base and treacherous Soldiers who fall to Eating and Drinking when they know the Enemy is close at hand and ready to give Battle we are begirt about with many and subtile Enemies and therefore should be ashamed of Excess and Intemperance in Eating and Drinking which incapacitate us from defending our selves or resisting them Be sober be vigilant saith St. Peter because your adversary the Devil as a roaring lion walketh about seeking whom he may devour Secondly It is disagreeable with a patient waiting for Christ That Servant has little regard either to his Master or his own Credit and Interest who by debauching away his Sense and Reason putteth himself out of a Condition of coming to his Lord when he is called and of giving that account which is asked of him O the horrour and confusion of being hurried out of this World and carried before the Tribunal of God in a Fit of Drink and Excess And yet this hath often happened unto Drunkards Take heed therefore to your selves saith Christ lest at any time your hearts be overcharged with surfeiting and drunkenness and the cares of this life and so that day come unawares If the servant say in his heart my Lord delayeth his coming and shall begin to beat the Men-servants and Maidens and to eat and drink and to be drunken the Lord of that servant will come in a day when he looketh not for him and at an hour when he is not aware and will cut him in sunder and will appoint him his portion with the unbelievers Luk. xxi 34. xii 45. Thirdly It is inconsistent with those Spiritual Exercises our holy Religion calleth for and indisposeth one for receiving that holy Spirit whereby he is to be sealed unto the day of Redemption Be not drunk with Wine saith St. Paul wherein is excess but be filled with the Spirit In which words he establisheth a direct opposition betwixt these two so that the one necessarily thrusteth out the other The Heart which is moved by Wine cannot be sensible of the Motions of the Spirit Nor can the Head be filled with the Spirit which is darkned and overcast with the fumes of Drink The Holy Spirit can only reside in pure and holy Souls upon these accounts and many more that might be alledged there is hardly any thing more unbeseeming Christians than Drunkenness tho' alas it be too too ordinary And that a Clergy-Man should be guilty hereof is not only most unbeseeming but abominable The very Supposition is horrid That he should be given to this who hath not only himself to watch over but many others who ought to wait his Lord 's coming not only to give account of himself but of all under his Charge The burthen of our Holy Calling is too great to be sustained by our own Strength Who saith St. Paul is sufficient for these things None therefore have more need of the Aids of the Holy Spirit than we and therefore also none ought to be more careful to avoid what may grieve this Holy Spirit and provoke it to desert us And consequently Ministers should not be given to too much Wine that they may be in a capacity of receiving the Spirit of God And that when it comes it may reside with them to direct strengthen and comfort them I come now to the Reasons St. Paul gives for prescribing Timothy a little Wine to wit his Stomachs sake and his frequent Infirmities It was not upon the account of Conscience for upon this account Wine and Water are things indifferent Neither the one nor the other is contrary to Piety providing Water be not drank to Superstition nor Wine unto Excess But the Apostle considering Timothy's weak Stomach and the Diseases to which he was subject for correcting the one and preventing the other he prescribed him the use of a little Wine which is certainly a Cordial to be either drank alone or mingled with Water From which we may observe That the Rules of Eating and Drinking either as to the Quantity or Quality should be taken from the Health and Vigour of our Bodies that we may be enabled to discharge either the General Functions of Life or the Particular Duties of our Calling We should not take Pleasure in Eating and Drinking for themselves but out of a regard to the ends for which they were ordained and to which they are subservient nor should the most delicious Meats and Drinks be lusted after but what conduceth best to Health And if God afford wholsome Meat and Drink we ought to be content though our Table be not furnished with Dainties Secondly we may learn hence the Lawfulness of using natural Means for the removing of bodily Distempers and other outward Afflictions Diseases as all other Afflictions are of God it is his Hand which inflicts them and therefore we ought to bear them patiently But yet we may seek the Removal of them and use what is fit and proper in order thereunto without walking contrary to that Submission we owe to God Thirdly it doth hence appear that the Gift of Healing bestowed on the Apostles and others at first was not always used at the Arbitriment of him who had it but upon some special Direction of the Spirit and at some particular Occasions when it tended to the Confirmation of the Gospel or the making way for Mens Faith in it For if St. Paul might have healed every Person and at all times he neither would have suffered his beloved Timothy to be so much troubled with the bodily Distempers here spoken of nor yet Epaphroditus his fellow labourer to be sick nigh unto death as we read Phil. ii 27. Which shews the Vanity of some Popish Doctors who that the healing promised by St. Iames as the Effect of Prayers and anointing with Oil may not be referred to bodily Health as is generally alledged by Protestants say that then it would follow that none died in those Days which is ridiculous Whereas we see clearly here by the Example of St. Paul That those who were endued with the Power of working Miracles did not heal all the Diseases they met with but did only exercise that Power on such Persons and at such times as the Spirit of God directed them to for the Advancement of the Glory of God and Honour of the Gospel which also affords us a Reason why Miracles are ceased for they being given at first only for demonstrating the Truth of the Gospel and evidencing that they who preached it were of God now that this has fully appeared there is no more need of Miracles Lastly The Apostles making mention of Timothy's Sickness and being liable to frequent Infirmities of Body gives us occasion to treat of a very important Question viz. how it can be consistent with the Wisdom and Goodness of God to inflict sore and heavy Diseases and the like Disasters on eminent and useful Persons such as Timothy was whereby they are disabled from the Exercise
