genuine Sense of this Expression seems to be this that those who according to the good Pleasure of God's Will and the wise dispensation of his Providence are appointed to suffer for his Cause should demean themselves so and so Let them that suffer according to the will of God that is those whom God thinks fit to call to Suffering And this agrees very well with the like Expression Chap. 3. of this Epist ver 17. for it is better if the will of God be so that is if God have so appointed it and think it fit that ye suffer for well-doing than for evil-doing Secondly What is here meant by committing the keeping of our Souls to God as to a faithful Creator That is to deposit our Lives and all that belongs to us in a word our selves into the Hands and Custody of his Merciful Care and Providence who made us and therefore we may be sure will faithfully keep what we commit to him For as we are his Creatures he is engaged to take care of us and will not abandon the work of his own hands Besides that he hath Promised to be more especially concerned for good Men to support them in their Sufferings for a good Cause and to Reward them for it and he is faithful that hath promised And therefore there is great Reason and great Encouragement in all our Sufferings for God's Cause and Truth to commit our Souls to his Care and Custody Our Souls that is as I said before our Lives and all that belongs to us in a word our selves For so the word Soul is frequently used both in the Old and New Testament Psal 7. 5. Let the Enemy persecute my Soul and take it that is my Life for so it follows in the next words yea let him tread doâ—n my Life upon the Earth And Psal 54. 3. Oppressors seek after my Soul And Psal 59. 3. they lie in waâ—t for my Soul that is my Life And Psal 16. 10. Thou wilt not leave my Soul in Hell my Soul that is my self thou wilt not suffer me to continue in the Grave and under the power of Death but wilt raise me up to Life again And so likewise in the New Testament Mar. 8. 35. Whosoever will save his life shall lose it but whosoever shall lose his life for my sake and the Gospels the same shall save it The same word which is here rendred Life in the very next Verse is rendred Soul For what shall it profit a Man if he shall gain the whole World and lose his own Soul that is his Life And so likewise Joâ— 12. 25. He that loveth his Life shall lose it And he that hateth his Life in this World in the Original the Word signifies Soul He that hateth his Life in this World that is who neglecteth and exposeth his Life in this World for the sake of Christ shall keep it unto Life Eternal And Luke 9. 25. that which the other Evangelists render by the word Soul or Life he renders himself for what is a Man advantaged if he gain the whole World and lose himself And so here in the Text to commit the keeping of our Souls to God is to commit our selves to his Care and Providence Thirdly What is here meant by committing our selves to him in well-doing By well-doing is here meant a fixt Purpose and Resolution of doing our Duty notwithstanding all hazards and sufferings which is call'd by St. Paul Rom. 2. 7. A patient continuance in well-doing It signifies sometimes acts of Goodness and Charity but in this Epistle it is taken in a larger sense for Constancy and Resolution in the doing of our Duty as Chap. 2. 15. for so is the will of God that with well-doing that is by a Resolute Constancy in a good Course ye may put to silence the ignorance of foolish Men. And ver 20. But if when ye do well and sâ—ffer for it that is if when ye suffer for well-doing ye take it patiently this is acceptable with God And Chap. 3. ver 6. As long as ye do well and are not afraid with any amazement that is are Resolute and Constant in doing your Duty notwithstanding all Threatnings and Terrors And ver 17. For it is better if the will of God be so that ye suffer for well-doing than for evil-doing that is for your Religion and Constancy in so good a Cause as Christians and not as Criminals upon any other account So that the plain meaning of the words is as if the Apostle had said wherefore being forewarned of Suffering and Persecution for the Cause of Religion the summ of my direction and advice upon the whole matter is this that since it is the will of God that ye should suffer upon this account commit your selves in the constant discharge of your Duty and a good Conscience to the particular Care and Providence of Almighty God as the faithful Creatour And now I come to handle the particular Points contained in the words and they are these Three First That when Men do suffer really and truly for the Cause of Religion they may with confidence commit themselves their Lives and all that is dear to them to the particular and more especial Care of the Divine Providence Secondly Always provided that we do nothing contrary to our Duty and a good Conscience for this the Apostle means by committing our selves to God in well-doing If we step out of the way of our Duty or do any thing contrary to it God's Providence will not be concerned for us to bear us out in such Sufferings Thirdly I shall Consider what ground of Comfort and Encouragement the Consideration of God as a faithful Creatour affords to us in all our Sufferings for a good Cause and a good Conscience First When Men do suffer really and truly for the Cause of Religion and God's Truth they may with confidence and good assurance commit themselves their Lives and all that is dear to them to the particular and more especial Care of his Providence In the handling of this I shall Consider these three things 1. When Men may be said to Suffer really and truly for the Cause of Religion and when not 2. How far they may rely upon the Providence of God to bear them out in these Sufferings 3. What â—â—ound and Reason there is to expect the more Particular and Especial Care of God's Providence in case of such Sufferings 1. When Men may be said to Suffer really and truly for the Cause of Religion and God's Truth and when not In these Cases First When Men Suffer for not renouncing the true Religion and because they will not openly declare against it and Apostatize from it But it will be said that in all these Cases the question is what is the true Religion To which I answer That all Discourses of this Nature about Suffering for Religion do suppose the truth of some Religion or other And among Christians the truth of the Christian Religion
unexperienced Men and those who have taken no great pains with themselves imagine what Thought and Consideration what Care and Attention what Resolution and Firmness of Mind what Diligence and patient continuance in well-doing are requisite to make a truly good Man such a one as St. Paul describes that is perfect and entire and wanting nothing that follows God fully and fulfils every part of his Duty having a Conscience void of offence towards God and towards Man Who is there among us that is either wise enough for his own direction or good enough for the peace and satisfaction of his own Mind that is so happy as to know his Duty and to do it as to have both the Understanding and the Will to do in all things as he ought After our best Care and all our Pains and Endeavours the most of us will still find a great many defects in our Lives and cannot but discern great and manifold imperfections in our very best Duties and Services insomuch that we shall be forced to make the same acknowledgment concerning them which Solomon does concerning the imperfection of all things under the Sun that which is crooked cannot be made streight and that which is wanting cannot be numbred And when all is done we have all of us reason to say not only that we are unprofitable servants having done nothing but what was our duty to do but have cause likewise with great shame and confusion of face to acknowledge that we have been in many respects Wicked and Slothful Servants and so very far from having done what was our duty to do that the greatest part of the good which the most of us have done is the least part of the good which we might and ought to have done The Practice of Religion in all the Parts and Instances of our Duty is work more than enough for the best and greatest Mind for the longest and best order'd Life The Commandment of God is exceeding broad and an Obedience in any good measure equal to the extent of it extreamly difficult And after all as the Man in the Gospel said with tears to our Saviour concerning the weakness of his own Faith Lord I believe help thou my unbelief Mar. 9. 24. So the best of Men may say and say it with tears too concerning every Grace and Virtue wherein they excel most Lord I aspire I endeavour after it be thou pleased to assist my weakness and to help me by thy grace continually to do better The Summ of all is this If we be careful to do our best and make it the constant and sincere endeavour of our Lives to please God and to keep his Commandments we shall be accepted of him For God values this more than whole Burnt-Offerings and Sacrifices more than thousands of Rams and ten thousands of Rivers of Oâ—l because this is an essential part of Religion To love God with all our hearts and minds and strength and to love our Neighbours as our selves The Duties comprehended in these two great Commandments sincerely practised by us though with a great deal of imperfection will certainly be acceptable in the sight of God in and through the Merits and Mediation of Jesus Christ the Righteous Blessed are they saith St. John very plainly in the conclusion of that obscure Book of his Revelation Blessed are they that do his Commandments that they may have right to the Tree of Life Rev. 22. 14. I speak now to a great many who are at the upper end of the World and command all the Pleasures and Enjoyments of it but the time is coming and whether we think of it or not is very near at hand when we shall see an end of all perfection and of all that is desirable upon Earth and upon which Men are apt to value themselves so much in this World and then nothing but Religion and the Conscience of having done our Duty to God and Man will stand us in stead and yield true Comfort to us When we are going to leave the World how shall we then wish that we had made Religion the great business of our Lives and in the Day of God's Grace and Mercy had exercised Repentance and made our Peace with God and prepared our selves for another World that after our departure hence we might be admitted into the presence of God where is fulness of Joy and at whose right hand are pleasures for evermore Let no Man therefore of what Rank or Condition soever he be in this World think himself too great to be good and too Wise to be Religious and to take care of his Immortal Soul and his Everlasting Happiness in another World since nothing but this will approve it self it to be true Wisdom at the last All other things will have an end with this Life but Religion and the Fear of God is of a vast extent and hath an influence upon our whole duration and after the course of this Life is ended will put us into the secure Possession of a Happiness which shall never have an end I will Conclude this whole Discourse with those words of our Blessed Saviour If ye know these things happy are â—e if ye do them Which thou who art the Eternal Spring of Truth and Goodness grant that we may all know and do in this our day for thy Mercies sake in Jefus Christ to whom with the Father and the Holy Ghost be all Honour and Glory Dominion and Power now and for ever Amen A SERMON ON 2 PETER I. 4. Whereby are given unto us exceeding great and precious Promises that by these ye might be partakers of the Divine Nature THE Connection of these words with the foâ—mer is somewhat obscure but it seems to be this The Apostle had in the Verse before said that the Divine Power of Christ hath by the knowledge of the Gospel given us all things that pertain to Life and Godliness that is by the knowledge of the Gospel we are furnish'd with all Advantages which conduce to make Men happy in the next Life and Religious in this and then it follows whereby are given unto â—s exceeding great and precious Promises Whereâ—â— this seems to refer to the whole of the foregoing Verse as if it had beeâ—â—â—id Christ by the Gospel hath given to us all things that conduce to our Future Happiness and in order thereto all things which tend to make Men holy and good Or else Life and Godliness are by a Hebraism frequent in the New Testament put for a Godly Life And then among all those things which conduce to a Godly Life the Apostle instanceth in the Promises of the Gospel which do so directly tend to make Men Partakers of a Divine Nature In the handling of these words I shall First Consider the Promises here spoken of whereby are given unto us exceeding great and precious Promises Secondly The influence which these Promises ought to have upon us that by these ye might be made partakers of
secured against dangerous and damnable Errors in Religion and whereby they may discern Truth from Imposture and what Doctrines are from God and what not and this our Saviour declares to us here in the Text namely That an honest and sincere mind and a hearty desire to do the Will of God is the best Preservative against fatal Errors and Mistakes in Matters of Religion 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 If any Man desire to do his Will he shall know of the Doctrine whether it be of God or whether I speak of my self There are two dangerous mistakes in Religion To reject any thing which really comes from God and To receive and entertain any thing as from God which doth not really come from him First To reject any thing which really comes from God This mistake the Jews frequently fell into when they rejected the true Prophets which God from time to time sent to them slighting their Message and persecuting their Persons but they miscarried most fatally and remarkably in their contempt of the true Messias that great Prophet whom they had so long expected and whom God sent at last to bring Salvation to them but when he came they knew him not nor would receive him but used him with all the despite and contempt imaginable not as a Teacher come from God but as a Deceiver and Impostor Now the danger of rejecting any thing that comes from God consists in this that it cannot be done without the highest Affront to the Divine Majesty To reject a Divine Message or Revelation is to oppose God and fight against him So our Saviour tells the Jews that in despising him they despised him that sent him Secondly There is also another dangerous mistake on the other hand in entertaining any thing as a Revelation from God which is not really from him And this likewise the Jews were frequently guilty of in receiving the false Prophets which spake in the name of the Lord when he had not sent them And this is commonly the temper of those who reject the truth greedily to swallow error and delusion So our Saviour tells us of the Jews John 5. 43. I am come in my Fathers name and ye receive me not if another shall come in his own name him ye will receive This Prediction of our Saviour's concerning the Jews was fully accomplish'd for after they had rejected him who gave such abundant evidence that he was the true Messias and a Teacher sent from God they received others who really came in their own names and ran after those who pretended to be the Messias and were in great numbers destroyed with them And this is very just with God that those who receive not the truth in the love of it should be given up to strong delusions to believe lies No◠these being the two great dangerous Mistakes in Religion which Men are liable to my Work at this time shall be to shew how a sincere desire and endeavour to do the Will of God is a security to Men against both those dangers and it will appear to be so upon these two accounts I. Because he who sincerely desires and endeavours to do the Will of God is hereby better qualified and disposed to make a right Judgment of Spiritual and Divine things II. Because God's Providence is more especially concerned to secure such Persons from dangerous Errors and Mistakes in things which concern their Eternal Salvation These shall be the two Heads of my following Discourse First Because he who sincerely desires and endeavours to do the Will of God is hereby better qualified and disposed to make a right Judgment of Spiritual and Divine Things and that for these two Reasons I. Because such a Person hath a truer notion of God and Divine Things II. Because he is more impartial in his search and enquiry after Truth First Because such a Person hath a truer notion of God and Divine Things No Man is so likely to have clear and true apprehensions of God as a good Man because he hath transcribed the Divine perfections in his own mind and is himself in some measure and degree what God is And for this Reason it is that the Scripture so often lays the foundation of all Divine Knowledge in the practice of Religion Job 28. 28. The fear of the Lord that is Wisdom and to depart from Evil is Understanding and Psal 111. 10. The fear of the Lord is the beginning of Wisdom that is the Principle and Foundation of it a good understanding have all they that do his Commandments Whereas the Vices and Lusts of Men darken their Reason and distort their Understandings and fill the Mind with gross and sensual apprehensions of Things and thereby render Men unfit to discern those Truths which are of a Spiritual Nature and tendency and altogether indisposed to receive them For tho' the Vices of Men be properly seated in their Wills and do not possess their Understandings yet they have a bad influence upon them as Fumes and Vapours from the Stomach are wont to affect the Head Nothing indeed is more natural to the Mind and Understanding of Men than the knowledge of God but we may abuse our Faculties and render them unfit for the discerning even of their proper Objects When Men by wicked Practices have rendred themselves unlike to God they will not love to retain the knowlenge of him in their Minds but will become vain in their imaginations concerning him What Clouds and Mists are to the Bodily Eye that the Lusts and Corruptions of Men are to the Understanding they hinder it from a clear perception of Heavenly Things the pure in Heart they are best qualified for the sight of God Now according as a Man's Notions of God are such will be his apprehensions of Religion All Religion is either Natural or Revealed Natural Religion consists in the belief of a God and in right conceptions and apprehensions concerning him and in a due reverence and observance of him and in a ready and chearful obedience to those Laws which he hath imprinted upon our Nature and the Sum of our Obedience consists in our conformity to God and an endeavour to be like him For supposing God to have made no external Revelation of his Mind to us we have no other way to know his Will but by considering his Nature and our own and if so then he that resembles God most is like to understand him best because he finds those perfections in some measure in himself which he contemplates in the Divine Nature and nothing gives a Man so sure a notion of things as practice and experience Every good Man is in some degree partaker of a Divine Nature and feels that in himself which he conceives to be in God So that this Man does experience what others do but talk of he sees the Image of God in himself and is able to discourse of him from an inward sense and feeling of his Excellency and Perfections And as
