own Books and Writers but even of the Adversaries of our Religion What Reformation Christianity at first wrought in the Manners of Men we have clear and full Testimony from what the Apostles wrote concerning the several Churches which they planted in several Parts of the World What hearty Unity and Affection there was among Christians even to that Degree as to make Men bring in their private Estates and Possessions for the common Support of their Brethren we may read in the History of the Acts of the Apostles The City of Corinth by the Account which Strabo gives of it was a very vicious and luxurious place as most in the World and yet we see by St. Paul what a strange Reformation the Christian Religion made in the Lives and Manners of many of them 1 Cor. 6. 9 10 11. Be not deceived neither fornicators nor adulterers nor idolaters nor effeminate nor thieves nor covetous nor drunkards nor revilers nor extortioners shall inherit the Kingdom of God And such were some of you But ye are washed but ye are sanctified but ye are justified in the Name of the Lord Jesus and by the Spirit of our God And surely it is no small matter to reclaim Men from such a profligate course of Life The Apostle instanceth in Crimes and Vices of the first Rate from which yet he tells us many were cleansed and purified by the Name of the Lord Jesus and the Spirit of God that is by the Power and Efficacy of the Christian Doctrine together with the Co-operation of Gods Holy Spirit After the Apostles the Ancient Fathers in their Apologies for Christianity give us a large Account of the great Power and Efficacy of the Christian Doctrine upon the Lives and Manners of Men. Tertullian tells the Roman Governours that their Prisons were full of Malefactors committed for several Crimes but they were all Heathens De vestris semper aestuat carcer Their Prisons were thronged with Criminals of their own Religion But there were no Christians to be found committed there for such Crimes Nemo illic Christianus nisi hoc tantùm c. There were no Christians in their Prisons but only upon account of their Religion Or if there were any Malefactors that had been Christians they left their Religion when they fell into those Enormities And afterwards he adds that if Christians were irregular in their Lives they were no longer accounted Christians but were banisht from their Communion as unworthy of it And they appealed to the Heathens what a sudden and strange change Christianity had made in several of the most lewd and vicious and debauched Persons and what a visible Reformation there presently appeared in the Lives of the worst Men after they had once entertained the Christian Doctrine And these Testimonies are so much the stronger because they are Publick Appeals to our Adversaries which it is not likely they who were so persecuted and hated as the Christians were would have had the Confidence to have made if they had not been notoriously true even their Enemies themselves being Judges And that they were so we have the Confession of the Heathen themselves I shall produce two remarkable Testimonies to this Purpose and one of them from the Pen of one of the bitterest Enemies that the Christian Religion ever had Pliny in his Epistle to Trajan the Emperour gives him an Account That having examined the Christians setting aside the Superstition of their way he could find no Fault and that this was the Sum of their Errour that they were wont to meet before Day and sing a Hymn to Christ and to bind themselves by a Solemn Oath or Sacrament not to any wicked Purpose but not to steal nor rob nor commit Adultery nor break their Faith nor detain the Pledge So that it seems the Sum of their Errour was to oblige themselves in the strictest manner against the greatest Vices and Crimes Which methinks is a great Testimony from an Enemy and a Judge one who would have been ready to discover their Faults and had Opportunity of enquiring into them My other Witness is Julian the Emperour and Apostate who in one of his Epistles tells us The Christians did severely punish Sedition and Impiety And afterwards exhorting the Heathen Priests to all Offices of Humanity and especially Alms towards the Poor he tells them they ought to be more careful in this particular and to mend this Fault Because says he the Galileans taking advantage of our Neglect in this kind have very much strengthned their Impiety for so he calls their Religion by being very intent upon these Offices and exemplary in their Charity to the Poor whereby they gained many over to them And in his 49th Epist to Arsacius the High-Priest of Galatia he recommends to him among other Means for the Advancement of Paganism the building of Hospitals and great Liberality to the Poor not only of their own Religion but others For says he it is a Shame that the impious Galileans should not only maintain their own poor but ours also wherefore let us not suffer them to out-do us in this Virtue Nothing but the force of Truth could have extorted so full an Acknowledgment of the great Humanity and Charity of the Christians from so bitter an Enemy of our Religion as Julian was If he owned it we may be sure it was very great and exemplary So that you see that the Christian Religion had a very great Power and Efficacy upon the Lives and Manners of Men when it first appeared in the World And the true Spirit and Genius of any Religion the Force of any Institution is best seen in the primitive Effects of it before it be weakned and dispirited by those Corruptions which in time are apt to insinuate themselves into the best things For all Laws and Institutions are commonly more vigorous and have greater Effects at first than afterwards and the best things are apt in time to degenerate and to contract Soil and Rust And it cannot in Reason be expected otherwise So that though it be a thing to be bewailed and by the greatest Care and Diligence to be resisted yet it is not so extremely to be wonder'd at if Christianity in the space of Sixteen Hundred Years hath abated much of its first Strength and Vigour Especially considering that there were several Circumstances that gave Christianity mighty Advantages at first especially the miraculous Powers which did accompany the first Publication of the Gospel which must needs be full of Conviction to those who saw the wonderful Effects of it The extraordinary Operation of the Spirit of God upon the Minds of Men to dispose them to the receiving of it The persecuted and suffering State that Christians were generally in which made those who embraced the Profession to be generally serious and in good earnest in it and kept up a continual Heat and Zeal in the Minds of Men for that Religion which cost them so dear and for which they suffer'd
Besides the Jews have a Proverb that God is not content to perform barely what he promiseth but he usually doth something over and above his promise That the Messias should heal the blind and the deaf and the lame Isaiah Prophesied and God makes good this Promise and Prediction to the full the Messias did not only do these but which is more and greater than any of these he raised the dead to life Secondly It was likewise foretold of the Messias that he should preach the Gospel to the poor Isa 61. 1. the spirit of the Lord God is upon me because he hath anointed me to preach good tidings unto the meek 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 to preach the Gospel or good tidings to the Poor so the LXX render the words and they are the very words used by our Saviour here in the Text. 'T is true indeed this was no Miracle but it was the punctual accomplishment of a Prophecy concerning the Messias and consequently an evidence that he was the Messias But besides it had something in it which was very strange to the Jews and very different from the way of their Doctors and Teachers For the Rabbies among the Jews would scarce instruct any but for great Reward they would meddle with none but those that were able to requite their pains The ordinary and poorer sort of People they had in great contempt as appears by that slighting expression of them Joh. 7. 48 49. Have any of the Rulers or of the Pharisees believed on him but this People who knoweth not the Law are cursed And Grotius upon this Text tells us that the Jewish Masters had this foolish and insolent Proverb among them that the spirit of God doth not rest but upon a rich man to which this Prediction concerning the Messias was a direct contradiction The Spirit of the Lord God is upon me because he hath anointed me to preach the Gospel to the Poor In old time the Prophets were especially sent to the Kings and Princes of the People but this great Prophet comes to preach the Gospel to the Poor None have so little reason to be proud as the Sons of Men but never was any so humble as the Son of God our Saviour's whole Life and Doctrine was a contradiction to the false Opinions of the world they thought the rich and great men of the World the only happy persons but he came to preach glad tidings to the Poor to bring good news to them whom the great Doctors of the Law despised and set at nought and therefore to confound their pride and folly and to confute their false Opinions of things he begins that excellent Sermon of his with this Saying Blessed are the Poor for theirs is the Kingdom of God Thirdly It was foretold of the Messias that the World should be offended at him Isa 8. 14. He shall be for a stone of stumbling and for a rock of offence to both the houses of Israel And Isa 53. 