Servant is well-pleased with the Employment it is put to by such a Master Neither of them hinder other's attainment to its just perfection but on the contrary the Soul is helped and furthered by its Conjunction with the Body and no Faculty of that but shall one way or other become an Occasion and the Matter or Instrument of the Soul's Use and thereby of the Enlargement of its Understanding or Liberty or Goodness Thus the Animal Life is not only consistent with but serviceable to the Life of Knowledg and Liberty of Wisdom and Vertue And on the other hand the Spiritual Life heightens and invigorates the sensible and animal It becomes Health to the Navel c. From all that I have hitherto said I may conclude That Man's Way in general or the Way in which all and every Man should go is such an Exercise of his natural Powers as either is their Perfection or has a direct tendency to it and is also in order to the perfection of all others and will bring Honour to the great Author of them This in general I shall now descend to a somewhat more particular Account of this Way and shall mention First The Way of Vnderstanding when a Man's Reason presides and governs and all the other Faculties and Appetites are subject and obedient to it This is the truly natural Way for the Understanding was made to be chief and all else in Man to be Inferior and subordinate Consequently to this and which is implied in it is The Way of Knowledg and Truth These are the Perfections of the Understanding and without which it is no more fit to conduct and guide our Appetites than an unlighted Candle is to give us light or a Guide that is ignorant in the Way is fit to direct us to our Journey 's End More particularly The Way of Wisdom which is our propounding to our selves good and great and attainable Ends and pursuing them in the use of proper and fit and likely Means This implies not only Knowledg but Choice and therefore contains in it the Will as well as the Understanding but yet all this is very reducible to that which I call the Way of Vnderstanding I insist the rather on this because Vnderstanding is the greatest highest and most proper and peculiar Principle that is in Humane Nature that which so remarkably distinguishes betwixt Man and Beast and betwixt one Man and another And because our Works are of no account if they do not proceed from this if they be done without it they are not as the Moralists call them humane not Works of Men. And the greater Perfection of the Understanding they arise from the greater and better they are This then is the first particular Way the Way of Vnderstanding when our Will and all our Inclinations and Appetites our inferior Powers are under the Conduct and Government of true Knowledg the true Knowledg of Good and Evil which is the Principle of Wisdom which is chiefly seen in preferring the better Good before the less and in discerning the reference which one has to the other This Way of Understanding is that which the Sacred Scripture doth so often call on us to walk in and bids us not be as the Horse and as the Mule which have no Vnderstanding whose Mouth must be held with Bit and Bridle That which a Bridle is to restrain and turn them hither and thither that should our Understanding be to us And how often is the good Way called the Way of Understanding And they that walk not in this Way are said to be ignorant and such as err in their Hearts and to be foolish 2dly I may here also mention the Way of Voluntary Action the Way of Self-determination and free Choice This is also natural to Man not to be thrust and push'd on from Causes without but Things must first approve themselves to his Understanding that they are good and when they appear so to him whether he can refuse them or not I list not here to dispute All agree that a Man can will nothing but under the appearance of Good And this is certain that the Perfection of the Will is when it 's under the guidance and superintendance of the Understanding when it can do nothing against the Truth but with it and for it if I may borrow that Phrase And this is a great Perfection of our Natures indeed when our Appetites and Inclinations are so wholly swayed and determined by Reason and true Knowledg that they are never carried to any things which that does not approve there 's a perfect Agreement no Clashings no Oppositions To walk in this Way is to shew our selves Men. But I proceed to more Particulars of these Ways both of Nature in general and of Understanding and Will in particular and I will name only three 1. The Way of Religion and Piety towards our God and our Saviour which in short is to believe and love and fear and trust and obey God above all And particularly to believe and love c. the only begotten Son of God according to the Revelation made of him in the Gospel 2. The Way of Righteousness and Goodness to our Brethren to all Men To be honest and just to every one in giving him that which is his own that is that which he has a Right unto either by the Law of Nature and Reason or by the Laws of the Country and Customs of the Place where we live To do good to those that have done good to us To obey our Governors To honour i. e. to observe and if they need it to maintain our Patents To provide for our Children that they may live and live well and be happy To deal fairly with Equals and to be courteous to Inferiors To keep Promise with them to whom we have made it And to be good to be benevolent and beneficial to all especially to the best if they be indigent To desire and endeavour the Perfection and Happiness of every one in the World to do good to all Men. 3. The Way of Sobriety by which I understand such a Regulation and Government of our selves in all we do and suffer as is consistent with the preservation and makes for the perfection of all our Faculties or if not of all yet of the supreme and principal and of the rest so far as consists with the perfection of the higher We commonly call that Sobriety which is the good Government of our selves in Eating and Drinking and some other bodily Pleasures and Passions And in sum when that about which we are conversant is less considerable than our selves which perhaps may imply thus much that when we are conversant about that which is more considerable and valuable than we are then we ought not to have such regard to our own Preservation and Perfection but if we could produce any Effect which would be of greater worth than our selves we should do it tho it were with the lessening
