5.22 I do not deny but Men may do worse but what necessity is there for their doing that which is bad to avoid that which is worse Must I therefore slander and abuse a Man because it is a less sin then to murther him I know such Doctrines are usually branded with the name of foolish preciseness but sure I am they are agreeable to that wisdom which is from above and he that means to arrive to this wisdom must of necessity become a fool a fool in the eyes of the World and that must be a Christians greatest glory for know ye not that the friendship of the World is enmity with God whosoever therefore will be a friend of the World is the enemy of God Jam. 4.4 upon which words Antonisnus thus paraphrases A friend of the World is he that loves the pomp the lasciviousness the pride and vain glory of the World and he that will please Men in things of this nature things usually found in promiscuous Dancings becomes an enemy of God Ludovicus Vives tells us of some poor Indians that were brought from the farther parts of Asia who seeing some of our Europeans Dancing together wonder'd what madness and fury had possess'd them indeed he that should stand upon a Hill afar of without hearing any Musick and see people skip about and sometimes beat the Earth with their feet sometimes lift themselves up into the Air sometimes in such a posture sometimes in another could think no less then that they were forsaken of their reason I will not here alledge any examples of Men and Women who have found by sad experience what a sad Exit their Dancing and revelling hath had how in the Ball which Lodowick the design'd Arch-Bishop of Magdeburg gave his kindred and relations the house fell upon the Dancers heads and crush'd the Burgemaster and his friends to death nor how that vertuous Virgin in Famianus Strada was ravished in a Ball. The misfortune that befell John the Baptist through the jocular Dancing of Herodias ought to fright devout persons from having any esteem and veneration for it upon which passage St. Chrysostom thus comments Where there is Lascivious Dancing there the Devil is always present God hath not given us feet for Dancing but to walk modestly not to skip like Camels but that we might be fit to stand one day in the Quire of Angels If the body be deformed or disfigured by such leaping how much more the soul such Dances make the Devil Dance and this way men are cheated by the Ministers of darkness It were endless to rehearse here what Men of learning and wisdom have said against this sport one passage out of Cornelius Agrippa may serve for all Nothing can be more ridiculous then promiscuous Dancing This lets loose the reins of wantonness is a faithful friend to sin the great incentive to uncleanness an enemy to chastity and a recreation unworthy of rational Men. Here many a matron hath lost her honour here many a Virgin hath learned that which she had better been totally ignorant of From hence many have come away worse then they were but none better 12. Delight in seeing Stage-Plays must not be omitted here and how far this delight may be allow'd of and how far detested I cannot shew you better then by giving you the contents of a Letter I formerly writ to a young Gentleman upon this Subject Sir THough you did pitch upon none of the best Casuists when you sent your case to me yet since you have thought fit to ask my opinion whether it be lawful to go and see a Play a thing our Gallants are so exceeding fond of I must crave leave to tell you that in the Primitive ages of the Church such a question from one who professed himself a follower of the Holy Jesus would have been looked upon with novery pleasant aspect they supposing that every Christian who knew or was sensible into whose name he was Baptized understood that things of this nature are as forrein to Christianity as lasciviousness and wantonness and as contrary to the design of our noble Religion which is to plant a Spiritual Life in us as wallowing in voluptuousness or luxury But the times are altered and our Virtuosi have allow'd of it and what men in former ages scarce thought fit to be named among Christians this hath made not only convenient but in some respect necessary and essential to a person of Quality so that this Question as the case stands may with some justice be askt and even a very sober person may now with some reason demand whether there be any harm in beholding these dramatick representations And here I would not be thought so rigid or foolish rather as if I believed no representation of History or Mens actions in the World lawful for that would be directly contrary to Christs own practice who instituted a Sacrament to represent his death and passion by and to keep up the remembrance of it to the Worlds end and though this is not acting things to the Life yet it at least imports so much that something Historical may be represented in lively and significant Characters the management of which must be left to the prudence and discretion of sober Men. But then these representations must be restrain'd altogether to vertue and goodness and such accomplishments of the Soul which the wisest and holiest Men in all ages have been desirous and ambitious of and though vertue cannot be well either discoursed of or represented without its opposite vice yet such is the nature of vice such the unhappy consequences of it that if either the pleasure or ease or prosperity and success of it be shewn and acted though but for a few minutes whatever Fate it ends in it 's so agreeable to the corrupted tempers of Men that it leaves a pleasing impression behind it nor is the after-clap or doleful Exit of it strong enough to prevent a liking or satisfaction especially in the younger sort who are generally more taken with its present content and titillations then frighted with its dull and muddy conclusion for while its present success and sweetness is acting the Cupid strikes the heart and lays such ae foundation there as mocks all the death and ruin it after some time doth end in I doubt not but the joys of Angels and the triumphs of glorified souls might be acted to the life and great good might issue from the gaudy Opera and if justice patience sobriety humility and contempt of the World with all the garlands and solid joys that attend them were represented with their future recompense in a serious way without jesting or raillery not a few Men and Women might be signally edified by it their affections raised above their ordinary level and their courage kindled to press towards the noble prize but then there must be nothing of the present amiableness of vice mingled with the Scenes for though vice must almost
and such baits as served either to plant or cherish vanity in his mind and affections but all in vain One Night the King desirous to bring his Brother to a better sense of Spiritual things bids the fatal Trumpet to be sounded before the jolly Princes house who sensible of the meaning of that noise that he was to die next morning starts out of his Bed throws by his stately Robes puts on a ragged Garment weeps Rivers of Tears and a mighty horror seizes his mind and assoon as it was day comes to the King in this posture and intercedes for his Life to whom the King said O Brother are you frighted with the sound of this Trumpet which foretells my Subjects approaching and inevitable Death and doth this noise force you into Tears and Sackcloath and humble supplications and can you blame me for being serious who know not how soon the Archangels Trumpet of far greater consequence and importance than this will sound in mine ears and summon me and you and all my Subjects to the Judgment seat of God and perhaps to eternal despair and agonies Go home said he and by my example learn to despise the World and prepare for that Day But this subject will invite us to a larger discourse and therefore it will be necessary to enquire 1. What reason we have to believe that there is a Day of Judgment 2. What there is in that future Judgment that 's able to cast a damp on the Mirth and Jollities of Men especially the younger sort 3. How the prospect of that Judgment must be managed that it may actually damp and put a stop to these carnal delights 4. Whether every Man is bound to embitter his carnal delights with this prospect 5. Whether upon this account a Man be obliged to mind nothing that savours of Worldly delight and sensual satisfaction 1. What reason have we to believe that there is a day of Judgment Having to deal with Christians at least with Men that profess themselves such this query seems needless for the Scripture which the Christian World pretends to believe to be derived from God is full of passages of this Nature and assures us that this belief of a future Judgment is as ancient as the Creation of the World For Enoch the seventh from Adam who in all probability had it from his ancestors Prophesied of these saying Behold the Lord cometh with Ten thousand of his Saints to Execute Judgment upon all and to convince all that are ungodly among them of all their ungodly deeds which they have ungodlily committed and of their hard speeches which ungodly