have no hopes yet herein God hath magnified his abundant Love towards Sinners that although they have sinned to a high Degree yet if they be so far wearied with the Burthen of their Sins as to take Christ's Yoke upon them then he hath promised Ease and Rest to their Souls which is the greatest Blessing in the World especially to repenting Sinners But some may again say we have repented and sinned and sinned and repented again and can hardly yet tell which will get the better at last we cannot say that we have entirely submitted our Necks to Christ's Yoke for that requires a great deal more than we can perform how then can we be thought Righteous I answer therefore 2. Where there is a sincere and honest Endeavour to please God and keep his Commandments although Persons fail in the Manner of doing it God will accept of such as righteous But where they please themselves in their Unrighteousness and go on in it hoping that God will accept some kind of Repentance in stead of it or where there hath been long struggling and many Acts of Repentance and the Interest of Sin prevails the Case of such is very dangerous but not desperate For as long as there is hopes of a true Repentance there is of Salvation and there is still hopes of Repentance where Men's hearts are not hardned by an incorrigible Stiffness For according to the best Measures we can take by the Rules of the Gospel none are effectually excluded from the Hopes of Salvation but such as exclude themselves by their own Impenitency SERMON IV. Preached before the King and Queen AT WHITE-HALL March the 23 d 1689 90. Ecclesiastes XI 9. Rejoyce O young man in thy youth and let thy heart chear thee in the days of thy youth and walk in the ways of thy heart and in the sight of thine eyes but know thou that for all these things God will bring thee into judgment IF Solomon had said Rejoyce not O young man in thy youth neither let thy heart chear thee in the days of thy youth walk not in the way of thine heart nor in the sight of thine eyes for know thou that for all these things God will bring thee into Judgment the Sense had been so easie and plain that there had been no Appearance of Difficulty in reconciling one Part with the other For the whole had been look'd upon but as a necessary and seasonable Admonition to such who by the Heats of Youth and Strength of Inclination and Allurements of the World are too apt to be transported with the Love of sensual Pleasures And this had been very becoming the wise Man towards the Conclusion of his Book wherein he had not only before set forth the several Vanities of humane Life but so soon after bids Men Remember their Creatour in the days of their Youth while the evil days come not nor the years draw nigh of which they shall say they have no pleasure in them i. e. in the days wherein they are most apt to walk in the way of their hearts and in the sight of their eyes For he knew very well that nothing is so powerfull a Check and Restraint upon Men's Inclinations to Sin as the serious Consideration of that God that gave them their Beings and will bring them to an Account for their Actions But how then comes he in this Verse to seem rather to give a Permission to young Men in the time of Youth to indulge themselves in their Mirth and Vanity Rejoyce O young Man in thy Youth c. Some think that the wise Man only derides and exposes them for their Folly in so doing but that seems not agreeable with the grave and serious Advice which follows And we find nothing like Irony or Sarcasm in any Part of the foregoing Book for he begins it with a Tragical Exclamation against the Vanities of humane Life Vanity of Vanities saith the Preacher Vanity of Vanities all is Vanity And he pursues his Argument by a particular Induction of the most tempting and pleasing Vanities of Life and particularly all sorts of sensual Delights as Mirth and Jollity in the first Place then Wine and Musick fine Palaces curious Vineyards Gardens and Pools a great Retinue and which was needfull to maintain all this Abundance of Silver and Gold But what a melancholy Reflection doth he make on all these Pleasures of Life Then I looked on all the works that my hands had wrought and on the labour that I had laboured to do and behold all was vanity and vexation of spirit What incouragement then could the wise-Man after so much Experience of the World give to young Men here in the Text to rejoyce in the days of their Youth and to walk in the way of their hearts and in the sight of their eyes i. e. to pursue Vanity and to lay the Foundation for greater Vexation of Spirit when they come to reflect on their own Follies What then is the meaning of these words For this we are to observe that the Preacher having declared his own main Scope and Design in the beginning and conclusion of his Book brings in sometimes the different