will among men a readiness to forgive our greatest enemies to doe good to them that hate us to bless them that curse us and to pray for them that despitefully use us and persecute us And does inculcate these precepts more vehemently and forbid malice and hatred and revenge and contention more strictly and peremptorily than any Religion ever did before as will appear to any one that does but attentively read our Saviour's Sermon upon the Mount And as Christianity hath given us a more certain so likewise a more perfect Law for the government of our lives All the precepts of it are reasonable and wise requiring such duties of us as are suitable to the light of nature and do approve themselves to the best reason of mankind such as have their foundation in the nature of God and are an imitation of the Divine excellencies such as tend to the persection of humane nature and to raise the minds of men to the highest pitch of goodness and vertue The Laws of our Religion are such as are generally usefull and beneficial to the world as do tend to the outward peace and the health to the inward comfort and contentment and to the universal happiness of mankind They command nothing that is unnecessary and burdensome as were the numerous rites and ceremonies of the Jewish Religion but what is reasonable and usefull and substantial And they omit nothing that may tend to the glory of God or the welfare of men nor do they restrain us in any thing but what is contrary either to the regular inclinations of nature or to our reason and true interest They forbid us nothing but what is base and unworthy to serve our humours and passions to reproach our understandings and to make our selves fools and beasts in a word nothing but what tends either to our private harm and prejudice or to publick disorder and confusion And that this is the tenour of the Laws of the Gospel will appear to any one from our Saviour's Sermons and Discourses particularly that upon the Mount wherein he charges his Disciples and followers to be humble and meek and righteous and patient under sufferings and persecutions and good and kind to all even to those that are evil and injurious to us and to endeavour to excell in all goodness and vertue This will appear likewise from the Writings of the holy Apostles I will instance but in some few passages in them St. Paul represents to us the design of the Christian doctrine in a very few words but of admirable sense and weight Tit. 2.11 12. The grace of God that bringeth salvation hath appear'd to all men teaching us that denying ungodliness and worldly lusts we should live soberly and righteously and godly in this present world The same Apostle makes this the main and fundamental condition of the Covenant of the Gospel on our part 2 Tim. 2.19 Let every one that names the name of Christ depart from iniquity St. James describes the Christian doctrine which he calls the wisdom that is from above by these characters It is first pure then peaceable gentle and easie to be entreated full of mercy and good fruits without partiality and without hypocrisie St. Peter calls the Gospel 2 Pet. 1.3 4. the knowledge of him that hath called us to glory and vertue whereby saith he are given unto us exceeding great and precious promises that by these you might be partakers of a divine nature having escap'd the corruption that is in the world through lust and upon this consideration he exhorts them to give all diligence to add to their faith the several vertues of a good life V. 5 6 7. without which he tells them they are barren and unfruitfull in the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ I will conclude with that full and comprehensive paslage of St. Paul to the Philippians Whatsoever things are true whatsoever things are honest 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 whatsoever things are of venerable esteem whatsoever things are just whatsoever things are pure or chast whatsoever things are lovely whatsoever things are of good report if there be any vertue if there be any praise think on these things But the perfection and the reasonableness of the Laws of Christianity will most plainly appear by taking a brief survey of them And they may all be referr'd to these two general heads They are either such as tend to the perfection of humane nature and to make men singly and personally good or such as tend to the peace and happiness of humane Society First Such as tend to the perfection of humane nature and to make men good singly and personally consider'd And the precepts of this kind may be distributed likewise into two sorts such as enjoyn piety towards God or such as require the good order and government of our selves in respect of the enjoyments and pleasures of this life 1. Such as enjoyn Piety towards God All the duties of Christian Religion which respect God are no other but what natural light prompts men to excepting the two Sacraments which are of great use and significancy in the Christian Religion and praying to God in the name and by the mediation of Jesus Christ For the sum of natural Religion as it refers more immediately to God is this That we should inwardly reverence and love God and that we should express our inward reverence and love of him by external worship and adoration and by our readiness to receive and obey all the revelations of his will And that we should testifie our dependence upon him and our confidence of his goodness by constant prayers and supplications to him for mercy and help for our selves and others And that we should acknowledge our obligations to him for the many favours and benefits which every day and every minute we receive from him by continual praises and thanksgivings And that on the contrary we should not entertain any unworthy thoughts of God nor give that honour and reverence which is due to him to any other