reason spoils his understanding and helps to make himself a fool whereas he that conquers his passions and keeps them under doth thereby preserve and improve his understanding Freedom from irregular passions doth not onely signifie that a man is wise but really contributes to the making of him such 2. Religion tends to the ease and pleasure the peace and tranquillity of our minds wherein happiness chiefly consists and which all the wisdom and Philosophy of the world did always aim at as the utmost felicity of this life And that this is the natural fruit of a religious and vertuous course of life the Scripture declares to us in these Texts Psal 97.11 Light is sown for the righteous and gladness for the upright in heart Great peace have all they that love thy Law Psal 119.165 and nothing shall offend them Her ways are ways of pleasantness Pro. 3.17 and all her paths are peace Isa 32.17 The fruit of righteousness is peace and the effect of righteousness quietness and assurance for ever The plain sense of which Texts is that pleasure and peace do naturally result from a holy and good life When a man hath once engag'd himself in a Religious course and is habituated to piety and holiness all the exercises of Religion and devotion all acts of goodness and vertue are delightfull to him To honour and worship God to pray to him and to praise him to study his will to meditate upon him and to love him all these bring great pleasure and peace along with them What greater contentment and satisfaction can there be to the mind of man when it is once purifi'd and refin'd from the dregs of sensual pleasures and delights and rais'd to its true height and pitch than to contemplate and admire the infinite excellencies and perfections of God to adore his greatness and to love his goodness How can the thoughts of God be troublesome to any one who lives soberly and righteously and godly in the world No man that loves goodness and righteous ness hath any reason to be afraid of God or to be disquieted with the thoughts of him There is nothing in God that is terrible to a good man but all the apprehensions which we naturally have of him speak comfort and promise happiness to such a one The consideration of his attributes is so far from being a trouble to him that it is his recreation and delight It is for wicked men to dread God and to endeavour to banish the thoughts of him out of their minds but a holy and vertuous man may have quiet and undisturb'd thoughts even of the justice of God because the terrour of it doth not concern him Now Religion doth contribute to the peace and quiet of our minds these two ways First By allaying those passions which are apt to ruffle and discompose our spirits Malice and hatred wrath and revenge are very fretting and vexatious and apt to make our minds sore and uneasie but he that can moderate these affections will find a strange ease and pleasure in his own spirit Secondly by freeing us from the anxieties of guilt and the fears of divine wrath and displeasure than which nothing is more stinging and tormenting and renders the life of man more miserable and unquiet And whaâ— a spring of peace and joy must it needs be to apprehend upon good grounds that God is reconcil'd to us and become our friend that all our sins are perfectly forgiven and shall never more be remembred against us What unexpressible comfort does overflow the pious and devout soul from the remembrance of a holy and well-spent life and a conscience of its own innocency and integrity And nothing but the practice of Religion and Vertue can give this ease and satisfaction to the mind of man For there is a certain kind of temper and disposition which is necessary to the pleasure and quiet of our minds and consequently to our happiness and that is holiness and goodness which as it is the perfection so is it likewise the happiness of the Divine nature And on the contrary the chief part of the misery of wicked men and of those accursed spirits the Devils is this that they are of a disposition contrary to God they are envious and malicious and cruel and of such a temper as is naturally a torment and disquiet to it self And here the foundation of Hell is laid in the evil disposition of mens minds and till this be cur'd which can onely be done by Religion it is as impossible for a man to be happy that is pleas'd and contented within himself as it is for a sick man to be at ease Because such a man hath that within him which torments him and he cannot be at ease till that be remov'd The man's spirit is out of order and off the hinges and till that be put into its right frame he will be perpetually disquieted and can find no rest within himself The Prophet very fitly describes to us the unquiet condition of wicked men Isa 57.10.21 The wicked is like the troubled sea when it cannot rest whose waters cast up mire and dirt there is no peace saith my God to the wicked So long as sin and corruption abound in our hearts they will be restlesly working like wine which will be in a perpetual motion and agitation till it have purg'd it self of its dregs and foulness Secondly Religion does likewise tend to the happiness of the outward man Now the blessings of this kind are such as either respect our health