Of all the infinite Follies in­cident to Mankind, there is none that may more justly imploy both our Pity and our Admiration than an Ill-timed, Misplaced and Disproportionate Wis­dom. The thorough Fool is not nigh so great a Prodigy as the Half-wise [Page 2] Man; nor is a stark uniform Igno­rance so mysterious and unaccoun­table as an uneven misconducted Pru­dence. Of this latter we may con­ceive Two sorts, either a proposal of a wrong End, or an undue prosecu­tion of a right one. In the sormer, the Man is supposed to be right e­nough in his Means, but to be wrong in his End; in the latter, he is sup­posed to be as right in his End, but to be wrong in his Means. In the former, we consider the Man as Wife in little things, and a Fool in great concerns; Wife where Wisdom might be spared, and a Fool where 'tis highly necessary. In the latter, we consider him as not so wise in great things, as either himself or another is in little things. And this I take to be a stranger sort of Folly than the former; for here the Man is suppo­sed to be so wise, as to have aim'd at the true Mark, and to have fixed up­on a right End, but yet withal at the same time to be so much a Fool, as not to prosecute this right End as prudently and carefully as the other does a wrong one; which truly is a very odd Combination. 'Tis a great [Page 3] Folly not to propose a good End, and he that fails in this part, can never expect to have any thing orderly and regu­lar in the whole course of his Life: Such a Man (if he deserve that Name) lives Backward, and the longer he lives, and the more active and busie he is, the more he is led out of his way, and the further he is from his Journey's End. A Man were better have no Mark before him, but live at Rovers, without any End or Design at all, than to propose an End to himself that is not good. The former indeed seems to be more sottish and stupid, and to have less of Soul and Thought in it; but the latter, if I mistake not, is more dangerous and mischievous, and will lead a Man into more fatal Miscarriages.

But though it be so great a Folly not to propose a good End, yet it seems a much Stranger Folly not to prosecute it when you have proposed it, and when one has attained so far, not to pro­ceed further: The Reason may be ob­vious why a Man does not propose a good End, for he may want clearness of Understanding to discern which is so. But he that has proposed aright, shews [Page 4] by his very doing so, that he does not want that. The rightness of his Aim sufficiently argues the goodness of his Eye-sight, and why then he should not prosecute his well-chosen End, is some­what unaccountable: And besides, the greatness and the goodness of the End, has a natural and genuin efficacy both to quicken and to regulate the execution of it; and the more considerable the End 18, the more it has of this Influ­ence. As the Means themselves do take their measure from the End, so does the execution of them too, and the more weighty and concerning is the End proposed, the more pressing and urging is the engagement that lies up­on the Proposer, both to chuse fit and proper Means for the compassing it, and to be diligent in the use and application of them when chosen. So that whe­ther we regard that rational Light and discernment of Mind which he disco­vers himself to be Master of that pro­poses a right End, or that aid and assis­tance which is communicated to him from the weight and moment of the End it self, (which cannot but help on its own prosecution,) the Folly of not prosecuting a well-proposed End, will [Page 5] appear to be of all others the most strange and amazing.

And yet this is that Folly which is more or less chargeable upon the Wisest of Men; those who have duly considered and taken a just measure both of themselves and of the World without them; that have well examined and sifted out the capacities of their Nature, and the utter insufficiency of all created Good to fill those Capaci­ties; those that have duly prized and valued the whole Inventory of this Worlds Goods, and have fixed a gene­ral Inscription of Vanity upon them all, and who accordingly upon the strength of this Conviction, have gone out of the Circle of this World for their Hap­piness, and have proposed to them­selves the supream Good for their End, and for the wisdom of this their Choice, are stiled Children of Light: Even these Men are chargeable with this strange Folly, and it is here actually charged upon them by the eternal and substan­tial Wisdom of God in this his weighty Remark upon the Politick Stratagem of the unjust Steward, The Children of [Page] this World are in their Generation, wiser than the Children of Light.

In the Words there is something im­plied, and something directly asserted. 'Tis implied,

1. That there are a sort of Men who are Children of this World, that is, who make the Good of this World their End, and seek no further for their Rest and Happiness. 'Tis implied again on the other side,

2. That there are a sort of Men who are Children of Light, who look be­yond this Sphere of Vanity, and black Vale of Misery, and propose to them­selves the Beatitudes of another Life, as their true and last End; and these our Lord calls Children of Light, both from the Object of their Choice, (the Glories of Heaven being frequently represented in Scripture under the Symbol of Light,) and from their Wisdom in chusing it. 'Tis implied a­gain,

3. That the former of these not­withstanding the preference here given [Page 7] them, do not act according to the mea­sures of true Wisdom; and therefore our Lord does not say absolutely that they are Wise, but only that they are Wiser in their Generation.

4. The thing directly asserted by our Lord is this, That notwitstanding their want of true Wisdom, (that Wisdom which is from above) they are howe­ver wiser in their Generation than the Children of Light. That is, that how­ever they are befool'd in the Choice of their End, yet they make more pru­dent Provisions for its Attainment and Security, and prosecute it by more apt and agreeable Means, and with greater Cunning and Diligence than they who have chosen a better, do theirs. And in this the Children of this World, though great Fools, are yet in their Generation, in their way and manner, Wiser than the Children of Light.

These I shall make distinct Subjects of Discourse; to each of which I shall speak according to the present Order.

[Page 8] And first of all, 'tis implied, that there are a sort of Men, who are Chil­dren of this World, who make the Good of this World their End, and seek no further for their Rest and Hap­piness. 'Tis I confess strange that there should be any such, considering that the World is no proper Boundary for the Soul even in its Natural Capacity, much less in its Spiritual: Tis too cheap and inconsiderable a Good for an Im­mortal Spirit, much more for a Divine Nature. And therefore did not the Commonness of the thing take off from the Wonder, 'twould seem no doubt as great a Prodigy to see a Man make the World his End, as to see a Stone hang in the Air. For what is it else for a Man, the weight of whose Na­ture presses hard towards a stable and never failing Center, to stop short in a fluid and yielding Medium, and take up with the slender stays of Vanity, and lean upon the Dream of a Shadow? I say, why is not this to be look'd upon as equally strange and preternatural, as a Stone's hanging in the Air? Is not the Air as proper a Boundary for a Stone, as the World is for a Soul? And why then is not one as strange as the [Page 9] other? For in the First place, one would think it next to impossible, that a Man who thinks at all, should not consider frequently and thoroughly the vanity and emptiness of all Worldly Good, the shortness and uncertainty of Life, the certainty of Dying, and the uncertainty of the Time when; the Im­mortality of the Soul, the doubtful and momentous Issues of Eternity, the Ter­rours of Damnation, and the Glorious things which are spoken, and which can­not be uttered of the City of God. These are Meditations so very obvious, so almost unavoidable, and that so block up a Mans way; and besides they are so very important and con­cerning, that for my part I wonder how a Man can think of any thing else. And if a Man does consider and revolve these things, one would think it yet more impossible that he should make so vain a thing as this World, his End; that he should think of Building Taberna­cles of Rest on this side the Grave, and say, it is good to be here. So that upon the whole matter, were a Man put to the Question, whether 'twere possible that a Rational and Thinking Creature, as Man is, should be so far a Child of [Page 10] this World, as to make the Good of it his End, and seek no further for Rest and Happiness; were a Man I say to consider this only in Notion and Theo­ry, without having any recourse to Observation and Experience, he would go nigh to resolve the Question in the Negative, and think it impossible that he who is capable of Chusing at all, should Chuse so ill.

But, whether 'tis that Men do not heartily believe such a thing as a future state of Happiness and Misery; or if they do, that they do not actually and seriously consider it, but suffer it to lye dormant and unactive within them, and so are as little affected with it, as if they did not believe it; or that they look upon it through that End of the Perspective which respresents it as a great way off, and so are more vi­gorously drawn by the Nearer, though Lesser Loadstone; or whatever other cause may be assigned for it, we are too well assured from Experience, that there are such Men in the World: Men, who going through the Vale of Misery, use it not only as a Well to re­fresh Psal. 84. 6. and allay, but fully to quench [Page 11] and satisfy their Thirst; [...], as the Apostle Phrases it it, who mind Phil. 3. 19. and relish Earthly things, who make the Good of this World their last Aim, the Sum total of their Wisbes, the upshot of their Desires and Expectations, their End: Who love it as they are Com­manded to love God, with all their Heart, Soul, Mind and Strength, who rest and lean upon the World with the whole stress and full weight of their Being, who out-do the Curse of the Serpent, and whose very Soul cleaves to the Dust.

For I demand, Is not the Interest of this Animal Life, the great Governing Principle of the World? Are not the Policies of the Statesman, and the little Under-crasts of the Plebeian all put into Motion by this Spring, and all guided and determined by this Mea­sure? Is not every thing almost rec­koned Profitable only so far as it conduces to some Temporal Interest, in so much that the very Name In­terest, is almost appropriated to World­ly Advantage? And is not this the great Bias of Mankind? Is not most of the Noise and Bustle that is in the [Page 12] World, about the World it self, who shall have the greatest Share of it, and make the greatest Figure in it? Do we not see Men all set and intent upon the World, that lay themselves out wholly upon it, and that can relish nothing but what has relation to it? Men that seem to grow into the Soil where they dwell, and to have their Heads and Hearts fastened to the Ground with as many Cords and Fibres, as the Root of a Tree; and that seem to be staked down and nailed fast to the Earth, and that can no more be moved from it, than the Earth it self can from its Cen­ter: In one word, Men of whom it may be said without Censure, that the World is their God, and its Plea­sures, Honours, and Profit, their Tri­nity.

Nor is this matter of Practice only, but of Opinion too; for we know there have been some among the Antient Philosophers, who have expressly taught, that the End of Man, the To­tum Hominis, lies in the Good of the Animal Life, in the Pleasure of the Grosser Senses. Thus we know did A­ristippus, Cyrenaeus, and a whole Sect of [Page 13] Philosophers after him, called Cyrenaici; which Opinion is also charged upon Epicurus by Cicero, and by many of the Fathers of the Church: And the Charge is still believed and entertain­ed among many Persons of sufficient Learning and Worth, notwithstanding the favourable and plausible Plea Mon­sieur Gassendi has offered in the behalf of his Master. But the best Plea is, that these are Pardonable in compari­son of those who enjoy the Advanta­ges of a Revealed Religion, and that in its last Perfection and Consummation too, and yet take no higher aim than at the Good of this World, and in di­rect Contradiction to our Saviours A­phorism, think that the Life, that is, the true Interest and Happi­ness Luke 12. 15. of Man does consist in the A­bundance of things which he pos­sesses.

To our Experience, we may add the Attestations of Scripture, which gives several intimations of this low­sunk, wretched and deplorable Dege­neracy of Soul. To instance in a few, does not Job say in vindication of his Integrity, If I have made Gold my Hope, Job 31. 24.[Page 14] or have said to the Fine Gold, thou art my Confidence? Implying that some there were that did so. And does not the Psalmist say, Lo this is the Man that Pfal. 52.8. took not God for his Strength, but trust­ed in the multitude of his Riches, and strengthened himself in his Wickedness? And does not the Apostle tell us of some whose God is their Belly, and of Phil. 3.19. others, whose Godliness is their Gain? 1Tim. 6.5. And what else does the Apostle mean, when he says of Covetousness, that it is Idolatry? Does he not thereby inti­mate, that the Covetous Wretch not only delights in his Possessions, and loves to count over his Heaps, (for this a Man may do without being an Idolater,) but that he places his End and chief Happiness in his Treasures, that he falls down and adores his Gol­den Calf; and in the forementioned Phrase of Fob, makes Gold his Hope, and says to the Fine Gold, Thou art my Confidence?

But the Minds of Men (thanks be to God) are not all under this Eclypse, nor is this Darkness spread over the whole Face of the Deep; Light and Darkness divide the Moral as well as [Page 15] the Natural World, though with the difference of unequal Proportions; the Darker is here the bigger side. There are however, though not so many, yet there are Secondly, a sort of Men who are Children of Light, whose Minds are more Illuminated, and their Eye more clear and single, who look be­yond the Veil of the Material World, the Beauty of which can neither charm, nor its Thickness detain their piercing Sight, and propose to themselves the Beatitudes of another Life as their true and last End. This many do in Pro­fession, and some in Reality: In Pro­fession all Christians do it, to whom therefore the Title of Children of Light is promiscuously given by the Apostle, Ye are all the Children of Light, 1 Thef. 5.5. and the Children of the Day; We are not of the Night, nor of Darkness: That is, as far as concerns Profession and So­lemn Undertaking. But that which all Christians profess, some do really do, proposing to themselves Habitually at least, the Happiness of the other World as their last End, being by repeated Experiences, as well as rational Re­flections upon the Nature of things, abundantly convinced of the vanity [Page 16] of this. And these indeed aim at the right Mark, though all of them have not a Hand steddy enough to hit it.

But to return again to the Children of this World, 'tis implied in the Third Place, that these do not act ac­cording to the Measures of true Wis­dom; for our Lord does not say ab­solutely that they are Wise, but only that they are Wiser in their Genera­tion; which implies, that absolutely speaking, and upon the whole, they are not Wise. Indeed they think them­selves Wise, and the World for the most part is of their Opinion: They are generally esteemed not only Wise, but the only Wise Men, Men of Reach and Design, Policy and Conduct; and he that does not play his Game, so as to thrive in the World, is generally pitied, more for his Folly than for his Poverty. Nay hence, and hence only, are taken the Measures of Wisdom and Prudence, and this is made the Rule and Standard of all Policy and Discretion; a Man is counted so far Wise, and no farther, than he knows how to get an Estate, to raise a Fami­ly, [Page 17] to give Birth to a Name, and make himself great and considerable in the World: He that can do this, is a Shrewd Man, and he that can't, is ei­ther Pitied or Laught at (according to the Humour the World's in) by those that can.

Neither is it any Allay or Abate­ment of their Character, to say that all this is brought about by Sinister and Indirect Means, by Fraud and Cou­senage, by Deceit and Corrupt Pro­ceedings: This rather Commends the Parts and Ingenuity of the Man; shews him to be a Man of Art and Contri­vance, and that he owes his Success more to good Management, than good Fortune; nay, he that can do thus, is the Topping Wise Man, and is thought worthy not only to have, but so far to ingross the Name, that a Shrewd Cun­ning Man (even in their own Lan­guage) is but another Word for a Knave. This is the general Sense of the World.

But whatever the Opinion of Men may be, we are assured by the Apostle who had Conversed in the other World [Page 18] as well as in this, that the Wisdom of 1 Cor. 3. 19. this World is Foolishness with God; and if so, to be sure `tis Foolishness in it self, since the Intellect of God is the Measure of all Truth. And the Psalmist speaking of Worldly-Minded Men, that think their Houses shall con­tinue for ever, and call their Lands af­ter their own Names, says expresly, This is their Foolishness. And this Cen­sure Psal. 49.13. he boldly charges upon them, how singular soever it might seem; and though not only the present Genera­tion of Men should vote them Wise, but even their Posterity; those of more Improved Reasonings, and more In­larged Experience, should praise their Saying.

Thus light do these Men weigh in the Ballance of the Sanctuary; nor will they be found to be less wanting in that of Reason: For how can they de­serve the Title of Wise Men, who are out in the very first and leading part of Wisdom, the Chusing of a Right End? This is such a mighty Flaw, as nothing that comes after can make up or Compensate for. When once a Man has fixed himself a wrongEnd, he has cut [Page 19] out a false Chanel for the whole Course of his Life, which must needs be ever after one continued Mistake, one con­stant Blunder; and though he be ne­ver so Ingenious afterward, to com­pass this End, his Wisdom comes too late, and does but serve to insure and hasten his Ruin. The Ship indeed has good Sails, there is nothing wanting to the Executive part; but steering to a wrong Point it has this only advan­tage from them, to be dashed upon the Rock with the greater Speed and Vio­lence.

The short is, no Man is, or ought to be accounted Wise for that where­in he is Mistaken; and that this is the case of those who propose to them­selves false Ends is most certain: For no Man proposes any End but what he takes to be Good, and fit to be Prosecuted, Evil as Evil being not within the Possibilities of Choice, whe­ther as to the End or as to the Means. If therefore the End prove really E­vil (which is here supposed to be the Case,) 'tis otherwise than what he thought it, and consequently he was abused and imposed upon in his Choice. [Page 20] And now let him play his After-game never so well, and pursue this his false End by never so apt and compendi­ous Methods, the most he can pretend to, is to drive well in a false Road, and the most he can justly expect is to be thought a Cunning, but he must ne­ver set up for a Wise Man. He may indeed pass for such an one among the Many, as an Ill Acted Part is common­ly the most Applauded by the injudici­ous Rabble of the Theatre. But his Wisdom is now Foolishness with God, the only exact and unerring Judge, and will one day be made appear so to Angels and Men. Then also shall the Children of this World, who have been so often admired and cryed up for their extraordinary Depth and Reach, and been reckon'd the Sharpest Intreaguers and Projectors, the very Machiavels of their Age, confess and lament their own great Folly and Weakness, (when yet 'tis too late to be Wise,) and admire the Wisdom as well as the strange Salvation of those whose Life they once thought Mad­ness.

[Page 21] And thus I have done with the Three things implied in the Text; I now proceed in the Fourth place to the thing directly Asserted: Which is, that notwithstanding the want of true Wisdom in the Children of this World, they are however Wiser in their Ge­neration than the Children of Light. Or in other Words, that however they are befool'd in the Choice of their End, yet they make more prudent Provisions for its Attainment and Se­curity, and Prosecute it by more a­greeable Means, and with more Cun­ning and Diligence, than they who have Chosen a Better, do theirs. They are indeed worse Proposers, but they are better Executors, Worse Design­ers, but better Contrivers. They come vastly short indeed of the Children of Light in the First part of Wisdom, the Choice of a right End, in which respect the Child of Light has as much the Precedency in point of Wisdom, as Heaven is better than Earth; but then they exceed them as much in the Se­cond, the Choice and Application of right Means.

[Page 22] Now this I shall make appear Two ways; First, Antecedently, by consi­dering what Grounds of Probability there are that it should be so. Se­condly, à Posteriori, by Comparing the Proceedings of each of these Men, whereby it will appear that it is so.

And First, there are Grounds of Probability and Presumption that it should be so: For it may be consi­dered in the First place, that the Chil­dren of this World having chosen the Good of the Animal Life for their End, must be supposed to set the same value upon it, and to look upon it with the same Eye that the Children of Light do upon Glory and Happi­ness; And this not with standing all its real Vanity and Emptiness: For did they see and perceive that, they would never have chosen it for their End; and if they do not, then 'tis all one to them, as if it were a Solid and Sub­stantial Good, and they prize it accor­dingly. Thus far therefore they both stand upon equal Ground.

[Page 23] But then Secondly, 'Tis to be con­sidered, that although these two Ends considered Absolutely and Simply in themselves, are alike valued by their respective Proponents, (for then is a thing at the highest value, when 'tis made an End,) yet one of the Scales may and will receive some moments of Advantage more than the other, from some Accidental and Collateral Circumstances, which may more sen­sibly indear one of these Ends, and give it a more Commanding Influence over the Soul that proposes it: Which indeed is the present case.

For Ist, The good things of this World are Present, those of the other Remote and Distant: How far distant we don't know, and are therefore apt to fancy the farthest remove; like Tra­vellers, that think the Way always longest, where they are the greatest Strangers. Now we know a present Good has a great Advantage above a far distant and late Reversion. A Can­dle that is near, affects us more than the Sun a great way off, and by its Neighbourhood, outdoes the others [Page 24] Bigness. And as 'tis in distance of Place, so is it in distance of Time; a present Good though it be less, is more affect­ing and inviting, than one of a more Sizeable Dimension, if it be Future; and there is more Force and Vertue in one Single Now, than in many Here­afters. 'Tis not in the Moral as in Physical Statics; there indeed that Weight weighs heaviest, which is fur­thest removed from the Centre of Mo­tion; but here the nearer the Weight, the stronger is its Power: And there is this convincing Reason for it, the Good that is Present, opens it self all at once to the Soul, and acts upon it with its full and intire Force; there is not so much as a Ray of its Light but what strikes us. But now that which is future, is seen by Parts and in Suc­cession, and a great deal of it is not seen at all; like the Rays of a too distant Object which are too much dis­persed before they come at us, and so most of them miss the Eye. This makes the least Present Interest, out­weigh a very considerable Reversion, since the former strikes upon us with the strong Influence and Warmth of the Neighbouring Sun, the latter with [Page 25] the Faint and Cold Glimmerings of a Twinkling Star. And accordingly the Holy Ghost takes notice of it, as an extraordinary thing in Moses, and that argued him to be a Person of great Presence and Discernment of Mind, that he could so rightly Calculate his Interest, as to prefer the Future Rewards of Heaven, before the Present Glories of Egypt.

Then 2dly, The Good Things of this World are not only Present and at Hand, but Sure and Certain; I mean as to us, for the other are no less so in themselves. We are sure Job. 28. (as Job says) that there is a Vein for the Silver, and a Place for Gold where they fine it. Our Senses inform us of this, and that's a Testimony we seldom re­ject. As for the place of Happiness, we have heard the Fame thereof in­deed with our Ears, but have neither seen it our selves, nor discoursed with those that have; and although 'tis as­sured to us with as much Evidence as is consistent with the Nature and Ver­tue of Faith, nay with almost as much as a thing Future is capable of; yet Darkness and Fear commonly go to­gether, [Page 26] and Men are generally very jealous and distrustful about things whereof they are Ignorant, or half In­form'd, as Imperfect Eyes are apt to start. And though the Principles of Faith are in themselves as Firm and Firmer than those of Science, yet to us 'tis not so Evident; nor do we e­ver assent so strongly to what we Be­lieve (be the Testimony never so Authentick,) as we do to what we Know.

Then 3dly, The Good Things of this World, as they are Present and Sure, so do they strike upon the most Tender and Impressible part about us, our Senses. They attempt us, as the Devil did Adam, in our Weaker part, through the Eve of our Natures. A Sensible Representation is the strongest of all Representations; a Sensible Re­presentation even of the Vanity of the World, would work more with us, than the Discourse of an Angel about it; and I question not, but that A­lexander the Great was more inwardly affected when he saw the Ruins of the Grave of Cyrus, when he saw so great Power reduced to such Narrow Limits, [Page 27] such Majesty seated on such a Throne; the Monarch of Asia Hid, or rather Lost in an Obscure Cave, a Stone for his Bed, Cobwebs for his Tapestry, and all his Pomp and Glory turned into Night and Darkness; I say, he was more Convinced of the Vanity of Greatness by this lively Appeal to his Senses, than he ever was or could be by all the grave Lectures of his Master Aristotle. And if the Vanity of the World when represented to the Sen­ses, has such vigorous Effects upon them, what shall we think of the Glory of it when so Represented? How would that Affect and Subdue us!

And this the Devil very well knew and considered, when he was to Tempt the Son of God; his Design was to decoy him into Covetousness and Am­bition, and in order to this, he might have entertained him with fine Dis­courses about the Wealth and Glories of the Terrestrial Globe, and have read him a Geographical Lecture upon the Kingdoms and Empires of it; but he knew his Advantage better than so; and chose rather to draw a Vistonary Landskip before him, and present him [Page 28] with a Sensible Idea of all this, knowing by old Experience how much more apt the Senses are to take Impression, than any other faculty of Man,

Now this is the great advantage that the Good Things of this World have, they are obvious to our Senses, we See them, we Hear them, We Smell them, we Tast them, we Feel and Handle them, and have the most intimate and indearing Conversation with them; The things that are Temporal are Seen, 2 Cor. 4. 18. says the Apostle: 'Tis their distinguish­ing Character. But the things that are Eternal are not seen, but only through a Glass darkly, so Seen as not to be discerned, and in reference to the o­ther World, as the same Apostle says, We walk by Faith and not by Sight. 2 Cor. 5.7.

From these and other such Collate­ral Advantages which the Things of this World have above those of the next, it may in the First place be pre­sumed, that those who have erred so far as to make this their End, are in all probability like to Love it more Intensely, and value it more highly than the Children of Light do their End, which wants these Sensible In­dearments [Page 29] and Recommendations. Well, and if so, then it further follows, that of necessity they must be more heartily concerned for its Attainment, and consequently more Wary in the Choice, and more Diligent in the Use of such Means as serve to that purpose. For the Love of the Means always re­ceives its Measure from that of the End.

And thus we see what grounds of probability there are, that it should be so. I come now in the Second Place, briefly to compare the Pro­ceedings of each of these Men, where­by it will appear, that de facto it is so.

And here First, we find by Expe­rience, that the Men of this World do prefer their Secular Interest above all other things whatsoever; and that not only in Notion and Theory, Habitu­ally and in General, (for that's suppo­sed in its being made their End,) but also in every instant of Action, in all Junctures and Circumstances. Though their End be False, yet they are not so, but keep true to it, and always prefer [Page 30] it, retaining in every point of Action the very same Sense and Judgment they had of it when they first made it their Choice. And to satisfy that they are in good earnest, they will adhere to it at any rate, they will forfeit any Good, and undergo any Evil to Se­cure this their grand Stake. For will they not Rise Early, and Late take Rest, Drudge and Toil, Plot and Con­trive, Cheat and Defraud, Lye and Dissemble, be of any Religion, or of no Religion, and submit to all the Basenesses imaginable, to Get or Secure or Recover a Place of Honour or Pro­fit? Will they not incur the Curses of the Widow and Orphan, the Con­tempt of Wise Men, the Hatred of Mankind, the Censures of Posterity, the Displeasure of God, and even Damna­tion it self for the sake of their belo­ved Mammon? They will; they will bustle through all this, and will gain their Point, though they lose e­very thing besides: And herein they are consistent with themselves, they act agreeably to their Principles.

But now will the Children of Light do much for their End? Will these [Page 31] part with the World for Heaven, as the other will part with Heaven for the World? Will these do or suffer any thing for the Interest of their Souls, as the other will for that of their Bodies? Some few there are that will, and God add to their Number. But are there not many who Habitually and in Ge­neral, have proposed to themselves Heaven for their End, and so far are supposed to give it the Preference a­bove all; and yet when they come to be set upon by a Temptation, to have before them the Charms of Pleasure, or the Terrors of Pain, or to be pres­sed with either Hopes of Gain, or Fear of Loss; in short, when they come to have anyother considerable Interest brought into Competition with that which they made their End, will they not then suffer a present Interruption of their former Judgment, and actually under­value what they Habitually prefer? Will they not enter into a Cloud of Darkness and Obscurity, lose the pre­sent Light of their former Convictions, and so act as Foolishly as those that never had any better Principles, or truer Sentiments? Will they not prove False to their Cause and to themselves, [Page 32] make a Foolish Exchange, let go the Substance, and catch at the Shadow? Will they not refuse to take up the Crown for fear of the Thorns that guard it, and chuse rather to lose Hea­ven, than be Translated thither in a Fiery Chariot? Yes, 'tis to be feared that most of them will; and that of those many that have proposed Hea­ven as their End, there are but few that would have the Courage to be Martyrs for it.

Again Secondly, The Children of this World as they will spare no Pains, so will they lose no Time or Opportuni­ty for the Securing a Temporal Inte­rest. They greedily Seize upon the next Minute, take Opportunity by the Forelock, and make haste to be Rich, though by doing so, they know they shall not be Innocent. They carefully observe every Season, lay hold upon the First that comes, and will be sure to strike Sail with the very next Wind that will carry them to their Port. They know very well, that the pre­sent time is the only time they are Masters of, and that they may reckon upon as their own, and therefore that [Page 33] they will be sure to Improve, and not trust to the Uncertainties and Contin­gencies of Futurity. Let but a Question arise about their Title to their Estate, and they can't Sleep till it be clear'd up and Confirm'd. Let but a Place of Digni­ty or Profit fall, and with what Expe­dition do these Eagles repair to the Carcase! They take the Wings of the Morning, perhaps of the Night too, and fly as if Running for a Prize, or Chased by an Enemy.

But now, are the Children of Light such Prizers of Time, and such Impro­vers of Opportunity? 'Twere well if they were. For what is more common than to see Men, not only the profes­sedly Wicked and Profligate, but even those who have set their Faces Sion­ward, and propose Heaven as their End, to procrastinate and adjourn their Re­pentance from Day to Day, from Month to Month, from Year to Year, to delay their Preparations for Eterni­ty, and to Sleep Soundly and Secure­ly, in a Doubtful and sometimes in a Damnable and Irreconciled State; and all this, though they know how short and uncertain their Lives are, that 'tis [Page 34] but a Breath and a Vapour that soon passes away, and we are gone. Though they know that there is but this one time of Probation, and that there is no Eccl. 9.10. Work, nor Device, nor Knowledge, nor Wisdom in the Grave. Though they know that Now is the Accepted time, 2Cor. 6.2. that Now is the Day of Salvation.

Again Thirdly, the Children of this World, as they will lose no Time, so neither will they let slip any other Ad­vantage of advancing their Fortunes, and of providing against a Wet Day. They twist their own Interest with the Interest of their Friends, seek out for all Helps, and make use of the Best, and take the advantage of every Ri­sing Ground. They have also a quick Eye upon all Revolutions, Suppose themselves in all Possible Cases, and make early Preparations for every Ac­cident. They sit like Wary and Watch­ful Spiders in the Heart of their Webs, and there with a quick and perceptive Sense, they feel out the least Distur­bances that threaten the Security of their little Tenement. Nor do they smell out Danger more suddenly than they provide against it. Thus the un­just [Page 35] Steward, when he foresaw he should quit his Office, and in that his Livelyhood, and be turned loose to the wide World, he presently bethought him of a Plank to Swim upon, made an Interest with his Lords Debtors, by under-rating their Accounts, that so when his Master should Discard him, they in Requital of his Kindness, might Receive and Harbour him.

But now are the Children of Light so careful to make use of all Helps and Means that may further them in the Attainment of their Great End? Such as the Grace of God, Happiness of Temper and Complexion, Good E­ducation, Well-disposed Circumstances of Life, the Good Examples of others, Advice of Spiritual Persons, and the like. Besides, are they also so Frugal and Provident, so Forecasting and Contriving for the future? Are they so careful in the day Grace to lay up in Store against a Spiritual Famine, in the days of Peace to Store themselves with Spiritual Armour against the time of Persecution, in the time of Life and Health to provide against the Hour of Sickness and Death, and by a Wise [Page 36] Dispensation of the Fading and Un­righteous Mammon, to procure to themselves everlasting Habitations? Are they? Every ones Experience and Observation may assure him that they are not.

Once more, the Children of this World, as they Catch at all Advanta­ges that may further their Grand Af­fair, so are they withal as careful to a­void all Occasions of Loss and Damage; they love to tread upon Firm Ground, shun Hazards as well as actual Misfor­tunes, and won't so much as come within the Smell of Danger. How Shy is the Man of Interest, of lighting a­mong such Company as he thinks will be apt to Borrow Mony of him, draw him into Suretyship, or betray him into any Expences! Does he not fly from these as from the Snares of Death, or from the Face of a Ser­pent?

But do the Children of Light take the same Care to avoid all Appearances of Evil, all Spiritual Dangers, and all Occasions and Temptations of Sinning against God and their own Happiness? [Page 37] We Pray indeed, and our Saviour has taught us to do so, that God would not Lead us into Temptation? But don't we often lead our Selves into as Bad as the Worst of those we can Pray against? We venture oftentimes causelessly and rashly within reach of the Devil's Chain, and are not a­fraid to stir up and awake that Roar­ing Lion: We love to play with Dan­ger, to handle Knives and Razors, to walk upon Slippery Ground, to stand upon Turrets and Battlements, and to hazard our Vertue and In­nocence by Needless, and sometimes Doubtful Trials, where if we should Overcome, the Victory would scarce attone for the Imprudence. So much do the Children of this World ex­ceed the Children of Light in Wis­dom.

Thus it is, and to our great shame we must Confess it: There is no Doubt or Dispute in the Victory, the Contention has been all along ve­ry unequal, and the Odds very ap­parent; we are utterly Distanc'd in the Race, and see the Prize of Wis­dom born away before us. We have [Page 38] indeed in our Eye a much Nobler Mark, but we want a Steddy Hand. Our End is better than theirs, but our Management is not so good. And what a shame is it for us that have proposed a Greater and a Better End, and are also more Instructed in the Choice of Means, (which are pointed out and described to us by God him­self,) to be yet so far out-witted by those of Lower Aims, and who are fain to Study and Contrive their own Means, and whose Wisdom after all, is Foolishness with God! And yet thus it is, the Devil's Scholars are better Proficients than Christ's Disciples; the Ark falls before Dagon, and Light is outshone by Darkness.

What therefore remains, but that since we will not Learn in Christ's, we should be sent to the Devil's School, and imitate the Politicks of the Dark Kingdom, and of the Children of this World? Imitate them I say, not in the Choice of the End, (which indeed is very Poor and Low,) but in that Wis­dom, Diligence and Care wherewith they prosecute it, and be as Wise at least unto Salvation, as they are to [Page 39] Destruction. Go to the Aunt thou Slug­gard, Prov. 6.6. says Solomon, consider her Ways, and be Wise. And may I not in like manner bespeak the greatest part even of Piously disposed Christians, Go to the Men of the World, and learn Wis­dom?

Let us then be as Wise as these Ser­pents; and since we have Chosen the Better Part, and are so nigh to the Kingdom of God, let us not for the want of One thing, miss of being com­pleatly Wise and Happy. But as we have made a good Choice, let us pro­secute it with equal Prudence. So will our Wisdom be Whole and Intire; U­niform and Consistent, Blameless and Irreprehensible; in a Word, that Wis­dom which shall be Justified of all her Children.

THAT which the great Des­cartes makes necessary to a Philosopher, is indeed no less so to a Christian; to strip and devest himself of all Prejudices and Partialities, to unravel all his former Sentiments, to unthink all his Pre-con­ceived [Page 41] Opinions, and so reduce his Soul to the natural Simplicity of a Blank Table, and to the Indifferency of an even and well-poised Ballance. For as it matters much in reference to our Actions, what our Sentiments and Judgments of things are (because we always act as at that present instant we think,) so does it to the Regularity and Uprightness of our Judgments what the Temper and Disposition of our Mind is. The Wise Ben-Sirach has long since observed, that Wisdom will not enter into a Polluted Spirit; and St. Paul, that the Animal Man perceives not 1 Cor. 2.14. the things of God. There are it seems some Moral as well as Natural Disposi­tions of the Man that make the Soul unfit for Knowledge, and till these Scales fall off from her Eyes, she can­not see. But the Pythagoreans went higher, and taught their Disciples, [...] that they must separate and unwind themselves even from their ve­ry Bodies, if they would be good Phi­losophers. This in a Qualified and Corrected Sense is true, for the Body is the great Impediment and Disad­vantage of the Soul, and therefore all [Page 42] Bodily Passions and Inclinations, as well as Intellectual Habits and Appe­tites must be put to Silence, in the still and Attentive Search and Inquiry af­ter Truth. But to the present pur­pose, it will be enough to remark, that Prejudices and Prepossessions as well as vitious Habits, a cross Con­stitution, and a gross Texture of Blood and Spirits, do Cloud and Pervert the Understanding, and take away the Key of Knowledge. This is that Veil which (as the Apostle complains,) re­main'd 2 Cor. 3.4. untaken away upon the Jews, in the Reading of the Old Testament, and which hindered them from under­standing it, and made them stand out in defiance against all the Divine Pre­cepts and Convincing Works of the Son of God, whose Divinity through this Veil of Prejudice they could not discern. It was a greater hindrance to them in distinguishing the Character of his Person, than the Veil of his own Flesh was, or the Mystery of the In­carnation. This therefore must be re­moved by the Christian as well as by the Philosopher, and the Soul must be Purged before it can be Enlightened, Freed from Prejudices and false Ap­pearances [Page 43] before it can be from Errors and Misapprehensions. Without this Purity of Heart, there will be so little Clearness of Head, that let our Parts stand upon never so great Advantages, either of Art or of Nature, we shall neither be right in our Determinations of things, nor just in our Censure of Persons; neither Wise in our Dis­courses, nor Righteous in our Senten­ces; we shall neither maintain Truth nor Charity. All which is briefly Inti­mated and summarily Contained in this Admonition of our Saviour to the prejudiced and partially affected Jews, Judge not according to the Appearance, but judge Righteous Judgment.

In Discoursing upon which Words, I shall First of all Inquire, what it is in general to judge according to Ap­pearance?

Secondly, Whether all judging ac­cording to Appearance, be opposed to judging Righteous Judgment, and consequently here forbidden?

Thirdly, If all be not, which it is that is so?

[Page 44] Lastly, I shall shew the great Rea­sonableness and Necessity of the Pre­cept, and Conclude.

