exemption from common restraints their continual distractions and encumbrances by varieties of care and business their multitude of obsequious followers and scarcity of faithful friends to advise or reprove them their having no obstacles before them to check their wills to cross their humours to curb their lusts and passions are so many dangerous â—nares unto them wherefore they do need plentifull measures of Grace and mighty assistances from God to preserve them from the worst errours and sins into which otherwise 't is almost a miracle if they are not plunged And being they are so liable to sin they must consequently stand often in need of God's mercy to bear with them and to pardon them They therefore upon so many accounts needing special help and grace from Heaven do most need Prayers to derive it thence for them All Princes indeed do need them Good Princes need many Prayers for God's help to uphold and confirm them in their Vertue Bad Princes need deprecations of God's wrath and judgment toward them for offending his Majesty together with supplications for God's Grace to convert and reform them the most desperate and incorrigible need Prayers that God would over-rule and restrain them from doing mischief to themselves and others All Princes having many avocations and temptations hindring them to pray enough for themselves do need supplemental aids from the Devotions of others Wherefore if we love Them if we love our Country if we love our Selves if we tender the interests of Truth of Piety of common Good we considering their case and manifold need of Prayers will not fail earnestly to sue for them that God would afford needful assistance to them in the administration of their high Office in the improvement of their great talents in the conduct and management of their arduous Affairs that he graciously would direct them in their perplexed Counsels would back them in their difficult Undertakings would protect their Persons from dangers would keep their Hearts from the prevalency of temptations would pardon their Failings and Trespasses Again 9. Whereas God hath declared that he hath special regard to Princes and a more than ordinary care over them because they have a peculiar relation to him as his Representatives the Ministers of his Kingdom the main instruments of his Providence whereby he conveyeth his favours and dispenseth his justice to men because also the good of mankind which he especially tendereth is mainly concerned in their welfare whereas I say it is he that giveth salvation unto Kings that giveth great deliverance to his King and sheweth mercy to his Anointed that hath the King's heart and his breath and all his ways in his hand even upon this account our prayers for them are the more required For it is a method of God and an established rule of Divine Providence not to dispense special Blessings without particular Conditions and the concurrence of our duty in observance of what he prescribeth in respect to them Seeing then He hath enjoyned that in order to our obtaining those great Benefits which issue from his special care over Princes we should pray for it and seek it from his hands the omission of this duty will intercept it or bereave us of its advantages nor in that case may we expect any blessings of that kind As without praying for our selves we must not expect private favours from Heaven so without praying for our Prince we cannot well hope for publick blessings For as a profane person who in effect disavoweth God by not regarding to seek his favour and aid is not qualified to receive any good from him so a profane Nation which disclaimeth God's Government of the world by not invoking his Benediction on those who moderate it under him is not well capable of common benefits It is upon all accounts true which Ezra said The hand of our God is upon all them for good that seek him but his power and his wrath is against all them that forsake him If therefore we desire that our Prince should not lose God's special regard if we would not forfeit the benefits thereof to our selves we must conspire in hearty Prayers for him 10. To engage and encourage us in which practice we may farther consider that such Prayers offered duly with frequency and constancy with sincerity and zeal do always turn to good account and never want good effect the which if it be not always easily discernible yet it is certainly real if it be not perfect as we may desire yet it is competent as expediency requireth or as the condition of things will bear There may be impediments to a full success of the best Prayers they may not ever prevail to render Princes compleatly good or extreamly prosperous For some concurrence of their own will is requisite to produce their Vertue God rarely working with irresistible power or fatal efficacy and the state of things or capacities of Persons are not always fitly suted for prosperity Yet are not such Prayers ever wholly vain or fruitless For God never prescribeth means unavailable to the end he never would have commanded us particularly to pray for Kings if he did not mean to bestow a good issue to that practice And surely he that hath promised to hear all requests with faith and sincerity and incessant earnestness presented to him cannot fail to hear those which are of such consequence which are so agreeable to his will which do include so much honesty and charity In this case surely we may have some confidence according to that of S. John This is the confidence we have in him that if we ask any thing according to his will he heareth us As the good Bishop observing S. Austin's Mother with what constancy and passionateness she did pray for her Son being then engaged in ways of errour and vanity did encourage her saying It is impossible that a Son of those devotions should perish so may we hopefully presume and encourage our selves that a Prince will not miscarry for whose welfare many good people do earnestly solicit Fieri non potest ut Princeps istarum lacrymarum pereat You know in general the mighty efficacy of Prayer what pregnant assurances there are and how wonderful instances thereof occurre in Holy Scripture both in relation to publick and private blessings How it is often promised that All things whatsoever we shall ask in prayer believing we shall receive and that whoever asketh receiveth and he that seeketh findeth and to him that knocketh it shall be opened How the prayer of Abraham did heal Abimelech and his family of barrenness how the prayers of Moses did quench the fire and cure the bitings of the fiery Serpents how the prayer of Joshua did arrest the Sun how the prayer of Hannah did procure Samuel to her as his name doth import how Elias his prayers did open and shut the heavens how the same Holy Prophet's prayer did reduce
