himself for us that he might redeem us from all iniquity and purifie to himself a peculiar people zealous of good works and herein the great Mercy and Compassion of God towards Mankind appeared in that he sent his Son to rescue us from that Servitude which we had so long groaned under that being made free from sin we might become the servants of God and the servants of righteousness And this he hath done not only by the price of his Blood but by the Power and Purity of his Doctrine and the Holy Example of his Life and by all those Considerations which represent to us the Misery of our sinful state and the infinite danger of continuing in it and on the other Hand by setting before us the Advantages of a Religious and Holy Life and what a blessed change we make when we quit the Service of Sin and become the Servants of God It will not only be a mighty present Benefit to us but will make us happy to all Eternity and these are the Two Considerations which at first I propounded to speak to at this time First The present Benefit of an Holy and Virtuous Life which the Apostle here calls Fruit But now being made free from sin and become the servants of God ye have your fruit unto holiness Secondly The future Reward and Recompence of it and the end everlasting life First Let us consider the present Benefit and Advantage of an Holy and Virtuous Life which the Apostle here calls Fruit. If all things be truly consider'd there is no Advantage comes to any Man by a wicked and vicious Course of Life A wicked Life is no present Advantage the reflection upon it afterwards is shameful and troublesom and the end of it miserable But on the contrary the Advantages of an holy and good life are many and great even in this World and upon temporal accounts abstracting from the Consideration of a future Reward in the World to come I shall instance in Five or Six eminent Advantages which it usually brings to men in this World I. It brings great Peace and Contentment of Mind II. It is a very fit and proper Means to promote our outward temporal Interest III. It tends to the lengthning our days and hath frequently the Blessing of long Life attending upon it IV. It gives a Man great Peace and Comfort when he comes to die V. After Death it transmits a good Name and Reputation to Posterity VI. It derives a Blessing upon our Posterity after us And these are certainly the greatest Blessings that a wise Man can aim at and design to himself in this World Every one of these taken severally is very considerable but all of them together compleat a Man's temporal Felicity and raise it to as high a pitch as is to be expected in this World I. A Religious and Virtuous course of Life is the best way to Peace and Contentment of Mind and does commonly bring it And to a wise Man that knows how to value the ease and satisfaction of his own Mind there cannot be a greater temptation to Religion and Virtue than to consider that it is the best and only way to give rest to his Mind And this is present Fruit and ready Payment because it immediately follows or rather accompanies the discharge of our Duty The fruit of righteousness is peace saith the Prophet and the Apostle to the Hebrews speaks of the peaceable fruits of righteousness meaning that inward Peace which a Righteous Man hath in his own Mind A Man needs not to take pains or to use many Arguments to satisfie and content his own Mind after he hath done a good Action and to convince himself that he hath no cause to be troubled for it for Peace and Pleasure do naturally spring from it Nay not only so but there is an unexpressible kind of pleasure and delight that flows from the testimony of a good Conscience Let but a Man take care to satisfie himself in the doing of his Duty and whatever troubles and storms may be raised from without all will be clear and calm within For nothing but guilt can trouble a Man's Mind and fright his Conscience and make him uneasie to himself that indeed will wound his Spirit and sting his very Soul and make him full of fearful and tormenting thoughts This Cain found after he had committed that crying sin of Murdering his Brother Gen. 4.6 The Lord said unto Cain why art thou wrath and why is thy Countenance fall'n His guilt made him full of wrath and discontent fill'd his Mind with vexation and his Countenance with shame and confusion When a Man's conscience is awakened to a sense of his guilt it is angry and froward and harder to be still'd than a peevish Child But the practice of Holiness and Virtue does produce just the contrary effects it fills a Man's Mind with Pleasure and makes his Countenance chearful And this certainly if it be well consider'd is no small and contemptible advantage The peace and tranquillity of our Minds is the great thing which all the Philosophy and Wisdom of the World did always design to bring men to as the very utmost happiness that a Wise Man is capable of in this Life and 't is that which no considerate Man would part with for all that this World can give him The greatest fortune in this World ought to be no temptation to any Man in his Wits to submit to perpetual Sickness and Pain for the gaining of it and yet there is no disease in the World that for the sharpness of it is comparable to the sting of a guilty Mind and no pleasure equal to that of Innocence and a good Conscience And this naturally springs up in the Mind of a good Man where it is not hindred either by a melancholy temper or by false Principles in Religion which fill a Man with groundless fears and jealousies of the love and favour of God towards him and excepting these two cases this is the ordinary fruit of an holy and good course which is not interrupted by frequent falling into sin and great omissions and violations of our duty For in this case the interruptions of our Peace and Comfort will naturally be answerable to the inequality of our Obedience II. Besides the present and inestimable Fruit of Holiness the quiet and satisfaction of our own Minds it is likewise a proper means to promote our Interest and Happiness in this World For as every Vice is naturally attended with some Temporal Inconvenience of Pain or Loss so there is no Grace or Virtue but does apparently conduce to a Man's temporal Felicity There are some Virtues which tend to the health of his Body and the prolonging of his Life as Temperance and Chastity others tend to Riches and Plenty as Diligence and Industry in our callings others to the secure and peaceable Enjoyment of what we have as Truth and Fidelity Justice and Honesty in all our dealings and
