in comparison to this one plain and easie way of securing and furthering their Interests If then it be a gross absurdity to desire the fruits and not to take care of the root not to cultivate the stock whence they sprout if every Prince gladly would have his Subjects loyal and obedient every Master would have his Servants honest diligent and observant every Parent would have his Children officious and gratefull every man would have his Friend faithfull and kind every one would have those just and sincere with whom he doth negotiate or converse if any one would chuse to be related to such and would esteem their relation a happiness then consequently should every man in reason strive to further Piety from whence alone those good dispositions and practices do proceed II. Piety doth fit a man for all conditions qualifying him to pass through them all with the best advantage wisely chearfully and safely so as to incurre no considerable harm or detriment by them Is a man prosperous high or wealthy in condition Piety guardeth him from all the mischiefs incident to that state and disposeth him to enjoy the best advantages thereof It keepeth him from being swelled and puffed up with vain conceit from being transported with fond complacence or confidence therein minding him that it is purely the gift of God that it absolutely dependeth on his disposall so that it may soon be taken from him and that he cannot otherwise then by humility by gratitude by the good use of it be secure to retain it minding him also that he shall assuredly be forced to render a strict account concerning the good management thereof It preserveth him from being perverted or corrupted with the temptations to which that condition is most liable from luxury from sloth from stupidity from forgetfulness of God and of himself maintaining among the flouds of plenty a sober and steddy mind It fenceth him from insolence and fastuous contempt of others rendreth him civil condescensive kind and helpfull to those who are in a meaner state It instructeth and inciteth him to apply his wealth and power to the best uses to the Service of God to the benefit of his Neighbour for his own best reputation and most solid comfort It is the right balast of prosperity the onely antidote for all the inconveniencies of wealth that which secureth sweetneth and sanctifieth all other goods without it all apparent goods are very noxious or extremely dangerous riches power honour ease pleasure are so many poisons or so many snares without it Again is a man poor and low in the world Piety doth improve and sweeten even that state it keepeth his spirits up above dejection desperation and disconsolateness it freeth him from all grievous solicitude and anxiety shewing him that although he seemeth to have little yet he may be assured to want nothing he having a certain succour and never-failing supply from God's good Providence that notwithstanding the present streightness of his condition or scantness of outward things he hath a title to Goods infinitely more precious and more considerable A pious man cannot but apprehend himself like the Child of a most wealthy kind and carefull Father who although he hath yet nothing in his own possession or passing under his name yet is assured that he can never come into any want of what is needfull to him the Lord of all things who hath all things in Heaven and Earth at his disposal who is infinitely tender of his Childrens good who doth incessantly watch over them being his gracious Father how can he fear to be left destitute or not to be competently provided for as is truly best for him This is the difference between a pious and an impious man Is the pious man in need he hath then an invisible refuge to fly to an invisible store to furnish him he hath somewhat beyond all present things to hope in to comfort himself with whereas the impious person hath nothing beside present appearances to support or solace himself by the which failing down he sinketh into dejection and despair Is the good man in affliction he knoweth that it cometh not on him without God's wise appointment nor without good intention toward him for probation exercise and improvement of his Vertues or for wholsome correction of his bad dispositions that it is onely Physick and Discipline to him which shall have a comfortable issue that it shall last no longer then it is expedient for him that it should wherefore he patiently submitteth to it and undergoeth it chearfully with the same mind wherewith a Patient swalloweth down an unsavoury Potion which he presumeth will conduce to his Health Never indeed hath any man enjoyed more real content or hath been more truly satisfied then good men have been in a seeming depth of adversity What men ever upon earth have been more sorely afflicted have underwent greater losses disgraces labours troubles distresses in any kind then did the H. Apostles yet did they most heartily rejoyce exult and triumph in them all Such a wondrous virtue hath Piety to change all things into matter of consolation and joy No condition in effect can be evil or sad to a pious man his very sorrows are pleasant his infirmities are wholsome his wants enrich him his disgraces adorn him his burthens ease him his duties are privileges his falls are the grounds of advancement his very sins as breeding contrition humility circumspection and vigilance do better and profit him whereas Impiety doth spoil every condition doth corrupt and embase all good things doth embitter all the conveniencies and comforts of life III. Piety doth virtually comprise within it all other profits serving all the designs of them all what-ever kind of desirable good we can hope to find from any other profit we may be assured to enjoy from it He that hath it is ipso facto vastly rich is entitled to immense treasures of most precious Wealth in comparison whereto all the gold and all the jewels in the world are meer baubles He hath interest in God and can call him his who is the All and in regard to whom all things existent are less then nothing The infinite Power and Wisedom of God belong to him to be ever upon all fit occasions employed for his benefit All the inestimable treasures of Heaven a place infinitely more rich then the Indies are his after this moment of life to have and to hold for ever so that great reason had the Wise man to say that In the house of the righteous is much treasure Piety therefore is profitable as immediately instating in wealth and whereas the desired fruits of profit are chiefly these honour power pleasure safety liberty ease opportunity of getting knowledge means of benefitting others all these we shall see do abundantly accrue from Piety and in truth onely from it The Pious man is in truth most Honourable Inter homines pro summo est optimus saith Seneca whom
he may he ought to discharge all his cares and burthens It consequently doth engage all creatures in the world to be our friends or instruments of good to us according to their several capacities by the direction and disposal of God All the servants of our great Friend will in compliance to him be serviceable to us Thou shalt be in league with the stones of the field and the beasts of the field shall be at peace with thee So Job's friend promiseth him upon condition of Piety And God himself confirmeth that promise In that day saith he in the Prophet will I make a covenant for them with the beasts of the field and with the fowls of heaven and with the creeping things of the ground And again When thou passest through the waters I will be with thee and through the rivers they shall not overflow thee when thou walkest through the fire thou shalt not be burnt neither shall the flame kindle upon thee And The sun shall not smite thee by day nor the moon by night Thou shalt tread upon the lion and adder the young lion and the dragon shalt thou trample under foot They shall take up scorpions and if they drink any deadly thing it shall not hurt them so our Lord promised to his Disciples Not onely the Heavens shall dispense their kindly influences and the Earth yield her plentifull stores and all the Elements discharge their natural and ordinary good offices nor onely the tame and sociable creatures shall upon this condition faithfully serve us but even the most wild most fierce most ravenous most venomous creatures shall if there be need prove friendly and helpfull or at least harmless to us as were the Ravens to Elias the Lions to Daniel the Viper to S. Paul the Fire to the Three Children But especially Piety doth procure the friendship of the good Angels that puissant hoast of glorious and happy Spirits they all do tenderly love the pious person they are ever ready to serve and doe him good to protect him from danger to aid him in his undertakings to rescue him from mischiefs What an honour what a blessing is this to have such an innumerable company of noble Friends the Courtiers and Favourites of Heaven deeply concerned and constantly vigilant for our welfare It also engageth the blessed Saints in glory the Spirits of men perfected the Church of the first-born to bear dearest affection to us to further our prosperity with their good wishes and earnest prayers mightily prevalent with God It rendreth all sorts of men our friends To good men it uniteth us in holy communion the communion of brotherly charity and hearty good will attended with all the good offices they are able to perform to other men it reconcileth and endeareth us for that innocent and inoffensive courteous and benign charitable and beneficent demeanour such as Piety doth require and produce are apt to conciliate respect and affection from the worst men For Vincit malos pertinax bonitas men hardly can persist enemies to him whom they perceive to be their friend and such the pious man in disposition of mind and in effect when occasion serveth is toward all men being sensible of his obligation to love all men and as he hath opportunity to doe good to all men It assureth and more strictly endeareth our friends to us For as it maketh us hearty faithfull constant friends to others so it reciprocally tieth others to us in the like sincerity and fastness of good will It reconcileth enemies For when a man's ways do please the Lord he maketh his enemies to be at peace with him It hath a natural efficacy to that purpose and Divine blessing promoteth it By it all conversation becometh tolerable gratefull and usefull For a pious man is not easily disturbed with any crossness or perverseness any infirmity or impertinency of those he converseth with he can bear the weaknesses and the failings of his company he can by wholsome reflexions upon all occurrences advantage and please himself In fine Piety rendreth a man a true friend and a good companion to himself satisfied in himself able to converse freely and pleasantly with his own thoughts It is for the want of pious inclinations and dispositions that solitude a thing which sometimes cannot be avoided which often should be embraced is to most men so irksome and tedious that men do carefully shun themselves and fly