according to the Gospel for their common Prayers and Worship for celebrating the Holy Communion and for doing all those things in which the outward profession of true Christianity stands that they laid down their lives and have been tormented many of them not accepting deliverance and therefore our Saviour who here says Not every one that saith unto me Lord Lord shall enter c. hath also said Whosoever shall confess me before men him shall the son of man also confess before the angels of God But he that denieth me before men shall be denied before the angels of God Luke 12.8 9. So that although confessing Christ be not of it self enough for salvation yet it is always necessary to it and sometimes it is of that force that one may conclude nothing else is wanting and that is when we confess with great hazard to our selves in this World But one reason why 't is sometimes so exceedingly praise-worthy and signifies all other necessary qualities is because it is always a duty for if it were in it self but indifferent and might be omitted without breach of our duty to God it were a foolish thing not to omit it when our own safety and welfare in this World required us to forbear In a word Confession with the mouth assembling our selves together for Prayer Baptism and the celebration of the Holy Communion and every other part of outward Religion in which the profession of Christianity stands are all of them required in the Scriptures which we are not to wonder at since it is evident that the Honour of God that Charity to men and the Interest and maintenance of Christianity do require it also 1. The Honour of God doth plainly require it for if it be fit and necessary that God should be honoured by us i. e. confessed praised and prayed unto who doth not see that all this ought to be done not only in private singly but in publick jointly unless one should think that we have Reason and Speech given to us for transacting common Affairs of the least moment and not of the greatest viz. those which concern our dependance upon God and our subjection to him Hence it is that David in the Psalms called his Tongue his glory because he did therewith praise and confess and glorify God amongst men And in the New Testament we are not only exhorted to glorify God with our Mind but with our Mouth too Nor can any thing be more plain at first fight than that without this it is impossible that God should be honoured as it is most fit he should be in the Societies of Mankind And 2. The outward profession of Religion is no less requisite to the good of the World to which we in charity are to contribute what we can For there is nothing more necessary for the common welfare of Mankind than a sense of God and Religion which although it has its foundation in our very Natures yet as many other natural Inclinations may be strangely weakned and in danger to be lost if it be not supported by use and exercise and what is there more necessary for the maintaining of a common sense of Religion than a common profession of it And therefore in a matter of so great moment as this is every man ought to be an Example to his Neighbour and all men should encourage and animate one another Nor can any one single person withdraw from the profession of Religion but in so doing he grows an enemy to Mankind and as much as in him lies he teaches others to be so too But then 3. Above all The interest and maintenance of Christianity requires a publick profession of it For Christianity doth not only consist in the belief of such and such Doctrines but in meeting together also for the Worship of God according to them which is the most comprehensive instance of outward profession for when our Lord instituted a Church and his Apostles did afterward gather men to it nothing could be more plain than that he made a profession of his Doctrine and the outward Service of God according to his Gospel a part of Christianity for without this it is impossible that Believers should be a Body or a Society as they are And therefore that man that lives without Christian Communion or which is all one without Christian Profession cannot rightly be called a Christian but hath rather renounced his Baptism by declaring in effect that although he was admitted by Baptism into the Body of Christ's Church yet now he will have nothing to do with it But if the secret belief of the Doctrine of Christ without any appearance of Profession of it were enough to make a man a Christian as I think it is not yet such a person would deserve very ill of Christianity to conceal his belief for it is by our profession of it that it must be upheld in the World and propagated amongst those that do not yet receive it and he that dissembles his Faith doth therefore his part and gives his consent that the True Religion should fail from among the Children of men And there is no doubt but that amongst other Reasons the Gospel requires that Believers should profess their Faith and be a visible Communion of Worshippers that so the Doctrine and worship of the Gospel might be upheld and maintained in the World The truth is there is that wickedness amongst men that so holy a Doctrine as that of our Saviour's will not be readily entertained and there is that folly and superstition every-where that so reasonable and excellent a Worship as that which the Gospel prescribes is not apt to take with most people and for this reason Error and Superstition are things that men will run into of themselves When therefore our Lord brought into the World the knowledge of Divine Truth and of the way how God would be worshipped and served he did therefore make his Disciples a Society of men professing the way of Truth and Purity that his Doctrine might spread in the World and keep all the ground it should gain by every man's making profession of the common Faith For which reason Origen thought that when Our Saviour said Vpon this rock will I build my Church he meant by the rock every Christian that should do as St. Peter had done i. e. who should make open confession of that Truth which St. Peter confessed because the Profession of every Christian did something to support the Interest of the Gospel in the World A great many more things might be said to this purpose to shew that what is meant here by saying unto Christ Lord Lord i. e. an outward profession of true Christianity is so far from being an indifferent thing that it is a most necessary duty standing upon plain Commands and plain Reasons nay so necessary that without it we cannot enter into the Kingdom of Heaven no though it should bring never so much trouble upon us in this World
so called also and which the Scripture requires Either they want the Faith of assenting to some needful Truth which perhaps doth not often happen or they want the Faith of a distinct and particular persuasion and application to themselves which happens more often or they want the Faith of frequent assenting of a permanent persuasion fixt in their hearts by consideration which I doubt is the frequent defect But now the Scripture doth not barely require that we should once for all persuade our selves of the Truths of God's Word but moreover That the word of God should dwell richly in us and that we should be rooted and established in Faith that Christ should dwell in our hearts by Faith and the like which is plainly to require a fixed and lively sense of Divine Truths upon our souls caused by much conversation with them and thinking upon them Now this I say That every act of Meditation or Thought upon these things is a distinct Assent to them and is therefore truly and properly Faith Now because we are to interpret Scripture by Scripture therefore this Scripture That by Faith we are justified is to be interpreted by the aforesaid Exhortations and consequently by Justifying Faith we are to understand an habitual and permanent persuasion of the great Truths of Religion effected by a frequent and just consideration of them and such Faith will justify because it will sanctify it will procure the relative change of putting us into a state of Favour with God because it will procure the real or personal change of subduing our corrupt affections and making us obedient to God from the heart For suppose a man by constant consideration to have gained such a sense of Spiritual things as by assiduity men come to have in all matters they frequently think of and converse about how is it possible but he must be a good man in the rest of his life But men are but half persuaded that never think of these things but by chance or when they cannot help it So that this is the great point wherein we exercise liberty in matters of Religion viz. Whether we will consider or not i. e. Whether we will often persuade our selves of the great Truths of God