certainly yield our selves Servants to Sin and are ensnared by these Nets he hath privately laid to entrap men For when God perceives I make no good use of those Talents of Grace committed to my Trust not to my Trust as to keep them enwrapped in a Napkin but to improve to a further growing in Grace and in the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ which if I don't he then will most justly withdraw these his Graces which I have so foolishly mis-imployed and harden my heart as well to punish me for my Wickedness as also for my Folly that then when I might have made use of his supporting Grace to assist me I did willfully slight and neglect these opportunities of growing from Grace to Grace For to day if you will hear his Voice harden not your Hearts In this Psalm the Sweet Singer of Israel insinuates an earnest Exhortation to Laud and Magnifie the Providence of God in his Wise conduct of the World together with that Infinite Wisdom in contriving and managing the Illustrious Fabrick and oeconomy of the Church both Triumphant and Militant and then he descends in v. 8. to exhort and admonish us not to Irritate and provoke him to Anger by our Impenitent Course and persisting in Wickedness but embrace every opportunity of Obedience to his Voice and of a perfect resignation to his Service and Pleasure least by a contempt and hardning our Hearts we tire and weary out the Patience of Heaven till it punish us as did those of Messah and Meribah by a Sclemn Protestation and Oath We shall not enter into the Land of Rost or Heavenly Canaan The words are naturally so pregnant I need not urge any thing there-from but what presents of its own accord I shall not then enlarge my Meditations further then to entertain you with this short Proposition That we must not in the least defer our Repentance but instantly comply with Obedience to that Voice which requires it of us For to day if you will hear c. Solomon seriously considering the hard Province of a man to relinquish habituated Vices advises all in his Book of Ecclesiastes To remember their Creator in the days of their youth For evident it is nothing more difficult for a man when he hath once set his Teeth on edge with the unwholsome Viands of Sin than to relish the Savoury Meats of Righteousness For Sin and Pleasure leave such a Tang and Hogoe in the mouths of Carnal men it renders so pleasant a gust to the Infirmities of Humane Nature that a Camel may as easily rush through the Eye of a Needle as such a person be capacitated for the Kingdom of Glory to which sense are those excellent words of the Prophet Can the Aethiopian change his Skin or the Leopard his Spots Then may you also do good who are accustomed to do evil He therefore that defers his Repentance in the Summer of his Age and will not acknowledge his Sins whilst he hath Strength and Vigour To resist the World the Flesh and the Devil but involv'd them in the excuses and denyal and clouds of Hypocrisy He will not find it a slender task when all Diseases and the Evils of Age shall muster up their forces in his Crazy-bones when all his wasting pleasures shall present their Items to his Bed rid view to find the Comforts of Repentance then Many Doctors pertaining to the Roman Conclave answering to the question At what time precisely a Sinner is obliged to Repent affirm At what time soever for say they the Precept of Repentance is of the same nature with that of Baptism and Prayer Nor this day nor to morrow is it absolutely necessary to be Baptized but sometime or other and if I Pray an hour or half hence the duty of Prayer is perform'd as fully as if I fell upon my Knees at the very instant of the Proclamation But with submission to better Judgements I dare boldly affirm this assertion can neither be confirm'd by Holy Writ or any Author who Preach nothing but the Sineere Word of God 'T is true I dare not conceal it God desires not the Death of a Sinner but abundantly rather that he turn and Live Yet if one who hath had the grand Blessing of Heaven to be born in the Pale of his Church who hath the Sun shine of the Gospel always beaming on him whose Life engendring Rays are sufficient to warm and soften a stony Heart yes And out of such stones to raise up Children unto Abraham if he will consume his Youth and Beauty in the Service of sin wearing out the gloss of his Life in open Hostility against God and Rallying his Forces to Bandy against the Almighty neither will he accept of his Services when he is worn out with years and hath nothing to present him but the thin Furrows and Wrinkles of Old Age. I appeal to your selves how just and reasonable it is for an Earthly Potentate who promise me if I will submit to his Commands and render an entire Obedience to all his Precepts for the space of one year at his expiration he will load me with Honours and burthen me with Riches how just is it for him to refuse me those Honours and deny me those Riches