irreligious to mix our talk with Oaths upon every occasion for hereby we make as cheap with God as by prostituting any other Sacred thing to a common and trivial use 2. It argues a man not to fear that horrid Crime of Perjury for if he were afraid of it how cautious and deliberate would he be e're he ventured to affirm any thing upon Oath He would consider whether it were exactly true whether it were certain or only probable whether he was not liable to mistake or misinformation in the case and many other things which are often necessary to come under consideration with that man that trembles at the thought of Perjury but the light is not more clear at mid-day than that common Swearers trouble themselves with none of these Thoughts what they say at a venture they boldly Swear what they rashly utter they as rashly add Oaths and Curses to their habit of Swearing makes them not one jot the more wary in their talk and the slipperiness of their Tongues not at all the more afraid of an Oath which is a plain Argument that they have little apprehension of Perjury and are not afraid to be Forsworn for I say did we ever find that those who are given to Swearing are more deliberate and slow to speak than other men Do they weigh their words with more exactness Do they refrain from loosness of talk and dissoluteness of Mirth and Jollity more than those who are content to speak upon their honest word No but on the contrary they are usually more free and prodigal of their discourse their words are guided with less consideration and judgment and their Tongues hang more loosly in their Heads than is observeable in other men nay it is well known that they are then most plentiful of their Oaths when they are least able to govern their talk with discretion i. e. when they are drunk either with Wine or Passion and what numerous Perjuries then in all likelihood are these men guilty of nay it is not improbable but some of them may be Forsworn every day they rise for though men may please themselves with thinking that they do but swear in jest yet the obligation of an Oath is not to be laughed away when men swear they will do this or that which it may be they intend not at all or that such a thing is true which they know is false they are nevertheless guilty of Perjury for not minding that they are so since a Sin ceaseth not to be what it is meerly by the stupidity of a man's Conscience but all that can be said in this case is That they are not apprehensive of the guilt nor afraid of the crime of Perjury which is that Immorality that I charge the common Swearer withal and this St. Austin was so sensible of that the reason which he assigns why our Saviour prohibited unnecessary Oaths was this ne perjuri simus lest we should be forsworn which every man is in apparent danger of who promiscuously adds Oaths to his Talk as I have already noted And doubtless he that refuseth to secure himself from Perjury that way which our Saviour hath prescribed declares plainly enough that he is not so careful against it as a due sense of the foulness of that Sin would make him That in the business of an Oath men are obliged to proceed with great care and deliberation is a thing so plain that I should be ashamed to go about the proving of it And I am consident if men would tye themselves to weigh the Truth of every thing they affirmed before they would venture to Swear to it they would spare a great many of their Oaths and if they found it were exactly true they would be immediately sensible that it deserved not so solemn a confirmation and be ashamed of the vanity of doing so great a thing to no purpose which is a consideration that I shall by and by more particularly offer In the mean time 3. Needless Swearing argues Immodesty and Pride and an arrogant spirit Few things are more unseemly in a man than to affirm every thing with confidence and to be peremptory in all his talk for this is to impose upon his Company and leave no room for any body to be of another mind and such Companions are shunned by all wise Persons as being void of that modesty and sobriety which make men sociable and conversible but what shall we say to those who are not only positive and dogmatical in their common discourse but assert every thing almost which they say upon Oath Certainly in this kind of Behaviour there is as much ill Manners towards men as there is rudeness towards God for what greater instance can be given of an imperious and a peremptory temper than to seal our talk with Oaths and leave no room for another to doubt of what we say under the pain of accusing us of Perjury A modest and wise man when he delivers his judgment in many things where possibly he might without fear of being accused of Arrogance be peremptory and conclusive yet chuseth to declare himself with that reservedness as may invite another man to shew all his reasons to the contrary without fear of displeasing him and this we all know is a great Ornament to any man's Conversation and of excellent use to maintain peace and good will and good correspondence in all Societies But light is not more contrary to darkness than the custom of Swearing is to this human and gentle temper wherefore it betrays immodesty and arrogance Lastly it proceeds also from great vanity and lightness of spirit which appears in these two plain instances of it The first is in making no difference between matters of serious importance and consideration and such as are frivolous and of little consequence in treating those with the same spirit and behaviour that are suitable only to these which is an undoubted argument of