be preferred in your estimation love and service and all that is done for man must be done for his sake You must not set up duties of Piety against duties of Justice Charity and Sobriety It is not true Piety that will not bring forth these God must be loved above all and our neighbours as our selves and these two sorts of love are inseparable Do all the good you can to all while you have opportunity especially to them of the houshold of faith Gal. 6. 10. What good you would hear of in the day of your accounts that do now speedily diligently and sincerely according to your power Say not I may come to want my self but cast thy bread upon the waters for thou shalt find it after many dayes give a portion to seven and also to eight for thou knowest not what evil shall be upon the earth Eccles 11. 1 2. and whether all may not quickly be taken from thee and then thou wilt wish thou hadst done good with it whilst thou hadst it and lent it to the Lord and trusted him with thy remainder who entrusted thee with his blessings and hadst made thee friends of the Mammon of unrighteousness that when all fail they might receive thee into the everlasting habitations Drop not now and then a scant and grudging alms as if thou were a loser by it and God must be be beholden to thee but believe that the greatest gain is to thy self and look after such bargains and do good as readily and gladly liberally as one that verily expecteth a ful reward in Heaven This is part of the service of God that we exhort you to even to visit and relieve and love Christ in his members and brethren Mat. 25. and is there any thing of doubt or controversie in all this 8. Moreover God will be served with Love and willingness and delight It is the most gainful honourable blessed and pleasant work in the world which he hath appointed you and not a toilsome task or slavery And therefore it is not a Melancholy pining troublesom course of life that we perswade you to under the name of Godliness but it is to rejoyce in the Lord and to live in the joyful expectations of Eternal Life and in the sense and assurance of the Love of God If you could shew us any probability of a more pleasant and joyful life on Earth then that which serious Holiness doth afford I should be glad with all my heart to hearken to you I am ready to tell you what is the ground of our comforts which faith revealeth If you will come and soberly debate the case and shew us the matter and ground of your comforts which you have or hope for in any other way if yours prove greater and better and surer then the joys of faith we will hearken to you and be of your mind and side The matter of the joyes of a Believer is that all his sins are pardoned that God is reconciled to him in Christ that he hath the promise of God that all things even the greatest sufferings shall work together for his good that he is always in the love and care and hands of God that he hath leave to draw near him by holy prayer and open his heart to him in all his straits and wants that he may solace himself in his Praises and Thanksgiving and in other parts of holy worship that he may read and hear his holy Word the sure discovery of the will of God and revelation of the things unseen and the Charter of his Inheritance that he may exercise his soul in the serious believing thoughts of the Love of God revealed in the wonderful work of our Redemption and of the person and office and grace of Jesus Christ our Redeemer and that he may love that God that hath so wonderfully loved him that he hath the Spirit of God to quicken and actuate his soul to supply his spiritual defects and kill his sins and help him to Believe to Love to Rejoyce to Pray that this Spirit is Gods Seal upon him and the earnest of everlasting life that Death shall not kill his hopes nor end his happiness but that his felicity and fullest joy beginneth when that of worldlings hath an end and their endless misery begins that he is delivered from everlasting torment by the redemption of Christ and the sanctification of the spirit that Angels will attend his departing soul into the presence of his Father that he shall be with his glorified Redeemer and behold his Glory that his body shall be raised to everlasting life that he shall be justified by Christ from all the accusations of the Devil and all the slanders of the malicious world that he shall live with God in endless Glory and see and enjoy the Glory of his Creator and shall never more be troubled with enemies with sin or sorrow but among his holy ones shall perfectly and most joyfully love and praise the Lord for ever These are the matter of a Believers joy These purchased by Christ revealed in his Word sealed by his Miracles his Blood his Sacraments and his Spirit are our comfort This is the Religion the labour that we invite you to It is not to despair nor to some dry unprofitable toil nor to self-troubling grieving miserable melancholy nor to costly Sacrifices or idle Ceremonies or irrational Service such as the Heathens offered to their Idols it is not to cast away all mirth and comfort and to turn unsociable and morose and sower but it is to the greatest joys that the world alloweth and nature is here capable of and reason can discern and own It is to begin a truly merry sociable life It is to fly from fear sorrow in flying from sin and Hell and from the consuming wrath of God It is to the foretastes of everlasting joys and to the beginnings of eternal life This the labour the Religion which we would