and do justice on those who had been the Instruments of their Misery he would set them at Liberty and restore them to their Prosperity and Glory which is meant by bringing them to the Light And then to their great comfort and joy they should behold and understand his righteousness that is That he is just and righteous in all his ways true and faithful in his promises and wonderful in all he doth as David said I know O Lord that all thy judgments are right and that out of faithfulness thou hast afflicted me Psal. cxix 75. Thus I have explained and cleared the Text and shewn you the Occasion Sense and Scope thereof I proceed next to draw such Observations and Instructions as the words afford and as are useful and proper for our consideration And First To rejoice at the Calamities and Afflictions of others and to insult over them who are in Misery is a sign of a Prophane and Ungodly Spirit They who rejoiced at the Calamities of the Israelites were the Idumeans Chaldeans and Babylonians who were no greater Enemies to them than they were to God and the true Religion And Psal. lxix 26. among other Characters of the Wicked this is one That they persecute him whom thou hast smitten and talk to the grief of those whom thou hast wounded When Iob declareth his Integrity he giveth this as one proof thereof That he rejoiced not at the destruction of him that hated him nor lift up his soul when evil found him Neither saith he have I suffered my mouth to sin by wishing a curse to his soul. To make God's Judgments on others tho' Enemies a matter of Laughter doth very much bewray a want of the Spirit of God and is inconsistent both with the true Fear of God and that Love and Concernedness for others which Religion requires and inspireth They who truly fear God will tremble to see him Angry tho' it be not against themselves but others When the Destruction of the Wicked is foretold it is said That the righteous shall see and fear And accordingly the Prophet Habakkuk foreseeing the Evils and Calamities that were to light upon the Tents of Cusham and the Land of Midian was so far from rejoicing and insulting thereat that he tells us when I heard my belly trembled my lips quivered at the voice rottenness entred into my bones and I trembled in my flesh Indeed it is added in the forecited place That the righteous shall also laugh And Psal. lviii 10. it is said the righteous shall rejoice when he seeth the vengeance But hereby is meant that as the righteous is careful to remark all the Acts of the Divine Providence and in particular his exemplary Punishments on notoriously wicked Persons so he will Applaud the Justice and Equity of them and he will be glad to see such evident and convincing proofs of a Deity and Providence for silencing the Atheist and restraining the wickedness of men though still his joy is mixed with a secret regret at the occasion and such an aweful apprehension of the Power and Justice of God as forbids him to mock at the Effects and Expressions of his Displeasure Even as a wise and good Citizen rejoiceth at the good Government of his City and finds a satisfaction in the procedure and execution of Justice which are too grave and important to be mocked at Again the rejoicing at the Calamities of others is inconsistent with the Spirit of Religion which is a Spirit of Love and Humility and which requireth the greatest Love and Sympathy that can be among Men its Precepts are love your enemies bless them that curse you do good to them that hate you and pray for them that persecute you and despitefully use you Rejoice with them that rejoice and weep with them that weep If thine enemy hunger feed him if he thirst give him drink Now how little do they observe these Precepts and how little have they of that Spirit which enjoins them who can contrive and work Mischief to their Brethren and when it falls on them behold it with Pleasure We may say to such what our Saviour said to his Disciples who would have been calling for Fire from Heaven on those who would not receive them you know not what manner of Spirit you are of The Miseries and Distresses of others call for Pity and Compassion and one must have put off very much of the Man who draweth Pleasure from the Miseries and Afflictions of other Men tho' they be Enemies Our Saviour knew the Wickedness of Ierusalem and that he was to be crucified therein yet as he drew nigh to it he wept over it by Reason of those sad Calamities which were coming upon it It was David's Interest that Saul was dead yet he did not rejoice at his Death but because the manner thereof was deplorable he mourned for him As it makes Herodias infamous that she rejoiced to see the Head of Iohn Baptist in a Charger so it is recorded to the Commendation of Alexander and Iulius Coesar that neither of them insulted over the Defeat and Distress of their Enemies the first was touched with Compassion when Darius his Mother Wife and Children were taken Prisoners and brought to him and afterwards when Darius himself was killed And the other wept when Pompey's Head was brought to him I know some charge these Tears of Coesar with Hypocrisie seeing he was the Man who pursued Pompey to Death but who knows but the Bowels of Nature at that time overcame his Ambition and other Passions Thirdly They who insult and rejoice in this wise are ignorant of themselves and also of the End of these Divine Judgments they cannot know they are Sinners and that others are so and so punished in their sight to fill them with Fear and to lead them to Repentance otherwise they would make other Uses thereof and would behave themselves otherwise When a Father chastises a Child is it to give Mirth to the rest Or is it not that they may stand in Awe of him and forbear those things which may bring the Rod on their own Back When any Criminal is laid hold on and brought to publick Punishment should they who are equally guilty stand by and laugh either at the Misfortune of their Fellow or the Execution of Justice What Stupidity were this Should they not take Warning and Fear and forsake those Ways which are attended with such Shame and Pain When some told our Saviour of those Galileans whose Blood Pilate mingled with there Sacrifices he answered them Suppose ye these Galileans were Sinners above all others because they suffered such things I tell you nay but except ye Repent ye shall all likewise perish And in Truth they who set light of the Afflictions of others and entertain the Rods on other Mens Backs with Scorn and Derision shall hardly escape themselves Laugh no Man to scorn in the bitterness of his Soul for there is one
Death their imagination of things to come and the day of death trouble their thoughts and cause fear of heart said the Son of Sirach Eccl. xl 2. And the Apostle tells us that through fear of death they were all their life-time subject to bondage Heb. ii 15. They saw it was appointed for all men to die they understood that the Sentence of Death was passed upon all Men and none knew how soon or after what manner this Sentence was to be executed upon himself so that they stood in jeopardy every Hour Neither Youth nor Health nor Strength nor Vigour nor any natural or acquired Vertue and Endowment could secure Men from Death and what was to come after it they knew not their hopes of another better Life were faint for it was not yet revealed Therefore as they were daily liable to Death and had cause continually to apprehend it so the fear of it and the uncertain consequence of it as every one's Experience witnesseth damped their Joys and filled them with Melancholy and embittered their Life The terrours of the Mind are more burdensom and grievous than outward weights and pressures upon the Body Now nothing is so terrible to Men as Death it is called the King of terrours Iob xviii 14. And again it is said Chap. xxiv 17. they are in the terrours of the shadow of Death My heart said David is sore pained within me and the terrours of death are fallen upon me Psal. lv 4. Aristotle and other Heathens have declared that it is of all things most terrible and certainlv it is and shall be and must be so to all who believe not in Jesus who are Strangers to him his Doctrine and Promises until Men come to him take his Yoke upon them