There be enormous sins of this rank which a modest man would be ashamed so much as to name especially in publick Now of these only the generalities would be touched in the publick the specialities not unfolded but in the private exercise of our ministry nor yet that promiscuously to every one that should out of curiosity desire satisfaction in them but only to such men and that but only so far as they may concern in point of Conscience and of practice Besides these there are other Cases many in which it may be more convenient to conceal than to teach some divine truths at some times and in some places But yet in the Case here proposed if it be a truth questioned about which God's people are much distracted in their opinions much mistaken by some through error in judgment much abused by sinful especially publick practice occasioning Scandals and offences among brethren likely to be overwhelmed with custom or multitude of those that think or do against it and be otherwise of material importance I take it the Omission of it upon seasonable opportunity is a grievous sin and not colourable by any pretence Beloved the Minister is not to come into the Pulpit as a Fencer upon the Stage to play his prize and to make a fair flourish against sin Here he could have it and there he could have it but hath it no where but rather as a Captain into the Field to bend his forces specially against the strongest Troops of the Enemy and to squander and break thorow the thickest ranks and to drive at the fairest It is not enough for a Prophet to cry aloud and to lift up his voice like a trumpet and to tell Iudah and Israel of sins and of transgressions at large but if he would whet them up to the battle he must give a more certain sound he must tell Iudah of her sins and Israel of her transgressions If there be in Damascus or Moab or Ammon or Tyrus or Iudah or Israel three transgressions or four more eminent than the rest it is fit they that are sent to Damascus and Moab and Ammon and Tyrus and Iudah and Israel should make them hear of three or four more than all the rest Sins and Errors when they begin to get head and heart must be handled roughly Silence in such a case is a kind of flattery and it is almost all one when sin grows outragious to hold our peace at them and to cry Peace Peace unto them Our Apostle in Act. 20. would not have held himself sufficiently discharged from the guilt of other mens blood if he had shunned as occasion was offered to have declared unto them 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 even the whole counsel of God In my Application of this Instance and Case blame me not if I do it with some reference to my self Being heretofore by appointment as now again I was to provide my self for this place against such a meeting as this is as in my conscience I then thought it needful for me I delivered my mind and I dare say the Truth too for substance something freely touching the Ceremonies and Constitutions of our Church And I have now also with like freedom shewed the unlawfulness of the late disorderly attempts in this Town and that from the ground of my present Text. I was then blamed for that I think unjustly for I do not yet see what I should retract of that I then delivered and it is not unlikely I shall be blamed again for this unless I prevent it You have heard now already both heretofore that to judge any man's heart and at this time that to slander any Truth are without repentance sins justly damnable 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 they that offend either in the one or the other their damnation is just To preserve therefore both you from the sin and my self from the blame consider I pray you with reason and charity what I shall say You that are our hearers know not with what hearts we speak unto you that is only known to our own hearts and to God who is greater than our hearts and knoweth all things That which you are to look at and to regard is with what truth we speak unto you So long as what we preach is true and agreeable to God's Word and right reason you are not upon I know not what light surmises or suspicions to judge with what spirits or with what dispositions of heart we preach Whether we preach Christ of envy and strife or of good will whether sincerely or of Contention whether in pretence or in truth it is our own good or hurt we must answer for that and at our peril be it if we do not look to that But what is that to you Notwithstanding every way so long as it is Christ and his truth which are preached it is your part therein to rejoice If an Angel from Heaven should preach any untruth unto you 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Let him be accursed but if the very Devil of Hell should preach the truth he must be heard and believed and obeyed So long as Scribes and Pharisees hold them to Moses's Text and Doctrine let them be as damned Hypocrites as Scribes and Pharisees can be yet all whatsoever they bid you observe that you are to observe and do Let me then demand Did I deliver any untruth It had been well done then to have shewn it that I might have acknowledged and retracted it Did I speak nothing but the truth with what conscience then could any that heard me say as yet I heard some did that I preached factiously That I came to cast bones among them That I might have chosen a fitter Text That I might have had as much thanks to have kept