The most Reverend D r. IOHN TILLOTSON late Arch-Bishop of Canterbury Several DISCOURSES OF REPENTANCE viz. The Necessity of Repentance and Faith Of confessing and forsaking Sin in order to Pardon Of Confession and Sorrow for Sin The Unprofitableness of Sin in this Life an Argument for Repentance The Shamefulness of Sin an Argument for Repentance The final Issue of Sin an Argument for Repentance The present and future Advantage of an Holy and Virtuous Life The Nature and Necessity of holy Resolution The Nature and Necessity of Restitution The Usefulness of Consideration in order to Repentance The Danger of Impenitence where the Gospel is preach'd By the Most Reverend Dr. JOHN TILLOTSON Late Lord Arch-Bishop of Canterbury Being The EIGHTH VOLUME Published from the Originals By Ralph Barker D. D. Chaplain to his Grace LONDON Printed for Ri. Chiswell at the Rose and Crown in St. Paul's Church-yard 1700. THE CONTENTS SERMON I. The Necessity of Repentance and Faith ACTS XX. 21 Testifying both to the Jews and also to the Greeks repentance toward God and faith toward our Lord Jesus Christ Page 1 SERMON II. Preach'd on Ash-Wednesday Of confessing and forsaking Sin in order to Pardon PROV XXVIII 13 He that covereth his Sins shall not prosper but whoso confesseth and forsaketh them shall have mercy p. 29 SERMON III. Of Confession and Sorrow for Sin PSAL. XXXVIII 18 I will declare mine Iniquity and be sorry for my Sin p. 69 SERMON IV. Preach'd on Ash-Wednesday 1689. The Unprofitableness of Sin in this Life an Argument for Repentance JOB XXXIII 27 28. He looketh upon men and if any say I have sinned and perverted that which was right and it profited me not He will deliver his soul from going into the pit and his life shall see the light p. 101 SERMON V VI VII VIII The Shamefulness of Sin an Argument for Repentance ROM VI. 21 22. What fruit had ye then in those things whereof ye are now ashamed For the end of those things is Death But now being made free from sin and become Servants to God ye have your fruit unto Holiness and the end everlasting life p. 137 169 193 225 SERMON IX X XI The Nature and Necessity of holy Resolution JOB XXXIV 31 32. Surely it is meet to be said unto God I have born chastisement I will not offend any more That which I see not teach thou me if I have done iniquity I will do no more p. 271 299 327 SERMON XII XIII The Nature and Necessity of Restitution LUKE XIX 8 9. And if I have taken any thing from any Man by false accusation I restore him fourfold And Jesus said unto him This day is Salvation come to this house p. 353 385 SERMON XIV The Usefulness of Consideration in order to Repentance DEUT. XXXII 29 O that they were wise that they understood this that they would consider their latter end p. 417 SERMON XV. The Danger of Impenitence where the Gospel is preach'd MATTH XI 21 22. Woe unto thee Chorazin woe unto thee Bethsaida for if the mighty works which were done in you had been done in Tyre and Sidon they would have repented long ago in sackcloth and ashes But I say unto you It shall be more tolerable for Tyre and Sidon at the day of judgment than for you p. 443 SERMON I. Serm. 1. The Necessity of Repentance and Faith Acts XX. 21 Testifying both to the Jews and also to the Greeks repentance toward God and faith toward our Lord Jesus Christ TO have seen St. Paul in the Pulpit was one of those three things which St. Augustine thought worth the wishing for And sure it were very desirable to have seen this glorious Instrument of God who did such wonders in the World to have heard that plain and powerful Eloquence of his which was so mighty through God for the casting down of strong holds Vol. 8. and the subduing of men to the obedience of the Gospel to have beheld the zeal of this holy man who was all on fire for God with what ardency of affection and earnestness of expression he persuaded men to come in to Christ and entertain the Gospel This were very desirable but seeing it is a thing we cannot hope for it should be some satisfaction to our curiosity to know what St. Paul preached what was the main Subject of his Sermons whither he refer'd all his Discourses and what they tended to This he tells us in the words that I have read to you that the main substance of all his Sermons was repentance toward God and faith toward our Lord Jesus Christ The Occasion of the words was briefly this St. Paul being in his Journy to Jerusalem and intending to be there by the day of Pentecost that he might not be hindred in his Journy he resolves to pass by Ephesus and only to call to him the Elders of the Church to charge them with their duty and the care of the Church and to engage them hereto he tells them how he had carried and demeaned himself among them v. 18. with what diligence and vigilance he had watched over them with what affection and earnestness he had preached to them v. 19 20. And here in the Text he tells them what had been the sum of his Doctrine and the substance of those many Sermons he had preached among them and what was the End and Design of all his Discourses viz. To perswade men to repentance toward God and faith toward our Lord Jesus Christ Testifying both to the Jews and Greeks c. I shall explain the words a little and then fix upon the Observations which I intend to speak to because I design this only as a Preface to some larger Discourses of Faith and Repentance For explication Testifying the word is 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 which signifies to testifie to prove a thing by testimony so 't is used Heb. 2.6 But one in a certain place testifyeth saying In heathen Writers the word is often used in a Law sense for contesting by Law and pleading in a Cause and from hence it signifies earnestly to contend or persuade by arguments and threatnings In the use of the LXX it signifies to protest to convince to press earnestly to perswade It is used most frequently by St. Luke in a very intense signification and is sometimes joyned with Exhorting which is an earnest perswading to a thing Acts 2.40 And with many other words did he testifie and exhort saying save your selves from this untoward generation and with Preaching Acts 8.25 And when they had testified and preached the word of the Lord and so Acts 18.5 Being pressed in spirit he testified to the Jews that Jesus was the Christ Being pressed in spirit signifies intention and vehemency in testifying to them that he did vehemently endeavour to convince them it seems to be equivalent to the expression v. 28. where it is said Apollos did mightily convince the Jews that Jesus was the Christ that is did
time I am heartily afraid that a very great part of Mankind do miscarry upon this confidence and are swallowed up in the gulf of Eternal Perdition with this Plank in their Arms. The common Custom is and I fear it is too common when the Physician hath given over his Patient then and not till then to send for the Minister not so much to enquire into the Man's condition and to give him suitable Advice as to Minister comfort and to speak Peace to him at a venture But let me tell you that herein you put an extream difficult task upon us in expecting that we should pour Wine and Oyl into the wound before it be searched and speak smooth and comfortable things to a Man that is but just brought to a sense of the long course of a lewd and wicked Life impenitently continued in Alas what comfort can we give to men in such a case We are loth to drive them to despair and yet we must not destroy them by presumption pity and good nature do strongly tempt us to make the best of their case and to give them all the little hopes which with any kind of Reason we can and God knows it is but very little that we can give to such Persons upon good ground for it all depends upon the degree and sincerity of their Repentance which God only knows and we can but guess at We can easily tell them what they ought to have done and what they should do if they were to live longer and what is the best that they can do in those straights into which they have brought themselves viz. to exercise as deep a Sorrow and Repentance for their sins as is possible and to cry mightily to God for Mercy in and through the Merit of our Blessed Saviour But how far this will be available in these Circumstances we cannot tell because we do not know whether if the Man had lived longer this Repentance and these Resolutions which he now declares of a better course would have been good And after all is done that can be done in so short a time and in such Circumstances of confusion and disorder as commonly attend dying Persons I doubt the result of all will be this that there is much more ground of fear than hope concerning them nay perhaps while we are pressing the dying sinner to Repentance and he is bungling about it he expires in great doubt and perplexity of mind what will become of him or if his Eyes be closed with more comfortable hopes of his condition the next time he opens them again he may find his fearful mistake like the rich Man in the Parable who when he was in hell lift up his eyes being in torment This is a very dismal and melancholy consideration and commands all men presently to repent and not to put off the main work of their lives to the end of them and the time of sickness and old Age. Let us not offer up a Carcass to God instead of a living and acceptable Sacrifice but let us turn to God in the days of our health and strength before the evil days come and the years draw nigh of which we shall say we have no pleasure in them before the Sun and the Moon and the Stars be darkned As Solomon elegantly expresseth it Eccl. 12.1 2. before all the Comforts of Life be gone before our Faculties be all ceased and spent before our Understandings be too weak and our Wills too strong our Understandings be too weak for consideration and the deliberate exercise of Repentance and our Wills too strong and stiff to be bent and bowed to it Let us not deceive our selves Heaven is not an Hospital made to receive all Sick and Aged Persons that can but put up a faint request to be admitted there no no they are never like to see the Kingdom of God who instead of seeking it in the first place make it their last refuge and retreat and when they find the Sentence of Death upon them only to avoid present Execution do bethink themselves of getting to Heaven and since there is no other Remedy are contented to Petition the great King and Judge of the World that they may be transported thither Upon all these Considerations let us use no delay in a matter of such mighty consequence to our eternal Happiness but let the counsel which was given to Nebuchadnezzar be acceptable to us let us Break off our sins by righteousness and our iniquities by shewing mercy to the poor if so be it may be a lengthning of our tranquillity Repentance and Alms do well together let us break off our sins by righteousness and our iniquities by shewing mercy to the poor especially upon this great occasion which his Majesty's great Goodness to those distressed Strangers that have taken Sanctuary among us hath lately presented us withal remembring that we also are in the body and liable to the like sufferings and considering on the one hand that Gracious promise of our Lord Blessed are the merciful for they shall receive mercy and on the other hand that terrible threatning in St. James He shall have Judgment without mercy that hath shewed no mercy To conclude from all that hath been said let us take up a present Resolution of a better course and enter immediately upon it to day whilst it is called to day lest any of you be hardned through the deceitfulness of sin O that men were wise that they understood this that they would consider their latter end And grant we beseech the Almighty God that we may all know and do in this our day the things which belong to our peace for thy mercy's sake in Jesus Christ To whom with thee O Father and the Holy Ghost be all Honour and Glory now and for ever Amen SERMON V. Serm. 5. The Shamefulness of Sin an Argument for Repentance The First Sermon on this Text. ROM VI. 21 22. What fruit had ye then in those things whereof ye are now ashamed For the end of those things is death But now being made free from sin and become Servants to God ye have your fruit unto Holiness and the end Everlasting Life THERE are two Passions which do always in some Degree or other accompany a true Repentance viz. Sorrow and Shame for our Sins because these are necessary to engage men to a Resolution of making that change wherein Repentance does consist Vol. 8. For till we are heartily sorry for what we have done and ashamed of the evil of it it is not likely that we should ever come to a firm and steady purpose of forsaking our evil ways and betaking our selves to a better course And these two Passions of Sorrow and Shame for our Sins were wont anciently to be signified by those outward expressions of Humiliation and Repentance which we find so frequently mentioned in Scripture of being cloathed in Sackcloath as a testimony of our sorrow and mourning for our