seduce him or draw him aside in his enquiry after Truth he hath no interest but to find the Truth and follow it He is enquiring after the way to Heaven and Eternal Happiness and he hath the indifferency of a Traveller which is not inclined to go this way rather than another for his concernment is to find out the right way and to walk in it Such an indifferency of Mind hath every good Man who sincerely desires to do the will of God he stands ready to receive Truth when sufficient Evidence is offered to convince him of it because he hath no manner of concernment that the contrary Proposition should be true As in Mathematicks a Man is ready to give his Assent to any Proposition that is sufficiently demonstrated to him because he hath no inclination or affection to one side of the Question more than to the other all his design and concernment is to find out the Truth on which side soever it lies and he is like to find it because he is so indifferent and impartial But if a Man be biass'd by any Lust and addicted to any vicious Practice he is then an interested Person and concerned to be partial in his Judgment of Things and is under a great temptation to Infidelity when the Truths of God are proposed to him because whatever the Evidence for them be he cannot but be unwilling to own the truth of that Doctrine which is so contrary to his Inclination and Interest If the Affections and Interests of Meâ— were as deeply concerned and as sensibly touched in the truth of Mathematical Propositions as they are in the Principles of Morality and Religion we should find that when a Proposition stood in their way and lay cross to their Interest tho' it were never so clearly demonstrated yet they would raise a dust about it and make a thousand cavils and fence even against the evidence of a Demonstration they would palliate their Error with all the Skill and Art they could and tho' the absurdity of it were never so great and palpable yet they would hold it fast against all Sense and Reason and face down Mankind in the obstinate defence of it for we have no reason to doubt but that they who in Matters of Religion will believe directly contrary to what they see would if they had the same interest and passions to sway them in the case believe contrary to the clearest Mathematical Demonstration for where there is an obstinate Resolution not to be convinc'd all the Reason and Evidence in the World signifies nothing Whereas he that is biassed by no Passion or Interest but hath an honest Mind and is sincerely desirous to do the Will of God so far as he knows it is likely to judge very impartially concerning any Doctrines that are proposed to him For if there be not good Evidence that they are from God he hath no reason to deceive himself in giving credit to them and if there be good Evidence that they are Divine he hath no interest or inclination to reject them for it being his great design to do the will of God he is glad of all opportunities to come to the knowledge of it that he may do it Thus you see how a sincere desire and endeavour to obey the Will of God does secure Men against fatal Errors and Mistakes in Matters of Religion because such Persons are hereby better disposed to make a right Judgment of Divine Things both because they have truer and surer notions of God and Religion and are more impartial in their search and enquiry after Truth This is the first Account Secondly Another Reason why they who sincerely desire to do the Will of God have a great security in discerning Truth from Error is because the Providence of God is more especially concerned to preserve such Persons from dangerous Errors and Mistakes in Things which concern their Eternal Salvation When Men are of a teachable Temper God loves to reveal himself and his Truth to them and such is an humble and obedient frame of Mind Psal 25. 9. The meek will he guide in Judgment the meek will he teach his way The proper disposition of a Scholar is to be willing to learn and that which in Religion we are to learn is what is the good and acceptable will of God that we may do it for Practice is the end of Knowledge If you know these things says our Blessed Lord happy are ye if ye do them It is necessary to know the will of God but we are happy only in the doing of it and if any Man be desirous to do the Will of God his Goodness is such that he will take effectual care to secure such an one against dangerous and fatal Errors He that hath an honest Mind and would do the will of God if he knew it God will not suffer him to remain ignorant of it or to be mistaken about it in any necessary Points of Faith or Practice St. Paul is a wonderful Instance of the Goodness of God in this kind He was undoubtedly a Man of a very honest Mind he had entertained the Jewish Religion as revealed by God and been bred in it and out of a blind reverence and belief of his Teachers who rejected Christ and his Doctrine he likewise opposed and persecuted them with a mighty Zeal and an honest intention being verily perswaded as he himself tells us that he ought to do what he did against the Name of Jesus of Nazareth he was under a great prejudice upon account of his Education and according to the heat of his natural Temper transported with great Passion But because he did what he did ignorantly and in unbelief God was pleased to shew mercy to him and in a miraculous manner to convince him of the Truth of that Religion which he persecuted He was sincerely desirous to do the will of God and therefore God would rather work a Miracle for his Conversion than suffer him to go on in so fatal a Mistake concerning the Christian Religion And as the Providence of God doth concern it self to secure good Men from dangerous Errors and Mistakes in Matters of Religion so by a just Judgment he gives up those who allow themselves in vicious practices to Error and Infidelity And this is the meaning of that passage of the Prophet Esa Ch. 6. 10. so often cited by our Saviour and applied to the Jews of making the heart of that People fat and their Ears heavy and closing their Eyes lest they should Understand and be Converted So again Isa 66. 3 4. God threatens the People of Israel That because they were wicked and abominable in their Lives he would abandon them and give them over to a Spirit of Delusion they have chosen their own ways and their Soul delighteth in their Abominations I also will chuse their delusions God is said to chuse those things for us which he permits us to fall into So Rom. 1. 28.
God is said to give over the abominable Heathen to a Reprobate Mind As they did not like to retain God in their knowledge God gave them over 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 to an Injudicious and Undiscerning Mind When Men abandon themselves to Wickedness and Impiety God withdraws his Grace from them and by his secret and just Judgment they are deprived of the Faculty of discerning between Truth and Error between Good and Evil. 2 Thes 2. 10 11 12. It is said that the Man of Sin should come with all deceiveableness of Unrighteousness in them that perish because they received not the love of the Truth that they might be Saved And that for this Cause God would send them strong delusion that they should believe a Lye that they all might be Damned who believed not the Truth but had pleasure in Unrighteousness And it is just with God that Men of Vicious Inclinations and Practices should be exposed to the Cheat of the grossest and vilest Impostors God's Providence is concerned for Men of honest Minds and sincere Intentions But if Men take pleasure in Unrighteousness God takes no further care of them but delivers them up to their own hearts Lusts to be seduced into all those Errors into which their own vain Imaginations and their foolish hearts are apt to lead them Thus have I endeavoured as briefly as I could to shew that an honest Mind that sincerely desires and endeavours to do the Will of God is the best security against fatal Errors and Mistakes in Matters of Religion both because it disposeth a Man to make a true Judgment of Divine Things and because the Providence of God is more especially concerned for the security of such Persons There remains â—an Objection to be answered to which this Discourse may seem liable but this together with the Inferences which may be made from this Discourse I shall referr to another opportunity The Second SERMON ON JOHN VII 17. If any Man will do his Will he shall know of the Doctrine whether it be of God or whether I speak of my self I Made entrance into these words the last Day in which our Saviour declares to us that an honest and sincere Mind and an hearty Desire and Endeavour to do the Will of God is the best Security and Preservative against dangerous Errors and Mistakes in Matters of Religion 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 if any Man desire to do his Will he shall know of the Doctrine whether it be of God or whether I speak of my self Now there are I told you two great Mistakes in Religion To reject any thing which really is from God and to receive and entertain any thing as from God which is not really from him And therefore I proposed from this Text to shew how a sincere Desire and Endeavour to do the Will of God is a security to Men against both these Dangers namely upon these two Accounts First Because he who sincerely Desires and Endeavours to do the Will of God is hereby better qualified and disposed to make a right Judgment of Spiritual and Divine Things and that for these two Reasons I. Because such a Person hath a truer Notion of God and Divine Things He that resembleth God most is like to understand him best because he finds those Perfections in some measure in himself which he Contemplates in the Divine Nature and nothing gives a Man so sure a Notion of Things as Practice and Experience II. Because such a Person is more Impartial in his search and enquiry after Truth and therefore more likely to find it and to discern it from Error That Man only stands fair for the entertainment of Truth who is under the Power and Dominion of no Vice or Lust because he hath nothing to corrupt or bribe him to seduce him and draw him aside in his enquiry after Truth He hath no manner of concernment that the contrary Proposition should be true having the indifferency of a Traveller and no other Interest but to find out the right way to Heaven and to walk in it But if a Man be biass'd by any Lust and addicted to any vicious Practice he is then an interested Person and concern'd to make a partial Judgment of Things and is under a great Temptation to Infidelity when the Truths of God are proposed to him because whatever the Evidence for them be he cannot but be unwilling to own the Truths of those Doctrines which are so contrary to his inclination and interest Secondly Another Reason why they who sincerely desire to do the Will of God have a greater security in discerning Truth from Error is because the Providence of God is more especially concern'd to preserve such Persons from dangerous Errors and Mistakes in Things which concern their Eternal Salvation When Men are of a teachable Temper of an humble and obedient frame of Mind God loves to reveal himself and his Truth to them Psal 25. 9. The Meek will he guide in Judgment and the Meek will he teach his way The proper disposition of a Scholar is to be willing to Learn and that which in Religion we are to Learn is what is the good and acceptable Will of God that we may do it for Practice is the end of Knowledge If ye know these Things saith our Saviour happy are ye if ye do them It is necessary to know the Will of God but we are only happy in the doing of it and if any Man be desirous to do the Will of God his Goodness is such that he will take effectual care to secure such a one against dangerous and fatal Errors He that hath an honest Mind and would do the Will of God if he knew it God will not suffer him to remain ignorant of it or to be mistaken about it in any necessary Point of Faith or Practice Thus far I have gone I shall now proceed to remove an Objection to which this Discourse may seem liable and then draw some Inferâ—nces from the whole After all that hath been said some perhaps may ask Is every good Man then secure from all Error and Mistake in Matters of Religion This is a mighty Priviledge indeed But do not we find the contrary in Experience That an honest Heart and a weak Head do often meet together For answer to this I shall lay down these following Propositions First That if there were any necessity that a good Man should be secured from all manner of Error and Mistake in Religion this Probity of Mind and sincere desire to do the Will of God is the best way to do it because such a Temper and Disposition of Mind gives a Man the best advantages to discern betwixt Truth and Error and God is most likely to reveal his Will to such Persons But there is no necessity of this because a Man may be a good Man and go to Heaven notwithstanding a great many Mistakes in Religion about things not necessary For while we are in this
of our Religion but by their own Writers also Nor is this mischief only confined to that Order their Casuists in general and even the more Ancient of them who writ before the Order of Jesuits appeared in the World have given such a Liberty and loose to great Immorality in several kinds as is infinitely to the reproach of the best and purest Religion in the World Insomuch that Sir Tho. Moor himself who was a great Zealot for that Religion could not forbear to make a loud Complaint of it and to pass this severe Censure upon the generality of their Casuists That their great Business seemed to be not to keep Men from Sin but to Teach them quà m propè ad pecâ—atum liceat accedere sine peccato how near to Sin they might lawfully come without Sinning In the mean time the Consciences of Men are like to be well directed when instead of giving Men plain Rules for the Government of their Hearts and Lives and clear Resolutions of the Material Doubts which frequently occur in Humane Life they entangle them in Niceties and endless Scrupulosities teaching them to split Hairs in Divinity and how with great Art and Cunning they may avoid the committing of any Sin and yet come as near to it as is possible This is a thing of a most dangerous Consequence to the Souls of Men and if Men be but once encouraged to pass to the utmost Bounds of what is Lawful the next step will be into that which is Unlawful So that unless Faith without Works will save Men notwithstanding the Infallible Security which they pretend to give Men of a sound and right Belief if it were really as much as they talk of the Salvation of Men would still be in great hazard and uncertainty for want of better and safer Directions for a good Life than are ordinarily to be met with in the Casuistical Writings of that Church especially if we consider that the Scriptures are lock'd up from the People in an unknown Tongue where the surest and plainest Directions for a good Life are most plentifully to be had insomuch that a Man had better want all the Volumes of Casuistical Divinity that ever were written in the World than to be without the Bible by the diligent studying of which Book alone he may sooner learn the way to Heaven than by all the Books in the World without it Fifthly and Lastly This Provision which God hath made is when all is done as good a Security against Fatal Errors and Mistakes in Religion as an Infallible Church could give if there were one and it is as good a way to prevent and put an end to Controversies in Religion so far as it is necessary that they should be prevented and have an end put to them And these are the two great Reasons why an Infallible Judge is so importunately demanded and insisted upon I shall speak to these distinctly and severally but because they will require a longer Discourse than the time will allow I shall not enter upon them at present but refer them to another Opportunity The Third SERMON ON JOHN VII 17. If any Man will do his Will he shall know of the Doctrine whether it be of God or whether I speak of my self WHEN I made entrance into these Wâ—â—ds I proposed from this Text First To shew that an honest and sincere Mind and a hearty Desire and Endeavour to do the Will of God is the greatest Security and best Preservative against dangerous Errors and Mistakes in Matters of Religion In the next place I proceeded to remove an Objection to which my Discourse upon this Subject might seem liable Some perhaps might ask Is every good Man then secure from all Error and Mistaâ—e in Maâ—ters of Religion This is a mighty â—riviledge iâ—deed But do we not find the contrary in experience that an honest Heart and a weak Head do often meet together For Answer to this I laid down several Propositions By the Last of which I shew'd that God hath made abundant Provision for our Security from fatal and dangerous Errors in Religion both by the Infallible Rule of the Holy Scripture and by sufficient means of Instruction to help us to understand this Rule and by his Infallible Promise of assisting us if with honest Minds and a due Diligence we apply our selves to the understanding of this Rule and the use of these Means And this I told you was in all Respects a better Security and more likely to Conduct us safe to Heaven than any Infallible Church whatsoever and that for Five Reasons Four of which I have already treated of and now proceed to the Fifth and last viz. Because this Provision which I have shewn God hath made is both as good a security against Fatal Errors and Mistakes in Religion as an Infallible Church could give if there were One And it is likewise as good a way to prevent and put an end to Controversies in Religion so far as it is necessary they should be prevented or have an end put to them And these are the two great Reasons why an Infallible Judge is so importunately demanded and insisted upon I shall speak to these two Points distinctly and severally First Because this is as good a security against Fatal Errors and Mistakes in Religion as an Infallible Church could give if there were one For an Infallible Church if there were such an one upon Earth could not Infallibly secure particular Christians against Errors in Faith any other way than by the Definition and Declaration of those who are Infallible in that Church And there are but three that pretend to it either the Pope or a Council General or the Pope and a General Council agreeing in the same Definitions Not the Pope by himself nor the General Council without the Pope because the Church which pretends to Infallibility is not agreed that either of these alone is Infallible and therefore their Definitions can be no certain much less Infallible Foundation of Faith no not to that Church which pretends to Infallâ—bility So that if there be an Infallible Oracle in that Church it must be the Pope and Council in Conjunction or the Definition of a Council confirmed by the Pope Now in that Case either the Council was Infallible in its Definitions before they had the Pope's Confirmation or not If the Council was Infallible in its Definitions before they had the Pope's Confirmation then the Council alone and of its self was Infallible which a great part of the Church of Rome deny and then it needed not the Pope's Confirmation to make it Infallible Or else a General Council is not Infallible in its Definitions before they receive the Pope's Confirmation and then the Pope's Confirmation cannot make it so For that which was not Infallibly Defined by the Council cannot be made Infallible by the Pope's Confirmation But there is another Difficulty yet It is a Maxim generally receiv'd and that even in the