1 2 3. Who hath believed our report and to whom is the arm of the Lord revealed he hath no form nor comeliness and when we see him there is no beauty that we should desire him he is despised and rejected of men and we hid as it were our faces from him he was despised and we esteemed him not and this likewise is intimated in the last words of the Text and blessed is he whosoever shall not be offended in me Intimating that notwithstanding the great works that he did among them which testified of him that he came from God notwithstanding the Predictions of their Prophets concerning the Messias were so clearly and punctually accomplish'd in him yet notwithstanding all this they would take offence at him upon one account or other and reject him and his Doctrine but even this that they rejected him and would not own him for their Messias was another Sign and Evidence that he was the true Messias foretold by the Prophets for among other things this was expresly Predicted concerning him that he should be despised and rejected of men And thus I have done with the First thing I propounded to speak to namely the Evidence which our Saviour here gives of his being the true Messias First The many and great Miracles which he wrought prove that he came from God And Secondly The correspondence of the things he did with what was foretold by the Prophets concerning the Messias declare him to be the true Messias I now proceed to the next thing I propounded to speak to namely Secondly An Intimation in the Text that notwithstanding all the Evidence Christ gave of himself yet many would be offended at him and reject him and his Doctrine In speaking to which it will be very proper to consider First How the Poor came to be more disposed to receive the Gospel than others Secondly What those Prejudices are which the World had against our Saviour and his Religion at its first appearance as also those which men have at this day against the Christian Religion and to endeavour to shew the unreasonableness of them Thirdly How happy a thing it is to escape and overcome the common Prejudices which Men have against Religion First How the Poor came to be more disposed to receive the Gospel than others the Poor have the Gospel preached unto them Which does not only signifie that our Saviour did more especially apply himself to them but likewise that they were in a nearer disposition to receive it and did of all others give the most ready entertainment to his Doctrine And this our Saviour declares to us in the beginning of his Sermon upon the Mount when he pronounceth the Poor blessed upon this account because they were nearer to the Kingdom of God than others Blessed are the Poor for theirs is the Kingdom of God So likewise St. James Chap. 2. v. 5. Hath not God chosen the poor of this world rich in faith and heirs of the Kingdom which he hath promised to them that love him So that it seems the Poor were upon some account or other in a nearer disposition to receive the Gospel than the Great and Rich Men of this World And of this there are three Accounts to be given First The Poor had no Earthly interest to engage them to reject our Saviour and his Doctrine The High-Priests and Scribes and Pharisees among the Jews they had a plain worldly Interest which did engage them to oppose our Saviour and his Doctrine for if he were received for the Messias and his Doctrine embraced they must of necessity lose their Sway and Authority among the People and all that which rendred them so considerable their pretended skill in the Law and in the Traditions and Observances of their Fathers together with their external shews of Piety and Devotion would signifie nothing if our Saviour and his Doctrine should take place And there are very few so honest and sincere as to be content for truth's sake to part
called the Son of God St. Luke most expresly tells us Luke 1. 35. where the Angel tells the Virgin Mary that the Holy Ghost should come upon her and the Power of the Highest should overshadow her and therefore that Holy Thing which should be born of her should be call'd the Son of God And this our Saviour means by the Father's sanctifying him and sending him into the World For which Reason he says he might justly call himself the Son of God John 10. 35 36. If he call them Gods unto whom the word of God came and the Scripture cannot be broken Say ye of him whom the Father hath sanctified and sent into the World Thou blasphemest because I said I am the Son of God If there had been no other Reason this had been sufficient to have given him the Title of the Son of God that he was brought into the World by the Sanctification or Divine Power of the Holy Ghost 2. Christ is also said in Scripture to be the Son of God and to be declared to be so upon Account of his Resurrection from the Dead by the Power of the Holy Ghost His Resurrection from the Dead is here in the Text ascribed to the Spirit of Holiness or the Holy Ghost And so in other places of Scripture Rom. 8. 11. If the Spirit of him that raised up Jesus from the Dead dwell in you And 1 Pet. 3. 18. Being put to Death in the Flesh but quickned by the Spirit that is he suffer'd in that frail mortal Nature which he assumed but was raised again by the Power of the Holy Ghost of the Spirit of God which resided in him And upon this Account he is expresly said in Scripture to be the Son of God Psa 2. 7. I will declare the decree The Lord hath said unto me thou art my Son this day have I begotten thee to which perhaps the Apostle alludes here in the Text when he says that Christ was decreed to be the Son of God by his Resurrection from the Dead To be sure these Words this day have I begotten thee St. Paul expresly tells us were accomplisht in the Resurrection of Christ as if God by raising him from the Dead had begotten him and decreed him to be his Son Acts 13. 32 33. And we declare unto you glad Tidings how that the Promise which was made unto the Fathers God hath fulfilled the same unto their Children in that he hath raised up Jesus again as it is also written in the second Psalm Thou art my Son this day have I begotten thee He was the Son of God before as he was conceived by the Holy Ghost but this was secret and invisible and known only to the Mother of our Lord And therefore God thought fit to give a publick and visible demonstration of it so as to put the matter out of all question he declared him in a powerful manner to be his Son by giving him a new Life after Death by raising him from the Dead and by this new and eminent Testimony given to him declared him again to be his Son and confirmed the Title which was given him before upon a true but more secret Account of his being conceived by the Holy Ghost And as our Saviour is said to be the Son of God upon this twofold Account of his Conception by the Holy Ghost and his Resurrection to Life by the Spirit of God So the Scripture which does solicitously pursue a Resemblance and Conformity between Christ and Christians does likewise upon a twofold Account answerable to our Saviour's Birth and Resurrection call true Believers and Christians the Children of God viz. Upon Account of their Regeneration or new Birth by the Operation of the Spirit of God and upon Account of their Resurrection to Eternal Life by the Power of the same Spirit Upon account of our Regeneration and becoming Christians by the Power and Operation of the Holy Spirit of God upon our Minds we are said to be the Children of God as being regenerated and born again by the Holy Spirit of God And this is our first Adoption And for this Reason the Spirit of God conferred upon Christians at their Baptism and dwelling and residing in them afterwards is call'd the Spirit of Adoption Rom. 8. 15. Ye have received the Spirit of Adoption whereby you cry Abba Father And Gal. 4. 5 6. Believers are said to receive the Adoption of Sons God having sent forth the Spirit of his Son into their Hearts crying Abba Father That is all Christians for as much as they are regenerated by the Holy Spirit of God and have the Spirit of God dwelling in them may with Confidence call God Father and look upon themselves as his Children So the Apostle tells us Rom. 8. 14. That as many as are led or acted by the Spirit of God are the Sons of God But though we are said to be Children of God upon account of our Regeneration and the Holy Spirit of God dwelling and residing in Christians yet we are eminently so upon account of our Resurrection to Eternal Life by the mighty Power of God's Spirit This is our final Adoption and the Consummation of it and therefore Rom. 8. 21. this is called the glorious Liberty of the Sons of God because by this we are for ever deliver'd from the Bondage of Corruption and by way of Eminency the Adoption viz. the Redemption of our Bodies We are indeed the Sons of God before upon account of the regenerating and sanctifying Virtue of the Holy Ghost but finally and chiefly upon account of our Resurrection by the Power of the Divine Spirit So St. John tells us that then we shall be declared to be the Sons of God after another manner than we are now 1 Jo. 3. 1. Behold what manner of Love the Father hath bestowed upon us that we should be called the Sons of God Now we are the Sons of God that is our Adoption is begun in our Regeneration and Sanctification but it doth not yet appear what we shall be we shall be much more eminently so at the Resurrection We know that when he shall appear we shall be like him But the most express and remarkable Text to this Purpose is Luke 20. 36. where good Men after the Resurrection are for this Reason said to be the Children of God because they are the Children of the Resurrection But they who shall be accounted worthy to obtain that World and the Resurrection from the Dead neither marry nor are given in Marriage neither can they die any more for they are equal to the Angels and are the Children of God being the Children of the Resurrection For this Reason they are said to be the Children of God because they are raised by him to a new Life and to be made Partakers of that which is promised to them and reserved for them For all that are raised by the Power of God out of the Dust of the Earth are not therefore
