the more we are in the dark the more at a loss yea the more perplexed and confused are our Apprehensions This the Transcendency of the Doctrines and Providences of God does evince which is enough to shew how humble we ought to be when we discourse of God and how modest in our Enquiries into his Doctrines and Providences Content thy self therefore with what is clearly revealed and leave what is hid and above thee unto God Be not thou so bold as to measure the boundless Mysteries of God by thy narrow confined Understanding neither do thou presume to reject what thou canst not comprehend What is of God is above thee for God is God he is cloathâ—â— with Honour and Majesty and with that Light which is inaccessible We ought therefore to be modest when we speak of the unsearchable Doctrines and Providences of God for in them we see enough to admire but can never comprehend and when we have spent all our time to find out God and the Infinity of his Being the Mystery of the Trinity the Mode of his Workings or Operations the depth of his Contrivances about the accomplishing fallen mans Salvation and all the great Counsels of God and the Intricacy of his Providences we must come to this Close with the Apostle O! the depth of the Riches both of the Wisdom and Knowledge of God! how unsearchable are his Judgments and his Ways past finding out Quest How ought we to do our duty towards others tho they do not theirs towards us SERMON XIX ROM XII 21. Be not overcome of evil but overcome evil with good WHEN God first made the Heavens and the Earth Gen. 31.1 and all the Host of them looking back upon his Work as taking delight in it He saw every thing that he had made and behold it was very good There was an excellent order and sweet harmony every where all the Creatures above and below making then but one Host Gen. 2.1 did conspire to glorifie their Creator and be beneficial one to another So that if man had stood in his integrity the Earth would have been a kind of Heaven to him but when he put forth his hand to take and eat of the tree of knowledg of good and evil which alone of all the great Variety was forbidden him an inundation of sin and misery broke in upon him and all his Posterity For from that one sin of his there sprung in a little time a far greater number of sins than persons out of his loins one sin still begetting another and that another till in a while the earth was filled with violence Gen. 6.11 God not willing to leave things in this woful state designed a Renovation by a Second Adam a Reconciler one that should be our peace both with God and one another that there might be peace above and peace below restored again There were two Songs sung to this purpose the one at Christs coming into the World the other as he was about to depart out of it the former by a multitude of the Heavenly Host saying Glory to God in the highest and on earth peace the latter by the whole multitude of the Disciples saying Peace in heaven and glory in the highest Luke 2.14 and 29.38 The subordinate means of Reconciliation is the Gospel called the word of reconciliation 2 Cor. 5.19 Eph. 6.15 and the Gospel of peace This is the great Engine in the hand of God to bring men powerfully yet sweetly to God and one another There are no Arguments so powerful to perswade to holiness towards God and righteousness towards men as those drawn from Gospel-Grace The Grace of God which bringeth salvation will teach a man those lessons Tit. 2.11 12. which can never be truly learned otherwise To live soberly righteously and godly Therefore our Apostle like a wise Master-builder in his Epistles usually as may be seen particularly in those to the Ephesians and Colossians lays a good Foundation for Gospel-obedience in the Grace thereof He first sets forth the great mystery of Redemption by Jesus Christ and the Grace of God therein and then concludes with exhortation to all duties both to God and Man from the consideration thereof He doth the like here in this to the Romans For having in the foregoing part of the Epistle convinced both Jew and Gentile and concluded all under sin and shewed the only way to Justification to be by the Grace of God through Jesus Christ he comes in this and the following Chapters to engage them to their duty both to God and Man See how he doth it ver 1. I beseech you therefore brethren by the mercies of God that ye present your bodies a living sacrifice holy acceptable unto God which is your reasonable service Your bodies that is your selves souls and bodies the body being put by a Synecdoche for the whole man He expresseth both elsewhere as due to God upon the account of redeeming-love 1 Cor. 6.20 Ye are bought with a price therefore glorifie God in your body and in your spirit which are Gods He exhorts them to many excellent duties in this Chapter upon all which the word therefore ver 1. hath a powerful influence Altho the duty here exhorted to in the last Verse be so high that it is not easie to reach unto it viz. not to be overcome of evil but overcome evil with good yet the consideration of the mercies of God mentioned above will make this appear to be but a reasonable service The point of Doctrine from this Text is Doct. That every Christian should not only take heed that he be not overcome of evil but endeavour what in him lieth to overcome evil with good It divides it self into Two Branches 1. Every Christian should take heed