relieving them in their Necessities and he proposes the best Example in the World for our imitation and that of God himself who maketh his Sun to rise on the evil and the good and sendeth rain on the just and on the unjust But none can suppose that the righteous and holy God can have the same Love or Kindness for the Evil which he hath for the Good or for the Unjust which he hath for the Just. So that this Precept which being misunderstood seems to be irreconcilable to human Nature contains in it nothing but what all Mankind approve in others as unwilling as they are to practise it themselves And now it is time to make a stand and to look about us for I have gone through our Saviour's Commands with respect to the things which are apt to provoke us And where are those Christians to be found who do what Christ hath said herein who do yet every day call him Lord Lord If Peevishness and Frowardness perpetual Uneasiness and Discontent If Rancor and Bitterness Strife and Envying Faction and Animosity if Impatience of apprehended Injuries and the making of Enemies instead of loving them were the Marks of good Christians we should find Number enough even among those who pretend to Reformation We profess to thank God for a late great Deliverance from the hands of our Enemies I mean as to our Religion and truly there appears more and more Reason for it since it is so much more evident that the Design was no less than a total Subversion of our Religion But what a sad Requital is this for so great Mercies to break out into Factions and Parties instead of pursuing the common Interest of our Religion Instead of laying aside Differences about Religion to increase them nay to make Religion it self not only the Subject of their Quarrels but of their Scorn and Contempt What can be said or hoped for as to such a froward unthankful atheistical Generation of Men Thanks be to God there are not wanting some extraordinary Examples of true Piety and Goodness among us and of Meekness Patience and Universal Charity and truly there needs a great deal to bear up against the daring and insolent Profaneness and Irreligion of others When I once see a true Spirit of Reformation prevail among us not meerly as to Doctrines but as to Mens Lives and Tempers when I see them more zealous for God and Religion than for the Interest of particular Parties when I see them really promoting Peace and Unity and not making a Pretence of it to serve private Ends I may then hope for a lasting Settlement of the true Religion among us But till then 2. I proceed to the second Head of our Saviour's Commands and that is as to such things which Tempt us S. James saith Every man is tempted when he is drawn aside of his own Lust and inticed Lust is the ungoverned Desire of Sensual Pleasure Now as to this Christ hath laid so strict a Command as seems very hard for humane Nature to observe For he not only forbids the Act of Adultery but the Tendencies to it viz. the Impurity of the inward Desires and of Looks and Glances and makes these to be Adultery in the Heart What is that For Adultery is an outward deliberate Act and hath Injustice as well as Uncleanness in it But Desires and Looks are sudden and transient things which may leave no permanent Effect behind them However our Saviour to shew how much God abhors Impurity who sees into the secret Thoughts and Intentions of the Heart declares that the unmortified Desires and inward Lusts are very displeasing to God and therefore that those who hope to see God must be Pure in Heart Which as it implies a sincere Endeavour to suppress all inward Motions which are contrary to it is both a reasonable and necessary Duty But the hardest part of Christ's Commands in this matter is that which requires us to pluck out our right eyes and to cut off right hands Must the blind and the lame only go to Heaven But he speaks of such sinsull Inclinations in us which seem as delightfull and usefull to us as to the Pleasures of Life as a right Eye or a right Hand yet we must part with them if we ever hope to get to Hâ—aven Not by any one single Act like the cutting off a Hand or plucking out an Eye but by a serious constant and sincere Endeavour to mortifie and subdue them And if this be thought hard the Consideration of future Happiness and Misery ought to reconcile us to it and surely it is reasonable we should part with something which is pleasant to us here for the sake of an infinitely greater Pleasure in another World since this is only a sensual Pleasure which cannot be pursued without disturbance of the Mind and can be enjoy'd but for a little time and the other is no less than Eternal Felicity of Soul and Body together 3. As to the things which Concern us as to our Condition in this World There is no Precept of Christ which seems more inconsistent with the Wisdom of this World than this doth For as that lies in taking great care for the future so our Saviour on the contrary seems to allow none at all Therefore I say unto you Take no thought for your Life what ye shall eat or what ye shall drink nor yet for your Body what ye shall put on What doth our Saviour mean by this Would he have all Christians live like the young Ravens meerly upon Providence Or as the Lilies of the Field which grow and flourish and yet neither