will among men a readiness to forgive our greatest enemies to doe good to them that hate us to bless them that curse us and to pray for them that despitefully use us and persecute us And does inculcate these precepts more vehemently and forbid malice and hatred and revenge and contention more strictly and peremptorily than any Religion ever did before as will appear to any one that does but attentively read our Saviour's Sermon upon the Mount And as Christianity hath given us a more certain so likewise a more perfect Law for the government of our lives All the precepts of it are reasonable and wise requiring such duties of us as are suitable to the light of nature and do approve themselves to the best reason of mankind such as have their foundation in the nature of God and are an imitation of the Divine excellencies such as tend to the persection of humane nature and to raise the minds of men to the highest pitch of goodness and vertue The Laws of our Religion are such as are generally usefull and beneficial to the world as do tend to the outward peace and the health to the inward comfort and contentment and to the universal happiness of mankind They command nothing that is unnecessary and burdensome as were the numerous rites and ceremonies of the Jewish Religion but what is reasonable and usefull and substantial And they omit nothing that may tend to the glory of God or the welfare of men nor do they restrain us in any thing but what is contrary either to the regular inclinations of nature or to our reason and true interest They forbid us nothing but what is base and unworthy to serve our humours and passions to reproach our understandings and to make our selves fools and beasts in a word nothing but what tends either to our private harm and prejudice or to publick disorder and confusion And that this is the tenour of the Laws of the Gospel will appear to any one from our Saviour's Sermons and Discourses particularly that upon the Mount wherein he charges his Disciples and followers to be humble and meek and righteous and patient under sufferings and persecutions and good and kind to all even to those that are evil and injurious to us and to endeavour to excell in all goodness and vertue This will appear likewise from the Writings of the holy Apostles I will instance but in some few passages in them St. Paul represents to us the design of the Christian doctrine in a very few words but of admirable sense and weight Tit. 2.11 12. The grace of God that bringeth salvation hath appear'd to all men teaching us that denying ungodliness and worldly lusts we should live soberly and righteously and godly in this present world The same Apostle makes this the main and fundamental condition of the Covenant of the Gospel on our part 2 Tim. 2.19 Let every one that names the name of Christ depart from iniquity St. James describes the Christian doctrine which he calls the wisdom that is from above by these characters It is first pure then peaceable gentle and easie to be entreated full of mercy and good fruits without partiality and without hypocrisie St. Peter calls the Gospel 2 Pet. 1.3 4. the knowledge of him that hath called us to glory and vertue whereby saith he are given unto us exceeding great and precious promises that by these you might be partakers of a divine nature having escap'd the corruption that is in the world through lust and upon this consideration he exhorts them to give all diligence to add to their faith the several vertues of a good life V. 5 6 7. without which he tells them they are barren and unfruitfull in the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ I will conclude with that full and comprehensive paslage of St. Paul to the Philippians Whatsoever things are true whatsoever things are honest 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 whatsoever things are of venerable esteem whatsoever things are just whatsoever things are pure or chast whatsoever things are lovely whatsoever things are of good report if there be any vertue if there be any praise think on these things But the perfection and the reasonableness of the Laws of Christianity will most plainly appear by taking a brief survey of them And they may all be referr'd to these two general heads They are either such as tend to the perfection of humane nature and to make men singly and personally good or such as tend to the peace and happiness of humane Society First Such as tend to the perfection of humane nature and to make men good singly and personally consider'd And the precepts of this kind may be distributed likewise into two sorts such as enjoyn piety towards God or such as require the good order and government of our selves in respect of the enjoyments and pleasures of this life 1. Such as enjoyn Piety towards God All the duties of Christian Religion which respect God are no other but what natural light prompts men to excepting the two Sacraments which are of great use and significancy in the Christian Religion and praying to God in the name and by the mediation of Jesus Christ For the sum of natural Religion as it refers more immediately to God is this That we should inwardly reverence and love God and that we should express our inward reverence and love of him by external worship and adoration and by our readiness to receive and obey all the revelations of his will And that we should testifie our dependence upon him and our confidence of his goodness by constant prayers and supplications to him for mercy and help for our selves