to worship God things would not be so bad among us But how can we expect better when there is no Religion either taught or practised in our Houses We give our Domesticks opportunities enough of learning all our bad qualities but we give them none of learning our good ones if we have any They see us offending God by many rash words and finful actions but they do not see us repenting and asking God's Pardon by our solemn Prayers and Applications to the Throne of Grace Let us therefore seriously lay this point to heart I am sure we have just cause to do it Let us bring Religion into our Families and not be contented that once a Week some of our People in their turns should hear something of it Let us every day call our Family together and pay our Common Tribute of Prayer and Praise for the Mercies we do daily receive in common Methinks our Saviour seemed to have a respect to this very Duty and to charge it mightily upon us when he made us that gracious promise that even where two or three were gathered together in his Name there would he be in the midst of them Sure his words have most naturally a respect to the Worship of God that is performed in Families As hath likewise the very contrivance of the Lord's Prayer All the Petitions thereof being so framed as to be most proper to be said by more than one and yet too when we have shut our Doors for that purpose But Thirdly As you ought to take care about the Worship of God in your Closets and in your Families let me add that it equally concerns you to frequent the more publick Worship of God in his own House It is a bad sign of some very ill principle or other for any Man to be much a stranger there Even to have the liberty and opportunity of worshipping God in publick is one of the greatest Blessings and Privileges that we can have in this World and hath by good Men always been so accounted Now sure if we have this Notion of it we shall think our selves mightily concerned to take all opportunities that come in our way not only on Sundays but on other days of resortting to the Publick Assemblies and joining with them in the solemn Sacrifice of Prayer and Thanksgiving and thinking it a good day to us wherein we have thus employed our selves The Sacrifices of this kind that we offer to God with an honest and devout mind we cannot doubt will always find acceptance and produce their effects nay perhaps when our Closet-prayers will not For there are certainly more promises to publick Prayers than to private ones Though yet both are very good nay both are absolutely necessary But to proceed Fourthly Being upon this Argument of the Means and Instruments of Religion you may be sure I cannot omit the mentioning of another thing as one of those points that I would most seriously recommend to you and that is the solemn observation of the Lord's Day I am not for laying stress upon the keeping of this day or any other more than the nature of the thing requires I am sensible that the Doctrine about the observation of the Sabbath as it is delivered by some Men is superstitious enough and oftentimes where it is believed proves rather a snare to Mens Consciences than of use to make them more Religious Far therefore am I from desiring you to be nice and scrupulous about the Punctilio's of the Lord's-Day-service The Laws both of God and Men have in that matter left a great deal to your own discretion and the circumstances you are in But however thus much is necessary that every Man who professeth himself a Christian should bear a constant Religious regard to the Lord's Day by devoting it to spiritual uses more especially the publick Worship of God I do not much doubt of the truth of the observation which some good Men have made viz. That a Man shall prosper much better both in his Spiritual and Temporal Affairs all the Week after for his careful observance of the Lord's Day And I am likewise of opinion that those Men have little or no sense of Religion that make no Conscience of sanctifying that Day or that put no difference between it and other Days Sure I am were there nothing of a Divine Command for the setting a part this Day to Religious uses which yet I believe there is yet it is one of the most prudent and useful Constitutions that ever was made So that even upon that account all Men that have any Honour for God or Zeal for the Publick Good should think themselves obliged to observe it The benefits of it are indeed unspeakable Not to mention the Civil or Temporal conveniences of it in truth to the keeping up the Religion of this day we owe in a great measure that the very Face of Christianity hath hitherto been preserved among us And were it not for this for any thing I know most of us in a very few years would become little better than Heathens and Barbarians And so great an influence towards the making Men better or at least keeping them from growing worse hath this practice always had that you may observe the most profligate Men among us who for their wickedness come to an untimely end do generally impute their falling into those sins which caused their Death to their breaking the Sabbath as they commonly express it But Fifthly Let me upon this occasion put you in mind of another thing which by many of us is too much neglected And that is the taking all opportunities of coming to the holy Sacrament I have often spoken to you abbout this matter and I now desire to remind you of it There are little hopes you will ever make any great progress in Virtue and Holiness till you can bring your selves to a frequent and constant participation in this Holy Mystery Because indeed this is the solemn Ordinance that Christ hath appointed for the conveying his Grace to us and enabling us to overcome our sins and grow daily in Virtue and Goodness I know we have generally many and inveterate prejudices as to this matter But assure your selves they are meer prejudices and no good reasons Every Man that means or designs honestly and endeavours to lead his life as a Christian ought to do may certainly with as little scruple come every Month to the Communion as he may come every Week to say his Prayers or hear a Sermon Nay and I say further if a Man do not so lead his life that he may approach to the Sacrament every Month nay every Week nay every Day if there be occasion I am afraid that he doth not live so as to be fit for it though he comes but once in a Year or once in seven Years For the dueness of your Preparation doth not depend upon your setting aside so many extraordinary days for the forcing your selves into a