very reproachful to us that we destroy our selves by our own folly and neglect of our selves and become miserable by our own choice and when the Grace of God hath put it into our Power to be wise and to be happy I should now have proceeded to the Second thing I proposed which was to consider Sin in relation to God and to shew that it is no less shameful in that respect than I have shewn it to be with regard to our selves But this I shall refer to another oportunity SERMON VI. Serm. 6. The Shamefulness of Sin an Argument for Repentance The Second Sermon on this Text. ROM VI. 21 22. What fruit had ye then in those things whereof ye are now ashamed For the end of those things is death But now being made free from sin and become Servants to God ye have your fruit unto Holiness and the end Everlasting Life IN these words the Apostle makes a comparison between an Holy and Virtuous and a Sinful and Vicious course of Life and sets before us a perfect enumeration of the manifest inconveniences of the one Vol. 8. and the manifold advantages of the other I began with the First of these viz. to shew the manifest inconveniences of a sinful and vicious course I am upon the Second inconvenience of a sinful course viz. That the reflection upon it afterwards is cause of great Shame and Confusion of face to us and that First in Relation to our selves Which I have dispatch'd and proceed now in the Second Place to consider Sin in respect of God against whom and in whose sight and presence it is committed and upon examination it will appear to be no less shameful in this respect than the other There are some Persons before whom we are more apt to be ashamed and blush than before others as those whom we reverence those to whom we are greatly oblig'd and those who are clear of those faults which we are guilty of and those who hate or greatly dislike what we do especially if they be present with us and in our company if they stand by us and observe and take notice of what we do and are likely to publish our folly and make it known and have Authority and Power to punish us for our faults we are ashamed to have done any thing that is vile and unworthy before such Persons Now to render Sin the more Shameful God may be consider'd by us under all these Notions and in all these respects 1. Whenever we commit any Sin we do it before him in his presence and under his eye and knowledge to whom of all persons in the world we ought to pay the most profound reverence I remember Seneca somewhere says that There are some Persons quorum interventû perditi quoque homines vitia supprimerent that are so awful and so generally reverenc'd for the eminency of their Virtues that even the most profligate and impudent sinners will endeavour to suppress their Vices and refrain from any thing that is notoriously bad and uncomely whilst such Persons stand by them and are in presence Such an one was Cato among the Romans The People of Rome had such a Regard and Reverence for him that if he appeared they would not begin or continue their usual sports till he was withdrawn from the Theatre thinking them too light to be acted before a Person of his Gravity and Virtue And if they were so much aw'd by the presence of a Wise and a Virtuous Man that they were ashamed to do any thing that was unseemly before him how much more should the presence of the Holy God who is of purer eyes than to behold iniquity make us blush to do any thing that is lewd and vile in his sight and fill us with shame and confusion of face at the thoughts of it Now whenever we commit any Sin God looks upon us and he alone is an ample Theatre indeed That he observes what we do ought to be more to us than if the Eyes of all the World besides were gazing upon us 2. He likewise is incomparably our greatest Benefactour and there is no Person in the World to whom in any degree we stand so much oblig'd as to him and from whom we can expect and hope for so much good as from him the consideration whereof must make us ashamed so often as we consider and are conscious to our selves that we have done any thing that is grievous and displeasing to him We are wont to have a more peculiar Reverence for those to whom we are exceedingly beholden and to be much ashamed to do any thing before them which may signifie disrespect and much more enmity against them because this would be horrible ingratitude one of the most odious and shameful of all Vices And is there any one to whom we can stand more obliged than to him that made us than to the Author and Founder of our Beings and the great Patron and Preserver of our lives And can there then be any before whom and against whom we should be more ashamed to offend When the Prodigal in the Parable would set forth the shamefulness of his Miscarriage he aggravates it from hence that he had offended against and before one to whom he had been so infinitely obliged Father says he I have sinned against heaven and in thy sight 3. We are ashamed likewise to be guilty of any fault or crime before those Persons who are clear of it or of any thing of the like nature themselves Men are not apt to be ashamed before those who are their fellow-Criminals and involved with them in the same guilt because they do not stand in awe of them nor can have any reverence for them Those who are equally guilty must bear with one another We are not apt to fear the censures and reproofs of those who are as bad as our selves but we are ashamed to do a foul and unworthy Action before those who are innocent and free from the same or the like Sins and Vices which we are guilty of Now whenever we commit any Sin it is in the presence of the Holy God who hath no part with us in our crimes whose nature is removed at the farthest distance from Sin and is as contrary to it as can be There is no iniquity with the Lord our God And therefore of all Persons in the World we should blush to be guilty of it before him 4. We are apt also to be ashamed to do any thing before those who dislike and detest what we do To do a wicked Action before those who are not offended at it or perhaps take pleasure in it is no such matter of shame to us Now of all others God is the greatest hater of Sin and the most perfect Enemy to it in the whole World Hab. 1.13 Thou art of purer eyes than to behold evil and canst not look on iniquity i. e. with patience and without an infinite hatred and abhorrence
and heinous Provocations of the Divine Majesty which many of us have been guilty of in the long course of a wicked Life together with the heavy Aggravations of our Sins by all the circumstances that can render them abominable and shameful not only in the Eye of God and Men but of our own Consciences likewise we have great reason to humble our selves before God in a penitent acknowledgment of them and every one of us to say with Job Behold I am vile what shall I answer thee I will lay mine hand upon my mouth I abhor my self and repent in dust and ashes and with Ezra O my God! I am ashamed and blush to lift up my face to thee my God for our iniquities are increased over our heads and our trespass is grown up unto the heavens And now O my God what shall we say after this for we have forsaken thy commandments and with holy Daniel We have sinned and have committed iniquity and have done wickedly O Lord Righteousness belongeth unto thee but unto us confusion of face Thus we should reproach and upbraid our selves in the Presence of that Holy God whom we have so often and so higly offended and against whom we have done as evil things as we could and say with the prodigal Son in the Parable Father I have sinned against heaven and before thee and am no more worthy to be called thy Son If we would thus take shame to our selves and humble our selves before God he would be merciful to us miserable Sinners he would take away all iniquity and receive us graciously and so soon as ever he saw us coming towards him would meet us with joy and embrace us in the Arms of his Mercy And then II. As we should be heartily ashamed of the past Errours and Miscarriages of our Lives so we should firmly resolve by God's Grace to do better for the future never to consent to Iniquity or to do any thing which we are convinc'd is contrary to our Duty and which will be matter of Shame to us when we come to look back upon it and make our Blood to rise in our Faces at the mention or intimation of it which will make us to sneak and hang down our heads when we are twitted and upbraided with it and which if it be not prevented by a timely Humiliation and Repentance will fill us with Horror and Amazement with Shame and Confusion of Face both at the Hour of Death and in the Day of Judgment So that when we look into our Lives and examine the Actions of them when we consider what we have done and what our Doings have deserved we should in a due sense of the great and manifold Miscarriages of our Lives and from a deep Sorrow and Shame and Detestation of our selves for them I say we should with that true Penitent described in Job take Words to our selves and say Surely it is meet to be said unto God I will not offend any more That which I know not teach thou me and if I have done iniquity I will do no more And thus I have done with the second Inconvenience of a sinful and vicious Course of Life viz. that the reflection upon it afterwards causeth Shame What fruit had you then in those things whereof ye are now ashamed SERMON VII Serm. 7. The final Issue of Sin an Argument for Repentance The Third Sermon on this Text. ROM VI. 21 22. What fruit had ye then in those things whereof ye are now ashamed For the end of those things is death But now being made free from sin and become Servants to God ye have your fruit unto Holiness and the end Everlasting Life THESE words are a Comparison between an Holy and Virtuous and a Sinful and Vicious Course of Life and set before us the manifest Inconveniences of the one Vol. 8. and the manifold Advantages of the other I have enter'd into a Discourse upon the First of these Heads viz. The manifest Inconveniences of a sinful and vicious Course And the Text mentions these three I. That it is Unprofitable II. That the reflection upon it afterwards is matter of Shame These Two I have spoken largely to I shall now proceed to the III. And last Inconvenience which the Text mentions of a sinful and vicious Course of Life viz. That the final Issue and Consequence of these things is very dismal and miserable The end of those things is Death No Fruit then when ye did these things shame now that you come to reflect upon them and Misery and Death at the last There are indeed almost innumerable Considerations and Arguments to discourage and deter men from sin the Unreasonableness of it in it self the Injustice and Disloyalty and Ingratitude of it in respect to God the ill Example of it to others the Cruelty of it to our selves the Shame and Dishonour that attends it the Grief and Sorrow which it will cost us if ever we be brought to a due Sense of it the Trouble and Horror of a guilty Conscience that will perpetually haunt us but above all the miserable Event and sad Issue of a wicked Course of Life continued in and finally unrepented of The Temptations to sin may be alluring enough and look upon us with a smiling Countenance and the Commission may afford us a short and imperfect Pleasure but the Remembrance of it will certainly be bitter and the End of it miserable And this Consideration is of all others the most apt to work upon the generality of men especially upon the more obstinate and obdurate sort of sinners and those whom no other Arguments will penetrate that whatever the present Pleasure and Advantage of sin may be it will be Bitterness and Misery in the end The two former Inconvenieces of a sinful Course which I have lately discoursed of viz. That sin is Unprofitabte and that it is Shameful are very considerable and ought to be great Arguments against it to every sinner and considerate Man and yet how light are they and but as the very small dust upon the balance in comparison of that insupportable weight of Misery which will oppress the sinner at last Indignation and wrath tribulation and anguish upon every soul of Man that doth evil This this is the sting of all that the end of these things is death It is very usual in Scripture to express the greatest Happiness and the greatest Misery by Life and Death Life being the first and most desirable of all other Blessings because it is the Foundation of them and that which makes us capable of all the rest Hence we find in Scripture that all the Blessings of the Gospel are summ'd up in this one word John 20.31 These things are written that you might believe that Jesus is the Christ the Son of God and that believing ye might have Life through his Name 1 Joh. 4.9 In this was manifest the love of God towards us because God sent his only begotten
