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 Shelf. Number 
 
 Divisio7i 
 
 30S 7 
 
SUMMARIES 
 
 SERMONS AND DISCOURSES 
 
 SHERLOCK AND JEREMY TAYLOR. 
 
 BY THE EEV. T. S. HUGHES, B. D. 
 
 PREBENDARY OF PETERSBOROUGH, LATE CHRISTIAN ADVOCATE AT CAMBRIDGE. 
 
 LONDON: 
 
 PRINTED AND PUBLISHED BY A. J. VALPY, M. A. 
 
 AND SOLD BY ALL BOOKSELLERS. 
 1837. 
 
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SUMMARIES 
 
 SHERLOCK'S DISCOURSES. 
 
 DISCOURSE I. 
 
 JOHN, CHAP. VI. VERSES 67 — 69. 
 
 Then said Jesus unto the twelve. Will ye also go away ? Then Simon 
 Peter answered him. Lord, to whom shall we go ? thou liast the words 
 of eternal life. And we believe, and are sure, that thou art that Christ, 
 the Son of the living God. 
 
 PAUT I. 
 
 Three reasons for the constancy and adherence of the disciples to 
 Christ : I. The miserable condition of those who should forsake him, 
 having no other in whom they could trust; II. The excellency of 
 his religion, and the means afforded by it for obtaining eternal hap- 
 piness; III. His authority and divine commission, as a ground of 
 confidence and faith. These three reasons referred to three general 
 principles or maxims: 1. That religion, which is the only means 
 of true happiness and perfection in the present circumstances of the 
 world, does not depend on human reasoning or invention ; we can- 
 not learn it from ourselves or others : 2. The great end of religion 
 is future happiness ; consequently the best religion is that which 
 most surely directs us to it: 3. The authority and word of God is 
 the only sure foundation of religion and reasonable ground of our 
 hopes. First head considered : the necessity of religion in general 
 is taken for granted; the only question is, from what source we must 
 derive it : improvements which the gospel has introduced into the 
 world stated : sceptics of the present age are apt to refer these to 
 natural religion : this pretence examined and shown to be false : men 
 are chiefly indebted to the gospel even for that natural religion which 
 they boast of : the question then put — is there no such thing as natural 
 religion ? Answered by an exposition of the state of mankind under it, 
 — which is not to be estimated by a few bright examples, while millions 
 
 PART I. A 
 
2 SUMMARIES OF 
 
 are left in ignorance and vice; also by a comparison of it with the gos- 
 pel revelation, — which latter was given to restore human nature and 
 deliver reason from bondage by grace. Conclusion — the bad return 
 made for so great a blessing by those who set up reason and nature 
 in opposition to it. The success of such an attempt however will 
 not be greater than its wisdom and piety. 
 
 PART II. 
 
 Second head considered : religion shown to be founded in the 
 principles of reason and nature ; hence it must be formed with a 
 view of securing our future happiness : that therefore is the best 
 religion which will most surely conduct us to the end proposed : the 
 nature of religion enlarged on : eternal happiness out of our own 
 power; it is the gift of God alone: if eternal life therefore be the 
 end of religion, and likewise the gift of God, religion is nothing but 
 the means of obtaining from God this most excellent gift: thus far 
 all religions that have appeared in the world are shown to agree : 
 from this account of the nature of religion, that it is to know the 
 living God and to serve him acceptably, some consequences follow — 
 First, Since to please God, and to act according to the will of God, 
 are but one and the same thing, that must be the most perfect reli- 
 gion which instructs us best in the knowlege of his will : defect of 
 reason and nature in this point of view — Secondly, It is wrong to 
 compare natural religion and revelation together, for the purpose of 
 inquiring which is preferable ; for this is to inquire whether we 
 know God's will better than he himself knows it. Since revelation 
 must needs be the surest guide in religion, every man is bound to 
 consider its pretensions when offered to him : this inquiry excluded 
 by those who argue against all revelation, d priori, as inconsistent 
 with God's wisdom. Sum of the argument against revelation d 
 priori stated — viz. that God, having given to us reason, has bound 
 us to obey its dictates, and will judge us by its rule ; otherwise he 
 would have given an imperfect rule, which is inconsistent with his 
 wisdom: but, the rule being sufficient, revelation, must be useless and 
 impertinent, and therefore riot derived from God: moreover, as 
 reason and natural religion never yet prevailed universally, it must 
 be supposed that whatever happens in the world is designed by God, 
 and those ivho have least reason are in that state for which he de- 
 signed them ; it is therefore absurd to suppose a revelation ivould be 
 given to take them out of that state. — On this argument four observa- 
 tions are briefly made; involving — 1. The principle that the creature 
 is always bound to obey the Creator : — 2. That human reason cannot 
 be said to be absolutely, hut only reZa^ive/i/ perfect, as a rule ; and 
 it is begging the question to suppose there is no other rule but reason 
 given ; which must be proved, not supposed : — 3. To add to a law 
 once considered perfect as a rule, when an alteration of circum- 
 stances requires it, is oftentimes the effect of wisdom and necessity : 
 — 4. To say that revelation is unnecessary because reason is a perfect 
 
SHERLOCK S DISCOURSES. — I, 3 
 
 rule, and yet to affirm that those who have an imperfect use of 
 reason have need of a revelation, is a contradiction: again to 
 say, that those who are in such a state that they do not and cannot 
 obey the laws of reason, are yet in such a state as God designed for 
 them, is not only making God the author of evil, but ascribing to 
 him two inconsistent intentions : we do not argue now in behalf of 
 any particular revelation : this alone is urged, that revelation is the 
 surest foundation of religion : hence it is incumbent on every man of 
 sense and reason to inquire whether there be a revelation or no : for 
 the precepts of natural religion cannot be taken into consideration 
 until it be certain that there is no revelation to guide us ; there can 
 be no comparison made to determine our choice ; for the revelation 
 must be rejected, before natural religion can pretend to take the 
 lead : the beaten but false path, which unbelievers tread, explained : 
 the conclusion of their reasonings shown to be — that because there 
 may be a false revelation, there cannot be a true one : application 
 of what has been said to the Christian revelation : its pretensions 
 are worthy of the deepest consideration : reasons given why such 
 pretensions are not to be turned off with general and loose observa- 
 tions: neglect of this consideration shown to be inexcusable : want of 
 sincerity in religious professions, and desire of salvation, give a 
 wrong turn to controversies about religion : different conduct is pur- 
 sued with respect to those worldly objects which we highly value : 
 concluding exhortation. 
 
 PART III. 
 
 There cannot be a fairer trial of any religion than a consideration 
 of its efficacy in leading us to eternal life, which is the end of all 
 religion : the difficulty is, how to apply this rule so as to direct our 
 choice, since all religions pretend to have the words of eternal life: 
 our object therefore must be to enable ourselves to determine, which 
 are, and which are not, words of eternal life. Some principles in all 
 religions are allowed, which may help our determination : such are 
 these — that life eternal can be had only from God; and that from 
 him the only way to obtain it is to live agreeably to his holy will ; 
 whence it follows, that since to do God's will is the only way to 
 obtain eternal life, the words which instruct us in the knowlege of 
 his will must be the words of eternal life: when therefore we inquire 
 from what principle we ought to derive our religion, we do in truth 
 inquire from what we may best derive our knowlege of God's will, 
 since this is the true measure of our religious obedience. Two ways 
 only by which we can arrive at this knowlege : one, by following 
 the dictates of reason and nature; the other, by learning it either 
 from God's own declaration, or from persons sufficiently authorised 
 by him, which is what we call revelation. Between these two 
 general principles, it is no hard matter to judge which is the safest: 
 as nature is a better guide than any pretended revelation, so every 
 true revelation, as far as it goes, is better than nature : absurd to 
 compare natural religion and revelation together, as considered in 
 
4 SUMMARIES OF 
 
 themselves : since, if the revelation be false, no arguments are neces- 
 sary to make it yield to nature; if true, none can be sutficient. On the 
 same principle othergeneral objections against thegospel of JesusChrist 
 examined: its methods of salvation, which human sagacity cannot 
 fathom, are matters of complaint with unbelievers : they think it un- 
 reasonable that God should propose such as objects of faith, and from 
 this presupposed unreasonableness conclude they were not of God's 
 contrivance, but the tricks of impostors : this objection, however, is 
 opposed to all revelation in general, considered as a principle of reli- 
 gion, which adds any thing to what reason teaches us : the question 
 then will be — can it be reasonable for God to propose any articles of 
 i'aith or conditions of salvation, the reason and propriety of which 
 do not appear to man ? This the case of the gospel. In the sense 
 of (he gospel, what is a mystery and what is not : it must be remem- 
 bered that not human reason, but God's will is the rule and mea- 
 sure of religious obedience ; and therefore the terms of it must be 
 tried by their agreement with God's will rather than the narrow com- 
 pass of man's reason. If reason can by any means discover that the 
 conditions of salvation proposed to us are the will of God, its work 
 is over, and we are bound to use the means prescribed in order to 
 obtain the desired end : and how little soever reason may be able to 
 penetrate into mysteries, yet if it can discover them indeed to be the 
 mysteries of God, and proposed by him as terms of salvation, it dis- 
 covers to us that these mysteries are the words of eternal life; and 
 what more does a man look for in his religion ? This, it may be 
 said, is true, on the supposition that God requires the belief of mys- 
 teries ; but how does this prove it reasonable for him so to do ? Cer- 
 tain allowances being made on each side, the question is reduced to 
 this — whether it can ever be necessary to reveal mysteries, in order 
 to perfect the salvation of mankind? whenever it is necessary, it 
 must be reasonable, unless it be unreasonable for God to save the 
 world. Nature of a mystery stated : no real or positive thing in 
 nature, but merely negative with respect to ourselves : what the com- 
 plaint against mysteries amounts to shown. Return to the question, 
 whether it can be ever necessary for God to use such means for the 
 salvation of the world, the agreeableness of which to the end pro- 
 posed human reason cannot discover: this shown to be necessary by 
 various arguments, particularly by the difficulty of reconciling it 
 with the wisdom and justice of God so freely to pardon sin as not to 
 leave the marks of his displeasure on it, and vindicate in the face of 
 creation the honor of his laws and government: no religion but that 
 which is able to adjust these difficulties can have the words of eter- 
 nal life: mysteries are so far from being an objection to the gospel, 
 that without a mystery it is impossible for us to be saved : a religion 
 without them might serve for this life, since they are not necessary 
 parts of religion considered only as a rule of action ; but they are 
 most necessary when considered as means of obtaining pardon and 
 eternal glory. 
 
SHERLOCK S DISCOURSES. — I. 
 
 PART IV. 
 
 Religion acting on the soul, compared with a regimen necessary 
 for the body — ^one sort proper for a sound constitution, and another 
 for repairing a broken one : an innocent man has nothing to do but to 
 preserve his innocency, which is his title to God's favor ; his religion 
 therefore is only a rule of life, and tliere is no room in it for mystery ; 
 but on the supposition of mankind becoming sinful and liable to 
 God's wrath, religion itself becomes a new thin"". Unbelievers may 
 think that too much is required to believe that all are sinners and are 
 fallen sliort of the glory of God : but this is the principle on which 
 the gospel uniformly proceeds, and on this it must be judged. Three 
 things, necessary to be done for a sinner in order to restore him to 
 eternal life, considered: 1. That God be reconciled to him: 2. 
 That he be purged from the impurity of sin : :i. That fur the future 
 he be enabled to obey God's holy laws : necessity of these conditions 
 brietly shown. Allowing them to be necessary, and likewise that 
 religion must contain the icords or means of eternal life, it follows 
 that the sinner's religion must contain the means of fulfilling these 
 conditions: our notion therefore of such a religion is very imperfect, 
 when we consider it only as a rule of action : as far as a rule of action 
 is necessary, the gospel is shown to have it in the strictest sense of 
 the words, and in the purost form: but a rule of life is not the only 
 notion of religion : accortling to the other ideas which belong to it, 
 it is not necessardy absurd if supposed mysterious: examined in this 
 point of view with reference to the first of the three conditions above- 
 mentioned, or as containing the means by which God is reconciled 
 to sinners. Though we cannot practise a law without understanding 
 it, yet God may be reconciled to us without our comprehending 
 every thing done for that purpose, as a malefactor maj'^ receive 
 and profit by a pardon, witliout knowing what induced his prince 
 to grant it: if a sinner could not receive mercy unless he com- 
 prehended all the reasons of it, then only would it be necessary 
 for religion to exclude all mysteries: since the knowlege of the 
 essence of things, and that of the existence of things, are quite 
 distinct, our ignorance of the latter can be no argument against 
 our belief in the former: this explained more fully. "^I'he 
 argument carried still further ; it being shown that this part of reli- 
 gion must necessarily be mysterious, and the means of reconcilement 
 such as reason and nature cannot comprehend. Reason challenged 
 to discover any means of reconcilement, if these certain and allowed 
 principles be laid down — viz. that it is just for God to punish sin- 
 ners, and that God can do nothing but what is just: ddiicuUy must 
 ever remain as long as we attempt to scan the divine justice by our 
 narrow conceptions of it : and this it is which occasions many things 
 in the gospel to be mysterious. To redeem the world is the work of 
 God only : he alone could find the means, and apply them : religion 
 founded on redemption must consist of two parts — viz., an account 
 of the redemption wrought by God, and instructions to men on what 
 terms they may reap its benefits : as far as our own part in the gospel 
 
SUMMARIES OF 
 
 goes there is nothing mysterious; we know how to act: as to the 
 other parts of it, we are not required to connprehend and account for 
 the means of salvation, but only to accept them : mysteries of God 
 in redemption compared with his wonderful and mysterious works of 
 creation, in which his ways are past finding out: strange that salva- 
 tion should be the only instance in which men refuse mercy because 
 they cannot understand the methods of obtaining it. The other two 
 points, viz., the cleansing sinners from their iniquity, and the ena- 
 bling them to live virtuously for the future, are omitted, because the 
 same arguments will apply to them, mutatis mutandis. Conclusion 
 — the only fair way of appreciating the gospel, is to consider the true 
 state of mankind in the world. 
 
 DISCOURSE II. 
 
 HEBREWS, CHAP. VII. VERSE 25. 
 
 Wherefore he is able also to save them to the uttermost that come unto 
 God by him, seeing he ever liveth to make intercession for them. 
 
 When we consider the wonderful work of our redemption, we 
 cannot imagine it to be the effect of mere will and arbitrary appoint- 
 ment, not founded in the reason and propriety of things : from our 
 natural notions of God and his attributes, it is absurd to suppose that 
 he could do any thing by chance, or from mere will and humor : this 
 as true in works of grace as in those of nature ; it is one thing, not to 
 be able to discern the reasons of Providence, and another to suppose 
 them void of reason : no religion can subsist with an opinion of this 
 latter kind. The gospel has made an alteration in the scheme of 
 religion by revealing the Son of God : the knowlege of his power in 
 the creating and upholding ail things became necessary for the foun- 
 dation of our faith in him as the Redeemer ; for that character would 
 be ill supported by one who had not power equal to the undertaking : 
 the doctrines therefore of the New Testament relate to that character, 
 of which there was no explicit declaration either before or under the 
 Law of Moses. Natural religion leads us to acknowlege one su- 
 preme intelligent Creator of all things ; and therefore all the religious 
 duties of man in that state relate to this Being alone : but suppose it 
 could discover that this Being had an eternal Son, by whom he made 
 the worlds; would there not on that supposition necessarily arise an 
 alteration in natural religion ? It cannot be supposed that we were 
 created by the Son, are under his government, and shall be under his 
 judgment, and at the same time be maintained that no service is due to 
 him from his creatures and subjects : the conclusion therefore is, that 
 the religion of a Christian is a natural and reasonable service. When 
 we consider what expectations we have from our Redeemer, and 
 what are his promises to us, it is but reasonable to ask, by what 
 
Sherlock's discourses. — ii. 7 
 
 authority he tloes these things ? The foundation of our expectations 
 is shown to be reasonable from Scriptural authorities; and we have 
 thence reason to conclude that he is now as able to restore life, as he 
 was at first to give it. The relation of Christ to mankind as Creator 
 and Governor considered : the work of redemption could not properly 
 have been undertaken by any other hand : this shown to be the case 
 both from reason and from Scripture. Though the redemption of 
 mankind be a work which seems to concern men only, yet, considered 
 as a vindication of God's justice and goodness, it is exposed to the 
 consideration of every intelligent being in the universe : hence, though 
 it relates immediately to men, it must be agreeable to all the reason 
 and relation of things discoverable by the highest intellectual beings; 
 and there are many such not discoverable by us. The existence of 
 orders superior to man agrees both with reason and with Scripture; 
 and since God's justice and equity in redemption are things which 
 angels desire and are concerned to look into, his reasons in that great 
 affair may be discoverable by the highest, though not by the lowest 
 order of beings: this shown to be probable: it is next explained 
 how well these principles and doctrines of the gospel agree together; 
 from whence we may discern how reasonable and natural the religion 
 of the gospel is. The belief that the dead shall hear the voice of the 
 Son of God and arise to life, is the fundamental article of a Chris- 
 tian's faith. The hopes which nature imparts with respect to our 
 prospects beyond the grave considered : also how these hopes are 
 supported, confirmed, and enlarged by the gospel. Conclusion : the 
 question put, who is this who was subject to death, and yet had 
 power over death ? How could so much power and weakness meet 
 together? Answered : he was a man, and therefore he died ; he was 
 the Son of God, and therefore he rose from the dead, and will give 
 life to all his true disciples. Had the gospel required us to expect 
 from Christ the redemption of our souls and bodies, without giving 
 us any reason to think he was endued with power equal to the task. 
 Christians might have been justly reproached with believing they 
 know not what. That the world was made by the Son of God, is 
 not contrary to reason ; and that he who made the world should be 
 able to renew it, is highly consonant to reason : all the mystery lies 
 in this — that so high a person should condescend so far for the sake 
 of man ; but it becomes not us to complain of his mysterious love. 
 
SUMMARIES OF 
 
 DISCOURSE HI. 
 
 MATTHEW, CHAP. XI. VERSE 6. 
 Blessed is he whosoever shall not be offended in me. 
 
 PART I. 
 
 Connexion of the words of the text with those preceding it ex- 
 plained : hence arise two subjects of inquiry: — I. What are the 
 offences which are generally taken at the gospel of Christ: II. From 
 what sources these oft'ences come. The earliest, and it may probably 
 be the latest objection to the gospel, was the poverty and meanness 
 in which our Saviour appeared. Though he came with such high 
 purposes, and to exact such strict obedience, yet he came with less 
 attendance and show than an ordinary messenger : hence the up- 
 braidings and reproaches he constantly met with throughout his life, 
 and at his death : and so blinded are men with false notions, that this 
 prejudice has prevailed in every age : when Christ crucified was 
 preached by St. Paul, he was to the Jews a stumbling-block, and to 
 the Greeks foolishness : in this case God did not act as the Greeks 
 made their Jupiter to act, in thunder and lightning, or as God is re- 
 presented in the Old Testament, with clouds and darkness round 
 about him: here every thing had a different turn ; Christ came in the 
 likeness of a man, and in the form of a servant; whilst his doctrine 
 was framed rather to purify the heart than to exercise the head. But 
 these things the wise and great of this world find difficult to reconcile 
 to their notions of God's wisdom and majesty : they ask why Christ 
 did not appear in the power and majesty of his father- they compare 
 his appearance with that of an ambassador sent by a prince, with honor 
 and a large retinue, to awe and reclaim rebellious subjects — and they 
 ask why, if faith be a means of salvation, more reason for confidence 
 was not given ? What foundation there is in reason for this prejudice 
 considered : no wonder to hear men reason upon the notions that are 
 familiar to them : power and authority are connected with ideas of 
 pomp and splendor; and when we talk of the works of God, we 
 naturally turn to view his wonderful works of Providence ; hence 
 men are so slow to discern his hand in the ordinary course of nature, 
 wherein are things familiar to us. The case of Naaman the Syrian 
 stated : not unlike to his folly is theirs who take offence at the 
 poverty and meanness of the Author of our redemption. This pre- 
 judice, when searched to the bottom, found to arise from a false 
 conception of the power and majesty of God ; as if the success of his 
 purposes depended on the visible fitness of his instruments : with men 
 the case is so ; but not with God, whose foolishness, says the Apostle, 
 is iviser than men, and weakness is stronger than men; teaching us 
 that we should not presume to sit in judgment upon the methods of 
 Providence, since how foolish or how weak soever they may seem to 
 us, they will be found in his hand to be the wisest and the strongest : 
 
Sherlock's discourses. — in. 
 
 and this reasoning the Apostle applies to the case before us : however 
 the Jews or however the Greeks conceived of the crucified Jesus, yet 
 to every true believer he is the mighty power of God unto salvation, 
 because God ordained him to be so ; and this gives full efficacy to 
 his Cross, however contemptible and unfit for the purpose it may 
 seem to be. If we would judge truly, the more simple and plain the 
 methods of Providence are, the more do they speak his power ; as 
 when he said, Let there be light, and there was light: so when our 
 Lord said, /w<7/, be thou clean, and the person was cleansed, his 
 divinity shone forth uiore bright than if he had been assisted by all 
 the powers above. And the same may be said respecting the re- 
 demption of the world committed to Jesus, a man of sorrow and 
 atHiction, but endued with such mighty powers. 
 
 In the next place it is considered, with resficct to men, whether 
 the advantages would have been greater, had Christ appeared in 
 greater splendor and with more visible power. One thing is certain, 
 that the majesty of God is not to be approached by human eyes ; 
 therefore when it descends to treat with luen, it must be veiled under 
 such representations as they can bear : but, it may be said, is there 
 no medium between his immediate presence, and so vile a state both 
 of life and death ? No doubt there are many degrees of visible 
 glory, in any of which Christ might have appeared; but none in 
 which he could have come with greater advantage to religion : 
 this shown to be the case. But, it may be said, though he came not 
 with worldly state and temporal dominion, he might at least have 
 exhibited some visible manifestation of his divine authority : in 
 answer to this, his miraculous works are enumerated, than which 
 higher signs of a divine commission cannot be required : under all 
 the meanness of his appearance therefore, the evidence of his divine 
 authority is the same as it would have been had he come in the 
 greatest pomp and power. To us, who are removed at a distance 
 from the scene of action, the evidence is much greater. Had he come 
 in surprising glory, we might have suspected the relations of men who 
 saw and heard every thing while their faculties were lost in astonish- 
 ment : but now we have the evidence of those who lived with him 
 familiarly, and saw his mighty works without astonishment, being 
 reconciled to them by daily use, and the long-experienced gentleness 
 and love of their master : from his poverty and meanness therefore 
 arises the stability of our faith, which standeth not in words or works 
 of man's wisdom or power, but in the power and wisdom of him 
 who knows how to produce strength out of weakness. 
 
 PART II. 
 
 From the offence taken at the mean condition of our Lord, the 
 cross became to the Jews a stumbl i7ig- block : it became also foolish- 
 ness to the Greeks; for they sought after wisdom; and not finding 
 that wisdom which they sought after in the gospel, it was esteemed 
 by them as foolishness. The nature of God, ihe manner of the soul's 
 
10 SUMMARIES OF 
 
 existence, the nature of rewards and punishments in a future life, are 
 not philosophically explained in the gospel : yet it is said by some — 
 Who would not have expected from a person sent from God, to have 
 had all difficulties solved which affect the belief and practice of 
 religion ? As it is, we are taught only the plain doctrines of morality, 
 and are bid to take his word for the rest. To clear up this great and 
 unreasonable offence against the gospel, three subjects of considera- 
 tion are proposed. First ; This objection does not lie against the 
 gospel of Christ ; but, if there be any force in it, it strikes at the 
 wisdom and goodness of God in the creation. As long as men keep 
 to the plain simple points in which religion is concerned^ there is no 
 danger of their splitting on these insuperable difficulties: if they seek 
 after God, the whole creation will lead them to him : if they search 
 after the immortality of the soul and the certainty of future retri- 
 bution, these truths will be suggested to them by their natural sense 
 of good and evil, and their notions of God's wisdom and justice and 
 goodness, compared with the present unequal distribution of rewards 
 and punishments : but if they are not content with knowing that God 
 is, without knowing ichat he is ; or if, not satisfied with the moral 
 certainty of a future state, they wish to look into the texture of the 
 soul, it is no wonder if they make shipwreck both of their reason and 
 their faith at once ; for this knowlege is too high for us ; nor has God 
 given us faculties to comprehend such mysteries of nature ; not even 
 are the seeds of such knowlege implanted in us, and therefore no culti- 
 vation can ever produce it. This being the condition of men, it had 
 been to little purpose, if our Lord had attempted to let them into 
 those great secrets. His business was to instruct them in the ways of 
 virtue, awaken them to a sense of goodness, and show them the way 
 to happiness, by setting before them the precepts of God and nature 
 in their true uncorrupted purity; and this he has done, even by the 
 confession of his greatest enemies. It is the great business of a 
 teacher to speak to the sense and understanding of the people ; 
 otherwise his words are mere air and sound ; and therefore whatever 
 wisdom and knowlege were in our blessed Saviour, it is folly to expect 
 from him any greater degrees of either than we can comprehend : 
 instead of improving the nature of man, he must have destroyed it, 
 and re-created him, to have made him capable of a clear insight into 
 all the mysteries which the curious seem desirous of knowing. If 
 more be required on this head, the cause must be pleaded with God, 
 and not with Christ; we must inquire of God why he made us no 
 wiser. And, it may be said, would it not have been better, if he had 
 done so ? To this it may be answered ; that I would rather be an 
 angel than a man ; but I know of no right I had to be either ; and 
 that I am either, is owing purely to the goodness of my Creator. 
 Had God given us only the faculties of men, and required of us the 
 service of angels, then indeed we might have complained with some 
 justice. Our present faculties, rightly applied, will lead us to a 
 knowlege of God's being and excellency, and will instruct us in what 
 our reasonable service to him consists : when we know that there is 
 an all-sufficient being, and that it is our duty to serve him, to suspend 
 
SHERLOCK S DISCOUUSES. —III. 1! 
 
 our duty because we cannot comprehend his nature and manner of 
 existence, is as unreasonable as it would be for a merchant not to 
 trade to the Indies, until he can account to himself for the nature of 
 all the surprising objects of those wealthy regions. God has given 
 us knowlege enough for the foundation of our duty; and if we use 
 the light we have, we shall be happy : the great mistake is, that men 
 suppose they should have better evidence for the things of another 
 world, could they overcome these difficulties which cross them in a 
 search after nature : and this would be an advantage to religion, if it 
 were so ; but that it is not, appears from the following considera- 
 tions ; for. Secondly, The difficulties which arise in considering the 
 natural properties of things, affect not the certainty and reality of 
 their existence : if they did, we could be certain of the real existence 
 of no one thing : there cannot be two more distinct inquiries, than when 
 we examine whether a thing really is, and when we examine what it 
 is ; these things do not at all depend one on the other : as we can 
 imagine the properties of some things, without reflecting whether there 
 ever were such things or no, (as for instance, an exact circle or 
 square,) so we can examine and come to the certainty of the exist- 
 ence of things without knowing, or attempting to know, their proper- 
 ties ; for the peasant knows there is a sun and moon as surely as the 
 astronomer. Nor is this true only in things that are objects of sense ; 
 but also in those, the existence of which we collect from reason. 
 From visible effects to invisible causes the argument is conclusive ; 
 though in many cases it extends only to the reality of the cause, and 
 does not in the least lead to the knowlege of its nature : thus when 
 we see distempers cured by plants or drugs, we are sure that some 
 virtue is in them, on which the effect depends, though what, we 
 seldom or never can tell. 
 
 Now, in the case before us, what sort of knowlege is necessary to 
 support religion in the world? If we are sure there is a God who 
 will judge the world, is not that a sufficient foundation for holiness? 
 if such an event will certainly take place, it concerns not us to know 
 how. Since then our Saviour has given us the best evidence of the 
 certainty of a future state and of the soul's existence after death, it is 
 impertinent and unphilosophical to confront it with difficulties arising 
 from our conceptions as to the nature and manner of these things : it 
 is in truth to set up ignorance against knowlege. 
 
 Since, then, religion depends on the certainty and reality of these 
 and other like articles, and not in the least on a knowlege of their 
 nature or philosophical account of them, it had been absurd in our 
 Saviour, who was a preacher of religion only, to have entered into 
 those difficulties which did not belong to his province ; and it is ridi- 
 culous in us to expect the solution of them in the gospel, when, if 
 solved, they would not serve any one point in which the gospel is 
 concerned. It may, however, be said — all this is true, where the 
 existence of things is out of doubt; but when this is doubtful, these 
 seeming contradictions, which arise in considering the nature of things, 
 shake greatly the presumption of their existence. In the third place, 
 therefore, it is shown that the gospel has given us the best evidence 
 
12 SUMMARIES OF 
 
 of our own immortality and a future state, that can be conceived or 
 desired. Two things on which our resurrection to life depends; as 
 we learn from our Saviour's answer to the Sadducees — ye do err, not 
 knowing the Scriptures, nor the power of God. We can desire to 
 know nothing more than that he can raise us, and that he will: the 
 first is to be learnt from our natural notions of God, the second from 
 his declared will, i. e. the holy Scriptures : as to the power of God, it 
 cannot be brought into question without throwing off all pretence to 
 natural religion ; it remains therefore to inquire after his will : now 
 we have our Saviour's promise for our resurrection often repeated : 
 he also raised persons from the dead, and he raised himself ; he there- 
 fore has the power : take both propositions then together, and they 
 will amount to this, that he who has the power of raising the dead 
 has promised to raise us. God, we know, cannot lie, and therefore 
 must ratify every word which he spoke by his holy child Jesus; and 
 hence arises a security which no doubts can shake. As to difficulties 
 in nature and philosophy, he answered them when he himself rose 
 from the grave. 
 
 PART III. 
 
 The prejudices which men conceive against the gospel vary accord- 
 ing to the views under which they consider it : as some take offence 
 at the gospel for not clearing up the doubts and difficulties which 
 religion contained before, so others take offence at the new doctrines 
 introduced by it: this attached itself even to many of Christ's disci- 
 ples: what purpose of religion or morality, it is said, can be served 
 by our receiving articles of faith which we cannot understand ? This 
 charge, if it were as true as it is heavy, might possibly shake the 
 foundations of the gospel : but to set the matter in a clear light, we 
 must consider the different notions of the word mystery, as used in 
 the gospel, and as in common use amongst men at this time : hence 
 it will appear, I. That the objection does not reach the gospel sense 
 of the word, and cannot affect its mysteries: II. That the use and 
 sense of the word which is liable to this objection, does not belong to 
 the gospel ; as it does not contain any such mysteries as may justify 
 the complaint. 
 
 First, then. The whole design of the gospel in the salvation of man- 
 kind, is styled a mystery, because it was kept secret since the world 
 began, in allusion to this time of secresy and silence ; but on the 
 revelation of it by Jesus Christ it is no longer looked on as such, but 
 as the manifestation of God's will and goodness to men; see Rom. 
 xvi. 26. : the opposition here is between mystery and revelation ; in 
 this sense therefore there can lie no objection against the gospel. As 
 the gospel itself is in this sense styled a mystery, so also are the 
 several parts of it : 1 show you a mystery, says St. Paul, we shall 
 not all sleep, but we shall all be changed. Other instances of the 
 same kind enumerated. Against this gospel- sense of mystery the 
 common objections have no place. It is therefore, in the second 
 
SHERLOCK'S DISCOURSES. — IV. ' 13 
 
 place, shown that the notion of mysteries, against which the objec- 
 tion lies, does not belong to the gospel. It represents a mystery as a 
 thing inconceivable, and altogether irreconcilable to human reason : 
 but such mysteries are not in the gospel of Christ : men may have run 
 into contradictions by endeavoring to explain the mysteries of God 
 farther than lie has explained them ; but let not the gospel be charged 
 with their errors : nothing is more fatal to religion than attempts to 
 explain and account for the hidden wisdom of God on principles of 
 human reason. Concerning the persons of the Godhead there are 
 indeed great mysteries, which are not revealed : God has not told us 
 how his Son and his Spirit dwell in him, or koiv they came from him : 
 these therefore are properly mysteries, hidden in his secret wisdom, 
 and which we are no where called on to inquire into : we might 
 readily take God's word for them, without entering into natural and 
 philosophical inquiries ; especially as they are well qualitied to be 
 objects of faith. Common sense might teach us not to call God to 
 account, or pretend to enter into the reason of his doings. 
 
 DISCOURSE IV. 
 
 1 CORINTHIANS, CHAP. I. VERSE 21. 
 
 For after that, in the wisdom of God, the world by wisdom knew not 
 God, it pleased God by the foolishness of preaching to save them that 
 believe. 
 
 PART I. 
 
 The expression, in the wisdom of God, considered. Two main 
 assertions in the text : — I. That the world by wisdom knew not God : 
 II. That it pleased God by the foolishness of preaching to save 
 believers. The meaning of the term foolishness of preaching ex- 
 plained : adopted by the Apostle as having been used by the ancient 
 philosophers in derision of the gospel : he calls on them in their own 
 language to compare their boasted wisdom with this foolishness of 
 preaching, and to judge by the effects. It is hard to account for the 
 great corruption of religion, and the absurd superstitious rites that 
 prevailed in the world; hut being once introduced and propagated, it 
 is easy to account for the difficulty of removing them. The corrup- 
 tion of the world was so general, that those who were most endowed 
 with wisdom were unable to extricate themselves or others from the 
 prevailing superstition and idolatry : hence the truth of the first pro- 
 position, that ' the world by wisdom knew not God.' With regard 
 to the second proposition, as far as true notions of God and 
 religion go, the truth of it will be admitted : even the enemies of 
 revelation, in spite of themselves, bear witness in some mea- 
 sure to this truth : they now see clearly the great truths of reli- 
 
14 SUMMARIES OF 
 
 gion; they can now demonstrate the being and attributes of God, 
 and can deduce from thence the worship that is to be paid to 
 him: yet whence this wisdom? are they wiser than all the sages 
 of antiquity? what single advantage, indeed, have they above 
 them, except this, that in their days the light of the gospel has been 
 spread over the world ? But this comparison between the wise and 
 learned of different ages will not determine the case : religion is not 
 made for scholars only, but to influence the general practice of man- 
 kind ; the great question, therefore, lies between the religion of the 
 world in general as affecting its morality before the coming of Christ, 
 and since : condition of the world in the one instance contrasted with 
 its condition in the other : whence then comes this change ? If it is 
 for the better, surely the world is indebted to the hand that rooted 
 out false notions, destructive of virtue and happiness, and planted in 
 their stead such as produce contrary effects. It may be said that 
 the common people are now only influenced by custom and education, 
 like the heathens : suppose the case to be so, and we are even then 
 greatly obliged to revelation. Two things must surely be admitted : 
 — I. That it was the work of a very extraordinary power to root out 
 such ancient errors : II. That it was also an act of great wisdom and 
 goodness to introduce and establish such just principles and notions as 
 throw the weight of custom and education on the side of virtue and 
 true religion. The first proposition cannot be disputed ; for the 
 power that destroys the force of custom and education must be very 
 great : no instance in history of a nation reasoned out of its religious 
 errors ; and the gospel not having been introduced by external force, 
 the work must be ascribed to a power of another kind. With regard 
 to the second proposition, it may be thought that true religion is no 
 longer religion when it stands by the force of custom and education : 
 yet the precepts of the holy writers call on us to train up a child in 
 the way he shoxild go, for this very reason, that when he is old he will 
 not depart from it; which, as well as God's declaration to Abraham, 
 Gen. xviii. 19. proves that true religion is not the worse for the sup- 
 port it has from example and education : but farther, inasmuch as 
 principles, opinions, and practices of mankind will ever be strongly 
 influenced by custom and education, how could the wisdom and good- 
 ness of God be manifested more than by directing such influence to 
 the side of virtue, religion and happiness ? The true end of religion 
 is to make men better, and to lead them to perform their duty to God 
 and man : true principles, therefore, being instilled into them, they 
 are as capable of discharging those duties as the greatest philosophers, 
 and as beneficially to the world. It is not to be inferred from hence 
 that religion should be founded on prejudice : the gospel was at first 
 promulgated by the strongest appeal to reason, when it was intro- 
 duced by the hand of God in signs and wonders, called by the 
 Apostle ' demonstration of the spirit,' in opposition to ' the wisdom 
 of the world ; ' and it stands on the same reason still, though it may 
 be maintained under the natural influence which custom and edu- 
 cation have on mankind : hence, perhaps, we may see the reason why 
 miracles were so frequent in the beginning of the gospel, and why 
 
SHERLOCK S DISCOURSKS. — IV. 15 
 
 they afterwards ceased : they were necessary till truth had possession 
 of the world; but truth, thoroughly established, was left to be pro- 
 pagated by the natural means of instruction and education. Any one 
 may see that evil is produced by false and corrupt principles, which 
 owe not their influence to reason, but to the possession which they 
 have of the mind ; and that good principles, with the same advantage 
 of possession, will be as powerful to good purposes, though the mind 
 discerns not the reason from whence they flow : to answer this end of 
 religion, were the preachers of the gospel sent into the world ; and 
 the errand was worthy of him who sent them. 
 
 PART II. 
 
 The subject of the text re-considered ; and the circumstance, that 
 a few of the learned heathens extricated themselves from popular 
 errors, discovered a Supreme Being, and acquired clear notions of 
 morality, shown to be no argument against the necessity of a reve- 
 lation : for, in the first place, religion, if it be of any use at all, is of 
 use equally to all men : since all men live under a sense of being 
 accountable for their actions, all equally stand in need of directions 
 to guide them : to show that reason served the purpose of four or five 
 persons out of millions, is no proof that it rendered the publication of 
 the gospel unnecessary : neither will the argument hold good — that 
 what reason did for a few, it was capable of doing for all, and was 
 therefore a sufficient foundation for true religion ; inasmuch as true 
 religion was lost, not from a defect in reason, but by the abuse and 
 misapplication of it; for the general abuse of reason stood in need of 
 a remedy, as an eye which, though sound, is covered with a film, 
 requires this obstruction of the sight to be removed : moreover, when 
 reason is considered abstractedly, as a principle of action, that degree 
 of it which illuminates the minds of extraordinary men must not be 
 taken as a measure of what is to direct the mass: yet among even 
 the learned and philosophic sages of antiquity, few formed just 
 notions of religion and morals ; the people in general had neither 
 time nor capacity to make the attempt: reasoning, in short, will not 
 do for them ; and therefore the gospel set out difl'erently, by pro- 
 posing the great truths of religion, plainly, simply, and authori- 
 tatively. The custom of dressing up the doctrines and proofs of 
 religion in axioms, theorems, and demonstrations, may be useful to 
 men of thought and contemplation, but not so to mankind in general : 
 by this method religion would have lost that plainness of doctrine and 
 simplicity of evidence which are strong proofs of its divine original. 
 The foregoing observations are made on the supposition that a few 
 wise and learned men had extricated themselves from all popular 
 superstitions; but this has never been proved: indeed St. Paul 
 justly lays it to the charge of the wise men of the world, that when 
 they knew God they glorified him not as God, &c. Socrates, the 
 best of them, when accused of despising, and of teaching the Athe- 
 nian youth to despise, the gods of his country, acknowleged himself 
 
16 SUMMARIES OF 
 
 an idolater in the court of Areopagus, and made his observance of 
 sacrificial rites on the Pagan altars a part of his defence. But how 
 different was the defence of St. Paul, accused in the same court and 
 of the same crime, when he made his appeal to the altar of the 
 UNKNOWN GOD ! The very death of Socrates shows that he did 
 not dissemble his opinions through fear : was it then possible for any 
 one to oppose heathen idolatry on his authority ? Moreover, the 
 character of Socrates, as well as of his accusers, was afterwards put 
 in a true light ; his memory was held in reverence ; and his doctrines 
 were published by his great and philosophic pupils ; yet for the space 
 of near four hundred years to the birth of Christ, what was the effect 
 produced thereby on the morals of mankind ? The manner and 
 effect of St. Paul's preaching at Athens, and of other Apostles in 
 various parts of the world, contrasted with those of Socrates and his 
 school. Concluding observations : 
 
 I. If during so many ages reason was unable to reform the world, 
 let us not be so vain as to imagine we could have done more in 
 similar circumstances, &c. 
 
 II. When we consider the means used by God in restoring true 
 religion, and pretend to judge of their fitness, let us avoid being 
 misled by the conceit of some, who think themselves wise enough to 
 give such directions in so momentous a matter, &c. 
 
 III. Since we see how unable human reason is to struggle against 
 the inveterate follies of superstition, and also how much it is indebted 
 to the light of the gospel, let us be careful to preserve this light, for 
 fear of falling back again into the wretched state from which it 
 delivered us, &c. 
 
 DISCOURSE V. 
 
 JOHN, CHAP. III. VERSE 16. 
 
 God so loved the world, that he gave his only-begotten Son, that who- 
 soever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life. 
 
 Whatever difficulties men find in the gospel, we might suppose 
 it would be admitted at least to be a good representation of God's 
 mercy towards mankind. Yet there are some who think that Nature 
 holds out better hopes to her children, in teaching them that the 
 infirmities of humanity are unavoidable, and the mercy of God 
 infinite ; whence they conceive all promises of mercy to be unne- 
 cessary, and therefore liable to suspicion : and this is made an argu- 
 ment against revelation, past or to come. The credit and authority 
 of revelation are much strengthened by its being reconciled to the 
 natural hopes and expectations of mankind. The answers of a 
 Christian and a Deist, when asked the grounds of their respective 
 
Sherlock's discourses. — v. 17 
 
 Ijopes and expectations, shown nearly to coincide. The gospel is no 
 enemy to the hopes of nature ; but the question is, whether these give 
 such security of pardon and immortality as will justify us in rejecting 
 the light of revelation. Whoever depends on God's forgiveness, 
 admits himself to be a sinner : upon this admission three consi- 
 derations laid down : — I. That natural religion could not be originally 
 founded in the consideration of man's being a sinner, and in ex- 
 pectation of pardon : II. That the hopes which we are able to form i<i 
 our present circumstances, are too imperfect to give us intire satis- 
 faction : III. That the coming of Christ has supplied these defects, 
 perfecting and completing the hopes of nature. 
 
 The original religion of nature was agreeable to the original state 
 of nature; consequently, if natural religion be founded in the con- 
 sideration of man's sin and wickedness, it follows that man was 
 originally formed sinful and weak : supposing men originally to be 
 what we see they are, on what grounds are we to hope for an 
 alteration for the better ? for if it was consistent with God's goodness 
 to put men into this state originally, it is not inconsistent with his 
 goodness to continue them in it: hence mere reason cannot enter- 
 tain hopes of being delivered from the present state of the world. 
 Even allowing that such an order of things removed all responsibility 
 from our actions, yet no religion could be built on it : though we 
 might escape punishment, we could never show any plea for being put 
 into a better state. Farther, as natural religion is only obedience to 
 the laws of nature ; if natural religion be considered as nothing else 
 from the beginning but an expectation of pardon for sin, God must 
 have made laws only that his subjects might break them, and he 
 himself show his goodness in pardoning their transgressions ; which is 
 absurd. 
 
 In a view of the second consideration, two things may be affirmed 
 of the present state of mankind; one is, that they have a sense of their 
 obligation to obey the laws of reason and nature ; the other is, that 
 very few do tolerably, and some perfectly, pay this obedience : it is 
 impossible, therefore, to found the hopes of religion on innocence and 
 obedience ; for obedience is not paid : impunity cannot be claimed 
 for all sins ; much less any degree of happiness, present or future, in 
 behalf of offenders : we have nothing but the probability of God's 
 mercy accepting imperfect endeavors and attainments : but what 
 security can arise out of this ? Since all our natural powers are the gift 
 of God, and our best services but a debt, the claims of natural 
 religion are only those of unprofitable servants, to whom nothing can 
 be due. 
 
 With respect to the third consideration, in viewing the conditions 
 and promises of the gospel, what reason have we to be offended ? 
 The laws which are made the conditions of happiness are not new 
 impositions, but as old as reason itself, and the same which natural 
 religion stands bound to obey. In this point we are no losers; but 
 in all other respects we are gainers. Those hopes, which we could 
 not have from innocence, the gospel offers to us through the mercy of 
 God : nature had no refuge after sin, but in repentance ; yet nature 
 
 PART I. B 
 
18 SUMMARIES OF 
 
 could not tell us the efficacy of that repentance, which is disclosed 
 only by the gospel : all the hopes of nature beyond the grave, that 
 land of doubt and uncertainty, are confirmed by the gospel, which has 
 abolished death, and redeemed us into the glorious liberty of the sons 
 of God. Its promises extend to more than nature could ever claim ; 
 they take in all her wishes; establish all her hopes ; and they are 
 oflfered by a hand that is able to make them good. Conclusion : the 
 reason we have to adore the goodness of God in these transactions. 
 
 DISCOURSE VI. 
 
 2 TIMOTHY, CHAP. I. VERSE 10. 
 — And hath brought life and immortality to light through the gospel. 
 
 Some maintain that the words of this text exclude all arguments 
 for a future state of immortality, drawn either from the light of 
 reason and nature, or from the writings of Moses. Thus far indeed 
 they reason justly, that, if the text is to be understood in this exclu- 
 sive sense, the authority of any former revelation will be affected 
 equally with that of sense and reason : but the converse of this will 
 hold good ; the words of our Saviour (Luke xx. 37.), Now that the 
 dead are raised, even Moses showed at the bush, indicate that the 
 text does not impeach the authority of Moses, nor consequently 
 exclude the proofs of natural religion. It remains therefore to 
 explain the literal meaning of the text, in which the word (pwriSety 
 has been improperly translated : its true signification is, to enlighten, 
 illustrate, or clear up any thing ; as it is used John i. 3. The real 
 meaning therefore of our Saviour is, that the gospel has given a more 
 full and sure proof of a future life and immortality than either the 
 law of nature or that of Moses. This view of the text leaves us at 
 full liberty to consider the evidence which mankind had for those 
 doctrines, as well as that which the gospel now affords; to show in 
 what the former failed, and how it is supplied by the latter. 
 
 Natural evidence not to be estimated so much from the acuteness 
 of this or that writer, as from the common sense and apprehension of 
 mankind : it owes its authority, not to the abstract reasonings of any 
 school, but to some general sense and notion found in all men, or to 
 some common and uncontroverted maxim of reason. The argument 
 therefore of unbelievers, drawn from the inconsistencies of Plato, 
 Aristotle, or Tully, is not available against the united voice of all 
 mankind. The common belief and persuasion of mankind shown to 
 be the foundation of all inquiry into this natural evidence of immor- 
 tality ; inquiry did not lead men originally to the train of evidence. 
 The belief and persuasion of a future life would arise from the 
 common sense that men have of good and evil, and their natural 
 apprehension of accountableness attached to their actions, of which 
 
Sherlock's discourses. — vr. 10 
 
 account Fs not taken in this world. Such an internal, heartfelt 
 argument as tliis, has greater weight than all the reasonings of 
 philosophy. Error of those explained who imagine that the notion 
 of a future life originated in the descriptions of poets. We might as 
 soon suppose that eating and drinking had the same origin, and that 
 men would never have thought of it but for the fine entertainments 
 described by such writers. The poets corrupted the genuine senti- 
 ments of nature by the wild conceits of folly and superstition ; but 
 still the root was natural, though the fruit was strange. Moreover 
 an expectation of rewards and punishments prevailed where the fables 
 of Greece never came. Belief of immortality, then, originated 
 neither with poets nor philosophers, though both parties, finding it a 
 common principle among mankind, built their theories on this founda- 
 tion. How far any of these inquirers succeeded in their attempts, is 
 another question : natural evidence is prior to their investigations. 
 Infidelity in fact is coeval with and caused by philosophy : doubts 
 did not arise till men began to search for physical reasons for the 
 soul's immortality : the subject enlarged on : speculations of ancient 
 philosophers : the opinions of Plato and Cicero opposed to the doc- 
 trine of the corporealists : this brought the controversy to turn on the 
 nature of the soul ; and the belief of immortality either prevailed or 
 declined, according as men conceived of the soul's natural dignity 
 and power: hence we may judge of the difficulties attending the 
 cause of immortality on the footing of natural religion : these diffi- 
 culties enlarged on : another also remains, that no notion of immor- 
 tality, as regards the soul unconnected with the body, can serve the 
 end of religion, because it is one which the generality of mankind 
 never can arrive at : abstract metaphysical notions are above the 
 comprehension of the vulgar. Herein nature seems deficient and 
 unable to support the hopes of immortality which she gives to her 
 children : the expectation of the vulgar that they shall live again and 
 be just the same flesh and blood, is justified by no principles of 
 reason or nature ; whilst the philosophic idea that the intellectual 
 soul shall be the whole man, is not the common sense of nature, and 
 therefore no part of natural religion. Inquiry how nature comes to 
 be defective on so material a point : sacred history alone clears up 
 the fact: immortality was the original condition of the creation, and 
 death came by surprise on nature : on the original plan of nature, the 
 common notion of immortality was the true one; for take death out 
 of the question, which is the only separation of body and soul we 
 know of, and there is no pretence for distinguishing between the man 
 and the intellectual mind. The vulgar retained the true original 
 notion of nature ; but when the original state of nature was lost, the 
 notion grew absurd ; and thus the coming in of death obscured the 
 hopes of immortality. 
 
 If we consider how our Saviour has enlightened this doctrine, it 
 will appear that he has removed the difficulty at which nature 
 stumbled. As death was no part of the state of nature, so the 
 difficulties arising from it were not provided for in the religion of 
 nature : to remove these was the proper work of revelation, which 
 
20 SUMMARIES OF 
 
 Christ has done by his gospel ; for this shows us that the body and 
 spirit may, and shall be, re-uiiited before his judgment-seat: this is 
 stated in the words preceding the text : now if the abolishing of 
 death was the bringing to light life and immortality, the coming in of 
 death must have been that which so darkened nature. Conclusion : 
 two things, as we learn from our Saviour's answer to the Sadducees 
 (Mat. xxii. 29,), necessary to confirm us in the belief of a resurrec^ 
 tion ; viz., knowlege of the power of God, and of the will of God. 
 
 DISCOURSE VII. 
 
 ROMANS, CHAP. IV. VERSE 25. 
 
 Who was delivered for our offences, and was raised again for our 
 
 justification. 
 
 The manner of expression used in the text is different from what 
 is generally met with in the New Testament on the like occasion. 
 It is the constant tenor of Scripture that the death of Christ was our 
 redemption, and his blood the price paid for us; so that, when we 
 consider redemption (which includes justification) with respect to 
 Christ, it must be ascribed to his death and passion ; but as to our-, 
 selves, our justification, though purchased by the blood of Christ, 
 must be appropriated to ourselves through faith in his blood : for the 
 same Apostle who says that we are justified freely through the re- 
 demption that is in Christ Jesus, says also, that God hath set him 
 forth to be a propitiation, through faith in his blood. Hence we are 
 said to be justified by faith; not that our faith is the purchase of 
 justification, but because through faith we obtain the benefit of the 
 redemption wrought by Christ. Now, though the death of Christ 
 was the reconciling of the world to God, yet this resurrection is the 
 great foundation of our hope and faith in him : hence it is very pro- 
 perly said that he rose again for our justification : for his resurrection 
 it is which has wiped away the scandal of the cross, and made it a 
 rational act of faith to hope for life and immortality from him who 
 died on the tree. For truth of this exposition appeal made to 
 1 Cor. XV. 17., which teaches that faith in the death of Christ, not 
 grounded on the assurance of his resurrection, is a vain faith. The 
 power of the resurrection, with the atonement for sin made by the 
 death of Christ, very beautifully expressed in Rom. viii. 34. 
 
 This, which is the true interpretation of the text, shows of what 
 great moment the resurrection of our Lord was, which was to be the 
 basis of the Christian institution, and the ground of our hope and 
 faith in him. Had he died like one of the prophets, and been no 
 more heard of, how should we have believed that his death had 
 atoned for all the blood spilt from the foundation of the world, and 
 that remission of all sin had been granted, through the destruction of 
 
SHERLOCK S DISCOURSES. — Vir. 21 
 
 him, the greatest of all the prophets ? But wlien he rose from the 
 grave and brought back with him the pardon which he had sealed 
 with his blood, taking on himself to be the Mediator and Intercessor 
 for mankind as he had been their sacrifice, there was no room to 
 doubt the efficacy of his death so confirmed. Our Lord's first coming 
 was attended with mean and low circumstances ; he ivas a man of' 
 sor7-ows and acquainted with grief; and when he fell a victim to the 
 malice of his foes, his best friends and companions gave him over 
 for lost; they esteemed him stricken and smitten of God ; all their 
 hopes died with him, and their remembrance of his miracles ; and 
 nothing less was thought of, than that this was he tvho should redeem 
 Israel. But when he rose again, having subdued the powers of dark- 
 ness and of death, then was he declared to be the Son of God with 
 power ; and thenceforward our faith has stood in the power and 
 demonstration of the spirit of life : now we may say, we know in 
 whom ive have trusted. 
 
 But if the resurrection of Christ be the support of the Christian 
 faith, how is itself supported ? To our apprehension nothing is more 
 incredible than that a man dead and buried should be restored to life 
 again. The particulars of the evidence of this great event too long 
 to be introduced here. Moreover, one ground of objection ought to 
 be removed before they are considered : the great difficulty at which 
 many stick, does not so much arise from the nature of the evidence 
 proposed, as from the nature of the thing itself: they are persuaded 
 that it is not capable of being supported by any evidence at all. 
 This prejudice was a very early one : why (says the Apostle to 
 Agrippa) should it he thought a thing incredible with you that God 
 should raise the dead? The force of this expostulation considered : 
 whether it is strong enough to encounter the prejudice. The credi- 
 bility of a thing depends intirely on knowing whether there is, or is 
 not, a power adequate to the undertaking. The resurrection of the 
 dead is a stupendous work : if it depended on us, it would be incre- 
 dible indeed : it is the work of God, and of him only ; and surely 
 we have named one of credit and power sufficient to be trusted : and 
 this is St. Paul's argument, why should it be thought incredible that 
 God should raise the dead ? Whoever affirms that a resurrection is 
 in itself incredible, must affirm that God has not power to raise the 
 dead. And who is it that can deny to him this power ? no one who 
 admits that he made the world : for if he gave us life, what should 
 hinder him from restoring it to us? If there be any contradiction 
 therefore in the notion of a resurrection, there must be the same in 
 that of a creation : hence natural religion is as much concerned in 
 this point as revelation: if we doubt God's power of creation, we 
 must bid adieu to all religion at once. 
 
 The power of God being admitted equal to this work, Christ's 
 resurrection comes to be a question of fact, a fact as capable of evi- 
 dence as any whatever, inasmuch as it is an object of sense. We 
 are told that Christ died, and rose again : of his death there can be 
 no great doubt ; nor can there be any more difficulty in seeing and 
 knowing that he was dead, than in knowing when others were dead : 
 
22 SUMMARIES OF 
 
 those therefore about him might be trusted when they report that he 
 died. But he came to life again : very true ; and it was very easy 
 for those who conversed with him to know whether he was alive or 
 not. His having been dead and buried could not alter the case, or 
 create any difficulty in judging whether he was really alive. Lay 
 these things then together, the promise of God to give us life eternal, 
 his power to make good his word, the confirmation he has given of 
 our hopes by the resurrection of Christ, and what is wanting to make 
 the belief of this article a rational act of faith? The promises of 
 God have never borrowed help from moral probabilities : the pro- 
 mises made to Abraham did not : but his reliance on those promises, 
 against all the presumptions of human experience and probability, 
 was the very thing that was imputed to him for righteousness. This 
 compared with the case of Christians. We have a great promise 
 made to us by God in Christ, the promise of a resurrection to life : 
 past ages have afforded no instance of the kind, and daily experience 
 is, as it were, a witness against this hope : under these difficulties 
 whither shall we go for support? whither, but to the promises them- 
 selves, and to the full persuasion, that what he has promised he is 
 able to perform ? Here is the great article of the Christian faith, 
 even of that faith which will be imputed to us, as it was to Abraham, 
 for righteousness. Conclusion : as the blessed fruit of this faith is to 
 all true believers life and immortality, so it highly concerns us to 
 consider what the event of unbelief must be : for whether we like it 
 or not, all who are in the grave shall come forth, some to life, and 
 some to condemnation. 
 
 DISCOURSE VIII. 
 
 ROMANS, CHAP. VIII. VERSE 16. 
 
