the far greater part of those to whom he writ For it was written in the Prophet Isaiah Eye hath not seen nor Ear heard neither have entred into the Heart of Man the things which God hath prepared for them that love him So that it is undeniable that the Will of God and the Mysteries of Heaven may be unknown to Men acting by the sole Light of Reason but to Men acquainted with the Divine Revelations concerning them may be certainly known Now this is the case of Christianity For as it followeth in the tenth Verse God hath revealed them unto us by his Spirit that is by his Son acting by the Spirit and Commission of God and by his Holy Spirit instructing the Apostles in the knowledge of them and confirming them by Signs following And that such Revelation is infallible none can deny for that it proceedeth from one who infallibly knew the Truth of what he taught even the Spirit of God For the Spirit searcheth all things even the deep things of God And least any one should except to these Revelations and deny assent to them because they are things which he never thought of before and which even when revealed to him he cannot well conceive The Apostle shews us that we have no reason to wonder or stumble at this from the obvious Example of the Soul of Man in the 11th Verse The Nature of which cannot be conceived by any Being inferiour to it nor the Secrets or the secret Thoughts of it found out by any Being equal to it For what Man knoweth the things of a Man save the Spirit of Man which is in him Yet would it be unreasonable for an inferiour Being if it could speak and argue to deny that the Soul of Man is endued with noble Faculties because it cannot conceive the Nature of them or for one Man to deny that there are any secret Thoughts in the Soul of another because he cannot attain to the knowledge of them And if things be so then we must allow the Conclusion drawn in the Text Even so the things of God knoweth no Man but the Spirit of God and not unreasonably doubt of the truth of them because we cannot conceive the manner and nature of them So then all Objections drawn from the difficulty of the Conception cease and it remains only to consider whether the alledged Revelation be truly Divine This therefore the Apostle asserts in the 12th Verse declaring his Preaching of it to be founded not upon bare Conjectures and nice Conclusions as were the Systems of Philosophy then received and applauded in the World from which he distinguisheth the Christian Faith by these two Characters that this proceeded from the Revelation of God that from the Invention of Men Now we have received not the Spirit of the World but the Spirit which is of God And that whereas the Gentile Philosophy the Wisdom of this World contributed nothing to promote the Happiness of Man and secure to him the Favour of God The other effected both the end of it being no other than that we might know the things that are freely given to us of God Further these Matters when once Revealed and come to our Knowledge as we propose not to others with Artificial Sophistry and Rhetorick so we judge not of the truth of them by pure Arguments of Natural Reason and Logical Inferences Which things also we speak not in the Words which Man's Wisdom teacheth Ver. 13. But as we teach them with that plainness and simplicity which God directeth and confirm the truth of them with those Miracles which he effecteth so we judge of the truth of them no otherwise than by comparing the Nature of the Things revealed with the general Motives of Christian Faith as it followeth But with the Wisdom which the Holy Ghost teacheth comparing Spiritual things with Spiritual Now the necessity of this Method in our Enquiry herein the Apostle demonstrates in the 14th Ver. But the natural Man He who judgeth these Revelations only according to his Preconceived Notions taken up from natural Reason and refuseth to believe any thing which he receiveth not from them who weigheth not the external Motives of Credibility reinforcing these Revelations He receiveth not the things of the Spirit of God believeth not these revealed Truths which surmount the reach of naked reason For which reason also They are foolishness unto him because he considers only the difficulty of them and regardeth not the external Arguments of Revelation by which they are recommended So that while he acteth in this irrational Method he cannot know them it is impossible to be convinced of them because they are spiritually discerned not to be found out by the sole Light of Reason but to be received only upon the account of Divine Revelation Whereas he who understandeth well the Motives of Christian Faith and compareth the weight of them with the difficulty of the things Revealed He that is Spiritual Ver. 15. judgeth all things may safely and without Error pronounce of this Matter And in doing so he is not justly to be over-ruled with the Objections of those who consider the thing absolutely in it self and not compared with its Motives of Credibility Yet he himself is judged of no Man Since plain Reason directeth that if the Motives be found weightier than the Difficulties he should declare in favour of the thing Revealed and not be startled at the Difficulties as concerning a subject exceeding the natural Understanding of Man and to be known no otherwise than by the Revelation of God who best knew the truth of it which Revelation we have as it follows in the last Verse For who hath known the Mind of the Lord that he may Instruct him But we have the Mind of Christ. From all that hath been laid down by the Apostle in the Context thus explained we may form these two Considerations whereby to determine the Truth of this Matter I. That we ought not to reject any Articles of Revelation nor be offended at them meerly because we cannot fully conceive the manner of them II. That in judging of the Truth of these Matters we must not consider their internal Probability so much as their external Motives of Credibility First then we ought not to reject any Articles of Faith nor be scandalized at them because we cannot fully conceive the Nature or manner of them For this we cannot rationally do unless we were assured that we fully knew all things and were able to conceive the nature of all Objects Which that we are not we may be convinced if we consider either the Imperfection of our own Understanding or the excellency of many Objects exceeding the Capacity of it 1. The Imperfection of our Understanding appears both from the Consideration of our Nature and from manifold Experience The nature of the Soul of Man is finite and so must the Faculties of it also be One of these is the Understanding which if it were infinite