and others And that we should acknowledge our obligations to him for the many favours and benefits which every day and every minute we receive from him by continual praises and thanksgivings And that on the contrary we should not entertain any unworthy thoughts of God nor give that honour and reverence which is due to him to any other that we should not worship him in any manner that is either unsuitable to the excellency and perfection of his nature or contrary to his revealed will that we should carefully avoid the prophane and irreverent use of his Name by cursing or customary swearing and take heed of the neglect or contempt of his Worship or any thing belonging to it This is the sum of the first part of natural Religion and these are the general heads of those duties which every man's reason tells him he owes to God And these are the very things which the Christian Religion does expresly require of us as might be evidenc'd from particular Texts in the New Testament So that there is nothing in this part of Christianity but what agrees very well with the reason of mankind 2. Such precepts as require the good order and government of our selves in respect of the pleasures and enjoyments of this life Christian Religion
ought not to pretend any thing against the plain and safe paths of Religion which will entertain us with pleasure all along in the way and crown us with happiness at the end 2 TIM 2.19 Let every one that nameth the name of Christ depart from iniquity THe whole verse runs thus Nevertheless the foundation of God standeth sure having this seal The Lord knoweth them that are his And Let every one that nameth the name of Christ depart from iniquity In which words the Apostle declares to us the terms of the covenant between God and man For the word 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 which is here translated foundation according to the usual signification of it is likewise as learned men have observ'd sometimes used for an instrument of contract whereby two parties do oblige themselves mutually to each other And this notion of the word agrees very well with what follows concerning the seal assix'd to it which is very fuitable to a Covenant but not at all to a foundation 'T is true indeed as the learned Grotius hath observed there used anciently to be inscriptions on foundation-stones and the word 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 which we render seal may likewise signifie an inscription and then the sense will be very current thus The foundation of God standeth sure having this inscription But it is to be considered that though 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 may signifie an inscription yet it is onely an inscription upon a seal which hath no relation to a foundation but is very proper to a covenant or mutual obligation And accordingly the seal affixt to this instrument or covenant between God and man is in allusion to the custom of those countries said to have an inscription on both sides agreeable to the condition of the persons contracting On God's part there is this impress or inscription The Lord knoweth them that are his that is God will own and reward those that are faithfull to him And on our part Let every one that nameth the name of Christ depart from iniquity Let every one that nameth the name of Christ that is that calls himself a Christian For to name the name of any one or to have his name call'd upon by us does according to the use of this Phrase among the Hebrews signifie nothing else but to be denominated from him Thus 't is frequently used in the Old Testament and sometimes in the New Jam. 2.7 Do they not blaspheme that worthy name by the which ye are called that is the name or title of Christians and that expression 1 Pet. 〈◊〉 14. if ye be reproached for the name of Christ is at the sixteenth verse varied if any man suffer as a Christian So that to name the name of Christ is to call our selves Christians Let every one that nameth the name of Christ depart from iniquity The word 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 is often taken strictly for injustice or unrighteousness but sometimes used more largely for sin and wickedness in the general And so it seems to be used here in the Text because there is no reason from the context to restrain it to any particular kind of sin or vice and because Christianity lays an equal obligation upon men to abstain from all sin Let every one that nameth the name of Christ depart from iniquity that is every Christian obligeth himself by his prosession to renounce all sin and to live a holy life In speaking to this argument I shall do these two things 1. Shew what obligation the profession of Christianity lays upon men to live holy lives 2. Endeavour to perswade those who call themselves Christians to answer this obligation I. What obligation the profession of Christianity lays upon men to live holy lives He that calls himself a Christian professeth to entertain the Doctrine of Christ to live in the imitation of his holy example and to have solemnly engaged himself to all this I shall speak briefly to these and then come to that which I principally intend to perswade men to live accordingly 1. He that professeth himself a Christian professeth to entertain the doctrine of Christ to believe the whole Gospel to assent to all the articles of the Christian faith to all the precepts and promises and theatnings of the Gospel Now the great design the proper intention of this doctrine is to take men off