have you follow with all your might If you have better things to seek and follow and find let us see them that we may be as wise as you If you have not for your souls sake make not choice of vanity which will deceive you in the day of your necessity But you must not think to make us believe that a great house or a horse or a whore or a feast or a flatterer or fine cloaths or any childish toys or brutish filthiness are more comfortable things then Christ and Everlasting Life or that it is sweeter and better to love a harlot or lands or mony then to love God and Grace and Glory nor that any thing that will go no further then the Grave with you is as good as that which will endure to Eternity nor that any pleasure which a dog or swine hath is equal to the delights of the Angels of Heaven If you would have us of your mind you must not be of this mind nor perswade us to such horrible things as
subject of Solomon in this Chapter and observing that wisdom and piety exempt not men from death he first hence infers that Gods love or hatred to one man above another is not to be gathered by his dealing with them here where all things in the common course of providence do come alike to all The common sin hath introduced death as a common punishment which levelleth all endeth all the contrivances businesses and enjoyments of this life to good and bad and the discriminating justice is not ordinarily manifested here An Epicure or Infidel would think Solomon were here pleading their unmanly impious cause But it is not the cessation of the life or operations or enjoyments of the soul that he is speaking of as if there were no life to come or the soul of man were not immortal But it is the cessation of all the actions and honors and pleasures of this life which to good or bad shall be no more Here they have no more reward the memory of them will be here forgotten They have no more a portion for ever in any thing that is done under the Sun vers 5 6. From hence he further inferreth that the comforts of life are but short and transitory and therefore that what the creature can afford must be presently taken And as the wicked shall have no more but present pleasures so the faithful may take their lawful comforts in the present moderate use of creatures For if their delightful goodness be of right and use to any it is to them And therefore though they may not use them to their hurt to the pampering of their flesh and strengthening their lusts and hindering spiritual duties benefits salvation yet must they serve the Lord with joyfulness with gladness of heart for the abundance of all things which he giveth them Deut. 28. 47. Next he inferreth from the brevity of mans life the necessity of speed and Diligence in his duty And this is in the words of my Text where you have 1. The duty commanded 2. The reason or motive to enforce it The Duty is in the first part Whatsoever thy hand findeth to do that is whatever work is assigned thee by God to do in this thy transitory life do it with thy might that is 1. Speedily without delay 2. Diligently and as well as thou art able and not with sloathfulness or by the halves 2. The Motive is in the last part For there is no work nor device nor knowledg nor wisdom in the grave whither thou goest that is It must be now or never The grave where thy work cannot be done will quickly end thy opportunities The Caldee Paraphrase appropriates the sense too narrowly to works of charity or Alms whatsoever good and almsgiving thou findest to do and the moving reason they read accordingly for nothing but thy works of righteousness and mercy follow thee But the words are more general the sense is obvious contained in these two Propositions Doct. 1. The work of this life cannot be done when this life is ended Or There is no working in the grave to which we are all making haste Doct. 2. Therefore while we have time we must do our best or do the work of this present life with vigour and diligence It is from an unquestionable and commonly-acknowledged truth that Solomon here urgeth us to diligence in duty and therefore to prove it would be but loss of time As there are two worlds for man to live in and so two lives for man to live so each of these lives hath its peculiar employment This is the life of preparation the next is the life of our Reward or Punishment We are now but in the womb of eternity and must live hereafter in the open world We are now but set to school to learn the work that we must do for ever This is the time of our apprentiship we are learning the trade that we must live upon in Heaven We run now that we may then receive the Crown we fight now that we may then triumph in victory The Grave hath no work but Heaven hath work and Hell hath suffering There is no Repentance unto life hereafter but there is Repentance unto torment and to desperation There is no Believing of a happiness unseen in order to the obtaining of it or of a misery unseen in order to the escaping of it nor believing in a Saviour in order to these ends But there is the fruition of the happiness which was here believed feeling of the misery that men would not believe and suffering from him as a righteous Judge whom they rejected as a merciful Saviour So that it is not all work that ceaseth at our death but only the work of this present life And indeed no reason can shew us the least probability of doing our work when our time is done that was given us to do it in If it can be done it must be 1. by the recalling of our Time 2. by