11. Psal. 36. 8. Psal. 63. 5. Psal. 84. 10. Psal. 84. 2. Psal. 116. 1. 138. 2. Luk. 10. 24. Job 23. 12. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Const. Apost 2. 61. Theophr Matt. 22. 2 c. Luk. 14. 16 c. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 c. Chrys. in Joh. Orat. 11. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Chrys. in Joh. 1. 14. Or. 11. Psal. 78. 73. Psal. 34. 1. 71. 6. 145. 2. Psal. 35. 28. Psal. 61. 4. Dan. 6. 10. 2 Cor. 11. 28. 2 Thess. 3. 8. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Euseb. de Vita const 4. 22. Vid. Rom. 12. Ephes. 6. c. Psal. 107. 43. Psal. 64. 9. Psal. 111. 2. Psal. 34. 8. Psal. 28. 5. Isa. 5. 12. Ps. 78. 34 35. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Sen. 3. de Benef cap. 1. Ps. 78. 11 42. Neh. 9. 17. Deut. 32. 18. Thy loving-kindness is ever before mine eyes Psal. 26. 3. Ps. 77. 11 12. Psal. 143. 5. Psal. 103. 2. Ps. 63. 5 6 7. Psal. 71. 6. Deut. 6. 12. 8. 11. Ps. 108. 3 4. Ps. 105. 5 7. Ps. 36. 5 6 7. Ps. 139. 17 18. Psal. 111. 3. Psal. 145. 9. Psal. 68. 19. Quoties quod proposuit quis consequitur capit operis sui fructum Qui beneficium dat quid proponit sibi prodesse ei cui dat sibi voluptati esse Non sibi invicem reddi voluit aut non fuit beneficium sed negotiatio Beneficii proprium est nihil de reditu cogitare Senec. Nec est dubium quin is qui liberalis benignúsque dicitur officium non fructum sequatur Cic. de Leg. I. Psal. 63. 3. Psal. 104. 33. 71. 22. Psal. 63. 5. Psal. 9. 1 2. Psal. 103. 1. 2 Cor. 9. 7. Acts 14. 17. Ps. 78. 30 31. * 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Chrys. Tom. I. pag. 54. Hos. 14. 2. Heb. 13. 15. * 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Psal. 69. 30 31. Psal. 89. 1. Psal. 26. 7. Psal. 145. 5. Psal. 40. 10. Vid. Psal. 66. 5. O come hither and behold the works of God c. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 c. Clem. Alexan. Strom. I. pag. 270. Psal. 57. 8. 1 Sam. 12. 24. Onely fear the Lord and serve him in truth with all your heart for consider how great things he hath done for you Heb. 6. 7 8. * 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Psal. 16. 2. Psal. 116. 12. Vers. 13 14. Prov. 3. 9. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 S. Chrys. in Psal. 144. pag. 885. Savil. Exod. 23. 15. Hom. Il. n' adfinem Vid. Platonis Alcib II. pag. 459. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 c. Rom. 12. 1. 1 Pet. 2. 5. Heb. 13. 15. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Câ—m Alex. Strom. 7 p. 511. Prov. 19. 17. Heb. 6. 10. Heb. 13. 16. Phil. 4. 17. 18. Matt. 25 40. Ecclus 35. 1 2 3. Psal. 18. 1. Verse 3. Verse 46. Psal. 116. 1. Luk. 7. 47. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Soph. Psal 113. 5 6. Jam. 1. 5. Psal. 106. Matt. 10. 22. Psal. 14. 1â— Exod. 28. 30 Joh. 18. 20. Luk. 24. 53. 1 Thess. 5. 16 18. Eph. 6. 18. Luke 18. 1. 1 Thess. 5. 17. Psal. 145. 2. Psal. 35. 28 Plal. 71. 8 15 24. Psal. 146. 2. 104. 33. Psal. 34. 1. Psal. 71. 6. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 c. Chrysost. Tom. V. pag. 76. Lib. I. cap. 17. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Clemens Alexand. Strom. VII pag. 517. Psal. 19. 1 2 3. Psal. 144. Jam. 1. 8. Dan. 8. 11. Heb. 13. 15. Tsal 119. 64. Psal. 92. 1 2. Psal. 55. 17. Psal. 65. 8. Rom. 12. 12. Ephes. 6. 18. Coloss. 4. 2. Ephes. 1. 16. 1 Thess. 5. 17. Luk. 18. 1. Psal. 108. 1. Psal. 37. 25. Ephes. 6. 18. Luk. 21. 36. Psal. 30. 11. Psal. 31. 7 8. Apoc. 19. 1 2. Luke 10. 21. Psal. 139. 17 18. Psal. 36. 5 6 7. 1 Cor. 15. 41. Psal. 139. 14 15 16. Ephes. 1. 3 4. 1 Pet. 1. 3 4. Quem verò astrcrum ordines quem dierum noctiùmque vâ—cissitudines quem mensium temperatio quémque ea quae nobis gignuntur ad fruendum non gratum esse cogant hunc hominem omnino numerare qui decet Cic. de Leg II. 1 Tim. 2. 1. Vid. Chrys. in 2 Cor. Or. 2. Gal. 6. 10. Rom. 〈◊〉 1â— Ma◠〈◊〉 Psal. 145. 9. Psal. 146. 7 8 9. Psal. 147. 6. 1 Pet. 5. 7. Psal. 5. 11. Psal. 104. 28. 145. 16. Psal. 147. 9. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 c. Chryâ—ost in Psal. 148. Heb. 12. 6. Psal. 119. 75. Luke 10. 20. Psal. 103. 1 c. I. Luke 6. 33. Vid. Gell. lib. V. cap. 14. Heb. 6. 8. II. * Laberius 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 De Benef. lib. 3. cap. 6. III. Psal. 135. 3. Psal. 147. 1. Vid. Psal. 9 1. Jam 5. 13. Vid. Psal. 69. 30 31. Psal. 50. 13 14 23. Vid. diviniss Chrysost. locum Tom. V. pag. 76. Plin. Epist. Psal. 72. 18 19. Psal. 106 48. On May 29. 1 Tim. 1. 3. Verse 6. Ver. 5 19. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Aug. Ep. 59. Beza Grotius c. Gal. 6. 10. 1 Tim. 2. 4 5 6. Privatorum ist a copia est inter so esse munificos Auson ad Gratiâ—n Absit Auguste illud Sancta Divinitas omen avertat ut tu â quoquam mortalium exspectes vicem beneficii Mamerc ad Julian Psal. 16. 2. Isa. 2. â—3 1 King 1. â—5 2 King 11. 12. 2 Chr. 23. 11. 1 King 1. 31. Dan. 2. 4. 3. 9. 5. 10. 6. 6. Neh. 2. 3. Dan. 6. 21. 2 Sam. 21. 17. 2 Kings 24. 19. Jer. 32. 3. Lam. 4. 20. Zech. 12. 11. 2 Chr. 35. 24. 2 Sam. 1. 12. 24. Sed juramus sicut non per genios Caesarum it à per salutem eorum quae est augustior omnibus geniis Tert. Apol c. 32. * Gen. 42. 15 16. 2 Sam. 18. 3. Prov. 4. 9. Psal. 72. 4 Flexibiles in quamcunque partem ducimur à Principe atque ut it à dicam sequaces sumus Huio enim chari huic probats esse cupimus quod frustrà speraverint dissimiles Eóque obsequii continuatione pervenâ—mus ut proâ—è omnes homines unius moribus vi vamus Plin. Paneg. Vita Principis censura est eáque perpetua ad hanc dirigimur ad hanc convertimur nec tam imperio nobis opus est quà m exemplo Ibid. * Ecclus 10. 2. Prov. 20. 8. Prov. 14. 3 4. 16. 12. 2 Sam. 7. 16. Prov. 11. 10 11. 2 Sam. 7 9. Psal. 72. 7. 2 Sam. 7. 16. 1 King 11. 13. Jer. 33. 21. Psal. 89. 29. 132. 10. Isa. 27. 35. 1 King 11. 32 34. 2 King 23. 25. Isa. 3. 1 c. Deut. 28. 36. 1 Sam. 12. 25. Prov. 28. 2. 1 King 11. 33. 1 King 15. 30. 2 King 17. 21. 2 King 23. 26. 2 Sam. 21. 1. Jer. 32. 32. 2 Chr. 32. 25. 1 Chr. 21. 3 7. 1 Chr. 21. 17. 2 Sam. 24. 1. Psal. 33. 15. Prov. 21. 1. Isa. 60. 17. Ezr. 7. 27. Psal. 106. 32 33. Exod. 32. Deut.