from sin and to direct and encourage them to a holy life It teacheth us what we are to believe concerning God and Christ not with any design to entertain our minds with the bare speculation of those truths but to better our lives For every article of our faith is a proper argument against sin and a powerfull motive to obedience The whole history of Christ's appearance in the world all the discourses and actions of his life and the sufferings of his death do all tend to this the ultimate issue of all is the destroying of sin So St. John tells us 1 Joh. 3.8 for this purpose was the Son of God manifested that he might destroy the works of the devil But this is most expresly and fully declar'd to us Tit. 2.11 12 13 14. The grace of God that bringeth salvation hath appeared to all men teaching us that denying ungodliness and worldly lusts we should live soberly righteously and godly in this present world looking for that blessed hope and the glorious appearing of the great God and our Saviour Jesus Christ who gave himself for us that he might redeem us from all iniquity and purifie unto himself a peculiar people zealous of good works The precepts of the Gospel do strictly command holiness and that universal the purity of our souls and the chastity of our bodies 2 Cor. 7.1 to cleanse our selves from all filthiness of flesh and spirit 1 Thes 5.22 to abstain from all kind of evil 1 Pet. 1.15 to be holy in all manner of conversation They require us to endeavour after the highest degrees of holiness that are attainable by us in this imperfect state to be holy as he that hath called us is holy Mat. 5.48 to be perfect as our father which is in heaven is perfect And all the promises of the Gospel are so many encouragements to obedience and a holy life ◠Cor. 7. ◠having therefore these promises let us cleanse our selves from all filthiness of flesh and spirit and perfect holiness in the fear of God We are told by St. Peter that these exceeding great and precious promises are given to us that by these we might be partakers of a Divine nature 2 Pet. 1.4 having escaped the pollution that is in the world through lust and that we might give all diligence to add to our faith vertue and to vertue knowledge and to knowledge temperance and patience and brotherly-kindness and charity And the threatnings of the Gospel are so many powerfull arguments against sin Therefore the Apostle calls the Gospel the power of God unto salvation
perfectos Philosophos turpiter vivere that some great Philosophers led very filthy lives Celsus and Porphyry Hierocles and Julian among all their witty invectives against Christian Religion have nothing against it that reflects so much upon it as do the wicked lives of so many Christians The greatest enmity to Religion is to profess it and to live unanswerably to it This consideration ought greatly to affect us I am sure the Apostle speaks of it with great passion and vehemency For many walk of whom I have told you often Phil. 3.18 and now tell you even weeping that they are enemies of the Cross of Christ whose end is destruction whose God is their belly whose glory is in their shame who mind earthly things A Jew or a Turk is not so great an enemy to Christianity as a lewd and vitious Christian Therefore let me beseech Christians as they tender the honour of their Saviour and the credit of their Religion that they would conform their lives to the holy precepts of Christianity And if there be any who are resolved to continue in a vitious course to the injury and disparagement of Christianity I could almost entreat of them that they would quit their profession and renounce their Baptism that they would lay aside their title of Christians and initiate themselves in Heathenish rites and superstitions or be circumcised for Jews or Turks For it were really better upon some accounts that such men should abandon their Profession than keep on a vizard which serves to no other purpose but to scare others from Religion 3. And Lastly let us consider the danger we expose our selves to by not living answerably to our Religion And this I hope may prevail upon such as are not moved by the former considerations Hypocrites are instanc'd in Scripture as a sort of sinners that shall have the sharpest torments and the fiercest damnation When our Saviour would set forth the great severity of the Lord towards the evil servant he expresseth it thus Mat. 24.51 he shall cut him in sudden and appoint him his portion with Hypocrites So that the punishment of Hypocrites seems to be made in the measure and standard of the highest punishment Thou professest to believe in Christ and to hope in him for salvation but in the mean time thou livest a wicked and unholy life thou dost not believe but presume on him and wilt find at the great day that this thy confidence will be thy confusion and he whom thou hopest will be thy Advocate and Saviour will prove thy Accuser and thy Judge What our Saviour says to the Jews There is one that accuseth you even Moses in whom ye trust may very well be applied to false Christians Joh. 5.45 there is one that accuseth you and will condemn you even Jesus in whom ye trust The profession of Christianity and mens having the name of Christ named upon them will be so far from securing them from Hell that it will sink them the deeper into it Many are apt to pity the poor Heathens who never heard of the name of Christ and sadly to condole their case but as our Saviour said upon another occasion Weep not for them weep for your selves