childishness and a frothy mind this is that which the Swearer is apparently chargeable with for otherwise how could he in the same light humour wherein he is delivering something to make the Company laugh presume to prophane so sacred a thing as an Oath is by accompanying a poor silly Jest with it Does the taking of an Oath require no more seriousness than is necessary to the telling of a Tale Or can it be fit to tye so grave a thing to a sentence which if it were written down would within an hour after perhaps appear hatefully ridiculous And yet nothing is more common with those that allow themselves in this Sin Secondly It is an Argument of vanity to take more pains for the confirming of what we say than the thing doth at all deserve It is plain that the greatest part of our Conversation with one another by discourse and correspondence doth not require any solemn confirmation of the truth of our words much less the Testimony of an Oath which being the greatest security we can
necessary for the maintenance of Life as Bread c. In like manner by the holy Spirit which our heavenly Father is so ready to bestow upon his Children we must understand all Spiritual helps necessary for our improvement in Religion and Virtue viz. which hold the same proportion to the good of our Souls which Bread c. holds to the welfare of our Bodies this upon our asking i. e. upon our sincere endeavours after it we may promise our selves from the bounty of God to us since he hath promised it to us viz. such grace and spiritual help as shall be sufficient for us God will give to none of us less and he is unreasonable that expects more Now is not this evidently a strong Motive to Godliness and Virtue that God himself will cherish and maintain us will help and support us will prosper and guard us by the influences of his Holy Spirit upon us Have we such a Patron and Defender to overlook and care for us that we do not fall by our Spiritual Enemies for want of necessary help and yet can we be disheartned and dismay'd Can our Courage and Resolution leave us Can our hearts sink within us when such powerful Aids are near when such mighty encouragements are by us Is it not from hence plain that no man can fail of doing those things wherewith God will be pleased and his favour obtained but it must be through his own fault and slothfulness in not obtaining by his own endeavours or in not improving by his good Actions the graces of the holy Spirit wherewith he might have arrived to a Regenerate estate and persevered therein For God hath not made a feigned but a sincere promise of his Spirit to work and encrease his graces in us and if the promise be real it can imply no less and it needs not imply any more than a sufficient provision for our spiritual needs and if that provision be not effectual in the event no body is to be blamed for it but our selves The belief therefore of this Article of Revealed Religion That God is ready to assist by his holy Spirit our sincere endeavours to please him is a Motive of great force to persuade us to the practice of Religion and Virtue both because the Promise of God's Spirit made to us is sufficient to encourage us against all our fears of the difficulties of Religion and our own weakness to overcome them and likewise because it cannot but shew us what great aggravation our sins must receive if we continue in them because thereby we resist and do despight unto the spirit of grace 4. The last Principle of Revealed Religion fundamental to a holy Life is that which is mentioned in the Text viz. That God is a rewarder of them that diligently seek him This point of belief is not knowable but by Divine Revelation because it depends on the will and pleasure of God whether he will reward our diligent seeking of him or no for if it were discoverable by natural reason as it is not that God would certainly pardon our Sins upon Repentance that he would accept of our sincere endeavours of obedience that he would by his Spirit assist our endeavours to please him If all this could be concluded from the general notion of Divine Goodness yet Natural Reason could not give us any other confidence about the effects of that pardon and our sincere endeavours to please God which are excited and assisted by the Holy Spirit I say the highest confidence we could arrive unto about the good effects of these things with regard to our selves could amount reasonably to no more than this That hereupon we should be exempted and released from that punishment which is due unto our sins For that God should pardon Sinners and that he should prescribe unto them such excellent and useful Laws as should tend to their advantage in this Life and which should recompence the obedience of them with a present reward and thereupon should remit the penalty due to sin this must needs argue as great goodness in God as any Sinner could with reason or modesty expect the manifestation of towards himself but that he should over and above requite our imperfect if sincere obedience with free and ample rewards in the Life to come that those rewards should be the highest and fullest which our natures are capable of that the continuance of them should be as long as our Beings that they should be no less than immortal glory and happiness than an Eternal Crown of Righteousness than Life Everlasting than the Society and Fellowship of Angels than the glorious and happy imployments of Spirits made perfect than the sight and fruition of God for ever this is such abundant benignity and good-will towards Sinners that it can flow from nothing but self-moving goodness