Solomon translateth thus The righteous is more excellent then his neighbour He is dignified by the most illustrious titles a Son of God a Friend and Favourite to the Sovereign King of the World an Heir of Heaven a Denizon of the Jerusalem above Titles far surpassing all those which worldly state doth assume He is approved by the best and most infallible judgments wherein true Honour resideth He is respected by God himself by the H. Angels by the blessed Saints by all good and all wise persons yea commonly by all men for the effects of genuine Piety are so venerable and amiable that scarce any man can doe otherwise then in his heart much esteem him that worketh them The Pious man is also the most potent man he hath a kind of omnipotency because he can doe what-ever he will that is what he ought to doe and because the Divine Power is ever ready to assist him in his pious enterprises so that He can doe all things by Christ that strengtheneth him He is able to combat and vanquish him that is 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the stout and might one to wage war with happy success against principalities and powers He conquereth and commandeth himself which is the bravest victory and noblest empire he quelleth fleshly lusts subdueth inordinate passions and repelleth strong temptations He by his faith overcometh the world with a conquest far more glorious then ever any Alexander or Caesar could do He in sine doth perform the most worthy exploits and deserveth the most honourable triumphs that man can do The Pious man also doth enjoy the onely true Pleasures hearty pure solid durable Pleasures such Pleasures as those of which the divine Psalmist singeth In thy presence is fulness of joy at thy right hand there are pleasures for evermore That all joy in believing that gayety of hope that incessant rejoycing in the Lord and greatly delighting in his Law that continual feast of a good Conscience that serving the Lord with gladness that exceeding gladness with God's countenance that comfort of the Holy Spirit that joy unspeakable and full of glory the satisfaction resulting from the contemplation of Heavenly truth from the sense of God's favour and the pardon of his sins from the influence of God's grace from the hopes and anticipation of everlasting bliss these are Pleasures indeed in comparison whereto all other pleasures are no more then brutish sensualitys sordid impurities superficial touches transient flashes of delight such as should be insipid and unsavoury to a rational appetite such as are tinctured with sourness and bitterness have painfull remorses or qualms consequent All the Pious man's performances of duty and of devotion are full of pure satisfaction and delight here they shall be rewarded with perfect and endless joy hereafter As for Safety the Pious man hath it most absolute and sure he being guarded by Almighty power and wisedom resting under the shadow of God's wings God upholding him with his hand ordering his steps so that none of them shall slide holding his soul in life and suffering not his feet to be moved he being by the grace and mercy of God secured from the assaults and impressions of all enemies from sin and guilt from the Devil world and flesh from death and hell which are our most formidable and in effect onely dangerous enemies As for Liberty the Pious man most entirely and truly doth enjoy that he alone is free from captivity to that cruel Tyrant Satan from the miserable slavery to Sin from the grievous dominion of lust and passion He can doe what he pleaseth having a mind to doe onely what is good and fit The Law he observeth is worthily called the perfect law of liberty the Lord he serveth pretendeth onely to command free-men and friends Ye are my friends said he if you doe what-ever I command you and If the Son set you free then are you free indeed And for Ease 't is he onely that knoweth it having his mind exempted from the distraction of care from disorder of passion from anguish of Conscience from the drudgeries and troubles of the world from the vexations and disquiets which sin produceth He findeth it made good to him which our Lord inviting him did promise Come unto me all ye that labour and are heavy laden and I will give you rest he feeleth the truth of those Divine assertions Thou wilt keep him in perfect peace whose mind is stayed on thee and Great peace have they which love thy Law and nothing shall offend them As for Knowledge the Pious man alone doth attain it considerably so as to become truly wise and learned to purpose Evil men saith the Wise man himself who knew well understand not judgment but they that seek the Lord understand all things It is the Pious man that employeth his mind upon the most proper and worthy objects that knoweth things which certainly best deserve to be known that hath his Soul enriched with the choicest notions he skilleth to aim at the best ends and to compass them by the fittest means he can assign to each thing its due worth and value he can prosecute things by the best methods and order his affairs in the best manner so that he is sure not to be defeated or disappointed in his endeavours nor to mis-spend his care and pains without answerable fruit He hath the best Master to instruct him in his studies and the best rules to direct him in his proceedings he cannot be mistaken seeing in his judgment and choice of things he conspireth with infallible Wisedom Therefore 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the pious man is the exquisite philosopher The fear of the Lord that is wisedom and to depart from evil is understanding The fear of the Lord as is said again and again in Scripture is the head or top of wisedom A good understanding have all they that keep his commandments Farther the Pious man is enabled and disposed hath the power and the heart most to benefit and oblige others He doeth it by his succour and assistence by his instruction and advice which he is ever ready to yield to any man upon fit occasion he doeth it by the direction and encouragement of his good Example he doeth it by his constant and earnest Prayers for all men he doeth it by drawing down Blessings from Heaven on the place where he resideth He is upon all accounts the most true the most common benefactour to mankind all his neighbours his Country the World are in some way or other obliged to him at least he doeth all the good he can and in wish doth benefit all men Thus all the fruits and consequences of Profit the which engage men so eagerly to pursue it do in the best kind and highest degree result from Piety and indeed onely from it All the Philosophical Bravado's concerning a Wise man being onely rich
ingenuity and humanity who doth not delight to make some returns thither where he hath found much good will whence he hath felt great kindness Since then all the good we have we have received from God's favour it cannot but be very pleasant to render somewhat of requital as it were unto him and we can render no other but this We cannot make God more rich more joyfull more happy then he is all that we can doe is to express our reverence toward him 3. For that likewise our honouring God disposes us to the imitation of him for what we do reverence we would resemble that is to the doing those things wherein our chief perfection and happiness consists whence our best content and joy doth spring 4. In fine for that the practice of this duty is most profitable and beneficial to us unto it by an eternal rule of justice our final welfare and prosperity being annexed whence God hath declared it to be the way and condition of our attaining that thing which we so like and prize Honour to our selves the which by promise he hath engaged himself to confer on those who honour him And IV. This promise he makes good several ways Some of them I shall briefly suggest 1. The honouring God is of it self an honourable thing the employment which ennobles Heaven it self wherein the highest Angels do rejoyce and glory 'T is the greatest honour of a Servant to bring credit to his Master of a Subject to spread his Prince's renown and upon grounds vastly more obliging of a Creature to glorifie his Maker that we may doe so is an honour we should be glad may be proud of 2. By honouring God we are immediately instated in great Honour we enter into most noble relations acquire most illustrious titles enjoy most glorious privileges we become the friends and favourites of Heaven are adopted into God's family and are styled his Children do obtain a free access unto him a sure protection under him a ready assistence from him in all our needs And what honour can exceed can equal this 3. God hath so ordered it that Honour is naturally consequent upon the honouring him God hath made Goodness a noble and a stately thing hath impressed upon it that beauty and majesty which commands an universal love and veneration which strikes presently both a kindly and an awfull respect into the minds of all men righteous is not onely in himself but in common esteem more excellent then his neighbour Power may be dreaded Riches may be courted Wit and Knowledge may be admired but onely Goodness is truly esteemed and honoured Not onely men of goodness and discretion but even the vulgar sort of men yea as Plato hath well observed the worst men do pass this judgment do prefertrue Goodness above all things 4. God by his extraordinary providence as there is reason and occasion doth interpose so as to procure Honour to them to maintain and further their reputation who honour him God fashioneth the hearts of men The hearts of the greatest men are in his hand he turneth them as the rivers of waters whithersoever he will he consequently raiseth or depresseth us as he pleases in the judgments and affections of men When a man's ways please the Lord he maketh even his enemies to be at peace with him saith the Wise man that is he disposeth the most averse minds to love and honour him No envy can supplant no slander can deface the credit of such a person since God hath taken it into his charge and care since he hath said it that he will bring forth