rewarded and wicked Men punished to deny the liberty of Humane Actions and to say that all things which we do we do by a fatal necessity and we cannot do otherwise And yet we may every day meet with Men of these Principles nay and that laugh at all those that maintain the contrary But then as for the business of Jesus Christ and that which we call the Christian Religion what a very little do a great many among us make of that To talk of Christ's being sent for the Saviour of the World and that he died to procure the Pardon of our Sins and that we must believe all the Scripture-Doctrines concerning him and worship him as a God why what stuff is this to a great many of the resined Spirits of our Age It is very well if they can so far prevail with themselves as to own the Being of God and to acknowledge their obligation to the Duties of moral Honesty and Justice which natural Religion teacheth But as for Jesus Christ and the Trinity and the Sacraments and all revealed Religion they beg your Pardon for these things they are too nice and subtil for them to meddle with Not but that they are good Christians all the while For they can come to our Churches and to our Sacraments too if there be occasion Because indeed they will always be of the Religion of the Country where they live But at the same time they do this they do no more really believe or expect any Spiritual Benefit in our Religion nor look for any more Salvation from Christ Jesus than they would expect from Mahomet if they should live in Turky But this is not all Even among those that do believe in Jesus Christ and own his Religion yet what little regard have they generally speaking to his Worship and Service It is very well if they now and then afford their presence on Sundays at the publick Religious Assemblies I will not examine with what designs and for what ends they come thither nor how devoutly and religiously their hearts are affected during the time they are there I say it is very well that they are there at all But even of those that do come thither and do once a Week seem to have a sense of publick Religion I say how few are there of them that take any care of worshipping God either in their Families or in their Closets Why if a Man was truly Religious he could not pass a day without solemn Addresses to his Maker and to his Redeemer He would pray in his Closet constantly and if he had a Family he would Pray with them constantly And if he had no Family he would constantly resort to those places where he might pay his Tribute of publick Prayer and Praises to God unless he had urgent business to hinder him But is there any thing of this to be seen among us except in some few Persons here and there Are there not twenty Families for one that live without so much as the shew of any Devotion Without any sort of Prayer or Worship of God in their Houses Nay and I am afraid I may say there are twenty for one even of Private Persons that live without Devotion in their Closets that never call upon God never renew their Vows to their Saviour never pay him any Homage except perhaps once a Week in a formal way when the Custom of the Country obliges them to resort to the Church The truth is so little sense have most of us of Religion and Devotion so little regard of our Duty to God and our depenance upon him and expressing that dependance either in Private or in our Families That were it not for that Happy Institution of the Lord's day on the which we are obliged by the Laws of God and Man to meet together for the Worship of God we should hardly see any Face of Religon among us and in a little time should scarce be distinguished from Heathens But yet this is not the worst of our Case Our gross Immoralities that Horrid Lewdness and Debauchery that is every where to be observed in our days doth still increase our Guilt and cry to Heaven for Judgment upon our Nation It would make a Man's heart ake that has any sense of God or Religion to think of the Riots the Drunkenness the continued course of spending our Time and our Parts and our Substance in Revelling and Gaming and all manner of such excesses that is daily practised among us And yet at the same time the Men that thus live think themselves very honest Men all the while It would really amaze a Man and put him upon admiring God's Patience that he doth not presently confound the World if he did seriously reflect on the many filthy lewd Speeches and Actions the numerous wicked intrigues of Lust the Infamous Whoredoms and Adulteries that are without any sense of shame daily carried on and acted among us and that by Persons too that have the Face to shew themselves at our Holy Assemblies Especially if to these be added the infinite Lyes and Cheats and Perjuries which our Land groans under The Blasphemous Oaths and Imprecations the Damn me 's and Sink me's the Horrid Profanations of the Name of God and all things Sacred that are in every place in every street where we pass belched out in contempt of the Almighty and his Laws by all sorts of Persons of all sorts of Qualities from the Beggar in the street to the Man of Honour and that for no other reason in the World but because it is their Humour or their Custom And lastly to fill up the measure of our iniquities to our other reigning Vices we have added that of Hypocrisie too which one would think should not often be found among so much Profaneness How many of us make a mighty noise with Religion and are zealous even to Bigottry in the defence of it and yet have not one grain of inward sense of what it obligeth them to Nay so far from that that if Religion be but in their Mouths If they do but appear Zealous enough for the Protestant Cause If they can but cry loue enough The Temple of the Lord The Temple of the Lord as the Jews did in the Prophet They matter not how coutradictory their Actions are to the Precepts of that Religion they do Profess Their Zeal for so good a Cause will sanctifie all the other Actions be they never so wicked and unjust But if this be not Hypocrisie there is no such thing in the World Sure I am it was this sort of Carriage that God so often reproves the Jews for by his Prophets and upon account of which they are so often reproached as a Generation of Hypocrites and for which he threatens them with utter destruction O my Brethren what have we to say to these things If the Case be thus with us as I am afraid it is What plea have we to put in for our selves If