sinners have spoken against him Jude v. 14 15. And this Faith hath been followed by all the succeeding Saints Patriarchs Prophets and judicious Men was confirmed by the great Messiah the Lord Jesus and his Apostles who gave us a more lively description of it and hath since been entertained by all the Christian World at least in profession though there are but few that act and live like persons influenced or overaw'd by that belief so that if Christians keep close to their principles it can be no difficult thing to perswade them to believe that which they imbibe with their Mothers-Milk and education advances into an open profession and daily declaration But we have seen and do see a strange degenerateness in most Christians and not a few that go under that name though they do not openly question this truth yet they either live as if they did or infidelity reigns secretly in their Hearts and it 's to be feared that whatever their Tongues may speak in their minds they are not fully perswaded of it And were such Men willing to be perswaded it should be no contemptible argument to convince them one would think that the greatest part of the World is of that belief not only Christians but Jews Mahometans and the Heathens themselves that it is a grand Article of the Jewish Faith none can deny that ever conversed with them that the Mahometans are stedfast and sincere in their assertion and clear in this point any one may see that hath read their Alcoran and that the Heathen World is no stranger to it appears from what their Sybilline Oracles their Philosophers and Poets have professed The Sybilline Oracles indeed are suspected by learned Men and look'd upon as Pious frauds used by the Fathers thereby to convince the Heathens the better of the Mysteries of Christianity though it will not enter into my head how the Fathers could have confirmed any of their Doctrines from these Oracles if the Heathens they had to deal withal either were not satisfied that those things had been spoken by their Prophetesses or had believed that the Fathers had foisted those Oracles into the Sybils writings which either were not or had never been there for this would have been so far from being an Argument against the Pagans that the Chrisitans would have laid themselves open in nothing so much as in these Quotations had they been false or supposititious However Plato's writings have been convey'd to us without any signal corruption and he gives us a very accurate account of this great Day as Hydaspes an Ancient King of the Medes had done before him and the Heathen Poets though indulging their fancies in somethings yet have delivered many excellent truths to us whereof this future Judgment is not the least we need go no farther then the Sixth Book of Virgils Aeneis where the Opinions of the Ancient Heathen Sages are collected and expressed in Verse and it 's worth observing that he makes his Judge Rhadamantus inflict particular punishments on those Souls that have differred their Repentance to thier Death-Beds And how can we imagine that the whole World at least the wiser part of it should so unanimously believe a future Judgment after this Life if either there had not been a great propensity in their Nature to believe the notion or reason had not convinced them of the certainty and reality of the thing If we grant that God hath given a Law to Man we must necessarily grant that there must be a Judge to call those to an account who have violated and broke those Laws Man we see is capable of being govern'd by a Law and without a Law to govern him would run wild and become a meer bruit we must therefore necessarily believe that God hath given us a Law and what Law more sutable to his Nature or the principle of reason than what we have in the Bible which is indeed the Law of Nature expressed in livelier and more legible characters it's fit therefore there should a time come when the Obedience and Disobedience of Men may be taken notice of and the Obedient rewarded and the Disobedient punished God hath made Man his Viceroy here on Earth to which purpose David said Thou hast set him over the Works of thy Hands and hast put all things under his Feet and experience shews
call them liberal and generous the Covetous with them pass for frugal the Lascivious for Courtiers the talkative for affable the obstinate for Men of resolution and the dull and idle for persons who act with great deliberation Love to their kindred and Blood makes them extenuate faults in their relations and that which appears an inexpiable crime in strangers seems but a peccadillo or infirmity in a Child or Brother Herod hurried away with his Amours to Herodias beheads the Innocent Baptist Flaminius out of Love to his Harlot violates the Publick Faith Julius Caesar out of fondness to Cleopatra gives Sentence against her Brothers Davids's inordinate affection to a Rebel Son gives the Army charge to take care of the Young Man Absolom But the Judge we speak of is of another temper it was his Character here on Earth that he was no respecter of Persons nor could the Sons of Zebedee prevail with him to place them one at his right hand the other at his left and it was not kindred he would advance to that dignity but such for whom it was prepared by his Father Hence it was that his Mother and Brethren found no farther acceptance with him then they were obedient to his word and he deliver'd it as his Eternal rule They that do the will of my Father they are my Mother and Brethren and Sisters and with this motto he gave a reprimand to the Woman that cryed Blessed is the Womb that bare thee and the Paps which thou hast sucked Yea blessed are they said he who hear the word of God and do it and he that here on Earth could not be wrought upon by Kindred or Consanguinity nor blinded by Affection sure will not be misled by these false Fires in the great day of Judgment Judges here on Earth if passion or hatred to a Man reigns in their minds are too often tempted to pass wrong Sentences what the effects of Prognes hatred to her Husband Tereus were and how the innocent Son suffered by it how dire the hatred of Medea to Jason was and drew the death of their Children after it how Josephs Brethen condemned that guiltless Soul meerly because they hated and envied him and how the Jews dealt with our great Master the Lord Jesus upon this principle both civil and sacred Histories do sufficiently manifest But this impotent passion cannot light upon on him who is to be the Judge in the Last day He hates nothing that he hath made and is so great a lover of all Mankind that he would have all Men to be saved and come to the knowledg of the truth and would give them all Eternal life if they would but take the way he prescribes them The Devils themselves could they be penitent would be received into favour and let a Man be born of a Jew or Turk if he do but bring forth fruits meet for repentance neither his odious Name nor loathsome kindred shall exclude him from his bosom He hath no secret spleen or pique against any Person living and though God under the Law seems to vent a particular displeasure against the seven Nations and especially against the Amalekites yet it was for their monstrous and unnatural sins that his just displeasure rose against them not any private grudge or envy he bore to them as Men above other of his Creatures Such imperfections are not incident to our Judge who detests and abhors no person but what makes himself deformed and odious to his purer Eyes and in every Nation whosoever serves him and works righteousness is accepted of him Fear very often prevails upon Governours and Men in Office here on Earth that they dare not speak their mind in passing Sentence fear of offending a Favourite or losing their places or being accounted pragmatical or missing such a Preferment distorts their Judgments and makes them take wrong measures of things This makes Laws Cobwebs for great Men and traps to catch lesser Animals this tempted Pilate to crucifie the Holy Jesus and though he was sensible of his Innocence yet the word If thou let this Man go thou art not Caesars Friend turns the Scales and makes him comply with the fury of the People But such fears cannot not fall on this Judge of the whole Earth Whom should he fear Of whom should he be afraid He is omnipotent will a Painter be afraid of his Picture or a Man of his Shadow Man is but Gods Picture and his Shadow and shall the Almighty be afraid of his own Creature whom he can crush into Atoms into nothing with a frown Who can make this Judge happier than he is already What place can any Creature promise him who doth what he pleases in all the Armies of Heaven and among all the Inhabitants of the Earth There is no carressing him with Gold for all Men and Women will appear before him poor and miserable destitute of that pomp and grandeur and finery on which here they doted and suppose they could carry their Wealth with them to the great Tribunal What can they give him who commands all the Treasures of the World whose is the Earth and the fulness thereof and who is himself the giver of those things which Mankind