himself for us that he might redeem us from all iniquity and purifie to himself a peculiar people zealous of good works and herein the great Mercy and Compassion of God towards Mankind appeared in that he sent his Son to rescue us from that Servitude which we had so long groaned under that being made free from sin we might become the servants of God and the servants of righteousness And this he hath done not only by the price of his Blood but by the Power and Purity of his Doctrine and the Holy Example of his Life and by all those Considerations which represent to us the Misery of our sinful state and the infinite danger of continuing in it and on the other Hand by setting before us the Advantages of a Religious and Holy Life and what a blessed change we make when we quit the Service of Sin and become the Servants of God It will not only be a mighty present Benefit to us but will make us happy to all Eternity and these are the Two Considerations which at first I propounded to speak to at this time First The present Benefit of an Holy and Virtuous Life which the Apostle here calls Fruit But now being made free from sin and become the servants of God ye have your fruit unto holiness Secondly The future Reward and Recompence of it and the end everlasting life First Let us consider the present Benefit and Advantage of an Holy and Virtuous Life which the Apostle here calls Fruit. If all things be truly consider'd there is no Advantage comes to any Man by a wicked and vicious Course of Life A wicked Life is no present Advantage the reflection upon it afterwards is shameful and troublesom and the end of it miserable But on the contrary the Advantages of an holy and good life are many and great even in this World and upon temporal accounts abstracting from the Consideration of a future Reward in the World to come I shall instance in Five or Six eminent Advantages which it usually brings to men in this World I. It brings great Peace and Contentment of Mind II. It is a very fit and proper Means to promote our outward temporal Interest III. It tends to the lengthning our days and hath frequently the Blessing of long Life attending upon it IV. It gives a Man great Peace and Comfort when he comes to die V. After Death it transmits a good Name and Reputation to Posterity VI. It derives a Blessing upon our Posterity after us And these are certainly the greatest Blessings that a wise Man can aim at and design to himself in this World Every one of these taken severally is very considerable but all of them together compleat a Man's temporal Felicity and raise it to as high a pitch as is to be expected in this World I. A Religious and Virtuous course of Life is the best way to Peace and Contentment of Mind and does commonly bring it And to a wise Man that knows how to value the ease and satisfaction of his own Mind there cannot be a greater temptation to Religion and Virtue than to consider that it is the best and only way to give rest to his Mind And this is present Fruit and ready Payment because it immediately follows or rather accompanies the discharge of our Duty The fruit of righteousness is peace saith the Prophet and the Apostle to the Hebrews speaks of the peaceable fruits of righteousness meaning that inward Peace which a Righteous Man hath in his own Mind A Man needs not to take pains or to use many Arguments to satisfie and content his own Mind after he hath done a good Action and to convince himself that he hath no cause to be troubled for it for Peace and Pleasure do naturally spring from it Nay not only so but there is an unexpressible kind of pleasure and delight that flows from the testimony of a good Conscience Let but a Man take care to satisfie himself in the doing of his Duty and whatever troubles and storms may be raised from without all will be clear and calm within For nothing but guilt can trouble a Man's Mind and fright his Conscience and make him uneasie to himself that indeed will wound his Spirit and sting his very Soul and make him full of fearful and tormenting thoughts This Cain found after he had committed that crying sin of Murdering his Brother Gen. 4.6 The Lord said unto Cain why art thou wrath and why is thy Countenance fall'n His guilt made him full of wrath and discontent fill'd his Mind with vexation and his Countenance with shame and confusion When a Man's conscience is awakened to a sense of his guilt it is angry and froward and harder to be still'd than a peevish Child But the practice of Holiness and Virtue does produce just the contrary effects it fills a Man's Mind with Pleasure and makes his Countenance chearful And this certainly if it be well consider'd is no small and contemptible advantage The peace and tranquillity of our Minds is the great thing which all the Philosophy and Wisdom of the World did always design to bring men to as the very utmost happiness that a Wise Man is capable of in this Life and 't is that which no considerate Man would part with for all that this World can give him The greatest fortune in this World ought to be no temptation to any Man in his Wits to submit to perpetual Sickness and Pain for the gaining of it and yet there is no disease in the World that for the sharpness of it is comparable to the sting of a guilty Mind and no pleasure equal to that of Innocence and a good Conscience And this naturally springs up in the Mind of a good Man where it is not hindred either