 The Spirit itself beareth witness witb our spirit, that we are the children 
 
 of God, 
 
 What it is to be the children of God explained: it implies all the 
 advantages that belong to, and all the qualities necessary to make 
 a good Christian : if children, then heirs; heirs of God, and joints 
 heirs with Christ: as this is a new state, which belongs not to us by 
 nature, our entrance into it is styled a neiv birth: and this new life 
 we receive by the ministration of the Holy Spirit; and therefore we 
 are said to be born of the Spirit : he is the earnest of our inherit- 
 ance, the pledge and security which we receive from God of our 
 future immortality : but the difficulty is, how to make the first step, 
 and to know assuredly that we are the children of God. Here the 
 Apostle tells us, that the Spirit itself, i.e. the same Spirit by which 
 
SHERLOCK'S DISCOURSES. — VIII. ^H 
 
 we are made children, beareth witness with our spirit, &c. It is a 
 matter of dispute what sort of evidence the Apostle here means, and 
 what kind of certainty arises from it : some opinions stated : present 
 discussion confined to St. Paul, and the endeavor to collect his 
 meaning in the text. In this three things considered : — I. Ilovv 
 many witnesses St. Paul points out, and who they are : II. What 
 kind of evidence each of them gives in this case: III. What the 
 result of their evidence is, and with what kind of certainty we know 
 that we are the children of God. I. According to our translation, 
 the witnesses are evidently two in number ; the Spirit of adoption 
 which Christians receive is one witness, and our own spirit is the 
 other. The vulgar Latin, and several other translators, render the 
 words to the following effect : the Spirit itself beareth witness to our 
 spirit : according to this sense, which is held by Grotius, Crellius, 
 and some others, there is but one witness, the Spirit of adoption, who 
 beareth witness to our spirit: but our translation is right : this shown 
 by the invariable signification of the word avu^aprvpelv in the New 
 Testament, instanced in Romans ii. 15. ix. 1. We have therefore 
 two witnesses : and who they are is next considered. Who the first 
 Spirit is must be learnt from what goes before : in verses 2, 9, 11, 
 and 15 of this chapter, we read of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus, 
 the Spirit of God and of Christ, the Spirit of him that raised up 
 Jesus, and the Spirit of adoption, by which we cry Abba, Father. 
 In the verse of the text, reference is made to this Spirit : but the 
 question is, whether Spirit in all these places be the name of a 
 person, or whether it denotes only a quality or temper belonging to 
 Christians, as in Phil. ii. 5. which sense Crellius and others main- 
 tain, and explain the text thus: our evangelical spirit, or temper, is 
 a sufficient argument to our own minds that we are the children of 
 God. This point is not disputed here, as it would occasion too long 
 a controversy : but though the Spirit of Christ sometimes is used in 
 this sense, is it so used in the text? This Spirit is the Spirit of 
 life, by which we are made free from the heavy yoke of sin, which 
 the Apostle had been describing in the preceding chapter : now an 
 evangelical spirit is not the cause, but the consequent of this free- 
 dom. Again, it is the Spirit of him who raised up Christ, i. e. the 
 Spirit by which he wrought that miracle, as is evident from taking 
 the whole of the eleventh verse together; it is the Holy Spirit, who 
 is mighty in works and wonders. Lastly, it is the Spirit of adoption, 
 by which we are made sons: the Spirit of adoption is the Spirit of 
 which we are born in Christ ; of which birth an evangelical temper 
 is the efi'ect, not the cause: so that it appears this first witness is 
 the Holy Spirit of God ; the second is our own spirit, that is, our 
 mind and conscience. Who knoiveth the things of a man, save the 
 spirit of a man that is in him? II. Inquiry into what evidence 
 each of them gives in this case. For this we must look back to the 
 latter part of the foregoing chapter, to which this verse of the text 
 relates : for in all this eighth chapter there is not one word said 
 before of our own mind or spirit, nor the least hint of any evidence 
 which, it gives of our being the children of God. The great privi- 
 leges mentioned in this chapter, such as the being made free from th» 
 
24 SUMMARIES OF 
 
 law of sin and death, the walking not after the flesh, but after the 
 Spirit, these being such as we receive from the Spirit of God, are evi- 
 dences of the Spirit for our regeneration : where then must we look 
 for the evidence of our own spirit ? This diflficulty put the Greek 
 commentators on a very forced interpretation of the passage : for 
 observing that all the signs of adoption proceeded from the power and 
 working of the Holy Spirit, in effect they made the two witnesses of 
 the text but one. Thus Chrysostom by the Spirit itself under- 
 stands the Holy Spirit; and by our spirit, the gift of the Holy 
 Spirit within us. This interpretation refuted. Keeping, then, to the 
 sense already laid down, we must consider what St. Paul had in 
 view when he penned the place in question. In this Apostle's 
 writings we must often search for the connexion at a considerable 
 distance from the passage : with respect to the one before us, in the 
 latter part of chapter vii. he describes the state of an unregenerate 
 Jew, or heathen, in order to show to his converts the necessity of 
 redemption through Christ, as neither the law of Moses nor of nature 
 could free them from the power of sin, nor from death which fol- 
 lows it : then in this 8th chapter he sets forth the power of redemp- 
 tion, showing how it supplies the infirmities both of the Law and of 
 Nature: to clear the matter still more, what he says of the unrege- 
 nerate man's condition in chap. vii. is more particularly examined : 
 he is described as under the most wretched slavery to sin, though 
 with the greatest reluctance to his own mind and reason ; as loving 
 God and his Law, but obeying the tyrant sin : so that the evidence 
 of reason even in a state of nature, shows that we are the servants 
 and sons of God ; but power constrains us, last rules over us, and 
 experience shows that we are the slaves of sin : to complete this 
 evidence of our minds, nothing more is wanting than to destroy the 
 power of sin, which will enable us to follow the dictates of reason, 
 and obey the laws of God : for this is complete evidence that a man 
 is a son and servant of God, that he loves and obeys him. In the 
 8th chapter, then, St. Paul tells us, that the redemption by Christ 
 has put an end to our wretched captivity: the power of the Spirit 
 has destroyed the power of sin : but the power of, the Spirit 
 is on reason's side and works with it ; so that to be under this power 
 is a state of freedom; and therefore it is justly said, that the law of 
 the Spirit of life hath made us free : the consequence is, that we walk 
 not after the Jlesh, hut after the Spirit — that tve mind the things of 
 the Spirit — mortify the deeds of the body — are the sons of God — cry 
 Abba, Father : now this is to walk according to our own mind acted 
 on by reason ; and to cry Abba, Father, proceeds from a filial duty 
 and reverence : this we owe to the Spirit ; for before, though our 
 minds consented to his laws, we were still sinners, and conscience 
 kept us back from our Father: but now, like children, we run to 
 his embrace with words of affection : and thus (says the Apostle) the 
 Spirit itself beareth witness with our sjnrit that we are the children, 
 of God. 
 
 In the last place it is considered, what the result of this evidence 
 is, and with what certainty we may know that we are children of 
 God. First, it must be observed, that these two evidences strengtheiii 
 
SHERLOCK S DISCOURSES. — IX. 25 
 
 each other, and must both meet to give us the assurance we expect: 
 we must have the evidence of our own spirit that we love and 
 approve God's laws, and that of the Spirit of God working in us by 
 obedience. Two ways of judging ourselves; inward and outward 
 signs of grace : inward purity and love, with acts of obedience and 
 conformity thereto ; henoe it appears that the evidence of the Spirit 
 is not any secret inspiration, or any assurance conveyed to the mind, 
 but the evidence of works, such as by the Spirit we perform : hence 
 also, it appears that some go too far on the other side, by denying 
 that any man may know himself to be in a state of grace: for all the 
 children of God are in that state; and the evidence of the Spirit of 
 God and our own spirit may make us certain, when they concur, 
 that we are the children of God : if our hearts condemn us not, then 
 have we confidence towards God. But lastly, this certainty does not 
 extend to future and final salvation ; for to be in a state of grace, is 
 to be an heir of salvation ; but an heir may be defeated, if by any 
 after-act he incapacitate himself to inherit: our certainty reaches to 
 our present condition, which is enough to keep our minds easy : other 
 certainty than this might make us remiss: this may encourage us 
 to rtin with patience the race that is set before us. 
 
 DISCOURSE IX. 
 
 JOHN, CHAP. XX. VERSES 30, 31. 
 
 And many other signs truly did Jesus in the presence of his disciples, 
 which are not written in this book. But these are written, that ye might 
 believe that Jesus is the Clirist, the Son of God ; and that believing ye 
 
 might have life through his name. 
 
 u 
 
 This account given by St. John to prevent the suspicions which 
 some might entertain of their preachers, when they found the great 
 evidences insisted on by them not mentioned by him, who, as the 
 latest Evangelist, might be supposed to be the most accurate. But 
 why, speaking of the miracles of Jesus, does he notice only that theif 
 were done in the presence of the disciples ? whereas they were done in 
 the most open and public manner; by which much credibility is 
 added to them, as the Apostle well knew. The reason of this is, that 
 it was not to St. John's purpose on their publicity : he is speaking of 
 the authoritative promulgation of the gospel, and this led him no 
 further than to observe that its publishers were eye-witnesses of what 
 they attested, and therefore unexceptionable witnesses. Reason also 
 assigned in the text, which moved St. John to publish his gospel, and 
 which extends to all the other writings of the 'Sew Testament. The 
 gospels were published to be a standing evidence to all ages of God's 
 purpose to redeem the world by his Son, who might die for our sins, 
 and rise again for our justification : and it was absolutely necessary 
 to convey this knowlege to the world by a proper authority : impos- 
 sible to obey any law before we kuow what the law is : this equally 
 
2(5 SUMMARIES OF 
 
 applicable to revelation ; and an insuflScient promulgation is no pro- 
 mulgation : all the necessary qualifications to constitute a proper 
 witness to revelation lieed not be stated : sufficient to observe that no 
 man is naturally qualified for it, because all natural qualifications 
 may be counterfeited. Things in common life are readily believed 
 on the report of honest men, but the moral probability of such things 
 goes far in rendering them credible : it requires another kind of evi- 
 dence to make the mind submit to the belief of things out of the 
 course of nature : hence men must be extraordinarily qualified to 
 promulgate a revelation : we rely not, in such case, merely on their 
 moral honesty, but on their authority proved by miracles, and on 
 their integrity established by what they did and suffered in the cause. 
 But, it may be asked, how shall we distinguish between the many 
 and various pretences to revelation ? is it not the more sure way to 
 take up with natural religion, which is every where the same, and in 
 which tliere is no danger of our being misled by imposture ! To 
 form a true judgment on this case it is necessary to state the question 
 rightly on the footing of this objection. First then, the question 
 must relate to revelation considered only as the rule and measure of 
 religion : it is absurd to bring instances of any revelations which do 
 not pretend to this property, and were never pretended to be given as 
 a rule of religion, such as the oracles recorded in the Greek and Ro- 
 man histories, or even the particular messages which God sent by 
 different prophets to the Jews : for these revelations, being confined 
 to particular occasions, have no relation to our inquiry concerning a 
 rule of religion : this in great measure overthrows the truth of the 
 fact on which the objection is built : for though in the heathen world 
 there were sundry pretences to revelation, yet not any one was set up 
 as a common standard for the religion of mankind : that none 
 claimed such privilege, is evident from the answer of the oracle to the 
 inquiry, which religion was best? This was, that every man should 
 worship according to the custom of the country where he was : so that 
 all religions were esteemed equally good, and the most that each 
 pretended to was a local authority. 
 
 But it may be said, that though these religions do not oblige 
 us ; yet if any of them were true, they effectually overthrow all 
 others; for God cannot contradict himself; and on this ground 
 these several pretences come within our inquiry. This reasoning 
 may be good ; but then it goes effectually to exclude all these pre- 
 tences ; for the voice of nature is the voice of God, and therefore 
 cannot be contradicted by God : no revelation therefore can be con- 
 sidered which contradicts anyone plain principle of natural religion; 
 and there is not one form of those alluded to, that does not split on 
 this rock : but farther, which of them all so much as pretends to the 
 essentials necessary to constitute a law, human or divine? Take 
 the instance of Rome : what was Numa? a king, and therefore sub- 
 mitted to in religious innovations: but what mark of a divine com- 
 mission can be produced ? Still it may be urged, that the many 
 pretences to inspiration which have been admitted, are so many in- 
 stances of the inability of men to distinguish between true and false 
 in the present case : how can we trust our judgment, when so many. 
 
SHERLOCK S DISCOURSES. — IX. 27 
 
 Tvlio thought they acted rationally, have been mistaken ! AVhy, 
 then, should we expose ourselves to almost certain error by follow- 
 ing the same steps? Whatever force there is in this argument, it 
 must recoil on natural religion ; on many points of which men in all 
 ages have grossly and universally erred : what security have we that 
 we shall not commit the same mistakes ? Even the errors of the 
 heathen are chargeable on this blindness and ignorance of nature ; 
 had she done her part, men could not have been imposed on by such 
 gross superstitions. 
 
 What is it now that discovers to us these impostures, which were 
 not seen before? What, but that true sense of reason and nature 
 which is newly kindled and lighted up in the mind by the gospel ? 
 the want of which darkened the old world : it is therefore absurd to 
 suppose that we are in the same danger of being deceived by pre- 
 tended revelations : for ask any one, who makes this objection, if he 
 thinks one of the heathen forms of worship could be imposed on 
 himself. 
 
 From these pretences, then, let us turn to the true revelations of 
 the same period, and see how far they relate to the present case : 
 those given to particular men on particular occasions are of course 
 omitted : the law of Moses considered : this must be viewed on 
 different principles by the Jews and by us: to them it was given 
 and declared; they are under its obligations; and they are con- 
 cerned to inquire, not only about the truth of a subsequent revela- 
 tion, but whether it abrogates their law, or is to subsist with it ; as 
 also whether their law has precluded them from receiving any far- 
 ther revelations. With us the question is, how we are concerned 
 with the law; for it is plain that no revelation can oblige those to 
 whom it is not addressed : and in the very promulgation of the law 
 of Moses we find it confined to the people of Israel — Hear, O Israel: 
 and this was known to be the case under the law : Deut. iv. 8. 
 Ps. cxlvii. 19, 20. The law of Moses then has no claim to our obe- 
 dience, farther than the moral part of it, when understood, will 
 oblige every rational being : this however is not the obligation we 
 are now considering. But the law affords to us abundant evidence 
 for the truth of the gospel. 
 
 But what alteration happened after the coming of Christ to unset- 
 tle our judgments in this important matter? Many instances of 
 pretenders to revelations in history; but all vanished and were for- 
 gotten ; the want of general promulgation shows that God had no 
 hand in them, and therefore absurd to instance them. 
 
 So the case stood, and the gospel had no competitor till the suc- 
 cessful impostor Mahomet arose : he pretended a commission to all 
 the world, found means to publish his pretences, and asserted his 
 authority on the strength of revelation. With respect to this instance, 
 it is not very likely to bias our choice. Go to natural religion : lay 
 before her Mahomet and his disciples arrayed in armor and blood, 
 &c. Show them to her in their retirement, the slaves of lust, See, 
 which they justify by a divine commission — then show her the blessed 
 Jesus, humble, and meek, and doing good to all men ; injured, but 
 
28 SUMMARIES OF 
 
 not provoked ; and praying for his very enemies in the agony of 
 death : when she has viewed both, ask, which is the prophet of 
 God ? But we have already had her answer from the lips of the 
 centurion at the cross — Truly this man tvas the Son of God. 
 
 DISCOURSE X. 
 
 ACTS, CHAP. II. VERSE 22. 
 
 Jesus of Nazareth, a man approved of God among you by miracles and 
 wonders and signs, which God did by him in the midst of you, as ye 
 yourselves also know. 
 
 The great evidence of Christianity lies in the miracles done to 
 confirm the authority and commission of Jesus. This the only 
 reasonable evidence of his coming from God ; see John xv. 24. : 
 without this undeniable proof, men would have been acquitted for 
 not believing him ; see John x. 37. Christ refers the messengers, 
 whom John sent, to the works which he did. 
 
 The truth of Christianity, therefore, resting on miracles, it is 
 shown — 
 
 I. Wherein the true force of this argument from miracles consists, 
 and what it is they prove. 
 
 II. What sort of works are to be admitted for miracles, in proving 
 the truth of any religion. 
 
 First: Miracles are not intended to prove the being of a God, nor 
 the doctrines of morality ; inasmuch as natural religion has for its 
 evidence the works of nature; and in the most degenerate times 
 God did not leave himself without witness, &c. No revelation can 
 bring greater works to prove its authority, than those by which the 
 clear dictates of natural religion are proved ; nor is there any other 
 distinction between miracles and the works of nature than this, that 
 the latter are works of great power constantly produced, the former 
 are such wrought in an unusual way. Hence, no revelation can con- 
 tradict or make void any clear dictate of natural religion ; and there- 
 fore the principles of natural religion must be supposed from the 
 foundation of revealed, as in Heb. ii. 6. 
 
 But to ascertain the use of miracles we must consider when and 
 why they were introduced. In early times we meet with none ; for 
 there was no occasion for them while men preserved a right notion of 
 God ; were acquainted, as it were, with him ; and knew his voice 
 when he spoke. But when idolatry prevailed, and every nation had 
 its deity, to whom it gave the name of god, then it was necessary, for 
 the preservation of true religion, to distinguish between the true God 
 and pretended ones. Then God thought proper to show his supe- 
 riority over the heathen deities, and to assume a character of dis- 
 tinction by his mighty works. The first miracles of which we 
 
SHERLOCK'S DISCOURSES. — X. 2^ 
 
 hare any account, were those wrought in E^ypt, at which time 
 God declared himself to be the God of the Hebrews. The ques- 
 tion arises, NVhy did he, who is the God oi all the ivorld, so style 
 himself? To account for this, the state of religion in the world 
 at that time must be considered. All the nations of the earth had 
 at that time their local deities. Here the question was between 
 God under the character of God of the Hebrews, and that of God 
 of the Egyptians, which of them was supreme ; and this could 
 only be determined by a superiority of power shown in miracles ; 
 and those wrought by Moses were such as plainly pointed out 
 the hand of the Almighty Creator. But the purpose of God in 
 sending Moses to show his wonders in Egypt, was not only to deliver 
 the Hebrews, but to make his name known over all nations. Egypt 
 was a gi'eat country, notorious for idolatry, from whence the infec- 
 tion spread to others : hence the properest scene on which God 
 could exert his power for the conviction of all people. And the 
 miracles wrought there were such as all the world had a concern in, 
 being so near akin to the works of creation, that by a just comparison 
 they might be known to come from the same hand ; for who but the 
 Author of Nature could stir up things animate and inanimate to 
 punish oSenders? Did not God, by these signs, speak plainly to 
 them and say, ' See now that t, even I, am he, and there is no God 
 with me : I kill, and I make alive,' &c. Dent, xxxii. 39. This use 
 of miracles appears throughout the history of the Jews: instanced in 
 the contest of Elijah and the priests of Baal, 1 Kings xviii. 21 . The 
 case of the destruction of the Assyrian army in the reign of Hezekiah, 
 seems to carry with it a severity hard to be accounted for ; since other 
 princes had laid siege to Jerusalem without incurring so terrible a 
 calamity. But Sennacherib sent a defiance to God, and boasted of 
 victories obtained against him : he acted like Pharaoh, and suffered 
 like him; being made an example to show the supremacy of God to 
 all nations. This indeed appears to be the first and original use of 
 miracles. The miracles of the magicians shown to have added to, 
 rather than detracted from, the authority of the works done by 
 Moses. 
 
 With respect to the Jews, miracles had a double use. By their 
 long continuance in Egypt they became infected with idolatry, so 
 that they wanted a proof that the God of their fathers was the 
 Supreme Being, as much as the Egyptians themselves ; thus 
 Ezekiel xx. 5. &c. But there was also a use of miracles peculiar 
 to them, in which the Egyptians had no concern : Moses was sent, 
 not only to be their deliverer, but their lawgiver. The Jews were 
 called out of Egypt to be the peculiar people of God, under a new 
 covenant, 6lc. for which Moses could give them no assurance but 
 by the evidence of works, which plainly appeared to come from the 
 hand of God. 
 
 The Jewish government, being a theocracy, leads us to expect a 
 series of miracles in its administration : and such was the case ; and 
 these were constant and standing proofs to them, and to the nations 
 around, that their God was the Lord. But Moses had no successor 
 
30 SUMMARIES OF 
 
 as a lawgiver, until the great Prophet, like unto Moses, came, in the 
 full power and authority of God, to make a new covenant, not with 
 one people, but with all nations; Jesus of Nazareth, a man approved 
 of God by miracles, &c. 
 
 As before observed, the great doctrines of natural religion have for 
 evidence the works of nature, and want not the support of miracles. 
 But when any new doctrine, of which nature has given no notice, is 
 published, such must be established by new proofs. Reason, indeed, 
 shows that God is to be trusted and obeyed in what he promises or 
 commands ; but still a proof is required, that such promises or 
 commands do come from him : hence miracles necessary to the intro- 
 duction of a new revelation. Miracles do not prove the truth of any 
 doctrine, but that the commission of him who does them, comes from 
 him by whose power alone they could be performed. The law of 
 Moses requiring submission to commands and doctrines that are not 
 established by the light of nature, it was necessary to found them on 
 the authority of God, to which no submission could be due till suffi- 
 cient evidence was given of it, to guard men from imposition, &c. ; 
 and whoever considers of what consequence it was to mankind to 
 have a standing evidence of the unity and supremacy of God mani- 
 fested in his government of the Jews, and how the Mosaic Dispen- 
 sation prepared the way for the salvation of the world by the gospel, 
 will see reason to think that the end proposed was worthy of God, 
 and that his acts herein were not only those of power, but of great 
 benevolence. 
 
 The miracles of the gospel had the same, or a greater end in view. 
 As Moses overcame the magicians of Egypt, and their false gods, 
 our Saviour destroyed the power of Satan and wicked spirits, and 
 idolatrous rites. If Moses had a divine commission to the Jews, 
 Jesus had a more ample one, to publish salvation to all mankind ; 
 and as the terms of it were such as human wisdom could never 
 suggest, hence the necessity of miracles. 
 
 No miracles can alter the clear dictates of natural religion ; and 
 such is the case also with respect to any former divine revelation : 
 admitting therefore the Mosaic and Christian revelation to be both 
 divine, they must be consistent, each in its proper place carrying on 
 the views of Providence : this evidently was the case of Moses ; and 
 to this purpose are the words of our Saviour, Matthew v. 17. IB. : 
 he also constantly appealed to the Law and the Prophets: so also 
 St. Paul before Agrippa, Acts xxvi. 22. Indeed one revelation 
 admitted to be of divine authority, must be a touchstone to try all 
 succeeding revelations; for God cannot contradict himself: the 
 miracles of Moses and our Saviour not only prove their divine 
 authority, but are a bar to all succeeding pretenders. The miracles 
 reported to have been done in the heathen world are unworthy of 
 God, who does not work miracles merely to astonish men, but to 
 serve the great ends of Providence ; and he did not rest the authority 
 of his law on one or more single miracles, but on a long series ; and 
 if miracles are properly applied as a proof of God's will, then such 
 as are wrought without any declaration of his will, in which we have 
 
Sherlock's discourses. — x. 91 
 
 any concern, are not to be set up in opposition to those of Moses and 
 Christ, which involve the happiness of mankind here and hereafter. 
 Miracles worked for the establishment of the gospel, compared with 
 the pretended ones of the heathen. 
 
 Some miracles mentioned in the Old Testament as wrought in 
 behalf of particular people and for particular purposes, though of 
 divine authority, not to be set in competition with those of the gospel ; 
 they are to be considered merely as acts of God's government in his 
 capacity of King of Israel. 
 
 Secondly, It is considered what sort of works are to be admitted 
 for miracles, in proving the truth of a religion. 
 
 The first inquiry is. Whether the miracles might not proceed from 
 human art or cunning : but it scarcely can be necessary to prove that 
 such miracles as raising the dead, giving sight to the blind, &c. 
 exceed the power of man. But perhaps they were not done, aud 
 were only false appearances ; as when the man born blind was 
 restored to sight, he did not recover his eyes, but the people lost 
 theirs : now this would have been the greater miracle of the two. 
 
 But must they of necessity proceed from God, because they could 
 not be wrought by men ? Is there no order of beings capable of per- 
 forming them? Can we safely say that no being but the All-wise 
 and Almighty God could perform them, seeing that neither the 
 miracles of the gospel, nor the works of nature, directly prove an 
 infinite power or wisdom ? 
 
 This matter rightly stated : the works of nature, though they may 
 not appear works of an infinite power, do prove an all-powerful 
 cause, or the being of a God, because they of necessity prove a first 
 cause of all things ; which cause being unlimited, nothing is or can 
 be done which it cannot do. It must then be remembered that a 
 revelation is not introduced to prove the being of a God ; that our 
 Saviour's miracles were not wrought for that purpose ; but supposing 
 the being of a God, to prove him the author of the revelation : if 
 then as good arguments be brought to prove God the author of the 
 revelation, as can be brought to prove his being, all who believe the 
 one must believe the other. The miracles of the gospel examined in 
 this point of view, and shown to prove — First, That God is the maker 
 of the world : Secondly, That he is the governor of it : Thirdly, 
 That he has the essential attributes of justice, righteousness, holiness, 
 and goodness. 
 
 But it is asked, how do we know that the miracles of the gospel 
 did not proceed from an evil power, since there are instances, as some 
 think, of miracles so wrought? This question answered: we know 
 it in the same way that any man knows the works of nature to pro- 
 ceed from a good being : the love of virtue, and hatred of vice, is as 
 inseparable from the gospel of Christ as from the reason of man ; and 
 the former more distinctly teaches us to know and acknowlege the 
 holiness and groodness of God, than reason or the works of nature 
 can do. But this, it is said, is to argue in a circle, is to prove the 
 doctrines first by miracles, and then the miracles by the doctrines : 
 the objection a mistake, which lies in this ; that men do not distin- 
 
32 SUMMARIES OF 
 
 guish between the doctrines proved by miracles, and the doctrines by 
 which miracles are tried ; for they are not the same. God never 
 wrought miracles to prove the difference between good and evil : this 
 existed and was known befors the gospel ; but the doctrines proved 
 by miracles are the new revealed doctrines of Christianity, unknown 
 to and undiscoverable by man's reason. Concluding exhortation to 
 those who hold fast and admire the principles of natural religion, 
 but despise or overlook the proofs of Christianity : the same reasons 
 which oblige them to believe in God, oblige them to believe in 
 Christ also. 
 
 DISCOURSE XI. 
 
 PSALM VIII. VERSE 4. 
 
 What is man, that thou art mindful of him ? and the son of man, that 
 thou visitest him ? 
 
 The reflection of the text naturally suggested by a consideration of 
 the care of Providence, exemplified either in the works of nature or 
 of grace. In the works of nature the glories of the heavens and the 
 earth, plainly intended for our benefit, naturally lead us to wonder 
 at the goodness of God in thus providing for beings so insignificant. 
 The same reflection may be made on the works of grace. Why 
 should God continue his care towards sinful and disobedient crea- 
 tures, and not only forgive them, but scud his own Son to redeem 
 them with his blood ? These reflections, which should naturally 
 lead us to adore God's goodness, sometimes induce men to suspect 
 the truth of the whole history of the redemption : their reasoning on 
 this point shown to be erroneous; it being as hard to conceive that 
 God should create this world for creatures like us, as it is that he 
 should send his Son to redeem us : since it was as agreeable to God's 
 goodness to make such creatures, it was consistent also that he 
 should exert his power to save them. It is shown that a great 
 opinion of ourselves and of the figure we make in the universe would 
 be injurious to religion, serving only to exclude a sense of dependence 
 and gratitude to God. The Psalmist's reflection in the text evinces a 
 sense of dependence on God, admiration of his mercies, and a con- 
 sciousness of unworthiness : yet it has been used to other purposes ; 
 and as it has been said that the great works of nature are too won- 
 derful to have been formed for so inconsiderable a part of creation as 
 the race of men, so also, with regard to the work of our redemption, 
 that the end is not proportionate to the stupendous means used to 
 attain it. It is considered whether these reflections be a suflScient 
 ground for questioning the truth of the gospel. Are we proper 
 judges in this matter? Although in human affairs we may form a 
 
SHERLOCK .S DISCOURSES. — Xll. 33 
 
 Juilgmeiit by comparing tlie means and the end, and knowing the 
 power of the agent, yet this will not apply to the works of nature, 
 where the power of the agent is infinite ; and as we cannot perfectly 
 comprehend the end proposed, we are not qualified to judge rightly 
 in the case before us : as all things are equally easy to be effected by 
 God, we act most absurdly when we pretend to judge of his works 
 by comparing them with th« ends which we can discover to be served 
 by them. This reasoning equally strong when applied to the works 
 of grace. The wonders of the redemption are great and mysterious 
 to us; but nothing is difficult with God. In judging of this matter 
 we are also liable to fall into the error of supposing that we are the 
 only persons concerned in the redemption, which, however imme- 
 diately it concerns us, is intimated in many parts of Scripture to be 
 adapted to answer the general ends of God's government in the 
 universal moral world. The propriety of this will not be discovered 
 by us, till we are enabled by a clearer light to see the whole scheme 
 of Providence together. It has been shown that the objections 
 against God's government in the natural and moral world, founded 
 on the disproportion between the means used and the ends proposed, 
 arise from the short-sightedness of men, and their propensity to judge 
 on subjects on which tiiey are ill-informed. It is considered whether 
 the reflections which have given rise to these objections do not admit 
 of very difl"erent conclusions. Since God has provided abundantly 
 for us in this life, it is reasonable to infer from thence that he will 
 also provide for our well-being as moral and religious creatures. 
 This shown also to be consistent with what the gospel has revealed 
 to us. If we consider the advantages we enjoy from the works of 
 nature, and compare them with the greater works of grace manifested 
 in the gospel, it will appear that the methods of Providence, by 
 which we hope to be saved, and which we have from revelation, are 
 liable to no other objections than those are by which we live and 
 which we see daily with our eyes. In both cases we may justly 
 express ourselves in the words of the text. 
 
 DISCOURSE XII. 
 
 ACTS, CHAP. X. VERSES 34, 35. 
 
 Then Peter opened his moutli, and said. Of a truth I perceive tliat God is 
 no respecter of persons: but in every nation he that feareth him, and 
 worketh righteousness, is accepted with him. 
 
 Some men have been bold enough to despise and reject the offer 
 of salvation by the gospel, conceiving themselves authorised by this 
 text to live according to the principles and light of nature : hence 
 worth while to examine its real meaning. It is shown that the Jews 
 
 PART I. c 
 
34 SUMMARIES OF 
 
 had a notion, that the blessings of the promised Messiah were to be 
 confined to themselves; which notion the disciples, and especially 
 St. Peter, entertained : the former however were soon convinced that 
 God had also unto the Gentiles granted repentance unto life (Acts 
 xi. 18), and the latter, comparing Cornelius's vision with his own, 
 expresses his own conviction of the same truth in the words of the 
 text. In his confession, to he accepted with God, has the same 
 meaning as the expression, repentance unto life, in theirs ; both mean 
 admission into the covenant of God through Christ: so that the text 
 signifies, that ' God has not confined his mercies to a particular 
 nation ; but that all are capable of inheriting his promises in Christ, 
 who are duly prepared by righteousness and the fear of God.' 
 
 This farther shown by an examination of the case of Cornelius, and 
 what the acceptance was which he found. He was a Gentile, and 
 one of the best ; yet this did not make it unnecessary for him to become 
 a Christian ; indeed the vision was sent for a contrary purpose — to 
 inform him where he might seek and find a proper instructor : nor 
 could St. Peter mean that those who did their best, on the light of 
 nature, had no need of any other teacher; else he would not have 
 instructed him in the knowlege, and baptised him in the name of 
 Christ. St. Peter meant that all Gentiles, duly prepared, were 
 capable of the mercies of the gospel, in opposition to his former 
 error, that the Jews only had this privilege. 
 
 Hence we may learn what is the true notion of that acceptance to 
 which the Gentiles are thus entitled. 
 
 But a difficulty arises from the terms to which St. Peter limits this 
 privilege ; viz. to those only who ^ear God and work righteousness ; 
 which seems to take it for granted that we are possessed of the main 
 thing for which the privilege is given ; inasmuch as it is one great 
 end of Christianity to teach us those things. To clear up this matter, 
 a consideration of Heb. xi. G. recommended : a man cannot offer 
 himself to God, much less enter into the covenant of his mercy, 
 without a firm persuasion of his Being, and a due notion of his attri- 
 butes : without this the gospel cannot be so much as tendered to him ; 
 for it does not teach, but supposes this doctrine : St. Peter therefore 
 must not be understood as limiting the mercies of God to certain 
 persons of the best character, but rather as declaring the natural order 
 of things : it is frecpiently taught that Christ came to save sinners; 
 and therefore he exhorted to repentance, as John the Baptist did 
 before him. 
 
 But should the case of the devout Cornelius incline us to think 
 that St. Peter meant a greater degree of goodness than was com- 
 monly to be found, this will show that the best of men stand in need 
 of the assistance of the gospel to secure to themselves the end of their 
 hopes : those who are of a different opinion, are recommended to con- 
 sider the high moral character of Cornelius, and then ask themselves, 
 why God should send a vision to him and to St. Peter for the pur- 
 pose of making him a Christian. 
 
 It may be asked perhaps, what would have become of Cornelius, 
 had he died, as he lived, without coming to the knowlege of Christ? 
 
SHERLOCK S DISCOURSKS. — X III . Sf) 
 
 a question of speculation more than profit, and which can no way 
 art'ect us who arc callfccl to that knowlege. We may well take it for 
 granted, that, had he so died, he would have found rest to his soul 
 through God's mercy. It concerns us more to consider, what his case 
 would have been, if he had rejected the call made by St. Peter, and 
 insisted on his own merits and virtue in opposition to the grace otiered 
 him by the gospel : would this have been a pardonable error ? could 
 he have maintained his former character after such contempt? and 
 what would his future works have been worth, after he had re- 
 nounced that sacrifice which alone could sanctify them ? Yet bad as 
 his supposed case would have been, it is the case of those who, 
 having been betimes instructed in the knowlege of the gospel, reject 
 it under the color of preserving the purity of natural religion ; for the 
 voice of God is the same, whether he speaks by his Apostles, or by 
 his Ansels. 
 
 DISCOURSE XIII. 
 
 MATTHEW, CHAP. XXII. VERSE 40. 
 On these two commandments hang all the law and the prophets. 
 
 Meaning of the text is, that the whole reason of religion lies In 
 these two general commandments, or that in them all its particular 
 duties and precepts are founded. Two heads of this discourse as 
 follows : I. The true meaning and import of these commandments 
 shown. II. Some useful remarks made on the whole. 
 
 In St. Mark's Gospel the same thing is said in different words: 
 there is none other commandment greater than these: Mark xii. 31. 
 As beyond them there is nothing greater, by these two principles 
 all the duties of religion must be governed. The reason of this is 
 plain : for the relation between God and man being once known, the 
 first conclusion is, that ive ought to love the Lord our God with all 
 our heart, &c.; and until this general principle be established, the 
 particular duties owing to God cannot fall under our consideration. 
 The same reason holds respecting the second general head : for the 
 relation of man to man, and the common relation of all to one great 
 master, being supposed, the result is, that we ought to love our neigh- 
 bor as ourselves, that is, to do all we can to promote the happiness 
 of each other. 
 
 These general principles being established, the particular duties 
 flow from them naturally, and form a complete system of religion. 
 The duties of religion are all relative, and there is no relative duty 
 that love does not readily transform itself into, according to the cir- 
 cumstances of the person concerned : thus, love to a superior be- 
 comes honor and respect ; to an equal, friendship and benevolence; 
 
36 SUMMARIES OF 
 
 to an inferior, courtesy and condescension ; to the miserable, pity and 
 compassion. In negative duties this principle is no less effectual 
 than in positive. Love will not permit us to injure or offend our 
 brother, to neglect our betters, or despise our inferiors, &c. for love 
 worketh no ill to his neighbor. This deduction of particular duties 
 from the general principle is made by St. Paul, Rom. xiii. B. &c. 
 This notion of love, as being the fulness of the law, &c., explains a 
 passage in St. James, chap. ii. 10. Whosoever shall keep the whole 
 law, and offend in one point, he is guilty of all. The common inter- 
 pretation of this passage shown to be erroneous. It has another ap- 
 pearance when fairly examined. In order to do this, we must look 
 back to that which gave occasion to it, and follow the Apostle's 
 argument step by step. The whole depends on the notion, which is 
 common to the writers of the New Testament, that love is thefuljill- 
 ing of the law. St. James considers the whole duty of man as con- 
 tained in one law, viz., thou shall love thy neighbor as thyself; and 
 then he argues rightly, that he who offends in one point is guilty 
 of the whole law : for whether it be theft, or murder, or adultery, 
 that you commit, it matters not ; for any of these crimes is inconsis- 
 tent with the law, which contains, and is, tlie whole. Thou shalt love 
 thy neighbor as thyself: this farther shown from the 8th verse, where 
 this law is called the Royal Laiv, because it is the first supreme law 
 from which all others proceed, &c. This different version of the 
 11th verse of St. James given in the margin of the Bible. Being 
 thus understood, there is no occasion for any nice distinctions to show 
 how a man, by offending against one law, may become guilty of all ; 
 for this is no longer found to be a part of the Apostle's doctrine; 
 which is, that he who sins in any particular instance against his 
 brother, will be found to be a transgressor against this great vital 
 principle of religion. Thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself. 
 
 The other general head referred to in the text considered; viz., 
 the love of God: this called the first and great commandment : from 
 this head is to be deduced all the service, worship, and honor which 
 we owe and pay to our Creator. All the duties of religion are 
 relative; which is true here; for the duties we owe to God spring 
 from the relation between God and us: also love naturally transforms 
 itself into all relative duties according to circumstances : thus, if we 
 love God, and consider him as Lord and Governor of the world, our 
 love will soon become obedience ; if we consider him wise, good, and 
 gracious, it will become honor and adoration ; and so on. 
 
 In the second place, Some reflections made which seem to arise 
 naturally from the subject. 
 
 First ; These two principles, from which all religion flows, must be 
 consistent with one another, otherwise they could not both be prin- 
 ciples of the same religion : the love of God therefore can in no case 
 oblige us to act contrary to the love of our neighbor. One thing in 
 our Saviour's argument, which may perhaps mislead some men, and 
 therefore should be considered : of the love of God, it is said that it 
 is the first and great commandment; the love of our neighbor is 
 styled the second, like unto it: whence it might be inferred that the 
 
Sherlock's discouuses.— xiv. 37 
 
 first is a law of superior obligation to the second, and may in some 
 instances control and overrule it : it is shown however that this is not 
 tile case; and that our Saviour's saying that the love of God is the 
 first commandment, is no reason for thinking that it is or can be in- 
 consistent with the second : on the contrary, the love of our neighbor 
 being deducible from the love of God, must ever agree with it : faults 
 of ancient writers on morality shown, in that they have not gone 
 higher for principles to build their precepts on, than to the common 
 desires of nature and the several relations of man to man. 
 
 Secondly ; Our Saviour having declared that on these two com- 
 mandments hang all the law and the pi-ophcts, nothing is or ought to 
 be esteemed religion, that is not reducible to one or other of these 
 principles. What then, it may be said, become of the institutions of 
 religion, which cannot properly be referred to either? are they then 
 no part of religion ? It is answered to this, that there is a manifest 
 dift'erence between religion and the means of religion : whatever is 
 part of religion, and yet not so on account of moral reason, can only 
 be esteemed as means, ordained not for their own sake, but for the 
 sake of that religion which is founded on moral reason. This dis- 
 tinction might teach men where to point their best endeavors, and 
 where to place their hopes : for if our zeal be spent only on the 
 means, and goes no farther, we are yet in our sins. 
 
 Hence also it is shown that there can be no competition or dis- 
 agreement between the duties called moral and those called positive. 
 
 DISCOURSE XIV. 
 
 HEBREWS, CHAP. III. VERSE 12. 
 
 Take lieed, brethren, lest there be in any of you an evil heart of unbelief 
 in departing from the living God. 
 
 PART I. 
 
 The text evidently contains an earnest exhortation, the subject of 
 which is faith towards God ; for faith is the principle destroyed by 
 an evil heart of iinbelief: but some think that faith is not a proper 
 subject of exhortation, since it is a mere act of the mind judging on 
 motives of credibility ; and it is as reasonable to exhort a man to see 
 with his eyes, as to judge with his understanding: the warmest 
 admonition will not enlarge the sight, &c. ; and in faith the case is 
 much the same. 
 
 If then this be the true notion of faith, how conies it that in every 
 page we find praises of it in the gospel ? What is there in this to 
 deserve the blessings promised to the faithful ? W^hence is it that the 
 
38 SUMMARIES OF 
 
 whole of our salvation is put on this ground, and that so many pre- 
 rogatives belong to faith, if faith be nothing else but the believing 
 things in themselves credible ? Why are we not said to be justified 
 by sight, as well as by faith ? 
 
 But farther: if faith be what has been stated, how comes it de- 
 scribed in Scripture as having its seat in the heart? Here shown that 
 it is so described in various instances ; hence it is necessary, for the 
 light understanding of the text, to inquire what is the true notion of 
 faith: from which will appear the propriety of the exhortation. Take 
 heed, lest there be in you an evil heart of unbelief . 
 
 With respect to the true notion of faith, every step by which we 
 advance to the last degree of perfection in it, is an act of faith, 
 though of a difterent kind, and not entitled to the praises or rewards 
 of the gospel: iience much of that confusion and inconsistency which 
 has obscured the question. To render this more plain, the degrees 
 and steps of faith by which men arrive at gospel righteousness are 
 considered : for instance, a belief in the gospel accounts — a belief in 
 the miracles of Christ and his apostles — a belief that the spirit of 
 God was given to them without measure: but no one of these de- 
 grees is the exact faith we seek after — that faith which is the prin- 
 ciple of the gospel, respects the declarations and promises of God, 
 and includes a firm reliance on him for the performance : beyond 
 this there is no farther act of faith : this is its completion, and leads 
 us to the practice of virtue as the condition on which the promises 
 are founded. It is shown that natural religion requires almost the 
 same faith, without giving us the same evidence: the professor of 
 any religion must believe that God is a rewarder of them who 
 diligently seek him : is it then become less credible that God will 
 reward the righteous, because he has sent his Son to declare his full 
 purpose to do so ? Is it harder to trust him now, since he has 
 appeared in signs and mighty works, than when we saw him only 
 by the glimmering light of nature ? &c. 
 
 Religion is a struggle between sense and faith : the temptations to 
 sin are present pleasures; the incitements to virtue are future joys: 
 these only seen by faith; those the objects of every sense: where 
 the heart is established in faith, virtue triumphs over the works of 
 darkness; where sense predominates, sin enters through every evil 
 passion of the heart : hence not more absurd to say we are saved by 
 faith, than that we are ruined by sense and passion. With this 
 account of faith, the Apostle's definition, faith is the substance of 
 things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen, shown to agree. 
 
 Since then all the blessings of holiness and hopes of religion are 
 founded in faith, is it not natural to say that he who follows after 
 holiness, induced by the glorious prospects of futurity, is saved by 
 faith? This subject enlarged on. 
 
 Where faith is not strong enough to bring the things of futurity 
 into competition with present pleasures, the world must triumph, and 
 the sinner be lost for want of faith. On the other hand, what is it 
 that makes men willingly endure afflictions and persecutions, though 
 
Sherlock's discourses. — xiv. 39 
 
 they know that pleasure is better than pain, ease than torment? 
 What but faith in God, which makes them esteem his promises, as it" 
 present before their eyes ? This point enlarged on, and illustrated by 
 instances from Scripture. 
 
 Hence then it is easy to understand what the Scripture means by 
 faith overcoming the world: for religion is a contest between the 
 world and faith, between tilings present and things to come. With 
 this notion of faith, what St. Paul says in his comparison between 
 faith, hope, cliarity, and other spiritual gifts, is shown to agree; and 
 from this account we may also perceive how the heart comes to have 
 such an influence in a Christian's faith. It is the love of the world 
 that is the enemy of faith ; and is not the heart of man the magazine 
 from which the world supplies itself with arras? are not lust, envy, 
 &c. the evil treasure of an evil heart, and the fiercest combatants 
 against faith ? and may not a heart so stocked be styled a heart of 
 unbelief? 
 
 In other matters of faith which are of a more abstract nature, and 
 depend more on the reason and judgment, the heart too often inter- 
 poses with success : even here we have reason to remember the apo- 
 stolical admonition in the text. 
 
 PART II. 
 
 Consideration of the character given in the text of an unbelieving 
 heart; viz. that it makes us depart from the living God. On this 
 subject three heads: — I. It is for want of faith, as a principle of reli- 
 gion, that men depart from the living God. II. Faith cannot be 
 such a principle, until it has its effects and operations in the heart. 
 III. The motions and operations of the heart are greatly under our 
 own power and government. Hence it will appear how much it is 
 the business of a religious life to be watchful over the heart, &c. 
 
 On the first head, it is shown what is meant by departing from 
 God by ecpiivalent expressions in the chapter of which the text is a 
 part: the propriety of which expressions will appear, if we consider 
 God, as represented by the parable of the Prodigal, in the character 
 of the father of the family, and sinners as prodigal sons, who forsake 
 his house, and seduced by luxury and riot enter into the service of 
 strange masters, till the sense of want and misery brings them back 
 to beg admittance again : so the nations of old forsook the service of 
 their heavenly Father for strange deities, and became apostates and 
 slaves : when they received the gospel, it was not taking a new mas- 
 ter, but returning to their old one, and yielding an obedience that 
 was always due. Since then by faith in the gospel we become ser- 
 vants of the living God, and are once more entered into his family, 
 it is easy to see why the text charges an unbelieving heart with apo- 
 stasy from the living God : for if Christian faith unites us to him, 
 whatever destroys this principle dissolves the union ; and we cannot 
 lose our faith without departing from God. 
 
40 SUMMARIES OF 
 
 But may not the heart possibly depart from God, through the in- 
 fluence of vice and pleasure, wfiile faith stands uncorrupted ? We 
 see many, whose life is a continued scene of guilty enjoyments, who 
 yet profess to believe the doctrines of the gospel, and, for anght we 
 know, do believe them : but the gospel says, evei-y one that believeth 
 shall be saved, and all the workers of iniquity shall he destroyed: 
 if then these characters can subsist together, the gospel contains a 
 contradiction. 
 
 The diflSculty here shown to arise from confounding together ideas 
 which are distinct; from not distinguishing between faith, as a prin- 
 ciple of knowlege, and as a principle of religion : this point enlarged 
 on : the knowlege of God is like other natural knowlege, as long as 
 it resides in the head only; to become a principle of religion it 
 must descend into the heart, and teach us to love the Lord ivith all 
 our minds, &c. ; and if this be true af the knowlege of God, which 
 is the greatest of all divine truths, it must be true in all other 
 instances; the faith then of the gospel, to which the wicked man is 
 a stranger, is that which makes us cleave steadfastly to the Lord with 
 fill purpose of heart. 
 
 On the second head, if we consider religion under the notion of 
 action, this proposition has nothing strange in it; as the same is true 
 of every principle of knowlege and action ; is as true of sense as 
 it is of faith. As faith makes us cleave to God, so sense makes us 
 cleave to the world ; but till sense has possession of the heart, it has 
 no power, is of no use to the world: we learn from sense the reality 
 of things temporal : yet this assent of the mind to the evidence of 
 sense never made a man wicked or worldly-mirwled : but when sense 
 stirs up the desires of the heart, then it becomes a principle of action, 
 and a combatant for the world against the powers of faith. As is the 
 wicked man with regard to his faith in divine truths, so is the 
 righteous man in respect to things of sense : as the wicked man has 
 the knowlege of faith, but nothing religious, so has the righteous 
 man all the knowlege of sense, but nothing sensual ; the difference 
 between them is, that the one pursues objects of sense, the other ob- 
 jects of faith. This parallel traced farther, to gain a right concep- 
 tion of the nature of faith : it is shown that, to make a man perform 
 the actions either of religion or of common life, his desires, which 
 are the springs of action, must be moved; and since nothing can 
 move the desires, which is not first the object of the understanding, 
 he must have the knowlege of the things of this life and of religion, 
 and consider them under the notion of good or evil with respect to 
 himself. Now, to enjoy the things of this life is the business of the 
 sensual man ; those of a future life are the good man's concern. As 
 the objects are different, so the means of obtaining the knowlege of 
 them are different : the world has as many ways of making itself fa- 
 miliar to us, as we have senses : religion has only those dark glimpses 
 of futurity, which reason, f eble as she is, can discover : the only 
 thing then that is wanting to set religion on as high ground, and to 
 enable it to bear up against the impressions of sense, is a certain 
 
SHERLOCK'S DISCOURSES. — XIV, 41 
 
 principle of knowlege with respect to its objects : for could we as 
 evidently possess ourselves of the reality of the things of another 
 life, as of the things of this, there would be no more competition 
 between sense and religion than there is comparison between the 
 things of this life and of eternity. To supply this darkness of our 
 knowlege in religion, is the very end and design of revelation. 
 Now, as sense is to be distinguished into a princij)le of knowlege 
 and a principle of action, so is faith likewise: this distinction in the 
 case of sense may be seen in any instance : an honest man knows the 
 value of riches, as well as a thief: it is not therefore the knowlege 
 of the object, but the immoderate desire of it, that makes the dif- 
 ference. The same is the case in religion : faith, as a mere object of 
 the mind, is no principle of religion ; and one is no more a religious 
 man for knowing the articles of religion, than he is a sensual 
 man for walking with his eyes open, and seeing the world: this 
 point enlarged on. 
 
 On the whole, since religion is not a mere science and specula- 
 tion, but is to be the employment of our lives, in the love of God 
 and man ; since the knowlege of any thing, or belief of any thing, 
 as mere acts of the mind, are no principles of action ; but every ac- 
 tion proposes to itself some end, which is the object of some desire; 
 it follows that faith cannot be a principle of religion, till it becomes 
 the object of our desires, i. e. till it has its effects and operations in 
 the heart. 
 
 The great advantage which the world has over religion lies in the 
 certainty and reality of its objects : to supply this defect in religion, 
 revelation assures us of the reality of things future, to influence and 
 keep steady our affections. The objects of faith then support reli- 
 gion, as the objects of sense encourage the love of the world. 
 
 All the articles of the gospel tend to one of these ends ; either to 
 assure us of the certainty of the revelation and redemption by 
 Christ, or to set before us the very substance and image of the 
 things hoped for: this enlarged on : to reject therefore these articles, 
 is to reject the revelation and redemption of Christ, and to act purely 
 on the ground of natural religion. 
 
 The third head is a plain case, in which every man's own expe- 
 rience is his best instructor. We find daily that we can check our 
 passions and inclinations to serve the purposes of this life ; and if 
 we would do as much for that which is to come, we should answer 
 all which the text requires of us, in taking heed of an evil heart of 
 unbelief. Were it not in our power to suspend the influence of our 
 passions, a man would have no more liberty than a stone, and con- 
 sequently would be incapable of religion : though we cannot see 
 things as we will, it is in our power to pursue and court them as we 
 please : we can ratke our inclinations yield to our will, as men do 
 when they sacrifice present enjoyments to distant prospects of honor 
 or preferment ; for the future things of this life are no more objects 
 of sense than those of another life; and it is not sense, but judg- 
 ment, that refuses the present good for a distant advantage : it is but 
 an instance of the same reason and judgment to restrain the sensual 
 
42 SUMMARIES OF 
 
 appetites, and to make room for the hopes of immortality to enter 
 and possess the heart: and this is truly the work of religion. 
 
 DISCOURSE XV. 
 
 ACTS, CHAP. XV. VERSES 1, 2. 
 
 And certain men, which came down from Judea, taught (hn brethren, and 
 said. Except ye be circumcised after the manner of Moses, ye cannot be 
 saved. When therefore Paul and Barnabas had no small dissension 
 and disputation with them, they determined that Paul and Barnabas, 
 and certain otiier of them, should go up to Jerusalem, unto the apostles 
 and elders, about this question. 
 
 We learn from this and other texts, that from the earliest times 
 controversies have existed in religion : even the authority of the 
 Apostles was not sufficient to lay the heats and prejudices of men : 
 they themselves, though agreed in the main point, ditfered in their 
 methods of dealing with opposition, whence St. Paul says, ' he with- 
 stood Peter to the face.' To the same cause may be referred much 
 of the obscurity found in the New Testament: passages are dark to 
 us, because we know not the errors or misconceits which the holy 
 penmen opposed, and how far they argue on the truth of Christianity, 
 or on the concessions of their adversaries. Hence length of time, far 
 from diminishing disputes, has rather enlarged the field of contro- 
 versy ; this is also increased by those passions and weaknesses from 
 which the best of men are not free, and which often darken things 
 clear in themselves; hence the difficulties of an honest Christian : 
 whom shall he choose to follow ? and when he has chosen, with what 
 security and confidence can he proceed ? In these difficulties, when 
 urged as arguments against religion, two things are to be considered : 
 — I. How far they affect the authority of the gospel, which, if it be 
 so dark and obscure, that common honesty, with common sense, is 
 unable to discern the will of God in it, cannot be designed by God 
 as a measure of religion. II. With respect to ourselves, how we may 
 attain to a certain rule of religion under the gospel revelation, not- 
 withstanding many, and sometimes inexcusable, controversies. On 
 the whole, if these difficulties appear not to affect the authority of 
 the gospel, nor preclude us from a knowlege of the faitli and obe- 
 dience required under it, the controversies cannot in reason be urged 
 as objections against revealed religion. 
 
 I. The authority of revelation depends on this, that it is the will 
 and word of God; and he who knows that he possesses the word of 
 God, knows he possesses a revelation of certain authority : hence 
 arises the question, how far these two distinct acts of knowlege are 
 attainable ? that is, to know who spoke such or such words, and the 
 true sense and import of them; since these are two independent 
 things. Tliis shown by ordinary cases, and by tljc parables which 
 
Sherlock's discourses. — xv. 43 
 
 our Saviour delivered to his Apostles; so that in revelation the case 
 is tlie same as in human laws ; for a man may be certain of the autho- 
 rity of these, and yet be unable to expound them. Tliis farther con- 
 firmed by the proper proofs of a revelation, and their operation on 
 the mind prior to our distinctly understanding- all its parts; this want 
 of understanding being no objection to its authority, which is founded 
 on proofs which the objection cannot reach ; on the qualities of the 
 person sent to make the revelation, or the main end and purpose of his 
 coming, and on the miracles he gives in evidence of his commission : 
 so that, although we do not fully comprehend it, we are bound to 
 receive it as the word of God. Doctrines are not proved by mira- 
 cles ; miracles proving only the authority of the person, which is the 
 ground of our receiving the doctrine; so that the authority of the per- 
 son is one thing, and to know what he says another : his authority 
 makes the law ; our want of knowlege with regard to his meaning 
 will not unmake it; otherwise ignorance would be the supreme 
 authority. The question — why then should the law of God be 
 obscure, which from its nature we must suppose was to be under- 
 stood, and to be our rule of life? — brings us to consider whether the 
 supposed difficulties and obscurities of the gospel render it unworthy 
 of the wisdom of God. The Cliristian revelation is contained in 
 the books of the New Testament, which, being of different kinds, 
 must be differently considered ; had they been so considered, the dif- 
 ficulties of some parts would not have been urged as an objection to 
 the revelation itself: these books are either historical, doctrinal, con- 
 troversial, or a mixture of the two last. The first relate a plain and 
 simple story, the different accounts of which vary no more than might 
 naturally be expected from difl'erent pens: the second contain those 
 matters of faith and rules of duty which regard not particular cases, 
 but are intended for the use of the whole world : and these are most 
 clearly expressed : take for example the honor and worship which 
 we are enjoined to pay to God — the plain terms in which idolatry is 
 condemned — the duties we owe to each other — or the peculiar bene- 
 fits which we receive from Christ's death, God's pardon, assistance. 
 Sec. : all are declared without any obscurity ; and with regard to 
 them there is a perfect harmony among the inspired writers. Still it 
 is said there are difficulties in Scripture : so there are ; but they are 
 such as do not interfere with the clear revelation made by Christ : 
 and if there had been no disputes with the Jews or others, the diffi- 
 culties contained in the third or controversial class had not existed. 
 St. Paul, as in duty bound, spoke of election or reprobation ; but if 
 he had not spoken of them, our gospel had not been less complete : 
 but both he and the other apostles had to root out prejudices and 
 errors which stood in the way of the gospel. Many difficulties arise 
 from our applying things pointedly spoken by the apostles, to the 
 general doctrines of Christianity. Hence many disputes in which 
 men have forgot the plain parts of Scripture, to worry each other 
 about obscure ones : this point enlarged on. There are other diffi- 
 culties also which belong to religious men rather than religion ; such 
 as the disputes and nice inquiries of the schools ; but what have these 
 
44 SUMMARIES OF 
 
 to do with the gospel ? so also there are doubts about the sacramentsF, 
 how or what grace they may confer; but this one point is clear — he 
 that believeth and is baptised shall be saved. These difficulties how- 
 ever, it may be said, are so blended with the cause of religion, that 
 they render the gospel of little use as a rule ; the straightness of which 
 by these means cannot be discerned by the generality of mankind. 
 This leads us to the second head, i.e. a consideration of these diffic^il- 
 ties with respect to ourselves. The Scriptures contain a plain intelli- 
 gible system, and there would be no great difficulty if men would 
 follow what they do and may understand ; but they will make rules of 
 life for themselves from passages which they fancy they understand, 
 but do not: how is this to be counteracted? It is at every man's 
 peril, if he makes any rule to himself, contrary to the plain express 
 commands of God, which he does or may easily understand. Human 
 and divine laws in this case compared, and the same shown to hold 
 good. The understandings however of men being different, there 
 may be a latitude even here, which we cannot determine, but which 
 God, who is to be the judge, both can and will : and the great diffi- 
 culty which men make in this case, seems to arise from their mis- 
 apprehension of the judgment of God. Among men all are judged by 
 the same rule : no allowance is made for different capacities and cir- 
 cumstances: but all who are esteemed to have reason enough to 
 govern themselves are concluded under one law : if then you consi- 
 der the judgment of God to be like that of men, no wonder you ask 
 how ignorant persons should come to the knowlege of their duty. 
 
 Conclusion : God, who, though he gave to all men one law, has 
 given to each his peculiar capacity and share of reason, will judge 
 accordingly ; we may therefore safely trust this difficulty with God, 
 and doubt not but he will judge righteously. 
 
 DISCOURSE XVI. 
 
 EPHESIANS, CHAP. II. VERSE 18. 
 For through him we both have access by one Spirit unto the Father. 
 
 The text rightly understood will give us a distinct conception of 
 the Christian religion as distinguished from all others, natural, or 
 pretending to revelation ; inasmuch as the access unto God which this 
 opens to us, is different from that exhibited by the others. All reli- 
 gions having the same end, viz. to please God, by serving him 
 according to his will, for the sake of happiness here and hereafter, 
 they differ in the means which they prescribe for this purpose. Two 
 things to be regarded in the choice and appointment of these means ; 
 the holiness and majesty of God, and the nature and condition of 
 man : reasons for this given. In all places where the gospel is 
 unknown, or schemes are set up in opposition to the gospel, men 
 
Sherlock's discourses. — xvi. 46 
 
 split on one or other of these rocks: the gentile religion is inconsist- 
 ent with God's holiness, as allowing of impure rites and vicious 
 practices; injurious also to his majesty, as dividing the honor due to 
 him among the creatures; natural religion again, founded on the 
 purity and holiness of God's nature, prescribes a worship pure and 
 holy, but prescribes it to men who have lost these qualities, and are 
 unable to perform the rigorous conditions: thus it requires brick, as 
 it were, without straw ; and can aft'ord no settled peace or satisfac- 
 tion. Hence it appears how deplorable the condition of mankind 
 must have been without the interposition of God by a new revela- 
 tion ; since every religion that could be framed would be deficient in 
 one or other of these respects : this point enlarged on. The Christian 
 religion alone has effectually provided against both objections: this 
 shown at some length. 
 