Religious posture of mind but upon the plain natural frame and temper of your Souls as they constantly stand inclined to Virtue and Goodness A Man that seriously endeavours to live honestly and religiously may come to the Sacrament at an hour's warning and be a Worthy Receiver On the other side a Man that lives a careless or a sensual Life may set apart a whole Week or a whole Month for the exercising Repentance and preparing himself for the Communion and yet not be so worthy a Receiver as the other And yet he may be a worthy Receiver too provided he be really honest and sincere in the matter he goes about and provided that he remember his Vows afterward and do not sink again into his former state of carelesness and sensuality But to return to my point I do verily think that most of the doubts and fears and scruples that are commonly entertained among us about receiving the Sacrament are without ground or reason and that every well disposed Person that hath no other design in that action but to do his Duty to God and to express his belief and hopes in Jesus Christ and his thankfulness to God for him may as safely at any time come to the Lord's Table as he may come to Church to say his Prayers And if the case be so as I believe it is then of what a mighty privilege and benefit do they deprive themselves who when they have so many opportunities do so seldom join in that solemn Institution of our Lord which as I said was designed for no other purpose but to be the means of our growing in Grace and Virtue in Love to God and to all the Word O therefore my Brethren let me beg of you not to be strangers at the Lord's Table But I need not beg it of you for I am sure you will not whensoever it shall please God to put it into your hearts seriously to mind the concernments of your Souls and to be heartily sensible of the need you stand in of the Grace of Christ for the leading a holy and pure Life I have but one thing more in the Sixth place to leave with you and I have done It is not indeed of the nature of those things I have last recommended to you that is a means or instrument of growing more Virtuous But it is a principal Virtue it self And I do therefore recommend it to you because it is at all times useful at all times seasonable but more especially it seems to be so now And that is That you would walk in Love and study Peace and Unity and live in all dutiful subjection to those whom God hath set over you and endeavour in your publick stations to promote the publick Happiness and Tranquillity as much as is possible But by no means upon any pretence whatsoever to disturb the publick Peace or to be any way concerned with them that do by no means ever to ingage in any Party oâ— Faction and least of all any Faction in Religion which is grounded upon a State-point I am sorry the posture of things among us gives me occasion to mention this matter but it is too visible to what a height our animosities and discontents are grown and what the consequences of them may be unless there be a timely stop put to them I tremble to think With Mens differences as to their notions about the Politicks I am not concerned let Men frame what Hypotheses they please about Government though I do not like them yet I do not think my self bound to Preach against them But when these differences are come to that pass that they threaten both the Civil and Ecclesiastical Peace there I think no Minister should be silent Church-Divisions God knows we have and have always had too many but it is very grievous that those who have always declared themselves the Friends of our Church and Enemies to Schism should at this time of Day set a helping hand to promote a Separation And yet it seems to this height are our differences come Some People among us that formerly were very zealous for the Established Worship of the Church are now all of a sudden so distasted with it that they make a scruple of being present at our Service Nay some have proceeded so far as to declare I know not upon what grounds open War against us and set up Separate Congregations in opposition to the Publick What is the meaning of this Hath Schism and Separation from the established Worship which heretofore was branded as so heinous a sin and deservedly too so changed its nature all of a sudden that it is become not only innocent but a Duty Have we not the same Government both in Church and State that we formerly had Have we not the same Articles and Doctrines of Religion publickly owned and professed and taught without the least alteration Have we not the same Liturgy the same Offices and Prayers used every day that have always been What is there then to ground a Separation upon Yes But the names in the Prayers are changed and we cannot Pray for those that are now in Authority as we could for those that were heretofore But how unreasoanble is this when St. Paul has bid us to put up Prayers and Supplications and Intercessions for all Men especially for Kings and all that are in Authority Doth he make any restriction any distinction what Kings or what persons in Authority we are to pray for and what not Doth he not expresly say we must pray for all Men and for all that are in Authority And doth not the the reason of his exhortation imply as much if his words did not Namely that we may lead quiet and peaceable Lives in all Godliness and Honesty But I pray consider what this Doctrine leads to If this Principle be admitted to be good Divinity then farewell all the Obligations to Ecclesiastical Communion among Christians For what Government is there in the World that will not meet with such Subjects as are not satisfied with it And if that dissatisfaction be a just reason to break Communion with the Established Church what Ligaments have we to tye Christians together What will become of holding the Vnity of the Spirit in the Bond of Peace What is the consequence of this but endless Schisms and Separations But further I wish these Persons would consider what an unaccountable humour it is to make a Rent and Schism in the Church upon a meer point of State Great Revolutions have happened in all Ages and in all Countries and we have frequent instances of them in story But I believe it will not be easily found that ever any Christians separated from the Church upon account of them Still they kept unanimously to their Doctrine and their Worship and never concerned themselves farther in the Turns of State how great soever they were than peaceably to submit to the Powers in being and heartily to pray to God so to
