The Parable of the ten Virgins.

MY design at present is to explain this Parable, and to make such Ob­servations upon it as seem most naturally and without squeezing the Parable to spring from it: And then to make some Application of it to our selves.

Then shall the Kingdom of Heaven be likened unto ten Virgins; By the King­dom of Heaven is meant the state and condition of things under the Gospel; By the ten Virgins, those who embraced the Profession of it, which is here repre­sented by their taking their Lamps and go­ing [Page 4] forth to meet the Bridegroom: in allu­sion to the ancient Custom of Marria­ges, in which the Bridegroom was wont to lead home his Bride in the Night by the light of Lamps or Torches.

But this Profession was not in all equal­ly firm and fruitful; and therefore those who persever'd and continued stedfast in this Profession, notwithstanding all the temptations and allurements of the World, and all the fierce storms and assaults of persecution to which this Pro­fession was exposed; and being thus firm­ly rooted in it, did bring forth the fruits of the Spirit and abound in the Graces and Virtues of a good life, These are the wise Virgins: But those who either deserted this Profession, or did not bring forth fruits answerable to it, are the foolish Virgins.

And that this is the true difference be­tween them will appear, if we consi­der how the Parable represents them, vers. 3, 4. They that were foolish took their Lamps, and took no Oyl with them: But the wise took Oyl in their Vessels with their Lamps. So that they both took their Lamps, and both lighted them, and therefore must both be suppos'd to have some oyl in their Lamps at first, as ap­pears from verse 8. where the foolish [Page 5] Virgins said unto the wise, give us of your oyl, for our Lamps are gone out. They had it seems some Oyl in their Lamps at first, which kept them lighted for a little while, but had taken no care for a future supply. And therefore the dif­ference between the wise and foolish Vir­gins did not, as some have imagin'd, consist in this, that the wise Virgins had Oyl, but the foolish had none; but in this, that the foolish had taken no care for a further supply, after the Oyl which was at first put into their Lamps was spent; as the wise had done, who be­sides the Oyl that was in their Lamps carried likewise a Reserve in some other Vessel, for a continual supply of the Lamp, as there should be occasion; the wise took Oyl in their Vessels with their Lamps.

Now the meaning of all this is, That they who are represented by the wise Vir­gins had not only embraced the Professi­on of the Christian Religion, as the fool­ish Virgins also had done, for they both had their Lamps lighted; but they like­wise persever'd in that Profession, and brought forth fruits answerable to it. For by Oyl in their Lamps and the first lighting of them, which was common to them both, is meant that solemn Pro­fession [Page 6] of Faith and Repentance which all Christians make in Baptism: By that far­ther supply of Oyl, which the wise Vir­gins only took care to provide, is signi­fied our constancy and perseverance in this Profession, together with the fruits of the Spirit, and the improvement of the Grace received in Baptism by the pra­ctice and exercise of all the Graces and Virtues of a good life whereby men are fitted and prepar'd for Death and Judg­ment, which are here represented to us by the coming of the Bridegroom.

This being plainly the main scope and intention of the Parable, I shall explain the rest of it, as there shall be occasion, under the several Observations which I shall raise from the several parts of it. And they shall be these.

First, I observe the charitable Deco­rum which our B. Saviour keeps in this as well as in the rest of his Parables; as if He would fain suppose and hope, that among those who enjoy the Gospel and make profession of it, the number of them that are truly good is equal to those that are bad. For our B. Saviour here represents the whole number of the Pro­fessors of Christianity by ten Virgins, the half whereof the Parable seems to sup­pose [Page 7] to be truly and really good, and to persevere in goodness to the end, vers. 1, 2. Then shall the Kingdom of Heaven be likened unto ten Virgins, which took their Lamps and went forth to meet the Bride­groom: And five of them were wise, and five were foolish.

Secondly, I observe how very common it is for men to neglect this great con­cernment of their Souls, viz. a due pre­paration for another World; and how willing men are to deceive themselves herein, and to depend upon any thing else, how groundless and unreasonable soever, rather than to take pains to be really good and fit for Heaven. And this is in a very lively manner represented to us in the description of the foolish Virgins, who had provided no supply of Oyl in their Vessels, and when the Bride­groom was coming would have furnish'd themselves by borrowing or buying of o­thers, vers. 8.9, 10.

Thirdly, I observe, That even the bet­ter sort of Christians are not careful and watchful as they ought to prepare them­selves for Death and Judgment: Whilst the Bridegroom tarried, they all slumbered and slept; even the wise Virgins as well as the foolish.

[Page 8] Fourthly, I observe further, how little is to be done by us, to any good pur­pose, in this great work of Preparation, when it is deferr'd and put off to the last. Thus the foolish Virgins did, and what a sad confusion and hurry they were in we may see vers. 6, 7, 8, 9. And at midnight there was a cry made, Behold! the Bride­groom cometh; go ye out to meet Him. At midnight; the most dismal and unsea­sonable time of all other: Then all those Virgins arose, and trimmed their Lamps: and the foolish said unto the wise, give us of your Oyl for our Lamps are gone out: But the wise answered, not so; lest there be not enough for us and you; but go ye rather to them that sell, and buy for your selves. And how ineffectual all that they could do at that time prov'd to be, we find, verse 10, 11, 12; And whilst they went to buy the Bridegroom came, and they that were ready went in with him to the marriage, and the door was shut. Afterwards came also the other Virgins, saying, Lord, Lord, open to us: But he answered and said, ve­rily I say unto you, I know you not.

Fifthly, I observe that there is no such thing as Works of Super-erogation; That no man can do more than needs, and is his duty to do, by way of preparati­on [Page 9] for another World. For when the foolish Virgins would have begg'd of the wise some Oyl for their Lamps, the wise answered, not so; lest there be not enough for us and you. It was only the foolish Virgins that had entertain'd this foolish conceit, that there might be an over-plus of Grace and Merit in others sufficient to supply their want: But the wise knew not of any that they had to spare, but suppos'd all that they had little enough to qualify them for the reward of eter­nal life; Not so, say they, [...], lest at any time, lest when there should be need and occasion, all that we have done, or could do, should prove little enough for our selves.

Sixthly and lastly, I observe, That if we could suppose any persons to be so over-good, as to have more grace and goodness than needs to qualify them for the reward of eternal life, yet there is no assigning and transferring of this over-plus of Grace and Virtue from one man to another. For we see, verse 9, 10. that all the ways which they could think of, of borrowing, or buying Oyl of others, did all prove ineffectual; because the thing is in its own nature impracticable, [Page 10] that one Sinner should be in a condition to merit for another.

All these Observations seem to have some fair and probable foundation in some part or other of this Parable; and most of them, I am sure, are agreeable to the main scope and intention of the whole. I shall speak to them severally, and as briefly as I can.

I First, I observe the charitable Deco­rum which our B. Saviour keeps in this, as well as in the rest of his Parables; as if he would fain suppose and hope, that among those who enjoy the Gospel and make Profession of it, the number of those who make a firm and sincere Profession of it, and persevere in goodness to the end, is equal to the number of those who do not make good their Profession, or who fall off from it.

I shall not be long upon this, because I lay the least stress upon it, of all the rest. I shall only take notice, that our B. Saviour in this Parable represents the whole number of the Professors of Chri­stianity by ten Virgins, the half of which the Parable seems to suppose to have sin­cerely embraced the Christian Profession, [Page 11] and to have persever'd therein to the last; The Kingdom of heaven shall be likened un­to ten Virgin, which took their Lamps and went forth to meet the Bridegroom: And five of them were wise, and five were foo­lish.

And this Decorum our B. Saviour seems carefully to observe in his other Parables: As in the Parable of the Pro­digal, Luke 15. where for one Son that left his Father, and took riotous courses, there was another that stayed always with him and continued constant to his duty. And in the Parable of the ten Talents, which immediately follows that of the ten Virgins, two are supposed to improve the Talents committed to them, for one that made no improvement of his. He that had five Talents committed to him made them five more, and he that had two gained other two; and only he that had but one Talent, hid it in the earth, and made no improvement of it. And in the Parable which I am now upon, the number of the Professors of Christia­nity, who took care to fit and prepare themselves for the coming of the Bride­groom, is supposed equal to the number of those who did not.

[Page 12]And whether this be particularly in­tended in the Parable or not, it may however be thus far instructive to us; That we should be so far from lessening the number of true Christians, and from confining the Church of Christ within a narrow compass, so as to exclude out of its Communion the far greatest part of the Professors of Christianity; that on the contrary, we should enlarge the King­dom of Christ as much as we can, and extend our charity to all Churches and Christians, of what Denomination soever, as far as regard to Truth and to the foun­dations of the Christian Religion will permit us to believe and hope well of them; and rather be contented to err a little on the favourable and charitable part than to be mistaken on the censorious and damning side.

And for this reason perhaps it is, that our B. Saviour thought fit to frame his Parables with so remarkable a Byass to the charitable side: Partly to instruct us, to extend our charity towards all Chri­stian Churches, and Professors of the Christian Religion, and our good hopes concerning them, as far as with reason we can: And partly to reprove the un­charitableness of the Jews, who positive­ly [Page 13] excluded all the rest of Mankind, be­sides themselves, from all hopes of Salva­tion. An odious temper, which to the infinite Scandal of the Christian Name and Profession, hath prevail'd upon some Christians to that notorious degree, as not only to shut out all the Reform'd Part of the Western Church, almost equal in num­ber to themselves, from all hopes of Sal­vation under the notion of Hereticks; but likewise to un-church all the other Churches of the Christian World, which are of much greater extent and number than themselves, that do not own subje­ction to the Bishop of Rome: And this they do, by declaring it to be of necessity to Salvation for every Creature to be sub­ject to the Roman Bishop. And this Su­premacy of the Bishop of Rome over all Christian Churches Bellarmin calls the Sum of the Christian Religion. So that the Roman Communion is plainly founded in Schism, that is, in the most unchristian and uncharitable Princi­ple that can be, namely, that they are the only true Church of Christ, out of which none can be saved: which was the very Schism of the Donatists. And in this they are so positive, that the Learned men of that Church, in their Disputes and Wri­tings, [Page 14] are much more inclinable to be­lieve the Salvation of Heathens to be pos­sible, than of any of those Christians whom they are pleas'd to call Hereticks. The Faith of the Church of Rome is cer­tainly none of the best; but of one of the greatest and most essential Vertues of the Christian Religion, I mean Charity, I doubt they have the least share of any Christian Church this day in the World.

II Secondly, I observe, not from any par­ticular circumstance, but from the main Scope and design of this Parable, How very apt a great part of Christians are to neglect this great concernment of their Souls, viz, a careful and due preparation for another World; and how willing they are to deceive themselves in this matter, and to depend upon any thing else, how groundless and unreasonable soever, rather than to take the pains to be really good and fit for Heaven. And this is in a very lively manner represented to us in the description of the foolish Vir­gins, who had provided no supply of Oyl in their Vessels, and when the Bridegroom was coming would have furnish'd them­selves by borrowing or buying of others, vers. 8, 9, 10. They contented them­selves [Page 15] with having their Lamps lighted at their first setting out to meet the Bride­groom, that is, with their being admitted into the Profession of Christianity by Bap­tism, but either were not stedfast in this Profession, or were not careful to adorn it with the Graces and Vertues of a good life.

And the true Reason why men are so very apt to deceive themselves in this matter, and are so hardly brought to those things wherein Religion mainly consists, I mean the fruits of the Spirit and the practice of real Goodness; I say, the true reason of this is, because they are extremely desirous to reconcile, if it were possible, the hopes of eternal happi­ness in another World with a liberty to live as they list in this present World: They are loth to be at the trouble and drudgery of mortifying their lusts, and governing their passions, and bridling their tongues, and practising all those duties which are comprehended in those two great Commandments of the Love of God and of our Neighbour: They would fain gain the favour of God, and make their calling and election sure, by some easier way than by giving all diligence to add to their Faith and Knowledge the Graces and Vertues of a good life.

[Page 16]For the plain truth of the matter is, men had rather that Religion should be any thing than what indeed it is, viz, the thwarting and crossing of their vi­cious inclinations, the curing of their evil and corrupt affections, the due care and government of their unruly appe­tites and passions, the sincere endeavour and the constant practice of all holiness and virtue in their lives: And therefore they had much rather have something that might handsomely palliate and ex­cuse their evil inclinations and practices, than to be obliged to retrench and re­nounce them; and rather than amend and reform their wicked lives, they would be contented to make an honoura­ble amends and compensation to Almighty God in some other way.

This hath been the way and folly of Mankind in all ages, to defeat the great end and design of Religion, and to thrust it by, by substituting something else in the place of it which, as they think, may serve the turn as well, having the ap­pearance of as much devotion and re­spect towards God, and really costing them more money and pains, than that which God requires of them. Men have ever been apt thus to impose upon [Page 17] themselves, and to please themselves with a conceit of pleasing God full as well, or better, by some other way than that which he hath prescribed and ap­pointed for them.

By this means, and upon this false Principle, Religion hath ever been apt to degenerate both among Jews and Christians, into external and little obser­vances, and into a great zeal for lesser things with a total neglect of the great­er and weightier matters of Religion; and, in a word, into infinite Superstiti­ons of one kind or other, and an arro­gant conceit of the extraordinary righte­ousness and merit of these things: In which some have proceeded to that height, as if they could drive a strict bargain with God for eternal life and happiness; and have treated Him in so insolent a manner, by their Doctrine of the Merit of their Devotions and good Works, as if God were as much be­holden to them for their service and obe­dience, as they are to Him for the reward of them; which they are not afraid to say they may challenge at God's hands as of right and justice belonging to them.

Nay, so far have they carried this Doctrine in the Church of Rome, as not [Page 18] only to pretend to merit eternal life for themselves, but likewise to do a great deal more for the benefit and advantage of others who have not righteousness and goodness enough of their own: Which was the silly conceit of the foolish Virgins here in the Parable, as I shall have occasion to shew more fully by and by.

And it is no great wonder that such easy ways of Religion and pleasing God are very grateful to the corrupt nature of Man, and that men who are resolv'd to continue in an evil course are glad to be of a Church which will assure Salvation to men upon such terms: The great dif­ficulty is, for men to believe that things which are so apparently absurd and un­reasonable can be true; and to persuade themselves that they can impose upon God by such pretences of service and obedience, as no wise Prince or Father upon earth is to be deluded withal by his Subjects or Children. We ought to have worthier thoughts of God, and to consider that He is a great King, and will be obey'd and observ'd by his crea­tures in his own way and make them happy upon his own terms: and that obedience to what he commands is better and more acceptable to him than any other sacri­fice [Page 19] that we can offer, which he hath not required at our hands: and likewise, that he is infinitely wise and good; and therefore that the Laws, which he hath given us to live by, are much more likely and certain means of our happiness, than any inventions and devices of our own.

Thirdly, I observe that even the better III and more considerate sort of Christians are not so careful and watchful as they ought to prepare themselves for Death and Judgment; whilst the Bridegroom tar­ried, they all slumbered and slept. Even the Disciples of our Saviour, whilst he was yet personally present with them, and after a particular charge given them from his own mouth, Watch and pray lest ye enter into temptation; yet did not keep that guard upon themselves as to watch with him for one hour. In many things, says St. James, we offend all; even the best of us: And who is there that doth not, some time or other, remit of his vigilancy and care, so as to give the De­vil an advantage and to lye open to temptation, for want of a continual guard upon himself? But then the difference between the wise and fool­ish Virgins was this, that tho they both [Page 20] slept, yet the wise did not let their Lamps go out; they neither quitted their Pro­fession, nor did they extinguish it by a bad life: and tho when the Bridegroom came suddenly upon them, they were not so actually prepar'd to meet him by a con­tinual vigilancy, yet they were habitual­ly prepar'd by the good disposition of their minds and the general course of a holy life: Their Lamps might burn dim for want of continual trimming, but they had Oyl in their Vessels to supply their Lamps, which the foolish Virgins had taken no care to provide. But surely the greatest wisdom of all is to maintain a continual watchfulness, that so we may not be surpriz'd by the coming of the Bridegroom, and be in a confusion when Death or Judgment shall overtake us. And blessed are those Servants, and wise indeed, whose Lamps always burn bright, and whom the Bridegroom when he comes shall find watching and in a fit posture and preparation to meet Him.

IV Fourthly, I observe likewise, how lit­tle is to be done by us, to any good pur­pose, in this great work of Preparation, when it is deferr'd and put off to the last. And thus the foolish Virgins did, [Page 21] but what a sad confusion and hurry they were in at the sudden coming of the Bridegroom, when they were not only asleep, but when after they were awaken'd they found themselves altogether unpro­vided of that which was necessary to trim their Lamps and to put them in a posture to meet the Bridegroom: When they wanted that which was necessary at that very instant, but could not be pro­vided in an instant: I say, what a tu­mult and confusion they were in, being thus surpriz'd, the Parable represents to us at large, vers. 6, 7, 8, 9. and at mid­night there was a cry made, Behold! the Bridegroom cometh, go ye out to meet him. Then all those Virgins arose and trimmed their Lamps, that is, they went about it as well as they could; and the foolish said unto the wise, give us of your Oyl, for our Lamps are gone out.

At midnight there was a cry made, that is, at the most dismal and unseasonable time of all other; when they were fast asleep, and suddenly awaken'd in great terror, when they could not on the sud­den recollect themselves, and consider what to do; when the summons was so very short, that they had neither time to consider what was fit to be done, nor time to do it in.

[Page 22]And such is the Case of those who put off their Repentance and Preparation for another World, till they are surpriz'd by Death or Judgment; for it comes all to one in the issue, which of them it be. The Parable indeed seems more particu­larly to point at our Lord's coming to Judgment, but the case is much the same as to those who are surpriz'd by sudden Death; such as gives them but little, or not sufficient time for so great a work: because such as Death leaves them, Judg­ment will certainly find them.

And what a miserable confusion must they needs be in, who are thus surpriz'd either by the one or the other? How un­fit should we be, if the general Judgment of the World should come upon us on the sudden, to meet that great Judge at his coming, if we have made no prepa­ration for it before that time? What shall we then be able to do, in that great and universal consternation, when the Son of man shall appear in the clouds of Heaven, with power and great glory; when the Sun shall be darken'd, and the Moon turned into blood, and all the powers of Heaven shall be shaken: when all Na­ture shall feel such violent pangs and con­vulsions, and the whole World shall be [Page 23] in a combustion flaming and cracking about our ears: When the Heavens shall be shrivel'd up as a Scroll when it is roll'd together, and the Earth shall be toss'd from its Center, and every Mountain and Island shall be removed? What thoughts can the wisest men then have about them, in the midst of so much noise and terror? Or if they could have any, what time will there then be to put them in execution? when they shall see the An­gel, that standeth upon the Sea and upon the Earth, lifting up his hand to Heaven and swearing by Him that liveth for ever and ever that Time shall be no longer; as this dreadful Day is described Rev. 10.5, 6. and chap. 6.15. where Sinners are represented at the Appearance of this Great Judge, not as flying to God in hopes of mercy, but as flying from Him in utter despair of finding mercy with Him: The Kings of the Earth, and the Great Men, and the Mighty Men, and the Rich Men, and the Great Captains hid themselves in the Dens and in the Rocks of the Earth; and said to the Mountains and Rocks fall on us and hide us from the face of Him that sitteth on the Throne, and from the wrath of the Lamb: For the Great Day of his wrath is come, and who shall be [Page 24] able to stand? The biggest and the bold­est Sinners that ever were upon Earth, shall then flee from the face of Him whom they have so often blasphemed and denied; and shall so far despair of finding mercy with Him in that Day, who would sue to Him for it no sooner, that they shall address themselves to the Mountains and Rocks, as being more pi­tiful and exorable than He; to hide them from the face of Him that sitteth on the Throne, and from the wrath of the Lamb: From the wrath of the Lamb, to signify to us that nothing is more terrible than Meekness and Patience when they are throughly provok'd and turn'd into Fury.

In such dreadful confusion shall all impenitent Sinners be, when they shall be surpriz'd by that Great and terrible Day of the Lord: And the Case of a dy­ing Sinner, who would take no care in the time of his Life and Health to make preparation for another World, is not much more hopeful and comfortable.

For alas! how little is it that a sick and dying man can do in such a strait of time? in the midst of so much pain and weakness of Body, and of such confusi­on and amazement of Mind. With what [Page 25] heart can he set about so great a Work, for which there is so little time? With what face can he apply himself to God in this extremity, whom he hath so dis­dainfully neglected all the days of his Life? And how can he have the confi­dence to hope, that God will hear his cries and regard his tears that are forc'd from him in this day of his necessity? when he is conscious to himself that in that long day of God's Grace and Pati­ence he turned a deaf ear to all his merci­ful invitations, and rejected the counsel of God against himself. In a word, how can he who would not know, in that his Day, the things which belonged to his peace, expect any other but that they should now be for ever hid from his eyes, which are ready to be clos'd in utter dark­ness?

I will not pronounce any thing con­cerning the impossibility of a death-bed Repentance: But I am sure that it is ve­ry difficult, and I believe very rare. We have but one Example, that I know of, in the whole Bible of the Repentance of a dying Sinner; I mean that of the pe­nitent Thief upon the Cross: And the circumstances of his Case are so peculiar and extraordinary, that I cannot see that [Page 26] it affords any ground of hope and encou­ragement to men in ordinary Cases. We are not like to suffer in the company of the Son of God and of the Saviour of the World; and if we could do so, it is not certain that we should behave our selves towards Him so well as the penitent Thief did, and make so very good an end of so very bad a Life.

And the Parable in the Text is so far from giving any encouragement to a Death bed Repentance and Preparation, that it rather represents their Case as desperate who put off their Preparation to that Time. How ineffectual all that the foolish Virgins could do at that time did in the conclusion prove, is set forth to us at large in the Parable; V. 8, 9, 10, 11, 12. They wanted Oyl, but could neither borrow nor buy it: They would then fain have had it, and ran about to get it; but it was not to be obtain'd neither by en­treaty, nor for money: First they apply themselves to the wise Virgins, for a share in the over-plus of their Graces and Virtues; V. 8. the foolish said unto the wise, give us of your Oyl for our Lamps are gone out; but the wise answered, not so; lest there be not enough for us and you: The wise Virgins, it seems knew of none [Page 27] they had to spare: And then they are represented as ironically sending the foolish Virgins to some famous Market where this Oyl was pretended to be sold; V. 9. go ye rather to them that sell and buy for your selves: And as dying and desperate per­sons are apt to catch at every twig, and when they can see no hopes of being sa­ved, are apt to believe every one that will give them any; so these foolish Vir­gins follow the advice; V. 10. and whilst they went to buy, the Bridegroom came; and they that were ready went in with him to the marriage, and the door was shut; and af­terwards came also the other Virgins, say­ing, Lord, Lord, open to us; but he answer­ed and said, verily I say unto you, I know you not.

You see how little, or rather no en­couragement at all there is from any the least circumstance in this Parable, for those who have delay'd their Preparation for another World till they be overtaken by Death or Judgment, to hope by any thing that they can then do, by any im­portunity which they can then use, to gain admission into Heaven. Let those consider this with fear and trembling, who forget God and neglect Religion all their Life-time, and yet feed them­selves [Page 28] with vain hopes by some Device or other to be admitted into Heaven at last.

V Fifthly, I observe that there is no such thing as Works of Super-erogation, that is, that no man can do more than needs, and than is his duty to do, by way of Preparation for another World. V. 8. For when the foolish Virgins would have begg'd of the wise some Oyl for their Lamps, V. 9. the wise answered, not so; lest there be not enough for us and you: It was only the foolish Virgins that in the time of their extremity, and when they were conscious that they wanted that which was absolutely ne­cessary to qualify them for admission into Heaven, who had entertain'd this idle Conceit that there might be an over-plus of Grace and Merit in others suf­ficient to supply their want: But the wise knew not of any they had to spare, but supposed all that they had done, or could possibly do, to be little enough to qualify them for the glorious Re­ward of eternal Life: Not so, say they, [...] lest at any time, that is, lest when there should be need and occasion, all that we have done, or could do, should [Page 29] be little enough for our selves: And in this Point they had been plainly instruct­ed by the Bridegroom himself, But ye, when ye have done all, say we are unprofita­ble servants, and have done nothing but what was our duty to do.

And yet this Conceit of the foolish Vir­gins, as absurd as it is, hath been taken up in good earnest by a grave Matron, who gives out her self to be the Mo­ther and Mistress of all Churches, and the only infallible Oracle of Truth, I mean the Church of Rome, whose avowed Doctrine it is, that there are some Per­sons so excellently good that they may do more than needs for their own Sal­vation: And therefore when they have done as much for themselves as in strict duty they are bound to do, and there­by have paid down a full and valua­ble consideration for Heaven, and as much as in equal justice between God and Man it is worth; that then they may go to work again for their Friends, and begin a new Score; and from that time forwards may put the Surplusage of their good Works as a Debt upon God, to be laid up in the Publick Trea­sury of the Church, as so many Bills of Credit which the Pope by his Pardons [Page 30] and Indulgences may dispense, and place to whose account he pleases: And out of this Bank, which is kept at Rome, those who never took care to have any Righteousness of their own may be sup­plied at reasonable rates.

To which they have added a further supply of Grace, if there should be any need of it, by the Sacrament of extreme Ʋnction, never heard of in the Christian Church for many Ages; but devised, as it were on purpose, to furnish such fool­ish Virgins with Oyl as are here described in the Parable.

And thus by one Device or other they have enervated the Christian Religion to that degree, that it hath almost quite lost its true virtue and efficacy upon the hearts and lives of men: And, instead of the real fruits of Goodness and Righ­teousness, it produceth little else but Su­perstition and Folly; or if it produce any real Virtues, yet even the virtue of those Virtues is in a great measure spoil'd by their arrogant pretences of Merit and Super-erogation, and is render'd insig­nificant to themselves by their inso­lent carriage and behaviour towards God.

[Page 31] Sixthly and lastly, if we could sup­pose VI any Persons to be so overgrown with Goodness, as to have more than needs to qualify them for the Reward of eternal Life; yet there can be no assigning and transferring of this over-plus of Grace and Virtue from one man to another. For we see that all the ways that could be thought on of beg­ging, or borrowing, or buying Oyl of o­thers, did all prove ineffectual; because the thing is in its own nature impra­cticable, that one Sinner who owes all that he hath, and much more to God, should have any thing to spare where­withal to merit for another.

Indeed our B. Saviour hath merited for us all the Reward of eternal Life, upon the Conditions of Faith and Repentance and Obedience: But the infinite Merit of his Obedience and Sufferings will be of no benefit and advantage to us, if we our selves be not really and inherently righ­teous. So St. John tells us, and warns us to beware of the contrary Conceit, Little children, let no man deceive you, he that doth righteousness is righteous, even as He is righteous.

If we do sincerely endeavour to please God and to keep his commandments in [Page 32] the general course of a holy and virtu­ous Life, the Merit of Christ's perfect Obedience and Sufferings will be availa­ble with God for the acceptance of our sincere though but imperfect Obedience. But if we take no care to be righte­ous and good our selves, the perfect righ­teousness of Christ will do us no good; much less the imperfect righteousness of any other man who is a Sinner him­self. And the holiest man that ever was upon Earth can no more assign and make over his Righteousness, or Repentance, or any part of either, to another that wants it, than a man can bequeath his Wisdom, or Learning to his Heir, or his Friend: No more than a sick man can be restored to Health by virtue of the Physick which another man hath taken.

Let no man therefore think of being good by a Deputy, that cannot be con­tented to be happy and to be saved the same way, that is, to go to Hell and to be tormented there in Person, and to go to Heaven and be admitted into that Place of Bliss only by Proxy. So that these good Works with a hard name, and the making over the Merit of them to others, have no manner of foundation [Page 33] either in Scripture or Reason, but are all mere Fancy and Fiction in Divinity.

The Inference from all this shall be the application which our Saviour makes of this Parable, Watch therefore, V. 13. for ye know neither the day nor the hour wherein the Son of man cometh; as if he had said, the design of this Parable is to instruct us that we ought to be continually vigilant, and always upon our guard and in a con­stant readiness and preparation to meet the Bridegroom; because we know not the time of his coming to Judgment, nor yet, which will be of the same conse­quence and concernment to us, do any of us know the precise time of our own Death. Either of these may happen at any time, and come when we least expect them. And therefore we should make the best and speediest provision that we can for another World, and should be conti­nually upon our watch and trimming our Lamps, that we may not be surpri­zed by either of these; neither by our own particular Death, nor by the general Judgment of the World: Because the Son of man will come in a Day when we look not for Him, and at an hour when we are not aware.

[Page 34]More particularly, we should take up a present and effectual resolution not to delay our Repentance and the reformati­on of our Lives, that we may not have that great Work to do when we are not fit to do any thing; no not to dispose of our temporal Concernments, much less to prepare for Eternity, and to do that in a few moments which ought to have been the care and endeavour of our whole Lives: That we may not be for­ced to huddle up an imperfect, and I fear an insignificant Repentance; and to do that in great haste and confusion, which certainly does require our wisest and most deliberate thoughts, and all the consideration in the world.

And we should provide store of Oil in our Vessels, wherewith to supply our Lamps that they may burn bright to the last; I mean, we should improve the Grace which we received in Baptism, by abounding in the fruits of the Spirit and in all the substantial Virtues of a good Life; that so an entrance may be mi­nistred to us abundantly into the everlasting Kingdom of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ.

By this means, when we are called to meet the Bridegroom, we shall not be [Page 35] put to those miserable and sharking shifts which the foolish Virgins were dri­ven to, of begging, or borrowing, or buy­ing Oyl; which will all fail us, when we come to depend upon them: And though the Dying man may make a hard shift to support himself with these false Com­forts for a little while, yet when the short Delusion is over, which will be as­soon as ever he is stepp'd into the other World, he will to his everlasting confu­sion and trouble find the door of Heaven shut against him, and that notwithstand­ing all his vast Treasure of Pardons and Indulgences, which have cost him so much and are worth so little, he shall ne­ver see the Kingdom of God.

And lastly, we should take great care that we do not extinguish our Lamps by quitting the Profession of our Holy Reli­gion upon any temptation of advantage, or for fear of any loss or suffering what­soever. This Occasion will call for all our Faith and Patience, all our Courage and Constancy,

When it comes to this Trial, we had [Page 36] need to gird up the loins of our minds, to summon all our forces, and to put on the whole armour of God, that we may be able to stand fast in an evil day, and when we have done all to stand.

And now, my Brethren, to use the words of St. 1 Pet. 5.12. Peter, I testify unto you, that this is the true Grace of God wherein ye stand. The Protestant Reformed Re­ligion, which we in this Nation profess, is the very Gospel of Christ, the true an­cient Christianity.

And, for God's sake, since in this hour of Temptation, when our Religion is in so apparent hazard, we pretend to love it to that degree as to be contented to part with any thing for it, let us resolve to practise it; and to testify our love to it in the same way that our Saviour would have us shew our love to Him, by keeping his commandments.

I will conclude all with the Apostle's Exhortation, so very proper for this pur­pose, Philip. 1.27. and to this present Time, Only let your conversation be as it becometh the Go­spel of Christ, that is, chiefly and above all take care to lead lives suitable to the Christian Religion: And then, as it fol­lows, stand fast in one Spirit, with one Mind, striving together for the Faith of [Page 37] the Gospel: And in nothing terrified by your Adversaries, which to them is an evident token of perdition, but to you of Salvati­on, and that of God.

Now unto Him that is able to stablish you in the Gospel, and to keep you from fal­ling; and to present you faultless before the presence of his Glory with exceeding joy: To the only wise God our Saviour, be Glo­ry and Majesty, Dominion and Power, both now and ever. Amen.

A Thanksgiving-Sermon FOR Our Deliverance by the P. of Orange.

I Am sufficiently aware that the parti­cular occasion of these Words is, in several respects very different from the Occasion of this Day's Solemnity. For [Page 44] these Words were spoken by Ezra at a time appointed for Publick and Solemn Humiliation. But I shall not now con­sider them in that relation, but rather as they refer to that Great Deliverance which God had so lately wrought for them; and as they are a Caution to take heed of abusing great mercies received from God; and so they are very proper and pertinent to the great Occasion of this Day. Nay these Words, even in their saddest aspect, are not so unsuitable to it. For we find in Scripture upon the most solemn Occasions of Humiliation, that good Men have always testified a thankful sense of the goodness of God to them. And indeed, the Mercy of God doth then appear above measure merci­ful, when the Sinner is most deeply sen­sible of his own Vileness and Unworthi­ness. And so Ezra here, in the depth of their sorrow and Humiliation, hath so great a sense of the greatness of their Deliverance, that he hardly knew how to express it; And hast given us such a De­liverance as this. And on the other hand, we find that good Men, in their most so­lem Praises and Thanksgivings, have made very serious reflections upon their own unworthiness. And surely the best [Page 45] way to make Men truly thankful is first to make them very humble. When Da­vid makes his most solemn acknowledg­ments to God for his great Mercies to him; how doth he abase himself before Him; But who am I, and what is my peo­ple? And so likewise, 1 Chron. 29.4. after he had sum­moned all the powers and faculties of his Soul to join in the praises of God, he in­terposeth this seasonable meditation, Psal. 103.10. He hath not dealt with us after our sins, nor re­warded us according to our iniquities. The greater and more lively sense we have of the goodness of God to us, the more we shall abhor our selves in dust and ashes; nothing being more apt to melt us into tears of Repentance, than the conside­ration of great and undeserved Mercies vouchsafed to us. The goodness of God doth naturally lead to repentance.

Having thus reconciled the Text to the present Occasion, I shall for the more distinct handling of the Words take no­tice of these two Parts in them.

First, Here is a Case supposed; should we, after all that is come upon us for our evil deeds, and since God hath punished us less than our iniquities deserve, and hath given us such a deliverance as this; should we again break his Commandments.

[Page 46] Secondly, Here is a sentence and deter­mination in the Case; Wouldst thou not be angry with us till thou hadst consum'd us, so that there should be no remnant nor esca­ping? This is not spoken doubtfully, though it be put by way of question; but is the more vehemently positive, the more peremptorily affirmative; as if he had said, it cannot otherwise be in reason expected, but that after such repeated provocations God should be angry with us till he had consumed us.

I First, Here is a Case supposed; should we, after all that is come upon us for our evil deeds, and for our great trespass; and since God hath punish'd us less than our ini­quities deserve, and hath given us such a deliverance as this: Should we again break his commandments, and join in affinity with the People of these abominations. In which Words these following Propositions seem to be involv'd, which I shall but just men­tion, and pass to the Second Part of the Text.

1. That Sin is the cause of all our sufferings, after all that is come upon us for our evil deeds, and for our great tres­pass. Our evil deeds bring all other evils upon us.

[Page 47]2. That great Sins have usually a pro­portionable punishment; after all that is come upon us, there is the greatness of our punishment; for our evil deeds, and for our great trespass, there is the great­ness of our Sin. But when I say that great Sins have a proportionable Punish­ment, I do not mean that any temporal Punishments are proportionable to the great evil of Sin; but that God doth usually observe a proportion in the tem­poral punishments of Sin, so that al­though no temporal punishment be pro­portionable to Sin, yet the temporal pu­nishment of one Sin holds a proportion to the punishment of another; and con­sequently, lesser and greater Sins have proportionably a lesser and greater Pu­nishment.

3. That all the Punishments which God inflicts in this Life do fall short of the demerit of our Sins; and seeing thou our God hast punish'd us less than our ini­quities deserve. In the Hebrew it is, and hast kept down our iniquities, that is, that they should not rise up against us. The LXX. expresseth it very emphatically, thou hast eased us of our sins, that is, thou hast not let the whole weight of them fall upon us. Were it not for the restraints [Page 48] which God puts upon his anger, and the merciful mitigations of it, the Sinner would not be able to bear it, but must sink under it. Indeed it is only said in the Text, that the punishment which God inflicted upon the Jews, though it was a long Cap­tivity, was beneath the desert of their Sins: But yet it is universally true, and Ezra perhaps might intend to insinuate so much, that all temporal Punishments, though never so severe, are always less than our iniquities deserve.

4. That God many times works very great Deliverances for those who are very unworthy of them; and hast given us such a Deliverance as this, notwithstanding our evil deeds, and notwithstanding our great Trespass.

5. That we are but too apt, even af­ter great Judgments, and after great Mercies, to relapse into our former Sins; should we again break thy Commandments. Ezra insinuates that there was great rea­son to fear this, especially considering the strange temper of that People, who when God multiply'd his blessings upon them, were so apt to wax fat and kick against Him; and tho he had cast them several times into the furnace of Afflicti­on, though they were melted for the pre­sent [Page 49] yet they were many times but the harder for it afterwards.

6. That it is good to take notice of those particular Sins which have brought the Judgments of God upon us. So Ez­ra does here; after all that is come upon us for our evil deeds, and for our great tres­pass; and, should we again join in affinity with the People of these abominations.

Secondly, Here is a Sentence and deter­mination II in the Case; wouldst thou not be angry with us till thou hadst consumed us, so that there should be no remnant nor esca­ping? Which Question, as I said before, doth imply a strong and peremptory af­firmative; as if he had said, after such a provocation there is great reason to con­clude that God would be angry with us till he had consumed us.

From whence the Observation contain­ed in this part of the Text will be this, That it is a fearful aggravation of Sin, and a sad presage of ruin to a People, after great Judgments and great Deliverances, to return to Sin, and especially to the same Sins again. Hear how passionately Ezra expresses himself in this Case, verse 6. I am ashamed, O my God, and blush to lift up mine eyes to thee, my God. Why? what [Page 50] was the cause of this great shame and confusion of face? He tells us, verse 9. for we were bondmen, yet our God hath not forsaken us in our bondage, but hath extend­ed his mercy to us, to give us a reviving, to set up the House of our God, and to re­pair the desolations thereof, and to give us a Wall in Judah and in Jerusalem; that is, to restore to them the free and safe exercise of their Religion. Here was great Mercy, and a mighty Deliverance indeed; and yet after this they presently relapsed into a very great sin, verse 10. And now, O our God, what shall we say after this? for we have forsaken thy Command­ments.

In the handling of this Observation, I shall do these two things.

First, I shall endeavour to shew that this is a very heavy aggravation of Sin, and

Secondly, That it is a fatal presage of ruin to a People.

First, It is a heavy aggravation of Sin after great Judgments, and after signal Mercies and Deliverances to return to Sin, and especially to the same Sins again. [Page 51] Here are three things to be distinctly spo­ken to.

1. That it is a great aggravation of Sin to return to it after great Judgments.

2. To do this after great Mercies and Deliverances.

3. After both to return to the same Sins again.

1. It is a great aggravation of Sin af­ter great Judgments have been upon us to return to an evil course. Because this is an Argument of great obstinacy in evil. The longer Pharaoh resisted the Judgments of God, the more was his wicked heart hardned, till at last he ar­riv'd at a monstrous degree of hardness, having been, as the Text tells us, hard­ned under ten plagues. And we find, that after God had threaten'd the People of Israel with several Judgments, he tells them, Lev. 26.13. that if they will not be reformed by all these things, he will punish them seven times more for their sins. And if the just God will in such a case punish seven times more, we may conclude that the Sin is Seven times greater.

What sad complaints doth the Prophet make of the People of Israel growing [Page 52] worse for Judgments. Isaiah 1.4. Ah! sinful Na­tion, a People laden with iniquity, children that have been corrupters, a seed of evil doers. He can hardly find words enough to express how great Sinners they were; and he adds the reason in the next verse, Why should they be smitten any more? Verse 5. they will revolt more and more. They were but the worse for Judgments. This renders them a sinful Nation, a People laden with iniquity. Isaiah 9.13. And again, The People turneth not to him that smiteth them, neither do they seek the Lord of Hosts; therefore his anger is not turned away, but his hand is stretched out still. And the same Prophet further complains to the same purpose, When thy hand is lifted up they will not see. Isaiah 26.11. There is a particular brand set upon King Ahaz, because affliction made him worse: 2 Chron. 28.22. This is that King Ahaz, that is, that grievous and notorious Sinner: And what was it that rendr'd him so? In the time of his distress he sinned yet more against the Lord; this is that King Ahaz, who is said to have provoked the Lord above all the Kings of Israel which were before him.

2. It is likewise a sore aggravation of Sin, when it is committed after great Mercies and Deliverances vouchsafed to us. Because this is an argument of great [Page 53] ingratitude. And this we find recorded as a heavy charge upon the People of Israel, Judges 8.34, 35. that they remembred not the Lord their God, who had delivered them out of the hand of all their enemies on every side; neither shewed they kindness to the House of Jerubbaal, namely Gideon who had been their Deliverer, according to all the good­ness which he had shewed to Israel. God, we see, takes it very ill at our hands, when we are ungrateful to the Instru­ments of our Deliverance; but much more, when we are unthankful to Him the Author of it. And how severely does Nathan the Prophet reproach David upon this account? Thus said the Lord God of Israel, I anointed thee King over Israel, and delivered thee out of the hand of Saul, &c. And if this had been too lit­tle, I would moreover have done such and such things. Wherefore hast thou despis'd the Commandment of the Lord to do evil in his sight? God here reckons up his mani­fold mercies and deliverances, and aggra­vates David's Sin upon this account. And he was very angry likewise with Solomon for the same reason, 1 Kings 11.9. because he had turned from the Lord God of Israel, who had appear'd to him twice. However we may slight the mercies of God, he [Page 54] keeps a punctual and strict account of them. It is particularly noted, as a great blot upon Hezekiah, 2 Chron. 32.25. that he returned not again according to the benefits done unto him. God takes very severe notice of all the unkind and unworthy returns that are made to Him for his Goodness.

Ingratitude to God is so unnatural and monstrous, that we find Him appealing against us for it to the inanimate Crea­tures. Isaiah 1.2. Hear O Heavens, and give ear O Earth! for the Lord hath spoken; I have nourish'd and brought up Children, but they have rebelled against me. And then he goes on and upbraids them with the Brute Creatures, as being more grate­ful to men than men are to God. The Ox knoweth his owner, Verse 3. and the Ass her Ma­sters Crib, but Israel doth not know, my Peo­ple doth not consider. And in the same Prophet there is the like complaint, Let favour be shewn to the wicked, Isaiah 26.10. yet will he not learn righteousness. In the land of uprightness will he deal unjustly, and will not behold the Majesty of the Lord. Lord, when thy hand is lifted up, they will not see, but the shall see and be ashamed. They that will not acknowledge the Mercies of God's Providence shall feel the strokes of his Justice.

[Page 55]There is no greater evidence in the World of an intractable disposition, than not to be wrought upon by kindness, not to be melted by mercies, not to be obliged by benefits, not to be tamed by gentle usage. Nay, God expects that his mer­cies should lay so great an obligation up­on us, that even a Miracle should not tempt us to be unthankful. Deut 13.1, 2. If there arise among you a Prophet, says Moses to the People of Israel, or a Dreamer of dreams, and giveth thee a Sign or a Wonder, and the Sign or the Wonder cometh to pass, whereof he spake to thee, saying, let us go after other Gods and serve them; thou shalt not hearken to the words of that Pro­phet. And he gives the reason▪ Verse 5. because he hath spoken to turn you away from the Lord God of Israel, which brought you out of the Land of Egypt, and delivered you out of the House of Bondage.

3. It is a greater aggravation yet, after gteat Mercies and Judgments to return to the same Sins. Because this can hard­ly be without our sinning against know­ledge, and after we are convinced how evil and bitter the Sin is which we were guilty of, and have been so sorely pu­nish'd for before. This is an argument of a very perverse and incorrigible tem­per, [Page 56] and that which made the Sin of the People of Israel so above measure sinful, that after so many signal De­liverances, and so many terrible Judg­ments, they fell into the same Sin of mur­muring ten times; murmuring against God the Author, and against Moses the glo­rious Instrument of their Deliverance out of Egypt; which was one of the two great Types of the Old Testament, both of tem­poral and spiritual Oppression and Tyranny. Hear with what resentment God speaks of the ill returns which they made to him for that great Mercy and Delive­rance. Numb. 14.32. Because all these men which have seen my glory, and my miracles which I did in Egypt, and in the Wilderness, and have tempted me now these ten times, and have not hearkned unto my voice: surely they shall not see the Land which I sware to their Fathers. And after he had brought them into the promised Land, and wrought great Deliverances for them several times, how does he upbraid them with their proneness to fall again into the same Sin of Idolatry? Judges 10.11, 12, 13, 14. And the Lord said unto the Chil­dren of Israel, did not I deliver you from the Egyptians, and from the Amorites; from the Children of Ammon, and from the Philistins? The Zidonians also and the [Page 57] Amalekites and Maonites did oppress you; and ye cryed unto me, and I delivered you out of their hand: yet you have forsaken me, and served other Gods; wherefore I will deliver you no more: go and cry unto the Gods which ye have chosen, let them de­liver you in the time of your tribulation. This incensed God so highly against them, that they still relaps'd into the same Sin of Idolatry after so many affli­ctions and so many deliverances. Upon such an occasion well might the Prophet say, Thine own wickedness shall correct thee, Jer. 2.19. and thy sins shall reprove thee: know there­fore, that it is an evil and bitter thing that thou hast forsaken the Lord thy God. It is hardly possible but we should know that the wickedness for which we have been so severely corrected is an evil and bitter thing.

Thus much for the first part of the Ob­servation, namely, that it is a fearful ag­gravation of Sin, after great Judgments and great deliverances to return to Sin, and especially to the same Sins again. I proceed to the

Second part, namely, That this is a fa­tal presage of ruin to a People; Should we again break thy Commandments, and join [Page 58] in affinity with the People of these abomina­tions, wouldst thou not be angry with us till thou hadst consumed us, so that there should be no remnant nor escaping? And so God threatens the People of Israel in the Text which I cited before, wherefore I will de­liver you no more. Judges 10.13. Wherefore; that is, be­cause they would neither be reform'd by the Afflictions wherewith God had exer­cised them, nor by the many wonderful Deliverances which he had wrought for them.

And there is great reason why God should deal thus with a People that con­tinues impenitent both under the Judg­ments and Mercies of God.

1. Because this doth ripen the Sins of a Nation; and it is time for God to put in his Sickle when a People are ripe for ruin. When the measure of their Sins is full, it is no wonder if the Cup of his indignation begin to overflow. It is said of the Amorites, four hundred years before God brought that fearful ruin up­on them, that God deferr'd the extirpa­tion of them, Gen. 15.16. because the iniquity of the Amorites, was not yet full. When nei­ther the Mercies nor the Judgments of God will bring us to repentance, we are then fit for destruction; according to [Page 59] that of the Apostle, Rom. 9.22. What if God willing to shew his wrath, and make his power known, endured with much long suffering the vessels of wrath fitted for destruction? They who are not wrought upon neither by the patience of God's Mercies, nor by the patience of his Judgments, seem to be fitted and prepared, to be ripe and ready for destruction.

2. Because this incorrigible temper shews the Case of such persons to be desperate and incurable. Isaiah 1.5. Why should they be smitten any more? says God of the People of Israel, they will revolt more and more. Matth. 23.37, 38. How often would I have gather­ed you, says our B. Saviour to the Jews, even as a hen gathereth her chickens under her wings? and ye would not. Behold, your house is left to you desolate, that is, ye shall be utterly destroyed; as it hapned forty years after to Jerusalem, and to the whole Jewish Nation.

When God sees that all the means which he can use do prove ineffectual and to no purpose, he will then give over a People, as Physicians do their Patients when they see that nature is spent and their case past remedy. When men will not be the better for the best means that Heaven can use, God will then leave [Page 60] them to reap the fruit of their own do­ings, and abandom them to the demerit of their Sin.

That which now remains is to apply this to our selves, and to the solemn Oc­casion of this Day.

And if this be our Case, let us take heed that this be not also our Doom and Sentence.

First, The Case in the Text doth very much resemble Ours. And that in three respects. God hath sent great Judgments upon us for our evil deeds and for our great trespasses: He hath punish'd us less than our iniquities have deserv'd: And hath given us a very great and wonderful Deliverance.

1. God hath inflicted great Judgments upon us for our evil deeds, and for our great Trespasses. Great Judgments, both for the quality, and for the continuance of them. It shall suffice only to mention those which are of a more ancient Date. Scarce hath any Nation been more cala­mitous than this of Ours, both in respect of the Invasions and Conquests of Fo­reigners, and of our own Civil and in­testine Divisions. Four times we have been [Page 61] Conquer'd; By the Romans, Saxons, Danes, and Normans And our intestine Divisions have likewise been great and of long continuance. Witness the Barons Wars, and that long and cruel Contest between the two Houses of York and Lan­caster.

But to come nearer to our own Times, What fearful Judgments and Calamities of War, and Pestilence, and Fire, have many of us seen? And how close did they follow one another? What terrible havock did the Sword make amongst us for many years? And this not the Sword of a Forreign Enemy, but of a Civil War; the mischiefs whereof were all termina­ted upon our selves, and have given deep wounds, and left broad scars upon the most considerable Families in the Nation. — Alta manent civilis vulnera dextrae.

This War was drawn out to a great length, and had a Tragical end, in the Murther of an excellent King; and in the Banishment of his Children into a strange Countrey, whereby they were exposed to the Arts and Practices of those of ano­ther Religion; the mischievous Conse­quences whereof we have ever since sadly labour'd under, and do feel them at this day.

[Page 62]And when God was pleas'd in great mercy at last to put an end to the mise­rable Distractions and Confusions of almost twenty years, by the happy Resto­ration of the Royal Family, and our an­cient Government; which seem'd to pro­mise to us a lasting settlement, and all the felicities we could wish: yet how soon was this bright and glorious morn­ing overcast, by the restless and black Designs of that sure and inveterate Ene­my of ours, the Church of Rome, for the restoring of their Religion amongst us. And there was too much encourage­ment given to this Design, by those who had power in their hands, and had brought home with them a secret good will to it.

For this great Trespass, and for our many other Sins, God was angry with us, and sent among us the most raging Pestilence that ever was known in this Nation, which in the space of eight or nine Months swept away near a third part of the Inhabitants of this vast and populous City, and of the Suburbs there­of; besides a great many thousands more in several parts of the Nation. But we did not return to the Lord, nor seek him for all this.

[Page 63]And therefore, the very next year af­ter, God sent a terrible and devouring Fire, which in less than three days time laid the greatest part of this great City in ashes. And there is too much reason to believe that the Enemy did this; that per­petual and implacable Enemy of the peace and happiness of this Nation.