if I walk contrary to his ways and will not be obedient to the Dictates of his Laws May not then the Creator of Mankind in like manner withdraw the Graces we have so foolishly imbezelled and misimploy'd For is it reasonable for me professing Christianity to Ravel out the little moment of this Life in Sensual Pleasures and Delights never taking a turn in the Melancholly Shades of a Penitent Soul to imagine God will reward my Death-bed Sorrow as a Godly Sorrow when I have Prodigally spent all my Sprightly Strength in ranging the by-ways of Sin and compleating the Kingdom of Satan because he who expects a consummation of future Bliss must have his whole Life and all his Actions free from every imputation and appearance of Evil. The great Shepherd of our Souls loves not a Spotted or Ring streaked Flock but our whole Lives must be an unchequered and intire Holiness So soon as we have taken our Military Oath and are Enroll'd under Christs Banner we must begin our Warfare against the World Flesh and the Devil not having the most little and inconsiderable passage of our Life stain'd or sullyed by the dishonours of a dirty and unworthy Action I mean not that all the circumstances of our Life or whole retinue of our Actions can be as uncorrupted as the Rays of the Sun or as pure as the pure Sparklings of the White-stone and Heavenly Jerusalem no but yet we may in some measure resemble the Moon in which Phylosophers acquaint us there are certain Macule or Spots but no Deformities Whilst we are in this state of Imperfection we can't be so Clarified as to be free from all Indiscretions Errors and Mistakes Flesh and Blood are dayly attended by a
on my part who dare offend who can oppose me For were we so Wise and Valiant as not to afright our selves with our own shadows we shou'd find by the Encouragements of Gods Spirit that he who is with us is mightier than they who are against us Michael and his Angels are not only more Powerful and numerous than the old Dragon and his supposed Strengths but also more loving and careful to do us good Did we not therefore look through the discoloured Mediums of our own polluted Nature Was not the Eye of our Souls tinctured by the suffusions of Lust we should soon find our Strengths greater then we imagine For did we seriously weigh things in their proper ballance we might observe an Heroick Vigour in all Goodness and an Imbecility in Evil only Furthermore if by the assistance of Grace I can't prove my self more than Conqueror over Temptations why should I rejoyce when I fall into a variety and abundance of them Or can I imagine that God who remembers I am but Dust and knows whereof I am made who is better acquainted with my Form and Figure than I my self am wou'd he impose any thing upon me but what he knows is absolutely in my Power to perform Now you may observe both God and his Church bind every Christian at his first Admission into Covenant by the most Solemn Tye to resist Temptations The Substance of which Oath in Baptism is I. N. or M. do here in the presenee of God the Father our Lord Jesus Christ and all the Heavenly Host devote my self to the Services of my God I call Heaven and Earth Angels and Saints the Church Militant and Triumphant to bear witness that I renounce the World Flesh and the Devil and that I will resist their Temptations unto my last breath This I avow to be my Resolution and upon this account and this only I now desire to enter into Covenant with my God and be Initiated and Admitted a Member of his Church and I call my Conscience to Record this day that I will never repent of this Promise nor revoke it but continue Christs Faithful Souldier and Servant unto my Lives end So help me O my God Amen Now this being the form of our Oath in Baptism which we renew at our Confirmation and repeat every time we Communicate at the Lords Table we can certainly conclude it is to be performed for can we fancy to our selves God and his Church would urge us to Impossibilities and engage us to what cannot be effected No certainly for if men be perswaded the Sins they commit are irresistable why do they Sorrow and Repent for what is past Why do they contradict themselves and put a mock upon Heaven by promising Amendment for the future Instead of Confessing why do they not rather Expostulate with God and say 'T is true O Lord I have done many things amiss as I have been Informed by the Parson who calls himself thy Minister and trouble the World by thy Authority which if they be offensive I protest O my God I could not help them I had not Power to resist them If therefore thou wouldst have me for the future perform thy express Words and Commandments and practice those Duties our Preachers inculcate thou must asist me with a greater stock of Grace than hitherto thou hast furnished me withall Now can I presume any so horribly Profane so ridiculously Wicked to Pray after this method and utterly confound those two