by a melancholy temper or by false Principles in Religion which fill a Man with groundless fears and jealousies of the love and favour of God towards him and excepting these two cases this is the ordinary fruit of an holy and good course which is not interrupted by frequent falling into sin and great omissions and violations of our duty For in this case the interruptions of our Peace and Comfort will naturally be answerable to the inequality of our Obedience II. Besides the present and inestimable Fruit of Holiness the quiet and satisfaction of our own Minds it is likewise a proper means to promote our Interest and Happiness in this World For as every Vice is naturally attended with some Temporal Inconvenience of Pain or Loss so there is no Grace or Virtue but does apparently conduce to a Man's temporal Felicity There are some Virtues which tend to the health of his Body and the prolonging of his Life as Temperance and Chastity others tend to Riches and Plenty as Diligence and Industry in our callings others to the secure and peaceable Enjoyment of what we have as Truth and Fidelity Justice and Honesty in all our dealings and
intercourse with men There are other Virtues that are apt to oblige Mankind to us and to gain their Friendship and good Will their Aid and Assistance as Kindness and Meekness and Charity and a generous Disposition to do good to all as far as we have Power and Oportunity In a word there is no real Interest of this World but may ordinarily be as effectually promoted and pursued to as great Advantage by a Man that Exercises himself in the Practice of all Virtue and Goodness and usually to far greater Advantage than by one that is Intemperate and Debauch'd Deceitful and Dishonest apt to disoblige and provoke sour and ill-natur'd to all Mankind For there is none of these Vices but is to a Man's real hinderance and disadvantage in regard of one kind of Happiness or another which men aim at and propose to themselves in this World III. A Religious and Virtuous Course of Life doth naturally tend to the prolonging of our days and hath very frequently the Blessing of Health and long Life attending upon it The Practice of a great many Virtues is a great Preservative of Life and Health as the due government of our Appetites and Passions by Temperance and Chastity and Meekness which prevent the chief Causes from within of Bodily Diseases and Distempers the due government of our Tongues and Conversation in respect of others by Justice and Kindness and abstaining from Wrath and Provocation which are a great security against the dangers of outward Violence according to that of St. Peter 1 Epist 3.10 He that will love life and see good days let him refrain his Tongue from evil and his Lips that they speak no guile let him eschew evil and do good let him seek peace and ensue it And beside the natural tendency of things there is a special Blessing of God which attends good men and makes their days long in the land which the Lord their God hath given them IV. There is nothing gives a Man so much Comfort when he comes to die as the reflection upon an holy and good Life and then surely above all other times Comfort is most valuable because our frail and infirm Nature doth then stand most in need of it Then usually mens Hearts are faint and their Spirits low and every thing is apt to deject and trouble them so that we had need to provide our selves of some excellent Cordial against that time and there is no Comfort like to that of a clear Conscience and of an innocent and useful Life This will revive and raise a Man's Spirits under all the Infirmities of his Body because it gives a Man good hopes concerning his Eternal State and the hopes of that are apt to fill a Man with Joy unspeakable and full of glory The difference between good and bad Men is never so remarkable in this World as when they are upon their Death-Bed This the Scripture observes to us Psal 37.37 Mark the perfect Man and behold the upright for the end of that Man is peace With what Triumph and Exultation doth the Blessed Apostle St. Paul upon the review of his Life discourse concerning his Death and Dissolution 2 Tim. 4.6 7 8. I am now ready says he to be offered up and the time of my departure is at hand I have fought a good fight I have finish'd my course I have kept the faith henceforth there is laid up for me a crown of righteousness which the Lord the righteous Judge will give me at that day What would not any of us do to be thus affected when we come to leave the World and to be able to bear the thoughts of Death and Eternity with so quiet and well satisfi'd a Mind why let us but endeavour to live Holy lives and to be useful and serviceable to God in our Generation as this holy Apostle was and we shall have the same ground of Joy and Triumph which he had For this is the proper and genuine effect of Virtue and Goodness The work of righteousness is peace and the effect of righteousness quietness and assurance for ever All the good Actions that we do in this Life are so many seeds of Comfort sown in our own Consciences which will spring up one time or other but especially in the approaches of Death when we come to take a serious review of our lives for then mens Consciences use to deal plainly and impartially with them and to tell them the truth and if at that time more especially our hearts condemn us not then may we have comfort and confidence towards