The ablest Physicians were consulted and they consulted and advised upon his case and attended him with great diligence and tenderness but without success On Sunday Morning January 31st he was worse than ever he had been insomuch that those about him thought him dying about eleven in the Morning I was then at Westminster-Abbey and was sent for out of the Church to pray with him I found him very sensible I asked him if he were sensible that he was dying he replied that he was I asked him if he were also resigned and willing to die he replied very readily that he was willing to die I asked him if he had considered the words Heb. II. 14 15 and whether or not he found himself delivered from all the slavish fear of death he replied very quick looking up to Heaven that he was delivered from that fear He was in an excellent frame and joyned with the Prayers which the Church appoints on such occasions with great expressions of Devotion Sometime after this I found him delirous and not long after speechless After some few hours Groans he expired viz. at Eight a Clock that Evening being then about the 56th year of his Age His Body was opened and it appeared quickly what was the cause of his Death Both his Ureters were stopped One of them was stopped as a Bottle with a Cork with a Stone that entered the top of the Ureter with a sharp end the upper part of which was thick and much too big to enter any farther The other was stopped also with Stones of much less firmness and consistence than the other His Body was interred on Feb. 4. in the Abbey Church of Westminster with great Solemnity and a vast number of Attendants Several of the Lords the Bishops very many of the most eminent Clergy about the City and an incredible number of other Persons were present on that occasion And it must be said that the Church of Westminster shewed the great kindness they had for him by the great care they took of his very decent and solemn Interment Before I proceed any farther I shall reflect upon his undaunted Courage when Death look'd him in the face 'T is certain that there were a great many considerations that might have disposed him to desire a longer life at that time I well knew his circumstances and those of his Family and how desirable his life was upon many accounts But yet this pious man was not only willing to die but was entirely delivered from the fear of it and did with great cheatfulness and alacrity receive the tidings and sentence of Death St. Hierom tells that Hilarion just when he was expiring spake these words Egredere quid times Egredere anima mea quid dubitas Septuaginta propè annis servisti Christo mortem times i. e. Go out O my Soul why dost thou fear Why dost thou doubt Thou hast served Christ near seventy years and art thou afraid to dye There was it seems some fear and some doubt in Hilarion This Servant of God was by his Grace delivered intirely from all such fear or doubt I say by the Grace of God he was delivered and special Grace it was Very good Persons when they come to die have their doubts and their great fears too It is an easie thing to discourse wisely and Philosophically of the Contempt of Death but they which do so have not the same Presence of Mind when Death looks them in the face We have a famous story to this purpose concerning the Father of Clinias who was wont to despise Death in his Health and was in great dread of it when it drew near to him as Plato relates it It must be confessed that this good Man had taken the right course to be freed from the fear of Death by leading a very painfull and laborious a very usefull and charitable a very devout and pious Life His Life was very painfull and laborious Few men ever took the Pains which he did He was mortified to all worldly Pleasures and sensual Satisfactions and used himself to great Labours and most exemplary Diligence There is nothing renders us more afraid to die than a soft and voluptuous Life Oh Death how bitter is the remembrance of thee to a man that liveth in rest in his possessions Ecclus XLI 1. We have an example of this in Agag He came delicately and was pinguissimus tremens i. e. very fat and trembling and no wonder then that he should comâ—â—â—in of the bitterness of death For so certainly he does however our Interpreters come to render his words Death must be bitter where voluptuousness makes life sweet His Life was also very usefull and very charitable Multitudes they were that received relief and advantage by him And there is a particular promise to such men that God will strengthen them upon the bed of languishing and make their bed in their sickness Psal. XLI 3. Our Saviour wouâ—d have his followers pray that their flight might not be in the Winter or on the Sabbath One of the Fathers accommodates the words to my present purpose Happy is that man that does not when he leaves this World lead an unfruitfull life nor yet an idle one The Winter is the barren time of the year and the Sabbath was a time not of Labour but of Rest. His Life was also very devout and pious of which more afterward I mention only in this place his very devout and frequent receiving the Holy Communion which is a great Preparative to a comfortable Death I will repeat the Doctor 's own Words which many years ago fell from him to his hearers at the Savoy and which were verified in him many years after A worthy receiving of the Lord's Supper says he is the best preparative for death No man can die uncomfortably that makes it his business as often as he comes to this Table to receive worthily Death cannot hurt him c. for by his worthy receiving he hath laid up a good foundation for the time to come c. I shall now more particularly give the Character of this excellent Person and the kindness I had for him shall not prevail with me to exceed in his commendation First I shall begin with his Religion and Piety towards God of which he was a very conspicuous Example His Religion had its full power and force upon him it transform'd him into the image and likeness of God It hath always been esteemed safe advice imitare eum quem colimus i. e. to imitate him whom we worship On this account some of the Heathens excused their vices because their Poets and men of the Stage represented their Gods as having practised the same things He worshipped the true and living God the holy and mercifull the God of truth and righteousness and not only the greatest and most powerfull but the best of Beings He was a follower of God and his Divine Image was fairly