should decline all the Inconveniences and shun the Dangers of which those Times were so full whereby they should be hindred or taken off from doing the good which they ought And that they should use all honest Care and prudent Circumspection in closing with those fit seasons they might meet with of doing that which by their Religion they were obliged unto The following Reason which the Apostle uses confirms this to be his Sense For the Days are Evil. Evil i. e. in the largest Notion of that Word as it denotes Sin as well as the Misery that is consequent upon it difficult perilous times Therefore be wise and careful to avoid the Danger to decline the Temptations to shun the Disadvantages to lay hold on the few Opportunities which such Evil Days afford To this he subjoins the last Clause which contains the Direction to and implies the necessary Cause of all that he had required before And this is propounded in form of an Exhortation 1. Negatively and Generally Be not unwise or Fools 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 2. More Particularly and Positively But understanding what the Will of the Lord is Understanding 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the Word signifies an exact Knowledg such as is got by comparing one thing with another For this Cause that ye may walk circumspectly declining the Disadvantages and escaping the unnecessary dangers of the Evil Times in which we live be not without understanding but endeavour after a very perfect Knowledg of what the Will of the Lord is Having given this account of the Words I shall offer the Sense of them in this short plain Parephrase That ye may behave your selves as becomes Children of Light and not be partakers with Insidels in the unfruitful Works of Darkness c. Be very accurate in your Lives and in all your Actions as becomes those that are endued with that divine Wisdom that certain and excellent Knowledg which with our Saviour came down from Heaven Live not like those who are uninstructed in and uâ—â—cquainted with the excellent Religion of the Blesseâ— Jesus And altho the Times in which you live be full of Evil tho you meet with Temptations to Sin and be environed with danger of Suffering tho you find many hindrances and few helps to do well yet be wise and dexterous in declining all needless fruitless Dangers escaping the Evils and closing with the Opportunities you shall have And that you may be better assisted for and in the doing all this that you may be thus exact in your selves and prudent in your Carriage in reference to the Times inform your selves fully what the Will of God is get as certain knowledg as you can of what ever God has commanded or would have you do The Words contain many Propositions But I shall only insist upon those for the matter of my Discourse which seem to be most express and to take in the main scope of the Text. I shall reduce them to these three I. All Christians ought to live exactly II. They ought to make the best of bad Times when they fall into them III. They ought to use their best endeadeavours to understand what the Will of the Lord is Of the First Proposition 〈◊〉 Christians ought to see to take good heed that they live exactly In discoursing of which I shall First Show what it is to live Exactly And Secondly What Obligations lie on Christians to live so and to take heed to it Thirdly I shall give some Directions And Lastly Make some Inferences First To walk Exactly is to use due Care and Caution Circumspection and Diligence that we live according to the best and most perfect Idea of good Life 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 seems to signify this It may refer to to the thing done and then it denotes the perfection of that work Or to the Doing or Doer and then it means his Care and Diligence It often bears a respect to both and signifies the care that is taken in order to the doing any thing as well as it can be done So that by this we are at once directed to the End and to the Way or Means by which it is to be attain'd The End is a perfectly good Life The Way to it is by a diligent Care Now as 't is commonly said that to live signifies more than doing some single Actionâ— so I must say that 't is more than all our Actions For as it is requisite to make the whole not only that all the parts be there but they must be united too So 't is in the matter before us To make up a good Life the Actions must not only be good singly and by themselves but in that Relation Proportion and Order which they have unto each other So that in short To walk or live exactly is to take care that the whole course of our Life be such as it cannot be better omitting nothing that is Good doing nothing that is Evil that we do thus universally at all times in all places whatever we do that respects God or our Selves or our Brethren That our Actions be in nothing deficient neither as to Matter or Manner as to the Principles the Reasons and Eâ—ds of them That in all these respects they be exactly agreeable to human Nature in general to our Condition and Circumstances in particular that is that they be as good as such Men as we are can do If any enquire yet more particularly what a perfectly good Life is I may answer that as the Apostle here supposes it so may I suppose that all Men know it All Men have an Idea of Goodness which upon several Occasions they take notice of and refer to as when they approve and commend or blame and condemn several Practices And whenever they hear such a description of good Life as they understand they give an immediate assent to it But because in too many this Idea is not so actually observed as it would be well if it were that I may raise those Thoughts and help to make them more explicit I will propound this general Dedescription of it viz. When a Man's Will and Affections and all his Actions are so guided by a true and clear and large knowledg of God and himself aâ—d the rest of the World that he loves God with all his Heart and bears good will to other Men as he does to himself that he glorifies God and promotes his own and his Brethrens best state in all he does and the most he can And does all this knowingly and intentionally or with the design of doing it This in general every one will think a good Life I must not go on to Particulars These are some of the most essential parts of that Life which the Apostle requires an exactnâ—ss in i. e. that Men should aim at the perfecâ—ion of it and in order to this that they should take great care and pains that they should mind it and give good heed unto it Secondly I proceed to
