imploy their power in promoting a doctrine so contrary to their interest For Heaven and Hell cannot be more distant than the whole design of Christianity is from all the contrivances of wicked Spirits How soon was the Devil's Kingdom broken his Temples demolished his Oracles silenced himself baffled in his great design of deceiving mankind when Christianity prevailed in the world Having thus far asserted the truth of the thing viz. that there was such an effusion of the Holy Spirit we now come to consider 2. The nature of it as it is represented to us by Rivers of living waters flowing out of them that believe by which we may understand 1. The plenty of it called Rivers of waters 2. The benefit and usefulness of it to the Church 1. The plentifulness of this effusion of the Spirit there had been some drops as it were of this Spirit which had fallen upon some of the Jewish nation before but those were no more to be compared with these Rivers of waters than the waters of Siloam which run softly with the mighty River Euphrates What was the Spirit which Bezaleel had to build the Tabernacle with if compared with that Spirit which the Apostles were inspired with for building up the Church of God What was that Spirit of Wisdom which some were filled with to make garments for Aaron if compared with that Spirit of Wisdom and Revelation which led the Apostles into the knowledge of all Truth What was that Spirit of Courage which was given to the Iudges of old if compared with that Spirit which did convince the world of sin of righteousness and of judgment What was that Spirit of Moses which was communicated to the 70 Elders if compared with that Spirit of his Son which God hath shed abroad in the hearts of his people What was that Spirit of Prophesie which inspired some Prophets in several Ages with that pouring out of the Spirit upon all flesh which the Apostle tells us was accomplished on the day of Pentecost But these Rivers of Waters though they began their course at Ierusalem upon that day yet they soon overflowed the Christian Church in other parts of the world The sound of that rushing mighty Wind was soon heard in the most distant places and the fiery tongues inflamed the hearts of many who never saw them These gifts being propagated into other Churches and many other tongues were kindled from them as we see how much this gift of tongues obtained in the Church of Corinth And so in the History of the Acts of the Apostles we find after this day how the Holy Ghost fell upon them which believed and what mighty signs and wonders were done by them 2. The benefit and usefulness of this effusion of the Spirit like the Rivers of Waters that both refresh and enrich and thereby make glad the City of God The coming down of the Spirit was like the pouring water upon him that is thirsty and floods upon the dry ground Now God opened the Rivers in high places and fountains in the midst of the valleys that the poor and needy who seek water might be refreshed and they whose tongues failed for thirst might satisfie themselves with living waâ—er These are some of the loâ—ty expressions whereby the Courtly Prophet Isaiah sets sorth the great promise of the spirit none better befitting the mighty advantages the Church of God hath ever since enjoyed by the pouring out of the spirit than these For the fountain was opened in the Apostles but the streams of those Rivers of living water have run down to our Age not confined within the banks of Tiber nor mixing with the impure waters of it but preserved pure and unmixed in that sacred doctrine contained in the Holy Scripture Within those bounds we confine our faith and are not moved by the vain discourses of any who pretend to discover a new Fountain-head to these waters at Rome and would make it impossible for them to come down to us through any other Channel but theirs But supposing they had come to us through them have they thereby gotten the sole disposal of them that none shall tast but what and how much they please and must we needs drink down the filth and mud of their Channel too As long as they suffer us to do what Christ hath commanded us to do viz. to take of these waters of life freely we do our own duty and quarrel not with them But if they go about to stop the passage of them or adulterate them with some forrain mixture or strive with us as the Herdsmen of Gerar did with Isaac's Herdsmen saying the Water is ours then if the name of the Well be Esek if contentions do arise the blame is not ours we assert but our own just right against all their encroachments For as Isaac pleaded that he only digged again the wells of water which they had digged in the days of Abraham his Father and although the Philistins had stopped them after the death of Abraham yet that could be no hindrance to his right but he might open them again and call their names after the names by which his Father had called them So that is the substance of our Plea we pretend to nothing but to clear the passage which they have stopped up and was left free and open for us in the time of the Apostles and Fathers we desire not to be imposed upon by their later usurpations we plead for no more but that the Church of God may have the same purity and integrity which it had in the primitive times and that things may not only be called by the names by which the Fathers have called them but that they may be such as the Fathers have left them But otherwise let them boast never so much of the largeness