 Some observations drawn from the text, and what has been 
 already said on it. First ; These means of salvation which Chris- 
 tianity has provided, viz. the assistance of the Spirit, and the media- 
 tion of the Son, were necessary to the life of the world, the state and 
 condition of man considered. Not meant that they were so abso- 
 lutely necessary that an all-powerful and all-wise God could not save 
 the world by any other method ; but that the condition of man before 
 the coming of Christ was such that he could not, by the help of 
 reason and nature, so apply himself to God as to be secure of his 
 pardon and mercy ; but there was a necessity of providing other 
 means ; and those we have being made choice of by God, we may 
 safely affirm that such were necessary for the salvation of the world. 
 The truth of the proposition thus limited, plainly shows the reason- 
 ableness of the gospel, and God's wisdom in the revelation of it : for 
 suppose the contrary to be true, that men were able of themselves to 
 do God's will, engage his favor, and obtain salvation, and it will then 
 be hard to account for the reasonableness of Christianity and God's 
 wisdom, which provides preternatural assistances to serve ends which 
 could be accomplished without them : but if we consider man in the 
 state in which Scripture represents him, we shall see the want there 
 was of the Mediator for our reconciliation with God, and the Holy 
 Spirit for his influence in subduing our unruly passions. The economy 
 of God in the gospel dispensation, closely shut up in the words of 
 the text, explained : for a distinct conception of it, we must conceive 
 the Spirit of God as always present with us; the Son as always in 
 the presence of the Father ; each exercising their respective offices : 
 this will teach us what it is to have access by the Sph'it, through 
 Christ: this point enlarged on. But, 
 
 Secondly; These being the necessary means of salvation, it was 
 likewise necessary to reveal to the world the doctrines concerning 
 the Son and the Holy Spirit : and the belief of them is necessary to 
 every Christian, as far as the right use of the means depends on the 
 right faith and belief of the doctrines. Whosoever denieth the Son, 
 saith St. John, hath not the Father : for since we can only come to 
 the Father through the Son, to deny the Son is to cut off all com- 
 munication between us and the Father. The same may be said of 
 
46 SUMMARIES OF 
 
 the blessed Spirit, through whom we are in Christ : if any man, says 
 St. Paul, have not the Spirit of Christ, he is none of his: our 
 Saviour himself has told us, this is eternal life, to knoiv the only true 
 God, and Jesus Christ whom he has sent. 
 
 When we were to be put under the conduct of the Spirit, and all 
 our hopes rested on obedience to his holy motions, was it not neces- 
 sary to inform us who this Spirit is? and that he is sufficient to the 
 office allotted him, viz. to instruct us in the ways of God, and to 
 rescue us from the powers of evil? Human reason may find it hard 
 to conceive that this holy Spirit is the eternal Spirit of God, &c. ; 
 but it would be harder still to believe that the Spirit could do what 
 is ascribed to him in Scripture, unless he were this glorious person : 
 this point enlarged on : God therefore has dealt with us more like 
 reasonable creatures, in declaring the dignity and power of the per- 
 sons in whom we are to trust, than if he had required from us the 
 same faith in them without such a declaration : and this shows how 
 foolishly men sometimes charge God, when they complain of the 
 heavy burden laid on their faith and understanding by the gospel 
 doctrines in this respect. 
 
 We see now what every Christian has to hope for from the assist- 
 ance of the Spirit, and intercession of the Son : we were all strangers 
 to God, and children of disobedience ; but are now reconciled to 
 him, and can approach him as our loving Father. Having this 
 access, our all depends on the use we make of this great privilege. 
 By having access to God, we are not placed in a state of security, 
 but in one of probation : this idea enlarged on to the end. 
 
 DISCOURSE XVII. 
 
 EPHESIANS, CHAP. II. VERSE 8. 
 
 For by grace are ye saved through faith ; and that not of yourselves ; it 
 is the gift of God. 
 
 Introduction : showing what is taught in the compass of the 
 text : in discoursing on the proposition, that faith is the gift of God, 
 it is shown, First, What the Scripture doctrine on this head is. Se- 
 condly, Some considerations proper to the subject are suggested. — 
 I. The faith spoken of in the text is such a faith as is necessary to 
 salvation : various significations of the word faith in Scripture laid 
 down ; shown not to be that faith of which the Apostle speaks : how 
 far the natural gifts of sense and reason can carry us, explained : the 
 result is barely the assent or dissent of the mind to the things under 
 inquiry. With regard even to these first rudiments of faith, our will 
 and inclination are necessary for the exercise of that reason and 
 knowlege which may lead us to them : our will and inclination shown 
 
SHERLOCK'S DISCOURSES. — XVIII. 47 
 
 to be generally averse to this inquiry : example drawn from men's 
 conduct at the first preaching of the gospel : to enable us fairly to 
 examine the truth of a divine revelation, a right disposition of mind 
 is required, according to our Saviour's own words, John vii. 17. : 
 this disposition is not natural to man : to prepare his mind therefore 
 for the reception of gospel truth, is the work of the Spirit; this 
 shown by many examples to be the language of Scripture. Faith 
 also shown to signify trust and reliance on God, and on his promises 
 made by his Son : saving faith described as an active principle, 
 influencing the mind to obedience to the law of God: this the faith 
 to which we owe our growth in Christian graces and virtues : this the 
 faith spoken of by St. Paul. Faith shown to be made up of the 
 concurrence of the will and understanding; the latter of which is the 
 rule to judge truth by; but the former not the right rule of action 
 without the aid of the Holy Spirit: this shown from Scripture. — 
 II. Considerations on the subject suggested. It is shown that our 
 ascribing faith to the operation of the Spirit, does not make it cease 
 to be a reasonable act of the mind ; and that the gift of the Spirit 
 leaves a man free to examine the proofs of religion, influencing his 
 mind neither one way nor the other in judging of the truth. Faith 
 is not perfected but through obedience : it is one thing to jndf/e with 
 reason, and another to act with reason : the Spirit is given to us that 
 we may not only think, but act, like reasonable creatures. If God 
 had ever promised to force and subdue our reason to a belief of the 
 gospel, he might have spared the signs, and wonders, and miracles 
 which accompanied it. The method by which we arrive at the 
 knowlege of spiritual truths shown from the second chapter of 
 St. Paul's Epistle to the Corinthians, Second consideration : the 
 Scripture is not express regarding the measure in which the Spirit is 
 given : yet all to whom it is given do not obey it ; whence it is 
 evident that all who are lost are not lost for want of God's aid. He 
 has engaged to give us all things necessary to salvation : as far there- 
 fore as the Spirit is necessary, we are sure 'of it: as men improve in 
 holiness, they contract a greater familiarity with the Spirit : the 
 inference from this is, that we should endeavor to icork out our sal- 
 vation with fear and trembling, for God toorhcth in us, &c. ; and if 
 we cease, he will withdraw his grace. Conclusion : signs and marks 
 of divine grace in the regenerate are obedience to the will of God 
 and good works. 
 
 DISCOURSE XVIII. 
 
 PHILIPPIANS, CHAP. II. VERSES 12, 13. 
 
 Work out your own salvation witli fear and trembling : For it is God 
 which worketh in you both to will and to do of his good pleasure. 
 
 Introduction : statement of the unhappy disputes in the Chris- 
 tian church relating to the natural powers of man to work out his 
 
48 SUMMARIES OF 
 
 own salvation, and those relating to the grace and assistance pro- 
 mised in the gospel. Inconsistent as these things may seem to be, 
 St. Paul has thought lit to join them together : his doctrine con- 
 sidered, and the natural consequences which a Christian should draw 
 from it. The text consists of two parts — an Exhortation, and an 
 Argument to enforce it : the argument at first sight may appear to be 
 false, as leading to confidence and assurance rather than to fear and 
 trembling. This explained by the different significations of the word 
 fear: there is a fear of our enemies, and also a fear of losing the 
 love and good offices of our friends ; which latter fear excites us to 
 conform ourselves to their inclinations. That this is the fear of 
 which the Apostle speaks, shown from the beginning of the chapter, 
 where he so strongly presses humility on his converts ; and also from 
 the two verses following the text, do all things icithout murmurings 
 and repinings, that ye may be blameless and harmless, ike. The 
 Christian law indeed is fortified with rewards and punishments, as 
 motives of obedience : it is shown however that the fear arising from 
 them is not meant : the exhortation in the text belongs to all men, 
 even the most perfect Christians : it is different therefore from the 
 fear which belongs to criminals and slaves, and which perfect love 
 casteth out. The reason why we ought to fear, viz. because God 
 ivorketh in us both to will and to do, examined. Totally dependent 
 as we are on God, this fear has more of care and solicitude in it, 
 than of terror and amazement: the text shown to be parallel to that 
 passage in St. Peter, Give diligence to make your calling and election 
 sure. Farther, this fear shown to arise from a proper sense of our 
 own insufficiency and dependence on God ; according to the 
 Apostle's expression, let him that standeth take heed lest he fall : 
 this shown to be a just and holy fear, not injurious to the love of 
 God towards us, nor to our faith and hope in him. From this 
 account of holy fear, the meaning of the expression, ivork out your 
 own salvation icith fear and trembling, will easily appear to consist 
 in care and diligence to set ourselves to perform the will and com- 
 mands of God. It is shown that there is something in the language 
 used to explain the doctrine of grace, liable to be abused by ignorant 
 or crafty men ; this language tried in a common case, to guard men 
 against being misled by mere sounds. Consequences of the doctrine 
 and exhortation in the text considered. — I. It appears that the 
 Christian state is not a state of security ; for if so, the Apostle's 
 exhortation would have no meaning : the Philippians themselves 
 had received grace ; and if grace once received cannot be lost, what 
 had they to fear? That we fear, is no argument of mistrusting God ; 
 our fear regards ourselves ; and our best security is this fear. — 
 II. From the Apostle's command, work out your salvation, we see 
 how necessary good works are. The good works of Christians do 
 not deserve all the hard words that have been bestowed on them, if 
 the words, he worketh in us, &c., be duly considered ; for they are 
 the fruits of his Spirit. Conclusion : the manner in which God 
 works for the faithful explained. By the argument drawn from it 
 for fear and diligence, it is evident that he does not work irresistibly : 
 
SHERLOCK S DISCOURSES. — XIX. 40 
 
 he enables us to work ; our danger therefore is tVora ourselves, and 
 we alone can defeat our owu hopes. 
 
 DISCOURSE XIX. 
 
 LUKE, CHAP. XIII. VERSES 23, 24. 
 
 Then said one unto him, Lord, are tViere few that be saved ? And he said 
 unto them, Strive to enter in at the strait gate : for many, I say unto 
 you, will seek to enter in, and shall not be able. 
 
 Introduction; concerning the many nice speculations that 
 have arisen regarding; God's final judgment of mankind. One of 
 these proposed to our Saviour in the text ; in which and the follow- 
 ing verses his answer is recorded ; an answer applicable not only to 
 this, but to other questions of the like import : for the better under- 
 standing of this answer we must consider why men, not content to 
 examine themselves by the law of God, are for launching out into 
 the mysteries of his judgment. They are commonly influenced by a 
 consideration of their own circumstances. Every man leaves the 
 way open to his own salvation, though he may bar it against others : 
 this the case with the great advocates of election and reprobation : 
 being secured themselves, they despise the virtues and moral attain- 
 ments of all men, and doom them to destruction. The conceit of him 
 who asked the question in the text shown to be akin to this, from the 
 peculiar prejudices of the privileged Jews. Our Lord's answer is 
 levelled against these prejudices, and is a declaration that the salva- 
 tion of God should be extended to all people. The controversy 
 among Christians concerning the salvation of the heathen world, 
 shown to turn on a different point from that of the Jewish prejudice ; 
 and to carry not with it the same contempt of mankind : still the 
 limitation of God's mercy may be found to be as presumptuous in the 
 one case as in the other. The answer of our Lord in the text given 
 to such inquirers, both for instruction and for rebuke. The opinions 
 already mentioned confine the mercy of God ; but there is another 
 which goes to the contrary extreme, and sets the doors of heaven 
 open to all comers : they who entertain it seem to rely intirely on 
 God's mercy and the infirmity of human nature, both of which they 
 paint in the strongest colors : they suppose that God will never make 
 all, or most men miserable, and therefore think to escape in the 
 crowd. Such inquirers as these shown to make a mistake in their 
 reckoning ; for if it were just to punish sinners, no reason why twenty 
 should not be punished as well as ten, or one hundred as well as 
 twenty : men shown not to be of so great value in the eyes of God : 
 these persons therefore are exhorted to leave others to God's justice 
 and mercy, and strive themselves to enter in at the strait gate. 
 
 PART I. » 
 
50 SUMMARIES OF 
 
 As our Saviour did not think fit to satisfy the curiosity of the 
 inquirer, it is very presumptuous in any one else to pretend to answer 
 his question : natural religion will not satisfy us on this head, nor 
 can it be expected that Scripture should do so. Two things however 
 there are in which every man has a right to require satisfaction : one 
 relates to the method of God's dealing with men, and comes to this, — 
 whether all men are capable; and, if not, who are capable of salva- 
 tion ? The other relates to our own conduct and behavior ; and is 
 — on what terms may we expect salvation ? These two necessary 
 inquiries our Saviour clearly and expressly answers : as to the first, 
 he tells us that salvation belongs to all men, of all climes : as to the 
 second, he declares that all the workers of iniquity will be excluded 
 from the presence of God, and therefore exhorts us to strive to enter 
 in at the strait gate ; and in order to quicken us, he says farther, 
 that many who seek to enter, shall not be able. Being thus instructed, 
 what right have we to demand more ? It is not necessary either for 
 a teacher of religion to declare more, or for a learner to know more : 
 the eftect of knowing more would be injurious, both to good and to 
 bad men : this point enlarged on ; and if it can serve no good pur- 
 pose to know the certainty of our own future condition, what can it 
 serve to know that of others ? such a curiosity irreligious : no wonder 
 therefore that it is not gratified. Absurd to expect judgment before 
 trial. The scope which men give to their imaginations on this sub- 
 ject, when they leave their only sure guide, the word of God, shown 
 to be always dangerous, sometimes fatal. Conclusion : the neces- 
 sity of each person resolving to take care of himself, which is a 
 sufficient employment. 
 
 DISCOURSE XX. 
 
 LUKE. CHAP. XII. VERSE 48. 
 
 Unto wliomsoever much is given, of him shall be much required ; and to 
 whom men have committed much, of him will tliey ask tlie more. 
 
 The equity of the general rule in the text is so apparent as to need 
 no explanation : the single mite of a poor widow is an offering fit 
 for God, which from a rich man would hardly be decent charity to a 
 poor widow : and this is the case wherever the rule is applicable. 
 Yet we are very apt to mistake this general maxim in its application 
 to particular cases; for then self-love and self-interest overlook the 
 true proportion of those things from which its equity arises : this 
 proved by the mutual claims of men on each other, who always over- 
 rate the abilities of others, or undervalue their own, as suits their 
 purpose : hence we seldom please our superiors, or satisfy our in- 
 feriors. As this rule has place in all the offices of life, it ought 
 especially to influence the distribution of rewards and punishments ; 
 
SHERLOCK S DISCOURSES. — XX. 51 
 
 but the weakness and the wickedness of men have almost wholly ex- 
 cluded it from human courts of judicature : ihis point enlarged on. 
 Could we but introduce a judge endowed with a perfect knowlege of 
 men's hearts, the text would be the rule of court : and since there is 
 such a judge and such a court, we must attend to the application of 
 it to ourselves, since mistakes will finally be fatal ; and there is so 
 much the more reason for our care, as we are apt to make such un- 
 reasonable allowances for ourselves. We often see men, who have 
 no hopes of being justified by the terms of the gospel, take shelter in 
 the general declaration of the text, and imagine they see an equity in 
 their case, which shall stand between them and the rigor of the gos- 
 pel law : perceiving plainly a connexion between crime and punish- 
 ment, and being conscious of crimes, they have no way to ward oft* 
 punishment : but when they think on the text, they immediately 
 infer that to whomsoever little is given, of him little shall be required; 
 hence they conclude that all their errors and mistakes are well 
 secured, &-C. This is one step towards justification ; but this is over- 
 ruled by conscience : they then urge that the power of executing 
 what is commanded is necessary to make men accountable; they 
 recollect all their temptations and excitements ; and being partial 
 judges, conclude it was not possible for them to do otherwise than 
 they did; and thus secured, they fancy themselves fit to appear 
 before Christ, and there to plead his own rule of equity against the 
 precepts of the gospel. Allow this plea, and it will justify all men ; 
 though it must reflect dishonor on their Maker, who has by reason 
 and revelation declared a judgment to come. Few men are so bad 
 as to choose wickedness for its own sake ; error or passion are pleaded 
 in all cases. The Canaanites were greatly in error, and the inhabi- 
 tants of Sodom and Gomorrah had violent passions ; yet the fire of 
 heaven spared not these, nor the sword of Joshua those. Did they 
 then sin, or was the judge unjust? But if men's passions are so 
 strong that reason is of no use but to contrive means for their grati- 
 fication, God cannot be justified in giving to such creatures any 
 notion of a judgment to come; and how irreconcileable it is with his 
 goodness, to arm the little reason we have against us, so that it shall 
 always place fears before us, which yet can have no relation to us. 
 To clear this matter, we must consider two things : I. to what in- 
 stances this rule of the text is extended by our Saviour and his 
 Apostles : II. how far we may extend and apply it by parity of 
 reason to other cases. To bring this inquiry within proper bounds, 
 we must observe, in the first place, that the rule of the text is never 
 applied in Scripture to excuse immoral actions on account of the vio- 
 lence of temptation ; since even to indulge the passion is in)puted 
 as sin : he that hateth his brother, says the Apostle, is a murderer : 
 this topic enlarged on. St, James also, (i, 13 — 15.,) describes all sin 
 as the effect of inordinate passion, which is not only no excuse, but 
 is said to bring forth death. Scripture has recorded the immoral 
 actions of many persons, but lust and passions were no excuse for 
 them : this exemplified in the case of Ahab, who slew Naboth, and 
 of David, who slew Uriah. In the verses before the text our 
 
52 SUMMARIES OF 
 
 Saviour puts the case of those who received much, and those who re- 
 ceived less : of the latter he says, they shall he beaten for doing things 
 worthy of stripes ; whence it appears that the strength of passion 
 gives to rational beings no hope of being saved. Now the compari- 
 son in Scripture lies between those who enjoy the light of the gospel, 
 who are said in the text to have received much, and those who are 
 directed only by the light of reason ; and these are they ivho have 
 received little. Now the verses before the text, together with the 
 text itself, state exactly the condition of these two sorts of people ; 
 from which we learn that to know the will of the Lord consists in 
 having the light of God's word to direct us : for they ivho knew not 
 the will of their Lord, are yet supposed to do thinys worthy of stripes ; 
 which supposes them possessed of the light of reason, and the know- 
 lege of good and evil. Secondly : sinners, under all circumstances, 
 are condemned to punishment; both they who know their Lord's will, 
 but do not according to it, and they who do things ivorthy of stripes, 
 i. e. who not knowing his will, act contrary to the light which they 
 possess : this exactly agrees with what St. Paul has declared in 
 Rom. ii. 12. All however will be judged and punished in propor- 
 tion to their knowlege ; which general determination agrees with a 
 more particular one in Luke x. 13. 14. Explanation of these verses, 
 showing the opinion of the Jews and of Christ himself on them. If 
 we consider the world as divided into two parts, the one living under 
 the light and direction of God's word, the other guided by mere rea- 
 son and nature, we may learn from the maxim of the text — 1. that 
 no man shall be judged by a law of which he had no knowlege ; it 
 being true of every moral action, what St. Paul affirms of alms-giving ; 
 it shall be accepted according to that a man hath, and not according 
 to what he hath not : — II. that immoral actions admit of no excuse, 
 but will subject every man to the judgment of God; morality not 
 being founded primarily on the authority of revelation, but of reason, 
 for the use of which every one must answer : to plead therefore pas- 
 sion or temptation as an excuse for acting against reason, is the same 
 as to plead our iniquity as an excuse against punishment ; therefore, 
 says St. James, to him that knoiceth to do good, and doth it not, to 
 him it is sin. It may be said that custom and education have ren- 
 dered the notions of morality different, so that the things which ap- 
 pear worthy of stripes to some, seem to others to contain nothing 
 criminal in them. Be it so : yet this avails nothing in the present 
 argument : where there is no consciousness of sin, there is no room to 
 look for excuses ; and whatever allowance may be made for those 
 who sin without knowlege, it is certain that all who contrive excuses 
 can take no advantage of this : for the very excuse itself shows the 
 consciousness of sin : it is a foolish thing to deceive ourselves into an 
 opinion that we require not pardon : repentance may cause forgive- 
 ness of sins, but no wit of man can ever justify them. — III. It ap- 
 pears that all who know the will of God, and live under the light of 
 the gospel, shall be judged thereby. Men act sometimes as if they 
 might choose what law they would be judged by ; for as soon as they 
 profess natural religion, they seem satisfied that they shall be judged 
 
SHERLOCK'S DISCOURSES.— XXI, 5* 
 
 by their own notions ; but if the gospel of Christ be, as it is indeed, 
 the will of God, it will not be so easily dismissed : we may neglect 
 the advice of a friend, but the law of our superior must be obeyed. 
 True, you may perhaps say ; but this is the very thing we cannot ad- 
 mit, viz. that it is the law of our superior. Beware, from the dread- 
 ful examples of Chorazin and Bethsaida, of Tyre and Sidon, that 
 your persuasion be not your crime. Here then is your case ; you 
 have the gospel of Christ before you ; it claims your obedience on the 
 most extraordinary credentials ; it cannot therefore be an indifterent 
 matter whether you receive or reject tliis law; and you therefore 
 come under the rule of the text. The gospel is a call to repentance 
 from dead works, a summons to turn to the living God in works of 
 righteousness and holiness : this the forewarning of John the Baptist ; 
 this the doctrine of our Lord and his Apostles. If then the great 
 promises of Christ belong only to penitents, who in newness of heart 
 turn to God, how sadly do men impose on themselves, who trust to 
 be saved by God's mercy, without doing his work, and continue in 
 sin that grace may abound : this subject enlarged on to the end. 
 
 DISCOURSE XXI. 
 
 LUKE, CHAP, IV. VERSES 1, "2. 
 
 And Jesus, being full of the Holy Ghost, returned from Jordan, and was 
 led by the Spirit into the wilderness, being forty days tempted of the 
 devil. 
 
 Should we be asked (as the Apostles asked our Saviour the 
 meaning of his washing their feet, which is related by St. John, xiii. 
 12 — 17.) the reason of what is related in this text, our answer is, ke 
 hath given iis an example that tee should do us he hath done. Even 
 with good men who complain of the dangers which beset them, and 
 that their prayers bring no blessing with them, we might expostulate, 
 in the name and words of our Saviour, if I your Lord and Master 
 have been tempted in all things like unto you, whence come your 
 complaints ? To profit by these things which are written for our 
 instruction, we should keep from nice questions; we should not pry 
 into the secret methods of God's providence, since the gospel contains 
 sufficient inducement for us to admire his wisdom and goodness. 
 In the case before us we want not matter of this kind : for the 
 flattering hopes by which the tempter allured our first parents to 
 disobedience, that they should be as gods, have been realised by 
 means of our Saviour : this topic fully explained : here then we 
 behold the wisdom and the goodness of God : by man came 
 death, by man came also the plenteousness of reJemption. Thus 
 with respect to God, this temptation atfords an ample subject of 
 
54 SUMMARIES OF 
 
 praise and glory; with respect to ourselves, it instructs us regariling 
 our spiritual warfare, and supports us under it. All the tempter's art 
 without doubt was displayed against our Saviour : hence we may 
 learn the dangers through which we must pass in our way to happi- 
 ness, and secure ourselves against the surprises which are so often 
 fatal to heedless unguarded innocence : here also we may learn from 
 the best example how to make the best defence. 
 
 The lessons of Christian prudence and fortitude which are to be 
 learned from our Saviour's conduct under the ditferent trials being 
 omitted, the circumstances of the temptation are considered, as 
 recorded in the text, which relates that, immediately after his bap- 
 tism, he was led to be tempted, being full of the Holy Ghost. We 
 see the power of baptism and its blessings, to which all are entitled 
 who partake of the baptism of Christ; for he was neither born nor 
 baptised for his own sake, but that we might become, through faith, 
 heirs together with him of the promises of God. The spiritual 
 advantages of baptism enumerated, affording us great privileges and 
 room for vast expectations : yet how unsuitable to these claims do the 
 circumstances of a Christian's life often appear ! This point enlarged 
 on in the matter of a Christian's pilgrimage through life ; who, 
 though he boasts of more than human strength, yet sometimes sink* 
 even below the character and dignity of a man. Thus the promises 
 of God become of none effect ; baptism sinks into a mere outward 
 ceremony, which can no longer reach to the purifying the heart and 
 mind ; and hence the enemies of the gospel take occasion to blas- 
 pheme and ridicule the grace of God, as being nothing real. On the 
 other side, it is certain that these prejudices have arisen from the 
 mistaken notions of men concerning the grace of God : for having 
 promised to themselves more than ever God promised, and finding 
 grace to be not what they hoped it was, they rashly conclude that it 
 is nothing ; and argue against the truth of God's promises, from 
 the vanity and delusion of their own. The absurdity of expecting 
 the grace of God to ward off temptations without our own care, 
 shown from human warfare. The Christian is called to the proof 
 and exercise of his virtue, armed with the graces of the spirit, 
 given him purposely by God ; which, had there been no enemy 
 to fear, he had not needed ; having enough of his own to sit still 
 and do nothing : but assistance is given us according to our dangers, 
 and to %vhom much is given, of him shall much he required. From 
 these premises two deductions are made : I. that the temptations 
 which good men have to struggle with, are no proof that they want 
 the Spirit of God, or that his favor and kindness is in any degree les- 
 sened towards them : II, that the sins which Christians fall into and 
 continue in, are no proof that they had not the Spirit, and grace suffi- 
 cient to have preserved their innocence. These two cases con- 
 sidered : the dread of the first is that bitter root whence the misery 
 of good men mostly springs, who are apt to imagine that, had they 
 the Spirit of God, the wicked one would not dare to approach them ; 
 or if he did, that they should soon be able to quench his fiery darts: 
 but when the temptation, though often repulsed, still renews its 
 
Sherlock's discourses. — xxi. 55 
 
 assault with redoubled force, then, through their own tear that they 
 are deserted by the Spirit of God and given up to destruction, they 
 lose the power of vigorous opposition, and become an easy pnjy to 
 the invader : our first care then must be, rightly to apprehend our 
 own condition, and the dangers or difficulties we are to meet with, 
 that we may be able to stand, collected both in courage and counsel, 
 for a just defence, like the Author of our Salvation : hence we may 
 learn that our temptations, so far from being a proof that we want 
 the Spirit of God, are rather a proof to the contrary, and that he will 
 not suffer us to be tempted above what we are able to bear : our 
 Saviour was not tempted till he had received the Spirit, The 
 circumstances of the temptation fully drawn out. Having read 
 these, shall we complain that every day brings its trial, and every 
 night its temptation ? shall we fear that God has given us up to 
 anguish and despair in this world, and to inevitable ruin in the next? 
 Ought not each of us, remembering that Christ has led the way, say 
 with the Holy Psalmist, it is mine own hifinnity? There is more 
 reason to suspect ourselves, and to fear concerning the love of God, 
 when all things are calm and serene about us, when our body is free 
 from pain, and our mind from care ; then should we fear the enemy, 
 when he thinks himself secure of us by leaving us alone in prosperity, 
 the greatest of his temptations : hence the necessity to us who are 
 prosperous, constantly exercising ourselves in the virtues proper to 
 our station ; if we see others led to virtue through hardships and 
 poverty, we can only attain to this through charity and humility : if 
 God has called others to defend their virtue against the assaults of 
 vice, we, who enjoy a free and unmolested virtue, must take care that 
 prosperity be not our ruin : if others are obliged constantly to be on 
 their guard, and have work enough to secure an unblemished inno- 
 cence, we who are in the securest recesses of our Lord's vineyard, 
 having no dangers to molest our peace, must zealously labor to till 
 and improve the soil, that we may give a good account of the talent 
 committed to us. Secondly, from our Lord's temptation it appears 
 that trials and temptations may be great and severe, where the gifts 
 of the Spirit are administered in the largest proportion ; and since 
 those who are tempted may fall, (for otherwise temptations would be 
 no trials,) it appears that grace may be sufficient; yet men may fall 
 through the want of care and diligence on their own part. Our 
 natural infirmities therefore, and a want of God's grace, is a false 
 comfort and no excuse ; for God suffers none to be tempted beyond 
 what they are able to bear. The instruction to be learnt from these 
 things, if we are so unhappy as to offend, is not to try to palliate our 
 offences, or to charge God foolishly, but to labor, through a timely 
 repentance, to correct what is done amiss, and thus return to our 
 duty : God causes us to be tempted as a proof and trial of our virtue ; 
 and if we offend, the only remedy is repentance through faith in 
 Christ Jesus; which coming from a sincere heart will never be 
 rejected. 
 
5(J SUMMARIES OF 
 
 DISCOURSE XXII. 
 
 2 CORINTHIANS, CHAP. VII. VERSE 10. 
 
 Godly sorrow worketh repentance to salvation not to be repented of; but 
 the sorrow of the world worketh death. 
 
 Religious and worldly sorrow compared in the text. Tiie 
 sorrow which arises from a sense of our iniquity is the cure as well as 
 the consequence of the evil we softer in worldly grief: sorrow shown 
 to be a remedy worse than the disease, and to add weight to our mis- 
 fortunes. The considerations of philosophy, which place wisdom in 
 an absence of passion, and teach us to submit with indifference to the 
 evils of life, not applicable to religion : in natural evils sorrow gives 
 us the sharpest sense of our affliction, and leaves us enfeebled both in 
 mind and body : but in spiritual evils religious sorrow produces and 
 increases the means of our recovery, chases sin and guilt from the 
 soul, and renders it capable of the expectation of future glory. It is 
 shown to be the part of a friend to awaken in us a godly sorrow : 
 example of St. Paul to the Corinthians : the blessed fruits of godly 
 sorrow shown by the Apostle's words in the text. First, sorrow is 
 distinguished from repentance, as it ivorketh repentance : secondly, 
 sorrow worketh salvation by means of repentance : thirdly, worldly 
 sorrow produceth death : fourthly, the death wrought by worldly 
 sorrow, being opposed to the salvation which follows repentance, 
 may signify eternal as well as temporal death : these observations 
 explained and enlarged on. First, godly sorrow is said to work 
 repentance, and is therefore distinguished from it ; for if by repentance 
 be understood sorrow for sin, we should say that godly sorrow pro- 
 duces sorrow for sin, i. e. godly sorrow produces itself; repentance 
 therefore, denoting change of mind, is the effect of godly sorrow, and 
 the necessary condition of salvation : alliance between sorrow and 
 repentance is explained, and the nature of sorrow in general con- 
 sidered. The cause of our sorrow must needs be the object of our 
 aversion : cases shown where sorrow is a ridiculous passion. Worldly 
 sorrow tnakes us in general feel our misfortunes, but does not enable 
 us to redress them : this not the case in spiritual concerns, where 
 sin is the object of our aversion, and the misery we suffer through vice 
 the best guide to virtue. Secondly, godly sorrow not said to ivork 
 salvation immediately, but by means of repentance ; thus showing 
 that a change of mind and life is necessary towards the obtaining 
 God's mercy and forgiveness. A sense of guilt and misery leads us 
 to the sorrow which produces repentance, and, by making us abhor 
 our iniquities, produces that blessed change which is true repentance 
 nnto salvation never to be repented of. Fear may produce sorrow, 
 but not always repentance ; as in the case of Judas. The sorrow 
 which does not bring forth repentance and reformation, is of no 
 account in the sight of God. Godly sorrow is that which respects 
 God; and this will always produce repentance, and be followed by 
 
SHERLOCK S DISCOURSES.— XXIH. 57 
 
 salvation, in virtue of God's promises. Repentance unto life the 
 greatest gift of God to a sinful world. Thirdly, a comparison is 
 drawn between godly and worldly sorrow, showing the dill'erence 
 between them. Worldly sorrow is said immediately to icoi-k death: 
 it brings forth nothing analogous to repentance : but confirms the 
 evil disposition from which it flows : the causes from which worldly 
 and godly sorrow arise being considered, the different etfects which 
 they produce are shown. Fourthly, the death which is wrought by 
 worldly sorrow is opposed to the salvation which follows repentance, 
 and may therefore signify eternal death. The natural effect of grief 
 in general is to deaden the faculties, and render us useless to our- 
 selves and others ; but the effect of godly sorrow is to destroy 
 itself, and leave the mind in ease and tranquillity. Even in this life 
 sorrow for sin produces the pleasures of righteousness, whilst the 
 worldly man, pursuing false enjoyments, is ever reaping misery: in 
 the world to come the tears of repentance will be wiped away ; but 
 the guilty tears of worldly sorrow will stand in judgment against us, 
 and exclude us from the joys of heaven ; as it is forcibly expressed ia 
 the words of the text, ' the sorrow of the world worketh death.' 
 
 DISCOURSE XXIII. 
 
 1 PETER, CHAP. II. VERSE 11. 
 
 Dearly beloved, I beseech you, as strangers and pilgrims, abstain from; 
 fleshly lusts, which war against the soul. 
 
 PART I. 
 
 The exhortation of the text so common in Scripture, that there is 
 no need of many words to explain the subject. The Apostle therein 
 points out the general source from whence impure vices arise, \\z. from 
 Jlesldy lusts: these are made, not to govern, but to serve the man : 
 some are willing to call them natural desires; and then they ask, 
 how is it so heinous an offence to comply with those desires, which 
 God, for wise reasons, has made part of our nature? This might Jbe 
 asked with respect to brutes : but man must also ask, why was reason 
 and understanding given to him ? Does he act up to the dignity of 
 his nature by following the example of the brutes, though they may 
 fulfil the intent of their being ? This point enlarged on. 
 
 It may be farther urged, why were these desires given, which are 
 the cause of so much mischief, and iniquity, and of disturbance to the 
 virtue even of the best men ? In reply to this, we must consider, how 
 far these desires are natural. The desires which are common, and 
 therefore may be called natural, are such as are necessary to the pre- 
 servation, first of individuals, next of the species: at the same time 
 that we find these natural desires, we also discover the ends which 
 Mature has to serve by thciu ; and reason thence discerns the true rule 
 
SB SUMMARIES OF 
 
 for the government of them. Our bodies cannot be supported witlioul 
 constant nourishment ; hunger and thirst therefore are naturul 
 appetites, given as constant calls on us to administer this support: 
 ask any man of common sense how far they ought to be indulged ; 
 and he cannot help seeing that nature calls for no more than is 
 proper for the health and preservation of the body, and that reason 
 prescribes the same bounds: excess therefore in these appetites is not 
 natural, but vicious, &c. : the craving of an habitual drunkard is not 
 natural, but the effect of long practised intemperance; and such an 
 appetite is a crime rather than an excuse. 
 
 In other instances of a like nature, they M'ho have inflamed desires, 
 commonly owe the excess of them to their own misconduct : there is 
 a great diff'erence between men of the same temper, where one shuns, 
 and the other seeks temptation, &c. ; and since the relish for siu 
 often outlasts the temptation, this shows that there is in sensualists 
 a greater corruption than can be charged on natural inclination. 
 
 Since then the desires of nature are in themselves innocent, and 
 implanted in us for good ends; since God has given us reason to 
 moderate and direct our passions, it is in vain to plead them 
 in defence of sensuality, unless we could also plead that we are 
 void of reason ; for if it be the work of reason to keep the passions 
 within due bounds, the reasonable creature must be accountable for 
 the work of his passion : this exemplified in the case of human ju- 
 dicature. Such then being the case, what motives have we to guard 
 against the irregularities of the passions? In the strong and earnest 
 exhortation of the text two are offered to us: I. that we are 
 strangers and jnlgrims: II. t\mt Jleshly hists tear against the soul. 
 On the first point, it is observed that St. Peter directs this epistle to 
 the strangers scattered throughout Pontus, Galatia, &c. ; whence 
 some have thought that the text was applied to them exclusively, on 
 account of their dispersion on the earth : it is shown that there is no 
 force in this observation. A more suitable meaning of the words 
 may be found in the first chapter of this epistle, verse 17. and in 
 Heb. xi. 13. The notion extends to all mankind, and shows that 
 the Apostle looked on alias strangers and pilgrims on the earth; con- 
 sequently the exhortation concerns all alike, and reaches as far as 
 the obligations of morality extend : and this consideration, placed in 
 this view, has great weight, with respect to all who have faith 
 enough to desire a better, that is, a heavenly country, &c. : this is 
 putting all our hopes and fears with respect to futurity, in balance 
 against the solicitations of sensual pleasure ; this is appealing to our 
 reason to show the absurdity of seizing momentary enjoyments, in a 
 place where we have no permanent abode, at the hazard of forfeiting 
 an everlasting inheritance. The subject enlarged on, and supported 
 by various suppositions. 
 
 But why dwell on suppositions, when the truth of the case, fairly 
 represented, will appear in a stronger light than any supposition can 
 place it ? 
 
 If we have immortal souls, and that we have nature herself de- 
 clares within us, this place cannot be their native country : nothing 
 immortal can belong to this globe, where all things tend to decay ; 
 
SHERLOCK S DISCOURSES. — XXJII. 69 
 
 and which itself shall one day be consumed. If this were tlie only 
 place to which we have any relation, we then might justly complain 
 of nature on account of the provision she has made for man, who 
 alone of all creatures here below would want a happiness suited to 
 his capacity : but if something more is in reserve for him, his desires 
 are well suited to his condition : and God's wisdom is evident in his 
 having given to man desires fitted for nobler enjoyments than this 
 world affords, since for man much nobler enjoyments are prepared. 
 This being the case, what has a wise man to do, but to get through 
 this world as he can, that he may arrive at those everlasting plea- 
 sures which are in store for him ? What can he think of the enjoy- 
 ments of this world, but that they are below the care of one who is 
 born to so great expectations ? Thus he must think even with respect 
 to innocent delights: they are frail and transient; he is immortal, 
 &c. : but guilty pleasures must appear to him in a far more ugly 
 form : he is hastening to the place where his heart is fixed ; they are 
 robbers, which lie in wait on his road to intercept him ; to take away 
 his life and his treasure, &c. 
 
 Consider this case fairly, look to the glory and immortality placed 
 before you, and then to the temptations which surround you in the 
 world, to intercept your hopes ; and then say, if there could be a 
 more powerful argument to abstain from fleshly lusts than this, that 
 ye are strangers and pilgrims, Sic. 1 
 
 Let us eat and drink, for to-morrow ive die, say the disciples of 
 Epicurus; whose exhortation is suitable to their principle. No in- 
 consistency in exhorting men to make the best of this world, when 
 you teach them that no other is to be expected : but absurd to sup- 
 port the same doctrine, without asserting the same principle. Sup- 
 pose, however, this world to be only a state of trial, and that our 
 appetites were given us partly for a proof of our virtue : the con- 
 sequences of this admission considered. 
 
 But perhaps it may farther be asked, how is it consistent with 
 God's goodness to work such temptations into the very nature of 
 mankind ? which comes in fact to this — How is it consistent with 
 his goodness to make any thing which is not absolutely perfect; to 
 make rational creatures, for instance, capable of doing amiss ? This 
 point enlarged on. 
 
 Conclusion : the desires of nature are ordained to serve the ends 
 of nature : reason is given to man to govern the lower appetites and 
 keep them within due bounds; in this consists the virtue of man ; 
 this the trial to which he is called ; and the prize is nothing less 
 than immortality. 
 
 PART II. 
 
 The exhortation in the text is enforced by two considerations, 
 nearly allied to each other : that we are strangers and pilgrims here 
 on earth, and consequently have a better interest in another country 
 which ought not to be neglected for the low gratifications of this : 
 
60 SUMMARIES OF 
 
 whoever allows the principle, must allow the consequence, Thi& 
 leads us to an inquiry worthy of all our pains, how far we may pur- 
 sue the pleasures of this life, consistently with our hopes of a better: 
 some enjoyments there are not below the care of a wise and good 
 man in this world, both in the cultivation of the mind, and in the 
 pleasures of sense properly restrained : but whenever our appetites 
 are too strong for our reason, and carry us beyond the bounds of 
 temj)erance, to the injury of ourselves and others, then it is that our 
 Jleshhj bists do rear against the soul ; then we wound our own souls, 
 and, for the sake of momentary pleasures, expose ourselves to eter- 
 nal death. The express command of the gospel against drunkenness, 
 fornication, and such vices, coming as it does from one who has 
 power to execute his decrees, ought to be a sufficient argument to 
 Christians : but the Apostle in the text goes farther, and lays before 
 us the reason in which the command to abstain from fleshly lusts is 
 founded : this point enlarged on. If we consider wherein the dig- 
 nity of man consists, and what are his means to make himself happy, 
 we shall see clearly the ill effects of sensual lusts: no need of ab- 
 stracted speculations on the subject. 
 
 There is no man so little acquainted with himself, but that he 
 sometimes finds a difference between the dictates of his reason, and 
 the cravings of appetite : this discord is the foundation of the dift'er- 
 ence observable among men with regard to moral character and be- 
 havior : this point enlarged on. If our passions are to govern us, 
 and reason only to furnish means and opportunities of gratifying 
 them, it will be hard to account for the wisdom of God in making 
 such a creature as man. If we have no higher purposes to serve 
 than the brutes, why have we more understanding than they? but 
 it would be well if we could say as much for some sensual men, as 
 we can for the brutes, who are ten times less mischievous, in having 
 only appetites, without reason and the powers of contrivance, &c. 
 
 Hence it is evident in what manner sensual lusts do war against 
 the soul, considered as the seat of reason and all the nobler facul- 
 ties. If we look into past or present ages, we shall see numberless 
 instances of the pernicious efiects of passion, assisted by a corrupt 
 and depraved reason: this point enlarged on. 
 
 But let us consider, that the only part of man capable of improve- 
 ment is the soul : we can do little or nothing for the body ; and if 
 we could do more it would be little worth : if therefore we have any 
 ambition of being better than we are, either in this world or in the 
 next, we must cultivate the mind. The excellency of a rational 
 creature consists in knowlege and virtue, one the foundation of the 
 other : these are what we ought to labor for : but sensual lusts pro- 
 hibit our improvement in either, and do therefore war against the 
 soul. 
 
 As to knowlege, the best and most useful is the knowlege of 
 ourselves, of the relation in which we stand to God and man, and 
 of the duties thence arising. Now this knowlege is such an enemy 
 to sensual lusts, that a sensual man will be much indisposed to re- 
 ceive it, because to him it is self-condemnation : hence the many 
 
Sherlock's discourses. — xxiii. 61 
 
 prejudices in the world against the first principles of natural reli- 
 gion, and the many arguments to destroy the distinction between 
 soul and body, and all hopes of a future state. If the fear of God 
 be, as in truth it is, the beginning of wisdom, sensuality cuts us oft" 
 from all hopes of improvement, as rational beings, by choking the 
 spring from whence all wisdom flows: it ties us down to the world, 
 materializes the soul, and makes it incapable of conceptions worthy 
 of itself: this point enlarged on. 
 
 Secondly, virtue and morality are the distinguishing characters of 
 rational beings; but these will always be lost where the appetites 
 have dominion. 
 
 In all cases where our thoughts are confined to ourselves, and we 
 aim only at our own interest and pleasure, we act on a principle 
 destructive of morality : the ability we have of extending our views 
 beyond ourselves, and considering what is fit, proper, and reason- 
 able, with regard to others, is the foundation of morality : this sub- 
 ject extended, and various instances given, in which sensuality makes 
 a man overlook what is due to others, and lose all regard for justice, 
 equity, and compassion. 
 
 Hence it is plain that the virtue of a man consists in bounding his 
 desires within the limits of reason and morality : these limits the lusts of 
 the flesh are perpetually transgressing; every such transgression is a 
 wound to the soul, which weakens its natural faculties, and renders 
 it less able to discharge its proper office, &c. Hence arises another 
 consideration, showing how effectually sensual lusts do war against 
 the soul, by extinguishing natural conscience, and not leaving a man 
 reason and religion enough to repent of his iniquities : for the mind 
 grows sensual by degrees, loses all relish for serious thought and con- 
 templation, and contracts a brutal courage that cares neither for 
 God nor man : this point enlarged on. The sensual man has but one 
 hope with respect to futurity, and a sad one it is, that he may die like 
 the beasts that perish: but nature, reason, religion, deny him this 
 comfort, and with one voice proclaim, that God has appointed a day 
 in which he will jndge the ivorld. The terrors of that day to sen- 
 sualists and sinners described. Conclusion : a return to the argu- 
 ment: the sensual man's condition briefly reviewed : the sum of his 
 account is, that he has his portion of enjoyment in this world with 
 the brutes, and in the next his punishment with wicked spirits : this 
 is the war which the lusts of the flesh wage against the soul : from 
 such enemies a wise man ought to fly, for they have power to cast both 
 body and soul into hell. 
 
6*2 SUMMARIES OF 
 
 DISCOURSE XXIV. 
 
 MATTHEW, CHAP. XXVII. VERSE 38. 
 
 Then were there two thieves crucified with him; one on the right hand, 
 and another on the left. 
 
 The text shows what different effects the judgments of God have 
 on the minds of men : this strongly exemplified in the end of the 
 two malefactors: hence appears the adorable wisdom of God, who, 
 by these examples of justice and mercy brought so near together, has 
 taught us to fear without despair, and to hope without presumption. 
 Who does not tremble for himself, when he sees a man perish by his 
 Saviour's side, and wanting only faith to be saved ? What would 
 not the dying sinner give to have his Saviour thus near him ' Yet 
 the thief who had this advantage died in his sins, void of hope and 
 comfort. Must the sinner then despair, and has God forgotten to be 
 merciful ? No ; behold him who is on the other side of the cross ! 
 His state enlarged on : thus the case stands, with all the allowances 
 made to it, which seem most to favor a death-bed repentance : and 
 yet, as if Scripture had not noticed the wretch who died blasphem- 
 ing Christ, nor given us cause to fear that a wicked life may end in 
 a hardened death, the case of the penitent only is drawn into exam- 
 ple, and such hopes built on it as are inconsistent with the laws of 
 God, and the terms of salvation. The penitent, as soon as he knew 
 Christ, repented of his sins : if the example pleases you, go and do 
 likewise; if you act otherwise, you like nothing but the lateness of 
 the repentance ; and you would imitate the thief rather than the 
 penitent Christian. If you fancy you can imitate and enjoy both these 
 characters, you deceive yourself; his case cannot be yours; his 
 example therefore cannot be your security : but suppose it were 
 parallel to that of the dying Christian, yet it afi'ords no certain hope; 
 since the proof is as strong from the impenitent thief, that you will 
 die in your sins, as from the other case, that you will repent of them. 
 Time does not allow us to consider this case in all its views ; but 
 only to point out the circumstances that distinguish it from that of 
 the dying Christian ; and then to show what little hope this example 
 affords, allowing the case to be what it is generally supposed to be. 
 First, in all this perhaps there may be nothing which resembles a 
 death-bed repentance : malefactors often lie in prison long before their 
 trial and execution ; and if that be the present case, here is time for 
 conversion ; circumstances incline this way : these enlarged on ; 
 whence it is probable that he had learned the dignity and character of 
 Christ elsewhere, and came persuaded of the truth of his mission : but 
 how unlike to him are those who desire not to lie down Christians, 
 though they would willingly die penitents. Secondly, no example can 
 be drawn by Christian sinners from this great work, even if it was begun 
 and finished on the cross; since the conversion of a Jew or a heathen 
 is one thing, and the repentance of a Christian is another. God has 
 
SHERLOCK'S DISCOURSES. — KXIV. C3 
 
 promised, through Christ, that the sins of a repentant and converted 
 unbeliever shall be forgiven : this the penitent's case : his pardon 
 answers to baptismal regeneration, but has nothing to do with a 
 death-bed repentance, and therefore affects not those who have fallen 
 from grace once received. Thirdly, the crimes of this unconverted 
 sinner were not so aggravated as the sins of Christians; he sinned 
 against the light of nature, and the rules of reason and morality : 
 this topic enlarged on : he therefore had a better plea for mercy 
 than the Christian who sins in despite of knowledge and the Holy 
 Spirit; for to sin in hopes of pardon and the prospect of a late 
 repentance, aggravates the crime, and is an abuse of God's mercy. 
 The guilt of the heathen and Christian sinner compared : for the 
 former of these Nature herself pleads before her great Creator. 
 If the penitent first learned Christ on the cross, how much 
 more had he to say for himself than the Christian, who comes to 
 make his peace at the hour of death ! Example given of this peni- 
 tent's pleading before his Lord : ' Lord, I am one of those sinners, for 
 whom thy Son now expires : I was conceived in sin : I have wan- 
 dered in darkness, without the light of thy gospel and the help of thy 
 Spirit: accept the poor remains of life, since it is all I have had to 
 offer : receive my latest breath, which confesses my own guilt, and 
 declares my Saviour's innocence : join me to him, as in death, so in 
 life everlasting.' But can the dying Christian plead these things, 
 after a hardened life of sin and impenitence, against the light of the 
 gospel, and the proffered assistance of God's Spirit ? This matter 
 more fully treated of. May not the Lord then say to such a one 
 calling for mercy at his last moments, • How long have I waited in 
 vain for these prayers ? how have you despised all my calls? But 
 though you could fly from the mercy of God, his justice will over- 
 take you.' Hence the wicked Christian's case is worse than that of 
 the penitent on the cross ; which therefore is no example whereby he 
 may expect mercy. Other circumstances fit to be observed, which 
 render a death-bed repentance insecure. First, he that sins in hope 
 of repenting at last, may sin so far as to become hardened and inca- 
 pable of repentance : this reflection grounded on the case of the 
 impenitent thief; who, though he had all the advantages which the 
 other had, died reproaching Christ, and joined in that bitter jeer, if 
 thou be the Christ, come down from the cross. This example might 
 be backed by many more in our own time : the cause of this is, that 
 the Holy Spirit will not always strive with sinners, but leaves them 
 to perish in the hardness of their own hearts ; for an habitual enjoy- 
 ment of the pleasures of sin, in the hope of repenting, renders a man 
 at last incapable of it ; he learns to make a mock of sin, till his har- 
 dened conscience is unable to feel the languishing remains of grace : 
 hence the incapability of sinners to ask pardon on a sick-bed. Nei- 
 ther can a man resolve how far he will sin, any more than how tall 
 or short he will be: daily experience proves this; and happy are 
 they who want this fatal experience ! The moment a man gives 
 himself up to sin, he gives himself out of his own power; sets the 
 passions free ; and drowns the voice of conscience : and when reason 
 
m SUMMARIES OF 
 
 and conscience are destroyed, religion must soon follow after them: 
 in this general rout, how can one poor resolution, that of repentance, 
 escape? This point enlarged on. Let those therefore who have it 
 still in their power, consider their danger, and reason with their own 
 hearts, even for a few moments, on which all eternity depends. 
 Secondly, if you could preserve your resolutions of repentance, it is 
 not in your own power to secure an opportunity of executing them. 
 The thief on the cross died a violent death, happy in this at least, 
 that he had no pretence to defer his repentance, in prospect of a 
 farther opportunity ; nor was his heart to be allured by the pleasures 
 of life, when life itself was so near expiring. From this death may 
 we all be defended : yet without it which of us can hope for such 
 favorable circumstances for repentance ? Whenever the sinner thinks 
 of repentance, he finds it a work of such trouble that he is unwilling 
 to set about it : no man is so old, but he thinks he may live one year 
 more: hence the procrastination of his repentance, till sickness and 
 infirmities render it impossible. This elicited the moving petition of 
 the Psalmist : so teach us to number our days, that we may apply our 
 hearts unto ivisdom. The way that men generally number their days 
 causes only folly and wickedness ; and the years to come, which they 
 rejoice in, render them careless of the great concerns of immortality ; 
 hence their delusion. But suppose yourself in the thief's case, and 
 a day fixed, on which you are to die; could you then delay your 
 repentance ? could you then say, to-morrow v.'ill be time enough ? 
 and if you would not do it then, why will you do it now? only 
 because you think you will have time enough for this work here- 
 after ; in this expectation death or its previous sickness arrives ; and 
 thus very few think of repentance till they are confined to a sick- 
 bed : so that the unfortunate death of the converted penitent on the 
 cross was an advantage which few Christians will give to themselves. 
 Thirdly, the death-bed repentance of a Christian will want another 
 advantage peculiar to that of the thief on the cross ; a sound body and 
 mind, capable of performing such acts of faith and devotion as ai'e 
 necessary to repentance and conversion : the different case of a sick, 
 feeble, languid sinner compared with this : whence it comes that 
 repentance is often impracticable to a sinner : but if he possess his 
 sense and reason, yet the general result of his repentance is horror 
 and despair : the fearful consequences of this state enlarged on ; so 
 that even supposing all circumstances most favorable, you give him 
 no security ; if he is not sensible of his sins and impenitence, he will 
 die like the wicked thief on the cross ; and if he becomes sensible of 
 them, how shall he be preserved from such despair as will render him 
 neither fit to live nor fit to die ? Nothing but an extraordinary de- 
 gree of grace can preserve this man in a temper fit for repentance, 
 neither too presumptuous, nor too slavish : but who can tell whether 
 God will grant this at the last, to such as have rejected his constant 
 calls ? It cannot be supposed that God intends to save Christians 
 thus, which would be to make void all the rules and duties of the 
 gospel. This matter more fully explained : if you do your best to 
 obtain the promises of the gospel, happy are you; but if you seek 
 
Sherlock's discourses.- xxv. (55 
 
 new ways to salvation, joining the pleasures of sin to the hopes of 
 tlie gospel, you deceive yourselves; for God is not mocked. Con- 
 clusion ; exhorting all who love their own souls, to work for tlicir 
 salvation while they have the light, for the nhjlit cometh, ichcn no 
 man can work. 
 
 DISCOURSE XXV. 
 
 PSALM LXXVII. VERSES 9, 10. 
 
 Hath God forgotten to be gracious ? hath he in anger shut up liis tender 
 
 mercies? 
 And I said, This is my infirmity : but I will remember the years of the 
 
 right hand of the Most High. 
 
 PART I, 
 
 The text shows that the author of this psalm was manifestly under 
 great dejection of mind when he penned it; as he speaks of himself 
 here and in the following verses as deserted of God, and preyed on 
 by the sorrows of his own tormented heart. The particular grief is 
 not mentioned ; the sting of it however lay in this, that the Psalmist 
 apprehended himself to be forsaken of God, which is doubtless the 
 most insupportable and incurable of all afflictions, and one which 
 neither medicine nor reason can assuage ; for the sotd refuses to be 
 comforted. These fears and sorrows belong not to the vicious and 
 profligate, who have not God in all their thoughts: they live without 
 reflection, and therefore without concern, and can be diverted by 
 hearing or seeing what modest and humble sinners suffer from a sense 
 of religion : but their day of fear is not far off"; and when it comes, 
 it will convince them that the heart of the wise is in the house of 
 mourning ; but the heart of fools is in the house of mirth. There 
 is a great diff"erence between the misgivings and misapprehen- 
 sions of a religious mind, and the fear which sinners often expe- 
 rience : this dift'erence explained; whence we can distinguish between 
 the fears to which religious men are subject, and the fears of the 
 guilty ; the former of which alone our text leads us to consider. The 
 Psalmist manifestly speaks of the sorrows of a well-disposed heart, 
 from the description which he gives of his conduct under distress ; 
 though he might doubt as to his own condition, and the favor of God 
 towards him, yet of the being, power, and wisdom of God he never 
 doubted. This faith was the sheet-anchor of his salvation. A con- 
 sideration of this afflicted good man's train of thought, and of what he 
 regarded his only comfort and support, recommended. Whether the 
 calamities which afflicted him were public or private, yet as long as 
 his thoughts dwelt on them, and led him to expostulate with God 
 
66 SUMMARIES OF 
 
 for the severity of his judgments, he found no ease nor relief: a 
 weak man cannot judge rightly of the actions of a man wiser than 
 himself; much less can a man judge of the ways of God, to whose 
 councils he is not admitted : this topic enlarged on. Since then it is 
 weakness to complain, and folly to judge, of the methods of God's 
 providence, what part must we take ? Must religion be senseless 
 and stupid, and shut out all reflection on the ways of God ? No : 
 one way is open to us ; to trust and depend on God ; which is so far 
 from being senseless and stupid, that in the pursuit of it we shall see 
 opening before us the noblest views which reason or religion can 
 aflford. The method here prescribed is that which the Psalmist pre- 
 scribed to himself. God has not left himself without ivitness : the 
 great works of nature and of grace proclaim his loving-kindness to 
 men ; hence we must admire his power and adore his goodness ; and 
 therefore throw ourselves on his protection. Here then was the 
 comfort of the Psalmist : here the cure of his grief, though the scene 
 around him was dark and gloomy. The text then leads us to consider : 
 I. That all complaints against Providence proceed from weakness 
 and the infirmity of human reason : II. That a settled peace of mind 
 with respect to God must arise from a due contemplation of the 
 great works of Providence, which God has laid open for our consi- 
 deration and instruction. Under the first head are included all the 
 suspicions which are apt to rise in men's minds against Providence, 
 as well as formal complaints : the first of this sort is, that God is too 
 great and too excellent a being to humble himself to behold the 
 things that are on earth. This one mistake seems to have been the 
 whole of Epicurus's divinity : this topic enlarged on. To make his 
 gods happy, he removed them from the government of men, whom 
 he left alone without God or Providence : this thought, which has 
 in all times been the refuge of sinners, has even entered into better 
 minds, broken with grief, and tempted by their misfortunes to think 
 thus. The grounds of this suspicion are weak and unreasonable : the 
 fault is that men consider God's abilities to be like their own : but 
 as it is absurd to argue from the powers of men to the powers of 
 God, so is it to argue from the passions of men to the attections of 
 the Deity : this point fully explained. Epicurus and his followers, 
 who denied God's government of the world, denied also that he made 
 it, and so far were consistent : but if we begin by considering 
 the works of creation ; if we call to remembrance those years of the 
 right hand of the Most High; we shall, from these manifest and 
 undeniable works of God, be led to conclude justly with respect to 
 the methods of divine Providence : this point illustrated from the 
 economy of the natural world. Another reason for suspicion of the 
 conduct of Providence is, that men cannot discern any certain marks 
 of God's interposition : they think that the inanimate and irrational 
 parts of the world follow invariably a certain course of nature, and 
 that men act as though given up to their own devices, and undirected 
 by a superior power. The scoffers in St. Peter's time supported 
 themselves on a similar observation, that all things continue as they 
 were from the beginning of the creation; concluding that they would 
 
.SHERLOCK'S DISCOURSES. — XXV. (17 
 
 go on so for ever, and that there was no future state to engage I heir 
 concern. But here are two great mistakes: First, the conclusion is 
 not rightly drawn from the observation, supposing the observation 
 true : Secondly, supposing the conclusion true, it does not answer the 
 purposes intended. That the material world continues to answer the 
 end designed, is the strongest evidence that it was made, and is con- 
 ducted, by the highest wisdom and power : this fact illustrated from 
 tlie edifices of luiman artists. Anotiier objection is, that the world 
 continues in one unwearied course, and a repetition of the same thing- 
 is no sign of wisdom or contrivance. This observation can arise only 
 from what we see among men, where there is some foundation for it : 
 but it is great weakness and want of thought to transfer this observa- 
 tion to God's works : this point enlarged on. But suppose the 
 observation true, and the world to be now where it was at the begin- 
 ning ; yet no conclusion can be drawn from thence as to its future 
 continuance : the absurdity of arguing from the past and present 
 state of things to their end, explained. The other part of the objec- 
 tion, pointed against God's moral government of the world, examined. 
 The great irregularity observable in human actions, and the mischiefs 
 and iniquities which abound in the world, have tempted some to 
 think that God does not concern himself with the actions of men, 
 but has given them up to follow their own desires. It is justly 
 observed, that there is a difference between the material and rational 
 parts of the world : this difterence explained. Matter, being capable 
 of no action of itself, necessarily follows the impressions it receives : 
 if, therefore, God is the mover, nothing but order and regularity 
 can be expected. To suppose the material world to move irregularly 
 and inconsistently with tise end to be served, would be supposing God 
 to act irregularly and inconsistently with the end of his own creation ; 
 but in the moral world the case is otherwise : men have a power of 
 acting for themselves, or else they could not be moral or rational 
 agents : this topic enlarged on. The very difl'erence observable in 
 the conducting the material and the moral world, is the strongest 
 presumption that they are under the direction of an all-wise being : 
 this enlarged on. Moral agents cannot be invariably directed, from 
 their very nature ; and the actions of such beings will be wise and 
 regular in proportion to their wisdom : it is then only want of thought 
 and reflection which furnishes objections, from the present state of 
 things, against a divine Providence. But farther ; though men are 
 moral agents, yet this excludes not God's providence from human 
 affairs, because this may be exerted consistently with their freedom ; 
 and the distribution of rewards and punishments may be effected 
 without overruling the wills or actions of the good and bad. God's 
 power of life and death alone is sufficient for conducting the great 
 affairs of the world : and the great variety of accidents, which 
 cannot happen but as God thinks fit, may be effectual to punish or 
 reward individuals, without any visible interposition of Providence. 
 These secret methods do not indeed justify God's righteousness in the 
 eyes of men, nor is it pretended that they are adopted for an exact 
 administration of justice in every case : it is sufficient that they are, 
 
G8 SUMMARIES OF 
 
 or may be so used, over moral beings in a state of probation ; which 
 is a very difterent thing from the fin^l administration of justice. 
 Nor can the apparent unequal distribution of good and evil in this 
 life be any objection to God's government over the world, unless it 
 be proved that there will not be a day of reckoning hereafter : for 
 supposing a future state, the present condition of things is quite con- 
 sistent with divine justice; which sleeps not, but waits to see full 
 proof of the righteousness or the unrighteousness of men. At the 
 appointed dissolution of this frame of things, the material world will 
 have done its office, and may lie by till called out again by the 
 Creator : but not so the moral world, for which another scene is pre- 
 pared ; where all must answer for the use they made of God's gifts. 
 Conclusion : exhorting men from all these considerations to contem- 
 plate divine Providence ; whence they will see reason to confess 
 their own weakness, and to say with the Psalmist, it is mine otvn 
 injirmity. 
 