and excellent things which are contained in these words and to which they lead us naturally and easily in this plain method First We will consider what Time Season or Opportunity is in general and what in particular was that Season which St. Paul here means And also what is the import of Redeeming the Season Secondly I will offer some Reasons why we should redeem the Season and particularly consider that which is here expressed the Days are Evil. Thirdly I will mention some of those things which rob us of our Time and deprive us of the Season which St. Paul here exhorts us to make our own Fourthly I will exhibit some of those Advices and Directions whereby we may be assisted in Redeeming this Time or or Season Of the First Season or Opportunity which is the English of 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 signifies Time of Action i. e. such a concurrence of all the Causes as makes the doing of any Work easy and gives hope of Success When there is such a confluence of Causes without that if we will do what is in us and cooperate with them we shall probably not fail to bring what we design to effect Thus a good Vessel and Pilot Wind and Tide make an Opportunity for us to be conveyed to such a place And if we be but willing to use them to this purpose they are likely to bring us thither Whereas if we would go when we are not favoured and help'd by such Causes we shall either not at all or very hardly and with much more pains and difficulty come to our Journeys end To this it will not be amiss to add that Opportunity does not only signify the presence of those things without us which contribute towards the producing an Effect but also the disposition and fitness of our own Faculties to cooperate with them For if they be in an incapacity all External Causes will not make an Opportunity As if a Man be sick that he cannot safely go by Water all the Tide and Wind c. do not make it a Season for him to go And if we take in all this into our Notion of Opportunity in common Speech we do not say that a Man has an opportunity of doing an ill thing Tho 't is true that external Things may so far concur with an ill Mind that they may make it easy to perper 〈◊〉 some bad Work as we say Occasion makes a Thief That if we understand as generally we do by Opportunity a concurrence of the Causes without us with our own Faculties ther we never say that a Man has opportunity of doing that which is Evil. It either is or is thought good either by us or by him that does it Which shews that even the Community of Men who make words signify as they please do suppose that our Faculties were not design'd or framed to do evil Things nor are ever properly and truly fit to do any thing but good and therefore we can do nothing which we do not think so This Observation I think to be true If any be of another mind and that Opportunity or Season is applicable indifferently to good or bad Purposes and Practices yet I suppose it will be granted that the Apostle in this place intends the Time or Season of doing good Actions such as are fit and becoming profitable and beneficial such as will be honourable to God and give a reputation to Christian Religion helping forward our own and others Happiness So that St. Paul exhorts us here to redeem the Time of doing all that good which the Gospel requires of living that excellent Life and practising all those Vertues which are agreeable to the Dispensation of Christianity of doing all those good Works here on Earth which by our perfect Institution we 〈◊〉 assisted and obliged to do And if this be the Action that St. Paul means it will not be 〈…〉 ouâ— the 〈◊〉 which when they 〈◊〉 make it a good Season for doing thus when ii will be more easy to live well and we may probâ—bly be more successfully good and attain all the Ends of our Excellent 〈◊〉 Now a constant firm Health a competent provision of the Necessaries and Conveniences of Life freedom from Slavery and long Restraints for the most part to live in Society a state of Peace and Quiet of good Will and Amity with Men and an abode here on Earth till Age has made us useless these are the things which we commonly and truly think do all conduce to this purpose But yet I dare not say that such a Condition would be best for all Men. Experience proves to us undeniably that a mixture of Good and Evil is best for the generality of Men in this State to have a dash of Adversity nay to be in a more depressed Condition may I believe be generally better for us Some Men are good in Sickness or in Want who if they enjoy'd their Health or lived in Abundance would not be so Nay I doubt not but this is true of the Community of Mankind And that the wise and good Providence that rules all things has so ordered it that the far greatest part are poor or sick or under restraint or have Enemies or do not live long because he sees it necessary to keep them under this sharp Discipline and for this Reason that hereby they may be trained up to be and to do Good and kept out of those Temptations which would be irresistible to them and so preserved from doing those Wickednesses which would make them liable to the unalterable Justice and beget such a disposition in them as might endanger their being irrecoverably bad and miserable I cannot but think that these Evils are Medicinal and good Antidotes which the wise and good Physician makes use of for curing the worst of Diseases in some and preventing them in others Nay that even very good Men have found it good for them to be thus afflicted so David tells us So Job and other the best of Men in former Ages Yea the Son of God himself and his first and best Followers were persecuted by Men and afflicted by God in the worst of these Instances By all this I am convinced That even Poverty and Disgrace and such other Calamities do not only contribute to bad Mens becoming good but to good Mens being better by giving them an opportunity for the exercise of some Vertues which would have had no place in a prosperous State and are necessary to our Perfection But tho I grant all this yet considering the imperfection of the best of Men and the necessity of Health and Liberty and Plenty and Peace to enable them for those Works which are proper and useful in this State and to compleat their Vertue which can never be unless they pass through varieties of Conditions I can't but look on these things as conducing to the good Life of Christians However these things may not facilitate the practice of Vertue to all Men yet
