Reason why it shou'd be so for the more Men know of Vice when once throughly awaken'd from its Charms they more they will abhor and detest it Besides 't is what they are strictly oblig'd to in Conscience For having heretofore dishonour'd GOD obstructed Religion and made Men Enemies to Virtue They are bound if I may so speak to make what Restitution they can to all those for the Injuries they have done them Have they heretofore Prophan'd GOD's Name or his Word or his Day Then surely if their Repentance be sincere they will not only in the highest manner honour these themselves but be very assiduous to procure them all possible Reverence from others Have they entic'd others to Sin and been but too unhappily successful in it Shou'd not then their Zeal be constant and active as the Sun and Light and bring Men to a sense of their Duty that so they may be Instruments of saving more than they have been the Fatal Means of destroying Have they injur'd Religion by their Evil Examples Then surely their Lives for the future shou'd be bright and unspotted their Actions Eminently Holy and a most engaging Pattern of Piety they shou'd set to the World Had they almost miscarry'd and been ruin'd for ever by their Wickedness had not the Goodness of GOD miraculously interpos'd for their Deliverance Then 't is certainly their Duty to caution others of those Rocks whereon they had well nigh been Ship-rack'd Such was the Practice of those great Examples of sincere Repentance Holy David and St. Paul After the former had in very passionate terms bewail'd his Sins and implor'd the Pardon of GOD for them as the natural consequence of his Repentance he declares his Pious Resolution I will teach thy ways to the Wicked and Sinners shall be converted unto thee Psal. 51.13 And thus it was with St. Paul after his Conversion Did he once make Havock of the Church He afterwards labour'd more abundantly than all the Apostles to enlarge and strengthen it Was he once a bitter Enemy to Christianity a Blasphemer and Reviler of the Son of GOD He afterwards prov'd a most Zealous Advocate for the one a most Successful Preacher of the other Did he hale the Saints to Prison was he consenting to their Death To the same Religion they profess'd he adher'd faithfully unto Death and for it was Crown'd with Martyrdom himself And thus shou'd all true Penitents behave themselves whatever tends to the Advancement of Religon with all the powers of their Souls they shou'd pursue themselves and recommend to others with a most Industrious Zeal Then wou'd their Repentance be not only sincere but compleat available to their Pardon and cause Joy in the presence of the Angels Fourthly and Lastly They who have enter'd into Societies for Reformation of Manners and thereby avow'dly engag'd in the service of Piety and Religion are particularly oblig'd to be Zealously Affected against those foremention'd Dangerous Sins My Argument does not require that I shou'd undertake a just Vindication of such Societies and prove the usefulness of them this has been fully done by others and the great service they daily do Religion sufficiently proclaims it Yet we may in general observe that Vice is too potent an Enemy to be defeated by any single endeavours Vice which too often baffles the united Labours of the best Men in the World and is supported by a confederacy of all the Powers of Darkness Besides we cannot but be sensible that good Men have need of Companions to animate them to a work of Difficulty and Danger We are afraid to appear Champions for Religion are afflicted with an evil shame and easily discourag'd when alone But a competent number when join'd in a Society advise support and excite one another The Prudent Calmness of some restrains the Irregular Warmth of others whose Vigorous Zeal on the other hand like Fire communicates Heat and Life and Spirit to the Negligent and Indifferent gives flame to their Affections and enlivens their Souls Again 't is reasonable to believe that what the United Councils of many resolve upon and what is Prosecuted by their joint Endeavours will be more wisely undertaken and more successfully accomplish'd than if there were no such Union either in Council or in Action So that a great many good Men who wou'd otherwise be of little use to Religion do very much advance and promote it by thus joining together their Hearts and Hands for that purpose as those many little Stars which make up what we call the Milky way in the Heavens wou'd if separated wholly disappear but by their Conjunction afford a very useful Light to the World We are all sufficiently convinc'd of the necessity of Societies in many other cases for carrying on any design of Importance If a Prince is become too Potent for one Neighbour whom he is likely to Devour then many become Confederates to humble him Is any great Trade to be undertaken which is too difficult and expensive for any Private Fortune and Contrivance Then is it usually accomplish'd by a Society or Company Our Common Safety shews us the necessity of Parliaments which are but great Societies for Reforming the Common Wealth by redressing Grievances and making Useful Laws And is Religion the only that either does not need or does not deserve a Society to promote and secure it Is not suppressing Publick Impiety Lewdness and Prophaness bringing those who are openly Wicked and Proud of being so esteem'd to Punishment and removing from others the Pestilence of Evil Examples