not seem to confine the Consequences here mention'd to another World altho' the full Accomplishment of them be only there to be expected but if we attend to his Scope and Design in the End of the foregoing Chapter and the Beginning of this we shall find that even in this Life the result of a carnal Mind is a sort of a Spiritual Death and of a Spiritual Mind is Life and Peace For when St. Paul in the 7â—h Chapter had represented himself as carnal and sold under Sin although there were great strugglings between the Convictions of his Conscience and the strength of carnal Inclinations yet as long as the latter prevailed so that he could not do the things that his Mind and Reason told him he ought to do but did those things which he was convinced be ought not to have done The more he reflected upon himself the more sad and miserable he found his Condition to be as appears by that Emphatical expression which follow'd upon it O wretched Man that I am who shall deliver me from the Body of this Death But he no sooner finds hopes of Delivery and Escape out of that Estate but he breaks forth into Transport of Joy and inward Satisfaction Thanks be to God who hath given us the Victory through Jesus Christ our Lord. Not meerly a Victory over Death but over Sin too And so he begins this Chapter after a triumphant manner There is therefore no Condemnation to them which are in Christ Jesus who walk not after the Flesh but after the Spirit For the Lord of the Spirit of Life which was in Christ Jesus hath made me â—â—ee from the Law of Sin and Death He that groaned under his Captivity before to the Law of Sin doth now rejoyce in his Deliverance from it by the Grace of the Gospel For what could not be done by natural Freedom by the Power of the Law and the Force of Reason is brought to pass by the Assistance of Divine Grace given to the Souls of Men by Jesus Christ. For what the Law could not do in that it was weak through the Flesh What was that which the Law could not do It could awaken convince terrifie and confound the Consciences of Sinners under the Sense and Apprehension of their Sins but it could neither satisfie the Justice of God nor the Minds of Men it could not remove the Guilt nor take away the Force and Power of Sin But God sending his own Son in the likeness of sinfull Flesh and for sin condemned sin in the Flesh i. e. Jesus Christ becoming an expiatory Sacrifice for Sin took off the damning Power of Sin and by the prevailing Efficacy of his Grace subdued the strength and force of it to such a degree That the Righteousness of the Law might be fulfilled in us who walk not after the Flesh but after the Spirit How could this be if St. Paul still considered himself in the same Condition he did in the foregoing Chapter For if he were still in Captivity to the Law of Sin in his Members how was it possible that the Righteousness of the Law should be fulfilled in him How could he walk not after the Flesh but after the Spirit if the Good which he would he did not and the Evil which he would not that he did For these things are so repugnant to each other that when they are spoken of the same Person it must be under different Considerations the one of him as meerly under the Power of the Law the other as under the Grace and Influence of the Gospel The one was like rough and a churlish sort of Physick which searches into every Part and puts all the ill Humours of the Body into Motion and makes a general Disturbance and Uneasiness within but yet lets them remain where they were the other is like a gentle but more effecutal Remedy which carries off the Strength and Power of inward Corruptions and alters the Habit and Temper and puts quite another Disposition into us which produces very different Effects upon us For instead of Horrour and Despair and inward Anguish and Confusion there will follow a new Life of Joy and Peace here and Eternal Happiness hereafter And this is what the Apostle means in the Words of the Text To be carnally minded c. Wherein are two things which very much deserve our Consideration I. The different Tempers of Men's Minds some are carnally and others spiritually minded II. The different Consequences which follow them To be carnally minded is Death but to be spiritually minded is Life and Peace I. The different Tempers of Men's Minds The different Denominations are taken from the Flesh and the Spirit which are here represented as two Principles so different from each other that the same Person cannot be supposed to be acted by both of them For as the Apostle saith in the foregoing Words They that are after the Flesh do mind the things of the Flesh but they that are after the Spirit the things of the Spirit Where the Flesh in a Moral sense takes in all our sensual Inclinations which are sinfull either in their Nature or Degree The Spirit is that Divine Principle which possesses the Mind with the Love and Esteem of Spiritual things and keeps our natural Inclinations within the Compass of God's Law To be carnally minded is to be under the Influence of carnal things so as to make the Pursuit of them our chief Design To be spiritually minded is to have so deep and just a Sense of God and his Law upon our Minds as to make it our business to please him and therefore to subdue all such Inclinations which are repugnant to his Will But here lies the main Difficulty how to judge concerning this matter so as to be able to determine whether we our selves be carnally or spiritually minded Which is a thing of so great Consequence for us to know that the Peace of our Minds the true Comfort of our Lives our due Preparation for Death and a happy Eternity do all depend upon And yet that this is a real Difficulty will appear from these Considerations 1. It requires a greater Knowledge of our selves as to our spiritual Condition than most Persons in the World can pretend to For it is not a slight and superficial View of our selves not a transient sudden Reflection nor a partial Inquiry into our inward Passions and the Course of our Actions which can make us capable of passing a true Judgment upon the Temper of our Minds but there must be a true Light a serious and diligent Search frequent Recollection free and deliberate Thoughts long Observation and due Comparison of our selves with our selves and with the Law of God before we can form a just Opinion as to the prevailing Temper and Disposition of our Minds It 's true this is not necessary in all Persons for some and I am afraid too many are so carnally minded that
