Living and for the Dead And none among them dare deny this under pain of an Anathema as the Council of Trent hath ordered the matter Good God! whither will Interest and Faction and Zeal for a Party transport Men But it is not my business to expose them but to put you in mind of what concerns our selves namely as I said that when we come to the Lord's Table we do not approach thither with a belief that our Lord Jesus is there again offered but only with a design to commemorate his Sacrifice that was once offered We come not thither to sacrifice Christ but to be Partakers of his Sacrifice We are not to feast God but God there feasts us and that with the best Food in the World such Food as will nourish us to Eternal Life if we be worthy Guests Only we must not appear before God empty at this Solemnity We must offer to him of our Substance We must offer our Prayers and Supplications not only for our selves but for all the World but more especially for all that are called by the Name of Christ and among those most particularly for our own Church and Kingdom and all Orders and Degrees of Men therein We must offer likewise our selves our Souls and Bodies a living sacrifice holy and acceptable to God which is our reasonable service And lastly to conclude we must offer our most hearty and affectionate Thanks to God Almighty for that incomprehensible Instance of his Love in sending Christ Jesus to us to be our Saviour for his wonderful Birth for his holy Life for his pretious Death for his glorious Resurrection and Ascension and for his Intercession for us at the right hand of God And O thou Blessed Saviour that hast done all this for us give us such a lively Sense of thy marvelous Love in leaving thy Glory and taking Humane Flesh upon thee that thou mightest dwell among us and instruct us in our Duty and assist us in the performance of it and encourage us thereto by the glorious Hopes of a never dying Life and at last make thy self an Offering for our Sins O let these things sink so deeply in our Minds and so wholly possess our Hearts that we may entirely give up our selves to thee That we may with our whole Souls embrace all thy Doctrines and Revelations That we may endeavour in all our Actions to conform our selves to thy Example and make it the Business of our Lives to be obedient to thy Precepts to submit to thy Will and to be contented to be disposed of by thee in all the Circumstances of our Lives O let nothing in thy Religion ever be an Offence to us But enable us to hold the Profession of our Faith in thee without wavering in all the Tryals and Difficulties thou shalt think fit to expose us to that so in Faith and Obedience in Patience and Perseverance we may ever wait for and at last obtain that Crown of Righteousness which thou hast laid up for all that love thee and expect thy second and more glorious Appearance To thee O eternal Son of God thou great Lover of Mankind to Thee who tookest upon thee to deliver Man and didst not abhor the Virgins womb to thee who overcamest the sharpness of death and didst open the Kingdom of Heaven to all believers To thee O most dear O most beloved O most adorable Jesus be for ever given by us and by all the Souls whom thou hast redeemed and by all the Creatures in Heaven and Earth all Honour and Glory and Praise all Service and Love and Obedience henceforth and for evermore SERMON XII Preach'd before the QUEEN AT WHITE-HALL On EASTER-DAY 1692. Philip. iii. 10. That I may know him and the power of his Resurrection WE shall easily see the Design of these Words and what use we are to make of them if we look at their Connexion with the Discourse that goes before St. Paul in this Chapter sets himself to shew the Excellency and the great Advantages of the Knowledge of Jesus Christ and how inconsiderable how unworthy to be named in comparison therewith all those things were that the Jews his Country-men so much gloried in His Discourse upon this occasion is so very remarkable that it will he worth our while to run over the particulars of it I also saith he in the 4th verse might have considence in the flesh If any other man thinketh that he hath whereof he might trust in the Flesh I more As if he had said Think not O Philippians that I therefore speak lightly of those Priviledges and Advantages which the Jews among you so much boast of upon this account because I have none of them my self No on the contrary if I would value my self upon such outward carnal things I have as much reason as any Nay there is not a Jew among you that perhaps can say so much on his own behalf in this respect as I can For as he goes on in the 5th and 6th verses I was circumcised the eighth day of the Stock of Israel of the Tribe of Penjamin an Hebrew of the Hebrews as touching the Law a Pharisee concerning Zeal persecuting the Church touching the Righteousness which is by the Law blameless That is to say I have not only the Character of a Son of Abraham upon me being circumcised but I am also of the Race of 〈◊〉 which all the circumcised Children of Abraham are not Nay surther I am an Israelâ—â— of the Tribe of Benjamin that Benjamin which our Father Israel so dearly loved and of that Tribe which together with Judah kept him to the house of David and the true Religion when the other ten Tribes revolted Nay more I am an Hebrew of the Hebrews Not sprung from Proselytes as many among you are but all my Ancestors both by Father and Mother being natural born Jews And then as to my Profession in Religion it was the strictest among the Jews for I was a Pharisee And you all know That Sector all others to be the most eminent for the Reputation of Preciseness and Sanctity Neither did I in my Zeal for the 〈…〉 Moses come short of the strictest 〈…〉 is among you for who was more 〈…〉 eager more violent in persecuting â—…nity than I was And lastly To sum up all As to the Righteousness which is by the Law I am blâ—â—dless So punctual have I always been in observing the Precepts of Moses his Law that 〈◊〉 reprove me in theâ— point but I may truely in the Jewish notion of Righteousness be accounted a Righteous Person But now am I much the better for all these things Have I any great reason to glory upon the account of them No verily as he goes on in the 7th verse but what things were gain to me those I counted loss for Christ All these outward Advantages my Birth my Profession my Sect my Reputation my strict way of living which might have proved very beneficial to me in