the return of life 3. or by opportunity in another life But there is no hope of any of these 1. Who knoweth not that Time cannot be recalled That which once Was will be no more Yesterday will never come again To day is passing and will not return You may work while it is day but when you have lost that day it will not return for you to work in While your candle burneth you may make use of its light but when it is done it is too late to use it No force of Medicine no Orators elegant perswasions no worldlings wealth no Princes power can call back one day or hour of time If they could what endeavours would there be used when extremity hath taught them to value what they now despise what chaffering would there be at last if time could be purchased for any thing that man can give Then Misers would bring out their wealth and say All this will I give for one days time of Repentance more And Lords and Knights would lay down their Honours and say Take all and let us be the basest Beggars if we may but have one year of the Time that we mispent Then Kings would lay down their Crowns and say Let us be equal with the lowest Subjects so we may but have the Time again that we wasted in the Cares and Pleasures of the world Kingdoms would then seem a contemptible price for the recovery of Time The Time that is now idled talkt away The Time that is now feasted and complemented away that is unnecessarily sported slept away that is wickedly presumptuously sin'd away how precious will it one day seem to all How happy a bargain would they think that they had made if at the dearest rates they could redeem it The prophanest Mariner fals a praying when he fears his Time is at an end If importunity would then prevail how earnestly would they pray for the recovery of time that formerly derided praying or minded it
it then to hear and think that you lost wilfully lost such an opportunity Look about you then and see what is to be done Are there not Ale-houses to be supprest and drunkards riotous persons to be restrained Preaching and Piety to be promoted Do it with your might For it must be Now or Never 6. To come yet a little nearer you and speak of the work that is yet to be done in your own souls Are any of you yet in the state of unrenewed nature born only of the flesh and not of the Spirit Joh. 3. 3 5 6. minding the things of the flesh and not the things of the Spirit Rom. 8. 1 5 7 9 13. consequently yet in the power of Satan taken captive by him at his will Act. 26. 18. 2 Tim. 2. 26 27. Vp and be doing if thou love thy soul If thou care whether thou be in Joy or misery for ever bewail thy sin and spiritual distress Make out to Christ cry mightily to him for his renewing and reconciling pardoning grace plead his sactisfaction his merits his promises Away with thy rebellion thy beloved sin Deliver up thy soul entirely to Christ to be sanctified governed and saved by him Make no more demurs about it it is not a matter to be questioned or trifled in Let the earth be acquainted with thy bended knees and the air with thy complaints and cries men with thy confessions and enquiries after the way of life and heaven with thy sorrows desires and resolutions till thy soul be acquainted with the Spirit of Christ Rom. 8. 9. and with the new the holy and heavenly nature and thy heart have received the transcript of Gods Law the impress of the Gospel and so the Image of thy Creator and Redeemer Ply this work with all thy might For there is no Conversion Renovation or Repentance unto life in the grace whither thou goest It must be Now or Never And Never saved if Never sanctified Heb. 12. 14. 7. Hast thou any prevailing sin to mortifie that either reigneth in thee or woundeth thee and keepeth thy soul in darkness and unacquaintedness with God Assault it resolutely Reject it speedily Abhor the motions of it Turn away from the persons or things that would entice thee Hate the doors of the Harlot and of the Alehouse or the gaming house and go not as the Ox to the slaughter and as a bird to the fowlers snare and as a fool to the correction of the stocks as if thou knewest not that it is for thy life Prov. 7. 22 23. Why thou befooled stupid soul wilt thou be tasting of the poysoned cup wilt thou be glutting thee with the bait Hast thou no where to walk or play thee but at the brink of Hell Must not the flesh be crucified with its affections and lusts Gal. 5. 24. Must it not be tamed and mortified or thy soul condemned Rom. 8. 13. 1 Cor. 9. 27. Run not therefore as at uncertainty fight not as one that beats the air ver 26. seeing this must be done or thou art undone delay and dally with sin no longer Let this be the day resolve and resist it with thy might It must be Now or Never when death comes it is too late It will be then no reward to leave thy sinne which thou canst keep no longer No part of Holiness or happiness that thou art not drunk or proud or lustful in the grave or hell As thou art wise therefore know and take thy Time 8. Art thou in a declined lapsed state decayed in grace Hast thou lost thy first desires and love do thy first works and do them with thy might Delay not but remember from whence thou art fallen and what thou hast lost by it and into how sad a case thy folly and negligence hath brought thee say I will go and return to my first husband for then was it better with me then now Hos 2. 7. Cry out with Job 29. 2 3. 