eternal Happiness and true Christian Obedience which no change of Fortune can dissolve no unforeseen Calamity can overthrow Therein the Undertaker is only to answer for his Diligence nor is any thing required to compleat his Success but what is intirely in his Power If he be not wanting to himself he may rest secure of the Reward the Nature the Extent the Duration and the Seat of which our Lord hath fully made known unto Man that so he might not any longer be distracted with anxious Thoughts about it and so hath upon that account also as he Promised in the precedent Verses given Rest unto his Soul wearied before with a Fruitless and uncertain Search of Happiness The last Argument which I proposed to speak of is taken from the external Assistance which Christ hath Promised and doth still continue to his Disciples in the Exercise of their Duty Our Lord in imposing his Yoke upon Mankind knew very well the Infirmities of their Nature the Opposition of his Precepts to their ordinary Passions the Tenderness and Clemency which became the Saviour Redeemer and Mediator of Mankind and therefore did not abandon them to the Conduct of their Free-will alone but assisted their Obedience with the Motions of his Holy Spirit with those supernatural Gifts and Graces which he bestows upon all his sincere Disciples which render the imposition of those Precepts which he laid upon them Easie and Pleasant to them To convey this Grace to all the worthy Receivers of it he hath founded a Church a Society of Men professing and publickly declaring Obedience to him in that manner and with those Rites which himself hath instituted He hath made himself the Head of this Body and as such Communicates the influences of his Blessed Spirit to all the Members of it to us who continue in Communion with it If any separate themselves from this Body whereof himself is the Head they cease to have any Relation to him receive none of those supernatural Assistances which are derived from the Head to all parts of the Body At least they cannot receive them by the ordinary method appointed to convey them And if any pretend new Lights and new Ways they are such as have no Promise annexed to them It is not to be admired therefore what may be truly observed That all Hereticks and Schismaticks dividing themselves from the Communion of the Church have in all Ages endeavoured to take away the Obligation of moral Duties and set up the Pretence of greater Lights of a more refined Knowledge to compensate the neglect of Temperance and Meekness of Justice and Charity They having divided themselves from the Body of the Church cut off the ordinary Communication between Christ and them and thereby depriving themselves of the benefit of those Divine Graces and Assistances which are conveyed by that Channel found themselves unable to Practise those Christian Vertues which our Lord requireth of his Disciples and therefore endeavoured to annul the necessity and Obligation of them But this is not to alleviate but to cast off the Yoke of Christ to Claim the Benefits and refuse the Conditions of the Covenant which he made with Mankind and in the mean while to cheat themselves and others with vain Perswasions and arrogant Pretences Our Lord hath Promised the Assistance of his Spirit and therein he will not fail he hath settled the means of conveying it and that he Will not change If we slight the Assistance we are unworthy of it if we forsake the means we are incapable Let us rightly esteem and implore this Assistance to our selves let us hold fast the means whereby we may receive it that is a constant Communion with his Body the Church in all her Holy Offices and Sacraments so shall we Experience that his Commands are not only Excellent in themselves agreeable to our Nature and rendred Pleasant by their Reward but are also made Easie by his Grace and the Influences of his Spirit In the whole we shall be convinced of the Truth of what he affirmed That his Yoke is easie and his Burden light and find assurance of what he Promised Rest to our wearied Souls The Thirteenth SERMON PREACH'D At LAMBETH CHAPEL Rom. XII 19. Dearly beloved avenge not your selves but rather give place unto wrath For it is written Vengeance is mine I will repay saith the Lord. THE Apostle having exhorted to the Duty of Charity throughout this whole Chapter and enforced his exhortation with many Arguments at last concludeth his Arguments with these words whereby he proveth that to act in a contrary manner were to encroach upon the Prerogative of God and invade what he claimeth peculiarly to himself And surely no less an Argument than the fear of violating the Majesty and the Power of God could deter Men from the Practice and Prosecution of revenge which at first Sight appears to be so natural a Passion in Man and can plead for it self with more plausible Arguments than any other sin whatsoever As that Nature directeth all Creatures to defend themselves and repel the Assaults of Enemies that for this Purpose all Animals are endued with proportionable Strength and Courage that to pass by one Enemy unrevenged exposeth a Man to the insults of Enemies to the scorn of Friends and to renewed Wrongs that it is no other than Baseness and Cowardize an Argument of a mean and timorous Soul to submit patiently to the Affronts and Wrongs of another Man and that to return evil for evil to punish the Malice of an Offender by procuring Loss or Grief to him is no other than a part of distributive Justice of which every Man may be allowed to be the Administrator that so as the smart of Revenge inflicted may punish the Malice of the Aggressor the Pleasure of inflicting Revenge may make some amends for the undeserved Sufferings of the injured Party Such Arguments Men are wont to plead in behalf of Revenge and such did once introduce an universal Opinion in the World that Revenge was not only a Matter allowed but even a Vertue the Duty of every Noble and Couragious mind Consonant to the intentions of Nature and the Office of every private Man Thus the great Masters of Morality among the Heathens among whom nothing is more frequent than such Expressions as these that Revenge is sweeter than Life it self that Moderation is to be observed in creating but none in revenging Injuries that not to revenge a Wrong is an Argument of Fear and Sloth of an unmanly and degenerous Mind On the contrary we are taught throughout this whole Chapter to bless them which persecute us to recompence to no Man evil for evil to live peaceably with all Men and in the last place which concerns my present Design not to avenge our selves but rather give place unto wrath not to take upon us to inflict the Punishment due to any sin of Injustice committed against us but to leave that to be inflicted by God either by