from their own thoughts that they decline all converse with their own Souls and hardly dare look upon their own hearts and Consciences whence they become aliens from home wholly unacquainted with themselves most ignorant of their own nearest concernments no faithfull friends or pleasant companions to themselves so for refuge and ease they unseasonably run into idle or lewd conversation where they disorder and defile themselves But the pious man is like Scipio never less alone then when alone his solitude and retirement is not onely tolerable but commonly the most gratefull and fruitfull part of his life he can ever with much pleasure and more advantage converse with himself digesting and marshalling his thoughts his affections his purposes into good order searching and discussing his heart reflecting on his past ways enforcing his former good resolutions and framing new ones enquiring after edifying truths stretching his meditations toward the best and sublimest objects raising his hopes and warming his affections toward spiritual and heavenly things asking himself pertinent questions and resolving incident doubts concerning his practice in fine conversing with his best Friend in devotion with admiration and love contemplating the Divine perfections displayed in the works of nature of providence of grace praising God for his excellent benefits and mercies confessing his defects and offences deprecating wrath and imploring pardon with grace and ability to amend praying for the supply of all his wants All which performances yield both unconceivable benefit and unexpressible comfort So that Solitude that which is to common nature so offensive to corrupt nature so abominable is to the pious man extremely commodious and comfortable which is a great advantage peculiar to Piety and the last which I shall mention So many and many more then I can express vastly great and precious advantages do accrue from Piety so that well may we conclude with S. Paul that Godliness is profitable for all things It remaineth that if we be wise we should if we yet have it not ingraffed in us labour to acquire it if we have it that we should endeavour to improve it by constant exercise to the praise of God the good of our neighbour and our own comfort Which that we may effectually perform Almighty God in mercy vouchsafe by his grace through Jesus Christ our Lord to whom for ever be all glory and praise Amen The Fourth Sermon 1 SAM 2. 30. For them that honour me I will honour THE
Scripture as a thing considerably good which may be regarded without blame which sometimes in duty must be regarded It is there preferred before other good things in themselves not despicable For A good name is better then precious ointment yea A good name is rather to be chosen then great riches saith the Wise man 'T is called a Gift of God for There is a man saith the Preacher to whom God hath given riches and honour Yea not onely a simple Gift but a Blessing conferr'd in kindness as a reward and encouragement of goodness for By humility and the fear of the Lord saith he again are riches and honour Whence it is to be acknowledged as an especial benefit and a fit ground of thanksgiving as is practised by the Psalmist in his Royal Hymn Honour saith he and Majesty hast thou laid upon him Wisedom also is described unto us bearing in her left hand riches and honour and Wisedom surely will not take into any hand of hers or hold therein what is worth nothing No we are therefore moved to procure her because exalting her she shall promote us She shall give unto our head an ornament of grace a crown of glory shall she deliver to us We are also enjoyned to render Honour as the best expression of good will and gratitude toward them who best deserve in themselves or most deserve of us to our Prince to our Parents to our Priests especially to such of them as govern and teach well to all good men Have such in reputation says the Apostle And were not Honour a good thing such injunctions would be unreasonable Yea because we are obliged to bear good will toward all men S. Peter bids us to honour all men From hence also that we are especially bound to render Honour unto God himself we may well infer with Aristotle that Honour is the best thing in our power to offer To these considerations may be added that we are commanded to walk 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 decently or speciously which implies a regard to mens opinion to provide things honest in the sight of all men 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 that is not onely things good in substance but goodly in appearance to have our conversation honest before the Gentiles 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 again that is fair or comely and plausible such as may commend us and our profession to the judgment of them who observe us S. Paul also exhorts us to mind not onely what things are true are just are pure but also 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 what-ever things are venerable or apt to beget respect 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 what-ever things are lovely or gracious in mens eyes and esteem 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 what-ever things are well reported or well reputed of He requires us not onely if there be any vertue any thing very good in it self but if there be any praise any thing much approved in common esteem that we should mind such things Lastly the blessed state hereafter the highest instance of Divine bounty the compleat reward of goodness is represented and recommended to us as a state of Honour and Glory to be ambitious whereof is the character of a good man To every man saith S. Paul shall God render according to his works to them who by patient continuance in well doing seek glory and honour and immortality Eternal life Such is the Reward propounded to us in it self no vile or contemptible thing but upon various accounts much valuable that which the common apprehensions of men plain dictates of reason a predominant instinct of nature the judgments of very wise men and Divine attestation it self conspire to commend unto us as very considerable and precious Such a Reward our Text prescribes us the certain the onely way of attaining 2. Such a benefit is here tendred to us that which yet more highly commends it and exceedingly enhances its worth by God himself I saith he will honour 'T is sanctified by coming from his holy hand 't is dignified by following his most wise and just disposal 't is fortified and assured by depending on his unquestionable word and uncontrollable power who as he is the prime Authour of all good so he is in especial manner the sovereign dispenser of Honour The King we say is the fountain of honour What any King as the Representative and Delegate of God is in his particular Kingdom that is Almighty God absolutely and independently in all the world Both riches and honour said good King David come of thee for thou rulest over all in thine hand is power and might in thine hand it is to make great and to give strength unto all He whose grants are in effect onely sure and valid whose favours onely do in the end turn to good account he freely offers us most desirable preferment he doth himself graciously hold forth most authentick patents by virtue of which we may all become right honourable and persons of quality indeed having not onely the names and titles the outward ensigns and badges of dignity such as earthly Princes conferr but the substantial reality the assured enjoyment thereof For man can onely impose law upon tongues and gestures God alone commandeth and inclineth hearts wherein Honour chiefly resideth He offers it I say most freely indeed yet not absolutely he doth not goe to sell it for a price yet he propounds it under a condition as a most just and equal so a very gentle and easy condition 'T is but an exchange of Honour for Honour of honour from God which is a free gift for honour from us which is a just duty of honour from him our sovereign Lord for honour from us his poor vassals of honour from the most High Majesty of Heaven for honour from us vile worms creeping upon earth Such an overture one would think it not onely reasonable to accept but impossible to refuse For can any man dare not to honour invincible Power infallible Wisedom inflexible Justice will any man forbear to honour immense Goodness and Bounty Yes it seems there are men so mad as to reject so fair an offer so bad as to neglect so equal a duty Let us therefore consider what it is that is here required of us or wherein this honouring of God consists that we may thereby discern when we perform this duty when we are deficient therein II. There are several ways of honouring God or several parts and degrees of this Duty all which we may referr to two sorts conceiving the Duty as a compound made up of two main ingredients correspondent to those two parts in which they reside and of which our nature consists which distinction S. Paul suggesteth when he saith Glorifie God in your body and in your spirit which are God's one of them being as it were the form and Soul the other as the matter and Body of the Duty 1. The Soul
mercy is great unto the heavens and thy faithfulness reacheth unto the clouds and Remember the marvellous works that he hath done his wonders and the judgments of his mouth He is the Lord our God his judgements are in all the earth and again Thy mercy O Lord is in the heavens thy faithfulness reacheth unto the clouds Thy righteousness is like the great mountains thy judgments are a great deep O Lord thou preservest man and beast How excellent is thy loving-kindness O God! and How precious are thy thoughts unto me O Lord O how great is the sum of them If I should count them they are more in number then the sand and again His work is honourable and glorious his righteousness endureth for ever and The Lord is good to all and his tender mercies are over all his works and Blessed be the Lord who daily loadeth us with his benefits In such manner ought we diligently to survey and judiciously to estimate the effects of Divine beneficence examining every part and descanting upon every circumstance thereof like those that contemplate some rare beauty or some excellent picture some commending the exact proportions some the gracefull features some the lively colours discernible therein There is not the least of the Divine favours which if we consider the condescensive tenderness the clear intention the undeserved frankness the chearfull debonairity expressed therein hath not dimensions larger then our comprehension colours too fair and lineaments too comely for our weak sight thoroughly to discern requiring therefore our highest esteem and our utmost thanks 'T is perhaps somewhat dangerous to affix a determinate value upon any of God's Benefits for to value them seems to undervalue them they being really inestimable what then is it to extenuate to vilifie to despise the greatest We should esteem them as we measure the Heavens with our eye as we compute the sands upon the shore as