laid it up in a Napkin and according to our Saviour's Rule have long since forfeited it for not making use of it And whereas it is pretended that the Scripture is but a dead Râ—lâ— which can end no Controversies without a Living Judge ready at hand to interpret and apply that Rule upon emergent Occasions the same Objection lies against them unless a General Council which is their Living Judge were always sitting For the Dâ—finitions of their Councils in Writing are liable to the same and greater Objections than the Written Rule of the Scriptures The Summ of all is this In Differences about lesser Matters mutual Charity and Forbearance will secure the Peace of the Church tho' the Differences remain undecided and in greater Matters an Infallible Rule searched into with an honest Mind and due Diligence and with the help of good Instruction is more likely to extinguish and put an end to such Differences than any Infallible Judge if there were one because an humble and honest Mind is more likely to yield to Reason than a perverse and cavilling Temper is to submit to the Sentence of an Infallible Judge unless it were back'd with an Inquisition The Church of Rome supposeth her self Infallible and yet notwithstanding that she finds that some question and deny her Infallibility and then her Sentence signifies nothing And of those who own it many dispute the sense and meaning of her Sentence and whether they deny the Infallibility of her Sentence or dispute the Sense of it in neither of these Cases will it prove effectual to the deciding of any Difference But after all this Provision which we pretend God hath made for honest and sincere Minds Do we not see that Men fall into dangerous and damnable Errors who yet cannot without great Uncharitableness be supposed not to be sincerely desirous to know the Truth and to do the Will of God To this I shall briefly return these Two Things I. That the same Errors are not equally damnable to all The innocent and humanly speaking almost invincible Prejudices of Education in some Persons even against a Fundamental Truth the different Capacities of Men and the different Means of Conviction afforded to them the greater and lesser degrees of Obstinacy and a faulty Will in opposing the Truths proposed to them all these and perhaps several other Considerations besides may make a great difference in the guilt of Mens Errors and the danger of them II. When all is done the Matter must be left to God who only knowâ—th the Hearts of all the Children of Men. We cannot see into the Hearts of Men nor know all their Circumstances and how they may have provoked God to forsake them and give them up to Error and Delusion because they would not receive the truth in the love of it that they might be saved And as on the one hand God will consider all Mens Circumstances and the Disadvantages they were under for coming to the knowledge of the Truth and make allowance to Men for their invincible Errors and forgive them upon a general Repentance So on the other hand he who sees the insincerity of Men and that the Errors of their Understandings did proceâ—d from gross Faults of their Lives will deal with them accordingly But if Men be honest and sincere God who hath said if any Man will do his Will he shall know of the Doctrine will certainly be as good as his word It now remains only to draw some Inferences from this Discourse and they shall be these three First From this Text and what hath been Discoursed upon it we may infer how slender and ill-grounded the pretence of the Church of Rome to Infallibility is whether they place it in the Pope or in a General Council or in both The last is the most general Opinion and yet it is hard to understand how Infallibility can result from the Pope's Confirmation of a General Council when neither the Council was Infallible in framing its Definitions nor the Pope in Confirming them If the Council were Infallible in framing them then they needed no Confirmation If they were not then Infallibility is only in the Pope that confirms them and then it is the Pope only that is Infallible But no Man that reads these words of our Saviour if any Man will do his will he shall know of the Doctrine would ever imagine that the Bishop of Rome whoever he shall happen to be were secured from all fatal Errors in Matters of Faith much less that he were Endowed with an Infallible Spirit in Judging what Doctrines are from God and what not For it cannot be denied but that many of their Popes have been notoriously Wicked and Vicious in their Lives Nay Bellarmine himself acknowledgeth that for a Succession of Fifty Popes together there was not one Pious and Virtuous Man that sate in that Chair and some of their Popes have been Condemned and Deposed for Heresie and yet after all this the Pope and the governing part of that Church would bear the World in hand that he is Infallible But if this Saying of our Saviour be true that if any Man will do his will he shall know of his Doctrine whether it be of God then every honest Man that sincerely desires to do the Will of God hath a fairer pretence to Infallibility and a clearer Text for it than is to be found in the whole Bible for the Infallibility of the Bishop of Rome What would the Church of Rome give that theâ—e were but as express a Text in Scripture for the Infallibility of their Popes as this is for the security of every good Man in his Judgment of Doctrines which makes Infallibility needless What an unsufferable Noise and what endless Triumphs would they make upon it if it had been any where said in the Bible That if any Man be Bishop of Rome and sit in St. Peter's Chair he shall know of my Doctrine whether it be of God Had there been but such a Text as this we should never have been troubled with their impertinent citation of Texts and their remote and blind Inferences from Pasce Oves and super hanc Petram Feed my Sheep and upon this Rock will I build my Church to prove the Pope's Infallibility And yet no Man of Sense or Reason ever extended the Text I am speaking to so far as to attempt to prove from it the Infallibility of every good Man but only his security from â—atal Errors and Mistakes in Religion The largest Promises that are made in Scripture of security from Error and Mistake about Divine Things are made to good Men who sincerely desire to do the Will of God And if this be so we must conclude several Popes to have been the furthest from Infallibility of any Men in the World And indeed there is not a more compendious way to perswade Men that the Christian Religion is a Fable than to set up a Lewd and Vicious Man for the Oracle
of it Nay I will go farther yet That there are no other Promises made in Scripture of Direction or Assistance or Security from Mistake to any Church but the same are made in as full and express Terms to every good Man that sincerely desires to know the Truth and to practise it Is it promis'd to the Church or to the Pastors of it I will be with you always And hath not our Saviour promised the same to every one that is obedient to his word John 14. 23. If a Man love me he will keep my words and my Father will love him and we will come unto him and make our abode with him And does not the Apostle apply the same Promise to every good Christian Heb. 13. 5. I will never leave thee nor forsake thee For where is the difference between these Expressions I will be with you and I will make my abode with him I will be with you always and I will never leave thee nor forsake thee Is it promised to the Church that the Spirit shall lead her into all Truth and is not the same Promise made to every good Man John 14. 21. He that hath my Commandments and keepeth them he it is that loveth me And he that loveth me shall be loved of my Father and I will love him and will manifest my self to him that is God will reveal his Will to those that love him and keep his Commandments Hath God promised to build his Church upon a Rock And doth not our Saviour use the same Metaphor concerning every Man that doth the Will of God Mat. 7. 24. Whosoever heareth these Sayings of mine and doth them is like a Wise Man that built his House upon a Rock So that if to be built upon a Rock signifies Infallibility it belongs to every good Man who sincerely practiseth what he knows as much as to any Church When Men are enabled by God to work Miracles for the confirmation of the Doctrines which they deliver there is great Reason to believe that they are Infallibly assisted in the delivery of those Doctrines But without this 't is the vainest thing in the World for any Person or Church to pretend to it because they offer no Evidence â—it to satisfie any Man that they are so assisted And I do not hear that the Pope among all his Priviledges does pretend to the Power of Miracles Secondly From hence likewise we may infer the great Reason of Error and Infidelity in the World If any Man be an Infidel it is not the fault of his Understanding but of his Will it is not because there is not sufficient Evidence that the Christian Religion is from God but because Mens Interests and Lusts make them partial and incompetent Judges of Matters of Religion The Evidence of the Christian Religion is such as recommends it to every Man's Reason and Conscience so that as St. Paul argues if the Gospel be hid it is hid to them that are lost In whom the God of this World hath blinded the minds of them that believe not lest the Light of the Glorious Gospel of Christ who is the Image of God should shine unto them 2 Cor. 4. 3 4. If Men did but stand indifferent for the entertainment of Truth and were not swayed by the interest of any Lust or Passion I am confident that no Man that hath the Gospel fairly proposed to him would continue an Infidel If Men did but truly live up to the Principles of Natural Religion they would easily be convinc'd that the Christian Religion which is so suitable thereto is from God Thirdly and Lastly What hath been said is a great Argument and Encouragement to Obedience and Holiness of Life Do we desire not to be mistaken about the Mind of God Let us heartily endeavour to do his Will If we would not be seduced by the Error of the Wicked let us take heed of their Vicious Practices The best way certainly to preserve a right Judgment in Matters of Religion is to take great care of a good Life God's Goodness is such that he will not suffer any Man's Judgment to be betrayed into a Damnable Error without some Vice and Fault of his Will The Principles of Natural Religion are born with us and imprinted upon our Minds so that no Man can be ignorant of them nor need to be mistaken about them and as for those Revelations which God hath made of himself to the World he hath been pleased to accompany them with so much Evidence that an honest and sincere Mind may easily discern them from Error and Imposture So our Saviour hath assured us That if any Man desire to do his Will he shall know of the Doctrine whether it be of God On the other hand if we see any oppose the clear Truth or to depart from it and to embrace gross Errors and Delusions we may almost certainly conclude that there is some Worldly Interest or Lust at the bottom of it So our Saviour has likewise told us that the Reason why Men love Darkness rather than Light is because their Deeds are Evil and every one that doth Evil hateth the Light neither cometh to the Light lest his Deeds should be reproved I will Conclude this whole Discourse with St. Peter's Exhortation the 2 d of Pet. 3. 17 18. Ye therefore Beloved seeing ye know these Things before beware lest ye also being led away with the Error of the Wicked fall from your own stedfastness But grow in Grace and in the Knowledge of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ To him be Glory both now and for ever Amen A SERMON ON LUKE XII 15. And he said unto them Take heed and beware of Covetousness for a Man's Life consisteth not in the abundance of the things which he possesseth AMong all the irregular Appetites of Men there is none that is more common and unreasonable and of a more Universal bad Influence upon the Hearts and Lives of Men than this of Covetousness and therefore in speaking of this Vice I shall strike at the Root of a great many others even of Apostacy from God's Truth and Religion of which Covetousness and the Love of this present World is one of the most common Causes So that if I can contribute any thing to the Cure of this great Distemper of Mens Minds I shall in so doing remove that which is the Cause and Occasion of a great part of the Evils and Mischiefs which are in the World And to this end I have pitched upon these Words of our Blessed Saviour to his Hearers And he said unto them Take heed and beware of Covetousness for a Man's Life consisteth not in the abundance of the Things which he possesseth In Which Words are these Threâ— Things Observable First The Manner of the Caution which our Saviour here gives Take heed and beware he doubles it to shew the great Need and Concernment of it Secondly The Matter of the Caution or the Vice which our
a Covetous Man is exposed to in the keeping and securing of an Estate when he hath got it A Covetous and worldly-minded Man when it comes to the Trial is in great danger of quitting his Religion and making shipwrack of Faith and a good Conscience When his Estate comes to be in hazard he is very apt to fall off from the Truth 't is an hundred to one but in these Circumstances he will chuse rather to violate his Conscience than to forfeit his Estate What the Devil falsely said of Job is true of the Covetous Man he does not serve God for nought Upon these Terms it was that Christ and the young Man parted he had great Possessions and it troubled him to part with them When Demas was brought to the Trial and put to it whether he would stick to the profession of the Gospel or his Worldly Possessions he quitted St. Paul and declared for the World the 2 d of Tim. 4. 10. Demas hath forsaken me having loved this present World So far had his Covetous humour besotted him as to make him prefer his present Interest in these Temporal Things before those Eternal Rewards which the Gospel offered III. There are likewise many Temptations which Men are exposed to in the enjoying and spending of a great Estate It is hard to have a great Estate and not to be master'd by the love of it not to have our Cares and Thoughts our Hearts and Affections swallowed up by it 'T is no easie thing for a Man that hath Riches not to over-value them and love them more than he ought not to be puft up by them and so place his Trust and Confidence in them Prov. 18. 11. The Rich Man's Wealth is his strong City and as an high Wall in his own Conceit The Covetous Man setteth up his Riches in the place of God and is apt to fall down before this Golden Calf and Worship it To say to the Gold thou art my Hope and to the fine Gold thou art my Confidence To Rejoyce because his Wealth is great and because his hand hath gotten much Riches are a great Temptation to Irreligion and Atheism Upon this account Agur wisely prays to God for a moderate Estate because of the danger of both the Extreams of Riches and Poverty because of the great and violent Temptations which Men are exposed to in both these Conditions Prov. 30. 8 9. Give me neither Poverty nor Riches but feed me with food convenient for me Why not Riches Leâ—t I be full and deny thee and say who is the Lord And much more do Riches tempt Men to Pride and Insolence towards others Prov. 18. 23. The Poor useth intreaties but the Rich answereth roughly Mens Spirits are commonly blown up and bloated with their Fortunes and their Pride and Stomach and Passion do usually increase in proportion to their Wealth And many times Riches Tempt Men to Luxury and Intemperance and all manner of Excess Rich Men have a mighty Temptation to allow themselves all manner of unlawful Pleasures because he who hath a great Estate is furnish'd with that to which hardly any thing can be denied And this is not inconsistent with a Covetous Humour for there are many times Men who are Covetous in getting for no other End and Reason but that they may spend it upon their Lâ—sts As Covetousness sometimes starves other Vices so sometimes it serves them and is made subordinate to a Man's Ambition or Lust or some other reigning Vice There is no such absolute inconsistency between Riches and Virtue but that it is possible that a Man that is very Rich may be very good But yet if we consult Experience I doubt it will be found a true Observation that there are but very few Rich Men who are not insupportable either for their Vanity or their Vices so that our Saviour had reason for that severe Question How hard is it for a Rich Man to enter into the Kingdom of God And well might he upon this account pronounce the Poor the poor in Estate as well as the Poor in Spirit blessed as we find he does Luke 6. 20. Blessed be ye Poor for yours is the Kingdom of God They oftner enter there than the Rich. Thirdly Covetousness is likewise Evil and Unreasonable because it is an endless and insatiable desire A Covetous Mind may propose to it self some certain bounds and limits and a Man may think that when he is arrived to such an Estate and hath raised his Fortune to such a pitch that he will then sit down contented and satisfied and will seek after no more But he deceives himself in this Matter for when he hath attain'd to that which he proposed to himself he will be never the nearer being satisfied So Solomon tells us Eccles 5. 10. He that loveth Silver shall not be satisfied with Silver nor he that loveth abundance with increase for no degree of Wealth can satisfie a Covetous Mind He may think so before-hand that if he had so much it would be enough but when he hath attained it he will be still reaching after more for Covetousness is a Disease of the Mind and an unnatural thirst which is inflamed by that which should quench it Every Desire that is Natural is satisfied and at rest when it hath once obtained the thing it desired If a Man be hungry he is satisfied when he hath eaten or if he be thirsty his thirst is allay'd and quench'd when he hath drank to such a proportion as Nature doth require and if he eat and drink beyond this measure Nature is oppress'd and it is a burthen to him But Covetousness is not the thirst of Nature but of a Diseased Mind It is the thirst of a Fever or of a Dropsie the more a Man drinks the more he desires and the more he is inflam'd In like manner the more the Covetous Man increaseth his Estate the more his Desires are enlarged and extended and he finds continually new Occasions and new Necessities and every day as he grows Richer he discovers new Wants and a new Poverty to be provided against which he did not think of before comes into his Mind Et minùs haec optat qui not habet and he that is without these Things covets them less than he that hath them So far is a Covetous Man's attaining to Riches from giving him satisfaction that he who hath scarce any thing at all is many times much nearer to Contentment than he that hath got so much nay so unreasonable is this appetite as to desire more even when the Man knows not how to bestow what he hath already This Solomon observed long since for the Vices and Humours of Men are much the same in all Ages Eccles 4. 8. There is one alone and there is not a second yea he hath neither Child nor Brother yet is there no end of all his labour neither is his eye satisfied with Riches neither saith he for whom do I labour