prosper their Government and direct all their Affairs that all their Subjects might lead quiet and peaceable lives under them in all Godliness and Honesty But when in a Revolution a Prince was advanced to the Throne that they looked upon to be a good Man and an Encourager of the True Religion in that case they did not only readily submit to him but acknowledged it as the great Blessing of God to them that he had raised up such a Man to rule over them This was the Notion and this was the Practice of the Primitive Christians as to this matter I may indeed say of the Christians in all Ages And whatever you may have heard to the contrary I doubt not to say that this is the very Doctrine of the Church of England Let me therefore exhort all of you to be followers of Peace to premote publick Unity and Concord as much as is possible to study to be quiet and mind your own business to be more concerned for your Country and Nation than the Interest of any single Man in it heartily to submit to the Government and not only so but to thank God for the Blessings you enjoy under it and most earnestly to pray for the Continuance of them Lastly Never to espouse any Party or Faction against the Government nor ever to be driven away from the Communion of the Church of which you have always professed your selves Members by any of the pretences which some warm Men may suggest to you This I dare venture to say how uneasie soever some of you now may be in joining with our Prayers you will at last be ten times more uneasie in separating from us For Faction has no bounds and God knows whither it will lead a Man at last Were there nothing else but the Heat and Turbulency the Passion and Peevishness the bitter Zeal and Uncharitableness that the being of a Party doth naturally ingage Men in I say were there nothing else but this No Man that consults the peace of his own mind would for any consideration leave the publick Communion and espouse the cause of a separate Interest But there are worse Consequences than these and I pray God we may never feel them And now I have done with my Exhortation And I have spoke my thoughts very freely to you And I hope you will receive what I have said with the same kindness that I meant it And truly I have no reason to doubt of it after so long an experience as I have had of your Civility and Candor Indeed during all the time I have been among you which hath been now near sixteen Years I have been so kindly treated by you and have received so many Testimonies of your Good-will that I cannot but take this Opportunity of publickly acknowledging my Obligations to you and returning you my Solemn Thanks for Them I cannot indeed say that I have done my Duty as I ought and I heartily beg of God to forgive all my Defects But I have this satisfaction that I have sincerely endeavoured in all my Preaching to instruct you in the true Doctrine of the Gospel and to teach you the right way that leads to Salvation And I am so certain that I have not been mistaken my self nor mis-led you in that matter that I dare with Confidence address my self to you in some of the words of the Apostle which do immediately follow after my Text Viz. Those things which you have learned and received and heard from me do and the God of Peace shall be with you I shall ever bless God for that Providence of his which placed me among you and as I shall always and do earnestly desire all your Prayers for me so I shall always heartily pray for you that God would guide and prosper you that his good Providence would always watch over you for good that he would bestow upon you and your Children after you all sorts of Blessings needful and convenient for you and especially that he would deliver you from every evil work and preserve you to his Heavenly Kingdom This God of his infinite Mercy grant c. SERMON X. Preached before the Lords Spiritual and Temporal IN THE Abbey-Church at Westminster On the 5th of November 1691. Rom. x. 2. For I bear them record that they have a zeal of God but not according to knowledge THese are St. Paul's words and he spoke them of the Jews those unbelieving Jews that were so tenacious of the Traditions of their Fathers and so utterly averse to any Reformation of Religion That though it appeared by undeniable evidence that Christ Jesus was by God sent into to the World for that purpose yet did they to the last stand out in their opposition of him and his Gospel even to the final rejection of their Nation To these People doth St. Paul in this Chapter express a great Compassion heartily wishing and praying for their Conversion Brethren saith he in the first verse my hearty desire and prayer to God for Israel is that they may be saved That is that they may come to the knowledge of the Truth in Christ Jesus and by that means obtain everlasting Salvation And one reason why he was thus concerned for them he gives in the words following which are the words I have read unto you For I bear them Record saith he that they have a zeal of God but not according to knowledge It was a great motive to him to be concerned for their happiness that they were Zealous for Religion though he knew at the same time that the Religion they were then so Zealous of was not the right Religion nor did the Zeal they shewed for it proceed from right Principles According to the account I have now given of this Passage Three things we may take notice of from it viz. I. The Apostles approving and tacitly commending that Zeal which his Country-men expressed for Religion II. His meek and charitable behaviour towards them even when their Zeal for Religion was very faulty and blameable III. His discovery of the faultiness of their Zeal which lay in this that it was not according to knowledge These Three things I shall take for the Heads of my following Discourse upon this Text and shall afterwards make such Application of it as the Business of this Day calls for I. First I desire it may be observed That Zeal of God in general that is a hearty and passionate concernment for Religion The Apostle here finds no fault with On the contrary he approves it as a commendable thing For you see he represents it as a piece of virtue in his Country-men and speaks it to their commendation that they had a zeal of God I bear them record saith he that they have a zeal of God As much as to say that he owned they had that good quality and they were to be commended for it and for that reason he both wisheth them well and affectionately prayeth for them That which