ROM VI. 21 22. What fruit had ye then in those things whereof ye are now ashamed For the end of those things is death But now being made free from sin and become Servants to God ye have your fruit unto Holiness and the end Everlasting Life I Have several times told you that the Apostle in these words makes a Comparison between an Holy and Virtuous and a Sinful and Vicious Course of Life Vol. 8. and sets before us the manifest Inconveniences of the one and the manifold Advantages of the other I have finish'd my Discourse upon the First Part of the Comparison the manifest Inconveniences of a sinful and vicious Course I proceed now to the other Part of the Comparison which was the Second Thing I propounded to speak to from these words viz. the manifold Benefits and Advantages of an Holy and Virtuous Course and that upon these Two accounts First Of the present Benefit and Advantage of it which the Apostle here calls Fruit Ye have your fruit unto holiness Secondly In respect of the future reward of it and the end everlasting life So that here is a considerable Earnest in hand besides a mighty Recompence afterwards infinitely beyond the proportion of our best Actions and Services both in regard of the greatness and duration of it everlasting life that is for a few transient acts of Obedience a perfect and immutable and endless state of Happiness And these Two the Apostle mentions in Opposition to the Inconveniences and Evil Consequences of a wicked and vicious Course What fruit had you then in those things c. But before I come to speak to these Two particulars I shall take notice of the description which the Apostle here makes of the change from a state of Sin and Vice to a state of Holiness and Virtue But now being made free from sin and become the servants of God intimating that the state of sin is a state of Servitude and Slavery from which Repentance and the change which is thereby made does set us free but now being made free from sin And so our Saviour tells us that whosoever committeth sin is the Servant of sin and this is the vilest and hardest Slavery in the World because it is the Servitude of the Soul the best and noblest part of our selves 't is the subjection of our Reason which ought to rule and bear Sway over the inferior Faculties to our sensual Appetites and brutish Passions which is as uncomely a sight as to see Beggars ride on Horse back and Princes walk on foot and as Inferiour Persons when they are advanced to Power are strangely Insolent and Tyrannical towards those that are subject to them so the Lusts and Passions of men when they once get the Command of them are the most domineering Tyrants in the World and there is no such Slave as a Man that is subject to his Appetite and Lust that is under the Power of irregular Passions and vicious Inclinations which transport and hurry him to the vilest and most unreasonable things For a wicked Man is a Slave to as many Masters as he hath Passions and Vices and they are very imperious and exacting and the more he yields to them the more they grow upon him and exercise the greater Tyranny over him and being subject to so many Masters the poor Slave is continually divided and distracted between their contrary Commands and Impositions one Passion hurries him one way and another as violently drives him another one Lust commands him upon such a Service and another it may be at the same time calls him to another Work His Pride and Ambition bids him spend and lay it out whilst his Covetousness holds his Hand fast closed so that he knows not many times how to dispose of himself or what to do he must displease some of his Masters and what Inclination soever he contradicts he certainly displeaseth himself And that which aggravates the Misery of his Condition is that he voluntarily submits to this Servitude In other Cases men are made Slaves against their wills and are brought under the Force and Power of others whom they are not able to resist but the sinner chuseth this Servitude and willingly puts his neck under this yoke There are few men in the World so sick of their Liberty and so weary of their own Happiness as to chuse this Condition but the Sinner sells himself and voluntarily parts with that Liberty which he might keep and which none could take from him And which makes this Condition yet more intolerable he makes himself a Slave to his own Servants to those who are born to be subject to him to his own Appetites and Passions and this certainly is the worst kind of Slavery so much worse than that of Mines and Gallies as the Soul is more Noble and Excellent than the Body Men are not usually so sensible of the Misery of this kind of Servitude because they are govern'd by Sense more than Reason But according to a true Judgment and Estimation of things a Vicious Course Life is the saddest Slavery of all others And therefore the Gospel represents it as a design every way worthy of the Son of God to come down from Heaven and to debase himself so far as to assume our Nature and to submit to the Death of the Cross on purpose to rescue us from this Slavery and to assert us into the liberty of the Sons of God And this is the great design of the Doctrine of the Gospel to free men from the Bondage of their Lusts and to bring them to the Service of God whose service is perfect freedom And therefore our Saviour tells us John 8.31 32. That if we continue in his word i. e. if we obey his Doctrine and frame our lives according to it it will make us free Ye shall know says he the truth and the truth shall make you free And if we observe it the Scripture delights very much to set forth to us the Benefits and Advantages of the Christian Religion by the Metaphor of Liberty and Redemption from Captivity and Slavery Hence our Saviour is so often call'd the Redeemer and Deliverer and is said to have obtained eternal Redemption for us And the publishing of the Gospel is compared to the Proclaming of the year of Jubile among the Jews when all Persons that would were set at Liberty Isa 61.1 2. The spirit of the Lord is upon me saith the Prophet speaking in the Person of the Messiah because he hath anointed me to Proclaim liberty to the Captives and the opening of the prison to them that are bound to proclaim the acceptable year of the Lord. And it is probable that upon this account likewise the Christian Doctrine or Law is by St. James call'd the Royal law of liberty This is the great design of Christianity to set men free from the Slavery of their Lusts and to this end the Apostle tells us Tit. 2.13 that Christ gave
use such Persuasions and Arguments as were sufficient to convince and to mention no more Acts 28.23 He expounded and testified the Kingdom of God perswading them concerning Jesus St Paul in his Epistle to Timothy useth this word in a most vehement sense for giving a solemn charge 1 Tim. 5.21 I charge thee before God and the Lord Jesus Christ the word is 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 and so 2 Tim. 2.14 charging them before the Lord that they strive not about words and so 2 Tim. 4.1 I charge thee before God and the Lord Jesus Christ and here in the Text the word seems to be of a very high and intense signification because of the circumstances mentioned before and after he tells us before that he taught them at all seasons v. 18. publickly and from house to house v. 20. and afterwards at the 31. v. that he warned them day and night with tears so that testifying to the Jews Repentance and Faith must signifie his pressing and perswading of them with the greatest vehemency to turn from their sins and believe on the Lord Jesus Christ his charging on them these things as their duty his pleading with them the necessity of Faith and Repentance and earnestly endeavouring to convince them thereof Repentance toward God and Faith toward our Lord Jesus Christ What is the Reason of this appropriation of Repentance and Faith the one as properly respecting God and the other our Lord Jesus Christ I answer Repentance doth properly respect God because he is the party offended and to whom we are to be reconciled the Faith of the Gospel doth properly refer to the Lord Jesus Christ as the chief and principal Object of it so that by testifying to them repentance towards God c. we are to understand that the Apostle did earnestly press and perswade them to repent of their sins whereby they had offended God and to believe on the Lord Jesus Christ as the Messias the person that was ordained of God and sent to be the Saviour of the world From the Words thus explained this is the Observation that doth naturally arise That Repentance and Faith are the sum and substance of the Gospel and that Ministers ought with all earnestness and vehemency to press people to repent and believe to charge them with these as their duty and by all means to endeavour to convince them of the necessity of them In the handling of this I shall do these Two things First Shew you what is included in Repentance and Faith that you may see that they are the sum of the Gospel And Secondly Shew you the necessity of them First What is included in these I. Repentance this properly signifies a change of mind a conviction that we have done amiss so as to be truly sorry for what we have done and heartily to wish that we had not done it To repent is to alter our mind to have other apprehensions of things than we had to look upon that now as evil which we did not before from whence follows sorrow for what we have done and a resolution of mind for the future not to do again that which appears now to us to be so evil that we are ashamed of it and troubled for it and wish we had never done it So that repentance implies a conviction that we have done something that is evil and sinful contrary to the Law we are under and those Obligations of duty and gratitude that lie upon us whereby God is highly provoked and incensed against us and we in danger of his wrath and the sad effects of his displeasure upon which we are troubled and grieved and ashamed for what we have done and wish we had been wiser and had done otherwise hereupon we resolve never to do any thing that is sinful that is contrary to our duty and obligations to God and by which we may provoke him against us These two things are contained in a true repentance a deep sense of and sorrow for the evils that are past and the sins that we have committed and a firm purpose and resolution of obedience for the future of abstaining from all sin and doing what ever is our duty the true effect of which Resolution is the breaking off the practice of sin and the course of a wicked life and a constant course of obedience II. Faith in Christ is an effectual believing the Revelation of the Gospel the History and the Doctrine of it the History of it that there was such a person as Jesus Christ that he was the true Messias prophesied of and promised in the Old Testament that he was born and lived and preached and wrought the Miracles