some of the highest Rank and Quality and a very great number of very devout and pious Persons A vast Crowd there was that followed him and such a collection of most devout and conformable Persons as were hardly to be found elsewhere it was no easie matter to get through the Crowd to the Pulpit He administred the Holy Communion on the first Sunday of every Month and preached a Preparation-Sermon on the Friday preceding He did it also on the great Festivals He administred it twice on a day in the Morning at eight a Clock and at the usual time after the Morning Sermon The number of the Communicants held a great proportion to that of his Auditors and their Devotion was very exemplary The number was so great at both times that it will hardly be believed by those Clergymen who have been confined to the Country and have seen the small number of those who attend upon this holy Service So great was the number that there was need of great help of Clergymen to assist in the delivering of the Bread and Wine and with such assistance it was very late before the Congregation could be dismissed I will add that I do not remember that I did ever behold so great numbers and so great signs of Devotion and a due sense and profound reverence becoming this great act of divine Worship in my whole life The Doctor took indefatigable pains on these occasions but he was encouraged to do so from the great success his Labours met withal He was not only very diligent in Preaching and Administring the Holy Sacrament but in all other parts of his Duty He took great pains in Catechising and instructing the Youth in visiting the sick and directing and satisfying the doubtfull and scrupulous and encouraging all good beginnings and promoting worthy designs and provoking those he conversed with to love and good works He took great pains also in his own Family He spent very much time with his Family in constant Prayers Morning and Night in Reading the Holy Scriptures Singing of Psalms in holy Conferences and all the Duties incumbent upon him as the Master of a Family No Weariness no weighty Business abroad excused him from the discharge of these Duties Nor did he perform them slightly and perfunctorily but spent very much time in them he was very assiduous very earnest and vehement and shewed a very great concern and ardor therein He would rise early in a Morning to these Exercises and not spare his pains even after the very great and wearisom labours of the day Nor did he forbear his Studies and Closet-Devotions He spent much time there It appears by a Diary found since his Death and which he kept for a long time that he called himself to an account every Night for the Words and Actions and Conversation of the Day past and perhaps few men living were more strict and severe than he was in this matter If he had done any good that day he gave God the praise of it before he slept And few men that lived passed fewer days if he passed any such without doing good But when any Words or Thoughts escaped which he judged to have wanted due care he animadverted upon himself in a severe manner before he went to rest He was one of the kindest men to others that ever lived and one of the severest to himself He needed no Confessor to call him to account or to enjoyn him any Penance He did not spare revenge upon himself who could most easily forgive his Enemies and wanted no compassion for the greatest Criminals He kept a continual watch over his own Soul and strictly watched over its actings and tendencies and was therefore very fit to watch over those who were committed to his Charge Besides the constant care that was upon him from his Parish his Family his Closet and Studies he imployed himself in doing good to those who were more remote He encouraged Piety where-ever he came and particularly in the younger sort He had the care of several Societies of Young Men whom he directed and encouraged And because this matter hath been mis-understood and that to my certain knowledge there was an attempt since this Revolution to blacken the Doctor on this account I shall represent the matter just as it was Certain it is that there were some Societies of religious and devout Young Men under the Doctor 's Government and Inspection But whether the Doctor did move these Young Men at first to enter into such Societies or whether they first applied to him and he only gave them Rules to govern themselves by I am not able to determine Thus much is certain that he gave them Rules and they were these that follow I. That all that entered into such a Society should resolve upon an holy and serious Life II. That no person shall be admitted into this Society till he arrive at the age of Sixteen and hath been first confirmed by the Bishop and solemnly taken on himself his Baptismal Vow III. That they chuse a Minister of the Church of England to direct them IV. That they shall not be allowed in their meetings to discourse of any controverted point of Divinity V. Neither shall they discourse of the Government of Church or State VI. That in their meetings they use no Prayers but those of the Church such as the Litany and Collects and other prescribed Prayers but still they shall not use any that peculiarly belongs to the Minister as the Absolution VII That the Minister whom they chuse shall direct what practical Divinity shall be read at these meetings VIII That