before mentioned that is unless we rise from Sin to die again Lastly the Justice of God and the incomparable Humility and Patience of Christ manifested in his Sufferings rendred it not possible not fit that he should be holden of Death He died not for his own but for the Sins of others and to demonstrate that his own Guilt drew not that Punishment upon him it was agreeable to the Justice of God to raise him up to relieve the Cause of oppressed Innocence and not suffer his Persecutors any longer to triumph in their wickedness Further by his exact Obedience by his inimitable Patience in suffering the Pains and his admirable Humility in undergoing the Shame of the Cross he did deserve to be raised up that as he had humbled himself in so extraordinary a manner so he should be exalted to a no less illustrious Glory And therefore the Sufferings and Humility of Christ are frequently assigned as the meritorious Cause of his Exaltation It was long before Prophesied of him Psal. CX 7. He shall drink of the brook in the way therefore shall he lift up his head And after his Passion and Ascension it is said of him by St. Paul Philip. II. He humbled himself and became obedient to death even the deash of the Cross. Wherefore God also hath highly exalted him The first step of his Exaltation was his Resurrection which therefore was to relate to both those parts of his Humane Nature which had undergone that meritorious Humiliation Not only his Soul had suffered Agonies and the Contradiction of sinners had resigned it self intirely into the hands of God and submitted quietly to the Execution of that bitter Sentence which was inflicted on him as the Representative of sinful Men had endured the Shame of the Cross the insults of his Enemies a violent Separation from the Body with invincible Patience and Charity But also his Body had partaken in his Agony had sweat drops of Blood had endured Scourgings and Buffettings Crucifixion and the wound of the Spear Both Soul and Body therefore were to share in the Reward of all these Sufferings which began to be bestowed on him in his Resurrection His Body was to be raised from the Grave and his Soul being in no other Sense capable of Resurrection was to be reunited to the Body and both to continue for ever joyned since by his Death and Resurrection he is become the Mediator of a new and eternal Covenant Thus I have passed through the several parts of the Text and from the whole I shall make but one Inference proper to the Solemnity of this day If the Resurrection of Christ be the great and ultimate Confirmation of the Christian Religion that upon which our Faith is founded our hopes are raised that by which the Mystery of our Redemption is compleated the Author of it Crowned and advanced to be the Head of all the faithful who look for the same Resurrection it becomes us to celebrate this Festival Dedicated to the Memory of it with a suitable Religion We are not to account it an Arbitrary institution or the invention of the Church that this day is accounted Sacred beyond all others of the Year Our Lord hath made it so by rising from the Dead and compleating the Redemption of Mankind on it No revealed Religion was yet ever professed in the World which did not celebrate some certain and solemn Festivals at fixed times of the year and to cast off the publick Solemnization of those Festivals upon which the most illustrious Acts of the Life of our Saviour were performed is no other than in Fact to deny all belief in him and relation to him It is not enough to say that he hath declared he will be worshipped in Spirit and Truth He was himself then going up to Jerusalem to celebrate a solemn Festival when he spake those words And surely unless there be solemn times and places of worshipping him in Spirit and Truth it will never appear that he is so worshipped nor is he worshipped in Truth when Men pay no external Acknowledgments of those eminent Benefits which he hath truly obtained to them Himself hath consecrated this day by his rising from the Grave on it The Apostles have Dedicated it to this sacred Use by their own and by Divine Authority The Jews had before celebrated one day in seven in Recognition of their adoring that God who had created the World in Six days and rested on the Seventh and that Seventh day which they celebrated rather than any other of the Week was sanctified in Memory of their Deliverance out of Egypt wrought upon that day as it is Deut. V. 15. Remember that thou wast a Servant in the Land of Egypt and that the Lord thy God brought thee out thence by a mighty hand and by a stretched out arm Therefore the Lord thy God commanded thee to keep the Sabbath day As the Jews therefore dated their Seventh day for ever from that day of their Deliverance out of Egypt so the Apostles began and the Church hath to this day continued to date their Seventh day from the day upon which their Redemption was compleated A Redemption so far greater than that given to the Jews from the Bondage of Egypt that well might the day instituted in remembrance of their Deliverance give way to the day celebrated in Honour of our Redemption This change therefore was made by the Apostles immediately upon the Resurrection of our Lord and even before his Ascension and so no doubt by his personal Direction and Approbation For all the religious Assemblies we find of them both before and after his Ascension were upon the first day of the Week That so as the Jews acknowledged their belief in God the Creator of the World by celebrating one day in seven and manifested their Worship of that God who brought them out of Egypt by Solemnizing for ever that Seventh day in which he brought them out So we Christians should declare that we worship the same God the Creator of the World by celebrating one day in seven and also manifest that we worship him in and through Jesus Christ by Sanctifying for ever that Seventh day upon which the great and last Act of our Redemption wrought by him was performed which is therefore in Scripture called the Lords Day Rev. I. 10. Farther as the particular Day of the weekly Festival of the Jews was determined by their Deliverance out of Egypt wrought upon the Seventh day so the far greatest of their Annual Solemnities was instituted in Commemoration of that Deliverance effected in the first Month of the year This God did institute by a special Command which was at large repeated to you in the first Lesson of this day And exacted the Observation of it with so great Rigour that he declared That Soul which did not keep this annual Feast should be cut off from Israel And can we imagine that God should require such eminent external Testimonies
