observed in non-compliance with evil Examples V. Make an Inference or two I. What are the Reasons why Examples are more powerfull than Precepts and consequently bad ones prevail easily against Precepts and Rules of Duty They seem to be these 1. Because Examples are more frequent than Instruction For Instruction the rules and reasons of our opinions and practice are met withall only in a few good Books the Bible in the first place or in Discourses and Lectures out of Pulpits and Desks or in the Conversation of wise and vertuous Men. The first of these are seldom looked upon except on the outsides and it is a very few hours of their lives that the greatest part of Men and even of those of Education and Leisure whose time lies upon their hands spend in such an Employment What they do read is only something of Wit and Fancy or fine Words and perhaps Filthiness 'T is not easily to be imagined how much the World would mend if Books containing true and rational Religion Morality and Wisdom were put into Men's hands and frequently perused by them if it were but once the fashion and humour of the Age to furnish their Libraries and Memories and Discourses with the choicest Thoughts of the wisest and best Men. The first place no doubt is justly here given to the Oracles of God or the Writings of inspired Men well proved and well understood and it is as certain that the Books of the New Testament or Christian Religion contain in them the best Collection of Dogms both for Speculation and Morality that ever the World knew But because there are a sort of Men who will suspect Credulity or Cunning in the best Religion or pretend to do so it is to be wished they would then at least vouchsafe to look into the Writings of those who have had no other Masters but Natural Light and Reason and who have been in great Reputation for Wisdom and Knowledge for now many Centuries of Years The Names and Sects of such as Plato and Tully and Seneca and Epictetus with his Commentators and that excellent Emperour Antoninus who may seem better to deserve a Saintship than many foolish things in the Church of Rome are still every where known and great Their Morality though in some few instances defective yet is generally excellent And it hath been known often where Men have been by reading their Discourses shamed and reason'd into good Manners and restrained in bad ones and thereby mightily prepared for a great Esteem and relish of the Christian Religion Wherefore it is reasonable to believe that the Modern humour of calling reading even of the choicest Books of the wisest Men by the contemptuous Name of Pedantry and justling out the Study of Books by the pretended Study of Men not to help to mend but to corrupt Humane Nature not to avoid but to imitate Vices which otherwise they had never known not so much to secure themselves and their Friends the honest and innocent as to circumvent and supplant others I say that this modern Humour hath had a considerable influence upon the Degeneracy and Immorality of this Age and is truly great Pedantry it self if want of reason and judgment be as it ought signified by that Name And it may well seem to be set abroad and with an Air of Manliness receiv'd by some who could hardly write or read well or at least in no other Tongue than what their Nurse taught them like as some Fashions have been invented to cover some natural or viciously contracted Infirmities The Truth of the Case is as I think and which will do no harm to most Men to remember that the generality of Men are the worst Books that can be read and the Study of good Books approved by the wisest which contain Men's Thoughts Passions Actions Laws Rules and Precepts what Men have thought done and should do is the best Study of Men. Though the other too managed discreetly for honest and vertuous Ends is a great improvement for any and even necessary for many Employments and Stations of Life And then for Pulpit-Discourses or others of the like Nature they are but rare likewise in comparison of Examples which occur every Hour and many of them too as they sometimes should contain Matters of Faith more than of Practice and when they are practical to mention it by the bye they are but too little regarded though they want not Eloquence Reason and Judgment or at least such both Matter and Dress as may be most proper for the Auditory Finally the Conversation of wise and good Men is seldom to be had few Men's Company being instructive or else more in Matters of Speculation than Practice more in other sort of Knowledge than in wise and usefull Observation in practical Religion and good Manners But on the other hand Examples are in our view every moment almost except we be of that small Number who converse much with the dead and the absent I mean Books and with themselves Which were it more frequent and intermixed seasonably and discreetly with Experience and Conversation would much secure us from the Corruption of the Examples of Vice and Folly of which otherwise we are in very great danger by reason of their frequency notwithstanding the Precepts and Rules and Exhortations which are to oppose and hinder them 2. A second Cause of the greater Efficacy of Example above that of Precepts is that Examples are Objects of Sense and Imagination but the Precepts or Rules of life only of Reason and Understanding The Impressions of Example upon Sense Imagination and Corporeal Memory are deeper and stronger than those of Precepts upon our Understanding And consequently upon our Passions and then upon our Choice and Inclinations that is our Manners and we may truly add finally upon our opinions For there is not a persuasion in an Hundred which is not the effect more of affection and inclination than of reason and judgment The sense and meaning of