And even since the time of that dread­ful Calamity, which is now above twenty years agone, we have been in a continual fear of the cruel Designs of that Par­ty, which had hitherto been incessantly working under ground, but now began to shew themselves more openly: and especially since a Prince of that Re­ligion succeeded to the Crown, our eyes have been ready to fail us for fear, and for looking after those dreadful things that were coming upon us, and seem'd to be even at the door. A fear which this Nation could easily have rid it self of, be­cause they that caused it were but a handful in comparison of us, and could have done nothing without a foreign force and assistance; had not the Princi­ples of Humanity, and of our Religion too, restrain'd us from violence and cru­elty, and from every thing which had the appearance of undutifulness to the [Page 64] Government which the Providence of God had set over us. An instance of the like patience under the like provoca­tions, for so long a time, and after such visible and open attempts upon them, when they had the Laws so plainly on their side, I challenge any Nation or Church in the World, from the very foundation of it, to produce. Inso­much, that if God had not put it into the hearts of our kind Neighbours, and of that incomparable Prince, who laid and conducted that great Design with so much skill and secrecy, to have appear'd so seasonably for our rescue, our Patience had infallibly, without a Miracle, been our ruine. And I am sure if our Enemies had ever had the like Opportunity in their hands, and had overbalanced us in numbers but half so much as we did them, they would never have let it slip; but would long since have extirpated us utterly, and have made the remembrance of us to have ceas'd from among men.

And now if you ask me, for what Sins more especially God hath sent all these Judgments upon us? It will not, I think, become us to be very particular and posi­tive in such determinations. Thus much is certain, That we have all sinn'd and [Page 65] contributed to these Judgments; every one hath had some hand, more or less, in pulling down this vengeance upon the Nation. But we are all too apt to remove the meritorious cause of God's Judg­ments as far as we can from our selves, and our own Party, and upon any slight pretence to lay it upon others.

Yet I will venture to instance in one or two things which may probably enough have had a more particular and immedi­ate hand in drawing down the Judg­ments of God upon us.

Our horrible contempt of Religion on the one hand, by our Infidelity and Pro­phaneness; and our shameful abuse of it on the other, by our gross Hypocrisy, and sheltering great wickedness and immora­lities under the cloak and profession of Religion.

And then, great Dissensions and Divi­sions, great uncharitableness and bitter­ness of Spirit among those of the same Religion; so that almost from the be­ginning of our happy Reformation the Enemy had sown these Tares, and by the unwearied Malice and Arts of the Church of Rome the seeds of Dissension were scattered very early amongst us; and a sowre humour had been ferment­ing [Page 66] in the Body of the Nation, both up­on account of Religion and Civil Inte­rests, for a long time before things broke out into a Civil War.

And more particularly yet; That which is call'd the great Trespass here in the Text, their joining in affinity with the People of these abominations, by whom they had been detain'd in a long Capti­vity: This, I say, seems to have had, both from the nature of the thing, and the just Judgment of God, no small influence upon a great part of the Miseries and Calamities which have befallen us. For had it not been for the countenance which Popery had by the Marriages and Al­liances of our Princes, for two or three Generations together, with those of that Religion, it had not probably had a con­tinuance among us to this day. Which will, I hope, now be a good warning to those, who have the Authority to do it, to make effectual provision by Law for the prevention of the like inconvenience and mischief in this Nation for ever.

2. Another Parallel between our Case and that in the Text, is, That God hath punish'd us less than our iniquities did de­serve. And this acknowledgment we have as much reason to make for our [Page 67] selves, as Ezra had to do it in behalf of the Jews; Thou our God hast punish'd us less than our iniquities deserve. Thou, our God, hast punish'd us; there is the reason of so much mercy and mitigation. It is God, and not Man, with whom we have to do; and therefore it is, that we the children of men are not consumed. And it is our God likewise, to whom we have a more peculiar relation, and with whom, by virtue of our Profession of Christianity, we are in Covenant: Thou our God hast punish'd us less than our Iniquities deserve. He might justly have pour'd forth all his wrath, and have made his jealousie to have smoak'd against us, and have blotted out the remembrance of us from under Heaven: He might have gi­ven us up to the will of our Enemies, and into the hands of those whose tender mer­cies are cruelty: He might have brought us into the net which they had spred for us, and have laid a terrible load of affli­ction upon our loins, and suffer'd insolent men to ride over our heads, and them that hated us with a perfect hatred, to have had the rule over us: But he was gra­ciously pleas'd to remember mercy in the midst of judgment, and to repent himself for his servants, when he saw that their [Page 68] power was gone, and that things were come to that extremity, that we were in all humane probability utterly unable to have wrought out our own Deliverance.

3. The last Parallel between our Case, and that in the Text, is the great and wonderful Deliverance which God hath wrought for us. And whilst I am speak­ing of this, God is my witness, whom I serve in the Gospel of his Son, that I do not say one word upon this Occasion in flattery to men, but in true thankfulness to Almighty God, and constrain'd there­to from a just sense of his great mercy to us all, in this marvellous Deliverance, in this mighty Salvation which he wrought for us. So that we may say with Ezra, Since thou our God hast given us such a De­liverance as THIS: So great, that we know not how to compare it with any thing but it Self. God hath given us this Deliverance. And therefore, Not unto us, O Lord, not unto us, but to thy Name be the praise. For thou knowest, and we are all conscious to our selves, that we did in no wise deserve it; but quite the con­trary. God hath given it, and it ought to be so much the welcomer to us, for co­ming from such a Hand. It is the Lord's doing, and therefore ought to be the more [Page 69] marvellous in our eyes. It is a Deliverance full of Mercy, and I had almost said, full of Miracle. The Finger of God was visi­bly in it; and there are plain Signatures and Characters upon it, of a more im­mediate Divine interposition. And if we will not wisely consider the Lord's do­ings, we have reason to stand in awe of that Threatning of His, Psal. 28.5. Because they re­gard not the works of the Lord, nor the operation of his hands, he shall destroy them, and not build them up.

It was a wonderful Deliverance in­deed, if we consider all the Circumstan­ces of it: The Greatness of it; and the strangeness of the Means whereby it was brought about; and the Suddenness, and Easiness of it.

The Greatness of it; it was a great Deliverance, from the greatest Fears, and from the greatest Dangers; the apparent and imminent Danger of the saddest Thraldom and Bondage, Civil and Spi­ritual; both of Soul and Body.

And it was brought about in a very extraordinary manner, and by very strange means: Whether we consider the great­ness and difficulty of the Enterprise; or the closeness and secrecy of the Design, which must of necessity be communica­ted [Page 70] at least to the Chief of those who were to assist and engage in it: Especial­ly the States of the Ʋnited Provinces, who were then in so much danger them­selves, and wanted more than their own Forces for their own Defence and Secu­rity: a kindness never to be forgotten by the English Nation. And besides all this, the difficulties and disappointments which happen'd, after the Design was open and manifest, from the uncertainties of Wind and Weather, and many other Accidents impossible to be foreseen and prevented. And yet in Conclusion a strange concurrence of all things, on all sides, to bring the thing which the Pro­vidence of God intended to a happy issue and effect.

And we must not here forget the many Worthies of our Nation, who did so ge­nerously run all hazards of Life and For­tune, for the preservation of our Religi­on, and the asserting of our ancient Laws and Liberties.

These are all strange and unusual means; but which is stranger yet, the very counsels and methods of our Ene­mies did prepare the way for all this, and perhaps more effectually, than any coun­sel and contrivance of our own could [Page 71] have done it. For even the Jesuits, those formal Politicians by Book and Rule, with­out any consideration or true knowledge of the temper, and interest, and other circumstances of the People they were designing upon, and had to deal withal; and indeed without any care to know them: I say, the Jesuits, who for so long a time, and for so little reason, have af­fected the reputation of the deepest and craftiest States-men in the World, have upon this great Occasion, and when their whole Kingdom of Darkness lay at stake, by a more than ordinary infatuation and blindness, so outwitted and over-reach'd themselves in their own counsels, that they have really contributed as much, or more, to our Deliverance from the De­struction which they had designed to bring upon us, than all our wisest and best Friends could have done.

And then, if we consider further, how sudden and surprising it was, so that we could hardly believe it when it was ac­complish'd; and like the Children of Israel, when the Lord turned again the Captivity of Zion, we were like them that dream. When all things were driving on furiously, and in great haste, then God gave an unexpected check to the Designs [Page 72] of men, and stopp'd them in their full cariere. Who among us could have ima­gin'd, but a few Months ago, so happy and so speedy an end of our fears and troubles? God hath at once scatter'd all our fears, and outdone all our hopes by the greatness and suddenness of our De­liverance. O that men would praise the Lord for his goodness, and for his wonder­ful works to the children of men.

And lastly, If we consider the cheap­ness and easiness of this Deliverance. All this was done without a Battel, and al­most without Blood. All the danger is, lest we should loath it, and grow sick of it, because it was so very easy. Had it come upon harder terms, and had we waded to it through a Red Sea of Blood, we would have valued it more. But this surely is great wantonness, and whatever we think of it, one of the highest pro­vocations imaginable: For there can hardly be a fouler and blacker Ingrati­tude towards Almighty God, than to slight so great a Deliverance, only be­cause it came to us so easily, and hath cost us so very cheap

I will mention but one Circumstance more, which may not be altogether un­worthy our observation. That God seems [Page 73] in this Last Deliverance, in some sort to have united and brought together all the great Deliverances which He hath been pleas'd to work for this Nation against all the remarkable attempts of Popery, from the beginning of our Reformation. Our wonderful Deliverance from the formida­ble Spanish Invasion design'd against us, happen'd in the Year 1588. And now just a hundred years after, God was plea­sed to bring about this last great and most happy Deliverance. That horrid Gun-powder Conspiracy, without Precedent, and without Parallel, was design'd to have been executed upon the Fifth Day of November; the same Day upon which his Highness the Prince of Orange landed the Forces here in England which he brought hither for our Rescue. So that this is a Day every way worthy to be so­lemnly set apart and joyfully celebrated by this Church and Nation, throughout all Generations; as the fittest of all other to comprehend, and to put us in mind to commemorate all the great Deliverances which God hath wrought for Us, from Popery, and its inseparable Companion, Arbitrary Power. And we may then say with the Holy Psalmist, Psal. 118.23, 24. This is the Lord's doing, it is marvellous in our eyes. This is [Page 74] the Day which the Lord hath made, we will rejoice and be glad in it.

Secondly, As the Case in the Text is much like Ours, so let us take heed that the Doom and Sentence there be not so too. If after all that is come upon us for our evil deeds, and for our great trespass, and since God hath punish'd us less than our iniquities did deserve; should we again break his Commandments, and join in affinity with the People of these Abominations, would He not be angry with us till he had consumed us, so that there should be no remnant nor escaping? What could we in reason expect after all this, but utter ruin and destru­ction? We may here apply, as St. Paul does, God's Dealing with the People of Israel, to the Times of the Gospel; for he speaks of it as an Example and Admo­nition to all Ages to the end of the World. 1 Cor. 10.6, 7, 9, 10, 11. Now these things, says the Apo­stle, were our Examples, to the intent we should not lust after evil things, as they al­so lusted; Neither be ye Idolaters, as were some of them, &c. Neither let us tempt Christ, as some of them also tempted, and were destroyed of Serpents. For the ex­plication of this passage we must have re­course to the History, which gives this [Page 75] account of it. And the People spake against God, and against Moses, Numb. 2.5, 6. Wherefore have ye brought us up out of Egypt, to die in the Wilderness? &c. impeaching God and his Servant Moses, as if by this Delive­rance they had put them into a much worse condition than they were in when they were in Egypt. And the Lord sent fiery Serpents among the People, and they bit the People, and much People of Israel died.\ But how was this a tempting of Christ? Neither let us tempt Christ, as some of them also tempted; that is, let not us, now under the Gospel, tempt our Sa­viour and Deliverer, as the Israelites did theirs, by slighting that great Deliverance, and by speaking against God, and against Moses. Neither murmur ye, as some of them also murmured, and were destroyed of the Destroyer. And how far this may con­cern Us, and all Others, to the end of the World, who shall tempt Christ, the great Patron and Deliverer of his Church, and murmur without cause, as the Israe­lites did, at the Deliverances which He works for them, and against the Instru­ments of it, the Apostle tells us in the next words: V. 11. Now all these things happened unto them for Ensamples, or Types; and they are written for our admonition upon whom [Page 76] the ends of the World are come. Let us not tempt Christ; who is now beginning the Glorious Deliverance of his Church from the Tyranny of Antichrist.

To draw now towards a Conclusion; I will comprehend my Advice to you upon the whole matter, in as few words as I can.

Let us use this great Deliverance which God hath given us, [ such a Deliverance as this] from our Enemies, and from the Hand of all that hate us; not by using Them as they would have done Us, had we fallen under their Power, with great Insolence, and Rage, and Cruelty; but with great Moderation and Clemency making as few Examples of Severity as will be consistent with our future security from the like Attempts upon our Reli­gion and Laws: And even in the Exe­cution of Justice upon the greatest Offen­ders, let us not give so much countenance to the ill Examples which have been set of Extravagant Fines and Punishments, as to imitate those Patterns which with so much reason we abhor; no, not in the Punishment of the Authors of them.

And let us endeavour, for once, to be so wise, as not to forfeit the fruits of this [Page 77] Deliverance, and to hinder our selves of the benefit and advantage of it, by Breaches and Divisions among our selves. As we have no reason to desire it, so I think we can hardly ever hope to under­stand Popery better, and the Cruel De­signs of it, than we do already, both from the long Trial and Experience which we have had of it in this Nation, and likewise from that dismal and horrid View which hath of late been given us of the true Spirit and Temper of it in One of our Neighbour Nations, which hath long pretended to the Profession of the most refin'd and moderate Popery in the World; but hath now at last shewed it self in its true Colours, and in the per­fection of a persecuting Spirit; and have therein given us a most sad and de­plorable Instance, of a Religion corrupted and degenerated into that which, if it be possible, is worse than None.

And since, by the undeserved Mercy of God to us, we have, upon such easy terms in comparison, escap'd their Rage and Fury; let us now at length resolve, never to join in affinity with the People of these Abominations; since our Alliances with them by Marriage have had so fatal an Influence, both upon the publick Peace [Page 78] and Tranquility of the Nation, and upon the Welfare also of private Families. I have known Many Instances of this kind, but hardly ever yet saw One that prov'd happy; but a great many that have been pernicious and ruinous to those Protestant Families in which such unequal, and, as I think, unlawful Matches have been made: Not that such Marriages are void in themselves, but yet for all that sinful; because of the apparent Danger and Temptation to which those of our Church and Religion that enter into them do evi­dently expose themselves, of being se­duc'd from their Religion; not by the good Arguments which the other can offer to that purpose, but by the ill Arts which they have the Confidence and the Conscience to make use of in the making of Proselytes.

And let us pay our most hearty and thankful Acknowledgments, chiefly and in the first place to Almighty God, the Bles­sed Author of this Deliverance; and un­der Him, to that happy Instrument, whom God hath been pleased, in great pity to this sinful and unworthy Nation, to raise up on purpose for it, his Highness the Prince of Orange; and to that end did in his All-wise Providence lay the Founda­tion [Page 79] of our then future Deliverance, in that auspicious Match which was conclu­ded here in England, about eleven years ago, between this Renowned Prince and our Excellent Princess.

This is that most Illustrious House of Nassau and Orange, which God hath so highly honoured above all the Families of the Earth, to give a Check to the Two Great aspiring Monarchies of the West, and bold Attempters upon the Liberties of Europe: To the One, in the last Age; and to the Other, in the present. As if the Princes of this Valiant and Victo­rious Line had been of the Race of Her­cules, born to rescue Mankind from Op­pression, and to quell Monsters.

And lastly, let us beseech Almighty God, all whose Ways and Works are perfect, That he would establish that which he hath wrought, and still carry it on to further and greater Perfection. Which, after such an Earnest of his Fa­vour and Good Will to us, we have no reason to doubt but that he is ready to do for us; if by our own fickleness and inconstancy, disgusting the Deliverance now it is come, which we so earnestly desir'd before it came; if by our ingrate­ful Murmurings and Discontents, by our [Page 80] own foolish Heats and Animosities, kindled and carried on by the ill designs of some, working upon the tenderness and scruples of others, under the speci­ous pretences of Conscience and Loyalty: I say, if by some or all these ways we do not refuse the Blessing which God now offers, and defeat and frustrate the mer­ciful Design of this wonderful Revolu­tion; God will still rejoice over us, to do us good, and think thoughts of Peace to­wards us, thoughts of good, and not of evil, to give us an expected end of our long Troubles and Confusions. But if we will not know, in this our day, the things which belong to our Peace, our Destruction will then be of our selves; and there will be no need that God should be angry with us, for we shall be undone by our own Diffe­rences and Quarrels about the Way and Means of our being saved; and so be an­gry with one another till we be consumed. Which God, of his infinite Goodness, give us all the Grace and Wisdom to pre­vent; for his Mercies sake, in Jesus Christ, to whom, with Thee, O Father, and the Holy Ghost, be all Honour and Glory, Thanksgiving and Praise, both now and ever. Amen.

Of Forgiveness of Injuries, and against Revenge.

THE Gospel hath promised forgive­ness of Sins to us upon two Con­ditions; That we sincerely repent of the Sins which we have committed against God; and, That we heartily forgive to men the injuries and offences which they have been guilty of towards us.

I shall at this time, by God's Assistance, treat of the latter of these, from the Words which I have recited to you; which are part of our Saviour's excellent [Page 84] Sermon upon the Mount. In which he doth not only explain, but enlarge and perfect the Moral and Natural Law, by adding to it Precepts and Prohibitions of greater perfection, than either the Law of Moses or the Natural Law, in their largest extent, did contain.

He forbids Polygamy, and Divorce ex­cept only in case of Adultery; and like­wise Revenge; none of which were for­bidden either by the Law of Nature, or by the Law which was given by Moses.

And to these Prohibitions our Blessed Saviour adds several new Precepts of greater perfection than any Laws that were extant before. But I say unto you, love your enemies. The Jewish Law com­manded them to love their Neighbour, meaning their brethren and those of their own Nation: But our Saviour, by com­manding us to love our enemies, hath in the most emphatical manner that can be commanded us to love all men. For if any were to be excluded from our Chari­ty, none so likely to be so as our Enemies. So that after a command to love our Ene­mies it was needless to name any others; because men are naturally apt to love those that love them.

I say unto you, love your enemies; here [Page 85] the inward affection is requir'd. Bless them that curse you; here outward Civili­ty and Affability are requir'd, in opposi­tion to rude and uncivil Language; for so blessing and cursing do in Scripture fre­quently signify. Do good to them that hate you; here real acts of kindness are com­manded to be done by us to our bitterest and most malicious Enemies. Pray for them that despitefully use you, and perse­cute you. These are the highest expressi­ons of Enmity that can be, calumny and cruelty; and yet we are commanded to pray for those that touch us in these two tenderest Points of all other, our Repu­tation and our Life And to secure the sin­cerity of our Charity towards our Ene­mies, we are requir'd to express it by our hearty Prayers to God for them: To God, I say, before whom it is both impious and dangerous to dissemble; and from whom we can expect no mercy for our selves, if with feigned Lips we beg it of Him for others.

You see what is the Duty here requi­red; That we bear a sincere affection to our most malicious and implacable Ene­mies, and be ready upon occasion to give real testimony of it.

And because this may seem a hard du­ty, [Page 86] and not so easy to be reconciled either to our Inclination, or our Reason; I shall endeavour to shew, that this Law is not only reasonable, but much more perfect and excellent, and the practice of it more easy and delightful, and upon all accounts much more for our benefit and advan­tage, than the contrary: And that upon four Considerations; which I shall endea­vour to represent with their just advan­tage, and so as may, I hope, not only con­vince our Judgments of the reasonable­ness of this Precept, but likewise bend and sway our Wills to the obedience and practice of it.

I. If we consider the nature of the act here requir'd, which is to Love; which when it is not a mere Passion, but under the government of our Reason, is the most natural, and easy, and delightful of all the Affections which God hath planted in Humane Nature: Whereas ill will, and hatred, and revenge, are very troublesome and vexatious Passions. Both the devising of mischief, and the accomplishment of it, and the reflection upon it afterwards, are all uneasy: and the consequences of it many times pernicious to our selves. The very design of Revenge is troublesome, and puts the Spirits into an unnatural fer­mentation [Page 87] and tumult. The man that me­ditates it is always restless, his very soul is stung, swells and boiles, is in pain and an­guish, hath no ease, no enjoyment of it self so long as this Passion reigns. The execution of it may perhaps be attended with some present pleasure, but that plea­sure is unreasonable and brutish, momen­tany and short, like a flash of Lightning, which vanisheth in the twinkling of an Eye.

It is commonly said that Revenge is sweet, but to a calm and considerate mind Patience and Forgiveness are sweeter, and do afford a much more rational and solid and durable pleasure than Revenge. The Monuments of our Mercy and Goodness are a far more pleasing and delightful spe­ctacle, than of our Rage and Cruelty. And no sort of thought does usually haunt men with more terror, than the reflection upon what they have done in way of Revenge.

Besides that the consequences of this Passion do commonly prove very prejudi­cial to our selves. For the Revenge of one injury doth naturally draw on more, and will oblige us for the same reason to a new Revenge of them; and this brings on a perpetual and endless circulation of Injuries and Revenges. So that whoever [Page 88] seeks Revenge upon another doth com­monly in the issue take it upon himself, and whilst he thinks to transfer the inju­ry which he hath receiv'd upon him that did it, he doubles it upon himself.

Such, and so great are the troubles and inconveniences of a malicious and re­vengeful temper: but there is no torment in Love, as St. John excellently says. To be kindly affection'd towards all, to bear no grudge or ill-will, no thought of dis­pleasure or revenge towards any man, is the easiest posture, the most pleasant state of the Mind. So that if not for their sakes, yet for our own, we should Love our Ene­mies and do good to them that hate us; be­cause to be thus affected towards all men, is as great a kindness to our selves as it is charity to others.

II. If we consider the qualification of the Object; it is our Enemy whom we are requir'd to Love. In whom though there be something that is justly disgustful, yet there is something also that is lovely; and if we persist in our kindness to him, not­withstanding his enmity to us, the enmity may wear off, and perhaps at length be chang'd into a sincere and firm friendship.

'Tis true indeed, that with regard to our selves personal enmity towards us is [Page 89] one of the most inconvenient qualities that a man can have, but not therefore the worst in it self. If we could be im­partial and lay aside prejudice, we might perhaps discern several very lovely quali­ties in him who hates us: And Vertue is to be own'd, and prais'd, and lov'd, even in an Enemy. And perhaps his enmity to­wards us is not so great and inexcusable a fault, as we apprehend; he is not perhaps our Enemy to that degree, nor so altoge­ther without cause, as we imagine; pos­sibly we have provok'd him, or by his own mistake, or through the malicious representation of others, he may be in­duc'd to think so: And are not we our selves liable to the like misapprehensions concerning others? of which we are ma­ny times afterwards convinc'd and a­sham'd: and so may he, and then his enmi­ty will cease, if we will but have a little pa­tience with him, as we always wish in the like case that others would have with us.

At the worst, though never so sore and causeless an Enemy, though never so bad a Man, yet he is a Man, and as such, hath something in him which the blindest Pas­sion cannot deny to be good and amiable. He hath the same Nature with our selves, which we cannot hate, or despise, with­out [Page 90] hatred and contempt of our selves. Let a man's faults be what they will, they do not destroy his Nature and make him cease to be a Man.

The two great Foundations of Love are Relation and Likeness. No one thing, says Tully, is so like, so equal to another, as one man is to another. What difference so­ever there may be between us and another man, yea, though he be our Enemy, yet he is still like us in the main; and per­haps, but too like us in that for which we find so much fault with him, a proneness to offer affronts and injuries.

And there is an essential Relation, as well as Likeness, between one man and another; which nothing can ever dissolve, because it is founded in that which no man can divest himself of, Dr. Bar­row. in Humane Nature. So far is it from being true, which Mr. Hobbs asserts as the fundamen­tal Principle of his Politicks, That men are naturally in a state of War and enmity with one another; that the contrary Prin­ciple, laid down by a much deeper and wiser man, I mean Aristotle, is most cer­tainly true, That men are naturally akin and friends to each other. Some unhappy accidents and occasions may make men Enemies, but naturally every man is friend [Page 91] to another: and that is the surest and most unalterable reason of things which is founded in Nature, not that which springs from mutable accidents and occasions. So that whoever is recommended to us un­der the notion of a Man, ought not to be look'd upon by us, and treated as an Enemy.

Consider farther that an Enemy, even whilst he is exercising his enmity towards us, may do us many acts of real advan­tage; which though they do not pro­ceed from kindness, yet in truth are bene­fits. The malicious Censures of our E­nemies, if we make a right use of them, may prove of greater advantage to us, than the Civilities of our best friends. We can easily afford, nay the wisest Men can hardly forbear, to love a Flatterer; to em­brace him, and to take him into our bo­som; and yet an open Enemy is a thou­sand times better and less dangerous than he. It is good for many men that they have had Enemies, who have many times been to them the happy occasion of re­forming those faults, which none but an Enemy would have taken the freedom, I had almost said would have had the Friendship, to have told them of.

But what if after all, this Enemy of [Page 92] ours, this hated man, prove to be one of our best Friends? For so reconciled Ene­mies usually are. And if any thing will reconcile an Enemy, Love and Kindness will. An obstinate goodness is apt to con­quer even the worst of Men. It is hard­ly in the nature of man to withstand the kindness of one whom, by all that we could do, we have not been able to make our enemy. After a man hath done the greatest injury to another, not only to find no revenge following upon it, but the first opportunity taken to oblige him, is so very surprizing, that it can hardly fail to gain upon the worst disposition and to melt down the hardest temper. So that we should love our Enemies, if not for what they are at present, yet for what they may be, and in hope that by these means they may in the time become our Friends.

III. If we consider the Excellency and Generosity of the thing it self. To love our enemies, and to do good to them that hate us, is the perfection of goodness, and the ad­vancement of it to its highest pitch. It is the most excellent and perfect act of the greatest and most perfect of all Graces and Vertues, I mean Charity; which by St. Paul is call'd the bond of perfection; and [Page 93] by St. James, the perfect and the Royal Law: because it inspires men with a greatness of Mind fit for Kings and Prin­ces, in whom nothing is more admirable than a generous Goodness and Clemency, even towards great Enemies and Offen­ders, so far as is consistent with the Pub­lick Good. Love for love is but Justice and Gratitude; Love for no love is favour and kindness; but Love for hatred and enmity is a most Divine Temper, a sted­dy and immutable Goodness that is not to be stirr'd by provocation, and so far from being conquer'd that it is rather confirm'd by its contrary: For if Hatred and Enmity do not extinguish Love, what can? This is Goodness indeed; not only without Merit and Obligation, without Invitation or Motive; but a­gainst all reasonable expectation, and in despite of all Temptation and Provoca­tion to the contrary.

So that to return good for evil and love for hatred, is one of the greatest arguments of a great Mind, and of deep wisdom and consideration: For naturally our first in­clinations and thoughts towards our Ene­mies are full of Anger and Revenge; but our second and wiser thoughts will tell us, that Forgiveness is much more ge­nerous [Page 94] than Revenge. And a more glori­ous Victory cannot be gain'd over ano­ther man than this, that when the Injury began on his part the Kindness should be­gin on ours. If both the ways were equal­ly in our power, yet it is a much more de­sirable Conquest to overcome evil with good, than with evil. By this, we can on­ly Conquer our Enemy, and may perhaps fail in that; but by the other, we certain­ly Conquer our selves, and perhaps our Enemy too; overcoming him in the no­blest manner, and walking him gently till he be cool, and without force effectually subduing him to be our Friend. This, as One fitly compares it, Dr. Bar­row. is like a great and wise General, by Art and Stratagem, by meer dint of Skill and Conduct, by Pa­tience and wise delay; without ever stri­king a stroke, or shedding one drop of blood, to vanquish an Enemy, and to make an end of the War without ever putting it to the hazard of a Battel.

Revenge is blind and rash, and does al­ways proceed from impotency and weak­ness of Mind. 'Tis Anger that spurs men on to it; and Anger is certainly one of the foolishest Passions of Humane Na­ture, and which commonly betrays men to the most imprudent and unreasonable [Page 95] things. So Solomon observes, Prov. 14.29. He that is hasty of spirit exalteth folly; and again, Anger resteth in the bosom of Fools: Eccl. 7.9. But to be able to bear provocation, is an argu­ment of great Wisdom; and to forgive it, of a great Mind: So the same Wise-man tells us, Prov. 16.32. He that is slow to anger is better than the mighty, and he that ruleth his spi­rit, than he that taketh a City. It is a greater thing, in case of great Provocati­on, to calm a mans own spirit, than to storm and take a strong City.

Whereas the Angry Man loseth and lets fall the government of himself, and lays the Reins upon the neck of the Wild Beast, his own brutish Appetite and Passion; which hurries him on first to Revenge, and then to Repentance for the folly which he hath been guilty of in gratify­ing so unreasonable a Passion. For it very seldom happens that any man executes an act of Revenge, but the very next mo­ment after he hath done it, he is sorry for it, and wisheth he had not done it: Where­as Patience and Forgiveness do wisely prevent both the mischief to others, and the trouble to our selves, which is usual­ly consequent upon Revenge.

IV. If we consider the perfection and prevalency of the Examples which the [Page 96] Gospel proposeth to us, to allure and en­gage us to the practice of this Duty. And they are the Examples of God himself, and of the Son of God in the Nature of Man.

1. The Example of God himself. The Scripture doth frequently set before us the goodness of Gods common Providence to Sinners, for our Pattern. And this is the Argument whereby our Blessed Saviour presseth the Duty in the Text upon us, in the Verse immediately after it; That ye may be the children of your heavenly Father, Verse 45. who maketh his Sun to rise on the evil and the good, and his Rain to fall on the just and the unjust. The same Argument Seneca al­so urgeth to the same purpose. How many (says he) are unworthy of the light, and yet the Day visits them? And speaking of the Gods, They bestow, (says he) their be­nefits upon the unthankful, and are ready to help those who make a bad construction and use of their kindness. And almost in the very words of our Saviour, Etiam scele­ratis Sol oritur, &c. The Sun riseth even upon the most vile and profligate persons, and the Seas are open to Pirates.

Thus is God affected towards those who are guilty of the greatest provocati­ons towards Him. He bestows upon them the gifts of his Common Provi­dence; [Page 97] and not only so, but is ready to forgive innumerable Offences to them for Christ's sake. This Pattern the Apostle pro­poseth to our imitation, Be ye kind, Eph. 4.32. tender-hearted, forbearing one another, forgiving one another, even as God for Christ's sake hath forgiven you: Be ye therefore imita­ters of God as dear children. chap. 5.1. This temper and disposition of Mind, is the prime ex­cellency and perfection of the Divine Nature; and who would not be ambi­tious to be like the most perfect and best of Beings? And so our B. Saviour con­cludes this Argument, in the last Verse of this Chapter, Be ye therefore perfect, as your Father which is in Heaven is perfect, which St. Luke renders, Be ye therefore merciful, as your Father which is in Heaven is merciful. So that in that very thing which we think to be so hard and diffi­cult, you see that we have Perfection it self for our Pattern. And this Example ought to be of so much greater force with us, by how much greater reason there is why we should do thus to one another, than why God should do thus to us. Our Offences against God are more and great­er, than any man ever was or could be guilty of towards us: Besides, that there are many Considerations which ought to [Page 98] tye up our hands, and may reasonably re­strain us from falling furiously upon one another, which can have no place at all in God. We may justly fear, that the conse­quence of our Revenge may return upon our selves, and that it may come to be our own case to stand in need of Mercy and Forgiveness from others: And there­fore out of necessary caution and pru­dence, we should take heed not to set any bad example in this kind, lest it should recoil upon our selves. We who stand so much in need of Forgiveness our selves, ought in all reason to be very easy to for­give others. But now the Divine Nature is infinitely above any real injury or suf­fering. God can never stand in need of pi­ty or forgiveness; and yet of his own meer Goodness, without any interest or design, how slow is he to anger, and how ready to forgive?

And, which comes yet nearer to us, there is also the Example of the Son of God, our Blessed Saviour; who in our Na­ture, and in case of the greatest Injuries and Provocations imaginable, did practise this Vertue to the height: And all this for our sakes, as well as for our Example. So that he requires nothing of us, but what he himself submitted to with the [Page 99] greatest Patience and Constancy of Mind; in our stead, and wholly for our advantage.

He render'd good for evil to all Mankind, and shew'd greater Love to us, whilst we were Enemies to Him, than ever any man did to his Friend.

He pray'd for those that despitefully used him and persecuted him. And this, not up­on cool consideration, after the injury was done, and the pain of his Sufferings was over; but whilst the sense and smart of them was upon him, and in the very Agony and bitterness of Death: In the height of all his anguish, he pour'd out his Soul an Offering for the Sins of Men, and his Blood a Sacrifice to God, for the expiation of the Guilt of that very Sin whereby they shed it; pleading with God, in the behalf of his Murderers, the only Excuse that was possible to be made for their Malice, that is, their Ignorance; and spending his last breath in that most charitable Prayer for them, Father forgive them, for they know not what they do.

The last Declaration which he made of his mind, was Love to his Enemies; and the last Legacy he bequeath'd was an ear­nest Request to God for the Forgiveness of his Persecutors and Murderers.

So that if any Example ought to be dear [Page 100] to us, and effectually to engage us to the imitation of it, this of our Blessed Saviour should; since the Injuries which he suf­fer'd have saved us from suffering, and the greatest Blessing and Happiness that ever befel Mankind is due to this excellent Example: And then with what Confi­dence, nay with what Conscience, can we pretend to share in the Benefits of this Ex­ample, without imitating the Vertues of it?

Can we seriously contemplate the ex­cessive Kindness and Charity of the Son of God to the sinful Sons of Men, after all our bitterest Enmity towards him, and most cruel and injurious Usage of him; and all this Charity exercis'd towards us, whilst he was under the actual sense and suffering of these things: and yet not be provok'd by an Example so admirable in it self, and of such mighty advantage to us, to go and do likewise?

But notwithstanding the power of these Arguments to perswade to this Duty, I must not dissemble some Objections which are, I believe, in many of your minds a­gainst it; and to which for the full clear­ing of this matter, it will be fit to give some satisfaction. And they are these:

1. That this Precept in the Text does [Page 101] not seem so well to agree with another of our Blessed Saviour's, Luke 17.3, 4. in another Evange­list, If thy brother trespass against thee, re­buke him; and if he repent, forgive him. And if he trespass against thee seven times in a day, and seven times in a day turn again to thee, saying, I repent, thou shalt forgive him. Here our Blessed Saviour seems not to require Forgiveness, unless he that hath done the Injury declare his Repentance for it: but the Text plainly requires us to forgive those who are so far from repent­ing of their Enmity, that they still pursue it, and exercise it upon us. Thus our Lord teacheth us, and thus He himself practised towards his Persecutors.

But this appearance of Contradiction will quickly vanish, if we consider that Forgiveness is sometimes taken chiefly for abstaining from Revenge; and so far we are to forgive our Enemies, even whilst they continue so, and though they do not repent: And not only so, but we are also to pray for them, and to do good offices to them, especially of common Humani­ty: and this is the meaning of the Precept in the Text. But sometimes Forgiveness does signify a perfect Reconciliation to those that have offended us, so as to take them again into our Friendship; which [Page 102] they are by no means fit for, till they have repented of their Enmity, and laid it aside. And this is plainly the meaning of the other Text.

2. It is further objected, That this seems to be a very imprudent thing, and of dangerous consequence to our selves; because by bearing one Injury so patient­ly, and forgiving it so easily, we invite more; and not only tempt our Enemy to go on, but others also by his Example to do the like: Which will make ill na­tur'd Men to provoke us on purpose, with a crafty design to wrest benefits from us: For what better Trade can a man drive, than to gain Benefits in ex­change for Injuries?

To this I answer three things:

First, It is to be feared that there are but few so very good, as to make this kind return for Injuries: Perhaps, of those that call themselves Christians, not one in a hundred. And he is not a cunning man that will venture to make an Enemy, when there is the odds of a hundred to one against him, that this Enemy of his will take the first opportunity to take his Revenge upon him.

Secondly, It is also on the other hand to be hoped, that but very few are so pro­digiously [Page 103] bad, as to make so barbarous a return for the unexpected kindness of a generous Enemy. And this is encourage­ment enough to the practice of this Duty, if there be a probable hope that it will have a good effect; and however, if it should fall out otherwise, yet this would not be reason enough to discourage our goodness, especially since the kindness which we do to our Friends is liable al­most to an equal Objection, that they may prove ungrateful, and become our Enemies: it having been often seen that great Benefits, and such as are beyond re­quital, instead of making a man more a Friend have made him an Enemy.

Thirdly, Our Saviour never intended by this Precept, that our goodness should be blind and void of all prudence and discre­tion, but that it should be so managed, as to make our Enemy sensible both of his own fault, and of our favour; and so, as to give him as little encouragement, as there is reason for it, to hope to find the like favour again upon the like provocati­on. Our Saviour commands us to do the thing, but hath left it to our prudence to do it in such a manner as may be most ef­fectual, both to reclaim the Offender, and likewise to secure our selves against future and further Injuries.

[Page 104]3. Lastly, It is objected, What can we do more to our best Friends, than to love them and bless them, than to do good to them and to pray for them? And are we then to make no difference betwixt our Enemies and our Friends?

Yes surely; and so we may, notwith­standing this Precept: For there are de­grees of Love, and there are Benefits of several rates and sizes. Those of the first rate we may with reason bestow upon our Friends, and with those of a second or third rate there is all the reason in the World why our Enemies should be very well contented. Besides that we may ab­stain from Revenge, yea, and love our E­nemy, and wish him and do him good; and yet it will not presently be necessary that we should take him into our bosom, and treat and trust him as our intimate and familiar Friend. For every one that is not our Enemy is not fit to be our Friend; much less one that hath been our Enemy, and perhaps is so still. There must be a great change in him that hath been our E­nemy, and we must have had long expe­rience of him, before it will be fit, if ever it be so, to take him into our Friendship.

All that now remains is to make some Inferences from the Discourse which I [Page 105] have made upon this Argument, by way of Application. And they shall be these four:

I. If we think it so very difficult to de­mean I our selves towards our Enemies, as the Christian Religion doth plainly re­quire us to do; to forgive them, and love them, and pray for them, and to do good offices to them, then certainly it concerns us in prudence to be very careful how we make Enemies to our selves. One of the first Principles of Humane Wisdom, in the conduct of our Lives, I have ever thought to be this, To have a few inti­mate Friends, and to make no Enemies, if it be possible, to our selves. St. Paul lays a great stress upon this, and presseth it very earnestly. For after he had forbidden Re­venge, Recompence to no man evil for evil. Rom. 12.17. As if he were very sensible how hard a matter it is to bring men to this, he advi­seth in the next words, to prevent, if it be possible, the occasions of Revenge, V. 18. If it be possible, and as much as lieth in you, live peace­ably with all men: That is, if we can avoid it, have no Enmity with any man. And that for two weighty Reasons.

The first I have already intimated; be­cause it is so very hard to behave our selves towards Enemies as we ought. This we [Page 106] shall find to be a difficult Duty to Flesh and Blood; and it will require great Wis­dom, and Consideration, and Humility of Mind, for a Man to bring down his Spirit to the Obedience of this Com­mand: For the fewer Enemies we have, the less occasion will there be of contest­ing this hard Point with our selves.

And the other Reason is, I think, yet plainer and more convincing, because E­nemies will come of themselves, and let a man do what he can, he shall have some. Friendship is a thing that needs to be cultivated, if we would have it come to any thing; but Enemies, like ill Weeds, will spring up of themselves without our care and toil. The Enemy, as our Saviour calls the Devil, will sow these Tares in the night, and when we least discern it will scatter the Seeds of Discord and Enmity among men; and will take an advantage either from the Envy, or the Malice, or the Mistakes of Men, to make them E­nemies to one another. Which would make one wonder to see what care and pains some men will take, to provoke Mankind against them; how they will lay about them, and snatch at opportuni­ties to make themselves Enemies, as if they were afraid to let the happy occasion [Page 107] slip by them: But all this care and fear surely is needless; we may safely trust an ill natur'd World, that we shall have Ene­mies enough, without our doing things on our part to provoke and procure them.

But above all, it concerns every man in prudence to take great care not to make personal Enemies to himself; for these are the sorest and the surest of all other, and when there is an opportunity for it, will sit hardest upon us. Injuries done to the Publick are certainly the greatest, and yet they are many times more easily forgiven, than those which are done to particular Persons. For when Revenge is every bo­dies work, it may prove to be no bodies. The general Wrongs which are done to Humane Society, do not so sensibly touch and sting men, as personal Injuries and Provocations. The Law is never angry or in passion, and it is not only a great inde­cency, but a fault, when the Judges of it are so Heat of Prosecution belongs to par­ticular Persons; and it is their memory of Injuries, and desire to Revenge them, and diligence to set on and sharpen the Law, that is chiefly to be dreaded: And if the truth were known, it is much to be fear'd that there are almost as few private as publick Acts of Oblivion pass'd in the [Page 108] World; and they commonly pass as slow­ly, and with as much difficulty, and not till the grace and good effect of them is almost quite lost.

II II. Secondly, If we ought to be thus affected towards our Enemies, how great ought our kindness, and the expressions of it, to be to others? To those who never disobliged us, nor did us any Injury by word or deed; to those more especially, who stand in a nearer relation to us; to our na­tural Kindred, and to our spiritual Bre­thren to whom we are so strongly link'd and united by the common Bond of Chri­stianity; and lastly, to our Benefactors, and those who have been before-hand with us in obligation: For all these are so many special Ties and Endearments of men to one another, founded either in Nature or Religion, or in common Justice and Grati­tude. And therefore between all these and our Enemies we ought to make a very wide and sensible difference, in our Car­riage and Kindness towards them. And if we do not do so, we represent our Sa­viour as an unreasonable Lawgiver, and do perversly interpret this Precept of his contrary to the reasonable and equitable meaning of it. For whatever degree of Kindness is here required towards our E­nemies, [Page 109] it is certain that so much more is due to others, as according to the true pro­portion of our tie and obligation to them they have deserved at our hands: nothing being more certain than that our Blessed Saviour, the Founder of our Religion, did never intend by any Precept of it to cancel any real Obligation of Nature, or Justice, or Gratitude; or to offer Violence in the least to the common Reason of Mankind.

III. Thirdly, Hence we learn the excel­lency III and the Reasonableness of the Chri­stian Religion, which hath carried our Du­ty so high in things which do so directly tend to the Perfection of Humane Nature, and to the Peace of Humane Society; and, which if all things be rightly consider'd, are most agreeable to the clearest and best Reason of Mankind: So that those things which were heretofore look'd upon, and that only by some few of the wiser sort, as Heroical Instances of Goodness and above the common rate of Humanity, are now by the Christian Religion made the indis­pensable Duties of all Mankind. And the Precepts of no other Religion, that ever yet appeared in the World, have advan­ced Humane Nature so much above it self, and are so well calculated for the Peace and Happiness of the World, as [Page 110] the Precepts of the Christian Religion are: for they strictly forbid the doing of In­juries, by way of prevention; and in case they happen, they endeavour to put a present stop to the progress of them, by so severely forbidding the revenging of them.

And yet after all this, it must be ac­knowledg'd to be a very untoward Obje­ction against the Excellency and the Effi­cacy of the Christian Religion, that the Practice of so many Christians is so un­equal to the Perfection of these Precepts. For who is there in the Changes and Revolutions of Humane Affairs, and when the Wheel of Providence turns them uppermost, and lays their Enemies at their Feet, that will give them any Quarter? Nay, that does not greedily seize upon the first opportunities of Re­venge, and like an Eagle, hungry for his Prey, make a sudden stoop upon them with all his force and violence; and when he hath them in his Pounces, and at his Mercy, is not ready to tear them in pieces?

So that after all our Boasts of the Ex­cellency of our Religion, where is the practice of it? This, I confess is a terri­ble Objection indeed; and I must intreat of you, my Brethren, to help me to the [Page 111] best Answer to it: Not by any nice Di­stinctions and Speculations about it, but by the careful and honest Practice of this Precept of our Religion.

This was the old Objection against Philo­sophy, that many that were Philosophers in their Opinions were faulty in their Lives: But yet this was never thought by wise men to be a good Objection against Phi­losophy. And unless we will lay more weight upon the Objections against Religi­on, and press them harder than we think it reasonable to do in any other Case, we must acknowledge likewise, that this Ob­jection against Religion is of no force. Men do not cast off the Art of Physick, be­cause many Physicians do not live up to their own Rules, and do not themselves follow those Prescriptions which they think fit to give to others: and there is a plain reason for it because their swerving from their own Rules doth not necessarily signify that their Rules are not good, but only that their Appetites are unruly, and too hard and headstrong for their Rea­son: Nothing being more certain than this, That Rules may be very reasonable, and yet they that give them may not fol­low them.

[Page 112] IV IV. The fourth and last Inference from this whole Discourse shall be this, That being convinced by what hath been said upon this Argument, of the Reasonable­ness of this Duty, we would resolve upon the Practice of it, when ever there is oc­casion offer'd for it in the course of our Lives. I need not to put you in mind, that there is now like to be great occasion for it: I shall only say, that whenever there is so, nothing can be tied more strictly upon us than this Duty is.

It hath often been a great Comfort and Confirmation to me, to see the Humanity of the Protestant Religion, so plainly dis­covering it self, upon so many occasions, in the practice of the Professours of it. And setting aside all other advantages which our Religion hath been evidently shewn to have above Popery in point of Reason and Argument, I cannot for my life but think that to be the best Religi­on which makes the best Men, and from the nature of its Principles is apt to make them so; most kind and merciful, and charitable; and most free from Malice, and Revenge, and Cruelty.

And therefore our Blessed Saviour, who knew what was in man better than any man that ever was, knowing our great relu­ctancy [Page 113] and backwardness to the practice of this Duty, hath urged it upon us by such forcible and almost violent Argu­ments, that if we have any tenderness for our selves, we cannot refuse Obedi­ence to it. For he plainly tells us, That no Sacrifice that we can offer will appease God towards us, so long as we our selves are implacable to Men; Verse 23 d. of this Chapter, If thou bring thy gift to the Al­tar, and there remembrest that thy brother hath ought against thee, leave thy gift be­fore the Altar, and go thy way: first go and be reconciled to thy brother, and then come and offer thy gift. To recommend this Duty effectually to us, He gives it a pre­ference to all the positive Duties of Re­ligion: First go and be reconciled to thy brother, and then come and offer thy gift. Till this Duty be discharged, God will accept of no Service, no Sacrifice at our hands. And therefore our Liturgy doth with great reason declare it to be a neces­sary Qualification for our Worthy Re­ceiving of the Sacrament, that we be in Love and Charity with our Neighbours; because this is a Moral Duty, and of eter­nal Obligation, without which no positive part of Religion, such as the Sacraments are, can be acceptable to GOD; es­pecially [Page 114] since in this Blessed Sacrament of Christ's Body and Blood we expect to have the Forgiveness of our Sins ratified and confirmed to us: Which how can we hope for from GOD, if we our selves be not ready to forgive one ano­ther?

He shall have judgment without mercy, says St. James, who hath shewed no mercy. And in that excellent Form of Prayer which our Lord himself hath given us, He hath taught us so to ask Forgiveness of God, as not to expect it from Him, if we do not forgive one another. So that if we do not practice this Duty, as hard as we think it is, every time that we put up this Petition to God, [ Forgive us our Trespasses, as we forgive them that Tres­pass against us;] we send up a terrible Imprecation against our selves, and do in effect beg of God not to forgive us. And therefore, to imprint this matter the deeper upon our minds, our Blessed Savi­our immediately after the recital of this Prayer, hath thought fit to add a very re­markable enforcement of this Petition, above all the rest; For if, says He, ye forgive men their trespasses, Matth. 6.14, 15. your heavenly Father will also forgive you: But if ye for­give not men their trespasses, neither [Page 115] will your Father forgive your trespasses.

And our Saviour hath likewise in his Gospel represented to us, both the rea­sonableness of this Duty, and the Dan­ger of doing contrary to it, in a very lively and affecting Parable, deliver'd by him to this purpose: Matth. 18.23. Concerning a wick­ed Servant, who, when his Lord had but just before forgiven him a vast Debt of ten thousand Talents, took his poor Fellow-servant by the throat, and, notwithstand­ing his humble Submission and earnest In­treaties to be favourable to him, haled him to Prison for a trifling Debt of an hundred Pence. And the Application which he makes of this Parable, at the end of it, is very terrible, and such as ought never to go out of our minds; So likewise, V. 35. says He, shall my heavenly Father do also unto you, if ye do not from your hearts forgive every one his brother his trespasses. One might be apt to think at first view, that this Parable was over done, and wanted something of a due Decorum; it being hardly credible, that a man after he had been so mercifully and generously dealt withal, as upon his humble Request to have so huge a Debt so freely forgiven, should whilst the memory of so much Mercy was fresh upon him, even the ve­ry [Page 116] next moment, handle his Fellow Ser­vant, who had made the same humble submission and request to him which he had done to his Lord, with so much roughness and cruelty, for so inconside­rable a Sum. This, I say, would hardly seem credible; did we not see in experi­ence how very unreasonable and unmer­ciful some men are, and with what con­fidence they can ask and expect great mercy from God, when they will shew none to Men.

The greatness of the Injuries which are done to us, is the reason commonly pleaded by us why we cannot forgive them. But whoever thou art, that makest this an Argument why thou canst not forgive thy Brother, lay thine hand up­on thy heart, and bethink thy self how many more and much greater Offences thou hast been guilty of against God: Look up to that Just and Powerful Be­ing that is above, and consider well, Whether thou dost not both expect and stand in need of more Mercy and Fa­vour from Him, than thou canst find in thy heart to shew to thine offending Bro­ther?

We have all certainly great reason to expect that as we use one another, God [Page 117] will likewise deal with us. And yet after all this, how little is this Duty practis'd among Christians? And how hardly are the best of us brought to love our Ene­mies, and to forgive them? And this, notwithstanding that all our hopes of Mercy and Forgiveness from God do de­pend upon it. How strangely inconsistent is our practice and our hope? And what a wide distance is there between our ex­pectations from GOD, and our dealings with Men? How very partial and un­equal are we, to hope so easily to be for­given, and yet to be so hard to forgive?

Would we have GOD, for Christ's sake, to forgive us those numberless and monstrous provocations which we have been guilty of against His Divine Maje­sty? And shall we not for His sake, for whose sake we our selves are forgiven, be willing to forgive one another?

We think it hard to be oblig'd to for­give great Injuries, and often repeated; and yet Woe be to us all, and most mise­rable shall we be to all Eternity, if GOD do not all this to us, which we think to be so very hard and unreasonable for us to do to one another.

