Justification it self God's imputing Christ's Righteousness to us in such manner is one Cause of our Justification but Justification it self or the using of us in such favourable and kind manner is the effect of that imputation Nor 6 and lastly is Justification a bare remission of sins They who say so speak too little for the using a man as a Righteous and just man is not negative only or doing him no harm but positive also doing him good and therefore it contains not only security and exemption from the evil of suffering but the bestowing the good things of enjoyment the principal of which are spiritual and eternal the Assistances for Vertue here and Heaven hereafter or Grace and Glory as is usually said I will only here observe that although such as I have said be the general notion of Justification of sinners yet it must here in the Text be restrained to those instances of favour which follow Faith taken for a quality in us such as remission of sins c. because it is said justified by saith Faith is the Cause of Justification viz. a condition qualifying or capacitating Cause Justification or being used kindly by God is the effect of this our Faith And so much for the Explication of the Term Justification In summ this it is to use or treat a Person as useth to be done to a just and good man which is to do him no harm but to bear him good Will some way or other to do him good shew him favour and kindness For the second Term faith I mean justifying or saving Faith by which we are said to be justified it is as much contested and perhaps with more difficulty and less certainty resolved than the former of justification I for my part have observed these three significations of it The last of which I intend principally to enlarge my present Discourse upon First The first Sense of it may be Piety or Religion in general or rather religiousness i. e. Such an habitual Temper of mind whereby a man is disposed to obey the Will of God and consequently to do that which is right and just however made known to him from God It is this temper of Soul by which God estimates a good Man and by which he is qualified for God's Approbation Acceptance and Beneficence Particularly in those great Instances of Pardon Grace and Glory Which if vigorous and prevalent and constant enough to denominate us good men will certainly exert it self in all actual Obedience of inward Will and outward Action when it is not necessarily hindred as it may be by pure and invincible Ignorance by Diseases and Disorders of the Body or any external Impediments I say again because I think it wants and deserves Observation that it is according to the Degree and Constancy of this habitual Inclination of Soul that God estimates us and we shall be dealt withall by him Outward Actions especially and inward too are contingent may cease and are liable to an hundred Hindrances and Obstructions when the habitual Inclination of the Will is a constant thing and remains fixed in the Soul which God certainly knows though others and even our own selves sometimes may be ignorant of it so that the Jews from whom probably the Mahometans had it might save themselves and God the labour of casting up and weighing their good and bad Actions to know which Number weighs most and how the Case will stand with them in the Day of Judgment any further than they are signs of the Degree and Constancy of habitual Temper sometimes fallible enough But let this stand for a little Digression To return I cannot yet tell what better notion to fix upon faith when it is said The just shall live by faith quoted by Saint Paul Rom. 1. 17. and Gal. 3. 11. from Hab. 2. 4. to prove Justification not to be by the Law but by Faith and that too Synecdochically put viz. The Doctrine of the Condition of Justification for all the rest of the Gospel-doctrine concerning it as we shall presently more largely discourse The just shall live by faith i. e. A good and just Man by his Piety and Religiousness shall be in the Favour of God so as to be safe and happy when the proud and wicked Man forsaking God shall be forsaken by him An habitually Religious man which will certainly produce actual Obedience to God whensoever he sufficiently declares his Will and Laws ever was and ever will be approved accepted and favoured by God Which as he did once by Moses so hath he in these last days more evidently and perfectly by his Son the Lord Jesus Christ Wherefore it is not necessary that the just Man should live or be justified only by the actual Observance of the Mosaical Law which is what the Apostle proves by these words Let us examine a little the importance of the whole Verse in Heb. 10. 38. and Hab. 2. 4. The just shall live by faith but if he draws back so it is to be rendred there being no 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 there but supposed to be put in by our own Interpreters in favour of the Doctrines of absolute Election and Perseverance My Soul shall have no pleasure in him We shall not meddle with the difference of the Heb. in Habb and this quotation by the Author to the Hebrews but only observe That to live is to fare well from God to be approved by him and be in his favour so as to receive from him the Promise of Salvation and Deliverance from their suffering Condition here or after this Life the reward of a happy Condition or both or as it is expressed in the next Verse the saving of the Soul This I say is the sense of living as it is commonly of the Hebrew word 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 because God's having no pleasure in him i. e. God's disfavour is opposed to it Besides in the Gal. To live not only vivere but valere is plainly of the same importance with Justification in the latter part of the Verse And then for Faith 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 it is manifestly the believing of God's promises so effectually as to produce an entire submissive and obsequious Temper of Heart to God and consequently an actual Obedience and doing the Will of God in the profession and practice of the Christian Religion because it is opposed to a Man's withdrawing viz from that his Duty to God through fear or diffidence or any other evil Affection And it is of the same importance with that in the following Verse believing to the salvation of the Soul by which a good Man lives Faith by which a good Man lives cannot be either according to common reason or the Tenor of Revelation a bare Assent to God's Veracity Goodness and Power or the fulfilling of his Promises but the effect thereof a dutifull and obediential Heart to God It was in the same manner that Abraham was justified viz. by his Piety and