that are recorded that he was crucified and rose again and ascended into Heaven that he was the Son of God and sent by him into the world by his Doctrine to instruct and by the Example of his life to go before us in the way to happiness and by the Merit and Satisfaction of his death and sufferings to appease and reconcile God to us and to purchase for us the pardon of our sins and eternal life upon the Conditions of Faith and Repentance and sincere Obedience and that to enable us to the performance of these Conditions he promised and afterward sent his holy Spirit to accompany the preaching of his Gospel and to assist all Christians to the doing of that which God requires of them this is the History of the Gospel Now the Doctrine of it contains the Precepts and Promises and Threatnings of it and Faith in Christ includes a firm belief of all these of the Precepts of the Gospel as the matter of our duty and the Rule of our life and of the Promises and Threatnings of the Gospel as arguments to our duty to encourage our Obedience and deter us from sin So that he that believes the Lord Jesus believes him to be the great Guide and Teacher sent from God to bring and conduct men to eternal happiness and that therefore we ought to hearken to him and follow him this is to believe his Prophetical Office He believes that he is the Author of salvation and hath purchased for us forgiveness of sins ransom from hell and eternal life and blessedness upon the Conditions before mentioned and therefore that we ought to rely upon him only for salvation to own him for our Saviour and to beg of him his holy Spirit which he hath promised to us to enable us to perform the Conditions required on our part this is to believe his Priestly Office And lastly He believes that the Precepts of the Gospel being delivered to us by the Son of God ought to have the authority of Laws upon us and that we are bound to be obedient to them and for our encouragement if we be so that there is a glorious and eternal Reward promised to us and for our terror if we be not there are terrible and eternal Punishments threatned to us to which Rewards the
Son into the World that we might live through him So that under this Term or Notion of Life the Scripture is wont to express all happiness to us and more especially that eternal Life which is the great Promise of the Gospel And this is Life by waâ— of Eminency as if this frail and mortal and miserable Life which we live here in this World did not deserve that Name And on the other Hand all the Evils which are consequent upon sin especially the dreadful and lasting Misery of another World are called by the Name of Death The end of these things is Death So the Apostle here in the Text and 23. v. The wages of sin is Death not only a Temporal Death but such a Death as is opposed to Eternal Life The wages of sin is Death but the gift of God is Eternal Life through Jesus Christ our Lord. So that Death here in the Text is plainly intended to comprehend in it all those fearful and astonishing Miseries wherewith the wrath of God will pursue and afflict sinners in another World But what and how great this Misery is I am not able to declare to you it hath no more enter'd into the heart of man than those great and glorious things which God hath laid up for them that love him and as I would fain hope that none of us here shall ever have the sad experience of it so none but those who have felt it are able to give a tolerable description of the intolerableness of it But by what the Scripture hath said of it in general and in such Metaphors as are most level to our present Capacity it appears so full of Terror that I am loth to attempt the Representation of it There are so many other Arguments that are more Humane and Natural and more proper to work upon the Reason and Ingenuity of Men as the great Love and Kindness of God to us the grievous Sufferings of his Son for us the Unreasonableness and Shamefulness of sin the present Benefit and Advantage the Peace and Pleasure of an Holy and Virtuous Life and the mighty Rewards promised to it in another World that one would think these should be abundantly sufficient to prevail with men to gain them to goodness and that they need not be frighted into it and to have the Law laid to them as it was once given to the People of Israel in thunder and lightning in blackness in darkness and tempest so as to make them exceedinly to fear and tremble And it seems a very hard Case that when we have to deal with men sensible enough of their Interest in other Cases and diligent enough to mind it we cannot perswade them to accept of Happiness without setting before them the Terrors of Eternal Darkness and those amazing and endless Miseries which will certainly be the Portion of those who refuse so great an Happiness this I say seems very hard that men must be carried to the Gate of Hell before they can be brought to set their faces towards Heaven and to think in good earnest of getting thither And yet it cannot be dissembled that the Nature of men is so degenerate as to stand in need of this Argument and that men are so far engaged in an Evil Course that they are not to be reclaimed from it by any other Consideration but of the endless and unspeakable Misery of impenitent sinners in another World And therefore God knowing how necessary this is doth frequently make use of it and our Blessed Saviour than whom none was ever more mild and gentle doth often set this Consideration before men to take them off from sin and to bring them to do better And this St. Paul tells us Rom. 1.18 is one principal thing which renders the Gospel so powerful an Instrument for the reforming and saving of Mankind because therein the wrath of God is revealed from Heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men So that how harsh and unpleasant soever this Argument may be the great stupidity and folly of some men and their inveterate obstinacy in an Evil Course makes it necessary for us to press it home that those who will not be moved and made sensible of the danger and inconvenience of sin by gentler Arguments may be rous'd and awakened by the Terrors of Eternal Misery That the last Issue and Consequence of a wicked Life will be very Miserable the general Apprehension of Mankind concerning the fate of bad men in another World and the socret misgivings of mens Consciences gives men too much ground to fear Besides that the Justice of Divine Providence which is not many times in this World so clear and manifest does seem to require that there should be a time of Recompence when the Virtue and Patience of good men should be Rewarded and the Insolence and Obstinacy of bad men should be Punish'd This cannot but appear very reasonable to any Man that considers the Nature of God and is perswaded that he governs the World and hath given Laws to Mankind by the observance whereof they may be Happy and by the neglect and contempt whereof they must be Miserable But that there might remain no doubts upon the Minds of men concerning these matters God hath been pleas'd to reveal this from Heaven by a Person sent by him on purpose to declare it to the World and to the truth of these Doctrines concerning a future state and a day of Judgment and Recompences God hath given Testimony by unquestionable Miracles wrought for the Confirmation of them and particularly by the Resurrection of Jesus Christ from the Dead whereby he hath given an assurance unto all men that he is the Person ordained by God to Judge the World in righteousness and to render to every Man according to his deeds to them who by patient continuance in well doing seek for glory and honour and immortality eternal Life but to them who obey not the truth but obey unrighteousness indignation and wrath tribulation and anguish upon every soul of Man that doth evil So that how quietly soever wicked Men may pass through this World or out of it which they seldom do Misery will certainly overtake their Sins at last unspeakable and intolerable Misery arising from the anguish of a guilty Conscience from a lively Apprehension of their sad Loss and from a quick sense of the sharp Pain which they labour under and all this aggravated and set off with the Consideration of past Pleasure and the Despair of future Ease Each of these is Misery enough and all of them together do constitute and make up that dismal and forlorn State which the Scripture calls Hell and Damnation I shall therefore briefly represent for it is by no means desirable to dwell long upon so melancholy and frightful an Argument First The principal Ingredients which constitute this miserable State And Secondly The Aggravations of it First The principal Ingredients which constitute this miserale State and
bear to their Children so that if we have any Regard to them or Concernment for their Happiness we ought to be very careful of our Duty and afraid to offend God because according as we demean our selves towards him we entail a lasting Blessing or a great Curse upon our Children by so many and and so strong bonds hath God tyed our Duty upon us that if we either desire our own Happiness or the Happiness of those that are dearest to us and part of our selves we must fear God and keep his Commandments And thus I have briefly represented to you some of the chief Benefits and Advantages which an Holy and Virtuous life does commonly bring to men in this World which is the first Encouragement mention'd in the Text ye have your fruit unto holiness Before I proceed to the Second I shall only just take notice by way of Application of what hath been said on this Argument 1. That it is a great Encouragement to well-doing to consider that ordinarily Piety and Goodness are no hindrance to a Man's temporal Felicity but very frequently great promoters of it so that excepting only the case of Persecution for Religion I think I may safely challenge any Man to shew me how the Practice of any Part or Duty of Religion how the exercise of any Grace or Virtue is to the prejudice of a Man's temporal Interest or does debar him of any true Pleasure or hinder him of any real Advantage which a prudent and considerate Man would think fit to chuse And as for Persecution and Sufferings for Religion God can Reward us for them if he please in this World and we have all the assurance that we can desire that he will do it abundantly in the next 2. The hope of long life and especially of a quiet and comfortable death should be a great encouragement to an Holy and Virtuous Life He that lives well takes the best course to live long and lays in for an happy old Age free from the Diseases and Infirmities which are naturally procur'd by a vicious Youth and likewise free from the guilt and galling Remembrance of a wicked Life And there is no condition which we can fall into in this World that does so clearly discover the difference between a good and bad Man as a Death-bed For then the good Man begins most sensibly to enjoy the comforts of Well-doing and the Sinner to taste the bitter fruits of Sin What a wide difference is then to be seen between the hopes and fears of these two sorts of persons And surely next to the actual possession of Blessedness the good hopes and comfortable prospect of it are the greatest Happiness and next to the actual sense of Pain the fear of Suffering is the greatest Torment Tho' there were nothing beyond this life to be expected yet if men were sure to be possess'd with these delightful or troublesome Passions when they come to dye no Man that wisely considers things would for all the Pleasures of sin forfeit the Comfort of a Righteous Soul leaving this World full of the hope of Immortality and endure the vexation and anguish of a guilty Conscience and that infinite terror and amazement which so frequently possesseth the Soul of a dying Sinner 3. If there be any spark of a generous mind in us it should animate us to do well that we may be well spoken of when we are gone off the Stage and may transmit a grateful Memory of our lives to those that shall be after us I proceed now to the Second Thing I proposed as the great Advantage indeed Viz. The glorious Reward of a Holy and Virtuous Life in another World which is here called everlasting Life And the end everlasting Life by which the Apostle intends to