and a World to come or but very rarely This is the main hinge upon which our state turns and here lies the principal power we have still under the Grace of God to help and reform our selves which seems to be suggested by the Scriptures insisting so much upon it That we are justified by Faith for this shews us where our strength lies Nay the just himself lives by his Faith and it is by Faith that he perseveres in Righteousness And where such Faith is as I have now described it will not fail to influence the mind and conversation For we are led by persuasion to evil as well as to good and when a man doth ill it cannot be that at the same time he should be persuaded to do well No wonder therefore that the Scripture concludes of all wicked men That they are not persuaded of the truth of those things which they profess to believe They profess says the Apostle to know God but in works they deny him Tit. 1.16 But works neither deny nor affirm any thing they only shew whether we our selves do one or the other If then all that are disobedient are in a true sense unbelievers then all who fully believe are holy By Faith Abraham when he was tried offered up Isaac but if the command to offer up his Son was the Trial of his Faith then had he not obeyed his belief had not been true Therefore also where the belief is true where it is a fixed and lively sense of God and Religion where it doth not come in as a sojourner but dwelleth richly in the Soul it will sanctify and cleanse it In short This permanent persuasion of the Truths of the Gospel being that without which we cannot bring forth fruit unto God in all good works he hath required of us and with which we shall it must necessarily be the faith by which the just do live Finally therefore my Brethren Be strong in the Lord and in the power of his might put on the whole armour of God that ye may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil stand having your loins girt about with truth and having on the breast plate of righteousness and your feet shod with the preparation of the gospel of peace But above all take the shield of faith whereby ye shall be able to quench all the fiery darts of the wicked and take the helmet of salvation and the sword of the spirit which is the word of God By all which it appears That Christian Truth is our Armour against Sin and therefore let that humble man's Prayer be ours and our care answerable Lord we believe help thou our unbelief And may the God of Truth increase our faith in us that it may be fruitful in good works to the glory of his Name and our eternal Salvation through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen The Second Sermon HEB. XI 6. But without faith it is impossible to please him for he that cometh to God must believe that he is and that he is a rewarder of them that diligently seek him THE words are the most comprehensive that I can find in all the Bible for bringing all that is necessary to be said concerning the true nature the full extent and proper use of Faith under one Text which possibly you will acknowledge if you consider with me the very deep and yet clear sense of these excellent Words The first clause of them contains a general Proposition But without faith it is impossible to please God The second contains a proof of that Proposition for he that cometh to God must c. By comparing the Proposition proved with the proof thereof we shall come to understand every phrase and word of the Text. For if we enquire 1. What is here meant by pleasing God in the general Proposition let us see what answers thereunto in the following words and we shall find by pleasing God is meant the doing of those things whereby God is pleased for saith the Apostle He that cometh to God must believe that he is Now to come to God is an obvious phrase signifying to worship God Wherefore it being supposed as the Apostle's form of arguing makes it necessary that to worship God or to come to him is to please him it must needs follow that to please God signifies the doing of those things whereby God is pleased But hence we must not conclude that the worship of God properly so called is the only thing that is pleasing to God because the Apostle's intent in the proof of his general proposition is to give some particular instance of each part thereof as I shall shew all along in the Explication of these words There are other things which please God besides
Worship viz. all kinds of virtue and moral Goodness such as Justice and Mercy Fidelity and Truth Meekness and Patience Sobriety and Temperance and 't is true of these things as well as of Worship that without faith they cannot be performed because they are all such things as God is pleased withal and 't is said in general That without Faith we cannot please him From hence 't is plain that we are thus to understand the phrase of pleasing God when the Apostle saith Without Faith we cannot please him viz. Without Faith it is impossible a man should be a worshipper of God and a practicer of Virtue More distinctly thus Without Faith a man cannot Love God or Fear him or Trust in him or Obey him or Honour him in his Thoughts Words or Deeds Nor can he be Righteous and Charitable Meek and Humble Sober and Temperate Or in a word That without Faith 't is impossible a man should be truly Religious in his life and actions If it be enquired 2. What the Apostle means by Faith without which 't is impossible to please God let us look to the following words again and we shall find the Faith the Apostle speaks of is 1. In general a persuasion of the truth of some proposition or an assent thereunto that it is true for he saith He that cometh to God must believe that he is To believe therefore to be persuaded that this proposition is true viz. that there is a God is an instance of the Faith whereof the Apostle speaks Likewise he that cometh unto God must believe that he is a rewarder of them that seek him To believe therefore or to be persuaded of this proposition That God is a rewarder of them that seek him is an instance of that Faith of which the Apostle speaks and consequently by Faith is here meant in general a persuasion concerning any Doctrine or Proposition that it is true 2. By consequence also as to the nature of those propositions which the Apostle saith we must believe if we will please God we find more particularly that the Faith without which we cannot please God is a persuasion of the truth of those propositions which are proper arguments and motives inducing a man to do those things whereby God is pleased for the Apostle saith He that cometh unto God must believe that he is And plain it is that to believe that there is a God is a reason why men should do those things which please him He says also that he that cometh unto God must believe that he is a rewarder of them that diligently seek him Alike plain it is that to believe God to be such a rewarder is a reason or motive inducing a man to do those things whereby God is pleased and consequently the Faith which the Apostle speaks of is a persuasion of the truth of those Propositions or Doctrines which are proper motives or inducements to the doing of those things whereby God is pleased But hence we must not conclude that there are no other Doctrines or Propositions besides those here mentioned that are proper motives to Religion because all that the Apostle intends as I noted before is to give some particular instances to shew the truth of the general proposition Although therefore there be other Doctrines which are motives to Godliness and Vertue yet if without the belief of these a man cannot be induced to do those things which please God that was sufficient for the Apostle's purpose to prove that without Faith it is impossible to please him And that there are other Doctrines of like use with these I shall shew in due place If it be enquired 3. Whether by Impossible the Author of this Epistle means properly something that is absolutely impossible or more largely something that is exceeding difficult or highly improbable as sometimes the word is used to that purpose I answer This is to be resolved by considering also the following propositions to be believed the former of which is of that nature that it is absolutely necessary to be believed in order to Worship and Virtue viz. That there is a God Without this belief it is utterly impossible it implies a contradiction that a man should be a Worshipper of God and a practicer of Virtue But the latter of these beliefs that God is a rewarder c. is not in the same degree necessary that the former is because it does not imply a contradiction That that man who does not believe that God is a rewarder of them that seek him should be a Worshipper of God because 't is barely possible he may Worship God