that we should not worship him in any manner that is either unsuitable to the excellency and perfection of his nature or contrary to his revealed will that we should carefully avoid the prophane and irreverent use of his Name by cursing or customary swearing and take heed of the neglect or contempt of his Worship or any thing belonging to it This is the sum of the first part of natural Religion and these are the general heads of those duties which every man's reason tells him he owes to God And these are the very things which the Christian Religion does expresly require of us as might be evidenc'd from particular Texts in the New Testament So that there is nothing in this part of Christianity but what agrees very well with the reason of mankind 2. Such precepts as require the good order and government of our selves in respect of the pleasures and enjoyments of this life Christian Religion
commands whatsoever things are pure and chast all manner of sobriety and temperance and moderation in reference to our appetites and passion and forbids whatever is unnatural and unreasonable and unhealthfull in the use of pleasures and of any of God's creatures Hither belong all those Texts which require of us that we should not walk after the flesh but after the spirit Rom. 8.1 that we should cleanse our selves from all filthiness of flesh and spirit 2 Cor. 7.1 that we should be holy in all manner of conversation 1 Pet. 1.15 St. John distributes the lusts and irregular appetites of men into three kinds voluptuousness covetousness and ambition answerably to the three sorts of tempting objects that are in the world pleasures riches and honours All that is in the world the lust of the flesh 1 Joh. 2.16 the lust of the eyes and the pride of life c. And Christianity doth strictly forbid all these Luke 12.15 Take heed and beware of Covetousness says our Saviour and he adds this excellent reason for a man's life consisteth not in the abundance of the things which he possesseth It forbids pride and ambition and vain glory and commands humility and modesty and condescension to others Mat. 11.29 Learn of me says our Saviour for I am meek and lowly in spirit Rom. 12.16 Mind not high things but condescend to them that are of low degree Let nothing be done through vain glory Phil. 2.3 but in lowliness of mind let each esteem other better than themselves And in reference to sensual pleasures it forbids all irregularity and excess and strictly enjoyns purity and temperance Luke 21.36 cautioning us to take heed lest we be overcharged with surfeiting and drunkenness Rom. 13.13 chargeing us to walk decently as in the day not in rioting and drunkenness not in chambering and wantonness 1 Pet. 2.11 to abstain from fleshly lusts which war against the soul Now all these precepts do not onely tend to beget in us such vertues and dispositions as are reasonable and suitable to our nature and every way for our temporal convenience and advantage but such as do likewise exceedingly dispose us to piety and religion by purifying our souls from the dross and filth of sensual delights For covetousness debaseth a man's spirit and sinks it into the earth intemperance and lust cloud a man's understanding and indispose it for the contemplation of things spiritual and divine Thus you see how the Precepts of Christianity do tend to the perfection of humane nature considering men singly and personally Secondly The other sort of Precepts are such as tend to the peace and happiness of humane Society And the reason of mankind can devise nothing more proper to this end than the Laws of Christianity are For they command all those vertues which are apt to sweeten the spirits and allay the passions and animosities of men one towards another They require us to love our neighbour that is every man in the world even our greatest enemies as our selves And for this end among others was the Sacrament of the Lord's Supper the Feast of love instituted that by commemorating the love of our dying Saviour who laid down his life for his enemies we might be put in mind how we ought to love one another And by this Law of loving all men even our enemies Christian Religion discovers it self not onely to be the most innocent and harmless but the most generous and best natur'd Institution that ever was in the world For in pursuance of this general precept it commands us to do good to all men if it be possible and as much as in us lies to live peaceably with all men to be kind one to another ready to gratifie and oblige men to be tender-hearted and compassionate towards those that are in want or misery and ready to supply and relieve them to sympathize with one another in our joys and sorrows to mourn with those that mourn and to rejoyce with them that rejoyce to bear one anothers burdens and to forbear one another in love to be easily reconcil'd to them that have offended us and to be ready to forgive from our hearts the greatest injuries that can be done to us and that without bounds and limits even to seventy seven times as our Saviour expresseth it The Laws of Christianity do likewise secure both the private interests of men and the publick peace by confirming and enforcing all the dictates of nature concerning Justice and Equity and our doing to others as we would have them to do to us and by commanding obedience to humane Laws which decide mens rights and submission to government under pain of damnation And by forbiding whatever is contrary to these violence and oppression defrauding and over-reaching one another perfidiousness and treachery breach of trusts oaths or promises undutifulness to superiours sedition and rebellion against Magistracy and Authority And if there be any thing else that is apt to disturb the peace of the world and to alienate the affections of men from one another as sowerness of disposition and rudeness of