to our selves I. For the Explication of it By the immutability of God we mean that he always is and was and to all Eternity will be the same that he undergoes no changes either of his Essence and Being or of his Properties and Perfections In reference to the unchangeableness of his being he is said to be eternal incorruptible and only to have immortality In reference to his perfections he is always the same infinitely Wise and Good and Powerful and Holy and just Being from whence it follows that he is Constant and Immutable in all his Decrees and Counsels his Purposes and Promises We are uncertain and mutable in in our very Nature and Beings and in all those Qualities and Perfections which belong to us in all our Purposes Resolutions and Actions we are continually growing or decreasing in this or that quality and do frequently change from one extream to another from that which is more perfect to the contrary now knowing and then ignorant somtimes wise and oftner foolish stronger and weaker better or worse as it happens and as we order our selves continually waxing or waining in our Knowledge and Wisdom and Goodness and Power we frequently change our Minds and alter our Purposes and break our Promises and contradict our firmest and most serious Resolutions and speak a thing and do it not say it and do not bring it to pass but God is everlastingly the same in all his Perfections constant to his Intentions steady to his Purpose immutably fixt and persevering in all his Decrees and Resolutions I proceed to the II. Thing I proposed namely To shew that this Perfection is essential to God to be unchangeably what he is And this I shall endeavour to make manifest both from Natural Reason and from the Divine Revelation of the Holy Scriptures 1. From the Dictates of natural Reason which tells us that nothing Argues greater weakness and imperfection than Inconstancy and Change This is the great Vanity of all Creatures that they are uncertain and do not long continue in one state this is the vanity of the World in general that the fashion of it passeth away and of Man in particular that he is liable to so many natural changes by Age and Diseases and Death for which Reason he is said by the Psalmist to be in his best estate altogether vanity and that he is liable to so many moral changes to be deluded and deceived in his Understanding and to alter his Opinion so often to be so fickle in his Will and to change so often his Purposes and Resolutions according to the alteration or appearance of things We attribute Change and Inconstancy to Persons of the weakest Age and Understanding as Children who are liable to be tost to and fro and carried about with every wind as the Apostle speaks Eph. 4.14 Now if the Divine Nature were subject to change this would cast an universal Cloud upon all the Divine Perfections and obscure all other Excellencies and make them like the flower of the field which how gay and glorious soever is fading and perishing and the greater the Divine Perfections are the greater Imperfection would mutability be for as the corruption of the best things is the worst so the better any thing is so much the worse it would be to have it liable to Corruption and Change And as mutability in God would darken all his other Perfections so would it take away the Foundation and comfort of all Religion the ground of our Faith and Hope and Fear of our Love and Esteem of God would be quite taken away We could have no great Honour or Esteem for a Being that is fickle and inconstant if his Power and Justice were uncertain his Threatings would in a great measure lose their awe and force if his Truth and Faithfulness could fail no Promises and Declarations how gracious soever would be any security or firm ground of Trust and Confidence And this Reasoning is not the result of Divine Revelation but clearly founded in the natural Notions and Suggestions of our Minds as will appear by citing one or two Testimonies to this burpose of those who had no other Guide but Natural Light Plato in his Phoedo enquires Whether the most perfect that is God be always the same or sometimes thus and sometimes otherwise that is saith he whether that which is Equality and Goodness and Bounty it self receives any the least Change at any time and be not Constant and Uniform and of it self always the same 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 and is never in any wise upon any account subject to any Change or Alteration whatsoever To which he answers That it is necessary that he should be the same and always alike And lib. 2. de Repub. where he lays down the Fundamental Laws and Constitutitions of Religion he mentions these two which one would almost think he borrow'd from St. James but that he lived so long before him viz. First That God is the Cause of all good and and in no wise of any evil answerably to what our Apostle here asserts that God cannot be tempted with evil neither tempteth he any Man but that every good and perfect gift is from him Secondly That God doth not deceive us by making various Representations of himself to us sometimes in one form and sometimes in another for he is unchangeable and always the same and cannot 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 pass out of his own Idea or be any other than what he is which he further confirms by this excellent Reasoning That which is the best and most perfect Being is not liable to any Alteration but such a Being is God and therefore he cannot be changed by any thing that is weaker and less perfect than himself and he cannot will to change himself for if he should it must either be for the better or for the worse it cannot be for the better for being already possest of all Perfection there can be no accession of any to him by any change and certainly there is no Wise Being as God is that will change for the worse and therefore he concludes 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 That being the goodliest and best Being that is possible he always continues simply the same Seneca likewise speaking of the immutability of God's Counsels l. 6. de Benef. Statuerunt says he quae non mutarent neque unquam primi consilii Deos poenitet The Gods make unchangeable decrees and never repent them of their first counsel 2. This will yet more clearly appear from the Divine Revelation of the Holy Scriptures which tell us that God is unchangeable in his Nature and in his Perfections in all his Decrees and Purposes and Promises In his essence and being Exod. 3.14 I am that I am this is his Name whereby he made known himself to the comfort of his People and to the terrour of the Egyptians their Oppressors Psal 90.2 From everlasting to everlasting thou art God Psal 102.27 Thou art
our affairs and concernments after we have used our best Endeavours let us sit down and be satisfied and refer the rest to God whose Providence governs the World and takes care of all our Interests and of the Interest of his Church and Religion when they seem to be in greatest Danger We cannot but be convinced that this is very reasonable to leave the Management of things to him who made them and therefore understands best how to order them The government of the World is a very curious and complicated Thing and not to be tamper'd with by every unskilful Hand and therefore as an unskilful Man after he hath tampered a great while with a Watch thinking to bring it into better order and is at last convinced that he can do no good upon it carries it to him that made it to mend it and put it into order so must we do after all our Care and Anxiety about our own private Concernments or the publick State of Things we must give over governing the World as a business past our Skill as a Province too hard and a Knowledge too wonderful for us and leave it to him who made the World to Govern it and take care of it And if we be not thus Affected and Disposed we do not believe the Providence of God whatever profession we make of it if we did it would have an influence upon our Minds to free us from Anxious Care and Discontent Were we firmly perswaded of the Wisdom and Goodness of the Divine Providence we should confidently rely upon it and according to the Apostle's advice here in the Text cast all our care upon him because he careth for us SERMON IX The Wisdom of God in the Redemption of Mankind 1 COR. I. 24 Christ the power of God and the wisdom of God I Have in the ordinary course of my Preaching been treating of the Attributes and Perfections of God more particularly those which relate to the Divine Understanding the Knowledge and Wisdom of God The first of these I have finisht and made some progress in the second the Wisdom of God which I have spoken to in general and have propounded more particularly to consider those famous Instances and Arguments of the Divine Wisdom in the Creation of the World the Government of it and the redemption of mankind by Jesus Christ The two first of these I have spoken to namely the Wisdom of God which appears in the Creation and Government of the World I come now to the III. Instance of the Divine Wisdom the redemption of mankind by Jesus Christ which I shall by God's assistance speak to from these words Christ the wisdom of God The Apostle in the beginning of this Epistle upon occasion of his mentioning the Divisions and Parties that were among the Corinthians where one said I am of Paul another I am of Apollos asks them whether Paul was crucified for them or whether they were baptized into the name of Paul To convince them that they could not pretend this that they were Baptized into his Name he tells them at the 14 and 15 th verses that he had not so much as baptized any of them except two or three so far was he from having Baptized them into his own Name and at the 17 th verse he says that his work his principal work was to preach the Gospel which he had done not with Humane Eloquence not in wisdom of words but with great plainness and simplicity lest the Cross of Christ should be made of none effect lest if he should have used any Artifice the Gospel should have been less powerful And indeed his Preaching was unaffectedly plain and therefore the Gospel did seem to very many to be a foolish and ridiculous thing The Story which they told of Christ Crucified was to the Jews a stumbling block and to the Greeks foolishness The Jews who expected another kind of Messias that should come in great Pomp and Glory to be a mighty Temporal Prince they were angry at the Story of a crucified Christ The Greeks the Philosophers who expected some curious Theories adorned with Eloquence and delivered and laid down according to the exact Rules of Art they derided this plain and simple Relation of Christ and of the Gospel But tho' this