we would prize inexhaustible mines of gold and treasures of pearl that is by confessing heartily their worth surpasses the strength of our imagination to conceive and of our speech to utter that they are immense innumerable unconceivable and unexpressible But still 4. Giving thanks imports that Benefits be received with a willing mind a hearty sense a vehement affection The forementioned particulars are indeed necessary properties inseparable concomitants or prerequisite conditions to but a chearfull and cordial acceptance of Benefits is the form as it were and soul the life and spirit the principal and most essential ingredient of this Duty It was not altogether unreasonable though it went for a Paradox that dictate of the Stoicks That animus sufficit animo and That qui libenter accepit beneficium reddidit that he who with a willing and well-affected mind receives a courtesie hath fully discharged the duty of Gratitude that other endeavours of return and compensation are rather handsome accessions to it then indispensably requisite to the completion thereof For as in the Collation 't is not the gold or the silver the food or the apparel in which the Benefit consists but the will and benevolent intention of him that bestows them so reciprocally 't is the good acceptance the sensibleness of and acquiescence in the Benefactour's goodness that constitutes the Gratitude which who affords though he be never capable of yielding other satisfaction voluntate voluntati satisfecit and Regum aequavit opes animo 'T is ingenuity that constitutes respectively both a bountifull Giver and a thankfull Receiver A truly-noble Benefactour purely aimeth at not any material reward or advantage to himself it were trading this not beneficence but the good profit and content of him to whom he dispenseth his favour of which being assured he rests satisfied aud accounts himself royally recompensed Such a Benefactour is Almighty God and such a tribute he requires of us a ready embracement of and a joyfull complacency in his kindness even such as he expressed who said Because thy loving-kindness is better then life my lips shall praise thee and My soul shall be filled as with marrow and fatness and my mouth shall praise thee with joyfull lips and I will praise thee with my whole heart I will be glad and rejoyce in thee and Bless the Lord O my soul and all that is within me praise his holy Name No Holocaust is so acceptable to God as a Heart enflamed with the sense of his Goodness He loves not onely 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 a merry giver but 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 a chearfull receiver also He would have us as to desire his favour with a greedy appetite so to tast it with a savoury relish He designs not onely to fill our mouths with food but our hearts also with gladness We must not seem to grudge or repine to murmur or disdain that we are necessitated to be beholden to him lest it happen to us as it did to them of whom 't is said While the meat was yet in their mouths the wrath of God came upon them and slew the fattest of them Yea 't is our duty not to be contented onely but to be delighted to be transported to be ravished with the emanations of his love to entertain them with such a disposition of mind as the dry and parched ground imbibes the soft dew and gentle showrs as the chill and darksome air admits the benign influences of heavenly light as the thirsty soul takes in the sweet and cooling stream He that with a sullen look a dead heart a faint sense a cold hand embraces the gifts of Heaven is really unthankfull though with deluges of wine and oil he makes the altars to o'reflow and clouds the sky with the steam of his sacrifices But yet farther 5. This Duty requires due Acknowledgment of our obligation significations of our notice declarations of our esteem and good acceptance of favours conferr'd 'T is the worst and most detestable of ingratitudes that which proceeds from pride and scorn and such is he guilty of who is either unwilling or ashamed to confess himself obliged who purposely dissembles a Benefit or disavows the Benefactour who refuses to render those most manifestly due and most easily discharged those neither toilsome nor expensive oblations of praise and acknowledgment This part of our duty requires that we offer to God not costly Hecatombs but the calves onely of our lips as the Prophet Hoseah speaks not the fruit of our hands but 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 onely as the Apostle to the Hebrews styles it the fruit of our lips confessing to his name that we employ some few blasts of the breath he gave us on the celebration of his goodness and advancement of his repute I will praise the name of God with a song and will magnifie him with thanksgiving This shall please the Lord better then an oxe or bullock that hath horns and hoofs saith David And surely 't is
abuse of words too enormous As therefore no moment of our life wants sufficient matter and every considerable portion of time ministers notable occasion of blessing God as he allows himself no spacious intervalls or discontinuances of doing us good so ought we not to suffer any of those many days vouchsafed by his goodness to flow beside us void of the signall expressions of our dutifull Thankfulness to him nor to admit in our course of life any long vacations from this Duty If God incessantly and through every minute demonstrates himself gracious unto us we in all reason are obliged frequently and daily to declare our selves gratefull unto him So at least did David that most eminent example in this kind and therefore most apposite to illustrate our Doctrine and to enforce the practice thereof for Every day saith he I will bless thee I will praise thy Name for ever and ever Every day The Heavenly bodies did not more constantly observe their course then he his diurnal revolutions of praise Every day in his Kalendar was as it were Festival and consecrated to Thansgiving Neither did he adjudge it sufficient to devote some small parcels of each day to this Service for My Tongue saith he shall speak of thy Righteousness and of thy praise all the day long and again My mouth shall shew forth thy righteousness and thy salvation all the day for I know not the numbers thereof The Benefits of God he apprehended so great and numerous that no definite space of time would serve to consider and commemorate them He resolves therefore otherwhere to bestow his whole life upon that employment While I live I will praise the Lord I will sing praises unto my God while I have any being and I will bless the Lord at all times his praise shall continually be in my mouth No man can reasonably pretend greater impediments or oftner avocations from the practice of this duty then he upon whom the burthen of a royal estate and the care of governing a populous nation were incumbent yet could not they thrust out of his memory nor extinguish in his heart the lively sense of Divine goodness which notwithstanding the company of other secular encumbrances was always present to his mind and like a spirit excluded from no place by any corporeal resistence did mingle with and penetrate all his thoughts and affections and actions So that he seems to have approached very near to the compleat performance of this Duty according to the extremity of a literal interpretation and to have been always without any intermission employed in giving thanks to God The consideration methinks of so noble a pattern adjoyned to the evident reasonableness of the Duty should engage us to the frequent practice thereof But if the consideration of this excellent example do not yet certainly that may both provoke us to emulation and confound us with shame of Epictetus a Heathen Man whose words to this purpose seem very remarkable 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 saith he in Arrian's Dissert 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 c. That is in our language If we understood our selves what other thing should we doe either publickly or privately than sing Hymns to and speak well of God and perform Thanks unto him Ought we not when we were digging or plowing or eating to sing a sutable Hymn to him Great is God in that he hath bestowed on us those instruments wherewith we till the ground Great is God because he hath given us hands a throat a belly that we grow insensibly that sleeping we breath Thus proceeds he should we upon every occurrence celebrate God and superadd of all the most excellent and most Divine Hymn for that he hath given us the faculty of apprehending and using these things orderly Wherefore since most men are blind and ignorant of this should not there be some one who should discharge this office and who should for the rest utter this Hymn to God And what can I a lame and decrepit old man do else then celebrate God Were I indeed a Nightingale I would do what belongs to a Nightingale if a Swan what becomes a Swan but since now I am indued with Reason I ought to praise God This is my duty and concernment and so I do neither will I desert this employment while it is in my power and to the same song I exhort you all Thus that worthy Philosopher not instructing us only and exhorting with pathetical discourse but by his practice inciting us to be continually expressing our Gratitude to God And although neither the admonition of Prophets nor precepts of Philosophers nor the examples of both should prevail yet the precedents methinks of dumb and senseless creatures should animate us thereto which never cease to obey the law imposed on them by their Maker and without intermission glorifie him For The Heavens declare the Glory of God and the Firmament sheweth his handy-work Day unto day uttereth speech and Night unto Night sheweth Knowledge There is no speech nor language where their voice is not heard 'T is St. Chrysostom's Argumentation 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 saith he 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 c. 'T were an ugly thing that Man endued with Reason and the most Honourable of all things visible should in rendring Thanks and Praise be exceeded by other Creatures neither is it onely base but absurd For how can it be otherwise since other creatures every day and every hour send up a doxology to their Lord and Maker For The Heavens declare the Glory of God c. If the busie Heavens are always at leisure and the stupid Earth is perpetually active in manifesting the Wisedom Power and Goodness of their Creatour how shameful is it that we the flower of his creation the most obliged and most capable of doing it should commonly be either too busie or too idle to do it should seldom or never be disposed to contribute our endeavours to the advancement of his Glory But 2. Giving thanks always may import our Appointing and punctually Observing certain convenient times of performing this Duty that is of serious meditation upon and affectionate acknowledgment of the Divine Bounty We know that all persons who design with advantage to prosecute an orderly course of action and would not lead a tumultuary life are wont to distinguish their portions of time assigning some to the necessary refections of their Body others to the divertisement of their Minds and a great part to the dispatch of their ordinary business otherwise like St. James his double-minded man they would be unstable in all their ways they would ever fluctuate in their resolutions and be uncertain when and how and to what they should apply themselves And so this main Concernment of ours this most excellent part of our Duty if we do not depute some vacant seasons for it and observe some periodical recourses thereof we shall
