first heard him were amazed after this he took a course by himself and did not go up to Jerusalem to the College of Apostles there resident but went into Arabia so that if any one might be thought to set up another Doctrine it was he but he was so far from it that he established and confirmed the Truth of what they delivered and was very successfull in his Apostleship in all Places And when there had been some Whispers concerning him as though he proceeded not in the same way with the rest he went up to Jerusalem and there upon full examination James and Cephas and John who were the leading Apostles gave him the Right-hand of Fellowship in token of their full consent in the same Faith 2. The truth of the Gospel was the more plainly discovered All this while the Apostles only preached and delivered their Doctrine to the several Churches by verbal Instructions but after these had been received in the hearts of such Multitudes that there could be no suspicion that a false Representation of Christ's Doctrine or Actions could be received by those Churches then the wise Providence of God took care for Posterity and imploy'd several Persons in distant Places and Times to write the History of our Saviour And there was this advantage to the Church that the Gospels were written no sooner For all the Churches planted by the Apostles were then made Judges whether the Gospels written were agreeable to the Doctrine which the Apostles had taught and if not there would have been just reason to have question'd either the Truth of what had been taught them or what was delivered in the Gospels But when they found the main to be fully consonant to what they had been taught the Testimony of every one of these Churches did shew the concurrence of all the Apostles as to the Doctrine contained in the several Gospels And that which adds to the strength of this Proof is that when the true Gospels were written there were several false and counterfeit Gospels dispersed abroad under the Names of the Apostles themselves As of St. Peter St. Thomas St. Matthias and others as Eusebius informs us and as we have the genuine Acts of the Apostles so there were the pretended Acts of Paul of Andrew and John and the other Apostles How came these to be rejected and the other to be carefully received Here lies the true Advantage of Original Tradition before the written Gospels that by it the several Churches were enabled to pass a true Judgment concerning them when they came to be dispersed among them For they could presently tell whether what they read wer agreeable to what they had heard and received from the Apostles As suppose the Gospel of St. Matthew being published in Judoea were carried into Mesopotamia or Persia where many Christian Churches were very early planted these being throughly instructed by the Apostles in all things relating to the Life Death Resurrection and Doctrine of Christ could presently judge whether St. Matthew's Gospel agreed with what they had heard or not and the like holds as to all the Churches in the Roman Empire So that the consent of the Churches so soon while the Memory of the Apostles Doctrine was so fresh in their minds is in effect the consent of all the Apostles who taught them And this is very different from the case of particular Persons in some Churches who might mistake or forget what was taught for this is a concurrent Testimony of all the Apostolical Churches who could not agree to approve an Errour in the Gospels contrary to the Faith delivered to them And that while some of the Apostles were still living For the other Gospels were received and approved before St. John wrote his The case had been far otherwise if no Gospels had been written in that Age for then it might have been suspected that either the Impressions of the first Teachers were worn out or they had been by degrees alter'd from their first Apprehensions by the cunning craftiness of those who lay in wait to deceive them After the decease of the Apostles the common Tradition of the Apostolical Churches was usefull in these cases 1. To convey down the Authentick Writings of the Apostles or Evangelists which were delivered to any of them 2. To bear Testimony against any pretended Writings which were not first received by the Apostolical Churches to which they were said to be written For there can be no Negative Testimony of more force than that it being improbable to the utmost degree that such a Church should not know or not make known any true Apostolical Writings 3. To overthrow any pretence to a secret Tradition from the Apostles different from what was seen in the Apostolical Writings And to this purpose Irenoeus and Tertullian make very good use of the Tradition of the Apostolical Churches against the pretenders to such a Tradition which those Churches were not acquainted with But they agree that the Apostles committed the same Doctrine to writing which they preached and that it might be a Foundation and Pillar of Faith that this Doctrine was contained in the four Gospels and that the Apostolical Churches did receive them from those who first wrote them and that within the compass of the Apostolical Age. It was therefore most agreeable to the infinite Wisdom of God in providing for a constant Establishment of the Faith of his Church in all Ages neither to permit the Gospels to be written till the Churches were planted nor to be put off to another Generation For then it would have been plausibly objected if these things are true why were they not recorded when there were Persons living who were best able to have either proved or confuted them Then we might have been satisfied one way or other but now the Jews are dead and the Apostles are dead and although there are many left who believe their Doctrine yet this can never reach to the Testimony of those who saw and heard the things themselves or whose Doctrine was attested by those who did so And this is now the mighty Advantage of the Church ever since that the things concerning Christ were written by such Persons With what another kind of Authority do those words command our Assent That which was from the beginning which we have heard which we have seen with our eyes which we have looked upon and our hands have handled of the Word of Life For the life was manifested and we have seen it and bear witness and shew unto you that Eternal Life which was with the Father and was manifest unto us that which we have seen and heard declare we unto you then if all the Testimony concerning Christ were to be resolved into those who heard some say that others told them they had it from such who saw those who conversed with them who saw Christ in the Flesh At such a distance the Authority of a Testimony is extremely lessen'd
into loathsome Prisons and more loathsome Company in them to be in continual expectation of such cruel Usage and Torments as make Death to be look'd on as their best Friend and most seasonable Deliverer If sufferings do not rise so high yet when Men cannot keep Faith and a good Conscience without hazarding the loss of what Mankind are apt to set too great a value upon their Ease and Riches and Expectations in this World even these make it harder for such Persons to get to Heaven because Sincerity and Constancy are the necessary Conditions of it which may be tried much more in some than it is in others We must all have the same Journey's-end if we hope to get to Heaven but some may meet with a freer Road and a calmer Season and better Company in their Journey than others However it happens we must go through all and not be discourag'd at any appearance of Difficulties upon our way But herein Mankind are apt to be deceived as though all the Difficulties lay in a suffering Condition whereas a soft and careless and voluptuous Life is rather more dangerous to their Souls because Persons are less apt to suspect their Danger He that is set upon by force and violence endeavours to defend himself as well as he can but he that is betrayed under a Pretence of Kindness is drawn into his Ruine before he is aware and goes on chearfully to his own Destruction Prosperiâ—â— hath the true Nature of an Opiate for it stupifies and pleases at the same time The Temptations of the suffering Side are apt to allarm awake and rouze up the sleepy Powers of the Soul whereas the gentle and easie Condition of Life either lays them asleep by a kind of Intoxication or so divâ—â—ts them from all serious things as puts them out of the very way to Heaven For the first thing in it is a steady and serious Resolution of Mind to do what lies in them to go thither which can never be done without a true Consideration of the Vanities of this World how pleasing soever and a fixed and settled Judgment preferring the Happiness of Heaven before all the most alluring Pleasures of this Life So that the different Circumstances of Life do make the way of Salvation more difficult to some than to others But this is not all for there are many things which make it more difficult to some than to others which are of another Nature Some Tempers are more flexible and pliable than others more capable of hearkning to Reason and moâ—â—â—â—t to reflect on their own Actions â—hereas others are naturally stiff and obstinate who stick as fast to an Opinion or Prejudice which they have once taken up as if they were fatally determined to it and such as these can hardly ever be convinced they are in an Errour unless by a Power superiour to Nature Some again are very easily convinced of â— Fault but very hardly reclaimed for that Facility of Temper which makes them easie to be convinced lays them open to the next Temptation which they are not able to withstand These are always repenting and amending and beginning to reform but without the Grace of God not able to go through with it Some are modest and bashfull Sinners whom Fear and Shame may restrain others are so hardned and impudent in their Wickedness that they deny even the very first Principles of Morality as well as Religion and not only refuse to hearken to Reproof but reject it with Scorn and Indignation And it cannot be supposed that the Grace of God working on Men's minds in a way suitable to them should have as easie an Admittance into one as into the other for the one are like a House with doors shut but easily opened the other like a House not only shut but bolted and barracadod Again some have had the Advantage of a Pious and Religious Education by which the Principles of Piety and Vertue have made an early Impression on their Minds and have been a continual Check upon evil Inclinations and if they have been too weak to subdue