4 5. O that I were as in moneths past as in the dayes when God preserved me when his candle shined upon my head and when by his light I walked through darkness As I was in the dayes of my youth when the secret of God was on my Tabernacle when the Almighty was yet with me Return while thou hast day lest the night surprize thee Loyter and delay no more thou hast lost by it already thou art far behind hand Bestir thee therefore with all thy Might 9. Art thou in the darknesse of uncertainty concerning thy conversion and thy everlasting state Dost thou not know whether thou be in a state of life or death and what should become of thee if this were the day or hour of thy change If thou art careful about it and enquirest and usest the means that God hath appointed thee for assurance I have then no more to say to thee now but wait on God and thou shalt not be disappointed or ashamed Thou shalt have assurance in due time or be saved before thou wouldst believe thou should be saved Be patient and obedient and the light of Christ will shine upon thee and yet thou shalt see the days of peace But if thou art careless in thy uncertainty and mindest not so great a business be awakened and call thy soul to its account Search and examine thy heart and life Read and consider and take advice of faithful Guides Canst thou carelesly sleep and laugh and sport and follow thy lesser business as if thy Salvation were made sure when thou knowest not where thou must dwell for ever Examine your selves whether you be in the faith prove your selves know ye not your own selves that Christ is in you except you are reprobates 2 Cor. 13. 5. Give all diligence in time to make your calling and election sure 2 Pet. 1. 10. In the Grave and Hell there is no making sure of Heaven you are then past enquiries and self-examinations in order to any recovery or hope Another kind of tryal will finally resolve you Up therefore and diligently ply the work it must be Now or Never 10. In all the duties of thy Profession of Piety Justice or Charity to God thy self or others up and be doing with thy might Art thou seeking to inflame thy soul with love to God plunge thy self in the Ocean of his love admire his mercies gaze upon the representations of his transcendent goodness O taste and see that the Lord is gracious Remember that he must be loved with all thy heart and soul and might canst thou pour out thy love upon a creature and give but a few barren drops to God When thou art Fearing him let his Fear command thy soul and conquer all the fear of man When thou art Trusting him do it without distrust and cast all thy care and thy self upon him Trust him as a creature should trust his God and the members of Christ should trust their Head and dear Redeemer When thou
as they that are asleep Wilt thou do in the day-light as they do in the dark shall Freemen live as Satans slaves shall the living lie as still useless as the dead Work then while it is day for the night is coming when none can work John 9. 4. It is not the works of the Mosaical Law nor works that are conceited for their proper value to deserve any thing at the hands of God that I am all this while perswading you to But it is the works prescribed you by Christ in the Gospel according to which you shall be shortly judged to joy or misery by Christ himself that will call you to account These must be done with all your Might Object But you 'l say perhaps alas what Might have we We have no sufficiency of our selves without Christ we can do nothing And this we find when it comes to the trial Ans 1. It is not a might that is Orignally thine Own that I am calling thee to exercise but that which thou hast already received from God and that which he is ready to bestow Use well but all the Might thou hast and thou shalt find thy labour is not in vain Even the strength of nature and of common Grace are Talents which thou must improve 2. Art thou willing to use the Might thou hast and to have more and use it if thou hadst it If thou art thou hast then the strength of Christ Thou standest not and workest not by thy own strength His promise is engaged to thee and his strength is sufficient for thee But if thou art not willing thou art without excusâ—â— when thou hadst Heaven and Hell set open in the word of God to make thee willing God will distinguish thy wilfulness from unwilling weakness 3. There is more Power in all of you then you use or then you are well aware of It wanteth but awakening to bring it into act Do you not find in your Repentings that the change is more in your Will then in your Power and in the awaking of your Will and Reason into act then in the addition of meer abilities and that therefore you befool your selves for your sins your neglects wonder that you had no more use of your understandings Let but a storm at Sea or violent sickness or approaching death rowse up and waken the powers which you have and you will find there was much more asleep in you then you used I shall therefore next endeavour to awaken your abilities or tell you how you should awaken them When your souls are drowsie and you are forgetting your God and your latter end and the matters of Eternity have little force and savour with you when you grow lazie and superficial and religion seems a lifeless thing and you do your duty as if it were in vain or against our wils when you can lose your time and delay repentance and friends and profit and reputation and pleasure can be heard against the Word of God and take you off when you do all by the halves and languish in your Christian course as near to death Stir up your souls with the urgency