minute to be snatch'd away and hurried out of this World However at the best thou hast but a little time to resolve in Death and Judgment and Eternity cannot be far off and for ought thou knowest they may be even at the door Thou art upon the matter just ready to be seized upon by Death to be summon'd to Judgment And to be swallowed up of Eternity And is it not yet time thinkest thou to resolve Would'st thou have yet a little longer time to deliberate whether thou should'st repent and forsake thy Sins or not If there were difficulty in the Case or if there were no danger in the delay if thou couldst gain time or any thing else by suspending thy Resolution there were then some Reason why thou should'st not make a sudden Determination But thou canst pretend none of these It is evident at first sight what is best to be done and nothing can make it plainer It is not a matter so clear and out of Controversie that Riches are better than Poverty and Ease better than Pain and Life more desirable than Death as it is that it is better to break off our Sins than to continue in the Practice of them to be reconciled to God than to go on to provoke him to be Holy and Virtuous than to be Wicked and Vicious to be Heirs of eternal Glory than to be Vessels of wrath fitted for Destruction And there is infinite danger in these delays For if thy Soul be any thing to thee thou venturest that if thou hast any tenderness and regard for thy eternal Interest thou runnest the hazard of that if Heaven and Hell be any thing to thee thou incurrest the danger of losing the one and falling into the other And thou gainest nothing by continuing unresolved If Death and Judgment would tarry thy leisure and wait till thou hadst brought thy thoughts to some issue and wert resolved what to do it were something but thy Irresolution in this matter will be so far from keeping back Death and Judgment that it will both hasten and aggravate them both make them to come the sooner and to be the heavier when they come because thou abusest the goodness of God and despisest his patience and long-suffering which should lead thee and draw thee on to Repentance and not keep thee back Hereby thou encouragest thy self in thy lewd and riotous courses and because thy Lord delayeth his coming art the more negligent and extravagant Hear what doom our Lord pronounceth upon such slothful and wicked servants Luke 12.46 The Lord of that servant will come in a day when he looketh not for him and at an hour when he is not aware and will cut him in sunder and will appoint him his portion with the unbelievers None so like to be surprized and to be severely handled by the Justice of God as those that trifle with his Patience 4. Consider how much Resolution would tend to the settling of our Minds and making our Lives comfortable There is nothing that perplexeth and disquieteth a Man more than to be unresolved in the great and important Concernments of his Life What anxiety and confusion is there in our Spirits whilst we are doubtful and undetermined about such matters How are we divided and distracted when our Reason and Judgment direct us one way and our Lusts and Affections biass us to the contrary When we are convinced and satisfied what is best for us and yet are disaffected to our own Interest Such a Man is all the while self-condemned and acts with the perpetual regret of his Reason and Conscience and when ever he reflects upon himself he is offended and angry with himself his Life and all his Actions are uneasie and displeasing to him and there is no way for this Man to be at peace but to put an end to this conflict one way or other either by conquering his Reason or his Will The former is very difficult nothing being harder than for a sinner to lay his Conscience asleep after it is once throughly awaken'd he may charm it for a while but every little occasion will rouze it again and renew his Trouble so that tho' a Man may have some Truce with his Conscience yet he can never come to a firm and settled Peace this way but if by a vigorous Resolution a Man would but Conquer his Will his Mind would be at rest and there would be a present calm in his Spirit And why should we be such enemies to our own Peace and to the Comfort and Contentment of our Lives as not to take this course and thereby rid our selves at once of that which really and at the bottom is the ground of all the trouble and disquiet of our Lives SERMON XI Ser. 11. The Nature and Necessity of holy Resolution The Third Sermon on this Text. JOB XXXIV 31 32. Surely it is meet to be said unto God I have born chastisement I will not offend any more That which I see not teach thou me if I have done iniquity I will do no more THESE words are a Description of the temper and behaviour of a true Penitent his Confession of Sins and Resolution of Amendment Concerning Resolution I have shewn what it is in general What is the special Object or Matter of this kind of Resolution Vol. 8. What is implyed in a sincere Resolution of leaving our Sins and returning to God and our Duty That in this Resolution the very Essence and formal Nature of Repentance doth consist And have offer'd some Considerations to convince men of the necessity and fitness of this Resolution and to keep them stedfast to it As 1. That this Resolution is nothing but what under the influence of God's Grace is in our Power 2. The things themselves which we are to resolve upon are the strongest Arguments that can be for such a Resolution 3. How unreasonable it is for men to be unresolved in a Case of so great moment 4. How much this Resolution will tend to the settling of our Minds and making our Lives Comfortable I proceed to the Considerations which remain 5. Then be pleased to consider that a strong and vigorous Resolution would make the whole Work of Religion easie to us it would conquer all difficulties which attend a Holy and Religious Course of Life especially at our first entrance into it Because Resolution brings our Minds to a Point and unites all the strength and force of our Souls in one great Design and makes us vigorous and firm couragious and constant in the Prosecution of it and without this it is impossible to hold out long and to resist the strong Propensions and Inclinations of our corrupt Nature which if we be not firmly resolved will return and by degrees gain upon us it will be impossible to break through Temptations and to gain-say the importunity of them when the Devil and the World solicit us we shall not be able to say them nay but shall be
went forth and wept bitterly David also was abundant in this expression of his grief In the Book of Psalms he speaks frequently of his sighs and groans and of watering his couch with his tears yea so sensibly was he affected with the Evil of Sin that he could shed tears plentifully for the Sins of others Psal 119.136 Rivers of waters run down mine eyes because men keep not thy law In like manner Jeremiah tells us that his Soul did weep in secret places for the pride and obstinacy of the Jews that his eye did weep sore and run down with tears Jer. 13.17 And so likewise St. Paul Philip 3.18 19. There are many that walk of whom I have told you often and now tell you even weeping that they are enemies to the Cross of Christ And there seems to be this natural Reason for it that all great and permanent impressions upon the Mind all deep inward resentments have usually a proportionable effect upon the Body and tâ—â— inferiour Faculties But tho' this happen very frequently yet it is not so constant and certain For all men have not the same tenderness of Spirit nor are equally prone to tears nay tho' a Man can weep upon natural accounts as upon the loss of a Child or near Relation or an intimate Friend or when he lyes under a sharp Bodily pain yet a Man may truly repent tho' he cannot express his Sorrow for Sin the same way provided he give Testimony of it by more real Effects And therefore the Rule which is commonly given by Casuists in this case seems to be more ensnaring than true and useful Namely that that man that can shed Tears upon account of any evil less than that of Sin as certainly all natural evils are ought to question the Truth of his Repentance for any Sin that he hath committed if he cannot shed Tears for it This I think is not true because there is scarce any Man of so hard and unrelenting a