is nor any fear of becoming less And all Temptation is founded either in hope or fear and where neither of these can have any place there can be no occasion no possible Motive or Temptation to Evil for to be Evil and to do Evil is always an Effect of weakness and want of Power The summ of what I have said upon this Argument and the design indeed of it is to shew that the greater Power and Authority any one hath the less Liberty he hath to do any thing that is bad And I have been the larger upon this because I would fain imprint upon the Minds of Persons whom the Providence of God hath invested with great Power and Authority that as they have great opportunities of doing more good than others so they have greater Reason and more Advantages of doing it and are more inexcusable if they do any thing that is bad not only because their Actions are of a more publick influence and observation but because their Temptations to Evil how great soever they may seem to be are in truth and reality much less than other Mens Happy are those Princes that wisely consider this and make their Power and Authority over others an Argument to be so much better themselves and to do so much more good to others and because they are less subject to the coercive Power of Law do for that Reason think themselves so much the more obliged to be a Law to themselves Blessed be God for the Happiness which we enjoy in this respect and let us earnestly beseech him that he would be pleased to bestow such a plentiful measure of his Grace and Holy Spirit on our most Gracious King and Queen as may Effectually both engage and enable them to use their Power to the best purposes for the Publick good And thus I have briefly gon over and explained to you the several Particulars in the Text the duty of Prayer here enjoyned for whom we are to pray in general for all Men and for whom more especially and in the first place for Kings and all that are in authority and upon what Considerations we are to pray for them and to Praise God in their behalf because of the great Benefits we receive by them and because both in respect of the Dangers and Difficulties of their Condition they stand in need of our Prayers above other Men besides that in praying for their Welfare and Prosperity we pray for our own Peace and Happiness And now to apply this to our selves and to the Occasion of this Day By all that hath been said we cannot but be convinced what Cause we have to bless God for that happy Government which we live under that excellent Constitution under the gentle Influences whereof we enjoy more Liberty more Plenty and more Security from all manner of Injury and Oppression than any Nation this Day on the Face of the Earth Therefore with what Thankfulness should we this Day commemorate the happy Restauration of this Government to us after the miserable Distractions and Confusions of twenty Years by the Restauration and Return of our banisht Soveraign in so peaceable and yet so wonderful a Manner that a Remembrance of it even at this Distance is almost still Matter of Amazement to us Blessed be the Lord God of Israel who alone doth wondrous Things And with our joyful Praises let us joyn our most devout and fervent Prayers to Almighty God for the King 's and Queen's Majesties and for all that are in Authority And I may truly say that there was hardly ever greater Reason and Occasion for it both from our Distractions at Home and our Dangers from abroad never was there greater Need of our earnest Supplications and Prayers than at this Time when our Armies and Fleets are in Motion and when God seems already to have given us some Earnest of good Success blessed be his great and glorious Name We have indeed a great Army and a more powerful Fleet than ever this Nation sent forth but unless God be on our Side and favour our Cause in vain are all our Preparations for whenever his Providence is pleased to interpose by strength shall no Man prevail Have we not Reason then to cry mightily unto God when the only Strength of the Nation is at Stake when our Sins and Provocations are so many and great and there lies so heavy a poal of Guilt upon us When the person of his Sacred Majesty is exposed to so much Hazard not only in the high Places of the Field but from the restless Attempts of the malicious and implacable Enemies of our Peace and Religion that he would be graciously pleased to go forth with our Armies and Fleets and not remember our Iniquities against us but save us for his Mercies sake We are too apt to murmur and complain of Miscariages and the ill management of Affairs but surely the best thing we can do and that which best becomes us is to look forward and to turn our Censures of our Governours and their Actions into humble Supplications to God in their behalf and in behalf of the whole Nation that he would be pleased to turn us every one from the Evil of our Ways that he may return to us and have mercy on us that so Iniquity may not be our Ruin that he may rejoyce over us to do us good and may at last think Thoughts of Peace towards us Thoughts of Good and not of Evil to give us an expected End of our Troubles Let us then betake our selves to the proper Work of this Day hearty Prayers and Thanksgivings to Almighty God for the King and Queen and for all that are in Authority that as he hath been pleased by a wonderful Providence to rescue us from the imminent danger we were in and from all our fears by the happy Advancement of their Majesties to the Throne of these Kingdoms so he would of his infinite goodness still preserve and continue to us this Light of our Eyes and Breath of our Nostrils Princes of that great Clemency and Goodness which render them the true Representatives of God upon Earth and the most Gracious Governours of Men. And let us earnestly beseech him that he would confirm and strengthen them in all goodness and make them wise as Angels of God to discern betwixt Good and Evil that they may know how to go in and out before this great People that be would give them the united affections of their People and a heart to study and seek their good all the days of their lives And Finally That he would be pleased to continue so great a Blessing to us and to grant them a long and Prosperous Reign over us and that their Posterity in this Royal Family may endure for ever and their Throne as the Days of Heaven that under them the People of these Nations we and the Generations to come may lead quiet and peaceable lives in all godliness and honesty for
