Scripture as a thing considerably good which may be regarded without blame which sometimes in duty must be regarded It is there preferred before other good things in themselves not despicable For A good name is better then precious ointment yea A good name is rather to be chosen then great riches saith the Wise man 'T is called a Gift of God for There is a man saith the Preacher to whom God hath given riches and honour Yea not onely a simple Gift but a Blessing conferr'd in kindness as a reward and encouragement of goodness for By humility and the fear of the Lord saith he again are riches and honour Whence it is to be acknowledged as an especial benefit and a fit ground of thanksgiving as is practised by the Psalmist in his Royal Hymn Honour saith he and Majesty hast thou laid upon him Wisedom also is described unto us bearing in her left hand riches and honour and Wisedom surely will not take into any hand of hers or hold therein what is worth nothing No we are therefore moved to procure her because exalting her she shall promote us She shall give unto our head an ornament of grace a crown of glory shall she deliver to us We are also enjoyned to render Honour as the best expression of good will and gratitude toward them who best deserve in themselves or most deserve of us to our Prince to our Parents to our Priests especially to such of them as govern and teach well to all good men Have such in reputation says the Apostle And were not Honour a good thing such injunctions would be unreasonable Yea because we are obliged to bear good will toward all men S. Peter bids us to honour all men From hence also that we are especially bound to render Honour unto God himself we may well infer with Aristotle that Honour is the best thing in our power to offer To these considerations may be added that we are commanded to walk 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 decently or speciously which implies a regard to mens opinion to provide things honest in the sight of all men 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 that is not onely things good in substance but goodly in appearance to have our conversation honest before the Gentiles 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 again that is fair or comely and plausible such as may commend us and our profession to the judgment of them who observe us S. Paul also exhorts us to mind not onely what things are true are just are pure but also 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 what-ever things are venerable or apt to beget respect 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 what-ever things are lovely or gracious in mens eyes and esteem 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 what-ever things are well reported or well reputed of He requires us not onely if there be any vertue any thing very good in it self but if there be any praise any thing much approved in common esteem that we should mind such things Lastly the blessed state hereafter the highest instance of Divine bounty the compleat reward of goodness is represented and recommended to us as a state of Honour and Glory to be ambitious whereof is the character of a good man To every man saith S. Paul shall God render according to his works to them who by patient continuance in well doing seek glory and honour and immortality Eternal life Such is the Reward propounded to us in it self no vile or contemptible thing but upon various accounts much valuable that which the common apprehensions of men plain dictates of reason a predominant instinct of nature the judgments of very wise men and Divine attestation it self conspire to commend unto us as very considerable and precious Such a Reward our Text prescribes us the certain the onely way of attaining 2. Such a benefit is here tendred to us that which yet more highly commends it and exceedingly enhances its worth by God himself I saith he will honour 'T is sanctified by coming from his holy hand 't is dignified by following his most wise and just disposal 't is fortified and assured by depending on his unquestionable word and uncontrollable power who as he is the prime Authour of all good so he is in especial manner the sovereign dispenser of Honour The King we say is the fountain of honour What any King as the Representative and Delegate of God is in his particular Kingdom that is Almighty God absolutely and independently in all the world Both riches and honour said good King David come of thee for thou rulest over all in thine hand is power and might in thine hand it is to make great and to give strength unto all He whose grants are in effect onely sure and valid whose favours onely do in the end turn to good account he freely offers us most desirable preferment he doth himself graciously hold forth most authentick patents by virtue of which we may all become right honourable and persons of quality indeed having not onely the names and titles the outward ensigns and badges of dignity such as earthly Princes conferr but the substantial reality the assured enjoyment thereof For man can onely impose law upon tongues and gestures God alone commandeth and inclineth hearts wherein Honour chiefly resideth He offers it I say most freely indeed yet not absolutely he doth not goe to sell it for a price yet he propounds it under a condition as a most just and equal so a very gentle and easy condition 'T is