Precepts are by few Men well conceived and apprehended or but faintly and obscurely because they are intellectual Objects For which reason History but more especially Biography or the History of the Lives of the most excellent Men in all kinds where mental Endowments or the Qualities of Men's minds are represented as it were embodied with sensible Circumstances written by judicious and virtuous Men seems the most proper and effectual Way for the good Instruction of the Generality of Men. 3. A third Cause of the prevailing Influence of Examples if we consider the whole Life of Man together is the early precedency of it to that of Precepts and Instructions We are capable of observing and receiving great Impressions from and imitating of Examples too especially of those whom we love and esteem before we know what we do or come to the use of any Reason much more of so much as to understand a good Instruction or Precept The first is from our very Childhood the second
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
well assured that the Examples be really evil One of the most certain signs of which is a thing 's being universally forbidden in the Scripture and if we can be equally assured of it by true Reason too That which is prohibited by God universally hath certainly in every particular Action more mischievous than good effects though we may not see it at present our selves or be able to make it appear to others and therefore it is not at any time to be done As contrariwise that which is universally commanded hath more good than bad and therefore is never to be omitted In things therefore that are thus forbidden or commanded compliance with others to do or not do as they would have us is never justifiable If Company Conversation and Custom desire us and God forbid us if they forbid us and God command us it is no question whom we are to follow But because we are oft-times liable to great mistakes we are hear to endeavour sincerely to be well informed as was before advised We may judge that universally forbidden or commanded by God which truly is not so We are to avoid singularity through ignorance or misinformation in our Duty and consequently giving a needless offence and exposing our selves to the contempt of the ill-natur'd and ungenerous or to the pity and disesteem of the best sort of men for our weakness or suspected Contumacy and Self-will sometimes to the loss of our secular advantages whereby we may not only live comfortably but perhaps very usefully And then we are with the same sincerity to judge as truly on the other hand too and not to believe that lawfull which is really forbidden or that not to be commanded which is really so and consequently to take an undue liberty and in a more proper and important Sense give offence And because of our general proneness to indulge our selves and live easily we have more reason to be vigilant and carefull over our selves in this last Extream 2. The second Caution is in respect of the End We are to take care and there is need of it that we refuse not to conform to and follow received Practice and common Example or to comply with company at any time no not in things materially evil out of pride or affectation of singularity not out of an humour to contradict the World and controll others to be leaders not followers not out of a design to be pointed at and shewed that such an one will not do so not out of a sly intention to be known talked of esteemed as a Man of Courage Resolution Self-government not out of surliness and unwillingness to gratifie others These are all naughty and ill principles and ends which defile and pollute otherwise materially and eventually very good profitable Actions and are very apt as in other places So here to creep into our minds and either to thrust out or at least mix themselves with those that are worthy just and reasonable There are some and very many specious external Carriages and Behaviours to which men pay a great deal of Reverence which have no better Spring at least in great part Whence then must our diversity of manners from the evil Examples of the rest of the World proceed From Charity to the World because thou seest such Courses and Carriages to be foolish unworthy of Men or Christians noxious and mischievous from prudence because thou knowest them to be unworthy or unbecoming thy self nor usefull nor safe but indecent troublesome hurtfull and of dangerous bad consequence here and hereafter In few words from Piety Charity Prudent Self-love and Care of our selves Our Carriage and Conduct here will be very beneficial and effectual if the same Spirit and Temper appear in the rest of our Conversation shewing our selves generous and civil and easie and willing to comply and gratify in things which are not unlawfull or very inconvenient or have no good reason against it And even where we refuse sinfull and incommodious Compliances we are to appear unwilling to give offence or not to gratify but that our Charity to our selves and others and even to our Companions themselves Our prudence and our Duty to God oblige us necessarily so to do To conclude this Caution we must take care to avoid two Extreams The one Pride which word and vice I take so generally as to comprehend all particulars of affectation of singularity contradiction c. just before warned against as so many kinds and many more which may be named The other is too much softness too great loathness to offend or displease for the present either out of love or fear when we know in our Consciences that it will be better for the future both for them and us not to gratifie or comply with them and to this infirmity that which we call good Nature otherwise a valuable thing is obnoxious an will often betray us if we do not as we ought all other