he had but now been assured of it what instruction doth this yield more readily than that no Man shall be acknowledged by God to be one that fears him but he that upon trial doth what God requires and therefore that we should not presume upon the goodness of our Hearts and Intentions towards God when our Actions contradict our Pretences It is true God sees the Qualities and Dispositions of our Minds with an Infallible Judgment but we not so certainly it is hard for us to tell what degree of Faith or Fear is proper to God's Children is justifying or saving But if in the hardest trials of thy Obedience thou dost keep God's Commandments then thou art sure that thou fearest God and because God would have thee try thy self by this Rule he was pleased to testify his own knowledge that Abraham feared him upon Abraham's ready Obedience as if he had not known it before 2. Another point of Instruction and of good use in all Ages of the World is this That God hath some Servants and Worshippers who are not hired to the Profession of serving him by the worldly ease profit and security that Religion brings and who when that expectation fails them will not turn their backs upon him to choose another Master The Devil insinuated against Job That he served God because God had made an hedge about him and about his house and all that he had on every side because he had blessed the work of his hands and increased his substance in the land but if God would put forth his hand and touch all that he had then he would curse him to his face i. e. That then he would be as profane as he was before godly in outward appearance But upon trial it proved otherwise and he retained his Integrity saying Shall we receive good at the hand of God and shall we not receive evil Job 2.10 Such another instance of this kind was Abraham God had blessed him with great Increase and Prosperity upon the leaving of his Country and there was nothing wanting to compleat his Desires but an Heir to his Blessings which God had a long time denied him and at length gave him But it might be hitherto objected against the sincerity of Abraham's fear of God and dependance upon him That he perceiving how much for the better it was that he left his Country at the Call of God and finding now that all things went well with him did therefore make profession of serving the only true God because he found that it was the way to compass all that his heart could desire in the World How therefore should it appear that he behaved himself Religiously out of Conscience of his Duty in an absolute and entire dependance upon God's Sovereign Power Wisdom and Goodness And that was a thing very necessary to be made out for the Credit of Religion in the World and to demonstrate the ingenuity and sincerity of the Righteous There could be no other way so effectual no demonstration so clear as this That Abraham without murmuring and disputing should let go the dearest of all his Possessions in obedience to the Command of God and this was the trial God made of his sincerity There was nothing that he held more dear to him than his only Son for whose sake it was that he did set a value upon all the rest of his possessions well therefore might it be said upon his ready compliance with this severe Command Now I know that thou fearest God This being as much as to say Now thy sincerity is put beyond all question and all Men must acknowledge that thou art in good earnest what thou hast all along pretended to be one that truly fearest God and who therefore dost that which is good not for worldly and mercenary Ends but because thou art absolutely resolved to depend upon God's Wisdom and Goodness in doing every thing that he requires And we must not think Brethren that this Testimony of Abraham's Faith and Sincerity was given him only for his own sake but for the sake of all Good men that should in any Age of the World tread in the steps of Abraham's Faith viz. That all Religious Men are what they are not for worldly Respects but for Conscience towards God And therefore the trial of Abraham's Faith did not only vindicate him but all God's faithful Servants to the end of the World from the charge of Hypocrisy and pretending Religion for worldly Ends Indeed he was tried in the most extraordinary instance that could be well thought of and there was this reason for it because he was to be the Father of the Faithful the great Example of Faith and Religion And it well became him who was to have so great an Honour conferr'd upon him in all Ages to undergo such a trial of his Faith as might not only be a standing Example of our Duty but a means to vindicate our Sincerity against the Reproaches of the World though we be not tried as Abraham was For if Religion in the general be charged with the Hypocrisy of compassing worldly Advantages under a pretext of Conscience we desire them to look to the Example of our Father Abraham and to consider the proof that he gave of his Sincerity and God's Testimony concerning him Now I know that thou fearest God And this is the temper and disposition of all Abraham's Children That they depend upon God's Providence not because they have a good Estate that they are righteous and just not because it is the way to thrive that they serve God not because he makes an hedge about all they have and observe the Rules of Religion not merely because they are under no unusual temptations to the contrary and the like but because believing in God and fearing and loving him in good earnest they are persuaded they ought so to demean themselves in expectation of his Favour which is better than Life and of his Rewards in a better World In short Abraham the Father of the faithful was therefore tried in this manner that there might be in him an undeniable instance of the sincerity and ingenuity of true believers to the end of the World who live in all good Conscience not expecting the profit of this World in recompence of their Piety and Justice and that Religion will secure their Bodies from Sickness their Goods from Rapine their Names from Reproach their Persons from Affronts and their course of Life from common or from unusual Troubles and Afflictions Abraham and his Children do not traffick with Heaven by their Prayers and Charity to secure or increase their Possessions on Earth And though God hath often blessed Good men as he did Abraham with strange prosperity in this World yet this was not their end nor the reason of their dependance upon God and doing his Will but they were such as they were by Faith By faith they wrought righteousness Heb. 11.33 i. e. They did that thing which
the Church any more than the Errors of Pergamos made her cease to be so nor that it is impossible the Reformed and the Unreformed part of Christendom should be within the Pale of that one Church which we profess to believe in the Creed any more than it was impossible for the Church of Pergamos to have been a part of the Catholick Church both before and after her Reformation And thus I have gone through the Task I set my self and I hope need to make no Apology for entertaining you with a Controversy of this nature which indeed ought to be no Controversy amongst us But if it were needful I have this to say Whereas the Church of England does not pretend to be an Infallible Guide or Judge and yet requires the People to believe as she believes to profess what she professeth and to do what she enjoineth it is very fit that her Ministers should sometimes make it plain that she requires this because she has reason so to do and is not in these Points deceived though she does not pretend that she cannot err in any I know not whether I have made the things I have discoursed plain enough to every Understanding but whether that be so or not yet every one may perceive that we appeal to his Reason for the Truth and Honesty of our Cause and for my own part if I understood nothing else of the Merits of it I had rather be of a Church which pretends to guide me with Reason than of another that would govern me without it and that because the former is likely to take more care not to mislead me than the latter needs to do which when it has gained me to an implicit Faith and a blind Obedience may lead me whither she pleases As for what I have now said I declare in the Presence of God that I have offered nothing to you but what I believe my self and farther that I am not conscious to my self of any reason why I am fixed in the Communion of this Church in opposition to the other but a full Conviction of the Errors of that Church which if I should profess or practise I could not entertain the least hopes of Salvation And we who are thus convinced are as I take it bound in Conscience to take seasonable opportunities of confirming our Brethren in our Communion and enabling them as well as we can to make it appear that the Arguments and the Answers of the other side are unsatisfactory and vain as I have in some part endeavoured to shew at this time We should indeed not be unwilling to take pains to recover those to the knowledge of the Truth that are educated in damnable Errors but there is much more reason to do all we can to retain those in the profession of the Truth that have been educated in it seeing if they revolt we cannot have that hope of their Salvation which we would fain have of theirs who want sufficient means to discover them It were a blessed state of the Church indeed if all being united in true Faith and Worship we had nothing to do but to persuade and exhort men and to take care of them that they live answerably thereto but since we have two Works upon our hands to guard you against Error as well as to warn you against a wicked Life I do not see how we can discharge our Duty but by doing one as well as the other And that I may not say nothing to the latter I am to tell you in the Conclusion That we do not make the Communion of the best Church in the World to be all in all a man may go to Hell in the Communion of a pure Church and without true Repentance and Reformation the best and purest Church that ever was since the Gospel began could have done him no service And I take it to be as great a Corruption as can be readily thought of for any Church to pretend to save men by a Trick and send them to Heaven any other way than the plain way of keeping the Commandments of God and our Saviour Jesus Christ Keep therefore the pure Profession of the Christian Faith but withal keep a good Conscience void of offence towards God and towards man Hold fast the form of sound words But still remember that if your Works be not answerable your Faith is vain For not the hearers