Design of the Gospel appeared silly and foolish to rash and inconsiderate and prejudiced Minds yet to them that are called to them that do believe both Jews and Gentiles Christ the power of God and the Wisdom of God Christ that is the way of our Redemption by Jesus Christ which the Apostle preached the wisdom of God an eminent Instance of it So that the redemption of Man by Jesus Christ is a Design of admirable Wisdom This I shall endeavour to confirm to you I. By general Testimonies of Scripture And II. By a more particular enquiry into the nature of this Design and the Means how it is accomplish'd I. By Testimonies from Scripture You know I have all along in my Discourses of the Attributes of God used this Method of proving them from the Dictates of Natural Light and the Revelation of Scripture But now I must forsake my wonted Method for here the Light of Nature leaves me The Wisdom of Creation is manifest in the things which are made the heavens declare the glory of God's Wisdom and the firmament shews his handy-work The Works of God do preach and set forth the Wisdom of the Creator but the Sun Moon and Stars do not preach the Gospel The Wisdom of redemption is Wisdom in a mystery hidden wisdom which none of the Princes or Philosophers of this World knew The sharpest Wits and the highest and most raised Understandings amongst the Heathens could say nothing of this Here the Wisdom of the Wise and the Vnderstanding of the Prudent is posed and we may make the Apostles challenge v. 20. of this Chapter Where is the Wise where is the Disputer of this World There is no Natural Light discovers Christ the Wise men cannot find him out unless a star be created on purpose to lead and direct to him Therefore in this I shall only depend upon Divine Revelation 1 Cor. 2.7 8. the Gospel is called the wisdom of God in a mystery even the hidden wisdom which God ordained before the world unto our glory Which none of the Princes of this world knew Eph. 1.7 8. In whom we have redemption through his blood the forgiveness of sins according to the riches of his grace wherein he hath abounded toward us in all Wisdom and Prudence Eph. 3.10 11. The manifold wisdom of God according to the eternal purpose which he purposed in Christ Jesus our Lord. This work of our redemption by Jesus Christ is so various and admirable that it is not below the Angels to know and understand it To the intent that unto principalities and powers in heavenly places might be known the manifold wisdom of God II. By inquiring more particularly into the nature
be utterly impossible Now these being the most easie and intelligible Perfections of God by which he is said in Scripture to declare his Name that is to make himself known to us we should govern all our Reasonings about God as concerning his Decrees and his concurrence with the Free Actions of Men and his particular Providence which are things more dark and obscure by what is more clear and we shall find in Scripture that in all these points holy Men do constantly appeal to these unquestionable and intelligible Perfections of God Wilt thou destroy the righteous with the wicked saith Abraham That be far from thee Shall not the Judge of all the world do right We may be mistaken but God certainly knows who are wicked and who are righteous and he knows how to punish the wicked and save the righteous But we cannot be mistaken in this Principle that the Judge of all the world will do right Thus Moses satisfies himself and others concerning the particular Providences of God towards the People of Israel Deut. 32.3 4. I will publish the name of the Lord All his ways are judgement a God of truth and without iniquity just and right is He. This we certainly know of God So St. Paul Rom. 2.2 Thou art inexcusable O Man Whatsoever Excuse men may pretend for their faults he lays down this for a Principle We are sure the Judgment of God is according to truth Secondly Let us always consider the Perfections of God in conjunction and so as to reconcile them with one another Do not consider God as meer Power and Soveraignty as meer Mercy and Goodness as meer Justice and Severity but as all these together and in such a measure and degree as may make them consistent with one another The greatest mistakes in Religion are certainly sprung from this root from separating the Perfections of God and considering them singly and framing such wide and large notions of one as to exclude another whereas the Perfections of God agree together and that is not a Divine Perfection which contradicts any other Perfection Among men indeed an eminent degree of any one Excellency does usually shut out some other and therefore it is observ'd that Power and Moderation Love and Discretion do not often meet together that a great Memory and a small Judgment a good Wit and an ill Nature are many times found in conjunction But in infinite Perfection all Perfections do eminently meet and consist together and it is not necessary that one Excellency should be raised upon the ruines of another And if this had been well consider'd Men would not by being too intent upon God's Soveraignty with neglect of his other Perfections have spoken those hard things about Predestination for the Soveraignty of God doth by no means set him above the Eternal Laws of Goodness and Truth and Righteousness And if this were considered men would not by poring upon the Justice and Severity of God be so swallowed up in despair for God is not so severe but he is merciful to the penitent and hath left a retreat for the returning Sinner If this were well consider'd it would check the presumption of those who incourage themselves in sin by fancying to themselves a God all of Mercy and Goodness and because sentence against an evil work is not speedily executed therefore their heart is fully set in them to do evil For it is not Goodness and Mercy finally to bear with and forgive obstinate Offenders but want of Prudence and good Government Thirdly Among different Opinions concerning God as there always have been and will be in the world chuse those which are farthest from extremity because Truth as well as Virtue usually lyes between the Extreams And here I will instance in that Controversie which has much disquieted the Church almost in all Ages concerning the Decrees of God about which there are two Extreams the one that God peremptorily decrees the final condition of every particular person that is their everlasting happiness or misery without any regard or consideration of the good or bad Actions of Men. The other that God decrees nothing concerning any particular person but only in general that men found under such and such Qualifications shall be happy or miserable and puts it into their own power to qualifie themselves Now he that is doubtful in this matter as every man must be that understands the difficulties on both sides had best take up in the middle Opinion that God decrees the final condition of particular persons with respect to certain Qualifications which speaking absolutely are not in every Man's power but yet under the influence of God's grace which is never wanting to the sincere endeavours of men may be said to be in our power in the same sense as St. Paul says I am able to do all things through Christ strengthning me For besides that this in all probability is the Truth there will be this advantage in it that he that stands in the middle is like to be more moderate towards the Dissenters on both sides than either of them will be to one onother because the middle is not so far from either Extream as the Extreams are from one another At the worst he stands fairest for an impartial enquiry after Truth and when he has satisfied himself where the Truth lyes he may more silently pass over to it without any great imputation of inconstancy which cannot but be remarkable in him who passeth from one Extream to another Fourthly and lastly Entertain no Opinion concerning God that doth evidently contradict the Practice of Religion and a good Life though never so specious and subtile Arguments may be used to perswade it Truth is most easily seen and discern'd in those Reasonings and Opinions which tend to practice because the absurdity and inconvenience of them is soonest discovered whereas we cannot so certainly find out the truth or falshood of those Opinions which speculative Men devise in their Studies without any consideration whether they serve any real purpose of Life or not Men indeed are very apt to form those notions which are most remote from common sense and use because more pains and wit are required to make them plausible but there needs no other Argument to make a wise man despise them than that they are unprofitable and signifie nothing to our practice and to make men truly better This is universally true in all kind of knowledge but most considerable in the knowledge of God and Religion because that knowledge is of the greatest consideration We need not scruple to admit some things not so evident to Natural Reason if we be satisfied of the truth of them from an higher and more cogent Reason As that God has revealed it and said it this general Reason may perswade us of a thing that is above and beyond Natural Reason But we may not admit any thing for a Divine Revelation which evidently contradicts and weakens the practice of