free grace and unsought kindness and benevolence This could never be known by us but by God Almighty's Revelation of his purpose and intention so to do if we would labour to please him in all things This with modesty could never be expected by us if the declared Promise of God thus to deal with us had not given us confidence to believe it and made it our Duty so to do That we might therefore want no motive and encouragement to the practice of Religion and Virtue He who by his Son Jesus Christ calleth us to repentance promising pardon thereupon and acceptance and assistance hath moreover by the same Messenger who hath declared to us the things of God his secret and hidden purposes of Mercy and Goodness towards Sinners by him I say he hath assured us that the righteous shall go into life eternal into a state of immortal glory and happiness reserved for them in the Heavens This also after all the rest is a pregnant and strong motive to the practice of Religion and Virtue since as the rest shew the possibility thereof so this satisfieth us of the great advantage that will accrue to us thereby since God himself will be our rewarder if we diligently seek him If indeed we had no reason to believe that it would make for our advantage to accept of God's pardon and to study to please him in all things for the future the present Pleasures and Profits of Sin would captivate the minds of men and leave us less reason to wonder at the wickedness of the World but since the Bountiful and Righteous God hath bid an everlasting immense reward for our poor and to him unprofitable but to our selves most beneficial Services what can be said in our excuse if we undervalue so magnificent and free a Gift such rich Grace and Bounty If this cannot prevail with us to do those things which are so reasonable in themselves that a truly good man finds there is little need of any other temptation to do them what shame will it be to us if we prefer a Moment before Eternity and those Advantages we see but which we
untoward accidents of Life as any of them ever were For here is the same Reason Encouragement and Assistance to do what God requires and to be happy therein as there ever was And why should not the same causes still produce the same effects For on the one side those holy Men and Women that are now with God had the same Appetites and Passions to govern that we have they endured the same Temptations and overcome them they had the same natural sence of good and evil that we have and were encompassed with infirmities and yet they walked by Faith and performed their Duty to God not to be admired and courted by men but to be seen and rewarded of God On the other side we have the same God to trust that they had the same holy Word of God to direct us the same Promises to inflame us the same holy Spirit to assist us the same Everlasting Reward to encourage us which they had So that God hath made no difference between them and us And let not us I beseech you make so great a difference between our selves and them as to miss of that peace and satisfaction which they once enjoyed in this World and of that infinite Reward which they have in part attained to in a better A Reward so vast that 't is all one within a trifle whether with or without Tribulation whether with ease or difficulty with pleasure or pain we enter into the Kingdom of Heaven For which God of his Infinite Mercy prepare us by his his holy Word by his gracious Spirit by his wise Providence through our Lord Jesus Christ And now to God Almighty the Father Son and Holy Ghost be ascribed all Thanks and Praise for ever and ever Amen The Eight Sermon AN Assize Sermon MATTH V. 38 39 40. Ye have heard that it hath been said An eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth But I say unto you That ye resist not evil but whosoever shall smite thee on the right cheek turn to him the other also And if any man will sue thee at the law and take away thy coat let him have thy cloak also And whosoever shall compel thee to go a mile go with him twain I Am very sensible that the Duty here prescribed is so contrary to the Lusts and Passions of men and to some Principles of Honour and Wisdom which are currant in the World that it will be no very easy matter to persuade most men to practice it We are beholding to them if they will allow it to be a speculation fit for the Pulpit but if we pretend to offer it as a Rule for daily use we must pardon them there for it does not seem by any means to be accommodated to the state of Mankind and 't is pursued without any respect to or regard of the daily Occurrences of life What living would there be for us in the World if we should forgive Injuries and Wrongs as fast as they are done and put up Affronts as often as they are put upon us This would incourage the insolent man that hath done us one injury to offer a greater and by our tameness in bearing the injustice of one man we invite another to deal as ill by us or worse than the former which is the way to be affronted by every Scoundrel and trampled upon at every man's pleasure No but let us make men afraid of presuming to do us any harm by letting them see what others have gotten by it we must make them Examples that dare put any contempt upon us if we would live quietly and maintain our Honour and when others sees how dangerous a thing it is to provoke us we shall be respected and courted by them they will be afraid to offend us and think themselves happy in our friendship But to sit down quietly under Abuses is the way to be scorned and insulted over by every body Tell them of forgiving Injuries