of the Law but the doers thereof shall be justified Not he that saith Lord Lord shall enter into the kingdom of heaven but he that doth the will of our Father which is in heaven The Second Sermon MATTH XVIII 7. Wo unto the world because of offences for it must needs be that offences come But wo to that Man by whom the Offence cometh THE great End of the Gospel is to bring Mankind to Salvation and in order thereunto to convert them from Sin and from all dangerous Error and to lead them to a right Faith and a Holy Life But it is too evident that this End is not attained Universally And if any one should be tempted to suspect that the Christian Religion is not therefore a Divine Revelation because it has in so great part failed of the End which it pretended to pursue he may be easily brought to assurance again by considering the vast good which Christianity hath done in the World but especially by observing that the Gospel hath foretold that all men would not believe and obey Our blessed Lord himself testified that many were called but few were chosen and that strait was the Gate and narrow the way that leadeth to Life and few there be that find it Nay inasmuch as he hath forewarned us of a Day of Judgment and hath told us beforehand That the Word which he hath spoken the same should judge us at the Last Day This was a manifest Declaration that he did not pretend to lead men to Faith and Repentance by such means as could not but be effectual but only by such as were sufficient if we would in any measure comply with his gracious Methods and it was also a plain intimation that a great many would be never the better but the worse for these means that God had provided for their Salvation and that some for not receiving them others for not improving them would fall into greater Condemnation But our Saviour did not foretell these things only but the Causes of them too and what it was that would obstruct the Progress and Design of his Religion For this is the importance of those words of his which I have now chosen for my Subject Wo be to the world because of offences for it must needs be that offences come By Offences or Scandals we are here and almost everywhere in the New Testament to understand those Temptations to Sin and Inducements to Error which some men lay in the way of others They are sometimes otherwise express'd Snares Stumbling-blocks and occasions of Fallings for the
God required because they expected an heavenly Country and believed God to be a rewarder of them that diligently seek him though not always with the prosperity of this Life yet without fail with those pure and ravishing Joys of a better World which will shortly begin and never end To conclude this point It hath been very often the charge of the World upon all the Professors of Piety That in their Hearts they are as bad as others whatever their appearance be That they are as much in love with the Wealth and Pleasures of this Life as those that profess to make them their End and therefore to vindicate the sincerity of his Servants God does sometimes make them undeniable demonstrations of the falshood of this Charge These are the principal points of Instruction that are contained in the Testimony God gave to Abraham I pass on to the Second General in the Text viz. II. The Fact upon which this Testimony of God concerning Abraham was grounded which was his offering up his Son Isaac to God according to that Command which he had received Because thou hast not with-held thy son thine only son from me And here I shall briefly consider 1. The Nature of the Fact And 2. The Nature of the Trial which the Fact supposes 1. The Nature of the Fact which was his stretching forth his hand to slay his son upon the altar And all I shall say as to this matter is that God in that case did not command Murther which is a thing that he had absolutely forbidden for the Command of God made it not to be Murther if it had been effected as it was fully designed on Abraham's part God is the absolute Lord of Life and Death and can without doing any wrong take away Life at his pleasure and he may do it which way he pleases by commanding Abraham to kill his Son as well as by commanding a Fever to do it If Abraham had not had that Command his intention had been wicked such slaying were murtherous not commanded but the Command of God who hath an absolute Right to dispose of every Man's Life made it not to be Murther if it had been effected indeed This is enough for the Nature of the Fact considered in it self But 2. We are to consider it as it was a trial of Abraham's Faith and submission to God and procured that Testimony Now I know that thou fearest God And here there are these two things very remarkable 1. That God singled out his beloved Possession to be offered forthwith for a Sacrifice to himself Take now thy son thine only son Isaac whom thou lovest and get thee into the land of Moriah and offer him there for a burnt-offering upon one of the mountains which I will tell thee of God laid before him all the stings of so hard an Injunction Take thy son and that thine only son I know thou lovest him dearly but yet he must be a Sacrifice to me and a Sacrifice offered by thine own hand This was such a saying as that of Jesus teaching the heighth of sincere Religion He that will be my disciple must deny himself He that loveth father or mother or children on houses or lands or his own life more than me is not worthy of me For we cannot think that he who would give up such a Possession to God to wit his only Son would deny him any thing Had all his Flocks and his Herds his whole Wealth and Possessions nay had himself been called for to become a Sacrifice to God he that denied not to God his only Son would not have denied him these Here was an example indeed of absolute Resignation to God of Universal Acquiescence in his Will Here was indeed the Spirit of true Religion that Abraham counted nothing too dear for his Maker for this Command was in effect as if God had said Take now all that thou hast without exception of any thing be thou as naked as when thou camest into the World strip thy self of every thing and lay it before me to be disposed of as I please And had this been demanded had all been required he that offered his only Son would with the same readiness have parted with all his Possessions Herein therefore consisted the trial of Abraham's Faith and Obedience which the Fact supposes that when the Question was Whether he loved God above all things and feared him above all things and trusted in him above all things This one single act was a demonstration that he did Which ought to put us in mind that God requires an entire Obedience to and Dependance upon himself and the giving up our most desirable Possessions to him when his Word or his Providence calls for them and that thus we are to be disposed if we be the Children of Abraham who was the Father of the Faithful It is farther remarkable under this head that God required Abraham to do this forthwith without disputing and delaying and therefore the Command was not only a trial of what Abraham would do in an extreme hard case but also how he was constantly provided and prepared to do as became God's Servant in such a case It had not been so notable a trial of the goodness of the Man if he had had a Week or a Month's time allowed him to lay all things together and to reason out the case and to bring himself to a willingness by such arguments as the matter would bear for then it had been supposed that Abraham had not duly weighed these things before nor lived in a constant and habitual sense of his Duty which was to obey universally but in some extraordinary trial of his Obedience must have time allowed him to prepare himself for it But this trial coming of a sudden and the Command being to be executed forthwith as it was plainly demonstrated that Abraham was always ready to offer up his Son and could never have been taken unprovided to do the Will of God in the most difficult case And therefore his example doth not only instruct us that God is to be entirely submitted to but that we are to be always ready and prepared in heart and mind to do well upon the trial of our Faith and Obedience that when it happens in any notable instance we may in some measure come up to that perfection in Self-resignation to God which Abraham as far as it appears by the History of him was a Pattern of For he did set himself to part with his All without murmuring and expostulating and disputing for some such thing seems to be intimated in that saying That he rose early in the morning and immediately went about the execution of God's Command Though without doubt a Man of his human and tender affections could not but feel pain in receiving this command of God and an uneasy strugling between his Faith in God and his Affection to his Child yet it doth not appear that this delayed his resolution to
himself as much pleased with our Faith as he was with Abraham's and will reward it as effectually To sum up all The Testimony of God to Abraham's Faith was not given meerly for his own sake but for the Instruction and Encouragement of all true Believers to the World's end who when they deny themselves and do the hardest Duties and are never offended with the Will of God have I say a Title to the Testimony God gave to Abraham Now I know that thou fearest God Certainly it would be no mean encouragement to us it would raise up our minds to very great degrees of Joy and Triumph to have God say that to us that he did to Abraham but we are to remember that it was said to him once for all in behalf of all his Children that should tread in the steps of his faith This was not an Honour given to Abraham only though to him principally and in the first place it was done him also for the Credit of Religion in all Ages of the World and for the comfort and joy of all Religious and Holy Men and Women to the end of the World Wherefore my Brethren that we may come in for some share in the Praise and Reward of Abraham's Faith let there be in none of us an evil heart of unbelief in departing from the living God The evil heart of unbelief is the evil heart that causeth unbelief i. e. some corrupt inclination some unmortified Lust some carnal interest or other Do thou therefore in the first place when thou hast an eye upon the example of Abraham conceive how much thou art obliged to take thy sin thy dearly beloved sin whatever it be and slay it that is the first Sacrifice thou canst offer to God to wit a broken and contrite heart an heart clean from worldly and sinful Lusts Do this and thou wilt find