HENRY WHARTON A.M. ONE and TWENTY SERMONS Preach'd in LAMBETH CHAPEL BEFORE The most Reverend Father in God Dr. WILLIAM SANCROFT late Lord Arch-Bishop of Canterbury In the Years MDCLXXXIX MDCXC By the Learned HENRY WHARTON M. A. Chaplain to His Grace Being the Second and Last VOLUME LONDON Printed for â—i Chiswell at the Rose and Crown in St. Pauls Church Yard MDCXCVIII THE CONTENTS SERMON I. JOhn XVI 8. And when he the Comforter is come he will reprove the world of sin and of righteousness and of judgment Pag. 1 SERMON II. 1 Cor. II. 11. The things of God knoweth no Man but the Spirit of God p. 25 SERMON III. Esther V. 13. Yet all this availeth me nothing p. 51 SERMON IV. Job XXXVII 23 24. Touching the Almighty we cannot find him out He is excellent in power and in judgment and in plenty of justice he will not afflict Men do therefore fear him p. 76 SERMON V. Rom. XII 3. For I say unto you through the grace given unto me to every man that is among you not to think of himself more highly than he ought to think p. 99 SERMON VI and VII 1 Pet. V. 8 9. Your Adversary the Devil as a roaring Lion walketh about seeking whom he may devour Whom resist stedfast in the Faith p. 124 150 SERMON VIII S. Mark VIII 36. For what shall it profit Man if he shall gain the whole world and lose his own Soul p. 181 SERMON IX S. Luk. XVI 31. If they hear not Moses and the Prophets neither will they be perswaded though one rose from the dead p. 220 SERMON X. S. John VIII 12. I am the Light of the world He that followeth me shall not walk in darkness but shall have the Light of Life p. 243 SERMON XI 1 Pet. IV. 18. And if the Righteous sourcely be saved where shall the ungodly and the Sinner appear p. 266 SERMON XII Matth. XI 30. For my Yoke is easie and my Burthen is light p. 291 SERMON XIII Rom. XII 19. Dearly beloved avenge not your selves but rather give place unto wrath For it is written Vengeance is mine I will repay saith the Lord. p. 318 SERMON XIV Acts X. 24. Whom God hath raised up having loosed the pains of death because it was not possible that he should be holden of it p. 352 SERMON XV XVI XVII 1 Tim. II. 8. I will therefore that Men pray every where lifting up holy hands without wrath and doubting p. 380 411 431 SERMON XVIII Acts X. 40 41. Him God raised up the third day and shewed him openly Not to all the People but to Witnesses chosen before of God p. 466 SERMON XIX Mark XVI 19. So then after the Lord had spoken unto them he was received up into Heaven and sat on the right of God p. 494 SERMON XX. Matth. V. 16. Let your light so shine before Men that they may see your good Works and glorify your Father which is Heaven p. 521 SERMON XXI Luk. II. 14. Glory to God in the highest and on Earth Peace Good-will towards Men. p. 567 The First SERMON ON WHIT SUNDAY 1689. At LAMBETH CHAPEL John XVI 8. And when he the Comforter is come he will reprove the world of sin and of righteousness and of judgment THE Mission of the Holy Ghost which we this day commemorate was the Final Confirmation and Completion of the Christian Religion which perfected the Mystery of the Redemption of Mankind and at the same time set the last Seal to the truth of it Our Saviour had indeed long before gathered a Select number of faithful Apostles and Disciples but can scarce be said to have founded a Church till he poured out the Holy Ghost upon them Till then their Notions of the intention of Christ's coming into the World were dark and obscure their apprehensions of the Nature and Constitution of the Kingdom to be founded by him false and frivolous and as they certainly knew not what form of Faith to profess so they dared not profess it openly Their religious Meetings were yet in secret and no Attempts yet made to form a Church by Conversion of Jews and Gentiles Their thoughts were not so much fixed upon the remembrance of what their Master had done and suffered as upon the Expectation of somewhat more to be done by him that is upon the hopes of the Comforter which he promised to them They wanted yet those Perfections of mind which might qualifie them for the Execution of their designed Office that Zeal and Charity which might animate and direct all the Members of the Church that Knowledge and Understanding which might fit them for Pastors and Teachers in the absence of their Master All these Advantages were abundantly conferr'd these Necessities supplied by the sending of the Holy Ghost as upon this day Then they received internal light a full understanding of the Mysteries of the Messias a clear Knowledge of all that had been delivered to them then they obtained Abilities to execute the Office of Preaching to which they were designed and Courage to undertake it Then they began as to possess an assured and rational Belief of Christ so to profess and declare their Belief in him So that the Reception of the Holy Ghost was to them what Baptism is to us an entrance into the Church of Christ according to what our Saviour had foretold to them after his Resurrection Ye shall be baptized with the Holy Ghost not many days hence These were the Advantages conferred upon the Faithful by the coming of the Holy Ghost but these were not all The chief design of his coming was to lay the Foundations of propagating the Belief of Christ through the whole World and to offer the benefits of his Death and Passion to all the Members of Mankind to assert the Divinity of Christ to manifest the truth of his Doctrine to vindicate the Honour of God to convince the World of their Obligation to believe in him and to confound the opposition of his Adversaries To this grand Design the aforementioned Gifts bestowed upon the Apostles were subservient being such as enabled them to Preach the Word and confirm the Truth of it to all Nations under Heaven The Publication of the Gospel had hitherto been reserved shut up in dark Speeches and Parabolical Expressions confined to an Hundred and twenty Disciples which we read to have been the number of them in the First of the Acts. But from this day it was to be set in a clear Light communicated to all without obscurity or reserve and propagated to all parts of the habitable World The Person of our Saviour Christ had hitherto appeared mean and contemptible no Signs or Tokens of his glorious Kingdom were yet to be found but now he was to be rescued from that Imputation by visible and undeniable Effects of Divine Power his Kingdom was to commence in the hearts of Men and become Glorious both from the Number and Piety of his Followers The Jews had
