Not but that Mankind had always apprehensions and jealousies of the danger of a wicked Life and Sinners were always afraid of the vengeance of God pursuing their evil Deeds not only in this Life but after it too and tho' they had turned the Punishments of another World into ridiculous Fables yet the wiser sort of Mankind could not get it out of their Minds that there was something real under them and that Ixion's Wheel which by a perpetual motion carried him about and Sisyphus his Stone which he was perpetually rolling up the Hill and when he had got it near the top tumbled down and still created him a new labour and Tantalus his continual hunger and thirst aggravated by a perpetual nearness of enjoyment and a perpetual disappointment and Prometheus his being chained to a Rock with an Eagle or Vulture perpetually preying upon his Liver which grew as fast as it was gnawed I say even the wiser among the Heathens lookt upon these as fantastical Representations of something that was Real viz. the grievous and endless Punishment of Sinners the not to be endured and yet perpetually renewed Torments of another World for in the midst of all the ignorance and degeneracy of the Heathen World Mens Consciences did accuse them when they did amiss and they had secret fears and misgivings of some mighty danger hanging over them from the displeasure of a superior Being and the apprehension of some great mischiefs likely to follow their wicked actions which some time or other would overtake them which because they did not always in this World they dreaded them in the next And this was the foundation of all those Superstitions whereby the Ancient Pagans endeavoured so carefully to appease their offended Deities and to avert the Calamities which they feared they would send down upon them But all this while they had no certain assurance by any clear and express Revelation from God to that purpose but only the jealousies and suspicions of their own Minds naturally consequent upon those Notions which Men generally had of God but so obscured and depraved by the Lusts and Vices of Men and by the gross and false conceptions which they had of God that they only serv'd to make them superstitious but were not clear and strong enough to make them wisely and seriously Religious And to speak the truth the more knowing and inquisitive part of the Heathen World had brought all these things into great doubt and uncertainty by the nicety and subtilty of Disputes about them so that it was no great wonder that these Principles had no greater effect upon the Lives of Men when their apprehensions of them were so dark and doubtful But the Gospel hath made a most clear and certain Revelation of these things to Mankind It was written before upon Men's Hearts as the great Sanction of the Law of Nature but the impressions of this were in a great measure blurred and worn out so that it had no great power and efficacy upon the Minds and Manners of Men but now it is clearly discovered to us the wrath of God is revealed from Heaven which expression may well imply in it these three things First The Clearness of the Discovery the wrath of God is said to be revealed Secondly The extraordinary Manner of it it is said to be revealed from Heaven Thirdly The Certainty of it not being the result of subtle and doubtful Reasonings but having a Divine Testimony and Confirmation given to it which is the proper meaning of being revealed from Heaven First It imports the Clearness of the Discovery The Punishment of Sinners in another World is not so obscure a Matter as it was before it is now expresly declared in the Gospel together with the particular Circumstances of it namely that there is another Life after this wherein Men shall receive the just recompence of Reward for all the actions done by them in this Life that there is a particular time appointed wherein God will call all the World to a solemn account and those who are in their graves shall by a powerful voice be raised to Life and those who shall then be found alive shall be suddenly changed when our Lord Jesus Christ the Eternal and only begotten Son of God who once came in great humility to save us shall come again in Power and great Glory attended with his Mighty Angels and all Nations shall be gathered before him and all Mankind shall be separated into two Companies the Righteous and the Wicked who after a full Hearing and fair Tryal shall be sentenced according to their Actions the one to Eternal Life and Happiness the other to Everlasting Misery and Torment So that the Gospel hath not only declared the thing to us that there shall be a future Judgment but for our farther assurance and satisfaction in this Matter and that these things might make a deep impression and strike a great awe upon our Minds God hath been pleased to reveal it to us with a great many particular Circumstances such as are very worthy of God and apt to fill the Minds of Men with dread and astonishment as often as they think of them For the Circumstances of this Judgment revealed to us in the Gospel are very solemn and awful not such as the wild fancies and imaginations of Men would have been apt to have drest it up withal such as are the Fictions of the Heathen Poets and the extravagancies of Mahomet which tho' they be terrible enough yet they are withal ridiculous but such as are every way becoming the Majesty of the great God and the Solemnity of that great Day and such as do not in the least â—avour of the vanity and lightness of humane imagination For what more fair and equal than that Men should be tried by a Man like themselves one of the same Rank and Condition that had experience of the Infirmities and Temptations of Humane Nature So our Lord tells us that the Father hath committed all judgment to the Son because he is the Son of Man and therefore cannot be excepted against as not being a fit and equal Judge And this St. Paul offers as a clear proof of the equitable proceedings of that Day God says he hath appointed a Day in which he will judge the World in Righteousness by that Man whom he hath ordained And then what more congruous than that the Son of God who had taken so much pains for the Salvation of Men and came into the World for that purpose and had used all imaginable means for the Reformation of Mankind I say what more congruous than that this very Person should be honoured by God to sit in Judgment upon the World and to Condemn those who after all the means that had been tried for their Recovery would not Repent and be Saved And what more proper than that Men who are to be judged for things done in the Body should be judged in the Body and consequently
when Vice hath got such head that it can hardly bear to be â—keckt and controll'd and when as the Roman Historian complains of his times Ad ea tempora quibus nec vitia nostra nec remedia pati possumus perventum est things are come to that pass that we can neither bear ouâ— Vices noâ— the Remedies of them Our Vices are grown to a prodigious and intolerable height and yet Men hardly have the patience to hear of them and surely a Disease is then dangerous indeed when it cannot bear the severity that is necessary to a Cure But yet notwithstanding this we who are the Messengers of God to Men to warn them of their sin and danger must not keep silence and spare to tell them both of their sins and of the Judgment of God which hangs over them that God will visit for these things and that his Soul will be avenged on such a Nation as this At least we may have leave to warn others who are not yet run to the same excess of riot to save themselves from this untoward generation God's Judgments are abroad in the Earth and call aloud upon us to learn Righteousness But this is but a small Consideration in Comparison of the Judgment of another World which we who call our selves Christians do profess to believe as one of the Chief Articles of our Faith The Consideration of this should check and cool us in the heat of all our sinful Pleasures and that bitter Irony of Solomon should cut us to the heart Rejoyce O young Man in thy youth and let thy heart chear thee in the days of thy youth and walk in the ways of thy heart and in the sight of thine eyes but know that for all these things God will bring thee into judgment Think often and seriously on that time wherein the wrath of God which is now revealed against sin shall be executed upon Sinners and if we believe this we are strangely stupid and obstinate if we be not moved by it The assurance of this made St Paul extreamly importunate in exhorting Men to avoid so great a danger 2 Cor. 5. 10 11. We must all appear before the Judgment Seat of Christ that every one may receive the things done in the Body according to what he hath done whether it be good or evil Knowing therefore the terrors of the Lord we perswade Men. And if this ought to move us to take so great a care of others much more of our selves The Judgment to come is a very amazing Consideration it is a fearful thing to hear of it but it will be much more terrible to see it especially to those whose guilt must needs make them so heartily concern'd in the dismal Consequences of it and yet as sure as I stand and you sit here this great and terrible Day of the Lord will come and who may abide his coming What will we do when that Day shall surprize us careless and unprepared what unspeakable horror and amazement will then take hold of us when lifting up our eyes to Heaven we shall see the Son of Man coming in the Clouds of it with Power and great Glory when that powerful voice which shall pierce the ears of the Dead shall ring through the World Arise ye Dead and come to Judgment when the mighty Trumpet shall sound and wake the Sleepers of a thousand years and summon the dispersed parts of the Bodies of all Men that ever lived to rally together and take their place and the Souls and Bodies of Men which have been so long strangers to one another shall meet and be united again to receive the doom due to their deeds what fear shall then surprize Sinners and how will they tremble at the presence of the great Judge and for the glory of his Majesty How will their Consciences flye in their faces and their own hearts condemn them for their wicked and ungodly Lives and even prevent that Sentence which yet shall certainly be past and executed upon them But I will proceed no further in this Argument which hath so much of terror in it I will conclude my Sermon as Solomon doth his Ecclesiaâ—tes Ch. 12. 13 14. Let us hear the conclusion of the whole matter fear God and keep his Commandments for this is the whole of Man for God shall bring every work into Judgment and every secret thing whether it be good or whether it be evil To which I will only add that serious and merciful Admonition of a greater than Solomon I mean the great Judge of the whole World our blessed Lord and Saviour Luke 21. 34 35 36. Take heed to your selves lest at any time your hearts be overcharged with surfeiting and drunkenness and the cares of this life and so that day come upon you at unawares for as a snare shall it come upon all them that dwell on the face of the whole Earth Watch ye therefore and pray always that ye may be accouuted worthy to escape all these things that shall come to pass and to stand before the Son of Man To whom with the Father and the Holy Ghost c. SERMON XII Knowledge and Practice Necessary in Religion JOHN XIII 17. If ye know these things happy are ye if ye do them TWO Things make up Religion the Knowledge and the Practice of it and the First is wholly in order to the Second and God hath not revealed to us the Knowledge of Himself and his Will meerly for the improvement of our Understanding but for the bettering of our Hearts and Lives not to entertain our Minds with the speculations of Religion and Virtue but to form and govern our Actions If ye know these things happy are ye if ye do them In which words our blessed Saviour does from a particular instance take occasion to settle a general Conclusion namely that Religion doth mainly consist in Practice and that the knowledge of his Doctrine without the real effects of it upon our Lives will bring no Man to Heaven In the beginning of this Chapter our great Lord and Master to testifie his Love to his Disciples and to give them a lively Instance and Example of that great Virtue of Humility is pleased to condescend to a very low and mean Office such as was used to be performed by Servants to their Masters and not by the Master to his Servants namely to wash their feet and when he had done this he asks them if they did understand the meaning of this strange Action Know ye what I have done unto you ye call me Master and Lord and ye say well for so I am if I then your Lord and Master have washed your feet ye also ought to wash one anothers feet for I have given you an Example that ye should do as I have done to you Verily verily I say unto you the Servant is not greater than the Lord neither he that is sent greater than he that sent him if ye know these things