upon a belief that there is a God and a bare hope that he is a rewarder c. But then if we consider the woful corruption and degeneracy of Mankind and the power of those Temptations we are under 't is so utterly improbable that without this belief men should set themselves to do those things which please God that according to the usual manner of speaking it may be ranked with things impossible So that I do thus understand the Apostle as to what he says concerning the impossibility of pleasing God without Faith That there are some Doctrines so necessary to be believed in order to the practice of Religion and Virtue that it is naturally impossible a man should be a Worshipper of God and a doer of Righteousness without the belief of them and of this sort he hath given us one instance viz. That there is a God That also there are some Doctrines so necessary to be believed in order to the practice of Religion that 't is morally impossible a man should be a Worshipper of God and a worker of righteousness without the belief of them And of this sort he hath also given us one instance viz. That God is a rewarder of them that diligently seek him Thus I have by comparing one part of the Text with another given you as I am persuaded the true sence of the whole and that as I hope with great clearness of truth and plainness of words And according to this Explanation the words of the Text may be interpreted according to this Paraphrase Without the belief of some such Doctrines as are proper and suitable motives to the worship of God and the practice of Virtue wherewith God is pleased it is impossible any man should fear God and work Righteousness For some Doctrines there are so necessary in order to that end that 't is impossible to conceive how a man should find himself obliged thereto without the belief of those Doctrines Some Doctrines also there are so necessary to be believed in order thereunto that without the belief of them no man finds himself encouraged to the practice of Religion For instance the Worship of God is a part of Religion without which he will not be pleased with us but it is plain that no man can be a worshipper of God without believing that there is a God because if
of disobedience 1. The perfection of the Rule which requires a more exceeding Righteousness than either the Law of Moses or the Law of Nature And this is one reason why the Christian Baptism is the Sacrament of Regeneration whether to Jews or Gentiles Because they must become new men and as it were born again by living up to those Divine Principles and holy Rules which are peculiar to the Christian Doctrine by practising that piety and purity and charity in all their conversation which seems to be more than enough for the happiness of single persons or of Societies in this World but which is necessary for an everlasting happiness in the life to come And here are these causes of complaint 1. That there is a severe restraint laid upon our Natural Appetites and Inclinations which often carry us as violently to those Satisfactions which the Law of Christ forbids as to those which it allows There is in every man by nature the love either of pleasure or greatness or revenge c. and this Inclination for the most part stifned by custom so that he cannot be a Christian without self-denial and putting himself to pain And the duty of this kind may be so grievous that as Jesus himself hath described it it may be like cutting off a right hand and pulling out a right eye 2. His Law hath made no allowance for the prevailing Opinions and Customs of the World In common account to forgive one injury is to be exposed to another to refuse a Challenge is to be mark'd for a Coward to use plain dealing is the way to die a Beggar and to neglect several opportunities of gain or pleasure though for Conscience sake is to go for a Fool. But though it is a grievous thing to lie under contempt yet the Doctrine of Christ without consideration of this hard case has tied us up to contrary Rules and expresly required us not to be conformed to this world 3. We must guard our selves against innumerable temptations to the sins of Lust Covetousness Envy Ambition and the like inordinate Affections to which a Christian must by no means consent The very opportunities of doing ill are in some cases hard to be refused and moreover every sin hath its proper incentives which beset us in all places And these are so busy and importunate that some think it impossible to be religious without retiring from the conversation of the World But what rest can there be in perpetual circumspection and standing upon our guard And yet Jesus himself thought this necessary for us Watch and pray saith he that ye enter not into temptation 4. The Law of Christ prescribes to the Thoughts and Affections as well as to the overt Action He that does not defile his Neighbour's Bed may be an adulterer in his heart And he that hates his brother is a murtherer If it be hard to forbear the action what pains must be taken to conquer the Desire to make it an obedient Slave and not suffer it so much as to dispute And yet this is the case neither body nor mind neither deed nor thought is exempted from the obligation of this terrible Law but we must cleanse our selves from all filthiness both of flesh and spirit 5. It is not easy to suffer yet if need were we must take up the Cross and be always in mind prepared to endure reproach the loss of Goods yea and of life it self for righteousness sake And the Scripture speaking of this does acknowledge that no chastisement for the present is joyous but grievous So that in giving up our names to Christ we seem to commit our selves to a Sea of troubles instead of making to a Haven of rest He that will be my disciple saith Jesus let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow me This is enough to shew the strictness of the Rule and the perfection of Virtue and Piety which the Gospel requires but that which makes all more grievous is the second cause of Complaint 2. The penalty of Disobedience For this is no less than exclusion from the Kingdom of Heaven and a more intolerable Sentence at the day of Judgment than those shall receive that never heard the Doctrine of Christ And the hour is coming in which all that are in the graves shall hear his voice and shall come forth they that have done good unto the resurrection of life and they that have done evil unto the resurrection of damnation And our Saviour hath plainly told us by what Rule the Good and the Evil shall be judged The words that I have spoken the same shall judge you at the last day And now that we have heard these things we may be exceedingly amazed as our Lord's first Disciples were when they heard the like and say Who then can be saved or at least where is the truth of his Promise For the condition of his Promise is so hard and the consequence so terrible if we fail of the condition that the extream danger and the great uncertainty seems to create a new trouble not well consistent with the promised rest He is indeed true and faithful that hath promised But whilst my Soul is troubled how can I believe that 't is at rest How therefore shall we bring these things together The truth is nothing has more exercised the wits of men than to find out expedients for this purpose And for my own part I have that experience of Human Frailty on the one side and that desire to be saved on the other that I never lend my ear more willingly than to him that shews me an easy way to Salvation And I am sure he attaques my Affections to so much advantage that I can have no prejudice against his way and nothing but evident want of truth could make me afraid to trust it Some have said That Christ himself hath fulfilled all righteousness in our stead and that upon our faith his righteousness is imputed to us for justification This I confess would cut the knot which we would fain unty for if this be true the Gospel does not only release me from punishment but from duty too But where has our Lord or his Apostles said any thing to this purpose Indeed he has promised to save me from God's angry Justice and that because he was a Sacrifice for Sin offered in my stead But I find that he has imposed upon me the keeping of his Commandments as a condition of that Salvation and therefore I conclude that he did not perform them in my stead too Nor can I conceive how the holiness of Christ should be made an argument in the Scripture to follow his Example if it may be improved into a good reason why we need not follow it So that the Merit of Christ will not save me the labour of becoming a new man and if that will not I am sure no other Merit can And these men not willing to trust their own Invention