with what is false and light 'T is also probity of mind they want who being licentiously given and no great friends to any Religion or Truth either which may lay any restraint upon them in their opinions or practices gladly take any advantages against them That men look upon all professing Religion and Conscience to be Ignorant Superstitious or Cunning so that their Example or Reason are of no Authority with them Neither doth this humour stop among this sort of men but it is soon conveyed into the vulgar too who soon learn to contemn Religion and the Priest especially in times of liberty Wherefore it is to be advised and sincerely Religious men wise and honest who heartily desire the Advancement of true Religion will so do that we be first assured of the truth of our belief and opinions in Religion and be now carefull and just to appear for nothing but what is so and for that reason And when we cannot fairly maintain any thing to be such tho' it appear never so much for the honour and interest of Religion as many very false and forged things have let it rest and go as it is till time may further discover And as for the vulgar it is surely their safest way to rely upon the Conduct of such wise and honest Men though they may be even exhorted to see with their own Eyes too if they can For it is much more easie for them to know who are such than to judge themselves of the truth and falshood Universal conveniencies and inconveniencâ—es of things to know who are the best Guides than to guide themselves This plain dealing without fraud or force will surely much advance the just Esteem of Religion and its Ministers and consequently its influence and efficacy We have but too much proof of this Cause of Infidelity from experience We have seen some Men and that of the first rank who have taught us such a God and that out of his own Books which others judge to be an absolute impossibility And yet after all they will be the only Orthodox and reprobate all those who will not be of their opinion Many also are those who have made the Holy Scriptures the most excellent Collection of Writings which were ever extant to speak such things which hath caused others not brooking their Interpretations nor being sufficient to find out better themselves to have mean and injurious thoughts of them And yet if any pious Man with the sincerest intentions and endeavours to preserve and vindicate their due honour by salving difficulties which seem to check Reason do advance any thing inconsistent with their settled Opinions and Systems he is presently irreligious and a severe Atheist too severe Censures whatever their mistakes may be But they are much more numerous still who have made up such an Hotch-potch in Religion by their Additions to the Holy Scriptures from pretended or enthusiastical Revelations forged or false Miracles Traditions Ecclesiastical Authority and Infallibility as first to turn men's Stomachs against it and at last to cause a great many quite to discharge themselves of it altogether But of these and such like I shall say no more at present But go on to the next general Head 2ly To propose some remedies proper to prevent or repress the influences of these Causes of Infidelity whereof some are more general some more particularly relating to some Causes and Circumstances The first of these is 1st To advise and assist Men to improve and advance their Knowledge to the highest Degree they are capable of For it seems just to deal so uprightly and plainly with the World as not to make use of mere Authority instead of understanding and reason where men are truly capable and honest though where they are ignorant but yet conceited self-willed or dishonest in things of importance and consequence Authority must be allowed to interpose for their own and the publick good which otherwise would greatly suffer Let therefore Men know as much as they can and examine these great verities with the greatest severity Assuredly the more they know the more reason they will see to believe them seriously and resolutely to live according to them Search the Scriptures saith our Saviour to the unbelieving Jews John 5. 39. to convince them that he was the promised Messias and the Person to whom all his Characters there did agree So say we Search the Scriptures Nature it self and Reason too for they bear witness of all these great Truths But then search them throughly examine them to the bottom see clearly reason carefully and justly weigh all things with indifferency and impartiality which will be presently a direction by it self Otherwise as the Jews did erroneously interpret the Holy Scriptures and conclude from them So may Men here through want of patience and attention and apprehension err and mistake in their Conclusion concerning the great Truths of Morality and all Religions We heartily desire that men's Faith and Belief may be the effect of a plain serious and deliberate Conviction more than of Custom where it may be And truly then as well as when it is wrought in the heart by the grace of God which is another Cause mentioned in the Scripture great is its Power and forcible its Operation and life it self is at its devotion and service Such was the effect of it in all the Apostles and particularly such is the Faith in Jesus Christ mentioned of Saint Thomas and Saint Peter when one cries out my Lord and my God and the other Lord whither should we go thou hast the word of Eternal Life Let that then be the first remedy against Infidelity viz. the utmost improvement and best exercise of our knowledge and reason 2ly Possess we our minds with a sincere and zealous Honesty and Probity By which I mean a strong habitual propension and inclination to that which is right and just This will have three Effects very proper to beget or confirm a right belief of the Truth and to preserve us in it The First A fervent love of the Truth The Second A free and ingenuous acknowledgment of it where-ever we discover it be it for us or be it against us Thirdly A desire to act suitable and live according to it I say a sincere and resolute Probity hath these effects For surely never any honest man doubted whether it was material more fit and just of better effect for a good man who will make good use of his knowledge to be knowing rather than ignorant or to believe the truth rather than a lye in order to direct him in all his inward Motions and outward Actions Without the first we shall not trouble our selves to search or find the truth Without the second when we know it we shall either not believe or deny it if possible or if by the clearness and evidence we cannot do that yet we shall turn our minds away from it Finally without the third we shall little esteem or
receive more light and Divine Truths more clearness from another Method than what most Men make use of To conclude this short Preface I am of opinion that now Miracles are ceased this way of teaching the Christian Religion accompanied with a judicious Affection and followed with a sober and well governed Life seems the principal means left in our Power to restore it to its Beauty Force and just Authority and the Church of Christ to its Purity and Honour which now as it is said is crammed with conceited Drolls Indifferents and down-right Infidels and in no part of Christendom more than where it appears with its greatest External Splendor and Domination This very bad Estate of the Church I beseech God to amend in his own time and to introduce sincere and judicious Religion neither Theatrical nor Fanatical G. B. THE TEXTS OF THE Several Sermons SERMON I. 1 COR. 15. 33. Evil Communications corrupt good manners SERMON II. 1 Pet. 4. 4. Wherein they think it strange that you run not with them to the same Excess of Riot speaking evil of you SERMON III. Psalm 35. 5. I will confess my Transgressions unto the Lord. SERMON IV. Psalm 14. 1. The fool hath said in his heart There is no God They are corrupt they have done abominable works SERMON V. Rom. 5. 1. Therefore being justified by Faith we have peace with God thro' our Lord Jesus Christ SERMON VI. 2 Cor. 5. 