of the Body are enter'd which he knows exactly and so can easily bring them together We all know that if the leaves of a Book are scattered up and down thro' many hands and carried to the most distant places if the Author of it knows where they are although they were bound up in other Books yet he can easily find out the several parts of it and put them together again so as to make the same entire Book which they were before If therefore God certainly knows and disposes the several parts of our Bodies for although they are under many Disguises to us they are under none to him he can much more easily gather them and joyn them together as his Wisdom and Power is infinitely greater than ours But Suppose the parts of one Body be turned into the Substance of another as in those who eat Man's Flesh how is it possible there should be distinct Bodies when the Substance of one goes into the Substance of another This hath been thought by some a terrible Objection against the Possibility of the Resurrection but according to the Principles I have already laid down it will admit of a clear and distinct Answer For 1. The Difficulty would appear much greater if there were any such Cannibals in the World as lived wholly upon Man's Flesh. It cannot be denied that there are Instances of People so rude and barbarous as to account it a piece of Gallantry to devour their Enemies whom they have taken in Battle and of others who by extremity of Famine have been driven to it But such extraordinary Instances have no force against a general Doctrine unless it be proved to be impossible by them for against extraordinary Cases extraordinary Care may be set to make up the parts of those Bodies But 2. It is but a very inconsiderable part of one Body which in such Cases goes into the Substance of another That which may stop a ravenous Appetite may go but a little way towards increasing the Substance of the Body How little of what we take into our Stomachs is united to the solid parts of the Body The Flesh is dissolved into a spirituous Liquor which at last turns to a Nourishment but after many Passages and refinings in the several Vessels for that purpose the grosser part and far greater quantity going off So that according to the most received Doctrine of Nutrition suppose the Body of a Man were eaten by Cannibals a very small part of it would pass into the Substance of their Bodies 3. Suppose there were more yet there cannot be so much as is already gone off from the Body of the same Man If a Man lives to thirty or forty years his Body hath undergone many new Repairs in that time and all the old Materials were as true and real parts of the Body as the new ones and yet it is the same Body in the sense of all Mankind Why should it not be then the same Body at the Day of Resurrection if some of the parts before consumed be taken to make it up as well as those very individual parts which a Man had at the time of his Death Suppose a corpulent Man to fall into lingring Diseases or a gradual Consumption of all the parts of his Body must this Man at the Day of Resurrection have no more as belonging to his Body than he had left upon him at the hour of his Death Would it not be the same Body if it were made up of the parts he had at the beginning of his Consumption If it be then the same Reason will hold as to other times of his Life and so this mighty Objection from the Cannibals devouring those parts of the Body which a Man had at the time of his Death can be of no force to overthrow the Possibility of the Resurrection 2. Having thus endeavour to clear the Notion of the Resurrection in general I come to the particular Consideration of it 1. With respect to the Resurrection of Christ which St. Paul had here a regard to that being the chief Point contested at that time between the Jews and the Apostles as the Foundation both of the Faith and Hope of Christians For saith St. Paul If Christ be not risen then is our Preaching vain and your Faith is also vain And St. Peter That they are begotten again to a lively Hope through the Resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead It was by this saith St. Paul That he was declared to be the Son of God with Power It was by this saith St. Peter that God exalted him to be a Prince and a Saviour to give Repentance to Israel and remission of sins And therefore the Apostles after the pouring out of the Holy Ghost upon them insist chiefly upon this Point and that not in distant places at first where Circumstances could not be known or examined but at Jerusalem while all things were fresh in their Memories and all Matters of Fact might be strictly examined Thus St. Peter on the Day of Pentecost standing up with the eleven said Ye Men of Judea and all ye that dwell at Jerusalem hearken unto my words And then follows his Charge upon them for the Death of Christ Jesus of Nazareth a Man approved of God him have ye taken and by wicked hands have crucified and slain And what then Whom God hath raised up This might seem incredible to them at first hearing but St. Peter goes on and having proved it foretold by David he saith again This Jesus hath God raised up But how doth this appear Whereof saith he we all are witnesses i. e. We that stand here before you and are ready to undergoe any Trial of our Sincerity in the Matter we do not tell you of Witnesses that live at a great distance but we whom you see and hear testifie what we have seen and heard If you are unsatisfied go and search the Monument where his Body was laid examine the Soldiers that were to guard it go to the Council and let them search into the bottom of it here we stand and are ready to give our utmost Testimony to the Truth of it Not long after as Peter and John were going into the Temple and a great number of People were gathered together upon a Miracle wrought by them St. Peter again tells them That they had killed the Prince of Life whom God hath raised up from the Dead whereof we are Witnesses This extremely galled the Priests and Sadduces present as appears afterwards and they seized upon them and the next day a solemn Council was called to examine them But do they flinch from their Testimony then No so far from it that St. Peter speaks more boldly to them Ye Rulers of the People and Elders of Israel be it known unto you all and to all the People of Israel that by the Name of Jesus of Nazareth whom ye crucified whom God