of their Stream of the Antiquity of their Channel of the holiness of their Waters of the number of their Ports and the riches of their Trading nay and let them call their stream by the name of the Ocean too if they please yet we envy them not their Admah and Pharpar and all the Rivers of Damascus so we may sit down quietly by these living waters of Iordan We are contented with the miracles which the Apostles wrought without forging or believing new ones we are satisfied with the gift of strange tongues which they had we know no necessity now of speaking much less of praying in an unknown tongue we believe that Spirit infallible which inspired the Apostles in their holy Writings and those we acknowledge embrace and I hope are willing to die for But if any upstart Spirit pretend to sit in an infallible Chair we desire not to be brought under bondage to it till we see the same miracles wrought by vertue of it which were wrought by the Apostles to attest their infallibility 3. The last thing to be spoken to is the season that this effusion
the Revelations of those who had escaped the several plagues which so many had been destroyed by And the rest of the men which were not killed by these Plagues yet repented not of the work of their hands For if we had not greedily suckt in again the poyson we had only laid down while we were begging for our lives if we had not returned with as great fury and violence as ever to our former lusts the removing of one Judgment had not been as it were only to make way for the coming on of another For the grave seemed to close up her mouth and death by degrees to withdraw himself that the Fire might come upon the Stage to act its part too in the Tragedy our sins have made among us and I pray God this may be the last Act of it Let us not then provoke God to find out new methods of vengeance and make experiments upon us of what other unheard of severities may do for our cure But let us rather meet God now by our repentance and returning to him by our serious humiliation for our former sins and our stedfast resolutions to return no more to the practice of them That that much more dangerous infection of our souls may be cured as well as that of our bodies that the impure flames which burn within may be extinguished that all our luxuries may be retrenched our debaucheries punished our vanities taken away our careless indifferency in Religion turned into a greater seriousness both in the profession and the practice of it So will God make us a happy and prosperous when he finds us a more righteous and holy Nation So will God succeed all your endeavours for the honour and interest of that people whom you represent So may he add that other Title to the rest of those you have deserved for your Countries good to make you Repairers of the breaches of the City as well as of the Nation and Restorers of paths to dwell in So may that City which now sits solitary like a Widow have her tears wiped off and her beauty and comeliness restored unto her Yea so may her present ruines in which she now lies buried be only the fore-runners of a more joyful resurrection In which though the body may remain the same the qualities may be so altered that its present desolation may be the only putting off its former inconveniences weakness and deformities that it may rise with greater glory strength and proportion and to all her other qualities may that of incorruption be added too at least till the general Conflagration And I know your great Wisdom and Iustice will take care that those who have suffered by the ruines may not likewise suffer by the rising of it that the glory of the City may not be laid upon the tears of the Orphans and Widows but that its foundations may be setled upon Justice and Piety That there be no complaining in the Streets for want of Righteousness nor in the City for want of Churches nor in the Churches for want of a setled maintenance That those who attend upon the seâ—vice or God in them may never be tempted to betray their Consciences to gain a livelihood nor to comply with the factious humours of men that they may be able to live among them And thus when the City through the blessing of Heaven shall be built again may it be a Habitation of Holiness towards God of Loyalty towards our Gracious King and his Successors of Iustice and Righteousness towards Men of Sobriety and Peace and Vnity among all the Inhabitants till not Cities and Countries only but the world and time it self shall be no more Which God of his infinite mercy grant through the merits and mediation of his Son to whom with the Father and Eternal Spirit be all Honour and Glory for evermore SERMON II. Preached before the KING MARCH 13. 