I have sometimes wonder'd how it should come to pass, that so many persons [Page 118] should be so apt to despair of the Mercy and Forgiveness of GOD to them; es­pecially considering what clear and ex­press Declarations GOD hath made of his readiness to forgive our greatest Sins and Provocations upon our sincere Repentance: But the wonder will be very much abated, when we shall consi­der with how much difficulty men are brought to remit great Injuries, and how hardly we are perswaded to refrain from flying upon those who have given us any considerable provocation. So that when men look into themselves, and shall care­fully observe the motions of their own minds towards those against whom they have been justly exasperated, they will see but too much reason to think that For­giveness is no such easy matter.

But our comfort in this case is, That GOD is not as Man; that his ways are not as our ways, nor his thoughts as our thoughts; but as the Heavens are high above the Earth, so are his ways above our ways, and his thoughts above our thoughts.

And the best way to keep our selves from despairing of GOD's Mercy and Forgiveness to us, is to be easy to grant Forgiveness to others: And without this, as GOD hath reason to deny For­giveness [Page 119] to us, so we our selves have all the reason in the World utterly to despair of it.

It would almost transport a Christian to read that admirable Passage of the Great Heathen Emperour and Philoso­pher M. Aurelius Antoninus, Can the Gods, M. Aur. Antoni. lib. 7. says he, that are Immortal, for the conti­nuance of so many ages, bear without im­patience with such and so many Sinners as have ever been; and not only so, but like­wise take care of them, and provide for them that they want nothing: And dost thou so grievously take on, as one that can bear with them no longer? Thou, that art but for a moment of time; yea, Thou that art one of those Sinners thyself.

I will conclude this whole Discourse with those weighty and pungent Sayings of the wise Son of Syrach, He that re­vengeth shall find vengeance from the Lord, Eccl. 23, 1, 2, 3, 4. and he will certainly retain his Sins. For­give thy neighbour that hath hurt thee, so shall thy Sins also be forgiven when thou prayest. One man beareth hatred against another, and doth he seek pardon of the Lord? He sheweth no mercy to a man like himself, and doth he ask forgiveness of his own Sins?

[Page 120]Enable us, O Lord, by thy Grace, to practise this excellent and difficult Duty of our Religion: And then, Forgive us our trespasses, as we forgive them that tres­pass against us: For thy mercies sake, in Jesus Christ; to whom with Thee, O Father, and the Holy Ghost, be all Ho­nour and Glory, Adoration and Obedience, both now and ever. Amen.

The care of our Souls the One thing needful.

IN the accounts of Wise men, one of the first Rules and Measures of human actions is this, To regard every thing more or less, according to the degree of its conse­quence and importance to our happiness. That which is most necessary to that End ought in all reason to be minded by us in the first place, and other things only so far as they are consistent with that great End, and subservient to it.

Our B. Saviour here tells us that there is one thing needful, that is, one thing which ought first and principally to be regarded by us: And what that is, it is of great concernment to us all to know, that we may mind and pursue it as it de­serves.

[Page 124]And we may easily understand what it is by considering the Context, and the occasion of these Words, which was brief­ly this: Our Saviour, as He went about preaching the Kingdom of God, came into a certain Village, where He was enter­tain'd at the house of two devout Sisters. The elder, who had the care and manage­ment of the Family and the Affairs of it, was imployed in making entertainment for such a Guest: The other sate at our Saviour's feet, attending to the Doctrine of Salvation which he preach'd.

The elder finding her self not able to do all the business alone, desires of our Saviour that he would command her Sister to come and help her. Upon this our Saviour gives her this gentle repre­hension, Martha, Martha, Thou art care­ful and troubled about many things, but one thing is needful. And what that is he declares in the next words, And Mary hath chosen that good part, which shall not be taken away from her; that is, she hath chosen to take care of her Salvation, which is infinitely more considerable than any thing else.

Our Saviour doth not altogether blame Martha for her respectful care of Him, but cmmends her Sister for her greater [Page 125] care of her Soul; which made her either wholly to forget, or unwilling to mind other things at that time. So that, upon the whole matter, He highly approves her wise choice, in preferring an attentive regard to his Doctrine, even before that which might be thought a necessary civi­lity to His Person.

From the Words thus explain'd the Ob­servation which I shall make is this.

That the care of Religion and of our Souls is the one thing necessary, and that which every man is concern'd in the first place and above all other things to mind and regard.

This Observation seems to be plainly contain'd in the Text. I shall handle it as briefly as I can; and then by way of Ap­plication shall endeavour to persuade You and my self to mind this one thing necessary.

And in speaking to this serious and weighty Argument I shall do these two things.

First, I shall endeavour to shew where­in this care of Religion and of our Souls does consist.

Secondly, To convince men of the ne­cessity of taking this care.

I. I shall shew wherein this care of I Religion and of our Souls doth consist. [Page 126] And this I shall endeavour to do with all the plainness I can, and so as every one that hears me may understand and be suf­ficiently directed what is necessary for him to do in order to his eternal Salvation.

And of this I shall give an account in the five following Particulars, in which I think the main business of Religion and the due care of our Souls does consist.

First, In the distinct knowledge, and in the firm belief and persuasion of those things which are necessary to be known and believed by us in order to our eternal Salvation.

Secondly, In the frequent Examination of our lives and actions, and in a sincere Repentance for all the errours and mis­carriages of them.

Thirdly, In the constant and daily ex­ercise of Piety and Devotion.

Fourthly, In avoiding those things which are pernicious to our Salvation, and whereby men do often hazard their Souls.

Fifthly, In the even and constant pra­ctice of the several Graces and Vertues of a good Life.

I. The due care of Religion and our Souls does consist in the distinct know­ledge, and in the firm belief and persua­sion of those things which are necessary to [Page 127] be known and believ'd by us in order to our eternal Salvation.

For this knowledge of the necessary Principles and Duties of Religion is the foundation of all good Practice, wherein the life of Religion doth consist. And without this no man can be truly Religi­ous. Without faith, saith the Apostle to the Hebrews, it is impossible to please God: Heb. 11.6. For he that cometh to God, must believe that He is, and that He is a rewarder of them that diligently seek Him. Now these two expressions of pleasing God and seeking Him, are plainly of the same importance, and do both of them signify Religion, or the Worship and Service of God; which doth antecedently suppose our firm belief and persuasion of these two fundamental Principles of all Religion, That there is a God, and, That He will reward those that serve him: Because unless a man do first believe these, there would neither be ground nor encouragement for any such thing as Religion.

And this knowledge of the necessary Principles of Religion our B. Saviour calls eternal Life, because it is so fundamen­tally necessary in order to our attaining of it: This is life eternal, says He, Joh. 17.3. to know thee, the only true God; and Him [Page 128] whom thou hast sent, Jesus Christ, that is, to be rightly instructed in the knowledge of the only true God, and of his Son Jesus Christ our Lord: Under which two general Heads are comprehended all the necessary Principles both of the Natural and of the Christian Religion.

And to the attaining of this know­ledge which is absolutely necessary to Sal­vation, no such extraordinary pains and study is requir'd; but only a teachable disposition, and a due application of mind. For whatever in Religion is necessary to be known by all, must in all reason be plain and easie, and lye level to all capa­cities; otherwise we must say, that God who would have all men to be saved hath not provided for the Salvation of all men. And therefore, now that the knowledge of the true God and the light of Christia­nity are shed abroad in the world, all that enjoy the Gospel are, or may be, suffici­ently instructed in all things necessary to their happiness: unless such care be used, as is in the Church of Rome, to take away the key of knowledge, and to lock up the Scriptures from the People in an un­known Tongue; and this, as they pre­tend, upon a very charitable considerati­on, only it is to be hop'd that it is not [Page 129] true, that the generality of Mankind are mad and have need to be kept in the dark. But supposing men to be allowed those means of knowledg which God affords, and hath appointed for us, the great diffi­culty doth not commonly lie in mens Un­derstandings, but in their Wills: Only when men know these things, they must attend to them and consider them; that the light which is in their Understandings may warm their Hearts, and have its due in­fluence upon their Lives.

II. The due care of our Souls consists in the frequent Examination of our lives and actions, and in a sincere Repentance for all the errors and miscarriages of them: In a more particular and deep hu­miliation and repentance for deliberate and wilful sins, so far as we can call them to our remembrance; and in a general repentance for sins of Ignorance, and In­firmity, and Surprize. In the exercise whereof we are always to remember, that the nature of true Repentance doth not consist only in an humble confession of our sins to God, and a hearty trouble and contrition for them; but chiefly in the stedfast purpose and resolution of a better life, and in prosecution of this reso­lution, in actual reformation and amend­ment.

[Page 130]By the constant exercise hereof, we are put into a safe condition; provided that we persevere in this holy resolution and course: But if we still retain the love and practice of any known sin, or if after we have taken up these good resolutions we return again to an evil course; this is a clear evidence, either that our Repentance was not sincere at first, or that we are re­laps'd into our former state: And then our Souls are still in apparent danger of being lost, and will continue in that dan­gerous state, till we have renew'd our Re­pentance and made it good in the follow­ing course of our lives.

III. The due care of our Souls consists in the constant and daily exercise of piety and devotion, both in private, and in publick if there be opportunity for it, es­pecially at proper times and upon more solemn occasions: By fervent prayer to God, and by hearing and reading the Word of God with reverence and godly fear: By frequenting his publick Wor­ship, and demeaning our selves in it with that solemnity and seriousness which be­comes the presence and service of the great and glorious Majesty of God, who observes our behaviour and sees into our hearts: And by receiving the B. Sacra­ment, [Page 131] as often as we have opportunity, with due preparation and devotion of mind.

For these are not only outward testimo­nies of our inward piety, but they are means likewise appointed by God to im­prove and confirm us in holiness and goodness. And whoever neglects these Duties of Religion, or performs them in a flight and superficial manner, doth plain­ly shew that he hath neither a due sense of God, nor care of himself: For in vain does any man pretend that he does in good earnest design the End, when he ne­glects the best and most proper means for the attainment of it.

IV. The due care of our Souls consists also in avoiding those things which are pernicious to our Salvation, and whereby men do often hazard their Souls. Such in general is the practice of any known Sin. By this we do, as it were, run up­on the swords point, and do endanger our Salvation as much as a deep wound in our Body would do our Life: And tho such a wound may perhaps be cur'd af­terwards by Repentance, yet no man that commits any wilful Sin knows the dismal consequence of it, and whither by de­grees it may carry him at last: For upon [Page 132] such a provocation God may leave the Sinner to himself, and withdraw his grace from him, and give him up to a hard and impenitent heart to proceed from evil to worse, and from one wickedness to ano­ther, till he be finally ruin'd. So dange­rous a thing is it knowingly to offend God, and to commit any deliberate act of Sin.

More particularly, an inordinate love of the World is very pernicious to the Souls of men; because it quencheth the heavenly life, and fills our minds with earthly cares and designs; it tempts men to forsake God and Religion when their worldly interests come in competition with them; and betrays them to fraud, and falshood, and all kind of injustice, and many other hurtful lusts which drown the Soul in perdition.

But besides these dangers which are more visible and apparent, there is ano­ther which is less discernible because it hath the face of Piety; and that is Fa­ction in Religion: By which I mean an unpeaceable and uncharitable zeal about things wherein Religion either doth not at all, or but very little consist. For be­sides that this temper is utterly inconsi­stent with several of the most eminent [Page 133] Christian Graces and Vertues, as humility, love, peace, meekness, and forbearance to­wards those that differ from us; it hath likewise two very great mischiefs com­monly attending upon it, and both of them pernicious to Religion and the Souls of men.

First, that it takes such men off from minding the more necessary and essential parts of Religion They are so zealous about small things, the tithing of mint and anise and cummin, that they neglect the weightier things of the Law, Faith and Mercy, and Judgment, and the Love of God: They spend so much of their time and heat about things doubtful, that they have no leisure to mind the things that are necessa­ry: And are so concern'd about little Spe­culative Opinions in Religion, which they always call fundamental Articles of Faith, that the Practice of Religion is almost wholly neglected by them: And they are so taken up in spying out and censu­ring Error and Heresy in others, that they never think of curing those Lusts and Vices and Passions which do so visi­bly reign in themselves. Deluded people! that do not consider that the greatest He­resy in the World is a wicked life, be­cause it is so directly and fundamentally [Page 134] opposite to the whole design of the Chri­stian Faith and Religion: And that do not consider, that God will sooner forgive a man a hundred defects of his Under­standing than one fault of his Will.

Secondly, Another great mischef which attends this temper is, that men are very apt to interpret this zeal of theirs against others to be great Piety in themselves, and as much as is necessary to bring them to Heaven; and to think that they are very Religious, because they keep a great stir about maintaining the Out-works of Re­ligion, when it is ready to be starv'd with­in; and that there needs no more to deno­minate them good Christians, but to be of such a Party, and to be listed of such a Church, which they always take for granted to be the only true one; and then zealously to hate and uncharitably to cen­sure all the rest of Mankind.

How many are there in the World, that think they have made very sure of Hea­ven, not by the old plain way of leaving their sins and reforming their lives, but by a more close and cunning way of car­rying their Vices along with them into another Church, and calling themselves good Cathliques, and all others Heretiques? And that having done this, they are in a [Page 135] safe condition; as if a mere Name would admit a man into Heaven, or as if there were any Church in the World that had this phantastical Privilege belonging to it, that a wicked man might be saved for no other reason but because he is of it.

Therefore, as thou valuest thy Soul, take heed of engaging in any Faction in Religion; because it is an hundred to one but thy zeal will be so employed about lesser things, that the main and substantial parts of Religion will be neglected: Be­sides, that a man deeply engag'd in heats and controversies of this nature, shall ve­ry hardly escape being possess'd with that Spirit of uncharitableness and contention, of peevishness and fierceness, which reigns in all Factions, but more especi­ally in those of Religion.

V. The due care of our Souls consists in the even and constant practice of the several Graces and Vertues of a good life; or, as the Apostle expresseth it, in exerci­sing our selves always to have a conscience void of offence towards God and men. For herein is Religion best seen, in the equal and uniform practice of every part of our Duty: Not only in serving God de­voutly, but in demeaning our selves peaceably and justly, kindly and charita­bly [Page 136] towards all men: Not only in re­straining our selves from the outward act of sin, but in mortifying the inward in­clination to it, in subduing our Lusts, and governing our Passions, and bridling our Tongues. As he that would have a prudent care of his health and life, must not only guard himself against the chief and com­mon diseases which are incident to men, and take care to prevent them; but must likewise be careful to preserve himself from those which are esteemed less dange­rous, but yet sometimes do prove mortal: He must not only endeavour to secure his Head and Heart from being wounded, but must have a tender care of every part; there being hardly any disease or wound so slight but that some have dyed of it: In like manner, the care of our Souls con­sists in an universal regard to our Duty, and that we be defective in no part of it: Though we ought to have a more espe­cial regard to those Duties which are more considerable and wherein Religion doth mainly consist; as Piety towards God, Temperance and Chastity in regard of our selves, Charity towards the poor, Truth and Justice, Goodness and Kindness towards all men: But then no other Grace and Vertue, though of an infe­riour [Page 137] rank, ought to be neglected by us.

And thus I have endeavour'd, as plain­ly and briefly as I could, to declare to you in what Instances the due care of Reli­gion and our Souls doth chiefly consist.

And I would not have any man think that all this is an easy business and requires but little time to do it in, and that a small degree of diligence and industry will serve for this purpose: To master and root out the inveterate Habits of Sin, to bring our Passions under the command and govern­ment of our Reason, and to attain to a good degree of every Christian Grace and Vertue: That Faith and Hope and Chari­ty; Humility and Meekness and Patience, may all have their perfect work; and that, as St. James says, we may be perfect and en­tire, wanting nothing; nothing that be­longs to the perfection of a good man, and of a good Christian. And this, whenever we come to make the trial, we shall find to be a great and a long work.

Some indeed would make Religion to be a very short and easy business, and to consist only in believing what Christ hath done for us, and relying confidently upon it: Which is so far from being the true Notion of Christian Faith, that, if I be not much mistaken, it is the very Defi­nition [Page 138] of Presumption. For the Bible plainly teacheth us, that unless our Faith work by Charity, and purify our hearts and reform our lives; unless like Abraham's Faith it be perfected by works, it is but a dead Faith, and will in no wise avail to our Justification and Salvation. And our B. Saviour, the great Author and finisher of our Faith, hath no where, that I know of, said one word to this purpose, That Faith separated from obedience and a good life will save any man: But He hath said very much to the contrary, and that very plainly. For he promiseth Blessed­ness to none, but those who live in the practice of those Christian Graces and Vertues which are particularly mention'd by Him in the beginning of his excellent Sermon upon the Mount; Matth. 5.3, 4, &c. of Humility, and Repentance, and Meekness, and Righ­teousness, and Mercifulness, and Purity, and Peaceableness, and Patience under persecution and sufferings for Righteous­ness sake. And afterwards in the same Sermon, Matth. 7.21. Not every one, saith He, that saith unto me, Lord, Lord, shall enter into the Kingdom of heaven, but he that doth the Will of my Father which is in heaven. And again, V. 24. Whosoever heareth these say­ings of mine, and doth them, I will liken [Page 139] him unto a wise man which built his house upon a Rock. And afterwards, He tells us, V. 26, 27. that whosoever builds his hopes of eter­nal happiness upon any other foundation, than the Faith of the Gospel and the Pra­ctice of its Precepts, doth build his house upon the Sand; which when it comes to be tryed by the Rain and the Winds, will fall; and the fall of it will be great. And elsewhere; If ye know these things, John 13, 17. happy are ye if ye do them. And he does very se­verely check the vain confidence and pre­sumption of those, who will needs rely upon Him for Salvation without keeping his commandments; Why call ye me, Luke 6.46. says He, Lord, Lord, and do not the things which I say?

Does any man think that he can be sa­ved without loving God and Christ? And this, saith St. John, is the love of God, 1 Joh. 5.3. that we keep his commandments: and again, 1 Joh. 2.4. He that saith I know him, and by the same rea­son, he that saith I love him, and keepeth not his commandments, he is a lyar, and the truth is not in him. If ye love me, John 14.15. saith our B. Lord, keep my commandments: And a­gain, V. 21. He that hath my commandments and keepeth them, he it is that loveth me.

Does any man think, that any but the children of God shall be heirs of eternal [Page 140] Life? 1 Joh. 3.7. Hear then what St. John saith, Lit­tle children, let no man deceive you, he that doth righteousness is righteous, even as He is righteous: V. 10. And again, In this the chil­dren of God are manifest, and the children of the Devil, he that doth not righteousness is not of God.

In a word, this is the perpetual tenour of the Bible, from the beginning of it to the end. Gen. 3.7. Isa. 3.10, 11. If thou dost well, saith God to Cain, shalt thou not be accepted? And again, Say ye to the righteous, it shall be well with him, for they shall eat the fruit of their doings: Wo unto the wicked, it shall be ill with him, for the reward of his hands shall be given him. And in the Gospel, when the young man came to our Saviour to be instructed by Him what good thing he should do that he might inherit eternal life, our Lord gives him this short and plain advice, If thou wilt enter into life, Matth. 19.17. keep the commandments. And in the very last Chapter of the Bible we find this solemn declaration, Blessed are they that do his commandments, that they may have right to the Tree of Life, and enter in through the Gates into the City, that is, into Heaven, which the Apostle to the Hebrews calls the City which hath foundations, whose builder and maker is God. So vain and groundless is the imagination [Page 141] of those, who trust to be saved by an idle and ineffectual Faith, without holiness and obedience of life.

II. I proceed now in the Second place II to convince us all, if it may be, of the ne­cessity of minding Religion and our Souls. When we call any thing necessary, we mean that it is so in order to some End, which cannot be attained without it. We call those things the necessaries of Life, without which men cannot subsist and live in a tolerable condition in this World: And that is necessary to our eternal happi­ness, without which it cannot be attain'd. Now happiness being our chief End, whatever is necessary to that is more ne­cessary than any thing else; and in com­parison of that, all other things not only may, but ought to be neglected by us.

Now to convince men of the necessity of Religion, I shall briefly shew, That it is a certain way to happiness: That it is cer­tain that there is no other way but this: And that if we neglect Religion, we shall certainly be extremely and for ever mise­rable.

First, That Religion is a certain way to happiness. And for this we have God's ex­press Declaration and Promise, the best as­surance that can be. He that cannot lye hath [Page 142] promised eternal life, to them who by pati­ent continuance in well-doing seek for glory and honour and immortality All the happi­ness that we can desire, and of which the nature of man is capable is promised to us upon the terms of Religion, upon our de­nying ungodliness, and worldly lusts, and li­ving soberly, and righteously and godlily in this present world: A mighty reward for a little service; an eternity of happiness, of joys unspeakable and full of glory, for the diligence and industry of a few days: A happiness large as our wishes, and last­ing as our Souls.

Secondly, 'Tis certain also that there is no other way to happiness but this. He, who alone can make us happy, hath pro­mised it to us upon these and no other terms He hath said, That if we live after the flesh, we shall die; but if by the spirit we mortify the deeds of the flesh, we shall live: That without holiness no man shall see the Lord: And, that he that lives in the ha­bitual Practice of any Vice, of Covetous­ness, or Adultery, or Malice, or Revenge, shall not enter into the kingdom of God: And we have reason to believe Him con­cerning the terms of this happiness, and the means of attaining it, by whose fa­vour and bounty alone we hope to be made partakers of it.

[Page 143]And if God had not said it in his Word, yet the nature and reason of the thing doth plainly declare it. For Religion is not only a condition of our happiness, but a necessary qualification and dispositi­on for it. We must be like to God in the temper of our minds, before we can find any felicity in the enjoyment of him. Men must be purged from their Lusts, and from those ill-natur'd and devilish Passions of Malice, and Envy, and Revenge, before they can be fit company for their heaven­ly Father, and meet to dwell with him who is love, and dwells in love.

Thirdly, If we neglect Religion, we shall certainly be extreamly and for ever miserable. The Word of Truth hath said it, that indignation and wrath, tribulation and anguish shall be upon every soul of man that doth evil. Nay, if God should hold his hand, and should inflict no positive tor­ment upon sinners, yet they could not spare themselves, but would be their own Executioners and Tormentors. The guilt of that wicked Life which they had led in this World, and the Stings of their own Consciences must necessarily make them miserable, whenever their own Thoughts are let loose upon them; as they will cer­tainly be in the other World, when they [Page 144] shall have nothing either of pleasure or business to divert them.

So that if we be concern'd, either to be happy hereafter, or to avoid those Mi­series which are great and dreadful be­yond all imagination, it will be necessary for us to mind Religion; without which we can neither attain that Happiness, nor escape those Miseries.

All that now remains, is to perswade you and my self seriously to mind this one thing necessary. And to this end, I shall apply my Discourse to two sorts of Persons; those who are remiss in a matter of so great concernment, and those who are grosly careless, and mind it not at all.

First, To those who are remiss in a matter of such vast concernment: Who mind the business of Religion in some de­gree, but not so heartily and vigorously as a matter of such infinite consequence doth require and deserve.

And here I fear the very best are great­ly defective; and so much the more to be blamed, by how much they are more convinc'd than others, of the necessity of a Religious and Holy Life, and that without this no man shall ever be admit­ted into the Mansions of the Blessed: They believe likewise, that according to [Page 145] the degrees of every mans holiness and vertue in this Life, will be the degrees of his happiness in the other; that he that sows sparingly shall reap sparingly, and he that sows plentifully shall reap plentifully; and that the measure of every man's reward shall be according to his improve­ment of the Talents that were commit­ted to him.

But how little do men live under the power of these convictions? And not­withstanding we are allur'd by the most glorious promises and hopes, and aw'd by the greatest fears, and urg'd by the most forcible argument in the world, the evi­dent necessity of the thing; Yet how faintly do we run the Race that is set be­fore us? How frequently and how easily are we stop'd or diverted in our Christian course by very little temptations? How cold, and how careless, and how incon­stant are we in the Exercises of Piety, and how defective in every part of our Du­ty? Did we act reasonably, and as Men use to do in matters of much less moment, we could not be so indifferent about a thing so necessary, so slight and careless in a matter of Life and Death, and upon which all Eternity does depend.

Let us then shake off this sloth and se­curity, [Page 146] and resolve to make that the great business of Time, which is our great con­cernment to all Eternity: And when we are immers'd in the cares and business of this Life, and troubled about many things, let this thought often come into our minds, That there is one thing needful, and which therefore deserves above all other things to be regarded by us.

Secondly, There are another sort of per­sons, who are grosly careless of this one thing necessary, and do not seem to mind it at all: Who go on securely in an evil course, as if either they had no Souls, or no concernment for them. I may say to these as the Master of the Ship did to Jo­nah, when he was fast asleep in the Storm, What meanest thou, O sleeper? Arise and call upon thy God. When our Souls are every moment in danger of sinking, it is high time for us to awake out of sleep, to ply every Oar, and to use all possible care and industry to save a thing so pre­cious from a danger so threatning and so terrible.

We are apt enough to be sensible of the force of this Argument of necessity in other cases, and very carefully to provide against the pressing necessities of this life, and how to avoid those great temporal [Page 147] evils of poverty and disgrace, of pain and suffering: But the great necessity of all, and that which is mainly incumbent up­on us, is to provide for Eternity, to se­cure the everlasting happiness, and to prevent the endless and insupportable miseries of another World. This, this, is the one thing necessary; and to this we ought to bend and apply all our care and endeavours.

If we would fairly compare the neces­sity of things, and wisely weigh the con­cernments of this Life and the other in a just and equal balance, we should be asha­med to misplace our diligence and indu­stry as we do; to bestow our best thoughts and time about these vain and perishing things, and to take no care about that bet­ter part which cannot be taken from us. Fond and vain men that we are! who are so solicitous how we shall pass a few days in this world, but matter not what shall become of us for ever.

But as careless as we are now about these things, time will come when we shall sadly lay them to heart, and when they will touch us to the quick: When we come to lie upon a Death-bed, if God shall be pleas'd to grant us then so much time and use of our Reason as to be able [Page 148] to recollect our selves, we shall then be convinc'd how great a necessity there was of minding our Souls, and of the prodi­gious folly of neglecting them, and of our not being sensible of the value of them, till we are ready to despair of saving them.

But, blessed be God, this is not yet our case, though we know not how soon it may be. Let us then be wise, and consider these things in time, lest Death and De­spair should overtake and oppress us at once.

You that are young, be pleas'd to con­sider that this is the best opportunity of your Lives, for the minding and doing of this work. You are now most capable of the best impressions, before the habits of Vice have taken deep root, and your hearts be harden'd through the deceitfulness of sin: This is the acceptable time, this is the day of salvation.

And there is likewise a very weighty consideration to be urg'd upon those that are old, if there be any that are willing to own themselves so; that this is the last opportunity of their lives, and therefore they should lay hold of it, and improve it with all their might: For it will soon be past, and when it is, nothing can call it back.

[Page 149]It is but a very little while before we shall all certainly be of this mind, that the best thing we could have done in this World, was to prepare for the other. Could I represent to you that invisible World which I am speaking of, you would all readily assent to this counsel, and would be glad to follow it and put it speedily in practice. Do but then open your eyes, and look a little before you to the things which are not far off from any of us, and to many of us may perhaps be much nearer than we are aware: Let us but judge of things now, as we shall all shortly judge of them: And let us live now, as after a few days we shall every one of us wish with all our Souls that we had liv'd; and be as serious, as if we were ready to step into the other World, and to enter upon that change which Death will quickly make in every one of us. Strange stupidity of Men! That a change so near, so great, so certain, should affect us so coldly, and be so little consider'd and provided for by us: That the things of Time should move us so much, and the things of Eternity so little. What will we do when this change comes, if we have made no preparation for it?

If we be Christians, and do verily be­lieve [Page 150] the things which I am speaking of, and that after a few days more are pass'd Death will come, and draw aside that thick Veil of sense and security which now hides these things from us; and shew us that fearful and amazing sight which we are now so loth to think upon: I say, if we believe this, it is time for us to be wise and serious.

And happy that man, who in the days of his health hath retir'd himself from the noise and tumult of this world, and made that careful preparation for Death and a better Life, as may give him that constan­cy and firmness of Spirit, as to be able to bear the thoughts and approaches of his great Change without amazement; and to have a mind almost equally poiz'd be­tween that strong inclination of Nature which makes us desirous to live, and that wiser dictate of Reason and Religion which should make us willing and con­tented to die whenever God thinks fit.

Many of us do not now so clearly discern these things, because our eyes are dazzel'd with the false light and splendor of earthly felicity: But this assuredly is more worth than all the Kingdoms of the World and the Glory of them, to be able to possess our Souls at such a time, and [Page 151] to be at perfect Peace with our own minds, having our hearts fixed trusting in God: To have our Accounts made up, and Estate of our immortal Souls as well settled and secur'd, as by the assistance of God's Grace humane care and endeavour, though mix'd with much humane frailty, is able to do.

And if we be convinc'd of these things, we are utterly inexcusable if we do not make this our first and great care, and prefer it to all other interests whatsoever. And to this end; we should resolutely disentangle our selves from worldly cares and incumbrances; at least so far, that we may have competent liberty and lei­sure to attend this great concernment, and to put our Souls into a fit posture and preparation for another World: That when Sickness and Death shall come, we may not act our last part indecently and confusedly, and have a great deal of work to do when we shall want both time and all other advantages to do it in: Whereby our Souls, when they will stand most in need of comfort and support, will un­avoidably be left in a trembling and disconsolate condition, and in an anxious doubtfulness of mind what will become of them for ever.

[Page 152]To conclude, This care of Religion and our Souls is a thing so necessary, that in comparison of it we are to neglect the very necessaries of Life. So our Lord teacheth us. Matth. 6.31, 33. Take no thought saying, what shall we eat? or what shall we drink? or wherewithal shall we be cloathed? But seek ye first the Kingdom of God and his righ­teousness. The Calls of God and Religion are so very pressing and importunate, that they admit of no delay or excuse whatso­ever: This our Saviour signifies to us by denying the Disciple, whom he had call'd to follow him, leave to go and bury his Father, Let the dead, says he, bury their dead, but do thou follow me.

There is one thing needful, and that is the business of Religion and the care of our immortal Souls, which whatever else we neglect should be carefully minded and regarded by every one of us. O that there were such a heart in us. O that we were wise, that we understood this, that we would consider our latter end: Which God grant we may all do, in this our day; for his mercies sake in Jesus Christ, to whom with the Father and the Holy Ghost, be all Honour and Glory, now and ever. Amen.

Of the Eternity of Hell-Torments.

AMong all the arguments to Repen­tance and a good Life, those have the greatest force and power upon the minds of men, which are fetch'd from another World; and from the final state of good and bad men after this Life. And this our Saviour represents to us in a most lively manner, in that prospect which, in the latter part of this Chapter, he gives us of the Judgment of the great Day, name­ly, that at the end of the World the Son of Man shall come in his glory, with his Holy Angels, and shall sit upon the Throne of his Glory; and all Nations shall be gathered be­fore [Page 154] him, and shall be separated into two great Companies, the Righteous and the Wicked; who shall stand the one on the Right hand, and the other on the Left of this great Judge; who shall pronounce sentence severally upon them according to the actions which they have done in this Life: The Righteous shall be re­warded with eternal happiness, and the Wicked shall be sentenc'd to everlasting punishment. And these, that is, the Wick­ed, shall go away into everlasting punishment, but the Righteous into Life eternal.

The Words are plain and need no ex­plication. For I take it for granted, that every one, at first hearing of them, does clearly apprehend the difference between the Righteous and the Wicked, and be­tween endless Happiness and Misery: But although these Words be so very easy to be understood, they can never be too much consider'd by us. The Scope and design of them is, to represent to us the different Fates of good and bad men in another World, and that their Ends there, will be as different, as their Ways and doings have been here in this World: The serious consideration whereof is the greatest discouragement to Sin, and the most powerful argument in the World to [Page 155] a holy and vertuous life: Because it is an argument taken from our greatest and most lasting interest, our happiness or our misery to all Eternity: A concernment of that vast consequence, that it must be the greatest stupidity and folly in the World for any man to neglect it.

This eternal state of Rewards and Pu­nishments in another World, our Blessed Saviour hath clearly revealed to us. And as to one part of it, viz. That good men shall be eternally happy in another World, every one gladly admits it: But many are loth that the other part should be true, concerning the eternal punishment of wicked men. And therefore they pre­tend that it is contrary to the Justice of God to punish temporary Crimes with eternal Torments: Because Justice al­ways observes a proportion between Of­fences and Punishments: but between temporary Sins and eternal Punishments there is no proportion. And as this seems hard to be reconcil'd with Justice, so much more with that excess of Goodness which we suppose to be in God.

And therefore they say, that though God seem to have declar'd that impeni­tent Sinners shall be everlastingly pu­nish'd, yet these declarations of Scripture [Page 156] are so to be mollified and understood, as that we may be able to reconcile them with the essential perfections of the Di­vine nature.

This is the full force and strength of the Objection. And my work at this time shall be to clear, if I can, this difficult Point. And that for these two Reasons. First, For the vindication of the Divine Justice and Goodness: That God may be justified in his sayings, and appear Righ­teous when he judgeth. And Secondly, be­cause the belief of the threatnings of God in their utmost extent is of so great moment to a good Life, and so great a discouragement to Sin: For the sting of Sin is the terrour of eternal punishment; and if men were once set free from the fear and belief of this, the most powerful restraint from Sin would be taken away.

So that in answer to this Objection, I shall endeavour to prove these two things.

First, That the eternal punishment of wicked men in another World is plainly threatned in Scripture.

Secondly, That this is not inconsistent either with the Justice or the Goodness of God.

First, That the eternal punishment of wicked men in another World is plainly [Page 157] threatned in Scripture, namely, in these following Texts, Matth. 18.8. It is bet­ter for thee to enter into Life halt and maim­ed, than having two hands or two feet to be cast into everlasting fire. And Matth. 25.41. Depart ye cursed into everlasting fire, pre­pared for the Devil and his Angels. And here in the Text, these, that is, the wicked, shall go away into everlasting punishment. And Mark 9. It is there three several times with great vehemency repeated by our Saviour, where their worm dyeth not, and the fire is not quenched. And 2 Thes. 1.9. speaking of them that know not God and obey not the Gospel of his Son, it is said of them, who shall be punish'd with everlast­ing destruction.

I know very well that great endeavour hath been us'd to avoid the force of these Texts, by shewing that the words, for ever and everlasting, are frequently us'd in Scripture in a more limited sense, only for a long duration and continuance. Thus, for ever, doth very often in the Old Testament only signify for a long time and till the end of the Jewish Dispensation. And in the Epistle of St. Jude, verse 7th. The Cities of Sodom and Gomorrah are said to be set forth for an example, suffer­ing the vengeance of eternal fire, that is, [Page 158] of a fire that was not extinguish'd till those Cities were utterly consumed.

And therefore to clear the meaning of the forementioned Texts. First, I shall readily grant, that the words, for ever and everlasting, do not always in Scri­pture signify an endless duration; and that this is sufficiently proved by the in­stances alledg'd to this purpose. But then, Secondly, it cannot be denied on the other hand, that these words are often in Scri­pture used in a larger sense and so as ne­cessarily to signify an interminable and endless duration. As where Eternity is attributed to God, and he is said to live for ever and ever: And where eternal happiness in another World is promised to good men, and that they shall be for ever with the Lord. Now the very same words and expressions are used concerning the punishment of wicked men in another life, and there is great reason why we should understand them in the same ex­tent: Both, because if God had intended to have told us that the punishment of wicked men shall have no end, the Lan­guages wherein the Scriptures are writ­ten do hardly afford fuller and more cer­tain words, than those that are used in this case, whereby to express to us a du­ration [Page 159] without end: And likewise, which is almost a peremptory decision of the thing, because the duration of the punish­ment of wicked men is in the very same sentence express'd by the very same word which is us'd for the duration of the hap­piness of the righteous: As is evident from the Text, These, speaking of the wicked, shall go away, [...], into eternal punishment, but the righteous, [...], into life eternal. I pro­ceed to the

Second thing I propos'd; namely, to II shew that this is not inconsistent either with the Justice or the Goodness of God. For in this the force of the Objection lies. And it hath been attempted to be answer­ed several ways, none of which seems to me to give clear and full satisfaction to it.

First, It is said by some, that because sin is infinite in respect of the Object against whom it is committed, which is God, therefore it deserves an infinite punish­ment.

But this I doubt will upon examination be found to have more of subtlety than of solidity in it. 'Tis true indeed, that the dignity of the Person against whom any offence is committed is a great aggravati­on of the fault. For which reason all of­fences [Page 160] against God are certainly the greatest of all other. But that crimes should hereby be heighten'd to an infinite degree can by no means be admitted; and that for this plain reason; because then the evil and demerit of all sins must necessarily be equal; for the demerit of no sin can be more than infinite: And if the demerit of all sins be equal, there can then be no reason for the degrees of pu­nishment in another World: But to deny that there are degrees of punishment there, is not only contrary to reason, but to our Saviour's express assertion, that some shall be beaten with many stripes and some with fewer, and that it shall be more tolerable for some in the day of judgment than for others. Besides, that by the same reason that the least sin that is committed against God may be said to be infinite be­cause of its object, the least punishment that is inflicted by God may be said to be infinite because of its Author; and then all punishments from God as well as all sins against him would be equal; which is palpably absurd. So that this answer is by no means sufficient to break the force of this Objection.

Secondly, It is said by others, that if wicked men lived for ever in this World [Page 161] they would sin for ever, and therefore they deserve to be punish'd for ever. But this hath neither truth nor reason enough in it to give satisfaction. For who can cer­tainly tell that if a man lived never so long he would never repent and grow better?

Besides, that the Justice of God doth only punish the sins which men have committed in this life, and not those which they might possibly have commit­ted if they had lived longer.

Thirdly, It is said in the last place, that God hath set before men everlasting Hap­piness and Misery, and the sinner hath his choice. Here are two things said which seem to bid fairly towards an answer.

First, That the reward which God pro­miseth to our obedience is equal to the pu­nishment which he threatens to our dis­obedience. But yet this I doubt will not reach the business: Because though it be not contrary to Justice to exceed in Re­wards, that being matter of meer favour; yet it may be so, to exceed in Punishments.

Secondly, It is further said, that the sin­ner in this case hath nothing to complain of, since he hath his own choice. This I confess is enough to silence the sinner, and to make him to acknowledge that his destruction is of himself; but yet for [Page 162] all that, it does not seem so clearly to sa­tisfy the objection from the disproportion between the fault and the punishment.

And therefore I shall endeavour to clear, if it may be, this matter yet a little further by these following Considerations.

First, Let it be consider'd, that the mea­sure of Penalties with respect to Crimes is not only, nor always, to be taken from the quality and degree of the offence, much less from the duration and conti­nuance of it, but from the ends and rea­sons of Government; which require such penalties as may, if it be possible, secure the observation of the Law, and deterr men from the breach of it. And the rea­son of this is evident, because if it were once declar'd that no man should suffer longer for any Crime than according to the proportion of the time in which it was committed, the consequence of this would be that sinners would be better husbands of their time and sin so much the faster, that they might have the greater bargain of it, and might satisfy for their sins by a shorter punishment.

And it would be unreasonable likewise upon another account; because some of the greatest sins may perhaps be commit­ted in the shortest time; for instance, [Page 163] Murther; the act whereof may be over in a moment, but the effects of it are per­petual. For he that kills a man once kills him for ever. The act of Murther may be committed in a trice, but the injury is endless and irreparable. So that this ob­jection of temporary Crimes being pu­nish'd with so much longer sufferings is plainly of no force.

Besides, that whoever considers how ineffectual the threatning even of eternal torments is to the greatest part of sinners, will soon be satisfy'd that a less penalty than that of eternal sufferings would to the far greatest part of mankind have been in all probability of little or no force. And therefore if any thing more terrible than eternal vengeance could have been threatned to the workers of iniquity, it had not been unreasonable, because it would all have been little enough to de­terr men effectually from sin.

So that what proportion Crimes and Penalties ought to bear to each other, is not so properly a consideration of Ju­stice, as of Wisdom and Prudence in the Lawgiver.

And the reason of this seems very plain, because the measure of Penalties is not taken from any strict proportion [Page 164] betwixt Crimes and Punishments; but from one great end and design of Govern­ment, which is to secure the observation of wholesome and necessary Laws; and consequently whatever Penalties are pro­per and necessary to this end are not un­just.

And this Consideration I desire may be more especially observed, because it strikes at the very foundation of the objection. For if the appointing and apportioning of Penalties to Crimes be not so properly a consideration of Justice, but rather of Prudence in the Lawgiver; then what­ever the disproportion may be between temporary Sins and eternal sufferings Ju­stice cannot be said to be concern'd in it.

Justice indeed is concern'd, that the Righteous and the Wicked should not be treated alike; and farther yet, that great­er sins should have a heavier punishment, and that mighty sinners should be mightily tormented; but all this may be consider'd and adjusted in the degree and the intense­ness of the suffering, without making any difference in the duration of it.

The case then in short stands thus. Whenever we break the Laws of God we fall into his hands and lye at his mer­cy, and he may without injustice inflict [Page 165] what punishment upon us he pleaseth: And consequently, to secure his Law from violation, he may beforehand threaten what penalties he thinks fit and necessary to deterr men from the Transgression of it. And this is not esteemed unjust among men, to punish Crimes that are commit­ted in an instant with the perpetual loss of Estate, or Liberty, or Life.

Secondly, This will yet appear more reasonable when we consider, that after all he that threatens hath still the power of execution in his own hands. For there is this remarkable difference between Promises and Threatnings, that he who promiseth passeth over a right to another, and thereby stands obliged to him in Ju­stice and Faithfulness to make good his promise; and if he do not, the party to whom the promise is made is not only disappointed but injuriously dealt withal: But in threatnings it is quite otherwise. He that threatens keeps the right of pu­nishing in his own hand and is not obli­ged to execute what he hath threatned any further than the reasons and ends of Government do require: And he may without any injury to the party threat­ned remit and abate as much as he pleas­eth of the punishment that he hath threat­ned: [Page 166] And because in so doing he is not worse but better than his word, no body can find fault, or complain of any wrong or injustice thereby done to him.

Nor is this any impeachment of God's truth and faithfulness, any more than it is esteem'd among men a piece of fals­hood not to do what they have threatned. God did absolutely threaten the destru­ction of the City of Niniveh, and his peevish Prophet did understand the threat­ning to be absolute, and was very angry with God for employing him in a message that was not made good. But God under­stood his own right, and did what he pleas'd notwithstanding the threatning he had denounc'd, and for all Jonah was so touch'd in honour that he had rather have dyed himself than that Niniveh should not have been destroy'd, only to have verifi'd his message.

I know it is said in this case, that God hath confirm'd these threatnings by an Oath, which is a certain sign of the im­mutability of his counsel; and therefore his Truth is concern'd in the strict and ri­gorous execution of them. The Land of Canaan was a Type of Heaven, and the Israelites who rebell'd in the Wilderness were also a Type of impenitent Sinners [Page 167] under the Gospel; and consequently the Oath of God concerning the rebellious Israelites, when he sware in his wrath that they should not enter into his rest, that is, into the Land of Canaan, doth equally oblige Him to execute his threatning up­on all impenitent Sinners under the Go­spel, that they shall never enter into the Kingdom of God. And this is very truly reason'd, so far as the threatning extends; which if we attend to the plain words of it, beyond which threatnings are never to be stretch'd, doth not seem to reach any further than to the exclusion of impeni­tent Sinners out of Heaven and their fal­ling finally short of the Rest and Happi­ness of the Righteous: Which however, directly overthrows the Opinion ascrib'd to Origen that the Devils and wicked men shall all be saved at last; God having sworn in his wrath that they shall never en­ter into his rest.

But then, as to the eternal misery and punishment threatned to wicked men in the other World, though it be not neces­sarily comprehended in this Oath that they shall not enter into his Rest: yet we are to consider, that both the tenour of the Sentence which our Blessed Saviour hath assur'd us will be pass'd upon them [Page 168] at the Judgment of the Great Day, De­part ye cursed into everlasting fire; and likewise this Declaration in the Text, that the Wicked shall go away into everlast­ing punishment, though they do not re­strain God from doing what he pleases, yet they cut off from the Sinner all rea­sonable hopes of the relaxation or mitiga­tion of them. For since the great Judge of the World hath made so plain and ex­press a Declaration, and will certainly pass such a Sentence, it would be the great­est folly and madness in the world for the Sinner to entertain any hope of escaping it, and to venture his soul upon that hope.

I know but one thing more, commonly said upon this Argument, that seems ma­terial. And that is this, That the words death and destruction and perishing, where­by the punishment of wicked men in the other World is most frequently express'd in Scripture, do most properly import an­nihilation and an utter end of Being; and therefore may reasonably be so under­stood in the matter of which we are now speaking.

To this I answer, that these words, and those which answer them in other Languages, are often, both in Scripture and other Authors, used to signify a state [Page 169] of great misery and suffering, without the utter extinction of the miserable. Thus God is often in Scripture said to bring destruction upon a Nation when he sends great Judgments upon them, though they do not exterminate and make an utter end of them.

And nothing is more common in most Languages, than by perishing to express a person's being undone and made very miserable. As in that known passage in Tiberius his Letter to the Roman Senate, Ita me Dij Deae (que) omnes pejus perdant quàm bodiè perire me sentio, &c. Let all the Gods and Goddesses, saith he, destroy me worse than at this very time I feel my self to perish, &c. in which Say­ing, the words, destroy and perish, are both of them us'd to express the miserable an­guish and torment which at that time he felt in his mind, as Tacitus tells us at large.

And as for the word Death; a state of misery which is as bad or worse than death may properly enough be call'd by that name: And for this reason the pu­nishment of wicked men after the Day of Judgment is in the Book of the Revelati­on so frequently and fitly call'd the second death. And the Lake of fire, into which the wicked shall be cast to be tormented in it, is expresly call'd the second death. Rev. 20.14.

But besides this, they that argue from [Page 170] the force of these words, that the punish­ment of wicked men in the other world shall be nothing else but an utter end of their Being, do necessarily fall into two great inconveniencies.

First, That hereby they exclude all po­sitive punishment and torment of Sinners. For if the second death, and to be destroy'd, and to perish, signify nothing else but the Annihilation of Sinners and an utter extin­ction of their Being; and if this be all the effect of that dreadful Sentence which shall be pass'd upon them at the Day of Judgment, then the Fire of Hell is quench'd all at once, and is only a frightful Meta­phor without any meaning. But this is di­rectly contrary to the tenour of Scripture, which doth so often describe the punish­ment of wicked men in Hell by positive torments: And particularly our Blessed Saviour, describing the lamentable state of the damned in Hell, expresly says that there shall be weeping and wailing and gnash­ing of teeth; which cannot be, if Anni­hilation be all the meaning and effect of the Sentence of the Great Day.

Secondly, Another inconvenience of this Opinion is, that if Annihilation be all the punishment of Sinners in the other World, then the punishment of all Sinners must [Page 171] of necessity be equal, because there are no degrees of Annihilation or not-being. But this also is most directly contrary to Scripture, as I have already shewn.

I know very well that some who are of this Opinion do allow a very long and te­dious time of the most terrible and into­lerable torment of Sinners, and after that they believe that there shall be an utter end of their Being.

But then they must not argue this from the force of the Words before mentioned, because the plain inference from thence is, that Annihilation is all the punishment that wicked men shall undergo in the next Life; And if that be not true, as I have plainly shewn that it is not, I do not see from what other words or expressions in Scripture they can find the least ground for this Opinion, that the torment of wicked men shall at last end in their An­nihilation. And yet admitting all this, for which I think there is no ground at all in Scripture, I cannot see what great com­fort Sinners can take in the thought of a tedious time of terrible torment, ending at last in Annihilation and the utter ex­tinction of their Beings.

Thirdly, We may consider further, that the primary end of all Threatnings is not [Page 172] punishment, but the prevention of it. For God does not threaten that men may sin and be punish'd, but that they may not sin, and so may escape the punishment threaten'd. And therefore the higher the threatning runs, so much the more mercy and goodness there is in it; because it is so much the more likely to hinder men from incurring the penalty that is threatned.

Fourthly, Let it be consider'd likewise, that when it is is so very plain that God hath threatned eternal misery to impeni­tent Sinners, all the prudence in the World obliges men to believe that he is in good earnest and will execute these threat­nings upon them, if they will obstinately stand it out with him, and will not be brought to Repentance. And therefore in all reason we ought so to demean our selves, and so to perswade others, as knowing the terrour of the Lord, and that they who wilfully break his Laws are in danger of eternal Death. To which I will add in the

Fifth and last place, That if we sup­pose that God did intend that his threat­nings should have their effect to deterr men from the breach of his Laws, it can­not be imagin'd that in the same Revela­tion which declares these threatnings any [Page 173] intimation should be given of the abate­ment or non-execution of them. For by this God would have weaken'd his own Laws, and have taken off the edge and terror of his threatnings: Because a threat­ning hath quite lost its force, if we once come to believe that it will not be execu­ted: And consequently, it would be a ve­ry impious design to go about to teach or perswade any thing to the contrary, and a betraying men into that misery which had it been firmly believ'd might have been avoided.

We are all bound to preach, and You and I are all bound to believe the terrors of the Lord. Not so, as sawcily to deter­mine and pronounce what God must do in this case; for after all, He may do what he will, as I have clearly shewn: But what is fit for us to do, and what we have reason to expect, if notwithstanding a plain and express threatning of the ven­geance of eternal fire, we still go on to treasure up to our selves wrath against the day of wrath, and the revelation of the righteous Judgment of God; and will desperately put it to the hazard, whether, and how far God will execute his threat­nings upon Sinners in another World.

And therefore there is no need why [Page 174] we should be very sollicitously concern'd for the honour of God's Justice or Good­ness in this matter. Let us but take care to believe and avoid the Threatnings of God; and then, how terrible soever they are, no harm can come to us. And as for God, let us not doubt but that he will take care of his own Honour; and that He, who is holy in all his ways, and righteous in all his works, will do nothing that is re­pugnant to his eternal Goodness and Righteousness; and that He will certain­ly so manage things at the Judgment of the Great Day, as to be justified in his say­ings, and to be righteous when we are judged. For, notwithstanding his Threatnings, he hath reserved Power enough in his own hands to do right to all his Perfections: So that we may rest assur'd, that he will judge the world in righteousness; and if it be any-wise inconsistent either with Righteousness or Goodness, which He knows much better than we do, to make Sinners miserable for ever, that He will not do it; nor is it credible, that he would threaten Sinners with a Punishment which he could not justly execute upon them.