19. To wit that God was in Christ reconciling the World to himself not imputing their Trespasses unto them SERMON I. 1 COR. XV. 33. Evil Communications corrupt good Manners I design from these words to begin for little more can be done in so short an Exercise a Discourse concerning Evil Examples which I take to be one of the most general and too effectual obstructions of Reformation of Life and Manners So powerfull for the most part as to defeat and defy all the force not only of some dull and noisy Sermons but also of the most wise rational and eloquent Discourses either spoken or written It is true every ones particular experience gives in but too much evidence that our Natures have been by some ways miserably corrupted from the womb that we never saw the light clear and innocent that our vicious inclinations came into the world with us but it is as certain they had never been so numerous and multiplied never so strong and violent never so continued and lasting were it not for the multitude and magnitude too of bad examples perpetually passing before us enticing and sometimes hurrying us with great violence even against reclaiming Reason and Strugling Conscience We set fire one to another and like smothering Coals put together we increase the heat of our lusts to such a degree that at last they burst forth into a flame and that sometimes so fierce that no-body dares to approach so near as to allay or slacken them Vivitur exemplis The rules of Mens lives for the most part is what they see other Men do not what they are taught and what in sober temper they dare not deny they ought to do Precepts are of small force against this and are as little able to withstand it as a grave Senator with his wise and eloquent Orations the rude charge of a Troop of boysterous Soldiers I know there are sometimes examples of good and happy Influence and we are not so far to discourage those that are or those who are fairly inclined to be good Men as to tell them that they are all alone and so always like to be that they 'll never make one Proselyte and it is well if they can secure themselves For the Conversation of a wise and vertuous Man especially joyn'd with a goodness of Nature may move and sometimes effectually convert the Minds and Manners of those who are constant witnesses of it but alas it is a thousand to one perhaps otherwise and all to be expected is that if you live vertuously and piously some few will commend you but rarely any imitate you The number of good examples is very small and when we have in our view those of both kinds we are all more apt to run to the worst side by reason of the most unhappy inclination and pente of our nature Quoniam dociles imitandis turpibus pravis omnes sumus To which we may add the observation that vertuous and religious men are generally of a more modest prudent and reserved temper and behaviour but contrariwise vicious men generally are more confident active and bold which seems to inconsiderate spectators infinitely the greatest number witty generous and pleasant yea and reasonable too because reason should precede confidence and consequently their examples make greater impressions But I somewhat prevent my self The words are a proverbial verse in Menander the Poet. Whether S. Paul had read it himself or heard it often quoted as a very usefull proverbial Speech is not material Something may be said of the true rendring of the words before we lay out the matter of the Discourse but very briefly There is some difference in the translation of 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 communications and 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 good manners The first is translated by some Colloquies Narrations Discourses by our own here Communications by others Conversation using of Company or the like I should think this last best 1. Because it is more general and includeth the former 2. Because Lexicographers expound it of both Phavor 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 The word 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 is taken for discoursing or conversing with another And in Suidas 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 is 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 to converse together As for 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 good manners a learned Expositor of our own would rather have it turned good nature or good dispositions i. e. such who are very pliable and easy to agree with others in their discourse and actions which is usually out of weakness of understanding and softness of nature together and sometimes from an imprudent civility in which may be excess and loathness to give offence and willingness to please every body But I should rather retain our own translation of good manners Because although 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 may sometimes have such a peculiar signification as good dispositions yet the other signification is far more frequent and more agreeable to the scope and context of the words So that I should read the Text thus Evil conversations i. e. of some corrupt good manners i. e. of others From hence we shall take occasion to discourse a while concerning the general influence of bad Examples and how mighty an hindrance it is of the conversion and reformation of Sinners and that under these heads I. Give the Reasons of the efficacy of Examples against Precepts II. Mention some of the Causes of the prevalency of evil Examples against good ones III. Shew how these evil Examples do operate IV. Give a caution or two to be
rarely comes before we arrive at an Age thought fit to manage an Estate and it is well if we then see it So that we have been under the power of Examples and are formed usually by them before we are capable of the Discipline of an Instructor or Tutor Whence it is that men seldom much change the Inclinations they have contracted to that time and generally if by good example and government we are well season'd and temper'd to that Age or some few years beyond we seldom prove at least very bad Although by long and frequent ill company and example too great a part may be undone again and sometimes all spoiled which is very rare because it is very difficult to obliterate those early characters and impressions so often repeated Have no fellowship with the unfruitfull works of Darkness but rather reprove them saith the Apostle in that excellent Epistle Eph. 5. 11. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 c. From the good you 'll learn good among the bad you 'll surely grow worse like to that of the Wise man Prov. 13. 20. He that walketh with wise men shall be wise but the companion of fools shall be destroyed Aspice quid faciunt commercia venerat obses The Youth once was very innocent behold what he is now how strangely changed by lewd company 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Associate not thy self to a wicked man These and such like are the Sayings of the Scripture and the wiser sort of men which do but remind us of the efficacy of examples upon our manners and that far beyond the power and force of all Precepts Instructions and Directions Nor do I yet know how this prevalency of example may be prevented or remedied but either 1. by a more than ordinary felicity of temper from the birth whereby we are enclined to use our Reason more than our Senses and are capable of giving Precepts and Examples too or 2. by the providence and grace of God which may happily order the condition of our lives or even immediately work upon our minds and particularly by afflictions or finally which is most in our own power by some considerable retirement from too frequent and tumultuous conversation and accustoming our selves to Reading and Thinking That be spoken to the First General viz. the Reasons of the Efficacy of Examples against Precept II. The Second is the