this was a peculiar and extraordinary case and could but last for a certain time now that Christianity hath obtained in the world and is adopted into the Laws of Kingdoms as God be thanked it is among us at this day so far need we be from fearing that the practice of it will draw upon us any Persecution or such other Inconveniences as are mentioned in the fore-cited places that there is no doubt but that we may Rationally expect from it all those External Benefits and Advantages which as we have seen it is in its own nature apt to produce and which God hath indeed made over to it by Promise in several Passages of the Scripture especially of the Old Testament For that I may mention this by the By I do not conceive that those Promises of Long Life Good Days and all manner of worldly Prosperity with which the Practice of Godliness is so frequently enforced in the Old Testament were so appropriated to the Jewish Religion as to be antiquated or disannulled by the Introduction of the Christian but rather that they are still in force to all the Purposes they were then For that the coming of Christ into the world did add many great Blessings and Priviledges to the People of God which before they had not we are certain of but that it took away from them any that before they had this we no where read nor indeed is it probable But I hasten to the third and last General Head I am to speak to which is the Excellent Ministeries of Religion above all other things to the Pleasures of Humane Life which point if it be clearly made out I do not see what can be further wanting to recommend it unto us as the most effectual Instrument for the serving all our turns in this World Now that Godliness doth indeed make the most excellent Provisions for all sorts of Pleasures will appear by these four Considerations First That it eminently ministreth to Health which is a necessary Foundation for all Pleasures Secondly It doth much increase the Relish and Sweetness of all our other Pleasures Thirdly It secures us from all those Inquietudes and Disturbances which are apt to embitter our Pleasures and make our Lives uncomfortable Fourthly It adds to Humane Life a world of Pleasures of its own which those that are not possessed of it are utterly unacquainted with First of all Godliness doth very much conduce to Health which is so necessary to our enjoyment of any sensible Good that without it neither Riches nor Honours nor any thing that we esteem most gratifying to our Senses will signifie any thing at all to us Now that a Sound and Healthful Constitution doth exceedingly much depend upon a discreet government and moderation of our Appetites and Passions upon a sober and temperate use of all Gods Creatures which is an essential Part of True Religion is a thing so evident that I need make no words about it What are most of our Diseases and Infirmities that make us miserable and unpittied while we live and cut us off in the midst of our days and transmit Weakness and Rottenness to our Posterity but the effects of our Excesses and Debauches our Wantonness and Luxury Certainly if we would observe those Measures in our Diet and in our Labours in our Passions and in our Pleasures which Religion has bound us up to we might to such a degree Preserve our Bodies as to render the greatest Part of Physick perfectly superfluous But these things are too well known to need to be insisted on I therefore pass on to the next thing Secondly A Life of Religion doth very much increase the relish and sweetness of all our sensible Enjoyments So far is it from abridging us of any of our earthly delights as its enemies slanderously represent it that it abundantly heightens them It doth not only indulge to us the free Use of all those good Creatures of God which he hath made for the Support and Comfort of Mankind while they are in these Earthly Bodies but also makes them more exquisitely gratifying and delightful than without it they could possibly be And this it doth in part by the means of that never sufficiently commended Temperance and Moderation I before spoke of for hereby it comes to pass that our Senses which are the Instruments of our Pleasures are always preserved in that due Purity and Quickness that is absolutely necessary for the right performing of their Offices and the rendering our Perceptions of any thing grateful and agreeable Whereas the Sensual and Voluptuous man defeats his own designs and whilst he thinks to enjoy a greater share of Pleasures than other men really enjoys a less For his Dissoluteness and giving up the reins to his Appetites only serves to dull and stupifie them Nor doth he reap any other Benefit from his continual hankering after Bodily Pleasures but that his Sensations of them are hereby made altogether Flat and Unaffecting Neither is his Meat half so favoury nor his Recreations so diverting nor his Sleep so sweet nor the Company he keeps so agreeable as Theirs are that by following the measures of