he may he ought to discharge all his cares and burthens It consequently doth engage all creatures in the world to be our friends or instruments of good to us according to their several capacities by the direction and disposal of God All the servants of our great Friend will in compliance to him be serviceable to us Thou shalt be in league with the stones of the field and the beasts of the field shall be at peace with thee So Job's friend promiseth him upon condition of Piety And God himself confirmeth that promise In that day saith he in the Prophet will I make a covenant for them with the beasts of the field and with the fowls of heaven and with the creeping things of the ground And again When thou passest through the waters I will be with thee and through the rivers they shall not overflow thee when thou walkest through the fire thou shalt not be burnt neither shall the flame kindle upon thee And The sun shall not smite thee by day nor the moon by night Thou shalt tread upon the lion and adder the young lion and the dragon shalt thou trample under foot They shall take up scorpions and if they drink any deadly thing it shall not hurt them so our Lord promised to his Disciples Not onely the Heavens shall dispense their kindly influences and the Earth yield her plentifull stores and all the Elements discharge their natural and ordinary good offices nor onely the tame and sociable creatures shall upon this condition faithfully serve us but even the most wild most fierce most ravenous most venomous creatures shall if there be need prove friendly and helpfull or at least harmless to us as were the Ravens to Elias the Lions to Daniel the Viper to S. Paul the Fire to the Three Children But especially Piety doth procure the friendship of the good Angels that puissant hoast of glorious and happy Spirits they all do tenderly love the pious person they are ever ready to serve and doe him good to protect him from danger to aid him in his undertakings to rescue him from mischiefs What an honour what a blessing is this to have such an innumerable company of noble Friends the Courtiers and Favourites of Heaven deeply concerned and constantly vigilant for our welfare It also engageth the blessed Saints in glory the Spirits of men perfected the Church of the first-born to bear dearest affection to us to further our prosperity with their good wishes and earnest prayers mightily prevalent with God It rendreth all sorts of men our friends To good men it uniteth us in holy communion the communion of brotherly charity and hearty good will attended with all the good offices they are able to perform to other men it reconcileth and endeareth us for that innocent and inoffensive courteous and benign charitable and beneficent demeanour such as Piety doth require and produce are apt to conciliate respect and affection from the worst men For Vincit malos pertinax bonitas men hardly can persist enemies to him whom they perceive to be their friend and such the pious man in disposition of mind and in effect when occasion serveth is toward all men being sensible of his obligation to love all men and as he hath opportunity to doe good to all men It assureth and more strictly endeareth our friends to us For as it maketh us hearty faithfull constant friends to others so it reciprocally tieth others to us in the like sincerity and fastness of good will It reconcileth enemies For when a man's ways do please the Lord he maketh his enemies to be at peace with him It hath a natural efficacy to that purpose and Divine blessing promoteth it By it all conversation becometh tolerable gratefull and usefull For a pious man is not easily disturbed with any crossness or perverseness any infirmity or impertinency of those he converseth with he can bear the weaknesses and the failings of his company he can by wholsome reflexions upon all occurrences advantage and please himself In fine Piety rendreth a man a true friend and a good companion to himself satisfied in himself able to converse freely and pleasantly with his own thoughts It is for the want of pious inclinations and dispositions that solitude a thing which sometimes cannot be avoided which often should be embraced is to most men so irksome and tedious that men do carefully shun themselves and fly from their own thoughts that they decline all converse with their own Souls and hardly dare look upon their own hearts and Consciences whence they become aliens from home wholly unacquainted with themselves most ignorant of their own nearest concernments no faithfull friends or pleasant companions to themselves so for refuge and ease they unseasonably run into idle or lewd conversation where they disorder and defile themselves But the pious man is like Scipio never less alone then when alone his solitude and retirement is not onely tolerable but commonly the most gratefull and fruitfull part of his life he can ever with much pleasure and more advantage converse with himself digesting and marshalling his thoughts his affections his purposes into good order searching and discussing his heart reflecting on his past ways enforcing his former good resolutions and framing new ones enquiring after edifying truths stretching his meditations toward the best and sublimest objects raising his hopes and warming his affections toward spiritual and heavenly things asking himself pertinent questions and resolving incident doubts concerning his practice in fine conversing with his best Friend in devotion with admiration and love contemplating the Divine perfections displayed in the works of nature of providence of grace praising God for his excellent benefits and mercies confessing his defects and offences deprecating wrath and imploring pardon with grace and ability to amend praying for the supply of all his wants All which performances yield both unconceivable benefit and unexpressible comfort So that Solitude that which is to common nature so offensive to corrupt nature so abominable is to the pious man extremely commodious and comfortable which is a great advantage peculiar to Piety and the last which I shall mention So many and many more then I can express vastly great and precious advantages do accrue from Piety so that well may we conclude with S. Paul that Godliness is profitable for all things It remaineth that if we be wise we should if we yet have it not ingraffed in us labour to acquire it if we have it that we should endeavour to improve it by constant exercise to the praise of God the good of our neighbour and our own comfort Which that we may effectually perform Almighty God in mercy vouchsafe by his grace through Jesus Christ our Lord to whom for ever be all glory and praise Amen The Fourth Sermon 1 SAM 2. 30. For them that honour me I will honour THE
so many mischiefs and inconveniences in the world and exposes so good a name to so much reproach It sheweth it consisteth not in fair professions and glorious pretences but in real practice not in a pertinacious adherence to any Sect or party but in a sincere love of goodness and dislike of naughtiness where-ever discovering it self not in vain ostentations and flourishes of outward performance but in an inward good complexion of mind exerting it self in works of true Devotion and Charity not in a nice orthodoxie or politick subjection of our judgments to the peremptory dictates of men but in a sincere love of Truth in a hearty approbation of and compliance with the Doctrines fundamentally good and necessary to be believed not in harsh censuring and virulently inveighing against others but in carefull amending our own ways not in a peevish crosness and obstinate repugnancy to received laws and customs but in a quiet and peaceable submission to the express Laws of God and lawfull commands of man not in a furious zeal for or against trivial circumstances but in a conscionable practising the substantial parts of Religion not in a frequent talking or contentious disputing about it but in a ready observance of the unquestionable rules and prescripts of it In a word that Religion consists in nothing else but doing what becomes our relation to God in a conformity or similitude to his Nature and in a willing obedience to his holy Will to which by potent incentives it allures and persuades us by representing to us his transcendentlyglorious Attributes conspicuously displayed in the frame order and government of the World that wonderfull Power which erected this great and goodly fabrick that incomprehensible Wisedom which preserves it in a constant harmony that immense Goodness which hath so carefully provided for the various necessities delights and comforts of its innumerable inhabitants I say by representing those infinitely-glorious Perfections it engages us with highest respect to esteem reverence and honour him Also by minding us of our manifold obligations to him our receiving being life reason sense all the faculties powers excellencies privileges and commodities of our natures from him of his tender Care and loving Providence continually supporting and protecting us of his liberal Beneficence patient Indulgence and earnest desire of our good and happiness by manifold expressions evidently manifested toward us it inflames us with ardent love and obliges us to officious gratitude toward him Also by declaring the necessary and irreconcilable contrariety of his Nature to all impurity and perverseness his peerless Majesty his irresistible Power and his all-seeing Knowledge it begets an awfull dread and a devout fear of him By discovering him from his infinite Benignity willing and from his unlimited Power onely able to supply our needs relieve us in distresses protect us from dangers and confer any valuable benefit upon us it engenders Faith and encourages us to rely upon him By revealing to us his supereminent Sovereignty uncontrollable Dominion and unquestionable Authority over us together with the admirable excellency wisedom and equity of his Laws so just and reasonable in themselves so suitable to our nature so conducible to our good so easie and practicable so sweet and comfortable it powerfully inclines and by a gentle force as it were constrains us to obedience By such efficacious inducements Wisedom urges us to all duties of Religion and withall surely directs us as I before said wherein it consists teaching us to have right and worthy apprehensions of the Divine nature to which our Devotion if true and good must be suited and conformed and so it frees us as from irreligion and profane neglect of God so from fond superstitions the sources of so much evil to mankind For he that wisely hath considered the Wisedom Goodness and Power of God cannot imagine God can with a regardless eye overlook his presumptuous contempts of his Laws or endure him to proceed in an outrageous defiance of Heaven to continue hurting himself or injuring his neighbour nor can admit unreasonable terrours or entertain suspicious conceits of God as of an imperious Master or implacable Tyrant over him exacting impossible performances from or delighting in the fatal miseries of his Creatures nor can suppose him pleased with hypocritical shews and greatly taken with superficial courtships of ceremonious address or that he can in any wise favour our fiery zeals fierce passions or unjust partialities about matter of opinion and ceremony or can doe otherwise then detest all factious harsh uncharitable and revengefull proceedings of what nature or upon what ground soever or that he can be so inconsistent with himself as to approve any thing but what is like himself that is Righteousness Sincerity and Beneficence Lastly Wisedom attracts the Favour of God purchaseth a glorious Reward and secureth perpetual Felicity to us For God loveth none but him that dwelleth with wisedom And Glorious is the fruit of good labour and the root of wisedom shall never fall away And Happy is the man that sindeth wisedom and Whoso findeth her findeth life and shall obtain favour of the Lord. These are the words of wise Solomon in the Book of Wisedom and in the Proverbs God loveth her as most agreeable to his nature as resembling him as an off-spring beam and efflux of that Wisedom which founded the earth and established the Heavens as that which begetteth honour love and obedience to his Commands and truly glorifies him and as that which promotes the good of his Creatures which he earnestly desires And the paths she leads in are such as directly tend to the promised Inheritance of joy and bliss Thus have I simply and plainly presented you with part of what my meditation suggested upon this Subject It remains that we endeavour to obtain this excellent endowment of Soul by the faithfull exercise of our Reason carefull observation of things diligent study of the Divine Law watchfull reflexion upon our selves vertuous and religious practice but especially by imploring the Divine influence the original spring of light and fountain of all true knowledge following S. James his advice If any man lack wisedom let him ask it of God who giveth freely Therefore O everlasting Wisedom the Maker Redeemer and Governour of all things let some comfortable Beams from thy great Body of heavenly Light descend upon us to illuminate our dark minds and quicken our dead hearts to enflame us with ardent love unto thee and to direct our steps in obedience to thy Laws through the gloomy shades of this world into that region of eternal light and bliss where thou reignest in perfect Glory and Majesty one God ever-Blessed world without end Amen The Second Sermon 1 TIM 4. 8. But Godliness is profitable for all things HOW generally men with most unanimous consent are devoted to Profit as to the immediate scope of their designs and aim of their doings if with the slightest attention we view what is
