Selected quad for the lemma: cause_n
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A61622
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A sermon preached before the Queen at White-Hall, March the 1st, 1690/1 by the Right Reverend Father in God Edward, Lord Bishop of Worcester.
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Stillingfleet, Edward, 1635-1699.
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1691
(1691)
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Wing S5662; ESTC R15244
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15,915
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41
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if we ever hope to get to Heaven Not by any one single Act like the cutting off a Hand or plucking out an Eye but by a serious constant and sincere Endeavour to Mortifie and Subdue them And if this be thought hard the Consideration of future Happiness and Misery ought to Reconcile us to it and surely it is Reasonable we should part with something which is pleasant to us here for the sake of an infinitely greater Pleasure in another World especially since this is only a Sensual Pleasure which cannot be pursued without Disturbance of the Mind and can be enjoy'd but for a little time and the other is no less than Eternal Felicity of Soul and Body together 3 As to the things which Concern us as to our Condition in this World There is no Precept of Christ which seems more inconsistent with the Wisdom of this World than this doth For as that lies in taking great Care for the future so our Saviour on the contrary seems to allow none at all Therefore I say unto you Take no thought for your Life what ye shall eat or what ye shall drink nor yet for your Body what ye shall put on What doth our Saviour mean by this Would he have all Christians live like the young Ravens meerly upon Providence Or as the Lillies of the Field which grow and flourish and yet neither Toil nor Spin But Man is an Intelligent Creature and apt to forecast and contrive things for his future advantage and God seems to have left things very much to his own Care and Providence and generally speaking Mens Condition in this World is according to it What then Doth our Saviour indulge Men in a Careless Easie Unthinking Life Or require that his Disciple's thoughts ought to be wholly taken up with matters of Religion Not if S. Paul knew his meaning for he saith Those who provide not for their own have denied the Faith and are worse than Infidels But this only seems to make the Difficulty greater Therefore to clear it we must attend to our Saviour's Scope and Design which was to perswade his Disciples to lay up their Treasure in Heaven to seek the Kingdom of God and his Righteousness in the first place and then represents this World and another as two opposite Interests so that one cannot serve two Masters which implies a Contradiction to each other So that what follows must be understood in such a Sense as is inconsistent with the main Duty of looking after Heaven as our Happiness and therefore ought not to be understood of a Prudent Necessary Care but of an Anxious Solicitous Distrustfull Care which implies that we place our Happiness too much here And therefore S. Luke subjoyns these Commands to the Parable of the Rich Man whose heart was in his Barns and Store-houses and took great Care to lay in Provision enough for a sensual and voluptuous Life But to shew the unspeakable Folly of such vain Contrivances it was said to him This night shall thy Soul be required of thee and then whose shall these things be which thou hast provided II. I come now to our Saviour's Commands with Respect to the Government of our Speech And he seems to be very severe as to this when he saith That every Idle word that men shall speak they shall give account thereof at the Day of Iudgment What a heavy Account then are those to make whose time is so much taken up with idle and impertinent talk and who can hardly forbear it when they should be most serious Is it unlawfull then to speak any more than is just necessary to express our Minds May we not imploy our Speech sometimes for our innocent Diversion and Entertainment if we keep within the bounds of Prudence and Religion I do not see that our Saviour forbids it For the idle Words he speaks of there are profane false abusive malicious Reproaches of Religion and the means to confirm it as appears by his bringing it just after the mention of the Blasphemy against the Holy Ghost So that all such Abuses of Speech which entrench on Piety and Good Manners or Truth and Sincerity are certainly forbidden by him But there is one particular Vice of Conversation which he hath with most force of Argument forbiddden and yet which is a great shame to any that would be called Christians none more common among some who would pretend to understand the Methods of Conversation and the best Modes of Speaking and that is the profane Custom of Swearing I take it for granted that all are Christians among us till they disown it themselves and however Men may Act they are not willing to Renounce all hopes of Salvation by Christ. I beseech them then to consider what a Contempt of his Authority is implied in this too fashionable sort of Profaneness The other Duties I have mention'd have a great Difficulty in them as to our Tempers and Inclinations but nothing of that Nature can be so much as pretended as to this For no Man could ever say that he had a Swearing Constitution or that it was an Infirmity of his Nature There is nothing in it but the Tyranny of a very bad Custom which every Prudent Man as well as Good Christian will see Cause to break But what a Reproach is it to the very Profession of Christianity among us for so plain so easie a Command of Christ to be broken so commonly so unconcernedly so impertinently as is every day done and yet they call Christ Lord Lord In all Ages there were some pretended Christians who did not sincerely obey the Commands of our Saviour but their Hypocrisie was of a finer and more Artificial make this is gross and rude without the Common Respect which is due to the Religion we all profess to be that or hope to be saved by Some say a Custom in it self is no Sin because it is no Act but certainly a Customary breach of a plain Command is so much greater a Sin as it implies a greater Contempt of him that made it and when Custom hath taken away the Sense of a Fault it is so much more aggravated by it It is really a matter to be wonder'd at that among Persons professing a better sort of Breeding as well as Christianity a Vitious Custom so Untempting in it self so Unbecoming the Decency of Conversation so Affronting to the Divine Majesty so directly contrary to the Commands of Christ should get so deep a rooting in ordinary Conversation that it seems almost impossible to be Reformed But till Men do think of breaking off such a Practise as this I despair of ever seeing them Reform other things which have a deeper Root in their natural Inclinations and have greater Advantages as to this World III. The Commands of Christ extend to the whole Course of our Actions so as that we lead a sober righteous and godly Life 1. As to Sobriety