visible that whosoever hath either read History or hath made Observations must needs have taken notice of them If ever there were any extraordinary Deliverances vouchsafed to Kingdoms or Cities or particular Persons or ever any remarkable Judgments inflicted upon any of these which so carried the Marks and Signatures of God's Hand in them that the One could not in reason but be attributed to the Care that he had that Religion or Innocence should not be oppressed and the Other must in reason be interpreted as a Divine Vengeance that pursued the Guilty for their Crimes If ever there were any Prophecies that did punctually foretell a Particular Event that came not to pass till many Years after and such an Event as was perfectly contingent and depended upon the Wills of Men If ever there were any Notices given of Approaching Calamities by Voices from Heaven by strange Appearances in the Air and such other like Presages not naturally to be accounted for If ever there were any Apparitions any Witchcraft any effects of a Diabolical Power by which it may appear that there are a sort of Invisible Beings in the World which do bear ill will to Mankind but yet are so curbed that they cannot do all the Mischief they would If ever there were any Miracles wrought either by Moses and the Prophets or by Jesus Christ and his Apostles for the confirmation of the Jewish or the Christian Religion Lastly If ever any Good Man did ever receive any Blessing or avoid any Misfortune which he might rationally look upon as an Answer to the Fervent Prayers that he had put up to God or others had put up for him I say If any of these things that I have now named be true as all Histories give us a World of Instances of the truth of all of them and as for some of them I do not doubt but they fall within the compass of our own Observation and Experience I say if any of these things be true then have we a convincing Proof that there is a Power that doth interpose in the Affairs of the World superiour both to that of Nature and to that of Mankind and which moderates all things according as it seems good unto him But in truth we need not go to supernatural Events or to particular Providences for the Truth of this For in my Opinion the daily effects that every one of us sees and feels the very Subsistence of the World for so many Ages in that regular frame that it was at first and the fair Treatment and Encouragement how unequally soever things seem to be distributed which vertuous and religious men have always found in it and do yet find notwithstanding that far the greatest number of men are of another stamp I say these very things seem an Argument beyond exception That there is a God that presides over us and takes care of us But Fourthly and lastly God has yet given us a further Proof of this by his own many Authentick Declarations in the Holy Scriptures which we call his Word One of the main businesses of which is Dan. 4.17 to assure us That He rules in the kingdoms of men and disposeth of all their Affairs There He is set forth as the Author of all Events Amos. 3.6 both good and bad so that no evil happens in a City but the Lord doth it There He is represented as the searcher of all hearts the Judge of all mens Designs and Actions the Avenger of all Evil Practices and the Refuge of all Good Men. There we are told that He is the God of of Battles Psal 33.16 and that no King is saved by the multitude of his Armies nor any mighty Man delivered by his own strength but Salvation is from the Lord. And so are Disappointments also There we are assured Psal 33. â—4 that He from his Habitation looketh down upon all that dwell on the earth He fashioneth the hearts of them he understandeth all their ways Pror 19.21 And though many are the devices that are in their Hearts yet it is his counsel only that shall stand In a word Eph. 1. â—â— it is God as the Apostle tells us that worketh all things and he worketh them all according to the counsel of his own will So that nothing comes by chance nothing is done in vain but all Events are in pursuance of a Design Nay not so much as the Event of casting a Lot which seems the most fortuitous contingent thing in the whole World is left at random For even in that Case the disposal of the Lot as Solomon tells us Prov. 16.33 is from the Lord. All this is not only the Doctrine but in a great measure the very Language and Expression of those Holy Books And what can we desire more Or what words can we invent that shall declare more fully the thing we are speaking of None can that I know of except perhaps those of our Saviour with which I shall shut up this point Matt. 10.29 Fear not saith he to his Disciples Are not two sparrows sold for a farthing yet not one of them falls to the ground without the will of your Father Nay I say unto you the very hairs of your head are all numbered O wonderful this what God Almighty number the very Hairs of our Heads Lord what is man that thou shouldst have such respect unto him and do that for him which even the nicest and most delicate of Men never yet did for themselves But thus art thou pleased to express thy particular regard to the Sons of Men. Thus art thou pleased to let us see that none of us are so inconsiderable but that we are within the Verge of thy Providence and Objects of thy Care And therefore much more are Cities and States and Kingdoms so wherein the Fortunes of so many Individuals are wrapt up O blessed be God for his Love to Mankind O for ever adored be his Name for thus humbling himself to take notice of us and our Affairs and likewise for giving us such abundant Assurance that he doth so Since therefore we have such mighty Evidence of all sorts that the Lord is King let the Earth be glad yea let the multitudes of the isles be glad thereof And we shall still see greater reason thus to be glad if we consider a little more particularly the Rules and Measures by which God administers the Affairs of his Kingdom Which are not as too often happens in Human Governments Arbitrary Will or Humour but perfect Wisdom and Justice and Goodness Tho' it be true what the Psalmist saith Psal 135.6 That Whatsoever the Lord pleaseth that doth he in Heaven and in Earth and in the Sea and all deep places Yet it is as true that the Lord will never be pleased to do any thing either in Heaven or in Earth but what is suggested by infinite Goodness and in such ways as are the Result of Infinite Wisdom
