ought not to pretend any thing against the plain and safe paths of Religion which will entertain us with pleasure all along in the way and crown us with happiness at the end 2 TIM 2.19 Let every one that nameth the name of Christ depart from iniquity THe whole verse runs thus Nevertheless the foundation of God standeth sure having this seal The Lord knoweth them that are his And Let every one that nameth the name of Christ depart from iniquity In which words the Apostle declares to us the terms of the covenant between God and man For the word 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 which is here translated foundation according to the usual signification of it is likewise as learned men have observ'd sometimes used for an instrument of contract whereby two parties do oblige themselves mutually to each other And this notion of the word agrees very well with what follows concerning the seal assix'd to it which is very fuitable to a Covenant but not at all to a foundation 'T is true indeed as the learned Grotius hath observed there used anciently to be inscriptions on foundation-stones and the word 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 which we render seal may likewise signifie an inscription and then the sense will be very current thus The foundation of God standeth sure having this inscription But it is to be considered that though 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 may signifie an inscription yet it is onely an inscription upon a seal which hath no relation to a foundation but is very proper to a covenant or mutual obligation And accordingly the seal affixt to this instrument or covenant between God and man is in allusion to the custom of those countries said to have an inscription on both sides agreeable to the condition of the persons contracting On God's part there is this impress or inscription The Lord knoweth them that are his that is God will own and reward those that are faithfull to him And on our part Let every one that nameth the name of Christ depart from iniquity Let every one that nameth the name of Christ that is that calls himself a Christian For to name the name of any one or to have his name call'd upon by us does according to the use of this Phrase among the Hebrews signifie nothing else but to be denominated from him Thus 't is frequently used in the Old Testament and sometimes in the New Jam. 2.7 Do they not blaspheme that worthy name by the which ye are called that is the name or title of Christians and that expression 1 Pet. 〈◊〉 14. if ye be reproached for the name of Christ is at the sixteenth verse varied if any man suffer as a Christian So that to name the name of Christ is to call our selves Christians Let every one that nameth the name of Christ depart from iniquity The word 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 is often taken strictly for injustice or unrighteousness but sometimes used more largely for sin and wickedness in the general And so it seems to be used here in the Text because there is no reason from the context to restrain it to any particular kind of sin or vice and because Christianity lays an equal obligation upon men to abstain from all sin Let every one that nameth the name of Christ depart from iniquity that is every Christian obligeth himself by his prosession to renounce all sin and to live a holy life In speaking to this argument I shall do these two things 1. Shew what obligation the profession of Christianity lays upon men to live holy lives 2. Endeavour to perswade those who call themselves Christians to answer this obligation I. What obligation the profession of Christianity lays upon men to live holy lives He that calls himself a Christian professeth to entertain the Doctrine of Christ to live in the imitation of his holy example and to have solemnly engaged himself to all this I shall speak briefly to these and then come to that which I principally intend to perswade men to live accordingly 1. He that professeth himself a Christian professeth to entertain the doctrine of Christ to believe the whole Gospel to assent to all the articles of the Christian faith to all the precepts and promises and theatnings of the Gospel Now the great design the proper intention of this doctrine is to take men off from sin and to direct and encourage them to a holy life It teacheth us what we are to believe concerning God and Christ not with any design to entertain our minds with the bare speculation of those truths but to better our lives For every article of our faith is a proper argument against sin and a powerfull motive to obedience The whole history of Christ's appearance in the world all the discourses and actions of his life and the sufferings of his death do all tend to this the ultimate issue of all is the destroying of sin So St. John tells us 1 Joh. 3.8 for this purpose was the Son of God manifested that he might destroy the works of the devil But this is most expresly and fully declar'd to us Tit. 2.11 12 13 14. The grace of God that bringeth salvation hath appeared to all men teaching us that denying ungodliness and worldly lusts we should live soberly righteously and godly in this present world looking for that blessed hope and the glorious appearing of the great God and our Saviour Jesus Christ who gave himself for us that he might redeem us from all iniquity and purifie unto himself a peculiar people zealous of good works The precepts of the Gospel do strictly command holiness and that universal the purity of our souls and the chastity of our bodies 2 Cor. 7.1 to cleanse our selves