them could be well spared but that they work together one for one good end another for another all jointly for his true happiness And if this be true with reference to single persons it must needs be so with respect to the Church or to any Body of Christians adhering to the true faith and obedience of the Gospel since the Providence of God is more watchful for a common than a particular Interest and since this truth was mentioned by the Apostle in behalf of Believers that felt the same troubles So that we are as to all Evils of this World to consider God not as arbitrarily disposing of our Concerns but rather as wisely chusing fit means for our happiness And this consideration will serve to repel all murmuring thoughts against his Providence and to dispose us not only to contentation but even to thankfulness under the Adversities of life and that because it seems they are so far from being ill meant by Providence towards us that they are chosen by God as proper means working for our good not only Adversities in general but those which happen in particular more than others would have done But then 2. There must be a concurrence of other causes to make them effectual for our good I cannot certainly tell whether that be meant by that phrase of working together for I do not know but the Apostle might mean no more in this place than that all things that happen to God's Servants shall work together that is one with another promote that which is best for them in the end But I am sure the thing is true that other causes must be present to work together with these and because the Apostle knew that they would be supposed therefore they are fit to be mentioned And 1. The Grace of God which is necessary to all good effects which his Providence designs to work in and for us that will not be wanting For if any thing that is grievous befals us by his Providence he will not deny us that inward assistance of his Holy Spirit towards a good use of it which is needful because the outward means of doing us good is not of our own chusing but his And this is one reasonable account of that saying of David In very faithfulness thou hast afflicted me For God hath promised to be good and gracious to him And this Promise was so made good by those Troubles that befel him and the supports he had under them and by that Grace of God which disposed him to make a good use of them that he could not but acknowledge the Truth and Fidelity of God upon this account as much as for all the Glories and Prosperities that ever fell to his share But then 2. Something is required of us to convert all Evils that do or may befal us into such advantages as may be made of them They indeed give us the opportunity and God give us the ability but then we must perform our duty They work as Occasions and Means God works as the Supream Director and Mover but it is our part to work as the immediate Instruments of our own good and that by more Consideration and more earnest Prayer and herein lies the tendency of Worldly Crosses to do us good that they do of themselves dispose a good man to those things more than ordinarily And it is in this sense that we are to understand the saying of the Wise-man Sorrow is better than laughter for by the sadness of the countenance the heart is made better That is to say 1. It is disposed to consider more seriously for it takes away all that levity and ariness of thought which in some degree does almost necessarily attend an unmixed prosperity and it does also suggest many profitable thoughts which seldom come to our minds at another time This very Divine Truth That all things work together c. is not so often thought of when we need not the support of it as when we do nor the Infinite Wisdom and Goodness of the Divine Providence nor the rich Promise of being raised up to everlasting Life There must be the consideration of such things to make all things work for our good otherwise this Text were set here in vain nor need we to have known the truth it holds forth to us if without laying it and other things of the same nature to heart they would work good for us by themselves 2. Fervent Prayers are requisite for the same end for otherwise the Apostle needed not have told us in the foregoing Verse Likewise also the Spirit helpeth our infirmities for we know not what to pray for as we ought but the Spirit it self maketh intercession for us with groans that cannot be uttered In which words as I have already intimated the Apostle encouraged his Christians to earnest Prayer assuring them That in their Circumstances the Holy Spirit of God would guide them to pray for things that were good for them though in all their Prayers for temporal things to submit their Desires intirely to the Will and good disposal of the Almighty who would accordingly answer them by doing what was best for them Now frequent and earnest Prayer does wonderfully dispose the mind of a good man to a strong dependance upon God and brings back great Consolations and Strength from him and confirms it in a stedfast and unmoveable resolution of keeping a good Conscience and looking for that Mercy of God unto Eternal Life It is by such Actions of our own that all things work together for good and all Evils of life do themselves work for it by disposing us to these things i.e. to Consideration and Devotion to consider the Soveraignty Wisdom and Goodness of God the Vanity of this World our infinite concerns in a better life more seriously and closely than we have done and to pray to God for all needful things more affectionately and heartily Now where such Dispositions as these are followed there all the good fruits of worldly Evils will grow plentifully which what they are comes next to be considered in the mean time we have gone thus far That there is nothing wanting in them as they are occasions and opportunities of doing good for our selves and that through the Grace of God and our own using them aright and cherishing those good inclinations and dispositions which they beget in our minds they will actually produce the good ends for which they are sent 3. Let us now consider what that good is for which it is said that all things shall work together what kind of good it is and what is the degree of it If we consider the kind it may be truly said in the first place that sometimes it is of the same kind with the evil and that God sends the temporal evil to bring about a temporal good Thus Joseph who was designed by Providence to be so great a Man in Egypt when it was to be the Granary of that part of
use left for his Reason that his Conscience is no longer in his own keeping and that he is now fit to herd with the Beasts that follow the foremost without discretion The Laws of Truth and Goodness are immutable and another man's violation of them gives me no dispensation to do so too I may not prostitute my Conscience to the Lusts of other men who are to be governed by the Laws of God as well as I if they call my resolution not to provoke my Maker an humour in this matter I were a Fool not to be tenacious of my own humour in this case there can be no reason why he that is in the right should go over to him that is wrong unless he that sets the evil example could change the nature of things and made evil not to be evil and sin and punishment to be other things than what they are Lastly The common way of excusing rash Oaths by pleading an habit implieth the greatest evil of this nature that can be for this is but to confess that a man is guilty of this sin in the highest degree an evil custom being the heighth of wickedness Thus both by shewing what those dispositions are which lead to common Swearing and by considering the excuses that are usually framed in the behalf of it I have discovered the Immorality thereof and that it cometh of evil I might here add the Authority of wise men who had no particular Revelation to guide themselves by and yet condemned this practice and disswaded all men from it for these Persons could discover the evil of it only by the light of Natural Reason which they could not have done if it had not been evil in its own nature Plato wrote smartly against Swearing upon light causes Hierocles tells us It is a dishonour to truth to confirm it lightly with an Oath Epictetus gives this advice Avoid Swearing altogether if thou canst if not as much as thou canst In a word The wise and sober Heathens were generally of this mind That an Oath was to be reserved for Cases of necessity and the practice of common Swearing was not in use amongst any but Stage-players and Slaves nor do we ordinarly meet with Oaths in any of their Writers excepting the Comedians and some of their dissolute Poets but the grave men and Philosophers took not the liberty themselves and dehorted others from it And this may serve to confirm us in the belief of its