that all should be as they are Shall Error be set for a Rule If one be born deformed or wanting some of those integral parts which make up a Body would any that is in his Wits be willing to be conform'd to that unnatural Idea If a man had a Child born defective in any Limb blind lame or any way mishapen would he not think it a great favour if it might be granted to him to have this Child born again in a handsom form and restored to a beautiful proportion Wise men have ever thought that it is a greater monstrosity to be mishapen in Soul the Mind corrupted the Affections corrupted with Lust and so made dishonourable to the state of Human Nature The Holy Scripture doth very justly call this a Corruption of Human Nature for every thing deserves that name when it hath lost that power which is the proper Excellency of its Nature and by which it is fitted to its End This Degeneracy is so great that the Holy Scripture saith Men are degraded by it into the condition of brute Beasts 2 Pet. 2. 12. and in other places The Philosophers saw it by the Light of Nature and have spoken more highly in the case Arrian calls them 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 i. e. the most unhappy among Beasts and adds that if there be any thing 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 more wretched and abject a man depraved with sin is that The Poets meant the same when they spoke of the Transformation of Vlysses his Companions who by Debauchery were turned into Swine grunting in Circe's Prison and there thrusting out their Snouts through the Grates in which they were kept Slaves So monstrous is the state of the Soul when it is made to truckle under every ungoverned Passion Second Motive This is enough to have shown the reasonableness of Repentance and I might now add the danger which a sinner incurs by Impenitence for he makes himself liable to that Vengeance which God will take for the contempt of his Orders But before I speak of that I shall discourse of my second Motive to Repentance which is taken from the Goodness of God who is willing to forgive the Penitent sinner and that is so great an Encouragement to this Duty that the Apostle says it leads us to Repentance That it doth so will be seen plainly in the Account which I shall give of it in six Particulars 1. The first Encouragement is that Declaration which God hath made concerning his own Nature that it is not implacable but that he is willing to forgive those who have sinned if they repent of their sins This Goodness of the Divine Nature God made to pass before Moses when he desired to see the the glory of the Godhead when God proclaimed himself to be the Lord the Lord God merciful and gracious long suffering and abundant in goodness and truth keeping mercy for thousands forgiveing iniquity transgression and sin This glorious Name was given as that by which God was willing to be known to the World and it doth give us notice of that which doth most concern us to know of the Deity God by his Royal Prerogative hath power to forgive if he please By right of Creation he is the Sovereign Rector of the World He who made all things must need have authority to give them Law it is fit that all Creatures should obey him who gave them their Being As he hath power to give Law so also to threaten in case of Disobedience and so he only is Dominus poenarum the punishment of sin is solely at his appointment for whatsoever mischief sin may do in the Consequences of it to others it is his Law which is violated by it it is his Authority which is affronted But as God hath only right to punish so if he please it is his Prerogative not to punish His Threatnings are Conditional and so in themselves capable of Relaxation He may depart from his Right if he will and forgive us what we are not able to pay He may pass by those wrongs for which we can never make him amends as indeed we cannot for one Sin For as Daniel said To the Lord our God belong Mercies and Forgiveness though we have rebelled against him As it his Royal Prerogative that he can forgive so it is his Divine Benignity that he is willing to do it The goodness of God for which we constantly adore him is a voluntary propension of the Divine Nature to do good to his Creatures according to their several Capacities and he hath a particular Love to Mankind which makes him willing to promote their Happiness and as sin is the only hindrance of that he hath declared his love by his willingness to prevent the mischievous effects of it by forgiveness Here the Divine goodness doth magnifie it self against our wickedness the Divine Wisdom finds a way to save the Offender from the ruin of his own Folly and God's Justice shows it self wise and good not reaching after that satisfaction which cannot be had to wit not requiring that the Offence be undone for that cannot be nor yet seeking the utmost which may be had which is that the sinner be destroyed but is content with such a Reparation as may be made