preposterously place their happiness in Here the greatest Emperors and Princes must appear without their Guards without their Armies without their Swords and Spears Here Popes must leave their Triple Crowns behind them Kings their Diadems Bishops their Mitres Noblemen their Lacqueys and all stand naked and unarmed before the Throne and suppose that Men were permitted to come with their former retinue and attendance into the presence of the Almighty yet this would cause no fear in our Judge who will come attended with an innumerable company of Angels one of which did once slay One hundred fourscore and five thousand Men in the Assyrian Camp Such a serious such a magnificent Judge appears in the prospect of that future Judgment even Jesus the Son of the living God He who was once despised and rejected of men will at this time sit on the Throne of Glory and all Eyes shall see him and though God himself is sometimes said to be the Judge sometimes Christ as Man sometimes the Apostles sometimes the Saints in general sometimes even Wicked men yet this implies no contradiction In God no doubt lies the Soveraign Power and no Creature can either absolve or condemn without his Will and Order and this his Power of judging in the last Day he hath committed to the Son of Man or to Christ as Man whom he hath not only made Heir of all things but for a reward of his Sufferings given a Name above every Name and delegated him to be Judge of the Quick and Dead and this glorious Commissioner calls in the Apostles in the first place and all other Saints after them to sit with him on the Bench and by their suffrage to applaud the Sentence he shall pass on the stubborn and obstinate wicked
men shall be Judges only comparatively as the means of Grace they had were less powerful than those of their Neighbours and yet went beyond them in Goodness and Holiness at least were not so bad as they and consequently shall be Witnesses against them and in a manner judge and doom them to unspeakable anguish because they trampled on the Grace which was offered to their Souls in which sense the men of Nineveh and the Queen of Sheba shall rise in Judgment with that Generation who saw the Miracles of Christ and repented not and condemn them because a greater than Jonas a greater than Solomon was here 2. In the prospect of this Judgment there appears a very strict examination of what we have done in the Flesh not only of visible Actions but of Words spoken in secret and Thoughts Desires Intentions and Resolutions of our Hearts an Examination which will be a very great surprize to the Sinner who hath made light of things of this Nature for there is nothing cover'd that shall not be revealed neither hid that shall not be brought to light saith he that understood this Day better than any Man living Luke 12.2 Not only the bigger Crimes such as Murder Adultery Fornication Blasphemy unnatural Lust Stealing Perjury Atheism Idolatry Apostacy Cursing Swearing Drunkenness Extortion Covetousness Contempt of God and of his Word c. will here be manifested and censured aggravated and searched into but the secret lustings of the Soul the hidden things of Dishonesty the cunning craftiness of men whereby they lay in wait to deceive the Mines and Pits men have privily digg'd for their Neighbours their underhand dealings their Chamber practices their sinful contrivances in the dark or in their Closets their Sailing to the Port of Vain-glory by a side-wind their speaking Truth for ill ends their misinterpretations of their Brethrens words and actions their reporting things to anothers prejudice all these will be laid open before the whole World Sinner thy unchast Embraces thy impure Wishes thy wanton Glances thy lascivious Looks thy delight in amorous Songs thy acting thy Lust over in thy Mind again thy ruminating upon thy last Nights revelling thy tempting thy self to sin and being thine own Devil and thy committing impurity with thy self will all be set in order before thee and the Judge will demand how it was possible for thee who didst profess thy self a follower of the Chast and Holy Jesus to dishonour him and his Religion with such extravagant actions and irreligious proceedings Thy slovenliness in Devotion thy Hypocrisy and seeming to be better than really thou wert thy inattentive Prayers the willful wandrings of thy Thoughts when thou wast speaking to God thy not redeeming the time thy neglecting to observe the greater and weightier matters of the Law thy mispending thy precious Hours thy idleness and laziness in Gods Vineyard thy not giving to the Poor according to thy Ability thy Pride and secret Envy and desire of Applause and sinister ends and designs in Preaching Praying Administring and receiving of the Holy Sacrament and in other good Works thy flattering and dissembling and unwillingness to do good when thou hadst a fair opportunity these will all be laid open to thy sorrow and confusion Thy not being led by good Examples thy slighting wholesom Admonitions thy laughing at excellent Counsel thy scorning Reproof and hating him that gave it thy resolvedness to do that again for which thou wast reproved the delay of thy seriousness thy suffering the convictions thou hadst to be choaked with the cares and Riches of the World Thy being at an Ale-house when thou shouldst have been in thy Closet thy being at a Play when thy Hand and Heart should have been lifted up in holy Supplications thy being in Bed when thou shouldst have been upon thy Knees and neglecting a greater Duty for a trifle or impertinence the Supper of the Lamb for Farms and Oxen and thy preferring the silliest and most ridiculous Discourses before a conference about the momentous concerns of Eternity these will all be rehears'd at large for I say unto you that every idle word that men shall speak they shall give account thereof in the Day of Judgment saith Christ Matth. 12.36 Not having repented of things of this Nature either through unbelief or carelesness when these points shall come to be examined and thy Soul interrogated upon these Particulars and so many too it stands to reason that it must necessarily cause very great astonishment for these things were most certainly forbid in that Gospel thou didst profess and that notwithstanding as if such things had never been spoken of thou shouldst slight them undervalue them not think them worth thy care to shun them what sad reflexions will this Examination cause In vain dost thou hope that Eagles catch no Flies and that God will never mind such small trivial and inconsiderable Errours He that minded these smaller faults as they seem to carnal men and took notice of them in this life may justly be supposed resolved to call men to an account for them in that Solemn Day of Reckoning for indeed God's proceedings here are an Emblem of his process in Judgment hereafter Eating of the forbidden Fruit in Paradise seem'd but an inconsiderable oversight yet did God curse the very Earth for that Fact made it bring forth Bryars and Thorns for the future condemned Adam to the eating of Bread in the Sweat of his Brows and threatned the Woman his Partner in the Errour to multiply her pain and sorrows It doth not appear from Moses that the Children of God or Professours of the true Religion did any more then Marry with the Daughters of the profaner Crew a small fault a bruitish Man would think yet was the insolence lash'd and the inordinate Fire quenched with a deluge of Waters Lots Wife looks back to Sodom out of curiosity perhaps a venial folly natural to Women it seems to be and no more yet for doing so is turned into a Pillar of Salt Achan as a Souldier and that sort of men we know live much upon Prey takes in a time of War a golden Wedge and Babylonian Mantle no great matter one would think yet God orders him to be stoned Vzzah out of his over-care that the Ark might not fall lays hold on 't to support it yet for doing so is struck with Death immediately the Prophet who came from Judah to Prophecy against the Altar of Bethel in suffering himself to be persuaded to eat Bread by another Prophet who pretended Visions too to ones thinking committed no great Crime yet God revenged his Disobedience with a violent Death for a Lion sent by God slew him Moses grows impatient at the Waters of Meribah who would not have done so that had to deal with so stubborn a People yet that act of mistrust and impatience cost him the loss of the Land of Canaan he had so long desired to behold the People of Israel murmured in the