or estate or reputation or relations and in respect of all these Religion is highly advantageous to us 1. As to our health a Religious and vertuous life doth eminently conduce to that and to long life as a consequent of it And in this sense I understand these following Texts Prov. 3.1 2. My Son forget not my Law but let thy heart keep my Commandments for length of days and long life shall they add to thee and v. 7 and 8. Fear the Lord and depart from evil it shall be health to thy navel and marrow to thy bones and v. 16. among the temporal advantages of wisdom or Religion this is mention'd as the first and principal length of days is in her right hand and v. 18. she is a tree of life to them that lay hold upon her and again Whoso findeth me findeth life but he that sinneth against me wrongeth his own soul Prov. 8.35 36. that is injurious to his own life all they that hate me love death all which is undoubtedly true in a spiritual sense but is certainly meant by Solomon in the natural sense And these promises of the blessings of health and long life to good men are not only declaratory of the good pleasure and intention of God towards them but likewise of the natural tendency of the thing For Religion doth oblige men to the practice of those vertues which do in their
and use and that 's the best thing which serves the best end and purpose and the more necessary any thing is to such an end the better it is So that the best knowledge is that which is of greatest use and necessity to us in order to our great end which is eternal happiness and the salvation of our Souls Curious speculations and the contemplation of things that are impertinent to us and do not concern us nor serve to promote our happiness are but a more specious and ingenious sort of idleness a more pardonable and creditable kind of Ignorance That Man that doth not know those things which are of use and necessity for him to know is but an ignorant man whatever he may know besides Now the knowledge of God and of Christ and of our duty is of the greatest usefulness and necessity to us in order to our happiness It 's of absolute necessity that we should know God and Christ in order to our being happy This is life eternal that is Joh. 17.3 the onely way to it to know thee the onely true God and him whom thou hast sent Jesus Christ It is necessary also in order to our happiness to know our duty because 't is necessary for us to do it and it is impossible to do it except we know it So that whatsoever other knowledge a man may be endued withall he is but an ignorant person who doth not know God the Author of his being the preserver and protector of his life his Soveraign and his Judge the giver of every good and perfect gift his surest refuge in trouble his best friend or worst enemy the present support of his life his hopes in death his future happiness and his portion for ever who does not know his relation to God the duty that he owes him and the way to please him who can make him happy or miserable for ever who doth not know the Lord Jesus Christ who is the way the truth and the life If a man by a vast and imperious mind and a heart large as the sand upon the Sea-shore as it is said of Solomon could command all the knowledge of Nature and Art of words and things could attain to a mastery in all Languages and sound the depths of all Arts and Sciences measure the earth and the heavens and tell the stars and declare their order and motions could discourse of the interests of all States the intrigues of all Courts the reason of all Civil laws and constitutions and give an account of the History of all ages could speak of trees from the Cedar-tree that is in Lebanon even unto the Hysop that springs out of the wall and of beasts also and of fowls and of creeping things and of fishes and yet should in the mean time be destitute of the knowledge of God and Christ and his duty all this would be but an impertinent vanity and a more glittering kind of Ignorance and such a man like the Philosopher who whilst he was gazing upon the stars fell into the ditch would but sapienter descendere in infernum be undone with all this knowledge and with a great deal of wisdom go down to Hell 2. Secondly That to be religious is the truest wisdom and that likewise upon two accounts 1. Because it is to be wise for our selves 2. It is to be wise as to our main interest and concernment 1. 'T is to be wise for our selves There 's an expression Job 22.21 He that is wise is profitable to himself and Prov. 9.12 If thou be wise thou shalt be wise for thy self intimating that wisdom regards a man 's own interest and advantage and that he is not a wise man that doth not take care of himself and his own concernments according to that of Old Ennius nequicquam sapere sapientem qui sibi ipsi prodesse non quiret That man hath but an empty title of Wisdom and is not really vvise vvho is not wise for himself As self-preservation is the first principle of Nature so care of our selves and our ovvn interest is the first part of wisdom He that is wise in the affairs and concernments of other men but careless and negligent of his own that man may be said to be busie but he is not wise he is employed indeed but not so as a wise man should