The most Reverend D r. IOHN TILLOTSON late Arch-Bishop of Canterbury Several Discourses Viz. Of the great Duties of Natural Religion Instituted Religion not intended to undermine Natural Christianity not destructive but perfective of the Law of Moses The Nature and Necessity of Regeneration The Danger of all known Sin Knowledge and Practice necessary in Religion The Sins of Men not Chargeable on God By the Most Reverend Dr. JOHN TILLOTSON Late Lord Arch-Bishop of Canterbury Being The FOURTH VOLUME Published from the Originals By Ralph Barker D. D. Chaplain to his Grace LONDON Printed for Ri. Chiswell at the Rose and Crown in St. Paul's Church-yard 1697. THE CONTENTS SERM. I. Of the great Duties of Natural Religion with the Ways and Means of knowing them MICAH VI. 6 7 8. WHerewith shall I come before the Lord and bow my self before the high God shall I come before him with burnt-offerings with Calves of a year old Will the Lord be pleased with thousands of Rams or with ten thousands of Rivers of Oyl shall I give my first-born for my transgression the fruit of my body for the sin of my soul He hath shewed thee O Man what is good and what doth the Lord require of thee but to do justly and to love mercy and to walk humbly with thy God Page 1. SERM. II. Instituted Religion not intended to undermine Natural MATTH IX 13. But go ye and learn what that meaneth I will have Mercy and not Sacrifice p. 43. SERM. III IV. Christianity doth not destroy but perfect the Law of Moses MATTH V. 17. Think not that I am come to destroy the Law or the Prophets I am not come to destroy but to fulfill p. 85 113. SERM. V VI VII VIII IX Of the Nature of Regeneration and its Necessity in order to Justification and Salvation GALAT. VI. 15. For in Christ Jesus neither Circumcision availeth any thing nor Uncircumcision but a new Creature p. 139 165 191 217 241. SERM. X XI The Danger of all known Sin both from the Light of Nature and Revelation ROM I. 18 19. For the wrath of God is revealed from Heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of Men who hold the truth in unrighteousness because that which may be known of God is manifest in them for God hath shewed it unto them p. 267 305. SERM. XII Knowledge and Practice Necessary in Religion JOHN XIII 17. If ye know these things happy are ye if ye do them p. 343. SERM. XIII Practice in Religion necessary in proportion to our Knowledge LUKE XII 47 48. And that Servant which knew his Lord's will and preparâ—d not himself neither did according to his will shall be beaten with many stripes But he that knew not and did commit things worthy of stripes shall be beaten with few stripes For unto whomsoever much is given of him shall be much required and to whom Men have committed much of him they will ask the more p. 373. SERM. XIV XV. The Sins of Men not chargeablâ— upon God but upon themselves JAMES I. 13 14. Let no Man say when he is tempted I am tempted of God for God cannot be tempted with evil neither tempteth he any Man But every Man is tempted when he is drawn away of his own lust and enticed p. 403 447. SERMON I. Of the great Duties of Natural Religion with the Ways and Means of knowing them MICAH 6. 6 7 8. Wherewith shall I come before the Lord and bow my self before the high God shall I come before him with burnt offerings with Calves of a year old Will the Lord be pleased with thousands of Rams or with ten thousands of Rivers of Oyl shall I give my first born for my transgression the fruit of my body for the sin of my soul He hath shewed thee O man what is good and what doth the Lord require of thee but to do justly and to love mercy and to walk humbly with thy God IN the beginning of this Chapter the Prophet tells the People of Israel that the Lord had a Controversie with them and that he might direct them how to take up this quarrel he brings in one making this enquiry in the name of the People Wherewith shall I come before the Lord and bow my self before the high God That is by what kind of Worship or Devotion may I address my self to him in the most acceptable manner by what means may I hope to appease his displeasure To satisfie this enquiry he first instanceth in the chief kinds of Sacrifices and Expiations that were in use among the Jews and Heathens Shall I come before him with burnt-offerings the constant Sacrifice that was offâ—red to God by way of acknowledgment of his Dominion over the Creatures with Calves of a year old which was the Sin-offering which the High-Priest offered for himself Or will he rather accept of those great and costly Sacrifices which were offered upon Solemn and Publick Occasions such as that was which Solomon offered at the Dedication of the Temple Will the Lord be pleased with thousands of Rams or with ten thousands of Rivers of Oyl Or if none of these will do shall I try to attone him after the manner of the Heathen by the dearest thing in the World the first-born of my Children Shall I give my first-born for my tranâ—gression the fruit of my Body for the sin of my Soul If God was to be appeased at all surely they thought it must be by some of these ways for beyond these they could imagine nothing of greater value and efficacy But the Prophet tells them that they were quite out of the way in thinking to pacifie God upon these terms that there are other things which are much better and more pleasing to him than any of these Sacrifices For some of them were expresly forbidden by God as the offering up of our Children and for the rest they were not good in themselves but meerly by vertue of their Institution and because they were commanded But the things which he would recommend to them are such as are good in their own nature and required of us by God upon that account He hath shewed thee O Man what is good and what doth the Lord require of thee but to do justly and to love merâ—y and to walk humbly with thy God So that in these words you have First An Enquiry which is the best way to appease God when he is offended Wherewith shall I come before the Lord and bow my self before the high God Secondly The way that Men are apt to take in this Case and that is by some external piece of Religion and Devotion such as Sacrifice was both among Jews and Heathen Shall I come before him with Burnt-offerings c. By which questions the Prophet intimates that Men are very apt to pitch upon this course Thirdly The course which God himself directs to and which will effectually pacifie him He hath shewed thee O Man what is good and what doth
the Lord thy God require of thee c. The First being a meer question there needs no more to be said of it only that it is a question of great importance What is the most effectual way to appease God when we have offended him For who can bear his indignation and who who can stand before him when once he is angry Let us consider then in the Second place the way that Men are apt to take to pacifie God and that is by some external piece of Religion and Devotion such as were Sacrifices among the Jews and Heathen Shall I come before him with Burnt-offerings This is the way which Men are most apt to chuse The Jews you seâ— pitched upon the external parts of their Religion those which were most pompous and solemn the richest and most costly Sacrifices so they might but keep their Sins they were well enough content to offer up any thing else to God they thought nothing too good for him provided he would not oblige them to become better And thus it is among our selves when we apprehend God is displeased with us and his Judgments abroad in the Earth we are content to do any thing but to learn Righteousness we are willing to submit to any kind of external Devotion and Humiliation to Fast and Pray to afflict our selves and to cry mightily unto God things some of them good in themselves but the least part of that which God requires of us And as for the Church of Rome in case of publick Judgments and Calamities they are the inquisitive and as they pretend the most skilful People in the world to pacifie God and they have a thousand solemn devices to this purpose I do not wrong them by representing them enquiring after this manner Shall I go before a Crucifix and bow my self to it as to the high God And because the Lord is a great King and it is perhaps too much boldness and arrogance to make immediate Addresses always to him to which of the Saints or Angels shall I go to mediate for me and intercede on my behalf Will the Lord be pleased with thousands of Pater-Nosters or with ten thousands of Ave-Marys Shall the Host travel in procession or my self undâ—rtake a tedious Pilgrimage Or shall I list my self a Souldier for the Holy War or for the Extirpation of Hereticks Shall I give half my Estate to a Convent for my Transgression or chastise and punish my Body for the Sin of my Soul Thus Men deceive themselves and will submit to all the extravagant Severities that the Petulancy and Folly of Men can devise and impose upon them And indeed it is not to be imagined when Men are once under the Power of Superstition how ridiculous they may be and yet think themselves religious how prodigiously they may play the Fool and yet believe they please God what cruel and barbarous things they may do to themselves and others and yet be verily perswaded they do God good Service And what is the Mystery of all this but that Men are loath to do that without which nothing else that we do is acceptable to God They hate to be reformed and for this Reason they will be content to do any Thing rather than be put to the Trouble of Mending themselves every thing is easie in comparison of this Task and God may have any Terms of them so he will let them be quiet in their Sins and excuse them from the real Virtues of a Good Life And this brings me to the Third Thing which I principally intended to speak to The Course which God himself directs to and which will effectually pacifie him He hath shewed thee O Man what is good and what doth the Lord require of thee but to do justly and to love Mercy and to walk humbly with thy God In the handling of which I shall First Consider those several Duties which God here requires of us and upon the Performance of which he will be pacified towards us Secondly By what Ways and Means God hath discovered these Duties to us and the Goodness of them He hath shewed thee O Man what is good c. I. We will briefly consider the several Duties which God here requires of us and upon the Performance of which he will be pacified towards us What doth the Lord require of thee but to do Justly and to love Mercy and to walk humbly with thy God It was usual among the Jews to reduce all the Duties of Religion to these three Heads Justice Mercy and Piety under the first two comprehending the Duties which we owe to one another and under the third the Duties which we owe to God 1. Justice And I was going to tell you what it is but I considered that every Man knows it as well as any Definition can explain it to him I shall only put you in mind of some of the principal Instances of it and the several Virtues comprehended under it And First Justice is concerned in the making of Laws that they be such as are equal and reasonable useful and beneficial for the Honour of God and Religion and for the publick good of Humane Society This is a great Trust in the discharge of which if Men be byassed by Favour or Interest and drawn aside from the Consideration and Regard of the publick Good it is a far greater Crime and of worse Consequence than any private Act of Injustice between Man and Man And then Justice is also concerned in the due Execution of Laws which are the Guard of private Property the Security of Publick Peace and of Religion and Good Manners And Lastly In the Observance of Laws and Obedience to them which is a Debt that every Man owes to Humane Society But more especially Justice is concerned in the Observance of those Laws whether of God or Man which respect the Rights of Men and their mutual Commerce and Intercourse with one another That we use Honesty and Integrity in all our Dealings in Opposition to Fraud and Deceit Truth and Fidelity in Opposition to Falshood and Breach of Trust Equity and good Conscience in Opposition to all kind of Oppression and Exaction These are the principal Branches and Instances of this great and comprehensive Duty of Justice the Violation whereof is so much the greater Sin because this Virtue is the firmest Bond of Humane Society upon the Observation whereof the Peace and Happiness of Mankind does so much depend 2. Mercy which does not only signifie the inward Affection of Pity and Compassion towards those that are in Misery and Necessity but the Effects of it in the actual Relief of those whose Condition calls for our Charitable Help and Assistance By feeding the Hungry and cloathing the Naked and visiting the Sick and vindicating the Oppressed and comforting the afflicted and ministring Ease and Relief to them if it be in our Power And this is a very lovely Virtue and argues more Goodness in Men than mere Justice