natural dispositions and inclinations regulate it by a judicious and resolved Vertue V. The fifth and last thing to be done is to make an inference or two from what hath been said 1. We are with great care to avoid giving bad Example Certainly good Manners is a good thing if there be any in the World and to corrupt a thing so good so absolutely necessary to any tolerable subsistence in this or any other State is the worst of Employments Now the giving bad Examples tends to it the following of them effects it If any be so wicked as designedly to give an ill Example in any Vice suppose Irreligion and to make it their study or diversion to corrupt the World This seems to proceed from pure Malice against God and Men. But if we be only careless and heedless of what we do tho' it be never so ill and what others may do after us it is at least want of good Government of our selves and want of that kindness and charity which we owe to our Brother and draws upon us the guilt of those sins which our Examples have been the Causes of Like as we should reckon that Man devilish and inhumane and worthy of the severest Punishment who knowing himself infected with the Plague should mingle himself with all Company and industriously or carelesly breath out his Pestiferous steams upon all he met But more especially are they concerned in this Admonition whose Examples are of the most forcible and diffusive Influence Such who are most eminent and conspicuous with whom compliance and invitation brings great conversation honour and secular Advantages The rich the potent the ingenious and learned are like Stars of the first Magnitude which draw all men's Eyes towards them and we know how far it reacheth and thanks be to God we know too how far it is prevented when the Commands and Examples of Piety and Vertue come together from the Throne it self whose force we hope will in some time make its way through and alter the Constitution of the
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
chearfull with others Such then be the second Answer to the plea of the extreme difficulty pains and pain in conversion and reformation in correcting this propension of depraved Nature and quitting the most numerous evil examples Namely that we have the Grace of God to assist us and render it more easie that the difficulty is principally at the beginning and first onset and yet that even there the pleasure and ease far out-weigh the pain and labour and finally that in the suite of a virtuous state of Soul exercises and actions there are pleasures sincere deep constant and durable and but the sample and commencement of infinitely greater still The difficulty and pain will lie on the side of Vice and that it is most true that a sincere and generous good Man may find it more hard and vexatious to him to be brought to do an evil thing than the most bold and accustomed sinner to do a good one Go we on further and 3. Suppose if we please that which is false the utmost difficulty labour and suffering throughout the whole course of a virtuous and conscientious life nay suppose we may lose life itself for their sake and in their cause have we never heard of any thing hereafter or have we satisfied our selves with a demonstration that we are not concern'd in that Will there be no reward for the righteous no vengeance for the wicked had not these very Gentiles themselves their Elysian Fields for the just their Tartara Styx and Acheron and various sorts of never ending punishments for their wicked too Had not the Jews many of whom were infected with the Heathen Manners their Paradise for the Holy and their Gehinnom for sinners if they did not believe the Fable they assuredly did believe the moral of it viz. the happy state of the good and the miserable one of the bad and that everlasting too as might be shown As for Christians do they not know that in the day when God shall judge the World by Jesus Christ he will render to every Man according to his deeds to those who patiently continue in well-doing eternal life and to those who obey unrighteousness indignation wrath tribulation and anguish Hath not Truth itself told them that there is a time when the righteous shall go into everlasting life but the wicked into everlasting punishment we need not stand to reason upon such concessions The case is plain what we ought to do if we have but common sense and understanding Is it not a most contemptible and pitiable condition we are in if we suffer our selves to perish everlastingly because we will not take the pains of a few days to be saved to fall into a state of meanness and misery whence no redemption through mere laziness or cowardice having not the heart to encounter some difficulty or courage to bear some present pains and pain though it were the pulling out of an Eye or cutting off an Hand Oh! where is the wisdom of such who easily swim down in a pleasant stream which runs into a dead Sea or a lake of Fire and Brimstone Where is their reason who forewarned dance on merrily with a jolly croud in a smooth way till at last they tumble altogether into the mouth of a Volcano when they were an hundred times advised and entreated to take a certain path at its entrance indeed more solitary rugged and a little toilsome if you please But which in a short time would bring them into a place beyond all imagination delicious furnished with the most agreeable and excellent company eternally secure from any disturbance from within or without Whose part is it now to wonder are the riotous dissolute and vicious to wonder at the folly and weakness as they think of the pious vertuous and well-governed or these at the willfull madness or sottishness of the former These no doubt if all be true that hath been said But some who have the greatest reason