 PART II. 
 
 The suspicions which incline men to doubt whether God does at 
 all concern himself in human affairs having been considered, we now 
 come to consider the suspicions which, consistently with admitting a 
 general care of Providence over the world, lead men to fear that 
 they are neglected or unkindly treated by God : this the case of the 
 Psalmist, and these his fears. Of God's government he doubted 
 not; he applied to him in his trouble, but his grief was, that he 
 found no return to his prayers ; ichen he remembered God, he was 
 troubled; when he complained, his Spirit icas overwhelmed; but 
 this good man was so well grounded in religion, that in spite of 
 doubts and fears, he pronounced rightly in his own case of his sus- 
 picions, </i<s ^s my injirmity ; he called to his aid the reflection, / 
 ivill remember the years of the right hand of the Most High. Ad- 
 mitting then God's providence to extend over the whole world, it 
 may be doubted whether this case descends to particulars, and. 
 regards the actions and well-being of individuals ; which, singly con- 
 sidered, have very little influence on the well-being of the whole. 
 With respect to the material world, we may easily discern that this 
 suspicion is groundless, and built on the weak conceit that it is too 
 troublesome to Providence to attend to the minute things of the 
 world : this topic enlarged on. The case is not so plain with respect 
 to moral agents and God's government over them : the reason of this 
 shown from their very nature. With respect to the care of Provi- 
 dence over particular men, we may consider that every man consists 
 of two parts; one material, which is the body; the other rational, 
 which is the mind : with regard to the former, every single man 
 manifestly depends on the preservation and care of Providence, as 
 manifestly as the great bodies of the world do: this point enlarged 
 on : hence our Saviour's question, as related by St. Matthew vi. 26. : 
 this passage fully explained. Nor do we want more direct proofs of 
 
SHERLOCK S DISCOURSES. — XXV, 69 
 
 God's care for men as moral agents : of this sort are the impressions 
 and intimations which we receive from nature, that is, from the 
 hand of our Creator, for our government and direction : the know- 
 lege of good and evil, the power of conscience, the passions of hope 
 and fear, the sense of honor and shame, which are natural to man, are 
 proofs of God's care, considered as moral agents ; and not the less 
 so from their being common to all men ; though possibly for that 
 reason they have been less considered in this light. AY as God to 
 speak directly to every man, and rebuke every sinner, we should not 
 doubt of his care for particular moral agents ; but we might reason- 
 ably doubt, how consistent such methods would be with the freedom 
 necessary to the morality of human actions : and yet this same care 
 is taken, and the same things are done in a manner and method which 
 do not interfere with the freedom of moral agents. This jioint fully 
 explained from a consideration of the moral sense and human pas- 
 sions : these are undeniable proofs of God's care for moral agents, 
 and they reach to every particular man's case, who has not extin- 
 guished the power of conscience. That this providence also extends 
 farther, and interposes to bless and prosper the righteous, to punish 
 and confound the wicked, cannot be doubted in a general way ; 
 though to particularise it is difficult and sometimes presumptuous, as 
 the appearances of things will not answer to the observation : this 
 point enlarged on. Another difficulty is, that the blessings of the 
 righteous, and the punishment of the wicked in this world, seem to 
 be conveyed by such natural means, and to be so according to the 
 common course of things, that men seldom think of an immediate 
 interposition of Providence, and there are hardly grounds to prove 
 it; but to balance this difficulty, let it be considered : First, that an 
 immediate and visible interposition of Providence in behalf of the 
 righteous, and for the punishment of the wicked, would interfere with 
 the freedom of moral agents, and not leave room for their trial : this 
 is a sufficient reason for not using this method : Secondly, that this 
 reason only excludes such methods of rewards and punishments here 
 as are inconsistent with free actions ; but does not exclude any 
 methods not liable to this objection : "^I'hirdly, that the natural course 
 of things being under the direction of God, it is reasonable to believe 
 that they are often disposed for the benefit of the righteous and the 
 punishment of the wicked ; though we cannot observe it, as every 
 thing appears natural and ordinary. The first proposition has been 
 considered ; and the second is but a consequence of it : of the third 
 no man can doubt who believes at all in the providence of God : 
 this made out from a consideration of storms and plagues, and earth- 
 quakes, and such like events. If this then can be done, it is reason- 
 able to think that it is done ; it being altogether agreeable with the 
 goodness and justice of God, and not inconsistent with his govern- 
 ment of moral agents : the truth of this observation is equally appli- 
 cable to nations and individuals ; for there are a thousand accidents 
 in life (so we call them) on which the fortunes of men depend ; and 
 how easy must it be for the power that presides over these accidents, 
 to determine the fate of men, and at the same time to escape their 
 
70 SUMMARIES OF 
 
 observation ! Though it be unreasonable, because inconsistent with 
 God's government, to expect that he should appear openly in support 
 of good men, yet it is rational to expect, from his providence, that 
 all things shall work together for the good of those who love him. 
 'J'his leads to the great difficulty of the case, which relates to the 
 sufferings of good men, and the suspicions which they are apt to 
 entertain of God's kindness to them when under affliction. These 
 complaints to be met with in Scripture are of two sorts : one regards 
 the national calamities of the Jews ; the other the sufferings of par- 
 ticular men. The first is made the subject of the Psalmist's com- 
 plaint in the text, as is probable from the conclusion of the psalm ; 
 but however the Psalmist might be att'ected by the calamities of the 
 people to whom he was so nearly related, yet from the scripture 
 history of this people, we can hardly think their sufferings an 
 objection to Providence : the reason of this explained. But the case 
 of suffering nations in general is rendered so intricate by a great 
 variety of circumstances, that it is hard to form a distinct judgment 
 on it: this case fully made out from the following observations. 
 I. Vice and immorality naturally tend to destroy nations and govern- 
 ments, which is agreeable to our notion of God's justice and good- 
 ness. II. It is also agreeable to our sense of justice and goodness, 
 that nations quite corrupt and degenerate should not be suffered to 
 prosper, and thus spread the contagion of their iniquities. III. These 
 principles allowed, the difficulty is in the application of them to par- 
 ticular cases : which application depending on circumstances which 
 we cannot know, the objection arises, not from the reason of the case, 
 but from our ignorance of it : and where is the wonder that there 
 should be many things in the divine government which we cannot 
 comprehend? This topic enlarged on : whoever therefore enters into 
 this complaint, may say with the Psalmist, it is my infirmity. The 
 miseries of which good men have a share in all public calamities next 
 considered. Complaints in this case must be considered as made by 
 others in behalf of those who suffer, or by the sufferers themselves ; 
 in the former case, a fact is assumed of which there is no proof, that 
 the sufferers are righteous and innocent : hence it is a great weakness 
 and infirmity to complain against Providence in such a case. The 
 characters of men, in the eye of the world, depend on their outward 
 behavior; and we must judge and act according to this rule, which 
 in God's dealings with mankind it is unsafe to follow, as it may 
 easily misguide us, since the inward principles and sentiments of a 
 man are oidy known to God, who searcheth the heart and reins : this 
 topic enlarged on. But further, even the sufferings of him who 
 appears to be and is a good man, may give no just occasion for 
 complaint; since good men sometimes want admonitions to awaken 
 their care, and trials to perfect their faith : unless therefore you can 
 judge certainly of the end and purposes of Providence in permitting a 
 good man to suffer, you can never with reason pass sentence on the 
 ways of God. This is also true, when the righteous perish, to the 
 eyes of the world, miserably: of which case the holy martyrs are 
 instances. The truth is, siuce all men must die, in the time and 
 
Sherlock's discourses. — xxvi. 71 
 
 manner of death the ditference cannot be great ; and though it may 
 be hard to reconcile ourselves to death, especially to unnatural and 
 violent death, yet it can really be no loss to a good man to die 
 sooner : and this will account for the case of the righteous, supposed 
 to suffer in the destruction of a wicked nation : they fall like other 
 men, but they fall into the hands of God, who knows how to distin- 
 guish their case, and to compensate their miseries. On the principles, 
 therefore, of reason and religion, no objection can lie against divine 
 Providence on account of their sufferings. But who will say of a 
 sufferer complaining in his own behalf, that a righteous man is suffer- 
 ing unjustly? We pray daily to God, not to enter into judgment 
 with us: before a man then enters into judgment with God, let him 
 ask himself, whether he has been guilty of no offence to deserve the 
 punishment which he suffers? whether he is sufficiently perfect and 
 approved as to want no trial ? As to the suspicions of Providence, 
 and the care of God over us, which have in them a mixture of reli- 
 gious melancholy, they are of another consideration : they are often 
 great bodily infirmities, and deserve compassion and assistance : but 
 these disorders do not usually break out against Providence, but 
 rather turn on the sufferers themselves, who despair of mercy from 
 not thinking themselves worthy of it : they therefore belong not to 
 the present subject. 
 
 Conclusion : showing the danger of censuring the methods of God's 
 government: this point enlarged on, from a consideration of human 
 governments. The great works of God, if duly attended to, declare 
 his wisdom, goodness, and power ; and the voice of nature speaks in 
 the language of the wise king, trust in the Lord tcith all thine heart, 
 and lean not to thine own understanding. Happy are they who 
 listen to this voice! whilst others, full of their own wisdom, daily 
 condemn what they understand not; and if ever they recover their 
 right reason, their first step must be to confess with the Psalmist, 
 it is my oivn injirinity. 
 
 DISCOURSE XXVI. 
 
 PSALM XCIV. VERSE 19. 
 
 In the multitude of my thoughts within me, thy comforts delight my soul. 
 
 The old translation renders it thus : 
 
 In the multitude of the sorrows lliat I had in my heart, thy comforts have 
 refreshed my soul. 
 
 It is shown that the two versions of the text give light to each 
 other, as well as that each expresses the sense of the original. The 
 multitude of sorroivs mentioned in one translation must be peculiar 
 to men of reflection, since they are called in the other the multitude 
 
72 SUMMARIES OF 
 
 of thoughts. We learn that there are such sorrows from the words of 
 the Preacher, Eccl. i. 18. If we follow his train of thought, and 
 view the life of man under all its circumstances, every step we take 
 will yield a proof of his proposition, &c. But there is no end to such 
 inquiries, nor much reason for them. Those who possess common 
 understanding and common sense, must see and feel the evils that are 
 in the world. The distemper then is plain ; but who can cure it? 
 The wisest men in all ages have endeavored without success to find 
 a remedy : but yet the world is not the happier for their inquiries. 
 The futility of their suggestions shown, who advise us to lay hold on 
 the pleasures of life, or to rise above pain and sorrow, as though 
 they were but phantoms of the imagination. We are not however to 
 despair ; there is still one remedy for us, unknown to philosophers, 
 and unsought by sensualists : and this we learn from the words of the 
 text. The plain meaning of this is, that religion is our only real 
 support against all human evils: with this no state of life is insup- 
 portable, and without it no condition is tolerable. The truth of this 
 assertion examined. There are some natural evils from which no cir- 
 cumstances of life can deliver us; such is the fear of death, which 
 is common to all, and never forsakes us. Divest a man of all the 
 hopes of religion, and of confidence in God, and what has he to 
 mitigate or lessen this evil ? If there be any pleasure in the idea of 
 annihilation, it must arise from some very unnatural cause. This 
 cause is sin, which, by making men afraid of judgment, makes them 
 willing to compound to be nothing: this is not curing the fear of 
 death ; but is choosing death from dread of a much greater evil. 
 Death does not cease to be a natural evil ; nor does the fear of it 
 vanish, when men hope to die for ever rather than come to judgment. 
 Irreligion therefore is a support against the fear of guilt, but none 
 against the fear of death. Supposing the unbeliever to be clear of 
 all guilt which may create a fear of future judgment, what comfort 
 has he against the natural fear of death ? Exhorting him to cast 
 away all thoughts of death, is but bidding him not to see what is 
 before him ; and if blindness and want of thought are securities 
 against the natural evils of life, we must cease to be men, and to 
 exercise our faculties, before we can lose the sense of these evils. 
 When persons reason thus, they confess that they must destroy the 
 man to cure the distemper; and thus they prove either the physician 
 a fool, or the evil incurable. Wliich of the two is the true case will 
 appear, when we consider whether religion affords a proper remedy 
 against this evil or no. Since death is inevitable, this world can 
 atl'ord no cure for the apprehension of it ; the fear of it can be allayed 
 by nothing but the hope of living again ; and this is the very hope 
 which religion holds out to us. The man who believes in God and 
 his attributes, cannot suppose that a Being so excellent sent him into 
 the world merely to pass a few years in misery, or merely to live in 
 perpetual fear of going out of it again. Though mortality is common 
 to all creatures, the fear of deatii is peculiar to man ; and this fear, 
 if it serves no purpose beyond this world, would render our condition 
 worse than that of the brutes which perish, and would lead us to 
 
Sherlock's discourses. — xxvi; 73 
 
 suppose that man alone was created for misery. The creatures made 
 for this world have such fears only as are necessary for their pre- 
 servation in it; but man, ordained to eternal life, has such desires of 
 life and fears of death, as are necessary to preserve to him that im- 
 mortality for which he was created, and to lead him to wean himself 
 from the world, and look out for a more certain abiding place. This 
 is the language of God, speaking to us by the fears and hopes of 
 nature : these the comforts that refresh the soul in the multitude of 
 thoughts which distract it. But does not this hope bring with it a 
 great increase of fear? for though the unbeliever may sometimes 
 shrink at the thoughts of death, the believer has the terror of damna- 
 tion and the consciousness of sin for ever in his sight. This allowed, 
 which is the happier man ? Though there is no comparison between 
 the fear of temporal and of eternal death, we are to consider that men 
 cannot prevent this fear of a judgment to come. The irreligious man, 
 though he may lose all hopes of futurity by his irreligion, cannot 
 thereby get rid of the terrors and apprehensions of it ; whilst the fear 
 of the religious man, though he may often have reason to fear, is yet 
 a symptom of health ; for it leads him to repentance, and to put his 
 trust in God. The religious man, if he fears, must blame himself, 
 and not his religion. The fear of death arises from nature, is com- 
 mon to all, and admits of no cure but through religion. The condi- 
 tion of human life considered, it is shown that we must look beyond 
 this world for solid happiness, and that the only true remedy against 
 the ills of life is a sense of religion, and of the power and goodness 
 of God : possessing which, we shall look with calmness on the cala- 
 mities of the world, and with pleasure into the scenes of futurity. 
 These are the comforts which, in the multitude of surrounding sor- 
 rows, will refresh the soul. As the comforts arising from true religion 
 are our only true support, so the loss of them frequently occasions 
 despair, which is of two kinds : the one has God for its object, but 
 considers him as an all-powerful revengeful being, devoid of mercy ; 
 or thinks of itself as a vessel of wrath doomed to destruction : the 
 other, judging hastily from the disorders and afflictions of the world, 
 concludes that there is no God, or that he regards none of these 
 things. The extreme wretchedness of these conditions shown and 
 compared ; compared also with the comforts arising from a trust and 
 confidence in God. Two conclusions drawn from what has been 
 said : First, as the evils of life force us to resort to the comforts of 
 religion, they are proofs of God's goodness to us, and agreeable to 
 the wise ends of his Providence; warning us not to set up our rest 
 here, but to remember God, and keep a stedfast eye on the things he 
 has prepared for those who love him : Secondly, since the evils of 
 life cannot be avoided, and can only be cured by the help of religion, 
 what a sad choice we make when we throw from us its comforts ! If 
 we add to the terrors of death by renouncing the hopes of futurity, 
 our condition even in this world will be deplorable. The comforts of 
 religion can alone give a relish to the pleasures of this life, and 
 enable us to bear manfully its afflictions. As in the multitude of our 
 thotights we shall find a multitude of sorrows, let us therefore keep 
 God our friend, whose comforts will rcjresh our souls. 
 
74 SUMMARIES OF 
 
 DISCOURSE XXVII. 
 
 PSALM LXXXVIII, VERSE 15. 
 While I suffer thy terrors, I am distracted. 
 
 PART I. 
 
 As the comforts of true religion are our only support against the 
 calamities of the world, so the terrors of religion, exclusive of these 
 comforts, add weight to all our miseries. But these terrors do not 
 spring naturally from religion; for it is much easier to believe that 
 ail we see is chance, than that an all-wise, all-powerful Being has 
 formed us to be miserable, and given us a knowlege of himself that 
 we may live in perpetual fear and distraction : yet this is often the 
 case. Many are rendered unhappy by such fears, which, of all those 
 that are incident to man, are most to be dreaded, and are, as the 
 Psalmist says, distraction. A man in this sad state employs his 
 time in finding reasons to justify his fears, and rejects every argu- 
 ment advanced for his consolation. This evil is the more to be 
 lamented, because even virtue and innocence are not always a secu- 
 rity against it, but, on the contrary, make us sometimes think our- 
 selves worse than we are. But this wretched state, in which we 
 sustain at once the burden of the righteous as well as of the Avicked, 
 is not always the worst of the case; for those who are thus severe 
 witli themselves, God will one day judge justly and righteously; 
 whereas, there are others who, not being able to bear these fears, 
 desert religion altogether, and, imagining themselves not good enough 
 to obtain its rewards, do all they can to deserve its punishments. 
 This is the case of those who drown their apprehensions of futurity in 
 vice and intemperance ; also in some measure of those who harden their 
 minds against a sense of religion, and reject the belief of a God. 
 This latter irreligious phrenzy is the greater of the two, and more 
 fatal in its consequences : for the weak man who fears God more 
 than he ought, is more worthy of compassion than the bold man who 
 despises him. 
 
 In every view the eft'ects of these religious terrors afford us but a 
 melancholy prospect: were they the natural effects of true religion, 
 religion itself would be distraction, and not the reasonable service of 
 a reasonable creature : unless we imagine that he who made us, takes 
 a pleasure in seeing us lose our reason and understanding. The 
 several kinds of these terrors, as well as their real causes, shown ; 
 also the true cure for them pointed out, and shown to arise from the 
 following sources : I. From uncertainty in religion : or, II. From false 
 notions of God, and of the honor and worship due to him : or. III. 
 From a conscience wounded with a sense of guilt : or. Lastly, From 
 some accidental infirmities of mind or body. If there be any of the 
 human race so degenerate as to be void of all sense of religion, they 
 
sheri-ock's discourses. — XXVII, 75 
 
 are evidently out of the question : but there are many whose minds are 
 disturbed with a perpetual variety of opinions, like a ship tossed in a 
 tempestuous sea. The concern which every man has in the issue of true 
 religion, is too great to be left to chance and uncertainty : the question 
 is, whether weshalldielikethe beasts that perish, or rise to immortality. 
 If a man holds his mind in doubt, he divests himself of all the hopes 
 and comforts of religion, and its fears and terrors take possession of 
 his heart ; every thought of which, laboring under such uncertainty, 
 deprives him of all present joy, and gives him no assurance of any 
 liereafter. None can long endure this state, and all hasten to deliver 
 themselves from these torments by various ways ; some by flying to 
 business or pleasure ; others by forcing themselves to fix on some 
 peculiar choice ; and thus some reject all religion, and some take all, 
 without being able to give a reason for what they do. But all these 
 methods, being artificial and without foundation, are overturned by 
 the storms of life, and end in destruction. Let the man who has shut 
 out of his mind all thought and reflection, be but awakened from his 
 lethargy, and all his fears and terrors will return with double force; 
 and he will find that his attempt to deliver himself from the uncer- 
 tainties of religion, has deprived him of its hopes and comforts only. 
 So again, the mind of the unbeliever, if he meets with any shock to 
 disturb his peace, will return to its natural state. Whoever in the 
 great concerns of life neglects to consult reason, will ultimately find 
 his reason return, and his second state much worse than the first. 
 The question is, not whether those who prefer religion, notwithstand- 
 ing all their doubts, are in a safe way, but how they are affected by 
 its fears and terrors, "^rhe varieties in this case are so great and 
 many, that the same considerations will not apply to all. Some may 
 believe the being of a God and his providence, but have doubts as to 
 their own state hereafter : this is the best of this case ; here religion 
 is all labor without any benefit ; and no man who does not think it 
 certain of a future reward, finds any security in it ; neither does he 
 meet with any remedy against the natural fear of death, or consolation 
 against the evils and alttictions of life. A man cannot have a true 
 and just notion of God under this persuasion. While men are at ease 
 in their worldly affairs, they may find some satisfaction in this kind 
 of belief; but distress will shake them, and their religion will be 
 void of comfort. 
 
 But the worst of this case is, that when men are religious from 
 fear, they carry their fears with them even to the grave. Not so 
 when religion arises from a just notion of God; for then every act 
 of it is followed by a contentment which nothing can disturb. He 
 who is religious, not because he knows it is right for him to be so, 
 but because he dreads to be otherwise, is apt to fall into superstition. 
 Hence we see, that some who are most devoutly disposed, are under 
 a perpetual uneasiness of mind. Others, seeing them in this state, 
 conclude that religion is burdensome, and remain satisfied without 
 inquiring into it : it is not easy to determine Avhich is the wiser of 
 the two. The religiours man fears God, because he knows that, as a 
 
76 SUMMARIES OF 
 
 wise, just, and gootl p'iither, he ought to be feared. His fear is full 
 of love and reverence ; but the fear of the superstitious man is what 
 the Psalmist calls distraction. 
 
 Hence we see how unsuccessful all these attempts are to cure the 
 fears which arise from doubts in religion. What is to be done then ? 
 God has given us reason, and provided the manifold works of nature 
 and providence for its employment. The inquiry into the visible 
 things of God will guide us by a sure clue to the acknowlegeraent of 
 their invisible Author, and afford us a cure for those terrors which are 
 apt to seize on unsettled minds. The man who thus acquires a just 
 notion of God and his attributes, will find his way to peace, be the 
 darkness about him ever so thick. It is in vain to seek for satis- 
 faction till we know God, and can say in our hearts. We knoiv hi 
 whom we have trusted. This will make our religion become an holy 
 and reverential fear, unmixed with terror or confusion, and making 
 us wise unto salvation. 
 
 II. False notions of God, and of the honor and worship due to 
 him, are another source of religious terror. What has been already 
 said proves how destructive the former are to the peace of mankind ; 
 and the latter being derived from these false notions, the same obser- 
 vations are applicable to it : this indeed may be illustrated by 
 historical evidence ; viz. the sacrifice of children by their parents in 
 the heathen world, and pilgrimages or processions in the modern ; as 
 well as by those unnatural mortifications practised and recommended 
 in some parts of the Christian church. All these are marks of a 
 slavish fear, and of a religion of terror. To this head may be 
 referred the terrors of those who are disappointed in their expec- 
 tations of worldly success, when they enter the service of God. One 
 who resolves to be good, expects to be prosperous ; and if any 
 calamity befalls him, he thinks himself forsaken by God, and all his 
 comforts vanish. Another having fallen into distress, applies to God 
 by prayer ; and if he meets with no deliverance, he falls into the 
 same fears, like the Psalmist, who said, I have cried day and night 
 before thee. Why easiest thou off my soul ? &c. 
 
 Such persons neither seek nor admit a remedy ; but giving them- 
 selves up to despair, think they make a sacrifice to God. If true 
 religion taught us to expect temporal prosperity in the service 
 of God, we should rightly ascribe our suft'erings to it : but as it 
 does not do so, we ought not to charge God foolishly, and call that 
 unfaithfulness in him, which is in fact the weakness and folly of man. 
 
 Now these terrors being difficult of cure, inasmuch as they are not 
 approachable to reason and advice, it is the more incumbent on us to 
 guard against them before they come. As we ought in all conditions 
 of life to limit our hopes and expectations within the bounds of pro- 
 bability ; so the same rule should be observed in religion. We 
 ought never to expect more from God than he has expressly pro- 
 mised, or than he may consistently grant. If we exceed these 
 bounds, religion will become our torment, and not our comfort : but 
 we, and not religion, will be to blame. >Ve should consider that our 
 
SHERLOCK'S DISCOURSES. — XXVIT. 77 
 
 afflictions are trials, aiul therefore that God will not relieve us from 
 them at our request. In the great end, the salvation of our souls, we 
 can only be disappointed by our own fault. This is our true comfort, 
 and is sufficient to support us under present evils, and to relieve us 
 from the fears of the life to come. 
 
 Conclusion : we see that religion, though it may afford an occa- 
 sion, is not the cause of these terrors. If it be said, that, if there were 
 no sense of religion, there could be no such terrors, we answer, it is 
 equally true that, were there no reason, there would be no such 
 apprehensions ; but we do not blame God for giving us reason : let 
 us not then blame him for giving us religion ; but let us use our 
 reason to search after and know him, and then religion will be our 
 comfort; and we shall be able to say to ourselves, and declare to 
 others, her ways are ways of pleasantness, and all her paths are 
 peace. 
 
 PART II. 
 
 Two other kinds of religious terrors, with their causes, remain to be 
 considered : Firstly, those of guilt, which can alone pretend to be 
 consonant to true notions of religion, and to derive themselves justly 
 from it. If there be any truth in religion, it is certain that God will 
 jndge the world in righteousness, &c. As this belief in virtuous and 
 pious men is attended with peace of mind, so does it necessarily 
 produce tribulation and anguish in every soul that doth evil: this 
 point enlarged on. The power of conscience is seen in all men : 
 when we offend wilfully against our sense of good and evil, this never 
 ceases to torment us with the apprehension of future misery, though 
 nature has not furnished us with a distinct knowlege of what that 
 misery will be. These natural fears of conscience are also rational 
 fears: some natural fears may be overcome or lessened, as that of 
 death by the comforts of religion : but the case is quite otherwise in 
 the terrors of guilt ; for the more we advise either with reason or 
 religion, the more certain shall we be that they are no delusions. So 
 hard is it to get rid of these terrors, that they grow too strong for all 
 the assistance that can be administered ; and when this is the case, 
 the sinner becomes a woful spectacle : his days are without pleasure, 
 and his nights without rest : his life is one scene of misery, and he 
 lives only because he is afraid to die. 
 
 This misery being so great, no wonder that the invention of man 
 has been racked to find a remedy. Natural conscience and reason 
 make the connexion between guilt and fear : remove these, and the 
 fears will cease : this then is one of the devices of profligate sinners ; 
 and this method may do while there is health and strength ; but time 
 will show the folly of it. Others, incapable of such impiety, give 
 themselves up to excess of vice and intemperance, and find ease in 
 losing their understanding and power of reflection : dreadful are the 
 terrors of guilt, which make men willing to forget themselves, that 
 they may forget their fears ! But these are unnatural methods, and 
 which few only are capable of using : yet the case before us is a very 
 
78 SUMMARIES OF 
 
 general one. Let us then consider the more general and rational 
 methods which have been approved for the cure of this evil : these 
 are to be found in the several forms of religion which do or have 
 prevailed in the world : it would be endless to enumerate all the par- 
 ticular methods : it is more important to inquire whether reason and 
 natural religion can furnish a remedy or no. 
 
 All methods applicable to this purpose may be reduced to two 
 heads ; external rights, and internal acts of the mind. The first are 
 to be found in great abundance in almost all parts of the world : how 
 they came to be applied to the purposes of religion among the heathen 
 nations is not easily accounted for : their impropriety and insufficiency 
 fully shown. The sacrifices and oblations under the law of Moses 
 were of divine institution ; and whatever virtue they had in them, 
 they had it in consequence of the institution, and the promise 
 annexed to it; which is a point in which mere natural religion can 
 have no concern. The inefficiency of heathen sacrifices dilated on. 
 The religion of a sinner is an application for pardon; and is useless 
 unless it can prescribe a proper method for obtaining it : the two 
 attributes of God with which this religion is chiefly concerned, are his 
 justice and mercy : let us suppose then (and it is the very truth) that 
 these both meet in the rules of reason and equity ; or that the 
 judgments of God are righteous judgments, free from any weak 
 inclination to mercy, or any rigorous affectation of justice. Now all 
 that natural religion has to offer unto God in behalf of a sinner, is the 
 sorrow of his heart for what is past, and the purpose of his mind to 
 sin no more. This case considered : sorrow for sin shown to be a very 
 natural passion, but to have no virtue in it: it never was made part 
 of a virtuous man's character, that he lived in fear of the gallows : 
 besides, the generality of mankind are not philosophers; are not able 
 to look back on their iniquities with such calmness and judgment as 
 are necessary to create a just abhorrence of vice, and restore the pure 
 love of God and virtue. In the case of all human governments, laws 
 are fortified with penalties, that the fear of punishment may keep the 
 subject from offending; but it is never imagined that all such as 
 discover a fear of punishment shall be spared, after having incurred it 
 by disobedience : how then should reason teach us to think it rea- 
 sonable in God to do that which we do not think it right to do 
 ourselves? It may be said that God can, though man cannot, 
 distinguish between the mere fear of punishment and true sorrow for 
 sin : admit this difference, and still the far greater number of sinners 
 will be in a helpless state under natural religion. 
 
 The case of one who is thoroughly convinced of the iniquity of sin, 
 and purposes to forsake it, considered. This supposes him to have 
 sinned so as justly to deserve punishment : the question is, whether a 
 sincere alteration of mind can give him security of a pardon : this 
 shown at large not to be the case : misery and happiness are set 
 before us on some terms ; and it must be allowed reasonable for God 
 to act on such terms as reason itself, the interpreter of his will, pro- 
 poses to us : now we come into this world reasonable creatures ; we 
 find ourselves accountable for our behaviour to God, our Maker and 
 
SHERLOCK S DISCOURSES. — XXVII. 79 
 
 Judge : from which principles it follows that obedience to the moral 
 law is the condition of salvation : how then can we come to the 
 desired consequence, that he who has lived in disobedience shall be 
 saved, if ever he becomes sensible of his sin and folly ? Is this 
 condition implied in any law of the universe ? would it be tit for God 
 to propose? — would it not enervate all his laws? How then comes 
 it fit for him to do that which it is unfit he should ever promise or 
 profess? But you say, we depend on God's equity and goodness: 
 where do you learn this equity ? — how do you find it equitable that 
 men should live by one rule and be judged by another ? — how does 
 reason teach us to think that God and his laws will be satisfied by 
 our sinning- and repenting ? But, it may be said, pardon may be 
 expected from a consideration of God's goodness, and our imper- 
 fection, weakness, and inability to pay a punctual obedience to his 
 laws: this admitted, the most which it can assure us of is, that we 
 shall be intitled to equitable allowances in the case of imperfect 
 obedience. 
 
 On the whole, it does not appear that natural religion has any 
 certain cure for the terrors of guilt : because, the title by obedience 
 being forfeited, there are no certain principles of reason to show how 
 far, and to what instances, God's mercy will extend ; because we can 
 have no certain assurance of ourselves that we are deserving of 
 mercy ; and because the whole matter is too refined to be of use to 
 mankind in general. Hence the wisdom and goodness of God 
 appears, by his proposing a safe and general method of salvation to 
 sinners in the gospel of Christ, the sinner's great charter of pardon. 
 Here then is a safe retreat for the guilty conscience : here God 
 appears, and gives his own unalterable word for our security : here 
 the Son of God is Mediator and high priest, to off"er up and sanctify 
 the sorrows of a contrite heart, and to bring down spiritual strength 
 and comfort. After so much done for the security of sinners on 
 God's part, it is lamentable that there should be any who are still 
 incapable of comfort : yet such there are, of whom it was proposed to 
 speak in the last place, whose religious fears arise from accidental 
 disorders of mind or body : this case is not subject to reason, and 
 therefore much cannot be said on it. Whatever be the union of soul 
 and body, so united are they, that the disorders of one often derive 
 themselves from the other; instances given: hence some religious 
 fears may be ascribed to the body, though properly they belong to 
 the mind : many degrees of madness ; among which a distempered 
 mind on the subject of religious fear may sometimes be reckoned : 
 such persons not chargeable with seeking false comfort, for it is a part 
 of their disease to refuse all comfort : true comfort they are unable 
 to receive : their terrors cannot be imputed as a blemish to religion. 
 
80 SUMMARIES OF 
 
 DISCOURSE XXVIII. 
 
 PSALM XIX. VERSE 14. 
 
 Let the words of my month, and the meditation of my heart, he acceptahle 
 in thy sight, O Lord, my strength and my redeem.er. 
 
 This text chosen for the purpose of laying open the scheme of 
 thought running through the whole Psalm, which contains one of the 
 completest and most useful forms of devotion to be found in this part 
 of Scripture. When a king stands before the altar, we are led to 
 expect a royal sacrifice, and songs of praise conceived in no common 
 strain : but here the crown and sceptre are laid by, the royal dignity 
 is forgotten, and the Psalmist's whole mind is employed in comtera- 
 plating the mighty things of Providence, displayed in the works of 
 nature and of grace. 
 
 The piety of this Psalm is so natural and yet so exalted, so plain 
 and so pathetic, that it is hardly possible to read it, without feeling 
 something of the spirit in which it was indited : The heavens declare 
 the glory of God, says the pious king, and the firmament showeth his 
 handy work, &c. He begins with the works of creation, to magnify 
 the power and wisdom of the Creator : this topic enlarged on. From 
 the mighty scene of nature the Psalmist turns to consider the still 
 greater works of grace. The rational world, as in itself the noblest, 
 so has it obtained the more peculiar care of Providence in preserving 
 ajid adorning it: this topic enlarged on. The holy Psalmist next 
 sings the triumphs of grace, and the mercy of God in the restoration 
 of mankind: the latv of the Lord is perfect, converting the soul: 
 the testimony of the Lord is sure, making wise the simple, &c. 
 
 Is it possible, while we praise God for all his mercies, to forget 
 how undeserved they are ? Can we help reflecting, that although 
 God has thus secured us with a law that is perfect, with command- 
 ments that are pure, with judgments that are true and righteous, yet 
 still our own folly or wickedness is perpetually betraying us into 
 error, or driving us into sins? The Psalmist saw the justness of this 
 reflection ; and while his heart glowed with a sense of God's mercies, 
 he turned short on himself with this complaint, Who can understand 
 his errors ? 
 
 This is followed by a fervent prayer to God for pardon and protec- 
 tion : from the prospect of God's power and goodness, and our own 
 weakness and misery, the soul easily melts into sorrow and devotion, 
 lamenting what it feels, and imploring what it wants from the hand 
 which alone is able to save. O cleanse thou me, says the royal 
 penitent, from my secret faults! secret he calls his faults, not to 
 extenuate them, but with respect to their number; so often had he 
 off"ended, that his memory was too frail to keep an exact register of 
 his errors: this sense well expressed in our old translation. 
 
 But though our sins are very numerous, yet some are distinguished 
 
Sherlock's discoursks. — xxviir. Ml 
 
 by uncommon guilt, and will ever be present to our minds when we 
 approach the throne of grace lor pardon : these we should particularly 
 lament; against these we should particularly pray ; and in this strain 
 the Psalmist continues his devotion : keep thy servant also from pre- 
 su7nptuous si7is, &c. Having thus extolled his Maker for his power 
 and mercy, and humbled himself on account of his own iniquities, he 
 closes the scene in the language of the text. 
 
 The scheme of thought which runs through this excellent compo- 
 sition, sets in a tine liglit the beauty of praise and prayer, when duly 
 performed, and accompanied with proper aft'ections of the heart. A 
 scene of misery, drawn by the poet's or the painter's skill, has force 
 to move our pity and compassion ; much less can we stand by uncon- 
 cerned, when we behold the misery of a soul afflicted for sin, hear 
 the ardent prayers poured forth to God for pardon and mercy, or see 
 the tears which flow from the pangs of a wounded spirit ; for this 
 case, this condition, is our own ; and those tears and cries for mercy 
 should be ours also. 
 
 There is the same reason for our being affected with the praises of 
 God, and joining to give glory to his name, when we read the songs 
 of thanksgiving recorded in Scripture; for his mercies are equally 
 dispensed ; and when we share the blessings, how can we refuse to 
 bear our part in oft'ering up the incense of praise ? This Psalm, how 
 nobly is it penned ! yet there is not one act of providence mentioned, 
 of which tve do not as largely reap the benefit, and for which we are 
 not as much in duty bound to be thankful, as David himself. Nay, 
 the advantage is on our side : the heavens indeed, and all the works 
 of creation, have remained the same since David's time ; but the Sun 
 of Righteousness himself has risen in our firmament. And can we 
 be silent, who enjoy the fulness of God's mercies, whilst the holy 
 Psalmist speaks with such rapture and pleasure of his laws and judg- 
 ment : mo7'e desirable, they were to him, than the Jinest gold ; sweeter 
 than honey, <k,c. ; and yet he lived under the Mosaic law, a yoke hard 
 to be borne. Had he known the gospel, and tasted the righteousness 
 of this new law, what strains of holy eloquence would have flowed : 
 this point enlarged on. As our theme has been thus exalted, so 
 should our praises be likewise ; so should the aft'ections of our souls 
 be raised. Our praises are at best a poor tribute for what we have 
 received ; and they have their imperfections even when best per- 
 formed : and this reflection seems to have led the Psalmist to the 
 words which close his excellent composition : Let the words of my 
 mouth, and the meditation of my heart, be always acceptable in thy 
 sight, O Lord, my strength and my redeemer. If these words are 
 considered with a retrospect on what went before, the meaning of 
 them must be what has been suggested : he had been praising God 
 for all his goodness; had been fervently imploring his protection 
 from the allurements of sin : but what were his prayers and praises in 
 the sight of the Almighty? what valuable sacrifice could dust and 
 ashes offer up ? Struck with this just sense of humility, he stirs not 
 from the place or subject of his devotion, before he has begged 
 pardon for the imperfection of his sacrifice, and implored God's 
 
 PART I. F 
 
82 SUMMARIES OF 
 
 acceptance of the poor tribute he was able to pay him. An example 
 worthy of oiir imitation ! and which yet we are hardly worthy 
 enough to imitate : for if we consider our coldness in prayers and 
 praise, our inattention, and the obtrusion of worldly thoughts in our 
 worship of God, we must needs think it the highest presumption to 
 desire his acceptance of such a tribute. This was not the Psalmist's 
 case : and if even his devotion required an excuse to appear before 
 the presence of God, what must become of ours ? 
 
 But, secondly, the text is capable of a more enlarged sense : the 
 Psalmist had begged mercy for his secret faults ; had implored God's 
 aid to preserve him from presumptuous sin : and if the thought be 
 continued to the words of the text, in them he beseeches God to 
 take under his direction likewise the words of his mouth, and the 
 thoughts of his heart, that he might continue blameless in thought, 
 and word, and deed. This sense expresses the greatest regard to 
 virtue and innocence, and a full dependence on God's grace and pro- 
 tection. He knew that the Almighty not only saw his open acts, 
 but spied out all his secret thoughts : he knew that it was in vain to 
 wash his hands in innocency, unless he also purged his heart from 
 evil desires: to God therefore he applied to guard the passage of his 
 heart, and the door of his lips, that nothing unclean might enter into 
 one, or proceed out of the other : this topic enlarged on to the end. 
 
 DISCOURSE XXIX. 
 
 LUKE, CHAP. XII. VERSE 21. 
 So is he that layeth up treasure for himself, and is not rich towards God. 
 
 The riches of the world being often the fruits of injustice or 
 oppression, and yet being sometimes represented in Scripture as the 
 blessing of God on honest labor, and the reward of goodness, a great 
 fortune being often employed for very ill purposes, and yet being- 
 applicable to the best uses in the world, the possession of riches has 
 been either valued or despised, condemned or approved, by moralists 
 and divines, according to the several methods by which they are 
 obtained and employed. The hand of the diligent, saith Solomon, 
 viaketh rich; and again, the blessing of the Lord it makcth rich; 
 and he addeth no sorrow with it; yet he has also said. There is a 
 sore evil which I have seen under the stin, namely riches kept for the 
 owners thereof to their hurt. From this observation it may be con- 
 cluded, that where riches are ill got or ill used, they are a hurt to the 
 owner; but when honestly got and worthily enjoyed, a blessing. It 
 is farther considered what the iniquity is which generally follows a 
 large possession. The crimes of a rich man commonly arise from 
 profuseness or covetousness ; the first producing luxury, intempe- 
 
SHF.RLOCK's niSCOURSKS. — XXIX. »3 
 
 ranco ; the second, fraud, oppression, and uncliaritabloness. A rich 
 man may be free from these vices, and still be wicked ; virtue con- 
 sisting not merely in the outward act, but in the principles from 
 whence actions flow. The poor are often benefited by the scatterinos 
 of the prodigal ; but is he therefore possessed of Christian charity ? 
 The parable of the rich man in Luke xxii. considered, and the true 
 meaning of it inquired into. It is commonly supposed, from our 
 Lord's warning and exhortation in the 15th and ;J3rd verses, that 
 covetousness was the crime of the rich man, and that the only way 
 to be rich towards God is to sell our goods, and distribute them to 
 the poor : but our Lord had before given a reason against covetous- 
 ness : For a mail's life consistcik not in tJu abundnucc of the things 
 ichich he posscssefh : and the parable was added to illustrate this 
 reason, and not to display the folly or vice of covetousness in general. 
 The rich man is not described in the colors of a covetous man ; 
 neither can we conclude, from the circumstances of the parable, that 
 he was void of charity. It is likewise unreasonable to limit the 
 notion of being rich towards God, to works of charity only : all 
 good works in proportion make us rich towards God. St. Paul 
 speaks of the richness of good works, and St. James of the richness 
 of faith ; and in the text, to be rich to God, signifies particularly to 
 trust in his providence, in opposition to a reliance on treasures of our 
 own heaping up; as will be shown. The true meaning of the 
 parable next pointed out. When our Saviour exhorted Ids hearers 
 to beware of covetousness, he added, Foi- a mans life consisteth not 
 in the abundance of the things which he possesseth : and this he illus- 
 trates in the parable. The aim of it then is to show that wealth is no 
 security against the accidents and evils of life, from which nothing- 
 can protect us but the good providence of God. The rich man 
 flowing in plenty, imagined that he had in his own hands a security 
 against all evils; and for his presumptuous folly is reproved by God : 
 Thoti fool, this night thy soul shall be required of thee ; then tvhose 
 shall those things be which thou hast provided? They would fall into 
 the power of another. So is he, says our Lord, t/'^o lays tip treasure 
 for himself, and is not rich towards God. These words then are the 
 moral of this parable : to lay up treasures for ourselves, must signify 
 to lay up treasures for our own security ; and to be rich towards God 
 is in opposition to this, and denotes our trust in the Almighty, and 
 our endeavoring to procure his favor and protection ; as knowing 
 that in them only is all our hope and stability. From tliis we may 
 perceive the great danger attending riches. Poverty constantly 
 reminds us of our dependence on God ; but the man who lives in 
 the midst of plenty is too apt to forget the need which he has of 
 God's assistance : and thus riches steal the heart from God, render it 
 insensible to the duties of religion, and thereby destroy all virtue and 
 holiness. It is this irreligious state of mind, and this disregard to 
 God, which too generally attend wealth, that have made riches to 
 be so hardly spoken of in Scripture. The parable of the rich man 
 and Lazarus teaches us the dangerous state of great men who live 
 without the fear of God in their hearts ; and the much happier con- 
 
H4 SUMMARIES OF 
 
 dition of the poor, wlio have their share of misery in this world, 
 which often leads to glory and immortality hereafter : this is the true 
 aim of the parable. When the rich man applies to Abraham on 
 account of his brethren, he desires that Lazarus might go to them as 
 a prophet, to testify the reality of a future life, lest they should come 
 into the same sad state as himself; plainly showing that his con- 
 demnation was the effect of irreligion and unbelief. He also tacitly 
 owns his and his brethren's contempt for Moses and the Prophets, in 
 his reply to Abraham : Nay, but if one weJit from the dead, they 
 will repent. From this it is evidently the purport of the parable not 
 to represent the heinousness of any one particular crime for which 
 the rich man suffered, bnt to show how fatally riches influence the 
 mind to irreligion. A sense of dependence creates in the poor man a 
 fear to offend, and a desire to please God; whilst the rich man, 
 wanting as he thinks nothing from God, grows negligent in religion, 
 and from thence proceeds easily to infidelity. Love of the world is 
 said in Scripture to be enmity loith God ; and means not any par- 
 ticular vice, but that temper and disposition produced by riches, 
 which inclines men to disobey God's commands. Our Lord has also 
 the same meaning, when he says, Ye cannot serve God and 3Iammon, 
 &c. ; i. e. wealth is the rival of God : for if it once gets possession 
 of the mind, it will expel all trust in him, all regard to religion. 
 From the above observations we may learn where a rich man ought 
 to place his guard : he must beware of the pride of self-sufficiency, 
 and learn to know that in riches is no security, and that he wants the 
 protection of heaven as much as the poorest wretch in the world. A 
 rich man who has a proper sense of this, will in consequence have the 
 other virtues proper to his state. We may learn this submission to 
 God from our Saviour's argument : The life is more than meat, and 
 the body is more than raiment. The utmost riches can do, is to 
 provide food and raiment, and other such necessaries and conve- 
 niences of life: but can food ward off death, or changes of raiment 
 stop the approaches of disease ? The rich man as well as the beggar 
 must depend on God for health and strength. Since then we must 
 trust in God for our life and strength, had we not better still farther 
 trust in him, and ease ourselves of unreasonable care for the things of 
 life? To trust in God, and rely on his goodness, is to be rich 
 towards God, and is that species which will make us happy in this 
 life, and in that which is to come. By these means we may still 
 enjoy our fortunes, and, as we are taught to pray, May so pass 
 through things temporal, that we finally lose not the things eternal. 
 
SHERLOCKS DISCOU RSES. — XXX. 85 
 
 DISCOURSE XXX. 
 
 LUKE, CHAP. XXir. VERSES 61, C2. 
 
 And the Lord (urned, and looked on Peter. And Peter remembered the 
 word of the Lord, how lie had said nnto liim, Before the cockcrow, 
 tliou shalt deny me thrice. And Peter went out, and wept bitterly. 
 
 The fall of St. Peter would be a very melancholy instance of 
 human infirmity, did it not also set before us a signal example of 
 divine mercy, and a triumph of grace over human weakness. It is 
 shown, from various instances, that St. Peter was superior to the 
 other disciples in natural courage, resolution, and faith. When his 
 Master's life was assaulted, he attempted to defend him, and had it 
 been a cause proper for the decision of the sword, he would have 
 died with glory ; but his subsecpient conduct, when he found the 
 succors of natural courage useless, and the hopes of defence taken 
 away, plainly shows that this courage is not the true source of con- 
 fidence in spiritual trials, where they only can conquer whose strength 
 is not of man but of God. Peter afterwards (forgetting his earnest 
 profession to our Saviour) thrice denied his Master ; and it was 
 not till the cock crew, and the Lord turned and looked on him, 
 that he felt his presumption and baseness, and wept bitterly. 
 Not long after this we find him boldly preaching Christ before 
 the high priests and elders, and continuing constant under all 
 trials, until he at length suffered martyrdom. Some reflections sug- 
 gested by the example of St. Peter. First : Confidence and pre- 
 sumption do not argue stedfastness in religion : the courage natural 
 to some men, which gives them great reliance on themselves, being 
 generally attended with great passions that prevent thought and 
 reflection, is not favorable to true religion, which produces fear of 
 God, and mistrust of ourselves : hence it is that some fierce spirits 
 become despisers of religion. Christian courage, arising from a sure 
 trust in God, and submission to his will, can alone enable us to act 
 with zeal and firmness under all trials and afllictions. Human 
 courage requires the incitements of glory and success : St. Peter's 
 example shows us that the courage of a Christian is very different 
 from that of a natural man ; and that we can only hope to overcome 
 trials and temptations through the assistance of God's Holy Spirit. 
 Secondly : St. Peter's example shows us that we are not to expect 
 this assistance against temptations which are of our own seeking : 
 God has commanded us to avoid temptations, and we cannot hope 
 for his assistance when we are acting in disobedience to his commands. 
 When God warns us to flee from temptations, it shows that we are 
 not able to encounter them ; and it is clearly intimated that he will 
 assist us by his grace, not to meet, but to avoid them. A notion that 
 we are above all temptations, and may safely venture among them, 
 is a proof of spiritual pride and presumption: this confidence, if it 
 arise from ourselves, is vain ; and if from dependence on God's grace, 
 
ilG SUMMARIES OF 
 
 is unwarranted by Scripture, and contradictory to St. Paul, who 
 admonishes us to work out our own salvation icithfcar and tremhliny ; 
 for it is God that worketh in us both to will and to do : and if that, 
 which is our strength, is likewise an admonition to be cautious and 
 wary, whence can presumption grow? for if the sense of Christ's 
 assistance must teach us to be humble and watchful, what else can 
 encourage presumption and confidence ? Let no man therefore think 
 that he is beyond the power of sin, but let us watcli and pray that we 
 enter not into temptation, and implore the Almighty, should he 
 bring our virtue to the trial, that he would with the temptation also 
 make a way for us to escape. Thirdly : St. Peter's example shows 
 the great advantage of habitual holiness : those whose minds are not 
 hardened by sin are easily led to repentance. St. Peter's repentance 
 was as remarkable as his fall : the eye of his Lord, though full of 
 compassion, was a sufficient rebuke, and struck him with undissem- 
 bled sorrow. St. Peter's case is that of every good man under the 
 same unhappy circumstances. The hardened sinner despises the calls 
 of conscience ; but where there is a sense of virtue and religion, they 
 are easily admitted. The rulers of the Jews, though witnesses of all 
 the wonders attending Christ's death and resurrection, did not repent: 
 one compassionate look recovered St. Peter ; but the Jews were not 
 convinced though one rose from the dead. Every man may sin, but 
 those only will repent who seriously endeavor after righteousness : 
 the wicked, as they advance in guilt, gradually subdue conscience, 
 till repentance becomes impossible. Fourthly : The sins of the best 
 men are expiated with the greatest sense of sorrow : those who have 
 been long strangers to religion, easily argue themselves into uncon- 
 cern for their past iniquities ; but we cannot think of ourselves and 
 of God as we ought, without feeling the deepest sorrow for our 
 oftences. When men are truly concerned, they naturally vent their 
 grief, without considering what profit their sorrow will yield them, 
 like St. Peter in the text. Some have learned to make a trade of 
 repentance, and equally to balance sin and sorrow. But this is not 
 taught us in the gospel, where we learn only how much it is our 
 interest and duty to obey God, and how base and miserable we are 
 when we oftend. When we are truly affected with a sense of our 
 sins, we have the best indication that the spirit of religion is still alive 
 within us, and that we are not given up to a reprobate obdurate 
 heart. Lastly : An observation of more general concern naturally 
 offers itself on a view of this case. The gospel was the work of 
 God ; and though we were to receive it by the hands of men, our 
 faith was not to be founded in their strength, but in the wisdom and 
 power of God. The disciples, on whom the weight of it was to rest, 
 were distinguished only by their simplicity and honesty. Our Lord 
 elected them, knowing that the weaker the instruments were, the 
 more evidently the hand of God would appear in the mighty works 
 performed by them. Of all the disciples St. Peter was the most 
 distinguished for spirit and resolution ; and we have seen how little 
 able he was of himself to encounter the difficulties that attended the 
 ferst preaching of the gospel : yet this same man soon after boldly 
 
SHERLOCK'S DISCOURSES. — XXXI. 07 
 
 decKvres before his judges, tliat Jesus whom they Iiad slain was 
 exalted to the right hand of God. This mighty dift'erence can be 
 ascribed only to that great Spirit before whose coming the disciples 
 were commanded not to enter on their office. If the gospel had been 
 an imposture; if St. Peter had not seen Christ come from the grave, 
 and had not received the power of tiie Spirit, what would have 
 induced him thus to expose himself? This plainly shows that the 
 hand of God was with him, and is evidence that our faith is the work 
 of God, and not of man. Thus St. Peter's case, considered as one 
 of instruction to ourselves, affords us much encouragement in our 
 spiritual warfare; and in a more general view, as affecting his charac- 
 ter as an Apostle of Christ, yields us great confidence in our faith ; 
 since through the weakness of the man we evidently discern the 
 power of God, which wrought effectually with him ; so that, knowing 
 in whom we have trusted, we need not be ashamed. 
 
 DISCOURSE XXXI. 
 
 MATTHEW, CHAP. XIV. VERSES 1, 2. 
 
 At that time Herod the tetrarch heard of the fame of Jesus, and said unto 
 his servants. This is John tlie Baptist : be is risen from the dead ; and 
 therefore mighty works do show forth themselves in him. 
 
 Introduction, showing how it came to pass that, whilst others 
 were rejoicing in the hopes of having a great prophet among them, 
 Herod alone was perplexed and dismayed ; and how% when there 
 were such various accounts of the great personage who had appeared, 
 he alone took up with the most improbable of them all, and for which 
 there was not the least foundation : the reason of this was his guilty 
 conscience : he had murdered a holy man to please a lewd woman ; 
 and no sooner did he hear that there was one in the country who 
 wrought miracles, but he concluded that John the Baptist was come 
 from the grave to take vengeance for his iniquities. 
 
 The use here made of this passage of holy Scripture, is to set forth 
 such considerations as naturally arise from it, and are applicable for 
 the direction of ourselves. 
 
 First, We may observe from hence the great force and eilicacy of 
 conscience. It is reasonable to suppose that, if God intended us for 
 his service, and designed us for another state of happiness or misery, 
 according to our present good or ill behavior, he should make him- 
 self known to us by some clear manifestation, and should proraulge 
 the laws which were to be the rule of our obedience, so that all might 
 know and acknowlege their duty. There are many demonstrations 
 of his existence in the works of nature and the operations of our own 
 minds : but the plainest of these proofs sometimes escape the lower 
 
8*1 SUMMARIES OF 
 
 classes of mankind, who are not in the habit of exercising their 
 reason : but then there is an internal proof of a Deity arising from 
 conscience, and reflection on the good or evil we do, which amounts 
 to the fullest declaration of the power of God, and is the completest 
 promulgation of his law to mankind that can be desired ; for it is 
 made at every man's door, nay, in his very heart. As speculation 
 helps us to other proofs, so does it also help some persons to get rid 
 of them : a man of subtle wit may refine on any subject, till there be 
 little left for the mind to rest on with any satisfaction ; but this proof 
 of a superior Being, to whom we are accountable, which dwells in 
 every man's breast, no art or subtilty can ever expel. As long as 
 men continue to judge of their actions; as long as good or evil is 
 attended with peace and satisfaction, or anxiety and fear; so long it 
 will be plain that God has not left himself without a witness: this 
 point enlarged on. 
 