without controul dared to reject his Doctrine vilifie his Person and put him to an ignominious Death but now they were to be convinced by uncontestable Proofs from Heaven that his Person was more than Humane his Doctrine Divine and themselves guilty of the most Enormous wickedness in crucifying the Lord of Life The Justice of God the Father had suffered Aspersions in not revenging the Sufferings and rewarding the Labours of his Son But now this was to be cleared and the Jews convinced that neither their Wickedness should pass unpunished nor his Merits unrewarded The Devil had triumphed in his supposed Conquest over Christ and his imagination of having baffled the Design of the Redemption of Mankind by procuring the Author of it to be put to Death but his arrogant Pretensions were henceforth to be checked his Hopes to be defeated his Empire to be dissolved All these Advantages were to flow from the Mission of the Holy Ghost and all these our Lord sums up and Promises in the words of my Text And when he is come he will reprove the world of sin and of righteousness and of judgment In which words we may enquire I. In what Sense all these Effects and Advantages are to be ascribed to the Mission of the Holy Ghost II. How far these promised Effects and Advantages of his Mission were performed As to the First the word reproving 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 which is used in the Text in the Original is taken from judicial Proceedings and signifieth a Confutation of the adverse Party by such Proofs and Testimonies as by an impartial Judge should be allowed to be valid The Office therefore of the Holy Ghost was to be the Paraclet the Advocate of our Saviour upon Earth to plead his Cause to produce these Proofs to urge and propose them to the World There were indeed abundant Proofs before in the Nature of the thing but Proofs are not convictive till laid open declared and proposed This was the Office of the Holy Ghost in this he was to be the Advocate of our Saviour and this he performed by pouring extraordinary Gifts upon the Apostles as on this day which might enable them with Power and Eloquence with Courage and Success to propose those Proofs and convince the world of sin of righteousness and of judgment They were to be the Instruments of this Reproof this Conviction not only by their Gifts received and Labours performed as upon this day but by all their Miracles Sermons and Preaching performed in the whole Course of their Ministry All these Actions were equally directed to the same end the conviction of the World yet all in vertue of those Abilities which they received upon this day All their Gifts and Labours were solely owing to his power and derived from his Grant their Knowledge to his Inspiration their Courage and Constancy to his Support their Speaking to his Impulse their Miracles to his Power their Success to his Blessing So that all which they performed ought truly and properly to be ascribed to him All the Miracles Actions and Prophesies of their Lord before the Mission of the Holy Ghost all the Miracles and Labours of themselves after it were to contribute to the Conviction of the World but all the Efficacy the Application of this Conviction was to proceed solely from the Abilities conferred on them at the time of his Mission And thus the Holy Ghost continueth his Office of Advocate not only during the Apostles times but in all Ages of the Church since those Gifts which he then began to dispense to the Apostles he still continueth to diffuse to the Faithful and by the Efficacy of these Gifts it is that the Church is maintained the Faithful enlivened the Conviction continued He then convinced the World by the Preaching of the Apostles and he now convinceth it by the Preaching of their Successors acted with the same Spirit and by the reading of the Holy Scriptures written by them through his assistance and direction His Gifts indeed conferred on them were far more eminent because more necessary his Administration of the Church in their time more remarkable because manifesting the Completion of many particular Prophesies of our Saviour Upon which account the Promises of this Text were then more eminently fulfilled And that they were so I come next in Order to consider First then the Holy Ghost by his coming reproved or convinced the World of Sin because they believed not on Christ as it follows in the 9. Verse By the World we are here primarily to understand the Jews who notwithstanding all the mighty Signs and Miracles performed by Christ denied Assent to his Doctrine This disbelief of theirs before the Mission of the Holy Ghost our Saviour in many places seems to excuse and pardon and St. Pet. in the III. of the Acts V. 17. extenuates their crucifying the Lord of Life by their Ignorance Which Plea would have been but trifling had not their Ignorance in some measure been excusable but after the Mission of the Holy Spirit to stand out against those manifold Convictions that were then offer'd could be no other than an inexcusable Perverseness and Incredulity Of this we may assign two several Reasons First that although our Lord had in his own Person performed many and those stupendious Miracles yet these affected no other than the Spectators of them For while alive he never blazoned abroad his Miracles nor employed his Disciples in spreading the Report and testifying the Truth of them So that however many particular Persons who were Eye-witnesses of his Miracles could not but be abundantly convinced of his Divinity yet the universal Conviction of the whole Nation of the Jews was to be reserved to the Mission of the Holy Ghost When the Apostles were to be endued with Courage and Power from on high to proclaim his Actions and Doctrines to all Men and if need were to assert the Truth of them by other no less extraordinary Miracles Secondly the chief Note affixed by God whereby to judge of the Truth of any Prophet and particularly of the Messias was the Completion of his Prophesies Thus in Deut. XVIII when Moses assureth the Children of Israel That God should raise them up in the latter days a Prophet like unto himself whom they should be obliged to hear in all things he gives them this Token whereby to judge between the true and any false Messias If the Predictions of him who took upon him the Name and Character of the Messias did really come to pass then they should acknowledge him to be the true Messias The most eminent and almost only Predictions of our Lord which could serve as Signs of this nature to the Jews of that Age were the Mission of the Holy Ghost the Resurrection of himself after three days Imprisonment in the Grave and the Final destruction of Jerusalem before that Generation should pass away The first was happily accomplished upon this day when the Gifts of the Holy Ghost