our lazy complaints that our Duty is set so high that the endeavours of our whole life cannot reach it when yet we have hardly made one step towards it and are so remiss and unconcern'd about it as if we could do it at any time with the greatest ease and at an hours warning before we leave the world could fulfil this Precept of our Lord of being perfect as our Father which is in Heaven is perfect And yet let me tell you so far as any of us are from resembling our heavenly Father in some good degree and measure so far are we distant from Heaven and the temper of the blessed so far are we utterly unqualified for the blissful sight and enjoyment of God for unless we be first like him we cannot see him as he is Only the pure in heart shall see God and therefore every man that has this hope in him should purifie himself even as he is pure And thus I have as briefly as I could dispatcht the four things I propounded for the Explication of this Text namely how we are to conceive of the Divine Perfections and to give some Rules to regulate and govern our Opinions concerning the Attributes and Perfections of God to explain the extent of this Duty and vindicate the possibility of it All that now remains is to draw some useful Inferences from this Discourse which I have made and they shall be these two I. That the strongest and surest Reasonings in Religion are grounded upon the Essential Perfections of God II. That the truest and most substantial Practice of Religion consists in the imitation of God I. That the strongest and surest Reasonings in Religion are grounded upon the Essential Perfections of God so that even Divine Revelation it self doth suppose these for its Foundation and can signifie nothing to us unless these be first known and believed Unless we be first perswaded of the Providence of God and his particular Care of Mankind why should we believe that he would make any Revelation of himself to Men Unless it be naturally known to us that God is true what foundation is there for the belief of his Word And what signifie the Laws and Promises of God unless natural Light do first assure us of his Soveraign Authority and Faithfulness So that the Principles of Natural Religion are the foundation of that which is Revealed and therefore in Reason nothing can be admitted to be a Revelation from God which plainly contradicts his Essential Perfection and consequently if any pretends Divine Revelation for this Doctrine That God hath from all Eternity absolutely decreed the eternal ruine of the greatest part of Mankind without any respect to the Sins and Demerits of Men I am as certain that this Doctrine cannot be of God as I am sure that God is Good and Just because this grates upon the Notion that Mankind have of Goodness and Justice This is that which no good man would do and therefore cannot be believed of infinite Goodness and therefore if an Apostle or Angel from Heaven teach any Doctrine which plainly overthrows the Goodness and Justice of God let him be accursed For every man hath greater assurance that God is Good and Just than he can have of any subtile Speculations about Predestination and the Decrees of God And for the same Reason I cannot believe upon the pretended Authority or Infallibility of any Man or Church in the world that God would not have Men understand their Publick Prayers and the Lessons of Scripture which are read to them A Lesson not to be understood is nonsense a Lesson is something to be learn'd which how it can be without being understood is hard to comprehend And as little can I believe upon the Authority of any Person or Church whatsoever that God should reveal his Will to Men in the holy Scriptures with a design to have it hid and lock't up from the generality of Mankind in an unknown Tongue And much less can I believe which yet is the express Doctrine of the Council of Trent that the saving Efficacy of the Sacrament depends upon the Intention of the Priest Which is to say that though people believe and live never so well they may be damned by Sholes and whole Parishes together at the pleasure of the Priest and for no other reason but because he is so wicked as not to intend to save them Can any man believe this that hath any tolerable notion of God's Goodness May we not in this case appeal as Abraham did to the Goodness and Justice of God and expostulate with greater Reason than he did much after the same manner wilt thou destroy the righteous for the wicked That be far from Thee to do after this manner to damn the righteous for the wicked and that righteous people should lye at the mercy of a wicked Priest to be damned or saved at his pleasure that be far from Thee Shall not the Judge of all the Earth do right And can there be a greater affront to the Goodness and Justice of God than to imagin he should deal with men after this manner If this be to do right there is no possibility of doing wrong And to give but one instance more I can never believe upon the Authority of any Man or Church whatsoever that our Saviour in the Celebration of his last Supper did with his own hands give away his own Natural Body into the hands of his Disciples and give his Blood shed before it was shed That the whole Doctrine of Christianity should mainly rely upon the Evidence of Miracles the assurance of which depends upon the certainty of Sense and yet that an Essential part of that Doctrine should overthrow the certainty of Sense I can never while I live believe these two things that the last thing our Saviour did before his death should be to teach his Disciples not to believe their own Senses as he must do if he taught them Transubstantiation and that the very first thing he did after he was risen from the dead should be to teach them the quite contrary by appealing to the certainty of Sense for the proof of his Resurrection for when they doubted of his Resurrection Luke 24.38 He said unto them why are ye troubled and why do thoughts arise in your hearts behold my hands and my feet that it is I my self handle me and see for a Spirit hath not flesh and bones as ye see me have If this be a good Argument that it was a real Body which they saw because they saw and felt Flesh and Bones is it not as good an Argument on the other side that what they saw in the Sacrament was not his real and natural Body because they could neither see nor handle Flesh and Bones So that I cannot believe Transubstantiation unless I can believe that Truth it self can contradict and destroy it self You see of what use it is to have right and steady Apprehensions of the
Divine Perfections that these being laid for a foundation we may upon all occasions have recourse to them and govern our Opinions and Reasonings in Religion about all doubtful matters by such Principles as are clear and unquestionable The II. Inference is That the truest and most substantial Practice of Religion consists in the imitation of the Divine Perfections especially the Moral Perfections of the Divine Nature which the Scripture is wont to comprehend under the name of Holiness and such are the Goodness and Mercy and Patience of God his Justice and Truth and Faithfulness To imitate God in these is true Religion or as St. James expresses it pure Religion and undefiled 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 without any flaw or blemish alluding to precious Stones the greatest commendation of which is to be clear and without flaw Religio est imitari quem colis this is Religion to imitate him whom we worship This the Heathens by the light of Nature did discover to be the great End of Religion and the best Worship of the Deity to be like God Pythagoras was wont to say that we honour God most when we are most like him in the temper and disposition of our Minds and Plato to the same purpose that the height and Perfection of Goodness is to resemble God as near as is possible and that we resemble God in being just and holy and wise So likewise Hierocles that a good man imitates God in the measures of Love and Friendship who hates no man and extends his benignity to all Mankind Plutarch hath an excellent Discourse about the Patience of God towards Sinners and gives this as one Reason why God doth not presently punish Offenders that he might give an Example to us of Gentleness and Patience and check the fury and violence of men in revenging Injuries upon one another which nothing will do more effectually than to consider that Gentleness and Forbearance are an imitation of the Divine Perfection And then he cites an excellent saying of Plato that God manifested himself and display'd his Perfections in the World for our imitation true Virtue being nothing else but an imitation of the Divine Nature For there is no greater Benefit man can receive from God's hand than to become virtuous by the imitation and pursuit of those Excellencies and Perfections which are in God Seneca likewise hath many passages to this purpose inter viros bonos ac Deum amicitia est imo etiam necessitudo similitudo between God and good men there is a friendship yea and an intimacy and likeness and that a virtuous man is discipulus aemulatorque vera progenies Dei a disciple and imitator and the very genuine off-spring of God So that the light of Nature and the Reason of Mankind have always placed the perfection of Religion in the imitation of the Divine Excellencies and Perfections And this is very agreeable to the language and sense of the holy Scriptures which every where make the Practice of Religion to consist in our Conformity to God and the Laws which he hath given us which are nothing else but a transcript of his Nature The great business of Religion is to do the Will of God and this is the will of God our sanctification and our sanctification is our conformity to the holiness of God and this is the scope of the general Exhortations of Scripture to perswade us to holiness that is to an imitation of the Moral Perfections of the Divine Nature 2 Cor. 7.1 Having therefore these promises dearly beloved let us cleanse our selves from all filthiness of flesh and spirit and perfect holiness in the fear of God 1 Pet. 1.15 16. As he which hath called you is holy so be ye holy in all manner of conversation because it is written be ye holy for I am holy 2 Pet. 1.3 4. speaking of the Christian Religion which he calls the knowledge of him who hath called us to glory and virtue whereby also says he are given unto us exceeding great and precious promises that by these we might be partakers of a divine nature having escaped the corruption that is in the world through lust So that the holiness the Gospel designs to bring us to is a participation of the Divine Nature which we can no otherwise partake of but by an imitation of the Divine Perfections This is that which the Scripture expresses to us by the terms of Regeneration the New Man and the New Creature And therefore those who are converted from a wicked and sinful state and reclaimed to goodness are said to put on the new man which after God is created in righteousness and the holiness of truth Ephes 4.23 To be renewed after the image of him that created us Coloss 3.10 This is to be the sons and children of God to imitate and resemble God in our dispositions and manners Ephes 5.1 Be ye therefore 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 imitators of God as dear children Philip. 2.15 That ye may be blameless and sincere the sons of God without rebuke in the midst of a crooked and perverse nation 1 John 3.10 In this the children of God are manifest and the children of the Devil whosoever doth not righteousness is not of God There have been great enquiries concerning the Marks of a Child of God this is the true Character and that which in effect comprehends all others our imitation and resemblance of God in those Perfections wherein he is set forth for a Pattern to us And in this mainly consists the practice both of Natural Religion and of true Christianity But does not Religion consist very much in the Duties of God's Worship in the Exercises of Piety and Devotion in constant and frequent Prayers to God and in the celebration of his Goodness by Praise and Thanksgiving in reading and hearing and meditating upon God's Word in Fasting and Abstinence and keeping our bodies in subjection to our spirits and in frequent receiving of the holy Sacrament To this I answer That Religion doth consist very much in the due performance of these Duties and they are unquestionable and necessary parts of Religion and the Means appointed by God for the begetting and increasing in us such dispositions of mind as render us most like to God and for the production of all the fruits of Goodness and Holiness and Righteousness in our lives But then it is to be considered that these Exercises of Piety and Devotion are but the Means of Religion and not the ultimate End and Design of it All these do but serve to bring us to a nearer resemblance of God and where they fail of this End and are performed for their own sakes only and we rest in them without aiming at any thing farther they lose their nature because they are not used as Means but rested in as if they were the End of Religion And it is to be feared there are many which fall into this fatal mistake about Religion and think that if