There 's no such miserable person in the world as a degenerate Christian because he falls into the greatest misery from the greatest advantages and opportunities of being happy Dost thou lament the condition of Socrates and Cato and Aristides and doubt what shall become of them at the day of Judgment and canst thou who art an impious and prophane Christian think that thou shalt escape the damnation of Hell Dost thou believe that the moral Heathen shall be cast out and canst thou who hast led a wicked life under the profession of Christianity have the impudence to hope that thou shalt sit down with Abraham Isaac and Jacob in the Kingdom of God No those sins which are committed by Christians under the enjoyment of the Gospel are of deeper dye and clothed with blacker aggravations than the sins of Heathens are capable of A Pagan may live without God in the world and be unjust towards men at a cheaper rate and upon easier terms than thou who art a Christian Better had it been thou hadst never known one syllable of the Gospel never heard of the name of Christ than that having taken it upon thee thou shouldst not depart from iniquity Happy had it been for thee that thou hadst been born a Jew or a Turk or a poor Indian rather than that being bred among Christians and professing thy self of that number thou shouldst lead a vitious and unholy life I have insisted the longer upon these arguments that I might if possible awaken men to a serious consideration of their lives and perswade them to a real reformation of them that I may oblige all those who call themselves Christians to live up to the essential and fundamental Laws of our Religion to love God and to love our neighbour to do to every man as we would have him to do to us to mortifie our lusts and subdue our passions and sincerely to endeavour to grow in every grace and vertue and to abound in all the fruits of righteousness which are by Jesus Christ to the praise and glory of God This indeed would become our profession and be honourable to our Religion and would remove one of the greatest obstacles to the progress of the Gospel For how can we expect that the doctrine of God our Saviour should gain any considerable ground in the world so long as by the unworthy lives of so many Christians 't is represented to the world at so great disadvantage If ever we would have Christian Religion effectually recommended it must be by the holy and unblameable lives of those who make profession of it Then indeed it would look with so amiable a countenance as to invite many to it and carry so much majesty and authority in it as to command reverence from its greatest enemies and make men to acknowledge that God is in us of a truth and to glorifie our Father which is in Heaven The good God grant that as we have taken upon us the profession of Christianity so we may be carefull so to live that we may adorn the doctrine of God our Saviour in all things that the grace of God which bringeth salvation may teach us to deny ungodliness and worldly lusts and to live soberly righteously and godly in this present world looking for that blessed hope and the glorious appearing of the great God and our Saviour Jesus Christ to whom with the Father and the Holy Ghost c. PHIL. III. 20. For our Conversation is in Heaven FOR the understanding of which words we need to look back no further than the 18th verse of this Chapter where the Apostle with great vehemency and passion speaks of some among the Philippians who indeed profess'd Christianity but yet would do any thing to
and activity as much above that of the most knowing persons in this world as the thoughts of the greatest Philosopher and wisest man upon earth are above the thoughts of a child or a fool No man's mind is now so well fram'd to understand any thing in this world as our understandings shall then be fitted for the knowledge of God and of the things that belong to that state In the mean time let us bless God that he hath reveal'd so much of this happiness to us as is necessary to excite and encourage us to seek after it The Second thing to be consider'd concerning our future happiness is the way and means whereby we may come to be made partakers of it And that in short is by the constant and sincere endeavours of a holy life in and through the mercies of God in our Lord Jesus Christ Christ indeed is the author of our salvation but obedience is the condition of it so the Apostle tells us Heb. 5.1 that Christ is the author of eternal salvation to them that obey him It is the grace of God in the Gospel which brings or offers this salvation to us but tâ—en it is by the denying of ungodliness and worldly lusts Tit. 2.11.12 and by living soberly and righteously and godly in this present world that we are to wait for the blessed hope Our Saviour promises this happiness to the pure in heart Blessed are the pure in heart for they shall see God and elsewhere the Scripture doth exclude all others from any share or portion in this blessedness so the Apostle assures us that without holiness no man shall see the Lord. Heb. 18.14 And holiness is not onely a condition but a necessary qualisication for the happiness of the next life This is the force of St. John's reasoning we shall be like him for we shall see him To see God is to be happy but unless we be like him we cannot see him The sight and presence of God himself would be no happiness to that man who is not like to God in the temper and disposition of his mind And from hence the Apostle insers in the next verse