to what a Man has and not according to what he has not A covetous Man though rich will pretend the smallness of his Estate to excuse and palliate his illiberal giving and makes himself doubly guilty of feigned Poverty and real Avarice in God's sight But a liberal Man deviseth liberal things He duely considers the Circumstances of Persons in want and esteems a just Occasion of Charity to be a golden Opportunity and will be noble and magnificent 2. I will consider the difficulty of the Cure This will be evident from the causes of the Disease and the frequent unsuccessfulness of the means in order to it There is no kind of Sinners more inconvincible and incureable than the Worldly-minded 'T is a Rule without exception those Sins which have the greatest appearance of Reason and the least of Sensuality are the most plausible and prevailing So long as there are remains of Reason in Mankind there will be Modesty and brutish Lusts will expose to Shame The high birth and honourable rank of the unclean cannot varnish and disguise their Impurities but renders them more infamous and odious Besides unless Men are not prodigiously bad if they are not free from Fault they will not defend their Intemperance and Incontinency If there be any spark of Conscience alive it discovers and condemns those Sins and assists a faithful counsellor in their Cure But the Covetous by many fair pretences justifie themselves The Apostle expresses them by the cloke of Covetousness to hide its filthiness They pretend to be frugal but not covetous They alledge the example of those who are reputed wise who prosecute the gains of the World as the main scope of their actions They will tell you 't is necessary Prudence to improve all Opportunities to increase their Estates to secure them from Evils that may happen and to neglect providing for our Families is worse than Infidelity Thus Reason is ingaged to joyn with the Affection From hence the Covetous are not only inamour'd with the unworthy Object but averse from the Cure of the vicious Affection The love of Money smothers the Mind with Ignorance and darkens its serenity that the filthiness of the Sin is indiscernible The Covetous are like Persons sick beyond the sense of their Disease and near Death without feeling the presages of it Besides those corrupt Affections which in their rise and degrees depend upon the humours of the Body that are mutable are sometimes with force and violence carried to their Objects but when the disposition of the Body is altered they flag and distasts succeed But the root and principle of Covetousness is in the Will and when that is depraved 't is diabolical in obstinacy The most fierce and greedy Beasts when they have glutted their ravenous Appetites do not presently seek after new prey but Covetousness like a Dropsie-thirst is inflam'd by drinking and inrag'd by increasing Riches And whereas other vicious desires are weakened and broke by tract of time Covetousness derives new life and vigour from age The thoughts and affections of the Covetous are never more deeply tainted with the Earth than when they draw near to their fatal period and their Bodies must be resolved into their original Elements 2. The difficulty of the Cure is evident from the inefficacy of the means used to effect it The Divine Authority of the Scripture the clearest Reason the plainest Experience are often used in vain to reform the Covetous Of a thousand Persons in whom Covetousness is the regent Lust scarce ten are cleansed and changed from covetous to be liberal 1. The Word of God has no commanding perswasive power upon them The Word declares that Covetousness is Idolatry for it deposes God and places the World the Idol of Mens Heads and Hearts in his Throne It deprives him of his Regalia his Royal Prerogatives which he has reserved to himself in the Empire of the World He is infinitely jealous of our transferring them to the Creature Our highest Adoration and Esteem our Confidence and Trust our Love and Complacency our Dependance and Observance are entirely and essentially due to him Who in the Heaven can be compared to the Lord Who among the sons of the mighty can be likened to him Whom have I in Heaven but thee and there is none upon Earth I desire in comparison of thee The Lord is my portion saith my Soul The name of the Lord is a strong Tower the righteous fly to it and are safe Behold as the eyes of Servants look to the hands of their Masters so our eyes wait upon the Lord our God until he have Mercy upon us These Scriptures are declarative of those eternal respects that are due to God from reasonable Creatures and he is highly dishonoured and displeased when they are alienated from him Now the Covetous deifie the World The rich Man's Riches are his strong City and as an high Wall in his imagination He will trust God no farther than according to visible supplies and means He takes not God for his strength but trusts in the abundance of his Riches His Heart is possessed and polluted with the love of the World and God is excluded Therefore we are commanded not to love the VVorld nor the things of it If any Man love the VVorld the love of the Father is not in him He is provok'd to Jealousie the most severe and sensible Attribute by the coldness of Mens Love From hence it appears how this comprehensive Sin is injurious to God The Psalmist tells us that the Covetous are not only the objects of God's Anger but abhorrence Thus he brands them The covetous whom the Lord abhors The words are of the most heavy signification If his Loving-kindness be better than Life his Hatred is worse than Death 'T is the root of all Evil in Persons of all conditions civil and sacred This bribes those that are in the Seat of Judgment to clear the guilty and which is a bolder Crime to condemn the innocent Of this there is recorded a cruel and bloody Instance in the death of Naboth occasioned by Ahab's Covetousness This corrupts the Preachers of the Word to speak to the Lusts not the Consciences of Men upon whom they have a servile dependance And as the Spirit of Delusion is never more the Spirit of Delusion than under the appearance of an Angel of Light so his Ministers are never more his Ministers than when they pervert the Word of God to support sinful Practices by corrupt Principles Covetousness makes Men faint and false in the time of tryal They will save the World with the loss of their Souls In short it was the impulsive cause of a Sin of the greatest Guilt that ever was committed in betraying the Son of God and his suffering the most cruel and ignominious Death A Sin never to be expiated but by the Flames that shall consume this World the place wherein he suffered Covetousness excludes all in whom