from all filthiness of flesh and spirit 1 Thes 5.22 to abstain from all kind of evil 1 Pet. 1.15 to be holy in all manner of conversation They require us to endeavour after the highest degrees of holiness that are attainable by us in this imperfect state to be holy as he that hath called us is holy Mat. 5.48 to be perfect as our father which is in heaven is perfect And all the promises of the Gospel are so many encouragements to obedience and a holy life ◠Cor. 7. ◠having therefore these promises let us cleanse our selves from all filthiness of flesh and spirit and perfect holiness in the fear of God We are told by St. Peter that these exceeding great and precious promises are given to us that by these we might be partakers of a Divine nature 2 Pet. 1.4 having escaped the pollution that is in the world through lust and that we might give all diligence to add to our faith vertue and to vertue knowledge and to knowledge temperance and patience and brotherly-kindness and charity And the threatnings of the Gospel are so many powerfull arguments against sin Therefore the Apostle calls the Gospel the power of God unto salvation
this word is so to be taken in the Text may appear farther from the opposition of it to sin or vice in general Righteousness exalteth a Nation but Sin is the reproach of any People You see then what will be the subject of my present discourse namely that Religion and Vertue are the great causes of publick happiness and prosperity And though the truth of this hath been universally acknowledged and long enough experienced in the world yet because the fashion of the age is to call every thing into question it will be requisite to satisfie mens reason about it To which end I shall do these two things 1. Endeavour to give an account of this Truth 2. To vindicate it from the pretences and insinuations of atheistical persons I. shall give you this two-fold account of it 1. From the justice of the Divine providence 2. From the natural tendency of the thing 1. From the justice of the Divine providence Indeed as to particular persons the providences of God are many times promiscuously administred in this world so that no man can certainly conclude God's love or hatred to any person by any thing that befalls him in this life But God do's not deal thus with Nations Because publick bodies and communities of men as such can onely be rewarded and punished in this world For in the next all those publick societies and combinations wherein men are now link'd together under several Governments shall be dissolved God will not then reward or punish Nations as Nations But every man shall then give an account of himself to God and receive his own reward and bear his own burthen For although God account it no disparagement to his justice to let particular good men suffer in this world and pass through many tribulations into the kingdom of God because there is another day a coming which will be a more proper season of reward yet in the usual course of his providence he recompenseth religious and vertuous Nations with temporal blessings and prosperity For which reason St. Austin tells us that the mighty success and long prosperity of the Romans was a reward given them by God for their eminent justice and temperance and other vertues And on the other hand God many times suffers the most grievous sins of particular persons to go unpunished in this world because he knows that his justice will have another and better opportunity to meet and reckon with them But the general and crying sins of a Nation cannot hope to escape publick judgments unless they be prevented by a general repentance God may defer his judgments for a time and give a People a longer space of repentance he may stay till the iniquities of a Nation be full but sooner or later they have reason to expect his vengeance And usually the longer punishment is delay'd it is the heavier when it comes Now all this is very reasonable becauses this world is the onely season for National punishments And indeed they are in a great degree necessary for the present vindication of the honour and majesty of the Divine Laws and to give some check to the overflowing of wickedness Publick judgments are the banks and shores upon which God breaks the insolency of sinners and stays their proud waves And though among men the multitude of offenders be many times a cause of impunity because of the weakness of humane Governments which are glad to spare where they are not strong enough to punish yet in the government of God things are quite otherwise No combination of sinners is too hard for him and the greater and more numerous the offenders are the more his justice is concern'd to vindicate the affront However God may pass by single sinners in this world yet when a Nation combines against him when hand joyns in hand the wicked shall not go unpunished This the Scripture declares to be the settled course of God's providence That a righteous Nation shall be happy The work of righteousness shall be peace and the effects of righteousness quietness and assurance for ever And on the other hand that he useth to shower down his judgments upon a wicked people he turneth a fruitfull land into barrenness for the wickedness of them that dwell therein And the experience of all ages hath made this good All along the History of the Old Testament we find the interchangeable providences of God towards the People of Israel always suited to their manners They were constantly prosperous or afflicted according as piety and vertue flourished or declined amongst them And God did not onely exercise