are not all these Matters of great Weight and Moment and which deserve the most serious Thoughts of the Prudent as well as the Religious And if these things can be better effected by Societies than any other way does not that fully evince the Usefulness or rather great Necessity of them If Reformation of Manners can be accomplish'd more successfully by other Methods than these of Societies it wou'd do great service to Religion to discover them to the World but since that has not yet been done 't is very reasonable that Persons of Piety and Zeal shou'd go on in the way they know till they be made acquainted with a better I own did every Man among us Conscientiously discharge his Duty in his Station and according to his Capacity were there no Negligent Ministers nor any Unfaithful Magistrates and did every other Person in his Private Capacity do what in strictness he ought to do then the whole Church wou'd be one great Religious Society and that wou'd supersede the necessity of any other But seeing that never was in any Age of the Church not in the most Primitive and Purest times Seeing that Ecclesiastical Discipline is fallen so very low that Church Censures are lost upon the greater part of Mankind And seeing we have no prospect of any publick alteration for the better but have cause to fear that every thing will become worse unless the impending Mischief be in time
Fourthly To offer such Motives as may best excite and confirm our Zeal that so we may be Zealously Affected always in that good thing about which we ought to be engag'd I. I am to enquire what those particular Sins are in suppressing of which we ought to be most Zealously Affected It has already been observ'd in general that promoting our known Duty undisputed Piety and Virtue is the best thing wherein we can be Zealously Affected For these are the Essentials of Religion without which no other priviliges we can enjoy or boast of will be of any advantage to us Now this will be most happily effected by suppressing those Vices and Impieties which more directly dishonour GOD and weaken Religion and such undoubtedly are Blasphemous Oaths and Curses Prophaning the Lords Day either by our Ordinary Labours or Scandalous Diversions together with the Brutal Vices of Intemperance and Lewdness Now we ought to be more Zealously Affected against these than other Sins because they are more destructive Enemies to Piety there 's more of Leprosie and Infection in them and they are attended with more Fatal Consequences Other Sins I say which being more private and unobserv'd draw not such a Train of Mischiefs after them The first Sin then against which it is a good thing to be Zealously Affected is Prophane Cursing and Swearing That horrid Sin which Dares Omnipotence and Mocks avenging Justice which affronts GOD out of Diversion and Plays with his Thunder and Lightning That Sin which strikes at the Foundations of Religion by involving Men in frequent Perjuries and taking off all Reverence for an Oath That Sin which hurries daily many Souls to Hell and is the fearful of Language of that place of Impiety as well as Torment and where the Damn'd at once Gnaw their Tongues for Pain and Blaspheam the GOD of Heaven That Sin I say shou'd surely stir up the Indignation and Zeal of all those who have any Honour any Love for GOD or Religion to punish to destroy it so effectually to suppress it that it never may again Triumph in our Streets The misplac'd Devotion of the Athenians inflam'd St. Paul's Zeal He was fill'd with various Passions of Anger of Pity and of Grief to see the City wholly given to Idolatry He Argued he Contended with their greatest Philosophers and even hazarded his Life to Convert them And shou'd not our Spirits be moved within us to hear the Venerable Name of the True GOD Impiously Prophan'd and Ridiculously Invok'd and that not by Ignorant Heathens but Pretended Christians by those who while they usurp that Sacred Title Are not only far from GOD in their Hearts but with their very Lips Dishonour him It must needs therefore be a good thing to be Zealously Affected against this prevailing Sin to Vindicate GOD's Honour and bring those who Prophane his Name to Punishment A Second Sin against which it is a good thing to be Zealously Affected is the Violation of the Lords-Day that Day which is Dedicated to the Worship and Service of GOD. The Prophanation of the Lords-Day has so fatal an influence on Religion and tends so naturally to deface it that they who are Zealously Affected for the one must have a tender regard for the other For the concerns of this World do so steal upon Mens Minds so charm and bewitch them that did not the constant returns of the Lords-Day relax their Thoughts and call them off from Business and Diversion to Religion and Devotion not only the Power but form of Godliness wou'd be lost not only the thing it self but very Name of Religion wou'd be Banish'd the World Whereas the Religious Observation of the Lords-Day does often awaken those good thoughts which all the Week have lay'n Buried under Cares and Pleasures And many who at first go to Church out of Decency and Custom will at length go out of Religion and Devotion And indeed our joyning in Devout Prayers and Heavenly Praises hearing the Holy Scriptures Read and our Duty affectionately recommended all these preserve Spiritual Life keep Conscience sensible and tender And the more strictly the Lords-Day is kept the better will it answer