they may have liberty after Prayer and Reading to sing a Psalm IX That after all is done if there be time left they may discourse each other about their spiritual concerns but this shall not be a standing Exercise which any shall be obliged to attend unto X. That one day in the Week be appointed for this meeting for such as cannot come on the Lord's Day and that he that absents himself without cause shall pay three Pence to the Box. XI Every time they meet everyone shall give six Pence to the Box. XII That on a certain day in the year viz. Whitsun-Tuesday two Stewards shall be chosen and a moderate Dinner provided and a Sermon preached and the Money distributed necessary Charges deducted to the Poor XIII A Book shall be bought in which these Orders shall be written XIV None shall be admitted into this Society without the consent of the Minister who presides over it and no Apprentice shall be capable of being chosen XV. That if any Case of Conscience arise it shall be brought before the Minister XVI If any Member think fit to leave the Society he shall pay five Shillings to the Stock XVII The major part of the Society to conclude the rest XVIII The following Rules are more especially to be commended to the Members of this Society viz. To love one another When reviled
not to revile again To speak evil of no man To wrong no man To pray if possible seven times a day To keep close to the Church of England To transact all things peaceably and gently To be helpfull to each other To use themselves to holy Thoughts in their coming in and going out To examine themselves every night To give every one their due To obey Superiors both Spiritual and Temporal This is the substance of what the Doctor directed on this occasion I did many years ago lay these things before a very great and worthy Prelate who is now living to whom I thought it was highly fit that they should be communicated I advised with him upon the whole matter And the occasion was this There was a certain number of Young Men who were desirous to make such a Society and to be concluded by these Orders They applied to a Minister in London to take upon him the Inspection and Care of them I was concern'd for that Minister and thereupon laid the whole case before that Prelate He was clearly of opinion that the Young Men were not to be discouraged and that it was best to take care of them and secure that zeal which they expressed in the right Channel he was well contented to leave them to the care and management of a Minister of the Church of England Upon which encouragement they were admitted That time in which this Prelate was consulted was not over favourable to any kind of Religious Meetings And yet the Doctor had the hard measure to be censured very severely even since this happy Revolution upon this account Endeavours were used to beget an ill opinion of him in the late Archbishop and in others But upon due Information the Archbishop was intirely satisfied and was a true Friend to the Doctor to the last The Doctor had so much business generally upon his hands that he had hardly time to eat his Meat He was often sent for to sick and dying People frequently consulted by those who were doubtfull and scrupuious and addressed to with Cases of Conscience and sometimes with Cases that were very extraordinary He was also beyond all measure followed by the Poor and Needy by them that wanted Money or wanted his favour to procure them some Boon or other He was extremely prone to do good Offices this was well known and it fared with him accordingly But in the late Reign his labour was much encreased Great endeavours were used to introduce Popery and to delude the poor People No man was more stout and diligent than the Doctor at that time He preached most vigorously against that corrupt Doctrine prepared his Auditors against the day of trial and was prepared I doubt not for Martyrdom himself 'T is very well known that he declined no labour shunn'd no Conference with the Popish Priests omitted not what was in his power to do to stemm the Tide There are those living of the greatest figure and character who very well know the truth of this matter But thanks be to God the fear of Popery vanish'd upon his present Majesty's coming to the Crown But then the Doctor had another tryal His Maintenance at the Savoy was but small and in great measure precarious And yet was that all his Preferment excepting a Prebend of the Church of Exeter of but 20 l. per annum without any Corps belonging to it But it was really much less than that Charges deducted This was all his Preferment at that time and for some considerable time after He had not any house to live in but what he hired at a considerable rate He had himself a Wife and four Children to maintain and his Children so far grown that they required now a more chargeable Maintenance than formerly His Maintenance was very little Those who formerly contributed withdrew their kindness because he submitted to the present Government He lost very considerably that way This I had from his own Mouth But yet I cannot say he complained of it I confess I neheard him complain but once and that was a little before his last Sickness and then he complained that he wanted Money to give to the Poor The Poor did in great numbers resort to him at that time he gave of his own little a very great proportion and perhaps something more than might seem consistent with what was owing to his own Family But he had a generous Soul and knew not how to deny him that asked The words of our Saviour Give to every one that asketh thee made a great impression upon his Mind I found upon discourse with him that he was so very much under the power of those words that he thought he could hardly be at liberty even from a common Beggar And sometime I have taken occasion to discourse him on that subject but I shall not trouble the Reader with any thing farther in that matter In these mean circumstances