the Powers of the World did likewise strongly combine against it Among the Jews the Chief Priests and Rulers did with all their force and malice endeavour to stifle it in the birth and to suppress it in its first rise and several of the Roman Emperors who were then the great Governors of the World engaged all their Authority and their whole Strength for the extirpation of it and raised such a storm of Persecution against it as swept away greater numbers of Mankind than any Famine or Plague or War that ever was in the Roman Empire And yet this Religion bore up against all this Opposition and make its way through all the Resistance that the Lusts and Prejudices of Men armed with the Power and Authority of the whole World could make against it And this brings me to the 5. and last Consideration I mentioned the great discouragement that was given to the Entrance of this Religion There was nothing left to invite and engage Men to it but the Consideration of another World for all the Evils of this World threatned every one that took the Profession of Christianity upon him Whoever was known to be a Christian was liable to Reproach and Ruin to cruel Mockings and Scourgings to Banishment or Imprisonment and Confiscation of Estate but these were slight and tolerable Evils in comparison of others that were commonly inflicted upon them they were condemned to the Mines and to the Lions and all imaginable Cruelties were exercised upon them the most exquisite Torments that could be devised and Death in all its fearful shapes was presented to them to deter Men from embracing this Religion and to tempt them to quit it And yet they persisted in the Profession of their Religion and for the sake of it did not only take joyfully the spoiling of their goods but the most barbarous usage of their Persons and demeaned themselves not only with Patience and Courage but with Exultation and Triumph under those Tortures which no Man can hear or read of without horror And they did not only bear up thus manfully for one brunt but when these violent Persecutions were renewed and repeated upon them Christianity supported it self under all these daunting Discouragements for almost Three hundred Years and held out till the very Malice of their Persecutors was out of breath and their Cruelty had tired it self Nay it did not only support it self under all these Oppositions but grew and prospered and the Blood of Martyrs became the Seed of the Church and Christians sprang up faster than any Persecution could mow them down For Men by Degrees became curious to enquire into the Cause of such Sufferings and the Reason of so much Constancy and Patience under them and upon enquiry were satisfied and became Christians themselves and many times their very Persecutors were ready to Sacrifice their Lives the next Day for that very Cause for which but the Day before they had put others to Death And it cannot here be reasonably Objected that Christians yielded up themselves to all these Sufferings upon the same Account that some brave Spirits among the Heathen laid down their Lives for their Country namely out of a desire of Fame and to perpetuate their Names in After-ages this I say cannot reasonably be said in this Case because these Sufferers were not the great and ambitious Spirits the Flower and Select Part of Mankind but the Common People and many of them of the tenderer Sex and Age who have usually a greater Sense of Pain than of Glory and yet so were they animated by their Religion and Transported beyond themselves as not only to submit but many times to offer themselves to those Sufferings by declaring themselves to be Christians when no Man accused them and when they knew they should die for making that Profession so that it is harder to justifie their forwardness to Suffer than the sincerity of their Sufferings Besides that nothing could be more foolish and unreasonable than for Men to hope to get a Name by Suffering in a Crowd and to be particularly remembred to Posterity when they dyed in such multitudes that no Man knew the Names of the greatest part of the Sufferers You see then how strongly the Gospel prevailed how soon this new Religion over-ran the World how suddenly it subdued the Spirits and changed the Manners of Men and by what mean and despicable Instruments to all humane appearance this great Work was done and how in despite of all Opposition and Discouragements it was carried on Can any one of the false Religions of the World pretend to have been propagated and establisht in such a manner meerly by their own force and the Evidence and Power of Truth upon the Minds of Men and to have born up and sustained themselves so long under such fierce Assaults as Christanity hath done As for the Religion of Mahomet it is famously known to have been planted by force at first and to havâ— been maintained in the World by the same violent means So that great Impostor openly declares that he came not to plant his Religion by Miracles but the Sword And as for the Idolatries of the Heathen they came in upon the World by insensible degrees and did not oppose the Corruptions of Men but grew out of them and being suited to the vicious Temper and Disposition of Mankind they easily gained upon their Ignorance and Superstition by Custom and Example They were just such a Corruption of Natural Religion in such times of darkness and ignorance and by such insensible steps as there hath been since of the Christian Religion in some Parts of the World which we all know But no sooner did the Light of the Gospel shine out upon the World but the Idolatry and Superstition of the Heathen fell before it like Dagon before the Ark of God and tho' it had the Power of the World and Countenance of Authority on its side yet it was not able to maintain its ground and no sooner was that Prop taken away which was the only support of it but it presently sunk and vanisht it was not driven out of the World by Violence and Persecution but upon the breaking in of so great a Light it silently withdrew as being ashamed of it self And when afterwards the Emperor Julian endeavoured to retrieve it by his Wit and Authority and used all imaginable Arts and Stratagems to suppress and extinguish Christianity he was able to effect neither for the Christian Religion kept its ground and Paganism after it had made a little Blaze died with him Now to what Cause shall we ascribe this wonderful Success and Prevalency of the Gospel in the World There can but these Two be imagined the Excellency of the Christian Religion and the Power and Presence of the Divine Spirit accompanying it 1. The Excellency of the Christian Religion which both in respect of the goodness of its Precepts and the assurance of its Rewards hath plainly the advantage