them yet they have been strong enough to prevent their Extravagancies or to bring them to a speedy Repentance and to take up firmer Resolutions and such are more easily brought to themselves and settled in a vertuous Course of Life But the Generality of Mankind thro' a wretched Carelesness mind not the early Improvement of their Children in what is good and what Education they give them tends to any thing more than the planting the Sense of God and true Religion and Vertue in them It were well if they would but let Nature alone in their Children but instead of that they often place such about them who humour them in their worst Inclinations and give them an early Taste of Profaneness and Irreligion so that when they come into the World they run into all Manner of Wickedness and commit it with Greediness having so quick a Relish of it and then indeed it is a very hard Matter to bring them to Repentance for that is to take Shame and Dishonour to themselves to say they have been Fools and have done wickedly and rather than do this they chuse to go on in their Impieties and treasure up wrath against the day of wrath Those who magnifie the Freedom of Will in Mankind in this degenerate State seem to consider them only in Theory and Speculation not as they are but as they ought to have been It is like that which they call the Spring in some Bodies which are apt to dilate and expand themselves but may be easily oppressed with such a weight as makes it impossible for them to enlarge themselves till it be removed There is no doubt in Mankind considered in it self a Power of acting according to Reason which is the truest Freedom for a Power of acting otherwise is Weakness and Folly but what through the Natural Propensity to Evil what through the Power of bad Examples what through the violence of some Tempers and Passions what through the Cloudiness of some Understandings from bodily Distempers what through the strength of evil Habits and corrupt Dispositions there is scarce such a thing as Freedom of Will left especially as to Matters of Salvation So that if the Scripture did not so plainly express the Necessity of Divine Grace for the Conversion of Sinners as it doth the mere Consideration of the state of humane Nature would make me believe it supposing that any Part of Mankind be designed to be fitted for Heaven For although the Difficulties be not alike in all yet of one kind or other they are such as cannot be overcome by our selves without the Power of Divine Grace Exciting Preventing and Assisting of us 2. Having thus shewed what Difficulties there are which arise from the different Circumstances of Times and Persons I am now to consider those which arise from the Terms of Salvation which are common to all Persons and Times Here
Foundation of that upon the first and great Commandment Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy Heart and with all thy Soul and with all thy Strength We need not to question but where-ever there is such a Love of God as is here required there will be true Godliness in all the parts of it And where this is wanting all external shews of Devotion want the true Life and Spirit of it For it is the Love of God which makes all our weak and imperfect Services to be acceptable to him and without it all our Prayers and our Fastings and all other appearances of Devotion are empty and infipid Formalities Not but that the Acts themselves are commendable but they are like a Body without a Soul dull and heavy or like the leaves of a Tree in Autumn which make a great noise in the Wind but are dry sapless and soon fall to the Ground But where the Love of God prevails it keeps up the Life and Order and Vigour of Devotion and preserves it from being tainted by hypocrisie or choaked by the love of this World or decaying from want of Constancy and Resolution Thus I have set before you some of the most remarkable Duties of Christianity not such as depend on the Opinions and Fancies of men but such as our Blessed Saviour the great Law-giver of his Church hath made the necessary Conditions of our Salvation by him And what now can we say for our selves We do call Christ Lord Lord or else we renounce our Baptismal Vow and all hopes of Salvation by him But can we say that we love God when we love what he hates viz. Sin Can we say we love him with all our Heart and Soul when our Hearts are so much divided between him and the Vanities of this World Can we say we love him with all our Might when our Love to God is apt to grow cold and remiss upon any apprehension of Difficulties Can we say that we love our Neighbour as our Selves when we despise and scorn him or over-reach and defraud him or oppress and ruin him If it go not so far are we as tender of his Reputation as of our own as unwilling to see him injured as ready to help him in his Necessities as we should desire it from others if we were in the same Circumstances If strict Sobriety and Temperance be the Duties of Christians where are those Virtues to be generally found I do not speak of particular Persons but I am afraid there is hardly such a thing left as a Sober Party among us What profane customary Swearing is every-where to be met with What Complaints are daily made of the Abounding of all sorts of Wickedness even to an open Scorn and Contempt not barely of Christianity but of any kind of Religion For many who have long denied the Power seem to be grown weary of the very Form of Godliness unless it serves some particular End and Design So that if we look abroad in the World we find little Regard shew'd to the Precepts of Christ and yet those who commit these things call Christ Lord Lord. What is the meaning of all this gross Hypocrisie Nothing would have been thought more Absurd or Ridiculous than for one who used no kind of Abstinence to be thought a Pythagorean or one that indulged his Passions à Stoick or one who eats Flesh and drinks Wine a Brachman or Banian It is really as much for any one to break the known and particular Precepts of Christ and yet desire to be thought a Christian. For a loose profane and debauched Christian is a Contradiction in Morality it is to be a Christian against Christ to call him Lord Lord and yet to defie his Laws and Authority A Star without Light a Guide without Eyes a Man without Reason a Sun with nothing but Spots are not more absurd Suppositions than a Christian without any Grace or Vertue But let us say what we will there are and will be such who will own Christ and call him Lord Lord and yet will not part with their sins for him There were multitudes of such formerly who would lay down their Lives for the Ground he trod on and yet would not mortifie one Sin for his sake The Reason is still the same which our Saviour mentions they hope that calling him Lord Lord will make amends for all and yet it is not possible that fairer warning should be given to any than he hath given in this Case that let them pretend what they will he will say to them at â—he great Day Depart from me all ye workers of Iniquity O dreadful Sentence Not to be mention'd without Horrour not to be thought upon without Astonishment How miserable for ever miserable must their condition be whom Christ at that day shall bid to Depart from him What is this some will be apt to say but to put all Christians into utter Despair For who is there that can say that he hath done all that Christ hath said Truly we have a sufficient Ground for deep Humility and serious Repentance and timely Reformation But there is a great difference between the Failing of our Duty and the Works of Iniquity between the Infirmities of those who sincerely endeavour to do his Will and the Presumptuous Sins of those who despise it between Sins committed and heartily repented of and Sins habitually practised and continued in without any Marks of Amendment Such must go out of this World in a State of Sin and therefore can expect nothing but that dreadfull Sentence which I tremble at the very thoughts of Repeating But there are others who in the sincerity of â—heir Hearts have endeavour'd to do his Will and whose Sincerity will be so far accepted by him that he will say to them at that Day Come ye blessed of my Father inherit the Kingdom prepared for you from the Foundation of the World To which God of his infinite Mercy bring us through the Mediation of Christ Jesus our Lord. SERMON VIII Preached before the QUEEN AT WHITE-HALL March the 13 th 1691 2 Romans VIII 6. For to be carnally minded is Death but to be spiritually minded is Life and Peace IN thâ—se Words is imply'd a Distribution of Mankind into those who are carnally and spiritually minded which Distinction is so large and comprehensive as to take in all sorts and conditions of Men and of so great Moment and Importance that their Life or Death Happiness or Misery depend upon it But considering the Mixture of Good and Evil in Mankind it is not an easie matter to set the Bounds of the carnal and spiritual Mind and considering the frequent Impunity and Security of bad Men and the Fears and Troubles which the best are not exempted from it seems next to impossible to make out at least as to this Life that to be carnally minded is Death but to be spiritually minded is Life and Peace Yet our Apostle doth