this providence towards his own People but he dealt thus also with other Nations The Roman Empire whilst the vertue of that people remained firm was strong as iron as 't is represented in the Prophesie of Daniel But upon the dissolution of their manners the iron began to be mixt with miry clay and the feet upon which that Empire stood to be broken And though God in the administration of his justice be not tied to precedents and we cannot argue from Scripture examples that the providences of God towards other Nations shall in all circumstances be conformable to his dealings with the People of Israel yet thus much may with great probability be collected from them that as God always blessed that People while they were obedient to him and followed them with his judgments when they rebelled against him so he will also deal with other Nations Because the reason of those dispensations as to the main and substance of them seems to be perpetual and founded in that which can never change the justice of the Divine providence 2dly The truth of this farther appears from the natural tendency of the thing For Religion in general and every particular vertue doth in its own nature conduce to the publick Interest Religion where-ever it is truly planted is certainly the greatest obligation upon conscience to all civil offices and moral duties Chastity and temperance and industry do in their own nature tend to health and plenty Truth and fidelity in all our dealings do create mutual love and good-will and confidence among men which are the great bands of peace And on the contrary wickedness doth in its own nature produce many publick mischiefs For as sins are link'd together and draw on one another so almost every vice hath some temporal inconvenience annexed to it and naturally following it Intemperance and lust breed infirmities and diseases which being propagated spoil the strain of a Nation Idleness and luxury bring forth poverty and want and this tempts men to injustice and that causeth enmity and animosities and these bring on strife and confusion and every evil work This Philosophical account of publick troubles and confusions St. James gives us Jam. 4.1 whence come wars and fightings among you are they not hence even from your lusts that war in your members But I shall shew more particularly that Religion and vertue do naturally tend
will among men a readiness to forgive our greatest enemies to doe good to them that hate us to bless them that curse us and to pray for them that despitefully use us and persecute us And does inculcate these precepts more vehemently and forbid malice and hatred and revenge and contention more strictly and peremptorily than any Religion ever did before as will appear to any one that does but attentively read our Saviour's Sermon upon the Mount And as Christianity hath given us a more certain so likewise a more perfect Law for the government of our lives All the precepts of it are reasonable and wise requiring such duties of us as are suitable to the light of nature and do approve themselves to the best reason of mankind such as have their foundation in the nature of God and are an imitation of the Divine excellencies such as tend to the persection of humane nature and to raise the minds of men to the highest pitch of goodness and vertue The Laws of our Religion are such as are generally usefull and beneficial to the world as do tend to the outward peace and the health to the inward comfort and contentment and to the universal happiness of mankind They command nothing that is unnecessary and burdensome as were the numerous rites and ceremonies of the Jewish Religion but what is reasonable and usefull and substantial And they omit nothing that may tend to the glory of God or the welfare of men nor do they restrain us in any thing but what is contrary either to the regular inclinations of nature or to our reason and true interest They forbid us nothing but what is base and unworthy to serve our humours and passions to reproach our understandings and to make our selves fools and beasts in a word nothing but what tends either to our private harm and prejudice or to publick disorder and confusion And that this is the tenour of the Laws of the Gospel will appear to any one from our Saviour's Sermons and Discourses particularly that upon the Mount wherein he charges his Disciples and followers to be humble and meek and righteous and patient under sufferings and persecutions and good and kind to all even to those that are evil and injurious to us and to endeavour to excell in all goodness and vertue This will appear likewise from the Writings of the holy Apostles I will instance but in some few passages in them St. Paul represents to us the design of the Christian doctrine in a very few words but of admirable sense and weight Tit. 2.11 12. The grace of God that bringeth salvation hath appear'd to all men teaching us that denying ungodliness and worldly lusts we should live soberly and righteously and godly in this present world The same Apostle makes this the main and fundamental condition of the Covenant of the Gospel on our part 2 Tim. 2.19 Let every one that names the name of Christ depart from iniquity St. James describes the Christian doctrine which he calls the wisdom that is from above by these characters It is first pure then peaceable gentle and easie to be entreated full of mercy and good fruits without partiality and without hypocrisie St. Peter calls the Gospel 2 Pet. 1.3 4. the knowledge of him that hath called us to glory and vertue whereby saith he are given unto us