moved and melted at the sight of others Miseries and such may be beneficent and compassionate to the Saints in their Afflictions but the Spring of this Love is Good-Nature not Divine Grace There are Human Respects that incline others to Kindness to the Saints as they are united by Interest Fellow-Citizens and Neighbours and as they receive Advantage by Commerce with them or as obliged by their Benefits But Civil Amity and Gratitude are not that holy Affection that is an Assurance of our Spiritual State There are other Motives of Love to the Saints that are not so low nor mercenary in the thickest Darkness of Paganism the Light of Reason discovered the amiable Excellence of Vertue as becoming the Human Nature and useful for the Tranquillity and Welfare of Mankind and the Moral Goodness that adorns the Saints the Innocence Purity Meekness Justice Clemency Benignity that are visible in their Conversations may draw Respects from others who are Strangers to the Love of God and careless of his Commandments And as the Mistake of this Affection is easy so it is infinitely dangerous for he that builds his hope of Heaven upon a sandy Foundation upon false Grounds will fall ruinously from his Hopes and Felicity at last How fearful will be the Disappointment of one that has been a Favourer of the Saints that has defended their Cause protected their Persons relieved their Necessities and presum'd for this that his Condition is safe as to Eternity tho he lives in the known neglect of other Duties and the indulgent Practice of some Sin But if we find that our Love to the Children of God flows from our Love to God that sways the Soul to an entire compliance to his Commands and makes us observant of them in the course of our Lives What a blessed Hope arises from this Reflection We need not have the Book of the Divine Decrees opened and the Secrets of Election unvail'd for we know that we are past from Death to Life if we love the Brethren This is an infallible Effect and Sign of the Spiritual Life and the Seed and Evidence of Eternal Life How to bear Afflictions SERMON IV. HEBREWS xii 5. My Son despise not thou the chastening of the Lord nor faint when thou art rebuked of him THE words are an excellent Passage from the Book of the Proverbs wherein the Supream Eternal Wisdom is represented giving Instruction to the Afflicted how to behave themselves under Troubles so as they may prove beneficial to them the Counsel is that they should preserve a Temperament of Spirit between the excess and defect of Patience and Courage neither despising the Chastenings of the Lord by a sinful neglect of them as a small unconcerning matter nor fainting under them as a Burden so great and oppressing that no Deliverance was to be expected To enforce the Exhortation Wisdom useth the amiable and endearing Title My Son to signify that God in the quality of a Father corrects his People the Consideration whereof is very proper to conciliate Reverence to his Hand and to encourage their Hopes of a blessed Issue The Proposition that arises from the Words is this 'T is the Duty and best Wisdom of afflicted Christians to preserve themseves from the vicious Extreams of despising the Chastenings of the Lord or fainting under them To illustrate this by a clear Method I shall endevour to shew I. What it is to despise the Chastenings of the Lord and the Causes of it II. What fainting under his Rebukes signifies and what makes us incident to it III. Prove that 't is the Duty and best Wisdom of the Afflicted to avoid these Extreams IV. Apply it First To despise the Chastenings of the Lord imports the making no account of them as unworthy of serious Regard and includes Inconsiderateness of Mind and an Insensibleness of Heart 1. Inconsiderateness of Mind with respect to the Author or End of Chastenings 1. With respect to the Author when the Afflicted looks only downwards as if the Rod of Affliction sprang out of the Dust and there were no superiour Cause that sent it Thus many apprehend the Evils that befal them either meerly as the Productions of Natural Causes or as casual Events or the Effects of the Displeasure and Injustice of Men but never look on the other side of the Vail of the second Causes to that invisible Providence that orders all If a Disease strikes their Bodies they attribute it to the extremity of Heat or Cold that distempers their Humours if a Loss comes in their Estates 't is ascribed to Chance Carelesness and Falseness of some upon whom they depended but God is concealed from their sight by the nearness of the immediate Agent Whereas the principal Cause of all Temporal Evils is the over-ruling Providence of God Shall there be Evil in a City and the Lord hath not done it They come not only with his Knowledg and Will but by his Efficiency The Locusts that infected Egypt are as real an Effect of God's Wrath as the most miraculous Plague altho an East Wind brought them and a West Wind carried them away The Arrow that was shot at a venture and pierc'd between the Joints of Ahab's Armour was directed by the Hand of God for his Destruction Shimei's cursing of David tho it was the overflowing of his Gall the Effect of his Malignity yet that holy King look'd higher and acknowledged the Lord hath bidden him As the Lord is a God of Power and can inflict what Judgments he pleaseth immediately so