but an exchange of Honour for Honour of honour from God which is a free gift for honour from us which is a just duty of honour from him our sovereign Lord for honour from us his poor vassals of honour from the most High Majesty of Heaven for honour from us vile worms creeping upon earth Such an overture one would think it not onely reasonable to accept but impossible to refuse For can any man dare not to honour invincible Power infallible Wisedom inflexible Justice will any man forbear to honour immense Goodness and Bounty Yes it seems there are men so mad as to reject so fair an offer so bad as to neglect so equal a duty Let us therefore consider what it is that is here required of us or wherein this honouring of God consists that we may thereby discern when we perform this duty when we are deficient therein II. There are several ways of honouring God or several parts and degrees of this Duty all which we may referr to two sorts conceiving the Duty as a compound made up of two main ingredients correspondent to those two parts in which they reside and of which our nature consists which distinction S. Paul suggesteth when he saith Glorifie God in your body and in your spirit which are God's one of them being as it were the form and Soul the other as the matter and Body of the Duty 1. The Soul
shall then be seated upon unmovable Thrones their heads encircled with unfading Crowns their faces shining with rays of unconceivable Glory and majesty The less of Honour they have received here in this transitory moment of life the more thereof they shall enjoy in that future eternal state where with him who through the whole course of his life sought not his own honour but the honour of him that sent him who for the suffering of death was crowned with glory and honour who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross despising the shame and is set at the right hand of God with those who consecrated all their endeavours and who sacrificed their lives to the promoting of God's Honour they shall possess everlasting glory Which together with them God Almighty of his infinite mercy grant unto us all through Jesus Christ our Lord to whom with God the Father and God the Holy Ghost be for ever all Honour and Praise Amen The Fifth Sermon PROV 10. 9. He that walketh uprightly walketh surely THE world is much addicted to the Politicks the heads of men are very busie in contrivance and their mouths are full of talk about the ways of consulting our safety and securing our interests May we not therefore presume that an infallible Maxim of Policy proposing the most expedite and certain method of security in all our transactions will be entertained with acceptance Such an one the greatest Politician and wisest man for business if we may take God's own word for it that ever was or will be doth here suggest to us For the practice couched in our Text he otherwhere voucheth for a point of Policy telling us that A man of understanding walketh uprightly and here he recommendeth it as a method of Security He that walketh uprightly walketh surely Treating upon which Aphorism I shall by God's help endeavour first in way of Explication briefly to describe the practice it self then in way of Proof by some Considerations to declare that Security doth attend it For Explication To walk as well in the style of Holy Scripture as in other Writings and even in common speech doth signifie our usual course of dealing or the constant tenour of our practice Uprightly according to the original might be rendred in perfection or with integrity And by the Greek Translatours in several places is supposed chiefly to denote Sincerity and Purity of intention In effect the Phrase He that walketh uprightly doth import One who is constantly disposed in his designs and dealings to bear a principal regard to the rules of his Duty and the dictates of his Conscience who in every case emergent is ready to perform that which upon good deliberation doth appear most just and fit in conformity to God's Law and sound Reason without being swayed by any appetite any passion any sinister respect to his own private interest of profit credit or pleasure to the commission of any unlawfull irregular unworthy or base act who generally doth act out of good principles namely reverence to God charity to men sober regard to his own true welfare who doth aim at good ends that is at God's honour publick benefit his own Salvation other good things subordinate to those or well consistent with them who doth prosecute his designs by lawfull means in fair ways such as honest providence and industry veracity and fidelity dependence upon God's help and prayer for his blessing In short One who never advisedly doth undertake any bad thing nor any good thing to ill purposes nor doth use any foul means to compass his intents For Proof That such an one doth ever proceed with much security from the following Considerations may appear I. An upright walker is secure of easily finding his way For it commonly requireth no reach of wit or depth of judgment no laborious diligence of enquiry no curious intentness of observation no solicitous care or plodding study to discern in any case what is just we need not much trouble our heads about it for we can hardly be to seek for it If we will but open our eyes it lieth in view before us being the plain straight obvious road which common Reason prompteth