Immorality for what so many wise men agreed in condemning seems to be condemn'd as evil by reasons common to all men and possibly such as I have offered to your consideration so great a shame and ignominy it is to Christians to allow themselves in a Custom so easy avoidable that is condemned by the light of Nature however by the Authority of the Son of God whose Disciples we profess our selves to be Thus have I finished what I had to say upon this subject having been willing to say all that was any way proper to oppose a custom tending so manifestly to the dishonour of our Nation and the discredit of our Church and the scandal of Christian Society and finally to the ruin of Mens Souls for ever for without universal obedience to the Laws of Christ whereof this is one which I have been preaching to you we cannot enter into the Kingdom of Heaven for which reason if I had chosen any other command of our Lord and Saviour to discourse upon I had been as vehement in urging you to the obedience of that as I have been in pressing this Now the God of mercy grant that we may walk before him blameless and be holy in all manner of Conversation as becomes the followers of Jesus To Him with the Father and the Holy Spirit be ascribed all honour praise and glory now and for ever Amen The Tenth Sermon MATTH VII 21. Not every one that saith unto me Lord Lord shall enter into the kingdom of heaven but he that doth the will of my father which is in heaven THE Point determined in these words is of the highest concernment to us in the world viz. Who of those that hope for Salvation by Christ shall not and who shall enter into the kingdom of heaven The former is described in that part of the Text Not every one that saith unto me Lord Lord The latter in the close of it But he that doth the will of my Father which is in heaven Let us first consider the former part Not every one that saith unto me Lord Lord which being compared with the Clause opposed to it is evidently to be thus interpreted Not any one that saith Lord Lord and does no more than say so but neglects the doing of God's Will not any such person shall enter into the Kingdom of Heaven By calling Christ Lord is meant an open profession of Christianity and by calling him Lord Lord is meant a vehement profession of it such a Profession as is to be seen in all the ways of making known to the World what Religion we are of For instance When we do not only not renounce our Baptism and suffer our selves to be called Christians and call our selves so which is common to the most careless Professors of Christianity in the World but when also we do solemnly confess that Faith in the Assemblies of the Church into which we have been baptized and frequent the Table of Our Lord to shew forth his death and join in publick Prayers and are zealous for the purity of Christian Profession and contend against Error then we are those that call Christ Lord Lord i. e. who make a vehement profession that we are his Servants and Followers Now whereas our Saviour says Not every one that doth this shall enter into the kingdom of Heaven the plain meaning is That he doth not exclude this outward profession as unnecessary but that he makes it insufficient of it self in order to salvation 1. He doth by no means exclude it as unnecessary or as a Condition that may well enough be spared he said upon another occasion Ye call me Master and Lord and ye say well for so I am John 13.13 And St. Paul tells us That as with the heart man believeth unto righteousness so with the mouth confession is made to salvation Rom. 10.10 Nay it is so necessary if we will be saved to confess Christ and his Truth publickly in the World that no danger will excuse us from it For the doing of this if need be we must venture all that is dearest to us in this life nay and life it self It was on this account that our Saviour told his Disciples Whoever will come after me must take up his cross and follow me It is the confession of the true Faith added to holy living that hath made Martyrs of Saints since it was properly for confessing Christ with their mouths for contending in the behalf of Truth against Error for serving God in Religious Assemblies
and therefore to be sure when it brings little or none at all And upon this account it had doubtless been a true saying if it had been said Notevery one that in other things doth the Will of my Father shall enter into the Kingdom of Heaven but he that also saith unto me Lord Lord i. e. who doth moreover make an outward profession of being my Disciple This I say had been true but then it had not been so instructing and useful an Admonition as it is in the Text because it is incomparably more certain that he who doth the Will of God in all other things will out wardly profess the truth of the Gospel than that every one who doth profess it will live according to it And therefore our Saviour laid his Caution where the danger was and so I come to the 2d Point That an outward profession of Christianity is not of it self sufficient in order to our Salvation inasmuch as it is moreover necessary that we should do the Will of God i. e. that we should do his Will in all other things and in general that our Affections and Practices should be answerable to the truth we profess which is a thing so plain if we once come seriously to consider it that there is as little need of proof to make it out as one would think there was of this Caution of our Saviour not to trust in outward profession when our hearts and lives are contrary to what we profess What is a professed Christian but one that declares himself to believe That the unrighteous the unmerciful the unclean the ungodly shall never enter into the Kingdom of Heaven one that declares to the World that his chief business is to be saved and that without holiness no man shall see the Lord And therefore whilst himself lives in ungodliness and is led away by worldly Lusts he is the most absurd person in the World and so much more ridiculous than a man that has skill in any thing but the proper business of his Calling by which he must live as the Concerns of another World are above all our Interests in this For such a man to maintain the hope of Everlasting Life is a contradiction to his own Faith and Profession such a contradiction to his Profession that he exposes himself to have the lie given him by the World such a contradiction to his Faith that his own Conscience one would think should give him the lie too But yet as plain a case as it is that meer profession without doing the Will of God is not enough to save us our Saviour nevertheless thought fit here and elsewhere plainly to admonish us of it that we might not deceive our selves And the Apostle foretold there would be men having a form of godliness and denying the power thereof and therefore it should seem that how plain soever the mistake is of trusting to profession without a practice answerable to it yet men would be very apt to fall into that mistake There are these two things which I shall hereupon take occasion to speak to 1. That Experience has proved the proneness of Mankind to this folly of presuming upon mere profession that God is pleased with them 2. What are the causes and occasions of so wretched a conceit so void of all shadow or pretence to reason 1. As to the proof of it that it has been so I shall need to insist but little upon it because alas the thing is too apparent in our own days and every man that is guilty has a testimony of it from his own Conscience if he will hearken to it too plain to be denied Our Blessed Saviour himself found a great deal of this folly and madness among the Jews especially amongst the Scribes and Pharisees when he came into the World Their Fathers had for 400 years been cured of Idolatry and the fondness of the gods of their Neighbours round about them they had smarted too severely for that ever to return to it again But they soon fell to make the Profession and Worship of God according to the Law a dispensation for Luxury and Injustice and Unmercifulness and wicked living instead of a restraint from it plainly shewing thereby that their Fathers did not like the True Religion because it was too good for them since their Posterity not daring to revolt from the outward profession of it yet soon learned to reconcile it with a licentious practice Nay if we will take St. Paul's word who did not use to reprove without cause they thought that the same sins which they were guilty of with the Gentiles would not have so bad a construction made of them nor be so displeasing to God as they were in the Gentiles For as it appears from Rom. 2. they judged the Gentiles for doing evil things and did them themselves thinking all the while to escape the righteous judgment of God And what was