behaviour censoriousness and sinister interpretation of things all cross and distastfull humours and what ever else may render the conversation of men grievous and uneasie to one another All these are either expresly or by clear consequence and deduction forbidden in the new Testament And now what could any Religion do more towards the reforming of the dispositions and manners of men What Laws can be devis'd more proper and effectual to advance the nature of man to its highest perfection to procure the tranquillity of mens minds and the peace and happiness of the world than these precepts of Christianity are Several of which as those of loving our enemies of not revenging injuries of rendering good for evil c. though they have been esteem'd reasonable by some of the wifest among the Heathen yet by reason of the degeneracy of the world and of the obscurity and uncertainty of humane reason they never obtain'd to have the estimation and force of natural Laws So that we owe to Christianity the discovery of the most certain and perfect Rule of life that ever the world was acquainted withall III. Christian Religion propounds the most powerfull arguments to perswade men to the obedience of these Laws The Gospel offers such considerations to us as are fit to work very forceably upon two of the most swaying and governing passions in the mind of man our hopes and our fears To encourage our hopes it gives us the highest assurance of the greatest and most lasting happiness in case of obedience and to awaken our fear it threatens sinners with the most dreadfull and durable torments in case of disobedience Rom. 2.7 8. To them who by patient continuance in well-doing seek for glory and honour and immortality it promiseth eternal life But unto them that obey not the truth but obey
this word is so to be taken in the Text may appear farther from the opposition of it to sin or vice in general Righteousness exalteth a Nation but Sin is the reproach of any People You see then what will be the subject of my present discourse namely that Religion and Vertue are the great causes of publick happiness and prosperity And though the truth of this hath been universally acknowledged and long enough experienced in the world yet because the fashion of the age is to call every thing into question it will be requisite to satisfie mens reason about it To which end I shall do these two things 1. Endeavour to give an account of this Truth 2. To vindicate it from the pretences and insinuations of atheistical persons I. shall give you this two-fold account of it 1. From the justice of the Divine providence 2. From the natural tendency of the thing 1. From the justice of the Divine providence Indeed as to particular persons the providences of God are many times promiscuously administred in this world so that no man can certainly conclude God's love or hatred to any person by any thing that befalls him in this life But God do's not deal thus with Nations Because publick bodies and communities of men as such can onely be rewarded and punished in this world For in the next all those publick societies and combinations wherein men are now link'd together under several Governments shall be dissolved God will not then reward or punish Nations as Nations But every man shall then give an account of himself to God and receive his own reward and bear his own burthen For although God account it no disparagement to his justice to let particular good men suffer in this world and pass through many tribulations into the kingdom of God because there is another day a coming which will be a more proper season of reward yet in the usual course of his providence he recompenseth religious and vertuous Nations with temporal blessings and prosperity For which reason St. Austin tells us that the mighty success and long prosperity of the Romans was a reward given them by God for their eminent justice and temperance and other vertues And on the other hand God many times suffers the most grievous sins of particular persons to go unpunished in this world because he knows that his justice will have another and better opportunity to meet and reckon with them But the general and crying sins of a Nation cannot hope to escape publick judgments unless they be prevented by a general repentance God may defer his judgments for a time and give a People a longer space of repentance he may stay till the iniquities of a Nation be full but sooner or later they have reason to expect his vengeance And usually the longer punishment is delay'd it is the heavier when it comes Now all this is very reasonable becauses this world is the onely season for National punishments And indeed they are in a great degree necessary for the present vindication of the honour and majesty of the Divine Laws and to give some check to the overflowing of wickedness Publick judgments are the banks and shores upon which God breaks the insolency of sinners and stays their proud waves And though among men the multitude of offenders be many times a cause of impunity because of the weakness of humane Governments which are glad to spare where they are not strong enough to punish yet in the government of God things are quite otherwise No combination of sinners is too hard for him and the greater and more numerous the offenders are the more his justice is concern'd to vindicate the affront However God may pass by single sinners in this world yet when a Nation combines against him when hand joyns in hand the wicked shall not go unpunished This the Scripture declares to be the settled course of God's providence That a righteous Nation shall be happy The work of righteousness shall be peace and the effects of righteousness quietness and assurance for ever And on the other hand that he useth to shower down his judgments upon a wicked people he turneth a fruitfull land into