Prophets was to engage Men to the practice of Moral Duties that is of real and substantial goodness Secondly That the Law of Moses or the dispensation of the Jewish Religion was comparatively very weak and insufficient to this purpose Thirdly That the Christian Religion hath supplied all the defects and weaknesses and imperfections of that dispensation these three Particulars will fully clear our Saviour's meaning in this Text. First That the Main and Ultimate Design of the Law and the Prophets was to engage Men to the practice of Moral Duties that is of real and substantial Goodness consisting in those Virtues which our Saviour mentions at the beginning of this Sermon Humility and Meekness and Mercy and Righteousness and Purity and Peaceableness This our Saviour more than once tells us was the sum and substance the main scope and design of the whole Doctrine of the Law and the Prophets Mat. 7. 12. Therefore all things whatsoever ye would that Men should do unto you do ye even so unto them for this is the Law and the Prophets And Mat. 22. 40. That the love of God and our Neighbour those two great Commands to which all Moral Duties are reduced are the two great hinges of the Jewish Religion on these two hang all the Law and the Prophets St. Paul calls Love the fulfilling of the whole Law Rom. 13. 10. St. James the Perfâ—ct and the Royal Law as that which hath a Soveraign influence upon all parts of Religion And therefore the Apostle Rom. 3. 21. tells us that this more perfect Righteousness which was brought in by the Gospel or the Christian Religion is witnessed by the Law and the Prophets And indeed the Prophets every where do slight and undervalue the Ritual and Ceremonial part of Religion in comparison of the practice of Moral Duties Isa 1. 11. To what purpose is the multitude of your Sacrifices unto me bring no more vain oblations your New Moons and your appointed Feasts my Soul hateth But what then are the things that are acceptable to God He tells us at the 16 th ver wash ye make you clean put away the evil of your doings from before mine eyes cease to do evil learn to do well seek judgment relieve the Oppressed judge the Fatherless plead for the Widow And by the Prophet Jeremiah God tells that People that the business of Sacrifices was not the thing primarily designed by God but obedience to the Moral Law the Ritual Law came in upon occasion for the prevention of Idolatry and by way of condescention to the temper of that People and thus Maimonides and the Learned Jews understand these words Jer. 7. 22 23. I spake not unto your Fathers nor commanded them in the day that I brought them out of the Land of Egypt concerning Burnt-offerings and Sacrifices but this thing commanded I them saying obey my voice and walk in all the ways that I have commanded and I will be your God and ye shall be my People So likewise in the Prophet Hosea God plainly prefers the Moral before the Ritual part of Religion as that which was principally designed and intended by him Hos 6. 6. I desired Mercy and not Sacrifice and the knowledge of God more than Burnt-Offerings but most plainly and expresly Mich. 6. 6. Wherewith shall I come before the Lord Shall I come before him with Burnt-offerings Wiâ— the Lord be pleased with thousands of Rams and ten thousands of Rivers of Oyl He hath shewed thee O Man what is good and what doth the Lord require of thee but to do â—ustly and to love mercy and to walk humbly with thy God These it seems were the great things which God stood upon and required of Men even under that imperfect dispensation and these are the very things which the Christian Religion doth so strictly enjoyn and command so that this Righteousness which the Gospel requires was witnessed to by the Law and the Prophets I proceed to the Second Point That the Law of Moses or the dispensation of the Jewish Religion was comparatively very weak and insufficient to make Men truly good and for the promoting of real and inward righteousness it gave Laws indeed to this purpose but those not so clear and perfect or at least not so clearly understood as they are now under the Gospel and it made no express promises of inward Grace and assistance to quicken and strengthen us in the doing of our Duty it made no explicit promises of any blessing and reward to the doing of our duty beyond this Life so that the best and most powerful Arguments and Encouragements to Obedience were either wholly wanting or very obscurely revealed under this dispensation And this insufficiency of the Jewish dispensation both to our justification and sanctification to the reconciling of us to God and the making of us really good the Apostle frequently inculcates in the New Testament St. Paul Acts 13. 38 39. Be it known unto you therefore Men and Brethren that through this Man is preached unto you the forgiveness of sins and by him all that believe are justified from all those things from which ye could not be justified by the Law of Moses and Rom. 8. 3. What the Law could not do in that it was weak through the flesh that is by reason of the carnality of that dispensation consisting in the purification of the body Gal. 3. 21. he calls it a Law unfit to give Life If there had been a Law which could have given Life verily Righteousness had been by the Law And the Apostle to the Hebrews Ch. 8. 6 7 8 c. finds fault with the dispensation of the Law for the lowness and meanness of its Promises being only of Temporal good things and for want of conferring an inward and a powerful Principle to enable Men to obedience but now hath he obtained speaking of Christ a more excellent Ministry by how much also he is the Mediator of a better Covenant which was established upon better Promises for if that first Covenant had been faultless then should no place have been sought for a second and this second and better Covenant he tells us was foretold by the Prophets of the Old Testament for finding fault with them he saith behold the days come saith the Lord when I will make a new Covenant with the House of Israel and the House of Judah not according to the Covenant which I made with their Fathers For this is the Covenant which I will make with the House of Israel after those days saith the Lord. I will put my Laws into their minds and write them in their hearts And Chap. 10. 1 4. he shews the inefficacy of their Sacrifices for the real expiation of Sin the Law having but a shadow of good things to come and not the lively representation of the things themselves can never with those Sacrifices which they offer'd year by year continually make the comers thereunto perfect for it is not possible that
any thing wanting on God's part but on theirs as those known Texts wherein our Saviour laments the Case of Jerusalem because they obstinately brought destruction upon themselves Luke 19. 42. If thou hadst known in this thy day the things that belong to thy peace intimating that they might have known them so as to have prevented that desolation which was coming upon them and was a forerunner of their Eternal Ruine but now they are hid from thine eyes intimating that then God gave them up to their own blindness and obstinacy but the time was when they might have known the things of their peace which cannot be upon the supposition of the necessity of an irresistible act of God's Grace to their Conversion and Repentance because then without that they could not have Repented and if that had been afforded to them they had infallibly Repented So likewise in that other Text Matth. 23. 37. Oh! Jerusalem Jerusalem how often would I have gathered thee even as an Hen gathereth her Chickens under her wings and you would not And in John 5. 40. Ye will not come unto me that ye might have life He would have gathered them and they would not he would have given them Life but they would not come to him Are these serious and compassionate expostulations and declarations of our Saviour's gracious intention towards them any ways consistent with an impossibility of their Repentance which yet must be said if irresistible grace be necessary thereto for then Repentance is impossible without it and that it was not afforded to them is plain because they did not Repent The same may be said of that solemn declaration of God Ezek. 33. 11. As I live saith the Lord God I have no pleasure in the death of the wicked but that the wicked turn from his way and â—ive Can it be said that God hath no pleasure in the death of Sinners and yet be true that he denys to the greatest part of them that grace which is necessary to their Repentance Upon this Supposition how can it be true that if the mighty works that were done in Chorazin and Bethsaida had been done in Tyre and Sidon they would have Repented Matth. 11. 21. since irresistible grace did not accompany those Miracles For if it had Chorazin and Bethsaida had Repented and without it Tyre and Sidon could not Repent The same difficulty is in those Texts wherein God is represented as expecting the Repentance and Conversion of Sinners and our Saviour wondering at their unbelief and hardness of heart and upbraiding them with it Isa 5. 4. What could I have done more to my Vineyard that I have not done in it Wherefore when I looked that it should bring forth grapes brought it forth wild grapes Mark 6. 6. 't is said our Saviour marvell'd at the unbelief of the Jews And Chap. 16. 