away For Faction I hate it my desire and aim next after the good of your souls was above all the Peace of the Church and the Unity of Brethren For casting bones if that must needs be the phrase they were cast in these parts long before my coming by that great enemy to peace and unity and busie sower of discord the Devil otherwise I should not have found at my first coming such snarling about them and such biting and devouring one another as I did My endeavour was rather to have gathered up the bones and to have taken away the matter of difference I mean the errour in judgment about and inconformity in practice unto the lawful ceremonies of the Church that so if it had been possible all might have been quiet without despising or judging one another for these things For thanks I hold not that worth the answering alas it is a poor aim for God's Minister to preach for thanks For the choice of my Text and Argument both then and now how is it not unequal that men who plead so as none more for liberty and plainness
error and retracting it that you may build better then let it lie on still till a sorer fire catch it Better for any of us all whether in respect of our errours or sins to prevent the Lords judging of us by timely judging our selves than to slack the time till his judgment overtake us 27. The Second Use should be an Admonition to all my Brethren of the Ministry for the time to come and that in the Apostles words 1 Cor. 3. 10. Let every man take heed what he buildeth St. Paul himself was very careful this way not to deliver any thing to the People but what he had received from the Lord. The Prophets of the Lord still delivered their Messages with this Preface Haec dicit Dominus Yea that wretched Balaam though a false Prophet and covetous enough professed yet that if Balak would give him his house full of Silver and Gold he neither durst nor would go beyond the word of the Lord to do less or more There is a great proneness in us all to Idolize our own inventions Besides much Ignorance Hypocrisie and Partiality any of which may byass us awry Our Educations may lay such early anticipations upon our judgments or our Teachers or the Books we read or the Society we converse withal may leave such impressions therein as may fill them with prejudice not easily to be removed The golden mean is a hard thing to hit upon almost in any thing without some warping toward one of the extremes either on the right hand or on the left and without a great deal of wisdom and care seldom shall we seek to shun one extreme and not run a little too far towards the other if not quite into it In all which and sundry other respects we may soon fall into gross mistakes and errors if we do not take the more heed whilst we suspect no such thing by our selves but verily believe that all we do is out of pure zeal for Gods Glory and the love of his truth We had need of all the piety and learning and discretion and pains and prayers we have and all little enough without Gods blessing too yea and our own greater care too to keep us from running into Errors and from teaching for doctrines the commandments of men 28. The Third Use should be for Admonition also to all the people of God that they be not hasty to believe every Spirit but to try the Spirits especially when they see the spirits to disagree and clash one with another or find otherwise just cause of suspicion and that as the Beraeans did by the Scriptures Using withal all good subsidiary helps for the better understanding thereof especially those two as the principal the Rule of Right Reason and the known constant judgment and practice of the Universal Church That so they may fan away the Chaff from the Wheat and letting go the refuse hold fast that which is good To this end every man should especially beware that he do not suffer himself to be carried away with names nor to have any mans person either in hatred or admiration but embrace what is consonant to truth and reason though Iudas himself should preach it and reject what even an Angel from Heaven should teach if he have no other reason to induce him to believe it than that he teacheth it 29. The Fourth Use should be for Exhortation to the learneder sort of my Brethren to shew their faithfulness duty and true hearty affection to God and his Truth and Church by maintaining the simplicity of the Christian Faith and asserting the Doctrine of Christian Liberty against all corrupt mixtures of mens inventions and against all unlawful impositions of mens Commandments in any kind whatsoever If other men be zealous to set up their own errors shall we be remiss to hold up Gods Truth God having deposited it with us and committed it to our special trust how shall we be able to answer it to God and the World if we suffer it to be stollen out of the hearts of our people by our silence or neglect Like enough you shall incurr blame and censure enough for so doing as if you sought but your selves in it by seeking to please those that are in authority in hope to get preferment thereby But let none of these things discourage you if you shall not be able by the grace of God in some measure to despise the censures of rash and uncharitable men so long as you can approve your hearts and actions in the sight of God and to break through if need be far greater tryals and discouragements than these you are not worthy to be called the servants of Christ. 