Toil nor Spin But Man is an intelligent Creature and apt to forecast and contrive things for his future advantage and God seems to have left things very much to his own Care and Providence and generally speaking Mens Condition in this World is according to it What then Doth our Saviour indulge Men in a careless easie unthinking Life Or require that his Disciples thoughts ought to be wholly taken up with matters of Religion Not if S. Paul knew his meaning for he saith Those who provide not for their own have denied the Faith and are worse than Infidels But this only seems to make the Difficulty greater Therefore to clear it we must attend to our Saviour's Scope and Design which was to perswade his Disciples to lay up their Treasure in Heaven to seek the Kingdom of God and his Righteousness in the first place and then represents this World and another as two opposite Interests so that one cannot serve two Masters which implies a Contradiction to each other So that what follows must be understood in such a Sense as is inconsistent with the main Duty of looking after Heaven as our Happiness and therefore ought not to be understood of a prudent necessary Care but of an anxious solicitous distrustfull Care which implies that we place our
first heard him were amazed after this he took a course by himself and did not go up to Jerusalem to the College of Apostles there resident but went into Arabia so that if any one might be thought to set up another Doctrine it was he but he was so far from it that he established and confirmed the Truth of what they delivered and was very successfull in his Apostleship in all Places And when there had been some Whispers concerning him as though he proceeded not in the same way with the rest he went up to Jerusalem and there upon full examination James and Cephas and John who were the leading Apostles gave him the Right-hand of Fellowship in token of their full consent in the same Faith 2. The truth of the Gospel was the more plainly discovered All this while the Apostles only preached and delivered their Doctrine to the several Churches by verbal Instructions but after these had been received in the hearts of such Multitudes that there could be no suspicion that a false Representation of Christ's Doctrine or Actions could be received by those Churches then the wise Providence of God took care for Posterity and imploy'd several Persons in distant Places and Times to write the History of our Saviour And there was this advantage to the Church that the Gospels were written no sooner For all the Churches planted by the Apostles were then made Judges whether the Gospels written were agreeable to the Doctrine which the Apostles had taught and if not there would have been just reason to have question'd either the Truth of what had been taught them or what was delivered in the Gospels But when they found the main to be fully consonant to what they had been taught the Testimony of every one of these Churches did shew the concurrence of all the Apostles as to the Doctrine contained in the several Gospels And that which adds to the strength of this Proof is that when the true Gospels were written there were several false and counterfeit Gospels dispersed abroad under the Names of the Apostles themselves As of St. Peter St. Thomas St. Matthias and others as Eusebius informs us and as we have the genuine Acts of the Apostles so there were the pretended Acts of Paul of Andrew and John and the other Apostles How came these to be rejected and the other to be carefully received Here lies the true Advantage of Original Tradition before the written Gospels that by it the several Churches were enabled to pass a true Judgment concerning them when they came to be dispersed among them For they could presently tell whether what they read wer agreeable to what they had heard and received from the Apostles As suppose the Gospel of St. Matthew being published in Judoea were carried into Mesopotamia or Persia where many Christian Churches were very early planted these being throughly instructed by the Apostles in all things relating to the Life Death Resurrection and Doctrine of Christ could presently judge whether St. Matthew's Gospel agreed with what they had heard or not and the like holds as to all the Churches in the Roman Empire So that the consent of the Churches so soon while the Memory of the Apostles Doctrine was so fresh in their minds is in effect the consent of all the Apostles who taught them And this is very different from the case of particular Persons in some Churches who might mistake or forget what was taught for this is a concurrent Testimony of all the Apostolical Churches who could not agree to approve an Errour in the Gospels contrary to the Faith delivered to them And that while some of the Apostles were still living For the other Gospels were received and approved before St. John wrote his The case had been far otherwise if no Gospels had been written in that Age for then it might have been suspected that either the Impressions of the first Teachers were worn out or they had been by degrees alter'd from their first Apprehensions by the cunning craftiness of those who lay in wait to deceive them After the decease of the Apostles the common Tradition of the Apostolical