nothing too dear for God thy Faith will then make thee to be entirely at the disposal of his Will and Pleasure it will justify and support thee in so doing and the God of Abraham will be thine exceeding great reward The Seventh Sermon MATTH XV. 1 2 3. Then came to Jesus Scribes and Pharisees which were of Jerusalem saying Why do thy Disciples transgress the Tradition of the Elders for they wash not their hands when they eat bread But he answered and said unto them Why do ye also transgress the Commandment of God by your Tradition THough never Man was so unreproveable in his Doctrine and Example as our Lord Jesus yet never was Man more opposed or cavilled at as the Evangelists do abundantly testify in that History of him which they have written for us being upon the matter made up of the Holy Doctrines which he delivered the Good Works in which he was always employed and the Contradictions which he continually met with And it was very necessary that some instances of the last should be recorded for our sakes that they who profess the Truth as it is in Jesus should not think it strange if they happened to meet with such opposition as their Master did and likewise that by his Answers to the Cavils of his Adversaries they might be instructed how they should defend themselves afterwards against the like Objections One instance whereof we have in the Text I have now chosen to speak to Then came to Jesus Scribes and Pharisees which were of Jerusalem c. As to which words I shall not need to say much concerning the Persons that our Saviour had to deal withal because their Character is so well known to all that diligently read the Gospels The Scribes were the Men that professed to Teach the Law and expected to have all their Interpretations received as Oracles The Pharisees were the most subtle and prevailing Sect amongst the Scribes for though as things were in that Age and for some time before the Scribes generally agreed in corrupting the Law and deceiving the People yet they had their Parties and Factions among themselves the Pharisees in our Saviour's time being a Sect of the greatest Power in the Council and of the greatest Reputation with the People and whereas it is said that they were the Scribes and Pharisees or the Scribes of the Pharisaical Party which were of Jerusalem that came to Jesus the meaning is that they were such as kept their Schools in the City of Jerusalem and were therefore of the first rank amongst the Pharisees And now I shall discourse to you of these two things First Of the Objection which these Men made against Jesus and his Disciples Secondly Of the Answer which our Saviour made to the Charge that was laid against them I. Of the Objection which these Men made against Jesus and his Disciples Why do thy Disciples transgress the tradition of the elders for they wash not their hands when they eat bread A Charge laid with as much confidence as anger and therefore they scorned to put any of his Disciples to answer it and thought fit to challenge the Master himself about it Now the first thing that is proper to be considered here is 1. The nature of the Charge which seems to be a general one illustrated by one particular instance The general Charge was That the Disciples of Jesus transgressed the tradition of the elders The particular instance was That they transgressed such Tradition in not washing their hands before meat As to the general Charge they had transgressed the tradition of the elders But what was the Tradition of the Elders The Tradition of the Elders was the Doctrine that had been delivered and the Rules that had been laid down by Wise and Great men and universally received in former Ages One would think therefore that the Laws of Moses and the Rules of the Prophets and whatsoever was commanded in the Scriptures had been the tradition of the elders for all these things had been delivered down by an uncontroulable Tradition from hand to hand for near Two thousand Years But there was no such meaning under these words as they used them By the tradition of the elders or by the ancient Tradition of Wise and Great men they meant no Doctrines or Rules for Faith or Practice that were expressed in the Writings of Moses and the Prophets but such Doctrines as not being written in the Law were delivered down by word of Mouth and by constant usage from Father to Son and so from one Age to another And thus Josephus tells us Antiq. 13.13 That the first and main Principle of the Pharisees was that they denied all those things to be written which concerned Religion The Fundamental Rule of their Sect was this that there was a double Law an Oral Law and a Written Law A Law delivered from Age to Age by word of mouth as well as a Law delivered in such Books as had Authority from Moses and the Prophets To gain reverence to these Traditions they persuaded the People that though they were not written in the
in those Errors than it hath been and perhaps utterly impossible to maintain them amongst Christians without destroying the Bible out of the World But then by the same reason that such cautions had been necessary a thousand times as many more had been necessary too For so many Additions by way of caution must have been made as there are ways of eluding and perverting a Rule which are so many that to have provided expresly against them all would have made the Bible a more voluminous Book than any is in the World not to say the most odd and uncouth Book that ever was seen For whoever wrote or spoke in that manner as to provide against all possible ways of being mistaken or having his words perverted According to this rate a man must not expect to make an end of a sentence in an hour and when he has done all he can his explications may be perverted too And therefore we are not to wonder if God has not provided express Cautions against all possible Mistakes and Abuses of this nature but thought good to leave a Rule of Faith and Manners and Worship which would be sufficient to guide all honest Persons and lovers of Truth though not sufficient to exclude all Cavil and Abuse For this reason it was that our Saviour did not pretend that all who saw his Works and heard his Doctrines must necessarily believe in him but he required constantly a certain temper of mind consisting of Humility Sincerity love of the Truth and in a word A good and honest Heart in order to a Man's being his true Disciple Common Sense and Reason was not sufficient for this purpose but there must be also a peculiar Probity or teachable Spirit a Mind ready to believe all Truth and to do all Duty These were the Sheep that would hear his voice and the Ground that would receive his Seed and bring forth Fruit Such were the Men that would hear and understand and know of the Doctrine whether it were of God But as for others they would make a shift to reject it with some colour for so doing or to pervert it if they once admitted it This was the first things to be considered the temper and design of the Gospel which delivers Truth that does by no means gratify the Lusts of Men or please their Imaginations or serve the interest of particular persons to the disadvantage of all others and then that this Truth was delivered in that way which though it be apt to instruct and convince all honest Men yet will not infallibly bear down a spirit of Contradiction Now to this we must add 2. The consideration of the general temper of Mankind for whose sake the Gospel was made known viz. that it is very corrupt and exceedingly prone to Sin and therefore to Error impatient of true Virtue and Piety and therefore of true Doctrine Human Nature does affect a lawless Liberty and cannot well bear to be confined and it is so diseased that it doth not take it well to be healed it is therefore no wonder if the Remedy which God hath provided hath been so tampered withal by Men as to make it ineffectual for that purpose for which he hath sent it to us and Doctrines have been taught which give that liberty that Truth denies It was not to be expected but that if the Doctrine of Christianity should not effectually overcome those Lusts that reign in the World those Lusts would corrupt and pervert that Doctrine and bring in Heresies Ambition and Covetousness would bring in Heresies for the establishing of a worldly Power and Dominion in the Name of Christ Licentiousness would bring in Heresies for making void the Commandments of God Pride would bring in Heresies though for nothing else but a Man's satisfaction and glory in drawing many People into a Party and becoming the Head of it and when they were brought in the natural inconstancy and wavering of some would carry them away from the Truth the natural stiffness and inflexibility of others would detain them in Error the very desire and love of Novelty would at first help to bring in some and in process of time the pretence of Antiquity would be every day more and more able to gain others Finally the unwillingness of most Men to take pains in the search of Truth and the greater ease of depending upon the absolute Authority of others would give a farther advantage to Error which fears nothing more than an Examination and therefore discourages all Persons from giving themselves so needless a trouble since they have the word of those for their security who cannot possibly mislead them considering the diseases of Human Nature which the Doctrine of Christ doth not cure miraculously and irresistibly it could not be expected but there would be Factions and Heresies against the Truth If therefore it be thought strange that the Apostle should say there must be Heresies let us consider that this is no more than if he had said after all the care that God hath taken to restore Mankind there will be Pride and Ambition there will be Covetousness and Injustice and the Love of this World there will be Luxury and Licenciousness there will be both Inconstancy and Stiffneckedness there will be Laziness and Slothfulness and Unaptness for Instruction and therefore there must be Heresies for God hath provided no infallible Remedies against Sin and Wickedness and as certainly as the Vices of the World would break out in the Church so certainly would Errors get into it by degrees and usurp the Name and Authority of Truth 'T is true that God if he pleased could absolutely have hindred it by his over-ruling Power But in this saying it is implied that he would not do so and Experience has shewn that he has not done so and we have no reason to wonder at it since he is not pleased to make all Men good by an irresistible Grace and there was less reason to expect that he should make all Men Orthodox by an irresistible Illumination And so I come to the second point Which concerns the reason assigned why God is pleased to permit Heresies That they which are approved may be made manifest i. e. that it may most evidently appear who are sincere and honest and who are not so for opposition to the Truth and the ways that are taken to advance Error do prove what Men are at the bottom and distinguish between those that would appear all alike if the same Truth were equally professed by all The great difference that breaks out is that between the probity of some Men on the one side and the falseness and hypocrisy of others on the other side which appears in these instances 1. In a more diligent search after Truth which is the effect Heresies have upon honest and godly Men while they give occasion to Hypocrites to consider what is most for their ease their safety their advantage in this World whilst the several parties