in our selves Not secure because there is great danger that our Resolution may be born down one time or other by the Assaults of Temptation if we be not continually vigilant and upon our Guard Not confident in our selves because we stand by Faith and Faith is the gift of God therefore as the Apostle infers we should not be high minded but fear Men may have gone a great way in Christianity and have been sincere in the Profession of it and yet afterwards may apostatize in the foulest manner not only fall off to a vicious Life but even desert the Profession of their Religion I would to God the Experience of the World did not give us too much Reason to believe the Possibility of this When we see so many revolt from the Profession of the reformed Religion to the Corruptions and Superstitions of Rome And others from a religious and sober Life to plunge themselves into all kind of Lewdness and Debauchery and it is to be feared into Atheism and Infidelity Can we doubt any longer whether it be possible for Christians to fall away I wish we were as certain of the possibility of their Recovery as we are of their Falling and that we had as many Examples of the one as of the other Let us then be very vigilant over our selves and according to the Apostle's Exhortation 2 Pet. 3. 17. Seeing we know these things before beware lest we also being led away with the Error of the wicked fall from our own stedfastness 2dly This shews us how great an Aggravation it is for Men to Sin against the Means of Knowledge which the Gospel affords and the Mercies which it offers unto them That which aggravated the Sin of these Persons was that after they were once enlightned that is at their Baptism were instructed in the Christian Doctrine the clearest and most perfect Revelation that ever was made of God's Will to Mankind that after they were justified freely by God's Grace and had received Remission of Sins and had many other Benefits conferred upon them that after all this they should fall off from this Holy Religion This was that which did so heighten and enflame their Guilt and made their Case so near desperate The two great aggravations of Crimes are Wilfulness and Ingratitude if a Crime be wilfully committed and committed against one that hath obliged us by the greatest Favours and Benefits Now he commits a fault wilfully who does it against the clear knowledge of his Duty Ignorance excuseth for so far as a Man is ignorant of the Evil he does so far the Action is involuntary but knowledge makes it to be a wilful Fault And this is a more peculiar Aggravation of the Sins of Christians because God hath afforded them the greatest means and opportunities of Knowledge that Revelation which God hath made of his Will to the World by our Blessed Saviour is the clearest Light that ever Mankind had and the mercies which the Gospel brings are the greatest that ever were offer'd to the Sons of Men the free Pardon and Remission of all our Sins and the assistance of God's Grace and Holy Spirit to help the weakness of our Nature and enable us to do what God requires of us So that we who sin after Baptism after the knowledge of Christianity and those great Blessings which the Gospel bestows on Mankind are of all Persons in the World the most inexcusable The Sins of Heathens bear no proportion to ours because they never enjoyed those means of Knowledge never had those Blessings conferred upon them which Christians are Partakers of so that we may apply to our selves those severe words of the Apostle in this Epistle How shall we escape if we neglect so great Salvation Hear how our Saviour aggravates the Faults of Men upon this account of the wilfulness of them and their being committed against the express Knowledge of God's Will Luke 12. 47 48. The Servant which knew his Lord's will and prepared not himself neither did according to his will shall be beaten with many stripes for unto whomsoever much is given of him shall much be required and to whom Men have committed much of him they will ask the more The Means and Mercies of the Gospel are so many Talents committed to our Trust of the neglect whereof a severe Account will be taken at the Day of Judgment If we be wilful Offenders there is no Excuse for us and little hopes of Pardon If we sin wilfully after we have received the knowledge of the truth says the Apostle in this Epistle there remains no more sacrifice for sin I know the Apostle speaks this particularly of the Sin of Apostacy from Christianity but it is in proportion true of all other Sins which those who have received the Knowledge of the Truth are guilty of They who after they have entertained Christianity and made some progress in it and been in some measure reformed by it do again relapse into any vicious course do thereby render their Condition very dangerous So St. Peter tells us 2 Pet. 2. 20 21. If after they have escaped the pollutions of the world through the knowledge of the Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ they are again entangled therein and overcome the latter end is worse with them than the beginning For it had been better for them not to have known the way of righteousness than after they have known it to turn from the holy Commandment delivered unto them Therefore we may do well to consider seriously what we do when under the Means and Opportunities of Knowledge which the Gospel affords us and the inestimable Blessings and Favours which it confers upon us we live in any wicked and vicious course Our Sins are not of a common rate when they have so much of Wilfulness and Unworthiness in them If Men shall be severely punish'd for living against the Light of Nature what vengeance shall be poured on those who offend against the Glorious Light of the Gospel This is the Condemnation that Light is come c. 3dly The Consideration of what hath been said is Matter of Comfort to those who upon every Failing and Infirmity are afraid they have committed the unpardonable Sin and that it is impossible for them to be restor'd by Repentance There are many who being of a dark and melancholy Temper are apt to represent things worse to themselves than there is reason for and do many times fancy themselves guilty of great Crimes in the doing or neglecting of those things which in their nature are indifferent and are apt to aggravate and blow up every little Infirmity into an unpardonable Sin Most Men are apt to extenuate their Sins and not to be sensible enough of the Evil and Heinousness of them but it is the peculiar Infelicity of Melancholy Persons to look upon their Faults as blacker and greater than in truth they are and whatsoever they hear and read in Scripture that is spoken against the grossest and
how God would have Men to live than by seeing how God himself lived when he was pleased to assume our Nature and to become Man And then we are to consider that the Son of God did not assume our Nature in its highest Glory and Perfection but compast with Infirmities and liable in all points to be tempted like as we are but still it was without Sin and therefore God doth not exact from us perfect Obedience and that we should fulfil all Righteousness as he did he makes allowance for the corruption of our Nature and is pleased to accept of our sincere though very imperfect Obedience But after all this his human Nature was united to the Divinity and he had the Spirit without measure and this would indeed make a wide difference between us and our Pattern as to the purpose of Holiness and Obedience if we were destitute of that assistance which is necessary to enable us to the discharge of our Duty But this God offers and is ready to afford to us for he hath promised to give his holy Spirit to them that ask him and the Spirit of him that raised up Christ Jesus from the Dead dwells in all good men who sincerely desire to do the Will of God in the working out our Salvation God worketh in us both to will and to do So that as to that Obedience which the Gospel requires of us if we be not wanting to our selves if we do not receive the Grace of God in vain and quench and resist his blessed Spirit we may be as really assisted as the Son of God himself was for in this respect all true and sincere Christians are the Sons of God so that St. Paul tells us Rom. 8. 