faithful Management and Use of those Talents is an act of Duty and Obedience in us as the former depend upon Gods Grace so the latter upon Our Industry for all matters of Duty and Obedience are appropriately ours and properly belong to Us as all matters of Grace are appropriately Gods and properly belong to him And therefore we are to account that the Employment and consequently the Improvement of our particular Talents is our own proper work unto which we are to exercise our selves with all Care and Diligence Certainly God would not have condemned the slothful Servant for hiding his Talent if it had not been his proper Work and Duty to have Employed and Improved it Do not then in favour to your carnal Ease infer That because God worketh in you to will and to do Phil. 2. that you cannot bury his Talent nor contradict his motion that you must only have a Passive capacity to Receive from God and must Do nothing but God must do all for according to the Spiritual Logick of the Apostle that Principle is a premise to a quite contrary Conclusion for he thence infers our sollicitous Care and wary Industry saying Work out your salvation with fear and trembling Phil. 2.12 13. St. Chrysostome on the place well observes that 't is not simply said 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 work but 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 work out implying that we must be Workers together with God till the work of Salvation be brought to a full Perfection and all the way we must fear and tremble lest by inward Reluctations or outward oppositions the Work miscarry and so God be offended and we destroyed Sect. 56. Chamier well observes That when many Causes concur to produce one and the same Effect the Scriptures sometimes ascribe the Effect to one of these Causes and sometimes to another This is the Case here under consideration God worketh in you to will and to do of his good pleasure and yet you are commanded from thence to work out your Salvation which implyes that if the Abilities and Graces imparted to us from God be in the end and issue actually Operative and Effective to our Salvation it is in concurrence with our faithful Endeavours and that our Endeavours subordinately to the Superintendency and Instigation of the Grace of God contribute Influence towards Salvation Hence Men are said to save Themselves 1 Tim. 4.16 Act. 2.40 and in order to that are said to Recover Themselves out of the snare of the Devil 2 Tim. 2.25 and are said to keep Themselves pure 1 Tim. 5.22 and to keep Themselves in the Love of God Jude 21. and to guide their Hearts in the way 1 John 3.3 Prov. 23.9 All which expressions teach us that we are not saved by a meer passive Recipiency of saving Impressions but by an active industrious Cooperation with the powerful Aids of Grace 'T is said that the blessing of God maketh rich and yet in the same Chapter 't is also said that the Diligent Hand maketh rich Prov. 10. the meaning undoubtedly is this there must be Diligence on our part or else there will be no Blessing on Gods part Be content therefore to believe that some thing belongs to you that you have a Talent to manage a Gift to exercise Assistances to comport with and use a Diligence to maintain and a work of Salvation to do Sect. 57. It is with the generality of men in the matter of Conversion or cleansing from Sin as 't is sometimes called in Allusion to the legal Cleansings Eph. 5.26 Jam. 4.8 2 Cor. 7.1 as it was with Naaman in the matter of his cleansing from his Leprosy who when the Prophet counselled him to go and wash seven times in Jordan in order to it he presently fell into a great Passion and said I had thought he would have come to me and have called on the name of his God and laid his hands on me and so I should have been healed 2 King 5.11 that is he would have been healed his own way he would contribute nothing of Submission Obedience and Endeavour towards it but would only be the Subject recipient of it God and the Prophet must do all So many pretend they are willing to be converted or cleansed from the leprosy of Sin but 't is upon their own terms if God by his omnipotent Impulse will over-power and irresistibly determine their Wills to chuse the better part they must submit for who hath or can resist his Will but for their parts they will be at no expense of Study Care or Pains for it God and his subordinate Instruments must do it without them if he will have it done It is not say they from the Apostle of him that willeth nor of him that runneth but of God that sheweth Mercy Rom. 9.16 And therefore the Work of Salvation is Gods work only and not at all theirs and if it be wrought it shall cost them nothing Thus many abuse the Grace of God to Wantonnes because the terms and conditions of Justification are only of Gods prescribing no other qualifications whatsoever but those specified and limited by his Law can admit us to a participation of it to which that spoken of by the Apostle only refers therefore they by a perverting of the Apostles words conclude that the work of Conversion is a work which God is to do upon them without them That is because God enacteth and imposeth Laws and Terms of Justification and Salvation without our Consent therefore also Submission and Obedience to them shall be yielded and performed too without our consent If I understand the force and design of such