I begin with the first Inquiry, what it is in general to Judge according to Appearance. Now this will be best known by Considering the import of the Terms severally. By Judging there­fore, is properly understood that action of the Mind which either joins the At­tribute with the Subject, or separates it from it. Or to speak less Artifici­ally, and more to Common Appre­hension, which either Affirms or De­nies one thing of another. By Appear­ance, I understand the Representation of the Object to the Mind, with its Motives and Arguments, true or false, in order either to Assent or Dissent. So that to Judge according to Appear­ance, is in other Words to Affirm or Deny one thing of another, upon the representation of certain Arguments or Motives, to Believe, Think, or to be Assured that a thing is so or so, up­pon such and such Grounds; and so it takes in the Three-fold kind of Assent, and that in all the variety of Degree, [Page 45] Faith, Opinion, and Science, with this only difference between them, that whereas Faith and Opinion do not ne­cessarily suppose a Firm Foundation, but are indifferent to due and undue Appearances, (for a Man may believe and think upon false as well as upon good Grounds.) Science does always suppose a due and regular Appearance of the Object, and cannot proceed but upon sufficient Grounds.

And this I think sufficient in Answer to the First Question; I proceed there­fore to inquire Secondly, whether all Judging according to Appearance, be opposed to judging Righteous Judg­ment, and consequently here forbid­den. But we need not inquire long about it, for 'tis most certain that all is not; for if it were, there could then be no such thing as that Righteous Judgment which our Saviour Com­mands, and therefore Supposes. Nay, there could be no such thing as Judg­ing at all, because all manner of Judg­ment is grounded upon the Appear­ance of things, and without some mo­tive of Perswasion, some shew of Truth, no Man can in any degree be [Page 46] Perswaded. For the Understanding can no more be determined without an Appearance of Truth, than the Will can without an Appearance of Good: And consequently 'tis as absurd, that all Judging according to Appearance should be Criminal, as that all Willing according to Appearance should be so. For then indeed all manner of Judg­ment would be Unrighteous, and a Man could not use his Intellectual Fa­culty, but he must Sin; which would introduce a new and unheard of Scep­ticism into the World, and oblige Men to suspend the Exercise of their Intellectual Powers, not because there is no Truth, but because 'tis not law­ful to Embrace her.

Since therefore, all Judging accord­ing to Appearance, is not opposed to Righteous Judgment, nor consequent­ly here Forbidden, it concerns us to inquire in the Third place, which it is that is so.

And First to Judge ill of a Man up­on clear and full Evidence, is not that Judging according to Appearance, which is here Forbidden, as opposed [Page 47] to Righteous Judgment: Nay this is the most Righteous Judgment that can be, for this is the due use of our Judging Faculty, in the right Exercise whereof, 'tis impossible there should be any Miscarriage. I do not make a meer Judging Rightly, or according to what is True, to be a due use of our Understandings; for though a Man give his Judgment according to Truth, yet if he be determined to such an As­sent by incompetent Motives, he does not use his Understanding aright; but if it be in a matter of bare Specula­tion, is guilty of Levity and Rashness; if in a thing wherein his Brothers Re­putation is concerned, of Uncharity and Censoriousness. But if my Judg­ment of another be never so Ill, pro­vided the Evidence be Full and Clear, I make a right use of my Judging Faculty, nor can my Judgment be taxed as Unrighteous. And upon this Principle relies all the Innocence and Equity of Courts of Justice, the severest of whose Verdicts are Justi­fied by the Sufficiency of the Evi­dence.

[Page 48] And there is the same common Rea­son and Measure for the more Private Court of Conscience, that there is for the more Publick ones, and that which warrants the Proceedings of either, will justifie both; so that if it be law­ful for a Jury to bring in a Verdict of the highest Guilt against a Man up­on clear Evidence, any Private Person may also upon the like Grounds pass the like Ill Judgment concerning any Man within his own Breast, and in his Thoughts pronounce him a Criminal, if he has good Evidence for such a Judgment. Thus if I see a Man live in a constant course of Vice, in open Defiance to all Laws both Human and Divine, to Wallow in all manner of Bestiality, and drink down Iniquity with Greediness, I may safely and in­nocently pronounce him an Ill Man. First, because 'tis not in a Man's Power to suspend such a Judgment, any more than 'tis to resist a Demonstration in Mathematicks. The Truth thrusts her self upon me, and I cannot put her back, she will be Imbraced and I can­not refuse her; I may wink against the Sun, but I cannot shut my Eyes a­gainst [Page 49] Manifest Truth: And to pretend Charity here, is ridiculous; for however Charity may oblige me to Believe and Hope the Best where there is any room for a favourable Construction, yet cer­tainly it does not oblige me to put out my Eyes, and reject all the Infor­mation of my Senses: Neither is it possible for me to do so. But suppose I could resist such a Judgment, yet I need not, because Secondly, in such a Case, there is no wrong done to the Party whom my Censure concerns: He is represented in a faithful Glass, censured after his due Character, and called by his proper Name, and there­fore cannot complain of an Injury, Acts 13.10 without committing one. O full of all Subtilty and all Mischief, thou Child of the Devil, thou Enemy of all Righ­teousness, said St. Paul to Elymas the Sorcerer, when he saw him endea­vouring to turn away the Deputy from the Christian Faith. And have not I chosen Twelve, and one of you is a Devil, said our Blessed Saviour. Both these Charges went very high, but the Evi­dence of the Guilt bore Proportion to them, and that was their Justifica­tion. 'Tis therefore very Warrancable [Page 50] to pass a Severe Judgment upon a Man, when'tis plain and out of que­stion that he deserves it. Nay 'tis not only Warrantable, but in several res­pects of great use and necessity; for by this Means I am instructed to in­large my Litany, both for his Conver­sion, and for my own Deliverance, to apply Reproofs and Advices with all other Methods of Reformation, to be­ware of his Contagion my self, and in great Measure to prevent its diffusion among others. Whereas if we suffer our Eyes to be so far blinded by a pretended Charity, as not to see the Devil under his Monastick Disguise, he has what he could wish, and what Ill Men use to wish;

to be Skreen'd about with the Shades of Night, and to Sin in a Cloud, and will do the more Mischief for not being better Understood, and destrov like the Pestilence that walketh Psal. 91. 6. in Darkness.

[Page 51] But Secondly, to judge Ill of a Man upon such a Concurrence of shrewd Circumstances as makes up what we call a Moral Demonstration, is not that judging according to Appearance, which is here Condemned. This is al­so frequently rely'd upon in Courts of Justice, where Sentence of Death is often given upon such Evidence; nay the greatest part of Human Affairs is known to turn upon this Hinge, and indeed not without good Reason. For although this be an Inferiour degree of Evidence, and such as leaves an Ab­solute Possibility that the thing may be otherwise, yet it secures a Man from all Fear of the contrary; and a Tra­veller may as little doubt of his way when lightned by the numerous Union of little Splendors in the Milky Way, as when he has the Broad Eye of Hea­ven for his Guide. For though every single Circumstance in this great heap of Inducements, has but the force of a Probability, and consequently all together can produce no more than that by a proper and direct efficacy; yet there is a new and secondary Force that arises from Reflection; and the [Page 52] Confederate Probabilities, weigh more in their Conjunction, than not only some, but even all of them would do Singly. Indeed they fall little short of a strict Demonstration, it being hardly conceivable how there should be such a conflux of Arguments upon one side of the Contradiction, if the Truth were not there too.

And moreover there is one Ad­vantage that a Moral Demonstration has above a Physical one, namely, that there can be no contrary De­monstration brought against it. 'Tis otherwise in the latter; as for in­stance, in that endless and unbound­ed Controversy concerning the Com­position of a Continuum and the infinite Divisibility of Quantity, where there are plain Demonstrations (that is, such as by Men of Art and Subtilty cannot be discern'd from such,) on both sides, which yet are Contradictory. But now, this a Moral Demonstration does not admit of, since it cannot lay claim to that Name, till after the Probabilities of both sides have been Compared, and one Scale mightily outweighs the other. Whenever therefore there is [Page 53] this Evidence for any Man's Wicked­ness, I may safely censure him as Guilty. See a short, but ve­ry convincing Account of this matter in Dr. Burnet's Latin Theory; the Second Part, Pag. 126. Thus, that the See of Rome is the Seat of Antichrist, though this be not evident up to the degree of Physical Demonstration, yet when I consider what the Notes and Marks of Antichrist are, how various in their Number, how considerable in their Quality, and how exactly they all agree to a certain Order of Men in the World, and to none besides, together with all the variety of Con­currence in point of Synchronisms and the like; I suppose I might without any danger of Censoriousness or Un­charity, write Mystery upon the Triple Crown, and conclude him that wears it to be the Man of Sin. This would not be that Judging according to Ap­pearance, which is opposed to Righ­teous Judgment.

As it is not, in the Third place, to suspect Ill of a Person upon conside­rable signs and circumstances, that is, upon such as would determin my O­pinion in any other Matter wholly in­different, and where I have no Interest, [Page 54] Passion or Prejudice concern'd, to have it thus or otherwise. To pro­nounce Absolutely and Peremptorily in such a case, would indeed be a de­gree of Censoriousness beyond the al­lowance of either Charity or Pru­dence, because the Conclusion would then exceed the force of the Premises, which is ill in Logick, and worse in Morality; but a bare Suspicion is very Warrantable upon such grounds, and consistent with the highest Charity and Prudence of a Christian; for Suspicion is not Evil as Suspicion, being as such only a certain degree of Assent, which cannot be evil in its own Nature, but is either so or otherwise, according as the grounds are upon which it pro­ceeds. Indeed to be Suspicious, we commonly take in an ill Sense, and reckon it among the Characters of an ill Man, not that we think Suspecting to be in it self unlawful, but because we suppose the Man whom we call Suspicious, more apt and forward to entertain ill Suspicions, than in the reason of the thing he ought to be. But if the grounds of my Suspicion be just and reasonable, such as considering Men use to be determined by in other [Page 55] matters of acknowledged Indifferen­cy, it will then be as lawful for me to Suspect as to Judge more absolutely upon grounds that are more clear and evident.

There are (I observe) a certain sort of Men in the World who are not only careless and regardless of their Beha­viour, not using that Caution and Cir­cumspection which they ought and ea­sily might for the prevention of ill Suspicions, but studiously order the course of their Conversation so, as if they were fond of Jealousies, and laid a Trap for Censure, and designed to decoy Men into an ill opinion of them; and then (which is the most surprizing thing of all,) as soon as they have caught their Prey, and are thought and spoken amiss of, they cry out, the World is censorious, and where's your Charity? But in the First place, are not these Men even with the World? Don't they Centure as much as they themselves are Centured? But to let that pass, how do they make good their Charge? Why, they say they are Innocent, they are not the Men the World has taken and repre­sented [Page 56] them for. It may be so, but sure my Charity does not stand or fall with the Truth of your Guilt, the Question as to that being not whether you are really the Man I took you to be, but whether you have not given me just and reasonable grounds to think so. And if you have, 'tis not your Innocence that will condemn me of unjust Censure, any more than it will acquit you from the Crime of Scandal.

If therefore these great Pretenders to Charity and Candour, would have the ill-natured World leave off Censu­ring according to such Appearances, let them be more careful, to abstain from all Appearances of Evil; for as long as Men put on Bears Skins, the Dogs will Bark, and to be angry with them if they do, is as absurd., as to give them the Occasion. For what if you walk not in the Counsel of the Ungodly? yet if you stand in the way of Sinners, and sit in the Seat of the Scornful, if you have all the Symptoms and Appearances of an ill Man, I have good grounds to suspect you as such, and a well-ground­ed Suspicion is always according to [Page 57] Charity. Thus if a Man who for ma­ny Years past, has been vehemently suspected to be of a different Religion from that which he openly Professes, should at length when the warm influ­ence of a like-perswaded Princes Fa­vour, invites him to come abroad and dismantle his Secrecies, and at such a period of this Life too, when 'tis to be presumed that the vibration of his Judgment has been long since over, and fetled in the point of its gravity, and that he had no new Changes to make, if I say he should then appear to be what the World took him for long before, I hope 'tis a pardonable Censure, if I think he has been a Dis­sembling Hypocrite all along, and that he would have continued so to the last, if Opportunity and Countenance had not put an end to his Dissimula­tion.

To think ill of a Man upon such grounds and appearances as these, is to think rationally, and how can he trans­gress, that duly follows the conduct of his Reason? The Wise Son of Sirach allows greater Liberty, when he tells us, that a Man's Attire, Excess of Laugh­ter [Page 58] and Gait, shew what he is; that is, afford us just Measures whereby to judge of him, to judge him to be none of the Wisest. And our Saviour re­proves Luke 12, 56. the Jews for not discerning the face of the Times. And if a Man may judge of the Times, then why not of those that live in them, and upon whose account alone it is that one Time is distinguished from another in rela­tion to good or evil? In all this therefore we sin not, nor charge our Neighbour foolishly. But this we do,

First, Whenever we take up an ill Opinion of a Man rashly and sudden­ly, and at first dash prick him down for a Knave, without so much as gi­ving our selves the trouble of inqui­ring into the merits of the cause; there are too many that do so, that let their Thoughts and Tongues too run before their Wit; that throw out their Censures at random, and speak Evil ex tempore, without considering of whom they talk, or what, or why: Men that are for running down every one that comes in their way, and are for passing Sentence immediately without [Page 59] any trial or examination, nay without so much as the formality of asking, Guilty or not Guilty? This is certainly a very preposterous headlong method against all sense and good breeding as well as Charity. 'Tis like the Jews that were all for Crucifying the Lord of Life before they had heard him. But this is such a gross piece of Inju­stice as sufficiently condemns it self; all therefore that I shall further say to the Men of this Practice is, that he who makes hast to Censure, can no more be Innocent, than he that makes hast to be Rich; and that if we ought to consider before we venture to Com­mend, (as Wise Men say we ought,) then much more ought we before we Condemn.

Secondly, When though we do con­sider, and make some enquiry into the cause, and withal find some ground and foundation for an ill Judgment, yet we conclude beyond the force of the Premises, and give a Peremptory Sentence, where there are grounds for no higher an Assent, than Opinion or Suspicion. This is a certain sign that we are not determined by the Mo­ments [Page 60] of Truth, by the strength of Reason and Argument, but by some other By-Consideration and partial In­ducement. For were our Judgments guided and determined by the sole Appearances of Truth, 'tis impossible that our Assent should be stronger than the Evidence that causes it. For the Understanding of it self, can be determined no farther than as the Ob­ject appears to be either true or false; if it be, all that overplus of Judgment that exceeds the degrees of Evidence, must be produced by some other cause, the Evidence alone could cause no more than what was proportionable to it. There is indeed a mixture in all such Judgments, and the Will has a part in them as well as the Under­standing. He therefore that concludes worse of another than in Appearance he has reason to do, must be suppo­sed in some measure willing to do so, that is, in other Words, to be under some Malice or Prejudice-against him; and he that judges upon such Princi­ples, can never judge Righteous Judg­ment.

[Page 61] Thirdly, This we do when we con­ceive an ill Apprehension of a Person from one or two single instances of his Life, without considering the general tenour of his Conversation. This is a ve­ry unjust way of proceeding, and con­trary to all Human and Divine Mea­sures. The main current of a Man's Life is to be regarded, and if this maintain a regular Course, 'tis not here and there a little straggling Rivulet that should spoil the Character. For if the Denomination ought always to be taken from the major part, certain­ly much more so when it lies on the most favourable side. To ballance therefore one single wandring Star a­gainst a whole Constellation of regular actions, is a very ill sort of unrigh­teous Judgment, and such as the best of Men could never be able to abide, who must needs all be cast in such a Court as this. Such a way of Judging therefore, is not to be indured, especially considering that the Supream Judge of all does not judge us at this rate, but often proceeds by a contrary measure, and suffers one single Vertue to cover a multitude of Sins.

[Page 62] Fourthly and Lastly, To give one general Measure for all; this we do whenever our ill Opinion of a Man is built upon such poor and slight Ap­pearances, as would not be sufficient to gain our Assent in any other indif­ferent matter, wherein we are altoge­ther dis-interessed which way the Scale turns, or prevail with us to think the same concerning another Person. This is a sure Sign that Prejudice holds the Ballance, ('tis held so uneven,) and that we judge what we would willing­ly have. And this is more particularly that judging according to Appearance, which our Lord here condemns. For thus stood the case, our Saviour had perform'd a Cure upon the Sabbath day, among those who were Supersti­tious Observers of it; now this car­ried some Appearance of its Violation: whereupon the Jews tax him with Pro­phaning that holy Rest, not at all re­flecting either upon Moses's seeming in­consistency, in appointing such a trou­blesome work as Circumcision to be done on that day, as often as it hap­pened to be the Eighth, or upon them­selves for then administring it. But the [Page 63] reason was plain, they were soundly prejudiced against Christ, but not a­gainst Moses or themselves. Well there­fore might our Lord say, if a Man on the Sabbath day receive Circumcision, that the Law of Moses should not be broken, are ye angry at me because I have made a Man every whit whole on the Sabbath day? Will you wound upon that day, and shall not I heal? Judge not according to Appearance, ( [...], according to every slight superficial Appearance, such as you your selves would not sub­mit to in another case,) but judge Righ­teous Judgment. The great Reaso­nableness and Necessity of which Pre­cept comes now in the last place to be considered.

Its Equity relies mainly upon this double ground, the ill Principle that such superficial Judging proceeds from, and the ill Consequences it leads to.

First, It proceeds from an ill Prin­ciple; it argues First, that we are con­scious of some inward Baseness in our selves, something that is very low and fordid, which makes us so prone and easy to suspect the same in others; as [Page 64] that is Drunk himself, fancies every one else to be so that he meets. It argues Secondly, that we thirst after Eminency, and yet despair of attaining it any other way, than by levelling those about us; which makes us so ready and willing to discover Spots in the Moon, and Flaws in the most So­lid and Massy Vertue. It argues Third­ly, a Mind very disassected to our Neighbour, to Human Nature indeed, and as much alienated from the true Spirit of Love and Goodness. That we are full of Envy, Pride, Malice and Prejudice, that we love to dwell upon Sores and Deformities, that we take a secret pleasure in the Follies and in­firmities of Mankind, and grieve at that whereat the Angels rejoyce, name­ly, the wife Behaviour, and good or­der of Men, all which is Inhuman and Diabolical, fit only for Devils and E­vil Spirits, but altogether contrary to the unselfish universalized nature of God, who rejoyced when he saw all things good and perfect; and to Charity, whose Character St. Paul tells us, is, that it rejoices not in Iniquity. 1 Cor. 13. 6

[Page 65] But Secondly, the Consequences of this sort of Judging are as bad as the Prin­ciple; for Ist, He that proceeds to Judgment upon every little Appear­ance, must needs be often mistaken, and give Sentence with and Erring Key, and so often incur that Woe pro­nounced by the Prophet against all such as call Evil Good, and Good E­vil; Isa. 5. 20. because Falshood often wears the guise of Truth, and things seem other­wise than they are. Thus the Affabili­ty and free Conversation of our Sa­viour, which was really the effect of his great Humility and condescending Goodness, and of his earnest desire to benefit Mankind, was hardly Cen­sured by the Maligning Jews, and mis­construed as a piece of Levity and Dissoluteness; Behold, say they, a Man Mat. 11.19. Gluttonous, and a Wine bibber, a Friend of Publicans and Sinners: By this means we shall mis-rate both Persons and Things, and often deny those our good word, who it may be, if better known, deserve even our Reverence and Admiration. By this means pri­vate Grudges will be entertain'd, and open Quarrels will be broach'd, Mens [Page 66] Affections will be groundlesly and un­accountably estranged from one ano­ther, the Bands of Friendship will be untyed, and Men will be jealous and afraid of their dearest well-wishers; good Constitutions will suffer for Per­sonal Miscarriages, good Churches for unworthy Members, good Religions for ill Professors, good Counsels and good Causes for their ill Success; and lastly, that good Reputation which all Men exceedingly value, and which some Men have a fair Right to, and which the Wisest of Men prefers be­fore Prov. 22.4. great Riches, will be wounded by the Roving Shot of every Gossiping Tongue.

To which I may add in the last place, that when Men have once ac­customed themselves to hard Censures, upon small Appearances, they will be apt to inlarge their Court of Judica­ture, and from Censuring the Actions of Men, proceed to Question and Con­demn the Dispensations of Providence, and say with the Impious House of Is­rael, the way of the Lord is not equal.

[Page 67] It concerns us all therefore to use that Faculty with great Discretion, upon the right or wrong use of which so much depends; to judge with Cau­tion, and Circumspection, and Mercy here, lest we find Judgment without Mercy hereafter.

ONE of the greatest Support­ers of Absurdity in Specula­tion, and of Immorality in Practice, is Authority; that of Doctrin in the former, and that of Example in the latter. It misguides and perverts the whole Man, puts a false Bias upon the whole motion of the Soul, imposes both upon our Under­standings and upon our Wills, corrupts [Page 69] both our Sentiments and our Practices, and leads us out of the way both of Truth and of Vertue. But it has a greater and more prevailing influence upon our Actions than upon our Sentiments, and our Lives suffer more by it than our Opinions. For besides, that there are more Examples of ill Living than of ill Thinking, and a well-moralized Conversation, is a greater Rarity, than an Orthodox Head, there being not such Temptations and Occasions to Er­ror as there are to Vice; there is also this further difference, that in our Opi­nions we more usually follow those Au­thorities which stand off at a great di­stance from us, and which Antiquity by I know not what Artifice, recommends to us as Sacred and Venerable. But in our Actions we take a quite con­trary measure, and are rather apt to conform our selves to the Ge­nius and Mode of the Age we live in, which being present, shines upon us with a direct and perpendicular Ray, and more strongly influences and provokes our Imitation and Com­pliance.

[Page 70] And truly this is the greatest Mis­chief that is derived upon the Minds of Men from Authority, and the chiefest Head of Complaint that lies against it; were it only a Stop to the advancement of Learning, or a Misleader of our Understandings in Speculative Inqui­ries; were it only a Bar to Notional Improvements, or a Betrayer of our Orthodoxy, it might be thought to have done Pennance enough under the Chastisement of a Satyr or Declama­tion. For the greatest stock of Know­ledge which upon the best advantages we can attain to, is so inconsiderable, that 'tis hardly worth while to be very angry and fall out with what stands in our way, and hinders our little Pro­gress. There is no great Mischief done; 'tis like spoiling what was spoil'd be­fore, and which otherwise would come to little. But since 'tis the great Ene­my to all Righteousness, as well as to all Truth, since it debauches our Mo­rals as well as our Understandings, and spoils the Christian as well as the Phi­losopher, 'tis fit it should be arraigned before an higher Court, and be Con­demned by the Censure of an Apostle. [Page 71] And so it is, and that upon great and weighty Reasons, in the Words of the Text, Be not Conform'd to this World.

In the Words, we may consider a Supposition and a Caution. The Supposi­tion is two-fold.

First, That the general course of the World is very bad, and that Vice has by much the Majority of its side.

Secondly, That we are naturally apt to imitate that which is most prevail­ing, and to conform to the course and way of the World.

Lastly, the Caution is against this In­clination, that we should not be Con­formed to the modes and usages of this World; which I shall first state as to its Measures and Limits, and then Ju­stify as to its Equity and Reasonable­ness; and so conclude with some Pra­ctical Remarks upon the whole.

And in the First place, 'tis here sup­posed, that the general course of the [Page 72] World is very bad, and that Vice has by much the Majority of its side. This, though at first sight it looks like a Com­mon Place, a matter of frequent, ob­vious and familiar Consideration, is yet a thing that is not often thoroughly considered, and there are but few that have a true, lively, and affectionate Sense of it. 'Tis not easy for those that are good themselves, to imagin how bad others are, and how much Wickedness there is in the World; and as for evil Men, they don't use to trouble their Heads with such serious Reflections: So that neither of them are like to have a just sense and re­sentment of this matter.

The World we commonly compare to a Theatre, and truly for the number of Actors, and the variety of Action, 'tis the most Pompous and Magnificent of any; but the Parts that are acted upon it, are for the most very Tragi­cal, and its Scenes full of Horrour and Confusion. For not to mention unjust and causless Wars, Massacres, Rebel­lions and Murthers, which like Earth­quakes make the frame of Nature to tremble, and threaten the fall of the [Page 73] Stage upon which they are Acted; who can reckon up the open Oppres­sions, and the secret Frauds, the Vio­lences and the Deceits, the Extortions and the Over-reachings, with all the Arts of Falshood and Subtilty which are every where and every day made use of among Men, to dispossess one another of their Rights and Fortunes? And who is there that can imagine what private Insinuations, what fly Contrivances, what spiteful Whisper­ings, what treacherous Arts there are daily used even among those that pro­sess Dearness and Kindness to one ano­ther, to undermine one anothers Inte­rests, and blast one anothers Honours and Reputations? I need not go to the Courts of Princes for this, those Schools and Nurseries of Immorality, for there is scarce any Society of Men free from it. To this, if I should add the unna­tural Fewds of Relations, the ungrate­ful Returns of obliged Persons, the Treacheries of the Marriage-Bed, the Falsnesses of Friends, the ill offices of Neighbours, and the intolerable Pra­ctices of Revenge, not only upon pre­tences of Honour among the Duellifts, but as they are generally carried on [Page 74] by the power and Interest of great Men, by the corrupt and vexatious methods of the Law, and by the com­mon malice of the World; if I say I should add this and a thousand times more that might be said, what a Pi­cture should I draw of Mankind, and what intelligent Spirit is there that would not be afraid, (if such an ac­count should be given him before­hand,) to be born into, or to live in such a World as this?

But thus it was immediately upon the beginning of things, thus it has been in all Ages, and thus it will be till the Arch-Angel's Trump shall at once awaken us from the sleep of Death, and from the sleep of Sin, and Time it self shall be no more. For no sooner had God finished his Creation, and de­clared all things good in it, and be­gan to take a Complacency in the works of his Hands, but through Envy of the Devil, Sin came into the World, and untuned the proportions of its new set Harmony; and being once planted in the Earth, it liked the Soil, and increased and multiplied by the care and industry of the Devil, as fast [Page 75] as Mankind could by the Benedicti­on of God. Insomuch that God who not long before was represented by Moses as Creating Man upon the most considerate Pause of Counsel and De­liberation, is now brought in, repent­ing that ever he had made him. And Gen. 6.6. accordingly, he first shortens his Days, and that expedient failing, he proceeds to a severer Judgment, and issues forth a Sentence to destroy him from the Ver. 5. face of the Earth. For God saw that the Wickedness of Man was great, and that every Imagination of the Thoughts of his Heart was evil continually. And a­gain the Text says, that God look'd up­on the Earth, and behold it was Corrupt, for all Flesh had Corrupted his way upon Ver. 12. the Earth.

And truly 'tis incredible almost to think to what a pitch of Villany and Wickedness the World was then ar­rived in so short a time; the World then like some of our Modern Sinners, was young in Years and old in De­bauchery; it lookt as if the Devil be­ing newly thrown out of Heaven, were in the very height of his Malice and Resentment, and to retrieve again [Page 76] the lost Field, endeavoured to in­crease his Numbers, to double his Ranks, by making Men as very Devils as himself. For Vice seem'd to reign Absolute and Uncontroll'd, and to have taken full Possession of the whole Earth, so that excepting only Four Persons, Abel, Seth, Enos, and Enoch, we read not of one good Man from Adam to Noah; so extreamly wicked and debauched was the World at that time, and so highly deserving of that Emphatical Character which the A­postle St. Peter gives of it, calling it [...], the World of the Ungod­ly: 2 Pet. 2. 5. As if it were a state directly op­posite to that of the blessed Millennium, to that new Heaven and new Earth, wherein as the same Apostle tells us, dwelleth Righteousness.

But this you'll say, was at a time when God had not given any express Directory for the Manners of Men, who were then left to the sole gui­dance of their natural light, which at best is but a doubtful Twilight, and is withall apt to be clouded and corrupt­ed by ill Customs and Practices, and in a little time to be quite extinguished with [Page 77] the Damps of Vice and Debauche­ry.

Let us see therefore how it fared with the course of the World after the giving of the Law, when God had trim'd the dim Lamp of natural Con­science, when Revelation had illustra­ted the obscure Text of Reason, and the Moral, like the Natural World, was governed by a greater as well as by a lesser Light. Now sure one would expect that Men should walk as Children of the Day, and that works of Darkness should disappear like Mists before the Rising Sun. And question­less, it must be acknowledged that the State of the Moral World was consi­derably better'd by this new accession of Light, and that there was less Vice and more Goodness among those who enjoy'd it; the Peculiar People of God, than among the rude Heathen, who had no knowledge of his Laws. For to what purpose should God visit them with this his Day-spring from on high, and give Light to them that sate in Darkness and in the Shadow of Death, but only that he might the better guide their Feet into the way of Peace?

[Page 78] In comparison therefore of the Hea­then World, this was a good state of things; but yet Vice had still the up­per hand, and considering the vast dis­proportion between the Numbers of good and bad Men, the World might still be called [...], the World of the Ungodly. For not to mention the particular Vices of that perverse and untractable People the Fews, their Su­perstition, their Idolatry, their Infide­lity, their Rebelliousness, their Lust and Luxury, their Uncharity, their Co­vetousness and the like, the Scripture seems to speak of that state and age of the World in general, as if'twere quite overgrown with Wickedness, and as if Vertue were a Stranger among the Dwellings of Men. Thus the Psalmist, Help me, Lord, for there is not one God­ly Psal. 12. Man left, the Faithful are minished from among the Children of Men. And again, The Lord lookt down from Hea­ven upon the Children of Men to see if there were any that would understand, and seek after God. And what was the re­sult of this Scrutiny? Why, they are all gon out of the way, they are altogether become abominable, there is none that doth Psal. 14.[Page 79] good, no not one. And again says the Psalmist, speaking of the City of Jerusalem, I have spied Unrighteousness and Strife in the City, Day and Night they go about within the Walls thereof, Mis­chief also and Sorrow are in the midst of of it; Wickedness is therein, Deceit and Psal. 55. Guile go not out of their Streets. And a­gain more largely, All the Earth is full Psal. 74. of Darkness and Gruel Habitations. And again lastly, to add no more, They will not be Learned nor Understand, all the Foundations of the Earth are out of Psal. 82. Course.

Thus miserably deformed was the face of things in this state and period of the World: Nor were only the Mo­rals of Men universally Corrupt, but they had debauched and corrupted their very Principles too, and defaced the Map that was to guide and direct them, as well as lost their Way. They had almost put out the light of Reve­lation as well as that of Natural Rea­son, so that by that time our Saviour appeared in the World, what by ill Glosses and worse Practices, the Peo­ple of God had almost reduced them­selves again to the state of Darkness [Page 80] and shadow of Death, and defaced the Characters of the Mosaic Table, as much as their Forefathers had done those of the Law of Nature.

But then again, perhaps it will be said, that this was at a time when God had not made any clear and express Revelation of Heaven or Hell; and therefore though Men had a written Law to walk by, yet it being support­ed by no other Sanctions than of Tem­poral Rewards and Punishments, they wanted a sufficient Counterpoise a­gainst the violence of Temptations; and then no wonder that Wickedness should so universally prevail, when the Allurements to Vice were strong, and the ingagements to Duty but weak and unconstraining. But when once O­bedience comes to be inforced by bet­ter Promises and by Severer Threat­nings, this certainly will introduce a new way of Living; Men will consider more, and live better, and will never be so mad and silly as to spend a few days in Wickedness and Folly, and then in a moment go down to the Grave, and be Damned for ever.

[Page 81] Let us see therefore how 'tis with the Moral World under the Revela­tion of the Great Mystery of Godliness, and now Life and Immortality are brought to light by the Gospel; this I think fully answers the Objection: Now therefore certainly one would ex­pect at least a state of Millennial Hap­piness, that Men should be, and live like Angels, that we should see the Ta­bernacle of God come down and a­bide among Men, with a new Heaven and a new Earth, wherein dwelleth Righteousuess. But alas, the Mystery of Iniquity began to work assoon as the Mystery of Godliness; and altho the Primitive Christians were for a while kept bright and shining in the Furnace of Persecution, yet no sooner was the heat of their Affliction over, but their Zeal cool'd with it, and they left their first Love. For then it was that the great Dragon being wroth that the Woman was delivered of a Man­child, that Constantine the Great was Converted by the Church to the Chri­stian Faith, thought to overwhelm her by casting out of his Mouth that mighty Flood of Arianism. And altho' Rev. 12. [Page 82] the Earth helped the Woman, by o­pening her Mouth, and swallowing up the Flood, which was done when the First Council of Nice declared against that Pestilent and Prevailing Heresy; yet 'twas not long before the same Dragon cast forth two other mighty Floods out of his Mouth, and the Christian World suffered almost an in­undation by the breaking in of Popery and Mahumetism.

We have indeed by the Blessing of God, and the Zealous Endeavours of good Men, dried up one of those great Floods from a good part of the Chri­stian World, and restored the Doctrin of the Gospel to its Primitive Purity and Simplicity. But has the Reforma­tion gon on so prosperously in our Manners, as it has in our Faith? Are we as Good as we are Orthodox? I doubt not; for if we look abroad in­to the World, how little true Good­ness and Vertue shall we find in it! How rare is it to meet with a Man that lives up within some tolerable measure to the Obligations of his Profession! And how much more rare is it to see one that's truly Serious and Confide­rate, [Page 83] Circumspect and Recollected, that considers thoroughly and effectu­ally the End of his coming into the World, the shortness and uncertainty of his stay in it, and what shall become of him when he is to go out of it; and accordingly lives under a constant and lively sense of God and of his Du­ty to him, walks with him, and gives up himself wholly to him, makes Re­ligion and the care of his Soul the main business and concern of his Life; works with all his Might while 'tis Day, and is utterly resolved whatever it costs him, to mind and secure the One thing necessary! This one would think were no more than what common Sense would prompt any Man to, that would allow himself to think but one Minute in a Year; and yet how few such Men shall we find in the World! Do we not rather see Men drink down Iniquity like Water, and commit Sin with Greediness? Do not the gene­rality of Men live as if they were re­solved to Sin as much as they could in a little time, and thought it not only safe, but necessary to do ill? Do they not live as if they were to be nothing after this Life, or as if they [Page 84] were to be saved by their Vices ra­ther than by their Vertues; or last­ly, as if they thought Hell a better Place than Heaven, and were in love with Damnation and Everlasting Burn­ings?

But to come a little nearer to our selves, does not the present Age a­bound with a sort of Men who are Crafty and Designing, False and Trea­cherous, Rotten and, Hypocritical; Men that seem to have their Eye fixed upon, and terminated with the Hori­zon of this World, that make Gain their Godliness, and Interest their Mea­sure, that will betray the Church for Preferment, sell their Religion and their Souls for Mony, that will depart from the way of Truth for the Wages of Unrighteousness, and be Damned hereafter to be Rich and Great here? Never was there more Religion pre­tended than now, and never less in truth and reality; never more noise about it, and never a less hearty con­cern for it. What Straining about the Knat of a Ceremony, with those who can in the mean while Swallow down whole Camels of profitable Abomina­nations! [Page 85] This we may talk of, and la­ment, but we can't help it. 'Twill be ever so with the general course of the World; Vice will always have the Cry of her side, and we are told, that in the latter days Iniquity shall abound, and the love of many shall wax cold. And all this we may learn from the final issue and event of things; we may measure the state of this World, from the final distribution of things in the next. Our Saviour tells us, that broad is the Way that leads to Destruction, and many there be that go in thereat. And, that strait is the Gate, and narrow is the Way which leads to Life, and few Mat. 7.13. there be that find it.

And this we shall the less wonder at, if we consider the universal pravi­ty and corruptness of Human Nature, the Multitude of Temptations we are all exposed to, and the peculiar un­happy circumstances of Living that ma­ny Men are ingaged in: To which if we add the great Strength, Cunning and Malice of the Invisible Powers, that the same Envy of the Devil that first brought Sin into the World, is still concerned to uphold and increase it; [Page 86] that there are two different Interests carrying on, that there is a Kingdom of Darkness as well as a Kingdom of Light, and a Mystery of Iniquity, as well as a Mystery of Godliness; we can't think any other, but that the course of the World must needs be very bad. And the wonder will fall yet lower, if we further consider how prone we are to confirm and streng­then an ill Custom by our Imitation and Compliance; which leads me to the Second thing supposed, that we are naturally apt to imitate that which is most prevailing, and to conform to the Course and Way of the World.

Now this we are apt to do for one of these Two Reasons; either because we think the generality has the Right of its side, and that what most Men do, is fit to be done. Or if we do think they are in the wrong, and do amiss, yet we are loath to venture the Charge of Singularity, and withal fancy that there is something of safety and excuse in Numbers and Multi­tudes.

[Page 87] And First, we are apt to think, that the generality has the Right of its side, and that what most Men do, is fit to be done. There is nothing that car­ries so much Authority with it, as the Example of a Multitude; and though every Man is ready to imagin himself Wiser than any one of these singly, yet when he looks upon them as a Body of Men, there is something aw­ful and commanding in it; the Man blushes to himself, as we are apt to do when we come into an Assembly in Publick, though made up of Men, every one of which we think infe­rior to our selves; but their Numbers and Union give them another Air and Appearance, and the Voice of the People becomes to us now as the Voice of God.