14. As many as are led by the Spirit of God they are the Sons of God So that if all things be duly consider'd the Life of our blessed Saviour as it is the most perfect so in the main it is a very proper Pattern for our imitation and could not have come nearer to us without wanting that perfection which is necessary to a compleat and absolute Pattern The Son of God condescended to every thing that might render him the most familiar and equal Example to us excepting that which as it was impossible so had been infinitely dishonourable to him and would have spoil'd the perfection of his Example he came as near to us as was fit or possible being in all things like unto us Sin only excepted that is abating that one thing which he came to destroy and abolish and which would have destroyed the very end of his coming for if he had not been without Sin he could neither have made an expiation for Sin nor have been a perfect Pattern of Holiness and Obedience And as the Life of our blessed Saviour had all the perfection that is requisite to an absolute Pattern so that by considering his Temper and Spirit and the actions of his Life we may reform all the vicious inclinations of our Minds and the exorbitances of our Passions and the errors and irregularities of our Lives so it is a very powerful Example and of great force to oblige and provoke us to the imitation of it for it is the Example of one whom we ought to reverence and have reason to love above any Person in the World The Example of our Prince and Soveraign Lord of our best Friend and greatest Benefactor of the High Priest of our Profession and the Captain of our Salvation of the Author and Finisher of our Faith of one who came down from Heaven for our sakes and was contented to assume our Nature together with the infirmities of it and to live in a low and mean condition for no other reason but that he might have the opportunity to instruct and lead Mankind in the way to Life to deliver us from Sin and Wrath and to bring us to God and Happiness 'T is the Example of one who laid down his Life for us and sealed his Love to us in his Blood and whilst we were Enemies did and suffer'd more for us than ever any Man did for his Friend And surely these Considerations cannot but mightily recommend and endear to us this Example of our Lord and Saviour We are ambitious to imitate those whom we highly esteem and reverence and are apt to have their Examples in great veneration from whom we have received great Kindnesses and Benefits and are always endeavouring to be like those whom we love and are apt to conform our selves to the Will and Pleasure of those from whom we have received great Favours and who are continually heaping great Obligations upon us So that whether we consider the Excellency of our Pattern or the mighty Endearments of it to us by that infinite Love and Kindness which he hath exprest towards us we have all the temptation and all the provocation in the World to endeavour to be like him for who would not gladly tread in the steps of the Son of God and of the best Friend that the Sons of Men ever had Who would not follow that Example to which we stand indebted for the greatest Blessings and Benefits that ever were procured for Mankind Thus you see of what force and advantage the Example of our blessed Saviour is toward the Recovery and Salvation of Mankind 3dly He is the Author of Eternal Salvation as he hath purchased it for us by the Merit of his Obedience and Sufferings by which he hath obtained Eternal Redemption for us not only deliverance from the wrath to come but Eternal Life and Happiness when by our Sins we had justly incurred the wrath and displeasure of Almighty God and were liable to Eternal Death and Misery He was contented to be substituted a Sacrifice for us to bear our Sins in his own Body on the Tree and to expiate the guilt of all our Offences by his own Sufferings He died for us that is not only for our Benefit and Advantage but in our place and stead so that if he had not died we had eternally perrish'd and because he died we are saved from that eternal Ruine and Punishment which was due to us for our Sins And this tho' it be no where in Scripture call'd by the Name or Term of Satisfaction yet which is the same thing in effect it is call'd the price of our Redemption for as we are Sinners we are liable and indebted to the Justice of God and our Blessed Saviour by his Death and Sufferings hath discharged this Obligation which Discharge since it was obtained for us by the shedding of his precious Blood without which the Scripture expresly says there had been no Remission of Sin why it may not properly enough be called Payment and Satisfaction I confess I cannot understand Not that God was angry with his Son for he was always well pleased with him or that our Saviour suffer'd the very same which the Sinner should have done in his own Person the
Laws Some Men seem to be so afraid of the Merit of Obedience and good Works that they are loth to assert the Necessity of them and do it with so much caution as if they were not throughly perswaded of it or did apprehend some dangerous consequence of it but this fear is perfectly groundless as if Merit could not be excluded without casting off our Duty and releasing our selves from any Necessary Obligation to be good For any Man surely may easily discern a plain difference between a worthiness of desert and a fitness of receiving a Rebel being penitent and sorry for what he hath done though he cannot deserve a pardon yet he may thereby be qualified and made meet to receive it though Repentance do not make him worthy yet it may make him capable of it which an obstinate Rebel and one that persists in his disloyalty is not This is a thing so plain of it self that it would be waste of time and words to insist longer upon the proof of it Now the Necessity of Obedience in order to eternal Life and Happiness relies upon these three grounds 1st Upon the Constitution and Appointment of God 2dly The general Reason of Rewards 3dly Upon the particular Nature of that Reward which God will confer upon us for our Obedience 1st The Constitution and Appointment of God Eternal Life is the Gift of God and he may do what he will with his own he may dispense his Gifts and Favours upon what Terms and Conditions he pleaseth and therefore if he hath plainly declared that to them who by patient continuance in well-doing seek for Glory and Honour and Immortality he will give eternal Life that without holiness no Man shall see the Lord but if we have our fruit unto holiness our End shall be everlasting Life who shall resist his Will or dispute his Pleasure The Right and Authority of God in this matter is so unquestionable that it admits of no contest and the Blessings and Benefits propos'd are so infinitely great and unvaluable that no condition of obtaining them which is possible to be perform'd by us can be thought hard and unequal so that we ought thankfully to receive so great a favour let the terms and conditions of it be what they will and if there were no other reason for the imposing of these Conditions upon us of Faith and Repentance and Obedience but merely the Will and Pleasure of God this were enough to silence all Objections against it But 2dly The Necessity of Obedience in order to eternal Life is likewise founded in the Reason of Rewards in general For though the measure and degree of our Reward so infinitely beyond the proportion of our best Duty and Service as eternal Life and Happiness is I say though the measure and degree of this Reward be founded in the immense Bounty and Goodness of God yet the Reason of Reward in general is necessarily founded in our Obedience to God's Laws for according to the true nature and reason of things nothing but Obedience is capable of Reward For though Authority may pardon the breach and transgression of Laws and remit the punishment due thereto yet to reward the contempt of Laws and wilful disobedience to them is directly contrary to the design of Government and does plainly overthrow the very Reason and End of all Laws and makes Obedience and Disobedience to be all one if so be they are equally capable of Reward and therefore nothing can be more absurd and senseless than for any Man to hope to be rewarded by God who does not live in a sincere Obedience to his Laws Every man that hath this hope in him that is in Christ Jesus to be sav'd by him purifieth himself even as he is pure that is endeavours to be like him in the purity and obedience of his life and nothing surely can be more unreasonable than to expect to be rewarded by the great Governour and Judge of the World if we be disobedient to his Laws for where Obedience to Law is refused there all reason and equity of Reward ceaseth No wise Prince can think fit to reward Disloyalty and Contempt of his Laws because to reward it would be to encourage it much less will God the great and infinitely wise Governour of the World â— dly the Necessity of Obedience will yet more evidently appear if we consider the particular Nature of that Reward which God will confer upon us for our Obedience The happiness of Heaven which is the Reward promised in the Gospel is described to us by the sight and enjoyment of God Now to render us capable of this blessed Reward it is necessary that we be like God but nothing but Obedience and Holiness and being renewed after the Image of him who created us in righteousness can make us like to God For he that would be like God must be holy and just and good and patient and merciful as God is and this alone can make us capable of the blessed sight and enjoyment of God for unless we be like him we cannot see him as he is and if we should be admitted into Heaven we could not find any pleasure and happiness in communion with him Blessed are the pure in heart says our Saviour for they shall see God Without Holiness says the Apostle no man shall see the Lord. And indeed it is in the very nature of the thing impossible that a wicked Man whilst he remains so should ever be happy because there can be no agreeable and delightful Society between those that are of a quite contrary temper and disposition to one another between him who is of purer eyes than to behold iniquity and a sinful and impure Creature For what fellowship saith the Apostle can righteousness have with unrighteousness what communion hath light with darkness or God with Belial that is with the wicked and disobedient Till we become like to God in the frame and temper of our minds there can be no happy Society between him and us we could neither delight our selves in God nor he take any pleasure in us for he is not a God that hath pleasure in wickedness neither shall evil dwell with him The wicked shall not stand in his sight he hateth all the workers of iniquity It cannot be otherwise but that there must be an eternal jarring and discord between the righteous and holy God and wicked and unrighteous Men. I will behold thy face says David in righteousness There is no looking God in the face upon any other terms If we have been workers of iniquity God will cast us out of his fight and in great anger bid us to depart from him and we also shall desire him to depart from us as being unable to bear the sight of him So that there is great reason why Holiness and Obedience should be made the Conditions of Eternal Life and Happiness since in the very Nature of the thing it is so necessary a Qualification