Reasonings the scope and import of them is this that God doth his own part and mans too maketh and imposeth Laws upon us and obeyeth and fulfilleth them himself for us too and so acteth the part both of the Soveraign and the Subject Sect. 58. That famous saying of St. Augustine so much celebrated in the practical discourses of Divines is a manifest and weighty Truth That he which Made thee without thee doth not Justifie thee without thee Qui fecit te sine te non te justificat sine te Aug. Tom. 10. De verbis Apostoli Ser. 15. p. 335. You could not concur to the one because you were not but you ought and must concur to the other because you are what you are I mean creatures of a proper capacity to do it by the constitution of your Natures to be conducted unto God and all perfective enjoyments knowingly and electively Conversion is an act of duty as well as of Grace and mans share is so great in all acts of Duty that they are properly denominated Mans act only and not Gods Would it not be absurd if not worse to say that God ceaseth to do Evil and Learneth to do well that God turneth from Sin to God that God repenteth unto Life and Salvation that God believeth and bringeth forth fruits worthy of amendment which
and of a more excellent and perfective Nature conferred upon him This is the genuine sense of the Text and my Position a legitimate deduction from it and as naturally flowes from it as a Stream from a Fountain Hierocles tells us that he which will be made a 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 a Godlike-person he ought first to be made an 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 a Man that is he ought to live 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 as a reasonable Creature And a greater than he the Apostle speaking of the last Resurrection saith that was not first which is Spiritual but that which is Natural and then that which is Spiritual 1 Cor. 15.46 So 't is in the spiritual Resurrection for the 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the word used by the Pythagoreans to express the Souls return to another Body after its departure from a dead one the Regeneration as we English it or the translation of a man from under the power of Satan into the Kingdom of Christ is called the First Resurrection Rev. 20.16 a making alive to God Rom. 6.11 and such a making alive as the making alive from the dead Rom. 6.13 I say here too there is first that which is Natural and then that which is Spiritual we must first be fit to do the works of men before we can be fit to serve the ends of God I mean God will not preferr us to his heavenly Kingdom till we have first learned 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 to live according to the conduct of a reasonable Soul as Saint Clement speaks Sect. 14. Because the Grecian learning abounds with strict precepts and directions against unruly Passions and brutal Appetites chargeth man to restore Reason to her Scepter to consult her as an Oracle and to attend her motions as the 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the supreme directive faculty and to obey her as a Law to live temperately righteously lovingly discerning betwixt good and evil contemning the world and exercising the mind in excursions towards God expecting a reward in case of well-doing and fearing a punishment in case of evil-doing and to be 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 like a cube or dye a square and upright man under the alternative and interchangeable courses of fortune as Reason suggests we should St. Basil exhorts Scholars to the study of it and giveth this Reason for it that they may be prepared 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 to those things which are from above Albaspinus observes Antiquitùs fieri non nasci Christianos that anciently Christians were made not born Made so by long and laborious steps and degrees First they were made Catechumeni instructed in the first principles of Religion in the reasonableness and goodness of Christs institutions and upon a conviction of judgment and reformation of manners they became competentes suitors and petitioners for Baptism the laver of Regeneration Tit. 3.5 and so were forced by slow paces and approaches or as the first general Constantinopolitan Councell expresseth it 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 to creep on with time and leisure into the bosome of the Church and sometimes many years preparation was the Preface to their admission into the society of the Faithful but the more they improved themselves in their attention and obedience unto the Reason of men the sooner and easier were they brought to give assent and obedience to the faith of Christians for the understanding of a man as Solomon speaketh is the candle of the Lord Prov. 20.27 that is a most excellent candle set up within us to shew us our way and work This is that 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 that superintendent power the Stoicks and Platonists so often speak of which God hath given to every man to be the Guide and overseer of his Life and as this Candle is lighted and kindled originally from God so it still shines in his beam directing us to distinguish betwixt good and evil and finally tendeth and leadeth unto God as the prototype of all truth and goodness which can either perfect our minds or satisfie