to fear will not believe so great severity so they term it of Almighty God to sinners though they are willing to believe his kindness and bounty to the good Men can believe almost what they please and that against the most universal Tradition Reason and Conscience of Mankind But they have some reason what 's that Sinners cannot hurt God and do but enjoy themselves Is this said in earnest or is it only because they will not openly own Infidelity But 1 They would hurt God Almighty if they could and every one else were their power answerable to their will God himself would not be safe or happy Every knowing and willfull Sinner who opposeth or complies not with God's most wise and beneficial Government of the World by his Laws and Decrees by his Commands and Appointments hath the Insolence and doth what he can to make God and all the World besides the Ministers of his Personal pleasures and lusts and is the Enemy of God and all that he hath made And I think such an one deserves the severest punishment and so doth all humane Government judge and act too The very will and purpose alone is a tendency to such mischief it is a partial and inchoative cause and is accordingly to be used of which further reasons may be still given But 2. According to this reasoning God must not reward his faithful Servants who love him for they can as little profit God as the rebellious and malicious hurt him If God accept the will for the deed and reward it too why may he not punish the will for the deed likewise And 3. I do not see but that the Act of will is the only proper Act of a Man and that all external effect is from God when and in what measure he pleaseth So that in proper speaking a sinner hurts no body but wills to do it He is indeed inwardly malicious proud careless of every one but himself or gratifying his own lusts that these have any external effect more or less comes from another hand Lastly he can hardly seem in earnest who asks why vicious Men should be punished so severely only for enjoying themselves Nevertheless because we do not know how childish trifling and foolish Vice may indeed render some Men even in things of the vastest importance we say that to take the three capital and general ones malice pride and sensuality impiety injustice covetousness and an hundred others being only their kinds or instruments the malicious Man delights in mischief and would do nothing else too if God would permit or rather lend him his power for such a purpose The proud Man and the envious which seems compos'd of pride and ill-nature would have every one under his feet and may affect superiority in every thing to such a degree as to permit none to enjoy any good thing but himself if his will and desires were attended by an equal power to execute them The sensualist who seems most intended in this excuse if he will
beats his Breast and sighs out O Lord be mercifull to me a sinner Our Saviour tells us what was the effect I tell you this man went down rather justified than the other As the Pharisees Self-conceit and Arrogance made him pray in such a manner as he did so his Prayer made him more arrogant still It could not but increase his presumptuous Opinion of himself to reckon up and that before God himself all his Religious Qualities and Actions without taking notice of but one small fault and to have compared himself with one so despicable in his Eyes as the poor Publican It is reasonable to believe he went away bigger and statelier from his Prayers than he came to them On the contrary as the Publican's Behaviour Posture and Prayer proceeded no doubt from a due Sense of his sin and guilt and consequent humility So did it likewise dismiss and send him away with a greater Degree of it He saw that before in himself which made him cry out with shame and indignation against himself Lord be mercifull to me a sinner And doubtless he saw it yet more and with deeper impression upon his heart for having made his short but most passionate Confession 4. This confession of sin makes us less censorious and contemptuous of others more backward to publish their Faults or to insult over them We shall not be so ready to censure talk of despise others when we are accustomed to look upon and justly and humbly to acknowledge what is as bad or worse at least bad enough in our selves We are not so forward to reproach others when we permit our own Consciences to reproach our selves We are loth to condemn at least to treat others with Wrath and Contempt when if we are impartial we see too much cause to do the like by our selves No men so ready to proclaim and aggravate other men's Faults as those who take the least notice of their own He who knows his own defects and miscarriages as he pities himself so is he apt to do to others Most men esteem and despise others comparatively or as thy judge them superior or inferior to themselves in worthy and deserving Qualities and Performances We take the Measures of others from our selves Now he that observes most Infirmities and Faults in himself will think himself less above or more under Men than he who though ignorance or self-conceit sees no blemish nor blame in himself The former often despiseth himself comparatively with others the latter foolishly despiseth every one besides himself In the Example just now alledged how haughtily doth the Pharisee hold up his Head and with what Contempt doth he throw his Eye upon the Publican This Publican saith he But we hear no such Language from the Publican who in truth had more reason to have derided the Ignorant and Hypocritical Pharisee 5ly And lastly This confession makes us more sensible of the Divine goodness and disposeth us to greater Gratitude and Love to God The Divine goodness may well be our wonder That the infinite Majesty so