14. that he upbraided his Disciples with their unbelief and hardness of heart But why should the Repentance of Sinners be expected or their unbelief marvell'd at or indeed be upbraided to them by him who knew it impossible to them without an irresistible power and grace which he knew likewise was not afforded to them Neither God nor Men have reason to wonder â—hat any Man does not do that which at the same time they certainly know he cannot do The bottom of all that is said to avoid this pressing difficulty is this that this impotency and disability of Sinners is their Sin and therefore cannot be pleaded in their excuse for their impenitency but God may still justly require that of them which they had once a natural power to do but wilfully forfeited and lost it they had this power in Adam and forfeited it by his disobedience To shew how slight this evasion is I need not run into that Argument how far we are guilty of the Sin of our first Parents That by that first transgression and disobedience all Mankind suffers and our Natures are extreamly corrupted and depraved cannot be denied but the corruption of our Natures is a thing very different from Personal guilt strictly and properly so call'd I will take the business much shorter and granting that Mankind had in Adam a Natural power to have continued obedient to the Laws of God yet since by one Man Sin enter'd into the World and all are now Sinners here is an obligation to Repentance as well as to Obedience and Men shall be Condemned for their Impenitency I ask now whether in Adam we had a power to Repent 'T is certain Adam had not this power and therefore I cannot see how we could lose it and forfeit it in him Adam indeed had a Natural Power not to have sinned and so not to have needed Repentance but no power to Repent in the state of Innocency because in that state Repentance was impossible because there could be no occasion for it he had it not after his fall because by that he forfeited all his power to that which is spiritually good 'T is said indeed he had it in Innocency but forfeited it by his Fall so that he had it when there was no occasion or possibility of the exercise of it and lost it when there was occasion for it or if he did not lose it by his Fall we have it still and then there is no need of any supernatural much less irresistible grace to Repentance so that our impotency as to the particular Duty of Repentance cannot be charg'd upon us as our fault not so much as upon the account of Original Sin But the want of this Power is the consequent and just punishment of our first Transgression Be it so but if this impotency still remain in all those to whom God doth not afford his irresistible grace how comes th grace offer'd in the Gospel to aggravate the impenitency of Men and encrease their Condemnation For if it be no Remedy against this impotency how comes it to inflame the guilt of Impenitency Or how is it Grace to offer Mercy to those upon their Repentance who are out of a possibility of Repenting and yet to punish them more severely for their impenitency after this offer made to them which they cannot accept without that grace which God is resolved not to afford them If this be the Case the greatest favour had been to have had no such offer made to them and it had been happier for Mankind that the grace of God had not appear'd to all Men but only to those who shall irresistibly be made partakers of the benefit of it Secondly Another Doctrine grounded upon this Metaphor of a new Creation is that we are meerly passive in the work of Conversion and Regeneration and contribute nothing to it that God does all and we do nothing at all and this follows from the former especially if we allow the Metaphor as far as it will carry us For as the first Creation of things was by an irresistible act of Divine Power so the things that
the grace of Contentment by great Consideration and diligent Care of himself in several Conditions not as if the habit of this grace had been infused into him at once Phil. 4. 11 12. I have learn'd in whatsoever state I am therewith to be content I know both how to be abased and I know how to abound every where and in all things I am instructed both to be full and to be hungry both to abound and to suffer need And thus I have done with the first thing I propounded to Consider namely the true and just Importance of this Metaphor of the new Creation The two Particulars which remain I shall by God's assistance finish in my next Discourse SERMON IX Of the Nature of Regeneration and its Necessity in order to Justification and Salvation GALAT. VI. 15. For in Christ Jesus neither Circumcision availeth any thing nor Uncircumcision but a new Creature THE Observation I am still upon from these Words is this viz. That in the Christian Religion nothing will avail to our Justification but the Renovation of our Hearts and Lives exprest here by a New Creature In treating of which I propos'd the doing of three things First To shew the â—rue import of this Metaphor of a new Creature Secondly To shew that this is the great Condition of oâ—â— Justification And Thirdly That it is highly Reasonable that it should be so In treating of the first of these Particulars I have consider'd some Doctrines as founded upon this Metaphor which I have shewn at large not only to have no Foundation in Scripture or Reason or Experience but also to be very unreasonable in themselves and contrary to the plain and constant tenour of Scripture and to the ordinary Method of God's grace in the Regeneration of Men whether by a Religious and Virtuous Education or in those who are reclaim'd from a notorious wicked Course of Life And that I have so long insisted upon this Argument and handled it in a more contentious way than is usual with me did not proceed from any love to Controversie which I am less fond of every day than other but from a great desire to put an end to these Controversies and quarrellings in the dark by bringing them to a clear state and plain issue and likewise to undeceive good Men concerning some current Notions and Doctrines which I do really believe to be dishonourable to God and contrary to the plain declarations of Scripture and a cause of great perplexity and discomfort to the Minds of Men and a real discouragement to the Resolutions and Endeavours of becoming better Upon which Considerations I was strongly urgent to search these Doctrines to the bottom and to contribute what in me lay to the rescuing of good Men from the disquiet and entanglement of them I will conclude this Matter with a few Cautions not unworthy to be remembred by us That we would be careful so to ascribe all Good to God that we be sure we ascribe nothing to him that is Evil or any ways unworthy of him That we do not make him the sole Author of our Salvation in such a way as will unavoidably charge upon him the final impenitency and ruine of a great part of Mankind That we do not so magnifie the grace of God as to make his Precepts and Exhortations sâ—gnifie nothing Such as these Make ye new Heâ—â—ts and new Spirits strive to enter in at the strait gate Where if by the strait gate be meant the difficulty of our first entrance upon a Religious Course that is of our Conversion and Regeneration I cannot imagine how it is possible to reconcile our being meerly passive in this work and doing nothing at all in it with our Saviour's Precept of striving to enter in at the strait gate unless to be very active and to be meerly passive about the same thing be all one and an earnest contention and endeavour be the same thing with doing nothing Again that we do not make the utmost degeneracy and depravation which Men ever arrived at by the greatest abuse of themselves and the most vile and wicked practices the standard of an unregenerate state and of the common Condition of all Men by Nature And lastly that we do not make some particular instances in Scripture of the strange and sudden Conversion of some Persons as namely of St. Paul and the Jaylor in the Acts the common rule and measure of every Man's Conversion so that unless a Man be as it were struck down by a Light and Power from Heaven and taken with a fit of trembling and frighted almost out of his wits or find in himself something equal to this he can have no assurance of his Conversion whereas a much surer Judgment may be made of the sincerity of a Man's Conversion by the real Effects of this Change than by the Manner of it This our Saviour hath taught us by that apt resemblance of the operation of God's Spirit to the blowing of the wind of the Original Cause whereof and of the reason of its ceasing or continuance and why it blows stronger or gentler this way or that way we are altogether ignorant but that it is we are sensible from the sound of it John 3. 8. The wind bloweth where it listeth and thou hearest the sound of it but canst not tell whence it cometh nor whither it goeth So is every one that is born of the Spirit The effects of God's Holy Spirit in the Regeneration of Men are sensible tho' the manner and degrees of his operation upon the Souls of Men are so various that we can give no account of them by which one wou'd think our Saviour had sufficiently caution'd us not to reduce the Operations of God's grace and Holy Spirit in the Regeneration of Men to any certain Rule or Standard but chiefly to regard the sensible effects of this secret work upon the Hearts and Lives of Men. And after all it is in vain to contend by any Arguments against clear and certain experience If we plainly see that many are insensibly changed and made good by pious Education in the Nurture aud Admonition of the Lord and that somâ— who have long lived in a prophane neglect and contempt of Religion are by the secret power of God's word and Holy Spirit upon calm consideration without any great terrours and amazement visibly changed and brought to a better Mind and Course it is in vain in these Cases to pretend that this Change is not real because the Manner of it is not answerable to some Instances which are Recorded in Scripture or which we have observ'd in our Experience and because these Persons cannot give such an account of the time and manner of their Conversion as is agreeable to these instances which is just as if I should meet a Man beyond Sea whom I had known in England and would not believe that he had crost the Seas because he said he had a smooth and easie
that the Resurrection of the Dead should precede the general Judgment And what more Magnificent and suitable to this glorious Solemnity than the awful Circumstances which the Scripture mentions of the appearance of this great Judge that he shall descend from Heaven in great Majesty and Glory attended with his mighty Angels and that every eye shall see him that upon his appearance the frame of Nature shall be in an agony and the whole World in Flame and Confusion that those great and Glorious Bodies of Light shall be obscured and by degrees extinguish'd the Sun shall be darkned and the Moon turned into Blood and all the Powers of Heaven shaken yea the Heavens themselves shall pass away with a great noiseâ— and the Elements dissolve with â—ervent heat the Earth also and all the Works that are therein shall be burnt up I appeal to any Man whether this be not a Representation of things very proper and suitable to that Great Dayâ— wherein he who made the World shall come to Judge it and whether the wit of Man ever devised any thing so awful and so agreeable to the Majesty of God and the solemn Judgement of the whole World The description which Virgil makes of the Judgment of another World of the Elisian Fields and the Infernal Regions how infinitely do they fall short of the Majesty of the Holy Scripture and the description there made of Heaven and Hell and of the Great and Terrible Day of the Lord so that in Comparison they are Childish and trifling and yet perhaps he had the most regular and most govern'd imagination of any Man that ever lived and observed the gâ—eatest decorum in his Characters and Descriptions But who can declare the great things of God but he to whom God shall reveal them Secondly This Expression of the â—â—ath of God being Revealed from Heaven doth not only imply the clear discovery of the thing but likewise something extraordinary in the manner of the Discovery It is not only a Natural impression upon the Minds of Men that God will severely punish â—inners but he hath taken care that Mankind should be instructed in this Matter in a very particular and extraordinary manner He hath not left it to the Reason of Men to Collect it from the Consideration of his Attributes and Perfections his Holiness and Justice and from the Consideration of the promiscuous administration of his Providence towards good and bad Men in this World but he hath been pleased to send an extraordinaâ—y Person from Heaven on purpose to declare this thing plainly to the World the wrath of God is revealed from Heaven that is God sent his own Son from Heaven on purpose to declare his wrath against all obstinate and impenitent Sinners that he might effectually awaken the drouzie World to Repentance he hath sent an extraordinary Ambassador into the World to give warning to all those who continue in their Sins of the Judgment of the great Day and to summon them before his dreadful Tribunal So the Apostle tells the Athenians Acts 17. 