God both in the Old and New Testament But yet I am sensible that all this is no Conviction to the perverse and contentious Men will not believe even the Evidence of Sense it self when they are strongly prepossess'd and prejudiced to the contrary For do we not see great numbers of Men even so many as have the face to call themselves the Catholick Church that can make a shift when they have a mind either to believe or disbelieve things contrary to the plainest Evidence of their Senses All that I shall say further about this matter is that this Doctrine of Angels is not a peculiar Doctrine either of the Jewish or Christian Religion but the general Doctrine of all Religions that ever were and therefore cannot be objected against by any but the Atheists And yet after all I know not whence it comes to pass that this great Truth which is so comfortable to Mankind is so very little considered by us Perhaps the Corruption of so great a part of the Christian Church in the point of the Worship of Angels may have run us so far into the other extream as scarcely to acknowledge any Benefit we receive by them But surely we may believe they do us good without any Obligation to pray to them and may own them as the Ministers of God's Providence without making them the Objects of our Worship I confess it seems to me a very odd thing that the Power of the Devil and his Influence upon Men and the particular Vigilancy and Activity of Evil Spirits to tempt us to Sin should be so readily owned and so sensibly talkt of among Christians and yet the Assistance of good Angels should be so little taken notice of and considered by us The Scripture speaks plainly of both and the Reasons for believing both are equal For God forbid but that good Angels should be as officious and forward to do us good as the Devil and his Angels are malicious and busie to do us Mischief And indeed it would be very hard with Mankind if we had not as much Reason to Hope for the Assistance and Protection of good Spirits as we have cause to Fear the Malice and Fury of the bad Good Angels are certainly as Powerful and have as strong a Propension and Inclination to do good as the Devil has to do harm and the Number of good Angels is probably much greater than of Evil Spirits The biggest Number that are used in Scripture are applied to good Angels Dan. 7.10 it is said of the Angels about God's Throne that thousand thousands ministred unto him and ten thousand times ten thousand stood before him And Revelations 5.11 the number of them is said to be ten thousand times ten thousand and thousands of thousands And the Apostle to the Hebrews ch 12.22 calls them an innumerable company of Angels What then should be the Reason that Men should be so apt to own the Snares and Temptations which the Devil lays before us in all our ways but take so little notice of the Attendance and good Offices done to us by good Spirits I can imagine but these Two Reasons and I am sorry I can find no better That we are more mindful of Injuries than of Benefits and are glad to take in others for the excuse of our Faults but are loth any should come in for a share in the Good that is done by us And yet methinks it should be a very comfortable Consideration to us against the Enmity and Cunning of the Devil and his Angels that the Holy Angels of God are as Intent and Industrious to do us good and to help forward our Salvation as Evil Spirits can be to work our ruin and destroy us Secondly We should with great thankfulness acknowledge the great Goodness of God to us who takes such Care of us as to appoint his Angels and to give them particular Commission and Charge concerning us to protect and assist us in all our ways and especially to promote the great Concernment of our Eternal Happiness And that not only some particular and inferiour Spirits but the Chief Ministers of this great King of the World those that stand in his Presence and behold his face and not a few of these but the whole Order of them are imployed about us So the Apostle seems to say by the Question which he puts in the Text Are they not all ministring Spirits sent forth to minister That is all at one time or other And though they be principally appointed to minister to us in order to our Salvation yet we have no Reason to doubt but God imploys them many times for our Temporal Safety and makes use of them more especially in those great Revolutions in which his Cause and Religion are more immediatly concern'd In such a Case it is not at all incredible that God should give his Angels a particular Charge concerning those that fight his Battels to pitch about their Camps and secretly to assist them against their Enemies and to ward off and put by many dangerous blows and thrusts which are made at them and wonderfully to preserve them when the Instruments of death fly about them and do execution on every side of them To what can we ascribe such and so many remarkable Deliverances of a Person upon whom so much depends but either to the immediate hand of God or to the Ministry of Angels And where God is provided so abundantly with such powerful Beings and Ministers of his Will though they may be invisible to us yet there is great Reason to believe that he very seldom works without them And now what an astonishing Regard is this which the great God is pleased to have for the Sons of Men that he should make the whole Creation serviceable to us not only the visible Creation for the support of our Bodies and the diversion of our Minds but even the noblest of all his Creatures the great and glorious Inhabitants of the invisible World mightily surpassing us mortal Men in the simplicity and purity of their Nature in the quickness and largeness of their Understandings and in their Power and Vigour of Acting I say that God should give these excellent and glorious Beings the Charge over us and send them forth to Minister to us for the Safeguard of our Persons for the success of our Affairs and for the Security and Furtherance of our eternal Salvation Lord what is man that thou art thus mindful of him that when thou madest him lower than the Angels thou shouldest yet make the Angels to minister unto him Thirdly If the Angels have particular Charge of good Men we should take heed how we despise or be any way injurious to them For how despicable so ever they may appear to us they are certainly very dear to God since he deems them so considerable is to employ his Chief Ministers about them and to commit the Charge of them to those who by their Office do more immediately