Nature and Reason come to them with truer and more unforc'd Appetites But besides this there is a certain Lightsomness and Chearfulness of mind which is in a manner peculiar to the truly Religious Soul that above all things sets off our Pleasures and makes all the Actions and Perceptions of Humane Life Sweet and Delightful True Piety is the best Cure of Melancholy in the world nothing comparable to it for dispelling that Lumpishness and Inactivity that renders the Soul of a Man uncapable of enjoying either it self or any thing else It fills the Soul with perpetual Light and Vigour infuseth a strange kind of Alacrity and Gayety of Humour into us And this it doth not only by removing those things that Hinder our Mirth and make us languish in the midst of our Festivities such as are the Pangs of an Evil Conscience and the storms of unmortified Passions of which I shall speak in the following particular but even by a more Physical Efficiency It hath really a mighty Power to Correct and Exalt a mans Natural Temper Those Ardent Breathings and Workings wherewith the Pious Soul is continually carried out after God and Virtue are to the Body like so much Fresh Air and Wholsom Exercise they Fan the Blood and keep it from Settling they Clarifie the Spirits and purge them from those grosser Feculencies which would otherwise Cloud our Understandings and make us dull and listless And to these effects of Religion doth Solomon seem to Allude when he tells us that Wisdom maketh a mans face to shine Eccles. 8. 1. Where he seems to intimate that that Purity and Exaltation into which the Blood and Spirits of a man are wrought by the Exercise of Virtue and Devotion doth diffuse it self even to his Outward Visage making the Countenance clear and serene and filling the
almost continually charged The Modesty of it cloaths us at a small rate and its Temperance spreads for us though a neat yet a frugal Table The attendance it requires on our Business will not allow us to embezel our money in Drinking or Gaming nor will that Purity which is inseparable from it ever let us know what the vast and sinking expences of lewdness and uncleanness are In a word it is Vice only that is the chargeable thing it is only Shame and Repentance that men buy at such costly rates Godliness is saving and full of good Husbandry nor has it any known or unknown ways of spending except it be those of Charity which indeed in proper speaking are not so much expence as Usury for money so laid out doth always even in this life return to us with Advantage The fourth and last means I mentioned of Thriving in the world was the keeping a good Correspondence with all those in whose power it is to hinder or promote our Affairs This every body knows to be a prime point in Policy and indeed it is of a large extent and of continual use No man can be supposed so independent on others but that as he is some way beholden to them for all that he has so he stands in need of their help and concurrence for all that he hopes for Men do not make their fortunes of themselves nor grow rich by having Treasures dropped in their Laps but they do it by the benefit of Humane Society by the mutual assistances and good offices that one man performs for another So that whoever intends to thrive in the world it above all things imports him so to carry himself towards all that he hath any commerce with so far to secure their favour and good will that they may be obliged not to deny him any of those assistances which the exigency of his Affairs calls for at their hands But now how this should be done any otherwise than by being truly Just and Honest by abstaining from Violence and Injury by being True to our Trusts and Faithful in performing our Contracts and in a word by doing all those good Offices to others which we expect they should do unto us which as our Saviour tells us is the sum of Religion is a very hard thing to conceive The usefulness or rather the necessity of such a Behaviour as this in order to the gaining the good Opinion of others and so serving our own ends by them is so universally acknowledged that even those that make no real Conscience of these things are yet nevertheless in all their dealings forced to pretend to them Open and Bare-fac'd Knavery rarely serves a mans turn in this world but it is under the mask of Virtue and Honesty that it usually performs those Feats it doth which is no less than a Demonstration of the conduciveness of those things to promote our Temporal Interests for if the meer Pretence to them be a great advantage to us for this purpose it cannot be imagined but that the Reality of them will be a greater Certainly the Power of Godliness will be able to do more than the Form alone and that if it was upon no other account than this that no man that is but a meer Pretender to Honesty can long hope to keep his credit among men It is impossible to act a Part for any long time let him carry it never so cunningly his Vizor will