all of it too little and can we think it too much There 's only one Objection obvious in this Case If we must Love God with all our Heart with all our Soul with all our Strength with all our Mind it seems to follow that we must Love nothing else Now this is evidently a great Mistake because the Scripture immediately adds that we must Love our Neighbour as our selves from whence it follows clearly 1. That we must Love our selves 2. That as we Love our selves so we must Love our Neighbour also 'T is enough therefore that with all our Mind we principally consider our Duty to our God with all our Strength endeavour chiefly to Serve him and with all our Heart and Soul Embrace him as the most Transcending Object of our best Affections 'T is enough I say that we never Love any thing else but either by his Order or with his Leave And that all our Love of any Creature whatsoever is always Subordinate to the Love of God and ready upon all occasions to give place to it without ever offering to stand one Moment in Competition with it Remember what our Saviour says Do this and you shall certainly possess Eternal Life But at the same time pray remember that unless you Do this you shall certainly never possess it It seems a little strange that this Lawyer who was so very skilful in the general Doctrine of the Law was yet so ignorant in the particular Application of it He knew that all the Precepts of the Law were comprehended in these Two of Loving God above all things and our Neighbour as our selves And yet he knew not who his Neighbour was but ask'd our Saviour the Question Who is my Neighbour Is it a Friend A Benefactor A Relation An Acquaintance A Partner A Fellow-Citizen A Countrey-Man Or is it generally any Person United to us in some Common Bond of Humane Society I am afraid that many Christians are as ignorant as this Pharisee was They generally Love themselves to that Degree as not to Care for any Body else but those who are some way or other Instrumental Useful or Serviceable to their Honour Interest or Pleasure Without something of this 't is no great matter what becomes of them Whether they Sink of Swim 't is all the same If this were all that is Commanded by the Second Precept of the Law this part of the way to Heaven would be Broad enough We then should have no need to fear that there are few that find it we might be assured there would be none that miss it To Love our Neighbour for our own sake is as easie as it is to Love our selves But on the contrary to Love him purely for God's sake is as hard a Task as 't is to Love our Maker better than our selves If we Love God above all things and consequently above our selves this Love when it extends to our Neighbour will naturally set a greater value upon his Relation to God than his Connexion with us We shall not then so much consider his Affinity his Kindness or his Usefulness but we shall chiefly regard his being made to the same Divine Image Redeemed by the same Precious Blood and therefore being capable of the same Grace in this World and the same Glory in the next Let a Man be never so much a Stranger to us nay let him be our greatest Enemy yet it is still true that his Creation his Redemption his Capacity of Grace and Glory are the same as ours And therefore if we Love God above all things and our selves in order to him we are bound to Love our Neighbour principally upon these Accounts that is to say we are obliged to Love him as we Love our selves The truth of this Doctrine is plain and clear in our Saviour's Parable of the Samaritan When he saw a Naked Man lye Bleeding and Half-dead of his Wounds 't was enough to move his Compassion and to make him overlook all private Considerations of his being not only a Stranger but perhaps an Enemy to him for the Jews in those Days had such a Mortal Enmity against the Samaritans that they would not endure either to Eat or Drink with them But not withstanding all this He was framed of the same Flesh and Blood he was made to the Image of the same God he had a Just Title to the Common Duties of Humanity and therefore the Samaritan went to him he pour'd Oyl and Wine into his Wounds he bound them up he set him upon his own Horse he brought him to an Inn and took Care on him This was not all When he had brought him thither another Person would perhaps have thought that he had done enough for one Man's share and would have left him to the mercy of the Inn where every Body else was as much oblig'd as he to have Compassion on him But the Samaritan was not content with doing half his Duty he was not certain that the People of the Inn were willing to supply the rest and therefore he not only left Money in the Hands of his Host but also left Orders to let him want for nothing assuring him that if the Money fell short whatsoever he laid out more he would faithfully repay every Farthing The Samaritan if he had been so Hard so Cruel and so Selfish as we are he might have alledged a Thousand of those cautious pretences which are common in the World But his Charity was too sincere to need any Excuse and too great to allow it Our Saviour not only Preach'd this Doctrine but also Practis'd it The Parable is not only His but He himself the principal Person represented in it When Adam Sinned he went down from Paradise into a Vale of Miseries where not only He but his Posterity are stript of all the Original Robes of Innocence and fallen into the Hands of their own disorderly Passions which are worse than Robbers by whom they are dangerously Wounded and left Half Dead Our Saviour Jesus Christ the true Samaritan saw our Condition and took Pity on us He descended from Heaven he pour'd his Precious Blood into our Wounds he Charged himself with the Burthen of our Frailties he brought us into his Church and there he took such Care of us that we are certain to be Cured unless we wilfully refuse to apply the Remedies which he provided for us He look'd upon us as his Neighbours He Loved us because we are made to the Divine Image which tho' defaced by Sin and possess'd by the Devil nevertheless was still capable of being Ransom'd by the Merit of his Passion Renew'd by the Power of his Grace and Perfected by the Brightness of his Glory These are the Reasons why our Saviour Loved us even when we were his Enemies For the same Reasons we truly and justly Love our selves in spite of all our Faults And tho' our Neighbour hates us yet these Motives still subsist and very well deserve our Love Let
us therefore Love God above all things Let us Love our Neighbour as our selves Love is the fulfilling of the Law Let us only Do this and we shall live Let us Do this and we shall possess Eternal Life Amen Discourse III. Of the Love of God and the World JEsus said to his Disciples No Man can serve two Masters For either he will Hate the one and Love the other or else he will Hold to the one and Despise the other You cannot serve God and Mammon Therefore I say unto you Be not Solicitous for your Life what you shall cat nor yet for your Body what you shall put on Is not the Life more than Meat and the Body more than Clothing Behold the Fowls of the Air For they Sow not neither do they Reap nor Gather into Barns and yet your Heavenly Father Feeds them Are not you much better than they Which of you by taking Care can add one Cubit unto his Stature And why are you Solicitous for Clothing Consider the Lilies of the Field how they Grow they Toil not neither do they Spin. And yet I say unto you that even Solomon in all his Glory was not arrayed like one of these Wherefore if God so Clothe the Grass of the Field which to Day is and to Morrow is cast into the Oven How much more will he Clothe you O you of little Faith Therefore be not Solicitous saying What shall we Eat Or what shall we Drink Or wherewithal shall we be Clothed For after all these things do the Gentiles seek And your Father knows that you want all these things Seek therefore First the Kingdom of God and his Righteousness and all these things shall be added unto you Math. 6. v. 24 to 34. This Gospel teaches us Three Things 1. That we cannot serve God and Mammon we cannot serve God and the World they cannot both be Masters of our Heart and our Affections but if we Love God and hold to him above all things we must of necessity either Hate the World or at least Despise it 2. That it is a Dangerous thing to Love the World and be Solicitous for any thing belonging to it because when Love is grown Solicitous 't is certainly great and the worst of it is we cannot certainly judge how great it is it may for ought we know be greater than the Love of God and if it be so we have already quitted the Service of God to Embrace the Service of the World 3. That it is a needless thing to Love the World and be Solicitous for the necessary Conveniencies of it because God himself has faithfully promis'd us that as long as we make it our Chief Busito serve Him He will always make it part of his Care that the World shall be sure to serve Vs I. If God and the World were both of the same Mind if they commanded the same things by the same Authority and for the same End they would not then be two Masters Our Obedience to each of them would be one and the same thing and in obeying one we should obey them both But this is an impossible Supposition We all know very well that God and the World are Enemies which never can be reconciled They command opposite things by a different Authority and for contrary Ends. The Laws of the World are directly Repugnant to the Laws of God The usurped Authority by which they are imposed is derived originally from the Devil And the Ends they aim at are as different as Temporal and Eternal 'T is therefore impossible for God and the World at the same time to be each of them the Sovereign Master of our Heart If we Hold to the one we must Despise the other If we Love the one we must Hate the other And since they are engaged in a Continual War we cannot List our selves in Service of the one without Fighting against the other This is the Reason why our Life is said to be a Warfare upon Earth And this is the War which is described in the Epistle of this Day betwixt the Spirit of God and the Spirit of this World which are always contrary the one to the other For which Reason S. James in his Epistle tells us that the Friendship of this World is Enmity with God and whosoever will be the World's Friend is God's Enemy And yet although we cannot possibly be Friends to both we are under an absolute necessity of making Friends with one of them The Reason is natural and evident We are made to be happy and indeed happy we were when we were First made But being unfortunately fallen from the Original Happiness of our First Creation we feel the want of what we lost we cannot but be Conscious of our Emptiness and therefore cannot help desiring and endeavouring to satisfie it Such is our Nature that we must and will be happy one way or other if we can And because our Misery and our Corruption are such that 't is impossible to find our Happiness at home 'T is therefore no wonder that we go abroad to seek it Now there are only two sorts of Happiness that we