of the Divine Honour by Repentance by which sin is extirpated and the sinner saved I have spoken of this Particular more largely to fix a right Notion of the temper of the Deity in mens Souls It is no small comfort to us that we know God is not necessitated to execute his Threatnings and that he is of so Benign a Nature that he is willing to part with his Right rather than ruin his Creatures This is a mighty Encouragement to Repentance and should make every sinner say as the Prophet did Who is a God like unto thee that pardoneth iniquity and passeth by the transgression of the remnant of his Heritage He retaineth not his anger for ever because he delighteth in mercy Art thou so good though I have been so bad I will rebel no more I hope in thy Mercy I will return We read that Benhadad and his great Army invaded Israel and when they were beaten the very Report that the Kings of Israel were merciful made them come with Sackcloth upon their Loyns and Ropes about their Necks Suing for Pardon with all the signs of Penitence and Submission We are told also in the Story of Augustus Caesar That there was one Corocotta a Spanish Thief so famous for doing Mischief that the Emperor promised Ten thousand Sesterces to him that should bring him alive into his presence Here upon Corocotta fearing his danger if he continued his Course and having heard of the generous temper of Augustus carried himself to him It could not be the hope of the price set upon his head that could make him do so for what pleasure can a man take in telling money when he is going to
be hanged but the hope of Pardon which he obtained and by the Nobleness of Caesar the money too Sure the Report which we have heard of God that he is rich in Mercy should encourage us to bring the Penitent Rebel into his presence and throw him prostrate before his Footstool The Throne is a Seat of Grace and the King who sits upon it is the Father of Mercies If we repent we may come boldly and have a good hope to find favour Princes do invite rebellious Subjects many times to lay down their Arms by offering Acts of Oblivion and it usually prevails but however it may be the Wisdom as well as Clemency of Princes to offer pardon because they know no better way to overcome sturdy Rebels But the Argument is more cogent to make sinners repent when God offers pardon because he is Almighty so needs no Arts to reduce the Obstinate he can destroy them when he pleaseth what he offers is mere Grace he would not have them perish through their foolish wilfulness would he not O then Rebel Heart wilt thou not 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 as Clem. Alexandr Says wilt thou not run away from thy disobedient Party If thou hadst been shut up in Despair as the Devils are imprison'd and made to know that thou wert reserved in Chains without hope till the Judgment of the great Day thou mightest have some colour for the hardness of thy heart but now when Grace is not denied if thou repentest not thou wilt have nothing to say for thy self 2. Especially since God hath assured thee by an Oath That he delights not in the death of sinners nor is pleased with the ruin of such as have rebelled against him As I live saith the Lord I have no pleasure in the death of the wicked but that the wicked turn from his way and live According to that of St. Peter He is not willing that any should perish but that all should come to repentance And that of St. Paul He would have all men to be saved and come to the knowledge of the truth It 's true the Heathens painted the Godhead after a wild sort making their Pagods in dismal shapes of grim Monsters armed with Claws and Teeth Pictures not unfit to represent those Devils whom they worshipped Who having shown their Enmity to God in making his Creatures Idolaters declared also their Malice to Men by making Cruelty a great part of their Worship not only whilst they forced them to tear their Skin with their Nails and cut their Flesh with Knives as the Worshippers of Baal did of whom wa read 1 Kings 18. 28. and as other Idolaters did of whom we read in Heathen Authors but made them sacrifice their Sons and Daughters to Devils or as in the next Verse to the Idols of Canaan in whom they were worshipped and whose bloody Rites they appointed They made their Children pass through the Fire to Moloch whether they made them perish miserably in the hollow breast of a burning Image or drew them so long between two Fires that they died the Cruelty was so great that they were fain to stifle the sound of their dreadful Shrieks with the noise of Drums This was the sense and practise of the Eastern World and the West was not unlike to it for to one Idol of America Vitzliputsli they offered in some solemn Sacrifices many thousands of Men and Women flay'd alive their breasts being cut open and their warm hearts taken out and presented to the bloody Idol How far our God is from that temper he hath sufficiently declared since instead of making us all dreadful Examples of just Vengeance in our own persons he gave his own dear Son to die for us That blessed Son was of the same temper too as you may see in that part of his Story which is recorded Luke 18. 