this state of Life we gratifie our Highest and Noblest Powers the intellectual Appetites of our Souls which as they are infinitely capacious so have they an infinite good to fill them whereas in the sensual Life the meanest the dullest and the most contracted Faculties of our Souls were only provided for But what need I carry you out into these Speculations when your own sense and experience will ascertain you in this matter above a thousand Arguments Do but seriously set your selves to serve God if you have yet never done it do but once try what it is to live up to the Precepts of Reason and Veriue and Religion and I dare confidently pronounce that you will in one mouth find more Joy more Peace more Content to arise in your spirits from the sense that you have resisted the Temptations of Evil and done what was your duty to do than in many years spent in Vanity and a Licentious course of living I doubt not in the least but that after you have once seen and tasted how gracious the Lord is how good all his ways are but you will proclaim to all the World that One day spent in his Courts is better than a thousand Nay you will be ready to cry out with the Roman Orator if it be lawful to quote the Testimony of a Heathen after that of the Divine Psalmist that One day lived according to the Precepts of Vertue is to be preferred before an Immortality of Sin You will then alter all your sentiments of things and wonder that you should have been so strangely abused by false representations of Vertue and Vice You will then see that Religion is quite another thing than it appeared to you before you became acquainted with it Instead of that grim sowre unpleasant Countenance in which you heretofore painted her to your self you will then discover nothing in her but what is infinitely Lovely and Charming Those very Actions of Religion which you now cannot think upon with Patience they seem so harsh and unpleasant you will then find to be accompanied with a wonderful Delight You will not then complain of the narrowness of the Bounds or the scantiness of the Measures that it hath confined your desires to for you will then find that you have hereby gained an entrance into a far greater and more perfect Liberty How ungentilely how much against the grain of Nature soever it now looks to forgive an Injury or an Affront you will then find it to be as far more easie so far more sweet than to revenge one You will no longer think works of Charity burdensome or expensive or that to do good Offices to every one is an employment too mean for you for you will then experience that there is no sensuality like that of doing Good and that it is a greater pleasure to do a kindness than to riceive one How will you chide your self for having been so averse to Prayer and other devout Exercises accounting them as tiresome unsavoury things when you begin to feel the delicious Relishes they leave upon your Spirit You will then confess that no Conversation is half so agreeable as that which we enjoy with God Almighty in Prayer no Cordial so reviving as heartily to pour out our Souls unto him And then to be affected with his Mercies to praise and give thanks to him for his Benefits what is it but a very Heaven upon Earth an anticipation of the Joys of Eternity Nay you will not be without your pleasures even in the very entrance of Religion then when you exercise acts of Repentance when you mourn and afflict your self for your sins which seems the frightfullest thing in all Religion For such is the nature of that holy sorrow that you would not for all the World be without it and you will find far greater Contentment and Satisfaction in grieving for your Offences than ever you did receive from the Committing them But O the ineffable Pleasures that do continually spring up in the heart of a good Man from the snse of God's Love and the hope of his Favour and the fair prospect he hath of the Joy and Happiness of the other World How pleasing how transporting will the thought of these things be to you To think that you are one of those happy Souls that are of an Enemy become the Friend of God that your ways please him and that you are not only Pardoned but Accepted and Beloved by him to think that you a poor Creature who were of your self nothing and by your sins had made your self far worse than nothing are yet by the goodness of your Saviour become so considerable a Being as to be able to give delight to the King of the World and to cause joy in Heaven among the Blessed Angels by your Repentance to think that God charges his Providence with you takes care of all your Concerns hears all your Prayers provides all things needful for you and that he will in his good time take you up unto himself to live everlastingly in his Presence to be partaker of his Glories to be ravished with his Love to be acquainted with his Counsels to know and be known by Angels Archangels and Seraphims to enjoy a Conversation with Prophets Apostles and Martyrs and all the Raised and Glorified Spirits of Brave Men and with all these to spend a happy and a rapturous Eternity in Adoring in Loving in Praising God for the Infiniteness of his Wisdom and the Miracles of his Mercy and Goodness to all his Creatures Can there be any Pleasure like this Can any thing in the World put you into such an Ecstasie of Joy as the very thought of these things With what a mighty scorn and contempt will you in the sense of them look down upon all the little Gauderies and sickly Satisfactions that the Men of this World keep such a stir about How empty and evanid how flat and unsavoury will the best Pleasures on Earth appear to you in comparison of these Divine Contentments You will perpetually rejoyce you will sing Praises to your Saviour you will bless they day that ever you became acquainted with him you will confess him to be the only master of Pleasure in the World and that you never knew what it was to be an Epicure indeed till you became a Christian Thus have I gone through all those Heads which I at first proposed to insist on What now remains but that I resume the Apostle's Exhortation with which I began this Discourse that since as you have seen Godliness is so exceedingly profitable to all the purposes of this Life as well as the other since as you have seen Length of days is in her right hand and in her left hand riches and honour and all her ways are ways of pleasantness and all her paths are peace you would also be persuaded seriously to Apply your selves to the exercise of it Which that you may do God of his c. SERMON