 Secondly, The moral law is promulged in the same manner to every 
 rational creature : the work of the law is written in the heart, as the 
 conscience beareth witness, and the thoughts, which either accuse or 
 excuse. The promulgation here is stronger than that of any human 
 laws, for it is renewed to every individual ; and the meaning is so 
 preserved, that nothing but great skill, joined with little honesty, can 
 pervert or obscure it ; for the rebukes of conscience will, sooner or 
 later, restore its true sense to the law, wliich was darkened by false 
 reason serving the inclinations of a sinful heart. An honest man 
 would grieve to see how the plainest laws have been treated by cor- 
 rupt casuists ; particularly in the obligation of an oath, of which the 
 text furnishes us with an instance : but conscience proves generally an 
 honester casuist, and pulls oft" the thin disguise. Herod had promised 
 with an oath to give whatever she should ask to the daughter of 
 Ilerodias : and though he was troubled when she asked the head of 
 John the Baptist, yet, for his oath's sake, &c. he commanded it to be 
 given her ; calmly dipping his hands in blood, under the comfort of 
 a conscientious regard for his oath ! But the scene is quickly 
 changed : Herod is alarmed at the fame of one who wrought mira- 
 cles in the country ; he starts at the news, and cries out. This is 
 John the Baptist, he is risen from the dead. This natural sense of 
 good and evil, guarded against false interpretations by the power of 
 conscience, is a great justification of God's goodness and equity in 
 promulging his laws, and making our duty clear and evident. 
 
 Ihirdly ; We may observe what care the wise Author of our 
 nature has taken, not only to manifest himself and his laws to us, but 
 likewise to secure our obedience, and thereby our eternal welfare. 
 It is thought a disadvantage to religion, that its hopes and fears are 
 so distant, whilst the temptations to sin are so constantly present with 
 us. To balance this, though the rewards and punishments of religion 
 are at such a distance, yet its hopes and fears are always present, and 
 influence our happiness even here, as much or more than any other 
 good or evil that can befall us. As little as a man may think now of 
 the consequence of his iniquity, a very short time, or a very trivial 
 aecidunt, may open a passage to other reflections: this instanced in 
 
SHERLOCK'S DISCOURSES. — XXXII. 89 
 
 tliG case of Joseph's brethren, who sold him for a slave. Misfortunes 
 may befall the good as well as the bad; but under the same circum- 
 stances there is a mighty difference in their sufferings, arising from 
 their different reflections : this topic enlarged on. So that, if we con- 
 sider the case fairly, we shall find, that though the final rewards of 
 virtue, and punishments of vice, are reserved to another time and 
 place, yet there are such annexed to them here, in the very frame and 
 constitution of our minds, as are sufficient to determine the choice of 
 a reasonable man. Let those who pretend to doubts respecting a 
 future state, consider whether that defect, which they suppose to be 
 in the foundation of religion, is not supplied by what is now spoken 
 of: for, were they ever so certain of a future state, their duty would 
 consist in those very things which their own reason requires of them, 
 and which are necessary to that peace of mind on which all their 
 happiness depends. Concluding exhortation : as we value reason, 
 the comforts of this life, and the glories of the next, let us take heed 
 to preserve innocence and virtue, or that godliness, which, as the 
 Apostle tells us, is great gain, having the promise of this life, and 
 of that ivhich is to come. 
 
 DISCOUUSE XXXII. 
 
 ROMANS, CHAP. VI. VERSE 21. 
 
 What fruit Lad ye then in those things whereof ye are now ashamed ? For 
 the end of those things is death. 
 
 Though the hopes introduced by the gospel are fitted to support 
 and encourage virtue and true religion, and are only to be truly 
 enjoyed by those who make a title to them by the innocency of their 
 lives ; yet they have been perverted to ill purposes by such as, hating 
 to be reformed by the precepts of the gospel, are willing to put their 
 sins under the protection of its promises : that this policy prevailed 
 early in the church is shown from several passages of St. Paul. To 
 prevent the use which ill-disposed men were ready to make of God's 
 goodness to sinners, who imagine their iniquities to be privileged, 
 since grace had so abounded; the Apostle in this chapter enters into 
 the question, whether the hopes of the gospel are reconcileable to a 
 continuance in sin ; showing by various arguments the complete 
 inconsistency of a state of grace and a state of sin ; from whence he 
 appeals to conscience and reason against the presumptuous conceit 
 that the Son of God could be the minister of sin, or that the gospel 
 could countenance iniquities of which nature was ever ashamed, and 
 which the common reason of mankind condemned: What fruit had 
 ye in those things ic hereof ye are now ashamed^ for the end of those 
 things is death. 
 
90 SUMMARIES OF 
 
 These words suggest to our consideration several particulars. 
 I. That the shame and remorse which attend on sin and guilt, arise 
 from natural impressions on the mind of man. Experience teaches 
 us that we can no more direct by our choice the sensations of our 
 mind than we can those of the body : when the fire burns, flesh and 
 blood must feel pain ; and a rational mind, compelled to act against 
 its own conviction, must ever be afllicted. These natural connexions 
 are unalterably fixed by the Author of nature, to be the means of 
 our preservation: this point enlarged on. Hence it is evident that 
 the mental pain and grief which we suffer from a sense of having 
 done ill, flow from the constitution of our nature, as we are rational 
 agents: nor can there be a stronger argument of God's utter aversion 
 to sin, than his having given us such a nature, that we cannot be 
 reconciled to it ourselves : hence it is that profligate sinners fly to any 
 excess that may help them to forget themselves, and hide them from 
 the light of reason : but there is no remedy : as long as we have the 
 power of thinking, so long must we think ill of ourselves when we do 
 ill : the only cure for such uneasiness is to live without thought ; for 
 we can never enjoy the happiness of a brute, till we have sunk into 
 the same degree of understanding. 
 
 It may indeed be said that there have been, some profligate sinners 
 who have gone through life without discovering any uneasiness on 
 account of their guilt : so there have been instances of men who 
 eould play with fire without showing any sense of pain : but neither 
 will the art of one be an argument against the sense of feeling, nor 
 the obduracy of the other be a proof against the natural sense of a 
 rational mind : this point enlarged and illustrated. 
 
 II. The expectation of punishment for sin is the result of the 
 reason given to us : the end of those things is death. There are no 
 certain principles from which we can infer the sort of punishment 
 designed by God for sinners: reason has left us in the dark, and 
 revelation has not cleared up this secret. The representations of 
 Scripture on this head are metaphorical; the images strong and full 
 of horror, leading to the certain conclusion that endless misery will 
 be the lot of the wicked ; but they do not satisfy the curiosity of 
 inquisitive persons. The opinions of all nations on this subject 
 prove the natural expectation of punishment for iniquity ; nor does it 
 signify if men have entertained mistaken notions about the kind of 
 it : this point enlarged on. The power of conscience, and the fear 
 which every sinner feels, are great evidences of the general expecta- 
 tion of judgment to come. But this argument need not be pressed ; 
 the fact of this expectation is hardly disputed : we are however told 
 that it is the eflect of weakness and superstition. The question then 
 is, whetlier this common sense of nature is derived from infirmity of 
 mind, or whether it is the result of right reason. 
 
 If the former of these opinions be a just one, another conclusion 
 must be allowed, namely, that sin shall not be punished. Now 
 whatever can be said in maintenance of this assertion, must resolve 
 itself into one or other of these propositions ; either that sin does not 
 deserve to be punished ; or that God has no means of punishing it. 
 
Sherlock's discourses. — xxxir. Ol 
 
 As to the first, no one has yet been found an advocate for wicked- 
 ness : even those who seem unwilling to adn)it a state of futnre 
 rewards and punishments, never use the plea that sin deserves no 
 punishment; but tlie only reason why they think it will not be 
 punished, is, because they have no notion of a future state. Could 
 they be persuaded of this, they would have no doubt regarding the 
 sinner's condition in it. The truth then of this maxim being sup- 
 posed, viz. that sin is dcscrvinrj of punishment, we are led to the 
 conclusion that sin shall be punished : for what reason can be 
 assigned why that should not be done which reason tells us is fit to be 
 done? Why should God act contrary to what he leads us to sup- 
 pose agreeable to his wisdom and justice ? The latter proposition 
 therefore is considered, viz. whether God has any means of punisliing 
 sin : and it is on this that all hopes of impunity are built; not that 
 all who hope for impunity are so absurd as to su|)pose that God 
 wants the power to punish, but they conceive that man has no 
 relation to any state of being except in this life only ; and that when 
 he dies, all his hopes and fears die with him. But by what principles 
 of reason are men led into this supposition? That God might have 
 provided another state after this, a state also of retribution, no one 
 can doubt, v/ho believes in the being of a God. If he has ordered it 
 otherwise, it was because it seemed best to his wisdom : but how 
 could it seem best to leave no means of making a distinction between 
 virtue and vice, by suitable rewards and punishments, and yet to 
 teach us, by the light of reason, that it is highly suitable to his wis- 
 dom and justice to make such distinction? That he does not make 
 it in this world is evident : if then nothing remains hereafter, there is 
 no justice with the Most High ; the wicked have the advantage, and 
 the righteous hath cleansed his heart in vain. But can this be agree- 
 able to his wisdom, who himself hath taught us to think it disagree- 
 able to all the rules of reason and justice ? Those who think so, may 
 perhaps have some notion of an overruling fate and necessity; or if 
 they go so far as to think there is a rational being, who is the autiior 
 and governor of all things, yet can they hardly allow him any thing 
 but will, and power, and understanding ; for they leave no room tor 
 the exercise of moral attributes. If we can draw any conclusion. 
 from our own feelings, we are accountable creatures : our natural 
 notions of God point him out as our judge : on our own part we find' 
 reason and freedom, which make us tit subjects for judgment; on the 
 part of God we find wisdom, and mercy, and justice, and every 
 other perfection : and if after all we are not to be judged, there must 
 be something very wrong in these expectations of mankind. But 
 there is one step more to take, and to show, 
 
 III. That these common notions are the foundation of all religion, 
 and must be supposed and aiJmitted in revealed religion, and there- 
 fore cannot be contradicted by it. 
 
 Some there have been, who, finding no hopes for impunity to 
 sinners under the light of reason and nature, have taken shelter in 
 revelation ; not desiring to correct and reform their vices, but to enjoy 
 them, and yet to hide them from the wrath to come : these are great 
 
92 SUMMARIES OF 
 
 extollers of the mercy of God in the gospel ; great assertors of the 
 unbounded merits of Christ's blood; making it a reproach to those 
 who teach that the hopes of Christians can be frustrated after his 
 atonement; imagining that by this they do honor to God, and |)ay 
 great regard to their redeemer. But would they consider, they 
 would tiiid that they are offering to God the sacrifice of fools, whilst 
 they divest him of all his other moral attributes in compliment to his 
 mercy; representing him as a good-natured indolent being, uncon- 
 cerned at what is going on, and prepared equally to receive the 
 righteous and the sinner. This topic enlarged on : and the same may 
 be said of the Redeemer. Not necessary to show at length how 
 inconsistent these notions are with the true doctrine of the gospel : 
 all its precepts, all its representations, all the hopes and fears pro- 
 posed to Christians, teach us a different lesson, and declare, tliat God 
 hath appomted a day in xohich he will judge the world in righteous- 
 ness. This is the gospel doctrine ; nor can a true revelation possibly 
 teach otherwise ; for God cannot contradict himself, nor gainsay by 
 his prophets that common light of reason which he planted in men 
 to be their guide: natural religion is the foundation of revelation, 
 which may supply the defects of nature, but can never overthrow its 
 established principles : this topic enlarged on. The conclusion is, 
 that without holiness no man shall see God ; that Christ, by redeem- 
 ing us from sin itself, redeemed us from the punishment of sin ; and if 
 Ave refuse the redemption from sin, we never can partake of the 
 redemption from its punishment, &c. 
 
 DISCOURSE XXXIII. 
 
 PROVERBS, CHAP. XIX. VERSE 27. 
 
 Cease, my son, to hear the instruction that causeth to err from the words 
 
 of knovvlege. 
 
 By the ivords of knowlege we are to understand the principles and 
 dictates of virtue and religion : this being admitted, the advice in the 
 text amounts to this ; that we should guard against the arts of such 
 as set up for teachers of infidelity and irreligion. These teachers 
 are spoken of, not as men of excessive profligacy and guilt, but as 
 instructors and reasoners against the ivords of knoivlege. Two things 
 on this subject recommended to our consideration : I. The several 
 temptations which men lie under to listen to such instructors : 
 II. The great danger there is in listening to them. First : It is one 
 step towards security to see the dangers we are exposed to, that we 
 may double our diligence against surprise. It will be of service to 
 us therefore to know the weaknesses of our own minds, and under- 
 stand the prejudices and passions which conspire to give us up to 
 those who wish our ruin. Infidelity has no rewards or punishments 
 
SHERLOCK'S DISCOURSES — XXXIII. 03 
 
 to bestow : it a fiords at best but a very hopeless and comfortless 
 prospect, and the passion which some men have to maintiun and pro- 
 pagate it is surprising: wicked men indeed are under some temptation 
 to wish well to its cause, because it sets them free from the dread of 
 futurity and the rebukes of conscience : since then the fears and 
 apprehensions of guilt are the strong motives to infidelity, the inno- 
 cency of the heart is absolutely necessary to preserve the freedom of 
 the mind ; which, if duly weighed, is a good reason why a man, as 
 long as he finds himself swayed by appetite and the pleasures of 
 vice, should suspect his own judgment. 
 
 We should also consider that, in the unhappy circumstances of sin 
 and guilt, religion opens to us a much safer and more certain retreat 
 than infidelity can afford, and will far more effectually extinguish our 
 fears and restore our tranquillity ; for after all our pains taken to 
 subdue the belief of an overruling power and a future state of retribu- 
 tion, we cannot be secure of enjoying long the comforts arising from 
 infidelity in this life ; for we may not always have strength enough, 
 in the loss of health or fortune, to subdue natural sense and reason : 
 this topic enlarged on. Since then the hopes which sinners entertain 
 from unbelief even in this world are so very uncertain, and since they 
 cannot alter their condition, except for the worse, in the life to come, 
 it must needs be allowed that they make a bad choice when they 
 sacrifice the powers of the mind to the passions of the heart. 
 
 But vice is not the only root from which infidelity springs: it 
 sometimes happens that, whilst we act with a superiority to the vani- 
 ties of the world and the allurements of pleasure, reason is betrayed 
 by the vanity of our hearts, and sinks under the pride and affectation 
 of knowlege. He who would appear to know more than other men, 
 is ready to contradict the sense and reason of all men ; as he who is 
 desirous of being thought more courageous than others, is ready to 
 fight with every one he meets : and to this temptation many sacrifice 
 the innocence of their minds, whilst they wish to recommend them- 
 selves to the world as persons of more than ordinary discernment. 
 
 He who sits down to examine truth and search after real know- 
 lege, will equally sift all his opinions; will reject none that he has 
 been long possessed of without good reason ; will admit no new ones 
 without sufficient authority and weight of argument. But when men 
 aim at being thought more knowing than others, and labor only to 
 spread an opinion of their own sagacity, they can have no satisfaction 
 in discovering the truth and reasonableness of any opinion that is 
 commonly received in the world : for how will they appear wiser 
 than other men by professing to believe what others believe as well 
 as they ? This point enlarged on : other sciences are the attainments 
 of only a small part of mankind ; and to triumph over their errors is 
 at best but a limited glory; whereas, religion being the general per- 
 suasion of the world, to conquer in this cause looks like universal 
 monarchy, &c. : and thus weak and vain men often make profession 
 of greater infidelity than in truth they are guilty of. Let this case be 
 considered well, in the instances which we meet with; and let the 
 folly of others teach us wisdom. 
 
94 SUMMARIES OF 
 
 Another temptation is a kind of false shame, which often, in 
 young people especially, prevails over the fear of God and the sense 
 of religion. When they find what honor is often paid to unbelievers, 
 while religion is scotfed at as ignorance and superstition, they grow 
 ashamed of their profession, and by degrees are hardened so far as to 
 deny their God ; and encouraged by example and precept, to brave 
 his vengeance. 
 
 These are the most common temptations that betray men to tliose 
 instructors which cause to err from the icords of knowlege. How it 
 concerns us to guard against them, will appear when we consider. 
 Secondly, The danger there is in listening to them. 
 
 And here those only are addressed who have not yet made ship- 
 wreck of their reason and conscience ; for though the hardened 
 unbelievers are in greatest danger, yet they are farthest removed from 
 the power of conviction. It is unpardonable folly and perverseness 
 for men to forsake religion out of vanity, as if irreligion were a mark 
 of honor and distinction. To fear where there is just cause of fear, 
 where our souls and eternal happiness are at stake, is not below the 
 dignity of a man. To outbrave God and his justice is a sad instance 
 of courage. We must answer for the vanity of our reasoning as well 
 as for the vanity of our pleasures : if we take pains to invent reasoning 
 to oppose the plain evidences which God has given us of his being 
 and power, we shall not go unpunished : if we debase reason, which 
 was given us for a guide, and force it to submit to our unruly 
 appetites, much more shall we be liable to the vengeance of 
 Heaven. 
 
 How far men of irreligious lives and principles are chargeable with 
 these abuses they can best inform themselves : and surely the hopes of 
 immortality and fears of hell should drive them to ask the tpiestion. 
 If there really be a future state of retribution, both the punishments 
 and the rewards must be very inconsiderable indeed not to make it 
 worth a man's while to live up to the conditions of being happy. 
 Allowing the punishment less than it really will be, still it must in all 
 cases exceed the advantage gained by transgressing the law ; or else 
 there would be encouragement for men to offend : therefore we may 
 be sure that God, who is the wisest of lawgivers, has taken such care 
 to guard his laws and statutes, that there shall be no encouragement 
 to offenders : so that all sinners must be guilty of folly in choosing 
 the sin wdth the punishment, when this must of necessity exceed the 
 advantage of sinning. 
 
 These are the easiest terms that sinners can flatter themselves 
 with ; and yet, even on this view, the pleasures of sin will prove a 
 dear bargain. But should the punishments of another life be what 
 we have reason to fear they will be, words cannot express the folly 
 of sin. Short are our days in this world ; and should religion prove 
 a deceit, we know the worst of it : it is an error for which we cannot 
 suffer after death ; nor will the infidels be able to reproach us with our 
 mistake : but should our hopes and their fears prove true, what misera- 
 ble torments must they then undergo ! this subject enlarged on. Let us 
 consider therefore, when we judge of religion, that something more 
 
SHERLOCK'S DISCOURSES, — XXXIV. 05 
 
 depends on our choice than the credit of our judgn)cnt and the 
 opinion of the world. Let us trust ourselves with ourselves, and 
 retreat from the influence of dissolute companions, and take the 
 advice of the Psalmist, stand in awe, and sin not: commune with 
 your own heart, and in your chamber, and be still. 
 
 DISCOURSE XXXIV. 
 
 LUKE, CHAP. XVI. VERSE 31, 
 
 And lie said unto him, If they hear not Moses and the prophets, neitiier 
 will tliey be persuaded though one rose from the dead. 
 
 It is shown that in matters of reason, as well as in objects of 
 sense, we may at first be deceived by the fair appearance of things 
 which on examination prove worthless. This seems to be the case of 
 the argument in which the text is concerned. Who would not think 
 that the coming of one from the dead would eftectually convince an 
 unbeliever? Yet we are told by our Saviour it would have no 
 effect : he who is not convinced by the evidence which God has 
 already given of a future judgment, xcould not be j^crsuaded though 
 one rose from the dead. Our Saviour does not mean to deny that the 
 coming of one from the dead is an evidence of a future state ; but that 
 they who would not submit to the authority of a divine revelation, 
 would not submit to this. The reason of this judgment is considered : 
 I. If the evidence of revelation be in itself greater and more 
 convincing than the evidence given by one from the dead could 
 possibly be, then there is no reason to expect that he who rejects the 
 greater should submit to the less authority : II. If the unbeliever's 
 objections to the authority of revelation be stronger against the 
 authority of one coming from the dead, he cannot pass over that in 
 one case which he stumbles at in the other: III. If unbelief arises 
 from the corruption of a mind which hates to be reformed, and rejects 
 the evidence because it will not admit the doctrine, not the doctrine 
 because it cannot admit the evidence ; in this case all proofs will be 
 alike; and it is on this that our Saviour chiefly grounds his judg- 
 ment. In the first place, as the authority of a dead man is no more 
 than that of a traveller who relates things of countries through which 
 he has passed, how are we sure that he will not deceive us ? are we 
 even sure that it is impossible for any being of the other world to per- 
 sonate a dead man whom we formerly knew ? To prove that there is 
 another world, and beings belonging to it, is not proving a future 
 state, that is, a world in which dead men shall live. Christ's 
 resurrection was not merely the apparition of a dead man : he fore- 
 told the time and circumstances of it, and put the proof of his mission 
 and doctrine on its performance. His resurrection therefore became 
 a proof that the doctrine he taught was the doctrine of him who had 
 
96 SUMMARIES OF 
 
 power to raise the dead ; so that the authority of our Saviour's word 
 after Iiis resurrection, being the authority of hira who has power to 
 raise the dead, must be greater than that of any man dead or living ; 
 and proves a commission from the highest power to teach the world ; 
 which cannot be proved merely by the appearance of one from the 
 dead. To the question why Lazarus and the rest did not pub- 
 lish their knowlege of the other world, it may be answered, they 
 were merely passive in their resurrection, and brought no more 
 authority from the grave than they carried to it, and therefore had no 
 right to set up for teachers: in proof of Christ's resurrection, there 
 was warning given to expect it; and the duration and frequency of 
 his appearance after he had risen, enabled those who saw him to 
 become familiar with it, and qualified them to judge rightly of what 
 they heard and saw ; and as this appearance was in consequence of 
 his own prediction, we cannot doubt that it was a true and proper 
 resurrection of his body; it being easier to imagine that he should 
 rise to fulfil his prediction, than that, being really dead, he should 
 contrive and execute any thing that should seem to fulfil it. To 
 satisfy those who affirm that they cannot depend on the credit of 
 others in a case of this nature, it is considered, whether he who 
 believes on the credit of a private apparition to himself, believes on a 
 surer evidence than he who receives the gospel account on that 
 evidence on which it at present stands : it is shown that the very 
 surprise and fright that would be caused by our seeing one come from 
 the dead, would be a great reason for us to suspect afterwards the 
 report which our senses made of what they had seen — thus it was 
 with those who saw our Lord on his first appearance ; nor could any 
 thing but his staying so long with them have cured this, and qualified 
 them to judge for themselves, or report to others with authority what 
 they saw: we may therefore judge whether it is safer to believe the 
 concurring testimony of many persons in their right senses so well 
 qualified to judge, or rely on ourselves when we were hardly masters 
 of our senses. The question, however, is not whether we can be 
 convinced of the fact of such an appearance, but whether we should 
 in that case have a better foundation for faith and religion than the 
 present revelation aftords ? This is answered by our Saviour in the 
 text, and will appear by considering, Secondly, That the objections of 
 unbelievers to the authority of revelation will lie stronger against the 
 authority of one coming from th6 dead. Whatever has been said 
 against the authority of the gospel revelation, will be applicable also 
 to this kind of it : consequently those who on the foot of natural reli- 
 gion object to the doctrine of the gospel, must much more object to the 
 authority of one coming from the dead. With the atheist, who 
 stands out against the evidence of all nature, no inferior evidence can 
 weigh ; he would as easily account for one dead man's recovering life 
 and motion, as he does for the life and motion of so many men whom 
 he daily sees. But what can an unprejudiced person make of this 
 evidence, allowing the dead man's appearance to be real, and his 
 design honest? Should he tell us that the Christian faith is true, we 
 should have less reason to believe him than we have to believe Christ 
 
Sherlock's discourses. — xxxv. 97 
 
 and his Apostles; and should an unbeliever receive the gospel on 
 such evidence, on what would he rest his faith? 'J'hc mission of 
 Christ is proved by the completion of prophecies, by the signs and 
 wonders which he wrought by the hand of God, and by his resur- 
 rection. ^,Ve can appeal to the known history of the founders of our 
 religion, in proof of their freedom from worldly cunning and policy. 
 JSut how can we support the suspected credit of one from the dead ? 
 Unless we can prove that there are no evil spirits, or no evil men 
 dead, we cannot clear him from suspicion. Thus, if we cannot digest 
 the evidence of the gospel, in vain do we call for help from the other 
 world. The truth of our Saviour's words will farther appear by con- 
 sidering, Thirdly, The temper of infidelity : where unbelief arises from 
 a corrupt mind, which rejects the evidence from hatred of the 
 doctrine, all proofs will be alike ; and this is the case our Lord seems 
 to have had in view : for the request to Abraham was made in behalf 
 of men who lived wantonly and luxuriously. Abraham answers, that 
 they had already suflBcient evidence of these things if they would make 
 use of it; and the rich man still insists, but if one tcent to them front 
 the dead, they will repent : then follows the text, which is the last 
 resolution of this case. We have reason to suspect that no new 
 lights or evidences would be effectual in reclaiming hardened sinners: 
 they might be terrified for a time ; but when the infidel had con- 
 quered his own fears, he would conclude that all religion is made up 
 of that fear which he felt himself, and which others cannot so man- 
 fully get rid of : that it is in the nature of man to withstand such 
 evidences, may be learned from the example of Pharoah, and of the 
 g^uards who were eye-witnesses of our Lord's resurrection. It is 
 shown that belief does not imply obedience, as all sinners are not 
 infidels ; and why should obedience be the consequence of belief in 
 one case more than another? The strongest arguments for obedience 
 are afforded by the gospel ; therefore he who believes and yet 
 disobeys it, will not be reformed by any other evidence : so that our 
 Saviour's judgment is just with regard to all infidels and sinners. 
 God having once sent his own Son from the dead to admonish us, 
 has already given a sufficient evidence of all things which we are con- 
 cerned to know ; and all other intercourse with the other world would 
 be useless. 
 
 DISCOURSE XXXV, 
 
 PSALM XIX. VERSE 12. 
 Who can understand his errors ? Cleanse thou me from secret faults. 
 
 Self-examination, the only method of obtaining a distinct 
 knowlege of our sins : hence the frequency of exhortation to undertake 
 
 PART 1. G 
 
98 SUMMARIES OF 
 
 it. As ill temporal concerns, men whose prodigality has reduced them 
 to extreme poverty and distress, find themselves unable to state their 
 accounts, and come to an exact knowlege of their affairs; so in 
 spiritual matters, those that have been long acquainted with vice and 
 strangers to reflection, when they begin seriously to repent, know in 
 general that they have a heavy weight of sin on their souls, though 
 the particulars they are able to recollect fall very short of the sense 
 which they have of their condition : thus, not being able to satisfy 
 themselves that their repentance is perfect, they do not always 
 enjoy that peace and tranquillity which they expected as the fruit 
 of it. 
 
 The holy Psalmist had this sense of his condition when he expressed 
 himself in the words of the text, and addressed God as his only refuge. 
 The great comfort to be derived from God's wisdom, in setting before 
 us the examples of good men in their lowest and most imperfect 
 state, considered. The words of the text, considered without regard 
 to the person who spoke them, do not admit of such consolatory con- 
 clusions, as when they are considered to have been uttered by David, 
 of whose repentance and acceptance we do not doubt; for in this 
 point of view they afford us two propositions : I. That the security 
 and efficacy of repentance do not depend on a particular recollection 
 of all our errors: II. That for such errors as we cannot recollect, a 
 general confession and repentance will be sufficient. 
 
 These two propositions contain the plain doctrine of the text: but 
 that we may not mistake in the application of it to ourselves, and 
 suppose that a wilful ignorance of our sins will insure forgiveness, it 
 is necessary to examine the nature of what may fairly be called 
 secret sins. And — I, We may reckon among them those for which 
 our liturgy has taught us to ask repentance and forgiveness, under the 
 general names of negligences and ignorances; for neglect of our duty, 
 and negligence in discharging it, are two different things ; the one 
 arising from aversion to the work, and consent of the mind, — the other 
 from want of thought and resolution. The best men often complain 
 that, in the midst of their devotion, some chance object, some favorite 
 care, diverts their attention, and distracts their thoughts : offences of 
 this kind are so frequent in every part of our duty, that it is impos- 
 sible to bring every single act to our remembrance. Secondly, Sins 
 of ignorance are likewise secret sins : tvhere there is no law, says the 
 Apostle, there is no transgression. But when men venture boldly on 
 actions, conscious that they know not whether they are going right 
 or wrong, their sin is presumption, and not ignorance : repentance 
 for this not to be reckoned with that for our secret sins : for if a man 
 thinks virtue and vice so indifferent, that he may venture to follow 
 them blindfold, this is a proof that his heart is not right with God. 
 But though this ignorance may be presumptuous and incur respon- 
 sibility, the follies and sins it leads to may be unknown to us ; and 
 these, though aggravated by circumstances, can only be lamented 
 under the character of secret sins. Thirdly, Nothing shows corrup- 
 tion of heart more than confirmed habits of sinning; and yet in this 
 perfection of vice we lose the very sense of sin : instance of this effect 
 
SHERLOCK S DISCOURSES. — XXXV. £9 
 
 of habit in profane swearers : but when such sinners call themselves 
 to jiulgment, they can only tell that they have grievously ofleiided : 
 they know not the measure of their iniquity, nor the aggravations of 
 it : the utmost therefore that a penitent in this case can do is to 
 lament the oftences of his heart and tongue, and pray that God would 
 blot out the remembrance of them. 
 
 Fourthly, The Apostle has advised us not to be partakers of other 
 men's si?is ; which shows that when others sin through our example 
 or encouragement, we share their guilt. How far our influence in 
 this respect extends, is more than we can tell, yet not more than we 
 shall answer for. The higher our station and the greater our 
 authority, the more reason have we to fear being involved in this kind 
 of guilt. Power, honor, and riches contrasted with this (in a digres- 
 sion) as great means of salvation in the hands of a wise man. 
 
 Fifthly, The great measure of folly and vanity and self-love in our 
 best actions is what seldom falls under our notice ; and yet who is 
 free from such errors? How much of our virtue and religion arises 
 from regard to our own credit and reputation ? and when we are 
 most eager in pursuit of some good end, how often are we only grati- 
 fying some private passion ? To this account may be added the 
 many vain imaginations which are conceived in the heart, though 
 never brought into action : as those of the ambitious man ; of the 
 sensualist; and of the revengeful man. Lastly, When we come to 
 repent of our sins, many of them may be secret to us merely through 
 the weakness and imperfection of memory: these, although we may 
 have been heretofore conscious of them, are with respect to our 
 repentance as secret as if we had never known them, and can only 
 be confessed and lamented in general terms. These then are the 
 several kinds of our secret sins: of all which there is one general 
 character, that they are such as we cannot, not such as we will not, 
 remember. 
 
 II. In the second place we are to consider what guilt we contract 
 by our secret sins, lest it should be thought that the sins which escape 
 our knowlege ought not to burden our conscience. AVhere there is 
 no guilt, there needs no remission ; and if we cannot be justly 
 charged with our secret sins, there is no sense in the Psalmist's peti- 
 tion, cleanse thou me from my secret faults: in another place also he 
 tells us that God sets our secret sins in the light of his countenance. 
 In the instances already given we may observe that our secret sins 
 are sometimes the most heinous : thus it is in the case of habitual 
 sins; we are too well acquainted with them to take notice of them: 
 but shall this plead their excuse ? shall only fearful sinners and 
 modest beginners be punished, whilst that iniquity which is become 
 void of shame and sense of sin escapes judgment ? This is not con- 
 sistent with any rule of equity. The same might be made to appear 
 in other instances : for every idle ivord, how soon soever it slips out 
 of the memory, for every vain imagination, how soon soever it 
 vanishes away, we shall give an account at the day of judgment : for 
 the guilt of sin arises not from the power of our memory, and is 
 
100 SUMMARIES OF 
 
 extinguished not by the weakness of it. If we forget, there is One 
 before whom our iniquities are ever present. 
 
 Conclusion : since many of our sins are secret to us, they can only 
 be repented of in general ; and since many are very heinous, they 
 must be repented of seriously. By general repentance then we are 
 not to understand a slight or superficial repentance only. The 
 petition of the Psalmist proceeded from a heart deeply affected with 
 the sense of its guilt, and does not express the sentiments of one who 
 was excusing or lessening his faults. 
 
 DISCOURSE XXXVI. 
 
 MATTHEW, CHAP. XII. VERSE 3(). 
 
 But I say unto you, That every idle word that men shall speak, they shall 
 give account thereof iu the day of judgment, 
 
 PART I. 
 
 It is evident from the context, that our Saviour intended to dis- 
 tinguish between the heinous offences of blasphemy, perjury, &c. and 
 the idle words mentioned in the text. Of these there are many sorts. 
 First ; Such as proceed from the vanity and deceitfulness of men's 
 minds, the empty boastings or pretences of pride, and the sly insinu- 
 ations of craft and hypocrisy. Secondly ; Reports which often pro- 
 ceed from mere curiosity, and a desire of hearing and telling news, to 
 the injury of our neighbor's credit or reputation. Thirdly ; Such 
 words as are the impure conceptions of a polluted mind, which often 
 pass for wit among those who make a mock of sin. Lastly ; Useless 
 and insignificant words, which comprehend great part of the conver- 
 sation of those who aim at nothing but present amusements, unworthy 
 of a rational creature. These are the common sins of speech, com- 
 prehended under the general term of idle words, which, if persisted 
 in, may prove of dangerous consequence to our souls. What these 
 sins are, is represented under the several heads above mentioned. 
 
 I. Idle ivurds, proceeding from vanity or deceit, will comprehend 
 the pretences and plausible speeches of the cunning, and tiie empty 
 boastings of the vain-glorious man. In both these cases there is a 
 want of truth, on which we ought to build whatever we say one to 
 another. Truth and falsehood have the relation to each other of 
 good and evil ; and this is an essential difference ; so that there 
 always is evil where there is not truth : many nice cases have been 
 put on this question, whether we are always obliged to speak the 
 truth ? and though some have maintained that truth may be dis- 
 pensed with when it is evidently for our neighbor's benefit that he 
 
SHERLOCK'S DISCOURSES. — XXXVI. 101 
 
 should be kept in ignorance, yet it never was pretended that vanity 
 or cunning would excuse the want of it. Our Saviour tells us that 
 evil things proceed from an evil heart : now the evil that lies at the 
 heart of a vain-glorious man is pride. There is no attempt in which 
 men are more generally unsuccessfid than in that of praising and 
 extolling themselves: yet in spite of the sin and folly and disappoint- 
 ment that attend on it, pride will have its work ; and wherever this 
 evil has rooted itself in the heart, it will produce such sin and folly in 
 the mouth as will be remembered at the day of judgment. 
 
 But vanity may be sometimes the vice of men otherwise good and 
 virtuous; yet even theirs are, in this case, idle words ; and men must 
 answer for the praise and glory which they assume to themselves. 
 It is dangerous at all times to speak of ourselves ; if we have done 
 ill, to excuse or deny it inflames the account ; if we have done well, 
 our Saviour tells us that we must call ourselves unprofitable servants. 
 Nor is there much difference between a boasting pride and an 
 affected humility, which lets others know what good we have done 
 by lessening and discommending that which we think they ought to 
 admire : so that in this respect the rule of prudence and the rule of 
 virtue are coincident, and the less we talk of ourselves the better. 
 
 In the next degree is placed cunning and artifice, which make men 
 very forgetful of the respect that is due to truth, whilst they direct 
 their speech to serve some design of their own. There are many 
 degrees of this cunning; that which aims at making a prize of the 
 ignorance of others needs not be mentioned here. But the charge of 
 idle tvords lies against a cunning less desperate and malicious, which 
 distinguishes such men as deceive you by a show of kindness which 
 is not real : he who courts and caresses all that come near him, must 
 allow himself a great latitude, and often be guilty of falsehood and 
 hypocrisy. The man of general civility and address destroys the 
 credit of language : but the advantage he has is from the folly and 
 self-love of mankind ; for most men cannot suppose a man insincere 
 who commends and extols them. 
 
 But what account shall a man give of himself for living perpetually 
 in a disguise; for deceiving all about him, and using the speech that 
 God gave him for better purposes, in imposing on the folly and weak- 
 ness of mankind ? An account he must give, unless he can show the 
 use and benefit of his fair speeches: this point enlarged on. But, 
 
 II. Idle tvords may comprehend the reports of envy and malice. 
 A distinction made under this head between those who invent and 
 contrive wicked stories to the scandal and defamation of their neigh- 
 bor, and those who credulously take them up when so invented, and 
 spread them. The first is a vice that the text has uo name for : it 
 exceeds all that can be meant by idle tvords, and must be numbered 
 with blacker crimes. But even to believe without sufficient ground, 
 or to report, when we do believe, the ill we hear of others, cannot be 
 divested of malice and envy : it is a mark of an evil disposition ; and 
 the restlessness of some minds to disburden themselves of an ill report 
 which they have picked up, shows their readiness to do this work and 
 dru-dgery of the devil ; but when men spread such stories with plea- 
 
102 SUMMARIES OF 
 
 sure, and rejoice in the scandal, then they share the contriver's malice 
 or envy, and are to be ranked with him in guilt. 
 
 But there are others who, out of an itch of knowing and talking 
 of other people's concerns, have their heads and tongues continually 
 running on the aft'airs of their neighbors ; often doing much mischief 
 without being chargeable with any malice or design to injure; but 
 in the multitude of words there ivanteth not sin ; and when men's 
 curiosity leads them beyond their proper sphere, they must answer 
 for the mischief they do : it is not enough that we mean to do no ill ; 
 it must be our care and study to do none. Were it not for such 
 busy talking creatures, it would not be worth a malicious man's while 
 to invent a story of his enemy. God has provided every man with 
 business proper to employ his time : what we can spare from the 
 necessary cares of life, and those relaxations and amusements which 
 nature requires, is little enough to lay out on the thoughts of eter- 
 nity ; nor are there ever wanting opportunities of doing good, in 
 which all active spirits might be usefully employed : this point 
 enlarged on. 
 
 III. Idle words may imply such as are the product of an idle and 
 impure mind, &c. There is nothing more directly contrary to 
 morality and good manners, than the liberty which some men take of 
 entertaining company with subjects unlit for the mouth and ears of a 
 Christian. Whether this be an employment which even common 
 sense and reason should submit to, any one who is not quite lost to 
 shame may determine. It is a great argument of the impurity of 
 men's minds, when things of this nature lie uppermost, and are 
 always at their tongue's end : and therefore for their own sakes they 
 should confine such thoughts. 
 
 This impudent wit, in all persons abominable, is never more truly 
 infamous than when found in company with grey hairs; when men 
 seem to be feeding on the dregs of the pollutions of their youth, when 
 the decay of nature calls for other thoughts. In calling these idle 
 %vords, the expression does not reach to the heinousness of the crime ; 
 for nothing is more contrary to the modesty and purity of our holy 
 religion, nothing more destructive of morality, than this lewd wit, 
 whose present glory is shame, and whose future reward shall be con- 
 fusion. 
 
 If men have the power of clothing their unchaste thoughts in 
 cleanly language, it cannot be justly pleaded in mitigation of their 
 crime ; this possibly may be to sin more like a gentleman, but it 
 carries an aggravation with it that cannot easily be forgiven. To 
 improve on vice, and take oft' that mark of infamy which God has set 
 on it, is the highest abuse of reason and sense. To make lewdness 
 agreeable, and recommend it by an artful address and pleasant wit, 
 what is it but to convey the poison in a precious mixture, that may 
 tempt the palate to admit it ? Modesty is the outguard of virtue, 
 and gives notice of the approach of vice : and when lewdness is so 
 dressed up as to pass unsuspected, it proves but the more dangerous 
 enemy within ; therefore we must expect to give a severe account 
 for the time and words which we spend in this diversion, to that 
 Judge uho is of purer eyes than to behold iniquity. 
 
Sherlock's discourses. — xxxvi. 103 
 
 PART II. 
 
 Fourth divisiun of the first part of this Discourse referred to. By 
 idle words we may understand useless and insignificant words; which 
 are spent to no great purpose either good or bad. 
 
 This sense will comprehend a great part of the conversation of the 
 world, which aims at nothing but present amusement. Now it is 
 worth while to inquire what guilt a man contracts by this kind of 
 idle words. To discover whether useless though innocent conver- 
 sation comes within the judgment of the text, the following particu- 
 lars must be considered : I. The scope of our Saviour's argument in 
 this place: II. The end and design of speech, which is the gift of 
 (iod to mankind: III, The nature of man in general, and the 
 different degrees of sense and understanding given to different men. 
 
 First, As to the scope of our Saviour's argument, it is evident that 
 he descends from the greater to the less evils of speech ; from blas- 
 phemy he comes to the other evils which are generated in the heart, 
 and from thence derived to the tongue. The form with which the 
 words of the text are introduced, looks as if they were intended as 
 an addition and improvement to the old doctrines of the law. The 
 Jews knew that perjuries, blasphemies, and such like crimes, would 
 be punished ; and therefore our Saviour merely mentions them with- 
 out speaking of the punishment: then he adds, but I say tinto you, 
 which emphatical words denote the doctrine to be new, and founded 
 on his authority : which same form is used in Matt. ch. v. and in 
 other instances, where Christ enlarges our duty, and debars us from 
 the least approaches to vice. Allowing this to be the case in the 
 text, it follows that we have therein a rule implied for the govern- 
 ment of Christian conversation, of the greatest purity, restraining us 
 not only from all evil, but from the very appearance of it ; from every 
 thing with the serious demeanor required in a Christian ; from such 
 faults as bear no greater proportion to the evil things mentioned 
 before the text, than anger does to murder, or a wanton look to 
 adultery. 
 
 The text thus understood leads us to inquire, what are these faults 
 and levities of speech that are misbecoming a disciple of the gospel, 
 as being inconsistent with a Christian frame of mind ? for though it 
 may not be our duty always to be meditating on the mystery of our 
 redemption and the surprising love of God, yet ought we to preserve 
 a consistency of character, in conversation as becometh the gospel of 
 Christ : for we should consider that we are adopted sons of God, 
 and candidates for heaven ; and should such spend their time in 
 uttering foolish jests, and entertaining idle minds with idle talk, till 
 they are lost in a forgetfulness of God and themselves? 
 
 The part of a common wit or jester does not well become a man, 
 much less a Christian : it is below the dignity of reason; still more 
 so, when reason is improved by grace : and to this purpose is 
 
104 SUMMARIES OF 
 
 St. Paul's prohibition, when he forbids al\ foolish talking and jesting, 
 tvhich are not convenient. What our translation venders jesting, the 
 original styles ev-paTreXla, which Aristotle reckons among his virtues, 
 and defines it to be the habit of jesting handsomely. So that what 
 passed in the heathen world for a virtue is forbidden to Christians ; 
 and it is probable that our Saviour, by idle ivords, meant those jests 
 which were so delighted in and bore so good a character : this sub- 
 ject enlarged on. 
 
 Secondly, With regard to the end and design of speech, which is 
 the gift of God to mankind. 
 
 Speech was given us for the communication of our thoughts to each 
 other : but though it be given for this purpose, yet all our thoughts 
 are not to be disclosed as fit objects of discourse : we must judge 
 what are proper, and must be answerable for the government of our 
 tongues. A man may be innocent in having some thoughts in his 
 mind, which he cannot innocently disclose ; for though he cannot 
 always choose his thoughts, he may choose what he will talk of. As 
 to the proper ends of speech we may reason thus: God has made us 
 reasonable creatures and fitted us for his service, and therefore expects 
 a reasonable service from us : as he lias given us all the good we 
 enjoy, our duty is to praise him for his goodness, and raise in others 
 a sense of gratitude : this is one end of speech. As he has made us 
 liable to many wants, it is our duty to pray to him to supply them : 
 this another end. Farther, the wants and necessities of nature, 
 which are present, call for our help ; we must by industry obtain the 
 necessaries and conveniences of life; as this subject must employ a 
 great part of our thoughts, so it is properly a frequent one of our dis- 
 course. Moreover, God has made us to delight in each other's 
 company: we are sociable creatures, and there is a pleasure in con- 
 versation ; whence it follows, that men may commendably meet for 
 the maintaining and improving mutual love and friendship : another 
 end therefore of speech is to be a bond of society, a means of bringing 
 and keeping men together. If then it appears that men may meet 
 for mutual society and conversation, it follows that nothing can 
 render conversation unlawful that is not sinful : for God has made 
 us for the society of each other, and has commanded us to love each 
 other; and therefore, if our discourses are friendly and social, they 
 are so far virtuous, as they serve the end of nature : this subject 
 enlarged on. 
 
 Lastly : The nature of man isconsidered, and the different degrees 
 of sense and understanding in different men. 
 
 This consideration must have place in this question, because the 
 tongue cannot speak better than the understanding can conceive ; 
 which infers a proportion between the abilities of our mind and the 
 soundness of our speech. To discourse profitably on the most 
 profitable subjects, requires a clear conception and a distinguishing 
 judgment; without which men only lower noble subjects. What 
 then must the great body of mankind do? They must talk of such 
 things as lie level to their capacities, since even they are fitted tor 
 conversation and have a delight therein : let them be prevailed on to 
 
Sherlock's discourses. — xxxvii. 105 
 
 abstain from envious and malicious discourse, from lewd and filthy 
 jesting, which are too often ingredients of their conversation : for 
 since God has designed them for society as well as others, and given 
 them no great share of understanding, you can neither restrain them 
 from society, nor exact more wisdom from them than they have 
 received. This consideration will reach wiser men : you must not 
 despise your weak brother, to whom charity obliges you to be civil 
 and courteous. From all these considerations together, it appears 
 that the conversation of the world on common and trivial subjects, is 
 not blameworthy. It is a diversion in which we must not spend too 
 much time : as, if we so offend, we shall be answerable for our neglect 
 of weightier matters; but otherwise, if we transgress not the bounds of 
 innocence and virtue, we trust that our harmless though weak and 
 unprofitable words shall not rise up in judgment against us. 
 
 DISCOURSE XXXVII. 
 
 EPHESIANS, CHAP. IV. VERSE 28. 
 
 Let him tliat stole, steal no more ; but ratlier let him labor, working with 
 his hands the tiling which is good, that he may have to give to hira that 
 needeth. 
 
 PART I. 
 
 This text contains a confirmation and explication of the eighth 
 commandment: for, since all men are not equally supplied with the 
 necessaries of life, and those who are without them are forbidden to 
 steal, they can be obtained only by purchase or exchange; and as 
 the only thing which a poor man has to exchange is the labor of his 
 hands, it follows that, as he must not steal, he must work : he has as 
 many ways to maintain himself as the rich man has wants or desires : 
 but this latter has often very wicked desires and sinful pleasures; and 
 though to serve the rich be the poor man's maintenance, yet to these 
 he is forbidden to administer : he must work with his hands only 
 the thing that is good. 
 
 Moreover, since labor to the poor is the business and employment 
 which God has given them to do, a man is not to rest satisfied with 
 working merely as far as the wants of nature oblige hira, and spend- 
 ing the rest of his time idly and wantonly ; but if, through God's 
 goodness, he is enabled to gain more than is sufficient for himself, he 
 becomes a debtor to other duties, he owes a tribute to his Maker; 
 and he is bound still to labor, that he may have to give to him that 
 needeth. It is shown that both the rich and the poor are equally 
 obliged to make returns to God suitable to their abilities. The text 
 consists of four distinct parts : I. A prohibition ; let him that stole, 
 
lOG SUMMARIES OF 
 
 steal no more: II. A consequent injunction; but rather let him 
 labor: III. A limitation of tliis duty to things honest and lawful; 
 working with his hands the thing xvhich is good : IV. The rule and 
 measure of the same ; that he may have to give to him that needeth. 
 First, As to the prohibition : by this we are forbidden the use of all 
 such means for our own maintenance and support, as are injurious to 
 our neighbor. The command, thou shalt not steal, was given to 
 secure every man in the possession of his goods ; and therefore the 
 reason of the law reaches all sorts of fraud and deceit ; and there are 
 many things which, strictly speaking, we do not call stealing, but 
 which must be understood as comprehended in this law, in virtue of 
 the reason on which it is founded : this point explained. Some are 
 apt to repine at the unequal distribution of the goods of fortune ; and 
 thinking that they have as good a natural right to a share as their 
 possessors have, they assert that right whenever it is in their power to 
 do so. Hence sprang the sect called Levellers, who were for having 
 the world equally divided among its inhabitants. Their opinion is 
 destructive of all law and justice, and makes void the command given 
 against theft. It renders labor and industry useless, since he that 
 labors can acquire nothing that he had not before ; and if it prevailed 
 generally, it would render the world a nest of idle vagabonds. It 
 requires but few words to show the vanity of such a doctrine ; for 
 though we cannot produce a divine law ordering the distribution of 
 this world's goods, yet property is evidently of divine right : for when 
 God gave the command, thou shalt not steal, he confirmed to every 
 one the possession of his goods : this point enlarged on. From 
 whence it follows that no man can acquire the possession of any 
 thing which is at present another's, without his consent fairly ob- 
 tained ; and to this right of his own establishing even God himself 
 submits. The poor are his peculiar charge, and he stands engaged 
 for their support ; but neither does he force us to part with our estates 
 to them, nor does he give to the poor any right to serve themselves 
 out of the abundance of others ; but he has left them to be supported 
 by voluntary charity : since God therefore has not, for the sake of 
 the most necessitous, thought fit to break into the sacred law of pro- 
 perty, no man can be warranted, whatever may be his wants, in 
 transgressing it : but in consequence of this, it follows that he who 
 has not enough of the good thiiigs of this life for his maintenance and 
 support, is obliged to work for his living. And this is the 
 
 Second thing to be considered, as the injunction of the text; b^it 
 rather let him labor. His wants must be supplied from the abun- 
 dance of others ; and therefore he must find some honest way of 
 transferring to himself what at present is not his. This must be done 
 by consent of the present possessor, which must be obtained by pur- 
 chase or intreaty. A man may, if he pleases, part with his goods 
 freely to others by way of gift ; and it should seem that, what 
 another freely gives, we may freely and innocently take. This 
 raises a question concerning the lawfulness of begging ; for if a man 
 may lawfully beg, and can by that means raise a sufficient mainte- 
 nance, then it dots not necessarily follow that, because we must not 
 
Sherlock's discourses. — xxxvir. 107 
 
 steal, therefore we must labor. In this question we must distin- 
 guish concerning persons ; for some have a right to be maintained by 
 charity, and these have a right to ask for it. Charity is the inhe- 
 ritance of the poor: it is, as it were, their property: and therefore, 
 if any one who is not an object of it, lives by charity, he invades the 
 rights and property of the poor ; and this is the worst way of steal- 
 ing. Who are not objects of charity the Apostle tells us in another 
 place ; if any man will not work, neither let him eat ; that is, if a 
 man can work, and will not, he ought to starve. Now no man ought 
 to starve, who ought to be maintained by charity ; for such have a 
 right to eat thereof: from whence it follows that such as can labor, 
 but will not, have no right to charity, and consequently have no 
 right to ask it ; and therefore begging, for such as are able to labor, 
 is an unlawful calling, or a more specious theft : this subject en- 
 larged on. 
 
 Since then it is not lawful either to beg or to steal, it follows that 
 a man must labor, and by his own industry maintain himself and 
 those who have a right to be maintained by him. The Apostle adds 
 that he must labor, icorkinrf with his hands ;* which is our duty when 
 we are not capable of any better work ; for such as cannot live with- 
 out it, must live by bodily labor. But the injunction is more gene- 
 ral, and includes all kinds of labor, toil, or study, by which men may 
 be serviceable to themselves or others : and it may properly be asked 
 how far this duty extends, and whether such only are obliged to labor 
 as cannot live without it. 
 
 Man was not made to be idle. God has not given him sense and 
 understanding to sit still and do nothing. If he was made only to 
 eat and drink, then indeed it would follow that those who have 
 enough, need do nothing else ; but if he is made for and is capable of 
 nobler employment, then it is an absurd thing to ask, whether a man 
 may be idle, provided he wants nothing ? The necessary affairs of 
 the world cannot be managed by the labor of the hands alone : the 
 head must also be employed in things of the highest consequence : 
 and every man owes it as a duty to God and his country to render 
 himself useful in his station, &c. : hence all men are obliged to that 
 kind of labor and work which is suitable to their rank. We gene- 
 rally say, that God has made nothing in vain : yet what is the rich 
 man made for, if his business be only to eat and drink, and spend his 
 estate ? Sense and reason are great gifts of God : and if he has 
 exempted our hands from toil, he will expect that we should improve 
 our nobler parts, and will exact an account of the talents committed 
 to our trust. 
 
 PART II. 
 
 We here proceed to the third thing, which is the limitation, by 
 which we are confined to work only the things that are good, fore- 
 
 * Of this St. Paul himself was an illustrious example : see Acts xviii. 
 3.— Ed. 
 
108 SUMMARIES OF 
 
 going all unlawful means of supporting ourselves : let him laboVf 
 ivorJiing loith his hands the things that are good. Had not this con- 
 dition been expressed, it might have been collected from the nature 
 of the command ; for if the law of God be superior to our necessities 
 in any point, it must be in all. Our Saviour tells us that man shall 
 not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceedeth oiit of the 
 mouth of God : if so, then we must not for bread transgress any part 
 of God's word ; which would be to destroy life under the pretence of 
 preserving it. As we are men, we are the servants of God, and his 
 law is our highest obligation : as we are poor, we must serve men, 
 ■which is the law of our condition ; and this can never supersede the 
 law of our nature: therefore no necessity can justify us in despising 
 or neglecting God's ordinances: this point enlarged on. Hence we 
 may learn what value there is in the excuse which servants and poor 
 men usually make, when they are sensible that they, are employed 
 otherwise than they ought to be : they dare not desert the service of 
 their master, on whom they depend for their livelihood; the work 
 they do is his, and his is the guilt : the first part of this excuse shown 
 to be false, as God is superior to man : the second, as reason, which 
 is given to us for a guide, makes us principals in all the evil we do. 
 It is therefore manifest that, as the law of our condition obliges us to 
 labor for our maintenance, so the superior law of reason and nature 
 obliges us to work only the things that are lawful and honest. 
 
 But it may be asked, what are lawful and honest employments? 
 Now the labor of the poor depends on the wants and desires of the 
 rich : but the things which men want are either the necessaries, or 
 conveniences, or pleasures of life ; and all trades or callings are sub- 
 servient to one or other of these. 1. God has made nothing necessary 
 to us which is not lawful and honest : therefore all such works as those 
 of husbandry, &c. may be pursued. 2. 'When men are furnished with 
 necessaries, they may then look out for conveniences ; and if the rich 
 may lawfully desire and enjoy them, then the poor may lawfully pro- 
 vide them : this point enlarged on. 3. The next thing which may 
 furnish employment are the pleasures of life. Some of these are very 
 innocent, and some very wicked ; and the rule in this case must 
 follow this distinction : such pleasures as the rich may innocently 
 enjoy, the poor may lawfully provide ; such as are wicked may 
 neither be enjoyed nor provided without guilt. 
 
 But there are some things, which, according as they are used, may 
 administer to innocent pleasure, or to vice and immorality : as wine 
 may either make glad the heart of man, or sink him below the level 
 of a brute; hence the question, how far we may lawfully provide 
 things of this kind ? Now since the innocence or wickedness of 
 these lies together in the use of them, he that uses them may be to 
 blame, and he that provides them may be innocent : this point 
 enlarged on. 
 
 When things in their own nature evidently tend to corrupt and 
 debauch men's manners, they are capable of no defence. Whatever 
 exposes religion to contempt, or virtue to ridicule, whatever makes 
 vice glorious, or gives to lust dominion over reason, is of this kind. 
 
SHERLOCK'S DISCOURSES. — XXXVII. 100 
 
 Tlie stage considered in this point of view : inquiry also made whe- 
 ther gaming can be a lawful calling or profession for men to maintain 
 themselves by. From previous observations it may be collected 
 what is an honest labor: and we must follow our honest callings 
 honestly. The next thing to be considered is, what is the measure of 
 this duty ; whether we are obliged to labor merely to supply our 
 wants, or whether there be other duties which are to be answered by 
 our toil. This the Apostle has settled in the last place; enjoining us 
 to labor, that ice may have to give to him that needeth ; so that we 
 are to labor not only to support ourselves and families, but that we 
 may also contribute to the necessities of such as are not able to work 
 for themselves : nor will objects of our charity ever fail ; since the 
 more we gain, the more ought we to give ; and for this end should we 
 labor. 
 
 But there are many things which a poor man ought to provide for, 
 before he can come to the exercise of charity : he must supply his 
 own wants; he must also by his industry provide against the casuali- 
 ties and misfortunes of life : and this in consequence of the Apostle's 
 rule ; for the first piece of charity which a man is bound to, is to keep 
 himself from being a charge and burden on charity ; that there may 
 be a greater maintenance for such as are truly necessitous : next to 
 himself a man is likewise bound to provide for his family, children, 
 and near relations: and this is a duty of nature; for the Apostle 
 tells us, that if any man provide not for his oivn, he is worse than an 
 heathen, &c. Nor must their present maintenance be his only care, 
 but likewise their future welfare. But, it may be asked, what is the 
 measure of this provision for futurity ; and when shall we satisfy this 
 duty ? Answered : he who can get no more than is necessary for 
 himself and family, is under no obligation to works of charity : but 
 when he gets beyond this necessity, he is then obliged to provide for 
 his own futiire wants and the present wants of the poor ; so that to 
 lay up in store for ourselves, and to give in charity to others, are 
 concurrent duties. 
 
 But it must be allowed that charity is naturally the duty of the 
 rich rather than the poor ; and if it be the duty of the poor to give 
 out of the little which they can earn by their hands, how much more 
 will it be expected from those to whom God has given more than 
 enough? who are appointed, as it were, his stewards; and to whom 
 are committed the good things of this world, that they may use them 
 to the glory and honor of his name. The time will come when 
 we must quit lands and houses, and all the possessions of this life : 
 let us therefore make to ourselves friends of the mammon of 
 tinrighteousness. 
 
110 SUMMARIES OF 
 
 DISCOURSE XXXVIIl. 
 
 I PETER, CHAP. IV. VERSE 8. 
 
 And above all things, Lave fervent charity among yourselves ; for charity 
 shall cover the multitude of sins. 
 
 PART I. 
 