their time and therefore make drinking their delight and sport they act like Solomons Mad-man who cast Firebrands Arrows and Death and says Am I not in sport Prov. 26.18 19. Nor is it the example of Gentlemen and persons of Wealth and Quality that will justifie this dangerous delight at the great Tribunal since believing the word of God is a greater duty than to regard our Neighbours practices and did the whole World espouse a vice this would not absolve a Man from his obligation to obey that known Law Exod. 23.2 Thou shalt not follow a Multitude to do evil The pretence Men have in this case that they have no Calling or Imployment or have nothing to do and therefore must some way or other divert themselves is as vain and sinful as their delight and the time will come when they will be convinced that they were under no impossibility to employ themselves in useful exercises there being innumerable opportunities of doing good of exhorting teaching admonishing helping assisting and encouraging our Neighbours and improving our own minds and far better ways of spending our time then in drinking pledging of healths talking idly censuring our Neighbours pleasing our appetite keeping ill company and throwing that away upon our lusts which might with greater satisfaction have been given to Christs distressed members 7. Delight in Cards and Dice is a sport which very few Divines and wife Men do approve of and those that have allow'd of it have given such restrictions and limitations as makes it evident that they wish it were rather totally left then practised with so much danger as this delight is commonly attended with The Councel of Eliberis would not admit any person to the Holy Communion that plaid at Tables and if the offender did repent of his sport it was a whole year after his repentance before they would admit him to the Holy Table and to this purpose speaks the Sixth Council General of Constantinople The truth is this delight is a manifest occasion of evil and where there is one that comes off without sinning there are forty that involve themselves in various transgressions What wise Man would stand upon a Precipice when he can walk in a beaten Road and where Men love to go to the utmost limit of what is lawful they commonly fall and engage themselves to commit errors they did not think of the Holy Ghost therefore hath not thought fit to reveal to us these utmost bounds that we might keep within the compass of known duties and by a due distance from what is sinful preserve our Innocence and Gods Favour We blame Children for medling with Knives and Swords they know not how to use and why should we be guilty of a folly and imprudence we condemn in them He that abstains from Cards and Dice most certainly doth not sin and who would not take the surest side of the Hedg Those Casuists who do allow of this recreation make it lawful only with these proviso's 1. Provided that Men play without eagerness or being much concerned 2. That they give no occasion to Men to quarrel 3. That they give all the Money they win to the poor or some pious use else it is a sign they do not play for recreation but for gain 4. That they spend but very little time in it not above an hour or two 5. That they avoid all light vain and Foolish words jests and expressions 6. That the end they propose to themselves be only to exhilarate their spirits that they may with greater cheerfulness apply themselves to more useful labours 7. That they play without using any fraud or deceit 8. That they give no offence to them who are weak in faith 9. That they do not comply with the sinful actions speeches and behaviour of those they play with And with these restrictions I question not but this recreation may be lawful and the same may be said of Bowling and some other divertisements of this Nature What some Divines object here that playing at Cards and Dice is a thing of the Nature of Lots and these being things sacred ought not to be made Jocular hath not that substance in it which at first sight it seems to have for though these Games and the events of them be things casual yet every thing that 's casual is not therefore of the Nature of a Lot else a mans putting his hand in his Pocket and taking out what Money comes next to his hand and dropping it among People that stand underneath whereby one gets a Shilling another Six-pence a third a Groat must be called a Lot to But however Let 's grant that these Games are of the nature of Lots how doth it follow from hence that all Lots are things sacred because sometimes there is a sacred use made of them must therefore the use of them be sacred at all times There is a sacred use made of dreams of Bread and Wine of Clay and Spittle c. but must these things therefore be sacred at all times and in all places As well might a Man infer that all Worship is Religious because some is such if it be said that in Lots there is either a tacit or express imploring of a Divine determination I answer that in some Lots there hath been such a thing practised but that therefore the same must be practised in all Lots whatsoever is absurd to imagine The Apostles indeed Act. 1.24 when they cast Lots add a Prayer to it but the additional Prayer is not therefore necessary in all Lots because some persons upon special occasions have made use of it A Lot or casting of Lots is properly an action of meer Contingency used to determine a question by the event which action if it be used in things sacred and of great consequence may justly be seconded with formal Prayer and imploration of the Divine direction but if used in things civil ordinary and trivial there is no need of any such sacred Rite or Ceremony That God hath a hand in all Lots is no argument that no Lot may therefore be jocular for God hath a hand in our laughter and in other contingent things which are jocular yet doth it not follow from thence that they are therefore absolutely unlawful but only as circumstances and the abuse of them may make them so However my intent is not to turn advocate for Gamesters who abuse these recreations as much as the Drunkard doth his Wine and strong Liquor I have therefore limited the sport which limitations shew how dangerous the recreation is and how he that plaies at these Games walks in a manner upon Thorns and had therefore need walk very cautiously that some mischief do not befall him If the aforesaid restrictions be observ'd it 's a sign we make some conscience of our ways and with David set the Lord in all places before our eyes I am sensible Men will plead impossibility of keeping to these bounds and pretend that this
affected with these representations and if there be any thing of evil in them how readily is it imbibed or if not imbibed yet excused if not totally excused yet qualified and construed as a thing of no great hurt and thus its dreadfulness abates and it 's afterwards left out in the Catalogue of errors God was either so jealous of his own glory or so render of the spiritual welfare of the Israelites that he would not suffer them to take the names of the Heathen Gods in their mouths nor suffer them familiarly to mention them for fear their frequent naming of them should lessen their awful apprehensions of the supream Deity or they be tempted through that familiarity to think there was no great harm in worshipping of them this was no ceremonial precept nor judicial The substance is moral and consequently cannot be supposed to be abolish'd by the death of Christ and since God would not permit it to the Jews how should he be supposed to give leave to Christians of whom he requires greater strictness to be lavish in such expressions How in our modern Plays in most prayers wishes and imprecations the Heathen Deities are brought in I need not tell you The Actors indeed swear by God in the singular number but in their entire Harangues or witty sentences or expressions which they intend shall move most the Gods are call'd in and that 's the grace of thier part if it be said that this is done out of a reverential respect to the true God who is too great to be mention'd in such trival speeches it 's a marvellous thing they are not afraid to swear by him and to take his name in vain and though they mince their Oaths sometimes yet that doth not excuse the crime as long as it shews their willingness to act it but the truth is such men seek to turn Religion again into Paganism so the style they use in their respective speeches about things above is fitted for that purpose I know that it 's commonly alledged that the stories which are Acted relate to transactions among the Gentiles and that it would be incongruous to represent their actions and not to mention their Deities or to speak in their language but not to mention that there is no necessity of representing passages of this nature there being as noble things among Christians that deserve remembrance why cannot the vertues of Pagans be represented without mentioning their Gods or the sins and extravagancies of their Gods whereby corrupted nature is so easily debaucht into a mean opinion of the great Soveraign Being and tempted to believe the powers above either subject to the same infirmities that we are or at least not much displeased with our irregularities here below He that makes bold with false Gods does very easily slide into contempt of the true and while men are brought in to dare the supposed Deities above they 'l be more ready to affront him that is the same yesterday today and forever Nor will it follow because Books that treat of Heathen Gods may be read that therefore those Deities may be Acted and mentioned on the Stage for there is a great difference between reading of a thing and seeing it acted with all the vanity and boldness that usually attends it In