Carnal Men abuse the freeness of Grace to looseness and security and the power of Grace to negligence and laziness Our dependance on God inferrs the use of means to save our Souls Our Saviour commands us to watch and pray that we may not enter into temptation To watch without Prayer is to presume upon our own Strength To pray without Watching is to presume upon the Grace of God The Lord's Prayer is the Rule of our Duty and Desires We are ingag'd by every Petition to co-operate and concur with Divine Grace to obtain what we pray for Naaman presum'd he should be immediately cleansed from his Leprosie by the Prayer of Elisha but he was commanded to go and wash himself in Jordan seven times for his Purification A stream preserves its christal clearness by continual running if its course be stop'd it will stagnate and putrifie The purity of the Soul is preserv'd by the constant exercise of habitual Grace In short we must be jealous of our selves to prevent our being surpriz'd by Sin and continually address to the Throne of Grace for the obtaining Grace and Mercy in time of need and by Faith apply the blood of sprinkling that has a cleansing Efficacy The Death of Christ meritoriously procures the Spirit of Life and Renovation and is the strongest ingagement upon Christians to mortifie those Sins that were the cause of his Agonies and Sufferings 2. The parts of the Duty are to be considered The cleansing us from the Defilements of Flesh and Spirit and the perfecting Holiness 1. The cleansing must be universal as the pollution is We are directed to cleanse our hands and purifie our hearts that we may draw near to God with acceptance 'T is observable that in a general sense all Sins are the works of the Flesh what ever is not divine and spiritual is carnal in the language of Scripture For since the separation of Men from God by the rebellious Sin of Adam the Soul is sunk into a state of Carnality seeking for satisfaction in lower things The two jarring opposite Principles are Flesh and Spirit lusting against one another 'T is as carnal to desire vain Glory or to set the Heart on Riches as to love sensual Pleasures For our Esteem and Love are intirely due to God for his high Perfections and 't is a disparagement to set them on the Creatures as if he did not deserve them in their most excellent degrees Whatever things are below the native worth of the Soul and unworthy of its noblest operations and are contrary to its blessed end defile and vilifie it A more precious Metal mix'd with a baser as Silver with Tin is corrupted and loses of its purity and value But in a contracted sense Sins are distinguish'd some are attributed to the Spirit and some to the Flesh. The Spirit is always the principal agent and sometimes the sole agent in the commission of Sin and the sole subject of it Of this sort are Pride Infidelity Envy Malice c. There are other Sins wherein the Body conspires and concurs in the outward acts They are specified by the Apostle and distinguish'd according to the immediate springs from whence they flow the desiring and the angry Appetites The works of the Flesh are manifest Adultery Fornication Uncleanness Lasciviousness Idolatry Witchcraft Hatred Variance Emulations Wrath Strife Seditions Heresies Envyings Murders Drunkenness Revellings and such like The cleansing from carnal foul Lusts is like the washing one that is fallen into the mire which is a mixture of the two lowest Elements heavy Earth and slippery Water that defile by the touching them The more spiritual Lusts are like the stormy Winds and smoky Fire in which the two higher Elements are contain'd Pride swells the Mind and causes violent agitations in the Thoughts Anger darkens and fires it The Lusts of the Flesh are tenacious by the force of the Imagination when conversant upon Objects presented by the Senses but the Lusts of the Spirit are form'd and wrought in its own forge without the concurrence of the sensual Faculties The Lusts of the desiring Appetite Intemperance and Uncleanness are so polluting that the consciousness of such Crimes will cover the guilty with confusion Of all the debasing titles whereby the Devil is characteriz'd in Scripture none is more vilifying than that of the unclean Spirit This is attributed to him from the general nature of Sin But there is such a notorious turpitude in Lusts grosly carnal that they defile and defame the Sinner in a special manner not only as a Rebel against God but the servant of Corruption The Understanding is the leading supreme Faculty Sense that rules in Beasts should serve in Man Now what does more vilifie him than to be dissolv'd in filthy Pleasures to be drown'd in a sea of Wine than a Life sensual and dissolute drawn out in a continual connexion of dreggy delights Gaming succeeds Feasting the Ball follows the Comedy the Impurities of the Night the Intemperance of the Day Sensual Lusts degrade Men from the nobility of their Nature the dignity of their Condition as if they were all Flesh and had not a spirit of Heavenly original to regulate and restrain their lower Appetites within the limits of Purity and Honour The slaves of Sense are like the beasts that perish He that is a Beast by Choice is incomparably more vile than a Beast by Nature It would infect the Air to speak and pollute the Paper to write their secret Abominations wherein they lye and languish and 't is natural for Men to dye in those Sins wherein they live they seal their own Damnation by Impenitence How difficult the purging of these passions is Experience makes evident The radicated habits of Uncleanness and Intemperance are rarely cur'd 'T is the vain boast of the Roman Philosopher Nobis ad nostrum arbitrium nasci licet but we must first die to our selves before we can be born of our selves the forsaking a sinful Course is necessary antecedently to the ordering the Conversation according to the Rules of Vertue How few instances are there of persons recovered from the practice and bondage of those Lusts by the wise Counsels of Philosophers 'T is in vain to represent to them that sensual Lusts are prolifick of many Evils that Intemperance is pregnant with the Seeds of many Diseases it prepares matter that is inflamable into Fevers 't is attended with the Gout Stone Cholick Dropsie c. which are incomparably more tormenting than the pernicious pleasures of taste are delightful Represent to them the foul progeny of Lasciviousness rottenness in the Body wasting the Estate Infamy to sacrifice what is most valuable for the sake of a vile Woman the wisest Considerations are lost upon them they are too weak a Bridle to check their brutish Lusts. But are not these Lusts easily subdued in Christians who have the advantage of clearer Light stronger Motives and more liberal assistance of Grace to rescue
its Exaltation 2. There is a Fear of Caution that is always joyn'd with the other and excites us to walk circumspectly and exactly that we may be always approved and accepted of God The fear of the Lord is clean effectively This will prevent secret Sins which are only known to God Thou shalt not curse the deaf nor lay a stumbling-block before the blind but fear the Lord. Fear is an Internal Guardian that keeps the Heart pure of which God is the inspector and judge It will not suffer us to Sin freely in Thought nor foully in Act. When Fear draws the Lines of our Duty our Steps will be Regular Fear keeps us close to God by the perswasion of his All-seeing Eye and is oppos'd to the forgetfulness of God the cause of all the Errors of our Lives Holy Fear will make us to perform our Duty in those degrees that are commanded to please God 'T is the Principle of Perseverance thus God assures his People I will put my fear in their hearts and they shall never depart from me The Causes of back-sliding are Allurements and Terrors pleasant Temptations sometimes so strongly insinuate into the Affections that Love calls in Fear to its Assistance to repel them for strong Fear and Delight are inconsistent If Terrors are objected to drive us from our Duty the greater Fear will over-rule the less the Fear of God will expel the fearfulness of Man For the most flaming Anger of Men is more tolerable than a spark of his Displeasure From hence 't is evident that the Fear of God is the Fountain of heroick Courage and fortifies the Spirit that the threatenings of Men cannot supplant our constancy If our residence were perpetual in this World it were a point of Wisdom