the reason of all this They had the Temple of God amongst them the Promises made to Abraham and to his Posterity God's Service according to the Law of Moses Sacrifices according to the Law and Washings and divers Ordinances in the observation of which they put their trust and believed that no Israelite should go without his portion of happiness in the life to come In this state our Saviour found them they trusted in Moses and said we have Abraham to our Father they built and garnished the Tombs of the Prophets those very Prophets that had been so ill entertained by their Forefathers for declaring against their sins and because they did this external honour to the Monuments of those good men they excused themselves from following their Instructions being full of hypocrisy and iniquity and all uncleanness Now this being so notorious in our Saviour's time and having been so for some Ages before it seemed needful that his Disciples should be warned against the like fatal mistakes into which there was no little reason to be jealous they would fall For by how much a greater Person Jesus was than Moses and his Sacrifice more excellent than the Sacrifices of the Law and his Religion a more rational and perfect Religion than any that had been before so much greater danger there might be least men should trust to their relation to Christ and to the Sacrifice of Christ and to the profession of the Faith of Christ without an holy heart and life If the Jews could say We have Abraham to our Father and this were enough to quiet their guilty fears it was to be feared Christians would say We have Christ Jesus our Lord and Master our Deliverer and Saviour and make the same use of it If they trusted in Moses there was some reason to suspect that others would hereafter lay hold upon Christ and think themselves safe enough by making their boast of him no less than the Jews had done before of Moses and consequently great reason for this earnest admonition Not every one
that saith unto me Lord Lord c. Nay 2. Notwithstanding this and the like forewarnings yet men have and do in this manner delude themselves inasmuch as our Saviour upon this occasion told his Disciples before hand Many shall say unto me in that day Lord have we not prophesied in thy name and in thy name cast out devils and in thy name done many wonderful works which certainly was spoken of those Workers of Iniquity that lived in the early days of the Church whilst Mirales were yet continued in it And this was a terrible instance of the proneness of men to fall into this kind of presumption That some of them who did not only hear but preach the Gospel of Christ who did not only see but do Miracles in the name of Christ should yet be workers of iniquity that they who had faith to cast out devils out of others should not have faith enough to dispossess themselves of their vile Lusts and to cleanse their own hearts and ways But when Honour and Power and Wealth became the Rewards of professing Christianity the instances of this folly and madness grew still more numerous and more open and men more easily passed for Christians than in former times though they were as lustful and revengeful as vain and insolent and altogether as worldly and vicious as other men they then came into the Church with more ease and were turned out of it with more difficulty and they continued in it under a Discipline less severe than in former times and no wonder then that upon the encrease of Bad Examples there were still more and more who looked for Salvation by the Name of Christ that had little or nothing of his Spirit and were themselves Christians in nothing else but in name and profession And now let us consider 2dly How it comes to pass that men can thus deceive themselves as to rest upon so false a foundation of hope and comfort as a mere profession of the Name and Religion of Christ without being such persons in life and soul as their profession requires Now 1. The first and most general cause is this That men are willing to be thus deceived and no man is in greater danger of falling into a mistake how pernicious soever it be than he that has a mind to believe it no mistake Our Saviour in this Sermon whereof the Text is a part speaks against causeless Anger and an adulterous Eye and a revengeful Spirit and Vain-glory and Worldly sollicitude and a great many other things which are often as hard to reform as it would be to cut off a right hand and to pull out a right eye especially where a corrupt Inclination is confirmed by custom in sin This is indeed the principal cause why men will conceit any thing though it be never so foolish rather than they will feel an indispensible obligation to repent and reform their wicked ways 'T is true when a man has had some experience of it the practice of Religion in all his conversation becomes the joy of his life and he finds more pleasure in a constant course of piety towards God of justice and mercy towards men of a sober and temperate use of the good things of this life than can possibly be had in the ways of sin but whilst one is under the power and lust of Passion his indulgence to his own Appetite is like drink to a man in a Feaver who till he recovers his health knows no other pleasure nor is there a greater torment to him than to be denied it Now they are those Rules of Christianity which concern the government of our Affections and Passions our Manners and Practices in the general course of our conversation that are directly contrary to those corrupt Inclinations of Mankind whereas the obligation to profess a Religion and to worship God amongst those that do so doth not of it self thwart them otherways than it brings the other part of Religion to mind which is to act accordingly in all our conversation And therefore men would fain believe that their care in one part shall supply the defects in the other that is That saying Lord Lord shall stand them in good stead although they do not the will of our heavenly Father To this we may add 2. That there is as great a difficulty on the other side to throw off all fear of God and all concern for a Life to come as there is to come up throughly to that which Religion requires And we have infinite reason to bless God for this difficulty i. e. that he hath made it I will not only say as difficult but more difficult for us to become mere Atheists and Infidels than even bad men have made it to become true and sincere Christians For he hath left those natural impressions of his own Being upon our hearts and hath given such evidence to the World of the truth of the Gospel of his Son that it must needs be an hard thing for us to grow downright Atheists or even Unbelievers and for the most part do what we can we are held under the sense and awe of Religion and if we will make an evil course of life easy to our selves it must not be done by throwing off all pretence to Religion for then we should be self-condemned without any relief and have nothing at all to trust to but it must be done by putting some cheat upon our selves consistent with the profession of Religion that is by flattering our selves that a diligent profession of it will serve the turn and they are these two things taken together viz. the unwillingness of men to leave their sins on the one side and the unavoidable apprehensions of God and a Life to come and a general conviction of the truth of Christianity on the other that have not only made many Persons take up this false way of comforting themselves but have also made them easy to receive divers Errors which help to support this to expect spiritual relief from things blest by man without any appointment from God and to place Religion in things which have neither reason of their own nor Divine Authority to make them valuable Certainly if it were either easy for Mankind to throw off all pretence to Religion on the one hand or if they could easily be persuaded to break off their sins by repentance on the other it had been a much harder thing to corrupt Religion than Experience has shewn it to be But so long as there will be Conscience and a sense of God and an apprehension of a life to come as there will be while the World endures and so long as there will be lust and passion vice and wickedness more or less amongst men so long also they will be very desirous to believe those Doctrines that promise security without an effectual reformation And in the company of more mistakes tending to the same comfort it will be a very hard matter