or which ordinary Instruction pointeth out to us so that usually that direction of Solomon is sufficient Let thine eyes look right on and let thine eye-lids look straight before thee Turn not to the right hand nor to the left The ways of iniquity and vanity if we may call them ways which indeed are but exorbitancies and seductions from the way ill designs and bad means of executing designs are very unintelligible very obscure abstruse and intricate being infinitely various and utterly uncertain so that out of them to pick and fix â—n this or that may puzzle our headâ— and perplex our hearts as to pursue any of them may involve us in great difficulty and trouble But the ways of Truth of Right of Vertue are so very simple and uniform so fixed and permanent so clear and notorious that we can hardly miss them or except wilfully swarve from them For they by Divine wisedom were chalked out not onely for ingenious and subtle persons men of great parts of refined wits of long experience but rather for the vulgar community of men the great Body of God's subjects consisting in persons of meanest capacity and smallest improvement being designed to make wise the simple to give the young man knowledge and discretion to direct all sorts of people in their duty toward their happiness according to that in the Prophet A high way shall be there and it shall be called the way of Holiness the wayfaring-man though fools shall not erre therein They are in very legible characters graven by the finger of God upon our hearts and consciences so that by any considerate reflexion inwards we may easily reade them or they are extant in God's Word there written as with a Sun-beam so perspicuously expressed so frequently inculcated that without gross negligence or strange dulness we cannot but descry them For who with half an eye may not see that the practice of pious love and reverence toward God of entire justice and charity toward our neighbour of sober temperance and purity toward our selves is approved by Reason is prescribed by God to us Hence in the Holy Scripture as bad ways are called dark crooked rough slippery ways so the good ways are said to be clear plain direct even ways The path of the just say they is as a shining light All the words of my mouth are plain to him that understandeth or that considereth them My foot standeth in an even place The Law of his God is in his heart none of his steps shall slide Hence it is affirmed that an upright man doth hardly need any conduct beside his own honesty For The integrity saith Solomon of the upright shall guide them and The righteousness of
ingenuity and humanity who doth not delight to make some returns thither where he hath found much good will whence he hath felt great kindness Since then all the good we have we have received from God's favour it cannot but be very pleasant to render somewhat of requital as it were unto him and we can render no other but this We cannot make God more rich more joyfull more happy then he is all that we can doe is to express our reverence toward him 3. For that likewise our honouring God disposes us to the imitation of him for what we do reverence we would resemble that is to the doing those things wherein our chief perfection and happiness consists whence our best content and joy doth spring 4. In fine for that the practice of this duty is most profitable and beneficial to us unto it by an eternal rule of justice our final welfare and prosperity being annexed whence God hath declared it to be the way and condition of our attaining that thing which we so like and prize Honour to our selves the which by promise he hath engaged himself to confer on those who honour him And IV. This promise he makes good several ways Some of them I shall briefly suggest 1. The honouring God is of it self an honourable thing the employment which ennobles Heaven it self wherein the highest Angels do rejoyce and glory 'T is the greatest honour of a Servant to bring credit to his Master of a Subject to spread his Prince's renown and upon grounds vastly more obliging of a Creature to glorifie his Maker that we may doe so is an honour we should be glad may be proud of 2. By honouring God we are immediately instated in great Honour we enter into most noble relations acquire most illustrious titles enjoy most glorious privileges we become the friends and favourites of Heaven are adopted into God's family and are styled his Children do obtain a free access unto him a sure protection under him a ready assistence from him in all our needs And what honour can exceed can equal this 3. God hath so ordered it that Honour is naturally consequent upon the honouring him God hath made Goodness a noble and a stately thing hath impressed upon it that beauty and majesty which commands an universal love and veneration which strikes presently both a kindly and an awfull respect into the minds of all men righteous is not onely in himself but in common esteem more excellent then his neighbour Power may be dreaded Riches may be courted Wit and Knowledge may be admired but onely Goodness is truly esteemed and honoured Not onely men of goodness and discretion but even the vulgar sort of men yea as Plato hath well observed the worst men do pass this judgment do prefertrue Goodness above all things 4. God by his extraordinary providence as there is reason and occasion doth interpose so as to