our wills Here the Apostle speaking of the Gentiles who had no other Candle to guide them but this saith that they do by Nature the things contained in the Law and so shew the work of the Law written in their hearts Rom. 2.14.15 That is from the natural notions of good and evil suggested to them from the exercise of Reason they were convinced that it was meet and right that they should practise those things which God in his written law had commanded the matter and substance of that which was effected by the written Law was wrought by the dictate of natural Reason and consequently as the one so the other in its primary designment and proper use was an apt means to lead unto God and to captivate all the reasonings and thoughts of mens hearts unto the obedience of the Faith of Christ Sect. 15. St. Augustine who was no friend to Pelagianism observes in his Book De Vera Religione that he which is furnished with the knowledg of Philosophy plurimùm juvari is very much helped for the understanding of the Christian Faith And tells us that many of the Platonists who were much addicted to the study of Philosophy and the practice of morall Virtues very readily became Christians in his time 'T is said the Sect of the Epicureans were better fed than taught and perhaps some amongst other Sects were better taught then manner'd but certainly diverse of them were so well taught and manner'd too that there was a very great alliance betwixt their Doctrines and Practices and those of Christians which made Octavius think Philosophers and Christians to be terms convertible and to say that the Christians were now Philosophers or the Philosophers were then Christians The humane nature being 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 a systeme of rational notions as Clemens speaketh and Philosophick studies and endeavours the manurance and improvement of them I think he said not amiss when he called Philosophy 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the elementary principle or first inlet of the Christian Faith For the Religion of Christ being the most reasonable Religion in the world is so well suited to the constitution of our rational Beings that adventitious prepossessions and prejudices being lain aside which a Philosophick ingenuity and deportment will provoke and in some measure help us to do when 't is presented to our view and propounded to our choice we shall be ready to say of it as Adam of Eve when God first brought her to him This is flesh of my flesh and bone of my bone and instantly desire and embrace it And I am confident in the point of morality there is scarce any thing so peculiar to the Church of Christ but it was liked and recommended to us by the Schooles of the ancient Philosophers which is a plain argument that our Christian prescripts for morality are not meerly from external imposition or arbitrary obligation or to be found only in those sacred
to all but not in the same measure some have five talents others two others one And the Accounts of each shall be answerable to his Receipts He that hath received but one Talent shall be accountable but for one for God doth not expect to reap where he strewed not as 't is in this Parable but he layeth judgment to the Line and righteousness to the Plummet Isa 28.17 and will summa equitate jus reddere render to every one in a rational way according to an equitable proportion That is God expects much from him to whom he hath committed much and but little from him to whom he committed but a little And answerably in this distribution of Favours and Rewards he proceeds by a Geometrical and not by an Arithmetical proportion he which by his diligence improved two Talents to four found as favourable an acceptance as he which improved five to ten there was the same Consideration and as much Reason that he which had improved two Talents should be commended and rewarded as there was that the other should who had improved five for all things considered the one had done as much as the other Sect. 25. Our Saviour said of the poor Widow which cast two mites into the Treasury that she cast in more than all they which cast in much Mar. 14.42 43 44. What she cast in was not simply and absolutely in it self and according to Arithmetical proportion more than all that which they cast in nor yet so much but considering her Ability and the readiness of her mind and according to Geometrical proportion it was more for they could have given greater matters out of their greater estates but she that gave all could give no more and therefore she gave More respectively to Gods Acceptance and commendation than all the rest The Apostle speaks full to our purpose If there be first saith he a willing mind that is if a man be sincerely willing either actively or passively to perform a signal service to God and be ready to go forward with the work but through a deficiency of strength means or opportunity cannot actually accomplish it he shall not be rejected for such a deficiency but God will accept the Will for the Deed for as it followeth a man is accepted according to that which he hath and not according to that which he hath not Cor 8.12 that is God measureth and regardeth a man proportionably to the employment of his particular ability and if he go as far as he can towards performance of service to him he finds as favourable acceptance with him as he