that St. Paul did not intend to condemn all Self-love which when it acts regularly is the natural Principle of all Moral and Religious Actions and having prevented this Objection which lay in my way for the further Explication and Improvement of these Words I shall do these three Things 1. Inquire what that Self-love is which the Apostle here condemns 2. How dangerous and perillous such Times must needs be wherein this Self-love prevails 3. Shew the Folly and Unreasonableness as well as Wickedness and Impiety of it 1. What that Self-love is which the Apostle condemns For can Self-love be the fruitful Parent of all Piety and Virtue and the cause of all the Evil and Wickedness which is committed in the World Can the same Fountain send forth sweet water and bitter and yet thus we see it is both good and bad Men act from a Principle of Self-love and design their own happiness and satisfaction This inspires good Men with great and generous designs sets them above this World makes them devout Worshippers of God and very just and charitable to Men and it is the same Principle which acts in bad Men and drives them into all the Excesses of wickedness they gratifie their own Inclinations and Appetites â—…y it they find present Ease and Pleasure they do what they love they please themselves they pursue what they call Happiness which is Self-love still though turned off of its natural Byass by mistaken Notions of Happiness All Men love themselves but Self-love does not act alike in all Men because they are not all agreed what Self to love For Man consists of Soul and Body of Spirit and Flesh which have different Interests Appetites and Inclinations and have distinct Pleasures and Satisfactions of their own A good Man loves his whole Self Soul and Body too and designs and endeavours the Happiness of both which is the entire Happiness of a Man and this is a vertuous Self-love which makes the Flesh subordinate to the Spirit governs our sensual Appetites by Reason improves our Minds in Wisdom and Knowledge raises our Souls up to God and entertains them with the love and the admiration of that best of Beings and above all things secures an eternal Interest the Salvation of our Souls and the glorious Resurrection of our Bodies into immortal Life But a Bad Man loves but one part of himself and that the meanest part too and made much more mean and vile by being loved alone His Self-love is nothing else but the love of the Flesh and of the Lusts and Appetites and Pleasures of it a love of this World and all the objects of Sense which gratifie a carnal and fleshly Mind the Soul is no part of his care so far from it that he is not willing to believe he has a Soul unless it be to subdue Reason to Sense and brutish Passions to stifle the natural notions of a Deity to root up all the seeds of Piety and Vertue or to charm his Conscience that it may not chide and condemn and disturb him in his Enjoyments For the understanding of this we must observe that when the Scripture condemns the love of our selves it does not mean our Personal Self for so every man does and must love himself or his own Person but it is to love something for our selves which we will have to be our selves when God never made it to be so which is our own Self or a Self of our own making and to love this Self in opposition to the Love of God and Men which is to love our selves only and to make all other things subordinate to Self which is the adequate notion of a vitious Self-love 1. It is a Self of our own making that is it is what a Sinner will call Himself and will account his whole Self and in pleasing of which he placeth his whole happiness though it be but a little part of that Self which God made God made Man Soul and Body but such Men will call nothing themselves but Flesh God made Man for a rational and intellectual Happiness as he made him a reasonable Creature but such Men place their whole Happiness in Sense Now Flesh is not the Man of Gods making the Pleasures of Sense are not the Happiness of a Man Man was made to enjoy the Pleasures of Sense in conjunction with those of Reason and in subordination to the Diviner Pleasures of the Mind but a sensual Happiness he was not made for that 's the Happiness of an inferiour and brutish Nature And those who will have this to be their Self and their Happiness are their own Creatures not Gods and are lovers of their own Selves of their own Inventions their own Ways and Devices as the Scripture speaks 2. Such Men are Lovers of themselves in opposition to the Love of God that is they are lovers of Pleasures more than lovers of God as the Apostle here speaks They prefer their own Will and Humour and the Gratification of their Lusts before the Will and Laws of God and in contradiction to them A Good Man lives in subordination to God as a Creature ought to do to his Maker and Sovereign Lord the Will of God is the Rule of his Will and Choice the Love of God gives Laws and Bounds to his Love of himself He pleaseth himself in such Instances as God allows he denies his own Will and Appetites Inclinations and Interests when they oppose the Will and Laws of God Such a Man can hardly be said to have any Self to have any Will any Love any Desires of his own for God is all this to him God lives in him he is more Gods than he is his own as St. Paul speaks I live yet not I but Christ liveth in me 2 Gal. 20. But a Bad Man hath divided himself from God cast off his obedience affects an independent State to stand by himself and to be his own Lord and Master and a God to himself and such a Man is properly said to love himself for he distinguishes himself from God and prefers himself before him 3dly Such Men are properly said to be Lovers of themselves because they love themselves in opposition to the rest of Mankind they gratifie their Lusts and serve their private Interests without any regard to the Laws of Justice or Charity It is their Principle to do good to themselves without ever being concerned what either private Men or publick Societies suffer by it They are the whole world to themselves and have no body else to please or take care of unless they can serve their own designs by it Such men are properly Lovers of themselves that is only of themselves for they love no body else And this is the sordid narrow selfish Spirit of Flesh and Sense which dwells within it Self is its own Center and its own Circumference for Flesh is a narrow Principle can have no Pleasures nor feel any Pains but its own and therefore must confine