to secure the Favour of Men but since we must shortly dye as surely as we live 't is extreme folly by compliance and low respects to Men to lose our interest in God and provoke him with whom we must be either in his favourable and felicitating presence or in his terrible presence for ever The Rage of Man cannot reach beyond the Grave but the Wrath of God extends to Eternity 'T is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God who lives for ever and can punish for ever Let us therefore be exhorted to pass the time of our sojourning in fear Temptations are frequent and we are frail and are never safe without circumspection The Fear of God is the beginning of Wisdom the principal part of it Wisdom is not imployed about trivial things but affairs of moment Now what is there of such consequence in the World as the directing the Soul to Eternal Blessedness How to escape the most imminent and destructive Evil and to obtain the most desirable Good Indeed the Passion of Fear when exorbitant and overwhelming causes a wretched neglect of the means of Salvation If a Ship springs a leak and the Waters pour faster into it than the Mariners can pump it out and they see nothing but the Sea ready to swallow them up their Hearts and Hands faint and they give over all labour If Men are desperate they will be disobedient But we can never raise our Fears of God too high if we retain a firm belief of his Mercy that rejoices over Judgment This will not infringe our Liberty but inlarge it for 't is the most ignominious slavery to be under the dominion of Sin and the just apprehensions of its terrible Consequences The Fear of God ingages him to be our Friend and rescues us from all the perplexities to which we are lyable in this open slate Many Sins are committed for the fear of the Anger of Men and presumption of the Mercy of God but 't is often found that a Religious Constancy gains more Friends than Carnal Obsequiousness When a Man's ways please the Lord he will make his enemies to be at peace with him Especially in all acts of Worship this Grace should be in its highest exercise 'T is the Apostle's direction Let us draw near with reverence and godly fear for our God is a consuming fire We must solemnly consider the Greatness of God who dwells in Light inaccessible and is a consuming Fire to all that disparage him by slight and careless Addresses Shall not his Excellency make us afraid In Prayer let us draw near to his Throne in the deepest sense of our meanness and unworthiness and tremble at the hearing of his Word This dispositin will make us acceptable in his Eyes The Lord saith The Heaven is my throne and the Earth is my footstool to him will I look who is poor and of a contrite spirit and trembles at my word And in times of Temptation when pleasing Lusts are imperious and violent then 't is necessary to controul them by the fearful remembrance that for all these things God will bring us to Judgment This will clear the Mind from the eclipses and clouds of the Carnal Passions and keep the Senses under the dominion of the superiour and surer Faculties Blessed is the Man that fears always that is continually vigilant in secret and society who considers that God's Eyes are always upon him in order to Judgment and whose Eyes are always upon God in order to Acceptance CHAP. X. The Promise that God will be our Father a powerful inducement to strive after the Perfection of Holiness The dignity and happiness of the Relation The Pardon of Sin an adoptive freedom in Prayer an interest in the Eternal Inheritance are the Priviledges of God's Children The influence of this Relation to make us entirely holy considered An Inquiry whether we are proceeding to Perfection The vanquishing Sin an indication of the Power of Grace The habitual frame of the Heart and fixed regularity of the Life discovers our progress in Holiness According to our Love to God and things that have the nearest resemblance to him we may judge of our Spirituality The Spiritual Law of God the Spiritual Worship of God the Spiritual Image of God in the Saints are the principal Objects of the Love of the Spiritually-minded To preserve an equal temper of Mind in the changes of the present state discover excellent degrees of Holiness I Am now come to the Third General Head the Motives to inforce the Duty of striving after pure and perfect Holiness the Promises specified in the antecedent Chapter That the Lord Almighty will receive us and we shall be his Sons and Daughters that he will dwell in us his living Temples and walk in us This divine Relation and Communion the consequent of it should keep the state of Perfection always in our design and view and inspire us with unchangable resolutions to endeavour the obtaining it I will consider the Dignity and Happiness of this Relation 1. The Dignity Secular Nobility that is transfused from the Veins of Progenitors into the Veins of their Progeny derives its lustre from Flesh and Blood and the glory of the
most reverent observance is due 'T is revocable in its Nature but not to cease without the Will of the Legislator either expresly declar'd or vertually by the ceasing of the end of it As the Ceremonial Law is abolish'd by the same Authority that ordain'd it the end of the Institution being obtain'd But this Ordinance is by our Saviour commanded to continue till his Second Coming in Glory the end of it being the revival of the memory of his Death I will not insist upon the several Conformities between the Natural Food and the Spiritual for the principal Comparison and resemblance is in the End for which food is necessary and appointed without which there can be no subsisting Life but consider how the Life of the Soul is strengthened in this Ordinance which is not a naked sign of his Sufferings for us but the seal of the Covenant of Grace and wherein our Saviour though his bodily Presence be confin'd to Heaven yet does really and spiritually exhibit himself with all his saving Benefits to sincere Believers Consider how Repentance Faith and Love are increas'd by this Ordinance 1. Repentance is a Vital Operative Grace not only in mortifying Sin but in bringing forth many excellent Fruits suitable to it All the Terrors at Mount Sinai in giving the Law cannot make such an impression on the Conscience of the righteous and fearful Anger of God for Sin as the infliction of Wrath upon our dying Saviour He receiv'd into his Breast the Arrows of the Almighty that drank up his Blood and Spirits though in himself he was perfectly Holy Surely he has born our griefs and carried our sorrows he was wounded for our transgressions and bruised for our iniquities the chastisement of our peace was upon him and with his stripes we are heal'd We read that Nathan was sent from God to David when insensible of his Guilt of Murder and Adultery to awaken him to review his Sin he for that end us'd a very moving Parable of a Rich Man that had many Flocks yet to entertain a Stranger rob'd a Poor Man of his only Lamb and drest it for him This David so resented that he threatned the severest Revenge for such an unrighteous and unmerciful action And when Nathan turned the point of the Parable against his Breast charging him Thou art the man in what Agonies and Confusion was he surpriz'd as his mournful Complaint declares When we read in the Narrative of our Saviour's Sufferings of the Treachery of Judas the Malice of the Priests the Fury of the People the Cowardise of Pilate and the Cruelty of the Soldiers how apt are we to conceive Indignation against his Murderers but when Conscience like the true