he is a God of Order and usually punisheth in this World by subordinate means Now where-ever he strikes tho his Hand is wrap'd up in a Cloud yet if it be not observed especially if by habitual Incogitancy Men consider not with whom they have to do in their various Troubles this profane neglect is no less than a despising the Chastenings of the Lord. 2. Inconsiderateness of the End of the Divine Discipline is a great degree of Contempt The Evils that God inflicts are as real a part of his Providence as the Blessings he bestows as in the course of Nature the Darkness of the Night is by his Order as well as the Light of the Day therefore they are always sent for some wise and holy Design Sometime tho more rarely they are only for trial to exercise the Faith Humility Patience of eminent Saints for otherwise God would lose in a great measure the Honour and Renown and his Favourites the Reward of those Graces Affictions being the Sphere of their Activity But for the most part they are castigatory to bring us to a sight and sense of our State to render Sin more evident and odious to us They are fitly exprest by pouring from Vessel to Vessel that discovers the Dregs and Sediment and makes it offensive that before was concealed The least Affliction even to the Godly is usually an Application of the Physician of Spirits
to add Drunkenness to Thirst. This casts such a foul Blemish upon the Justice of God that he threatens the severest Vengeance for it The Lord will not spare him but the Anger of the Lord and his Jealousy shall smoke against that Man and all the Curses written in this Book shall be upon him and the Lord shall blot out his Name from under Heaven Consider this ye that forget God lest I tear you in pieces and there be none to deliver 6. The Sinner implicitly denies God's Omniscience There is such a Turpitude adhering to Sin that it cannot endure the Light of the Sun or the Light of Conscience but seeks to be conceal'd under a Mask of Vertue or a Vail of Darkness There are very few on this side Hell so transform'd into the likeness of the Devil as to be impenetrable by Shame What is said of the Adulterer and Thief Sinners of greater Guilt and deeper Dye is true in proportion of every Sinner If a Mans sees them they are in the Terrors of the shadow of Death Now from whence is it that many who if they were surpriz'd in the actings of their Sins by a Child or a Stranger would blush and tremble yet altho the holy God sees all their Sins in order to judg them and will judg in order to punish them are secure without any fearful or shameful Apprehensions of his Presence Did they stedfastly believe that their foul Villanies were open to his piercing pure and severe Eye they must be struck with Terrors and cover'd with Confusion Will he force the Queen before my Face was the Speech of the King inflam'd with Wrath and the Prologue of Death against the fallen Favourite Would Men dare to affront God's Authority and outragiously break his Laws before his Face if they duly consider'd his Omnipresence and Observance of them it were impossible And Infidelity is the radical Cause of their Inconsideration It was a false Imputation against Job but justly applied to the Wicked Thou sayest How does God know can he judg through the dark Cloud Thick Clouds are a Covering to him that he sees not And such are introduced by the Psalmist declaring their inward Sentiments The Lord shall not see neither shall the God of Jacob regard it Lastly The Sinner slights the Power of God This Attribute renders God a dreadful Judg. He has a Right to punish and Power to revenge every Transgression of his Law His Judicial Power is supreme his Executive is irresistible He can with one Stroke dispatch the Body to the Grave and the Soul to Hell and make Men as miserable as they are sinful Yet Sinners as boldly provoke him as if there were no danger We read of the infatuated Syrians that they thought that God the Protector of Israel had only Power on the Hills and not in the Vallies and renewed the War to their Destruction Thus Sinners enter into the Lists with God and range an Army of Lusts against the Armies of Heaven and blindly bold run upon their own Destruction They neither believe his All-seeing Eye nor All-mighty Hand They change the Glory of the living God into a dead Idol that has Eyes and sees not and Hands and handles not and accordingly his Threatnings make no Impression upon them Thus I have presented a true View of the Evil of Sin consider'd in it self but as Job saith of God How little a Portion of him is known may be said of the Evil of Sin How little of it is known For in proportion as our Apprehensions are defective and below the Greatness of God so are they of the Evil of Sin that contradicts his Soveraign Will and dishonours his excellent Perfections SERMON II. Genesis xxxix 9. How can I do this great Wickedness and sin against God 2. I shall proceed to consider the Evil of Sin relatively to us and prove it to be most pernicious and destructive If we compare it with Temporal Evils it preponderates all that Men are liable to in the present World Diseases in our Bodies Disasters in our Estates Disgrace in our Reputation are in just Esteem far less Evil than the Evil of Sin for that corrupts and destroys our more excellent and immortal Part. The vile Body is of no account in