the end of its Institution the more effectually promote Piety and secure Religion whereas if only a part of it be allow'd to the Worship of GOD and the rest taken up in Sports and Diversions it is to be fear'd that our Morning Thoughts will soon pass away and that the Evening Pastimes will deface all the good Impressions of the Day Now shall we not do excellent Service to Religion by rescuing the Lords-Day from Scandalous Abuses and hindring those Practices which must if not prevented destroy it The Honour of GOD is inseparably united to that of his Day And Religion must languish and decay when that Day is Neglected or Prophan'd Publick Worship must be disus'd and Private fall of Consequence Of this our Governours are sensible and therefore good Laws have been Enacted to hinder it which are but a dead letter unless vigorously Executed This surely then deserves and calls for our most active Zeal to put the Laws in Execution against the Prophaners of the Lords-Day since the preservation or ruin of Religion does in a great measure depend upon it Thirdly They who are Zealously Affected against Sin must labour to suppress Lewdness and Uncleaness and make those Wretched Creatures feel the just Severity of the Laws who set up Factories for Wickedness and make Prostitution their Trade Christianity is an Undefil'd Religion Ja. 1.26.3.17 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 and the Wisdom from above is pure or chaste it prohibits all Lascivious Practices and lays restraints on our Thoughts And is it possible there shou'd be any Country where this Holy Religion is Publickly Profess'd and Divine Laws enforc'd by Temporal Punishments where there are Christian Ministers to perswade and Christian Mgistrates to correct Offenders In which notwithstanding Lewdness and Debauchery should be so much so long wink'd at as almost to plead Prescription and Toleration That there shou'd be Seminaries for Uncleaness and yet unpunished unregarded Thus it has been heretofore among us and these Vices are still not only too commonly committed but glory'd in to the great Dishonour of GOD and Reproach of Religion That then must be an excellent Zeal which dares check and oppose these abominable Sins which inspires us with Courage to Rescue our Christianity from Contempt by bringing the Scandals of it to just Punishment and Shame without being mov'd at their Insolence or afraid of their Revenge There are many other very common very dangerous Sins against which it is a good thing to be Zealously Aflected particularly Common Drunkenness and Excessive Gaming For these are not only great Sins in themselves but often the unhappy causes of those I have already nam'd Gaming inflames the Passions fills the Mouth with Curses and the whole Man with Rage Drunkenness divests Men of their Reason and puts every irregular desire into a Ferment
do generally improve and nourish Virtue and will it not be base and dishonourable shou'd we hereafter fall short of what is publish'd to the World concerning us Are our Magistrates and Clergy Commended for discharging their Duty with so much Zeal And shou'd not those among us Blush who are conscious to themselves that they are Intitled to none of these Praises Let us then resolve not to lose the Reputation we have already gain'd least it be hereafter as publickly declar'd of us that for a while indeed we seem'd warm and in earnest against Vice but that our First Fervours are gone and we are unhappily reconcil'd to our Old Sins and are lyable to the Character of the Foolish Builders who began a good Work indeed but cou'd not bring it to an end 'T is true we ought no more to do a Good Action to be Prais'd of Men than we shou'd do an Evil one to avoid their Censures And I trust in GOD that your Zeal will never be Infected with the least mixture of Vain Glory Yet just Praises are the Rewards of Virtue and shou'd be so esteem'd And it is our Duty not only to be sincerely Religious but open Advocates for Piety to stir up others by our Zeal and so to let our Light shine before Men that they may see our good Works and Glorifie our Father which is in Heaven I might mention as another Motive to excite and confirm your Zeal against Prophaness and Vice the necessity of it to avert the just Wrath and heavy Judgments of GOD and the reason we have to expect and dread them if Iniquity still prevail And that we can hope to escape them on no other Terms than our Endeavouring with great Industry and Sincerity to suppress all kinds of Wickedness The truth of this might be easily demonstrated from the Word of GOD and from the End and Reason of this Judgments this is most apparent from his Method of dealing with other Nations of this we may be convinc'd from his dealings with our selves But this has been so fully insisted on and largely prov'd by others that I shall do no more than name it And pass on to a Fifth Motive to excite and confirm our Zeal for Reformation of Manners and against all Prophane and Immoral Practices namely that we have reason to hope that it may prove hereafter an excellent means of Uniting the Establish'd Church and the Dissenters and of Propagating the Reform'd Religion among those who are Strangers to it and prejudic'd against it It will not be here needful to inquire into the Immediate Causes of our unhappy Divisions nor shall I take up your time in Lamenting the Miseries which have been and still are the consequences of them It concerns us much