his righteousness as the light and his judgment as the noon-day God also by secret methods and undiscernible trains ordereth all events managing our thoughts and designs our enterprizes and actions so that the result of them shall be matter of benefit comfort and reputation or of disaster regret and disgrace as he thinks good Victory and success he absolutely disposeth of and consequently of the Honour that follows them and they do usually attend the honourers of God for as it is in the Psalm A good success have they who keep his commandments Many are the instances of persons such as Abraham Joseph Moses David Job and Daniel who for their signal honouring of God from a base and obscure or from an afflicted and forlorn condition have in ways strange and wonderfull been advanced to eminent dignity have been rendred most illustrious by the providence of him who raiseth the poor out of the dust and lifteth the beggar out of the dunghill to set them among Princes and to make them inherit the throne of glory He doeth it in an evident manner and eminent degree to some he doeth it in a convenient way and competent measure to all that honour him 5. Whereas men are naturally inclined to bear much regard to the judgment of Posterity concerning them are desirous to leave a Good name behind them and to have their memory retained in esteem God so disposes things that the memory of the just shall be blessed that his righteousness shall be had in everlasting remembrance that his light shall rejoyce or burn clearly and pleasantly even when his life is put out here No spices can so embalm a man no monument can so preserve his name and memory as a pious conversation whereby God hath been honoured and men benefited The fame of such a person is in the best judgments far more precious and truly glorious then is the fame of those who have excelled in any other deeds or qualities For what sober man doth not in his thoughts afford a more high and hearty respect to those poor Fishermen who by their heroical activity and patience did honour God in the propagation of his heavenly Truth then to all those Hectors in Chivalry those Conquerours and atchievers of mighty exploits those Alexanders and Caesars who have been renowned for doing things which seemed great rather then for performing what was truly good To the honour of those excellent poor men conspicuous monuments have been erected every-where anniversary memorials of their names and vertues are celebrated they are never mentioned or thought of without respect their commendations are interwoven with the praises of their great Lord and Maker whom they honoured 6. Lastly to those who honour God here God hath reserved an honour infinitely great and excellent in comparison whereto all Honours here are but dreams the loudest acclamations of mortal men are but empty sounds the brightest glories of this world are but duskish and fleeting shadows an honour most solid most durable an eternal weight of glory They shall in the face of all the world be approved by the most righteous Judge his unquestionable Sentence they shall be esteemed in the unanimous opinion of Angels and Saints they shall be applauded by the general voice and attestation of Heaven thev
shall then be seated upon unmovable Thrones their heads encircled with unfading Crowns their faces shining with rays of unconceivable Glory and majesty The less of Honour they have received here in this transitory moment of life the more thereof they shall enjoy in that future eternal state where with him who through the whole course of his life sought not his own honour but the honour of him that sent him who for the suffering of death was crowned with glory and honour who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross despising the shame and is set at the right hand of God with those who consecrated all their endeavours and who sacrificed their lives to the promoting of God's Honour they shall possess everlasting glory Which together with them God Almighty of his infinite mercy grant unto us all through Jesus Christ our Lord to whom with God the Father and God the Holy Ghost be for ever all Honour and Praise Amen The Fifth Sermon PROV 10. 9. He that walketh uprightly walketh surely THE world is much addicted to the Politicks the heads of men are very busie in contrivance and their mouths are full of talk about the ways of consulting our safety and securing our interests May we not therefore presume that an infallible Maxim of Policy proposing the most expedite and certain method of security in all our transactions will be entertained with acceptance Such an one the greatest Politician and wisest man for business if we may take God's own word for it that ever was or will be doth here suggest to us For the practice couched in our Text he otherwhere voucheth for a point of Policy telling us that A man of understanding walketh uprightly and here he recommendeth it as a method of Security He that walketh uprightly walketh surely Treating upon which Aphorism I shall by God's help endeavour first in way of Explication briefly to describe the practice it self then in way of Proof by some Considerations to declare that Security doth attend it For Explication To walk as well in the style of Holy Scripture as in other Writings and even in common speech doth signifie our usual course of dealing or the constant tenour of our practice Uprightly according to the original might be rendred in perfection or with integrity And by the Greek Translatours in several places is supposed chiefly to denote Sincerity and Purity of intention In effect the Phrase He that walketh uprightly doth import One who is constantly disposed in his designs and dealings to bear a principal regard to the rules of his Duty and the dictates of his Conscience who in every case emergent is ready to perform that which upon good deliberation doth appear most just and fit in conformity to God's Law and sound Reason without being swayed by any appetite any passion any sinister respect to his own private interest of profit credit or pleasure to the commission of any unlawfull irregular unworthy or base act who generally doth act out of good principles namely reverence to God charity to men sober regard to his own true welfare who doth aim at good ends that is at God's honour publick benefit his own Salvation other good things subordinate to those or well consistent with them who doth prosecute his designs by lawfull means in fair ways such as honest providence and industry veracity and fidelity dependence upon God's help and prayer for his blessing In short One who never advisedly doth undertake any bad thing nor any good thing to ill purposes nor doth use any foul means to compass his intents For Proof That such an one doth ever proceed with much security from the following Considerations may appear I. An upright walker is secure of easily finding his way For it commonly requireth no reach of wit or depth of judgment no laborious diligence of enquiry no curious intentness of observation no solicitous care or plodding study to discern in any case what is just we need not much trouble our heads about it for we can hardly be to seek for it If we will but open our eyes it lieth in view before us being the plain straight obvious road which common Reason prompteth or which ordinary Instruction pointeth out to us so that usually that direction of Solomon is sufficient Let thine eyes look right on and let thine eye-lids look straight before thee Turn not to the right hand nor to the left The ways of iniquity and vanity if we may call them ways which indeed are but exorbitancies and seductions from the way ill designs and bad means of executing designs are very unintelligible very obscure abstruse and intricate being infinitely various and utterly uncertain so that out of them to pick and fix â—n this or that may puzzle our headâ— and perplex our hearts as to pursue any of them may involve us in great difficulty and trouble But the ways of Truth of Right of Vertue are so very simple and uniform so fixed and permanent so clear and notorious that we can hardly miss them or except wilfully swarve from them For they by Divine wisedom were chalked out not onely for ingenious and subtle persons men of great parts of refined wits of long experience but rather for the vulgar community of men the great Body of God's subjects consisting in persons of meanest capacity and smallest improvement being designed to make wise the simple to give the young man knowledge and discretion to direct all sorts of people in their duty toward their happiness according to that in the Prophet A high way shall be there and it shall be called the way of Holiness the wayfaring-man though fools shall not erre therein They are in very legible characters graven by the finger of God upon our hearts and consciences so that by any considerate reflexion inwards we may easily reade them or they are extant in God's Word there written as with a Sun-beam so perspicuously expressed so frequently inculcated that without gross negligence or strange dulness we cannot but descry them For who with half an eye may not see that the practice of pious love and reverence toward God of entire justice and charity toward our neighbour of sober temperance and purity toward our selves is approved by Reason is prescribed by God to us Hence in the Holy Scripture as bad ways are called dark crooked rough slippery ways so the good ways are said to be clear plain direct even ways The path of the just say they is as a shining light All the words of my mouth are plain to him that understandeth or that considereth them My foot standeth in an even place The Law of his God is in his heart none of his steps shall slide Hence it is affirmed that an upright man doth hardly need any conduct beside his own honesty For The integrity saith Solomon of the upright shall guide them and The righteousness of