express to us both the Happiness of our future State and the Way and Means whereby we are prepared and made meet to be made partakers of it and that is by the constant and sincere Endeavours of an holy and good Life For 't is they only that have their fruit unto holiness whose end shall be everlasting Life I shall speak briefly to these two and so conclude my discourse upon this Text. I. The Happiness of our future state which is here exprest by the name of everlasting Life in very few words but such as are of wonderful weight and significancy For they import the Excellency of this state and the Eternity of it And who is sufficient to speak to either of these Arguments Both of them are too big to enter now into the heart of Man too vast and boundless to be comprehended by humane understanding and too unweildy to be manag'd by the Tongue of Men and Angels answerably to the unspeakable greatness and glory of them And if I were able to declare them unto you as they deserv'd you would not be able to hear me And therefore I shall chuse to say but little upon an Argument of which I can never say enough and shall very briefly consider those two things which are comprehended in that short description which the Text gives us of our future Happiness by the name of everlasting Life viz. The Excellency of this state and the Eternity of it 1. The Excellency of it which is here represented to us under the notion of Life the most desirable of all other things because it is the Foundation of all other Enjoyments whatsoever Barely to be in being and to be sensible that we are so is but a dry Notion of Life The true Notion of Life is to be well and to be happy vivere est benè valere They who are in the most miserable condition that can be imagin'd are in being and sensible also that they are miserable But this kind of Life is so far from coming under the true Notion of Life that the Scripture calls it the second death Revel 21.8 it is there said that The wicked shall have their part in the lake that burneth with fire and brimstone which is the second death And Chap. 20. ver 6. Blessed and holy is he that hath part in the first Resurrection on such the second death shall have no power So that a state of meer misery and torment is not Life but Death nay the Scripture will not allow the Life of a wicked Man in this World to be true Life but speaks of him as dead Ephes 2.1 speaking of the sinners among the Gentiles You saith the Apostle hath he quickned who were dead in trespasses and sins And which is more yet the Scripture calls a Life of sinful Pleasures which men esteem the only Happiness of this world the Scripture I say calls this a Death 1 Tim. 5.6 She that liveth in pleasures is dead whilst she liveth A lewd and unprofitable Life which serves to no good end and purpose is a Death rather than a Life Nay that decaying and dying Life which we now live in this World and which is allayed by the
and the real Reformation of our Lives Ahab humbled himself but we do not find that he was a true Penitent Judas was sorry for his Sin and yet for all that was the Son of perdition Esau is a sad type of an ineffectual Sorrow for Sin Heb. 12. where the Apostle tells us that He found no place for Repentance that is no way to change the mind of his Father Isaac tho' he sought it carefully with tears If Sorrow for Sin were Repentance there would be store of Penitents in Hell for there is the deepest and most intense sorrow weeping and wailing and gnashing of teeth 2. Another mistake which Men ought to be caution'd against in this Matter is of those who exact from themselves such a degree of Sorrow for Sin as ends in deep melancholy as renders them unfit both for the Duties of Religion and of their particular Callings But because there are but very few who fall into this mistake I shall need to say the less to it This only I shall say that those who indulge their sorrow to such a degree as to drown their Spirits and to sink them into melancholy and mopishness and thereby render themselves unserviceable to God and unfit for the necessities of this life they commit one Sin more to mourn for and overthrow the End of Repentance by the indiscreet use of the Means of it For the End of Sorrow for Sin is the forsaking of it and returning to our Duty But he that Sorrows for Sin so as to unfit him for his Duty he defeats his own design and destroys the end he aims at II. The Other part of the Aplication of this Discourse should be to stir up this affection of Sorrow in us And here if I had time I might represent to you the great evil of sin and the infinite Danger and inconvenience of it If the holy men in Scripture David and Jeremiah and St. Paul were so deeply affected with the sins of others as to shed rivers of tears at the remembrance of them how ought we to be touched with the sense of our own sins who are equally concerned in the dishonour brought to God by them and infinitely more in the danger they expose us to Can we weep for our dead Friends and have we no sense of that heavy load of Guilt of that body of death which we carry about with us Can we be sad and melancholy for temporal Losses and Sufferings and refuse to be comforted And is it no Trouble to us to have lost Heaven and Happiness and to be in continual danger of the intolerable Sufferings and endless Torments of another World I shall only offer to your Consideration the great Benefit and Advantage which will redound to us from this godly Sorrow it worketh Repentance to Salvation not to be repented of saith St. Paul If we would thus sow in Tears we should reap in Joy This Sorrow would but continue for a time and in the morning of the Resurrection there would be Joy to all Eternity Joy unspeakable and full of Glory It is but a very little while and these days of Mourning will be accomplish'd and then all Tears shall be wiped from our Eyes and the ransomed of the Lord shall come to Sion with Songs and everlasting Joy shall be upon their Heads They shall obtain Joy and Gladness and Sorrow and Sighing shall flee away Blessed are they that mourn for they shall be comforted but wo unto you that laugh for ye shall mourn and weep If Men will rejoice in the pleasures of Sin and walk in the ways of their hearts and in the sight of their eyes if they will remove Sorrow from their heart and put away all sad and melancholy Thoughts from them and are resolved to harden their Spirits against the sense of Sin against the Checks and Convictions of their own Consciences and the Suggestions of God's Holy Spirit against all the Arguments that God can offer and all the Methods that God can use to bring them to Repentance let them know that for all these things God will bring them into judgment and because they would not give way to a timely and a seasonable Sorrow for Sin they shall lye down in eternal Sorrow weeping and wailing and gnashing of teeth shall be their portion for ever From which sad and miserable Estate beyond all Imagination and past all Remedy God of his infinite Goodness deliver us all for Jesus Christ his sake To whom c. SERMON IV. Serm. 4. Preach'd on Ash-Wednesday 1689. The unprofitableness of Sin in this Life an Argument for Repentance JOB XXXIII 27 28. He looketh upon men and if any say I have sinned and perverted that which was right and it profited me not He will deliver his soul from going into the pit and his life shall see the light THE great Folly and Perverseness of humane Nature is in nothing more apparent than in this that when in all other things Men are generally led and governed by their Interests Vol. 8. and can hardly be imposed upon by any Art or perswaded by any Solicitation to act plainly contrary to it yet in matter of their Sin and Duty that is in that which of all other is of greatest concernment to them they have little or no regard to it but are so blinded and bewitched with the deceitfulness of sin as not to consider the infinite Danger and Disadvantage of it and at the same time to cast the Commandments of God and the consideration of their own Happiness behind their backs And of this every Sinner when he comes to himself and considers what he hath done is abundantly convinced as appears by the Confession and Acknowledgment which is here in the Text put into the Mouth of a true Penitent I have sinned and perverted that which is right and it profited me not c. In which Words here is a great Blessing and Benefit promised on God's part and the Condition required on our part First The Blessing or Benefit promised on God's part which is Deliverance from the ill Consequences and Punishment of Sin he will deliver his soul from going into the pit and his life shall see the light that is he will deliver him from Death and Damnation And tho' perhaps temporal Death be here immediately intended yet that is a Type of our Deliverance from eternal Death which is expresly promised in the Gospel Secondly Here is the Condition required on our part If any say I have sinned and perverted that which was right and it profited me not In which Words there are contained I. A penitent Confession of our Sins to God for he looketh upon men and if any say I have sinned that is make a penitent Confession of his Sin to God II. A true Contrition for our Sin not only for fear of the pernicious Consequences of Sin and the Punishment that will follow it implyed in these Words and it profited me not this is but a
for them who will bring every work into judgment and every secret sin that ever we committed and take Vengeance upon us for all our iniquities So that whenever we sin we shamefully entreat our selves and give the deepest wounds to our Reputation in the esteem of him who is the most competent Judge of what is truly Honourable and Praise-worthy and cloath our selves with shame and dishonour We are ashamed of Poverty because the poor Man is despised and almost ridiculous in the Eye of the proud and covetous rich Man whose riches are his high Tower and make him apt to look down upon the poor Man that is below him with contempt and scorn we are ashamed of a dangerous and contagious Disease because all men fly infectious company but a Man may be poor or sick by misfortune but no Man is wicked but by his own fault and wilful choice Ill-natur'd and inconsiderate men will be apt to contemn us for our poverty and affliction in any kind but by our Vices we render our selves odious to God and to all good and considerate men II. Consider that shame for sin now is the way to prevent Eternal Shame and Confusion hereafter For this is one great part of the Misery of another World that the sinner shall then be filled with everlasting shame and confusion at the remembrance of his faults and folly The Eternal Misery of wicked men is sometimes in Scripture represented as if it consisted only or chiefly in the Infamy and Reproach which will then overwhelm them when all their crimes and faults shall be exposed and laid open to the view of the whole World Dan. 12.2 where the general Resurrection of the just and unjust is thus described Many of them that sleep in the dust of the earth shall awake some to everlasting life and some to everlasting shame and contempt Where everlasting life and everlasting shame are opposed as if Eternal shame were a kind of perpetual Death In this World sinners make an hard shift by concealing or extenuating their faults as well as they can to suppress or lessen their shame they have not now so clear and full Conviction of the evil and folly of their sin God is pleased to bear with them and to spare them at present and they do not yet feel the dismal effects and consequences of a wicked life but in the next World when the righteous judgment of God is revealed and the full Vials of his wrath shall be poured forth upon sinners they shall then be cloathed with shame as with a garment and be covered with confusion then they will feel the folly of their sins and have a sensible Demonstration within themselves of the infinite Evil of them their own Consciences will then furiously fly in their faces and with the greatest bitterness and rage upbraid and reproach them with the folly of their own doings and so long as we are sensible that we suffer for our own folly so long we must unavoidably be ashamed of what we have done So that if sinners shall be everlastingly tormented in another World it necessarily follows that they shall be eternally Confounded Is it not then better to remember our ways now and to be ashamed and repent of them than to bring everlasting Shame and Confusion upon our selves before God and Angels and Men This is the Argument which St. John useth to take men off from sin and to engage them to Holiness and Righteousness of Life 1. Joh. 2.28 That when he shall appear that is when he shall come to judge the World we may have confidence and not be ashamed before him at his coming III. And lastly Consider that nothing sets men at a farther distance from Repentance and all hopes of their becoming better and brings them nearer to Ruin than Impudence in a sinful course There are too many in the World who are so far from being ashamed of their Wickedness and blushing at the mention of their faults that they boast of them and glory in them God often complains of this in the People of Israel as a sad presage of their Ruin and an ill sign of their desperate and irrecoverable Condition Jer. 3.3 Thou hadst a whore's forehead and refusedst to be ashamed and Jerem. 