30. The last Use should be an humble Supplication to those that have in their hands the ordering of the great affairs of Church and State that they would in their goodness and wisdoms make some speedy and effectual provision to repress the exorbitant licenciousness of these times in Printing and Preaching every man what he list to the great dishonour of God scandal of the Reformed Religion fomenting of Superstition and Error and disturbance of the peace both of Church and Common-wealth Lest if way be still given thereunto those evil Spirits that this late connivence hath raised grow so fierce within a while that it will trouble all the power and wisdom of the Kingdom to conjure them handsomly down again But certainly since we find by late experience what wildness in some of the Lay-people what petulancy in some of the inferior Clergy what insolency in some both of the Laity and Clergy our Land is grown into since the reins of the Ecclesiastical Government have lain a little slack we cannot but see what need we have to desire and pray that the Ecclesiastical Government and Power may be timely setled in some such moderate and effectual way as that it may not be either too much abused by them that are to exercise it nor too much despised by those that must live under it In the mean time so long as things hang thus loose and unsetled I know not better how to represent unto you the present face of the times in some respects than in the words of the Prophet Ieremy The Prophets prophesie lies and the Priests get power into their hands by their means and my people love to have it so And what will you do in the end thereof 31. What the end of these insolencies will be God alone knoweth The increase of Profaneness Riot Oppression and all manner of wickedness on the one side and the growth of Error Novelty and Superstition on the other side are no good signs onward The Lord of his great mercy grant a better end thereunto than either these beginnings or proceedings hitherto portend or our sins deserve And the same Lord of his infinite goodness vouchsafe to dispel from us by the light of his Holy Spirit all blindness and hardness of
Beloved it is admirable to observe 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 God's gracious courses which he useth for the calling of men to repentance In this particularity whereof we now speak see how his Mercy and Truth are met together and do most lovingly embrace each other Where he spareth in the end it is most certain he ever meant to spare from the beginning but that his everlasting purpose is part of his secret counsel and unrevealed will which as we cannot learn so we may not seek to know till the event declare it Now to bring this his secret purpose about he must work those men to repentance whom he hath thus everlastingly purposed to spare else his Justice should become unquestionable in finally sparing the impenitent Amongst other means to work men to Repentance this is one to threaten them with such Judgments as their sins have deserved which threatning the more terrible it is the more likely it is to be effectual and the more peremptory it is the more terrible it is So then God to bring those men to Repentance whom he meaneth to spare in his Word and by his Messengers denounceth against them such Iudgments as their sins have deserved and as his Iustice without their Repentance would bring upon them denounceth them I say absolutely and in a peremptory form without any express Clause of Reservation or Exception the more to terrifie and affright them and to cast them down to the deeper acknowledgment of his Justice and their own unworthiness which are yet to be understood conditionally and interpreted with reservation and exception of Repentance You have heard Evidence enough to acquit God's Truth and do by this time I doubt not perceive how as in all other things so in the revoking of his Threatnings God's Mercy and his Truth go hand in hand together Let us now see what profitable inferences may be raised hence for our use The sum of all we have said is but this God's Threatnings are terrible but yet conditional and if he spare to execute them when we are humbled by them it is a glorious illustration of his Mercy but without the least impeachment of his Truth Here is something for the Distressed something for the Secure something for All to learn First for the Distressed Consider this and take comfort all you that mourn in Sion and groan under the weight of God's heavy displeasure and the fearful expectation of those bitter Curses and Iudgments which he hath threatned against sin Why do you spend your strength and spirit in gazing with broad eyes altogether on Gods Iustice or Truth take them off a little and refresh them by fastening them another while upon his Mercy Consider not only what he threatneth but consider withal why he threatneth it is that you may repent and withal how he threatneth it is unless you repent He threatneth to cast down indeed but into Humiliation not into Despair He shooteth out his Arrows even bitter words but as Ionathan's Arrows for warning not for destruction Think not he aimeth so much at thy punishment when he threatneth alas if that were the thing he sought he could lay on load enough without words No it is thy amendment he aimeth at and seeketh therein and therefore holdeth not his tongue that if thou wilt take it for a warning he may hold his hand If