of Christians are each of them eagerly contending for their own ways Men of honesty and sincerity find themselves obliged to examine their own persuasions more narrowly and to compare one thing with another more carefully so that if they apprehend a mistake in themselves they quit it without any more to do and come to establish themselves in the Truth upon better grounds than they had before and are better able to lead others into it 2. By this means also the constancy of sincere persons in the profession of the Truth is manifested For where there is no opposition there can be no trial of that Love to the Truth which will not suffer a Man to forsake it and this not only because a Man's stedfastness cannot be proved but by opposition and temptation but likewise because there are but few Good Men in comparison who would be at the pains of a diligent Examination of their own persuasions if contrary Doctrines were not advanced they would rely mostly upon the Consent and Authority of others instead of believing Truth upon its proper Grounds and Arguments But if as I said in the first instance the spreading of Heresies puts them upon a diligent search after the reasons of Truth their stedfastness in it afterwards is manifested to be the true Virtue of Constancy which does not consist in an obstinate resolution not to change our Opinion let what will be produced against it but in adhering to that which appears to be true after the most diligent examination of all that can be said against it And thus Heresies make Good Men more constant in the Truth by giving them an opportunity of confirming themselves in it by better Arguments and clearer Evidence and they manifest their constancy to the World inasmuch as the Adversaries of Truth are never wanting to shake the stedfastness of true Believers by all ways of temptation imaginable 3. Their Charity to others is manifested also by means of Heresies and Opposition to the Truth for here is occasion given to shew their care of one another in satisfying the doubtful in instructing the ignorant in giving caution to the confident and encouragement to the weak all which are noble instances of Christian Charity But this is not all since their care to recover others from the way of Error to reduce those that are gone aside together with their enduring contradiction their instructing in much patience their meekness towards those that oppose themselves are likewise manifested upon all such occasions 4. Their sincerity does likewise appear in another respect viz. of defending Truth with Truth only and a good Cause by Innocence and honest means without making use of Frauds of Lies of False Accusations of false Principles of unconcluding Arguments of any disingenuous Arts without making advantage of the weakness and mistakes of others which one thing makes a vast difference between those that are honest and those that are not All which instances do express the truth of that reason for which God has still suffered Heresies to be in the Church That they which are approved may be made manifest i. e. that their love of the Truth and their diligence in enquiring after it that their constancy in professing it that their charity to those that are and to those that are not misled and their sincerity and ingenuity in asserting Truth and appearing for it by none but lawful methods and just arguments may appear to the World which as it is for the praise of Good Men so there are other benefits arising from it for instance 1. That the belief of true Doctrine comes hereby to be established upon better and firmer grounds than in all likelihood had been discovered if Opposition had not obliged honest Men to dig the deeper for them and this we have noted already 2. That by the way many profitable Truths come to be discovered which had otherwise lain hid The Scriptures come to be better understood and the more obscure passages of it to be reasonably well interpreted all which is for the advantage of the Church of God Opposition whets the Industry and sets an edge upon the Wit of all Men good and bad and whilst bad Men are concerned to find out all the ways of supporting Error the good and honest are no less employed to arm themselves with all the advantages of Truth and therefore cannot fail of arriving at greater Skill in the things of God and a greater compass of understanding in Divine matters than if they had not been constrained to undermine the approaches of Error Lastly The Duty that is incumbent upon all Men of Honesty and Sincerity to maintain the Profession of the pure Doctrine of the Gospel against all Heresies whatsoever shews them also the necessity of recommending true Opinions to the World by more Orthodox lives by walking more warily and circumspectly by setting better Examples of all kinds of Virtue and Piety by shewing the force and efficacy of true Doctrine to make Men live soberly righteously and godly in this present World And when God suffers Heresies to prevail most in the Church 't is a loud call to all that are Friends of Truth and Goodness to justify his Cause by the strongest Arguments and the best Lives And now he is something to blame that will not acknowledge these two things to follow from what has been said 1. That Heresies and Schisms are no objection against the Providence of God 2. That they are no objection against the Truth and Goodness of a Church 1. That they are no objection against the Providence of God since they have their good use and consequence for which he is pleased to permit them and this especially to try the Honesty of Men and to shew what they are to the World which will in the end make extreamly for the advantage of Truth and commonly the more Heresies there are the more certainly is this Trial made In the mean while it is not to be dissembled that yet diversity of Sects and Parties hath its manifold mischiefs and miseries attending upon it it breeds scandal to the World it is the diversion of Atheists and Unbelievers it nourishes Discords and Animosities it removes the Contentious farther from the knowledge of the Truth it makes the Study of good Manners and the Practice of Holiness and Virtue to be in a great measure forgotten it lessens the Reverence of Authority it produces Fraud and Force Unfaithfulness and Cruelty and has made Men and which is worse Christians Foxes and Wolves to one another so that 't is not to be denied but Heresies are in themselves and in their consequences very great Evils but then they are such Evils as the Providence of God permits for wise and good Ends such as I have already mentioned They have their good consequences as well as their bad ones and the good that is wrought out of them is weighty enough to overbalance the Evil for the greatest mischief that is discernable in
of the Jewish State and Religion which was to be accompanied with manifest Tokens of God's Favour to the Christians and of his indignation at their Enemies And thus we are to understand that passage in St. Peter The end of all things is at hand be ye therefore sober and watch unto prayer 1 Pet. 4.7 Not that this was in a strict and proper sense the Coming of Christ because he did not come in Person as he will do at the last day but in some sense it might be so called because he appeared by his Power and Providence to do the same work in part which will with incomparably greater perfection be done at the last i.e. to take Vengeance of the ungodly and to save his own People for the Incorrigibleness of the Jewish Nation and their incurable hatred of the Truth and obstinate Persecution of it was dreadfully punished in the destruction of Jerusalem and the Christians had not only all escaped out of it before the Roman Army came against it but by the destruction of it they gained also a very considerable rest from Persecution for some time after And now the reason why this wonderful Providence was called the Coming of Christ seems plainly to be this That after his Ascension into Heaven he set down at the right hand of God and had all Power put into his hands and therefore because it is he that governs the World as well as the Church such remarkable Revolutions as that was for the destruction of his enemies and the saving of his Servants are called the coming of Christ God hath given him to be head over all things to the Church and therefore such Passages as that was are called his coming to signifie that they are the effects of his Providence and Government for the good of his Church no less than if he had come in Person to order them as he will do at the end of the World to order all things then And for this reason then though in the proper sense of his coming he will come but once at the end of the World yet in this improper sense of it his appearance to destroy his Enemies and to save his People that trust in him nothing hinders but that he may be said to come often before the end of the World i. e. as often as his Providence doth signally and remarkably appear for this purpose And thus we are to understand the coming of the Lord in 2 Thes 2.8 where it is said of the Man of sin that wicked one That the Lord shall consume him with the spirit of his mouth and destroy him with the brightness of his coming which being to be done before the personal coming of Christ to Judgment the meaning must be that his destruction shall be so remarkably the Work of a Divine Providence that all shall confess it was not the effect of worldly Policy but no less the doing of the Lord than if himself had come in Person to destroy him And whenever the Kingdoms of the World become the Kingdoms of the Lord when the knowledge of God covers the earth as the waters cover the sea When those