would have done if he had actually performed it in circumstances of more abilities assistances and opportunities Sect. 26. The frequent appeals which God makes to our reasoning Faculty to judge and determine of the Rational Equity of his way of dealing with us is a convictive evidence That in all his Administrations towards us he observes a rational Equity and Proportion and never doth any thing which bears any way hard upon the Principle of Reason and Rule of equitable Dealings so that when men plac'd under the Gospel and assisted by God do their utmost to please God in a way of Nature and common Grace faithfully comport with and follow the light and ducture of their natural Understandings and Reasons and diligently and conscienciously go along with God in the use of the Means of Spiritual and special Grace prescribed and enjoyned by him they do that which is of such consideration and account in the sight of God that they are in a ready way to obtain from him answerably to their capacities Spiritual and special Abilities and Graces Sect. 27. Men that dye in their sins and are damned for their sins are so far from doing their best that they seem to do the worst they can to hinder their Conversion they hated knowledge the fear of the Lord they chused not they would none of my counsel they despised all my rebuke Prov. 1.20 30. Though their estate be never so bad they like and love it as if it were best of all Jer. 5.31 and prefer it before a state of Grace John 3.19 And accordingly you shall find the Equity of Gods Justice in rejecting men from Grace and condemning them to Punishment is no where said to be founded on any natural or invincible want of power in them to attain Grace and prevent Destruction but 't is alwayes charged on the faultiness of their Wills Prov. 1.24 to 32. Luk. 13 34. Joh. 5.40 Act. 7.5 Implying that if men did awaken those Principles of Light Understanding and Judgment which God vouchsafeth to them and stir up their executive powers to joyn issue with the gracious assistances of Gods Spirit for the pursuance of that Grace and mercy which God offereth to them they might have avoided the evil portion of Sinners and have partaked of an inheritance amongst the Saints in Light Sect. 28. Reas 3. Because God delights to discover the kindness and bountifulness of his disposition towards the children of men There is in God 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 a goodness and love towards Men as the Apostle tells you Tit. 3.4 The Nature of which affections dispose him to communicate favours and Gifts to us From hence he preventeth us with the blessings of Goodness as the Psalmist speaketh Ps 21.3 And so loved the World that he gave his only begotten Son c. We are all the off-spring of God said the Apostle from the Heathen Poet Act. 17.28 And nothing is more natural to him than to support and cherish the productions and free effluxes of his own omnipotent Love and goodness Hence St. Peter calleth him faithful Creator and willeth us upon that account to commit our selves to him in well-doing 1 Pet. 4.19 Implying that Gods relation to us as our Creator is a kind of natural promisory engagement upon him to protect preserve and do us good when we deport our selves towards him as becometh rational Creatures And we find that Job represented and complained of it as a very incongruous thing as a thing unbecoming the relation of a Creator to a Creature to make it as it were purposely to destroy it without the consideration of any notable unrighteousness in it or provocation from it Thine hands have made me and fashioned me round about and yet thou dost destroy me Job 10 8. q. d. Thy Making of me promised Preservation provision and goodness from thee and wilt thou yet notwithstanding the natural obligation of that relation ruine me for thy meer pleasure and you shall find that God doth often insist upon the consideration of his Relation to his people as their Creator to suggest and inculcate to them from thence his regular and due care yea his tender love and abundant goodness and bounty towards them Isa 44.2.45.11.46.3 4.49 15. God is not only merciful and gracious but he is the Father of Mercies 1 Cor. 1.3 and waiteth to be gracious Isa 30 18.
you temporal and earthly Gifts 't is in order to Spiritual and Eternal Purposes and answerably our Saviour commands you so to use them make to your selves friends of the unrighteous Mammon that when ye fail they may receive you into everlasting habitations Mat. 16.9 Use temporal things in such a manner as agreeth with the design of Gods Trust and then you shall secure to your selves eternal things by the use of them Wisdom saith Solomon is good with an Inheritance Eccl. 7.11 That is an Estate governed by the rules of Wisdom is good because then 't is referred unto and concludes in our Spiritual and Eternal Good And indeed nothing that we have or can have is good further than 't is related and used as a means to this End Brutes are as capable of sensual good things as we they can eat and drink and play and satisfie such Lusts as are proper to the Flesh as well as we but herein we excell them in having and using these things we can possess and use them as the Gifts of God and enjoy God in them and so refer them to higher ends than the pleasing of the Flesh even ascend by them unto God and extract out of them an heavenly treasure for our