Churches was usefull in these cases 1. To convey down the Authentick Writings of the Apostles or Evangelists which were delivered to any of them 2. To bear Testimony against any pretended Writings which were not first received by the Apostolical Churches to which they were said to be written For there can be no Negative Testimony of more force than that it being improbable to the utmost degree that such a Church should not know or not make known any true Apostolical Writings 3. To overthrow any pretence to a secret Tradition from the Apostles different from what was seen in the Apostolical Writings And to this purpose Irenoeus and Tertullian make very good use of the Tradition of the Apostolical Churches against the pretenders to such a Tradition which those Churches were not acquainted with But they agree that the Apostles committed the same Doctrine to writing which they preached and that it might be a Foundation and Pillar of Faith that this Doctrine was contained in the four Gospels and that the Apostolical Churches did receive them from those who first wrote them and that within the compass of the Apostolical Age. It was therefore most agreeable to the infinite Wisdom of God in providing for a constant Establishment of the Faith of his Church in all Ages neither to permit the Gospels to be written till the Churches were planted nor to be put off to another Generation For then it would have been plausibly objected if these things are true why were they not recorded when there were Persons living who were best able to have either proved or confuted them Then we might have been satisfied one way or other but now the Jews are dead and the Apostles are dead and although there are many left who believe their Doctrine yet this can never reach to the Testimony of those who saw and heard the things themselves or whose Doctrine was attested by those who did so And this is now the mighty Advantage of the Church ever since that the things concerning Christ were written by such Persons With what another kind of Authority do those words command our Assent That which was from the beginning which we have heard which we have seen with our eyes which we have looked upon and our hands have handled of the Word of Life For the life was manifested and we have seen it and bear witness and shew unto you that Eternal Life which was with the Father and was manifest unto us that which we have seen and heard declare we unto you then if all the Testimony concerning Christ were to be resolved into those who heard some say that others told them they had it from such who saw those who conversed with them who saw Christ in the Flesh At such a distance the Authority of a Testimony is extremely lessen'd
is abundance of Noise and Heat and Examples and the Hopes of present Victory and the Shame and Danger of running away which animate Persons in a Day of Battel But it is another kind of Courage which is required to make Men bear up against the Malice and Subtilty of the Devil and of wicked Men for here the Combination is to all appearance much stronger on the worse Side and if we are to judge of Success by Numbers those who promote Vertue and Goodness could never bear up against their Adversaries who were sure to carry it by the Poll. There were among the Heathens some few great Men who endeavour'd to reform the Vices of Mankind But alas What poor Success had they in their Attempts this way Although they wanted neither Wit nor Learning nor Address to carry on this Noble Design such as Socrates at Athens and Epictetus at Rome and some others who lived agreeably to their Doctrine yet how little Effect had both their Precepts and Example on the rest of the People either at Athens or Rome Socrates declared a mighty Resolution rather to die than to say or do any thing unbecoming the Station God placed him in and upon the Prosecution of two malicious Men the prevailing Party were resolved to try the Experiment and took him at his Word After which his Disciples durst not deal so plainly and openly as he had done and the Artifice they were put to lost the force of the best Part of their Philosophy which they so mixed with Numbers and Figures and abstracted Speculations that it became a Mystery instead of a plain Design to reform the Manners of Men. The best and wisest of them seem to have taken more pains to satisfie themselves than to have instructed others or if they did they were some few chosen Disciples whom they initiated with as much Care as they were wont to do in their solemn Mysteries But the Apostles undertook to reform the World as to two things which Mankind are the hardest brought off from and those are Idolatry and Vice And they went plainly and roundly to work which Men can the least bear as we see by the Persecutions they underwent almost in every Place assoon as their Design was understood There was a general Clamour against them as the Disturbers of Mankind as those who turned the World upside down which in some sense was true but not as they meant it with respect to Order and Government But when Men have no mind to be reformed they must have some Terms of Reproach to fasten upon those who go about to do it It being natural for them to put Pictures of Devils on those whom they have a mind to execute And when they