magnificent Predictions are fulfilled concerning the universal prevalence of Truth and Goodness amongst Men with which the Old and New Testament are plentifully furnished and which are to be fulfilled before the coming of Christ to the last Judgment then also is it true that the Lord comes i.e. by the Power of his Spirit and Providence to renew and reform a degenerate World that was running headlong into perdition And thus much concerning the sense of these Words when the son of man cometh which I have shewn do principally signifie that great and amazing revolution when he shall come by coming in his own Person at the last day to judge the World but in a secondary sense do also signifie the remarkable Works of his Providence in punishing some and saving others even in this Life Now 2. How are we to understand that other clause will he find Faith upon the Eartb The meaning of the Question is plainly this That he will not find Faith on the Earth or very little in comparison But what is here meant by Faith I answer that is easily discerned by the Parable and the Application of it that went before The design of both which was to infer the conclusion in the foregoing verse And shall not God avenge his own Elect which cry day and night unto him though he bear long with them I tell you he will avenge them speedily That is to say God would hear the Prayers of righteous Men and in a little time take their cause into his own hand and then says our Saviour Nevertheless when the son of man cometh shall he find faith on the earth i. e. notwithstanding the Promises of God to hear the Prayers of good Men and to interpose for them that depend upon him there will be but little Faith in these Promises found up-upon the Earth even when the Son of Man comes to fulfil them The greatest part will not be found to believe any thing at all of them and so will be surprized with that day without any preparation for it or expectation of it Many will yield to the Temptations of this present World and throwing off their dependance upon God will think to secure themselves by Flattery and Hypocrisie from the Violence of wicked Men others will despair of any better state of things and very few will lay to heart the promises which God hath made to hear the Prayers of his Servants and to save them Few will strengthen themselves in God by crying to him day and night and by putting their whole trust and confidence in him and this notwithstanding the clear and strong reasons they have from his Word so to do Nevertheless when the Son of Man cometh shall he find faith on the earth And thus we may from other places of Scripture observe that immediately before the Day of Judgment there will be a great falling away from Christian Piety and Charity nay and the World should begin once more to depart from the Purity of Faith many false Prophets shall arise and shall deceive many and because Iniquity shall abound the love of many shall wax cold But says our Saviour he that endures to the end shall be saved thereby intimating that it would be some matter of difficulty to endure to the end Thus also St. Peter tells us that there shall come in the last days scoffers walking after their own lusts and saying Where is the promise of his coming which is plainly meant of the Day of Judgment before which according to the Revelation of St. John Satan was to be loosed for a little time and to go out and to deceive the nations and to gather them together against the City of God And therefore it will be remarkably true at the day of Judgment that when the Son of Man cometh he will find but
wanting to maintain it When all Flesh had corrupted their ways God came and swept away Mankind with a Flood and saved Noah to be the Father of a new and better Generation When their Prosperity had corrupted their ways he called Abraham forth to preserve true Religion in him and in his Family and these and the like Providences are Pledges of the same care to interpose in behalf of Truth and Righteousness when the Faithful seem to fail from among the Children of Men. While God seems to let the World alone and to suffer all Men to go on in their own ways as if he took no notice of them nor were at all concerned at what they did he is all the while trying and proving what they are not indeed for his own Information for he knows all things but for the instruction of those that are to come after If he at every turn should interpose when we think it needful we should very seldom know who are sincere and who are Hypocrites it is very fit that it should be sometimes seen whether Men are what they pretend to be whether indeed they are concerned for that Truth for which they have once pretended a mighty Zeal whether they are governed by Conscience as they say or by mere worldly and politick Considerations for such Discoveries as these are very instructing and serve for the bringing about of much good in the World and in the Church which we may reasonably presume to be one cause why when the Son of Man comes he will find but little Faith upon the Earth because while he suffers the World to go on as if he minded it not he is trying those that pretend to Faith and upon the Tryal many are discovered not to have it In short Divine Providence is so far from being regardless of the Affairs of Men that it then most of all shews it self when Men are tempted to think that it regards nothing i. e. when there is but little Faith to be found in the Earth and this will be abundantly demonstrated at the close of all things that is at the Day of Judgment which will be the most convincing Act of Providence that ever was in the World and one Forerunner of it will be that Question Where is the promise of his coming And now the use of all ought to be that which is the declared intention of our Saviour in the beginning of the Parable And he spake a Parable to them to the end that men ought always to pray and not to faint For the true Ground of Prayer is Faith in the Providence and Promises of God and if there be no time when these fail then ought Men always to pray and not to faint i.e. they ought always to depend upon God's Providence they ought always to believe his Promises they ought always to be certain that their Prayers are heard and will turn to good account for them that God is gracious to all and much more to them that love and serve him and if they do all this then they will always pray and not faint i.e. and not be discouraged And if they ought always to pray then also when they are most apt to be discouraged and when there is but little Faith to be found upon the Earth nay then most of all because when Temptations to Unbelief are greatest we should the most of all strengthen our selves by recourse to God and dependance upon him To this Instance in Prayer there are two things must go 1. A stedfast Resolution to walk in all the ways of God and not to be diverted out of them by any worldly Interest whatsoever For he can have no Faith to go to God who thinks of taking care for himself without regard to his Duty to God A Man is not in a condition to seek the Favour of God or to commend his case to him that contrives how to shift for himself without him 2. A perfect resignation of himself to the Will of God for by this also it is that a Man entitles himself to his Favour and Blessing The most effectual way to obtain the particular Blessings we pray for at any time if they are such things as may prove evil as well as good for us is to leave the matter after all to the disposal of Divine Providence for then if we obtain them we get his Blessing with them too if we do not we are sure to get his Blessing without them which is the general thing we pray for always With these Dispositions we are in a fit case to present our Prayers to God for Spiritual Blessings for our selves and for the Church of Christ which will assuredly come accompanied with Temporal ones too if it be best for us and if God sees that it is better for his Church to be prosperous than to be afflicted in this World and then it is better so to be when Men are sufficiently prepared for it by God's Correction and their own Repentance Men ought therefore always to pray and not to faint for their Prayers thus qualified will not fail of obtaining what they ask which our Saviour thought good to illustrate by an Example in the Parable delivered before the Text viz. of an unjust Judge that neither feared God nor regarded man who nevertheless upon the importunity of a Widow did what was right in her case much more shall God hear the Prayers of his faithful Servants For 1. He is the Just God and is of himself ready to right those that do at any time suffer wrong 2. He is also the merciful God that regardeth Men and when we desire things of him that are needful he is of himself ready to grant what we ask or at least that which is more needful than what we ask 3. Whereas the Judge in the Parable seem'd to contemn the Poverty and Meanness of that Person that sued to him for Justice for which reason she is represented here to be a Widow one of a destitute Condition that wanted a Patron to assert her Right God who is Just and Good to all is particularly gracious to his Servants and esteems them highly and no Circumstances of Meanness and Distress which he suffers them to fall into can alter his Favour towards them for all which Reasons if the Judge in the Parable granted the Widow's Suit merely because she lay upon him and was troublesome to him much more will God to whom we are never troublesome when we make our Requests known to him grant what we ask because he is Righteous and Gracious and loveth and pitieth us as a Father doth his Children The Fourteenth Sermon AN ASSIZE-SERMON PREACHED at St. Maries in Bury 1678. Levit. XIX xii Ye shall not swear by my name falsly THE Religious Use of an Oath depends chiefly upon the Matter and the Discharge The Matter must be worthy of that Obligation which an Oath implies in promising it must not be unlawful that we may swear in Righteousness