exceeding great and precious promises that by these you might be partakers of a divine nature having escap'd the corruption that is in the world through lust and upon this consideration he exhorts them to give all diligence to add to their faith the several vertues of a good life V. 5 6 7. without which he tells them they are barren and unfruitfull in the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ I will conclude with that full and comprehensive paslage of St. Paul to the Philippians Whatsoever things are true whatsoever things are honest 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 whatsoever things are of venerable esteem whatsoever things are just whatsoever things are pure or chast whatsoever things are lovely whatsoever things are of good report if there be any vertue if there be any praise think on these things But the perfection and the reasonableness of the Laws of Christianity will most plainly appear by taking a brief survey of them And they may all be referr'd to these two general heads They are either such as tend to the perfection of humane nature and to make men singly and personally good or such as tend to the peace and happiness of humane Society First Such as tend to the perfection of humane nature and to make men good singly and personally consider'd And the precepts of this kind may be distributed likewise into two sorts such as enjoyn piety towards God or such as require the good order and government of our selves in respect of the enjoyments and pleasures of this life 1. Such as enjoyn Piety towards God All the duties of Christian Religion which respect God are no other but what natural light prompts men to excepting the two Sacraments which are of great use and significancy in the Christian Religion and praying to God in the name and by the mediation of Jesus Christ For the sum of natural Religion as it refers more immediately to God is this That we should inwardly reverence and love God and that we should express our inward reverence and love of him by external worship and adoration and by our readiness to receive and obey all the revelations of his will And that we should testifie our dependence upon him and our confidence of his goodness by constant prayers and supplications to him for mercy and help for our selves and others And that we should acknowledge our obligations to him for the many favours and benefits which every day and every minute we receive from him by continual praises and thanksgivings And that on the contrary we should not entertain any unworthy thoughts of God nor give that honour and reverence which is due to him to any other that we should not worship him in any manner that is either unsuitable to the excellency and perfection of his nature or contrary to his revealed will that we should carefully avoid the prophane and irreverent use of his Name by cursing or customary swearing and take heed of the neglect or contempt of his Worship or any thing belonging to it This is the sum of the first part of natural Religion and these are the general heads of those duties which every man's reason tells him he owes to God And these are the very things which the Christian Religion does expresly require of us as might be evidenc'd from particular Texts in the New Testament So that there is nothing in this part of Christianity but what agrees very well with the reason of mankind 2. Such precepts as require the good order and government of our selves in respect of the pleasures and enjoyments of this life Christian Religion
reason spoils his understanding and helps to make himself a fool whereas he that conquers his passions and keeps them under doth thereby preserve and improve his understanding Freedom from irregular passions doth not onely signifie that a man is wise but really contributes to the making of him such 2. Religion tends to the ease and pleasure the peace and tranquillity of our minds wherein happiness chiefly consists and which all the wisdom and Philosophy of the world did always aim at as the utmost felicity of this life And that this is the natural fruit of a religious and vertuous course of life the Scripture declares to us in these Texts Psal 97.11 Light is sown for the righteous and gladness for the upright in heart Great peace have all they that love thy Law Psal 119.165 and nothing shall offend them Her ways are ways of pleasantness Pro. 3.17 and all her paths are peace Isa 32.17 The fruit of righteousness is peace and the effect of righteousness quietness and assurance for ever The plain sense of which Texts is that pleasure and peace do naturally result from a holy and good life When a man hath once engag'd himself in a Religious course and is habituated to piety and holiness all the exercises of Religion and devotion all acts of goodness and vertue are delightfull to him To honour and worship God to pray to him and to praise him to study his will to meditate upon him and to love him all these bring great pleasure and peace along with them What greater contentment and satisfaction can there be to the mind of man when it is once purifi'd and refin'd from the dregs of sensual pleasures and delights and rais'd to its true height and pitch than to contemplate and admire the infinite excellencies and perfections of God to adore his greatness and to love his goodness How can the thoughts of God be troublesome to any one who lives soberly and righteously and godly in the world No man that loves goodness and righteous ness hath any reason to be afraid of God or to be disquieted with the thoughts of him There is nothing in God that is