some time or other be thrown off and he will appear in his true colours and to what a world of mischiefs and inconveniences he will then be exposed every one that knows how hated how detested how abandon'd by every one a Knave and a Villain is may easily determine I hope I need say no more to convince you that Religion is the best Policy and that the more hearty and consciencious any man is in the practice of it the more likely he is to Thrive and Improve in the world So that I may now proceed to the second general point to be spoken to which is the Profitableness of Religion for the attaining a good Name and Reputation How very much it conduceth to this purpose will appear from these two considerations First it lays the surest Grounds and Foundations for a good Name and Reputation Secondly Men are generally so just to it that it rarely misses of a good Name and Reputation The first is an argument from Reason the second from Experience First of all Godliness layeth the truest Foundations for a fair Reputation in the world There are but two things that can give a man a title to the good Opinion and Respects of men the inward Worth and Dignity of his Person and his Usefulness and Serviceableness to others The first of these challengeth mens Esteem the other their Love Now both these Qualities Religion and Virtue do eminently possess us of For first the Religious man is certainly the most Worthy and Excellent Person for he of all others lives most up to the great End for which he was designed which is the natural measure of the Goodness and Worth of Things What ever external Advantages a man may have yet if he be not endowed with virtuous Qualities he is far from having any True Worth or Excellence and consequently cannot be a fit object of our Praise and Esteem because he wants that which should make him Perfect and Good in his Kind For it is not a comely Personage or a long Race of Famous Ancestors or a large Revenue or a multitude of Servants or many swelling Titles or any other thing without a man that speaks him a Compleat Man or makes him to be what he should be but the right use of his Reason the employing his Liberty and Choice to the best purposes the Exercising his Powers and Faculties about the fittest Objects and in the most due measures These are the Things that make him Excellent Now none can be said to do this but only he that is Virtuous Secondly Religion also is that which makes a man most Useful and Profitable to others for it effectually secures his performance of all those Duties whereby both the security and welfare of the Publick and also the Good and Advantage of particular Persons is most attained It makes men Lovers of their Country Loyal to their Prince Obedient to Laws it is the surest Bond and Preservative of Society in the world it obliges us to live peaceably and to submit our selves to our Rulers not only for wrath but also for Conscience sake It renders us modest and governable in Prosperity and resolute and couragious to suffer bravely in a good cause in the worst of times It teacheth us to endeavour as much as in us lies to promote the good of every particular Member of the Community to be inflexibly upright to do hurt to none but good offices to all to be charitable to the Bodies and Souls of men to do all manner of kindnesses that
lie within our power it takes off the sowrness and moroseness of our Spirits and makes us Affable and Courteous Gentle and Obliging and willing to embrace with open Arms and an hearty Love all sorts and conditions of men In every Relation wherein we can stand to one another it influenceth upon us in order to the making us more useful it makes Parents kind and Indulgent and careful of the Education of their Children and Children Loving and Obedient to their Parents it makes Servants diligent to please their Masters and to do their work in singleness of heart not with eye-service as men-pleasers but as unto God and it makes Masters gentle and forbearing and careful to make provision for their Family as those that know they have a Master in Heaven that is no respecter of persons In a word there is no condition or capacity in which Religion will not be signally an instrument of making us more serviceable to others and of doing more good in the world And if such be the spirit and temper of it how is it possible but it must needs acquire a great deal of Respect and Love from all sorts of men If Obligingness and doing good in ones Generation do not endear a man to those that know him do not entitle him to their Love and Affections what thing in the world is there that is likely to do it But secondly True and unaffected Goodness seldom misses of a good Reputation in the world How unjust to Virtue soever men are in other respects yet in this they generally give it its due where ever it appears it generally meets with Esteem and Approbation nay it has the good word of many that otherwise are not over-fond of Religion Though they have