and Curse of God may fall upon us I do not think that the invoking of Divine Vengeance if we swerve from the Truth is only consequent upon Swearing according to the Opinion of some learned Men but also that it belongs to the very Essence of an Oath for that should seem to be essential to it which if it were removed the fear of Perjury would be taken away with it But no Man doubts that appealing to God as a Judge is implied in appealing to him as a Witness Hence it is that the Septuagint sometimes useth 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 a Curse for 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 an Oath Said Abraham to his Servant Gen. 24.41 Thou shalt be free from this my Oath But the Septuagint render it 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 thou shalt be free from this my Curse And this is that meaning of an Oath which is well exprest both by the Forms and Rites of Swearing used amongst us the common Form being this So help ye God to which the Party Sworn gives his Assent by laying his Hand upon the Holy Gospel and kissing it all which is as much as if he had said If I falsifie let me have no part in the Grace and Mercy of God and in the Blood of Christ may I be accursed in this World and let my name be blotted out of the Book of Life And is there not good reason then why an Oath should be as the Apostle speaks of it the end of Controversie since of all other Obligations to Truth this plainly is the strongest and if a Man's Conscience will not be held by this it will be held by nothing Thus much concerning the sacred Obligation of an Oath I proceed to shew how many ways it may be violated and the Guilt of Perjury incurr'd It is usually said That an Oath is either promissory or Assertory but I think that in strictness every Oath includes a Promise even the assertory Oath by which a Man binds himself to declare what he knows concerning some matter of Fact past or present for this Oath includes a Promise of declaring the Truth concerning it only the Promise and Performance are so close to each other that they can hardly be distinguish'd whereas the Obligation of those Oaths we call promissory continues for some considerable time to come These Oaths are mostly taken out of Courts of Judicature such as the Oaths of subordinate Magistrates to execute the Laws honestly and to administer Justice impartially of the Members of a Society or Corporation to observe the Rules and vindicate the Rights of the same of inferiour Officers such as Church-wardens and Constables to present Offenders and execute their Offices according to Law finally of Subjects to yield true Allegiance and faithful Subjection to the King Such Oaths as these are directly violated two ways First If there be not an honest Intention at the time of Swearing 2. If there be not a faithful Performance afterwards For a Promise has a double aspect both upon the present Intention and the future Performance he that makes a Promise which at the same time he intends not to perform is guilty of lying and though he intends at first yet if he willingly neglects the Performance afterwards he hath broken his Word therefore if the Promise was made under Oath he is forsworn in either case and if he was false in both he is guilty of a double act of Perjury nay though the Oath were but one yet his Perjuries may be many for so long as those Circumstances remain in which the Oath binds him every wilful omission of performing the tenour of his Promise is contrary to his Oath and consequently a new violation of it so often as he fails so often he is forsworn as truly so often as if he had every time before each guilty Failure taken the same Oath which he bound himself withal at first Thou mayest be sworn once for all the Year or for all thy Life but there is no such matter as being forsworn once for all as vain People talk for by disobeying thy Superior suppose thou hast done contrary to thy Oath yesterday that was one Perjury and shouldst thou do the like to morrow that would be another If thou art under a Promise confirmed by Oath but not under the restraint of the Fear of God thou mayest bind one Curse fast upon thy Head with another and seal them with a third and go on to treasure up Wrath against the Day of Wrath. In Courts of Judicature Perjury is incurr'd when false Witness is given in upon Oath i. e. either when a Man swears that to be true which he knows to be false or that he is certain of a matter whereof he is uncertain or that he declares the utmost of his Knowledge concerning a Fact when yet he conceals any part thereof In this last case the Witness is forsworn as plainly as in the two former for his Oath is to give in Evidence not only the Truth and nothing but the Truth but likewise the whole Truth to answer such Questions as the Court shall put to him therefore the Witness is not clear from Perjury meerly by saying nothing but what is true touching the matter in question if in favour to either side he conceals so much as any one Circumstance in his Answers and Depositions which he knows would alter the Case What can be plainer He that swears to declare the whole Truth is forsworn if he does it not and he surely does it not who declares it in part only Moreover a Witness may incur the guilt of Perjury by endeavouring to blind the Evidence with deceitful shuffling Answers instead of declaring what he knows in plainness and simplicity of speaking for tho' the Court by multiplying-Questions may screw out the Truth at last yet he has not discharg'd his Oath which obliged him not only to an actual and final discovery of the Truth but to an honest intention of so doing and 't is very plain that he intends not the Truth should be discovered who darkens and hides it as much as he can Much less can his Oath be discharged by the help of Equivocation and Mental Reservations which being of no force to save a Lye are much less able to excuse from Perjury The Oath of the Jury being a Promissory Oath to bring in a Verdict according to Evidence their Oath may be doubly violated as was now observed by not intending so to do and by not doing of it If any one of the Jury be prepossess'd in favour of one side intending be the Evidence what it will to use all his Interest with the rest in favour of that that man I say is perjur'd as soon as ever he is sworn he has sworn falsly tho' perhaps he be over-ruled and an honest Verdict be brought in at last Again if any of them intend honestly at first but are afterward wrought to conspire in a Verdict contrary to the Evidence they have
Verdict should be according to the Evidence if it were only for this that a Controversie might be righteously decided instead of establishing some instance of Iniquity by a Law This therefore is a farther Aggravation of the Sin of Perjury in all these Cases That the Oath which is violated did not only bind to that Sincerity which is the Duty of all Men every where but to that Truth which was particularly demanded by the Magistrate which was to be an Instrument of Justice and publick Security which was necessary for the preventing of Wars and the doing of Right But these are light Aggravations in comparison to those that arise from the nature and particular Obligation of an Oath it self At least they will receive great weight from these as you shall see presently 'T is an excess of impious boldness to worship God with a Lye at the Tongues end but Swearing is an Act of Worship Thou shalt worship the Lord thy God and swear by his name Swearing is a direct acknowledgment of the Divine Attributes and to swear falsly must needs be as bad as making long Prayers to devour Widows Houses But he that Swears does not barely worship God he takes him to witness in his behalf too so the forsworn Man calls him to attest a Lye To imagine the wickedness of this what would you think of a Man who should appeal to some worthy Person for the truth of a Matter which he is sure the Gentleman knows to be a Lye Farther what if he should dare to appeal to the Judge himself or to the whole Court of Judicature tho' he knew that every one there would utterly deny it however that they would not confess it without being Lyars like unto himself But this is a shameless Insolence that no Man ever ventured upon What think you then of him that appeals to God's Testimony for the credit of a Lye To the Testimony of God I say who is infinitely greater and to be had in more Reverence than the most venerable Assemblies of Men. When we are guilty of other Sins we sneak away from the thoughts of God The Drunkard and the Adulterer and the Thief are ashamed and afraid to think there is so great a Witness of their Crimes and in Comparison to the false Swearer they retire with some sort of Modesty from his Presence hiding him from themselves at least tho' they cannot hide themselves from him 'T is only the forsworn Wretch that must of necessity Sin without any shamefacedness that tells a Lye to the very Face of God and desires him to observe it be the Witness of his his own dishonour And yet a more desperate degree of Wickedness is implied in Perjury than this and that because an Oath is an Appeal to God's Justice For the Swearer by consenting to fall under the Rigour of Justice unless he deals uprightly as far as in him lies he calls himself off by Perjury from any Appeal to Mercy afterward By other Sins we make an ill use of the Mercy of God but by this we set it at defiance The perjur'd Man deprives himself as much as he can of the last hope of Sinners who though they put many Affronts upon the rest of God's Attributes yet study to keep a reserve in his Goodness and Compassion but he throws himself according to his own Will and Consent to the hands of Divine Justice and its utmost Severity Yet farther through all these Obstacles does the false Swearer make his way that he may come to pervert Justice and Equity A Man should be horribly afraid at the thought of so much impiety if his end were to help the Fatherless and Widow and to save the Poor from wrong or to secure his Country out of danger but how much more when he hunts for the precious Life when he betrays the Simple and protects the Crafty or serves the designs of Faction or Oppression For I should guess that Forswearing is never practised but upon the wrong side at least that 't is call'd in very rarely in comparison to assist the Right 'T is the unjust Man that seeks to defend himself by artificial delays by indirect Proceedings and at a dead lift by downright Perjuries while the Righteous trusts to the Honesty of his Cause and the Wisdom of the Judge and the Providence of God But if I should be mistaken in this if Forswearing should be more ordinary than I imagine even on the Right side surely it must be because 't is so common on the Wrong that nothing is believed to be safe without it Behold then what horrible confusion it makes in the World while it confounds Right and Wrong Truth and Falshood Justice and Injustice blotting out the clearest Characters by which they can be distinguisht from one another in Courts of Judgment 'T is this which levels an honest Cause with the unjust one that is advanced against it nay which creates Confidence of Success in the Oppressor and fills the