are to put them to If we do not employ them this way we are so far from being better for them that we are much worse What will signifie our Wit and good Humour our Strength of Reason and Memory our Wisdom and Knowledge our Skill in Arts and Dexterity in managing Business our Wealth and Greatness our Reputation and Interest in the World I say what will all these signifie if they do not render us more Useful and Beneficial to others That which sets the price and value upon every worldly blessing is the Opportunity it affords us of doing Good To do Good seems to be the foundation of all the Laws of Nature the supreme Universal Law it is that by which the World is supported and take that away all would presently fall into confusion And perhaps if it were particularly examin'd it would be found that all the other Natural Laws may be reduced to this and are ultimately to be resolv'd into it It is a question whether there be any natural Standard whereby we can measure the Vertue or the Viciousuess of any Action but the Influence that it hath to promote or hinder the doing of Good This is that that seems to stamp Vertue and Vice To do Good is the great Work for the sake of which we were sent into the World and no Man lives farther to any purpose than as he is an Instrument of doing Good Be our Lives otherwise never so busie and full of action yet if others receive no benefit by them we cannot give our selves any tolerable account of our time we have in effect liv'd idly and done nothing To do Good is that which of all other services is most acceptable to God it is that which he hath laid the greatest stress upon in the Scripture it is that which he hath with the most earnest and affectionate persuasives with the strongest arguments with the greatest promises and with the most dreadful threatnings enforc'd upon us It is that which he hath chosen before all Sacrifices and all Relious worship strictly so called to be serv'd with It is that which he hath appoint-for the great Expression both of our Thankfulness for his Benefits and of our Love and Devotion to him Lastly it is that which Moses and the Prophets make the Sum of the Old Law and Christ and his Apostles the Sum of the New And very great Reason there is for it for to do Good is to become most like to God It is that which of all other Qualities gives us the greatest resemblance of his Nature and Perfections 1 Job 4.2 for perfect Love and Goodness is the very Nature of God and the Root of all his other Attributes and there was never any Action done any work wrought by him throughout the vast tracts of infinite space from the Beginning of time to this Moment but was an Expression of his Love and an instance of doing Good nay I doubt not to say the most severe acts of his Justice and Vengeance have all been such And therefore with great reason hath our blessed Lord told us Mat. 5.44 45. that the way to become the Children of our Heavenly Father is to do Good to all with the same Freedom and Unreservedness that God makes his Sun to shine upon the World And of this our Blessed Saviour himself was the most illustrious Example that ever appeared in the World so that to do Good is that which doth most truly and perfectly render us the Disciples and Followers of Jesus makes us really be what we pretend we are His whole Life as the Gospel tells us was but a continual going about doing Good The great Design of his Coming from Heaven and of all that he spoke and of all that he did and of all that he suffer'd upon Earth was the benefiting of others And he hath left it as the great distinguishing Badge and Character whereby his Disciples should be known from other Men that they should love one another even as he had lov'd them Joh. 13.34 35. that is as his Apostle expounds him they should love and do Good to that degree as to lay down their lives for their brethren 1 Joh. 3.16 But to do Good is not only our greatest Duty but our greatest Interest and Advantage which is that that Solomon chiefly refers to in the Text. It is certain that no Man can take a more Effectual way to render his Being in the world Happy and Comfortable to him according to the ordinary course and event of things in what Condition or Circumstances soever he is placed than to do all the Good he can in his life so that though a man that lays out himself in this way seems only to respect the good of other people yet in true reckoning he most consults his own profit For to do Good is the natural way to raise us Friends who shall be oblig'd to contribute their Endeavours to the furthering our honest designs to the upholding and securing us in our Prosperity and to the succouring and relieving us when we are in any evil Circumstances Such is the Contrivance and the Constitution of this World that no man can subsist of himself but stands in continual need of others both for their comfortable Society and their necessary Assistance in his Affairs Now of all men living the Good man who maketh it his Business to oblige all about him is most likely to be the best befriended To do Good is the truest way to procure to a man's self a Good name and Reputation in the World which as it is a thing desirable upon many accounts so it is a singular Advantage to a man for the carrying on his secular designs Nay to do good is to Embalm a man's name and to transmit it with a grateful Odour to Posterity The memory of a good man shall be blessed Prov. 1◠7 And the sense of Mankind has always been that too much honour could not be given to the name of those that have done good in their generation But which is a great deal more than all this to do Good is the most certain effectual means to procure the blessing of God upon our endeavours and to entitle our selves to his more especial Care and Providence and Protection So that let what will come in all circumstances and conditions the good man has the greatest assurance that all things shall at least be tolerably well with him and that he shall never be miserable Trust in the Lord saith David and be doing good Psal 37. verse 3. so shalt thou dwell in the Land and verily thou shalt be fed Nay farther to do Good is to entail a blessing upon our Children after us 〈◊〉 ◠25 I have been young and now am old saith the same Psalmist yet saw I never the Righteous that is the merciful and good man for that is the Notion of the word in that place and in most others such an one saw
