proof can be given of the Truth of a Body greater than this If they had pretended that after his Resurrection his Body was presâ—nt but after the manner of a Spirit i. e. after an invisible impalpable unintelligible manner the World would have despised their Testimony and there had been no need to have said more for rejecting it than that if Body and Spirit be to be known asunder it must be by the different Properties and therefore to confound them is to confound our knowledge of them 2. It was necessary that there should be such Witnesses who would attest what they saw which his Enemies and Murderers would not have done if he had appeared to them Can we imagine that the High Priests and Elders and his other implacable Enemies who had Blasphemously attributed his other Miracles to the Power of the Devil would immediately have been convinced upon the sight of his Body after the Resurrection No doubt by the same Reason they would have concluded it to have been an Apparition of the Devil 3. There must be some Proof of the Honesty and Sincerity of Mankind allow'd and the Apostles gave the greatest that ever Men did by their Self-denial Unanimity Courage Patience Constancy and Perseverance They almost all laid down their Laws to attest this Truth and all underwent great Persecutions for it when the Discovery of the least Fraud would not only have set them at ease but gained them a plentiful Reward And therefore Why should it be thought a thing incredible with you that God should raise his Son from the Dead 2. We must consider this with Respect to the general Resurrection of the Dead What Reason can we have to think that incredible when God hath already given such an Evidence of the Possibility of the thing by the Resurrection of Christ He that can raise up one Body can raise the rest since the difficulty lies not in the number of Bodies but in the Nature of the thing Some have ridiculously question'd whether the Surface of the Earth would be large enough to hold all the Bodies of Mankind upon it at the Day of Resurrection But an ingenious Person hath demonstrated the Folly of such an Imagination And it cannot be thought a needless Exercise of Divine Power when it is in order to the general Judgment and the Resurrection of Christ was intended as a Pledge and Assurance to the World not only of that day to come but that Christ is appointed to be the Judge Because he hath appointed a day in which he will judge the World in righteousness by that Man whom he hath ordained whereof he hath given assurance unto all Men in that he hath raised him from the Dead What remains then but for us to think it our greatest Concernment to live as becomes those that believe we must not only die but be raised from the Dead by the mighty Power of God and that in order to our appearing before the Judgment Seat of Christ that we may receive according to to things done in the Body whether good or bad What manner of Persons ought we then to be in all boly Conversation and Godliness What fruit had ye then saith St. Paul in those things whereof ye are now ashamed As though the bare Reflection of a Man 's own Conscience were enough to make him sensible of the Folly of Sin But what then is it to consider That those things which will not bear a severe Reflection at home shall be laid open before the Judgment Seat of Christ We are now to palliate and disguise and conceal our Follies and Weaknesses here as much as we can from our selves as well as others we would fain keep upon good Terms with our selves and use too many Arts to blind and deceive our own Consciences But alas How vain and foolish a thing is it for us to deceive our selves to our own Destruction If the Judge at the great Day would judge just as we do it would be the best Argument in the World â—or deceiving our selves But he will judge the World in Righteousness Not according to the vain Opinions Men have of themselves not according to the rash Censures or indiscreet Flatteries of others who cannot be able to judge of us as we may do of our selves And this is a Matter of the greatest Importance to us since God is pleased to leave it so much to our own Judgment That if we judge our selves we shall not be judged Let us not therefore do it carelessly partially and ineffectually but deal faitâ—fully and sincerely with our selves searching for our most secret and beloved Sins and proceed against them in such a manner as we shall wish we had done when we appear before the Judgment Seat of Christ. Think with your selves then how shall we then abhor those Sins of the Body which will expose both Soul and Body to the eternal Vengeance of God How shall we be ashamed to have yielded so much and so easily to the Inclinations of it against the Convictions of Reason the Checks of Conscience and the plain Commands of Scripture And therefore the thoughts of that day should have the most powerful Influence on us to keep our Bodies in subjection to our Minds and to subdue the irregular Appetites that come from them For these Bodies of ours now are not so much Companions as Traitors to our Souls holding a Correspondence with their greatest Enemies suggesting Counsels which tend to their Destruction and the Temptations which arise from them are so many and so bewitching that without a constant Care our Bodies may prove the ruin of our Souls And those who have the greatest Command over them have enough to do to keep under the Passions that arise from them which may grow troublesome when they cannot Govern and like discontented Persons be very uneasie when they are not gratified to their own Desire It is therefore a great satisfaction to the Minds of good Men to think there is a Day of Resurrection coming when their Bodies shall no longer be an â—ncumbrance or a Temptation to their Minds they shall neither hinder their Happiness nor draw them from it Thus all the dark Temptations and cloudy Vapours and disturbing Passions which arise from our Bodies now shall be scattered and dispersed and there shall be nothing but Purity Serenity and Clearness in that State For Then the righteous shall shine forth like the Sun in the Kingdom of their Father when the glorious Light within shall break through the Passages of the Body and cause as great a Splendour in it as the Sun it self would have within so narrow a Compass Thus it is said of our Saviour upon his Transfiguration That his â—ace did shine as the Sâ—â— and yet his Body then had the same Qualities that our's have now But after the Resurrection the glorified Bodies shall be so purified and refined by a Divine Spirit and