they do but serve God in their Families and go to Church and behave themselves there with Devotion and Reverence and at certain seasons receive the Sacrament they are truly religious and very good Christians when all this while they take no care to improve themselves in real Goodness by an inward conformity of their Minds to God and the real reformation and amendment of their Lives by mortifying their Lusts and subduing their Appetites and Passions to the Laws of Reason and Religion by putting on as the elect of God bowels of kindness by being true and faithful righteous and just patient and merciful as their Father which is in heaven is so and by forbearing one another in case of provocation and forgiving one another even as God for Christ's sake hath forgiven us by purifying themselves as God is pure and endeavouring to be holy in all manner of conversation as he who hath called them is holy when all this while they are as covetous and earthly minded and to serve their covetousness will strain a point of Truth or Justice and hardly do an act of Charity in their whole lives but what is extorted from them by meer importunity or some such urgent necessity in point of decency and reputation that for shame of the World they know not how to avoid it when their Passions are as fierce and ungoverned their Hearts as full of Gall and Bitterness their Tongues of slander and evil speaking their Humours as proud and surly and censorious as theirs can be who are openly profane and seem to neglect and despise all Religion And yet because they serve God as they call it and make an external appearance of Piety and Devotion are good Church-men and attend upon the Ordinances of God they think they have discharged the whole business of Religion admirably well and are very good children of God and in a state of great grace and favour with him Whereas the performance of all these Duties and the use of all these Means separated from that which is the great End of Religion the Conformity of our selves to God in those Qualities and Dispositions which I have mention'd is so far from finding acceptance with God that it is an abomination to him So God every where declares in Scripture telling us that the prayer of the wicked is an abomination to the Lord and that he disdains to be praised by men of unhallowed lips and lives and that unless with the praises we offer to him we order our conversation aright we shall not see the salvation of God With what contempt does he speak of this formal and external Religion without the power of it upon our hearts and lives To what purpose is the multitude of your Sacrifices to me Will the Lord be pleased with thousands of Rams and ten thousands of rivers of Oil he hath shewed thee O man what is good and what doth the Lord require of thee but to do justly and to love mercy and to walk humbly with thy God Is not this the fast which I have chosen to break the bands of wickedness and to let the oppressed go free to deal thy bread to the hungry and that thou bring the poor that are cast out to thine house when thou seest the naked that thou cover him and that thou hide not thy self from thine own flesh Nor is it hearing of the Word that will avail us unless we be doers of it Blessed are they says our Saviour that hear the word of God and keep it He that heareth these sayings of mine and doth them shall be likened to a wise man who hath built his house upon a rock Nor will bare receiving of the Sacrament recommend us to God but performing the Obligation which thereby we take upon our selves to obstain from all sin and wickedness otherwise we tread under foot the Son of God and prophane the blood of the Covenant whereby we should be sanctified as if it were an unholy thing Can any man think that to be Religion which has no effect upon the lives of men which does not teach them to govern their words and actions who reads those plain words of St. James If any man among you seem to be religious and bridleth not his tongue but deceiveth his own heart that man's Religion is vain Pure Religion and undefiled before God and the Father is this to visit the fatherless and widdows in their affliction and to keep himself unspotted from the world When Religion produceth these real Effects then the Means of Religion do truly serve the End of it and we are not only hearers of the Word but doers of it and shall be blessed in our deed So that as there is an obligation upon us to use the Means of Religion which God hath instituted with great care and conscience so we should chiefly mind that which is the End of all Religion which is to make us partakers of a Divine Nature and make us like to God especially in those amiable and excellent Qualities which are the glory and beauty of the Divine Nature his Benignity and Goodness his Mercy and Patience These because they are the primary Perfections of God are the principal Duties both of Natural and Revealed Religion and of an eternal and indispensable Obligation because they have their foundation in the Nature of God which is fixt and unalterable And all positive Institutions when they come in competition with these are to stoop and vail to them Natural and Moral Duties especially those of Goodness and Mercy and Charity are so strongly bound upon us that nothing in any reveal'd Religion can cancel the Obligation of them or justifie the violation of these great and indispensable Laws Our Saviour in his Religion has declar'd nothing to the prejudice of them but on the contrary has straitned our Obligation to them as much as is possible The Son of man came not to destroy mens lives but to save them so that they know not what manner of spirit they are of who think to please God by hating men who are made after the image of God by killing one another to do him good service who to advance his Cause and Religion in the World will break through all the Obligations of Nature and Civil Society undermine Government and disturb the Peace of Mankind Whereas our Saviour did not by any thing in his Religion design to alter the Civil Government of the World or to lessen and diminish the Rights of Princes or to set men loose from Allegiance to them or to make Treason and Rebellion bloody Wars and barbarous Massacres lawful for the propagating of his faith He had as any one would imagin as much Power as the Pope but yet he deposed no Princes nor excommunicated and discharged their Subjects from their Fidelity and Obedience to them for their opposition to his Religion he hath assumed no such Power to himself By what Authority then does his Vicar do these things and
who gave him this Authority Our Lord tells us plainly his Kingdom was not of this world and that without any distinction of in ordine ad spiritualia and therefore he wrested no Princes Kingdom out of his hands nor seized it as forfeited to himself But this Power the Pope claims to himself and hath exercised it many a time disturbing the Peace of Nations and exercising the most barbarous Cruelties in the World under a pretence of Zeal for God and Religion as if because Religion is so very good a thing in it self it would warrant men to do the very worst things for its sake which is the ready way to render Religion contemptible and odious and to make two of the best things in the World God and Religion good for nothing If we would preserve in the Minds of Men any reverence and esteem for Religion we must take heed how we destroy the Principles of Natural Religion and undermine the Peace and Happiness of Humane Society for the glory of God and under pretence of following Divine Revelation and being led by a Church that cannot err for every Church doth certainly err that teacheth any thing plainly contrary to the Principles and Dictates â—f Natural Religion and utterly inconsistent with the essential Perfections of God and with the Peace and Order of the World for God is not the God of Confusion but of Order which St. Paul appealeth to as a Principle of eternal Truth and naturally known But they that pretend that Religion prompts men to Sedition and Cruelty do represent God as the God of confusion and not of order Therefore whatever men may through an ignorant zeal or for ambitious Ends pretend to be Religion let us place it in that which is unquestionable the imitation of the Divine Perfections and let us as the Apostle exhorts put on as the elect of God bowels of mercy kindness meekness long-suffering and above all let us put on Charity which is the very bond of perfection The great Perfection of the Divine Nature or rather the very Essence of God is Love So St. John speaks God is love and he that dwelleth in love dwelleth in God and God in him And 't is very remarkable that in these very qualities of Charity and Kindness and Compassion which we peculiarly call Humanity we approach nearest to the Divinity it self and that the contrary Dispositions do transform us into wild Beasts and Devils And yet as severely as I speak against these Principles and Practices I have an hearty pity and compassion for those who are under the power of so great a Delusion and upon a pretence of being made the only true Christians in the world are seduced from Humanity it self and so far from being made good Christians by these Principles that they are hardly left to be Men being blinded and led by the blind they fall into the ditch of the grossest and foulest Immoralities such as are plainly enough condemn'd by the light of Nature if there were no Bible in the World Not but that we Protestants have our Faults and our Follies too and those God knows too many and too visible we possess more Truth but there is little Peace