Convictions of Conscience and enforceâ—… the Reproofs and Threatnings of the Word with such sensible and smarting Proofs of the Evil of Sin and God's Anger against it as will make all Men consider who have not lost their Senses and many times restore Sense and Understanding to those who had lost them But this to some Men will seem a very dull Account of God's Judgments which will neither gratifie their Curiosity nor ill Nature nor which they think worse leave them any excuse to palliate their Hypocrisie The Judgments of God declare God's Anger against Sin and call us to Repentance This Men will own but do not like to hear it express'd in such general Terms as if when God sends his Judgments amongst us he were angry with â—…s for all our Sins and called us to repent of them all This they think hard that they must part with all their Sins to remove these Judgments nay this they think can't be the Truth of the Case because the World is always very wicked and yet the Judgments of God are not always abroad in the World And therefore they suppose that when God does execute Judgments it is not Sin in general but some particular Sins which so highly provoke him and could they learn what they are and reform them they might see happy Days again And this sets Men at liberty to favour what Sins they please to reproach and accuse each other and to charge all the Evils and Calamities they suffer upon one another without thinking of reforming themselves Thus to be sure it always is when there are differing Parties and Factions in a Nation who judge very differently of Good and Evil They will all confess they are great Sinners and it may be too many of all Parties are guilty of the same Sins but those Sins which are common to them all must pass for nothing because so far they are all agreed But then there are peculiar Party-Sins which every Party dislikes in each other and what they dislike they conclude God dislikes too and to these they attribute all the Evils they suffer As if the Judgments of God were not to reform the World but to decide some Party-Quarrels which will never be decided this way when every Party will expound Judgments in favour of themselves But all Men see that this is to judge by a false and partial Rule This is neither Conscience nor Scripture for Conscience equally condemns all Sin and so does the Scripture too I grant tho' there is always a great deal of wickedness committed in the World God does not always inflict Publick Judgments which are commonly executed when Wickedness and Impiety is grown publick too when publick Government is remiss in punishing Wickedness or the Numbers and Power of Sinners are grown too great for the Correction of publick Justice But we shall always find in Scripture that when God did inflict publick Judgments he called for a general Repentance and Reformation and if this were not so no Man could understand the Voice of the Rod without a Spirit of Prophecy But this deserves a more particular Consideration both with respect to those Sins for which God most commonly sends his Judgments when he sees fit to execute a publick Vengeance and the necessity of an universal Reformation when the Judgments of God are upon us 1. The most general Account the Scripture gives us of publick Judgments is an universal Corruption of Manners Thus the Prophet describes the State of the Iewish Church when God threatned his Judgments against them Ah â—…nful Nation a People laden with Iniquiry a Seed of evil Doers Children that are Corrupters they have forsaken the Lord they have provoked the Holy One oâ—… Israel they are gone away backward And the whole Head is sick and the wholâ—… Heart faint From the Sole of the Foot unto the Head there is no Soundnesâ—… in it but Wounds and Bruises and puâ—… trifying Sores they have not been closed nor bound up nor mollified with Oint ment Isa. 1. 4 5 6. And in Verse 10 he calls them The Rulers of Sodom anâ—… People of Gomorrah When Wickednesâ—… is grown universal and hath infected alâ—… Ranks and Orders of Men such a Nation is ripe for Judgment but it addâ—… greatly to the Guilt and Provocation when Men are not contented to bâ—… wicked without bidding open Defiane to God and to all Religion Wo untâ—… them who draw Iniquity with Cords of Vanity and sin as it were with Cart-ropeâ—… Who deride all the Threatnings of God and even dare his Power and Justice That say Let him make speed and hast en his Work that we may see it and leâ—… the Counsel of the Holy One of Israel draâ—… nigh and come that we may know iâ—… Who mock at the differences of Gooâ—… and Evil and value the Reputation oâ—… their Wit and Philosophy too much to beâ—… cheated with such empty Names Wo unto them that call Evil Good and Good Evil that put Darkness for Light and Light for Darâ—…ss that put Bitter for Sweet and Sweet 〈◊〉 â—…itter Wo unto them that are wise in their own Eyes and prudent in their own Sight Who having first destroyed the eternal and essential differences of Good and Evil change their Names too at pleasure and think themselves the only wise Men in the World for doing so This takes off all Restraints and gives the Reins to their Lusts and they live just as they believe without making any difference between Good and Evil. Wo unto them that are mighty to drink Wine and Men if strength to mingle strong Drink who justifie the Wicked for a Reward and take â—…ay the Righteousness of the Righteous from him Therefore as the Fire devouâ—…eth the Stubble and the Flame consumeth the Chaff so their Root shall be as Rotâ—…nness and their Blossom shall go up as the Dust because they have cast away the Law of the Lord of Hosts and despised the Word of the Holy One of Israel Isa. 5. 18 c. The like Account we find in the other Prophets And when the State of a Church and Nation is so corrupt we need not enquire for what particular Sins God strikes but yet there were some Sins which God expressed 〈◊〉 severer Indignation against and seldoâ—… delayed to punish such as their Idâ—… latry and Contempt of the God oâ—… Israel of his Word and Prophets Prophanation of his Worship Atheâ—… istical Notions of Providence and 〈◊〉 Good and Evil or their abominabâ—… Hypocrisie in committing all the Lewâ—… ness and Villanies which Men couâ—… commit and sheltring themselves in aâ—… external Form and Appearance of Râ—… ligion which the Prophets every wheâ—… complain of To these Causes is oâ—… ing the universal Corruption of Maâ—… ners for it is impossible any Natiâ—… should so universally degenerate tâ—… they have either corrupted their Reâ—… gion by Superstition and Hypocrisie lost all Sense of it and therefore tâ—… calls for a speedy Vengeance As for what more particularly