every man that hath this hope in him purifieth himself even as he is pure So that if we live wicked live if we allow our selves in the practice of any known sin we interrupt our hopes of Heaven and render our selves unfit for eternal life By this means we defeat all the designs of God's grace and mercy towards us and salvation it self cannot save us if we make our selves incapable of that happiness which God offers Heaven is in Scripture call'd an inheritance among them that are sanctified and the inheritance of the Saints in light so that it is not enough that this inheritance is promis'd to us but we must be qualifi'd and prepar'd for it and be made meet to be made partakers of it And this life is the time of our preparation for our future state Our souls will continue for ever what we make them in this world Such a temper and disposition of mind as a man carries with him out of this life he shall retain in the next 'T is true indeed heaven perfects those holy and vertuous dispositions which are begun here but the other world alters no man as to his main slate he that is filthy will be filthy still and he that is unrighteous will be unrighteous still If we do not in a good degree mortifie our Iusts and passions here death will not kill them for us but we shall carry them with us into the other world And if God should admit us so qualifi'd into the place of happiness yet we shall bring that along with us which would infallibly hinder us from being happy Our sensual inclinations and desires would meet with nothing there that would be suitable to them and we should be perpetually tormented with those appetites which we brought with us out of this world because we should find nothing there to gratifie them withall For as the Apostle says in another sense The kingdom of God is not meats and drinks but righteousness and peace and joy in the Holy Ghost The happiness of heaven consists in such things as a wicked man hath no gust and relish for So that if a covetous or ambitious or voluptuous man were in Heaven he would be just like the rich man in Hell tormented with a continual thirst and burnt up in the flames of his own ardent desires and would not be able amidst all the plenty and treasures of that place to find so much as one drop of suitable pleasure and delight to quench and allay that heat So likewise our fierce and unruly passions if we should carry them with us into the other world how inconsistent would they be with happiness They would not onely make us miserable our selves but be a trouble to all those with whom we should converse If a man of an envious and malicious of a peevish and passionate temper were admitted into the mansions of the blessed he would not onely be unhappy himself but would disturb the quiet of others and raise storms even in those calm regions Vain man that dreamest of being happy without any disposition or preparation for it To be happy is to enjoy what we desire and to live with those whom we love But there is nothing in heaven suitable to the desires and appetites of a wicked man All the joys of that place and the delights of that state are purely spiritual and are onely to be relish'd by those who have purified themselves as God is pure But if thou be carnal and sensual what are these things to thee What happiness would it be to thee to see God and to have him always in thy view who was never in all thy thoughts to be tied to live for ever in his company who is of a quite contrary temper and disposition to thy self whose presence thou dreadest and whom whilst thou wast in this world thou couldst never endure to think upon So that the pleasures of Heaven it self could signifie no good or happiness to that man who is not so dispos'd as to take pleasure in them Heaven is too pure an air for corrupt souls to live and breath in and the whole employment and conversation of that place as it would be unsuitable so would it also be unacceptable to a sensual and vicious person From all this it appears how necessary it is for us to prepare our selves for this blessed state by the constant and sincere endeavours of a holy life and by mortifying every lust and inordinate passion in our souls For till this be done we are not meet to be made partakers of the felicities of the other world And thus I have done with the first thing imply'd in this phrase of having our conversation in heaven viz. the serious thoughts and considerations of heaven or the happiness of that state and of the way and
from us That the Gospel is all promises and our part is onely to believe and embrace them that is to be confident that God will perform them if we can but think so though we do nothing else which is an easie condition to fools but the hardest in the world to a wise man who if his salvation depended upon it could never perswade himself to believe that the holy God without any respect at all to his repentance and amendment would bestow upon him forgiveness of sins and eternal life onely because he was confident that God would do so As if any man could think that it were a thing so highly acceptable to God that men should believe of him that he loves to dispense his grace and mercy upon the most unfit and unreasonable terms A Covenant does necessarily imply a mutual obligation and the Scripture plainly tells us what are the terms and conditions of this Covenant both on God's part and ours namely that he will be our God and we shall be his people But he hath no-where said that though we be not his people yet he will be our