Prophet shall with a piercing Reproach charge us that our Sins Condemn'd and Crucified him how will this open the Springs of Godly Sorrow and looking on him whom we have pierced cause us to Mourn as those that mourn for a first-born How will the Contemplation of him in his Sufferings excite Indignation with Zeal and Revenge against our selves for our choosing and committing those Sins that were the meritorious Cause of his Sufferings Since he bore our Sins 't is just we should simpathize in his Sorrows How instructive and exemplary was insensible Nature as if capable of Knowledge and Affection in the time of his Sufferings It was disorder'd in the Heavens and simpathiz'd in the Elements The Sun was obscur'd against all possibility of Nature for the Moon was opposite and in the Full and in the twinkling of an Eye past half the Circle of the Heavens and being empty of Light towards the Earth by its interposition hid the body of the Sun behind it The Air was as dark at mid-day as at mid-night The Earth trembled the Rocks rent Have the Rocks softer Bowels than obdurate Sinners 'T is a greater prodigy that those whose Sins made his Death necessary are unaffected with it than that Nature seemed to have changed its Principles and Properties to signifie its resentment of it God's Anger darkens the Sun and shakes the Earth and shall sinful Men be unrelenting If by Faith and Consideration we transport our selves to Mount Calvary and with the blessed Virgin stand at the foot of the Cross when our Saviour was dying we shall feel the working of her Affections when a Sword pâ—erc'd through her Soul Now in the Sacrament there is a representation of Christ Crucified before our Eyes which is the most powerful motive of Godly Sorrow and the inseparable consequent of it the destructive hatred of Sin and of holy Resolutions that as he dyed for Sin we will dye to it 2. Faith that is the Root from whence other Graces spring and flourish is increas'd and confirm'd by the use of this Ordinance As by the looking on the mysterious Brazen Serpent there was an Antidote conveyed to heal the Israelites stung by the Fiery Serpents so by the looking on Jesus in his Sufferings our wounded Spirits are healed The dignity of his Person the depth of his Sufferings and his voluntary yielding of himself to them are the supports of Faith The Sin-Offerings under the Law were entirely consumed in their Consecration to Divine Justice and no part was reserved to be eaten by the Offerers To signifie their Imperfection and Inefficacy to reconcile God to Sinners and to pacifie their accusing Consciences The Beasts by substitution suffer'd Death for those who offer'd them but could not purchase Life for them Our Saviour is as truly given to us to communicate Life as he was given for us in his Death When he offer'd himself the most solemn Sacrifice on the Cross he was not consum'd His Body and Blood are the Feast of Love upon his Sacrifice the clearest assuring sign of God's being reconcil'd to us The Blood of the Lamb the true Winâ— has rejoic'd the Heare of God and Man Our High Priest continually presents his Father in the Coelestial Sanctuary his bloody Sacrifice of which there is a Commemoration on the Holy Table If God remember our Sins we remember his anointed Priest to expiate them If the timerous Conscience be in anxiety for the number and heinousness of Sins and the number of Sinnerâ— who must perish for ever without this Miracle of Mercy as if one Sacrifice were not sufficient to abolish their Guiâ—â— let it be consider'd that his Death is of infinite value and what is infinite cannot be divided he was intirely offer'd for every penitent unfeigned Believer The weakest has as full an Interest and Benefit in it as if it had been offer'd solely for him and may apply and appropriate it to himself with as true solid Comfort as if he had been present at our Saviour's Crucifixion and heard him speaking the words of Life I give my self for thee His Blood cleanses from all Sin and is a propitiation for the Sins of the world These are no fictions of Fancy but the real operations of the Holy Spirit who
Majesty I have laid the Foundations thereof on the centre of the Earth and raised its Towers to the Heavens This Pride is attended with relyance and confidence in their own direction to contrive and ability to accomplish their designs and with assuming the glory of all their success intirely to themselves The proud manage their affairs independently upon the Providence of God who is the Author of all our Faculties and the efficacy of them and totally neglect the two essential parts of Natural Religion Prayer and Praise or very slightly perform the external part without those inward Affections that are the Spirit and Life of them 'T was the wise Prayer of Agar Give me not Riches lest I be full and deny thee God strictly cautions his People against this dangerous Sin Beware thou forget not the Lord and say in thy Heart my power and the might of my Hand hath gotten me this Wealth Remember 't is he that gives the power to get Riches And 't is equally dangerous lest Men should attribute Victories or Prosperity in any kind to their own Counsel and Resolution their Prudence and Power without humble and thankful observing and acknowledging the Divine Providence the fountain and original of all our Blessings 2. Whatever the kinds of Sin be when committed against knowledge with design and deliberation they proceed from Insolence and Obstinacy The Israelites are charged with this aggravation in their sinning They dealt proudly and harden'd their necks and harken'd not to the Commandments and refused to obey Proud Sinners are introduced boasting Our Tongues are our own who is Lord over us They will endure no restraints but are lawless and loose as if they were above fear and danger 'T is true there are few so prodigiously wicked as to speak thus but Mens Actions have a language as declarative as their Words And sinning presumptuously with a high hand is constructively a denyal and despising of the Dominion and Power of the Law-giver as if he had no right to command nor strength to vindicate the Honour of his despised Deity In the last Judgment the Punishment of rebellious Sinners will be according to the Glory of God's Majesty and the extent of his Power that was contemned and vilified by them 3. When Divine Judgments are sent to correct the dissolute disorders of the World and Sinners should with tenderness and trembling hear the Voice of the Rod and who has appointed it yet they proceed in their Wickedness as if God were not always Present to see their Sins nor Pure to hate them nor Righteous to exact a severe Judgment for them nor Powerful to inflict it this argues intolerable Pride and Obstinacy God and Sinners are very unequal Enemies The effects of his Displeasure should be received with obsequiousness not with obduration Therefore the Apostle puts that confounding Question Do you provoke the Lord to jealousie are you stronger than he Can you encounter with offended Omnipotence To despise his Anger is as provoking as to despise his Love 'T is astonishing that Dust and Ashes should rise to such an incorrigible heighth of Pride as to fly in the Face of God Who ever hardned himself against him and prospered All that are careless of God's design to reform them by Afflictions that seek for relief in diverting Business or Pleasures provoke God to more severe inflictions of his Anger But those surly proud Natures that are exasperated by Sufferings and wrestle with the strongest Storms are in combination with the stubborn