can think of either our present Happiness in this Life or our future Happiness in the next God promises the one The World invites and tempts us to the other The one is True and Sincere the other False and Counterfeit The one Sensual and Beastly the other Manly and Rational The one Unmixt and Pure the other Sprinkled with Care and Sorrow The one Secure and Eternal the other short-liv'd and always dying either with us or before us One would think that so much difference in the case were more than enough to Determine our choice And yet This is not All. Our God is so infinitely Good so Merciful and Kind that He not only promises All This hereafter but even here affords us so much Comfort Satisfaction and Pleasure in a Vertuous Life that the World with all its Charms can never make a shew of any thing that 's able to compare with it He bestows at present more Happiness than the World can offer us and for the future He promises incomparably nay infinitely more than he now gives us So that we are evidently Guilty of a double Folly if we do not gladly accept of what we have in Hand and thankfully submit to give him Credit for the Rest Since therefore God has kindly left it to our choice what Master we please to serve and since we cannot avoid chusing let us gratefully and wisely chuse Himself Let us serve him because he made us let us love him because he lov'd us let us live and die for him because he redeem'd us let us obey him without reserve because he rewards us without Measure Let us banish the World from our Heart and leave the whole room to Him who only deserves to be the Sovereign Lord and Master of it The World does not deserve our Love and therefore we ought to Despise
is Evil to himself to whom will he be Good He that Loves himself above all things is as Evil to himself as his Hands and Heart can make him How then will he be good to any Body else How will he spare his Neighbour's Blood before the Altar of that Idol to which he Daily Sacrifices his own Soul his Heart and All that is within him When once the Devil has possess'd Mens Fancies with a great Idea of this World and led them by Degrees to that exceeding height from whence he shews them all the Happiness and Glory of it when once they relish the fond Hopes of all these things the Honors Wealth and Pleasures of this World when once their Hearts are fixt upon these Idols of their Mind there is no longer any Justice to be had no Right to be pleaded no Law to be acknowledg'd but the Sovereign Will and Pleasure of Self-love They may counterfeit Piety Loyalty Friendship Justice Liberality and all those Virtues which are Popular and Serviceable to their Politick Designs they may possibly have some Degree of Natural Goodness and may act sincerely in some small Occasions where 't is no way inconsistent with the Worship of their Idols they may feign themselves Just to God to Caesar to a Friend or Neighbour and all these Vertues may perhaps look well enough in the Face but wheresoever Self-love Lives and Reigns it is impossible to have them sound at Heart These Duties peradventure may obtain some Toleration at a distance but must never approach the Altar where Self-love has placed the Graven Image of their Happiness 'T is true the Honours Riches and Pleasures here below are all imaginary things there 's nothing Real and Substantial in them And when the parting Hour draws near when once these drousie Souls are thoroughly awaken'd with a quick and lively Sence of their Eternity they then see clearly the illusion and the emptiness of all these silly Dreams But nevertheless they now are so Amus'd and Charm'd with an imagination of something or other in which they place their Happiness that whatsoe'er it is they make a God of it they Adore and Serve it only All their other Humours whatsoe'er they are must all bow down to this And all the Duties of a Christian of a Subject of a Friend or Neighbour must be Sacrificed as often as they dare pretend to stand in competition with it These are the Natural Effects of Worldly Policy the necessary Consequences of that Wisdom of this World which the Apostle says is Foolishness with God 'T is Foolish in it self Malicious against it opposers and Vnjust to all And truly we can expect no better if we consider that the first Principles of it are an insatiable Self-love a vain Hope of Self-enjoyment and a silly Belief that this miserable World is the only Seat of Happiness On the contrary Christian Prudence the first of Moral Vertues which Directs and Governs the practice of them all is grounded upon the Three Theological Vertues a true Love of God above all things a comfortable Hope of Enjoying him for ever and a lively Faith that nothing else can make us truly Happy These are the Fundamental Principles of Christian Prudence and therefore there is nothing so truly Wise so Charitable and so Just 1. There is nothing so Wise Because as Self-preservation is the first Instinct of Nature so true Self-love is the first Effect of Divine Wisdom and Christian Prudence teaches us the true Love of our selves It regards our true Interest and Advantage it endeavours to free us from our greatest Evils and procure our greatest Good it considers that inward Peace is better than outward Ease that our Souls are nobler than our Bodies that Eternity is infinitely more considerable than Time that the short and light Afflictions of this World which are but for a Moment are nothing in comparison of Everlasting and Intolerable Torments and that all the uneasie Pleasures of this Life are nothing to the Heavenly Joys which the Almighty has prepared for those that Love him Did Esau truly love himself when for a Morsel of Meat he sold his Birth-right The present satisfaction of his Humour was it not soon past And did not he himself remain a standing Monument of his own Folly Did he not Repent too late and found no place of Repentance tho' he sought it with Tears And was not he himself a sufficient Witness of his being Fool enough to Love a trifle better than himself Such Fools as this and worse are all Profane Self-lovers They Love their Humour not themselves and to content some silly Humour for a Moment they are willing to destroy themselves for ever If any one will come after me says our Saviour let him deny himself and follow me let him deny his own unreasonable Humour and follow my Advice let him follow me who am the Way to Truth let him follow me who am that very Truth which is the Way to Everlasting Life let him not Idolize a foolish Humour and Love it better than himself but let him kindly and wisely deny his Humor for a time that he may Save himself for all Eternity 2. As there is nothing so Wise for our Selves so there is nothing so Charitable to our Neighbour A Man who believes God's Word and relies upon his Promises is happy in a comfortable Hope of Enjoying him for ever The Pleasures of Flesh and Blood are too mean to content him they are the same which Brutes enjoy and therefore he despises them He glories in the Pledges of his Hope his being Made to the Divine Image his being Redeem'd by the Merits of Christ and being thus Entitled to Grace here and Glory hereafter These are the Reasons why he justly Values himself They are the Excellencies which he is in Love with wheresoe'er he meets them and therefore Loves his Neighbour as he Loves himself The best Christian is always the best Friend He is the truest Friend not only to himself but to his Neighbour The World is strangely mistaken in the Notion of true Friendship as well as in that of self-Self-love We commonly think a Man Loves himself mightily when he allows himself in all his Humours But alas He only Loves his Humour and at the same time Hates himself He does not see it and may be will not believe it till he 's Damn'd for it But then his Hatred shews it self too late he Hates and Curses himself for ever In the same manner we take him to be our best and faithfulest Friend who is always most ready to comply with us and take our part in all things But this is a mistake as great as the other If our Neighbour's Humours are any way unreasonable a true Friend may endeavour to moderate but can never find in his Heart to approve them Nay tho' their Humours are Lawful yet if they are not Expedient 't is an Argument of true kindness to deny one's Neighbour in all those
Practical DISCOURSES UPON THE Morality OF THE GOSPEL Printed MDCXCIX TO THE READER MOrality is my Business Morality Improv'd Exalted and Rais'd nearer Heaven by Religion If Controversie ever happens to lye fairly in my way I shall as fairly pass it by without taking any Notice of it I am not at all desirous to Dispute with my Reader but to do him good Which I believe is seldom done by Arguing and Disputing The best thing that Controversie can do is to shew us clearly which is the True Religion And I presume All Parties are Agreed that This is a very Necessary Point or otherwise they would not think it worth their quarrelling so fiercely and so obstinately about it But yet when This is done we are only beginning the Great Work of our Salvation The Best Religion in the World can never Save us without a constant Practice of the Best Morality The Faith and Law of Christ must always go together The Creed and the Commandments must never upon any Terms be parted The First Part will not do without the Second 'T is always defective and wants the other Half to make up a Whole Christian I may therefore boldly say The Subject which I Treat of is the Best I could have chosen I know no Entertainment Better for a Christian than the Morality of the Gospel which is the Law of Christ As for the Style and Method of the following Discourses I leave them to speak for themselves They were the usual Employment of my Morning-Thoughts intended chiefly for my own Private Improvement And tho' I am far from Admiring them yet having found some benefit in the Writing I do not quite despair but that some few may find the like in Reading them My Friends perhaps may wonder to see me again in Print especially after having Publickly Declar'd That I had now done Scribling But however I hope they will not Accuse me of Inconstancy when I assure them that my Judgment and my Inclination are still the same and that 't is only by Advice that I have chang'd my Resolution They may also please to Reflect that having taken some pains to prove in Doubtful Cases the Security of Blind Obedience it would look a little strangely if I durst not venture to Practise it The Contents Discourse I. Of Hearing the Word of God Discourse II. Of the Advantages of Christianity and Duties of a Christian Discourse III. Of the Love of God and the World Discourse IV. Of Worldly Policy and Christian Prudence Discourse V. Of Christian Humility Discourse VI. Of Christian Marriage and the Means to Sanctifie it Discourse VII Of True Repentance Discourse VIII Of the small Number of the Elect. Discourse I. Of Hearing the Word of God WHEN many People were gathered together and made haste out of the Cities to come to Jesus he spoke by a Parable The Sower went out to Sow his Seed and as he Sowed some fell by the way and it was trodden down and