abstain from fleshly Lusts which war against the Soul I beseech you as you have any Honour for your Lord and Master as you have any regard to the preservation of a sense of Religion in your Minds as you have any concern for your Health for your Estates for your Families as you have any respect to the Publick that Effeminacy and Sottishness and Diseases may not be entailed upon our Posterity Lastly as you love your own Souls and hope ever to see the face of God in Heaven learn to live Soberly learn to live Chastly learn to practise Purity and Temperance in all your Conversation Avoid Whoredom and Drunkenness as you would the Plague for certainly they are the worst of Plagues to them that use them For other Plagues do only put our Bodies in danger but these do endanger both our Souls and Bodies Nay as to the one I mean our Souls they will prove certain inevitable Destruction without Repentance and Reformation I know these things are made slight Matters of by a great many among us But assure your selves God will not account them so it is certain he will not if we may believe his Word for it is there told us expresly that Whoremongers and Adulterers God will judge And withal that neither Adulterers nor Fornicators nor unclean Persons nor Drunkards shall ever inherit the Kingdom of God or of Christ IV. I proceed to the last Head of Advice that is given in my Text. The Apostle having instanced in Three things necessary to be daily thought upon and pursued by all Christians viz. Truth and Honesty and Purity leaves off to meddle any farther with particulars and sums up the rest of his Advice in generals And that sum comes to this That as we are Christians we should not only take care of the three forementioned things but should make it our business to improve our selves in every other sort of Virtue nay in every other sort of thing that is Praise-worthy or that is well esteemed of among Mankind So that really it should be the endeavour of our Lives to render our selves as excellent and as exemplary for all sorts of amiable Qualities as it is possible for Men to be in this World This I take to be the full meaning of those four expressions that follow in my Text Whatsoever things are lovely whatsoever things are of good report if there be any Vertue if there be any Praise think on these things And now Brethren see from hence what your obligations are You that have such a glorious Light vouchsafed you such unvaluable Promises such mighty Assistances made over to you by the Gospel of Christ You must in reason imagine that in return of these great Advantages great things are expected from you It will not satisfie your Engagements that you do believe and profess the Gospel that you do no wrong to your Neighbours that you are neither given to Lewdness nor Drunkenness though yet even these as the World goes are very great things and could all Men that profess Christianity truly say this of themselves we should soon see Heaven upon Earth But your Christianity obliges you to aspire after greater things you must get your selves possessed of the whole Circle of Virtues you must be Kind and Charitable as well as Just and Honest you must be Modest and Meek and Humble as well as Temperate and Chast. Nay not only so but you are to labour after all these several Virtues in the full Latitude and Extent of them even to that degree that every thing which hath but the appearance of Evil is to be avoided by you You are not only to abstain from Acts of Injustice but even from doing a hard thing to any one you are not only to keep your selves within the known Limits of Temperance and Chastity but to avoid all those things that border upon the Vices opposite thereunto and so as to all other instances if any thing be of ill Report and looks infamously to the sober part of Mankind why that very Consideration is enough to deter you from the practice of it For you are to recommend your Religion to all the Men in the World by all the ways that are possible In a Word you are to endeavour to be as free from blame in your whole Conversation as you possibly can and not only so but to be as good and to do as much good as your Circumstances will allow you This now is to be a Christian indeed by thus endeavouring you truly walk worthy of that high and heavenly Calling wherewith you are called and you do as the Apostle advises adorn the Doctrine of God in all things and happy extreamly happy are they that do thus for great is their Reward Great even in this World in the solid Peace and Assurance of God's Favour which they here enjoy and which indeed far exceeds all the Blessings that the Earth can afford but exceedingly great in the Life to come when Jesus Christ shall come with all the Powers of Heaven to do Honour to those that have thus here honoured him Thus have I gone through all the Parts of my Text but I do not think that I ought so to leave it I have given you an account of the things that St. Paul hath here directed us to to be the main pursuit of our Lives But I think likewise it will be proper to speak something of the Methods of that pursuit or the means which we are to observe if we would practise this Text and here I am to begin anew with my Advices Several things I have to represent upon this Occasion and to exhort you to I am not much sollicitous whether they strictly belong to my Argument or no. But I desire to leave them with you as things that I judge to be very useful and which I wish may be ever remembred by you And the First thing I would exhort you to is this That you would endeavour to possess your Minds with a hearty Sense of God Almighty and the absolute Necessity of being seriously Religious I do not mention this as if I thought there was any need to caution you against Atheism or Infidelity for I hope not many among us are inclined that way Mankind are naturally disposed to believe a God and Religion and since through God's Blessing it is Christianity that is the Religion of our Country and in which we have been all Educated I look upon an Atheist or an Infidel among us to be a sort of Prodigy a strange unusual Creature vastly different from those of his own Kind But here is the thing Though most of us profess Religion and the true Religion yet many of us have no lively or hearty Sense of it We use Religion as we do our Cloaths They are very convenient nay perhaps necessary and therefore we wear them and for the particular form or mode of them we follow as to that the Custom of the Country where we live Yet