in comparison to this one plain and easie way of securing and furthering their Interests If then it be a gross absurdity to desire the fruits and not to take care of the root not to cultivate the stock whence they sprout if every Prince gladly would have his Subjects loyal and obedient every Master would have his Servants honest diligent and observant every Parent would have his Children officious and gratefull every man would have his Friend faithfull and kind every one would have those just and sincere with whom he doth negotiate or converse if any one would chuse to be related to such and would esteem their relation a happiness then consequently should every man in reason strive to further Piety from whence alone those good dispositions and practices do proceed II. Piety doth fit a man for all conditions qualifying him to pass through them all with the best advantage wisely chearfully and safely so as to incurre no considerable harm or detriment by them Is a man prosperous high or wealthy in condition Piety guardeth him from all the mischiefs incident to that state and disposeth him to enjoy the best advantages thereof It keepeth him from being swelled and puffed up with vain conceit from being transported with fond complacence or confidence therein minding him that it is purely the gift of God that it absolutely dependeth on his disposall so that it may soon be taken from him and that he cannot otherwise then by humility by gratitude by the good use of it be secure to retain it minding him also that he shall assuredly be forced to render a strict account concerning the good management thereof It preserveth him from being perverted or corrupted with the temptations to which that condition is most liable from luxury from sloth from stupidity from forgetfulness of God and of himself maintaining among the flouds of plenty a sober and steddy mind It fenceth him from insolence and fastuous contempt of others rendreth him civil condescensive kind and helpfull to those who are in a meaner state It instructeth and inciteth him to apply his wealth and power to the best uses to the Service of God to the benefit of his Neighbour for his own best reputation and most solid comfort It is the right balast of prosperity the onely antidote for all the inconveniencies of wealth that which secureth sweetneth and sanctifieth all other goods without it all apparent goods are very noxious or extremely dangerous riches power honour ease pleasure are so many poisons or so many snares without it Again is a man poor and low in the world Piety doth improve and sweeten even that state it keepeth his spirits up above dejection desperation and disconsolateness it freeth him from all grievous solicitude and anxiety shewing him that although he seemeth to have little yet he may be assured to want nothing he having a certain succour and never-failing supply from God's good Providence that notwithstanding the present streightness of his condition or scantness of outward things he hath a title to Goods infinitely more precious and more considerable A pious man cannot but apprehend himself like the Child of a most wealthy kind and carefull Father who although he hath yet nothing in his own possession or passing under his name yet is assured that he can never come into any want of what is needfull to him the Lord of all things who hath all things in Heaven and Earth at his disposal who is infinitely tender of his Childrens good who doth incessantly watch over them being his gracious Father how can he fear to be left destitute or not to be competently provided for as is truly best for him This is the difference between a pious and an impious man Is the pious man in need he hath then an invisible refuge to fly to an invisible store to furnish him he hath somewhat beyond all present things to hope in to comfort himself with whereas the impious person hath nothing beside present appearances to support or solace himself by the which failing down he sinketh into dejection and despair Is the good man in affliction he knoweth that it cometh not on him without God's wise appointment nor without good intention toward him for probation exercise and improvement of his Vertues or for wholsome correction of his bad dispositions that it is onely Physick and Discipline to him which shall have a comfortable issue that it shall last no longer then it is expedient for him that it should wherefore he patiently submitteth to it and undergoeth it chearfully with the same mind wherewith a Patient swalloweth down an unsavoury Potion which he presumeth will conduce to his Health Never indeed hath any man enjoyed more real content or hath been more truly satisfied then good men have been in a seeming depth of adversity What men ever upon earth have been more sorely afflicted have underwent greater losses disgraces labours troubles distresses in any kind then did the H. Apostles yet did they most heartily rejoyce exult and triumph in them all Such a wondrous virtue hath Piety to change all things into matter of consolation and joy No condition in effect can be evil or sad to a pious man his very sorrows are pleasant his infirmities are wholsome his wants enrich him his disgraces adorn him his burthens ease him his duties are privileges his falls are the grounds of advancement his very sins as breeding contrition humility circumspection and vigilance do better and profit him whereas Impiety doth spoil every condition doth corrupt and embase all good things doth embitter all the conveniencies and comforts of life III. Piety doth virtually comprise within it all other profits serving all the designs of them all what-ever kind of desirable good we can hope to find from any other profit we may be assured to enjoy from it He that hath it is ipso facto vastly rich is entitled to immense treasures of most precious Wealth in comparison whereto all the gold and all the jewels in the world are meer baubles He hath interest in God and can call him his who is the All and in regard to whom all things existent are less then nothing The infinite Power and Wisedom of God belong to him to be ever upon all fit occasions employed for his benefit All the inestimable treasures of Heaven a place infinitely more rich then the Indies are his after this moment of life to have and to hold for ever so that great reason had the Wise man to say that In the house of the righteous is much treasure Piety therefore is profitable as immediately instating in wealth and whereas the desired fruits of profit are chiefly these honour power pleasure safety liberty ease opportunity of getting knowledge means of benefitting others all these we shall see do abundantly accrue from Piety and in truth onely from it The Pious man is in truth most Honourable Inter homines pro summo est optimus saith Seneca whom
Solomon translateth thus The righteous is more excellent then his neighbour He is dignified by the most illustrious titles a Son of God a Friend and Favourite to the Sovereign King of the World an Heir of Heaven a Denizon of the Jerusalem above Titles far surpassing all those which worldly state doth assume He is approved by the best and most infallible judgments wherein true Honour resideth He is respected by God himself by the H. Angels by the blessed Saints by all good and all wise persons yea commonly by all men for the effects of genuine Piety are so venerable and amiable that scarce any man can doe otherwise then in his heart much esteem him that worketh them The Pious man is also the most potent man he hath a kind of omnipotency because he can doe what-ever he will that is what he ought to doe and because the Divine Power is ever ready to assist him in his pious enterprises so that He can doe all things by Christ that strengtheneth him He is able to combat and vanquish him that is 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the stout and might one to wage war with happy success against principalities and powers He conquereth and commandeth himself which is the bravest victory and noblest empire he quelleth fleshly lusts subdueth inordinate passions and repelleth strong temptations He by his faith overcometh the world with a conquest far more glorious then ever any Alexander or Caesar could do He in sine doth perform the most worthy exploits and deserveth the most honourable triumphs that man can do The Pious man also doth enjoy the onely true Pleasures hearty pure solid durable Pleasures such Pleasures as those of which the divine Psalmist singeth In thy presence is fulness of joy at thy right hand there are pleasures for evermore That all joy in believing that gayety of hope that incessant rejoycing in the Lord and greatly delighting in his Law that continual feast of a good Conscience that serving the Lord with gladness that exceeding gladness with God's countenance that comfort of the Holy Spirit that joy unspeakable and full of glory the satisfaction resulting from the contemplation of Heavenly truth from the sense of God's favour and the pardon of his sins from the influence of God's grace from the hopes and anticipation of everlasting bliss these are Pleasures indeed in comparison whereto all other pleasures are no more then brutish sensualitys sordid impurities superficial touches transient flashes of delight such as should be insipid and unsavoury to a rational appetite such as are tinctured with sourness and bitterness have painfull remorses or qualms consequent All the Pious man's performances of duty and of devotion are full of pure satisfaction and delight here they shall be rewarded with perfect and endless joy hereafter As for Safety the Pious man hath it most absolute and sure he being guarded by Almighty power and wisedom resting under the shadow of God's wings God upholding him with his hand ordering his steps so that none of them shall slide holding his soul in life and suffering not his feet to be moved he being by the grace and mercy of God secured from the assaults and impressions of all enemies from sin and guilt from the Devil world and flesh from death and hell which are our most formidable and in effect onely dangerous enemies As for Liberty the Pious man most entirely and truly doth enjoy that he alone is free from captivity to that cruel Tyrant Satan from the miserable slavery to Sin from the grievous dominion of lust and passion He can doe what he pleaseth having a mind to doe onely what is good and fit The Law he observeth is worthily called the perfect law of liberty the Lord he serveth pretendeth onely to command free-men and friends Ye are my friends said he if you doe what-ever I command you and If the Son set you free then are you free indeed And for Ease 't is he onely that knoweth it having his mind exempted from the distraction of care from disorder of passion from anguish of Conscience from the drudgeries and troubles of the world from the vexations and disquiets which sin produceth He findeth it made good to him which our Lord inviting him did promise Come unto me all ye that labour and are heavy laden and I will give you rest he feeleth the truth of those Divine assertions Thou wilt keep him in perfect peace whose mind is stayed on thee and Great peace have they which love thy Law and nothing shall offend them As for Knowledge the Pious man alone doth attain it considerably so as to become truly wise and learned to purpose Evil men saith the Wise man himself who knew well understand not judgment but they that seek the Lord understand all things It is the Pious man that employeth his mind upon the most proper and worthy objects that knoweth things which certainly best deserve to be known that hath his Soul enriched with the choicest notions he skilleth to aim at the best ends and to compass them by the fittest means he can assign to each thing its due worth and value he can prosecute things by the best methods and order his affairs in the best manner so that he is sure not to be defeated or disappointed in his endeavours nor to mis-spend his care and pains without answerable fruit He hath the best Master to instruct him in his studies and the best rules to direct him in his proceedings he cannot be mistaken seeing in his judgment and choice of things he conspireth with infallible Wisedom Therefore 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the pious man is the exquisite philosopher The fear of the Lord that is wisedom and to depart from evil is understanding The fear of the Lord as is said again and again in Scripture is the head or top of wisedom A good understanding have all they that keep his commandments Farther the Pious man is enabled and disposed hath the power and the heart most to benefit and oblige others He doeth it by his succour and assistence by his instruction and advice which he is ever ready to yield to any man upon fit occasion he doeth it by the direction and encouragement of his good Example he doeth it by his constant and earnest Prayers for all men he doeth it by drawing down Blessings from Heaven on the place where he resideth He is upon all accounts the most true the most common benefactour to mankind all his neighbours his Country the World are in some way or other obliged to him at least he doeth all the good he can and in wish doth benefit all men Thus all the fruits and consequences of Profit the which engage men so eagerly to pursue it do in the best kind and highest degree result from Piety and indeed onely from it All the Philosophical Bravado's concerning a Wise man being onely rich
