among us at every meeting of Neighbour or Friends is this How do you that is are you in Health or no And the Answer Well or Ill that is in health or not As if Health were the chief or only good thing worth the enquiring after in the presence or enjoyment whereof we could not be miserable whatever else we wanted Nor in the absence happy or well whatever besides we possessed Indeed there is no taste or relish no comfort or delight in any worldly good where health is wanting and therefore it is by all Men highly valued and purchased at the dearest rate as Bishop Wilkins well observes Health is such a just temper and constitution of all the parts of the Body both solid and fluid as may inable the several Members and Faculties duly to perform their natural Functions from whence proceeds not only an indolency or freedom from Pain and Sickness but also vigor and activity alacrity and light-heartedness a pleasant and delicious sympathy in the Soul To this head I refer freedom from Bodily Pain the extremity whereof is altogether inconsistent with Happiness St. Augustine confesses That he was compelled to consent to Cornelius Celsus who affirmed Bodily Pain to be the greatest Evil. Neither saith he did his Reason seem to me absurd viz. That Man being compounded of two parts Soul and Body of which the first is the better the latter the worser the greatest good must be the best thing belonging to the better part that is Wisdom And the greatest Evil the worst thing belonging to the worser part that is Pain Whether this Reason be solid and conclusive let others judge but I fully agree with him in the Assertion That of all Evils we are sensible of in this World Bodily Pain is the sorest It drowning as I may so say and taking away the sense of all other Evils and wholly possessing the Soul It is such an afflictive and tormenting Passion such a Vultur or Tyger tearing and gnawing upon the Soul so abhorrent to Humane Nature that an excessive degree of it must needs make a Man miserable and unhappy unless we can reconcile and unite extremes the greatest Evil that Man is capable of suffering with the greatest good he can enjoy Hence the Torments of Hell are every where in Scripture set forth by consuming Fire unquenchable Fire everlasting Burnings and Hell it self called a Lake of Fire a Lake which burns with Fire and Brimstone because Fire produceth the greatest Bodily Pain than which nothing is more terrible to Humane Nature and more likely to affright Men from Sin On the contrary St John in his Revelation considering the absolute inconsistency of Pain and Happiness tells us That in the New Jerusalem there shall be no sorrow nor any more Pain There is indeed a degree of Bodily Pain which may be said to be 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 not exceeding the measure of Man's Patience and there is a degree which we are not able to bear which takes up the whole Mind not suffering it to divert its thoughts one Minute to any other Object Away then with the foolish vaunts of the proud Stoicks who boast that their Wise Man is happy in Phalaris his Bull whom * Epist 52. St. Augustine thus smartly and ingeniously checks and confutes If Life may be happy in extreme bodily torment why do they advise a man afflicted with the most grievous Pains to depart out of it Why does not their Wiseman rather continue in it that he may enjoy the happiness of it Is a happy life to be forsaken and fled from But if such a Life be really miserable what else but pride hinders them from confessing it to be so You will say Did not the holy Martyrs endure the greatest Bodily Torments with invincible patience yea some of them with joy and exultation I answer 'T is true indeed they did so but then I suppose that as their Temptations and Sufferings were extraordinary so they were extraordinarily supported under them and that God as the Apostle saith did not suffer them to be tempted above what he enabled them to bear It seems to me most likely that he did quite take away or very much mitigate the sense of pain possibly by obstructing those Nerves which convey that motion to the Brain which excites such a sense or how else it seemed best to his Divine Wisdom I proceed now to prove that this Blessing is the portion of those who lead a godly Life who keep God's Commandments and abide in his Love And that 1. From the Promises of God 2. From the natural consequence of several Vertues commanded by him Such are 1. Temperance and Sobriety 2. Labor and Industry 3. A due government and moderation of our Passions 1. Health and Long Life I put them together the one for the most part being the consequent of the other are in Scripture promised as rewards to the obedience of the Commandments of God Exod. 23.25 Thou shalt serve the Lord thy God And I