that he be not overcome of evil 2. Every Christian ought to endeavour what in him lieth to overcome evil with good We shall speak a little to each of these in order and make the Application of both together which done you will see How we ought to do our duty towards others tho they do not theirs towards us I begin with the first 1. Bran. Every Christiaa should take heed that he be not overcome of evil By evil understand any unkind or injurious dealing from others which may be 1. By detaining or withdrawing from us the love or the fruits thereos which by the will of God are due to us either as men or men standing in such or such a special Relation to them Or 2. By speaking or doing that to us or against us which the Law of Love or the special Relation wherein we stand unto them forbids To be overcome of evil is to be drawn by the evil Temper or Carriage of another towards us to be of the like Temper and Carriage towards him To be so provoked by an injury done unto us as to return the like again As when two contraries are put together suppose Fire and Water that
Object of it is real the Ground of it certain the Actings of it sensible to himself and the Effects of it evident to others This I shall endeavour to do I. As for the Object of a Believers Faith and Hope that good which he believes shall be and expects after this life a state of glory for the spirits of just men He that shall deny that such a thing is must not own the Name of Christian when even the light of Nature will go so far toward the proving of it for 1. That shews us that the Soul is immortal as being of a spiritual nature and independent on the Body in its most proper and noble Operations the actings of the Understanding and Will 2. That there is a reward after this life for them that do well no less than on the contrary Punishment for evil doers This the generality of the Pagan World that knew not distinctly wherein that Reward did consist yet have granted the thing and who is not instructed by his own Conscience in the knowledge of it The work of the Law written in the Heart †Rom. 2.15 and the secret pleasure and satisfaction men take in their own Innocence or good actions proves a reward on the one hand as well as the fears and horrors which the Consciences of the most slie and secret sinners subject them to speak the punishment they expect on the other And if these things were only impressions made upon mens Fancies in their tender years it were strange that all the Reason they grow up to exercise and all the Art many obstinate Sinners make use of on purpose to obliterate them and to impress the contrary upon their Minds together with a thousand other Species printed on their Imaginations by their Employments their Pleasures and all the various Occasions and accidents of their Lives should never be able to rid them of these so unpleasing Sentiments 3. Something may be said even from natural Reason to prove this reward to consist in the enjoyment of God and so not only to evince the reality of some Happiness but of this in particular in the other life For 1. It will scarce be denyed but that the soul of Man is capable of enjoying God as its Sovereign good i. e. of most intensely delighting and entirely acquiescing in him as a good suitable to the spiritual Nature and sufficient for the vast capacity of an immortal Soul Some of the Heathen came near this when they stated mans Happiness as consisting in the Contemplation of the highest being And indeed the very Nature and Operations of the Soul and its apprehending spiritual Objects amounts to little less than a demonstration of this 2. The enjoyment of God is the greatest good any Creature can be capable of God is in himself absolutely the greatest good because an infinite one and comprehensive of all Perfection and there can be no greater good than to be possessed of him that is the greatest 3. The reward and happiness of an holy Soul can be nothing less than the greatest good and therefore must needs be the enjoyment of God himself this appears in that 1. Less than the greatest good cannot satisfie mans Soul and then to be sure cannot make it happy when its happiness consists in its being fully satisfied All the riches and pleasures of this World and delights of Sense can never be to the Soul instead of God because they are unsuitable to its nature which is spiritual to its duration which is immortal and to those appetites God hath implanted in it It 's very capacity of enjoying God is attended with a secret Inclination to it insomuch that many times when a man may not have an explicit and distinct knowledge of the good he wants yet being unsatisfied with what he hath though never so great he finds a want of something else and because he wants it he desires it though he know not clearly what it is to make him happy 2. It is most congruous to the Wisdom and goodness of God to appoint the greatest good to be the Happiness of the noblest of his Creatures not that they deserve it but because he may be most glorified by it and because he hath given them a nature capable of it As he suits the good of other Creatures to the capacities he hath given them so he doth the good of man None but Angels and men are capable of enjoying or actively glorifying him and God having capacitated them for that sutes their good to their Capacity It had not been agreeable to the Wisdom of God for man to have had only some