procure Honour to them to maintain and further their reputation who honour him God fashioneth the hearts of men The hearts of the greatest men are in his hand he turneth them as the rivers of waters whithersoever he will he consequently raiseth or depresseth us as he pleases in the judgments and affections of men When a man's ways please the Lord he maketh even his enemies to be at peace with him saith the Wise man that is he disposeth the most averse minds to love and honour him No envy can supplant no slander can deface the credit of such a person since God hath taken it into his charge and care since he hath said it that he will bring forth his righteousness as the light and his judgment as the noon-day God also by secret methods and undiscernible trains ordereth all events managing our thoughts and designs our enterprizes and actions so that the result of them shall be matter of benefit comfort and reputation or of disaster regret and disgrace as he thinks good Victory and success he absolutely disposeth of and consequently of the Honour that follows them and they do usually attend the honourers of God for as it is in the Psalm A good success have they who keep his commandments Many are the instances of persons such as Abraham Joseph Moses David Job and Daniel who for their signal honouring of God from a base and obscure or from an afflicted and forlorn condition have in ways strange and wonderfull been advanced to eminent dignity have been rendred most illustrious by the providence of him who raiseth the poor out of the dust and lifteth the beggar out of the dunghill to set them among Princes and to make them inherit the throne of glory He doeth it in an evident manner and eminent degree to some he doeth it in a convenient way and competent measure to all that honour him 5. Whereas men are naturally inclined to bear much regard to the judgment of Posterity concerning them are desirous to leave a Good name behind them and to have their memory retained in esteem God so disposes things that the memory of the just shall be blessed that his righteousness shall be had in everlasting remembrance that his light shall rejoyce or burn clearly and pleasantly even when his life is put out here No spices can so embalm a man no monument can so preserve his name and memory as a pious conversation whereby God hath been honoured and men benefited The fame of such a person is in the best judgments far more precious and truly glorious then is the fame of those who have excelled in any other deeds or qualities For what sober man doth not in his thoughts afford a more high and hearty respect to those poor Fishermen who by their heroical activity and patience did honour God in the propagation of his heavenly Truth then to all those Hectors in Chivalry those Conquerours and atchievers of mighty exploits those Alexanders and Caesars who have been renowned for doing things which seemed great rather then for performing what was truly good To the honour of those excellent poor men conspicuous monuments have been erected every-where anniversary memorials of their names and vertues are celebrated they are never mentioned or thought of without respect their commendations are interwoven with the praises of their great Lord and Maker whom they honoured 6. Lastly to those who honour God here God hath reserved an honour infinitely great and excellent in comparison whereto all Honours here are but dreams the loudest acclamations of mortal men are but empty sounds the brightest glories of this world are but duskish and fleeting shadows an honour most solid most durable an eternal weight of glory They shall in the face of all the world be approved by the most righteous Judge his unquestionable Sentence they shall be esteemed in the unanimous opinion of Angels and Saints they shall be applauded by the general voice and attestation of Heaven thev
pleased commonly to reward and encourage upright persons by the best success For He hath as it were a natural inclination to gratifie those who desire to please him and as the Psalmist expresseth it hath pleasure in the prosperity of his servants He may seem concerned in honour to countenance those who have regard to his will and who repose confidence in his aid discriminating them from such as presume to act against or without him in defiance to his will with no deference to his Providence As they do render him his due respect by submitting to his authority and avowing his power so he will acknowledge them by signally favouring their concerns Even his truth and fidelity are engaged in their behalf seeing he very often hath declared and promised that in all matters and upon all occasions he will be ready to bless them X. To conclude It is an infinite advantage of upright dealing that at the last issue when all things shall be most accurately tried and impartially decided a man is assured to be fully justified in it and plentifully rewarded for it As then all the deceits which now pass under specious masks shall be laid bare all varnish of pretence shall be wiped off all perverse intrigues shall be unravelled all wicked and base intentions shall be quite stripp'd of the veils which now enfold them all shrewd contrivers and engineers of mischief all practisers of unjust and malicious guile shall be exposed to shame shall lie down in sorrow So then The righteous man shall stand in grent boldness his case