of God shall give us new Opportunities let us not again foolishly and carelesly squander or idlely sleep them away or frowardly waste them lest we justly provoke God to deny us any more Which would be a most terrible Judgment and yet very righteous We have lost much time never to be recovered do therefore what may be done to redeem what is past by double diligence in improving the future Let me add that the time is coming that we shall wish for one of those many good Opportunities which we trifled away when we come to our Death-Beds we shall in vain call back those Seasons Let this Consideration make us very careful not to neglect the least occasion of doing any good because we shall wish we had not These Reasons may be sufficient to persuade us not to neglect any but to use every Season of Action that offers it self to us I now proceed to 2. Reasons Why we should not only take Opportunity when 't is offered but endeavour to make it and to change the things that are contrary to us to be on our side and serviceable to our good Purposes Now that I may evince the reasonableness of this First I will declare what is here supposed Here are two things supposed which if they be not true then neither is this good Counsel which is built on and implys them but if they be both true then is it necessary They are these 1. That Opportunities are few 2. We do very much in our acting depend on them 1. The first of these I have already said something of and I believe there is none who is not fully persuaded of it For what Man is he who sees not how short his Life is And of that little time how much is taken for the maintenance of it And when we are sit for Action vacant for doing Good how are our Hands held by things falling cross to us We fall into Company by accident or are constrained by some occasions to be with such Persons where we spend much time but can do little to promote either their welfare or our own Whosoever watches for and is observant of Opportunities and Seasons he knows they fall out but seldom he often finds things to be wind-bound and tho he fain would yet he canriot stir I do not mean by this to justify the lazy and careless in their Complaints who lay their own Neglects on want of Opportunities for tho we have not so many yet we are not quite destitute we have some tho not so many as the diligent Man could wish for yet we have more than the idle will own or care to use and sufficient for the doing that Good which we are capable of doing if we do but observe and make use of them However if the Sum total of them be computed they may well pass for few If all our Life were a continued succession of Opportunities yet that being so short and so interrupted they are but few at most This is the first thing supposed 2. We do very much in our Actions depend on Opportunity this will appear if we consider these three things 1. Some Actions are not good if they be not done in Season and unless they comply with and be suited to external Causes and Circumstances There must not only be an agreement betwixt the Action and him that does it but it must also be suited to its Object and accommodated to things without Exempli Gratiâ Reproof to an Equal or Inferiour that is not by Passion or Prejudice so possessed as that what I shall say can make no Impression is good But when it is of a Superiour or an Equal indisposed to receive it 't is not good 't is unfit and foolish 't is importune and unseasonable And it is the same in most of the Actions of our Lives if they are not opportune they are not good And this I may say of all that the more seasonable the better they are This is one thing which shews our dependance on a fit Season In this case tho we could do Actions without it yet we should not 2. Other Actions tho we may and would do them we cannot We must be helped from abroad or of and by our selves we can do nothing There is no Man such a Stranger to himself and so ignorant of his own Insufficiency but knows he has need of the concurrence of many Causes with him to bring forth a good Action besides the assistance of God's Grace and all those many things that fore-pare a Man for Action and make him big with it there are more still that must help to elicit and bring it forth Exempli Gratiâ Tho a Man be never so wise and full of knowledg and tho he have never so great a list to communicate it yet unless he meet with others and those that are capable of it he cannot do what he desires and is so well qualified to do We cannot do the Good we would without the Help the Midwifery of External Causes and Things i. e. if we want Opportunity 3. Tho we could and should act without Opportunity yet our Action would be very often without effect For in most cases Success depends on the concurrence of those things that make Opportunity A Man would not have good Designs and Performances prove Abortive yet if they do not he must be beholden to this 'T is this must bring what he does to good Issue As soon may a Man make a Voyage without a Ship or Boat or when he has one against Wind and Tide arrive at his intended Port as in most undertakings have desired Success without the concurrence of external Causes Exempli Gratiâ Tho a Preacher use his utmost Skill and Care to compose his Discourse for the benefit of those whom he expects to be his Hearers yet if it so fall out that they either cannot or will not come to hear or if they do come yet fall asleep or talk or their Thoughts are taken up with other matters that they do not attend or if they presently forget what they heard or never once consider it that is unless things conspire so as not to hinder from hearing or attending to what they hear from remembring and considering at least the drift and scope of the Sermon He labours without Success that made and preached it Thus it appears that we act in dependance on such a happy confluence of things as make a Season or Opportunity And if this be true and that also that the Opportunities are few which offer themselves to us then it will follow that unless we will do nothing at all or labour in vain we must endeavour by our skill and diligence to make Opportunities to make things as pliant to our Purposes as serviceable to our Designs as is possible If the Mariner would never put out of the Harbour nor weigh Anchor but when the Wind blows full in the Poop he must lye still for the most part And