government of Religion and directed by the Laws and Rules of it and it should be our continual Care and Endeavour to please God in all things and we should take as much pains and be as heartily concerned to be good Men as the Men of the World are to grow Rich and Great in this World nay so much more by how much it is a better and nobler Design to improve in Grace and Virtue than to prosper and thrive in our Temporal Estate and we do not in good earnest seek the Kingdom of God and his Righteousness if this be not our great study and endeavour to subdue our Lusts and govern our Passions and in a word to reform whatever is amiss in the inward frame and temper of our Minds and in our outward Conversation And indeed nothing does require greater diligence and attention and care than for a Man to become truly and thoroughly good to be meek and humble and patient and contented and resigned to the Will of God in every Condition to be peaceable and charitable and placable and ready to forgive these are great and difficult things and whatever we think not the work of a Wish or the effect of a sudden Resolution before the receiving of the Holy Sacrament no nor the fruit of frequent and â—ervent Prayers without the hearty concurrence of our own Care and Endeavour to render our Lives such as we pray God by his Grace to assist and enable us to be Thirdly Seeking the Kingdom of God and his Righteousness does further imply zeal and earnestness in the pursuit of this Design And this is a degree above diligence for zeal is an ardour and â—ervency of Mind in the prosecution of a thing for which we are greatly concerned and which we vehemently desire to obtain it is the hottest and most intense degree of our affection towards any thing of our desire and love mixt with anger at every thing that stands in our way and hinders us from obtaining what we seek after such an heat as Ambition does commonly inspire Men withall in the pursuit of Power and Preferment Such ought to be the temper of our Minds and the edge of our Spirits in seeking the Kingdom of God as does usually possess Men in seeking the Kingdoms of this World and the Glory of them We must remember that it is a Kingdom which we seek for and aspire after not like the unstable and tottering Kingdoms of this World but a Kingdom which cannot be shaken as the Apostle calls it So that the greatness of the Design and the Excellency of what we seek after will justifie and warrant the highest degree of a discreet zeal and fervour in the prosecution of it and therefore no wonder that the Scripture in this matter useth words that import the greatest vehemency and earnestness bidding us to strive to enter in at the strait gate to labour and watch to run and wrestle and fight and in a word to give all diligence to make our Calling and Election sure Lastly Seeking the Kingdom of God and his Righteousness does imply patience and perseverance in our endeavours after them and that we never cease our pursuit of them 'till we have obtained them and this notwithstanding all the difficulties and discouragements the opposition and persecution that we meet with for Righteâ—usness sake For this we must expect and reckon upon before-hand to encounter many difficulties and find many discouragements in the ways of Religion for strait is the gate and narrow is the way that leads to life as our Lord himself hath told us Nay we must count to be grievously persecuted for Righteousness sake and if God see it good for us to pass through many Tribulations before we shall enter into the Kingdom of God and therefore we had need to be armed with a great deal of Patience and a very firm and obstinate Resolution to enable us to bear up and to hold out against all these for this is a necessary qualification for our seeking the Kingdom of God and his Righteousness So our Lord hath told us Mat. 10. 22. he that endureth to the end shall be saved if we hope to receive the Crown of Life we must be faithful to the death Rev. 2. 10. And to the same purpose St. Paul declares Rom. 2. 7. that they only shall be made partakers of Eternal Life who by patient continuance in well doing seek for Glory and Honour and Immortality You see what is meant by seeking thâ— Kingdom of God and his Righteousness it remains briefly to be shewn in the Second place what is meant by seeking these first seek ye fâ—rst the Kingdom of God and his Righteousness that is let this be your main and principal Design so as to take place of all others in your esteem and affections in your aim and endeavour in comparison of this mind nothing else not the Comforts and Conveniencies no not the Necessaries of Life what ye shall eat and what ye shall drink and wherewithal ye shall be cloathed These you see our Saviour instanceth in before the Text as not to be regarded and taken care of when they come in competition with the Kingdom of God and his Righteousness And our Saviour tells us elsewhere that not only none of the Comforts and Necessaries of Life are to be valued against him and his Religion but that even this Temporal Life itself as dear as it is to us is to be parted withall and given up rather than to quit the profession of his Truth and Religion Mat. 10. 37. 38. He that loveth Father or Mother more than me is not worthy of me and he that loveth Son or Daughter more than me is not worthy of me He instanceth in the nearest Relations those towards whom we have the most tender and relenting affections and yet he tells us that the Consideration of his Truth and Religion ought to take place of these nay even of Life it self for so it follows and he that taketh not his Cross and followeth after me is not worthy of me St. Luke expresseth it more strongly and vehemently Luke 14. 26. If any man come to me that is take upon him the profession of my Religigion and hate not his Father and Mother and Wife and Children and Brethren and Sisters yea and his own life also he cannot be my Disciple When these come in competition with our Religion and the great interest of our Eternal Salvation we are to regard and value them no more than if they were the Objects of our hatred but to set aside all consideration of affection to them so far as it would tempt us from Constancy in our Religion and the Care of our Souls So that when our Saviour bids us first to seek the Kingdom of God and his Righteousness his meaning is thaâ— Religion and the Concernments of our Souls and the Eternal Happiness of them in another World should be our first and chief Care and that all
other things should be made subordinate and subservient to this great Design and be no further minded by us than they really are so For that which is our great End will subdue all other things and bring them into subjection to it and will reject them and throw them aside if they be inconsistent with it If Heaven be our utmost aim and in order to that it be our great study and endeavour to be Righteous and Holy this Resolution and Design sincerely entertained will over-rule all other Considerations and make all the things of this World to stoop and give way to that which is our chief End the Eternal Happiness and Salvation of our Souls And thus I have done with the Second Thing I proposed namely what is meant by seeking the Kingdom of God and his Righteousness and what by seeking them first I proceed in the Third place to lay down some plain Rules for our Direction and Furtherance in seeking the Kingdom of God and his Righteousness that is in the great business of Religion First Let us always live under a lively and powerful sense of another World that we are placed here in this World but for a little while and that wholly in order to our preparation for a better and a happier Life Let this thought be often in our Minds that Eternity is the most considerable duration and the next World the place of our Everlasting abode where we must dwell and continue for ever and therefore our present state is but of little Moment and Consideration to us but only in order to our future and Everlasting Condition We may please our selves here for a little while with Toys and Trifles with Dreams and Shadows of Pleasure and Happiness and may be exercised with some Troubles and Afflictions for a short space for a moment as the Apostle calls it our light afflictions which are but for a moment and so indeed it is compared with all Eternity but the substantial and durable Happiness or Misery remain for Men in the other World and will certainly be their portion according as they have demeaned themselves in this World Now the serious Consideration of this cannot fail to put us upon vigorous preparations for another World and to make us wholly intent upon our Eternal Concernments and to resolve whatever becomes of us in this World to take effectual Care that we may be Happy for ever He that firmly believes the Immortality of his Soul and a Life after Death which will never have an end must needs take into Consideration his whole duration and bend all his Care and Thoughts how he may avoid the greatest and most lasting Misery and secure to himself an Immortality of Bliss and Happiness Secondly Let us be always under a Conviction of the absolute and indispensable necessity of Holiness and Righteousness as the only way and means whereby the Kingdom of God is to be attained and that Holiness and Happiness are not to be separated the one being a necessary Condition and Qualification for the other and consequently that it is the vainest thing in the World for any Man to hope to enter into the Kingdom of God without endeavouring after his Righteousness there is so strong a connexion between them that a Man may as reasonably expect to be well and at ease without Health as to be Happy without Holiness for this makes us like to God and our Likeness and Conformity to God is that alone which can make us capable of the Blessed Sight and Enjoyment of God We must be Partakers of a Divine Nature in order to our participation of the Divine Blessedness And the Consideration of this will effectually engage us to seek the Righteousness of God without which we shall never enter into his Kingdom and to follow Holiness without which no Man shall see the Lord. Thirdly Let us always remember that Righteousness is of a great extent and comprehends in it all goodness it takes in all the Duties of Religion and the Practice of all of them it is a Complication of all Graces and Virtues of all the Parts and Ingredients of all the Duties and Offices of a good Man To denominate a Man Righteous all Causes must concurr all the Essential Principles and Parts of Religion and Goodness must meet together Knowledge and Practice Faith and Good Works Right Opinions and Real Virtues an Orthodox Profession and a Holy Life abstaining from Sin and doing of Righteousness Purity of Heart and Unspotted Manners Godliness and Honesty the Bridling of our Tongue and the Government of our Passions and above all things Charity which is the Band of Perfection For Righteousness is our Conformity to the Law of God as Unrighteousness and Sin is the Transgression of it Now this if it be real and sincere will be uniform and universal equally respecting all the Laws of God and every part of our known Duty and will not content it self with an especial regard to one or two Precepts of the Law tho' never so considerable and then allow it self in the neglect and violation of the rest no nor with the observation of the Duties of one Table of the Law if it overlook the other no nor with Obedience to all the Commandments of God one only excepted St. James hath put this very Case and determined it that he that shall keep the whole Law save only that he offend in one point is guilty of all that is he is not sincere in his Obedience to the rest And therefore if we seek the Righteousness of God our Righteousness must be Universal as he that hath called us is holy so must we be holy in all manner of Conversation in the tenor of our Actions and the whole course of our Lives and any one Reigning Sin and Vice any gross and notorious defect in the Virtues of a good Life will spoil all our Righteousness and will effectually shut us out of the Kingdom of Heaven Fourthly Let us wisely subordinate the several parts and duties of Religion to one another according to the intrinsical worth and value of them that so we may mind every part of Religion in its due place and according to the true nature and importance of it Knowledge and Faith are in order to Practice and a good Life and signifie nothing unless they produce that the Means of Religion such as Prayer and Fasting diligent Reading and Hearing of the Word of God Reverent and Devout Receiving of the Blessed Sacrament are of less account and value than that which is the End of all these which is to make us inwardly and really good and fruitful in all the works of Righteousness which by Jesus Christ are to the Praise and Glory of God And therefore the Means of Religion which I have mentioned are to be regarded and used by us in order to the attaining of these Ends without which they are meer Formalility and Hypocrisie and instead of finding acceptance with God they are an
finally by his Mercy we may obtain Eternal Life Thirdly Another powerful Argument to Care and Diligence is the fatal Danger of Miscarriage in a Matter of so great Concernment We may do many things in Religion and take some pains to get to Heaven and yet fall short of it The Rich young Man in the Gospel our Saviour tells us was not far from the Kingdom of God and he broke with our Saviour only upon one Point he was too much addicted to the World and loth to part with his great Possessions and distribute them in Charity to the Poor and thereupon he left our Saviour and for any thing that we find never returned to him again If the World govern and bear sway in our Hearts if we mind Earthly things first and make these our chief Care and Design the Kingdom of God and his Righteousness shall not be added unto us iâ— we will not mind them in the first place they are too good to be Accessories And if upon any one point we miscarry either out of love to the World or affection to any other Lust or Vice that we are loth to part withal our miscarriage is fatal and the ruine which we bring upon our selves irreparable for the Soul once lost is lost for ever If we have neglected the opportunity of working out our own Salvation while we are in this World it will never return into our power again Death will shut the door against us and we shall never see the Kingdom of God Fourthly It is a mighty encouragement to us to consider that if we sincerely seek the Kingdom of God and his Righteousness there is not only a fair probability of obtaining them but all the security we can desire Men may be in good earnest for the things of this World may love them with all their Hearts and Souls as we see too many do and seek them with all their might and strength and yet after all their Endeavours may be shamefully frustrated and disappointed of their End There are many Examples of this kind daily before our eyes and yet Men are not discouraged from seeking these things A fair probability nay almost a possibility of attaining them is enough to a Worldly-Minded Man to drudge and toil for them Why the same Affectionâ— the â—ame Zeal the same unwearied Endeavour to serve God and to save our Souls would Infallibly bring us to Heaven It was a sad but true Saying of Cardinal Wolsey when he was leaving the World Had I been but as careful to please God as I have been to serve my Prince he would not have forsaken me now in the time of my gray hairs Nay it is to be hoped that less Diligence and Care about the Concernments of our Souls and another Life than many Men use about the things of this Life will secure our Eternal Happiness or else it is to be feared that but very few would be saved And who would not place his Industry and Endeavour upon a Design in which he is sure not to miscarry if he do but heartily and in good earnest pursue it Especially when it will be of infinite greater advantage to him than any Design he can propound to himself for this World If a Man may be certainly Happy for Ever upon the same or easier terms than he can ordinarily compass any of those little Designs which Men propose to themselves in this World who would not seek that which is most worthy the having and which he is surest to obtain Fifthly and Lastly the Encouragement here in the Text is not inconsiderable that if we seek the Kingdom of God and his Righteousness all these things shall be added unto us This certainly is a very tempting Consideration for who would not be glad to reconcile the enjoyment of this World with the hopes of Heaven and Eternal Happiness But Men do not generally like our Saviour's Method they would seek the things of this World in the first place and get to Heaven at last they would be content to seek the one and have the other cast in and conferred upon them without their seeking But this will not be granted this way will not do And yet our Saviour hath gone as far as one would think could in Reason be desired he hath promised that if we will make Religion and the Salvation of our Souls our first and chief Care that all these things shall be added unto us So that the Design of going to Heaven and being Happy for ever is no ways inconsistent with a competent portion of the things of this Life Godliness the Apostle tells us hath the promise of this Life and of that which is to come The business of Religion the practice of a Holy and Virtuous Life is no hindrance to a Man's thriving in his Temporal Estate nay in many Respects it is apt to promote and advance it by engaging us to diligence in our Calling and by deriving the blessing of God upon our honest and lawful Endeavours by obliging us to the strict and constant practice of Truth and Justice and Fidelity in all our Dealings and Commerce which are the best way to establish a clear and solid Reputation and good Esteem among Men which is an unspeakable advantage in Business and at the long run one of the best and most lasting Instruments of Prosperity and Success Besides that Religion frees a Man from those Passions and Vices which do naturally tend to dissipate and ruine Mens Estates as Intemperance and Lewdness which are every way chargable Vices and do not only take Men off from Business and render them unfit for it but waste their Estates and bring many other inconveniencies upon their Persons and Families Religion makes Men meek and peaceable and inoffensive in word and deed which is a great security against chargeable Suits and Contentions and all sorts of Injuries and Affronts from others Among all the Beatitudes of our Saviour he only promiseth Temporal Happiness to Meekness Blessed are the Meek for they shall inherit the Earth They who provoke and offend no body are likely to be least disturbed and disquieted by others in their Possession and Enjoments who will harm you saith the Apostle 1 Pet. 3. 13. if ye be followers of that which is good Some may be so perverse as to persecute a Man for his goodness but it rarely happens most Men have not only a kindness but a veneration for true goodness By all these ways Religion naturally tends to the Temporal Prosperity of Men and the promoting of their wellfare and happiness even in this World besides that the Providence of God is very peculiarly concerned for good Men and a special Blessing attends them in all their Undertakings So that excepting the Case of Persecution which God will particularly Consider and Reward in another World the Religious and good Man who sincerely seeks the Kingdom of God and his Righteousness stands as fair and is upon as good terms for all