the Fowls of the Air devour'd it And some fell upon a Rock and being sprung up it wither'd away because it wanted Moisture And some fell among Thorns and the Thorns springing up with it choked it And the other fell upon good Ground and being sprung up bore Fruit an Hundred-fold And when he had said these things he cried He that has Ears to hear let him hear Whereupon his Disciples ask'd him What this Parable might be And he said Vnto you it is given to know the Mystery of the Kingdom of God but to others in Parables that Seeing they may not See and Hearing they may not Vnderstand Now the Parable is this The Seed is the Word of God Those whose Seed falls by the Way are they that Hear and then comes the Devil and takes the Word out of their Hearts lest they should Believe and be Saved They whose Seed falls upon the Rock are they who when they have Heard Receive the Word with Joy and these have no Root Who for a time Believe and in time of Temptation fall away And that which fell among Thorns are they who have Heard and going forth are choked with Cares and Riches and Pleasures of this Life and bring no Fruit. But that which falls on the good Ground are they who in a good and honest Heart having Heard the Word Keep it and bring forth Fruit with Patience Luk. 8. ver 4 to 16. The Word of God is the Seed of Salvation the Seed of those Vertues by which we save our Souls The Heart of Man is the Ground in which this Seed is Sown And if the Ground be good it will Receive the Seed and Keep it and bring forth Fruit with Patience 'T is no wonder therefore that the Prophet exhorts us to prepare our Hearts to God and Serve him only because we cannot Serve him unless we first prepare our Hearts and fit them for his Service It is not Grace alone that makes the difference 'twixt Saints and Sinners The very same Degree of Grace which is Receiv'd by some is many times Refus'd by others And the Receiving or Refusing of it very much depends upon the preparation of our Hearts The Seed miscarried Three several ways 'T was Devour'd Wither'd and Chok'd Not because there were Three forts of Seed but because the same Seed Fell upon Three sorts of Ground The First did not Receive it the Second did not Keep it the Third brought no Fruit to perfection I. The First Ground did not Receive it Because 't was totally Neglected and continually Trampled under Foot The Husbandmen were Idle and never offer'd to Cultivate it The Passengers were ever busie to and fro and made it too hard for any Seed to Enter And this is the common Case of many People's Hearts 1. They take no Care to Prepare them 2. They spare no Pains to Harden them 1. They take no Care to Prepare their Hearts for the Reception of the Word of God They never make it any Considerable part of their Business to be well acquainted with it If they read it or hear it 't is either Curiosity or Custom 't is not Inclination that prompts them to it And when all is done they seldom or never seriously Consider it For want of a free acquaintance with it they never know how lovely it is in it self And for want of loving it as it deserves they give it a very cold reception in their Minds and none at all in their Hearts The Word of God is in their Ears when they hear it in their Minds when they think of it but never is in their Hearts till they Love it Hatred indeed belongs to the Heart as well as Love But Hatred banishes and drives it away 't is only Love receives it and embraces it And how should they Love it without knowing the Value of it Or how should they rightly Understand it without Conversing freely and familiarly with it As partial as we are in favour of our selves we cannot reasonably
because it only Discovers to them a Heaven which they do not Relish and Disturbs them with unwelcome Thoughts of a Hell which makes them Tremble Their Hearts are wilfully Blind and obstinately Deaf And therefore they seeing see not and hearing hear not Our Saviour thus describes them in the Thirteenth of S. Matthew Their Heart is gross their Ears are dull of hearing and they shut their Eyes for fear lest at any time they should See and Vnderstand with their Heart and should be Converted and I should Heal them They are not so much afraid of Vnderstanding with their Mind because the Mind only Preaches 't is the Heart that Practises Their great fear is lest at any time they should Vnderstand with their Heart They have not patience to think of any real and effectual Change of Life and therefore are afraid of changing their Foolish Hearts and bringing them to a better Vnderstanding of the Word of God lest at any time they should begin to Love it take Delight in it and Practise it The Devil is always watchful to take the Word out of their Hearts And they are no less Careful to keep it always out He takes it out for fear lest they should Believe and be Saved They keep it out for the same reason lest at any time they should be Converted and Heal'd The Devil fears nothing more than that they should Believe it so as to be Saved And they are so much of his Mind so fully in his Power and so led Captive by him at his pleasure that the Devil himself is not more afraid of it than they are II. When the Heart of Man is thus doubly hardned from without and from within 't is no great wonder that it does not receive the Word of God No wonder I say that the Seed which falls by the way is trodden down and presently devour'd But the Second sort of Ground is something better than the First Though it be Stony underneath yet it is cover'd over with some little Earth which readily receives the Seed and helps it to spring up although it does not keep it nor allow it any Root S. Luke says It wither'd away because it wanted Moisture And indeed there are some certain Tears of hearty and sincere Repentance which are apt to mollifie the hardest Heart and soften all the Stony places in it They are as it were the Dew of Heaven that Heavenly Moisture which Nourishes the Love of God and of his Holy Word and helping the Seed to Enter Deeply hinders it from being Scorch'd and Wither'd In the Thirteenth of S. Matthew we read that the Seed which fell upon stony places sprung up immediately because it had no deepness of Earth and presently Wither'd away because it had no Root It was soon up for want of Depth and soon down for want of Root The Love of this World in the Heart of many Christians who prefer it before God and do not know they do so is like a Rock under Ground The Soil seems good and so much as there is it really is so but because there is no more of it 't is little better than none at all It is not Deep enough to be fruitful The Seed immediately Enters but being little Cover'd and less Rooted is presently Wither'd with the first heat that Scorches it The generality of Mankind are strangely in love with this foolish World and violently fond of transitory things belonging to this present Life Their Worldly Honour Wealth and Pleasure are dearer to them than their Lives and this Life dearer to them than the next When they hear of the next and are awaken'd with a lively Apprehension of a future State where Everlasting Happiness attends them if they please they receive the Word with joy and are very glad to understand that when they have done being Happy here they may perhaps begin to be so there They are not very much Charm'd with what they hear of Heaven they know not how to relish those Spiritual Pleasures which are too refin'd for Sensual and Carnal Souls but however they presume that God who cannot but be infinitely Happy in himself must needs know how to make them Happy when he takes them to him and therefore when their own Felicity is spent which they desire may last as long as possible they then are willing to try what Heaven is and see if it can make amends for what they leave behind them Upon these Terms they seem to love God pretty well but 't is too plain they love themselves a great deal better And the more we consider the matter the plainer 't will appear that it is not so much the Love of God which Leads them as it is the Fear of Hell which Drives them into a Desire of Heaven Fear is a troublesome Passion And Hell is a thing so terrible that even those who have no mind to believe it are not easie in themselves when they admit a serious thought of it It soures all Worldly Comforts and Embitters the Enjoyments of this Life And therefore for their own dear sakes that they may Love the World Securely and Enjoy it with an undisturb'd and quiet Mind they are willing to come to a Composition and to comply with all the Exterior Duties of Religion provided they may keep their Heart to themselves and bestow it where they please without being oblig'd to Wean it from the World and Disengage it from the Treacherous Endearments of it For this reason they are very exact in all their Parish-Devotions punctual in their times of Morning and Evening Prayer diligent in Hearing Sermons chearful in giving Alms and charitable in comforting the Afflicted All this they are ready to do and any thing else whatever it is that does not hinder them from loving and enjoying Themselves the World and their own Humour as much as ever And all this they are the more willing to do because it pacifies the troublesom Remorses of their Conscience it cheats them into a belief that they are better than they are it makes them hope they love God better than they do and that they are not so very fond of any Worldly Satisfactions as not to leave them all for God's sake when occasion requires The out-side of their Piety Amuses them but the in-side of their Heart is always Hidden from them They take no Pains to Search the Bottom of it and to discover the wretched Corruption of their misplac'd Affections because there are some certain things in which they are fully determin'd never to practise any Self-denial they will not hear of any reason to the contrary but in spite of all the Reason in the World they are resolved upon the Point that such things must and shall be reasonable because they have a mind they should be so In other matters where their strongest Passions are not much concern'd they can comply with ease They can Read and Pray and Hear the Word of God with Joy they can