1666 7. Prov. XIV IX Fools make a mock at Sin WHEN God by his infinite Wisdom had contrived and by a Power and Goodness as infinite as his Wisdom had perfected the the creation of the visible world there seemed to be nothing wanting to the glory of it but a creature endued with reason and understanding which might comprehend the design of his wisdom enjoy the benefits of his goodness and employ it self in the celebration of his power The Beings purely intellectual were too highly raised by their own order and creation to be the Lords of this inferiour world and those whose natures could reach no higher than the objects of sense were not capable of discovering the glorious perfections of the great Creator and therefore could not be the fit Instruments of his praise and service But a conjunction of both these together was thought necessary to make up such a sort of Being which might at once command this lower world and be the servants of him who made it Not as though this great fabrick of the world were merely raised for man to to please his fancy in the contemplation of it or to exercise his dominion over the creatures designed for his use and service but that by frequent reflections on the Author of his being and the effects of his power and goodness he might be brought to the greatest love and admiration of him So that the most natural part of Religion lies in the grateful acknowledgements we owe to that excellent and supream Being who hath shewed so particular a kindness to man in the Creation and Government of the world Which was so great and unexpressible that some have thought it was not so much pride and affectation of a greater height as envy at the felicity and power of mankind which was the occasion of the fall of the Apostate spirits But whether or no the state of man were occasion enough for the envy of the Spirits above we are sure the kindness of Heaven was so great in it as could not but lay an indispensable obligation on all mankind to perpetual gratitude and obedience For it is as easie to suppose that affronts and injuries are the most suitable returns for the most obliging favours that the first duty of a Child should be to destroy his Parents that to be thankful for kindnesses received were to commit the unpardonable sin as that man should receive his being and all the the blessings which attend it from God and not be bound to the most universal obedience to him And as the reflection on the Author of his being leads him to the acknowledgment of his duty towards God so the consideration of the design of it will more easily acquaint him with the nature of that duty which is expected from him Had man been designed only to act a short part here in the world all that had been required of him had been only to express his thankfulness to God for his being and the comforts of it the using all means for the due preservation of himself the doing nothing beneath
neither eating bread nor drinking wine and ye say he hath a Devil A very severe Devil surely and one of the strictest order among them that was so far from being cast out by fasting and prayer that these were his continual imployment But what could we have sooner thought than that those persons who made the Devil the author of so much mortification and severity of life should presently have entertained Religion in a more free and pleasing humour but this would not take neither for the Son of Man comes eating and drinking i. e. was remarkable for none of those rigours and austerities which they condemned in Iohn and applauded in the Pharisees and then presently they censure him as a gluttonous man and a Wine-bibber a friend of Publicans and Sinners v. 34. i. e. the utmost excess that any course of life was capable of they presently apply to those who had no other design in all their actions than to recommend true piety and goodness to them So impossible it was by any means which the wisdom of Heaven thought fit to use to perswade them into any good opinion of the persons who brought the glad tidings of Salvation to them and therefore our Saviour when he sees how refractory and perverse they were in interpreting every thing to the worse and censuring the ways which infinite Wisdom thought fittest to reclaim them by he tells them that it was nothing but malice and obstinacy which was the cause of it but if they were men of teachable spirits who by an usual Hebraism are called the Children of Wisdom they would see reason enough to admire approve and justifie all the methods of divine Providence for the good of Mankind For Wisdom is justified of all her Children That which I mainly design to speak to from hence is That although the wisest Contrivances of Heaven for the good of Mankind are liable to the unjust cavils and exceptions of unreasonable men yet there is enough to satisfie any teachable and ingenuous Minds concerning the wisdom of them Before I come more particularly to examine those which concern our present subject viz. the life and appearance of our Lord and Saviour it will take very much off from the force of them if we consider that thus it hath always been and supposing humane nature to be as it is it is scarce conceivable that it should be otherwise Not that it is necessary or reasonable it should be so at all any more than it is necessary that men should act foolishly or inconsiderately but as long as we must never expect to see all men either wise or pious either to have a true judgment of things or a love of Religion so long we shall always find there will be some who will be quarrelling with Religion when they have no mind to practise it I speak not now of those who make a meer jest and scoff at Religion of which our Age hath so many Instances but of a sort of men who are of a degree above the other though far enough short of any true and solid wisdom who yet are the more to be considered because they seem to make a slender offer at reason in what they say Some pretend they are not only unsatisfied with the particular ways of instituted Religion any further than they are subservient to their present interest which is the only God they worship but to make all sure the foundations even of Natural Religion it self cannot escape their cavils and exceptions They have