the lawful Enjoyments of this World as he that makes it his only Design to be Rich and Great in this World nay as to the necessaries of Life and a competency of outward things he hath a much greater and better security from the Providence and Promise of God than the Men of the World have by all their Care and Pains Besides that he hath this Considerable advantage by minding these things only as accessories that if he miss of them he hath something better to support him in the want of them being secure of a Happiness which this World can neither give nor take from him But now the Worldly Man if he be defeated in his Designs is of all Men most miserable because he hath nothing else to Comfort him nothing else to trust to he fails of his hopes as to this World and hath done what in him lies to make his Case desperate as to the other Upon all these Considerations and Encouragements you see how reasonable it is that we should make Religion and the Concernments of another Life our great Care and Business And yet how are these neglected by the greatest part of Mankind and by the best of us God knows not minded as they ought and as they deserve What can we say for our selves in excuse of so intolerable a folly There are two or three things which Men commonly prâ—tend if not in justification yet in mitigation and excuse of this great neglect First they pretend great difficulties and discouragements in the ways of Religion This I have already acknowledged to be true so far as to awaken our Care and to whet our Industry but by no means to make us despond and give over all Care of so great a Concernment because of the Difficulties it is attended withall Men who have no mind to a thing are apt to imagine great difficulties in the attaining of it and to magnifie them in their fancies beyond Reason As the People of Israel when they were to enter into Canaan which was the Type of the Kingdom of Heaven represented the Inhabitants of the Land whom they were to Conquer more terrible than in truth they were reporting to one another that the Land was full of Giants and Sons of Anak Men of prodigious Stature which reached up to Heaven And this the Wise Man observes to be the perpetual excuse of the Sloathful when they have no mind to a thing they say there is a Lyon in the way that is they fancy to themselves Dangers and Terrors which are not Thus Men who are averse from Religion and have no mind to be at the trouble and pains to get to Heaven are apt to complain of the monstrous and insuperable Difficulties of Religion and how hard it is for a Man to mortifie his Lusts and subdue his Appetites and govern his Passions and to do all those things which are necessary to bring him to Heaven Well! it is acknowledg'd to be difficult And is it not so to get an Estate and to rise to any thing in this World The true pains which Men take about these things shew that they are difficult only when Men have a mind to a thing and their Heart is set upon it they do not stand to complain of the difficulty but buckle to it and grapple with it Is Religion difficult And what is not so that is good for any thing Is not the Law a difficult and crabbed study Does it not require great labour and perpetual drudging to excel in any kind of Knowledge to be Master of any Art or Profession In a word is there any thing in the World worthy the having that is to be gotten without pains And is Eternal Life and Glory the only slight and inconsiderable thing that is not worth our Care and Industry Is it fit that so great a good should be exposed to the faint and idle Wishes to the cheap and lazy Endeavours of sloathful Men For what Reason Nay with what Conscience can we bid less for Heaven and Eternal Life than Men are contented to give for the things of this World things of no value in Comparison not worthy the toiling for not sure to be attained by all our Endeavours things which perish in the using and which when we have them we are liable to be deprived of by a thousand Accidents One fit of a Feaver may shatter our Understandings and confound all our Knowledge and turn us into Fools and Ideots an Inundation or a Fire may sweep away and devour our Estates a Succession of Calamities may in a few hours make the Richest and Greatest Man as Poor as Job and set him upon a Dunghill But be the Difficulty what it will of attaining the Kingdom of God and his Righteousness they are to be sought at any rate because they are absolutely necessary and we miserable and undone if we have them not And therefore not to dissemble in the Matter the Difficulties of Religion are considerable but then they are much greater aâ— first and will every day abate and grow less and the work by degrees will become eaâ—â—e and turn into Pleasure and Delight a Pleasure so great as none knows but he that hath it and he that hath it would not exchange it for all the sensual Pleasures and Enjâ—yments of this World Secondly Others pretend want of time for the minding of so great a Work And 't is very true that all Persons have not equal leisure for this purpose some are much more straitned than others and more taken up with the necessary Cares of this Life but God hath put no Man upon this hard necessity that for want of time he shall be forced to neglect his Body and his Health his Family and Estate to save his Soul And yet if any Man were brought to this distress it were well worth his while to secure his Eternal Salvation tho' it were with the neglect and loss of all other things But those who are most straitned for time have so much as is absolutely necessary for there is a considerable part of Religion which does not require time but Resolution and Care Not to commit Sin not to break the Laws of God not to be intemperate to make no provision for the flesh to fulfill the Lusts thereof does not spend time but saves it for better Purposes so that every Man hath time not to do that which he ought not to do And for the positive part of Religion whether it consists in the exercise of our Minds or in the External Acts of Religion no Man is so distrest but he hath time to think of Heaven and Eternity time to love God to esteem him and delight in him above all things And this a Man may do very frequently and very acceptably while he is labouring and travelling about his Worldly Affairs while his hand is upon the Plow his heart may be with God and while he converseth here upon Earth his Thoughts and Affections may be in
Poetical Number and Skill in it than at this distance from the Time and Age in which it was written we can easily understand The main Scope and Design of iâ— is very plain and obvious namely to Magniâ—ie the Law of God and the observation of its Precepts as that wherein true Religion doth mainly consist And indeed if we attentively read and consider it every part of this Psalm does with great variety of expression and yet very little difference of the sense descant upon the same ground viz. The Excellency and Perfection of the Law of God Aâ—d tâ—â— worâ—â— of tâ—â— Teâ—t seem to be as full and comprehensive of the sense and design of the whole Psalm as any one Sentence in it I have seen an end of all Perfection but thy Commandmâ—nt is exceeding broad These words are variously rendred and understood by Interpreters who yet in this variety do very much conspire and agree in the same sensâ—â— The Chaldee Paraphrase renders the words thus I have seen an end of all things about which I have employ'd my Care but thy Commandment is very large The Syriac version thus I have seen an end of all Regions and Countries that is I have found the compass of this habitable World to be â—iniâ—e and limited but thy Commandment is of a vast extent Others explain it thus I have seen an end of all Perfection that is of all the things of this World which Men value and esteem at so high a rateâ— of all Worldly Wisdom and Knowledge of Wealth and Honour and Greatness which do all perish and pass away but thy Law is Eternal and still abideth the same or as the Scripture elsewhere expresseth it the word of the Lord endureth for ever Thy Law that is the Rule of our Duty Natural and Revealed or in a word Religion which consists in the Knowledge and Practice of the Laws of Godâ— is of greater perfection than all other things which are so highly valued in this World for the perfection of it is Infinite and of a vast influence and extent it reacheth to the whole Man to the Happiness of Body and Soul to our whole duration both in this World and the next of this Life and of that which is to come And this will clearly appear if we consider the Reasonableness and the Wisdom of Religion which consists in the knowledge of God and the keeping of his Laws First The Reasonableness of Religion which is able to give a very good account of it self because it settles the Mind of Man upon a firm Basis and keeps it from rolling in perpetual uncertainty whereas Atheism and Infidelity wants a stable Foundation â—t centers no where but in the denial of God and Religion and yet substitutes no Principle no tenable and constituent Scheme of things in the place of them its whole business is to unravel all things to unsettle the Mind of Man and to shake all the common Notions and received Principles of Mankind it bends its whole force to pull down and to destroy but lays no Foundation to build any thing upon in the stead of that which it pulls down It runs upon that great absurdity which Aristotle who was always thought a great Master of Reason does every where decry as a Principle unworthy of a Philosopher namely a progress of Causes in Inâ—initum and without End that this was the Cause of that and a third thing of that and so on without end which amounts to just nothing and finally resolves an infinite number of effects into no first Cause than which nothing can be more unskilful and bungling and less worthy of a Philosopher But this I do not intend at present to insist upon having treated largely on the same subject upon another Occasion I shall therefore proceed in the Second place to consider the Wisdom of Religion The fear of the Lord is Wisdom so saith the Psalmiâ—t it is true Wisdom indeed it is the beginning of Wisdom Caput Sapientiae the top and perfection of all Wisdom Here true Wisdom begins and upon this Foundation it is raised and carried on to Perfection and I shall in my following Discourse endeavour to make out these two things 1. That true Wisdom begins and is founded in Religion in the fear of God and in the keeping of his Commandments 2. That this is the Perfection of Wisdom there is no Wisdom without this nor beyond it First True Wisdom begins and is founded in Religion and the Fear of God and Regard to his Laws This is the first Principle of Wisdom and the Foundation upon which the whole Design of our Happiness is to be built This is in the first place to be supposed and to be taken into Consideration in all the Designs and Actions of Men This is to govern our whole Life and to have a main influence upon all the Affairs and Concernments of it As the first Principle of Humane Society and that which is to run through the whole frame of it is the Publick good this was always to be taken into Consideration and to give Law to all Laws and Constitutions about it So Religion is the first Principle of Humane Wisdom by which all our Actions are to be conducted and govern'd and all Wisdom which does not begin here and lay Religion for its Foundation is preposterous and begins at the wrong end and is just as if in the forming of Humane Society every one in the settlement of the Constitution and the framing of Laws should have an eye to his own private and particular advantage without regard to the Publick Good which is the great End of Society and the Rule and Measure of Government and Laws and in the last issue and result of things the only way to procure the setled welfare and to secure the lasting Interests of particular Persons so far as that is consistent with the Publick Good And it would be a very preposterous Policy to go about to found Humane Society upon any other terms and would certainly end in Mischief and Confusion And such is all the Wisdom of Men in relation to their true Happiness which does not bâ—gin with Religion and lay its foundation there which does not take into Consideration God and his Providence and a Future State of Rewards and Punishments after this Life All Wisdom which does not not proceed upon a supposition of the truth and reality of these Principles will certainly end in shame and disappointment in misery and ruine because it builds a House upon the Sand which when it comes to be try'd by stress of weather and assaulted by violent storms will undoubtedly fall and the fall of it will be great And this Error every Man commits who pursues Happiness by following his own Inclination and gratifying his Irregular Desires without any Consideration of God and of the restraint which his Laws have laid upon us not for his own Pleasure but for our good For when all things are
Matter hath been rightly stated then Religion and the Fear of God is the first Principle and Foundation of true Wisdom and that which we are to consider and take along with us in all the Designs and Actions of our Lives and all Wisdom which does not begin here is preposterous and will prove folly in the issue Secondly As Religion is the beginning of Wisdom so it is the perfection of it it is the highest point of Wisdom in which we can be Instructed The fear of the Lord says Solomon Prov. 15. 33. is the instruction of Wisdom A good Understanding says David Psal 111. 10. have all they that do his Commandments The Practice of Religion is the perfection of Wisdom and he understands himself best who lives most according to the Laws of God And this I might shew by instancing in particular Virtues the practice whereof is much Wiser and every way more for our Interest than the contrary Vices but this is too large an Argument to engage in and therefore I shall content my self at present briefly to shew that the chief Characters and Properties of Wisdom do all meet in Religion and agree to it The First Point of Wisdom is to understand our true Interest and to be right in our main End and in this Religion will best instruct and direct us And if we be right in our main End and true to the interest of it we cannot miscarry but if a Man mistake in this he errs fatally and his whole Life is Vanity and Folly Another property of Wisdom is to be steady and vigorous in the Prosecution of our main End To oblige us hereto Religion gives us the most powerful Arguments the glorious Happiness and the dismal Misery of another World The next Point of Wisdom is to make all things stoop and become subservient to our main End And where-ever Religion bears sway it will make all other things subordinate to the Salvation of our Souls and the Interest of our Everlasting Happiness as the Men of this World make every thing to submit and give way to their Covetous and Ambitious and Sensual Designs Another part of Wisdom is to Consider the Future and to look to the last End and Issue of things It is a common folly among Men to be so intent upon the present as to have little or no regard to the future to what will be hereafter Men Design and Labour for this present Life and their short continuance here in this World without taking into serious Consideration their main Duration and their Eternal Abode in another World But Religion gives us a clear Prospect of a Life after Death and overlooks Time and makes Eternity always present to us and minds us of making timely provision and preparation for it It takes into Consideration our whole Duration and inspires us with Wisdom to look to the End of things and to what will be hereafter as well as to what is present It is likewise a great Property of Wisdom to secure the main Chance and to run no hazard in that And this Religion directs us to take care of because the neglect of it will prove fatal Another Mark of Wisdom is to lay hold of Opportunities those especially which when they are once past will never return again There are some Seasons wherein great things may be done which if they be let slip are never to be retrieved A Wise Man will lay hold of these and improve them and Religion inculcates this Principle of Wisdom upon us that this Life is the opportunity of doing great things for our selves and of making our selves for ever this very day and hour may for ought we know be the last and only Opportunity of Repentance and making our Peace with God Therefore to day whilst it is called to day let us set about this necessary work lest any of us be hardned through the deceitfulness of Sin to morrow it may be too late to begin it and the Justice of God may cut us off whilst we are wilfully delaying it and the Opportunities of Saving our Immortal Souls may vanish and be for ever hid from our eyes The next Property of Wisdom is to foresee Dangers and to take timely care to prevent them The Prudent Man saith Solomon foreseeth the Evil and hideth himself that is shelters and secures himself against it but the simple pass on and are punished that is the Evil overtakes them and their Folly is punish'd in their fatal Ruine Now the greatest Danger is from the greatest Power even from him who is able to save and to destroy I will tell you says the Wisdom of God whom ye shall fear fear him who after he hath killed can destroy both Body and Soul in Hell Again another main Point of Wisdom is to do as little as we can to be repented of trusting rather to the Wisdom of Prevention than to that of Remedy Religion first teacheth Men Innocency and not to offend but in case we do as in many things we offend all it then directs us to Repentance as the only Remedy But this certainly is folly to Sin in hopes of Repentance that is first to make work for Repentance and then run the hazard of it for we may certainly Sin but it is not certain that we shall Repent And if it were yet it is great folly to lay in before hand and to make work for trouble Ne tu stultus homuncio es qui malis veniam precari quam non peccare was a Wise Saying of old Cato Thou are says he a silly Man indeed who chusest rather to ask Forgiveness than not to Offend If a Man had the best Remedy in the World he would not make himself sick to try the Virtue of it and it is a known Comparison and a very fit one that Repentance is Tabula post Naâ—fragium a Plank after Shipwreck But I am greatly afraid that thousands of Souls who have trusted to it have perished before they could get to Land with this Plank in their arms The last Character of Wisdom I shall mention is In all things to consult the Peace and Satisfaction of our own Minds without which nothing else can make us Happy and this Obedience to the Laws of God doth naturally procure Great Peace have they says David that love thy Law and nothing shall offend them The work of Righteousness says the Prophet shall be Peace and the effect of Righteousness quietness and assurance for ever The fear of God and the keeping of his Commandments is the best Preservative against the troubles of a guilty Conscience and the terrifying apprehensions of a Future Judgment And this is the great Wisdom of Religion that whosoever liveth according to the Rules and Precepts of it prevents the chief Causes of discontent and lays the surest Foundation of a perpetual satisfaction of Mind a Jewel of inestimable price which none knows but he that has it and he that hath it knows the value of