he continued for several years after the late Revolution But he went on in his labours and chearfully pursued the great end of his Ministry and the purpose for which he was sent into the World It pleased God to raise up a friend who concerned himself on his behalf It was the Lord Admiral Russel now the Right Honourable the Earl of Orford He before he went to Sea went to the Queen to take leave of her Majesty and when he was with her begged of her that she would be pleased to bestow some Preferment on Dr. Horneck The Queen told him that she could not at present think of any way of preferring the Doctor and with this answer the Admiral was dismissed Sometime after this the Queen told what had passed on this occasion to the late Archbishop She added withal that she was concerned lest the Admiral should think her too unconcerned on the Doctor 's behalf and advised with him what was to be done for the Doctor 's advantage and satisfaction of the Admiral The Archbishop advised the Queen to promise him the next Prebend of Westminster that should happen to become void This the Queen did and lived to make her word good in the year 1693. The late Archbishop upon notice that the Prebend was void introduced the Doctor to the Queen and he was made Prebendary of that Church I had this relation from the late Archbishop And I mention that noble Lord who spake to the Queen on the Doctor 's behalf with all the honour imaginable Indeed that noble Family the Duke of Bedford and his noble Relatives had a great kindness for the Doctor and it ought not to be forgotten in this place I have often heard the Doctor mention them with respect He was now in easier circumstances and provided of an House and at a small distance from his People of whom he took the very same care which he did before He preached very constantly among them and discharged other Ministerial duties as before He kept in his hands some part of the House he
religious Exercises and not only there but in the civil Concerns of your Lives Custom hath made it fashionable before you eat and drink Let Religion and Conscience oblige you to use it in and before all your other lawfull worldly Concerns Before you go about your lawfull business let it be your earnest Prayer to God to bless you with Success if it be for his Glory and your own good and withall to furnish you with that even Temper of Mind that your obtaining your Desires may not swell or lift you up nor your miscarying in your Attempts deject or despirit you This is the way to sanctifie all your Actions and to preserve the Spirit of Religion For want of this spiritual Wisdom you fall too often into great Anxieties of Mind and very disorderly Passions when you miss of your prey Prayer will quiet your Spirits This is conversing with God and while a great and glorious God is the Object of our Thoughts we are arm'd against immoderate Sorrow can triumph over Losses find comfort in our Disappointments learn to despise the World and encourage our selves to set our Affections on the things which are above SERMON II. St. Matth. Ch. V. Ver. 2. And he opened his Mouth and taught them saying HAving resolv'd upon an Explication of Christ's Sermon on the Mount and begun already with the first Verse I proceed this Day to the second which is part of the Evangelist's Preface or Introduction and though this Passage as well as the preceeding is purely Historical yet it affords very usefull Lessons and Instructions Of this I have already given a Specimen or Proof in the first and do not doubt but I shall make good the Assertion in the Exposition of the second And he opened his Mouth and taught them saying For the understanding of which Expression you must know that this Phrase opening the Mouth is used in Scriprure when the Oratour or Speaker intends to speak something great and weighty and of mighty Importance To this purpose it is that when David was going to rehearse the wonderfull Works and Providences of God toward the Children of Israel he thus begins Give ear O my People to my Law and incline your Ears to the word of my Mouth I will open my Mouth in a Parable Ps. LXXVIII 1 2. so Ps. XLIX 1 2 3 4. Hear this all ye People give ear all ye Inhabitants of the World Both low and high rich and poor together My mouth shall speak of wisdom and the meditation of my heart shall be of understanding I will incline mine Ear to a Parable I will open my dark saying upon the Harp So that this word and he open'd his Mouth bespeaks the Attention of all considerate Men and imports that the Lord of Preachers is going to publish things of the greast Consequence things of that Concernment that a Soul that hath any Sense of a future Salvation is bound to listen to the particulars and not to do it is as much as our life is worth To be sure the Son of God would not spend his sacred Breath in vain There never dropt any thing from his Mouth but what was grave and serious and being to teach the whole World as it were the way to Bliss we may suppose that matters relating to that Bliss are things of greater Concernment than all the Intrigues of Achitophel or any Politician in the World And therefore it will be neither unsuitable to Christ's design in this Sermon nor any way injurious to the Context or Connexion of these Words with the following To take notice here That Matters relating to the Bliss and Happiness of men's Souls are matters of the greatest weight and moment For of these Christ is going to speak here in the following Discourse and in order thereunto it 's said And he opened his Mouth which as it hath been already hinted imports uttering things of more than ordinary Consequence To be happy is that which most men seem to endeavour after for this the Souldier takes the Field and the Merchant plows the Sea for this the Husbandman dresses his Ground and the Artificer sits up late and rises early and puts himself into a sweat for this the Man of an Estate applies himself to