that want a Spirit to resent them and have not Courage enough to revenge them this is a Principle fit for none but Cowards or Fools either for those that are so dull as not to understand an Affront or so fearful that they dare not return it but it comes too late for men of Honour and Mettle that know what is their Interest and are able to defend it And there is no reason in the world why they should expose themselves to Injuries and Abuses when they have Strength and Courage enough to guard themselves from them Thus in truth they say in their hearts as they plainly shew by their Actions revenging every little Disrespect or Affront or Injury of any kind by returning an equal or very often a vastly greater mischief upon the wrong-doer and this to secure themselves as they pretend from further wrongs by making all that observe it careful to forbear offending them in like manner as they would be encouraged to do if the present Injury were tamely past by and nothing done to revenge it But in the first place This Objection was well foreseen by our Saviour he knew it would be pretended against the Duty of forgiving Injuries that this would be to pull great inconveniencies upon our selves and invite every body that had any thing to get by it to multiply Injuries against us And therefore he prescribed the Rules of Forgiveness in those very terms that imply he considered the Objection well enough But I say unto you resist not evil resist not the evil or the injurious man but whosoever shall smite thee on thy right cheek turn to him the other also The latter words are not to be taken in a literal sense as if I were to offer my self to a second stroke after I had been struck once But in a moral sense i. e. venture a second injury rather than go about to be revenged of the first though it should be never so probable that the wrong-doer would take heart by thy meekness to add another abuse to the former thou shalt not secure thy self by revenge for all that And so if any man will sue thee at the law and take away thy coat let him have thy cloak also Not that I am presently to part with more to him than he has unjustly gotten by a wrong Verdict but that I am to venture another loss rather than be reveng'd for the first And so is the other instance to be understood From whence it is plain that our Blessed Saviour was not unmindful of the Objection that one would be apt to make against his Rule though if this matter had not been so plainly implied one would think a little modesty would serve to acknowledge that God is wiser than man and it is better for us to be governed by his Will than by our own foolish Reasonings at least if we would be thought to be Christians we should not think much to take the Authority of Our Lord and Master for a sufficient Reason to do as he
by thy Head and by thy Life and consequently by thy hope of Life and Salvation is indeed to Swear by him upon whom thou dependest for thy life and who only hath all power to save and to destroy so that the general reason why these Oaths are to be avoided is because they are equivalent to formal Swearing by the Creator of all things and contrary to the Opinion of the Pharisees brought an equal Obligation upon him that used them with Swearing downright by our Maker Now they acknowledged that Swearing directly by the Name of God and where that was used was not lawful in their ordinary occasions of speaking our Saviour proceeds upon this supposition and infers therefore it is not lawful to use those other Oaths upon those occasions because they implied an appeal to the Justice and the Omnipresence of God himself And thus I have endeavoured to explain the Prohibition contained in this Law of Christ As for the Precept But let your communication be yea yea nay nay it needs no farther inquiry into the sense of it the plain meaning of them already appearing to be this Content your selves with bare affirming and denying whatever you have occasion to speak of without adding thereto any kind of Oaths and Imprecations And thus much concerning the Law it self which one would think were as easy to be practised as it is to be understood and certainly it is great pity that any man should need much perswasion to keep it but if it should be so we do not want Arguments clear and strong enough to prevail with any considering Person and these are contained in the Sanction of this Law which is the second thing I am to speak to and which I have already told you is founded 1. Upon the Authority of our Blessed Lord and Saviour 2. Upon the reason of the Law it self 1. The Authority of our Saviour who established this Law by these words But I say unto you I do not find any such express Prohibition of Swearing in ordinary Conversation as this before our Saviours time not but that I think the unlawfulness of that liberty which here he abridgeth his Disciples of might by good consequence be inferred from the Writings of Moses and the Prophets but what need we look for any other Rule in this matter besides this which is so plain and express and which we have received from the Son of God himself there can now be no dispute whether we may lawfully Swear in those Cases wherein an Oath is needless for our Lord's Command is so full against it that a question hath been made though upon no just ground Whether it be lawful for a Christian to Swear at all now if the sense of our Saviour's Authority can prevail with us to do any thing in obedience to him it will not fail to govern us in this matter where the performance of his will is so easy and the violation of it is not rewarded by any gain