sometime may prudently reserve his mind not venting it by foolish loquacity but his words do never clash with his meaning so as to deceive or disappoint any man He may warily prevent harm and decline perils but it is without hurtfull countermining or deriving mischief on his neighbour He may discreetly pick out seasons and embrace opportunities of righting or benefiting himself but he never will seek or lay hold of advantages to prejudice others He sometimes may repress insurrections of anger or disgust but he never doth allow them to bake into rancour or malice He may be apt to use courteous affable obliging demeanour serving to breed friendships and to stifle enmities but he never thereby meaneth to gull inveigle and entrap men or to procure instruments and aids of any perverse design He is no enemy to himself but according to the obligations of reason and conscience he hath always a regard to the good of others nor is ever so selfish as to be unjust or uncharitable to any man The principal engines he doth employ for atchieving his enterprises are a carefull and cautious providence in contriving a sedulous and steddy diligence in acting a circumspect heedfulness not to provoke any man by offensive carriage by injury by discourtesie to obstruct him but rather by kind demonstrations and real beneficence to engage men to further him in his proceedings but especially his main instrument wherein he most consideth is devout supplication to God for his succour and blessing Now is not this conduct the most secure that can be doth it not afford many great commodities and advantages doth it not exempt from manifold fears and cares and crosses and slaveries It cannot but derive blessings from the God of truth the great friend of simplicity and sincerity the hater of falshood and guile And humanely regarding things he that useth these methods doth from them obtain many conveniencies He doth not lie under perpetual constraint engaged to keep a constant guard upon himself to watch his memory to curb his tongue to manage his very looks and gestures lest they betray his intentions and disclose his plots He is not at the trouble of stopping holes of mending flaws of patching up repugnancies in his actions that his mind do not break through them He is not afraid of the disappointment and shame which attend the detection of unworthy designs He is not at pains to obviate the jealousies the surmises the diffidences the counterplots the preventive oppositions and assaults which gloomy closeness and crafty dissimulation ever do raise against the practisers of them In fine men do not shun the conversation and the commerce of an upright person but gladly do consort and deal with him do seek his acquaintance and alliance they are not apt to distrust him to suspect him to be shy and reserved in their intercourse with him but readily do place an entire confidence in him and use a clear frankness toward him No man doth fear him as dangerous or will cross him as an adversary Whence as he seldom hath cause to fear or occasion to contest with others so he doth undisturbedly enjoy the benefits of Society with great safety ease and comfort IX Lastly An upright walker hath perfect security as to the final result of affairs that he shall not be quite baffled in his expectations and desires And if prosperity doth consist in a satisfaction of mind concerning events he cannot fail of most prosperous success Whatsoever he doeth saith the Psalmist of him it shall prosper How is that Doth he if he warreth always get the victory is he perpetually when he tradeth a considerable gainer will he certainly after sowing reap a plentifull crop Probably yea and perhaps no Yet assuredly he shall prosper in the true notion of prosperity explained by those Divine Sayings Mark the perfect man and behold the upright for the end of that man is peace The work of righteousness shall be peace and the effect of righteousness quietness and assurance for ever Surely I know it shall be well with them that fear God He cannot be much defeated in his purposes for as to his general principal absolute designs that is his design of pleasing God and procuring his favour his design of satisfying himself and discharging his Conscience his design of promoting his own spiritual interest and saving his Soul his design of doing good of exercising charity to his neighbour of serving the publick of obliging the world by vertuous example and by real beneficence these he cannot fail thoroughly to accomplish nothing can obstruct him in the prosecution nothing can debarre him from the execution of those undertakings in spite of all the world by the succour of that Divine grace which ever doth favour and further such designs he most happily will atchieve them And for other inferiour designs he can hardly be crossed in regard to them for it is an essential part of integrity not otherwise to affect or aim at private secular interests then under condition and with a reservation if it be God's pleasure if it seem good to Divine Wisedom He knoweth that his pains employed on any honest purpose in a fair way be it to procure some worldly advantage for himself for his relations for his friend are not lost if they have the fruit of submission to God's will and acquiescence in the event disposed by him He is assured that it is good luck to have his project blasted and that missing is better then getting when by Sovereign Wisedom it is so determined He therefore could not so fix his heart or engage his affection in any such concern that his mind is surprized or his passions discomposed by a seeming adversness of events to his endeavours So that in effect he can have no bad success For how can that occurrence be deemed bad which plain reason dictateth in certain judgment to be most expedient for him about which he ever was very indifferent and with which at present he is not heartily displeased How can it be taken for disappointment and misfortune which one was prepared to embrace with satisfaction and complacence Yea to a person so disposed that success which seemeth most adverse justly may be reputed the best and most happy as promoting ends incomparably more excellent then any worldly gain as producing fruits exceedingly more wholsome and more savoury then any temporal commodity as exercising and improving the divinest Vertues Humility Patience Meekness Moderation Contentedness a grain whereof is worth all the wealth all the preferment all that is desirable in the world Wherefore let the worst that can arrive or that which humane blindness and fondness do count the worst yet upright persons do not come off ill or so matters being rightly stated as to be losers upon the foot of the accompt If this do not satisfie grosser apprehensions we may adde that even in these meaner concerns Almighty God is
dare to affront and offend the Almighty God 7. Were it not strangely absurd and unhandsome to say I cannot wait on God because I must speak with a friend I cannot go to Church although God calleth me thither because I must haste to market I cannot stand to pray because I am to receive money or to make up a bargain I cannot discharge my duty to God because a greater obligation then that doth lie upon me How unconceivable an honour how unvaluable a benefit is it that the incomprehensibly-great and glorious Majesty of Heaven doth vouchsafe us the liberty to approach so near unto him to converse so freely with him to demand and derive from his hand the supply of all our needs and satisfaction of all our reasonable desires and is it then just or seemly by such comparisons to disparage his favour by such pretences to baffle with his goodness Put the case our Prince should call for us to speak with him about matters nearly touching his service and our welfare would it be according unto duty discretion or decency to reply that we are at present busie and have no leisure and must therefore hold our selves excused but that if he will stay a while at another time when we have less to doe we shall be perhaps disposed to wait upon him The case is propounded by our Lord in that Parable wherein God is represented as a great man that had prepared a feast and invited many guests thereto but they excused themselves One said that he had purchased land and must needs go out to see it another had bought five yoaks of oxen and must go to prove them another had married a wife and therefore could not come These indeed were affairs very considerable as this world hath any but yet the excuses did not satisfie for notwithstanding the great person was angry and took the neglect in huge disdain 8. Moreover if we reflect what vast portions of time we squander away upon our petty matters upon voluptuous enjoyments upon fruitless pastimes upon impertinent talk how can we satisfie our selves in not allotting competent time upon God's Service our own Salvation and the future everlasting state Doth not he who with the continuance of our life bestoweth on us all our time deserve that a pittance of it should be reserved for himself Can all the world duly claim so great an allowance thereof May not our Soul which is far our noblest part which indeed is all our selves justly challenge a good share of our time to be expended on it or shall this mortal husk engross it all Must Eternity which comprehendeth all Time have no time belonging to it or allotted for its concernments 9. Again is it not great imprudence so to lay our business that any other matter shall thwart or thrust out Devotion Easily with a little providence may things be so ordered that it without interfering or justling may well consist with all other both needfull business and convenient divertisement so that it shall neither obstruct them nor they extrude it and are we not very culpable if we do not use so much providence 10. In truth attending upon Devotion can be no obstacle but will be great furtherance to all other good business It is the most sure most pleasant most advantageous and compendious way of transacting affairs to mix Prayers and Praises with them it is the best oil that can be to make the wheels of action go on smoothly and speedily it not onely sanctifieth our undertakings but much promoteth and exceedingly sweetneth the management of them For the conscience of having rendred unto God his due respect and