variety of Sports and others run out into monstrous Sins and Vices According as Men fancy happiness one in one thing another in another so they follow hard after it and pursue it with very great Eagerness Thus all desire to be happy though the greater part mistake Pebbles for Pearls and the Meat which perisheth for that which endures to everlasting Life And yet all this does not make true Happiness a matter of fancy only for though the generality act as if it were so yet it is not and there are certain Laws and measures of real Happiness which like the Laws of the Medes and Persians alter not Men's mistaking the true Object of their Happiness shews indeed their Nature is corrupted and their Understandings vitiated but is no Argument that there is no true standard of solid Happiness no more than a blind Man's missing of the Mark proves there is none to shoot at Nothing can be call'd true Bliss with respect to Man but what makes the Soul happy for that being the great Agent that moves and orders and rules and actuates the Body it must needs be infinitely nobler than the Body and consequently if the nobler Part be destitute of its proper Happiness all the other Felicity the Body shares in must be nothing but shew and vanish This Happiness peculiar to the Soul cannot possibly consist in living or in having and enjoying Life for Plants and Trees and Herbs do that as well as the most Godlike and Angelical Spirits nor can it consist in smelling or tasting or seeing or hearing or feeling agreeable Objects or in eating and drinking or in gratifying a sensual Appetite for that Brutes can do as well as we nay better The Soul as it doth surmount all vegetable and sensitive Creatures in dignity and excellency so its Bliss must necessarily exceed theirs and it must be a Bliss that 's adaequate and suitable to her Nature which being rational it must necessarily follow that the happiness of the Soul consists in living up to the Dictates and Principles of right Reason But because Reason through the Fall of Adam is become dull and dim-fighted and hath lost much of its Beauty and Splendour God hath thought fit by the Revelation of his Will and Word to polish and brighten these Principles that we might not mistake in this reasonable Service and Christ particularly in this Sermon on the Mount hath set Reason on its Throne again and specified the true Principles of it shewing how and in what manner we are to live up to these Principles In this consists the happiness of the Soul while it sojourns in this World and this fits and qualifies her for a greater more lasting and more glorious Happiness hereafter
burning Lake that will be his Portion As Christ taught his Hearers nothing but what was grave and solid and weighty so the Ministers of the Word must feed their Auditours with solid Food not with Trifles or Legends or dry insipid Stuff but with things that may make them wise unto Salvation This Phrase opening the mouth is sometimes used in Scripture for speaking with boldness and courage in the Name of the Lord as Ephes. VI. 19. Pray for me that I may open my mouth boldly So the Ministers of the Word must not be meally-mouth'd but Cry aloud and spare not lift up their Voices like Trumpets and shew the People of God their Transgressions and the House of Jacob their Sins Isa. LVIII 1. There is no dallying with the sins of Men no complementing their Souls with flattering and enticing Words Their Sores must be rubb'd and Salt and Vinegar thrown into their Wounds where it is so that gentler means will do no good Nor must we fear the anger or displeasure of Men for we have a greater Master to please who will bring forth our Righteousness as the light and our Judgment as the Noon-day nay and make our very Enemies to be at peace with us however if he doth not there is huge comfort in the discharge of a good Conscience to which purpose Christ bids his Messengers or Ministers rejoyce when they are reviled and despightfully used and accordingly of the Apostles we read That they departed from the Council rejoycing because they were counted worthy to suffer shame for the Name of the Lord Jesus Acts V. 41. 3. As it is our Office to teach you so it is your Duty to be taught I say to be taught not to quarrel with our Admonitions to shew your selves tractable to suffer the Word of exhortation and to admit the good Seed we sow into a good and honest Heart It 's true you are not to be believe every Spirit but to try the Spirits whether they be of God 1 John V. 1. But then when you have try'd our Doctrines and find them agreeable to the Word of the living God there is no Tergiversation to be used but our words must be receiv'd as if God himself spoke to you for we press no other things upon you than God hath commanded you in the Scriptures These Scriptures you have in your Hands and with the Beraeans you are exhorted to search whether things are so as we represent them What a sad thing is it in Popery not one of the common People not a Lay-man dares bring a Bible to Church with him if he doth he is no good Catholick nay in some Countries in danger of being burnt for a Heretick A good Catholick must have no Bible must not read it must not meddle with it it 's a dangerous Book he must not look into it for fear he should learn Heresie there or rather for fear he should discover how he hath been deluded by the Priests and taught for Doctrines the Commandments of Men. See here the mighty advantages the Reformation hath brought to you You can come to Church with your Bibles under your Arms and have not only leave but are entreated to compare what we say with the Oracles of God to satisfie your selves of the Truth of what we deliver and to believe your own Eyes But then as I said having found that our Exhortations and Doctrines are according to the Law and to the Testimony let it not be said of you as it was of Ezekiel's Hearers Ezek. XXXIII 31. They came and sat before the Prophet they heard his words but they would not do them with their Mouths they shew'd much love but their hearts went after Covetousness What a happiness doth that Minister enjoy that can say of his Disciples as St. Paul of the Thessalonians 2 Thess. 