is some Evidence of the Thing so likewise that Natural Desire which is in Men to have a Good Name perpetuated and to be remembred and mentioned with honour VOL. II. when they are dead and gone is a sign that there is in Humane Nature some Presage of a Life after Death in which they hope among other Rewards of well-doing to meet with this also to be well spoken of to Posterity And tho probably we should not know the Good that is said of us when we are dead yet it is an encouragement to Virtue to be secured of it before-hand and to find by Experience that they who have done their part well in this life go off with Applause and that the Memory of their Good Actions is preserved and transmited to Posterity And among the many Advantages of Piety and Virtue this is not altogether inconsiderable that it reflects an Honour upon our Memory after death which is a thing much more valuable than to have our Bodies preserved from Putrifaction For that I think is the meaning of Solomon when he prefers a Good Name before precious Oyntment Eccl. 7.1 A good name is better than precious Oyntment This they used in Embalming of dead Bodies Serm. VII to preserve them from noisomness and corruption but a Good Name preserves a Man's Memory and makes it grateful to Posterity which is a far greater Benefit than that of a precious Oyntment which serves only to keep a dead Body from stench and rottenness I shall briefly explain the Words and then consider the matter contained in them the righteous shall be in everlasting remembrance By the righteous is probably here meant the good man in general for tho' Justice and Righteousness are in Scripture frequently used for that particular Virtue whereby a Man is disposed to render to every Man his own which is known by the name of Justice yet it is less frequently and perhaps in this place used in a larger Sense so as to comprehend all Piety and Virtue For so the righteous man is described at the beginning of this Psalm Blessed is the man that feareth the Lord that delighteth greatly in his Commandments And he is opposed to the wicked man v. 10. the wicked shall see it and be grieved that is he shall be troubled to see the Prosperity of the righteous the manifold Blessings of his life and the Good Name he shall leave behind him at his death which is the meaning of his being in everlasting remembrance that is long after he is dead perhaps for many Ages he shall be well spoken of and his Name mentioned with honour and his Good Deeds recorded and remembred to all Posterity So that the sense of the words amounts to this That eminently good men do commonly leave a Good Name behind them and transmit a grateful Memory of themselves to after Ages I say commonly for so we are to understand these kind of sayings not that they are strictly and universally true without exception but usually and for the most part It is possible that a Good Man may soon be forgotten by the Malice of Men or through the partiality and iniquity of the Age may have his Name blemisht after death and be mis-represented to Posterity but for the most part it is otherwise and tho' the World be very wicked yet it seldom deals so hardly and unjustly with Men of eminent Goodness and Virtue as to defraud them of their due Praise and Commendation after death It very frequently happens otherwise to Good Men whilst they are alive nay they are then very seldom so justly treated as to be generally esteemed and well spoken of and to be allowed their due Praise and Reputation But after death their Good Name is generally secured and vindicated and Posterity does them that right which perhaps the Age wherein they lived denyed to them Therefore in the Prosecution of this Argument I shall enquire into these Two things First Whence it comes to pass that Good Men are very often defrauded of their just Praise and Reputation whilst they are alive And Secondly What Security they have of a Good Name after death First Whence it comes to pass that Good Men are so frequently defrauded of their just Praise and Reputation while they are alive And to give our selves full satisfaction in this matter Two things are fit to be enquired into 1. From what Cause this proceeds 2. For what Reason the Providence of God doth often permit it 1. From what Cause it proceeds that good Men have so often the hard Fate to be ill spoken of and to be severely censur'd and to have their worth much detracted from while they are alive And this proceeds partly from Good Men themselves and partly from others 1. Good Men themselves are many times the cause of it For the best Men are imperfect and present and visible Imperfections do very much lessen and abate the Reputation of a Man's Goodness It cannot be otherwise but that the lustre of a great Piety and Virtue should be somewhat obscured by that mixture of Humane Frailty which does necessarily attend this state of Imperfection And though a Man by great Care and Consideration by great Vigilancy and Pains with himself be arrived to that degree and pitch of Goodness as to have but a very few visible Failings and those small in comparison yet when these come to be scann'd and commented upon by Envy or Ill-will they will be strangely inflamed and magnified and made much greater and more than in truth they are But there are few Persons in the World of that excellent Goodness but besides the common and more pardonable Frailties of Humanity they do now and then discover something which might perhaps justly deserve a severe Censure if some amends were not made for it by many and great Virtues Very good Men are subject to considerable Imprudences and sudden Passions and especially to an affected Severity and Moroseness of Carriage which is very disgustful and apt to beget dislike And they are the more incident to these kind of Imperfections because out of a just hatred of the vicious Customs and Practices of the World and to keep out of the way of Temptation they think it safest to retire from the World as much as they can being loth to venture themselves more than needs in so infectious an Air. By this means their Spirits are apt to be a little sower and they must necessarily be ignorant of many points of Civility and good Humour which are great Ornaments of Virtue though not of the Essence of it Now two or three Faults in a Good Man if an Uncharitable Man have but the handling and managing of them may easily cast a considerable Blemish upon his Reputation because the better the Man is so much the more conspicuous are his Faults as Spots are soonest discovered and most taken notice of in a pure and white Garment Besides that in matters of Censure Mankind do much