be Now this is the Wisdom of Religion that it directs a man to a care of his own proper interest and concernment 2. It is to be wise as to our main interest Our chief end and highest interest is happiness And this is happiness to be freed from all if it may however from the greatest evils and to enjoy if it may be all good however the chiefest To be happy is not onely to be freed from the pains and diseases of the body but from anxiety and vexation of spirit not onely to enjoy the pleasures of sense but peace of Conscience and tranquillity of mind To be happy is not onely to be so for a little while but as long as may be and if it be possible for ever Now Religion designs our greatest and longest happiness it aims at a freedom from the greatest evils and to bring us to the possession and enjoyment of the greatest good For Religion wisely considers that men have immortal spirits which as they are spirits are capable of a pleasure and happiness distinct from that of our bodies and our senses and because they are immortal are capable of an everlasting happiness Now our souls being the best part of our selves and eternity being infinitely the most considerable duration the greatest wisdom is to secure the interest of our souls and of eternity though it be with loss and to the prejudice of our temporal and inferior Interests Therefore Religion directs us rather to secure inward peace than outward ease to be more carefull to avoid everlasting and intolerable torment than short and light afflictions which are but for a moment to court the favour of God more than the friendship of the world and not so much to fear them that can kill the body and after that have no more that they can do as him who after he hath kill'd can destroy both body and soul in hell In a word our main interest is to be as happy as we can and as long as is possible and if we be cast into such circumstances that we must be either in part and for a time or else wholly and always miserable the best wisdom is to chuse the greatest and most lasting happiness but the least and shortest misery Upon this account Religion prefers those pleasures which flow from the presence of God for evermore infinitely before the transitory pleasures of this world and is much more carefull to avoid eternal misery than present sufferings This is the wisdom of Religion that upon consideration of the whole and casting up all things together it does advise and lead us to our best interest
of the greatest part of Christians How grosly and openly do many of us contradict the plain precepts of the Gospel by our ungodliness and worldly lusts by living intemperately or unjustly or prophanely in this present world As if the grace of God which brings salvation had never appear'd to us as if we had never hear'd of Heaven or Hell or believ'd not one word that the Scripture says concerning them as if we were in no expectation of the blessed hope and the glorious appearance of the great God and our Saviour Jesus Christ whom God hath appointed to judge the world in righteousness and who will bestow mighty rewards upon those who faithfully serve him but will come in flaming sire to take vengeance on them that know not God and that obey not the Gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ Let us not then deceive our selves by pretending to this excellent knowledge of Christ Jesus our Lord if we do not frame our lives according to it For though we know these things never so well yet we are not happy unless we do them Nay we are but the more miserable for knowing them if we do them not Therefore it concerns every one of us to consider seriously what we believe and whether our belief of the Christian Religion have its due effect upon our lives If not all the Precepts and Promises and Threatnings of the Gospel will rise up in judgment against us and the Articles of our Faith will be so many Articles of Accusation and the great weight of our charge will be this that we did not obey that Gospel which we profess'd to believe that we made confession of the Christian Faith but liv'd like Heathens Not to believe the Christian Religion after so great evidence and confirmation as God hath given to it is very unreasonable but to believe it to be true and yet to live as if it were false is the greatest repugnancy and contradiction that can be He that does not believe Christianity either hath or thinks he hath some reason for with-holding his assent from it But he that believes it and yet lives contrary to it knows that he hath no reason for what he does and is convinc'd that he ought to do otherwise And he is a miserable man indeed that does those things for the doing of which he continually stands condemn'd by his own mind and accordingly God will deal more severely with such persons He will pardon a thousand defects in our understandings if they do not proceed from gross carelesness and neglect of our selves but the faults of our wills have no excuse because we knew to do better and were convinc'd in our minds that we ought not to have done so Dost thou believe that the wrath of God is reveal'd from Heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men and dost thou still allow thy self in ungodliness and worldly lusts Art thou