provoked hath not yet made us remarkable Examples of his Justice and Displeasure Nay that he hath continued to us Life Health Strength Plenty Power and the like Favours which we ungratefull Wretches have dishonoured him with His lenity and long suffering cannot but be admired by us when we consider that we have grown wanton and proud against him by his own benefits and his bounteous Goodness which should have highly obliged us hath made us careless and presumptuous as if we now wanted him no more and could stand upon our own Legs But that which may justly increase our wonder is that after all this upon our humble confession and actual Change of our Behaviour towards him he is ready to forgive our greatest Crimes and to blot out all our Transgressions So great is his goodness that he is more ready to give us his pardon upon such a Repentance than we are to ask it or by Repentance to render our selves capable of it as if he courted our Friendship and stood in need of our Reconciliation Finally there is something yet more which exceeds wonder and that is that God should be pleased so kindly to accept our late Repentance and Obedience as to take occasion from thence to bestow upon us no less than Eternal life Now the serious and deliberate Confession of our sins giving us a necessary occasion to observe and consider all this so certainly the Truth cannot but deeply affect us with Gratitude and Love to the Authour of such unparallell'd Goodness and Love expressing it self by all ways possible our Words Services whole Lives Of so great and much greater spiritual benefit and profit is a true sincere serious affectionate and free Confession of our sins to Almighty God Which was the fifth Reason for the performance and frequent Exercise of it And now if we put all these Arguments together the just Honour we owe to God and his Laws the Edification and Pleasure of others our own spiritual Comfort and great Benefit one would think they should be sufficient to reasonable Men guided in their opinion and actions by good understanding though we had no Commands from revealed Religion not only to secure this Duty of Religion and Piety from contempt or neglect but especially to recommend it to their frequent and serious Practice from the highest to the lowest For no mortal so high whom it doth not exceedingly become and perhaps better than the meanest For excellent and great Qualities sit best upon the greatest are most amiable in them and most justly expected from them And true Religion the right Knowledge reasonable Worship and Resemblance and Imitation of the Supreme Being and the Universal Parent is the utmost Perfection and Attainment of humane Nature Nor is there any in this Life so holy and innocent take all our Lives together who have not great cause for and abundant need of this confession of sin Thrones and Shrines Crowns and Glories Soveraigns and Saints are with all just Humility to lie at the Foot-stool of the Almighty and most mercifull Father of his Creatures we may altogether send up with one Heart and Voice our common Cries of Confession of Guilt and Petition for Pardon without fear of offending against the Dignity of our Condition or Sanctity of our Profession None too great none too good to say with this great and good Prince I acknowledge my sin unto thee and mine iniquity have I not hid I said I will confess my transgression to the Lord that he might forgive the iniquity of my sin For a conclusion of this Discourse it may not be amiss to pick out of it and put together a brief Representation of a true penitent Confessour in some such manner as follows The sincere and deliberate Penitent then is no negligent Person of himself to let all things go at random but is desirous to bring things to a Trial and to keep them in order
words read and see what instruction they will afford us to discourse upon By the term Fool it is well known that in the Scripture generally is not meant only an ignorant or erroneous Person but also one who is wicked and of ill-manners because he knows not or mistakes his own interest as well as departs from his Duty The Hebrew word is here 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 which signifies him that doth foul as well as foolish Actions So Nabal is said to have done according to his Name when he was so ungratefull and churlish to David as well as so foolish and imprudent that had it not been for Abigail by sparing a little he had lost all 1 Sam. 25. 25. And the Syriack Version here renders the Hebrew word 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 by 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 i. e. an unjust wicked and perverse Man 2. It follows hath said in his heart i. e. he hath thought so though perhaps he never dared to say so for that was Blasphemy and therefore death by the Jewish Law 3. There is no God i. e. there is no such thing really existent 't is but a name or an imagination Or if he be any where yet he is not present upon this Earth he meddles not with humane Affairs Some foolish wicked Men in their thoughts deny either the Being or the Providence of God extending it self to this lower World Like the Ancient Sect of the Epicureans among the Greeks long after these Fools of the Psalmist and consequently the true and necessary Perfections and Attributes of his Nature his Omnipresence Omniscience Omnipotence his Universal Goodness whereby he governs and directs the whole Universe at once to the best Ends his Sanctity Justice and the like And further consequent to this they deny all distinction between Moral good and evil right and wrong vertue and vice other than the present gratification and fulfilling their own lusts of haughtiness pride violence covetousness voluptuousness c. which sort of Men the Psalmist