Senses which Mankind are apt to have concerning the Happiness of Life And that is the Reason that we meet with such different Expressions concerning it In one Place it is said that there is no better thing under the Sun than to eat and drink and to be merry but in another he saith Sorrow is better than laughter and by the sadness of the countenance the heart is made better In one Place he saith All things come alike to all there is one event to the righteous and to the wicked But in another That it shall be well with them that fear the Lord but it shall not be well with the wicked How can such Passages as these be reconciled if we look on them as expressing the Sense of the same Person But if we allow them to be the different Notions of two sorts of Men in this World they are easie to be understood although not to be reconciled And the one sort is of those who place all Happiness in this Life without regard to Religion or Vertue or another World and the other of those who look on this Life only as a Passage to another and that all Persons ought to behave themselves here so as conduces most to their Happiness hereafter And according to these different Schemes we have in the words of the Text two very different sorts of Counsel and Advice to young Men. I. The first proceeds upon the Supposition that all the Happiness of Man lies in this Life and in the Enjoyment of the sensual Pleasures of it Rejoyce O young Man in thy Youth and let thy heart chear thee in the days of thy Youth and walk in the way of thy heart and in the sight of thy eyes We have no other Rule
is abundance of Noise and Heat and Examples and the Hopes of present Victory and the Shame and Danger of running away which animate Persons in a Day of Battel But it is another kind of Courage which is required to make Men bear up against the Malice and Subtilty of the Devil and of wicked Men for here the Combination is to all appearance much stronger on the worse Side and if we are to judge of Success by Numbers those who promote Vertue and Goodness could never bear up against their Adversaries who were sure to carry it by the Poll. There were among the Heathens some few great Men who endeavour'd to reform the Vices of Mankind But alas What poor Success had they in their Attempts this way Although they wanted neither Wit nor Learning nor Address to carry on this Noble Design such as Socrates at Athens and Epictetus at Rome and some others who lived agreeably to their Doctrine yet how little Effect had both their Precepts and Example on the rest of the People either at Athens or Rome Socrates declared a mighty Resolution rather to die than to say or do any thing unbecoming the Station God placed him in and upon the Prosecution of two malicious Men the prevailing Party were resolved to try the Experiment and took him at his Word After which his Disciples durst not deal so plainly and openly as he had done and the Artifice they were put to lost the force of the best Part of their Philosophy which they so mixed with Numbers and Figures and abstracted Speculations that it became a Mystery instead of a plain Design to reform the Manners of Men. The best and wisest of them seem to have taken more pains to satisfie themselves than to have instructed others or if they did they were some few chosen Disciples whom they initiated with as much Care as they were wont to do in their solemn Mysteries But the Apostles undertook to reform the World as to two things which Mankind are the hardest brought off from and those are Idolatry and Vice And they went plainly and roundly to work which Men can the least bear as we see by the Persecutions they underwent almost in every Place assoon as their Design was understood There was a general Clamour against them as the Disturbers of Mankind as those who turned the World upside down which in some sense was true but not as they meant it with respect to Order and Government But when Men have no mind to be reformed they must have some Terms of Reproach to fasten upon those who go about to do it It being natural for them to put Pictures of Devils on those whom they have a mind to execute And when they endeavour'd to convince them of their Immoralities they were very impatient of which we have a clear Instance in St. Paul's Preaching to Felix concerning Righteousness and Temperance and Judgment to come which were excellent Subjects but they went too near him he was too much concerned to be willing to hear any more of them The Discourse of St. Paul had too much Force in it for him to bear it any longer for it caused such a disorder in his Mind as affected his Body for Felix trembled And then he thought it best to dismiss him to a more convenient Season which never came that we read of Which shews how much more willing Men are to continue in their Faults than to hear them reproved