that nothing less than this will bring us thither So our Saviour tells us in the latter part of the Text that many shall seek to enter in and shall not be able I proceed now to the Second part of the Text the Reason or Argument whereby this Exhortation is enforced Strive to enter in at the strait gate for many I say unto you shall seek to enter in and shall not be able Every seeking to enter in will not gain our admission into Heaven therefore there must be striving For Men may do many things in Religion and make several faint Attempts to get to Heaven and yet at last fall short of it for want of that earnest Contention and Endeavour which is necessary to the attaining of it We must make Religion our business and set about it with all our might and persevere and hold out in it if ever we hope to be admitted to Heaven for many shall seek to enter that shall be shut out Now what this seeking is which is here opposed to striving to enter in at the strait gate our Saviour declares after the Text v. 25. When once the Master of the House is risen up and hath shut to the door and ye begin to stand without and knock at the door saying Lord Lord open unto us and he shall answer and say unto you I know you not whence ye are Then shall ye begin to say we have eaten and drunk in thy Presence and thou hast taught in our streets but he shall say I tell you I know you not whence ye are depart from me all ye workers of Iniquity St. Matth. mentions some other Pretences which they should make upon which they should lay claim to Heaven Mat. 7. 21 22 23. Not every one that saith unto me Lord Lord shall enter into the Kingdom of Heaven but he that doth the Will of my Father which is in Heaven Many will say unto me in that Day Lord Lord have we not Prophesyed in thy Name and in thy Name have cast out Devils and in thy Name done many wonderful Works And then will I profess unto them I never knew you depart from me ye that work Iniquity After all their seeking to enter in and notwithstanding all these Pretences they shall be shut out and be for ever banisht from the Presence of God This shall be their doom which will be much the heavier because of the disappointment of their confident expectation and hope So St. Luke tells us v. 28. 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 ye your selves thrust out And they shall come from the East and from the West and from the North and from the South and shall sit down in the Kingdom of God To which St. Matthew adds Chap. 8. v. 12. But the Children of the Kingdom shall be cast out into utter darkness there shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth And then our Saviour concludes Luke 13. 30. Behold there are last that shall be first and first which shall be last From all which it appears with what Confidence many Men upon these false Pretences which our Saviour calls seeking to enter in shall lay claim to Heaven and how strangely they shall be disappointed of their expectation and hope when they shall find themselves cast out of Heaven who they thought had out-done all others in Religion and were the only Members of the true Church and the Children and Heirs of the Kingdom and shall see others whom they thought to be out of the Pale of the true Church and excluded from all terms of Salvation come from all Quarters and find free Admission into Heaven and shall find themselves so grosly and widely mistaken that those very Persons whom they thought to be last and of all others farthest from Salvation shall be first and they themselves whom they took for the Children of the Kingdom and such as should be admitted into Heaven in the first place shall be rejected and cast out So that by seeking to enter we may understand all those things which Men may do in Religion upon which they shall pretend to lay claim to Heaven nay and confidently hope to obtain it and yet shall be shamefully disappointed and fall short of it Whatever Men think and believe and do in Religion what Priviledges soever Men pretend what Ways and Means soever Men endeavour to appease the Deity and to recommend themselves to the Divine Favour and Acceptance all this is but seeking to enter in and is not that striving which our Saviour requires If Men do not do the will of God but are workers of Iniquity it will all signifie nothing to the obtaining of Eternal Happiness Our Saviour here instanceth in Mens Profession of his Religion calling him Lord Lord in their personal Familiarity and Conversation with him by eating and drinking in his Presence and Company in their having heard him preach the Doctrine of Life and Salvation thou hast taught in our streets in their having prophesied and wrought great Miracles in his Name and by his Power Have we not prophesied in thy Name and in thy Name cast out devils and in thy Name done many wonderful Works These were great and glorious Things which they boasted of and yet nothing of all this will do if Men do not the Will of God notwithstanding all this he will say unto them I know ye not whence ye are depart from me ye workers of Iniquity And by a plain Parity of Reason whatever else Men do in Religion what Attempts soever Men may make to get to Heaven upon what Priviledges or Pretences soever they may lay claim to eternal Life they will certainly fall short of it if they do not do the will of God but are workers of Iniquity My business therefore at this time shall be to discover the several false Claims and Pretences which Men may make to Heaven and yet shall never enter into it And to this purpose I shall instance in several Particulars by one or more of which Men commonly delude themselves and are apt to entertain vain and ill-grounded hopes of eternal Salvation 1st Some trust to the external Profession of the true Religion 2dly Others have attained to a good degree of Knowledge in Religion and they rely much upon that 3dly There are others that find themselves much affected with the Word of God and the Doctrines contained in it 4thly Others are very strict and devout in the external Worship of God 5thly Others confide much in their being Members of the only true Church in which alone Salvation is to be had and in the manifold Priviledges and Advantages which therein they have above others of getting to Heaven 6thly Others think their great Zeal for God and his true Religion will certainly save them 7thly Others go a great way in the real Practice of Religion 8thly Others rely much upon
the Sincerity of their Repentance and Conversion whereby they are put into a state of Grace and become the Children of God and Heirs of everlasting Life and being once truly so they can never fall from that State so as finally to miscarry Lastly Others venture all upon a Death-bed Repentance and their Import unity with God to receive them to Mercy at the last I shall briefly go over these particulars which are the several ways whereby Men seek to enter into Heaven and hope to get thither at last and shall shew the Insufficiency of them and that there is something beyond all this necessary to be done for the attainment of Everlasting Salvation 1st Some trust to the mere external Profession of the true Religion and think it enough to call Christ Lord Lord to be baptized in his Name and thereby to be admitted Members of the Christian Church What the Apostle says of the Profession of the Jewish Religion and the outward Badge of it Circumcision may be applyed to the Profession of Christianity made in Baptism Rom. 2. 17 25 28 29. Behold thou art called a Jew and restest in the Law and makest thy boast of God Circumcision verily profiteth if thou keep the Law but if thou be a breaker of the Law thy Circumcision is made Vncircumcision For he is not a Jew that is one outwardly neither is that Circumcision which is outward in the Flesh but he is a Jew which is one inwardly and Circumcision is that of the heart in the spirit and not in the letter The Case is the same of those who make only an outward Profession of Christianity Baptism verily profitteth if we perform the Condition of that Covenant which we entred into by Baptism but if we do not our Baptism is no Baptism For he is not a Christian which is one outwardly nor is that Baptism which is outward in the Flesh but he is a Christian which is one inwardly and Baptism is of the Heart in the Spirit and not in Water only So St. Peter tells us 1 Pet. 3. 21. that Baptism is not only the washing of the Body with Water and the putting away of the Filth of the Flesh but the answer of a good Conscience towards God The Promise of eternal Life and Happiness is not made to the external Profession of Religion without the sincere and real Practice of it Why call ye me Lord Lord says our Saviour and do not the things which I say The Scripture hath no where said he that is baptised shall be saved but he that believeth and is baptised he that repenteth and is baptised shall be saved This deserves to be seriously considered by a great many Christians who have nothing to shew for their Christianity but their Names whose best Title to Heaven is their Baptism an Engagement entred into by others in their Name but never confirmed and made good by any Act of their own a thing which was done before they remember and which hath no other effect upon their Hearts and Lives than if it were quite forgotten 2dly There are others who have attained to a good degree of Knowledge in Religion and they hope that will save them But if our Knowledge in Religion though never so clear and great do not descend into our Hearts and Lives and govern our Actions all our hopes of Heaven are built upon a false and sandy Foundation So our Saviour tells us Matth. 