Spirit but the loss of a kind Father or a dear Child or other near Relation will force Tears from him And yet such a Man if it were to â—ave his Soul may not be able at some times to shed a Tear for his Sins And the Reason is obvious because Tears do proceed from a sensitive trouble and are commonly the Product of a natural affection and therefore 't is no wonder if they flow more readily and easily upon a natural account because they are the Effect of a Cause suitable to their Nature But Sorrow for Sin which hath more of the Judgment and Understanding in it hath not it's Foundation in natural affection but in Reason and therefore may not many times express it self in Tears tho' it may produce greater and more proper Effects So that upon the whole matter I see no Reason to call in question the Truth and Sincerity of that Man's Sorrow and Repentance who hates Sin and forsakes it and returns to God and his Duty tho' he cannot shed Tears and express the bitterness of his Soul for his Sin by the same significations that a Mother doth in the loss of her only Son He that cannot weep like a Child may resolve like a Man and that undoubtedly will find acceptance with God A learned Divine hath well illustrated this Matter by this Similitude Two Persons walking together espie a Serpent the one shrieks and cries out at the sight of it the other kills it So is it in Sorrow for Sin some express it by great Lamentation and Tears and vehement transports of passion others by greater and more real effects of hatred and detestation by forsaking their Sins and by mortifying and subduing their Lusts But he that kills it does certainly best express his inward displeasure and enmity against it The Application I shall make of what hath been said upon this Argument shall be in two particulars I. By way of Caution and that against a double mistake about Sorrow for Sin 1. Some look upon Trouble and Sorrow for Sin as the whole of Repentance 2. Others exact from themselves such a degree of Sorrow as ends in melancholy and renders them unfit both for the Duties of Religion and of their particular Calling The first concerns almost the generality of men the latter but a very few in comparison 1. There are a great many who look upon Trouble and Sorrow for their Sins as the whole of Repentance whereas it is but an Introduction to it It is that which works repentance but is not Repentance it self Repentance is always accompanied with Sorrow for Sin but Sorrow for Sin does not always end in true Repentance Sorrow only respects Sins past but Repentance is chiefly preventive of Sin for the future And God doth therefore require our Sorrow for Sin in order to our forsaking of it Heb. 6.1 Repentance is there call'd repentance from dead Works It is not only a Sorrow for them but a turning from them There is no Reason why men should be so willing to deceive themselves for they are like to be the losers by it But so we see it is that many men are contented to be deceived to their own ruin and among many other ways which men have to cheat themselves this is none of the least frequent to think that if they can but shed a few Tears for Sin upon a death-bed which no doubt they may easily do when they see their Friends weeping about them and apprehend themselves to be in imminent danger not only of Death but of that which is more terrible the heavy displeasure and the fiery Indignation of Almighty God into whose hands it is a fearful thing to fall I say they think that if they can but do thus much God will accept this for a true Repentance and hereupon grant them Pardon and eternal life And upon these fond hopes they adjourn their Repentance and the Reformation of their lives to a dying hour Indeed if I were to speak to a Man upon his Death-bed I would encourage him to a great Contrition and Sorrow for his Sins as his last and only remedy and the best thing he can do at that time but on the other hand when I am speaking to those that are well and in health I dare not give them the least Encouragement to venture their Souls upon this because it is an hazardous and almost desperate remedy especially when men have cunningly and designedly contriv'd to rob God of the Service of their lives and to put him off with a few unprofitable Sighs and Tears at their departure out of the World Our Saviour tells us that it is not every one that shall say unto him Lord Lord that shall enter into the Kingdom of Heaven and that there is a time when many shall seek to enter in but shall not be able The Summ of this Caution is that men should take heed of mistaking Sorrow for Sin for true Repentance unless it be followed with the forsaking of Sin
be a stain upon them whatever in a swaggering humor they may say to the contrary A clear evidence of this is that men do so studiously endeavour to conceal their Vices and are so careful that as few as may be should be conscious to them and are so confounded if they be discovered and so out of all patience when they are upbraided with them a plain acknowledgment that these things are shameful in themselves and whatever face men may put upon things that they do inwardly and at the bottom of their Hearts believe that these Practices are deservedly of bad Reputation and do in the general opinion of Mankind leave a blot upon them Secondly There are other sins which tho' they are not usually attended with Consequences so palpably mischievous yet are plainly unprofitable and bring no manner of advantage to men Of this sort is all kind of Prophaneness and customary Swearing in common Conversation there is neither profit nor pleasure in them What doth the Profane Man get by his contempt of Religion He is neither more respected nor better trusted for this quality but on the contrary it is many times really to his prejudice and brings a great odium upon him not only from those who sincerely love Religion but from others also tho' they are conscious to themselves that they do not love Religion as they ought yet they have a Veneration for it and cannot endure that any one should speak slightly of it And 't is as hard to imagine where the pleasure of Profaneness lies Men cannot but at first have a great reluctancy in their minds against it and must offer considerable violence to themselves to bring themselves to it and when it is grown more familiar and their Consciences are become more sear'd and insensible yet whenever they are alone and serious or when any affliction or calamity is upon them they are full of fears and anguish their guilt stares them in the face and their Consciences are raging and furious And as all kind of Profaneness is unprofitable so more especially customary swearing in ordinary Conversation upon every occasion of passion or any other trivial cause nay it may be without cause out of mere habit and custom Now what can possibly be imagined to be the profit or pleasure of this Vice Sensual pleasure in it there can be none because it is not founded in the temper of the Body a Man may be naturally prone to Anger or Lust but no Man I think is born with a swearing Constitution And there is as little Profit as Pleasure in it for the common and trivial use of Oaths makes them perfectly insignificant to their end and is so far from giving credit to a Man's word that it rather weakens the Reputation of it Thirdly Those Vices which pretend to be of Advantage to us when all accounts are cast up and all Circumstances duly consider'd will be found to be quite