Therefore Sinners ought always to be afraid of it, and reckon upon it: And al­ways [Page 175] to remember, that there is great Goodness and Mercy in the severity of God's Threatnings; and that nothing will more justify the infliction of eternal Torments, than the foolish presumption of Sinners in venturing upon them, not­withstanding such plain and terrible Threatnings.

This, I am sure, is a good Argument to all of us, to work out our Salvation with fear and trembling; and with all possible care to endeavour the prevention of that mise­ry which is so terribly severe, that at pre­sent we can hardly tell how to reconcile it with the Justice and Goodness of God.

This God heartily desires we would do; and hath solemnly sworn, that he hath no pleasure in the death of the wicked, but ra­ther that he should turn from his wickedness and live. So that here is all imaginable care taken to prevent our miscarriage, and all the assurance that the God of Truth can give us of his unwillingness to bring this misery upon us. And both these, I am sure, are arguments of great Goodness. For what can Goodness do more, than to warn us of this misery, and earnestly to persuade us to prevent it; and to threaten us so very terribly, on purpose to deterr us from so great a dan­ger?

[Page 176]And if this will not prevail with us, but we will still go on to despise the riches of God's goodness, and long suffering, and forbearance; what in reason remains for us, but a fearful looking for of Judgment and fiery Indignation to consume us? And what almost can Justice, or even Good­ness it self do less, than to inflict that pu­nishment upon us, which with eyes open we would wilfully run upon; and which no warning, no persuasion, no importuni­ty could prevail with us to avoid? And when, as the Apostle says, knowing the Judgment of God, that they which commit such things are worthy of death; yet for all that, we would venture to commit them.

And therefore, whatever we suffer, we do but inherit our own choice, and have no reason to complain of God, who hath set before us Life and Death, eternal Hap­piness and Misery, and hath left us to be the Carvers of our own Fortune: And if, after all this, we will obstinately re­fuse this happiness, and wilfully run up­on this Misery, Wo unto us! for we have rewarded evil to our selves.

You see then, by all that hath been said upon this Argument, what we have all reason to expect, if we will still go on in [Page 177] our Sins, and will not be brought to Re­pentance. You have heard, what a terri­ble Punishment the just God hath threat­ned to the Workers of Iniquity: and that in as plain words as can be used to express anything. These, that is, the wicked, shall go away into everlasting Punishment, but the righteous into Life eternal.

Here are Life and Death, Happiness and Misery set before us. Not this frail and mortal Life, which is hardly worth the having, were it not in order to a bet­ter and happier Life; nor a temporal Death, to get above the dread whereof should not methinks be difficult to us, were it not for the bitter and terrible con­sequences of it: But an eternal Life, and an eternal enjoyment of all things which can render Life pleasant and happy; and a perpetual Death, which will for ever torment us, but never make an end of us.

These God propounds to our choice: And if the consideration of them will not prevail with us to leave our sins, and to re­form our lives, what will? Weightier Motives cannot be propos'd to the under­standing of Man, than everlasting Punish­ment, and Life eternal; than the greatest and most durable happiness, and the most [Page 178] intolerable and lasting misery that human Nature is capable of.

Now, considering in what terms the Threatnings of the Gospel are express'd, we have all the reason in the world to be­lieve that the Punishment of Sinners in another world will be everlasting. How­ever, we cannot be certain of the contra­ry, time enough to prevent it; not till we come there, and find by experience how it is: And if it prove so, it will then be too late either to prevent that terrible Doom, or to get it revers'd.

Some comfort themselves with the un­comfortable and uncertain hope of being discharg'd out of Being, and reduc'd to their first Nothing; at least after the te­dious and terrible suffering of the most grievous and exquisite Torments for in­numerable Ages. And if this should hap­pen to be true, good God! how feeble, how cold a comfort is this? Where is the Reason and Understanding of Men, to make this their last Refuge and Hope; and to lean upon it as a matter of mighty consolation, that they shall be miserable beyond all imagination, and beyond all patience, for God knows how many Ages? Have all the workers of iniquity no knowledge? No right sense and judgment [Page 179] of things? No consideration and care of themselves, no concernment for their own lasting Interest and Happiness?

Origen, I know not for what good rea­son, is said to have been of opinion, That the punishment of Devils and wicked men, after the Day of Judgment, will continue but for a thousand years; and that after that time, they shall all be final­ly saved. I can very hardly persuade my self, that so wise and learned a man as Origen was, should be positive in an Opi­nion for which there can be no certain ground in Reason, especially for the pun­ctual and precise term of a thousand years; and for which there is no ground at all, that I know of, from Divine Re­velation.

But upon the whole matter, however it be; be it for a thousand years, or be it for a longer and unknown term, or be it for ever, which is plainly threatned in the Gospel: I say, however it be, this is certain, that it is infinitely wiser to take care to avoid it, than to dispute it, and to run the final hazard of it. Put it which way we will, especially if we put it at the worst, as in all prudence we ought to do, it is by all possible means to be provided against: So terrible, so intolerable is the [Page 180] thought, yea the very least suspicion of being miserable for ever.

And now give me leave to ask You, as St. Paul did King Agrippa, Do you believe the Scr [...]ptures? And I hope I may answer for you my self as he did for Agrippa, I know you do believe them. And in them these things are clearly revealed, and are part of that Creed of which we make a solemn profession every day.

And yet when we consider how most men live, is it credible that they do firmly believe this plain Declaration of our Sa­viour and our Judge, That the wicked shall go away into everlasting Punishment, but the righteous into Life eternal?

Or if they do in some sort believe it, is it credible that they do at all consider it seriously, and lay it to heart? So that if we have a mind to reconcile our belief with our Actions, we must either alter our Bible and our Creed, or we must change our Lives.

Let us then consider, and shew our selves men. And if we do so, can any man to please himself for a little while be con­tented to be punish'd for ever; and for the shadow of a short and imperfect hap­piness in this life, be willing to run the ha­zard of being really and eternally misera­ble in the next World?

[Page 181]Surely this consideration alone, of the extreme and endless misery of impenitent Sinners in another World, if it were but well wrought into our minds, would be sufficient to kill all the temptations of this World, and to lay them dead at our feet; and to make us deaf to all the Enchant­ments of Sin and Vice: Because they bid us so infinitely to our loss, when they of­fer us the enjoyment of a short Pleasure, upon so very hard and unequal a conditi­on as that of being miserable for ever.

The eternal Rewards and Punishments of another Life, which are the great San­ction and Security of God's Laws, one would think should be a sufficient weight to cast the Scales against any Pleasure, or any Pain, that this World can tempt, or can threaten us withal.

And yet, after all this, will we still go on to do wickedly; when we know the ter­rors of the Lord, and that we must one day answer all our bold violations of his Law, and contempts of his Authority, with the loss of our immortal Souls, and by suffering the vengeance of eternal Fire?

What is it then that can give men the Heart and Courage; but I recall that Word, because it is not true Courage, but fool hardiness, thus to out brave the Judg­ment [Page 182] of God, and to set at nought the horrible and amazing consideration of a miserable Eternity? How is it possible that men that are awake, and in their wits, should have any ease in their minds, or enjoy so much as one quiet hour, whilst so great a danger hangs over their heads, and they have taken no tolerable care to prevent it? If we have any true and just sense of this danger, we cannot fail to shew that we have it, by making haste to escape it, and by taking that care of our Souls, which is due to immortal Spirits that are made to be Happy or Miserable to all Eternity.

Let us not therefore estimate and mea­sure things as they appear now to our sen­sual and deluded and deprav'd Judg­ments; but let us open our eyes, and look to the last issue and consequence of them: Let us often think of these things, and consider well with our selves, what ap­prehensions will then probably fill and possess our minds, when we shall stand trembling before our Judge, in a fearful expectation of that terrible Sentence which is just ready to be pronounced, and as soon as ever it is pronounc'd to be exe­cuted upon us: When we shall have a full and clear sight of the unspeakable [Page 183] Happiness, and of the horrible and asto­nishing Miseries of another World: When there shall be no longer any Veil of Flesh and Sense to interpose between them and us, and to hide these things from our eyes: And, in a word, when Heaven with all the Glories of it, shall be open to our view; and, as the expression is in Job, Hell shall be naked before us, and Destruction shall have no covering.

How shall we then be confounded, to find the truth and reality of those things which we will not now be persuaded to believe? And how shall we then wish, that we had believed the terrors of the Lord; and instead of quarrelling with the Principles of Religion, and calling them into question, we had lived under the constant sense and awe of them?

Blessed be God, that there is yet hope concerning us, and that we may yet flee from the wrath to come; and that the Mi­series of Eternity may yet be prevented in Time: And that for this very end and purpose, our most Gracious and Merci­ful God hath so clearly revealed these things to us, not with a desire to bring them upon us, but that we being warn­ed by his Threatnings, might not bring them upon our selves.

[Page 184]I will conclude all with the Counsel of the Wise Man; Wisd. of So­lomon, ch. 1. ver. 12, 13, 16. Seek not Death in the er­ror of your Life, and pull not upon your selves destruction with the works of your own hands. For God made not death, nei­ther hath he pleasure in the destruction of the Living: But ungodly men with their works and words have called it down upon themselves. Which that none of us may do, God of his infinite Goodness grant, for his Mercies sake in Jesus Christ: To whom, with Thee, O Father, and the Holy Ghost, be all Honour and Glory, Dominion and Power, Thanksgiving and Praise, both now and for ever. Amen.

Success not always answerable to the probability of Second Causes.

NEXT to the acknowledgment of God's Being, nothing is more es­sential to Religion, than the Belief of his Providence, and a constant depen­dance upon him, as the great Governor of the World, and the wise disposer of all the affairs and concernments of the children of men: And nothing can be a greater argument of Providence, than that there is such an order of Causes laid in Nature, that in ordinary course every thing does usually attain its end; and [Page 186] yet that there is such a mixture of Con­tingency, as that now and then, we can­not tell how nor why, the most likely causes do deceive us, and fail of produ­cing their usual effects.

For if there be a God and a Provi­dence, it is reasonable that things should be thus: Because a Providence does sup­pose all things to have been at first wisely fram'd, and with a fitness to attain their end; but yet it does also suppose that God hath reserved to himself a power and li­berty to interpose, and to cross as he plea­ses, the usual course of things; to awa­ken men to the consideration of him, and a continual dependance upon him; and to teach us to ascribe those things to his wise disposal, which, if we never saw any change, we should be apt to impute to blind necessity. And therefore the Wise-man, to bring us to an acknowledg­ment of the Divine Providence, tells us that thus he had observed things to be in this World; that though they generally happen according to the probability of Second Causes, yet sometimes they fall out quite otherwise, I returned, and saw under the sun, that the race is not to the swift, nor the battel to the strong, &c.

The connexion of which Words, with [Page 187] the foregoing Discourse, is briefly this. Among many other Observations which the Wise Preacher makes in this Sermon of the vanity and uncertainty of all things in this World, and of the mistakes of men about them, he takes notice here in the Text, and in the Verse before it, of two Extremes of human Life: Some, because of the uncertainty of all worldly things, cast off all care and diligence, and neglect the use of proper and probable means, having found by experience, that when men have done all they can, they many times fail of their end, and are dis­appointed they know not how: Others, on the contrary, rely so much upon their own skill and industry, as to promise success to themselves in all their under­takings; and presume so much upon se­cond Causes, as if no consideration at all were to be had of the First.

The Wise Preacher reproves both these extremes, and shews the folly and vanity of them. On the one hand, of those who sit still, and will use no care and endea­vour, because it may all happen to be dis­appointed, and to fail of Success: Not considering, that though prudent care and diligence will not always do the bu­siness, yet there is nothing to be done [Page 188] without them, in the ordinary course of things; and that, in the order of Second Causes, these are the most likely and ef­fectual means to any end: And therefore, rejecting this lazy Principle, he counsels men, whatever they propose to them­selves, to be very diligent and vigorous in the use of proper means for the at­tainment of it; in the Verse immediate­ly before the Text, Whatever thy hand findeth to do, do it with thy might.

But then he observes also, as great a folly and vanity on the other hand; that they who manage their affairs with great wisdom and industry, are apt to presume and reckon upon the certain success of them, without taking into consideration that which in all human affairs is most considerable, the favour and blessing of that almighty and wise Providence which rules the World; I returned, says he, and saw under the sun, that the race is not to the swift, nor the battel to the strong, &c.

I returned and saw, that is, having con­sider'd on the one hand the folly of sloth and carelessness, I turned mine eyes the other way, and saw as great an error on the other hand; in mens presuming too much upon their own diligence and con­duct, without taking notice of the Pro­vidence [Page 189] of God. For I have found, says Solomon, by manifold observation, That the success of things does not always an­swer the probability of second causes and means. So that the sum of the Preacher's advice is this: When thou propoundest any end to thy self, be diligent and vigo­rous in the use of means; and when thou hast done all, look above and beyond these to a Superior Cause which over­rules, and steers, and stops as he pleases, all the motions and activity of second Causes: And be not confident that all things are ever so wisely and firmly laid, that they cannot fail of success. For the Providence of God doth many times step in to divert the most probable event of things, and to turn it quite another way: And whenever he pleaseth to do so, the most strong and likely means do fall lame, or stumble, or by some accident or other come short of their end.

I returned, and saw under the sun, that is, here below, in this inferior World.

That the race is not to the swift: This the Chaldee Paraphrast does understand with relation to warlike affairs, I beheld, says he, and saw, that they who are swift as eagles do not always escape in the day of bat­tel. But I chuse rather to understand the [Page 190] Words in their more obvious sense, that in a Race many things may happen to hinder him that is swiftest from win­ning it.

Nor the battel to the strong; That is, victory and success in war do not always attend the greatest force and preparati­ons, nor doth that side which in humane estimation is strongest always prevail and get the better.

Nor yet bread to the wise; Neque docto­rum panem esse, so some render the Words, that learned men are not always secured against poverty and want.

Nor yet riches to men of understanding, for so some Interpreters translate the Words, Neque industriis divitias esse, that those who take most pains do not always get the greatest estates.

Nor yet favour to men of skill; that is, to those who understand men and busi­ness, and how to apply themselves dex­trously to the inclinations and interests of Princes and Great men. Others interpret these Words more generally, Neque peri­torum artificum esse gratiam, that those who excel most in their several Arts and Professions do not always meet with fui­table encouragement: But because the Word, which is here render'd favour, is [Page 191] so frequently us'd by Solomon for the fa­vour of Princes, the former sense seems to be more easy and natural.

But time and chance happeneth to them all; that is, saith Aben Ezra, there is a secret Providence of God which some­times presents men with unexpected op­portunities, and interposeth accidents which no human wisdom could foresee: Which gives success to very unlikely means; and defeats the swift, and the strong, and the learned, and the indu­strious, and them that are best vers'd in men and business, of their several ends and designs.

It sometimes happens, that he that is swiftest, by a fall, or by fainting, or by some other unlucky accident may lose the Race.

It sometimes falls out, that a much smaller and weaker number, by the ad­vantage of ground, or of a pass; by a stratagem, or by a sudden surprise, or by some other accident and opportunity, may be victorious over a much greater force.

And that an unlearned man, in compa­rison, by favour, or friends, or by some happy chance of setting out to the best advantage the little learning he has, be­fore one that hath less, may arrive at great things; when perhaps at the same time, [Page 192] the man that is a hundred times more learned than he, may be ready to starve.

And that men of no great parts and industry may stumble into an estate, and by some casual hit in Trade, may attain such a Fortune, as the man that hath toil [...]d and drudg'd all his life shall never be able to reach.

And Lastly, that a man of no great am­bition or design may fall into an oppor­tunity, and by happening upon the mollia tempora fandi, some soft and lucky season of address, may slide into his Prince's fa­vour, and all on the sudden be hoisted up to that degree of dignity and esteem, as the designing Man who hath been laying trains to blow up his Rivals, and waiting opportunities all his days to worm others out and to skrew himself in, shall never be able to attain.

The Words thus explain'd contain this general Proposition, which shall be the subject of my following Discourse.

That in human affairs the most likely means do not always attain their end, nor does the event constantly answer the probabi­lity of second causes; but there is a secret Providence which governs and over-rules all things, and does, when it pleases, inter­pose to defeat the most hopeful and probable designs.

[Page 193]In the handling of this Proposition I shall do these three things.

First, I shall confirm and illustrate the truth of it, by an Induction of the par­ticulars which are instanc'd in, here in the Text.

Secondly, I shall give some reason and account of this, why the Providence of God doth sometimes interpose to hinder and defeat the most probable designs.

Thirdly, I shall draw some inferences from the whole, suitable to the occasion of this Day. In all which I shall endea­vour to be as brief as conveniently I can.

First, For the confirmation and illustra­tion of this Proposition, That the most like­ly means do not always attain their end; but there is a secret Providence which over­rules and governs all events, and does, when it pleases, interpose to defeat the most pro­bable and hopeful designs. This is the gene­ral Conclusion which Solomon proves by this Induction of particulars in the Text. And he instanceth in the most probable means for the compassing of the several ends which most men in this World pro­pose to themselves. And the great darlings of mankind are Victory, Riches, and Ho­nour: I do not mention Pleasure, because that seems rather to result from the use [Page 194] and enjoyment of the other. Now if a man design Victory, what more probable means to overcome in a Race than swift­ness? What more likely to prevail in War than strength? If a man aim at Riches, what more proper to raise an Estate than understanding and industry? If a man aspire to Honour, what more likely to prefer him to the King's favour and service than dexterity and skill in bu­siness? And yet experience shews that these means, as probable as they seem to be, are not always successful for the ac­complishment of their several ends.

Or else we may suppose that Solomon by these Instances did intend to represent the chief engines and instruments of hu­mane designs and actions. Now there are five things more especially, which do emi­nently qualify a man for any underta­king; expedition and quickness of di­spatch; strength and force; providence and forecast; diligence and industry; knowledge, and insight into men and bu­sines: And some think that Solomon did intend to represent these several qualities by the several instances in the Text. The Race is not to the swift, that is, men of the greatest expedition and dispatch do not always succeed: For we see that men [Page 195] do sometimes out-run business, and make haste to be undone. Nor the battel to the strong, that is, neither does force and strength always carry it. Nor yet bread to the wise; which some understand of the provident care and pains of the Husband­man, whose harvest is not always answer­able to his labour and hopes. Nor yet riches to men of understanding, or industry; that is, neither is diligence in business always crown'd with success. Nor yet favour to men of skill, that is, neither have they that have the greatest dexterity in the ma­nagement of affairs always the fortune to rise. And if we take the words in this sense, the thing will come much to one: But I rather approve the first interpreta­tion, as being less forc'd and nearer to the Letter.

So that the force of Solomon's reasoning is this. If the swiftest do not always win the race; nor the strongest always over­come in War: If knowledge and learning do not always secure men from want; nor industry always make men rich; nor po­litical skill always raise men to high place; nor any other means, that can be instanced in as most probable, do con­stantly and infallibly succeed: then it must be acknowledg'd that there is some [Page 196] other Cause which mingles it self with humane affairs and governs all events; and which can, and does when it pleases, defeat the most likely, and bring to pass the most improbable designs: And what else can that be imagin'd to be, but the secret and over-ruling Providence of Al­mighty God? when we can find no other, we are very unreasonable if we will not admit this to be the Cause of such ex­traordinary events, but will obstinately impute that to blind Necessity or Chance which hath such plain characters upon it of a Divine Power and Wisdom.

I might be large upon every one of these Instances in the Text, and illustrate them by pat and lively Examples both out of Scripture and other Histories. But I shall briefly pass over all of them, but the second, the battel is not to the strong.

The race is not to the swift. If we un­derstand this literally, it is obvious to eve­ry man to imagine a great many accidents in a Race, which may snatch Victory from the swiftest runner. If we under­stand it, as the Chaldee Paraphrase does, with relation to War, that the swiftest does not always overcome or escape in the day of Battel; of this Asahel is an eminent Instance, who though he was, as [Page 197] the Scripture tells us, light of foot as a wild Roe, yet did he not escape the spear of Abner. It seems that among the Anci­ents, swiftness was look'd upon as a great qualification in a Warriour, both because it serves for a sudden assault and onset, and likewise for that which in civility we call a nimble retreat. And therefore David; in his Poetical Lamentation over those two great Captains, Saul and Jonathan, takes particular notice of this warlike quality of theirs; They were, says he, swifter than Eagles, stronger than Lyons: And the con­stant Character which Homer gives of A­chilles, one of his principal Heroes, is, that he was swift of foot: The Poet feigns of him, that by some charm or gift of the Gods he was invulnerable in all parts of his body except his heel: And that was the part to which he trusted; and in that he received his mortal wound: The wise Poet hereby instructing us, that many times our greatest danger lies there, where we place our chief confidence and safety.

Nor yet bread to the wise, or to the learn­ed. The poverty of Poets is Proverbial; and there are frequent instances in Histo­ry of eminently learned persons that have been reduced to great straits and necessi­ties.

[Page 198] Nor yet riches to men of understanding: By which, whether we understand men of great parts, or of great diligence and industry; it is obvious to every man's ob­servation, that an ordinary capacity and understanding does usually lie more level to the business of a common Trade and Profession, than more refin'd and elevated parts; which lie rather for speculation than practice, and are better fitted for the pleasure and ornament of conversation, than for the toil and drudgery of business: As a fine Razor is admirable for cutting hairs, but the dull Hatchet much more proper for hewing a hard and knotty piece of timber. And even when Parts and Industry meet together, they are ma­ny times less successful in the raising of a great Estate, than men of much lower and slower understandings: because these are apt to admire riches, which is a great spur to industry; and because they are perpetually intent upon one thing, and mind but one business, from which their thoughts never straggle into vain and use­less enquiries after knowledge, or news, or publick affairs; all which being foreign to their business they leave to those who are, as they are wont to say of them in scorn, more curious, and too wise to be rich.

[Page 199] Nor yet favour to men of skill. All Histo­ry is full of Instances of the casual ad­vancement of men to great favour and ho­nour, when others, who have made it their serious study and business, have fal­len short of it. I could give a famous Ex­ample in this kind, of the manifold and manifest disappointment of a whole Or­der of men: the slyest and most subtile, in their generation, of all the children of this World; the most politically instituted, and the best studied and skill'd in the tem­pers and interests of men; the most prag­matical, and cunning to insinuate them­selves into the Intrigues of Courts and great Families: and who, by long expe­rience, and an universal intelligence, and communicated observations, have redu­ced humane affairs, at least as they think, to a certain Art and Method, and to the most steddy Rules that such contingent things are capable of: I believe you all guess before-hand whom I mean, even the honest Jesuits: And yet these men of so much art and skill have met with as many checks and disappointments, as a­ny sort of men ever did: They have been discountenanc'd by almost all Princes and States, and, one time or other, banish'd out of most of the Courts and Countries [Page 200] of Europe. And it is no small argument of the Divine Providence, that so much cunning hath met with so little counte­nance and success; and hath been so often, so grosly infatuated, and their counsels turn'd into foolishness.

But I promis'd only to mention these, and to insist upon the second Instance in the Text, I return'd, and saw under the Sun, that the battel is not to the strong, to the Gibborim, the Gyants, for so the He­brew word signifies; in which Solomon might possibly have respect to the history of the Israelites subduing the Canaanites, a People of great strength and stature, among whom were the Gyants, the sons of Anak: or more probably, to the famous encounter of his Father David with the great Goliah: But however that be, the Scripture is full of Examples to this pur­pose; that when the Providence of God is pleased to interpose in favour of any side, 2 Chron. 14.11. it becomes victorious; according to the saying of King Asa in his prayer to God, it is nothing with thee to help, whe­ther with many, or with those that have no power.

Sometimes God hath defeated great Armies by plain and apparent Miracles: Such was the drowning of Pharaoh and [Page 201] his Host in the Red Sea; and the Stars fighting in their courses against Sisera; by which Poetical expression I suppose is meant Sisera's being remarkably defeated by a visible hand from Heaven: And such was the destruction of the proud King of Assyria's Army by an Angel, who slew an hundred and fourscore and five thousand of them in one night.

Sometimes God does this by more hu­mane ways; by striking mighty Armies with a Panick and unaccountable fear; and sometimes by putting extraordinary spirits and courage into the weaker side, so that an hundred shall chase a thousand, and a thousand shall put ten thousand to flight.

This made David so frequently to ac­knowledge the Providence of God, espe­cially in the affairs of War. Ps. 33.16. There is no King saved by the multitude of an Host, neither is a mighty man delivered by much strength. And again, Psal. 44 6. I will not trust in my bow, neither shall my sword save me. And Solomon confirms the same observation, There is no wisdom, says he, nor understand­ing, nor counsel against the Lord. Prov. 21.30, 31. The horse is prepared against the day of battel, but safety, or, as some Translations render it Victory, is of the Lord. Gideon, by a very [Page 202] odd stratagem of Lamps and Pitchers, de­feated a very numerous Army, only with three hundred men. Jonathan and his Ar­mour-bearer, by climbing up a Rock, and coming suddenly on the back of the Phi­listines Camp, struck them with such a terror as put their whole Army to flight. King Asa, with a much inferior number, defeated that huge Ethiopian Army which consisted of a Million. And how was Xerxes his mighty Army over­thrown, almost by a handful of Grecians? And, to come nearer our selves, how was that formidable Fleet of the Spaniards, which they presumptuously called invin­cible, shatter'd and broken in pieces, chiefly by the Winds and the Sea? So many accidents are there, especially in War, whereby the Divine Providence doth sometimes interpose and give Victo­ry to the weaker side.

And this hath been so apparent in all Ages, that even the Heathen did always acknowledge, in the affairs of War, a special interposition of Fortune; by which the wiser among them did understand the Divine Providence. Plutarch, speaking of the Romans, says, that Time and Fortune, the very same with Solomon's Time and Chance here in the Text, did lay the foun­dation [Page 203] of their Greatness, by which he ascribes their success to a remarkable Pro­vidence of God concurring with several happy Opportunities.

And Livy, their great Historian, hath this remarkable Observation, That in all human affairs, especially in matters of War, Fortune hath a mighty stroke. And again, No where, says he, is the event less answer­able to expectation than in War; and there­fore nothing is so slight and inconsiderable, which may not turn the Scales in a great matter. And Caesar himself, who was per­haps the most skilful and prosperous Warriour that ever was, makes the same acknowledgment; As in all other things, says he, so particularly in War, Fortune hath a huge sway. And Plutarch observes, That there was no Temple at Rome dedi­cated to Wisdom or Valour, but a most magnificent and stately one to Fortune; signifying hereby, that they did ascribe their success infinitely more to the Provi­dence of God, than to their own Courage and Conduct. I proceed now, in the

Second place, to give some reason and II account of this, Why the Providence of God doth sometimes thus interpose to hinder and defeat the most probable de­signs [Page 204] of men. To bring men to an ac­knowledgment of his Providence, and of their dependance upon Him, and subordi­nation to Him; and that He is the great Governor of the World, and rules in the Kingdoms of men; and that all the inha­bitants of the Earth are as nothing to Him, and the power of Second Causes inconsi­derable: That He doth according to his will, in the Armies of heaven, and among the inhabitants of the earth, and none may stay his hand, or say unto him what dost thou.

God hath so order'd things, in the ad­ministration of the affairs of the World, as to encourage the use of means; and yet so, as to keep men in a continual de­pendance upon him for the efficacy and success of them: To encourage Industry and Prudence, God generally permits things to their natural course, and to fall out according to the power and probabi­lity of second Causes.

But then, lest men should cast off Re­ligion, and deny the God that is above; lest they should trust in their sword and their bow, and say, the Lord hath not done this; lest men should look upon themselves as the Creators and framers of their own fortune, and when they do but a little outstrip others in wisdom or power, in [Page 205] the skill and conduct of humane affairs, they should grow proud and presumptu­ous, God is pleased sometimes more re­markably to interpose, to hide pride from man, as the expression is in Job; to check the haughtiness and insolence of mens spirits, and to keep them within the bounds of modesty and humility; to make us to know that we are but men, and that the reins of the World are not in our hands, but that there is One above who sways and governs all things here below.

And indeed if we should suppose, in the first frame of things which we call Nature, an immutable Order to be fix'd, and all things to go on in a constant course, according to the power and force of second Causes, without any interpo­sition of Providence to stop, or alter that course, upon any occasion: In this case, the foundation of a great part of Religi­on, but especially of Prayer to God would be quite taken away: Upon this Suppo­sition, it would be the vainest thing in the World to pray to God for the good success of our undertakings, or to ac­knowledge Him as the Author of it: For if God do only look on, and permit all things to proceed in a settled and esta­blish'd [Page 206] course; then instead of praying to God we ought to ply the means, and to make the best provision and preparation we can for the effecting of what we de­sire; and to rely upon that, without ta­king God at all into our counsel and con­sideration. For all application to God by Prayer doth evidently suppose, that the Providence of God does frequently in­terpose, to over-rule events besides and beyond the natural and ordinary course of things, and to steer them to a quite different Point, from that to which in human probability they seem'd to tend.

So that it is every whit as necessary to Religion to believe the Providence of God, and that He governs the World, and does when He pleases interpose in the affairs of it, as that he made it at first. I come now in the

III Third and last place, to make some In­ferences suitable to the Occasion of this Day, from what hath been said upon this Argument: And they shall be these.

First, From hence we may learn, not to account Religion, and time spent in the Service of God, and in Prayer to Him for his blessing upon our endeavours, do be any hindrance to our affairs. For after we have done all we can, the event is still [Page 207] in God's hand, and rests upon the disposal of his Providence.

And did men firmly believe this, they would not neglect the duty of Prayer, and behave themselves so carelesly, and unconcernedly, and irreverently in it, as we see too many do; they would not look upon every hour that is spent in Devoti­on as lost from their business.

If men would but take a view of what hath happen'd to them in the course of a long Life, I believe most of us would see reason to acknowledge, that our pro­sperity and success in any kind hath de­pended more upon happy opportunities; upon undesign'd and unexpected occur­rences, than upon our own prudent fore­cast and conduct.

And if this were well consider'd by us, we should not methinks be so apt to leave God out of our counsels and under­takings, as if he were a mere Name and Cypher in the World. It is, I am sure, the advice of one that was much wiser and more experienc'd, than any of us will pretend to be, I mean, Solomon, Trust in the Lord with all thine heart, Prov. 3.5, 6. and lean not to thine own understanding: In all thy ways acknowledge him; and he shall di­rect thy paths: Be not wise in thine own [Page 208] eyes, fear the Lord and depart from evil. There is no Principle that ought more firmly to be believed by us than this, That to live under a constant sense and awe of Almighty God, to depend upon his Providence, and to seek his favour and blessing upon all our designs, being fearful to offend Him and careful to please Him, is a much nearer and surer way to success, than our own best Pru­dence and Preparations.

And therefore at such a time, more especially, when we are going to War, or engaged in it, we should break off our sins by repentance and the sincere resolu­lution of a better course: We should ear­nestly implore the blessing of God upon our undertakings; and not only take great care that our Cause be just, but likewise that there be no wicked thing a­mongst us, to drive God out of our Camp; no accursed thing, that may pro­voke Him to deliver us into the hands of our Enemies. It was a particular Law given by God to the Jews, Deut. 23.9. When the Host goeth forth against thine Enemy, then keep thy self from every wicked thing; then, that is, more especially at such a time.

And this is a necessary Caution, not only to those who are personally engaged [Page 209] in the War, that by the favour of God they may have their heads covered in the day of Battel, or if God shall suffer them to fall by the hand of the Enemy, that having made their peace beforehand with Him, they may not only have the comfort of a good Cause, but of a good Conscience, void of offence towards God and men.

But this Caution likewise concerns those, who are interested in the success and event of the War; as we all are, not only in regard of our Lives and E­states, but of that which ought to be much dearer to us, our Religion and the freedom of our Consciences; which are now every whit as much at stake, as our Civil interests and Liberties. And there­fore as we tender any, or all of these, we should be very careful to keep our selves from every wicked thing; that they who fight for us may not for our sins, and for our sakes, turn their backs in the day of battel, and fall by the Sword of the E­nemy.

Secondly, From hence we may like­wise learn, so to use the means as still to depend upon God; who can, as he plea­ses, bless the Counsels and endeavours of Men, or blast them and make them of [Page 210] none effect. For as God hath promised nothing but to a wise and diligent use of means, so all our prudence, and indu­stry, and most careful preparations may miscarry, if He do not favour our de­sign: For without Him nothing is wise, nothing is strong, nothing is able to reach and attain its end.

We should indeed use the means as vi­gorously, as if God did nothing; and when we have done so, we should de­pend upon God for the success of those means, as if we our selves had done no­thing, but did expect all from his favour and blessing: For when all is done, we are only safe under his Protection, and sure of success from his Blessing.

For whatever vain and foolish men may say in their hearts, There is, There is a God, that made the World, and ad­ministers the affairs of it with great Wis­dom and Goodness; else how came any of us into Being, or what do we here? Did we not most assuredly believe that there is a God, that governs the World and super-intends human affairs; the first wish of a Wise man would be, to steal out of Being, if he could; and that the same Chance or Necessity that brought him into the World, would take the first [Page 211] opportunity to carry him out. For to be every moment liable to present, and great, and certain Evils; and to have no security against the continuance of them, or the return of the same or worse Evils; nor to have any assurance of a better and more durable state of rest and hap­piness hereafter, is in truth so very me­lancholy a meditation, that I do not know any consideration in the World that is of force and power enough to support the mind of man under it: And were there not in the World a Being, that is wiser, and better, and more powerful than our selves, and that keeps things from running into endless confusion and disorder; a Being that loves us, and takes care of us, and that will certainly consi­der and reward all the good that we do, and all the evil that we suffer upon his ac­count, I do not see what reason any man could have to take any comfort and joy in Being, or to wish the continuance of it for one moment.

Thirdly and lastly, The Consideration of what hath been said upon this Argu­ment, should keep us from being too san­guine and confident of the most likely designs and undertakings; because these do not always answer the probability of [Page 212] second Causes and Means; and never less, than when we do with the greatest confidence rely upon them; when we promise most to our selves from them, then are they most likely to deceive us: They are, as the Prophet compares them, like a broken reed, which a man may walk with in his hand, whilst he lays no great stress upon it; but if he trust to it, and lean his whole weight on it, it will not only fail him, but even pierce him through.

And we cannot do a greater prejudice to our affairs, when they are in the most hopeful and likely condition to succeed and do well, than to shut God and his Providence out of our counsels and con­sideration. When we pass God by, and take no notice of Him, but will rely up­on our own wisdom and strength, we pro­voke him to leave us in the hands of our own counsel, and to let us see what weak and foolish Creatures we are: And a man is never in greater danger of drown­ing, than when he clasps his arms clo­sest about himself: Besides, that God loves to resist the self-confident and pre­sumptuous, and to scatter the proud in the imagination of their hearts.

And as in all our concernments we ought to have a great regard to God, the [Page 213] Supreme disposer of all things, and ear­nestly to seek his favour and blessing up­on all our undertakings, so more espe­cially in the affairs of War; in which the Providence of God is pleas'd many times in a very peculiar manner to inter­pose and interest it self: And there is great reason to think he does so; because all War is, as it were, an Appeal to God, and a reference of those Causes to the de­cision of his Providence, which through the pride, and injustice, and perverse pas­sions of men, can receive no other de­termination.

And here God loves to shew himself, and in an eminent manner to take part with Right and Justice against those mighty Oppressors of the Earth, who like an overflowing flood would bear down all before them: In this case, the Provi­dence of God is sometimes pleas'd to give a remarkable check to great Power and Violence, and to One that vainly gives out himself not unequal to the whole World; by very weak and contemptible means; and, as the Apostle elegantly ex­presseth it, by the things which are not, to bring to nought the things that are: And to say to Him, as God once did to the proud King of Assyria: Whom hast thou [Page 214] reproached and blasphemed, Isa. 37.23, 26, 27, 28, 29, 32. and against whom hast thou exalted thy voice, and lifted up thine eyes on high? even against the Holy one of Israel. Hast thou not heard long ago, that I have done it; and of ancient times that I have formed it? Now have I brought it to pass, that thou shouldest be to lay waste defenced Cities into ruinous heaps: There­fore their Inhabitants were of small power, they were dismayed and confounded, &c. But I know thy abode, and thy going out, and thy coming in, and thy rage against me: Be­cause thy rage against me, and thy tumult is come up into mine ears, therefore will I put my hook into thy nose, and my bridle into thy lips, and I will turn thee back by the way by which thou camest. —The zeal of the Lord of Hosts shall do this.

But more especially, in vindication of his oppressed Truth and Religion, and in the great and signal Deliverances of his Church and People, God is wont to take the conduct of affairs into his own hands, and not to proceed by humane rules and measures: He then bids second Causes to stand by, that his own Arm may be seen, and his Salvation may appear: He raiseth the spirits of men above their natural pitch, and giveth power to the faint, and to them that have no might he increaseth strength, as the Prophet expresseth it.

[Page 215]Thus hath the Providence of God very visibly appear'd in our late Deliverance; in such a manner, as I know not whether He ever did for any other Nation, except the People of Israel, when He delivered them from the House of Bondage by so mighty a hand and so outstretched an arm: And yet too many among us, I speak it this day to our shame, do not seem to have the least sense of this great Delive­rance, or of the hand of God which was so visible in it; but like the Children of Israel when they were brought out of Egypt, we are full of murmurings and discontent against God the Author, and his Servant the happy Instrument under God of this our Deliverance. What the Prophet says of that People, may I fear be too justly apply'd to us, Isa. 26.10, 11. Let favour be shewn to the wicked, yet will he not learn righteousness; in the Land of uprightness he will deal unjustly, and will not behold the Majesty of the Lord: Lord, When thy hand is lifted up, they will not see; but they shall see, and be ashamed: And I hope I may add that which follows in the next verse, Lord, thou wilt ordain peace for us; for thou also hast wrought all our works for us. What God hath already done for our deliverance is, I hope, an earnest that He [Page 216] will carry it on to a perfect peace and set­tlement; and this, notwithstanding our high provocations and horrible ingrati­tude to the God of our Life, and of our Salvation.

And when ever the Providence of God thinks fit thus to interpose in humane af­fairs, the race is not to the swift, nor the battel to the strong: For which reason their Majesties, in their great Piety and Wis­dom, and from a just sense of the Provi­dence of Almighty God, which rules in the Kingdoms of men, have thought fit to set apart this Day for solemn repentance and humiliation: That the many and heinous Sins, which we in this Nation have been, and still are guilty of, and which are of all other our greatest and most dangerous Enemies, may not sepa­rate between God and us, and hinder good things from us, and cover us with confu­sion in the day of our danger and distress: And likewise, earnestly to implore the favour and blessing of Almighty God up­on their Majesties Forces and Preparations by Sea and Land: And more particular­ly, for the preservation of his Majesties sacred Person, upon whom so much de­pends, and who is contented again to hazard Himself to save us.

[Page 217]To conclude; There is no such way to engage the Providence of God for us, as by real Repentance and Reformation; and by doing all we can, in our several Places from the highest to the lowest, by the provision of wise and effectual Laws for the discountenancing and suppressing of Profaneness and Vice, and by the careful and due execution of them, and by the more kindly and powerful influ­ence of a good Example, to retrieve the ancient Piety and Virtue of the Nation: For without this, whatever we may think of the firmness of our present set­tlement, we cannot long be upon good terms with Almighty God, upon whose favour depends the prosperity and stabili­ty of the present and future Times.

I have but one thing more to mind you of; and that is, to stir up your charity towards the poor; which is likewise a great part of the Duty of this Day, and which ought always to accompany our Prayers and Fastings: Thy Prayers and thine Alms, saith the Angel to Cornelius, are come up before God: And therefore if we desire that our Prayers should reach Heaven, and receive a gracious answer from God, we must send up our Alms along with them.

[Page 218]And instead of all other arguments to this purpose, I shall only recite to you the plain and perswasive words of God Himself, in which He declares what kind of Fast is acceptable to Him: Isa. 58.5, 6, &c. Is it such a Fast as I have chosen? a Day for a man to afflict his soul? Is it to bow down his head as a bulrush, to spread sackcloth and ashes under him? Wilt thou call this a Fast, and an acceptable Day to the Lord? Is not this the Fast that I have chosen? To loose the bands of wickedness, and to undo the heavy burthens, and to let the oppressed go free, and that ye break every yoke: Is it not to deal thy bread to the hungry, and that thou bring the poor that are cast out to thine house; when thou seest the naked that thou cover him, and that thou hide not thy self from thine own flesh? Then shall thy light break forth as the morning, and thy salva­tion shall spring forth speedily; thy righte­ousness, or thine Alms, shall go before thee, and the glory of the Lord shall be thy rere­ward: Then shalt thou call, and I will an­swer thee; thou shalt cry, and He shall say, here I am.

Now to Him that sitteth upon the Throne, and to the Lamb that was slain: To God, even our Father, and to our Lord Jesus Christ, the first begotten from the [Page 219] dead, and the Prince of the Kings of the earth: Ʋnto Him, who hath loved us, and washed us from our sins in his own blood; and hath made us Kings and Priests unto God and his Father: To Him be glory and do­minion, for ever and ever, Amen.

And the God of Peace, that brought a­gain from the dead our Lord Jesus, that great Shepherd of the sheep, through the blood of the everlasting Covenant, make you perfect in every good work to do his Will, working in you that which is well-pleasing in his sight; through Jesus Christ, to whom be glory, for ever and ever, Amen.

The way to prevent the Ruin of a Sinful People.

THese Words are a merciful warning from God to the People of Israel by the Prophet Jeremiah, the last Prophet that God sent to them before their Capti­vity in Babylon.

The time of his Prophecy was of a long continuance, above the space of forty years, viz. from the thirteenth year of King Josiah, to the eleventh year of King Zedekiah, the year in which Jerusalem was taken by Nebuchadnezzar King of Babylon.

This I observe, to shew the great pati­ence of God to a sinful Nation. And this is much the same space of time that God gave warning by our Blessed Saviour and [Page 222] his Apostles to the same People of the Jews concerning their final Destruction. For it was about forty years after the Prediction of our Saviour concerning it, just before his Death, that the terrible Destruction of Jerusalem and the Jewish Nation was exe­cuted upon them by the Romans, or ra­ther chiefly by themselves; as I shall pre­sently shew. Of which dreadful Desolati­on, the first taking of Jerusalem by Nebu­chadnezzar, and their Captivity into Ba­bylon was a kind of Type and Forerunner. For, as Josephus observes, the taking of Jerusalem by Titus Vespasian did happen in the very same Month, and on the very same Day of the Month in which Jeru­salem was taken by Nebuchadnezzar, viz. upon our tenth of August.

And it is not unworthy of our observa­tion, that the time of God's warning is wont to hold some sort of proportion with the extent of his Judgments. Before the universal Deluge which destroyed the whole World▪ Noah and his Family only excepted, God gave a much longer warn­ing by the preaching of Noah, for the space of an hundred and twenty years. Before the destruction of a particular Nation, if we may judge by God's dealing with the Jews, his time of warning is forty years. [Page 223] And before the destruction of a parti­cular City, if we may conclude any thing from the single example of Niniveh, the time of God's warning is yet much short­er, the space of forty days.

And now to what end doth God exer­cise so much patience and threaten so long beforehand, but that by the terror of his threatnings men may be brought to re­pentance, and by repentance may prevent the execution of them? For all the while that God by his Prophet threatens ruin and destruction to the People of Israel, he earnestly invites and urges them to re­pentance, that by this means they might escape the ruin that was denounced a­gainst them: This being a condition per­petually implyed in the denunciation of publick judgments, that if a People re­pent of the evil of their doings God also will repent of the evil which he said he would do unto them, as he expresly de­clares chap. 18. vers. 7, 8. At what instant I speak concerning a Nation and concerning a Kingdom, to pluck up and to pull down and to destroy it, if that Nation against whom I have pronounc'd turn from their evil, I will repent of the evil which I thought to do unto them. And here in the Text, after God had threaten'd destruction to Jerusalem, be­cause [Page 224] of the overflowing of all manner of wickedness and oppression in the midst of her, he gives her a merciful warning to prevent this ruin and desolation by re­pentance, vers. 6, 7. Thus hath the Lord of Hosts said, Hew ye down trees, and cast a mount against Jerusalem; this is a City to be visited, she is wholly oppression in the midst of her. As a fountain casteth out waters, so she casteth out her wickedness. Before me continually is grief and wounds. And yet when he had pronounced this fearful Sen­tence upon her, he tells her that all this misery and desolation might yet be pre­vented, if they would but hearken to the counsel of God, and be instructed by him concerning the things of their peace: For so it follows in the next words, Be thou in­structed O Jerusalem, lest my soul depart from thee, lest I make thee desolate, a land not inhabited. Be thou instructed O Jerusa­lem, that is, do but now at last take that counsel and warning which hath so often, and so long, been tender'd to thee by my servant the Prophet, who hath now for the space of forty years continually, and that with great earnestness and importu­nity, been warning thee of this danger and calling thee to repentance and a bet­ter mind.

[Page 225] Lest my soul depart from thee. In the Hebrew it is, Lest my soul be loosened and disjointed from thee, as it is in the margin of your Bibles; hereby signifying, in the most emphatical manner, the wonderful affection and kindness which God had for his People, and how strongly his soul was link'd to them, and how loth he was to withdraw his love from them; it was like the tearing off of a limb, or the pluck­ing of a joint in sunder; so unwilling is God to come to extremity; so hardly is he brought to resolve upon the ruin even of a sinful Nation: How much rather would he, that they would be instructed and receive correction, and hearken to the things of their peace? But if they will not be persuaded, if no warning will work upon them, his spirit will not always strive with them; but his soul will at last, though with great unwillingness and re­luctancy, depart from them.

And then, no intercession will prevail for them; as he threatens by the same Prophet, chap. 15. verse 1. Then said the Lord unto me, though Moses and Samuel stood before me, yet my mind could not be to­wards this People; cast them out of my sight and let them go forth; away with them in­to Captivity, for they have lost my heart, [Page 226] and no intercession of others for them, nothing but their own repentance can re­cover it.

And when his Soul is once departed from a People, and his heart turn'd a­gainst them, then all sorts of evils and ca­lamities will be let loose upon them; as we may read in the next verse of that Chapter: Jer. 15.2. And it shall come to pass if they say unto thee, whither shall we go forth? Then shalt thou tell them, Thus saith the Lord, such as are for death to death, and such as are for the sword to the sword, and such as are for the famine to the famine, and such as are for the captivity to the captivity. For then God will be weary of repenting, as he tells them verse 6. Thou hast forsaken me, saith the Lord, thou art gone backward; therefore will I stretch out my hand against thee and deliver thee, I am weary of repent­ing. By our obstinate impenitency we harden the heart of God against us, and make him weary of repenting. Hos. 9.12. And when his soul is thus departed from a People, nothing remains but a fearful expectation of ruin. Wo unto them, saith God by the Prophet, when I depart from them. There­fore be thou instructed O Jerusalem, lest my soul depart from thee, lest I make thee deso­late, a Land not inhabited.

[Page 227]Having given this account of the Words, I shall observe from them three things well worth our consideration.

First, The infinite goodness and pati­ence of God towards a sinful People, and his great unwillingness to bring ruin and destruction upon them lest my soul depart from thee, lest I make thee desolate, a Land not inhabited. How loth is He that things should come to this extremity? He is not without great difficulty, and some kind of violence, as it were, offered to himself, brought to this severe resolution; his soul is, as it were, rent and disjointed from them.

Secondly, You see here what is the only proper and effectual means to prevent the misery and ruin of a sinful People. If they will be instructed and take warning by the threatnings of God, and will become wi­ser and better, then his soul will not depart from them, he will not bring upon them the desolation which he hath threatned.

Thirdly, You have here intimated the miserable case and condition of a People, when God takes off his affection from them, and gives over all further care and concernment for them. Wo unto them, when his soul departs from them. For when God once leaves them, then all [Page 228] sorts of evils and calamities will break in upon them.

I shall speak as briefly as I can to these three Observations from the Text.

I First, I observe the infinite patience and goodness of God towards a sinful People, and his great unwillingness to bring ruin and destruction upon them; lest my soul depart from thee, lest I make thee desolate, a Land not inhabited. How loth is God that things should come to this? He is very patient to particular persons, notwithstanding their great and innume­rable provocations. God is strong and pati­ent, though men provoke him every day. And much greater is his patience to whole Nations and great Communities of men.

How great was it to the old World, when the long suffering of God waited in the days of Noah, for the space of an hun­dred and twenty years? And did not ex­pire, till he saw that the wickedness of man was grown great upon the earth, and that all flesh had corrupted its way; not till it was necessary to drown the World to cleanse it, and to destroy Mankind to reform it, by beginning a new World upon the only righteous Family that was left of all the last generation of the Old. For so God te­stifies [Page 229] concerning Noah, when he com­manded him to enter into the Ark, say­ing, Gen. 7.1. Come thou and all thy house into the Ark; for thee, that is, thee only, have I seen righteous before me in this Generation.

The patience of God was great like­wise to Sodom and Gomorrah and the Ci­ties about them. For when the cry of their sins had reached heaven, and called loud for vengeance to be poured down upon them, to express the wonderful patience of God towards such grievous Sinners, though nothing is hid from his sight and know­ledge, yet he is represented as coming down from Heaven to Earth on purpose to enquire into the truth of things, and whether they were altogether according to the cry that was come up to him. And when he found things as bad as was possible, yet then was he willing to have come almost to the lowest terms imaginable, that if there had been but ten righteous persons in those wicked Cities, he would not have de­stroy'd them for the ten's sake.

Nay he seems to come to lower terms yet, with the City of Jerusalem, Jer. 5.1. Run ye to and fro through the streets of Je­rusalem, and see now and know, and seek in the broad places thereof, if ye can find a man, if there be any that executeth judg­ment [Page 230] and seeketh the truth, and I will par­don it.

What can be imagin'd more slow, and mild, and merciful, than the proceedings of the Divine justice against a sinful Peo­ple? God is represented in Scripture as taking a long time to make ready his bow, and to whet his glittering sword, before his hand takes hold of vengeance; as if the instruments of his wrath lay by him blunt and rusty and unready for use. Many a time he threatens, and many a time lifts up his hand, before he gives the fatal blow. And how glad is he when any good man will step in and interpose to stay his hand? As we read Psal. 106.23. Therefore he said, speaking of the People of Israel, that he would destroy them, had not Moses his servant stood in the breach to turn away his wrath, lest he should destroy them. And how kindly doth God take it of Phinehas, as a most acceptable piece of service done to him, and which he hardly knew how sufficiently to reward, that he was a means of putting a stop to his an­ger against the People of Israel: Inso­much that the Psalmist tells us that it was accounted to him for righteousness to all ge­nerations for evermore. I will recite the whole passage at large, because it is re­markable. [Page 231] When the People of Israel were seduced into Idolatry and Whore­dom by the Daughters of Moab, Phinehas in great zeal stood up and executed judg­ment upon Zimri and Cozbi in the very act: By which means the Plague which was broken out upon the Congregation of Israel was presently stayed. Hear what God says to Moses concerning this act of Phinehas. The Lord spake unto Moses say­ing, Phinehas the son of Eleazer, the son of Aaron the Priest, hath turned away my wrath from the Children of Israel, whilst he was zealous for my sake that I consumed them not. Wherefore say, Behold I give un­to him my Covenant of peace, and he shall have it, and his seed after him, even the Covenant of an everlasting Priesthood, be­cause he was zealous for his God, and made an atonement for the Children of Israel: That which God takes so kindly at his hands, next to his zeal for Him, is, that he pacified God's wrath towards the Children of Israel.