30 31. Now he commandeth all Men â—very where to Repent because he hath appointed a Day in which he will judge the World in Righteousness by that Man whom he hath ordained whereof he hath given assurance unto all Men in that he hath raised him from the Dead Thirdly This Expression implies likewise the certainty of this Discovery If the wrath of God had only been declared in the Discourses of Wise Men tho' grounded upon very probable Reason yet it might have been brought into doubt by the contrary Reasonings of Subtle and Disputing Men but to put the Matter out of all question we have a Divine Testimony for it and God hath confirmed it from Heaven by Signs and Wonders and Miracles especially by the Resurrection of Jesus Christ from the Dead for by this he hath given assurance unto all Men that it is he who is ordained of God to judge the quick and dead Thus you see in what respect the wrath of God is said to be reveal'd from Heaven in that the Gospel hath made a more clear and particular and certain discovery of the Judgment of the great Day than ever was made to the World before I proceed to the Third Observation which I shall speak but briefly to namely that every Wicked and Vicious Practice doth expose Men to this dreadful danger The Apostle instanceth in the two chief Heads to which the Sins of Men may be reduced Impiety towards God and Unrighteousness towards Menâ— and therefore he is to be understood to denounce the wrath of God against every particular kind of Sin comprehended under these general Heads so that no Man that allows himself in any impiety and wickedness of Life can hope to escape the wrath of God Therefore it concerns us to be entirely Religious and to have respect to all God's Commandments and to take heed that we do not allow our selves in the practice of any kind of Sin whatsoever because the living in any one known Sin is enough to expose us to the dreadful wrath of God Tho' a Man be Just and Righteous in his Dealingâ— with Men yet if he neglect the Worship and Service of God this will certainly bring him under Condemnation and on the other hand tho' a Man may serve God never so diligently and devoutly yet if he be defective in Righteousness toward Men if he deal falsly and fraudulently with his Neighbour he shall not escape the wrath of God tho' a Man pretend to never so much Piety and Devotion yet if he be unrighteous he shall not inherit the Kingdom of God if any Man over-reach and defraud his Brother in any matter the Lord is the avenger of such saith St. Paul 1 Thes 4. 6. So that here is a very powerful Argument to take Men off from all Sin and to engage them to a constant and careful discharge of their whole Duty toward God and Men and to Reform whatever is amiss either in the frame and temper of their Minds or in the Actions and Course of their Lives because any kind of wickedness any one sort of vicious Course lays Men open to the vengeance of God and the punishments of another World the wrath of God is revealed from Heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of Men there is no exception in the Case we must forsake all Sin subdue every Lust be holy in all manner of Conversation otherwise we can have no reasonable hopes of escaping the wrath of God and the damnation of Hell But I proceed to the Fourth Observation namely that it is a very great aggravation of Sin for Men to offend against the light of their own Minds The Apostle here aggravates the wickedness of the Heathen World that they did not live up to that Knowledge which they had of God but contradicted it in their Lives holding the truth of God in unrighteousness And that he speaks here of the Heathen is
declarations of the wrath of God against Sinners that there is a Day of Judgment appointed and a Judge constituted to take cognisance of the Actions of Men to pass a severe Sentence and to inflict a terrible Punishment upon the workers of Iniquity More particularly our Lord and his Apostles have denounced the wrath of God against particular Sinâ— and Vices In several places of the New Testament there are Catalogues given of particular Sins the practice whereof will certainly shut Men out of the Kingdom of Heaven and expose them to the wrath and vengeance of God 1 Cor. 6. 9 10. Know ye not that the Unrighteous shall not inherit the Kingdom of God Be not deceived neither Fornicators nor Idolaters nor Adulterers nor Effeminate nor Abusers of themselves with Mankind nor Thieves nor Covetous nor Drunkards nor Revilers nor Extortioners shall inherit the Kingdom of God So likewise Gal. 5. 19 20 21. The works of the flesh are manifest which are these Adultery Fornication Witchcraft Hatred Variance Emulations Wrath Strife Seditions Heresies Envyings Murthers Drunkenness Revellings and such like of which I tell you before as I have likewise told you in times past that they that do such things shall not inherit the Kingdom of God Col. 3. 5 6. Mortiâ—ie therefore your Members upon Earth Fornication Uncleanness Inordinate Affection Evil Concupiscence and Covetousness which is Idolatry for which things sake the wrath of God cometh on the Children of disobedience Rev. 21. 8. The fearful and unbelieving that is those who rejected the Christian Religion notwithstanding the clear Evidence that was offer'd for it and those who out of fear should Apostatize from it The fearful and unbelieving and the abominable that is those who were guilty of unnatural Lusts not fit to be named and Murderers and Whoremongers and Sorâ—erers and Idolaters and all Liars that is all sorts of false and deceitful and perfidious Persons shall have their part in the Lake which burns with fire and brimstone whiâ—h is the second death And not only these gross and notorious Sins which are such plain violations of the Law and Light of Nature but those wherein Mankind have been apt to take more liberty as if they were not sufficiently convinced of the evil of them as the resisting of Civil Authority which the Apostle tells us they that are guilty of shall receive to themselves damnation Rom. 13. 2. Profane Swearing in common Conversation which St. James tells us brings Men under the danger of damnation Ch. 5. 12. Above all things my Brethren swear not lest ye fall under Condemnation Nay our Saviour hath told us plainly that not only for wicked actions but for every evil and sinful word Men are obnoxious to the Judgment of God So our Lord assures us Mat. 12. 36 37. I say unto you that every idle word that Men shall speak they shall give an account thereof in the Day of Judgment For by thy words thou shalt be justified and by thy words thou shalt be condemned He had spoken before of that great and unpardonable Sin of Blaspheming the Holy Ghost and because this might be thought great severity for evil words he declares the Reason more fully because words shew the Mind and Temper of the Man ver 34. For out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaketh The Character of the Man is shewn by his words saith Menander Profert enim mores plerumque oratio saith Quintilian animi secreta detegit A Man's Speech discovers his Manners and the secrets of his heart ut vivit etiam quemque dicere Men commonly speak as they live and therefore our Saviour adds A good Man out of the good treasure of his heart bringeth forth good things and an evil Man out of the evil treasure of his heart bringeth forth evil things but I say unto you that every idle word 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 by which I do not think our Saviour means that Men shall be call'd to a solemn account at the Day of Judgment for every trifling and impertinent and unprofitable word but every wicked and sinful word of any kind as if he had said do you think this severe to maâ—e words an unpardonable fault I say unto you that Men shall not only be condemned for their maliâ—ious and blasphemous speeches against the Holy Ghost but they shall likewise give a strict account for all other wicked and sinful speeches in any kind tho' much inferiour to this And this is not only most agreeable to the scope of our Saviour but is confirmed by some Greek Copies in which it is 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 every wicked word which Men shall speak they shall be accountable for it at the Day of Judgment But this by the by Our Saviour likewise tells us that Men shall not only be proceeded against for Sins of Commission but for the bare Omission and Neglect of their Duty especially in Works of Mercy and Charity for not feeding the hungry and the like as we see Mat. 25. and that for the omission of these he will pass that terrible Sentence Depart ye Cursed c. So that it nearly concerns us to be careful of our whole Life of all our Words and Actions since the Gospel hath so plainly and expresly declared that for all these things God will bring us into Judgment And if the threatnings of the Gospel be true What manner of Persons ought we to be in all holy Conversation and Godliness Secondly As the threatnings of the Gospel are very plain and express so are they likewise very dreadful and terrible I want words to express the least part of the terrour of them and yet the expressions of Scripture concerning the misery and punishment of Sinners in another World are such as may justly raise amazement and horror in those that hear them Sometimes it is exprest by a departing from God and a perpetual banishment from his presence who is the Fountain of all Comfort and Joy and Happiness sometimes by the loss of our Souls or our selves What shall it profit a Man to gain the whole World and lose his own Soul Or as it is in another Evangelist to lose himself Not that our Being shall be destroyed that would be a happy loss indeed to him that is Sentenced to be for ever miserable but the Man shall still remain and his Body and Soul continue to be the Foundation of his misery and a Scene of perpetual woe and discontent which our Saviour calls the destroying of Body and Soul in Hell or going into everlasting punishment where there shall be wailing and gnashing of teeth where the worm dies not and the fire is not quenched Could I represent to you the horror of that dismal Prison into which Wicked and Impure Souls are to be thrust and the misery they must there endure without the least spark of Comfort or glimering of Hope how they wail and groan under the intolerable wrath of God the insolent scorn and
if ye know and do them Now to convince Men of so important a Truth I shall endeavour to make out these two things First That the Gospel makes the Practice of Religion a necessary Condition of our Happiness Secondly That the Nature and Reason of the thing makes it a necessary Qualification for it First The Gospel makes the Practice of Religion a necessary Condition of our Happiness Our Saviour in his first Sermon where he repeats the Promise of Blessedness so often he makes no promise of it to the meer knowledge of Religion but to the Habit and Practice of Christian Graces and Virtues of Meekness and Humility and Mercifulnâ—sâ— and Righteousness and Peaceableness and Pâ—râ—ty and Patience under Suffâ—rings and Persecutions for Righteousness sake And Matth. 7. 2. our Saviour doth most fully declare that the happinesâ— which he promises did not belong to those who made profession of his Name and were so well acquainted with his Doctrine as to be able to instruct others if themselves in the mean time did not practise it Not every one that â—aith 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 Prophesied in thy Name and in thy Name cast out Devils and done many wondrous works and then will I profess unto them I never knew you depart from me ye workers of Iniquity Tho' they profess to know him yet because their Lives were not answerable to the Knowledge which they had of him and his Doctrine he declares that he will not know them but bid them depart from him And then he goes on to shew that tho' a Man attend to the Doctrine of Christ and gain the knowledge of it yet if it do not descend into his Life and govern his Actions all that Man's hopes of Heaven are fond and groundless and only that Man's hopes of Heaven are well grounded who knows the Doctrine of Christ and does it Ver. 24. whosoever heareth these Sayings of mine and doth them I will liken him to a Wise Man who built his house upon a rock and the rain descended and the floods came and the winds blew and beat upon that house and it fell not for it was founded upon a rocâ— and every one that heareth these sayings of mine and doth them not shall be liken'd to a foolish Man who built his house upon the sand and the rain descended and the floods came and the winds blew and beat upon that house and it fell and great was the fall of it Tho' a Man had a knowledge of Religion as great and perfect as that which Solomon had of Natural Things large as the sand upon the sea shore yet all thâ—s Knowledge separated from Practice would be like the sand also in another respect a weak Foundation for any Man to build his hopes â—f Happiness upon To the same purpose St. Paul speaks Rom. 2. 