and learn of him the fear and terrour of Death must make them to labour and be heavy laden Fourthly The great Evil which Men labour under and which is the Cause of all other Evils is Sin As this lyeth upon all Men for there is no Man who hath not sinned except the Man Christ Jesus so this indeed is a heavy burden and most grievous whether we consider it in it self or in its Consequences The load of Sin which is upon us is great enough to press us down to Hell and to crush us in pieces It is Sin which maketh us to travel all our days with pain the guilt of this is uneasie to the Mind and disturbeth its rest and also maketh us liable to the Wrath of Almighty God which is a weighty burden too heavy for the strongest Shoulders This burden of Sin tho' it be of all others the heaviest yet few are sensible of it many do not feel it tho' it be ready to sink them because the weight of it has benummed their Senses and stupified their Spirits But they who are sensible of it complain most heavily O wretched man that I am saith St. Paul who shall deliver me from the body of this death Rom. vii 28. And David upon this account uttereth this grievous Lamentation Thine arrows stick fast in me and thy hand presseth me sore there is no soundness in my flesh because of thine anger neither is there any rest in my bones because of my sin for mine iniquities are gone over mine head as an heavy burden they are too heavy for me I am troubled I am bowed down greatly I go mourning all the day long Fools make a mock of sin but who have a due sence of it find it is not to be sported with or set light by for certainly it is the greatest and saddest of Evils No Misfortune which befalls us is so great as that of Sin He that is not sensible of this let him take a view of our Saviour in the Garden and repair to a dying Person and consider what inward Agony and Torment such suffer for Sin And if this do not affect him he must be very insensible The guilt of Sin is unsupportable no Man has sufficient strength to bear it Therefore saith Solomon the spirit of a man may sustain his infirmity but a wounded Spirit who can bear Thus you see that all Mankind is liable to a fourfold Misery Four several Burdens are lying upon every Man that cometh into the World viz. The Burden of Affliction the want of true Satisfaction in things relating to this Life the fear of Death and the guilt of Sin each of which is enough to bear down the Spirit of Man and to crush or break it O then how heavily are they laden when they have the weight of all these upon them how weary may they be how much stand they in need of Rest and Ease how desirous should they be of it And how thankful to him who offers it unto them And thus I come to consider the gracious Promise which our Lord here makes to miserable Men whom he invites to himself come to me and I will give you rest Rest is very desirable but no rest so desirable as this An ease of those Burdens which were presently set before you would exceedingly lighten the Mind and quicken and cheer up the Spirit But none can give this Ease but Jesus who here promiseth it Some Philosophers have proposed some Antidote against Afflictions but for the most part they talked impertinently when they spoke of the other Three But as the greatest and truest Comfort under Afflictions cometh from Jesus Christ so it is he only who can satisfie the large Cravings of the Soul who can take away the Fear of Death and the Guilt of Sin And as he can so he will for he hath promised it here Come and I will give you rest This rest must certainly imply a full and perfect Ease of all Misery which lieth upon Men For if all were not taken away if any part of it did remain the Soul could not be at rest Now because the very News of Rest is Matter of Comfort and it is yet more comfortable to be assured of it I will confirm this gracious and comfortable Promise by other Places of Scripture and also shew the Reasons why we may expect and look for Rest from Jesus with a Respect to that Fourfold Misery which is upon us I will invert the Order which was used in enumerating those Burdens we groan under and will take the last first because it is the greatest and that the Removal of it prepares the way for taking the rest away That the Burden of our Sins shall be taken away by Jesus is evident from his Name and the Reason why he got that Name for he was called Jesus because he was to save his people from their sins therefore also he is called the Lamb of God which taketh away the Sins of the world when one sick of the Palsie was brought unto him he said to him Son be of good chear thy Sins be forgiven thee And he said so that they might know the Son of Man had power to
affront and do violence to his Priesthood They who dispute the Justice Reasonableness and Necessity of his Laws they who refuse to walk by them and who resist the Motions of his Spirit even they do violence to him as King All of this Spirit and Temper would have concurred with the Iews in crucifying him they are Enemies to our Lord and as the Apostle saith crucifie him afresh and put him to open shame And who do thus crucifie him their Sin is rather more grievous and more provoking than that of the Iews before For St. Peter saith that through ignorance they did it And St. Paul that if they had known they would not have crucified the Lord of life and glory But now he has appeared with such Light and Evidence that he cannot but be made known to all who have Eyes to see or Hearts to understand or a desire to be informed And therefore great is the guilt now of crucifying him and putting him again to shame He that despised Moses Law died without mercy under two or three witnesses Of how much sorer punishment suppose ye shall he be thought worthy who hath trodden under foot the Son of God and hath counted the blood of the Covenant wherewith he was sanctified an unholy thing and hath done despite unto the Spirit of Grace Heb. x. 28. What then shall we think of these Nations and of our selves who are Chargeable with this very great Sin What cause of Mourning and what cause of Fear have we upon this very account I may say where has there been more clear and more frequent Instruction And where has it been less observed What contempt of God and Religion What open Profanity and avowed breach of the Laws of God have been among us How often and how horridly has the Sacred Name of God been Blasphemed both Publickly and Privately How little regard has been shewed to Jesus Christ or to any thing he did or suffered for us To what purpose has his Blood and Wounds his Agony and Passion been declared and set forth to us Whose hearts have they touched How few have been prevailed upon by these to forsake Sin but on the contrary even in spite of them they go on and continue in it And all the use which some make of them is to take occasion from them to forge New and Different Oaths for setting off their Prophane and Idle Discourse Have not some run up to that height of Impiety as not only in common Conversation to mock the Doctrine and Institutions of Jesus Christ to droll upon his Person and Actions but also deliberately in Writing to publish Blasphemies that could not be tolerated amongst Mahumetans How many Scandalous Pamphlets have been written of late which either by plain Assertions or clear Innuendo's divest him of his Godhead spoil him of the Merits of his Death represent him as an Impostor and all the System of his