indeed to convince a man of that mistake that his form of godliness will supply the want of the real power of it But alas where Truth is professed without the mixture of any Doctrinal Errors of this kind there is still too much room left for this practical Error of holding the truth in unrighteousness For whilst some men are led into sin by Error do not others who are guilty of the same sins hope that they shall be overlooked for the sake of their opposition to those Errors and the professing and maintaining the contrary Truth 'T is true that our Church according to the truth of the Scriptures and the clearest reason that there is for any thing in the world holds forth a necessity of actual reformation in order to God's Pardon and eternal Life and we disclaim all manner of ways to supply the want of effectual repentance and a thorough change of heart and life from Sin to God But my Brethren let us lay one Particular seriously to heart under this General and that is this That our very Profession of this Truth in the natural and proper sense of it That without holiness no man shall see the Lord will not serve our turn without the practice of it our profession of the necessity of an holy life is not that holy life which is necessary And if the unavoidableness of professing some Religion and the desire we have to keep our Sins too works this way upon us as to make us trust in the purity of our Profession we are guilty of one Error as pernicious if we continue in it as if a thousand more were added to it I say if we continue in it for there is this advantage of a true and pure profession of Christianity that whosoever makes it to use the words of our Saviour in a sense something different he is not far from the Kingdom of God there is less to do to recover him to repentance no false Principle being in the way to hinder it he lies open to Exhortation and Persuasion and every serious Instruction and Admonition smites his very Conscience he feels the truth that is delivered to him there is that within him which confesseth it all and will not easily let him be quiet till it hath made him a new man But to proceed 3. In some Persons a dishonourable opinion of God may be the reason of expecting his Rewards without performing the Duties of Purity and Charity I fear there are those in the world who think that God hath appointed the confession of his Name with Prayer and Thansgivings and other holy Offices of Religion that by these things men might give him the satisfaction of hearing the greatness of his Perfections and the excellency of his Works applauded by his Creatures and therefore that these things being performed they have entitled themselves to his thanks and favour But this is in truth to have but a very low and mean opinion of the Divine Majesty and seems to suppose God to be altogether such an one as our selves who perhaps are so vain as to take great delight in our own praises and love to be flattered into a great opinion of our selves If we believe worthily of the Divine Nature we must say That because God is holy and good therefore he will have men to be so and that he expects to be glorified by us to be confessed and adored not that he needeth us or is taken with our commendations of him but because it is infinitely fit and reasonable and equitable that we should thus worship him and because this is a necessary means also of forming our minds and actions into the likeness of what God is and of what he does in the World We are mistaken if we think that our Saviour is beholden to us for keeping up the profession of his Name or that some great Interest of his is served when Religion gets ground upon the World because there will be more and more to speak his Praise and to celebrate his Goodness and his Greatness as if he were like some one of those great men who if they have Flatterers enough and can make others seem to honour them though there be no such matter are very well pleased The Religion of our Saviour was not sent into the world for the ostentation of his Power and Greatness and he plainly told us that he sought not his own honour It is indeed our indispensible duty to honour him before all the World with all expressions of gratitude and humble reverence and we are most inexcusable and wretched Creatures if we do it not But the end of his Religion was to turn us from our iniquities and to make us a peculiar people zealous of good works and so far as this Design takes so far he approves of us otherwise he hath plainly told us what we are to expect from him even that Sentence Depart from me ye that work iniquity I know you not 4. The conceit and expectation of some unpromised mercy of God must necessarily be one ingredient into the presumption oâ— those men that hold the truth in unrighteousness For the Threatnings of God's Word are so undeniably plain that a man of sense who believes the truth as it is in Jesus can have no ease under a guilty Conscience but upon a supposition that God will or may at least abate something of the rigour of his threatning and accept of less perhaps a Death-bed Repentance of less I say than he hath required This seems to be at the bottom of their Confidence of whom our Lord foretold that they should say Lord Lord have we not prophesied in thy name c. that is to say they had been instrumental to maintain and support his Doctrine in the World and expostulate now with him as if they always had some secret hope this would at last be accepted though there was no promise of it before-hand But to prevent this presumption Our Saviour hath said before-hand Then will I profess to them I never knew you Depart from me ye workers of iniquity which plain dealing was very necessary For though it is true that he that threatens punishment doth not delight in taking punishment but intends to prevent the fault yet when God threatens for this end and adds moreover Declaration upon the Threatning That he will not spare if the fault be not prevented 't is an affront to him to presume that he will spare for all that To conclude Let us seriously lay to heart these words of our Saviour which are an answer to the most concerning Question in the World who are they that shall be saved Not every one that saith Lord Lord but he that doth the will of our father which is in heaven He that can say I was by my natural temper and inclination thus and thus but the Religion of Jesus and the Worship of God according to the Gospel hath given me a new heart and a new nature and
should commit such Crimes as these not only without regret and horrour but with a chearful Conscience and the expectation of heaven in reward of their actions Wherefore that I might not lose the use of my understanding in most plain and evident matters that I might not be weaker than a Child or an Idiot I would never engage my self with the Contentious and Factious I would not dare to trust my self with a Party and would not serve a Cause but acknowledge a mistake though it were my Friend and follow truth where-ever it led me For nothing is more evident in the experience of the world than this That when men are led aside by their worldly Interests when their Reputations are engaged and they are made fast to a Party their understandings are so disabled that in a short time they confidently put themselves upon defending things most unjustifiable and believing things that are most incredible and impossible Let us therefore allow St. Peter's direction to lay aside all malice and all guile and hypocrisy and envyings and evil speakings and that for the reason by him given viz. that we may desire the sincere milk of the Word that we may desire and aim at the knowledge of the Truth for where that Assembly of Sins is got together or indeed where any one of them is it is apt to extinguish that very love of Truth the very desire of knowing it To proceed Luxury also and Voluptuousness and an impure course of Life is a very great impediment to the knowledge of the truth sometimes by introducing such Diseases as shatter the understanding and dull the apprehension they that always swim in sensual delights meet with rough and tempestuous Seas sometimes that shake their Bodies and at length Reason lik a drowning Pilot drops off and is drowned in pleasures it often happens that the Epicure grows crazy before his time and when his airy Fancy is evaporated by the heats of Youth and his Wit is grown flat and unweildly he himself becomes contemptible to the younger Debauchees that reign in his stead Temperance and Regular living have a kind influence upon the Intellectual Abilities of men to nourish and preserve them and lengthen them and all the while to make them more fit for their proper imployment but much more are they requisite to qualify us for a good understanding of Divine Truth because it requires a serious consideration diligent attention which the Epicure is a stranger to because she is spiritual and the mind cannot converse with her while it meets with the fumes of sensuality because she is of a purifying nature and not more an Enemy to