encline to the harder side and but very few Persons are so charitable and equal as to construe things to the best sense and to consider a Man all together and fairly to set the Good that is in him against his Faults and Imperfections But 2. Though Good Men many times contribute too much to the lessening of their own Reputation with those among whom they live yet the principal Cause of their Suffering in this kind is not from themselves but others and that upon these Three Accounts 1. From the Hatred and Opposition of Bad Men to Holiness and Virtue and these are commonly the greatest number and make the loudest cry They are declared Enemies to Goodness and then how can it be expected they should have any great Kindness for Good Men They want Virtue themselves and therefore they think themselves upbraided by the Good Qualities of others This Enmity of Wicked Men against the Righteous and the true Reason of it is very well exprest in the Wisdom of Solomon ch 2. v. 12. Let us say they lie in wait for the Righteous because he is not for our turn and is clean contrary to our doings he upbraideth us with our offending the Law and he objecteth to our Infamy the sins of our youth he was made to reprove our Thoughts therefore he is grievous unto us even to behold for his life is not like other men he is quite of another fashion we are esteemed of him as reprobate Silver he abstaineth from our ways as from filthiness This is that which filleth the Minds of wicked Men with Malice against the Righteous and Malice will easily invent ways to blast any Man's Reputation Good Men do sometimes as it is their duty reprove those that are bad or if they do it not in Word yet they upbraid them in their Actions and contrary course of life and both these are grievous and provoking to them Not but that Wicked Men are many times in their Consciences convinced of the real Goodness of those whom they speak against but they will not own it least in so doing they should condemn themselves 2. Another Cause of this is the Envy of those who perhaps have some degree of Goodness themselves For great Virtue is apt to raise Envy in those who fall short of it and this makes those who are but imperfectly Good to detract from the Eminent Worth of others because they are sensible they are out-shined by them and that it occasions a disadvantagious Comparison and makes their Defects taken notice of They can endure a Man that is moderately Good and keeps pace with his Neighbours But if he endeavour to outstrip them they presently combine against him and take all oportunities to undermine his Reputation and will be very glad either to find a blot in his Escutcheon or to fix one there 3. There is something in the very Presence and Nearness of Goodness and Virtue which is apt to lessen it In matters of Sense the nearer the Object is the bigger it appears and the farther distant it is from us the less it seems to be But here it is quite otherwise Men are not so apt to value Present Worth when yet they will reverence it mightily at a Distance I know not whence it comes to pass but so we certainly find it that Men are more sensible of the Goodness and Excellency of any thing under the want of it than while they enjoy it and do usually value it more when it is gone than they did whilst it was present with them Whilst we live with Good Men and converse with them every day we take but little notice of them but no sooner are they departed but we admire them and every Man's Mouth is open to celebrate their Good Qualities Perhaps Familiarity and Acquaintance and Conversation does insensibly beget something of Contempt but whatever the Reason of it be we find the Thing most certainly true in Experience 2. Let us consider in the next place for what Reasons the Providence of God permits it thus to be I shall mention but these Two 1. To keep Good Men humble and as the expression is in Job to hide pride from Men. God's Providence in the disposal and ordering of things in this World seems rather to consult our Safety than our Satisfaction and the Security of our Virtue than the full Reward of it Now if Good Men should always meet with that clear Esteem and Reputation which their Goodness deserves they would be in great danger of being puft up with a proud Conceit of themselves and Pride is enough to supplant the greatest Virtue in the World such a dead fly as this were sufficient to spoil a Box of the most precious Oyntment For Man is an ambitious Creature and vain above all things so vain as not only to be covetous of Praise but even patient of Flattery and the best of Men lie too open on this blind side of Humane Nature and therefore God who knows our frame and how apt Dust and Ashes are to be proud hath in his wise and merciful Providence so disposed things that good Men are seldom exposed to the full force of so strong a Temptation And for this Reason he lets loose envious and malicious Tongues to detract from Good Men for a check to the Vanity of Humane Nature and to keep their Virtue safe under the protection of Humility And this is the way likewise to secure the Reputation which they have and which otherwise would be in danger of being lost For he that is once proud of the Esteem he hath got takes the readiest way to fall into Contempt and certainly it is better of the two that our Reputation should suffer a little by the Malice of others than be ruin'd by our own Pride and Vanity God does not envy Good Men the Reputation of their Goodness and Virtue but he knows the weakness of Humane Nature and will not suffer it to be tempted above what it is able When Good Men are grown up to Perfection and able to bear it as they will be when they come to Heaven their Good Name shall be fully vindicated and they shall have Praise not only from Men but from Angels and from God himself 2. This life is not the proper Season of Reward but of Work and Service In this life God is pleased to give some present encouragement to Piety and Virtue but reserves the main of our Recompence to be bestowed upon us at the end of our Work When our Course is finished then and not before we must expect our Crown when our Accounts are cast up and stated and it appears what improvement we have made of our Talents then will come the Euge bone serve Well done good and faithful Servant In the mean time Good Men must be content with such a portion of Esteem as an envious and ill-natured World will afford them And thus I have done with the First thing I proposed to enquire