Gospel as a Cheat tho' the whole contrivance is not only highly worthy of God but doth as fully and as evidently set forth his infinite Wisdom and Power as the Universal Frame of this Material World But tho' all have not been so grosly wicked yet all Ranks and Orders of Men Rulers Pastors and People have one way or other less or more been guilty of grieving the Holy Spirit of God and the Righteous Spirit of Jesus Christ And therefore we have reason to fear that his Anger will break forth and fall down in some heavy Judgment upon these Nations as it happened to the Iews I do not pretend to any peculiar Privacy into the Secret Councils of God nor to be acquainted with his Purposes towards the publick state of these Kingdoms wherefore I shall not denounce any particular Judgments in the Name of God having no special Warrant for it but I must say that if his Word and the Methods of his Providence be a Rule if we may take any measures of Conjecture either from his Nature or his Threatnings or the Example of others there is too much reason to look for some grievous Calamities to these Lands unless a speedy and Universal Repentance prevent it We are not the safer that we are secure Nay our Security is a sign that our Ruin and Calamity are not far off At this time when our Lord gave this Warning the Iews were very secure they thought of nothing less than the utter destruction of their Nation and State When God has been provoked to determine the Ruin of a People he useth to possess them first with a Drowsiness and to cast them into a Slumber that they may be incapable to prevent it Make the heart of this people fat make their ears heavy and shut their eyes least they see with their eyes and hear with their ears and understand with their heart and convert and be healed said the Lord to Isaiah Isa. vi 10. God hath been of a long time punishing Nations and Kingdoms about us but the voice of the Rod upon others hath not awakened us for all this we have slept on in our Sins Wherefore he hath drawn a little nearer and he hath laid his Judgments at our own Door he hath shaken the Foundation of our State and with that shake tumbled many Persons from their Honours their Preferments their places of Ease Comfort and Subsistence and yet still there is little or no awakening As with Men who are suddenly interrupted in their rest and whose Sleep is hastily broken there is so much sense as to fret repine and complain of Uneasiness and to be angry with those who disturb us But there is no awakening to true Repentance no Rouzing up to Provide for our Safety and to prevent the Danger threatned He that mocked God and laughed at Religion before doth so still He that uttered Oaths and Blasphemies continues to do so the Drunkard continues his Drinking he that was Filthy Unjust or Unholy is so still every one continues his former wicked course and few break off their Sins by Righteousness or their Iniquities by shewing mercy to the Poor Surely it is meet to say unto God I have born Chastisement I will not offend any more that which I see not teach thou me If I have done iniquity I will do no more But who saith this Alas there be Few to stand in the gap to deprecate God's Wrath but too too many who by their hardness and impenitent heart treasure up to themselves and to the Nations Wrath even in this day of Wrath. If I had time I could draw a Parallel betwixt our selves and the Iews our Temper and Behaviour and theirs before all those Evils came upon them But God forbid that our End be as theirs or as some other Churches of the East who as they followed them in their Sins so they were Partakers of their Judgments But whatever be the Publick Fate of these Nations and tho' all may escape Temporal Judgments in this Life yet how do Impenitent and
Justice nay abundant Mercy which maketh God to pass over so many and so great Offences and not only to spare us but to be willing to make us happy Thus we see how free God's Love is to usward and that nothing but his own abundant Mercy could move him to set his Heart upon us and to do us good which partly encreaseth the Obligation of his Benefits though they be in themselves too as great as can be as will appear by taking a View of this Summ of them that St. Peter gives us here Which was The Third Point proposed The Apostle designed not to give a Catalogue of all God's wonderful Works to us the Children of Men this would have swelled his Epistle much beyond what it is He passeth by the many Thousand Mercies he hath done and daily doth for our Bodies and bodily Life and only takes notice of what he has done for our Souls because on their Welfare our Happiness mainly depends The good of the Body and present Life would yield small Content if the Soul were lost And if the Soul be saved if it have those things which are agreeable to it and which perfect it there is abundant Matter of rejoicing tho' the Comforts of the Body be much wanting Wherefore we see the Apostle here teacheth those to whom he writes who were Strangers scattered abroad and often persecuted to rejoice notwithstanding because through the abundant mercy of God they were begotten again to a lively hope c. The first Benefit reckoned up here is that we are begotten again and indeed it is the Foundation and Beginning of all our Happiness without this it were simply impossible to make us not miserable Now by this is meant the giving us a New or Second Birth a putting us into another State than what we are in by our present natural Generation If any ask what needed this Were we not well enough before It might suffice to answer That there was great need for it seeing God thought fit to do it and that his doing it is made an Instance of his great Mercy for Deus Natura nihil faciunt frustra But if this satisfie not the Necessity of this and the Greatness of the Benefit will evidently appear to such as view the Wretchedness of our State by ordinary natural Generation I say ordinary natural Generation and not our first Creation for Man as he came first out of the Hands of God was in a good State he was like his Maker Wise Holy Pure and Innocent If he had kept this State there would have been no need of renewing it or of making him over again But he kept not this first State but fell into a State of Sin and Corruption he lost the Favour of God incurred his Wrath and Displeasure and became liable to his Wrath and Curse and all the Miseries of this present Life and that which is to come And as all Mankind are descended from those first Parents since they fell from their original Righteousness and Purity and have been propagated in a State of Sin and Corruption so all are generated Sinners filthy and corrupt The sinful Leprosie of Adam is inherent in all his Children and the Curse he brought on himself is entailed on all his Posterity Behold saith David I was shapen in Iniquity and in sin did my Mother conceive me Psal. li. 5. And our Saviour tells us That which is born of the flesh is flesh for if the Fountain be corrupt what flows from it must be corrupt too who can bring a clean thing out of an unclean not one It is said Gen. v. that Adam was made after the Image of God but that he himself begat a Son in his own Likeness viz. in a State of Sin and Corruption And as this befalls all of us for Sin is an inseparable Consequent of ordinary natural Generation so that it renders us most ugly and loathsome Sin is the Disease of the Soul and causeth as great