comparison of the precious Soul Therefore the Apostle enforces his Exhortation Dearly beloved Brethren abstain from fleshly Lusts that war against the Soul The Issue of this War is infinitely more woful than of the most cruel against our Bodies and Goods our Liberties and Lives for our Estates and Freedom if lost may be recover'd if the present Life be lost for the Cause of God it shall be restor'd in greater Lustre and Perfection but if the Soul be lost 't is lost for ever All Temporal Evils are consistent with the Love of God Job on the Dunghil roughcast with Ulcers was most precious in God's sight Lazarus in the lowest Poverty and wasted with loathsome Sores was dear to his Affections a Guard of Angels was sent to convoy his departing Soul to the Divine Presence But Sin separates between God and us who is the Fountain of Felicity and the Center of Rest to the Soul Other Evils God who is our wise and compassionate Father and Physician makes use of as Medicinal Preparations for the Cure of Sin and certainly the Disease which would be the Death of the Soul is worse than the Remedy tho never so bitter and afflicting to Sense Sin is an Evil of that Malignity that the least degree of it is fatal If it be conceiv'd in the Soul tho not actually finish'd 't is deadly One Sin corrupted in an instant Angelical Excellencies and turn'd the glorious Spirits of Heaven into Devils 'T is Poison so strong that the first Taste of it shed a deadly Taint and Malignity into the Veins of all Mankind Sin is such an exceeding Evil that 't is the severest Punishment Divine Justice inflicts on Sinners on this side Hell The giving Men over to the Power of their Lusts is the most fearful Judgment not only with respect to the Cause God's unrelenting and unquenchable Anger and the Issue everlasting Destruction but in the quality of the Judgment Nay did Sin appear as odious in our Eyes as it does in God's we should account it the worst part of Hell it self the Pollutions of the Damned to be an Evil exceeding the Torments superadded to them Sin is pregnant with all kinds of Evils the Seeds of it are big with Judgments The Evils that are obvious to Sense or that are Spiritual and Inward Temporal and Eternal Evils all proceed from Sin often as the Natural Cause and always as the Meritorious And many times the same Punishment is produc'd by the Efficiency of Sin as well as inflicted for its Guilt Thus Uncleanness without the miraculous Waters of Jealousy rots the Body and the Pleasure of Sin is revenged by a loathsom consuming Disease the natural Consequence of it
wounded Spirit who can bear This is most insupportable when the Sting and Remorse of the Mind is from the Sense of Guilt for then God appears an Enemy righteous and severe and who can encounter with offended Omnipotence Such is the sharpness of his Sword and the weight of his Hand that every Stroke is deadly inward Satan the cruel Enemy of Souls exasperates the Wound He discovers and charges Sin upon the Conscience with all its killing Aggravations and conceals the Divine Mercy the only Lenitive and healing Balm to the wounded Spirit What Visions of Horror what Spectacles of Fear what Scenes of Sorrow are presented to the distracted Mind by the Prince of Darkness And which heightens the Misery Man is a worse Enemy to himself than Satan he falls upon his own Sword and destroys himself Whatever he sees or hears afflicts him whatever he thinks torments him The guilty Conscience turns the Sun into Darkness and the Moon into Blood the precious Promises of the Gospel that assure Favour and Pardon to returning and relenting Sinners are turn'd into Arguments of Despair by reflecting upon the abuse and provocation of Mercy and that the Advocate in God's Bosom is become the Accuser Doleful State beyond the Conception of all but those who are plung'd into it How often do they run to the Grave for Sanctuary and seek for Death as a Deliverance Yet all these Anxieties and Terrors are but the beginning of Sorrows for the full and terrible Recompences of Sin shall follow the Eternal Judgment pronounc'd against the Wicked at the last Day 'T is true the Sentence of the Law is past against the Sinner in this present State and Temporal Evils are the Effects of it but that Sentence is revokable at Death the Sentence is ratified by the Judg upon every impenitent Sinner 't is decisive of his State and involves him under Punishment for ever But the full Execution of Judgment shall not be till the publick general Sentence pronounc'd by the everlasting Judg before the whole World It exceeds the compass of created Thoughts to understand fully the direful Effects of Sin in the Eternal State For who knows the Power of God's Wrath The Scripture represents the Punishment in Expressions that may instruct the Mind and terrify the Imagination that may work upon the Principles of Reason and Sense by which Men are naturally and strongly moved 1. Sinners shall be excluded from Communion with the blessed God in Heaven in whose Presence is Fulness of Joy and at whose Right-hand are Pleasures for evermore In the clear and transforming Vision of his Glory and the intimate and indissolvable Union with him by Love consists the Perfection and Satisfaction of the immortal Soul The Felicity resulting from it is so entire and eternal as God is great and true who has