will be rightly stated and fully cleared from slanderous aspersions from odious surmises from unlucky prejudices and mistakes what he hath done shall be approved what he hath suffered shall be repaired So that it then evidently will appear that upright simplicity is the deepest wisedom and perverse craft the meerest shallowness that he who is true and just to others is most faithfull and friendly to himself that who-ever doth abuse his neighbour is his own greatest cheater and foe For In the day when God shall judge the secrets of men by-Jesus Christ every man's work shall be made manifest The Lord will bring to light the hidden things of darkness and will make manifest the counsels of the hearts and then shall every man have praise of God Unto which our upright Judge the King eternal immortal invisible the onely wise God be honour and glory for ever and ever Amen The Sixth Sermon 1 THES 5. 17. Pray without ceasing IT is the manner of S. Paul in his Epistles after that he hath discussed some main Points of doctrine or discipline which occasion required that he should clear and settle to propose severall good advices and rules in the observance whereof the life of Christian practice doth consist So that he thereby hath furnished us with so rich a variety of moral and spiritual precepts concerning special matters subordinate to the general laws of Piety and Vertue that out of them might well be compiled a Body of Ethicks or System of precepts de officiis in truth and in compleatness far excelling those which any Philosophy hath been able to devise or deliver These he rangeth not in any formal method nor linketh together with strict connexion but freely scattereth them so as from his mind as out of a fertil soil impregnated with all seeds of wisedom and goodness they did haply spring up or as they were suggested by that Holy Spirit which continually guided and governed him Among divers such delivered here this is one which shall be the Subject of my present Discourse the which having no other plain coherence except by affinity of matter with the rest enclosing it I shall consider absolutely by it self endeavouring somewhat to explain it and to urge its practice Pray without ceasing For understanding these words let us first consider what is meant by the act injoyned Praying then what the qualification or circumstance adjoyned without ceasing doth import 1. The word Prayer doth in its usual latitude of acception comprehend all sorts of Devotion or all that part of Religious practice wherein we do immediately address our selves to God having by speech oral or mental a kind of intercourse and conversation with him So it includeth that Praise which we should yield to God implying our due esteem of his most excellent Perfections most glorious Works most just and wise dispensations of Providence and Grace that Thanksgiving whereby we should express an affectionate resentment of our obligation to him for the numberless great benefits we receive from him that Acknowledgment of our entire dependence upon him or our totall subjection to his power and pleasure together with that Profession of Faith in him and avowing of service to him which we do owe as his natural creatures and subjects that humble Confession of our infirmity our vileness our guilt our misery joyned with deprecation of wrath and vengeance which is due from us as wretched men and grievous sinners that Petition of things needfull or convenient for us of supply in our wants of succour and comfort in our distresses of direction and assistence in our undertakings of mercy and pardon for our offences which our natural state our poor weak sad and sinfull state doth engage us to seek that Intercession for others which general charity or special relation do require from us as concerned or obliged to desire and promote their good All these Religious performances Prayer in its larger notion doth comprise according whereto in common use the whole Body of Divine Service containing all such acts is termed Prayer and Temples consecrated to the performance of all holy duties are styled Houses of prayer and that brief Directory or pregnant Form of all Devotion which our Lord dictated is called his Prayer and in numberless places of Scripture it is so taken In a stricter sense it doth onely signifie one particular act among those the Petition of things needfull or usefull for us But according to the former more comprehensive meaning I chuse to understand it here both because it is most commonly so used then especially when no distinctive limitation is annexed or the nature of the subject matter doth not restrain it and because general reasons do equally oblige to performance of all these duties in the manner here prescribed nor is there any ground to exclude any part of Devotion from continual use we being obliged no less incessantly to praise God for his excellencies and thank him for his benefits to avow his Sovereign Majesty and Authority to confess our infirmities and miscarriages then to beg help and mercy from God All Devotion therefore all sorts of proper and due address to God that 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 all prayer and supplication which S. Paul otherwise speaketh of are here injoyned according to the manner adjoyned without ceasing 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 that is indefinently or continually 2. For the