a Divine Nature First We will consider the Promises which are here spoken of whereby are given unto us exceeding great and precious Promises And because the chief Promises of the Gospel are here intended I shall take occasion from this Text to handle the Doctrine of the Promises which is frequently discours'd of in Divinity but not always so clearly stated And to this purpose it will be proper to take into Consideration these four things 1. What the Promises are which are here spoken of whereby are given unto us Promises 2. Why they are said to be so great and precious exceeding great and precious Promises 3. We will Consider the Tenour of these Promises 4. When Men are said to have a right to them so as they may apply them to themselves These four Heads will comprehend what I have to say upon this Argument 1. What the Promises are which the Apostle here speaks of whereby are given unto us Promises And no doubt the Apostle here intends those great and excellent Promises which Christ hath made to us in the Gospel So that to satisfie our selves in this enquiry we need only to consider what are the Principal Promises of the Gospel Now the great Promises of the Gospel are these three 1. The Promise of the free Pardon and Forgiveness of our Sins upon our Faith and Repentance 2. The Promise of God's Grace and Holy Spirit to assist our Obedience 3. The Promise of Eternal Life to Reward it 1. The Promise of the Pardon and Forgiveness of our Sins upon our Faith and Repentance The Gospel hath made full and clear Promises to this Purpose that if we believe the Gospel and will forsake our Sins and amend our wicked Lives all that is past shall be forgiven us and that Christ died for this end to obtain for us Remission of Sins in his Blood The light of Nature upon consideration of the Mercy and goodness of God gave Men good hopes that upon their Repentance God would forgive their sins and turn away his wrath from them But Mankind was doubtful of this and therefore they used expiatory Sacrifices to appease the offended Deity The Jewish Religion allowed of no Expiation but for legal impurities and involuntary transgressions such as proceeded from ignorance and inadvertency but not for Sins of Presumption and such as were committed with an bigh hand If Men sin'd wilfully there was no Sacrifice appointed by the Law for such Sins But the Grace of the Gospel justifies us from the greatest Sins upon our Faith and sincere Repentance So St. Paul tells the Jews Acts 13. 38 39. Be it known â—nto you therefore men and brethren that through this man is preached unto you the forgiveness of sins And by him all that believe are justified from all things from which ye could not be justified by the Law of Moses There was no general Promise of Pardon nor way of Expiation under the Law perfect Remission of Sins is clearly revealed and ascertain'd to us only by the Gospel 2. Another great Promise of the Gospel is the Promise of God's Grace and Holy Spirit to assist our Obedience Our Blessed Saviour hath promised that our Heavenly Father will give his Holy Spirit to them that ask him 'T is true indeed there was a peculiar Promise of the Holy Ghost to the Apostles and Christians of the first Ages which is not now to be expected namely an Extraordinary and Miraculous Power whereby they were qualified to publish the Gospel to the World and to give Confirmation to it But now that the Christian Religion is propagated and setled in the World the great End and Use of these Miraculous Gifts is ceased but yet the Spirit of God doth still concur with the Gospel and work upon the Minds of Men to excite and assist them to that which is good And tho' this Operation be very secret so as we cannot give an account of the manner of it yet the effects of it are very sensible and this influence of God's Holy Spirit is common to all Christians in all Ages of the World This Proposition is Universally true and in all Ages and Times If any Man have not the Spirit of Christ he is none of his It must be acknowledged that the Spirit doth not now work upon Men in that sudden and sensible manner as it did in the first times of Christianity because then Men were strongly possest with the prejudices of other Religions which they had been brought up in and therefore as more outward means of Conviction were then necessary so likewise a more powerful internal Operation of the Spirit of God upon the Minds of Men to Conquer and bear down those prejudices and to subdue them to the Obedience of Faith But now the Principles of Religion and Goodness are more gradually instilled into the Minds of Men by the gentle degrees of Pious Instruction and Education and with these means the Spirit of God concurrs in a more Humane way which is more suited and accommodated to our Reason and offers less violence to the Nature of Men. So that this Promise of God's Holy Spirit is now made good to us as the Necessity and Circumstances of our present State do require God does not use such extraordinary Means for the producing of those Effects which may be accomplish'd in a more ordinary way The assistance of God's Holy Spirit is still necessary to Men to encline and enable them to that which is good but not in that manner and degree that it was necessary at first Because the prejudices against Christianity are not now so great and many of those Advantages which were necessarily wanting at first are now supplied in an ordinary way and therefore it is not reasonable now to expect the same extraordinary operation of the Spirit of God upon the Minds of Men which we read of in the first beginnings of Christianity 3. There is likewise the Promise of Eternal Life to Reward and Crown our Obedience And this the Scripture speaks of as the great Promise of the Gospel 1 Job 2. 25. This is the promise which he hath promised us even Eternal Life And upon this account the new Covenant of the Gospel is preferred before the old Covenant of the Law because it is establish'd upon better Promises All the Special and Particular Promises of the Law were of Temporal good things and these were the great Encouragements that were given to Obedience under that imimperfect Dispensation but now Godliness hath not only the Promise of the Life that now is but of that which is to come as the Apostle tells us 1 Tim. 4. 8. The Gospel hath clearly revealed to us a happy State of Immortality after this Life of which Men had but very obscure and doubtful apprehensions So the same Apostle tells us 2 Tim. 1. 10. That it is now made manifest by the appearance of our Saviour Jâ—sus Christ who hath abâ—lisbed Death and hath brought Life and Immortality
in well-doing The assurance of enjoying unspeakable and endless Happiness in another World and of escaping extream and eternal Misery is a Consideration of that weight as one would think could not fail of its efficacy upon us to put all temptations to Sin out of countenance and to bear down before us all the difficulties and discouragements in the way of our Duty And if this make no impression upon us if Heaven and Hell be of no weight with us it will be in vain to use any other Arguments which in Comparison of this are but as the very small dust upon the balance For if on the one hand the hopes of perfect Comfort and Joy and Felicity perpetual in duration and vast beyond all imagination such as â—ye hath not seen nor ear heard nor hath entred into the heart of Man to conceive And if on the other hand the dread of the terrible wrath of God and of the vengance of Eternal Fire together with the insupportable torments of a guilty Conscience and the perpetual stings of bitter remorse and anguish for the wilful folly of our wicked Lives and the rage of horrible despair of ever getting out of so miserable a State If neither of these Considerations if both of them will not prevail upon us to cease to be evil and to resolve to be good that we may obtain one of these Conditions and may escape the other there is no hope that any words that can be used any Arguments and Considerations that can be offered should work upon us or take place with us He that is not to be tempted by such hopes nor to be terrified by such fears is proof against all the force of perswasion in the World And thus I have done with the two things which I proposed to consider from these words the Nature of these Promises and the Influence they are apt and ought to have upon us to raise us to the perfection of Virtue and Goodness which the Apostle here calls our being Partakers of a Divine Nature All that now remains is to make some useful Reflections upon what hath been discoursed upon these two Heads First of all If we expect the Blessings and Benefits of these exceeding great and precious Promises of the Gospel we must be careful to perform the Conditions which are indispensably required on our parts It is a great mistake and of very pernicious consequence to the Souls of Men to imagine that the Gospel is all Promises on God's part and that our part is only to believe them and to rely upon God for the performance of them and to be very confident that he will make them good tho' we do nothing else but only believe that he will do so That the Christian Religion is only a Declaration of God's good will to us without any expectation of Duty from us this is an Error which one could hardly think could ever enter into any who have the liberty to read the Bible and do attend to what they read and find there The Three great Promises of the Gospel are all very expresly contain'd in our Saviour's first Sermon upon the Mount There we find the Promise of Blessedness often repeated but never absolutely made but upon Certain Conditions and plainly required on our parts As Repentance Humility Righteousness Mercy Peaceableness Meekness Patience Forgiveness of Sins is likewise Promised but only to those that make a Penitent acknowledgment of them and ask Forgiveness for them and are ready to grant that Forgiveness to others which they beg of God for themselves The gift of God's Holy Spirit is likewise there Promised but it is upon Condition of our earnest and importunate Prayer to God The Gospel is every where full of Precepts enjoyning Duty and Obedience on our part as well as of Promises on God's part assuring Blessings to us nay of terrible threatnings also if we disobey the Precepts of the Gospel St. Paul gives us the summ of the Gospel in very few and plain words declaring upon what terms we may expect that Salvation which the Gospel offers to all Men Tit. 2. 11 12 13 14. The grace of God which bringeth Salvation hath appeared to all Men teaching us that denying ungodliness and worldly Lusts we should live soberly and righteously and godly in this present world looking for that blessed hope and the glorious appearing of the great God and our Saviour Jesus Christ Who gave himself for us that he might redeem us from all iniquity and purisie unto himself a peculiar People zealous of good works And then he adds These things speak and exhort and rebuke with all authority Intimating that tho' Men were very averse to this Doctrine it ought to be inculcated with great Authority and Earnestness and those who opposed and despised it to be severely rebuked And with great Reason because the contrary Doctrine does most effectually undermine and defeat the whole Design of the Christian Religion Secondly From hence we learn that if the Promises of the Gospel have not this effect upon us to make us Partakers of a Divine Nature it is our own fault and because we are wanting to our selves God is always ready to do his part if we do not fail in ours There is a Divine Power and Efficacy goes along with the Gospel to make way for the entertainment of it in the hearts of Men where they put no bar and obstacle to it But if Men will resist the Motions of God's Blessed Spirit and quench the light of it and obstinately hold out against the force of Truth God will withdraw his Grace and Holy Spirit from them The Gospel would raise us to the perfection of all virtue and goodness and the Promises of it are admirably fitted to relieve the infirmities and weakness of Humane Nature and to renew us after the Image of God in Righteousness and true Holiness to take us off from Sin and Vice and to allure us to Goodness and to assist and encourage us in the practice of it But if we will not comply with the gracious Design of God in the Gospel and suffer these Promises to have their due influence and efficacy upon us we wilfully deprive our selves of all the Blessings and Benefits of it we reject the Counsel of God against our selves and receive the Grace of God in vain and and by rejecting and despising his Promises we provoke him to execute his Threatnings upon us Thirdly and Lastly If the Promises of the Christian Religion are apt in their own Nature to work this great effect upon us to make us like to God and to bring us to so near a resemblance of the Divine Perfections to make us Good and Just and Merciful and Patient and Holy in all manner of Conversation to purge us from our Iniquities and to make us a Peculiar and Excellent People zealous of good works I say if this be the proper tendency of the Gospel and the Promises of it how doth this
is taken for granted where ever we speak of Mens Suffering Persecution for it And the plainest Case among Christians is when they are Persecuted because they will not openly deny and renounce the Christian Religion And this was generally the Case of the Primitive Christians they were threatned with Tortures and Death because they would not renounce Jesus Christ and his Religion and give demonstration thereof by offering Sacrifices to the Heathen-gods Secondly Men do truly suffer for the Cause of Religion when they are Persecuted only for making an open Profession of the Christian Religion by joyning in the Assemblies of Christians for the Worship of God tho' they be not urged to deny and disclaim it but only to conceal and dissemble the Profession of it so as to forbear the maintenance and defence of it upon fitting Occasions against the Objections of those who are Adversaries of it For to conceal the Profession of it and to decline the defence of it when just occasion is offer'd is to be ashamed of it which our Saviour Interprets to be a kind of denial of it and is opposed to the confessing of him before Men Mat. 10. 32 33. Whosoever shall confess me before Men him will I also confess before my Father which is in Heaven But whosoever shall deny me before Men him will I also deny before my Father which is in Heaven And this by St. Mark is express'd by being ashamed of Christ that is afraid and ashamed to make an open profession of him and his Religion Mark 8. 38. Whosoever therefore shall be ashamed of me and of my words in this adulterous and finful generation of him also shall the Son of Man be ashamed when he cometh in the glory of his Father with the holy Angels And this likewise was the Case of the Primitive Christians under the moderate Emperors when the Persecution of them was not so hot as to drive them to a denial of Christ provided they would be contented to conceal and dissemble their Religion in that case they did not hunt them out nor Prosecute them to renounce their Religion if they made no discovery of themselves But yet they who suffered because they would not conceal their Profession of Christianity did truly suffer for the Cause of Religion Thirdly Men do likewise truly suffer for the Cause of Religion when they suffer for not betraying it by any indirect and unworthy means such as among the Primitive Christians was the delivering up their Bibles to the Heathen to be burnt and destroyed by them For to give up that holy Book which is the great Instrument of our Religion is in Effect to give up Christianity it self and to Consent to the utter extirpation of it And such likewise is the Case of those who suffer in any kind for not contributing to break down the Fences of Religion in any Nation where the Providencâ— of God hath given it a Legal Establishment and Security or in a word for refusing to countenance and further any Design which visibly tends to the Ruine of Religion For to destroy Religion and to take away that which hinders the Destruction of it are in Effect much the same thing Fourthly Men do truly suffer for the Cause of Religion when they suffer for the Maintenance and Defence of any necessary and Fundamental Article of it tho they be not required to renounce the whole Christian Religion For what St. Paul says of the Article of the Resurrection of the dead is true of any other necessary Article of the Christian Religion that the Denyal of it is a Subversion of the whole Christian Faith because it tends directly to the overthrowâ—ng of Christianity being a Wound given to it in a Vital and Essential Part. And this was the Case of those who in any Age of Christianity have been persecuted by Hereticks for the Defence of any Article of Christianity And I cannot but observe by the Way that after the Heathen Peâ—secutions were ceased Persecution was first begun among Christians by Hereticks and hath since been taken up and carried much beyond that bad Pattern by the Church of Rome which besides a standing Inquisition in all Countries which are entirely of that Religion a Court the like whereto for the clancular and secret Manner of Proceeding for the unjust and arbitrary Rules of it for the barbarous Usage of Mens Persons and the Cruelty of its Torments to extort Confessions from them the Sun never saw erected under any Government in the World by Men of any Religion whatsoever I say which besides this Court hath by frequent Croisadoes for the Extirpation of Hereticks and by many Bloody Massacres in France and Ireland and several other places destroyed far greater numbers of Christians than all the ten Heathen Persecutions and hath of late revived and to this very Day continues the same or greater Cruelties and a fiercer Persecution of Protestants if all the Circumstances of it be considered than was ever yet practised upon them and yet whilst this is doing almost before our eyes in one of our next neighbour Nations they have the Face to complain of the Cannibal Laws and bloody Persecutions of the Church of England and the Confidence to set up for the great Patrons of Liberty of Conscience and Enemies of all Compulsion and Force in Matters of Religion Fifthly Men do truly suffer for the Cause of God and Religion when they suffer for asserting and maintaining the Purity of the Christian Doctrine and Worship and for opposing and not complying with those gross Errors and Corruptions which Superstition and Ignorance had in a long Course of Time brought into the Christian Religion Upon this Account many Good People suffer'd in many past Ages for resisting the growing Errors and Corruptions of the Church of Rome which at first crept in by Degrees but at last broke in like a mighty Flood which carryed down all before it and threatned Ruin and Destruction to all that opposed them Upon this Account also infinite Numbers suffered among the Waldenses and Albigenses in Bohemia and in England and in most other Countries in this Western Part of Christendom And they who suffer'd upon this Accountâ— suffer'd in a good Cause and for the Testimony of the Truth Sixthly and Lastly Men do truly suffer for the cause of Religion when they suffer for not disclaiming and renouncing any clear and undoubted Truth of God whatsoever yea though it be not a Fundamental Point and Article of Religion And this is the Case of those many Thousands who ever since the IV. Council of Lateran which was in the Year 1215 when Transubstantiation was first defin'd to be an Article of Faith and necessary to Salvation to be believ'd were persecuted with Fire and Sword for not understanding those words of our Saviour this iâ— my Body which are so easily capable of a reasonable Sense in the absurd and impossible Sense of Transubstantiation And though this disowning of this Doctrin be