found out an Index Expurgatorius for those impressions of a Deity which are in the hearts of men and use their utmost arts to obscure since they cannot extinguish those lively characters of the power wisdom and goodness of God which are every where to be seen in the large volume of the Creation Religion is no more to them but an unaccountable fear and the very notion of a spiritual substance even of that without which we could never know what a contradiction meant is said to imply one But if for quietness sake and it may be to content their own minds as well as the World they are willing to admit of a Deity which is a mighty concession from those who have so much cause to be afraid of him then to ease their minds of such troublesom companions as their fears are they seek by all means to dispossess him of his Government of the World by denying his Providence and care of humane affairs They are contented he should be called an excellent Being that should do nothing and therefore signifie nothing in the World or rather then he might be styled an Almighty Sardanapalus that is so fond of ease and pleasure that the least thought of business would quite spoil his happiness Or if the activity of their own spirits may make them think that such an excellent Being may sometimes draw the Curtains and look abroad into the World then every advantage which another hath got above them and every cross accident which befalls themselves which by the power of self-flattery most men have learnt to call the Prosperity of the wicked and the Sufferings of good men serve them for mighty charges against the justice of Divine Providence Thus either God shall not govern the World at all or if he do it must be upon such terms as they please and approve of or else they will erect an High Court of Justice upon him and condemn the Sovereign of the World because he could not please his discontented Subjects And as if he were indeed arraigned at such a bar every weak and peevish exception shall be cryed up for evidence when the fullest and clearest vindications of him shall be scorned and contemned But this doth not in the least argue the obnoxiousness of him who is so accused but the great injustice of those who dare pass sentence where it is neither in their power to understand the reason of his actions nor if it were to call him in question for his proceedings with men But so great is the pride and arrogance of humane Nature that it loves to be condemning what it cannot comprehend and there needs be no greater reason given concerning the many disputes in the world about Divine Providence than that God is wise and we are not but would fain seem to be so While men are in the dark they will be always quarrelling and those who contend the most do it that they might seem to others to see when they know themselves they do not Nay there is nothing so plain and evident but the reason of some men is more apt to be imposed upon in it than their senses are as it appeared in him who could not otherwise confute the Philosophers argument against motion but by moving before him So that we see the most certain things in the world are liable to the cavils of men who imploy their wits to do it and certainly those ought not to stagger mens faith in matters of
men as well as of Princes yet they charge all Christians in the strictest manner as they lov'd their Religion and the honour of it as they valued their â—ouls and the salvation of them that they should be subject to them So far were they then from giving the least encouragement to the usurpations of the rights of Princes under the pretence of any power given to a Head of the Church that there is no way for any to think they meant it unless we suppose the Apostles such mighty Politicians that it is because they say nothing at all of it but on the contrary bid every soul be subject to the higher powers though an Apostle Evangelist Prophet whatever he be as the Fathers interpret it Yea so constant and uniform was the doctrine and practice of Obedience in all the first and purest ages of the Christian Church that no one instance can be produced of any usurpation of the rights of Princes under the pretence of any title from Christ or any disobedience to their authority under the pretence of promoting Christianity through all those times wherein Christianity the most flourished or the Christians were the most persecuted And happy had it been for us in these last ages of the World if we had been Christians on the same terms which they were in the Primitive times then there had been no such scandals raised by the degeneracy of men upon the most excellent and peaceable Religion in the World as though that were unquiet and troublesom because so many have been so who have made shew of it But let their pretences be never so great to Infallibility on one side and to the Spirit on the othâ—r so far as men â—ncourage faction and disobedience so far they have not the Spirit of Christ and Christianity and therefore are none of his For he shewed his great wisdom in contriving such a method of saving mens souls in another World as tended most to the preservation of the peace and quietness of this and though this wisdom may be evil spoken of by men of restless and unpeaceable minds yet it will be still justified by all who have heartily embraced the Wisdom which is from above who are pure and peaceable as that Wisdom is and such and only sâ—ch are the Children of it 3. I come to shew That the design