1. 3. We are bound to give thanks to God always for you as it is meet because your Faith grows exceedingly and the Charity of you all toward each other abounds I conclude with St. Paul's Admonition Heb. XIII 17. Obey them that have the Rule over you and submit your selves for they watch for your Souls as they that must give an account that they may do it with Joy and not with Grief for that is unprofitable for you SERMON III. St. Matth. Ch. V. Ver. 3. Blessed are the Poor in spirit for theirs is the Kingdom of Heaven HAving done with the Historical and Circumstantial Part of this Sermon contain'd in the First and Second Verses we go on to the Doctrinal And here a very glorious Scene opens a Scene of admirable Truths of Truths which are Paradoxes to persons who rise no higher than the Animal life perfect Mysteries which the Princes of this World know not which the Great understand not and which the sensual part of Mankind are ready to laugh at and which none but a thinking or thoughtfull Person can admire As the inspired David or whoever was the Collectour of the Psalms begins that Volume with the way to Bliss so our Saviour begins his Sermon with the same Subject Indeed this was his peculiar Province and of the weighty and momentous Errands he was sent upon this was one to teach Men the true way to Bliss endless and eternal Moses had done it before the Prophets had attempted the like Philosophers had made some Essays of that kind but their Notions were imperfect and they had no distinct notices of all the materials necessary and convenient for that excellent Structure and there was a Providence in it because the fuller Revelation of God's Will was reserv'd to the coming of the Messiah or the Son of God And it is remarkable that Christ in his Directions how to attain to solid Bliss runs counter to the World and such as are commonly counted the most wretched and miserable are here pronounc'd blessed It 's like some that were by when Christ deliver'd this Sermon expected he should have begun in another strain such as Blessed are the Rich and the Men whose Barns are large and who have much Goods laid up for many Years who have Money at command can eat what they list and drink what they please whose Lands bring forth plentifully and whose Presses run over who are courted and respected by all that know them whether great or low and are in a capacity of denying themselves in nothing that their fond Appetite craves But my thoughts are not as your thoughts saith God He takes other Measures and therefore Blessedness is here ascribed to Persons where a Man would least imagine or expect to find it even to the poor in Spirit Blessed are the poor in spirit for theirs is the Kingdom of Heaven Three things do here very naturally offer themselves to our Consideration I. Who the poor in Spirit are or what poverty in Spirit is II. In what sense the Kingdom of Heaven is theirs and belongs to them And III. How their Title to this Kingdom makes them blessed I.
in his Service Can the outward Man be good when the inward is rotten and putrefied Are you wise Builders do you think do you hope to make a good piece of work of it to build the Top of the House when you have not laid the Foundation This purity of heart produces a great sense of God and another World a great sense of the Love of God which constrains the Soul to live in conformity to his Will and this is the Foundation of all true Religion If this sense be setled in the Heart if this Ground be well manured the whole Garden of your Lives will abound with Flowers and Fruits of all Sorts Ay! but how is this Purity to be attain'd I answer not with Laziness not with crying There is a Bear there is a Lion in the way Not by being over curious about the Purity and Ornaments of the Body When People spend more time at the Glass than at their Prayers take more than ordinary satisfaction in dressing and adorning the Body seek more to please Men than God do all they can to pamper the Flesh the Mind will run out into a thousand Vanities But 1. By studying the Word of God For the Law of the Lord is perfect converting the Soul the Testimony of the Lord is sure making wise the simple The statutes of the Lord are right rejoycing the heart the commandment of the Lord is pure enlightening the eyes Psal. XIX 7 8. What made David wiser than his Enemies What made him understand more than the Antients What made him know more than his Teachers He tells you Psal. CXIX 97. Oh how I love thy Law it is my meditation all the day Vers. 104. Through thy Precepts I get Vnderstanding Vers. 140. Thy word is very pure And it is so pure that if digested and ponder'd on it will purifie the Heart too 2. By taking notice of God in every thing While other Men talk of chance and take notice of the Shell and Outside and of the little Wheels whereby their own and other Men's affairs are turned about do you look still upon that God that hides himself behind the Curtain and turns all according to his good Pleasure Take notice of him in every Blessing whether you eat or drink or whatever Conveniency Mercy Providence comes upon you have an Eye to him and you will find your hearts will become very pure They looked upon him and were enlightened and their faces were not ashamed Psal. XXXIV 5. 