God for man would swallow me up he â—…ting daily oppresseth me mine eneâ—…es would daily swallow me up for they 〈◊〉 many that rise up against me O thou most â—…igh What time I am afraid I will â—…ust in Thee in God I will praise his â—…rd in God I have put my trust I will â—…t fear what flesh can do unto me 4thly When God does think fit to â—…rrect his People yet he always reâ—…oves his Judgments upon their sincere â—…epentance This was God's express â—…ovenant with Israel 26. Levit. 40 â—…1 42. If they shall confess their iniquiâ—… and the iniquity of their Fathers with the trespass which they trespassed against me and also that they have walkâ—…d contrary to me and that I also have â—…alked contrary to them and have brought â—…hem into the Land of their Enemies 〈◊〉 then their uncircumcised hearts be humâ—…led and they then accept of the punishment of their iniquities then will I remember my Covenant with Jacob and also my Covenant with Isaac and also my Covenant with Abraham will I remember and I will remember the land Thus in the time of the Judges when God for their sins delivered them into the hands of their Enemies when they cried to God he raised up Saviours for them Nay many times when their Repentance was not very sincere nor lasting yet in great goodness and compassion he spared them When he slew them then they sought him and returned and enquired early after God and they remembred that God was their Rock and the high God their Redeemer nevèrtheless they did flatter him with their mouth and they lied unto him with their tongue for their heart was not right with him neither were they stedfast in his Covenant but he being full of compassion forgave their iniquities and destroyed them not yea many a time turned he his anger away and did not stir up all his wrath for he remembred that they were but flesh a wind that passeth away and cometh not again 78. Psalm 34 c. So that how angry soever God be we have a certain way of appeasing his anger Nothing but sin can provoke a merciful God and a compassionate Father to punish He has a great tenderness for all his Creatures He doth not afflict willingly nor grieve the children of men and therefore he is more easily appeased than he is provoked judgment is his strange Work but he â—…ights in Acts of Mercy and seems â—…ased with an honourable occasion 〈◊〉 shew mercy without exposing his â—…ws and Government to contempt â—…d therefore Repentance and Reforâ—…tion will always appease him nay â—…metimes we see that the very shews â—…d appearance of a publick and solemn â—…pentance though it be not so sinâ—…re and hearty as it ought to be â—…akes him stay his hand and expect â—…r return And this is a great encouâ—…gement and a Powerful obligation on 〈◊〉 to return to God when he strikes 〈◊〉 humble our selves under his mighty â—…nd for there is no other way to reâ—…ove his Judgments and this will do 〈◊〉 It is a vain thing to trust in Armies â—…d Navies in the Courage and Conâ—…ct of Princes and Generals when â—…ur Sins fight against us when God â—…efuses to go forth with our Armies â—…r no King is saved by the multitude of â—…n host a horse is a vain thing for safeâ—…y neither shall he deliver any by his â—…reat strength but the eyes of the Lord are upon them that fear him upon them that â—…ope in his mercies 33. Psal. 16 17 18. Nay the justice and righteousness of our Cause will not always secure 〈◊〉 of Success for those who have a very just Cause may deserve to be punished and then God may justly punish them and deliver them into the hands 〈◊〉 their Enemies God does not always determine what is Right and Wrong by the events of War for he is the Sovereign Judge of the World and may punish a wicked Nation by unjust Oppressors as he often did the Israelites The Profession of the true Religion will not always secure us when ouâ—… Sins cry for Vengeance When the Iews cried The Temple of the Lord 〈◊〉 temple of the Lord the Prophet told them They trusted in lying words for will ye steal and murder and commit adultery and swear falsly and burn incense to Baal and come and stand before me in this house which is called by my name and say We are delivered to do all these abominations 7 Jer. 4 10. To glory in the profession of the true Faith or in a vigorous opposition to the Errors and Corruptions of Religion when we are Atheists or Infidels in our Lives may make God punish us but is no reason on our part why he should save us but true and sincere Repenâ—…ance will save us We profess the sinâ—…ere Faith of Christ we fight in a just Cause if it be lawful to defend our â—…elves against the powerful Oppressor â—…f the Protestant that is the true Christian Faith and the Liberties of Europe and we have no reason to fear â—…ny thing but our sins Let us but reâ—…orm our Lives and put away the evil â—…f our doings and our Arms will be as Prosperous as our Cause is Just God will then gird our Princes and soldiers â—…ith strength to the battle will teach â—…heir hands to war and their fingers to â—…ght 5thly Faith and Prayer are more â—…owerful than Arms as it must necesâ—…arily be if God only gives Victory â—…nd Success This we learn from the â—…hole History of the Iews the Apoâ—…le to the Hebrews gives us a particular â—…ccount of the Power of Faith II. Heb. â—…2 33 34. Of Gideon and Barach and Sampson and Ieptha and David who â—…hrough faith subdued kingdoms wrought â—…ighteousness obtained promises stopped â—…he mouths of lions quenched the violence â—…f fire escaped the edge of the sword out of weakness were made strong waxed valivaliant in fight turned to flight the armies of the aliens Moses his Prayer was more powerful than Ioshua's Arms for when Moses held up his hands Israel prevailed when he let down his hands Amalek prevailed 17. Exo. II. Hezekiah's Prayer overthrew the Assyrian Army when Rabshekah came against Ierusalem and reproached them with their Trust in God We must not indeed expect such miraculous Victories as God gave to Israel but this makes no difference for the Power of Faith and Prayer is the same still and all Victory is God's still who gives Success as well by invisible Means and seeming Accidents as by the most visible interposal of a miraculous Power For God gave Israel miraculous Deliverances not because he could not save them without a miracle but because he would make it visible to all the world That he was their Saviour But still God hears our Prayers and answers them he is still the Saviour and Deliverer of all those who trust in him and hope in his Mercy and therefore the only sure way to conquer our Enemies is to prevail with God by