of Christ's appearance was very agreeable to the infinite Wisdom of God and that the means were very suitable and effectual for carrying on of that design for the reformation of Mankind 1. That the design it self was very agreeable to the infinite Wisdom of God What could we imagine more becoming the Wisdom of God than to contrive a way for the recovery of lapsed and degenerate Mankind who more fit to employ upon such a message as this than the Son of God for his coming gives the greatest assurance to the minds of men that God was serious in the management of this design than which nothing could be of greater importance in order to the success of it And how was it possible he should give a greater testimony of himself and withal of the purpose he came about than he did when he was in the world The accomplishment of Prophesies and power of Miracles shewed who he was the nature of his Doctrine the manner of his Conversation the greatness of his Sufferings shewed what his design was in appearing among men for they were all managed with a peculiar respect to the convincing mankind that God was upon terms of mercy with them and had therefore sent his Son into the world that he might not only obtain the pardon of sin for those who repent but eternal life for all them that obey him And what is there now we can imagine so great and desirable as this for God to manifest his wisdom in It is true we see a great discovery of it in the works of Nature and might do in the methods of Divine Providence if partiality and interest did not blind our eyes but both these though great in themselves yet fall short of the contrivance of bringing to an eternal happiness man who had fallen from his Maker and was perishing in his own folly Yet this is that which men in the pride and vanity of their own imaginations either think not worth considering or consider as little as if they thought so and in the mean time think themselves very wise too The Iews had the wisdom of their Traditions which they gloried in and despised the Son of God himself when he came to alter them The Greeks had the wisdom of their Philosophy which they so passionately admir'd that whatever did not agree with that though infinitely more certain and useful was on that account rejected by them The Romans after the conquest of so great a part of the World were grown all such Politicians and Statesmen that few of them could have leisure to think of another world who were so busie in the management of this And some of all these sorts do yet remain in the World which makes so many so little think of or admire this infinite discovery of divine Wisdom nay there are some who can mix all these together joyning a Iewish obstinacy with the pride and self-opinion of the Greeks to a Roman unconcernedness about the matters of another life And yet upon a true and just enquiry never any Religion could be found which could more fully satisfie the expectation of the Iews the reason of the Greeks or the wisdom of the Romans than that which was made known by Christ who was the Wisdom of God and the Power of God Here the Iew might find his Messias come and the Promises fulfilled which related to him here the Greek might find his long and vainly look'd for certainty of a life to come and the way which leads to it here the Roman might see a Religion serviceable to another world and this together Here are Precepts more holy Promises more certain Rewards more desirable than ever the Wit or Invention of Men could have attained to Here are Institutions far more pious uâ—eful and serviceable to mankind than the most admired Laws of the famous Legislators of Greece or Rome Here are no popular designs carried on no vices indulged for the publick interest which Solon Lycurgus and Plato are charged with Here is no making Religion a meer trick of State and a thing only useful for governing the people which Numa and the great men at Rome are lyable to the suspicion of Here is no wrapping up Religion in strange figures and mysterious non-sense which the Egyptians were so much given to Here is no inhumanity and cruelty in the Sacrifices offer'd no looseness and profaneness allowed in the most solemn mysteries no worshipping of such for Gods who had not been fit to live if they had been Men which were all things so commonly practised in the Idolatries of the Heathens but the nature of the Worship is such as
spirit was fermented with the leaven of the Pharisees and inraged with fury against all who owned the name of Christ is of a sudden turned quite into another temper to the confusion of those who employed him and the amazement of them whom he designed to persecute Nay so great was the change which was wrought in him that from a Bigot of the Iewish Religion he becomes an Apostle of the Christian and from breathing flames against the Christians none more ready than he to undergo them for Christ. If he had only given over his persecution it might have been thought that he had meerly run himself out of breath and grown weary of his former fury as greater persons than he did afterwards but to retain the same fervor of spirit in preaching Christ which he had before in opposing him to have as great zeal for making Christians as he had for destroying them must needs proceed from some great and unusual cause Whilst the Iews thought he had too much learning and interest to become their enemy and the Christians found he had too much rage and fury to be their friend even then when