'Tis in Practice as in Opinion, what the most hold, we take to be True, and so what the most do we take to be Good. This is the only Rule some People have to go by, and 'tis the Measure that all Popular Spirits do go by, and the Wisest can hardly refrain it; for we can hardly think it likely, that such an United and Complicated [Page 88] Wisdom should be mistaken either in the one or the other. Every Man is apt to reason with himself in the con­duct of his Manners, as Luther did in the business of the Reformation, Art thou the only Wise Man? and, can so many Worlds err? What? shall we op­pose our selves against the Practice of Mankind, set up for Reformers, row a­gainst so great a Stream, and live a­gainst the World? Can there be any ill in that which so many do which is passed into a Custom and a Law, which is practised all the World o­ver? Ought we not rather to sus­pect our own Judgments, and con­clude, that that must needs be the right Point, where so many Lines meet, and that the right Way where we find so many Passengers? This is the common and the natural Logick of most Men, and by this Measure we proceed both in Opinion and in Practice, but especially in Practice. And this is one cause of our aptness to Conform to the Course and Way of the World. But there is also ano­ther.

[Page 89] For Secondly, if we do think that the Generality is in the wrong, and does amiss, yet we are loth to venture the charge of Singularity, and withal fancy that there is something of safety and excuse in Numbers and Multitudes. And first, as to the Charge of Singula­rity, 'tis a dreadful and a frightful Word, and there are but few that have the Courage and the Confidence to stand up against and face the Imputa­tion. We either think the World Wiser than our selves, or would wil­lingly be thought to do so, since this has a shew of Modesty and good Man­ners, and the contrary seems to carry in it an intolerable degree of Pride and Self-arrogancy. But now to be Singular in any of our Actions, is interpretatively and in effect, to prefer our own Sense and Judgment, before that of the World, at least as far as concerns the particular case then be­fore us. For since our Actions are go­verned by our present Sentiments, if we do otherwise than the World does, 'tis plain that we think otherwise too, and that we set a higher value upon those private Thoughts of ours, than [Page 90] upon the publick Sense and Judgment of the World, which is a very odious and ingrateful thing to own and pub­lish. For we stand in awe of our Fel­low Creatures more than we do of our own Consciences, especially when combined and confederated together in great Numbers and Companies, and cannot chuse but regard and revere their Censures and Animadversions. And this makes us willing rather to err with the Multitude, and be Fools for Company, though we act all the while against the clear Light of our own Minds, than incur the great Cen­sure, the heavy Anathema of Singula­rity.

And besides, we think there is no necessity neither of running that risque, for we reckon our selves secure e­nough without it, and are apt to flat­ter our selves into a fancy that there is something of Safety and Excuse in Numbers and Multitudes: Though we know we are in the ways of Sin, yet we comfort and incourage our selves to go on in them, by thinking how much they are frequented, like Travel­lers wandring in the Dark, who though [Page 91] they know they are out of their way, yet solace themselves in their Number and Company. This is very natural and ordinary for Men to do in all ca­ses, in the case of Sin and Error as well as in others; and therefore the Psal­mist speaking of the gathering toge­ther of the Froward, and of the In­surrection of Wicked Doers, (which supposes them Many and in Compa­nies) immediately adds, They incourage Psal. 64. themselves in Mischief. This is a very usual but vain confidence; for how­ever the Multitude of Offenders may be a Security against an Earthly Power, yet God regards Numbers no more than Persons, and though hand joyn in Prov. 11. 21. hand, the Wicked shall not go unpunish­ed.

These are the Grounds and Princi­ples upon which we are inclined to be Conformable to the general Course of the World. But 'tis high time now to shew why we should not be so; and this leads me to consider lastly, the Caution it self, that we should not be Conformable to the World: But before I come to justi­fie this Caution, as to its Equity end [Page 92] Reasonableness, I must premise some­thing concerning its Limits and Mea­sures.

And First, This Caution is not so rigorously to be understood, as if we were not to yield some compliance and conformity with the Humours and Dispositions of those with whom we Converse; for this is a necessary part of Homilitical Vertue, and contributes very much to the sweetning and in­dearing of Society, and is therefore Good and Commendable, as well as Innocent and Lawful. 'Tis indeed that very thing which we call Good-nature, when a Man bends and warps a little from his own natural Posture, to meet and strike in with the inclination of his Companions. And the contrary is so far from being a Vertue, that 'tis a culpable stiffness and obstinacy of Mind; and we may take this for a rule, that Religion is ever consistent with Civility and good Manners, as in­deed it is with whatever really con­duces to the Comfort and Happiness of Human Life. We are only to take care that our Compliance prove not a Snare to us, an occasion of falling into [Page 93] Sin; that we do not offend God, out of Civility towards Men. In all other cases, we would do well to consider and follow that of the Apostle, I am 1Cor. 9.22. made all things to all Men: And a­gain, 1 please all Men in all things. 10. 33.

Neither again Secondly, is this Cau­tion to be so rigorously understood, as if we were forbidden to conform to the several indifferent Modes of A­ges or of Countries, either as to Cu­stoms or Ceremonies, whether Reli­gious or Civil, or Habits, or manner of Address, or way of Diet, or the like. For however these may not pos­sibly be ordered according to the best convenience or measure of Discretion, yet 'tis according to the publick Wis­dom of the Place and Nation, (for the Wisdom of a Nation is seen as much in their Customs as in their Pro­verbs,) and therefore the matter of them being supposed indifferent, 'tis not civil or modest to contradict them. And there is this further to be consi­dered, that besides the pride and rude­ness of such an opposition, all the ad­vantage or convenience a Man can get by it, will not compensate for the [Page 94] Odium and Censure of Affectation and Singularity. And accordingly we find, that the Wisest of Men in all Ages have ever thought it Prudence to con­form to the Innocent, though other­wise not so convenient Customs of the Age and Place wherein they lived. And 'tis observed concerning our Bles­sed Saviour himself, who was the Wis­dom of the Eternal Father, that when he condescended to put on Flesh, and live among Men, he condescended yet further, and complied with all the received Customs and manners of the Jewish Nation. And indeed he became in all things like unto his Brethren, Sin only excepted; Innocence was his only Singularity.

And this, in one Word, is our mea­sure; we may and ought to be con­formable as far as the bounds of Inno­cence; usque ad Aras is the measure of our civil Conversation, as well as of our Friendship and dearer Intimacies: For why should we shew so much dis­respect to our Company, as to quit the Road they have taken, if we may safely travail in it? The Conformity therefore which we are here cautioned [Page 95] against, is that of Imitating the gene­ral Practice of the World, as to Acti­ons, not of a Civil but of a Moral Na­ture: We must not be Conform'd to the general Morals of this World; the Reason and Equity of which Caution I come now to justify.

And the first Reason why we must not be Conform'd to this World, is because this is not such a World as we may safely imitate, 'tis not a World for us to be Conformed to; it never was so even in the Best and Purest times, much less is it now, in these last and worst days. 'Tis not safe fol­lowing the Multitude at any time, much less now; nor in any thing, but least of all in the ordering our Life and Conversation. 'Tis a very ill Guide in matters of Opinion, but much worse in matters of Practice; for the World is a meer Theatre of Folly, a Stage of Vice and Debauchery, one great A­celdama of Blood and Cruelty, and to use the Description of St. John, the John 5.19. whole World lieth in Wickedness; the Words are Emphatical, [...], it has not only fallen into the Gulph of Sin, but it lies there con­tentedly [Page 96] and quietly. 'Tis not only slightly dipt or stained with the Wa­ters of Impurity, but it lies as it were Moated round, or rather all over drench'd and soak'd in them, like the Earth in the Universal Deluge: But this I need persue no further, having already made it a distinct Member of my Discourse.

Again Secondly, another Reason why we must not be Conformed to this World, is because by so doing, we shall confirm and strengthen the cause of Wickedness, and give it Settlement, Succession and Perpetuity: For we shall countenance and imbolden those whom we imitate, and cause others to imitate us, and they again will be a President to others, and so on, till Vice pretend to the Right of Custom and Prescription, and Iniquity be establish­ed by a Law. This is one great Rea­son why the World is so bad now, and 'tis the best expedient the Devil has to make it yet worse; for by this the Vices of the former Ages descend up­on the future, Sin becomes Heredita­ry, Children transcribe their vicious Parents, and actual, like Original Sin, [Page 97] is intail'd upon Posterity. Fill ye up Mat. 23. 32. the Measure of your Fathers, said our Sa­viour by way of Prophecy to the Jews, implying that they would do so; for our Lord very well knew the Temper of those to whom he said it; and I question not but that most of the wickedness of that Nation was owing to this, that they were so generally possessed with this Superstitious Hu­mour of Conformity, and were resolved to do as their Fore-fathers had done before them.

Again Thirdly, another Reason why we Christians must not Conform to this World, is because both the Pre­cepts and the Rewards of our Religion require a very different method of Life from what is ordinarily practised; the Precepts are strict and severe, and the Rewards high and noble, such indeed as cannot be conceived for their greatness, and they both call for a very excellent and extraordinary way of Conversation; for after the common way of Living, we shall nei­ther obtain the one, nor fulfil the o­ther. Indeed our Religion obliges us to great Strictness and Singularity, and [Page 98] a Christian cannot be like himself, if he be like other Men. To be a Chri­stian indeed, is to be a New Creature, to be New in Nature, and New in Life and Conversation; he must not be like his former self, much less like the rest of the World. The Argument is the Apostle's, Ye are all the Children of Light, and the Children of the Day; that is, Christians, Professors of an holy and excellent Religion, whose Precepts are excellently Good, and whose Promises are excellently Great. And what then? Therefore let us not 1 Thes. 5. 5, 6. Sleep as do others, but let us Watch and be Sober.

Again Fourthly and Lastly, we Chri­stians have one more peculiar Reason not to be Conformed to this World; we have renounced it in our Baptism, with all its Pomps and Vanities: By which are meant, not only the Hea­then Games and Spectacles, their vain Shews, and loose Festivities, their lewd Bacchanals and Saturnals, which we re­nounce Absolutely, and the Wealth and Glory and Grandeur even of the Chri­stian world, as often as they prove inconsistent with the ends of our Ho­ly [Page 99] Institution; but also the promiscuous Company, the general Practices, and the popular Examples of this World, which are generally so very corrupt and wicked, that we renounce them not upon supposition, as in the other instance, but at a venture. The very first step to a Christian Life, is to dye to the World, and to its general U­sages and Customs; and if we will follow Christ, we must forsake the Multitudes, and ascend up to the Mount of Solitude and Holy Separa­tion.

And that we may be the better in­couraged to undertake this Religious Singularity, let us to the Reason of the thing, add two very remarkable Scrip­ture Examples: The First that invites our Consideration, is that of Lot, who happened to live in a City so prodi­giously wicked, and beyond all Mea­sure or Example Debauched, that though a very Populous Place, it could not afford so much as Ten good Men, they were so universally seiz'd with the Pest and Contagion of Vice. And yet this good Man, though he breath'd in so corrupt an Air, was not at all [Page 100] infected with it; the health and clean­ness of his Soul, like that of Socrates's Body, was too strong for the Conta­gion, and preserved him from the Ma­lignity of a Plague that was more in­fectuous and more mortal too, than that of Athens. Indeed the filthy Con­versation of that wicked Place, di­sturb'd his quiet, but it could not sully his Innocence; it vex'd his Righteous Soul, as the Text says, but it could not 2 Pet. 2. 8. Debauch it. He dwelt like the Church of Pergamos, where Satan's Seat was, Rev. 2. 13. in the very Metropolis, the Imperial City of the Devil's Kingdom; but he Convers'd there like an Angel of Light among Fiends and evil Spirits. He was surrounded with the works of Dark­ness, but he had no Fellowship with them; his Company was Devilish, but his Conversation was Angelical; though he could not make them better, yet they could not make him worse; he lived with them, but he lived against them.

This indeed was great and extraor­dinary; but there is an Example of Re­ligious Singularity beyond this, and that is in Noah, who lived in a World [Page 101] that was as corrupt, and more than the other's City; the whole World then was but one Greater Sodom, nay it was much worse than that Seat of Wicked­ness. Sodom indeed was so given up to Debauchery, that it could not yield Ten Righteous Persons, but the whole World in Noah's time, could not af­ford so much as Two; he himself was the only good Man then in the World, as may reasonably be concluded from that Reason expressed by God, why he excepted him from the general De­luge, For thee have I seen Righteous be­fore Gen. 7. 1. me in this Generation. Now 'tis impossible to imagin that Vice should ever be more in mode and fashion than it was then, when as the Text says, all Flesh had Corrupted his way upon the Earth, and the whole Earth it self was fill'd with Violence. And yet in this all­over-wicked World, Noah maintained his Innocence and his Integrity, shin'd forth as a Light in the midst of this Crooked and Perverse Generation, and was not only a Doer, but a Preacher 2 Pet. 2. 5. of Righteousness. In other Ages of the World, though never so Corrupt, Religion and Vertue has had some Party, and the Singularity of Living [Page 102] well, is shared and divided among several, and one is a Countenance and Incouragement to another; but here poor single Noah was sain to Live, as Athanasius was to Dispute, against the World, and the whole Sin­gularity lodged and center'd in his single Person, which puts it beyond all Ex­ample or Parallel.

And thus have I gone through the several Stages of my Undertaking; I shall now make one or two brief Re­flections upon the whole, and con­clude.

In relation therefore to the First Supposition, it may be inferr'd, That the Multitude is no safe Guide, and that the Measures of Right and Wrong are not always to be concluded from the consent of Majority; for you see here, that Vice has by much the Ma­jority of its side; and yet 'tis Vice still.

From the Second, it may be in­ferr'd, That those who have already a Majority for their way, ought not to think their Cause any whit the better [Page 103] for having new Proselytes every day brought over to them, and because Men flock to their Standard from e­very Quarter. For, as it has been dis­coursed, this is no more than what is to be expected from the ordinary course of things. Men are naturally apt to imitate that which is most pre­vailing, and to conform to the course and way of the World. Those there­fore that value themselves or their Cause the better for this, seem not to understand the World, but to be meer Strangers to the Inclinations of Hu­man Nature; for did they consider that, they would quickly perceive, that this does not reflect any Credit upon their Cause, but rather upbraids the levity and weakness of Mankind, and is no argument that they themselves are Wise, but only that other Men are Fools.

Lastly, from the Caution it self, we may justly infer, that the Censure of Preciseness and Singularity which the Men of this World commonly charge upon good Men, and the Hatred and Spite wherewith they prosecute them upon that very account, are both of [Page 104] them utterly senseless and extream­ly absurd: This has been an old Grudge. Thus the Sinners in the Book of Wisdom, Let us lie in wait Wisd. 2. for the Righteous, because he is not for our turn, and he is clean contrary to our doings: He upbraideth us with our of­fending the Law, and objecteth to our infamy the transgressings of our Edu­cation. And again, He was made to reprove our Thoughts; He is grievous to us even to behold, for his Life is not like other Mens, his Ways are of another Fashion. A very high Charge indeed, and as notable an Inference; he lives otherwise and better than we do, and therefore we must hate and persecute him. But this I say is a very absurd and unreasonable way of Proceeding; for the ground of the business if sifted to the bottom, comes to no more than this, They are angry with a Man for not loving their Company so well as to be content to be Damned for the sake on't. But I think we may with great Civility beg their excuse in this matter; if they will have us do as they do, then let them take care to do as they should do. But for a Man to make himself a Beast, utterly unfit [Page 105] to be convers'd with, and then to call me Singular and Unsociable, be­cause I won't keep him Company, is hard measure.

And as these Men are guilty of an unreasonable Charge, so shall we be guilty of an inexcusable Folly and Weakness, if we depart from our Duty and our greatest Interest upon such a trifling, inconsiderable Discourage­ment: For then 'tis plain, that we are of the number of those low and un­considering Spirits, that love the Praise of Men more than the Praise of God.

Let us not therefore be led away with Noise and Popularity, nor be frighted from our Duty by those empty Anathe­ma's of the Multitude, the Censure of Un­sociableness, Preciseness and Singulari­ty. Let us be sure by doing our Du­ty, to satisfy our own Consciences, whatever others do or think. Let us not be carried away in the Polluted torrent of the Age, nor be Fools for Company. Let us for once dare to be Wise, and be guilty of the great Sin­gularity of doing well, and of acting like Men and Christians; and then, if [Page 106] we can have the liking and approba­tion of the World, well; if not, the comfort is, we shall not much want it: And we shall gain something by our Singularity, which the others cannot by their Numbers, the Favour of God, and deliverance from the Wrath to come.

To Honour and Glorifie God, as 'tis the End of the whole, so is it the Duty and Priviledge of all the [Page 108] Rational and Intellectual part of the Creation. God indeed has made all things for his Glory, and he fails not to glorifie himself one way or other by all things that he has made; but there are some things which he has made to glorifie him by free and proper acts of Worship and Homage. And these as he has more inabled, so has he more obliged to the Performance of this Di­vine Office, by distinguishing them as well by Favours and Benefits, as by Or­der of Being, and degrees of natural Excellence from the rest of the Crea­tion.

Among these is Man, who though at present not so capable of this Di­vine Imploy as some of the other In­tellectual Orders, yet he has as much, perhaps more Obligation to it than any of them all; since God has not only favour'd him with peculiar Bene­fits, such as the Grace of Repentance, the Honour of being Personally uni­ted to the Divinity, &c. but has also placed him in such a Sphere where he is the only Creature that can acknow­ledge and pay Religious Service to the common Creator. All other Creatures [Page 109] praise God only Passively, as far as they carry in them the Characters of the Divine Perfections, which must be con­sidered and acknowleded before they redound to the actual glory of the Creator. Like a Lute, which though never so Harmonically Set and Tuned, yields no Musick till its Strings be art­fully touched by a Skilful Hand. But Man can freely command and strike the Strings of his own Heart and Af­fections, and is the only Creature here below that can Actively praise and honour his great Maker and Benefactor. Man therefore is concern'd to honour and glorifie God both for himself and for all the Creatures round about him; and as the whole World is the Temple of the great God, so Man is as it were the Priest in this Region of it, where he must undertake the Office of ho­nouring and glorifying God, not on­ly in his own, but also in the name of all this brute and uncapable part of the Creation. And he is here taught how to do it in these Words of the Psalmist, whoso offers me Thanks and Praise, he Honours me, or he Glorifies me.

[Page 110] By Honour or Glory here, I suppose is meant whatever comes within the Notion of Religious Service, or Divine Worship; and when 'tis said, that he who offers God Thanks and Praise, he it is that Honours him; I suppose 'tis spoken Emphatically, and by way of Eminence, importing as much as if 'twere said, He it is that honours him more particularly, and performs a more special piece of Religious Service. So that from the Words, I shall in the First place collect this Proposition, That the most principal and most acceptable part of Religion consists in Praise and Thanksgiving.

Secondly, I shall consider what are the things we are concern'd chiefly to thank God for; among which I shall particularly insist upon that Providen­tial disposal of Men in such outward Conditions and Circumstances of Life, as may be of advantage to further their Eternal Interest.

Thirdly, I shall briefly represent to you, that the Circumstances of your Life are such.

[Page 111] Whence in the last place, I shall commend this Inference to your Con­sideration, that you are therefore high­ly obliged to the Duty of Praise and Thanksgiving.

The First thing to be spoken to is, that the most principal and most ac­ceptable part of Religion consists in Praise and Thansgiving. I confess I am not very fond of making Comparisons between acts of Religion, being not ignorant of what Religion it self has suffered upon this very account, a­mong a certain Generation of Men who set up one Duty of Religion against another, as Preaching against Praying. Nor should I do it here, but that I have for some time observed, that the Price of this Duty is generally beaten down, and the Duty it self but seldom and but coldly practised even among them who make great account of all the rest, and are more particularly ad­dicted to a Life of Piety and Devo­tion. The Parable of the Ten Lepers is a true Draught and Image of Man­kind; all Ten Prayed, being under a great necessity to do so, but there was [Page 112] but one who bethought himself, and gave Thanks. And so 'tis in the World, where to ten that Pray, 'tis well if there be one that gives Thanks; and even that one shall perhaps Pray ten times, before he gives Thanks once: And when he does, it shan't be perhaps with half the Zeal and Affection where­with he is wont to Pray; which pro­cedure by the way, I know not how to resolve into any other Principle than this, that when we Pray, 'tis for our selves and our own Interest, to procure some good, or to avoid some evil; but when we give Thanks, 'tis to God, and for God, without any Self­regard, as I shall further shew by and by. This I conceive is it that makes Men generally more frequent and more zealous in their Prayers than in their Praises. Whereas indeed the latter calls for greater Affection and Eleva­tion of Spirit than the former, Praise being a greater glorification of God than Prayer, and indeed than any o­ther Act of Religion.

This I might make appear from se­veral grounds of Argument; but not to burthen my Discourse or your Pa­tience [Page 113] with unnecessaries, I shall con­fine my self to this single Considera­tion, That to Praise and give Thanks to God, is the most unselfish and dis­interessed act of Religion we can pos­sibly honour him with, and conse­quently the most noble and generous of all. The Consequence I suppose will readily be acknowledged, that if it be really the most dis interessed act of Religion, 'tis also the most no­ble and excellent; for the less there is of Self, and the more there is of God in any Religious Performance, the more perfect 'tis allowed to be; and though we do not with some, make it neces­sary to the goodness of an Action, that it be unmercenary, and done without any prospect of Reward, yet the Rea­son is, because 'tis too high a mark for a Mortal aim. We think it a Measure hardly Practicable by any, and there­fore not necessary to all; not denying in the mean while, but rather sup­posing, that if we could act by such a Measure, it would be an higher and more noble pitch of Vertue. Taking therefore the Argument for granted, I shall think my self further concern'd only to justify the Vnder-Proposition, by [Page 114] shewing that 'tis really the most dis­interessed part of Religion.

Now that it is so, will be sufficiently evident from this, that it respects the Benefits of God meerly as they are past; it has indeed the Goodness of God for its Object, as well as many other acts of Religion, but with this Difference, that whereas other acts of Religion respect the Benefits of God as they are to come, this respects them as past, and conse­quently can have no Eye upon future Advantage. He indeed that gives Thanks may, but not as, and so far as he gives thanks: It may be the End of the Agent, but not of the Action. For observe, though to give thanks for Blessings received be really a Means to procure more, as well as other Religi­ous acts, yet there is this difference, that other acts are not only Means to Blessings, but may be used as such to that end, without destroying the na­ture of the acts themselves. But now Gratitude towards God, though it be really in it self, as much a Means in order to future Blessings, yet it can't be used and intended to that purpose, without so far undoing the very Nature [Page 115] as well as Excellency of the Action: For if I give Thanks meerly to get more, if that be my design, this is not Gratitude, but only another way of Begging, and so my Praising will indeed fall in and be confounded with Pray­ing, which are supposed to be distinct. So that the very notion of Thanksgi­ving excludes all regard to Self-in­terest; and what some highflown Theorists have asserted of Vertue in general, that it loses its very Being and Perfection, by being Mercenary or done upon motives of Interest, is strictly true, of this particular Vertue, whose very Idea shuts out all respect to self­advantage.

The short is, this vertue of Thank­fulness, though it be conversant about the goodness and beneficialness of the Divine Nature, which is also supposed to be actually exercised upon us, yet it does not respect it in order to our Interest, but as 'tis a Moral Perfection of the same Divine Nature, and so is rather an humble acknowledgment of something excellent in God, whose Per­fections we adore and bear witness to, than an Address to him for something [Page 116] of advantage to our selves, which as I said before, its very idea excludes, and cannot at all comport with.

But now this is more than can be said of any of the other acts of Religion; when we Pray, 'tis for the Relief of our Wants, our Faith Jeans upon some future Good, and our Hope is a com­fortable expectation of it; and even Charity it self as it respects God, has a mixture of self-regard in it, I say as far as it respects God. For it must be yielded (whatever some pretend to the contrary,) that there is some sort of Love which may be dis-interessed and pure from any selfish Principle, name­ly Love of Benevolence, whereby we may wish well and do well to our Neighbour purely for his Good, with­out projecting any Advantage to our selves. But then this is not that Love wherewith we love God, who is not capable of our Benevolence, but only of our Desire: For when we love God, we don't pretend to wish any good to him who is already possess'd of all; but only wish him as a Good to our selves, which is the same as to desire him. Cha­rity therefore as it respects God, is [Page 117] the same with desire of him, and all love of Desire is founded upon Indi­gence, and proceeds from Self-interest. So inconsistent and unprincipled is the Discourse of those who talk of Lo­ving God purely for himself and his own absolute Perfections, without re­garding our own advantage therein. We may indeed love our Neighbour so, but so we cannot love God; for to love God, is to desire him, to desire him as our Good and Happiness, and all love of Desire proceeds from Want, and ends in Fullness. And if Love it self must give the Precedency to Thanksgiving, I suppose none of the other acts of Religion will offer at a competition with it.

But you'll say, does not our Saviour Mat. 22.38. call Love the First and the Great Commandment? To this I answer, that by Love there is meant either Love of Benevolence, or Love of Desire; if Love of Benevolence, that is no im­mediate act of Religion, God not being capable of being so loved, as was ur­ged before: And therefore we may allow this to be the principal Com­mandment, without any contradiction [Page 118] to the present Discourse which pro­ceeds wholly concerning Acts of Reli­gion. But if the love here spoken of, be love of Desire, then this is said to be the First and the Great Command­ment, not because it excells all the rest by its own proper value, but be­cause it vertually contains, and is pro­ductive of them all, there being no­thing so difficult or naturally displea­sing which he that truly loves that is, Desires God, will refuse to do for his sake. And therefore 'tis, that in ano­ther place, Love is said to be the ful­filling of the Law, that is, vertually and Rom. 13. 10. potentially, as 'tis a general Mother Vertue, and the principle of a more particular and special Obedience. And in this respect indeed Love is the first and the great Commandment; but if we consider the proper dignity and excellence of the action, he that prai­ses God honours him more, and ex­presses himself more generously than he that Loves him. For he that loves God, loves him for his own good, in order to his Happiness and well-be­ing; but he that Praises him (so far as he does so,) does it not upon any self­end, but meerly because he thinks it [Page 119] just and equitable that a Creature should acknowledge and adore the Ex­cellency of his Creator; which certain­ly is the noblest as well as the justest thing a Creature can do.

Indeed Love is the only Divine or Religious Vertue that can with any pretence vye with Praise and Thanks­giving; and accordingly 'tis observa­ble, that of all the vertuous acts and habits that are now requisite to qua­lity a Man for Heaven, none shall be thought worthy to be retained in it but only these Two, Praise and Love; all the rest shall be Super-annuated and cease, as having no further occasion for their Exercise; these two only shall remain to be the entertainment of An­gels and Angelical Spirits to all Eter­nity.

But though Divine Love be equal with Praise as to this respect, in point of Permanence and Duration, yet in point of Generosity it comes far short of it; for indeed to speak properly, Love is no further excellent, than as it par­takes of the nature of Praise; no fur­ther than as 'tis one way of acknow­ledging [Page 120] the Divine Perfections. For what commendation is it for me to Love what is my good, and makes for my Interest any otherwise than as by loving, I acknowledge and bear wit­ness to the excellency and amiableness of the Object beloved? That therefore which is excellent in Love, is not my Coveting the Divine Good, (which I do purely for my own Pleasure and Pro­fit,) but my bearing witness to it. And yet even here Praise will have the Pre­eminence, because this acknowledges the Divine Perfections Directly and Ex­pressly, which the other does only Im­plicitly and by Consequence. So that in every respect, Praise and Thanksgiving will be found to be the greatest ho­nour and glorification of God, which sufficiently establishes the Proposition laid down, That the most principal and most acceptable part of Religi­on consists in Praise and Thanksgi­ving.

And here before I go any further, give me leave by the way, First to de­plore the general defect of our com­mon [...]o [...]t-Devotions; Secondly, To commend the excellent Constitution of [Page 121] our Publick Liturgy. As to the First, 'tis a sad thing to consider, that so Divine and so Angelical a Service as that of Praise and Thanksgiving, which is so highly preferred in the Sacred Writings, and which the Man after God's own Heart was so very eminent and remarkable for, the Burthen of whose Devotion lay in Anthems and Alleluiahs, should be so neglected and so little regarded as it is: That that which is so much the imployment and business of Heaven, should be so little valued upon Earth; and what the An­gels esteem so Divine a Service, should have so little share in the Devotions of Men. There are but few even of the Devouter sort, that are duly sensi­ble of the excellency of Praise, and those that have a considerable sense of it, are generally very backward to the Duty, and very cold in the Perfor­mance. Our Necessities often call us to our Prayers, and supply us with De­votion in them; but as for praise, it seems a dead and heartless Service, and we care not how seldom or how indifferently it be performed. Which common Backwardness of ours, the Scripture also supposes by its earnest [Page 122] and frequent Exhortations to this Duty.

But the Church of England (to her great Commendation be it spoken,) proceeds by another Measure in her Devotions, enjoyning Praise as largely and as frequently as Prayer; she has ta­ken her Copy from the Man after God's own Heart; and as Hosannah and Alleluiah, Prayer unto God, and Prai­ses of God, divide the whole Book of Psalms, so do they her Liturgy, which is a Service of Praise, as well as of Prayer. This the Church admonishes us of, in the very Preface and En­trance of her Excellent Service, tell­ing us, that we Assemble and Meet to­gether, to render Thanks for the great Benefits that we have received at God's hands, and to set forth his most worthy Praise. Then the Priest, Praise ye the Lord, to which the People, The Lord's Name be Praised. And this is done in all our Hymns, as the Venite, O come let us Sing unto the Lord, &c. And in that noble Hymn called the Te Deum, We Praise thee O God, we acknowledge thee to be the Lord. Thus again in the Benedictus, Blessed be the Lord God of [Page 123] Israel, &c. where we bless God for the. Redemption of the World by Christ; which also we do in the Jubilate, and in the Blessed Virgins Magnificat, My Soul does magnify the Lord, &c. So a­gain in the Cantate Domino, and the Nunc Dimittis, and Deus Misereatur, Let the People praise thee O God, let all the People praise thee. Besides the Glo­ria Patri, and many particular Offices of Thanksgiving, and the whole Psalter of David, which is a considerable part of the Church Service. So truly sensi­ble was the wisdom of our excellent Mother, both of the great worth and importance of this Duty of Praise, and of the general Back wardness and Coldness of Men in applying themselves to it.

But I proceed now in the Second place, to consider what are the things we are chiefly concerned to Praise and Thank God for. These in general are those things which relate to our Spiri­tual Concern, and our grand Interest in another World; for the same ge­neral Order is to be observed both in our Prayers and in our Praises; and as we are chiefly to Pray for Spiritual [Page 124] Blessings, so 'tis for them that we are chiefly to return Thanks. More parti­cularly we are concerned to thank God (as the Wisdom of our excellent Church directs us,) for his inestimable Love in the Redemption of the World by our Lord Jesus Christ, for the means of Grace, and for the hopes of Glory. And among these means of Grace, I think we are not in the last place con­cerned to thank him for disposing us in such outward circumstances of Life as are advantagious to our Salvation, it being hardly imaginable how much the diversity of these contributes to our Living well or ill. How many Persons of excellent Dispositions, of great Attainments, and of greater Hopes, have we known to be utter­ly spoiled and ruined, meerly by fall­ing into ill hands; as we have it re­corded of the young Disciple of St. John, in Ecclesiastick Story? And so again on the other hand, how many Persons of Vicious Inclinations, and more vicious Lives, have been di­verted out of the Road of Destru­ction, meerly by some accidental Occurrence, some little Providential [Page 125] hit that happened to cross their way!

There is an Ingenious Gentleman of considerable Character and Figure in the Learned World, who makes that Grace of God whereby he conducts Men to Holiness and Happiness, to be nothing else but only a happy train or disposition of external Circumstances and Occurrences. As suppose a Man falls into some very sharp Affliction, which works him into a softness and tenderness of Mind, while he is under this sensible and pliant disposition, he happens to meet with a good Book, which strikes upon the same String of his Soul; after this, he lights into good Company, where the former Disposition receives a new and fur­ther improvement; and so on in a train of Accidents, the latter still re­newing the Impression of the for­mer, till at length the Man is per­fectly brought over to a new Or­der and Habit both of Mind and Life.

[Page 126] Now though for several weighty Reasons, too many to be here alledg­ed, I cannot be of this Gentleman's Mind, so far as to make the Divine Grace (which in Scripture is frequent­ly ascribed to the Holy Spirit of God working within us,) to be nothing else but a course of well-laid Circumstan­ces, yet I may and must needs say, that I think the outward Circumstan­ces of Life, have a very great stroke upon the moral conduct of it, and that the success of inward Grace does very much depend upon outward Oc­currences. For not to argue from the different manner of Education upon which the quality of our future life does generally as much depend, as the, fortune of the Boul does upon its de­livery out of the Hand, 'tis common and easy to observe, that some Men are ingaged in such unhappy Circum­stances, as do almost necessitate them to be Vicious; while others again are so advantagiously placed, as if God had laid a Plot for their Salva­tion.

[Page 127] The ground of this unequal Dis­pensation, 'tis neither easie nor at pre­sent necessary to account for, and I believe we may put it among those Difficulties whose Solution is reserved to the Coming of Elias, as the Jews love to speak of all desperate Pro­blems. In the mean time however, this is certain, that those who are di­stinguished from the Multitude by such advantagious circumstances, have great reason to bless God for making the work of their Salvation so Easie, and the Issue of it so Secure, for thus dis­posing them, and setting them in or­der for Eternal Life. For however the glory of doing well be inhanced by circumstances of disadvantage, as 'tis spoken to the credit of the Church of Pergamos, that she held fast the Faith even where Satan's Seat was; yet of Rev. 2.13. such vast moment is the business of our Salvation, that a Wise Consider­ing Man would prefer such circum­stances as add rather to the Security, than to the Weight of his Crown. 'Tis too great a stake to be hazarded for the glory of a greater Excellence, whether of Vertue or of Reward; [Page 128] and therefore though a Life of Temp­tation may possibly serve to that, yet our Saviour in consideration of our state and danger, has taught us to pray that we may not enter into it.

And for the same reason that we deprecate such circumstances of Life as are apt to hinder, we are concerned to Pray for such as are apt to further us in the way of our Salvation; and our Saviour could intend no less, by his Lead us not into Temptation, than that we should pray that God would lead us into such circumstances of Li­ving, as may not only be no hin­drance, but an advantage and fur­therance to our Salvation. And if it concerns us to Pray for such, then also to give Thanks for them. We ought indeed to Bless God for every thing that contributes never so little to so great an End, much more for disposing us in such a state and way of Life, where we have few Temp­tations but to do well, and are as it were under a Course of Salva­tion.

[Page 129] And this (my Brethren,) I take to be very much your case, and that the circumstances of your Life are in a great measure such as I have now described; for not to mention your grand, though common Priviledge of Christianity, which divides you from above half the World, and your more peculiar Priviledge of being Members of a Reformed Church, and that too the Best of those which are Reformed, where there is such ex­cellent Provision made for all the Purposes of a Christian Life; where you have not only all the Substan­tials of Christian Religion, but those also most excellently Ordered and Disposed according to the best mea­sures of Human Wisdom; particu­larly where you have such an excel­lent Liturgy, so Wisely and so Di­vinely Composed, as might be used even by the Angels in Heaven, were there any need of Praying there; I say, not to insist upon these things, I shall proceed to what is more Per­sonal and Peculiar, and briefly re­present to you the advantagiousness of [Page 130] your present Circumstances upon these Two Considerations.

First, That you here enjoy all the Advantages of Serving God in the way of a Contemplative Life.

Secondly, That you here enjoy al­so all the Advantages of fitting and qualifying your selves to serve both him and the Publick, in an Active Life, whenever you shall be called to it.

And First as to a Contemplative Life; This is immediately and properly a Life of Religion and Devotion, and absolutely considered, is the most per­fect of any: This the School-men and Mystical Divines commonly represent under the Figure of Martha and Ma­ry, the former of which they suppose to be the Picture of an Active Life, and the latter of a Contemplative. And whereas Mary is said to have chosen the Better part, this they think a War­rant to give the preference to a Con­templative Life. Whether it be or no, I will not dispute, but I think [Page 131] the preference it self is just, and that a Contemplative Life absolutely con­sidered, has the greater Perfection. For though there be great excellen­cy in an Active Life, yet 'tis meerly with relation to the present Exigence; and though the Habit of Charity shall (as the Apostle discourses,) re­main 1 Cor. 13.8. for ever; yet these present in­stances and expresses of it are calcu­lated purely for this Life, and shall utterly cease in the next. But now the Contemplative Life is to last for e­ver, and to be the Entertainment of that state where there is nothing but meer Excellence, where all that is im­perfect shall be done away.