here more particularly means by the Fool. Nay finally hence it must necessarily follow that they were 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 as the Jews speak i. e. they denied their Religion despised even the Authority and Laws of Moses and were Judaical Infidels as ours now-a-days are Christian ones which is the more usual signification of the word and restrained to revealed Truths This last sense wants not Equal probability with the former For it is likely that from the beginning of Mankind there have been many more who have question'd the Providence and true Attributes than the Existence of a God for want of the true notion of his Nature and therefore the Chaldee Paraphrase seems not to have done amiss when it paraphraseth 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the fool hath said in his heart that God hath no Dominion or Government in the Earth 4. The words they are corrupt they have done abominable works c. may be looked upon with the coherence either of a cause or an effect of the preceding Proposition The fool hath said in his heart c. As if they should be thus uttered Because they are corrupt c. therefore they have proceeded to that extremity of folly and impudence as to think there is no God at all and that he doth not see and know what they do or if he doth yet he cannot or will not concern himself to punish them Or we may read then to this sense Foolish and lewd Men have first perswaded themselves that there is no God or no Providence which reacheth humane Affairs and then have let loose the Reigns to their lusts which have carried them to the most wicked Works and abominable Practices From whence we may learn these Two things 1. That they who deny the Being or Providence of God over Mankind and the consequent Truths mentioned are both ignorant and wicked or infidelity is the quality of vicious Fools The fool c. 2. That the denying of those great Truths and such like is the cause of corrupt manners or infidelity is followed with still greater corruption of manners and wickedness of practice To take the first of these Among many heads of Discourse which have and may be handled in this great and most important Argument I shall choose but these Two 1st To observe some of the most frequent causes of this Disease And 2ly To propose some remedies to prevent or suppress their Efficacy And because those of both parts are many to be named I shall be as brief as I can in each of them and do little more than enumerate them 1st The first cause then of this infidelity is ignorance A charge which perhaps they may wonder or smile at who have so often been by themselves and others taken for more than ordinary Wits and so indeed they are but 't is in levity shallowness temerity self-conceit and boldness and some other as worthy qualities to be mentioned And we affirm still that one of the leading and first Causes of infidelity is great ignorance of the Nature of all Beings short of infinite Perfection and particularly of the material or corporeal World to believe it possible for any thing to exist without a God or a Being whose Essence is to be infinitely perfect and consequently necessarily to exist himself and to be the productive and conservative Cause of all other things whatsoever existent And then when there is such a Being it is to have lost the faculty of reasoning seriously to deny those Attributes of his Nature before mentioned and his Universal Providence For it would be to ungod him again It must be from a gross ignorance more particularly for any man to doubt his Universal Goodness whereby he disposeth and ordereth all things for the best State of the Universe of Beings in all its duration taken together and consequently his Justice so that it shall be better with the Good and Righteous than with the Evil and Wicked all Conditions or their whole Duration considered and comprehended It is from no better Cause that any man questions the Immortality of humane Souls in their own Nature and the unsuitableness of the Divine Attributes to annihilate them And it is far more incredible and further from all belief that God should make our Souls only for this point of time we live upon this Earth than that he should make all humane Race to come into this World only to cry and die 'T is I say it again from a contemptible ignorance of the Nature of Body and Spirit the Nature of God the true Ends of all Being Life and Action that these grand and fundamental Verities are seriously and ex animo disputed or denied by any It would be at present too tedious and impertinent to deduce at large the particular proofs of these most important Truths It hath been especially in this last Age excellently well performed to which in some things a further Addition may be made Let Infidels or Scepticks sufficiently
use it And indeed the first is always attended with the other two For he that hath a great affection for truth will readily embrace it where ever he discovers it endeavour to recommend and make the best use of it he can shewing what influences it hath upon his heart and life This excellent quality of our Spirits is more than once commended and commanded in the Holy Scriptures 'T is this which our Saviour means in his Parable by the honest and good heart which having received the word keeps it and brings forth fruit with patience Luke 8. 15. It was the want of this which was one of the Causes of the seduction from the Verity of the Gospel in those who perished viz. Because they received not the love of the truth i. e. Not only the Gospel particularly called the truth but of truth in general 1 Thess 2. 