 The high esteem in which the great virtue of charity was held by 
 St. Peter is shown by the distinguishing manner in which he intro- 
 duces the exhortation in the text. The excellency of charity is 
 explicitly set forth by St. Paul in 1 Cor. xiii., where he does not 
 merely compare it with, and prefer it before all spiritual gifts, but 
 declares that without it all these are of no profit to salvation. It is 
 of the utmost consequence therefore, that we should rightly under- 
 stand this great virtue, that we may use the proper methods of attain- 
 ing to it. Its nature must be considered, that the text may be rightly 
 understood. St. Peter affirms that charity shall cover the multitude 
 of sins ; and as it is evident that this great promise must be ascribed 
 to that virtue only which the writer of the text had in his mind, if we 
 apply it to any thing else, we abuse his authority and deceive our- 
 selves. The discourse confined to two inquiries: I. What that fer- 
 vent charity is, which the Apostle recommends: II. What is the 
 meaning of his affirmation that it shall cover the multitude of sins. 
 
 First: It will appear by the words used, that he is not recom- 
 mending any particular duty ; much less any particular acts of 
 duty. The words in the original, rendered by our translators 
 fervent charity are ayiiirriv cKTevij, continual or uninterrupted 
 love. It is therefore the principle of charity, or a general bene- 
 ficence of mind, which the Apostle recommends: and this must 
 be constant and regular, not subject to passion or resentment, 
 but presiding over all the desires of the heart : charity is thus 
 distinguished from good-nature, a quality which results rather from 
 a man's constitution than his reason, and which often needs correc- 
 tion in its very principles ; being sometimes an agreeable and easy 
 weakness of mind, or an indolence and carelessness with respect to 
 persons or things. Charity is reason made perfect by grace ; it is a 
 beneficence which arises from a contemplation of the world, from a 
 knowlege of the great Creator, and the relation we bear to him and 
 to our fellow-creatures : the character, the temper, and the duty of a 
 disciple of the gospel are all comprehended in this virtue. Actions 
 of the same sort may proceed from dift'erent principles: thus libe- 
 rality and hospitality, the natural eftects of charity, may be produced 
 by pride and vanity. This leads to an inquiry, how we may certainly 
 distinguish the principles from which our actions proceed : the ready 
 answer to this is, that we must consult our own hearts: but since to 
 search the heart, and to examine the principles of action, are the 
 same thing, this will not forward our inquiry. The difficulty of 
 arriving at the knowlege of our own hearts shown. Though in ac- 
 
Sherlock's discourses, — xxxviii. Ill 
 
 lions which require deliberation, an honest man may judge of his 
 own motives, yet there are many things which men do habitually, 
 and with such ease and readiness, as not to attend to the motive at 
 the time of action : it is hardly possible for us to estimate the good 
 or evil of our actions, by considering the immediate and sensible 
 connexion between each act and the motives which produce it : for 
 as many motions of the body, which depend on the acts of our 
 will, are exerted with the greatest reason, and yet the reason of 
 exerting them is but seldom if ever attended to ; so, in moral actions, 
 a man of confirmed habitual goodness does many things right, without 
 recurring by reflection to the special grounds of duty on which their 
 morality is founded. Hence it seems a very distracting method to 
 set people on an inquiry into the motives of all their particular 
 actions; and it is still more improper to exclude sincerity from all 
 actions that are not immediately influenced by true motives of reli- 
 gion. 
 
 We must therefore search after a more equitable and practicable 
 way of judging of our sincerity. Our Saviour tells us, we must /ore 
 our neighbor as ourselves : this therefore will be a sufficient evidence 
 or test of our charity. 
 
 Now it is certain that the principle of self-preservation does gene- 
 rally act so uniformly in men, that they do the things most necessary 
 to their own well-being without much thought on the reasons for so 
 doing ; nor do we ever suspect the sincerity of their motives. 
 
 What the principle of self-preservation is with respect to ourselves, 
 the same is charity with respect to our neighbor : and the more real 
 and vigorous this principle is, the more easily, and with the less deli- 
 beration, does it exert its acts of beneficence : hypocrites have a de- 
 sign, and therefore they deliberate : but it is a great presumption that 
 a man acts on a general principle of charity and humanity, when he 
 lives well towards others, without having a particular reason to assign 
 for every instance of so doing. 
 
 This rule however is not so strict, as that men should be always 
 condemned for the good they do to others with a view to themselves : 
 for it is as reasonable to exchange good offices as other less valuable 
 conveniences of life; and the Apostle himself exhorts us to jirovoke 
 one another to love and to good works. 
 
 The surest way to know whether we are influenced by a true prin- 
 ciple of charity, is to consider, not this or that particular action, nor 
 our behavior with respect to particular persons; but to reflect on our 
 carriage towards all in general, and in all instances; for the true 
 principle will discover itself in the uniformity of our actions. 
 
 If therefore we find that our sentiments of humanity are confined 
 to certain persons or parties, we may be sure they are the product of 
 some partial narrow views, and not the genuine ofl'spring of true 
 charity, which is in its nature extensive and universal : or if we find 
 ourselves acting in some instances justly and mercifully, whilst in 
 others we are regardless of mercy and justice, we have not the virtue 
 of charity : this point enlarged on. 
 
 The rule here recommended is the same which the Apostle in 
 
112 SUMMARIES OF 
 
 effect describes 1 Cor. xiii. ; where he speaks of spiritual gifts, and 
 shows that without charity they are of no use. 
 
 Thus the Scripture rule of judging ourselves in this great point of 
 charity, is to compare our conduct with the precept, and to consider 
 whether our actions are uniformly suited to the principle by which 
 we pretend to act. When we find a constant benevolence in our 
 minds, and that we act conformably to it within the rules of reason, 
 why should we doubt of our own sincerity, or scrupidously examine 
 the special motives which attended every charitable act ? Such an 
 examination shown to be unreasonable. 
 
 Conclusion : We see the extensive nature of charity, as well as a 
 plain and natural way of judging whether we possess it. If we allow 
 ourselves in any instance to injure our neighbor, how can we be said 
 to love him? Whatever therefore be the darling passion, which 
 makes us transgress against our bi'Other, that it is which destroys in 
 us this most excellent grace of charity. 
 
 PAUT II. 
 
 Consideration of the sense in which the Apostle's assertion is to be 
 understood, that charity shall cover the multitude of sins. To cover 
 sins signifies to excuse and exempt them from punishment: in no 
 other sense is it possible for sins to be covered in the sight of God. 
 With respect to the judgment of men, this expression will bear a 
 stronger exposition ; for whether we consider the charitable person as 
 judging of other men's sins, his charity may incline him to judge better 
 of sinners than they deserve; or whether we consider others as 
 judging of the charitable person's own offences, it is natural for men 
 to be so charmed with the excellency of charity, as not to see the 
 defects which are in such good company. 
 
 Which of these two expositions ought to prevail, depends on a 
 farther inquiry ; viz. whether the Apostle in the text had respect to 
 the judgment of God or of men. 
 
 We must also consider of whose sins he speaks ; and whether he 
 means to affirm that charity shall cover those of the charitable 
 person, or of other people. 
 
 Probable reasons may be given for each interpretation ; these 
 examined. 
 
 First: There are good reasons to be assigned for limiting the 
 Apostle's assertion to the judgment of men. Hatred, says Solomon, 
 stirreth up strifes, hut love covereth all sins : where covering of sins 
 being opposed to stirring up strifes, the meaning needs must be, that 
 as hatred generates animosities, so love allays intemperate heats, and 
 inclines men to overlook oftences : this point enlarged on. Charity 
 therefore, as it naturally inclines us to forgive the offences of our 
 brethren, so it puts us into that peaceful state of mind which may 
 best enable us to prepare for our great Judge. In this sense 
 St. Peter's assertion agrees exactly with the accounts of charity in 
 other places of Holy Scripture, and with those properties ascribed 
 
Sherlock's discouksks. — xxxviii, li:j 
 
 to this virtue by St. Paul. Besides, the expression, the mnUiiude of 
 sins, leads to this interpretation : when the Apostle put the question 
 to our Lord, how oft shall my brother sin against tne, and I forgive 
 him? — till seven times ? Jesus answered, I say not unto thee, until 
 seven times, but until seventy times seven : from which St. Peter 
 could not but learn that the property of charity was to cover the 
 multitude of a brother's sins. Moreover, it is more reasonable to 
 think that a truly charitable man should meet with a multitude of 
 sins in other people for the exercise of his charity, than that he should 
 have a multitude of his own to cover : we meet with no such descrip- 
 tion of charity in Scripture, as may lead us to suppose it is consistent 
 with a multitude of sins. 
 
 If it be thought that the text, thus interpreted, holds forth no great 
 comfort or encouragement to charity, since the benefit accrues to 
 others, it must on the other side be considered, how blessed a state it 
 is to enjoy a calm serenity of mind, whilst the world around us is 
 agitated by the storms of passion ; and how happy we shall be if we 
 are so found when we are summoned by our great Master. 
 
 Secondly : There may be reasons for expounding the text of the 
 judgment of God, and yet the Apostle's assertion may still relate to 
 the sins of others, and not to those of the charitable person. But, it 
 may be said, may one man's sins be covered in the sight of God by 
 another man's charity ? Yes, they may : and in this sense the very 
 expression of the text is made use of by St. James, ch. v. 20. ; where 
 it is evident that the sins to be covered are those of the soul that is 
 saved from death ; and this is proposed as a strong incitement to 
 every charitable person, to labor for the conversion of a sinner: this 
 point enlarged on : were the several works of charity to be enume- 
 rated, its instruction of the ignorant, its encouragement of the weak, 
 its rebuking of the presumptuous, &c. we should soon see how instru- 
 mental it is in covering the sins of others. 
 
 Third and last inquiry ; viz. What encouragement we have from 
 reason and Scripture to expect that by charity we may cover our 
 own sins. 
 
 In the verse before the text, the Apostle gives us this warning, 
 the end of all things is at hand. To this solemn notice he subjoins a 
 proper exhortation ; be ye therefore sober, and watch unto prayer; 
 and above all things have fervent charity among yourselves : and as 
 a reason for this, he observes, /or charity shall cover the multitude of 
 sins. Hence arises a presumption that the Apostle might mean to 
 instruct each person how to cover his own sins : for when we look to 
 future judgment, of whose sins do we think, or for whose oftences do 
 we tremble, but our own ? Besides, the exhortation to mutual 
 charity being subjoined to the mention of prayer, may show the 
 Apostle's intention to instruct us how to hide our own oftences : as 
 it is in the Lord's Prayer. Farther, the nature and extent of charity 
 considered, there is an additional argument to confirm the charitable 
 man in the hopes of pardon for his own oftences : for charity is the 
 fulfilling of the laiv : it is the royal law, as St. James calls it, which 
 whosoever fulfils, shall do well : and in this view St. Peter's advice 
 
 PART I. H 
 
H4 SUMMARIES OF 
 
 in the text is equivalent to that of Daniel to Nebuchadnezzar, 
 ch. iv. 27. For these reasons, it may be allowed that the Apostle 
 meant to exhort us to charity, as a proper means to obtain forgive- 
 ness of our sins from God : but to prevent mistakes in so important a 
 matter, a few observations are offered. 
 
 First ; We must not so expound this text as to make it contradict 
 the general terms of pardon and reconciliation proposed in the gospel, 
 which only gives hopes of this through sincere repentance and 
 amendment of life. The words of the text, it is seen, are capable of 
 various interpretations, and therefore cannot be so strong in any one 
 sense as to control the meaning of more plain and express declara- 
 tions of holy writ, &c. 
 
 Secondly ; We must not so expound this or any other passage of 
 Scripture, as to raise up a doctrine reproachful to God, or incon- 
 sistent with his attributes. With the Almighty dwelleth truth and 
 justice, and in his court there is no commutation for iniquity; no 
 excuse or pardon but by forsaking it. Under these limitations, it is 
 considered how far we may apply this sovereign remedy of charity 
 to our own sins. 
 
 We may consider our sins as past, present, and to come. With 
 respect to our past sins, it is out of our power to recall them ; with 
 respect to our present, it is in our power to forsake them ; with 
 respect to those which are to come, it is in our power to avoid them. 
 To begin with the last. 
 
 No sort or degree of charity can so far vacate the duties of religion 
 as to make it unnecessary for us to avoid occasions of sin for the 
 time to come ; the very remedy, if applied to this purpose, would 
 turn to poison. Next, as to our present sins : as it is in our power, 
 so it will ever be our duty, to forsake them ; nor can any thing 
 dispense with this obligation. We must not therefore pretend to 
 balance our good and evil, and fondly imaijine that our virtues so far 
 exceed our iniquities, that these may safely be enjoyed : for our 
 Saviour tells us that ivhen loe have done our utmost, we are tinpro- 
 Jitable servants. Lastly, As to our past sins : it is not in our power 
 to recall them. Here therefore the goodness of God has provided a 
 remedy. This is the only case in which we have any encouragement 
 to seek for a cover for our sins. Repentance and amendment of life 
 is required ; and as charity is the perfection of tlie law, to forsake 
 sin, and to live by the rules of charity, is the best way to obtain 
 pardon. 
 
 But even in this case we must guard against mistakes : for though 
 a return to our duty and works of charity are the best amends we can 
 make for the guilt of past offences, yet charity will not be accepted 
 of God in lieu of justice : if we have injured one person, our debt to 
 him will not be paid by charity to another. First pay the debts of 
 justice, and then think of charity: till those are discharged, let no 
 one imagine that his charity will cover the multitude of siris. 
 
SHFRLOCK'S discourses.— XXXIX. 11. 
 
 DISCOURSE XXXIX. 
 
 GALATIANS, CHAP. VI. VERSE 9. 
 
 And let us not be weary in well-doing : for in due season we shall reap, 
 
 if we faint not. 
 
 This and other like passages in Scripture are founded in the 
 known truth, that God does not ordinarily dispense the rewards and 
 punishments due to virtue and vice in this life, but refers the right 
 settlement of all accounts to a future state. It may be thought that 
 it would have been better if this retribution had taken place here 
 below ; but a little attention will show us the wisdom of Providence. 
 Were men to receive the rewards due to their good actions in this 
 world, there would be no reason why they should grow weary in well- 
 doing, which would so abundantly repay all their pains and trouble. 
 
 It is natural for men, when they see flagrant instances of wicked- 
 ness, to make secret demands in their own hearts for justice against 
 them ; and if these are not answered , they are apt to conclude that they 
 themselves have cleansed their hearts invain. Whenever hopes and 
 expectations are raised beyond all probability of being answered by 
 the event, they can produce nothing but anger against the ordinary 
 course of things : yet who is to blame ? Not he who appointed this 
 course, but he who so little understood it, as to expect what it never 
 was intended to produce. Who would pity the husbandman who 
 lamented that he could not reap in spring, when the harvest comes 
 only in the summer? and the case is the same in all other instances. 
 It is of great consequence therefore to balance rightly our expec- 
 tations, and adjust them to the natural course of things ordained by 
 Providence. If we grow faint in our work, because our untimely 
 wishes are disappointed, we shall forfeit the reward of patient 
 endurance : and this seems the foundation of the Apostle's exhor- 
 tation in the text. 
 
 It is no uncommon thing to press men to a virtuous behavior by a 
 prospect of the rewards which such a behavior is intitled to in this 
 world; which is justified both by experience and Scripture; inas- 
 much as peace and tranquillity of mind are the great ingredients of 
 human happiness. But this argument is so little concerned with the 
 external good and evil of the world, that it is applicable to men of all 
 fortunes and conditions. But if men, when they hear of a happiness 
 due to virtue in this life, will conceive hopes of obtaining honors and 
 riches from God in recompense for their obedience, they expect what 
 was never yet generally answered, and probably never will be ; and 
 thus, while they pursue the shadow, they are in danger of losing the 
 substance. 
 
 To clear up this point, it is necessary to inquire what reason or 
 authority we have to assert the interposition of Providence in the 
 
/ 
 
 110 SUMMARIES or 
 
 private affairs of men, with respect to the rewards of virtue and 
 vice. 
 
 If we view and consider well the frame of the world and its laws, 
 we can no more doubt the fact of its being- sustained than of its being 
 created by the Alraisihty. But the question now is, since God has 
 made man a reasonable creature, and endowed him with a liberty of 
 acting, how far it has been thought lit to leave him to his liberty and 
 the consequences of his own acts. To come at any knowlege in this 
 case, there are but three ways : to consider what reason requires, 
 what experience teaches, what Scripture confirms. 
 
 First, with respect to what reason requires. It has pleased God to 
 endow us with a power of judging and a liberty of acting. Why 
 were these powers given ? Was it that we might use them, and thus 
 give proof of virtue or vice ? or was it that God might overrule 
 them, and render them in every particular case useless and insig- 
 nificant ? In this case he had better have made us mere machines, 
 than free agents at first, and then machines by an arbitrary inter- 
 position of power. To secure the happiness of a good man, and the 
 punishment of a bad one in this world, the actions of all men must be 
 determined ; they must be compelled to contribute to the happiness 
 of the one and the misery of the other : and there would be an end 
 of freedom. 
 
 This consideration leads to another of still greater weight : for if 
 the freedom of human actions cannot be maintained on this sup- 
 position, neither can the distinction of virtue and vice : for there is no 
 morality nor immorality where there is no choice or freedom, and 
 consef|uently no responsibility. 
 
 But taking the case in another point of view, if virtue were to be 
 constantly attended with success in worldly affairs, and vice certainly 
 pursued with misery, there would be no trial of faith and obedience, 
 which is necessary to prepare us for the blessings of another life : 
 virtue would not be what it now is ; but rather a kind of sensual 
 thing, arising often from ambition, avarice, and a love of worldly 
 enjoyments: this point enlarged on. But we may go still farther, 
 and say that the condition of good men would be rendered worse than 
 it really is, in losing one great support of their hopes and expectations 
 in another world; in being presented with a vain scene of worldly 
 pleasure, instead of that weight of glory which they on sure grounds 
 expect. 
 
 These reasons may induce us to think that it is consonant to the 
 wisdom and goodness of God to allow men to use the liberty which 
 he has given them. But they ought not to be carried so far as 
 to exclude his providence from the care and government of the moral 
 part of the world. It is one thing to turn a state of trial and 
 probation into a state of rewards and punishments, by dispensing 
 good and evil to every man according to his work ; and another to 
 exercise acts of government suitable to the state, and subservient to 
 the ends of creation : this point enlarged on. 
 
 In the second place, experience in this case is considered. That 
 
Sherlock's discourses. — xxxix. 117 
 
 worldly good and evil are not dispensed in proportion to the merits of 
 men, appears indisputable: indeed the world has never been without 
 complaints on this head. The righteous in all times have lamented 
 their lot, and the wicked, seeing their own prosperity, have grown 
 hardened and secure in their iniquity. To abate these presumptions 
 on the one hand, and clamors on the other, has found work for the 
 wise and good of all ages ; but the truth of the case has never been 
 disputed : and this may be safely left to every man's own judgment. 
 
 Lastly, it is inquired how far this experience is confirmed by what 
 the Scripture teaches us to expect. 
 
 There are some passages of holy writ, which at first sight seem to 
 promise more to the righteous in this life, than we have been able to 
 find either reason or experience to justify. The Psalmist declares ; 
 / have been young, and now am old ; yet have I not seen the righteous 
 forsaken, nor his seed begging their bread. But his son Solomon saw 
 a different scene ; just men, unto whom it happened according to the 
 work of the wicked ; and wicked men, to tvhom it hapjiened accord- 
 ing to the icork of the righteous: so also it occurred in the days of 
 our Saviour and his Apostles. But this passage in the Psalms 
 relates not to our present purpose: it describes a general care of 
 Providence over good men, in providing for them the necessaries of 
 life, whilst they endeavor to serve God ; but of a just reward for 
 them in this world it says nothing : in that case we might expect to 
 hear of crowns and sceptres given to them. As to this providential 
 care of the righteous, our Saviour has given us great reason to expect 
 it. Seek ye first, says he, the kingdom of God and his righteousness, 
 and all these things shall be added unto you ; and on his authority St. 
 Paul tells us, thai godliness hath the promise of the life that now is, 
 &c. Nay, farther, there is great reason to think that God often 
 blesses the honest endeavors of the virtuous in this world : but then 
 there is no appearance that the rules of justice are at all concerned in 
 such dispensations ; for the righteous often suffer ; nay, under the 
 gospel they are called to sufi'er : but on the point of rewards and 
 punishments the parable of the tares in Mat. xiii. is decisive ; the 
 meaning of which our Saviour himself has expounded. 
 
 Thus reason, experience, and Scripture, all combine in teaching 
 us not to look for the reward of our labors in this world, but to wait 
 with patience for God's appointed time, when he will do righteously, 
 and recompense to every man the things that he hath done. Con- 
 cluding; exhortation. 
 
118 SUMMARIES OF 
 
 DISCOURSE XL. 
 
 MATTHEW, CHAP, XIII. VERSE 29. 
 
 But he said, Nay ; lest, wbile ye gather up the tares, ye root up also the 
 wheat with them. 
 
 PART I. 
 
 To understand this text we must look back to the 24th verse of the 
 chapter. Take away the dress of the parable here delivered, and 
 what our Saviour says amounts to this ; that there will always be in 
 the world a mixture of good and bad men, which no care can 
 prevent; and though men may and will imagine that the wicked 
 ought immediately to be cut off by the hand of God, yet he judges 
 otherwise, and delays his vengeance for wise reasons, reserving all to 
 the great day of future retribution. 
 
 The view of this parable has in some parts been misapprehended. 
 It is intended to represent the necessary condition of mankind, some 
 being good and some bad, and to justify God in the delay of 
 punishment. Hence it is going out of the way to consider the 
 particular causes to which the sins of mankind may be ascribed ; the 
 question being, why are they not punished? In the parable our 
 Lord assigns a general reason of the world's wickedness, an enemy 
 hath done this. But some think they see another assigned in it, viz. 
 the carelessness of public rulers and magistrates, intimated in the 
 words, hut while men slept, his enemy came, &c. 
 
 There is indeed no doubt but that the negligence of governors 
 and magistrates, civil and ecclesiastical, may often be one cause of 
 ignorance and wickedness : but that it is assigned in the parable 
 cannot be proved : this shown by the expression while men slept, 
 which is a time of natural refreshment; it is not said, ivhile they 
 played, or were idle: moreover the character of the husbandmen 
 agrees with this exposition ; for they betray no consciousness of guilt 
 or negligence : they come with no excuses to their master, but with a 
 question, that shows how little they mistrusted themselves : nor does 
 the master charge them with any fault, but rather lays it at another 
 door : on which they desire not to spare their own pains, but are 
 eager to go at once to work, and root up the tares which they had 
 discovered. In this he corrects their judgment, though he condemns 
 not their diligence. In truth, one main view of the parable is to 
 correct the zeal of those who cannot see the iniquity of the world 
 without violent indignation ; and not being able to stop it or correct it, 
 are apt to call on God to vindicate his own cause in the punishment 
 of evil doers. 
 
 The men who have this zeal and warmth against iniquity, are not 
 commonly idle negligeut rulers, nor would our Saviour have painted 
 them in such different colors in the compass of a short parable. 
 Besides, the object of the parable plainly is to justify the wisdom of 
 
Sherlock's discourses. -xi,. 119 
 
 Providence in letting sin go unpunished fur the present: the justifi- 
 cation, however, does not arise from considering the causes of iniquity, 
 but the eftect which immediate punishment would have. In this 
 view of the subject, the circumstance, that xchile men slept, the tares 
 were sown, promotes the main end of the parable, and completes the 
 justification of God's providence : for this shows that offences must 
 needs come: they are not to be prevented without disturbing the very 
 course of nature, and miraculously suspending the operation of second 
 causes. The scope of the parable being thus explained, the text is 
 considered more particularly ; which contains the reason why God 
 delays to punish sin in this world, and reserves it for future 
 judgment. 
 
 There are two ways in which the words of the text may be con- 
 sidered : I. As they regard the particular case in view, and account 
 for the justice of God in suspending his judgments : II. As they 
 furnish us with a principle of reason and equity applicable to many 
 other cases. To see the full force of the first, it is necessary to 
 understand what sort of sinners are spoken of: for this reason is not 
 applicable to all ; many sinners being spared on other accounts. 
 The sinners represented by the tares in the text are spared merely on 
 account of the righteous : they are such as are incorrigible ; and 
 therefore there is no room to justify a delay of punishment from any 
 circumstances arising out of their own case : our Saviour himself 
 declares that they will be inevitably punished at last, and justifies the 
 wisdom and goodness of God in sparing them from other motives. 
 
 The interests of good and bad men are so united in this world, that 
 no signal calamity can befall the wicked but the righteous must have 
 their share in it. It is therefore out of mercy to them that the 
 wicked are spared : and this was Abraham's plea when he interceded 
 for the men of Sodom. In public calamities it is very evident that 
 all must be common sufferers. Thus far then the reason of the text 
 certainly extends, and shows us the great mercy of God in forbearing 
 to destroy sinners by such exemplary punishments as would involve 
 whole communities in calamity. 
 
 But, it may be said, there are many ways of punishing sinners 
 without including others ; and if the wicked are spared only for the 
 sake of the righteous, why are they exempted from these ? 
 
 In answer to which several things may be said : and first, he that 
 asks the question, may in return be asked, how he knows but that 
 the wicked are often and commonly so punished ? can he distinguish 
 such as fall in the common course of nature, from those who are cut 
 oflf by the judgments of God? It may therefore be true that God 
 does exercise this retributive justice. But, secondly, allow the mat- 
 ter of the objection to be true, yet the reasoning will not be good ; 
 because our Saviour's resolution of the general case extends to these 
 instances also ; and the wicked are often exempted even from private 
 judgment, that the righteous may not suffer in their ruin : for almost 
 every wicked man has innocent relations and friends, whose happi- 
 ness depends on his prosperity : this point enlarged on. Nor will 
 the justice of God hereby suffer : for the day is coming which will 
 
12) SUMMARIES OF 
 
 dissolve all the present relations between men, when every one will 
 stand singly by himself to account for the good or evil he has done. 
 
 On the whole, then, this method of God's dealing with mankind is 
 in all respects without reproach : and the complaints commonly made 
 with respect to his forbearance in punishing iniquity, show the lenity 
 of his administration, and the little reason we have to complain when 
 we have to seek how we may account for his want of justice rather 
 than of mercy : this subject enlarged on. 
 
 It has been observed that the argument in the text extends to one 
 case only ; to the justifying God's wisdom and goodness, in delaying 
 to punish incorrigible sinners: but if this case can be defended, all 
 others may ; yet as these have their particular reasons, a summary 
 view of the argument is given. 
 
 Such is the state and condition of human nature, that no care or 
 diligence can prevent the growth of vice : every one sees this ; and 
 it is confessed by those who require God's constant interposition to 
 prevent it : but what is it which they demand, who require that God 
 should by his irresistible power prevent all evil? nothing less than 
 that he should destroy all law and religion, and divest men of their 
 distinguishing characters, reason and understanding : for if every 
 thing is to be done by a superior force, this must be the case. Since 
 then offences must needs come, the question is, properly asked, why 
 are not men as certainly distinguished by rewards and punishments 
 as they are by virtue or vice ? for this would be a great encourage- 
 ment to virtue, and ought to be expected from God's justice. The 
 first return to these questioners is to let them know that they inquire 
 into a matter too high for them : the deserts of men must necessarily 
 be estimated by a rule of which they are not masters, that is, by the 
 sincerity of the heart; and therefore they can never judge when re- 
 wards and punishments are duly administered : they may possibly be 
 mistaken in those very cases which they suppose to call for the most 
 signal examples. The next return to them is, that what they require 
 is inconsistent with the present condition of men, and the goodness of 
 God. Men are in a state of trial and probation, and it is fit they 
 should have time to show themselves : and it would ill become the 
 goodness of God to destroy men, as long as there are hopes of their 
 amendment : to bear therefore with their sins, in prospect of their 
 repentance, is both just and merciful : and with respect to incorrigi- 
 ble sinners, this world is not the proper place for their punishment, 
 because it would involve the righteous in calamity. There is no 
 reason therefore for a man to complain, whether he be himself a sin- 
 ner or a righteous person. 
 
 PART II. 
 
 The text considered as furnishing us with a principle of reason and 
 equity applicable to many cases. 
 
 This inquiry necessary, because the rule is liable to be misapplied, 
 unless we attend to the reasons on which it is founded. The mercy 
 
Sherlock's discourses. — xl. 121 
 
 of God is the best pattern for iis, and is recommended to us by our 
 Saviour. Since therefore God spares the wicked for the sake of the 
 righteous, is it reasonable for men to do the same? Should magis- 
 trates release the guilty on account of the innocent, who must share 
 in the shame or loss of the punishment ? At first sight we might 
 imagine there was a parity of reason in these cases ; but on farther 
 consideration we shall find that the same reason which justifies God, 
 would condemn the magistrate. 
 
 To see this clearly, we must attend to the difference between the 
 reason of justice and the rules of justice. By the latter is to be un- 
 derstood the general principles and maxims of justice by which the 
 laws of all countries are directed : by the former, the fountain from 
 which all maxims and laws are derived, i. e. right reason : for laws 
 are not just, as partaking of the lawgiver's authority, but as par- 
 taking of his reason. Hence the distinction between good and bad 
 laws, though both are derived from the same authority. 
 
 Now between the reason of justice and the rules of justice, there 
 is this great difference : the former takes in all the circumstances of 
 every case, and therefore cannot be wrong ; but the latter have no 
 relation to the particular circumstances of any case, being formed on 
 general abstract ideas ; and consequently they may, and often do, 
 fail when applied to single instances : hence the reason and the 
 maxims of justice frequently stand directly opposed to each other; 
 and hence the proverb summum jus, summa injuria. Hence it will 
 plainly appear how liable we are to mistake, as long as we form our 
 judgments by applying general rules of law or equity to particular 
 cases. This point farther explained. 
 
 Now there is the same difference between the judgments of God 
 and those of men, as there is between the reason of law and the rules 
 of law : for men are tied down to judge by the rules which the law 
 prescribes ; but the judgment of God arises not from any maxim or 
 rule of law, but in every instance follows the reason of the thing; 
 otherwise his judgments would not in every case be reasonable. It 
 is mere weakness that makes men go by rules : but it would be 
 absurd to imagine God as acting by any such for the direction of his 
 judgment. 
 
 Farther ; these considerations will help us to form distinct notions 
 of justice and mercy, and discover to us, if not what they always 
 are, at least what they should be. Justice is thought to be a thing 
 fixed and certain, and confined to limits which it cannot transgress 
 without losing its name : but mercy is taken to be of a more variable 
 nature, to go by no fixed rule, and to arise from the will of the go- 
 vernor : consequently we speak of mercy and justice as opposites to 
 each other. 
 
 But mercy and justice would not be distinguished, were it not for 
 the intervention of general and particular laws, which often fall very 
 heavily on particular persons ; whence it is that we complain of the 
 rigor of the law : but were men perfect both in their reason and in 
 their wills, so that they could neither judge nor act amiss, they 
 would then do what is exactly right and reasonable in every cuse, 
 
122 SUMMARIES OF 
 
 and there would be no room to correct the severity of justice by the 
 interposition of mercy ; for there is no rigor in that which is perfectly 
 right and reasonable : this point enlarged on ; by which it is shown 
 that it is the proper business of mercy to correct the rules of justice 
 by the reason of justice ; and consequently, if all judgments were 
 founded on true reason, justice and mercy would be one and the 
 same thing. Hence perhaps a difficulty may be accounted for, which 
 is apt to disturb men greatly when they ponder the judgments of 
 God. They consider him as essentially just, and essentially merci- 
 ful ; whence they rightly conclude that he can never be otherwise 
 than merciful, never otherwise than just ; and yet how to reconcile 
 these attributes in every case they see not. In human judgments it 
 is plain, where mercy prevails, justice sleeps ; where justice acts, 
 mercy is silent : but this cannot be the case in divine judgments. 
 But if we consider that the acts of mercy and justice, as distinguished 
 from each other, are relative to stated rules and laws, and that they 
 are both the same with respect to the reason of justice, we shall 
 easily discern how God, who always acts by the purest reason, may 
 be said in every case to do justly and mercifully : this point en- 
 larged on. 
 
 The parable in the text is evidently intended as an answer to the 
 common objections against Providence, drawn from the prosperity 
 of sinners, or rather, in the present instance, the impunity of offenders. 
 If the principles on which both the objection and the answer stands 
 be examined, it will be seen that the objection is founded on one of 
 the common and general maxims of justice which often misguide our 
 judgment in particular cases ; and that our Saviour's answer is 
 drawn from the reason of all law and equity, which can never fail. 
 All the objector can say amounts to this, that it is an undoubted 
 maxim of justice, that every sinner deserves punishment : he cannot 
 enter into particular cases, unless he knew more of men than he does 
 or ever will know. In answer to this, our Saviour owns the truth 
 of the general maxim, and therefore teaches us that God has ap- 
 pointed a day in which he will judge the world : but then he shows, 
 from superior reasons of justice, that the application of the principle 
 in the present case is wrong ; for though it would be just to punish 
 all sinners, yet to punish them immediately would destroy the very 
 reason which makes it just to punish them, viz. to make a difference 
 between the good and the bad. 
 
 This then is a full justification of God in his dealings with men, 
 and shows his justice, as well as his mercy, in delaying vengeance. 
 
 But if this be the height of justice in God, how is it not the height of 
 injustice in men to act quite otherwise ? Temporal punishments, even 
 capital ones, are executed immediately, notwithstanding the number 
 of innocent persons that may be involved in their consequences. 
 Nay, farther, this very method of justice is ordained by God. How 
 comes it then that God pursues one method for himself and another 
 for magistrates, who are, as it were, his vicegerents ? The plain an- 
 swer is, because the reason of these two cases is very different. The 
 punishments of this world are not the final punishments of iniquity, 
 
Sherlock's discourses. — xli. 1*23 
 
 but are means ordained to secure virtue and morality, and to protect 
 the innocent from immediate violence : offences which disturb the 
 peace of society and the security of its members, will not bear a de- 
 lay of justice; and this world would scarcely be habitable if such 
 crimes were to wait for their punishment in another. 
 
 Our Saviour's reasoning, when applied to this case, leads to ano- 
 ther conclusion : that the righteous may not suffer, God delays the 
 final punishment of the wicked: for the same reason, that is, that 
 the righteous may not suffer, he has commanded the magistrate to 
 cut oft" all the sons of violence, all disturbers of the public peace. 
 And thus he has followed the same reason in both cases : this point 
 enlarged on to the end. 
 
 DISCOURSE XLI. 
 
 MATTHEW, CHAP. XXVI. VERSE 41. 
 
 Watch and pray, that ye enter not into temptation : the spirit indeed is 
 wiUing, but the flesh is weak. 
 
 For the better understanding of these words we must reflect a 
 little on what occasion they were spoken, &c. The time of our 
 Saviour's crucifixion was now at hand, and he had foretold to his dis- 
 ciples that they should all be offended because of him : on which 
 St. Peter made a forward profession of constancy, as did they all : 
 but it does not appear that they fully understood our Saviour, or 
 were apprehensive that they should so soon lose him : if they had, 
 they could not have been so negligent and unconcerned. But Jesus, 
 as he had a different sense of what he was to undergo, so was he 
 differently affected. 
 
 No one was ever more willing to fulfil the will of God than he 
 was ; he came into the world for this very purpose. But yet, in this 
 last and sharp trial, he found how great the weakness of the flesh 
 was : whence probably arose the reflection mentioned in the text, 
 which is the ground of his exhortation to the disciples. Though they 
 had made a very bold and forward resolution to die with him rather 
 than deny him, yet he knew that such resolution was not a suflicient 
 support against the weakness of human nature ; but that they stood 
 in need of all the advantages that might be reaped from watchfulness 
 and prayer. If he himself found difliculties from the weakness of 
 the flesh, he might well conclude how unsteady his disciples would 
 be when their trial should come. So that the words of the text seem 
 rather founded on what our Saviour experienced in his late agony, 
 than on any thing criminal in his disciples : this point enlarged on. 
 
 The text, thus explained, contains an exhortation very suitable to 
 the season when it was spoken, and to all men in general ; and 
 
124 SUMMARIES OF 
 
 affords us a powerful excitement to pray continually for the assist- 
 ance of God's Holy Spirit to aid our good resolutions. 
 
 But this explication of the text, how worthy soever of its author, 
 and agreeable to the circumstances under which it was delivered, will 
 not easily be digested ; because it undermines the favorite doctrine of 
 sins of infirmity, which, on the slender encouragement of this text, 
 has wonderfully thriven, ridding men of all the trouble and pains of 
 repentance and amendment, by easing them of the terrors of guilt. 
 
 The text, when used to this purpose, is thus explained ; the dis- 
 ciples are supposed to have committed some great fault, for which 
 our Saviour rebukes them ; but then checking himself, he makes this 
 excuse for them, The spirit indeed is willing, but thejlesh is weak; 
 absolving them for sake of the willingness that was in them, and 
 throwing all the blame and guilt of sin on the weakness of the flesh. 
 But to make the most of this, the fault of the disciples was only that 
 of falling asleep after long watching, which, like the indulgence of 
 many other natural wants, was a very pardonable infirmity. 
 
 As some men of melancholic temperament have fancied every sin 
 committed to be sin against the Holy Ghost, and themselves thereby 
 rejected irrecoverably, so others of a different temper have reckoned 
 all their sins to be sins of infirmity, and themselves secure from 
 danger. The one set pay dear for their mistake in this world by 
 their constant terrors : the other will have no reason to be proud of 
 their contrivance in another. There is just as much good policy 
 in this conceit, as in his, who shut his eyes and thought nobody 
 could see him. 
 
 But the belter to judge of this matter, it may be proper to inquire 
 what are sins of infirmity, and what value there is in the excuse. 
 First then. It is considered what is the Scripture sense of infirmities : 
 Secondly, What sort of sins they are, which will admit of an excuse, 
 because of the infirmity from which they proceed. 
 
 I. The state of human nature is such, as to be liable to many 
 pains, diseases, and at last to death : and though all are not equally 
 affected by these miseries, yet all are equally liable to them : this is 
 the first and proper notion of infirmity ; and in this sense Christ is 
 said to bear our infirmities, being, as St. Paul says, crucified through 
 weakness ; that is, by the condition of his humanity. 
 
 But men are not more weak and imperfect in their bodies than in 
 their minds; nor more exposed to bodily pains than to the impres- 
 sions of sin, which is our spiritual disease ; and though all are not 
 sinners alike, yet all are alike weak and subject to the temptation of 
 sin : and tliis is the general sense of infirmity when applied to our 
 spiritual condition. It is shown how St. Paul opposes the law of 
 sin to the law of the spirit of life ; and the condition of a person who 
 was under the law of sin, in whom is the weakness of the flesh, to 
 that of him who is under the law of life, in whom is the spirit of 
 righteousness. 
 
 In his argument St. Paul more than once speaks thus: If I do 
 that I would not, it is no more I that do it, but sin that dwellcth in 
 me: which is thought by some to come very near to the case of sins 
 
Sherlock's discourses. — xi.i. 125 
 
 of infirmity; for the excuse from infirmity is made up of willingness 
 and want of power. In all moral actions there is a proportion 
 between the ability to perform, and the guilt of not performing ; but 
 if we consider ourselves as Christians, who do not depend solely on 
 our own strength, but likewise on the assistance of God, the terms of 
 the proportion will be altered, and the guilt of our disobedience will 
 be measured by the ability we might have had to perform our duty : 
 if we had not power to withstand temptations, this want of power 
 may have been our own fault; and the not observing this is the true 
 foundation of men's reliance on the excuse of infirmity : this point 
 enlarged on. 
 
 Next to this general sense of infirmity come the particular infir- 
 mities included in it. As every disease of the body is called an 
 infirmity, (for our Saviour, when he healed the sick of their parti- 
 cular distempers, is said to have cured their infirmities,) so, by the 
 same analogy, every particular sin may be called an infirmity. Thus 
 David, speaking of his distrust of God's goodness, calls it his infir- 
 mitj^ So in the Epistle to the Hebrews it is said. The law maketh 
 men high priests ichich have iii/irmities. But in the Scripture it is 
 no where used in this sense as an alleviation of guilt. 
 
 The sense indeed of Scripture is the least thing regarded in setting 
 up this plea of infirmity, which has been invented and used to shelter 
 particular and darling sins ; but seldom or never for the universal 
 imperfection of all, even the best of our actions, in which sense only 
 it can be reasonably used. But the bosom sin is to be defended : in 
 which case two things are generally urged, a natural passion, and 
 the violence of the passion : the passion is said to have the same 
 author with nature ; and its violence is excused by particular 
 constitution and temperament: but what sin may not be thus 
 permitted ? 
 
 The Scripture uses weakness in another sense, opposed to know- 
 lege ; as iveak Christians are those newly converted, and not yet 
 confirmed in the knowlege and mysteries of Christianity : but this 
 sense is nothing to our purpose: neither is that of weakness as 
 applied to those who have tender consciences, easily offended, such 
 as those who scrupled to eat meat which had been offered to idols. 
 
 These are the most usual, if not all, the Scripture senses of infirmity ; 
 but some of these have enough in them to be an excuse for sin. All 
 sin is weakness : it was our weakness that made it necessary for the 
 Son of God to rescue us from the law of sin and death : and to what 
 purpose is the Holy Spirit promised or given, but to overcome our 
 infirmities, that the strength of God maij be made perfect in 
 weakness ? 
 
 But after all we cannot be perfect. St. James says, in many 
 things ive offend all. How shall these errors be excused, to which 
 the best men are liable ? This will be answered if we consider, 
 
 Secondly, What sort of sins they are which admit the excuse. 
 And here we are not to expect a catalogue of sins : for no kind of 
 sin can be otherwise excused than by repentance and amendment ; 
 and at best there is an impropriety of speech in sins of iiifirmifg. 
 
12G SUMMARIES OF 
 
 The necessary effects of our infirmities are not sinful : where they 
 are not necessary, they may be sinful ; but why they are called sins 
 of infirmity, in distinction to other sins, is hard to say. There is an 
 imperfection in the obedience of the best men ; but without question 
 God will favorably look on their failings, and accept their sincere 
 though not perfect obedience. But the common notion of sins of 
 infirmity gains nothing by this ; for let any one say, what is the sin 
 of infirmity that all good men are guilty of. There is an imperfec- 
 tion which flows from the weakness of our present state, and shows 
 itself in various instances. Thus many good Christians complain of 
 a coldness sometimes in their devotion, and of wandering thoughts: 
 others are troubled with evil thoughts, unworthy conceptions of God 
 and Christ; and they suffer great torment and anxiety of mind 
 because of them : but such are objects of compassion to God and 
 man ; and their infirmities are so far from forming an excuse, that 
 they are an aggravation of the guilt of others, who have not the same 
 obedience and virtues to plead for themselves. 
 
 Since then there is so little reason to depend on this excuse, though 
 all stand in need of it, there remains only one way of intitling our- 
 selves to the plea, which is, sincerely and universally to endeavor to 
 obey God's will : we shall then be in the number of those whose 
 infirmities, for the sake of Christ, shall be forgiven. 
 
 DISCOURSE XLII. 
 
 ISAIAH, CHAP. LIII, VERSE 3. 
 
 He is despised and rejected of men ; a man of sorrows, and acquainted 
 
 with grief. 
 
 Our Saviour's words. Daughters of Jerusalem, iveep not for me, 
 but tveep for yourselves, may be very properly applied by us, to 
 direct our devotion on the day of his crucifixion : it is a day of 
 sorrow and mourning, not for his sake, who is crowned with honor 
 and glory ; but for us, whose sins occasioned him to suffer. The 
 consideration of his unbounded love towards us, and our own care- 
 lessness and indifference in availing ourselves of the salvation pur- 
 chased by his suft'erings, will show us where the true cause of our 
 grief lies, and that instead of venting our indignation against the 
 ancient crucifiers of our Saviour, we ought to turn it against ourselves, 
 who are daily crucifying him afresh. The reflections suggested by 
 the description in the text, will teach us to admire the unbounded 
 goodness of our Redeemer, and to weep only for ourselves. The 
 prophecy in the text remarkable as containing a general description 
 of Christ's condition during his abode on earth. The great goodness 
 of God in warning us by the spirit of prophecy of the mean appear- 
 ance of our Redeemer is shown : his poverty thus became a proof of 
 
Sherlock's discourses. — xlti. 127 
 
 his authority ; and had he not in the lowness of his condition 
 answered his description in the text, we could not have believed him 
 to be the glorious Redeemer foretold by Isaiah, to be despised and 
 rejected of men. A consideration of Christ's sufferings therefore is 
 calculated not only to increase our love, but to strengthen our faith. 
 Our attention is called to three points on this subject: I. God's 
 wisdom and goodness in sending his Son into the world in a state of 
 poverty and affliction : II. The evidence of prophecy, that he should 
 so appear in the fulness of time : III. The historical evidence that 
 he did so appear, and that in him tlie prophecies were fulfilled. 
 I. The sufferings of Christ are often insisted on by the sacred writers 
 as an evidence of God's mercy towards mankind : see llom. viii. 32. 
 and V. 8; also 1st Ep. of John iii. 16, and our Saviour's own words 
 in John xv. 13. Though we may not be able to see clearly the 
 reasons that made it necessary for Christ to die that the world might 
 live, yet it is plain his sufferings were on our account ; and they show 
 how much our salvation was the care of heaven : it would therefore 
 argue great perverseness of mind, if, hardening our hearts against this 
 goodness, we should busy ourselves with curious inquiries into the hid- 
 den mysteries of Providence, and shut our eyes and hearts against 
 the impressions of his love and of our duty. That God's goodness is 
 made plain to us in the death of Christ, is the only knowlege requi- 
 site for our salvation ; and if we would be encouraged in the practice 
 of virtue by the hope of God's aid, or be comforted in repentance by 
 his promise to receive us, we may learn to reason of St. Paul, Rom. 
 viii. 32. Our knowlege therefore is clear and distinct, as far as we 
 are concerned to go. Many wise ends of Providence are to be 
 discerned by a consideration of Christ's sufferings with respect to 
 ourselves. First, with regard to his being a teacher, his suffer- 
 ings set him above the reach of suspicions. Our Lord and his dis- 
 ciples met with nothing but misery and affliction. Had he come 
 as a temporal prince, we might have suspected his cunning and 
 policy ; but the gospel now stands clear of this objection. Secondly, 
 with regard to our Lord's being an example of holiness and obedience, 
 set before us for our instruction and imitation, his sufferings render 
 the pattern perfect: had he lived in worldly prosperity, the example 
 of his virtues, however conspicuous, would have extended but a little 
 way. I'he poor, though they might have upbraided the rich for not 
 following his example, would have thought their poverty a sufficient 
 excuse for not attempting" it themselves: but now there is no pretence 
 left for any mortal. Thirdly, with regard to his divine mission, his 
 sufferings were an evident token that the hand of God was with him. 
 He only can confound the mighty things of the world by things of no 
 account ; and we have here the instance of a weak poor man, oppress- 
 ed by a whole nation, and yet enabled to withstand it: yet when 
 his time was come, he fell an easy victim. Had the prophets fore- 
 told that a great man should do great things, at his appearance it 
 might have been doubted whether he was the person foretold, or 
 whether his deeds were not the common effect of that might and 
 power with which he was armed : but when they declared that these 
 
12B SUMMARIES OF 
 
 mighty deeds should be accomplished by our Saviour in his character 
 described by the text, no doubt could arise. Our Lord would easily 
 be distinguished by the greatness of his works and the meanness of 
 his condition ; and this leads, II. to the consideration of the evidence 
 of prophecy concerning the mean appearance which our Lord was to 
 make. The 53rd chapter of Isaiah so fully describes this part of our 
 Saviour's character, that it looks more like a history than a prophecy ; 
 yet it was in being long before our Lord was born, and was in the 
 keeping of his enemies, who were at once the preservers and the ful- 
 fillersof it: yet contrast this with the description before given of him 
 in Isaiah ix. 6, and again in liii. 11, and how are we to reconcile 
 these contradictions? It is answered, that we must search the 
 gospel : there we shall find our Lord despised and rejected of men, 
 persecuted and afflicted, yet rising to honor and glory; ascending 
 to the glory of his Father, giving gifts unto men, and leading cap- 
 tivity captive. III. The historical evidence for the completion of 
 these prophecies relating to the calamitous condition of our blessed 
 Redeemer, is considered. The way was prepared before he was 
 born ; his conception led to it : and so it proved. The mighty 
 Prince of Peace made his first appearance in a manger : his life was 
 sought after as soon as he was born, and his parents were obliged to 
 fly with him into banishment to save it. His youth was spent in the 
 difficulties of poverty, and during his ministry he had not where to 
 lay his head. The unbelieving Jews, when he healed the sick, cast 
 out devils, or forgave sins, accused him of the greatest crimes. As 
 the time of his being offered up drew near, all things conspired to 
 make his death bitter and terrifying. He was betrayed by one of his 
 chosen twelve, and the rest after his agony forsook him. He was 
 afterwards carried to judgment, mocked, buffeted, spit on ; and a 
 murderer was chosen to be released in his stead : thus was he despised 
 and rejected of men; but neither the pangs of the cross, his mental 
 sufferings, nor the malice and scorn of his crucifiers, made him for one 
 moment forget his love and tenderness towards them : with his latest 
 breath he begged for their forgiveness. We must now close this 
 scene, and ask with the Psalmist, what reward shall I give unto the 
 Lord? &c. Let us also answer in his words: I will receive the cup 
 of salvation, and call on his name. We have nothing to return but 
 our love and obedience. Let us not again crucify Christ by our 
 iniquities, but let us arise to a new life of righteousness in him ; that 
 when Christ, who is our life, shall appear, ice may also appear with 
 him in glory. 
 
SHERLOCK'S DISCOURSES. — XLIII. 129 
 
 DISCOURSE XLIII. 
 
 COLOSSI ANS, CHAP. III. VERSE 1. 
 
 If ye then be risen with Christ, seek those things wliich are above, where 
 Christ sitteth on the right hand of God. 
 
 How much the metaphorical language of Scripture has been mis- 
 taken and abused is well known. The words of the text are not 
 capable of being taken in the literal sense ; for it is not possible to 
 imagine that St. Paul should intend to tell the Colossians, or that 
 they should believe him, that they lived no longer in the world, but 
 were literally men raised from the dead. The words plainly are an 
 inference from what had been before said, and refer to the doctrine 
 in Coloss. ii, 10 — 13. For an explication of them it is necessary to 
 consider the Scripture representation of the natural state and con- 
 dition of man, and of his gospel state on his becoming a Christian. 
 In the state of nature the Scripture represents men as in Eph. iv. 17. 
 18. ii. 2. 3. Rom. iv. 19. 20. And because the end of these things 
 is death, this state of sin is also called a state of death, as in Eph. ii. 
 1. 5. Whilst men were thus dead to God and themselves, they lived 
 only to sin and unrighteousness. The passions and aiFections were 
 but the instruments of sin, and therefore are said to constitute the 
 body of sin ; that body over which sin had dominion, as in Rom. 
 vi. 6. Coloss. ii, 11. The members of which this body is made up, 
 are described Col. iii. 5. This body is called by St. Paul the body 
 of death, as the state of sin is called the state of death, Rom. vii. 24. 
 As the body, with the soul its director, constitutes the man, so these 
 depraved appetites and affections, which are the instruments or mem- 
 bers of sin, and which compose the body of sin, together with the 
 evil principle directing them, are said in Scripture to be the old man; 
 the man which only lived before the regeneration by Christ Jesus : 
 Rom. vi. 6. Eph. iv. 22. 
 
 This is the state of nature described in Scripture. It is plain that 
 this old man, or man of sin, must be destroyed on the appearance of 
 Christ Jesus, to make way for the Spirit of righteousness : thus to 
 destroy the old man, and to restore the decayed image of God, what 
 is it but to new-make the man, and by a second creation restore him 
 to the privileges of the first, forfeited by sin ? For this reason the 
 Christian is said to be a new creature : 2 Cor. v. 17. Gal. iv. 23. 24. 
 vi. 15. We are said even to put on Christ, from the similitude of 
 will and affections between Christ and his true members : Gal. iii. 
 27. From this account it is easy to understand the propriety of the 
 words or phrases made use of to express these two conditions. We 
 read that we were dead before the knowlege of Christ ; that ive died 
 and tcere buried with, Christ: again, that we rose icith Christ, and 
 lire alive in him. The apparent inconsistency of these assertions 
 may be reconciled by our taking the same view of man as the Scrip- 
 ture does. Man was created after the image of God ; but on 
 
130 SUMMARIES OF 
 
 disobedience he became subject to sin. This then was the death of 
 the man created after God's image, who lay buried under the ruins 
 of sin and iniquity ; and this was the death of the world before the 
 knowlege of Christ. The life of the world at the coming of Christ 
 was the life of sin, which he came to destroy ; Gal. v. 24. : and we 
 are said to die ivitk Christ and to be buried with him, because we 
 renounce that life. Thus dying to sin, we begin again to live unto 
 God, and are therefore said to be made alive in Christ, and to rise 
 together ivith him. This change, which we had no power even to 
 wish for, was effected by Christ alone, who dying on the cross for 
 all, all are said to be crucified with him : Heb. ii. 9. 2 Cor. v. 14. 
 The way to attain to the benefits of Christ's death, as St. Paul tells 
 us, is to be conformable unto his death ; and to do this, we must put 
 off the old man, and put on the new man, who is created after 
 righteousness. This St. Paul, Rom. vi., styles, being planted in the 
 likeness of his death, and in the likeness of his resurrection. To this 
 he refers, Rom. viii. 29. and Rom. xiii. Many other places also 
 must be opened with this key. The very essence of Christianity 
 consists in this conformity with Christ ; and therefore baptism, which 
 is our admission to the gospel, is only a solemn taking on ourselves 
 this conformity, as we learn from St. Paul, Rom. vi. To walk in 
 newness of life is our conformity to the resurrection of Christ, which 
 was to new life and glory : Rom. vi. 9-12. As the resurrection of 
 Christ was to perpetual life, so our first resurrection must be perpe- 
 tual holiness. This account of the Scripture language, and of the 
 reasons on which it is founded, will make clear to us many otherwise 
 intricate passages. For instance, when we read of two deaths and 
 two resurrections, we shall understand the death of the body and the 
 death unto sin ; the resurrection to life eternal hereafter, and the 
 resurrection to righteousness in this world. / am crucified to the 
 world, says St. Paul, and the world to me : and St. John says, 
 whosoever is born of God, that is, whoever has attained the new life 
 through Christ, overcometh the world. St. Paul tells us that the 
 Spirit of God will quicken our mortal bodies, as well as our dead 
 bodies. This is not to be understood without referring to the first 
 resurrection, as explained above ; and again, Phil. iii. 10. 11. can be 
 explained only by what has been said of our being made conformable 
 to the death and resurrection of Christ, by rising to holiness and 
 righteousness. The power of Christ's resurrection in producing good 
 effects on those that feel it, is described in v. 20. ; and is what the 
 A postle to the Hebrews calls tasting the powers of the world to come. 
 To understand St. Paul when he says, those that fall from their faith 
 crucify to themselves the Son of God afresh, and put him to open, 
 shame, we must have recourse to the Scripture representation as 
 before explained. By receiving the faith, we put on Christ, crucify- 
 ing the old man and his deeds; by deserting the faith, returning to 
 our former deeds, and again putting on the old man, we again crucify 
 Christ with his deeds, and put him to open shame. The various 
 expressions to this effect in the gospel are only to be understood by 
 analogy to this notion. Our death, burial, and resurrection with 
 
Sherlock's discourses. — xliv. 131 
 
 Christ having been discussed, the Apostle in the text carries the 
 metaphor still one degree higher ; arguing that, since we are dead to 
 the world, and alive to Christ through the Spirit of holiness, we must 
 act like members of Christ, and set our affections on things above, 
 where Christ our life is ascended : hence it is that St, Paul so often 
 exclaims against the absurdity of a Christian's living in sin ; for 
 the Christian has crucified and buried the body of sin. How then, 
 says he, shall rve who are dead to sin, continue any longer therein ? 
 Sin alone has power to separate the Christian from liis Saviour. 
 Holiness is as necessary to our spiritual life as food to our natural 
 life. How just therefore is the Apostle's conclusion in the text : If 
 JVC be risen with Christ, that is, if we be with him, we must seek the 
 things which are above ! 
 
 DISCOURSE XLIV. 
 
 JAMES, CHAP. III. VERSE 17. 
 
 The wisdom that is from above is first pure, then peaceable, gentle, and 
 easy to be iutreated, full of mercy and good fruits, witliout partiality, 
 and without hypocrisy. 
 