Saviour gave us an eminent Example of this in himself who in that Life which he was pleased to lead on Earth for the Salvation of a miserable and wretched World used none of all those Pleasures which we so much admire and greedily hunt after denied to himself even the Conveniencies of Nature and therein put his Body to greater Hardships than the very Beasts For the Foxes have holes and the Birds of the Air have nests but the Son of Man had not whereon to lay his head As for Pains and Torments which we so much dread and are certainly the greatest Calamities which can attend the Body he willingly underwent them suffered himself to be Crucified as a Malefactor chiefly indeed to appease the Divine Anger and atone for our Sins but in the second place to give us an Example with how great readiness and Patience we ought to submit to all Afflictions and even Death it self when they tend to promote the interests of the Soul If then the Commands of God and the Example of Christ can perswade us if Divine Revelation and the remembrance of the Holy Jesus can move us there is no doubt to be made of this great Truth so plainly taught and revealed in Scripture that I will not any longer insist upon it I pass to the second Proposition that the Interests of the Soul are destroyed by Sin or Disobedience to the Laws of God These Laws were at first given to direct the Soul in the way to Happiness and when complyed with fail not to obtain their End No wonder then if when we neglect these means we miss the End and by pursuing contrary Methods render our selves miserable That ye may the better be convinced of this I will speak of the Effects of Sin upon the Soul in general and of this Sin of Apostacy to which our Text more peculiarly relates in particular As to the first then we may observe That sin is contrary to the very Nature of the Soul which is a rational Being and as such ought to govern and direct its Actions according to the Laws of Reason Otherwise it would be worse than insensible Beings which all perform the several ends of their Creation and by so doing perform the Commands of their Creatour Whereas the Soul in contracting Habits of sin violates the Laws of Reason debases its own Nature rebels against God and overthrows the end of its Creation For for this very end our Souls were created that they should Act as spiritual Beings and govern themselves by the Principles of Reason inserted in them For this Purpose God gave us an understanding to distinguish between good and evil that we might be able to imitate the Perfections of our Creatour in Vertue and Holiness and by a strict Observation of the Rules of Life formed by our Reason at least maintain if not advance our Nature When afterwards through the Ignorance and Degeneracy of Men these Rules were corrupted and our Judgments blinded God gave us a standing Revelation to ascertain to us our Duty and let us know what we have to do The performance of this was the end for which we were sent into the World had Reason given us and a Soul assigned to us To neglect our Duty then or violate it by the Commission of Sin is no other than to deny and disclaim our Nature defeat the ends of our Creation and degenerate into a miserable sort of Beings For as Sin turn'd Angels into Devils so it doth the Souls of Men into somewhat worse than Devils 'T is true they will still continue Souls but that doth but augment their Misery because being immortal they will never cease to be miserable always gnawed with the Conscience of their degenerous Actions and the Horror of their own depraved Natures Secondly Sin destroyeth the very formal Happiness of the Soul which consists in the Love of God the Contemplation of his Attributes and the Admiration of his Perfections as we before proved And in these will consist the Joys of Heaven in a constant and serene Meditation upon the unparallel'd Perfections of our Creatour in an ardent and perpetual Love of him and Conscience of being loved by him Now Sin sets a Man at Enmity with God makes him unworthy his Favour and hinders all such Contemplation For how can we think on him with delight whom we account our Enemy Or how can we not esteem him our Enemy whose Laws we violate and whose Precepts we contemn The Conscience of this Divine Anger alone is a greater unhappiness than can be easily imagined When a Soul is forced to say God hath created me and doth now preserve me but thinks me unworthy of his Benefits and esteems me as the worst of his Creatures 'T is true he gave me Reason and Understanding but they are to my Destruction and Misery I acknowledge him to be an infinite Being worthy of all love and dread but he denieth to me the influences of his Favour doth not indeed annihilate me but 't is because he reserveth greater Punishments for me He put me here into a State of Probation on Earth that I might fit my self to be his Attendant in Heaven but now he hath excluded me from all Hopes of his Favour and destined me to be a Companion of Devils Such melancholly Thoughts will render the Soul truly miserable and not only unhappy but uncapable of Happiness For a Soul corrupted with Sin is no more capable of the Joys of Heaven than is a blind Man of seeing the Light of the Sun They are Delights of a purely spiritual Nature and consist in an intire Conformity to the Will of God so that if Heaven should by an unaccountable Miracle be bestowed upon wicked Men the Pleasures of it would neither relish with them nor be grateful to them Lastly Sin defeats the future Interests of the Soul by excluding it from its intended Reward and engaging it in eternal Punishments For in this Life the Soul is no more than Probationer for another being a Being of it self capable of Perfection and by the singular Mercy of God to be endowed with it So that it Acts here only in order to the Attainment of that great Perfection which we hope for hereafter and by a prudent use of this World gaineth Admittance into the next where it shall be received to the immediate Presence of God and him whom it now views darkly and imperfectly shall then see face to face This will give the last Perfection to our Natures and raise them to the highest pitch to which they can be advanced But Sin depriveth the Soul of this Happiness and thereby permits it not to obtain its end A Loss much greater than Thought can imagine or Tongue express but still greater when considered not only as a bare loss of the Joys of Heaven but a fall into the bottom of Hell where such Punishments will be inflicted as will make the Soul desirous of Annihilation And then the Excellency of its