The Right Reverend EDW. STILLINGFLEET D. D. Lord Bishop of Worcester THIRTEEN SERMONS Preached on Several Occasions Three of which never before Printed By the Right Reverend Father in God EDWARD Lord Bishop of Worcester The Third VOLUME LONDON Printed by J. H. for Henry Mortlock at the Phoenix in St. Paul's Church-Yard 1698. THE CONTENTS SERMON I. ST Luk. XV. 18. I will arise and go to my Father and will say to him Father I have sinned against Heaven and before thee pag. 1 SERMON II. Coloss. II. 6. As ye have therefore received Christ Jesus the Lord so walk ye in him p. 40 SERMON III. Pet. IV. 18. And if the Righteous scarcely be saved where shall the Ungodly and the Sinner appear p. 91 SERMON IV. Eccles. XI 9. Rejoyce O young man in thy youth and let thy heart chear thee in the days of thy youth and walk in the ways of thy heart and in the sight of thine eyes but know thou that for all these things God will bring thee into Judgment p. 132 SERMON V. 2 Tim. I. 7. For God hath not given us the Spirit of Fear but of Power and of Love and of a sound Mind p. 169 SERMON VI. 1 Tim. I. 15. This is a faithful saying and worthy of all acceptation that Christ Jesus came into the World to save Sinners of whom I am chief p. 209 SERMON VII St. Luk. VI. 46. And why call ye me Lord Lord and do not the things which I say p. 255 SERMON VIII Rom. VIII 6. For to be carnally minded is Death but to be spiritually minded is Life and Peace p. 294 SERMON IX St. John III. 17. For God sent not his Son into the World to condemn the World but that the World through him might be saved p. 336 SERMON X. St. Jam. IV. 17. Therefore to him that knoweth to do good and doth it not to him it is Sin p. 375 SERMON XI St. Matth. XXVI 41. Watch and pray that ye enter not into Temptation the Spirit indeed is willing but the Flesh is weak p. 413 SERMON XII Acts XXVI 8. Why should it be thought a thing incredible with you that God should raise the Dead p. 453 SERMON XIII Eccles. VII 16. Be not Righteous overmuch neither make thy self over wise Why shouldst thou destroy thy self p. 490 ERRATA Page 107. line 5. for These read There p. 238. l. 17. dele from Yet to l. 21st p. 284. l. 21st for or r. we p. 296. l. 25. for Lord r. Law p. 298. l. 14. put out â— p. 344. l. 9. dele little p. 417. l. 7. for heatedness r. heartedness p. 418. l. 18. for Weakness r. Willingness p. 434. l. 18. For Truce r. Time p. 463. l. 1st before of put in out p. 464. l. 17. for Sea r. Sun p. 483. l. 25. for Laws r. Lives p. 485. l. 24. after now put apt p. 490. Sermon 13. In the Text for lover r. over p. 496. l. 29. before To put in 1. p. 501. l. 17. before known insert have p. 503. l. 6. blot out that p. 506. l. 22. for gain r. again p. 507. l. 1st for This r. Thus. p. 508. l. 27. for indanger r. indulge p. 509. l. 6. for Molochi r. Moloch p. 522. l. 7. for exasperate r. extenuate p. 528. l. 16. for Solitude r. Solicitude SERMON I. Preached at WHITE-HALL February the 19 th 1685 6 St. Luke XV. 18. I will arise and go to my Father and will say to him Father I have sinned against Heaven and before thee IN the foregoing Verse we find the Prodigal Son so far awakened and come to himself as to be sensible of the miserable Condition he had brought himself into by his own folly and wickedness But before he came to this there is a remarkable Turn in the Course of his Life set down by our Saviour in the beginning of this excellent Parable For he was first very impatient of being under the wise Conduct of his Father and thought he could manage his own Affairs far more to his Contentment and Satisfaction if he were but permitted to use his Liberty and were not so strictly tyed up to the grave and formal Methods of living observed and required in his Father's House Which might pass for Wisdom in Age and be agreeable enough to such whose Life and Vigour were decayed and who were now to maintain their Authority over their Children by seeming to be so much wiser than they But it is a rare thing for Youth and Age to agree in the Opinion of Wisdom For it is not the Care the Experience the Judgment of a wise and tender Father that can allay the Heats or calm the Passions or over-rule the violent Inclinations of Youth but whatever it cost them afterwards some will be still trying the Experiment whether it doth not more conduce to the happiness of Life to pursue their own Fancies and Designs than to hearken to another's Directions though a Father's whose Circumstances are so much different from their own Thus our Blessed Saviour represents in the Parable this young Prodigal as weary of being rich and easie at Home and fond of seeing the Pleasures of the World and therefore nothing would satisfie him unless he were intrusted with the Stock which was intended for him that he might shew the difference between his Father's Conduct and his own And this very soon appear'd for this hopefull Manager had not been long abroad but he wasted his substance with riotous living And to make him the more sensible of his Folly there happened a more than ordinary Scarcity which made his low and exhausted Condition more uneasie to him But the Sense of Shame was yet greater with him than that of his â—olly and whatever shifts he underwent he would by no means yet think of returning home but rather chose to submit to the meanest and basest Employment in hopes to avoid the Necessity of it But at last Reason and Consideration began to work upon him which is called his coming to himself and then he takes up a Resolution to go home to his Father and to throw himself at his Feet to confess his fault ingenuously and freely and to beg pardon for his former Folly in hopes of Forgiveness and Reconciliation I will arise and go to my Father and say to him Father I have sinned against Heaven and before thee Under this Parable our Saviour sets forth the state of a Sinner 1. In his wilfull degeneracy from God his Father both by Creation and Providence his uneasiness under his just and holy Laws his impatience of being restrained by them his casting off the Bonds of Duty to him and running into all kind of Disorders without regard to God or his own Soul 2. In the dissatisfaction he found in his evil Courses being very much disappointed in the great Expectations he had in the Pleasures of Sin wasting his health interest reputation estate and above all the Peace and Tranquillity of his Mind which was