41. in which we are told of his approach to Ierusalem not long before his death where foreseeing that great Change which for their sins their then flourishing Estate should in a short time suffer it is said he wept over it Wept over it They had given him cause to insult over them they were as bad as sinners could be They had rejected him the Messiah the great promise of God to their Nation who came to them according to all the prefigurations and predictions which were given to their Fathers they acknowledged Miracles to be a sufficient Testimony of God's mind and yet disbelieved him who gave them that proof they scorned the Doctrine of perfect Goodness which he taught and yet confessed that never man spake as he spake they despised the unparalleld Example of all Vertues which he gave in his life and put him to death who had done them all the good he could whilst he lived yet knowing that for these things in a while they should be punished with inexpressible Miseries the foresight made his tears fall from his eyes and to these he added his blood for he died for those who killed him and joyned his Prayers to it for the pardon of such as had made him as miserable as they could After this how can any sinner be afraid of God if he repent 3. The third Enconragement is That God hath by all manner of Invitations called sinners to Repentance The Scripture abounds with frequent Exhortations to this Duty and Declarations of God's desire of mens Return sometimes it records his Expostulations with the Obstinate whom he also beseecheth by his Servants and Sometimes bad them in his Name to command sinners to save themselves this way Exhortations we find often in the Sermons of the Prophets whom he sent of old rising early and sitting up late to warn sinners of their danger and charged the blood of such as perished upon them if they did not do it This was the first Sermon of our Saviour's Forerunner and his own Repent and believe the Gospel How desirous God was always of this in his Creatures these among many other Expressions give witness Oh that there were such an heart in them that they would fear me that it might be well with them O that they were wise that they would understand O that my people had hearkened to me O that thou hadst known in this thy day the things which belong unto thy peace He expostulates with them Why will ye die and by his Servants beseecheth them We are Ambassadours for Christ as though God did beseech you by us We pray you in Christ's stead be ye reconciled to God And he commands all men every where to repent 4. To perfect this Encouragement he hath assured pardon to the Penitent by many plain Promises in which God's goodness is obliged by his Truth which being made the Apostle said well that now God is faithful and just to forgive sinners The Benignity of the Divine Nature is a good encouragement but when that hath declared it self in
prov'd in their kind so as that the proofs of it whether they be demonstrative or no are sufficient the nature of the things to be prov'd consider'd to justifie a rational and prudent Man's embracing it this Religion I say seeming to me to have such positive Proofs for it I do not think that the Objections that are said to be drawn from Reason against it do really prove the belief of it to be inconsistent with right Reason and do outweigh the Arguments alledgable in that Religions behalf To propose some of the general grounds of this Answer of mine was the design of the Considerations hitherto discours'd of which as I hinted to you at the beginning could be no other than general unless you had mention'd to me some of your Friends particular Objections which when he tells you you will perhaps find that I have already given you the grounds of answering them And though to propose Arguments to evince positively the Truth of our Religion after the example of the excellent Grotius and some other very learned Writers be not as you see either my task or my design yet if you attentively consider what I write in that short Discourse wherein I manage but that seemingly popular Argument for Christianity that is drawn from the Miracles that are said to attest it you will perchance be invited to think that when all the other Proofs of it are taken in a Man may without renouncing or affronting his Reason be a Christian. But to proceed to the more considerable part of what I presum'd your Friend will object I answer That the considerations I have alledg'd in the behalf of some Mysteries of the Christian Religion will not be equally applicable to the most absurd or unreasonable Opinions For these Considerations are offer'd as Apologies for Christian Doctrines but upon two or all of these three Suppositions The first That the Truth of the main