reading a mans serious thoughts are not dispersed or scattered but keep within the compass of modesty and weigh things in the ballance of reason whereas being Acted to the life they naturally strike vanity into the mind affect the sensual part drive away seriousness and leave an unhappy tincture behind them And if it be against the Divine law familiarly to mention or talk of these fictitious Deities it cannot be very agreeable to the sense of it for Christians to go and hear that idle talk for as in other concerns the receiver is as bad as the thief so he that with delight hears that which another is forbid to speak makes himself accessory to his sin and draws needless guilt upon his Soul Flatter not your self Sir with a fancy that these Plays are no where forbid in the Bible and that therefore it may be lawful to see them for the word 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Revelling I mentioned before and to which the Apostle threatens exclusion from the Kingdom of Heaven Gal. 5.21 and from which the word Comedy in all probability is derived though I know others fetch it from 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 a village because in ancient times they did sing Songs about Country Towns I say this word includes all such vain lascivious Ludicrous and Jocular representations not only Dancing and luxurious Feashing but wanton light and amorous Interludes and all that belongs to the pampering and satisfying of the Flesh such as amorous Songs Complementing of Mistresses Love-tricks and immodest parts and speeches which make the vainer sort of the company merry for the word is very comprehensive and being so one would think should fright every serious person from coming within the guilt of that which hath so severe a threatning annex'd to it And is it worth losing Heaven and eternal happiness for the sight of such jocular Shows Are the pleasures arising from hence of that consequence that they will counterballance so great a loss Had you rather forfeit Gods savour then these ludicrous transactions Are these momentary satisfactions of that value that you would run the hazard of being for ever deprived of the beatifick vision for them That usual exception that God will not be so cruel as to condemn Men for such harmless sports is of no weight at all for God hath no where declared that he will govern himself by Mens fancies but his eternal wisdom is the rule he 'l go by if men will have their pleasures he hath thought fit to forbid they must thank themselves if they go without his favour and since they were warned of this danger they can have no excuse but are as the Apostle speaks 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 condemn'd of themselves Tit. 3.11 Let 's but consider the Nature scope and drift of our Religion it commands us decency modesty sobriety vigilancy or watchfulness over our thoughts and words and actions simplicity in the inward and outward man redeeming the time employing the hours God hath lent us in profitable discourses and things useful and tending to edification It bids us abstain from fleshly lusts which war against the soul it condemns all Rioting chambering wantonness and making provision for the Flesh to fulfill the lusts thereof It commands us to walk after the Spirit to be heavenly minded to have the same mind and temeper in us which was also in Christ Jesus to grow in grace to advance in goodness to grow strong in the Lord and in the power of his might it bids us stand up for the glory of our God and to be concern'd when his Name or Religion or things Sacred are abused it bids us avoid Scandal and take heed we do
you shun it as men do their creditors that dun them you are afraid it will fill your head with scruples and therefore avoid it as those who are unwilling to look into their accounts that they may not be surpriz'd with the sum they owe if visiting the Stage makes you neglect this self-examination it makes you neglect a known duty and if so it must be sinful and if sinful how dare you meddle with it Do but take a view of the writings of the Primitive Fathers and you 'l find them unanimous in this assertion that in our Baptism when we renounce the Devil and his works and the pomp and glory of the World we do particularly renounce Stage-Plays and such ludicrous representations They that lived nearest to the Apostolical times in all probability knew what was meant by this rendunciation and this they profess to be the sense of it this they assure us is meant by those pomps and glories and why should we presume to put a new sense upon that vow They received this interpretation from the Apostles and propagated it to posterity and in their sense we make this Abjuration Sir have you abjured these things in your Baptism and dare you venter on them have you renounced them and dare you fall in love with them Have you protested in the presence of God and angels that you will not meddle with them and will you break your vow Have you solemnly professed before the Congregation that you will not have any affection for them and do you make nothing of persidiousness How darest thou O Christian run into a Play-house after Baptism saith Salvian when thou hast confessed those very Plays to be the works of the Devil Thou hast renounced the Devil and these Stage-Plays so that if thou willingly and wittingly frequentest them it 's evident that thou returnest to the Devil too for thou hast renounced both and hast professed both to be one so that if thou return to one thou returnest to both I know what is commonly objected that the reason why the Fathers are so much against Christians seeing of a Play was because the heathenish idolatries were acted to the life upon the Stage and that proselites might not be in danger of being enticed to idolatry was the great motive why they inveigh'd so much against sights of that nature but those that use this plea most certainly have not read the Fathers or if they have read them have not considered all their arguments for to go no farther then Tertullian after he had condemn'd these sights for the idolatries committed on the Stage he produces other reasons for which they are utterly unlawful as 1. Because the spirit of the Gospel is a spirit of gentleness but the actors are forced to put themselves into a posture of wrath and anger and fury and the spectators themselves cannot behold them without being put into a passion 2. Because vanity which is proper to the Stage is altogether forreign to Christianity 3. Because we are not to consent to peoples sins 4. Because men are abused in these places and neither Princes nor People spared and this being unlawful elsewhere must be unlawful too upon the Stage 5. Because all immodesty and scurrility is forbid by the Law of the Gospel not only acting of it but seeing and hearing it Acted 6. Because all Players are hypocrites seem to be what they are not and all hypocrisy is condemn'd by the Gospel 7. Because the Actors very often belie their Sex and put on womens apparel which is forbid by the law of God 8. Because these plays dull and damp devotion and seriousness which is and ought to be the indeleble character of Christians 9. Because it is a disparagement to God to lift up those hands to applaud a Player which we use to lift up to the Throne of grace 10. Because experience shews how the Devil hath sometimes possess'd Christians in a Play-house and being afterwards cast out confest that he had reason to enter into them because he found them in his own place 11. Because no man can serve two Masters God and the World as those Christians pretend to do that frequent both the Church and the Stage 12. Because though some speeches in a Play are witty and ingenious yet there is poison at the bottom and vice is only coloured and guilded with fine language and curious emblems that it may go down more glib and ruin the soul more artificially These are some of Tertullians Arguments and he that shall attentively consider them will easily find that they are not only applicable to such Comedies where idolatry is Acted but to those of this age where scurrility vanity and immodesty and other vices are incouraged and whereas some pretended that if they saw no Plays they should want sport and be without necessary recreation the learned Presbyter doth very handsomly reply Why art thou so abominably ungrateful to complain of want of recreation when God hath given thee such great variety of pleasures for what can be more pleasant then to be reconciled to God the Father and the knowledge of the truth our deliverance from darkness and error and a free pardon of all our sins what greater pleasure can there be then the loathing of carnal pleasure contempt of the World true Christian liberty a conscience void of offence a spotless life freedom from the fear of death trampling on the Heathen Gods expulsion of Devils the gift of healing prayer for illumination and living to Gods glory These are the pleasures these are the Plays of Christians holy free and perpetual in such things as these fancy thou seest a Play here see the course of the World behold the gliding time view the distance betwixt this life and eternity expect the consummation of all things defend the Church rouze thy self at Gods signal listen to the Arch-angels trumpet glory in the Martyrs laurells If learning and knowledge do delight thee behold in the Scripture there are verses enough witty sentences enough songs enough and voices enough no fables of Poets but solid truths no sophistry but majestick simplicity wouldst thou see Gladiators and wrestlers here thou hast them here thou mayst see lasciviousness overcome by chastity perjury by faithfulness cruelty by mercy wantonness by modesty and these are our Olympick games in which he is Crown'd that strives for mastery Dost thou love to see blood drawn in a pulblick shew Behold thou hast the blood of Jesus and what a noble sight will shortly appear to our eyes even the coming of our glorious Lord the exultation of Angels the Resurrection of his holy ones the stately Kingdom of believing Souls and the sight of the new Jerusalem There is a another shew behind even the last day of Judgment a day unlook'd for a day despised by fools a day wherein the old world will be swallowed up of fire How glorious a