And this is that Life which your present circumstances both invite you to, and further you in; here your Thoughts are your own, and so is your Time too wherein to employ them; here you live a Life free and dis-in­gaged from all Worldly Incumbrances and Secular Avocations, and blest with all possible Advantages for a Con­templative and Affectionate Religion: Here you have Solitude, Retirement, and Leisure, and so may serve God [Page 132] without Distraction, and without Di­sturbance. And you can hardly well imagin till you have tried it, of how great advantage this last thing is to a Devotional Life. He that has little Business shall be Wise, says he that was so: I may add, and shall be good too. Leisure is a great Friend to Meditation, and that to Religion. But Business is an Enemy to both; for believe me, 'tis very hard to keep up the Spirit of Devotion in Multi­plicity of Affairs. He that is thus troubled about many things, is not in the way of Extra-ordinary Reli­gion: 'Tis well if such a one can mind the One thing necessary, and discharge the offices of Common Life. But this is not your case, you have Time, and you have Leisure in abun­dance; you have little else to do, but to trim your Lamps, to adorn your Interiour, and to perfect Holi­ness in the Fear of God. In short, your very Profession is to be Religi­ous; you live in a place where the Order of the Morning and Evening Sacrifice is duly observed, where you have stated Hours of Prayer and Thanksgiving to serve God in Publick, [Page 133] and all the rest of your Time is one continued Opportunity of Serving him in Private. So that you may be said, considering the advantagi­ousness of your Circumstances, to be in the very Emphasis of the Phrase, [...], to stand in or­der, Acts 13.48. and rightly disposed for Hea­ven, and your whole Life may be properly called a Day of Salva­tion.

And as you here enjoy all the Ad­vantages of serving God in the way of a Contemplative Life, so Secondly, you have here also all the Advan­tages of fitting your selves to serve both him and the Publick in an Active Life whenever you shall be called to it: For besides, that what makes you Good and Religious here, serves also to make you useful and serviceable hereafter, a Pious and a Well-principled Education being the best Preparative for a Life of Pub­lick Action and Employment; be­sides this, you have here all the Ad­vantages of Learning that Books and Conversation, and Leisure to make [Page 134] the best use and improvement of both can possibly afford: So that there is no Imployment or Pro­fession either in Church or State, ei­ther Spiritual or Seoular, but what you have here the best Helps and Advantages to fit your selves for.

And now since there is so much Excellency in Praise and Thanks­giving, and since we are parti­cularly obliged to bless God for Advantagious Circumstances of Life, and since the Circumstances of your present Life appear to be emi­nently such, let me in the last place commmend this to your serious Consideration, Whether you are not therefore highly obliged to the Duty of Praise and Thanksgi­ving.

Certainly if any Persons in the World are, you are, who are best qualified to understand the transcen­dent excellency of it, and also lie un­der the greatest Obligations and In­ducements to it: Indeed you can [Page 135] never enough bless God for the Happy Opportunities of Religion you enjoy in this Place, where you are like the Trees planted by the Water side, in a growing and thriving Si­tuation, (as the Psalmist elegantly de­scribes Psal. 1. 3. the condition of his Happy Man,) and where it must be your own intolerable fault, if like him, you bring not forth your Fruit in due Season. Particularly you ought to Bless God for that Happy Instru­ment of these great Advantages, whose dear Memory we this Day Justly, and I hope Gratefully Cele­brate.

And after a grateful Sense, and hearty Acknowledgment of these kind Dispensations, your next care should be to make such good use and im­provement of them all, as may an­swer both the natural tendency of the Priviledges themselves, and the good Ends and Designs of God and your Pious Founder; always remem­bring, that if (as the Author to the Heb. 2. 3. Hebrews tells us,) they shall not es­cape who neglect the common Ad­vantages of the Christian Institution, [Page 136] which was so much beyond whate­ver the World enjoyed before, much less shall we if we neglect so great Salvation, so great an Advantage and Opportunity of being Saved.

'TIS the great difference be­tween a Life of Sin and Wickedness, and a Life of Piety and Vertue, that the former consults only the present In­terest, [Page 138] but the latter provides for our future well-being, and lays a sure Foundation for our everlasting Peace and Happiness. The greatest advan­tage we can possibly promise our selves from a sinful course, can be at most but to be diverted a little, and plea­santly entertained for our term of Life here, which besides the uncertainty of it, is at longest very short and transi­tory: Short indeed, if compared to other Temporary things in the Vege­table or Sensitive World, to the Life of an Oak or an Elephant; but a meer nothing, if ballanced with the days of Eternity: Time it self has no Propor­tion to Eternity, much less that Span of it that makes the Life of Mar. Be­hold thou hast made my Days as a Span Psal. 39. long, and mine Age is oven as nothing in respect of thee, says the Psalmist; so that were our whole Life one conti­nued and intire Scene of Pleasure, no­thing but meer Sonsuality and Epicu­rism, 'twould be but just nothing in respect of that long part which we are to act upon another Stage. In­deed such a degree of Pleasartness would serve to make it yet much shorter, and contract the Span into a [Page 139] Point. And yet this is the most that a life of Sin can possibly pretend to, (for it lays claim to nothing beyond the Grave but Misery and Destruction,) and when once the little Span is mea­sured out, all that we can then say of it, upon a review, will be to the sense of that severe Remark of the Stoick, [...], The Pleasure truly is past and gone, but the Evil remains; which is a most deplorable and afflicting Considera­tion.

But I speak this only upon Supposi­tion; for indeed the Sinner is seldom or never so fortunate as this comes to; his whole Life is but a Point, a little Speck between Time and Eternity, and yet 'tis not the thousandth part of it that he enjoys. The more u­sual method of Sin, is to mix and change the Scenes, to regale us with a short Entertainment, and then to serve up to us in the close of the Feast a Deaths Head; to divert us a while with Pleasure, and when that's over, to make us pay dearly for it; to afflict us with a sharp and perhaps long Re­pentance. Indeed a bad Conscience [Page 140] is a Companion troublesom enough e­ven in the midst of the most high-set Enjoyments; 'tis then like the Hand­writing upon the Wall, enough to spoil and disrelish the Feast; but much more when the tumult and hurry of De­light is over, when all is still and si­lent, when the Sinner has nothing to do, but attend to its lashes and remor­ses. And this in spite of all the com­mon Arts of Diversion, will be very often the case of every wicked Man; for we cannot live always upon the Stretch; our Faculties will not bear constant Pleasure any more than con­stant Pain; there will be some Vacan­ces, and when there are, they will be sure to be filled up with uncomforta­ble Thoughts and black Reflections: So that when the Accounts of a Sin­ful Life are cast up, this will be found to be the Sum of it, a little present gratification at the expence of a deal of succeeding Trouble, Shame and Self­condemnation; nothing but present Joys and those too frequently interrupted, and always overcharged. So that set­ting aside the great After-reckoning, its Pleasures are over-bought even in this World, and there is this great Ag­gravation [Page 141] of the Folly of Sin, that al­tho some of its Pains are Eternal, yet all its Pleasures are but for a Season.

But now its quite otherwise in the Practice of Religion and Vertue: This makes Provision for our Best and Last Interest, and secures to us a Reversion of never Failing and never ending Hap­piness. Indeed she is not destitute even of a Present Reward, but carries in hand a sufficient Recompence for all the trouble she occasions. She is pleasant in the Way as well as in the End, for even her very Ways are Ways of Pleasant­ness, and all her Paths are Peace. But 'tis her greatest and most distinguish­ing Glory and Commendation, that she befriends us Hereafter, and brings us Peace at the last. And this is a Por­tion she can never be disinherited of, however the Malice of Men, or an ill Combination of Accidents may de­fraud her of the Other. And there­fore the Psalmist Overlooking as it were all the intermedial advantages of a good Life, recommends it only from that which is proper and pecaliar to it. For Vice has its Present Pleasures as well as Vertue; but herein are they [Page 142] discriminated, that 'tis Vertue only that ends well. I my self (says the Psalmist) have seen the ungodly in great Power, flourishing like a green Bay-Tree: There's the Present Pomp and Triumph of Sin. But I went by, and lo he was gon, I sought him, but his place could no where be found: There's the unhap­py Close of the Merry Comedy. Then it follows as a Practical Remarque from the whole: Keep Innocency, and take heed to the thing that is Right, for that shall bring a Man Peace at the Last.

The Words are Naturally resolva­ble into these three Considerations, which shall be made the Subject of the following Discourse.

1. That Peace at the last is more to be valued than any of the Temporary Pleasures of Sin.

2. That a good life, which the Psal­mist here expresses, by keeping Inno­cency, and taking heed to the thing that is right, will certainly bring a Man this Peace at the last.

[Page 143] 3. That therefore it highly concerns every Man to keep Innocency, and to take heed to the thing that is Right; in one word, to Live well.

The Sum and Force of the whole may be reduced to this practical Syl­logism.

That which will bring a Man Peace at the last, is to be chiefly minded, and most diligently heeded:

But a Life of Piety and Vertue will bring a Man Peace at the Last:

Therefore a Life of Piety and Ver­tue is to be chiefly minded and most diligently heeded.

I begin with the first Consideration, That Peace at the last is more to be valued than any of the Temporary Pleasures of Sin. Now this Term, at the last, may be taken Two ways, ei­ther for the last and concluding Pe­riod of a Man's Life in this World, and then Peace at the last, will be all one with Peace at the House of Death; [Page 144] or else for the last and unchangeable State of Man in the other World, and then Peace at the last will be the same with Everlasting Peace. I shall consider the Proposition with respect to both these Senses: And First, for Peace at the Hour of Death; The inestimable value of which, though none are so well able to judge of, as they who are really and actually con­cern'd in that dreadful moment, yet we may take some measures of it, by considering a little what it is to Dye, and how miserable is the condition of those who have lived so ill as to want this Peace at the Hour of Death.

And First let us consider (that which I fear we seldom do) what it is to Dye: Death is a thing of a strange and dreadful consideration, dreadful in it self, as 'tis a Dissolution of Nature, the manner of which, because we do not know, we mightily fear; but much more so in its Issue and Consequence, which is both great and doubtful, for upon this one thing more depends, than upon all the things in the World besides. Indeed the loss of Life and [Page 145] the Pains and Agonies wherewith it is lost, are the least part of Death. This indeed is the Whole of it to brute and irrational Creatures, they suffer Pain for a while, then resign up their Breath, and lose both the Sense and the Remembrance of both Pain and Pleasure. But to the Dying Man Death appears in another Light, and with an­other Face: He is further to consider, that he is just now launching out into the fathomless Deep of Eternity; that he is entring upon a new, strange, dark, and withal unalterable state of things; that he shall be within some few Minutes what at present he has no manner of Notion of, and what he must be for ever; that he is now a­bout to throw his last and great Cast, and to be resolved once for all of his whole Condition; that he is now passing from Time to Eternity, Eter­nity of Happiness, or Eternity of Mi­sery.

And what a dreadful moment then must that be, which a little precedes this great Transaction, when a Man stands upon the very edge and brink of the Precipice, just upon the turning off, [Page 146] and has the great Gulph of Eternity in view! Nothing certainly can be more dreadful than this, except that very Point, that narrow Horizon that divides Time from Eternity, the end of the former, and the beginning of the latter, and actually determines the business of our Happiness or Dam­nation.

And now since to Dye is no less a thing in its consequence, than to be either Damned or Saved, to be either Eternally Happy, or Eternally Misera­ble, it cannot sure but be matter of vast importance to a Man, to consider which of these two is like to be his Lot, when he is just about to try one of them. Nay indeed, 'twill then near­ly concern him to be pretty well assu­red of the welfare of his After-state; then if ever, he will rightly under­stand the inestimable Price of a quiet Conscience, of a satisfied Mind, and of a Hope full of Glory and Immorta­lity; then if ever, he will find that that which was always a Continual Feast, is now a Sovereign Cordial and the Food of Angels; for never cer­tainly is Peace and Comfort more sea­sonable [Page 147] than at this instant; never so much need of it, and never so much value to be set upon it; never can it more avail us to be satisfied concern­ing our final condition, than when we are just entring upon it; never more refreshing to have some few Beams of Light, than when we are passing through the dark Valley and shadow of Death. Then therefore, if ever, we shall duly value this rich Pearl, a good Conscience, and be well content if we had parted with all our Substance for the Purchase of it. We shall then be fully convinced (O why are we not so now!) how much it outweighs all the Temporary Plea­sures of Sin, yea, and the Severities of Vertue too; and that if our whole Life had been one continued act of Penance and Austerity, 'twould have been abundantly recompensed by the Satisfaction and Consolation of this one Moment. And that 'tis worth while to live Rigidly, if 'twere only upon this one Conside­ration, that we may dye Chearful­ly.

[Page 148] And without Question it must needs be an unspeakable Satisfaction to a Dying Man, when if he looks back­ward, he sees a Life well spent; if forward, he has before him a bright Prospect of Light and Glory: When he can say with King Hezekiah, Re­member Isa. 38. now O Lord I beseech thee, how I have walked before thee in Truth and with a Perfect Heart; and with the great Apostle when within view of his Dissolution, I have fought a good 2 Tim. 4. Fight, I have finished my Course, 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. I say it must needs be an unspeakable, an unconceivable Satisfaction, for a Man in his last Hour, when he is taking leave of his Body, and shaking Hands with the whole World, when all are sad about him, and concerned for him, then to consider that there is a better state, and that he has a Title to it; that when his Earthly Taber­nacle shall be dissolved, he has a Building with God, an House not [Page 149] made with Hands, Eternal in the Heavens: That when he shall cease to live with Men, he shall dwell with God, and converse with Angels; in a word, that he is to leave nothing but Vanities and Shadows behind him, and that he has the solid and real Happiness of a whole Eternity before him. What a mild and unterrifying thing is Death to such a Man as this, and with what Serenity and Chearful­ness does he entertain its Summons! He can smile in the Physicians Face, when he hears him pronounce his Sickness desperate, can receive the Sentence of Death without Trembling, and if his Senses hold out so long, can hear even his Passing-Bell with­out disturbance. The Warnings of Death are no more to him, than was the Voice of God to Moses, when he said to him, Get thee up to Mount Ne­bo Deut. 32. and dye there; no more, but get thee up and dye. For now he feels the approaches of that Salvation with Joy, which he had before wrought out with Fear and Trembling, and can lay down his Body with an holy Hope, having possessed it in Sanctifi­cation and Honour. And what a happy [Page 150] state of Mind is this! How far ex­ceeding all the common objects of Desire and Envy, and all those Plea­sures of Sin, for whose sake 'tis yet frequently put to the Hazard, and too often foolishly exchanged! To Live with Peace of Conscience is a singular Happiness, but much more to Dye with it; then, if ever, 'tis a Peace that passes all Understanding. So great reason had Balaam for that passionate Wish of his, Let me dye the Death of the Righteous, and let my last End be like his.

But this we shall be further con­vinc'd of, by considering Secondly, the miserable condition of those who want this Peace at the Hour of Death: This may be conceived in a double degree, either by way of Doubt or Distrust, or by way of down-right Despair. Suppose we then in the First place, a Man placed upon his Death­bed, who has led his Life so indiffe­rently, or Repented so lately, or so imperfectly, that 'tis a matter of rea­sonable question, whether he has an interest in the Mercies of the New Covenant or no; what a strange [Page 151] Kind of Suspense must such a Man be in, and what a strange concern must he have upon him! What a dis­consolate, what a damping Thought must it be for such a Man to con­sider that he is now going out of the World, but does not know whither! That there are Two States of Eter­nity, but he does not know which shall fall to his lot; nor, when his Soul is dislodged from his Body, who shall give her the first greeting, whe­ther an Angel or the Devil. And how must such an uncertain Soul tremble and be confounded in this her dark Passage! 'Tis a sad thing even to be Doubtful and Unresol­ved in a business of such vast mo­ment.

But if the Man by reason of the notorious enormity of his Life, is so far a Stranger to this Peace, as to be in utter Despair of his Salvation, I want words to express how miserable then his Condition is; with what a­mazement then will he look, both backward and forward, upon his Sins, and upon his approaching Account, and how full of Indignation will he [Page 152] be against himself for neglecting, when he had so many Opportunities, to consider the things that belonged to his Peace, and which now he per­ceives to be for ever hid from his Eyes! The Memory of a Sinful Life is always tormenting, whatever Pleasure there may be in the acts of it, and the expectation of Judgement is al­ways terrible; but never do either of them appear in their true Colours, till a Man comes to Dye: Then he begins to have a sense and apprehen­sion of them, somewhat like that which our Saviour had in the Garden, which put him into an Agony, and a Sweat of Blood. When the Man comes within view of Eternity, then will he be most concerned for his misuse of Time. The Scripture compares a Wicked Man to a Troubled Sea, always work­ing Isa. 57. 20. and uneasy, but about the time of Death he is all over Storm and Tempest. Who can then express the hundredth part of the Disturbance and Consusion he then feels? For a Man to think he is just going to give an account before God of such a Life as he can't so much as reflect upon privately by himself without Shame [Page 153] and Amazement, and to be sentenced to a place of Torment, from whence there is no Redemption; to think that he has lived insignificantly and wickedly, idly and unaccountably, and neglected that only time of Proba­tion, that only Opportunity of Hap­piness allowed him, an Opportunity which was procured him at no less a rate than the Death of his Saviour, and which was denyed to the An­gels that Sinned: To think that he has neglected so great Salvation, and that he must now be miserable and undone for ever, when with ease he might have been happy, and all this for the sake of some little trifling In­terests or Pleasures, for Dreams and Shadows, for that which never was considerable, and now is not at all: What can be more afflicting, more a­stonishing than this? for my part I think the Misery on't so great, that I can't see how any Man could support himself under the Agony of such a Consideration, no, not though an Angel should appear to him from Heaven, strengthening him: For 'tis a state of Mind full of the very [Page 154] Blackness of Darkness, and but one Remove from the Misery of Damna­tion.

And now I think from this De­scription of Horrour, it may with ease be gathered, what an invalua­ble Blessing and Happiness it is to have Peace at the last, I mean at our last Hour. If there be any one that is not yet enough satisfied of it, let him but ask a Dying Man the Que­stion, and then remain an Insidel if he can.

I should now consider Peace at the last, as it signifies Everlasting Peace, or the Peace of the last and unchanga­ble state of Man in the other World, and shew how far this is to be valued beyond all the Temporary Pleasures of Sin: But this is that Peace of God which passes all Understanding, all Conception, and all Expression, and between which and any thing of this World, there is no manner of Pro­portion. What the Apostle says of the Sufferings, is as true of the Plea­sures and Enjoyments of this present time, they are neither of them worthy [Page 155] to be compared with the Glory that shall be revealed: Not worthy to be compared for their Greatness, and less for their Duration. I may therefore well omit any further inlarging upon this, 'twould be almost as ridiculous to go about to give Light to a thing that is of it so clear, as 'tis to disbe­lieve it; and he that offers to make the least Question of so evident a Truth, is much too absurd to be seriously ar­gued with.

I shall therefore pass on to the Se­cond Consideration, that a good Life which the Psalmist here expresses, by keeping Innocency, and taking heed to the thing that is Right, will certain­ly bring a Man this Peace at the last. And First, 'twill bring him Everlasting Peace; this is plain from the whole tenour of the new Covenant, which establishes a standing and never failing connexion between Repentance and Pardon. 'Tis the very Purchase of Christ's Death, that now Repentance may be unto Life; and accordingly 'tis not only matter of Hope and proba­ble Expectation, but 'tis made one of the Articles of our Creed, that we may [Page 156] obtain Forgiveness of Sins. Indeed Repentance is now no where in vain, but among Devils and Damned Spi­rits; it would have been so with us too, had not Christ died, and satisfied the Curse of the Law, and the Ju­stice of the Lawgiver, and upon that satisfaction erected a new Covenant. For the Law knows no such thing as Repentance, but the Soul that sinneth must Dye, Penitent or Impenitent. But 'tis the benefit we have by the satisfaction of Christ, that now if we repent, we shall be forgiven and ac­cepted with God to Salvation and Happiness. We shall certainly be sa­ved with it, and not without it; for Christ did not (as some fancy,) so far undertake for us, that we might not Repent and live well, but that we might Repent to Purpose. He did not design to make our Repentance un­necessary, but only to render it useful and efficacious to the ends of Pardon and Reconciliation: So that a good Life is not only the means, but the only possible means to everlasting Peace and Happiness.

[Page 157] As it is Secondly, to bring us Peace at the Hour of Death, nothing else can do it but this, and this can, and most certainly will; as a good life gives us a firm Title to Salvation and Happiness, so will it give us a good com­fortable Assurance of that Title, which is always an unspeakable Peace and Satisfaction, but especially at the ap­proach of Death. And this is the na­tural Consequence and Reward of a Life well spent; a good Man does his Duty with great Pleasure and Satisfa­ction, but he reflects upon it with greater; his Present Joys are very sa­voury and refreshing, but his After-Comforts are much more so. But of all the Reviews of his Life, none yields him so much Comfort and Satisfa­ction, as that last general Review which he takes of it, when he comes to Dye; then he has most need of Comfort, then he is most fit to re­lish it, and then he has most of it. With what strange Delight and Sa­tisfaction does he then reflect upon his past Life, and call to mind the good he has done in it! those Joys and Consolations which before maintained [Page 158] a gentle course within their own Chanels, now begin to swell above their Banks and overflow the Man. A kind of Heavenly Light springs up in his Mind, and shines forth into his Face, and his Hopes and his De­sires, his Thoughts and his Affections, his Presages and his Expectations, his Body and his Soul; yea, the whole Man is full of Glory and Immorta­lity; he is conscious to himself of his Sincerity and Integrity, that he has not been wilfully and deliberately wanting in any part of his Duty, but has rather made this his Exercise and constant concern, to keep a Con­science void of Offence towards God and towards Man. And as he recol­lects this with Pleasure, so he builds upon it with Confidence, and accor­dingly resigns up his Soul into his Maker's Hands, chearfully and coura­giously, nothing doubting, but that that good God whom he has so faithfully served in his Life, will take care of him, and reward him after Death.

And for such an Assurance as this, there is sufficient ground in Scripture: [Page 159] Great is the Peace that they have who Psal. 119. love thy Law, says the Psalmist: And Prov. 14. 32. the Righteous hath Hope in his Death, says Solomon. And says the Prophet, The work of Righteousness shall be Peace, Isa. 32. 17. and the effect of Righteousness Quietness and Assurance for ever. And says the great Apostle, Our Rejoycing is this, 2 Cor. 1. 12. the Testimony of our Conscience, that in Simplicity and Godly Sincerity, we have had our Conversation in the World. And we know that we have John 3.14. passed from Death to Life, because we love the Brethren, says Saint John. And again, If our Hearts condemn us Ver. 21. not, then have we Confidence towards God.

There is indeed some Controver­sy between the Reformed and the Romish Doctors concerning this Mat­ter, the latter generally denying that a Man may be Assured or Certain of his Salvation; now though it may and perhaps must be granted, that he cannot have an Assurance of Di­vine Faith, (nothing being the Ob­ject of such an Assurance, but for which we have an immediate Reve­lation from God, which cannot ordi­narily [Page 160] be said of any Man's Salvation in particular, but only of the gene­ral and conditional Proposition of the Covenant upon which we build,) yet I think there is sufficient reason to conclude from the forementioned places of Scripture, with many others too numerous and obvious to al­ledge, that a Man upon the conside­ration of his past life, may be so Mo­rally assured of his Salvation, as to be out of all reasonable Doubt or Irresolution about it; and he that will deny this, must oblige himself to maintain one of these Two Propo­sitions, either that a Man cannot un­derstand what conditions are requi­red of him in order to a Salvable State, or that he can't with any mea­sure of Certainty, judge of himself whether he be qualified according to those Conditions. The former of which, would reflect upon the Suffi­ciency and Clearness of Scripture which must be allowed to be full and plain in necessary things, and the latter would redound too much to the dis­honour and disparagement of Human Reason and Understanding; since ac­cording to this Proposition, a Man [Page 161] must be supposed to be so great a Stranger to himself, as not to know what passes within his own Breast con­trary to which the Scripture supposes in that Question, Who knows the things 1 Cor. 2. 11. of a Man, save the Spirit of Man which is in him?

It must be acknowledged, that this is not a strict Certainty, neither of Science nor of Divine Faith, but on­ly a Moral and Human Assurance; for 'tis certain, that the Conclusion can be no stronger than the Premises: and therefore since one of the Pro­positions (that which contains my own Qualifications,) is matter only of Experimental Knowledge, which is a Human, and therefore fallible Te­stimony, 'tis certain, that the Assu­rance that rises from the whole, can be no more than an Human or Mo­ral Assurance. But that is enough, and he is neither Reasonable nor Mo­dest that either Desires or Pretends to more; since the other is sufficient for a Satisfactory, though not for an Infal­lible Judgment.

[Page 162] And yet there is something further in this matter yet; for to this Moral Assurance grounded upon the gene­ral Terms of Salvation, (which are matter of Divine Faith,) and upon the inward Consciousness of our be­ing qualified accordingly, (which is matter of Experimencal Knowledge,) we may further add, that Obsigna­tion so often mentioned in Scripture, whereby the Spirit it self is said to Rom. 8.16. bear Witness with our Spirit, that we are the Children of God; not by a clear and express Revelation, (for then the Assurance we have of our Salvation, would be an Assurance of Divine Faith, which is against what was before supposed,) but on­ly by a secret Determination of our Minds to assent to this Comfortable Conclusion, that we are in a state of Pardon and Salvation, and by Con­firming us in that Assent. After what manner this Operation of God is per­formed, I shall not be so curious as to inquire, 'tis enough to know that it is a certain impression of the Holy Spirit upon our Souls, whereby we are inwardly perswaded beyond the [Page 163] force of Rational Conviction of our being interessed in the Divine Favour, and in the Glory that shall be reveal­ed. This is the Seal of the Spirit, and Ephef. 1. 13. 14. the Pledge or Earnest of our Inheri­tance, which God often bestows upon the Children of Light in this Life, as a Reward for their past, and some­times as an incouragement for their future Obedience. For so says the Spirit to the Churches, To him that o­vercometh, Rev. 2.17. will I give to eat of the hid­den Manna, and I will give him a white Stone, and in the Stone a new Name written, which no Man knows, sa­ving he that receives it.

And now since Peace at the last is so valuable a Treasure, and since a good life is a certain and the only way to obtain it, what Consequence can be more natural and evident from these Premises than that it highly concerns us to keep Innocency, and to take heed to the thing that is right; in one word, to Live well, which was the Third and last Consideration. Indeed were Peace at the last, a thing of no great value, or were not a good Life a sure and a necessary me­thod [Page 164] to obtain it; were there a fai­lure in either of these Premises, the Conclusion would fail with it, and 'twere no great matter how we Li­ved. But since the quite contrary ap­pears to be unquestionably true, that Peace at the last is incomparably be­yond any Temporal Interest we can propose, and a good Life is a sure and necessary way to procure it; no­thing certainly in the World can be of such moment and consequence, as to live well: 'Tis by infinite degrees the most important thing that can possibly imploy our Thoughts, or our Time, our Studies or our Endeavours, nay indeed 'tis the One thing needful. Vain and Impertinent are all those o­ther many things we are here troubled about, all those Thoughts and Cares we have about Time, and the things of Time, which indeed would be of little value, even to a Temporary Be­ing, much more to an Immortal Spirit who is to live in another State, and there either Enjoy or Suffer to all E­ternity. To such a Being Time cer­tainly can be no further considera­ble, than as Eternity depends upon [Page 165] it, no further than as it may serve as an Opportunity to secure the other; which is all the use and all the value Time and this Mortal Life can have with a wise and considering Man. The best use therefore we can make of our Time, is to live well in it, to spend it Innocently and Usefully, Piously and Charitably in the Service of God, and in doing good to Men. 'Tis for this we have our Time, and this is the right and proper use of it, and that which will give the most Hap­py Conclusion to it. This is that which will yield us Peace and Com­fort, when nothing else can, and when we stand in most need of it, in the Hour of Death, and in the Day of Judgment, in either of which there is no comfort like a good Con­science.

When I shall lie faint and languish­ing upon my Dying Bed, with my Friends all sad about me, and my Blood and Spirits waxing cold and slow within; when I begin to reckon my Life not by the Striking of the Clock, but by the throbbings of my Pulse, every stroak of which beats a [Page 166] Surrender to the Pale Conqueror, in this great Ebb of Nature, when the Stream of Life runs low, and the Wheel at the Cistern can hardly turn Eccles. 12. 6. round its Circle, it will be then no Pleasure or Comfort to my departing Soul to reflect upon the great Estate that I have got, upon the Family and Name that I have raised, or upon the Honours and Preferments that I have gone through: No, my Soul will then have a new Taste, as well as my Body, and these things will be as insipid to me as my Meat and Drink; only the Conscience of having done well, will then refresh me, and yield me Peace and Consolation. This is that Angel that must support and strengthen me in that great and last Agony; nothing else is able to interpose for my relief, in that dreadful juncture, and this a­lone will be a sufficient Comforter and Assistant. Many things there are that divert and ingage our Thoughts in the Course of our Life, but at the end of it, there is nothing that will be regard­ed by us, or afford us any Satisfaction but a good Conscience. Our rejoycing then will be this, the Testimony of 2 Cor. 1. 12. our Conscience, that in Simplicity and [Page 167] Godly Sincerity, we have had our Conversation in the World. And how infinitely then are we concerned to take heed to our ways, to walk cir­cumspectly, and heartily to apply our selves to that now, which will stand us in such stead then!

Besides, 'tis our greatest Wisdom as well as Interest, and the best Proof we can give of our being Rational Crea­tures: We think it a great Commen­dation of our Reason to be able to Dispute well, and Discourse well, and we are generally more impatient of what reflects upon our Intellectuals, than of what reflects upon our Morals. But certainly to live well, is the greatest argument of Wisdom, and that which reflects upon our Morals, reflects most of all upon our Understandings. We live now in an Age wherein Craft and Worldly Policy, nay, and even down­right Knavery has usurped the name of Wisdom, and a Man is in danger of bringing his Parts in question, by ad­hering to his Duty against his World­ly Interest: But this is the Wisdom of Fools and Mad-men, of those who ei­ther think not at all, or else consider [Page 168] things by halves; 'tis in short the Wisdom of this World, which the A­postle tells us is Foolishness with God. But there is another Wisdom, and that is the Wisdom of the just; and this is that Wisdom which God commends, and which we our selves shall hereaf­ter (when best able to judge,) com­mend too; for this is that Wisdom from above, which is first Pure, then Ja [...] 3.17. Peaceable, which will bring us Peace at the last, and whereby we shall become Wise unto Salvation.

The Conclusion of all is, Time it self is short, the Time of Man is much shorter; Eternity has neither end nor change, and every Man is hastening to this Eternal and Unchangable State; and therefore it infinitely concerns us all so to live while we sojourn in this World, that when we come to dye, we may have these Two things to sup­port us in that dreadful Hour, the Re­flection upon the Innocency of our Life past, and the Prospect of future Glory and Happiness.

Which God of his Goodness grant us all, &c.

THat Man is deeply lapsed and degenerated from a state of Excellency and Perfection, is evident frem the Ruins of his Nature, which is now too faulty and defective to be the first and ori­ginal workmanship of God; but in nothing is his Fall more fignalized, than in that abject, servile and grove­ling disposition of Mind he now labours [Page 170] under: He has suffered indeed in all his Faculties, and every String of his Soul is put out of Tune; his Under­standing has a Cloud dwelling upon it, his Will has lost much of its Verticity or Magnetick Inclination towards the chief Good; but that wherein he is most diminished, and stands most alie­nated from the Life of God, and the order of Grace, is the Passionate part of him, his Affections; these have suffered such a vast Declination from their true and natural Point, and are so depressed into the dregs of the Material World, and are now be­come so unperceptive of any thing but the gusts and relishes of the Ani­mal Nature, that instead of serving (as they were originally intended,) to the invigoration and actuation of the Soul, they are her greatest clog and impediment in all her Endea­vours and Aspirations after the Divine Life.

This is that so much Celebrated [...] of the Platonists, the Moulting of the Plumes of the Soul; she is not only broken and wounded in her Wings, but utterly unpinioned, [Page 171] she has dropt her Feathers, and can no longer sustain her weight in the higher Regions, but falls down, and lies groveling upon the Ground, as if besides the Primitive Curse upon Man, of Tilling the Earth from whence he was taken, he had inherited that of the Serpent too, Upon thy Belly shalt thou go, and Dust shalt thou eat all the days of thy Life.

And as this Demission of Soul is the most signal instance of the Dege­neracy of Man, so is it commonly the last from whence we recover; our Affections are the most stubborn and unconquerable part about us, as be­ing blind and unperceptive Appetites, and such as are set at the greatest di­stance from the Light of the Mind, which shines first upon the Will, and then upon the Passions, whose illumi­nation is therefore more feeble and languid. Hence it comes to pass, that this is the most difficult part to be managed, as there is more trouble with One Fool, than with Ten Wise Men; and when the Understanding and Will are resigned up, and given over to the importunity of him that [Page 172] stands at the Door and knocks, these still maintain the Fort against the Hea­venly Battery, and are very often too successful in their resistence. Indeed the regulation of the Pathetie part is commonly the last conquest of Di­vine Grace, the consummating degree of Spiritual Life, the closing feature of that Image of God which is form'd in us; for nothing is more common than to see Men of singular Strictness and vertuous Conversa­tion in all other respects, who yet have their Affections deeply ingaged in Secular Interests, who stoop and yield to the Magnetism of this dirty Planet, and (as the Apostle phrases it in the Verse before the Text,) Mind or relish Earthly things: An eminent Example of this we have in the Story of the Young Man, who came to our Saviour to inquire what he should do to inherit Eternal Life; who though a diligent Observer of the Law, and generally accomplished with moral Qualifications, insomuch that our Lord began to have a kindness for him, yet the affectionate part of his Soul had still a wrong Bias, and was not sufficiently weaned from Earthly [Page 173] good; One thing thou lackest, and what was that? not more Justice, nor more Charity, nor more Temperance, but to have his Affections more loose and disingaged from the World; for when he was bid go and Sell what he had and give it to the Poor, he was sad at that Saying, and went away grie­ved, though he was told at the same time, that it was to be only an Ex­change, and that far for the better, that he should have Treasure in Heaven, for what he quitted upon Mark 10.21. Earth.

But however difficult it may be for a Soul so low sunk in her Affections, to recover again upon the Wing, and bear up above the steams of the Flesh, and the attractions of the Animal Na­ture, yet this is that excellent end which the Christian Institution aims at, and which every good Christian ought diligently to endeavour after: For what the Author of our Faith and Happiness said of some particular words of his, is true of all, that they are Spirit and Life, such as are able, and were designed to reanimate the dead and senseless Minds of Men, and [Page 174] to diffuse a-vital heat throughout the torpid and benumm'd World. And accordingly St. Paul tells us, that Chri­stianity is [...], the Law of the Spirit of Life, and in ano­ther Rom. 8. 2. place, [...], the Mi­nistration of the Spirit, such as be­comes 2 Cor. 3. a Vital Form in us, to give us Motion and Activity, and to raise us from that Sown and Lethargy, which by our Fall we were cast in­to. And the same Apostle makes it here the Character of an accomplish­ed Christian, such who is fit to be proposed as an Example for our I­mitation, that he is one that is not only above, but has nothing to do with the petty, trifling Interests of this lower World, but has his Thoughts and Affections wholly ta­ken up and imployed about the Beatitudes of the next. For says he, Brethren, be Followers together of me, and mark them that walk so as ye have us for an Example; for our Conversation is in Heaven. In dis­coursing upon which Words, I shall shew,

[Page 175] First, What it is to have our Con­versation in Heaven.

Secondly, How reasonable and be­coming it is for a Christian to do so.

Thirdly, What are the Uses and Ad­vantages of such an Heavenly Dispen­sation of Life.

Now concerning the First, I consi­der that Heaven here may be under­stood either largely for the state of the other Life in general, by way of opposition to this, or more strictly for that special and excellent Portion of it, Glory and Happiness. If we con­sider it according to the former sense, then to have our Conversation in Heaven, will be to be perpetually mindful of our Mortality, and that we are Citizens of another World, and must shortly take our leave of this; to have a constant prospect into that other World which must be our last Home, and to be always looking beyond the Horizon of Time, to the Long Day of Eternity, to dwell in [Page 176] the Meditation of the Four last things, Heaven, Hell, Death and Judgment; how great they are in their Conse­quence, how certain in the Event, and how near in their Approach, and in consideration of all this, to be al­ways preparing for our great and fi­nal Change.

