inward Comfort of Mind that the World knows nothing of and strangers do not meddle with whereby he receives much more good than he does In keeping of thy Commandments there is great reward Psal 19.11 Were there no such thing as a Heaven to reward good Men or a Hell to punish bad it were still worth while to live well and to do good to have the present comfort of it in this World for all the ways of Wisdom are Peace and her Paths are Pleasantness which all good Men do experience better than they can express it No Man can tell so well as he can tast how sweet Honey is therefore saith the Psalmist Thy Commandments are sweeter to me than the Honey and the Honey Comb Psal 19.10 Come tast and see how good the Lord is Truth leaves a Spiritual gust upon the Understanding which doth mightily influence and incline the Will to every thing that is good and as Truth is the Object of the one so Goodness is the Object of the other both which do most directly conduce to the Comfort and Happiness of a rational Being in this World as well as in that which is to come Hereby the Love of God is manifested to and perfected in this good Man Whoso keepeth my Word in him is the Love of God perfected that is he surely loveth God and is loved of God Hereby we know that we are in God For God is Love and he that dwelleth in Love dwelleth in God and God in him Hereby we dwell in light He that dwelleth in Love dwelleth in light 1 Joh. 2.5 10. He dwelleth in the light of God's Favour And in his Favour is Life Psal 30. And in another place 't is said That his Favour is better than Life and infinitely better than all the Blessings of the lower World There be many that say Who will shew us any good Lord lift thou up the Light of thy Countenance upon us Thou hast put Gladness in my Heart more than in the time when their Corn and their Wine increased Psal 4.6 7. This only fits the Soul for the heavenly Light Epaphras declaring the Love of the Spirit which was in the Church of Coloss Col. 1.7 8. Blessed be God saith St. Paul who hath made us meet to he partakers of the inheritance of the Saints in Light ver 12. Where the Soul is joyned to the Church of the first born to an in â—â—â—…rable company of Angels to the general Assembly of the Saints to the Souls of Just Men made perfect and to Jesus the Mediator All which are joyning in their uncessant and uninterrupted Songs of Praise Singing Hallelujah Hallelujah Hallelujah to God and to the Lamb that sits upon the Throne and are fill'd with all the fullness of God and do for ever admire those Treasures of Light that are beyond them And as it fits the Soul for the Heavenly World so it fills it with Bowels of Love and Pity to our poor Brethren for if this be not in us the Love of God is not in us If any Man say he loveth God and hateth his Brother he is a Lyar For he that loveth not his Brother whom he hath seen How can he love God whom he hath not seen And this Commandment have we from him that he who loveth God love his Brother also 1. Joh. 4.21 22. How kindly doth our Blessed Saviour take what is done to his poor Members Matth. 25.34 Come ye Blessed of my Father inherit the Kingdom prepared for you from the Foundation of the World For I was Hungry and you gave me Meat I was Thirsty and you gave me Drink c. Then shall the Righteous say Lord when saw we thee Hungry and fed thee Thirsty and gave thee Drink c. Then shall the King say unto them Verily I say unto you in as much as you have done it unto one of the least of these my Brethren you have done it unto me And therefore let me beseech you my Brethren to give to Him in his Members who gave Himself for you not his Name only nor his Body but his Soul too for that was made An Offering for Sin Isa 53.10 Which was the greatest Gift that God could give or the World could receive and who is now Praying for you at the Right hand of his Father to give you a Crown a Kingdom and a weight of Glory And if we act like Men possessed by true Charity suiting with the Spirit of Christianity our Hearts and Hands must be always open to our poor Brothers Necessities our Souls must take pleasure in doing Good and being Kind And if we are not able to redress their Grievances or relieve their Wants by our Wealth or Interest we must ease them by our Compassion comfort them by Holy Advice and Example and succour them by our Prayers These are the Treasures which good Men lay up in Heaven Where neither Moths nor Rust doth Corrupt nor Thieves break through nor Steal For this purpose saith our Saviour you have the Poor always with you and whatsoever you will you may do unto them and in so doing you will well and truly observe those Feasts of Charity St. Jude speaks of ver 12. Finally