incomprehensible Mysteries how a Man by Nature can be a God really and truly by Office how the incommunicable Perfections of the Divine Nature can be communicated to a Creature how God should give his Glory to another and by his own Command require that to be given to a Creature which himself had absolutely forbidden to be given to any besides himself It is said by a famous Jesuiâ— I will not say how agrecably to their own Doctrines and Practices about Divine Worship that the Command of God cannot make him worthy of Divine Worship who without such a Command is not worthy of it And it is very absurd to say that he that is unworthy of it without a Command â—an become worthy by it for it makes God to command Divine Honour to be given to one who cannot deserve it For no meer Man can desâ—rve to be made God But it is more agreeable to the Divine Nature and Will not to give his Honour to a Creature 3. But after all the Invectives of these Enemies to Mysteries we do not make that which we say is Incomprehensible to be a Necessary Article of Faith as it is Incomprehensible but we do assert that what is Incomprehensible as to the Manner may be a Necessary Article as far as it is plainly revealed As in the Instances I have already mentioned of the Creation and Resurrection of the Dead would they in earnest have Men turn Infidels as to these things till they are able to comprehend all the Difficulties which relate to them If not why should this suggestion be allow'd as to the Mysteries which relate to our Redemption by Jesus Christ If it be said the Case is not alike for those are clearly revealed and these are not this brings it to the true and proper Issue of this Matteâ— and if we do not prove a clear Revelation we do not assert their being Necessary Articles of Faith but my present business was only to take off this Objection that the Mâ—steries were incomprehensible and therefore not to be received by us II. And so I come to the second Way by which we are to examine the several Senses of Christ Jesus coming to save Sinners Which of them tends more to the Benefit and Advantage of Mankind or which is more worthy of all Acceptation And that will appear by considering these things 1. Which tends most to the raising our Esteem and Love of Christ Jesus 2. Which tends most to the begetting in us a greater Hatred of Sin 3. Which tends most to the strengthening our Hope of Salvation by Jesus Christ. 1. As to the raising in us a greater Esteem and Love of Christ. We are certain that the Infinite Love and Condâ—â—cension of Christ Jesus in undertaking such a Work as the saving of Sinners makes it most worthy of all Acceptation Some Men may please themselves in thinking that by taking away all Mysteries they have made their Faith more easie but I am certain they have extremely lessen'd the Argument for our Love viz. the Apprehensions of the wonderfull Love and Condescension of Christ in coming into the World to save Sinners And yet this is the great Argument of the New Testament to perswade Mankind to the Love of God and of his Son God so loved the World that he gave his only begotten Son c. This is indeed a mighty Argument of Love if by the only begotten Son be meant the Eternal Son of God who came down from Heaven as St. John speaks just before but if no more be meant but only that God made a meer Man to be hâ—s Son and after he had preached a while here on Earth and was ill used and crucified by his own People he exalted him to be God and gave him Divine Attributes and Honâ—urs this were an Argument of great Love to the Person of Christ but not to the rest of Mankind But God's Love in Scripture is magnified with respect to the World in the sending of his Son In this was manifested saith the Apostle the Love of God towards us because that God sent his only begotten Son into the World that we should live through him Herein is love not that we loved God but that he loved us and sent his Son to be a Propitiation for our Sins The great Love we still see is towards us i. e. towards Mankind but according to the other Sense it must have been herein was the Love of God manifested to his Son that for his Sufferings he exalted him above all Creatures He that spared not his own Son saith St. Paul but deliver'd him up for us all If he were the Eternal Son of God who came to suffer for us there is a mighty Force and Emphasis in this Expression and very apt to raise our Admiration and our Love but what not sparing his own Son is there if nothing were meant but that he designed by Sufferings to exalt him For not sparing him supposes an Antecedent Relation of the highest Kindness but the other is only designing extraordinary Kindness for the sake of his Sufferings Therefore the Argument for the Love of God is taken from what his Son was when he deliver'd him up for us all he was his own Son not by Adoption as others are St John calls him his only begotten Son and God himself his beloved Son in the Voice from Heaven and this before his Sufferings immediately after his Baptism when as yet there was nothing extraordinary done by him as to the great Design of his coming Which shews that there was an Antecedent Relation between him and the Father and that therein the Love of God and of Christ was manifested that being the only begotten Son of the Father he should take our Nature upon him and for our sakes do and suffer what he did This is indeed an Argument great enough to raise our Admiration to excite our Devotion to inflame our Affections but how flat and low doth it appear when it comes to no more than this that there was a Man whom after his Sufferings God raised from the Dead and made him a God by Office Doth this carry any such Argument in it for our Esteem and Love and Devotion to him as the other doth upon the most serious Consideration of it 2. Which tends most to beget in us a greater Hatred of Sin For that is so contrary to the Way of our Salvation by Jesus Christ that what tends most to our Hatred of it must conduce most to our Happiness and â—herefore be most worthy of all Acceptation It is agreed on all hands that Christ did suffer very much both in his Mind and in his Body In his Mind when it is said that he was troubled in Spirit that he began to be sorrowfull and very heavy and soon after My Soul is exceeding sorrowfull even unto death St. Luke saith that he was in an Agony wherein he not only prayed more