they least expected it instead of continuing an Instrument of the Sanhedrin for punishing the Christians he declared himself an Apostle and Servant of Jesus Christ. And that no ordinary one neither for such was the efficacy of those divine words Saul Saul why persecutest thou me that they not only presently allay his former heat but quicken and animate him to a greater zeal for the honour of him whom he had persecuted before And the faster he had run when he was out of his way the greater diligence he used when he found it there being none of all the followers of Christ who out-strip him in his constant endeavours to advance the Christian Religion in the World And if an unwearied diligence to promote it an uncessant care for preserving it an universal concern for all who owned it and an undaunted spirit in bearing the affronts and injuries he underwent for it be any perswasive arguments of the love a man bears to his Religion there was never any person who made a clearer demonstration than St. Paul did of the truth of his Religion and his sincerity in embracing it For his endeavours were suitable to the greatness of his spirit his care as large as the Horizon of the Sun of righteousness his courage as great as the malice of his enemies For he was neither afraid of the Malice of the Iews or of the Wisdom of the Greeks or of the Power of the Romans but he goes up and down preaching the Gospel in a sphere as large as his mind was and with a zeal only parallel with his former fury He encountred the Iews in their Synagogues he disputed with the Greeks in their most famous Cities at Athens Corinth Ephesus and elsewhere and every-where raising some Trophies to the honour of the Gospel nothing now remained but that he should do the same at Rome also And for this he wants not spirit and resolution for he even longed to be there vers 11. nay he had often purposed to go thither but waited for a convenient opportunity v. 13. But while God was pleased otherwise to dispose of him he could not conceal the joy which he had for the ready entertainment of the Christian Religion by those to whom he writes and that their faith was grown as famous as the City wherein they dwelt v. 8. First I thank my God through Iesus Christ for you all that your Faith is spoken of throughout the whole world and he further manifests the greatness of his affection to them that without ceasing he made mention of them always in his Prayers v. 9. And among the rest of the blessings he prayed for for himself and them he was sure not to forget his coming to them v. 10. Not out of an ambitious and vain-glorious humour that he might be taken notice of in that great and imperial City but that he might be â—nstrumental in doing them service as he had done others v. 11.13 And to this end he tells them what an obligation lay upon him to spread the Doctrine of Christ in all places and to all persons v. 14. I am debtor both to the Greeks and to the Barbarians to the wise and to the unwise So that neither the wisdom of the Greeks nor the ignorance of the Barbarians could hinder St. Paul from discovering to them the contrivances of infinite wisdom and the excellent methods of divine Goodness in order to mens eternal welfare And although Rome now thought it self to be the seat of Wisdom as well as Empire and Power yet our Apostle declares his readiness to preach the Gospel there too v. 15. for which he gives a sufficient reason in the words of the Text for I am not ashamed of the Gospel of Christ for it is the power of God to Salvation c. Wherein we have considerable these two things 1. The Apostle's boldness and freeness in declaring the Doctrine of Christ For I am not ashamed c. 2. The ground of it in the following words for it is the power of God to Salvation c. 1. The Apostles boldness and freeness in declaring the Doctrine of Christ. It was neither the gallantry of the Roman Court nor the splendor of the City not the greatness of her Power or wisdom of her Statesmen could make St. Paul entertain the meaner opinion of the doctrine he hoped to preach among them Had Christ come 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 with a great deal of pomp and state into the World subduing Kingdoms and Nations under him had St. Paul been a General for the Gospel instead of being an Apostle of it the great men of the World would then allow he had no cause to be ashamed either of his Master or of his employment But to preach a crucified Saviour among the glories and triumphs of Rome and a Doctrine of so much simplicity and contempt of the world among those who were the Masters of it and managed it with so much art and cunning to perswade them to be followers of Christ in a holy life who could not be like the gods they worshipped unless they were guilty of the greatest debaucheries seems to be an employment so liable to the greatest scorn and contempt that none but a great and resolved spirit would ever undertake it For when we consider after so many hundred years profession of Christianity how apt the greatness of the world is to make men ashamed of the practice of it and that men aim at a reputation for wit by being able to abuse the Religion they own what entertainment might we then think our Religion met with among the great men of the Age it was first preached in when it not only encountered those weaker weapons of scoffs and raillery but the strong holds of interest and education If our Religion now can hardly escape the bitter scoffs