And thus did God from time to time deal with the People of Israel, that great Example of the Old Testament of the merciful methods of the Divine Provi­dence towards a sinful Nation. And an Example, as St. Paul tells us, purposely [Page 232] recorded for our admonition upon whom the ends of the World are come. 1 Cor. 10.11.

Let us therefore consider a little the astonishing patience of God towards that perverse People. After all the signs and wonders which he had wrought in their deliverance out of Egypt, and for their support in the Wilderness; and not­withstanding their gross and stupid infi­delity and horrible ingratitude to God their Saviour, and all their rebellious mur­murings and discontents, yet he suffer'd their manners for the space of forty years.

And when they were at last peaceably settled in the promised Land; notwith­standing their frequent relapses into Ido­latry, with what patience did God expect their repentance, and the result of all the merciful messages and warnings given them from time to time by his Prophets, as one that earnestly desir'd it and even long'd for it? Jer. 4.14. O Jerusalem, wash thine heart from wickedness, that thou mayest be saved; how long shall vain thoughts lodge within thee? that is, how long wilt thou delude thy self with vain hopes of esca­ping the judgments of God by any other way than by repentance? And again, O Jerusalem, Jer. 13.27. wilt thou not be made clean? when shall it once be? And chap. 8. ver. 6. [Page 233] says God there, I hearkened and I heard, but they spake not aright; no man repented him of his wickedness, saying, What have I done? Where God is represented, after the manner of men, waiting with great patience, as one that would have been glad to have heard any penitent word drop from them, to have seen any sign of their repentance and return to a better mind.

And when they made some shews of repentance, and had some fits of good re­solution that did presently vanish and come to nothing, how passionately does God complain of their fickleness and in­constancy? O Ephraim, what shall I do un­to thee? O Judah, what shall I do unto thee? for your goodness is as a morning cloud, and as the early dew it goeth away.

And at last, when nothing would do, with what difficulty and reluctancy does God deliver them up into the hands of their Enemies? How shall I give thee up Ephraim? How shall I deliver thee Judah? Hos. 11.8, 9. How shall I make thee as Admah? how shall I set thee as Zeboim? mine heart is turned within me, and my repentings are kindled together; I will not execute the fierceness of mine anger, I will not destroy Ephraim. What a conflict is here? what [Page 234] tenderness and yerning of his bowels to­wards them? He cannot find in his heart to give them up, till he is forced to it by the last necessity.

And when the Nation of the Jews, af­ter their return from the Captivity of Ba­bylon, had in the course of several Ages greatly corrupted themselves, and fill'd up the measure of their sins by crucifying the Lord of Life and Glory, yet how slow was the patience of God in bringing that fatal and final Destruction upon them? Not till after the most merciful warnings given to them, by the Apostles of our Lord and Saviour; not till after the most obstinate impenitency of forty years, un­der the most powerful means of repent­ance that any People in the World ever enjoyed. I proceed to the

II Second Observation from the Text, namely, What is the only proper and ef­fectual means to prevent the ruin of a sinful People? And that is, if they will be instructed and take warning by the threatnings of God to become wiser and better, then his soul will not depart from them, and he will not bring upon them the desolation threatned. Be thou instruct­ed, O Jerusalem, lest my soul depart from [Page 235] thee, and I make thee desolate, a Land not inhabited; intimating, or rather plainly declaring to us, that if we will receive in­struction and take warning the evil threaten'd shall not come. For what other reason can there be, why God should threaten so long before he strikes, and so earnestly press men to repentance, but that he might have the opportunity to spare them and to shew mercy to them?

And indeed, as I observ'd before, all the denunciations and threatnings of God to a sinful Nation do carry this tacit condition in them, that if that Nation turn from their evil ways, God will re­pent of the evil which he thought to do unto them. For God never passeth so irre­vocable a Sentence upon a Nation, as to exclude the case of repentance: Nay on the contrary He gives all imaginable en­couragement to it, and is always ready to meet it, with a pardon in his hand. How often would I have gathered thee, says our merciful Lord when he wept over Jeru­salem, as a hen gathereth her chickens un­der her wings, and ye would not; therefore your House is left unto you desolate.

God is very merciful to particular per­sons upon their repentance. When the Prodigal Son in the Parable, after all his [Page 236] riot and lewdness came to himself and re­solv'd to return home, his Father seeing him yet afar off coming towards him, came out to meet him, and had compassion on him and kissed him. And can any of us be so obstinate and hard-hearted, as not pre­sently to resolve to repent and return, and to meet the compassions of such a Father? Who, after we have offended him to the uttermost, is upon the first dis­covery of our repentance ready to be as kind to us, as he could possibly have been if we had never offended him.

And much more is God ready to re­ceive a Nation upon their sincere Re­pentance; when his Judgments must needs make great havock, and so many are like to suffer under them. This consi­deration God urgeth and pleads with his froward Prophet, in behalf of the great City of Niniveh. Jonah 4.11. And shall not I spare that great City of Niniveh, wherein are more than sixscore thousand persons, who cannot discern their right hand from their left? that is, so many innocent children, by which we may judge of the vast number of the rest of the Inhabitants. For this is a great consideration with God in his sending of publick Calamities, the mul­titude of the Sufferers; and that not on­ly [Page 237] the guilty but the innocent also, with­out a special and miraculous Providence, must be involved in a common Calamity.

Sometimes God respites his Judgments upon the mere external humiliation of a People, and some formal testimonies and expressions of their repentance. Psal. 78. When the People of Israel sought God and enqui­red early after him, though they did but flatter him with their mouth, and their heart was not right with him, yet the Psalmist tells us, that being full of compassion he forgave their iniquity and destroyed them not; that is, he forgave them so far as to respite their ruin.

And much more will a sincere and ef­fectual Repentance stay God's hand, and infallibly turn him from the fierceness of his anger: Insomuch that after he had fix'd and determin'd the very Day for the destruction of Niniveh, and had en­gaged the credit of his Prophet in it, yet as soon as he saw their works, and that they turned from their evil ways, and how glad was he to see it? he presently repented of the evil which he had said he would do unto them, and he did it not. In this case God does not stand upon the reputation of his Prophet, by whom he had sent so peremp­tory a message to them; but his mercy [Page 238] breaks through all considerations, and re­joiceth against judgment: For he cannot find in his heart to ruin those who by the terror of his judgments will be brought to repentance.

And this surely is a mighty motive and encouragement to repentance, to be assur'd that we shall find mercy; and that when our ruin is even decreed, and all the in­struments of God [...]s wrath are fix'd and ready for execution, and his hand is just taking hold of vengeance, yet even then a sincere repentance will mitigate his hot­test displeasure and turn away his wrath. And if we will not come in upon these terms, we extort the judgments of God from him and force him to depart from us, and with violent hands we pull down vengeance upon our own heads.

III Thirdly and lastly, the Text intimates to us the miserable case and condition of a People when God takes off his heart and affection from them, when he gives over all further care and concernment for them, and abandons them to their own wickedness and folly, and to the misera­ble effects and consequences thereof: Wo unto them, when his soul departs from them: For then all sorts of evils and calamities [Page 239] will rush in, and wrath will come upon them to the uttermost; as was threaten'd to the Jews a little before their final destruction, and executed upon them in the most ter­rible and amazing manner that ever was from the foundation of the World. These, as our Blessed Saviour expresses it, were days of vengeance indeed, that all things which were written, that is foretold by Mo­ses and the Prophets concerning the fear­ful end of this perverse and stiff-neck'd People, might be fulfilled.

And because my Text speaks to Jerusa­lem, Be thou instructed, O Jerusalem, lest my soul depart from thee, lest I make thee desolate, a Land not inhabited; though this was spoken to Jerusalem before her Capti­vity into Babylon, yet because this first Ca­ptivity was but a faint Type of her last and final Desolation by the Romans, when God's Soul was indeed departed from Her, and Judea was left desolate, a Land not in­habited: I shall therefore briefly represent to you the full effect of this Threatning in her last final Destruction, when God's Soul was, as it were, perfectly loosen'd and disjointed from Her: That you may see what the fierceness and power of God's Anger is, when he departs from them, and wrath comes upon them to the uttermost, [Page 240] because they would not be instructed and know the time of their visitation.

Thus it was with the Jews, about forty years after the Passion of our Lord, whom with wicked hands they had crucified and slain: Then was God's soul departed from them: Then darkness and desolation came upon them; and they were in a far worse condition than a Countrey would be that is forsaken of the Sun and left condemn'd to a perpetual night, in which darkness and disorder, faction and fury do reign and rage; together with all the fatal con­sequences of zeal and strife, which, St. James tells us, are confusion and every evil work. For when God is once gone, all the good and happiness of Mankind departs together with Him: Then men fall foul upon one another, divide into Parties and Factions, and execute the vengeance of God upon themselves with their own hands.

Thus it happen'd to the Jewish Nation, when the measure of their iniquity was full, and their final ruin was approaching. And that we might know their Fate, and be instructed by it, God provided and pre­serv'd a faithful Historian on purpose, who was an Eye witness of all that befel them: I mean Josephus, who was perso­nally [Page 241] engaged, and was a considerable Commander in the Wars of the Jews with the Romans, before the Siege of Jerusa­lem: And during the Siege was present in the Roman Camp, and being a Jew himself hath transmitted these things to posterity in a most exact and admirable History: such a History, as no man that hath the heart and bowels of a man can read without the greatest pity and asto­nishment.

In the Preface of that lamentable Hi­story he tells us, that all the misfortunes and calamities which the World from the begin­ning of it had seen, compar'd with this last Calamity of the Jewish Nation, were but slight and inconsiderable. He tells us like­wise, that their Civil dissentions were the next and immediate cause of their confu­sion and ruin.

And this more than once: For when Pompey, about sixty years before our Sa­viour's birth, sate down before Jerusalem, he tells us, Lib. 1. c. 3. that the Factions and divisi­ons which they had among themselves were the cause of the taking the City and Temple at that time. And when they re­belled afterwards, that the Heads of their Factions provok'd the Romans, and brought them unwillingly upon them, [Page 242] and at last forced the best natur'd Prince in the World Titus Vespasian to that seve­rity which he most earnestly desired by all means to have prevented. And he fur­ther tells us, Lib. 4. c. 5. that even before the Siege of Jerusalem, the Cities of Judea had all of them civil discords among themselves, and that in every City one part of the Jews fought against another.

And when Jerusalem began to be be­sieged, What a miserable condition was it in, by the cruelty of the Zealots under the command of John the Son of Giorah? And presently after another Faction arose under Simon, who enter'd into the City with a fresh Force and assaulted the Zea­lots in the Temple; so that most misera­ble havock was made between them. And then a third Faction started up under Ele­azer, Lib. 7. c. 1. as bad as either of the other: So that infinite almost were the numbers of the People within the City that were barba­rously slain by these Seditions.

And what an infatuation was this? when the Enemy was at the Gates and ready to break in upon them, to employ their whole strength and force against one another: When the same courage and fury, which they spent so freely up­on themselves, had it been turn'd with [Page 243] the like desperateness and obstinacy upon the Romans, might have endanger'd the whole force of the Roman Empire. Once or twice indeed they seem'd to lay aside their enmity for a little while, and to unite in the common defence; but as soon as the danger of a present assault was over, they relaps'd into their former state of intestine enmity and dissention, as if that had been their main business, and the preservation of their City against the Romans only a work by the by, and not much to be regarded.

And to add to all their other miseries, they were so blinded by their own rage and madness, that they wilfully brought upon themselves an extreme Famine. For, as the Historian tells us, they them­selves set on fire vast stores of corn and other necessaries, sufficient to have serv'd them for many years; and by this means the City was much sooner reduc'd, even by a Famine of their own making, and which could not have been brought upon them but by themselves.

This Famine, besides all the other mi­series and cruelties which it occasion'd within the City, did force great numbers of them to steal out by night into the Roman Camp; where they met with as [Page 244] cruel but a speedier death. For Titus, in hope to reduce them the sooner by terror, order'd all those that came out of the Ci­ty to be crucified before the Walls. Which order was so severely executed, that for several days five hundred a day were cru­cified, till there was neither room left to place Crosses in, nor wood whereof to make them: So that they who once cried out so vehemently against our Saviour, Crucify him, Crucify him, had enough of it at last, and by the just and most remark­able judgment of God were paid home in their own kind.

Behold the sad Fate of a sinful People, when God is departed from them! Then all evils overtake them at once. For as their misery increased, so did their Impie­ty to that degree, that the Historian tells us, Lib. 5. c. 2. they scorned and mocked at all divine and holy things, and derided the Oracles of the Prophets, esteeming them no better than Fables; and, in a word, were carried to that extremity of wickedness, as not on­ly to prophane their Temple in the highest manner, and to break the Laws of their own Religion, but even to violate the Laws of Nature and Humanity in the grossest Instances: which made their Historian to give that dismal character [Page 245] of them, that as he thought no City ever suffer'd such things, so no Nation, Lib. 6. c. 11. from the beginning of the World, did ever so abound in all manner of wickedness and impiety: A certain sign that God's Soul was depart­ed from them.

And the same Historian afterwards, upon consideration of the lamentable state into which their Seditions had brought them, breaks out into this doleful lamentation over them, O miserable City! Lib. 7. c. 1. what didst thou suffer from the Romans, though at last they set thee on fire to purge thee from thy sins, that is to be compar'd with those miseries which thou hast brought upon thy self?

To such a dismal state did things come at last, that, as the same Historian relates, many of the Jews prayed for the good success of their Enemies, to deliver them from their civil Dissensions, the Calamity where­of was so great that their final Destruction by the Romans did rather put an end to their misery than increase it,

To conclude this sad Story. It was the Jews themselves that by their own folly [Page 246] and dissensions forc'd the Romans to this sorrowful Victory over them; for in truth all the remorse and pity was on the Enemies side. The Romans were little more than Spectators in this cruel Trage­dy, the Jews acted it upon themselves: And they only who were arriv'd at that prodigious height of Impiety and wick­edness were fit to be the executioners of this vengeance of God upon one another: As if the Prophet had foretold this, when he says, Jer. 2.19. Thine own wickedness shall correct thee.

When Impiety and wickedness are at their highest pitch in a Nation, then they themselves are the only proper instru­ments to punish one another. The Ro­mans were by far too good and gentle to inflict a suffering upon the Jews that was equal to the evil of their doings: None but their own barbarous Selves, who were sunk down into the very lowest de­generacy of humane nature, were capa­ble of so much cruelty and inhumanity as was requisite to execute the Judgment of God upon them to that degree which their sins had deserved.

You see, my Brethren, by what hath been said upon this Argument, what were the Faults, and what the Fate of the [Page 247] Jewish Nation. Now these things, as the Apostle expresly tells us, were written for our admonition, and to the intent that we upon whom the ends of the World are come might be instructed by them: We, I say, who next to the Jewish Nation seem to be a People highly favoured by God above all the Nations of the Earth. We resem­ble them very much in their many and wonderful Deliverances, and a great deal too much in their Faults and Follies.

But as I intend it not, so God forbid that there should be any just ground for a full and exact Parallel between us; Yet this I must say, that nothing ever came nearer to them than We do in several respects. In our fickleness and inconstan­cy, in our murmurings and discontents; for we are never pleas [...]d with what God does, neither when he brings us into dan­ger, nor when he delivers us out of it: We resemble them likewise, in our horrible prophaneness and infidelity, and in our impiety and wickedness of several kinds: in our monstrous ingratitude and most unworthy returns to the God of our Sal­vation: and lastly, in our Factions and Divisions, which were the fatal sign of God's being departed from the Jews, and the immediate cause and means of those [Page 248] dismal Calamities which wrought their final Ruin. And how can we chuse but dread lest their Fate should overtake us, the Example of whose Faults and Follies we do in so many things so nearly resem­ble?

That this may not, nor any thing like it, be our Fate, let us apply our selves to the great Duties of this Day; a serious and deep Repentance, and humiliation of our selves before Almighty God for the many and heinous Sins which we in this Nation have been, and still are guil­ty of, against His Divine Majesty; by our prophaneness and impiety, by our lewdness and luxury, by our oppression and injustice, by our implacable malice and hatred one towards another, and by our senseless divisions and animosities one against another, without cause and with­out end: By our neglect of God's Wor­ship, and prophanation of his Holy Day, and by our dreadful abuse of God's great and glorious Name in those horrid Oaths and Curses and Imprecations which are heard almost day and night in the streets of this great City.

For these and all other our innumera­ble provocations of the patience and good­ness and long-suffering of God towards [Page 249] us, let us sadly repent our selves this Day, and turn unto the Lord with all our hearts, with fasting, and with weeping, and with mourning: And rent our hearts and not our garments, and turn unto the Lord our God; For he is gracious and merciful, slow to anger and of great kindness, and repenteth him of the evil: And who knoweth if he will return and repent and leave a blessing behind him? Turn thou us unto thee, O Lord, and we shall beturned: Take away all iniquity, and receive us graciously.

And let us earnestly beg of Him, that he would be pleased to prevent those ter­rible Judgments and Calamities which hang over us, and which our Sins have so justly deserved should fall upon us: And that He would perfect that wonder­ful Deliverance which he hath begun for us, and establish the thing which he hath wrought: That He would bless Them whom he hath set in Authority over us; and particularly, that He would preserve the Person of the King in his present Ex­pedition, and crown him with victory and good success.

And to our Repentance and Prayers let us add our liberal Alms, and according to the counsel given by the Prophet to Nebuchadnezzar, let us break off our sins by [Page 250] righteousness, and our iniquities by shewing mercy to the poor, if so be it may be a length­ening of our tranquility.

We are yet, blessed be God, in the full enjoyment of peace and quiet at home, and of our Religion and Civil Liberties. God hath given us two excellent Princes sitting on the Throne together, and both of the same Religion with the main Bo­dy of the Nation; and as bright Exam­ples of piety and goodness as England ever saw: And who do by all ways and means study and seek the good of the People committed to their charge.

So that if we did but know our own happiness, and how to value it, we might be the happiest People this day under Heaven: And yet for all this, we are ve­ry far from being happy; because we are neither contented, nor united; and tho we have all the materials of Happiness about us and within our reach, yet have we not the skill and wisdom to put them together.

Miserable People! that may be happy and will not; whom neither so fresh a Deliverance from so great a Danger as was just ready to have swallowed us up, nor the fear and apprehension of falling again into the like confusion, can be a [Page 251] warning to us from returning again un­to the same folly: For those odious and unhappy Names of difference which some years ago sprang up among us, the Devil knows how, did seem whilst a common danger threatned us, to be quite dead and buried: But no sooner was the danger over, but by a kind of miraculous infatuation, behold a sudden Resurrection of them, with greater heats and animo­sities, if possible, than before: Just as it was with the Jews in the Siege of Jeru­salem, when the Romans had made a wide breach and the City was furiously assault­ed, the Factions then gave Truce to one another, and ran in to the common de­fence; but as soon as ever the danger was a little over, they fell on afresh and pro­secuted their main design of destroying one another.

And now that the danger is a little over with us also, how like a Fate upon us does it look, that we are so soon alter'd from our wiser and better temper? Did we well and wisely before out late hap­py Revolution, when we united for our common defence against a common dan­ger, and did let those unlucky Names of distinction fall, so that they seem'd to be quite extinguish'd? And can it be now [Page 252] wise to revive them, and to take them up again; when the same danger in some degree, and from the same implacable Enemies, still hovers over us? No surely, it would not be wise, if the danger were quite past and over; but when it still re­mains and threatens us, what greater fol­ly and infatuation can there be than still to divide and quarrel among our selves? Will nothing but sad and bitter expe­rience be an admonition to us? Will no­thing but the last necessity and extremity of things bring us to our selves and teach us wisdom?

Methinks we should all now be glad to be at rest, after the tedious troubles and distractions, the fruitless quarrels and divisions of fifty years. So long I remem­ber; and in all that space how very few years pass'd over us without some great Calamity and dismal Event. So that by this time one would think we should all be sick of our own follies, and so tir'd with our unprofitable feuds and dissenti­ons, as to make both sides look about them, to see if any body will take pity on us, and step in to part our quarrels.

And now I begin to be sensible, that I have engag'd in a tender Point indeed; and do feel my self standing upon a very [Page 253] slippery place. For who is fit to interpose in such hot and fierce differences? who can do it without danger, or with any hopes of success? And yet for Zion's sake I will not hold my peace, for Jerusalem's sake I will not keep silence: Of so great conse­quence is it to the peace and happiness of this Church and Nation, that these Names and Distinctions of Parties should be laid down and abolish'd for ever.

In order whereunto I take it for grant­ed and lay it for a Principle, that he who hopes to persuade both sides must provoke neither: And therefore I will not so much as enquire where the fault lies. It is in these Civil differences as in Family quar­rels between Man and Wife, if any man ask on which side lies the fault; one may almost safely answer at a venture, on both sides. It must indeed begin on one, but if it be not presently heal'd and made up, the other Party is always so civil as to run in and take a share of the fault, that all the blame may not lie wholly on one side.

And now, my Brethren, let me for once persuade and prevail with you for your good: Let me be so happy as to say something that may sink into your hearts, and incline your minds to peace and good [Page 254] agreement with one another, Have salt in your selves, says our Blessed Saviour the great Peace maker, and peace one with another. By Salt is meant grace and spi­ritual wisdom, and if that do but rule and sway in our hearts, we shall then endea­vour, if it be possible, and as much as in us lies, to live peaceably with all men. If we have salt in our selves, that is, if we be wise, we will then certainly have peace one with another.

And if we were but once come to this healing temper, in this divided and di­stracted Nation, we should not then need to fear all the power of the Enemy. And this our Enemies know full well: and therefore their chief policy and wisdom is, and ever hath been, to divide us; and it will be our own great folly and weak­ness if we suffer our selves to be divided: For who that is wise will take counsel and advice from an Enemy? But if we could agree and hold together, then our Jerusalem would be as a City that is com­pact together, strong and impregnable.

Let us then be instructed, and know, in this our day, things which belong to our Peace, before they be hid from our eyes. And let us all earnestly endeavour and pray for the peace of Jerusalem: Psal. 122. They shall prosper that [Page 255] love her, says the Psalmist, and they do not love her, that do not seek her peace and endeavour by all means to procure it: That peace may be within her walls, and prosperity within her Palaces: The one cannot be without the other: without Peace there can be no Prosperity. And to go on with the words of the Psalmist, let every one of us say, yea let us all with one heart and voice say, for our Brethren and Companions sake, for the sake of our Protestant Brethren all the World over, let us say, Peace be within thee: For the House of the Lord our God, for the sake of our Holy Religion, and of that excel­lent Church whereof we all are, or ought to be Members, let every one of us say, I will seek thy good.

And what greater good can we do to the best Religion, how can we better serve the interest of it in all parts of the World, than by being at peace and unity among our selves, here in England? upon whom the eyes of all the Protestants abroad are fixed, as the Glory of the Re­formation, and the great bulwark and sup­port of it.

That so under the Providence of Al­mighty God, and the conduct of two such excellent Princes as He hath now [Page 256] bless'd us withal: The One so brave and valiant, and Both of them so wise, so good, so religious, we may at last arrive at a firm establishment, and become like mount Zion that cannot be moved; the perfection of Beauty and Strength, and the admiration and joy of the whole Earth; which God of his infinite goodness grant, for his mercies sake in Jesus Christ: To whom, with thee O Father, and the Ho­ly Ghost, be all honour and glory, domi­nion and power, thanksgiving and praise both now and ever, Amen.

A Conscience void of Offence, towards God and Men.

THese words are part of the De­fence which St. Paul made for himself, before Faelix the Roman Governour.

In which he first of all vindicates him­self from the charge of Sedition, ver. 12. They neither found me in the Temple, dis­puting with any man; neither raising up the People, neither in the Synagogue, nor in the City; that is, they could not charge him with making any disturbance either in Church or State.

[Page 260]After this, he makes a free and open profession of his Religion, ver. 14. But this I confess, that after the way which they call Heresie, so worship I the God of my Fathers, believing all things which are written in the Law and the Prophets: Here he declares the Scriptures to be the Rule of his Faith, in opposition to the Oral Tradition of the Pharisees.

More particularly he asserts the Do­ctrine of the Resurrection, which was a principal Article both of the Jewish and the Christian Religion; ver. 15. And I have hope also towards God, that there shall be a Resurrection, both of the just and the unjust.

And having made this declaration of his Faith, he gives an account of his Life, in the words of the Text, ver. 16. And herein do I exercise my self, to have always a conscience void of offence, towards God, and towards men.

Herein, [...], that is, in this work, do I employ my self; or as others ren­der it, in the mean time, whilst I am in this World; or as others, I think most probably, for this cause and reason, [...], for [...], for this reason, because I believe a Resurrection, therefore have I a conscientious care of my life, and all the actions of it.

[Page 261]The Discourse I intend to make upon these words, shall be comprized in these following Particulars.

I. Here is the extent of a good man's pious practice, to have a conscience void of offence, towards God, and towards men.

II. Here is his constancy and perseve­rance in this course; to have always a con­science void of offence.

III. Here is his earnest care and endea­vour to this purpose, I exercise my self.

IV. Here is the principle and immedi­ate Guide of his Actions, which St. Paul here tells us was his Conscience.

V. I shall lay down some Rules and Directions for the keeping of a good Con­science.

VI. Here is the great motive and en­couragement to this, which St. Paul tells us was the belief of a Resurrection, and of a future State of Rewards and Punish­ments consequent upon it; for this cause; because I hope for a Resurrection both of the just and unjust, I exercise my self to have always a conscience void of offence, to­wards God, and towards men. I shall speak but briefly to the three first of these Particulars, that I may be larger in the rest.

[Page 262] I I. Here is the extent of a good man's pious practice. It hath regard to the whole compass of his Duty, as it respects God and Man. I exercise my self, says St. Paul, to have a conscience void of of­fence, towards God, and towards men. And this distribution of our Duty, under these two general Heads, is very frequent in Scripture. The Decalogue refers our Du­ty to these two Heads: And accordingly our Saviour comprehends the whole Du­ty of Man in those two great Command­ments, the love of God and of our Neigh­bour, Matth. 22.38. Ʋpon these two Com­mandments hang all the Law and the Pro­phets, that is, all the Moral Precepts, which are dispers'd up and down in the Law and the Prophets, may be referr'd to these two general Heads.

II II. Here is his constancy and perseve­rance in this course. St. Paul says, that he exercised himself to have always a consci­ence void of offence; [...], continu­ally, at all times, in the whole course of his life. We must not only make con­science of our ways by fits and starts, but in the general course and tenour of our lives and actions, without any balks and intermissions.

[Page 263]There are some that will refrain from grosser Sins, and be very strict at some Seasons; as during the Time of a Solemn Repentance, and for some days before they receive the Sacrament; and perhaps for a little while after it: And when these devout Seasons are over, they let them­selves loose again to their former lewd and vitious course: But Religion should be a constant frame and temper of mind, discovering it self in the habitual course of our lives and actions.

III. Here is likewise a very earnest care III and endeavour to this purpose. Herein do I exercise my self, says St. Paul. The word [...], which is here render'd exer­cise, is a word of a very intense significa­tion, and does denote that St. Paul ap­plied himself to this business with all his care and might, and that he made it his earnest study and endeavour: And so must we; we must take great care to understand our duty, and to be rightly informed concerning good and evil, that we may not mistake the nature of things, and call good evil, and evil good: We must apply our minds in good earnest to be thoroughly instructed in all the parts of our Duty, that so we may not be at a [Page 264] loss what to do when we are call'd to the practice of it: And when we know our Duty, we must be true and honest to our selves, and very careful and consci­entious in the discharge and performance of it. I proceed in the

IV IV ^th Place to consider the principle and immediate Guide of our Actions, which St. Paul here tells us was his Conscience; I exercise my self to have always a conscience void of offence: By which he does not only mean a resolution to follow the di­ctate and direction of his Conscience, but likewise a due care to inform his Conscience aright, that he might not in any thing transgress the Law of God, and his Duty.

Conscience is the great Principle of moral Actions, and our Guide in matter of Sin and Duty. It is not the Law and Rule of our Actions, that the Law of God only is; but it is our immediate Guide and Directour, telling us what is the Law of God and our Duty.

But because Conscience is a word of a very large and various signification, I shall endeavour very briefly to give you the true notion of it. Now in common speech concerning Conscience, every man [Page 265] is represented as having a kind of Court and Tribunal in his own breast, where he tries himself and all his Actions: And Conscience, under one Notion or other, sustains all parts in this Tryal: The Court is call'd the Court of a man's Con­science, and the Barr at which the Sin­ner stands impleaded, is call'd the Barr of Conscience: Conscience also is the Accuser; and it is the Record and Register of our Crimes, in which the memory of them is preserv'd: And it is the Witness which gives testimony for, or against us; hence are those expressions of the testimony of our Consciences, and that a man's own Con­science is to him instead of a thousand Wit­nesses: And it is likewise the Judge which declares the Law, and what we ought, or ought not to have done, in such or such a Case, and accordingly passeth Sen­tence upon us by acquitting or condemning us. Thus, according to common use of Speech, Conscience sustains all imaginable parts in this Spiritual Court: It is the Court, and the Bench, and the Barr; the Accuser, and Witness, and Register, and all.

But I shall only at present consider Conscience in the most common and fa­mous Notion of it, as it is the Principle [Page 266] or Faculty whereby we judge of moral Good and Evil, and do accordingly di­rect and govern our Actions: So that in short, Conscience is nothing else but the Judgment of a man's own mind concer­ning the morality of his actions; that is, the Good, or Evil, or Indifferency of them; telling us what things are commanded by God, and consequently are our Duty; what things are forbidden by Him, and consequently are sinful; what things are neither commanded nor forbidden, and consequently are indifferent. I proceed in the

V V ^th Place, to give some Rules and Di­rections for the keeping of a conscience void of offence. And they shall be these fol­lowing:

First, Never in any case to act contra­ry to the persuasion and conviction of our Conscience. For that certainly is a great Sin, and that which properly of­fends the Conscience and renders us guil­ty; guilt being nothing else but trouble arising in our minds from a consciousness of having done contrary to what we are verily persuaded was our Duty: And though perhaps this persuasion is not al­ways well grounded, yet the guilt is the [Page 267] same so long as this persuasion continues; because every man's Conscience is a kind of God to him, and accuseth or absolves him according to the present persuasion of it. And therefore we ought to take great care not to offend against the light and conviction of our own mind.

Secondly, We should be very careful to inform our Consciences aright, that we may not mistake concerning our Duty; or if we do, that our errour and mistake may not be grosly wilful and faulty.

And this Rule is the more necessary to be consider'd and regarded by us, be­cause generally men are apt to think it a sufficient excuse for any thing, that they did it according to their Conscience. But this will appear to be a dangerous mi­stake and of very pernicious consequence to the Souls of men, if we consider these two things.

1 st, That men may be guilty of the most heinous Sins in following an erro­neous Conscience.

2 ly, And these Sins may prove dam­nable without a particular repentance for them.

1 st, That men may be guilty of the most heinous Sins in following an erroneous Con­science. [Page 268] Men may neglect and abuse themselves so far, as to do some of the worst and wickedest things in the World with a persuasion that they do well. John 16.2. Our Saviour tells his Disciples that the time should come when the Jews should put them to death, thinking they did God good service: Nay the Jews murthered the Son of God himself through ignorance and a false perswasion of mind: Father, forgive them, Luke 23.34. says our Blessed Lord, when he was breathing out his Soul upon the Cross, for they know not what they do. And St. Peter, after he had charged the Jews with killing the Prince of Life, Acts 3.17. he presently adds, I wote that through igno­rance ye did it, as did also your Rulers. And St. Paul, in mitigation of that great Crime, says, Had they known, they would not have crucified the Lord of life and glo­ry: And concerning himself he tells us, That he verily thought with himself, Acts 26.9. that he ought to do many things against the Name of Jesus of Nazareth: And yet not­withstanding that he acted herein accor­ding to the persuasion of his Conscience, he tells us that he had been a blasphemer, and a persecutour, and injurious, and a mur­therer, and in a word, the greatest of Sin­ners. So that Men may be guilty of the [Page 269] greatest Sins in following an erroneous Conscience. And,

2ly, These Sins may prove damnable, without a particular repentance for them. Where the ignorance and mistake is not grosly wilful, there God will accept of a general repentance; but where it is grosly wilful, great Sins committed up­on it are not pardon'd without a particu­lar Repentance for them: And an errour which proceeds from want of ordinary human care and due Government of a man's self, is in a great degree wilful: As when it proceeds from an unreason­able and obstinate prejudice, from great pride and self-conceit, and contempt of counsel and instruction; or from a visi­ble byass of self-interest, or when it is accompanied with a furious passion and zeal, prompting men to cruel and horri­ble things, contrary to the light of na­ture and the common sense of humani­ty: An errour proceeding from such cau­ses, and producing such effects, is wilful in so high a degree, that whatever evil is done in vertue of it is almost equally faulty with a direct and wilful violation of the Law of God.

The ignorance and mistake doth in­deed make the person so mistaken more [Page 270] capable of forgiveness, which is the ground of our Saviour's Prayer for his Murtherers, Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do: St. Paul likewise tells us, that he found mercy upon this account, 1 Tim. 1.13. Nevertheless, says he, I obtained mercy, because I did it ignorantly, and in unbelief, that is, through a false persua­sion of mind, not believing it to be a Sin: And yet he did not obtain this mer­cy, without a particular conviction of his fault and repentance for it. And St. Peter after he had convinced the Jews of their great Sin in crucifying Christ, though they did it ignorantly, yet he exhorts them to a particular and deep repentance for it, as necessary to the par­don and forgiveness of it: And therefore after he had said, Acts 3.19. I wote that through igno­rance ye did it, as did also your Rulers, he immediately adds, Repent ye therefore, and be converted, that your Sins may be blotted out.

So that it highly concerns men to con­sider what opinions they embrace in order to practice, and not to suffer themselves to be hurried away by an unreasonable prejudice and a heady passion, without a due and calm examination of things, nor to be over-born by pride, or humour, [Page 271] or partiality, or interest, or by a furious and extravagant zeal: Because proporti­onably to the voluntariness of our Er­rour will be the guilt of our practice pursuant to that Errour. Indeed where our Errour is involuntary, and morally invincible, God will consider it, and make allowance for it; but where it is voluntary, and occasioned by our own gross fault and neglect, we are bound to consider, and to rectifie our mistake: For what-ever we do contrary to the Law of God and our Duty, in vertue of that false persuasion, we do it at our utmost peril, and must be answerable to God for it, notwithstanding we did it according to the dictate of our Conscience.

A Third Rule is this, that in all doubts of Conscience we endeavour to be equal and impartial, and do not lay all the weight of our doubts on one side, when there is perhaps as much or greater rea­son of doubting on the other: And con­sequently, that we be as tractable and easie to receive satisfaction of our doubts in one kind as in another, and be equally contented to have them over-ruled in cases that are equal: I mean, where our passions and interests are not concern'd, as well as where they are. And if we do [Page 272] not do this, it is a sign that we are par­tial in our pretences of Conscience, and that we do not aim meerly at the peace and satisfaction of our own minds, but have some other interest and design.

For it is a very suspicious thing, when men's doubts and scruples bear all on one side, especially if it be on that side which is against charity, and peace, and obedi­ence to Government, whether Ecclesia­stical or Civil: In this case I think that a meer doubt, and much more a scruple, may, nay, ought in reason to be over­ruled by the Command of Authority, by the opinion and judgment of wise and good men, and in consideration of the publick peace, and of the unity and edification of the Church.

Not that a man is in any case to go a­gainst the clear persuasion and conviction of his own mind, but when there is on­ly a meer doubt concerning the lawful­ness or unlawfulness of a thing, it seems to me in that case very reasonable that a man should suffer a mere doubt or scru­ple to be over-rul'd by any of those weighty considerations which I mention­ed before.

The Fourth Rule is, that all pretences of Conscience are vehemently to be su­spected, [Page 273] which are accompanied with turbulent passion and a furious zeal. It is an hundred to one but such a man's Conscience is in the wrong. It is an ex­cellent saying of St. James, Jam. 1.20. The wrath of man worketh not the righteousness of God, that is, the fierce passions of men are no proper instruments to promote Religion, and to accomplish any thing that is good. And therefore if any man be transported with a wild zeal, and pretend consci­ence for his fury, it is great odds but he is in an errour: None are so likely to judge amiss, as they whose minds are clouded and blinded by their passions,

And if men would carefully observe themselves, they might almost certainly know when they act upon Reason and a true Principle of Conscience. A good Conscience is easie to it self, and pleased with its own doings; but when a man's passion and discontent are a weight upon his judgment, and do, as it were, bear down his Conscience to a compliance, no wonder if this puts a man's mind in­to a very unnatural and uneasie state.

[Page 274]There can hardly be a broader sign that a man is in the wrong, than to rage and be confident: Because this plainly shews that the man's Conscience is not setled upon clear reason, but that he hath brought over his Conscience to his inte­rest, or to his humour and discontent.

And though such a man may be so far blinded by his passion as not to see what is right, yet methinks he should feel him­self to be in the wrong by his being so very hot and impatient.

Art thou sure thou art in the right? thou art a happy man, and hast reason to be pleased: What cause then, what need is there of being angry? Hath a man Rea­son on his side? What would he have more? Why then does he fly out into pas­sion? which as it gives no strength to a bad argument, so I could never yet see that it was any grace and advantage to a good one.

Of the great evil, and the perpetual mistake of this furious kind of Zeal, the Jews are a lively and a lamentable Ex­ample, in their carriage towards our Bles­sed Saviour and his Apostles: And more particularly St. Paul, when he persecu­ted the Christians from a false and errone­ous persuasion of his Conscience. Hear [Page 275] how St. Paul describes himself and his own doings whilst he was acted by an erroneous Conscience: I persecuted, Acts 22.4. says he, this way unto the death, binding and delivering into prison both men and wo­men: And in another Chapter, Acts 26.9. I verily thought with my self, that I ought to do many things against the Name of Jesus of Naza­reth: Here was his erroneous Conscience Let us next see what were the unhap­py concomitants and effects of it; ver. 10, 11: Which things, says he, I also did in Jerusalem, and many of the Saints I shut up in prison, and when they were put to death I gave my voice against them, and punish'd them oft in every Synagogue, and compell'd them to blaspheme; and be­ing exceedingly mad against them, I per­secuted them even to strange Cities. When Conscience transports men with such a furious zeal and passion, it is hardly ever in the right; or if it should happen to be so, they who are thus transported, by their ungracious way of maintaining the truth, and their ill management of a good cause, have found out a cunning way to be in the wrong, even when they are in the right.

Fifthly, All pretences of Conscience are likewise to be suspected, which are [Page 276] not accompanied with modesty and hu­mility, and a teachable temper and dis­position, willing to learn and to be bet­ter inform'd. A proud and conceited temper of mind is very likely to run in­to mistakes; because pride and fulness of a man's self does keep out knowledge, and obstructs all the passages by which wisdom and instruction should enter into men: Besides that it provokes God to a­bandon men to their own follies and mistakes; for God resisteth the proud, but the meek will he guide in judgment, and will give more grace and wisdom to the humble. When men are once come to this, to think themselves wiser than their Teachers, and to despise and cast off their Guides, no wonder if then they go a­stray.

Lastly, Let us be sure to mind that which is our plain and unquestionable duty: the great things of Religion, wherein the life and substance of it doth consist; and the things likewise which make for peace, and whereby we may edify one another: And let us not suffer our dis­putes about lesser matters to prejudice and hinder our main duty: But let it be our great care not to fail in those grea­ter things which are comprehended un­der [Page 277] the two great Commandments of the Law, the Love of God and of our Neigh­bour: Let us be strict and constant in our piety and devotion towards God; chast and temperate in reference to our selves; just and honest, kind and chari­table, humble and meek, patient and peaceable towards all men; submissive and obedient to our Superiours, Natural, Civil, and Spiritual. A due regard to these great Vertues of the Christian life is the way to keep a conscience void of offence, towards God, and towards men: And sure­ly the best means to have our doubts cleared about matters of lesser moment in Religion, is heartily to set about the practice of the great and unquestionable Duties of it: So our Blessed Saviour hath assur'd us, John 7.17. that if any man will do the will of God, he shall know of his Doctrine whe­ther it be of God. I come now in the

VI ^th and Last place, to consider the VI great Motive and Encouragement to this conscientious care of our Lives and Actions; which St. Paul here tells us was his be­lief of a Resurrection, and of the Rewards and Punishments consequent upon it; I have hope, says he, towards God, that there shall be a Resurrection both of the just [Page 278] and unjust: For this cause therefore I ex­ercise my self to have always a conscience void of offence, toward God, and toward men.

If we believe the Resurrection of the dead, and a future Judgment, we ought to be very careful to discharge a good Conscience now, in order to the rendring of a good Account hereafter; that we may be sincere and without offence, with respect to the day of Christ, as the Apostle ex­presseth it. For when that great Day of Recompences shall come, we shall most assuredly find that nothing will then raise our hearts, and make us to lift up our heads with joy, like the witness of a good Conscience: And therefore we should make that our constant care and compa­nion now, which will then be our great comfort and rejoycing, a good Consci­ence and the testimony of it, that in all simplicity and godly sincerity we have had our conversation in the world.

And on the contrary, when we come to appear before the Great Judge of the World, nothing will fill our minds with so much terrour, and our faces with so much confusion, as the clamorous accu­sations of a guilty Conscience; which will be more than a thousand witnesses a­gainst [Page 279] us, and will anticipate our con­demnation, and pass almost as severe a Sentence upon us as the Judge himself can.

This is that which will make the sin­ner to droop, and to hang down his head for ever: And one of the principal ingredients of his misery and torment will be the perpetual regret and remorse of his own mind for his wilful wicked­ness and folly; which will kindle a fire within him as hot as that without him, and as hard to be quench'd.

This consideration ought to have a mighty Operation upon us to make us very careful to have Consciences void of offence now, that they may be free from torment and anguish hereafter: That when we shall come into the other World, we may not be eternally displeas'd with our selves, and enrag'd at our own do­ings; but may carry with us thither Consciences clear of all guilt, either by Innocency, or by Repentance.

The firm belief of a future state of eternal Happiness or misery in another World is the great weight or spring that sets a going those two powerful Princi­ples of humane Activity, the Hopes and the Fears of men; and is in its Nature so [Page 280] fitted to raise these Passions to that de­gree, that did not experience shew us the contrary, one would think it morally impossible for humane Nature to resist the mighty force of it.

All men are sensible, more or less, at one time or other of the true force of these Arguments; but the mischief is, that in some persons they work quite the wrong way, and instead of leading men to Repentance, they drive them to Infi­delity: They cannot deny the force of these Arguments, if they were true; but that they may avoid the force of them, they will not believe them to be true: And so far they are in the right, that granting these things to be true, they cannot but acknowledge that they ought to live otherwise than they do: But here is their fatal miscarriage, that being resolv'd upon an evil course, since they cannot reconcile their practice with such Principles as these, they will fit their Prin­ciples to their practice; and so they will believe nothing at all of the Rewards and Punishments of another World, lest this should disturb them in their course: Vain men! as if Heaven and Hell must needs vanish and disappear, because some witty but wicked men have no mind to believe them.

[Page 281]These men are Infidels in their own defence, and merely for the quiet of their own minds; that their Consciences may not perpetually rate them, and fly in their faces. For a right belief and an evil Conscience are but unsuitable com­panions; they are quarrelsome Neigh­bours, and must needs live very uneasily by one another. He that believes the Principles of Religion, and yet is consci­ous to himself that he hath liv'd contra­ry to them, and still continues to do so, how can he possibly have any peace and quiet in his mind? unless like Jonah he can sleep in a storm, and his conscience be, as it were, seared with a hot iron: For if his Conscience be awake, and in any de­gree sensible, the evident danger of eter­nal ruine, continually hanging over him, must in reason either drive him to repen­tance or to despair: If so forcible and violent an Argument can make no im­pression upon us, we are stupid and be­witch'd, we are lost and undone, we are wretched and miserable for ever.

But besides the future Reward of a ho­ly and conscientious course, which is unspeakable and full of glory; it hath al­so this present fruit, this earnest, as I may say, and ready money in hand, the peace [Page 282] and satisfaction of our own minds, which is much more valuable than thousands of gold and silver; the unspeakable comfort whereof every man will then find, when he hath most need of it: For it will be matter of great joy to him, not only un­der the sorest afflictions and calamities of Life, but even at the hour of Death; when the miseries of life oppress him, and the sorrows of death compass him a­bout, and the pangs of it are ready to take hold of him.

There is certainly no such comfort un­der the evils and afflictions of this life, as a faithful witness in our own breasts of our own innocency and integrity: When we are afflicted by God, or persecuted and revil'd by men, it cannot but be a mighty consolation to us to be conscious to our selves of our own sincerity. For though no man can acquit and justifie himself before God as to the perfect in­nocency of his life, in which sence St. Paul says, 1 Cor. 4.4. that though he knew nothing by himself, yet was he not thereby justified; I say, though no man can plead perfect innocency, yet as to the general course and tenour of an unblameable life, a good man may appeal to God, and even when he afflicts him, may look upon [Page 283] him as a tender and compassionate Fa­ther, and not as an angry and revengeful Judge.

With this, holy and patient Job, un­der all those terrible disasters and cala­mities which befel him, was able in some measure to comfort himself: After he had lost all, and he had a great deal to lose; when he was forsaken of all other com­fort, even the charitable opinion of his best Friends concerning his sincerity. In these sad and disconsolate circumstances, what was it that bore up his spirit? no­thing but the conscience of his own inte­grity. See with what resolution and constancy of mind he asserts and main­tains it: I will not, says he, Job 25.5, 6. remove mine integrity from me: my righteousness will I hold fast, and will not let it go: mine heart shall not reproach me, so long as I live: You see, that when every thing else was gone, his intergrity stuck by him, and supported him to the last.

And as to persecutions and sufferings from men, our own innocency, and the goodness of our Cause, will be our best comfort under them: When we are not guilty to our selves that we have de­serv'd them from men, and are inwardly assur'd that whatever we patiently suffer [Page 284] for God and a good conscience, will all turn to our account another Day, and work for us a far more exceeding and eter­nal weight of Glory.

This was that which supported the first Christians, that noble Army of Martyrs, under all those bitter and cruel persecu­tions, which had otherwise been beyond all humane patience to have endur'd: This comforted them in all their tribula­tions; Our rejoycing, says St. Paul, is this, the testimony of our consciences, that in sim­plicity and godly sincerity, we have had our conversation in the world.

So likewise under that inferiour but equally malicious sort of persecution, of which this Age is so very profuse and prodigal, I mean the causeless calumnies and reproaches of men: If under these we can but approve our Consciences to God, the uncharitable Censures of men are not so much to be regarded by us: some impression they will make upon a tender mind, but we must not, if we can help it, let them sink too deep into our spirits: 1 Joh. 3.21. If our hearts condemn us not, we may have confidence towards God; and then surely much more towards men: If God and our own Consciences do but acquit us, methinks it should be no such [Page 285] difficult matter to bear the slanders and hard censures of men.

But above all other times, the com­fort of a good Conscience is most sensi­ble, and most considerable, at the hour of Death: For as nothing dejects a man's spirit more, and sends him down with so much sorrow to the grave, as the guilt of an evil Conscience; what terrour and anguish, what rage and despair do seize upon a Sinner at that time, when he re­flects upon what he hath done, and con­siders what he is like to suffer? So on the o­ther hand, there is nothing that revives and raises the fainting spirits of a dying man, like the Conscience of a holy and useful life, which hath brought glory to God, and good to men. The wicked, Prov. 14.32. says So­lomon, is driven away in his wickedness, that is, he is carried out of the World, as it were, in a storm and tempest: But the righteous hath hope in his death; he usually dies calmly and comfortably: Mark the perfect man, says David, Ps. 37.37. and behold the upright; for the end of that man is peace.

If a man be conscious to himself that he hath sincerely endeavour'd to keep the commandments of God, and to do the things which please Him; if he hath li­ved [Page 286] inoffensively, and, as St. Paul says of himself, Acts 23.1. in all good conscience before God, and men; what an unspeakable consola­tion must it be to him, in that dark and gloomy time, and when he is walking through the valley of the shadow of death, then to fear no evil? and to be able with our Blessed Saviour to say, though in a much inferiour measure and degree, Fa­ther, John 17.4. I have glorified thee on the earth, I have finished the work which thou hast given me to do: And to be able to look Death in the face with the like courage and constancy of mind as St. Paul did when he saw it approaching towards him: I am now, 2 Tim. 4.6, 7, 8. says he, ready to be offer'd, and the time of my departure is at hand; I have fought a good fight, I have finish'd my race, I have kept the faith; henceforth there is laid up for me a Crown of righte­ousness, which the Lord the righteous Judge shall give me at that day. A comfortable Death, that is free from the stings and upbraidings, the terrours and tortures, the confusion and amazement of a guilty Conscience, is a happiness so desireable, as to be well worth the best care and en­deavour of a man's whole life.

Let us then have a conscientious re­gard to the whole compass of our Duty, [Page 287] and, with St. Paul, Let us exercise our selves to have always a Conscience void of offence, towards God, and towards men: And let us never do any thing whereby we shall offer violence to the light of our minds. God hath given us this Principle to be our constant guide, and companion; and who-ever, after due care to inform him­self aright, does sincerely follow the di­ctate and direction of this Guide, shall never fatally miscarry: But who-ever goes against the clear dictate and conviction of his Conscience, in so doing he under­mines the foundation of his own com­fort and peace, and sins against God and his own Soul.

And to the end we may keep our Con­sciences clear of guilt, we should frequent­ly examine our selves, and look back up­on the actions of our lives, and call our selves to a strict account for them; that where-in-soever we have fail'd of inno­cency, we may make it up by repen­tance; and may get our Consciences clear'd of guilt by pardon and forgive­ness: And if we do not do this, we can­not with confidence rely upon the testi­mony of our Consciences; because many great Sins may slip out of our memories without a particular repentance for them, [Page 288] which yet do require and stand in need of a particular repentance.