Spirits of Hell and shall have their portion with them Lastly When Men have a vain presumption of the goodness of their spiritual state of the degrees of their Goodness and their stability in Goodness not sensible of their continual want of renewed supplies from Heaven they are guilty of spiritual Pride Of this there are two Instances in Scripture the one in the Church of lukewarm Laodicea the other in the Pharisee mentioned by our Saviour The first said I am rich and increased in goods and have need of nothing and knowest not that thou art wretched and poor and miserable and blind and naked The Pharisee to raise the esteem of his own Goodness stands upon comparison with others whose Vices may be a foil to his seeming Graces He said I am not as other Men are Extortioners Adulterers or even as this Publican 'T is true he superficially thanks God but the air of Pride transpires through his Devotion by valuing himself above others worse than himself as if his own Vertues were the productive cause of his distinguishing Goodness If Humility be not mix'd in the exercise of every Grace 't is of no value in God's esteem The humble unjust Publican was rather justified than the proud Pharisee This spiritual Pride is very observable in the superstitious who measuring Divine Things with Humane from that mixture of imaginations introduce carnal Rites into the Worship of God and value themselves upon their opinionative Goodness They mistake the swelling of a Dropsie for substantial growth and presume themselves to be more holy than others for their proud singularity Superstition is like Ivy that twines about the Tree and is its seeming ornament but drains its vital Sap and under its verdant Leaves covers a Carcass Thus carnal Ceremonies seem to adorn Religion but really dispirit and weaken its efficacy Pharisaical Pride is fomented by a zealous observance of things uncommanded in Religion neither pleasing to God nor profitable to Men. On the contrary some Visionaries pretend to such a sublimity of Grace and eminent Sanctity that they are above the use of Divine Ordinances They pretend to live in immediate Communion with God as the Angels and dazled with specious Spiritualities they neglect Prayer hearing the Word and receiving the Sacrament the means of growing in Grace as if they were arrived at Perfection This is the effect of spiritual Pride and Delusion For the mortifying this vicious Disposition consider that Pride is in a high degree injurious and provoking to God An ordinary Malefactor breaks the King's Laws but a Rebel strikes at his Person and Crown The first and great Commandment is to honour God with the highest Esteem and Love with the most humble Adoration consequently the greatest Sin is the despising his Majesty and obscuring his Glory There is no Sin more clearly opposite to Reason and Religion For the most essential duty and character of an understanding Creature is dependance and observance of God as the first cause and last end of all things receiving with thankfulness his Benefits and referring them all to his Glory Pride contradicts natural Justice by intercepâ—ing the grateful affectionate ascent of the Soul to God in celebrating his Greatness and Goodness A proud Man constructively puts himself out of the number of God's Creatures and deserves to be excluded from his tender Providence The Jealousie of God his most severe and sensible Attribute is kindled for this revolture of the
Peace with God And by this we may understand from whence the purifying Vertue of Faith as it justifies proceeds for it necessarily supposes us to be under the guilt of Sin and in desperate Misery that we are obnoxious to God's Tribunal who is a righteous and holy Judge angry and incens'd for our Sins and will be a revenging Judge to all that continue in their guilty state and that our Pardon and Right to Eternal Life are to be intirely ascrib'd to the soveraign Mercy of God the Original Cause and the Blood of Christ the Meritorious Cause of it Now Faith works by Love the Love of God to us apprehended by Faith and our Love to him which is the reflexion of his Beams shining in our Hearts and is the powerful Principle of Obedience to him The well-grounded Belief that God will save us and bring us to Eternal Glory does naturally and necessarily inspire the Breast of a Christian with a holy Fear of Sin that provokes him and a constant Care to please him in all things Besides God in dispensing his pardoning Mercy requires our perseverance in a holy Conversation What our Saviour said to the Man miraculously cur'd of his inveterate Disease Behold thou art made whole Sin no more least a worse thing befall thee is virtually said to every pardon'd Believer when God speaks peace to his people 't is with this Caution let them not return any more to folly I shall under another Head speak of Faith as the Effectual Means of our Sanctification and now will proceed 3. Faith in the disposal of all things by the Infallible Providence of God is one of those universal Principles those prime and great Truths rich in practical Consequences that are powerful to compose and calm our Minds and Hearts in the midst of the visible disorders and confusion of things in the present World The Heathens measur'd the Divine Perfections by the compass of their narrow Understandings They could not conceive that one God was able to order all things and form'd a vast number of Subordinate Gods to whom the care of particular things was Committed They blasphem'd him in their Imaginations thinking him to be like Mortal Kings insufficient to govern immediately several Kingdoms and Nations divers in their Customs and Languages who are constrain'd to manage their Affairs by the number variety and order of Officers Vice-Roys to divide the Government Counsellors to advise about occurrences of Moment Secretaries to give Commissions and make dispatches Judges to dispense the Laws Military Officers to prevent Tumults Others confin'd his Presence and Agency to the Heavens and sequester'd him from the lower World the mutable Sphere of the Elements and of Men and their Actions leaving them under the dominion of Fortune Others thought that he was so content with his own Felicity that all things without him were distant from his Thoughts and Care and that to regard and regulate the multitude of Emergencies in this lower World would disturb his Felicity Thus the Professors of Wisdom like the Foolish Harpaste that Seneca speaks of who insensible of her own blindness alwayes complain'd the Sun was down and the house dark thought all things were left at random in loose disorder and confusion here below Nay some of the clearest spirits and most Vertuous among the Heathen could not reconcile the Oppressions and Infelicities of Good Men and the Prosperity of the Wicked with the Rectitude and Equity of the Divine Providence and express'd their Discontents in the Stile and Accent of their Passions Of this we have two Eminent Instances Brutus who with inviolable Integrity had as a Senator managed the Publick Affairs and with undeclining Courage endeavour'd to recover his Countrey from Ignominious Bondage when Vanquisht by the Usurpers broke out into a Tragical Complaint O Virtue I worship thee as a substantial Good a Deity but thou art an empty Name an Idol The Emperor Titus who was the delight of Mankind for his goodness and benignity surpriz'd with Death in his flourishing Age accus'd Heaven that his Life was unjustly snatcht from him The ways and thoughts of God in the Government of the World are above the wayes and thoughts of men