the Father do but threaten the Child when the Rod lyeth by him it is very likely he meaneth not to correct him for that time but only to make him the more careful to obey and the more fearful to offend for the time to come Canst thou gather hope from the chiding of thy Earthly Father and wilt thou find no comfort in the chidings and threatnings of thy Heavenly Father whose bowels of tender compassion to usward are so much larger than any Earthly Parents can be by how much himself the Father of spirits is greater than those fathers of our flesh Yea but who am I will some disconsolate soul say that I should make Gods Threatnings void or what my Repentance that it should cancel the Oracles of Truth or reverse the Sentence of the eternal Judge Poor distressed soul that thus disputest against thine own peace but seest not the while the unfathomed depth of Gods Mercy and the wonderful dispensations of his Truth Know that his Threatnings are not made void or of none effect when thou by thy Repentance stayest the execution of them yea rather then are they of all other times most effectual for then do they most of all accomplish their proper End and the thing for which they were intended in thy Amendment Neither let his Truth make thee despair but remember that the tenor of all his most peremptory threatnings runneth with an implicit reservation and Conditional Exception of Repentance which condition if thou on thy part faithfully perform the Judgment shall be turned away and yet God's Truth no whit impaired This for the Distressed Now for the Secure Moses in Deut. 29. speaketh of a certain Root that beareth Gall and Wormwood that blesseth it self when God curseth and standeth unmoved when God threatneth Here is an Axe for that Root to hew it in pieces and unless it bring forth better fruit to cleave it out for the fire If therebe any sprigs or spurns of that Root here let them also consider what hath been said and tremble Consider this I say and tremble all you that make a mock at God and at his Word and imagine that all his Threatnings are but Bruta fulmina empty cracks and Powder without shot because sundry of them have fallen to the ground and not done the hurt they made shew of But know whosoever thou art that thus abusest the Mercy and despisest the Truth of God that as his Mercy never did so his Truth shall never fail Thou sayest some of his Threatnings have done no harm I say as much too and his mercy be blessed for it but what is that to secure thee If any where God's Threatnings did no harm and wrought no destruction it was there only where they did good and wrought Repentance If they have turned thee from thy sins as they have done some others there is hope thou mayest turn them away from thee as some others have done But if they have done no good upon thee in working thy Repentance certainly they hang over thee to do thee harm and to work thy destruction Gods Threatnings are in this respect as all his other words are sure and stedfast and such as Shall never return void but accomplish that for which they were sent if not the one way then without all doubt the other If they do not humble thee they must overwhelm thee if they work not thy Conversion they will thy Ruine As some strong Physick that either mendeth or endeth the Patient so are these And therefore when judgments are denounced resolve quickly off or
and without forsaking his old Principles to justifie the Church of England from all imputations of Heresie or Schism and the Religion thereof as it stood by Law established from the like imputation of Novelty and to apply proper and pertinent answers to all the Objections of those whether Papists or others that are contrary minded to the full satisfaction of all such as have not by some partial affection or other rendred themselves uncapable to receive them 12. I confess I had no purpose as may appear by the beginning of my Preface when I set pen to paper to have said much if any thing at all of these matters But I had so very much more to say for the pressing of each of these three considerations and the business withal seemed to me of so much importance that after I had once begun I had much ado to repress my self from drawing this Preface into a yet far greater length But since I had thus adventured to unbowel my self and to lay open the yery inmost thoughts of my heart in this sad business before God and the world I shall hope to find so much charity from all my Christan Brethren as to shew me my Error if in any thing I have now said I be mistaken that I may retract it and to pardon those excesses in modo loquendi if they can observe any such which might possibly whilst I was passionately intent upon the matter unawares drop from my Pen. Civilities which we mutually owe one to another damus hanc veniam petimúsque vicissim Considering how hard a thing it is amidst so many passions and infirmities as our corrupt nature is subject to to do or say all that is needful in a weighty business and not in some thing or other to over-say or over-do Yet this I can say in sincerity of my heart and with Comfort that my desire was the nature of the business considered both to speak as plain and to offend as little as might be If I can approve my carriage herein to the judgment and consciences of sober and charitable men it will be some rejoycing to me but I am not hereby justified I must finally stand or fall to my own Master who is the only infallible Iudge of all mens hearts and ways Humbly I beseech him to look well if there be any way of wickedness or hypocrisie in me timely to cover it himself and discover it to me that it may be by his grace repented of and pardoned by his mercy by the same mercy and grace to guide my feet into the ways of Peace and Truth and to lead me in the way everlasting Decemb. 