or pleasure nor sollicited by any Temptation that can fasten upon our sensual Lusts and Appetites nor can be resolved easily into any other Cause but a Spirit of Contradiction to the Gospel of our Lord which may make us astonished that in an Age pretending to the Worship of God in a Nation formed into a Christian Church so many should be found of almost all Qualities and Degrees who bid defiance to the Authority of our Saviour by refusing to make so small an acknowledgment of it as the keeping of a Law so easy as this that we should thus put into our Discourse a peculiar Character to let the World know that we are no Christians though we were Baptized into the Name of Christ least it should not be observed by our practices that we should take care to discover it by our language that we are none of those who believe Jesus to be the Son of God If we had no other reason but the Will of our Lord and Saviour to rule us in this matter that certainly should be enough to conclude us he that should want a farther obligation deserves to be ranked with Heathens and Infidels and yet the thing which our Saviour here forbids is evil in it self too and contains many foul and detestable Immoralities in its own nature and therefore the common Swearer's Sin how enormous must it needs be who refuseth to do a very small matter to avoid so great a guilt That the heinousness whereof may yet farther appear I shall proceed to the Second Consideration under this Head viz. The Reason of the Law it self which is contained in these words whatsoever is more than the plainness of affirmation and denial in common discourse cometh of evil I will therefore endeavour these two following things 1. To make it appear what those evil dispositions are which this practice implies 2. To examine the pretences that are only possible to be alledged in excuse of it Now if men are led to it by no good Principle if the dispositions thereunto are wholly evil if evil be implied in the very pretences brought to excuse it nothing can be farther desired to demonstrate that this is to be concluded viz. That it is an Immorality to Swear in our Communication and whatsoever is more than that simplicity of Language which our Saviours Rule confines us to cometh of evil The true Principles and Causes enclining men to this practice are these 1. Want of Reverence towards God 2. Carelesness of avoiding the Crime of Perjury 3. Immodesty and Pride 4. Lightness and vanity of mind And indeed there must be all these things together to make up a common Swearer for if he either had reverent Thoughts of God or feared to be Forsworn or if he had but a little modesty and good manners or any tolearable measure of a steddy and serious spirit any one of these things would secure him 1. Customary Swearing betrays great irreverence towards God for unless a man had very mean and dishonourable Thoughts of God how durst he make so bold with him as to affirm nothing so silly and transact nothing so trivial and mean but he must summon God to be his Witness Reverence of the Deity is always expressed by separating holy things from vile and common uses and because an Oath is an appeal to the Knowledge and Justice of God it is greater rudeness to press it to unnecessary Services than it would be for the meanest of People to call the King out of his Throne to hear every idle Tale they brought against one another If an Oath be an holy thing let us use it as we do those holy places which we do not put to all Imployments but reserve them for their peculiar use What a contempt of Religion would it be for men to bring their Markets into the House of God and pretend to sanctify their worldly Affairs and Pleasures by transacting them in the place of his Worship I do not see but 't is altogether as
Tongue in his Head to use them as occasion serves which experience shows may be done without any natural Sagacity or Rules of Art 2. It is sometimes pretended by common Swearers though I think but rarely That men will not believe them without an Oath and what is this but to confess they have been so notoriously given to Lying that no body dares trust them upon their bear word for a man that is known to make conscience of speaking the Truth finds no difficulty of creating a belief of what he says amongst any of his Friends without making any appeal to God Besides the Oath of a common Swearer gives indeed but very little assurance of the truth of what he says if I know a man to be afraid of an Oath his Oath shall satisfy me beyond any other testimony that he can give and upon the Oath of such a man a Court of Judicature may proceed with confidence but what regard can reasonably be had to his Oath above his simple and bare word as we use to say who is known to swear upon all occasions if he does not lie 't is well but of this I have no peculiar assurance by his Oath because it is as ordinary with him to swear as to speak and therefore in Athens a Common Swearer's Oath was not allowed nor accepted of in their Courts and sometimes the testimony of a man of known Probity and Honour was admitted without it this last seems to be imitated by the wisdom of our Laws which suppose the Asseveration of a Peer to be equivalent to the Oath of another man and therefore for another man to Swear needlesly is to disparage the Reputation of his Fidelity but for a man of Honour to do so is to renounce his Priviledge and for any man to do thus is not only to bring the honesty of his Word but the truth of his Oath also into question 3. The most usual excuse framed for the extenuation of this Impiety is that of sudden Passion