upon his constant Guard least he should at any time be surprized And surely a Surprize is hard to be avoided where so many passages must be guarded when the Enemy may enter in by the Senses or Imagination by the Operation of external Objects or the suggestion of internal Thoughts and all these as numerous and various as are the Objects from whence they proceed or about which they are imployed Scarce in the best of Men may we not discover some Passion predominant to the rest and which might he be allowed to indulge he would confidently undertake for the good Behaviour of all the rest But this Liberty Christianity denieth to him injoyneth him an universal Conquest of all his Passions a general performance of the whole Will of God forbids the Omission of any one Duty upon Pain of incurring the Guilt of all And this is truly so great a Difficulty that we need not seek any farther Reasons why the best Christians of all Ages are but hardly saved I proceed to the Difficulties peculiar to the latter Ages of Christianity and which more nearly concern us I will mention but two 1. The want of an universal Example and 2. The want of Miracles By these the ancient Christians converted the Heathen World and through want of these we are almost returned to Heathenism It could not but be a powerful Argument of Vertue to all ingenuous Men when they could not so much as retain the Character they had undertaken without a diligent Exercise of Piety when to be a vicious Christian was to be a Monster in the account of the World when Vice was a Singularity and Dissent from all others of the same Denomination Whereas in latter Ages the whole hath been inverted the Character universally retained without any regard to the Conditions of it A pious Christian must dissent in the Course of his Life from the greater part of the Christian World and Vertue is become a Singularity inasmuch as what cannot be sufficienty lamented many ingenuous Minds have been betrayed to sin to which otherwise they were not inclined least they should appear uncivil and morose And when unlawful Customs can acquire the Esteem of Civilities among Christians we cannot but confess an extreme Degeneracy of the true Spirit of Christianity It may truly be said of Examples in general that they have more influence upon the greater part of Mankind than Reasons or Arguments Men of ordinary Capacities such as make up the Body of Christendom take their measures of Christianity from the Practice of the Professors of it as Men do of the Laws of any Countrey from the Practice of the Courts of Justice and will hardly be perswaded that Christianity is so severe and serious a Matter when they perceive the far greater part of Christians trifle with it It is natural for Men to hope for impunity in a multitude to fall into impiety when no shame restrains them when a prevailing Example leads them As for Men of more raised Understandings it is impossible they should thus deceive themselves about the Obligation of their Religion yet even those escape not this universal Contagion they fear to be accounted singular are forced to dissemble and perhaps at last to stifle their Knowledge as not being able to withstand the force of such a mighty Torrent This Difficulty receives yet farther Aggravation if we reflect that it proceeds from our own Guilt that our selves are the Authors of it The Difficulties of the Apostolick Age were purely extraneous for which those Christians were not accountable They brought not their Persecutions upon themselves and their Sins committed before Conversion could not afterwards be justly imputed to them as Christians Whereas this disadvantage we now complain of is the Effect of our Sins committed in the Profession of Christianity to which every one of us have contributed somewhat and besides the internal Guilt of the Crime committed have upon that account increased our sin The Sense of which ought to be a Motive to us to endeavour by the Exemplariness of our future Conduct I will not say to remove this Difficulty and retrieve the glorious Example of former times for that can scarce be hoped but to compensate the Injury which we have done to the Christian Religion by our sinful Deportment The other disadvantage of the present Age which I mentioned the want of Miracles cannot indeed be ascribed to any Fault of ours nor yet be retrieved by us Yet a sensible disadvantage it must be acknowledged when we compare our selves with former times whose Faith and Zeal were constantly awakened kept up and enlivened by the frequent sight of Miracles which confirmed to them the Truth of what they had received the certainty of what they expected and the Power and the Favour of that God they worshipped But I wave the farther Consideration of this Difficulty because the removal of it is not in our Power Yet this use we may make of it to take occasion from it to reflect upon the infinite Goodness and most Wise Providence of God which hath so contrived the advantages and disadvantages of former and latter Ages that both of them have very near equal Assistances and Difficulties in the Prosecution of their Duty that so he might without derogation to his Justice perform what our Lord Promiseth in the Parable of the Housholder in the XX. of St. Matthew reward those whom he had called in the eleventh hour equally with those whom he had hired in the Morning who had born the heat and burden of the day which the Fathers generally expound of this very Case For now those whom he called first who underwent such grievous Afflictions and fierce Persecutions for the defence of the Faith cannot justly complain that we are equally rewarded with them who endured none of those Calamities The Church indeed in latter Ages hath enjoyed Peace and Quiet hath not maintained the Faith of Christ with the expence of her Blood so neither doth she enjoy those Miracles with the sight of which they were Blessed The remembrance of the eminent Example the Miracles and the Sufferings of our Lord were yet fresh in the minds of Men the extraordinary Gifts of the Holy Ghost were every where Conspicuous the Apostles yet alive who spoke and writ by the immediate impulse of God and even after their death the same Gifts and Miracles were continued till Peace was given to the Church All these advantages we want which they enjoyed Peace and Security we have which was denied to them If we proceed in the Comparison we want also that glorious Example of universal Piety which shone forth in their Days But then on the other side we enter not upon the Profession of Christianity with the same Prejudices and Habits of Vice with which they did They felt not the mischief of an ill Example prevailing among Christians So neither did they enjoy the benefit of a Christian Education Thus God hath most wisely in all Ages made