Holy Will contented with his Appointments always Calm Serene and Undisturb'd When Worldly Cares are thus restrain'd they are no more than Duties But when they pass these Limits then it is that they are Thorns which not only prick our Feet but pierce the very Hearts of us They wound our Feet I mean those Pious Affections of our Soul which are the only Feet by which we move towards Heaven and pierce our Conscience with a terrible Remorse of loving this World too much and for ought we know a great deal more than the next 'T is possible you 'll say to love the World to a very great degree and yet love God a little better which if we do we love him above all things and that 's enough to save us But surely you are not in good earnest Your whole Heart is due to him And can you think you do him Justice by allowing him a little more than half Your whole Heart ought to be a House of Prayer And is it just to make almost one half of it a Den of Thieves Your whole Heart ought to be the Temple of God And dare you offer to defile it by making a Partition in it and erecting Altars to his Mortal Enemies the World the Flesh and the Devil A true Christian cannot be so false-hearted If we believe the Gospel He has the best of Hearts His Heart is Good and Honest He 's no Trimmer betwixt God and the World He hates all double Dealing and endeavouring to please both Parties He scorns to do so mean and base a thing as to divide His Heart and steal away any part of it from him who has a Right to All. He does not use the World because He loves it but because He needs it He Eats and Drinks and Sleeps that He may live He does not live that He may Eat and Drink and Sleep If He takes care of His good Name it is because it will enable Him to do more Good If He diverts himself 't is only to refresh His Spirits and prepare them for a better use He knows very well that all the Comforts and Reliefs of our Corrupted Weak and Sickly Nature are very pleasing and delightful to it and are therefore apt to entice our Hearts to love them But alas He sees and grieves at his diseased Condition And tho' He gladly uses the Remedies because His Nature wants them and His Misery makes it His Duty to apply them yet He is so far from loving them that He could wish with all His Heart He were so Healthy and so Happy as not to stand in need of them The Sores of His Mortality are grievous to Him and the itching Pleasure of His Plaisters does not make him such Amends but that He had much rather be without them He hears and He believes there is a State of Immortality where Health and Happiness expect Him where He may be sure to find them if He please and where once found it is impossible to lose them The Word of God assures him of it And this is the Word which in a good and honest Heart he receives joyfully keeps faithfully and brings forth Fruit with Patience because he is not so much concern'd for any Worldly Matter as to be impatient about it Discourse II. Of the Advantages of Christianity and Duties of a Christian JEsus said to his Disciples Blessed are the Eyes which see the things that you see For I tell you that many Prophets and Kings have desired to see those things which you see and have not seen them and to hear those things which you hear and have not heard them And behold a certain Lawyer stood up and tempted him saying What shall I do to possess Eternal Life He said unto him What is written in the Law How readest thou And he answering said Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy Heart and with all thy Soul and with all thy Strength and with all thy Mind and thy Neighbour as thy self And he said unto him Thou hast answered right this do and thou shalt live But he willing to justifie himself said unto Jesus And who is my Neighbour And Jesus answering said A certain Man went down from Jerusalem to Jericho and fell among Robbers who stript him and wounded him and departed leaving him half dead And by chance there came down a certain Priest that way and when he saw him he passed by And likewise a Levite when he was at the place came and looked on him and passed by But a certain Samaritan as he travelled came where he was and when he saw him he had Compassion on him and went to him and bound up his Wounds pouring in Oil and Wine and set him on his own Beast and brought him to an Inn and took care of him And on the Morrow he took out Two Pence and gave them to the Host and said unto him Take Care of him and whatsoever thou spendest more when I come again I will repay thee Which now of these three thinkest thou was Neighbour unto him that fell among the Robbers And he said he that shewed Mercy unto him Then said Jesus unto him Go and do thou likewise Luke 10. v. 23 to 38. The Glorious Advantages of Christianity and the Principal Duties of a Christian are the whole Matter of this Gospel The Advantages are so great that we should be ungrateful if we pass'd them slightly over and the Duties are of such Importance that we should be inexcuseable if we refus'd to take them into serious Cosideration I. S. Paul in his Second Epistle to the Corinthians considers the Preheminency of the Law of Christ above the Law of Moses And that we may better understand the Comparison it will not be amiss to observe the Rise and Progress of the Divine Law from the first Establishment of it God in the first Creation gave to Man a Natural Knowledge of his Duty which Knowledge is the Law of Nature By this Abel offer'd Sacrifice Enoch walkt with God Abraham paid Tythes to Melchisedec Lot was hospitable to Strangers Job was Patient Just and Humble In a Word All the Saints who lived before the Law of Moses by the Light of Nature were instructed in their Duty Mean time the growing Malice of Corrupted Nature every Day encreased the Will became more prone to Evil and the Custom of transgressing being as it were a second Nature superinduced a second Law which the Apostle calls the Law of Sin The Dictates of this Law of Sin altho' they were not able to efface the Original Impression of the Law of God yet they obscured and darkned it The Understanding which ought to have led the Will was now misled and blinded by it And. Vice prevailing almost universally the Law of God was in a manner out of Sight and out of Mind When the World was in this desperate Condition God of his Infinite Mercy promulgated the Law of Moses the Morality of which was formerly
well known tho' now neglected and almost quite forgotten Then it was that the Law was written in their Tables says S. Austin because they did not read it in their Hearts The manner of its Delivery is very remarkable When the Children of Israel were gone out of the Land of Egypt they came into the Wilderness of Sinai and Camp'd before the Mount where the Ten Commandments were proclaim'd with Thunder and Lightning the Earth quaking and the People trembling at what they saw and heard The Morality of these Commandments was neither more nor less than the Law of Nature which as promulgated by Moses is called the Old Law and as confirm'd by Jesus Christ is call'd the New Not that the Law it self as to the Moral Part of it is different from what it was but that the Circumstances I mean the Motives and Advantages are New and infinitely surpassing those of the Old In the New Law the Motives which induce us to observe it are incomparably greater The Jews generally fear'd nothing but Temporal Punishments they hoped for nothing but Temporal Rewards their Self-love aim'd at nothing more than Earthly Happiness and even God himself who knew their Hearts were harder than the Stones on which he Engrav'd their Law propos'd no better Motives to them They were to be Train'd up by Degrees to fear and to obey the Author of their Nature before they could be well prepared to Entertain the Mysteries of Grace and Glory And thus we read in the Nineteenth Chapter of Exodus how God Commanded Moses to mind the People of what he had done to the Egyptians and that now having brought them to himself if they would obey his Voice he would take them into his particular Care above all other People and to Encourage them the more he would have them know that All the Earth was his They were to remember the Plagues of Egypt that they might not forget their Duty but that their fears might be awaken'd with expecting the like Severity in case of Disobedience And to maintain their hopes it was enough that All the Earth was his for this was All they wish'd for and therefore if they Obey'd he was able to Reward them to the utmost of their Hearts desire In the Twenty sixth of Leviticus he tells them If you keep my Commandments I will give you Rain in due Season and the Land shall yield her increase you shall eat your Bread to the full you shall Chase your Enemies and they shall fall before you and you shall dwell in your own Land safely And in the Twenty eighth of Deuteronomy he assures them All these Blessings shall come upon you if you will hearken to my Voice But if you will not hearken to it Then All the contrary Curses shall be sure to overtake you Poor Creatures And was This All Was This the utmost prospect of their Hopes and Fears These Little Earthly and Transitory Comforts are they worthy to compare with that inestimable Blessing promised by our Saviour Come ye Blessed of my Father Come and possess the great and everlasting Kingdom of Heaven which was prepared for you from the Foundation of the World Or are the Curses which deprive us of these Empty and Unsatisfying Pleasures are they comparable to that final Curse of our Redeemer Go ye Accursed into Everlasting Fire which was prepared for the Devil and his Angels No no. The Eternal Torments which no Tongue is able to express the Everlasting Joys of Heaven which never enter'd into the Heart of Man and the endearing Charms of God's prodigious Love by which he sent his Son not only to teach us these great Truths but to Assist us with his Conquering Grace and to Redeem us with his Precious Blood These these I say are new Advantages incomparably surpassing All that the Old Law ever could pretend to 'T is true there were many Prophets Patriarchs and Kings amongst them who were more Enlightned than the rest and tho' they had not received these glorious Promises yet they had some fore-knowledge of them afar off and languish'd with continual Expectations and Desires to see the Accomplishment of them And therefore 't is no wonder that we find it written in the beginning of this Gospel Jesus said to his Disciples Blessed are the Eyes which see the things that you see For I tell you that many Prophets and Kings have desired to see those things which you see and have not seen them and to hear those things which you hear and have not heard them We see the Church of Christ Establish'd firmly and securely Blessed are the Eyes that see it We hear his Gospel Preach'd and faithfully Deliver'd to us Blessed are the Ears that hear it And Blessed indeed we are if we not only hear the Word of God but also keep it Alas These great Advantages of Christianity will little avail us They will only serve to rise in Judgment against us and to heap a greater Damnation upon us if we neglect the Duties of it II. We read in the Gospel how a certain Lawyer stood up and ask'd our Saviour What shall I do to possess Eternal Life He thought and with a great deal of reason that so vast a Purchase as Eternal Life was never to be had for nothing He knew that all this Momentary Life of ours is nothing to Eternity which swallows up all Time with a disproportion infinitely greater than a Drop of Water loses it self in the Ocean And therefore he justly suspected that perhaps his uttermost endeavours would fall short of it What shall I do says he to possess Eternal Life These words of his express an earnest and a sincere desire not only to know his Duty but to do it And truly unless we fully and absolutely resolve to do it we had better never know it Are we as heartily desirous as he seem'd to be Are we as much in earnest Are we as sincere If so Hear then what 's written in the Law Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy Heart and with all thy Soul and with all thy Strength and with all thy Mind and thy Neighbour as thy self Consider this well and then attend to what our Saviour says Do this and you shall live Do but this and you shall certainly possess Eternal Life And is it hard to do so much as this He is infinitely lovely in himself and is it therefore a difficult thing to love him He infinitely deserves our Love and therefore we can never Love him so much as he deserves But must we therefore never Love him as much as we can Let us do our utmost we can never Love him so much as he Loves us and although we had each of us a Thousand Hearts entirely at his Service we should never be able to make a suitable return Since therefore we have only one Can we for shame refuse him any part of that 'T is All of it due and can we make abatements 'T is