among us and yet God is as well and as often in Scripture called the God of peace as the God of truth In this great Light and Liberty of the Reform'd Religion we are apt to be wanton and to quarrel and fall out we are full of Heats and Animosities of Schisms and Divisions and the way of peace we have not known God grant that at last in this our day when it concerns us so much we may know the things that belong to our peace before they be hid from our eyes You see in what things the Practice of Religion mainly consists in our likeness to God and resemblance of him in Holiness and Goodness and without this we are utterly incapable of happiness we cannot see God unless we be like him The Presence of God can administer no Pleasure no Felicity to us till we be changed into his Image till we come to this temper to hate Sin and delight in purity and holiness we can have no delightful communion with the holy God till our Passions be subdued and our Souls dispossest of those devilish and ungodlike Qualities of Hatred and Malice of Revenge and Impatience and till we be endued with the Spirit of universal Goodness and Charity we are not fit company for our heavenly Father we are not qualified to dwell with God who is love and dwells in love So far as we are defective in these Divine Qualities and Perfections so far we fall short of the temper of Happiness There is a direct and eternal Opposition between the holy and good God and the evil dispositions of wicked men and till this Opposition be removed it is impossible we should find any felicity in the enjoyment of God Now the Nature of God is fixt and unchangeable God cannot recede from his own Perfection and therefore we must quit our sins Thou canst not change God therefore change thy self and rather think of putting off thy corrupt Nature which may be changed than of altering the Divine Nature with whom is no variableness nor shadow of turning God condescended to take our Nature upon him to make us capable of Happiness but if this will not do he will not put off his own Nature to make us happy SERMON III. The Happiness of God 1 TIM 1.11 The Blessed God The whole Verse runs thus According to the glorious Gospel of the Blessed God which was committed to my trust SINCE all Men naturally desire happiness and thirst after it methinks we should all desire to know what it is and where it is to be found and how it is to be attained by us in that degree in which Creatures are capable of it What Job says of Wisdom may be said also of Happiness God understandeth the way thereof and he knoweth the place thereof He only who is perfectly possest of it himself knows wherein it consists and what are the true ingredients of it So that to direct us in our search after happiness the best way will be to Contemplate and Consider the Divine Nature which is the perfect Pattern and Idea of Happiness and the Original Spring and Fountain of all the Felicity that Creatures are capable of And to that end I have pitched upon these Words wherein the Apostle attributes this Perfection of bessedness or happiness to God The Blessed God And tho' this be as Essential a part as any other of that Notion which Mankind have of God from the Light of Nature yet I no where find in all the New Testament this Attribute of Happiness given to God but only twice in this Epistle 'T is true indeed the Title of Blessedness is frequently given both to God and Christ but in another Sense and in a quite different Notion As Mark 14.61 where the High-Priest asks our
pride of evil men 3. Vse Trust the Wisdom of God which made the World to govern it and the Affairs of it and the Wisdom which hath framed thy Body in so curious and exquisite a manner and formed thy Spirit within thee and hath made so many Creatures with reference to thy Necessity and Comfort trust him for thy future Provision Mat. 6.25 I say unto you Take no thought for your lives what ye shall eat c. Is not the life more than meat and the body than rayment He hath given us our Souls he hath breathed into us the breath of life and made these Bodies without our care and thought He hath done the greater will he not do the less When thou art ready anxiously and solicitously to say what shall I do for the necessaries of Life Consider whence thou didst receive thy Life who made this Body of thine thou mayst be assur'd that the Wisdom which hath created these consider'd how to supply them the Wisdom of God knew that you would want all these and hath accordingly provided for them therefore fear not SERMON VIII The Wisdom of God in his Providence Preached at Kensington I PETER V. 7 Casting all your care upon him for he careth for you AMONGST the several Duties which towards the conclusion of this Epistle the Apostle exhorts Christians to this is one not to be over-much solicitous and concerned about what may befal us but to refer our selves to the providence of God which takes care of us In speaking to this Argument I shall I. Consider the nature of the Duty here required which is to cast our care upon God II. The Argument used to perswade us to it because he careth for us I. For the nature of the Duty here required The word 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 signifies an anxious care about Events a care that is accompanied with trouble and disquiet of Mind about what may befall us about the good that we hope for and desire or about the Evil which we fear may come upon us This the Apostle exhorts us to throw off and to leave to the Providence of God and his Care all those Events which we are apt to be so solicitous and disquieted about The Expression seems to be taken out of Psal 55.22 cast thy burthen upon the Lord and he shall sustain thee Now that we may not mistake our Duty in this matter I shall shew what is not here meant by casting all our care upon God and then what is meant by it The Apostle doth not hereby intend to take Men off from a provident care and diligence about the concernments of this life this is not only contrary to Reason but to many express Precepts and Passages of Scripture wherein Diligence is recommended to us and the Blessing of God and the good Success of our Affairs promised thereto wherein we are commanded to provide for those of our Family which cannot be done without some sort of care and wherein Sloathfulness and Negligence are condemned and threatned with Poverty so that this is not to cast our care upon God to take no care of our selves to use no diligence and endeavour for the obtaining of the Good which we desire and the prevention of the Evil we fear this is to tempt the Providence of God and to cast that Burthen upon him which he expects we should bear our selves But by casting our care upon God the Apostle intends these two things 1. That after all prudent Care and Diligence have been used by us we should not be farther solicitous nor trouble our selves about the event of Things which when we have done all we can will be out of our power And this certainly is our Saviour's meaning when he bids us take no care for the morrow When we have done what is fit for us for the present to do we should not disquiet and torment our selves about the Issue and Event of Things 2. Casting our care upon God implies that we should refer the issue of Things to his Providence which is continually vigilant over us and knows how to dispose all things to the best entirely confiding in his Wisdom and Goodness that he will order all things for our good and in that confidence resolving to rest satisfied and contented with the disposals of his Providence whatever they be You see then the nature of the Duty which the Apostle here exhorts to viz. That after all prudent Care and Diligence have been used on our parts we should not be disquieted in our Minds about the event of things but leave them to God who hath the Care of us and of all our Concernments Which is the II. Thing I proposed to speak to and which I intend chiefly to insist upon viz. The Argument which the Apostle here useth to perswade us to this Duty of casting all our care upon God because it is he that careth for us and this implies in it these two things 1. In general That the Providence of God governs the World and concerns it self in the Affairs of Men and disposeth of all Events that happen to us 2. More particularly That this Providence is peculiarly concerned for good Men and that he takes a special care of them and their Concerns He careth for you The Apostle speaks this to them not only as Men but as Christians And thus the Psalmist from whom these words seem to be taken does apply and limit this Promise Cast thy burthen upon the Lord and he shall sustain thee he shall never suffer the righteous to be moved 1. That God taketh care of us implies in general That the Providence of God governs the World and concerns it self in the Affairs of Men and disposeth of all Events that happen to us I shall not now enter upon a large Proof of the Providence of God that is too large and intricate an Argument for a short Discourse and hath a great deal of nicety and difficulty in it and tho' it be a fundamental Principle of Religion and hath been almost generally entertained and believed by Mankind and that upon very good Reason yet because the vindication of many particular appearances of Providence does in a great measure depend upon a full view and comprehension of the whole design therefore we must necessarily refer our selves for full satisfaction as to several difficulties and Objections to the other World when we shall see God's works together with the relation of every part to the whole design and then many particular Passages which may now seem odd and crooked as we look upon them by themselves will in Relation to the whole appear to have a great deal of Reason and Regularity in them Therefore I shall at present only briefly and in the general shew that it is very credible that there is a wise Providence that governs the World and interests it self in the affairs of Men and disposeth of all Events which happen to us And I desire it may be observed