respects great reason had S. Paul to say that Godliness is profitable for all things But farther to evidence and recommend this point I might propound certain peculiar Advantages arising from Piety which have a very general influence upon our lives and do afford unto them exceeding benefit but this I must in regard to the time and your patience at present forbear The Third Sermon 1 TIM 4. 8. But Godliness is profitable for all things IN discoursing formerly upon these words I did propound divers general Considerations serving to confirm and recommend this Assertion of S. Paul I shall now insist upon some others more particular which yet seem much conducible to the same purpose declaring the vast Utility of Religion or Piety I. We may consider that Religion doth prescribe the truest and best Rules of action thence enlightning our mind and rectifying our practice in all matters and upon all occasions so that what-ever is performed according to it is done well and wisely with a comely grace in regard to others with a chearfull satisfaction in our own mind with the best assurance that things are here capable of to find happy success and beneficial fruit Of all things in the world there is nothing more generally profitable then Light by it we converse with the world and have all things set before us by it we truly and easily discern things in their right magnitude shape and colour by it we guide our steps safely in prosecution of what is good and shunning what is noxious by it our spirits are comfortably warmed and cheared our life consequently our health our vigour and activity are preserved The like benefits doth Religion which is the Light of our Soul yield to it Pious men are children of the light Pious works are works of light shining before men God's word or true Religion is a lamp unto our feet and a light unto our path enabling us to perceive things and judge rightly of them teaching us to walk stfaightly and surely without erring or stumbling qualifying us to embrace what is usefull and to avoid hurtfull things preserving our spiritual life and disposing us to act well with a vigorous alacrity without it a man is stark blind and utterly benighted gropeth in doubt wandreth in mistake trippeth upon all occasions and often falleth into mischief The path of the just saith the Wise man is as the shining light The way of the wicked is as darkness they know not at what they stumble Righteousness keepeth him that is upright in the way but wickedness overthroweth the sinner Again it is a fair ornament of a man and a grand convenience both to himself and to others with whom he converseth or dealeth to act regularly uniformly and consistently freeing a man's self from distraction and irresolution in his mind from change and confusion in his proceedings securing others from delusion and disappointment in their transactions with him Even a bad rule constantly observed is therefore better then none order and perseverance in any way seemeth more convenient then roving and tossing about in uncertainties But secluding a regard to the Precepts of Religion there can hardly be any sure or settled rule which firmly can engage a man to or effectually restrain a man from any thing There is scarce in nature any thing so wild so intractable so unintelligible as a man who hath no bridle of Conscience to guide or check him A profane man is like a Ship without Anchor to stay him or Rudder to steer him or Compass to guide him so that he is tost with any wind and driven with any wave none knoweth whither whither bodily temper doth sway him or passion doth hurry him or interest doth pull him or example leadeth him or company inveigleth and haleth him or humour transporteth him whither any such variable and unaccountable causes determine him or divers of them together distract him whence he so rambleth and hovereth that he can seldom himself tell what in any case he should doe nor can another guess it so that you cannot at any time know where to find him or how to deal with him you cannot with reason ever rely upon him so unstable he is in all his ways He is in effect a meer Child all humour and giddiness somewhat worse then a Beast which following the instinct of its nature is constant and regular and thence tractable or at least so untractable that no man will be deceived in meddling with him Nothing therefore can be more unmanly then such a person nothing can be more unpleasant then to have to doe with him But a Pious man being steddily governed by Conscience and a regard to certain Principles doth both understand himself and is intelligible to others he presently descrieth what in any case he is to doe and can render an account of his acting you may know him clearly and assuredly tell what he will doe and may therefore fully confide in him What therefore Law and Government are to the publick things necessary to preserve the world in order peace and safety that men may know what to doe and distinguish what is their own that is Piety to each man's private state and to ordinary conversation it freeth a man's own life from disorder and distraction it prompteth men how to behave themselves toward one another with security and confidence This it doeth by confining our practice within settled bounds but this advantage appeareth greater considering that the Rules which it prescribeth are the best that can be Such they must needs be as proceeding from infallible Wisedom and immense Goodness being indeed no other then Laws which the All-wise and most gracious Lord and Maker of the world out of tender kindness to his subjects and creatures with especial regard to our welfare hath been pleased to enact and declare What of old he said to the Israelites concerning their Laws may with greater advantage be applied to those which should regulate our lives And now Israel what doth the Lord thy God require of thee but to fear the Lord thy God to walk in all his ways and to love him and to serve the Lord thy God with all thy heart and all thy soul To keep the Commandments of the Lord and his Statutes which I command thee this day for thy good For thy good that was the design of their being commanded thereto the observance of them did tend And that commendation which by the Levites in Nehemiah is given to that doth more clearly and fully agree to the Christian general and perfect institution Thou camest down from Mount Sinai and spakest with them from heaven and gavest them right judgments and true laws good statutes and commandments And The Law saith the Apostle Paul is holy the commandment is holy just and good as such it is recommended to us by its Authour so we Christians are by many great Arguments assured that it is and that
it is such even our natural reason dictateth so as to the chief instances thereof the most wise and sober men always have acknowledged so the general consent doth avow and so even common experience doth attest For heartily to love and reverence the Maker of all things who by every thing apparent before us demonstrateth himself incomprehensibly powerfull wise and good to be kind and charitable to our neighbours to be just and faithfull in our dealings to be sober and modest in our minds to be meek and gentle in our demeanours to be staunch and temperate in our enjoyments and the like principal rules of duty are such that the common reason of men and continual experience do approve them as hugely conducible to the publick good of men and to each man's private welfare So notoriously beneficial they appear that for the justification of them we might appeal even to the judgment and conscience of those persons who are most concerned to derogate from them For hardly can any man be so senseless or so lewd as seriously to disapprove or condemn them as inwardly to blame or slight those who truly act according to them The will of men sometimes may be so depraved that dissolute persons wantonly and heedlesly may scoff at and seem to disparage goodness that good men by very bad men for doing well may be envied and hated their being so treated is commonly an argument of the goodness of their persons and of their ways but the Understanding of men can hardly be so corrupted that Piety Charity Justice Temperance Meekness can in good earnest considerately by any man be disallowed or that persons apparently practising them can be despised but rather in spite of all contrary prejudices and disaffections such things and such persons cannot but in judgment and heart be esteemed by all men The luster of them by a natural and necessary efficacy like that of Heaven's glorious light dazzleth the sight and charmeth the spirits of all men living the beauty of them irresistibly conquereth and commandeth in the apprehensions of men the more they are observed the more usefull and needfull they appear for the good of men all the fruits which grow from the observance of them being to all mens tast very pleasant to all mens experience very wholsome Indeed all the good whereby common life is adorned is sweetned is rendred pleasant and desirable doth spring thence all the mischiefs which infest particular men and which disturb the world palpably do arise from the transgression or neglect thereof If we look on a person sticking to those Rules we shall perceive him to have a chearfull mind and composed passions to be at peace within and satisfied with himself to live in comely order in good repute in fair correspondence and firm concord with his neighbours If we mark what preserveth the body sound and lusty what keepeth the mind vigorous and brisk what saveth and improveth the estate what upholdeth the good name what guardeth and graceth a man's whole life it is nothing else but proceeding in our demeanour and dealings according to the honest and wise Rules of Piety If we view a place where these commonly in good measure are observed we shall discern that Peace and Prosperity do flourish there that all things proceed on sweetly and fairly that men generally drive on conversation and commerce together contentedly delightfully advantageously yielding friendly advice and aid mutually striving to render one another happy that few clamours or complaints are heard there few contentions or stirs do appear few disasters or tragedies do occurre that such a place hath indeed much of the face much of the substance of Paradise But if you mind a person who neglecteth them you will find his mind galled with sore remorse racked with anxious fears and doubts agitated with storms of passion and lust living in disorder and disgrace jarring with others and no less dissatisfied with himself If you observe what doth impair the health doth weaken and fret the mind doth waste the estate doth blemish the reputation doth expose the whole life to danger and trouble what is it but thwarting these good Rules If you consider a place where these are much neglected it will appear like a wilderness of savage Beasts or a sty of foul Swine or a hell of cursed Fiends full of roaring and tearing of factions and fewds of distractions and confusions of pitifull objects of dolefull moans of tragical events Men are there wallowing in filth wildly revelling bickering and squabbling defaming circumventing disturbing and vexing one another as if they affected nothing more then to render one another as miserable as they can It is from lust and luxury from ambition and avarice from envy and spite and the like dispositions which Religion chiefly doth interdict that all such horrid mischiefs do spring In fine the Precepts of Religion are no other then such as Physicians would prescribe for the health of our Bodies as Politicians would avow needfull for the peace of the State as Epicurean Philosophers do recommend for the tranquillity of our Mind and pleasure of our lives such as common reason dictateth and daily trial sheweth conducible to our welfare in all respects which consequently were there no law exacting them of us we should in wisedom chuse to observe and voluntarily impose on our selves confessing them to be fit matters of law as most advantageous and requisite to the good general and particular of mankind So that what Plutarch reporteth Solon to have said that he had so squared his Laws to the Citizens that all of them might clearly perceive that to observe them was more for their benefit and interest then to violate them is far more true concerning the Divine Laws II. We may consider more particularly that Piety yieldeth to the practiser all kind of interiour Content Peace and Joy freeth him from all kinds of dissatisfaction regret and disquiet which is an inestimably-great advantage for certainly the Happiness and Misery of men are wholly or chiefly seated and founded in the Mind If that is in a good state of health rest and chearfulness what-ever the person's outward condition or circumstances be he cannot be wretched if that be distempered or disturbed he cannot be happy For what if a man seem very poor if he be abundantly satisfied in his own possessions and enjoyments What if he tasteth not the pleasures of sense if he enjoyeth purer and sweeter delights of mind What if tempests of fortune surround him if his mind be calm and serene What if he have few or no friends if he yet be throughly in peace and amity with himself and can delightfully converse with his own thoughts What if men slight censure or revile him if he doth value his own state doth approve his own actions doth acquit himself of blame in his own conscience Such external contingencies can surely no more prejudice a man's real Happiness then winds blustering abroad can harm or
or resist any of his kindly suggestions or motions When-ever we find our selves well affected to or well framed for Devotion that we have a lively sense of and a coming appetite to spiritual things that our spirits are brisk and pure our fancy calm and clear our hearts tender and supple our affections warm and nimble then a fair season offereth it self and when the iron is so hot we should strike If at any time we feel any forward inclinations or good dispositions to the practice of this duty we should never check or curb them but rather should promote and advance them pushing our selves forward in this hopefull career letting out the stream of our affections into this right chanel that it may run freely therein that it may overflow and diffuse it self in exuberance of Devotion Farther IV. Praying incessantly may signifie that we should with assiduous urgency drive on the intent of our Prayers never quitting it or desisting till our requests are granted or our desires are accomplished Thus doing we may be said to pray continually as he that goeth forward in his journey although he sometime doth bait sometime doth rest and repose himself is said yet to be in travel or as he that doth not wave the prosecution of his cause although some demurrs intervene is deemed still to be in suit This is that which our Lord did in the Gospel prescribe and persuade where 't is recorded of him that He spake a parable unto them that men ought always to pray and not to faint That praying always the ensuing discourse sheweth to import restless importunity and perseverance in prayer the same which so often is commended to us by the phrases of 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 not to faint or faulter 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 not to cease or give over 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 to continue instant or hold out stoutly 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 to strive earnestly or contest and struggle in prayers 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 to abide at supplications 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 to watch with all perseverance That which also is implied by those terms which in Scriptural style do commonly expresse Devotion by seeking God which implieth that God doth not presently upon any slight address discover himself in beneficial effects answerable to our desires but after a carefull and painfull continuance in our applications to him by waiting upon God which signifieth that if God do not presently appear granting our requests we should