Especially, we should search our Con­sciences more narrowly at these more solemn Times of repentance, and when we are preparing our selves to receive the Holy Sacrament: And if at these Times our hearts do accuse and condemn us for any thing, we should not only heartily lament and bewail it before God, but sincerely resolve by God's Grace to re­form in that particular, and from that time to break off that Sin which we have then repented of, and have ask'd forgive­ness of God for: For if after we have repented of it, we return to it again, we wound our Consciences afresh, and in­volve them in a new guilt.

In the last place, We should reverence our Consciences, and stand in awe of them, and have a great regard to their testimony and verdict: For Conscience is a domestick Judge, and a kind of familiar God: And therefore, next to the Supreme Majesty of Heaven and Earth, every man should be afraid to offend his own Reason and Conscience, which when-ever we knowingly do amiss, will beat us with many stripes, and handle us more se­verely than the greatest Enemy we have [Page 289] in the World: So that next to the dread­ful sentence of the great Day, every man hath reason to dread the sentence of his own Conscience. God indeed is greater than our hearts, and knows all things; but under Him we have the greatest reason to fear the judgment of our own Consci­ences: For nothing but that can give us Comfort, and nothing can create so much trouble and disquiet to us.

And though the judgment of our Con­sciences be not always the judgment of God, yet we have great reason to have great regard to it; and that upon se­veral Accounts, which I shall but briefly mention, and so conclude.

First, Because the judgment of our Conscience is free from any compulsion. No body can force it from us, whether we will or no; and make us to pass sen­tence against our selves, whether we see reason for it or not.

Secondly, The sentence of our own Consciences is very likely to be impar­tial, at lest not too hard on the severe side; because men naturally love them­selves, and are too apt to be favourable in their own case: All the World cannot bribe a man against himself: There is no man whose mind is not either distemper'd [Page 290] by melancholy, or deluded by false Prin­ciples, that is apt to be credulous a­gainst himself, and his own interest and peace.

Thirdly, The judgment which our Conscience passeth upon our own Acti­ons, is upon the most intimate and cer­tain knowledge of them, and of their true motives and ends. We may easily be deceiv'd in our judgment of the Acti­ons of other men, and may think them to be much better or worse than in truth they are: Because we cannot certainly tell with what mind they were done, and what circumstances there may be to ex­cuse or aggravate them; how strong the temptation was, or how weak the judg­ment of him that was seduc'd by it into errour and folly.

But we are conscious to all the secret springs, and motives, and circumstances of our own Actions: We can descend in­to our own hearts, and dive to the bot­tom of them, and search into the most retired corners of our intentions and ends; which none, besides our selves, but only God can do; for excepting Him only, none knows the things of a man but the Spi­rit of a man which is in him.

[Page 291] Fourthly, The Sentence of our Consci­ence is peremptory and inexorable, and there is no way to avoid it. Thou mayest possibly fly from the wrath of other men to the uttermost parts of the Earth, but thou canst not stir one step from thy self: In vain shalt thou call up­on the mountains and rocks to fall on thee and hide thee from the sight of thine own Conscience.

Wretched and miserable man! when thou hast offended and wounded thy Conscience: For whither canst thou go, to escape the eye of this Witness, the terrour of this Judge, the torment of this Executioner? A man may as soon get rid of himself, and quit his own being, as fly from the sharp Accusations and sting­ing Guilt of his own Conscience; which will perpetually haunt him, till it be done away by repentance and forgive­ness.

We account it a fearful thing to be haunted by evil Spirits, and yet the Spi­rit of a man which is in him, throughly affrighted with its own Guilt, may be a more ghastly and amazing Spectacle than all the Devils in Hell: There is no such frightful Apparition in the World, as a man's own guilty and terrified Consci­ence [Page 292] staring him in the face: A spirit that is thus wounded, who can bear?

To conclude; Let these considerations prevail with us always to live, not with regard to the opinion of others, which may be grounded upon mistake, or may not indeed be their opinion, but their flattery; but with regard to the judgment of our own Conscience, which though it may sometimes be mistaken, can never be brib'd and corrupted: We may be hypocrites to others and base flatterers, but our Consciences when-ever they are throughly awaken'd are always sincere, and deal truly with us, and speak to us as they think.

Therefore what-ever we say or do, let it be sincere? For though hypocrisie may for a while preserve our esteem and repu­tation with others, yet it can signifie no­thing to the peace of our own minds: And then what will it avail us to con­ceal any thing from other men, when we can hide nothing that we say or do from our own Consciences?

The Summ of all is this: If we would keep a Conscience void of offence, let us always be calm and considerate, and have the patience to examine things throughly [Page 293] and impartially: Let us be humble and willing to learn, and never too proud and stiff to be better inform'd: Let us do what we can to free our selves from prejudice and passion, from self-conceit and self-interest, which are often too strong a byass upon the judgments of the best men, as we may see every day in very sad and melancholy instances: And ha­ving taken all due care to inform our Consciences a-right, let us follow the judgment of our minds in what we do; and then we have done what we can to please God.

And if we would always take this care to keep a good Conscience, we should always be easie, and good company to our selves: But if we offend our Consci­ences, by doing contrary to the clear dictate and conviction of them, we make the unhappiest breach in the World; we stir up a quarrel in our own breasts, and arm our own minds against our selves; we create an enemy to our selves in our own bosoms, and fall out with the best and most inseparable Companion of our lives.

And on the contrary, a good Conscience will be a continual Feast, and will give us that comfort and courage in an evil day [Page 294] which nothing else can: And then what­ever happen to us, we may commit our souls to God in well-doing, as into the hands of a faithful Creatour, To whom with our Blessed Saviour and Redeemer, and the Holy Ghost the Comforter, be all honour and glory, now and ever. Amen.

How to keep a truly Religious Fast.

IN the beginning of this Chapter the People of the Jews, who were then rebuilding the Temple at Jerusalem, and had already far advanced the work, though it was not perfectly finish'd till about two years after, send to the Priests and the Prophets, to enquire of them, whether they should still continue the [Page 298] Fast of the fifth Month, which they had begun in Babylon and continued to ob­serve during the seventy Years of their Captivity, in a sad remembrance of the destruction of the City and Temple of Jerusalem; or should not now rather turn it into a Day of feasting and glad­ness?

To this enquiry God by his Prophet returns an Answer in this, and the fol­lowing Chapter. And first he expostu­lates with them concerning those their monthly Fasts, whether they did indeed deserve that name, and were not rather a mere shew and pretence of a Religious Fast, verses 4, 5. Then came the word of the Lord of Hosts unto me, saying; Speak unto all the People of the Land, and to the Priests, saying, When ye fasted and mourn­ed in the fifth and seventh month, even those seventy years, did ye at all fast un­to me, even unto me? The enquiry was particularly concerning the Fast of the fifth Month, because the occasion of that was more considerable than of all the other; but the Answer of God mentions the Fasts of the fifth and seventh Months, these two being probably observ'd with greater solemnity than the other.

[Page 299]But for our clearer understanding of this, it will be requisite to consider the original and occasion of all their monthly Fasts: which as appears from other pla­ces of Scripture, in short, was this: When the Jews were carried away Cap­tive into Babylon, in a deep sense of this great Judgment of God upon them for their Sins, and of the heavy affliction which they lay under, they appointed four annual Fasts, which they observed during their seventy years Captivity, viz. the Fast of the fourth Month, in remembrance of the Enemies breaking through the Wall of Jerusalem, which we find mention'd, Jer. 52.6, 7. The Fast of the fifth Month, in memory of the de­struction of the City and Temple of Je­rusalem, verses 12, 13. The Fast of the se­venth Month, in remembrance of the slay­ing of Gedaliah, upon which followed the dispersion of the Jews, of which we have an account, Jer. 42.1, 2. And the Fast of the tenth Month, in memory of the beginning of the Siege of Jeru­salem, of which we find mention, 2 Kings 25.1.

In this order we find these four Annual Fasts mention'd, Zechar. 8.19. not ac­cording to the order of the Events, but [Page 300] of the Months of the several Years in which these Events happened: And there likewise God gives a full Answer to this Enquiry concerning the continuance of these annual Fasts namely, That they should for the future be turned into so­lemn Days of joy and gladness. Zech. 8.18, 19. And the word of the Lord of Hosts came unto me, saying, Thus saith the Lord of Hosts, the Fast of the fourth Month, and the Fast of the fifth, and the Fast of the seventh, and the Fast of the tenth, shall be to the House of Judah joy and gladness, and cheerful Feasts.

I return now to the Text, Did ye at all fast unto me, even unto me? that is, did these Fasts truly serve to any Religious end and purpose? Did not the People content themselves with a mere external shew and performance, without any in­ward affliction and humiliation of their Souls, in order to a real repentance? Did they not still go on in their sins; nay, and add to them upon these Occasi­ons, fasting for strife and debate and op­pression? In a word, were they not worse rather than better for them? And there­fore God had no regard to them, as it follows in this Chapter; Verse 9, 10, 11, 12, 13. Thus speaketh the Lord of Hosts, saying; Execute judg­ment, [Page 301] and shew mercy and compassion every man to his brother; and oppress not the widows nor the fatherless, the stranger nor the poor; and let none of you imagine mis­chief against his brother in your heart: But they refused to hearken, and pull'd away the shoulder, and stopped their ears that they should not hear; yea, they made their heart as an Adamant-stone, lest they should bear the Law and the words which the Lord of Hosts hath sent by his spirit in the former Prophets: Therefore came great wrath from the Lord of Hosts: There­fore it is come to pass, that as he cried and they would not hear; so they cried, and I would not hear, saith the Lord of Hosts.

So that notwithstanding these outward Solemnities of Fasting and Prayer, here was nothing of a Religious Fast; did ye at all fast unto me, even unto me? They were sensible of the Judgments of God which were broken in upon them, but they did not turn from their sins, but persisted still in their obstinacy and diso­bedience.

And what God here by the Prophet Zechary calls fasting unto Him, even unto Him, the Prophet Isaiah calls the Fast which God hath chosen, and an acceptable [Page 302] day to the Lord. Wherefore have we fast­ed, say they, and thou seest not? Where­fore have we afflicted our souls, and thou takest no knowledge? Behold, ye fast for strife and debate, and to smite with the fist of wickedness: ye shall not fast as ye do this day, to make your voice to be heard on high. Is it such a Fast as I have chosen, a Day for a man to afflict his Soul? Is it to bow down his head as a bulrush, and to spread sackcloth and ashes under him? Wilt thou call this a Fast and an acceptable day to the Lord? Is it not to deal thy bread to the hungry, and that thou bring the poor that are cast out to thy house; when thou seest the naked that thou cover him, and that thou hide not thy self from thine own flesh? Then shall thy light break forth as the morning, and thy salvation shall spring forth speedily: Then shalt thou call and the Lord shall answer, &c.

From all which passages we may easi­ly understand wherein these Monthly Fasts of the Jews were defective, and what was the fault that God finds with them when he expostulates so severely in the Text: When ye fasted and mourned in the fifth and seventh Month, even these seventy years, did ye at all fast unto me, even unto me? In the general, the fault which God [Page 303] finds with them was this, that these So­lemnities did not serve any real end and purpose of Religion, but fail'd in their main design, which was a sincere repen­tance and reformation of their lives: For which reason he tells them that they were not at all acceptable to Him, nor esteem'd by Him as perform'd unto Him, because they did not answer the true in­tention and design of them.

My work at this time shall be, First, to consider in general what it is to fast unto God, that is, to keep a truly Reli­gious Fast. Secondly, to bring the mat­ter nearer to our selves, I shall consider more particularly, what the Duty of this Day, appointed by their Majesties for a solemn Humiliation and Repentance throughout the Nation, does require at our hands.

I. I shall consider in general what it is I to fast unto God, that is, to keep a truly Religious Fast. And of this I shall give an account in the following particulars. First, a truly Religious Fast consists in the afflicting of our Bodies by a strict ab­stinence, that so they may be fit and proper instruments to promote and help forward the grief and trouble of our [Page 304] minds. Secondly, in the humble Confessi­on of our Sins to God with shame and confusion of face, and with a hearty con­trition and sorrow for them. Thirdly, in an earnest deprecation of God's displea­sure, and humble supplications to Him that he would avert his Judgments and turn away his Anger from us. Fourthly, in Intercession with God for such spiri­tual and temporal Blessings upon our selves and others as are needful and con­venient. Fifthly, in Alms and Charity to the poor, that our Humiliation and Prayers may find acceptance with God. I do but mention these particulars, that I may more largely insist upon that which I mainly intended, and proposed to con­sider in the next place, namely,

II II. What the Duty of this Day, ap­pointed by their Majesties for a solemn Humiliation and Repentance throughout the Nation, doth require at our hands. And this I shall endeavour to comprize in the following particulars. First, that we should humble our selves before God every one for his own personal Sins, whereby he hath provoked God, and in­creased the publick Guilt, and done his part to bring down the judgments and [Page 305] vengeance of God upon the Nation. Secondly, that we should likewise heartily lament and bewail the Sins of others; especially the great and crying Sins of the Nation, committed by all Ranks and Orders of men amongst us, and where­by the wrath and indignation of Almigh­ty God hath been so justly incensed a­gainst us. Thirdly, we should most im­portunately deprecate those terrible Judg­ments of God to which these our great and crying Sins have so justly exposed us. Fourthly, we should pour out our earnest prayers and supplications to Almighty God for the preservation of their Maje­sties Sacred Persons, and for the establish­ment and prosperity of their Government, and for the good success of their Arms and Forces by Sea and Land. Fifthly, our Fasting and Prayers should be accom­panied with our Charity and Alms to the poor and needy. Lastly, we should pro­secute our Repentance and good Resolu­tions to the actual Reformation and A­mendment of our lives. Of these I shall, by God's Assistance, speak as briefly and as plainly as I can, and so as every one of us may understand what God requires of him upon so solemn an Occasion as this.

[Page 336] First, We should humble our selves be­fore God every one for his own personal Sins and Miscarriages, whereby he hath provoked God, and increased the pub­lick Guilt, and done his part to bring down the Judgments and Vengeance of God upon the Nation. Our Humiliati­on and Repentance should begin with our selves and our own Sins, because Re­pentance is always design'd to end in Reformation; but there cannot be a ge­neral Reformation without the Reforma­tion of particular Persons which do con­stitute and make up the generality.

And this Solomon prescribes as the true Method of a National Reformation, and the proper effect of a publick Humiliati­on and Repentance; in that admirable Prayer of his at the Dedication of the Temple: 1 Kings 8.37, 38, 39, 40. If there be, says he, in the Land famine; if there be pestilence, blasting, mildew, locust, or if there be caterpillar; or if their Enemy besiege them in the Land of their Cities: what-ever plague, what-ever sickness there be; what prayer or sup­plication soever be made by any man, or by all thy People Israel, WHO SHALL KNOW EVERY MAN THE PLAGUE OF HIS OWN HEART, and spread forth his hands towards this House: Then hear [Page 307] thou in Heaven thy dwelling-place, and forgive, and do, and give to every man ac­cording to his way, whose heart thou know­est, for thou, even thou only, knowest the hearts of all the children of men; that they may fear thee, all the days which they live in the Land which thou gavest to their Fathers.

You see here that in case of any pub­lick Judgment or Calamity the Humilia­tion and Repentance of a Nation must begin with particular Persons: What prayer or supplication so-ever be made by any man, or by all thy People Israel, WHO SHALL KNOW EVERY MAN THE PLAGUE OF HIS OWN HEART: Then hear thou in Heaven thy dwelling-place, and forgive. Particular persons must be convinced of their personal Sins and Transgressions, before God will hear the Prayers and forgive the Sins of a Na­tion.

And because we cannot perform this part of confessing and bewailing our own personal Sins, and of testifying our par­ticular Repentance for them, in the pub­lick Congregation, any otherwise than by joining with them in a general Humi­liation and Repentance; therefore we should do well, on the Day before the [Page 308] publick Fast, or at least the Morning be­fore we go to the publick Assembly, to humble our selves before God in our Families, and especially in our Closets; confessing to Him, with great shame and sorrow, all the particular Sins and Offen­ces, together with the several Aggrava­tions of them, which we have been guil­ty of against the Divine Majesty, so far as we are able to call them particularly to our remembrance; and earnestly to beg of God the pardon and forgiveness of them, for his Mercies sake in Jesus Christ.

And so likewise, after we return from the Church, we should retire again into our Closets, and there renew our Repen­tance, with most serious and sincere Re­solutions of reforming in all those parti­culars which we have confessed and re­pented of. And if we would have our Resolutions to come to any good, we must make them as distinct and particu­lar as we can; and charge it upon our selves, as to such and such Sins, for which we have declared our sorrow and repentance, that we will amend and do better for the future.

And we should endeavour also, to for­tifie these good Resolutions, in the best [Page 309] manner we can, by serious consideration and by solemn promises of better obedi­ence, and of a more conscientious Care of our Lives and all our Actions for the future: And then, with the greatest ear­nestness and importunity, we should im­plore the Assistance of God's Grace and Holy Spirit to this purpose.

By this means the great End of a so­lemn Fast and Humiliation will be in some good Measure attain'd, and not wholly defeated, as for the most part it is, by being hudled up and lost in a confused and general Repentance, which common­ly ends together with the publick Assem­bly, without any real and permanent Ef­fect upon particular Persons: Perhaps a great part of the Congregation may have been in some degree sorry for their Sins; but after all no man forsakes them, nor is the better for his sorrow, but leaves that behind him in the Church, and car­ries home with him the same Affection for his Sins which he had before, and a secret Resolution not to leave them.

Thus it was with the People of the Jews. They had their solemn monthly Fasts, in which they made a great shew of Humiliation, hanging down their heads like a bulrush for a day, and spreading sack­cloth [Page 310] and ashes under them: But there was no inward change of their minds, no re­al Reformation of their Lives; and assoon as ever the publick Solemnity was over, they turned every one to his former evil Course. Jer. 8.6. So God complains of them; I hearkned, says He, and I heard, but they spake not aright; no man repented him of his wickedness, saying, what have I done? but they turned every one to his course, as the horse rusheth into the battel. They spake not aright, that is, they did not take the right Method for an effectual Repentance: They humbled themselves indeed before God, and repented at ran­dom for the Sins of the Nation in gene­ral, which they were all of them ready enough to acknowledge, and to lay a hea­vy load of guilt upon the Community: But all this while, they never reflected upon themselves in particular; they had no sense, no conviction of their own per­sonal faults and miscarriages, without which there can be no true general Re­pentance: No man repented of his wicked­ness, saying, what have I done?

And as they had no sense of their own particular Sins which they had been guil­ty of, so they had no thought of leaving them; but assoon as ever the publick [Page 311] Fasting and Humiliation was over, they re­turn'd to them again with the same eager and furious Appetite; they turned every one to his course, as the horse rusheth into the battel, that is, without any considera­tion, or sense of danger.

Secondly, We should likewise upon this Day, heartily lament and bewail the Sins of others; especially the great and crying Sins of the Nation committed by all Ranks and Orders of men amongst us, and whereby the wrath and indignation of Almighty God hath been so justly in­censed against us.

This hath been the temper and pra­ctice of good men in all Ages, to be greatly troubled and afflicted for the Sins of others, as well as for their own; to mourn for them in secret, as the Prophet Jeremy does for the obstinacy and impe­nitency of the Jews, and for the terrible Judgments and Calamities which their Sins were ready to bring down upon them: But if ye will not return, Jer. 13.17. says he to that obdurate People, my soul shall weep in secret places for your pride, or ob­stinacy; and mine eyes shall weep sore and run down with tears, because the Lord's Flock is carried away captive. And in­deed almost the whole Prophecy of Jere­my, [Page 312] and his Book of Lamentations, are little else but a perpetual Humiliation and Mourning for the Sins of that People, and for the Judgments of God which he saw already inflicted, or foresaw to be coming upon them.

We reade likewise of Lot, when he dwelt in Sodom, how he was vexed with the filthy conversation of the wicked: For that righteous man, saith St. Peter, dwel­ling among them, in seeing and hearing vex­ed his righteous soul, from day to day, with their unlawful deeds.

Holy David also, upon all occasions, testifies his great trouble and grief for the Sins which he saw committed by o­thers, and was so affected with them that he trembled at the very thought of them: Rivers of tears, Psal. 119.36. says he, run down mine eyes, because men keep not thy Law: And in the same Psalm, v. 53. Horrour hath taken hold of me, because of the wicked which forsake thy Law: v. 158. And again, I beheld the trans­gressours and was grieved, because they kept not thy Word.

And how does Daniel humble himself before God and mourn, and in the Name of all the People, and of all Degrees and Orders of men among them, take shame to himself and them, for the great Sins [Page 313] which they had been guilty of? Dan. 9.5, 7, 8. We have sinned, and have committed iniquity, and have done wickedly: O Lord, righteousness belongeth unto thee, but unto us confusion of face, as at this day: To our Kings, to our Princes, and to our Fathers, because we have sinned against thee.

With what trouble and confusion does Ezra, upon a solemn Day of Fasting and Humiliation, acknowledge and bewail the Sins of the People? O my God, says he, Ezr. 9.6, 7. I am ashamed and blush to lift up my face to thee my God: For our iniquities are increa­sed over our heads, and our trespasses grown up unto the heavens: Since the days of our Fathers, we have been in a great trespass unto this day; and for our iniquities have we, our Kings and our Priests been deli­vered into the hands of the Kings of the Lands, &c.

And thus also ought we, the People of this sinful Land, upon this solemn Day of Fasting and Humiliation, to set our Sins in order before us, with all their heinous Aggravations; and in the bitterness of our souls to lament and bewail that gene­ral prevalence of Impiety and Vice which hath over-spread the Nation, and diffused it self through all Ranks and Degrees of men, Magistrates, Ministers and People. [Page 314] I shall speak something more particularly concerning each of these.

1. The Sins of the Magistrates and those that are in Authority. They that make Laws for others, and are to see to the execution of them, ought to be strict observers of them themselves. For it must needs put a man not a little out of countenance to be severe upon those faults in others of which he knows himself to be notoriously guilty. And yet how ma­ny are there, whose place and duty it is to correct the vices and immoralities of others, who are far from being examples of vertue themselves? And therefore it is no wonder that there is so lame and unequal a distribution of justice in the Nation, and that Magistrates are so cold and slack in the discountenancing of Vice and Impiety, and in putting the good and wholesome Laws made against them in execution: As against the profanation of the Lord's Day, by secular business, by vain sports and pastimes, which by the very nature of them are apt to dissolve the minds of men into mirth and plea­sure, and to carry them off from all se­rious thoughts of God and Religion, and from the Meditations of another World; and to give the Devil an advantage, and [Page 315] an opportunity, which be never fails to take, to steal the good seed, the Word of God, which they have heard that Day, out of their hearts, and to make it of none effect: And which is yet worse, by lewd and sinful practices, which are unlawful at any time, but upon that Day, are a double breach and violation of God's Law.

And likewise by neglecting to put in execution the Laws against profane Swearing and Cursing, for which the Land mourns; and against Drunkenness, and Adultery, and Fornication, which are so common, and so impudently committed amongst us: whether they be Civil, or Ecclesiastical Laws; and it is hard to say which of them are most remisly execu­ted.

And to mention no more, by neglecting to prosecute that horrible Sin of Murther, so frequently now committed in our Streets beyond the example of former Ages, with that severity and impartiality which is necessary to free the Nation from the guilt of that crying Sin, which calls so loud to Heaven for Vengeance.

And all this, notwithstanding the Ma­gistrates are under the Oath of God to put the Laws in due execution against all [Page 316] these Crimes, so far as they come to their knowledge, and fall under their cogni­sance.

2. The Sins of the Ministers, who serve at God's Altar, and watch over the Souls of men, whose bloud will be required at their hands, if any of them perish through their fault and neglect. There is no rea­son to doubt, but that there are a good number of faithful Shepherds in the Land, who watch over their Flocks with great care and conscience, remembring the dreadful Account which they must one Day make to Him who shall judge the quick and dead, of the Souls committed to their charge.

But yet how grosly do many of us fail of the faithful discharge of the sub­stantial parts of this high Office? want­ing a just sense of the inestimable worth and value of the Souls of men for whom Christ died; taking little or no care to instruct them in the good knowledge of the Lord, and to lead them in the way to eternal happiness by an exemplary con­versation.

Nay too many among us demean themselves so scandalously, as perfectly to undermine the credit and effect of their Doctrine by leading lives so direct­ly [Page 317] contrary to it; and to alienate their People from the Church, and to make them to abhorr the Sacrifice and Service of the Lord by their wicked and unhal­lowed Conversations: hereby exposing them to the craft of Seducers, and ren­dring them an easie prey to the Emissa­ries of the Church of Rome, or to any other Sect and Faction that pretends a greater zeal for Religion, or makes a bet­ter shew of a strict and unblameable life.

For who will regard or believe those Teachers, who give all the evidence that can be by their lives and actions, that they do not believe themselves and their own Doctrines? When all is said, the life and manners of the Preacher are the best eloquence, and have that dint and power of persuasion in them, which no words, no art can equal. Who so lives as he speaks, does, as it is said of our Blessed Saviour, Speaks as one that hath autho­rity, and not as the Scribes: Not as the Scribes; whose words, notwithstanding all the formality and gravity with which they were deliver'd, did therefore want weight and force, because, as our Savi­our tells us of them, they said, but did not; their Lives were not answerable to [Page 318] their Doctrines: Whereas our Blessed Sa­viour therefore spoke as never man spake, because he liv'd as never man liv'd; so innocent, so useful, so exemplary a life: He was holy, harmless, and undefil'd: He did no sin, neither was guile found in his lips: He fulfilled all righteousness, and went about doing good. This was that which made Him so powerful a Preacher of Righ­teousness; and we must necessarily fall so much short of Him in the authority and efficacy of our Sermons, as we do in the holiness and goodness of our Lives. Such a Preacher, and such a practice as that of our Blessed Saviour was, is every way fit­ted to reprove, and persuade, and reform Mankind.

We now live in an Age and Church, wherein they who are called to be the Teachers and Guides of Souls ought to take great heed both to their Doctrine and their Lives; that the Name of God may not be blasphem'd, and his holy Religion be brought into contempt by those, who, above all others, are most nearly concern'd to preserve and support the credit and honour of it.

And we cannot but see, how our Re­ligion and Church are beset and endan­ger'd on every side; by the rude assaults [Page 319] of Infidelity, and by the cunning Arts of seducing Spirits, and by our own in­testine Heats and Divisions: And it can never be sufficiently lamented, no though it were with tears of bloud, that we whose particular charge and employ­ment it is to build up the Souls of Men in a holy Faith, and in the resolution of a good Life, should, for want of due in­struction, and by the dissolute and pro­fligate lives of too many among us, and by inflaming our needless Differences a­bout lesser things, have so great a hand in pulling down Religion, and in betray­ing the Souls of Men either to down­right Infidelity, or to a careless neglect and profane contempt of all Religion.

May not God justly expostulate this matter with us, as he did of old with the People of the Jews? Jer. 5.30, 31. A wonderful and hor­rible thing is committed in the Land; the Prophets prophesy falsly, and the Priests bear rule by their means, and my People love to have it so; and what will ye doe in the end thereof? When they who are the Pastors and Guides of Souls, have by their ill conduct and management brought matters to that pass, that the generality of the People sit down con­tented with the worst state of things, [Page 320] and are become almost indifferent whe­ther they have any Religion or not, what can the end of these things be, but that the Kingdom of God will be taken from us, and given to a Nation that will bring forth the fruits of it?

If ever there be a publick Reforma­tion among us, it must begin at the House of God; and they who are the Ministers of Religion must lead on this work, and be more careful and consci­entious in the discharge of that high and holy Office which is committed to them by the Great Shepherd and Bishop of Souls. Else, what shall we say when God shall challenge us, as he once did the Pastors of the Jewish Church, by his Prophet, saying, Where is the Flock that was given thee, Jer. 13.20, 21. thy beautiful Flock? what wilt thou say when he shall punish thee?

3. The Sins of the People; amongst whom there is almost an universal cor­ruption and depravation of Manners; insomuch that Impiety and Vice seem to have over-spread the face of the Na­tion; so that we may take up that sad complaint of the Prophet concerning the People of Israel, and apply it to our selves; that we are a sinful Nation, a People laden with iniquity, Isai. 1.4, 5. a seed of evil-doers; [Page 321] that the whole head is sick, and the whole heart faint; and that from the sole of the foot even to the head, there is no soundness in us, but wounds, and brui­ses, and putrifying sores.

We may justly stand amaz'd to con­sider, how the God of all patience is pro­vok'd by us every day; to think, how long he hath born with us and suffered our manners; our open Profaneness, and Infidelity; our great Immoralities, and gross Hypocrisy; our insolent contempt of Religion, and our ill-favour'd counter­feiting of it for low and sordid ends: And, which is the most melancholy con­sideration of all the rest, we seem to be degenerated to that degree, that it is ve­ry much to be fear'd, there is hardly in­tegrity enough left amongst us to save us.

And then if we consider further our most uncharitable and unchristian Divi­sions, to the endangering both of our Reformed Religion, and of the Civil Rights and Liberties of the Nation: Our incorrigibleness under the Judgments of God which we have seen abroad in the Earth, and which have in a very severe and terrible manner been inflicted upon these Kingdoms, that the Inhabitants [Page 322] thereof might learn righteousness: Our insensibleness of the Hand of God, so vi­sible in his late Providences towards us, and in the many merciful and wonder­ful Deliverances which from time to time He hath wrought for us.

And lastly, if we reflect upon our hor­rible Ingratitude to God our Saviour and mighty Deliverer; and to Them like­wise whom He hath so signally honour'd in making them the happy Means and Instruments of our Deliverance: And this, not only express'd by a bold con­tempt of their Authority, but by a most unnatural Conspiracy against Them with the greatest Enemies not only to the Peace of the Nation, but likewise to the Reformed Religion therein profess'd and by Law established; and to the interest of it all the World over.

So that we may say with Ezra, And now, Ezra 9.6. O our God, what shall we say unto thee after this? And may not God like­wise say to us, as He did more than once to the Jews? Shall I not visit for these things, saith the Lord? and shall not my soul be avenged on such a Nation as this?

Thirdly, We should likewise, upon this Day, earnestly deprecate God's dis­pleasure, [Page 323] and make our humble Suppli­cations to Him, that He would be graci­ously pleas'd to avert those terrible Judg­ments which hang over us, and which we have just cause to fear may fall upon us; and that He would be entreated by us at last to be appeas'd towards us, and to turn from the fierceness of his An­ger.

This we find the People of God were wont to do upon their Solemn days of Fasting and Prayer; and this God ex­pressly enjoyns: Joel 2.15, 16, 17. Blow the Trumpet in Zion, sanctifie a Fast, call a solemn As­sembly; gather the People, sanctifie the Congregation, assemble the Elders, &c. Let the Priests, the Ministers of the Lord, weep between the Porch and the Altar, and let them say, Spare thy People, O Lord, and give not thy heritage to re­proach, that the Heathen should rule over them: Wherefore should they say among the People, Where is their God?

And to this earnest deprecation of his Judgments, God promiseth a gracious answer; for so it immediately follows: Then will the Lord be jealous for his Land, Ver. 18. and pity his People.

And thus likewise Daniel, when he set his face to seek the Lord God, Dan. 9.3 [...] by [Page 324] prayer and supplication, with fasting and sackcloth and ashes, does in a most hum­ble and earnest manner deprecate the displeasure of God towards his People, and beg of Him to remove his Judg­ments, and to turn away his Anger from them: Ver. 16, 17, 18, 19. O Lord, according to all thy righ­teousness, I beseech thee, let thine anger and thy fury be turned away from thy City Jerusalem, thy Holy Mountain: Because for our sins, and for the iniquity of our Fathers, Jerusalem and thy People are be­come a reproach to all that are about us. Now therefore, O God, hear the prayer of thy servant and his supplication; and cause thy face to shine upon thy sanctuary which is desolate, for the Lord's sake. O my God, incline thine ear and hear, open thine eyes and behold our desolations, and the City which is called by thy Name: For we do not present our supplications before thee for our righteousness, but for thy great mercy: O Lord hear, O Lord forgive, O Lord hearken and do; deferr not for thine own sake, O my God; for thy City and thy People are called by thy Name.

And thus also should We, upon this Solemn Occasion, cry mightily unto God, and with the greatest importunity deprecate those terrible Judgments which [Page 325] we so righteously have deserv'd, and to which the great and crying Sins of the whole Nation have so justly exposed us: Humbly beseeching Him, not for our Righteousness, but for his great Mercy; for his own Name's sake, and because we are his People and are called by his Name, and because his Holy Truth and Religion are profess'd amongst us; that He would be pleas'd to hear the Prayers of his Servants and their Supplications which they have made before him this Day, for the Lord's sake.

Fourthly, We should likewise, upon this Day, pour out our most earnest Supplications to Almighty God, for the preservation of Their Majesties Sacred Persons, and for the prosperity and esta­blishment of Their Government, and for the good Success of Their Arms and Forces by Sea and Land.

And more especially, since His Ma­jesty, with so many Confederate Princes and States of Europe, is engaged in so necessary an Undertaking for the Com­mon good of Christendom, and for the mutual preservation and recovery of Their respective Rights: We should ear­nestly implore the favour and assistance of Almighty God in so just and glorious [Page 326] a Cause, against the common Invader and Oppressor of the Rights and Liber­ties of Mankind.

And that of his infinite Goodness He would be graciously pleased to take the Person of our Sovereign Lord the King into the particular care and protection of his Providence: That He would se­cure his precious Life from all secret At­tempts, and from open Violence: That He would give his Angels charge over him, and cover his Head in the day of Battel, and crown it with Victory over his Enemies, and restore Him to us a­gain in safety.

And that He would likewise preserve and direct the Queen's Majesty, in whose hands the Administration of the Govern­ment is at present so happily plac'd: That He would give Her Wisdom and Resolution for such a Time as this, and support and carry Her through all the Difficulties of it.

And, Lastly, That He would bless them Both with a long Life, and a peace­full and happy Reign over us; that un­der them we may live quiet and peaceable lives in all godliness and honesty.

Fifthly, Our Fasting and Humiliation should be accompanied with our Alms [Page 327] and Charity to the poor and needy: And we should every one of us, accord­ing to the counsel given by the Prophet to King Nebuchadnezzar, Dan. 4.27. break off our sins by righteousness, and our iniquities by shew­ing mercy to the poor, if it may be a length­ning of our tranquillity: Hereby intima­ting, that if there be any way to prevent or remove the Judgments of God, and to prolong the tranquillity and happiness of Prince and People, a sincere Repen­tance, and a great Charity to them that are in necessity and distress, are most likely to prevail with God, not only to respite the ruine of a sinful People, but to incline Him to thoughts of peace to­wards them: For so he promiseth to the Jews upon their sincere Repentance, and earnest Supplication to Him, which are always accompanied with Charity to the Poor: Jer. 29.11, 12, 13. For I know the thoughts which I think towards you, saith the Lord, thoughts of peace, and not of evil, to give you an unexpected end: Then shall ye call upon me, and ye shall go and pray unto me, and I will hearken unto you: And ye shall seek me, and find me, when ye shall search for me with all your heart.

And I have often thought that the ex­traordinary Charity of this whole Na­tion, [Page 328] and of our pious Princes, who are so ready to every good work, and such bright and shining Examples in this kind, more than once so seasonably extended to the relief of our distressed Brethren, who fled hither for refuge from the Rage and Cruelty of their Persecutors: I say, I have often thought, that this very thing, next to the infinite Mercy and Goodness of Almighty God, hath had a very particular influence upon our pre­servation and deliverance from those ter­rible Calamities which were just ready to rush in upon us. And what cause have we to thank God, who hath al­lotted to us this more blessed and mer­ciful part, to give and not to receive; to be free from Persecution our selves, that so we might be in a capacity to give refuge and relief to them that were persecuted?

There are but few that have the faith to believe it, but certainly Charity to the Poor is a great security to us in times of evil: So David assures us, speak­ing of the Righteous or Charitable Man; He shall not, says he, be afraid in the e­vil time, and in the days of Dearth he shall be satisfied.

[Page 329]And so likewise in Times of publick Distress, when we are beset with cruel and powerful Enemies, who if God were not on our side would swallow us up, the publick Charity of a Nation hath many times prov'd its best safeguard and shield: It shall fight for thee, saith the Son of Sirach, speaking of the Charity of Alms, against thine Enemy, more than a mighty shield and strong spear.

And of this, as I said before, I doubt not but We of this Nation, by the great Mercy and Goodness of God to us, have had happy experience in our late wonderful Deliverance under the Conduct and Valour of one of the best and bravest of Princes; to whom by too many among us, the most unworthy and unthankful returns have been made for all the unwearied pains he hath un­dergone, and for the many desperate ha­zards to which he hath exposed himself for our sakes, that ever were made to so great and generous a Benefactor: To so great a Benefactor, I say, not only to these Nations, but even to all Europe, in asserting and maintaining their Liberties against the insolent pride and unjust en­croachments of one of the greatest Op­pressors the World hath known for ma­ny [Page 330] Ages: Of whom it may be said as Job doth of the Leviathan, Job 41.33, 34. Ʋpon the earth there is not his like: I am glad I cannot apply what immediately follows, That he is made without fear; but surely the next words are apposite enough, He beholdeth all high things, and is King of all the children of pride: And yet He that is higher than the highest, even He that sitteth in the Heavens doth laugh at him, for He seeth that his Day is coming.

To conclude this Particular; If we would have our Prayers ascend up to Heaven, and find acceptance there, our Alms must go along with them: So the Angel intimates when he says to Corne­lius, Acts 10.4. Thy Prayers and thine Alms are gone up for a memorial before God: Thy Pray­ers and thine Alms; they must go to­gether if we desire that our Prayers should be effectual. And the Prophet Isaiah, speaking of the Fast which God hath chosen, and which is acceptable to Him, makes Charity and Alms a most essential part of it: Is it not, says he, to deal thy bread to the hungry, Isa. 58.7, 9. and that thou bring the poor that are cast out to thy house; when thou seest the naked that thou cover him, and that thou hide not [Page 331] thy self from thine own flesh? Then shalt thou call, and the Lord shall answer; thou shalt cry, and He shall say, Here I am.

Sixthly and Lastly, We should prose­cute our Repentance and good Resoluti­ons to the actual Reformation and A­mendment of our Lives. For in this Re­pentance doth mainly consist: This is the proper fruit and effect of all our Hu­miliation and good Resolutions, to for­sake our sins, and to become better for the future; more pious and devout to­wards God, more sober and chast with regard to our selves, more just and cha­ritable, more humble and meek towards all men: In a word, more innocent, more useful, and more holy in all man­ner of conversation.

And without this, all our Fasting and Humiliation, our most earnest Prayers and Supplications, will signifie nothing: All our Sorrow and Tears will be but as water spilt upon the ground, and will not turn to any account either to save our own Souls, or to preserve this unto­ward Generation, this crooked and per­verse Nation, from ruin and destruction. So God tells Solomon, that this is the only way to appease and reconcile Him to a sinful People: 2 Chron. 7.14. If my People which is [Page 332] called by my Name shall humble them­selves, and pray, and seek my face, and turn from their wicked ways: Then will I hear in Heaven, and forgive their sin, and heal their Land.

And if this were the happy effect of our Prayers and Humiliation this Day, to turn us from our wicked ways; Zech. 8.19. God would then turn away his anger from us; and, as he promised to the Jews by the Prophet Zachary, He would turn these our Monthly Fasts into joy, and gladness, and cheerful Feasts; as he hath in a great measure already done, Blessed be his great and glorious Name.

But if we will not hearken and obey, can we expect that God should deliver us from the hands of our Enemies, that we may sin against Him without fear all the days of our Lives? To what pur­pose should the Providence of God take so much care to preserve our Religion to us, when we make no better use of it for the direction and government of our Lives? When it serves most of us, only to talk of it; and too many a­mongst us, to talk against it; to deride it, and despitefully to use it. If this be the truth of our Case, what can we say, why the Kingdom of God should not be [Page 333] taken from us and given to a Nation that will bring forth the fruits of it? What can we say, why our Candlestick should not be remov'd, and the light of the glorious Gospel of Christ which we have so long enjoyed, and so long re­belled against, should not be utterly ex­tinguish'd amongst us?

And if I cannot prevail with you to come to these good Resolutions, and to make them good: If you will not be persuaded to practise, yet be pleas'd to attend to what we say: Hear our words at least, if ye will not do them. This the People of the Jews would do, when they were at the worst: So God tells the Prophet concerning them: Ezek. 33.31. They come unto thee, as the People cometh; and they sit before thee, as my People; and they hear thy words, but they will not do them.

I had much rather at any time have occasion to praise than to reprove, espe­cially in this great Assembly: And yet it is not to be dissembled, that the be­haviour of too many in this place is fre­quently so careless and irreverent, as is very mis-becoming those who are in the more peculiar Presence of the Great and Glorious Majesty of Heaven and [Page 334] Earth, and profess at that very time to worship Him.

I am sure, we have a better Pattern perpetually before us; of a decent and unaffected devotion, of a most serious and steddy attention, without wandring, without diversion, and without drowsi­ness: such an Example as I cannot but hope will in a short time gain upon us all, and by a more gentle and silent re­proof win us to the imitation of it.

And if we could but be prevail'd up­on to demean our selves with that Re­verence, and to hear with that Atten­tion, which becomes the Worship and the Word of God, it might then be hop'd that we would consider what is said; and consideration would probably work conviction, and conviction bring us to a better mind, and to a firm pur­pose of doing what we are inwardly convinc'd it is both our duty and our interest to do.

Let us then go away from this So­lemnity, with a resolution to do every one what we ought; truly and earnestly to repent us of our sins past, and to lead a new life for the future; to fear that great and terrible God, in whose presence we have humbled our selves this Day; [Page 335] and to turn to Him that hath smitten us, lest we provoke him to punish us yet se­ven times more, and after that seven times more for our sins, and for our impeni­tency in them, till at last He make our plagues wonderfull.

To conclude; Let us every one, with that true Penitent in Job, take words to our selves, and say, Surely it is meet to be said unto God, I have born chastise­ment, I will not offend any more; that which I see not, teach thou me; and if I have done iniquity, I will do no more. Oh! that there were such a heart in us, that it might be well with us, and with our chil­dren for ever.

Which God of his infinite Goodness grant, for his Mercies sake in Jesus Christ: To whom with thee, O Father and the Holy Ghost, be all Honour and Glory, both now and ever, Amen.

That God is the only Happi­ness of Man.

THE design of this Psalm is to vindicate the Goodness and Ju­stice of the Divine Providence, notwithstanding the prosperous estate of the wicked and the afflicted condition of good men many times in this World. And in the first place, the Psalmist, who­ever he was, whether David or Asaph, lays down this for a most certain Truth, that God is good to good men: Ver. 1. Of a truth God is good to Israel, to such as are of a clean heart.

[Page 340]And yet for all this he tells us, that at some times he was under no small temptation to question the truth of this Principle, when he beheld the promiscu­ous dispensation of things here below; that the wicked are often prosperous, and good men exposed to great calamities in this life; as if God either neglected hu­mane affairs, or had a greater kindness for the workers of iniquity than for pi­ous and good men: As for me, my foot had well-nigh slipp'd, Ver. 2. for I was envious at the foolish, when I saw the prosperity of the wicked.

This, he says, was a very great slum­bling-block to good men, and tempted them to doubt of the Providence of God: Therefore his People return hither, Ver. 10. and waters of a full cup are wrung out to them; and they say, Doth God know, and is there knowledge in the most High? This Sen­tence is somewhat obscurely rendred in our Translation, so as to make the sence of it difficult; which is plainly this: There­fore his people return hither; that is, there­fore good men come to this, in the great­ness of their affliction, and in the bit­terness of their soul, to question God's knowledge and care of humane affairs.

[Page 341] Behold, say they, Ver. 12. these are the ungod­ly, and yet they are the prosperous in the world, they increase in riches: To what purpose then is it for any man to be Re­ligious and Vertuous? Verily, Ver. 13. I have cleansed my heart in vain, and washed my hands in innocency: In vain have I endea­voured after purity of heart and inno­cency of life, since so little good comes of it; nay, so far from that, that I have been in continual trouble and affliction: Ver. 14. All the day long have I been plagued, and chastned every morning.

Such thoughts as these often came in­to his mind, and gave him great trou­ble and disquiet: But he presently cor­rects himself: If I say I will speak thus, Ver. 15. I should offend against the generation of thy Children; that is, I should go against the sense of all pious and good men, who have always believed the Providence of God notwithstanding this Objection: Which at last he tells us he had raised on purpose to try if he could find the solution of it: I thought to know this, Ver. 16. which was grievous in mine eyes: And then he resolves all into the unsearchable Wisdom of the Divine Providence, which if we fully understood from first to last, we should see good reason to be satisfied [Page 342] with the equity of it: When I go into the Sanctuary of God, Ver. 17, 18. then shall I understand the end of these men? How thou didst set them in slippery places, &c. This satis­fied him, that when-ever the secret de­sign of God's Providence should be un­folded, whether in this World or the o­ther, how strange and cross soever things might seem to be at present, yet in the issue and conclusion it would appear, that neither are bad men so happy, nor good men so miserable, as at present they may seem to be.

So that upon a full debate of this mat­ter, the Psalmist concludes, that these Objections against Providence do spring from our ignorance, and short and imper­fect view of things; whereas if we saw the whole design from beginning to end, it would appear to be very reasonable and regular. Thus my heart was grieved; so foolish was I and ignorant, Ver. 21. and as a beast before thee. And in regard to himself, he tells us, that he saw great reason to ac­knowledge God's tender care over him in particular, and that he could find no security or comfort for himself, but in God alone: Ver. 23. Nevertheless I am continually with thee; thou hast holden me by thy right hand: Thou shalt guide me with thy coun­sel, [Page 343] and afterwards receive me to glory; as if he had said, I am sensible of thy constant presence with me, and care of me; and do entirely depend upon thy guidance and direction, not doubting but that my present troubles and afflictions will have a happy and glorious issue.

And at last he breaks out into a kind of exultation and triumph for the migh­ty consolation which he found in the firm belief of the Being and Providence of God, as the great stay and support of his Soul in the worst condition that could befall him; in the words of the Text, Whom have I in Heaven but thee? and there is none upon Earth that I desire be­sides thee. If a man were to chuse a hap­piness for himself, and were to ransack Heaven and Earth for it, after all his search and enquiry he would at last fix upon God as the chief happiness of man, and the true and only rest and center of our Souls. This then is the plain meaning of the Text, That nothing in the world but God can make man happy: Whom have I in Heaven but thee? and there is none upon Earth that I desire besides thee.

That Man of himself is not sufficient for his own happiness, is evident upon many accounts: Because he is liable to [Page 344] so many evils and calamities, which he can neither prevent, nor remedy: He is full of wants which he cannot supply; compassed about with infirmities which he can only complain of, but is not able to redress: He is obnoxious to dangers which he must always fear, because he can never sufficiently provide against them.

Consider Man by himself, and from under the conduct and protection of a superior and more powerful Being, and he is in a most disconsolate and forlorn condition: Secure of nothing that he en­joys, and liable to be disappointed of eve­ry thing that he hopes for: He is apt to grieve for what he cannot help, and per­haps the justest cause of his grief is that he cannot help it; for if he could, in­stead of grieving for it, he would help it: He cannot refrain from desiring a great many things which he would fain have, but is never likely to obtain, be­cause they are out of his power; and it troubles him both that they are so, and that he cannot help his being troubled at it.

Thus man walketh in a vain shew, and disquieteth himself in vain; courting happiness in a thousand shapes, and the [Page 345] faster he follows it, the swifter it flies from him. Almost every thing promi­seth happiness to us at a distance, such a step of Honour, such a pitch of Estate, such a Fortune or Match for a Child: But when we come nearer to it, either we fall short of it, or it falls short of our expectation; and it is hard to say which of these is the greatest disappointment. Our hopes are usually bigger than enjoy­ment can satisfie, and an evil long fear'd, besides that it may never come, is ma­ny times more painful and troublesome than the evil it self when it comes.

In a word, man is born to trouble as the sparks fly upwards. He comes into the world naked and unarm'd, and from him­self more destitute of the natural means of his security and support than any other Creature whatsoever, as it were on pur­pose to shew that he is more peculiarly the care of a Superior Providence: And as man, of all the Creatures of this lower World, is only made to own and ac­knowledge a Deity; so God in great Wis­dom hath so order'd things, that none of the other Creatures should have so much need of Him, and so much reason to acknowledge their necessary depen­dance upon him. So that the words of [Page 346] David are the very sense and voice of Nature, declaring to us that Mankind is born into the World upon terms of grea­ter dependence upon the Providence of God than other Creatures: Thou art he, says David there to God, Psal. 22.9, 10, 11. that tookest me out of the womb, thou madest me to hope, or thou didst keep me in safety, when I was upon my mother's breasts: I was cast upon thee from the womb, thou art my God from my mother's belly: Be not far from me, for trouble is near: Trouble is al­ways near to us, and therefore it is hap­py for us that God is never far from any of us: For in Him we live, and move, and have our being.

And when we are grown up, we are liable to a great many mischiefs and dan­gers, every moment of our lives; and, without the Providence of God, conti­nually insecure not only of the good things of this life, but even of life it self: So that when we come to be men, we cannot but wonder how ever we ar­riv'd at that state, and how we have con­tinued in it so long, considering the in­finite difficulties and dangers which have continually attended us: That in run­ning the gantlope of a long life, when so many hands have been lifted up against [Page 347] us, and so many strokes levell'd at us, we have escaped so free, and with so few marks and scars upon us: That when we are besieged with so many dan­gers, and so many arrows of death are perpetually flying about us, to which we do so many ways lie open, we should yet hold out twenty, forty, sixty years, and some of us perhaps longer, and do still stand at the mark untouch'd, at least not dangerously wounded by any of them: And considering likewise this fear­ful and wonderful frame of a humane Bo­dy, this infinitely complicated Engine; in which, to the due performance of the several functions and offices of life, so many strings and springs, so many re­ceptacles and channels are necessary, and all in their right frame and order; and in which, besides the infinite imper­ceptible and secret ways of mortality, there are so many sluces and flood-gates to let Death in and Life out, that it is next to a miracle, though we take but little notice of it, that every one of us did not die every day since we were born▪ I say, considering the nice and cu­rious frame of our Bodies, and the in­numerable contingencies and hazards of humane Life, which is set in so slippery [Page 348] a place, that we still continue in the land of the living, we cannot ascribe to any thing but the watchful Providence of Almighty God, who holds our soul in life, and suffers not our foot to be moved.