inferiour good in this Life assigned to him as his chief Happiness when he had made him capable of an higher Thus much hath been said and more might even from Reason it self to prove the reality of those things Believers look for in the other Life How much might be said from Scripture with respect to which only they are the Objects of Faith but this I referre to the next head the ground of a Christian Faith 2. That is certain The same things sometimes may both be believed with a Divine Faith and known too by natural Reason but then the Medium whereby they are known and the ground whereon they are believed are very different the one is some rational argument the other the Word of God In the case before us the being of Eternal Life the present Object of Faith we speak of may be proved by reason but then so far it is not the Object of Faith but of Knowledge but withall it may be proved by Scripture and so it is the Object of Faith and as such I am now to speak of it and so to shew that the ground on which a Christian believes Eternal Life is most certain and that is no other than the Word of God particularly the Promise of the Gospel The Scripture therefore is the ground of the Faith of Eternal Life 1. As it reveals it for that it doth more fully and clearly though something a man may know of future Happiness by his natural light as before was said yet the fairest and most distinct notion he hath of it is by Revelation in the Word that tells us plainly what is that great good in which mans Happiness consists 1 Joh. 3.2 Seeing God as he is and being like him Life and Immortality are brought to light especially by the Gospel 2 Tim. 1.10 not only more distinctly discovered than ever Nature could discern them but than God himself had revealed them in the Old Testament 2. As it shews the way to it the terms on which it is to be obtained sets before us Eternal Life as in Christ it not only tells us of the thing it self but shews how man sinfull man may attain to the enjoyment of it declares true Holiness to be the way in which he is to walk and Christ the Door by which he is to enter 3. As it secures it upon
plundered him of all lifting up his Eyes to Heaven said Lord thou knowest where I have laid up my Treasure * By this delighting in God we may undoubtedly know he is our Reward What shall we do to get God to be our Reward Quest Let us see our need of God We are undone without him Lift not Direct 1 not up the Crest of Pride Beware of the Laodicean temper Revel 3.17 Thou saist I am rich and have need of nothing God will never bestow himself on them that see no want of him Let us beg of God to be our Reward 'T was Austin's Prayer Lord Direct 2 give me thy self b Da mihi te Domine Aug. O do not put me off with Common Mercies Give me not my Portion in this life †Psal 17.14 Make over thy self by a Deed of Gift to me Be earnest Suitors and God cannot find in his Heart to deny you Prayer is the Key of Heaven which being turned by the hand of Faith opens all Gods Treasures Live every day in the Contemplation of this Reward Be in the Altitudes Branch 3 Think what God hath prepared for them that love Him c Nihil in hac vita dulcius sentitur nil ita mentem ab amore mundi seperat nil sic animam contra tentationes roborat nil hominem ita ad omne bonum opus excitat quam Gratia contemplationis Bern. O that our thoughts could ascend The higher the Bird flies the sweeter it sings Let us think how Blessed they are who are possessed of their Heritage If one could but look a while through the chinks of Heaven-door and see the Beauty and Bliss of Paradise if he could but lay his Ear to Heaven and hear the Ravishing Musick of those Seraphick Spirits and the Anthems of Praise which they Sing how would his Soul be Exhilerated and Transported with Joy O Christians meditate of this Reward Slight transient thoughts do no good They are like breath upon Steel which is presently off again but let your thoughts dwell upon Glory till your Hearts are deeply affected What Lord is there such an Incomprehensible Reward to be bestowed upon me Shall these Eyes of mine be blessed with Transforming Sights of thee O the love of God to Sinners Stand at this Fire of Meditation till your Hearts begin to be warm How would the reflection on this inmense Reward conquer Temptation and behead those unruly Lusts that have formerly conspired against us What is there a Reward so sure so sweet so speedy and shall I by sin forfeit this Shall I to please my Appetite lose my Crown O all ye pleasures of Sin be gone let me no more be deceived with your sugered Lies wound me no more with your Silver Darts Th◠stolen Waters are sweet yet the Water of Life is sweeter No stronger Antidote to expell Sin than the Fore-thoughts of the Heavenly Remunerations It was when Moses was long out of sight that Israel made an Idol to worship Exod. 32.1 So when the future Reward is long out of our mind then we set up some Idol-lust in our Hearts which we begin to worship Branch 4 This may content Gods People though they have but little Oyl in the Cruse and their Estates are almost boyled away to nothing their Great Reward is yet to come Thô your Pension be but small your Portion is large If God be yours by Deed of Gift this may rock your hearts quiet God lets the wicked have their Pay before-hand Luk. 6.24 Ye have received your Consolation A wicked man may make his Acquittance and write Received