terrible to a good man but all the apprehensions which we naturally have of him speak comfort and promise happiness to such a one The consideration of his attributes is so far from being a trouble to him that it is his recreation and delight It is for wicked men to dread God and to endeavour to banish the thoughts of him out of their minds but a holy and vertuous man may have quiet and undisturb'd thoughts even of the justice of God because the terrour of it doth not concern him Now Religion doth contribute to the peace and quiet of our minds these two ways First By allaying those passions which are apt to ruffle and discompose our spirits Malice and hatred wrath and revenge are very fretting and vexatious and apt to make our minds sore and uneasie but he that can moderate these affections will find a strange ease and pleasure in his own spirit Secondly by freeing us from the anxieties of guilt and the fears of divine wrath and displeasure than which nothing is more stinging and tormenting and renders the life of man more miserable and unquiet And whaâ— a spring of peace and joy must it needs be to apprehend upon good grounds that God is reconcil'd to us and become our friend that all our sins are perfectly forgiven and shall never more be remembred against us What unexpressible comfort does overflow the pious and devout soul from the remembrance of a holy and well-spent life and a conscience of its own innocency and integrity And nothing but the practice of Religion and Vertue can give this ease and satisfaction to the mind of man For there is a certain kind of temper and disposition which is necessary to the pleasure and quiet of our minds and consequently to our happiness and that is holiness and goodness which as it is the perfection so is it likewise the happiness of the Divine nature And on the contrary the chief part of the misery of wicked men and of those accursed spirits the Devils is this that they are of a disposition contrary to God they are envious and malicious and cruel and of such a temper as is naturally a torment and disquiet to it self And here the foundation of Hell is laid in the evil disposition of mens minds and till this be cur'd which can onely be done by Religion it is as impossible for a man to be happy that is pleas'd and contented within himself as it is for a sick man to be at ease Because such a man hath that within him which torments him and he cannot be at ease till that be remov'd The man's spirit is out of order and off the hinges and till that be put into its right frame he will be perpetually disquieted and can find no rest within himself The Prophet very fitly describes to us the unquiet condition of wicked men Isa 57.10.21 The wicked is like the troubled sea when it cannot rest whose waters cast up mire and dirt there is no peace saith my God to the wicked So long as sin and corruption abound in our hearts they will be restlesly working like wine which will be in a perpetual motion and agitation till it have purg'd it self of its dregs and foulness Secondly Religion does likewise tend to the happiness of the outward man Now the blessings of this kind are such as either respect our health or estate or reputation or relations and in respect of all these Religion is highly advantageous to us 1. As to our health a Religious and vertuous life doth eminently conduce to that and to long life as a consequent of it And in this sense I understand these following Texts Prov. 3.1 2. My Son forget not my Law but let thy heart keep my Commandments for length of days and long life shall they add to thee and v. 7 and 8. Fear the Lord and depart from evil it shall be health to thy navel and marrow to thy bones and v. 16. among the temporal advantages of wisdom or Religion this is mention'd as the first and principal length of days is in her right hand and v. 18. she is a tree of life to them that lay hold upon her and again Whoso findeth me findeth life but he that sinneth against me wrongeth his own soul Prov. 8.35 36. that is injurious to his own life all they that hate me love death all which is undoubtedly true in a spiritual sense but is certainly meant by Solomon in the natural sense And these promises of the blessings of health and long life to good men are not only declaratory of the good pleasure and intention of God towards them but likewise of the natural tendency of the thing For Religion doth oblige men to the practice of those vertues which do in their
own nature conduce to the preservation of our health and the lengthning of our days such as temperance and chastity and moderation of our passions And the contrary vices to these do apparently tend to the impairing of mens health and the shortning of their days How many have wasted and consum'd their bodies by lust and brought grievous pains and mortal diseases upon themselves See how the wise man describes the sad consequences of this sin He goes as an Oxe to the slaughter till a dart strike through his Liver Prov. 7.22 23. as a Bird hasteneth to the snare and knoweth not that it is for his life and v. 25 26 27. Let not thy heart decline to her ways go not astray in her paths for she hath cast down many wounded yea many young men hath been slain by her her house is the way to Hell that is to the grave going down to the chambers of death How many have been ruin'd by intemperance and excess and most unnaturally have perverted those blessings which God hath given for the support of nature to the overthrow and destruction of it How often hath mens malice and envy and discontent against others terminated in a cruel