10. And it was this our Saviour above all things required in men to become his Disciples And 't is for this reason together with the incomparable evidence of the truth of Christian Religion that it is to be believed that never an honest man of capacity who hath been rightly instructed in the principal Doctrines of it hath long held out against it and finally disbelieved it We may add to this natural effect of probity the extraordinary and supernatural one even in those who may be for some time doubtfull or erroneous in those greatest Verities so perhaps may God permit It procures God's especial care to enlighten and encline such to the reception of truth 3ly Another cure of this Infidelity is a branch of modesty that is but a just and true esteem and value for our selves and therefore particularly to be carefull we entertain not too great a Conceit of our own ability and sufficiency above other mens to find out the falsity or weakness or uncertainty in common receiv'd opinions of consequence If we seem to our selves to observe it let us still be diffident of our own Judgment and believe we may be mistaken and that there may be something in them or for them which we do not yet see and therefore reserve the alteration of our belief to further consideration Those who are strongly conceited of their knowledge and sufficiency in judgment above other men and are hugely pleased with it are very forward and ambitious to shew it to themselves first and then to other men more especially in contradicting and correcting what is generally taught and believed and that by the most esteem'd and of the best Reputation and Authority The Holy Scripture hath given us this general advice also Rom. 12. 3. Not to think too highly of our selves but soberly according as God hath dealt to every man the measure of faith But because some men in their Infidelity may rely more upon the Wit and Learning of one whom they much esteem than upon their own it is to be advised 4ly To have a great deference and respect to the most publick Testimony or to the most general received Opinion so much the more still by how much it is larger in respect of places and ages The least effect this consideration ought to have upon us is to make us cautious and suspicious when we are inclined to believe and advance any Opinion contrary because it appears true to our selves or some few other really knowing men We ought diligently and impartially to examine what it is in the common Opinion we cannot perswade our selves to be true and how such a general mistake should come to pass He that contradicts an Universal belief had need be the wisest of men and he that rejects a very general one should be very wise The first is not to be done without a Demonstration and even that which so appears to us is reasonably to be suspected though till we see otherwise it cannot be denied by us because in a thing a thousand times considered and debated it may seem much that none before hath light upon this Demonstration though I do not say it is impossible And as for those perswasions which are very general in things judged of great concern and consequently most frequently brought into conversation writing and practice it had need be a very great evidence and having lain long under variety of examination is at last also generally approved that should entirely remove or displace them Yet I deny not but a man may have sometime a reason sufficient at first to suspect to doubt to say that the new Opinion looks with a good countenance and seems not to want a fair probability And then it seems no more than Justice and a thing becoming the publick Care that it should have a fair hearing But here too that we be not imposed upon we are to take a true account of the Universality or Generality of received perswasions not call those of one Nation or Country or perhaps one quarter of the World introduced and maintained by mere interest cunning and force or of one or some few Ages I say we must not call these universal or more general than indeed they are This is the fault and folly of the Roman Church which will needs have Transubstantiation Purgatory Image and Saint Worship and an hundred others to be the Catholick Opinions and Practices in the Church of Christ when we can produce whole Countries and Nations greater than theirs now and many more Ages and the best even of their own Church which neither believed nor practised such things This remedy is proper against blameable singularity whether out of ignorance or affectation I will add but one more and so have done with this general head also And that is 5ly That as it hath been already a general Advice to possess our minds throughly with probity and plain honesty and consequently a prevalent love of the truth So it will much help and assure the effect thereof to purge them of all prejudices which may oppose it and to leave truth and honesty as few and as weak Enemies in our Breasts as it is possible for us We must therefore turn out and send away all unreasonable Inclinations Humours Appetites and Passions which may have any influence upon our understanding and judgment in our enquiring or assent to any truth We are to keep our minds sincere and upright This will prevent or repress the Influences of many Causes of Infidelity at once For in pursuance and application of this general Direction we shall free our minds from the love of any lusts from the extravagant and most unreasonable desire of liberty uncontroulableness and independency from pride vain self-conceit and affectation of singularity from the humour of setting our selves in good earnest to oppose and contradict from wrath and impatience against God Almighty and his Providence from spite and envy against knowledge and goodness and good men against their reputation and interest in the World and finally from Scepticism it self or as I now take the word from timidity
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