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A62638
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Several discourses of repentance by John Tillotson ; being the eighth volume published from the originals by Ralph Barker.
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Tillotson, John, 1630-1694.; Barker, Ralph, 1648-1708.
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1700
(1700)
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Wing T1267; ESTC R26972
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169,818
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480
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intercourse with men There are other Virtues that are apt to oblige Mankind to us and to gain their Friendship and good Will their Aid and Assistance as Kindness and Meekness and Charity and a generous Disposition to do good to all as far as we have Power and Oportunity In a word there is no real Interest of this World but may ordinarily be as effectually promoted and pursued to as great Advantage by a Man that Exercises himself in the Practice of all Virtue and Goodness and usually to far greater Advantage than by one that is Intemperate and Debauch'd Deceitful and Dishonest apt to disoblige and provoke sour and ill-natur'd to all Mankind For there is none of these Vices but is to a Man's real hinderance and disadvantage in regard of one kind of Happiness or another which men aim at and propose to themselves in this World III. A Religious and Virtuous Course of Life doth naturally tend to the prolonging of our days and hath very frequently the Blessing of Health and long Life attending upon it The Practice of a great many Virtues is a great Preservative of Life and Health as the due government of our Appetites and Passions by Temperance and Chastity and Meekness which prevent the chief Causes from within of Bodily Diseases and Distempers the due government of our Tongues and Conversation in respect of others by Justice and Kindness and abstaining from Wrath and Provocation which are a great security against the dangers of outward Violence according to that of St. Peter 1 Epist 3.10 He that will love life and see good days let him refrain his Tongue from evil and his Lips that they speak no guile let him eschew evil and do good let him seek peace and ensue it And beside the natural tendency of things there is a special Blessing of God which attends good men and makes their days long in the land which the Lord their God hath given them IV. There is nothing gives a Man so much Comfort when he comes to die as the reflection upon an holy and good Life and then surely above all other times Comfort is most valuable because our frail and infirm Nature doth then stand most in need of it Then usually mens Hearts are faint and their Spirits low and every thing is apt to deject and trouble them so that we had need to provide our selves of some excellent Cordial against that time and there is no Comfort like to that of a clear Conscience and of an innocent and useful Life This will revive and raise a Man's Spirits under all the Infirmities of his Body because it gives a Man good hopes concerning his Eternal State and the hopes of that are apt to fill a Man with Joy unspeakable and full of glory The difference between good and bad Men is never so remarkable in this World as when they are upon their Death-Bed This the Scripture observes to us Psal 37.37 Mark the perfect Man and behold the upright for the end of that Man is peace With what Triumph and Exultation doth the Blessed Apostle St. Paul upon the review of his Life discourse concerning his Death and Dissolution 2 Tim. 4.6 7 8. I am now ready says he to be offered up and the time of my departure is at hand I have fought a good fight I have finish'd my course I have kept the faith henceforth there is laid up for me a crown of righteousness which the Lord the righteous Judge will give me at that day What would not any of us do to be thus affected when we come to leave the World and to be able to bear the thoughts of Death and Eternity with so quiet and well satisfi'd a Mind why let us but endeavour to live Holy lives and to be useful and serviceable to God in our Generation as this holy Apostle was and we shall have the same ground of Joy and Triumph which he had For this is the proper and genuine effect of Virtue and Goodness The work of righteousness is peace and the effect of righteousness quietness and assurance for ever All the good Actions that we do in this Life are so many seeds of Comfort sown in our own Consciences which will spring up one time or other but especially in the approaches of Death when we come to take a serious review of our lives for then mens Consciences use to deal plainly and impartially with them and to tell them the truth and if at that time more especially our hearts condemn us not then may we have comfort and confidence towards God V. An Holy and Virtuous Life doth transmit a good Name and Reputation to Posterity And this Solomon hath determined to be a much greater Happiness than for a Man to leave a great Estate behind him A good name says he is rather to be chosen than great riches Pious and Virtuous men do commonly gain to themselves a good Esteem and Reputation in this World while they are in it but the Virtues of good men are not always so bright and shining as to meet with that respect and acknowledgment which is due to them in this World Many times they are much clouded by the Infirmities and Passions which attend them and are shadowed by some affected singularities and morosities which those which have liv'd more retir'd from the World are more liable to Besides that the Envy of others who are not so good as they lies heavy upon them and does depress them For bad men are very apt to misinterpret the best Actions of the good and put false colours upon them and when they have nothing else to object against them to charge them with Hypocrisie and Insincerity an Objection as hard to be answer'd as it is to be made good unless we could see into the Hearts of men But when good men are dead and gone and the bright and shining Example of their Virtues is at a convenient distance and does not gall and upbraid others then Envy ceaseth and every Man is then content to give a good Man his due Praise and his Friends and Posterity may then quietly enjoy the Comfort of his Reputation which is some sort of Blessing to him that is gone This difference Solomon observes to us between good and bad men The memory of the just is blessed or well spoken of but the name of the wicked shall rot VI. And lastly Religion and Virtue do derive a Blessing upon our Posterity after us Oh that there were such an heart in them saith Moses concerning the People of Israel that they would fear me and keep all my Commandments always that it might be well with them and with their Children for ever And to this purpose there are many Promises in Scripture of God's Blessing the Posterity of the righteous and his shewing mercies to thousands of the Children of them that love him and keep his Commandments And this a great motive to Obedience and toucheth upon that Natural Affection which men