barrenness for the wickedness of them that dwell therein And the experience of all ages hath made this good All along the History of the Old Testament we find the interchangeable providences of God towards the People of Israel always suited to their manners They were constantly prosperous or afflicted according as piety and vertue flourished or declined amongst them And God did not onely exercise this providence towards his own People but he dealt thus also with other Nations The Roman Empire whilst the vertue of that people remained firm was strong as iron as 't is represented in the Prophesie of Daniel But upon the dissolution of their manners the iron began to be mixt with miry clay and the feet upon which that Empire stood to be broken And though God in the administration of his justice be not tied to precedents and we cannot argue from Scripture examples that the providences of God towards other Nations shall in all circumstances be conformable to his dealings with the People of Israel yet thus much may with great probability be collected from them that as God always blessed that People while they were obedient to him and followed them with his judgments when they rebelled against him so he will also deal with other Nations Because the reason of those dispensations as to the main and substance of them seems to be perpetual and founded in that which can never change the justice of the Divine providence 2dly The truth of this farther appears from the natural tendency of the thing For Religion in general and every particular vertue doth in its own nature conduce to the publick Interest Religion where-ever it is truly planted is certainly the greatest obligation upon conscience to all civil offices and moral duties Chastity and temperance and industry do in their own nature tend to health and plenty Truth and fidelity in all our dealings do create mutual love and good-will and confidence among men which are the great bands of peace And on the contrary wickedness doth in its own nature produce many publick mischiefs For as sins are link'd together and draw on one another so almost every vice hath some temporal inconvenience annexed to it and naturally following it Intemperance and lust breed infirmities and diseases which being propagated spoil the strain of a Nation Idleness and luxury bring forth poverty and want and this tempts men to injustice and that causeth enmity and animosities and these bring on strife and confusion and every evil work This Philosophical account of publick troubles and confusions St. James gives us Jam. 4.1 whence come wars and fightings among you are they not hence even from your lusts that war in your members But I shall shew more particularly that Religion and vertue do naturally tend
reason spoils his understanding and helps to make himself a fool whereas he that conquers his passions and keeps them under doth thereby preserve and improve his understanding Freedom from irregular passions doth not onely signifie that a man is wise but really contributes to the making of him such 2. Religion tends to the ease and pleasure the peace and tranquillity of our minds wherein happiness chiefly consists and which all the wisdom and Philosophy of the world did always aim at as the utmost felicity of this life And that this is the natural fruit of a religious and vertuous course of life the Scripture declares to us in these Texts Psal 97.11 Light is sown for the righteous and gladness for the upright in heart Great peace have all they that love thy Law Psal 119.165 and nothing shall offend them Her ways are ways of pleasantness Pro. 3.17 and all her paths are peace Isa 32.17 The fruit of righteousness is peace and the effect of righteousness quietness and assurance for ever The plain sense of which Texts is that pleasure and peace do naturally result from a holy and good life When a man hath once engag'd himself in a Religious course and is habituated to piety and holiness all the exercises of Religion and devotion all acts of goodness and vertue are delightfull to him To honour and worship God to pray to him and to praise him to study his will to meditate upon him and to love him all these bring great pleasure and peace along with them What greater contentment and satisfaction can there be to the mind of man when it is once purifi'd and refin'd from the dregs of sensual pleasures and delights and rais'd to its true height and pitch than to contemplate and admire the infinite excellencies and perfections of God to adore his greatness and to love his goodness How can the thoughts of God be troublesome to any one who lives soberly and righteously and godly in the world No man that loves goodness and righteous ness hath any reason to be afraid of God or to be disquieted with the thoughts of him There is nothing in God that is terrible to a good man but all the apprehensions which we naturally have of him speak comfort and promise happiness to such a one The consideration of his attributes is so far from being a trouble to him that it is his recreation and delight It is for wicked men to dread God and to endeavour to banish the thoughts of him out of their minds but a holy and vertuous man may have quiet and undisturb'd thoughts even of the justice of God because the terrour of it doth not concern him Now Religion doth contribute to the peace and quiet of our minds these two ways First By allaying those passions which are apt to ruffle and discompose our spirits Malice and hatred wrath and revenge are very fretting and vexatious and apt to make our minds sore and uneasie but he that can moderate these affections will find a strange ease and pleasure in his own spirit Secondly by freeing us from the anxieties of guilt and the fears of divine wrath and displeasure than which nothing is more stinging and tormenting and renders the life of man more