patiently stay expecting till he be pleased to doe it in his own best time according to that in the Psalm Our eyes wait upon the Lord our God untill he have mercy upon us by knocking which intimateth that the door of grace doth not ever stand open or that we can have an effectual access to God untill he warned and as it were excited by our earnest importunity pleaseth to listen to disclose himself to come forth unto us And this practice Reason also doth enforce For there are some good things absolutely necessary for our spiritual life and welfare such as are freedom from bad inclinations disorderly affections vicious habits and noxious errours the sanctifying presence and influence of God's Holy Spirit with the blessed Graces and sweet fruits thereof growth in Vertue delight in spiritual things the sense of God's love and favour with the like which good reason engageth us so perseveringly to seek as never to rest or be satisfied till we have acquired them in perfect degree since we cannot ever doe well without them or ever get enough of them In begging other inferiour things it may become us to be reserved indifferent and modest but about these matters wherein all our felicity is extreamly concerned it were a folly to be slack or timorous as we cannot be said immoderately to desire them so we cannot be supposed immodestly to seek them there where onely they can be found in God's presence and hand The case doth bear yea doth require that we should be eager and hot resolute and stiff free and bold yea in a manner peremptory and impudent solicitours with God for them So our Saviour intimateth where comparing the manner of God's proceeding with that of men he representeth one friend yielding needfull succour to another not barely upon the score of friendship but 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 for his impudence that is for his confident and continued urgency admitting no refusal or excuse So doth God in such cases allow and oblige us to deal with him being instant and pertinacious in our requests giving him no rest as the phrase is in the Prophet not enduring to be put off or brooking any repulse never being discouraged or cast into despair by any delay or semblance of neglect We may wrastle with God like Jacob and with Jacob may say I will not let thee go except thou bless me Thus God suffereth himself to be prevailed upon and is willingly overcome thus Omnipotence may be mastered and a happy victory may begained over Invincibility it self Heaven sometime may be forced by storm or by the assaults of extreamly-servent prayer it assuredly will yield to a long siege God will not ever hold out against the attempts of an obstinate suppliant So the Kingdom of Heaven suffereth violence and the violent take it by force We reade in S. John's Gospel of a man that being thirty eight years diseased did wait at the pool of Bethesda seeking relief him our Lord pitied and helped crowning his patience with miraculous relief and proposing it for an example to us of perseverance It is said of the Patriarch Isaac that he intreated the Lord for his wife because she was barren and the Lord was intreated of him and Rebekah his wife conceived Whereupon S. Chrysostome doth observe that he had persevered twenty years in that petition Of good success to this practice we have many assurances in Holy Scripture The Lord is good unto them that wait for him to the soul that seeketh him Blessed are all they that wait for him None that wait on him shall be ashamed They that wait upon the Lord shall renew their strength they shall mount up with wings as eagles they shall run and not be weary they shall walk and not faint So hath God assured by his Word and engaged himself by promise that he will yield unto constant and patient Devotion so that it shall never want good success Without this practice we cannot indeed hope to obtain those precious things they will not come at an easie rate or be given for a song a lazy wish or two cannot fetch them down from Heaven God will not bestow them at first asking or deal them out in one lump but it is upon assiduous soliciting and by gradual communication that he dispenseth them So his wise good will for many special reasons disposeth him to proceed that we may as it becometh and
behoveth us abide under a continual sense of our natural impotency and penury of our dependence upon God and obligation to him for the free collation of those best gifts that by some difficulty of procuring them we may be minded of their worth and induced the more to prize them that by earnestly seeking them we may improve our spiritual appetites and excite holy affections that by much conversing with Heaven our minds may be raised above earthly things and our hearts purified from sordid desires that we may have a constant employment answerable to the best capacities of our Souls worthy our care and pain yielding most solid profit and pure delight unto us that in fine by our greater endeavour in religious practice we may obtain a more ample reward thereof For the same reason indeed that we pray at all we should pray thus with continued instance We do not pray to instruct or advise God not to tell him news or inform him of our wants He knows them as our Saviour telleth us before we ask nor do we pray by dint of argument to persuade God and bring him to our bent nor that by fair speech we may cajoul him or move his affections toward us by pathetical orations not for any such purpose are we obliged to pray But for that it becometh and it behoveth us so to doe because it is a proper instrument of bettering ennobling and perfecting our Souls because it breedeth most holy affections and pure satisfactions and worthy resolutions because it fitteth us for the enjoyment of happiness and leadeth us thither for such ends Devotion is prescribed and constant perseverance therein being needfull to those purposes praying by fits and starts not sufficing to accomplish them therefore such perseverance is required of us Farther V. Praying incessantly may import that we do with all our occupations and all occurrences interlace devout ejaculations of prayer and praise lifting up our hearts to God and breathing forth expressions of devotion sutable to the objects and occasions which present themselves This as it nearly doth approach to the punctual accomplishment of what our Text prescribeth so it seemeth required by S. Paul when he biddeth us pray always 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 in spirit and to sing 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 in the heart that is with very frequent elevations of spirit in holy thoughts and desires toward Heaven with opportune resentments of heart directing thanks and praise to God We cannot ever be framing or venting long Prayers with our lips but almost ever our mind can throw pious glances our heart may dart good wishes upwards so that hardly any moment any considerable space of time shall pass without some lightsome flashes of Devotion As bodily respiration without intermission or impediment doth concurr with all our actions so may that breathing of Soul which preserveth our spiritual life and ventilateth that holy flame within us well conspire with all other occupations For Devotion is of a nature so spiritual so subtile and penetrant that no matter can exclude or obstruct it Our Minds are so exceedingly nimble and active that no business can hold pace with them or exhaust their attention and activity We can never be so fully possessed by any employment but that divers vacuities of time do intercurr wherein our thoughts and affections will be diverted to other matters As a Covetous man what-ever beside he is doing will be carking about his bags and treasures an Ambitious man will be devising on his plots and projects a Voluptuous man will have his mind in his dishes a Lascivious man will be doting on his amours a Studious man will be musing on his notions every man according to his particular inclination will lard his business and besprinkle all his actions with cares and wishes tending to the enjoyment of what he most esteemeth and affecteth so may a good Christian through all his undertakings wind in devout reflexions and pious motions of Soul toward the chief object of his mind and affection Most businesses have wide gaps all have some chinks at which Devotion may slip in Be we never so urgently set or closely intent upon any work be we feeding be we travelling be we trading be we studying nothing yet can forbid but that we may together wedge in a thought concerning God's Goodness and bolt forth a word of praise for it but that we may reflect on our sins and spend a penitential sigh on them but that we may descry our need of God's help and dispatch a brief petition for it a God be praised a Lord have mercy a God bless or God help me will nowise interrupt or disturb our proceedings As worldly cares and desires do often intrude and creep into our Devotions distracting and defiling them so may spiritual thoughts and holy affections insinuate themselves into and hallow our secular transactions This practice is very possible and it is no less expedient for that if our employments be not thus seasoned they can have no true life or savour in them they will in themselves be dead and putrid they will be foul and noisome or at least flat and insipid unto us There are some other good meanings of this Precept according to which Holy Scripture back'd with good Reason obligeth us to observe it but those together with the general Inducements to the practice of this Duty that I may not farther now trespass on your patience I shall reserve to another opportunity The Seventh Sermon 1 THES 5. 17. Pray without ceasing WHAT the Prayer here injoyned by S. Paul doth import and how by it universally all sorts of Devotion should be understood we did formerly discourse How also according to divers senses grounded in Holy Scripture and enforced by good Reason we may perform this duty incessantly we did then declare five such senses we did mention and prosecute I shall now adde two or three more and press them VI. Praying then incessantly may imply that we do appoint certain times conveniently distant for the practice of Devotion and carefully observe them To keep the Jews in a constant exercise of Divine worship God did constitute a Sacrifice which was called Tamidh 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the continual sacrifice And as that Sacrifice being constantly offered at set times was thence denominated continual so may we by punctually observing fit returns of Devotion be said to pray incessantly And great reason there is that we should doe so For we know that all persons who would not lead a loose and slattering life but design with good assurance and advantage to prosecute an orderly course of action are wont to distribute their time into several parcells assigning some part thereof to the necessary refection of their bodies some to the convenient relaxation of their minds some to the dispatch of their ordinary affairs some also to familiar conversation and interchanging good offices with their friends considering that otherwise they
mercy is great unto the heavens and thy faithfulness reacheth unto the clouds and Remember the marvellous works that he hath done his wonders and the judgments of his mouth He is the Lord our God his judgements are in all the earth and again Thy mercy O Lord is in the heavens thy faithfulness reacheth unto the clouds Thy righteousness is like the great mountains thy judgments are a great deep O Lord thou preservest man and beast How excellent is thy loving-kindness O God! and How precious are thy thoughts unto me O Lord O how great is the sum of them If I should count them they are more in number then the sand and again His work is honourable and glorious his righteousness endureth for ever and The Lord is good to all and his tender mercies are over all his works and Blessed be the Lord who daily loadeth us with his benefits In such manner ought we diligently to survey and judiciously to estimate the effects of Divine beneficence examining every part and descanting upon every circumstance thereof like those that contemplate some rare beauty or some excellent picture some commending the exact proportions some the gracefull features some the lively colours discernible therein There is not the least of the Divine favours which if we consider the condescensive tenderness the clear intention the undeserved frankness the chearfull debonairity expressed therein hath not dimensions larger then our comprehension colours too fair and lineaments too comely for our weak sight thoroughly to discern requiring therefore our highest esteem and our utmost thanks 'T is perhaps somewhat dangerous to affix a determinate value upon any of God's Benefits for to value them seems to undervalue them they being really inestimable what then is it to extenuate to vilifie to despise the greatest We should esteem them as we measure the Heavens with our eye as we compute the sands upon the shore as we would prize inexhaustible mines of gold and treasures of pearl that is by confessing heartily their worth surpasses the strength of our imagination to conceive and of our speech to utter that they are immense innumerable unconceivable and unexpressible But still 4. Giving thanks imports that Benefits be received with a willing mind a hearty sense a vehement affection The forementioned particulars are indeed necessary properties inseparable concomitants or prerequisite conditions to but a chearfull and cordial acceptance of Benefits is the form as it were and soul the life and spirit the principal and most essential ingredient of this Duty It was not altogether unreasonable though it went for a Paradox that dictate of the Stoicks That animus sufficit animo and That qui libenter accepit beneficium reddidit that he who with a willing and well-affected mind receives a courtesie hath fully discharged the duty of Gratitude that other endeavours of return and compensation are rather handsome accessions to it then indispensably requisite to the completion thereof For as in the Collation 't is not the gold or the silver the food or the apparel in which the Benefit consists but the will and benevolent intention of him that bestows them so reciprocally 't is the good acceptance the sensibleness of and acquiescence in the Benefactour's goodness that constitutes the Gratitude which who affords though he be never