Deformity and Vileness to the Soul as the worst of Diseases to the Body If any be not sensible of this it is because it is so common and ordinary and is in a manner natural to them for so we see long Custom and Familiarity will lessen the Horrour of things which ought to be abhorred But whatever they think whose Senses are benumm'd with Sin yet others nauseat and abhorr Sin as the worst of Evils Sin is so abominable in God's Sight that his Eye cannot behold it Saints and such as are begotten again complain heavily of this Defilement of their Nature and look upon it with Grief and Indignation David sets it forth under the Similitude of a most filthy bodily Disease Psal. xxxviii and Ezek. xvi This our natural State is elegantly compared to an exposed Infant of wretched Parents lying wallowing in its Blood and natural Pollution and wanting those good Offices which are necessary to make it live But as there is Filthiness in this State so likewise much Pain and Misery All the Anguish and Trouble of our Spirits proceed hence from this Corruption and Depravation of our Natures come those inward Torments and Vexations of Mind which we feel were it not for this we could draw Contentment and Satisfaction from any external Condition as a Man in perfect Health can sleep soundly upon any Bed And if one be pained with the Gout Stone or other Disease how unreasonable were it to cast the blame of his Trouble and Uneasiness upon the Bed he lies or the House he dwells in So the Cause of our Grief and Trouble is more within than without us it is more to be ascribed to the Disorder of our Minds by Sin than to the outward Inconveniences of our external Condition in the World But besides the inward Pain of Sin which is the Result of its Nature it is loaded with external Misery for it is prosecuted by the Wrath of Almighty God and his Displeasure falls heavy upon it Upon the wicked he shall rain snares fire and brimstone and an horrible tempest this shall be the portion of their cup Psal. ii 6. Now this Wretchedness of our first natural Generation shews both the Necessity and Advantage of being regenerated How happy a thing is it to be washen from the Guilt and cleansed from the Filth of Sin to be delivered from the Punishment and freed from the Power and Dominion thereof That is to be begotten again in the Language of the Text for all that is implied in these Words Blessed is he whose transgression is forgiven whose sin is covered Blessed is the Man unto whom the Lord imputeth not iniquity and in whose Spirit there is no guile Psal. xxxii 1. But though this be considerable ye 〈◊〉 it is not all God hath not only delivered us from the Miseries of a sinful State but he hath also designed for us greater Glory and Felicity than what we lost by Sin The actual Possession hereof is not till hereafter for
at present we are in the State of Children or Heirs while they are Minors and therefore now only we have Hope but it is a lively hope as the Text expresseth it It is Hope which enliveneth the Soul it quickeneth the Spirit and rejoiceth the Heart but without Hope the Spirit flags and the Heart faints and languisheth It is Hope which stirreth up to all Endeavours Hope is the Wheel which moveth all Designs it sets them on and keeps them a going The Labourer plougheth and soweth because he hath Hope the Merchant ventureth to the Sea and the Souldier to the War out of Hope and it is this which makes others follow the Court But these Worldly Hopes are much inferiour to this Christian Hope to which God hath now begotten us This is far more than any or all of them together And there is more Reason to rejoice and be glad of this Hope than of these other For neither the Object of them is so great nor the Ground of them so certain What worldly Men hope or what any Man hopeth of these things which relate to this World when narrowly examined amounts to no great matter oft times we are as well without these things as with them and sometimes better And however how uncertain a thing is worldly Hope and how soon and how easily is it blasted What Men trust to for effectuating their Hope is vain and deceitful and withal weak and unable to resist and overcome those Difficulties which fall in in the Prosecution of our Designs So that we see daily many ashamed and disappointed of their Hopes and not only come short of them but also to meet with the quite contrary Thus Shame and Wounds fall to the Souldiers share instead of his fansied Booty and Preferment the Labourer expected a rich crop and is reduced to Cleanness of Teeth the Merchant turns Bankrupt who was blown up with the Hopes of great Wealth the Courtier is forced away with Disgrace instead of the Honour and Command he promised himself and that Alliance which was enterprized with such Earnestness and was begun with so fair and big Promises produceth nothing but continued Vexations and Grief This is oft the end of worldly Hope and therefore it may be called a dead Hope but the Hope of a Christian is a lively Hope for it never dieth till it end in Fruition And in the mean time it hath more Life and Vigour in it to quicken and animate the Spirit of Man The hope which we have saith St. Paul is an anchor of the Soul both sure and stedfast Heb. vi 19. for it is founded upon two immutable things viz. God and his Promises his Power can never fail and his Word as little but as he is still able so he is ever willing to accomplish what hath gone out of his Mouth But let us see what is our hope it is saith the Text to an inheritance This is more than the World giveth to her Children All in this World are not born to Inheritances even those Fathers who have Lands and Possessions bestow not the Heritage of them on all their Children one only of the Sons gets it but our heavenly Father giveth to every one of his Children an Inheritance Fear not little flock saith Christ it is your Father's will to give you a Kingdom And as we have an Inheritance so an Excellent one for its Kind and Quality Some Kingdoms and Inheritances are petty and inconsiderable and afford small matter to brag off but this Inheritance is so great that there is none greater nor any comparable to it For First It is said to be Incorruptible this respects the duration of it and the like cannot be said of any other Inheritance The Psalmist tells us Mens inward thoughts is that their houses shall continue for ever and their dwelling places to all generations and that therefore they call their Lands after their own names Psal. xlix 2. but who sees not the Vanity of this thought What Chapping and Changing of Inheritances is daily made How do they run away that no Foresight nor Law nor Wit can secure them How many famous Kingdoms and Monarchies and Noble Families are extinct that there is no memory of them except in some old dark Records It must therefore add much to the worth of this Inheritance that it is Immortal and Unchangeable But yet the next quality is better for if a Possession is little worth it is no great matter though it pass away but if it be good and excellent the perpetuity of it is much to be desired wherefore that this Inheritance is incorruptible is matter of great Joy seeing it is also undefiled by which is meant that it is so pure as to yield nothing to give the least disgust to the Inheriter O rare and singular quality No perfectly pure Enjoyment is here to be found all are full of unpleasant mixtures or attended with troublesome