otherwise Some Vices pretend to bring in profit others to yield pleasure but upon a thorow examination of the matter these pretences will vanish and come to nothing The Vices which pretend to be most profitable are Covetousness and Oppression Fraud and Falshood and Perfidiousness but if we look well into them we shall find that either they do not bring the Advantages they pretended to bring or that the inconveniences which attend them are as great or greater than the Advantages they bring or else that the Practice of the opposite Virtues would be of much greater Advantage to us 1. Some of these Vices do not bring the Advantages they pretend to do Covetousness may increase a Man's Estate but it adds nothing to his Happiness and Contentment for tho' his Estate grow never so much his want is still as great as it was before and his care and trouble continually greater so that so long as he continues Covetous the more Rich the less Happy And then for Fraud and Falshood they are not of that real and lasting Advantage that cunning but short-sighted men are apt to imagine Nothing is truer than that of Solomon The lying tongue is but for a moment A Man can Practice the Arts of Falshood and Deceit but for a little while before they will be discovered and when they are discovered they are so far from being any Advantage to him that they turn to his prejudice and the cunning Man begins to be in a bad case and he that was wont to over-reach others is at last caught himself 2. Several of these Vices are attended with inconveniences as great or greater than the Advantages they bring If a Man increase his Estate by Injustice and Oppression yet he loseth his Reputation Besides that all fraudulent and unjust courses are apt to entangle a Man in a great many inconveniences and to expose him to troublesome suits for the keeping of what he hath unjustly gotten it is very often seen that what is gotten by injustice is spent in Law and tho' it may be those whom he hath wronged never recover their right yet first or last the unjust Man is put to more trouble and vexation about it than the thing is worth This Solomon observes Prov. 15.16 In the revenue of the wicked there is trouble The perfidious Man by betraying a Friend or a Trust may perhaps make some present Advantage but then by such a villany he makes himself odious to all Mankind and by this means at one time or other prevents himself of greater advantages which he might have had another way and perhaps at last is miserably crushed by those whom he betrayed who in the change and revolution of human affairs may some time or other have the oportunity of being revenged Or else 3. The Practice of the opposite Virtues would be of far greater Advantage to us Truth and Fidelity are in common experience sound to be a better and surer way of thriving and more like to last and hold out than Fraud and Falshood and as honesty is a surer way of raising an Estate so it brings along with it greater security of the quiet enjoyment of it there is never any real occasion and seldom any colour and pretence of bringing such a Man into trouble for which reason Solomon says Better is the little which the righteous Man hath than great possessions without right because tho' it be but little yet it will wear like Steel and he is like to enjoy it quietly and may increase it whereas the unjust Man is continually in danger of losing what he hath gotten And if this be the case it is very plain that those Vices which pretend to bring the greatest Advantage are really unprofitable and to these kind of Vices the Text seems to point more particularly If any say I have sinned and perverted that which was right and it profited me not c. But perhaps tho' there be no profit in any sinful course yet there may be some pleasure that comes next to be examined
now we are acquainted withal for who knows the power of God's anger and the utmost of what Almighty Justice can do to Sinners Who can Comprehend the vast significancy of those Expressions Fear him who after he hath killed can destroy both body and soul in Hell and again It is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God One would think this were Misery enough and needed no farther Aggravation and yet it hath Two terrible ones from the Consideration of past Pleasures which Sinners have enjoyed in this World and from an utter Despair of future Ease and Remedy 1. From the Consideration of the past Pleasures which Sinners have enjoy'd in this Life This will make their Sufferings much more sharp and sensible for as nothing commends Pleasure more and gives Happiness a quicker taste and relish than precedent Sufferings and Pain there is not perhaps a greater Pleasure in the World than the strange and sudden Ease which a Man finds after a sharp fit of the Stone or Cholick or after a Man is taken off the Rack and Nature which was in an Agony before is all at once set at perfect Ease So on the other Hand nothing exasperates Suffering more and sets a keener Edge upon Misery than to step into Afflictions and Pain immediately out of a state of great Ease and Pleasure This we find in the Parable was the great Aggravation of the rich Man's Torment that he had first received his good things and was afterwards Tormented We may do well to consider this that those Pleasures of Sin which have now so much of Temptation in them will in the next World be one of the chief Aggravations of our Torment 2. The greatest Aggravation of this Misery will be that it is attended with the Despair of any future Ease and when Misery and Despair meet together they make a Man compleatly miserable The duration of this Misery is exprest to us in Scripture by such words as are us'd to signifie the longest and most interminable duration Depart ye cursed into everlasting fire Matt. 25.41 Where the worm dieth not and the fire is not quenched Mark 9.43 and 2 Thess 1.7 It is there said that those who know not God and obey not the Gospel of his Son shall be punisht with everlasting destruction from the presence of the Lord and from the glory of his power And in Rev. 20.10 That the wicked shall be tormented day and night for ever and ever And what can be imagined beyond this This is the perfection of Misery to lie under the greatest Torment and yet be in despair of ever finding the least Ease And thus I have done with the First thing I propounded to speak to from this Text viz. The manifest Inconveniences of a sinful and vicious Course of Life that it brings no present Benefit or Advantage to us that the reflection upon it causeth Shame and that it is fearful and miserable in the last Issue and Consequence of it What fruit had you c. I should now have proceeded to the Second Part of the Text which represents to us the manifold Advantages of an Holy and Virtuous Course of Life 22 v But now being made free from sin and become the servants of righteousness ye have your fruit unto holiness there 's the present Advantage of it and the end everlasting life there 's the future Reward of it But this is a large Argument which will require a Discourse by it self and therefore I shall not now enter upon it but shall only make some reflections upon what hath been said concerning the miserable Issue and Consequence of a wicked Life impenitently persisted in And surely if we firmly believe and seriously consider these things we have no reason to be fond of any Vice we can take no great Comfort or Contentment in a sinful Course If we could