not seem to confine the Consequences here mention'd to another World altho' the full Accomplishment of them be only there to be expected but if we attend to his Scope and Design in the End of the foregoing Chapter and the Beginning of this we shall find that even in this Life the result of a carnal Mind is a sort of a Spiritual Death and of a Spiritual Mind is Life and Peace For when St. Paul in the 7â—h Chapter had represented himself as carnal and sold under Sin although there were great strugglings between the Convictions of his Conscience and the strength of carnal Inclinations yet as long as the latter prevailed so that he could not do the things that his Mind and Reason told him he ought to do but did those things which he was convinced be ought not to have done The more he reflected upon himself the more sad and miserable he found his Condition to be as appears by that Emphatical expression which follow'd upon it O wretched Man that I am who shall deliver me from the Body of this Death But he no sooner finds hopes of Delivery and Escape out of that Estate but he breaks forth into Transport of Joy and inward Satisfaction Thanks be to God who hath given us the Victory through Jesus Christ our Lord. Not meerly a Victory over Death but over Sin too And so he begins this Chapter after a triumphant manner There is therefore no Condemnation to them which are in Christ Jesus who walk not after the Flesh but after the Spirit For the Lord of the Spirit of Life which was in Christ Jesus hath made me â—â—ee from the Law of Sin and Death He that groaned under his Captivity before to the Law of Sin doth now rejoyce in his Deliverance from it by the Grace of the Gospel For what could not be done by natural Freedom by the Power of the Law and the Force of Reason is brought to pass by the Assistance of Divine Grace given to the Souls of Men by Jesus Christ. For what the Law could not do in that it was weak through the Flesh What was that which the Law could not do It could awaken convince terrifie and confound the Consciences of Sinners under the Sense and Apprehension of their Sins but it could neither satisfie the Justice of God nor the Minds of Men it could not remove the Guilt nor take away the Force and Power of Sin But God sending his own Son in the likeness of sinfull Flesh and for sin condemned sin in the Flesh i. e. Jesus Christ becoming an expiatory Sacrifice for Sin took off the damning Power of Sin and by the prevailing Efficacy of his Grace subdued the strength and force of it to such a degree That the Righteousness of the Law might be fulfilled in us who walk not after the Flesh but after the Spirit How could this be if St. Paul still considered himself in the same Condition he did in the foregoing Chapter For if he were still in Captivity to the Law of Sin in his Members how was it possible that the Righteousness of the Law should be fulfilled in him How could he walk not after the Flesh but after the Spirit if the Good which he would he did not and the Evil which he would not that he did For these things are so repugnant to each other that when they are spoken of the same Person it must be under different Considerations the one of him as meerly under the Power of the Law the other as under the Grace and Influence of the Gospel The one was like rough and a churlish sort of Physick which searches into every Part and puts all the ill Humours of the Body into Motion and makes a general Disturbance and Uneasiness within but yet lets them remain where they were the other is like a gentle but more effecutal Remedy which carries off the Strength and Power of inward Corruptions and alters the Habit and Temper and puts quite another Disposition into us which produces very different Effects upon us For instead of Horrour and Despair and inward Anguish and Confusion there will follow a new Life of Joy and Peace here and Eternal Happiness hereafter And this is what the Apostle means in the Words of the Text To be carnally minded c. Wherein are two things which very much deserve our Consideration I. The different Tempers of Men's Minds some are carnally and others spiritually minded II. The different Consequences which follow them To be carnally minded is Death but to be spiritually minded is Life and Peace I. The different Tempers of Men's Minds The different Denominations are taken from the Flesh and the Spirit which are here represented as two Principles so different from each other that the same Person cannot be supposed to be acted by both of them For as the Apostle saith in the foregoing Words They that are after the Flesh do mind the things of the Flesh but they that are after the Spirit the things of the Spirit Where the Flesh in a Moral sense takes in all our sensual Inclinations which are sinfull either in their Nature or Degree The Spirit is that Divine Principle which possesses the Mind with the Love and Esteem of Spiritual things and keeps our natural Inclinations within the Compass of God's Law To be carnally minded is to be under the Influence of carnal things so as to make the Pursuit of them our chief Design To be spiritually minded is to have so deep and just a Sense of God and his Law upon our Minds as to make it our business to please him and therefore to subdue all such Inclinations which are repugnant to his Will But here lies the main Difficulty how to judge concerning this matter so as to be able to determine whether we our selves be carnally or spiritually minded Which is a thing of so great Consequence for us to know that the Peace of our Minds the true Comfort of our Lives our due Preparation for Death and a happy Eternity do all depend upon And yet that this is a real Difficulty will appear from these Considerations 1. It requires a greater Knowledge of our selves as to our spiritual Condition than most Persons in the World can pretend to For it is not a slight and superficial View of our selves not a transient sudden Reflection nor a partial Inquiry into our inward Passions and the Course of our Actions which can make us capable of passing a true Judgment upon the Temper of our Minds but there must be a true Light a serious and diligent Search frequent Recollection free and deliberate Thoughts long Observation and due Comparison of our selves with our selves and with the Law of God before we can form a just Opinion as to the prevailing Temper and Disposition of our Minds It 's true this is not necessary in all Persons for some and I am afraid too many are so carnally minded that
the least Reflection or Consideration would make them see how bad their condition is For they have no true Sense of God or Religion at all they have no serious thoughts or apprehensions of Divine and Spiritual things this World they pretend to know something of and have too great an Esteem of the Vanities and Pleasures of it for these wholly take up their Hearts and Time and they have a savour and relish for any thing that tends to their Greatness or Honour or Entertainment of their Appetites or Fancies here buâ— if we speak to them of another World of God and Heaven and a Spiritual Disposition of Soul either they look on us with Amazement as if they were insensible of such things or else with Scorn and Contempt as if we went about to deceive them Alas They are too wise to be imposed upon by us and they have other things to mind I am sure not greater or weightier which take up all their Time and so what through the Business and the Impertinencies of this World their Time passeth away as a Table that is told and as though it were a pleasant Tale they are troubled only to think it will be so soon at an End But these are not the Persons who require any such Care to pass a right Judgment upon them for they can pretend to nothing that is spiritual as to the Tempers and Dispositions of their Minds and therefore such as these must be set aside for it is too apparent that they are only sensual and carnally minded But as the Papists distinguish of the Body of Christ so may we of the carnal Mind there is a gross and Capernaitical Sense and there is a more refined and if I may use the Expression a more Spiritual Sense of it For altho' it be a great Absurdity in them to suppose that a meer Body can be after the Manner of a Spirit yet it is not so to suppose a Carnal Mind to have a Mixture of some Spiritual Qualities and Dispositions in it And this makes the difference so much harder to be perceived between the carnally and spiritually minded since there are the same Faculties of Perception Reasoning and Application in both and the same common Principles of Religion may be owned by both which may in Reason be supposed to make some Impression on the Minds of the more ingenuous Part of Mankind who are not given over to such a Reprobate Sense as the former were Now how to distinguish between frequent good Impressions on the Mind and an habitual Temper and Disposition is not so easie to all who are concerned to distinguish them And yet a Person may be throughly convinced of his Sins and tremble at the Apprehension of the Justice and Severity of God against them he may have many Checks and Reluctancies of Conscience while he goes on to commit them he may sigh and groan and lament under the wretchedness of his Condition by his Love of Sin and yet may love his Sins all the while more than God or Heaven or any thing in Competition with them The difference doth not lie in the Nature or Number of the Impressions from without but in the inward Principle of Action A Cistern may be full of Water falling down from Heaven which may run as long as that holds which fell into it but a Spring hath it rising up within and so continues running when the other is spent A carnal Mind may have many Spiritual Convictions and good Motions and Inclinations but after a time they wear off and leave no lasting Effect behind them but where there is a Spring in the Soul there is a fresh and continual Supply of such Inclinations as keep up a constant Course of a Spiritual Life which our Saviour calls Rivers of living Water I confess it is hard to determine what a Habit or Principle abiding in our Minds is yet the Scripture doth evidently suppose such a thing when it speaks of the New Birth and the New Life and the New Creature and the Children of God all which are very insignificant Terms if there be not under them something answerable to the First Principles of Life and if there be not a Divine Spirit dwelling and acting in the Souls of good Men and raising them up above carnal and sensual Objects to things Divine and Spiritual and carrying them through the Passage of this World so as to prepare them for a better But yet there may be many things which carry some Resemblance to this Principle within which come not up to it There may be such Principles of Education and good Manners such Awakenings of Conscience such a Strength of Natural Reason and common Ingenuity as may carry one on to do some very good things and yet he may fall short of having a true Principle of Spiritual Life in him But then there must be another Principle within which contradicts this and prevails over it and carries him on to the Love of Sin which proves too strong for the Love of God and the due Regard to Spiritual things The Result of this Discourse is since the Carnal Mind is not to be taken meerly for such a one which stands out in opposition to the Gospel nor for such a one which is insensible of Spiritual things but such as may consist with a common Profession of Religion and have the same Convictions and good Impressions which others have it doth require a more than ordinary Acquaintance with our selves to be able to judge aright whether the Temper of our Minds be Carnal or Spiritual 2. But this is not all for since there is so great a Mixture of Good and Evil in the better sort of Mankind there is required not barely Knowledge of our selves but a good Judgment too to adjust the Proportions of Good and Evil in particular Persons so as to be able to judge whether we are carnally or spiritually minded For as those who are Carnal while they follow their carnal Inclinations may have many inward Strugglings by spiritual Convictions so those who are spiritually minded may meet with many Combats from the Flesh which may be troublesome where it cannot prevail But there is a great difference between the Spirit struggling against the Flesh in the carnally minded and the Flesh struggling against the Spirit in those who are spiritually minded For where there is no perfect Victory there will be some Opposition and the best have so many Failings to complain of in this World so many Infirmities and Defects in their good Actions so many Passions not brought into their due Order so many Omissions of Personal and Relative Duties such Variety of Tempers and Weakness of Resolution such Coldness in Devotion and unreasonable Dejections of Mind so many unaccountable Fears and such dreadfull Apprehensions of Death and the Consequences of it that these things must make great Abatements as to such as are truly spiritually minded But by all these things the