to be so by the natural Notices of Mankind or which the Laws of our Holy Religion do forbid I say in all such Instances we are Transgressors And though our Cause be very good and our Ends very allowable yet since the Means by which we would accomplish those Ends are unwarrantable the whole Action though proceeding from never so much Zeal for God is very Bad For true Zeal as it always supposeth a right Information of Judgment as to the matter of it so likewise it supposeth that a Man should act in honest ways and endeavour to attain his ends by lawful means And thus have I laid before you the Properties and Characters of that Zeal which is according to knowledge which was the third and last thing I proposed upon this Text and I pray God we may always remember them whenever we have occasion to express a Zeal for any thing especially in matters of Religion All that remains now is to make some brief Application of my Text with reference to the business of the Day These words as I told you were spoke of the Jews But the Character here given of them doth so well fit a sort of Men whose fiery Zeal for God and their Religion gave occasion to the Solemnity of this Day that it looks as if it were made for them It is the Bigots of the Church of Rome that I mean to whom we must do the same right that St. Paul here did his Countrymen We must bear them Record that they have a Zeal of God but not according to Knowledge Zealous they are sufficiently as the Jews were no body doubts of it But as for their Zeals being according to knowledge there is great reason to doubt they are as faulty in that point as St. Paul's Countrymen were Indeed if you were to draw the comparison between the Jewish and Popish Zealots as to all the several particulars that our Saviour and St. Paul take notice of as Instances of blind Zeal in the former You would find in all those particulars both their Zeals to be much of a piece not only as to the Fervour but as the Blindness of them Was it an instance of Ignorant Zeal in the Jews that they set up their Traditions to the disparagement of the Law of God I pray who are those that disparage the Holy Scriptures by setting their Traditions upon an equal foot with them Were the Jews to be blamed for that they were so zealous for their old Religion as to oppose that Reformation of it which our Lord Jesus endeavoured to introduce among them because they thought it was an Innovation I pray who are those who upon that very ground oppose all Reformation at this Day though yet the wisest and best Men among themselves are sufficiently sensible that there are great Corruptions both in their Doctrine and Worship Was it a fault in the Jewish Zeal that it placed Religion too much in Ceremonies and Formalities in washing Cups and Platters in tithing Mint and Cummin and the like to the neglect of the weightier matters of the Law Justice and Mercy and Faith I pray wherein is Image-worship Invocation of Saints Penances Pilgrimages the use of Reliques Holy Water c. I say wherein are these things better than those And yet we know who they are that lay so great a stress upon these and such other things that it may be truly said a great part of their Religion is made up of them It would not be difficult to run the parallel between the Zeals of the two Religions through several more Instances But it is an unpleasant Argument and therefore I will pursue it no farther Only one instance more of the Jewish Zeal I must not pass by because it comes up so fully to the business of this Day So zealous were they for their Religion that they did not care what sort of means they made use of for the promoting of it were they never so wicked and unnatural Our Saviour they hunted to Death with false Witnesses Stephen they stoned out of pure zeal in a popular tumult Forty of them solemnly bound themselves under a Curse that they would neither eat nor drink till they had killed St. Paul But all this and a great deal more our Saviour had foretold they would do when he told his Apostles that the time would come when whosoever killed them should think that he did God good service A Blessed way of doing God service this is to act such wicked inhumane things as these But such inhumane things as these doth a Blind Zeal for Religion sometimes put Men upon And that it doth so we cannot have a greater proof except what I have already mentioned than the practices of the zealous Men of the Church of Rome How many unlawful Arts have they used to subject all the Christian World to their Lord and Master How many Forgeries for this purpose have they been the Authors of and maintained them afterwards How many disturbances have they given to the Peace of Christendom in the most unjust and unnatural ways for the Advancement of the Papal Cause It was out of Zeal for Gods Service and the Interest of Holy Church that so many Princes have been Excommunicated and Deposed that so many Tumults and Rebellions have been raised that so many Crusados for the extirpating Hereticks have been sent out By which and such like means it may justly be computed that as much Christian Blood has been shed for the establishing Popery as it now stands nay and a great deal more than ever was during all the times of the Heathen Persecutions for the supporting of Paganism But if there were no other instance extant in the World to shew what is to be expected from a blind Zeal especially a blind Popish Zeal for Religion that instance which the deliverance of this Day doth give us occasion to mention would be alone sufficient to inform us When for no other end but for the Advancement of Popery and the rooting out that Pestilent Heresie of the Reformation which infested these Northern Climates a Company of Popish Zealots entered upon the most Barbarous and Inhumane Project that ever was undertaken by Men even neither better nor worse than the destroying the King and Parliament at one blow and had put all things in such a readiness in order thereunto that they certainly had effected it as on this Day had not their Conspiracy been detected in a wonderful manner But thanks be to God their designs then and ever since have been defeated and some of them even miraculously and we trust in the Mercies of God that they will ever be so God hath been wonderfully Gracious to us in the Preservation of our Church and Religion from Popish attempts to destroy it ever since it was setled among us How many Plots and Conspiracies were laid in the time of the Glorious Q. Elizabeth to put an end to her Life and with it to our reformed establishment