in full Payment But the Saints Reward is in reversion the Robe and the Ring is yet to come May not this tune their Hearts into contentment Christian what thô God denies thee a Kid to make merry f Luk. 15.31 if he will say Son all I have is thine is not this sufficient Why dost thou complain of the Worlds emptiness who hast Gods Fulness Is not God Reward enough Hath a Son any cause to complain that his Father denies him a Flower in the Garden when he makes him Heir to his Estate g Quid ultrà quaerit cui omnia suus conditor fit Prosper The Philosopher comforted himself with this that thô he had no Musick or Vine-Trees yet he had the Houshould Gods with him * 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 So Christian thô thou hast not much of the World yet thou hast God and he is an inexhaustible Treasure It was strange that after God had told Abraham I am thy exceeding great Reward yet that Abraham should say vers 2. Lord what wilt thou give me seeing I go Childless Shall Abraham ask Lord what wilt thou give me when he had given himself Was Abraham troubled at the want of a Child who had a God was not God better than Ten Sons h Quid homini sufficit cui ipse conditor non sufficit Aug. Who should be content if not he who hath God for his Portion and Heaven for his Haven Let this exceeding Great Reward stir up in us a Spirit of Activity for God Our Head should Study for him our Hands work for him our Feet run in the way of his Commandements Alas how litle is all we can do Our Work bears no Proportion with our Reward Mercedi an tantae par Labor esse potest †Verinus The thoughts of this Reward should make us rise off the Bed of Sloth and Act with all our might for God i Spes proemii solatium fit laboris Hierom. It should add Wings to our Prayers and Weight to our Alms. A slothful Person stands in the World for a Cipher and God writes down no Ciphers in the Book of Life Let us abound in the work of the Lord. 1 Cor. 15.58 As Aromatical Trees sweat out their precious Oyls So should we Sweat out our strength and Spirits for Christ Saint Paul knowing what a Splendid Reward was behind brought all the Glory he could to God 1 Cor. 15.10 I laboured 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 more abundantly than they all He outwrought all the other Apostles Saint Pauls Obedience did not move slow as the Sun on the Dial but Swift as the Sun in the Firmament * 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Chrys Did Plato and Demosthenes undergo such Herculean Labours and Studies who had but the dim Watch-light of Nature to see by and did but Fancy the pleasures of the Elizian Fields after this Life and shall not Christians much more put forth all their Vigour of Spirit for God when they are sure to be Crowned nay God himself will be their Crown If God be so great a Reward let such as have an Interest in him Branch 5 be chearful God loves a Sanguine Complection k Acceptior est Deo grata laetitia quam querula tristitia Bucholcer Chearfulness credits Religion 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 causeth 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 The goodness of the
his principal end is himself degenerated into a Beast The inferior and subordinate end is the good of the Communities the happiness and welfare of the whole Country the peace comfort and prosperitie of all the People over whom Governours are set The supreme Magistrate is to his Dominions what the Head is to the body natural and so influence belongs to him as well as preeminence he is engaged to think contrive study care order and provide for the comfort of the body and all the members of it Paul saith Rom. 13 4. He is the Minister of God to thee for good for a fourfold good as learned Partus saith 1. In bonum naturale for natural good that he may secure thy person and life from danger and thy outward Liberty comforts and enjoyments from the Sons of violence 2. In bonum morale for moral good that he may curb thy unruly passions and base lusts and restraine or hinder them from breaking out into vitious and enormous practices 3. In bonum civile for civil good that he may preserve publick Society and keep up common honesty and Justice 4. In bonum spirituale for spiritual good that he may defend the true Religion that which is pure and undefiled before God and the Father and keep up and encourage the Worship of God which is warranted by the Scripture And all this is according to the word which doth direct and command that we should pray for Kings and all that are in Authority that under them we might lead peaceable and quiet lives in all godliness and honesty So that the end of Government is the securing peace and quietness and the encouraging of honesty and godliness 2. In all Government there is supposed a power sufficient for the ordering of things unto these ends not only natural power but also moral Authority lawfully come by for without that there can be no just right and good Government Magistrates therefore are called Powers Rom. 13 1. Let every Soul be subject to the higher Powers for there is no power but of God the powers that be are ordained by God Lawful Governours are invested with Authority and Power there are put into their hands the Scepter to rule and the Sword to protect and punish as there is cause They have a legislative Power to make Laws and issue out commands which shall oblige their Subjects they have a