Religion of which such Doctrines make a part is so far positively prov'd by real and uncontroul'd Miracles and other competent Arguments that nothing but the manifest and irreconcileable Repugnancy of its Doctrines to right Reason ought to hinder us from believing them The second That divers of the things at which reasonable Men are wont to take exception are such as Reason it self may discern to be very difficult or perhaps impossible for us to understand perfectly by our own natural light And the third That some things in Christianity which many Men think contrary to Reason are at most but contrary to it as 't is incompetently inform'd and assisted but not when 't is more fully instructed and particularly when 't is inlightned and assisted by Divine Revelation And as I think these three Suppositions are not justly applicable I say not as the Objection does to the most absurd or unreasonable Opinions but to any other Religion than the true which is the Christian so the last of these Suppositions prompts me to take notice to you that though we ought to be exceeding wary how we admit what pretends to be supernaturally reveal'd yet if it be attended with sufficient evidence of its being so we do very much wrong and prejudice our selves if out of an unreasonable jealousie or to acquire or maintain the repute of being wiser than others we shut our eyes against the light it offers For besides that a Man may as well err by rejecting or ignoring the Truth as by mistaking a falshood for it I consider that those Men that have an Instrument of knowledge which other Men either have not or which is as bad refuse to employ have a very great advantage above others towards the acquiring of Truth and with far less parts than they may discover divers things which the others with all their Pride and Industry shall never attain to As when Galilaeo alone among the modern Astronomers was Master of a Telescope 't was easie for him to make noble discoveries in Heaven of things to which not only Ptolomy Alphonsus and Ticho but ev'n his Masters Aristarchus Samius and Copernicus themselves never dream'd of and which other Astronomers cannot see but by making use of the same kind of Instrument And on this occasion let me carry the Comparison suggested by the Telescope a little further and take notice that if Men having heard that there were four Planets moving about Iupiter and that Venus is an opacous body and sometimes horn'd like the Moon had resolv'd to examine these things by their naked eyes as by the proper Organs of Sight without employing the Telescope by which they might suspect that Galilaeo might put some Optical delusion upon them they would perhaps have assembled in great multitudes to gaze at Venus and Iupiter that since plus vident Oculi quam Oculus the number of eyes might make amends for their dimness This attempt not succeeding they would perhaps choose out some of the youngest and sharpest sighted Men that by their piercing eyes that may be discover'd which ordinary ones could not reach And this Expedient not succeeding neither they would perhaps diet their Stargazers and prescribe them the inward use of Fennel and Eye-bright and externally apply Collyriums and Eye-waters and those to as little purpose as the rest With such a pity mix'd with Indignation as Galilaeo would probably have look'd on such vain and fruitless attempts with may a judicious Christian that upon a due examination admits the Truth of the Scriptures look upon the presumptuous and vain endeavors of those Men who by the goodness of their natural parts or by the improvements of them or by the number of those that conspire in the same search think with the bare eye of Reason to make as great discoveries of heavenly Truths as a person assisted by the Revelations contain'd in the Scripture can with great ease and satisfactoriness attain To which let me add this further improvement of the Comparison that as a skilful Astronomer will indeed first severely examine whether the Telescope be an Instrument fit to be trusted and not likely to impose upon him but being once resolv'd of that will confidently believe the discoveries it makes him however contrary to the receiv'd Theories of the Celestial Bodies and to what he himself believ'd before and would still if the Telescope did not otherwise inform him continue to believe so a well qualifi'd Inquirer into Religions though he will be very wary upon what terms he admits Scripture yet if he once be fully satisfi'd that he ought to admit it he will not scruple to receive upon its authority whatever supernatural Truths it clearly discloses to him though perhaps contrary to the Opinions he formerly held and which if the Scripture did not teach him otherwise he would yet assent to And as the Galaxy and other whitish parts of the Sky were by Aristotle and his Followers and many other Philosophers who look'd on them only with their naked eyes for many Ages reputed to be but Meteors but to those