endeavour'd to convince them of their Immoralities they were very impatient of which we have a clear Instance in St. Paul's Preaching to Felix concerning Righteousness and Temperance and Judgment to come which were excellent Subjects but they went too near him he was too much concerned to be willing to hear any more of them The Discourse of St. Paul had too much Force in it for him to bear it any longer for it caused such a disorder in his Mind as affected his Body for Felix trembled And then he thought it best to dismiss him to a more convenient Season which never came that we read of Which shews how much more willing Men are to continue in their Faults than to hear them reproved in order to Amendment Am I therefore become your Enemy saith St. Paul because I tell you the Truth No doubt of it For no Truths can be so uneasie and provoking as those which gaul the Consciences of Men. The false Teachers whom St. Paul complains so much of were sensible of the Inconveniencies which follow'd plain Truth and therefore to avoid Persecution they so mixed and adulterated the Doctrine of the true Apostles that it lost its main Force and Efficacy And although by their shifts and compliances with Jews and Gentiles they escaped the hard Usage which others underwent yet the Effect of it was that their Doctrine took no deep rooting in the World For in Origen's time a very inconsiderable Number of their Disciples were left But though the plain Simplicity of the Gospel met with Persecutions on all hands yet by the undaunted Courage of the Preachers of it the more it was opposed the more it prevailed and at last triumphed over its greatest Persecutors 2. These words may be understood with respect to all Christians and so they shew what the Temper and Spirit of Christianity is where it hath its due and proper Effect upon men's minds The Moralists speak much of an excellent Vertue which they call Magnanimity which implies such a Greatness of Mind that it carries a Man on in doing what becomes him without being discouraged by the Fears of what may befall him in it And this our Saviour doth suppose to be so attainable by all his Disciples that he requires it from them Fear not them which can kill the Body but are not able to kill the Soul or Be not afraid of them that kill the Body and after that have no more that they can do i. e. Govern your Fears by the Consideration of another World and not of this But is this possible to be rid of our Fears as to this World It may be some Heroical minds may attain to this or those on whom God bestows the extraordinary Gifts of his Spirit But can any by the common Measures and Assistances of Grace reach to it Fear is a natural and violent Passion which is not easily dissembled much less cured and the weaker any are as to Mind or Body the more they are subject to the Power of it There are some Constitutions by Reason of their dark and confused and melancholy Apprehensions of things can never get out of the Labyrinth of their own Fears And where Suspicions and Jealousies find an easie Entertainment it is not possible to cure such Person 's Fears for they are afraid of all possible things Such I must exclude as labouring under a Disease of Imagination as we do those who are under a Fever And for whose Unreasonable Fears I know no better Cure than there is of Madness which is to bring the Persons to the Use of Reason as well as we can and if Reason doth not cure them nothing else will But let us suppose the Fears reasonable i. e. such as considering the State of the World a prudent Man may justly apprehend is it not possible to master these Fears Not to cure our Apprehension when it is reasonable but to take Care that it do not torment and disquiet our Mind but especially that it do not hinder us from doing our Duty And this is that Spirit of Christian Magnanimity which I design to speak of and to make the Matter as clear as I can I shall 1. Enquire into those things which the Nature of
of Reason and there is less of time and Deliberation and Contrivance in the one than in the other But when Anger goes inward instead of breaking forth when it gets to the Heart it then degenerates into Malice and Revenge and then it hath the greatest Aggravations going along with it 3. As to the manner of Committing If it be committed Presumptuously it is so much the more aggravated And that consists in these things 1. The lowest degree of Presumption is when a Sin is committed of set Purpose not only with Deliberation but with Contrivance Design and Resolution Thus by the Law a Man was said to kill his Neighbour Presumptuously when he lay in wait to do it Thus the Psalmist opposes presumptuous Sins to those which are committed through Ignorance or Inadvertency And where there is a Will bent and set to commit Sin there must be an inward and secret Contempt of God and his Laws as Nehemiah expresses the presumptuous sinning of their Forefathers They dealt proudly and harden'd their Necks and hearkend not to the Commandments and refused to obey So that where there is obstinacy and wilful Continuance in Sin there Men are said to sin Presumptuously If it be done with open Contempt and Defiance to God and his Law This the Scripture calls sinning with a high Hand and such who do are said to reproach the Lord and to