Reasons of the prevailing influence of bad Examples against good ones Why ill Examples do so much more harm than good ones do good we may observe these among others 1. Evil examples are infinitely more numerous We can hardly light upon a good one we can hardly miss a bad one Good ones we can hardly see any bad ones we cannot but see many The High and the Low the Rich and the Poor and the Middle too It hath been thought indeed that this last sort of men are generally the most Sober and Religious because great and rich men think themselves above God and Religion poor men below it The one behave themselves as if God Almighty dared not to take notice of them the other as if he would not both equally mistaken But suppose it so yet Bad examples far out-number the Good among all ranks and conditions of men though of different vices according to their respective temptations of different particular Vices but the same general want of the sense of Vertue of Conscience and the fear of God in all And now if the number of Good Examples be so small in proportion to Bad ones how much greater will the influence of these certainly be For if we observe 't is frequency and repetition of thoughts and affections and actions which form our Manners Those Objects which we most frequently and generally converse withall which possess our thoughts have the command of our affections and consequently our inclinations and actions We seldom think or talk of love hate desire delight in any but them And this is the reason why in a Family small or great and in Palaces themselves the single example even of one or two of the greatest in it though deservedly honour'd and beloved too doth so little good upon all the rest though it would otherwise be far worse It is because they are very many against one And how much less is it to be expected that in a place consisting of many scores or hundreds of Families the example of one or two whose business it should be to back their instructions with good ones should have any visible good effect unless their number be increased which would become the Ecclesiastical and Civil care too or some more be pleased to give their assistance and make up a number 2. But Secondly the Greatness of bad Examples is another cause of their greater influence I do not know but that in proportion to their number there may be as many Religious and Vertuous persons in the Superiour as in the Inferiour Ranks of men and that with more judgment and generosity But still the greatest part of the Great the Potent the Honourable the Rich the more is the pity are of the bad side Though in the whole lump of all sorts of men put together infinitely the Major part in their practices at least should vote for the licentious and vicious side yet it would not have near the influence it now hath were not the Major part of the Great on that side too and of the same Party to head and lead them So that it appears it is not only the number of Voters but also the power and greatness of them that makes ill example go so far and prevail so much Were it the property of the vulgar and inferiour sort only to be Irreligious Immoral and Dissolute we should soon see that Party decrease and generally desert both in inward Principles and outward Practices One excellent example of a great Man would be 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 outweigh a great number of small ones The generality of men far from wise first esteem the Men and then the Manners At least the dignity and height of a vicious man makes that Vice seem little and tolerable if not honourable which were it only seen in those of lower place would be thought contemptible and punishable Alea turpis Turpe adulterium mediocribus haec tamen illi Omnia cùm faciant hilares nitidique vocantur We admire men for their power pomp and wealth and then all that belongs to them leaving not out their very vices too Like as the Pagans of old not only deify'd their Heroes but built Temples and erected Altars to some of their flagitious actions and abominable crimes as Tully somewhere complains On the contrary the poor and mean man's actions according to the Wise-man's little History Eccl. 9. 14. though never so wise and beneficial too for that very reason are not heeded or soon forgotten Indeed it is Truth and Reason and not vulgar opinion only that Power and Greatness Ability to effect and bring to pass
is to be honoured but then Wisdom and Goodness which are to direct and determine that Power deserve it much more It is true Wisdom and Goodness without Power are moveless and ineffectual things but then Power without them may be most mischievous Goodness without Power if it can do no good yet it can do no harm But power without goodness may be used to make miserable if it be managed by Cunning Pride Malice and Ill-nature But above all is that Person honourable and amiable where Greatness Wisdom and Goodness are in Conjunction as it is in God with Infinity The Examples of such work marvellous Effects in their Sphere and carry all before them They have great force to change the very inward Springs and Principles of Men's Actions their Opinions and Inclinations at least they outwardly bind them to their good Behaviour And oh that Heaven as it hath begun among us would go on to bless the World with such an Happiness and refresh the Souls of Righteous men grieved and tired with wicked Generations by so beautifull and lovely a Sight And here we cannot miss to make the Observation how much greater obligations the Great are under to look at their Conduct and Example than others and how much larger their Account will be for the Evil they have and the Good they might have done and what can be said by those for themselves who because they are great already will be greater than God himself who made them so and take that liberty which he never used 3. A third Cause of the greater influence of bad Examples is their Confidence Promptness and Fierceness Good men more generally unless they be very happy in the Gifts of Eloquence quick Apprehension and Courage all together converse with Caution and consequently are more sparing in their Speech and Actions more modest in their Affirmations more tender of the Reputation of their Conduct more carefull of their own peace and satisfaction more sollicitous concerning the influence of their Examples Now the confidence and boldness of bad Examples is usually accompanied with some Wit and Freedom of Speech and Carriage and some Passion always with more vigour and life Which things are more discernible and acceptable to most Company than good Sense and Reason and often make so great an impression as almost to force themselves upon those who assuredly know much better There is also in such Confidence a certain heedlesness and negligence which carries the Air and Appearance and is some ingredient of Generosity and Courage which first much commends the Persons and then their Discourse and Actions especially to those who are their Equals or Inferiours and are no wiser than themselves though in other Circumstances where it may seem excessive or unseasonable to understanding Men it is usually as offensive Finally the confidence of bad Examples to the greatest part of Spectators is a sign of assurance of Truth and Reason in what they say and do at least of no great harm or folly but where the former inclinations to imitation are back'd by appearing Reason its force is irresistible On the contrary Calmness and Reservedness seem lifeless dubious cowardly and even when they are thought to be the