that the Souls Immortality is demonstrable by the light of Nature yet there are generally these two Inconveniences in the Arguments they make use of for the Proof of this matter which render them in a great measure ineffectual for the reforming mens lives First They are generally of so great Subtilty so Nice so Metaphysical so much above the reach of ordinary Capacities that they are useless to the greatest part of Mankind who have not understandings fitted for them And Secondly They have this inconvenience likewise that a Man doth not see the Evidence of them without actual attention to a long Train of Propositions which attention it may be when a Man most stands in need of their Support he shall neither have the leisure nor the humour to give But now the Christian Method of proving another Life is quite of another strain and wholly free from these inconveniences That Demonstration which Christ hath given us of a glorious Immortality by his Resurrection from the dead as it is infinitely certain and conclusive so it is plain and easy short and compendious powerful and operative No Man that believes the matter of Fact can deny the Cogency of it Men of the meanest Capacities may apprehend it Persons in a crowd of business and in the midst of temptations may attend to it And it hath this Vertue besides that it leaves a lasting impression upon the Spirits of those that do believe and consider it Thanks therefore to our Lord Jesus Christ for this excellent Instrument of Piety that he hath given us by his Resurrection Everlasting Praises to his name that he hath thus brought Life and Immortality to light by his Gospel This very thing alone was there nothing else to be said for the Christian Revelation would sufficiently justify both the Gospel it self and our Lord Jesus the Author of it to all Mankind nay and effectually recommend his Religion above all others that ever were taught to all Persons in all Nations of the World IV. Fourthly and Lastly There is still a further Blessing coming to us by our Saviour's Resurrection from the dead and in which indeed is chiefly seen and expressed the great Power of it for the making us Holy and Vertuous That is to say Unto it we do principally owe all that supernatural Grace and Assistance by which we are enabled to vanquish our Corruptions and to live up to the Precepts of our Religion As Christ by his Resurrection did oblige us to lead new lives As Christ by his Resurrection did demonstrate the truth of the Christian Religion which is wholly in order to our leading new lives As by his Resurrection he cleared up to us the certainty of our future State and thereby gave us the greatest Motive and Encouragement to lead new lives So in the last place by the same Resurrection he acquired a Power of conferring Grace and Strength and Influence upon us by the Virtue of which we are in fact inabled to lead new lives Tho' Christ by his death reconciled us to God and procured a Pardon of Sin for us yet the actual benefit of this Reconciliation the actual application of this Pardon did depend upon our performance of certain Conditions Which conditions were that we should mortify all our evil affections and frame our Lives suitable to the Laws of the Gospel But now the Grace and Power by which we are inabled to do this was not the effect of Christ's Death but of his Resurrection It was when he ascended up on high and led Captivity Captive that is when he had vanquished Death which had vanquished all the World before It was then as the Scripture assures us and not till then that he was in a capacity of giving gifts unto men It was not till he was glorified as St. John observes that the holy spirit was given Hence it is that we every where find the Apostles attributing the business of Man's Justification and Salvation as much or more to Christ's Resurrection than to his Passion If Christ be not risen saith St. Paul 1 Cor. xv your Faith is in vain ye are yet in your Sins Indeed if Christ had perished in the Grave we had still had all the load of our sins upon us because we had no assurance that God had accepted the Atonement and Propitiation which he had made for them And much less could we have promised to our selves that we should have been assisted by any Divine Power for the subduing of them Again the same St. Paul tells us Rom. iv that Christ was delivered for our sins and raised again for our justification Christ's Death was the Sacrifice the Satisfaction for our Sins But it was by the means of his Resurrection that that Sacrifice and Satisfaction is applied to us and we for the merits of it become justified before God Lastly To name no more Texts Who saith the same Apostle Rom. viii shall lay any thing to the charge of Gods elect It is God that justifyeth Who is he that condemneth It is Christ that died yea rather that is risen again who is even at the right hand of God who also maketh intercession for us Here then is the great Power of our Saviour's Resurrection to make us good Christ being risen from the dead hath all Power given him both in Heaven and in Earth God as St. Paul expresseth it hath put all things under his feet and hath given him to be head over all things to the Church Eph. 1.22 Now in the fullness of that Power that he is invested with as he doth on one hand with never-failing efficacy make continual Intercession for his Church and every Member of it So he doth on the other hand out of the fulness of that Power derive and communicate so much Strength and Grace and Assistance of the Divine Spirit to all Christians that if they make a good use of it they shall not fail to perform all those Conditions of Faith and Repentance and a Holy Life that are required of them in order to their being made actual partakers of all those unspeakable Benefits which he purchased for Mankind by his Death and Sufferings Christ by his Resurrection is become both our High-Priest and our King both our Advocate and our Lord. By that Power which he then obtained as our Priest and Advocate he doth with Authority recommend us and all our concernments to his Father As our King and Lord he rules and governs us he takes care of us he provides for us he represses the insults of his and our Enemies and defeats all their attempts against us And lastly he supplies us from time to time with such a measure of Grace and Strength and influence of his Divine Spirit as he sees is needful or proper for our Condition If all this now that I have said be the effect of our Saviour's Resurrection as it certainly is Must we not needs own that there is a mighty Power in it for the making us good