Statute-Book 'T is both the Common and Civil and Canon-Law whereby God governs his Subjects If any should imagine that because a great part of or all the Bible was directed to particular Persons of such Times and Places that therefore they were intended for no more Or because they were writ in an exotick and strange Tongue with which most of the World are unacquainted therefore they must not be looked on as a Revelation of the Divine Will to all Men I would desire such to consider 1. That in whatever Language they were writ the same Objection would lie against them 2. Here is work for Industry and that which may engage Men in Study and encourage Learning and may occasion Men of one Nation 's acquainting themselves with others and with the Wisdom and Customs of all Places and Times 3. That what is contained in our Bible was directed to some particular Persons this was no more than was fit to procure its Entertainment amongst them If it had been spoke to all perhaps none might have minded it at least not so much as they probably would to whom it was particularly addressed 4. That however some few might be immediately concerned in it and it might have especial respect to the Men of one Age and Place yet this hinders not but that it might have a farther reference to all that were them or should be afterwards in all Nations to whom it should come And tho there might be and were some of the Laws founded on particular Reasons which afterwards might cease yet this takes not off the Obligations of those Laws which are founded on universal and immutable Reasons such as belong to all Mankind in all Ages Where the very same reason does not continue yet there is often a Parity which is sufficient to lay an Obligation on us Exempli Gratiâ Tho we may not look on our selves as obliged to offer Sacrifices on an Altar to God by the Hands of a Priest yet we may and should offer up to God of our Substance by the Hands of the Poor And so the Law of Sacrifices may still direct and in some sort bind us And thus we may make use of the abrogated Laws which were temporary to direct our selves in the Knowledg of what the Will of God is to us by considering Parity of Reason which is the way we take in all Humane Laws This Exception being thus removed we need not question but the Scriptures of the Old and New Testament contain a Revelation of God's Will to us and all Men. V. God teaches Men what his Will is by secret Suggestions of his Spirit 'T is this which often shews us the way in which we should go which directs us saying This is the way walk in it I believe there is no Man but one time or other feels himself most powerfully instigated to do such or such an Action which at that time he clearly apprehends to be good And at other times he is as forcibly with-held from what by a clear light he sees to be evil And this he cannot reasonably impute to any other cause besides the Spirit of God He is not conscious of any Power within himself that can do thus and there is no other visible Cause of this powerful Influence So that it may well be ascribed to the Spirit of Wisdom and Revelation This brings to mind some of the Divine Precepts which we had forgot or did not then think of This discovers to us in some particular Instances what God would have us do which in other ways we could not have known Now this being so distinguishable from the other ways as to the manner and yet so consistent with and agreeable to them in the matter of the Revelation we may well conclude that it 's another way in which God discovers his Will unto Mankind Thus I have briefly considered the five ways in which God makes his Will known unto us Concerning which ways I will further say 1. That there is no Law of God which is not in one or more of them publish'd unto us 2. That some of them and indeed many are in all these ways to be known by us 3. Those that are thus many ways declared are hereby signified to be of great Importance to be known and done by us Therefore was it that the Divine Providence took such care that they should not be conceal'd from us 4. Those which are notisied to us in some one way only e. g. the Scriptures are not contradictory to nor contradicted by any other that are revealed to us in the other ways There is no Repugnancy no Inconsistency betwixt them but they all exactly harmonize and agree with each other Whosoever thinks otherwise he takes that to be a Command of God which is not There may be and is something more revealed in one way than in another but there is nothing in one that is repugnant to that is inconsistent with indeed that is not agreeable to what is in another Therefore if we at any time should interpret the Scripture-Revelation in contradiction to the unquestionable Principles of the Reason and Mind of Man we misunderstand it These are both God's Revelation of his Will to us and he cannot contradict himself Whosoever will do that which is every Man 's necessary Duty and greatest Interest to do that is seek after a perfect understanding of the Will of God concerning Man he may by a diligent Exercise of himself in these ways attain unto it And whatever Pains he takes in it I can assure him he will find himself well appaid in the Effect of his Labour For that must be great Holiness of Life and abundant Satisfaction and Quiet of Mind If I were to give a Compendium of that which all these ways appears to be the Will of God and more than a Compendium I must not offer at it should be this viz. the Perfection and good State of all Men. Whosoever either considers the Goodness and Wisdom of God or the Inclinations and Faculties which he has given to all Men or the Sense of the wisest and best nay of all Men who are in a restless Pursuit of somewhat they often mistake for their Happiness or the holy Scriptures or the secret Motions of the Divine Spirit He will say that all these do centre in and aim at this And consequently shew that this is certainly the Will of God And if we be once assured in our Minds that the Goodness and Perfection or best State of Man is the Divine Will we have got a Clue that will direct us through all the Labyrinths of Particulars And if we have but once form'd true and distinct Notion of what our Perfection is we shall then see clearly what are the Particulars of which it consists what are the means that are in order to it and what are the things that oppose and hinder it And in effect we shall be directed to a right understanding of all the