capable of yielding other satisfaction voluntate voluntati satisfecit and Regum aequavit opes animo 'T is ingenuity that constitutes respectively both a bountifull Giver and a thankfull Receiver A truly-noble Benefactour purely aimeth at not any material reward or advantage to himself it were trading this not beneficence but the good profit and content of him to whom he dispenseth his favour of which being assured he rests satisfied aud accounts himself royally recompensed Such a Benefactour is Almighty God and such a tribute he requires of us a ready embracement of and a joyfull complacency in his kindness even such as he expressed who said Because thy loving-kindness is better then life my lips shall praise thee and My soul shall be filled as with marrow and fatness and my mouth shall praise thee with joyfull lips and I will praise thee with my whole heart I will be glad and rejoyce in thee and Bless the Lord O my soul and all that is within me praise his holy Name No Holocaust is so acceptable to God as a Heart enflamed with the sense of his Goodness He loves not onely 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 a merry giver but 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 a chearfull receiver also He would have us as to desire his favour with a greedy appetite so to tast it with a savoury relish He designs not onely to fill our mouths with food but our hearts also with gladness We must not seem to grudge or repine to murmur or disdain that we are necessitated to be beholden to him lest it happen to us as it did to them of whom 't is said While the meat was yet in their mouths the wrath of God came upon them and slew the fattest of them Yea 't is our duty not to be contented onely but to be delighted to be transported to be ravished with the emanations of his love to entertain them with such a disposition of mind as the dry and parched ground imbibes the soft dew and gentle showrs as the chill and darksome air admits the benign influences of heavenly light as the thirsty soul takes in the sweet and cooling stream He that with a sullen look a dead heart a faint sense a cold hand embraces the gifts of Heaven is really unthankfull though with deluges of wine and oil he makes the altars to o'reflow and clouds the sky with the steam of his sacrifices But yet farther 5. This Duty requires due Acknowledgment of our obligation significations of our notice declarations of our esteem and good acceptance of favours conferr'd 'T is the worst and most detestable of ingratitudes that which proceeds from pride and scorn and such is he guilty of who is either unwilling or ashamed to confess himself obliged who purposely dissembles a Benefit or disavows the Benefactour who refuses to render those most manifestly due and most easily discharged those neither toilsome nor expensive oblations of praise and acknowledgment This part of our duty requires that we offer to God not costly Hecatombs but the calves onely of our lips as the Prophet Hoseah speaks not the fruit of our hands but 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 onely as the Apostle to the Hebrews styles it the fruit of our lips confessing to his name that we employ some few blasts of the breath he gave us on the celebration of his goodness and advancement of his repute I will praise the name of God with a song and will magnifie him with thanksgiving This shall please the Lord better then an oxe or bullock that hath horns and hoofs saith David And surely 't is
sins then we live minutes that with infinite patience endures not only our manifold infirmities and imperfections but our petulant follies our obstinate perversnesses our treacherous insidelities overlooks our careless neglects and our wilful miscarriages puts up the exceeding-many outragious affronts injuries and contumelies continually offered to his Supreme Majesty by us base worms whom he hath always under his feet and can crush to nothing at his pleasure To Him yet who as St. James saith giveth freely and upbraideth no man who calls us neither very frequently nor over-strictly to accounts who exacts of us no impossible no very difficult no greatly-burdensome or costly returns being satisfied with the chearful acceptance of his favours the hearty acknowledgments of his goodness the sincere performance of such duties to which our own welfare comfort and advantage rightly apprehended would otherwise abundantly dispose us To Him lastly whose Benefits to acknowledg is the greatest Benefit of all to be enabled to thank whom deserves our greatest thanks to be sensible of whose Beneficence to meditate on whose Goodness to admire whose Excellency to celebrate whose Praise is Heaven it self and Paradise the life of Angels the quintessence of Joy the supreme degree of Felicity In a word To Him whose Benefits are immensely great innumerably many unexpressibly good and precious For Who can utter the mighty acts of the Lord who can shew forth his praise said he who had imployed often his most active thoughts and his utmost endeavours thereupon and was incomparably better able to do it To this God to this great to this only Benefactour of ours we owe this most natural and easie this most just and equal this most sweet and pleasant Duty of giving Thanks To whom if we wilfully refuse if we carelesly neglect to pay it I shall only say thus much That we are not onely monstrously ingrateful and horribly wicked but abominably foolish and deplorably miserable I shall repeat this sentence once again and wish it may have its due effect upon us To this great to this only Patron and Benefactour of ours if we do not in some measure discharge our due debt of Gratitude for his inestimable Benefits and Mercies we are to be adjudged not onely most prodigiously unthankful most detestably impious but most wofully stupid also and senseless most desperately wretched and unhappy I should now proceed to consider the Circumstance of Time determined in the word Always and the extension of the Matter implied in those words for all things and then to subjoyn some farther inducements or arguments persuasive to the practice of this Duty But the time and I fear your patience failing I shall reserve them to some other opportunity The Ninth Sermon EPHES. 5. 20. Giving thanks always for all things unto God HAving formerly discoursed upon these words I observed in them Four Particulars considerable 1. the substance of a Duty to which we are exhorted to give thanks 2. the Term unto which it is directed to God 3. the Circumstance of time determined in that word always 4. the Extent of the Matter about which the Duty is employed for all things Concerning the Two former Particulars wherein the Duty consisted and wherefore especially related unto God I then represented what did occur to my meditation III. I proceed now to the Third the Circumstance of Time allotted to the performance of this Duty expressed by that universal and unlimited term Always Which yet is not so to be understood as if thereby we were obliged in every instant or singular point of time actually to remember to consider to be affected with and to acknowledge the Divine Benefits for the deliberate operations of our minds being sometimes wholly interrupted by sleep otherwhile pre-occupied by the indispensible care of serving our natural necessities and with attendence upon other reasonable imployments it were impossible to comply with an obligation to the performance of this Duty so interpreted And those Maxims of Law Impossibilium nulla est obligatio and Quae rerum naturâ prohibentur nullâ Lege confirmata sunt that is No Law or Precept can oblige to Impossibilities being evidently grounded upon natural equity seem yet more valid in relation to his Laws who is the Judge of all the World and in his dispensations most transcendently just and equal We may therefore observe that the Hebrews are wont in way of Synecdoche or grammatical Hyperbole so to use words of this kind that their universal importance ought to be restrained by the quality or circumstances of the matter about which they converse As when our Saviour saith Ye shall be hated by all men for my sake All is not to be taken for every singular person since there were some that loved our Saviour and embraced the Evangelical Doctrine but for many or the most And when David saith There is none that doeth good he seemeth only to mean that in the general corruption of his times there were few righteous persons to be found And so for ever is often used not for a perpetual and endless but for a long and lasting duration and always not for a continual unintermited state of being or action but for such a perseverance as agrees to the condition of the thing to which it is applied 'T is for instance prescribed in Exodus that Aaron should bear the judgment of the Children of Israel the Urim and Thummim upon his heart before the Lord continually that is not in absolute and rigorous acception continually but constantly ever when he went into the Holy Place to discharge the Pontifical function as the context declares And our Saviour in the Gospel saith of himself 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 I always taught in the Temple that is very often and ever when fit occasion was presented And the Apostles immediately after Christ's ascension 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 were as St. Luke tells us continually in the Temple praising and blessing God that is they resorted thither constantly at the usual times or canonical hours of prayer in like manner those injunctions of nearest affinity of rejoycing of giving thanks always and particularly of praying without ceasing as I have shewn more largly in another Discourse are to be taken in a sense so qualified that the observance of them may be at least morally possible Thus far warrantably we may limit the extension and mollifie the rigour of this seemingly-boundless term but we can hardly allow any farther restriction without destroying the natural signification or diminishing the due emphasis thereof As far therefore as 't is possible for us we must endeavour always to perform this duty of Gratitude to Almighty God and consequently 1. Hereby is required a Frequent performance thereof that we do often actually meditate upon be sensible of confess and celebrate the Divine Beneficence For what is done but seldom or never as we commonly say cannot be understood done always without a Catachresis or
be tempted often to omit it we shall be listless to do it apt to defer it and easily diverted from it by the encroachments of other less-behoving affairs The Jews to preserve them in the constant exercise of this Duty had instituted by God a Sacrifice called 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Juge rendred by the Greek Translatours 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the continual Sacrifice to which the Divine Authour of the Epistle to the Hebrews seems to allude when in these words he exhorts 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 By him therefore let us offer the sacrifice of Praise to God continually or the continual sacrifice of Praise the fruit of our lips giving thanks to his Name As that sacrifice therefore being offered constantly at a set time was thence denominated continual so perhaps may we by constantly observing some fit returns of praise and thanksgiving be said always to give thanks In determining the seasons and proportions of which what other rule or standard can we better conform to then that of the Royal Prophet I shall not urge his example so much according to which we should be obliged to a greater frequency for Seven times a day saith he do I praise thee because of thy righteous judgments but rather allege his general direction and opinion proposed to us in those words of his It is a good thing to give thanks unto the Lord and to sing praises unto thy Name O thou Most high to shew forth thy loving-kindness every morning and thy faithfulness every night It is a good thing that is a seemly a convenient a commendable a due performance every morning that is when our spirits being recreated with sleep are become more vigorous our memories more fresh our fancies more quick and active to shew forth thy loving-kindness that is from a hearty sense of our obligation to acknowledge the free bounty of him who in pursuance of his former kindness hath been pleased to accumulate new favours on us to guard us by his watchful care when we were buried as it were in a senseless ignorance and total neglect of our own welfare to raise us from that temporary death and to confer a new life upon us restoring us to our health to our means of subsistence to all the necessary supports and the desirable comforts of life every night also that is when our spirits are exhausted with action and our minds tired with thoughtfulness when we are become weary not of doing only but almost of being we should conclude our toils and wrap up our cares in the sweet sense and grateful memory of his goodness who hath protected us so many hours from the manifold dangers and more sins to which by our weakness and our folly and our bad inclinations we are through every minute exposed and withal hath provided us so easie and so delightful a means of recovering our spent activity of repairing our decayed strength Thus if we constantly begin and thus close up thus bound and circumscribe our days dedicating those most remarkable periods of time to blessing God and making as the Psalmist speaks the out-goings of the morning and evening to rejoyce in him since beginning and ending do in a manner comprehend the whole and the morning and evening in Moses his computation and style do constitute a day we may not incongruously be supposed and said to give thanks always But yet farther this may import 3. A Vigilant attendance upon this Duty such as men bestow on their employments whereof though the actual prosecution ceases yet the design continuedly proceeds As we say such a one is writing a Book building a House occupying a piece of Land though he be at that present peradventure sleeping or eating or satisfying some other desire because his design never sleeps and his purpose persists uninterrupted And thus it seems we are to understand our Saviour and the Apostles when they exhort us 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 to continue instant in prayer and thanksgiving and 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 to watch with all perseverance