in the entrance upon this Argument that the handling of this Question concerning Providence doth suppose the Being of God and that he made the World as Principles already known and granted before we come to dispute of his Providence for it would be in vain to argue about the Providence of God with those who question his Being and whether the World was made by him But supposing these two Principles that God is and that he made the World it is very credible that he should take care of the Government of it and especially of one of the noblest Parts of it the race of Mankind For we cannot believe that he who employed so much Power and Wisdom in the raising of this great and magnificent Pile and furnishing every part of it with such variety of Creatures so exquisitely and so wisely fitted for the use and service of one another should so soon as he had perfected it forsake his own Workmanship and take no farther care of it Especially considering that it is no trouble and disquiet to him either to take notice of what is done here below or to interpose for the regulating of any Disorders that may happen for Infinite Knowledge and Wisdom and Power can do this with all imaginable ease knows all things and can do all things without any disturbance of its own happiness And this hath always been the common Apprehension of Mankind that God knows all things and observes every thing that is done in the World and when he pleaseth interposes in the affairs of it 'T is true indeed the Epicureans did deny that God either made the World or governs it and therefore wise Men always doubted whether they did indeed believe the Being of God or not but being unwilling to incur the danger of so odious an Opinion they were content for fashion sake to own his Being provided they might take away the best and most substantial Arguments for the proof oâ— it The rest of the Philosophers owned a Providence at least a general Providence that took care of great and more important Matters but did not descend to a constant and particular care of every Person and every little Event belonging to them Interdum curiosus singulorum says Tully now and then when he pleases he takes care of particular Persons and their lesser concernments but many of them thought that God did generally neglect the smaller and more inconsiderable affairs of the World Dii minora negligunt neque agelloâ— singulorum viticulas persequuntur The Gods overlook smaller matters and do not mind every Mans little Field and Vine Such imperfect apprehensions had they of the Providence of God And tho' they would seem hereby to consult the Dignity and ease of the Deity by exempting him from the care and trouble of lesser Matters yet in truth and reality they cast a dishonourable reflection upon him as if it were a burthen to Infinite Knowledge and Power and Goodness to take care of every thing But now Divine Revelation hath put this matter out of doubt by assuring us of God's particular care of all Persons and Events Our Saviour tells us that God's Providence extends to the least and most inconsiderable Creatures to the grass of the Field which to day is and to morrow is cast into the Oven Mat. 6.30 To the fowls of the air and that to the least of them even to the Sparrows two of which are sold for a Farthing and yet not one of them falleth to the ground without God Mat. 10.29 Much more doth the Providence of God extend to Men which are Creatures far more considerable and to the very least thing that belongs to us to the very hairs of our head which are all numbered the lowest instance that can be thought on So that the light of Nature owns a more general Providence and Divine Revelation hath rectified those imperfect apprehensions which Men had about it and hath satisfied us that it extends it self to all particulars and even to the least things and most inconsiderable And this is no ways incredible considering the Infinite Perfection of the Divine Nature in respect of which God can with as much and greater ease take care of every thing than we can do of any one thing and the belief of this is the great foundation of Religion Men therefore pray to God for the good they want and to be freed from the evils they fear because they believe that he always regards and hears them Men therefore make Conscience of their Duty because they believe God observes them and will reward and punish their good and evil Deeds So that take away the Providence of God and we pull down one of the main Pillars upon which Religion stands we rob our selves of one of the greatest Comforts and best Refuges in the Afflictions and Calamities of this life and of all our hopes of happiness in the next And tho' there be many disorders in the World especially in the Affairs of Men the most irregular and intractable Piece of God's Creation yet this is far from being a sufficient Objection against the Providence of God if we consider that God made Man a free Creature and capable of abusing his Liberty and intends this present life for a state of trial in order to another where Men shall receive the just recompence of their Actions here And then if we consider that many of the evils and disorders which God permits to happen are capable of being over-ruled by him to a greater good and are made many times to serve wise and excellent purposes and that the Providence of God does sometimes visibly and remarkably interpose for the prevention and remedy of great Disorders and Confusions I say considering all this it is no blemish to the Divine Providence to permit many of those Irregularities which are in the World and suffer the Fates of good and bad Men to be so cross and unequal in this life For supposing another life after this wherein Men shall come to an Account and every Man shall receive the just recompence of his Actions there will then be a proper Season and full Opportunity of seting all things streight and no Man shall have reason then either to glory in his wickedness or to complain of his sufferings in this World This is the first that God's Providence governs the World and interests it self in the affairs of Men and disposeth of all Events that happens to them and this is a very good Reason why we should cast our particular cares upon him who hath undertaken the Government of the whole 2. The Providence of God is more peculiarly concerned for good Men and he takes a more particular and especial care of them The Apostle speaks this to Christians cast all your care on him for he careth for you And this David limits in a more peculiar manner to good Men cast thy burthen upon the Lord and he will sustain thee he shall never suffer the
Minister of God saith he must be without House and Harbour and worldly Accommodations must be armed with such Patience for the greatest sufferings as if he were a Stone and devoid of Sense he must be a spectacle of Misery and Contempt to the World So that by the acknowledgment of these two wise Heathens there was nothing in the sufferings of Christ that was unbecoming the Wisdom of God and improper to the End and Design of Christ's coming into the World besides that they served a further end which they did not dream of the satisfying of Divine Justice Secondly His Exaltation The several parts of which his Resurrection and Ascension and sitting the right hand of God were eminently subservient to the perfecting and carrying on of this Design The Resurrection of Christ is the great confirmation of the truth of all that he deliver'd Rom. 1.4 Declared to be the son of God with power 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 by the Resurrection from the Dead This great Miracle of his Resurrection from the Dead did determine the Controversie and put it out of all Doubt and Question that he was the Son of God And then his Ascension and sitting at the right hand of God this gives us the assurance of a Blessed Immortality and is a demonstration of a life to come and a pledge of everlasting Glory and Happiness And can any thing tend more to the encouragement of Obedience and to make us Dead to the Pleasures and Enjoyments of this life than the assurance of Eternal Life and Happiness And then the Consequents of his Exaltation they do eminently conduce to our recovery The sending of the Holy Ghost to lead us into all truth to sanctifie us to assist us and to comfort us under the greatest Troubles and Afflictions and the powerful Intercession of Christ in our behalf and his return to Judgment the expectation whereof is the great Argument to Repentance and Holiness of Life Acts 17.30 31. And the times of this ignorance God winked at but now commandeth all Men every where to repent Because he hath appointed a day in the which he will judge the World in righteousness by that Man whom he hath ordained whereof he hath given assurance unto all Men in that he hath raised him from the dead And thus I have endeavoured to prove that the Redemption of Man by Jesus Christ is a Design of admirable Wisdom The use I shall make of it is to convince us of the Uunreasonableness of unbelief and the Folly and Madness of Impenitency First The unreasonableness of Unbelief The Gospel reveals to us the wise Counsel and Dispensation of God for our Redemption and those who disbelieve the Gospel they reject the counsel of God against themselves as it is said of the unbelieving Pharisees and Lawyers Luke 7.30 The Gospel reveals to us a design so reasonable and full of Wisdom that they who can disbelieve it are desperate Persons devoted to ruin 1 Cor. 1.18 The cross of Christ is to them that perish foolishness 2 Cor. 4.3 4. But if our Gospel be hid it is hid to them that are lost in whom the God of this World hath blinded the eyes of them that believe not lest the light of the glorious Gospel of Christ who is the image of God should shine unto them The Gospel carries so much light and evidence in it that it cannot be hid from any but such whose Eyes are blinded by the Devil and their Lusts He that will duly weigh and consider Things and look narrowly into this wise dispensation of God shall find nothing to object against it nay shall discover in it the greatest motives and inducements to believe We are apt to believe any thing that is reasonable especially if it be for our Advantage now this wise dispensation of God is not only reasonable in it self but beneficial to us it does at once highly gratifie our Understandings and satisfie our Interest why should we not then believe and entertain it I. The design of the Gospel is reasonable and gratifies our Understandings And in this respect the Gospel hath incomparable Advantages above any other Religion The end of all Religion is to advance Piety and Holiness and real Goodness among Men and the more any Religion advanceth these the more reasonable it is Now the great Incitements and Arguments to Piety are the Excellency and Perfection of the Divine Nature fear of Punishment and hopes of Pardon and Rewards Now the Gospel represents all these to the greatest advantage 1. It represents the Perfections of God to the greatest advantage especially those which tend most to the promotion of Piety and the love of God in us his Justice and Mercy 1. His Justice The Gospel represents it inflexible in its Rights and inexorable and that will not in any case let Sin go unpunish'd The impartiality of the Divine Justice appears in this Dispensation that when God pardons the Sinner yet he will punish Sin so