Persons the unpitied Poverty of Huffing Gamesters and in a word the unpleasant Exit of most Pleasure-mongers and for those that escape these common effects they as commonly contract a carnal Security which is as bad as the worst of these And for those pleasures that are above sensual I 'le say no more at present but this the better the Objects of our delights are on this side God and the pleasing of God the more our carnal Wisdom is fortified against the true method to real happiness Upon the whole matter then Pleasures are a kind of dangerous fruit which if not well corrected are Poyson we can scarce taste without danger of surfeiting But now what doth the Power of Godliness in this case What 't will not meddle with unlawful pleasures thô never so tempting 't will strain out the dregs of lawful pleasures that they may not be unwholsome 't will moderate the use of unquestionable delights that they may not be inordinate And 't will teach us to be thankful to God for making our Pilgrimage any way comfortable 't will raise the Soul to prepare and long for Heaven where are pure and full Joyes and that for evermore Thus for a Life of Pleasure What shall we say to a Life of Sorrow and Pensiveness to live 〈◊〉 Recluse from the flattering Vanities of the World a Eccles 2.2 ◠I said of Laughter it is mad and of Mirth what doth it What Musick is the gigling Mirth of the World to a serious Soul Those that the Frothy part of the World count Melancholy the sober part of the World count them Wise But yet to give way to Sorrow disspirits us for any considerable service either to God or Man it unfits us for every thing b 2 Cor. 7.10 the Sorrow of the World worketh Death Such are burdensome to themselves and others they are weary of themselves and every body else is weary of them If a Melancholy mopish temper be not checkt 't will lead to hard thoughts of God to blasphemy infidelity In short a Life of Sorrow is a degree of Hell upon Earth and such Persons torment themselves before their time But what can Religion do in this case Serious Godliness bears up the Soul from sinking under worldly sorrow c Eccles 7.3 4. Sorrow is better than Laughter for by the sadness of the Countenance the Heart is made better The Heart of the wise is in the house of Mourning but the Heart of Fools is in the house of Mirth Religion will teach us how to turn worldly Sorrow into Sorrow for Sin d 2 Cor. 7.9 10. to sorrow to Repentance after a godly manner and godly Sorrow worketh Repentance to Salvation not to be repented of 'T is Serious Godliness that teacheth how to mourn for the Sins and Dangers of the Times we live in And Christians pray take special notice that this is our present great duty a duty that every Christian not only ought but may perform and none can hinder it And O that this duty were frequently thought of and more universally practised The Land is even drown'd in Pleasure the Conscientious performance of this duty would be a token for good for the abating of the deluge And thô the times should be such that their own Sorrows should be encreased yet then even then how chearing would the forethoughts of Heaven be to such serious Christians How may they chide their Hearts out of their Dejections e Psal 42.11 Why art thou cast down O my Soul and why art thou disquieted within me hope thou in God for I shall yet aye and ever praise him who now is and for ever will be the health of my Countenance f 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Salutes faciei mei and the Salvation of my face and my God Because thou art my God g Psal 67.6 my own God my exceeding great not only rewarder but h Gen. 15.1 reward And thus much for the second Pair Pleasure and Sorrow III. Who knows whether Honour or Obscurity be best for man in this Life At first sight it seems easie to determine but when both sides are heard 't will seem otherwise For Honour every one would be Some-body in the World would be esteemed and preferr'd before others disgrace and infamy seem most intolerable when Job had done contesting with his censorious Friends he is greatly concern'd about the contempt poured upon him thô but by infamons Enemies Job 29. 30. And David thô he could even in desperate cases encourage himself in God yet complains i Psal 69.20 Reproach hath broken my Heart matter of Honour and Reputation is a tender point not any of what rank soever but deeply resent the being slighted But for Honour when we consider how hazardous it is to get thô all are clambering few reach it consider further when 't is got 't is slippery to hold others envy and their own fear distract 'em and then if you adde the falling from it that 's worse than if they never had it but there 's worse than all this the insuperable temptation to pride oppression and impenitency all which nothing but Grace can prevent or cure And for that lesser reputation and esteem which comes short of the Name of Honour 't is troublesom to carry it like a Venice-glass that the least touch may not crack it What can Religion do in this Case Serious Godliness 't will never be beholding to Sin nor Satan for worldly Honour It values it no more than as it adds to a capacity of honouring God He that 's truely Religious is neither so fond of Honour as to Sin to get or keep it neither doth he count himself undone to lose it he values the priviledge of Adoption beyond all the Honours in the World k Isa 43.4 Since thou wast precious in my sight thou hast been honourable he is graciously ambitious of doing God and Christ some service in the World he appears for God to discountenance prevent or remove Sin to encourage promote and advance Holiness this God in condescension accounts an honouring of him and hath accordingly promised l 1 Sam. 2.30 Them that honour me I will honour and they that despise me shall be lightly esteemed In short you may know what Faith you have by what Honour you prize m John 5.44 How can ye believe that receive honour one of another and seek not the Honour which cometh from God only This for Honour Some preferr Obscurity in the World to snudge in quiet to live retired and reserved out of the Vexatious hurry of a captious World to keep in the shade out of the scorching Sun to steal out of the World without any noise or notice O how sweet is this to many wise and judicious Persons that are every way above what 's Vulgar But how do these in running from one Vanity fall into another They debase the humane Nature and the reasonable Soul while they