more having more largely treated of it in my Discourse upon Easter-day which I will not repeat The Nineteenth SERMON Preach'd on June 1st 1690. At LAMBETH CHAPEL Mark XVI 19. So then after the Lord had spoken unto them he was received up into Heaven and sat on the right hand of God WE lately celebrated the Memory of the Ascension of our Lord and the Offices of our Church direct us to employ our thoughts upon it in this intermediate time between that and Whitsunday To do this we are not only induced by that near Relation which it bears to Christ who by it took his last Farewel of his Disciples and entred upon the Possession of his Kingdom but also by those eminent Benefits which the whole Church received from it the Gift of the Holy Ghost the Confirmation of Faith and the increase of Hope In Discoursing of it I will confine my self to these three Considerations I. The necessity and convenience of the Ascension of Christ. II. The Truth of it III. The Advantages and Benefits which we receive by it I. That it was necessary our Lord should leave the Earth and ascend into Heaven himself often declared and in Joh. XVI 7. gives the Primary Reason of it Nevertheless I tell you the truth it is convenient for you that I go away for if I go not away the Comforter will not come unto you but if I depart I will send him unto you The Mission of the Comforter that is the Holy Ghost was absolutely necessary and the necessity of it confessed by the Disciples of Christ yet could not this be effected untill Christ should ascend into Heaven It was convenient for the Apostles that the Comforter should be sent as by whom they received a most invincible Confirmation of their Faith and their Hopes What greater Consolation can be imagined to Disciples afflicted for the Departure of their beloved Lord than to receive such an infallible Assurance of his Being placed in Power and Glory in Heaven as did arise from the eminent Operations of Divine Power brought down by the Holy Ghost at his Intercession What stronger Confirmation of their Faith could they receive than that the Promises of their Master concerning a Comforter were effected which demonstrated the Truth of all he had said the actual Possession of that Glory which was vailed in the Infirmities of his humane Nature while he conversed upon Earth and the Prevalency of his Intercession with God the Father in their behalf What more could be desired to assure them of the continuance of their Masters Love after his Departure or to enable them successfully to discharge that Office of converting an unbelieving World which was imposed on them than that such Gifts should be conferred on them as were never before vouchsafed unto Mankind the knowledge of all Tongues the Faculty of speaking Eloquently and Boldly and the Power of working Miracles All these Reasons made it convenient and desirable to the Apostles that the Comforter should be sent unto them To the whole Church this was much more necessary which without that Mission could never have had Existence being founded and maintained by those Divine Gifts and Influences which were derived from thence Yet neither could the Apostles nor the Church have been Blessed with this so necessary so often Promised and so much to be desired Mission of the Holy Ghost had not our Lord first ascended into Heaven and there by his Power and Intercession have procured it The Comforter as he was to be the Advocate the Deputy to plead the Cause of Christ on Earth could not naturally take place but in his Absence and the very Mission of him as it was an Act of Regal Power could not be administred by Christ until he had taken Possession of his Kingdom which commenced at his Ascension into Heaven Nor is this the only Reason which made it convenient for the Church that our Lord should remove his visible Presence from us but the Possibility at least the increase of Man's Reward did depend upon it The Design of the coming of the Messias so long expected was known and confessed to be to restore the lost Happiness of Mankind to redeem them from their former Misery and to advance them to a State of Glory In prosecution of this Design if we consider either the Wisdom of God or the Nature of Man it could not but be expected that this Happiness should be affixed to certain Rules consequent to certain Conditions to be performed by Man not indifferently bestowed on all nor yet on any without Respect to their peculiar Merits The Application of it was to be directed and determined according to the right use of Reason and Free-will in every Man The whole of this consists in Obedience to the Laws of God and one great Branch of it in assenting to his Authority and believing all his Revelations And as an Assent to all the Revelations of God made at all times was the Duty of Man so more especially an Assent to those last and most considerable Revelations made by his own Son incarnate was required of Man and was farther intended to qualifie him for the Reception of that super-natural Happiness which was by him to be conveyed unto the World Since no greater Evidence of a right use of Reason and Veneration of the Divine Majesty could be offered than to inquire after to Assent to and obey the Revelations communicated by him It would be tedious and unnecessary to repeat those great Commendations of this eminent Act of right Reason call'd Faith and those many Promises of Reward annexed to it which may be found in the Scripture But from the whole it appeareth that this was to be the principal Condition of the Justification and therein of the Happiness of Man That this Act therefore might be the more Illustrious and might be Crowned with a more noble Reward it was convenient that Christ should withdraw his visible Presence from the World and therein give way to the Operation of Faith which is the Evidence of things not seen Had Christ continued for ever upon Earth in that glorious Majesty which was to take place after his Resurrection had he presented to the Senses of every Man sensible Demonstrations of his Divine Power in that Case to have believed on him would have been no more praise worthy no more meritorious than to assent to the ordinary Reports of Sense Who ever pretended to have acquired Merit by believing an Axiom of Mathematical Demonstrations Or who ever thought it an Argument of a true and just â—anagement of the Will and Understanding to believe that one Colour differeth from another or that the Sun doth shine These things strike our Senses and force a Belief whether we will or no in this Case to offend while the Soul enjoys its Reason and the Body the Organs of Sense is not so much as possible To have believed the Divinity of Christ while the Sense of an illustrious