will take away Sickness from the midst of thee Deut. 7.15 And the Lord will take away from thee all Sickness and will put none of the evil Diseases of Egypt which thou knowest upon thee Prov. 3.7 8. Fear the Lord and depart from evil It shall be health to thy Navel and Marrow to thy Bones Prov. 3.16 It is said of Wisdom That length of days are in her right hand Psal 34.12 What man is he that desireth life and loveth many days that he may see good Keep thy tongue from evil and thy lips that thou speak no guile Depart from evil and do good c. repeated 1 Pet. 3.10 On the other side Sickness and grievous Diseases and premature Death are often threatned as Punishments of Sin and Disobedience Deut. 28.60 61. If thou wilt not observe to do all the words of this Law c. He will bring upon thee all the evil Diseases of Egypt c. also every Sickness and every Plague which is nâ—t written in this Law Prov. 2.22 The wicked shall be cut off from the earth and the transgressors shall be rooted out of it Prov. 11.19 As righteousness tendeth to life so he that pursueth evil pursueth it to his own Death 2. Health and Long Life are the natural consequents of some Vertues commanded by God As 1. Temperance and Sobriety in the use of Meats and Drinks That this is a most effectual means to preserve Health I appeal to the general consent of Physicians who are the most competent Judges in this Case all unanimously prescribing a moderate Diet not only as a principal means to continue Health but also to cure many Diseases Hence Hipocrates saith 6 Epid. Sect. 4. Aph. 10. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 The exercise of preserving health is not to eat to satiety not to be slothful in labour That a very spare and ascetick Diet conduces much to Health and long Life may be confirmed by many eminent Examples St. Paul the first
a vain image of glory they err but yet speciously Should you enumerate to me covetous persons or angry men or such as exercise unjust hatred or war one against another all these virilius peccant sin more manly But such as give up or prostitute themselves to Gluttony Drunkenness and Lust eorum inhonesta labes est their stain is dishonâ—urable and sordid Of the Pleasures of the Senses of Seeing Hearing and Smelling I shall say nothing bâ—t that if duly circumstantiated and placed upon proper Objects they have no turpitude in them but may lawfully be enjoyed Of Seeing and Hearing I have said something in a former Discourse As for those things which we call by the name of Sports and Diversions Religion doth likewise admit of a moderate use of these And what is beyond such a use doth rather tire men than recreate them * Bishop Wilâ—ns It being as much the property of such things to weary a man when he is once sufficiently refreshed by them as it is to refresh him when he is wearied by other things Of Intellectual Pâ—easures we shall speak when we come to treat oâ— the happiness of the inward man Here it may be objected That the life of a Christian is a melancholy and mournful life and that we must take leave of all the Pleasures and Delights of the World when once we enter upon it Doth not Soâ—omon sâ—y Eccles 7.2 It is better to go to the hoâ—se of mourning than to the house of feasting c. v. 3. Sorrow is better than laughter foâ— by the sadness of the countenance the heart is made better v. 4. The heart of the wise is in the house of mourning and the heart of fools is in tâ—e house of mirth This is a great prejudice against a holy Life and deters many men from venturing upon it They are loath to part with all Mirth and Jollity and Pleasure which they esteem the chief Happiness of their Lives and to live more restrained and regular Lives at least thâ—y desire to enjoy them a little longer till they are tired and glutted with them deferring their Repentance to Sickness or old Age. To this I answer That innocent mirth and joy or even feasting it self are not absolutely forbidden The same Author tells us That there is a time to weep and a time to laugh A time to mourn and a time to dance And that every thing is beautiful in its Season nay Christians are commanded to rejoice evermore But in this place he compares Laughter and Sorrow Feasting and Mourning together and prefers the latter and upon very good reason because Feasting is oftentimes an occasion of temptation to intemperance and excess in eating and drinking idle and vain talk scurrilous and prophane jesting lascivious Songs which tend to corrupt mens Manners effeminate their Minds and bring them in love with sensual and bruitish Pleasures Whereâ—s from sorrow and mourning there is no such danger whatever the occasion of it be whether publick calamities losses death of Relations or Friends Thereby we are brought to consider the uncertainty of all