a Turk Is not this the Drunkards quarrelling about the praises of peace and Sobriety It was the challenge of Old against the Protestant Religion that it bred nothing but Factions and Rebelions 3ly It is the best way to bring those that are mistaken to the knowledge of the Truth Truth would always prevaile if it was right managed not held forth with disadvantage Boisterousness does give just occasion to others to suspect that what is held forth is not truth since it has so little influence upon the Heart to the purging it from passion Besides Men have a prejudice against such as deal roughly with them and cannot easily think they mean them any great good and therefore expect little from them and so attend not however Scolding is no Argument to convince People they are in an Errour neither is it the way to bring Men into the Truth to knock it into your heads with Hammers Men are men and must be dealt with as rationall Creatures if you wou'd perswade them you must speak to their Reasons and Consciences or you may as well hold your Tongue if you Provoke you do but bemud Mens minds so that they cannot take in the cleare Light of your Argument 4ly It is but a due Conforming to the most Vniversally acknowledged precept of Christ 1st The clearest Rule of Equity in Nature Christ bids his Diciples Love one another This is granted on all sides not one amongst the Various Sects of Christian Religion has the Face to deny this Some indeed do question whether Christ do require of those that profess him that they should do it by taking up and tying themselves to any outward observance whatever and so for other things yet whilest those that do go under the Name of Christians differ almost in every thing else some or other confidently denying and that not without very high pretences of Rational and Scripturall grounds what others with as full perswasons assert some or other slighting as a superstitious invention of man what others very Religiously observe as an ordinance of Christ how ever all agree in this that Christians are bound by Christ's precept to Love one another Now I am sure did but people charge their Consciences more with the discharging of this most unquestionable duty of Love there would be less need of calling them so much to Moderation For if we do but observe the working of that naturall inclination and passion which the World usually gives the name of Love unto And withall do but consider what a powerfull influence it has upon Parents Lovers Friends to the sweeting even the sowrest disposition towards those they Love If we mind how many Distempers affection bears with how many vices it winks at how many faults it excuses how many provocations it puts up and passes by Can we imagine that the Love which is commanded by Christ wrought by the Spirit and is a very reall participation of the divine nature Should come so far short of this Can we think that this more large noble pure strong principle were it indeed in us would not restrain us from quarrelling with one another Because our Brothers Head is not as big as ours because he cannot believe what we call white is so Untill he see it to be so with his own eyes Because he desires he may not be tyed to our Spectacles and takes upon him to wear Cloaths not of The same colour and shape with ours And let me tell you some understanding and conscientious Persons are of the mind that when once the Righteous and Alwise God Shall set up his impartiall Judgment ask What 's the matter and weigh the severall pretences as one day he will many of those hot contests which are kept up amongst Christians with so bitter animosities almost on all sides will be found able to produce no fairer grounds to Justify their unchristian Janglings there those Just now mentioned You see then that while Christ does expresly command us to Love one another Yea all men even Enemys he does vertually and consequentially forbid us to use towards any upon any pretence of difference whatsoever such words and carriages as we could never use towards them did we but Love them though but with the Love of the World Neither must we expect that such a slender Plea as a pretence that it is in the cause of God and Religion will serve our turne to Justify us in the sight of God for a breach of the highest and most undoubted law of Christ any more then the Pharisees Crying It's Corban could excuse them while they refused to supply the necessiti's of their poor Parents Nay rather it will be an agravation of our Sin while we Patronize it upon God and make Religion a Sanctuary for wickedness To oppress is a great iniquity but to plead foâ— and Justify oppressions because hereby we are enabled to give alms to build hospitalls this is an higher abomination it is Offering unto God swines blood and bringing the hire of an Harlot into the Temple 5ly It is a doing that which even the Common light of nature calls for this is acknowledged even amongst the Heathens as one of the Clearest and certainest rules of right that every one should doe as they themselves would be don to this our Saviour Commands Matt. 7. 12. Now look a little into your owne hearts ask your selves would I willingly were I in a mistake be Derided for it Upbraided with it Persecuted for it should I not Judge it more reasonable that others should pitty me endeavour to Convince me Supposing the Errour to be dangerous Does not the greatest damage accrew to my selfe thereby And what because I am blinde and have lost my way must I therfore be Spit on Trampled on abused Because I am not so happy as others in finding out the truth Must I therfore be made more miserable then I am Because God has left me to mine own ignorance and darkness must man add affliction to affliction 6ly To do otherwise is but to misimploy that Heat Vigour Vehemency which God has put into us unto another use then God intended it For God intended this Zeale for the consumeing of our owne Lusts not the singeing smutting of our Brothers Name this fire in us was made to warm our Neighbours not to scorch and Burne them and shall we make no better reckoning of Gods gifts then to wast and abuse them Do our selves and others harm by that which God ment for both our Goods may not this prouoke God to keep his mercys to himself and not put them into Childrens hands to Cut their own Fingers and to Slash their Neighbours with 7ly It is an unreasonable thing to be more Seven in smaller Crimes then we allow our selves to be in greater Let a man distemper his body besott his parts wast his Estate squander away his precious time undo his Wife and Children venture his Soul in swilling and drinking we bear with him let him