and 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 to wake in thanksgiving and 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 not to give over giving thanks and to perform these duties 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 incessantly or without giving off 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 not to grow worse faint or faulter which is in that place made equivalent to and explicatory of doing Duty always Which expressions denote a most diligent attendence on these Duties that we make them not a 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 a diversion or by-business of our lives allowing only a perfunctory and desultorious endeavour on them but esteem them a weighty business to be pursued with stedfast resolution and unwearied industry As our beings and powers did proceed from the Goodness so the results of them naturally tend to the Glory of God and the deliberations of our Will ought to conspire with the instincts of our Nature it should be the principal design which our Intention should aim at and our Endeavour always drive on to glorifie our Maker Which doing we may be reputed to discharge this Duty and in some sense said alwayes to give thanks But farther 4. This term always doth necessarily imply a Ready disposition or habitual inclination to give Thanks ever permanent in us that our Hearts as David's was be fixed always that is fittingly prepared and steadily resolved to thank and praise God that our Affections be like tinder though notalways inflamed yet easily inflamable by the sense of his Goodness 'T is said of the righteous man that he is ever merciful and lendeth not for that he doth ever actually dispense alms or furnish his poor neighbour with supplies but because his mind is ever inclinable to do it when need requires So a grateful man doth always give thanks by being disposed to do it upon all fit occasions 'T is the habit that qualifies and denominates a man such or such in any kind or degree of morality A good man is in Scripture frequently compared to a Tree bringing forth fruit in due season and the root thereof is this habitual disposition which being nourished by the dew of Heaven and quickned by the benign influence of Divine Grace sprouts forth opportunely and yields a plentiful increase of good fruit Though we cannot always sing our organs may be always rightly tuned for praise at least they should never be unstrung and wholly out of kelter We should maintain in our selves a constant good temper of mind that no opportunity surprise and find us unprepared to entertain worthily the effects of Divine favour otherwise we shall as well lose the benefit as God the thanks and glory due to them That we be always thus disposed is not impossible and therefore requisit But moreover 5. Lastly Giving thanks always imports that we readily embrace every opportunity of actually expressing our Thankfulness For so what in some places of Scripture is injoyned
launching too far into this immense Ocean nor strive minutely to compute the incomprehensible summe of the Divine Benefits but onely observe that in gross according to our Apostle's calculation all things which how-ever happen to us are ingredients thereof No occurrence great or small common or particular present or past pleasant or sad perpetual or transitory is excluded from being the subject of our Thanksgiving each one may prove beneficial to us and we are with a chearful contentedness and a gratefull refentment to receive them all from God's hand But to observe some little distinction I say 1. We are to give thanks not only for great and notable Benefits but for the least and most ordinary Favours of God though indeed none of God's Favours are in themselves small and inconsiderable Men are wont to bless themselves if they receive but a transient glance from a Prince's eye a smile from a great personage any slender intimation of regard from him that is in capacity to do them good what is it then to receive the least testimony of his good will from whom alone every good thing can be expected upon whose disposal all happy success of our wishes our hopes and our endeavours do entirely depend We repute him injust who withholds the least part of what is due from the true owner and is not he ingrateful then that omits to render thanks for the least of Divine Mercies There is one glory of the Sun another of the Moon another of the Stars saith S. Paul Some works of God indeed excel in lustre yet all are glorious all are to be discerned all to be esteemed and thankfully entertained by us The brightness of the one should not wholly obscure the other if it do it argues the weakness of our sense the dulness of our spiritual faculty For every beam of light that delights our eye for every breath of Air that chears our spirits for every drop of pleasant Liquour that cools our thirst for every minute of comfortable repose for every step we safely take for the happy issue of the least undertaking for escaping the vengeance due to an idle word or a wanton thought we owe a hymn of praise to God But 2. We are to render thanks not only for new and present Benefits but for all we have formerly all that we may hereafter receive We find David not only frequently acknowledging the gracious dispensations of Providence toward him through the whole course of his life but looking back in his thankful Devotions as far as his very original being and praising God for favours conferred on him beyond his memory yea before his life I will praise thee saith he for I am fearfully and wonderfully made marvellous are thy works and that my soul knoweth right well My substance was not hid from thee when I was made in secret and curiously wrought in the lower parts of the Earth Thine eyes did see my substance yet being imperfect and in thy book all my members wère written which in continuance were fashioned when as yet there was none of them And S. Paul yet farther reflecting his grateful consideration blesses God for his favour commenced before the beginning of things Blessed saith he be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ who hath blessed us with all spiritual blessings in heavenly places in Christ according as he hath chosen us before the foundation of the world Neither doth the memory only of former and the enjoyment of present but the hope and foresight also of future Blessings worthily claim our thanks For saith S. Peter Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ which according to his abundant mercy hath begotten us again unto a lively hope by the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead to an inheritance incorruptible and undefiled reserved in Heaven for you Beasts only and men not much better then they are affected with present good turns but men of honest and generous tempers resent indifferently the obligations of all times Sense doth not confine their Gratitude nor absence remove nor age wear it out What once is done is ever done to them and what of courtesie is purposed seems to them performed But having before discoursed somewhat largely concerning the remembrance of Benefits I leave this point Furthermore 3. We should bless God not only for new rare extraordinary accidents of Providence but for the common and daily benefits and indulgences thereof These Favours are usually the greatest and most valuable in their own nature For what can be imagined of higher consequence to us then the preservation of our Lives and of our Estates by which they are comfortably maintained then the continuance of our Bodies in good health and our Minds in their right wits then the knowledg of heavenly Truth the encouragements to Vertue and Piety the assistences of Divine Grace and the promises of eternal Bliss continually exhibited to us Shall the commonness and continuance of these exceeding Favours that they are not given us once only and transitorily but continued that is given us so often as time hath instants and with an uninterrupted perseverance renewed unto us shall this abate and enervate our Gratitude which in all reason should mainly encrease and confirm it But this point I also touched before and therefore forbearing to insist thereon I proceed 4. We should give thanks not only for private and particular but for publick Benefits also and for such as befal others I exhort therefore saith S. Paul before all things that supplications prayers intercessions and thanksgivings be made for all men not prayers only for good things to be bestowed on others but thanksgivings also for the Benefits received by others And 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 in our Text however otherwise commonly interpreted may well admit this sense also and be taken indifferently pro omnibus for all persons and propter omnia for all things We are all Citizens of the World and concerned in its good constitution and thence obliged thankfully to adore the mighty Upholder and wise Governour thereof praising him for all the general Benefits liberally poured forth upon mankind We partake in the commodities of Civil Society and therefore should heartily thank him by whose gracious disposal Order is maintained Peace continued Justice administred Plenty provided our Lives made safe and sweet to us therein We are Members of a Church and highly interested in the prosperous estate and well-being thereof when Unity therefore is preserved and Charity abounds when Knowledg is encreased and Vertue encouraged when Piety flourishes and Truth triumphs therein we are bound to render all possible thanks to the gracious Bestower of those inestimable Blessings We are much mistaken in our account if we either determine our own concernments or measure this Duty by the narrow rule of our private advantage for subducting either the Benefits commonly indulged to mankind or those which accrue from the welfare
exemption from common restraints their continual distractions and encumbrances by varieties of care and business their multitude of obsequious followers and scarcity of faithful friends to advise or reprove them their having no obstacles before them to check their wills to cross their humours to curb their lusts and passions are so many dangerous â—nares unto them wherefore they do need plentifull measures of Grace and mighty assistances from God to preserve them from the worst errours and sins into which otherwise 't is almost a miracle if they are not plunged And being they are so liable to sin they must consequently stand often in need of God's mercy to bear with them and to pardon them They therefore upon so many accounts needing special help and grace from Heaven do most need Prayers to derive it thence for them All Princes indeed do need them Good Princes need many Prayers for God's help to uphold and confirm them in their Vertue Bad Princes need deprecations of God's wrath and judgment toward them for offending his Majesty together with supplications for God's Grace to convert and reform them the most desperate and incorrigible need Prayers that God would over-rule and restrain them from doing mischief to themselves and others All Princes having many avocations and temptations hindring them to pray enough for themselves do need supplemental aids from the Devotions of others Wherefore if we love Them if we love our Country if we love our Selves if we tender the interests of Truth of Piety of common Good we considering their case and manifold need of Prayers will not fail earnestly to sue for them that God would afford needful assistance to them in the administration of their high Office in the improvement of their great talents in the conduct and management of their arduous Affairs that he graciously would direct them in their perplexed Counsels would back them in their difficult Undertakings would protect their Persons from dangers would keep their Hearts from the prevalency of temptations would pardon their Failings and Trespasses Again 9. Whereas God hath declared that he hath special regard to Princes and a more than ordinary care over them because they have a peculiar relation to him as his Representatives the Ministers of his Kingdom the main instruments of his Providence whereby he conveyeth his favours and dispenseth his justice to men because also the good of mankind which he especially tendereth is mainly concerned in their welfare whereas I say it is he that giveth salvation unto Kings that giveth great deliverance to his King and sheweth mercy to his Anointed that hath the King's heart and his breath and all his ways in his hand even upon this account our prayers for them are the more required For it is a method of God and an established rule of Divine Providence not to dispense special Blessings without particular Conditions and the concurrence of our duty in observance of what he prescribeth in respect to them Seeing then He hath enjoyned that in order to our obtaining those great Benefits which issue from his special care over Princes we should pray for it and seek it from his hands the omission of this duty will intercept it or bereave us of its advantages nor in that case may we expect any blessings of that kind As without praying for our selves we must not expect private favours from Heaven so without praying for our Prince we cannot well hope for publick blessings For as a profane person who in effect disavoweth God by not regarding to seek his favour and aid is not qualified to receive any good from him so a profane Nation which disclaimeth God's Government of the world by not invoking his Benediction on those who moderate it under him is not well capable of common benefits It is upon all accounts true which Ezra said The hand of our God is upon all them for good that seek him but his power and his wrath is against all them that forsake him If therefore we desire that our Prince should not lose God's special regard if we would not forfeit the benefits thereof to our selves we must conspire in hearty Prayers for him 10. To engage and encourage us in which practice we may farther consider that such Prayers offered duly with frequency and constancy with sincerity and zeal do always turn to good account and never want good effect the which if it be not always easily discernible yet it is certainly real if it be not perfect as we may desire yet it is competent as expediency requireth or as the condition of things will bear There may be impediments to a full success of the best Prayers they may not ever prevail to render Princes compleatly good or extreamly prosperous For some concurrence of their own will is requisite to produce their Vertue God rarely working with irresistible power or fatal efficacy and the state of things or capacities of Persons are not always fitly suted for prosperity Yet are not such Prayers ever wholly vain or fruitless For God never prescribeth means unavailable to the end he never would have commanded us particularly to pray for Kings if he did not mean to bestow a good issue to that practice And surely he that hath promised to hear all requests with faith and sincerity and incessant earnestness presented to him cannot fail to hear those which are of such consequence which are so agreeable to his will which do include so much honesty and charity In this case surely we may have some confidence according to that of S. John This is the confidence we have in him that if we ask any thing according to his will he heareth us As the good Bishop observing S. Austin's Mother with what constancy and passionateness she did pray for her Son being then engaged in ways of errour and vanity did encourage her saying It is impossible that a Son of those devotions should perish so may we hopefully presume and encourage our selves that a Prince will not miscarry for whose welfare many good people do earnestly solicit Fieri non potest ut Princeps istarum lacrymarum pereat You know in general the mighty efficacy of Prayer what pregnant assurances there are and how wonderful instances thereof occurre in Holy Scripture both in relation to publick and private blessings How it is often promised that All things whatsoever we shall ask in prayer believing we shall receive and that whoever asketh receiveth and he that seeketh findeth and to him that knocketh it shall be opened How the prayer of Abraham did heal Abimelech and his family of barrenness how the prayers of Moses did quench the fire and cure the bitings of the fiery Serpents how the prayer of Joshua did arrest the Sun how the prayer of Hannah did procure Samuel to her as his name doth import how Elias his prayers did open and shut the heavens how the same Holy Prophet's prayer did reduce