is likely enough he thought him to be some extraordinary person He knew by the Ancient Prophecies that the Messias was to appear and knew from the Prophet Daniel that the time for his coming was accomplished nay it is probable he knew all the circumstances of his Birth and heard that â—…imony God gave him at his Bapâ—… This is my beloved Son but he saw he was a Man though an extraordinary Man and might not know that he was any thing more and having formerly foiled our first Parents in Paradise in the state of innocence hoped for the like success again Now if Christ himself was tempted by the Devil none of us must hope to escape tempted we shall be and therefore must take care to stand upon our guard and to fortify our Minds against all temptations And this encouragement we have from the Example of our Saviour that to be tempted is no Sin unless we yield to a temptation for He was tempted as we are yet without sin and we cannot imagine had it been a sin to be tempted that God would have permitted the Devil to have tempted our Saviour which may ease the fears of some Melancholly Christians who are afflicted with evil and tempting thoughts which their Souls abhor for whatever the cause of such thoughts be whether a frighted and disturbed imagination or the suggestion of wicked Spirits they can no more defile the Soul which abhors and rejects them with grief and indignation than they can the Paper on which they are writ Nay hence we learn that God many times exercises those with the greatest and most difficult Tryals and Temptations who are most dear to him He had no sooner proclaimed Christ his beloved Son in whom he was well pleased but he leads him by the Spirit into the Wilderness to be tempted of the Devil This Life is a State of Tryal and Probation and Temptations though they create some trouble and difficulty to good men yet do them no hurt If good men Conquer Temptations do but exercise encrease and confirm their Graces and make them great and illustrious examples to the World glorify the Divine Power in the Victories and Triumphs of his Servants over the World the Flesh and the Devil give them a secure hope in God and a transporting sense of his Love and prepare great rewards for them in the next Life And if they happen in any particular encounter to be overcome as St. Peter himself was when he denied his Master yet they rise again with glory and the sense of their sin and the shame of a defeat fills them with sorrow indignation self-revenge gives them new spirit vigour activity resolution makes them more patient of hardships and sufferings more unwearied in doing good more humble and modest and more perfectly resigned to the Will of God to dispose of them and their Services to his own Glory as he pleases God does not train up those whom he Loves and whom he prepares for Glory in ease and softness Whom the Lord loveth he chastneth and scourgeth every son whom he receiveth And the more difficult Temptations he exposes us to the greater honour he does us the more glorious will our Triumphs the richer and brighter will our Crowns be Let us then behold our Saviour in the Wilderness separated from humane conversation and all the comforts of Life in the midst of wild Beasts and tempting Spirits and not think that God uses us hardly if at any time he lets loose the Tempter upon us and gives him power over all we have as he did in the Case of Iob to afflict us in our Relations our Bodies our Estates good Names or whatever gives us the sharpest and keenest sense of suffering and is the most difficult exercise of our Faith 2. Let us consider the time when our Saviour was tempted viz. immediately after his Baptism being full of the Holy Ghost 4. Luke 1. 1. As soon as our Saviour was baptized he was led by the Spirit into the Wilderness For Then in my Text relates to the time of his Baptism and St. Luke tells us this was done in his return from Iordan where he was baptized by Iohn By this Religious Rite our Saviour had devoted himself to the immediate service of God in the Salvation of Mankind and was inaugurated into his Prophetick Office by that Testimony which was given to him by a Voice from Heaven This is my beloved Son in whom I am well pleased and this was the Critical time both for the Devil to tempt and for our Saviour to baffle all his temptations and to triumph over him Could the Devil have conquered our Saviour in this first assault there had been an end of this Glorious design of mans Salvation when he had enslaved and captivated the Saviour himself and therefore he began as early with â—…he second Adam as he did with the first though not with the like success Had our first parents resisted the first â—…emptation we had been happy for â—…ver but they yielded and brought â—…eath upon themselves and their Posteâ—…ity but the seed of the Woman whom God had promised should â—…reak the Serpents Head who was made manifest to destroy the works the Kingdom and the Power of the Devil by God's order and appointment first encounters him in his own person resists his most furious assaults makes him reâ—…reat with shame and despair as foreseeâ—…ng his own destiny and the final destruction of his Kingdom As the old Serpent seduced our first Parents in Paradice and brought sin and misery and death into the world so it was very fitting that the Saviour of Mankind should give the first proof of his Divine power in conquering the Tempter This gives us great encouragement to fight under Christ's Banners against the World the Flesh and the Devil for the Captain of our Salvation has already conquered and if we are not wanting to our selves we shall be more than Conquerors through Christ who strengthens us He knows what the power of temptations is and what measures of Grace are necessary to resist them and if we do not forsake him he will not forsake us He has conquered himself and knows how to conquer and if we faithfully adhere to him we shall conquer too Nay in case we should some time be conquered this has made him a merciful and compassionate High Priest being in all things tempted like as we are He knows the weakness of humane nature and the power and subtilty of the Tempter and prays for us as he did for St. Peter That our faith fail not that if we fall we may rise again by Repentance And this is a mighty Consolation That if any man sin 〈◊〉 have an Advocate with the Father Iesus Christ the righteous who is not only a Propitiation for our Sins but was tempted also as we are 2ly St. Luke observes that our Saviour was full of the Holy Ghost which he received without measure at his Baptism when the Holy