miserable and unquiet And whaâ— a spring of peace and joy must it needs be to apprehend upon good grounds that God is reconcil'd to us and become our friend that all our sins are perfectly forgiven and shall never more be remembred against us What unexpressible comfort does overflow the pious and devout soul from the remembrance of a holy and well-spent life and a conscience of its own innocency and integrity And nothing but the practice of Religion and Vertue can give this ease and satisfaction to the mind of man For there is a certain kind of temper and disposition which is necessary to the pleasure and quiet of our minds and consequently to our happiness and that is holiness and goodness which as it is the perfection so is it likewise the happiness of the Divine nature And on the contrary the chief part of the misery of wicked men and of those accursed spirits the Devils is this that they are of a disposition contrary to God they are envious and malicious and cruel and of such a temper as is naturally a torment and disquiet to it self And here the foundation of Hell is laid in the evil disposition of mens minds and till this be cur'd which can onely be done by Religion it is as impossible for a man to be happy that is pleas'd and contented within himself as it is for a sick man to be at ease Because such a man hath that within him which torments him and he cannot be at ease till that be remov'd The man's spirit is out of order and off the hinges and till that be put into its right frame he will be perpetually disquieted and can find no rest within himself The Prophet very fitly describes to us the unquiet condition of wicked men Isa 57.10.21 The wicked is like the troubled sea when it cannot rest whose waters cast up mire and dirt there is no peace saith my God to the wicked So long as sin and corruption abound in our hearts they will be restlesly working like wine which will be in a perpetual motion and agitation till it have purg'd it self of its dregs and foulness Secondly Religion does likewise tend to the happiness of the outward man Now the blessings of this kind are such as either respect our health or estate or reputation or relations and in respect of all these Religion is highly advantageous to us 1. As to our health a Religious and vertuous life doth eminently conduce to that and to long life as a consequent of it And in this sense I understand these following Texts Prov. 3.1 2. My Son forget not my Law but let thy heart keep my Commandments for length of days and long life shall they add to thee and v. 7 and 8. Fear the Lord and depart from evil it shall be health to thy navel and marrow to thy bones and v. 16. among the temporal advantages of wisdom or Religion this is mention'd as the first and principal length of days is in her right hand and v. 18. she is a tree of life to them that lay hold upon her and again Whoso findeth me findeth life but he that sinneth against me wrongeth his own soul Prov. 8.35 36. that is injurious to his own life all they that hate me love death all which is undoubtedly true in a spiritual sense but is certainly meant by Solomon in the natural sense And these promises of the blessings of health and long life to good men are not only declaratory of the good pleasure and intention of God towards them but likewise of the natural tendency of the thing For Religion doth oblige men to the practice of those vertues which do in their
A good man leaveth an inheritance to his Childrens Children Prov. 14.26 and again In the fear of the Lord is strong confidence and his Children shall have a place of refuge But the wicked derives a curse upon all that is related to him he is said to trouble his own house and again Prov. 11.29 The wicked are overthrown and are not Prov. 12.7 but the house of the righteous shall stand But setting aside the consideration of God's Providence Religion doth likewise in its own nature tend to the welfare of those who are related to us because it lays the strictest obligations upon men to take care of their Families and Relations and to make the best provision both for their comfortable subsistance here in this world and their salvation in the next And those who neglect those duties the Scripture is so far from esteeming them Christians that it accounts them worse than Heathens and Infidels 1 Tim. 5.8 He that provideth not for his own especially those of his own house is worse than an Infidel and hath deny'd the faith This I know is spoken in respect of temporal provision but it holds à fortiori as to the care of their souls Besides it is many times seen that the posterity of holy and good men especially of such as have evidenc'd their piety towards God by bounty and charity to men have met with unusual kindness and respect from others and have by a strange and secret disposition of Divine providence been unexpectedly car'd and provided for and that as they have all the reason in the world to believe upon the account and for the sake of the piety and charity of their Parents This David tells us from his own particular observation Ps 37 2◠I have been young and now am old yet have I not seen the righteous forsaken nor his seed begging bread And that by the righteous is here meant the good and mercifull man appears from the description of him in the next words Ver. 26. He is ever merciful and lendeth and his seed is blessed And on the contrary the posterity of the wicked do many times inherit the fruit of their fathers sins and vices and that not onely by a just judgment of God but from the natural course and consequence of things And in this sense that expression in Job is often verifi'd that God lays up the iniquity of wicked men for their Children Job 21.19 And doth not experience testifie that the intemperate and unjust do many times transmit their bodily infirmities and diseases to their Children