these outward Enjoyments not to overvalue them or set our hearts upon them that so we may not be overwhelmed with grief at the loss of them to bewail our own and others Sins which for the most part bring these afflictions and sufferings upon our selves or them to condole with comfort and support those who are too much dejected and apt to sink under their burthens CHAP. IX Of Honour and Reputation Fifthly A Fifth thing conducive to the happiness of the outward Man is Honour and Reputation a Blessing highly to be valued and much to be preferred before Riches or Pleasures or even Life it self Prov. 22.1 A good name is rather to be chosen than great riches and loving favour rather than Silver and Gold Eccles 7.1 A good name is better than precious ointment It is a Proverb among the Vulgar Take away my good name and take away my life Intimating that it is as dear to them as their Lives Much more then will a generous person chuse rather to die than to do any unworthy thing that may expose him to infamy or blast his Reputation And because it is a thing of so great excellency therefore we do pay it as the best service we can do and return we can make to God and his Deputies Magistrates and Parents Honour is a good thing whereby we not only reap many advantages while we live but that doth also survive us and abide after us when we are gone out of the World Psal 112 6. The Righteous shall be in everlasting remembrance There is in man a natural desire to have a good Name perpetuated and mentioned with honour when he is dead and gone which as a learned * A Bâ— Tillotson Prelate saith is a sign that there is in Human Nature some presage of a Life after Death in which they hope among other Rewards of well doing to meet with this also to be well spoken of to Posterity Bishop Loâ—d And another Man among many tokens of immortality hath by secret instinct a natural desire to be thought of and spoken of in after-times Honour is a great spur and encouragement to Vertuous Actions Every man saith the forementioned Author that hath any spark of generosity in him is desirous of fame and though men care not how soon it comes yet they will be glad to have it after Death rather than not at all And Bishop Wilkins saith The more wise and vertuous any man is the more care will he take to transmit a grateful Memory of himself to future times that he be well spoken of that his Name may be as a precious Ointment leaving a Perfume behind it that men may rise up at the mention of it and call him blessed Nor saith he can any man despise Honour but he that doth either despair of it or resolve against doing any thing that may deserve it And certainly saith the Arch-Bishop he that hath no regard to his Fame is lost to all purposes of vertue and goodness When a man is once come to this not to care what others say of him the next step is to have no care what he himself does Quod Conscientia est apud Deum id fama est apud homineâ— What conscience is in respect of God that fame is in respect of men Next to a good Conscience a clear Reputation ought to be to every man the dearest thing in the world You 'll say What is Honour It is very well defined by the * Dâ— Wilkins Bishop of Chester often mentioned to be The esteem and good opinion men have concerning the person or actions of another together with such external Expressions of respect as are suitable thereunto Now this so valuable a good is the peculiar reward of vertue and piety 1 Sam. 2.30 Them that honour me I will honour and them that despise me shall be lightly esteemed Prov.
laying its Mouth as St. Augustin teaches me to speak to the Spring of all Happiness do more than taste the sweetness of it We may expect to have it fill'd with those delicious Pleasures which we know attend on Love and which in that State will be proportionable to the greatness of the good that is embraced and to the strength and ardency of the embracement And whereas here in this World Men are apt to love beyond all reason whereby their Love becomes adulterate and is mix'd with so many discontents thâ—t it proves but a bitter sweet there our Understanding will be in its full growth and highest pitch so that as nothing which is reasonable shall be omitted to be done nothing likewise shall be done that is unreasonable This Love will be grounded upon the clearest Judgment this Flame kindled by the purest Light so that there shall be no trouble or disquiet in it but perfect rest and peace And whereas in this World Mens Affections flow to things that are not near so big as themselves i. e. as their own Desires and so they languish and faint and fall sick even in the enjoyment of the best good it affords because they find it is not a supply proportionable to their want or to their expectation There will be no such emptiness