To the same merciful Providence of God we owe, that whilst we continue in life we have any comfortable possession and enjoyment of our selves and of that which makes us men, I mean our Rea­son and Understanding: That our Ima­gination is not let loose upon us, to haunt and torment us with melancholick freaks and fears: That we are not deliver'd up to the horrors of a gloomy and guilty mind: That every day we do not fall into frenzy and distraction, which next to wickedness and vice is the sorest cala­mity, and saddest disguise of humane Nature: I say, next to wickedness and vice, which is a wilful frenzy, a madness not from misfortune but from choice; whereas the other proceeds from natural and necessary causes, such as are in a great measure out of our power; so that we are perpetually liable to it, from any secret and sudden disorder of the Brain, from the violence of a Disease, or the vehement transport of any Passion.

[Page 349]Now if things were under no govern­ment, what could hinder so many pro­bable evils from breaking in upon us, and from treading upon the heels of one another? like the calamities of Job, when the hedge which God had set about him and all that he had, was broken down and removed.

So that if there were no God to take care of us, we could be secure of no sort, no degree of happiness in this World; no not for one moment: And there would be no other World for us to be happy in, and to make amends to us for all the fears and dangers, all the troubles and calamities of this present life: For God and another World stand and fall toge­ther: Without Him there can be no Life after this; and if our hopes of happiness were only in this Life, Man of all other Beings in this lower World would cer­tainly be the most miserable.

I cannot say that all the Evils which I have mentioned would happen to all, if the Providence of God did not rule the World; but that every man would be in danger of them all, and have nothing to support and comfort him against the fear of that danger. For the Nature of Man, consider'd by it self, is plainly in­sufficient [Page 350] for its own happiness; so that we must necessarily look abroad, and seek for it somewhere else: And who can shew us that good that is equal to all the wants and necessities, all the capacities and de­sires, all the fears and hopes of humane Nature? Whatsoever can answer all these, must have these following Properties:

• First, It must be an All-sufficient good.
• Secondly, It must be perfect good­ness.
• Thirdly, It must be firm and un­changeable in it self.
• Fourthly, It must be such a good as none can deprive us of, and take away from us.
• Fifthly, It must be eternal.
• Sixthly, It must be able to support and comfort us in every condition, and under all the accidents and ad­versities of humane Life.
• Lastly, It must be such a good as can give perfect rest and tranquillity to our minds.

Nothing that is short of all this can make us happy: And no Creature, no not the whole Creation, can pretend to [Page 351] be all this to us. All these Properties meet only in God, who is the perfect and supreme Good; as I shall endeavour, in the following Discourse, more parti­cularly to shew; and consequently, That God is the only happiness of Man.

First, God is an All-sufficient Good. I And this does import two things; Wis­dom to contrive our happiness, and Power to effect it; for neither of these without the other is sufficient, and both these in the highest and most eminent degree are in God.

He is infinitely Wise to design and con­trive our happiness; because he knows what Happiness is, and how to frame us so as to be capable of the happiness he designs for us; and how to order and dispose all other things so, as that they shall be no hindrance and impediment to it.

He perfectly understands all the possi­bilities of things, and how to fit means to any end. He knows all our wants, and how to supply them; all our hopes and desires, and how to satisfie them: He fore-sees all the dangers and evils which threaten us, and knows how to prevent or divert them, if he think fit; [Page 352] or if he permit them to come, how to support us under them, or to deliver us out of them, or to turn them to our greater benefit and advantage in the last issue and result of things.

His Wisdom cannot be surprized by any accident which he did not fore-see, and which he is not sufficiently provi­ded against. The wisdom of men is but short and imperfect, and liable to infinite errors and mistakes: In many cases men know not what is safest and best for them, nor whether this or that will con­duce most to their happiness: Nay it of­ten happens that those very means which the wisest men chuse for their security do prove the occasions of their ruine, and they are thrown down by those very ways whereby they thought to raise and to establish themselves.

Especially if God breathe upon the Counsels of men, how are their designs blasted? How are they infatuated and foil'd in their deepest contrivances, and snared in the work of their own hands? When it is of the Lord, the wisdom of the greatest Politicians is turned into foo­lishness: For there is no wisdom, nor un­derstanding, nor counsel against the Lord.

[Page 353]But the Divine Wisdom, being founded upon infinite knowledge, is thereby se­cur'd against all possibility of error and mistake. God perfectly knows the na­tures and the powers of all his Creatures, and therefore can never be mistaken in the use and application of them to any of his purposes: So that none of his de­signs of love and mercy to the Sons of men can miscarry for want of good con­trivance, or wise conduct.

And as he is perfectly wise to contrive our happiness, so is he infinitely power­ful to effect it, and to remove out of the way all the obstacles and impediments of it. We may understand many times what would conduce to our happiness, but may not be able to compass it; but nothing is out of the reach of Omnipo­tency: Many things are difficult to us, but nothing is too hard for God: Many things are impossible with us, but with God all things are possible. For He is the Fountain and Original of all Power, from whom it is deriv'd and upon whom it depends, and to whom it is perfectly subject and subordinate: He can do all things at once, and in an instant, and with the greatest ease; and no created Power can put any difficulty in his way, [Page 354] much less make any effectual resistance; because Omnipotency can check, and countermand, and bear down before it all other Powers.

So that if God be on our side, who can be against us? We may safely com­mit our Souls into his hands, for he is a­ble to keep that which is committed to him. He can give us all good things, and de­liver us from all evil, for his is the King­dom and the glorious Power. Though all Creatures should fail us, we may rely upon God, and live upon his All-suffici­ency for our supply; and may say with the Prophet, Though the Fig-tree should not blossom, neither Fruit be in the Vine; though the labour of the Olive should fail, and the Fields should yield no meat; though the Flock should be cut off from the Fold, and there should be no Herd in the Stalls; yet would I rejoice in the Lord, and joy in the God of my Salvation.

II Secondly, As God is an All-sufficient Good, so He is perfect Goodness. He is willing to communicate happiness to us, and to employ his Power and Wisdom for our good. He made us that he might make us happy, and nothing can hinder us from being so but our selves. Such [Page 355] is his goodness, that he would have all men to be saved, and to come to the know­ledge of the truth: And when we have provoked him by our sins, he is long-suffering to us-ward, not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance: For he delighteth not in the death of a sinner, but rather that he should turn from his wickedness and live. So that if any of us be miserable, it is our own choice; if we perish, our destructi­on is of our selves: For as the Wiseman, in one of the Apocryphal Books, says ex­cellently, God made not death, neither hath he pleasure in the destruction of the li­ving: But men seek death in the error of their life, and pull destruction upon them­selves, with the works of their own hands.

So great is the goodness of God to mankind, that he hath omitted nothing that is necessary to our happiness. He design'd it for us at first, and to that end he hath endowed us with Powers and Faculties whereby we are capable of knowing, and loving, and obeying, and enjoying Him the chief Good. And when we had forfeited all this by the wilful transgression and disobedience of the first Parents of mankind, and were miserably bruised and maimed by their [Page 356] fall, God of his infinite mercy was pleas'd to restore us to a new capacity of happi­ness, by sending his only Son to suffer in our nature, and in our stead; and thereby to become a Propitiation for the sins of the whole World, and the Author of eternal Salvation to them that believe and obey him. And he hath likewise pro­mised to give us his Holy Spirit, to en­able us to that Faith and Obedience which the Gospel requires of us, as the necessary conditions of our eternal Sal­vation.

III Thirdly, God is also a firm and un­changeable Good. Notwithstanding his infinite Wisdom, and Power, and Good­ness, we might be miserable if God were mutable. For that cannot be a happiness which depends upon uncertainties, and perhaps one of the greatest aggravations of misery is to fall from happiness, to have been once happy and afterwards to cease to be so: And that would unavoid­ably happen to us, if the cause of our happiness could change, and the founda­tion of it be removed. If God could be otherwise than powerful, and wise, and good, all our hopes of happiness would be shaken, and would fall to the ground. [Page 357] But the Divine nature is not subject to any change: As he is the Father of lights, and the Author of every good and perfect gift, so with him is no variableness, nei­ther shadow of turning. All the things of this World are mutable, and for that reason, had they no other imperfection belonging to them, cannot make us happy.

Fourthly, God is such a good as none IV can deprive us of and take away from us. If the things of this World were unchangeable in their nature, and not li­able to any decay, yet they cannot make us happy; because we may be cheated of them by fraud, or robb'd of them by violence: But God cannot be taken from us. Nothing but our Sins can part God and us: Who shall separate us, Rom. 8.35. saith the Apostle, from the love of God? shall tri­bulation, or distress, or persecution, or fa­mine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword? We may be stripp'd of all our worldly Comforts and Enjoyments, by the vio­lence of men; but none of all these can separate us from God: I am persuaded, v. 38, 39. as the Apostle goes on with great triumph, that neither death nor life; nor Angels, nor Principalities, nor Powers; nor heighth, [Page 358] nor depth, nor things present, nor things to come, nor any other Creature, shall be able to separate us from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus, our Lord. Nor any other Creature: Here is a sufficient induction of particulars, and nothing left out of this Catalogue but one, and that is Sin, which is none of God's Creatures, but our own: This indeed deliberately consented to, and wilfully continued in, will finally part God and us, and for ever hinder us from being happy.

But if we be careful to avoid this, which only can separate between God and us, nothing can deprive us of Him: The aids and influences of his Grace none can intercept and hinder: the joys and comforts of his Holy Spirit none can take from us: All other things may leave us and forsake us: We may be debarr'd of our best friends, and banish'd from all our acquaintance; but men can send us no whither from the presence of God: Our Communication with Heaven can­not be prevented or interrupted. Our Prayers and our Souls will always find the way thither from the uttermost parts of the Earth.

[Page 359] Fifthly, God is an eternal God: And V nothing but what is so can make us hap­py. Man having an immortal Spirit, and being design'd for an endless durati­on, must have a happiness proportion­able: For which reason nothing in this World can make us happy, because we shall abide and remain after it: When a very few years are past and gone, and much sooner for any thing we know, all the things of this World will leave us, or else we shall be taken away from them, But God is from everlasting to everlasting: He is the same, and his years fail not: Therefore well might David fix his hap­piness upon God alone, and say, Whom have I in Heaven but thee? and there is none upon Earth that I desire besides thee: When my heart faileth, and my strength faileth, God is the strength of my heart, and my portion for ever.

Sixthly, God is able to support and VI comfort us, in every condition, and un­der all the accidents and adversities of humane Life. Outward afflictions may hurt our Body, but they cannot reach our Soul; and so long as that remains unwounded, the spirit of a man can bear his infirmities. God is intimate to our [Page 360] Souls, and hath secret ways whereby to convey the joys and comforts of his Ho­ly Spirit into our Hearts, under the bit­terest afflictions and sharpest sufferings: He can enable us by his Grace to possess our souls in patience, when all other things are taken from us: When there is no­thing but trouble about us, He can give us peace and joy in believing: When we are persecuted, afflicted, and tormented, He can give us that ravishing sight of the Glories of another World, that stedfast assurance of a future Blessedness, as shall quite extinguish all sense of present suf­ferings: How did many of the primitive Christian Martyrs, in the midst of their torments, and under the very pangs of death rejoice in the hope of the glory of God?

There are none of us but may happen to fall into those circumstances of dan­ger, and of bodily pains and sufferings, as to have no hopes of relief and com­fort but from God; none in all the World to trust to but Him only: And in the greatest Evils that can befall us in this life, He is a sure refuge and sanctuary; and to repeat the words of the Psal­mist after the Text, When our heart fails, and our strength fails, God is the [Page 361] strength of our hearts, and our portion for ever.

Now what would any of us do in such a Case, if it were not for God? Humane nature is liable to desperate straits and exigencies: And he is not happy who is not provided against the worst that may happen. It is sad to be reduced to such a condition, as to be destitute of all com­fort and hope: And yet men may be brought to that extremity, that if it were not for God they would not know which way to turn themselves, or how to en­tertain their thoughts with any comfor­table considerations under their present anguish.

All men naturally resort to God in ex­tremity, and cry out to him for help: Even the most profane and Atheistical, when they are destitute of all other com­fort, will run to God, and take hold of him, and cling about him. But God hath no pleasure in fools; in those who neg­lect and despise him in their prosperity, though they owe that also entirely to him; but when the evil day comes, then they lay hold of him as their only re­fuge: When all things go well with them, God is not in all their thoughts; but in their affliction they will seek him [Page 362] early: Then they will cry, Lord, Lord; but he will say to them in that day, De­part from me ye workers of iniquity, for I know you not.

Here will be the great unhappiness of such persons, that God will then appear terrible to them, so as they shall not be able, when they look up to him, to a­bide his frowns: And at the same time that they are forc'd to acknowledge him, and to supplicate to him for mercy and forgiveness, they shall be ready to de­spair of it: Then, those terrible threat­nings of God's Word will come to their minds; Because I called, and ye refused; I stretched out my hand, Prov. 1.24, 25, &c. and no man re­garded: But ye set at nought all my coun­sel, and would have none of my reproof; I also will laugh at your calamity, and mock when your fear cometh; when your fear cometh as desolation, and your destruction cometh as a whirlwind; when distress and anguish cometh upon you: Then shall they call upon me, but I will not answer; they shall seek me early, but they shall not find me: For that they hated knowledge, and did not chuse the fear of the Lord: They would none of my counsel, they despised all my re­proof: Therefore shall they eat the fruit of their own ways, and be filled with their [Page 363] own devices: The ease of the simple shall slay them, and the prosperity of fools shall destroy them. To which I will add that terrible Passage in the Prophet, concern­ing the perverse and obstinate Jews, They are a People of no understanding, Isa. 27.11. there­fore he that made them will not have mer­cy on them, and he that formed them will shew them no favour. And men are mise­rable Creatures indeed, when God their Maker doth abandon them, and hath so far hardened his heart against them, that he can have no pity and compassion for them.

Seventhly and Lastly, Which is con­sequent VII upon all the rest, God is such a Good as can give perfect rest and tran­quillity to our minds. And that which cannot do this, though it had all the Pro­perties before mentioned, cannot make us happy. For he is not happy who does not think himself so, what-ever cause he may have to think so. Now what in reason can give us disquiet, if we do firm­ly believe that there is a God, and that his Providence rules and governs all things for the best; and that God is all that to good Men which hath now been said of Him? Why should not our minds [Page 364] be in perfect repose, when we are secure of the chief Good, and have found out that which can make us happy, and is willing to make us so, if we be not want­ing to our selves, and by our wilful ob­stinacy and rebellion against him do not oppose and frustrate this design?

If a considerate Man were permitted to his own choice, to wish the greatest good to himself that he could possibly devise; after he had searched Heaven and Earth, the result of all his wishes would be that there were just such a Be­ing as we must necessarily conceive God to be: Nor would he chuse any other Friend or Benefactor; any other Pro­tector for himself or Governor for the whole World, than infinite Power con­ducted and managed by infinite Wisdom and Goodness; which is the true Notion of a God: After all his enquiry he would come to the Psalmist's conclusion here in the Text, Whom have I in Heaven but thee? and there is none upon Earth that I desire besides thee.

Vain Man is apt to seek for happiness elsewhere, but this proceeds from want of due consideration: For when all things are well weigh'd, and all accounts right­ly cast up and adjusted, we shall at last [Page 365] settle in David's resolution of that great Question, What is the chief Good of man? Psal. 4.6, 7, 8. There be many, says he, that say, Who will shew us any good? That is, Men are ge­nerally inquisitive after happiness, but greatly divided in their Opinions about it: Most men place it in the present en­joyments of this World, but David for his part pitches upon God, in whom he was fully convinc'd that the happiness of Man does consist: There be many that say, Who will shew us any good? Lord lift thou up the light of thy countenance upon us: Thou hast put gladness in my heart, more than in the time that their Corn and Wine increased. The great joy of the men of this World is in a plentiful Harvest, and the abundance of the good things of this life: But David had found that which gave more joy and gladness to his heart, the favour of God and the light of his countenance: This gave perfect rest and tranquillity to his mind, so that he need­ed not to enquire any further: For so it follows in the next words, I will both lay me down in peace, and rest; for thou, Lord, only makest me to dwell in safety: The Hebrew word signifies confidence or secu­rity: Here, and no-where else, his mind found rest, and was in perfect ease and security.

[Page 366]I shall now only make two or three Inferences from this Discourse, and so conclude.

First, This plainly shews us the great unreasonableness and folly of Atheism, which would banish the belief of God and his Providence out of the World: Which as it is most impious in respect of God, so is it most malicious to Men; be­cause it strikes at the very foundation of our happiness, and perfectly undermines it. For if there were no God, Man would evidently be the most unhappy of all o­ther Beings here below; because his un­happiness would be laid in the very frame of his nature, in that which distinguishes him from all other Beings below him, I mean in his Reason and Understanding: And he would be so much more misera­ble than the Beasts, by how much he hath a farther reach, and a larger pro­spect of future evils; a quicker appre­hension, and a deeper and more lasting resentment of them.

So that if any man could see reason to stagger his belief of a God, or of his Pro­vidence, as I am sure there is infinite rea­son to the contrary; yet the belief of these things is so much for the interest, and comfort, and happiness of Mankind, [Page 367] that a Wise man would be heartily trou­bled to part with a Principle so favoura­ble to his quiet, and that does so exactly answer all the natural desires and hopes and fears of Men, and is so equally cal­culated both for our comfort in this World, and for our happiness in the o­ther. For when a man's thoughts have ranged and wandered as far as they can, his mind can find no rest, no probable foundation of happiness but God only; no other reasonable, no nor tolerable Hy­pothesis and Scheme of things for a Wise man to rely upon, and to live and die by. For no other Principle but this, firm­ly believed, and truly lived up to by an answerable practice, was ever able to sup­port the generality of Mankind, and to minister true consolation to them under the calamities of life, and the pangs of death.

And if there were not something real in the Principles of Religion, it is im­possible that they should have so remark­able and so regular an effect to support our minds in every condition, upon so great a number of persons of different de­grees of understanding, of all ranks and conditions, young and old, learned and unlearned, in so many distant Places, and [Page 368] in all Ages of the World, the Records whereof are come down to us: I say so real, and so frequent, and so regular an effect as this is, cannot with any co­lour of reason be ascribed either to blind Chance, or meer Imagination, but must have a real, and regular, and uniform cause proportionable to so great and ge­neral an effect.

I remember that Grotius, in his excel­lent Book of the Truth of the Christian Re­ligion, hath this observation, That God did not intend that the Principles of Re­ligion should have the utmost evidence that any thing is capable of, and such as is sufficient to answer and bear down all sorts of captious Cavils and Objections against it; but so much as is abundant­ly sufficient to satisfie a sober and impar­tial Enquirer after Truth, one that hath no other interest but to find out Truth; and when he hath found it, to yield to it: If it were otherwise, and the Princi­ples of Religion were as glaring and evi­dent as the Sun shining at Noon-day, as there could hardly be any vertue in such a Faith, so Infidelity would be next to an impossibility.

All that I would expect from any man, that shall say that he cannot see sufficient [Page 369] reason to believe the Being and the Pro­vidence of God, is this; That he would offer some other Principles; that he would advance any other Hypothesis and Scheme of things that is more agreeable to the common and natural Notions of Men, and to all Appearances of things in the World; and that does bid more fairly for the comfort and happiness of Mankind, than these Principles of the Being of a God, and of his watchful Pro­vidence over the children of men, do plainly do: And till this be clearly done, the Principles of Religion which have generally been received by Mankind, and have obtain'd in the World in all Ages, cannot fairly be discarded, and ought not to be disturbed and put out of Possession. And this, I think, puts this whole mat­ter upon a very fair and reasonable Issue, and that nothing more needs to be said concerning it.

Secondly, From what hath been said, in 2 the foregoing Discourse, it naturally fol­lows, That God is the only Object of our trust and confidence, and therefore to him alone, and to no other, we ought to address all our Prayers and Supplications for mercy and grace to help in time of need. But now, according to the Doctrine and [Page 370] Practice of the Church of Rome, the Psal­mist here puts a very odd and strange Question, Whom have I in Heaven but thee? To which they must give a quite different answer from what the Psalmist plainly intended; namely, that God was the sole Object of his hope and trust, and that upon Him alone he relied as his on­ly comfort and happiness: But to this Assertion of the Psalmist the Church of Rome can by no means agree: They un­derstand this matter much better than the Psalmist did; namely, that besides God there are in Heaven innumerable Angels and Saints, in whom we are to repose great trust and confidence, and to whom also we are to address solemn Prayers and Supplications, not only for temporal good things, but for the par­don of our Sins, for the increase of our Graces, and for eternal Life. That there are in Heaven particular Advocates and Patrons for all exigencies and occasions, against all sorts of dangers and diseases, for all Graces and Vertues, and, in a word, for all temporal, spiritual, and e­ternal Blessings; to whom we may ap­ply our selves, without troubling God and our Blessed Saviour, who also is God blessed for evermore, by presuming upon [Page 371] every occasion to make our immediate Addresses to Him▪ For as they would make us believe, though Abraham was ignorant of it, and David knew it not, the blessed Spirits above, both Angels and Saints, do not only intercede with God for us for all sorts of Blessings, but we may make direct and immediate Addres­ses to them to bestow these Blessings up­on us: For so they do in the Church of Rome, as is evident, beyond all denial, from several of their Prayers in their most publick and authentick Liturgies.

They would indeed fain palliate this matter, by telling us, that by these di­rect and immediate Addresses to Angels and Saints to bestow Grace and eternal Life upon them, they mean no more but only to pray to them that they would be pleased to intercede with God for these Blessings to be bestowed upon them by their Mediation: But if they mean no mean, why do they say more than they mean? Why do they use such expressions as to the common sense and understand­ing of Mankind do signifie a great deal more than they say they mean; such ex­pressions, as they themselves do acknow­ledge, if they be understood according to the most obvious sence of the words, [Page 372] would render them guilty of flat Idola­try? Especially when they know, that they are charged with Idolatry upon this account; and since to clear themselves of it they will not alter their Prayers, they justly lie under the suspicion of it.

And yet admitting what they say in this matter to be true, and that by these expressions in their Prayers they intend no more but the solemn Invocation of Angels and Saints, that they would inter­cede with God to bestow these Blessings upon them for the sake of their Merits, and upon their Mediation: Yet this sure­ly is a great deal too much, and cannot be done without a high entrenchment upon the Office of the only Mediator be­tween God and Man, the Man Christ Je­sus: But let them not deceive them­selves, God is not mocked: The Lord our God is a jealous God, and He will not give his Glory to another.

I have not yet instanced in the grossest part of their Superstition, not to say down­right Idolatry, in this kind; I mean, in their extravagant Worship of the blessed Virgin and Mother of our Lord; whom they blasphemously call the Queen of Hea­ven; and whom, by a new style, unknown to the Scriptures and Primitive Antiquity, [Page 373] they think to dignifie with the modish Title of our Lady; as if that could be any addition of honour to Her, whom the Angel declared to be blessed among Women: Who, if she know any thing of the follies of Her Worshippers here be­low, with what disdain and indignation, do we think She hears those infinite Pray­ers that are made to Her, and that Sacri­legious Worship which is given Her in that Church, and which makes both pa­ges of their Religion; and which for the frequency of it, both in their publick and private Devotions, is very much be­yond what they give to God and Christ? As if there were none in Heaven but She, nor any thing upon Earth to be worship­ped in comparison of Her Image.

Nay, so far have they carried this ex­travagant Folly, and how much farther they would have carried it, had not the Reformation given a check to it, God only knows: So far, I say, have they proceeded in this Folly, as, in that fa­mous Book of their Devotions, called Our Lady's Psalter, not only to apply to Her some part of this Psalm, out of which I have taken my Text, beginning it thus: How good is God to Israel, to them that worship his Blessed Mother? But they [Page 374] have likewise profanely burlesqued, I can­not afford it a better term, this whole Book of Psalms, applying to Her almost the highest things that are there said concerning God and our Blessed Saviour. Hear, O Heavens, and give ear, O Earth, and be ye horribly astonished, to see the best and wisest Religion in the World transform'd into Superstition and Folly; and to see the most learned Persons in that Communion set themselves in good earnest to justifie all these follies and ab­surdities by a grave and groundless pre­tence to Infallibility.

3 Thirdly and Lastly, This shews us how necessary the favour of God is to every man's happiness: And there is but one way to gain his friendship and favour, by becoming holy and good as He is: Then may we rejoice and glory in God, as the Psalmist here does, and say, Whom have I in Heaven but thee? and there is none upon Earth that I desire besides thee. A wicked Man dreads God above all things in the World, and he has great reason to do so: For he is not a God that hath pleasure in wickedness, neither shall evil dwell with him: The foolish shall not stand in his sight, he hateth all the workers of iniquity. When by sin we depart from [Page 375] God, we forsake our own happiness: Salvation is far from the wicked, Psal. 119. says Da­vid. And again, a little after the Text, They that are far from thee shall perish, but it is good for me to draw near to God. Now by Holiness and Goodness we draw near to Him, who alone can make us happy.

It is certainly the common interest of mankind there should be a God, because we cannot possibly be happy without Him: But then it is no man's interest to be wicked, because thereby we make Him our Enemy in whose favour is life, and upon whom all our hopes of hap­piness do depend.

To conclude, If we would have God for our Happiness, we must be sure to make Him our Friend; and then we may promise to our selves all those advanta­ges which the Friendship of so great and powerful a Patron can give us: And there is but one way to establish a firm Friendship between God and us, and that is, by doing his Will, and living in obedience to his Laws: Ye are my friends, saith our Blessed Lord, if ye do whatsoe­ver I command you: This is the love of God, saith St. John, that we keep his com­mandments: [Page 376] And to love God is the way to be made partakers of those glorious things which God hath prepared for them that love Him: Such as eye hath not seen, nor ear heard, neither have entred into the heart of man: Which God of his infinite Goodness grant we may all at last be made partakers of, for his Mercies sake in Jesus Christ; To whom with Thee, O Father, and the Holy Ghost, be all ho­nour and glory, dominion and power, both now and for ever. Amen.

A Thanksgiving-Sermon for the late Victory at Sea.

THese words are a message from God sent by his Prophet to the People of the Jews, who trusted in their own Wisdom, and Might, and Riches, for their safety and preservation [Page 380] from that Destruction which, in the former part of this Chapter, God had threaten'd to bring upon them by the King of Babylon. To take them off from this vain confidence is this Message sent to them, Thus saith the Lord, Let not the wise man glory in his wisdom, neither let the mighty man glory in his might; let not the rich man glory in his riches: But let him that glorieth glory in this, That he under­standeth and knoweth Me, that I am the Lord, which exercise loving-kindness, and judg­ment, and righteousness in the Earth: For in these things I delight, saith the Lord.

In the handling of these Words, I shall abstract from the particular Occasion of them, and only consider the general Truth contained in them: Which I shall do under these two Heads.

First, What we are not to glory in: Let not the wise man glory in his wisdom, neither let the mighty man glory in his might; let not the rich man glory in his riches.

Secondly, What it is that is matter of true glory: But let him that glorieth glo­ry in this, That he understandeth and know­eth Me, that I am the Lord, which exer­cise loving-kindness, and judgment, and righ­ousness in the Earth.

[Page 381]I. What we are not to glory in. The I Text instanceth in three things which are the great Idols of mankind, and in which they are very apt to pride themselves and to place their confidence, namely, Wisdom, and Might, and Riches. I shall consider these severally, and shew how little reason there is to glory in any of them.

1. Let not the wise man glory in his wis­dom. 1 This may comprehend both hu­mane Knowledge, and likewise prudence in the management of affairs. We will suppose both these to be intended here by the name of Wisdom, Let not the wise man glory in his wisdom, that is, neither in the largeness and compass of his Knowledge and Understanding, nor in his skill and dexterity in the contrivance and conduct of humane Affairs; and that for these two reasons.

First, Because the highest pitch of hu­mane Knowledge and Wisdom is very im­perfect.

Secondly, Because when Knowledge and Wisdom are with much difficulty in any competent measure attained, how easily are they lost?

First, The highest pitch of humane know­ledge and wisdom is very imperfect. Our [Page 382] Ignorance doth vastly exceed our Know­ledge at the best. Wisdom in any tolerable degree is difficult to be attain'd, but per­fection in it utterly to be despair'd of. Where is there to be found so strong and found a Head, as hath no soft place; so perfect, so clear an understanding as hath no flaw, no dark Water in it? How hard a matter is it to be truly wise? And yet there are so many pretenders to wisdom as would almost tempt a man to think that nothing is easier. Men do frequently murmur and repine at the unequal distri­bution of other things, as of health and strength, of power and riches: But if we will trust the judgment of most men concerning themselves, nothing is more equally shar'd among mankind than a good degree of wisdom and understand­ing. Many will grant others to be su­periour to them in other gifts of Nature, as in bodily strength and stature; and in the gifts of Fortune, as in riches and ho­nour; because the difference between one man and another in these qualities is many times so gross and palpable, that no body hath the face to deny it: But very few in comparison, unless it be in mere complement and civility, will yield others to be wiser than themselves; [Page 383] and yet the difference in this also is for the most part very visible to every body but themselves.

So that true Wisdom is a thing very extraordinary. Happy are they that have it: And, next to them, not those many that think they have it, but those few that are sensible of their own defects and imperfections and know that they have it not.

And among all the kinds of Wisdom none is more nice and difficult, and meers with more frequent disappointments, than that which men are most apt to pride themselves in, I mean Political wisdom and prudence; because it depends upon so many contingent Causes, any one of which failing the best laid design breaks and falls in pieces: It depends upon the uncertain wills and fickle humours, the mistaken and mutable interests of men, which are perpetually shifting from one point to another, so that no body knows where to find them: Besides an unac­countable mixture of that which the Heathen call'd Fortune, but we Christians by its true name, the Providence of God; which does frequently interpose in hu­mane Affairs, and loves to confound the wisdom of the wise, and to turn their coun­sels into foolishness.

[Page 384]Of this we have a most remarkable Example in Achitophel, of whose wisdom the Scripture gives this extraordinary Te­stimony, That the counsel which he coun­selled in those days was as if one had en­quired at the Oracle of God: Such was all the counsel of Achitophel both with David and with Absalom. It seems he gave very good counsel also to Absalom, and because he would not follow it was dis­contented to that degree as to lay vio­lent hands upon himself: And now who would pride himself in being so very wise as to be able to give the best counsel in the world, and yet so very weak as to make away himself, because he to whom it was given was not wise enough to take it?

The like miscarriages often happen in point of Military skill and prudence. A great Prince or General is sometimes so very cautious and wary, that nothing can provoke him to a Battel; and then at another time, and perhaps in another Element, so rash and wilful that nothing can hinder him from fighting and being beaten: As if the two Elements made the difference; and caution were great wisdom at Land, and confidence and pre­sumption great prudence at Sea. But the true reason of these things lies much [Page 385] deeper, in the secret Providence of Al­mighty God, who when he pleases can so govern and over-rule both the under­standings and the wills of men, as shall best serve his own wise purpose and de­sign.

And as the highest pitch of humane Wisdom is very imperfect in it self, so is it much more so in comparison with the Divine knowledge and wisdom: Com­par'd with this it is mere folly, and less than the understanding and wisdom of a child to that of the wisest man. 1 Cor. 1.25. The foo­lishness of God, says St. Paul, is wiser than men, that is, the least grain of Divine wisdom is infinitely beyond all the wis­dom of men: But in opposition to the wisdom of God, the wisdom of men is less than nothing and vanity. Let men design things never so prudently, and make them never so sure, even to the Popish and French degree of infallibility; let them reckon upon it as a Blow that cannot fail: Yet after all, the counsel of the Lord that shall stand, and he will do all his pleasure; for there is no wisdom, nor understanding, nor counsel against the Lord.

And now we may ask the Question which Job does, Job 28.12. Where shall wisdom be [Page 386] found, and where is the place of understan­ding? And we must answer it as he does, It is not to be found in the land of the li­ving: Ch. 28.12. unless it be that one infallible Point of Wisdom to which God directs every man, and of which every man is capa­ble, viz. Religion and the Fear of God, Ʋnto man he said, Job 28.28. Behold! the fear of the Lord, that is wisdom; and to depart from evil is understanding.

Secondly, When knowledge and wisdom are with great difficulty in any competent measure attain'd, how easily are they lost? By a disease, by a blow upon the head; by a sudden and violent passion, which may disorder the strongest Brain and con­found the clearest Understanding in a moment: Nay even the excess of know­ledge and wisdom, especially if attended with pride as too often it is, is very dan­gerous and does many times border up­on distraction and run into madness: Like an Athletick constitution and perfect state of health, which is observ'd by Phy­sicians to verge upon some dangerous dis­ease, and to be a forerunner of it.

And when a man's Understanding is once craz'd and shatter'd, how are the finest notions and thoughts of the wisest man blunder'd and broken, perplex'd and [Page 387] entangled? like a puzled lump of silk, so that the man cannot draw out a thought to any length, but is forc'd to break it off and to begin at another end. Upon all which and many more ac­counts, Let not the wise man glory in his wisdom ▪ which is so very imperfect; so hard to be attain'd, and yet so easie to be lost.

2. Neither let the mighty man glory in 2 his might. Which whether it be meant of natural strength of body, or of mili­tary force and power, how weak and im­perfect is it, and how frequently foil'd by an unequal strength?

If we understand it of the natural strength of men's bodies, how little rea­son is there to glory in that, in which so many of the Creatures below us do by so many degrees excell us? In that, which may so many ways be lost; by sickness, by a maime, and by many other exter­nal Accidents; and which however will decay of it self, and by Age sink into infirmity and weakness.

And how little reason is there to glory in that, which is so frequently foil'd by an unequal strength? of which Goliah is a famous Instance. When he defied the Host of Israel, and would needs have the [Page 388] matter decided by single Combate, God inspired David to accept the Challenge; who though he was no wise comparable to him in strength, and would have been nothing in his hands in close fight, yet God directed him to assail him at a di­stance by a weapon that was too hard for him, a stone out of a sling, which struck the Giant in the forehead, and brought his unwieldy bulk down to the Earth.

Or if by might we understand military force and power, how little likewise is that to be gloried in? considering the uncertain events of War, and how very often and remarkably the Providence of God doth interpose to cast the Victory on the unlikely Side. It is Solomon's ob­servation, that such are the interpositions of Divine Providences in humane Affairs, that the Event of things is many times not at all answerable to the power and probability of second Causes: I returned, says he, Eccl. 9.11. and saw under the Sun, that the race is not to the swift, nor the battel to the strong.

And one way, among many others, whereby the Providence of God doth of­ten interpose to decide the Events of War, is by a remarkable change of the Seasons [Page 389] and Weather in favour of one Side: As by sending great Snows, or violent Rains, to hinder the early motion and march of a powerful Army, to the disappointment or prejudice of some great Design: By remarkable Winds and Storms at Sea, to prevent the Conjunction of a powerful Fleet: And by governing all these for a long time together so visibly to the Ad­vantage of one Side us utterly to de­feat the well laid design of the other. Of all which, by the great mercy and goodness of God to us, we have had the happy experience in all our late sig­nal Deliverances and Victories.

And here I cannot but take notice of a passage to this purpose in the Book of Job: Which may deserve our more at­tentive regard and consideration, because I take this Book to be incomparably the most ancient of all other, and much el­der than Moses: And yet it is written with as lively a sense of the Providence of God, and as noble Figures and Flights of Eloquence as perhaps any Book extant in the World. The Passage I mean is, where God to convince Job of his igno­rance in the secrets of Nature and Provi­dence poseth him with many hard Que­stions, and with this amongst the rest, [Page 390] Hast thou entred into the treasures of the Snow? [...] 38.22, 23. hast thou seen the treasures of the Hail? which I have reserv'd against the time of trouble, against the Day of Bat­tel and War. The meaning of which is, that the Providence of God doth some­times interpose to determine the Events of War, by governing the Seasons and the Weather, and by making the Snows and Rains, the Winds and Storms to fulfil his word and to execute his pleasure.

Of this we have a remarkable Instance in the defeat of Sisera's mighty Army; against whom, in the Song of Deborah, the Stars are said to have fought in their courses: The expression is Poetical, but the plain meaning of it is, that by migh­ty and sudden Rains, which the com­mon Opinion did ascribe to a special influence of the Planets, the River of Ki­shon, near which Sisera's Army lay, was so raised and swoln as to drown the grea­test part of that huge Host. For so De­borah explains the fighting of the Stars in their courses against Sisera: They fought, says she, from Heaven, the Stars in their cour­ses fought against Sisera, the River of Ki­shon swept them away: As if the Stars, which were supposed by their influence to have caused those sudden and extraor­dinary [Page 391] Rains, had set themselves in Bat­tel-array against Sisera and his Army.

Therefore, let not the mighty man glory in his might, which is so small in it self, but in opposition to God is weakness and nothing. The weakness of God, says St. Paul, is stronger than men. All power to do mischief is but impotence, Psal. 52.1. and there­fore no matter of boasting: Why boastest thou thy self, thou Tyrant, that thou art a­ble to do mischief? the goodness of God en­dureth continually: The goodness of God is too hard for the pride and malice of man, and will last and hold out when that has tir'd and spent it self.

Thirdly, Let not the rich man glory in 3 his riches. In these, men are apt to pride themselves: even the meanest and poorest spirits, who have nothing to be proud of but their money, when they have got good store of that together, how will they swell and strut? as if because they are rich and increased in goods they wanted nothing.

But we may do well to consider, that Riches are things without us; not the real Excellencies of our Nature, but the accidental Ornaments of our Fortune. If they descend upon us, they are the Pri­vilege of our Birth, not the effect of our [Page 392] wisdom and industry; and those things in the procurement whereof we had no hand, we can hardly call our own: And if they be the fruit of our own prudent industry, that is no such matter of glo­rying; because men of much slower un­derstandings do commonly out-do others in diligence and drudging, their minds lying more level to the low design of being rich.

At the best, Riches are uncertain. Charge them, says St. Paul, that are rich in this world, that they be not high-minded, nor trust in uncertain riches: Men have little reason to pride themselves, or to place their confidence in that which is uncer­tain, and even next to that which is not: So the wise man speaks of Riches, Prov. 23.5. Wilt thou set thine heart upon that which is not? for riches certainly make themselves wings, and fly as an Eagle towards heaven: He ex­presses it in such a manner, as if a rich man sate brooding over an Estate till it was fledg'd and had gotten it self wings to fly away.

But that which is the most stinging consideration of all is, that many men have an evil eye upon a good Estate; so that instead of being the means of our happiness it may prove the occasion of [Page 393] our ruin: So the same Wise man ob­serves, Eccl. 5.13. There is a sore evil which I have seen under the Sun, namely, riches kept for the owners thereof to their hurt. And it is not without example, that a very rich man hath been excepted out of a general Pardon, both as to Life and Estate, for no other visible reason but his vast and over-grown Fortune: So Solomon observes to us again, Prov. 1.18. Such are the ways of every one that is greedy of gain, which taketh a­way the life of the owners thereof. And why should any man be proud of his danger, of that which one time or other may be the certain and only cause of his ruin? A man may be too rich to be for­given a fault which would never have been prosecuted against a man of a mid­dle Fortune. For these reasons, and a great many more, Let not the rich man glory in his riches.

II. I proceed to consider, What it is II that is matter of true glory? But let him that glorieth glory in this, that he under­standeth and knoweth me, that I am the Lord, which exercise loving-kindness, and judgment, and righteousness in the Earth: For in these things I delight, saith the Lord.

[Page 394] That he understandeth and knoweth me: Here are two words used to express the thing more fully, understanding and know­ledge; which seem not only to import right apprehensions of the Being, and Providence, and Perfections of God; but likewise a lively sense of these things, and affections suitable to these apprehen­sions.

That he understandeth and knoweth me, that I am the Lord, that is the Creator, and the Sovereign Governor of the World.

Which exercise loving-kindness, and judg­ment, and righteousness in the Earth.

The best Knowledge of Religion, and that which is the foundation of all the rest, is the Knowledge of the Divine Na­ture and Perfections: especially of those which are most proper for our imitation; and such are those mentioned in the Text, loving-kindness, and judgment, and righteous­ness; which we may distinguish thus: Lo­ving-kindness comprehends God's milder Attributes, his Goodness, and Mercy, and Patience: Judgment signifies his severer dealings with men, whether in the cha­stisement of his People, or in the remark­able Punishment of great Offenders for example and warning to others: Righte­ousness [Page 395] seems to be a word of a larger sig­nification, and to denote that universal Rectitude of the Divine Nature which appears in all the Administrations of his Providence here below; for the Text speaks of the Exercise of these Perfecti­ons in this World: which exercise loving-kindness, and judgment, and righteousness in the Earth.

Several of the Perfections of the Divine Nature are incommunicable to a Crea­ture, and therefore cannot be thought to be proposed to us for a Pattern; as self-existence, independence, and all-sufficiency; the eternity, and the immensity of the Di­vine Being; to be the original Cause of all other things, and the Sovereign Go­vernour of the whole World: For God only is sufficient for that; and to be a Match for all the World, a nec pluribus impar, is not a Motto fit for a mortal man. A Creature may swell with pride till it burst, before it can stretch it self to this pitch of Power and Greatness: It is an insufferable Presumption, and a sot­tish Ignorance of the necessary Bounds and Limits of our Being, to think to re­semble God in these Perfections: This was the Ambition of Lucifer, to ascend into Heaven, and to be like the most High.

[Page 396]In our imitation of God we must still keep within the station of Creatures; not affecting an independency and sovereignty like God, and to be omnipotent as he is: Hast thou an arm like God, Job 40.9. and canst thou thunder with a voice like Him? as God himself argues with Job.

For in these things I delight, saith the Lord. God takes pleasure to exercise these Perfections himself, and to see them imi­tated by us; and the imitation of these Divine Perfections is our perfection and glory; in comparison of which all hu­mane wisdom, and power, and riches, are so far from being matter of glory, that they are very despicable and pitiful things: Knowledge and Skill to devise mischief, and power to effect it, are the true Nature and Character of the Devil and his Angels; those Apostate and ac­cursed Spirits, who in temper and dispo­sition are most contrary to God, who is the Rule and Pattern of all perfection.

I shall only make two Observations or Inferences from what hath been said, and then apply the whole Discourse to the great Occasion of this Day: And they are these.

First, That the wisest and surest Rea­sonings in Religion are grounded upon [Page 397] the unquestionable Perfections of the Di­vine Nature.

Secondly, That the Nature of God is the true Idea and Pattern of Perfection and Happiness.

First, That the wisest and surest Reason­ings in Religion are grounded upon the un­questionable Perfections of the Divine Na­ture: Upon those more especially which to us are most easie and intelligible: such as are those mentioned in the Text. And this makes the Knowledge of God, and of these Perfections, to be so useful and so valuable: Because all Religion is founded in right Notions of God, and of his Perfections: Insomuch that Divine Re­velation it self does suppose these for its foundation, and can signify nothing to us unless these be first known and belie­ved: For unless we be first firmly per­suaded of the Providence of God, and of his particular care of Mankind, why should we suppose that he makes any Re­velation of his Will to us? Unless it be first naturally known that God is a God of Truth, what ground is there for the belief of his Word? So that the Principles of Natural Religion are the foundation of that which is reveal'd: And therefore nothing can in Reason be admitted to be [Page 398] a Revelation from God, which does plainly contradict his essential Perfecti­ons.

Upon this Principle, a great many Do­ctrines are without more a-do to be reje­cted, because they do plainly and at first sight contradict the Divine Nature and Perfections. I will give a few Instances, instead of many that might be given.

In vertue of this Principle I cannot be­lieve, upon the pretended Authority or Infallibility of any Person or Church, that Force is a fit Argument to produce Faith: No man shall ever persuade me, no not the Bishop of Meaux with all his Eloquence, that Prisons and Tortures, Dragoons and the Galleys, are proper means to convince the Understanding, and either Christian or Humane Methods of converting men to the true Reli­gion.

For the same Reason I cannot believe, that God would not have men to under­stand their publick Prayers, nor the Les­sons of Scripture which are read to them: Because a Lesson is something that is to be learnt, and therefore a Lesson that is not to be understood is nonsense; for if it be not understood how can it be learnt?

[Page 399]As little can I believe, that God who caused the Holy Scriptures to be written for the instruction of mankind, did ever intend that they should be lock'd up and concealed from the People in an unknown Tongue.

Least of all can I believe that Doctrine of the Council of Trent, That the saving Efficacy of the Sacraments doth depend upon the intention of the Priest that ad­ministers them: Which is to say, that though the People believe and live never so well, yet they may be damn'd by shoals, and whole Parishes together, at the pleasure of the Priest: And this for no other reason, but because the Priest is so cross and so cruel that he will not in­tend to save them.

Now can any man believe this, that hath any tolerable Notion either of the Goodness or Justice of God? May we not appeal to God in this, as Abraham did in another Case? Wilt thou destroy the righ­teous with the wicked? That be far from thee, to do after this manner: Shall not the Judge of all the Earth do right? Much more, to destroy the righteous for the wicked, and that righteous and innocent People should lie at the mercy and will of a wicked and perverse Priest, to be [Page 400] sav'd or damn'd by him as he thinks fit, That be far from thee: Shall not the Judge of all the Earth do right? For, to drive the argument to the head, if this be to do right there is no possibility of doing wrong.

Thus in things which are more obscure we should govern all our Reasonings con­cerning God and Religion by that which is clear and unquestionable, and should with Moses lay down this for a certain Principle, All his ways are judgment, a God of truth, and without iniquity, just and right is He: And say with St. Paul, Is there then unrighteousness with God? God forbid? And again, We know that the Judgment of God is according to truth.

2 ly, The other Inference is this, That the Nature of God is the true Idea and Pat­tern of Perfection and Happiness: And therefore nothing but our conformity to it can make us happy: And for this rea­son, to understand and know God is our great excellency and glory, because it is necessary to our imitation of Him who is the best and happiest Being. And so far as we are from resembling God, so far are we distant from Happiness and the true temper of the Blessed. For Good­ness is an essential ingredient of Happi­ness; [Page 401] and as without Goodness there can be no true Majesty and Greatness, so nei­ther any true Felicity and Blessedness.

Now Goodness is a generous dispositi­on of mind to diffuse and communicate it self by making others to partake of our Happiness, in such degrees as they are capable: For no Being is so happy as it might be, that hath not the power and the pleasure to make others happy: This surely is the highest pleasure, I had al­most said pride, of a great Mind.

In vain therefore do we dream of Hap­piness in any thing without us. Happi­ness must be within us; the foundation of it must be laid in the inward frame and disposition of our spirits: And the very same causes and ingredients which make up the Happiness of God must be found in us, though in a much inferiour degree, or we cannot be happy. They understand not the Nature of Happiness, who hope for it upon any other terms: He who is the Authour and Fountain of Happiness cannot convey it to us by any other way, than by planting in us such dispositions of mind as are in truth a kind of participation of the Divine Na­ture, and by enduing us with such qua­lities as are the necessary Materials of [Page 402] Happiness: And a man may assoon be well without Health as happy without Goodness.

If a wicked man were taken up into Heaven, yet if he still continue the same bad man that he was before, coelum, non animum mutavit, he may have chang'd the Climate, and be gone into a far Coun­try; but because he carries himself still along with him, he will still be miserable from himself: Because the man's mind is not chang'd all the while, which would signifie a thousand times more to his hap­piness, than change of place, or of any outward circumstances whatsoever: For a bad man hath a Fiend in his own Breast, and the fewel of Hell in his guilty Con­science.

There is a certain kind of temper and disposition which is necessary and essen­tial to Happiness, and that is Holiness and Goodness, which is the very Nature of God; and so far as any man departs from this temper, so far he removes himself and runs away from happiness. And here the foundation of Hell is laid, in the evil disposition of a man's own mind, which is naturally a torment to it self: And till this be cur'd, it is as impossible for him to be happy, as for a Limb that is out [Page 403] of joint to be at ease; because the man's Spirit is out of order, and off the hinges, and as it were toss'd from its Center; and till that be set right, and restored to its proper and natural state, the man will be perpetually unquiet, and can have no rest and peace within himself. The wick­ed, saith the Prophet, is like the troubled Sea, when it cannot rest: There is no peace, saith my God, to the wicked: No peace with God, no peace with his own mind; for a bad man is at perpetual Discord and Wars within himself: And hence, as St. James tells us, come Wars and Fightings without us, even from our Lusts which warr in our members.

And now that I have mention'd Wars and Fightings without us, this cannot but bring to mind the great and glorious Oc­casion of this Day: Which gives us ma­nifold Cause of Praise and Thanksgiving to Almighty God: For several wonder­ful Mercies and Deliverances; and more particularly, for a most glorious Victory at Sea, vouchsafed to Their Majesties Fleet in this last Summer's Expedition.

For several great Mercies and Delive­rances: For a wonderful Deliverance in­deed, from a sudden Invasion design'd up­on us by the inveterate and implacable [Page 404] Enemies of our Peace and Religion; which by the merciful Providence of God was happily and strangely prevented, when it was just upon the point of exe­cution.

Next, for the preservation of our Gra­cious Sovereign, from that horrid and most barbarous Attempt design'd upon his Sa­cred Person: And from those great and manifold Dangers to which he was expo­sed in his late tedious Expedition: And for His safe and most welcome Return to us.

And lastly, For a most glorious Victo­ry at Sea: The greatest and the cheapest that ever the Sun saw, from his first set­ting out to run his Course. The Oppor­tunity indeed of this Victory was through the rashness and confidence of our Ene­mies, by the wise Providence of God, put into our hands: But the improvement of this Opportunity into so great and happy a Victory we owe, under God, to the matchless Conduct and Courage of the Brave Admiral, and to the invincible Re­solution and Valour of the Captains and Seamen.

This great Deliverance from the de­sign'd Invasion, and this glorious Victory, God vouchsaf'd to us at Home, whilst His [Page 405] Sacred Majesty was so freely hazarding his Royal Person abroad, in the Publick Cause of the Rights and Liberties of al­most all Europe.

And now what may God justly expect from us, as a meet return for his Good­ness to us? What? but that we should glorifie Him, first by offering praise and thanksgiving; and then, by ordering our conversation aright, that he may still de­light to shew us his Salvation.

God might have stood aloof from us in the Day of our distress, and have said to us, as he once did to the People of Is­rael, so often have I delivered you from the hands of your Enemies, but ye have still provok'd me more and more, Judg. 10.13. Where­fore I will deliver you no more: He might have said of us, as he did of the same People, I will hide my face from them, Deut. 32.20. I will see what their end shall be: For they are a very froward generation, children in whom is no faith: Our resolutions and promises of better obedience are not to be trusted; all our Repentance and Righ­teousness are but as the morning cloud, and like the early dew which passeth away: Nay methinks God seems now to say to us, as he did of old to Jerusalem, Be instru­cted, O Jerusalem, Jer. 6.8. lest my soul depart from [Page 406] thee, and I make thee desolate, a Land not inhabited.