3. By calling in the aid and assistance of his Holy Spirit For it is the proper Province of that Spirit to enlighten the Mind and Understanding and to purifie it from gross terrestrial and brutish Idea's and Imaginations and to replenish and fill it with a sense of spiritual things And this Spirit is ready to come ready to enter ready to lend his helping hand when he finds the Soul willing to be purified willing without Tricks without Reserves without Proviso's without Conditions Such as Lord suffer me first to go and bury my Father or suffer me first to go and take leave of those at my house In a word this Spirit loves to deal with down-right honest Men that mean what they say and think what they speak in their Addresses to God 4. By acquainting your selves with the true Nature of Sin For a principal part of this Purity of Heart consisting in an Aversion from sinfull Thoughts and Desires it is not possible a Person should arrive to that Aversion that sees not that Evil in Sin which is really in it What Shall I hate a thing I see no harm in Shall I dread the Appearance of a thing which I spy some Beauty and Satisfaction in The best the plainest and easiest way to acquaint our selves with the Nature of Sin is by reflecting on the Wages of Sin which is Death even everlasting Death and Misery It may be my Understanding is dull and weak and I cannot dive into all the Tendencies of Sin nor find out all the Indignities it offers to God's Attributes but this I know Eternal Misery is threatned to it This seems indeed to be unproportionable to its short duration But still God having certainly threatned it there must be something in it very nauseous very grievous very odious very dreadfull very injurious to God and to his infinite Purity the very shadow of it must be poysonous and infectious and by this the Heart will take fire and hate the very thoughts of it even every false way 5. By representing to your minds the infinite Purity of God with whom your Souls are to converse and who offers to make your Heart his Temple and the Place of his Residence If you are to receive a King a Sovereign Prince or a Person of extraordinary Quality into your House do not you make all clean and handsome and take care there may be nothing wanting that may give him content and satisfaction every Chamber every Room in the House is set out and garnish'd and adorn'd as far as your ability reaches and Neatness is a thing that at such a time you glory in But what is a great Man to Almighty God What is a Prince or a King to the King of Kings and the Lord of Lords This Sovereign Majesty is willing to lodge nay to dwell in your Souls A God purer than Angels purer than the Sun and Stars and dwelling in Light inaccessible to whom ten thousand times ten thousand minister and by whose Order and Direction the whole Creation stands and falls And then how holy how pious how clean how pure ought your thoughts to be to give so great so rich so magnificent a Guest suitable Entertainment 6. By representing to your selves the vast advantages that come by this inward Purity I shall name some of them by and by In the mean while I will mention but this one It will make you pray without wandring worldly and base troublesome thoughts Many People complain that they are mightily troubled with wandering thoughts in Prayer Purity of Heart is a remedy against that distemper for that consists in a great measure in an habitual delight in holy serious thoughts And when you go to Prayer your thoughts will delight to fix upon that lovely and amiable object And the secret love to God which is another ingredient of this Purity will force your desires upward and keep your thoughts together and they 'll willingly quit all other hold and with cheerfulness gather about that All-sufficient Being to whom you pray and offer your Devotions For indeed wandring thoughts in Prayer come for the most part from want of fervent Love to God what we love we think of Therefore as this Purity of Heart teaches and inclines you to be enamour'd with that excellent Being so it will procure steddiness of thoughts and affections in Prayer will keep your thoughts in a great measure from roving and wandering up and down among Briars and Thorns meaner and baser Objects Thus
Proportionable The Solitary good Man saves himself but he that is Religious in Society is in a way of saving both himself and those that see him In so wicked an Age as this is good Men had need shew themselves to the World to do something toward the Amendment and Reformation of it And without doubt some good they do and though it is to be wisht that the World were better yet that it is not worse they are beholding to such Examples which shews that some good is done by their Living and Conversing in Babylon III. Were I to speak to Princes to the Nobles to the Gentry of the Nation to Magistrates Ministers and to men in Authority this should be my Text. All such Persons who make some Figure in the World are like a City set upon a Hill to such the nether World the Plebeians the Commonalty and the Ordinary sort of People look up Their Example they take Notice of and these Examples they Ordinarily follow I would tell them that as God hath raised them above the Common level so God expects they should be eminent in Goodness and be as much above all Vice as they are above the common Rank I would tell them that their Sins are spreading and like the Plague destroy whole Cities and Towns I would tell them that in this Case they are more Barbarous than the Tyrants Mankind cries out upon for they lay several mens Consciences waste by their ill Practices which is more than sacking Towns and burning Cities All ye that are advanced to some Government and surely Parents and Masters of Families are so Behold your selves in this Glass according as your Examples are so will your Inferiours be I do not say it is so always but this is ordinarily the Effect of your Behaviour As you are so will your Children and Servants be at least there is Reason to think that so they will be for your Example strangely influences those that are under your Charge and Protection If you sanctify the Lords day both in Publick and Private by letting the Word of God dwell richly among you in all Wisdom Teaching and Admonishing one another in Psalms and Hymns and spiritual Songs singing with grace in your Hearts unto the