Prayer commands him to take his Rod and in the Assembly of the People to speak to the Rock and the Water should issue out Moses assembles the People expostulates the matter with them strikes the Rock twice and the Waters came Where is the great Sin of Moses all this while Yet he often repeats it that God was angry with him for something done at that time God himself saith Moses and Aaron rebelled against him and that they did not sanctifie him before the People the Psalmist saith they provoked his Spirit so that he spake unadvised with his Lips After all the Sin of Moses was a Mixture of Anger and some kind of Infidelity For the Psalmist saith he was highly provoked and God himself saith they believed him not to sanctifie him in the Eye of the Children of Israel The Fault then seems to lie in this that they were more concerned for their own Honour than God's and did not so clearly attribute the Power of the Miracle to God but that the People might think they assumed it to themselves as appears by their Words to the People Hear now ye Rebels must we fetch you Water out of the Rock Which Expression doth not give God the Glory he expected from them and he is so tender in matters of his own Honour that he would suffer none to encroach upon it no not his faithfull Servants but he made them smart for attempting it The other case is that of David's Numbering the People and he was a Man after God's own Heart of great Sincerity and Courage and Constancy in his Service Yet of a sudden he took up a Resolution that he would have all the People number'd without any apparent Reason for it And although he was discouraged from the Attempt by those about him yet he would be obey'd And what came of it Truly before the thing was completed he grew very uneasie at what he had done for it is said His heart smote him after that he had numbred the People and David said to the Lord I have sinned greatly in what I have done And yet in the Book of Chronicles it is said that he finished it not because Wrath fell for it against Israel What was the Cause of all this Severity against David Was it such an unpardonable Sin for a King to understand the Number of his People Suppose it a Failing yet why should God be so angry for one such failing in him that had served God so sincerely as David had done There must be something extraordinary in this Case for God sometimes supposes the People to be Number'd and in some Cases he requires or allows it why then is he so dâ—spleased now at the doing it The best Account I know of it is this It was not a meer Piece of Vanity and Ostentation in David although that be displeasing to God but it was a thing as designed by him which was generally look'd on as inconsistent with the Fundamental Promise made to Abraham and so it is mention'd in the Chronicles why the Numbering was not exactly taken because the Lord had said He would increase Israel like the Stars of the Heavens Which seems to imply that there was a general Notion received among the People that since God promised to increase them beyond Number no one ought to go about to take the exact Number of them For this must seem to savour of Infidelity and a Contempt or Mistrust of God's fundamental Promise But however upon such Occasions God might use two of his most faithfull Servants thus yet we have no Reason to question his Readiness to pardon these and other their Failings upon a sincere Repentance and to accept of their general Care and Endeavour to please him instead of a perfect Obedience But I have something farther to offer for the clearing these two difficult Cases viz. that there is a Difference to be observed between the Rule of God's Proceedings with particular Persons as to the general Sincerity of their Actings and the Measure of God's political Justice as to Persons in publick Capacities The Reason is because in the latter Cases God may justly have a Regard not meerly to the Actions themselves but to the Circumstances of the People they are related to Thus Moses mentions it three several times The Lord was angry with me for your sakes and again the Lord was wroth with me for your sakes and would not hear me and the Lord said unto me Let it suffice thee speak no more to me of this matter It seems he was so much concerned as to pray to God and that earnestly that he would give him leave to conduct the People into Canaan but God would not grant his Request But he tells the People that it was for their sakes that he was denied Furthermore the Lord was angry with me for your sakes and sware that I should not go over Jordan c. So that the Blow which was given to the Head was for the sake of the whole Body And it is remarkable in the Case of David that before he fell into the Sin of Numbering the People The Anger of the Lord was kindled against Israel and he moved David against them to say Go Number Israel and Judah From whence it is evident that the Sins of a People may provoke God to let Princes fall into such Sins which may give just occasion to God to punish both together But this is a very different Case from the Method of God's dealings with particular Persons with regard to their Integrity according to the Terms of the Covenant of Grace Which is established on such Foundations that we need not give way to Despondencies for the sake of such particular Acts of Severity II. I am now to consider the different Consequences of these two To be carnally minded is Death but to be spiritually minded is Life and Peace which in short is that the Advantage is far greater which comes to Mankind by one than by the other And that will appear by comparing them together 1. As under equal Circumstances 2. As under unequal Circumstances 1. As under equal Circumstances And here we have two sorts of Persons to consider 1. Those who have Convictions of Conscience going along with a carnal Mind Such who look on the Conditions of Men in this World at a Distance and judge only by Appearance would be apt to think that those who do allow themselves all the Liberties which a carnal Mind doth incline them to have very much the Advantage of those who are under the Restraints of a spiritual Mind for they are bound to severe Rules of Vertue and Mortification to deny all Ungodliness and Worldly lusts and to live soberly and righteously and godly in this present World and these are thought to be very hard things whereas such who are not under these Difficulties seem to lead the most pleasant and easie Lives
enjoying themselves and being full of Noise and Confidence and appear to be all Miâ—th and good Humour But there is another Account to be taken of these things If Men could look within and see all the secret Misgivings the inward Horrours of Conscience the Impatience and Dissatisfaction they have when they seriously reflect on their evil Courses it would quite alter their Apprehensions of these things and make them conclude with the Roman Orator That one Day spent according to the Rules of Vertue were to be preferr'd before everlasting Debaucheries And he was no Fooâ— no Pedant no mean and contemptible Person who said this but a Man of Wit and Sense of Quality and Experience who had Opportunities and Means enough to have pursued the most sensual and voluptuous Course of Liâ—e which yet we see out of Judgment and Choice he despised and preferr'd a far shorter Life according to the Rules of Vertue before a vicious Immortality And yet how short were the Incouragements to a good Life and the Dissuasives from Sin among the best of them in Comparison of what we all â—now now by the Gospel of Christ They went no farther than meer Natural Reason and the common Sense of Mankind carried them but we profess to believe the Wrath of God revealed from Heaven against all unrighteousness and ungodliness of Men and that there will be a great and terrible Day wherein Men must receive according to their Works whether they be Good or Evil. And will not this dreadfull Consideration awaken the drowsie and secure Sinner and make him look about him betimes while there is yet any hopes of Mercy Will he not become so wise at least as to enter into the Consideration of his Ways and to look back on the former Course of his Life to examine and compare that with the Law of God by which he must be judged And if we have but Patience to do this he will have no farther Patience with himself for being guilty of such unspeakable Folly He will abhorr himself for all his sensual and sinfull Delights which will turn into the greatest Bitterness and Anguish to his Soul He will lament his Folly and Wickedness with the deepest Sorrow and take up sincere and firm Resolutions to return no more to the Practise of them And if this be the Result as it ought to be of all the distinguishing sinfull Pleasures of a carnal Mind I leave it to the most impartial Mind to resolve whether there will be the least Advantage by pursuing them 2. But we have too great Reason to suppose that Men may harden themselves to such a Degree of Wickedness as to be insensible of the Folly of it and to mock at those who go about to reprove them for it Such as these are at ease because they have no Sense of their Condition but so are those in a Lethargy Is their Case therefore to be envied or compared with those in Health altho' more sensible of Pain and Danger Who seem to be better pleased at sometimes and transported with their own Imaginations than Men in a Frenzy And yet no Man thinks their Condition happier for it There is a sort of Moral Frenzy which possesses some part of Mankind who are not only extravagant in their