violent degree of Temptation and Suffering which would be too strong for Humane Strength and Patience to bear And this is a great security to good Men against the fears of a final Miscarriage after all their Labours and Pains and Sufferings in a Religious Course by being over-born at last by the assault of a very violent and powerful Temptation Not but that the best of Men ought always to have a prudent distrust of themselves so as to keep them from security according to the Apostle's Caution and Counsel be not high minded but fear and let him that stands take heed lest he fall because 'till we come to Heaven we shall never be out of the danger and possibility of falling But yet for all this we may hope by the sincerity and firmness of our Resolution under the usual influences of God's Grace to acquit our selves like Men in ordinary Cases of Temptation and Suffering And to this end we should represent to our selves those exceeding great and precious Promises which he hath made to Good Men and his merciful Providence which continually watcheth over them and steers their course for them in this World among those many Rocks which they are in Danger to split upon that he is able to stablish us in the Truth and to keep us from falling and to present us faultless before the presence of hâ—s Glory with exceeding joy and to preserve us to his heavenly Kingdom and that if we do not forsake him and forfeit his Care and Protection he will keep us by his mighty power through faith unto Salvation either by his merciful Foresight and Prevention of those Temptations which would probably be too hard for us or if he thinks fit they should befal us by supporting us under them in an extraordinary Manner For I doubt not but that the best Men do own their Security and Perseverance in Goodness much more to the merciful Providence of God preventing the Assaults of violent and dangerous Temptations than to the Firmness and Constancy of their own resolutions For there are very few Persons of so firm and resolute Virtue but that one time or other a Temptation might assault them upon such a Disadvantage as would in all probability not only stagger them but bear them down Now herein thâ—â—â—ovidence of God towards good 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 very remarkable in secuâ—â—â—◠〈◊〉 â—rom those Temptations which 〈◊〉 â—oo stâ—ong for them to grapple wiâ—â—al like a kind and tender Father who if he be satisfied of the dutiful Disposition of his Child towards him will not try his Obedience to the utmost nor permit too strong a Temptation to the contrary to come in his way So the Psalmist represents God's tender Regard and Consideration of the Frailty and Infirmity of his Children Psal 103. 13 14. Like as a Father pitieth his Children so the Lord pitieth them that fear him For he knoweth our frame he remembreth that we are dust that is he considereth us as men and deals with us accordingly Provided we be sincere he will not suffer us to be set upon by Temptations that are too big for us Andtherefore our blessed Saviour makes it one of the Petitions of that excellent Prayer which he hath recommended to us Lead us not into Temptation that is we should every day beg of God that his Providence would keep us out of the Way of great and dangerous Temptations as knowing that this will be a greater Security to us than any strength and resolution of our own Secondly Or in case of such violent and extraordinary Temptations the Providence of God will not be wanting to give us the extraodinary Support and Comfort of his Holy Spirit to bear us up under them The Providence of God did take Care of Good Men in all Ages and did afford Comfort to them under great Tryals and Sufferings but God never made so express and general a Promise of this to all good Men as he hath done by the Christian Religion Never was so constant a Presence and Influence of the Divine Spirit vouchsafed and assured to Men under any dispensation as that of the Gospel wherein the Spirit of God is promised to all that sincerely embrace the Christian Religion to reside and dwell in them not only to all the purposes of Sanctification and Holiness but of Support and Comfort under the heaviest Pressures and Sufferings For which Reason the Gospel is called the Ministration of the Spirit and is upon this account said to be more Glorious than any other Revelation which God had ever made to Mankind We are naturally apt to be very much disheartned and cast down at the apprehension of great Sufferings from the consideration of our own weakness and frailty but the Spirit of Christ dwells in all true Christians and the same Glorious Power which raised up Jesus from the dead works mightily in them that Believe St. Paul useth very high Expressions about this Matter Eph. 1. 19. That ye may know saith he speaking to all Christians what is the exceeding greatness of his power to us-ward who bâ—lieve accordâ—ng to the working of his mighty power which he wrought in Christ when he raised him from the dead and set him at his own right hand So that every Christian is endowed with a kind of Omnipotence being able as St. Paul speaks of himself to do and to endure all things through Christ strengthning him Of our selves we are very weak and the Temptations and Terrors of the World are very powerful but there is a Principle residing in every true Christian that is able to bear us up against the World and the power of all its Temptations Whatsoever is born of God saith St. John overcometh the world for greater is he that is in you than he that is in the world The Holy Spirit of God which dwells in all true Christians is a more powerful Principle of Resolution and Courage and Patience under the sharpest Trials and Sufferings than that Evil Spirit which rules in the World is to stir up and set on the Malice and Rage of the World against us Ye are of God little Children he speaks this to the youngest and weakest Christians Ye are of God little Children and have overcome because greater is he that is in you than he that is in the world The Malice and Power of the Devil is very great but the Goodness and Power of God is greater And therefore in case of extraordinary Temptation good Men by virtue of this Promise of God's Holy Spirit may expect to be born up and comforted in a very extraordinary and supernatural manner under the greatest Tribulations and Sufferings for righteousness sake And this was in a very signal and remarkable manner afforded to the Primitive Christians under those Fierce and Cruel Persecutions to which they were exposed And this may still be expected in like Cases of extraordinary Sufferings for the Testimony of God's Truth If ye be reproached saith St. Peter in this 4th
support you under Sufferings and to reward them Thus much for the first Point namely that when Men do suffer truly for the Cause of Religion they may with confidence commit themselves to the more Peculiar Care of the Divine Providence The Second SERMON ON 1 PETER IV. 19. Wherefore let them that suffer according to the will of God commit the keeping of their Souls to him in well-doing as unto a faithful Creator FROM these words I proposed to Consider these three Points First That when Men do Suffer really and truly for the Cause of Religion they may with confidence commit themselves their Lives and all that is dear to them to the peculiar and more especial Care of the Divine Providence Secondly This we may do always provided that we be careful of our Duty and do what is required on our Part and that neither to avoid Sufferings nor to rescue our selves out of them we do any thing contrary to our Duty and a good Conscience for this is the meaning of committing our selves to God in well-doing Thirdly To shew what Ground of Comfort and Encouragement the Consideration of God under the Notion of a Faithful Creator does afford to us under all our Sufferings for a good Cause and a good Conscience The First of these Points I have treated on at large in my former Discourse I proceed now to the Second Namely when in all our Sufferings for the Cause of Religion we may with Confidence and good Assurance commit our selves to the peculiar and more especial Care of God's Providenceâ— This is to be understood always provided that we be careful of our Duty and do what is required on our part and that neither to avoid Sufferings nor to rescue our selves out of them we do any thing contrary to our Duty and a good Conscience And this I told you was the meaning of committing our selves to God in well-doing for if we either neglect our Duty or step out of the Way of it by doing things contrary to it the Providence of God will not be concern'd to bear us out in such Sufferings So that in our Sufferings for the Cause of God and Religion to commit our selves to him in well-doing may reasonably comprehend in it these following Particulars 1. Provided always that we neglect no lawful Means of our Preservation from Sufferings or our Deliverance out of them In this Case Men do not commit themselves to the Providence of God but cast themselves out of his Care and Protection they do not trust God but tempt him and do as it were try whether he will stand by us when wâ— desert our selves and bring us out of Trouble when we would take no Care would use no Endeavours to prevent it If we will needlesly provoke Trouble and run our selves upon sufferings if we will neglect our selves and the Lawful Means of our preservation if we will give up and part with those Securities of our Religion which the Providence of God and the Laws of our Country have given us if we our selves will help to pull down the Fence which is about us if we will disarm our selves and by our own Act expose our selves naked and open to Danger and Sufferings why should we think in this Case that God will help us when we would not help our selves by those lawful Ways which the Providence of God had put into our hands All Trust in God and Dependance upon his Providence does imply that we joyn Prayer and Endeavour together Faith in God and a prudent and diligent use of Means If we lazily trust the Providence of God and so cast all our Care upon him as to take none at all our selves God will take no Care of us In vain do we rely upon the Wisdom and Goodness and Power of God in vain do we importune and tire Heaven with our Prayers to help us against our Enemies and Persecutors if we our selves will do nothing for our selves In vain do we hope that God will maintain and defend our Religion against all the secret Contrivances and open Assaults of our Enemies if we who are united in the Profession of the same Religion and in all the Essentials of Faith and Worship will for some small Differences in lesser Matters which are of no moment in Comparison of the things wherein we are agreed I say if for such slight matters we will divide and fall out among our selves if when the Enemy is at the Gates we will still pursue our Heats and Animosities and will madly keep open those Breaches which were foolishly made at first what can we expect but that the common Enemy should take the Advantage and enter in at them and whilst we are so unseasonably and senselesly contending with one another that they should take the Opportuity which we give them to destroy us all 2. Provided likewise that we do not attempt our own Preservation or Deliverance from Suffering by evil and unlawful Means We must do nothing that is contrary to our Duty and to a good Conscience nor comply with any thing or lend our helping Hand thereto that apparently tends to the Ruin of our Religion neither to divert and put off Sufferings for the present not to rescue our selves from under them because we cannot with Confidence commit our selves to the Providence of God but in wellâ—doing This is an Eternal Rule from whence we must in no Case depart That men must do nothing contrary to the Rules and Precepts of Religion no not for the sake of Religion it self We must not break any Law of God nor disobey the lawful Commands of lawful Authority to free our selves from any Sufferings whatsoever because the Goodness of no End can sanctifie Evil Means and make them lawful We must not speak deceitfully for God nor lye no not for the Truth nor kill men though we could thereby do God and Religion the greatest Service And tho' all the Casuists in the World should teach the contrary Doctrine as they generally do in the Church of Rome yet I would not doubt to oppose to all those the single Authority of St. Paul who expresly condemns this Principle and brands it for a dâ—mnable Doctrine that Evil may be done by us that Good may come Rom. 3. 8. And not as we be slanderously reported and as some affirm thas we say let us do evil that good may come whose damnation is just St. Paul it seems looked upon it as a most devilish Calumny to insinuate that the Christian Religion gives the least Countenance to such damnable Doctrines and Doings as these and pronounceth their Damnation to be just who either teach any such Principle as the Doctrine of Christianity or practise according to it Let those look to it who teach That a right Intention and a good End will render things which are otherwise evil and unlawful not only lawful to be done by us but in many Cases meritorious especially where the good of the Church and
time of the general suspension of Trade and Business from an apprehension of approaching troubles by reason whereof both the numbers and the necessities of the Poor are greatly and daily increased among us and besides the Poor of our own Nation God hath sent us great numbers from abroad I mean those who are fled hither for shelter from that violent storm of Persecution which hath lately fallen upon them for the Cause of our common Religion According to the compassion we shew to them we may expect that God will either preserve us from the like Sufferings or graciously support us under them What do we know but that God is now trying us and hath purposely put this opportunity into our hands of preventing or mitigating or shortning our own Sufferings according as we extend our Charity and Pity to those who have suffered so deeply for the Cause of God and his truth Seventhly Provided in the last place and above all that we be sincere in our Religion and endeavour to be universally good and holy in all manner of Conversation and to abound in all the fruits of righteousness which are by Jesus Christ to the praise and glory of God This is the largest sense of well-doing and the most necessary of all the rest to prepare us for Sufferings and to give us Courage and Constancy under them and likewise to engage the Providence of God to a tender care of us and Concernment for us if he shall â—ee it fit to bring us into a State of Suffering But if we live in open Contempt and Violation of God's Laws if we make no Conscience of our Ways and Actions we cannot possibly have any well grounded Trust and Confidence in God for he hates all the workers of iniquity and his Providence sets it self against them for evil Bad Men draw many Mischiefs and Inconveniencies upon themselves as the Natural Consequence of their Actions but besides this the Vengeance of God haunts and pursues Evil-doers and his just Providence many times involves them in many Difficulties and Dangers besides and beyond the Natural Course of things Upon the wicked says David he will rain snares So that as ever we expect the comfortable Effects of the Divine Care and Providence we must live in a dutiful Obedience to God's Holy Will and Laws Bad Men may make a Profession of the true Religion and may in some sort believe it tho' they do not live according to it and yet perhaps for all this out of meer Generosity and Obstinacy of Mind they cannot bear to be threatned and terrified out of the Profession of the Truth and will endure a great deal of Trouble and Inconvenience before they will renounce it knowing themselves to be so far in the Right that they stand for the Truth and hoping perhaps thereby to make some amends for their bad Practice But when all is done nothing gives a Man true Courage and Resolution like the Testimony of our own Hearts concerning our own Sincerity and the Conscience of well-doing And on the contrary he that hath not the Resolution and Patience to mortifie his Lusts and to restrain his Appetites and to subdue his irregular Passions for the sake of God and Religion will not easily bring himself to submit to great Sufferings upon that Account There is considerable Difficulty in the Practice of Religion and the resolute Course of a Holy Life but surely it is much easier to live as Religion requires we should do than to lay down our Lives for it and as I have told you upon another Occasion he that cannot prevail with himself to live like a Saint will much more hardly be perswaded to die a Martyr I proceed to the Third Point namely what ground of Comfort and Encouragement the Consideration of God under the Notion of a faithful Creator does afford to us under all our Sufferings for a good Censcience and a good Cause Let them that suffer according to the will of God commit the keeping of their Souls to him in well-doing as unto a faithful Creator And in this I shall be very brief And this is a firm ground of Comfort and Encouragement to us under all our Sufferings for God to consider him as the Author of our Beings or as it is exprest in the Text as a faithful Creator one that is not fickle and inconstant in his Affection and Kindness to his Creatures but is true to his own Design and will not abandon and forsake the Work of his own Hands So great a Benefit as that of our Beings freely conferr'd upon us is but an earnest of God's further Kindness to us and Future care of us if by our ill Carriage towards him we do not render our selves unworthy and incapable of it That we are God's Creatures is a Demonstration that he hath Kindness for us if he had not he would never have made us as it is excellently said in the Wisdom of Solomon Cap. 11. 23. 24. Thou hast mercy upon all for thou lovest all the things that are and abhorrest nothing which thou hast made For never wouldst thou have made any thing if thou hadst hated it And ver 26. Thou sparest all for they are thine O Lord thou lover of Souls To whom then may be with so much Confidence commit our selves as to him who freely gave us our Being From whom may we expect so tender a Regard and Consideration of our Case and all the Circumstances of it as from this great Founder and Benefactor For he that made us knows our Frame and whereof we are made and how much we are able to bear he considers our Strength or rather our Weakness and what Courage and Resolution he hath endued us withal and what Comfort and Support we stand in need of in the day of Tribulation And as they who make Armour are wont to try that which they think to be good and well temper'd with a stronger Charge not to break and hurt it but to prove and praise it So God exerciseth those whom he hath fitted and tâ—mpered for it with manyfold Temptations that the tryal of their faith as St. Peter expresseth it 1 Pet. 1. 7. being much more precious thâ—n of gold tried in the Firâ— may be found unto praise and honour and glory at the appearing of Jesus Christ So that this Consideration that we are God's Creatures does as I may say oblige him in Faithfulness to his own Act and in Consequence of his bringing us into Being at first to be concern'd for us afterwards so as never to abandon us nor quite to take away his loving-kindness and Mercy from us till we are good for nothing and do in a manner cease to be what he made us that is Reasonable Creatures A Person or People must have proceeded to the utmost degree of degeneracy when God will consider them no longer as his Creatures nor shew any Pity or Favour to them things must be come to extremity when God deals