not the grace to be Good themselves yet they rarely have the confidence not to commend Goodness in others Add to this that no man ever raised to himself a Good name in the world but it was upon the score of his Virtues either Real or Pretended Vice hath sometimes got Riches and advanced it self into Preferments but it never was accounted Honourable in any Nation It must be acknowledged indeed that it may and doth sometimes happen that Vicious men may be had in Esteem but then it is to be considered that it is not for their Vices that they are esteemed but for some good Quality or other they are eminent in And there is no doubt if those men were without those Vices their Reputation would be so far from being thereby diminished that it would become much more Considerable It must also be acknowledged on the other hand that even Virtuous and Good men may sometimes fail of that Esteem and Respect that their Virtue seems to merit nay in that degree as to be slighted and despised and to have many Odious Terms and Nick-names put upon them But when we consider the cases in which this happens it will appear to be of no force at all for the disproving what has been now delivered For first it ought to be considered what kind of Persons those are that treat Virtue and Virtuous men thus Contemptuously we shall always find them to be the Worst and the Vilest of mankind such who have debauched the natural principles of their minds have lost all the notions and distinctions of Good and Evil are fallen below the Dignity of Humane Nature and have nothing to bear up themselves with but Boldness and Confidence Drollery and Scurrility and turning into Ridicule every thing that is grave and serious But it is with these as it is with the Monsters and Extravagances of Nature they are but very Few Few in comparison of the rest of mankind who have wiser and truer sentiments of things But if they were more numerous no man of understanding would value what such men said of him It looks like a Crime to be commended by such Persons and may justly occasion a man to reflect upon his own actions and to cry out to himself as He did of old What have I done that these men speak well of me But secondly it cannot be denied but that some persons who are otherwise Virtuous and Religious may be guilty of such Indiscretions as thereby to give others occasion to slight and despise them But then it is to be considered that this is not to be charged upon Virtue and Religion but is the Particular Fault of the Persons Every one that is Religious is not Prudent the meanness of a mans Understanding or his Rash and Intemperate Zeal or the moroseness of his Temper or his too great Scrupulosity about little things may sometimes make his Behaviour Uncouth and Fantastick and betray him to do many actions which he may think his Religion obliges him to that other People will be apt to fancy Silly and Ridiculous But this doth not at all reflect upon Religion nor doth it follow that because the Imprudence of this or the other Particular man exposes him to the Mirth and the Pleasantness of others that therefore all Religious Persons must fall under the same Fate Most certainly Religion wherever it is governed by Knowledge and sound Principles wherever it is managed with Prudence and Discretion is a thing so Noble so Amiable that it attracts Love and commands Respect from all that are acquainted with it unless they be such profligately wicked Persons as I just now spoke of There is one Objection made from the Scripture against this and the former Point I have been speaking to which I desire to remove before I proceed to the third General Head of my Discourse It is this That the Scripture is so far from representing Godliness as a means to Improve our Fortunes or attain a Reputation in the world that it seems directly to affirm the contrary for it assures us that All those that will live godly in Christ must suffer Persecution That the Disciples of Christ shall be Hated of All men for His Names sake That the World shall revile and persecute them and speak all manner of Evil of them and that through many Tribulations we must enter into the Kingdom of God But to this it is easily answered that these and other such like Passages of Scripture do not speak the General and Common Fate that attends Godliness in all times and places of the world according to the Ordinary course of Gods Providence but only refer to that particular Time when Christianity was to be planted in the world then indeed Persecution and Disgrace loss of Goods and even of Life it self was to be the common portion of those that professed it nor could it otherwise be expected for when a new Religion is to be set up and such a Religion as is perfectly destructive of all those others that have been by long custom received and are by Laws established in the world It cannot be imagined but that it will meet with a great deal of Contradiction and Opposition from all sorts of persons But