and entail a secret curse upon their estates which does either insensibly waste and consume it or eat out the heart and comfort of it Thus you see how Religion in all respects conduces to the happiness of this life II. Religion and Vertue do likewise most certainly and directly tend to the eternal happiness and salvation of men in the other world And this is incomparably the greatest advantage that redounds to men by being Religious in comparison of which all temporal considerations are less than nothing and vanity The worldly advantages that Religion brings to men in this present life are a sensible recommendation of Religion even to the lowest and meanest spirits But to those who are rais'd above sense and aspire after immortality who believe the perpetual duration of their souls and the resurrection of their bodies to those who are throughly convinc'd of the inconsiderableness of this short dying life and of all the concernments of it in comparison of that eternal state which remains for us in another life to these I say the consideration of a future happiness and of those unspeakable and everlasting rewards which shall then be given to holiness and vertue is certainly the most powerfull motive and the most likely to prevail upon them For those who are perswaded that they shall continue for ever cannot chuse but aspire after a happiness commensurate to their duration nor can any thing that is conscious to its self of its own immortality be satisfyed and contented with any thing less than the hopes of an endless felicity And this hope Religion alone gives men and the Christian Religion onely can settle men in a firm and unshaken assurance of it But because all men who have entertain'd any Religion have consented to these principles of the immortality of the soul and the recompences of another world and have always promis'd to themselves some rewards of piety and vertue after this life and because I did more particularly design from this Text to speak of the temporal benefits and adavantages which redound to men from Religion therefore I shall content my self to shew very briefly how a religious and vertuous life doth conduce to our future happiness And that upon these two accounts from the promise of God and from the nature of the thing 1. From the promise of God 1 Tim. 4.8 Godliness saith the Apostle hath the promise of the life that is to come God hath all along in the Scripture suspended the promise of eternal life upon this condition He hath peremptorily declar'd that without obedience and holiness of life no man shall ever see the Lord. And this very thing that it is the constitution and appointment of God might be argument enough to us if there were no other to convince us of the necessity of obeying the Laws of God in order to our happiness and to perswade us thereunto For eternal life is the gift of God and he may do what he will with his own He is master of his own favours and may dispense them upon what terms and conditions he pleases But it is no hard condition that he hath imposed upon us If Religion brought no advantages to us in this world yet the happiness of heaven is so great as will abundantly recompence all our pains and endeavours there is temptation enough in the reward to engage any man in the work Had God thought fit to have impos'd the most grievous and difficult things upon us ought we not to have submitted to them and to have undertaken them with cheerfulness upon such great and glorious encouragements As Naaman's servants said to him in another case Had he bid thee doe some great thing wouldest thou not have done it So if God had said that without poverty and actual martyrdom no man shall see the Lord would not any man that believes heaven and hell and understands what these words signifie and what it is to escape extream and eternal misery and to enjoy unspeakable and endless glory have been willing to accept these conditions How much more when he hath onely said wash and be clean and Let every man that hath this hope in Him purifie himself as he is pure But God hath not dealt thus with us nor is the imposing of this condition of eternal life a meer arbitrary constitution therefore I shall endeavour to shew 2dly That a
also have confidence in the flesh if any other man thinketh that he hath whereof he might trust in the flesh I more circumcised the eighth day of the stock of Israel c. And yet he tells us he was contented to forgoe all these advantages for Christ and the Christian Religion v. 7. But what things were gain to me those I counted loss for Christ And not onely these but if there were any thing else that men value in this world he was willing to hazard that also upon the same account v. 8. Yea doubtless and I count all things but loss for the excellency of the knowledge of Christ Jesus my Lord. In which words the Apostle declares the high esteem he had for the Christian Religion which he calls the knowledge of Christ Jesus his Lord the excellency whereof appear'd so great to him that he valued nothing in comparison of the advantages which he had by the knowledge of it My design at this time from this Text is to represent the excellency of this knowledge of the Christian Religion above that of any other Religion or Institution in the world And here I shall not consider the external evidence which we have of the truth of Christianity and of the Divinity of its doctrine in which respect it hath incomparably the advantage of any other Religion but onely the internal excellencies of the Doctrine it self abstracting from the Divine authority of it And that in these four respects First As it does more clearly reveal to us the nature of God which is the great foundation of all Religion Secondly As it give us a more certain and perfect Law for the government of our lives Thirdly As it propounds to us more powerfull Arguments