thus with us as he threatned the People of Issrâ—el Isa 27. 11. When the boughs are withered they shall be broken off and set on fire for it is a People of no understanding therefore he that made them will not have mercy on them and he that formed them will shew them no favour And now I have done with the three Points which I proposed to handle from this Text and the Discourse which I have made upon them does all along apply it self by dirâ—cting us how we ought to commit our selves to the Providence of God in all Cases of Danger and Suffering especially for the Cause of God and his Truth viz. in the faithful discharge of our Duty and a good Conscience and by a firm Trust and Confidence in the Wisdom and Goodness of the Dâ—vine Providence not doubting but that he who made us and knows our frame will have a tender Care of us and not suffer us to be tempted above what we are able And as to our present Danger and that Terrible Storm which threatens us let us pray to God if it be his will to divert it but if otherwise he hath determined to fit and prepare us for it And let us be fervent and earnest in our Prayers to him not that he is moved by our importunity but that we may thereby be qualified and made fit to receive the Mercy which we beg of him And let us take this Occasion to do that which we should have done without it to breaâ— off our Sins by Repentance and to turn every one of us from the evil of our waysâ— that hereby we may render God propitious to us and put our selves under the more immediate Care and Protection of his Providence that we may prevent his Judgments and turn away his wrath and displeasure from us as he did once from a great and sinful City and People upon their sincere Humiliation and Repentance Jonah 3. 10. where it is said of the People of Niniveh That God saw their works that they turned from their evil way and God repented of the evil that he had said that he would do unto them and he did it not Above all let us be sincere in the profession of our Religion and conscientious in the Practice of it nothing will bear us up under great Trials and Sufferings like the testimony of a good Conscience void of offence towards God and Men. I will conclude this whole Discourse with those Apostolical Blessings and Prayers Colos 1. 10 11. That ye may walk worthy of the Lord unto all pleasing being fruitful in every good work strengthned with all might according to his glorious Power unto all patience and long-suffering with joyfulness And 2 Thes 2. 16 17. Now our Lord Jesus Christ himself and God even our Father who hath loved us and hath given us everlasting Consolation and good hope through Grace comfort your hearts and stablish you in every good word and work To him be Glory and Dominion for Ever and Ever Amen A SERMON ON JOHN IX 4. I must work the works of him that sent me while it is day The night cometh when no man can work THese words our Blessed Saviour spake of himself whilst he was upon Earth in which he tells us that he was sent by God into the World and had a certain Work and Imployment appointed him during his Abode in it A great Work indeed to instruct and reform and save Mankind A Work of great Labour and Pains and Patience not to be done in a short time and yet the time for doing it was not long after he came into the World It was a good while before he began it and after he began it the time of Working was not long before the Night came and put an End to it I must work the works of him that sent me while it is day The night cometh when no man can work But this which our Saviour here speaks of himself and which properly belongs to him and no other may yeâ— be accommodated to every Man with some Allowance for the Difference and Disproportion For tho' every Man be not sent by God into the World after so peculiar a manner and upon so particular and vast a Design Yet upon a general Account every Man is sent by God into this World and hath a Work given him to do in it which he is concern'd vigorously to mind and to prosecute with all his Might And tho' every Man be not sent to save the whole World as the Son of God was yet every Man is sent by God into the World to work out his own Salvation and to take Care of that in the first Place and then to promote the Salvation of others as much as in him lies So that every one of us may in a very good Sense accommodate these Words of our Saviour to himself I must work the works of him that sent me while it is day The night cometh when no man can work I shall therefore at this time take the Liberty to handle these words according to this moral Accommodation of them and apply what our Saviour here says of himself to every Man that cometh into the World And this I shall do by shewing these three things First That every Man hath a Work assigned him to do in this World by him that sent him into it and may in some Sense say as our Blessed Saviour did of himself I must work the works of him that sent me Secondly That there is a certain and limited time for every Man to do this Work in While it is day Thirdly That after this Season is expired theâ—e will be no further Oportunity of working The Night cometh when no man can work First Every Man hath a Work assigned him to do in this World by him that sent him into it and may in some sense say as our Blessed Savâ—our did of himself I must work the works of him that â—ent me God who made man a reasonable Creature and hath endowed him with Faculties whereby he is capable of knowing and serving him hath appointed him a Work and Service suitable to these Faculties And having infused an immortal Soul into this Earthy Body hath certainly designed him for a State beyond this Life in which he shall be for ever happy or miserable according as he useth and demeans himself in this World So that the Work which every one of us hath to do in this World is to prepare and fit our selves for that Eternal Duration which remains for us after Death For the Life which we live now in this World is a time of Exercise a short state of Probation and Tryal in order to a durable and endless state in which we shall be immutably â—ixt in another World This World into which we are now sent for a little while is as it were God's School in which immortal Spirits clothed with Flesh are trained and bred up for Eternity and therefore the best
the only sure way to be happy for ever is so to improve the short and uncertain time of this Life that we may approve our selves to God in this World and enjoy him in the next or as St. Paul expresseth it that having our fruit unto Holiness our end may be everlasting Life And this Work consists in these three things First In the Care of our own Salvation Secondly In doing what we can to promote the Salvation of others Thirdly And in order to both these in the careful Improvement and good Husbandry of our time First In the Care of our own Salvation And this consists in two things 1. In the Worship of Almighty God 2. In the careful and conscientious Practice and Obedience of his Holy Laws 1. The Care of our own Salvation consists in the pious and devout Worship of Almighty God that we honour him and pay him that Homage and Respect which is due from Creatures to him that made them and is the great Soveraign and Judge of the World that we have an inward Reverence and Esteem of him and that we express this by all solemn externalacknowledgments of him as by praying to him for the supply of our Wants by praising him for all the Blessings and Benefits which we have received at his Hands and that we set apart constant and solemn times for the Performance of these Duties and that when we are employed in them we be serious and hearty and attentive to what we are about and perform every part of Divine Worship with those Circumstances of Reverence and Respect which may testifie our awful Sense of the Divine Majesty and our inward and profound Veneration of him with whom we have to do And this is that which is directly and properly Religion 2. This Care of our own Salvation does consist likewise in the conscientious and constant Obedience and Practice of all God's Holy Laws in the Conformity of our Lives and Actions to the Laws which he hath given us whether they be natural or written upon our Hearts or made known to us by the Revelation of his Word that we govern our Passions by Reason and moderate our selves in the use of sensual Delights so as not to transgress the Rules of Temperance and Chastity that we demean our selves towards others and converse with them with Justice and Fidelity with Kindness and Charity These are the Sum of the Divine Laws and the Heads of our Duty towards our selves and others all which are more powerfully enforced upon us by the Revelation of the Gospel and the plain Promises and Threatnings of it the Faith of Christ being the most firm and effectual Principle both of Piety towards God and of Universal Obedience to all his particular Commands And this is the great work which God hath sent us to do in the World so the Wise Man sums up our Duty Eccl. 12. 13. Fear God and keep his commandments for this is the whole duty of man The Fear and Reverence of the Divine Majesty is the great Foundation and Principle of Religion but Obedience to God's Laws is the Life and Practice of it God does not expect that we should spend the greatest part of our time in the immediate Acts of Religion and in the solemn Duties of his Worship and Service but only that we should allot a fitting Proportion of our time to these according to the Circumstances of our Condition in this World and the Example of Holy and Good Men that are in the like Circumstances with our selves For such is the Goodness of God that he does not only allow us to provide for the Necessities and Conveniencies of this Life but hath made it our Duty so to do It is one of the Precepts of the Gospel which the Apostle chargeth the Bishops and Teachers of the Gospel to inculcate frequently upon Christians that they which have believed in God should be careful to maintain good works that is to employ themselves in the works of an honest Calling for necessary uses that is for the support of their Families and the relief of those who are in want and necessity And the Apostle lays great weight and stress upon this as a very great Duty Tit. 3. 8. This is a faithful saying and these things I will that thou affirm constantly that they which have believed in God might be careful to maintain good works These things are good and profitable unto Men that is of general benefit and advantage to Mankind So that no Man's Calling is a hindrance to Religion but a part of it and by performing the Duties of Piety in their proper Seasons and spending the rest of our time in any honest and useful Employment we may make our whole Life a perpetual serving of God we may glorifie God in our eating and drinking and in all other lawful and useful actions of Life in serving the Occasions and Necessities of Life with Sobriety and Temperance and in managing our Worldly Commerce with Justice and Integrity we may serve God and perform considerable Duties of Religion So that provided we do nothing that is sinful and manage the Actions and Concernments of this Life with a due regard and subserviency to the great interests of Eternity we may do the work of God all the while we are providing for our selves and employed in the works of an honest Calling For God who hath designed this Life in order to the other considers the necessities of our present state and allows us to make provision for it There are some Persons indeed whose Birth and Condition sets them above the common Employments of Life and the Works of an ordinary Calling But these also have a work given them to do for God hath sent no Man into the World to no purpose and only to take his pastime therein neque enim ita generati sumus à natura ut ad ludum jocum facti esse videamur sed ad severitatem potius quaedam studia graviora atque majora for â—e are not says Tully de Off. Lib. 1. so framed by Nature as if we were made for sport and jest but for more serious Employments and for greater and weightier business and those who are tied to no particular Calling may allow so much larger portions of their time to Religion and the Service of God and God likewise expects from them that they should be useful to Mankind in some higher and nobler way according to the publickness of their station and influence Such Persons may be serviceable to their Country and the Affairs of Government and in the care of publick Justice and may employ their time in preparing and rendring themselves more fit for this Service They may find a great deal of work to do in the good government of their Families and in the prudent care and management of their Estates and in reconciling differences among their Neighbours and in considering the necessities of the Poor and providing for their supply So
this precious Treasure to every bodies rapine and extortion and can quietly look on whilst Men thrust in their hands and take it out by whole handfuls as if it were of no greater value than Silver was in Solomon's days no more than the stones in the street And yet when it is gone all the Silver and Gold in the World cannot purchase and fetch back the least moment of it when perhaps we would give all the World for a very small part of that time which we parted with upon such cheap and easie terms Good God! what a stupid and senseless Prodigality is this do we consider what we do when we give away such large portions of our time to our ease and pleasure to diversion and idleness to trifling and unprofitable Conversation to the making and receiving of impertinent visits and the usual and almost inseparable attendants thereof spiteful observations upon them that are present and slandering and backbiting those that are absent For the great design of most People in visits is not to better one another but to spie and make faults and not to mend them to get time off their hands to shew their fine Cloaths and to recommend themselves to the mutual contempt of one another by a plentiful impertinâ—nce when we part with it by wholesale in sleep and dressing and can spend whole Mornings between the Comb and the Glass and the Afternoon at Plays and whole Nights in Gaming or in Riot and Lewdness and Intemperance in all which People commonly wast their Mony and their time together Nay how do even the best of us misplace this precious Treasure and tho' we do not employ it to wicked purposes and in Works of Iniquity yet we do not apply it to the best and noblest use to the Glory of God and the Good and Salvation of Men By thus laying out this Treasure we might lay up for our selves treasures in heaven and help others on in the Way thither Thus our Blessed Saviour employed his precious time in going about doing good in all kinds and upon all Occasions healing the Bodies and enlightning the Minds and saving the souls of men This was his Business and this was his delight it was his meat and drink and his very Life he spent himself in it and sacrificed his Ease and his Safety and his Life to these great Ends for which he came into the World he considered the Goodness and the Greatness of his work and the little time he had to do it in which made him incessantly industrious in it and to run the Race which was set before him with great speed and to work while it was day because he knew the night would come when no man can work And this brings me to the Second thing I observed from the Text namely that there is a certain and limited time for every man to do this Work in while it is day I must work the works of him that sent me whilst it is day And this day comprehends all the Oportunities of our Life which will soon be over and therefore had need to be well spent A great part of our Life is past before the Season of Working begins it is a great while before the use of our Reason begins and we come to have our Senses exercised to discern between Good and Evil beâ—ore our Understandings are ripe for the serious Consideration of God and Religion and for the due Care of our Souls and of the Eternal Concernment of another World so that this first part of our Life is in a great Measure useless and unprofitable to us in regard to our great Design For Infancy and Childhood are but the Dawnings of this Day and no fit time to work in and Youth which is as the Morning of this day tho' it is the Flower of our Time and the most proper season of all other for the Remembrance of God and the Impressions of Religion yet it is usually possest by Vanity and Vice the common Custom and Practice of the World hath devoted this best part of our Age to the worst Employments to the Service of Sin and of our Lusts How very few are there that lay hold of this Opportunity and employ it to the best Purposes And yet the following Course of our Lives doth in a great measure depend upon it for most Persons do continue and hold on in the Way in which they set out at first whether it be good or bad And those who neglect to improve this first Opportunity of their Lives do seldom recover themsâ—lves afterwards God's Grace may seize upon Men in any part of their Lives but according to the most ordinary Methods of it the Foundations and Principles of Religion and Virtue are most commonly laid in a pious and virtuous Education This is the great Opportunity of our Lives which setleth and fixeth most Men either in a good or bad Course and the Fortune of their whole Lives does usually follow it and depend upon it 'T is true indeed our Day continues many times a great while longer and we are to work while it continues and 't is never too late to begin to do well and to enter upon a good Course but there is no such proper and advantagious Season for the beginning of this work as in our youth and tender years This is the accepted time this is the day of salvation God's Grace is then most forward and ready to assist us and we are then least of all indisposed for the receiving of the Impressions of it and the Impressions of it do then go deepest into our minds and are most lasting and durable But if we neglect this Opportunity we provoke God by Degrees to withdraw his Grace and to take away his holy Spirit from us and by degrees we settle in vicious Habits and are every day more and more hardned through the deceitfulness of sin It is never too late to work while the day lasts but the sooner we begin this work and set about it in good earnest the easier we shall find it if we defer it late every step will be up the Hill and against the Grain Thirdly After this Season is expired there will be no â—urther Oportunity of working when this day is once at an end then cometh the night when no man can work The Night is a time unfit for work when we can hardly do any thing if we had never so great mind to it and there is such a Night coming upon every one of us and Wo be to us if we have our work to do when the Night overtakes us There is usually an Evening before this Night when it will be very difficult for us and next to impossible to do this work and this is the time of Sickness and Old Age in which men are commonly unfit for any work but most of all that which requires the whole force and vigour of our Minds the business of Religion If we attempt this work