Actions but assume such a Degree of Confidence in committing them as though the wise Men of all Ages had been the only remarkable Fools in it But it is no such easie Matter to run down the Principles of Vertue and Religion they have stood the Shock of all the Sarcasms and Reproaches of former Times and there is still nothing at the Bottom of all the Scorn and Contempt that is cast upon them but a carnal and profane Temper of Mind which may bear them up for a while but it will be sure to end in everlasting Confusion and then they will find what they were so unwilling to believe That to be carnally minded is Death Not a meer State of Insensibility but the worst kind of Death A Death of perpetual Horrour and Torment A Death without the Power of Dying and yet with a perpetual Desire of it A Death whose Sting can never be taken out and whose Terror is said to be as everlasting as the Joys of Heaven And shall not the Apprehension of such a Death as this so dreadfull so unavoidable so insupportable make the greatest Sinners to tremble and be confounded at the Apprehension of it And if once such Thoughts break into their Minds farewell then to all the imaginary Pleasure and Satisfaction of a carnal Mind for it must sink it into the Confusion if not the Despair of Hell 2. But I have hitherto represented the Disadvantages of one side but are there not such on the other too Some are too apt to think a spiritual Mind to be nothing but a disorder'd Fancy and melancholy Imaginations of invisible things If this were all it were so far from being Life and Peace that there could be no real Satisfaction about it But a spiritual Mind is truly the most desirable thing we aâ—e capable of in this World For it is the best Improvement of our Minds which are Spiritual It is the purging and refining them from the Dross and Corruption which debased them It is the advancing them towards the Divine Nature by a gradual Participation of it It is the raising them above the carnal Delights and the sollicitous Cares and perplexing Fears of this World and fitting them for a perpetual Conversation with Divine and Spiritual Objects And what then can be more agreeable to the best Part of our selves here than to have a Mind so disengaged from this World and so fit for a better So that we may be content to take a view of the Worst which can be supposed as to Disadvantage here which is that good Men may be under uneequal Circumstances as to their Condition in this Life that is when the regarding another World more than this may make their outward Condition moâ—e uneasie here than it might have been if they had follow'd only the Dictates of a carnal Mind There are two sorts of Troubles we are to expect in this World 1. Such as we bring upon our selves by our own Acts 2. Such as are common to all Mankind In both these the spiritual Mind hath the Advantage 1. As to such which Men bring upon themselves Let this be supposed as it ought to be when God pleases among Christians who are to follow Christ in taking up his Cross Is there any thing in this which overthrows the Advantage of a spiritual Mind above a carnal Can a carnal Mind secure Men from Pains and Diseases from Losses and Disappointments Nay doth not the Pursuit of carnal Pleasures bring more Troubles upon Men in this Life than the Case of Persecution doth upon the best Christians If the loathsome Diseases the reproachfull and untimely Deaths which of all things ought to be most avoided by such who
raised from the Dead even by him doth this Man stand here before you whole Could any thing be spoken with more Freedom and Plainness than this The Person whom ye crucified God hath raised from the Dead and thereby hath demonstrated your Wickedness and Folly he whom ye slighted and killed even now he works Miracles among you for by him doth this Man stand here before you whole Could any thing be more provoking to them than this Why was not the Matter at first examined And if there had been any occasion to suspect them never were men more concerned to lay open an Imposture than these were Why were not other Witnesses produced against them and the whole Contrivance then laid open to prevent any farther mischief But like guilty Men they durst not go farther into it only they endeavoured to stop their mouths and charged them not to speak at all or teach in the name of Jesus But this would not do their Business for they answered They could not but speak the things which they had seen and heard After this we find them brought before the Council again and then they severely rebuked them for breaking their command to which the Apostles answered with great Temper and Constancy We ought to obey God rather than Man and immediately tell them the same things The God of our Fathers raised up Jesus whom ye slew and hanged on a tree And we are his Witnesses of these things No wonder that it follows that when they heard it they were cut to the heart for nothing is so cutting as a true Charge of Guilt when Persons cannot answer it nothing can be more uneasie than to be told of it And instead of examining the Matter farther they take Gameliel's Counsel and let them alone This I the rather insist upon because the Matters were then fresh the Persons were alive who were most concerned to disprove them and the Apostles urged them before that Council which had not long before contrived and porcured the Death of Christ and took great Care to prevent the taking away of the Body when it was in the Monument And now Why should it be thought by any a thing incredible that God should raise the Dead When there were such early and such constant Witnesses of it who offered the Proof of it to all sorts and wrought Miracles to confirm their Credibility What can the most incredulous Mind suggest towards the taking away the force of their Testimony There are but two ways to do it 1. To suppose them honest and well meaning Men who were deceived by their own Fancies 2. To suppose them cunning and designing Men who went about to deceive the World with what they did not believe themselves 1. To suppose them deceived themselves All that hath been suggested in this Cavilling and Sceptical Age to this Purpose is that the Scripture it self owns that some good Men have been deceived in the same manner as Abraham and Lot taking the Angels for Men and believing that they did eat But I will make it plain that there was a vast Disparity in the Case For 1. Here was a true and real Body without Dispute for it is not denied that Christ did really suffer on the Cross and was dead and buried But what became of the true Body of Christ In the other Cases either there was no real Body at all but the Angels assumed such Matter for the time which had all the appearances of Humane Bodies in speaking walking and eating or if the Bodies were real yet we read nothing as to any such Circumstances of dying and being buried as there are about Christ's Body And there are some remarkable Circumstances as to the Body of Christ which ought to be observed 1. That there was infallible Proof that he was really dead by the Testimony St. John gives of his seeing the Soldier pierce the Pericardium with his Launce which all agree to be a mortal and incurable Wound if there had been Life before and he adds it because there were then some who denied that he really died on the Cross. 2. That his Body was laid in a new Sepulchre cut out of a Rock which is taken notice of by three Evangelists because it was not liable to any suspicion of Practises by his Disciples as to the conveying away of the Body by any other way than by the mouth of the Sepulchre 3. That the mouth of the Sepulchre was closed up with a Stone which was Sealed and had a Watch set to Guard it so that here was all imaginable Care taken to prevent any taking away the Body out of the Sepulchre 2. The Proofs as to the Truth of Christ's individual Body after the Resurrection are quite of another Nature from those of the Angels appearing to eat with Abraham and Lot for this was a sudden Action of theirs and not the main thing intended by them It was only to introduce the Message they had to declare but in the Case of our Saviour the great business was to assure them of the Truth of his Resurrection Therefore it is said That he shew'd himself alive after his Passion by many infallible Proofs being seen of them forty days Among these Proofs St. John insists upon his shewing them his Hands and his Side but this would not satisfie Thomas but he must thrust his Hand into his Side Could there be greater Proof of the same Body than this So that either we must give over all Evidences and Proof of the same Body or we must allow that it was given in the Case of Christ's Body And nothing but obstinate Infidelity can make any objection against the way of Proof supposing the Matter of Fact to be true as the Evangelists relate it 2. But if that be not allow'd then they must be charged with a Design to deceive and abuse the World To which I shall only say at present these two things 1. That endless Sufpicion is a very unreasonable thing where there is no Foundation for it as none can be assigned as to the Apostles either as to this World or another since they declare no hopes of recompence hereafter and no Compensation to be expected here 2. That some Proof of Sincerity must be allow'd and they offer'd the fairest and that is the true Reason why Christ appeared to them and not to his Enemies 1. The Disciples themselves were asraid of being deceived this way and therefore could not be convinced till by many infallible Proofs as St. Luke calls them they were satisfied it was the real Body of Christ. If it had been only a sudden and transient Appearance there might have been some cause to have suspected it but this was so far from it that he conversed among them forty days at several times he shew'd them his hands and his feet his flesh and bones and the very holes in his side which the Spear had