inconveniencies which damp and spoil the Pleasure and Satisfaction of them No Rose is to be found but upon a Thorn nor any Delight without some Molestation what takes one Sense grates another neither in Company or Retirement Solitude or Publick Employment Celibacy or Marriage high Stations or low Places City or Country nor in any condition of Humane Life is matter of full and perfect Contentment to be found but whatever pleaseth one way displeaseth another It is the Property only of this Inheritance here spoken of to afford perfect Satisfaction to the Soul because neither its Pleasures are gross to cloy the Mind nor are they mixed with improper and disagreeable Ingredients to give any disgust It is altogether pure and Undefiled and so the joy it yields must be both full and pure In thy presence is fulness of joy and at thy right hand are rivers of pleasures for evermore Psal. xvi But to proceed it is further added that this Inheritance fadeth not away In the Original it is 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 which is the Name of a Flower that never withereth but keeps always fresh and green and by naming this Inheritance so the Apostle designed to hold forth the continued Vigour and Flagrancy thereof As it lasteth long so it never waxeth old the Infirmities and usual Appendages of Age never overtake it it never suffereth any decay in its Strength Beauty Glory or Vertue There be many things which at first and while they are New are taking and splendid but within a while they fail and answer not Mens expectations as at first But it is not so with this Inheritance it fades not when Thousand thousand Ages are past it is still gay and flourishing never diminished in its quality As it is Eternal in its Duration so its Pleasures Riches and all other Advantages are Eternal You will ask where lieth this Inheritance If you look for it in any of these lower Regions you will meet with a disappointment neither this nor any other Country
Order and Purity and will make Religion and Truth to flourish to our Praise and Renown Abroad our Peace and Comfort at Home and to further and facilitate our attainment of Eternal Life hereafter Amen SERMON IX On REV. II. 17. He that hath an ear let him hear what the Spirit saith unto the Churches To him that overcometh will I give to eat of the hidden Manna and will give him a white stone and in the stone a new name written which no man knoweth saving he that receiveth it THESE words were first directed to the Church of Pergamus but they were not intended for that Church only for every one is required to give ear to them We have all the same Vocation the same Obligations are on us and the same rewards are proposed to us and therefore likewise we are all tied to the same Duty The different Stations and Orders of the Church do indeed call for some difference in Persons behaviour but otherwise all Christians have the same task enjoined them and what is spoken to one is spoken to all The first thing here called for is an Attention to the Voice of God a listning to what his Spirit saith unto us Let him who hath an ear hear c. So likewise began the Law and the Prophets for their usual Preface was Hear O Israel Hearing is a sign of a ready and willing Mind and is necessary to prepare the way to those other Acts and Exercises required of us It is indeed neither the only nor the main thing we have to do and therefore they who are only Hearers deceive themselves as St. Iames speaks As the Body would be deformed if it were all Ear so that Mans Religion is mis-shapen which is wholly exercised in Hearing But however Hearing is necessary it must not swallow up all other Parts of the Christian Service but neither must it be slighted and neglected He who turns away his Ear and will not hear shews an averseness to his Duty and though he would set himself to it he could not go rightly about it for all our knowledge of Spiritual things comes by Hearing This is not to be fetcht from within and therefore he who heareth not must continue in gross Ignorance We should begin with Hearing and we should never cease to hear that we may be informed of our Lord's Will that we may be kept in Mind of it and finally quickned to it as Servants wait daily on their Masters to know their Pleasure and to receive their Commands so should we wait on God I will saith the Psalmist hear what God the Lord will speak This is every ones Duty none are exempted from it not the Ignorant to be sure nor yet he who thinks he hath Knowledge The Man of leisure and he who is retired from the World can pretend no excuse nor will the Man of business be excused if he neglect to hear As many as have Ears and Faculties to perceive are obliged and commanded to hear for the words of our Text are Let him who hath ears which certainly comprehends all and every one But as we are obliged to hear so we ought to take heed how we hear as it is Luke viii 18. That we hear aright else we had better not hear at all Now he hears not rightly who lets only the Voice or the sound of the Word strike his Ear But who suffers it to pierce thorow to his Mind and inner Man and to leave an impression there Wherefore as we must hear so we ought to have our Ears well purg'd of whatever may stop what is spoken from going to the Heart or hinder its working there For the hearing here required is opus animi non auris It 's a pondering with the Mind as well as hearkning with the Ear. Wherefore as St. Iames adviseth we ought to lay aside prejudice and filthiness and all superfluity of naughtiness and to receive with meekness the ingrafted Word of God And sure none can refuse this who considers either the dignity of him who speaks or the excellency of what is spoken He who speaks is greater than Socrates or Plato or any of the ancient Philosophers whom many travelled far to hear speak He is greater than Solomon whom the Queen of Sheba was so desirous to hear And what is delivered doth not tickle the fancy but satisfies and ravishes the Mind It is not airy Notions and fruitless Speculations which we are bid hear but a Word which is able to save our Souls And that we may hear this joyful and comfortable Word we must not listen to the dictates of our corrupt Nature nor to the Maxims of a degenerate World nor to the particular Traditions of Elders for these do often misguide us and tho' sometimes they seem to speak fair yet they only flatter that they may the better deceive and ensnare us to make void the Commandments of God Neither the Clamours of the People nor the Calls of the Court are always to be hearkned to for the Psalmist tells us that both the one and the other have sometimes consulted and conspired against the Lord and against his Christ. We must not answer every Voice nor believe every Spirit for there be many Lying and false Spirits in the World But we must only hearken to what the Spirit of God saith and then we are sure not to be deceived This holy Spirit sometimes speaks to us by inward Motions and Inspirations to Truth and Goodness and would certainly do it oftner if we were rightly disposed and careful to attend to them but it always speaketh to us in the Scriptures they are the Voice of God which we ought to hear for no Scripture is of private Interpretation neither did the Penmen of Scripture speak and write of their own Head but as they were moved by the Holy Ghost So then it is not Man who speaks to us in the Scripture but the Spirit of God And seeing God is not like Man that he should alter his Mind seeing his Will as his Nature is unchangeable therefore nothing is from God which contradicts what is said to us in the Scripture and therefore also whatever Voice we hear whether within us or without us we ought to compare the same with what the Spirit saith to the Churches in the Scripture If it agree therewith we have reason to believe and obey it But if they sound not alike if there be no Harmony but a perfect Discord betwixt them then that is not from God It is but a Cheat and Delusion which disagreeth with the written Word and ought to be rejected whoever brings it But it is to be remembred that the quoting Texts of Scripture and the speaking in Scripture terms is not a certain sign that they who do so are true Prophets or that their Doctrine is true and from God for Men may and often do wrest the Scripture and use it ignorantly and impertinently The Devil when