But if we consider it according to the latter and stricter Sense, then to have our Conversation in Heaven, will be frequently to contemplate the In­finite Perfections of the Divine Essence, the First of Beings, and the Last of Ends, and the unconceivable Happi­ness of those who shall enjoy the Communications of his Blessedness; to Contemplate, and have always in view that weight of Glory, that in­corruptible Crown with which the Sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared, no not to be mentioned. To Meditate Day and Night upon that happy time, when we shall be Partakers of Moses's Wish, and be admitted to that intimate and naked Vision of that Mysterious and Incom­prehensible Excellence, which is too great for our Mortal Faculties, and [Page 177] which none can See and Live: When we shall see him not in Symbols and Figures, not in Glories and sensible Manifestations, but openly and clear­ly, really and as he is, and from seeing I Joh. 3.2. him, be transformed into his Likeness: To meditate upon the blessed Socie­ty of Saints and Angels, upon the de­licious repasts of Anthems and Alle­luiahs, and that more ravishing Har­mony of Divine Love, and intelle­ctual Sympathy; upon the elevated and raised Perfections of a glorified Soul, the inlargements of its Under­standing, and the sublimations of its Will and Affections, and upon the Angelical Clarity and Divine Temper of our Resurrection Body: In sum, upon all those glorious things which are spoken, and which even he that saw them could not utter, of the Ci­ty 2 Cor. 12. 4. of God, and upon the infinite Consolations of that joyful Sentence, Come ye Blessed of my Father, Inherit the Kingdom prepared for you from the beginning of the World. Lastly to con­template all this not coldly and indif­ferently as a thing that is a great way off, or as an uncertain Reversion, or maginary Utopia, but as a state that [Page 178] will shortly and certainly be, and with that Faith and Assurance which is the substance of things hoped for, and the evidence of things not seen; to Dwell, Converse, and have our Civil Life in Heaven, (for so the word [...] signifies,) as if we were al­ready Inhabitants of that Blessed Place, and actual Members of that Sacred Po­licy and Community.

This is to have our Conversation in Heaven, this is that Heavenly-Mind­edness which the great Apostle who had personally conversed in the Third Heaven, and seen there more than he could utter, proposes to the imitation of his Followers, and for which he esteemed himself fit to be an Example: Which leads me to shew Secondly, what a reasonable and becoming thing it is for a Christian thus to have his Conversation in Heaven; and to con­vince him that it is so, let him con­sider,

First, That the other Life is the state we are chiefly intended for, with­out respect to which there is nothing in this considerable enough to justify [Page 179] the Wisdom and Goodness of God in making the World; that here we have no abiding City, no durable concern, and consequently what a folly 'tis to let our Thoughts dwell where we but Sojourn our selves; that this present state both by reason of its shortness and other Vanities, is upon no other account considerable, than as 'tis an opportunity for, and a Passage to the next; that as it was not worth while for God to make it, so neither is it for us to live in it, if it were not in order and relation to something fur­ther; that 'tis a short Voyage, and where the Haven lies always in sight; that 'tis the greatest short-sightedness imaginable, not to see beyond so little a prospect as the Grave, and the greatest stupidity and dotage, to con­fine our Cares and Affections on this side of it, if we do: 'Tis true indeed if there were no other state but the present, 'twould be our greatest Pru­dence to make as much of it as we could, though 'twere more vain and contemptible than 'tis, because 'tis our All; 'twould then be as reasonable to have our Conversation on Earth, as now 'tis to have it in Heaven, and the [Page 180] Epicure's Proverb would then be as Wise as any of Solomon's, Let us Eat and Drink, for to Morrow we Dye. But since we are assured by him who brought Life and Immortality to light through the Gospel, that there is an­other state, and that our Death is but the beginning of a new and ne­ver to be ended Life, this one would think should deserve and engross all our Thoughts and Affections, our Me­ditations and Discourses, and that we should be no more concerned with the things of this World, than a Ghost is, that only comes to do a Message of Providence, and when his Errand is over, vanishes and disap­pears. Or if we did at any time con­descend to interest our selves in the Affairs or lawful Entertainments of this Life, methinks it should be on­ly transiently and by the by, as the Hungry Disciples pluck'd the Ears of Corn, just to serve a present Neces­sity, or as the Israelites ate the Passo­ver, in hast, with our Loins girt, our Exod. 12. Shoes on our Feet, and our Staff in our hand.

[Page 181] Secondly, Let him consider that as the other state is the chief and pro­per state of Man, so Heaven is the good and happiness of that state, that 'tis the true and natural Centre of our Rest, our Home and Native Region; that the Joys there are unspeakable and full of Glory, such as the Senses of Man cannot tast, such as his Understanding cannot at present conceive, and such as it will never be able to compre­hend; Joys that are without example, above experience, and beyond ima­gination, for which the whole Crea­tion wants a Comparison, we an Ap­prehension, and even the Word of God a Revelation. That Eternal Word of God, which opened to us a Pros­pect of a future state, and brought Life and Immortality to light; yet he attempted not to give us a represen­tation of the Heavenly Felicity, but thought fit rather to cast that unex­pressible Scene of Glory into a Shade. For indeed to what purpose should the Son of God go about to reveal the Secrets of the Kingdom to us, since if it were possible to describe it as it is, yet 'tis not possible for us to con­ceive [Page 182] it as it is described, but we must Dye and be Partakers of it, before we can either understand it or indure it; this therefore would be a Reve­lation without a Discovery, a Reve­lation which he himself only could understand, another Sealed Book which none but himself would be able to open. Since then Heaven is a Place of such transcendent Glory and Hap­piness, as our present Faculties are not fine enough to conceive, not strong enough to bear, what can be more reasonable and becoming, than that we who are now journying in the Wilderness towards this our Heaven­ly Canaan, where is our Portion and our Inheritance, should have our con­stant Conversation there by holy Con­templations and devout Affections, that so according to our Saviour's Argument, where our Treasure is, there our Heart may be also? For what can be either a more noble or a more concerning Object for an Hu­man Soul to Contemplate, than its last end and sovereign Happiness; when all its Changes and Revolutions shall cease, all its Appetites be satis­fied, and nothing further to be ex­pected [Page 183] but a most delightsome con­tinuation of the same endless circle of Felicity? Certainly one would think, that what will so wholly take up and ingage the Soul when she comes to enjoy it, should be thought wor­thy to employ her best Thoughts now, as undoubtedly it would, did we firmly and heartily believe it. And therefore

Thirdly, Consider that we have no other way of approving the sincerity and heartiness of our Faith, concern­ing Heaven and Happiness, but by having our Conversation there; for so great and glorious things are spo­ken of the City of God, that 'tis not morally possible that a Man should be heartily perswaded of the truth of them, and yet not to have the main current of his Thoughts and Affecti­ons run in that Chanel: How is it possible that a Man should believe such great things, and yet not have his Thoughts dwell upon them? Some things indeed may be very little que­stioned, and yet as little thought of, because their Moment and Importance carries no proportion to their Truth; [Page 184] they are Realities, but Trisles. But sure the things we now speak of, are too concerning, if true, not to be fre­quently and seriously considered: If once we are thoroughly perswaded of their Truth and Reality, their own concernment and importance will be e­nough to recommend them to our most inward and recollected Thoughts and Meditations; and therefore for my part when I see Men plunge themselves into the depths of Sensuality and Worldly Interests, as if they never meant to rise again, to love the World as they are commanded to love God, with all their Heart, Mind, Soul and Strength, to have no serious Thoughts and Remembrances of Heaven or Heavenly things, but to set up their Tabernacles, and say 'tis good to be here, I must conclude, (and they may think me uncharitable if they please,) that whatever they pretend, they do not heartily and seriously believe there is any such place as Heaven; for if they did, considering the vast impor­tance of the thing, it would certain­ly have a greater share of their Con­templations, and a larger room in their Hearts. And this very thing our [Page 185] Saviour intimates in his Reprehension of the immoderate Carers for the World; These things, says he, the Gen­tiles seek, those who have no Reve­lation to assure them of a better and more induring Substance: Having no certainty of the future, they make the most of the present, and in so doing, act in some measure according to their Principles. But seek ye first Mat. 6. 32, 33. the Kingdom of God; ye that have a Revelation of a nobler end, and of a far more excellent state, do you ap­ply your selves principally to that, or else you will not act like your selves, and may justly be suspected of not Be­lieving that Revelation which the o­thers want.

Fourthly, Consider that as the ha­ving our Conversation in Heaven, is an argument and test of our Faith, so is it also of our Resurrection with Christ, and our Spiritual Life; the Connexion is made by the Apostle, If ye be then risen with Christ, seek Col. 3. 1. those things which are above, where Christ sitteth on the Right Hand of God; set your Affections on things above, and not on things of the Earth; for ye are [Page 186] Dead, &c. In which Discourse 'tis evi­dent, that the Apostle does not only exhort to Heavenly-Mindedness as a Christian Duty, but makes it also a certain Mark and Argument of Spiri­tual Life and Resurrection. The Marks and Signs of Grace have made a great part of some Mens Divinity, and they are generally such as do not want for Latitude and Comprehensiveness; to be sure they contrived their busi­ness, so as to take in themselves and their own Party. But certainly there is not a more notorious Criterion whereby to distinguish the prevalency either of the Animal or of the Di­vine Life, than to consider how the Moral Tast and Relish, that which the Platonists call [...], the Boniform faculty of the Soul stands affected. 'Tis a shrewd Symptom of an ill habit of Body, when the Tast comes to be so vitiated, as to delight to feed upon Trash and unwholsom things; and so 'tis in the state of the Mind, the A­nimal and Sensualized Man, as he does not Perceive, so neither does he Relish the things of God; they have no congruity with that Life and Sense that is most invigorated and awaken'd [Page 187] in him, and therefore he prefers his Husks and Acorns before the hidden Manna, and the Food of Angels. But he who is born of that incorrupti­ble Seed mentioned by St. Peter, and in 1 Pet. 1. 23. whom the Divine Life is most excited, he having his Spiritual Senses well dis­posed and exercised, finds a parti­cular gust in Divine things, contracts his Affections upon Heaven and Hap­piness, looks upon all inferiour good as dry and insipid, and is ready to say with the Psalmist, One thing have Psal. 27. I desired of the Lord, even that I may dwell in the House of the Lord all the days of my Life, to behold the fair Beauty of the Lord, and to visit his Temple. This is the Desire, this is the Relish of a Spiritually disposed Soul, of a Soul that is dead to the World, and alive unto God; the Sum of all which is briefly comprized in that of the Apostle, They that are after the Rom. 8. 5. Flesh do mind or (as the Word also signifies,) do relish the things of the Flesh, and they that are after the Spi­rit the things of the Spirit. This is a short and compendious, but a ve­ry great Test of Spiritual Life, and that whereby we may distinguish a [Page 188] vital Sense of Religiou from a formal Profession of it.

Fifthly and Lastly, Consider that one great end of our Saviour's As­cending into Heaven in his Human Na­ture was, that we Christians might have our Conversation there; in or­der to which end, the Ascension of Christ has a double Influence, First as a Rational Motive, and Secondly as a Moral Emblem.

First as a Rational Motive; for since the Ascension of our Saviour into Hea­ven adds new Supplements of support to our Hopes of arriving thither (his Ascension being a Pledge and Pattern of ours,) it must needs at the same time fan the Flame of our Affections, and make them tend upwards with importunate reaches towards Heaven­ly Objects. For this is a Maxim which Experience as well as Philosophy has stamped for truth, that the more our Hope of any good is established, the more our Desires after it are increa­sed, and that nothing sooner cools the Fever of the Affections, than Despair of Fruition: Whence it follows, that the [Page 189] Ascension of Christ by adding further incouragement to our Hopes, becomes a Rational Motive to us to refine and elevate our Affections, and to have our Conversation in that Heaven of our Interest in which the Ascension of Christ in our Nature is so convincing an Assurance.

Secondly, As a Moral Emblem; the whole course of our Saviour's Actions tends to our instruction and admo­nishment; and though some of them were never intended to be copied out in kind, as being set above the Sphere of our imitation, yet they are not so far out of our reach, but that they point out to us some resembling Ex­cellence, and may be imitated though not literally, yet in Figure and Myste­ry. Of this kind are the Resurrection and Ascension of our Lord; for al­though with him we cannot as yet loosen the bands of Death, and break the Prison of the Grave, yet we can now in some sense rise with him, from the Death of Sin, to newness of Life, and are by his Resurrection not only inabled, but also admonished to do so. And altho as to his Bodily Ascension, [Page 190] (as our Lord told St. Peter,) we can­nor follow him now, yet we can in some sense ascend with him, by a pas­sionate elevation of our Thoughts and Affections, and are also mystically in­vited to do the latter from the Con­templation of the former. The Local and Bodily Ascension of Christ, calls for a Moral and Spiritual Ascent; If I be lifted up from the Earth, I will John 12. 32. draw all Men unto me, said our Lord in reference to his Crucifixion. How much more powerful then ought this Consideration to be in reference to his Ascension; for it cannot be said of him now, what was then, when his Beau­ty was benighted under a Cloud, that there is no Form nor Comeliness in him, that we should desire him; for now are the Mists scattered before the prevailing Sun, he shines forth in his full Glory and Triumph, yea, he is now altogether Lovely. Now there­fore may the Pious and Seraphick Soul bear up her self upon the wings of Contemplation, Love and Desire, and follow her Ascending Lord where the Eyes of the wondring Apostles were forced to leave him, and say in the Words of Elisha to his departing [Page 191] Master, as the Lord liveth, and as thy 2 Kin. 2.2. Soul liveth I will not leave thee; and blessed is he that hath part in this first Ascension, for over him the Se­cond Death shall have no Power.

And thus have I shewn by several Considerations, what a reasonable and becoming thing it is for a Christian to have his Conversation in Heaven; but it will appear yet much more so, if we consider in the Third and Last place the great uses and advantages of such a Heavenly dispensation of Life, and they are many; but I shall con­sider only some of the most remarkable of them.

First, This is a most excellent ex­pedient to beget and confirm in us the contempt of the World, and of all those Pomps and Vanities of it which we renounced in our Baptism; this is a mighty thing, and a thing that has been essayed by several methods, as by Monastick ingagements, by retiring into Cloisters and Deserts, by Vows of Poverty and the like: But these are rather Natural than Moral ways of forsaking the World; and 'tis con­siderable [Page 192] that our Saviour in his last Intercession for his Disciples, prays not John 17. 15. that they should be taken out of the World, but delivered from the evil of it. The best way to forsake the World, is to do it in Heart and Af­fection, and the most effectual means to do this, is by conversing in the o­ther World. This indeed may be done by a serious Contemplation of the powers of external. Nature, and of the capacities of our own, by compa­ring which two together, we may be satisfied of the Vanity and insuffici­ency of all Worldly Objects to the purposes of Content and Happiness. And this was the course that Solomon took to convince himself and others of the Worlds Vanity. But besides that this is a long way about, and a way that requires a great deal of Time, and a great deal of Experience, and a great deal of Meditation and Re­flection; it is also a Method fit only for finer and more elevated Spirits, those of a Contemplative Genius, and of a Nice Discernment. But to Con­verse in Heaven, is a more compen­dious and easy Method to contemn the lower World, more practicable to [Page 193] the common fort; and those that cannot in the other way Dispute and Demon­strate, may however in this be sensibly convinced of the Vanity of the World. The Earth to us that dwell upon it, seems a Body of considerable Magni­tude, but to one that should take a view of it from one of the higher Orbs, 'twould appear but as a Point. The same indeed might be demonstra­ted upon Mathematic Principles, but every one is not capable of doing that, and such an high rais'd prospect would save the trouble. And so 'tis in the case before us; this World con­sidered alone may perhaps carry with it a specious and goodly Appearance, and he that does so consider it, will need Reason and Argument to con­vince him of its Vanity; but 'tis but to converse a little in the other World, and take a view of it from thence, and 'twill all without any more ado shrink almost into nothing. And there­fore 'twas not without reason that the Divine Philosopher stiled Philosophy the Theory of Death; for certainly the Contemplation of the other state, is the most compendious way to true Philosophy, the Contempt of the [Page 194] World far beyond all the ways of Reason or Discourse, all the rigid and mortifying lectures of Stoicism. And accordingly I observe that the Author to the Hebrews says of Abraham, that Heb. 11.9. by Faith he Sojourned in the Land of Promise as in a strange Country, dwelling in labernaoles: And the reason of his doing so more expresly follows, for he look'd for a City which has Foundations, whose Builder and Maker is God; so that this was that which drew off A­braham's Affections from the Land of Promise, because by Faith he had a Prospect of a far better Country, and had his Conversation in Hea­ven.

Secondly, This is the best Remedy to support us under the Evil, of this present Life; as it lessens the good, so it lessens the evil of it too, and will serve to support us under the one, as well as to mean us from the other. Nay, to speak the truth, it will not so much support us under these Evils as take them away, and render them slight and inconsiderable. For sup­pose the worst that can be Death, and a Painful Death, he that has his [Page 195] Conversation in Heaven, views the Glory that shall be revealed there, and at once sees that the sharpest Suffer­ings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with them, no more than the Point of a Circle is with its Circumference: He contem­plates the Joy that is set before him, and so indures the Cross, and despises the Shame and the Pain too: For a view of Heaven will mitigate any Cross upon Earth, and help us to in­counter any Affliction as St. Stephen did his Martyrdom: He is one of those steddy Men the Psalmist speaks of, Psal. 112.7. who are not afraid at any evil Ti­dings, but his Heart stands fixed in the Lord. Much less will he for the dread of any Persecutions or World­ly Losses deny his Religion, or by a Trimming and Hypocritical Mode of Behaviour, court the Favour of those in Power, or by any sinful compliance part with a good Conscience. He sees nothing so great or so terrible in this World, as to fright him into any such unworthinesses; no, they that do so, have not their Conversation in Hea­ven, but are Earthly, Sensual and De­vilish, and for all their Pretences to [...] [Page 198] [...] [Page 199] [...] [Page 192] [...] [Page 193] [...] [Page 194] [...] [Page 195] [Page 196] Self-denial, deny nothing of them­selves that I know of, but their Un­derstandings. He that truly conver­ses in Heaven, sees infinitely more there than he can either get or lose here, and can therefore never be guilty of such a Foolish Exchange, as to gain not the whole, but a little of the World, and lose his own Soul.

Thirdly, This Dispensation of Life is the best Preparatory for Heaven that can possibly be; for besides that the greatness of that Happiness makes him that Contemplates it, despise any good or evil that may here stand in com­petition with it; he further considers the Nature and Quality of that Hap­piness, that it is an union of the Soul with her best and last end, that it is a clear Vision and an ardent Love of God, who cannot be seen by him that Lives, much less by him that Lives ill; and this must needs put him upon thinking, that a Holy and Divine frame of Spirit is absolutely requi­site, not only as a Condition to our Admission into Heaven, but also as a Condition of Enjoyment, without which [Page] there is no being Happy even when we are there. And from this Con­sideration, he naturally passes to fit himself for the enjoyment of his Ma­ker, to Purify himself as he is Pure, to Purge, Refine, and Spiritualize his Nature, that so he may be qualified for the refined Joys of Heaven. The short is, there are Two things that must and will be considered by him that has his Conversation in Heaven, the Greatness of the Happiness there, and the Nature of it; and each of these has a particular influence for the preparing him for it: The former will make him Temptation-Proof a­gainst any present good or evil that shall stand in his way to his great Prize, and the latter will contribute to form and fashion the frame of his Mind into a likeness and affinity with the end which he proposes: But both together will so strongly influence the Man, that he will become per­fectly [...], dead to himself and to all the Luscious Relishes of the Corporeal Life, and the Life of God will be triumphantly seated in him, so that now he has but one only Will in the World, which is to have [Page 198] none at all of his own, but to anni­hilate himself, that God may be all in all in him. And thus while like Mo­ses he converses with God on this holy Mount, his Face shine; with a Divine Glory, and he is transfigured into the likeness of him whom his Soul loves.

Fourthly and Lastly, This is a dis­pensation of Life, that affords the greatest Pleasure and Satisfaction of any in the World, to ascend the top of the Mystical Pisgah, and thence to take a survey of the Happy Land; to contemplate the infinite Perfection of God, and the Happiness of those Bles­sed Spirits that enjoy him, the Order of Angels, and that noble and blessed Communion of Saints; to contem­plate the last and richest Scene of Providence, and the Discovery of all the rest that went before; when the reason of all difficult and perplexing Appearances shall be made plain, and the manifold Wisdom of God set in a clear Light; to have our Minds im­ployed about the greatest and best things, to walk with God, and keep a constant Communication with Hea­ven, [Page 199] must needs be the sweetest as well as the noblest and most worthy Entertainment on this side of it. In­tellectual Pleasures are certainly greater than Sensual, even by the Confession of the greatest Sensualists, as may ap­pear from this single instance, in that Men will abstain from the greatest Pleasures of Sense, that they may not lose a good Reputation, which is an Intellectual good; and as Intellectual Pleasures are greater than Sensual, so this is the greatest of those that are Intellectual. Concerning this the same may be said that is of Wisdom, that her Ways are Ways of Pleasantness, and Prov. 3. 17. that all her Paths are Peace; that she is a Tree of Life to them that lay hold upon her, and happy is every one that re­taineth her: That they who eat of her shall yet be Hungry, and they that drink of her shall yet be Thirsty. For there is a certain inexhaustible Well of Pleasure, a fathomless Abyss of Delight in this Heavenly Conver­sation, which they only who have experimented it can conceive, and which even they want Power to de­scribe.

[Page 200] This I know will be far from sa­tisfying some Voluptuaries, who are sunk so low into the contrary Life, that of Sense and Carnality, that they will think a Man Mad that shall ei­ther Talk or Live at this Abstracted rate; but to these I have Two things to say: First, That their having no notion of the Pleasure of this Dispen­sation, is no Objection against it; the thing may be true for any thing they know or can say to the contrary, for they are not, during the quick sensibi­lity and invigoration of the lower Life, proper Judges in the case, any more than the Sense it self is of an In­tellectual Object; for these things are spiritually discerned by a certain Di­vine Tast and Sensation, which is a Faculty which these Men want.

The other thing I shall commend to the Sensualist is this, that since he is too scrupulous and sceptical to take our word for it, he would endeavour after such a degree at least of Spiri­tual Purification, as to try the Ex­periment, that as the Psalmist speaks, he would Tast and See how [Page 201] good and pleasant this Heavenly Con­versation is; and then I'm much mi­staken if he does not find that all the Madness lay on his side, if he does not confess that there are no Joys like Spiritual Joys, and that one Day spent in these Ante-Courts of Heaven is better than a Thou­sand.

And now since it appears to be a thing of so much reason and becom­ingness, and of so great use and ad­vantage to have our Conversation in Heaven, methinks we should easily be perswaded to enter upon this Hea­venly Dispensation of Life. The Re­gion we now Converse in, is very in­commodiously seated, and of an un­wholsom Complexion, such as does not at all agree with the Constitution of the Soul, where she is always sickly and out of order, full of weaknesses and indispositions; why then do we not change our Abode, and remove our dwelling into our Native Coun­try, where there is a purer Air, and a more healthy Climate? When we hear or read a Description of a very pleasant Country, such as the Bermuda [Page 202] Islands, where the Sky is Serene and Clear, the Air Temperate and Heal­thy, the Earth Fruitful and Entertain­ing, where there are Walks of Oran­ges, and Woods of Cedar Trees; though we have no probable pros­pect of ever going to dwell there, yet we can't chuse but often think, and sometimes dream of it, and wish our selves the happiness of so pleasant an Abode. Why then do not our Thoughts dwell more in Heaven, where besides the far greater delight­somness of the Place, we have a par­ticular Interest and Concern to invite us thither? 'Tis the hope of arriving at Heaven at last that supports our Life upon Earth; it is not able to support it self: One or two turns here, gives a Considering Man a full compass of its Enjoyments, and he no sooner comes to understand them, but he despises them. And what shall a Wise Man do, what refuge has he after this Discovery, but to Converse in Heaven? What Expedient is there left, but to anticipate those Joys, when he can no longer tast these?

[Page 203] So that there is a necessity of Conver­sing in Heaven, if 'twere only to re­lieve the Vanity of Earth; and hap­py is the Man who has so much of Heaven while he is upon Earth: Yea, Blessed is the Man whom thou choosest Psal. 65. 4. O Lord, and receivest unto thee; he shall dwell in thy Court, and shall be satisfied with the Pleasures of thy House, even of thy Holy Temple.

THIS is a Question which our Lord puts to himself; and 'tis well he did so, for had he put it to any body else, 'tis great odds but that it had been answered in the Negative; for the [Page 205] great and general Center of Human Nature, whither all the Lines of Ap­petite tend, and where they all meet, is Happiness: The desire of Happi­ness is the First and Master-Spring of the Soul, as the Pulse of the Heart is in the Body, that which sets all the Wheels on work, and governs all the under-motions of the Man: 'Tis that original Weight and Bias which the Soul first received from the Hands of her Creator, and which she can ne­ver lose so long as she her self is: 'Tis indeed the strongest and most ra­dical Appetite that we have, an Ap­petite to which God has not set any bounds, and to which Man cannot; an Appetite that is ungovernable and unconfined it self, and that gives Mea­sures and Laws to all the rest; and consequently there is nothing which so ill comports with our Nature, which so directly crosses the grain of our Constitution, as that which threatens or offers the least contradiction to this ruling Inclination of it. Hence it is that Evil is the great Antipathy of Hu­man Nature, which though it has ma­ny particular Aversions, yet this is her great and general Abhorrence: [Page 206] From this at its first approach the whole Man shrinks in, and stands a­verse, and would be removed from it (if possible) an infinite distance; the Animal part of Man is against it, and the Reason of Man wonders and disputes how such an uncooth thing came into the World, and several Hypotheses have been advanced to ac­count for that strange Appearance; [...] was the great knot of an­tient Morality, and the most gravel­ling Problem of all the Heathen Phi­losophy; and I question whether Rea­son without the assistance of Revela­tion can conquer the Difficulty. So that considering the Opposition that it carries to the whole Man, both to our Appetites and to our Understand­ings, there seems nothing more diffi­cult than to be reconciled to it, though it be in order to a greater advantage, and we see an excellent glory behind the Cloud.

'Tis said by Plato, that Pleasure and Pain are the two Nails that fasten both the Wings of the Soul down to the Earth, and hinder its Ascent up­ward: And the Wise Epictetus. Stoick has [Page 207] most excellently summ'd up the whole difficulty of Vertue into [...] and [...] to Abstain and Sustain: Indeed Abstinence and Patience are the Two most rough and uneasy Places in all the Stage of Vertue; the rest of her ways are ways of Pleasantness, and all her other Paths are Peace. But here the Traveller meets with Trouble and Discouragement, is ingaged in a point of Labour and Contention, and though in the Event he perform his Duty and bear forth good Seed, yet 'tis always with the reluctancy of his lower fa­culties, and (as the Psalmist expresses it,) he goes on his way sorrowing. Psal. 126.

But the chiefest and noblest Scene of Vertue lies in Patience; 'tis hard to abstain from Pleasure, but 'tis much harder to indure Misery, (which is the Reason by the way that the San­ctions of Laws are generally taken ra­ther from Punishments than from Re­wards,) and of all Obedience, that which is Passive is most difficult; for we hate Pain to an higher degree than we love Pleasure. And of this the Infernal Spirit was so sensible, (one who dwelling with everlasting Burn­ings [Page 208] is best able to judge of the diffi­culty of submitting to Misery,) that he presumed to say concerning that excellent Person whom God had com­mended for his Integrity in all the instances of Active Obedience, and whom he himself knew to be a Mi­racle of Patience in particular, that if God would but put forth his Hand, and touch him with some near and cleaving Affliction, he would curse him Job 1. 11. to his Face.

And to this purpose 'tis yet further observable, that even the Disciples of the Blessed Jesus whom he had picked and chosen out of the promiseuous Herd of Mankind, and who followed this Lamb whithersoever he went, and traced him through all the narrow paths of a Vertuous and Religious Life, yet when he came to Mount Calvary, within view of the Cross, they all forsook him and fled, stopt short at the foot of the dreadful Hill, and left him to tread the Wine-press a­lone: And even he that had most courage and presence of Mind, and dared furthest, he whom St. Chrysostom calls the Warm Disciple, even he fol­lowed Luke 22. 54. him but asar off.

[Page 209] Nay, even our Blessed Saviour him­self, who besides the peculiar excel­lency of his Human Spirit, and the incentives of an Omnipotent Love, had also the Divinity of his Person for his immediate Succour and Sup­port; as he fainted as to his Bodily strength under the Load of the Cross, so was he amazed into an Agony and Sweat of Blood at the very appre­hension of what he was to suffer up­on it, and almost fainted in his Reso­lution too, till after the recollections of Meditation, and the confirmation of an Angel, he overcame the tender­ness and reluctancies of innocent Na­ture, with the perfection of Submis­sion and Resignation, emptied him­self of his own Will, as he had for­merly done of his Heavenly Glories, and refused all help and deliverance both from the Guard of his Angels, and the over-officious Sword of his zealous Apostle with this gentle Re­proof, Put up thy Sword into the Sheath; the Cup which my Father has given me shall I not drink it?

[Page 210] The full sense of which Words is resolvible into these Two Proposi­tions.

First, That every Affliction which be­falls Man, is dispensed to him by the hand of Providence; which is inti­mated in these Words, the Cup which my Father has given me.

Secondly, That therefore he ought to submit to it with all Patience, Meekness, Contentedness and Re­signation of Spirit, intimated in the last Clause, Shall I not drink it?

And First, that every Affliction which befalls Man, is dispensed to him by the hand of Providence: That there is such a thing as Providence in general, and that God does concern himself in the Government and Ma­nagement both of the Material and Intellectual World, by ruling and or­dering the Motions of the former, and the Actions and Events of the latter, though denyed by the School of E­picurus, is yet I think acknowledged by all that own a Creation, and cer­tainly [Page 211] with great agreeableness and consistency with that Principle. For besides that Creation doth both sup­pose and produce Love towards the Creature, suppose it as the Principle, and produce it as the Effect, it being impossible that God should either Create what he did not Love, or not Love what he has Created; ac­cording to that Observation of the Wise Man, For thou lovest all the things Wisd. 11. 23. that are, and abhorrest nothing which thou hast made; for never wouldest thou have made any thing, if thou hadst ha­ted it, I say, besides that Love of God which follows upon the Creation, and that care which as closely follows up­on the Supposition of his Love, I further consider, that it had not been worth the while for God to have created a World, if he did not in­tend to govern it; for since the World is not capable of governing it self, and conducting the infinite va­riety of its own motions to any excel­lent end, and since without some con­duct or other, it must needs fall into disorder and confusion, if God will not undertake the Government of it; to what purpose should he make such [Page 212] a World, which without his care of it would bring him more Dishonour by its After-disorders, than Glory by its first Production? And Disorder is a thing so opposite to God, that we find he could not be reconciled to a Natural Chaos, much less then can he be to a Moral one, especially in a World of his own raising; for indeed Creation is too great a work to be bestowed upon a World which is e­ver after to be abandoned and left to it self. And since God has ingrafted into the nature of every Animal, af­fectionate Propensions towards its own Productions, whether Natural, Me­chanical or Intellectual, nothing can be more absurd than to imagin, that he would be so ill a Parent himself, as to expose this his own Offspring, and which assoon as brought forth, he Lo­ved, and pronounced very good, to the uncertainties of Chance and Con­tingency.

Besides, we are naturally led to the existence of Providence by the consideration of the Divine Perfections, such as his Omnipotence, Omnipresence, Omniscience, Goodness and Ju­stice. [Page 213] And accordingly we find, that even Aristotle and the Peripateticks, who would not allow the World to be Created by God, as supposing it to be Eternal and Uncreated, yet were forced from the Contemplation of the Divine Excellencies to acknowledge it to be Govern'd by him. They own'd a Providence, though they disown'd a Creation, and that from a serious consideration of the excellent nature and attributes of God, which they thought would sufficiently ingage him to take care of the World though he did not make it: And truly were the Supposition possible, I should yet think as they do; for sure God is too great and too good a Being to suffer Anar­chy and Confusion wherever there is a Capacity of Order.

Epicurus indeed turns this Argument quite a contrary way, and from the Perfection of the Deity, argues for his profound Repose and Inactivity; that being fixed upon his own Center, and full of himself, he has nothing to do but to live at large, secure and unconcerned, and enjoy the richness of his own Esience, with an infinite [Page 214] and undivided Complacency. But this all depends upon that precarious and ill-natured Principle of his, that all Benevolence proceeds from Indigence, or which is the same in other terms, that all Love is Self-Love; which in­deed if true, will oblige us to confess, that the more perfect and self suffi­cient any Being is, the less solicitous he must be of the concerns of others; and consequently a Being absolutely Perfect as God is, must of necessity be wholly destitute of all Benevolence towards other beings, and without any concern for their welfare. For no consequence is more plain than this, that if all Love be from Want, then that Being who is absolutely re­moved from Want cannot be capable of any Love. Epicurus his Inference therefore is very right, but the ground upon which he proceeds is false, in making all Love to owe its rise to In­digence.

I shall not here undertake a direct confutation of this illiberal and strait­laced Notion, having particularly con­fidered Theor. and Regulat. Love. P. 52. it elsewhere; I shall only re­mark at present, that the falseness of [Page 215] this Epicurean Principle, is put out of all Question to us who believe a Crea­tion; for if, that Love proceeds from want, be an Argument that a perfect Being can have no Love, then we may argue as well the other way, that if a perfect Being does Love, then Love does not proceed from want. And we have a sufficient discovery of this in the Creation, which considering the Self-sufficiency of the Divine Na­ture, must needs be the effect of a pure, unselfish, and disinteressed Love: which by the way is a consideration that mightily commends the excellen­cy of the Divine Goodness, and should wind up our Affections to great Heights of Praise and Grati­tude.

And as the Self-Sufficiency of God is no Bar against Providence, (being only upon a mistaken Principle of E­picurus alledged to that purpose,) so are his other Perfections a strong Ar­gument for it; that is consistent with it, and these do necessarily infer it. Thus his Omnipotence, Omnipresence, and Omniscience render him abun­dantly able to sit at the Helm of this [Page 216] great Vessel, and his Goodness and Justice ingage him to undertake the Charge. He that contemplates the former, can no longer question, How doth God know? can be judge through Job 22.13. the dark Cloud? Nor he that contem­plates the latter, suspect, that he pur­posely declines the Office, and walks idle and unconcern'd in the Circuit of Heaven. Besides, the Perfections of God would not appear so conspicu­ously, if there were no Providence. 'Tis great to Create, but 'tis more to Govern a World; as the Skill of the Artist is more seen in well or­dering and artfully touching the Strings of a Musical Instrument, than in the first making and framing of it.

And if it be once granted that there is a Providence, 'tis an absurd and ridiculous conceit, to consine it, (as some do,) to the Supralunary Re­gions; for the same Arguments that infer the being of Providence in ge­neral, conclude also for the Universa­lity of it. 'Tis most congruous to think that the Providence of God is of equal extent with his Crea­tion, (for sure that which was not [Page 217] too mean to be Created, cannot be too mean to be Governed,) and that the same loving and Harmonious Spi­rit that first moved upon the face of Gen. 1.2. the Waters, and ranged the most minute particles of Matter into Beau­ty and Order, does still run through the now Organized Mass, and pre­side over, and sweetly direct, not on­ly the Greater, but also the Lesser Motions of this his most exquisite Machine: For without this, the Har­mony of the Universe would be ve­ry defective, and its parts dispro­portionate and ill-forted. 'Tis true, Beauty and Order would dwell a­bove, but all would be Chaos and Confusion below, and the Earth would still be without form and void. And thus the irregularity of the Lower World would cast a disparagement upon the whole System of things, as the untunableness of one or two In­struments dis-recommends the whole Musical Consort.

'Tis therefore necessary to affirm, that the Providence of God extends to both Worlds, as the Sun Beauti­fies and Inlightens each Hemisphere. [Page 218] In this respect also as well as others, that Divine Comparison will hold, God is Light, and in him is no Dark­ness at all. But though nothing be too small or inconsiderable for the Comprehensive reach of the Divine Cognizance, yet we may reasonably suppose, that he considers the value of his Creatures, and proportions his Providential Care according to their different excellencies. Now through­out all the order of the Visible Crea­tion, Man is the most noble and ac­complished Being, and consequently the chiefest Object, the most peculiar Charge of Providence; so peculiar, that as the Creation of other Subluna­ry things carried a particular respect to Man, so is their Government too chiefly in subordination to his Interest. And indeed 'tis no more than what by the Measures of Proportion we are warranted to suppose, that he should have a more than ordinary Interest in the care and superinten­dency of his Creator, who was made by an immediate Pattern from him­self, and with his solemn Counsel and deliberation.

[Page 219] Nor is this ever waking and broad Eye of Divine Providence open on­ly on Societies and Communities of Men, and intent only upon the Re­volutions of States and Kingdoms, but also watches over the affairs and con­cerns of every particular Person in the World; no Man is too little and despicable for the notice of Provi­dence, however he may be over­look'd by his Fellow-Creatures; for we are told in Scripture not only of the Guardian Angel of the Jews and the Prince of Persia, but that we should take heed how we offend or despise even the meanest of Men, because of the interest they have a­mong the Angels of special Presence, Mat. 18.10. the Courtiers of Heaven. Nay we are told by the same infallible Oracle, that even the very Hairs of our Head are all numbred; so that not only the Meanest of Men, but even the meanest things relating to them, their most indifferent and in­significant concerns are under the charge and care of Providence.