Foundation of that upon the first and great Commandment Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy Heart and with all thy Soul and with all thy Strength We need not to question but where-ever there is such a Love of God as is here required there will be true Godliness in all the parts of it And where this is wanting all external shews of Devotion want the true Life and Spirit of it For it is the Love of God which makes all our weak and imperfect Services to be acceptable to him and without it all our Prayers and our Fastings and all other appearances of Devotion are empty and infipid Formalities Not but that the Acts themselves are commendable but they are like a Body without a Soul dull and heavy or like the leaves of a Tree in Autumn which make a great noise in the Wind but are dry sapless and soon fall to the Ground But where the Love of God prevails it keeps up the Life and Order and Vigour of Devotion and preserves it from being tainted by hypocrisie or choaked by the love of this World or decaying from want of Constancy and Resolution Thus I have set before you some of the most remarkable Duties of Christianity not such as depend on the Opinions and Fancies of men but such as our Blessed Saviour the great Law-giver of his Church hath made the necessary Conditions of our Salvation by him And what now can we say for our selves We do call Christ Lord Lord or else we renounce our Baptismal Vow and all hopes of Salvation by him But can we say that we love God when we love what he hates viz. Sin Can we say we love him with all our Heart and Soul when our Hearts are so much divided between him and the Vanities of this World Can we say we love him with all our Might when our Love to God is apt to grow cold and remiss upon any apprehension of Difficulties Can we say that we love our Neighbour as our Selves when we despise and scorn him or over-reach and defraud him or oppress and ruin him If it go not so far are we as tender of his Reputation as of our own as unwilling to see him injured as ready to help him in his Necessities as we should desire it from others if we were in the same Circumstances If strict Sobriety and Temperance be the Duties of Christians where are those Virtues to be generally found I do not speak of particular Persons but I am afraid there is hardly such a thing left as a Sober Party among us What profane customary Swearing is every-where to be met with What Complaints are daily made of the Abounding of all sorts of Wickedness even to an open Scorn and Contempt not barely of Christianity but of any kind of Religion For many who have long denied the Power seem to be grown weary of the very Form of Godliness unless it serves some particular End and Design So that if we look abroad in the World we find little Regard shew'd to the Precepts of Christ and yet those who commit these things call Christ Lord Lord. What is the meaning of all this gross Hypocrisie Nothing would have been thought more Absurd or Ridiculous than for one who used no kind of Abstinence to be thought a Pythagorean or one that indulged his Passions à Stoick or one who eats Flesh and drinks Wine a Brachman or Banian It is really as much for any one to break the known and particular Precepts of Christ and yet desire to be thought a Christian. For a loose profane and debauched Christian is a Contradiction in Morality it is to be a Christian against Christ to call him Lord Lord and yet to defie his Laws and Authority A Star without Light a Guide without Eyes a Man without Reason a Sun with nothing but Spots are not more absurd Suppositions than a Christian without any Grace or Vertue But let us say what we will there are and will be such who will own Christ and call him Lord Lord and yet will not part with their sins for him There were multitudes of such formerly who would lay down their Lives for the Ground he trod on and yet would not mortifie one Sin for his sake The Reason is still the same which our Saviour mentions they hope that calling him Lord Lord will make amends for all and yet it is not possible that fairer warning should be given to any than he hath given in this Case that let them pretend what they will he will say to them at â—he great Day Depart from me all ye workers of Iniquity O dreadful Sentence Not to be mention'd without Horrour not to be thought upon without Astonishment How miserable for ever miserable must their condition be whom Christ at that day shall bid to Depart from him What is this some will be apt to say but to put all Christians into utter Despair For who is there that can say that he hath done all that Christ hath said Truly we have a sufficient Ground for deep Humility and serious Repentance and timely Reformation But there is a great difference between the Failing of our Duty and the Works of Iniquity between the Infirmities of those who sincerely endeavour to do his Will and the Presumptuous Sins of those who despise it between Sins committed and heartily repented of and Sins habitually practised and continued in without any Marks of Amendment Such must go out of this World in a State of Sin and therefore can expect nothing but that dreadfull Sentence which I tremble at the very thoughts of Repeating But there are others who in the sincerity of â—heir Hearts have endeavour'd to do his Will and whose Sincerity will be so far accepted by him that he will say to them at that Day Come ye blessed of my Father inherit the Kingdom prepared for you from the Foundation of the World To which God of his infinite Mercy bring us through the Mediation of Christ Jesus our Lord. SERMON VIII Preached before the QUEEN AT WHITE-HALL March the 13 th 1691 2 Romans VIII 6. For to be carnally minded is Death but to be spiritually minded is Life and Peace IN thâ—se Words is imply'd a Distribution of Mankind into those who are carnally and spiritually minded which Distinction is so large and comprehensive as to take in all sorts and conditions of Men and of so great Moment and Importance that their Life or Death Happiness or Misery depend upon it But considering the Mixture of Good and Evil in Mankind it is not an easie matter to set the Bounds of the carnal and spiritual Mind and considering the frequent Impunity and Security of bad Men and the Fears and Troubles which the best are not exempted from it seems next to impossible to make out at least as to this Life that to be carnally minded is Death but to be spiritually minded is Life and Peace Yet our Apostle doth