demonstration by the sending his own Son into it how little a Value he sets upon these Things But II. I proceed to the Second Point which my Text leads me to speak to and that is the Time of our Saviour's Appearance here mentioned Once hath he Appeared in the end of the World You see here that the time of his Appearance is said to be the end of the World But how is that to be understood If we take the expression in the literal sense and as we commonly use it the thing is not true For there have already passed near seventeen Hundred Years since our Saviour's Appearance and yet the end of the World is not come nor do we know when it will But there will be no difficulty in this matter if we carefully attend to the Phrase the Apostle here useth and interpret it according to the Propriety of the Language in which it is delivered The word in my Text is 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 which every body that is versed in the style of the New Testament knows may be better and more naturally rendred the Consummation or Conclusion of the Ages than the End of the World Fot the understanding this Phrase we must have recourse to the known Idiom of the Jews who used to speak of the several Oeconomies and Dispensations under which the World successively had been or was to be as of so many 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 or Ages The last of which Ages and the Accomplishment and Completion of all of them they held to be the Age of the Messiah beyond which they knew there was to be no other Age or Oeconomy With reference to this way of speaking the times of the Gospel-dispensation are frequently called in Scripture the Last Times the Last Days the Fulness of the Times and in the Text the Consummation or Shutting up of the Ages The meaning of all which Phrases is no more than this That the Times of the Gospel that is the Appearance and Revelation of our Saviour though God intended them from the beginning yet should they be the last of all Times There should be several Dispensations set on foot in the World before they came and when those times were fulfilled when the Ends of those Dispensations were accomplished then should our Saviour appear and begin his Kingdom which should never be succeeded by any other This is the true meaning of Christ's appearing 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 as the Text expresseth it that is not as we translate it in the end of the World but in the last of the Ages or at the time when the Ages were fulfilled and accomplished Now what use are we to make of this Consideration the Apostle himself doth fairly intimate to us in the beginning of this Epistle God saith he who at sundry times and in divers manners spake in times past unto the Fathers by the Prophets hath in these last days spoken unto us by his Son whom he hath made heir of all things and by whom he made the Worlds And so he goes on to set forth the incomparable Dignity and Preheminence of this last Messenger of God above that of either Angels or Men by whom he had spoken to Mankind before But what is the inference he draws from all this Why That you may see in the beginning of the second Chapter We ought therefore saith he to give the more earnest heed to the things we have heard that is to say the Doctrine of the Gospel lest at any time we let them slip For if the word spoken by Angels was stedfast and every transgression and disobedience received a just recompence of reward How shall we escape if we neglect so great Salvation as was spoken to us by the Lord Jesus The Apostle's Argument here proceeds on this manner God's Revelation of his Will to Mankind and the discovery of his Grace and Goodness was not all at once but gradual and by parts He first spake to Mankind by the Patriarchs who were burning and shining Lights in their Generations He afterwards singles out the Nation of the Jews to be his peculiar People and to them he gives a written Law which was delivered to them by Angels in the hand of Moses their Mediator as the Apostle speaks in the third of the Galatians which Law was a shadow or dark representation of the Good things which were afterwards to be revealed After this he sends Prophets in a continual Succession for several Ages who do more clearly discover God's will to them who call upon them to Holiness and Virtue and who speak in very plain Terms of that Great Salvation which God should one day manifest to the World And last of all as the Lord of the Vineyard in the Parable dealt with his Husbandmen who after he had sent Servants one after another of different Qualities and Degrees at last sent his own Son So at last I say did the great Lord of the World when the fulness of the time was come send his own Son to be his Embassador to Mankind his own Son who was the Brightness of his Glory and the express Image of his Person If now as the Apostle here argues If under the former Dispensations when God only declared his Will by Angels or by Prophets he was yet so severe that no Transgression or Disobedience escaped without a just recompence of Vengeance How can we escape if we neglect so great a Salvation as that was which in these last days was preached by Jesus Christ How can we escape if these last and greatest Methods of God for our good and in which all the Treasures of his Goodness are displayed I say if these have no effect upon us in order to the making us both Holy and Happy What Teachers what Instructers can we further expect What new Lights or Assistances do we yet wait for Can any one think that God should set on foot some other new Dispensation for the bringing off those wretched People upon whom this last could prevail nothing Do we dream of another Covenant or another Mediator between God and Man besides Christ Jesus Do we fancy that God will send some other Embassador or Saviour into the World after he hath sent his own Son Or that the Son of God will come a second time in Humane Flesh and again be crucified for us No certainly God hath afforded the last and greatest means for Man's Salvation and no other is ever to be expected Christ hath once appeared in the end of the World to put away Sin by the Sacrifice of himself and to those that believe in him and love him and obey him will he appear the second time to their alvation But never will he appear again to make a new Reconciliation for those Men that are not reconciled to God by his first Appearance To such as our Apostle speaks in the Tenth Chapter There remains no more Sacrifice for Sin but a fearful expectation of Judgment and fiery Indignation