they have not the Heart and Courage to examine them whether they be reasonable or not but rather choose to return to their former Opiates than undergo the trouble of an effectual Cure by a hearty Repentance and coming to themselves as the prodigal Son in the Parable did when his Hardship had brought him to Consideration We do not know what had become of him if he had been wise and frugal in his Pleasures if he had taken care of a good Stock and a plentifull Subsistence but he first came to be pinched with want before he was awakened to repent But we have in Scripture a more remarkable Instance of the stupifying Nature of sensual Pleasures and that was in David after his Sins of Adultery and Murther It is a wonder how a Man of such a tender Conscience in other things should continue so long under the Guilt of these Enormities without being awakened to Repentance Did he not know these to be great Sins And did not his Conscience charge him with the Guilt of them How came he then to need a Prophet to be sent to him and to deal so plainly with him as to tell him Thou art the Man But this is a plain Evidence how much the Pleasures of Sin are apt to stupifie Men's Consciences so far that unless God by his Grace be pleased to awaken them thoroughly they never come to a sincere and hearty Repentance David saw nothing more as to the Guilt of his Sins when he penn'd his 51st Psalm than his own Reason and Natural Conscience might inform him before but he had quite another Sense of his Sins then his Heart was broken and his Soul wounded under the Apprehension of God's Displeasure and this makes him pray so earnestly and so importunately to God for the Pardon of his Sins And if it were thus in the case of a Man otherwise after God's own heart i. e. afraid of offending him and carefull to please him what may we imagine it to be in those who in the time of Youth walk in the way of their hearts and in the sight of their eyes i. e. allowing themselves in all sensual Inclinations and pursuing carnal Delights so far till they have lost all Sense of God and another World and such as these nothing but the powerfull Influences of Divine Grace can awaken and recover 3. The third Reason is A General Presumption upon God's Mercy The first thing which Sinners in the Heat of their Youth and Pursuit of their Lusts aim at is to think as little as may be of what they are doing or what will be the Consequence of their Actions For every thought of themselves is very uneasie to them and every thought of God is much more so therefore they drive away all such Thoughts by one Means or other by Sleep Diversion Company and such publick Entertainments as rather heighten and inflame their Vices than correct them If all this will not do but there will be some melancholy Hours wherein Conscience begins to rouze it self and to awaken the Sinner to some Sense of his Folly then he is ready to hearken with Pleasure to any Raileries against Religion and Morality and admires the Wit of any one who dares say a bold and sharp thing against the Wisdom of all Ages and of the best Men in them And one or two such Sayings without Proof are cried up as far beyond the best Rules of Morality or the Evidence of natural and revealed Religion Any Sceptical Disputes are sufficient Demonstrations to them and the most unreasonable Cavils against Religion are embraced because against the thing they hate and even a Jest against the Day of Judgment shall signifie more with them than the strongest Arguments in the World to prove it The true Reason is they love their Vices and hate every thing which makes them uneasie to them and nothing doth more so than the thoughts of a Judgment to come But suppose after all the terrible and frequent Expressions of Scripture concerning the Day of Judgment joyned with the Reasonableness of the thing do make such Impression on their Minds that they cannot wholly shake off the Fears and Apprehensions of it then their last Endeavour is to mitigate and lessen them from a General Presumption of God's Mercifull Nature and therefore they are willing to suppose that however God to keep the World in awe hath threatned them with the dreadfull Severities of the Great Day yet as a tender Father who threatens his disobedient Son in order to reclaim him with no less than disinheriting him for ever yet when it comes to Execution he may relent not from his Son's Deserts but his own Compassion so they hope or believe or are willing to do so that God at the Great Day will not proceed according to the Rigour which he hath threatned to use And to comfort themselves in these hopes they find out all possible Extenuations of their Sins If we say they had been created purely intellectual Beings free from this load of Flesh and the Inclinations which are natural to it then it had been more reasonable to have called us to a strict Account for every Action of our Lives for then every Inclination to Evil must have come from our Minds but now our Bodies corrupt and draw them aside and the Inclinations to Evil grow faster than our Reason which should check and restrain them And when those Inclinations are strongest Men have not that Judgment which is necessary to the Government of unruly Passions So that the very Frame of humane Nature seems to plead for Sins committed in the Heat and Violence of Youth Besides such is the Strictness and Purity of the Law of God and so great the Weakness and Disability the Ignorance and Inadvertency of Mankind that if God will make no Allowance for humane Frailty who can stand before his Tribunal And if any Allowance be made for Sins of Infirmity there are so many Abatements to be made for Sins committed through sudden Passion through Mistake through the unavoidable Impotency of humane Nature in this degenerate Condition that the Severity of that Day is not much to be feared This is the utmost of the Sinner's Plea against the Severity of the Day of Judgment But to shew how faulty it is I shall offer these Considerations 1. That God will certainly Judge the World in Righteousness and therefore none shall have Cause to complain of the Harshness or Severity of his Proceedings For this Righteousness is not the Rigour of Justice but that Equity which hath a Regard to the Circumstances of Actions and the Abatement and Extenuation of Faults which arise from them 2. None shall suffer at that Day but for their wilfull Impenitency and obstinate Continuance in Sin For this is not only agreeable to the Mercifull Nature of God to forgive repenting Sinners but it is one of the great Designs of the Gospel to assure Mankind of it by the
highest Testimonies even by the Death and Resurrection of the Son of God and all the Miracles wrought in Confirmation of it and of the Truth of his Doctrine 3. There are several Degrees of Wilfulness and Obstinacy and Men's Judgments shall be according to them Some Men's Capacities Opportunities and Helps have very much exceeded others some have broken through stronger Convictions and more powerfull Assistances of Grace than others some have had more early Instructions more frequent Warnings more obliging Favours from Heaven than others And as it is reasonable that Persons suffer for their obstinate Continuance in Sin so that they should suffer according to the Degrees and Circumstances of it 4. It is no unjust Severity in God to deprive Men of that Happiness which they have wilfully refused and to condemn them to that Misery which their Sins have deserved Hath not God made the most condescending Offer of Mercy and Salvation that it is possible for Creatures to expect from him after so many and great Provocations Could Heaven stoop lower than it hath done to vile and ungratefull Sinners When the Son of God came down from Heaven on purpose to reconcile God and Man together When the Spirit of God warns and excites their Minds to the Consideration of their Eternal Welfare When the Messengers of this Reconciliation are to woo and intreat and beseech Sinners in Christ's stead as tho' God did beseech them by them that they would be reconciled to God When the Patience and Goodness and Long suffering of God is exercised so much on purpose to lead them to Repentance When God instead of perfect Obedience is willing to pardon and pass by so many Offences if they truly repent of them and to receive them still into his Favour and Mercy When after all this Men do rather preferr the present Pleasures of Sin before all that Happiness which God so freely offers is it any Injustice in him to suffer them for ever to be deprived of that which they so wilfully so ungratefully so obstinately refused And supposing the Souls of Men to subsist in another World free from all those Clouds of Errour and Mistake and the false Notions they are deceived by here as well as all the Diversions and Pleasures of this Life it is not to be imagined but they must for ever suffer an intolerable Anguish within called A Worm that never dies and a Fire that never goes out from the Reflections upon their own Folly What Vengeance beyond this God may inflict we now know not may none of us ever know it but we are sure it will never exceed the Proportion and Desert of their Sins Which is sufficient to clear the Justice of God in his Proceedings with Mankind in the Day of Judgment 2. It remains now only to shew by what means God's bringing us to Judgment may make a deeper Impression upon our Minds By considering these two things 1. That our not considering it will not make our Condition better but much worse 2. That our Considering it is the best means to prevent the evil Consequences of it 1. Our not considering it will not make our Conditon better There were great Reason indeed to walk in the way of our hearts and in the sight of our eyes and never trouble our selves with what will happen at the great Day if the putting it out of our Heads would make our Accounts the easier when it comes But alas Whether we think of it or no the Account runs on and we must answer to every particular at last and how unprovided shall we be if we spend no time here in examining stating and clearing of them as far as we are able It is a mighty Privilege we have by the Gospel that God allows us to clear our Accounts with him in this World For if we would judge our selves we shall not be judged i. e. If we call our selves to a strict Account for our Actions if we repent heartily and sincerely of our Sins if we seek earnestly to God for Mercy if we have our Consciences cleansed by the Blood of Christ from the Pollution of our Sins then we may with Joy and Peace in our Minds think of the Great Day of Recompence But if we never enter into our selves to search and examine our own Actions never look into the Habits of our own Minds nor charge our selves with the Guilt of the Sins we have committed how can we ever hope to escape the Scrutiny or avoid the Severity of that Day For our Account continually increases by our Neglect of it and the Burthen of God's Wrath must be so much heavier when we have taken no care to lessen it but after our hardness and impenitent hearts have only treasured up wrath against the day of wrath 2. Our considering that God will bring us to Judgment is the best means to prevent the evil Consequences of it For although we cannot hope to plead Innocency yet which is next in Point of Wisdom this