causes There 's a Necessity of these things while we are in the World and we need variety of them more than for present use e. g. Childhood and Age are helpless and need greater supplies there 's difference between Sickness and Health and we must provide for both and is not this very plausible Whereas did but Persons consider how many Superfluities shroud themselves under the wing of Necessaries and how Persons love to be at their own finding rather than Gods thô there 's no comparison between them as Israel Numb 11.5 We Remember the fish which we did eat in Egypt freely the Cucumbers and the Melons and the Leeks and the Onions and the Garlick and now our Soul is dryed away there is nothing at all besides this Manna before our Eyes They preferred the Food which the Egyptians gave their Slaves before Manna which if the Inhabitants of the upper World needed food were fit for them We would not onely have Mercies but we would be humour'd in the Circumstances of 'em Rachel must presently have Children or she 'l be weary of her Life whereas she might have learnt from her own Husband and Grand-father that those Children of patiently believing Parents were the greatest Blessings that came from teeming Prayers and Barren Wombs but she considers not this she must have Children or dye Well God so far gratifies her she shall have Children but that which she reckoned would be the greatest Comfort of her Life proved to be her death The flattery of worldly things prevails with many The Grandeur of the World that pleaseth the Eye the Esteem of the World that pleaseth the Fancy whereas would but these Persons consider all things of the World appear better at a distance than we find them near at hand I dare confidently make this offer and without imposing upon God any thing indecent peremptorily assure you God will make it good That if you can but give any one instance of any one Person made happy satisfyingly happy by any worldly enjoyment you shall be the second I grant many are through Grace contented with a little pittance of the World but where dwelt the man that was ever yet contented meerly with the World The wealth of the World promiseth Satisfaction a Eccl. 10.19 Money answereth all things but b ch 5.10 he that loveth Silver shall not be satisfied with Silver nor he that loveth abundance with increase The pleasures of the World promise refreshment to relieve us of all our cares but instead of it c Eccl. 2.11 they are all Vanity and Vexation of Spirit The Honours of the World promise quiet and contentment but d Psal 73.18 19. surely they are set in slippery places as upon a Pinnacle whence though they do not presently fall yet they are utterly consumed with terrors of falling In short e Psal 49.20 man that is in honour and understandeth not how to honour God with it is like the Beasts that perish degrades himself into a Beast and the time is at hand when he would count it a greater happiness than ever he shall obtain if his Soul and Body might die together like a Beast Experience is beyond Speculation we see others grow great they fare better and go finer and are more esteemed in the World every one respects them and if he but grow Rich he must presently be the best in the Parish whereas those that are low and mean in the World they are despised thô never so well qualified This thou speak'st upon thine own Observation thou canst name the Persons and the places whence thou hast this experience Very well thou takest this for a demonstration that there is such a thing as an Earthly happiness Hold a little be but intreated to push the Observation a little further and consider impartially how loth thou wouldst be to take up with that for thy Happiness which thou so much admirest Single out any one of those thou accountest most happy in their outward enjoyments and be sure thou art as thoroughly acquainted with all the circumstances of his Condition as thou art with thine own and then sit down and seriously consider Is this the Person whose happiness thou admirest View him inside and outside and tell me wouldst thou have his Condition and all the Circumstances of it 'T is true he is great in the World but wouldst thou have all his cares and fears his restless Nights and troublesome Dayes wouldst thou have just his qualifications of mind that half-wittedness that makes him ridiculous his peevish Humours which make him a burden to himself and others Wouldst thou have just his temper of Body To be alwayes sickly or conceited to be so He can't eat this nor digest that nor relish any thing as do meaner Persons Those Relations that should be the greatest Comfort of his Life hanker after his Death His Children upon one account or other almost break his Heart his Servants are vexatious his Business distracting or his idleness wearisome Whereas perhaps his next Neighbour that hath scarce bread to eat hath a quieter frame of Mind a better temper of Body a better Stomach better Digestion better Health more Comfort in Relations and longer Life to enjoy all these than him thou countest the Worlds darling think of this before thou concludest for an earthly Happiness The restlesness of the Mind of man upon so many disappointments makes him eager after any thing that promiseth Satisfaction he hath experience of the uneasiness of his present Condition and none of that which flatters him So that he becomes like one that hath been long sick who is willing to try every Medicine that every Visitant commends never considering how he heightens his disease by the use of false Remedies e. g. Shouldst thou take medicines proper for an Erysipelas to cure a Dropsie or Medicines for the Stone to cure a Consumption thô those Medicines would not presently kill thee they would never Cure thee but thou must still complain of disappointments and be worse and worse instead of having any amendment Do not deceive your selves one Vanity will never cure another Satan will not be wanting to set in with all the other cheats the Inclinations of the Flesh the flatteries of the World and the various pleadings of carnal Reason Satan you may be sure will do what 's possible to be done to entangle the Soul in a fools Paradise or plunge it into inextricable difficulties especially when he hath a good second as in this Case thô one might rationally think there should need no more to fright him to his watch then to assure him the hand of Satan is in all this Suspect him in every thing he cannot be thy Friend he cannot make any one motion for thy good where he seems to do so 't is to do thee greater mischief Thus have I jumbled together something of what may be said both with real and seeming weight for empty reasonings weigh most with empty