6.15 Were they ashamed when they committed abominations Nay they were not ashamed neither could they blush therefore they shall fall among them that fall and in the time that I visit them they shall be cast down Hear likewise how the Apostle doth lament the case of such Persons as incurable and past all remedy Philip. 3.18 19. There are many of whom I have told you often and now tell you even weeping that they are enemies to the Cross of Christ whose end is destruction whose God is their belly whose glory is in their shame Such Persons who glory in that which ought to be their shame what can their end be but destruction There is certainly no greater argument of a degenerate Person and of one that is utterly lost to all sense of goodness than to be void of shame and as on the one Hand they must be very towardly and well disposs'd to Virtue who are drawn by ingenuity and meer sense of Obligation and Kindness so on the other hand they must be very stupid and insensible who are not wrought upon by Arguments of fear and sense of shame There is hardly any hopes of that Man who is not to be reclaimed from an Evil course neither by the apprehension of danger nor of disgrace and who can at once securely neglect both his Safety and Reputation Hear how the Prophet represents the deplorable Case of such Persons Isa 3.9 The shew of their countenance bears witness against them in the Hebrew it is The hardness of their countenance doth testifie against them and they declare their sin as Sodom they hide it not Wo unto their Souls for they have rewarded evil to themselves When Men are once arrived to that pitch of Impiety as to harden their Foreheads against all sense and shew of Shame and so as to be able to set a good face upon the foulest Matter in the World wo unto them because their Case seems then to be desperate and past all hopes of Recovery For who can hope that a Man will forsake his Sins when he is not so much as ashamed of them But yet one would think that those that are not ashamed of their Impiety should be ashamed of their Impudence and should at least blush at this that they can do the vilest and the most shameful things in the World without blushing To conclude this whole Discourse let the Consideration of the evil and shamefulness of Sin have this double effect upon us to make us heartily ashamed of the past Errors and Miscarriages of our Lives and firmly resolved to do better for the future I. To be heartily ashamed of the past Errors of our Lives So often as we reflect upon the manifold
to speak of it we do but lisp like Children and understand like Children and reason like Children about it That which is imperfect must be done away and our Souls must be raised to a greater Perfection and our Understandings fill'd with a stronger and steadier Light before we can be fit to engage in so profound a Contemplation We must first have been in Heaven and possest of that Felicity and Glory which is there to be enjoyed before we can either speak or think of it in any measure as it deserves In the mean time whenever we set about it we shall find our Faculties opprest and dazled with the weight and splendor of so great and glorious an Argument like St. Paul who when he was caught up into Paradise saw and heard those things which when he came down again into this World he was not able to express and which it was not possible for the Tongue of Man to utter So that in discoursing of the state of the Blessed we must content our selves with what the Scripture hath revealed in general concerning it that it is a state of perfect freedom from all those Infirmities and Imperfections those Evils and Miseries those Sins and Temptations which we are liable to in this World So St. John describes the Glory and Felicity of that state as they were in Visions represented to him Rev. 21.2 3 4. And I John saw the holy City the new Jerusalem prepared as a Bride adorned for her Husband And I heard a great voice out of Heaven saying Behold the Tabernacle of God is with men and he will dwell with them and they shall be his people and God himself shall be with them and be their God And God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes and there shall be no more death neither sorrow nor crying neither shall there be any more pain for the former things are passed away that is all those Evils which we saw or suffered in this World shall for ever vanish and disappear and which is the great Privilege and Felicity of all that there shall no Sin be there v. 27. There shall in no wise enter into it any thing that defileth and consequently there shall be no Misery and Curse there So we read Chap. 22.3 4. And there shall be no more curse but the throne of God and of the Lamb shall be in it and his servants shall serve him and they shall see his face In which last words our Employment and our Happiness are exprest but what in particular our Employment shall be and wherein it shall consist is impossible now to describe it is sufficient to know in the general that our Employment shall be our unspeakable Pleasure and every way suitable to the Glory and Happiness of that state and as much above the noblest and most delightful Employments of this World as the Perfection of our Bodies and the Powers of our Souls shall then be above what they are now in this World For there is no doubt but that he who made us and endued our Souls with a desire of Immortality and so large a Capacity of Happiness does understand very well by what way and means to make us happy and hath in readiness proper Exercises and Employments for that state and every way more fitted to make us Happy than any Condition or Employment in this World is suitable to a temporal Happiness Employments that are suitable to the spirits of just men made perfect united to Bodies purified and refined almost to the Condition of Spirits Employments which we shall be so far from being weary of that they shall minister to us a new and fresh delight to all Eternity and this perhaps not so much from the variety as from the perpetual and growing Pleasure of them It is sufficient for us to know this in the general and to trust the infinite Power and Wisdom and Goodness of God for the particular manner and circumstances of our Happiness not doubting but that he who is the eternal and inexhaustible Spring and Fountain of all Happiness can and will derive and convey such a share of it to every one of us as he thinks fit and in such ways as he who best understands it is best able to find out In a word the Happiness of the next Life shall be such as is worthy of the great King of the World to bestow upon his faithful Servants and such as is infinitely beyond the just Reward of their best Services it is to see God i. e. to contemplate and love the best and most perfect of Beings and to be for ever with the Lord in whose presence is fullness of joy and at whose right hand there are pleasures for evermore I will say no more upon this Argument lest I should say less and because whoever ventures to wade far into it will soon find himself out of his depth and in danger to be swallowed up and lost in that great abyss which is not to be fathom'd by the shallow Faculties of Mortal men I shall therefore only mention the 2. Thing I proposed to speak to viz. The Eternity of this Happiness And the end everlasting life by which the Apostle intends to express the utmost Perfection but not the final Period of the Happiness of good men in another World For to a perfect state of Happiness these two Conditions are requisite that it be immutable and that it be interminable that it can neither admit of a change nor of an end And this is all that I shall say of it it being impossible to say any thing that is more intelligible and plain concerning that which is infinite than that it is so I should now have proceeded to the II. Thing I proposed viz. By what Way and Means we may be prepared and made meet to be made partakers of this Happiness and that is as I have told you all along by the constant and sincere endeavour of an Holy and good Life for the Text supposeth that they only who are made free from Sin and become the Servants of God and who have their Fruit unto Holiness are they whose end shall be everlasting Life But this is an Argument which I have had so frequent occasion to speak to that I shall not now meddle with it All that I shall do more at present shall be to make an Inference or two from what hath been said upon this Argument I. The Consideration of the Happy State of good men in another World cannot be but a great comfort and support to good men under all the Evils and Sufferings of this present Life Hope is a great Cordial to the Minds of men especially when the thing hoped for does so vastly outweigh the present grievance and trouble The Holy Scriptures which reveal to us the Happiness of our future state do likewise assure us that there is no comparison between the Afflictions and Sufferings of good men in this World and the Reward of
Chuse that is to resolve to do it or not And there is nothing more evident and more universally acknowledged in temporal Cases and in the Affairs and Concernments of this Life In these matters Resolution is a thing ordinary and of frequent practice it is the Principle of all great and considerable Actions Men resolve to be great in this World and by Virtue of this Resolution when they have once taken it up what industry will they not use what hazards will they not run in the pursuit of their Ambitious Designs Difficulties and Dangers do rather whet their Courage and set an edge upon their Spirits Men resolve to be rich the Apostle speaks of some that will be rich 1 Tim. 6. They that will be rich and tho' this be but a low and mean Design yet these Persons by Virtue of this Resolution will toil and take prodigious pains in it And as to Spiritual things every Man hath the same Power radically that is he hath the Faculties of Understanding and Will but these are obstructed and hinder'd in their exercise and strongly byassed a contrary way by the Power of Evil Inclinations and Habits so that as to the exercise of this Power and the effect of it in Spiritual things men are in a sort as much disabled as if they were destitute of it For 't is in effect all one to have no Understanding at all to consider things that are Spiritual as to have the Understanding blinded by an invincible prejudice to have no Liberty as to Spiritual things as to have the Will strongly byassed against them For a Man that hath this prejudice upon his Understanding and this byass upon his Will it is to all intents and purposes as if he were destitute of these Faculties But then we are not to Understand this Impotency to be absolutely natural but accidental not to be in the first Frame and Constitution of our Souls but to have hapned upon the depravation of Nature It is not a want of natural Faculties but the binding of them up and hindring their Operations to certain purposes This Impotency proceeds from the Power of evil Habits And thus the Scripture expresseth it and compares an Impotency arising from bad Habits and Customs to a natural Impossibility nothing coming nearer to Nature than