 The gifts of the Holy Spirit are of two kinds; either extraordi- 
 nary, and peculiar to certain times and persons, and given, not for 
 the sanctification of those on whom they are bestowed, but for the 
 edification of the church ; or common to all times of the gospel, 
 necessary to perfect the man of God in good works, and tendered to 
 all Christians through Christ. Of the first were those gifts bestowed 
 on the Apostles, to enable them to convince the world by signs and 
 wonders of the truth of their mission. It is evident, from St. Paul, 
 1 Cor. xiii., that the gifts of this sort conveyed no sanctifying grace 
 to the receiver ; as he supposes that they may consist with a want of 
 charity, i. e. without the moral qualifications of a Christian ; and we 
 are therefore warranted in concluding that they do not convey the 
 sanctifying grace of the gospel, and that they are given, not for the 
 sake of the receivers, but for those who through them are to be con- 
 verted to the knowlege of the truth : and it was for this reason that 
 they were given in the primitive church. It is manifest then that the 
 Scripture ascribes a twofold operation to the Spirit of God. The 
 first has been already described ; and it remains to consider the 
 second, in explaining the words of the text; viz. the affording 
 assistance and strength to all Christians in the performance of the 
 duties enjoined by the gospel. The wisdom mentioned in the text is 
 the wisdom that is from above ; and we are instructed how to obtain 
 it by St. James, chap, i. ver. 5. ; and in verse 17 he shows on what 
 grounds his advice stands. The instruction given, that we should 
 ask this wisdom in faith; and the reason assigned to support this 
 
132 SUMMARIES OF 
 
 faith, that with God is no variableness, neither shadow of turning, 
 sufficiently show that this wisdom is the grace promised under the 
 gospel : for the declaration of God's purpose to give this wisdom, 
 which is only to be found in the gospel, must be supposed, before 
 the immutability of his purpose can be given as a ground of hope to 
 obtain the good gift by the prayer of faith. The wisdom in the text, 
 then, signifies the grace of God promised in the gospel; that prin- 
 ciple of holiness by which the disciples are enabled to mortify the 
 deeds ofthejlesh; and of which St. Paul has said, If any man have 
 not the Spirit of Christ, he is none of his. This grace is called 
 wisdom, as the fear of the Lord is said to be the beginning of wis- 
 dom ; the wisdom of man consisting in obedience to God, and not in 
 any degree of knovvlege. The fruits ascribed to this wisdom in the 
 text are not learning and knowlege, but all moral qualifications. A 
 knowlege of mysteries and things sacred is mentioned by St. Paul 
 among the extraordinary gifts of the Spirit ; but he speaks of them as 
 not necessarily inferring charity, and therefore as distinct from that 
 grace or ivisdom, ivhieh is pure, and peaceable, and full of mercy. 
 The gifts of God are free, and we have no right to demand an equal 
 distribution of them : if the gifts of the Spirit were granted only to 
 some, we should not be obliged by the terms of our religion to render 
 an account of God's proceeding herein. But the promise of the 
 Spirit being given to all Christians, and represented as the purchase 
 of Christ's obedience, it is evident that we cannot account for our 
 being Christians, without showing a reason for the necessity of grace 
 to render our hopes of salvation eifectual. This is a great point of 
 difference between the gospel and natural religion, particularly as 
 regards the state of mankind before the gospel. If men were in that 
 state of original purity in which we must suppose God to have 
 created them, what grace was wanting? If they have fallen from that 
 state, we cannot dispute the grace of God unless we can show that it 
 was impossible or improper for him to redeem the world. The fall 
 of man being supposed, is it not more natural to think that God, to 
 save the world, should destroy the power of sin, than that he should 
 grant immortal happiness to unreformed sinners? The best argument 
 against the necessity of grace would be a proof that the effects of the 
 Spirit generally are or may be attained by the mere strength of 
 nature. If men are naturally inclined to virtue and holiness, they 
 will not want grace to make them so : but this has never yet been 
 the case. The works of the Spirit are described in the text, and in 
 many parts of Scripture : St. Paul, in Gal. v. 22. enumerates the 
 fruits of the Spirit, and adds, they that are Christ's have crucified 
 the flesh, with the affections and lusts. There is no one so little 
 acquainted with human nature as to suppose that there exists a 
 people who would answer to this description of St. Paul : but if we 
 look into the account which the same Apostle gives. Gal. v. 19., of 
 the works of the flesh, we shall find too great a correspondence 
 between them and the historical accounts of all nations. After consi- 
 dering the difference between the works of nature and of grace, does it 
 appear unworthy of God to send his Spirit to make the difference ? If 
 
SHERLOCK'S DISCOURSES. — XLIV. 199 
 
 we have not the Spirit already to produce these effects, natural reason 
 will testify in favor of the gospel, by showing us how greatly its 
 assistance is to be desired. It is shown that the grace of God could 
 not be irresistible consistently with free-will ; and that we can draw 
 no argument against the promise of it, from a want of signs of it in 
 some professors of Christianity : for we might as well conclude, 
 from the unreasonable actions of the generality of men, that reason 
 itself is a fiction. St. Paul in his Epistle to the Romans, vii. 22., 
 has taught us to solve this difficulty: he there acknowleges that the 
 dictates of reason are right, but of use only in convincing us of our 
 guilt; for there is another principle in our members warring against 
 reason, which brings them under the slavery of sin : he therefore, 
 seeing no help from reason, souglit a refuge in Christ, who alone 
 could redeem him from this captivity to sin. The Apostle founds the 
 necessity of grace on the insufficiency of reason to overcome our 
 natural inclinations to evil. The best evidence we can have that 
 the grace of God is in us, is that we live up to the dictates of reason. 
 By reason we may know our duty ; by grace we are enabled to per- 
 form it. The only evidence Christians can give that this grace of 
 God dwelleth in them, must arise from their works of love and 
 obedience. Our Saviour himself says, by t he h' fruits shall ye know 
 them ; and St. John declares. This is the love of God, that ye keep 
 his commandments. Our Saviour, in St. John chap, xv., speaks to 
 the same effect. Every Christian is bound to answer for himself, or 
 to quit his pretensions to the hopes and promises of the gospel, when 
 unbelievers object to the want of evidence of the operation of the 
 Spirit in the works of Christians. The confidence of some that they 
 have the Spirit of God, though they have no good works to allege in 
 proof of it, is a conceit not belonging to the gospel. If we would 
 know whether the Spirit of God be in us, we must examine ourselves 
 by the text. St. James speaks of two sorts of wisdom ; the one 
 earthly, sensual, devilish, the fruits of which are evei'y evil ivork ; 
 the other heavenly, which is pure and jieaceable : it is easy to distin- 
 guish to which class we belong. Our Saviour, in his discourse with 
 Nicodemus, compares the influence of the Spirit to the blowing of 
 the wind ; and how the new birth and regeneration is performed, he 
 only can tell who performs it: but its effects are visible to all. As 
 the fruits of the Spirit are its only evidence, so its end is the produc- 
 tion of these good fruits. The terms sanctification, regeneration, &c. 
 signify to us that the Spirit is given to redeem us from sin. It is no 
 small commendation, that those things in the gospel which seem most 
 mysterious have the plainest use. The gifts of the Holy Spirit are 
 offered to us on the terms of the gospel, which calls us to holiness 
 and obedience. What design or contrivance have we to suspect ? 
 Even supposing that we are deceived into goodness, would not the 
 advantage be our own, and would not the world be happier thereby? 
 The conclusion is plain : righteousness and holiness are the only cer- 
 tain marks of regeneration. All other distinctions invented by men 
 are marks only of spiritual pride. 
 
134 SUMMARIES OF 
 
 DISCOURSE XLV. 
 
 MATTHEW, CHAP. V. VERSE 48. 
 Be ye therefore perfect, even as your Father which is in heaven is perfect. 
 
 As practice is the end of all precepts and exhortations, to com- 
 mand or exhort to any thing impracticable must be absurd. Some 
 have endeavored to obviate this objection to the text, by affirming 
 that it contains only counsel or advice, and not a command or pre- 
 cept : the insufficiency of this reasoning is shov\^n. The reason and 
 equity of God can be no more justified in advising than in com- 
 manding impossibilities : others tell us, that it is not equality, but 
 quality of perfections that the text enjoins; and that we are com- 
 manded to aim at the same perfections with God, though not in the 
 same degree. This exposition, though it avoids the difficulty com- 
 plained of, is not that which arises from the circumstances of the 
 text. From the words of our Lord, in Matth. v. 43-46. preceding 
 the text, it is evident that it was not the quality of mercy, which 
 even the publicans possessed in some degree, that our Lord recom- 
 mended ; but the extensive exercise of it, which was discernible in 
 the works of Providence. As these expositions afford no relief, it 
 is to be considered what assistance we derive from the circumstances 
 of the context, or the general reason in which the precept is founded : 
 for if we consider it as part of the gospel doctrine, it will be suffi- 
 cient to know how far it may be extended on the authority of the 
 gospel ; or if as a general maxim and rule of religion founded on 
 reason, and antecedent to the gospel, we must discover how far the 
 reason of the command goes, and how it may be applied to the duties 
 of religion and morality. First: The text examined, as it stands 
 limited by the circumstances of the context. It is shown that the 
 precept is applied to the particular case of charity and mercy : in 
 other instances of duty the example of God is not proposed ; and 
 there are some to which neither the example nor the exhortation can 
 be applied, such as the duties arising from the relations which are 
 peculiar to man ; as in the case of afflictions and persecutions, which 
 are to be borne patiently. In the instance of mercy and forgiveness, 
 what greater motive can we have to obedience than the example of 
 God, who bears with so much lenity the abuses and affronts of 
 wicked men? Supposing then that this example is confined to the 
 exercise of love and mercy, it is shown that our Saviour's precise 
 meaning must be, that our love should be universal, unconfined by 
 partialities, and with respect to its objects as large as God's is : not 
 that our love either to enemies or friends can be supposed to bear 
 any proportion to the divine love. Though in this case of extending 
 our love, the example and the exhortation are proper, in others it 
 would be very injurious to the Deity to suppose that any example 
 
Sherlock's discourses. — xlv. 185 
 
 could be drawn from his perfections. An instance of this is given in 
 the government of the thoughts. As therefore the exhortation to 
 imitate the divine perfections cannot reach to all parts of our duty, it 
 ought not to be considered a general precept. St. Paul, in his 
 Epistle to the Ephesians, exhorts them to be foUovpers of God as 
 little children : but w^e see, from chap. iv. 33., and chap. v. 1.2. that 
 this exhortation stands inclosed on both sides vs'ith the precepts of 
 love and charity, as if he intended to secure it from being applied to 
 any thing else. That this was also our Saviour's meaning may be 
 inferred from the sixth chapter of St. Luke, who, in the sermon on 
 the mount, after introducing the example of God, concludes with an 
 exhortation referring to the example, as St. Matt, does; but, instead 
 of the phrase, Be ye perfect as your Father is perfect, says only. Be 
 ye merciful, as your Father also is merciful. If the two Evangelists 
 are consistent, the exhortation of St. Matthew can relate only to that 
 particular perfection of mercy and forgiveness recommended by our 
 Saviour ; and is therefore of no greater extent than St. Luke's. The 
 holy writers often require of us that we should be perfect and blame- 
 less ; or, as St. Paul says, Coloss. iv. 12. stand perfect and complete 
 in all the ivill of God. The will of God manifested to us is the rule 
 of perfection which we ought to aim at ; the perfections of the Deity 
 are not to be attained by any creature. Though there is no room to 
 exhort men to be perfect, as God is perfect, yet it is reasonable to 
 press them to imitate their heavenly Father. The imitation of God 
 has not for its end the attaining to the perfection of God, but to the 
 greatest perfection of which we are capable. In this sense St. Peter 
 exhorts us to be holy, because God is holy (1 Pet. v. 1-15.) ; and 
 St. John expresses the same, chap. iii. 3. A conformity to the 
 divine nature in the moral perfections of it is the utmost excellence 
 and happiness of human souls ; and this was taught by some few wise 
 heathens, who found, by the light of reason and nature, wherein the 
 true dignity and happiness of man consisted : for the imitation of 
 God has its foundation in the reason and nature of things. This is 
 the second thing considered. That we should endeavor to be per- 
 fect, even as God is perfect, in the strict meaning of the words, is the 
 direction neither of reason nor revelation. It is shown that the per- 
 fections which are essential to God, considered as a rational being, 
 are those which we as rational beings ought to aspire to ; and as they 
 are in him in the utmost perfection, to say that we are to imitate the 
 excellences of the Deity, means only that we ought to endeavor after 
 those perfections which are natural and proper to rational minds, 
 which belong to us as made in the likeness of God. Though the 
 example of God be a strong motive for holiness, yet it is but a 
 secondary argument, and supposes an antecedent obligation to the 
 duty, the due performance of which we learn from it. We must 
 therefore search for a reason why some of the perfections of God are 
 proper examples, and others not so ; that is, we must search for their 
 primary rule of duty. It is shown that from the light of our own 
 minds we discern the difference of moral good and evil, and the obli- 
 gations consequent on that dift'erence : the moral perfections of the 
 
136 SUMMARIES OF 
 
 Deity are made visible to us by the same light ; so that the isame 
 reason which holds forth to us tlie rule of our duty, holds forth also 
 the perfect example of it : it follows that to obey the dictates of 
 reason, and to imitate the example of God, is the same thing. This 
 appears by considering that we can only trace the perfections of the 
 Deity from the natural notions of perfection in our own minds ; so 
 that whether we follow the dictates of reason in endeavoring after 
 these virtues, or copy from the perfection of the Deity, we follow the 
 same virtues, though placed in a different view. The imitation of God 
 therefore is a principle of religion arising from and depending on the 
 right use of reason ; and this shows us on what foundation it stands 
 in natural religion, and how we may apply this principle in parti- 
 cular cases. It is absurd to aim at the measure of God's perfection : 
 w^e are perfect as he is perfect, when we do only what he will 
 approve. To stand approved in the eye of an all-perfect being is the 
 true perfection of every creature : this is the Christian excellency 
 described by St. Paul, Coloss. iv. 12. 
 
 DISCOURSE XLVI. 
 
 JOHN, CHAP. III. VERSE 19. 
 
 This is the condemnation, that light is come into the world, and men loved 
 darkness rather than light, because their deeds were evil. 
 
 It is shown that man being a reasonable creature, and enabled to 
 choose for himself in all cases, it is contrary to nature to suppose that 
 there should be any thing absolutely or necessarily good to him ; 
 since the advantage to be drawn from any thing depends on the right 
 use of it. Wholesome food is good for the sound ; but taken in 
 undue measure, it creates disease. Physic is proper for the sick ; 
 but if not properly regulated, it might destroy instead of curing. As 
 it is with the body, so it is with the mind. The best instructions are 
 of no use unless attended to. If there were any system of religion 
 pretending by uncontrollable power to make men righteous, it might 
 be considered as a good piece of spiritual mechanism, but not as a 
 rule of virtue, since there can be no morality without free will. 
 Hence it follows that the religion designed for us as free agents, 
 can only instruct us in such a manner that we may not err through 
 ignorance, and so aid us that it may be in our power, whenever it is 
 in our will, to obey. That religion must therefore be the best, which 
 most fully enlightens our understanding, and is best calculated to 
 remove those impediments to liberty and freedom which arise from 
 the corruption of our nature. There are but two sorts of men that 
 can hope to escape punishment : the righteous, who have no reason 
 to fear judgment, and the sinners who offend through ignorance. 
 The declaration in the text therefore is only a natural consequence 
 drawn from the excellency of the gospel and the perverseness of men. 
 
Sherlock's discourses.— xlvi. 15iP7 
 
 If the gospel were less perfect or less known, sinners would have 
 more to plead in their own behalf; as it is, they have no excuse for 
 disobedience : if it were only a matter of advice, they might be par- 
 doned for neglecting it. But as it is a law given by God to his 
 creatures, if we do not walk in the light of it, we shall be condemned 
 for seeking darkness rather than light. This meaning of the text is 
 confirmed by other parts of Scripture : it will be shown that men 
 continue in darkness rather than light, only because their deeds are 
 evil. The declaration of our Saviour, Mark xvi. IG. having refe- 
 rence to the preaching of the gospel throughout the world, it is 
 evident that the believers and unbelievers there spoken of are such 
 only as have had the gospel preached to them. St. Paul speaks to 
 the same purpose. Acts xvii. 30.; where the command to repent 
 being opposed to God's winking at the times of ignorance, shows that 
 now it is at every man's peril if he refuses to hearken to the heavenly 
 call. The same is to be learned from Rom. i. 16. 18. : so that reve- 
 lation, as it affords help to those who embrace it, at the same time 
 renders all ungodliness inexcusable. There are many texts in Scrip- 
 ture to this effect; and our Saviour, in Luke x., speaks so clearly of 
 those who despise the gospel, that his words can only be thus 
 explained. It is not left to our choice whether we will be subject 
 to the gospel or no ; and this is not peculiar to the gospel, but is the 
 case with regard to the laws of the realm, and all laws founded on 
 sufficient authority : and if this be the case in human laws, it is much 
 more so in those of divine origin : for the greater the authority of the 
 lawgiver, the more absolute must be our obedience. Hence appears 
 the insufficiency of that argument for Deism which men make who 
 affect to discard the gospel, in order to preserve the moral law of 
 reason and nature : for they manifestly reject the authority of God, 
 and refuse that obedience which reason teaches to be due to the Law- 
 giver of the world. Such pretences are of little weight, since the 
 gospel being the true light to direct us, the only reason for forsaking 
 it must be that assigned in the text. 
 
 The avowed design of our Saviour's coming was to destroy the 
 works of the devil, and to restore religion, as it respects God and 
 man, to its native purity. His first lesson to the world was the 
 necessity of repentance : the laws of his gospel are declaratory of the 
 original law of reason and nature : the mysteries therein revealed to 
 us are intended only to give us the assurance of his pardon and 
 mercy, and raise us to a lively hope of life and immortality through 
 faith and obedience. The institutions of the gospel, as baptism, the 
 Lord's supper, &c. are set before us as the proper means to enable us 
 to make our calling and election sure, by continuing stedfast in holi- 
 ness ; and what is it that can tempt a man to reject a religion so well 
 adapted to serve all the good ends of living here, and to support our 
 hopes of happiness hereafter ? We cannot pretend to forsake the 
 gospel, in order to secure an obedience to the moral law by better 
 hopes or stronger fears ; since the gospel has taken in all the hopes 
 and fears of nature, and confirmed them by the irreversible decree of 
 God, who hath appointed a day in which he icill judge the world by 
 the man Christ Jesus. Do we recur to the light of nature in order 
 
138 SUMMARIES OF 
 
 to learn what is acceptable to God, and what are the relative duties 
 between man and man ? In the gospel we shall find all the moral 
 duties deduced from the two great principles of nature, love of God 
 and of our neighbor. There is no precept of virtue laid down in the 
 gospel which nature can reject ; and none in nature that has not been 
 enforced in the gospel. Many have complained that the terrors of 
 the Lord, set forth in the gospel, are too rigid and severe ; and many 
 have lamented the strictness of the gospel morality : but did any one 
 ever forsake the gospel, that he might become more perfect than the 
 laws of Christ required he should be ? If not, we may judge what 
 purposes he serves who endeavors to bring down the precepts of 
 morality from the strictness of the gospel, to give mankind greater 
 licence ; and to weaken the restraint laid on us by the terrors of the 
 Christian law, by discarding the fears of perpetual punishment. Is 
 it likely that the world will become better when less holiness is 
 required, or when the danger of sinning is lessened? and yet this is 
 pretended by those who forsake the gospel in search, as they say, of 
 a better, but in reality of an easier form of religion. The reason 
 assigned in the text is the only true cause of their aversion to the 
 light which is held forth to them. Some have made objections to the 
 mysteries of the gospel ; and to those institutions of it which cannot 
 reasonably be considered a part of true religion. It is true the gospel 
 has taught us many things which by nature we could not know ; but 
 they are all designed to strengthen our hope and assurance of God's 
 mercy : and those institutions, which in their own nature are not 
 constituent parts of religion, are necessary to supply us with spiritual 
 strength ; and they were given by our Saviour, who, seeing, from the 
 weakness of our nature, that we could not alone resist evil, mercifully 
 granted us the assistance of his Holy Spirit. The gospel being recom- 
 mended to us as founded in the express revelation of God, carries 
 with it such authority as cannot with safety be either d'espised or 
 neglected. We must therefore consider the necessity of impartially 
 examining its claims to divine authority : since if it be the word of 
 God, it is death to forsake it. Heligion, properly so called, admits 
 of no choice ; in all the essential parts of it we must either obey or 
 perish. But the corruption of man making it necessary for God to 
 interpose by a new declaration of his will, the only dispute is of the 
 truth of this revelation. If it indeed comes from God, it cannot be 
 safe to reject it. This matter therefore, of all others, requires our 
 most serious consideration ; for if we wantonly or perversely refuse 
 the gift of God, the words of the text will be our condemnation. 
 
 DISCOURSE XLVII. 
 
 JOHN, CHAP. V. VERSE 44. 
 
 How can ye believe, which receive honor one of another, and seek not 
 the honor that cometh from God only ? 
 
 The chief exercise of reason consists in so regulating our actions 
 as to make them subservient to the end v*^e purpose to attain. All 
 
SHERLOCK'S DISCOURSES. — XLVII. 139 
 
 men have something which is the object of their desires ; though few 
 choose well, and fewer still wisely pursue the good they choose: if 
 we choose ill, the greater the ability with which we strive to compass 
 our designs, the more certain is our ruin : the best actions directed to 
 ill purposes become criminal : nothing is more commendable than a 
 spirit of beneficence ; but where the appearance of it is assumed 
 merely to promote our own selfish designs, what is it but fraud and 
 deceit? This is peculiarly applicable to religion. The man, who 
 under the disguise of religion seeks only his own interest, affronts 
 God, abuses the world, and lays up for himself certain ruin. There 
 are degrees in this vice ; and men are often influenced by it without 
 being conscious to so much baseness, as to deserve the name of 
 hypocrisy. Where morality and virtue are not concerned, it may 
 perhaps be right to comply with the world ; but if we allow our love 
 of fame to influence us in religious matters, our minds will be per- 
 verted, and we shall be disabled from judging between truth and 
 falsehood : thus it was with those whom Christ addresses in the text. 
 He had done among them such ivorks as never man did, and to these 
 he appeals as evidence of his mission, John v. 26. : in v. 39. he 
 appeals to the ancient Scriptures : a fairer issue could not be pro- 
 posed ; and we learn from St. John that it had its eft'ect on many of 
 the rulers among the Jews, who however kept their faith secret, 
 loving the praise of men more than the praise of God; which words 
 express also the sense of the text. It is shown that, as religion 
 arises from the relation we bear to God, and respects him only ; 
 when it is made to regard other objects, it necessarily becomes either 
 idolatry or hypocrisy. It has been said that the zeal and piety of 
 Christians fell into decay when the empire became Christian : this 
 observation not perfectly just, as the church has, in all ages, had 
 many faithful members. The times of persecution were calculated 
 to afford more striking examples of zeal ; but the great alteration 
 was, that when the powers of the world came into the Church, they 
 were followed by all such as loved the praise of men more than the 
 praise of God: since which time profession has become a less certain 
 sign of true faith : and men not being now called to the proof by 
 others, and not readily calling themselves to a strict account, have 
 less reason for confidence in themselves. Some rules may therefore 
 profitably be sought by which men may judge whether they receive 
 honor one of another, or do seek the honor which cometh from God 
 only. In order to this it is First inquired. In what sense the text 
 condemns the receiving honor from men : Secondly, What is meant 
 by seeking the honor which cometh from God only : Thirdly, AVhat 
 are the marks by which men may try themselves on these articles. 
 
 I. St. Paul has given it for a rule, that we ought to render honor 
 to whom honor is due : and as some degree of honor and respect is 
 due to all men, St. Peter has given the precept in general terms, 
 honor all men. All men therefore to whom honor is due, may both 
 innocently receive and justly require it: as a father from his son, a 
 king from his subjects, &c. But in the text, and in the parallel pas- 
 sage of St. John, there is evidently an opposition, between the praise 
 
140 SUIvlMARIES OF 
 
 of men and the praise of God. Now it is certain that no honor ca.n 
 be due to man which is inconsistent with the honor which we owe to 
 God ; and we cannot be innocent wliile we sacrifice the good-will of 
 God to the vanity of being well spoken of in the world. Instance of 
 Paul and Felix commented on. 
 
 II. Them that honor me, I tv ill honor, saith the Lord; and they 
 that despise me shall be lightly esteemed. The only way therefore to 
 seek honor from God, is by paying to God the honor that is due to 
 him. A sincere regard to truth and justice is the truest honor, indeed 
 the only honor, we can pay to God : all external signs, though 
 expressed in the method prescribed by himself, become empty shows, 
 unless they proceed from an honest heart : this point enlarged on. 
 And as it is in practical duties, so it is in faith likewise : he who 
 professes to believe in Christ merely in compliance with the world, 
 may obtain perhaps its riches and honors; but he has his reward; 
 for this temporal faith will procure for him no praise or honor from 
 God. 
 
 How differently people will act in religious matters, when they 
 seek the praise of men, and when they seek the praise of God, may 
 be collected from the knowlege we have of God and the world, and 
 the measures that are necessary to please them : this however is fully 
 shown by instances from holy Scripture. 
 
 III. Respecting self-examination. All times do not afford the 
 same trials of faith and sincerity, yet there is no time which has not 
 some. If persecution fails, prosperity has its temptations ; and it is 
 perhaps as hard to deny ourselves the glories and honors of the world, 
 as it is to submit to its atHictions. St. Paul tells us, that they-e must 
 be heresies among tis, that they which are apj^roved may be made 
 manifest : when heathen persecutions ceased, internal divisions arose 
 in the Church, and the powers of the empire were sometimes on one 
 side of the controversy and sometimes on the other : what influence 
 this had on the faith of multitudes, a moderate experience of the 
 world may teach us. But farther ; times of ease and prosperity 
 naturally abound in vice and a neglect of the things pertaining to 
 salvation ; and it is counted a wise thing to sit still and give way to 
 the torrent, and not to create trouble for ourselves and others by 
 opposing a general corruption ; and perhaps it may be wise : but is 
 it wisdom towards God or towards the world ? Is it seeking that 
 honor which comes from above, or the honor which comes from men ? 
 Could the man, who so seeks it, have had courage in the day of trial 
 and persecution ? 
 
 Let us then examine ourselves on this head : if we think it a happy 
 choice to sacrifice the honor of God and religion to a corrupt gene- 
 ration, and to screen ourselves from the indignation of the world by 
 a professed indifference, is it not directly preferring the good-will of 
 man to that of God ? and can we complain, if we are left to seek our 
 sole recompense from the world, whose servants we are? Conclusion, 
 
Sherlock's discourses. — xLviir. 141 
 
 DISCOURSE XLVIII. 
 
 MARK, CHAP. VIII. VERSE 38. 
 
 Whosoever therefore shall be ashamed of me, and of my words, in this 
 adulterous and sinful generation, of him also shall the Son of man be 
 ashamed, when hecometh in the glory of his Father, with the holy angels^ 
 
 The text shown to relate immediately to the times of persecution, 
 and to express the duty of a Christian whenever God's providence 
 may call him to such a trial. This is not our case at present; yet 
 an adulterous and sinful generation has more ways than one of 
 making men ashamed of Christ and of his words: and if the temp- 
 tation to this crime be now less than in times of affliction, the guilt is 
 greater. In order that men may easily examine their own con- 
 sciences on this head, and avoid the evil, two inquiries are made: I. 
 Into the nature of the crime of being ashamed of Christ and of his 
 words: II. Into the several temptations that lead to it. 
 
 I. The duty opposed to this crime is expressed in the language of 
 Scripture, by confessing Christ before men; and therefore to be 
 ashamed of Christ and of his words, is to deny or disown him and 
 his doctrine before men. In this language both parts are expressed 
 in the 10th chapter of St. Matthew. There have not been wanting 
 some, in all times, to justify the prudence of concealing our religious 
 sentiments, and living well with the world. They call on us to 
 remember that religion is internal in the heart, and not on the tongues 
 or in the lips of men ; that our virtue and obedience will be estimated 
 by our integrity, and not by outward show and profession ; and that, 
 as the world has nothing to do with our hearts, we owe it no account 
 of our religion. To this plea another is added; that to suppose it 
 necessary for men to own their religious sentiments at the peril of 
 their lives, is making God a very hard master, requiring of us a 
 service of no value to him, at the expense of all that is dear and 
 valuable to us in the world. These excuses are founded in ignorance 
 of the nature of religion, and of the great ends to be served by it. 
 Were we to estimate our religion by the service or benefit done to 
 God, we might part with it all at once; he gets no more by the 
 sincerity of our hearts than by our outward professions: but if it be 
 supposed that there is something in inward sincerity which is agree- 
 able in his sight, and renders men acceptable to him, it must surely 
 bethought that hypocrisy and dissimulation with the world are 
 odious and detestable to him : this point enlarged on. But it may 
 perhaps be asked, how comes it to be necessary for a man to say any 
 thing about his religion ? how comes the confession of it to be made 
 a term of salvation in the gospel ? and what right has the world to 
 make any inquiry ? 
 
 To answer this, we must consider the nature of religion, and the 
 ends proposed to be served by it. When God made us reasonable 
 
142 SUMMARIES OF 
 
 creatures, he made us capable of knowing and obeying him. The 
 great character in which he appears to us as governor of the world, is 
 one which demands our obedience : religion therefore cannot be 
 merely a secret concern between God and every man's conscience, 
 since it respects him in so public a character ; and it is impossible to 
 pay him proper respect and obedience, if we deny him in the face of 
 the world. Moreover, if any religious obedience be due to God, as 
 governor of the world, it must principally consist in promoting the 
 great end of his government : but whoever teaches' and and encou- 
 rages men to deny that God is governor of the world, which every- 
 one does who refuses to own him as such, does effectually disturb the 
 end of his government. Again, if it be really, as it is, impossible for 
 us to do God any private service, it is very absurd to imagine that 
 religion can consist, or be preserved by any secret belief or opinion, 
 how cordially soever embraced. What thanks can be due to us for 
 silently believing God to be the governor of the world, whilst we 
 openly deny it, and in our actions disclaim it? Even this principle, 
 which is the foundation of all religion, has nothing of religion in it 
 so long as it is inactive; much less when we openly deny it, and in 
 words and actions disclaim it: this point enlarged on. Lastly, if it 
 be any part of religion to promote religion and the knowlege of God's 
 truth in the world, it cannot be consistent with our duty to deny our 
 faith, especially when we see how infectious example is. 
 
 Hence then we may conclude that it is part of every man's 
 religion to own the faith and hope that is in him ; that it is absurd to 
 rely on a secret faith, which is of no use to him who keeps it secret ; 
 and whenever such faith is openly contradicted or denied, it may 
 aggravate, but can never atone for, the hypocrisy. 
 
 Hitherto the argument has been drawn from the nature of religion 
 in general, and the question referred to the denying of God and his 
 truth. The text indeed speaks particularly of being ashamed of 
 Christ and of his word : but to every believer in Christ and in his 
 words, the arguments already used are directly applicable. 
 
 One thing more may be observed, that there are in this, as in 
 other crimes, different degrees : while some were contented to dis- 
 semble their acquaintance with Christ, St. Peter openly denied him, 
 and confirmed it with an oath. Among us some openly blaspheme 
 hiiu ; others make a sport of his religion ; and a third sort profess a 
 pleasure in such conversation, though their hearts ache for their 
 iniquity; but they want courage to rebuke the sin of the scorner. 
 All these are in the number of those who are ashamed of Christ ; and 
 to all these it shall be one day said, I know ye not. 
 
 II. Inquiry into the temptations which lead men to this crime. 
 
 The fountain from which they spring is plainly enough described in 
 the text; this adulterous and sinful generation. And we know 
 that there is not a fear, a passion, a weakness, or a vanity in 
 the heart of man, but the world knows how to reach it. One dis- 
 tinction however must be made with respect to these temptations, that 
 there are some which pursue us, and others which we pursue : to the 
 
Sherlock's discourses. — xlviii. 143 
 
 one sort we unwillingly resign our faith, driven thereunto by fears and 
 terrors, pains and torments, which we are not able to endure : but the 
 other kind of temptations come on our invitation ; and we make our 
 faith a sacrifice to the world, when we part with it or disown it for 
 honor, wealth, or pleasure: these are they, who, properly speaking, 
 love the world more than God and his Christ ; but they will find it a 
 dear purchase at the last. 
 
 But whenever infidelity grows into credit and repute, and irreligion 
 is considered as a mark of good understanding, then there arises 
 another temptation to make men ashamed of Christ and of his word. 
 No man likes to be despised by those around him ; and he who 
 perhaps wants neither riches nor honors, wants however to live 
 in credit and good esteem with his acquaintance. How far this 
 inclination must work, from motives of vanity, want of courage, and 
 the contagion of example, may be easily conceived. But let us 
 compare our pretended difficulties and hardships, in this respect, with 
 those real ones which Christians of the early ages endured. If they 
 were called to brave the sword, and look every image of death boldly 
 in the face, shall we find pity, who are afraid only of being laughed 
 at by those who are void of understanding ? 
 
 But to come still lower : if we care not to be reprovers or rebukers 
 of this iniquity, surely there is no necessity for us to be admirers or 
 encouragers of it : it is no great sacrifice we make to Christ, when we 
 resign our share of the applause which belongs to those who persecute 
 and blaspheme him. Religion is after all our most serious concern. 
 If its pretensions be founded in truth, it is life to embrace them, it is 
 death to despise them. We cannot in this case stand neuter, we 
 cannot serve two masters. If we confess Christ before men, he will 
 also confess us before God ; and if we deny him, he will deny us at 
 the last day. 
 
 Had our Lord been merely a teacher of good things, without any 
 special commission from the great Creator, it would have been 
 absurd and presumptuous in him to have arrogated to himself the high 
 prerogative of being owned and acknowleged before men. Several 
 have from the light of reason taught the world ; but none have 
 assumed that prerogative. The case is otherwise with our Re- 
 deemer ; we must own his authority and confess him, be the danger of 
 doing so ever so great. Whence arises this obligation ? It cannot 
 rest on his being merely a teacher of reason and good morality. 
 We must consider then what manner of person this is who requires so 
 much at our hands. If he be indeed the Son of God ; if all power 
 in heaven and earth be given him by the Father ; if he be appointed 
 to be the judge of all men ; there is a clear reason to justify his 
 demand and our obedience : but if he were only a teacher of 
 morality and religion, how is he justified in pretending to be the only 
 Son of God ? &c. We must either own him under this character, or 
 condemn him as an impostor for claiming it. 
 
 When therefore we read that our Lord requires of us to confess him 
 before men, the true way to know what we are to confess, is to 
 reflect on what he confessed himself; for it cannot be supposed that 
 
144 SUMMARIES OF 
 
 he would make one confession himself, and demand of his disciples 
 and servants to make another. Let us then look into the gospel, and 
 having read his words, weigh well these things, and judge what our 
 duty is. 
 
 DISCOURSE XLIX. 
 
 2 CORINTHIANS, CHAP. V. VERSES 10, 11. 
 
 We must all appear before the judgment-seat of Christ, that every one 
 may receive tlie things done in his body, according to that he liath done, 
 whether it be good or bad. Knowing therefore the terror of the Lord, 
 we persuade men. 
 
 It is the privilege of a rational being to look forward into futurity, 
 to consider the tendency of his actions, and to view them in their 
 most distant consequences. 
 
 By the exercise of this power of reason, the wisest among the 
 heathens discovered that there was ground for men to have expec- 
 tations beyond this life. The arguments for these expectations fully 
 stated. Under such circumstances our blessed Lord appeared, to 
 bring to light life and immortality through the gospel. This fun- 
 damental article of religion, as it now stands on revelation, con- 
 sidered. 
 
 As to the principal point, there is no difference between the hopes 
 conveyed to us by the gospel and by natural reason : thus far then 
 the doctrine of each must stand or fall one with the other. But the 
 gospel has made an addition to this doctrine, and communicated to 
 us the knowlege of some circumstances which were not discoverable 
 but by revelation. They are principally these ; A resurrection of 
 the body ; Christ the Judge of the world ; Rewards and punishments, 
 in proportion to our conduct here. 
 
 First; The resurrection of the body was revealed, to give to all 
 men a plain and sensible notion of their being subject to a future 
 judgment. Death is the destruction of the man ; for man is made of 
 soul and body : therefore to bring the man into judgment for his 
 deeds, the soul and body must be again brought together. This 
 doctrine does not remove all prejudices, when examined by the scanty 
 notions we have of the powers of nature ; but it removes all diffi- 
 culties that affect this belief, considered with respect to religion and 
 morality; for the single point in which religion is concerned, is 
 to know whether man shall be accountable hereafter for their actions 
 here. Reason tells us they ought to be so : but a difficulty arises 
 from the dissolution of the man by death ; and this is followed 
 by endless speculations on the nature of the soul, &c. : but take in the 
 declaration of the gospel, that soul and body shall hereafter be as 
 certainly re-united as they were dissolved by death, and all difficulty 
 concerning a future judgment vanishes. 
 
Sherlock's discourses. — xlix. 145 
 
 But still prejudices remain : to some it is incredible that the dead 
 should be raised. To these it may be said, on the ground of the 
 gospel evidence, that the dead have been raised ; on the ground of 
 reason, that it is quite as credible that God should be able to raise 
 the dead to life, as he was to give them life at first. But we are 
 farther asked, what body shall be raised, since no man has exactly 
 the same two days together : this apparently plausible objection has 
 nothing to do in the present case ; for religion is concerned only to 
 preserve the identity of the person as the object of future judgment, 
 otherwise the difficulty would be as great in the judgments of this life 
 as in those of another. 
 
 But the prejudices which affect men most, arise from the weakest 
 of all imaginations, thai they can judge from the settled laws and 
 course of nature, what is or is not possible to the power of God. It 
 is true that our powers are bounded by those laws, but it does not 
 follow that his are so bounded who appointed the laws. When the 
 Sadducees denied the resurrection, our Saviour told them, Ye do err, 
 not knoicing the Scriptures, nor the power of God. But whatever 
 difficulties of this kind may remain, this article has removed all which 
 lie in the way of our considering ourselves as accountable creatures, 
 subject to the future judgment of God : so that revelation has in this 
 particular brought faith and reason to a perfect agreement. 
 
 Secondly ; The gospel has made known to us that Christ shall be 
 judge of the world. 
 
 Our Saviour tells us that the Father judgeth no man, but hath 
 committed all judgment to the So7i : John v. 22. ; and again, John 
 V. 27. St. Peter also declares that the Apostles were commissioned 
 to publish this doctrine to all the world : Acts x. 42. Accordingly 
 St. Paul, in his discourse with the men of Athens, fully instructs 
 them in this important point Acts xvii. 31. 
 
 It is material to observe that this authority is given to Christ, 
 because he is the So7i of Man, as he has himself assured us ; and that 
 the person ordained to be judge is a man, even the man whom God 
 raised from the dead, as St. Paul asserts. And how happy is it for 
 us to have such an one, of whom we may say, as the Apostle to the 
 Hebrews says of our High Priest ; tve have not a judge which 
 cannot be touched with a feeling of our infirmities, but was in all 
 things tempted like as we are, yet ivithout sin. 
 
 It may be said perhaps, that this is drawing consequences on the 
 ground of vulgar apprehensions; and that in reality there is no differ- 
 ence, whether God be judge himself, or commit judgment to the Son 
 of Man : the objectors in this case answered ; whilst it is shown that, 
 on the ground of Scripture, we may certainly know what the justice, 
 mercy, and goodness are, by which we must finally stand or fall. 
 
 Thus this great fundamental article of religion, involved as it was 
 in the darkness of former ages, is made plain by the light of the gospel. 
 That men were accountable was always known ; that there would be 
 a future judgment was generally believed : but how men were to 
 appear to be judged, how rewarded or punished, was not known, 
 
 PART II. K 
 
14C SUMMARIES OF 
 
 That the right of judging- men was in God was well known : but how 
 he would exercise it, whether by himself or another, visibly or invi- 
 sibly, was not known ; infinite were the speculations raised on this 
 subject, instead of which the gospel has assured us, that at the final 
 judgment we shall be, what we now are, real men : and that the man 
 Christ Jesus, who appeared in the world to redeem us, shall judge us 
 by that gospel, and those rules which he left to direct us. 
 
 Thirdly; The consequences of this judgment, which all must 
 undergo, considered. 
 
 If we consult either Scripture or reason, we shall find no evidence 
 of any farther change to be made in our future state, after once 
 judgment has passed on us. That we are accountable, and tiierefore 
 shall be judged, reason says ; but we can see nothing after judgment, 
 except the reward or punishment consequent on it, and therefore the 
 only conclusion we can draw is, that the condition of man will be 
 finally determined as to happiness or misery, in which he must con- 
 tinue to abide. 
 
 As reason can show us nothing beyond judgment, but that state 
 and condition which are the effect of it, so the holy Scripture has 
 given us reason to think that nothing else there shall be, by describ- 
 ing the rewards and punishments of another life, as having perpetual 
 duration. Life eternal is prepared for the righteous, and everlasting 
 punishment for the wicked. Even the mildest interpretation that is 
 given to the threats and denunciations of Scripture, supposes the 
 punishment to last as long as the sinner: so that in this, the lowest 
 view, our all depends on the judgment which shall finally be passed 
 on us at the second coming of our Lord. The Apostle therefore is 
 both just and charitable, when he adds, knorving the terror of the 
 Lord, we persuade men. If the Christian religion has cleared our 
 doubts, by bringing life and hnmortuUty to light, it has also given 
 us reason to be watchful and careful over ourselves; for it is a fearful 
 thing to have to answer for ourselves before the searcher of all hearts ; 
 to answer to him that loved us, for despising his love; to him that 
 died for us, for having crucified him afresh ; and for having ac- 
 counted the blood of the covenant an unholy thing. This will be 
 the sad case of every wilful sinner; and the view of this misery 
 moved the Apostle, and should ever move those who succeed him in 
 his office, to warn men to jiee from the trrath that is to come. 
 
Sherlock's niscouRSES. — l. 1 17 
 
 DISCOURSE L. 
 
 PHILIPPIANS, CHAP. II. VERSES G — 11. 
 
 Who, heing in the form of God, thought it not robbery to be equal with 
 God ; but made himself of no reputation, and took on him the form of a 
 servant, and was made in the likeness of men : and being found in 
 fashion as a man, he humbled himself, and became obedient unto death, 
 even the death of tlie cross. Wherefore God also hath higiily exalted 
 him, and given him a name which is above every name ; that at the 
 name of Jesus every knee should bow, of things in heaven, and things 
 in earth, and things under the eartli ; and that every tongue should 
 confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father. 
 
 PART I. 
 
 The words of the text have been strongly debated by Christians 
 differing in opinion about the person and dignity of our Saviour ; and 
 as they are often handled, lead more certainly to the knowlege of the 
 interpreter's opinion than the Apostle's, It is not intended to press 
 them into the service of any particular opinion, but fairly to expound 
 them ; to infer nothing from tiiem, but what may be shown to be in 
 them, even by the necessity of the Apostle's argument. To avoid 
 confusion, this argument shall be represented, I. Intire and by itself : 
 II. The things implied in it shall be considered, which we may call 
 the principles on which the Apostle reasons : III. by a comparison 
 of one part with another, the true sense and meaning of each shall be 
 laid open. And, I. St. Paul exhorts the Philippians to love one 
 another, and mutually to aid and assist each other in all things 
 ii. 1. 2. : then, like a wise physician, he searches out the bottom of 
 the evil which he would cure ; and knowing this to be pride and 
 vain-glory, he proceeds to admonish them 3. 4. in the next two 
 verses ; Let nothing he done through strife or vain-glory ; but in 
 loivliness of mind let each esteem other, &c. To support this doc- 
 trine, and enforce their obedience to it, he represents in lively colors 
 the great humility of Christ as an example verses 5-8. To encourage 
 their obedience, he sets before them, from the same example, what 
 glorious rewards they might promise themselves hereafter for their 
 present humility 9-11. This is the whole of the Apostle's argument. 
 II. We may observe, in considering the several things implied in it, 
 First, That the Apostle here points out to us three different states 
 and conditions of Christ; the first, his state of dignity, from which 
 he willingly descended, as expressed in the words Who being in the 
 form of God; the second, his state of humility, to which he 
 descended, &s he made himself of 710 reputatioji ; the third his state 
 of glory, and exaltation as thus intimated ; ivherefore God also hath 
 highly exalted him. These are all essential to the Apostle's argu- 
 ment ; nor can one be taken away without destroying its force. For 
 example : remove the first state, and the second is no longer one of 
 humiliation, nor Christ an example of humility : this point explained. 
 
148 SUMMARIES OF 
 
 In tlie second place, it is implied in the argument, that he was in 
 possession of whatever belonged to his state of dignity and excellence 
 before he underwent any thing that belonged to his state of humilia- 
 tion : this point fully made out, showing that he was in the form of 
 God, before he was made in the likeness of man. III. It is neces- 
 sarily implied in the argument, that he underwent whatever belonged 
 to his state of humiliation before he enjoyed any thing that belonged 
 to his state of exaltation : this point established : hence it follows 
 that his natural state of dignity and his acquired state of exaltation 
 are perfectly distinct and different ; since one was antecedent to, the 
 other consequent on his humiliation : whence his dignity before his 
 humiliation belongs not to him in virtue of what he did or suffered ; 
 nor is it any part of the exaltation he received after, or on account of 
 his sufferings. This particularly insisted on, as it is a common 
 mistake to think that because Christ was for the suffering of death 
 crowned with glory and honor, these dignities belong to him only 
 because he suffered. Hence to all arguments drawn from the attri- 
 butes of power and knowlege, &c,, to prove the eternity and divinity 
 of the Logos, some think it a sufficient reason to say, that Christ 
 received his glory at his resurrection, and was made perfect through 
 sufferings ; and therefore that these are not his natural perfections, 
 but his acquired honors, received from the Father at the redemption. 
 Thus they answer not the arguments, but confound Christ's states of 
 glory : the one the glory of the eternal Logos, the other of the Son 
 of man. St. Paul expressly founds the former of these on his 
 creating the worlds, Coloss. i. 15-17. : the latter on his resurrection, 
 in the next verse. These then are different states, and founded in 
 different characters. St. John also makes the same distinction : 
 chap. v. 25. 27. These verses enlarged on ; whence it is clearly 
 shown that two distinct states are meant, when he says that the dead 
 shall be raised by the voice of the Son of God ; but they shall be 
 judged by the voice of the Son of man. Thus also the Apostle to 
 the Hebrews, i. 2. 3., describes the dignity and excellence of the 
 person whom God sent to our redemption, showing the glory of 
 Christ before all worlds. Then in the following verses, he speaks of 
 his state of exaltation, in consequence of his sufferings, clearly dis- 
 tinguishing between the dignity of his nature and the honor of his 
 office. The Apostle, in ii. 9., says that Jesus was made a little loiver 
 than the angels ; but here that he was made better than the angels : 
 these terms fully explained. But this difficulty vanishes if we rightly 
 distinguish his three states of dignity, of humiliation, and of exalta- 
 tion, evidently mentioned in the text. According to this key we may 
 expound the Apostle to the Hebrews by the Apostle to the Philip- 
 pians : this exposition made out. YVe find Christ described by 
 St. John as with God, and as God, and as the Creator of all 
 things, i. 1-3. : in the eighth chapter our Saviour bears testi- 
 mony of himself, before Abraham was, I am. Had he said 
 before Abraham was, I was, it might have been inferred that he 
 existed before Abraham, and yet was born into the world long 
 after Abraham, and therefore had existed long before his coming 
 
SHERLOCK'S DISCOURSES. —L, 140 
 
 into the worUl. But in the passage as it is, something more is im- 
 plied which peculiarly belongs to the expression lam: what that is, 
 we may learn from the original words as used by God, in answer to 
 Moses inquiring after Cod's name, Kxod. iii. 14. Why should our 
 Saviour apply this expression to himself, knowing to whom alone it 
 had been applied, and knowing that it would have been in the 
 highest degree, in the man so applying it, committing the robbery of 
 making himsiiW equal with God? Besides, the words are a mere 
 solecism, and according to the analogy of language express nothing ; 
 for to carry present time back, and make it antecedent to the past, 
 is shutHing ideas together which can have no place in the mind or 
 understanding. If then the expression means any thing, the / am 
 must belong to Christ, as signifying eternity and permanency of 
 duration, which, with the ascribing to him the creation of all things, 
 is the greatest power we have any notion of. Let us now look to the 
 other part of the question. At our Saviour's last appearance to his 
 disciples, to give them full commission to teach and baptise, with full 
 assurance of his being with them to the end of the world, he intro- 
 duces his charge thus : All potver is yicen toito me in heaven and in 
 earth : where he clearly speaks of power conferred on him after his 
 resurrection, in virtue of which he thus commissions them. Go ye 
 therefore, and teach all nations. The import of the word therefore 
 fully explained from the power he had received. It is now con- 
 sidered what weight there is in the great Socinian argument against 
 the eternity of the Logos. All power, they say, was conferred on 
 our Saviour after the resurrection : it is therefore absurd to ascribe 
 any to him before, since he that receives all power is supposed to 
 have had none before he received it. This objection, though plausi- 
 ble at first view, when duly considered will be found to miss the aim ; 
 as the power spoken of in St. Matthew, and that in St. John, belong 
 to different and distinct states ; and therefore his receiving all power 
 as due at this determinate time, argues not his having none before 
 that time : this shown from the grounds of a royal commission from 
 a human prince. The creation and preservation of all things are 
 ascribed, the former by St. John, and the latter by St. Paul, to the 
 same eternal and inherent power. But in Hebrews and Colossians, 
 with respect to his power of office, he is styled Head of the Church. 
 This point fully developed. We know what is said of a new creation 
 by virtue and holiness ; but were powers, principalities and dominions, 
 things visible and invisible, which the Apostle declares to be works of 
 his hands, thus newly created ? Was the material world redeemed 
 and made holy ? What absurdities may we not believe or teach, if 
 such are the doctrines of clear and unbiassed reason ! Conclusion : 
 from the text and other parts of Scripture there are three distinct 
 states of our Lord spoken of, and unless we have an eye to this ma- 
 terial observation, we shall not understand the Scripture, or the con- 
 troverted points concerning the eternity and divinity of the Son of 
 God ; but we shall absurdly confuse the glories which he received in 
 reward of his obedience with the antecedent and inherent glories of 
 his nature. 
 
IflO SUMMARIES OF 
 
 PART II. 
 
 The three distinct states belonging to Christ Jesus, and mentioned 
 in the words of the text, being supposed, we now proceed, thirdly, 
 to con) pare the several parts of 8t. Paul's argument together, and to 
 examine what the Apostle teaches us concerning each of these states. 
 As to those of humiliation and exaltation, the difficulties are not 
 great. It will be readily allowed that in the first he was very man, 
 subject to the infirmities of human nature, and that he underwent the 
 bitter death of the cross; that in the last, he is Lord and Head over 
 the church under God : that he now governs it, and shall at the last 
 day appear in the majesty of his Father, to judge the world. Thus 
 far most Christians are agreed, though they may differ concerning 
 his first state, and his proper glories before his coming into the world. 
 The text first describes this glorious state. Who being in the form of 
 God, in order to set forth his great humility in becoming man: the 
 following words, as they stand in our translation, describe the excel- 
 lency of this glory, which was so real and transcendent, that he 
 thought it no robbery to be, i. e. he thought himself in titled to be, 
 equal with God : but this translation is not insisted on ; for it is more 
 agreeable to the Apostle's argument and language to suppose that he 
 intends to express the first degree or instance of his humility, and 
 that the words should thus be rendered. Who, being in the form of 
 God, teas not fond or tenacious of appearing as God, but made him- 
 self of no reputation. The reasons of thus rendering these words not 
 given ; but in either way the 70 eliat Jaa 0ew belong to Jesus Christ : 
 this point enlarged on. Some render these words so as purposely to 
 exclude Christ from the dignity here mentioned, and make the 
 Apostle speak thus : Who, being in the form of God, did not arro- 
 gate, assume, or lay claim to any equality or likeness with God. 
 This bears no analogy to the words in the original, nor can it agree 
 with the aim and design of the Apostle. The original expression is 
 metaphorical, taken from catching prey. The application of this 
 metaphor explained, and the point enlarged on : whence it appears 
 that St. Paul evidently supposes the to eJvai l<ya Qeai to belong to 
 Christ before his humiliation, when he was in the form of God. 
 Secondly, by comparing the several parts of St. Paul's argument 
 together, it will appear that the expressions /jop0?) Qeov, and to eJpai 
 l(7n 0ew, relate to the same thing, so that he who possesses the first, 
 has a right to the last. The foundation of the Apostle's argument is, 
 that Christ enjoying a most exalted state of glory, was not fond or 
 tenacious of that glory, but made himself of no reputation ; for this 
 argument being wholly spent in setting forth Christ's humility, there 
 is no need to mention any other glory than that which he, out of his 
 humility, laid aside ; whence the glory which he had is the same as 
 the glory which he laid aside. From the two verses together, 
 according to the signification of the original, it appears that the 
 humility of Christ consisted in changing willingly a glorious for an 
 inglorious condition : this point enlarged on. From the words there- 
 
Sherlock's discourses. — l. 151 
 
 fore, who heiuy in the form of God, took upon him the form of a ser- 
 vant, the Apostle plainly intimates that he obscured or laid aside the 
 glory belonging to the form of God when he took the form of a 
 servant: the ^orm of God, therefore, expresses all those glories 
 which Christ suffered to be hid in his state of humiliation. The same 
 thing is expressed by the equality tvith God here mentioned : this 
 point explained ; and it is shown that we must necessarily say that 
 the form of God, and the equality ivith God are one and the same 
 thing. This perhaps does not discover the precise notion belonging 
 to each of these expressions, but it clearly shows that both did 
 equally belong to our Saviour before his coming into the world ; 
 which all allow to be the proper character of Christ here, however 
 they limit it in their various ex()Ositions. Moreover, the form of the 
 argument proves that St. Paul esteemed these to be Christ's natural 
 and inherent, not his borrowed glories; for he exhorts the Philip- 
 pians thus : Look not every man on his own ihinys ; but every man 
 also on the things of others. This passage explained. He farther 
 exhorts them thus : Let this mind be in you, which was also in Christ 
 Jesus. 
 
 He then sets forth how little Christ regarded rci eavrov ; for being 
 in the form of God, he was not eager of appearing equal with God. 
 This form of God therefore, and this equality with God, were those 
 things of his own which he did not look for. If he meant not this, 
 the precept and the example cannot meet in the same point. Sup- 
 posing then this to be the meaning of the terms the form of God, and 
 to be equal with God, we must yet consider who and what manner of 
 person he is to whom these things belong, so as to be his own : the 
 glories of God, even if communicated to a creature, could in no sense 
 be said to be the creature's own glories : our own glories are those 
 only which are peculiar and proper to our nature. From the seventh 
 and eighth verses of the text, the Apostle clearly means to op-' 
 pose the form of a servant to the form of God: when he laid aside 
 the latter, he took the former : if we can determine the meaning of 
 one, it will lead to the knowlege of the other ; the true key to which 
 is in the Epistle to the Hebrews, i. 1-1. The substance of this is con- 
 tained in the words, ivho being in the form of God: but the Apostle 
 to the Hebrews shows wherein the true dift'erence between Christ and 
 all other beings lies, ver. 5, G. declaring who Christ is; and of the 
 angels he speaks in ver. 7. and 14. From the image which the writer to 
 the Hebrews seems to have had before him, viz. that of a great house- 
 hold, where he considers God as the great Paterfamilias, Christ the 
 Filius-familias, and other beings as servants of different orders, we 
 can understand the Apostle to the Philippians when he says, Christ 
 took on him the form of a servant: this point enlarged on. The 
 Apostle to the Philippians adds, being made in the likeness of men: 
 the reason of this addition we see in Heb. ii, 16. Angels are ser- 
 vants as well as men : therefore when Christ took on himself the form 
 of a servant, he might be supposed to have taken the nature of the 
 angels. To put aside doubt, the Apostle says, he took the form of a 
 servant, in the likeness of men ; i, e. in the nature of men ; hence the 
 
152 SUMMARIES OF 
 
 /jiopf}) bovXov is tlie common mark and character of all God's crea- 
 tures ; the ojiuiwi^ia is the peculiar character of each species : hence 
 these together make a real and perfect man. We must attend to the 
 Apostle's argument in order to distinguish rightly between the form, 
 the likeness, and the fashion, as applied all to Christ Jesus. The 
 equality with God, which Christ did not retain, but emptied himself 
 of, clearly means the divine glories in which he appeared, and which 
 during his state of humiliation he laid aside: his nature he could 
 not lay aside : he was still the Son of God ; and therefore, says the 
 Apostle, being man, he was found in fashion as a man : which 
 expression answers to the being equal with God. The form of God, 
 in the first part, answers both to the form of a servant, and to the 
 likeness of men, in the second part ; the form of a servant being com- 
 mon to all God's creatures, it did not of itself sufficiently denote 
 Christ's nature: hence the addition, in the likeness of men, was 
 necessary : the form of God required not this : the argument for our 
 Saviour's divinity from this text briefly recapitulated. This exposi- 
 tion of the text is farther confirmed by St. Paul to the Ephesians, 
 iv. 22-24., again in I Cor. xv. 47. 48., and many other places of like 
 import. In our text, the Apostle does not expressly compare the 
 first with the second Adatn ; but the contrast which he draws 
 between the conduct and spirit of the second Adam, and the corrupt 
 affections of the first, leaves no doubt of his meaning. Moses relates 
 that Adam was created after God^s image, and was made lord over this 
 lower world. St. Paul tells us that Christ was in the form of God, 
 which gave him dominion over the works of nature. Moses declares 
 how Adam, through disobedience and a vain ambition, fell from the 
 dignity in which he was created, and intailed mivsery on his descend- 
 ants : St. Paul says, that Christ through obedience hath set us an 
 example, by which, if the same mind be in us, we may recover what 
 is lost : this contrast carried on and completed. If then we admit of 
 this reference to the case of the first Adam, it will determine the 
 sense of those words in our translation, he thought it no robbery to 
 be equal with God; for in that ca.se the opposition between the two 
 characters would require that it should be said of Adam, that he 
 thought it a robbery to be equal with God : which is absolutely 
 inconsistent with the account of Moses, and with the view and 
 reasoning of St. Paul. 
 
 PART III. 
 
 And being found in fashion as a man, he humbled himself, and 
 became obedient unto death, even the death of the cross: this point 
 enlarged on, and the humility of Christ shown in taking on himself 
 the form of a servant, and becoming obedient to the death of the 
 vilest of slaves. This humility is plainly represented to us under two 
 views : in one Christ, who was in the form of God, descends so low 
 as to become man ; in the other, he descends yet lower, taking on 
 himself the meanest condition, and undergoing the most ignominious 
 death. The first instance of Christ's humility has been explained by 
 
Sherlock's discourses. — l, 153 
 
 considering from what, and to what, he descended ; the second 
 instance is now subjected to a similar examination. In the first we 
 learned the Apostle's opinion concerning our Saviour before his incar- 
 nation ; in this we shall iind what notion he had of him during his 
 abode on earth. The question then is, what manner of person did 
 St. Paul conceive Christ to be, when he said of him, being found in 
 fashion as a man ? This will appear by considering what is meant 
 by the fashion of a man, and why St. Paul thus expressed himself; 
 and likewise by examining the instances of humility given in the 
 text, and considering of whom it can properly be said, that he was 
 humble in submitting to death. The fashion of a man denotes those 
 proper and distinguishing characters, which belong to a man as such, 
 and not to any other kind of being : this shown from a considera- 
 tion of St. Paul's use of the original word, and of the verb derived 
 from it : thus, when he tells us of Satan's transforming himself into 
 an angel of light, and of his ministers transforming themselves into 
 Apostles of Christ, in both places he uses the verb derived from the 
 original word in this place ; and in both places he means, not that 
 these persons actually became such, but that they appeared in such 
 fashions, and could not be distinguished from their originals. Hence 
 the fashion of a man only means the true and real appearance of a 
 man. To ascertain what led St. Paul to this expression, and why he 
 might not as well have said, and being man he humbled himself, we 
 must look back to the first rise of the Apostle's argument. The 
 person here spoken of, Jesus Christ, was in the form of God, yet 
 emptied himself not of his being or nature, but of the glory and 
 majesty belonging to him: this point enlarged on, showing that 
 though he continued to be the same, yet, as to his outward dignity 
 and appearance, he was mere man : otherwise, in what tolerable 
 sense could the Apostle say of him, being found in fashion as a man ? 
 for in what other fashion should a man be found ? The reason of 
 this limitation fully explained in his being something more than man. 
 The Apostle perhaps had another view in the expression, and being 
 found in fashion as a man, with respect to what follows, he became 
 obedient unto death. It might well seem strange that any should 
 attempt the life of him, who was himself the Lord of life : who 
 would be bold or vain enough to think of compassing his death ? To 
 which the Apostle gives this previous answer; he was found in 
 fashion as a man, and as such underwent the consequences : this the 
 proper import of the worA found: by whom? by those who sought 
 his life, and called him to the obedience which he readily paid. 
 Allowing the Apostle to have had this view, we must suppose that 
 he thought him more than mortal man, as he is at some pains to 
 assign a reason which could tempt any one to suppose him liable to 
 death. This topic enlarged on. II. From the instances of humility 
 given in the text, it is considered to what sort of person they can be 
 applied as such ; he became obedient unto death, even the death of the 
 cross. All must die, and if to die be humility, all are in this respect 
 equally humble. Why then this distinction of Christ's humility ? 
 why is it humility in him, which in the case of others is necessity ? 
 