Mule whose Mouths must be held with Bitt and Bridle Behold the Almighty hath prepared a Supper for you and when the Morning and Noon of your Life is spent designs a Feast for you at Night immediately after Death a Feast where the Lamb that was slain sits Master and intends to bid you welcome a Feast where the Meat will be Angels Food the Wine Hallelujahs and the Entertainment Perfection of Bliss and Glory the Company the Apostles of the Lamb and the Spirits of Men made perfect a Feast where no Good will be absent and no Evil present where Plenty and Affluence will last for ever where Joys will abound and the beatifick Presence of God will charm and ravish Souls to all Eternity To this Feast he calls you to this Banquet he invites you to this Table he sends for you to these Dainties you are bid to these Delicates you are entreated to come of these Varieties you shall be made Partakers and is it not worth considering what this mighty Offer means What if you see it not with mortal Eyes your Thoughts may see it your Understanding may behold it your Reason may take a view of it Your Thoughts will tell you that God who cannot lye hath promised it the Son of God who is Truth it self hath revealed it the Apostles who came attended with the Power of Miracles have publish'd it These will tell you that there can be no doubt of it and that it is as certain as if you were actually Sharers of it Give but your Understanding leave to search into this Mystery and you will be charmed with it give but your Reason leave to ascend and descend upon the Ladder of the Word of God and you will feel a Hunger and Thirst after it your Souls will long for it your Affections will breath after it and your inward and outward Man will labour after it and strive to enter in at the strait Gate and shall all these Riches be lost upon you for want of Thinking and Contemplation Could you by thinking make those Joys visible to you and will ye refuse it Could you by meditating make that Glory present to you and will you neglect the Opportunity Could you by musing and pondering bring Heaven into your Chambers and Closets and will ye debarr your selves of that glorious Sight See what you lose by your Inconsiderateness See what Consolations what Satisfactions what Cordials you deprive your immortal Souls of Can you see other Men run away with all the Comforts of the Gospel and remain senseless Can you see others get into the Pool of Bethesda before you and recover and are you fond of continuing lame and blind and poor and miserable Can you see others carry away the Crown and feel no Ambition in you Can you see others take away the Blessing of your Father from you and be unmoved at the want of it Can you see how other Men by thinking arrive to Perfection and will you lye groveling in the Dust O! think while thinking may do you good In Hell you 'll think but it will be too late there you 'll think but your Thoughts will be your Torment there your Thoughts will be the undoing of you there you 'll think what happy Persons you might have been if you had imitated Abraham's Faith and Moses's Resolution David's Candour and Josiah's Piety St. Paul's Courage and St. Peter's Tears St. John's Love and Lydia's Attentiveness the Berrhaeans Zeal and the Macedonian Churches Charity Zachaeus his Restitution and the Publican's Repentance but these Thoughts will then be your Vexation since the working time is past and the day of Vengeance come There you 'll think that Christ was your Friend indeed when he made himself of no Reputation but took upon him the form of a Servant became obedient to the Cross and dyed for you but to think that he is your Enemy now because you refused Obedience to him because you made light of his Offers and would not accept of him for your Governour must needs fill you with endless Grief and bitterness of Spirit Now consider this ye that forget God lest I tear you in pieces and there be none to deliver Psal. 50.22 3. And is not the greatest part of the World to be pityed that can delight in nothing but what they can grasp and feel The Covetous can delight in nothing but in Gold If he want Money all his Joy is gone If his Coffers be full and his Barns stock'd with Corn and Plenty doth surround him his Heart rejoyces his Soul triumphs and Cheerfulness plumps his Cheeks but without this his Mind is disturbed his Faculties languish his Countenance is dejected and he looks like a dying Man Who would imagine that this Man hath a rational Soul Who would think he were created after the Image of God Who would conclude him to have lived in a Land where the Gospel is preach'd Who can inferr from his Actions or Behaviour that this Man believes a Word of Scripture Who would take the Wretch for a Disciple of the poor and afflicted Jesus Who that looks upon him would not be apt to cry with him Sit anima mea cum Philosophis Let me dye the Death of some brave self-denying Heathen Philosopher For these certainly are in a likelier way of Salvation at least of escaping the Wrath to come than the covetous Christian. Diogenes being desired of Alexander the Great to beg either Gold or Silver of him received this Answer Do but stand out of the Sun and do not hinder that glorious Light from shining upon me and I have enough The brave Crates having sold what he had and turned it into Money generously threw it all into the Sea saying It 's far better I should drown thee than that thou should'st drown me in Perdition Alexander having sent to the great Phocion two Talents of Gold the wise Man ask'd the Messengers Seeing there were so many good Men at Athens why the King should of all Men make choice of him to present him The Ambassadours answer'd because of all Men he look'd upon him as the honestest Say you so replyed the Philosopher Then let Alexander give me leave to be still an honest Man which I can be without all these Presents and glistering Treasures Cimon had two large Cups sent him from a Persian King the one full of Gold the other of Silver He looks upon them smilingly and asks the Man who brought them Whether his Master intended that Cimon should be his Friend or his Servant The man replied It was out of Ambition to have him for his Friend that he sent it Oh! then saith he take them back again for being his Friend when I have need of them I can send for them at any time Epaminondas when some came to corrupt him with gifts invites the Ambassadours to Dinner and there entertains them with Roots and Herbs and with small sour Wine Dinner being done Go home saith he and tell your
but a Year or a Month before it comes in good earnest for the day of our Death is at hand and we know not when or how soon whether this Hour or the next the fatal Messenger will arrest us in our Journey The day of our Death is the fore-runner of that greater Day and according as our Souls are found at the day of our Death so they will be judged in that glorious day the Judgment that will be pronounced upon our Souls at our Death will be proclaimed aloud before the whole World in the other day and if they be so unhappy as to be condemned upon their departure hence they will all that while till the great day comes torment themselves with the thoughts of that Sentence and the Shame that will ensue upon it as holy Souls will comfort themselves with the Thoughts of their Absolution Therefore when our Souls leave this Body that day and hour is really a day of Judgment to us and that this day is at hand none but a Sot can deny and accordingly all Men of Sense have made and do make early Preparation for it and he that doth not imitate them is so far from giving Proof to the World that he is wiser than they that he proclaims his Stupidity and in a manner renounces his Portion in the Inheritance of the Saints in light But then by Preparation I do not mean those little Sprinklings of Devotion which Hypocrites and Men who pretend to love God yet will not part with their Lusts usually lay upon his Altar not the Pharisees Alms and Fasts and