absolutely necessary parts of Repentance Confession and Contrition If it be thus I dare boldly affirm it the greatest Sins we are tempted to commit are no Sins at all But indeed God will be justified in his sayings and found clear when he is judged for there is no thinking circumspect man if he applyes the Grace of God can be over matched by any Tryal or meet a Temptation that is irresistable For if I can conquer Sin in the Mountains and Strong holds I need not doubt but to baffle him in the Plains and Valleys if I can overcome those great and Gigantick Sins of Idolatry Adultery Fellony Treason and the like why may I not escape those of a lesser magnitude such as Pamphleting the Government and Libelling Authority such as Lying and Slandering Cheating and Cousening Back biting and Speaking evil one of another Shall a Pigmye subdue the Crane or a Dwarfe prove Conquerour of a Gyant Can I go upon the Lyon and the Adder and shall a Frog or a Worm â—lisorder me Did not Christ come to redeem to himself a Church and to present it without Spot or Blemish before the Throne of Grace Now how can We be of this number and not under that qualification Void of Offence towards God and towards Man Thirdly Some may enquire how far we must proceed in Righteousness that we may get a Conquest and Mastery over our Nature and be free from those Imbecilities in saying What I hate that do I. To which I answer There is no set or determinate degree of Endeavour but even as much as we can or are able There is no size or Standard the Excess of which would appear Monstruous But Religion is like unto the flawless Diamond where bigness taxes the value and the unusual bulke both rates and Enhances the Lustre and the Price To give God all that I can is the great command both of the Law and of the Gospel For so noble is the nature of Religion that it admits of failings but by one of the Extremes that of Defect Mediocrity which in other Passions is an Excellency is here an Imperfection It being therefore impossible for us to be too Loyal and Obedient too Religious and Dutyful we must make it the business of our Lives the Care of our Thoughts our only Concern and greatest Imployment in the World To be Holy as God is Holy abstaining from all things whatever that can impede or hinder the promotion and growth of an Holy Life for what is our chiefest righteousness better then Menstruous Raggs if the Lord was extreme to mark what we have done amiss After our very Innocency which otherwise wou'd appear stain'd may through the merits of Christ prove acceptable unto God whatsoever thou findest in thy Heart to do perform it with all thy might and vigour He that will live according to the exact Rules of Christianity must bend his Nerves and Sinews do his utmost towards the demolishing all the Strong-holds of Satan For we can never be clean and free from all Sin until we have done our best and utmost towards the Mortification of it for until that be done how can we be satisfied where the blame and fault resteth or whether it can be effected or not If any man can profess that Purity of Life and strictness of Conversation as to assert that he hath endeavoured to husband and employ his Talent of Grace to the most proper and best advantage that he hath Endur'd as much as is possible
an Internal Worship be manifested better than by an External Deportment All Nations not only Jews but Gentiles had Rites in the Adorations of their supposed Deities All meeting in this as a Principle of Nature that Divine Worship cannot be rightly Celebrated without some Outward Solemnity Did not God command the use of Ceremonies unto the Jews Now the Moral and Ceremonial Law were not promulgated at different times but both together And those whom God hath joyned let no man put asunder Will it not cause a Dis-respect to hear the Service of God hudl'd over as a Scrivener reads a Bond or an Indenture Are we so great Enemies to Innocency that a Surplice should afright us from attending the Ordinances of God That the Priest should 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 was so general a practice in all Ages of the Church that none did Officiate in Holy Offices but he was clad in Raiment White as Snow They are not the Embroideries of Religion I so admire as to have its Garment too heavy and weighty nor such a plainness as to abhor all Decency and Comliness For let us suppose the worst that there are some Spots which may be spared cou'd they be handsomly taken out yet what Because of this must I rend my Garment in pieces and be naked Or shall I suffer rude Hands to cut and tear it in pieces as they please to the great injury and Perturbation of the Church Ceremoniae tanquam Cerei They are as Lights which give Lustre and Brightness to Gods House and the Services performed there and one way to make it a Den is to extinguish this Light that it may not give Light to them entring the House of Prayer Secondly As the