is the most effectual Motive to bring us to Repentance And that which makes us repent makes us to grow wise in time and to lay a good Foundation for Eternal Life There are many Arguments to induce us to it in the Folly and Shame of our Sins the Wisdom of Reflection and Reformation the Instances of it and Exhortations to it recorded in Scripture but there is none more sensible and which touches Men more in Point of Interest and Concernment than this of a Judgment to come Must I then saith a penitent Sinner give a strict Account to God of all the evil Actions of my Life and suffer according to the Desert of them if I die in Impenitency How much doth it then concern me to repent betimes to repent in good earnest to repent while there is hopes of Mercy Away then all ye deceitfull Vanities of this wicked World ye have too long deceived and seduced me What will all this vain shew this busie Seducer this impertinent Outside of the World signifie when I must be stript of all and stand guilty and accused by my own Conscience before the Judgment-Seat of Christ Oh! how wretched shall I be if my Conscience condemns me before the Sentence of the Judge Therefore I am resolved to prevent the Judgment of that Day I will accuse judge and condemn my self nay I will proceed to Execution as to all the vitious Habits and corrupt Inclinations within me And although I cannot wholly mortifie them yet I will crucifie them i. e. nail them to the Cross and allow them no longer Liberty and albeit they may struggle for a time yet I will never give way to their Dominion over me any more that so Death and Judgment may find me prepared if not with unspotted Innocency yet with hearty and sincere Repentance To conclude all let the Consideration of this Day of Judgment to come enter deep into our Minds and awaken us out of our Lethargy and
incomprehensible Mysteries how a Man by Nature can be a God really and truly by Office how the incommunicable Perfections of the Divine Nature can be communicated to a Creature how God should give his Glory to another and by his own Command require that to be given to a Creature which himself had absolutely forbidden to be given to any besides himself It is said by a famous Jesuiâ— I will not say how agrecably to their own Doctrines and Practices about Divine Worship that the Command of God cannot make him worthy of Divine Worship who without such a Command is not worthy of it And it is very absurd to say that he that is unworthy of it without a Command â—an become worthy by it for it makes God to command Divine Honour to be given to one who cannot deserve it For no meer Man can desâ—rve to be made God But it is more agreeable to the Divine Nature and Will not to give his Honour to a Creature 3. But after all the Invectives of these Enemies to Mysteries we do not make that which we say is Incomprehensible to be a Necessary Article of Faith as it is Incomprehensible but we do assert that what is Incomprehensible as to the Manner may be a Necessary Article as far as it is plainly revealed As in the Instances I have already mentioned of the Creation and Resurrection of the Dead would they in earnest have Men turn Infidels as to these things till they are able to comprehend all the Difficulties which relate to them If not why should this suggestion be allow'd as to the Mysteries which relate to our Redemption by Jesus Christ If it be said the Case is not alike for those are clearly revealed and these are not this brings it to the true and proper Issue of this Matteâ— and if we do not prove a clear Revelation we do not assert their being Necessary Articles of Faith but my present business was only to take off this Objection that the Mâ—steries were incomprehensible and therefore not to be received by us II. And so I come to the second Way by which we are to examine the several Senses of Christ Jesus coming to save Sinners Which of them tends more to the Benefit and Advantage of Mankind or which is more worthy of all Acceptation And that will appear by considering these things 1. Which tends most to the raising our Esteem and Love of Christ Jesus 2. Which tends most to the begetting in us a greater Hatred of Sin 3. Which tends most to the strengthening our Hope of Salvation by Jesus Christ. 1. As to the raising in us a greater Esteem and Love of Christ. We are certain that the Infinite Love and Condâ—â—cension of Christ Jesus in undertaking such a Work as the saving of Sinners makes it most worthy of all Acceptation Some Men may please themselves in thinking that by taking away all Mysteries they have made their Faith more easie but I am certain they have extremely lessen'd the Argument for our Love viz. the Apprehensions of the wonderfull Love and Condescension of Christ in coming into the World to save Sinners And yet this is the great Argument of the New Testament to perswade Mankind to the Love of God and of his Son God so loved the World that he gave his only begotten Son c. This is indeed a mighty Argument of Love if by the only begotten Son be meant the Eternal Son of God who came down from Heaven as St. John speaks just before but if no more be meant but only that God made a meer Man to be hâ—s Son and after he had preached a while here on Earth and was ill used and crucified by his own People he exalted him to be God and gave him Divine Attributes and Honâ—urs this were an Argument of great Love to the Person of Christ but not to the rest of Mankind But God's Love in Scripture is magnified with respect to the World in the sending of his Son In this was manifested saith the Apostle the Love of God towards us because that God sent his only begotten Son into the World that we should live through him Herein is love not that we loved God but that he loved us and sent his Son to be a Propitiation for our Sins The great Love we still see is towards us i. e. towards Mankind but according to the other Sense it must have been herein was the Love of God manifested to his Son that for his Sufferings he exalted him above all Creatures He that spared not his own Son saith St. Paul but deliver'd him up for us all If he were the Eternal Son of God who came to suffer for us there is a mighty Force and Emphasis in this Expression and very apt to raise our Admiration and our Love but what not sparing his own Son is there if nothing were meant but that he designed by Sufferings to exalt him For not sparing him supposes an Antecedent Relation of the highest Kindness but the other is only designing extraordinary Kindness for the sake of his Sufferings Therefore the Argument for the Love of God is taken from what his Son was when he deliver'd him up for us all he was his own Son not by Adoption as others are St John calls him his only begotten Son and God himself his beloved Son in the Voice from Heaven and this before his Sufferings immediately after his Baptism when as yet there was nothing extraordinary done by him as to the great Design of his coming Which shews that there was an Antecedent Relation between him and the Father and that therein the Love of God and of Christ was manifested that being the only begotten Son of the Father he should take our Nature upon him and for our sakes do and suffer what he did This is indeed an Argument great enough to raise our Admiration to excite our Devotion to inflame our Affections but how flat and low doth it appear when it comes to no more than this that there was a Man whom after his Sufferings God raised from the Dead and made him a God by Office Doth this carry any such Argument in it for our Esteem and Love and Devotion to him as the other doth upon the most serious Consideration of it 2. Which tends most to beget in us a greater Hatred of Sin For that is so contrary to the Way of our Salvation by Jesus Christ that what tends most to our Hatred of it must conduce most to our Happiness and â—herefore be most worthy of all Acceptation It is agreed on all hands that Christ did suffer very much both in his Mind and in his Body In his Mind when it is said that he was troubled in Spirit that he began to be sorrowfull and very heavy and soon after My Soul is exceeding sorrowfull even unto death St. Luke saith that he was in an Agony wherein he not only prayed more
earnestly but his sweat was as it were great Drops of Blood falling to the Ground What made this Amazement and dreadfull Agony in the Mind of the most innocent Person in the World Was it merely the Fear of the Pains of Death which he was to undergo That is impossible considering the Assurance which he had of so glorious a Reward so soon following after when so many Martyrs endured such exquisite Torments for his sake without any such Disturbance or Coâ—sternation But the Apostles give us another Account of it St. Peter saith he was to bear our Sins in his own body on the tree that Christ suffer'd for Sins the just for the unjust St. Paul that God made him to be Sin for us who knew no Sin that we might be made the Righteousness of God in him Hereby we understand how so innocent a Person came to suffer he stood in our stead he was made Sin for us and therefore was to be treated as a Sinner and to suffer that on our Account which he could not deserve on his own If he suffer'd on his own Account this were the way to fill our Minds with perplexity concerning the Justice of Providence with respect to his dealings with the most innocent and holy Persons in this World if he suffer'd on our Account then we have the Benefit of his Sufferings and therein we see how displeasing to God sin is when even his own Son suffer'd so much by taking the guilt of our Sins upon him And what can tend more to the begetting in us a due hatred of sin than to consider what Christ himself suffer'd on the Account of it What can make us have more dreadfull thoughts of it than that the great and mercifull God when he designed to save Sinners yet would have his own Son to become a Propitiation for the Sins of Mankind And unless we allow this we must put force upon the plainest Expressions of Scripture and make Christ to suffer meerly to shew God's Power over a most innocent Person and his Will and Pleasure to inflict the most severe Punishment without any Respect to Guilt And surely such a Notion of God cannot be worthy of all Acceptation 3. Which tends most to strengthen our Hope of Salvation by Christ Jesus If we believe that he suffer'd for our Sins then we have great Reason to hope for the Forgiveness of them although they have been many and great if we sincerely repent because the most prevailing Argument for Despair will be removed which is taken from the Justice of God and his declared Hatred