God V. An Holy and Virtuous Life doth transmit a good Name and Reputation to Posterity And this Solomon hath determined to be a much greater Happiness than for a Man to leave a great Estate behind him A good name says he is rather to be chosen than great riches Pious and Virtuous men do commonly gain to themselves a good Esteem and Reputation in this World while they are in it but the Virtues of good men are not always so bright and shining as to meet with that respect and acknowledgment which is due to them in this World Many times they are much clouded by the Infirmities and Passions which attend them and are shadowed by some affected singularities and morosities which those which have liv'd more retir'd from the World are more liable to Besides that the Envy of others who are not so good as they lies heavy upon them and does depress them For bad men are very apt to misinterpret the best Actions of the good and put false colours upon them and when they have nothing else to object against them to charge them with Hypocrisie and Insincerity an Objection as hard to be answer'd as it is to be made good unless we could see into the Hearts of men But when good men are dead and gone and the bright and shining Example of their Virtues is at a convenient distance and does not gall and upbraid others then Envy ceaseth and every Man is then content to give a good Man his due Praise and his Friends and Posterity may then quietly enjoy the Comfort of his Reputation which is some sort of Blessing to him that is gone This difference Solomon observes to us between good and bad men The memory of the just is blessed or well spoken of but the name of the wicked shall rot VI. And lastly Religion and Virtue do derive a Blessing upon our Posterity after us Oh that there were such an heart in them saith Moses concerning the People of Israel that they would fear me and keep all my Commandments always that it might be well with them and with their Children for ever And to this purpose there are many Promises in Scripture of God's Blessing the Posterity of the righteous and his shewing mercies to thousands of the Children of them that love him and keep his Commandments And this a great motive to Obedience and toucheth upon that Natural Affection which men
bear to their Children so that if we have any Regard to them or Concernment for their Happiness we ought to be very careful of our Duty and afraid to offend God because according as we demean our selves towards him we entail a lasting Blessing or a great Curse upon our Children by so many and and so strong bonds hath God tyed our Duty upon us that if we either desire our own Happiness or the Happiness of those that are dearest to us and part of our selves we must fear God and keep his Commandments And thus I have briefly represented to you some of the chief Benefits and Advantages which an Holy and Virtuous life does commonly bring to men in this World which is the first Encouragement mention'd in the Text ye have your fruit unto holiness Before I proceed to the Second I shall only just take notice by way of Application of what hath been said on this Argument 1. That it is a great Encouragement to well-doing to consider that ordinarily Piety and Goodness are no hindrance to a Man's temporal Felicity but very frequently great promoters of it so that excepting only the case of Persecution for Religion I think I may safely challenge any Man to shew me how the Practice of any Part or Duty of Religion how the exercise of any Grace or Virtue is to the prejudice of a Man's temporal Interest or does debar him of any true Pleasure or hinder him of any real Advantage which a prudent and considerate Man would think fit to chuse And as for Persecution and Sufferings for Religion God can Reward us for them if he please in this World and we have all the assurance that we can desire that he will do it abundantly in the next 2. The hope of long life and especially of a quiet and comfortable death should be a great encouragement to an Holy and Virtuous Life He that lives well takes the best course to live long and lays in for an happy old Age free from the Diseases and Infirmities which are naturally procur'd by a vicious Youth and likewise free from the guilt and galling Remembrance of a wicked Life And there is no condition which we can fall into in this World that does so clearly discover the difference between a good and bad Man as a Death-bed For then the good Man begins most sensibly to enjoy the comforts of Well-doing and the Sinner to taste the bitter fruits of Sin What a wide difference is then to be seen between the hopes and fears of these two sorts of persons And surely next to the actual possession of Blessedness the good hopes and comfortable prospect of it are the greatest Happiness and next to the actual sense of Pain the fear of Suffering is the greatest Torment Tho' there were nothing beyond this life to be expected yet if men were sure to be possess'd with these delightful or troublesome Passions when they come to dye no Man that wisely considers things would for all the Pleasures of sin forfeit the Comfort of a Righteous Soul leaving this World full of the hope of Immortality and endure the vexation and anguish of a guilty Conscience and that infinite terror and amazement which so frequently possesseth the Soul of a dying Sinner 3. If there be any spark of a generous mind in us it should animate