Prayer commands him to take his Rod and in the Assembly of the People to speak to the Rock and the Water should issue out Moses assembles the People expostulates the matter with them strikes the Rock twice and the Waters came Where is the great Sin of Moses all this while Yet he often repeats it that God was angry with him for something done at that time God himself saith Moses and Aaron rebelled against him and that they did not sanctifie him before the People the Psalmist saith they provoked his Spirit so that he spake unadvised with his Lips After all the Sin of Moses was a Mixture of Anger and some kind of Infidelity For the Psalmist saith he was highly provoked and God himself saith they believed him not to sanctifie him in the Eye of the Children of Israel The Fault then seems to lie in this that they were more concerned for their own Honour than God's and did not so clearly attribute the Power of the Miracle to God but that the People might think they assumed it to themselves as appears by their Words to the People Hear now ye Rebels must we fetch you Water out of the Rock Which Expression doth not give God the Glory he expected from them and he is so tender in matters of his own Honour that he would suffer none to encroach upon it no not his faithfull Servants but he made them smart for attempting it The other case is that of David's Numbering the People and he was a Man after God's own Heart of great Sincerity and Courage and Constancy in his Service Yet of a sudden he took up a Resolution that he would have all the People number'd without any apparent Reason for it And although he was discouraged from the Attempt by those about him yet he would be obey'd And what came of it Truly before the thing was completed he grew very uneasie at what he had done for it is said His heart smote him after that he had numbred the People and David said to the Lord I have sinned greatly in what I have done And yet in the Book of Chronicles it is said that he finished it not because Wrath fell for it against Israel What was the Cause of all this Severity against David Was it such an unpardonable Sin for a King to understand the Number of his People Suppose it a Failing yet why should God be so angry for one such failing in him that had served God so sincerely as David had done There must be something extraordinary in this Case for God sometimes supposes the People to be Number'd and in some Cases he requires or allows it why then is he so dâ—spleased now at the doing it The best Account I know of it is this It was not a meer Piece of Vanity and Ostentation in David although that be displeasing to God but it was a thing as designed by him which was generally look'd on as inconsistent with the Fundamental Promise made to Abraham and so it is mention'd in the Chronicles why the Numbering was not exactly taken because the Lord had said He would increase Israel like the Stars of the Heavens Which seems to imply that there was a general Notion received among the People that since God promised to increase them beyond Number no one ought to go about to take the exact Number of them For this must seem to savour of Infidelity and a Contempt or Mistrust of God's fundamental Promise But however upon such Occasions God might use two of his most faithfull Servants thus yet we have no Reason to question his Readiness to pardon these and other their Failings upon a sincere Repentance and to accept of their general Care and Endeavour to please him instead of a perfect Obedience But I have something farther to offer for the clearing these two difficult Cases viz. that there is a Difference to be observed between the Rule of God's Proceedings with particular Persons as to the general Sincerity of their Actings and the Measure of God's political Justice as to Persons in publick Capacities The Reason is because in the latter Cases God may justly have a Regard not meerly to the Actions themselves but to the Circumstances of the People they are related to Thus Moses mentions it three several times The Lord was angry with me for your sakes and again the Lord was wroth with me for your sakes and would not hear me and the Lord said unto me Let it suffice thee speak no more to me of this matter It seems he was so much concerned as to pray to God and that earnestly that he would give him leave to conduct the People into Canaan but God would not grant his Request But he tells the People that it was for their sakes that he was denied Furthermore the Lord was angry with me for your sakes and sware that I should not go over Jordan c. So that the Blow which was given to the Head was for the sake of the whole Body And it is remarkable in the Case of David that before he fell into the Sin of Numbering the People The Anger of the Lord was kindled against Israel and he moved David against them to say Go Number Israel and Judah From whence it is evident that the Sins of a People may provoke God to let Princes fall into such Sins which may give just occasion to God to punish both together But this is a very different Case from the Method of God's dealings with particular Persons with regard to their Integrity according to the Terms of the Covenant of Grace Which is established on such Foundations that we need not give way to Despondencies for the sake of such particular Acts of Severity II. I am now to consider the different Consequences of these two To be carnally minded is Death but to be spiritually minded is Life and Peace which in short is that the Advantage is far greater which comes to Mankind by one than by the other And that will appear by comparing them together 1. As under equal Circumstances 2. As under unequal Circumstances 1. As under equal Circumstances And here we have two sorts of Persons to consider 1. Those who have Convictions of Conscience going along with a carnal Mind Such who look on the Conditions of Men in this World at a Distance and judge only by Appearance would be apt to think that those who do allow themselves all the Liberties which a carnal Mind doth incline them to have very much the Advantage of those who are under the Restraints of a spiritual Mind for they are bound to severe Rules of Vertue and Mortification to deny all Ungodliness and Worldly lusts and to live soberly and righteously and godly in this present World and these are thought to be very hard things whereas such who are not under these Difficulties seem to lead the most pleasant and easie Lives