to be done continually and without ceasing is in others only required to be done upon all opportunities Which shews that 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 is to be expounded not so much 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 at all times as 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 in every season So 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 praying upon every opportunity in your spirit and 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Be watchfull praying in every season And this sense seems probably to be chiefly intended by this Apostle when-ever he hath as he hath often this expression 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 that we embrace every overture or fit occasion of giving thanks 'T is true no time is unseasonable to do it every moment we receive Favours and therefore every minute we owe Thanks yet there are some especial seasons that do more importunately require them We should be like those trees that bear fruit more or less continually but then more kindly and more abundantly when more powerfully cherished by the heavenly warmth When any fresh any rare any remarkable Benefit happens to us when prosperous success attends our honest endeavours when unexpected favours fall as it were of their own accord into our bosoms like the grain in the Golden age springing up 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 without our care or our toil for our use and enjoyment when we are delivered from streights in our apprehension inextricable surmount difficulties seeming insuperable escape hazzards as we suspected inevitable Then is a special season presented us of offering up the sacrifice of praise to the God of mercy help and victory When we revolve in our minds as we should often do the favourable passages of Providence that in the whole course of our lives have befallen us how in our extreme poverty and distress when perhaps no help appeared and all hopes seemed to fail us God hath raised us up friends who have commiserated comforted and succoured us and not only so but hath changed our sorrowful condition into a state of joy hath to use the Psalmist's expressions turned our mourning into dancing hath put off our sackcloath and girded us with gladness hath considered our trouble and known our soul in adversity hath set our feet in a large room and furnished us with plentiful means of subsistence how in the various changes and adventures and travails of our life upon Sea and Land at home and abroad among friends and strangers and enemies he hath protected us from wants and dangers from devouring diseases and the distemperatures of infectious air from the assaults of bloody thieves and barbarous pirats from the rage of fire and fury of tempests from disastrous casualties from treacherous surprises from open mischiefs that with a dreadful face approached and threatned our destruction Then most opportunely should we with all thankful exultation of mind admire and celebrate our strength and our deliverer our faithful refuge in trouble and the rock of our salvation Also when the ordinary effects of Divine Providence do in any advantageous manner present themselves to our view when we peruse the volumes of story and therein observe the various events of humane action especially the seasonable rewards of Vertue the notable protections and deliverances of Innocence and the unexpected punishments of malicious Wickedness Then we should with thankful acclamations celebrate the Divine Goodness and Justice joyning in consort with that Heavenly quire and saying Allelujah Salvation and glory and honour and power unto the Lord our God for true and righteous are his judgments Or when we contemplate the wonderful works of Nature and walking about at our leisure gaze upon this ample theatre of the world considering the stately beauty constant order and sumptuous furniture thereof the glorious splendour and uniform motion of the Heavens the pleasant fertility of the Earth the curious figure and fragrant sweetness of Plants the exquisite frame of Animals and all other amazing miracles of Nature wherein the glorious Attributes of God especially his transcendent Goodness are most conspicuously displayed so that by them not only large acknowledgments but even gratulatory Hymns as it were of praise have been extorted from the mouths of Aristotle Pliny Galen and such like men never suspected guilty of an excessive devotion Then should our hearts be affected with thankfull sense and our lips break forth into his praise Yea from every object of Sense from every event of Providence from every common occurrence we may extract fit matter of Thanksgiving as did our Saviour when considering the stupid infidelity of those proud people of Chorazin Bethsaida and Capernaum who were not at all affected by his miraculous Works nor moved to repentance by his pathetical Discourses and comparing it with the pious credulity of his meaner Disciples he brake forth into that Divine ejaculation I thank thee O Father Lord of Heaven and Earth that thou hast concealed these things from the wise and prudent and hast revealed them unto babes 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 saith the Evangelical Narration Upon that occasion Jesus thus spake he embraced that convenient opportunity of thankfully acknowledging God's wise and gracious Dispensation And frequent occasion is afforded us daily were our minds sutably disposed of doing the like But so much concerning the Time of performing this Duty IV. We proceed to the Matter thereof For all things St. Chrysostom in his Commentary upon the 145 Psalm having enumerated several particulars for which we are bound to thank God Because I recite his words punctually rendred Because saith he he hath made us who before had no being and made us such as we are because he upholds us being made and takes care of us continually both publickly and privately secretly and openly with and without our knowledge for all visible things created for our sake the ministery of them afforded to us the conformation of our Bodies the Nobleness of our Souls his daily Dispensations by Miracles by Laws by Punishments his various and incomprehensible Providence for the chief of all that he hath not spared his onely-begotten Son for our sake the Benefits conferred on us by Baptism and the other holy Mysteries or Sacraments the ineffable good things to be bestowed on us hereafter the Kingdom of Heaven the Resurrection the enjoyment of perfect Bliss having I say in these words comprised the things for which we are obliged to thank and praise God he thus despondently concludes 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 If any one shall endeavour to recount particularly every one of these things he will but plunge himself into an unexpressible depth of Benefits and then perceive for how unexpressibly and inconceivably many good things he stands engaged to God And to the like Non-plus doth the devout Psalmist seem to be reduced when he thus exclaims How precious are thy thoughts unto me O God how great is the sum of them If I should count them they are more in number then the sand I shall not therefore confound my self by
Doctrine for reducing Charity and Peace for reviving the spirit of Piety and bringing Vertue again into request for preserving State and Church from ruine we can have no confidence or reasonable hope but in the good Providence and merciful succour of Almighty God beside whom there is no Saviour who alone is the hope of Israel and Saviour thereof in time of trouble we now having great cause to pray with our Lord's Disciples in the storm Lord save us we perish Upon such Considerations and others whereof I suppose you are sufficiently apprehensive we now especially are obliged earnestly to pray for our King that God in mercy would preserve his Royal Person and inspire his Mind with Light and endue his Heart with Grace and in all things bless him to us to be a repairer of our breaches and a restorer of paths to dwell in so that under him we may lead a quiet life in all godliness and honesty I have done with the First Duty Prayer for Kings upon which I have the rather so largely insisted because it is very seasonable to our present condition II. The Other Thanksgiving I shall but touch and need not perhaps to do more For 1. As to general Inducements they are the same or very like to those which are for Prayer it being plain that what-ever we are concerned to pray for when we want it that we are bound to thank God for when he vouchsafeth to bestow it And if common Charity should dispose us to resent the Good of Princes with complacence if their Welfare be a publick benefit if our selves are interested in it and partake great advantages thereby if in equity and ingenuity we are bound to seek it then surely we are much engaged to thank God the bountiful Donour of it for his goodness in conferring it 2. As for particular Motives suting the present Occasion I need not by information or impression of them farther to stretch your patience seeing you cannot be ignorant or insensible of the grand Benefits by the Divine Goodness bestowed on our King and on our selves which this day we are bound with all grateful acknowledgment to commemorate Wherefore in stead of reciting trite stories and urging obvious reasons which a small recollection will suggest to you I shall only request you to joyn with me in the practice of the Duty and in acclamation of praise to God Even so Blessed be God who hath given to us so Gracious and Benign a Prince the experiments of whose Clemency and Goodness no History can parallel to sit on the throne of his Blessed Father and renowned Ancestours Blessed be God who hath protected him in so many encounters hath saved him from so many dangers and snares hath delivered him from so great troubles Blessed be God who in so wonderful a manner by such miraculous trains of Providence did reduce him to his Country and re-instate him in the possession of his Rights thereby vindicating his own just Providence declaring his salvation and openly shewing his righteousness in the sight of all people Blessed be God who in Him and with Him did restore to us our antient good constitution of Government our Laws and Liberties our Peace and Quiet rescuing us from lawless Usurpations and tyrannical Yoaks from the insultings of Errour and Iniquity from horrible Distractions and Confusions Ever blessed be God who hath turned the captivity of Sion hath raised our Church from the dust and re-established the sound Doctrine the decent Order the wholsome Discipline thereof hath restored true Religion with its supports advantages and encouragements Blessed be the Lord who hath granted us to continue these sixteen years in the peaceable fruition of those Blessings Praised be God who hath not cast out our prayer nor turned his mercy from us Praised be God who hath turned our heaviness into joy hath put off our sackcloath and girded us with gladness Let our mouth speak the praise of the Lord and let all flesh bless his holy Name for ever and ever The Lord liveth and blessed be our Rock and let the God of our salvation be exalted Blessed be the Lord God of Israel who onely doeth wondrous things and blessed be his glorious Name for ever and let the whole earth be filled with his glory Amen and Amen Blessed be the Lord God of Israel from everlasting to everlasting and let all the people say Amen Praise ye the Lord. The Eleventh Sermon PSAL. 64. 