31. 1655. O be favourable and gracious unto Sion build thou the Walls of Ierusalem Repair the breaches thereof and make no long tarrying O Lord our Helper and our Redeemer ETIAM VENI DOMINE JESU The Reader is desired to take notice That the Eighteenth Sermon one of those mentioned by the Author in his Preface to have been formerly omitted is in this Impression added THE CONTENTS or SUMMARY Of the several ensuing SERMONS Sermon I. Ad Aulam on ECCLES vii 1. Sect. 1 FCclesiastes the Preachers Sermon 2 or Solomons Paradoxes 3-6 The use of Rhetorical Exornations in Sermons 7-10 THE WORDS OF THE TEXT severally explained 11-12 A good Name to be preferred before the most precious Oyntments As 13-14 -1. being a more peculiar blessing 15-16 -2. yielding more solid content 17-18 -3. enabling to worthier performances 19-22 -4. being of larger extention both for Place and Time 23-25 Yet not to be preferred before a good Conscience 26-27 THE INFERENCES 1. The sin of those that rob others of their good Names 28-29 -2. The folly of those that value any outward things above a good Name 30-31 -3. That it is not enough for a man that he can satisfie his own Conscience in what he doth But 32 -4. There ought to be a great care had also of preserving a good Name And that upon these 33 CONSIDERATIONS I. That it is our bounden Duty 34-5 -2. That by our care much may be done in it 36 -3. That a good name lost is of hard recovery 37 c. Some RULES OF DIRECTION tending as helps thereunto Sermon II. Ad Aulam on PROV xvi 7. Sect. 1. THe Sum and Division of THE TEXT 2 6 The Words in the former part of the Text explained 7 POINT I. The necessity of seeking to PLEASE God 8 9. both in point of Duty and Relations 10 11 and in point of Wisdom and Benefit 12 14 POINT II. God is pleased with our ways wherein he findeth 1. Conformity to his ways 15 16 2. and Obedience to his Will 17 notwithstanding their imperfection 18 1. as being his own work in us and 19 2. beholding them as in the face of Christ. 20 The Inference for comfort 21 The Words in the latter part of the Text explained 22 24 POINT III. God procureth the peace of those that please him 25 Their own endeavour subordinately concurring 26 8 A grand Objection removed 29 FOUR INFERENCES briefly touched 30 A FIFTH INFERENCE farther considered for the preventing of a double fallacy to wit 31 2 1. that of imputing our sufferings wholly to the injustice of others 32 4 2. that of thinking the better of our selves and our own ways because we have Enemies 35 The Conclusion Sermon III. Ad Aulam on 1 PET. ii 17. Sect 1 3. THe Scope and Division of THE TEXT 4 8 The Duty of HONOURING ALL MEN explained 9 10 and enforced by Reasons taken 1. from Justice 11 2. from Equity 12 14 3. from Religion 15 A REPROOF 1. of those that honour none but themselves 16 17 2. of those that honour none but their Superiors 18 c. 3. of those that limit the duty with a condition Si meruerint 24 26 Who are meant by THE BROTHERHOOD 37 c. and what by loving the brotherhood 30 Two grounds of this duty viz. 1. Their Goodness in themselves 31 c. their Nearness to us in sundry relations 36 c. We may in loving the Brethren prefer some 39 c. But not exclude any Sermon IV. Ad Aulam on PSALM xix 13. Sect. 1 3. A General view of the xix PSALM 4 6 The Scope and Division of the Text. 7 The reading considered and cleared 8 Of Presumption in General 9 11 Of the Sin of Presumption materially taken 12 14 From the distinction of Sins of Ignorance Infirmity and Presumption 15 18 Severally Exemplified 19 The nature of Presumptuous Sins declared 20 24 The heinousness of Presumptuous Sins declared by sundry Intimations in the Text 25 and by Reasons drawn partly from their Cause 26 27 partly from their evil Effects 1. before Repentance 28 2. at the time of Repentance 29 32 3. after Repentance 33 For the avoiding of Presumptuous Sins 34 with our Prayers to God 35 we are to joyn our own Endeavours Four Particular Rules for direction herein viz. 36 1. Do
Saviours birth when they shared heaven and earth their several portions alloted us our part in peace and the good will of God but with reservation of the whole glory to him Glory be to God on high and in earth peace and towards men good will It is well and happy for us if we may enjoy our own peace and his good will full little have we deserved either of both but much rather the contrary but we were best take heed how we meddle with his glory All other things he giveth us richly to enjoy many a good gift and perfect giving He hath not with-held from us any thing that was his and useful for us no not his only begotten Son excepted the best gift that ever was given and a pledge of all the rest Yea and he will give us a kind of glory too the Lord will give grace and glory Psal. 84. and that not a light one neither nor fading away but such as neither eye nor ear nor heart of man can comprehend so massie and so durable an eternal and exceeding weight of glory But that divine infinite incomprehensible glory that belongeth to him