a powerful Custom Can the Ethiopian change his Skin or the Leopard his Spots Then may ye also that are accustomed to do evil learn to do well But now God by the Gospel hath designed the Recovery of Mankind from the slavery of Sin and the Power of their Lusts and therefore as by the death of Christ he hath provided a way to remove the guilt of Sin so by the Spirit of Christ he furnisheth us with sufficient Power to destroy the dominion of Sin I say sufficient if we be not wanting to our selves but be workers together with God and be as diligent to work out our own salvation as he is ready to work in us both to will and to do So that when we perswade men to repent and change their Lives and to resolve upon a better Course we do not exhort them to any thing that is absolutely out of their Power but to what they may do tho' not of themselves yet by the Grace of God which is always ready to assist them unless by their former gross neglects and long obstinacy in an evil Course they have provoked God to withdraw his Grace from them So that tho' considering our own strength abstractedly and separately from the Grace of God these things be not in our Power yet the Grace of God puts them into our Power And this is so far from derogating from the Grace of God that it is highly to the Praise of it For if the Grace of God make us able to repent and resolve upon a new Life he that asserts this does not attribute his Repentance to himself but to the Grace of God nay he that says that God's Grace excites and is ready to assist men to do what God Commands represents God immensely more good and gracious than he that says that God Commands men to do that which by their natural Power they cannot do and will condemn them for not doing it and yet denies them that Grace which is necessary to the doing of it Let this then be establish'd as a necessary Consideration to prevent discouragement that to resolve upon the change of our Lives is that which by the Grace of God we are enabled to do if we will Resolution is no strange and extraordinary thing it is one of the most common Acts that belongs to us as we are men but we do not ordinarily apply it to the best purposes It is not so ordinary for men to resolve to be good as to be rich and great not so common for men to resolve against Sin as to resolve against Poverty and Suffering It is not so usual for men to resolve to keep a good Conscience as to keep a good Place Indeed our corrupt Nature is much more opposite to this holy kind of Resolution But then to balance and answer this God hath promised greater and more immediate assistance to us in this case than in any other There is a general blessing and common assistance promised to Resolution and Diligence about temporal things and God's Providence doth often advance such Persons to riches and honour The diligent hand with God's blessing makes rich as Solomon tell us Prov. 10.4 and 22 19. Seest thou says he a Man diligent in business He shall stand before Princes he shall not stand before mean Persons Now diligence is the effect of a great and vigorous Resolution But there is a special and extraordinary blessing and assistance that attends the Resolution and Endeavour of a holy Life God hath not promised to strengthen men with all might in the way to Riches and Honours and to assist the ambitious and covetous designers of this World with a mighty and glorious Power such as raised up Jesus from the Dead but this he hath promised to those who with a firm Purpose and Resolution do engage in the ways of Religion Let us then shake off our sloth and listlesness and in that strength and assistance which God offers let us resolve to leave our Sins and to amend our Lives 2. Consider what it is that you are to resolve upon to leave your Sins and to return to God and Goodness So that the things I am perswading you to resolve upon are the strongest Reasons that can be for such a Resolution Sin is such a thing that there can be no better Argument to make men resolve against it than to consider what it is and to think seriously of the Nature and Consequence of it And God and Goodness are so amiable and desirable that the very proposal of these Objects hath invitations and allurements enough to inflame our desires after them and to make us rush into the embraces of them If
minute to be snatch'd away and hurried out of this World However at the best thou hast but a little time to resolve in Death and Judgment and Eternity cannot be far off and for ought thou knowest they may be even at the door Thou art upon the matter just ready to be seized upon by Death to be summon'd to Judgment And to be swallowed up of Eternity And is it not yet time thinkest thou to resolve Would'st thou have yet a little longer time to deliberate whether thou should'st repent and forsake thy Sins or not If there were difficulty in the Case or if there were no danger in the delay if thou couldst gain time or any thing else by suspending thy Resolution there were then some Reason why thou should'st not make a sudden Determination But thou canst pretend none of these It is evident at first sight what is best to be done and nothing can make it plainer It is not a matter so clear and out of Controversie that Riches are better than Poverty and Ease better than Pain and Life more desirable than Death as it is that it is better to break off our Sins than to continue in the Practice of them to be reconciled to God than to go on to provoke him to be Holy and Virtuous than to be Wicked and Vicious to be Heirs of eternal Glory than to be Vessels of wrath fitted for Destruction And there is infinite danger in these delays For if thy Soul be any thing to thee thou venturest that if thou hast any tenderness and regard for thy eternal Interest thou runnest the hazard of that if Heaven and Hell be any thing to thee thou incurrest the danger of losing the one and falling into the other And thou gainest nothing by continuing unresolved If Death and Judgment would tarry thy leisure and wait till thou hadst brought thy thoughts to some issue and wert resolved what to do it were something but thy Irresolution in this matter will be so far from keeping back Death and Judgment that it will both hasten and aggravate them both make them to come the sooner and to be the heavier when they come because thou abusest the goodness of God and despisest his patience and long-suffering which should lead thee and draw thee on to Repentance and not keep thee back Hereby thou encouragest thy self in thy lewd and riotous courses and because thy Lord delayeth his coming art the more negligent and extravagant Hear what doom our Lord pronounceth upon such slothful and wicked servants Luke 12.46 The Lord of that servant will come in a day when he looketh not for him and at an hour when he is not aware and will cut him in sunder and will appoint him his portion with the unbelievers None so like to be surprized and to be severely handled by the Justice of God as those that trifle with his Patience 4. Consider how much Resolution would tend to the settling of our Minds and making our Lives comfortable There is nothing that perplexeth and disquieteth a Man more than to be unresolved in the great and important Concernments of his Life What anxiety and confusion is there in our Spirits whilst we are doubtful and undetermined about such matters How are we divided and distracted when our Reason and Judgment direct us one way and our Lusts and Affections biass us to the contrary When we are convinced and satisfied what is best for us and yet are disaffected to our own Interest Such a Man is all the while self-condemned and acts with the perpetual regret of his Reason and Conscience and when ever he reflects upon himself he is offended and angry with himself his Life and all his Actions are uneasie and displeasing to him and there is no way for this Man to be at peace but to put an end to this conflict one way or other either by conquering his Reason or his Will The former is very difficult nothing being harder than for a sinner to lay his Conscience asleep after it is once throughly awaken'd he may charm it for a while but every little occasion will rouze it again and renew his Trouble so that tho' a Man may have some Truce with his Conscience yet he can never come to a firm and settled Peace this way but if by a vigorous Resolution a Man would but Conquer his Will his Mind would be at rest and there would be a present calm in his Spirit And why should we be such enemies to our own Peace and to the Comfort and Contentment of our Lives as not to take this course and thereby rid our selves at once of that which really and at the bottom is the ground of all the trouble and disquiet of our Lives SERMON XI Ser. 11. The Nature and Necessity of holy Resolution The Third Sermon on this Text. JOB XXXIV 31 32. Surely it is meet to be said unto God I have born chastisement I will not offend any more That which I see not teach thou me if I have done iniquity I will do no more THESE words are a Description of the temper and behaviour of a true Penitent his Confession of Sins and Resolution of Amendment Concerning Resolution I have shewn what it is in general What is the special Object or Matter of this kind of Resolution Vol. 8. What is implyed in a sincere Resolution of leaving our Sins and returning to God and our Duty That in this Resolution the very Essence and formal Nature of Repentance doth consist And have offer'd some Considerations to convince men of the necessity and fitness of this Resolution and to keep them stedfast to it As 1. That this Resolution is nothing but what under the influence of God's Grace is in our Power 2. The things themselves which we are to resolve upon are the strongest Arguments that can be for such a Resolution 3. How unreasonable it is for men to be unresolved in a Case of so great moment 4. How much this Resolution will tend to the settling of our Minds and making our Lives Comfortable I proceed to the Considerations which remain 5. Then be pleased to consider that a strong and vigorous Resolution would make the whole Work of Religion easie to us it would conquer all difficulties which attend a Holy and Religious Course of Life especially at our first entrance into it Because Resolution brings our Minds to a Point and unites all the strength and force of our Souls in one great Design and makes us vigorous and firm couragious and constant in the Prosecution of it and without this it is impossible to hold out long and to resist the strong Propensions and Inclinations of our corrupt Nature which if we be not firmly resolved will return and by degrees gain upon us it will be impossible to break through Temptations and to gain-say the importunity of them when the Devil and the World solicit us we shall not be able to say them nay but shall be