Church can't but be dark without Ceremonies so if the Life of Doctrine requir'd in the Priest be not a Lamp unto our Feet and Light unto our Paths to guide us into the wayes of Peace The Blessed Jesus himself hath stiled the Preachers of the Word not only the Lights of the World but also the Salt of the Earth a City set upon a Hill they are not only Stars but Angels chosen Vessels men of a thousand their Feet are stiled Beautiful and they themselves the Glory of Christ good reason then if our Lights should shine before men for seeing we are called to this Eminent Function having the Title of Light attributed us we cannot think it sufficient we have Lamps unless furnished with Oyl that our Doctrine may promote the Glory of God and save both our own and the Souls of them committed to our Care The House of Prayer may be a Den if the Flames therein be not real but Painted Thus St. Paul chargeth Timothy To take heed unto himself and his Doctrine and put them in remembrance to stir up the Gift of God 'T is not enough to fill the Golden Candlestick of the Temple unless they give Light to those that enter in otherwise what are they more than prettily contrived Antickes under a Building who seem to groan under the oppression of that which doth support them 'T was our Saviours Command That we should always have our Loyns girt that is with the Girdle of Sincerity and Truth or with other Expositors by External Conformity in our Habits we must be Pillars of Fire to guide others out of the night of Ignorance and wilderness of Errour For are not the Priests Lips to preserve Knowledge and are not we to enquire of them what concerns our Souls for they are the Messengers of the Lord of Hosts I shall conclude this only minding you of that Solemn Oath at our Installment into this Sacred Office That we would give Faithful diligence to Minister the Doctrine and Discipline of Christ For if the Lights of the Church be darkened how great is that Darkness And what will be the House of Prayer but a Den c. Thirdly As there must be the Light of Doctrine so also of Conversation in the Priest yes and it must be Perspicuous too that Religion and the Doctors thereof may have a good Report amongst all men of whatever Sect or Perswasion that they may find no occasion to Revile or Blaspheme us Blaspheme us I say for in doing it unto us they do it unto Christ we have Motives sufficient to incite us to a circumspect walking For waving the express command of our Saviour let us consider how many Enemies we have in the World who watch for our Halting and are so quick-sighted that they discern the least Lint hanging on a Black-Gown No Cloath so subject to be discoloured as that of ours Men are not like that Pious Emperour who would cover the Nakedness of his Clergy with his own Royal Robe but joyful to embrace every little occasion to render us Contemptible This then should awaken us but if this will not do let us consider how absurd it is to undo that on the Week-day which we Preached on the Lords Shall we be diligent in Instructing of others and we our selves remain Ignorant and Foolish Shall we speak brave flourishing words in commendation of Religion and reclaim Rhetorically against Vice yet make it our Trade and Practice The Vrim and Thummim were both put into Aaron's Breast-Plate that he might be a Living Sermon as well as a Preacher of Sound Doctrine He who wanted an Eye Hand Foot or had any blemish in his Body was forbidden by God to attend at his Altar then much more sure polluted in Soul They who bear the Vessels of the Lord must be Clean Ye have made it a Den of Theeves was a great aggravation of the Churches Prophanation Secondly I descend to the Theeves or Persons defiling Gods House The first of them is he who crept into the Ministry without Commission thus the Saviour of the World tells us He who creeps into an House by the Window the same is a Theef and a Robber And if so what can he be stiled less who thrusts himself into the Priest-hood and not by the door of Lawful Authority Thus to run without Commission is an Usurpation of that which none should take upon him but he that was called of God as was Aaron by an External as well as Internal call The Apostles were trained up a long time before Christ sent them on that Employ they were not sent to Preach the Word so soon as they were Enrolled into the number of his Disciples like hasty Births with Shells upon their Heads but they attended and waited for a full Authority and Commission But alas Authority is now so much slighted and trampled on that men fancy if they can but spare so much time from their Shops they have Authority enough to skip into the Office of the Priest but are they not Theeves and Robbers who force themselves into the Ministry without License or Abilities they pretend indeed to a large share of Spiritual Influences which they resume will supply all other Defects and adapt them fit Ministers of the Gospel