it On the contrary it deserves God's hatred as well as ours the Maxims of it are Inconsistent with his Service and our Happiness 't is a declared Enemy to him and a pernicious Enemy to us and therefore we have a double Reason to Hate it If we Love God above all things the very Love of him is enough to set our Hearts at liberty It disarms the Power of the World It makes us generously scorn its Riches Vanities and Pleasures It calls home our Thoughts reclaims our Affections calms our Passions enlightens our Mind enflames our Heart and establishes the Kingdom of God within us When once we Love God as we ought we are led by the Spirit of God And S. Paul assures us that the Fruits of this Spirit are not only Love but Joy Peace Long-suffering Gentleness Goodness Faith Meekness Temperance and all those other Vertues which begin our Heaven upon Earth But it is not so with those who Love this World above the next They are Slaves to their own Vncleanness Covetousness and Pride They begin their Hell before they end their Lives They wilsully condemn themselves to all the Troubles Anguishes and Torments which their eager violent and furious Passions can invent and when these Executioners have done their worst the Devil and his Angels do the rest for ever They have receiv'd the Spirit of this World whose Works according to the same Apostle are Manifest not only Adultery Fornication Vncleanness Lasciviousness Drunkenness and Revellings but also Covetousness which is Idolatry and Pride which naturally is attended with Hatred Variances Emulations Anger Strife Seditions Heresies Envyings Murders and such like concerning which says he I foretel you as I have also told you in time past that they who do such things shall not Inherit the Kingdom of God No no They shall whether they will or no Inherit the Slavery of the Devil But as for the Kingdom of God they have no Title to it Unless his Will be done his Kingdom cannot come Unless we Love him above all things we cannot be his Subjects nor can he be our King Our Heart is the Throne of God And when we begin to Balance betwixt him and the World when we refuse to let him Govern our Affections we Rebel we take up Arms against him and call in the Devil to help us to Dethrone him And can we expect to inherit his Kingdom if we wilfully renounce it and declare against it Can we be Heirs of his Kingdom hereafter if we are not Faithful and Loyal Subjects of it here II. I have said enough to shew the impossibility of serving two Masters the necessity of serving one and the Folly of preferring the World before the Maker of it I shall now consider the natural Consequences of this Doctrine If our present and future Happiness depend entirely upon our Loving God above all things If our Misery as well here as hereafter is the Effect and Punishment of loving the World too much It follows evidently that we ought to make it the Chief Business of our whole Life to improve the Love of God and to lessen the Love of this World 'T is true the Kingdom of God is never perfect upon Earth The Empire of Divine Love is never so absolute here as to exclude all Worldly Affection The Love of this World is entail'd upon our Corrupted Nature 'T is an Inseparable Companion of it and a Mortal Enemy to it And this is our unhappy Condition in this Vale of Misery We are engaged in a Continual War with our selves Our Heart is the Field of Battel where we must always Fight and may always Conquer but can never Kill our Enemy We can never quite destroy the Love of this World Let us do what we can 't will never die before us But as long as we live 't will still live in us and whilst it lives will always struggle with us and rebel against us But nevertheless although we cannot Kill this Love yet we can Moderate it we can Weaken it and keep it under And this is what we are strictly obliged to unless we have a mind to Cherish our Danger and to Perish in it This is the Reason why our Saviour had no sooner said to his Disciples You cannot serve God and Mammon but immediately he concludes Therefore I say unto you Be not Solicitous for this Life And the Reason is clear Because when once we Love the World to that Degree as to be Solicitous for it we are in very great danger of loving the World too much and of serving Mammon instead of God I have already told you that when Love is grown Solicitous 't is certainly great and that we cannot certainly judge how great it is It may for ought we know be greater than the Love of God And if it be only as great 't is enough to lose his Favour and make him leave us to our selves to seek our Fortune in the Service of this World In Matters of little Importance where our Heart is not much engaged we are not apt to be Solicitous our Minds are at ease we expect with a great deal of Patience and are disappointed with very little Disturbance But if our Thoughts are always stirring and busie our Desires eager and importune if our Hopes are unquiet and restless our Fears troublesome and painful if Delays very much mortifie us and even the Apprehensions of Disappointments very much disturb us we may be sure that the Love from whence all this Solicitude proceeds is very great And whether it be Honour Interest or Pleasure be it what it will 't is certain we are very much in Love with something or other which Influences all these Motions and Affections of our Mind and Heart when things are once come to this pass 't is time to look about us and stand upon our Guard We may hope indeed that still we Love God better than the World And I must needs Confess 't is possible we may but I am sure it is not very probable we do There are great odds against us For 't is a certain Truth that All our Inclinations are proportion'd to the Love from whence they proceed And if our Aversions and Desires our Hopes and Fears our Joy and Grief are stronger and more active in the Concerns of this World than in those of Heaven we have Reason to be very much afraid that our Love of this World is greater than the Love of God 'T is a gross Mistake to imagine that because we still Esteem God more Therefore we Love him better Alas This Esteem is only a Compliment of our Mind And this Compliment may easily pass for Current altho ' the strongest Affections of our Heart are otherwise engaged We know too well by sad Experience that there is a certain thing call'd Humour which often over-rules our Reason and steals away our Heart to doat upon those very Follies which in our Serious Thoughts we cannot but despise A Man
who is Solicitous for this World may easily deceive himself in this Matter He may Esteem God a great deal more and yet Love him a great deal less The Disciples had a great Esteem of our Saviour and thought they loved him better than their Lives They All declared they would rather die with him than deny him And yet immediately after the Chief of them denied him and all the rest forsook him When they look'd upon the time of Trial at a distance they had a great Opinion of their Strength But when the Occasion was present they soon discover'd their Weakness This was once their Case And God only knows how often it has been ours Their Case you 'll say was different because they were Guilty of a great Presumption But pray consider a little Are not we as guilty as they Do we not presume as much Are we not as confident of our own Strength We know very well that the Love of this World is a Mortal Enemy to the Love of God And therefore if we do not daily watch the Motions of this Enemy oppose its Progress and cut off all Communications which may any way Fortifie it if on the contrary we daily furnish it with all Provisions Ammunitions and Arms against us if we thus despise the Strength of our Enemy is it not Visible that we too much confide in in our own And if we commonly neglect those daily Considerations Exercises and Endeavours which are necessary to Encrease and Fortifie the Love of God is not this a downright Presumption in our own Sufficiency as if we already loved him enough Remember the Fall of the Apostles Remember how grievously they were mistaken Remember that not only their Doctrines but even their Failings ought to be an Instruction to us Never let us confide in our present Love of God but let us daily endeavour to Improve it Never let us despise the Strength of our Worldly Love but let us daily endeavour to abate it If we could serve two Masters we might be Solicitous for both But since we can only serve One 't is a dangerous thing to be Solicitous for any Other You cannot serve God and Mammon says our Saviour therefore I say unto you Be not Solicitous for this Life III. We have seen how Dangerous it is to be Solicitous for any thing in this World The rest of the Gospel shews us that his Solicitude is altogether needless If there were any necessity of it our Saviour would not forbid it The Words are plain Be not Solicitous for your Life And indeed if we seek first the Kingdom of God if the Service of God be truly and sincerely our first and principal Concern 't is evidently needless to be Solicitous for our Life He made us for himself and for his own sake he takes care of us Not that he is any way the better for us but because he naturally takes delight in doing good to All who do not wilfully oppose the overflowing of his Goodness He gave us our Life that if we please we may be Happy by employing it entirely in his Service And as long as we serve the Master who gave us this Life our Self-preservation is in better Hands than our own All the Malice of Men and Devils put together can never take away our Life without our Master's order or his leave And therefore whensoever either by his leave or by his order the appointed Hour of our Death approaches we may be assur'd our Master has no more occasion for our Service and therefore we have no Pretensions to Live longer There is only One thing Necessary in this World and that 's our Duty to our Master And whensoever our Duty stands in Competition with our Life if we are true and faithful Servants we shall always readily and cheerfully conclude Our Duty is Necessary but our Life is not When things are in this posture 't is evident that the Observance of this Duty is the last Piece of Service which our Master requires at our Hands And since our Service is the End for which our