13. Not the hearers of the Law are just before God but the dâ—ers of the Law shall be justified So likewise St. James Chap. 1. 22. Be ye doers of the word and not hearers only deceiving your own selves and ver 25. Who 's looketh into the perfect Law of Libert that is the Law or Doctrine of the Gospel and continueth therein he being not a forgetful hearer but a doer of the work this Man shall be blessed in his deed and therefore he adds that the truth and reality of Religion is to be measured by the effects of it in the government of our words and ordering of our Lives Ver. 26. If any Man among you seem to be religious and bridleth not his tongue but deceiveth his own heart this Man's Religion is vain Pure Religion and undefiled before God and the Father is this to visit the Fatherless and Widow in their affâ—iction and to keep himself unspotted from the World Men talk of Religion and keep a great stir about it but nothing will pass for true Religion before God but the Virtuous and Charitable Actions of a good Life and God will accept no Man to Eternal Life upon any other Condition So the Apostle tells us most expresly Heb. 12. 14. Follow peace with all Men and holiness without which no Man shall see the Lord. Secondly As God hath made the Practice of Religion a necessary Condition of our Happiness so the very Nature and Reason of the thing makes it a necessary Qualification for it It is necessary that we become like to God in order to the enjoyment of him and nothing makes us like to God but the Practice of Holiness and Goodness Knowledge indeed is a Divine Perfection but that alone as it doth not render a Man like God so neither doth it dispose him for the enjoyment of him If a Man had the understanding of an Angel he might for all that be a Devil he that committeth sin is of the Devil and whatever Knowledge such a Man may have he is of a devilish temper and disposition but every one that doth righteousness is born of God By this we are like God and only by our likeness to him do we become capable of the â—ight and enjoyment of him therefore every Man that hopes to be Happy by the blessed â—ight of God in the next Life must endeavour after Holiness in this Life So the same Apostle tells us 1 John 3. 3. Every Man that hath this hope in him purifieth himself even as he is pure A wicked temper and disposition of Mind is in the very Nature of the thing utterly inconsistent with all reasonable hopes of Heaven Thus I have shewn that the Practice of Religion and the doing of what we know to be our Duty is the only way to Happiness And now the proper Inference from all this is to put Men upon the careful Practice of Religion Let no Man content himself with the Knowledge of his Duty unless he do it and to this purpose I shall briefly urge these three Considerations First This is the great End of all our Knowledge in Religion to practise what we know The knowledge of God and of our Duty hath so essential a respect to Practice that the Scripture will hardly allow it to be properly called Knowledge unless it have an influence upon our Lives 1 John 2. 3 4. Hereby we do know that we know him if we keep his Commandmentâ— He that saith I know him and keepeth not his Commandments is a Lyar and the truth is not in him Secondly Practice is the best way to increase and perfect our Knowledge Knowledge directs us in our Practice but Practice confirms and increaseth our Knowledge John 7. 17. If any Man will do the will of God he shall know of the Doctrine The best way to know God is to be like him our selves and to have the lively image of his Perfections imprinted upon our Souls and the best way to understand
the Christian Religion is seriously to set about the Practice of it this will give a Man a better Notion of Christianity than any Speculation can Thirdly without the Practice of Religion our Knowledge will be so far from being any furtherance and advantage to our Happiness that it will be one of the unhappiest aggravations of our misery He that is ignorant of his Duty hath some excuse to pretend for himself but he that understands the Christian Religion and does not live according to it hath no cloak for his sin The defects of our Knowledge unless they be gross and wilful will find an easie Pardon with God but the faults of our Lives shall be severely punisht when we knew our Duty and would not do it I will conclude with that of our Saviour Luke 12. 47 48. That 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 much shall be required When we come into the other World no Consideration will sting us more and add more to the rage of our Torments than this that we did wickedly when we understood to have done better and chose to make our selves Miserable when we knew so well the way to have been Happy SERMON XIII Practice in Religion necessary in proportion to our Knowledge LUKE XII 47 48. And that Servant which knew his Lord's will and prepared not himself neither did according to his will shall be beaten with many stripes But he that knew not and did commit things worthy of stripes shall be beaten with few stripes for unto whomsoever much is given of him shall be much required and to whom Men have committed much of him they will ask the more IN prosecution of the Argument which I handled in my last Discourse namely that the Knowledge of our Duty without the Practice of it will not bring us to Happiness I shall proceed to shew that if our Practice be not answerable to our Knowledge this will be a great aggravation both of our Sin and Punishment And to this purpose I have pitched upon these words of our Lord which are the application of two Parables which he had delivered before to stir up Men to a diligent and careful Practice of their Duty that so they may be in a continual readiness and preparatioâ— for the coming of their Lord. The first Parable is more general and concerns all Men who are represented as so many Servants in a great Family from which the Lord is absent and they being uncertain of the time of his return should always be in a condition and posture to receive him Upon the hearing of this Parable Peter enquires of our Saviour whether he intended this only for his Disciples or for all To which Question our Saviour returns an Answer in another Parable which more particularly concerned them who because they were to be the Chief Rulers and Governours of his Church are represented by the Stewards of a great Family Ver. 42. Who then is that faithful and wise Steward whom his Lord shall make Ruler over his household to give them their portion of meat in due season If he discharge his Duty blessed is he but if he shall take occasion in his Lord's absence to domineer over his fellow Servants and riotously to waste his Lords goods his Lord when he comes will punish him after a more severe and exemplary manner And then follows the application of the whole in the words of the Text And that Servant which knew his Lord's will and prepared not himself neither did according to his will shall be beaten with many stripes As if he had said and well may such a Servant deserve so severe a Punishment who having such a trust committed to him and knowing his Lord's will so much better yet does contrary to it upon which our Saviour takes occasion to compare the Fault and Punishment of those who have greater advantages and opportunitiâ—s of knowing their Duty with those whâ— are ignorant of it That Servant which knew his Lord's will and prepared not himself neither did according to it shall be beaten with many stripes but he that knew not but did commit things worthy of stripes shall be beaten with few stripes And then he adds the Reason and the Equity of this proceeding For unto whomsoever much is given of him shall be much required and to whom Men have committed much of him they will ask the more The Words in general do allude to that Law of the Jews mentioned Deut. 25. 2. where the Judge is required to seâ— the Malefactor punish'd according to his Fault by a certain number of Stripes in relation to which known Law among the Jews our Saviour here says that those who knew their Lord's will and did it not should be beaten with many stripes but those who knew it not should be beaten with few stripes So that there are two Observations lie plainly before us in the words First That the greater Advantages and Opportunities and Man hath of knowing his Duty if he do it not the greater will be his Condemnation The Servant which knew his Lord's will and prepared not himself neither did according to it shall be beaten with many stripes Secondly That ignorance is a great excuse of Mens faults and will lessen their Punishment But he that knew not but did commit things worthy of stripes shall be beaten with few stripes I shall begin with the latter of these first because it will make way for the other Viz. That ignorance is a great excuse of Men's faults and will lessen their Punishment He that knew not but did commit things worthy of stripes shall be beaten with few stripes For the clearing of this it will be requisite to consider what ignorance it is which our Saviour here speaks of and this is necessary to be enquired into because it is certain that there is some sort of ignorance which doth wholly excuse and clear from all manner of guilt and there is another sort which doth either not at all or very little extenuate the faults of Men so that it must be a third sort different from both these which our Saviour here means First There is an ignorance which doth wholly excuse and clear from all manner of guilt and that is an absolute and invincible ignorance when a Person is wholly ignorant of the thing which if he knew he should be bound to do but neither can nor could have helpt it that he is ignorant of it that is he either had not the Capacity or wanted the Means and Opportunity of knowing it In this Case a Person is in no fault if he did not do what he never knew nor could know to be his Duty For God measures the faults of Men by their Wills and if there be no defect there there can be no guilt for no Man is guilty but he that is conscious to himself