Happier Life this will make Death attended even with Extremity of Terror to be tolerable as we read of some in that long Catalogue of Saints and Martyrs Heb. 11.35 Others were tortured not accepting deliverance that they might obtain a better resurrection It would make a Man to rejoyce in the Ruin and Dissolution of this earthly tabernacle to be assured that when it is dissolved we shall have a building of God a house not made with hands eternal in the Heavens as the same Apostle assures us 2 Cor. 5.1 Thus you see what Virtue there is in the firm Belief and Persuasion of a better Life to bear up Mens Spirits under those Sufferings and Torments which may seem unsupportable to Humane Nature And so indeed they would be without an extraordinary Grace and Assistance of God to enable them to bear those Sufferings which his Providence permits them to be exercised withal But of this extraordinary Grace we are assured not only from the consideration of the Attributes and Providence of God but likewise from the express Promises and Declarations of his Word The Attributes of God and his Providence give us good Grounds to believe that he who loves Goodness and Righteousness and hath a Peculiar Favour and Regard for good Men will never suffer his Faithful Friends and Servants to be brought into that Distress for Righteousness sake that they shall not be able to endure those Evils and Afflictions which befal them upon that Account And if in the Course of his Providence any thing happen to them that is above the ordinary Constancy and Patience of Humane Nature to bear that in such a Case God will extraordinarily interpose and give them Strength and Patience Support and Comfort proportionable to the Evils and Sufferings that are upon them and that he will either lighten their Burden or add to their Strength he will either mitigate their Pain or increase their Patience either he will check and restrain the Effect of Natural Causes as in the Case of the Three Children that were in the fiery Furnace and of Daniel who was cast into the Den of Lions or else which comes to the same Issue if he will suffer Causes to have their Natural Course he will afford Supernatural Comforts to ballance the Fury and Extremity of them This is very credible from the meer consideration of God's Goodness and of the Particular Care and Favour of his Providence towards Good Men. But besides this we have the Express Promise and Declaration of God's Word to this Purpose which puts us out of all doubt concerning that which we had good Reason to hope and expect before 1 Cor. 10.13 St. Paul there tells the Christians at Corinth that tho' they had met with some Troubles yet they had not been Tryed with the Extremity of Suffering But when that should happen they had no cause to doubt but God would enable them to bear it There hath no Temptation taken you but such as is common to man that is you have not yet been exercised with any Trial but what is Humane what the ordinary Strength and Resolution of Humane Nature is able to bear But in case it should come to extream Suffering and that they must either comply with the Heathen Idolatry or endure Extremity of Torments they had the Promise of God's Help to support them in that Case God is faithful says he who will not suffer you to be tempted above that you are able to bear but will with the temptation also make a way to escape that ye may be able to bear it And then it follows wherefore my dearly beloved flee from Idolatry that is let no Suffering that you are Tempted withal make you guilty of this Sin And 1 Pet. 4.14 The Presence of God's Spirit in a very glorious manner for our Support and Comfort is promised to those who Suffer for him If ye be reproached for the Name of Christ happy are ye for the Spirit of Glory and of God resteth upon you And this consideration of God's Strength to support us under Sufferings makes the other of the Reward of them a Perfect and Compleat Encouragement which it could not be without it For if upon the whole matter the present Sufferings of Good Men were intolerable and Humane Nature were not Divinely assisted to bear them How great soever the Future Reward promised to them should be they that lay under them would be forced to consult their own present Ease and Deliverance I proceed to the II. Thing I proposed to consider namely How it may be made out to be Reasonable to Embrace and Voluntarily to submit to present and grievous Sufferings in Hopes of future Happiness and Reward concerning which we have not nor perhaps are capable of having the same degree of Certainty and Assurance which we have of the Evils and Sufferings of this present Life Now granting that we have not the same Degree of Certainty concerning our future Happiness that we have of our present Sufferings which we feel or see just ready to come upon us yet Prudence making it necessary for Men to run this hazard does justifie the Reasonableness of it This I take to be a known and rul'd Case in the common Affairs of Life and in Matters of Temporal Concernment and Men Act upon this Principle every Day The Husbandman parts with his Corn and casts it into the Earth in confidence that it will spring up again and at the time of Harvest bring him in a considerable return and advantage He parts with a Certainty in hope only of a great future Benefit And tho' he have no Demonstration for the Infallible Success of his Labour and Hazard yet he Acts very Reasonably Because if he does not take this course he runs a greater and more certain Hazard of perishing by Famine at last when his present Stock is spent The Case of the Merchant is the same who parts with a Present Estate in hopes of a Future Improvement which yet is not so certain as what he parts withal And if this be Reasonable in these Cases then the Hazard which Men run upon much greater Assurance than either the Husbandman or the Merchant have is much more Reasonable When we part with this Life in hopes of one infinitely better that is in sure and certain hope of a Resurrection to eternal life and when we submit to Present Sufferings to avoid an Eternity of Misery which is much more to be dreaded than Temporal Want this is Reasonable because here is a much greater Advantage in view and a more pressing Necessity in the Case nothing being so desirable to one that must live for ever as to be Happy for ever and nothing to be avoided by him with so much Care as everlasting Misery and Ruin And for our security of obtaining the one and escaping the other we have the promise of God who cannot lye which is all the Certainty and Security that Things Future and Invisible are