for the seeming Advantage and short Pleasure of some sins dispense with the Temporal Mischiefs and Inconveniences of them which yet I cannot see how any Prudent and Considerate Man could do if we could conquer Shame and bear the Infamy and Reproach which attends most sins and could digest the upbraidings of our own Consciences so often as we call them to remembrance and reflect seriously upon them tho' for the gratifying an importunate Inclination and an impetuous Appetite all the Inconveniences of them might be born withal yet methinks the very thought of the End and Issue of a wicked Life that the end of these things is Death that indignation and wrath tribulation and anguish far greater than we can now describe or imagine shall be to every soul of Man that doth evil should over-rule us Tho' the violence of an irregular lust and desire are able to bear down all other Arguments yet methinks the Eternal Interest of our precious and immortal Souls should still lie near our Hearts and affect us very sensibly Methinks the Consideration of another World and of all Eternity and of that dismal fate which attends Impenitent Sinners after this Life and the dreadful hazard of being miserable for ever should be more than enough to dishearten any Man from a wicked life and to bring him to a better Mind and Course And if the plain Representations of these things do not prevail with men to this purpose it is a sign that either they do not believe these things or else that they do not consider them one of these two must be the reason why any Man notwithstanding these terrible threatnings of God's Word does venture to continue in an Evil Course 'T is vehemently to be suspected that men do not really believe these things that they are not fully perswaded that there is another state after this Life in which the righteous God will render to every Man according to his deeds and therefore so much Wickedness as we see in the lives of men so much Infidelity may reasonably be suspected to lie lurking in their Hearts They may indeed seemingly profess to believe these things but he that would know what a Man inwardly and firmly believes should attend rather to his Actions than to his Verbal Professions For if any Man lives so as no Man that believes the Principles of the Christian Religion in reason can live there is too much reason to question whether that Man doth believe his Religion he may say he does but there is a far greater Evidence in the Case than Words the Actions of the Man are by far the most credible Declarations of the inward Sense and Perswasion of his Mind Did men firmly and heartily believe that there is a God that governs the World and regards the Actions of men and that he hath appointed a day in which he will judge the World in righteousness and that all Mankind shall appear before him in that day and every Action that they have done in their whole lives shall be brought upon the Stage and pass a strict Examination and Censure and
bear to their Children so that if we have any Regard to them or Concernment for their Happiness we ought to be very careful of our Duty and afraid to offend God because according as we demean our selves towards him we entail a lasting Blessing or a great Curse upon our Children by so many and and so strong bonds hath God tyed our Duty upon us that if we either desire our own Happiness or the Happiness of those that are dearest to us and part of our selves we must fear God and keep his Commandments And thus I have briefly represented to you some of the chief Benefits and Advantages which an Holy and Virtuous life does commonly bring to men in this World which is the first Encouragement mention'd in the Text ye have your fruit unto holiness Before I proceed to the Second I shall only just take notice by way of Application of what hath been said on this Argument 1. That it is a great Encouragement to well-doing to consider that ordinarily Piety and Goodness are no hindrance to a Man's temporal Felicity but very frequently great promoters of it so that excepting only the case of Persecution for Religion I think I may safely challenge any Man to shew me how the Practice of any Part or Duty of Religion how the exercise of any Grace or Virtue is to the prejudice of a Man's temporal Interest or does debar him of any true Pleasure or hinder him of any real Advantage which a prudent and considerate Man would think fit to chuse And as for Persecution and Sufferings for Religion God can Reward us for them if he please in this World and we have all the assurance that we can desire that he will do it abundantly in the next 2. The hope of long life and especially of a quiet and comfortable death should be a great encouragement to an Holy and Virtuous Life He that lives well takes the best course to live long and lays in for an happy old Age free from the Diseases and Infirmities which are naturally procur'd by a vicious Youth and likewise free from the guilt and galling Remembrance of a wicked Life And there is no condition which we can fall into in this World that does so clearly discover the difference between a good and bad Man as a Death-bed For then the good Man begins most sensibly to enjoy the comforts of Well-doing and the Sinner to taste the bitter fruits of Sin What a wide difference is then to be seen between the hopes and fears of these two sorts of persons And surely next to the actual possession of Blessedness the good hopes and comfortable prospect of it are the greatest Happiness and next to the actual sense of Pain the fear of Suffering is the greatest Torment Tho' there were nothing beyond this life to be expected yet if men were sure to be possess'd with these delightful or troublesome Passions when they come to dye no Man that wisely considers things would for all the Pleasures of sin forfeit the Comfort of a Righteous Soul leaving this World full of the hope of Immortality and endure the vexation and anguish of a guilty Conscience and that infinite terror and amazement which so frequently possesseth the Soul of a dying Sinner 3. If there be any spark of a generous mind in us it should animate us to do well that we may be well spoken of when we are gone off the Stage and may transmit a grateful Memory of our lives to those that shall be after us I proceed now to the Second Thing I proposed as the great Advantage indeed Viz. The glorious Reward of a Holy and Virtuous Life in another World which is here called everlasting Life And the end everlasting Life by which the Apostle intends to express to us both the Happiness of our future State and the Way and Means whereby we are prepared and made meet to be made partakers of it and that is by the constant and sincere Endeavours of an holy and good Life For 't is they only that have their fruit unto holiness whose end shall be everlasting Life I shall speak briefly to these two and so conclude my discourse upon this Text. I. The Happiness of our future state which is here exprest by the name of everlasting Life in very few words but such as are of wonderful weight and significancy For they import the Excellency of this state and the Eternity of it And who is sufficient to speak to either of these Arguments Both of them are too big to enter now into the heart of Man too vast and boundless to be comprehended by humane understanding and too unweildy to be manag'd by the Tongue of Men and Angels answerably to the unspeakable greatness and glory of them And if I were