my self will send it A word of Commemoration to drive all home did I say I would Curse you ye may well trust me for I have already begun and that upon your neglect herein If Judgments threatned cannot awake you pray let Judgments inflicted do it though you may put by your Feares sure you cannot put off your feeling too But least all this should be too little to work them up to a real Reformation he goes two steps further 1st The threatening which he seemed to suspend the execution of untill he had made some tryall whether they would heare or no here he denounces absolutely without any Reserues least they should at least delay Setting in good earnest to return to their duty out of hopes that Judgment would however be deferred if it could not be reversed 2ly That they might be more fully possest with distinct apprehensions of their danger he represents it at large in two particulars which touch nature where it has the quickest sense 1st Of pain which unavoidably follows upon the Cutting of all hopes of not only the Comforts but the Necessary supports of nature while he threatens to Corrupt the very first principle the seed of these 2ly Of shame when that which should be the highest Honour Proves the Greatest disgrace and dung is as it were taken from their Sacrifices and thrown in their very faces Now least God in this way of Proceeding should be taxed of too much severity he for the Vindication of himself declares 1st That there is Love in all this and great Love too The design of all his threatnings and Chastizings being only to reduce them to their primitive purity and to interest them in those priviledges which the Tribe of Levi did at first enjoy 2ly However there is Justice in it for if the Priests by their unfaithfulness in their place suffer the People to run into sin and when they have done so never lay it to heart nor endeavour to reclaim them it is but Just they should smart for it Well therefore may I proceed thus rigorously against the Priests For they ought to keep knowledge where in the whole Verse you have 1st The Priests dignity declared for the sence is Retrograde to the Words as despicable as he Looks in the eyes of the proud profane Worldlings he is no mean one in the Judgment of the wisest best and greatest God himself pitches upon him as one of such Qualifications and hopes as render him fit to be trusted in an Imployment of highest Consequence a message from the King of Heaven unto the greatest on Earth and such a Message also as concerns them more then all their Comforts in this Life as much as their Souls their very Souls and their unspeakeable unconceivable happiness or misery to all Eternity is worth Men count it an Honour to be made use of as an Ambassador or Envoy to a forrain State by one who setting aside his clothes and titles is but Flesh and Blood like themselves one whose approbation of a Mans abilities and Faithfulness is no certain Testimony of them his Judgment being liable to a double miscarriage The one by mistake while he presumes the Man to be endowed with those vertues and accomplishments which he is really without only hath the shadow of them The other by mis-valuing while he over values his indifferent parts and makes small of his notorious Vices but here is one approved by the God of greatest understanding and Wisdom imployed by one who is LORD not in title but in reality One who has the command not of one small Army but of all the forces on Earth yea in Heaven and Hell too The Generalissimo of all who has them absolutely at his book 2ly You have upon this a double duty founded 1st Of the Priest therefore it is expected from him to preserve Knowledge Even in the most corrupt and degenerate age let him Remember whose business he is about whose dependent he is and let him not be Afraid of Speaking seasonable and vsefull truths tho' they may thwart the Interests of the very Greatest and Provoke their Indignation against him and so Expose himself unto Hazards the Lord of Hosts whose Messenger he is Is able to protect him in the Work he sets him about let the whole World and Hell too do its worst and he will do it in spite of them 2ly Of the people it is Justly expected from them that they should not onely give the Minister an hearing when he comes to seek them but they should also seek him that they May hear at his mouth what is the Message he brings from Heaven and what the Lord requires at their hands If they dare venture to put an affront upon the Lord of hosts and an high one too and Engage him against them they may Suffer him to send on purpose to them about their greatest concerns and declare to the World that they neither Value him nor his Messenger nor his Message any more then if it came from a vain weak Foolish mortall Inconsiderable man like themselves nay not so much they 'l not stir to the door to hear it And all this is suggested to Justify God in the severity he seemes to make Vse of while he punishes and threatens the Preists so very sharply Well may God make them smart with a witness while they suffer the People to dishonour him and undo themselves which possibly might have been prevented if they Would be mindfull of their duty in Letting the People know theirs and the great danger they run upon in neglecting it Which they were much obliged to do being so greatly confided in by the high God to be Employed by him about such a message and concerned to do least they incur the displeasure of the great God the Lord of Hosts And pray what danger had they run upon if they had been ingenuous and Faithfull Need they have feared to be the least harmed by feeble man having the Lord of Hosts in whose Message they were employed standing at their back to defend them So that 3ly Ye have the Improvement made of both by Application to the present occasion Doct. It is one of the main Dutyes of the Ministers to preserve Knowledge by their Lips If by their Unfaithfulness in the discharge of this duty they Suffer people to dishonour the great God and ruine their Poor Souls they have no reason to Quarrel with God if he make their lives Miserable and their Persons despicable Ver. 3. 1st I do not say that it is the duty onely of the Minister No every Particular person has a Soul a precious Soul to look after which without knowledge and real powerfull Knowledge is like to be miserable unto all Eternity and if it be so he 'l find that he himself is the most to blame He therefore should get knowledge and preserve it in himself whatever it cost him Every Master of a family should preserve the Knowledge which is according to