to Saints and Angels contrary to the plain Law and Word of God a Zeal for the sacrilegious depriving of the People of half the Sacrament contrary to our Saviour's plain Institution and the acknowledged Practice of the Catholick Church for a thousand years a Zeal for that most absurd of all Doctrines that ever was taught in any Religion I mean the Dostrine of Transubstantiation not only without any sufficient Authority from Scripture as is acknowledged by several of the most learned of the Roman Church but contrary to Reason and in defiance of the Sense of all Mankind a Zeal for these and many more like gross Errors and Practices cannot possibly be a zeal according to knowledge 2. That is a zeal without knowledge the degree whereof is manifestly disproportion'd to the Good or Evil of things about which it is conversant when there is in Men a greater and fiercer Zeal for the Externals of Religion than for the Vital and Essential Parts of it for the Traditions of men than for the Commandments of God for Bodily Severities than for the Mortification of our Lusts for the Means of Religion than for the End of it a greater zeal against the Omission and Neglect of some senseless and superstitious Practices than against the Practice of the grossest Immoralities and against the Denyers of the Doctrines of Transubstantiation and of the Pope's Infallibility an equal if not a greater zeal I am sure a more severe Prosecution than against those who deny our Saviour to be the true Messias and the Son of God This certainly is not a zeal according te knowledge Nor 3. That which is prosecuted by unlawful and unwarrantable Means That cannot be a zeal of God according to knowledge which warrants the doing of Evil that Good may come the violating of Truth and Faith and of the Peace of Humane Society for the Cause of the Catholick Church and breaking the eternal and immutable Laws of God for the advancing of his Glory Nor 4. An uncharitable Zeal which is an Enemy to Peace and Order and thinks it self sufficiently warranted to separate from the Communion of Christians and to break the Peace of the Church upon every scruple and upon every fancy and conceit of unlawful Impositions tho' in the most indifferent things nay upon this single Point because a thing which they acknowledge lawful and indifferent in it self is in the worship of God enjoyned by Authority The most unreasonable Principle that I think ever was avowed among Christians not to do a thing which otherwise they might do only because it is enjoyned and to fancy that an indifferent thing becomes comes presently unlawful because it is commanded by lawful Authority and that it is a Sin to do any thing in the Worship of God which is not left to their Liberty whether they will do it or not This is not only a Zeal without knowledge but contrary to common Sense Nor 5. A Furious and Cruel Zeal which St. James calls a bitter or a wrathful Zeal and which tends to confusion and every evil work which is blind with its own rage and makes Men as St. Paul says of himself when he persecuted the Christians exceedingly mad against all that differ from them and stand in the way of their fierce and outragious Zeal 6. And lastly A Zeal for ignorance is most certainly not a zeal according to knowledge and this is a Zeal peculiar to the Church of Rome by such strict Laws to forbid People the use of the Holy Scriptures in a known Tongue nay not so much as to allow them to understand what they do in the Service of God to require them to be present at their Publick Prayers and to joyn with them in them without letting them know the meaning of them to pretend to teach them by reading Lessons to them in an unknown Tongue and all this under pretence of increasing their Devotion as if the less Men understand of the Service of God the more they would be affected with it and edified by it And yet there is nothing in which the Church of Rome hath been more zealously concerned than to keep the People in ignorance Nothing they hive opposed with more obstinacy against the repeated application of Princes and People at the beginning of the Reformation than to allow the People the use of the Scriptures in their publick Prayers in an unknown Tongue And their obstinacy in this Point was not without Reason nothing being more certain than that if the People were once brought to understand the Scriptures they would soon quit their Religion which in so many things is so directly contrary to the word of God The III. And last thing remains to be spoken to viz. How far the doing of things out of a Zeal for God doth Mitigate and Extenuate the Evil of them For when the Apostle here testifies concerning the Jews that they had a zeal of God he speaks this in favour of them and by way of mitigation of their fault I bear them record I who was once acted by this ignorant and furious zeal which now possesseth them and persecuted the Christians in the same outragious manner as they still continue to do and all this with a very good Conscience as I thought and out of a zeal for God and the true Religion So he tells us Acts 26.9 I verily thought with my self that I ought to do many things contrary to the name of Jesus of Nazareth So that his zeal was sincere and with a real intention to do Service to God and Religion and yet for all that was very faulty and sinful and if he had persisted in it Damnable so that his confidence that he was in the right and the Sincerity of his zeal in acting according to the perswasion of his Conscience did not alter the Nature of the actions he did out of this zeal and make them less wicked in themselves tho' it was some mitigation of the fault of the Person and render'd him more capable of the Mercy of God by Repentance than if he had done contrary to his Conscience and the clear convictions of his own Mind And therefore the best way to understand the great Evil and Wickedness of this furious and blind Zeal will be to consider the account which St. Paul after his Conversion gives of his own doings and what load he lays upon himself notwithstanding the Sincerity of his Zeal and that he acted according to his Conscience Acts viii and ix you have the History at large of his outrageous doings how he made havock of the Church entering into every house and haling men and women to Prison how he breathed out threatnings and slaughter against the disciples of the Lord. Acts 22.4 I persecuted says he this way unto the death binding and delivering into Prisons both men and women And Ch. 26.10 11. Many of the Saints did I shut up in Prison and when they were put to death I gave my voice