as they wish their own well to search freely their ways and to labour to find out that accursed thing which they are guilty of and which provokes God's Anger against them And when they have found their guilt let me also beseech them not to hide the same by excusing and extenuating it but to make an humble and ingenuous Confession unto God and to testifie an unfeigned Repentance by a sincere care to bring forth the fruits meet for Repentance Let them rectifie what they have done amiss and make an amends for their past Negligence by an exact Diligence hereafter to keep all the Commandments of God Which if they do I may assure them that God will no longer hide his Face and Favour from them he will no more frown but smile and give them comfortable words that they may be made to rejoice for the days wherein they have seen Affliction In the next place I would make Application to the publick State of this Nation and Kingdom whereof we are Members and in whose welfare Religion and Interest oblige us to be concerned I think it needs surprize none if I say That God is angry with us and that his judgments are hanging over these Lands for who is so blind as not to see it The present bad Harvest is one instance the Evil threatned in the Tenth Verse we may say is literally like to be inflicted upon us He is pouring down his wrath upon us by water which threatens to wash away the Food both of Man and Beast What other Calamities are impending either on Church or State I leave to the Consideration of wise Persons But without danger or the imputation of indiscretion I may bid you read the Sins of the Land and by that foresee what is to be feared It would be no great stretch tho' I should offer to draw a Parallel betwixt the Sins that abound amongst us and those of Iudah and Israel complained of in this Prophecy and would one charge the several Ranks and Orders amongst us with the same Faults our Prophet lays upon the Priests the Rulers and Princes and People of his time no great Injury would be done to Truth But such an unusual freedom perhaps would not be well taken especially from a Stranger But certainly it is a Kindness to give warning of a common Danger and it 's the Duty of all to provide for our common Safety Tho' we would flatter our selves it would not go better with us Was Iudah and Israel punished because they would not frame their doings to turn unto the Lord and do we think to Escape If we imitate their Sins is there not reason to fear a being made to share in the like Judgments Is God arisen to Judgment Is he going through the World with the Rod of his Wrath in his hand visiting Nations for their Iniquities and do we think that we shall not have our turn That he will pass by us when we are as guilty as any other No so long as Sin thus continues and increases amongst us it will never be well with us our state shall still move from evil to worse If then we would either prevent the Evils which are yet a coming or heal the Wounds already received let us join our Endeavours to stop the Current of Sin and Iniquity and to cleanse the Land of the Abominations that are amongst us It avails little to apply external Plaisters while the Arrow's Head sticks in the Wound In this and the former Ages the People of these Lands have been ever crying out of Grievances but they have had little of the Spirit of Discerning to find out the great Cause and Ground of them viz. Their Sins and Transgressions against God For which if they had heartily grieved they had never had so much matter of making other Complaints In our Fathers days all the Fault was laid upon the Government and Governours in Church and State which through the instigation of Factious and Seditious Men made People restless until they had overturned the Government and thrust the chief Ruler and perhaps the best of Men not only from his Throne but out of the World in a most barbarous manner But as this increased their Guilt so it did not heal their Sores nor ease their Pain they rather felt more smart and grief which disposed them to seek again unto David their King And if together with that the People had seriously sought the Lord also all had been well But alas that is yet to do whatever Change and Revolution we have suffered there has never been cordial Endeavours to introduce that best and most desirable Change from Vice to Vertue from Sin to Holiness and Godliness Blessed be God there has been a Reformation in our Doctrine and our Worship has been rectified and purged from the Superstition and Idolatry which had crept into it through the Ignorance and unwariness of Men But to our shame it must be said that our Practice and Conversation is not Reformed but continues much the same and perhaps in some things worse than what was before that other happy Reformation of Doctrine and Worship came in There was certainly reason to descry and run down the Hypocrisie and forms of Godliness fashionable in the late times but it had been more commendable to have endeavoured with greater Vigour to set up the Life and Power thereof And would to God we were at last sensible of our Errour and Omission and convinced that hitherto we have very unskilfully set about the curing our Maladies O that all who profess the same Truth would be perswaded to lay aside all other Contests and to contend together for maintaining the Purity of the Faith and joyning therewith the Purity of Life and Practice If we would thus by true Piety and sincere Obedience return unto the Lord he would return unto us and put us in a happy and glorious state as he hath torn so he would heal us as he hath smitten so he will bind us up that we might live joyfully in his sight But if this be neglected or delayed and if instead of this we take Methods and Devices of our own for saving our selves I dare not say what is to be feared Judgments of all sorts we may expect to be visited in our worldly Concerns and those two sadder Calamities which are mentioned Amos viii 11. 2 Thess. ii 11 12. may be looked for which God avert Plead with your mother plead saith God by this Prophet for she is not my wife neither am I her husband let her therefore put away her whoredoms out of her sight and her adulteries from between her breasts lest I strip her naked and set her as in the day she was born and make her as a wilderness and set her like a dry land and slay her with thirst He that hath an ear let him hear what the Spirit saith unto the Churches Amen SERMON XIV Preach'd at St. Giles Church in EDINBURGH April 13.