[Page 220] And if the care of Providence be so very punctual and exact even to Grains and Scruples in the most tri­fling and indifferent Concerns of Man, we may with great reason conclude., that it is much more so in our more weighty and considerable Interests: And since not only our present but future Happiness depends much upon various junctures of Circumstances and States of Life, we have con­sequently reason to conclude, that these are more particularly conduct­ed by God's Providential Hand; and accordingly that Affliction comes not Job 5. 6. forth of the Dust, neither does Trouble spring out of the Ground, but are dis­posed and ordered by God, and Ar­rest us with a Divine Commission. And accordingly the excellent Wis­dom of our Church in her Office for the Visitation of the Sick, piously orders the Minister to exhort the Sick Person after this Form, Dearly beloved, know this, that Almighty God is the Lord of Life and Death, and of all things to them pertaining, as Youth, Strength, Health, Age, Weak­ness and Sickness: Wherefore, whatso [Page 221] ever your Sickness is, know you cer­tainly that it is God's Visitation, &c. As indeed we have reason to think that every other Affliction is as well as Sickness, that there is a Chastising as well as Destroying Angel, and that all Plagues are from God as well as those of Egypt; that no Calamity can either privily steal, or violently break in upon us without the Di­vine notice and particular permission. But that every bitter Draught which we take, is weighed, mingled and reach'd out to us by an invisible Hand, by the Dispensation of Pro­vidence, that 'tis a Cup which our Fa­ther has given us: Our Infinitely Wise, Good, and Compassionate Father, one who knows to chuse for us in­finitely better than we can for our selves, and whose Infinite Goodness, Love and Faithfulness, give us all possible assurance that he will use his Wisdom for our best Interest, and give good Gifts to his Children. Which leads me to consider the Second ge­neral Proposition, that therefore we ought to submit to every Dispensa­tion with all Patience, Meekness, Con­tentedness and Resignation of Spirit.

[Page 222] Patience and Resignation under all Providential dispensations however difficult in the Practick, has yet per­haps more to be said for it in the Theory, than any one instance in all Morality; but I am obliged by the limits of my Discourse, to confine my Thoughts at present to such Ar­guments and Considerations only as may be afforded by the excellent Na­ture, Attributes and Relation of God. For 'twas for this reason alone, that our Blessed Lord chearfully submitted to the drinking of his Bitter Potion, because 'twas given him by his Fa­ther, The Cup which my Father bas gi­ven me.

And that this is a Pillar strong e­nough for so great a weight, a suffi­cient Argument for the most Heroi­cal Resignation under the most ac­cumulated Affliction, not to argue from the example of our Blessed Lord who supported his labouring Courage by this single Consideration, under the weight of his unparallel'd Agony, will clearly appear, if we consider some of the excellent Attri­butes [Page 223] and Perfections of God. Those which more eminently conduce to this purpose, and wherewith I shall at present content my self, are his Supream Dominion, his Self-sufficien­cy, his Infinite Wisdom, Goodness, and his Paternal Relation to us.

First, Then we may consider, that he from whose Hands we receive our bitter Cup, has a Sovereign Right and Dominion over us; which though we state at the lowest pitch, and do not bottom it with some upon the [...] or supereminency of the Divine Na­ture, or with others on the unlimi­tedness of the divine Power, but ra­ther (which indeed seems more rea­sonable,) upon the benefit of Crea­tion, yet even then will follow that he may justly make what deductions he please from the sum of our Hap­piness, within the Compass and Lati­tude of that Benefit. And conse­quently we have no just reason to murmur, as if Injured, though either by Deprivements or positive Inflicti­ons he diminish our Happiness, so long till he leave us in a state just preferable to that of Non-existence; [Page 224] though he should draw out our Hap­piness to the very Lees, strip us of all good but that slender one of Be­ing, and forbid us the tast of every Tree but this One, that grows in the whole Paradise of God. Thus I say by reason of the freeness of his Fa­vours, God may deal with the most innocent and spotless of all his An­gels, who after all this vast Substraction, and in this state of extream Barren­ness and Sterility, are yet his Debtors; and therefore instead of Murmuring and Repining, obliged to take up the Resolution of the Psalmist, While I Psal. 146. live I will praise the Lord; yea as long as I have any Being, (though no­thing besides,) I will sing Praises to my God.

But though God might justly do this, and consequently though even in this case, Patience and Resigna­tion were highly reasonable, yet 'tis not his method to deal thus arbitra­rily with us, or to proceed to the utmost Bounds of his Dominion; he has by his very donation of Being to his Creatures, given them all the fair grounds imaginable to hope and [Page 225] expect that all his after-proceedings toward them shall be agreeable and correspondent to that his first Fa­vour, and that he will never take from us the least Scruple of that Fe­licity wherewith he invested us at the first Minute of our existence, with­out either our own fault, or a refe­rence to some further Advantage; the first of which takes away all oc­casion of Complaint, and the Se­cond calls for our Praise and Eucha­rist.

And that this is the measure where­by God deals with us, we may be well assured, if we consider the o­ther remaining Attributes, his Self­sufficiency, his infinite Wisdom and Goodness, and his Paternal relation to us; God is a Being, whose Hap­piness as 'tis always perfect, equal, uniform, and at full height like his other Excellencies, so is it wholly absolved and consummated within himself, and admits of no Foreign Ingredient into its Composition. He is as happy as he can ever possibly be in his own Essence, and conse­quently can neither receive nor propose [Page 226] any advantage to himself in any change that is wrought in the Crea­ture; he stands in no need of our Happiness, much less of our Misery, and therefore whensoever he lays an Affliction upon us, since he can have no Interest of his own to serve by it, we must either say that he afflicts us meerly for Affliction's sake, or that he designs it in order to a more important good of the Patient: To affirm the former would be Absurdi­ty, Impiety, and Blasphemy, and withal contrary to the express voice of Scripture, which tells us that God does not afflict willingly, nor grieve Lam. 3.33. the Children of Men The latter there­fore must be concluded, that all the Evils which God dispenses to us, (ex­cept only where our extream Deme­rit alters the Case, as in the instance of Damnation,) are designed for our greater Interest either here or here­after, and to Perfect or Consecrate us through Sufferings. They are in­deed Heb. 2.10. the Arrows of the Almighty, but sent upon a Friendly Errand; pre­sent Interruptions, but future Inlarge­ments of our Happiness; like the Misty Veil of the Morning, which for [Page 227] a while shuts in the Rays of the Sun, but at length contributes to the greater Lustre and Triumph of the Day.

And to this purpose we may fur­ther consider, that the great Mode­rator of the Universe, and Supream Disposer of all Events, is infinitely Wise and Good, as well as Self-suffi­cient, and consequently cannot but do all things for the Best; for as he is too Self-sufficient to drive on any interest of his own, so is he too Wise to mistake ours, and too good not to execute the dictates of his Wis­dom; the consequence of which two Suppositions, must needs be the dis­posal of all things in the best way and manner that is possible. 'Tis much more rational in it self, and less derogatory to the Divine Per­fections, to suppose with Epicurus that God does not at all meddle with the Affairs of the World, than that he does it by halves, and steers his great Vessel with a disadvantagious conduct. There is no Artist, but will perform to the utmost of his Skill, provided it be as easy for him to make [Page 228] his Piece compleat, as to under-work it. And that 'tis so to God, we can no more dispute, than we can the absolute Infinity and Perfection of his Nature. Certain therefore it is,. that if God governs the World, 'tis govern'd altogether as well as 'twas made, that is, as well as is possible: [...], says Plato, God acts the part of a Geometrician, does all things exactly and regularly; thus he made the World, and thus he go­verns it, he proceeds by the same Standard in both, and his Govern­ment of the World is no less Mathe­matically exact than his Creation of it. 'Tis true indeed, the exactness of the former is not so obvious to our observation, as that of the latter, nor are we so well able to judge of the Moral, as of the Natural Geometry of God: But considering the Per­fection of God, and the Imperfection of our Capacities, we have no reason to question, but that one is as exact as the other, and both as exact as possible. Not that this is to be under­stood in an Absolute, but in a Relative Sense; for as to the Perfection of the Natural World, we do not require [Page 229] that every Species of Being should be in the highest Perfection, whereof a Creature is capable, (for if the whole 1 Cor. 12. 17. Body were an Eye, where were the Hear­ing?) So neither are we to measure the perfection of the Moral World by single and separate Instances, but by the whole conduct and course of the Divine Dispensation. And then as in Musick, what is Discord in particular and separately considered, will be Har­mony upon the whole; a far more ex­cellent Harmony to the Intellect, than the most curious and artful disposition of Sounds can be to the Sense.

'Tis true, we want Light in this Val­ley of Darkness and Night of Igno­rance, to discern this Harmony and beautiful conspiracy of things, (which is the true ground of all the Discon­tent that is in the World;) but here­after, when our eye-sight shall be cleared and fortified to see our Glo­rious Maker as he is, we shall then with the Beauty of his Face behold that of his Providence, we shall see the deep Plot of this great and won­derful Drama laid open and unra­vel'd, and how even the most Cloudy [Page 230] and Doubtful states of things wind up into Beauty and Harmony: We shall see and be well satisfied, that there is a Geometry in his Providence, as well as in his Creation; and that as all things were made, so are they governed too in Number, Weight, and Measure. Then shall we not only patiently and meekly submit to, but with full ac­quiescence and complacency of Spirit, rejoyce in the accomplishment of the whole Will of God, though is be in the Damnation of our nearest Friends and Relatives. Then shall there be an intire resolution of our Wall into the Divine, God shall be all in all, Ephes. 3. 10. and his [...], his mani­fold and various Wisdom, though not fully comprehended, yet shall be so much understood, as to be fully ju­stified by all his Children.

In the mean time, till we are in a capacity to judge our selves, we may and ought to repose a firm con­fidence in the skill of the Divine Dramatist, and believe implicitly that there is a most incomparable Beauty in the whole Scheme and System of this his great Master-piece, [Page 231] though to us who sit in a dark cor­ner of the Theatre, some of its parts seem obscure and perplex'd; that (as the Wise Man expresses it,) Wisdom Wisd 8. 1. reaches from one end to another, and that he has poured her out upon all his Eccles. 1.9. Works.

And is there now any room for such a Passion as Grief or Discontent after such a Consideration as this? Can a Man acting upon this Suppo­sition be so absurd as to be disturb'd at any Accident, to repine under any Condition, to take to heart the loss of any Friend, though another and a better Self, though his whole Hap­piness were compendiously summ'd up in him, so as to lose all at a Blow; when at the same time he seriously considers, that all things are as well as they can possibly be? Certainly he that is troubled at any Affliction, may well be suspected of one of these two things, either of forgetting that God governs the World, or of charg­ing him with Male-Administration. He insinuates by his Grief and Discon­tent this much at least, that he dislikes the order of the Universe, and that [Page 232] if he were placed at the Helm, he would steer its Course after another method; and does therefore deserve to be remembred of that which Lu­ther told Melancthon, when troubled that the Reformation did not move on so smoothly as he would have it, Monendus est Philippus desinat esse Rector Mundi, Philip is to be put in mind that he leave off governing the World.

For certainly were we thorougly sa­tisfied of the infinite Wisdom and Goodness of God in the disposal of all events, were this Persuasion deeply fixed in us, and intimately present with us, that all is for the Best, we should see Argument enough not only for Patience and Contentment, but also for Rejoycing and giving Thanks in all Dispensations; we should (as Sene­ca Epist. 96. well expresses the Temper of his Wise Man,) non solum Deo parere, sed & assentiri, not only submit with re­signation to the Divine Will, but ap­prove and imbrace it with full choice, as our best Lot and Portion, and say with another excellent Stoick, [...], Epictetus. I will not only endure, but plead for the [Page 233] dispensations of Providence, and ju­stify them to the World. We should not then content our selves with that of the Royal Prophet, I became dumb and opened not my Mouth, because it was thy doing, but proceed further, and Psal. 39. kiss the Cross even while it oppresses and galls our Shoulders, and go forth to meet our Sufferings, after the exam­ple of our Divine Master, who with­drew voluntarily to the Garden where he foreknew he should be apprehend­ed, and there as freely surrendred him­self when he might have escaped: We should not so much as wish to have avoided any Calamity; and though we took never so much delight in our Paradise, yet after we heard the Voice of God walking in the Garden, and received his Sentence to depart, we should not endeavour a re-entrance, though we could remove the fiery Sen­tinel, and prevail with the angry Che­rub to sheath his Sword, but should rather thank God for his severe Mer­cy, and say with the great example of Patience, The Lord gave, and the Lord Job 1. 21. hath taken away, blessed be the name of the Lord.

[Page 234] There remains yet one Considera­tion more, and that is the Paternal re­lation of God; he that gives us the bitter Cup, besides the Essential benig­nity of his nature, has also a near rela­tion to indear him to us; he is our Father, and therefore cannot but be very tenderly affected toward us. He loved us when we were but an Idea in his own Understanding, much more does he now, when we have actually participated of his Spiritual Nature, and not only so, but of his peculiar likeness too: Add to this, that he has shewn himself to be a Father by infi­nite Favours and Kindnesses, some of which border almost upon Fondness and Partiality, in so much that they have raised envy in some of the Angels, and wonder in all the rest: For there are things done for Man, which the Angels have long contemplated, and yet still desire to look into. 1 Pet. 12.

Shall I not then drink the Cup which my Father, this my Father has given me? My Father who is too full and perfect to need my Misery, though in respect of his Supream Dominion he [Page 235] might to great degrees arbitrarily af­flict me; who is too wise to mistake my true interest, and too good (for 1 John 4. 8. he is Essential Goodness, and his very Definition is Love,) to prescribe me a Draught which he knows not to be wholsom for me? who has given me all the good I enjoy, and who has parted with more for my sake, than he can possibly take from me in this World; for he has given me his Be­loved Son, the brightness of his Glo­ry and the express Image of his Per­son, shall I then receive good, so great a Job. 2. 10. good at his hands, and not receive e­vil? Shall I refuse the Cup which my Father, this my Father has given me? no, may the considering Sufferer say, I will welcom the sharpest Arrow that comes from his Quiver, I will rest heartily satisfied with his severest dis­pensations, and though he kill me, yet will I trust in him.

Let us then at all times and on all occasions with all Patience, Meekness, Contentedness and Resignation of Spi­rit be Passively as well as Actively Con­formable to the Divine Will, and de­mean our selves as becomes Children [Page 236] under the Chastisement of so wife and so good a Father; let us not only with calmness endure, but with content and satisfaction approve and justify all his Dispensations; so will he justify and acquit us hereafter, and to the present benefit of our Affliction, superadd a Reward of our Patience, and reveal to us such an excellent Glory with which the Sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared.

To which God of his Infinite Mercy conduct us all,

Amen.

'TIS somewhat strange to con­sider that Wisdom should be a thing desired by all, and highly pretended to by the most, and yet that Men should be­tray their Folly in nothing more than in their Judgments concerning Wis­dom; and yet this is the frequent as well as unhappy fate of the many Pre­tenders [Page 238] to Wisdom that are in the World, who in nothing take such ab­surd measures as in this. We shew indeed enough of our Weakness and Ignorance in the search of Nature, and in what we call our Philosophy: We live among Mysteries and Riddles, and there is not one thing that comes in at our Senses, but what baffles our Understandings; but though (as the Wise Man complains,) hardly do we Wisd 9.16. guess aright at the things that are upon Earth, and with labour do we find the things that are before us; yet find them out we do in some measure, and are seldom so very much out in our Judg­ments, as to mistake in Extremities, and take one contrary for another: 'Tis very rare that we take the ver­tue of a Plant to be Hot, when 'tis extreamly Cold, and he must be a very mean Botanic now, that shall ga­ther Poison instead of Pot-herbs, and yet this we often do in the conduct of Life, and in the great Ends and Measures of it. Here we often mis­take one contrary for another, Evil for Good, Darkness for Light, and Folly for Wisdom. We do not only act foolishly, (for that were something [Page 239] tolerable, would we but acknowledge and be ashamed of our weakness,) but we back this Folly with another, applaud and justify our absurd mea­sures, and think our selves Wise not only while we are Fools, but for that very thing wherein we are so.

The generality of Men place their Wisdom in that which is directly their Folly, and their greatest Wisdom in their greatest Folly; they lay deep Plots for shallow Interests, and are very slight and superficial in their Contrivances about things of real Mo­ment and Consequence; they work out a frame of little Designs, with as much industry, art and wariness, as the laborious Spider weaves her fine­wrought Web, and to as much pur­pose, to catch a Fly, to bring about a Trifle, when the same, perhaps half the labour and thoughtfulness would have served for the securing a weigh­ty and substantial Interest.: And yet when they have done this, they think they have been very Shrewd and Po­litick, and compassed a very notable Point, and are Proud of their little Atchievement, and fancy the Title of [Page 240] Wise as much their due, as if pro­nounced so by the Oracle, and as sure and well established, as if their Wis­dom as well as that of Solomon, had built her House upon Seven Pillars, little thinking all the while that he that dwelleth in Heaven shall laugh them to Scorn, that the Lord shall have them in Derision: That God, Psal. 2. 4. whose Ways are not as our Ways, nor his Thoughts like our Thoughts, has already weighed them in a truer Bal­lance than that wherein they weigh themselves, and finds them wanting; wanting in what they chiefly pre­tended to, and charges them with downright Folly and Madness. For this was the case of the Rich Man in the Parable, the Fruitfulness of his Ground had put him upon a new Ex­pedient, and he was very busie and thoughtful within himself how to find room to dispose of his Goods; What shall I do, says he, because I have no room where to bestow my Fruits? The Poor Man it seems was as much straitened in his Plenty, as other Men use to be in the extreamest Poverty; What shall I do? the very Language of those who are reduced to Straits: [Page 241] Do? why, give the overplus to the Poor; and that thou mayst not be so overstock'd again another Year, part with a good piece of thy Land, and build an Hospital. No, says he, I un­derstand better things than so, this will I do, I will pull down my Barns and build greater, and there will I bestow (not on the Poor,) all my Fruits and my Goods; and I will say to my Soul, Soul thou hast much Goods laid up for many Years, take thine Ease, Eat, Drink and be Merry. This was his Resolution, and a Wise one too as he thought, applauding him­self as much in the Wisdom of his Contrivance, as in the Fruitfulness of his Ground: But God said unto him, Thou Fool—

It is here supposed, that the Rich Man thought he had done wisely, and proceeded by the best Measures of Prudence and Discretion, in that the Judgment of God is here by way of Opposition set against his; he it seems, and God were of two different Ap­prehensious, But God said unto him,— From the Words therefore I shall in the First place observe, how vastly the [Page 242] Judgment of God differs from that of Men, and particularly that what we count Wisdom here, is Folly with him: And since the Judgment of God is always insallible, and according to the truth and reality of things, I shall therefore in the Second place consider the great Folly of what God here condemns as such; First, Of Sin in general; Secondly, Of placing our Happiness and Content in the good things of this World: And here I shall consider the great Folly of Covetous­ness, and particularly of the Covetous Rich Man in the Text.

And First, I observe how vastly different the Judgment of God is from that of Men, and particularly that what we count Wisdom here, is Fol­ly with him. My Thoughts, says God by the Prophet, are not your Thoughts, Isa. 5. 5. neither are your Ways my Ways; for as the Heavens are higher than the Earth, so are my Ways higher than your Ways, and my Thoughts than your Thoughts. Indeed the disproportion is very great between Earth and Heaven, between the Point and the Circumference of so vast a Circle, and yet this cloes but [Page 243] faintly shadow out the mighty dispro­portion that is between the Measures of Men and the Ways of God; for the difference is as great, as between Truth and Falshood, which are re­moved from each other by an un­measurable distance. There's more Truth than we are easily aware of in that fancy of Homer, that the Gods call things by other Names than we do; so far are they from thinking our Thoughts, that they do not so much as speak in our Phrase. Not only the Thoughts of God are above our reach, but even his very Words are [...], Words that cannot be utter'd by a Mortal Tongue, nor un­derstood by an imbodyed Understand­ing; there's an unimaginable diffe­rence even in the very Nomen-clature as well as the Logick of Earth and Heaven, for God dwells in unap­proachable Light and Glory, nay, he himself as St. John tells us, is a pure and unmix'd Light, a Light which has no Darkness, and to which nothing is dark, but all things open and na­ked. He therefore pierces through the very Essences of things, sees them all in their proper Colours, and calls [Page 244] them all by their proper Names. He has before him in one simple view the whole Field of Truth; nay he is very Truth himself, and consequently can no more be deceived in his Judg­ment of things, than he can cease to be what he is. But we, though we see in his Divine Light, yet we have it reflected to us through false Me­diums, and mingled with Clouds and Mists, and thick Darkness. We look upon Truth as we do upon the Face of the Setting Sun, through a gross and fallacious Atmosphere, and by a Refracted Ray, which makes it to ap­pear where it is not; for we see through a Veil of Flesh those dim Spectacles of the Soul, and the Va­pours of the Body cloud the Under­standing, and blunt the Edge of the Mind. We seldom discern things as they truly are, and when we do, we can hardly keep true to the Judg­ment which we have once rightly made, but are oftentimes by the in­tervening Eclipses of sudden Passion, actually ignorant of what we habitu­ally know, and then act as foolishly and absurdly, as if we had never known it. These are the accidental [Page 245] Disadvantages we labour under, be­sides the finiteness of our Understand­ings, which even in the Perfection of our Nature are bounded within a narrow compass. And since this is the Case between God and us, the Judgment which God makes of things, must needs be vastly different from the Sentiments of Men; for if the Judgment of one Man be so widely different from that of another, if the Conceptions of Philosophers be so far removed from the fancy of the Vul­gar, and the Measures of an Expe­rienced Statesman be so quite other­wise than those of a poor Home-bred Peasant, how vastly different must the Measures and Judgments of God be from those of Men, who sees Dark­ness even in the Angels of Light, and charges the loftiest Seraph with Fol­ly! Certainly so very different, that they are for the most part quite con­trary; in so much, that what we think Truth, and withal dogmatical­ly pronounce as such, and perhaps bind with an Anathema, God in the mean while judges to be Error, and what we take to be Wisdom, he esteems to be Folly: And I doubt [Page 246] most of our Wisdom is of such a Stamp, as will not pass above in the Regions of Light, however current it may be here below by the advan­tage of this our Night and Obscurity: And the Apostle says plainly of the Wisdom of the World, (which in­deed is the Wisdom of the most,) that 'tis Foolishness with God.

But of this we shall be better con­vinc'd by some particular Instances, whereof there are a Multitude, but I shall briesly touch upon a few. And First, as to the frame of the Natural World, some Mathematicians and Na­turalists have quarrel'd with the Geo­metry and Contrivance of it; one dislikes the Situation and Motion of the Sun, in making some Countreys so very Hot, and some so very Cold, and in occasioning, so frequent Eclipses. Another quarrels with the conduct of the Weather, and can by no means think it well that a full Cloud should empty it self upon the barren Sand, or upon the Sea, when in the mean time many a rich Ground is almost starved for want of Relief from Hea­ven; and he can as little reconcile it [Page 247] to wise Administration that the hopes of the promising Year should be crush'd in Pieces by the rude Arrest of an unseasonable Frost. Another wonders to what purpose there should be such vast numbers of little Infects, why there should be any such thing as Poison, and why among Fishes the Greater should prey upon the Less, and why those which are Food for us, should be so thick set with little Bones; and he can never forgive Na­ture for the Luxuriancy and easie growth of Weeds, when choice Flow­ers are hardly brought up even with Labour and Care. But to all this and the like, the Judgment of God stands directly opposed, who upon a Solemn Review of his Works pronounced all things good that he had made, and found not one Erratum in the whole Book of Nature.

Thus again as to the Administration of the Moral World, we don't like the System of this neither, but are wont to be dissatisfied; First. That there should be any such thing as E­vil in it; this has been censured as a great Flaw by a whole School of Phi­losophers, [Page 248] and the most favourable Plea they could advance for it, was to resolve it into Necessity, and the Invincible Stubborness of Matter; as much as to say, God could not help it. And those who could be pretty well reconciled to the being of Evil in the World, would yet by no means indure to think that the greatest share of it should light upon good Men. This was ever an unanswerable Scan­dal, and an unmoveable Objection; and yet 'tis most certain, that if God did not judge it best upon the whole matter, that there should be Evil in the World, and that the most of it too, should fall upon those who deser­ved the least, he would never suffer ei­ther the one or the other.

There is yet another thing in rela­tion to the Moral World, which lies very cross upon our Minds, and that is the Adjournment of the full Admi­nistration of Justice to another World; we would fain see it in this, and are for an immediate and visible distinction and separation to be made between Good and Bad, between the Tares and the Wheat; and because we see [Page 249] no such difference made, we are apt to censure the Order, if not to que­stion the very Being of Divine Pro­vidence. But it seems the Judgment of God is against ours, he thinks it not so well that the Tares should now be separated from the Wheat, but that both should grow together till the Mat. 13.30. Harvest.

Thus again as to the Matter of the Christian Faith, and the manner of planting it in the World, which the Apostle in one Word calls the Preach­ing of the Crofs; this we know was a Stumbling Block to the Fews, and Foolishness to the Wise Greeks, who were then the Vertuoso's of the World; and yet we are told by an inspired Pen, that 'twas both the Power and the 1 Cor. 1. 24. Wisdom of God.

Thus again as to the Government of the Christian Church, even those who have received the Christian Faith, are not altogether satisfied with that; for many of us are apt to think that Christ would have made much better Provision than he has for the good of his Church, if he had constituted [Page 250] in it an Infalliable Gnide, and Visible Judge of Controversies, by whom all Difficulties might be cleared, and all Disputes ended, which now so con­found and divide the Christian World; I say many who do not believe that there is any such Constitution, are yet apt to think and say, that twere a thing much to wish'd it had been so, and that 'twould have been a great deal better so than otherwise; and yet God we see in his Wisdom has not thought fit to have it so.

Thus again as to the condition of Human Life, we commonly imagin it would be mightily for our Advan­tage to have a prospect of Futurities, and to foresee what shall happen to us hereafter; and accordingly we are very curious to tast of the Fruit of this Tree of Knowledg, and to pry into the obscure Manuscript of Desti­ny; and some are so impatient, that they will have recourse to the Devil for such Discoveries rather than fail. And yet we see God in his manifold Wisdom has thought fit to Seal up this Book of Futurities from our Eyes, [Page 251] and will not trust us with so dangerous a piece of Knowledge.

Thus again Lastly, We many of us think it a great Point of Wisdom to heap up Wealth, to get Honours and Preferments, to raise Families, to per­petuate a Name; and we are hugely satisfied with our good Policy and Discretion, if we can secure to our selves a little Portion of this dirty Planet, this little Spot, this Point, though we pay for it, not only the Price of Labour and Care, Contempt and Disgrace, Danger and continual Fear, but even the great Price of our Future Inheritance, and part with our Religion, and our very Souls in the Exchange. This we oftentimes think Wisdom to do for a little of the World; whereas in the Judgment of God, to gain the whole upon such Terms, would be but an ill Bargain. What shall it Profit a Man, says our Sa­viour, to gain the whole World, and lose his own Soul? Yes, but there are some, and never so many as in this Age, that think this no such unprofitable Merchandize, but are very well content to sell Heaven for Earth, Happiness [Page 252] for Vanity, and will readily part with the great Reversion of another World for a Turf of Ground in present Pos­session. This is the way of them, and they think they do well, and that they may say of themselves all the while what the Wise King did in the midst of all his sensual Indulgencies, Also my Wisdom remained with me. But Eccl. 2. 9. however these Men applaud themselves in their extraordinary Reach and Po­licy, God in the mean time has ano­ther Opinion of their Conduct, and will say to every one of them, what he did to the Rich Man in our Para­ble, Thou Fool.

And now whereas the Judgment of God is ever Infallible, and according to the truth and reality of things, I am hence led in the Second Place to consider the great Folly of what God here condemns as such; the thing condemned, is the Conduct of the Rich Man, which he himself thought Wise, but God thought very Foolish; and the First ground of the Charge wherewith God taxes him, was the Sinfulness of it; he was a Fool be­cause a Sinner. I shall therefore in [Page 253] the First place reflect a little upon the Folly of Sin in general: Sin and Fol­ly, Sinner and Fool, are Words in Scripture, especially in the Writings of Solomon, of a parallel Signification, and are indifferently used one for the other: And the Schools of Morality insinuate the same in that common A­phorism of theirs, every Sinner is ig­norant. [...], says the Socratical Proverb. Indeed Sin has its Birth in Folly, and every Step of its Progress is Folly, and its Con­clusion is in Folly; there is its Rise, there is its Advance, and there is its End: But this will appear more di­stinctly from the consideration of these Two things. First, The absurdity and madness of the Choice which every Sinner makes. Secondly, The Error and Mistake that must necessarily pre­cede in his Judgment before he makes it: These Two things, wherein is com­prized the whole Folly of Sin, have been by me already considered Reason and Reli­gion. Pag. 250. else­where; but because it is a Considera­tion of such an uncommon importance, I shall rather present it here again to the Reader with a little Alteration, than refer him to it.

[Page 254] As for the Absurdity of the Sin­ners Choice, 'tis the greatest that can be imagined; for what is it that he chuses? 'tis to do that which he must and certainly will repent of, and wish he had never done, either in this World for its Illness and Sinfulness, or in the next for its sad Effect's and Consequences. 'Tis to despise the Au­thority, Power, Justice and Goodness of God; 'tis to transgress his Com­mands which are good and equitable, and in keeping of which there is pre­sent as well as future Reward; 'tis to act against the frame of his Rational Nature, and the Divine Law of his Mind; 'tis to disturb the Order and Harmony of the Creation, and by ex­tra-lineal motions to violate the Sa­cred interest of Society: 'Tis lastly, to incur the Anger of an Omnipotent and Just God, and to hazard falling off from his Supream Good and the last end of his Being, and the being ruin'd in his best Interest to all Eternity. All this the Sinner partly actually in­curs, and partly puts to the hazard in the Commission of any one Sin. And for what is all this? Is it for any [Page 255] considerable Interest, for any thing that bears something of Proportion, and may pretend to Competition and a rival weight in the opposite Scale of the Ballance? No, 'tis only for a Shadow, for a Trifle, for the gratisi­cation of some baser Appetite, for the acquirement of some little Interest, which has nothing to divert us from adhering to that which is truly our Best, but only that poor Advantage of being present, though at the same time its Vanity be present with it.

And now is this a Choice for a Wise Man, for a Man of common Sense? Nay, is it a Choice for a Man of any Sense at all, for one in his right Wits to make? Is there a better Demonstration to be had of a Man's being a Fool or Mad than this? No certainly, and were it not for the Customariness of the thing, and that too many are concern'd, this would be thought a sufficient Reason why a Man should be begg'd for a Fool, or sent to Bedlam: For if Absurdity of Choice be any Argument of Folly, the Sinner is certainly no common Fool, there being no Choice so absurd, so unaccountable as his.

[Page 256] But his Folly will further appear, if we consider Secondly, the Error and Mistake that must necessarily precede in his Judgment, before he does or can make such a Choice; all Sin is founded upon Ignorance and Mistake, for as 'tis impossible to chuse Evil as Evil in general, so is it no less impos­fible to chuse any particular kind of E­vil as Evil; and consequently 'tis im­possible to chuse the Evil of Sin as such: The Devil himself (as Abstract a Sinner as he is,) can't love Sin as Sin. If therefore it be chosen, it must be chosen under the appearance of Good, and it can have this appear­rance no otherwise than as consider­ed as a lesser Evil, (for that's the on­ly way whereby an Evil may appear good or eligible,) and so it must be considered before it be chosen. He therefore that chuses Sin, considers it at the instant of Commission as a les­ser Evil, and therein consists his Er­ror and Mistake; he is either Habitu­ally or Actually Ignorant, he either has not the Habitual Knowledge of all those things which should pre­serve him in his Duty, or at least he [Page 257] has not the Actual Consideration of them; for 'tis that which must bring him to Repentance, there being no Consideration beyond this: And 'tis impossible a Man should Sin with the very same Thoughts, Convictions and Considerations about him, as he has when he Repents. This I say is no more possible, than for a Ballance to move Two contrary ways with the same Weight, and in the same Posture. He therefore that Sins, wants that Con­sideration at least to keep him in his Duty, which when he Repents brings him to it; and is therefore Ignorant and Mistaken.

The Sum of this matter lies in this form of Argument, Whoever thinks Sin a lesser Evil, is mistaken in his Judgment; but whoever commits Sin, does then think it a lesser Evil: There­fore whoever commits Sin is mistaken in his Judgment. So great is the fol­ly of Sin, both in reference to the Absurdity of the Choice, and to the Error and Mistake of the Chuser; and so great reason has every Sin­ner to take up that Confession of the Psalmist, so Foolish was I and Pfal. 73.[Page 258] Ignorant, and even as a Beast before thee.

And thus far of the Folly of Sin in general; I come now in the Second place to the other ground of the Charge, where I am to consider the folly of placing our Happiness and Content in the good things of this World, and of that particular sort of Earthly-Mindedness which we call Co­vetousness. It is certainly a very great folly to place our Happiness in any Created Good, even in the very Best of the Works of God; there is no­thing even in Heaven that's Created, which can be our Happiness; not the Discourses of Angels, not the Love of Seraphins, not the Musick of Alle­luiahs. And therefore the Psalmist ex­cludes all the Creatures even in Hea­ven as well as in Earth from being the Objects of his Happiness; Whont Pfal. 73. have I in Heaven but thee? says he; 'twould be a great folly therefore to make any Created Good our Happi­ness, even in the very Region of Blessedness. But then to place it in any good that this World, this Sedi­ment and Sink of the Creation can [Page 259] afford, is such a degree of Sottishness and Stupidity, as did not Experience convince us that there are such Fools, one would hardly think incident to a Rational Creature; for it plainly argues that we are grosly ignorant of one of these Two things, either of our selves, or of the things of the World; we are either ignorant of the Dignity and Excellency of our Natures, of the Designs and Ends of our Creation, and of the Strengths and Capacities of our Appetites which are to be satisfied with nothing less than Infinite; or if we do know and consider all this of our selves, then we are so much the more ignorant of the World about us, to think that there is any thing to be had in this Circle of Vanity to satisfy the impor­tunity of such Hungry and Capacious Appetites.

So far indeed is any thing in this World from being able to afford us Happiness and Satisfaction, that 'tis well if it can give us Entertainment, and sweeten the otherwise insipid, and to some very bitter Draught of Life: The wisest Enquirer into the [Page 260] Capacities of Nature will hardly al­low it so much as that; but says of all here, that 'tis not only Vanity, but al­so Vexation of Spirit; and if we do by an extraordinary Fortune meet with any thing in this World that can a little cool and allay the heat of our great Thirst, and refresh the drought of our Spirit, yet we are assured by our Saviour who well understood the World, though he enjoy'd but little of it, that whosoever drinks of this Jeh. 4. 13. Water shall thirst again; and we all find by repeated Experiences, that 'tis so, and our Reason tells us it must be so, considering the vast, the infinite dis­proportion between the best things of this World, yea of the whole Crea­tion, and the largeness, the immensi­ty of our Appetites and Capacities, which are a plain Demonstration that we were neither made for them, nor they for us, and that here is neither our Good nor our Evil.

And what a Folly then is it to place our Happiness, and take up our Rest in such things as these against the Confession and experimental Verdict of the Wisest of Men, against the ex­press [Page 261] Declaration and Asseveration of God who made both the World and us, and knows the exact Proportion that all his Works have to each other; and that a Barn full of Corn can ne­ver satisfy the Hunger of a Soul, a­gainst the united experience of all Men ever since Adam; nay, and a­gainst our own Experience too, which will witness to us, if we but ask her, that we never enjoyed but were disap­pointed, and found our Souls emp­ty when our Arms were full; nay, and against the Answer of our Reason too, which satisfies us of the Necessity of what our Experience con­fesses to be true, and that as it has ever been so, so it ever will and must be so: I say, what a desperate, incor­rigible Fool must he be, who after all this, will yet dream of a Heaven up­on Earth, and place his Happiness in the good of this World! The short is, there is no Folly or Disappointment like that of being mistaken in ones End, and of all Ends none is so foolish­ly mistaken as our Last End, and this can never be more foolishly mistaken than when 'tis placed in the things of this World. This therefore is a very [Page 262] great instance of Folly and Stupidity, and to him that is guilty of it, what­ever he be for Wit and Parts in o­ther Matters of lesser consequence, God justly may and will say, Thou Fool.