in order to Amendment Am I therefore become your Enemy saith St. Paul because I tell you the Truth No doubt of it For no Truths can be so uneasie and provoking as those which gaul the Consciences of Men. The false Teachers whom St. Paul complains so much of were sensible of the Inconveniencies which follow'd plain Truth and therefore to avoid Persecution they so mixed and adulterated the Doctrine of the true Apostles that it lost its main Force and Efficacy And although by their shifts and compliances with Jews and Gentiles they escaped the hard Usage which others underwent yet the Effect of it was that their Doctrine took no deep rooting in the World For in Origen's time a very inconsiderable Number of their Disciples were left But though the plain Simplicity of the Gospel met with Persecutions on all hands yet by the undaunted Courage of the Preachers of it the more it was opposed the more it prevailed and at last triumphed over its greatest Persecutors 2. These words may be understood with respect to all Christians and so they shew what the Temper and Spirit of Christianity is where it hath its due and proper Effect upon men's minds The Moralists speak much of an excellent Vertue which they call Magnanimity which implies such a Greatness of Mind that it carries a Man on in doing what becomes him without being discouraged by the Fears of what may befall him in it And this our Saviour doth suppose to be so attainable by all his Disciples that he requires it from them Fear not them which can kill the Body but are not able to kill the Soul or Be not afraid of them that kill the Body and after that have no more that they can do i. e. Govern your Fears by the Consideration of another World and not of this But is this possible to be rid of our Fears as to this World It may be some Heroical minds may attain to this or those on whom God bestows the extraordinary Gifts of his Spirit But can any by the common Measures and Assistances of Grace reach to it Fear is a natural and violent Passion which is not easily dissembled much less cured and the weaker any are as to Mind or Body the more they are subject to the Power of it There are some Constitutions by Reason of their dark and confused and melancholy Apprehensions of things can never get out of the Labyrinth of their own Fears And where Suspicions and Jealousies find an easie Entertainment it is not possible to cure such Person 's Fears for they are afraid of all possible things Such I must exclude as labouring under a Disease of Imagination as we do those who are under a Fever And for whose Unreasonable Fears I know no better Cure than there is of Madness which is to bring the Persons to the Use of Reason as well as we can and if Reason doth not cure them nothing else will But let us suppose the Fears reasonable i. e. such as considering the State of the World a prudent Man may justly apprehend is it not possible to master these Fears Not to cure our Apprehension when it is reasonable but to take Care that it do not torment and disquiet our Mind but especially that it do not hinder us from doing our Duty And this is that Spirit of Christian Magnanimity which I design to speak of and to make the Matter as clear as I can I shall 1. Enquire into those things which the Nature of
incomprehensible Mysteries how a Man by Nature can be a God really and truly by Office how the incommunicable Perfections of the Divine Nature can be communicated to a Creature how God should give his Glory to another and by his own Command require that to be given to a Creature which himself had absolutely forbidden to be given to any besides himself It is said by a famous Jesuiâ— I will not say how agrecably to their own Doctrines and Practices about Divine Worship that the Command of God cannot make him worthy of Divine Worship who without such a Command is not worthy of it And it is very absurd to say that he that is unworthy of it without a Command â—an become worthy by it for it makes God to command Divine Honour to be given to one who cannot deserve it For no meer Man can desâ—rve to be made God But it is more agreeable to the Divine Nature and Will not to give his Honour to a Creature 3. But after all the Invectives of these Enemies to Mysteries we do not make that which we say is Incomprehensible to be a Necessary Article of Faith as it is Incomprehensible but we do assert that what is Incomprehensible as to the Manner may be a Necessary Article as far as it is plainly revealed As in the Instances I have already mentioned of the Creation and Resurrection of the Dead would they in earnest have Men turn Infidels as to these things till they are able to comprehend all the Difficulties which relate to them If not why should this suggestion be allow'd as to the Mysteries which relate to our Redemption by Jesus Christ If it be said