convinc'd that without holiness no man shall see the Lord and dost thou still persist in a wicked course Art thou fully perswaded that no whoremonger nor adulterer nor covetous nor unrighteous person shall have any inheritance in the Kingdom of God and Christ and dost thou for all that continue to practise these vices What canst thou say man why it should not be to thee according to thy faith If it so fall out that thou art miserable and undone for ever thou hast no reason to be surpriz'd as if some unexpected thing had happen'd to thee It is but with thee just as thou believ'dst it would be when thou didst these things For how couldst thou expect that God should accept of thy good belief when thou didst so notoriously contradict it by a bad life How couldst thou look for other but that God should condemn thee for the doing of those things for which thine own Conscience did condemn thee all the while thou wast doing of them When we come into the other world there is no consideration that will sting our consciences more cruelly than this that we did wickedly when we knew to have done better and chose to make our selves miserable when we understood the way to have been happy To conclude we Christians have certainly the best and the holiest the wisest and most reasonable Religion in the world but then we are in the worst condition of all mankind if the best Religion in the world do not make us good 1 JOHN 5.3 And his commandments are not grievous ONE of the great prejudices which men have entertain'd against the Christian Religion is this that it lays upon men heavy burdens and grievous to be born that the Laws of it are very strict and severe difficult to be kept and yet dangerous to be broken That it requires us to govern and keep under our passions and to contradict many times our strongest inclinations and desires to cut off our right hand and to pluck out our right eye to love cur enemies to bless them that curse us to do good to them that hate us and to pray for them that despitefully use us and persecute us to forgive the greatest injuries that are done to us and to make reparation for the least that we do to others to be contented with our condition patient under sufferings and ready to sacrifice our dearest interests in this world and even our very lives in the cause of God and Religion All these seem to be hard sayings and grievous commandments For the removal of this prejudice I have chosen these words of the Apostle which expresly tells us the contrary that the commandments of God are not grievous And though this be a great truth if it be impartially consider'd yet it is also a great paradox to men of corrupt minds and vicious practices who are prejudic'd against Religion and the holy Laws of God by their interest and their lusts This seems a strange proposition to those who look upon Religion at a distance and never try'd the experiment of a holy life who measure the Laws of God not by the intrinsecal goodness and equity of them but by the reluctancy and opposition which they find in their own hearts against them Upon this account it will be requisite to take some pains to satisfie the reason of men concerning this truth and if it be possible to make it so evident that those who are unwilling to own it may yet be asham'd to deny it And methinks I have this peculiar advantage in the argument I have now undertaken that every reasonable man cannot chuse but wish me success in this attempt because I undertake the proof of that which it is every man's interest that it should be true And if I can make it out this pretence against Religion will not onely be baffled but we shall gain a new and forcible argument to perswade men over to it Now the easiness or difficulty of the observation of any Laws or commands depends chiefly upon these three things First Upon the Nature of
present in order to our future disquiet but if we resist and conquer them we lay the foundation of perpetual peace and tranquillity in our minds If we govern our selves in the use of sensual delights by the Laws of God and reason we shall find our selves more at ease than if we should let loose the reins to our appetites and lusts For the more we gratifie our lusts the more craving they will be and the more impatient of denial Crescit indulgens sibi dirus hydrops every lust is a kind of hydropick distemper and the more we drink the more we shall thirst So that by retrenching our inordinate desires we do not rob our selves of any true pleasure but onely prevent the pain and trouble of farther dissatisfaction Humility though it may seem to expose a man to some contempt yet it is truly the readiest way to honour as on the contrary pride is a most improper and absurd means for the accomplishing of the end it aims at All other vices do in some measure attain their end covetousness does usually raise an estate and ambitious endeavours do often advance men to high places but pride and insolence and contempt of others do infallibly defeat their own design They aim at respect and esteem but never attain it for all mankind do naturally hate and slight a proud man What more reasonable than patience and contentedness and that we should in all things resign up our selves to the will of God