7. 26. Every one that heareth these Sayings of mine and doth them not shall be likened unto a foolish Man which built his House upon the Sand. And John 13. 17. If ye know these things happy are ye if ye do them There is not a greater Cheat in Religion nothing wherein Men do more grosly impose upon themselves than in this matter as if the Knowledge of Religion without the Practice of it would bring Men to Heaven How diligent are many in reading and hearing the Word of God who yet take no care to practise it in their Lives Like those in the Prophet Ezek. 33. 31. of whom God complains They come unto thee as the People cometh and they sit before thee as my People and they hear my Words but they will not do them None do so foolishly and yet so deservedly miss of Happiness as those who are very careful to learn the way to Heaven and when they have done will take no pains at all to get thither 3dly There are others who find themselves much affected with the Word of God and the Preaching of it and this they take for a very good Sign that it hath its due effect upon them And this happens very frequently that the Word of God makes considerable Impressions upon Men for the present and they are greatly affected with it and troubled for their Sins and afraid of the Judgments of God and the terrible Vengeance of another World and upon this they take up some Resolutions of a better Course which after a little while vanish and come to nothing This was the Temper of the People of Israel they delighted to hear the Prophet speak to them in the Name of God Ezek. 33. 32. And loe thou art unto them as a very lovely Song of one that hath a pleasant Voice and can play well upon an Instrument for they hear thy words but they do them not Mark 6. 20. it is said that Herod had a great reverence for John the Baptist that he observed him and heard him gladly but yet for all that he continued the same cruel and bad Man that he was before And in the Parable of the Sower Matth. 13. 20. there are one sort of Hearers mention'd who when they heard the word received it with joy but having no root in themselves they endured but for a while and when Tribulation or Persecution ariseth because of the Word presently they are offended There are many Men who have sudden Motions in Religion and are mightily affected for the present but it must be a rooted and fixt Principle that will endure and hold out against great Difficulties and Opposition Acts 24. 25. it is said that when St. Paul reasoned of Righteousness and Temperance and Judgment to come Felix trembled and nothing is more frequent than for Men to be mightily strartled at the Preaching of the Word when their Judgments are convinced and born down and their Consciences touched to the quick a lively representation of the Evil of Sin and the infinite Danger of a sinful Course may stir up the Passions of Grief and Fear and dart such stings into the Consciences of Men as may make them extremely restless and unquiet and work some good Thoughts and Inclinations in them towards a better Course and yet like Metals when the heat is over they may be the harder for having been melted down 4thly Others shew great Strictness and Devotion in the Worship of God and this they hope will be accepted and can not fail to bring them to Heaven
the charitable Man will not have the least Portion 4. There is a worse Objection than all these made by some grave Men who would be glad under a pretence of Piety to slip themselves out of this Duty and that is this that it savours of Popery to press good Works with so much earnestness upon Men as if we could merit Heaven by them So that they dare not be charitable out of a pious Fear as they pretend lest hereby they should entertain the Doctrine of Merit But if the Truth were known I doubt Covetousness lyes at the bottom of this Objection However it is fit it should be answered And 1. I say that no Man that is not prejudiced either by his Education or Interest can think that a Creature can merit any thing at the hand of God to whom all that we can possibly do is antecedently due much less that we can merit so great a Reward as that of Eternal Happiness 2. Tho' we deny the Merit of good Works yet we firmly believe the necessity of them to Eternal Life And that they are necessary to Eternal Life is as good an Argument to perswade a wise Man to do them as if they were meritorious unless a Man be so vain-glorious as to think Heaven not worth the having unless he purchase it himself at a valuable Consideration And now let me earnestly intreat you as you love God and your own Souls not to neglect this Duty lest you bring your selves to the same miserable state with this Rich Man to whom the least Charity that could be askt was denied Our Saviour hath purposely left this Parable on record to be a testimony and a witness to us lest we being guilty of the same sin should come into the same place of torment And if any ask me according to what proportion of his Estate he ought to be charitable I cannot determine that Only let no Man neglect his Duty because I cannot and it may be no one else can tell him the exact proportion of his Charity to his Estate There are some Duties that are strictly determined as those of Justice but God hath left our Charity to be a free-will Offering In the proportion of this Duty every one must determine himself by Prudence and the Love of God God hath left this Duty undetermined to try the largeness of our Hearts towards him only to encourage us to be abundant in this Grace he hath promised that according to the proportion of our Charity shall be the degree of our Happiness 2 Cor. 9. 6. He that soweth plentifully shall reap plentifully But let us be sure to do something in this kind any part of our Estate rather than none I will conclude with that excellent Counsel of the Son of Syrach Eccl. 4. My Son defraud not the Poor and make not the needy Eye to wait long make not a hungry Soul sorrowful neither provoke a Man in his distress add not more trouble to a Heart that is vexed defer not to give to him that is in need Reject not the supplication of the afflicted nor turn away thy face from a poor Man turn not away thy Eye from the needy and give him none occasion to curse thee For if he curse thee in the bitterness of his Soul his Prayer shall be heard of him that made him Let it not grieve thee to bow down thine Ear to the poor and give him a friendly answer with meekness Be as a father to the fatherless and instead of a husband to their mother so shalt thou be as the Son of the most high and he shall love thee more than thy Mother doth SERMON XI The Parable of the Rich Man and Lazarus Sermon II. LUKE XVI 19 20. There was a certain Rich Man which was cloathed in Purple and fine Linen and fared sumptuously every day And there was a certain Beggar named Lazarus which was laid at his Gate full of Sores I Proceed to our Second Observation that a Man may be poor and miserable in this World and yet dear to God This beggar Lazarus tho' he was so much slighted and despised in his life-time by this great rich Man yet it appeared when he came to die that he was not neglected by God for he gave his Angels charge concerning him to convey him to Happiness v. 22. The Beggar died and was carried into Abraham's bosom But this Truth is not only represented to us in a Parable but exemplified in the Life of our blessed Saviour Never was any Man so dear to God as he was for he was his only begotten Son his beloved Son in whom he was well pleased And yet how poor and mean was his Condition in this World Insomuch that the Jews were offended at him and could not own one that appeared in so much Meanness for the true Messias He was born of mean Parents and persecuted as soon as he was born he was destitute of worldly Accommodations The Foxes had holes and the Birds of the Air had nests but the Son of Man had not where to lay his head He was despised and rejected of Men a Man of Sorrows and acquainted with Grief God could have sent his Son into the World with Majesty and great Glory and have made all the Kings of the Earth to have bowed before him and paid Homage to him but the Wisdom of God chose rather that he should appear in a poor and humble in a suffering and afflicted Condition to confound the Pride of the World who measure the Love of God by these outward things and think that God hates all those whom he permits to be afflicted Now it was not possible to give a greater and clearer Demonstration of this Truth that Goodness and Suffering may meet together in the same Person than in the Son of God who did no Sin neither was Guile found in his Mouth yet it pleased the Lord to bruise him and to put him to Grief Afflictions in this World are so far from being a sign of God's Hatred that they are an Argument of his Love and Care whom the Lord loveth he chastneth and scourgeth every Son whom he receiveth Those he designs for great things hereafter he trains up by great Hardships in this World and by many Tribulations prepares them for a Kingdom This course God took more especially in the first planting of Christianity the poor chiefly were those that received the Gospel Not many mighty nor many noble but the base things of the World and the things that were despised did God chuse Hearken my beloved Brethren saith St. James ch 2. 5. Hath not God chosen the poor in this World rich in Faith and Heirs of the Kingdom which he hath promised to them that love him Now this Consideration should perswade to Patience under the greatest Sufferings and Afflictions in this world God may be our Father and chasten us severely nay this very thing is rather an Argument that he is so God may love us