Brethren be all of one Mind having Compassion one of another Love as Brethren be Pitiful be Courteous be of good Comfort live in Peace And the God of Love and Peace shall be with you all Amen FINIS Advertisement WHereas there was lately Published an Erroneous Book by one Zachary Housell who being Christianly taken notice of and presented by the Grand Jury of Middlesex as an Author of a most detestable Doctrine And whereas the Author of this Sermon hath been most maliciously reported by many and may possibly be believed by some to be the same The Author hereof to cashier the said malicious and scandalous Report doth hereby declare That he is not the same Man neither did he ever believe any such Doctrine as is therein maintained nor any other either different from or contrary to The Articles of the Church of England as by Law Established Which said Articles the Author doth Weekly Explain to his Society to keep them steady in this giddy Age.
was then is now and for ever will be an infallible sign of passing from Death to Life Now may the God of Life and Love which brought again our Lord Jesus Christ from the Dead out of his boundless Love to his Church perswade us all in this divided Age to be like-minded one towards another and towards all that fear God and work Righteousness of what Opinion soever we are in lesser Points of Christianity But while one judgeth another despieth while one saith and swaggereth I am of Apollo another I am of Paul another I am of Cephas we are all carnal and talk and walk as Men For the Kingdom of God is not in these things but in Righteousness and Peace and Joy in the Holy Ghost Ro. 14.17 And the same Apostle tells us as plainly as words can speak That Circumcision is nothing nor Vncircumcision but a new Creature And that as many as walk according to that Rule viz. that do not make Christianity to be in one or the other but in the Change and turn of the whole man to God which as that Holy Man of God Arch-Bishop Vsher hath long since told us is the new Creature Peace shall be to them even that Peace which our Church teacheth us to pray for in one of her excellent Collects which the World cannot give even the Peace of God which passeth all Vnderstanding Moreover this vital Principle of Spiritual life and love is that only that makes us Christians indeed For if any Man hath not the Spirit of Christ he is none of his Ro. 8.9 This doth not only incline the Soul to God and to good Men who bear the Reflexions of his Holy Nature but likewise to the sincere Obedience of his Will and Law invigorating all the Powers and Faculties of their Minds in all their Operations and Motions inlightning their Understandings by turning them from Darkness to Light and from Satans Power to God delightfully inclining their Wills to Goodness turning their natural enmity into love fulfilling that Prophetical Gospel-Promise To make his People a willing People in the Day of his Power Psal 110.3 and according as our Saviour in his most Heavenly form hath taught us to Pray Thy will be done in Earth as it is in Heaven even with that Readiness and Alacrity that Delight and Complacency that the Angels and glorified Saints do it with in Heaven and as He did it when he was in the World Whose Meat and Drink it was to do the Will of him that sent him This divine Principle brings the Soul into a divine frame and Gospel Temper making it to be in some good measure of that Heavenly Spirit that our Blessed Redeemer was of when he was upon Earth And therefore he tells his Disciples Ye are not of the World but I have taken you out of the World If you were of the World the World would love its own but because you are not of the World therefore the World hateth you Joh. 15.19 Ye are not of the Temper and Spirit of the World The first Man is of the Earth earthy and speaketh of the Earth but the second Man is the Lord from Heaven heavenly and as is the Heavenly such are they also that are Heavenly their Conversations are in Heaven and their Hearts are where their Treasures are they look and live above Invisibles are to them the greatest Realities they antedate the Joys of Heaven Faith is to them the Substance of things hoped for the Evidence of things not seen Heb. 11.1 They persevere as having a respect to the recompence of the Reward and as seeing him that is Invisible whom having not seen as the Apostle says with their bodily eyes yet believing on him are filled with Joy unspeakable and full of Glory This makes Men easy to themselves in bringing forth the fruits of the Spirit which are Meekness and Temperance Love and Joy and Peace Long Suffering Gentleness Goodness and Faith against such there is no Law Gal. 5.22 having by the power