thus when some men are a little provoked or when they are surprized with some unexpected good Fortune or any unlook'd-for misadventure befals them either their Rage or their Joy bursts out presently into Oaths and they pretend they cannot help it for they have no other way to discharge their minds and give vent to their Passions but by Cursing and Swearing now is not this a plain confession that they have lost the government of themselves and have no rule over their own spirits So common it is for men while they are framing an excuse for one sin to betray themselves guilty of another what greater argument can lightly be given of an impotent mind than that every petty accident is able to bereave one of all consideration and make him cease to be his own man till the fit is over And the truth is though Passion be brought in to mitigate the business yet it is plain enough that any trifling occasion is able to set these men a swearing that make this excuse for themselves when provocation is alledged to mollify this Crime one would think it must arise from no less a cause than if he should find his house in flames or his friend attempting the honour of his bed but upon examination this same emotion and heat of spirit is pleaded for the begging of your pardon when a man swears upon the most trifling and inconsiderable occasions And what can excuse that childishness and impotency of mind to which these men have thus given themselves over But let never such extraordinary causes of joy or grief or anger happen it is an unmanly thing to set no bounds to these Passions and they are never less unbridled than when we make such undue expressions of them as Oaths and Curses are St. James gives us this Rule Above all things my brethren swear not neither by heaven neither by the earth nor by any other Oath James 5.12 But the particular Case wherein he thought this Rule was useful was that of Affliction for he had before exhorted them to whom he wrote to take the Prophets for an example of suffering affliction and of patience and particularly recommended to them the meekness and patience of Job for their imitation ver 10 11. But if they could not perfectly equal such great examples as those were yet at least he strictly enjoins them not to be transported so far into Anger and Impatience as to break forth into Oaths But above all things my brethren swear not but keep your selves within the bounds of modest and Christian Language and that they might see that he allowed them to have a sense of the good and evil of this World and was far from thinking it a Virtue to be stupid and dull and unconcerned about either the Comforts or the Calamities of human Life he directs them how they may convert the Passions which are thereby excited to an excellent and profitable use Is any man among you afflicted let him pray Is any merry let him sing Psalms ver 13 15. If any man be overtaken with worldly misery let him turn himself to more devout and earnest Prayer that God would either remove his burden or give him patience under it if he be surprized with some new blessing let him break forth into the Praises of God to whose Bounty and Goodness he stands obliged for it Thus to improve the excitations of joy and grief within us is a demonstration that our Passions have not overwhelmed our Reason and Understanding but left us the free use of our selves to do what becomes us as Men and Christians but in either case to lash out into Oaths is a plain token of an impotent mind that hath no rule over it self but is hurried away by intemperate Passions which is matter of so much shame to a reasonable Creature and much more to a Disciple of Christ that we should blush to confess so much evil against our selves as to make it the excuse of any other Sin 4. If Swearing be excused under the notion of a compliance with the custom of other men who are our Friends and Companions this pretence indeed carries a shew of civility and kind nature but for all that is the silliest that can readily be thought of and the making of it argues a mean and degenerate mind for although in things of an innocent and indifferent nature 't is commendable for men to remit of their own way and humour and to suit themselves to the customs and manners of those whom they converse with yet to be complaisant in all things without exception is the way to grow as profligate and vile as the Devil would wish any man to be for what wickedness could want Authority if this pretence were once admitted What is this but to proclaim that a man hath lost all sense of difference between good and evil And that he hath left off to judge all things according to their own nature that he hath no more
that saith unto me Lord Lord c. Nay 2. Notwithstanding this and the like forewarnings yet men have and do in this manner delude themselves inasmuch as our Saviour upon this occasion told his Disciples before hand Many shall say unto me in that day Lord have we not prophesied in thy name and in thy name cast out devils and in thy name done many wonderful works which certainly was spoken of those Workers of Iniquity that lived in the early days of the Church whilst Mirales were yet continued in it And this was a terrible instance of the proneness of men to fall into this kind of presumption That some of them who did not only hear but preach the Gospel of Christ who did not only see but do Miracles in the name of Christ should yet be workers of iniquity that they who had faith to cast out devils out of others should not have faith enough to dispossess themselves of their vile Lusts and to cleanse their own