so often promis'd it to his Saints Now Sin separates lost Souls for ever from the reviving Presence of God Who can declare the Extent and Degrees of that Evil for an Evil rises in proportion to the Good of which it deprives us it must therefore follow that Celestial Blessedness being transcendent the Exclusion from it is proportionably evil And as the Felicity of the Saints results both from the direct Possession of Heaven and from comparison with the contrary State so the Misery of the Damned arises both from the Thoughts of lost Happiness and from the lasting Pain that torments them But it may be replied If this be the utmost Evil that is consequent to Sin the threatning of it is not likely to deter but few from pleasing their corrupt Appetites for carnal Men have such gross Apprehensions and vitiated Affections that they are careless of Spiritual Glory and Joy They cannot taste and see how good the Lord is nay the Divine Presence would be a Torment to them For as Light is the most pleasant Quality in the World to the sound Eye so 't is very afflicting and painful to the Eye when corrupted by a Suffusion of Humours To this a clear Answer may be given In the next State where the Wicked shall for ever be without those sensual Objects which here deceive and delight them their Apprehensions will be changed they shall understand what a Happiness the Fruition of the blessed God is and what a Misery to be uncapable of enjoying him and expell'd from the Celestial Paradise Our Saviour tells the Infidel Jews There shall be weeping and gnashing of Teeth when ye shall see Abraham and Isaac and Jacob and all the Prophets in the Kingdom of God and you your selves shut out How will they pine with Envy at the sight of that Triumphant Felicity of which they shall never be Partakers Depart from me will be as terrible a part of the Judgment as Eternal Fire 2. God's Justice is not satisfied in depriving them of Heaven but inflicts the most heavy Punishment upon Sense and Conscience in the Damned for as the Soul and Body in their State of Union in this Life were both guilty the one as the Guide the other as the Instrument of Sin so 't is equal when re-united they should feel the Penal Effects of it The Scripture represents both to our Capacity by the Worm that never dies and the Fire that shall never be quenched and by the destroying of Body and Soul in Hell-Fire Sinners shall then be tormented wherein they were most delighted they shall be invested with those Objects that will cause the most dolorous Perceptions in their sensitive Faculties The Lake of Fire and Brimstone the Blackness of Darkness are words of a terrible Signification and intended to awaken Sinners to fly from the Wrath to come But no words can fully reveal the terrible Ingredients of their Misery the Punishment will be in proportion to the Glory of God's Majesty that is dishonour'd and provok'd by Sin and extent of his Power And as the Soul was the Principal and the Body but an Accessary in the Works of Sin so it s capacious Faculties will be far more tormented than the more limited Faculties of the outward Senses The fiery Attributes of God shall be transmitted through the Glass of Conscience and concenter'd upon damned Spirits the Fire without them is not so tormenting as this Fire within them How will the tormenting Passions be inflam'd What Rancor Reluctance and Rage against the Power above that sentenc'd them to Hell What Impatience and Indignation against themselves for their wilful Sins the just Cause of it How will they curse their Creation and wish their utter Extinction as the final Remedy of their Misery But all their ardent Wishes are in vain for the Guilt of Sin will never be expiated nor God so far reconcil'd as to annihilate them As long as there is Justice in Heaven and Fire in Hell as long as God and Eternity shall continue they must suffer these Torments which the Strength and Patience of an Angel cannot bear one hour From hence we may infer what
Scepter of David so great a King the Royal Branch of his Family degenerated into a poor Carpenter The greatest in the World and the most proud of their Greatness the Luxurious Voluptuaries shall their Pomp and Delights continue with them in the Grave Can they reign and revel when their Bodies are in the Dust and their Souls in Hell Where is their admir'd Happiness Is it not all dead with them nothing will then remain but the tormenting Remembrance of their Folly But the Word of the Lord endures for ever 'T is an immortal Seed and makes the Ground 't is planted in to live for ever We are assur'd he that does the Will of God abides for ever The Blessedness of Heaven is everlasting as God the Object of it and the Soul that enjoys it There is nothing defective in the State above where Happiness is surrounded with Eternity This is worthy of our most aspiring Ambition of all our Hopes and Desires Now is it possible that the present World as empty as the Froth of the Sea as vanishing as a Puff of Air should be chosen before Celestial Happiness It is by the most so prodigiously are Carnal Men sway'd by Sense that like Brute Beasts they are violently drawn by present Things and little moved by Things spiritual and future The Devil brings ready Money in his Hands and tempts them with this present World The Son of God offers in his Word Eternal Happiness