or want of satisfaction in those Coelestial Enjoyments because we shall embrace not only our proper good but that which is commensurate to our desires and beyond our hopes Our Affections will not fall then upon that which cannot sustain the whole weight of them but feeling themselves born up to the greatest height of Love by a good so full that it will leave no room for complaint or uneasiness they will enjoy the most solid rest and satisfaction Do but conceive them in your Minds what a pleasure it is here in this Life to love and to be beloved and you will have some notion whereby to take a measure of the Life we are speaking of which will consist in such mutual Love and delightful correspondencies And they who have neither Father nor Mother Wife nor Children near Kindred nor Relations whereon to place their Affection let them consider if they have but a singular Friend what the pleasure is that two persons who sincerely and purely love take in the sweet Company and Conversation of each other Or if I must suppose any Man to be so unkind and so unhappy as to have no love for any body but his own self let him think what contentment he hath and how he is pleased if he can arrive any thing near to a quiet enjoyment of his dear self And such a delightful state may be a small Image of Heaven where holy Souls will love God with a far greater flame than ever they did or shall then love themselves because he will appear infinitely more lovely and to bear also a far greater love to them than it is possible for them to do to themselves Now none can tell how transporting it will be to a good Soul when it fâ—els it self the beloved of God as well as full of love to him because we cannot think how great the Love of the Almighty is unlesâ— we could know how great he is himself This is a thing that cannot fail to have a strange power over our affections and to master them so that we shall be quite taken out of our selves for we all extremely love to be beloved If any Neighbour shews us an unexpected and undeserved Kindness we are apt to think he is the best person in the World And the poorest Wretch in the World if we see in him the undoubted signs of an hearty love to us we cannot chuse but requite it with some expressions of kindness back again nay if a Dog or such a dumb Creature do but fawn upon us or delight in our Company and with a great deal of observance follow us wheresoever we go we cannot but be so far pleased with this inclination towards us as to make much of it and to be troubled to see any harm befall it and to love to see it play and be well pleased Judge then what a pleasure it will be to pious Souls to find themselves beloved of him who hath put these kind Resentments into our Natures To what an height will the sweet breathings of his Love blow up the Flames of theirs Into what Extasies will they fall when they feel by the happy fruits what an exceeding great affection their heavenly Father bears to them It is above our present thoughts to apprehend the Joy that will then overflow them But we may conceive a little of it if we remember that God is love and that by our Love he will be in us and by his Love we shall be in him He proceeds to speak of the love of Saints and Angels The pleasure joy and delectation that naturally and necessarily flows from this knowledge and love of God the Happiness which the Body shall be exalted to and the eternal duration of all these This Eternal Life our Blessed Saviour hath brought to light through the Gospel and hath promised it to all those who by patient continuance in well doing seek for glory and honour and immortality Rom. 2.7 1 John 2.25 And this is the promise that he hath promised even eternal life Some perchance may say The great disproportion that is between the Services and Rewards makes this Promise of Eternal Life difficult to be believed For who can think that God should recompence our poor and imperfect Duties and Services performed for a very short time with such an immense and eternal weight of Glory and Happiness To this I answer That though indeed it cannot consist with God's Justice to punish any Creature without or beyond its demerit yet nothing hinders but that he may be as bountiful as he pleases and in his Rewards exceed all the deserts and even expectations of his Creatures an hundred or a thousand fold Let us then admire the transcendent and unmerited goodness and love of God in doing such great things for us as sending his Son into the World to take our nature upon him to suffer Death for our Sins and to give us the great Promise of Eternal Life and let us endeavour in some measure to answer this Love by sutable Affections of the most ardent Love and Gratitude Let us also love the Lord Jesus Christ in sincerity which we have all the reason in the World to do considering the greatness of his Love to us manifested by the great things he hath done and suffered for us John 15.9 As the Father hath loved me saith our Saviour to his Disciples so have I loved you And v. 13. he proceeds to say Greater love hath no man than this that a man lay down his life for hiâ— fâ—iends Ye are my Friends c. By which Words he intimates that he was about to make the greatest demonstration of his Love to his