Lord your Inferiours in time its possible would do so too If you are enemies to Pride to Intemperance to Drunkenness to Swearing there is hopes that your Inferiours will learn of you If you are Grave and Modest and curb your Passions and deny your selves for Heaven and Gods Service it is not improbable that your Inferiours will be wrought upon to make you their Patterns We see they do so in evil Things why should we despair of their following you in that which is good At least you have this Satisfaction that by your Example you shew'd them the Way to the Land which flows with Milk and Honey You will have this Comfort that your Example did not lead them into the Chambers of Death nor make them fling their immortal Souls away All ye that are Professours of Religion that pretend to be holier than ordinary the Eyes of the World will be upon you The least false step you make will be taken notice of See then that you walk Circumspectly as wise Men redeeming the Time because the days are Evil. IV. Such of you whom the Spirit of God hath made free from the Law of Sin you are not only a City set upon a Hill but behold you are come into mount Sion to the heavenly Jerusalem unto the City of the living God and to the innumerable company of Angels as the Apostle saith Heb. XII 18. Behold God hath called you to be Citizens of the heavenly Jerusalem called you to be Companions of Angels called you to dwell on the Hill of God on the everlasting Hill How high is your Calling How excellent your Vocation How great the dignity God intends you Your conversation is to be in Heaven and will you mind the Trifles of the Flesh and so mind them as to set your Affections upon them Will you who are Born new Born I mean to an everlasting Kingdom will you be fond of this pitiful transitory World you that are intended for the highest Imployment will you do as the Children of the World do They are from Beneath you are from Above Do Eagles catch Flies and you that are intended to soar above the Clouds will you disgrace your Pedigree and and set your Affections on things Below God intends you as Conquerours and will you suffer your selves to fall a Prey to filthy Temptation and expose your selves to the Contempt and Scorn of the Fowler who Flatters you till he draws you into the Net and then Punishes you for being taken Behold the glorious City the City of our God the City set upon a Hill indeed the City which hath Foundations whose builder and maker is God! Do you hope to be Members of that Community and will you disparage your selves by Actions that will certainly exclude you from that Republick At the Gates of it no unclean Thing shall enter A clean Heart and a clean Life must give you jus Givitatis make you free Denisons of that City and will not you prepare your selves for the Honour of that Naturalization Except you imitate the Manners of the Citizens above you can never hope to be Partners with them in their Glory and what are their Manners Why They love Love is their Trade their Employment their Business their Pleasure their Delight their Satisfaction They love nothing but God or if they love any Thing besides him they love it for his Sake and love God in it Love is their Principle their End their Mark and their Entertainment Love is their Meat and Drink and their Recreation They love Dearly they love Constantly they love Eternally God is love and he dwells in them and they in God To be like them see that ye love him that hath begotten you again unto a lively hope by the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead See that ye love one another with a pure Heart fervently See that your love be without dissimulation See that ye love not in Word nor in Tongue but indeed and in truth and when the Thred of your Life shall break that Love which dwelt in you will exalt you to the Regions of perfect Love where the Inhabitants speak of Love and think of Love and sing of Love and tell one another how Christ hath loved them and wash'd them from their Sins with his own Blood To him be Glory forever Amen FINIS * Anno 1641. †So call'ed as some think from Bacchi ara Vid. Misson's Trav. Tom. 1. Lett. 6 * An. 1665. †The Rectory of Doulton in Devonshire ‖ An 1669. * Charles Lodowick Elector Palatine †An 1671. * Plin. l. 1. ep 12. * Varen descript Japon †The learned W. Sclater us'd to call this Distemper to which he himself was much subject Studiosorum flagellum * Before this last Illness of which he died he fell in the year 1678 into along and languishing Sickness occasioned through his indefatigable Application to the Duties and Functions of his Ministry It brought him well nigh to his Grave The good Man ascribed his Recovery under God to the tender Care of his vertuous Wife with whom he always liv'd in great Concord and Union and to the Prayers of pious People put up to Heaven on his behalf as appears from some devout Meditations which he compos'd on that Subject and which have been found since his Decease among his Papers In Thanksgiving to God for his Preservation at that time which he himself look'd on as next to miraculous he kept a Day Monthly in his Family ever after and preach'd yearly a Commemoration Sermon to his beloved Congregation at the Savoy wherein he rehearsed God's Mereies to him and excited others to hope and trust in him in the like Extremities He also distributed largely to the Poor upon that Day This was his constant Method to treasure up God's Providences to him and to sanctifie and improve them not only to his own Use but to the Use and Benefit of others * Hieron vit Hilarion * Platon Axiochus * Vulg. lat in locum †Theophylact on Matth. 24. Crucific Jesus p. 557. †Socrat. Apolog. * Jul. Celsus de vit J. Caesaris * He commenc'd Doctor at Cambridge in the Year 1681. This is mention'd here it having thro'inadvertency been omitted in its proper place Vid. Grot in Loc. Vid. Cornel à Lap. in Luc. G. Leti Vid. Cornel. à Lap. in Jacobi 1. v. ult Pliny