good Man who dares not be damn'd with Mistrust and Fear It is this which makes the Fortune of Verdicts as uncertain as that of Arms and gives Courage to the Villain to go to Law with the Innocent it robs Vertue of much of its Defence and Security in this World and puts Power into the hands of the Malicious and affords Protection to the Murderer and the Traytor The detestable Effects thereof in the present Life cannot be described but by the Cries of the Oppressed the Sighs of Orphans the Tears of Widows the Ruin of Families and the shedding of innocent Blood And tho' every Man that dares be forsworn has not arriv'd thus far in doing mischief yet he only wanteth a gainful Opportunity or an unlucky Provocation and then a Devil to put it into his head To conclude What should I say farther to enkindle your Zeal against a Sin already swell'd into so vast a bigness but this That so far as it prevails it is always likely to intercept between us and the most happy Influence of the Honourable Judges wâ—â— they come to us full of the invaluable Blessings of Government they in whom good Subjects and wronged Innocents expect to meet with powerful Patrons while none but the Criminal and Seditious shrinks away with Shame and Fear who to the State bring along with them Peace by deciding our Controversies and Plenty and Honour and Safety by enforcing Obedience to the Laws Who to the Church bring the Securities of her Patrimony and Rights making the Benefits of their Justice to bear good proportion with the Authority of their Commission which they have received not only from the King but by him from God who are the faithful Dispensers of the Justice of the King and the most welcome Messengers of his Love and Care for the People Who from the Sovereign convey Life and Spirit through the whole Body of the Nation returning the same in grateful Loyalty and Duty from his Subjects and in their Blessings
share of corrupted nature but he that walks with God is ruled by a Principle that doth not only improve what is good in his Nature but mends what is bad in it It is also a great deal more than to observe Humane Laws since the Laws of Men can do no more than restrain People from being intolerably bad and such as Humane Society cannot bear He that believes in God submits to just Authority for Conscience sake but the Case hath often happened when for the same Conscience sake such a one hath done his Duty by refusing to do what the Law of Man required which is a plain argument that Human Authority is not the Rule of Perfection and that we must live by an higher Principle than that of Obedience to Man if we live in all respects as we ought to do It is something more than to govern our Intentions and Actions by doing well for our selves in this World For although integrity and well-doing in all kinds of Duty is generally the best way to prosperity in this Life yet sometimes the contrary happens and more is to be got by Flattery and Falshood than by Honesty and Sincerity nay it is the inordinate desire of the Prosperity of this World that still makes Men do base and wicked things and therefore the regard of our ease and advantage here cannot be the true Principle of Virtue And if we should bring every other reason of doing what we ought to do to the Tryal every other reason besides that of Faith will be found very defective and insufficient and such as will lead a Man to evil as well as to good as it happens But a sense of God with the belief of all his Perfections and all his Promises and Threatnings makes a Man every way and in every respect what he ought to be because it shews him all his Duty and obliges him to all his Duty and while he is under the Power of his Faith he is steddy in the right way not to be moved out of it by any Temptation but whether it be opportunity invites or danger threatens what Temptation soever sets upon him he will say with Joseph How can I do this great wickedness and sin against God Setting aside Faith it may bear dispute whether it be adviseable or no in such or such a Case to do what becomes a Righteous and Virtuous Man but let a Man live by Faith in God and there can be no dispute about it Rejoyce O young man in thy youth and walk in the fight of thine eyes and the imagination of thy heart that is were there nothing else to be considered but Pleasure nothing but Wealth and Greatness but the Splendor of this World and the gratifying of a Lust this Liberty might possibly be made to appear not so very unreasonable But know that for all these things God will bring thee to Judgment That to be sure turns the Case and answers every Objection against our Duty and every Argument for any Sin and therefore he that walks with God doth all his Duty otherwise is good in all kinds and in every place where his business lies or where his Temptations lie For God is in all his thoughts in all his Affairs in all his Company and in his retirement from Company God's Word is with him that Word of God which shews him his Duty upon all occasions and which shews him the Rewards of doing what is commanded and the Punishments of Disobedience and the sense of his Presence is with him that sense which fills him with Life and Joy in well-doing especially where the Temptation to Sin is very great and which would dismay him and make him a burden to himself if he should act contrary to his clear and setled Judgment of what he ought to do In short to walk with God is to be universally good and righteous which no Man can be but he who lives by Faith Hence it is that we find God himself encouraging the Father of the Faithful to go on in his way of Piety and Vertue as hitherto he had done Walk before me and be thou perfect chap. 17 v. 1. That is Be thou still ruled by my Word still believe my Promises and Trust my Providence and in all that thou doest be mindful of this that I am with thee and then shalt thou be perfect An Example to all Generations of Virtue as well as of Piety and of all good Works no less than of a firm Faith Hence it is that the wise Man tells us that by the fear of the Lord men depart from evil Prov. 16.6 and that the fear of the Lord is a fountain of life to depart from the snares of Death Prov. 14.27 And St. John This is the victory that overcometh the World even our Faith 1 John 5.4 I have thus shewn what is meant by the Character of Enoch when it is said that he walked with God viz. That his regard to God was the over-ruling Principle of all his Actions and that because he was Governed by Faith he lived also in the constant Practice of his Duty in all relations whatsoever this being the only Principle that makes a Man in every respect what he ought to be I proceed 2. To say something concerning the end he made in this World He was not for God took him which place is thus explained by the Author to the Hebrews chap. 11. v. 5. That Enoch was translated that he should not see death and was not found because God had translated him i. e. he died not but was translated alive into Heaven and it was a strange surprize to the Age in which he lived who by his sudden removal from them and their hearing no more of him were convinced that it was God who had taken him to a better Life Now that which we are in this place to consider is the instruction so singular an Act of Providence afforded to the World and there are these Two ends to which it manifestly served viz. That that Age might be awakened into the consideration of another Life by so surprizing a Testimony thereof as this was and withal that they might by so sensible an Argument be led to consider that the true Reward of Piety and Integrity was not in this World but in a better 1. There was this Instruction in the Translation of Enoch which the World could not but take notice of That there was undoubtedly another life after this to which he was taken Soul and Body having left no part of himself behind him here as other Mortals did And by this time such an instruction was grown very needful For the World tho it was yet in its Youth and Vigour was grown old enough for Men to forget their Creator and to abandon themselves for the most part to a Voluptuous and Dissolute Life And that this is no uncertain Conjecture appears from hence that Enoch was translated but Sixty nine Years before Noah was born in
whose time Mankind was grown to such an intollerable degree of Licentiousness That God sent the Flood to sweep all away but eight Persons Now it is not to be thought that the World was overspread with such monstrous Vices all of a sudden but that after the manner of all Humane Degeneracy Corruption of Manners and of Principles too came on by degrees and consequently that in Enoch's time who was translated little less than a Thousand Years after the Creation there was a very great decay of Piety and Virtue every where that Men were generally bewitched with the Pleasures of the beautiful and charming place which the Earth was before the Flood and forgot their Creator and had lost the Sense of that infinitely better World which Adam and the religious Patriarchs had by revelation from God given them assurance of In such an Age as this when for the Reason now mentioned it is evident that the generality of Mankind were sunk into Debauchery and perhaps into Infidelity too Enoch was a steddy Pattern of Piety and Virtue and whilst most Men walked after their own Lusts and the best were much to blame he walked with God and lived above the Pleasures and Enjoyments of this Life having God before his Eyes and another Life and a better Life in his Hopes It is therefore very reasonable to conceive that God intended by this surprizing Testimony of translating Enoch alive into a better World to convince the unbelieving to awaken the inconsiderate and to call off that Voluptuous Age from these bruitish Debaucheries to mind better things and to prepare for a better Life especially since in the second place 2. This was a very instructing admonition That God who is a rewarder of them that diligently seek him as the Epistle to the Hebrews says upon this very example of Enoch that God I say rewarded his Piety not with giving him a longer Life in that pleasant World but in another which was therefore a place more happy and desirable than the Earth was even in that delicious state and condition of it before the Flood had made as strange an alteration in that as it made in the Age of Man's Life That God I say should take him alive out of this World when it abounded with all manner of Delights and Pleasures and this at the Age of 365 Years when he was but a young Man as the World was then younger in proportion than we are now at 