the Case is not alike for those are clearly revealed and these are not this brings it to the true and proper Issue of this Matteâ— and if we do not prove a clear Revelation we do not assert their being Necessary Articles of Faith but my present business was only to take off this Objection that the Mâ—steries were incomprehensible and therefore not to be received by us II. And so I come to the second Way by which we are to examine the several Senses of Christ Jesus coming to save Sinners Which of them tends more to the Benefit and Advantage of Mankind or which is more worthy of all Acceptation And that will appear by considering these things 1. Which tends most to the raising our Esteem and Love of Christ Jesus 2. Which tends most to the begetting in us a greater Hatred of Sin 3. Which tends most to the strengthening our Hope of Salvation by Jesus Christ. 1. As to the raising in us a greater Esteem and Love of Christ. We are certain that the Infinite Love and Condâ—â—cension of Christ Jesus in undertaking such a Work as the saving of Sinners makes it most worthy of all Acceptation Some Men may please themselves in thinking that by taking away all Mysteries they have made their Faith more easie but I am certain they have extremely lessen'd the Argument for our Love viz. the Apprehensions of the wonderfull Love and Condescension of Christ in coming into the World to save Sinners And yet this is the great Argument of the New Testament to perswade Mankind to the Love of God and of his Son God so loved the World that he gave his only begotten Son c. This is indeed a mighty Argument of Love if by the only begotten Son be meant the Eternal Son of God who came down from Heaven as St. John speaks just before but if no more be meant but only that God made a meer Man to be hâ—s Son and after he had preached a while here on Earth and was ill used and crucified by his own People he exalted him to be God and gave him Divine Attributes and Honâ—urs this were an Argument of great Love to the Person of Christ but not to the rest of Mankind But God's Love in Scripture is magnified with respect to the World in the sending of his Son In this was manifested saith the Apostle the Love of God towards us because that God sent his only begotten Son into the World that we should live through him Herein is love not that we loved God but that he loved us and sent his Son to be a Propitiation for our Sins The great Love we still see is towards us i. e. towards Mankind but according to the other Sense it must have been herein was the Love of God manifested to his Son that for his Sufferings he exalted him above all Creatures He that spared not his own Son saith St. Paul but deliver'd him up for us all If he were the Eternal Son of God who came to suffer for us there is a mighty Force and Emphasis in this Expression and very apt to raise our Admiration and our Love but what not sparing his own Son is there if nothing were meant but that he designed by Sufferings to exalt him For not sparing him supposes an Antecedent Relation of the highest Kindness but the other is only designing extraordinary Kindness for the sake of his Sufferings Therefore the Argument for the Love of God is taken from what his Son was when he deliver'd him up for us all he was his own Son not by Adoption as others are St John calls him his only begotten Son and God himself his beloved Son in the Voice from Heaven and this before his Sufferings immediately after his Baptism when as yet there was nothing extraordinary done by him as to the great Design of his coming Which shews that there was an Antecedent Relation between him and the Father and that therein the Love of God and of Christ was manifested that being the only begotten Son of the Father he should take our Nature upon him and for our sakes do and suffer what he did This is indeed an Argument great enough to raise our Admiration to excite our Devotion to inflame our Affections but how flat and low doth it appear when it comes to no more than this that there was a Man whom after his Sufferings God raised from the Dead and made him a God by Office Doth this carry any such Argument in it for our Esteem and Love and Devotion to him as the other doth upon the most serious Consideration of it 2. Which tends most to beget in us a greater Hatred of Sin For that is so contrary to the Way of our Salvation by Jesus Christ that what tends most to our Hatred of it must conduce most to our Happiness and â—herefore be most worthy of all Acceptation It is agreed on all hands that Christ did suffer very much both in his Mind and in his Body In his Mind when it is said that he was troubled in Spirit that he began to be sorrowfull and very heavy and soon after My Soul is exceeding sorrowfull even unto death St. Luke saith that he was in an Agony wherein he not only prayed more