right to do this so they use their power rightly and obedience is due from their People obedience to all their just and lawful commands they ought to rule in the fear of God and their Subjects ought to obey in the fear of God Rom. 13 5. Ye must needs be subject and that not only for Wrath but also for Conscience sake as knowing that this is the will of God concerning you and when any wilfully fail herein they contract guilt and break their own peace And as there is an Authority to enact Laws so a Power to suppress the Rebellions and animadvert on those that are refractorie and stubborn and also to defend reward and encourage all persons studious and careful of performing their duty Where all this Power is not there is a miserable defect in the Government which will in time dwindle and come to nothing and confusion and every evil work step up in its place 3. In Government this Power is reduced into act there is a prudent seasonable exerting and putting forth of the Power in order to the attaining of these ends This is the complement of all for it is folly for any to make that his end which is quite out of his reach and that Power is in vain which always lyes dorment Power is not put into the Rulers hand meerly for ornament but for use It is no other than a trust committed to him therefore though he be a Magistrate over men yet he is a Minister of God and is obliged to serve his great Lord according to the best of his skill and to act toward the end formerly mentioned As he is advanced to high and honourable places so he is engaged to great and excellent work Rom. 13 4. He is not to bear the Sword in vain and it may be said He weareth not the Crown in vain he holdeth not the Scepter in vain not for nothing not for a meer shew an empty Pageantry but for a good end for excellent and noble purposes The Crown and Scepter are not so glorious as that for which he is advanced the Sword committed to him must be drawn against the enemies of God and truth and holiness he must be an Avenger to execute wrath not upon the pious and peaceable that would be an abuse of his Power but upon them that do evil Thus have I shewed you what Government is Viz Using of lawful Power for excellent ends The second thing propounded was to prove and evidence to you that God doth Govern the world As he made it at first so he doth still uphold and order it In a Nation you know there are many inferiour Magistrates and under-Officers yet it followeth not but the King is supreme who authorizeth influences directs and limits them by his Laws There are upon Earth many Governours various forms of Government yea the Angels in Heaven are ministring Spirits employed in special and weighty matters But all of them are set up and set forth by God and fulfil his pleasure God himself sits at the helm and steers the course he overrules and orders all from the highest to the lowest For the evidenceing hereof take these following particulars 1. First the light of nature hath discovered this and by the glimmering thereof though it burn dimly as a Candle in the Socket many among the Heathens have been led to the knowledg of it and constrained to acknowledg it It must be granted that they groped and were exceedingly in the dark differing much one from another in their Sentiments about the Deitie and his Providence Some plainly denyed a God some owned and asserted the being of a God but denyed the creating of the World but that it was from everlasting or rose up through a fortuitous concurse of atomes Some granted that the World was of God as of the first cause yet he did not see nor observe what is done in it among men Some held he doth indeed see all things that are and be done in the world but he is only an insignificant idle Spectator who minds and regards nothing Some were of opinion that God doth not attend to the meaner and inferiour Creatures nor take any cognizance of small inconsiderable matters but only superintended the affairs and concernments of mankind Doth God take care of Oxen Some did again assert that God did look after and care for all things yet he acted only in a way of common general influences and by second causes doing nothing immediately and by himself Others again on the contrary side did affirm that God doth immediately and by himself so work all
like Cases Moses's Prayers prevailed to deliver Israel when the Aegyptians so closely pursued them Exod. 14.15 Why Cryest thou unto me and at other times Exod. 32. Numb 14. Asa's Prayer prevailed against Zerah and his Ethiopian Army 2 Chron. 14.11 12. and Jehosaphats against the Amonites 2 Chron. 20. And if Prayer hath been so prevalent why may it not be so still It is an old tried means which hath not used to fail do not say These were more Eminent Saints and so could do more with God by Prayer than you can but remember you have the same God to Pray to that they had and he delights as much in Prayer now as then he did and can do as much for us as theâ—â— he could You Pray with the same kind of Faith that they did and your Faith is grounded on the same Promises they are still the same and the Mediatour who is to present your Petitions to God is still the same and his Interest in those that fear him and his Concern for them is still the same it was and then why may not Prayer now prevail as much as formerly and do as much with God 2. If you do prevail it will be both your Honour and Comfort to have