Effect of Wisdom and Judgment yet they are gratefull but to very few of the same temper and the Examples of such reach the Generality with no force or with very little impression Whence good Men may be advised that there is place and reason sometimes for Freedom and a handsome Confidence in conversation though many very wise may want that faculty managed with a regard to the Measure Seasonableness and other Circumstances and with a Design to convey as opportunity may serve some good sentiment and instruction It is a laudable and usefull Dexterity in conversation to communicate wise and vertuous things with advantage and to convey it acceptably and particularly with a seeming heedlesness of what one is doing when indeed it is the main Design to do it well like as the discreet Physician may seem to his ungovernable Patient to be doing nothing of consequence when he designs the administration of some effectual Remedy for his Disease 4. The last Cause we shall name is the most general Corruption of Humane Nature consisting principally in prevailing Inclinations to other Objects above those to Religion Vertue and Wisdom The depravation and vitiosity of our active Powers is this that those Appetites and Inclinations which should be moderate governable and subservient are the most violent ungovernable and commanding Though this Cause be very general yet it is not remote but near and immediate This is the reason why supposing good and bad Examples equal in number set before us and recommended alike advantageously we should except here and there one secured by a rare Felicity of Temper or the Grace of God without much deliberation enter our selves into the worst Company This is the reason why if Orations could be made with equal seeming Reason and Eloquence for Vertue and Vice and we were the Moderators perfectly left to our own liberty without the restraint of shame we should soon heartily determine against Vertue This is the Reason at the Bottom why one single Example of one great Man hath more influence than twenty of the prudent and vertuous the wise and the good 'T is because our very opinions as well as our practices are perverted and corrupted We esteem admire and love Power more than Goodness to be great rather than good to do what we list rather than what we ought And then our general Veneration and great Opinion of the Great inclines us to a particular promiscuous Approbation and Imitation of what he is and doth 'T is from this miserable inborn Propension of our Natures to Vice heavy and forcible that if sometimes by the most excellent and celebrated Examples we are a little heaved upwards that 's all and we presently flop down again all at once And sometimes they do not in the least move us and all their beauty and lustre no more affect us than if we were deaf or blind 'T is from hence till it be changed that like the fi lt by Swine we will never learn to be cleanly though in the Midst â—f a verdant Meadow covered with innocent Sheep if there be but one Puddle where we may wallow in the Mire or like some naturally clownish and slovenly People who will never be taught any decent Carriage and Manners though always in the Company of those who are gentile and well-bred Oh the deplorable Pravity and Degeneracy of Mankind desperate and utterly incurable without a mercifull Touch by the Finger of God and the special powerfull Influence of his Grace preventing following assisting our earnest Prayers and serious Endeavours without which the Company of Heaven it self would never mend them They would still retain the Propensions and Inclinations nay the Actions too if they could of Devils and Brutes in the midst of Saints and Angels These
are some of the most considerable Causes of the prevalency of evil Examples against good ones in Answer to the second Question III. How do these evil Examples operate This is convenient to be known that so we may the better prevent or obviate their mischievous Influence The several ways may be observed to be such as these 1. By their Number Variety and Constancy They take up all our attention and observation they wholly possess our thoughts Evil examples are oft-times like the ill-designing Companions and Counsellours of some great Man not over-wise who will not permit any other Company but themselves to approach him nor suffer him to hear or know much more than he hath from them Sometimes we may be so unhappy in our almost constant Conversation as to have little occasion to observe any thing that is good or not so much or so often as to make any impression There are some Persons so brought up surrounded always with such Company that folly and vice are their perpetual entertainment scarce ever hearing a wise Word or seeing a wise Action Swearing and cursing and brawling and railing and drinking and gluttony and trifling and dressing and gaming and wantonness and at the best worldly drudgery or diversion are set before their eyes and upon their ears perpetually They rarely hear but the very Names of Conscience Wisdom and Vertue of Sobriety and Piety of Prayers and other Exercises of Devotion They scarce know whether there be any such men or things in the world And it seems very likely that were it not for the constant Publick Exercises of Religion and Divine Worship Piety and Devotion and Conscientiousness and all other Vertues but what are more immediately necessary for civil Society for men's Dealing and Traffique one with another would be so far neglected and thrust into corners so little any-where appear that thousands more would in a short time be ignorant of there being any such things at all As it is now how many are there who hardly ever see so as to take any notice of a pious well governed Family or Person and when they do they seem to them like Foreigners from some strange Countrey with an unknown Language an uncouth Garb and odd Manners nay perhaps some would seldom hear of a God or Jesus Christ but in Oaths and Imprecations The Corruption and Degeneracy of the Gentile World in some parts of it was so great before the Preaching of the Gospel and the Doctrine of Christianity came among them that they wondred at the Christians for abstaining from the most abominable ways in which they securely walked of lasciviousness lusts excess of Wine revellings banquettings abominable Idolatries Nay they did not only think their Manners very strange but they revil'd them for them Their sober and vertuous Lives were not only matter of their wonder but of their Reproach 1 Pet. 4. 