Prayer which were performed with sinister designs out of Vain-glory and Ostentation not Ahab's Repentance who put on Sack-cloath and walk'd softly but still kept an unmortified Heart not the Harlots Piety Solomon speaks of who said her Orisons and paid her Vows and her Peace-offerings and thought to make God amends for the Crimes she lived in by these Services not Judas his Sorrow who lamented his Sin because he saw the Hell he was like to drop into not Demas his temporary Severity which soon chang'd into fondness of the World not the Angel of Sardis his Profession of Religion who had the name that he lived but was dead not the Jews Zeal for the Ceremonial Part of God's Worship while they neglected Justice Mercy Chastity Sobriety and Charity not the Zeal of Ezekiel's Heares who loved to hear but were loath to do but if you would prepare for this day of Account so as to be commended by the Judge the Preparation must have these following Ingredients 1. Pity those inconsiderate Men that live as if there were no future Judgment Express your Compassion to their Souls by your Tears since they will not weep for themselves Ah! miserable Creatures E're long they shall see him whom they have pierced and mourn as one that mourns for his only Son and they are not aware of it They are hastening to the Shambles where they will be barbarously butcher'd by hellish Furies and they are not sensible of it Oh mourn for them They deserve your Pity more than Galley-Slaves more than Wretches in Turkish Captivity Oh! call to them and see whether ye can yet perswade them into a livelier Faith of this terrible Day O that you could yet save their Souls from Death and cover a multitude of Sins It 's like they 'll scorn your Tears and laugh at your Admonitions for the God of this World hath blinded them but Oh! pray for them that their Eyes may be open'd that they may see the Precipice they run upon and behold the bottomless Gulph upon the Brink whereof they stand They are rolling down the Hill Oh! stop them if you can that they fall not into the Lake beneath seeing your Zeal for their Souls your concern for their Welfare your entreaties to save themselves from this Generation your sorrow for their undone Estate your grief for their hardness of Heart they may yet relent and turn before the Lord comes and smites the Earth with a Curse 2. Every day spend some time in reflecting on this Day In the Life of Pachomius we read That every day he used to bespeak the several Parts and Members of his Body and talk to them as if they had been rational Creatures Behold saith he my beloved Parts I will advise you to nothing but what is wholsome and useful for you and therefore shew your selves obedient to my Counsel and let 's serve God cheerfully till we get to a better place As to you my beloved Hands the time will come when you will no more be able to strike your Neighbour or play at Cards and Dice and when you will not be able to reach any more after Goods that do not belong to you As to you my beloved Feet the time will come when the way you have gone will be stop'd up and when ye will be no longer able to run into vain and loose Company Hearken unto me my Senses and whatever helps to make up this mortal Frame let 's strive lustily before Death over-take us and stand boldly in the evil day and fight bravely till the great God put an end to our Sweat and Labour and call us to his heavenly Kingdom What will it profit you to taste of all the Sweets of this World if any thing can be called sweet in so much Misery Why should ye be loath to labour when to labour ye were born Why should ye refuse to suffer when shortly you must die and mingle with Dust Why should ye seek after a soft and easie Life when e'relong you 'll meet with it in Heaven This is no Time no Place for Pleasure that 's only to be found among the Blessed above This is it that I would have you comprehend above all things that through sensual Delights and Satisfactions Men go into unquenchable Fire but through Bryars and Thorns lies the way to Joys which shall never have an end Why do ye murmur against me when I bid you fast and watch and pray Should I indulge you it would be your Bane it would be Cruelty in me to spare you to give you Ease would be the way to precipitate my self and you into endless Torment Thus spake that holy Man to the respective Parts and Members of his Body and thus Christian do thou preach to thy Soul every day ask it which of those two Sentences that shall be pronounced in the last day art thou most desirous of of that Come ye Blessed or of the other Depart ye Cursed If as no Man is fond of Misery thou dost hunger and thirst after the former come my Soul let 's retire let 's ascend the Hill of God and from thence take a view of what will be hereafter The Posture of Affairs thou seest now will not continue long fancy thou sawest a Man whom the Divine Bounty hath crowned with variety of temporal Blessings This Person having a mind to take his Pleasure retires
with his Family to his Country-House adorned with Tyrian Silke and Persian Carpets and with all the Eastern Riches and there lives merrily and at his ease one Night being very jovial at Supper a Servant of his base and ill-natured puts some Lethargick or Opiate Potion into his Master's and Fellow-Servants Cups and having rocked them all asleep opens the Doors le ts in Thieves and Robbers who having plunder'd the House at last lay violent hands on the Master and to make sport with him drag him thus intoxicated into the open Field and there leave him In the mean while the Heavens grow black and a hideous Tempest gathers in the Clouds the Sky begins to lighten and the Voice of Thunder to be heard and a dreadful Rain falls and in the midst of all this Noise and Confusion the besotted Master wakes looks about quakes trembles believes himself in another World is astonish'd to see himself lying on a barren Turf without Servants without Attendants without Friends without Necessaries without Conveniencies among Showers and Storms and Tempests stiff with Cold frozen to Death almost and beholding nothing but Misery about him O my Soul thou canst not but look upon such a Person as the very Emblem of Confusion and while thou dread'st this fearful State take heed thou doest not prepare for it or drop into it take heed of carnal Security for that will expose thee to the Rage and Fury of hellish Thieves and make God's Indignation strangely surprizing The Terror that will seize the sleepy Soul when it is summon'd away to the Bar of a righteous God will be beyond Storms of Hail and Tempests of Rain and Flashes of Lightning and Claps of Thunder When Covetousness would entice thee shew it the miserable Gehazi trembling before the Throne of God when Luxury would tempt thee bid it look upon the wretched Belshazzar mourning to eternal Ages for his Intemperance when worldly Mindedness would debauch thee find out Nabal among the damned Spirits and with that Sight fright the foolish Lust away when Envy would enter into thy Soul call out Cain from that unhappy Crew and bid it see its Doom in his Funeral when present Satisfactions would make thee slight the after hopes of Glory bid the profane Esau stand forth from his fiery Cell to which he is condemned and it will lose its Courage Thou readest of the Syrians how in a Consternation sent upon them from above they fled in the Night leaving all their Provision behind them But what is this to the Consternation the Judgment Seat of Christ will strike into that Man who having slighted his Commands is on a sudden ordered to come and answer the Reason of his Contempt and forced to leave all his vain Excuses and Apologies behind him The Name of some Warriours hath frighted Men Women Children and then how terrible will the Name of the Lord of Hosts be to them that have fought against his Holy Spirit by their Stubbornness O my Soul Blessed is he that watches and keeps his garments lest he walk naked and they see his shame Rev. 16.15 3. Walk circumspectly every Day and use that conscientiousness you would use were you sure you should be summon'd to Judgment at Night Say not next Year or when I have accomplished such a Business I will trim my Lamp and make it ready against the Bride-groom comes Every Day to live in expectation of the Summons is the act of a Wise and Blessed Servant And he that every Day walks with God walks in a mighty sense of his Omniscience and Omnipresence and in his company business conversation dealings keeps God in his Eye sets his Laws before him walks as one resolved to please God in all things le ts not a Day pass over his Head without doing some good uses the World as if he used it not and if through inadvertency he slips rises again presently and arms himself with fresh resolutions is the Person that lives every Day as if it were his last Day Sinner wert thou sure that this Night thou shouldst be summon'd to the Bar of God wouldst thou swear and lie and dissemble and be Cholerick or backward to good works Live as if thou wert sure of it For suppose thou continuest in the Land of the Living that Night thou losest nothing by this preparation