to perswade men to the obedience of this Law Fourthly As it furnishes us with better motives and considerations to patience and contentedness under the evils and afflictions of this life Now these are the greatest advantages that any Religion can have To give men right apprehensions of God a perfect rule of good â—ife and efficacious arguments to perswade men to be good and patiently to bear the evils and sufferings of this life And these shall be the heads of my following discourse I. The Christian Religion doth more clearly reveal to us the nature of God than any Religion ever did And to have right apprehensions of God is the great foundation of all Religion For according as mens notions of God are such will their Religion be If men have gross and false conceptions of God their Religion will be absurd and superstitious If men fancy God to be an ill-natur'd Being arm'd with infinite power one that delights in the misery and ruine of his creatures and is ready to take all advantages against them they may fear him but they will bate him and they will be apt to be such towards one another as they fancy God to be towards them for all Religion doth naturally incline men to imitate him whom they worship Now the Christian Religion gives us a more perfect and a more lovely character of God than any Religion ever did It represents him to us as a pure spirit which the Heathens did not generally believe and that he is to be worship'd in such a manner as is most suitable to his spiritual nature which not onely the Heathens but even the Jews themselves were extremely mistaken about God is a spirit says our Saviour and they that worship him must worship him in spirit and in truth It is true indeed God himself did command sacrifices to the Jews and all those external and troublesome observances of which their Religion did consist But then it is to be consider'd that he did not institute this way of Worship because it was most suitable to his own nature but because of the carnality of their hearts and the proneness of that people to Idolatry God did not prescribe these things because they were best but because the temper of that People would then admit of nothing better And this the Scripture gives us several intimations of Psal 51.16 Thou desirest not sacrifice thou delightest not in burnt-offerings saith David And elsewhere more expresly to this purpose I spake not unto your Fathers says God by the prophet Jeremiah nor commanded them in the day that I brought them forth out of the Land of Egypt concerning burnt-offerings and sacrifices but this thing commanded I them saying Obey my voice A sufficient intimation that God did not primarily intend to appoint this way of worship and to impose it upon them as that which was most proper and agreeable to him but that he condescended to it as most accommodate to their present state and inclination And in this sense also some understand what God says to the same people by the Prophet Ezekiel Ezek. 20.25 that he gave them statutes that were not good And as the Christian Religion gives a more perfect so a more amiable and lovely character of the Divine nature No Religion that ever was in the world does so fully represent the goodness of God and his tender love to mankind which is the best and most powerfull argument to the love of God The Heathens did generally dread God and looked upon him as fierce and cruel and revengefull and therefore they endeavoured to appease him by the horrid and barbarous sacrifices of men and of their own children And all along in the Old Testament God is generally represented as very strict and severe But there are no where so plain and full declarations of his mercy and love to the sons of men as are made in the Gospel In the Old Testament God is usually styl'd the Lord of Hosts the great and the terrible God But in the New Testament he is represented to us by milder titles the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ the father of mercies and the God of all consolations the God of all patience the God of love and peace nay he is said to be love it self and to dwell in love And this difference between the style of the Old and New Testament is so remarkable that one of the greatest Sects in the Primitive Church I mean that of the Gnosticks did upon this very ground found their heresie of two Gods the one evil and fierce and cruel whom they call'd the God of the Old Testament the other good and kind and mercifull whom they call'd the God of the New So great a difference is there between the representations which are made of God in the Books of the Jewish and the Christian Religion as to give at least some colour and pretence for an imagination of two Gods II. Christian Religion hath given us a more certain and perfect Law for the government of our lives It hath made our duty more plain and certain in many instances than either the Philosophy of the Heathen or the precepts of Moses had done It commands universal love and kindness and good