more to learn how our Breaches may be Heal'd and those Wounds Cur'd which have often reduc'd our Religion to a very Languishing Condition And they who have most seriously considered this matter have with great reason observ'd that nothing will more allay our Heats and Animosities nothing lay a better Foundation for a firm and lasting Union among Protestants than our becoming Zealous and Active against Vice and Prophaness For First our jointly endeavouring to beat down Publick Wickedness must needs Unite the Affections of all those who are concern'd in that Excellent Undertaking We cannot but Love and Value all who have an Active Zeal for GOD and Religion tho in some things their Judgments may be different from ours There are Charms in Piety which none can resist and if we Love GOD our selves we must Love those also who serve him in Humility and Sincerity of Heart tho we may judge them mistaken in things of lesser Moment But now Unity of Affection is a necessary Preparative for Unity of Judgment and true Holy Zeal Unites the Minds as well as Hearts of all those in whom it dwells And if we go on to assist one another in Suppressing Lewdness Immorality and Prophaness we will soon be convinc'd that differences of Opinion about the circumstances of Religion when we agree in all the Essentials of it shou'd never make us Hate and Calumniate one another But that whatever our Sentiments as to some particulars may be we are Brethren and Fellow Christians Servants of the same Lord Partakers of the same Blessed Hope and Heirs of the same Eternal Kingdom That tho we differ in a little in the Roads we take yet we both direct our Course towards the same Heaven whither they who are truly Pious Humble and Sincere of both Parties may hope to arrive at last and where without Controversie or Dispute they shall for ever dwell together in the profoundest Peace and most charitable Agreement But as our being truly Zealous against Prophaness and Vice has a natural tendency to Unite our Affections so in the Second place it will convince us of the necessity of Uniting together in Worship and Sacraments and every other way For the more Zealous we are against Vice the more clearly will we see the great Mischiefs which are caus'd by our Divisions the more fully will we be convinc'd that they are the great Hindrances of a General Reformation of Manners that the most prevailing Vices and Impieties are owing to them and that till they be remov'd Reformation may be wish'd for but can never be happily Effected For this is the great Popular Objection against our Religion insisted on so much by the Enemies of Piety that there are so many Parties among us that they know not whom to close with and therefore will treat them all with equal Neglect and Scorn This is what some pretend to justifie their Impiety and is the real cause why others are Prophane and cannot be but a Stumbling Block to many weak Minds Besides Dissentions in Religion destroy Ecclesiastical Discipline and deprive Church Censures of their Force They enfeeble the Civil Power and compell Magistrates to Wink at great Irregularities They distract Private Families and separate the nearest Relations Where they prevail the State is seldom free from Tumultuous Disorders not the Church from numerous Heresies and Schisms without end And in short they naturally lead to the Subversion of all sober Religion all Peace and Order Nay our Divisions not only cause most of our Distempers but hinder our Cure they weaken the Hands and obstruct the Endeavours of those who are Zealous for Suppressing Publick Vices For he must be a Stranger to Humane Nature who does not know that so long as there are separate Parties there will be separate Interests and that many will Prosecute their particular Designs to the prejudice of the common cause of Religion One Party will be sometimes for Acting alone and that will raise Jealousies in the other at least there 's cause to fear that they will not always Act with that Confidence in each other upon which in a great measure their Success depends These things I confess ought not to be so and all that can be said
prevented seeing the case is so I think it plainly follows that those Men of Eminent Integrity and Virtue how low soever some of their Fortunes may be who without any prospect of Worldly Advantage nay to their manifest loss have resolv'd to encounter Difficulties and Dangers and undergo Calumnies and Slanders rather than Wickedness shall continue bare-fac'd and Vice spread every where without opposition any more Those Men I say deserve all Encouragement to themselves and their design The countenance and protection of our Governours and all who wish well to Religion 'T is true they have had no small share in Censures and Objections But what Person so innocent what Design to laudable as to escape them If Christianity the best Religion If the Blessed Jesus the Holiest Person that ever was have been and daily are Blasphem'd Revil'd and Slander'd What are you my Brethren that you shou'd hope to be Exempted from the Common Fate of the best Men in the World Has Satan entirely chang'd his Nature and laid aside his Malice Is he not only transform'd into the likeness of an Angel of Light but become really one Will he no more oppose Religion no more obstruct Reformation of Manners Or has the Old Serpent lost at once his Cunning and his Poyson Has he so often mis-represented Religion with great success and expos'd it