of such Questions as these Qu. 1. Can I do no more then this for God! Who gave me all Who deserveth all Who seeth me in my duties and my sins When he puts me purposely on the trial what I can do for his sake and service Can I do no more Can I love him no more and obey and watch and work no more Qu. 2. Can I do no more then this for Christ For him that did so much for me that lived so exactly obeyed so perfectly walked so inoffensively and meekly despising all the baits and honours and riches of the World that loved me to the death and offereth me freely all his benenefits and would bring me to eternal Glory Are these careless cold and dull endeavors my best return for all this mercy Qu. 3. Can I do no more when my salvation is the prize when Heaven or Hell depend much on it when I know this before-hand and may see in the glasse of the holy Scriptures what is prepared for the diligent and the negligent and what work there is and will be for ever in Heaven and Hell on these accounts Could I not do more if my house were on fire or my estate or life or friend in danger then I do for my salvation Qu. 4. Can I do no more for the souls of men when they are undone for ever if they be not speedily delivered Is this my love and compassion to my neighbour my servant freind or child Qu. 5. Can I do no more for the Church of God for the publick good for the peace and welfare of the Nation and our prosperity in suppressing sin in praying for deliverance or in promoting Works of publick benefit Qu. 6. Can I do no more that have loytered so long and go no faster that have slept till the evening of my daies when Diligence must be the discovery of my Repentance Qu. 7. Can I do no more that know not now but I am doing my last That see how fast my Time makes haste and know I must be quickly gone that know it must be now or never and that this is all the time I shall have on which an endless life dependeth Qu. 8. Can I do no better when I know before hand what different aspects diligence and negligence will have to the awakened soul in the review What a comfort it will be at death and judgement to be able to say I did my best or loytered not away the time I had And what a vexatious and heart-disquieting thing it will then be to look back on time as irrecoverably lost and on a life of tryal as cast away upon impertinences while the work that we lived for lay undone shall I now by trifling prepare such griping and tormenting thoughts for my awakened conscience Qu. 9. Can I do no more when I am sure I cannot do too much and am sure there is nothing else to be preferred and that its this I live for and that life is for action and disposeth thereunto and holy life for holy action and that its better not live then not attain the ends of living when I have so many and unwearied enemies when sloath is my danger and the advantage of my enemy when I know that Resolution and Vigorous diligence is so necessary that all is lost without it will temptations be resisted and self denied and concupiscence mortified and fleshly desires tamed and subdued and sin cast out and a holy communion with Heaven maintained with idleness and sloath will families be well ordered and Church or City or Country well governed will the careless sinners that I am bound to help be converted and saved with sitting still and with some heartless cold endeavours Qu. 10. Can I do no more that have so much help that have mercies of all sorts encouraging me
words of the most subtile disputant Christianity being an affecting practical Science must practically and affectionately be declared according to its nature Arguments do but paint it out And pictures do no more make known its excellency then the picture of meat and drink makes known its sweetness When a doctrine so holy is visibly exemplified and liveth and walketh and worketh in serious Christians before the world Either this or nothing will convince them and constrain them to glorify our Lord and say that God is among us or in us of a truth Mat. 5. 16. 1 Cor. 14. 25. But it is unchristian lives that darkneth the glory of the Christian Faith When men that profess such glorious hopes shall be as sordidly earthly and sensual and ambitious and impotent and impatient as other men they seem but fantastical dissembles And yet shall there be found such a perfidious wretch under the heavens of God as a professed Minister of Christ that shall subtilly or openly labour to make an exact and holy and heavenly conversation a matter of reproach and scorn and that under pretence of reproving the sins of Hypocrites and Schismaticks shall make the exactest conformity to the Christian rule and faithfullest obedience to the Almighty Soveraign to seem to be but hypocrisie or self-conceitedness or needless trouble if not the way to sedition and publick trouble and turning all things upside down that cannot reprove sin without malicious insinuating slanders or suspitions against the holy law and holy life that are most contrary to sin as life to death as health to sickness and as light to darkness For any man especially any professed Christian any where to oppose or scorn at godliness is a dreadful sign as well as a heinous sin But for a Preacher of Godliness to oppose and scorn at Godliness and that in the Pvlpit while he pretendeth to promote it and plead for it in the name of Christ is a sin that should strike the heart of man with horrour to conceive of Though I cannot subscribe my self to that passage in the second part of the tenth Homily Tom. 2. pag. 150. however I very much love and honour the book of Homilies yet for their sakes that not only can subscribe to it but would have all kept out of the Ministry that cannot and that take it for that Doctrine of the Church of England which they will believe and Preach I will recite it to the terror of the guilty not to drive to despair but to awake them or to shame them for their opposition to the wayes of godliness Expounding Psal 1. 