Temptations of a wicked World and are possest of so great a Happiness by the free Grace and Mercy of God to do any thing whereby they may forfeit their Happiness or so much as to entertain a Thought of offending that God to whom they cannot but be sensible how infinitely they are obliged In this imperfect state few Men have so little Goodness as to sin without a Temptation but in that state where Men are perfectly good and can have no Temptation to be otherwise it is not imaginable that they should fall from that state 2. As to the state of the damned that that likewise is immutable the Scripture does seem plainly enough to assert when it calls it an everlasting Destruction from the presence of the Lord and uses such Expressions to set forth the continuance of their Misery as signifie the longest and most interminable Duration expressions of as great an Extent as those which are used to signifie the Eternal Happiness of the blessed and as large and unlimited as any are to be had in those Languages wherein the Scriptures are written Besides that wicked Men in the other World are in Scripture represented as in the same Condition with the Devils of whom there is no ground to believe that any of them ever did or will repent Not because Repentance is impossible in it's own nature to those that are in extream Misery but because there is no place left for it Being under an irreversible Doom there is no encouragement to Repentance no hope of Mercy and Pardon without which Repentance is impossible For if a Man did utterly despair of Pardon and were assured upon good ground that God would never shew Mercy to him in this case a Man would grow desperate and not care what he did He that knows that whatever he does he is miserable and undone will not matter how he demeans himself All motives to Repentance are gone after a Man once knows it will be to no purpose And this the Scripture seems to represent to us as the case of the Devils and damned Spirits Because their state is finally determined and they are concluded under an irreversible Sentence therefore Repentance is impossible to them Sorry no doubt they are and heartily troubled that by their own Sin and Folly they have brought this Misery upon themselves and they cannot but conceive an everlasting Displeasure against themselves for having been the Cause and Authors of their own Ruin and the Reflection upon this will be a perpetual spring of Discontent and fill their Minds with eternal Rage and Vexation and so long as they feel the intolerable Punishments of Sin and groan under the insupportable Torments of it and see no end of this miserable State no hope of getting out of it they can be no otherwise affected than with Discontent at themselves and Rage and Fury against God They are indeed penitent so far as to be troubled at themselves for what they have done but this Trouble works no Change and Alteration in them they still hate God who inflicts these Punishments upon them and who they believe is determined to continue them in this miserable state The present Anguish of their Condition and their despair of bettering it makes them mad and their Minds are so distracted by the wildness of their Passions and their Spirits so exasperated and set on Fire by their own giddy Motions that there can be no rest and silence in their Souls not so much as the liberty of one calm and sedate Thought Or if at any time they reflect upon the evil of their Sins and should entertain any thought of returning to God and their Duty they are presently checkt with this Consideration that their case is determined that God is implacably offended with them and is inexorably and peremptorily resolved to make them miserable for ever and during this Perswasion no Man can return to the love of God and Goodness without which there can be no Repentance This Consideration of the immutable state of Men after this Life should engage us with all seriousness and diligence to endeavour to secure our future Happiness God hath set before us good and evil Life and Death and we may yet chuse which we please but in the other World we must stand to that Choice which we have made here and inherit the Consequences of it By Sin Mankind is brought into a miserable State but our Condition is not desperate and past Remedy God hath sent his Son to be a Prince and a Saviour to give Repentance and Remission of Sins So that tho' our Case be bad it need not continue so if it be not our own fault There is a possibility now of changing our Condition for the better and of laying the foundation of a perpetual Happiness for our selves The Grace of God calls upon us and is ready to assist us so that no Man's Case is so bad but there is a possibility of bettering it if we be not wanting to our selves and will make use of the Grace which God offers who is never wanting to the sincere endeavours of Men. Under the Influence and Assistance of this Grace those who are dead in trespasses and sins may pass from death to life may be turned from darkness to light and from the power of Satan unto God So long as we are in this World there is a possibility of being translated from one state to another from the dominion of Satan into the kingdom of God's dear Son But if we neglect the oportunities of this life and stand out against the offers of God's Grace and Mercy there will no Overtures be made to us in the other World After this life is ended God will try us no more our final miscarriage in this World will prove fatal to us in the other and we shall not be permitted to live over again to correct our Errors As the Tree falls so it shall lie such a State as we are settled in when we go out of this World shall be fixt in the other and there will be no possibility of changing it We are yet in the hand of our own Counsel and by God's Grace we may mould and fashion our own Fortune But if we trifle away this Advantage we shall fall into the hands of the living God out of which there is no Redemption God hath yet left Heaven and Hell to our choice and we had need to look about us and chuse well who can chuse but once for all and for ever There is yet a space and oportunity left us of Repentance but so soon as we step out of this Life and are entred upon the other World our Condition will be sealed never to be reverst And because after this Life there will be no further hopes of Mercy there will be no possibility of Repentance This is the accepted time this is the day of Salvation therefore to day if ye will hear his voice harden not your hearts lest God
probability hinder Men from being convinced by an Apparition from the Dead It is not generally for want of Evidence that Men do not yield a full and effectual Assent to the Truth of God's Word I mean that they do not Believe it so as to Obey it but from the Interest of some Lust The true cause is not in Mens Understandings and because there is not Reason enough to satisfie them that the Scriptures are the Word of God but in the obstinacy of their Wills which are enslaved to their Lusts And the Disease being there it is not to be Cured by more Evidence but by more Consideration and by the Grace of God and better Resolutions The Man is addicted to some Vice or other and that makes him unwilling to entertain those Truths which would check and control him in his Course The light of God's word is offensive to him and therefore he would shut it out This Account our blessed Saviour gives of the Enmity of the Jews against him and his Doctrine John 3. 19. Light is come into the World and Men love darkness rather than light because their Deeds are evil for every one that doeth evil hateth the light neither cometh he to the light lest his deeds should be reproved Upon the same account it is that Men resist the Doctrine of the Holy Scriptures not because they have sufficient Reason to doubt of their Divine Authority but because they are unwilling to be govern'd by them and to conform their Lives to the Laws and Precepts of that Holy Book For the Wills of Men have a great Influence upon their Undestandings to make assent easie or difficult and as Men are apt to assent to what they have a mind to so they are slow to believe any thing which crosseth their Humours and Inclinations so that tho' greater Evidence were offer'd it is likely it would not prevail with them because the mater does not stick there Their Wills are distemper'd Men hate to be reform'd and this makes them cast the Laws of God behind their Backs and if God himself should speak to them from Heaven as he did to the People of Israel yet for all that they might continue a stiff-necked and rebellious People Tho' the Evidence were such as their Understandings could not resist yet their Wills might still hold out and the present condition of their Minds might have no lasting influence upon their Hearts and Lives â—uch a violent Conviction might affect them for the present but the Sense of it might perhaps wear off by degrees and then they would return to their former hardness Men by a long and obstinate continuance in sin may bring themselves to the Temper and Disposition of Devils who tho' they believe and tremble at the thoughts of God and his Threatnings yet they are wicked still for so long as Men retain a strong affection for their Lusts they will break through all Conviction and what Evidence soever be offer'd to them they will find some way or other to avoid it and to delude themselves The plain truth of the case is this if Men will honestly speak their Consciences they cannot deny it they do not call for more Evidence either because they want it or are willing to be convinced by it but that they may seem to have some Excuse for themselves for not being convinced by that Evidence which is afforded to them 4thly Experience does abundantly testifie how ineffectual extraordinary