are true c. Here are a great many things recommended by the Apostle to our thoughts and pursuit If we would make a distribution of them I believe they will all naturally enough full under these Four Heads For the things here recommended are not so many as the words by which they are express'd there being several Words used in this Enumeration that are of the same importance and seem to express much the same thing The Four Heads I would reduce them to are these I. A constant Adherence to the true Religion II. Honesty and Justice in our Dealings III. A Life of Strict Purity in opposition to Sensuality and Lewdness IV. The adorning the Doctrine of God we do profess by the constant Practice of every other thing that is Virtuous or Commendable or well thought of by Mankind This as I take it is a fair account of the Parts of this Text and these I shall make the Heads of my following Exhortation I begin with the first Finally my Brethren whatsoever things are true think on those things The Truths that St. Paul here exhorts them to think on are undoubtedly the Truths of the Gospel of Jesus Christ which he had delivered to them These he would have them to think upon and persist in and never to be prevailed upon by any Temptation to depart from them Let me now apply this Advice of his to you It is the particular Blessing of God to this Kingdom and an inestimable Blessing it is that he has not only vouchsafed us the Light of his Gospel for many years but he has also taken Care that the Truths of it should be delivered to us with greater Purity and Sincerity and freer from the mixtures of Errour than to most I was going to say than to any other People in the World If it lay in your way to make observations concerning the State of Religion in other Countries nay or but to read the Accounts that are given of it I am sure you would be convinced how exceedingly happy we of this Church are above all the Churches in Christendom O therefore let us all firmly adhere to the Truths we have been taught to the Truths we have hitherto made Profession of And let us firmly adhere to that Church which hath held forth these Truths to us and taught us this Profession We do not pretend that any Church is Infallible and therefore not ours But this we dare say and we can justifie that if we take our measures concerning the Truths of Religion from the Rules of the Holy Scriptures and the Platform of the Primitive Churches the Church of England is undoubtedly both as to Doctrine and Worship the Purest Church that is at this day in the World the most Orthodox in Faith and the â—â—â—est on the one hand from Idolatry and Superstition and on the other hand from Freakishness and Enthusiasm of any now extant Nay I do farther say with great seriousness and as one that expects to be called to account at the dreadful Tribunal of God for what I now say if I do not speak in sincerity That I do in my Conscience believe that if the Religion of Jesus Christ as it is delivered in the New Testament be the true Religion as I am certain it is Then the Communion of the Church of England is a safe way to Salvation and the safest of any I know in the World And therefore I do exhort you all in the Name of God steadfastly to hold and to persevere in this Communion Here you have the Things that are true Think of them and embrace them heartily and Live and Die in the Profession of them This is the Doctrine I have always Taught you and by the Grace of God I mean to Practise accordingly II. The next thing I have to recommend to you from these words of the Apostle is Universal Honesty and Justice and Righteousness in your Conversation Whatsoever things saith he are true whatsoever things are honest whatsoever things are just think on these things You see I join these two words Honest and Just together as importing the same thing Though yet I am aware that the word we here render Honest is often used in another signification that is to say for Grave or Venerable But since that other signification falls in most properly under my last Head I wave it here and take the word as our Translation renders it Indeed it is in vain to expect any advantage from our profession of the Truth if we be not sincerely Just and Honest in our Actions Whosoever can allow himself in the practice of any dishonest knavish indirect Dealing let that Man be never so Orthodox in his Belief and Opinions yet I am sure he is no true Christian O therefore let me exhort you all whatever Interests you have to serve whatever Dealing you are to engage in to be always strictly Just and Vpright in your Conversation Use no Tricks practise no ill Arts for the serving your ends but in all your transactions with Men deal with that Simplicity and Integrity and good Conscience that becomes those who would be accounted the Disciples of Him who was the most Innocent the most Sincere and the least Intrigueing Person in the World Assure your selves no dishonesty can prosper long Whatever turns you may serve by it at present yet you will bitterly repent of it sometime or other But Righteousness and Justice doth establish a Man's ways And the upright Man though he is not always the richest yet always walketh most surely And as for the final event of things Remember this that God Almighty has pronounced that no Vnrighteous men no Covetous no Lyars no Extortioners shall enter into the Kingdom of Heaven But to go on III. The next thing I have to exhort you to from the words of my Text is the Practice of Purity For after the Apostle hath recommended the pursuit of things that are true and the things that are honest and just he next adds the things that are pure Meaning hereby that we should study to be pure and chast and temperate both in our Hearts and Lives avoiding all Excesses and Lewdness and Sensuality And if he thought it convenient in that Age of strictness and severity and devotion to put the Christians in mind of this I am sure it is not only convenient but necessary to do it in this Age of ours when Luxury and Debauchery when Whoredom and Drunkenness and all sorts of Vice that are contrary to Purity are grown to that height among us that we seem to defie God Almighty by our impudent Practice of them and provoke Him to give us up to Destruction I pray God make the whole Nation deeply sensible of the Folly and Wickedness as well as of the Danger and dreadful Cousequences of these Practices And as for you who are here present let me bespeak you in the Words of the Apostle Dearly Beloved I beseech you as Strangers and Pilgrims to