will be done with least pains and difficulty And 3dly with most certainty wen our Endeavours will be most effectual A Time when any Action is the best or as good as any that can be done is the season of that Action that is 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 an Opportunity simply so called And when that action is not only the best that can be done but can also be best done at that time this is not only 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 but 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 a good Opportunity The former we find Heb. 11. 15. the latter in St. Mat. 26. 16. All our Actions depend 1st on our own Power the inward Principle from whence they proceed 2dly on the Concurrence of Divers External Causes which make us act with more ease and in less time and more surely to effect what we endeavour According to this we may be said to have an Opportunity of doing good to Men whenever we can do it and when we have so much assistance from External Causes as that we can best i. e. with most ease and quickness and certainly do what we intend As i. e. When and whilst as soon and as oft as we have Opportunity Do not over-run do not stay behind but accompany the Season take the Tide set up your Sails when the Wind is with you lose no time slip no opportunity and whilst that lasts let us continue up and be doing with the first Light and hold on till the Night come when no Man can Work Let us do Let us not only think of doing good and talk but do 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Let it be our Work our Business our Trade that in which we employ our selves the word implies Care and Diligence and perhaps Pains in acting The thing to be done Good requires more Power to effect it than Evil does Very impotent things can do great Mischiefs but they must be Powerful that do any great Good Besides We had need thus to work in this Business of doing Good because we shall find Difficulty and meet with Opposition in it Our corrupted Natures are very backward to it it is contrary to the Practice of this degenerate World Let us use our Endeavour to do what we can And let none reflect on the Wisdom of that Divine Spirit by which St. Paul writ nor so deny their own Sense as to say they can do nothing this is but a Plea for Idleness and Unwillingness to do good by the same reason they may also say they cannot walk nor speak For all our Power both for the one and the other is from God originally But what is that which we are to do Let us do Good 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 i. e. that which is profitable behooveful beneficial and advantagious By this Word we are here and every where when it is used of Creatures to understand that which conduces to the Preservation and Perfection of their Beings and Powers When we call any thing good we refer it always to something or other Here it is applied to Men and we understand by it particularly Wisdom and Vertue inward Quiet and Pleasure Life and Health and all those Circumstances which contribute towards the getting and securing of these Perfections Briefly that which has a tendency to Man's attaining his End his Perfection and Happiness that we call Good To do Good to Men is to do those Actions which tend to make them as perfect as is possible for them and to bring them into the happiest Circumstances they can be in Vnto all Men i. e. not to our selves only but to them that partake of our Nature 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 to Aâ—â— This doubtless means Men. But yet our Kindness to them is not exclusive of other inferior Animals The good Mom is merciful to his Beast And as the Ointment poured on Aaron ' s Head ran down to the lowest â—â—m of his Garinent so the Beneficence of a good Man is so diffusive that it reaches the lowest parts of the Creations of God of which according to Philo the High-Priest's Vestment was an Emblem Indeed our Goodness as the Psalmist speaks extends not unto God and very little to Angels farther than it excites and occasions their greater Joy But it may to the Saints that are on Earth and to all our Brethren the Sons of Adam and to the Croâ—tures of a lower kind which God has made to serve us But our Apostle here means Men all that have rational Souls and Bodies of the same Make with our selves and capable of as great Happiness or Misery He requires us to do Good to all these to exclude none whether they be Acquaintance or Strangers our Countrey-men or Foreigners Friends or Enemies all tho of contrary Persuasions or of bad Practices all and every one We are to aim at the Happiness of every Man to endeavour the Perfection and good State of All. An unlimited Love an unconsined Charity is here required and a selfish or a contracted Affection are here excluded where-ever Man is Love is to be But is there no difference to be made Yes in case of a Competition of opposite Interests some are to be preferred above and before others So the Apostle directs in the following Words Especially to them who are of the Houshold of Faith i. e. who are of the Houshold or Family of God by Faith as Grotius expounds it i. e. the Children and Servants of God which they are in an especial manner who believe and obey the Gospel the Disciples and Followers of Christ Jesus whose Life was in nothing more remarkable in nothing so imitable by us as in Benignity and Kindness and universal Charity They who by Faith obey him are of the Family of God God takes especial care and provides for them he takes them as it were under his Roof and Harbour They profess and practise the best Religion in the World And altho they may be ignorant of or mistaken in some Matters yet they believe and understand so much as makes them deny Vngodliness and worldly Lusts and to live soberly righteously and godly in this present World to love other Men so as they do to them as themselves would be dont â—o by them and to love and trust in their God who made and redeem'd and sanctifies and will eternally save them Let them be of the Eastern or Western Church let them dwell in the North or South let their Differences be what they will if they be as I have described they are the chief Objects of our Care and Benevollence We are to do good to them chiefly tho not only Having thus briefly gloss'd on all the Words I shall treat chiefly of that Clause Let us do Good into All i. e. to the Community of Mankind and to all Particulars A Man may be deceived whilst he is contemplating Generals only unless he descend to Particulars An Idea of Human Nature is a lovely thing no Man thinks of it but is pleased with it