Apostles and to all true Believers by laying down his Life foâ— them The Apostle Paul carries this yet higher Rom 5.7 8. For scarce for a righteous man will oâ—e die yet peradventure for a good man some would even dare to diâ— But God commendeth his love towards us in that while we were yet sinners Christ died for us This exceeds the highest degree of love Man ever attained to Ephes 5.2 As Christ also hath loved us and given himself for us an offering and a sacrifice to God for a sweet smelling savour Philip. 2 6 7 8. Who being in the fâ—rm of God thought it not robbery to be equal with God But made himself of no reputation and took upon him the form of a Servant and was made in the likeness of man And being found in fashion as a man he humbled himself and became obedient unto death even the death of the Cross That the Eternal Son of God equal with his Father should so highly advance our Nature as to unite it to the Divine in one Person that so he might be qualified by the Sacrifice of himself to expiate our Sins to make an atonement for us and to reconcile us unto God The greatness of this Love together with the freeness and unmeritedness of it there being not any the least Motive on our part to inviâ—e him to it is so matchless and stupendious that it challenges the highest degree of â—eâ—iprocal affection and gratitude Magnes amoris amor Love is the Loadstone of love We cannot chuse but love them again in whom we discern any Expressions of unfeigned love to us as I have before noted And our love for the degree of it must be in some measure answerable to the Dignity and to the merit of the Person who loveth us For Favours done us and Benefits bestowed upon us Gratitude is the most natural I might say necessary ebullition of the Mind of Man To this purpose Seneca Epist 81. In hoc fidei populi credamus Nihil esse grato animo honestius Omnes hoc urbes omnes etiam ex Barbaris regionibus gentes conclamabunt In hoc bonis malisque conveniet Erunt qui voluptates laudent erunt qui labores malint erunt qui dolorem maximum malum dicant erunt qui nè malum quidem appellent Divitias aliquis ad summum bonum admittet alius illas dicet humanae malo vitae repertas nihil esse eo locupletius cui quod donet Fortuna non invenit In tantâ— judiciâ—rum diversitate referendam bene marentibus gratiam omnes uno tibi quod aiunt ore affirmabunt in hoc tam discors turba câ—nsentiet In this let us believe what People generally agree in That there is nothing more honest and commendable than a grateful Mind All Cities all Nations even of Barbarous Countries all Men both good and bad consent in this There are some who commend Pleasures others prefer Labours Some there be who say that pain is the greatest Evil others who will not grant it to be any Evil at all One will admit Riches to be the chiefest good another affirms them to be the Mischief of human Life and that none can be richer than he upon whom Fortune cannot find any thing which she may bestow In such a diversity of Judgments about other things that thanks are to be returned to those who have deserv'd well of us all with one Mouth affirm In this these Dissenting Parties are all agreed We are by Nature inclined to requite kindnesses non docti sed facti non instituti sed imbuti sumus And if we cannot do that to retain at least a grateful sense and memory of them and upon all occasions to acknowledge our obligations to such Benefactors as we are not able to recompence to honour and love them and to do all we can to please and gratifie them Ingratum si dixeris omnia dixeris You cannot say worse of a man than that he is ungrateful Ingratitude being an unnatural Sin Seeing then we cannot requite this transcendent kindness of our Saviour's to us nor make him any amends for that great Salvation he hath wrought for us and those inestimable Benefits he hath bestowed on us let us not be wanting to do what in us lies to express our gratitude by acknowledging and celebrating his goodness to us and the great things he hath done for us singing with the holy Psalmist * Psâ—l 103.1 Bless the Lord O my soul and all that is within me bless his holy name Bless the Lord O my soul and forget not all his benefits And by devoting our selves to his Service and doing always those things which are pleasing and acceptable to him Lâ—t his love constrain us