Souls And this is the use you must make of them if you ever reap any true Good from them And thus a little a matter very small and inconsiderable in it self faithfully managed and employed will turn to a great advantage Two Mites are not much and a cup of cold Water is less and yet such a stock as this well used shall abound to our account Mar. 12.43 Mat. 10.42 Phil. 4.17 Where little is given little is expected for God accepts according to what a man hath but he that hath least and can do least may do that which shall be with the Lord and for which the Exchequer of Heaven shall be accountable and is as good an Estate as if it were in his hands Sect. 66. The learned and judicious Camero saith that where there is 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 ad Virtutem an inchoate disposition to Goodness and Vertue for that is the design of his assertion that man is not Planè improbus altogether or quite and clean wicked as we say For when a mans Nature is cultivated or improved by moral Vertues and common Graces as he doth things vel sapienter vel sanciè either discreetly or religiously as Saint Hierome speaketh in this Case he may be termed in a Sense not to be despised by considering men a Good man secundum quid in tantum so far as he hath performed part of his duty and is in some measure made ready and prepared for those Gifts and Graces which denominate a man Evangelically Good If he that acknowledged there is one God doth well as Saint James teacheth James 2.19 Then he that frameth and ordereth himself and actions so far as Nature and common Grace can carry him according to that acknowledgment doth better as the young man in the Gospel did and the man we are speaking of doth and therefore he may analogically and comparatively be termed a Good Man Yet I must tell you if this temper and deportment be the utmost any man aimeth at and pursueth and any of you shall chance to come so far and rest here and go no further you will be of the number of those which are not far from the Kingdom of God and strive to enter into it but shall not be able to enter This was the Reason why God was so angry with the Angel of the Church of the Laodeceans and threatned to spue him out of his mouth Rev. 3.16 because he rested in this intermedial State whereas it is not a State desirable for it self but to be endeavoured after and obtained in order to a better For Vallesius upon the place tells us that most think that men of a certain remiss and imperfect kind of Vertue are called Lukewarm and are more blamed than others not because they are simply in themselves worse but because they do not endeavour to be better than they are by using their present imperfect State as a passage to a more perfect And 't is certain that if men think too well of themselves for the sake of such an imperfect State of Mediocrity and are less careful to repent and aspire after a perfect Vertue than others of lower attainments though it do not arise properly from the Nature of the thing but accidentally from the mistake and corruptions of the Persons they will for the sake thereof be loathsome and abominable unto God and make themselves obnoxious to an utter Rejection from God like those Saint Jude speaks of who were twice dead and plucked up by the Roots Sect. 67. Application Every man saith the Apostle hath his proper Gift of God 1 Cor. 7.7 and answerably every Man hath his proper Work to do for God Mar. 13.34 One must be serviceable unto God after this manner another after that according to the diversity of Gifts received from God Every man hath a stewardly Work to do and therefore must be faithfull as one that must give an account of his stewardship Sect. 68. First Have you the Gift of Government then make it appear by exercising your selves as the Ministers of God for the good of those you govern Rom. 13.4 acquit your selves as ordained and sent of God for the Punishment of evil-doers and for the Praise of them that do well 1 Pet. 2.14 I must suit my discourse to the present Occasion which wholly refers to matter Ecclesiastical and therefore shall exhort you to the use of your Talent that way Decem praeceptorum Custos Carolus Charles the Keeper of Ten Commandements was the Motto written on the Sword of Charles the Great and Defender of the Faith is the Honorary Title and Engagement of King Charles the Second of England And so far as Authority is derived from him to you are you concerned in the same Title and engagement For we must not only pray for Kings but also for all in Authority under them that we may lead a quiet Life in all Godliness and Honesty 1 Tim. 2.2 Which supposeth that your Government must influence and subserve our Religious and Spiritual as well as our Civil and Moral Affairs You are called Gods Psalm 82.1 John 10.34 and you were Catachrestically and Abusively so called on Purpose you were despicable terrestrial Animals if your Authority were not to be concerned in the matters of God and for the preservation of mens Souls as well as Bodies and Estates Sect. 69 I know that Donatus and his Sectarian Followers are still crying in your Ears Quid Imperatori cum Ecclesiis what hath the Magistrate to do with the Churches but I hope you will answer them from the Prophet crying aloud to you as a trumpet that you are to be as nursing Fathers to the Church Isa 49.23 Which you cannot be if you permit Seducers to