God The seal of this Covenant hath two inscriptions upon it one on God's part that he will know them that are his and another on our part that we shall depart from iniquity But if we will not submit to this condition God will not know us but will bid us depart from him So our Saviour tells us Mat. 7.23 I will say unto them depart from me ye workers of iniquity I know you not If we deal falsly in covenant with God and break loose from all our engagements to him we release God from all the promises that he hath made to us If we neglect to perform those conditions upon which he hath suspended the performance of his promises we discharge the obligation on God's part and he remains faithfull though he deny us that happiness which he promised under those conditions which we have neglected II. I come now to the second thing proprounded and that is to perswade those who profess Christianity to answer those obligations to a holy life which their Religion lays upon them We all call our selves Christians and would be very much offended at any man that should deny us this title But let us not cheat our selves with an empty and insignificant name but if we will call our selves Christians let us fill up this great title and make good our profession by a sutitable life and practice And to perswade us hereto I will urge these three considerations 1. The indecency of the contrary 2. The great scandal of it to our blessed Saviour and his holy Religion and 3. The infinite danger of it to our own souls 1. Consider how unbecoming it is for a man to live unsuitably to his profession If we call our selves Christians we profess to entertain the doctrine of the Gospel to be taught and instructed by the best master to be the disciples of the highest and most perfect institution that ever was in the world to have embraced a Religion which contains the most exact rules for the conduct and government of our lives which lays down the plainest precepts sets before us the best patterns and examples of a holy life and offers us the greatest assistances and encouragements to this purpose We profess to be furnished with the best arguments to excite us to holiness and vertue to be awed with the greatest fears and animated with the best hopes of any men in the world Now whoever makes such a profession as this obligeth himself to live answerably to do nothing that shall grosly contradict it Nothing is more absurd than for a man to act contrary to his profession to pretend to great matters and perform nothing of what he pretends to Wise men will not be caught with pretences nor be imposed upon with an empty profession but they will enquire into our lives and actions and by these they will make a judgment of us They cannot see into our hearts nor pry into our understandings to discover what it is that we inwardly believe they cannot discern those secret and supernatural principles that we pretend to be acted by But this they can do they can examine our actions and behold our good or bad works and try whether our lives be indeed answerable to our profession and do really excell the lives of other men who do not pretend to such great things There are a great many sagacious persons who will easily find us out will look under our mask and see through all our fine pretensions and will quickly discern the absurdity of telling the world that we believe one thing when we do the contrary If we profess to believe the Christian Religion we expose our selves to the scorn and contempt of every discerning man if we do not live up to it With what face can any man continue in the practice of any known sin that professeth to believe the holy doctrine of the Gospel which forbids all sin under the highest and severest penalties If we did but believe the history of the Gospel as we do any ordinary credible story and did we but regard the Laws of Christianity as we do the laws of the Land were we but perswaded that fraud and oppression lying and perjury intemperance and uncleanness covetousness and pride malice and revenge the neglect of God and Religion will bring men to hell as certainly as treason and felony will bring a man under the sentence of the Law Had we but the same awe and regard for the threatnings and promises of the Gospel that we have for the frowns and smiles of those who are in power and authority even this would be effectual to keep us from sin And if the Gospel have not this effect upon us it is an argument that we do not believe it 'T is to no purpose to go about to perswade men that we do heartily entertain the doctrine of Christ that doctrine which hath all the characters of piety and justice of holiness and vertue upon it which obligeth men to whatsoever things are true whatsoever things are honest whatsoever things are chast whatsoever things are lovely and of good report if we have no regard to these things in our lives He that would know what a man believes let him attend rather to what he does than to what he talks He that leads a wicked life makes a more credible and effectual profession of infidelity than he who in words onely denies the Gospel It is the hardest thing in the world to imagine that that man believes Christianity who by ungodliness and worldly lusts does deny and renounce it If we profess our selves Christians it may justly be expected from us that we should evidence this by our actions that we should live at another rate than the Heathens did that we who worship a holy and just God should not allow our selves the liberty to sin as those did who