1. Blessed is the man that hath not walked after the counsel of the ungodly nor stood in the way of sinners nor sit in the seat of the scornful having shewed who are the ungodly and the sinners it addeth these words The third sort he calleth scorners that is a sort of men whose hearts are so stuffed with malice that they are not contented to dwell in sin and to lead their lives in all kind of wickedness but also they do contemn and scorn in others all godliness true Religion all honesty and vertue Of the two first sorts of men I will not say but they may take Repentance and he converted unto God Of the third sort I think I may without danger of Gods judgement pronounce that never any yet were converted unto God by Repentance but continued still in their abominable wickedness heaping up to themselves damnation against the day of Gods inevitable judgement Though I dare not say but some such have Repented yet let the scorners that believe this remember that they subscribe the sentence of their own condemnation Though I look upon this sort of the enemies of Holiness as those that are as unlikely to be recovered and saved as almost any people in the world except Apostates and Malicious Blasphemers of the Holy Ghost yet in compassion to the people and themselves I shall plead the cause of God with their consciences and try what Light can do with their understandings and the terrours of the Lord with their hardened hearts 1. A Preacher of the Gospel should much excel the people in understanding And therefore this sin is greater in them then other men what means what light do they sin against Either thou knowest the necessity of serving for salvation with the greatest diligence or thou dost not If not what a sin and shame is it to undertake the sacred Office of the Ministry while thou knowest not the things that are necessary to salvation and that which every Infant in the Faith doth know But if thou dost know it how dost thou make shift maliciously to oppose it without feeling the beginnings of Hell upon thy Conscience When it is thy work to read the Scriptures and meditate on them dost thou not read thy doom and meditate terrour How canst thou choose but perceive that the scope of the word of God is contrary to the bent of thy affections and suggestions Yea what is more evident by the Light of Nature then that God and our salvation cannot be regarded with too much holy seriousness exactness and industry Should not the best things be best loved and the greatest matters have our greatest care And is there any thing to be compared with God and our eternal state O what overwhelming subjects are these to a sober and considerate mind what toyes are all things in comparison of them And yet dost thou make light of them and also teach men so to do As if there were something else that better deserved mens greatest care and diligence then they What a Preacher and not a Believer Or a Believer and yet not see enough in the matters of Eternity to engage all our powers of soul and body against all the world that should stand in competition 2. Is it not sinful and terrible enough to be thy self in a carnal unrenewed state Rom. 1. 13. and to be without the Spirit and life of Christ v. 9. but thou must be so cruel as to make others miserable also Psal 50. 16 17. But to the wicked saith God What hast thou to do to declare my Statutes or that thou shouldest take my Covenant in thy mouth seeing thou hatest instruction and castest my words behind thee Matth. 5. 19. Whosoever shall break one of the least Commandments and shall teach men so he shall be called the least in the Kingdom of Heaven But whosoever shall do and teach the same shall be called great in the Kingdom of Heaven 3. What an aggravation is it of thy impiety and soul-murder that thou art bound by office to teach men that life of holiness which thou oppoposest and to perswade them to that with all thy might which thou endeavourest closely and cunningly to disgrace And wilt thou be a Traytor to Christ in the name of a Messenger and Preacher of the Gospel Wilt thou engage thy self to promote his interest and to use all thy skill
and then condemn us for not believing them To make Laws for the Church unnecessary in their own opinion and sinful in other mens and command things which they know that others think the Lord forbids and then load them with the sufferings and reproaches of the disobedient turbulent heretical schismatical or seditious To call men factious if they will not be of their faction and Sectaries if they will not unreasonably subject their Souls to them and joyn with an imperious Sect against the Catholick Vnity and Simplicity All which the Romanists practice upon the Church of Christ How easie but how unreasonable and yet how unresistible is all this How easie is it to call a meeting of sober Christians for prayer and mutual edification such as that was Acts 12. 