and we are made up of nothing else but Dependency and Frailty Luc. 22.61 Now this active principle is chiefly Faith and Love Faith working by Love Faith gives us union to Christ and maintains that Union Now as we are kept by Faith so we and our Faith are kept both by the power of God to salvation 1 Pet. 1.4 5. Our Inheritance is kept in Heaven for us and we are kept in Earth for it till we possess it in Heaven Quis custodiet ipsos custodes We should be poorly and Miserably kept if the Lord were not our keeper How did Adam keep his Estate and the Angels theirs and Esau his Birth-right and the Prodigal his Portion when all was trusted in their own hands One lost all for an Apple and another for a Mess of Dainty Broth and another for his carnal pleasures but happy Believers whose All is in better Trustees hands 1 Pet. 4. ult even the hand of a Faithful God IV. He that will keep himself in the Love of God must keep himself free from the Love of the World because the Love of this World is contrary to the Love of God 1 Joh. 2.15 16. and therefore inconsistent with it 1. Because the Love of the World and its Trinity or threefold Lust is a dangerous Heart-thief it Steals away the Heart from God as Absolom stole away the Hearts of the People from David by his Kisses 2 Sam. 15.5 6. and Flatteries Hos 4.11 What the Prophet speaks of Wine and Whoredom is true of all other worldly things 2. The Love of the World makes God jealous because Worldlings make an Idol of it and it is the worst Idolatry being that of the first Commandement Mâ—t. 6.24 So is Covetousness and Mammon when the Heart is inordinate upon Creatures Silver Gold Relations that is our Treasure Luc. 12.34 Colos 3.5 Therefore saith the Lord take heed and beware of Covetousness Luk. 12.15 A double caution all little enough And of this nature is Luxury and Epicurism also Phil. 3.18 19 20. Drunkenness the Love of Pleasure more than God 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Belly-gods Nay thus it is likewise in the inordinate Love of Children which is soon done and they become Idols and God in his jealousie breaks them 1 Sam. 2.21 or breaks us for them as he did old Eli honouring his Sons above God And he that loveth Son or Daughter more than me is not worthy of me Math. 10.37 saith Christ 3. Because the Love of the World is a Choak-pear to all that 's truly good as is clear in the Thorny Ground Math. 13. v. 7.22 Experience teacheth this universally and the nature of the things being contrary one to the other and killing one of another * Like the Torment of Mezentius putting the Living to the Dead which corrupts and kills the Living one being Spiritual and Heavenly the other Carnal Sensual and Destructive yea both are destroyers of each other Rom. 7.24 Who shall deliver me from the Body of this Death Do not we see what mortal Enemies worldly men are to Divine things The Word saith the world lyeth in wickedness the Devil is the Prince of the wicked World and ruleth in the children of disobedience it feeds the Flesh and nourisheth the carnal part and is not subject to the Law of God nor can be Rom. 8.7 Yea it is a deadly thing to the Soul Rom. 6.6 Gal. 5.17 Rom. 8.13 Gal. 6.14 Gal. 2.20 Gal. 5.24 and such deadly things are these two Lovers that is these two Lusts that they hunt for the life of each other fighting against each other to the death and the quarrel alwayes ends in the death of one or th' other If ye live after the flesh ye shall dye but if ye through the Spirit mortifie the deeds of the flesh ye shall live See the Scriptures in the Margin 4. The Love of the World hath Sorcery and Witchcraft in it when once men drink of the Worlds Cup they are intoxicated We read of Simon Magus how he bewitched the People Act. 8.9 We read of Jezebels Witchcrafts 2 King 9.22 Nahum 3.9 Rev. 17.2 3 4. Falsus fallax est mundus exterius aurens interius lutens N. N. and Babylons Sorceries and Witchcrafts and it is joined with the Works of the Flesh Gal. 5.17 to ver 21. Sixteen in number Rev. 22.15 Maxima totius orbis venefica The greatest Witch in the world is the World Her Honours are bewitching Honours Her Delights and pleasures are bewitching Her Riches and Profits are bewitching How then is the Love of the World consistent with Gods Love Therefore for the Love of God love not the World 5. The Love of the World makes Men Apostates from Christ So it made Demas 2 Tim. 4.10 and so it hath made thousands more and thee among the rest if thou lookest not well to thy Self 6. Psal 17.14 Phil. 3.18 19 20. Because the Love of the World makes men take up their Heaven on this side Heaven Of those men the Apostle could not speak without Weeping This is like the Prodigal that preferred a Tavern and a Brothel-House before his Fathers House Luc. 15.13 V. He that will Love God and keep himself in the Love of God must not be a Self-lover there is no greater Enemy to the Love of God than to Love our selves 2 Tim. 3.2 Mark the place for it is a remarkable place He tells you of perilous times a coming and there gives nineteen marks of such men as make the times perilous Of all which Lovers of themselves leads the Van for where once this Principle prevails it opens a Floodgate to all Sin and shuts the door upon all Holy Motions If Self be beloved admired and idolized it is the worst Idol in the World this is an Idol in a secret place continually adored this is Dagon set above the Ark and a Man above God and provokes to jealousie this perverts the course of Nature and Gods order who is one God and uppermost and only to be adored and men set up themselves in Gods Throne and Ungod him by deifying themselves and for one God they set up millions of gods as many gods as Creatures This is mans misery by losing the Integrity wherein God made him and seeking out many Inventions And when the Lord Christ came into the World he he speaks our Love and wooes us for it and commands self-denyal as the first Lesson to be learned in his School Mat. 16.24 25. Mat. 10.37 whereby the great Stumbling-block to Gods Love is taken away VI. If ye would keep your selves in the Love of God be very shy of Sin both in the Risings of it and as to the Temptations to it For the love of God and the love of Sin are more contrary to each other than Heaven and Hell Because they are Morally contrary Rom. 8. 1. Sin is Enmity against God in the Abstract 2. Sin is hatefull