nay thou art a mighty gainer by it for hereby thy Soul is refresh'd thy Mind preserved in an excellent temper thy Goodness strengthen'd thy Graces renew'd thy Affections enlarg'd thy Understanding enlightned thy Will made more tractable thy Spirits eased thy Calmness maintain'd and thy very Body kept in Health God loves thee the Promises of the Gospel belong to thee Devils cannot hurt thee thou livest like a Christian actest like a Man of Reason preparest for thine own quiet thy Condition is happy thy Estate safe thy Life out of danger thy Conscience clear thy Confidence in God encreases thy Satisfaction swells thy Comforts grow bigger and thou freest thy self from that Mire and Clay in which so many Souls do stick and deliverest thy Soul from that terrible Pit which swallows up so many imprudent Travellers 4. When ever you see or hear of the judicial Process of a Malefactor think and reflect upon this Day Think how terrible the sight of the judge is to the guilty Prisoner and how much more terrible the sight of a Majestick God will be to the unhappy Sinner that would not be kept in by the Laws and Sanctions of the great Commander of the World and stood more in awe of a Child or Servant when he was going to commit lewdness then of him who gave him life and being Think how the Malefactor is frighted confounded with the vast company of Men and Women that crowd in to hear his Tryal and how much more the impenitent Sinner will be ashamed in the last Day when all the People that have been since the Creation of the World will look upon him and hear what his fate will be some Orators have been struck dumb with the greatness of their Auditory what effect then may we suppose will the Congregation of Mankind have upon a wretch that never saw the hundred thousandth part of them before Think how it must be with the Malefactor before the Sentence of Death passes upon him how heavy his mind is how Melancholick his Thoughts how drooping his Spirits are and what Palpitations he feels about his Heart and how far greater the heaviness of the sinful Soul must be before the Sentence of Condemnation proceeds against her from the mouth of God how much more sad remembrances how much more dismal reflections will seize upon her And if it be so sad with her before the Sentence be past what trembling and horrour will invade her after it A Malefactor here on Earth may yet entertain hopes of Pardon his Prince may be merciful pitty the distressed condition of his Family remember past services and relent and change
be seen in all its Glories among us so we are assured of a burning Lake of an endless Misery which attends the unconscionable and disobedient whereof the Notions of Pagans and Idolaters were but dark and consequently we have a stronger Bridle to curb the Violence of our sinful Desires than they and therefore this must make our Doom more terrible The helps we have to arrive to Vertue are not only more in number but more powerful our Knowledge is greater our Instructions greater our Illumination greater our means of Grace richer and we have greater Examples of Holiness than ever Heathens had we have besides Philosophy and the Law of Nature the Sacred Scriptures and besides Conscience the Spirit of God to exhort us to reprove us to admonish us to assist us and to help our Infirmities If a Heathen sin he doth but stumble in the dark if a Christian sin he falls at Noon-day We have Sacraments to bind us to a perfect hatred of Sin and Semiramis took no more pains to fence her City with Brick Walls than the Almighty doth our Souls from falling a Prey to the Prince of Darkness nay our Impediments in our way to Bliss are less than the Pagans had by Baptism and the Power of Christs Death the Powers of Darkness are broken the Devil's Strength is much abated his Arrows are not half so fiery as once they were The Heathens have far greater Obstacles The Devils Power among them seems unlimited and therefore for us to fall a Prey to this Enemy for us to yield to his Suggestions for us to be drawn into his Net will scarce admit of a charitable Apology These things are now made light of but nothing is more reasonable then that they who have abused the greatest Mercy should feel the severest Lashes Christian why should God give thee greater Light and greater advantages then to other men They are men of the same passions thou art of and they are Flesh and have Reason and are God's Creatures and depend upon his Providence as well as thou why should God make a difference betwixt thee them No other Reason can be assigned but his undeserved compassion Thou wicked Servant had thy Master a greater kindness for thee then for thy fellow Servants and could not this distinguishing kindness prevail with thee to be faithful and loyal to him Thy ingratitude is abominable and thy torment shall be proportionable Thy impiety was intolerable and thy flames shall be so too Thy baseness is inexpressible and thy plagues shall be so too Thy unworthiness is uncommon and thy agonies shall be so too Thou deservest a bitterer Cup and thou shalt drink it too If God should not punish thee more then Heathens he would be partial his Honour would suffer in the indulgence and he hath but little encouragement from thy good nature to lessen his Wrath and Fury Dionysius talked Atheistically as well as thou but he had no Scripture to direct him the Sybarites were luxurious as thou art but they knew not what the Gospel meant Novellius Torquatus was given to drunkenness as thou art but he never made Vows against it in a Sacrament of Baptism Tarquinius was proud as thou art but he never heard of the humble Jesus Julia was vain in her dress and habit as thou art but she understood not what the stupendious Work of Redemption meant Decius Mundus was lecherous as thou art but he was not acquainted with a Holy Sanctifying Spirit Themistocles was envious as thou art but he never heard God speaking to him by his Son Epicurus was careless of a future Immortality bu he had not Ministers to preach to him Simonides was covetous as thou art but he knew of no Articles of belief Philagrius was cholerick as thou art but he made no profession of Goodness and Religion Sisamenes was unjust as thou art but he never heard that the Unrighteous are not to inherit the Kingdom of God Vnidius was uncharitable as thou art but he had not that Cloud of Witnesses those holy Examples that thou hast Sardanapalus minded nothing but his Lusts and Belly as thou dost but he never heard of a Crucified Saviour Democles was a flatterer and dissembler as thou art but the Terrors of the Lord were never manifested to him All which advantages thou possessest above these Pagans therefore it must needs be more tolerable for Sodom and Gomorrah at the Day of Judgment then for thee 11. Let the process of this Day among other Vertues engage you particularly to a practical Charity and readiness to do good to others who are under affliction especially where God hath blessed you with conveniences and superfluities for the Judge is resolved to insist upon this Vertue more then others This he has not only assured us of Matth. 25.34 35 c. but it is also the most reasonable thing in the World that we who hope to find Mercy in that Day should be acquainted with the shewing Mercy to Christ's distressed members here or it is Christ's Rule that with what Measure we mete here with the same Measure it shall be meted to us again and to this purpose the Apostle He that soweth sparingly shall reap also sparingly but he that sows bountifully shall reap also bountifully 2 Cor. 9.6 The Virgins that wanted Oyl were excluded from the Wedding-feast when the Bridegroom came that Oyl was Charity which therefore the good Samaritan poured into the Wounds of the distressed Man and as Oyl supples the Joints gives ease to the part which is in pain and is an ingredient of most Chirungical Operations so Charity relieves the Miserable and refreshes the Calamitous and hath an influence upon all other Virtues It was therefore wisely said by that pious Duke of Savoy when one ask'd him where his hunting Dogs were he led them into his Hall where abundance of Lame and Blind and Poor People fed at his cost and charges these faith he are my Dogs that serve me in my hunting after Heaven and Happiness All other Vertues lose their glory where Charity doth not bear them company To this Vertue we are born and it is the most easie of all the rest and therefore to want it when we come before the Judge must needs turn his Face and Favour from us And it is remarkable that the Judg represents all the acts of Charity he reckons up in this Day as done to himself I was an hungred and ye gave me meat I was a thirsty and ye gave me drink c. whereby he doth not only intimate the close union and communion the poor Man hath with him insomuch that he is one with him but shews that in our Alms and doing good we must have respect chiefly to Christ Jesus Let the Man that begs thy Charity or wants thy Relief be brought to Poverty by his own folly let him be wicked let him be ungrateful give him with respect to thy Saviour look upon Christ when thou dost supply his