12. by the name of a Factious Schismatical Conventicle and a meeting of Drunkards or Gamesters by a more gentle less disgraceful name To say a man becomes a Preacher when he modestly reproveth another for his sinnes or charitable exhorteth him in order to his Salvation or giveth any necessary plain instruction to his Family for whom he must give account Believe it it will be a poor excuse to any man that becomes an enemy to the diligence of a Saint that he could thus cloak his malice and cloath a Saint with the vizer of an Hypocrite and the rags of any odious Sect. If the Pharisees were to be believed it was not they but Christ that was the Hypocrite nor was it the Son of God but an Enemy to Caesar and a Blasphemer that they put to death But will not Christ know his sheep though he find them torn in a wolks skin You say it is turbulent Preâ—isians that you strike but what if Christ find but one of the least of his Brethren bleeding by it It is but Hypocrites or Schismaticks that you reproach but if Christ find an humble serious Christian suffering by your abuse and you to answer it I would not be in your coats for all the greatness and honour that you shall have before your everlasting shame If Tertullus accuse a pestilent fellow and a mover of Sedition and Christ find an holy laborious Apostle in Bonds and suffering by it it is not his names that will excuse him and make an Apostle or Persecution to be another thing TO return to the endangered Flocks Look upward sirs and think whether Heaven be worth your labour Look downwards and think whether Earth be more worthy of it Lay up your treasures where you must dwell for ever If that be here then scrape and flatter and get all that you can But if it be not here but in another life then hearken to your Lord and lay up for your selves a treasure in Heaven and there let your very hearts be set Matth. 6. 20 21. And upon the peril of everlasting misery hearken not to any man that wil tempt you from a diligent holy life It is a serious businesse deal seriously in it and be not laught or mockt out of Heaven by the flouts of a distracted sensual Atheist If any of them will pretend to sobriety and wisdom and undertake to prove that God should not be loved and served and your Salvation sought with all your might and with greater care and diligence then any earthly thing procure me a sober conference with that man and try whether I shall not prove him to be a befoold servant of the Devil and a mischievous enemy of your Salvation and his own O that we might have but sober debates instead of jeers and scorns and railings with this sort of men how quickly should we shew you that they must renounce the Scripture and renounce Christianity and if that be nothing with them that they must renounce God and renounce right Reason and unman themselves if they will renounce a holy Heavenly life and blame them that make it their principal business in the world to prepare for the world to come But if they will not be entreated to such a sober conference will you that hear them if you care what becomes of you but come to us and hear what we can say for a Holy life before you hearken to them and let your souls have fair play and shew that you have so much love to your selves as not to cast away Salvation at the derision of a fool before you have heard the other side If I make not good the strictest Laws of God Almighty against the most subtil cavils of any of the instruments of Satan then tell me that Infidels or Epicures are in the right Compare their words with the words of God Consider well but that one Text 2 Pet. 3. 11. and tell me whether it suit with their Opinions Seeing all these things must be dissolved what manner of persons ought we to be in all manner of holy Conversation and Godliness looking for and hasting to the coming of the Day of God! Did these words but sink into your hearts the next time you heard any man reproach a Holy Heavenly life it would perhaps make you think of the words of Paul to such another Acts 13 10. O full of all subtilty and all mischief thou child of the Devil thou enemy of all Righteousness wilt thou not cease to pervert the right wayes of the Lord And if holiness be evil spoken of by them that never tried it what wonder Christ hath foretold us that it must be so Matth. 5. 11 12. Blessed are ye when men shall revile you and persecute you and say all manner of evil against you falsly for my sake Rejoyce and be exceeding glad for great is your reward in Heaven for so persecuted they the Prophets which were before you John 15. 19 20. If ye were of the world the world would love his own but because ye are not of the world but I have chosen you out of the world therefore the world hateth you c. 1 Pet. 4. 4 5 14. They think it strange that they run not with them to the same excess of riot speaking evil of you who shall give account to him that is ready to judge the quick and dead If ye be reproached for the Name of Christ happy are ye for the Spirit of Glory and of God resteth upon you On their part he is evil spoken of but on your part he is glorified Seneca himself oft telleth us that among the Heathen Vertue was a derision so far is the nature of man degenerated The question is not what you are called or taken to be but what you are Intus teipsum considera inquit Sen. non qualis sis aliis credas Plerunque boni inepti inertes vocantur Mihi contingat iste derisus Aequo animo audienda sunt imperitorum convitia ad honesta vadendi contemnendus est iste contemptus that is Inwardly consider of thy self and judge not what thou art by the words of others For the most part good men are called fools and