believe no Life after this be compared with the Pains and Martyrdoms of those who have suffer'd for their Religion these will appear to be far more eligible than the other because the Mind hath far greater Satisfaction under them and a certain Expectation of an infinite Reward to follow upon them Whereas the other can have no Comfort in looking back on what they have done or forward in what they are to expect For they have destroy'd their own Happiness and hasten'd that upon themselves which they account their only Misery 2. As to the common Calamities of Life which none can prevent or avoid the spiritual Mind hath very much the Advantage of the carnal for the one â—ills them with inward Peace and Satisfaction of Mind which of all things carry Men best through the Troubles of Life being joyned with Patience Humility Self-denial and Submission to the Will of God which are all the genuine Effects of a spiritual Mind but a carnal Mind is froward and impatient uneasie to it self and to all about it and this makes every Pain and Trouble to be much greater than it would have been like the Ass in the Fable Which lay down in the Water with his Burthen of Wool and so made it heavier than before There were two things the philosophical Men of Pleasure sought to comfort themselves by under the unavoidable Troubles of Life which the spiritual Mind hath far greater Advantages than any of them had as to both of them and these are Reflection and Expectation 1. Reflection When Epicurus was in his last Agonies under the Stone what a miserable way was it for him to go about to comfort himself by reflecting upon his Atoms and his Maxims his imaginary Notion of the Happiness of Life consisting in Pleasure when his Life was so near being ended by excessive Pain But a good Man that hath sincerely endeavour'd to serve God in his Generation and to do all the good he could and to promote the Interests of Religion and Vertue in the World may in the Midst of many Failings and Infirmities look back with comfort on the Course of his former Life and by the Peace of a good Conscience may injoy inward Satisfaction under such Pains and Distempers which make Life uneasie and Death more welcome as it is a Passage to a far better State And that is the next thing 2. Expectation It was a sorrowfull Expectation which Epicurus supported himself with when he was in the Prospect of Death which was no more than that the subtle Atoms which made up his Soul would soon be scatter'd and dispersed he knew not where and then he should be as if he had never been But what Comfort is there in such a Dissolution Men that have deserved it may heartily wish it but they have deserved something worse and that they must expect For the just and holy God will certainly call them to an Account for all their Vices and Follies and it is a fearfull thing to fall into the hands of the living God and what a miserable Case are those in who have nothing to look for but Judgment and fiery Indignation which shall consume the Adversaries of God and Religion But O the blessed Hope and joyfull Expectation that attends a spiritual Mind Especially when it is enliven'd and assisted by the powerfull Influences of Divine Grace For without that even good Men may be liable to some Dejections and Fears as to another World from the Vastness of the Change the Sense of their Failings the Weakness of their Minds and Mistrust of their own Fitness for Heaven but so great is the Goodness and Mercy of God towards them that sincerely love and fear him that he always makes their Passage safe though it be not so triumphant And although the Valley of the Shadow of Death may seem gloomy and uncomfortable at a Distance yet when God is pleased to conduct his Servants through it he makes it a happy Passage into a State of a glorious Immortality and everlasting Life and Peace To which God c. SERMON IX Preached before the King and Queen AT WHITE-HALL ON Christmass-Day 1693. St. John III. 17. For God sent not his Son into the World to condemn the World but that the World through him might be saved THese words are part of the Gospel written by St. John wherein he doth not only fill up the History of our Saviour with many particular Discourses omitted by the other Evangelists but the whole seems to be penned in another Strain and with some different Purpose and Design It 's true that they all agree in the same general End of Writing which St. John mentions viz. That we might believe that Jesus is the Christ the Son of God and that believing we might have life through his Name but they make use of several Methods as most agreeable to the Circumstances of the Time and Place and Occasion of their Writing St. Matthew wrote his Gospel for the sake of the Jews and therefore he begins with the Genealogy of Jesus Christ from Abraham and shews that the Prophecies were accomplished in him and how he came not to destroy the Law but to fulfill it and that his Miracles and Doctrine were sufficient to convince them that he was the promised Messias St. Mark wrote only a summary Account of the most material Passages relating to the Person and Doctrine of Christ for the sake of the Gentiles St. Luke takes a larger Compass and puts things into an exacter Order of Time as himself tells us and adds many Circumstances relating to the Birth of Christ and the general Advantage to Mankind by his coming that he was to be a Light to lighten the Gentiles as well as the Glory of his People Israel St. John succeeding the rest found two great things which gave him occasion of writing his Gospel 1. The perverting the Doctrine of Christ by the Ebionites and Cerinthians who pretended to give great Honour to Christ as an excellent Person both for Wisdom and Holiness but yet so that he was but a meer Man to whom God upon his Baptism had given extraordinary Gifts and Assistances of his Holy Spirit 2. The other was that the Gospel which was designed for the Universal good of the World met with such cold Reception and Entertainment from it He was in the World and the World was made by him and the World knew him not He came unto his own and his own received him not What could be more uneasie to so true a lover of Christ as St. John was than that he lived to see his Doctrine perverted and his Design in so great a Measure rendred ineffectual And therefore in the writing of this Gospel 1. He begins after another manner and in a very short significant and lofty Style he sets forth his Eternal Being and Godhead In the beginning was the Word and the Word was with God and the Word