9 10. And all men shall fear and shall declare the work of God for they shall wisely consider of his doing The righteous shall be glad in the Lord and shall trust in him and all the upright in heart shall glory IF we should search about for a Case parallel to that which we do now commemorate we should perhaps hardly find one more patly such then is that which is implied in this Psalm and if we would know the Duties incumbent on us in reference to such an Occasion we could scarce better learn them other-where then in our Text. With attention perusing the Psalm we may therein observe That its great Authour was apprehensive of a desperate Plot by a confederacy of wicked and spitefull enemies with great craft and secrecy contrived against his safety They saith he encourage themselves in an evil matter they commune of laying snares privily they say who shall see them That for preventing the blow threatned by this design whereof he had some glimpse or some presumption grounded upon the knowledge of their implacable and active malice he doth implore Divine protection Hide me saith he from the secret counsel of the wicked from the insurrection of the workers of iniquity That he did conside in God's Mercy and Justice for the seasonable defeating for the fit avenging their machination God saith he shall shoot at them with an arrow suddenly shall they be wounded That they should themselves become the detectours of their crime and the instruments of the exemplary punishment due thereunto They added he shall make their own tongue to fall upon themselves all that see them shall flee away Such was the Case the which unto what passage in the history it doth relate or whether it belongeth to any we have recorded it may not be easie to determine Expositours commonly do refer it to the designs of Saul upon David's life But this seeming purely conjecture not founded upon any express words or pregnant intimations in the text I shall leave that inquiry in its own uncertainty It sufficeth to make good its pertinency that there was such a mischievous Conspiracy deeply projected against David a very great personage in whose safety the publick state of God's people was principally concerned he being then King of Israel at least in designation and therefore in the precedent Psalm endited in Saul's time is so styled from the peril whereof he by the special Providence of
judgments O Lord. For thou Lord art high above all the Earth It is to them ground of exceeding comfort to receive so clear pledges of God's Love and Favour his Truth and Fidelity his Bounty and Munificence toward them expressed in such watchful care over them such protection in dangers such aid in needs such deliverance from mischiefs vouchsafed to them Such Benefits they cannot receive from God's hand without that chearfulness which always doth adhere to gratitude I will saith David sing unto the Lord because he hath dealt bountifully with me Because thou hast been my helper therefore in the shadow of thy wings I will rejoyce My lips shall greatly rejoyce in thee and my Soul which thou hast redeemed I will be glad and rejoyce in thy mercy for thou hast considered my trouble and hast known my Soul in adversities The Lord hath done great things for us whereof we are glad Let all those that put their trust in thee rejoyce let them ever shout for joy because thou defendest them They are also greatly refreshed with apprehension of the happy fruits sprouting from such dispensations of Providence such as are the Benefit of mankind the Peace and prosperity of the Civil State the Preservation settlement enlargement advancement of God's Church the support of Right the succour of Innocence the maintenance of Truth the encouragement and furtherrance of Piety the restraint of Violence the discountenance of Errour the correction of Vice and Impiety In these things they as faithful servants of God and real friends of Goodness as bearing hearty good will and compassion to mankind as true lovers of their Country as living and sensible members of the Church cannot but rejoyce Seeing by these things their own best interest which is no other then the advantage of Goodness their chief honour which consists in the promotion of Divine Glory their truest content which is placed in the prosperity of Sion are highly furthered how can they look on them springing up without great delight and complacence O saith the Psalmist sing unto the Lord for he hath done marvellous things He hath remembred his mercy and truth toward the house of Israel all the ends of the earth have seen the salvation of our God And Sing O heavens cryeth the Prophet and be joyful O earth and break forth into singing O ye mountains for the Lord hath comforted his people and will have mercy on his afflicted And When saith he ye shall see this the comfort of God's people your heart shall rejoyce and your bones shall flourish like an herb and the hand of the Lord shall be known toward his servants and his indignation toward his enemies Even in the frustration of wicked designs attended with severe execution of vengeance on the contrivers and abettours of them they may have a pleasant satisfaction they must then yeild a chearful applause to Divine Justice The righteous saith the Psalmist shall rejoyce when he seeth the vengeance and Let the wicked saith he perish at the presence of God but let the righteous be glad let them rejoyce before God yea let them exceedingly rejoyce Whence at God's infliction of Judgement upon Babylon it is said in Jeremy Then the heaven and the earth and all that is therein shall sing for Babylon and at the fall of Mystical Babylon in the Apocalyps 't is likewise said Rejoye over her thou heaven and ye holy Apostles and Prophets for God hath avenged you on her Farther V. The next Duty prescribed to good men in such cases is to trust in God that is to have their affiance in God upon all such like occasions in all urgencies of need settled improved and corroborated thereby This indeed is the proper end immediately regarding us of God's special Providence disclosing it self in any miraculous or in any remarkable way to nourish in wel-disposed minds that Faith in God which is the root of all Piety and ground of Devotion Such experiments are sound arguments to perswade good men that God doth govern and order things for their best advantage they are powerful incentives driving them in all exigencies to seek God's help they are most convincing evidences that God is abundantly able very willing and ever ready to succour them They saith the Psalmist that know thy Name will put their trust in thee for thou Lord hast not forsaken them that seek thee And I saith he will abide in thy tabernacle for ever I will trust in the covert of thy wings For thou O God hast heard my vows thou hast been a shelter for me and a strong tower from the enemy It is indeed a great aggravation of diffidence in God that having tasted and seen that the Lord is good having felt so manifest experience of Divine goodness having received so notable pledges of God's favourable inclination to help us we yet will not rely upon him As a friend who by signal instances of kindness hath assured his good will hath great cause of offence if he be suspected of unwillingness in a needful season to afford his relief so may God most justly be displeased when we notwithstanding so palpable demonstration of his kindness by distrusting him do in effect question the sincerity of his friendship or the constancy of his goodness toward us VI. Good men upon such occasions should glory All the upright in heart shall glory Should glory that is in contemplation of such Providences feeling sprightly elevations of mind and transports of affection they should exhibit triumphant demonstrations of satisfaction and alacrity It becometh them not in such cases to be dumpish or demure but jocund and crank in their humour brisk and gay in their looks pleasantly flippant and free in their speech jolly and debonair in their behaviour every way signifying the extream complacency they take in God's doing and the full content they taste in their state They with solemn exultation should triumph in such events as in victories atchieved by the glorious Hand of God in their behalf in approbation of their cause in favour toward their persons for their great benefit and comfort They may not as proudly assuming to themselves the glory due to God but as gratefully sensible of their felicity springing from God's favour se jactare se laudibus efferre as the Hebrew word doth signifie that is in a sort boast and commend themselves as very happy in their relation to God by virtue of his protection and aid They may not with a haughty insolence or wanton arrogance but with a sober confidence and chearfulness insult upon baffled impiety by their expressions and demeanour upbraiding the folly the baseness the impotency and wretchedness thereof in competition with the wisedom in opposition to the power of God their friend and patron For such carriage in such cases we have the practice and the advice of the Psalmist to warant and direct