to publick Hatred by Painting it as some frightful Monster And won't he still prosecute the same Methods which have hardly ever fail'd him and endeavour to defeat the good Designs of some Men by raising unaccountable Jealousies and Fears in others and labour to undermine by secret Calumnies and Slanders what he wants Power directly to oppose But yet if Two or Three sorts of Persons were silent very few Mouths wou'd be open'd against Societies for Reformation Those who take things upon Trust and Condemn without knowing the Merits of the Cause who have been impos'd upon for want of due enquiry by false Representations both of the Design and Persons concern'd in it Or those who being not truly Zealous themselves are angry that any shou'd go beyond them and thereby tacitly reproach their want of Zeal or they lastly who are enrag'd that their unlawful Liberties shou'd be check'd and restrain'd that any shou'd presume to Curb their Lewdness and Prophaness But the Clamours of these kinds of Men are ill grounded and unjust such as can be no surprize to any who are acquainted with the Corruptions of Humane Nature and consider the active indefatigable Malice of the Devil and therefore can never shake a prudent well establish'd Zeal And such I trust in GOD your Zeal will always be and that you will still find that Encouragement and Protection to which you are justly intitl'd by the Excellency of your Undertaking and Prudence of your Behaviour I am perswaded you did not enter into these Societies rashly and unadvisedly but weigh'd all the hardships and inconveniences you might reasonably expect on the one hand and consider'd the motives which excited your Zeal on the other and after mature deliberation chose the good part and resolv'd with great Constancy to adhere to it chearfully to bear Opposition Contempt and Reproach provided you might be able to put a stop to any one prevailing Sin But the same Christian Zeal which first mov'd you to Asscociate against Vice will oblige you to continue and persevere to become more Active and Zealous in suppressing it To this your Obligations are great as Members of the Christian Church into which when you were admitted you vow'd to continue Christs Faithful Servants and Soldiers to your Lives end But your belonging to a Society whose sole end is Reformation of Manners has much encreas'd them A Design the best and noblest in the World but which ought to be Prosecuted with a very constant prudent Zeal that the Enemies of Piety may not be able to insult may have no occasion to upbraid any of you either with Negligence or Imprudence And then will you more successfully promote your Great and Excellent End and in due time stop the Mouths of Gain-sayers These are the several orders of Men who are particularly oblig'd to be Zealously Affected in suppressing Prophaness and Vice not that any are exempted from it it is the Business and Duty and ought to be the Study and Practice of every Christian. Here all are Commanded and may without a Crime put forth their Hands to support the Ark. 'T is true they cannot they must not all attempt to do it the same way what is the Indispensible Duty of one may be a Great Sin in another to pretend to And tho all ought to shew their Zeal for Religion and Reformation yet they must take different ways of shewing it which leads me to the Third Particular I propos'd to speak to which was to point out those ways wherein we may best employ and shew our Zeal so as to attain the Excellent Ends it aims at Something of this I have hinted at already for by mentioning those several sorts of Men who are oblig'd to higher degrees of Zeal against Vice than others I did in effect shew how their Zeal is to express it self Thus for Example Are we Zealous Ministers of Religion Then must our Zeal appear both to GOD and Man in our Publick Preaching and Exemplary Life and in our Private Labours and Endeavours to infuse Piety and Zeal into others We must shew our Zeal by leading the way to others in the best manner Prudence directs and so far as our Duty requires And lastly our Zeal must express it self in Constant and Fervent Prayers to GOD for his Blessing and Assistance Again are we Zealously Magistrates Then are we to employ our Zeal in Vigorously Executing the Laws against Immorality and Prophaness We are to Countenance and Encourage all who are engag'd in the Service of Religion and Reformation and secure them from the rude insults of those who have made themselves their Enemies And to influence others to Honour Religion by the Brightness of our own Examples As for those of Inferiour Degree whose Station is Private and whose Condition is Obscure even they may many ways testifie the sincerity of their Zeal and make it very serviceable to Piety and Virtue The meanest Man among us has a Family to take care of and that he may preserve from the Infection of Reigning Sins He can Admonish can Reprove and Correct his Child or his Servant with Authority and good Effect He may also Exhort and Advise his Neighbour of his own Rank nay he may Reprove him too upon a Just Occasion and in a Prudent Manner and thereby contribute much to reclaim him Such a Man may especially be very useful to Religion by bringing the open Enemies of it to deserved Punishment He will unavoidably be often a Witness of Publick Sins He will frequently see the Lords-Day Prophan'd and hear GOD's Holy Name Dishonour'd and Blasphemed and that by those who are too Great