great Reproach to a Christian Nation where such Doctrines are publickly owned and profess'd and such Persons courted and flattered as â—…he most refined Philosophical Wits I pray God this Nation do not find the â—…ischievous Effects of it both in Church â—…nd State Government can never be long secure without the Sacred Authority of Religion and destroy Revealed Religion and we shall quickly have none as is too visible in the Lives of Deists I 'm sure it is a vain thing to talk of a Reformation of Manners while such Men are suffered to poison the very Fountains to undermine all Religion and to root up the very Foundations of Piety and Vertue I do not love to prophesie ill Things but that Nation cannot reasonably expect to receive Good from God which is so unconcerned for his Glory and Worship it being the standing Rule of his Government He that honoureth me I will honour but those which despise me shall be lightly esteemed To God the Father God the Son and God the Holy Ghost be Honour Glory and Power now and for evermore Amen SERMON XII Preach'd on September 2. 1699. Being the Fast for the Fire of London at the Cathedeal Church of St. Paul's before the Right Honourable the Lord-Mayor Aldermen and Citizens of London Micah vi 9. The Lord's Voice crieth unto the City and the Man of Wisdom shall see thy Name Hear ye the Rod and who hath appointed it WHen the State of this World is Happy and Prosperous it is no wonder to see Men indulge themselves in Ease and Luxury forget God or grow careless and formal in Religion For though it might reasonably be expected that happy Creatures who rejoice in the Blessings of Heaven should be very devout Worshippers of that God from whose Bounty and Goodness they receive all yet Humane Nature in this degenerate State is very fond of sensual Pleasures And when an easie and plentiful Fortune puts it into Mens Power to enjoy as much of this World as they will there are but very few who can set Bounds to their Enjoyments and taste the Pleasures of this Life without taking large and intoxicating Draughts of it and this sensualizes Mens Minds and a carnal Mind is Enmity against God saith unto God Depart from us for we desire not the Knowledge of thy Ways Never any People had more sensible Demonstrations of the Power and Presence of God amongst them and his particular Care of them than the Israelites had and yet Moses tells us in his Prophetick Hymn Iesurun waxed fat and kicked thou art waxen fat thou art grown thick thou art covered with Fatness then he forsook God which made him and lightly esteemed the Rock of his Salvation Deut. 32. 15. And thus God complains Isa. 1. 2 3. Hear O Heavens and give ear O Earth for the Lord hath spoken I have nourished and brought up Children and they have rebelled against me The Ox knoweth his Owner and the Ass his Master's Crib but Israel doth not know my People doth not consider And as much as we may despise and abhor the Ingratitude of the Iews this is the general State of Mankind and we may find too many Examples of it in all Times and Nations But it seems much more unaccountable when the Iudgments of God are abroad in the World that the Inhabitants thereof should not learn Righteousness Because Judgments are apt to awaken Men and make them consider When God speaks in Thunder and Lightning those must be deaf indeed who will not hear This is the merciful Design of Providence in sending such terrible Judgments on the World to make Men consider their Ways and their Doings and to convince them that there is a God that judgeth in the Earth For Judgments have a Voice had we but Ears to hear They proclaim the Power and the Majesty of God a terrible Majesty and irresistible Power theâ—… scourge and they threaten Sinners anâ—… call for Weeping and Mourning anâ—… Fasting And how unthankful soever thâ—… Iews were to God for his great Mercieâ—… and Deliverances yet they were not so insensible of his Judgments When he sleâ—… them then they sought him and returned and enquired early after God and remembred that God was their Rock and thâ—… High God their Redeemer Psalm 78â—… 34 35. This we are exhorted to in my Text To hear the Rod and who hath appointed it To consider for what reasons those Evils which we at any time suffer are come upon us and what God intends by the Rod which is the only way to grow better by our Afflictions and to prevail with God in great Pity and Compassion to remove them But this is the great difficulty Who shall reveal this Secret to us How shall we distinguish between the Corrections of God and the Wickedness of Men How shall we understand the Language of the Rod and to whom it speaks for what Sins it strikes and who are those Achans that are the Troublers of our Israel and what God expects from us in such Cases I shall briefly explain these things to you and apply it to the present Occasion But I must premise That I only address my self now to those who believe a God and a Providence and that God hath revealed his Will and the Rule of his Providence in the Holy Scriptures As for Atheists and Infidels who have neither Eyes nor Ears they can only feel the Rod like Bruits not hear its Voice like Men Though the Lord's Voice crieth unto the City it is only the Men of Wisdom that see his Name Now as for those who believe a God and the Holy Scriptures there are two very plain Interpreters of God's Judgments Natural Conscience and the Word of God For the Judgments of God have not an Articulate Voice to acquaint us in plain and express Words upon what Errand they come but they are Signs which speak by an Interpreter and if we carefully attend to the Dictates of Natural Conscience and to the Word of God we cannot mistake their meaning 1. As first No Man who attends either to the Dictates of Natural Conscience or to the Word of God can doubt who it is that hath appointed the Rod This is the first and most naturaâ—… question of all and yet a great many who profess to believe a God and a Providence seem not well satisfied in this Point They allow that some Judgments are the Hand of God but are not willing to grant this of all especially when they see what the immediate and visible Causes of such Sufferings are Some of the greatest Evils which either private Men or Publick Societies suffer are manifestly owing to the Injustice and Wickedness of Men and they can no more believe that it is the Will and Appointment of God that they should suffer such Evils than that it is the Will of God that others should do them And all such Rods as are not appointed by God can teach us nothing but the Wickedness of those by whom