Man and as God is infinite in all Perfections yet he suffered a Vail to be on his Divinity and took on him the form of a Servant his Birth was very mean as appears by the Circumstances of it his Education under his Parents no way splendid Is not this the Carpenters Son his Converse among poor Fishermen and he at length became obedient to the death of the Cross He was a man of Sorrows and very contemptible in the Eye of the world whence it is that he is unto the Jews who expected a Messiah to come with worldly Grandeur a stumbling block 1 Cor. 1.23 In like manner are the many profound Doctrines of the Gospel stones of stumbling Christ i. e. the Doctrines of Christ not only such as relate to the Meanness of his Person but many others are as stones of stumbling and rocks of offence to both the Houses of Israel and for a Gin and for a Snare and many among them shall stumble and fall and be broken and be snared and be taken Isa 8.14 15. For this very reason I humbly conclude there are so many 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 things hard to be understood in the Scriptures so many difficulties about the Original the various Readings of Scripture c. Yea for this Reason do many wicked men increase in Riches they have much Silver and Gold but 't is a stumbling block unto them even the stumbling block of their Iniquity Ezek. 7.19 Their very Tables are made a Snare a Trap a stumbling block a Recompence unto the wicked Oh! how many do take occasion from the several Difficulties that lie before them in the Word of God and in his Providences to reject all Religion to the eternal destruction of their own Souls the which is done to the Exaltation of the glorious Righteousness of God that is seen in the Condemnation of the Vessels of Wrath who were endured with much long-suffering and all this by the signal Providence of God which are concerned in the Accomplishment of these high Ends yet so that the Purity and Holiness of God appears as glorious as does his Justice and Righteousness for God who lays these stumbling blocks before us does not cause our Sin for that only follows our meeting them in our way as the product of our own Corruption 'T is admirable to consider that the very same thing that is a Mean to excite Grace in the One should be an Occasion of Infidelity and other Sins in Another That such Contrarieties should in different ways proceed from one and the same Providence that one and the same thing should be a Means of the Salvation of the one and the Occasion of the Destruction of the other There is much of infinite Wisdom to be seen in this Contrivance for hereby in the very same thing that proves an occasion of the Ruine of the non-Elect there is enough to stop their mouths and silence them and all such as do take occasion therefrom to sin against God For what ever the secret Counsels of God are concerning this or the other particular Person God does treat all in a way sutable to those Capacities he has given us he considers us all as Rational Creatures as Moral Agents and has taken us all under his Government and is as sincere in the Promises of Life he makes unto all on their Compliances with his terms as he is just and true in the execution of the threatned Evils against such as remain obstinate Transgressors and as for the insuperable Difficulties that lie before us the Doctrines and Providences that transcend our Understandings they are as excellent Expedients to engage us to believe to the saving of the Soul as they are the occasions of that Unbelief that ends in the damnation of those that perish Wherefore then seeing this is so seeing so much good may be gathered from these Doctrines and Providences such as take occasion from them to sin to reject all Religion and live Atheistically in the World are without Excuse for 't is manifest that a better Use might have been made of thefe things and that 't is their own Sin that they have made so ill an Use thereof the which will not in the least excuse but aggravate their Misery and justifie God in their Condemnation IMPROVEMENT IV. Fourthly We may hence learn to entertain more awful Apprehensions of the Greatness and Majesty of God and more low thoughts of our selves Such is the boldness of most men that they fear not to pry into those things that are above them even into the Secrets of the most High We are not satisfied with what is revealed but are too curiously searching into the hidden things of God although 't is impossible that this Curiosity should be attended with the desired success and although it proved fatal to our first Parents who desiring to know more than was meet fell from that happy state in which they were at first placed yet the temper of most studious Enquirers is to be too curious and bold and this they will be though they turn the whole World into confusion by their Contests 'T is not unworthy our thoughts to consider what is the principal ground of the many Quarrels and Wranglings that have been and are among the Learned for then we shall find that a too bold Enquiry into the things that are above us and unlawful to be pried into is the ground of all There is in us an ambition to be like unto God we would fain know as much as he who is Omniscient our Souls though in their own Nature are finite yet in the desires they have of knowing things are in a manner infinite The deep things of God cannot escape our narrowest search the Nature of his Being the Modes and Media of his Operations and his eternal Counsels fall under our strictest Scrutiny and boldest Debates 'T is strange to consider with what Confidence vain Mortals will dispute about these things and no less surprizing to observe the great Confusion and Disorders that have followed such Disputes How confidently do the Dominicans and Molinists the Scotists and Durandists and other Schoolmen among the Papists the Remonstrants and Anti-Remonstrants the Supra and Sublapsarians among Protestants talk of God his Decrees and their Order as well as about Physical Predetermination c. Among all which there are different Opinions in one respect or other but yet by all one and the same unpardonable Confidence discovered in adhering to their own Dogmata for about these abstruse Points they are all as resolute in their determinations as in Matters most plain and obvious the tendency of which hath been nothing less than Strife Contention and endless Quarrels yea strange Animosities and Confusions whereas if we did but seriously consider that all these Matters are above us that they transcend the largest Capacities and therefore are not to be pried into instead of spending our time and strength about them we should be engaged to