of Sin and Displeasure against Sinners If God be so much in earnest displeased with the Sins of Mankind and his Justice be concerned in the Punishment of Sinners how can they ever hope to escape unless there be a way for his Displeasure to be removed and his Justice to be satisfied And this the Scripture tells us is done by Christ who died that he might be a Sacrifice of Attonement to reconcile us to God by his Death as St. Paul expresly affirms And by this means we may have strong Consolation from the Hopes of Forgiveness of our Sins Whereas if this be taken away either Men must believe that God was not in earnest displeased with the Sins of Mankind which must exceedingly lessen our Esteem of the Holiness and Justice of God or if he were so displeased that he laid aside this Displeasure without any Atonement or Sacrifice of Expiation And so as many as look on God's Justice and Holiness as necessary and essential Attributes of God will be in danger of sinking into the Depths of Despair as often as they reflect seriously on the Guilt of their Sins But on the other side if we believe that while we were Enemies we were reconciled to God by the death of his Son then we may have Peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ and have Reason to believe that there will be no Condemnation to them that are in Christ Jesus by a lively Faith and sincere Repentance then they may with Comfort look up to God as a reconciled Father through Jesus Christ our Mediatour then they may with inward Satisfaction look beyond the Grave and stedfastly hope for that Salvation which Christ purchased on Earth and will at last bestow on all such as love and obey him To which God of his Infinite Mercy bring us all through Jesus Christ. For This is a faithfull Saying and worthy of all Acceptation that he came into the World to save Sinners SERMON VII Preached before the QUEEN AT WHITE-HALL March the 1st 1690 1. S. Luke VI. 46. And why call ye me Lord Lord and do not the things which I say THese few Words contain in them a smart and â—erious Expostâ—lation of our Blessed Saviour with such who proâ—essed great Kindness to him in their Worâ—s but shew'd no Regard to his Commands They owned him to be the Messias and depended upon him for their Happiness and were willing enough to be known to be his Disciples and Followers but yet his Doctrine made little Impression on their Minds and scarce any Alteration in the Course of their Lives They loved to be where Christ was to hear his Doctrine to see his Miracles to observe his Conversation to admire what he did and said but herein lay the whole of their Religion for although they named the name of Christ and it may be rejoyced and glory'd in it yet they did not depart from iniquity Now considering the Circumstances of that time this seems to have been an unaccountable kind of Hypocrisie For their calling Christ Lord Lord spoiled their Interest in this World and not doing what he said debarr'd them from the hopes of Happiness by him in another For if they own'd him to be their Lord they were bound to believe him in what he declared and there is nothing he doth more expresly warn men of than hoping to be saved by him without obeying his Commands Not every one that saith unto me Lord Lord shall enter into the Kingdom of Heaven but he that doth the Will of my Father which is in Heaven Which is shorter expressed but to the same purpose here by S. Luke And why call ye me Lord Lord and do not the things which I say As though he had said to them It is in vain to think to please and flatter me with your Words when your Actions are disagreeable to them To call me Lord Lord is to own my Authority in commanding you but to do this and yet wilfully to disobey me is to shew your Hypocrisie and Folly together Which Expostulation of Christ was not confined to that time no more than his Commands were but it hath always the same Force where Persons are guilty of the same Folly For although now none can plead for themselves as they did We have eaten and drank in thy presence and thou hast taught in our streets yet we
believe no Life after this be compared with the Pains and Martyrdoms of those who have suffer'd for their Religion these will appear to be far more eligible than the other because the Mind hath far greater Satisfaction under them and a certain Expectation of an infinite Reward to follow upon them Whereas the other can have no Comfort in looking back on what they have done or forward in what they are to expect For they have destroy'd their own Happiness and hasten'd that upon themselves which they account their only Misery 2. As to the common Calamities of Life which none can prevent or avoid the spiritual Mind hath very much the Advantage of the carnal for the one â—ills them with inward Peace and Satisfaction of Mind which of all things carry Men best through the Troubles of Life being joyned with Patience Humility Self-denial and Submission to the Will of God which are all the genuine Effects of a spiritual Mind but a carnal Mind is froward and impatient uneasie to it self and to all about it and this makes every Pain and Trouble to be much greater than it would have been like the Ass in the Fable Which lay down in the Water with his Burthen of Wool and so made it heavier than before There were two things the philosophical Men of Pleasure sought to comfort themselves by under the unavoidable Troubles of Life which the spiritual Mind hath far greater Advantages than any of them had as to both of them and these are Reflection and Expectation 1. Reflection When Epicurus was in his last Agonies under the Stone what a miserable way was it for him to go about to comfort himself by reflecting upon his Atoms and his Maxims his imaginary Notion of the Happiness of Life consisting in Pleasure when his Life was so near being ended by excessive Pain But a good Man that hath sincerely endeavour'd to serve God in his Generation and to do all the good he could and to promote the Interests of Religion and Vertue in the World may in the Midst of many Failings and Infirmities look back with comfort on the Course of his former Life and by the Peace of a good Conscience may injoy inward Satisfaction under such Pains and Distempers which make Life uneasie and Death more welcome as it is a Passage to a far better State And that is the next thing 2. Expectation It was a sorrowfull Expectation which Epicurus supported himself with when he was in the Prospect of Death which was no more than that the subtle Atoms which made up his Soul would soon be scatter'd and dispersed he knew not where and then he should be as if he had never been But what Comfort is there in such a Dissolution Men that have deserved it may heartily wish it but they have deserved something worse and that they must expect For the just and holy God will certainly call them to an Account for all their Vices and Follies and it is a fearfull thing to fall into the hands of the living God and what a miserable Case are those in who have nothing to look for but Judgment and fiery Indignation which shall consume the Adversaries of God and Religion But O the blessed Hope and joyfull Expectation that attends a spiritual Mind Especially when it is enliven'd and assisted by the powerfull Influences of Divine Grace For without that even good Men may be liable to some Dejections and Fears as to another World from the Vastness of the Change the Sense of their Failings the Weakness of their Minds and Mistrust of their own Fitness for Heaven but so great is the Goodness and Mercy of God towards them that sincerely love and fear him that he always makes their Passage safe though it be not so triumphant And although the Valley of the Shadow of Death may seem gloomy and uncomfortable at a Distance yet when God is pleased to conduct his Servants through it he makes it a happy Passage into a State of a glorious Immortality and everlasting Life and Peace To which God c. SERMON IX Preached before the King and Queen AT WHITE-HALL ON Christmass-Day 1693. St. John III. 17. For God sent not his Son into the World to condemn the World but that the World through him might be saved THese words are part of the Gospel written by St. John wherein he doth not only fill up the History of our Saviour with many particular Discourses omitted by the other Evangelists but the whole seems to be penned in another Strain and with some different Purpose and Design It 's true that they all agree in the same general End of Writing which St. John mentions viz. That we might believe that Jesus is the Christ the Son of God and that believing we might have life through his Name but they make use of several Methods as most agreeable to the Circumstances of the Time and Place and Occasion of their Writing St. Matthew wrote his Gospel for the sake of the Jews and therefore he begins with the Genealogy of Jesus Christ from Abraham and shews that the Prophecies were accomplished in him and how he came not to destroy the Law but to fulfill it and that his Miracles and Doctrine were sufficient to convince them that he was the promised Messias St. Mark wrote only a summary Account of the most material Passages relating to the Person and Doctrine of Christ for the sake of the Gentiles St. Luke takes a larger Compass and puts things into an exacter Order of Time as himself tells us and adds many Circumstances relating to the Birth of Christ and the general Advantage to Mankind by his coming that he was to be a Light to lighten the Gentiles as well as the Glory of his People Israel St. John succeeding the rest found two great things which gave him occasion of writing his Gospel 1. The perverting the Doctrine of Christ by the Ebionites and Cerinthians who pretended to give great Honour to Christ as an excellent Person both for Wisdom and Holiness but yet so that he was but a meer Man to whom God upon his Baptism had given extraordinary Gifts and Assistances of his Holy Spirit 2. The other was that the Gospel which was designed for the Universal good of the World met with such cold Reception and Entertainment from it He was in the World and the World was made by him and the World knew him not He came unto his own and his own received him not What could be more uneasie to so true a lover of Christ as St. John was than that he lived to see his Doctrine perverted and his Design in so great a Measure rendred ineffectual And therefore in the writing of this Gospel 1. He begins after another manner and in a very short significant and lofty Style he sets forth his Eternal Being and Godhead In the beginning was the Word and the Word was with God and the Word