severely in his own Son who was the Surety Now what could more tend to discountenance Sin and convince us of the great evil of it 2. His Mercy This Dispensation is a great demonstration of the Mercy and Goodness and Love of God in sending his Son to die for Sinners and in saving us by devoting and sacrificing him John 3.16 For God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten Son Rom. 5.8 But God commendeth his love towards us in that while we were yet Sinners Christ died for us 1 John 4.9 10. In this was manifested the love of God towards us because God sent his only begotten Son into the world that we might live through him Herein is love not that we loved God but that he loved us and sent his Son to be the propitiation for our sins Now this representation of God's Mercy and Love which the Gospel makes is of great force and efficacy to melt our Hearts into love to God 2. The Second Argument to Piety is fear of Punishment The Gospel hath revealed to us the misery of those who continue in their Sin it hath made clear and terrible discoveries of those Torments which attend sinners in another World and hath open'd to us the Treasures of God's Wrath so that now under the Gospel hell is naked before us and destruction hath no covering and this is one thing which makes the Gospel so powerful an Engine to destroy sin Rom. 1.16 18. The Gospel is the power of God unto salvation for therein is the wrath of God revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men 3. Hopes of Pardon and Reward And this added to the former renders the Gospel the most powerful Instrument to take men off from sin and engage them to Holiness that can be imagin'd The Means to draw Men from sin when they are once awaken'd with the fear of Vengeance is hopes of Pardon and Mercy and the way to encourage Obedience for the future is hope of
wander up and down in dry and desart places seeking rest but finding none Were the whole World calm about a Man and did it not make the least attempt upon him were he free from the fears of Divine Vengeance yet he could not be satisfied with himself there is something within him that would not let him be at rest but would tear him from his own Foundation and Consistency so that when we are once broken off from God the sense of inward want doth stimulate and force us to seek our contentment else-where So that nothing but Holiness which re-unites us to God and restores our Souls to their primitive and original state can make us happy and give peace and rest to our Souls And this is the constant voice and language of Scripture and the tenour of the Bible Acquaint thy self with God that thou mayest be at Peace Job 22.21 Light is sown for the righteous and gladness for the upright in heart Psal 97.11 The work of righteousness is peace and the effect of righteousness quietness and assurance for ever Isa 32.17 Seeing then Holiness is so high a Perfection and so great a Happiness let these Arguments prevail with us to aspire after this temper that as he who hath called us is holy so we may be holy in all manner of Conversation because it is written be ye holy for I am holy ADVERTISEMENT THE Discourses of the Divine Goodness being more than can be contain'd in this Volume are together with those of the remaining Attributes reserv'd for the next But to complete this here follows a single Sermon upon another Subject SERMON XIV Of doing Good Being a Spital Sermon Preach'd at Christ-Church on Easter-Tuesday April 14th 1691. GALAT. VI. 9 10. Let us not be weary in well doing forin due season we shall reap if we faint not As we have therefore opportunity let us do good unto all Men especially unto them who are of the houshold of faith THE Apostle in these Words recommends unto us a great and comprehensive Duty the doing of good concerning which the Text offers these five particulars to our Consideration I. The Nature of the Duty it self which is called well doing v. 9. and doing good v. 10. II. The extent of this Duty in respect of it's Object which is all Mankind Let us do good unto all men especially unto them who are of the houshold of faith III. The measure of it as we have opportunity IV. Our unwearied perseverance in it let us not be weary in well doing V. The Argument and Encouragement to it because in due season we shall reap if we faint not Therefore as we have opportunity let us do good c. I. I will consider the Nature of the Duty it self of well doing and doing good And this I shall explain to you as briefly as I can by considering the extent of the Act of doing Good and the Excellency of it And 1. The extent of the Act. It comprehends in it all those ways wherein we may be beneficial and useful to one another It reaches not only to the Bodies of Men but to their Souls that Better and more Excellent part of our selves and is conversant in all those Ways and Kinds whereby we may serve the temporal or spiritual Good of our Neighbour and promote either his present or his future and eternal Happiness To instruct the Ignorant or reduce those that are in Error to turn the disobedient to the wisdom of the just and reclaim those that are engaged in any evil Course by good Counsel and seasonable Admonition and by prudent and kind Reproof to resolve and satisfie the doubting Mind to confirm the weak to heal the broken-hearted and to comfort the melancholy and troubled Spirits These are the noblest Ways of Charity because they are conversant about the Souls of Men and tend to procure and promote their eternal Felicity And then to feed the hungry to cloath the naked release the imprisoned to redeem the Captives and to vindicate those who are injur'd and oppress'd in their Persons or Estates or Reputation to repair those who are ruin'd in their Fortunes and in a word to relieve and comfort those who are in any kind of Calamity or Distress All these are but the several Branches and Instances of this great Duty here in the Text of doing good tho' it hath in this place a more particular respect to the Charitable supply of those who are in Want and Necessity and therefore with a more particular regard to that I shall Discourse of it at this time You see the extent of the Duty We will in the 2. Place briefly say something of the Ecellency of it which will appear if we consider That it is the imitation of the highest Excellency and Perfection To do Good is to be like God who is Good and doth good and it is to be like to him in that which he esteems his greatest Glory It is to be like the Son of God who when he was pleased to take our Nature upon him and live here below and to dwell amongst us went about doing good And it is to be like the blessed Angels the highest Rank and Order of God's Creatures whose great Employment it is to be ministring Spirits for the good of Men. So that for a Man to be kind and helpful and beneficial to others is to be a good Angel and a Saviour and a kind of God too It is an Argument of a great and noble and generous Mind to extend our Thoughts and Cares to the concernments of others and to employ our interest and power and endeavours for their benefit and advantage Whereas a low and mean and narrow Spirit is contracted and shrivel'd up within it self and cares only for its own things without any regard to the good and happiness of others It is the most noble work in the World because that inclination of Mind which prompts us to do good is the very temper and disposition of Happiness Solomon after all his Experience of worldly greatness and pleasure at last pitched upon this as the great felicity of humane Life and the only good Use that is to be made of a prosperous and plentiful Fortune Eccles 3.12 I know says he speaking of Riches that there is no good in them but for a Man to rejoice and do good in his life And certainly the best way to take joy in an Estate is to do good with it and a greater and wiser than Solomon has said it even he who is the Power and Wisdom of God has said it that it is a more blessed thing to give than to receive Consider farther That this is one of the great and substantial parts of Religion and next to the love and honour which we pay to Almighty God the most acceptable Service that we can do to him it is one Table of the Law and next the First and great Commandment of loving the Lord our God and very
because it is no fault of theirs that we do not know them no their Wants may be real notwithstanding that especially when their Extremity seems great we ought not to stand upon too rigorous a Proof and Evidence of it but should accept of a fair probability Seventhly Those who suffer for the Cause of Religion and are stript of all for the sake of it ought to have a great Precedence in our Charity to most other cases And this of late hath been and still is the case of many among us who have fled hither for Refuge from the Tyranny and Cruelty of their Persecutors and have been by a most extraordinary Charity of the whole Nation more than once extended to them most seasonably reliev'd but especially by the Bounty of this great City whose Liberality upon these Occasions hath been beyond all Example and even all belief And I have often thought that this very thing next to the Mercy and Goodness of Almighty God hath had a particular Influence upon our Preservation and Deliverance from those terrible Calamities which were just ready to break in upon us and were we not so stupidly insensible of this great Deliverance which God hath wrought for us and so horribly unthankful to him and to the happy Instruments of it might still be a means to continue the Favour of God to us And what cause have we to thank God who hath allotted to us this more blessed and more merciful part to give and not to receive to be free from Persecution our selves that we might give Refuge and Relief to those that are persecuted III. We must consider the Measure of our Charity 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 which our Translation renders as we have Opportunity others as we have Ability So that this Expression may refer either to the Occasions of our Charity or to the Season of it or to the Proportion and Degree of it 1. It may refer to the Occasions of our Charity as we have Opportunity let us do good that is according as the Occasions of doing good shall present themselves to us so often as an Opportunity is offer'd And this is an Argument of a very good and charitable Disposition gladly to lay hold of the occasions of doing good as it were to meet Opportunities when they are a coming towards us This forwardness of Mind in the work of Charity the Apostle commends in the Corinthians 2 Cor. 9.2 I know the forwardness of your minds for which I boast of you to them of Macedonia And this he requires of all Christians Tit. 3.10 That