Confession of Faith that Christ never commended any like it but would prescribe to Christ an exemption from Suffering not considering that Mankind would have been undone by that advice but Christ with a sharp reproof bids d Mat. 16.16.23 Get thee behind me c. In all cases about settling in the World getting Estates seeking Preferment entring into Marriage removing from one place to another be not self-conceited nor hasty to run before God nor to go out of his way but follow him follow his Commands in a way of Obedience follow his Providence in a way of Observance follow God and you may expect his Blessing Remember these two words thô you forget all the rest of the Sermon Vse 5 viz. CHRIST and HOLINESS Holiness and Christ Interweave these all manner of wayes in your whole Conversation Press after Holiness as much as 't is Possible had you no Christ to befriend you for 't is a shame to mind Holiness the less for any benefits you expect from Christ and rest as intirely upon Christ as if there were nothing else required for the best of your Holiness doth not merit acceptance 'T is serious Christianity that I press as the only way to better every condition 't is Christianity downright Christianity that alone can do it 'T is not Morality without Faith that 's but Refined Heathenism 't is not Faith without Morality that 's but downright Hypocrisie It must be a Divine Faith wrought by the Holy Ghost where God and man concur in the operation such a Faith as works by Love both to God and Man a Holy Faith full of good Works e Ephes 2.10 For we are his Workmanship created in Christ Jesus unto good works which God hath before ordained that we should walk in them f Phil. 3.3.8 9. Worshipping God in the Spirit rejoycing in Christ Jesus and having no Confidence in the flesh yea doubtless counting all things but loss for the excellency of the knowledge of Christ Jesus that we may be found in him not having not trusting in our own Righteousness but that which is thrô the Faith of Christ the Righteousness which is of God by Faith that we may be found in him c. I 'le close all with this of Solomon of whom 't is said g 1 King 4.32 33. He spake three thousand Proverbs and his Songs were a thousand and five and he spake of Trees from the Cedar that is in Lebanon even unto the Hyssop that springeth out of the wall he spake also of Beasts and of Fowls and of creeping things and of Fishes Now consider his Treatises of Natural Philosophy are utterly lost thô we may well suppose them the best that ever were writ Nay of his three thousand Proverbs those that were not divinely inspired are lost and those that were are some of them collected by other hands h Prov. 25.1 not his own but his two last and best Treatises Ecclesiastes and Canticles the one to abate our Love of the World and the other to increase our Love to Christ These are the Books these are the things with which he did with which we should close our Lives Quest How may we Experience in our selves and Evidence to others that serious Godliness is more than a Fancy SERMON II. 1 PET. III. 15. Be ready alwayes to give an Answer to every man that asketh you a Reason of the Hope that is in you CHristianity was no sooner come into the World than it was assaulted by Satan and his Instruments persecuting Believers and either Reproaching their Religion as Impious or censuring it as Madness or ridiculing it as Folly the Holy Ghost in the Scripture foreseeing this not only forewarns them of it but arms them against it and among others of his holy Penmen employs this Apostle to fence those Saints to whom he wrote against this Temptation and to direct them what to do if it came to be their Case 1. He encourageth them under Sufferings of all sorts for righteousness sake tells them that so to suffer would be so far from making them miserable that it would be their Happiness v. 14. happy are ye answerably to what his Master had before told him and the rest of his hearers Matth. 5.11 Blessed are ye when men shall revile you and persecute you c. 2. He directs them how to carry themselves 1. When persecuted and that 1. Negatively v. 14. Be not afraid of their terror c. Be not daunted nor affrighted with those fears your Enemies would work in you This passage relates to that of Isa 8.12 Neither fear ye their fear nor be afraid where the Saints are bid not to fear what others were afraid of but here with a little variation they are exhorted not to give way to or be overcome by those terrors their adversaries would strike into them 2. Positively sanctifie the Lord in your hearts v. 15. Fear him more than your Persecutors stand in awe of his Power more than their Rage fear him so as not inordinately to fear them he so afraid of offending him as not to fear suffering by them And this advice likewise is agreeable to that our Saviour gives Math. 10.28 Fear not them which kill the body c. but rather fear him which is able to destroy both soul and body in Hell 2. When reproached or scoffed at or traduced by their Enemies If they accuse or mock your Religion as impious or childish or unreasonable if they demand a reason of you why you Believe or Practise as you do Be always ready to give them an answer to give an account of your selves and shew upon what grounds ye are Christians and to make it appear that your Faith is reall and your Obedience reasonable Three things only in the words call for a little Explication 1. What is meant by Hope Either hope here is the same that Faith is and so it is in divers other places and then to give a reason of their Hope Calvin in loc Grot. is to make a Confession of their Faith so some take it Or it may be taken Synechdochically for the whole of their Religion as others And indeed the hope of a Christian being one of the most eminent Acts of Religion and seeming withall to the profane and ignorant World one of the most strange things in it and which was most cavil'd against and laugh'd at †Act. 17.18.32 for men to expect a Life after death a glorious Resurrection after a dishonourable lying in the grave and to renounce all Worldly enjoyments and expose themselves to the bitterest sufferings meerly in hope of something they did not see nor expected to enjoy till after they were dead it might well be put for the whole of Religion as being so remarkable in it 2. What is meant by this Answer they were to give 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 it is elsewhere frequently rendred by defence Act. 22.1 Phil. 1.7.17 it is rendred answer as here 1