despise the word of the Lord. This saith Maimonides is beyond sinning out of Inclination or from the Power of evil Habits or Custom but it is with a malicious Design to bring the Law of God into Contempt and Dishonour And this in respect of the Gospel is the sinning wilfully which the Author to the Hebrews speaks of whereby they tread under foot the Son of God and count the Blood of the Covenant an unholy thing and do despite to the Spirit of Grace Which implies a malicious Design to reproach the Gospel 2. As to Infirmities with respect to our present State the meaning is what those failings are which are consistent with a State of Grace and Salvation now under the Gospel To resolve this we have but one certain Rule that is whatever failings are consistent with the Terms of Salvation are allowed for Infirmities by the Gospel And so Infirmities are opposed to such Sins as put those who commit them out of the State of Grace and Salvation If God were so strict under the Covenant of Grace as to require perfect and unsinning Obedience there could be no allowance for Infirmities because even those are a breach of the Law of God and a Deviation from a perfect Rule And if God should be exact to mark all Irregularities or whatever is done amiss who can stand before his Tribunal The best Men in the world have reason to pray with the Psalmist Enter not into Judgment with thy Servant for in thy sight shall no Man living be justified For if God were so severe to make no Abatements for Failings and Imperfections it were impossible for Mankind to be saved But what then doth the Gospel mean with all its Promises of Salvation and the hopes it gives of eternal Life If Christ's own Disciples were in a State of Salvation there must be an allowance made for Infirmities and Imperfections which we find them often charged with in the History of our Saviour What meant their vain and eager Disputes about Superiority and Pre-eminence and that at the most unseasonable time when they were at Table with him just before his Suffering Lord what a time was this for them to contend who should be accounted the greatest What meant that passionate Zeal in James and John to call for Fire from Heaven to consume the Samaritans when they knew it was not a particular dis-respect to our Saviour which made them so rude but the common Quarrel between the Samaritans and the Jews How many Errors and Mistakes were they liable to even while our Saviour taught them and those about very weighty Points as the Nature of his Kingdom the necessity of his Death and Resurrection What Fears and Dejections and disorders were they all under upon our Saviour's apprehension though but a little before they had all resolved to die with him rather than forsake him What was there now under all these Infirmities which made these Disciples to be in a State of Salvation Nothing certainly but their hearty and sincere Love to Christ which they manifested before by their constant adhering to him and afterwards by continuing to serve him So that our Rule in this Case is That whatever is consistent with the Love of Christ and with a sincere and constant endeavour to do his Will will be allowed for Infirmities under the Gospel i. e. for such Irregularities which are consistent with a State of Salvation To make this Rule more useful we must consider 1. What Failings are not consistent with it 2. What sort of Failings are consistent 1. What Failings are not consistent And those are of three kinds 1. Such as come from an habitual Carelessness or a general Neglect of our Duty with respect to God and another World When Persons do not regard what Duties they omit or what Sins they Practise it is impossible they should have any true Love to God or to their own Souls For the first thing which springs from thence is a Care to please God without which there is no Salvation But there are too many in the world who regard no more than how to live easily and pleasantly in it a fair Estate and Reputation and therefore avoid great and scandalous Sins and the gross Neglect of God's publick Worship but never mind inward and secret Sins such as evil Habits the violence of Passions the vanity of their Minds being carried away with the pleasing Temptations of a deceitful World without serious considering or looking into their own Temper and Disposition which may be very vain and sensual and therefore unfit for Heaven though they be not remarkable for Profaneness or any gross Impiety But the Gospel requires a spiritual Temper and Disposition of Soul to qualifie Persons for Heaven and where ever that is there will be a constant Care to avoid being overcome by the Temptations of an alluring and sinful World 2. The habitual Practice of any known Sins such I mean as the Scripture saith Those who commit them shall not inherit the Kingdom of God And as to these St. James his Rule is Whosoever shall keep the whole Law and yet offend in one Point he is guilty of all This seems to be very severe Doctrine now under the Covenant of Mercy but we are to consider that by one Point he doth not mean any one Act of sin for he saith afterwards That in many things we offend all but he means any one sort or kind of known Sins It was a common Doctrine among the Jews that if a Person were remarkable for keeping