What can any man among us that professeth to believe that Jesus was raised from the dead say for himself if he leads a wicked Life What Apology can he make for the continuance in his sins Will he say that the Temptations to sin are too strong for him that he wants Grace and Strength to overcome his evil Habits and that through the corruption of his Nature he must of necessity remain a slave all his days to his Passions and Appetites whether he will or no Why in saying this he forgets that Christ is risen from the dead For if he did remember that he would remember also that there is a Vertue and Power above that of corrupt Nature which he as a Christian may easily come by if he seriously seek after it Namely The Grace and Strength of the Holy Spirit of God which I have been speaking of which Christ upon his Resurrection obtained the disposal of and which he never fails to send down upon every Soul that heartily prays for it and when ever he gives it he gives it in such measures that a man must certainly by the influence thereof overcome all his evil and corrupt Affections or if he do not it shall be entirely his own fault O what a mighty Comfort and Encouragement ought this to be to all those that heartily desire and endeavour to be good All such may with boldness approach to the Throne of Grace and confidently open their wants not doubting of such Relief as is most convenient for them Our Saviour is risen and sits at the Right hand of God He that loved us so dearly as to die for us is now entred into his Kingdom and is able to grant us whatsoever we ask Do we find our selves burdened with our sins Do we want strength to resist Temptations and to master our strong Corruptions Our Saviour is risen and now ever liveth to make intercession for us Let us fly to him for succour let us beg a portion of that Grace and Holy Spirit he hath purchased for us We may rest satisfied he will hear our Prayers and derive such vigour and influence upon our Souls that we shall in due time by the means thereof vanquish and triumph over every thing that opposeth us We cannot in any wise doubt of his Power for God by raising him from the dead hath made him both King and Priest hath exalted him to the highest Authority and Dignity both in Heaven and Earth We cannot doubt of his good will for he that underwent so many Difficulties and Agonies for us in the days of his Flesh cannot forget those whom he hath ransomed with so great a price nor suffer that Power which God hath given him to lie by him unimployed To conclude Let us not faint Let not our hearts be troubled Let us not despair of any thing Our Saviour is risen Our High-priest is entred within the vail hath taken possession of the highest Heaven where he continually makes intercession for us Such a High-priest as is kind and compassionate and tender-hearted that knoweth our frame and remembreth that we are but dust that pities our weaknesses and is sensible of the difficulties we have to conflict with as having himself had sufficient experience of them And withal such a High-priest as is able to save to the uttermost all those that come unto God through him Thus have I given some account of the Virtue of our Saviour's Resurrection in order to the making us sincerely Good What remains But that as we should heartily thank God for these Benefits of it so we should especially endeavour to be partakers of them not contenting our selves with a notional ineffectual Faith but labouring with St. Paul experimentally to know Christ Jesus and the Power of his Resurrection Now the God of peace that brought again from the dead our Lord Jesus that great shepherd of the sheep through the blood of the everlasting Covenant make you perfect in every good work to do his will working in you that which is well pleasing in his sight through Jesus Christ to whom be glory for ever and ever Amen SERMON XIII Preach'd before the King and Queen AT WHITE-HALL PSALM xcvii 1. The Lord is King the Earth may be glad thereof yea the multitude of the isles may be glad thereof THat is to say it ought to be Matter of exceeding Joy to all the Inhabitants of the World that amidst all the uncertainties and Hazards and Variety of Fortunes which they here find themselves exposed to there is One Above that governs all GOD that made the World is the King of it All the Beings of the Universe Angels Men and Devils with all the other Animate or Inanimate things in Heaven and Earth as they are His Creatures so are they truly and properly His Subjects and act entirely in subordination to Him as Ministers and Instruments do under the Guidance of the Principal Agent GOD doth as truly Reign in the World as any King does in his Kingdom He doth as truly order the Affairs of it as any Master doth those of his own Family Nay a Man 's own Thoughts and Actions are not by a thousand times so much attended by himself are not so much his Care as the Affairs of the Universe are attended by and are the Care of God Almighty This is the notion of the Lord 's being King and Do you not think it ought to be matter of Rejoycing to all Reasonable Creatures O Lord what a gloomy dismal Scene of things do they present us with that give other Accounts of these matters To banish God's Providence and Government out of the World is to banish all Joy all Peace all Hope all Comfort for ever from all those that have the power of Thinking A Brute indeed is not much concern'd how Matters are order'd An Ox may grow fat in his Stall and a Colt frisk in his Pasture let the Hypothesis of the Government of the World be what it will But to one that is made with a Faculty of Reasoning that has Hopes and Fears and can reflect on what is past and hath a prospect of what is future what black and melancholy Apprehensions must it cause in such a one to suppose that no care is taken of Human Affairs but that we sail in the tempestuous Ocean of this World every minute in danger of Rocks and Quicksands without any Pilot to steer us Take what Hypothesis you will either That there is no God but that all things comes to pass by Chance or inevitable Necessity Or That there is a God but that God having once put things into this Frame never meant to trouble himself more about them but left them to shift for themselves Natural Events falling out from necessary Causes and Civil Assairs being left to Mankind who are to shuffle and divide the World among themselves as well as they can I say proceed which way you will if you exclude God Almighty's Government you make