the perfect shall direct his way But in case such an one should ever be at a stand or at a loss in doubt of his course he hath always at hand a most sure guide to conduct or direct him It is but asking the way of him or saying with the Psalmist Shew me thy ways O Lord teach me thy paths Teach me to doe thy will and Lead me in the way everlasting O let me not wander from thy commandments and then his ears as the Prophet saith shall hear a word behind him saying This is the way walk you in it then the words of the Psalmist shall be verified What man is he that feareth the Lord him shall he teach in the way that he shall chuse The meek will he guide in judgment and the meek he will teach his way Hence is the upright man happily secured from tiring pains in the search from racking anxieties in the choice from grating scruples and galling regrets in the pursuit of his way II. The upright walker doth tread upon firm ground He doth build his practice not upon the perillous bogs the treacherous quagmires the devouring quick-sands of uncouth bold impious Paradoxes such as have been vented by Epicurus by Machiavel by others more lately whose infamous names are too well known as the effects of their pestilent notions are too much felt but upon solid safe approved and well-tried principles viz. these and the like coherent with them That there is an eternal God incomprehensibly powerfull wise just and good who is always present with us and ever intent upon us viewing not onely all our external actions open and secret but our inmost cogitations desires and intentions by the which our actions chiefly are to be estimated That He as Governour of the world and Judge of men doth concern himself in all humane affairs disposing and managing all events according to his righteous pleasure exacting punctual obedience to his laws and dispensing recompences answerable thereto with impartial justice rewarding each man according to the purposes of his heart and the practices of his life That all our good and happiness doth absolutely depend on God's favour so that to please him can onely be true wisedom and to offend him the great folly That Vertue is incomparably the best endowment whereof we are capable and Sin the worst mischief to which we are liable That no worldly good or evil is considerable in comparison with goods or evils spiritual That nothing can be really profitable or advantageous to us which doth not consist with our duty to God doth not some-wise conduce to our spiritual interest and eternal welfare yea That every thing not serviceable to those purposes is either a frivolous trifle or a dangerous snare or a notable dammage or a wofull bane to us That content of mind springing from innocence of life from the faithfull discharge of our duty from satisfaction of Conscience from a good hope in regard to God and our future state is in our esteem and choice much to be preferred before all the delights which any temporal possession or fruition can afford and That a bad mind is the sorest adversity which can befall us Such are the grounds of upright practice more firm then any rock more unshakeable then the foundations of heaven and earth the which are assured by the Sacred Oracles and attested by many remarkable Providences have ever been avowed by the wiser sort and admitted by the general consent of men as for their truth most agreeable to Reason and for their usefulness approved by constant experience The belief of them having apparently most wholsome influence upon all the concerns of life both publick and private indeed being absolutely needfull for upholding Government and preserving humane Society no obligation no faith or confidence between men no friendship or peace being able to subsist without it Whence the practice built on such foundations must be very secure And if God shall not cease to be if he will not let go the reins if his Word cannot deceive if the wisest men are not infatuated if the common sense of mankind do not prove extravagant if the main props of life and pillars of Society do not fail he that walketh uprightly doth proceed on sure grounds III. The upright person doth walk steddily maintaining his principal resolutions and holding his main course through all occasions without flinching or wavering or desultory inconsistence and sickleness his integrity being an excellent ballast holding him tight and well-poised in his deportment so that waves of temptation dashing on him do not make him roll in uncertainty or topple over into unworthy practices Lust passion humour interest are things very mutable as depending upon temper of body casualties of time the winds and tides of this vertiginous world whence he that is guided or moved by them must needs be many-minded and unstable in all his ways will reel to and fro like a drunken man and be at his wit's ends never enjoying any settled rest of mind or observing a smooth tenour of action But good Conscience is very stable and persisteth unvaried through all circumstances of time in all vicissitudes of fortune For it steereth by immovable pole-stars the inviolable rules of duty it aimeth at marks which no force can stir out of their place its objects of mind and affection are not transitory its hopes and confidences are fixed on the rock of ages Whence an upright person in all cases and all conditions prosperous or adverse is the same man and goeth the same way Contingencies of affairs do not unhindge his mind from its good purposes or divert his foot from the right course Let the weather be fair or foul let the world smile or frown let him get or lose by it let him be favoured or crossed commended or reproached by honour and dishonour by evil report and good report he will doe what his duty requireth the external state of things must not alter the moral reason of things with him This is that which the Psalmist observeth of him He shall not be afraid of evil tidings for his heart standeth fast and believeth in the Lord. His heart is stablished and will not shrink And this the Wise man promiseth to him Commit thy works unto the Lord and thy thoughts shall be established Hence a man is secured from diffidence in himself and distraction in his mind from frequently being off the hooks from leading an unequal life clashing with it self from deluding and disappointing those with whom he converseth or dealeth and consequently from the inconveniencies issuing thence IV. The way of Uprightness is the surest for dispatch and the shortest cut toward the execution or attainment of any good purpose securing a man from irksome expectations and tedious delays the which as the Wise man saith do make the heart sick It in Scripture is called the straight and the plain way And as
the least homage we in gratitude owe and can pay to Almighty God to avow our dependence upon and obligation to him for the good things we enjoy to acknowledge that his favours do deserve thanks to publish to the world our experience of his goodness to proclaim solemnly with the voice of thanksgiving his most deserved praise resembling him who abounds in such expressions as these I will sing of the mercies of the Lord for ever with my mouth will I make known his faithfulness to all generations I will publish with the voice of thanksgiving and tell of all his wondrous works I will speak of the glorious honour of thy Majesty and of thy wondrous works I have not hid thy righteousness in my heart I have declared thy faithfulness and thy salvation I have not concealed thy loving-kindness and thy truth from the great congregation Thus if a gratefull affection live in our hearts it will respire through our mouths and discover it self in the motion of our lips There will be a conspiracy and faithfull correspondence between our mind and our tongue if the one be sensible the other will not be silent as if the spring works the wheels will turn about and the bell not fail to speak Neither shall we content our selves in lonesome tunes and private soliloquies to whisper out the Divine praises but shall loudly excite and provoke others to a melodious consonance with us We shall with the sweet Singer of Israel cite and invoke Heaven and Earth the celestial quire of Angels the several estates and generations of Men the numberless company of all the Creatures to assist and joyn in consort with us in celebrating the worthy deeds and magnifying the glorious name of our most mighty Creatour of our most bountifull Benefactour Gratitude is of a fruitfull and diffusive nature of a free and communicative disposition of an open and sociable temper it will be imparting discovering and propagating it self it affects light company and liberty it cannor endure to be smothered in privacy and obscurity It s best instrument therefore is Speech that most natural proper and easie mean of conversation of signifying our conceptions of conveying and as it were ttansfunding our thoughts and our passions into each other This therefore glory of ours and best organ that we have as the Psalmist seems to call it our Tongue we should in all reason devote to the honour and consecrate to the praise of him who made it and who conserves it still in tune And the farther to provoke us we may consider that it hath been the manner prompted by Nature and authorized by general practice for men of all nations and all times and all ways by composed Hymns and panegyrical Elogies to express their gratitude for the gifts of Nature and for the Benefits indulged by Providence in their publick Sacrifices and solemn Festivities extolling the excellent qualities of their imaginary Deities and reciting the famous atchievements of their Heroes and supposed Benefactours to whose favourable help and blessing in their conceit they owed the fruits of the earth the comforts of life the defence and patronage of their countries being indeed mistaken in the object but not transgressing in the substance of the Duty paying a due debt though to false creditours And I wish we were as ready to imitate them in the one as we are perhaps prone to blame them for the other For certainly acknowledgments of the Divine Goodness and solemn testifications of our thankfull sense thereof what-ever the abused world may now imagine was always is now and ever will be the principal and most noble part of all Religion immediately addressed to God But moreover 6. This Duty requires endeavours of real Compensation and a satisfactory Requital of Benefits according to the ability and opportunity of the receiver that we do not onely verbally dicere and agnoscere but really agere and referre gratias that to him who hath by his beneficence obliged us we minister reciprocal assistence comfort and relief if he need them and be capable to receive them however by evident testimonies to discover our ready disposition to make such real returns and withall to sute our actions to his good liking and in our carriage to comply with his reasonable desires For as the earth which drinketh the rain often coming upon it and having been by great labour tilled and manured with expence yieldeth yet no meet herbage or fruit agreeable to the expectation of him that dresseth it but is either wholly barren or produceth onely thorns and briars is as the Apostle to the Hebrews tells us to be reprobated and nigh unto cursing that is deserves no farther care or culture to be employed on it and is to be reputed desperately worthless so is he that we may apply an Apodosis to the Apostle's comparison who daily partaking the influences of Divine Providence and Bounty affords no answerable return to be accounted execrably unthankfull and unworthy of any farther favour to be shewed toward him 'T is true our righteousness or beneficence so the word there signifies doth not extend unto God His Benefits exceed all possibility of any proportionable requitall He doth not need nor can ever immediately receive any advantage from us we cannot enrich him with our gifts who by unquestionable right and in unalterable possession is Lord and Master of all things that do actually or can possibly exist nor advance him by our weak commendations who already enjoyeth the supreme pitch of glory nor any way contribute to his in it self compleat and indefectible Beatitude Yet we may by apposite significations declare our willingness to serve and exalt him we may by our obsequious demeanour highly please and content him we may by our charity and benignity to those whose good he tenders yield though not an adequate yet an acceptable return to his Benefits What shall I render unto the Lord for all his benefits saith David in way of counsell and deliberation and thereupon resolves I will take the cup of salvation and call upon the Name of the Lord I will pay my vows unto the Lord. Seasonable benedictions officious addresses and faithfull performances of vows he intimates to bear some shadow at least some resemblance of compensation And so did his wise Son likewise when he thus advised Honour the Lord with thy substance and with the first-fruits of thy encrease Almighty God though he really doth and cannot otherwise doe yet will not seem to bestow his favours altogether gratis but to expect some competent return some small use and income from them He will assert his rightfull title and be acknowledged the chief proprietary by signal expressions of our fealty and the payment of some though inconsiderable quit-rent for our possessions derived from him he will rather himself be seemingly indigent then permit us to be really ingratefull For knowing well that our performance of
