Selected quad for the lemma: cause_n
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A71247
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A sermon preached before the king, upon the nineteenth of March, 1670/1 by John Lord Bishop of Chester.
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Wilkins, John, 1614-1672.
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1671
(1671)
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Wing W2211; ESTC R19709
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9,602
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38
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acknowledged than that God is Good and Iust. That well-doing shall be rewarded and evil Actions punished by Him And yet we see that his dispensations in this life are many times promiscuous and uncertain so that a man cannot judg of love or hatred by all that is before him The worst men are sometimes in the best condition If in this life only we had hope we should be of all men the most miserable saith the Apostle speaking concerning those primitive times of Persecution when the better any man was the more was he exposed to sufferings Now the greater Vncertainty there is as to the present Affairs in this world By so much greater is the Certainty of a future Iudgment What could be a greater disparagement to Divine Providence than to permit the Calamities and Sufferings which good men undergo in this world many times upon the account of Religion to pass unrewarded and the many Mischiefs and Prophanations which wicked men take the advantage of committing by their Greatness and Prosperity in this world to go unpunished What great glory would it be to preside over this Material World Starrs and Meteors Sea and Land Plants and Beasts to put these things into such a regular course as may be suitable to their natures and the operations for which they are designed and in the mean space to have no proportionable regard either for those that reverence the Deity or those who contemn Him 'T is very well said to this purpose by a late Author That not to conduct the course of Nature in a due manner might speak some defect of Wisdom in God but not to compensate Virtue and Vice besides the defect of wisdom in not adjusting things suitably to their qualifications but crosly coupling Prosperity with Vice and Misery with Virtue would argue too great a defect of Goodness and of Iustice. And perhaps it would not be less expedient saith he with Epicurus to deny all Providence than to ascribe to it such defects It being less unworthy of the Divine Nature to neglect the Universe altogether than to administer Human Affairs with so much Injustice and Irregularity And therefore 't is necessary for the vindication of Divine Providence that there shold be a future state and day of Account wherein every man shall be forced to acknowledg that verily there is a reward for the righteous doubtless there is a God that judgeth the earth I crave leave for a word of Application and I have done If this be so it will concern us then to enquire 1. Whether we do in good earnest believe this That there shall be a future state of Reward and Punishment according as mens Lives and Actions have been in this world If not why do we profess our selves to be Christians Why do we not renounce the Articles of our Creed Nay why do we pretend to any Religion Nothing can be more false and unworthy than in a solemn and religious manner to own that in our outward Profession which we do inwardly dis-believe and deny 2. Do we at any time seriously consider this and revolve upon it in our minds Do we bethink our selves what our own condition is like to be at that time what preparations we have made for it what grounds we have for hope There cannot possibly be any greater stupidity than for a man to be slight and careless in a business of so great moment 'T is the want of believing and considering this that is the chief cause of all the viciousness and disorder in the world 3. What impression doth the belief and consideration of this make upon our hearts and lives Doth it stir up in us vebement desires and carefulness of mind in preparing for that time If a man were to be tryed for his life at the next Assizes How would his thoughts be taken up about his defence what answer he should make what the main plea is which he should insist upon by what evidence it might be strengthned and cleared up He would as soon forget to eat his meat or to go to bed as to let a business of this nature slip out of his mind There is nothing more hard to be restrained than the Impetuous and wild Exorbitances of Youth And yet such persons would not durst not indulge themselves according to the ways of their own hearts and the sight of their eyes If they did really believe and consider that for all these things God would bring them to judgment The business of Religion must therefore be above all other things of greatest consequence to us because 't is the only means to secure us as to our future conditions The affairs of this life are but of short continuance and full of uncertainty And therefore 't is not much material what a man's condition may be in that respect But there is another state and time which will more nearly concern our care and that is the great day of Account And till a man hath in some measure provided for this he cannot live comfortably or sleep quietly or have any solid peace in his mind but must upon every serious reflexion be continually haunted with frightful apprehensions about his everlasting condition 'T is scarce credible that any man should be so sottish as to think he shall escape dying and when we do come to depart out of this world It will then be no advantage to us that we have had Riches or Honour or Power These things will then vanish away as to our Possession of them and the Remembrance of them may prove a torment to our thoughts rather than a comfort especially if we have reason to suspect that these things were our portion in this life and may be reckoned upon as our good things which we have had already Certain it is that they will render our Accounts the more difficult For to whom much is given of them much shall be required We must be answerable not only for our doings but for the fruit of our doings All the sins or evil consequences which have been occasioned by our Miscarriages shall be set upon our score And if these things be so What manner of persons ought we to be in all holy conversation and godliness looking for and hastning unto the coming of the day of God If any thing can prevail with men to live soberly righteously and godly in this present world It must be from the consideration of that blessed hope and glorious appearing of the Great God our Saviour Iesus Christ To whom with the Father c. FINIS 2 Tim. 1 10. 1 Cor. 15. 19. Amyraldus Psal 58 11. Eccles. 11. 9. Jet 17. 10. 2 Pet. 3. 11 12. Tit. 2. 12. 13