Laws The general Consent of all Nations who had no Communication with each other in this Distinction between Vertue and Vice intimates no other Compact but that of a common Nature And not only the wisest Philosophers but the universal Voice of Mankind attribute these Laws to Nature not to Human Institutions And it must appear strange if these Laws had no higher Original than Human Compacts that Mankind for so many Ages should not know any thing of it but should mistake them for the Laws of Nature as after all the Information these Men can give the World the generality of Mankind do to this day But suppose this Distinction between Vertue and Vice and those Laws which command the Exercise of Vertue and forbid Vice were originally framed and enacted by Men was there no Reason in the nature of things why they agreed upon such Laws Yes they will grant that they were necessary for the Peace and good Order and Government of Human Societies to secure private Men from Injuries and Violence and to make them helpful and beneficial to each other and therefore they agreed to make them Laws But why should we think that God and Nature has not made those Laws which have natural and necessary Reasons to make them Laws Can meer Human Compacts and Governments either make or change the Reasons and Necessities of things Can they if they so pleased make Vertue Vice or Vice Vertue and as well consult the Happiness of Mankind and the good Government of the World by doing so If not then meer Human Compacts can neither make nor unmake these Laws God has made these Laws for us by making us such Creatures and giving us such Natures as require such Laws if we will live by Nature and attain our natural Happiness and who then can think that God will not as much exact from us the Observance of these Laws as Men do that he will not punish the Breach of these Laws when Human Governments find it necessary to do so And has God made the Restraints and Punishment of Mens Lusts and Vices necessary and will he not punish them himself especially when the Authority of Human Laws and Human Government is very precarious without the Awe of Religion as those Law-givers were very sensible who to give the greater Veneration to their Laws pretended to receive them from their Gods It is manifest that this very Hypothesis which allows no other Difference between Vertue and Vice but what Human Laws and Human Contracts make leaves every Man at liberty to break these Laws when he can do it safely or will venture the Punishment which is the reason that makes these Men so fond of it and shews how necessary a divine Authority is to enforce the Obligation of these Laws and to secure the very being of Human Societies So that those who reason according to the common Principles of Humane Nature can never get rid of the Notitions of moral Good and Evil nor attribute these Laws to any other Author but that God who made us and fitted our Natures to these Laws and no Man who believes that God hath given us these Laws can doubt whether he will punish the Breach of them But then if to this we add the more certain Revelation of the Gospel wherein the Wrath of God is revealed from Heaven against all Unrighteousness and Ungodliness of Men this confirms all the Fears of Nature and leaves no possible Hopes for Sinners but Repentance from dead works and Faith in our Lord Iesus Christ that it is impossible for Men who know any thing of the Gospel of Christ to sin securely with their Eyes open and therefore 2dly The next step they take is to put out their Eyes or to put out the Light to put darkness for light and light for darkness to reject all the common Principles of Reason and all Divine Revelation as Ignorance Folly and Imposture But what a Task is this to perswade our selves that Darkness is Light and Light Darkness For the common Principles of Reason which Atheists and Infidels must reject before they can deny the Being of God or a Divine Revelation shine as clear and bright in the Mind as the Light of the Sun does in the Heavens and the admired Principles of Atheism and Infidelity put out our Eyes leave no Distinction between things nor any certain Rules of judging as to give some few Instances of this There is nothing lies more easie and obvious in our Minds than the Notion of a first Cause which gave Being to all things else I will not dispute this Point now but alledge it as a first Principle which Mankind naturally assent to as the most reasonable Account of the Origin of all things Now this the Atheist rejects for if they should allow a First Cause they must own a God for the first Cause of all things is a God And this is the wisest Reason they have against it though in truth it is a great Confirmation of the natural Notion of a First Cause because the Belief of a God is as natural and universal as of a First Cause And these two Notions which are both so natural to Mankind do mutually confirm each other But what Account do these Men give of the Origin of all things They either say the World is Eternal and always was what it now is or that Atoms were Eternal and that the World that now is was made by chance But is this the natural Perswasion of Mankind that the World had no Beginning and no Cause or that it was made-by chance Is any thing in the World harder to be believed than this which we can form no possible Notion of Nature teaches nothing of all this and how then should they come to know it when they neither saw the World from Eternity nor saw it made by the fortuitous Jumble of Atoms It is certain these Principles differ as Light and Darkness do To ascribe all things to a First Cause gives a sensible Account how all things were made and how they came to be so wisely made which is Knowledge and Light But to say that the VVorld was Eternal without a Cause or that it was made by chance when we see all things in it so wisely made only confounds and amazes us and leaves us in Darkness Indeed all the Principles of Atheism and Infidelity have nothing natural or enlightning in them but are a Force upon our Understandings and destroy all the true Principles of Knowledge It is very easie and natural to our Minds to believe that something is Eternal for if there ever had been nothing there never could have been any thing But the Question is which is most easie and natural to Human Understandings to say that all things are Eternal without a Cause or to assert one Eternal Being who is the Cause of all things and every Man may feel the difference between these two in his own Mind for the Notion of a First Cause