we receive not few or some but all good things whatever is necessary for our sustenance convenient for our use pleasant for our enjoyment not onely those that come immediately from his hand but what we obtain from others who from him receive both the will and the power the means and the opportunities of doing us good to whom we owe not onely what we ever did or do at present possess or can hereafter hope for of good but that we were are or shall ever be in capacity to receive any to the authour upholder and preserver of our being without whose goodness we had never been and without whose care we cannot subsist one moment To Him who is the Lord and true owner of all things we partake of whose air we breathe whose ground we tread on whose food sustains us whose wholly we are our selves both the Bodies we carry about us which is the work of his hands and the Soul we think with which was breathed from his mouth To Him who hath created a whole World to serve us a spacious a beautifull a stately World for us to inhabit and to disport in who hath subjected so fair a territory to our dominion and consigned to our use so numerous a progeny of goodly creatures to be managed to be governed to be enjoyed by us So that where-ever we direct our eyes whether we reflect them inwards upon our selves we behold his goodness to occupy and penetrate the very root and centre of our beings or extend them abroad toward the things about us we may perceive our selves enclosed wholly and surrounded with his Benefits At home we find a comely Body framed by his curious artifice various Organs fitly proportioned situated and tempered for strength ornament and motion actuated by a gentle heat and invigorated with lively spirits disposed to health and qualified for a long endurance subservient to a Soul endued with divers Senses Faculties and Powers apt to enquire after pursue and perceive various delights and contents To the satisfaction of which all extrinsecal things do minister matter and help by his kind disposal who furnishes our Palats with variety of delicious fare entertains our Eyes with pleasant spectacles ravishes our Ears with harmonious sounds perfumes our Nostrils with fragrant odours chears our Spirits with comfortable gales fills our Hearts with food and gladness supplies our manifold needs and protects us from innumerable dangers To Him who hath inspired us with immortal Minds and impressed upon them perspicuous characters of his own Divine Essence hath made us not in some superficial lineaments but in our most intimate constitution to resemble Himself and to partake of his most excellent Perfections an extensive Knowledge of truth a vehement Complacency in good a forward Capacity of being compleatly happy according to our degree and within our sphere To which blessed End by all sutable means of eternal ministry and interiour assistance he faithfully conducts us revealing to us the way urging us in our process reclaiming us when we deviate engaging us by his Commands soliciting us by gentle Advices encouraging us by gracious Promises instructing us by his holy Word and admonishing us by his loving Spirit To Him who vouchfafes to grant us a free access unto a constant intercourse and a familiar acquaintance with Himself to esteem and style us his Friends and Children to invite us frequently and entertain us kindly with those most pleasant delicacies of spiritual repast yea to visit us often at our home and if we admit to abide and dwell with us indulging us the enjoyment of that Presence wherein the life of all joy and comfort consists and to behold the light of his all-chearing countenance Is there any thing more Yes To Him who to redeem us from Misery and to advance our estate hath infinitely debased Himself and eclipsed the brightness of his glorious Majesty not disdaining to assume us into a near affinity yea into a perfect union with himself to inhabit our frail and mortal nature to undergo the laws and conditions of Humanity to appear in our shape and converse as it were upon equal terms with us and at last to tast the bitter Cup of a most painful and disgraceful Death for us Yea To Him who not only descended from his Imperial Throne became a Subject and which is more a Servant for our sake but designed thereby to exalt us to a participation of his royal dignity his Divine nature his eternal glory and bliss submitting Crowns and Sceptres to our choice Crowns that cannot fade and Sceptres that can never be extorted from us Farther yet To Him the excellent quality the noble end the most obliging manner of whose Beneficence doth surpass the matter thereof and hugely augment the Benefits who not compelled by any necessity not obliged by any law or previous compact not induced by any extrinsick arguments not inclined by our merits not wearied with our importunities not instigated by troublesome passions of pity shame or fear as we are wont to be not flattered with promises of recompence nor bribed with expectation of emolument thence to accrue unto himself but being absolute Master of his own actions only both Law-giver and Counsellor to himself al-sufficient and incapable of admitting any accession to his perfect blissfulness most willingly and freely out of pure bounty and good will is our friend and benefactour preventing not only our desires but our knowledge surpassing not our deserts only but our wishes yea even our conceits in the dispensation of his inestimable and unrequitable benefits having no other drift in the collation of them beside our real good and welfare our profit and advantage our pleasure and content To Him who not lately began or suddenly will cease that is either uncertain or mutable in his intentions but from everlasting designed continues daily and will if we suffer him to all eternity persevere unmovable in his resolutions to do us good To Him whom no ingratitude no undutiful carriage no rebellious disobedience of ours could for one minute wholly remove or divert from his steddy purpose of caring for us who regards us though we do not attend to him procures our welfare though we neglect his concernments employs his restless thought extends his watchful eye exerts his powerful arm is always mindful and always busy to do us good watching over us when we sleep and remembring us when we forget our selves in whom yet 't is insinite condescension to think of us who are placed so far beneath his thoughts to value us who are but dust and dirt not to despise and hate us who are really so despicable and unworthy For though he dwelleth on high saith the Psalmist truly and emphatically he humbleth himself to behold the things that are done in heaven and earth To Him that is as merciful and gracious as liberal and munificent toward us that not only bestows on us more gifts but pardons us more debts and forgives us more
engage to do things just and fitting or restrain from enormous actions retain notwithstanding something of this natural inclination and are usually sensible of good turns done unto them Experience teaches us thus much and so doth that sure Oracle of our Saviour If saith he you do good to those who do good to you what thanks is it for even sinners that is men of apparently leud and dissolute conversation do the same Yea even Beasts and those not only the most gentle and sociable of them the officious Dog the tractable Horse the docile Elephant but the wildest also and fiercest of them the untamable Lion the cruel Tiger and ravenous Bear as stories tell us and experience attests bear some kindness shew some grateful affection to those that provide for them Neither wild Beasts only but even inanimate creatures seem not altogether insensible of Benefits and lively represent unto us a natural abhorrence of Ingratitude The Rivers openly discharge into the Sea those waters which by indiscernible conduits they derived thence the Heavens remit in bountiful showrs what from the Earth they had exhaled in vapour and the Earth by a fruitful increase repays the culture bestowed thereon if not as the Apostle to the Hebrews doth pronounce it deserves cursing and reprobation So monstrous a thing and universally abominable to nature is all Ingratitude And how execrable a prodigy is it then toward God from whom alone we receive what-ever we enjoy what-ever we can expect of good The Second Obligation to this Duty is most just and equal For as he said well Beneficium qui dare nescit injustè petit He injustly requires much more injustly receives a benefit who is not minded to requite it In all reason we are indebted for what is freely given as well as for what is lent unto us For the freeness of the giver his not exacting security nor expressing conditions of return doth not diminish but rather increase the debt He that gives indeed according to humane or political Law which in order to preservation of publick peace requires only a punctual performance of contracts transfers his right and alienates his possession but according to that more noble and perfect rule of ingenuity the Law which God and Angels and good men chiefly observe and govern themselves by what is given is but committed to the faith deposited in the hand treasured up in the custody of him that receives it and what more palpable iniquity is there then to betray the trust or to detain the pledge not of some inconsiderable trifle but of inestimable good will Exceptâ Macedonum gente saith Seneca non est ulla data adversus ingratum actio In no Nation excepting the Macedonians an action could be preferred against ingrateful persons as so Though Xenophon no mean Authour