and they have it not to pay them its hard to keep all this from going too near the heart and hard to bear it with obedient quiet submission to God especially for Women whose Nature is weak and liable to too much Passion 2. And this Impatience turneth to a setled Discontent and Vnquietness or Spirit which affecteth the Body it self and lieth all day as a Load or continual Trouble at the Heart 3. And Impatience and Discontent do set the Thoughts on the Rack with Grief and continual Cares how to be eased of the troubling Cause they can scarce think of any thing else and these Cares do even feed upon the Heart and are to the Mind as a consuming Feaver to the Body 4. And the secret Root or Cause of all this is the worst part of the Sin which is too much Love to the Body and this World Were nothing ovâ—â—loved it would have no power to torment us if Ease and Health were not overloved Pain and Sickness would be the more tolerable if Children and Friends were not overloved the Death of them would not overwhelm us with inordinate sorrow if the Body were not overloved and worldly wealth and Prosperity overvalued it were easie to endure hard Fare and Labour and Want not only of Superfluities and Conveniences but even of that which is necessary to Health yea or Life it self if God will have it so at least to avoid Vexations Discontents and Cares and inordinate Grief and Trouble of mind 5. There is yet more Sin in the root of all and that is it sheweth that our Wills are yet too selfish and not subdued to a due submission to the Will of God but we would be as Gods to our own chusing and must needs have what the Flesh desiâ—◠〈…〉 â—â—â—t a due Resignation of our selves and all our Concerns to God and 〈…〉 as Children in due dependance on him for our daily Bread but â—â—â—t needs be the keepers of our own Provision 6. And this sheweth that we be not sufficiently humbled for our sin or else we should be thankful for the lowest state as being much better than that which we deserved 7. And there is apparently much Distrust of God and Vnbelief in these troubling Discontents and Cares could we trust God as well as our selves or as we could trust a faithful friend or as a Child can trust his Father how quiet would our minds be in the sense of his Wisdom All-sufficiency and Love 8. And this Unbelief yet hath a worse Effect than worldly Trouble it sheweth that men take not the Love of God and the Heavenly Glory for their suffâ—cient portion unless they may have what they want or would have for the Body this world unless they may be free from Poverty and Crosses and Provocations and Injuries and Pains all that God hath promised them here or hereafter even everlasting Glory will not satisfie them and when God and Christ and Heaven are not enough to quiet a mans mind he is in great want of Faith Hope â—nd Love which are far greater matters than Food and Rayment III. Another great cause of such trouble of mind is the guilt of some great and wilful sin when conscience is convinced and yet the foul is not converted sin is beloved and yet feared Gods wrath doth terrifie them and yet not enough to overcome their sin some live in secret fraud and robbery and many in drunkenness in secret fleshly lusts either self-pollution or fornication and they know that for such things the wrath of God cometh on the Children of disobedience and yet the rage of appetite and lust prevaileth and they despair and sin and while the sparks of Hell fall on their consciences it changeth neither heart nor life there is some more hope of the recovery of these then of dead hearted or unbelieving sinners who work uncleanness with greediness as being past feeling and blinded to defend their sins and plead against holy obedience to God Bruitishness is not so bad as Diabolisme and malignity But none of these are the persons spoken of in any Text Their sorrow is not overmuch but too little as long as it will not restrain them from their sin But yet if God convert these persons the sins which they now live in may possibly hereafter plung their souls into such depths of sorrow in the review as may swallow them up And when men truly converted yet dally with the bait and renew the wounds of their consciences by their lapses it is no wonder if their sorrows and terrours are renewed Grievous sins have fastened so on the consciences of many as have cast them into uncurable melancholly and distraction IV. But among people fearing God there is yet another cause of Melancholly and of sorrowing overmuch and that is Ignorance and mistakes in maâ—â—â—â— which their peace and comforts are concerned in I will name some particulars 1. One 〈◊〉 Ignorance of the tenor of the Gospel or Covenant of Grace as some Libertines called Antinomians more dangerously mistake it who tell men that Christ hath Repented and believed them and that they must no more question their Faith and Repentance than they must question the righteousness of Christ so many better Christians understand not that the Gospel is tidings of unspeakable joy to all that will believe it and that Christ and Life are offered freely to them that will accept him and that no sins how great or many soever are excepted from pardon to the soul that unfeignedly turneth to God by faith in Christ that whoever will may freely take the water of life and all that are weary and thirst are invited to come to him for ease and rest And they seem not to understand the conditions of forgiveness which is but true consent to the pardoning saving baptismal Covenant 2. And many of them are mistaken about the use of sorrow for sin and about the nature of hardness of heart they think that if their sorrow be not so passionate as to bring forth tears and greatly to afflict them they are not capable of pardon though they should consent to all the pardoning Covenant and they consider not that it is not our sorrow for it self that God delighteth in but it is the taking down of pride and that so much humbling sense of sin danger and misery as may make us feel the need of Christ and mercy and bring us unfeignedly to consent to be his Disciples and to be saved upon his Covenant terms Be sorrow much or little if it do this much the sinner shall be saved And as to the length of Gods sorrow some thinks that the pangs of the new birth must be a long continued state whereas we read in the Scripture that by the penitent sinners the Gospel was still received speedily with joy as being the gift of Christ and pardon and everlasting life humility and self-loathing must continue and increase but our first great sorrows may be swallowed up with