as the heavens are higher than the earth And if his Wisdom had not descended from Heaven and discover'd it self in the Sanctuary We should be foolish and like the beasts that perish But the Word of God assures us that nothing happens in this tumultuous and tempestuous World without the Knowledge the Will either approving or permissive and Efficiency of God so far as to dispose the worst Evils by his powerful Providence subordinately to his main End that is alway good Nothing is so high as to be exempted from the Dominion nor so low as to be excluded from the Care of his Providence 1. We are assur'd that all things and persons are under the Eye and Inspection of his Providence No silence no solitude nor darkness can hide the Designs and Actions of the Wicked nor the Sufferings of his People from his perfect Knowledge How many Millions of Inhabitants are in the World how different their Conditions and Circumstances ebbing or flowing but they are all actually and distinctly known to God Without his Universal and Infallible Knowledge it were impossible that God should Govern the World and Judge it Torquatus Manlius a Noble Roman though blind through Age was chosen Consul and General to Rule the State and the Army But no Arguments no Intreaties could perswade him to Consent to it he answer'd That it was absolutely absurd that the Lives and Estates of others should be Committed to his Providence and Protection who must manage all things by the Eyes of others The Perfection of God's Knowledge qualifies him to Govern the World and is the Foundation of Trust in him He tells the number of the Stars that seem innumerable Psal. 147. 41. and from hence the Psalmist encourages the Church that was then disperss'd in Captivity that he could gather the out-casts of Israel though scatter'd in strange Countries and build up Jerusalem He not onely numbers the Stars but the hairs of our Heads that are of so small Consideration All Creatures are supported in their Beings and Operations by his Power therefore 't is impossible they should be without his Knowledge and that any thing should be done by them or befall them without his disposing VVill. 2. The Providence of God is not merely Theoretical but Active and orders all things He rides upon the heavens that is regulates their Motions as easily as a skilful Rider manages a Horse The Stars that in the Language of Scripture are the Armies of Heaven for their Number Order and Actions he calls by their names that is absolutely Commands them For his Call is always effectual and exactly accomplish'd As in the Creation He spake and it was done he commanded and it stood fast So in the Conservation and
his impendent Suffering exprest a great perplexity Now is my soul troubled and what shall I say The fearful expectation of the just and heavy punishment due for our Sins perplex'd his Holy and Humane Nature he address'd a Request to God Father save me from this hour but it was with a Revocation but for this cause came I to this hour it was subordinate to his main desire Father glorifie thy Name When he was seized by his bloody Enemies and Peter struck with his Sword one of them he repress'd his rash Zeal with that Consideration The Cup which my Father has given shall I not drink of it He regarded his Soveraign Will in giving it and with Submission drank of the dregs of it How instructive is this to us to take the hottest and bitterest Potion that God our Father and Physician prepares for us 2. Prayer is an Effectual Means to obtain an increase of Spiritual Blessings 'T is the Law of Heaven that Blessings are to be obtain'd by Prayer for this is most Honourable to God and Beneficial to us 'T is the Supreme Act of Religious Worship discover'd by the Light of Nature to the Heathens Prayer is the Homage due to his Eternal Greatness the most glorious acknowledgement of his All-sufficiency that he is Able and Willing to relieve our Poverty from his immense Treasures notwithstanding our unworthiness for we are less than the least of his mercies and deserve the severe inflictions of his Justice 'T is the setting our Seal to his Truth that he is a God hearing Prayer 'T is very beneficial to us for it engages us to receive his Benefits with Adoration and Thankfulness and prepares us to receive new Favours and by our obtaining Blessings in this way we have a more Clear and Comfortable Sense of his Love that gives the sweetest Tincture and Relish to them 'T is true Prayer is not requir'd to inform God or to incline him to be Gracious and sometimes from his exuberant Goodness he prevents our desires but we cannot regularly expect his Blessings without the Sense of our Wants and Prayer to supply them Now all Blessings are originally from God but some are immediately from him As the Sun inlightens the World by its presence in the Day and the Moon and Stars inlighten it in the Night by Light borrowed from the Sun St. James tells us Every good and perfect gift descends from above from the Father of Lights All Blessings in the order of Nature the Qualities of the Body Beauty Strength Health or the Endowments of the Mind Knowledge Wit Eloquence are his Gifts all Temporary Talents Riches Power Dignity are from him by the mediation of second Causes but there are more precious and perfect Gifts that come from him immediately as the Father of Lights Sanctifying Graces and Spiritual Comforts by the Illumination and Infusion of the Holy Spirit The first sort of Blessings we are not to pray for absolutely for they may be pernicious by our abuse of them to our Souls and are often bestowed upon Reprobate Sinners But the other kind saving Graces deserve our most ardent desires As the hart pants after the water-brooks our Souls should seek after the Favour of God and Sanctifying Grace the infallible Testimony and effect of it We must pray for them unsatisfiedly not content with any thing else nor without excellent degrees of them David breaks out his ardent desires O that my wayes were directed according to thy Statutes O that my Soul may be baptiz'd with the Holy Ghost as with Fire to purifie and refine me from all my dross that as Gold taken from a vein of Earth receives such a lustre from the Fire as if it were the sole product of Fire so my renovation by the Spirit may be so intire that all Carnality may be abolish'd Our Prayers should be for our perseverance in well-doing Perseverance is a most free Gift of God a new Grace superadded to what we have received without it we shall forsake God every Hour God promises to give the sanctifying Spirit as a permanent Principle of Holiness in his People to cause them to walk in his Statutes and declares for this I will be enquired of by the house of Israel We must imitate Jacob who wrestled with the Angel and would not let him go till he had blest him This is an Emblem of fervent Prayer wherein we strive with the strength and sinews of our Souls and as it were offer violence to the King of Heaven to bestow Spiritual Blessings upon us Carnal Men are intemperate greedy and passionate in their desires of Temporal Blessings tho' Reason Religion and Experience of their Vanity should regulate them They are impatient and insatiable and will bear no denial nor delay but with regret and reluctancy But how remiss and cold are their desires for spiritual and eternal Blessings they invite a denial Their Prayers are defective in the Principle they do not understand the value and their want of them Divine Grace the gift of God's saving Mercy the dear purchase of the Sufferings of Christ the precious fruit of his Holy Spirit are of little