us to do well that we may be well spoken of when we are gone off the Stage and may transmit a grateful Memory of our lives to those that shall be after us I proceed now to the Second Thing I proposed as the great Advantage indeed Viz. The glorious Reward of a Holy and Virtuous Life in another World which is here called everlasting Life And the end everlasting Life by which the Apostle intends to express to us both the Happiness of our future State and the Way and Means whereby we are prepared and made meet to be made partakers of it and that is by the constant and sincere Endeavours of an holy and good Life For 't is they only that have their fruit unto holiness whose end shall be everlasting Life I shall speak briefly to these two and so conclude my discourse upon this Text. I. The Happiness of our future state which is here exprest by the name of everlasting Life in very few words but such as are of wonderful weight and significancy For they import the Excellency of this state and the Eternity of it And who is sufficient to speak to either of these Arguments Both of them are too big to enter now into the heart of Man too vast and boundless to be comprehended by humane understanding and too unweildy to be manag'd by the Tongue of Men and Angels answerably to the unspeakable greatness and glory of them And if I were able to declare them unto you as they deserv'd you would not be able to hear me And therefore I shall chuse to say but little upon an Argument of which I can never say enough and shall very briefly consider those two things which are comprehended in that short description which the Text gives us of our future Happiness by the name of everlasting Life viz. The Excellency of this state and the Eternity of it 1. The Excellency of it which is here represented to us under the notion of Life the most desirable of all other things because it is the Foundation of all other Enjoyments whatsoever Barely to be in being and to be sensible that we are so is but a dry Notion of Life The true Notion of Life is to be well and to be happy vivere est benè valere They who are in the most miserable condition that can be imagin'd are in being and sensible also that they are miserable But this kind of Life is so far from coming under the true Notion of Life that the Scripture calls it the second death Revel 21.8 it is there said that The wicked shall have their part in the lake that burneth with fire and brimstone which is the second death And Chap. 20. ver 6. Blessed and holy is he that hath part in the first Resurrection on such the second death shall have no power So that a state of meer misery and torment is not Life but Death nay the Scripture will not allow the Life of a wicked Man in this World to be true Life but speaks of him as dead Ephes 2.1 speaking of the sinners among the Gentiles You saith the Apostle hath he quickned who were dead in trespasses and sins And which is more yet the Scripture calls a Life of sinful Pleasures which men esteem the only Happiness of this world the Scripture I say calls this a Death 1 Tim. 5.6 She that liveth in pleasures is dead whilst she liveth A lewd and unprofitable Life which serves to no good end and purpose is a Death rather than a Life Nay that decaying and dying Life which we now live in this World and which is allayed by the
mixture of so many infirmities and pains of so much trouble and sorrow I say that even this sort of Life for all that we are so fondly in love with it does hardly deserve the name of Life But the Life of the world to come of which we now speak this is Life indeed to do those things which we were made for to serve the true Ends of our Being and to enjoy the Comfort and Reward of so doing this is the true notion of Life and whatever is less than this is Death or a degree of it and approach towards it And therefore very well may Heaven and Happiness be describ'd by the notion of Life because truly to live and to be happy are words that signifie the same thing But what kind of Life this is I can no more describe to you in the particularities of it than Columbus could have described the particular Manners and Customs of the People of America before he or any other person in these parts of the World had seen it or been there But this I can say of it in general and that from the infallible testimony of the great Creator and glorious Inhabitants of that blessed place that it is a state of pure Pleasure and unmingled Joys of Pleasures more manly more spiritual and more refined than any of the Delights of sense consisting in the enlargement of our Minds and Knowledge to a greater degree and in the perfect exercise of Love and Friendship in the Conversation of the best and wisest Company free from self-interest and all those unsociable passions of Envy and Jealousie of Malice and Ill-will which spoil the Comfort of all Conversation in this World and in a word free from all other Passion or Design but an ardent and almost equal desire to contribute all that by all means possible they can to the mutual Happiness of one another For Charity reigns in Heaven and is the brightest Grace and Virtue in the Firmament of Glory far out-shining all other as St. Paul who had himself been taken up into the third Heaven does expresly declare to us Farther yet this blessed state consists more particularly in these two things In having our Bodies raised and refined to a far greater Purity