Life was given us if we wish to out-live our Service we are every jot as unreasonable as if we wish'd to out-live the End of our Life You 'll tell me perhaps you are very willing to Die when God pleases But you are afraid of wanting the Necessary Conveniences of Humane Life and therefore you are justly Solicitous for fear of being Miserable whilst you Live And truly you are partly in the right You have all the Reason in the World to be willing that God should chuse the Hour and appoint the Moment of your Death because He only knows what Time is best and fittest for us But since we are willing to trust him with our Life why should we not as willingly trust him with all things else belonging to it He has promis'd to take Care of us He knows better than we do what is good for us He loves us better than we love our selves His Power is boundless and cannot be obstructed Is not this enough to secure us He is infinitely Powerful He is able says S. Paul to do exceeding abundantly above all that we can ask or think He is infinitely Good He cannot but Delight in being so to those that serve him He is infinitely Wise He cannot commit the least mistake in our Concerns In a Word his Wisdom his Goodness and his Power all concurr to Ensure the Blessings of his Providence which by a Solemn Promise is engaged for ever to be favourable to us Seek first the Kingdom of God and his Righteousness and All these things shall be added to you 'T is the Voice of Truth it self Truth cannot tell a Lie His Promise cannot fail Is it not the First Article of our Creed to believe in God the Father Almighty Does not the First of all our Petitions begin with these comfortable Words Our Father who art in Heaven If we believe him to be Our Father ought we not to believe that he will certainly be careful of his Children And if we really believe He is always careful of us what need we at any time be Over-careful and Solicitous for our selves Therefore I say unto you says our Saviour Be not Solicitous for your Life what you shall eat nor yet for your Body what you shall put on He only forbids our being Solicitous He does not forbid us to Work and Labour for an Honest Livelyhood Our Heavenly Father does not encourage Idleness in his Children He expects that we should be industrious in doing of our part And when we have done that He 's always ready to supply the rest And to satisfie us concerning this matter our Saviour is not contented to give us his bare Word for it but uses several Arguments in order to convince us Is not the Life more than Meat says he and the Body more than Clothing He who freely and frankly bestows upon us what is more will he deny us
Cases in which one would be glad to have so much Vertue as to deny one's self For my own part if ever I have need of a Friend I only wish and pray I may fall into the Hands of a good Christian a Friend of God's own Making Chusing and Appointing Let him be only able to assist me I am very sure the better Christian he is the better Friend he 'll shew himself He 'll act by Nobler and Diviner Principles than all the Humane Ties of Gratitude and Kindness And will be sure to do a great deal more for God's sake than any Body else will ever do for mine I grant there are but few of these but the fewer there are the more 's the pity And I am very much afraid 't is partly our own fault that the World is not good enough to have more of them 3. As there is nothing so Wise and Charitable so there is nothing so Perfectly and Universally Just as Christian Prudence Altho' it necessarily presupposes Faith and Hope yet the chief ground of it is Charity by which we Love God above all things and look upon all things else as nothing in Comparison of Him A Man whose Mind and Heart are throughly Enlightned and Enflam'd with this Coelestial Love lays up his Treasure in Heaven where his Heart is He gives to God what 's due to God he Adores and Serves him only he renders to him his whole Being his Soul his Heart and all that is within him He despises all the Treasures upon Earth where Moth and Rust do Corrupt and Thieves break through and Steal Eternity is his great Aim and therefore he scorns to quarrel about any Temporal Concerns but easily and readily makes even Reckonings with all the World by giving to Caesar what is due to Caesar and to his Friends and Neighbours what is due to all of them We never are Unjust to Caesar to a Friend or Neighbour but when we are strongly tempted to it by an eager desire of something or other relating to our Honour Profit or Pleasure And these are the very things which a good Christian Undervalues and Despises When our Saviour said to the Pharisees Shew me the Tribute-Money and when he askt them Whose is this Image and Superscription He was not ignorant of either But was willing to let them understand how little he valued these Money-matters which were the least part of his Care A Christian is a Man of another World and all the while he is in this he chiefly minds his way to the next He knows that his good Actions are the only things which have a Current Value there And as for the Riches of this World he does not covet to be loaded with them but only to have a little about him as much as may suffice to pay his share by the way He considers that the way is short and therefore is easily satisfied with any thing If he Lodge uneasily and Fare a little hardly in his Journey 't is only the common Fate of Travellers he cheerfully makes the best of it and comforts himself with thinking how plentifully he shall Feast for ever when he comes to his Eternal Home O God who art the only Refuge of Sinners the only Strength of the Weak and only Author of all Piety incline thy Ears of Pity and Compassion to the Pious Prayers of thy Church forgive our past Offences all our Folly Malice and Injustice direct us in the ways of thy own Wisdom Charity and Righteousness and never cease to assist us with thy Grace that what by thy Encouragement we confidently ask we may effectually obtain Thro' Christ our Lord. Amen Discourse V. Of Christian Humility JEsus went into the House of one of the Chief Pharisees to eat Bread on the Sabbath-day and they watched him And behold there was a certain Man before him which had the Dropsie And Jesus answering spake unto the Lawyers and Pharisees saying Is it Lawful to heal on the Sabbath-day But they held their Peace And he took him and healed him and let him go And answer'd them saying Which of you shall have an Ass or an Ox fallen into a Pit and will not straightway pull him out on the Sabbath-day And they could not answer him to these things And he told a Parable to those who were Invited observing how they chose out the chief places saying unto them When thou art Invited to a Wedding sit not down in the highest place lest perhaps a more honourable Man than thou be Invited by him and he who Invited thee and him come and say to thee Give place to this Man and then thou begin with shame to take the lowest place But when thou art Invited go and sit down in the lowest place That when he comes who Invited thee he may say unto thee Friend go up higher Then shalt thou have honour in presence of those who sit with thee For whosoever exalteth himself shall be humbled and he that humbleth himself shall be exalted Luk. 14. v. 1. to 12. This Gospel presents to our Consideration the Best of Moral Vertues Humility exercised by the Best of Mankind Jesus Christ true God as well as Man and deliver'd by the Best of Oracles Truth it self Incarnate Learn of me says he because I am humble of Heart His whole Life was a constant Lesson of Humility He taught it us not only by word but by example And that we may the better learn our Lesson I shall endeavour to shew according to the order of the Gospel 1. How He Practised this great Vertue 2. How he Preach'd it I. 'T is the nature of Charity to make us Humble and Humility is also a natural Disposition towards being Charitable If we consider Charity in order to God we plainly see that a Man who truly Loves Him above all things cannot but undervalue all the fading Glories of this World The Gaudy Scene of all its Vanity makes little or no Impression upon him He easily discerns how false its Lustre is He sees quite through it and sees Eternity beyond it If we consider the same Charity in order to our Neighbour whom we Love for God's sake as being Made to the same Divine Image Ransom'd by the same Infinite Price and thereby Entitled to the same Grace here as well as the same Eternal Glory hereafter These great and glorious Motives shine so bright that all those heaps of Honour which the World is able to Accumulate upon us are no better than so many Dunghils in comparison of these inestimable Jewels A Man who chiefly Loves himself and his Neighbour upon these accounts can have no longing passion for any preference on Earth He cannot but disdain all these inferiour Excellencies Dignities and Praises because the Treasure of his Mind and Heart is infinitely greater and all these Trifles are as much below his Thoughts as Heaven is above them Thus we see how Charity inclines us to be Humble and 't is as easie to
more than any Body else if they Extol us Magnifie us and Cry us up above all others we care not what Place we have in our own Thoughts provided we have the first Place in theirs The first Place is the thing we always aim at We cannot endure that any Body else should have it And the more earnestly we endeavour to exalt our selves the sooner we are humbled The reason is plain Because our being thus exalted in the Minds and Hearts of other People is a priviledge depending entirely upon their courtesie and a favour not to be obtain'd by force or fear Esteem and Love are never to be had for asking much less by laying claim to them as if we thought them due to us Mens Thoughts are their own they are free to think what they please And will ever do so without craving our leave for it They cannot love us unless they like us And how can they like us if we take upon us to oblige them to it 'T is a visible Encroachment upon the liberty of their Thoughts and Inclinations A liberty which God himself allows them and a liberty which all the United Strength of Mankind is not able to take from them Let us do and say what we can they are absolute Masters at home and altogether Arbitrary in their own Dominions We cannot chuse our place in their Affection or Esteem And the only way to get the best preferment amongst them is to challenge none at all but only endeavour to deserve it and always leave it to their own discretion To do otherwise will only serve to make us odious and ridiculous And therefore our Saviour gives us warning not to chuse the highest place for fear lest we begin with shame to take the lowest But on the contrary to go and sit down in the lowest place that we may afterwards go higher and have so much greater honour in presence of those who sit with us And here I cannot but admire our Saviour's Charitable Condescension to us in making use of our own Principles to instruct us and in rectifying our Frailties so as to make them serviceable to us When Pride is predominant in us we fear