We are here met together this Day, to pay our Solemn acknowledgments to the God of our Salvation; who hath shewed strength with his Arm, and hath scattered the proud in the imagination of their heart: Even to him that exerciseth loving-kindness, and judgment, and righteousness in the Earth: In Him will we glory as our sure Refuge and Defence, as our Mighty Deliverer, and the Rock of our Salva­tion.

And now I have only to entreat your patience a little longer, whilst I apply what hath been discoursed upon this Text a little more closely to the Occasion of this Day. I may be tedious, but I will not be long.

And blessed be God for this happy Oc­casion: The greatest England ever had, and, in the true consequences of it, per­haps the greatest that Europe ever had of Praise and Thanksgiving.

You have heard two sorts of Per­sons described in the Text, by very dif­ferent Characters: The One, that glory in their Wisdom and Might, and Riches: The other, that glory in this, that they under­stand and know God to be the Lord, which [Page 407] exerciseth loving-kindness, and judgment, and righteousness in the Earth.

And we have seen these two Characters exemplified, or rather drawn to the Life, in this present Age. We who live in this Western part of Christendom have seen a mighty Prince, by the just permission of God, raised up to be a Terrour and Scourge to all his Neighbours: A Prince, who had in perfection all the Advantages mentioned in the former part of the Text: And who, in the opinion of many who had been long dazzled with his Splen­dour and Greatness, hath pass'd for many years, for the most Politick, and Power­ful, and Richest Monarch that hath ap­pear'd in these parts of the World, for many Ages:

Who hath govern'd his Affairs by the deepest and steddiest Counsels, and the most refin'd Wisdom of this World: A Prince mighty and powerful in his Pre­parations for War; formidable for his vast and well disciplin'd Armies, and for his great Naval Force: And who had brought the Art of War almost to that perfection, as to be able to Conquer and do his business without fighting: A Mystery hardly known to former Ages and Generations: And all this Skill and [Page 408] Strength united under one absolute Will, not hamper'd or bound up by any re­straints of Law or Conscience.

A Prince that commands the Estates of all his Subjects, and of all his Conquests; which hath furnish'd him with an almost inexhaustible Treasure and Revenue: And One, who if the World doth not greatly mistake him, hath sufficiently gloried in all these Advantages, and even beyond the rate of a mortal man.

But not knowing God to be the Lord, which exercises loving-kindness, and judg­ment, and righteousness in the Earth; How hath the pride of all his Glory been stain'd by Tyranny and Oppression, by Injustice and Cruelty; by enlarging his Dominions without Right, and by ma­king War upon his Neighbours without Reason, or even colour of Provocation? And this in a more Barbarous manner than the most Barbarous Nations ever did; carrying Fire and Desolation where­soever he went, and laying wast many and great Cities without necessity, and without pity.

And now behold what a terrible Re­buke the Providence of God hath given to this mighty Monarch, in the full Car­rier of his Fortune and Fury. The con­sideration [Page 409] whereof brings to my thoughts those Passages in the Prophet concerning old Babylon, that standing and perpetual Type of the great Oppressors and Perse­cutors of God's true Church and Religion: Isa. 14. How is the Oppressor ceased? the exactor of gold ceased? He who smote the People in wrath with a continual stroke, he who ruled the Nations in anger is himself persecuted, and none hindreth. The whole Earth is at rest and is quiet, and breaks forth into sing­ing: The grave beneath is moved for thee, to meet thee at thy coming; it stirreth up the dead for thee, even all the Captains of the Earth; it hath raised up from their Thrones all the Kings of the Nations; all they shall speak and say unto thee, art thou also become weak as we are? art thou also become like unto us? how art thou fallen from Heaven, O Lucifer, Son of the mor­ning? How art thou cut down to the ground that didst weaken the Nations? For thou hast said in thy heart, I will ascend into Heaven, I will exalt my Throne above the Stars of God: I will sit also upon the Mount of the Congregation in the sides of the North, That is, upon Mount Zion, for just so the Psalmist describes it, Psal. 48.2. Beau­tiful for situation, the joy of the whole Earth is Mount Zion, on the sides of the [Page 410] North. Here the King of Babylon threa­tens to take Jerusalem, and to demolish the Temple where the Congregation of Israel met for the Worship of the true God; I will also sit upon the Mount of the Congregation in the sides of the North. Much in the same Style with the threat­nings of Modern Babylon, I will destroy the Reformation, I will extirpate the Nor­thern Heresie.

And then he goes on, I will ascend a­bove the height of the clouds, I will be like the most High: Yet thou shalt be brought down to the grave, to the sides of the pit: They that see thee shall narrowly look upon thee, and consider thee, saying, Is this the man that made the earth to tremble, that did shake Kingdoms; that made the World as a Wilderness, and destroyed the Cities thereof, and opened not the House of his Prisoners?

God seems already to have begun this Work, in the late glorious Victory at Sea; and I hope he will cut it short in righteousness. I have sometimes heretofore wondred, Why at the destruction of Mo­dern and Mystical Babylon the Scripture should make so express mention of great wailing and lamentation for the loss of Her Ships and Seamen: Rev. 18.17. Little imagining [Page 411] thirty years ago, that any of the King­doms who had given their power to the Beast would ever have arrived to that mighty Naval Force: But the Scripture saith nothing in vain.

Whether, and how far, Success is an Argument of a good Cause, I shall not now debate: But thus much, I think, may safely be affirmed, That the Provi­dence of God doth sometimes, without plain and down-right Miracles, so visi­bly shew it self, that we cannot without great stupidity and obstinacy refuse to ac­knowledge it.

I grant, the Cause must first be mani­festly just, before Success can be made an Argument of God's favour to it and ap­probation of it: And if the Cause of true Religion, and the necessary defence of it against a false and Idolatrous Worship, be a good Cause, Ours is so: And I do not here beg the Question; we have abun­dantly proved it to the confusion of our Adversaries: If the vindication of the common Liberties of Mankind, against Tyranny and Oppression, be a good Cause, then Ours is so: And this needs not to be proved, it is so glaringly evi­dent to all the World. And as our Cause is not like theirs, so neither hath their [Page 412] Rock been like our Rock, our Enemies them­selves being Judges.

And yet as bad an Argument as success is of a good Cause, I am sorry to say it, but I am afraid it is true, it is like in the conclusion to prove the best Argument of all other to convince those who have so long pretended Conscience against sub­mission to the present Government.

Meer Success is certainly one of the worst Arguments in the World of a good Cause, and the most improper to satisfie Conscience: And yet we find by expe­rience, that in the issue it is the most suc­cessful of all other Arguments; and does in a very odd but effectual way satisfie the Consciences of a great many men by shewing them their Interest.

God has of late visibly made bare his Arm in our behalf, though some are still so blind and obstinate that they will not see it: Like those of whom the Prophet complains, Isa. 26.11. Lord, when thy hand is lifted up they will not see, but they shall see, and be ashamed for their envy at thy Peo­ple.

Thus have I represented unto you a mighty Monarch, who like a fiery Comet hath hung over Europe for many years; and by his malignant influence hath made [Page 413] such terrible havock and devastations in this part of the World.

Let us now turn our View to the other part of the Text: And behold a greater than he is here: A Prince of a quite diffe­rent Character, who does understand and know God to be the Lord, which doth ex­ercise loving-kindness, and judgment, and righteousness in the Earth: And who hath made it the great Study and Endeavour of his life to imitate these Divine Perfecti­ons, as far as the imperfection of hu­mane Nature in this mortal state will ad­mit: I say, a greater than he is here; who never said or did an insolent thing, but instead of despising his Enemies has upon all occasions encounter'd them with an undaunted Spirit and Resoluti­on.

This is the Man whom God hath ho­noured to give a Check to this mighty Man of the Earth, and to put a hook in­to the Nostrils of this great Leviathan who has so long had his pastime in the Seas.

But we will not insult, as he once did in a most unprincely manner over a Man much better than himself, when he be­lieved Him to have been slain at the Boyne: And indeed Death came then as [Page 414] near to him as was possible without kil­ling him: But the merciful Providence of God was pleased to step in for his Pre­servation, almost by a Miracle: For I do not believe that from the first use of great Guns to that Day, any mortal man ever had his shoulder so kindly kiss'd by a Can­non-bullet.

But I will not trespass any further up­on that which is the great Ornament of all his other Vertues; though I have said nothing of Him but what all the World does see and must acknowledge: He is as much above being flatter'd, as it is be­neath an honest and a generous mind to flatter.

Let us then glory in the Lord, and re­joice in the God of our Salvation: Let us now in the presence of all his People pay our most thankful acknowledgments to him who is worthy to be praised; even to the Lord God of Israel, who alone doth wondrous things: Who giveth Victory unto Kings, and hath preserved our David his Servant from the hurtful Sword.

And let us humbly beseech Almighty God, that he would long preserve to us the invaluable Blessing of our two Excel­lent Princes; whom the Providence of God hath sent amongst us, like two good [Page 415] Angels; not to rescue two or three Per­sons, but almost a whole Nation out of Sodom: By saving us I hope at last from our Vices, as well as at first from that Vengeance which was just ready to have been poured down upon us.

Two Sovereign Princes reigning toge­ther, and in the same Throne; and yet so intirely one, as perhaps no Nation, no Age can furnish us with a Parallel: Two Princes perfectly united in the same De­sign of promoting the true Religion, and the Publick Welfare, by reforming our Manners, and as far as is possible, by re­pairing the breaches, and healing the Di­visions of a miserably distracted Church and Nation: In a Word, Two Princes who are contented to sacrifice Themselves and their whole Time to the care of the Publick: And for the sake of that to de­ny themselves almost all sort of ease and pleasure: To deny themselves, did I say? No, they have wisely and judiciously chosen the truest and highest Pleasure that this World knows, the Pleasure of doing good, and being Benefactors to Mankind. May they have a long and happy Reign over us, to make us hap­py, and to lay up in store for Them­selves a Happiness without measure, and [Page 416] without end, in God's glorious and ever­lasting Kingdom: For his Mercies sake in Jesus Christ, to whom with thee, O Fa­ther, and the Holy Ghost, be all Honour and Glory, Thanksgiving and Praise, both now and for ever. Amen.

A Sermon against Evil-speaking.

GEneral Persuasives to Repentance and a good Life, and Invectives against Sin and Wickedness at large, are certainly of good use to recom­mend Religion and Virtue, and to expose the deformity and danger of a Vicious course. But it must be acknowledged on the other hand, that these general Dis­courses do not so immediately tend to reform the Lives of men: Because they fall among the Croud, but do not touch the Consciences of particular Persons in so sensible and awakening a manner as when we treat of particular Duties and Sins, and endeavour to put men upon the practice of the one, and to reclaim [Page 420] them from the other, by proper Argu­ments taken from the Word of God, and from the nature of particular Vertues and Vices.

The general way is, as if a Physician, instead of applying particular Remedies to the Distemper of his Patient, should entertain him with a long discourse of Diseases in general, and of the pleasure and advantages of Health; and earnestly persuade him to be well; without taking his particular Disease into consideration, and prescribing Remedies for it.

But if we would effectually reform men, we must take to task the great and common disorders of their Lives, and re­present their faults to them in such a manner as may convince them of the e­vil and danger of them, and put them upon the endeavour of a cure.

And to this end I have pitched upon one of the common and reigning Vices of the Age, Calumny and Evil-speaking; by which men contract so much guilt to themselves, and create so much trou­ble to others▪ And from which, it is to be feared, few or none are wholly free. For who is he, Ecclus. 19.16. saith the Son of Sirach, that hath not offended with his tongue? In many things, James 3.2. saith St. James, we offend all: [Page 421] And if any man offend not in word, the same is a perfect man.

But how few have attain'd to this per­fection? And yet unless we do endeavour after it, and in some good measure at­tain it, all our pretence to Religion is vain: So the same Apostle tells us, Jam. 1.26. If any man among you seemeth to be religious, and bridleth not his tongue, but deceiveth his own heart, that man's Religion is vain.

For the more distinct handling of this Argument, I shall reduce my Discourse to these Five Heads.

First, I shall consider the Nature of this Vice, and wherein it consists.

Secondly, I shall consider the due ex­tent of this Prohibition, To speak evil of no man.

Thirdly, I shall shew the Evil of this practice, both in the Causes and Effects of it.

Fourthly, I shall add some further Con­siderations to dissuade men from it.

Fifthly, I shall give some Rules and Directions for the prevention and cure of it.

[Page 422] I I. I shall consider what this Sin or Vice of evil speaking, here forbidden by the Apostle, is: [...], not to defame and slander any man, not to hurt his reputation, as the Etymology of the word doth import. So that this Vice consists in saying things of others which tend to their disparagement and reproach, to the taking away or lessen­ing of their Reputation and good Name. And this, whether the things said be true or not. If they be false, and we know it, then it is down-right Calumny; and if we do not know it, but take it upon the report of others, it is however a Slander; and so much the more injurious, because really groundless and undeserved.

If the thing be true, and we know it to be so, yet it is a defamation, and tends to the prejudice of our neighbour's repu­tation: And it is a fault to say the evil of others which is true, unless there be some good reason for it besides: Because it is contrary to that charity and goodness which Christianity requires, to divulge the faults of others, though they be really guilty of them, without necessity or some other very good reason for it.

[Page 423]Again, It is Evil-speaking and the Vice condemn'd in the Text, whether we be the first Authors of an ill Report, or re­late it from others; because the man that is evil spoken of is equally defam'd either way.

Again, Whether we speak evil of a man to his face, or behind his back: The former way indeed seems to be the more generous, but yet is a great Fault, and that which we call reviling: The latter is more mean and base, and that which we properly call Slander or Back­biting.

And Lastly, Whether it be done di­rectly and in express terms, or more ob­scurely and by way of oblique insinua­tion; whether by way of down-right re­proach, or with some crafty preface of commendation: For so it have the effect to defame, the manner of address does not much alter the case: The one may be more dextrous, but is not one jot less faulty: For many times the deepest Wounds are given by these smoother and more artificial ways of Slander; as by asking questions, Have you not heard so and so of such a man? I say no more, I only ask the question: Or by general in­timations, that they are loth to say what [Page 424] they have heard of such a one, are very sorry for it, and do not at all believe it, if you will believe them: And this ma­ny times without telling the thing, but leaving you in the dark to suspect the worst.

These and such like Arts, though they may seem to be tenderer and gentler ways of using men's reputation, yet in truth they are the most malicious and effectual methods of Slander; because they insinuate something that is much worse than is said, and yet are very apt to create in unwary men a strong belief of something that is very bad, though they know not what it is. So that it matters not in what fashion a Slander is dress'd up, if it tend to defame a man and to diminish his Reputation, it is the Sin forbidden in the Text.

II II. We will consider the extent of this Prohibition to speak evil of no man; and the due bounds and limitations of it. For it is not to be understood absolutely, to forbid us to say any thing concerning o­thers that is bad. This in some cases may be necessary and our duty, and in several cases very fit and reasonable. The Question is, In what Cases by the gene­ral [Page 425] Rules of Scripture and right Reason we are warranted to say the evil of others that is true?

In general, we are not to do this with­out great reason and necessity; as, for the prevention of some great evil, or the procuring of some considerable good to our selves, or others. And this I take to be the meaning of that advice of the Son of Sirach, Whether it be to a friend or a foe, talk not of other men's lives; Eccl. 19.8. and if thou canst without offence reveal them not; that is, if without hurt to any body thou canst conceal them, divulge them not.

But because this may not be direction sufficient, I shall instance in some of the principal Cases wherein men are war­ranted to speak evil of others, and yet in so doing do not offend against this Prohibition in the Text.

First, It is not only lawful, but very commendable, and many times our duty to do this in order to the probable a­mendment of the person of whom evil is spoken. In such a case we may tell a man of his faults privately; or where it may not be so fit for us to use that bold­ness and freedom, we may reveal his [Page 426] faults to one who is more fit and proper to reprove him, and will probably make no other use of this discovery but in or­der to his amendment. And this is so far from being a breach of Charity, that it is one of the best testimonies of it. For perhaps the party may not be guilty of what hath been reported of him, and then it is a kindness to give him the op­portunity of vindicating himself: Or if he be guilty, perhaps being privately and prudently told of it he may reform. In this Case the Son of Sirach adviseth to reveal men's faults; Ecclus. 19.13, 14, 15. Admonish a friend, says he, it may be he hath not done it; and if he have done it, that he do it no more: Admonish a friend, it may be he hath not said it; and if he have, that he speak it not again: Admonish a friend, for many times it is a slander; and believe not every tale.

But then we must take care that this be done out of kindness, and that no­thing of our own passion be mingled with it; and that under pretence of reproving and reforming men, we do not reproach and revile them, and tell them of their faults in such a manner as if we did it to shew our authority rather than our cha­rity. It requires a great deal of address [Page 427] and gentle application so to manage the business of Reproof, as not to irritate and exasperate the person whom we reprove, instead of curing him.

Secondly, This likewise is not only law­ful, but our duty, when we are legally called to bear witness concerning the fault and crime of another. A good man would not be an accuser, unless the pub­lick good, or the prevention of some great evil should require it. And then the plain reason of the thing will sufficiently justi­fie a voluntary accusation: otherwise it hath always among well-manner'd Peo­ple been esteemed very odious for a man to be officious in this kind, and a for­ward Informer concerning the misdemea­nours of others. Magistrates may some­times think it fit to give encouragement to such persons, and to set one bad man to catch another, because such men are fittest for such dirty work: But they can never inwardly approve them, nor will they ever make them their friends and confidents.

But when a man is call'd to give testi­mony in this kind in obedience to the Laws, and out of reverence to the Oath taken in such Cases, he is so far from de­serving blame for so doing, that it would [Page 428] be an unpardonable fault in him to con­ceal the truth, or any part of it.

Thirdly, It is lawful to publish the faults of others, in our own necessary defence and vindication. When a man cannot conceal another's faults without betraying his own innocency, no chari­ty requires a man to suffer himself to be defamed to save the reputation of ano­ther man. Charity begins at home; and though a man had never so much good­ness, he would first secure his own good name, and then be concern'd for other men's. We are to love our neighbour as our selves; so that the love of our selves is the Rule and Measure of our love to our neighbour: And therefore first, other­wise it could not be the Rule. And it would be very well for the World, if our Charity would rise thus high; and no man would hurt another man's reputa­tion, but where his own is in real dan­ger.

Fourthly, This also is lawful for cau­tion and warning to a third person, that is in danger to be infected by the com­pany, or ill example of another; or may be greatly prejudiced by reposing too much confidence in him, having no knowledge or suspicion of his bad quali­ties: [Page 429] But even in this case we ought to take great care that the ill character we give of any man be spread no further than is necessary to the good end we de­signed in it.

Besides these more obvious and re­markable Cases, this Prohibition doth not I think hinder but that in ordinary conversation men may mention that ill of others which is already made as pub­lick as it well can be: Or that one friend may not in freedom speak to another of the miscarriage of a third person, where he is secure no ill use will be made of it, and that it will go no further to his pre­judice: Provided always, that we take no delight in hearing or speaking ill of others: And the less we do it, though without any malice or design of harm, still the better; because this shews that we do not feed upon ill reports and take pleasure in them.

These are the usual Cases in which it may be necessary for us to speak evil of other men. And these are so evidently reasonable that the Prohibition in the Text cannot with reason be extended to them. And if no man would allow him­self to say any thing to the prejudice of another man's good name, but in these [Page 430] and the like Cases, the tongues of men would be very innocent, and the World would be very quiet. I proceed in the

III III ^d place, to consider the evil of this Practice, both in the Causes and the Con­sequences of it.

First, We will consider the Causes of it. And it commonly springs from one or more of these evil Roots.

First, One of the deepest and most common Causes of evil-speaking is ill-nature and cruelty of disposition: And by a general mistake Ill-nature passeth for Wit, as Cunning doth for Wisdom; though in truth they are nothing a-kin to one another, but as far distant as Vice and Vertue.

And there is no greater evidence of the bad temper of Mankind, than the gene­ral proneness of men to this Vice. For (as our Saviour says) out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaketh. And there­fore men do commonly incline to the censorious and uncharitable side: which shews humane Nature to be strangely di­storted from its original rectitude and in­nocency. The Wit of Man doth more naturally vent it self in Satyr and Cen­sure, [Page 431] than in Praise and Panegyrick. When men set themselves to commend, it comes hardly from them, and not without great force and straining; and if any thing be fitly said in that kind, it doth hardly relish with most men: But in the way of Invective, the Invention of men is a plentiful and never-failing Spring: And this kind of Wit is not more easie than it is acceptable: It is greedily entertain­ed and greatly applauded, and every man is glad to hear others abused, not considering how soon it may come to his own turn to lie down and make sport for others.

To speak evil of others, is almost be­come the general entertainment of all Companies: And the great and serious business of most Meetings and Visits, af­ter the necessary Ceremonies and Com­plements are over, is to fit down and back-bite all the World. 'Tis the Sawce of Conversation, and all Discourse is counted but flat and dull which hath not something of piquancy and sharpness in it against some body. For men generally love rather to hear evil of others than good, and are secretly pleas'd with ill reports, and drink them in with greedi­ness and delight: Though at the same [Page 432] time they have so much Justice, as to hate those that propagate them; and so much Wit, as to conclude that these very persons will do the same for them in another Place and Com­pany.

But especially, if it concerns one of a­nother Party, and that differs from us in matters of Religion; in this Case, all Par­ties seem to be agreed that they do God great service in blasting the reputation of their Adversaries: And though they all pretend to be Christians, and the Disci­ples of Him who taught nothing but kindness and meekness and charity; yet it is strange to see with what a salvage and murderous disposition they will flie at one another's Reputation and tear it in pieces: And what-ever other Scruples they may have, they make none to be­spatter one another in the most bitter and slanderous manner.

But if they hear any good of their Ad­versaries, with what nicety and caution do they receive it? how many objecti­ons do they raise against it? and with what coldness do they at last admit it? It is very well, say they, if it be true: I shall be glad to hear it confirm'd. I ne­ver heard so much good of him before. You [Page 433] are a good man your self, but have a care you be not deceived.

Nay it is well, if to balance the mat­ter, and set things even, they do not clap some infirmity and fault into the o­ther Scale, that so the Enemy may not go off with flying Colours.

But on the other side, every man is a good and substantial Author of an ill Re­port. I do not apply this to any one sort of men, though all are to blame in this way; Iliacos intra muros peccatur, & extra. To speak impartially, the Zea­lots of all Parties have got a scurvy trick of lying for the Truth.

But of all sorts of People, I have ob­served the Priests and Bigots of the Church of Rome to be the ablest in this way, and to have the strongest Faith for a lusty Falshood and Calumny. Others will bandy a false Report, and toss it from one hand to another; but I never knew any that would so hug a Lye and be so very fond of it. They seem to be described by St. John in that expression in the Revelation, Whosoever loveth and maketh a lye.

Another shrewd sign that ill-nature lies at the root of this Vice is, that we easily forget the good that is said of o­thers, [Page 434] and seldom make mention of it; but the contrary sticks with us, and lies uppermost in our memories, and is rea­dy to come out upon all occasions: And which is yet more ill-natur'd and unjust, many times when we do not believe it our selves we tell it to others, with this charitable Caution, That we hope it is not true: But in the mean time we give it our Pass, and venture it to take its for­tune to be believed or not, according to the charity of those into whose hands it comes.

Secondly, Another Cause of the com­monness of this Vice is, that many are so bad themselves, in one kind or other. For to think and speak ill of others is not only a bad thing, but a sign of a bad-man. Our Blessed Saviour, speak­ing of the evil of the last days, gives this as the reason of the great decay of Cha­rity among men; Matth. 24.12. Because iniquity shall abound, the Love of many shall wax cold. When men are bad themselves, they are glad of any opportunity to censure o­thers, and are always apt to suspect that evil of other men which they know by themselves. They cannot have a good opinion of themselves, and therefore are very unwilling to have so of any body [Page 435] else; and for this reason they endeavour to bring men to a level, hoping it will be some justification of them if they can but render others as bad as them­selves.

Thirdly, Another source of this Vice is Malice and Revenge. When men are in Heat and Passion they do not consider what is true, but what is spiteful and mischievous; and speak evil of others in revenge of some injury which they have received from them: And when they are blinded by their Passions, they lay about them madly and at a venture, not much caring whether the evil they speak be true or not. Nay many are so De­vilish, as to invent and raise false Reports on purpose to blast men's Reputation. This is a Diabolical temper, and there­fore St. James tells us that the slanderous Tongue is set on fire of Hell: And the Devil hath his very Name from Calumny and false Accusation; and it is his Na­ture too, for he is always ready to stir up and foment this evil spirit among men: Nay, the Scripture tells us that he hath the malice and impudence to ac­cuse good men before God; as he did Job, charging him with Hypocrisie to God himself; Who, he knows, does [Page 436] know the hearts of all the children of men.

Fourthly, Another Cause of evil-speak­ing is Envy. Men look with an evil eye upon the good that is in others, and think that their Reputation obscures them, and that their commendable qua­lities do stand in their light; and there­fore they do what they can to cast a cloud over them, that the bright shining of their Vertues may not scorch them. This makes them greedily to entertain, and industriously to publish any thing that may serve to that purpose, thereby to raise themselves upon the Ruins of o­ther men's Reputation: And therefore as soon as they have got an ill Report of any good man by the end, to work they presently go to send it abroad by the first Post: For the string is always ready upon their Bow to let fly this Arrow with an incredible swiftness, through Ci­ty and Country; for fear the innocent man's justification should over-take it.

Fifthly, Another Cause of evil-speak­ing is Impertinence and Curiosity; an itch of talking and medling in the affairs of other Men, which do no wise concern them. Some persons love to mingle themselves in all business, and are loth [Page 437] to seem ignorant of so important a piece of News as the faults and follies of men, or any bad thing that is talk'd of in good Company. And therefore they do with great care pick up ill Stories, as good matter of discourse in the next Company that is worthy of them: And this per­haps not out of any great malice, but for want of something better to talk of, and because their Parts lie chiefly that way.

Lastly, Men do this many times out of wantonness and for diversion. So little do light and vain men consider, that a man's Reputation is too great and tender a Concernment to be jested withal; and that a slanderous Tongue bites like a Ser­pent, and wounds like a Sword. For what can be more barbarous, next to sporting with a man's Life, than to play with his Honour and Reputation, which to some men is dearer to them than their Lives?

It is a cruel pleasure which some men take in worrying the Reputation of o­thers much better than themselves; and this only to divert themselves and the Company. Solomon compares this sort of men to distracted persons; As a mad­man, saith he, who casteth fire-brands, ar­rows, [Page 438] and death, so is the man that decei­veth his neighbour; the LXX. render it, So is the man that defameth his neighbour, and saith, Am I not in sport? Such, and so bad are the Causes of this Vice. I proceed to consider, in the

Second place, the ordinary, but very pernicious Consequences and Effects of it; both to Others, and to our Selves.

First, To Others; the Parties I mean that are slandered. To them it is cer­tainly a great injury, and commonly a high Provocation, but always matter of no small grief and trouble to them.

It is certainly a great injury; and if the evil which we say of them be not true, it is an injury beyond imagination, and beyond all possible reparation. And though we should do our utmost endea­vour afterwards towards their Vindica­tion, yet that makes but very little a­mends; because the Vindication seldom reacheth so far as the Reproach, and be­cause commonly men are neither so for­ward to spread the Vindication, nor is it so easily received after ill impressions are once made. The solicitous Vindication of a man's self is, at the best, but an after­game; and for the most part a man had [Page 439] better fit still, than to run the hazard of making the matter worse by playing it.

I will add one thing more, That it is an Injury that descends to a man's Chil­dren and Posterity; because the good or ill Name of the Father is derived down to them; and many times the best thing he hath to leave them is the Reputation of his unblemish'd Virtue and Worth: And do we make no Conscience to rob his innocent Children of the best part of this small Patrimony, and of all the kind­ness that would have been done them for their Father's sake, if his Reputation had not been so undeservedly stain'd? Is it no Crime by the breath of our mouth at once to blast a man's Reputation, and to ruin his Children, perhaps to all Poste­rity? Can we make a jest of so serious a matter? Of an Injury so very hard to be repented of as it ought, because in such a Case no Repentance will be acceptable without Restitution, if it be in our power. And perhaps it will undo us in this World to make it; and if we do it not, will be our Ruin in the other.

I will put the Case at the best, that the matter of the Slander is true; yet no man's Reputation is considerably stain­ed, [Page 440] though never so deservedly, without great harm and damage to him. And it is great odds but the matter by passing through several hands is aggravated be­yond truth, every one out of his bounty being apt to add something to it.

But, besides the Injury, it is common­ly a very high Provocation. And the consequence of that may be as bad as we can imagine, and may end in dangerous and desperate Quarrels. This reason the wise Son of Sirach gives why we should defame no man: Ecclus. 19.8, 9. Whether it be, says he, to a friend or a foe, talk not of other men's lives. For he hath heard and observed thee; that is, one way or other it will probably come to his knowledge, and when the time cometh he will shew his ha­tred; that is, he will take the first op­portunity to revenge it.

At the best, it is always matter of Grief to the person that is defam'd: And Christianity, which is the best-natur'd In­stitution in the World, forbids us the do­ing of those things whereby we may grieve one another. A man's good name is a tender thing, and a wound there sinks deep into the spirit even of a wise and good man: And the more innocent any man is in this kind, the more sensi­ble [Page 441] is he of this hard usage; because he never treats others so, nor is he consci­ous to himself that he hath deserved it.

Secondly, The Consequences of this Vice are as bad or worse to our selves. Who­ever is wont to speak evil of others, gives a bad character of himself, even to those whom he desires to please; who, if they be wise enough, will conclude that he speaks of them to others, as he does of others to them: And were it not for that fond partiality which men have for themselves, no man could be so blind as not to see this.

And it is very well worthy of our consideration, which our Saviour says in this very Case, Matth. 7. That with what measure we mete to others, it shall be measured to us again; and that many times heaped up, and running over. For there is hard­ly any thing wherein Mankind do use more strict justice and equality, than in rendering evil for evil, and railing for railing.

Nay, Revenge often goes further than Words. A reproachful and slanderous Speech hath cost many a man a Duel, and in that the loss of his own Life, or the Murther of another, perhaps with the [Page 442] loss of his own Soul: And I have often wonder'd that among Christians this mat­ter is no more laid to heart.

And though neither of these great mis­chiefs should happen to us, yet this may be inconvenient enough many other ways. For no man knows in the chance of things, and the mutability of humane affairs, whose kindness and good-will he may come to stand in need of before he dies. So that did a man only consult his own safety and quiet, he ought to refrain from evil-speaking. Psal. 34.12, 13. What man is he, saith the Psalmist, that desireth life, and loveth many days, that he may see good: Keep thy tongue from evil, and thy lips from speaking falshood.

But there is an infinitely greater Dan­ger hanging over us from God. If we al­low our selves in this evil practice, all our Religion is good for nothing. So St. James expressly tells us, Jam. 1.26. If any man among you seemeth to be religious, and bridleth not his tongue, but deceiveth his own heart, that man's Religion is vain. And St. Paul puts Slanderers and Revilers amongst those that shall not inherit the kingdom of God. 1 Cor. 6.10. And our Blessed Saviour hath told us, That by our words we shall be ju­stified, and by our words we shall be con­demned. [Page 443] To which I will add the coun­sel given us by the Wise-man, Wisdom of Solo­mon, c. 1. v. 11. Refrain your tongue from back-biting, for there is no word so secret that shall go for nought, and the mouth that slandereth slayeth the Soul. I proceed in the

IV ^th. place, to add some further Argu­ments IV and Considerations to take men off from this Vice: As,

First, That the use of Speech is a pe­culiar Prerogative of Man above other Creatures, and bestowed upon him for some excellent end and purpose: That by this Faculty we might communicate our thoughts more easily to one another, and consult together for our mutual com­fort and benefit: Not to enable us to be hurtful and injurious, but helpful and be­neficial to one another. The Psalmist, as by Interpreters is generally thought, calls our Tongue our Glory; therewith we praise God and bless Men. Now to bless is to speak well of any, and to wish them well. So that we pervert the use of Speech and turn our glory into shame, when we abuse this Faculty to the injury and reproach of any.

Secondly, Consider how cheap a kind­ness it is to speak well, at least not to speak ill of any. A good word is an ea­sie [Page 444] obligation, but not to speak ill re­quires only our Silence, which costs us nothing. Some instances of Charity are chargeable, as to relieve the wants and necessities of others: The expence deterrs many from this kind of Charity. But were a man never so covetous, he might afford another man his good word; at least he might refrain from speaking ill of him: especially if it be consider'd how dear many have paid for a slanderous and reproachful word.

Thirdly, Consider that no quality doth ordinarily recommend one more to the favour and good-will of men, than to be free from this Vice. Every one desires such a man's friendship, and is apt to re­pose a great trust and confidence in him: And when he is dead, men will praise him; and next to Piety towards God, and Righteousness to Men, nothing is thought a more significant commenda­tion, than that he was never, or very rarely heard to speak ill of any. It was a singular Character of a Roman Gentle­man, Nescivit quid esset maledicere, he knew not what it was to give any man an ill word.

Fourthly, Let every man lay his hand upon his heart, and consider how him­self [Page 445] is apt to be affected with this usage. Speak thy Conscience Man, and say whe­ther, as bad as thou art, thou wouldst not be glad to have every man's, especi­ally every good man's good word? And to have thy faults conceal'd, and not to be hardly spoken of, though it may be not altogether without truth, by those whom thou didst never offend by word or deed? But with what face or reason dost thou expect this from others, to whom thy carriage hath been so contra­ry? Nothing surely is more equal and reasonable than that known Rule, What thou wouldst have no man do to thee, that do thou to no man.

Fifthly, When you are going to speak reproachfully of others, consider whe­ther you do not lie open to just reproach in the same, or some other kind. There­fore give no Occasion, no Example of this barbarous usage of one another.

There are very few so innocent and free either from infirmities or greater faults, as not to be obnoxious to re­proach upon one account or other; even the wisest, and most virtuous, and most perfect among men have some little va­nity, or affectation, which lays them open to the railery of a mimical and ma­licious [Page 446] Wit: Therefore we should often turn our thoughts upon our selves, and look into that part of the Wallet which men commonly fling over their shoul­ders and keep behind them, that they may not see their own Faults: And when we have searched that well, let us remember our Saviour's Rule, He that is without sin, let him cast the first stone.

Lastly consider, That it is in many Cases as great a Charity to conceal the evil you hear and know of others, as if you relieved them in a great necessity. And we think him a hard-hearted man that will not bestow a small Alms upon one in great want. It is an excellent Ad­vice which the Son of Sirach gives to this purpose; Ecclus. 19.10. Talk not of other men's lives: If thou hast heard a word, let it die with thee; and be bold it will not burst thee. I shall in the

V V ^th. and last place, give some Rules and Directions for the prevention and cure of this great evil among men.

First, Never say any evil of any man, but what you certainly know. When ever you positively accuse and endite any man of any Crime, though it be in private and among Friends, speak as if you were [Page 447] upon your Oath, because God sees and hears you. This not only Charity, but Justice and regard to Truth do de­mand of us. He that easily credits an ill Report is almost as faulty as the first in­venter of it. For though you do notmake, yet you commonly propagate a Lye. Therefore never speak evil of any upon common Fame, which for the most part is false, but almost always uncertain whe­ther it be true or not.

Not but that it is a fault, in most Cases, to report the evil of men which is true, and which we certainly know to be so: But if I cannot prevail to make men wholly to abstain from this fault, I would be glad to compound with some Persons, and to gain this point of them however; because it would retrench nine parts in ten of the evil-speaking that is in the World.

Secondly, Before you speak evil of any man, consider whether he hath not ob­liged you by some real kindness, and then it is a bad return to speak ill of him who hath done us good. Consider also, whether you may not come hereafter to be acquainted with him, related to him, or obliged by him whom you have thus injured? And how will you then be a­shamed [Page 448] when you reflect upon it, and perhaps have reason also to believe that he to whom you have done this injury is not ignorant of it?

Consider likewise, whether in the change of Humane affairs, you may not some time or other come to stand in need of his favour; and how incapable this carriage of yours towards him will render you of it? And whether it may not be in his power to revenge a spiteful and needless word by a shrewd turn? So that if a man made no consci­ence of hurting others, yet he should in prudence have some consideration of him­self.

Thirdly, Let us accustom our selves to pity the Faults of men and to be truly sorry for them, and then we shall take no pleasure in publishing them. And this common Humanity requires of us, considering the great infirmities of hu­mane Nature, and that we our selves also are liable to be tempted: Considering likewise, how severe a Punishment every Fault and miscarriage is to it self; and how terribly it exposeth a man to the wrath of God, both in this World and the other. He is not a good Christian, that is not heartily sorry for the faults [Page 449] even of his greatest Enemies; and if he be so, he will discover them no further than is necessary to some good end.

Fourthly, When-ever we hear any man evil-spoken of, if we know any good of him let us say that. It is always the more humane and the more honourable part to stand up in the defence and vin­dication of others, than to accuse and bespatter them. Possibly the good you have heard of them may not be true, but it is much more probable that the evil which you have heard of them is not true neither: However, it is better to preserve the credit of a bad man, than to stain the Reputation of the innocent. And if there were any need that a man should be evil-spoken of, it is but fair and equal that his good and bad Quali­ties should be mention'd together; other­wise he may be strangely misrepresented, and an indifferent Man may be made a Monster.

They that will observe nothing in a Wise man, but his over-sights and fol­lies; nothing in a Good man, but his failings and infirmities; may make a shift to render a very wise and good man very despicable. If one should heap to­gether all the passionate Speeches, all the [Page 450] froward and imprudent Actions of the best Man; all that he had said, or done amiss in his whole Life, and present it all at one view, concealing his Wisdom and Vertues; the Man in this Disguise would look like a Mad-man or a Fury: And yet if his Life were fairly repre­sented, and just in the same manner it was led; and his many and great Vir­tues set over against his failings and in­firmities, he would appear to all the World to be an admirable and excellent Person. But how many and great soe­ver any man's ill Qualities are, it is but just that with all this heavy load of Faults he should have the due praise of the few real Virtues that are in him.

Fifthly, That you may not speak ill of any, do not delight to hear ill of them. Give no countenance to busy­bodies, and those that love to talk of o­ther men's Faults: Or if you cannot de­cently reprove them because of their Quality, then divert the discourse some other way; or if you cannot do that, by seeming not to mind it, you may sufficiently signifie that you do not like it.

Sixthly, Let every man mind himself, and his own Duty and Concernment. Do [Page 451] but endeavour in good earnest to mend thy self, and it will be work enough for one Man, and leave thee but little time to talk of others. When Plato withdrew from the Court of Dionysius, who would fain have had a famous Philosopher for his Flatterer, they parted in some un­kindness, and Dionysius bade him not to speak ill of him when he was return'd into Greece; Plato told him, he had no leisure for it; meaning that he had bet­ter things to mind, than to take up his thoughts and talk with the faults of so bad a man, so notoriously known to all the World.

Lastly, Let us set a watch before the door of our lips, and not speak but upon consideration: I do not mean to speak finely, but fitly. Especially when thou speakest of others, consider of whom, and what thou art going to speak: Use great Caution and Circumspection in this mat­ter: Look well about thee; on every side of the thing, and on every person in the Company, before thy words slip from thee; which when they are once out of thy lips, are for ever out of thy power.

Not that men should be sullen in com­pany, and say nothing; or so stiff in [Page 452] conversation, as to drop nothing but Aphorisms and Oracles: Especially, a­mong Equals and Friends, we should not be so reserved as if we would have it ta­ken for a mighty favour that we vouch­safe to say any thing. If a Man had the understanding of an Angel, he must be contented to abate something of this ex­cess of Wisdom, for fear of being thought Cunning. The true Art of Conversation, if any body can hit upon it, seems to be this; an appearing freedom and open­ness, with a resolute reservedness as lit­tle appearing as is possible.

All that I mean by this Caution is, that we should consider well what we say, especially of others. And to this end we should endeavour to get our minds furnished with matter of Discourse con­cerning things useful in themselves, and not hurtful to others: And, if we have but a Mind wise enough, and good e­nough, we may easily find a Field large enough for innocent Conversation; such as will harm no body, and yet be accep­table enough to the better and wiser part of Mankind: And why should any one be at the cost of playing the fool to gra­tifie any body whatsoever?

[Page 453]I have done with the Five things I propounded to speak to upon this Argu­ment. But because hardly any thing can be so clear, but something may be said against it; nor any thing so bad, but something may be pleaded in excuse for it: I shall therefore take notice of two or three Pleas that may be made for it.

First, Some pretend mighty injury and provocation. If in the same kind, it seems thou art sensible of it; and there­fore thou of all men oughtest to abstain from it: But in what kind soever it be, the Christian Religion forbids Revenge. Therefore do not plead one Sin in excuse of another, and make Revenge an Apolo­gy for Reviling.

Secondly, It is alledged by others, with a little better grace, that if this Doctrine were practised, Conversation would be spoil'd, and there would not be matter enough for pleasant discourse and enter­tainment.

I answer, The design of this Discourse is to redress a great evil in Conversation, and that I hope which mends it will not spoil it. And however, if men's Tongues lay a little more still, and most of us [Page 454] spake a good deal less than we do, both of our selves and others, I see no great harm in it: I hope we might for all that live comfortably and in good health, and see many good days. David, I am sure, prescribes it as an excellent Receipt, in his Opinion, for a quiet, and cheerful, and long Life, to refrain from evil-speak­ing; Psal. 34.12, 13. What man is he that desireth life, and loveth many days that he may see good? Keep thy tongue from evil, and thy lips from speaking falsehood.

But granting that there is some plea­sure in Invective, I hope there is a great deal more in Innocence: And the more any man considers this, the truer he will find it; and when-ever we are serious, we our selves cannot but acknowledge it. When a man examines himself imparti­ally before the Sacrament, or is put in mind upon a Death-bed to make repa­ration for Injuries done in this kind, he will then certainly be of this mind and wish he had not done them. For this certainly is one necessary qualification for the Blessed Sacrament, that we be in love and charity with our neighbours; with which temper of mind this quality is ut­terly inconsistent.

[Page 455] Thirdly, There is yet a more specious Plea than either of the former, that men will be encouraged to do ill if they can escape the tongues of men; as they would do, if this Doctrine did effectually take place: Because by this means one great restraint from doing evil would be taken away, which these good men who are so bent upon reforming the World, think would be great pity. For many who will venture upon the displeasure of God, will yet abstain from doing bad things for fear of reproach from Men: Besides, that this seems the most proper punishment of many Faults which the Laws of Men can take no notice of.

Admitting all this to be true, yet it does not seem so good and laudable a way to punish one Fault by another: But let no man encourage himself in an evil way with this hope, that he shall escape the censure of men: When I have said all I can, there will, I fear, be evil-speaking enough in the World to chastise them that do ill: And though we should hold our peace, there will be bad tongues enow to reproach men with their evil-doings. I wish we could but be persua­ded to make the Experiment for a little while, whether men would not be suffi­ciently [Page 456] lash'd for their Faults, though we sate by and said nothing.

So that there is no need at all that good Men should be concern'd in this odious Work. There will always be Of­fenders and Malefactors enow to be the Executioners to inflict this punishment upon one another. Therefore let no man presume upon Impunity on the one hand; and on the other, let no man despair but that this business will be sufficiently done one way or other. I am very much mi­staken, if we may not safely trust an ill-natur'd World that there will be no fai­lure of Justice in this kind.

And here, if I durst, I would fain have said a word or two concerning that more publick sort of Obloquy by Lampoons and Libels, so much in fashion in this witty Age. But I have no mind to provoke a very terrible sort of men. Yet thus much I hope may be said without offence, that how much soever men are pleas'd to see others abused in this kind, yet it is al­ways grievous when it comes to their own turn: However I cannot but hope that every man that impartially consi­ders must own it to be a fault of a very high nature to revile those whom God hath placed in Authority over us, and [Page 457] to slander the footsteps of the Lord's A­nointed: Especially since it is so expressly written, Thou shalt not speak evil of the Rulers of thy People.

Having represented the great evil of this Vice, it might not now be impro­per to say something to those who suffer by it. Are we guilty of the evil said of us? Let us reform, and cut off all occa­sions for the future; and so turn the ma­lice of our Enemies to our own advan­tage, and defeat their ill intentions by making so good an use of it: And then it will be well for us to have been evil spoken of.

Are we innocent? We may so much the better bear it patiently; imitating herein the Pattern of our Blessed Savi­our, Who when he was reviled, reviled not again, but committed himself to him that judgeth righteously.

We may consider likewise, that though it be a misfortune to be evil-spoken of, it is their fault that do it, and not ours; and therefore should not put us into Pas­sion, because another man's being inju­rious to me is no good reason why I should be uneasie to my self. We should [Page 458] not revenge the injuries done to us, no not upon them that do them, much less upon our selves. Let no man's Provo­cation make thee to lose thy Patience. Be not such a fool, as to part with any one Virtue because some men are so ma­licious as to endeavour to rob thee of the Reputation of all the rest. When men speak ill of thee, do as Plato said he would do in that case; Live so, as that no body may believe them.

All that now remains is to reflect up­on what hath been said, and to urge you and my self to do accordingly. For all is nothing, if we do not practise what we so plainly see to be our Duty. Ma­ny are so taken up with the deep Points and Mysteries of Religion, that they ne­ver think of the common Duties and Offices of humane Life. But Faith and a good Life are so far from clashing with one another, that the Christian Religion hath made them inseparable. True Faith is necessary in order to a good Life, and a good Life is the genuine product of a right Belief; and therefore the one ne­ver ought to be press'd to the prejudice of the other.

[Page 459]I foresee what will be said, because I have heard it so often said in the like case; that there is not one word of Jesus Christ in all this. No more is there in the Text. And yet I hope that Jesus Christ is truly preach'd, when-ever his Will and Laws, and the Duties injoyn'd by the Christian Religion are inculcated upon us.

But some men are pleased to say, that this is mere Morality: I answer, that this is Scripture-Morality and Christian-Morality, and who hath any thing to say against that? Nay, I will go yet further, that no man ought to pretend to believe the Christian Religion, who lives in the neglect of so plain a Duty; and in the practice of a Sin so clearly condemn'd by it, as this of evil-speaking is.

But because the Word of God is quick and powerful, and sharper than a two-edged Sword, yea sharper than Calumny it self; and pierceth the very Hearts and Consciences of men, laying us open to our selves, and convincing us of our more secret as well as our more visible Faults; I shall therefore at one view re­present to you what is dispersedly said [Page 460] concerning this Sin in the Holy Word of God.

And I have purposely reserved this to the last, because it is more persuasive and penetrating than any Humane Dis­course. And to this end be pleas'd to consider in what company the Holy Ghost doth usually mention this Sin. There is scarce any black Catalogue of Sins in the Bible but we find this among them; Matth. 15.19. in the company of the very worst Actions and most irregular Passions of men. Out of the heart, says our Sa­viour, proceed evil thoughts, murders, a­dulteries, fornications, false-witness, evil-speakings. Rom. 1.29. And the Apostle ranks back­biters with fornicators, and murderers, and haters of God; and with those of whom it is expressly said that they shall not inherit the Kingdom of God. 1 Cor. 6.10.

And when he enumerates the Sins of the last times, 2 Tim. 3.2, 3. Men, says he, shall be lo­vers of themselves, covetous, boasters, evil-speakers, without natural affection, perfi­dious, false accusers, &c. And which is the strangest of all, they who are said to be guilty of these great Vices and Enormities are noted by the Apostle to be great pretenders to Religion; for so [Page 461] it follows in the next words, Having a form of godliness, but denying the power thereof. So that it is no new thing for men to make a more than ordinary profession of Christianity, and yet at the same time to live in a most palpable contradiction to the Precepts of that Holy Religion: As if any pretence to Mystery and I know not what extraor­dinary attainments in the knowledge of Christ, could exempt men from obedi­ence to his Laws, and set them above the Vertues of a good Life.

And now after all this, do we hardly think that to be a Sin, which is in Scrip­ture so frequently rank'd with Murther and Adultery and the blackest Crimes; such as are inconsistent with the life and power of Religion, and will certainly shut men out of the Kingdom of God? Do we believe the Bible to be the Word of God? and can we allow our selves in the common practice of a Sin, than which there is hardly any Fault of men's Lives more frequently mention'd, more severely reprov'd, and more odiously branded in that Holy Book?

[Page 462] Psal. 15.1.Consider seriously these Texts. Who shall abide in thy Tabernacle, who shall dwell in thy holy Hill? He that back­biteth not with his tongue, nor taketh up a reproach against his neighbour. Have ye never heard what our Saviour says, that of every idle word we must give an account in the day of Judgment; that by thy words thou shalt be justified, and by thy words thou shalt be condemn'd? What can be more severe than that of St. James? If any man among you seemeth to be religious, and bridleth not his tongue, that man's Re­ligion is vain.

To conclude: The Sin, which I have now warned men against, is plainly con­demn'd by the Word of God; and the Duty which I have now been persuading you to, is easie for every man to under­stand, not hard for any man, that can but resolve to keep a good guard upon himself for some time, by the grace of God to practice; and most reasonable for all Men, but especially for all Chri­stians, to observe. It is as easie as a re­solute silence upon just occasion, as rea­sonable as prudence and justice and cha­rity, and the preservation of peace and good-will among men, can make it; and [Page 463] of as necessary and indispensible an ob­ligation, as the Authority of God can render any thing.

Upon all which Considerations let us every one of us be persuaded to take up David's deliberate Resolution, I said, Psal. 31.1. I will take heed to my ways, that I offend not with my tongue. And I do verily be­lieve, that would we but heartily en­deavour to amend this one Fault, we should soon be better Men in our whole lives: I mean, that the correcting of this Vice, together with those that are nearly allied to it, and may at the same time, and almost with the same resolution and care be corrected, would make us Owners of a great many considerable Vertues, and carry us on a good way towards per­fection; it being hardly to be imagin'd that a man that makes conscience of his Words should not take an equal or a greater care of his Actions. And this I take to be both the true meaning, and the true reason of that saying of St. James, and with which I shall conclude: If any man offend not in Word, the same is a per­fect man.

Now the God of peace, who brought a­gain from the dead our Lord Jesus [Page 464] Christ, the great Shepherd of the Sheep, through the blood of the ever­lasting Covenant, make you perfect in every good word and work, to do his will; working in you always that which is well-pleasing in his sight, through Jesus Christ; To whom be glory for ever, Amen.