life that she may present her body a living sacrifice holy acceptable unto God which is her reasonable service and so by universal obedience prove what is that good and acceptable will of God n Rom. 12.1 2. in the prevailing desires of her soul to please God who hath called her into a conjugal Relation and enabled her therein to conceive and so in her proper Office to serve her own generation by the will of God o Acts 13.36 waiting upon him with chearfulness in filling up her Relation to give her in due time an holy seed for his glory and the enlargement of his Church as holy Mrs. Joceline above mentioned earnestly desired of God that she might be a mother to one of his children * Mothers Legacy p. 1. Then 2. To submit to the effecting and disposing will of God who works all things according to the counsel of his own will p Eph. 1.11 in preparing for death not to neglect but make ready for so great salvation as is purchas'd by Christ and offered in the rich and precious promises q Heb. 2.3 If all should hearken to the charge our Saviour gives to his own Disciples r Mat. 24.44 Therefore be ye also ready then it eminently concerns a big-belli'd woman to be in a readiness for her departure that she may not be surpriz'd sith the pangs are perilous that she is to pass through and the more if she be but of a weak and not of an hail constitution * Mrs. Joceline The last mentioned pious Gentlewoman when she felt her self quick with child as then travailing with Death it self she secretly took order for the buying a new Winding-sheet thus preparing and consecrating her self to him who rested in a new Sepulcher wherein was man never yet laid and privately in her Closet looking Death in the Face wrote her excellent Legacy to her unborn child None ever repented of making ready to die And every Christian is ready who can entirely submit to Gods disposal in Life or Death Yea and then a good woman is likest to have her will in a safe temporal deliverance when she is most sincerely willing that God should have his in dealing with her as seemeth best to himself When the Yoke of Christ is easie and his Burden is light then is the good Wife in the fairest way to be most easily delivered of the burden of her belly so that she shall have the truest joys afterwards Thus of Holiness considered more generally and how the child-bearing Wife is concern'd to exercise it 2. Holiness may be considered more specially as it is conjugal and more peculiarly appropriated to the marriage-state This being a more particular exercise of Christian holiness in the Matrimonial band wherein as every one both Husband and Wife in that Relation are concerned so the childing-woman is obliged to be singularly careful to possess her Vessel in sanctification or sanctimony and honour Å¿ 1 Thes 4.4 in a special kind of conjugal cleaness and chastness which is opposite to all turpitude and lust of Concupiscence in the very appearance of it that there may be as much as possible no shew or tincture of uncleanness in the Marriage-bed but that there may be an holy seed and she may keep her self pure from any taint of Lasciviousness 'T will chear up in the hour of her Travail if she can sincerely say in the sight of God as it is said in the Apochryphal story * Tobit 3.14 15. Sara the Daughter of Raguel did Thou knowest Lord I am pure from all sin with man and that I never polluted my name nor the name of my father This is the true Eagle-stone to be constantly worn for the prevention of miscarrying that there may not indeed be labouring in vain or bringing forth for trouble but her seed may be the blessing of the Lord and her off-spring with her t Isa 65 23. with 21. who may solace her self in her Integrity and unspotted Reputation having her chast conversation coupled with fear u 1 Pet. 3.2 that all shall issue well with her and the Fruit of her Womb. But this is so much of the same Nature with the last Grace mentioned here in my Text that the Apostle annexeth that to Holiness with 4. Sobriety So we render it others Temperance others Modesty 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 as in our old Translation others Chastity And taking it largely the word seems to speak that gracious habit which may best become a prudent grave temperate moderate or modest Mother of a Family * Beza for that seems to reach the Apostles sense comparing it with what he hath in the 9th Verse of this Chapter and elsewhere w Tit. 2.4 5. Acts 26.25 I might consider this like the former Graces more generally and specially 1. More generally as Christian every one that nameth the name of Christ being under an obligation thereby to depart from iniquity x 2 Tim 2.19 is engag'd to labour after a sound mind y 2 Tim. 1.7 to be modest sober and temperate in all things z Tit. 1.8 and 2.2 4 6. 1 Cor. 9.25 learning to use this world as if we used it not minding that which is comely and attending upon the Lord without distraction a 1 Cor. 1.31 35. Yea we should let our moderation be known unto all men as those that are Christ's who have crucified the flesh with the affections and lusts b Phil. 4.5 Gal. 5.24 Certainly then a Christian Wife and that in a child-bearing condition is concern'd to seek that she may be endew'd with Sobriety which purgeth the Mind from Distempers and putteth the affections into an orderly frame acceptable to God and so doth morally give the best ensurance to the promises of temporal and eternal safety But more particularly 2. The special conjugal Grace of Temperance and Modesty is to be exercised by the child-bearing woman in sobriety chastity and gracefulness both with reference to her affections and senses I have warrant from the Apostle as well as the Philosophers * Wallaei Eâ—hic â— Arist l. 4. to take the word so largely as to comprehend both Modesty and Temperance Whereupon I conclude 1. With modesty she is to govern her passions and affections so that there may be only an humble appetition of due respect and an abstinence from those unbecoming An holy care as to avoid pride on one hand so ignominy and contempt on the other as well as to give check to boldness and indecency in her gesture speech and behaviour as to lightness and wantonness in any of these So that she may by a graceful deportment as much as she can in minding things venerable just pure lovely and of good report c Phil. 4.8 not with the outward adornings of plaiting the hair and of wearing gold or of putting on of apparel d 1 Pet. 3.3 shew her self to be a vertuous