Sins and of being sprinkled upon the head and covered over with filth and dirt with dust and ashes in token of our shame and confusion of Face for all our Iniquities and transgressions Hence are those Expressions in Scripture of Repenting in Sackcloath and Ashes of lying down in our shame and being cover'd with confusion in token of their great sorrow and shame for the manifold and heinous Sins which they had been guilty of Of the former of these viz. Trouble and Sorrow for our Sins I have very lately * Ser. 3. treated and of the latter I intend now by God's assistance to speak viz. Shame for our Sins and that from these Words which I have recited to you What fruit had ye then in those things c. In which Words the Apostle makes a comparison between an Holy and Virtuous and a Sinful and Vicious course of Life and sets before us a perfect enumeration of the manifest Inconveniences of the one and the manifold Advantages of the other First The manifest Inconveniences of a Vicious and Sinful course and the Apostle mentions these three I. It is unprofitable it brings no manner of present Benefit and Advantage to us if all things be rightly calculated and consider'd What fruit had ye then in those things Then i. e. at the time when you committed those Sins had you any present Advantage by them No certainly but quite contrary II. The reflection upon our Sins afterwards is cause of shame and confusion to us What fruit had you then in those things whereof ye are now ashamed III. The final issue and consequence of these things is very dismal and miserable The end of those things is death Let us put these things together and see what they amount to No Fruit then when ye did these things and shame now when ye come afterwards to reflect upon them and death and misery at the last Secondly Here is likewise on the other hand represented to us the manifold Benefit of an Holy and Virtuous Life And that upon these two accounts I. Of the present Benefit of it which the Apostle calls here fruit Ye have your fruit unto Holiness II. In respect of the future Reward of it And the end Everlasting Life Here is a considerable Earnest in hand and a mighty Recompence afterwards infinitely beyond the proportion of our best Actions and Services both in respect of the greatness and the duration of it Everlasting Life for a few transient and very imperfect actions of obedience a perfect and immutable and endless state of Happiness I shall begin with the First of the two general Heads viz. The manifest Inconveniences of a Sinful and Vicious course and the Apostle I told you in the Text takes notice of three I. It is unprofitable and if all things be rightly calculated and consider'd it brings no manner of present Advantage and Benefit to us What fruit had ye then in those things Then i. e. When ye committed those Sins had you any present Advantage by them No certainly quite the contrary as if the Apostle had said if you seriously reflect upon your former course of Impiety and Sin wherein you have continued so long you cannot but acknowledge that it brought no manner of advantage to you and when all accounts are truly cast up you must if you will confess the Truth own that you were in no sort gainers by it For the words are a 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 and the Apostle plainly intends more than he expresseth What fruit had ye then in those things i. e. The wicked course which ye formerly lived in was so far from being any ways Beneficial to you that it was on the contrary upon all accounts extreamly to your prejudice and disadvantage And this is not only true in respect of the final Issue and Consequence of a Sinful and Vicious course of Life that no Man is a gainer by it at the long run and if we take into our consideration another World and the dreadful and endless misery which a wicked and impenitent Life will then plunge men into which in the farther handling of this Text will at large be spoken to being the last of the three Particulars under this First general head But it is true likewise even in respect of this World and with regard only to this present and temporal Life without looking so far as the future Recompence and Punishment of Sin in another World And this would plainly appear by an Induction of these three Particulars 1. It is Evident that some Sins are plainly mischievous to the temporal Interest of men as tending either to the disturbance of their minds or the endangering of their Health and Lives or to the prejudice of their Estates or the blasting of them in their Reputation and good name 2. That there are other Sins which tho' they are not so visibly burdened and attended with mischievous Consequences yet are they plainly unprofitable and bring no manner of real Advantage to men either in respect of gain or pleasure such are the Sins of Profaneness and customary Swearing in common Conversation 3. That even those Sins and Vices which make the fairest pretence to be of Advantage to us when all Accounts are cast up and all Circumstances duly weigh'd and consider'd will be found to be but pretenders and in no degree able to perform and make good what they so largely promise before hand when they tempt us to the commission of them There are some Vices which pretend to bring in great profit and tempt worldly-minded men whose minds are disposed to catch at that bait such are the Sins of Covetousness and Oppression of Fraud and Falshood and Perfidiousness And there are others which pretend to bring pleasure along with them which is almost an irresistable temptation to voluptuous and sensual men such are the Sins of Revenge and Intemperance and Lust But upon a particular examination of each of these it will evidently appear that there is no such profit or pleasure in any of these Vices as can be a reasonable temptation to any Man to fall in love with them and to engage in the Commission and Practice of them But I shall not now inlarge upon any of these having lately discours'd upon them from another Text. I shall therefore proceed to the II. Inconvenience which I mentioned of a sinful and vicious Course viz. that the reflection upon our Sins afterwards is cause of great Shame and Confusion to us What fruit had you then in those things whereof you are now ashamed And this is a very proper Argument for this Season * Preach'd in Lent because the Passion of Shame as it is the natural and usual consequent of Sin so it is a Disposition necessarily required to a true Repentance Most Men when they commit a known Fault are apt to be ashamed and ready to blush whenever they are put in mind of it and charged with it Some Persons indeed have