not to live any longer to our selves but unto him who hath died for us and rose again 1 Cor 5.16 Who hath redeemed us to God by his blood Revel 5.9 And made us Kings and Priests unto our God Let us have a care that we do not frustrate the Grace of God as to our selves and render this great undertaking of our Saviour in vain to us nay an aggravation of our Condemnation For how shall we escape if we neglect so great salvation As the Apâ—stle speaks Heb. 2.3 Let not the difficulty of obeying God's Commandments and leading a holy life deter or discourage us from endeavouring it We know that neither Learning nor Riches nor any thing that is excellent is to be obtained without pains-taking Now nothing so excellent so desirable so worthy our utmost endeavours as Eternal Life this will abudantly recompence all our labour and travel nay though we were put to suffer Persecution Imprisonment or even Death it self for Conscience sake and bearing witness to the Truth we should have no need to râ—pent it Our Reward shall be answerable to nay far exceed our Work 2 Cor. 4.17 Our light affliction which is but for a moment worketh for us a far more exceeding and eternal weight of Glory To sum up all in brief Since then 1. A Holy Life and Conversation here secures to us an interest in a Future State of Eternal Bliss and Happiness Glory and Immortality in the World to come and thereby delivers us from the fear of Death that King of Terrors as it is denominated Job 1â— 14 that 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 as â—ristotle calls it The most terrible of all terribles Which the wisest Philosophers by all their Argumentations could never either arm others against or secure themselves from the fear of the very best of them even Socrates himself being doubtful of the immortality of the Soul our Saviour alone having brought life and immortality to light through the Gospel Of which Death wicked men cannot but have a dreadful apprehension because of that indignation and wrath tribulation and anguish which is threatned against those who obey not the truth but obey unrighteousness Rom. 2.8.9 2. Since also it conduceth much to the well being and happiness of the outward and inward Man in this present Life as I have endeavoured to demonstrate in this Discourse Moreover 3. Since this Holiness and Obedience is even in the judgment and by the confession of vicious Persons themselves better and more eligible than the life they lead And Lastly Since it is more facile easy and pleasant than the Slavery and Drudgery of Sin and Satan Since I say all this is true and certain surely it is the greatest folly and madness imaginable for a little false and transient Pleasure and to gratify some deceitful Lust as the Apostle justly calls them Ephes 4.22 to forego not only our hopes of that Eternal Life and Happiness which our Saviour hath purchased for us and upon our Obedience promised to us those sincere and solid Pleasures which are at God's right hand for evermore Rev. 22.14 our right to the Tree of Life and of entring in through the Gates into the New Jerusalem which is their portion who keep God's Commandments but also that present comfort and satisfaction of mind that inward peace and joy which attends the Conscience of well doing here Mark what a * Seneca Epist 27. Heathen saith of these sensual Pleasures Dimitte istas voluptates turbidas magno luendas non venturae tantùm sed praeteritae nocent Quemadmodum scelera etiamsi non sint deprehensa cùm fierent solicitudo non cum ipsis abit it à voluptatum improbarum etiam post ipsas poenitentia est Non sunt solidae non sunt fideles etiamsi nâ—n nocent fugiunt Dismiss saith he these troubled or muddy and impâ—re pleasures which you must pay dearly for they are hurtful not only when they are coming but when they are past As crimes though undiscovered when they are committed leave not the committers of them without solâ—â—tude so Repentance always attends unlawful Pleasures they are not solid they are false and deceitful and though they were not hurtful yet are they transient only in motion and suddainly gone As for Riches or Honours or any other worldly good they are also unsatisfactory We find our Expectations in the pursuit of them frustrated in the acquisition and enjoyment being presently full and weary of that which we did most eagerly and impotently desire and long after And yet were there never so much worth and goodness in them they are 1. Uncertain as the Apostle calls them 1 Tim. 6.17 they may be taken away from us before we die 2. They are of short continuance if they abide with us till death we must then necessarily part with them For as the same Apostle saith ver 7th of the same Chapter We brought nothing into this world and it is certain we can carry nothing out FINIS