dost thou hate thy Sin if thou enjoy the Benefit and reap the Advantage of it If thou dost this it is an Argument thou lovest the Sin still for thou didst never love it for it self but for the Profit of it and so long as thou retainest that thou canst not be quit of the Sin Thou holdest fast thy Sin so long as thou refusest to make Satisfaction for it and Repentance without Restitution differs as much from true Repentance as continuance in Sin does from the forsaking of it Si res aliena non redditur non agitur poenitentia sed fingitur so St. Augustine If we do not restore that which we have injuriously detained from another our Repentance is not real but feigned and hypocritical and will not be effectual to the obtaining of our Pardon 'T is a very common but a true and terrible saying Non dimittitur peccatum nisi restituatur ablatum No Remission without Restitution If we will inherit the Profit and Advantage of Sin we cannot think it unreasonable or unjust that we should inherit the Punishment of it When the Scripture speaks of Repentance it frequently mentions Restitution as a proper Fruit and Effect of it and as a necessary and indispensable Condition of Pardon and Life Ezek. 33.14 15 16. Again when I say unto the wicked Thou shalt surely die if he turn from his sin and do that which is lawful and right if the wicked restore the pledge give again that he had robbed c. As if he had said when I denounce Death and Destruction to the wicked there is but this one way to escape it and that is by Repentance but then take notice what a Repentance it is that will avail to this end it is not a bewailing our selves and lamenting over our Sins but a forsaking of them and returning to our Duty If we turn from our sin and do that which is lawful and right For instance if he have been guilty of Injustice and Oppression if he leave his Course and deal justly and righteously with his Neighbour and not only so but he also make Restitution for the injury he hath done and restore what he hath unjustly detain and taken away If he restore the pledge and give again that he hath robbed and do no Injustice for the future but walk in the Statutes of Life without committing iniquity upon these Terms and no other he shall live he shall not die Yea the very light of Nature could suggest thus much to the People of Nineveh that there was no hope without this Fruit of Repentance of appeasing God's wrath Therefore the King and the Princes after all the external solemnity of fasting and sackeloth and crying mightily they decree that Every one should turn from the evil of his ways and from the violence that was in their Hands ut rapinâ manus vacuefaciat rapta restituat sine quo non est vera poenitentia so Grot. upon the place That he empty his hands of the spoils of rapine and oppression that is that he make Restitution without which there can be no Repentance And upon their doing this 't is said that God spared them Ver. 10. And God saw their works that they turned from their evil ways 'T is not said that he saw their fasting and sackcloth but He saw their works the real Fruits and Effects of their Repentance and upon this it was that God repented of the evil he said he would do to them and he did it not And elsewhere we find that God speaks with great Indignation of the most solemn Repentance which is not accompanied with this Fruit Isa 58.3 4 5 6. The People tell God how they had fasted and afflicted their Soul and made their voice to be heard on high but God despiseth all this because it was not accompanied with this Fruit of Repentance Is it such a fast as I have chosen c. There is so much of natural Justice and Equity in Restitution and it is so proper a Fruit of Repentance that as Grotius observes it is not only the Doctrine of the Jews and Christians but of Heathens and Mahumetans that the Repentance which doth not produce this Fruit is feigned and will never avail with God for Pardon and Mercy Thus much for Confirmation of this Doctrine The third and last thing I propos'd was to perswade to the Practice of this Duty and this may serve by way of Application of the Doctrine of Restitution The use we should make of it is First To perswade men to the Practice of this difficult Duty I doubt not but the Arguments I have used are sufficient to convince us of the Equity and Necessity of Restitution but what Arguments shall I use to perswade to the Practice and Exercise of it When we press men to their Duty tho' we have some Advantages on our side yet we have also great disadvantages We have this Advantage that we have the Reason and Consciences of men on our side but then we have this disadvantage that we have to contend either with the Lusts or Interests of men or both now that these are usually more powerful is evident in that the Lusts and Interests of men do so frequently byass and draw them to do things contrary to Reason and Conscience When we perswade men to be just and to make Restitution to those whom they have injur'd 't is true we have not to contend with the Lusts of men with any corrupt and vicious Inclination of Nature There are some Sins that have their rise from mens natural Tempers as Passion and Lust and those sensual vices that abound in the World but there 's nothing in any Man 's natural Temper and Disposition that inclines him to be unjust no Man's Complexion doth particularly dispose him to lie or steal to defraud his Neighbour or detain his Right from him it is only the Interests of men that prompt them to these Sins and they are upon this account the more inexcusable because no Man is inclined to these Sins from particular Temper and Constitution so that an unjust Man is in ordinary Cases and circumstances a greater Sinner than a Drunkard or a Lustful Man because no Man can pretend to be hurried away by the strong Propension and Inclination of his Nature to cheat his Brother but altho' when we perswade men to be just we have not the Lusts of Men to contend withal yet we have another powerful Adversary and that is the Interests of men which is one of the Chief Rulers and Governours of this World so that when we press men to Restitution we touch them in their Interest which is a very touchy and tender thing when we tell them that without Restitution no Man can repent and be saved they think this to be a very hard saying and they know not how to bear it But certainly it hath all the Reason and Equity in the World on its side If it be so hard for them
Arguments which the Gospel useth to persuade Men and encourage them to Repentance are greater and more powerful by so much is the Impenitence of those who live under the Gospel the more inexcusable Had we only some faint hopes of God's Mercy a doubtful Opinion and weak Persuasion of the Rewards and Punishments of another World yet we have a Law within us which upon the probability of these Considerations would oblige us to Repentance Indeed if Men were assur'd upon good grounds that there would be no future Rewards and Punishments then the sanction of the Law were gone and it would lose its force and Obligation or if we did despair of the Mercy of God and had good Reason to think Repentance impossible or that it would do us no good in that case there would be no sufficient Motive and Argument to Repentance for no Man can return to his Duty without returning to the love of God and Goodness and no man can return to the love of God who believes that he bears an implacable hatred against him and is resolved to make him miserable for ever During this Persuasion no Man can repent And this seems to be the reason why the Devils continue impenitent But the Heathens were not without hopes of God's Mercy and upon those small hopes which they had they encouraged themselves into Repentance as you may see in the instance of the Ninevites Let them turn every one from his evil ways and from the violence that is in his hands Who can tell if God will turn and repent and turn away from his fierce anger that we perish not Jonah 3.8 9. But if we who have the clearest Discoveries and the highest Assurance of this who profess to believe that God hath declared himself placable to all Mankind that he is in Christ reconciling the World to himself and that upon our Repentance he will not impute our Sins to us if we to whom the wrath of God is revealed from Heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of Men and to whom Life and Immortality are brought to Light by the Gospel if after all this we still go on in any impenitent Course what shall we be able to plead in excuse of our selves at that great day The men of Nineveh shall rise up in Judgment against such an impenitent Generation and Condemn it because they repented upon the Terror of lighter threatnings and upon the Encouragement of weaker hops And therefore it concerns us who call our selves Christians and enjoy the clear Revelation of the Gospel to look about us and take heed how we continue in an Evil Course For if we remain impenitent after all the Arguments which the Gospel superadded to the Light of Nature affords to us to bring us to Repentance it shall not only be more tolerable for the men of Nineveh but for Tyre and Sidon for Sodom and Gomorrah the most wicked and impenitent Heathens at the day of Judgment than for us For because we have stronger Arguments and more powerful Encouragements to Repentance than they had if we do not repent we shall meet with a heavier Doom and a fiercer Damnation The Heathen World had many excuses to plead for themselves which we have not The times of that ignorance God winked at but now commands all men every where to repent because he hath appointed a day in the which he will judge the World in righteousness by that Man whom he hath ordained whereof he hath given assurance unto all men in that he hath raised him from the dead FINIS Books Printed for R. Chiswell SCRIPTORVM ECCLESIASTICORVM Historia Literaria facili perspicua methodo digesta in 2 Vol. Fol. Authore GVL. CAVE S. T. P. His Primitive Christianity 5th Edit 8 o. His Dissertation concerning the Government of the Ancient Church by Bishops Metropolitans and Patriarchs 8 o. Arch-Bishop Tenison's Conference with Pulton the Jesuit His nine Sermons on several Occasions Eight Volumes of Arch-Bishop Tillotson's Sermons Published from the Originals by Dr. Barker Vol. 1 st of Sincerity and Constancy in the Faith and Profession of the True Ruligion 3 d Edition Corrected 1700. Vol. 2 d Of the Presence of the Messias the Glory of the Second Temple Of Christ Jesus the only Mediator Of the Nature Office and Employment of good Angels Of the Reputation of good men after Death c. The 2 d Edition Corrected 1700. Vol. 3 d Of the Sin and Danger of adding to the Doctrine of the Gospel Honesty the best Preservative against Dangerous Mistakes in Religion The Nature and Evil of Covetousness The Wisdom of Religion c. The 2 d Edition Corrected 1700. Vol. 4 th Of Natural and Instituted Religion c. Second Edition Corrected 1700 Vol. 5 th Proving Jesus to be the Messias c. Second Edition Corrected 1700. Volumes 6 th and 7 th Upon the Attributes of God Second Edition Corrected 1700. Volume 8 th Of Repentance Ten Sermons on several Occasions by Bishop Patrick His Hearts Ease or Remedy against all Troubles The 7 th Edition 1699. His Commentary on Genesis Exodus Leviticus and Numbers in Four Volumes His Commentary on Duteronomy 1700. Valentine's Private Devotions The 26 th Edition 1699. Wharton's Sermons in Lambeth-Chappel in 2 Vol. 8 o. With his Life The Second Edition 1700. Dr. Conant's Sermons in Two Vol. 8 o. Published by Bishop Williams Dr. Wake of Preparation for Death The 6 th Edition 1699. Dr. Fryer's Nine Years Travels into India and Persia Illustrated with Copper Plates Fol. 1698. Bishop Williams Of the Lawfulness of Worshipping God by the Common-Prayer With several other Discourses Mr. Tulley's Discourse of the Government of the Thoughts The 3 d Edition 12 o 1699. The Life of Henry Chichele Arch-Bishop of Canterbury in which there is a particular Relation of many Remarkable Passages in the Reigns of Henry V. and VI. Kings of England Written in Latin by Arthur Duck L. L. D. Chancellor of the Diocess of London and Advocate of the Court of Honour Now made English and a Table of Contents annexed 8 o 1699. The Judgment of the Ancient Jewish Church against the Vnitarians in the Controversy upon the Holy Trinity and the Divinity of our Blessed Saviour With a Table of Matters and a Table of Texts of Scriptures occasionally explained by Peter Alix D. D. Short Memoâ—â—â—s of Thomas Lord Fairfax Written by himself Published 1699. The Life of John Whitgift Arch-Bishop of Canterbury in the times of Queen Elizabeth and King James I. Written by Sir Geo. Paul Comptroler of his Grace's Houshold To which is annexed a Treatise intituled Conspiracy for pretended Reformation Written in the Year 1591. By Richard Cosin L. L. D. Dean of the Arches and Official Principal to Arch-Bishop Whitgift 8 o. 1699. An Exposition of the 39 Articles of the Church of England by Dr. Burnet Bishop of Sarum Fol. 1700. His Sermon to the Societies for Reformation of Manners March 25. 1700. A Practical Discourse of Religious Assemblies By Dr. William Sherlock Dean of St. Pauls The 3d. Edition 1700. A Treatise concerning the Causes of the present Corruption of Christians and the Remedies thereof 1700. In the Press The Fourth and Last Part of Mr. RVSHWORTH's Historical Collections Containing the Principal Matters which happen'd from the beginning of the Year 1645. where the Third Part ended to the Death of King Charles the First 1684. Impartially Related Setting forth only Matter of Fact in Order of Time without Observation or Reflection Fitted for the Press in his Life-time To which will be added Exact Alphabetical Tables