4. they had never seen nor been used to such things before And it is beyond doubt that there is but too much of this amongst those who have indeed been admitted Members of the Church and bear the name of Christians From the time they were first entred by the Sacred Rite they have heard little seen less and practised least of their Religion The Families and Relations and Acquaintance among whom they have been brought up living more like Heathens than Christians and that none of the best sort of Heathens neither And what can be ordinarily expected from those of any thing that is good who have scarce seen any thing but what is evil 2. But among others who have had so far the happiness of better Instruction and Conversation that they are not altogether ignorant or ill inclined or insensible of what is good and vertuous evil examples soon bring most of them over to Imitation by taking away the restraint of some shame and fear which they were before under Few persons at the beginning of evil courses are so hardy and impâ—isent as not to stand in some awe both of themselves and others of their own Consciences and other mens opinions concerning them and the consequences of them As bad as our Natures are there are very few who do not at first boggle at many vices they blush and hang back at them Such as are Drunkenness Swearing Fornication Lasciviousness Prophaneness Disrespect and Contempt of the wise sober and grave or in general of their Superiours But let but two or three of the bolder and worst of them begin and how soon shall you see the rest to follow and when their number is increased to a multitude how fierce and insolent do they soon grow They are backward and cowardly oft-times till they are entred into villainy by some experienc'd Practitioners or by some one of note who leads them the way but perhaps being once entred they go beyond their Patterns and outdo those who taught them Now when once natural modesty shame and fear of the reproof of their own Consciences whether well or ill informed and of the judgments of others are taken out of the way then those as natural inclinations to the vices of evil examples have more their liberty take their swing anâ—â—â—â— their very motion gather strength and celerity We see in a Rabble got together in a riotous and unlawfull manner commanded by Authority to depart every one afraid at first to disobey or affront it till one more impudent and fierce than the rest makes an attempt And the violence of Robbers at first trembles more than they whom they set upon and rifle And amongst the most desperate and bloody Ruffians hired to murder some person of Innocency Eminency and Merit every one is afraid to strike the first stroke but that being once given the rest soon fall on 3. Evil Examples work their effect not only by removing and taking away the shame of Vice but by making men asham'd of Vertue and this especially when they are numerous and great They make men ashamed and afraid to be vertuous and good both positively and negatively both to do that which is good and not to do that which they know to be evil Men well dispos'd and enclin'd are oft fearfull to give offence to appear singular to break company even when their conscience and discretion tells them they omit to do what they ought and what they do is not only foolish but plainly unlawfull Although the Man who thus practiseth be not so bad as he that gives a bad Example or is as ready to follow as the other is to begin yet he is far from being so good as he should be nor indeed if it be his habitual Temper and more frequent Carriage is he to be deemed a good Man For it is a sign he fears the displeasure of Men more than that of God and loves the Praise of Men more than the Praise of God John 12. 43. like the chief Rulers who believed on Jesus but dared not to confess and own him We are generally like the
who are in Heart and Life obedient to the Laws of Christ And that is the Observation as briefly as may be to be treated of Vicious and dissolute Men wonder that all others are not like themselves It is not to be doubted of but that they have their Reasons for it what-ever they be And they are the same by which they use to justifie and excuse themselves and all others who are drawn to compliance with naughty Manners and corrupted by evil Examples It shall be my business at this time to see what some of them are and to give the strongest of them its full Answer We may conceive some of them to be these They say then that as the World ever did and now goes to be Conscientious Pious and Virtuous is 1. To be Singular and to call all men's Eyes and Talk and Censures towards us 2. It is to be Solitary Melancholy and Cheerless when others are diverted courted and crouded with good Company 3. 'T is to be contemptible and ridiculous 4. To be revil'd and persecuted 5. 'T is to undertake an impossible or at least an extreamly difficult and consequently painfull thing We have not time to speak any thing considerable to all these Excuses For the present we 'll take only the three last and of them put the two first together more briefly but the last of all which seems the best they have and is by experience found most to deter Men from the Resolutions of undertaking a vertuous Life and bidding a final farewell to vicious Manners and Company is that which we shall hear and answer more particularly 1. In the first place then to abstain from the evil Manners and Lives of the bad to joyn our selves to and practise with the good the first being the generality of Men of all ranks and conditions will expose us to much contempt hatred and ill Treatment We shall meet with neither favour nor justice Such was the usage of the Christians by the Heathens Here in the Text they are said to be 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 speaking evil viz. of the Christians No doubt their Tongues and their Hearts and their Actions went together they reviled despised hated and ill used the Christians because they would not comply with their abominable Customs and Practices And it is the same thing still in general though there may be some difference in degrees and some Circumstances between the bad and the good even of the same external Profession of Religion Of which some of the Causes in few words seem to be The foolish and false Opinions of Libertines especially if great who take licentiousness to be the privilege and property of their rank that religious and conscientious Men are timorous and mean spirited because they dare not venture upon some Actions and Courses which they fear not when it truly proceeds from their Judgment Choice and a great Mind or on the contrary they will have them to be proud and self-conceited thinking themselves wiser than every body else and on purpose contradicting common practice whereas 't is true Wisedom and good Understanding to fear God and depart from evil 'T is Piety to God Charity and Compassion to the World prudent Care of their own greatest Interests Finally they think that the opposite Manners of good and vertuous Men reproach them first these by their courses of life which they take in effect call them Fools or perverse weak or wilfull Which indeed is true but it is the necessary signification of their Principles which they cannot help nor are they willing if they could because they hope it may at last prevail upon some of them to be wiser and to do better At least they think themselves obliged to appear in and for the Cause of Religion and Vertue and not any way to contribute to the danger of the few good or the confirmation of the many bad But let the Causes of this unjust usage of the Religious and Conscientious be what they will 't is confessed that the Matter of Fact is true but it is denied to be a sufficient reason either for the compliance of the good or for the wonder of the bad that they do not As if there were no better reason for Vertue and living well than the pleasing of Men not one in 1000 of which have any reason at all for what they are â—â—d do but only humour passion appetite and example of the most and worst 'T is true he that discreetly and conscientiously will not go with a multitude to do evil may be evil spoken of and ill used by the blind inconsiderate or cowardly but can never deserve it 'T is they who are the foolish and oft-times perverse and wilfull in their pernicious Folly and therefore their Qualities to be despised and their Persons pitied Let men give me better reason than I have for what they do and I 'll follow and thank them too But this contempt of those who have no other reason but