hearts and ways But when Honour and Power and Wealth became the Rewards of professing Christianity the instances of this folly and madness grew still more numerous and more open and men more easily passed for Christians than in former times though they were as lustful and revengeful as vain and insolent and altogether as worldly and vicious as other men they then came into the Church with more ease and were turned out of it with more difficulty and they continued in it under a Discipline less severe than in former times and no wonder then that upon the encrease of Bad Examples there were still more and more who looked for Salvation by the Name of Christ that had little or nothing of his Spirit and were themselves Christians in nothing else but in name and profession And now let us consider 2dly How it comes to pass that men can thus deceive themselves as to rest upon so false a foundation of hope and comfort as a mere profession of the Name and Religion of Christ without being such persons in life and soul as their profession requires Now 1. The first and most general cause is this That men are willing to be thus deceived and no man is in greater danger of falling into a mistake how pernicious soever it be than he that has a mind to believe it no mistake Our Saviour in this Sermon whereof the Text is a part speaks against causeless Anger and an adulterous Eye and a revengeful Spirit and Vain-glory and Worldly sollicitude and a great many other things which are often as hard to reform as it would be to cut off a right hand and to pull out a right eye especially where a corrupt Inclination is confirmed by custom in sin This is indeed the principal cause why men will conceit any thing though it be never so foolish rather than they will feel an indispensible obligation to repent and reform their wicked ways 'T is true when a man has had some experience of it the practice of Religion in all his conversation becomes the joy of his life and he finds more pleasure in a constant course of piety towards God of justice and mercy towards men of a sober and temperate use of the good things of this life than can possibly be had in the ways of sin but whilst one is under the power and lust of Passion his indulgence to his own Appetite is like drink to a man in a Feaver who till he recovers his health knows no other pleasure nor is there a greater torment to him than to be denied it Now they are those Rules of Christianity which concern the government of our Affections and Passions our Manners and Practices in the general course of our conversation that are directly contrary to those corrupt Inclinations of Mankind whereas the obligation to profess a Religion and to worship God amongst those that do so doth not of it self thwart them otherways than it brings the other part of Religion to mind which is to act accordingly in all our conversation And therefore men would fain believe that their care in one part shall supply the defects in the other that is That saying Lord Lord shall stand them in good stead although they do not the will of our heavenly Father To this we may add 2. That there is as great a difficulty on the other side to throw off all fear of God and all concern for a Life to come as there is to come up throughly to that which Religion requires And we have infinite reason to bless God for this difficulty i. e. that he hath made it I will not only say as difficult but more difficult for us to become mere Atheists and Infidels than even bad men have made it to become true and sincere Christians For he hath left those natural impressions of his own Being upon our hearts and hath given such evidence to the World of the truth of the Gospel of his Son that it must needs be an hard thing for us to grow downright Atheists or even Unbelievers and for the most part do what we can we are held under the sense and awe of Religion and if we will make an evil course of life easy to our selves it must not be done by throwing off all pretence to Religion for then we should be self-condemned without any relief and have nothing at all to trust to but it must be done by putting some cheat upon our selves consistent with the profession of Religion that is by flattering our selves that a diligent profession of it will serve the turn and they are these two things taken together viz. the unwillingness of men to leave their sins on the one side and the unavoidable apprehensions of God and a Life to come and a general conviction of the truth of Christianity on the other that have not only made many Persons take up this false way of comforting themselves but have also made them easy to receive divers Errors which help to support this to expect spiritual relief from things blest by man without any appointment from God and to place Religion in things which have neither reason of their own nor Divine Authority to make them valuable Certainly if it were either easy for Mankind to throw off all pretence to Religion on the one hand or if they could easily be persuaded to break off their sins by repentance on the other it had been a much harder thing to corrupt Religion than Experience has shewn it to be But so long as there will be Conscience and a sense of God and an apprehension of a life to come as there will be while the World endures and so long as there will be lust and passion vice and wickedness more or less amongst men so long also they will be very desirous to believe those Doctrines that promise security without an effectual reformation And in the company of more mistakes tending to the same comfort it will be a very hard matter