of the divine Spirit overcome the corruptions of their Nature which made them mighty uneasie to themselves but now where the Spirit of divine Life and Love dwells there are these divine and blessed Fruits which make Men easy in and to themselves by giving them the Victory over all their turbulent and disquieting Passions setting up the Intellectual Rational power in its due place reducing the Man to himself and unto God which is a mighty point when obtained Fortior est qui se quam qui tutissima vincit Moenia which to Translate the Poet by the Prophet is He that overcometh his own Spirit is as he that taketh a City So much have our Corruptions and Passions got the ascendant of our Reasons in this our lapsed State that the Prophet calls such the Beast of the People And 't is not improbable that they were such Beasts with whom St. Paul fought at Ephesus 1 Cor. 15. which he in another place calls unreasonable Men. Finally Brethren pray for us that we may be delivered from unreasonable and wicked Men 2 Thes 3.1 2. where unreasonable and wicked Men are put together because all Wickedness is unreasonable 't is the very extremity of Madness and Folly And this doth not only make Men easy to themselves but to all others How easily are such Men Govern'd by the Laws of Civil Government which are all grounded upon Reason who make their own Reason to govern themselves To them as the Apostle calls the moral Law the Law may be as a School-master to instruct and now and then to correct some mistakes that must be allowed for the Frailty of human Nature but it can never be a Judge to Condemn them for as where there is no Law there is no Transgression so where there is no Transgression there can be no Punishment There is therefore saith St. Paul No Condemnation to them that are in Christ Jesus who walk not after the flesh but after the Spirit for the Law of the Spirit of Life in Christ Jesus hath made me free from the Law of Sin and Death This Spirit of holy Life and Love makes all good Men fit for all humane Conversation in this World All the Commotions and Troubles not only within our Selves but within our Houses our Towns and Cities our Kingdom and our Church proceed from our unsubdu'd Corruptions our Pride and Covetousness our Revenge and Malice and the like From whence come Warrings and Fightings among you Come they not from hence even from your Lusts that War in your Members For ye Lust and have not ye Kill and desire to have and cannot obtain Jam. 4.1 2. As much as if St. James had said By these rampant and reigning Lusts of yours you make all the mischief in the World and when you have done all you get nothing by it And then how fit these good Men are for all humane Societies and Government who have by the power of divine Grace mortified
A SERMON PREACHED On the First of January 1698. IN THE Parish Church of St. Nicholas Cole-Abby BEING A New-Years-Gift To the Society of Christians united there to Worship God in a more Solemn manner after the way of the Church of England By Robert Howson Lecturer there Rector of Stanford-Deanly in the County of Berks and Chaplain to the truly Honourable The Lady Dowager Seymore Baroness of Trowbridge LONDON Printed by W. Downing in Bartholomew-Close for the Author To the Stewards Collectors and the rest of the Members of the Society of St. Nicholas Cole-Abby in the City of London Dear Friends THE ensuing Sermon came to the Pulpit by your Desire and by the same it comes from the Press with no Variation and but with very little Addition Fine Cadencies of Speech well clinched Periods and harangues of Rhetorick were never my Talent or if they had I would have Napkin'd it in the Pulpit that the Faith of Christians should not be thought to stand in Words of Mans Wisdom but in the Power of God For which purpose that most excellent Prelate and Gospel Preacher Arch-Bishop Usher laid aside all his Learning in Preaching the Gospel as appears by his plain and practical Discourses yet Extant And as I have heard gave it always in charge to such on whom he laid Hands to Preach to be sure to remember the Alleys by suiting their Sermons to the Capacities of their Hearers A course that for Thirty Years past I have always found most conducing to the great end of Preaching viz. Turning Men from Darkness to Light and from Satan's Power to God And therefore shall continue in it till I am convinc'd that plain Preachers and plain Hearers shall be as much decried in another World as they are in this Gentlemen in this Respect your Lines are faln in a pleasant place you have a goodly Heritage even the Blessing of a learned pious practical and savory Ministry May it be therefore a Savour of Life unto Life unto every