And now if there be so much of Folly in Centring in this World, which consists of great variety of Good, and wherein there is a great Latitude of Enjoyment, what a Folly must it then be to straiten our Happiness within the narrow compass of One or Two of its meanest Objects, and to set up our Rest in a full Purse, or a full Barn, or in a few Acres of Ground! And this the Covetous Man does; though he be called a Worldly Man, yet 'tis not the World at large, but a little of it, and the worst of it that is the Mistress of his Heart: He is such a Fool to think that his very Life consists in the Abundance of things which he possesses, and so he makes Gold his Hope, and says to the Fine Gold, Thou art my Confidence. He places his End in these things, and so is guilty of all the common Folly and Absurdity of those who place their Happiness in any of the good [Page 263] things of this World; only there is this one peculiar aggravation on his Side, that whereas the Ambitious Man though he makes Honour and Pre­ferment his Happiness, yet he enjoys it when he has it; and so does the Voluptuary by his Pleasures; and by this means though they lose their true End, yet they have something in Ex­change. In the mean time, the Co­vetous Wretch, though he makes Wealth his End, yet he when he has it, enjoys it no more than he did when it lay hid in the Bowels of the Earth, and so goes to the Devil for nothing. For nothing did I say? 'tis worse than so, for though he has no­thing of the enjoyment, yet he won't bate himself an Ace of the Trouble, but endures all the Pain and Anxiety that Careful Days and Sleepless Nights can give, and so has his Hell here, and hereafter too.

The truth is, there is more Depth and Mystery in the Folly of Covetous­ness, than in any the most profound Wisdom in the World; other Follies of Human Life, though they are not to be Cured any more than this, yet [Page 264] they may be accounted for; and though they do overpower and inslave the Mind, yet they do not baffle it. But this is a Disease that has such variety of uncertain Symptoms, that 'tis hard to know what cause to ascribe it to; the Theory of it is as difficult as the Cure, and we can only say, that the Soul is not well under it, that 'tis a Disease. 'Tis Folly enough one would think, for one Man to place his Hap­piness in such a Trifle as a piece of glittering Dirt, and to have ones Soul dwell among Sacks of Corn, and Bags of Mony, and to be always craving, heaping, counting and ad­miring; this I say one would think were Nonsense enough, considering the vileness of the Treasure it self, the Providence of God, the shortness and uncertainty of Life, the transito­riness of this World, the fashion of which is always passing away; and considering withal the very little that Nature requires for her satisfaction. But yet it were something tolerable if the Wretch would but be persua­ded to make use of what he has, and to enjoy like a Man, what he desires and admires like a Fool. But to see [Page 265] an old shaking Miser among his Bags, like a Scare-Crow in a Field of Corn, to keep others away from what he has no power to make use of him­self, to see him hovering and brood­ing over his Heaps, and bringing forth nothing; to see him dayly pay Reli­gious Visits to his Mammon, and to have his Belly empty when his Cof­fers are full, sure the Philosopher that laught to see an Ass eat Thistles, might well split his Sides at such a Spectacle as this.

Thou Fool! If thou dost not want so much Wealth, why dost thou de­sire it, and take so much Pains to get it? And if thou dost, why dost thou not use and enjoy it? But this is the monstrous Folly of the Cove­tous Wretch, he first desires absurdly, and then is more absurd in not en­joying what he desires; he is every whit as Poor when he has, as when he has not; he is good to no body, but worst of all to himself: In one word, he is a continual Torment to his own Mind, and a Laughing-stock to the World, whom he diverts with [Page 266] his Folly, the only thing wherein he is a Benefactor.

It were an infinite undertaking to expose to view the whole Absardity of Covetousness, which is a World of Folly, as the Tongue is of Iniquity; only there is one notorious instance of it, which in justice to my Subject, I cannot well pass over: And that is, that it is a Vice of this peculiar Qua­lity from all others, to be then most strong and prevailing, when there is least cause for it, and least Tempta­tion to it; for then generally are Men most Covetous.

• 1. When they have most Wealth.
• 2. When they have least Time.

1. When they have most Wealth; this one would think should be the proper Cure of Covetousness, as a full Draught of Water is of Thirst; for this is what the Covetous Man desires, this is the Mistress of his Affections, and the de­light of his Eyes, that which he has so long and so passionately wish'd for, and promised himself so much Hap­piness [Page 267] in; and therefore when he is possess'd of this, one would expect that he should be satisfied, and at rest, as other Lovers are when they are come to the enjoyment of their De­sires. But the case is so far other­wise, that he is more deeply plung'd in Covetousness now than ever, and is the more Empty for being Full; and there is nothing more common than to see Men who were of a frank and liberal Disposition when they had lit­tle or nothing to support them, to commence Covetous in an instant up­on the Bequest of a rich Legacy, or the suddain fall of an Estate. Strange, that Men should contract their Spirits upon the inlargement of their Fortunes! Many indeed are the Temptations and Snares of Wealth; but of all Vices one would think it should not dispose Men to Covetousness, but rather be an Antidote against it: And yet so it is, Men are generally most inslaved to this Vice, when they have really least Temptation to it, and might most ea­sily be above it, that is, when they have most Wealth. Which indeed is a more strange and unaccountable Ap­pearance to consider, than either the [Page 268] Attraction of the Loadstone, or the Ebbing and Flowing of the Sea; and yet 'tis as strange to consider, that Men are also most Covetous,

2. When they have least Time: In­deed when Men are in the Morning of Life, and have a long Prospect of ma­ny Years before them, they have then some Temptation to be Covetous, and something to plead for their being so; for they may then live long enough to enjoy what by their Frugality they can get, and considering the many Con­tingencies of Human Life, to want what at present they enjoy. But when the Day of Life is far spent, and the Night is at hand, when a Man has but a short Prospect before him, and his Sun is just ready to touch upon its great Horizon, then one would think he should have but little heart to be Covetous; and yet then is the time when Men are most of all so; for Covetousness is the proper Vice, or rather Disease of Old Age, and is al­most as constant an Attendant of it, as Grey Hairs, or a Trembling Hand. When all other Vices leave the Man, as no longer fit for their Service; when [Page 269] even Lust it self, the last of the black Train has bid him adieu, then Cove­tousness seizes him, as if it designed to have him wholly to itself, with­out Partner or Competitor, to do­mineer over him with an absolute Ty­ranny. Strange, that a Man should be most solicitous for Provision by the way, when he is almost at his Jour­neys end, within view of Home! Thou Fool! If thou must be Covetous, take a proper Condition, and a right Time for it, and be so either when thou art Poor, or when thou art Young; when thou hast a Temptation to it, and a Pretence for it. But it seems Absurdity, and Nonsense is so far of the very Essence of this My­sterious Vice, that then Men are most addicted to it, when in all Rea­son and Expectation they should be Proof against it; nay, one would think even naturally uncapable of it, when they are Rich, and when they are Old.

And now I think there is sufficient ground for the Charge wherewith God taxes the Rich Man; he might well be called Fool, as a Sinner, as [Page 270] an Earthly-minded Person, and parti­cularly as being Covetous. But let us now consider the particular Circum­stances of his Covetousness, and we shall find that his Folly was of a na­ture very Extraordinary; the Text says, that the Ground of a certain Rich Man brought forth plentifully; now 'twould be expected, that upon this, his very next Thought should be to return God Thanks for the Fruitful­ness of his Ground, if it were for no other Reason, but that he might have the like Success again the next Season: No, but instead of that, he immediately thought within himself what he should do, because he had no room where to bestow his Fruits; there was the first Instance of his Fol­ly. Well, but in case this unseasona­ble and too early thoughtfulness of his had but put him upon doing some good thing with his Abundance, 'twould have been pretty tolerable yet, and there would have been some amends for the ill-timing it, before he had re­turned his Thanks to God: No, but he thought thus within himself, I will pull down my Barns, and build greater, and there will I bestow all my Fruits [Page 271] and my Goods: All my Fruits and my Goods; he designs you see to in­gross all to himself, and to remember neither God nor the Poor, to let no part of it go to any Pious or Chari­table use; and there's another instance of his Folly. But after all, perhaps he does not mean to place his End and chief Happiness in his full Granary, but only to use it as a lesser good, and as relating to the Conveniences of the Body, and the gratification of the A­nimal Life: No, but his Folly pro­ceeds further than so, I will say to my Soul, says he, Soul thou hast much Goods laid up for many Years, take thine Ease, Eat, Drink, and be Merry: A very noble Soliloquy indeed! That e­ver a Man should be so much a Brute and a Sot, as to make a full Barn the good of his Soul! of his Soul who must seek her Happiness from the same Hand whence she had her Being, and can be satisfied only by him who is Absolute Perfection. This certainly was a strange extravagance of Folly, and yet even this has a further Aggra­vation yet; for had this Provision of his been indeed for many Years, (as he fancied,) there would have been [Page 272] more Cause and Pretence for the great Complacency and Satisfaction he took in it. But little did the poor Fool think upon what Contingencies this Project of his depended, and how precarious and uncertain the Lease of his Life was, much less that that very Night his Soul should be required of him; and yet this was a very ob­vious Consideration, though in the heat and hurry of his Contrivances he was not at leisure to take it in his way. And this is the lamentable Fate of all Covetous Men, they are so busie in making hast to be Rich, that they overlook the Grave, notwithstanding that they are continually poring upon the Earth. But not to consider a thing so obvious, is a great piece of dotish­ness and stupidity; and yet to consi­der it, and go on in heaping up Riches without Reason and without End, is much worse.

And thus have we seen the whole procedure of the Rich Man, (if he may now be allowed that Name,) and the incomparable Folly of it, and in him the Folly of all Covetous Persons, who yet in one respect, do generally [Page 273] exceed their Original in the Parable, for he, though he had resign'd up his Heart and Soul to his Wealth, yet he was so wise as to know when he had enough, and when 'twas time to give over, retreat, and take his Ease. But our Misers never know when they have sufficient, but drudge on to the very last Minute, and Dye in their Slavery; and are therefore the greater Fools.

What therefore remains, but that we take other Measures of Wisdom, and other Objects of Content; that we place not our Happiness in the things of this World, nor labour for that which is not Bread; that we lay not up Treasures for our selves upon Earth, but rather endeavour to be Rich towards God; that we do not plunge our selves so deep into the World, and the Plea­sures of this Life, this short Life, as to forget the days of Darkness which shall be many? Above all, let us take care that we do not take any thing of the World to be the good of our Souls, much less so far as for the sake of any Honour, Profit or Preferment to be false to the infinitely dearer [Page 274] Interest of our Religion, and the Cause of God and his Church; lest when we begin to Pride and Applaud our Selves in our Wisdom, and withal fan­cy that even Posterity shall praise our Saying, God in the mean time should say to any of us as he did to the Rich Man in our Parable, Thou Fool.

AND 'twere Happy we could all do so; we should then certainly be more Pure and Uncorrupt in our Thoughts and Intentions, more Spiritual and E­levated in our Affections, and more [Page 276] Orderly and Regular in our Actions whether in our Retirements, or upon the open Stage; we should demean our selves with more care and exact­ness both towards God, our Neigh­bour and our Selves; we should lead our Lives with more Innocence, and leave them with more Courage and Chearfulness than we generally do.

The Words, as indeed the whole Psalm, seem immediately to concern the Person and the Condition of Christ, and to be chiefly intended to express that steddy, constant and actual Con­sideration which he had of the Power and Veracity of God, to whom he was not so intimately and mysteriously united, but that he endeavoured to be more intimate and familiar with him, and if possible, to place him in a nearer view, by the arts of Atten­tion and Recollection, by the most actual and awaken'd application of Mind. This, as we have great rea­son to think, was his constant Pra­ctice and Exercise all his Life long, but especially about that dark and Cloudy Period of it, when he was entring into the Troubles of his Pas­sion: [Page 277] Then he had occasion to make use of all the Aids and succours both of Reason and Grace; particularly to renew and reinforce his Conside­rations of the Power and Veracity of God, that he would not leave his Soul in Hell, (in the State of Separation from his Body,) nor suffer his Holy One to see Corruption. Then there­fore he set himself more industrious­ly to Contemplate the Perfections of God, especially those of his Power and Veracity, and from hence he drew Arguments of Consolation for his Sup­port, under all the Terrors and Af­flictions of his great Agony, I have set God always before me; because he is at my Right Hand, I shall not be moved.

But I shall discourse upon the Words with greater Latitude, and in treating of them, shall concern my self about these Two things.

First, To shew what it is to set God always before one; or how ma­ny ways we may be said to set God before us.

Secondly, To represent the many and great Advantages arising from [Page 278] each; and what an Excellent Art, and Spiritual Expedient it is for Ho­ly Living, thus to set God always be­fore us.

Now as to the First, to set God al­ways before us, is in the general to have him ever present in our Thoughts and Meditations, under some Capa­city or Consideration or other; pre­sent to our Thoughts not by way of Object only, (for that he necessarily is, and we cannot possibly exclude him thence,) but also by way of Object, when we attend to him, and reflect upon him under some Qualification or o­ther, either absolute, or in relation to us: And in this there is great va­riety, even as much as there is in the several Attributes and Perfections of God; but I shall consider only those that influence our Practice, and serve to the Direction of our Man­ners. Now in relation to this, there are Three very excellent ways of setting God before us, as the Supream Good, as a Pattern, and as an Ob­server.

[Page 279] First, We may set God before us as the Supream Good; this we do when we Contemplate the natural and ab­solute Perfection of his Essence, that universal Plenitude of his, whereby he contains all that is Good, Lovely and Excellent, all things that are re­quisite to the compleating of a most perfect and Sovereign Being, that may be infinitely and unchangably Happy' in himself, and whereby he may be­come apt to be the greatest Good to his Creatures, the true End of Man, the Object of his Happiness, and the last Centre of all his Desires: This is to set God before us as the Supream Good.

Secondly, We may set God before us as a Pattern; this we do when we Contemplate the Moral Nature of God, those imitable Perfections of his, which answer to those Vertues and good Dis­positions of Mind which he requires from us, and which he contributes al­so to work in us by the Graces of his Spirit: Such are that universal Sanctity and Holiness of his Nature and Will, whereby all his Actions be­come [Page 280] Pure and Right, whereby the Psal. 145. 17. Lord is Righteous in all his Ways, and Holy in all his Works. His Goodness, wherein are comprehended all the Heights and Depths, and the whole Length and Breadth of the Love, the Kindess, the Mercy, the Grace, the Benignity and Bounty of God, that infinite diffusiveness of his Nature, whereby he is as it were carried out of, and beyond himself, to Commu­nicate the good that is in him to his Creatures, according to their several Proportions and Capacities. His Ju­stice, whereby he deals uprightly and equally with all his Creatures, and renders to every one his own, ac­cording to their Works, Good or Bad, without any Partiality or respect of Persons. His Truth, where­by all his Revelations are exactly cor­respondent and conformable, First to his own Mind, and then to the Nature of the things themselves, so that he can neither be deceived, nor deceive. His Faithfulness, whereby he most assured­ly performs whatever he has Pro­mised or Threatned; but more es­pecially is his Faithfulness remarked in Scripture, for the Performance of [Page 281] his Promises, there being a Right ac­quired from these by the Persons to whom they are made, which is not in Threatnings; and accordingly 'twould be a greater breach of Fidelity, to deny the one, than not to execute the other. And therefore the Scripture commending the Faithfulness of God, restrains it chiefly to his Promises; according to that of the Author to the Hebrews, He is Faithful that has Heb. 10. 23. Promised. Lastly, when we Contem­plate his Sincerity, which consists in his candid, open and ingenuous deal­ing with the Sons of Men, in that he never thinks nor designs any thing contrary to what he Reveals, either by Word or Deed, in opposition to all Tricks, Juglings, Double-dealings, Hypocrisie, and the like.

These are those Vertues and Per­fections which constitute the Moral Na­ture of God, and when we propose these duly and sincerely to our Me­ditation, as they are Excellencies in the Divine Nature, we may be then said to set God before us as a Pat­tern; I say as they are Excellencies in the Divine Nature, otherwise the for­mality [Page 282] of the thing will be changed: For if, for instance, I consider the Ju­stice of God, not as 'tis a Moral Ex­cellence in him, but only as an In­strument of Evil to my self, I do not then set God before me as a Pattern, but as an Avenger.

The Third and Last way of setting God before us, is as an Observer; when we consider him as a Being Essential­ly present in all Places, and with all Creatures, who all live, move and have their Being in him, and beyond all Places and Creatures too, in those infinite Spaces where he can erect new Worlds, but where as yet there is nothing besides himself. I shall not here enter into a nice Disquisition concerning the Omnipresence of God, being willing rather to Suppose than Dispute it. But however, lest this way of setting God before us, should be thought Imaginary and Precarious, give me leave by the way only to remark, that 'tis every whit as rea­sonable to think the Essence of God to be every where, as to be always, and that Immensity is as rational as Eter­nity: That Great and Stupendous Be­ing, [Page 283] who is allowed to reach through all Times, may as well be allow'd to reach through all Places; nay much rather, since it seems to be a less Per­fection to be every where, than to be always. For to be always in Dura­tion, is such an intrinsical Denomina­tion, as springs from the greatest of all God's natural Perfections; for it arises from the necessity of his Exi­stence, whereby he cannot but be, which is the highest degree of Being, as being directly opposite to not Be­ing, and consequently of Perfection. But now to be every where, seems rather an extrinsical Denomination relating to somewhat without, and such as is not directly contrary to not Be­ing, but only to limited Being. And if we ascribe the Greater to God, why should there be any Controversy about the Less? Taking therefore the Supposition for granted, we may well consider God as a Being every where Essentially present, and consequently as an All-seeing and All-knowing Be­ing, to whom all Hearts are open, and all Desires known, and from whom no Secrets are hid; and not only as an idle Observer, but as one that [Page 284] takes such strict Notice and Cog­nizance of what he sees and knows, as to treasure and seal it up against the Day of Retribution, and to Punish or Reward us accordingly.

These I take to be the several ways of setting God before us, so as to reap any Spiritual advantage from it: I come now in the Second place to represent the many and great ad­vantages arising from each, and what an excellent Art and Spiritual Expe­dient it is for Holy Living, thus to set God always before us; and truly the advantages are very great; for as the Habitual Knowledge of God, and the Belief of his Existence, are the first and general Foundations of all Religion, according to that of the Apostle, He that cometh to God, Heb. 116. must believe that he is, and that he is a Rewarder of them that diligently seek him: So the actual Consideration of him under these Capacities, is high­ly conducive to the Promotior and Accomplishment of all Holiness and Vertue.

[Page 285] For First, to begin with those ad­vantages that naturally spring from the Consideration of God as the Su­pream Good, what can be more ex­cellent than the Love of God? 'Tis the highest Elevation of a Creature, and withal the most pregnant and comprehensive of all the virtuous Dis­positions he is capable of: 'Tis like the Flower or Blossom of a Plant, which contains all in it, and there­fore our Saviour calls it the First and Mat. 22.38. the Great Commandment. But now what more effectual means can there be next to the Grace of him who is Essential Love, and who, as the A­postle tells us, sheds the Love of God Rom. 5. 5. abroad in our Hearts; I say, what more effectual means can there be to kindle, increase, and keep alive in us this Heavenly and Divine Fire, than to set God always before us as the Supream Good? Can a Man consider any thing barely as Good, and not love it, when Love it self is nothing else but an Inclination of the Soul to Good? He may indeed not proceed to chuse it, because it may come in­to competition with a greater, which [Page 286] when it does, not the good, but the absence of it is to be Chosen, as be­ing the lesser Evil; but yet notwith­standing, he must still love it with a natural Love, as long as he considers it as in any degree good. Much less then can a Man refuse to love God, when he considers him not only as Good, but as the Supream Good. For here, besides that natural inclination which necessarily follows upon the ap­pearance of Good as Good, there is this peculiar to be considered, that there is no room for Competition with a greater Good, and according­ly that natural Love and Inclination which is due to God as Good, must needs pass into act and effectual Choice, upon the consideration of his being the Supream Good. The least degree of Love or Inclination must needs be actual and effectual, when it has no­thing to outweigh it, as the least Weight weighs down the Scale where there is no contrary weight to coun­terballance and over-rule it. He there­fore that sets God always before him as the Supream Good, and never thinks of him but under that Notion, must necessarily and effectually love [Page 287] him, as he that looks upon Sin as the greatest of all Evils, must necessarily and effectually hate it: For the Beau­ties of God are infinitely Charming and Attractive in themselves, and there wants nothing but our serious and due Attention to make them become so to us; and the more we apply our Attention to them, the more we shall be in love with them. What is it that makes the Seraphin burn and flame above the rest of the Angeli­cal Orders, but because they see more of the First and Supream Beauty? Now as Love depends upon Vision in the other Life, so does it upon Con­templation in this, and consequently he that considers the infinite Perfecti­on of God most, must necessarily love him most. Contemplation is the most proper and genuine incentive of Love wherever the Object is truly deser­ving of it, as discovering to us the reasons why it ought to be loved: I say, where the Object is truly deser­ving of our Love; for otherwise it will serve only to discover its Vanity, and so lessen its amiableness; which is the reason that the best way to cure our Love to the World, is [Page 288] thoroughly to consider it. But in case the Object be a true and real Good, and such as will abide the Test of Meditation, and endure to be weigh­ed and handled on both sides, the proper way to beget and increase our Love toward such an Object as this, is studiously to Contemplate it; and then the Light that is in our Under­standings, will beget a warmth in our Wills and Affections. Experience as well as Reason may inform us, that the way to love any thing that is truly good, and will bear a near in­spection, is to look much upon it, and consider it thoroughly, since even the most indifferent Objects by long stay and dwelling upon them, do by de­grees so gain upon our Afflictions, that we come at last to have a kind of a fancy and a kindness for them; and many have gazed and stared up­on an ordinary Face so long, till they have entertained a more than ordinary Passion. And if the mean­est Beauty of the Creature by fre­quent and familiar interviews, becomes at length so Lovely and Charming, how much more shall the continual Meditation upon the Beauty of the [Page 289] Creator, kindle in us a Love towards him, and a Delight in him! The lon­ger certainly we sit thus under his Shadow, the more we shall delight to do so, and his Fruit will be the Cant. 2. 3. more sweet to our Taste. And if the general Consideration of God has such influence upon our Love of him, how much stronger will that influence be, when we set him before us under the Notion and Capacity of the Su­pream Good! And therefore when the Psalmist in a deep Contempla­tion of the Beauties of Christ, had proceeded so sar as to conclude him fairer than the Children of Men; as if wounded to the Heart with the Rays of his Divine Beauty, he pre­sently adds, Thy Arrows are very Psai. 45. Sharp.

They are indeed Lord Jesus, they are very Sharp and Keen, like the Sword that proceeds out of thy Mouth; and how is it that we can resist the Power of thy Sovereign Beauty! Thou woundest the Seraphin and Cherubin, and all the Orders of Angels with the Arrows of thy Love, and they burn at the Rays of thy [Page 290] Divine Light and Glory: Whom have they in Heaven but thee, and what is there on Earth that they desire in comparison of thee? But we who are every day vanquished and led in tri­umph by Meaner Beauties, stand yet proof against thy Diviner Charms, and feel none of the impressions of thy Love. But 'tis our Blindness that is our Defence, and our unattention is the Shield that repels thy Darts: We do not Contemplate thee as thy Angels do, nor as we our selves do the Beauties of this Sensible World. Oh do thou then open and six our Eyes upon thee, and they will soon receive in thy Divine Rays; engage but our Minds to Contemplate thee, and then we shall not chuse but love thee.

Nor is this the only advantage of setting God before us as the Supream Good; for as this is a consideration of excellent use to excite and quicken in us the Love of God, so does it also Secondly, contribute both to convince us of the Worlds Vanity, and to support us under that Con­viction. He that is not sensible of the [Page 291] vanity of Created Good, had need present God to his Thoughts as the Supream Good, that he may have a right sense and apprehension of it; and he that is, had need Meditate upon God under the same notion, that he may have wherewithal to support his Mind under such a Con­viction; and this way of setting God before us, is a very effectual means to do both. The vanity of the Crea­ture never appears with that advan­tage of clearness and conviction, as when we Contemplate the Fullness and Excellency of the Creator, which presently weakens and puts out all the Luster of the World, as the Sun does that of a Candle, meerly by out-shining it. And when a Man by the help of this Contemplation is ar­rived to this sense and conviction, the same will also serve to support him under it. 'Tis supposed here, that the Man will then stand in great need of some Support or other, and that very justly; for the Soul of Man being not her own End and Good, must needs rely on something with­out for her Happiness, and as long as she thinks that this may be found a­mong [Page 292] the Creatures, she is pretty well satisfied and at ease. But no sooner is she awakened out of this pleasing Dream, into a Conviction of the World's Vanity, but she has lost her hold, has nothing to enjoy, no­thing to rest upon; and what a bar­ren disconsolate condition must she be then in, unless she has some o­ther Refuge to retreat to for her Sup­port? And what other Support can there or need there be, but the Con­sideration of the Divine Fullness and Greatness, which will make abundant Supply for all the Deficiency that is in the Creature, were it infinitely more vain than it is, and so relieve that Conviction which it has occa­sioned.

But Thirdly, This is also a general Remedy against all other Trouble and Sadness, as well as against that which arises from the Conviction of the World's Vanity; the best Con­solation of an Afflicted Mind, is to think upon God, this will chear and refresh the Soul, when Rational Dis­courses and Wise Sentences are appli­ed in vain; for if your Sorrow pro­ceed [Page 293] from Fear, what more proper relief than to Meditate upon the Power of God, who is able to deli­ver us from the worst of Evils? If from Love or Desire, what better allay can be found than to Contem­plate the Perfection of God, who is able to satisfy our most Craving Appetites? If from Distrust or Des­pair, what can we do better than Me­ditate upon the Goodness and Faith­fulness of God, who loves whatever he has made, knows our frame, and considers that we are but Dust? If from the consideration of the ill state of Mankind, either as to Sin or Mi­sery, how can we satisfy our selves better than by Meditaring upon the excellent order and conduct of the Providence of God, who governs the World in a way becoming his infinite Perfections, and disposes all things sweetly. And so in like manner in all other instances, whatever be the occasion of our Trouble and Sadness, no Consolation like Meditating upon God, and setting him before us: It is so if we think upon him at large, but more especially if we contemplate him as the Supream Good. This is a more [Page 294] immediate and direct remedy against all Sorrow; for Good is directly con­trary to Evil, and the Sense of Good will counterpoise the Sense of Evil, if it be an equal good; and if it be a greater, it will overcome and swal­it up, nay and leave some dgrees of pure Happiness behind, so that the Man shall rather enjoy than suffer. But now 'tis impossible for a Man to re­present God to his Thoughts as the Supream Good, as his proper End and Happiness, without a strong sense of his Goodness and Perfection; he must in a great measure taste and seel that Good which he Contemplates and e­ven this Obscurer Vision of God is in some degree Beatisick. And what grief or sadness of Mind then is there which this strong sense and taste of God will not overcome, and which will not be quite dissolved, swallowed up and lost in the Contemplation of the Supream good? Upon which Con­siderations well might the Psalmist say, When I am in Heaviness, I will Psal. 77.3. think upon God. He might have thought upon his Royal Greatness, and the pomp and Magnificence of his Court, or upon his Riches, or upon his Friends, [Page 295] or upon his Victories and Triumphs; or if none of these would do, he might have taken his Harp into his Hand, and have driven away the E­vil Spirit of Melancholy by Musick from himself, as he did before from Saul: But he had a better expedient than all this, When I am in Heaviness I will think upon God.

Nor is this all; for should we not also upon the strength of this Consi­deration despise and disrelish all those vain Pleasures which betray us into Sin? Should we not be above the Temptations of either Honour, Plea­sure or Profit? Should we not be se­cure from that Foolish Exchange which those that pass for the Wisest among us frequently make, I mean that of gaining the World, and losing on's own Soul? Lastly, should we not endeavour by all Means possible to qualify our selves for the blessed En­joyment of this Supream Good, and in order to that, to cleanse our selves from all Filthiness both of Flesh and Spirit, and to Purify our selves as he is Pure? Yes, we should; the Love of God would easily constrain [Page 296] us to all this, and the serious appli­cation of our Minds to the Infinity of the Divine Perfection, would as easily constrain us to the Love of God.

And so much for the advantages of setting God always before us as the Supream Good; let us now consider in the Second Place how we may be advantaged by setting him before us as a Pattern. We all know and feel the great force and power of Exam­ple, and how naturally disposed Men are to Imitation, and that we are much the better or the worse for those with whom we Converse: And there is this great differencce be­tween Example and a Rule, that a Rule only directs, but Example does also incline; a Rule instructs the Judgment, but Example moves and reconciles the Affections; the former shews us the right Point to which we are to steer, but the latter supplies us also with Wind and Sail. And there is no reason to doubt, but that the Example of God would be as prevailing with us, as any other, and much more, (as being of infi­nitely [Page 297] greater Authority,) if we did but equally propose him to our imi­tation, and set him before us as a Pattern. Can then a Man consider the Universal Sanctity of the Divine Nature, and not find himself strong­ly inclined to work over anew the defaced Image of his Creator, and to be Holy as he is Holy? St. John assigns this for a Reason why we shall be like God hereafter, because we shall see him as he is; We shall be 1 Joh 3. 12 like him, says he, for we shall see him as he is. And if the clear and open Vision of God will so far affimilate us as to make us perfectly confor­mable to him, certainly the Con­templation of his Moral Perfections, though through a Glass darkly, must needs inspire us with Desires and En­deavours to be like him. Is it then possible for a Man seriously and con­stantly to contemplate the infinite Love, Bounty and Goodness of God, and either be ungrateful to him, or uncharitable to his Neighbour, to be selfish and strait-laced, niggardly and covetous, reserved and uncommuni­cative? Much less can he be envious and spiteful, cruel and unmerciful, [Page 298] and delight in Barbarity and doing Mischief; it would be a Miracle if he should. The Psalmist thought it so, and therefore says he, Why Boast­est Psal. 52.1. thou thy self thou Tyrant, that thou canst do Mischief, whereas the Good­ness of God endureth yet daily? He thought it strange that any Man should value himself for being able to do Mischief, when God thought it his Glory to do Good: He might have reproved his Folly and Wick­edness from the very nature of the thing, by laying open the great un­reasonableness of it, but he chose ra­ther to convince him of the strange­ness and absurdity of such a temper, from the Consideration of the Divine Goodness.

Which before I leave, I shall men­tion one more very excellent advan­tage which it has in the Practice of Religion, in that it is apt to remove from us all servile fear, and to inspi­rit us with a generous and ingenu­ous Principle of serving God. For all Slavish and Superstitious Fears of God proceed from a wrong notion [Page 299] of him; we Fear him, and are Jea­lous of him, because we misappre­hend him; and we misapprehend him, because we do not sufficiently con­template him. The way therefore to be afraid of him less, is to be more Conversant, and better acquainted with him. When the Disciples saw Jesus walking upon the Sea, and knew not who it was, they were scared with the Appearance; and therefore our Lord to take off their Fear, only made himself better known to them. It is I, says he, be not a­fraid. 'Twas enough to dismiss their Fears to let them know who he was. Nor need we at any time any other Remedy against servile Apprehen­sions, and disingenuous Fears of God, than barely to contemplate the Good­ness and Benignity of his Nature, ex­pressed in those two Emphatical De­scriptions given of him in Scrip­ture, God is Love, and God is Light.

And thus 'twere easie to give in­stances throughout all the other Mo­ral Perfections of God; but I shall insist only upon one more, as being [Page 300] more particularly fit and useful to be considered in the Age we now live in. Can then a Man duly contem­plate the Truth and Sincerity of God, how candid, open and ingenuous he is in his dealings with the Sons of Men, and how far removed from all Tricks, Juggles and Deceits, and that he can no more deceive, than he can be deceived? Can a Man I say con­sider this, consider it well, and be a Hypocrite? And that not only in an instance or two, but in a long series of Action; not only for a few Hours or Days, but for a course of several Years; not only in the common con­cerns of Life, but in the most saered of all things, and where we owe the tee greatest plainness and Sincerity both to God and Man, Religion. Is Charity itself able to believe that such a Mysterious Intricate Sinner as this, has made the Sincerity and Truth of God any part of his Meditations? No, I fear if the truth were known, such a one would be too much con­cerned in that Charge, wherewith the Psalmist taxes the Proud Man, Psal. 10. that God is not in all his Thoughts, that he does not think of him at all, [Page 301] or else that he has a wrong notion of him, and takes him to be altoge­ther such a one as himself: But let such a one know, that God will re­prove him, and set before him the things which he has done; for God does not only give us a Pattern of Truth and Sincerity, but does also strictly observe whether we follow it or no: Which leads me to consider in the last place the advantage of set­ting God always before us as an Ob­server.

'Tis most certain, whether we will consider it or no, that God is every where Essentially and Substantially Present, and that as there is no Place that includes him, so there is none that excludes him; a notion of God so very natural, that even the Jews as gross and unmetaphysical as they were, could not but imbrace it. Which was the occasion of that Custom of theirs in their Sacrifices, (taken no­tice of by Dr. Outram out of Maimo­nides,) De Sacri­siciis. Lib. 1. Pag. 162. of waving the Victim towards the Six Parts of the World, upwards and downwards, East, West, North and South, whereby to express the [Page 302] Consecration of the Sacrifice to God as every where Present, and possessing all Places.

'Tis also most certain, whether we will consider it or no, that God sees and knows all things, and that (as the Author to the Hebrews expresses Heb. 4. 13. it,) there is no Creature that is not manifest in his Sight, and that all things are naked and open to the Eyes of him with whom we have to do. This we have most maguificent­ly described by the Psalmist in the 139 Psalm, O Lord thou hast searched me out, and known me; thou knowest my down-sitting and mine up-rising, thou understandest my Thoughts long before. Thou art about my Path, and about my Bed, and spiest out all my ways: For lo there is not a word in my Tongue, but thou O Lord knowest it altogether. And again, whither shall I go then from thy Spirit, or whither shall I go then from thy Presence? If I climb up into Heaven, thou art there, if I go down to Hell thou art there also. If I take the Wings of the Morning, and re­main in the uttermost parts of the Sea, even there also shall thy Hand lead me, [Page 303] and thy right Hand shall hold me. If I say peradventure the Darkness shall cover me, then shall my Night be turned into Day. Yea, the Darkness is no Dark­ness with thee, but the Night is as clear as the Day, the Darkness and Light to thee are both alike.

Why now this we all know, and if formally put to the Question, shall be ready to confess it; for I am wil­ling to suppose, that there are scarce any that are either Ignorant or Im­pudent enough to say with the A­theistical Person in Job, How does God Job 22.13. know, can he judge through the dark Cloud? Thick Clouds are a Covering to him that he sees not, and he walketh in the Circuit of Heaven. No, we know the contrary well enough, that God is present every where, and sees and knows every thing, but the Misery of it is we don't consider it; and 'tis for want of actually thinking up­on what we habitually know that the World is ruined. 'Tis this that makes so great a difference between the Behaviour and Conversation of one Man and another. All believe Om­nipresence and Omniscience to be [Page 304] Perfections belonging to the infinite­ness of the Divine Essence; but one maintains actual thoughts and recol­lections of this, and another does not; one has it lying dormant in him, as a general Notion or Theory, which he can talk and Discourse of now and then when occasion is of­fered, and the other has it always actually present before him in its full Light and Conviction. Whence it comes to pass, that though both a­gree in the general belief of the Ar­ticle, yet because one attends to it, and the other does not; the way of their Conversation is altogether differ­ent, and one lives as an Angel, and the other as a Devil.

For indeed were this one Conside­ration sufficiently heeded and attend­ed to, it were enough of it self to regulate the conduct of Mens Actions, and to reduce the whole World in­to a true order and exactness of Li­ving. There are indeed many excel­lent Methods of obtaining Vertuous and Religious Dispositions of Mind, and of improvement in them, but none that I can think of so advan­tagious [Page 305] as this: That which comes nearest to it, is the Mediation of Death; but indeed this comes too near to be reckoned as another, in being rather a further instance and improvement of the same. For the Meditation of Death is only so far influential upon our Lives, as 'tis a nearer and stricter way of consider­ing the Divine Presence, before which we shall be more immediately pre­sented by Death. So that the Medi­tation of Death, (as far as it has any influence upon good Living,) is com­prehended under the Consideration of the Divine Presence, as a Parti­cular under a General; as indeed whatever is good in any other me­thod of Holy Living, is after a man­ner Comprehended in this, which of all others is the most Comprehensive and Compendious. Which was the ground of that Admonition of God to Abraham, I am the Almighty Gen. 17. God, walk before me, and be thou Per­fect: Where he supposes such a Con­nexion between the constant Atten­tion to the Divine Presence and Per­fection, that to attain the latter, a Man need only practise the former. [Page 306] God in giving Abraham this Direction for a Holy and a Perfect Life, gave him all; for this single Exercice of Meditating upon the Presence of God, will either incline a Man both to the Desire and to the Practice of all o­ther Spiritual methods and helps of Holy Living; or else it will supply the room of them. So that if a Man who desires to advance in Spi­ritual Life, should happen to forget any of the other methods of the Spirit, let him only remember this one, and duly use and exercise it, and he shall either by this bring the rest to his Mind, or find no necessi­ty of so doing. This therefore may well be reckoned as the Head and Chief of all Spiritual Exercises; for indeed this one Exercise draws such a train of advantages after it, as by the assistance of Divine Grace will be sufficient to perfect the Man of God, and compleat the Christian.