their confidence number and humour or blind passions and inclinations is to be contemned and will never move a Man of ordinary spirit or understanding who knows what and for what reasons he ought to do any thing And the truth is the Argument for imitation of the many great or small in evil Manners to avoid being neglected contemned despised frowned upon or hated reacheth only the more mean and vulgar minds whatever they appear from which notwithstanding they ought to be secured by particularly shewing and minding them of the folly and injustice of it in respect of God our Neighbour and our selves and that there is no comparison to be made which is worst to be really an ill man and to be ill-spoken of or ill-used by ill men through pride and ill-nature or even by the better through mistake For we 'll take but that one consideration of our own true Interest and a prudent care of our selves Who would not take it for a Reproach to be counted like a silly Sheep to drown for company or prefer being wicked and miserable with a Multitude before being innocent and happy alone least they should scoff or be angry with them for Cowardice or breaking Company Suppose nineteen of twenty should in a Frolick draw their Blood or drink Poyson to the Ruin of Health or endangering Life doth any man think himself under the least Temptation to imitate such folly and madness least he should be taken for a Dastard or an ill Companion These Similitudes are not impertinent or improper let men believe as they please For wicked Courses of Life continued in are and will be as surely the death and destruction of our Souls and often of our Bodies and Estates altogether as some Wounds and Potions are mortiferous to our Bodies only Add to this the considerations of Piety to God and Charity to Men. The good Man who reckons himself born for the Service of God and to do good to others as well as enjoy it himself reasons
well when he thinks himself the more obliged to honour God and to preserve himself and others from the Infection of bad Example when their Number Confidence and Security is so great as to wonder and despise and treat hardly all those who are not like themselves the more the misery and folly and impiety of the World encreaseth he thinks himself the more bound to endeavour to lessen it by saving himself at least if he can do no more 'T is the most seasonable and necessary then to be the best when the World is the worst and men are generally running to their ruine Such is the Apostolical Admonition to Christians to be harmless and blameless the Sons Ephes 2. 15. of God in the midst of a crooked and perverse Nation and to shine as lights in the World Never more need of light than in a gross and general Darkness nor of the Mounds and Banks of resolute vertuous Examples than when the Floods of vicious ones threaten to drown all After all this we must not allow or grant too much to this Plea and Excuse for Conformity to evil Examples and bad Manners There are a great many wise and good Men though too few whose Commendation Favour and Assistance we shall not fail of by our retreat and separation from wicked Practices though never so numerous and great and then oft-times at least if our Non-conformity be as discreet and prudent as it is sincere and conscientious those very Persons who from the Teeth outward reproach and slight us will silently in their own thoughts esteem and commend us or if at sometimes when upon the rant and in the heat of passion they may inwardly contemn and hate us too yet at others in their sober Moods when they are most themselves they may be of another opinion And I think it is not to be doubted that the Text speaks here only very generally and that some even of the Gentiles were struck and awakened by the light and beauty of the innocent vertuous spiritual and heavenly Conversations of the Christians and inwardly mov'd to esteem and admire them Nay after some time some even of those who at first wondred at the Singularity and Novelty of their Manners were so affected though they did not yet leave their own For that we may observe by the way that men may in some considerable Degree approve esteem and love that in others which they do not practise themselves the one costing nothing the other much pains and solicitude and that therefore sincere Piety and Vertue have not so many and fierce Enemies as from appearance may be thought Besides this excuse hath no place when the greatness of our Condition and our advantageous Circumstances may be such as to command Honour and Imitation of us not to fear contempt or ill-usage for not imitating of others when it is thought our part to give Examples not to follow But as I have said It is the last excuse of men for going along with the Crowd of the vicious namely the difficulty and painfulness of doing otherwise that shall most enlarge this Discourse To follow a Multitude is always jolly and pleasant but when our Nature sets us going too it is little less than necessary and the contrary impossible Let us hear it at large 2. They will then alledge for themselves that Vertue and Sanctity to our Natures such as they are born and such as they are by long use and custom now made are in the highest degree difficult and laborious and consequently grievous and painfull and next to impossible but Vice is easie and thence delightfull and pleasant And it is certain that one of the most general and sure Causes of the beginning and continuance of the Inclinations and Actions of humane Nature is first Facility and then Pleasure What is painfull will either be never attempted or soon left off To speak more distinctly and properly We acknowledge say they some remainder of an appetite to Vertue and moral good but we find an hundred others incomparably more forcible and strong Now to exalt Vertue to an universal Supremacy and to preserve it there constantly to bring all other appetites and passions down to its subjection and obedience so as to receive all their motions their very being end and measures from its directions and commands tell us whether and how it may be done For the man void of all Honour and Love to God nay an Hater of that most perfect and holy Nature to be his devout Adorer and Imitator for the little selfish Soul contracted to a point to become great and widen it self to his Countrey Mankind or even the Universe for the malicious and sowre Ill-nature to be sweetned into Charity for the proud and covetous to desire and value no more of Honour Power and Wealth than what he may be able to manage to the Honour of God his Sovereign and the good of others his fellow Subjects and for that very end for the voluptuous and luxurious to scorn any bodily Pleasures or sensual Delights any further than they are the Means and Instruments of Piety Charity and our own spiritual and eternal Good any further than they are necessary or usefull in this frail Life of Flesh to remove the Hinderances or to procure the helps of Vertue and Beneficence of being and doing good Thus to turn all the Motions Inclinations and Aversions of our Souls upside down To put off the old man Eph. 4. 22 24. Col. 3. 9 10. which is corrupt according to deceitfull Lusts as the Scripture phraseth it and to put on the new man which is created after God in Righteousness and true Holiness This this is an undertaking most difficult irksome tedious if not impossible to be ever performed of which the small number of those who but seem to do it and the vast multitude of those that never think of it is an evident Argument And may we not well wonder at the first who will adventure to turn head and with sore labour perpetually tugg against the Stream of Nature and almost universal Example may we not well excuse those who swim down easily with so violent a Tide or permit themselves to be carried by it This is the Summ of their last Plea and I think the best they have made use of by vicious and dissolute Men for their wonder at those who will undertake to be better and defence of those who are as bad as themselves And to this we shall return I hope no insufficient Answer and that in these particulars 1. That Reformation and Conversion from Vice to Vertue from Sin to Sanctity however it is effected is not impossible needs no other Evidence than the eminent Examples of some and the good ones of many We confess that they are but few comparatively yet in various instances and degrees more than bad Men are willing to allow who industriously diminish them and will sometimes pretend to believe that there is hardly