that he would not do what he knew he ought to do or would do what he knew he ought not to do Now if a Man be simply and invincibly ignorant of his Duty his neglect of it is altogether involuntary for the Will hath nothing to do where the Understanding doth not first direct And this is the Case of Children who are not yet come to the use of Reason for tho' they may do that which is materially a fault yet it is none in them because by reason of their incapacity they are at present invincibly ignorant of what they ought to do And this is the Case likewise of Ideots who are under a natural incapacity of Knowledge and so far as they are so nothing that they do is imputed to them as a fault The same may be said of distracted Persons who are deprived either wholly or at some times of the use of their Understandings so far and so long as they are thus deprived they are free from all guilt and to Persons who have the free and perfect use of their Reason no neglect of any Duty is imputed of which they are absolutely and invincibly ignorant For instance it is a Duty incumbent upon all Mankind to believe in the Son of God where he is sufficiently manifested and revealed to them but those who never heard of him nor had any opportunity of coming to the Knowledge of him shall not be Condemned for this infidelity because it is impossible they should believe on him of whom they never heard they may indeed be Condemned upon other accounts for â—inning against the light of Nature and for not obeying the Law which was written in their hearts for what the Apostle says of the Revelation of the Law is as true of any other Revelation of God As many as have sinned without Law shall also perish without Law and as many as have sinned under the Law shall be judged by the Law Rom. 2. 12. In like manner those who have â—inned without the Gospel that is who never had the knowledge of it shall not be Condemned for any offence against that Revelation which was never made to them but for their violation of the Law of Nature only they that have sinned under the Gospel shall be judged by it Secondly there is likewise another sort of ignorance which either does not at all or very little extenuate the faults of Men when Men are not only ignorant but chuse to be so that is when they wilfully neglect those Means and Opportunities of knowledge which are afforded to them such as Job speaks of Job 21. 14. Who say unto God depart from us for we desire not the knowledge of thy ways And this sort of ignorance many among the Jews were guilty of when our Saviour came and preached to them but they would not be instructed by him The light came among them but they loved darkness rather than light as he himself says of them and as he says elsewhere of the Pharisees They rejected the Counsel of God against themselves they wilfully shut their eyes against that light which offered it self to them They would not see with their eyes nor hear with their ears nor understand with their hearts that they might be converted and healed Now an ignorance in this degree wilful can hardly be imagined to carry any excuse at all in it He that knew not his Lord's Will because he would not know it because he wilfully rejected the Means of coming to the knowledge of it deserves to be beaten with as many stripes as if he had known it because he might have known it and would not He that will not take notice of the King's Proclamation or will stop his ears when it is read and afterwards offends against it does equally deserve punishment with those who have read it and heard it and disobey'd it because he was as grosly faulty in not knowing it and there is no reason that any Man 's gross fault should be his excuse So that it is neither of these sorts of ignorance that our Saviour means neither absolute and invincible ignorance nor that which is grosly wilful and affected for the first Men deserve not to be beaten at all because they cannot help it for the latter they deserve not to be excused because they might have helped their ignorance and would not But our Saviour here speaks of such an ignorance as does in a good degree extenuate the fault and yet not wholly excuse it for he says of them that they knew not their Lord's will and yet that this ignorance did not wholly excuse them from blame nor exempt them from punishment but they should be beaten with few stripes In the Third place then there is an ignorance which is in some degree faulty and yet does in a great measure excuse the faults which proceed from it and this is when Men are not absolutely ignorant of their Duty but only in comparison of others who have a far more clear and distinct Knowledge of it and tho' they do not grosly and wilfully neglect the Means of further Knowledge yet perhaps they do not make the best use they might of the opportunities they have of knowing their Duty better and therefore in comparison of others who have far better Means and Advantages of knowing their Lord's Will they may be said not to know it tho' they are not simply ignorant of it but only have a more obscure and uncertain knowledge of it Now this ignorance does in a great measure excuse such Persons and extenuate their Crimes in comparison of those who had a clearer and more perfect knowledge of their Master's Will and yet it does not free them from all guilt because they did not live up to that degree of knowledge which they had and perhaps if they had used more care and industry they might have known their Lord's Will better And this was the Case of the Heathen who in comparison of those who enjoyed the light of the Gospel might be said not to have known their Lord's Will tho' as to many parts of their Duty they had some directions from Natural Light and their Consciences did urge them to many things by the obscure apprehensions and hopes of a Future Reward and the fear of a Future Punishment But this was but a very obscure and uncertain knowledge in comparison of the clear Light of the Gospel which hath discovered to us our Duty so plainly by the Laws and Precepts of it and hath presented us with such powerful Motives and Arguments to Obedience in the Promises and Threatnings of it And this likewise is the Case of many Christians who either through the natural slowness of their Understandings or by the neglect of their Parents and Teachers or other Circumstances of their Education have had far less Means and Advantages of Knowledge than others God does not expect so much from those as from others to whom he hath given greater Capacity and Advantages
of Knowledge and when our Lord shall come to call his Servants to an account they shall be beaten with fewer stripes than others they shall not wholly escape because they were not wholly ignorant but by how much they had less Knowledge than others by so much their Punishment shall be lighter And there is all the Equity in the World it should be so that Men should be accountable according to what they have received and that to whom less is given less should be required at their hands The Scripture hath told us that God will judge the World in Righteousness now Justice does require that in taxing the Punishment of Offenders every thing should be consider'd that may be a just excuse and extenuation of their Crimes and that accordingly their Punishment should be abated Now the greatest extenuation of any fault is ignorance which when it proceeds from no fault of ours no fault can proceed from it so that so far as any Man is innocently ignorant of his Duty so far he is excusable for the neglect of it for every degree of ignorance takes off so much from the perverseness of the will nihil ardet in inferno nisi propria voluntas Nothing is punisht in Hell but what is voluntary and proceeds from our Wills I do not intend this Discourse for any commendation of Ignorance or encouragement to it For Knowledge hath many advantages above it and is much more desirable if we use it well and if we do not it is our own fault if we be not wanting to our selves we may be much happier by our Knowledge than any Man can be by his Ignorance for tho' Ignorance may plead an excuse yet it can hope for no Reward and it is always better to need no excuse than to have the best in the world ready at hand to plead for our selves Besides that we may do well to consider that ignorance is no where an excuse where it is cherisht so that it would be the vainest thing in the world for any Man to foster it in hopes thereby to excuse himself for where it is wilful and chosen it is a fault and as I said before it is the most unreasonable thing in the World that any Man's fault should prove his excuse So that this can be no encouragement to ignorance to say that it extenuates the faults of Men for it does not extenuate them whenever it is wilful and affected and when ever it is designed and chosen it is wilful and then no Man can reasonably design to continue ignorant that he may have an excuse for his faults because then the ignorance is wilful and whenever it is so it ceaseth to be an excuse I the rather speak this because Ignorance hath had the good fortune to meet with great Patrons in the World and to be extol'd tho' not upon this account yet upon another for which there is less pretence of Reason as if it were the Mother of Devotion Of Superstition I grant it is and of this we see plentiful proof among those who are so careful to preserve and cherish it but that true Piety and Devotion should spring from it is as unlikely as that Darkness should produce Light I do hope indeed and Charitably believe that the ignorance in which some are detained by their Teachers and Governours will be a real excuse to as many of them as are otherwise honest and sincere but I doubt not but the errors and faults which proceed from this ignorance will lie heavy upon those who keep them in it I proceed to the Second Observation That the greater Advantages and Opportunities any Man hath of knowing the will of God and his Duty the greater will be his Condemnation if he do not do it The Servant which knew his Lord's will and prepared not himself neither did according to it shall be beaten with many stripes Which knew his Lord's will and prepared not himself The preparation of our Mind to do the Will of God whenever there is occasion and opportunity for it is accepted with him a Will rightly disposed to obey God tho' it be not brought in to act for want of opportunity does not lose its Reward but when notwithstanding we know our Lord's Will there are neither of these neither the act nor the preparation and resolution of doing it what punishment may we not expect The Just God in punishing the sins of Men proportions the punishment to the Crime and where the Crime is greater the punishment riseth as amongst the Jews where the Crime was small the Malefactor was sentenced to a few stripes where it was great he was beaten with many Thus our Saviour represents the great Judge of the World dealing with Sinners according as their Sins are aggravated he will add to their punishment Now after all the aggravations of sin there is none that doth more intrinsically heighten the malignity of it than when it is committed against the clear knowledge of our Duty and that upon these three accounts First Because the Knowledge of God's Will is so great an advantage to the doing of it Secondly Because it is a great obligation upon us to the doing of it Thirdly Because the neglect of our Duty in this case cannot be without a great deal of wilfulness and contempt I shall speak briefly to these three First Because the knowledge of God's Will is so great an advantage to the doing of it and every advantage of doing our Duty is a certain aggravation of our neglect of it And this is the Reason which our Saviour adds here in the Text For to whomsoever much is given of them much will be required and to whom Men have committed much of him they will ask the more It was no doubt a great discouragement and disadvantage to the Heathen that they were so doubtful concerning the will of God and in many cases left to the uncertainty of their own Reason by what way and means they might best apply themselves to the pleasing of him and this discouraged several of the wisest of them from all serious endeavours in Religion thinking it as good to do nothing as to be mistaken about it Others that were more naturally Devout and could not satisfie their Consciences without some expressions of Religion fell into various superstitions and were ready to embrace any way of Worship which Custom prescribed or the fancies of Men could suggest to them and hence sprang all the stupid and barbarous Idolatries of the Heathen For ignorance growing upon the World that natural propention which was in the Minds of Men to Religion and the Worship of a Deity for want of certain direction exprest it self in those foolish and abominable Idolatries which were practiced among the Heathen And is it not then a mighty advantage to us that we have the clear and certain direction of Divine Revelation We have the Will of God plainly discovered to us and all the parts of our Duty clearly