that believe and love are the true Worshippers such as God is pleased with In short Nothing makes a Man so truly Religious as a through Belief and Sense of the Goodness of God and nothing so fully assures him that God is good in general and will be so to him in particular as being himself good and loving For this assures him it is the best Life that can be lived and must therefore be the Life of God And it is natural for all Men to expect to be dealt with themselves as they deal with others and that if they be merciful they shall obtain Mercy I have shewn that to do Good to all Men is the way to make Men themselves Religigious I add it is the way to make others so too This is the way to adorn the Doctrine of our Saviour to honour our Profession to make Men entertain the Gospel heartily when the Professors of it are universally beneficent and good when they see them just and charitable hospitable and liberal and communicative in all good things Prayers and Praises Retirement and Devotion then are reverenced when they go attended with a great retinue of good Works but when Piety appears alone it 's no other than a Ghost and Specter that affrights and amazes and when it is accompanied with Injustice and Uncharitableness with Inhumanity and sordid filthy Avarice then is it blasphem'd and evil spoken of And Men are afraid to entertain that Religion which keeps so ill Company And if these be the Effects of Praying and Fasting of Solitariness and Reading to make Men morose and ill-natur'd and rigorous Exactors of all Punctilio's of Duty and severe Punishers of every little Offence and stingy selfish and inconversible they will â—lee from it If they that worship God have no regard for Men if that Zeal which flames up to Heaven set this lower World on fire and fill it with Smoak all Men will be afraid of it and use all Arts to quench it But on the other hand when we see Piety toward God and Charity toward Men go hand in hand when they that say they love God love Man also and they that live in Communion with the Father and the Son live also in Fellowship with their Brethren when they that ask Pardon of God for their own Faults forgive other Mens toward them and are condescending and meek and patient and communicative to their Fellow-Creatures as they desire God should be to them and because they pray he would be thus to them are therefore more so to others then do they win others to their Profession by their good Conversation and bring in many Proselytes to their Religion For it is not Names and Professions not Formalities and Shews not Opinions and Phrases not singular Conceits and uncommon Practices that will commend us to God or our Religion to Men but Good Works and Kindness to be communicative and loving these things will beget in them an Esteem of our Profession and give a Lustre to the Religion we own In this case Religion is like an excellent Diamond well set but in the other it is a Diamond in a Dunghil When Men see and feel our good Works then do they glorify our Father which is in Heaven Thus we see how Religion and a due regard to God is promoted by this Temper of Universal Love and Charity Thirdly To be good to all hath a great Influence on us to make us Vertuous An universal Benevolence is a Spring from whence all the Streams of Vertue run forth which gives them both beginning and continuance and increase In general this will make us both active and moderate It will both engage us to action and keep us within due Bounds that we shall neither do too little nor too much Some of the Principal Causes why Men do not practise Vertue are 1. That they are sluggish and unactive not quickned by any Affection Or 2. They are overborn with the violent assaults of evil Passions not governed by Love as Anger c. Or 3. Their Love is particular and confined Now where an universal Good-will obtains it removes all these Obstacles and 1. Makes us active and diligent in all ways of doing Good 2. It regulates all the other Passions and suffers them not to exceed their Bounds that is they are always made to serve its designs Both Anger and Hatred it self are in order to doing Good And Men that live by this Principle do not do any Evil for it self but as it conduces to some greater Good And 3. It sets Love at liberty from those restraints which by being too particular it was under before And so prevents those numberless Vices and Immoralities which arise from a selfish and too contracted Love I think most of our Miscarriages in Life proceed from an undue Preference of our selves and an unequal considering other Men's Interests and the way to rid our selves of them is to follow the Apostle's Counsel not only to mind our own things but also the things of others and here to do good to all Men. This gives that greatness and largeness of Mind in which true Generosity and bravery of Spirit does consist This Lover of the World goes on steadily in his way of well-doing and is not stopp'd by Injuries or Affronts nor reduced by particular Respects His mind is not only taken up with his own particular Concerns but he has regard to his Brethren and his Affection makes him call not only the Disciples of Christ but all the Sons of Adam by this Name And this is Generosity and Nobleness indeed to pass by Offences and pardon Injuries and to requite Evil with Good And is not that a great Mind which embraces the World in its Arms and takes the Universe into its Bosom This is Divine and God-like Particularly There is scarce any Vertue but universal Beneficence doth one way or other beget or increase it 1. No Man can be wise and prudent who doth not take into his Consideration the Community and he that does and intends the Good of Mankind steers a Course directly betwixt Folly and Mischievous Cunning. He is neither amongst those that have none or Evil or but little petty Designs No this Man hath proposed to himself one and that an excellent good and great end the Good of Mankind and he takes the proper fit means for the attaining it to do as much as he can Thus available is doing Good to all to Prudence Besides this Practice will give a Man a great insight into particular Mens affairs and an understanding of many things and circumstances which is necessary and will much contribute to Discretion and prudent Determination And 2. Justice is no less beholden to it It 's impossible that Man should be Just who doth not intend other Mens Good as well as his own and all Mens as well as some and most to those that are best But where the Hand that 's stretch'd out to all holds the Ballance there