service of having intrusted our affairs to his care of having consequently engaged his protection and assistence for us will dispose us to doe things with a courageous alacrity and comfortable satisfaction will fill us with a good hope of prospering will prepare us however to be satisfied with the event what-ever it shall be will in effect procure a blessing and happy success such as we may truly rejoyce and triumph in as conferred by God in favour to us Whereas neglecting these duties we can have no solid content or savoury complacence in any thing we undertake reflecting on such misbehaviour if we be not downright infidels or obdurate reprobates in impiety will quash or damp our courage having thence forfeited all pretence to God's succour and provoked him to cross us we must needs suspect disappointment as we have no reasonable ground to hope for success so we cannot if success arriveth be heartily satisfied therein or take it for a blessing He therefore that is such a niggard of his time that he grudgeth to withhold any part thereof from his worldly occasions deeming all time cast away that is laid out in waiting upon God is really most unthristy and prodigal thereof by sparing a little he wasteth all his time to no purpose by so eagerly pursuing he effectually setteth back his designs by preposterously affecting to dispatch his affairs he rendreth them endless or which is the same altogether unprofitable In fine we may be sure that no time is spent even so prudently and politickly with so great advantage and so real fruit to our selves as that which is employed upon Devotion In sacrificing his time his pains his substance any thing he hath or can doe to God's service no man can be a loser We have also many examples plainly demonstrating the consistency of this practice with all other business Who ever had more or greater affairs to manage and who ever managed them with greater success then David upon whom did ly the burthen of a Royal estate and the care over a most populous nation the which he fed with a faithfull and true heart and ruled prudently with all his power who waged great wars vanquished mighty enemies atchieved many glorious exploits underwent many grievous troubles Yet could not such engagements distract or depress his mind from a constant attendence on Devotion I will bless the Lord at all times his praise shall be continually in my mouth My mouth shall shew forth thy righteousness and thy salvation all the day I will abide in thy tabernacle for ever So he declareth his resolution and his practice Who is more pressingly employed then was Daniel first President over so vast a Kingdom chief Minister of State to the greatest Monarch on earth Yet constantly thrice a day did he pray and give thanks before his God Who can be more entangled in varieties and intricacies of care of pains of trouble then was he that prescribeth unto us this rule of Praying continually Upon him didly the care of all the Churches Night and Day with labour and toil did he work for the sustenance of his life that he might not to the disparagement of the Gospel burthen any man perpetually he was engaged in all sorts of labour and travail ever conflicting with perils with wants
the least homage we in gratitude owe and can pay to Almighty God to avow our dependence upon and obligation to him for the good things we enjoy to acknowledge that his favours do deserve thanks to publish to the world our experience of his goodness to proclaim solemnly with the voice of thanksgiving his most deserved praise resembling him who abounds in such expressions as these I will sing of the mercies of the Lord for ever with my mouth will I make known his faithfulness to all generations I will publish with the voice of thanksgiving and tell of all his wondrous works I will speak of the glorious honour of thy Majesty and of thy wondrous works I have not hid thy righteousness in my heart I have declared thy faithfulness and thy salvation I have not concealed thy loving-kindness and thy truth from the great congregation Thus if a gratefull affection live in our hearts it will respire through our mouths and discover it self in the motion of our lips There will be a conspiracy and faithfull correspondence between our mind and our tongue if the one be sensible the other will not be silent as if the spring works the wheels will turn about and the bell not fail to speak Neither shall we content our selves in lonesome tunes and private soliloquies to whisper out the Divine praises but shall loudly excite and provoke others to a melodious consonance with us We shall with the sweet Singer of Israel cite and invoke Heaven and Earth the celestial quire of Angels the several estates and generations of Men the numberless company of all the Creatures to assist and joyn in consort with us in celebrating the worthy deeds and magnifying the glorious name of our most mighty Creatour of our most bountifull Benefactour Gratitude is of a fruitfull and diffusive nature of a free and communicative disposition of an open and sociable temper it will be imparting discovering and propagating it self it affects light company and liberty it cannor endure to be smothered in privacy and obscurity It s best instrument therefore is Speech that most natural proper and easie mean of conversation of signifying our conceptions of conveying and as it were ttansfunding our thoughts and our passions into each other This therefore glory of ours and best organ that we have as the Psalmist seems to call it our Tongue we should in all reason devote to the honour and consecrate to the praise of him who made it and who conserves it still in tune And the farther to provoke us we may consider that it hath been the manner prompted by Nature and authorized by general practice for men of all nations and all times and all ways by composed Hymns and panegyrical Elogies to express their gratitude for the gifts of Nature and for the Benefits indulged by Providence in their publick Sacrifices and solemn Festivities extolling the excellent qualities of their imaginary Deities and reciting the famous atchievements of their Heroes and supposed Benefactours to whose favourable help and blessing in their conceit they owed the fruits of the earth the comforts of life the defence and patronage of their countries being indeed mistaken in the object but not transgressing in the substance of the Duty paying a due debt though to false creditours And I wish we were as ready to imitate them in the one as we are perhaps prone to blame them for the other For certainly acknowledgments of the Divine Goodness and solemn testifications of our thankfull sense thereof what-ever the abused world may now imagine was always is now and ever will be the principal and most noble part of all Religion immediately addressed to God But moreover 6. This Duty requires endeavours of real Compensation and a satisfactory Requital of Benefits according to the ability and opportunity of the receiver that we do not onely verbally dicere and agnoscere but really agere and referre gratias that to him who hath by his beneficence obliged us we minister reciprocal assistence comfort and relief if he need them and be capable to receive them however by evident testimonies to discover our ready disposition to make such real returns and withall to sute our actions to his good liking and in our carriage to comply with his reasonable desires For as the earth which drinketh the rain often coming upon it and having been by great labour tilled and manured with expence yieldeth yet no meet herbage or fruit agreeable to the expectation of him that dresseth it but is either wholly barren or produceth onely thorns and briars is as the Apostle to the Hebrews tells us to be reprobated and nigh unto cursing that is deserves no farther care or culture to be employed on it and is to be reputed desperately worthless so is he that we may apply an Apodosis to the Apostle's comparison who daily partaking the influences of Divine Providence and Bounty affords no answerable return to be accounted execrably unthankfull and unworthy of any farther favour to be shewed toward him 'T is true our righteousness or beneficence so the word there signifies doth not extend unto God His Benefits exceed all possibility of any proportionable requitall He doth not need nor can ever immediately receive any advantage from us we cannot enrich him with our gifts who by unquestionable right and in unalterable possession is Lord and Master of all things that do actually or can possibly exist nor advance him by our weak commendations who already enjoyeth the supreme pitch of glory nor any way contribute to his in it self compleat and indefectible Beatitude Yet we may by apposite significations declare our willingness to serve and exalt him we may by our obsequious demeanour highly please and content him we may by our charity and benignity to those whose good he tenders yield though not an adequate yet an acceptable return to his Benefits What shall I render unto the Lord for all his benefits saith David in way of counsell and deliberation and thereupon resolves I will take the cup of salvation and call upon the Name of the Lord I will pay my vows unto the Lord. Seasonable benedictions officious addresses and faithfull performances of vows he intimates to bear some shadow at least some resemblance of compensation And so did his wise Son likewise when he thus advised Honour the Lord with thy substance and with the first-fruits of thy encrease Almighty God though he really doth and cannot otherwise doe yet will not seem to bestow his favours altogether gratis but to expect some competent return some small use and income from them He will assert his rightfull title and be acknowledged the chief proprietary by signal expressions of our fealty and the payment of some though inconsiderable quit-rent for our possessions derived from him he will rather himself be seemingly indigent then permit us to be really ingratefull For knowing well that our performance of