revenge upon themselves How many by the wild fury and extravagancy of their own passions have put their bodies into a combustion and fir'd their spirits and by stirring up their rage and choler against others have arm'd that fierce humour against themselves 2. As to our estates Religion is likewise a mighty advantage to men in that respect Not only in regard of God's more especial providence and peculiar blessing which usually attends good men in their undertakings and crowns them with good success but also from the nature of the thing And this I doubt not is the meaning of those expressions of the Wise man concerning the temporal benefits and advantages of wisedom or Religion Pro. 3.16 In her left hand are riches and honour Pro. 8.21 They that love me shall inherit substance and I will fill their treasures and this Religion principally does by charging men with truth and fidelity and justice in their dealings which are a sure way of thriving and will hold out when all fraudulent arts and devices will fail And this also Solomon observes to us He that walketh uprightly walketh surely Pro. 10.9 but he that perverteth his way shall be known his indirect dealing will be discover'd one time or other and then loses his reputation and his interest sinks Falshood and deceit onely serve a present turn and the consequence of them is pernicious but truth and fidelity are of lasting advantage Pro. 10.5 The righteous hath an everlasting foundation Prov. 12.19 The lip of truth is established for ever but a lying tongue is but for a moment And Religion does likewise engage men to diligence and industry in their Callings and how much this conduces to the advancement of mens fortunes daily experience teaches and the Wise-man hath told us The diligent hand makes rich Prov. 10.4 and again Seest thou a man diligent in business he shall stand before Princes Prov. 22.19 he shall not stand before mean persons And where men by reason of the difficult circumstances of their condition cannot arrive to any eminency of estate yet Religion makes a compensation for this by teaching men to be contented with that moderate and competent fortune which God hath given them For the shortest way to be rich is not by enlarging our estates but by contracting our desires What Seneca says of Philosophy is much more true of Religion praestat opes sapientia quas cuicunque fecit supervacuas dedit it makes all those rich to whom it makes riches superfluous and they are so to those who are taught by Religion to be contented with such a portion of them as God's Providence hath thought fit to allot to them 3. As to our reputation There is nothing gives a man a more firm and establish'd reputation among wise and serious persons whose judgment is onely valuable than a prudent and substantial Piety This doth many times command reverence and esteem from the worser sort of men and such as are no great friends to Religion and sometimes the force of truth will extort an acknowledgment of its excellency even from its greatest enemies I know very well that good men may and often do blemish the reputation of their piety by over-acting some things in Religion by an indiscreet zeal about things wherein Religion is not concerned by an ungratefull austerity and sowerness which Religion doth not require by little affectations and an imprudent oftentation of devotion but a substantial and solid a discreet and unaffected piety which makes no great noise and show but expresses it self in a constant and serious devotion and is accompanied with the fruits of goodness and kindness and righteousness towards men will not onely give a man a credit and value among the sober and the vertuous but even among the vicious and more degenerate sort of men Upon this account it is that the Apostle adviseth Christians if they would recommend themselves to the esteem of God and men earnestly to mind the weighty and substantial parts of Religion Let not then your good be evil spoken of for the Kingdom of God is not meats and drinks but righteousness and peace and joy in the Holy Ghost for he that in these things serveth Christ is acceptable to God and approved of men It is true indeed there are some persons of so profligate a temper and of such an inveterate enmity to all goodness as to scorn and reproach even Religion and Vertue it self But the reproach of such persons does not really wound a man's reputation For why should any man be troubled at the contumelies of those whose judgment deserves not to be valued who despise goodness and good men out of malice and ignorance If these reproaches which they cast upon them were the censures of wise and sober men a man's reputation might be concern'd in them but they are the rash words of inconsiderate and injudicious men the extravagant speeches of those who are unexperienc'd in the things they speak against and therefore no wise man will be troubl'd at them or think either Religion or himself disparaged by them 4. As to our Relations Religion also conduceth to the happiness of these as it derives a large and extensive blessing upon all that belongs to us the goodness of God being so diffusive as to scatter his blessings round about the habitations of the just and to shew mercy unto thousands of them that love him and keep his Commandments So David tells us Psal 112.1 2 3. Blessed is the man that feareth the Lord and delighteth greatly in his Commandments His seed shall be mighty upon earth The generation of the upright shall be blessed Wealth and riches are in his house and his righteousness endureth for ever Prov. 13.22 And so Solomon