as supream King of kings as his peculiar Prerogative and the choicest flower in his Crown of that he is most jealous in that he will brook no sharer And he hath made known to us his royal pleasure in that point Isa. 42. My glory will I not give to another 7. He will part with none you see it seemeth rather fifthly by the form of the Verb 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 that he looketh for some from us For what else is it to glorifie but to make one glorious by conferring some glory upon him which he had not or not in that degree before And to God how can that be done whose glory is perfect essential and infinite and to what is perfect much less to what is infinite can nothing be added What a great admirer of Virgil said of him tanta Maronis gloria ut nullius laudibus crescat nullius vituperatione minuatur was but a flaunting hyperbole far beyond the merit of the party he meant it to But the like speech would be most exquisitely true of him of whom we now speak indeed a 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 rather than an hyperbole Whose Glory is truly such as all the creatures in the world should they joyn their whole forces together to do it could not make it either more or less than it is 8. We must therefore of necessity forsake the proper signification of the word Glorifie which is to add some glory to another either in specie or in gradu which before he had not and understand it in such a sence as that the thing meant thereby may be feasible And so to glorifie God is no more than to shew forth his glory and to manifest to our own consciences and to the world how highly we praise and esteem his glory and how earnestly we desire and as much as in us lieth endeavour it that all other men would also with us acknowledge and admire the same Sing praise to the honour of his name make his praise glorious Psal. 66. Not make his essence to be more glorious than it is in it self but make his praise to be more and more glorious in the eye and esteem of men That so his power his glory and mightiness of his Kingdom might be known unto men and that men might ascribe unto the Lord the honour due unto his name and that men might sing in the way of the Lord that great is the glory of the Lord. To endeavour by our thanksgivings confessions faith charity obedience goodworks and perseverance in all these to bring Gods true Religion and Worship into request to win a due reverence to his holy name and word to beget in others more high and honourable thoughts concerning God in all those his most eminent Attributes of Wisdom Power Iustice Mercy and the rest that is in Scripture language to glorifie God 9. One thing more from the Person of the Verb and then you have all It is not 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 That God may be glorified and so leave it indefinite and uncertain by whom it should be done but 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 that ye may glorifie him The thing to be done and they to do it One would think the glorious Angels and Saints in heaven were fitter instruments for such an employment than we poor sinful worms upon earth Very true they in heaven are fitter to do it and it is best done there but there is more need of it upon earth and if it be done here in truth and singleness of heart it is very well accepted Poor things God knoweth our best services are if God should value them but according to their weight and worth But in his mercy and that through Christ he graciously accepteth our unfeigned desires and faithful endeavours according to that truth we have be it never so little and not according to that perfection we want be it never so much Alas what is the tinkling of two little bells in a Country-steeple or the peoples running to the Towns end and crying God save the King to add any honour or greatness to the Majesty of a Potent Monarch Yet will a gracious Prince take those mean expressions of his subjects love as an honour done him because he readeth therein their hearty affections towards him and he knoweth that if they knew how to express themselves better they would So it is here It is not the thing done that is looked at so much as the heart Set that right first and then be the performance what it can be God is both pleased and honoured therewithal Whoso offereth praise glorifieth me Psal. 50. That is so he intendeth it and so I accept it 10. You have now all I would say by way of explication from these words The particulars are six First we should propose to our selves some end Therein Secondly look at God Thirdly that God may have glory and that he alone may have it Fourthly Fifthly that something be done for the advancement of his glory and Lastly that it be done by us The result from the whole six taken together is That the Glory of God ought to be the chiefest end and main scope of all our desires and endeavours In whatever we think say do or suffer in the whole course of our Lives and Actions we should refer all to this look at this as the main Whatsoever become of us and our affairs that yet God may be glorified Whether ye eat or drink saith St. Paul or whatsoever else ye do let all be done to the glory of God 1 Cor. 10. He would have us not only in the performance of good works and of necessary duties to intend the Glory of God according to that of our Saviour Let your light so shine before men that they way see your good