they should be ready to every good work And 1 Tim. 6.18 That we be ready to distribute willing to communicate Some are very ready to decline these Opportunities and to get out of the way of them and when they thrust themselves upon them and they cannot avoid them they do what they do grudgingly and not with a willing mind 2. It may refer to the Season of this Duty 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 while we have time 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 for 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 whilst this Life lasts so Grotius does understand and interpret this Phrase and then the Apostle does hereby intimate to them the uncertainty of their Lives especially in those times of Persecution And this Consideration holds in all times in some degree that our Lives are short and uncertain that it is but a little while that we can serve God in this kind namely while we are in this World in this Vale of Misery and Wants In the next World there will be no occasion no Opportunity for it we shall then have nothing to do but to reap the Reward of the good we have done in this Life and to receive that blessed Sentence from the Mouth of the great Judge of the World Come ye blessed of my Father inherit the Kingdom prepared for you before the foundation of the world For I was hungry and ye gave me to eat c. And Euge bone serve Well done good and faithfull Servant thou hast been faithfull in a little and I will make thee Ruler over much God wil then declare his Bounty and Goodness to us and open those inexhaustible Treasures of Glory and Happiness which all good Men shall partake of in proportion to the good which they have done in this World Or else 3. Which I take to be the most probable meaning of this Phrase It may refer to the Degree of this Duty in proportion to our Ability and Estate as we have Ability let us do good unto all Men. And this the Phrase will bear as Learned Men have observ'd and it is very reasonable to take in this Sense at least as part of the meaning of it either exprest or imply'd For without this we cannot exercise Charity tho' there were never so many Occasions for it and then this Precept will be of the same Importance with that of the Son of Sirach Ecclus. 35.10 Give unto the most high according as he hath enriched thee and with that Counsel Tob. 4.7 Give Alms 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 according to thy Substance and 8. v. If thou hast abundance give Alms accordingly And this may be reasonably expected from us for where-ever his Providence gives a Man an Estate it is but in Trust for certain Uses and Purposes among which Charity and Alms is the chief And we must be accountable to him whether we have disposed it faithfully to the Ends for which it was committed to us It is an easie thing with him to level Mens Estates and to give every Man a Competency but he does on purpose suffer things to be distributed so unequally to try and exercise the Virtues of Men in several ways the Faith and Patience of the Poor the Contentedness of those in a middle Condition the Charity and Bounty of the Rich. And in truth Wealth and Riches that is an Estate above what sufficeth our real Occasions and Necessities is in no other sense a Blessing than as it is an Opportunity put into our Hands by the Providence of God of doing more good and if we do not faithfully employ it to this end it is but a Temptation and a Snare and the rust of our Silver and our Gold will be a witness against us and we do but heap up Treasures together against the last Day But what Proportion our Charity ought to bear to our Estates I shall not undertake to determine The Circumstances of Men have too much variety in them to admit of any certain Rule some may do well and others may do better every Man as God hath put into his Heart and according to his Belief of the recompence which shall be made at the resurrection of the just I shall only say in general that if there be first a free and willing Mind that will make a Man charitable to his Power For the liberal Man will devise liberal things And we cannot propose a better Pattern to our selves in
are come to understand things as they truly are and not in a riddle and darkness as we now do then the Judgement of God will break forth as the light and the righteousness of all his dealings as the noon Day then all the Riddles of Providence will be clearly expounded to us and we shall see a plain Reason for all those Dispensations which we were so much stumbled at and acknowledge the great Wisdom and Goodness of them You see then what Reason there is to refer our selves to the Providence of God and to cast all our care upon him to trust him with the Administration and Disposal of all our Concernments and firmly to believe that if we love God and be careful to please him every thing in the issue will turn to the best for us and therefore we should not anxiously trouble our selves about the Events of things but resign up ourselves to the good pleasure of him who disposeth all things according to the Counsel of his Will entirely trusting in his goodness and in his Fatherly care of us and affection to us that he will order all things for us for the best referring the success of all our Concernments to him in whose hands are all the ways of the Children of Men chearfully submiting to his determination and the Declarations of his Providence in every case And this is a proper Expression of our Confidence in God's Wisdom and Goodness to refer things to him before the Event and to say with the Christians Acts 21.14 The will of the Lord be done because this shews that we are perswaded that God will do better for us than our own Counsel and Choice and to submit to his will after the Event is likewise a great instance of our Confidence in him and that we believe that he hath done that which is best For when God by his Providence declares his Will in any case we should look upon it as the Sentence of a wise and just Judge in which all Parties concerned ought to acquiesce and rest fully satisfied And this may well be expected from us Christians who have much greater assurance of the Particular Providence of God than the Heathen had and yet some of them were able to free themselves from all trouble and anxiety from murmuring and discontent Upon this Consideration Epictetus as Arrian tells us would express himself thus I had always rather have that which happens because I esteem that better which God wills than that which I should will and again lift up thine Eyes says he with confidence to God and say henceforth Lord deal with me as thou pleasest 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 I am of the same opinion with thee just of the same mind that thou art I refuse nothing that seems good to thee lead me where thou wilt Cloath me with what Garments thou pleasest set me in a publick Place or keep me in a private Condition continue me in mine own Country or banish me from it bestow Wealth upon me or leave me to conflict and struggle with Poverty which of these thou pleasest 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 If Men shall censure this Providence towards me and say thou dealest hardly with me I will apologise for thee I will undertake and maintain thy cause that what thou dost is best for me What could a Christian say more or better by way of resignation of himself to the Providence of God It almost transports me to read such passages from a Heathen especially if we consider in what condition Epictetus was he had a maimed and deformed Body was in the extremity of Poverty a Slave and very cruelly and tyranically used so that we can hardly imagine a Man in worse and more wretched Circumstances and yet he justifies the Providence of God in all this and not only submits to his Condition but is contented with it and embraces it and since God hath thought it fittest and best for him he is of the same mind and thinks so too I confess it doth not move me to hear Seneca who flowed in wealth and lived at ease to talk magnificently and to slight Poverty and Pain as not worthy the Name of Evil and Trouble but to see this poor Man in the lowest Condition and worst Circumstances of Humanity bear up so bravely and with such a chearfulness and serenity of Mind to entertain his hard Fortune and this not out of stupidity but from a wise sense of the Providence of God and a firm perswasion of the wisdom and goodness of all his dealings this who can chuse but be affected with it as an admirable temper for a Christian much more for a Heathen To which we may apply that saying of our Lord concerning the Heathen Centurion Verily I say unto you I have not found so great faith no not in Israel so wise so equal so firm a temper of Mind is seldom to be found no not amongst Christians And this is the First Consideration That if God cares for us we and our Concernments are in the best and safest hands and therefore we should cast all our care upon God The 2. is Because all our Anxiety and Care will do us no good on the contrary it will certainly do us hurt We may fret and vex our own Spirits and make them restless in the contemplation of the evils and disappointments which we are afraid of and may make our lives miserable in the sad Reflexions of our own Thoughts but we cannot by all our Anxiety and Care controul the course of Things and alter the Designs of Providence we cannot by all our vexation and trouble over-rule Events and make things happen as we would have them And this is the Argument our Saviour useth to this very purpose Mat. 6.27 Which of you by taking thought can add one cubit to his stature So that all this trouble is unreasonable and to no purpose because it hath no influence upon the Event either to promote or hinder it Things are governed and disposed by a higher hand and placed out of our reach we may deliberate and contrive and use our best endeavours for the effecting of our Designs but we cannot secure the Event against a thousand interpositions of Divine Providence which we can neither foresee nor hinder but yet notwithstanding these our endeavours are reasonable because they are the ordinary Means which God hath appointed for the procuring of good and prevention of Evil and tho' they may miscarry yet they are all we can do but after this is done trouble and anxiety about the Event is the vainest thing in the World because it is to no purpose nor doth at all conduce to what we desire we disquiet our selves in vain and we distrust God's Providence and Care of us and thereby provoke him to defeat and disappoint us Let us then by these Considerations be perswaded to this Duty the practice whereof is of continual and universal use in the whole course of our lives in all