nothing more than being humbled and hope for nothing more than being exalted These are our greatest hopes and fears And because they are so therefore our Saviour makes choice of them to Check the unruly motions of our Pride What is it but a violent desire of being Exalted that makes us so fierce in challenging Respect so loud in complaining of Neglect so hot in quarrelling about it so implacable in resenting it so furious and so cruel in revenging it We think that by these means we may perhaps be able to force our way to Honour and make a Conquest of the highest place in the Esteem and Love of Men But alas We always find our selves most grievously mistaken Such means as these if we are Rich and Powerful may possibly prevail so far upon some few mean Spirits as to make them fear and flatter us But 't is impossible this way to make them ever Love us or Esteem us And since our strongest hopes and fears are so much bent upon this silly Method of endeavouring to exalt our selves what stronger Argument could be employed to Curb the impetuous Sallies of our Pride than to open our Eyes and let us plainly see that whilst we are thus hastening to invade the highest place we are continually posting to the lowest Because the prouder we seem to be the more they hate us and despise us The more they hate the Injustice of our being so and the more they despise the Folly of our shewing it The Injustice of a Proud Self-lover is so Notorious that nothing can excuse or palliate it If he could have it for asking he would make no scruple to Monopolize the Esteem and Love of all the World 'T is All too little for him and therefore no share of it can content him If it lay in his power he would humble every Body else to make room for his own dear Self He is unjust both to God and Man He prefers himself before both And if this be not unjust I know not what to call so Our God who made us is he not infinitely better than all his Creatures And is it not just that we should Love him best Does not the first and highest place in all Mens Minds and Hearts belong to him How dare we then so insolently offer to pretend to it Our Neighbours are they not made by the same God and for the same glorious End Are they not all Invited to the same Eternal Happiness He who Invites us is he not the same who Made us He Made us what he pleas'd and does it not therefore belong to him to Assign us what place he pleases Whatever we are whatever we have whatever we imagine greater in our selves than others we have no just reason to be Proud of it because 't is no Property of our own but a free Gift of our Master without our first deserving it We may be humbly thankful for it but have no pretence to glory in it because it does not argue that we are better than others but only that God is better and kinder to us than he is to them We did not Make our selves we did not Invite our selves and therefore must not Chuse for our selves We have no Right to our being Made no Claim to our being Invited no Title of our own to any Place at all And since there 's no Place due to us Are we not horribly Unjust if nothing but the highest Place will satisfie us In a word there 's nothing so Unjust and Odious nothing so Unreasonable and Ridiculous as Pride And therefore 't is no wonder if the higher we Aim the lower we fall No wonder I say if it be always true that Whosoever Exalts himself shall certainly be Humbled by Men in this World and by the Devil and his Angels in the next On the other side there 's nothing so Humble nothing so Divine as Charity and at the same time nothing in the World so Charitable so truly Great and Generous as true Humility And therefore 't is no wonder that our Saviour assures us He that Humbles himself shall be Exalted If he Humbles himself exteriourly in the sight of Men he will be sure to be Exalted Lov'd and Honour'd by them here And if he Humbles himself sincerely in the sight of God he cannot fail to be Exalted Everlastingly hereafter Discourse VI. Of Christian Marriage and the Means to Sanctifie it THere was a Marriage in Cana of Galilee and the Mother of Jesus was there And Jesus also was invited and his Disciples to the Marriage And when they wanted Wine the Mother of Jesus saith unto him They have no Wine And Jesus saith unto her Woman what 's that to me and thee My Hour is not yet come His Mother saith unto the Servants Whatsoever he saith unto
you do it Now there were set there Six Water-pots of Stone after the manner of the Purifying of the Jews containing Two or Three Measures apiece Jesus saith unto them Fill the Water-pots with Water And they filled them up to the Brim And he saith unto them Draw out now and present it to the Governour of the Feast And they presented it But when the Ruler of the Feast had tasted the Water that was made Wine and knew not whence it was but the Servants which drew the Water knew the Governour of the Feast called the Bridegroom and saith unto him Every Man at the beginning doth set forth good Wine and when Men have well drunk then that which is worse but thou hast kept the good Wine until now This beginning of Miracles did Jesus in Cana of Galilee and manifested his Glory and his Disciples believed in him John 2. v. 1 to 12. This Gospel affords great Comfort and Instruction not only to those who engage themselves in Marriage but also to all Christians whatsoever even those who lead a single Life I. The first thing we read in the Gospel is that there was a Marriage and the Mother of Jesus was there and not the Mother only but Jesus also was himself invited to it They were both invited and were both of them pleased to be there They were not contented to come themselves to honour this Happy Solemnity but the Disciples being also invited for their Master's sake He was pleas'd to bring them with him that they might be Witnesses how much he honour'd it and that his Apostles afterwards might preach with greater Assurance this Orthodox Doctrine that Marriage is always Honourable not only in it self but in all who rightly engage in it and observe the Duties of it There 's nothing raises more the Value of any Commendation than to have it given by those who are Commendable for being of a different Profession Such a Commendation carries with it a much fairer appearance of being Impartial and Sincere and therefore is more justly Valuable If Marriage were esteem'd and praised only by married People we should not much admire the Commendations which they so frankly bestow upon their own Condition But when we see Virginity it self do so much Justice to a Married Life as to approve it When we see the two most perfect Patterns of Virginity the Virgin Son of God and Virgin Mother Vouchsafe to Adorn a Wedding with the Glory of their Presence When we consider that although they both of them preferr'd a Virgin Life so much before it that the one would not be Born of a Woman unless she were a Virgin neither was the other contented to be his Mother till she understood that by a Miracle she might be Fruitful without the least Prejudice of her Virginity yet nevertheless they both of them were pleased to Accept the Invitation and be Witnesses of the Solemnity When I say we duly consider all these Circumstances we must needs conclude that although Virginity be preferrable as being more perfect yet the State of Marriage is truly Honourable in it self and ought to be honour'd by all Mankind since God himself was pleas'd to Honour it Christian Marriage is the Nursery of Christianity the School where Children learn the Rudiments of Christian Vertue and the Academy where they are daily Train'd up to the Exercise of it Let the Little ones come to me says Christ in the Gospel And 't is the great Duty of Parents to bring their little ones to him The Institution of Christian Marriage aims at no less Glorious an End than that for which the Son of God was pleased to come into the World which is that the Children of Men may by his Grace become the Children of God For this Reason he Establish'd his Holy Church upon Earth He gave Apostles Bishops and Pastors to carry on the Work of the Ministry and gave a strict Commission to Parents to bring their Children to him that they may know his Holy Will and do it that they may grow up in him in all things and that by daily Improvement in the practice of all Christian Duties they may replenish the Church Militant here and the Church Triumphant hereafter If any says the Apostle have not Care of their own and especially of those who are of their own House their own Family their own Flesh and Blood they have denied the Faith and are worse than Infidels I must confess 't is no small Honour for Married Persons to be constituted Coadjutors of Christ in that great Work which brought him down from Heaven But then again I cannot deny but that this very Honour brings along with it so many and such heavy Obligations that unless the Grace of God support them it will only serve to crush them with its Weight A Virgin has only one Soul to save one Person to please one Passion to conquer This Passion being taken young is easily made tame and being used to that Subjection which it owes to Reason grows contented with it This Person is its own dear Self one Mind one Humour with it self and is not easily prevail'd with to displease it self This Soul is entirely its own it is not divided betwixt a Neighbour and it self 't is the whole Object of its great Concern the only Necessary one and being free from all Distraction it has nothing else to do but to endeavour the Salvation of it self But it is not so with Married People They must take great Care to save their Children's Souls or else they greatly endanger their own They must instruct them in all their Duties and that 's some little Trouble They must in all things give them good Example and that 's a great deal more Troublesome They must bear patiently whatever Crosses they meet with from their Children and this is not always easie They must be as patient and more if possible in bearing with all the Faults and Humours of those whom they have taken for better or worse and how hard this is they only know who have tried it On the one side I do not easily conceive how Married People can please themselves without pleasing one another And on the other side I am very much afraid it is as difficult a thing to please two Persons as it is to serve two Masters I know very well that according to the Institution of Marriage Man and Wife are but one They are one in Law they ought to be one in Inclination and Affection and whilst they are so they are as happy as Marriage can make them But when they are two they are the worst two in the World There 's nothing so soure as Love when it turns From an Excessive Fondness which created a Thousand Extravagant Expectations and a Thousand more Unreasonable Jealousies they often pass to to the other Extreme of hating more than ever they lov'd And 't is hard to say which is the greater Plague of Marriage too much Love or