others will make us desire their Honour as well as our own And where we love all and have an Affection for the Publick we shall desire no more than we deserve we shall be unwilling that other Men should be so far imposed on as to think us better than indeed we are We cannot be so unjust as to expect Reward without Merit and Praise where it is not due Charity is not puffed up 1 Cor. 13. 4. and therefore frees a Man's Mind from all the Tortures that ambitious Spirits lie under This makes a Man not displeas'd that other Men are prais'd and himself not nay tho they have more and he less than deserved yet he is very well satisfied because his own and the Approbation of a few competent Judges is sufficient to support him whereas Men of less Worth have need of greater Applause to bear up their Minds and to bring them into Request and enable them to do Good And how perfectly doth this Principle subdue and regulate all the Appetites of corporeal Pleasure He that is acted by universal Love cannot go to a forbidden Bed for he will not draw one whom he loves into Sin he will not deprive them of the lasting Pleasures of Innocence and Chastity He will not violate the Orders of all the Civilized World which have been from the beginning of Time which for the sake of the Publick for Posterity as well as the present Generation ought to be inviolably observed He will not eat nor drink more than is good for him as for other Reasons so lest others should want that which is good for them Again This universal Love by engaging us to do all the Good we can takes away all inordinate Love of Money We shall not now desire more than we can and will use for the advantage of others as well as our selves And when it is thus with us we shall not grasp at all we could get and we shall use what we do get And where we are thus minded we have freed our selves from that infinite Carking and Anxiety which an inordinate Desire of Riches causes Lastly This will in many cases prevent the bitterest Remorse for Sins by preventing the Sins themselves as I have shewed For the good Man will not be unjust or unfaithful he cannot oppress or cozen falsly or needlessly accuse will not violate the Chastity prejudice the Health much less take away the Life of any and thus secures himself from those Terrors of Conscience which follow such Wickednesses And where we are surprized and do unwillingly mis-behave our selves towards God if we be indeed charitable and loving towards Men we can then pray that God would and hope that he will forgive us as we do them Thus I have shewn how this universal Beneficence frees us from Trouble and Unquietness And now I will briefly shew how it brings us Pleasure as well as Quiet By Pleasure I here understand that Joy which is caus'd in the Soul by an Apprehension or Sense of Good Now where this Principle is become natural to us and we act from it and according to it it must necessarily be a Spring of Delight to us How pleasant and joyful must the Mind of that Man be which is govern'd by an universal Love As much Good as there is in the World so much cause of Pleasure is there to them For 1. He is set at Liberty from contracted Selfishness every Man is now to him as he is to himself and other Mens Concerns are as his own so that he now rejoyces in their Welfare and is heartily glad at the Good which befals them So much is his Joy greater now than it was when he liv'd to himself for then he was pleas'd with his own private Advantages but perhaps repin'd or at least was unconcern'd at other Mens whereas now he is delighted to see it go well with any Man in the World Thus he honestly and innocently enjoys the Good of others without depriving them of any gathers of the Honey-dew without robbing the Flower of its own Sweetness As much Good then as there is and as he can see in the World and there is very much for the Mercy of God is over all his Works and he that will consider things may discover it so much cause of Gladness hath this good Man And then 2. The infinite Love and Goodness of God is an inexhaustible Fountain of Joy to the good Man For tho he sees many things much amiss and a great deal of Evil in the World tho he sees poor Man at a great distance from his Happiness and the whole World lying in Wickedness yet he also sees infinite Goodness at work and that it has done very much in order to Man's Happiness and doubts not but in some ways which he is ignorant of all the ends of Divine Goodness will be accomplish'd at last I have shewed before that this Goodness of Temper helps us to an assured Knowledg of the Goodness of God We may also refer the two fore-going Particulars to the Object of Benevolence If there be so great Pleasure in loving one or two or a few how great is that which arises from an universal Good-will a Love to all Men Thirdly The good Man hath Pleasure as concerning himself from his Beneficence to others and it is such a Pleasure as hath many Advantages above most others For 1. As to its degree it is both intense and exquisite 2. As to its kinds it is both of Memory Sense and Hope as it refers to Good past present and to come 3. It s Original is from Man himself in concurrence with God and Nature and therefore it is both certain and near 4. As to its Duration it is both continued and lasting 5. As to its Quality and Effects it is absolutely Good 6. In respect of its Objects it is largely extended and manifold 1. The Pleasure that arises from a Sense of our Beneficence is without any allay or mixture of Pain and that which is so is pure and in the highest degree This cannot be said of most other Pleasures the Price of them is much abated by the Pains that accompany them The more corporeal and gross they are the more they have of this Dress This is a Commendation that almost only belongs to the Pleasure that arises from vertuous Practices and yet not any not all of the other Vertues can afford so great a Delight as this which is both a Complex of most of them and the End and Consummation of all The rest are but mediate and subordinate Vertues this is ultimate and final When a Man is in the exercise of universal Love of Charity and Good-will he is as good and as great and happy as he can be then is all finished The greatest Pleasure is in Love Now when Love is universal and in exercise Pleasure keeps proportion with it and is as great as it can be for it is as large as its Object and therefore