they might do any thing and that whosoever opposed the Authority of so ancient and good a Church must needs be very bad Men and deserve to be proceeded against in the severest manner As if any pretence of Piety could give a Priviledge to do wickedly and by how much the Wiser and Holier any Man took himself to be he might do so much the worse things There is another remarkable Instance of this in St. Paul who out of a blind and furious Zeal for the Traditions of his Fathers Persecuted the true Church of God by Imprisonment and Death and all manner of Cruelties and all this while he verily thought that he was in the right and that he ought to do all these things against the name of Jesus of Nazareth And if God had not in a miraculous manner checkt him in his course and changed his Mind he would have spent his whole life in that course of Persecution and Cruelty and would with Pope Paul the IV. upon his Death-Bed have recommended the Inquisition or if he could have thought of any thing more severe to the chief Priests and Rulers of the Jewish Church I will not trouble you with nearer Instances tho' the Jewish Church is not the only Church in the World that hath countenanced the Destruction and Extirpation of those who differed from them as a piece of very acceptable Service to God and meritorious of the Pardon of their Sins 5. I observe that such Actions as these are never the less horribly Wicked and Impious notwithstanding the good Mind with which and the good End for which they are done The Jews were not excused from the guilt of Persecution and Murder for all they thought they did well in killing the Disciples of our Lord. For to make an Action good and acceptable to God the goodness of all Causes and of all Circumstances must concur and any one defect in any of these does vitiate the whole Action and spoil the goodness of it We must do it with a good Mind being verily perswaded that what we do is good and acceptable to God in which sense St. Paul saith that whatever is not of Faith is Sin and we must do it for a good End for the Honour of God and the Service of Religion and the Benefit and Edification of Men. But there is one thing wanting yet which is often forgotten but is mainly considerable viz. what we do with a Good Mind and to a Good End must be Good and Lawful in it self commanded or allowed or at least not forbidden by God If it be what good Circumstances soever may belong to the Action the whole Action is stark naught because the very Matter and Substance of it is Evil and Unlawful and Damnable tho' done for never so good an End So St. Paul tells us that they who said they might do evil that good might come their damnation was just He tells us indeed that some would have charged this Doctrine upon the Christians and particularly upon himself but he rejects it with the greatest detestation and which is not unworthy of our observation in his Epistle to the Roman Church as if the Spirit of God to whom all Times are present had particularly directed him to give this Caution to that Church that in future Ages they might be warned against so Pernicious a Principle and all wicked Practices that are consequent upon it And we find that St. Paul after his Conversion did think it no sufficient Plea and Excuse for himself and his Persecution of the Christian Profession that what he did was out of Zeal for God and his true Religion as he was verily perswaded but notwithstanding that acknowledged himself a Murderer and one of the greatest Sinners for which without the great Mercy of God he had perisht everlastingly 6. And lastly I observe that the Corruption of the best things is the worst Religion is certainly the highest Accomplishment and Perfection of Humane Nature and Zeal for God and his Truth an excellent Quality and highly acceptable to God and yet nothing is more barbarous and spurs Men on to more horrid Impieties than a blind zeal for God and false and mistaken Principles in the matter of Religion Our Saviour compares the Christian Religion and the Ministers and Professors of it to Salt and Light The most useful and delightful things in the World Religion enlightens the minds of Men and directs them in the way wherein we should go it seasons the Spirits and Manners of Men and preserves them from being Putrified and Corrupted but if the Salt lose its savour if that which should season other things be tainted it self it is thenceforth the most insipid and offensive thing in the World good for nothing but to be cast upon the Dunghil if the light that is in us be darkness how great is that darkness Mistakes and false Principles are no where so pernicious and of such mischievous Consequence as in Religion A blind and misguided Zeal in Religion is enough to spoil the best Nature and Disposition in the World St. Paul for ought appears was of himself of a very kind and compassionate Nature and yet what a Fury did his mistaken Zeal make him It is hardly credible how madly he laid about him but that he himself gives us the account of it Acts 26.9 10 11. I verily thought with my self says he that I ought to do many things contrary to the name of Jesus of Nazareth which thing I also did in Jerusalem and many of the Saints I shut up in Prison having received authority from the Chief Priests And when they were put to death I gave my voice against them and I punished them oft in every Synagogue and compel'd them to blaspheme and being exceedingly mad against them I persecuted them even to strange Cities I might descend lower and give Instances both of former and later times of Emperours and Princes both Heathen and Christian that of themselves were mild and gentle and yet through a mistaken Zeal and the instigation of their Chief Priests have been carried to Cruel and Bloody things And indeed nothing gives so keen an edg even to the mildest Tempers as an erroneous and wild zeal for God and Religion it is like Quick-Silver in the back of a Sword that is not very sharp of it self which gives a mighty force and weight to its blow and makes it to cut terribly And it is very sad to consider that the zealous Prosecution of Mistakes in Religion hath produced sadder and more barbarous Effects in the World and more frequently than the ordinary Corruptions and Degeneracy of Natural light is apt to do as the decay of the richest and most generous Wines makes the sowerest Vineger so that the Pasquil or Libel against Pope Vrban the VIII upon occasion of his taking off the Brazen Roof of the Old Capitol which had held out so many Ages and that notwithstanding Rome had been so often sackt by Barbarous