For as the same Psalmist tells us Psal 33.5 He loveth righteousness and judgment the earth is full of the goodness of the Lord. He is holy in all his ways Psal 145.17 9. and righteous in all his doings and his tender mercies are over all his works To say That God deals arbitrarily with any of his Creatures or that He dispenseth Good or Evil to them meerly because He will without any other Reason is in truth to disparage His Nature and gives us such a notion of Him as we have perhaps of some of the Great Monarchs of the World but whom we are far from esteeming the Best Men. No certainly if we Mankind find in our selves that the wiser and better we grow the less are we led by Humour and Will and the more do we shake off our Indifferency to Good and Evil and the more steadily do we cleave to the eternal Laws of Reason and Righteousness in all our Actions We may be sure that God who is Wisdom and Justice and Goodness it self can never in any of his Actions or Dealings with his Creatures depart from these Principles The true Scheme of God Almighty's Government is plainly this His Infinite Mind clearly understood all the Possibilities of things long before they were in actual being He knew what things were possible to be and how they would act if they were put into being and what the Events of all their Actings would be His Infinite Goodness moved him to put into actual being every thing that he saw was Good to Be and to give them all those powers of Action that they have and withal to look after them so as that both they and all their Motions and Actions should at last be to the Praise and Glory of the same Goodness that first enclined him to create them His Infinite Wisdom contrived the Methods in which all this should be brought to pass and so laid the Scheme and Platform of things that nothing could happen in the whole Creation from the beginning of the World to the end thereof tho' it was in it self never so bad never so mischievous but what both might and should be so ordered as to be subservient to that end And lastly The Scheme of Things being thus laid His Infinite Power first produced All things and still upholds All things and from time to time in their several seasons actually brings to pass every thing according to the Determinations of his eternal Wisdom And tho' it doth it in ways secret to us yet it doth it certainly and surely and withal most easily and gently with the least violence to the establish'd Laws of Nature and without any force at all upon the Free Wills of Intelligent Beings This I say is the Account that both Reason and Scripture give us of God's Making and Governing the World Infinite Knowledge is the Foundation of All. Infinite Goodness is the Author and Mover of All. Infinite Wisdom is the Contriver and Director of All. And Infinite Power executes All. Admit now these Principles and see what will follow from them It will follow from hence in the first place that every Event that happens in the World is beautiful in its season as Solomon expresses it That is to say How unaccountable soever it may appear to us yet there is a good Reason to be given both why it happens at all and likewise why it happens at that time and with those circumstances that it doth It helps to adorn the Great Drama and Contrivance of God's Providence and ministers to excellent Ends tho' we poor Creatures do little apprehend how it makes for them As indeed it is impossible we should unless we had the whole Comprehension of Things in our Minds and saw the entire Scheme of God's Government from the beginning to the end This must needs be so if we be Govern'd by Infinite Wisdom Secondly It follows from hence that both Good and Evil are measured to Mankind according to their respective Capacities If we be fit for Good Good will come If we deserve Punishment we must expect that likewise For All God's ways are equal tho' Ours be unequal And therefore it is the most unreasonable thing in the World to impute our Successes whether they be Good or Bad so wholly to the immediate Hands that managed our Affairs as not in the first place to take notice of the Hand of God in them There is a Divine Power that governs all these matters And tho' it be true that no Misfortune no ill Success ever happens but there is a Human Reason to be given for it and it may be found out upon what occasion or by what neglect or thro' what ill management that Misfortune happened Yet it is as true that if those that managed for us had the Wisdom and the Conduct and the Strength of the very Angels of God yet their Endeavours would not be effectual for the making us happy unless we our selves were in a Capacity of being so by being proper Objects of God's Mercy and Favour This must likewise be true if perfect Justice govern the World Thirdly It follows from hence that even the severer Dispensations of God's Providence toward us the things we complain of and are uneasie under our very Calamities and Misfortunes and Disappointments even these are the effects of God's Kindness tho' at the same time they may be likewise Instances of His Justice That is to say they are meant really for our Good and will prove so if we make that use of them we should do The very Nature of God is to do all Good at all Times to all his Creatures For He had no other End in making them nor has he any other End in looking after them But God cannot do good to All in the same way Correction and Chastisement and Punishment is in some cases more expedient for the bringing People to Rights and promoting their true Interests than the giving them all that their own Hearts can wish In such cases therefore God must deal with his Creatures as every wise Parent deals with his Children And tho' these Chastisements as the Apostle tells us are not joyous but grievous yet are they design'd for the bringing forth the peaceable fruits of righteousness in all them that are exercised thereby The truth is we do not know what is good for our selves We often wish for things that perhaps if our wishes were granted would undo us But our Happiness is that God knows all and so tempers all that all Events even those that we are apt to look upon as the greatest Judgments shall at last appear more visibly to have been the wisest methods that could possibly have been contrived for the doing the Greatest Good to us And if they do not succeed accordingly it will be our own fault This must likewise needs be true if perfect Goodness govern All For even Justice it self is but a different way of expressing Goodness And all that which