usually signifies amongst us between God and the best of Men or the most excellent Angel is to give a very false Idea of the Case For to merit from any one is first to profit or advantage him some way and then it is to impart some-what of his own and lastly he that receives the Benefit is bound to requite it by some Law without and superiour to himself Now there is nothing of all this between God and his Creature For can a Man profit his Maker A Master indeed may be benefited by the labour and service of his Servant Next the strength industry and fidelity of the Servant is his own in respect of his Master he never had any of this from him But what have we which we have not received from God Our very Being Faculties Liberty all kind of Ability and Capacity are they not the free gifts of our great and good Creatour Finally what Law is there superiour to God's own Nature and Will to oblige him to any Action who can or ought to say to him What dost thou not so much in respect of his irresistible Power for there is no Tyranny in Heaven as his all comprehending Wisdom his immutable Righteousness and essential Goodness It is true there is such a thing as just and right eternal and unchangeable But it is therefore so because God is so It was eternally a property of the Divine Will if I may so speak as truth was of the Divine Understanding It is his own immutable Nature to do that which is right and fit That which we call right fit just is a due Relation or Habitude of all Will Action Power to its Object which Object is bonum good and that the greatest too in respect of intention extension and duration and there can be no more respects This is the ultimate due End and Object I say of all Will Action and Power whatsoever But this Relation or 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 is therefore eternal and immutable only because God is so It could never have existed without a Subject and that Subject the Divine Will exists necessarily The very Being or Existence therefore of any such thing depends upon the Existence of the Divine Will Besides this Relation which we call Right and Just is something wherefore it as all other somethings must have the Will of God or active Power or his Nature for its Cause But though Right and Just depend upon the Divine Will for its eternal Existence yet we cannot conceive it ever separated from them or without them We cannot but conceive it a pure perfection and therefore cannot but attribute it to God an All-perfect Being For an instance or application we say that the Object of God's will is always the Universal good the good of all Beings the greatest good either fit or possible and in order to this he wills benè bonis malè malis he justifies the Righteous and condemns the Wicked He orders and distributes respective recompences of rewards and punishments to the good and bad the quantity quality time and other Circumstances are to be left to the Divine Wisdom But this proceeds from no Cause without the Divine Will it self We cannot but conceive the Divine Will thus to act There is no Power or Will to determine or constrain it God's Nature is such that we cannot but conceive him to will and do that which is just and right for the greatest good of all reasonable Beings and yet most freely because it is his own immutable Nature for what can be more free than what is natural Liberty in God is not an indifferency for that would be an imperfection but that infinite force and delight with which he acts I have no better words to express my meaning by Liberty and Necessity therefore in God are not only consistent but inseparable It is right and just for God to reward the good who keep his Commandments and observe his Laws which are the infallible Rules and Instances of what is right and just but we must not say God is bound to it or that those who are good merit it from him in a strict and most received Sense and common Usage because that imports as if he must do it whether he would or no and there were some Law or Person without or superiour to himself We may and ought to say that God most certainly will do so because it is his own immutable Nature to do it The Righteous Lord loveth Righteousness and his Countenance beholdeth the upright 'T is true to put an end to this not useless or very impertinent Digression that worthy Qualities and Actions i. e. such as do effect or but tend to the common good that are usefull or beneficial to the World do justly entitle any Person to a Reward such as Honour Power Wealth or pleasurable Life because those same Qualities and Actions are thereby maintained increased and propagated and consequently the best and happiest State of the World furthered and advanced Every one in his place and according to his Ability is bound to this but especially all sorts of Governours And such qualities have and may with good reason obtain the Name of Merits amongst Men and in respect of them in its most common and received sense For they are the property of those who possess them they never received them from other Men they are beneficial and usefull to Men and there is a superiour Law and Power to oblige and compell Men to reward them none of which can be said in respect to God Though it being a congruous and reasonable thing as is above mentioned God always doth and always will necessarily from his own Nature will and act in such manner And if there be no more meant by meriting than that we may safely in such a sense be said to merit from God too And in this sense it is that St. Paul saith that God is not unrighteous to forget your work and labour of love Heb. 6. 9. And benceforth there is laid up for me a Crown of Righteousness which the Lord the Righteous Judge shall give me at that day and not to me only but unto all them also that love his appearing 2 Tim. 4. 8. i. e. It is a congruous and fitting thing of best effect certainly in God's Government of the World that good Men should be so used by him I have been some-what the longer in this Digression because I believe the whole Controversie about Merit between the Jews and St. Paul with his Christians and between the Pontificians and the Protestants may by the little that hath been here said be easily cleared and decided At last we conclude then with St. Paul and the Gospel-doctrine against the Jewish Doctors and the legal Doctrine which they taught viz. That we sinners are justified by God and more particularly upon our repentance and perseverance in Holiness of heart and life pardoned and saved not by Works of Righteousness which we have done not by any