able to declare them unto you as they deserv'd you would not be able to hear me And therefore I shall chuse to say but little upon an Argument of which I can never say enough and shall very briefly consider those two things which are comprehended in that short description which the Text gives us of our future Happiness by the name of everlasting Life viz. The Excellency of this state and the Eternity of it 1. The Excellency of it which is here represented to us under the notion of Life the most desirable of all other things because it is the Foundation of all other Enjoyments whatsoever Barely to be in being and to be sensible that we are so is but a dry Notion of Life The true Notion of Life is to be well and to be happy vivere est benè valere They who are in the most miserable condition that can be imagin'd are in being and sensible also that they are miserable But this kind of Life is so far from coming under the true Notion of Life that the Scripture calls it the second death Revel 21.8 it is there said that The wicked shall have their part in the lake that burneth with fire and brimstone which is the second death And Chap. 20. ver 6. Blessed and holy is he that hath part in the first Resurrection on such the second death shall have no power So that a state of meer misery and torment is not Life but Death nay the Scripture will not allow the Life of a wicked Man in this World to be true Life but speaks of him as dead Ephes 2.1 speaking of the sinners among the Gentiles You saith the Apostle hath he quickned who were dead in trespasses and sins And which is more yet the Scripture calls a Life of sinful Pleasures which men esteem the only Happiness of this world the Scripture I say calls this a Death 1 Tim. 5.6 She that liveth in pleasures is dead whilst she liveth A lewd and unprofitable Life which serves to no good end and purpose is a Death rather than a Life Nay that decaying and dying Life which we now live in this World and which is allayed by the
if any Man draw back my soul shall have no pleasure in him which words are a 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 and signifie a great deal more than seems to be exprest My soul shall have no pleasure in him that is let such an one expect the effects of God's fiercest wrath and displeasure For so the Hebrews are wont to express things that are great and unspeakable when they cannot sufficiently set them forth by saying less they say more So Psal 5.4 Where it is said Thou art not a God that hast pleasure in wickedness the Psalmist means and would have us to understand it so that God is so far from taking any Pleasure in the Sins of men that he bears the most violent hatred and displeasure against them So when the Apostle here says If any Man draw back my soul shall have no pleasure in him he means that it is not to be exprest how God will deal with such Persons and how severely his Justice will handle them To the same purpose is that Declaration 2 Pet. 2.20 21. For if after they have escaped the Pollutions of the World through the knowledge of the Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ they are again entangled therein and overcome the latter end is worse with them than the beginning For it had been better for them not to have known the way of righteousness than after they have known it to turn from the holy Commandment delivered unto them The condition of all impenitent sinners is very sad but of Apostates much worse not only because the Sins which they commit afterwards are much greater receiving a new aggravation which the Sins of those who are simply impenitent are not capable of but likewise because such Persons are usually more wicked afterwards For they that break loose from severe Purposes and Resolutions of a better Course do by this very thing in a great measure fear and conquer their Consciences and then no wonder if afterwards they give up themselves to commit all iniquity with greediness When after long abstinence men return to Sin again their Lusts are more fierce and violent like a Man who after long fasting returns to his meat with a more raging appetite This our Saviour sets forth to us in the Parable of the unclean Spirit 's returning again and taking possession of the Man after he had left him Matth. 12.43 44 45. When the unclean Spirit is gone out of a Man he walketh through dry places seeking rest and findeth none Then he saith I will return into my House from whence I came out And when he is come he findeth it empty swept and garnisht Then goeth he and taketh with himself seven other Spirits more wicked than himself and the end of that Man is worse than his beginning The Moral of which is that when a Man hath once left his Sins if afterward he entertain thoughts of returning to them again Sin will return upon him with redoubled force and strength and his Heart will be but so much the more prepared and disposed for the entertaining of more and greater Vices and his leaving his Sins for a time will be but like a running back that he may leap with greater violence into Hell and Destruction Besides that such Persons do the greatest injury to God and the holy ways of Religion that can be by forsaking them after they have owned and approved them For it will not be so much regarded what wicked men who have always been so talk against God and Religion because they do not talk from Experience but speak evil of the things which they know not whereas those who forsake the ways of Religion after they have once engaged in them do disparage Religion more effectually and reproach it with greater Advantage because they pretend to speak from the Experience they have had of it they have tryed both the ways of Sin and the ways of Religion and after Experience of both they return to Sin again which what is it but to Proclaim to the World that the ways of Sin and Vice are rather to be chosen than the ways of Holiness and Virtue that the Devil is a better Master than God and that a sinful and wicked Life yields more Pleasure and greater Advantages than are to be had in keeping the Commandments of God And this must needs be a high Provocation and a heavy Aggravation of our Ruin Let these Considerations prevail with us to pursue this holy Resolution after we have taken it up and to persist in it There remains only tho VI. And last particular which I proposed to be spoken to viz. To add some directions for the maintaining and making good of this Resolution of Repentance and Amendment and they shall be these three 1. Let us do all in the strength of God considering our necessary and essential dependance upon him and that without him and the assistance of his Grace we can do nothing We are not as the Apostle tells us sufficient of our selves as of our selves that is without the assistance of God's holy Spirit to think any thing that is good much less to resolve upon it It is God that worketh in us both to will and to do of his good pleasure that is of his own goodness as the same Apostle speaks Phil. 2.13 It is God that upholds us in Being and from whom we have all our Power as to natural Actions but as to spiritual things considering the great Corruption and Depravation of Humane Nature we stand in need of a more especial and immediate assistance If we know any thing of our selves we cannot but know what foolish and ignorant Creatures we are how weak and impotent how averse and opposite to any thing that is good And therefore it is wise counsel in all Cases but chiefly in spiritual Matters which Solomon gives Prov. 3.5 6. Trust in the Lord with all thine Heart and lâ—an not to thine own understanding Acknowledge him in all thy ways and he shall direct thy steps Let us then address our selves to God in the words of the holy Prophet Jer. 10.23 O Lord I know that the way of Man is not in himself and that it is not in Man that walketh to direct his steps And let us beg of him that he would consider our Case commiserate our weakness and pity our impotency and that he would joyn his strength to us and grant us the assistance of his Grace and holy Spirit to put us upon sincere Resolutions of a new Life and to keep us constant and stedfast to them to open the Eyes of our Minds and to turn us from darkness to light and from the Power of Satan and our Lusts unto God that we may repent and turn to God and do works meet for Repentance that so we may receive forgiveness of Sins and an Inheritance among them that are sanctified through faith that is in Christ And for our Encouragement in this matter God hath bid us to apply our selves to