Providence may signifie lightness to father on God the mischiefs issuing from our sin and folly may savour of profaneness but to ascribe every grand and beneficial event unto his good Hand hath ever been reputed wisdom and justice It hath been saith Balbus in Cicero a common opinion among the Ancients that what-ever did bring great benefit to mankind was never done without Divine goodness toward men And well may they deem so seeing to doe so is most agreeable to his nature and appertaining to his charge and may appear to be so by good argumentation à priori For that God doth govern our affairs may be deduced from his essential Attributes and consequently that he doth in especial manner order these things which are the most proper and worthy objects of his governance God indeed doth not disregard any thing he watcheth over the least things by his general and ordinary Providence so that nothing in nature may deviate from its course or transgress the bounds prescribed to it He thereby cloathes the grass of the field He provideth for the raven his food and the young lions seek their meat from him without his care a sparrow doth not fall to the ground by it all the hairs of our head are numbred But his more special hand of Providence is chiefly imployed in managing affairs of great moment and benefit to mankind and peculiarly those which concern his people who do profess to worship and serve him whose welfare he tendreth with more then ordinary care and affection He therefore hath a main stroke in all revolutions and changes of State he presideth in all great counsels and undertakings in the waging of war in the settlement of peace in the dispensation of victory and good success He is peculiarly interested in the protection of Princes the chief Ministers of his Kingdom and in preservation of his people the choice object of his care from violent invasions and treacherous surprises so as to prevent disasters incident or to deliver from them It is he that as the Psalmist saith doth give Salvation unto Kings who delivereth David his servant from the hurtful sword It is he that continually keepeth Israel without ever sleeping or slumbering who is the hope of Israel and the Saviour thereof who is in the midst of her that she shall not be moved who hath declared that he will help her and that right early that he will not cast off his people nor forsake his inheritance that no weapon formed against his Church shall prosper that salvation belongeth to the Lord and his blessing is upon his people When therefore any remarkable event highly conducing to the publick good of Church of state supporting them in a good condition or rescuing them from imminent danger doth appear it is most reasonable and most just to ascribe the accomplishment thereof to God's Hand When any pernicious enterprize levelled against the safety of Prince and people is disappointed it is fit we should profess and say The righteous Lord hath hewen the snares of the ungodly in pieces 4. Another like mark of special Providence is the Righteousness of the case or the advantage springing from events unto the maintenance of Right the vindication of Innocence the defence of Truth the encouragement of Piety and Vertue God naturally is the Judge of right the Guardian of innocence the Patron of truth and Promoter of goodness The Lord is a refuge to the oppressed He is a Father of the fatherless and a Judg of the widow He will maintain the cause of the afflicted and the right of the poor He executeth righteousness and judgment for all that are oppressed He blesseth the righteous and compasseth him with favour as with a shield He preserveth the souls of the righteous and delivereth them out of the hand of the ungodly All his Paths are mercy and truth unto such as keep his Covenant and his Testimonies When-ever therefore Right is oppressed or perillously invaded when Innocence is grossly abused or sorely beset when Piety is fiercely opposed or cunningly undermined when good men for the profession of Truth or the practice of Vertue are persecuted or grievously threatned with mischief then may we presume that God is not unconcerned nor will prove backward to reach forth his succour And when accordingly we find that sig nal aid or deliverance do then arrive it is most reasonable to suppose that God particularly hath engaged himself and exerted his power in their behalf For seeing it is his proper and peculiar work seeing it most becometh and behoveth him to appear in such cases affording his helpful countenance when he doth it we should be ready to acknowledge it In such a case The hand of the Lord shall be known toward his servants and his indignation toward his enemies saith the Prophet 5. Another character is the Correspondence of Events to the Prayers and desires of good men For seeing it is the duty and constant practice of good men in all exigencies to implore God's help seeing such Prayers have as S. James telleth us a mighty energy it being God's property by them to be moved to impart his powerful assistence seeing God most plainly and frequently hath declared and obliged himself by promise that he will hear them so as to perform what-ever is expedient in their behalf seeing we have many notable experiments recorded in Scripture as those of Asa Jehoshaphat Hezekiah Elias Daniel and the like of Prayer bringing down wonderful effects from Heaven with which the testimonies of all times and the daily experience of good men do conspire seeing the presumption of such efficacy is the main ground and encouragement of Devotion we have great reason whenever Events are answerable to such Prayers to ascribe the performance of them to God's Hand great reason we have in such cases to cry out with David Now know I that the Lord saveth his Anointed he will hear him from his holy Heaven with the saving strength of his right hand just cause have we according to his pattern thankfully to acknowledge God's favour in answering our petitions The King said he shall joy in thy strength O Lord and in thy salvation how greatly shall he rejoyce For thou hast given him his heart's desire and hast not withholden the requests of his lips 6. Again The proceedings of God especially in way of judgment or of dispensing rewards and punishments discover their original by their kind and countenance which usually do bear a near resemblance or some significant correspondence to the actions upon which they are grounded Punishments saith a Father are the forced off-springs of willing faults and answerably Rewards are the children of good deeds and God who formeth both doth commonly order it so that the children in their complexion and features shall resemble their Parents So that the deserts
judgments O Lord. For thou Lord art high above all the Earth It is to them ground of exceeding comfort to receive so clear pledges of God's Love and Favour his Truth and Fidelity his Bounty and Munificence toward them expressed in such watchful care over them such protection in dangers such aid in needs such deliverance from mischiefs vouchsafed to them Such Benefits they cannot receive from God's hand without that chearfulness which always doth adhere to gratitude I will saith David sing unto the Lord because he hath dealt bountifully with me Because thou hast been my helper therefore in the shadow of thy wings I will rejoyce My lips shall greatly rejoyce in thee and my Soul which thou hast redeemed I will be glad and rejoyce in thy mercy for thou hast considered my trouble and hast known my Soul in adversities The Lord hath done great things for us whereof we are glad Let all those that put their trust in thee rejoyce let them ever shout for joy because thou defendest them They are also greatly refreshed with apprehension of the happy fruits sprouting from such dispensations of Providence such as are the Benefit of mankind the Peace and prosperity of the Civil State the Preservation settlement enlargement advancement of God's Church the support of Right the succour of Innocence the maintenance of Truth the encouragement and furtherrance of Piety the restraint of Violence the discountenance of Errour the correction of Vice and Impiety In these things they as faithful servants of God and real friends of Goodness as bearing hearty good will and compassion to mankind as true lovers of their Country as living and sensible members of the Church cannot but rejoyce Seeing by these things their own best interest which is no other then the advantage of Goodness their chief honour which consists in the promotion of Divine Glory their truest content which is placed in the prosperity of Sion are highly furthered how can they look on them springing up without great delight and complacence O saith the Psalmist sing unto the Lord for he hath done marvellous things He hath remembred his mercy and truth toward the house of Israel all the ends of the earth have seen the salvation of our God And Sing O heavens cryeth the Prophet and be joyful O earth and break forth into singing O ye mountains for the Lord hath comforted his people and will have mercy on his afflicted And When saith he ye shall see this the comfort of God's people your heart shall rejoyce and your bones shall flourish like an herb and the hand of the Lord shall be known toward his servants and his indignation toward his enemies Even in the frustration of wicked designs attended with severe execution of vengeance on the contrivers and abettours of them they may have a pleasant satisfaction they must then yeild a chearful applause to Divine Justice The righteous saith the Psalmist shall rejoyce when he seeth the vengeance and Let the wicked saith he perish at the presence of God but let the righteous be glad let them rejoyce before God yea let them exceedingly rejoyce Whence at God's infliction of Judgement upon Babylon it is said in Jeremy Then the heaven and the earth and all that is therein shall sing for Babylon and at the fall of Mystical Babylon in the Apocalyps 't is likewise said Rejoye over her thou heaven and ye holy Apostles and Prophets for God hath avenged you on her Farther V. The next Duty prescribed to good men in such cases is to trust in God that is to have their affiance in God upon all such like occasions in all urgencies of need settled improved and corroborated thereby This indeed is the proper end immediately regarding us of God's special Providence disclosing it self in any miraculous or in any remarkable way to nourish in wel-disposed minds that Faith in God which is the root of all Piety and ground of Devotion Such experiments are sound arguments to perswade good men that God doth govern and order things for their best advantage they are powerful incentives driving them in all exigencies to seek God's help they are most convincing evidences that God is abundantly able very willing and ever ready to succour them They saith the Psalmist that know thy Name will put their trust in thee for thou Lord hast not forsaken them that seek thee And I saith he will abide in thy tabernacle for ever I will trust in the covert of thy wings For thou O God hast heard my vows thou hast been a shelter for me and a strong tower from the enemy It is indeed a great aggravation of diffidence in God that having tasted and seen that the Lord is good having felt so manifest experience of Divine goodness having received so notable pledges of God's favourable inclination to help us we yet will not rely upon him As a friend who by signal instances of kindness hath assured his good will hath great cause of offence if he be suspected of unwillingness in a needful season to afford his relief so may God most justly be displeased when we notwithstanding so palpable demonstration of his kindness by distrusting him do in effect question the sincerity of his friendship or the constancy of his goodness toward us VI. Good men upon such occasions should glory All the upright in heart shall glory Should glory that is in contemplation of such Providences feeling sprightly elevations of mind and transports of affection they should exhibit triumphant demonstrations of satisfaction and alacrity It becometh them not in such cases to be dumpish or demure but jocund and crank in their humour brisk and gay in their looks pleasantly flippant and free in their speech jolly and debonair in their behaviour every way signifying the extream complacency they take in God's doing and the full content they taste in their state They with solemn exultation should triumph in such events as in victories atchieved by the glorious Hand of God in their behalf in approbation of their cause in favour toward their persons for their great benefit and comfort They may not as proudly assuming to themselves the glory due to God but as gratefully sensible of their felicity springing from God's favour se jactare se laudibus efferre as the Hebrew word doth signifie that is in a sort boast and commend themselves as very happy in their relation to God by virtue of his protection and aid They may not with a haughty insolence or wanton arrogance but with a sober confidence and chearfulness insult upon baffled impiety by their expressions and demeanour upbraiding the folly the baseness the impotency and wretchedness thereof in competition with the wisedom in opposition to the power of God their friend and patron For such carriage in such cases we have the practice and the advice of the Psalmist to warant and direct