engage to do things just and fitting or restrain from enormous actions retain notwithstanding something of this natural inclination and are usually sensible of good turns done unto them Experience teaches us thus much and so doth that sure Oracle of our Saviour If saith he you do good to those who do good to you what thanks is it for even sinners that is men of apparently leud and dissolute conversation do the same Yea even Beasts and those not only the most gentle and sociable of them the officious Dog the tractable Horse the docile Elephant but the wildest also and fiercest of them the untamable Lion the cruel Tiger and ravenous Bear as stories tell us and experience attests bear some kindness shew some grateful affection to those that provide for them Neither wild Beasts only but even inanimate creatures seem not altogether insensible of Benefits and lively represent unto us a natural abhorrence of Ingratitude The Rivers openly discharge into the Sea those waters which by indiscernible conduits they derived thence the Heavens remit in bountiful showrs what from the Earth they had exhaled in vapour and the Earth by a fruitful increase repays the culture bestowed thereon if not as the Apostle to the Hebrews doth pronounce it deserves cursing and reprobation So monstrous a thing and universally abominable to nature is all Ingratitude And how execrable a prodigy is it then toward God from whom alone we receive what-ever we enjoy what-ever we can expect of good The Second Obligation to this Duty is most just and equal For as he said well Beneficium qui dare nescit injustè petit He injustly requires much more injustly receives a benefit who is not minded to requite it In all reason we are indebted for what is freely given as well as for what is lent unto us For the freeness of the giver his not exacting security nor expressing conditions of return doth not diminish but rather increase the debt He that gives indeed according to humane or political Law which in order to preservation of publick peace requires only a punctual performance of contracts transfers his right and alienates his possession but according to that more noble and perfect rule of ingenuity the Law which God and Angels and good men chiefly observe and govern themselves by what is given is but committed to the faith deposited in the hand treasured up in the custody of him that receives it and what more palpable iniquity is there then to betray the trust or to detain the pledge not of some inconsiderable trifle but of inestimable good will Exceptâ Macedonum gente saith Seneca non est ulla data adversus ingratum actio In no Nation excepting the Macedonians an action could be preferred against ingrateful persons as so Though Xenophon no mean Authour reports that among the Persians also there were judgments assigned and punishments appointed for Ingratitude However in the court of Heaven and at the tribunal of Conscience no offender is more constantly arraigned none more surely condemned none more severely punished then the ingrateful man Since therefore we have received all from the Divine Bounty if God should in requital exact that we sacrifice our lives to the testimony of his Truth that we employ our utmost pains expend our whole estate adventure our health and prostitute all our earthly contents to his service since he did but revoke his own 't were great injustice to refuse compliance with his demands how much more when he only expects from us and requires some few acknowledgments of our obligation to him some little portions of our substance for the relief of them that need some easie observances of his most reasonable commands Thirdly This is a most sweet and delightful Duty Praise the Lord saith the most experienced Psalmist for the Lord is good sing praises to his Name for it is pleasant and otherwhere Praise the Lord for it is good to sing praises to our God for it is pleasant and praise is comely The performance of this Duty as it especially proceeds from good humour and a chearful disposition of mind so it feeds and foments them both root and fruit thereof are hugely sweet and sapid Whence S. James If any man be afflicted let him pray is any merry let him sing Psalms Psalms the proper matter of which is praise and thanksgiving Other Duties of Devotion have something laborious in them something disgustful to our sense Prayer minds us of our wants and imperfections Confession induces a sad remembrance of our misdeeds and bad deserts but Thanksgiving includes nothing uneasie or unpleasant nothing but the memory and sense of exceeding Goodness All Love is sweet but that especially which arises not from a bare apprehension only of the object 's worth and dignity but from a feeling of its singular beneficence and usefulness unto us And what thought can enter into the heart of man more comfortable and delicious then this That the great Master of all things the most wise and mighty King of Heaven and Earth hath entertained a gracious regard hath expressed a real kindness toward us that we are in capacity to honour to please to present an acceptable sacrifice to him who can render us perfectly happy that we are admitted to the practice of that wherein the supreme joy of Paradise and the perfection of Angelical bliss consists For Praise and Thansgiving are the most delectable business of Heaven and God grant they may be our greatest delight our most frequent employment upon earth To these I might add such farther considerations That this Duty is of all most acceptable to God and most profitable to us That Gratitude for Benefits procures more disposing God to bestow and qualifying us to receive them That the serious performance of this Duty efficaciously promotes and facilitates the practice of other Duties since the more we are sensible of our obligations to God the more ready we shall be to please him by obedience to his Commandments What S. Chrysostom saith of Prayer It is impossible that he who with competent promptitude of mind doth constantly apply himself thereto should ever sin is most especially true of this part of Devotion for how can we at the same time be sensible of God's Goodness to us and willingly offend him That the memory of past Benefits and sense of present confirms our Faith and nourishes our hope of future That the circumstances of the Divine Beneficence mightily strengthen the obligation of this Duty especially his absolute freeness in giving and our total unworthiness to receive our very Ingratitude it self affording strong inducements to Gratitude That giving thanks hath de facto been always the principal part of all Religion whether instituted by Divine Command or prompted by natural Reason or propagated by general Tradition the Ethnick devotion consisting as it were totally in the praise of their gods and acknowledgment of their
a dread of his glorious Majesty of his mighty Power of his severe Justice of his glorious and fearful Name it should instil into our minds a reverence of his excellent Wisdom his exceeding Goodness his perfect Holiness it should breed in our Souls a solicitous care of displeasing and provoking him it should cause us in our hearts to shake and tremble before him Then is that of the Psalmist to be put in practice Let all the earth fear the Lord let all the inhabitants of the World stand in awe of him Tremble thou Earth at the presence of the Lord at the presence of the God of Jacob. Such dispensations are in their nature declarative of those Divine Attributes which do require such affections they are set before our eyes to cast us into a very serious and solemn frame to abash and deter us from offending by observing the danger of incurring punishments like to those which we behold inflicted upon presumptuous transgressors upon those who do hainously violate Right or furiously impugn Truth or profanely despise Piety who earnestly prosecute wicked Enterprises who prosecute the Friends of God with outrageous violence or treacherous subtilty Upon infliction of such punishments All the people shall hear and fear and do no more presumptuously saith God himself declaring the nature and drift of them They do plainly demonstrate that there is no presuming to escape being detected in our close Machinations by God's All-seeing Eye being defeated in ourbold Attempts by God's All-mighty Hand being sorely chastised for our Iniquity by God's impartial Judgment Extreamly blind and stupid therefore must we be or monstrously sturdy and profane if such experiments of Divine Power and Justice do not awe us and fright us from sin When the Lion roareth who will not fear when the trumpet is blown in the City shall not the people be afraid Shall he at whom the mountains quake and the hills melt whose indignation the Nations are not able to abide at whose wrath the Earth doth shake and tremble at whose reproof the pillars of Heaven are astonished shall he visibly frown shall his wrath flame out shall he shake his rod of exemplary Vengeance over us and we stand void of sense or fear If so then surely a brutish dotage or a Gigantick stoutness doth possess us III. We are in such cases obliged to declare God's work that is openly to acknowledge and avow to applaud and celebrate the special Providence of God with his adorable perfections displayed in such Events to the glory of God's Name in expression of our reverence and gratitude toward him for the common edification of men for which uses they greatly serve to which purposes they are designed We should not view such providential occurrences like dumb beasts with a dull or careless silence as if we did not mind them or were not concerned in them we should not suppress or stifle the knowledge of them in our breasts as if they were barely matters of private consideration and use we should not let our observation and resentment of them be fruitless so as to yield no honour to God no benefit to man But we should propagate and convey them into others in so loud a tone in so lively a strain we should vent them as thereby to excite the notice to enflame the affections of all men within the reach of our voice provoking them to conspire with us in acknowledgment of God's Power and Wisdom in acclamation to his