price in their esteem Our Saviour tells the Samaritan Woman If thou knewest the gift of God and who it is that asks thee Give me to drink thou wouldst have asked of him and he would have given thee living water We are encouraged to be earnest and resolved Suppliants for the Graces of God's Spirit because we are assur'd he is most willing to bestow them Our Saviour sometimes encourages us from the resemblance of a Father who cannot so unnaturalize himself and devest his tender Affections as to renounce his own off-spring to deny a Child necessary Food for his subsistence Will he give him a stone for bread or a serpent for a fish If ye then being evil know how to give good gifts to your children how much more shall your heavenly Father give the holy Spirit to them that ask it Sometimes he excites us to pray and not to faint from the Parable of an incompassionate Stranger a Judge that was overcome by importunity to afford relief to one in distress God delights to hear and answer those Prayers that are for his best Blessings When Solomon prayed for Wisdom to Rule his People God was so pleas'd that he gave him Wisdom in an Eminent Degree and as an accession Riches and Honour If we imitate Solomon in his Prayer we shall have his Acceptance St. James directs us If any man wants wisdom let him ask it of God who gives liberally and upbraids no man the Wisdom to manage Afflictions that may be for his Glory and our Spiritual Advantage He gives Liberally which either respects the Affection of the Giver or the Measure of the Gift or the repeated Acts of Giving and upbraids not neither with their unworthiness nor the frequency of their Addresses Liberality among men is a costly Vertue and but
brings to our remembrance the Death of Christ in that lively Sacramental Representation and seals the pardoning Mercy of God to our Souls and conveys all the precious Fruits of it to us A lively Faith on our suffering Saviour makes him ours by an intimate and inseparable union and fruition We dwell in him and he in us How many drooping Souls have been raised how many wounded Spirits have been healed how many cloudy Souls have been inlightened in that Ordinance Here the comforting Spirit breaths our Saviour shews his reviving Countenance God speaks Peace to his People A Believer tasts the hidden Manna and the Love of Christ that is sweeter than Wine The bruised Reed becomes a strong Pillar in the Temple of God the smoaking Flax is cherish'd into a purer and more pleasant Light than springs from the Sun in its brightness 3. Love to Christ is increas'd by partaking of this Ordinance wherein his bloody Death is represented Greater Love could not be express'd than in his dying for us and lesser Love could not have saved us from perishing for ever He dyed not only to satisfie his Father's Justice but his own Love to us 'T is said by the Prophet He shall see of the travel of his Soul and be satisfied The travel of his Soul implies his Affection and Affliction the strength of his Love and his immense Sorrows Now nothing is more repugnant to the Principle so deeply engraven in Humane Nature than not to return Love for Love Our Saviour by the dearest titles deserves our Love not only for his high Perfections but his deep Sufferings He was without Form and Comeliness in the Eyes of the Carnal VVorld when disfigured by his Sufferings But can he be less lovely in his Sufferings wherein he declar'd his dearest Love Astonishing Love appeared in his dying Countenance flam'd in his quenched Eyes flowed from his pierced Side To a spiritual Eye he is as amiable with his Crown of Thorns as with his Crown of Glory Our Love to Christ like Fire out of its sphere must be preserved by renewing its Fewel or it will decline Now there is nothing more proper to feed it than Christ's Love to us and in this Ordinance the sacred Fire is maintained The Eye affects the Heart The mournings the longings and delights of Love are most sensible in spiritual Communion with our Saviour at this Feast The inflamed Spouse in a Rapture of Admiration and Complacency breaks forth I am my beloved's and he is mine St. Paul who was rap'd up to the third Heavens and heard unspeakable things declares Christ crucified to be the most excellent Object of his Knowledge his most precious Treasure and dearest Joy 'T is true the carnal receiver of the Elements is a stranger to this Love and Joy that is only felt by Faith and Experience There are many Christians in title that never felt any vital emanations from Christ in this Ordinance The most content themselves with Sacramental Communion without Spiritual and feel no correspondent Affections to his extream Sufferings for us But if there be a spark of Life in the Soul if all be not cold and dead within the remembrance of Christ's bleeding and dying Love will inexpressibly endear him to us Now our Sanctification was a principal end of his Death The Apostle declares that Christ loved his Church and gave himself for it that he might sanctifie and cleanse it by the washing of the water and by the word That he might present to himself a glorious Church not having spot or wrinkle or any such thing but that it should be holy and without blemish Can we allow any Sin in our Hearts and Lives and defeat the design of his Love and disparage the vertue of his Sufferings Can we endure any Sin to reign in us that was the cause of his Death so full of Ignominy and Torment He has declared how precious our Sanctification is in his esteem 't is one of the richest Veins in the whole Mine of Grace and can we slight it Can we imagine that his Death obtain'd for us an impure Indulgence for our Lusts when the end of it was our absolute Purity Can we content our selves with low degrees of Holiness when he paid so dear a Price for our Perfection The comfortable assurance that he was crucified for us arises from our being crucified with him to all the Vanities of the world Indeed the external receiving this Ordinance is not beneficial to an Unbelieveâ— no more than that the setting a Feast before a dead Body that is uncapable of feeding and nourishment Men must believe before they can receive spiritual nourishment by it and have the Life of Grace before they can feed on the Bread of Life But the unfeigned Believer finds his inward Man renewed by it I will add to what has been said that in this Ordinance the Covenant of the Gospel is sealed by the contracting Parties God ratifies his Promise of Grace and we seal our Duty of Obedience 'T is true we are bound by an antecedent right and higher obligation than our own consent the Command of God binds us to take this Covenant and to keep it We are bought with a price and are not our own Now if the Blood of the Son of God be our Ransom from the bondage of Sin and Death and we in the Sacrament partake of his Blood and by that solemn Right dedicate our selves to him That whether we live we live to the Lord or whether we dye we dye to him how constraining is this to make us diligent in accomplishing the sacred ends of Christ's Institution How just is it that since he dyed for our Salvation we should live to his Glory and when we renew our Right in the Blessings of the Covenant we should sincerely renew our Obligations to the Duties of it If after our holy Engagement we renounce our Allegiance to our Prince and Saviour by entertaining his Enemies the Lusts of the Flesh we incur a double Guilt not only by transgressing the Law of God but by violating our Oath of Fidelity and double Guilt will bring double Damnation That the renewing our Coâ—â—â—ant aâ— the Lord's Supper may be more effectual let us consider 1. That holy Resolutions and Engagements are the immediate Principle of Obedience Till the Convictions of our Duty are wrought into Resolutionâ— they are of no efficacy 2. They must proceed from the dâ—liberate Judgment and determin'd Will. The Apostle declares The love of Chriâ—â— constrains us we thus judge if one dyed for all then were all dead and the consequence is strong that we should live 〈◊〉 him who dyed for us Empty valleitâ—â—â— are no volitions faint and waveâ—â—â—â— Purposes have no force Believers aâ—â— exhorted with full purpose of Hâ—art 〈◊〉 â—leave to the Lord. 3. The renewing our holy Engaâ—â—ments are very necessary for perseveraâ—â—â— in our Duty Our Hearts are false 〈◊〉 foolish and apt to fly from God thâ—â— are as changable