30 when he was in full Vigour and Capacity for all the Entertainments of Sense which the Earth afforded even to Luxury and this according to the course of Nature to last for some Hundreds of Years to come That God should translate him under these Circumstances to another Life after he had served him with a constant Piety in his younger Years and lived among Men with an unreprovable Innocence and Vertue this I say was a demonstration to all that would consider it That that World to which he was translated was a better World than that from which he was taken and that they might be sure to understand this Instruction God took him not away by the common means of Mortality since if he had died that vicious Age would have imputed that change to any thing rather than to a divine Providence rewarding so excellent a Man with so early a removal to a better Life and therefore he was taken away alive that they might not be able to question the Power that did it or to mistake the Reason why it was done that they might know Enoch had obtain'd a Reward from God suitable to that Life that he had lived here and to that Faith by which he had lived and in which he had wrought righteousness being removed from hence to Pleasures more pure and ravishing than all this World can afford In a Word They might have seen and for some time it is like they acknowledged it though they soon fell back again That the great Business of Mankind here is to live in all Godliness and Honesty and that God doth not reward them that do so with the Pleasures and Glories of this World but with the Enjoyments of a better And now having said thus much concerning the extraordinary Character of Enoch and the singular end it pleased God to make with him in this World I have yet more to do by way of Application and that 1. To propound the Example of Enoch and such as he was who walked with God to our imitation And 2. To propound though not the manner yet the substance of his Reward for our Encouragement to walk as he walked 1. To propound his Example as an Example that is of it self worthy of our imitation and is withal an imitable Example an Example that is worthy to be followed and an Example not too hard to follow that it is worthy of our imitation appears both from that Life to which his Faith led him and from the Nature of that Principle it self by which he lived As to the Life whereunto it leads it is made up of whatsoever things are just honest lovely of good report if there be any vertue praise of Justice Faithfulness Temperance Government of Passions Wisdom and Fortitude which are the Glory of Humane Nature and things acceptable to God and approved of men These things are enough to recommend the Principle from whence they come And yet 2. It is in it self the best whether we consider 1. Our concernment in those things which we believe For if there be a God what is our dependance upon this World to our dependance upon him And if we shall endure beyond this Life and that for ever what are our Fortunes till we die to our Eternal state after Death It is not our mere Nature but our Relation to God that makes us considerable and we are very abject Creatures if we have nothing to do but eat and drink and to live a sensual Life for a little time and then to vanish into nothing Or 2. Whether we consider Faith as a Persuasion grounded upon rational Evidence that is such Evidence as requires a free and unprejudiced and clear Judgment to perceive but which not bearing upon the Senses of Men distinguisheth between the Wise and the Honest on one side and unteachable Persons on the other A Believer doth of all Men make the most proper use of his Reason because he assents to the Principles of Religion For instance That there is a God not upon immediate bodily Sight but upon a means of Conviction suited to a reasonable Nature Or 3. Whether we consider Faith as a means to secure an happy Enjoyment of our selves in this World of which I need to say no more that it is the only true Support of Man's Mind under all the Afflictions and Calamities of Life and that which can make us easie under them will make us happy in every condition that the Example of these Men who have lived by Faith and walked with
made us nor any Authority that one can have over another equal to that which he has over us there is great reason why we should meekly submit to his Chastisements and be content to receive not only that Good which we have not deserved but that Evil also which we have deserved at his Hand But this is not all For 3. To confess the Truth when the Evils of this Life happen they are for the most part very necessary and may be always very profitable to us They make us to reflect upon our Sins and they dispose us to Repentance For a great Truth it is and we may happily know it by experience That 't is our way to do many things in our Prosperity which trouble us in our Adversity When Joseph's Brethren were brought into Distress themselves then they could say Verily we are guilty concerning our Brother and therefore is this distress come upon us Our Faults do not much trouble us when we have nothing else to give us disturbance and in this case Affliction does well to bring us to a sense of them Again We are not so apt to feel our need of dependance upon God when all things that we can desire are round about us We must confess to our shame that Piety and Prosperity are seldom found together in a great degree both of the one and the other When we are full we are apt to forget God but in our Affliction we seek him early Not but that a Man may grow more impious under the chastisement of God as Ahab did But then this was left as a mark of Infamy upon him that in his distress he waxed worse and worse This is that King Ahab We should consider also that the troubles of this Life teach us patience a quality very necessary for us in this World It is undoubtedly true that continual ease and fulness and enjoying all that we would have incline us to be soft and hard to be pleased Every little thing almost is enough to put us into a passion and if God should always let us alone we should make great Troubles to our selves out of the smallest disappointments And when Afflictions happen to us in good earnest our very impatience is an Argument that we needed them to bring us to Wisdom and a good Temper God's Trials make us able to bear what once we could not they correct the Intemperance of our Desires and give us a firmness of Mind they bring our Contentment within a narrow compass and make it more easie for us to be happy than it was before and therefore says St. Paul We glory in tribulation knowing that tribulation worketh patience Rom. 5.3 By the same reason they disengage our Affections from worldly things more than we are well able to do it without them For 't is Indulgence that makes us fond of the Pleasures of this World but when any one of them is taken away we must learn to be content without it and by satisfying ourselves wheh we have lost one we learn to moderate our desires about the rest which is a good that recompences all the grief we endure in the way to it Especially since it leads to another good thing which is the moderating of our Love to this Life it self which when we feel to be made up of Care and Trouble as well as Mirth and Pleasure we grow more reconciled to the thoughts of Death which puts an end as well to the Troubles as to the Delights of this World All which things tend to the greatest good of all even our eternal Salvation to which we should add that whatever Duties are necessary to this great end we shall perform them most carefully For when by experience we are convinced how foolish a thing it is to think of finding a compleat Happiness in this World or indeed any thing that deserves the Name of Happiness we shall seek for a more solid and enduring substance For we must needs be more sollicitous to secure that Rest and Happiness which God hath promised in a better Life when we are satisfied that no such thing is to be obtained here We are not so deeply affected with the danger of worldly Enjoyments as with the uncertainty of them They are indeed apt to corrupt our Minds but we do not use to be jealous of them upon that account but when we lose them we are easily sensible that they are not to be trusted and that if we would be wise for our selves we must take off our minds from these perishing things and grow wise to Salvation To conclude this Point The Evils of Life do not only offer good considerations to our Minds but they are proper means to put us into a considering Temper and to make us capable of understanding the full weight of them They cure us of the Levity and Easiness of Mind which grows out of Ease and Luxury and indisposes us to dwell for any long time upon wise and profitable thoughts Finally the Patience and the Godly manner of bearing Evils and the good use we make of them worketh the encrease of our Reward especially if we endure grief suffering wrongfully and most of all if we suffer for righteousness sake This is that which St. Peter makes no doubt to say is thank-worthy and it turns so greatly to our account that instead of mentioning it as a thing fit to discourage and deject his Disciples our Saviour bid them to rejoice and to be exceeding glad for says he great is your Reward in Heaven 4. As the Evils of this Life are for our good so God means and designs them for our good too There is not any one good use which may be made of them but God intends it when he sends them and 't is our own fault if we do not grow the better for them David found by experience that it was good for him that he was afflicted and he confessed that God in very faithfulness had afflicted bim i. e. meaning all the advantage to him which he had gained For that reason it is said God does not afflict willingly nor grieve the children of men not meerly to make us feel Pain and Trouble but because our good requires it Physick is sometimes as necessary for us as Food and though it be bitter we do not think the worse of him that administers it because 't is administred for our Health either for the cure or for the prevention of a Disease And should we take it in ill part from God when for the health and improvement of our Souls he gives us wholesome though sharp Medicines He gives us Food Raiment Plenty Peace and Health that we might in the midst of these good things serve him with thankfulness and the greatest cause we have to rejoice in them is that they are of his sending who intended them not for Snares but for Blessings to us When therefore he takes any of them away he does it with the same good meaning