Justice and Goodness This is the due improvement of our Glory that peculiar excellency wherein chiefly except in our Reason we do surpass all creatures that without which our Reason it self is more then half unprofitable that whereby we put our best Member to its best use For this we have the devout Psalmist his pious Resolutions his exemplary Performances his zealous Wishes his earnest Exhortations to guide and move us I will speak of the glorious honour of thy Majesty and of thy wondrous works Men shall speak of the might of thy terrible acts and I will declare thy greatness They shall speak of the glory of thy Kingdom and talk of thy power So did he signifie his Resolution I have not hid thy righteousness within my heart I have declared thy faithfulness and thy salvation I have not concealed thy Loving-kindness and thy Truth from the great Congregation So his conscience testified of his Practice Oh that men would praise the Lord for his goodness and for his wonderful works to the children of men that they would offer the sacrifice of thanksgiving and declare his works with gladness So doth he pour forth his Desire O clap your hands all ye people shout unto God with the voice of triumph Sing unto the Lord bless his Name shew forth his salvation from day to day Declare his glory among the Heathen his wonders among all people Come and see the works of God Sing forth the honour of his Name make his Praise glorious O give thanks unto the Lord call upon his Name make known his deeds among the people So doth he summon so doth he urge us to this practice and in his deportment we may see our Duty IV. It is peculiarly the Duty and practice of good men upon such occasions to feel and to express religious Joy The righteous shall he glad in the Lord. Good men indeed then have great matter and much cause on many accounts to be glad It becometh them to rejoyce as having an universal complacence in God's proceedings as gratefully relishing all dispensations of Providence They as pious are disposed to bless and praise God for all things incident and cannot therefore but rejoyce Joy being an inseparable companion of Gratitude and Praise Hence Light is sown for the righteous and gladness for the upright in heart Hence The voice of salvation and rejoycing is in the tabernacles of the righteous Hence Rejoyce in the Lord O ye righteous for praise is comely for the upright is an exhortation backed with a very good reason They cannot but find satisfaction in observing God's Providence notably discovered to the confirmation of their faith and cherishing their hopes together with the conviction of infidelity and confusion of profaneness Our heart saith the Psalmist shall rejoyce in him because we have trusted in his Holy Name I have trusted in thy mercy my heart shall rejoyce in thy salvation The righteous shall see it and rejoyce and all iniquity shall stop her mouth It is to them no small pleasure to behold God's holy Perfections illustriously shining forth and the Glory of him who is the principal object of their love their reverence their hope and confidence to be conspicuously advanced Rejoyce saith the Psalmist O ye righteous and give thanks at the remembrance of his holiness Zion heard and was glad and the daughters of Judah rejoyced because of thy
Providence as upon the careful endeavour of humane industry I cannot forbear to allege that so grave and pertinent speech of Cicero which is the Exordium of his Oration ad Pontifices Cùm multa divinitus Pontifices à majoribus nostris inventa atque instituta sunt tum nihil praeclarius quà m quòd vos eosdem Religionibus Deorum immortalium summae Reip. praeesse voluerunt ut amplissimi clarissimi Cives Rempubl bene gerendo Religiones sapienter interpretando Remp. conservarent A wholesome and politick institution he thought it conducible to the publick good and safety that the Civil and Sacred Authority should be united in the same persons that it was as well for the interest of the State as for the credit of Religion that the Priests should be men of honour or which is all one honourable men Priests All which evinces plainly that it is in no wise the result of a generous heart for what Nation ever produced so many brave spirits as that but rather proceeds from an inconsiderate delicacy of humour or from a profane haughtiness of mind to loath as now men do and despise that employment which in its own nature is of all most noble and most beneficial to mankind For if to be a Courtier in a particular Country is of all others the most honourable relation and to wait upon a mortal King is accounted a most worthy function to be peculiarly God's Servant and in Religious addresses immediately to attend on him must consequently be the most excellent preferment in the World which is God's Kingdom And if to supply a man's bodily needs to restore his liberty to save his life be works of generous beneficence how much more is it so by good conduct and instruction of men to adorn their Souls with Vertue to free them from the bondage of Sin to rescue them from eternal ruine Our magnanimous Ancestours who erected as well trophees of their invincible courage abroad as monuments of their incomparable piety at home and equally by both did purchase immortal renown to their ingrateful posterity for not to imitate good example is the greatest ingratitude they I say were otherwise disposed to whose honest Devotion we owe those handsome privileges and those competent revenues which the Priesthood still enjoys and which are so maligned by this untoward Age not less degenerate in spirit then corrupt in manners when all Wisdom and Vertue and Religion are almost in most places grown ridiculous when the serious use of Reason is become in vulgar opinion the most impertinent and insignificant thing in the world when Innocence is reputed a meer defect of wit and weakness of judgment Integrity a fond pertinacity of humour Constancy of mind and Gravity of demeanour a kind of fullen morosity or uncouth affectation of singularity and all strict practice of Christian Duty incurrs the imputation of some new-found opprobrious name one or other No wonder then when Religion it self hath so much decayed in its love and esteem if the Priests its professed Guardians do partake in its fortune Nor is it to be feared but that when the predominant vanities of the Age are somewhat decocted and men grow weary of their own inconvenient follies when-ever not a fierce zeal for some whimsical Model or some paradoxical Opinion but a sober esteem of and a cordial affection to Vertue and genuine Piety do begin to revive in the breasts of men the love and reverence of the Clergy will return For it will be ever true what was once said though dictated only from the reason and experience of a Heathen Qui bonâ fide colit Deos amat Sacerdotes He that sincerely worships God will heartily love his Priests But not to insist longer on this Reason II. The Good of the Church requires that the Priesthood be well protected well provided for and well regarded That men be converted from iniquity and induced to the sincere practice of Vertue is the chief Good of the Church that to which the Favour of God is annexed and upon which the Salvation of Souls doth rely And this Good mainly depends partly upon the due execution of the Priestly office partly upon the fit disposition of the people to comply therewith and to both those effects the comfortable estate of the Priesthood is conducible and requisite The Priest must be capable to instruct with advantage and the people disposed to learn with readiness He must lead and they follow chearfully in the paths of righteousness Which alacrity how can he be Master of whose mind care and grief the inseparable companions of a needy estate do continually distract and discompose whose spirit is dejected with constant regret and frequent disappointments Can he be free and expedite in the discharge of his duty who is perplexed with the difficulties and encumbred with the varieties of secular business such as the exigencies of a narrow condition do necessarily induce No few there be that with Epictetus can philosophate in slavery or like Cleanthes can draw water all the day and study most of the night The Priests are bound for the propagation of truth and right and for the reclaiming of men from errour and sin that is for the most important good of the Church as the Apostles are often related to have done 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 to speak all out or to use an unconfined liberty of speech to exhort to the practice of Vertue as our Saviour did 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 with licence and authority to deter from Vice as St. Paul injoyns Titus 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 with an all-commanding and imperious strain and as those faithful brethren did encouraged by Saint Paul's example 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 to dare undauntedly to utter the word of Truth they are obliged to deal impartially with all to flatter no man to admonish yea and with prudence seasonably to reprove the greatest of men not to respect the persons of the rich nor to dread the faces of the most terrible among men And how shall this necessary courage be engendred be cherished be preserved in the breast of him who grovels upon the ground and crouches under the depressing loads of want and disgrace What engines are able to raise the spirits of men above the ordinary fountains from which they spring their fortunes what props can sustain them at that due pitch destitute of solid strength wealth and respect With what face shall a pitiful underling encounter the solemn looks of an oppressing Grandee with what hope of success in his forlorn habit shall he adventure to check the vicious extravagancies of a ruffling Gallant Will he dare to contradict the opinion or to disallow the practice of that wealthy or this powerful neighbour by whose alms it may be he is relieved and supported by his favour But admit it possible a man may be both extreamly indigent and sufficiently resolute that is strong without food