enjoying themselves and being full of Noise and Confidence and appear to be all Miâ—th and good Humour But there is another Account to be taken of these things If Men could look within and see all the secret Misgivings the inward Horrours of Conscience the Impatience and Dissatisfaction they have when they seriously reflect on their evil Courses it would quite alter their Apprehensions of these things and make them conclude with the Roman Orator That one Day spent according to the Rules of Vertue were to be preferr'd before everlasting Debaucheries And he was no Fooâ— no Pedant no mean and contemptible Person who said this but a Man of Wit and Sense of Quality and Experience who had Opportunities and Means enough to have pursued the most sensual and voluptuous Course of Liâ—e which yet we see out of Judgment and Choice he despised and preferr'd a far shorter Life according to the Rules of Vertue before a vicious Immortality And yet how short were the Incouragements to a good Life and the Dissuasives from Sin among the best of them in Comparison of what we all â—now now by the Gospel of Christ They went no farther than meer Natural Reason and the common Sense of Mankind carried them but we profess to believe the Wrath of God revealed from Heaven against all unrighteousness and ungodliness of Men and that there will be a great and terrible Day wherein Men must receive according to their Works whether they be Good or Evil. And will not this dreadfull Consideration awaken the drowsie and secure Sinner and make him look about him betimes while there is yet any hopes of Mercy Will he not become so wise at least as to enter into the Consideration of his Ways and to look back on the former Course of his Life to examine and compare that with the Law of God by which he must be judged And if we have but Patience to do this he will have no farther Patience with himself for being guilty of such unspeakable Folly He will abhorr himself for all his sensual and sinfull Delights which will turn into the greatest Bitterness and Anguish to his Soul He will lament his Folly and Wickedness with the deepest Sorrow and take up sincere and firm Resolutions to return no more to the Practise of them And if this be the Result as it ought to be of all the distinguishing sinfull Pleasures of a carnal Mind I leave it to the most impartial Mind to resolve whether there will be the least Advantage by pursuing them 2. But we have too great Reason to suppose that Men may harden themselves to such a Degree of Wickedness as to be insensible of the Folly of it and to mock at those who go about to reprove them for it Such as these are at ease because they have no Sense of their Condition but so are those in a Lethargy Is their Case therefore to be envied or compared with those in Health altho' more sensible of Pain and Danger Who seem to be better pleased at sometimes and transported with their own Imaginations than Men in a Frenzy And yet no Man thinks their Condition happier for it There is a sort of Moral Frenzy which possesses some part of Mankind who are not only extravagant in their Actions but assume such a Degree of Confidence in committing them as though the wise Men of all Ages had been the only remarkable Fools in it But it is no such easie Matter to run down the Principles of Vertue and Religion they have stood the Shock of all the Sarcasms and Reproaches of former Times and there is still nothing at the Bottom of all the Scorn and Contempt that is cast upon them but a carnal and profane Temper of Mind which may bear them up for a while but it will be sure to end in everlasting Confusion and then they will find what they were so unwilling to believe That to be carnally minded is Death Not a meer State of Insensibility but the worst kind of Death A Death of perpetual Horrour and Torment A Death without the Power of Dying and yet with a perpetual Desire of it A Death whose Sting can never be taken out and whose Terror is said to be as everlasting as the Joys of Heaven And shall not the Apprehension of such a Death as this so dreadfull so unavoidable so insupportable make the greatest Sinners to tremble and be confounded at the Apprehension of it And if once such Thoughts break into their Minds farewell then to all the imaginary Pleasure and Satisfaction of a carnal Mind for it must sink it into the Confusion if not the Despair of Hell 2. But I have hitherto represented the Disadvantages of one side but are there not such on the other too Some are too apt to think a spiritual Mind to be nothing but a disorder'd Fancy and melancholy Imaginations of invisible things If this were all it were so far from being Life and Peace that there could be no real Satisfaction about it But a spiritual Mind is truly the most desirable thing we aâ—e capable of in this World For it is the best Improvement of our Minds which are Spiritual It is the purging and refining them from the Dross and Corruption which debased them It is the advancing them towards the Divine Nature by a gradual Participation of it It is the raising them above the carnal Delights and the sollicitous Cares and perplexing Fears of this World and fitting them for a perpetual Conversation with Divine and Spiritual Objects And what then can be more agreeable to the best Part of our selves here than to have a Mind so disengaged from this World and so fit for a better So that we may be content to take a view of the Worst which can be supposed as to Disadvantage here which is that good Men may be under uneequal Circumstances as to their Condition in this Life that is when the regarding another World more than this may make their outward Condition moâ—e uneasie here than it might have been if they had follow'd only the Dictates of a carnal Mind There are two sorts of Troubles we are to expect in this World 1. Such as we bring upon our selves by our own Acts 2. Such as are common to all Mankind In both these the spiritual Mind hath the Advantage 1. As to such which Men bring upon themselves Let this be supposed as it ought to be when God pleases among Christians who are to follow Christ in taking up his Cross Is there any thing in this which overthrows the Advantage of a spiritual Mind above a carnal Can a carnal Mind secure Men from Pains and Diseases from Losses and Disappointments Nay doth not the Pursuit of carnal Pleasures bring more Troubles upon Men in this Life than the Case of Persecution doth upon the best Christians If the loathsome Diseases the reproachfull and untimely Deaths which of all things ought to be most avoided by such who