Influences are so beneficial to the lower World If they are Clouded with Ignorance or Eclips'd by the Interposition of Earthly things they are useless There are divers degrees of substantial Learning and Spiritual Skill but a sufficiency of Knowledge for the great work of saving Souls is requisite in all Zeal united with Knowledge is an indispensable Qualification When the Apostles were fill'd with the Holy Ghost descending in the significant Emblem of Fiery Tongues of what admirable Efficacy was their Preaching The first Sermon Converted Three Thousand that were Murderers of our Saviour and had the stains of his Blood fresh upon them Tongues of Flesh are without Vigour and make no lasting Impression on the Hearers but Tongues of Fire have a Divine Force and Operation to dispel the Errors of Mens Minds and quicken their Affections to Refine and Purifie their Conversations They must be diligent and watchful for the Souls of their people as those who must give an Account to the Supreme Pastor and Redeemer of Souls And as they must Teach what they Learn from the Gospel so they must live as they Teach If they are Sensual and Worldly how can their Prayers ascend with Acceptance to God and descend with a Blessing to the People There should be a singularity of Holiness distinguishing those who are Consecrated to Instruct and Govern the Church Their Sins are aggravated from the quality of their Persons this is signified in the Levitical Law that appointed the Expiatory Sacrifice for the Sin of the Priest should be as Costly as for the Sin of the whole Congregation So if the tenor of their Lives be not Correspondent to their Sermons it will destroy the force of the most inflaming Eloquence and render the Doctrines of the greatest Purity without Efficacy O that all who are engaged in this Holy and without their Personal Holiness dreadful Office would duely Consider the Account they must give of their managing of it to the great Shepherd at his Appearance The Duty of the People is to Obey to Imitate to Honour their Faithful Pastors otherwise every Sermon they Hear will be an Accusation and Argument against them in the Day of Judgment 3. The Civil Relation between the Magistrates and People bind them to the respective Duties of their different States Magistrates Supreme and Subordinate in the Scale of Government are the Ministers of God for the good of the People They derive their Authority from him and are stiled Gods by an Analogy and Deputation which necessarily infers they must Rule for his Glory The end of the Magistracy should be the end of the Magistrates in the exercise of Government that their Subjects may lead a peaceable and quiet life in all godliness and honesty The Prince as the Natural Head has the Supremacy in Place and Dignity over all the parts of the Body and is vigilant for their Preservation so being the Political Head highly exalted above all degrees in the Kingdom must be provident and solicitous for the Temporal Interest and the Eternal Benefit of his Subjects He must make Laws Holy Just and Good as becomes his Lieutenancy to Christ and to Command the Execution of them He is to consider that the Actions of Kings are Examples and their Examples Rules more influential unto the Lives of their Subjects than their Laws Those who are in the Seat of Judicature must dispense Judgment with a clear Serenity with calm Tranquility of Mind without Partiality and Passions they must not Honour the Rich nor Favour the Poor but be true to their Light and Integrity All that are Concern'd in their several Stations should dispense a vigorous Influence for the suppressing Vice and encouragement of Vertue and according to the Apostles Rule should be a terror to evil doers and a praise to those who do well Especially they should be cloth'd with Zeal in punishing Offenders that do not hide their horrid Abominations but commit them without fear of the Light of the Sun or of Nature and out-dare Satan when Impudence and Incontinence and Intemperance triumph in the Ruins of Modesty Chastity and Sobriety Seneca tells of some in old Rome that were not asham'd of the â—oulest Sins but when describ'd and represented on the Theatre gloried in their shame This heighth of Villany was not limited to the Age of Nero but to this Extremity Vice is arriv'd in our Times If by just Severity such Publick and Crying Wickedness be not supprest what reason is there to fear that the Righteous Judge of the World will make the Nation a spectacle of visible Vengeance and vindicate the Honour of his despis'd Deity How will Magistrates that are careless in the Execution of the Laws appear before the impartial Tribunal above when besides the guilt of their Sins by Personal Commission they shall be charg'd with the Sins Committed by their Connivance such heap'd Damnation will sink them into the lowest Hell The Duty of Subjects is the highest Reverence of the Sacred Authority wherewith Princes are Invested They must pay Tribute for the support of the Government They must Obey for God as Princes must Rule for God But in Sinful things as Princes have no Power to Command so the Subjects are under no obligation to obey To Conclude this Argument there is no Counsel more directive and profitable for our arriving to an excellent Degree of Holiness than this let our progress in the way to Heaven be with the same Zeal as we felt in our first entrance into it and with the same seriousness as when we shall come to the end of it The first and last Actions of the Saints are usually the most Excellent David's first and last Wayes were most Excellent see his Divine Frame near his End Although my house be not so with God yet he hath made with me an everlasting Covenant order'd in all things and sure this is all my desire although he make it not to grow New Converts when call'd out of Darkness into the marvellous Light of the Gospel are more zealous in their opposition to Sin and more Active and Chearful in the Service of God The bitterness of Repentance before Reconciliation Causes an Abhorrence of Sin They remember the Prayers and Tears the Anxieties of Conscience th Restless Hours that Sin cost them As one that is saved from Fire that was ready to devour him retains so strong an Impression of the danger that makes him fearful ever after They are fill'd with the Affections of Love and Thankfulness to God and Glorifie Mercy that spar'd them when Justice might have destroy'd them When no Eye had Compassion and no Relief was afforded in their extreme Misery when they lothed themselves frighted with the Image of Satan printed on their Soul then God did regard them with tender Affection when they fled from him then he did overtake them by preventing and prevailing Grace They have the quickest Sense of their Obligations to the Redeemer and the