women They are heart-reviving words to every drooping woman and should lead her with Sarah to judg him faithful who hath promised g Heb. 11.11 whereupon she may notwithstanding her state of subjection and sorrows be humbly confident in this great work of serving her Generation according to the will of God in child-bearing of preservation and salvation and God will lay no more upon her than he will enable her to bear and find a way for her escape either by a comfortable sanctified deliverance here or a blessed translation to Heaven to reap in joy what was sown in tears and those but temporary when the joys are eternal Further it doth administer comfort 2. To the Husbands of such good Wives i. e. such as continue in the Graces and Duties before and in their pregnancy or growing big hoping in Gods word that Root and Branch shall do well being under the blessings of the New-Covenant When they cannot but sympathize with their Wives in their sorrows they may chear up in humble confidence that the sting being took out of the punishment their Wives joys shall be encreased by the pains they undergo and that God will deliver them and hear their prayers and they shall glorifie him h John 16.21 Psal 50.15 And if after prayers and tears their dearest consorts should decease and depart from them out of their child-bearing pains Tho this be a most cutting and heavy cross in it self yet comfort may be gathered from it in the issue For indeed that 's the comfort of comforts which affords Life in Death that 's the Honey which is taken out of the dead carcase That supposing the worst which can befall us in temporals gives better security in those things which are eternal The Fruition of God in Glory is the highest end and when we and ours attain that after the serving of our Generation here according to the will of God and thereby glorifying his most sacred Majesty there is matter of geatest consolation and truest joy to holy souls In expectation of which let pious Husbands and gracious Childing Wives in their mutual Offices wait upon God with submission for a sanctified support when they stand in most need of divine aids Then such Hand-maids of the Lord may humbly hope they shall receive help in and under their child-bearing travail and in due time even a temporal deliverance supposing that to be best for them from those pains and perils taking comfort from that gracious word of the Lord by the Prophet tho spoken upon another account i Isa 41.10 with which I shall conclude Fear thou not for I am with thee be not dismaid for I am thy God I will strengthen thee yea I will help thee yea I will uphold thee with the right hand of my righteousness SERMON XXV Quest How may we best know the worth of the SOUL MATTHEW 16.26 For what is a man profited if he shall gain the whole World and lose his own Soul Or what shall a man give in Exchange for his Soul IN the Twenty first verse of this Chapter our Saviour foretels his sufferings together with many considerable Circumstances as the Place where at Jerusalem The Persons from whom the Elders and chief Priests and Scribes The Degree unto which he must suffer not only that he must suffer many things but that he was to suffer unto death and be killed by which enumeration of so many particulars he spake more plainly and preached to them the unwelcome Doctrine of the Cross A Doctrine so strange unto them as they had shewn themselves of a quite contrary Opinion expecting a worldly Kingdom and hoping for considerable advancement in it Peter in the name of the rest therefore cavils at it and enveighs against it and was probably suffered to be tempted himself and to become a Tempter to our Saviour that he might not be exalted above measure for what our Saviour had said ver 17 18. Thou art Peter and upon this Rock I will build my Church But our Blessed Saviour who had overcome the Devils temptations when they came immediately from himself Matth. 4. could not be overcome by them now they are suggested to him by another but shews that he continued his Resolution of suffering the utmost for us by his severe check given unto Peter under a smart compellation Satan This is that very same Apostle who but a few verses before had his Name chang'd from Simon to Peter and presently after here from Peter to Satan to shew how much he and all other differ when mightily assisted by Gods Grace and Spirit from themselves when left to themselves and become as other if not worse than other men And how easily do we slide into sin at unawares and how carefully need we to watch over our very zeal for Christ and Goodness when our very best Affections are subject to so gross mistakes and may deserve such severe reproofs Upon this occasion it was that our Saviour in stead of retracting his former resolves declares that he was not to be alone in them but they should all come to be of his mind and be conformed to his Will Nay that if they would be his Disciples in deed ver 24. If any man will come after me i. e. be in deed my Disciple alluding to the manner and custom of the Eastern Countreys when the Master or Rabbi was wont to go with his Scholers attending after him he must not only forego his Ease and resign his Will but leave his life in these things denying of himself as if his present pleasure or advantage were to be considered no longer of when they stood in opposition to Gods Glory or our Souls good And this is not only or barely asserted but convincingly proved least the Disciples shall cry again this is a hard saying as if ever they had cause to say so they had on this occasion Our Blessed Saviour is willing to abide the Tryal upon this Issue and to have it judged and determin'd by themselves Appealing in the words of the Text to their rational and wise faculties For what is a man profited if he should gain the whole world and lose his own Soul or what shall a man give in exchange for his Soul In which words as to the form of them 1. Our Judgment and Consciences are called upon being we do so often vilifie our Souls and preferr the little things of this world now one thing then another before them to shew cause for our so doing and to bring forth our strong Reasons Of all sorts and ways of arguing this came most home and is closest when we are allowed to be as it were both Judge and Party and yet must condemn our selves This manner of Speech is only used when the case is very plain and obvious And we care not who hear it or determine it Thus God calls upon the Inhabitants of Jerusalem and men of Judah to judge betwixt him and his Vineyard Isa