uncleanness than the Voluptuary is averse from her good reason therefore had St. James when he shewed how we should receive the Word with meekness to exhort us that we lay aside all filthiness and superfluity of naughtiness In a word The bent of the will and affections have such a sway over the understanding that daily experience shews how the same things appears differently to men nay to the same men according to the temper they are in for instance if persons that have lived long friendly together chance to fall out immediately former actions and speeches are remembred and commented upon and an ill construction put upon them though till that time they were taken well enough and yet the things are the same and the understandings of men were as able before as now only there is dislike now instead of the kindness that was before no wonder then if a vicious inclination and a guilty Conscience to obstruct the entrance of truth and sound knowledge into the mind since they must needs create an aversation to it discourse to a greedy worlding of Immortality and laying up treasure in heaven and he can hardly understand what you say 't is as insipid talk to him as a Lecture of Philosophy to a Child that understands nothing but play but fall upon some discourse that tends to getting drop but the hint of a good Bargain he greedily embraces every word and is as apprehensive as heart can wish and guilty men are apt to fortify themselves against all that can be said to disswade them from their beloved sins and that is reason enough why sin doth more or less bar up the understanding against Divine Truth Men love darkeness rather than light because their deeds are evil Now the conclusion from all this is evident on the one side one habitual worldly Lust is enough to hinder the true apprehensive of heavenly things and then how can they who drink iniquity like water who labour to quench the Spirit be fit to receive Divine Truths and to understand the things of the Spirit of God On the other side a sincere intention towards God removes all those impediments which obstruct the force of truth and moreover gives several advantages of its own towards the attainment of sound knowledge therefore it is in it self a fit means for that end A scorner seeketh wisdom and findeth it not but knowledge is easy to him that understandeth 2. There are many great Promises of Knowledge both in the Old and New Testament peculiar to good men but God hath in Justice threatned and by the same Justice he doth often infatuate the understandings of the wicked Now if goodness doth of it self lead to knowledge if there be a supernatural blessing that goes along with the sincere man to prosper his endeavours after knowledge what greater advantages can we desire in order to this end than those which sincerity towards God intitles us too Thus the very Text hath the force of a Promise If any man will do his will he shall know we have our Saviour's word for it and to be sure he will make it good and it appears by other places that something more is here meant than that knowledge is naturally promoted by goodness in Psal 25.9 it is said The meek he will guide in judgment and immediately again The meek he will teach his way Now certainly here is something promised to the meek that is not common to others and the guidance and teaching which is promised denotes clearly a blessing on their understandings But now if this be promised to meekness we cannot doubt but God will more plentifully fulfil his Promise to those who add to meekness purity and temperance and to that an universal love and fear of God and charity towards man especially considering that this Promise is repeated again to such Persons ver 14. The secret of the Lord is with them that fear him and he will shew them his Covenant where God's Covenant explains what is meant by his secret and by his way ver 9. That way of God in ver 10. is said to be mercy and truth the Covenant of Mercy revealed by Christ which was a secret in former Ages so that the good man he that sincerely loves truth and intends obedience is here promis'd a signal blessing on his
life and power of it in his heart for this reason it is that the Faith of good Christians who are not so well verst in subtle reasonings as in religious practice cannot be shaken by the objections of a Sophister because they have that inward sense of the power and excellency of Divine Truths which is above all other argument They know by experience that in the keeping of God's Commandments there is great reward and cannot therefore be entangled by any artificial objections against it but that I may not be mistaken I do not pretend that the pleasure which a man finds in believing any Doctrine is always an argument that the Doctrine is true There are some Doctrines in the World that tend to licentiousness that weaken the obligations to an holy life and therefore are sweet to the carnal man because they can put him in possession of great joy in himself before he has that good title to it which can only be founded upon repentance and holiness therefore it is neither false nor allowable always to argue from the experience a man hath of the sweetness and pleasure of his perswasions to the truth of them as many misguided Souls have done but for all that it is most certain that Religion consisting in the belief of truth and the practice of goodness a man shall understand the power of the one and the excellency of the other by experience better than he can by meer speculation for the nature of things that are to be done is never so fully understood as by doing them and the force of Truth is never so thoroughly felt as when it makes the Will and Affections as well as the Understanding submit to it now the best way to avoid arguing to our selves fallaciously from our own experience and being imposed upon by the joy and pleasure which those perswasions yield that tend to carnal security the best way I say to avoid this is to follow our Saviour's rule by laying the foundation even of experimental knowledge in doing the will of God and applying our selves with all sincerity to the keeping of his Commandments because then we shall never argue from experience but in favour of the truth i. e. of true Virtue and Holiness and of those Principles which lead to the practice of it And most certainly there is that comfort and satisfaction in believing Divine Truth there are those Joys in living according to it which can never be thoroughly understood but by the practice of Religion and Virtue which no man can have a just conception of till he hath tasted and seen how gracious God is Solomon says That the ways of wisdom are pleasantness and all her paths are peace but then we shall never thoroughly understand this till we walk in them in the keeping of God's Commandments there is great reward but how shall we find this reward but in keeping of them It may be described to us by others but as imperfectly as the Pencil doth Life and Motion the best descriptions will fall short of the subject and if we be alienated from the life of God we cannot fully conceive it Nay most commonly the delights of the righteous are things flat and insipid and the representation of them is nauseous and irksom to the carnal worldling and he is hardly in a better condition to understand it than one that is born Blind can apprehend that saying of Solomon Truly light is sweet and a pleasant thing it is to behold the Sun The sum of all is this That if sincerity towards God in doing his will is a great advantage towards the obtaining of that knowledge which is possible to the wicked man the knowledge of speculation if also that knowledge is gained by it which the insincere have nothing at all of if the righteous do not only better apprehend the weight of arguments but understand more by having their senses exercised to discern between good and evil then have we great reason to follow our Saviour's method If any man will do his will he shall know of the doctrine whether it be of God Only let us remember that this knowledge is not to be gained this blessing is not to be procured to our selves either by my discourse or by your hearing what hath been said concerning our Saviour's words no nor by granting the truth and reasonableness of what hath been offered in illustration of them but only by putting our selves seriously upon the trial of this way by doing the will of God for what hath been said of Divine Truths in the general holds good of this in particular That the excellency of our Lord's method for the gaining of good knowledge in the things of God cannot be thoroughly judged till we have applied our selves to the use of it and I doubt not but those that have made trial do acknowledge the truth of what hath been said FINIS