who loves us as well as we do our selves and knows what is good for us better than we do our selves this certainly is the best way to prevent anxiety and perplexity of mind and to make the worst condition as tolerable as it can be and much more easie than it would be otherwise As for that peculiar Law of Christianity which forbids revenge and commands us to forgive injuries and to love our enemies no man can think it grievous who considers the pleasure and sweetness of love and the glorious victory of overcoming evil with good and then compares these with the restless torment and perpetual tumults of a malicious and revengeful spirit And lastly Self-denyal for the cause of God and Religion this is neither unreasonable nor to our disadvantage If we consider our infinite obligations to God we have no reason to think much to sacrifice to him our dearest interests in this world especially if we consider withall how disproportionably great the reward of our sufferings shall be in another world Besides that the interest of Religion is of so great concernment to the happiness of mankind that every man is bound for that reason to assert the truth of it with the hazard of any thing that is most valuable to him in this world II. We are not destitute of sufficient power and strength for the performing of God's commands Had God given us Laws but no power to keep them his commandments would then indeed have been grievous 'T is true we have contracted a great deal of weakness and impotency by our wilfull degeneracy from goodness but that grace which the Gospel offers to us for our assistance is sufficient for us And this seems to be the particular reason why the Apostle says here in the Text that his commandments are not grievous because he offers us an assistance proportionable to the difficulty of his commands and the necessity of our condition for it follows immediately after the Text for whosoever is born of God overcometh the world Therefore the commandments of God are not grievous because every Child of God that is every Christian is endued with a power whereby he is enabled to resist and conquer the temptations of the world The same Apostle elsewhere encourages Christians upon the same consideration greater is he that is in you 1 Joh. 4.4 than he that is in the world Though we be encompass'd with many and potent enemies who make it their business to tempt and to deter us from our duty yet our case is not hard so long as we have a greater strength on our side And this the Apostle tells us is the case of every Christian greater is he that is in you than he that is in the world Are there legions of Devils who are continually designing and working our ruine there are also myriads of good Angels who are more chearfull and officious to do us good For I doubt not but as those who are bent to do wickedly will never want tempters to urge them on and to push them forward in an evil course so on the other hand those who apply themselves seriously to the business of Religion and yield themselves tractable to good motions will find the good spirit of God more ready and active to encourage them than the Devil can be to pull them back unless we think that God hath given a greater power and a larger commission to the Devil to do men mischief than to his holy Spirits and his holy Angels for our assistance and encouragement But then we are to understand that this assistance is onely offer'd to men and not forc'd upon them whether they will or no. For if we beg God's grace but neglect to make use of it if we implore his assistance for the mortifying of our lusts but will not contribute our own endeavours God will withdraw his grace and take away his holy Spirit from us Nay if after we have begun well we do notoriously slacken our endeavours we forfeit the Divine assistance If when by God's grace we have in a good measure conquer'd the first difficulties of Religion and gain'd some habitual strength against sin if after this we grow careless and remiss and neglect our guard and lay our selves open to temptations God's Spirit will not always strive with us Notwithstanding all the promises of the Gospel and the mighty assistances there offer'd to us if we love any lust and will with Sampson lay our head in Dalilah's lap we shall be insensibly robb'd of our strength and become like other men III. We have the greatest encouragement to the observance of God's commands Two things make any course of life easie present pleasure and the assurance of a future reward Religion gives part of its reward in hand the present comfort and satisfaction of having done our duty and for the rest it offers us the best security that Heaven can give Now these two must needs make our duty very easie a considerable reward in hand and not onely the hopes but the assurance of a far greater recompence hereafter 1. Present peace and satisfaction of mind and unexpressible joy and pleasure flowing from the testimony of a good conscience This is present payment besides that it is the earnest of a future and greater happiness And this does naturally spring up in the mind of a good man great peace have they that love thy Law and nothing shall offend them All Acts of piety and vertue are not onely delightful for the