which is despised in the Comparison If one should choose a small Sum at present before the sure Reversion of an Estate that would enrich him all his Life would he not be despised by all for want of Understanding Yet Men allow that Folly in their own Practice that they would condemn in others But such is the Mercy of God that to perswade and prevail with us he uses all the Arguments that can work upon the Minds of Men. Hope and Fear are the strongest Springs to move us he therefore sets before us Heaven and Hell to attract our Hope and excite our Fear He makes use of Hell to kindle our Zeal in seeking the Kingdom of Heaven The most violent Passions are over-ruled by Fear Now in the threatning of Hell all the Motives of Fear are united Little Evils are despised not feared great Evils that may be easily avoided or apprehended very remote are not fear'd But Evils that are imminent and destructive are the most powerful Objects of Fear Now every Man in his sinful State hangs by slender Strings over the bottomless Pit and for his under-prizing and neglect of Heaven falls under the Sentence that determines his State in an everlasting Hell There is no dawning in that Darkness of Sorrow no refreshing in those Flames There is a restless Remembrance of what is lost as a Light that comes through a Cranny in a Dungeon that the forlorn Caitiff may remember the pleasant reviving Light of which he is deprived A thousand Years of Torment cannot expiate the Offences of those who disobey the Gospel they are full of Misery and fuller of Guilt that remains in its Weight upon them for ever The fear of this if duly believed and considered will bridle the strongest Desires after this vain World and make Men wise that they may not perish in their Choice To conclude Let those who are invited to this Heavenly Feast come with the Wedding-Garment 't is an Allusion to the decent Custom of wearing rich Apparel for Ornament and Lustre at Marriage-Solemnities to express Joy and to honour the Persons that are married Accordingly all that are in the Visible Church should adorn the Gospel by a Conversation becoming the Dignity and Purity of their high and holy Calling Unfeigned Faith that unites us to Christ and is effectual and evident in all good Works is the Wedding-Garment The Apostle exhorts the Romans to walk honestly as in the Day not in Rioting and Drunkenness not in Chambering and Wantonness not in Strife and Envy and whereas it might seem congruous to have added in direct Contrariety to those foul Sins Put on Temperance Chastity Patience and Charity he directs them to put on the Lord Jesus Christ because he is the only Fountain of supernatural Grace by which our Lusts are mortified Faith covers us with the Robe of his Righteousness and clothes us with the Garment of Salvation A counterfeit Livery of Profession will not make us accepted of God Is there any real Christianity without Faith in Christ and is there a lively Faith without Obedience to him Can you be a Subject without Subjection Christ is the King of Saints they are the Citizens of his Kingdom and only enjoy the Privileges of it How many are Christians in Title and Infidels in Practice They live in the bold Contempt of the Divine Law as if they were afraid the Justice of God should not have cause enough to condemn them or they would put it to a ventâ—â—e whether he would be true to his Threatning and punish accordâ—ng to his Law Others tho of a fair Conversation are but haâ—f-Christians they do not sincerely and entirely comply with the Terms of the Gospel to receive Châ—ist for their Prince and Saviour Let such remember the King came iâ— to see the Guests and saw a Man without a Wedding-Garment this signifies God's judicial Observation of all that are in his Church not one can escape his all-discerning Eye â—â—e closest Hypocrite is transparent in his Sight It follows in the Parable He saith unto him Friend How camest thou in hither withouâ— a Wedding-Garment Nothing will be available in Judgment not the most specious and glittering Profession without Faith in Christ and a renewed Heart and Life yet may fondly dream they may be saved tho not sanctified He was speechles reduced to a defenceless Silencâ— and Confusion The Heart of Man is deceitful above all things and above all things deceitful to it selâ— How often in the trial of his Spiritual State by Excuses and faâ—se Glosses he deceives and satisfies himself But there are no Apologies before the King all things are entirely open to his Eyes the Thoughts of Men will be their Accusers and their Works will depose against them And how fearful is the Judgment that follows Then said the King to the Servants Bind him Hand and Foot and take him away and cast him into outer Darkness there shall be weeping and gnashing of Teeth Bind him Hand and Foot the Expression signifies that the revenging Power of God is inevitable and irresistible Cast him into outer Darkness that signifies the Separation from the reviving Presence and Communion of God there is weeping and gnashing of Teeth the Expression signifies the deepest Sorrow and higest Fury in the Damned What a Discord and Tumult of the tormenting Passions is there What Misery when the quickest Sense to feel and the greatest Evils to be felt are there Hell is an intolerable Climate where cold Despair and hot Rage are in