ought not to pretend any thing against the plain and safe paths of Religion which will entertain us with pleasure all along in the way and crown us with happiness at the end 2 TIM 2.19 Let every one that nameth the name of Christ depart from iniquity THe whole verse runs thus Nevertheless the foundation of God standeth sure having this seal The Lord knoweth them that are his And Let every one that nameth the name of Christ depart from iniquity In which words the Apostle declares to us the terms of the covenant between God and man For the word 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 which is here translated foundation according to the usual signification of it is likewise as learned men have observ'd sometimes used for an instrument of contract whereby two parties do oblige themselves mutually to each other And this notion of the word agrees very well with what follows concerning the seal assix'd to it which is very fuitable to a Covenant but not at all to a foundation 'T is true indeed as the learned Grotius hath observed there used anciently to be inscriptions on foundation-stones and the word 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 which we render seal may likewise signifie an inscription and then the sense will be very current thus The foundation of God standeth sure having this inscription But it is to be considered that though 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 may signifie an inscription yet it is onely an inscription upon a seal which hath no relation to a foundation but is very proper to a covenant or mutual obligation And accordingly the seal affixt to this instrument or covenant between God and man is in allusion to the custom of those countries said to have an inscription on both sides agreeable to the condition of the persons contracting On God's part there is this impress or inscription The Lord knoweth them that are his that is God will own and reward those that are faithfull to him And on our part Let every one that nameth the name of Christ depart from iniquity Let every one that nameth the name of Christ that is that calls himself a Christian For to name the name of any one or to have his name call'd upon by us does according to the use of this Phrase among the Hebrews signifie nothing else but to be denominated from him Thus 't is frequently used in the Old Testament and sometimes in the New Jam. 2.7 Do they not blaspheme that worthy name by the which ye are called that is the name or title of Christians and that expression 1 Pet. 〈◊〉 14. if ye be reproached for the name of Christ is at the sixteenth verse varied if any man suffer as a Christian So that to name the name of Christ is to call our selves Christians Let every one that nameth the name of Christ depart from iniquity The word 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 is often taken strictly for injustice or unrighteousness but sometimes used more largely for sin and wickedness in the general And so it seems to be used here in the Text because there is no reason from the context to restrain it to any particular kind of sin or vice and because Christianity lays an equal obligation upon men to abstain from all sin Let every one that nameth the name of Christ depart from iniquity that is every Christian obligeth himself by his prosession to renounce all sin and to live a holy life In speaking to this argument I shall do these two things 1. Shew what obligation the profession of Christianity lays upon men to live holy lives 2. Endeavour to perswade those who call themselves Christians to answer this obligation I. What obligation the profession of Christianity lays upon men to live holy lives He that calls himself a Christian professeth to entertain the Doctrine of Christ to live in the imitation of his holy example and to have solemnly engaged himself to all this I shall speak briefly to these and then come to that which I principally intend to perswade men to live accordingly 1. He that professeth himself a Christian professeth to entertain the doctrine of Christ to believe the whole Gospel to assent to all the articles of the Christian faith to all the precepts and promises and theatnings of the Gospel Now the great design the proper intention of this doctrine is to take men off from sin and to direct and encourage them to a holy life It teacheth us what we are to believe concerning God and Christ not with any design to entertain our minds with the bare speculation of those truths but to better our lives For every article of our faith is a proper argument against sin and a powerfull motive to obedience The whole history of Christ's appearance in the world all the discourses and actions of his life and the sufferings of his death do all tend to this the ultimate issue of all is the destroying of sin So St. John tells us 1 Joh. 3.8 for this purpose was the Son of God manifested that he might destroy the works of the devil But this is most expresly and fully declar'd to us Tit. 2.11 12 13 14. The grace of God that bringeth salvation hath appeared to all men teaching us that denying ungodliness and worldly lusts we should live soberly righteously and godly in this present world looking for that blessed hope and the glorious appearing of the great God and our Saviour Jesus Christ who gave himself for us that he might redeem us from all iniquity and purifie unto himself a peculiar people zealous of good works The precepts of the Gospel do strictly command holiness and that universal the purity of our souls and the chastity of our bodies 2 Cor. 7.1 to cleanse our selves from all filthiness of flesh and spirit 1 Thes 5.22 to abstain from all kind of evil 1 Pet. 1.15 to be holy in all manner of conversation They require us to endeavour after the highest degrees of holiness that are attainable by us in this imperfect state to be holy as he that hath called us is holy Mat. 5.48 to be perfect as our father which is in heaven is perfect And all the promises of the Gospel are so many encouragements to obedience and a holy life ◠Cor. 7. ◠having therefore these promises let us cleanse our selves from all filthiness of flesh and spirit and perfect holiness in the fear of God We are told by St. Peter that these exceeding great and precious promises are given to us that by these we might be partakers of a Divine nature 2 Pet. 1.4 having escaped the pollution that is in the world through lust and that we might give all diligence to add to our faith vertue and to vertue knowledge and to knowledge temperance and patience and brotherly-kindness and charity And the threatnings of the Gospel are so many powerfull arguments against sin Therefore the Apostle calls the Gospel the power of God unto salvation