most unseemly to pamper the Body is to ruin the Soul for thereby those Lusts are cherished and strengthned which war against the Soul and destroy it We need no greater Enemies of our Salvation than what are lodged within our selves If all the Enemies without were removed out of the way our own Flesh and Blood are enough to precipitate us into Perdition Have we not then great reason with St. Paul and Timothy to subdue the Flesh and to keep our Bodies under if these two eminent Saints did this lest they should have been Cast-aways certainly we should be afraid to neglect Abstinence and Exercises of Mortification whereby the Flesh is kept from rebelling against the Spirit or at least disabled from gaining a Victory over it If our Body be not kept in subjection if restraints be not put upon our Appetites they will turn unruly and at last involve us into utter Ruin As Bridles should be put into the Horses mouths so saith St. Augustine our Bodies should be bridled and kept in with Fastings Watchings and Prayer Nam quemadmodum aurigae si fraena laxaverint per praecipitia ducuntur ita anima nostra cum ipso corpore si ei fraenum non imposuerimus ad inferni praecipitia dilabitur The Wantonness of the Rich their insolence towards God their contempt of others and all their ungodly Dispositions and Actions St. Iames ascribes to their living continually in pleasure and to the nourishing their hearts every day as in a day of slaughter that is they make every day a day of Feasting and Rejoicing and set no days apart for Fasting and Mourning They let loose their Sensual Appetites and are still making Provision for the Flesh and its Lusts which carry their Thoughts quite from God and the things of another Life so that they are both prompted and induced easily to commit those Crimes which render them obnoxious to the Divine Wrath. God doth not grudge us the fat and sweet he doth not envy us Lawful and Innocent Pleasures And there are no Real Pleasures but such He is willing that every Man take his Portion that he enjoy his Labour and rejoice in his Works This says Solomon is the gift of God but also he requires us so to moderate the outward Enjoyments of this Life as that they may not be prejudicial to the Soul and its Eternal Happiness nor yet hinder those inward Spiritual Comforts which he is ready and willing to bestow and which put more gladness into the Heart than Corn Wine and Oil. You may feed the Body but in the mean time take care that you do not starve the Soul whose nourishment is deep and serious Meditations upon God and his Word to which a cramb'd and glutted Body is no wife disposed They whose Hearts are overcharged with Surfeiting and Drunkenness and the Cares of this Life are neither mindful of nor capable to use the means of Salvation Wherefore it is necessary to intermix Days of Fasting and Retirement from Worldly Business that we may have time for Prayer and Meditation for instructing our Minds and examining our Actions We should curb our Sensual Appetites and sometimes deny our selves the Enjoyments of this Life that our Desires after God and Heaven may be the more keen We should mortifie the Body by Abstinence and other suitable Exercises that it may not be a Clog to the Soul nor a hinderance to the right Performance of the several Acts of Religion Upon this account the Church in former times did wisely enjoin Vigils and Fasts and Times of Abstinence as Lent And the practice of Pious Men in all Ages do recommend Private Fasting once a Week or Month. While these things were observed Religion flourished a Spirit of Devotion appeared in People and they were susceptible of Impressions from the Truths revealed in the Gospel And the common Neglect of these things is one great Cause of the present Decay of Piety amongst us which Neglect did proceed from a blind and indiscreet Zeal against Popery which did not distinguish betwixt the due Use and Abuse of things But however useful it may be sometimes and for some persons to exercise Abstinence and other Acts of Mortification From what St. Paul adviseth Timothy here we learn in the next place that the use of these things should be always managed with Prudence and Discretion that they may neither prove prejudicial to our Health nor yet degenerate into Superstition Fasting and other corporal Austerities are not things in themselves absolutely necessary but become fit and good according as they are subservient to other things which are so they are to be accounted Religious Acts only when they serve to the great ends of Religion and as they further the attainment of those Vertues and Graces which Religion strictly enjoins When they are not profitable this way they profit nothing at all If they prove rather hinderances than furtherances of those Moral Duties to which either our general or our particular Calling obligeth then they are wholly to be laid aside An excess in the observance is no ways commendable and sometimes more hurtful than the total neglect of them The Flesh with its Lusts should be crucified but the Body by no means is to be destroyed It 's fit to keep the Body under but it ought not to be so enfeebled as that it cannot discharge the Functions of Life wherefore they bewray a great deal of Ignorance Weakness and Superstition who make a scruple of forbearing the Fastings and Abstinences which they prescribe to themselves when their circumstances seem to require it as when they are under any indisposition of Body or when abroad and cannot perform them without some signs of ostentation some more than ordinary trouble to themselves and inconvenience unto others for when by these or the like reasons things of the like Nature cease to be useful or prove noxious they also cease to be acceptable unto God Fasting Abstinence and Acts of Mortification are not of the Nature of Justice Charity Humility Meekness Self-denial and other like Christian Virtues which are good in themselves indispensably necessary and which ought to be practis'd at all times and in all places Nor yet are they like Prayer which as it is a Duty we are commanded to perform without ceasing so it is agreeable and proper to all Persons States Circumstances Seasons and Places Fasting and external Acts of Mortification are not valuable in themselves they are only commendable and Praise-worthy according to the Prudent Management of them and the Ends proposed by them Sometimes they are in no wise suitable and proper wherefore our Lord would not suffer his Disciples to fast while he was with them When Strife and Envy Vanity and Ostentation are the Motives they are to speak in the Scripture Phrase Abominations and they degenerate into Superstition when they are observed out of an opinion of any particular Merit in them or that they please God otherwise than as they