reports that among the Persians also there were judgments assigned and punishments appointed for Ingratitude However in the court of Heaven and at the tribunal of Conscience no offender is more constantly arraigned none more surely condemned none more severely punished then the ingrateful man Since therefore we have received all from the Divine Bounty if God should in requital exact that we sacrifice our lives to the testimony of his Truth that we employ our utmost pains expend our whole estate adventure our health and prostitute all our earthly contents to his service since he did but revoke his own 't were great injustice to refuse compliance with his demands how much more when he only expects from us and requires some few acknowledgments of our obligation to him some little portions of our substance for the relief of them that need some easie observances of his most reasonable commands Thirdly This is a most sweet and delightful Duty Praise the Lord saith the most experienced Psalmist for the Lord is good sing praises to his Name for it is pleasant and otherwhere Praise the Lord for it is good to sing praises to our God for it is pleasant and praise is comely The performance of this Duty as it especially proceeds from good humour and a chearful disposition of mind so it feeds and foments them both root and fruit thereof are hugely sweet and sapid Whence S. James If any man be afflicted let him pray is any merry let him sing Psalms Psalms the proper matter of which is praise and thanksgiving Other Duties of Devotion have something laborious in them something disgustful to our sense Prayer minds us of our wants and imperfections Confession induces a sad remembrance of our misdeeds and bad deserts but Thanksgiving includes nothing uneasie or unpleasant nothing but the memory and sense of exceeding Goodness All Love is sweet but that especially which arises not from a bare apprehension only of the object 's worth and dignity but from a feeling of its singular beneficence and usefulness unto us And what thought can enter into the heart of man more comfortable and delicious then this That the great Master of all things the most wise and mighty King of Heaven and Earth hath entertained a gracious regard hath expressed a real kindness toward us that we are in capacity to honour to please to present an acceptable sacrifice to him who can render us perfectly happy that we are admitted to the practice of that wherein the supreme joy of Paradise and the perfection of Angelical bliss consists For Praise and Thansgiving are the most delectable business of Heaven and God grant they may be our greatest delight our most frequent employment upon earth To these I might add such farther considerations That this Duty is of all most acceptable to God and most profitable to us That Gratitude for Benefits procures more disposing God to bestow and qualifying us to receive them That the serious performance of this Duty efficaciously promotes and facilitates the practice of other Duties since the more we are sensible of our obligations to God the more ready we shall be to please him by obedience to his Commandments What S. Chrysostom saith of Prayer It is impossible that he who with competent promptitude of mind doth constantly apply himself thereto should ever sin is most especially true of this part of Devotion for how can we at the same time be sensible of God's Goodness to us and willingly offend him That the memory of past Benefits and sense of present confirms our Faith and nourishes our hope of future That the circumstances of the Divine Beneficence mightily strengthen the obligation of this Duty especially his absolute freeness in giving and our total unworthiness to receive our very Ingratitude it self affording strong inducements to Gratitude That giving thanks hath de facto been always the principal part of all Religion whether instituted by Divine Command or prompted by natural Reason or propagated by general Tradition the Ethnick devotion consisting as it were totally in the praise of their gods and acknowledgment of their
of the Divine Counsel nor should ever peremptorily conclude concerning the determinate Reasons of his Actions yet when the wisdom of his proceedings doth clearly approve it self to our understandings we ought readily to acknowledge it and humbly to praise him for it Now the Reasons why Divine Providence should undertake to preserve the Priesthood in safety to procure for them liberal maintenance and to raise them above a state of scorn and infamy may be especially these three 1. It concerns God's Honour 2. The Good of the Church requires so 3. Equity and the reason of the case exacts it In prosecuting which Heads of discourse I shall not seem to you I hope to transgress the rules of modesty or decency There be certain seasons wherein confessedly it is not only excusable but expedient also to commend one's Self as when a man is falsly accused or unjustly afflicted And with greater reason sometime men are allowed to praise the Country where they were born and bred the Family to which they are allied the Society to which they are more especially related And if at this time I assume the like liberty the occasion I hope will apologize for me It becomes not me to be an adviser much less a reprover in this Audience may I therefore with your favourable permission presume to be a commender or if you please a pleader for the welfare of this Sacred Order although my self an unworthy and inconsiderable Member thereof I say therefore I. God's Honour is concerned in the safe comfortable and honourable estate of his Priests and that upon account of those manifold relations whereby they stand allied appropriated and devoted to himself They are in a peculiar manner his Servants The servant of the Lord saith S. Paul must not strive but be gentle unto all men apt to teach The servant of the Lord who 's that are not all men God's servants is not he Lord of all Yes but a Christian Priest such as Timothy was is by way of excellency so styled All men owe subjection obedience and homage to God but the Priests are his 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 his Ministers his Officers his immediate Attendants his Domesticks as it were and menial Servants that approach his Person that tread the Courts of his House that wear his proper Badges that are employed in his particular business And is it then for God's honour to suffer them to be abused to want convenient sustenance to live in a mean and disgraceful condition Would it not redound to the discredit of an earthly Prince to permit that the attendents on his Person the officers of his Court the executers of his Edicts should have the least injury offered them should fare scantly or coursely should appear in a sordid garb are they not therefore by especial privileges guarded from such inconveniences And shall the Great King and Lord of all the world be deemed less provident for less indulgent not to say less just unto his Servants Servants I say and those not of the lowest rank nor appointed to the vilest drudgeries but such as are employed in the most honourable charges and are entrusted with his most especial concernments They are his Stewards A Bishop saith S. Paul must be blameless as the Steward of God If the Church be 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 God's house or family as 't is called and the Priests the 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the Stewards of that house the Comptrollers of that family 't is surely no mean station they obtain therein The distribution of his bread the Bread of life his holy Word and the dispensation of his most precious Goods the holy Mysteries are committed to their care and prudence Who then saith our Saviour is that faithful and wise steward whom his Lord shall make ruler over his houshold to give them their portion of meat in due season Who but the Priests who are therefore styled both 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Presidents Guides Rulers and 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Feeders or Pastours of the Church Yea they are 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 also the Builders of that house founding it by initial conversion rearing it by continued instruction covering and finishing it by sacramental obsignation of Divine grace As a wise architect saith S. Paul I have laid the foundation and another builds upon it They are 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Co-operatours with God that manage his business and drive on his designs the Solicitours of his affairs the Masters of his requests his Heralds that publish his Decrees denounce his Judgments proclaim his Pardons and acts of Grace unto his subjects that blazon his Titles and defend his rightful Authority in the world yea his Ministers of State the Ministers I say absit invidia of his most glorious Spiritual Kingdom which is peculiarly denominated the Kingdom of God the orderly administration of which its advancement its preservation and its enlargement are especially commended to their diligence and fidelity They are lastly God's Embassadours delegated by him to treat of peace and solicit a fair correspondence between Heaven and Earth Now then saith S. Paul we are Embassadours for Christ as though God did beseech you by us we pray you in Christ's stead be reconciled to God As though God did beseech you by us see they manage God's concernments and in a manner represent his person At least if the Apostles were more properly God's Embassadours the present Ministers of Religion are his Agents and Residents here among men designed to pursue the same negotiations commenced by them Now you know by the law of Nations and common consent of all men all manner of security good entertainment and civil respect hath been ever acknowledged due to Embassadours and publick Ministers their employment hath been esteemed honourable their persons held sacred and inviolable and whatsoever discourtesie hath been shewed unto or outrage committed upon them hath been interpreted done to him from whom they derive their commission whose person they represent And so truly the bad usage of God's Priests if not directly and immediately does yet really and truly according to moral estimation terminate on God himself and reflect on his Honour and prejudice his Religion a due regard to which cannot be maintained without proportionable respect to the Ministers thereof The basest of the people may serve to be Priests to Jeroboam's Calves but not become the Ministery of the God of Israel Do we not see the reverence of Civil Government upheld more by the specious circumstances then by the real necessity thereof by the magnificent retinue and splendid ornaments of Princely dignity then by the eminent benefits of peace and justice springing thence Shall not not only the greatest inward worth but the highest Nobility if basely attired badly attended slenderly accommodated pass unregarded yea disregarded by us men being generally either unable to discern or unwilling to acknowledg excellency