repent without such a degree of God's Grace as cannot be resisted no Man's Repentance is commendable nor is one Man's Impenitence more blameable than anothers Chorazin and Bethsaida can be in no more fault for continuing Impenitent than Tyre and Sidon were For either this irresistible Grace is afforded to men or not if it be their Repentance is necessary and they cannot help it if it be not their Repentance is impossible and consequently their Impenitence is necessary and they cannot help it neither V. I observe from the main scope of our Saviour's Discourse That the Sins and Impenitence of men receive their Aggravation and consequently shall have their Punishment proportionable to the Opportunities and Means of Repentance which those Persons have enjoyed and neglected For what is here said of Miracles is by equality of Reason likewise true of all other Advantages and Means of Repentance and Salvation The Reason why Miracles will be such an Aggravation of the Condemdemnation of men is because they are so proper and powerful a Means to convince men of the Truth and Divinity of that Doctrine which calls them to Repentance So that all those Means which God affords to us of the Knowledge of our Duty of Conviction of the Evil and Danger of a sinful Course are so many helps and Motives to Repentance and consequently will prove so many Aggravations of our Sin and Punishment if we continue impenitent The VI. And last Observation and which naturally follows from the former is this That the Case of those who are impenitent under the Gospel is of all others the most dangerous and their Damnation shall be heaviest and most severe And this brings the Case of these Cities here in the Text home to our selves For in truth there is no material difference between the Case of Chorazin and Bethsaida and Capernaum and of our selves in this City and Nation who enjoy the clear Light of the Gospel with all the freedom and all the Advantages that any People ever did The Mercies of God to this Nation have been very great especially in bringing us out of that darkness and superstition which covered this Western part of the World in rescuing us from that great Corruption and Degeneracy of the Christian Religion which prevailed among us by so early and so regular a Reformation and in continuing so long this great Blessing to us The Judgments of God have been likewise very great upon us for our Sins God hath manifested himself by terrible things in righteousness our Eyes have seen many and dismal Calamities in the space of a few years which call lowdly upon us to repent and turn to God God hath afforded us the most effectual Means of Repentance and hath taken the most effectual Course of bringing us to it And tho' our Blessed Saviour do not speak to us in Person nor do we at this day see Miracles wrought among us as the Jews did yet we have the Doctrine which our Blessed Saviour preach'd faithfully transmitted to us and a credible Relation of the Miracles wrought for the Confirmation of that Doctrine and many other Arguments to perswade us of the Truth of it which those to whom our Saviour spake had not nor could not then have taken from the accomplishing of our Saviour's Predictions after his Death the speedy Propagation and wonderful success of this Doctrine in the World by weak and inconsiderable Means against all the Power and Opposition of the World the Destruction of Jerusalem and the Dispersion of the Jewish Nation according to our Saviour's Prophesie besides many more that might be mentioned And which is a mighty Advantage to us we are free from those Prejudices against the Person of our Saviour and his Doctrine which the Jews by the reverence which they bore to their Rulers and Teachers were generally possest withal we are brought up in the belief of it and have drunk it in by Education and if we believe it as we all profess to do we have all the Obligation and all the Arguments to Repentance which the Jews could possibly have from the Miracles which they saw for they were Means of Repentance to them no otherwise than as they brought them to the belief of our Saviour's Doctrine which call'd them to Repentance So that if we continue impenitent the same woe is denounced against us that is against Chorazin and Bethsaida and we may be said with Capernaum to be lifted up to Heaven by the Enjoyment of the most excellent Means and Advantages of Salvation that any People ever did which if we neglect and still continue wicked and impenitent under them we may justly fear that with them we shall be thrown down to Hell and have our place in the lowest part of that dismal Dungeon and in the very Centre of that fiery Furnace Never was there greater cause to upbraid the impenitence of any People than of us considering the Means and Opportunities which we enjoy and never had any greater reason to fear a severer Doom than we have Impenitence in a Heathen is a great Sin else how should God judge the World But God takes no notice of that in comparison of the Impenitence of Christians who enjoy the Gospel and are convinced of the Truth and upon the greatest reason in the World profess to believe it We Christians have all the Obligations to Repentance that Reason and Revelation Nature and Grace can lay upon us Art thou convinced that thou hast sinned and done that which is contrary to thy Duty and thereby provoked the Wrath of God and incensed his Justice against thee As thou art a Man and upon the stock of Natural Principles thou art obliged to Repentance The same Light of Reason which discovers to thee the Errors of thy Life and challengeth thee for thy Impiety and Intemperance for thy Injustice and Oppression for thy Pride and Passion the same Natural Conscience which accuseth thee of any Miscarriages does oblige thee to be sorry for it to turn from thy evil ways and to break off thy Sins by Repentance For nothing can be more unreasonable than for a Man to know a fault and yet not think himself bound to be sorry for it to be convinced of the evil of his ways and not to think himself obliged by that very Conviction to turn from it and forsake it If there be any such thing as a natural Law written in Mens Hearts which the Apostle tells us the Heathens had it is impossible to imagine but that the Law which obligeth Men not to transgress should oblige them to Repentance in case of Transgression And this every Man in the World is bound to tho' he had never seen the Bible nor heard of the name of Christ And the Revelation of the Gospel doth not supersede this Obligation but adds new Strength and Force to it and by how much this Duty of Repentance is more clearly revealed by our Blessed Saviour in the Gospel by how much the