ways are to convince and reclaim men of depraved Minds and such as are obstinately addicted to their Lusts We find many remarkable Experiments of this in the History of the Bible What Wonders were wrought in the sight of Pharaoh and the Egyptians yet they were harden'd under all these Plagues Balaam who greedily follow'd the wages of unrighteousness was not to be stopt by the admonition of an Angel The Jews after so many Miracles which their Eyes had seen continued to be a stiff neck'd and gain-saying People so that it is hard to say which was more prodigious the Wonders which God wrought for them or their Rebellions against him and when in the fulness of time the Son of God came and did among them the works which never man did such as one would have thought might have brought the worst People in the World to Repentance those of Tyre and Sydon of Sodom and Gomorrah yet they Repented not Yea the very thing which the rich man here in my Text requested of Abraham for his Brethren was done among them Lazarus did rise from the dead and testified unto them and they were not perswaded And which is yet more our Saviour himself according to his own Prediction while he was alive rose again from the dead the third day and was visibly taken up into Heaven and yet how few among them did believe and give glory to God! So that we see the very thing here spoken of in the Text made good in a famous instance they who believed not Moses and the Prophets which testified of the Messias were not perswaded when he rose from the dead And does not our own Experience tell us how little effect the extraordinary Providences of God have had upon those who were not reclaimed by his Word It is not long since God shewed himself among us by terrible things in Righteousness and visited us with three of his sorest Judgments War and Pestilence and Fire and yet how does all manner of Wickedness and Impiety still reign and rage among us It is a very sad Consideration to see how little those who have outlived these Plagues have been reformed by them we have not return'd to the Lord nor sought him for all this I may appeal to the experience of particular Persons How frequently do we see Men after great Afflictions and tedious Sufferings and dangerous sicknesses return to their former Evil Courses and tho' they have been upon the brink of Eternity and the ternors of Death have compass'd them about and the pains of Hell have almost taken hold of them tho' they have had as lively and sensible Convictions of another World as if they had spoken with those that had come from thence or even been there themselves yet they have taken no warning but upon their Deliverance and Recovery have been as mad as furious Sinners as they were before so that it ought to be no such wonder to us which the Text tells us that if Men hear not Moses and the Prophets neither will they be perswaded tho' one rose from the dead Especially if we consider in the 5th and last place That an effectual perswasion that is such a Belief as produceth Repentance and a good Life is the gift of God and depends upon the operation and concurrence of his Grace which is not to be expected in an extraordinary way where Men have obstinately rejected the ordinary means appointed by God for that end To be effectually perswaded to change our Lives and become new
are not brought to Repentance and effectually perswaded by this clear and publick Revelation which God hath made of his Will to Men in the Holy Scriptures have reason to look upon their Case as desperate Methinks it should not be a desirable thing to any of us to be convinced by an Apparition the thing is so dreadful and full of Terror besides that it argues Men to be strangely hardned in a bad Course and obstinately bent upon their evil ways when nothing will affright them from their Sins but what will almost put them out of their Wits when nothing will keep them from running into Hell but a fearful and ghastly Messenger from thence What a terrible sight would it be to any of us to meet one of our Companions whom we had lately known in this World fresh come out of those Flames with the smell of Fire and Brimstone upon him What Imagination can paint to it self the dread and horror of such a Spectacle The Rich Man here in the Parable when he was in Hell is represented as sensible of the inconvenience of this and therefore he did not desire to be sent himself to his Brethren but desired that Lazarus might go and testifie unto them he was apprehensive how frightful a sight he himself must needs have been to them and therefore he desires that they might have a gentler warning by one who from out of Abraham's Bosom had seen the Miseries of the damned but enjoyed the State of the blessed But let not us tempt God by any such unreasonable Demand who speaks to us every day by the plain Declarations of his Word and hath of late Years call'd so loudly upon us by the Voice of his Providence to repent and turn to him by so many Miracles of Mercy and Deliverance as God hardly ever wrought for any Prince and People and by such terrible Vollies of Judgments and full Viols of wrath as have seldom been poured out upon any Nation God speaks to you by his Ministers Men like your selves God knows poor frail and sinful Men but we are sure that when we call you to Repentance we deliver to you the Will and Pleasure the Counsels and Commands of the great God which whatever Account may be made of us do certainly challenge your most awful Attention and Regard And we are sensibel that we are call'd to a very difficult and unpleasant work to content with the Lusts and Vices of Men to strive against the strong and impetuous Stream of a wicked and perverse Generation and nothing in the World could move us to this unwelcome and grievous Importunity but a great and just Sense of our own Duty and your Danger And if we will not take these Warnings why should we expect that God should vouchsafe to send an express Messenger to us from the other World to certifie us how all things are there and that not so much to help the weakness of our Faith as to humor the perverseness of our Infidelity And why should we imagine that this Course would prove more effectual Let us not deceive our selves the same Lusts which now detain Men so strongly in Impenitency and Unbelief would in all probability hurry them on to Hell tho' an Angel from Heaven should meet them in their way to give a stop to them This indeed might startle us but nothing is like to save us if the Word of God and his Grace do not But are we in earnest and would we be perswaded if one should rise from the dead God hath condescended thus far to us there is one risen from the dead to testifie unto us Jesus the Son of God who died for our Sins and rose again for our Justification and is ascended into Heaven and set down at the right hand of God to assure us of a blessed Resurrection and a glorious Immortality And if this will not satisfie us God will gratifie our Curiosity no farther If we will not believe him whom God hath sent and to convince us that he hath sent him hath raised him up from the dead we shall die in our Sins and perish in our Impenitency God hath in great Mercy to Mankind done that which is abundantly sufficient to convince those who are of a teachable Temper and Disposition But in great Wisdom and Justice he hath not thought fit to provide any Remedy for the wilful Obstinacy and intractable Perverseness of Men. Now God who hath the Hearts of all Men in his Hands perswade us all to break off our Sins by Repentance and to give Glory to God before Death and Darkness come and the day of our final Visitation overtake us when we may perhaps be surprised by a sudden stroke of seized upon by a violent Disease and may have no sense and apprehension of our approaching Danger or if we have may find no place for Repentance tho' we seek it with Tears which God grant may never happen to be the case of any of us for his Mercy 's sake in Christ Jesus To whom with the Father c. SERMON XIII The Children of this World Wiser than the Children of Light Preached at Whitehall Anno 1683. LUKE XVI 8. For the Children of this World are in their Generation wiser than the Children of Light THESE Words are in the Parable of the Rich Man's Steward who being call'd upon to give up his Accounts in order to his being discharged from his Office cast about with himself what course he had best to take to provide for his subsistence when he should be turned out of his Employment At last he resolves upon this That he will go to his Lords Debtors and take a favourable Account of them and instead of a hundred measures of Oil write down fifty and instead of a hundred measures of wheat write down four score that by this means he might oblige them to be kind to him in his Necessity The Lord hearing of this commends the unjust Steward because he had done wisely That is he took notice of his Dishonesty but praised his Shrewdness and Sagacity as having done prudently for himself tho' he did not deal justly with him and this is usual among Men. When we see a Man ingeniously bad to commend his Wit and to say it is great pity he doth not use it better and apply it to good purposes Upon the whole our Saviour makes this Observation that the Children of this World are in their Generation wiser than the Children of Light as if he had said thus did this worldly Wise-man thus provident was he for his future Security and Subsistence He no sooner understands that he is to be turned out of his Office but he considers what Provision to make for himself against that time And is it not pity that good Men do not apply this Wisdom to better and greater purposes For is not every Man such a Steward entrusted by God with the Blessings of this Life and many opportunities of doing good For all