is as easie and natural as of an Eternal Being and that natural Notion we have of the Relation and Dependance between Causes and Effects necessarily leads us to the Belief of a First Cause for if all things were Eternal without a Cause it is hard to conceive how there should ever after be any natural Relation between them of Causes and Effects and yet destroy the Doctrine of Causes and Effects and there is an end of all Reason and Discourse But then as we have no natural Notion of the Eternity of all things so all the Appearances of Nature contradict it and will not suffer it to lie easie in our Minds We see every day that all Individuals are made Men are born every day and die and one Generation succeeds another and thus it is with Beasts and Birds and all other Animals with Trees and Fruit and Corn and Herbs and is it possible for any Man to believe that any of these things were Eternal when we see that the Individuals of all these several kinds of Beings are daily made for the World consists of Individuals and if they are all made the World was made Necessary Existence is Essential to the Notion of an Eternal Being which has no Beginning nor any Cause and therefore must be always what it is without the least Change that to ascribe Eternity to a World which is subject to perpetual Changes is as great an Absurdity as to assert an Eternal Succession without a Beginning Thus it is very natural to think that the Effect can have nothing but what the Cause can give it and therefore we may learn what the invisible Cause is from visible Effects that if we see any thing wisely made we may conclude it had a wise Cause and therefore nothing can more contradict the natural Sense of our Minds than to ascribe such a World as we now live in which discovers such wonderful Art in its Contrivance to blind and undesigning Chance I do not dispute these Matters now but only consider how unnatural it is to think so and therefore how very difficult it is for any Man in good earnest to espouse these Atheistick Principles Thus as for the Principles of Infidelity how hard is it for any Man to perswade himself that God never revealed himself and his Will to the World any otherwise than by the Works of Creation when all Mankind have believed otherwise and are naturally inclined to believe so and there are great Reasons to think that God will do so and none to think that he will not especially when we have such evident Proof of this in Prophecy and Miracles which so strongly perswade the rest of Mankind For to deny Prophecy and Miracles when the Matter of Fact is plain that there have been true Prophecies or Miracles and no Man besides themselves who believes a God doubts whether he can foretel things to come or exercise a Sovereign Authority over Nature when he pleases can be called by no softer Names than Stupidity or Impudence and whatever they say it is not so easie for them to believe what they say for Prophecy and Miracles carry such a Conviction with them of a Divine Power and give such Authority to the Prophet as is not easily resisted as is evident from hence that some of the wisest of these Men dare not deny the Authority of Prophecy and Miracles could they be assured o the Truth of them but they hear no Prophecies nor see any Miracles now and may be imposed on by fabulous Relations should they be over credulous of such Matters This would have been a good Answer had they only some idle and uncertain Reports of such things but it can never satisfie themselves when they have such an Authentick History as the Bible the Old and New Testament for the Foundation of Faith Can any Man perswade himself to reject the Credit and Authority of all Histories If he can't whatever he may pretend he will find it a very hard matter after all his Criticisms to disbelieve the Gospel which is the best attested and most credible History in the World These are the Difficulties of being an Atheist or Infidel without which Men can never reject or confound the Differences of Good and Evil that all these Principles contradict the natural Ideas of our Minds and destroy all the natural Rules and Measures of Reason that we can no more distinguish between Truth and Falshood than between Good and Evil and if it be possible ever thus to efface the natural Notions of our Minds yet it must be a very uneasie and difficult Task 3dly And yet it is at least as difficult to put bitter for sweet and sweet for bitter Men may bribe their Understandings but our natural Passions are not so easily stifled When the Frame and Constitution of our Natures has annexed Shame and Fear and Remorse to bad Actions which makes them very bitter and grievous in the Review whatever they were in the Act it is not laughing at these Fears as superstitious and owing to Education which will cure them no more than the Stoicks Brags that Pain was no Evil could prevent their feeling Pain What is painful will make us feel it and Atheists and Infidels themselves when they think they have reasoned and laught away all their Fears find that besides their frequent Misgivings and Jealousies when any great or surprizing Occasion sets them free these Passions return on them with such a Fury as all their Philosophy cannot resist Now this endangers all again for natural Shame and Fear and Remorse will make them own an Essential Difference between Good and Evil when they feel it 4thly But let us suppose all these Difficulties conquered they are sensible that there is one still remaining viz. That all the rest of Mankind are against them The Heathen World owned a God and as learned Men have proved one Supream God though they corrupted both the Notion and Worship of God by Polytheism and Idolatry but Atheism was so infamous among them that some Atheistick Philosophers such as Epicurus himself was forced to dissemble it They owned a moral Difference between Good and Evil they owned Revelation and instituted Religions and had them though not from God yet from those evil Spirits whom they worshipped for Gods The whole Iewish Nation own the Writings of Moses and the Prophets and the whole Christian World whom they are most at present concerned with own both the Old and New Testament These are great Authorities against them which one would think should make Men modest and put them a little out of countenance and incline them to suspect that they may be mistaken but they are sensible that Modesty would undo them that to suspect whether they are in the right is as fatal to them as to know that they are in the wrong and therefore they have no way left but to out-face all the World to laugh at all the rest of Mankind as superstitious