Arguments which the Gospel useth to persuade Men and encourage them to Repentance are greater and more powerful by so much is the Impenitence of those who live under the Gospel the more inexcusable Had we only some faint hopes of God's Mercy a doubtful Opinion and weak Persuasion of the Rewards and Punishments of another World yet we have a Law within us which upon the probability of these Considerations would oblige us to Repentance Indeed if Men were assur'd upon good grounds that there would be no future Rewards and Punishments then the sanction of the Law were gone and it would lose its force and Obligation or if we did despair of the Mercy of God and had good Reason to think Repentance impossible or that it would do us no good in that case there would be no sufficient Motive and Argument to Repentance for no Man can return to his Duty without returning to the love of God and Goodness and no man can return to the love of God who believes that he bears an implacable hatred against him and is resolved to make him miserable for ever During this Persuasion no Man can repent And this seems to be the reason why the Devils continue impenitent But the Heathens were not without hopes of God's Mercy and upon those small hopes which they had they encouraged themselves into Repentance as you may see in the instance of the Ninevites Let them turn every one from his evil ways and from the violence that is in his hands Who can tell if God will turn and repent and turn away from his fierce anger that we perish not Jonah 3.8 9. But if we who have the clearest Discoveries and the highest Assurance of this who profess to believe that God hath declared himself placable to all Mankind that he is in Christ reconciling the World to himself and that upon our Repentance he will not impute our Sins to us if we to whom the wrath of God is revealed from Heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of Men and to whom Life and Immortality are brought to Light by the Gospel if after all this we still go on in any impenitent Course what shall we be able to plead in excuse of our selves at that great day The men of Nineveh shall rise up in Judgment against such an impenitent Generation and Condemn it because they repented upon the Terror of lighter threatnings and upon the Encouragement of weaker hops And therefore it concerns us who call our selves Christians and enjoy the clear Revelation of the Gospel to look about us and take heed how we continue in an Evil Course For if we remain impenitent after all the Arguments which the Gospel superadded to the Light of Nature affords to us to bring us to Repentance it shall not only be more tolerable for the men of Nineveh but for Tyre and Sidon for Sodom and Gomorrah the most wicked and impenitent Heathens at the day of Judgment than for us For because we have stronger Arguments and more powerful Encouragements to Repentance than they had if we do not repent we shall meet with a heavier Doom and a fiercer Damnation The Heathen World had many excuses to plead for themselves which we have not The times of that ignorance God winked at but now commands 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 FINIS Books Printed for R. Chiswell SCRIPTORVM ECCLESIASTICORVM Historia Literaria facili perspicua methodo digesta in 2 Vol. Fol. Authore GVL. CAVE S. T. P. His Primitive Christianity 5th Edit 8 o. His Dissertation concerning the Government of the Ancient Church by Bishops Metropolitans and Patriarchs 8 o. Arch-Bishop Tenison's Conference with Pulton the Jesuit His nine Sermons on several Occasions Eight Volumes of Arch-Bishop Tillotson's Sermons Published from the Originals by Dr. Barker Vol. 1 st of Sincerity and Constancy in the Faith and Profession of the True Ruligion 3 d Edition Corrected 1700. Vol. 2 d Of the Presence of the Messias the Glory of the Second Temple Of Christ Jesus the only Mediator Of the Nature Office and Employment of good Angels Of the Reputation of good men after Death c. The 2 d Edition Corrected 1700. Vol. 3 d Of the Sin and Danger of adding to the Doctrine of the Gospel Honesty the best Preservative against Dangerous Mistakes in Religion The Nature and Evil of Covetousness The Wisdom of Religion c. The 2 d Edition Corrected 1700. Vol. 4 th Of Natural and Instituted Religion c. Second Edition Corrected 1700 Vol. 5 th Proving Jesus to be the Messias c. Second Edition Corrected 1700. Volumes 6 th and 7 th Upon the Attributes of God Second Edition Corrected 1700. Volume 8 th Of Repentance Ten Sermons on several Occasions by Bishop Patrick His Hearts Ease or Remedy against all Troubles The 7 th Edition 1699. His Commentary on Genesis Exodus Leviticus and Numbers in Four Volumes His Commentary on Duteronomy 1700. Valentine's Private Devotions The 26 th Edition 1699. Wharton's Sermons in Lambeth-Chappel in 2 Vol. 8 o. With his Life The Second Edition 1700. Dr. Conant's Sermons in Two Vol. 8 o. Published by Bishop Williams Dr. Wake of Preparation for Death The 6 th Edition 1699. Dr. Fryer's Nine Years Travels into India and Persia Illustrated with Copper Plates Fol. 1698. Bishop Williams Of the Lawfulness of Worshipping God by the Common-Prayer With several other Discourses Mr. Tulley's Discourse of the Government of the Thoughts The 3 d Edition 12 o 1699. The Life of Henry Chichele Arch-Bishop of Canterbury in which there is a particular Relation of many Remarkable Passages in the Reigns of Henry V. and VI. Kings of England Written in Latin by Arthur Duck L. L. D. Chancellor of the Diocess of London and Advocate of the Court of Honour Now made English and a Table of Contents annexed 8 o 1699. The Judgment of the Ancient Jewish Church against the Vnitarians in the Controversy upon the Holy Trinity and the Divinity of our Blessed Saviour With a Table of Matters and a Table of Texts of Scriptures occasionally explained by Peter Alix D. D. Short Memoâ—â—â—s of Thomas Lord Fairfax Written by himself Published 1699. The Life of John Whitgift Arch-Bishop of Canterbury in the times of Queen Elizabeth and King James I. Written by Sir Geo. Paul Comptroler of his Grace's Houshold To which is annexed a Treatise intituled Conspiracy for pretended Reformation Written in the Year 1591. By Richard Cosin L. L. D. Dean of the Arches and Official Principal to Arch-Bishop Whitgift 8 o. 1699. An Exposition of the 39 Articles of the Church of England by Dr. Burnet Bishop of Sarum Fol. 1700. His Sermon to the Societies for Reformation of Manners March 25. 1700. A Practical Discourse of Religious Assemblies By Dr. William Sherlock Dean of St. Pauls The 3d. Edition 1700. A Treatise concerning the Causes of the present Corruption of Christians and the Remedies thereof 1700. In the Press The Fourth and Last Part of Mr. RVSHWORTH's Historical Collections Containing the Principal Matters which happen'd from the beginning of the Year 1645. where the Third Part ended to the Death of King Charles the First 1684. Impartially Related Setting forth only Matter of Fact in Order of Time without Observation or Reflection Fitted for the Press in his Life-time To which will be added Exact Alphabetical Tables