abstain from fleshly Lusts which war against the Soul I beseech you as you have any Honour for your Lord and Master as you have any regard to the preservation of a sense of Religion in your Minds as you have any concern for your Health for your Estates for your Families as you have any respect to the Publick that Effeminacy and Sottishness and Diseases may not be entailed upon our Posterity Lastly as you love your own Souls and hope ever to see the face of God in Heaven learn to live Soberly learn to live Chastly learn to practise Purity and Temperance in all your Conversation Avoid Whoredom and Drunkenness as you would the Plague for certainly they are the worst of Plagues to them that use them For other Plagues do only put our Bodies in danger but these do endanger both our Souls and Bodies Nay as to the one I mean our Souls they will prove certain inevitable Destruction without Repentance and Reformation I know these things are made slight Matters of by a great many among us But assure your selves God will not account them so it is certain he will not if we may believe his Word for it is there told us expresly that Whoremongers and Adulterers God will judge And withal that neither Adulterers nor Fornicators nor unclean Persons nor Drunkards shall ever inherit the Kingdom of God or of Christ IV. I proceed to the last Head of Advice that is given in my Text. The Apostle having instanced in Three things necessary to be daily thought upon and pursued by all Christians viz. Truth and Honesty and Purity leaves off to meddle any farther with particulars and sums up the rest of his Advice in generals And that sum comes to this That as we are Christians we should not only take care of the three forementioned things but should make it our business to improve our selves in every other sort of Virtue nay in every other sort of thing that is Praise-worthy or that is well esteemed of among Mankind So that really it should be the endeavour of our Lives to render our selves as excellent and as exemplary for all sorts of amiable Qualities as it is possible for Men to be in this World This I take to be the full meaning of those four expressions that follow in my Text Whatsoever things are lovely whatsoever things are of good report if there be any Vertue if there be any Praise think on these things And now Brethren see from hence what your obligations are You that have such a glorious Light vouchsafed you such unvaluable Promises such mighty Assistances made over to you by the Gospel of Christ You must in reason imagine that in return of these great Advantages great things are expected from you It will not satisfie your Engagements that you do believe and profess the Gospel that you do no wrong to your Neighbours that you are neither given to Lewdness nor Drunkenness though yet even these as the World goes are very great things and could all Men that profess Christianity truly say this of themselves we should soon see Heaven upon Earth But your Christianity obliges you to aspire after greater things you must get your selves possessed of the whole Circle of Virtues you must be Kind and Charitable as well as Just and Honest you must be Modest and Meek and Humble as well as Temperate and Chast. Nay not only so but you are to labour after all these several Virtues in the full Latitude and Extent of them even to that degree that every thing which hath but the appearance of Evil is to be avoided by you You are not only to abstain from Acts of Injustice but even from doing a hard thing to any one you are not only to keep your selves within the known Limits of Temperance and Chastity but to avoid all those things that border upon the Vices opposite thereunto and so as to all other instances if any thing be of ill Report and looks infamously to the sober part of Mankind why that very Consideration is enough to deter you from the practice of it For you are to recommend your Religion to all the Men in the World by all the ways that are possible In a Word you are to endeavour to be as free from blame in your whole Conversation as you possibly can and not only so but to be as good and to do as much good as your Circumstances will allow you This now is to be a Christian indeed by thus endeavouring you truly walk worthy of that high and heavenly Calling wherewith you are called and you do as the Apostle advises adorn the Doctrine of God in all things and happy extreamly happy are they that do thus for great is their Reward Great even in this World in the solid Peace and Assurance of God's Favour which they here enjoy and which indeed far exceeds all the Blessings that the Earth can afford but exceedingly great in the Life to come when Jesus Christ shall come with all the Powers of Heaven to do Honour to those that have thus here honoured him Thus have I gone through all the Parts of my Text but I do not think that I ought so to leave it I have given you an account of the things that St. Paul hath here directed us to to be the main pursuit of our Lives But I think likewise it will be proper to speak something of the Methods of that pursuit or the means which we are to observe if we would practise this Text and here I am to begin anew with my Advices Several things I have to represent upon this Occasion and to exhort you to I am not much sollicitous whether they strictly belong to my Argument or no. But I desire to leave them with you as things that I judge to be very useful and which I wish may be ever remembred by you And the First thing I would exhort you to is this That you would endeavour to possess your Minds with a hearty Sense of God Almighty and the absolute Necessity of being seriously Religious I do not mention this as if I thought there was any need to caution you against Atheism or Infidelity for I hope not many among us are inclined that way Mankind are naturally disposed to believe a God and Religion and since through God's Blessing it is Christianity that is the Religion of our Country and in which we have been all Educated I look upon an Atheist or an Infidel among us to be a sort of Prodigy a strange unusual Creature vastly different from those of his own Kind But here is the thing Though most of us profess Religion and the true Religion yet many of us have no lively or hearty Sense of it We use Religion as we do our Cloaths They are very convenient nay perhaps necessary and therefore we wear them and for the particular form or mode of them we follow as to that the Custom of the Country where we live Yet