been Instrumental in keeping off Publick Judgments and procuring Publick Mercies So far as your Prayers have been of use for the obtaining such Mercies so far they are your Mercies and you will have comfort in them Any Mercy is sweet when obtained by Prayer much more such as are of advantage to others as well as your selves And it will be as Honourable as Comfortable to be the Saviours of a Land as Saints seem to be called Obad. ult The Repairer of Breaches and Restorers of Paths to dwell in Isa 58.12 3. If you should not prevail for Publick Deliverance yet your Prayers shall not be lost They â—hall return into your own Bosom Psal 35.13 in deliverance for your selves either God will separate you from others you shall deliver your own Souls Ezek. 14.14 or if not God will hide you in the â—â—â—ve and while you continue here will Sanctifie your Sufferings make yoâ— Rejoyce in Tribulation it will be no small comfort to have done your Duty and discharged your Consciences and to suffer without the Guilt of Negligence and not providing against Sufferings 4. You will have little comfort in suffering in the common Calamities if you have not done your part to keep them off If the breaking in of Wrath upon the Land lie at your Doors if a Nation be lost for want of your Praying and Wrestling with God for it It would be sad Suffering with the Guilt of your own Negligence or Slothfulness or Coldness or Security upon your Consciences and having your Hearts reproach you and tell you that had you stood in the Gap you might have made up the Hedg had you Pray'd more you and others might have Suffered lâ—ss Religion might have flourished Ordinances have continued the Gospel continued the Glory of God might not have departed had you laboured to keep it 5. If you that are Godly do not prevail none else are like to do it Others either Prey no◠〈◊〉 all but wholy restrain Prayer before the Lord or if they do yet â—g such as regard Iniquity in their Hearts the Lord will â—r theâ— Psal 66.18 Either their Guilt choaks their Prayers or â—hey have not the Face to look up to God with any Confidence or the Wickedness of their Lives way-lays their Prayers their Sins intercept their Petitions and hinder any Gracious reception of them the Sacrifices of such are an abomination to the Lord and are so far from making up the Breach that they make it wider 6. Lastly Consider How many there be that labour all they can to Ruâ—n the Land The Sinners of the Land are by far the greatest part of 〈◊〉 Sin iâ—â—pread over all And Sinners Act as if they were weary of 〈◊〉 Mercies weary of their Liberties weary of Christ and his Saints of tâ—â— Gospel and Ordinances as if they were all in a Plot against the Land and resolved to try if could Sin it into Destruction into its old Darkness and Spiritual Bondage How many are laying Designs against the Liberties and Privileges the Estates and Lives of others How many are Opprâ—â—â—â—â— and Persecuting and Molesting those that are Peaceable in the Land And how loud do so many Sins Cry in Gods Ears You had need Pray hard for Mercy when Sin Crys so loud for Vengeance Be up then and doing set Prayer against Sin if others attempt to out-sin your Prayers do you labour to out-pray their Sins do not think that a little cold heartless Praying will prevent or Obviat the consequents of so much Sinning When their be Armies of Enemies and Armies of Sins there needs an Army of Prayers too 2. Do not rest in Prayer but hinder all the Sin you can not only in your selves but in others with whom you have to do and over whom you have any power hinder it in your Families by Restraint and Correction in your Neighbours and Friends by Admonition and Reproof So much Sin as you hinder so much you contribute to the Peace and Prosperity of the Nation It is vain to think of preventing Judgment if you do not endeavour to hinder Sin which calls for it though Punishment may not immediately follow at the heels of Sin Sentnce against an Evil Work may not be speedily Executed Eccles 8.11 yet so long as Sin is spared or connived at it is all the while breeding Judgment the store of Sin adds to the Treasure of Wrath. 3. Do all the Good you can 't is your several places not only your Personal but Relative Capacities by Instruction by Counsel by Example labour to propagate Goodness to all with whom you converse while others are spreading Sin do you endeavour to promote Holiness Commend the Ways of God to others by walking exactly in them your selves Practice those things that are Lovely Philip. 4.8 That may be a means to make those love your Religion who hitherto never lov'd your selves The more you do for the gaining of Souls the more you do for the good of the Nation every Saint you are Instrumental to make will be a new Stake in the Hedg a new Stone in the Wall an addition to the Strength and Security of the Land 2. To Sinners How many of those to whom this Exhortation is Address'd will Read it I know not and if they do whether they will own themselves Sinners and count themselves concern'd in what is said but this I am sure of that if they are not Sinners and Wicked they are Saints these Two divide the Land all are either Godly or Ungodly though there be different degrees among both and if Saints they are the former Exhortation will reach them let them then Act up to it and shew themselves Saints let them appear and stand up for the Publick Good and Interpose