the thing and the only Dispute is about Matter of Fact whether God have revealed his Will to Mankind whether there ever were such inspired Men sent by God to instruct the World whether there ever were any true Miracles wrought or any certain Predictions of things to come and when Men are satisfied that such things may be as they certainly may be if there be a God it will dispose them to a more modest and impartial Examination of such Matters and not suffer them to despise Revealed Religion at all adventures For in Matters especially of such vast moment no wise Man will reject and scorn what may be true till he can prove it to be false 2. Since then we must confess that it is possible that God should reveal his Will to Mankind let us consider which is most probable which is most agreeable to those Notions we have of God that he should or should not make such a Revelation of his Will Now if we may judge of this by the general Sense of Mankind there was not a Man in the World in former Ages who believed a God but did believe also some kind of Commerce and Communication between God and Men. This was the Foundation of all their Religious Rites and Ceremonies which every Nation pretended to receive from their Gods This gave Birth to all their Superstious Arts of Divination that they believed their Gods had a perpetual Intercourse with Men and by various Means gave them notice of things to come â—…nd the Stoick in Tully thought That â—…e Acknowledgment of a God did as â—…ecessarily infer Divination as Divinaâ—…on did prove the Being of a God Ego â—…im sic existimo si sint ea genera diviâ—…andi vera de quibus accepimus quoeque coâ—…imus esse Deos vicissimque si Dii sint esse â—…ui divinent Is it possible as I observed before to â—…magine that God should make reasoâ—…able Creatures who are made to know â—…im and to be happy in the Knowledge and Love and Admiration of him and withdraw himself from them without giving them any visible Tokens of his Presence or any other View of his Glory then in the weak and glimmering Reflections of his Works Had Man preserved the Innocence and Purity of his Nature for whether we believe the History of Moses or not if we believe that God made Man we must believe that he made him Holy he had been fit for the Presence and Conversation of God as Angels and Holy and Pure Spirits are and in this State there can be no doubt but God would have shewn himself and his Glory to Man in some Measure and Proportion as he does to the Angels in Heaven as the History of Moses assures us that God did to Adam in Paradise So that Man was made if I may so speak with Reverence for the Conversation of God which pious and devout Souls recover in some measure on Earth and which we all hope perfectly to enjoy in Heaven Sin indeed as necessarily it must has made a greater distance between God and Man but if we must live in the other World and be happy or miserable there as the Deist professes to believe if God still exercises any Care and Providence over Mankind it seems absolutely necessary that he should give some sensible Tokens of his own Being and Presence and instruct them more perfectly in his own Nature and Will then the Light of Nature teaches For how much soever Men may magnifie the Light of Nature it is certain the State of the World was very ignorant and corrupt and Mankind knew little of God beyond a general Perswasion that there was such a Being and therefore worshipped a Multiplicity of Gods and any thing for God and that with such ridiculous and barbarous Rites as were a Reproach to the Naâ—…e both of God and Man And can â—…y Man who believes a Divine Proviâ—…nce think that God takes no care of â—…s own Glory and Worship nor of the â—…uls of Men And it is certain he has â—…ken none if he have not revealed â—…mself and his Will to the World Especially when we consider that in â—…ose dark Times of Paganism the Deâ—…l and Evil Spirits had every where â—…eir Temples and Altars and Priests â—…d Sacrifices frequently appeared to â—…eir Votaries in visible Shapes and inâ—…ituted their own Rites of Worship and â—…ave forth their Oracles and Responses â—…nd by their various Arts of Divinatiâ—…n gave them notice of many Events â—…or though these were Cheats and Imâ—…ostures they were not all the Cheats â—…f Priests but of Evil Spirits who imâ—…osed both upon Priests and People and â—…y these Arts begot in them a great Oâ—…inion of their own Divinity as we must confess unless we will deny the Credit of all Histories And when this by the secret and hidden Counsels of God was the miserable and degenerate State of Mankind can we think that God should leave himself without any other Witness than the Light of Nature should give no Demonstrations of a Power superior to all these vulgar Deities nor give Men any certain Notices of his Will no Rules of Conversation or Worship It is certain in Matter of Fact that all the Reformation which has been made in Mens Faith and Worship and Manners is owing to the Jewish and Christian Religion This put a stop to their absurd Idolatries and restored the Worship of the One Supreme God in the World which is so wonderful a Change as could not have been wrought without some visible and irresistible Proofs of Divinity This is sufficient to shew how unreasonable it is in those Men who believe a God to deny all Revelation For it is certain that God can reveal Himself and his Will to Mankind if he pleases and that the Nature and Providence of God and the State of the World makes it highly reasonable to think he has done it The Design of all which is no more but this to remove Mens Prejudices against the very Notion of a Revealed Religion For were this effectually done they would soon discover the most unquestionable Characters of Divinity in the Gospel of our Saviour I am sure if we do believe a God and another World nothing can be so desirable as a more explicite and perfect Account of â—…he Will of God and the Way to Heaven than meer Nature can give us What Impression this may make upon profess'd Deists I cannot tell they â—…ave so used themselves to laugh at eveâ—…y thing that is serious and to confute â—…he wisest Arguments with bold and profane Jests that little Good can be expected from them But I hope this may caution those who are not yet â—…nfected and make the Name of a Deist â—…n a Christian Nation as contemptible â—…s the Name of an Atheist they are both â—…wing to the same Cause they live much alike they are equal Enemies to Christianity and equally dangerous to any Government where they themselves are not â—…ppermost It is a