in Geometry of all lines or surfaces contained within the same bounds the straight line and the plain surface are the shortest so it is also in morality by the right line of Justice upon the plain ground of Vertue a man soonest will arrive to any well-chosen end In this way there are no bewildring intrigues and mazes no crooked windings and turnings no occasions forcing men to dance hither and thither to skip backward and forward to doe and undoe which courses do protract business and commonly do hinder from ever dispatching it But a man acting justly and fairly doth continually proceed on in the direct open road without retreat excursion or deflexion not turning aside as the phrase is in Holy Writ to the right hand or to the left To clamber over fences of Duty to break through hedges of Right to trespass upon hallowed enclosures may seem the most short and compendious ways of getting thither where one would be But doth not a man venture breaking his neck or scratching his face incurring mischief and trouble thereby Is he not liable to the fate to which the Preacher doometh him He that diggeth a pit shall fall into it and whoso breaketh a hedge a serpent shall bite him For instance to grow rich fraud extortion corruption oppression over-reaching and supplanting may seem the readiest and most expedite ways but in truth they are the farthest ways about or rather no ways at all for that which is got by those means is not our own nor is the possession of it truly wealth but usurpation or detention of spoil or rapine which we ought to disgorge And however to the getting it there are often mighty difficulties occurring from men there are commonly insuperable obstacles interposed by God who hath expresly condemned and cursed those ways declaring that Wealth gotten by vanity or cozenage shall be diminished that He that oppresseth to encrease his riches shall surely come to want that He who thus hasteth to be rich hath an evil eye and considereth not that poverty shall come upon him that As the partridge sitteth on eggs and hatcheth them not so he that getteth riches and not by right shall leave them in the midst of his days and at his end shall be a fool Whereas the plain way of honest harmless industry joyned with a pious regard to him who is the dispenser of all good things how slow soever it may seem is the most speedy because the onely safe way to thrive having beside all secondary advantages the security of those Oracles The hand of the diligent shall make rich He that gathereth by labour shall increase By humility and the fear of the Lord are riches and honour and life V. The way of Uprightness is in it self very safe free of danger tending to no mischief according to those sayings of the Wise man There shall no evil happen to the just In the way of righteousness is life and in the path thereof there is no death He who designeth onely that which is just and reasonable who innocently and fairly prosecuteth his intent can run no great hazzard cannot fall into any extreme disaster cannot irrecoverably sink into miserable disappointment He probably will not receive much harm from men or trouble from the world for as he meaneth innocently as he dealeth inoffensively not violently assailing not fraudulently circumventing not any-wise injuriously or maliciously abusing any man as he doth yield no just provocation or urgent temptation to oppose him so he is not very likely to meet with obstructions or crosses thwarting his designs He can hardly raise up adversaries at least such as will prove very formidable or very fierce and implacable toward him He may be sure that few wise men and no good men will trouble him but that such rather will afford their countenance and furtherance to his undertakings But assuredly he shall have the favourable protection of Almighty God who throughly knowing his heart and observing the righteousness of his intentions and proceedings will not suffer him to incurr any notable destructive remediless calamity His prayer dictated by good conscience Let integrity and uprightness preserve me will certainly be heard God having passed his word for it in numberless places of Scripture particularly in those remarkable words of Isay He that walketh righteously and speaketh uprightly he that despiseth the gain of oppressions that shaketh his hands from holding of bribes that stoppeth his ears from hearing of bloud and shutteth his eyes from seeing evil He shall dwell on high his place of defence shall be the munitions of rocks his bread shall be given him his water shall be sure That is A man who is constantly upright in his dealings shall by the Divine Providence be infallibly and impregnably preserved from any grievous mischief from any sore want from any extreme distress The way of Uprightness is ever guarded with Angels ready to promote the affairs of the honest person or at least to protect him from evil He may hopefully say to himself as Abraham did to his Servant The Lord before whom I walk will send his Angel with thee and prosper thy way or he confidently may apply to himself that of the Psalmist He shall give his Angels charge over thee to keep thee in all thy ways They shall bear thee up in their hands lest thou dash thy foot against a stone However the sequele will be tolerable what-ever the success of his undertaking be it can be no ruine no slurr no heart-breaking to him His Conscience is safe his credit is ent re his hopes are good he is perfectly secure from being tainted with foul guilt from being exposed to due reproach from being stung with vexatious remorse from being plunged into a gulf of desperation or disconsolateness For VI. The way of Uprightness is fair and pleasant He that walketh in it hath good weather and a clear skie about him a hopefull confidence and a chearfull satisfaction do ever wait upon him It is joy as the Wise man saith to the just to doe judgment Being conscious to himself of an honest meaning and a due course of prosecuting it he feeleth no check or struggling of mind no regret or sting of heart being thoroughly satisfied and pleased with what he is about his judgment approving and his will acquiescing in his procedure as worthy of himself agreeable to reason and conformable to his duty He therefore briskly moveth forward with alacrity and courage there being within him nothing to controll or countermand him to pull him back to make him halt to distract or disturb him Nor hardly can any thing abroad dismay or discourage him For he may reasonably hope for the good will of men and cannot hugely dread their opposition He may strongly presume upon the propitious aspect and favourable succour of Heaven which always smileth and casteth benign influences on honest undertakings
He that hath chosen a good way may with assurance commend his way to God's providence he may depend upon God for his concurrent benediction he with an humble boldness may address prayers to God for his protection and aid He so doing hath interest in divers clear declarations and express promises of good success such as those Commit thy way unto the Lord trust also in him and he shall bring it to pass The Lord is nigh unto all that call upon him in truth He will fulfill the desire of them that fear him he will hear their cry and will save them He may dare to refer his case to the severest examination saying with Job Let me be weighed in an even balance that God may know mine integrity and with the Psalmist Judge me O Lord according to my righteousness and according to mine integrity that is in me He with an humble confidence can appeal to God borrowing the words of Hezekiah I beseech thee O Lord remember how I have walked before thee in truth and with a perfect heart and have done that which is good in thy sight Hence The Hope of the righteous as the Wise man telleth us is gladness He considering the goodness the justice the fidelity of God whereof his integrity doth render him capable and a proper object cannot but conceive a comfortable hope of a good issue And obtaining success he doth not onely enjoy the material pleasure thereof but the formal satisfaction that it is indeed good success or a blessing indulged to him by special favour of God enabling him to say with the Psalmist The Lord rewarded me according to my righteousness according to the cleanness of my hands hath he recompensed me For I have kept the ways of the Lord and have not wickedly departed from my God However an upright dealer hath this comfortable reserve that what-ever doth befall him however the business goeth he shall not condemn and punish himself with remorse he shall not want a consolation able to support and to erect his mind He shall triumph if not in the felicity of his success yet in the integrity of his heart and the innocence of his deportment even as Blessed Job did under all the pressures of his adversity for Till I die said he I will not remove my integrity from me My righteousness I hold fast and will not let it goe my heart shall not reproach me so long as I live So true it is upon all accounts that according to that assertion in the Psalm Light is sown for the righteous and joyfull gladness for the upright in heart VII He that walketh uprightly is secure as to his honour and credit He is sure not to come off disgracefully either at home in his own apprehensions or abroad in the estimations of men He doth not blush at what he is doing nor doth reproach himself for what he hath done No blemish or blame can stick upon his proceeding By pure Integrity a man first maintaineth a due respect and esteem for himself then preserveth an entire reputation with others he reflecteth on his own heart with complacence and looketh upon the world with confidence He hath no fear of being detected or care to smother his intents He is content that his thoughts should be sounded and his actions sifted to the bottom He could even wish that his breast had windows that his heart were transparent that all the world might see through him and descry the clearness of his intentions The more curiously his ways are marked the more exactly his dealings are scann'd the more thoroughly his designs are penetrated and known the greater approbation he is sure to receive The issue of things assuredly will be creditable to him and when the day-light hath scattered all mists hath cleared all misprisions and mistakes his reputation will shine most brightly the event declaring that he had no corrupt ends the course of his proceedings being justified by the very light of things God himself will be concerned to vindicate his reputation not suffering him to be considerably defamed according to that promise He shall bring forth thy righteousness as the light and thy judgment as the noon-day That in Job will be made good to him Then shalt thou lift up thy face without spot and he may confidently averre with the Psalmist Then shall I not be ashamed when I have respect to all thy commandments If he findeth good success it will not be invidious appearing well deserved and fairly procured it will be truly honourable as a fruit and recompence of Vertue as a mark and pledge of the Divine favour toward him If he seemeth disappointed yet he will not be disparaged wise and candid men will excuse him good men will patronize his cause no man of sense and ingenuity will insult on his misfortune He shall not as the Psalmist assureth be ashamed in an evil time Yea often his repute from under a cloud will shine if not with so glaring splendour yet with a pleasant lustre Uprightness disposing him to bear adverse events with a gracefull decency VIII The particular methods of acting which Uprightness disposeth to observe do yield great security from troubles and crosses in their transactions What is the conduct of the upright man He is clear frank candid harmless consistent in all his behaviour his discourse his dealing His heart commonly may be seen in his face his mind doth ever sute with his speech his deeds have a just correspondence with his professions he never faileth to perform what he doth promise and to satisfie the expectations which he hath raised He doth not wrap himself in clouds that none may see where he is or know how to find him may discern what he is about or whither he tendeth He disguiseth not his intents with fallacious pretences of conscience of publick good of special friendship and respect He doth use no disingenuous spitefull unjust tricks or sleights to serve the present turn He laieth no baits or snares to catch men alluring them into mischief or inconvenience As he doth not affect any poor base ends so he will not defile his fair intentions by sordid means of compassing them such as are illusive simulations and subdolous artifices treacherous collusions slie insinuations and sycophantick detractions versatile whifflings and dodgings flattering colloguings and glozings servile crouchings and fawnings and the like He hath little of the Serpent none of its lurking insidiousness of its surprizing violence of its rancorous venom of its keen mordacity but much of the Dove all its simplicity its gentleness its fidelity its innocence in his conversation and commerce His wisedom is ever tempered with sincerity and seasoned with humanity with meekness with charity being the wisedom which is from above first pure then peaceable gentle easie to be entreated full of good fruits without partiality and without hypocrisie He