But to be a little more distinct, the advantagiousness of this Practice may appear in a double respect.

[Page 307] First, As it is a general Counter­charm against all Sin.

Secondly, As it is a general Incite­ment to all that is good.

First, It is a general Counter-charm against all Sin; for as Sin in its for­mality is an Aversion from God, so the cause of all Sin does at last resolve into Forgetfulness of him, and a Non-Consideration of his Pre­sence and Inspection: There is an Aversion from him in our Under­standings before there is any in our Wills, and the latter is the effect of the former. The Scripture repre­sents Cain as going out from the Pre­sence Gen. 4.16. of God, after he had sinned; but 'tis as true also that he went out before; for had he not first cast off the thoughts of Gods Presence, 'tis impossible that he should have sinned. And the same may truly be said of all other Sinners, they first depart from God in their Thoughts, [Page 308] and then in their Actions; first for­get his Presence, and then their own Duty: For can we conceive any Man so stupid and hardy as to com­mit Sin, when at the same time he actually reflects upon a Being of In­finite Holiness, Power and Justice, looking upon him, and upon what he does? Could we suppose God to appear visibly to us when we were in Private, this we must needs grant would strike us with Serious and Reverent Apprehensions, and that we should stand in awe, and not Sin, though in the very heat and full Carier of a Temptation. And why should not God's seeing us, have the same influence upon us, as Our seeing God? Without question it would, and a great deal more, if we had but the same lively sense of it, and were equally awake and at­tentive to it; for we see that infi­nitely less than this will restrain us from Sin; the Eye of the World, nay of one single Person, though an Inferior, though a Slave, though a Fool, though a Child: Nay, even the very Eye of the Sun, which ve­ry [Page 309] often puts the Sinner out of Countenance, and makes him defer his Folly till the Shades of Night. And shall not the Presence of the Great God be as prevalent with us as any of these, especially considering that no Creature can be so inward­ly present with us as the Creator is, and that no Observation is of such importance and consequence as his? Shall not then his Presence and In­spection be as strong a Preservative against Sin, as the Presence of a Man? Without doubt it would, and infinitely more, did we but equal­ly consider it; it would then se­cure us not only from Sin, but e­ven from Temptation too, and keep us out out of Danger, as well as in Innocence. For how can he be temp­ted to Sin, who dwells always in the Presence of his Creator and Judge? Why are the Angels and the Souls of Just Men made Perfect, secure from the danger of Sinning, but only because they are always in the open Presence of God, and dwell in the Light of his Counte­nance? This is their great Preserva­tive [Page 310] above, and the same if well at­tended to, would be a Preserva­tive to us below. The Perseverance of the Angels in Heaven is owing to their always beholding the Pre­sence of God there; and if we could do the same here in proportion, that is, if our Contemplation were but as actual, steddy, and uninter­rupted as their Vision, we should be as Confirmed and Established as they. In short, notwithstanding the great Corruption of our Nature, and our Proneness to Evil, we need no other Guard, either against Sin, or against Temptation, than these Three Words well considered, God is Pre­sent.

But there is One particular Sin to which this Consideration is utter­ly irreconcilable, and against which it is a peculiar Antidote, and that is the Sin of Hypocrisie; this is a Sin which of all others proceeds most upon the Supposition of God's not being privy to our Thoughts and Intentions, and his not having a thorough Comprehensive Knowledge [Page 311] of all things: As the Fool says in his Heart there is no God, so the Hypocrite says in his Heart, that if there be, yet he is no Observer, as being neither Omnipresent, nor Omniscient: Which Attributes of God whoever seriously Contemplates, must needs have his Antidote against this Vice. For to what purpose should a Man play the Hypocrite before him, who can discern the Fraud and Rottenness of the Proud Pharisee under his broad Phylactery, and the ravenous Covetousness of the Precise Sectary under his long Prayer? No, as the Hypocrite takes care to avoid open Immoralities, because they are visible to the Eye of the World; so, had he a due Sense of the Divine Presence and Observation, he would be every whit as careful to be with­out all inward Impurities, because they are Visible to the Eye of God. But

Secondly, This Practice is also a general Incitement to all that is good; As the Supposition of Gods Omni­presence and Omniscience is the Foun­dation [Page 312] of all Religion; (for to what purpose should we make Religious Addresses to a Being that is either afar off, or unconscious of our Be­haviour towards him,) so the con­stant and actual impression of it would greatly promote the Practice of all Religion, Walk before me, and be thou Perfect: How can he be Perfect that does not walk with and before God, and how can he be otherwise that does? The actual Thoughts of the Presence of God is the very Life and Spirit of all Re­ligion, without which we should be quickly weary of well-doing, and with which we shall be so far from flagging in our Duty, that we shall be always endeavouring to do better and better, that so we may the more approve our Selves and our Actions to our All-present and All-seeing Judge. This was the Principle into which David resolved all the Per­fection and Integrity of his Obedi­ence, that he acted as in the Sight and Presence of his Judge. I have kept thy Commandments and Testimo­nies, Psal. 119. for all my Ways are before thee. [Page 313] And no doubt if we acted by the same Principle, we should live with the same exactness; if we lived un­der a constant sense of the Presence of God as he did, we should also with him have respect to all his Commandments. When the Glori­ous Presence of God appeared to the Israelites upon Mount Sinai, we find that they were so sensibly af­fected with that terrible Sight, as to take up earnest Resolutions of O­bedience; for all the People answer­ed Moses, reporting the Words of God to them, with one Voice, and said, All the Words which the Lord hath said will we do. And as long as this Presence of God continued, we don't find but that they were very Orderly and Obedient, and contained themselves within those Boundaries which Moses by Divine Order had set about the Mount: And there is no question to be made, but that if they could still have maintained a fresh and lively Idea of this great Presence in their Minds, they would also have re­tained the same obedient Temper of [Page 314] Spirit, and would have contained themselves within all other Bounds of God's setting, as well as those of Mount Sinai; their Heart would have been whole with him, and they would have continued sted­fast in his Covenant. We may therefore, and without Censure con­clude, that those who take liberty to break through the Bounds which God has set, by transgressing those excellent Laws which he has given for the good Order and happy Be­ing of Mankind, are not duly sen­sible of the Divine Presence and Observation: They may know it in­deed Habitually as a meer Point of Speculation, but they do not actual­ly weigh and consider it, and have reason to say in the Words of the Patriarch when awakened from Sleep, Surely God was in this Place, and I Gen. 28. knew it not.

And now since the Spiritual Ad­vantages of setting God always be­fore us are so great and so many, I think I need use no other Per­swasive [Page 315] to recommend this excel­lent Expedient of Holy Living to our constant Practice: In all other things we love the most Compen­dious Methods, and to make use of such Means as lead most direct­ly and by the shortest Line to the End we aim at. And why should we not follow the same Method in the Practice of a Religious Life, the difficulty and consequence of which is enough to ingage us to seek out for the best and most for­warding Assistances? Now this cer­tainly of all others will deserve that Character, being the most ge­neral Instrument of Perfection, and consequently the most Compendious way to it. Let us then be per­swaded to make use of it, by set­ting God always before us, and having him always in our Thoughts, especially under this Threefold Con­sideration, as the Supream Good, as a Pattern, and as an Observer; so shall we have a perpetual incou­ragement to do well, and a sufficient Counterpoise against all Temptations. And God grant we may so set him [Page 316] always before us here, that we may not be afraid to appear before him hereafter.

Amen.

SO our Blessed Lord bids us to Pray, who came to be the Pro­moter of Holiness, as well as to be the Author of our Faith, and to Reform the World as well as to Redeem it. Now as 'tis the Perfection [Page 318] of the Natural World to be Conform­able to the Understanding of God, those Immutable Ideal Representations which are in the Divine Mind, so is it the Perfection of the Moral World to be Conformable to his Will; and in both these, the Second Person of the Sacred Trinity, the Eternal Word, seems equally and particularly con­cerned. As to the Natural World, St. John tells us, that all things were made by him, or according to him, [...], and without him was not any John 1. 3. thing made that was made. And St. Paul, that by him were all things Crea­ted 1 Col. 16. that are in Heaven, and that are in Earth; and that by him all things con­sist. —17. Again 'tis said, by whom also he Heb. 1. 2. made the Worlds. And again, Thou, —10. Lord in the beginning hast laid the Foun­dation of the Earth, and the Heavens are the Works of thy Hands.

Then as to the perfecting the frame of the Moral World, as twas his Meat and Drink to do the Will of his Fa­ther himself, so was it his principal bu­siness, and the Main of his Underta­king, to repair the Ruins of Morality, to inlarge the bounds of his Fathers [Page 319] Kingdom, to make others conforma­ble to the Divine Will, and Partakers of the Divine Nature; which in part has already taken effect, and of which (as we are told,) we are yet to ex­pect a further accomplishment under his glorious Millennial Reign, when Righteousness shall flourish and be ex­alted, and the Will of God be done on Earth to a very near degree as it is in Heaven.

To this end serves the great Myste­ry of Godliness, that Grace of God which has appeared to the World, teaching us, that denying Ungodliness and Worldly Lusts, we should live So­berly, 2 Tit. 11. Righteously and Godlily in this present World; the Covenant of Grace being so ordered and contrived, that our Duty is secured, as well as our In­sirmity and Necessity relieved, and our Repentance is only made effectual by the satisfaction of Christ, not unne­cessary. To this End he gave us a new System of Christian Morals, which though no addition to the Eternal Law of Nature and right Reason, was yet a great Improvement of that of Moses. And he took care also to [Page 320] second his excellent Precepts, by as excellent an Example, that they might appear to be Practicable as well as Reasonable.

And here because Example has the greater Influence of the Two, he not only gave us an absolute one of his own, and exhorted us to the imita­tion of it, when he said, Learn of me, but also remits us to the excellent Ex­ample of the Angels, those ready Per­formers of God's Will, and winged Ministers of his Pleasure, in that he bids us Pray, Thy Will be done in Earth, as it is in Heaven.

That God's Will is done in Heaven, is here supposed; we are therefore further concerned only to inquire

1. Of what Will of God our Lord is to be here understood?

2. By whom it is done in Heaven?

3. After what manner it is there done?

[Page 321] 4. How far we are concerned to imitate this great Pattern of Obe­dience?

5. How reasonable it is for us to do so?

And First by Will; here our Lord cannot be supposed to mean that which is a Faculty in the Divine Es­sence, or rather the very Essence it self; for how may we Pray that that should be done, which Eternally and Necessarily is? Neither by Will here are we to understand the Act of Wil­ling, for this can no more properly be said to be done than the other; but that Will for the doing of which we here Pray, is the Res Volita, or the Object of the Divine Will: But then this is Two-fold, either the Object of his Will Decreeing, or the Object of his Will Commanding; or to word it according to the ordinary distinction, the Will of his Decrees, or the Will of his Commands: And 'tis generally held that both these are to be here understood.

[Page 322] But I must confess it does not ap­pear to me how the Will of God's De­crees can be at all here concerned, any further than as our Submission to it is a part of the Will of his Commands; for not to insist upon the necessary and uncontroulable accomplishinent of God's Decrees, and that things neces­sary and certain are not so proper Objects of Prayer, I only observe that this Will of God is here desired to be done in Earth as it is in Heaven; which supposes it to be more perfectly per­formed in the one than in the other; the latter being proposed as a Pattern and Precedent to the former. But now, as God is in all Places equally Almighty, so are his Decrees in all Places alike performed in Earth as well as in Hea­ven, according to that of the Psalmist, Psal. 135. Whatsoever the Lord pleased, that did he in Heaven and in Earth, and in the Sea, and in all deep Places; this there­fore cannot be meant of the Will of God's Decrees, any further than as 'tis a part of the Will of his Commands that we should submit to them, and acquiesce in them. Neither indeed can this be directly and strictly in­tended, [Page 323] but only by way of Propor­tion, that as the whole Will of God, which is capable of being done in Hea­ven is there done; so all that is ca­pable of being done on Earth, should in like manner be there done. But I say it cannot be directly intended, there being no Afflictive Dispensations of Providence incident to those who do God's Will in Heaven, and conse­quently no room for the Exercise of Patience and Submission; as will fur­ther appear by considering the Se­cond Inquiry, namely, by whom it is that this Will of God is done in Hea­ven.

And this indeed is of no great Dif­ficulty to resolve, since the nature of the Will does of it self point out to the Doers of it; for it being the Will of God's Commands, it can no more be done by God, than 'tis possible for God to obey himself. Nor can it be done by the Celestial Bodies; for how­ever these in a large and improper sense are sometimes said to obey God, as when the Psalmist says, that the Heavens declare the Glory of God, and the Firmament sheweth his Handy­work; [Page 324] and that Wind and Storm ful­fil his Word, and the like: Yet being necessary Agents, they cannot yield any Moral and Acceptable Obedience; much less in such an eminent and exem­plary manner as to be a Pattern to us, which yet is here supposed. And yet they will be every whit as capable of this Obedience, as we are, if we be not free Agents; which by the way [leave to be considered by those who deny that Priviledge to Human Nature. It remains therefore, that the Holy An­gels are they that do this Will of God in Heaven; none else are capable of doing it, and of these the Psalmist says expressly, that they fulfil his Com­mandment, Psal. 103. and hearken to the Voice of his Word.

Proceed we therefore to the next Inquiry, namely, after what manner this Will of God is done by the Ho­ly Angels in Heaven; that they do it after a very perfect and excellent manner, far exceeding the highest Mea­sures of Mortality, is here implied, in that they are proposed and commend­ed to us as Patterns, and might be fur­ther concluded from the Perfection of [Page 325] their Natures and Faculties, which we cannot but suppose to be very extra­ordinary, since the excellency of our future Condition is summ'd up in this short Description, that we shall be like Luk. 20.36. unto the Angels.

But waving this Consideration taken from the Powers and Faculties of An­gels as somewhat too Nice and Meta­physical for a Practical Discourse, I shall chuse rather to represent the great Excellency wherewith they per­form the Will of God from Two Col­lateral Considerations.

First, The Impediments they are free from.

Secondly, The positive Advantages they enjoy.

And First, as to the Impediments they are free from: 'Tis the great dis­advantage of all Human Spirits in this, Station, as well as the complaint of some, that they are united with Bo­dies that are not proportioned to the Native Excellency and Activity of their Natures; for indeed the Soul has made [Page 326] an ill Match, Marryed very much be­neath her self, and has met with a Clog instead of a Companion:, one that is too weak to obey her Dictates and Motions, and too strong to be governed; that cannot follow and that will not be led; that sticks too close to her to be shaken off, and yet is too loose from her to be well ma­naged: Such an untractable ill suited Consort as this must needs be a con­stant incumbrance to the Soul, even in her Natural, but much more in her Moral and Spiritual Operations, be­cause here the Consort has contrary Inclinations; so that the Soul is put to incounter not only with her ordinary weight, but with an Opposite Law, e­ven that Law of the Members which Rom. 7.23. wars against the Law of the Mind, and brings us into Captivity to the Law of Sin.

Neither is this all, for we are not only cumbered with a weight of Flesh, and depressed by its low tendencies and propensions; but our Body which at best is but in an ill disposition for the Operations of the Rational and Divine Life, is often discomposed and [Page 327] made worse by Sickness, and then the Soul is forced to sympathize and con­dole; with her ill-suited Companion, and either not to act at all, or to per­form her Part upon an ill-tuned In­strument: And he that is blessed with the strongest and most tunable Consti­tution, and enjoys the most vigorous Health, has yet a great many necessities of Nature to serve, that will take up much of his Thoughts and much of his Time; so that he can't chuse but be troubled about many things, things below the concernment of a Rational Being, and that, though he has chosen the Better, Part, and is so well convin­ced of his true interest, as to acknow­ledge only one thing to be needful.

Add to all this, that we breath in an infected Air, live in an ill World where every Object almost is a Temp­tation, and have a Devil to tempt and seduce us; one who makes it his pro­per and profest business to cross the Ends of God, to disturb the Moral Harmony of the Universe, and to hin­der the symphony and agreement of the Two Worlds, that so God's Will may not be done in Earth, as it is in [Page 328] Heaven: And with these disadvantages no wonder that it is not.

But now the Holy Angels have none of these Impediments; they have ei­ther no Bodies, or such as no way incommode or retard, but rather help and further their Faculties; for they are in the full height and last per­fection of their Natures, and conse­quently must not be supposed to have the least degree of any of their Natu­ral Perfections detained or held back from exerting it self by any clog or im­pediment; there being no reason ima­ginable why they should be invested with any degree of Power which must never be brought into Act, as it never must be if not at present, they being now supposed to be in the last Per­fection of their Natures. They must be therefore conceived in this respect, to act like necessary Agents to the full and to the utmost of their natural Strength, and to have nothing in them that is not put forth as far as possibly can be. And besides, the Scripture al­ways speaks of them under the deno­mination of Spirits, without making [...] of any Bodies belonging to [Page 329] them; which must needs imply, that either they are all Pure Minds; (as the Platonists say of the highest Or­der,) or if they have Bodies, they are of so refined and clarified a Mould, so nigh to an Immaterial Substance, that Spirit might serve as a common word for both. They have therefore no weight or load upon their Faculties, nothing to dead or slacken the Spring of their Nature, no Concupiscence to darken their Understandings, or to per­vert their Wills, no Indisposition, Lan­guor or Weariness occasioned through crazy and sickly Vehicles, but are al­ways Fresh, Vigorous and Bright, like the life and quickness of the Morning, and rejoyce like the Sun to run their Course. They have no Necessities to relieve or provide for, no impertinent Avocations to call them off from their noble Exercises, no ill Company to de­bauch them, no Devil to tempt and insnare them, and therefore must needs act with a full display of their Facul­ties, and be carried out uncessantly and intirely toward the Supream Good, with their whole bent and energy, as a Stone would tend toward the Center through an unresisting Medium.

[Page 330] But this will further appear, by con­sidering Secondly the positive advan­tages which they enjoy: Their great advantageis, that they have a constant and clear Vision of the Essence of the great God. Now I consider that the Essence of God is the very Essence of Goodness, [...], as the Di­vine Philosopher fitly calls him; where­upon I conceive that an Angel seeing God after this Essential manner, must have the same Habitude and Disposi­tion to him, as one that does not thus see God has to the common nature of Good. But now 'tis impossible that a Man should either will or act any thing without attending to good in common, and without proposing that as his aim: And accordingly 'tis as impossible that the Blessed Angels should will or act any thing without attending to God, and making him their End, as long as they have this Essential Vision of him; and of this they are never deprived, for our Lord says of them, that they always behold the Face of his Father Mat. 18.10. which is in Heaven. This he speaks of the Missionary Angels that have the Charge and Office of Guardians here [Page 331] upon Earth, that even they notwith­standing their imployment here, have a constant view of the Divine Essence, and are never interrupted in their Bea­tisick Vision; much more then is this true of the Stationary Angels that wait upon the Throne of God, the Resi­dentiaries of Heaven. Whence it fur­ther follows, that 'tis impossible they should ever Sin, or do any thing con­trary to the Divine Nature or Will. For the Essence of God being supposed to be the same to them that good in ge­neral is to us, the Vision of it must needs wholly ingage and constantly re­tain all their Powers and Faculties; (for we can never will any thing out of the Sphere of Good in general,) communicate a kind of Deiform Habit to their Natures, and render them in all things exactly conformable to the Divine Will. And accordingly the A­postle derives our future likeness and conformity to God from our Vision of him; We shall be like him, says he, for Joh. 3.2. we shall see him as he is.

This shall be our Felicity hereafter; but it is the Priviledge of the Blessed Angels to enjoy it now, and therefore [Page 332] by the strength of the same Argument it must be supposed that they are as like God as the clearest Vision of him can make them; that is, as like him as finite can be like infinite, as a Crea­ture can be like its Creator. That they are exactly conformable to the Perfections of that Adorable Excel­lence which they behold, that they love what he loves, and hate what he hates, and that in all things they per­form his Will and Pleasure in a more excellent manner than such imperfect Thinkers as we are can either conceive or describe.

Thus in general; but now for a more particular account of the excellent manner of their doing the Will of God in Heaven, we are to consider

First, That they do it with full Rea­diness and Alacrity: 'Tis the necessary as well as unhappy Appendage of our Mortal frame, even in its best condi­tion, to act with a mix'd Consent and a divided Choice: Sin indeed we sometimes do with a full and thorough Consent, without any renitencies to the contrary side; but our resolutions to Good are mixt and imperfect; for [Page 333] the most part we do not go so far, but 'tis our highest atchievement to con­quer and prevail against the tenden­cies of the Animal part, not to be without them. And though after some uncertain Vibrations, the Scale does at length weigh down for Duty and Obedience, yet still there is some weight in the other Ballance, and the Motion though Victorious, yet is not intire and unresisted. But now the Holy Angels being free from the im­pediments of a contrary Principle, perform the Will of God with a full, intire and perfect Consent; they have no Demurs or Disputings, no Reluctan­cies or Aversions, but at the first inti­mation approve and execute the Will of God with all the readiness and ala­crity of an intire, pure and undivided Will. And accordingly in the Prophet Isaiah's Vision of God in his Glory, the Seraphim appeared with Six Wings, With twain he covered his Face, (the Isa. 6. 2. Text says,) with twain he covered his Feet, and with twain he did fly. But to the Prophet Ezekiel, the Vision was Ezek. 10. inlarged, for to him the Cherubims were represented with Wings and Wheels, both of them being very sig­nificant [Page 334] and lively Symbols of that eminent Alacrity and Agility where­with the Holy Angels perform the Will of God.

The Jews indeed have a Proverb, that the Angel of Justice flies but with one Wing; but hereby I conceive they intend only the slowness of God in issuing out Commissions of Vengeance, not that of the Angels in putting them in Execution: For they see the Reason of the Command as well as the Letter of it; or if not, yet the clear Vision they have of the Divine Essence and Perfections, will not suffer them to doubt of the Equity and Reasonable­ness of all his Injunctions, as being well assured that nothing but what is highly Reasonable can be the result of Infinite Wisdom and Goodness: So that they are as well satisfied with the Decrees of Vengeance, as with the milder Emanations of his Love, and perform them both with equal Chear­fulness. Thus we see the Angel who was Commissioned to keep laps'd Man out of Paradise with his Flaming Sword, betook himself as readily to the un­grateful Office, as he that was to carry [Page 335] the welcom Tidings of Man's Redemp­tion to the Shepherds, and to sing Glo­ry to God on high, on Earth Peace and Good Will towards Men. And I question not but that those Sons of God which shouted for joy at the lay­ing the Foundations of this great Fa­brick, will hereafter upon the Signal given, be full as ready to assist to its Destruction and Fiery Dissolution. But we are upon the same Grounds to con­sider

Secondly, That their Obedience is Vniform and Vniversal as well as rea­dy and Chearful, and that they have an equal respect to all the Commands of God. Upon the same Principle that they are Ready and Chearful, they are also Uniform and Universal in their Obedience; for the reason why they Obey chearfully, is either because they are Convinced of the particular Equi­ty and Reasonableness of the Law, or because they are convinced of the un­erring Wisdom of the Law-giver, whom they know they may safely re­ly upon by an implicit Confidence, though they should not be able to ac­count in particular for the Reason of [Page 336] what he Commands. And the same will be a sufficient satisfaction why they should obey him Universally, since e­very Precept either carries its own E­vidence and Reason with it, or what is a good, an Inducement to Obe­dience, the undeceivable Reason of him that gives it. This is the Principle of Believing all that God Reveals, My­steries as well as intelligible Articles, and the same is the Principle of Obey­ing all that God Commands. And wherever there is a clear Conviction of this, there Obedience must needs be as Universal as Faith, as having the same Grounds and Inducements: And there being no reason to question but that there is the highest Conviction of this in the Minds of Angels, we may proceed to consider

Thirdly, With what Constancy they perform the Divine Will: They obey with Constancy not only as 'tis oppo­sed to final Cessation, but as 'tis op­posed to the least Interruption. The highest Perseverance we can pretend to in this Region of Inconstancy, is not to fall off totally or finally; nor are we sure of so much as that. But to [Page 337] maintain a steddy Course of Obe­dience without the least interruption, is beyond the measures of Flesh and Blood. But now the Holy Angels are not only secure from either total or final Apostacy, but even from the least abatements or interruptions of Duty; for the Excellence which they Con­template is always the same, and so al­so is the manner of their Contempla­ting it. They Contemplate the Face of God as the Philosopher says of the Supream Intelligences, [...], always and alike, and consequently can­not but love and adore him with a constant and uninterrupted Flame of Devotion, the Glorious Essence of God being the same to them that the com­mon nature of Good is to us, as was observed before: To which there is this further Advantage to be added, that their Understandings are never under an Eclips, no not so much as in part; but as they always receive equal Illumination from God, so do they shine upon their Wills with an equal Light; and consequently they must needs stand always equally affected and disposed to what is good, as ap­pearing to them always in a Light [Page 338] equally advantagious. For the varie­ty and changableness of our Wills pro­ceeds from the variety of our Judg­ments; and were our Thoughts and Apprehensions of things always uni­form, our Actions would be so too; for we always act as for that instant we think. This therefore being the happy condition of Angels, to have the Eye of their Understanding al­ways equally awake, and in full Il­lumination, there must needs be also a constant regularity in their Wills. The short is, as long as they, Contem­plate the Divine Essence, they cannot divert aside to any thing irregular, be­cause of the Superlative Excellence of the Divine Good, which fills and whol­ly ingages their Faculties; and for the same reason they cannot chuse but for ever to Contemplate. And herein I suppose must be placed that happy Ne­cessity the Holy Angels are under, of doing the Will of God, and of per­severing in it to all Eternity; and that this is that which we mean, when we say they are Confirmed in good.

But leaving these Flaming Excel­lencies a while to their Happy and [Page 339] Noble Employments, before we go further, let us see how these Specula­tions may be improved to the benefit of our Practice: And First, since God has made his Angels such excellent and accomplished Creatures, let us make the same use of it that the Psalmist did when he took from hence an oc­casion of Praise and Thanksgiving, Praise the Lord, O my Soul, says he, and then mentioning some Characters of his Greatness, he adds, He maketh his Psal. 104.4. Angels Spirits, and his Ministers a flam­ing Fire. Indeed the Angels are the greatest Occasions as well as Instruments of Praise, as being the Noblest part of the Divine Workmanship; Look Eccl. 43.1 upon the Rain-bow, and praise him that made it, says the Son of Sirach: And if God is to be Praised for the Beauty of the Rain-bow, caused only by va­rious Reflections and Refractions of the Globules of the Second Element in their passage through a Cloud, how much more is he to be adored for these great Master-pieces of his Art, these Closet-Draughts of his Beauty!

Secondly, We may take a Caution hence to beware of that Voluntary [Page 340] Humility which the Apostle speaks of, and were he now alive, would have fresh Occasion given him to Condemn, in Worshipping Angels; take heed to thy self, left when thou liftest up thine Eyes to Heaven, and seeft the Sun, and the Moon, and the Stars, even all the Host of Heaven, thou should­est be driven to worship them, says Moses to the People of Israel: And Deut. 4. 19. there is the same and greater danger here, when we Contemplate the Glo­ry of this other Heavenly Host; for however through Envy or Emulation we usually lessen and disparage one anothers Excellencies, yet when we have to do with Creatures of ano­ther rank and order, we are apt to be guilty of the opposite extream, and to exchange Detraction for Idolatry.

Thirdly, We have here a most ex­cellent Antidote against Pride, which is a littleness of Mind that arises from our Ignorance of the World about us as well as of our Selves; and conse­quently is best Cured by considering what Excellencies there are above us. The young Home-bred Heir that thinks his Father's Mannour a conside­rable [Page 341] part of the World, is sent abroad to see more of it, and returns Home Cured by his Travels. And would the Man that swells and looks big upon his Parts or Learning but bestow a Thought or Two upon the Perfecti­ons of Angels, I dare warrant him his Plumes will quickly fall, and that he will never find in his Heart to set up for a Wit more: For alas, what are we to the Angels? Hereafter indeed 'tis to be hoped, that some of us may be made like them; but what are we in Comparison now? They excel us more than we do the Beasts of the Field, and we need nothing else but this one Consideration well thought upon to convince us, That Pride was not made for Man.

Fourthly, we may learn hence so to fear the Devil, as to look upon him as a considerable Adversary, and not to be too secure in our best Condition; for he is an Angel still, and we know not what he has lost by his Fall, besides that Grace and Goodness whereby he might be disposed to help and befriend us. And the Apostle tells us, that we still wrestle against Principalities and [Page 342] Powers: And therefore it concerns us to provide our selves accordingly, and as he there advises, to take unto us the whole Armour of God. Ephes. 6.

Lastly, we should endeavour to imi­tate all the Moral and Imitable Excel­lencies of the good Angels; our Sa­viour has made them our Pattern in his Prayer, and we should make them so in our Lives, by endeavouring to per­form God's Will in Earth as it is in Hea­ven: Which calls upon me to return to the Fourth Enquiry, namely, How far we are concerned to imitate this Pat­tern of Obedience.

That our Imitation of it is in some Measure or other required, is most cer­tain, otherwise our Lord would never have taught us to Pray that God's Will should be done on Earth as it is in Hea­ven; but how far is the Question? In answer to which, I observe that the Obe­dience of the Angels may be considered either Intensively, or Extensively; or in other Words, either with respect to the Act, or with respect to the Object; which last may again be meant either of the kinds of Good, or of the several degrees in each kind.

[Page 343] This being premised, I answer, First, That we are not obliged to the Intense­ness of Angelical Obedience; this I say we are not obliged to, because 'tis not among the [...], the things which are in our Power. This indeed will be part of our Reward hereafter, but it cannot be our Duty here; and there­fore though we are to obey God rea­dily and chearfully, yet 'tis not requi­red we should do it with such a degree of Alacrity as excludes all imperfect motions to the contrary. 'Tis not re­quired while we are a Compound of Flesh and Spirit, that the latter should be wholly free from the Solicitations of the former; 'tis sufficient if it have the Casting Voice, and prevail in the Contention; and so much indeed is Duty. And therefore says the Psaimist, He that now goes on his way weeping, and Psal. 126. beareth forth good Seed, shall doubtless come again with Joy, and bring his Sheaves with him: He must bear forth good Seed, and if he does so, it shall be no Prejudice to him that he goes on his way weeping.

[Page 344] Neither are we obliged to serve God always with equal heights of Devotion, and with an uniform fervency of Mind; for besides that, our Saviour himself who led the most Angelical Life, pray'd at some times more earnestly than at o­thers; this depends in a great measure upon the various junctures of Circum­stances, and the various impressions of Objects from without, and the diffe­rent fineness and quickness of the A­nimal Spirits within, with many other Accidental Dispositions which are not in our Power. We are only accounta­ble for the Motions of our Wills; and for ebbs and flows of Passion no fur­ther than they are at the disposal of the other; and therfore if we Sail by a true Compass, and steer our Course to the right Point, we do our Duty, and are not Chargeable for want of Gusty Blasts, and Swelling Sails, which are not in our Power to have.

Then Secondly, as to the Extensive­ness of Angelical Obedience, if this be considered in the First Sense, with respect to the kinds of Good, we are certainly obliged to have our Obedience [Page 345] as Extensive as theirs, being bound to obey the whole Will of God. For the sincerity of our Obedience can no o­therwise be justified than by its Univer­sality and Uniformity; Uniformity as to the Object, though not as to the Act; and therefore 'tis that the Psalmist Prays, O that my Ways were so direct Psal. 119. that I might keep thy Statutes; so shall I not be confounded when I have re­spect unto all thy Commandments.

But if the Extensiveness of Angeli­cal Obedience be considered in the latter Sense, with respect to the several Degrees in each kind of good, so we are not bound to come up to the Mea­sures and Attainments of Angels, and that because 'tis beyond the Capacity of our present Condition. Nay, I think we are not strictly obliged under Pain of Sin, to attain to all the degrees of good which we possibly can, or al­ways to do what is simply Best; for I think it plain from Scripture, that the Degrees of good admit of Counsel as well as Precept, and of Perfection as well as Duty: Much less therefore are we obliged to the full extensiveness of Angelical Obedience as thus considered: [Page 346] If we are not bound to our Best, much less to their Best.

But besides this way of considering the Extensiveness of the Angelical Obe­dience as to the kinds and degrees of Good, there is yet another, namely with respect to Time or Continuance; this is what we otherwise call their Perseve­rance or Constancy of Obedience: Now as to the Measures of our Obligation to this, we are to distinguish and consider the Gospel in a double Capacity, as a Law, and as a Covenant; if we consider it as a Covenant, then we are not obli­ged to a constant and all the way along continued Obedience. For 'tis not un­interrupted, but only final Perseverance that is the condition of the Covenant. But if we consider it as a Law, then we are not only obliged to a final, but to an uninterrupted Perseverance, that is, we are not only required to be found at our last Exit in a state of sincere O­bedience, (which is the Condition of the Covenant,) but also to continue all the way in it: For every deliberate and voluntary interruption of it is Sin, and such as while unrepented of, in­titles us to, and if never repented of, [Page 347] will actually bring upon us Damnation.

Having thus in short stated the gene­ral Measures of our Conformity to the Angelical Pattern, which are also the Measures of our Evangelical Obedi­ence, I come now lastly to consider how Reasonable it is that we should do thus; and certainly if any thing in the World be reasonable, 'tis that we should do the Will of God; for the Will of God is the highest Reason. Indeed were God an Arbitrary Humersom Being, that loved to domineer over his Creatures, and to impose on them harsh and trou­blesom Commands only for his own Pleasure, and to shew his Authority; though even then we should justly owe him Homage and Obedience, yet there might be some pretence for disputing it, and making demurs about it. But God is so good and kind as to enjoyn us no­thing but what is pursuant of the End for which he Created us; that is, our Happiness and Perfection: So kind as to link our Duty and Interest together, and to make those very things the in­stances of our Obedience, which are the natural Means, and necessary Causes of our Happiness: So that were we [Page 348] to contrive a way to make our Con­dition Happy, we could pitch upon no better than what he has already pre­scribed to us in the Laws which he has given us. So highly consonant and a­greeable are they to the frame of our Natures, and so absolutely necessary are they both to the order of this present World, and to the Happiness of the next. This might easily be demonstra­ted of every one of the Divine Com­mandments in particular, but that be­ing too long an Undertaking for the close of a Discourse, I only consider that we have a certain ground to con­clude what the Will of God must be in reference to us, by what he is in him­self; for this is an evident Principle, That such as God himself is, such must be his Will, it being unconceivable that he should will any thing contrary to his Nature. But now we all take God to be a Being Essentially and Im­mutably Wise and Good, Holy, Just and True; and if these are Properties inseparable from the Nature of God, (as all grant they are,) then the Will of God must also be Holy, Wise, Just, True and Good, and consequently high­ly fit and reasonable to be Obeyed.

[Page 349] But why O God do we want Reason to perswade us to do thy Will? Is it not enough that it is Thine? Thine who art the great Creator and Governor of the World, and hast the highest right to be served by all the Creatures, and by all the Powers which thou haft made? Thine, who art the best and greatest Being, who art infinitely Wise, Holy, Just and True, and canst therefore com­mand nothing but what is so? Thine, who art above all capacity of addition to thy Happiness, and canst therefore pro­pose no good but that of thy Crea­tures in the Laws that thou givest them? Why then do we inquire after the Rea­son of thy Will? It ought to satisfy us that it is Thine.

And since this Will of God is done in Heaven, why should it not be done on Earth? Since the Blessed Angels who can discern the Reasons of things, even the deep things of God, and are infi­nitely better able to judge of the Rea­sonableness of Obedience than we are; since they are so ready and forward to pay it, why should we make any Que­stion or any Delay about it? Since the [Page 350] great Heavenly Host, those Excellent Beings that excel both in Wisdom and Strength, acknowledge and submit to the Government of God, why should we a little handful of Rebels, stand out? Since the Will of God is done in Hea­ven, why is it not on Earth? Yes, it is done on Earth, for at his Command­ment the Waters flow, and the Wind and Storm fulfil his Word; only Man, disorderly Man, will not be Obedient, though he has a God for his Maker, and Angels for his President.

But let as many of us as hope to be like Angels hereafter, study to be like them here; let us seriously and diligently en­deavour to write after so fair a Copy, and set before us the Holy Angelsas Patterns as well as Observers in all our Actions, which would certainly work more upou us, than that Expedient so much advised by a great Man, the imaginary presence of a Ca­to or a Lelius. Let us make it our care as much as in us lies by the Angelical Piety and Regularity of our Lives to resto e the Mo­ral World to that Symphony and Uniform Harmony wherein God made it, and not only Pray, but also heartily Endeavour that the Will of the great God may be done here on Earth as it is in Heaven.