one of you and not of Death unto Death unto any for it will certainly be one or the other is and ever shall be the Prayer of Your Affectionate Friend And Faithful Servant In the Greatest Work ROBERT HOWSON John XIII Ver. 34. A New Commandment I give unto you That you Love one another THere is nothing that doth more conduce to the Good of Mankind in general than being good to and doing good one for another in particular This engages the Affections and excites the Endeavours of all This monopolizeth all the Strength and Powers of Men not only for one another but also for the publick Communities and Societies of which they are Members This answers the End of mens Being in this lower World and glorifies that Eternal Goodness that is their Being in this Life and will for ever be their Blessedness in another On the contrary There is nothing doth more directly tend to destroy the Souls and Bodies the Liberties and Properties of Men in particular and the Good of publick Societies in general than Selfishness Pride and Covetousness This ham-strings all just Powers weakens Authority cuts all the Ligaments of the Body Politick makes every part loose and independent one upon another like Bones wier'd in an Anatomy And therefore our Blessed Saviour fore-seeing how necessary this would be in all the Churches of God to the End of the World injoins this great Catholick and Christian Duty To Love one another which He calls A New Commandment that is the Old Commandment that God gave by Moses Levit. 19.18 renewed under the Gospel Dispensation for which he proposeth himself as an excellent Pattern saying As I have Loved you In speaking to which I shall shew I. What 't is to Love another II. What are the good Effects of Loving one another in the Hearts and Lives of good Men. III. How it makes Men easie in and to themselves to the Government and Communion they are Members of in this World And IV. How it fits them for the Communion and Blessed Society of the glorified Saints in Heaven By Loving one another understand that Brotherly Love that the Apostle commends Heb. 13.1 which is such a Love as Brothers have or ought to have one towards another in Nature who have the same Father and the same Mother from whom they derive their Natural Lives Brethren we have all the same Father which is God and the same Mother which is our Church and from them we derive our vital Principle of Spiritual Life And therefore as they that are Born after the Flesh do love one another in a Natural manner so we that are Born after the Spirit should love one another in a Spiritual manner For Spirits have their Spiritual Actings and Motions one towards another as well as Bodies Where the Appearance is of God's Holiness in the Hearts and Lives of good Men it draws out a Spiritual Love to and delight in them one towards another O my Soul thou hast said unto the Lord Thou art my Lord my Goodness extendeth not unto thee But to the Saints and to the Excellent that are in the Earth in whom is all my delight Psal 16.2 3. And as the appearance of Goodness in good Men draws them one to another in holy Delight and Love so the Light of the Glory of God in the Face of Jesus draws them all to Christ Because of the savour of thy good Ointments thy Name is poured forth therefore do the Virgins love thee Cant. 1.3 Draw me and we will run after thee Therefore saith our Blessed Saviour No Man can come unto me except the Father draw him and the Father draws and never drives by the Cords of a Man by the Bands of Love Hosea 11.4 displaying the Riches of Gospel-Grace viz. the heigth and depth the length and breadth of the Love of God in Christ Love in all dimensions and all dimensions in their Abstract so that as many as look unto Jesus till they love Him and love Him so as to obey Him purely from a Principle of Divine Love implanted in them by the Ministration of the Gospel shall be Saved by Him Now as natural Motion is a sure sign of natural Life so these spiritual Motions of Holy Souls to desire after and delight in good Men as such are infallible symptoms of Spiritual Life For by this we know that we are passed from Death to Life because we love the Brethren Joh. 1.3 4. In which words by the Brethren I humbly conceive such and all such and none but such as have received the Faith of the Gospel and did publickly profess and piously practise it according as they had received from the Apostles how they ought to walk and to please God and so were Disciples of the Crucified Jesus abstractedly considered without any relation to their being of Paul or Apollo or Cephas according as some did most uncharitably and factiously discriminate themselves 1 Cor. 3.4 which Love to the Brethren as such