in Council That without the Sacrament of Penance it cannot of it self justifie a Sinner The Question is Whether it sufficiently disposes him in that Sacrament to obtain the Grace of God To avoid mistakes in a matter of this Moment we must observe that in Hell there are Two sorts of Pain the one of Sense the other of Losing God And consequently there must be also admitted Two sorts of Fear and Sorrow the one proceeding from Self-love the other from the Love of God This Second sort of Sorrow although it falls short of Perfect Contrition yet nevertheless it pre-supposes a Fear of losing God's Friendship in this World and his Company in the next a desire to please him here and to enjoy him hereafter an actual Love of him as our last End and chiefest Good And since their Love Desire and Fear may be so great as to imply a Preference of him before all his Creatures it follows clearly that the Sorrow which is ground on this Love may possibly exclude all Actual Desire of Sinning which if it does the Council tell us That it is an Impulse of the Holy Spirit not yet dwelling in us but moving us by which a Penitent prepares the way for his being justified But the First sort of Sorrow is certainly insufficient and 't is very fit that we should know it in good time before we feel it And that we may discern what ground our Sorrow goes upon S. Austin thus proposes the Case in his 19. Sermon de verbis Apostoli Behold says he the Lord your God tries you as who should say Do what you will and whatsoever pleases you take it for granted that 't is lawful I do not Punish it I do not cast you into Hell for it only I shall certainly deny you the Sight of my Face for ever If you were afraid you Loved If you are more afraid of this than any other thing you Love him above all things Your Love inspires you with a Noble Detestation of all Sin a Strong Aversion against it a Continual Fear of incurring God's Displeasure by it and a True Penitential Sorrow for having been Guilty of it But if you Value not the Loss of God if you are unconcern'd for all the Joys of his Blest Company if you neither Care for Him nor his Heaven provided he allows you all your Pleasures upon Earth you may be very well assured that as long as you Love your Humour Ease and Pleasure above all things your Fear and Sorrow proceeding purely from this Love can never of themselves exclude your Actual Desire of Sinning This very Love is a Capital Sin which Breeds a Thousand Desires of Sinning And according to the eagerness of those Desires the greater is your Fear that they will all be Disappointed and severely Punisht and the greater is your Sorrow to think that all God's Penal Laws against these Criminal Desires will certainly be put in Execution for all Eternity The Fear of Sensible Pain and the Desire of Sinful Pleasure grow naturally both upon the same Stock they are both rooted in the same Self-love And how then can the one be able of it self to pull up the other by the Roots How can the Fear of Pain extirpate the Love of Pleasure and exclude the Will or the Desire of Sinning For this Reason S. Austin in his Book against the Adversaries of the Law affirms That the Desire of doing ill is not excluded but by a contrary Desire of doing well And in his Epistle 144. he says In vain does he think himself a Conquerour of Sin who abstains from it only for Fear of Pain For although he does not outwardly Accomplish his Wicked Desire yet this Desire this Enemy of his is still within him He who fears Hell does not fear Sinning but Burning Alas This Servile and Carnal Fear as S. Austin calls it can never change the Heart It can never alter our Minds Because as long as we fear nothing but Burning we are every â—oâ— as carnally-minded as before we mind nothing but the Satisfaction of our Senses this we love this we desire and by the same Rule are Afraid and Sorry when we think of Pain and Torment To be carnally-minded is Death says the Apostle but to be spiritually-minded is Life and Peace Our Repentance is not true unless it change our Hearts and make us spiritually-minded It must make to us a New Heart and a New Spirit It must make us Love a New Life and therefore Hate the Old One. Our Hatred of this is always grounded in the Love of that and as S. Austin says in his Epistle 144. So much as we Love the one so much we Hate the other O how I Loved thy Law Says the Psalmist therefore I Hated every Evil Way In a Word The Love of God must prepare the Way of our Lord because Self-love is Crooked and can therefore never make it Straight III. S. Paul in his Second Epistle to the Thessalonians humbly and heartily begs that our Lord may direct our Hearts in the Love of God and in the Patience of Christ And 't is a most Excellent Prayer For when once the Love of God has made the Way Straight there 's nothing wanting but the Patience of Christ to make it Smooth 1. The Apostle assures us we have need of Patience to do the Will of God to Fight and Conquer and Maintain our Conquest to the End Self-love and Pride the Mortal Enemies of our Eternal Happiness can never quite Die as long as we our selves are Living they lodge in our very Bosoms we cannot hinder their Living and Moving in us we cannot prevent the First Rebellious Insurrections of them But however we can prevent being Surprized by them we can always be upon our Guard we can throw them as fast as they Rise and we have this great Comfort left that every Fall Weakens them and every Victory Encreases our Power over them till at length they make so Small and Feeble a Resistance that those very Conflicts which at first were Painful to us now become a pleasing Exercise which seems to be the Sport and Pastime rather than the Trial of our Virtue This Degree of Patience is the surest Mark of true Repentance 'T is certain we are not truly Penitent unless we absolutely and fully resolve to Decline from Evil and to Do Good And though this Resolution may seem Strong and Firm yet we shall soon discover its Weakness we shall presently Break it if we have not Patience to keep it The longer we have liv'd in Sin the stronger are our Vicious Habits the harder it is to struggle with them the more Pains we must take to Master them and therefore so much greater Patience is requisite to overcome them But whatsoever difficulties we may meet with by the Way we must remember that these Obstacles which give us so much Trouble are the Work of our own Hands Our Sinful Habits are the woful Fruit of our own
wilful Wickedness The Crookedness and Roughness of our Nature was Soft and Tender at first If our Reason had begun betimes to make it Straight and Smooth it had been done with ease And whose Fault was it that we did not rise and fall to Work at a more Early Hour Since therefore the Fault is our own we have no Reason to Complain and Grumble at the Hardship of our Labour If we cannot now perform our Work without the Sweating of our Brows and Aking of our Hearts we may Thank our own Presumption and Self-love which were the Sad Occasion of such long delays and therefore we have Reason to have Patience with our selves 2. We have need of Patience not only to do the Will of God but also to suffer it We need it not only to do good but to endure whatever Evils he shall please to appoint us 'T is not sufficient to begin a New Life We must also Hate the Old One and be willing to undergo the just Punishments of it There 's nothing so effectual as a true Sense of our Guilt to make us truly Patient An Humble Penitent is throughly convinc'd that all the Sufferings of this Momentary Life are nothing to what he deserves He thinks himself unworthy of the Ground he goes upon He knows that he deserves to have it Open under him and Swallow him Alive He does not look upon himself as Pardon'd but Repriev'd and therefore Trembles at the Dreadful Apprehension of Unspeakable and Everlasting Misery which he still fears may be his Doom at last He fears not them who Kill the Body and are not able to Kill the Soul but from these Words of our Saviour he learns to fear him only who is able to Destroy both Soul and Body in Hell The Fear of Hell Sinks deeply in his Mind as Deep as the Abyss it self and Swallows up all other little Fears of Momentary Pains Compar'd to Hell they are no more than the least Drop of Water to the Ocean nor yet so much because the smallest Drop has still some small Proportion with the Sea whereas those Pains have less Proportion with those and Time has none at all with our Eternity And therefore an Humble Penitent whatever happens to him he submits not only willingly but cheerfully He Humbly Kisses the kind Hand which lays the Cross upon his Shoulders and thankfully acknowledges the Double Favour of God's Infinite Mercy who is pleas'd not only to Exchange his Many and Everlasting Torments for a few Transitory Afflictions but also to Reward his Little and Short Sufferings with a far more Exceeding and Eternal Weight of Glory 3. We have need of Patience not only to Suffer the Will of God in these unusual Trials but also to Bear one another's Burdens and to Support the uneasie Humours of our Neighbour in all common Occasions That Heroick Patience is the proper Character of Confessors and Martyrs This belongs to all good Christians it concerns us all and every one of us All our Impatience proceeds from Pride and Selfishness which make us Love our Honour Interest and Humour better than God and our Neighbour When we are Contradicted Slighted or Despised our Patience has much ado to keep us quiet our Blood Rises our Spirits are Ruffled and Discomposed our Thoughts are in a Hurry to lay hold on some Revenge or other and without the least Consideration catch at any thing that 's uppermost or nearest Hand Is this the Natural Temper of an Humble Mind Surely although we stand in our own Light we are not so much in the Dark but we can see or feel at least that these Resentments and Disturbances proceed from Pride and that they are all Rooted in self-Self-love We Love our Honour because we Love our Selves And for the self-same Reason we Love a Thousand other things besides our Honour all those things I mean which fall under these two Heads our Interest and our Pleasure Our Interest is liable to an Infinity of Various Accidents which Trouble our Temporal Affairs our Pleasure is the Object of as many Inconsistent and unreasonable Humours and every little Gale of Wind that blows Cross to the one or other is enough to raise a Storm in which our Patience seldom fails to suffer Shipwrack For this Reason whensoever I see a Cholerick Person grow Patient I look upon it as an Excellent Sign of his being truly Penitent When I see him cast away from him all his usual Motions of Impatience I easily imagine that he has made to himself a New Heart and a New Spirit When I observe him Easie and Cheerful not withstanding any Slights or Provocations When I discover a calm and even Temper in him in Spite of any Crosses or Disappointments When I perceive him as ready to Excuse or Over-look an Injury as he was before to Aggravate it or Revenge it Then indeed I have just Reason to conclude he is no longer govern'd by the Spirit of this World but that he is renew'd as S. Paul says in the Spirit of his Mind and led by the Spirit of God the Love of God and Patience of Christ The very word Repentance