and Perfection than ever they had in this World and in the consequent Happiness of the whole Man's Soul and Body so strictly and firmly united as never to be parted again and so equally match'd as to be no trouble or impediment to one another 1. In having our Bodies raised and refined to a far greater Purity and Perfection than ever they had in this World Our Bodies as they are now are unequally temper'd and in a perpetual flux and change continually tending to Corruption because made up of such contrary Principles and Qualities as by their perpetual conflict are always at work conspiring the Ruin and Dissolution of them but when they are raised again they shall be so temper'd and so refin'd as to be free from all those destructive Qualities which do now threaten their change and dissolution and tho' they shall still consist of Matter yet it shall be purified to that degree as to partake of the Immortality of our Souls to which it shall be united and to be of equal duration with them So the Scripture tells us 1 Cor. 15.52 53. That our dead Bodies shall be raised incorruptible for this corruptible must put on incorruption and this mortal must put on immortality Our Bodies when they are laid down in the Grave are vile Carcases but they shall be raised again Beautiful and Glorious and as different from what they were before as the Heavenly Mansions in which they are to reside for ever are from that dark Cell of the Grave out of which they are raised and shall then be endowed with such a Life and Strength and Vigour as to be able without any change or decay to abide and continue for ever in the same state Our Bodies in this World are gross Flesh and Blood liable to be affected with natural and sensual Pleasures and to be afflicted with natural Pains and Diseases to be prest with the natural necessities of Hunger and Thirst and obnoxious to all those Changes and Accidents to which all natural things are subject But they shall be raised spiritual bodies pure and refin'd from all the dregs of Matter they shall not hunger nor thirst nor be diseased or in Pain any more These Houses of Clay whose Foundation is in the dust are continually decaying and therefore stand in need of continual Reparation by Food and Physick but our House which is from Heaven as the Apostle calls it shall be of such lasting and durable Materials as not only Time but even Eternity it self shall make no impression upon it or cause the least decay in it They says our Blessed Saviour who shall be accounted worthy to obtain that World and the Resurrection from the dead cannot die any more but shall be like the Angels and are the children of God i. e. shall in some degree partake of the Felicity and Immortality of God himself who is always the same and whose years fail not Nay the Apostle expresly tells us that our Bodies after the Resurrection shall be spiritual Bodies so that we shall then be as it were all Spirit and our Bodies shall be so raised and refined that they shall be no clog or impediment to the Operation of our Souls And it must needs be a great comfort to us whilst we are in this World to live in the hopes of so happy and glorious a change when we consider how our Bodies do now oppress our Spirits and what a melancholy and dead weight they are upon them how grievous an Incumbrance and Trouble and Temptation they are for the most part to us in this mortal state 2. The blessedness of this state consists likewise in the consequent Happiness of the whole Man Soul and Body so strictly and firmly united as never to be parted again and so equally matched as to be no trouble and impediment to one another In this World the Soul and Body are for the most part very unequally yoked so that the Soul is not only darkned by the gross Fumes and Clouds which rise from the Body but loaded and opprest by the dull weight of it which it very heavily lugs on and draws after it and the Soul likewise and the vicious Inclinations and irregular Passions of it have many times an ill influence upon the Body and the humours of it But in the next World they shall both be purified the one from Sin and the other from Frailty and Corruption and both admitted to the blessed sight and enjoyment of the ever blessed God But the Consideration of this as I said before is too big for our narrow apprehensions in this mortal state and an Argument not fit to be treated of by such Children as the wisest of men are in this World and whenever we attempt
Penitent here described in the Text takes up I will not offend any more That which I see not teach thou me and if I have done iniquity I will do no more He resolves against all known Sin I will not offend any more and if through Ignorance he had sinned and done contrary to his Duty he desires to be better instructed that he may not offend again in the like kind That which I see not teach thou me and if I have done iniquity I will do no more So that the true Penitent resolves upon these two things 1. To forsake his Sin And 2. To return to God and his Duty 1. To forsake his Sin and this implies the quitting of his sinful Course whatever it had been and that not only by abstaining from the outward act and practice of every Sin but by endeavouring to crucifie and subdue the inward Affection and Inclination to it And it implies farther the utter forsaking of Sin for Repentance is not only a Resolution to abstain from Sin for the present but never to