at some time O thou Afflicted Tossed with Tempests and not Comforted c. Isa 54. 11. This being the generall state of the Church 3ly Those that are Converted should expect and prepare for this and in a Calme lay up for a storm St. Mat. 7. 25. And it fell not for it was Founded on a Rock THis Verse Contains in it three Parts 1st A Tryall of a new Erected building which is set on grievously and variously by Showers at the Top Flouds at the Foundation and Winds at the sides and Walls 2ly A result of this Tryall It fell not 3ly A reason of this result for it was Founded on a Rock The Tryall I have already spoken to the result of this is that the house when all was done fell not though enough was done to make the fairest and strongest house which wanted a good Foundation fall though those who were desirous to see the fall of it were never so high in their hopes of obtaining this desire yet the house stood where it did at the first as firm as ever Now what is the reason why this house should stand when many houses that so far as any man could discern were full as strongly built have come down to the ground and been laid all on heaps by far less searching and pressing Tryalls then these The reason is that the houses which fell wanted the strength and support which this standing house has they were not founded on a Rock as this is What was above ground in the Superstructure was full as fair and promising to Mans eyes but what was under ground in the Foundation was deceitfull Doct. Whatever Temptations a spirituall Building which is Founded on a Rock meets with let them do their worst against it it will keep from falling Any house will stand while the Weather is Fair and Favourable and nothing done against it to try its strength but only that house which has a good Foundation and which is well built upon this Foundation will abide all stormes There are Two things Observable in this Assertion of Christs 1st He supposes the worst done that can be done for the weak'ning and Overturning of this house he grants that it may be Assaulted on every side by many and Considerable Enemies which use their utmost strength and force against it Nay he shews that it will be thus Assaulted Showers and Flouds and Winds will come and Furiously beat on it if not all together yet one so in the Neck of another that they shall do what may be done for the Ruin of it 2ly When he say's that the house fell not after all this done to bring it down He asserts it Peremptorily he saith not it did not fall soon or it did not fall easily but it did not fall at all He asserts it Vniversally he saith not that some house that was built by a wise man on a Rock fell not But what ever house it be that is built wisely so as to be Founded on a Rock let it be assaulted by never such violent stormes it stands in spite of them He Asserts it Experimentally as a thing which he has not only heard but known In prosecuting this proposition I shall shew 1st In what sense we own this for a truth 2ly How it may be proved to be one 3ly What grounds there are for it 4ly How weak the Exceptions are that are made against it When we say such a Building falls not 1st We do not say that a Building which seems founded on a Rock falls not but that which is really so Founded for it must be granted that Hypocrites may Cast a very fair shew so as not only to deceive others but themselves too as doubtless those did who to the very last presumed that they were so interested in Christ that they needed never fear to be disowned by him at the great day Mat. 7. 22. Many will say to me in that day Lord Lord have we not Prophesied in thy Name c. Now the fall of such is no Exception to this Truth for it do's not follow that because Meteors in the Heavens which seem to be Stars but are only Jellies which have got a great height and thereby much imbibe the Suns light are seen Frequently to fall that therefore the Stars of Heaven do fall too Men may so Speciously profess Christ as though they be no living Branches in Christ yet to gain the repute of being so Now if these be taken away from the Root it follows not that the true living Branches can be taken away also St. John 15. 2. Every Branch in me that beareth not Fruit he taketh away c. If those who have only a name to live but are Really Dead as it was with the Angel of the Church of Sardis Rev. 3. 1. do afterwards carry so as to make it apparent to all that they are Dead indeed this hinders not but those who are indeed alive may still keep their life and cannot lose it If those who are so near the Kingdome of God that they seem in it especially to those who are little Judicious in such matters it was easy for Ordinary Persons to mistake him to be in the Kingdome of God whom Christ Judges not to be far off Mark. 12. 34. If these I say remove to a greater distance from God's Kingdome than once they weâ—â— at to so great a distance that every one may now see they are not in it this shews not that those who are once in the Kingdome of God may come out again 2ly We say not that a Building which is really Founded on a Rock may not seem to fall We grant that one Really Vnited unto Christ may seem to fall off from him he may seem thus both to himself and to others And this is not Unusuall unto those who are in the state of Desertion on whom little Fruit can be discerned by others outwardly in whom little Fruit is found by themselves inwardly All that they know by themselves is this that they are not as they have been as they should be as they would be and this is all that is stirring in them near the Root which Evidences them to be alive like the Tree whose leaves are all gone Esai 6. 13. Thus the Tree in Winter seems dead for it has no more on it than a dead Tree has neither Fruit nor so much as Leaves Yet it is not dead for at the Spring it shew's it has life in it which it could not have if ever it had lost it quite Thus a man in a Swoon seems to be quite dead he neither has sense nor Motion nor Pulse nor Breath nor Colour He is every way as like a dead Corps as can be for a while yet that he is not dead appears Sufficiently in that he Recovers again 3ly Neither do I say that those who are indeed Founded on a Rock may not really fall in part and for a while as an house may stand and yet