defined and determined so that no Man that is in any measure free from interest and prejudice can easily mistake in any great and material part of his Duty We have the Nature of God plainly revealed to us and such a Character of him given as is most suitable to our natural Conceptions of a Deity as render him both awful and amiable for the Scripture represents him to us as Great and Good Powerful and Merciful a perfect hater of Sin and a great lover of Mankind and we have the Law and manner of his Worship so far as was needful and the Rules of a good Life clearly exprest and laid down and as a powerful Motive and Argument to the obedience of those Laws a plain discovery made to us of the endless Rewards and Punishments of another World And is not this a mighty advantage to the doing of God's Will to have it so plainly declared to us and so powerfully enforced upon us So that our Duty lies plainly before us we see what we have to do and the danger of neglecting it so that considering the advantage we have of doing God's Will by our clear knowledge of it we are altogether inexcusable if we do it not Secondly The knowledge of our Lord's Will is likewise a great obligation upon us to the doing of it For what ought in reason to oblige us more to do any thing than to be fully assur'd that it is the Will of God and that it is the Law of the great Soveraign of the World who is able to save or to destroy that it is the pleasure of him that made us and who hath declared that he designs to make us happy by our obedience to his Laws So that if we know these things to be the Will of God we have the greatest obligation to do them whether we consider the Authority of God or our own interest and if we neglect them we have nothing to say in our own excuse We knew the Law and the advantage of keeping it and the penalty of breaking it and if after this we will transgress there is no Apology to be made for us They have something to plead for themselves who can say that tho' they had some apprehension of some parts of their Duty and their Minds were apt to dictate to them that they ought to do some things yet the different apprehensions of Mankind about several of these things and the doubts and uncertainties of their own Minds concerning them made them easie to be carried off from their Duty by the vicious inclinations of their own Nature and the tyranny of Custom and Example and the pleasant temptations of flesh and blood but had they had a clear and undoubted Revelation from God and had certainly known these things to be his Will this would have conquered and born down all Objections and Temptations to the contrary or if it had not would have stopt their mouths and taken away all excuse from them There is some colour in this plea that in many cases they did not know certainly what the Will of God was but for us who own a clear Revelation from God and profess to believe it what can we say for our selves to mitigate the severity of God toward us why he should not pour forth all his wrath and execute upon us the fierceness of his anger Thirdly The neglect of God's will when we know it cannot be without a great deal of wilfulness and contempt If we know it and do it not the fault is solely in our wills and the more wilful any sin is the more hainously wicked is it There can hardly be a greater aggravation of a Crime than if it proceed from meer obstinacy and perverseness and if we know it to be our Lord's Will and do it not we are guilty of the highest contempt of the greatest Authority in the World And do we think this to be but a small aggravation to affront the great Soveraign and Judge of the World not only to break his Laws but to trample upon them and despise them when we know whose Laws they are Will we provoke the Lord to jealousie are we stronger than he We believe that it is God who said Thou shalt not commit Adultery thou shalt not Steal thou shalt not bear false witness against thy Neighbour thou shalt not hate or oppress or defraud thy Brother in any thing but thou shalt love thy Neighbour as thy self and will we notwithstanding venture to break these Laws knowing whose Authority they are stampt withal After this contempt of him what favour can we hope for from him what can we say for our selves why any one of those many stripes which are threatned should be abated to us Ignosci aliquatenus ignorantiae potest contemptus veniam non habet Something may be pardoned to ignorance but contempt can expect no forgiveness He that strikes his Prince not knowing him to be so hath something to say for himself that tho' he did a disloyal act yet it did not proceed from a disloyal Mind but he that first acknowledgeth him for his Prince and then affronts him deserves to be prosecuted with the utmost severity because he did it wilfully and in meer contempt The knowledge of our Duty and that it is the will of God which we go against takes away all possible excuse from us for nothing can be said why we should offend him who hath both Authority to command us and Power to destroy us And thus I have as briefly as I could represented to you the true ground and reason of the aggravation of those Sins which are committed against the clear knowledge of God's Will and our Duty because this knowledge is so great an advantage to the doing of our Duty so great an obligation upon us to it and because the neglect of our Lord's Will in this case cannot be without great wilfulness and a down-right contempt of his Authority And shall I now need to tell you how much it concerns every one of us to live up to that knowledge which we have of our Lord's Will and to prepare our selves to do according to it to be always in a readiness and disposition to do what we know to be his Will and actually to do it when there is occasion and opportunity And it concerns us the more because we in this Age and Nation have so many advantages above a great part of the World of coming to the knowledge of our Duty We enjoy the clearest and most perfect Revelation which God ever made of his Will to Mankind and have the light of Divine Truth plentifully shed amongst us by the free use of the holy Scriptures which is not a sealed Book to us but lies open to be read and studied by us this Spiritual Food is rained down like Manna round about our Tents and every one may gather so much as is sufficient we are not stinted nor have the word of God given out to
Kingdom of God St. Paul likewise very fully declares unto us the great danger of this Condition 1 Tim. 6. 9 10. But they that will be Rich fall into temptation and a snare and into many foolish and hurtful lusts which drown Men in destruction and perdition for the love of mony is the root of all evil which while some coveted after they have erred from the faith and pierced themselves through with many sorrows But the greatest Bait of all to Flesh and Blood is sensual Pleasures the very presence and opportunity of these are apt to kindle the Desires and to inflame the Lusts of Men especially where these temptations meet with suitable tempers where every spark that falls catcheth And on the other hand the Evils and Calamities of this World especially if they threaten or fall upon Men in any degree of extremity are strong temptations to Human Nature Poverty and Want Pain and Suffering and the fear of any great Evil especially of Death these are great straits to Humane Nature and apt to tempt Men to great Sins to impatience and discontent to unjust and dishonest shifts to the forsaking of God and Apostacy from his Truth and Religion Agur was sensible of the dangerous temptation of Poverty and therefore he prays against that as well as against Riches Give me not Poverty lest being Poor I steal and take the name of the Lord my God in vain that is lest I be tempted to Theft and Perjury The Devil whose Trade it is to tempt Men to Sin knew very well the force of these sorts of Temptations when he desired God first to touch Job in his Estate and to see what effect that would have Job 1. 11. But put forth thine hand now and touch all that he hath and he will curse thee to thy face And when he found himself deceived in this surely he thought that were he but afflicted with great bodily pains that would put him out of all patience and flesh and blood would not be able to withstand this Temptation Chap. 2. ver 5. But put forth thine hand now and touch his bone and his flesh and he will curse thee to thy face And this was the great Temptation that the Primitive Christians were assaulted withal they were tempted to forsake Christ and his Religion by a most violent Persecution by the spoiling of their goods by Imprisonment and Torture and Death And this is that kind of Temptation which the Apostle particularly speaks of before the Text Blessed is the Man that endureth temptation for when he is tried he shall receive the Crown of Life which the Lord hath promised to them that love him and then it follows Let no Man say when he is tempted I am tempted of God And thus I have given an account of the several sorts of temptations comprehended under this second Head namely when Men are tempted by being brought into such Circumstances as do greatly endanger their falling into Sin by the Allurements of this World and by the Evils and Calamities of it Now the Question is how far God hath an hand in these kind of temptations that so we may know how to limit this Proposition which the Apostle here rejects that Men are tempted of God Let no Man say when he is tempted I am tempted of God That the Providence of God does order or at least permit Men to be brought into these Circumstances I have spoken of which are such dangerous temptations to Sin no Man can doubt that believes his Providence to be concern'd in the affairs of the World All the difficulty is how far the Apostle does here intend to exempt God from an hand in these temptations Now for the clearer understanding of this it will be requisite to consider the several Ends and Reasons which those who tempt others may have in tempting them and all temptation is for one of these three Ends or Reasons either for the trial and improvement of Men's Virtues or by way of Judgment and Punishment for some former great Sins and Provocations or with a direct purpose and design to seduce Men to Sin these I think are the chief Ends and Reasons that can be imagined of exercising Men with dangerous temptations First For the exercise and improvement of Men's Graces and Virtues And this is the End which God always aims at in bringing good Men or permitting them to be brought into dangerous temptations And therefore St. James speaks of it as a matter of joy when good Men are exercised with afflictions not because afflictions are desirable for themselves but because of the happy consequences of them Ver. 2 3. of this Chap. My Brethren count it all joy when ye fall into divers temptations knowing this that the trying of your faith worketh patience And to the same purpose St. Paul Rom. 5. 3 4 5. We glory in tribulation knowing that tribulation worketh patience and patience experience 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Patience trieth a Man and this trial worketh hope and hope maketh not ashamed These are happy effects and consequences of affliction and suffering when they improve the Virtues of Men and increase their Graces and thereby make way for the increase of their Glory Upon this account St. James pronounceth those Blessed who are thus tempted Blessed is the Man that endureth temptation for when he is tried he shall receive the Crown of Life which the Lord hath promised to them that love him And this certainly is no disparagement to the Providence of God to permit Men to be thus tempted when he permits it for no other end but to make them better Men and thereby to prepare them for a greater Reward And so the Apostle assures us Rom. 8. 17 18. If so be we suffer with him we shall also be glorified with him for I reckon that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory that shall be revealed in us And ver 28. For we know that all things shall work together for good to them that love God And this happy end and issue of temptations to good Men the Providence of God secures to them if they be not wanting to themselves one of these two ways either by proportioning the temptation to their strength or if it exceed that by ministring new strength and support to them by the secret and extraordinary aids of his Holy Spirit First By proportioning the temptation to their strength ordering things so by his secret and wise Providence that they shall not be assaulted by any temptation which is beyond their strength to resist and overcome And herein the security of good Men doth ordinarily consist and the very best of us those who have the firmest and most resolute virtue were in infinite danger if the Providence of God did not take this care of us For a temptation may set upon the best Men with so much violence or surprize them at such an advantage as no ordinary degree of grace