return to it again Thus Ephraim when he repented of his Idolatry he utterly renounced it saying What have I to do any more with Idols Hos 14.8 He that truly repents is resolved to break off his sinful Course and to abandon those Lusts and Vices which he was formerly addicted to and lived in 2. The true Penitent resolves likewise to return to God and his Duty he does not stay in the negative part of Religion he does not only resolve not to commit any Sin but not to neglect or omit any thing that he knows to be his Duty and if he has been ignorant of any part of his Duty he is willing to know it that he may do it he is not only determined to forsake his Sin which will make him miserable but to return to God who alone can make him happy he is now resolved to love God and to serve him as much as he hated and dishonoured him before and will now be as diligent to perform and practise all the Duties and Parts of Religion as he was negligent of them before and as ready to do all the good he can to all men in any kind as he was careless of these things before these in general are the things which a true Penitent resolves upon I proceed to the III. Thing I proposed to consider namely what is implyed in a sincere Resolution of leaving our Sins and returning to God and our Duty And this holy Resolution if it be thorow and sincere does imply in it these three things 1. That it be Universal 2. That it be a Resolution of the Means as well as of the End 3. That it presently come to effect and be speedily and without delay put in Execution 1. A sincere Resolution of amendment must be universal a Resolution to forsake all Sin and to return to our whole Duty and every part of it such a Resolution as that of holy David to hate every false way and to have respect to all God's Commandments This Resolution must be universal in respect of the whole Man and with regard to all our Actions in respect of the whole Man for we must resolve not only to abstain from the outward Action of Sin but this Resolution must have its effect upon our inward Man and reach our very hearts and thoughts it must restrain our inclinations and mortifie our lusts and corrupt affections and renew us in the very spirit of our minds as the Apostle expresses it And it must be universal in respect of all our Actions For this is not the Resolution of a sincere Penitent to abstain only from gross and notorious from scandalous and open Sins but likewise to refrain from the Commission of those Sins which are small in the esteem of men and not branded with a Mark of publick Infamy and Reproach to forbear Sin in secret and when no Eye of Man sees us and takes notice of us This is not a sincere Resolution to resolve to practice the Duties and Virtues of Religion in publick and to neglect them in private to resolve to perform the Duties of the first Table and to pass by those of the second to resolve to serve God and to take a liberty to defraud and cozen men to honour our Father which is in Heaven and to injure and hate our Brethren upon Earth to love our Neighbour and to hate our Enemy as the Jews did of old time to resolve against Swearing and to allow our selves the liberty to speak falsely and to break our Word to flee from Superstition and to run into Faction to abhor Idols and to commit Sacriledge to resolve to be devout at Church and deceitful in our Shops to be very scrupulous about lesser matters and to be very zealous about indifferent things to tithe mint and anise and cummin and to omit the weightier matters of the Law Mercy and Fidelity and Justice to be very rigid in matters of Faith and Opinion but loose in Life and Practice No the Resolution of a sincere Penitent must be universal and uniform it must extend alike to the forbearing of all Sin and the exercise of every Grace and Virtue and to the due Practice and Performance of every part of our Duty The true Penitent must resolve for the future to abstain from all Sin to be holy in all manner of Conversation and to abound in all the fruits of righteousness which by Jesus Christ are to the praise and glory of God For if a Man do truly repent of his wicked Life there is the very same Reason why he should resolve against all Sin as why he should resolve against any why he should observe all the Commandments of God as why he should keep any one of them For as St. James reasons concerning him that wilfully breaks any one Commandment of God that he is guilty of all and breaks the whole Law because the Authority of God is equally stampt upon all his Laws and is violated and contemned by the wilful transgression of any one of them For he that hath said thou shalt not kill hath likewise said thou shalt not commit adultery and thou shalt not steal so he that resolves against any one Sin or upon Performance of any one part of his Duty ought for the very same reason to make his Resolution universal because one Sin is Evil and Provoking to God as well as another and the Performance of one part of our Duty good and pleasing to him as well as another and there is no difference So that he that resolves against any Sin upon wise and reasonable gounds because of the Evil of it and the danger of the wrath of God to which it exposeth us ought for the same reason to resolve against all Sin because it is damnable to commit adultery and to steal as well as to kill and that Resolution against Sin which is not universal it is a plain Case that it