15-1 SUMMARIES OF 
 
 This point enlarged on, showing that he was mortal, else he could 
 not have died ; that he was more than mortal, else he could not have 
 avoided death ; in which case, to die had been no humility. 
 St. Paul therefore supposes him to be more than mere man, who 
 willingly laid down his life, which no man could take from him. 
 We may also observe the Apostle's accuracy, who says, that when 
 Christ quitted the glories proper to the form of God, he emptied him- 
 self; for the form of a servant and the likeness of men were incon- 
 sistent with divine glories: had he retained them, he could not have 
 come in such form or likeness : he therefore emptied himself of them. 
 In the second instance, he considers Christ as found in the fashion of 
 a man and humbly submitting to death : now to die, even on the 
 cross, has nothing in it incompatible with the fashion of a man ; 
 therefore, says the Apostle, he humbled himself. This humility 
 therefore bears no relation to the fashion of a man here spoken of, 
 which continued one and the same on the cross as before : it relates 
 to his person and real dignity, and distinguished from the appearance 
 in which he was found : this point enlarged on. But farther, Christ 
 took on him the form of a servant, being made in the likeness of men: 
 it indeed was great humility for him who was in the form of God, to 
 become mere man : but having become so, since death is the natural 
 end of all men, what farther humility is there in that he became 
 obedient unto death ? The reason is, that though he was man, yet as 
 Lord of all things, he could, as he himself has told us, take up his life 
 and lay it down ; hence St. Paul, 1 Cor. ii. 8. says, they killed the 
 Lord of life, or the Prince of life, as expressed in St. Peter's sermon. 
 For him therefore to die was great humility ; to die on the cross was 
 still greater ; submitting himself to the malice of those who lived 
 only by the power of him they were destroying. It was humility 
 therefore to become man ; and when so, it was humility to die. 
 Consider St. Paul in this view, and his discourse is just, the example 
 full; but otherwise we shall hardly find either his argument, or the 
 humility of Christ Jesus. 
 
 PART IV. 
 
 From verses 9-11. of the text enlarged on, we are instructed in 
 the true reason, and the true foundation of the honor, worship, and 
 glory, which the Christian church has ever paid, and still continues 
 to pay to our blessed Lord. It is difficult to conceive how any 
 accession of glory or honor should be made to him, who was, before 
 his coming into the world, in the form of God, and therefore pos- 
 sessing all things. Yet the Apostle's argument supposes such an 
 accession on his exaltation as a reward for his humility and obe- 
 dience. Wherefore God has more highly exalted him, &c. : now, 
 according to the Apostle's reasoning, this glory ought to be more 
 excellent than the first glory ; for if God gave him nothing but what 
 he had a right to, according to the very excellency of his nature, 
 how did he reward his humility ? This point enlarged on. But it 
 
SHERLOCK S DISCOURSES. — L. loo 
 
 may he said, liow con these things be? how can ho, who is the 
 bri(/hfiicss of his Father^ s fflory, the express iindfje of his person, be 
 exalted in glory ? especially considering that Christ, in praying for 
 glory tor himself, prays for no other than that which he had before 
 the world was : John xvii. 5. 1 o set this matter in its true light, 
 we must consider that the glories of nature and the glories of office 
 are different and distinct. The Apostle says nothing of nature or 
 essence : he speaks of the person of Christ, and considers him as the 
 same person, and of the same nature, in all his different states of 
 glory, humility, and exaltation : this point enlarged on. The 
 Apostle then infers, not that the natural powers and dignities of 
 Christ were increased, or capable of being so, but only that in con- 
 sequence of redemption, God made him head over all, and so intitled 
 him to that worship and those honors which were not paid to him 
 before. He was subservient to his Father in the creation of the 
 world : John i. 3. Yet the worship and honor due from the crea- 
 ture to his Creator, always were, and still are paid to the Father; for 
 as the evidence arising from the natural world leads to the acknow- 
 legement of only one great Being, there could be no pretence in 
 setting up another either in opposition to, or conjunction with him, 
 to be an object of worship. But when Christ undertook and re- 
 deemed the world, then it was thought proper to make known his 
 primary glory, that we might know whence to expect salvation, and 
 that the honor and obedience due both to our Maker and to our 
 Redeemer might be consistent. Thus Christ, having redeemed the 
 world, was by the Father made Lord of all things : and thus the 
 Lord of every man is Christ, whose we all are. There is no room to 
 speculate about nature or essence, or to suppose that Christ, before 
 his exaltation, was less honorable, any more than to suppose that 
 God was less honorable before the creation ; because at the creation 
 the sons of God sang together for joy, and paid him new honors and 
 adoration. This difficulty being thus removed, the doctrine of the 
 text is considered in the following method : I. That the power and 
 authority exercised by Christ Jesus, in and over the Church of God, 
 are derived from this exaltation ; and therefore, II. That the honor 
 and worship paid to Christ, in and by the Church of God, are founded 
 in this exaltation : III. That the power and authority exercised by 
 Christ, and the honor and worship paid to him, are, and ought to be, 
 ultimately referred to the glory of God the Father. These proposi- 
 tions are so evident from the words of the text, as to be subject to no 
 doubt in the explication : but it may be of service to show that they 
 are also agreeable to, and confirmed by, the whole tenor of Scripture. 
 With regard to the first proposition ; the first authority produced is 
 that of our Lord himself, who, just before his ascension, and the 
 commission given to his disciples, to teach and baptise in his name, 
 did, as it were, open his own, which was the foundation of theirs : 
 Matth. xxviii. 18-20. These verses commented on, showing that 
 this power is part of the exaltation spoken of in the text ; and that 
 in coiiserjuence of their commission, all acts done by them in his 
 name are founded in the power which he received after his resurrec- 
 
156 SUMMARIES OF 
 
 tion. St. Paul, in Rom. i. 4. says, that Christ was declared to be 
 the Son of God loitk power, &c, God, at Christ's baptism, and at 
 the transfiguration, declared him to be his well-beloved So7i, in whom 
 he was well pleased; but at the resurrection, to be his Son with 
 power. The Apostle's sense is fully expressed, Rom. xiv. 9. : this 
 passage commented on and explained. In the Epistle to the Colos- 
 sians towards the middle of chap. i. St. Paul speaks largely of Jesus 
 Christ, not only distinguishing between the power by which he 
 created all things, and the power by which he governs all things, as 
 head of the Church ; but marking also the different sources and ori- 
 ginals whence these powers proceed. One place more is mentioned, 
 Ephes. i. 17-23., where St. Paul describes the power and authority 
 of Christ, and founds all on his resurrection and consequent exalta- 
 tion. The Scripture abounds with such evidence ; nor is any thing 
 plainer in the gospel than that Christ is our Lord, our King, our 
 Mediator, and Intercessor. The second proposition is a natural 
 consequence of what has been already said. The title w^hich Christ 
 Jesus has to receive honor and worship in the Church, is the reason 
 and foundation on which they are paid him : what his title is has 
 been already shown ; and consequently the foundation of the Church's 
 worship. But that faith may not rest on man's wisdom, hear the 
 evidence of Scripture on this point also. In the Revelation of 
 St. John several hymns of the Church, in honor of God and his 
 Christ, are recorded, than which we cannot find a better copy for 
 our devotions : see chap. iv. 11. Here the adoration paid to God 
 the Father is founded on his being the Creator of all things. In the 
 next chapter, the vi^orship of Christ is founded on this, that he was 
 slain, and that by his blood he redeemed us : the same praises are 
 also sung to him in the l"2th verse : from all which it is evident that 
 the worship of Christ is founded on the redemption, and relates to 
 the power and authority which he received from God at his resurrec- 
 tion. The confession drawn from the text, that God has given Christ 
 a name that is above every name, &c. implies much more than a bare 
 acknowlegement that he is Lord ; it comprehends those honors, and 
 that worship, which those who heartily confess him as Lord, will 
 naturally and readily pay to him. How this confession must 
 be made, and whence it must proceed, St. Paul tells us in Rom. x. 
 8-9 : these verses commented on, showing that the confession of our 
 faith in Christ Jesus is that faith by which we sliall be saved : this 
 point fully enlarged on. But if Christ be not risen from the dead 
 and exalted to glory, then is our preaching vain, and your faith is 
 also vain: but if he be risen, and be exalted to glory, how absurd is 
 it to deny him the honors due to him ! The fear which some have, 
 that by paying their duty to their Redeemer, they rob God of his 
 peculiar honor, and set up an object of worship in opposition to his 
 plain commands, that himself alone is to be worshipped, will vanish, 
 if we consider, lastly, that all powers exercised by Christ, and all 
 honors paid to him, are ultimately referred to God, the Father of our 
 Lord Jesus Christ. The honor and worship paid to the Son must 
 either be part of the service we owe to God, or inconsistent with it : 
 
Sherlock's discourses.— li. 157 
 
 if we have found out uevv objects of adoration, we offend against the 
 law, thou shall loorship the Lord thy God, and him only shah thou 
 serve: but to honor Christ, in virtue of God's command, to honor 
 the Son even as we honor the Father, is part of the service which we 
 owe to God, and arises out of the command itself. Our Saviour has 
 told us, that all power is given unto him ; thereby asserting both his 
 own and his Father's authority : this point enlarged on. He has told 
 us by his Apostle that, at the end of all things, the Son shall resign 
 his power, that God may be all in all; plainly intimating that the 
 power now exercised by him is his Father's, which, as it is at last to 
 be given up to him, so was it at first received from him : hence the 
 honor paid to Christ is referred ultimately to God the Father : this 
 point enlarged on with reference to the difierent offices of Christ. 
 These things clearly show that the gospel has not strained the pre- 
 cepts of natural religion, in teaching us to honor the Son, whom the 
 Father hath made head of all things, even to their consummation. 
 
 DISCOURSE LI. 
 
 TITUS, CHAP. II. VERSE 14. 
 
 Who gave himself for us, tliat he might redeem us from all iniquity, and 
 purify unto himself a peculiar people, zealous of good works. 
 
 The expression here used, Who gave himself for ns, is so familiar 
 to the ears of Christians, and its reference to the death of our Saviour 
 is so well known, that there is no need to illustrate it by parallel 
 passages. The expressions in 1 Tim. ii. 61. and Gal. i. 4. are some- 
 what fuller, but their import is the same. This doctrine of the gospel, 
 viz. man's salvation purchased by Christ's death, is that great mys- 
 tery hid from ages, but now manifested by the preaching of the 
 Apostles and Prophets. Yet, though it be made knoivn and mani- 
 fest to us, that we may not suppose ourselves intitled to call for the 
 reasons on which it is founded, it is necessary to observe that the 
 gospel is a revelation of the will and purpose of God : the reasons of 
 his so acting are not revealed to us, nor have we authority to say 
 they ever will be. Under the law, God's purpose to save mankind 
 is intimated; under the gospel it is proclaimed to all the world; but 
 neither of them instructs us in the reasons of this proceeding : but 
 having life and immortality set before us in God's own way, we are 
 left to embrace them through faith. The gospel then being offered 
 as a matter of faith, confirmed by signs and wonders as security for 
 its promises, he acts without commission, who proposes it as a matter 
 of science and knowlege, and as the result of mere reason, or who 
 pretends to account for the inscrutable methods of God's wisdom. 
 To a person inquiring why God required such a sacrifice for sins, 
 
158 SUMMARIES OF 
 
 when he might have forgiven them, we may answer, God has not 
 admitted us to his secret counsels, or openly declared them. We 
 preach Christ's death, a sacrifice for sin, himself the resurrection and 
 the life, and the judge of the world : if you ask for our evidence, we 
 answer with St. Peter, To him give all the prophets %vitness, &c. 
 (Acts X. 43.), with our Saviour (John x. 2-5.), with St. Paul (Acts 
 xvii. 31.) On this evidence the faith of the gospel stands ; the 
 Christian's hope rests not on curious speculations, but on this, that 
 all the promises of God in Christ are yea, and amen, that is, sure, 
 certain, and irrevocable. 1'he death of Christ, according to the 
 Scripture, was ordained before the foundation of the world ; and 
 since, through faith in his death, God intended to offer salvation to 
 the world, it is reasonable to suppose that the sacrifices before and 
 under the law were introduced in order to prepare and dispose men 
 to receive the tender of God's mercies, in virtue of the one sacrifice 
 to be offered for the sins of the whole world. Sacrifices in the heathen 
 world, though corrupt, and applied to corrupt purposes, yet appear 
 in the religious worship of the best men in the earliest times, and were 
 established in the church of God's own founding among the Israelites. 
 Had they originally been matter of superstition or human invention, 
 though we may suppose God's gracious acceptance of the free-will 
 offering of a weak mind, yet we cannot suppose that he would adopt 
 the superstition, and make it a necessary part of a religion of his own 
 establishment. To avoid this absurdity, it must be said that the use 
 of sacrifices was divinely introduced for the atonement of sins ; if so, 
 they had such virtue as God thought fit to annex to the performance, 
 in consequence of the promise which attended them ; if they came in 
 any other way, we cannot imagine any virtue in them. Now since 
 we are taught that the sacrifice of Christ is the only true expiatory 
 one for the sins of the world, it is manifest that all other sacrifices, 
 accepted by God, owed their efficacy to the relation which they bore 
 to this one sacrifice, and as signs and figures of better things to come. 
 By this reasoning it may be shown that the efficacy of Christ's sacri- 
 fice is not confined to any particular age or time, &c. This sacrifice 
 conveys to us the charter of God's pardon, together with the certain 
 hope of immortal glory : we are no longer our own, that we should 
 obey the lusts of the flesh ; but his, who hath purchased us with his 
 blood, to be heirs with him, &c. These are great hopes, but they 
 rest on a foundation which is agreeable to reason. All religion ulti- 
 mately resolves itself into a trust and faith in God : men are not apt 
 to refer those conclusions which are deducible from natural reason to 
 the head of faith, though sometimes they have no other support. As 
 in the common affairs of life, we trust men from our knowlege of their 
 characters and qualities, so natural religion, reasoning from the cha- 
 racter and attributes of God, doubts not but that he will deal reason- 
 ably with the children of men : and what is this but faith and trust 
 in God ? Beyond this natural religion cannot go, so as to particu- 
 larise and say what God will do in any case : to determine this, we 
 must be wise as God, so as to say what is the best thing for infinite 
 wisdom to do ; for though we may depend on him for future happi- 
 
SHERLOCK'S DISCOURSES. — LI, 159 
 
 ness, if we do well, yet nature presents us with great diflicuUics : this 
 point enlarged on. This faith of natural religion is the basis of gospel 
 faith ; for as reason teaches us to depend on God's wisdom, justice, 
 and goodness, it teaches us also to depend on his veracity ; and there- 
 fore it is as rational an act of faith, to believe that God will save the 
 world according to the method which he has declared, as to rely on 
 his goodness to do the thing, v/ithout being able to assign the metliod 
 in which it shall be done : this point enlarged on. The difference 
 lies not in the nature of faith in one case and in the other, but in the 
 extent of our knowlege in each case. In natural religion, the belief 
 that God will save us, implies that some means will be used for our 
 salvation ; under the gospel these means are ascertained, and there- 
 fore the faith of a Christian embraces the means as well as the end 
 of this hope. In things which are within our power to do, or to 
 conceive, we can judge of the fitness or unfitness of the means made 
 use of to do them ; but in things beyond our power and conceptions, 
 we have not this judgment. This point beautifully illustrated by 
 examples drawn from the animal and vegetable kingdoms. The 
 application of these examples to our resurrection ; in which natural 
 religion throws itself on the unlimited power of God, thereby owning 
 itself no judge of the means for effecting this great work : these the 
 gospel has opened to us : we complain that we see not the natural 
 tendency of them to the end proposed, forgetting that the work itself 
 is mysterious, and therefore that the means must be so too. That 
 the death of Christ should be the life of the world, is a surprising 
 proposition ; but to say that this is not a proper method, without a 
 clear knowlege of the whole dispensation of Providence regarding 
 man, is absurd. The New Testament discovers to us that we are the 
 immediate workmanship of the Son of God, by whom all things lOere 
 made, which were made ; being created by him and for him. How 
 far this relation between Christ and man rendered it proper that his 
 death should be an expiation for the sins of the world, we are not 
 informed ; nor is it expedient for us to be wise above what is written : 
 but something of this sort seems intimated in Scripture : the fall of 
 men was the loss of so many subjects to Christ, their natural Lord 
 under God, in virtue of his having created them : the redeeming of 
 them was the recovering them again, the re-establishing his power 
 over his own works : thus St. Paul describes the work of our redemp- 
 tion. Col. i. 13. ; and in the next verse recites the means used for 
 our deliverance. In confirmation of this doctrine, he subjoins the 
 relation in which Christ stands towards us as our Maker, verses 15-17. 
 and the new relation acquired in virtue of his redemption, verse 1». 
 As we owed to him our first life, so also we owe to him our second. 
 The reason of this dispensation of Providence in the redemption of 
 the gospel is related verses 19-20. The scheme of thought which 
 runs through this passage of Scripture, seems to be this : that as 
 Christ was head of the creation, and made all things, so at the 
 redemption from sin he was made head of this new work also, the 
 giver of life to every believer : for this purpose he made peace by 
 the blood of his cross, and reconciled all things to God, that he 
 
ICO SUMMARIES OF 
 
 might have the pre-eminence. This the Apostle teaches us, and also 
 that the pre-eminence of Christ as head of the church is connected 
 with and related to his pre-eminence as head of the creation. We 
 have therefore reason to believe that the whole transaction of our 
 redemption through Christ, his incarnation, his life on earth, his 
 death on the cross, the sacrifice he oftered for sin, and his glorious 
 resurrection, are founded in the most absolute propriety, and the 
 result of infinite wisdom, choosing the fittest means for the end de- 
 sired. This then is our hope and confidence ; that Christ gave him- 
 self for us. Let this hope live with us here, that we may live by it 
 for ever. 
 
 DISCOURSE LIl. 
 
 1 TIMOTHY, CHAP. I. VERSE 15. 
 
 This is a faithful saying, and worthy of all acceptation, that Christ Jesus 
 came into the world to save sinners. 
 
 These words contain the great charter of the Christian church, 
 and are the title by wich we claim all the promises of the gospel : if 
 it be asked on what pretence the peace of God is proclaimed to men, 
 and on what confidence pardon is offered to sinners, it is answered in 
 the latter clause of the text ; and that in his name is preached salva- 
 tion, peace, and pardon to offenders. This doctrine, with the prin- 
 ciples on which it is founded, and its natural consequences, distin- 
 guishes the Christian religion from all others. On this text are built 
 the believer's hopes, and the advantages and favors which we claim 
 beyond the terms of justice and natural religion. Whoever therefore 
 rejects this article, does indeed reject the Christian religion, though 
 not all the religion contained in the gospel, the moral duties of which 
 are those of natural religion carried to perfection : and the man who 
 receives not Christ for his Redeemer, may yet receive these, as being 
 agreeable to his own reason and understanding. The difference 
 between a true Deist and the Christian arises from the doctrine in the 
 text. They both admit the being and providence of God, as well as 
 the obligations of morality, and therefore the necessity of a virtuous 
 life. Thus far the Deist cannot doubt, as his sole hope rests in his 
 obedience to his equitable judge. Should the Christian build so far 
 on other hopes, neglecting the weighty matters of the law, he 
 deceives himself, and abuses the gospel of his Saviour. But the 
 Deist reckons all men, from the very nature of their creation, capable 
 of fulfilling the end designed for them by God ; and as he owns the 
 duty of obeying God, he therefore claims his protection. The 
 Christian knows that man has fallen from his primary state of 
 innocence, and having no claim on God by his obedience, stands in 
 
Sherlock's discourses. — lii. Ifil 
 
 need of pardon, as well as grace and assistance to perform the condi- 
 tions on which pardon is offered : he believes that ])ardon and recon- 
 ciliation has been granted to man through the sufferings of the Son 
 of God ; and that grace will be granted. All these points are briefly 
 comprehended in the text. To illustrate and confirm this proposition, 
 it is shown, I. What reason we have to believe that men were 
 sinners, and stood in need of pardon and salvation : II. By what 
 means Christ perfected their redemption and salvation. — I. It is a 
 saying of St. Austin's, if man had not fallen, Christ had not come: 
 our Lord speaks to the same sense, when he tells us, the Son of Man 
 is come to seek and to save that ivhieh tvas lost ; and again, when he 
 answered those who reproached him for conversing with publicans 
 and sinners, they that are whole need not a physician, but they that 
 are sick. Had man continued innocent, natural religion would have 
 answered all the ends of his creation ; he would have wanted no 
 Kedeemer; for after the works of the creation were finished, God 
 saio every thing that he had made ; and behold it was very good : in 
 this state therefore no reconciler between God and man was wanted. 
 That actions shall be rewarded or punished, natural sense and reason 
 have always taught the considering part of mankind. The voice of 
 reason and of the law is, this do and thou shalt live: for though man 
 is altered, yet the nature of things is the same; so that the abstract 
 consideration of virtue and vice properly infers the reward of the one 
 and the punishment of the other ; it is no wonder then that they 
 who argue on such general views only should imagine that moral 
 virtue may still exalt a man to the highest degree of happiness. In 
 the question concerning the merit of good works, there has been 
 much confusion, for want of distinguishing between good works, con- 
 sidered simply and in their own nature, and as performed by the sons 
 of men : the first is, whether virtue in its own nature is intitled to 
 reward. Now as sure as God is just, and that good differs from 
 evil, God will and must reward the one and punish the other. But 
 the question, whether the good works of men deserve reward, alters 
 the state of the case ; since the nature of good works and of man 
 also must be considered ; for in his case you ask whether the man 
 condemned for his evil works may be rewarded for his good works : 
 this point exemplified in the case of a murderer, who has long after 
 his crime led an irreproachable life. Though this instance is not 
 absolutely parallel to our case, yet it shows that virtue and morality, 
 naturally considered, may deserve reward, while the virtue and 
 morality of man may not: and this is the parting point between the 
 patrons of natural and of revealed religion ; the not considering which 
 has made some think, that whilst we defend the authority of revela- 
 tion, we give up the principles of reason and nature. But, say they, 
 does not vice essentially differ from virtue ? True, it does. Is not 
 justice the attribute of God, who must therefore reward virtue and 
 punish vice ? True, still. Is not this then a sufficient foundation for 
 religion, without recurring to grace and faith, or miracles, or myste- 
 ries ? True, it is ; where native innocence is preserved, where religion 
 is res integra : but with respect to those who have already offended, 
 
 PART u. L 
 
162 SUMMARIES OF 
 
 reason and nature declare vice must be punished : and if so, what 
 must sinners expect ? Whether such conditions should endear natural 
 religion to sinners, let common sense judge. AVere Christianity to 
 be preached to a new race of men without stain of guilt, these 
 doctrines would not apply to them : this point enlarged on. Should 
 this race however fall from innocence, and be liable to the punish- 
 ments of vice, then the application holds good : this point also 
 enlarged on. Some contend that God from his mercy and goodness 
 will forgive sinners : but if the justice of God must reward virtue 
 and punish vice, and yet his mercy must forgive sinners, then natural 
 religion contradicts itself, in aflSrming that sin necessarily must and 
 must not be punished : if it be said, it is probable God, pitying our 
 weakness, will be lenient with us, so say we too ; but probability 
 infers not necessity ; therefore it must depend on his will whether he 
 will do it or no : all hopes therefore must be resolved into the 
 evidence of free grace, which is no other than revelation. Would 
 youthen disprove revelation, and discard the religion of Christ? 
 You must prove mankind to be in a state of innocence and purity ; 
 and then it will be senseless to talk of redemption : for what should 
 innocence be redeemed from ? This point enlarged on. But whilst 
 you endeavor to prove this, try at least to be an instance of it your- 
 self : this point also enlarged on. Innocence may challenge justice; 
 but sin can only sue for pardon : justice you may have from nature, 
 but pardon you must receive from grace and favor. I'he apophthegm 
 of one of the wise men, learn to know yourself, is the first requisite 
 in the choice of religion : this point exemplified in the case of a con- 
 demned malefactor, who must not sue to his prince in the same terms 
 as a faithful and deserving subject may. Consider then with your- 
 self; can you stand a trial with God? if so, justice will do you 
 right ; but if conscience cries out to you, let us not enter into judg- 
 ment with God, for in his sight shall no man living be justified, then 
 seek, if happily you may find, his mercy.. The Christian religion is 
 throughout adapted to the present nature and circumstances of man- 
 kind ; nor can one see the reasonableness and beauty of the gospel, 
 without considering the quality and condition of those for whose use 
 it is designed : hence one great reason why the gospel has been so 
 much undervalued in comparison with natural religion, that its end 
 has been misunderstood. II. It is considered by what means Christ 
 has wrought our redemption. That God is of purer eyes than to 
 behold iniquity, that is, without being oft'ended at it, is a truth as 
 discernible by the principles of reason as by the authority of revela- 
 tion. The world then being in a state of corruption, men were 
 manifestly become the children of ivrath. To redeem it therefore, it 
 was necessary that God should be reconciled to sinners, and should 
 pardon the offences which could not be recalled, or through infir- 
 mity could not be avoided ; to consider redemption otherwise, would 
 be an attempt to rescue sinners from God's anger, whether he would 
 or no. Look now into the gospel, and you will find that the only- 
 begotten Son of God took our nature on him, and by a perfect 
 obedience to his Father, and a voluntary death on the cross, com- 
 
Sherlock's discourses. — liii. 1G3 
 
 pleted this reconciliation, and obtained our pardon, in which pro- 
 perly consists the work of redemption. But to redeem men from 
 God's displeasure, only that they might draw it on themselves afresh 
 everyday, would have been useless and unworthy of the Redeemer. 
 To secure therefore the benefits of redemption to men, it was neces- 
 sary for him to render them such as God might be pleased with ; 
 which he did by the powerful methods prescribed in the gospel for 
 rectifying their depraved wills; and to render this etiectual, he pro- 
 mised and bestowed on them the aid of his Holy Spirit, by which 
 they might lay hold of eternal life. This is a short account of what 
 Christ has done to save sinners; and in this what has any man to 
 complain of? You have no reason to complain, you say : you are 
 willing to be pardoned, but you cannot see how the death of Christ 
 can reconcile God to sinners. But do you consider that you are the 
 sinner, the person to be pardoned? Is it your's, or your oft'ended 
 Master's business, to judge of the proper means of reconciliation? 
 Surely it is his: why then debate a point in which you have no 
 farther interest than to accept the blessing granted on any motives? 
 If we cannot fully comprehend the reason of these means, there is 
 but one just consequence, viz. that the counsels of God are unfathom- 
 able by human reason : nor can this be any surprise to a considering 
 man, who daily sees the same truth confirmed : this point enlarged 
 on. Leaving then these curious inquiries, let us be content that God 
 should be wiser than man ; considering that, although he has con- 
 cealed from us the secrets of his wisdom, he has manifested his love 
 towards us, and that his mercy shines forth unclouded in every page 
 of the gospel. These advantages so correspond to the sentiments of 
 nature within us, that it is strange to find the pretensions of 
 nature opposed to the Christian revelation : this point enlarged on to 
 the end. 
 
 DISCOURSE Llir. 
 
 I THESSALONIANS, CHAP. I. VERSES 9. 10. 
 
 For they themselves show of us what manner of entering in we had unfo 
 you, and how ye lurned to God from idols, to serve the living and true 
 God ; and to wait for his Son from heaven, wlioni he raised from tlie 
 dead, even Jesus, which delivered us from the wrath to come. 
 
 In the verse before the text, the Apostle tells the Thessalonians 
 that not only the word of the Lord had sounded out from them in 
 Macedonia and Achaia, but their faith towards God was spread 
 abroad in every place ; so that there is no need, says he, to speak of 
 the doctrines delivered by me, and received by you : the thing is 
 well known, /or they themselves shoio of us, &c. Hence it is evident 
 
161 SUMMARIES OF 
 
 what notion was entertained by the world of the Christian religion 
 and its principal doctrines. The Apostle's business was well known 
 to be, to turn men from idols to serve the living God, to give evi- 
 dence of Christ's resurrection, and to raise certain expectations of 
 his coming again with power and glory to judge the world : this com- 
 mon report was so just an account of the Apostle's doctrine, that 
 there was no room left to enlarge or correct it : in every place your 
 faith to God-ward is spread abroad; so that we need not to speak 
 any thing. Considering then this early account of the Christian 
 religion, we find it to consist of two principal parts; the first relating 
 to the service owing to the living God ; the second, to our faith in 
 Christ, and to our hope and expectation grounded on that faith. 
 Religion, under the first head, must be natural religion, or true 
 uncorrupted Deism : this was the original religion of mankind, of 
 which, through abuse and corruption, hardly any sign was left at our 
 Saviour's coming. However rightly some iew might think, yet they 
 were obliged to follow the world : few attempted, none succeeded in 
 a reformation of the public religion ; nor is there an instance of any 
 people who served God on the principles of natural religion : this 
 reformation was efTected only by the preaching of the gospel, which 
 revived the true ancient religion of nature, and prepared men for its 
 reception; and has, by the additional supports of revelation, main- 
 tained it for ages, and will probably maintain it to the end of all 
 things. These additional supports make the second great branch of 
 Christian doctrine : they are revived on the authority of revelation, 
 and stand on the evidence of external proofs : that we ought to turn 
 from idols, and serve God, &c. are truths which any reasonable being- 
 may feel ; but that we have been delivered from wrath by the Son of 
 God, who is appointed to be judge of the dead and of the living, 
 &c. ; these are articles which no man's reason can suggest, and 
 which, when suggested, reason cannot receive on any internal evi- 
 dence, but on authority founded on external testimony. This dis- 
 tinction, constantly attended to, will go far to show us the true 
 temper, genius, and ends of Christianity. The gospel, considered in 
 its precepts and morality, and with respect to its new doctrines or 
 articles of belief, supports and encourages true religion. This might 
 be shown in the several particulars of the gospel dispensation : con- 
 lined here to those specified in the text. The sense of the expression, 
 to tcait for the Son of God from heaven, is completely expressed in 
 Phil, iii, 17. 20. 21. The expectation of Christ coming to judge the 
 world is peculiar to Christians, and is supported by the belief of the 
 resurrection, that main point of faith which the Apostles were to 
 teach and establish in the church of God ; whence arose the qualifi- 
 cation necessary for an Apostle, viz. the capability of bearing 
 witness to the resurrection : (Acts i. 21. 22.) And St. Peter, in the 
 next chapter, vindicating to the Jews the miraculous gift of tongues 
 bestowed on the day of Pentecost, renders a similar account of the 
 work and ministry of the Apostleship. Several other passages of a 
 like tendency quoted : from which, taken together, it plainly appears 
 how much the Christian religion, considered as a distinct system from 
 
Sherlock's discourses. — liii. 1G5 
 
 natural religion, depends on the belief of the resurrection of Christ. 
 The Apostles were ordained to be witnesses of this article ; and on 
 this they founded their doctrine, whether they preached to the Jews 
 or to the Gentiles. When St. Paul preached this same doctrine at 
 Athens, he was thought to be an introducer of some new deities, 
 (Acts xvii. 18.) This doctrine of a resurrection he afterwards fully 
 expounded to them, together with its consequents, (30. 31.) This 
 new article was introduced to be a new evidence of a future state of 
 rewards and punishments, and to support the sinner's hopes of pardon 
 through the promises of Christ. AVe see then its use : let us consider 
 now whether we are beholden to the gospel, and how much, for this 
 now evidence of a life to come ; what is in it, or the doctrines 
 grounded on it, that any sober Deist or professor of natural religion 
 can justly blame. Natural religion pretends to support itself on the 
 expectation of future rewards and punishments : it considers God as 
 Governor and Judge of the world. Christianity stands on the same 
 foundation, and admits for genuine all these hopes and fears of 
 nature. Thus far then they differ not : the question is, which brings 
 the best proof, and most fitted to persuade the world of these great 
 truths? This point enlarged on ; showing that the one appeals to 
 conscience, and that the other embraces all this evidence, together with 
 the suggestions of reason, and the express testimony and assurance 
 of God given to mankind. But what need of this new evidence? 
 If the arguments from natural religion were sufficient to support the 
 belief and expectation of a future judgment, why call men from a 
 dependence on their reason, to rely on the evidence of men for the 
 truth of a fact in its nature hard to be believed? one in which we 
 might have doubted even our own senses, much more those of others ? 
 Whoever, in answer to this difficulty, endeavors to weaken the 
 natural arguments for a future state, is very ill employed : they are 
 in themselves convincing ; but they require more thought than the 
 generality of men can bestow on them : whether this be so or no, the 
 evidence of history must determine : under the light we now enjoy, 
 we are ill judges how far men could go, aided only by the mere 
 strength of reason. A right notion of God is the foundation of all 
 true religion ; for which notion each thanks his own reason : and if 
 so, the world has mightily improved in reason during these last ages ; 
 since it was not so until the publication of the gospel made reason 
 see and approve the truths which were before in a great measure hid 
 from her eyes. The case is the same with respect to the natural 
 arguments for a future state : this point enlarged on. To remedy 
 this evil, God has proposed a new evidence, the resurrection of his 
 Son, shown before chosen witnesses, who were sent into the world to 
 publish it as an evidence of a future general resurrection of men, and 
 to seal the truth of the doctrine with their blood. Such evidence 
 requires no abstract reasoning, no refinements, to show its force : this 
 point enlarged on. Those who pretend to be real Deists, cannot be 
 oftended by this evidence, as the main thing we prove by it they 
 acknowlege to be true, viz. that God will judge the world. If then 
 the Christian religion has no private design to serve by this evidence, 
 
IGG SUMMARIES OF 
 
 but produces it to confirm that natural sense which all true religion 
 admits, why should it be suspected of deceit ? Besides, the belief of 
 a future state, supported by the evidence of Christ's resurrection, is 
 applied only to those purposes which a wise and good man would 
 desire. The gospel labors to assure us of the certainty of our resur- 
 rection to eternal life, and in addition to the common evidence of 
 reason, has given us a new proof from the very hand and immediate 
 power of God ; for the establishing of which proof it shows such con- 
 cern, that we may be sure it was provided to forward the design of 
 the gospel ; so that if there be any deceit in the gospel, it must lean 
 on this article for its support : this point enlarged on ; showing that 
 the gospel requires nothing but what reason and natural religion 
 require also. One thing in the Scripture account of a future state is 
 new, the designation of the man Christ Jesus as Judge of the quick 
 and dead : this is however liable to no objections on the part of 
 natural religion, which requires not that God should do every thing 
 immediately by himself; nor is it any impeachment of his authority : 
 the Son acts by the Father's commission, who hath given all judg- 
 ment to him : it makes no change in the nature of the judgment : we 
 shall answer for nothing to Christ but what reason tells us we are 
 accountable for. There is this difterence between the Deist and the 
 Christian believer : the latter has not only the same hopes of 
 futurity, and in the same degree, which reason and reflection can 
 furnish; but he has also the express promise and testimony of God, 
 confirmed by his Son's resurrection. Suppose him mistaken, he 
 stands on the same ground the other does : suppose his faith well 
 established, he can give a better account of his hope. Thus the 
 gospel has supplied the defect of natural religion on this momentous 
 point : to the wisdom of this provision experience can bear witness : 
 this point enlarged on. The resurrection indeed was a stupendous 
 work ; but the hand that performed it was greater. He who believes 
 that God created men, cannot doubt his power to raise them from the 
 grave. But allowing God to be omnipotent, still you say the resur- 
 rection, as a fact, requires proof; and proved it is by the concurrent 
 testimony of eye-witnesses, who have given not only their words, but 
 their lives in its confirmation : surely they were in earnest, when 
 they embraced and taught the doctrine on such hard terms ; nor can 
 any serious person disbelieve them. Did this article alter our notions 
 of God or religion, and lay any new burden on us, then men might 
 be careful how they admitted it: but as this is not the case, as it pre- 
 tends only to establish and confirm the hopes of nature, why such 
 scruples ? Admit it ; our hopes are much improved ; our duty nothing 
 increased : reject it, our duty is the same, and our hopes much less. 
 How kind a provision then has the gospel made for our weakness ! 
 and how powerfully has it supported the interest of true religion, by 
 furnishing us with so plain and yet so strong a proef of a future state, 
 and of a judgment to be executed in righteousness ! 
 
Sherlock's discourses. — liv. 167 
 
 DISCOURSE LIV^ 
 
 PROVERBS, CHAP. IX. VERSE 10. 
 
 The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom ; and the knowlege of 
 the Holy is understanding. 
 
 The advantages which we may expect to reap from religion are 
 many and great, but not all equally certain : sonje are exposed to the 
 chances of human life, and depend on circumstances over which we 
 have no control : hence it is that the best men sometimes have the 
 severest trials and sharpest atflictions. But there are two things 
 which sincere religion is sure to obtain, one of which is the founda- 
 tion of all happiness here ; the other is the happiness and immortality 
 hereafter : this blessing we can only enjoy now through faith and 
 hope ; the other is a necessary attendant on a mind truly good and 
 religious, viz. the peace and tranquillity of mind which flow not so 
 much from an exact discharge of our duties, but from a due sense of 
 God and religion, and an upright desire of serving him. Properly 
 speaking, this is not a reward given to the virtuous; but it arises 
 from the very nature of things, from the frame and contexture of our 
 souls; it is virtue's own natural offspring, which can never forsake 
 her. Since nature then has given us notice of the being of the Al- 
 mighty, and shown us, from our relation to him, the service which 
 we owe him, this sense, properly pursued in an honest discharge of 
 our duty, must breed in our minds true peace and comfort ; and 
 therefore true religion must be the source even of our temporal hap- 
 piness. Yet the face of things in the world has a different appear- 
 ance : religion is fearful, suspicious, dissatisfied with itself, always 
 seeking, but seldom finding where to rest: hence the misconceptions 
 of men concerning religion itself, who think it better to give it up 
 intirely, than perpetually to fluctuate in doubt : and thus superstition, 
 by making many miserable in the pursuit of religion, makes others, to 
 avoid that gulf, throw themselves into the deeper one of atheism and 
 irreligion : thus true religion is lost, and its companion, peace of 
 mind : for view God from either extreme, and you see him in terrors ; 
 you behold not the kinder rays of his mercy : the cases of these two 
 extremes enlarged on. It is therefore worth while to search into the 
 causes of this unhappiness, whence arises the corruption of this living 
 spring. The text, rightly understood, not only ati'ords occasion for 
 this inquiry, but directs us in it; for by showing us the principles of 
 true religion, it helps us to discover the errors which produce irreli- 
 gion and superstition. Two things proposed: I. To show that the 
 text and other like passages of holy Scripture will be found on exa- 
 mination to set forth that a just conception of God, his excellencies 
 and perfections, is the true foundation of religion : II. That this just 
 conception of God is the right rule to form our judgments by in all 
 particular matters of religion, and alone can secure us from either 
 atheism or superstition. — T. The fear of the Lord is the bee/inning of 
 
1G8 SUMMARIES OF 
 
 wisdom. Some might think it sufficient to observe that fear, what- 
 ever limited or enlarged notion of it we may have, is not a voluntary 
 passion, but necessarily relates to and arises from the notion or con- 
 ception we have of the thing feared ; and that there is the same 
 distinction between the dift'erent kinds of fear : these points enlarged 
 on, and the sources of a base and slavish fear, and of a filial fear and 
 veneration shown : hence we cannot understand the sense of the pro- 
 position, without a notion of the thing feared : thus the fear of a 
 tyrant and that of a father are different ; but without knowing the 
 difference between a tyrant and a father, we shall not be able to 
 distinguish these passions. The same rule is applicable to the ex- 
 pression in the text. Allowing thisyear of the Lord to mean a right 
 and due fear, the wise king presupposes a proper conception of the 
 Lord, whence only that fear can flow, which is the mother of wisdom 
 and understanding ; for misconceptions concerning God and his attri- 
 butes will not produce wisdom, as is manifested in the follies of the 
 heathen world. The proposition therefore amounts to this ; a just 
 notion and conception of God is the beginning of tvisdom. This 
 exposition being deduced from the order and nature of things, let us 
 try the other method, which is more familiar, and see if any exposi- 
 tion will not lead to the same thing. Now we are to consider what 
 is meant by the ^ectr of the Lord: the reason of which inquiry arises 
 from our experiencing in ourselves different kinds and degrees of fear, 
 which have different effects and operations. Of what sort then is the 
 fear of the Lord ? That it is not an abject slavish fear all expositors 
 agree in, because God is no tyrant; which every man of sense will 
 admit as a good reason : and this is but adjusting the sense of fear 
 from the true notion and conception of God. Scripture mentions 
 various properties of religious fear : the fear of the Lord is clear, 
 says the Psalmist : other passages cited, all which being tried in the 
 same way, are deducible only from the notion and conception of God, 
 and are unintelligible without it. The fear of God therefore is not 
 to be expounded from the nature of fear, considered as a distinct 
 passion of the mind, but by considering the natural effect that a just 
 notion of God has on a rational mind ; for it means that frame and 
 affection of soul which arises from such a notion : it is so called, 
 because as majesty and power are the principal ingredients in the 
 idea of God, so are fear and reverence in the affection that arises 
 from it ; not but that love, honor, and admiration, are included in 
 the notion. And doubtless in this latitude the wise king said, iti the 
 fear of the Lord is strong confidence. The only appearance of a 
 difficulty in this way of arguing is this : if the fear of God be such as 
 has been stated, none should be void of it but those who want right 
 notions of God ; and yet we know it is not so with some sinners 
 against knowlege. By two ways men may discover whether they 
 have a sense of the fear of God ; one by acting agreeably to it, the 
 other by conscience. Self-condemnation, for acting contrary to the 
 fear of God, is an evident token of it. But if neither of these signs 
 be discoverable, there is a farther account to be given ; for it is not 
 merely the speculative notions of God which produce this sense, but 
 
Sherlock's discourses. — i.iv. 109 
 
 a persuasion that there is a real Being, to whom these ideas actually 
 belong ; else the notion is idle and fruitless : this point enlarged on. 
 And though there be not many atheists in the world, yet in many 
 hearts there is a secret lurking infidelity, or rather the want of a due 
 assurance in the reality of things invisible, which makes religion life- 
 less and inactive. In this case a just conception of God is wanting, 
 and therefore a due sense of his fear. Having thus considered the 
 true meaning of the fear of God, we are now to consider, II. what 
 is affirmed of it, as the right rule to form our judgments by in matters 
 of religion. It is the beginning of icisdom ; taking wisdom here to 
 mean true religion, as it often does in Scripture. By this expression 
 we are not to understand merely that the notion of God is, in point 
 of time, or order of nature, prior to religion ; which, though true, is 
 not the whole of what is taught concerning the fear of God. All 
 religion relates to God ; therefore without the notion of a Deity 
 there can be no religion : but there is religion which is folly and 
 superstition ; if therefore the fear of God only shows the neces- 
 sity of religion, and then leaves us to chance in the variety of its 
 forms, we may learn folly as well as wisdom through it. But the 
 fear of God also teaches us wherein true religion, which is indeed 
 wisdom, consists ; and enables us to judge if our offering be fit for 
 God. In natural religion this is clearly the case ; because in that 
 state there is no pretence to any other rule that can come into com- 
 petition with this : it is from the notion of a God that men come to 
 have any sense of religion, and it is by the same principle only that 
 they determine this to be a proper part of religion, that to be other- 
 wise. When we consider God as governor of the world, we soon see 
 that subjection to him becomes our interest and duty : but what is 
 this obedience, and in what acts does it consist? For this we must 
 recur to our natural notion of God : this point enlarged on. The 
 attributes of God considered, and the consequent duties which they 
 oblige us to perform : though some may be moral duties, as mutual 
 love and benevolence, arising from the relation of man to man on 
 mere principles of reason, yet this becomes part of religion from the 
 above-mentioned consideration of God's nature. Take from the 
 notion of God any of his moral perfections, and religion will dege- 
 nerate in proportion. Hence to the superstitious man religion be- 
 comes a torment, and he thinks that the worse he uses himself, the 
 more he shall please God. There are other kinds of superstition, 
 which, though they have less of torment and anguish, have not more 
 of reason or religion ; such are they which have turned religion into 
 a trade, and found something to offer unto God in exchange for virtue 
 and holiness : here the spring is corrupt, and the notion of God lost 
 or not attended to : this point enlarged on. It is plain then, both 
 from reason and fact, that a just conception and sense of God is the 
 beginning of wisdom, the fountain of true religion. God is a Spirit, 
 says our Lord, aiid they that icorship him must ivorship him in spirit 
 and in truth. Here we are referred to the same principle, and by 
 the best authority. This, it may perhaps be said, may be true on the 
 foot of natural religion, where natural notions alone direct us : but 
 what is it to us, who are instructed by the surer word of prophecy ? 
 
170 SUMMARIES OF 
 
 To this it may be answered, revelation is founded on natural religion, 
 and therefore cannot supersede it without destroying itself. The 
 knowlege of God is in the nature of things antecedent to revelation ; 
 for why should we attend to the voice of God, till we know who he 
 is ? Hence nothing contrary to this notion of God can be admitted 
 for revelation any more than for natural religion. There is indeed a 
 difference, from inattention to which some have fancied natural reli- 
 gion opposed to revelation, though it is not so : the difference is this : 
 in natural religion nothing can be admitted which is not deducible 
 from our natural notions ; for every thing must be admitted for some 
 reason ; and in natural religion no reason can take place, except this 
 agreeableness of the thing to our natural sense : but revelation intro- 
 duces a new reason, the will of God, which must have the authority 
 of a law with us : this point enlarged on. Hence it is not necessary 
 that all parts of a revelation should be such as may be proved by 
 natural reason, provided they do not contradict it; as the will of God is 
 sufficient reason for our submission. But the essentials of religion, even 
 under revelation, must be judged by the same principle. No revelation 
 can dispense with virtue and holiness ; for it may as reasonably dis- 
 pense with our belief in the being of a God, as that he can or would 
 vacate the obligations to virtue and holiness ; hence all sucii doctrines, 
 rites, and ceremonies, as tend to subvert true goodness and holiness, 
 are clearly not of God's teaching or introducing. The surest way to 
 keep ourselves steadfast in the purity of the gospel, is to fix our eye 
 constantly on this rule : enthusiasm or destructive zeal could not 
 have grown out of the gospel, had men done so; nor could religion 
 have degenerated into folly and superstition : these points enlarged 
 on. Some persons, finding so much folly, superstition, and uncer- 
 tainty in religion, have rejected it altogether; which could not have 
 happened, had they attended to the true notion of God, and not to 
 the extravagances of men, which affect not our duty. Are we ab- 
 solved from our religion because others have corrupted theirs? Jf 
 the people are deceived, and the priests ignorant or superstitious, that 
 does not destroy the relation between us and God, or make it reason- 
 able for us to throw off our obedience. The fear of God teaches us 
 a very different sort of wisdom. 
 
 DISCOURSE LV. 
 
 LUKE, CHAP. X. VERSE 29. 
 
 But he, willing lo justify himself, said unto Jesus, And who is my 
 
 neiglibor .' 
 
 PART I. 
 
 The precepts of tiie law and of the gospel being conceived in 
 general terms, and familiarly expressed, men of speculative minds 
 
Sherlock's discouuses. — lv. 171 
 
 have so restricted the application of this general rule, that the duty 
 has often been lost in the explication, and the precept so pared and 
 cut, that it is no longer serviceable to common life. The law of 
 God, to love our ne'ujhhor as ourselves, can be better interpreted by 
 our hearts than our heads; as we cannot help feeling the sense of our 
 duty as long as we attend to the inward motions of nature : our own 
 wants and infirmities will show us the matter and extent of our 
 obedience : but when men come to limit the exact bounds of love, it 
 generally happens that very little love remains to be disposed of 
 among their neighbors, and very few to share what they have. This 
 exemplified in the case of a covetous man making excuses why he 
 should not bestow his charity on some poor wretch; and so every 
 instance of our duty has its subterfuges : as long as men find comfort 
 in excuses, invention will furnish them. It may seem strange that 
 the laws of God should be liable to this usage ; since being the tran- 
 script of perfect knowlege, and the work of him who knows and 
 foresees the secrets of all hearts, we might have expected to find them 
 so fenced about, and so express in all cases, that the meaning of the 
 precept could not be questioned, or iniquity covered by excuses 
 drawn from the interpretation of Scripture : but there are good 
 reasons for this. Were the Scripture to consider all cases, and limit 
 our duties in all possible circumstances, the world itself could hardly 
 contain the things that should be written : such a law would be use- 
 less, and men might grow old in sin before they could learn their 
 duty. Besides, God gave every man a law to direct him, when he 
 made him a reasonable creature ; and therefore he expects obedience 
 to it. The gospel was given not to exclude, but to assist the exercise 
 of reason ; and therefore a law so circumstantial would preclude men 
 from those nobler instances of duty which flow from a right use of 
 their minds, and are the proper sacrifice of a rational soul to God. 
 'J'he uprightness of a man, and the integrity of his mind, are as dis- 
 cernible in his application of the rules of the gospel, as by any 
 outward acts whatever. He who from his own reason nobly inter- 
 prets the word neighbor in the gospel to be all the sons of men, is so 
 much a better Christian than the man who confines the law to towns- 
 men or countrymen, as his neighborhood is more universal. Besides 
 a law so particular would not correct the evil complained of: the 
 perverseness of the will, not the weakness of the understanding, 
 teaches the evasions of the law : were it more explicit, men would 
 take more pains to evade it; for the plainness of the law will but 
 little correct the malignity of the will, which alone needs improve- 
 ment : this point enlarged on. Since therefore it is impracticable to 
 give rules for all cases, and to adjust the general laws of virtue and 
 obedience to the various circumstances of human life, without 
 destroying the end of all laws which are intended for rules ; but 
 which, by taking in all particular cases, would grow too voluminous 
 for use; — since reason and judgment would be of no use in virtue 
 and obedience, if men in all cases were limited by particular clauses 
 and provisions; — since likewise the end to be gained by such nume- 
 rous and particular laws would not be attained, but men would still 
 
172 SUMMARIES OF 
 
 find room to cavil at their duty, and pretences to evade it; — it 
 appears that the gospel is not to be charged with the doubts and dis- 
 putes that often arise on its laws and precepts, itself being perfect as 
 a law for the government and instruction of rational creatures; but 
 we must seek elsewhere the cause of men differing so widely on the 
 plainest points of duty, A careful attention to the text will show 
 this ; and the parable which our Saviour put forth, instead of an 
 answer to the lawyer's question, will point out the remedy. Inter- 
 preters differ about the meaning of the words, hut he, ivilling to 
 justify himself, said; as it does not appear why he needed any justi- 
 fication for himself: no one had charged him with any neglect or 
 contempt of the law. Nay, our Lord had commended his wise 
 answer, And he said unto him. Thou hast ansivered right ; This do, 
 and thou shalt live. Then follows our text. Nor does it appear 
 how any justification of himself could arise out of this question, or 
 the answer that might be given to it : what fault did he mean to 
 excuse by asking, %vho is my neighbor? How did his virtue or inno- 
 cence depend on the answer that might be given him ? These diffi- 
 culties have led interpreters into difterent sentiments ; these being 
 omitted, the most easy and natural exposition of the passage is pro- 
 posed. This lawyer came to our Lord, and tempting him said, what 
 shall 1 do to inherit eternal life? Our Lord answered, what readest 
 thou ? He said, that in the law he found he was to love the Lord his 
 God ivith all his might, and his neighbor as himself : our Saviour 
 says unto him, thou hast answered right, and adds, this do, that is, 
 practise the law as well as thou seemest to understand it, and thou 
 shalt live. But in the practice, the lawyer knew how this precept 
 had been loaded with exceptions and limitations by the Jewish doc- 
 tors ; and that he esteemed him only as his neighbor, who was of the 
 same blood and religion with himself; he therefore hated many who 
 were actually his neighbors, as the Samaritans for instance. Since 
 then he heard that life eternal depended on his obedience to the law, 
 and the propriety of his obedience rested on the Jewish interpretation 
 of it ; in order to his ow^n justification he very properly asks our Lord, 
 and tvho is my neighbor ? for by the answer to this question he would 
 be found to have fulfilled or transgressed the commandment. Had 
 our Lord determined in favor of the Jewish interpretation, the lawyer 
 had been justified in his practice ; and his obedience, as well as his 
 previous prudent answer, would have deserved praise : but being 
 forced to own that the Samaritan was his neighbor, he stood con- 
 demned by his own sentence, and by his approbation of the Samari- 
 tan's example ; and he was sent away with this short but full report 
 and admonition ; go, and do thou likeivise. The words, thus ex- 
 pounded, show us on what motives men act, and what it is which 
 prejudices their minds in interpreting God's law : they are willing to 
 jtistify themselves, and therefore use all their force and skill to make 
 the command countenance their practice, and to speak only consist- 
 ently with their inclinations. When we do what is commanded, and 
 forbear from what is forbidden, then is our obedience perfect : this 
 plain description of obedience cannot be disputed. He that loves 
 
Sherlock's discourses. — lv. 173 
 
 not his duty, is restless, and labors to bend the law, that it may 
 justify him in his proceedings. It is no wonder, when men are so 
 engaged in errors either of practice or doctrine, that they should 
 labor to reconcile themselves with the commands of God's law ; for 
 great as is the pleasure of sin, they cannot of themselves bear up 
 against a guilty conscience. While the pleasure is new and in its 
 full vigor, or the gain increasing, the mind wants perhaps no other 
 comfort: but the pleasures of vice have their intermission, and are 
 succeeded by cold damps, which seize on the spirits : this point 
 enlarged on, and illustrated by the case of ill-gotten wealth. It is in 
 the intervals of reflection that a man frames devices how to escape the 
 dreaded punishment, and convinces himself that he has not oftended 
 against the law of God, but of the interpreters, who love to lay 
 heavy burdens on others, which they care not to touch with one 
 finger : thus the easy casuist comes to enjoy and justify his iniquity. 
 When the young man inquired on what terms he might inherit eter- 
 nal life, our Lord set the commands before him, (Mark x. 19.) : thus 
 far all was well : these terms he willingly accepted. Our Lord, 
 delighted with his towardly disposition, would have led him on to 
 greater perfection, (ver. 21.): but this the young man could by no 
 means digest, (ver. 22.) for he was exceeding rich : how gladly 
 would he have had the precept softened ! how would he have adored 
 a teacher who could have made him a consistent title both to heaven 
 and to his estate ! In this instance we see the disposition which 
 makes men strive to render the law of God of a piece with their own 
 affections : in others we shall see the practice. The Jews had a law, 
 commanding that they should honor their father and their mother ; 
 which implied an obligation on children to support their indigent 
 parents ; a precept so just and reasonable, that it is one of the prime 
 laws of nature ; but the Jews, hardhearted to their own flesh and 
 blood, were uneasy under this burden ; and yet the law was plain : 
 and they could not rest till they made the law comply; and they set 
 up tradition against it, to dissolve its uneasy obligations : for they 
 taught as our Saviour justly reproves them, (Mark vii. 11-13.) Thus 
 the law was to be supplanted, to justify its open violation. But to 
 come nearer home : the Scripture expressly commands us to worship 
 the Lord, and him only ; and he has declared himself a jealous God 
 in this respect. Two of the commandments, and all parts of the 
 gospel, confirm this article; yet it has been controverted even by 
 Christians more than any other. Were not the case notorious, it 
 might be said, perhaps, how is this possible ? whence such misunder- 
 standing of the Scriptures ? Whence these interpretations ? It was 
 not a misunderstanding or misinterpretation of Scripture that led to 
 this: corrupt practices first got possession; and men, uilling to 
 jiistify themselves, coined new interpretations : the violence of this 
 inclination may be seen from its beating down such express and 
 repeated commands of God. There is no man living, who has heard 
 or read the gospel, but he believes that all image or creature worship 
 is forbidden, those only excepted who are practising it. Could the 
 Jews give themselves leave to charge such doctrines on the gospel as 
 
174 SUMMARIES OF 
 
 some Christians pretend to find in it, they neither would desire, nor 
 could have better arguments for rejecting it. Prayer, praise, and 
 adoration of God, are things difficult to none but scholars : they are 
 in themselves plain ; but refined notions, to justify modern corrup- 
 tions, have made them intricate. The command is clear, God only 
 is to be worshipped : to make room for any other object, worship is 
 to be split into many kinds, and one religiously preserved to God, in 
 controversy at least, that others may be imparted to the creature. 
 To this eagerness of justifying a corrupt practice, we owe the many 
 curious distinctions invented to darken and confound the clearest 
 truths of the gospel. 
 
 PART II. 
 
 It is a common practice, though much complained of, to pervert 
 the Scriptures to support the opinions which distinguish different 
 sects; and this, in proportion as each has departed from the genuine 
 doctrines and practices of Christianity. The same disposition exists 
 in private life : there are not so many self-condemned sinners in the 
 world as is generally thought; for he who continues in sin generally 
 finds out soon some excuse or justification for his vice. A man, 
 judging only by reason and Scripture, would wonder how Scripture 
 was ever made a party to such a defence : but the friends of any vice 
 are guided in their judgments by self-love and interest, such candid 
 interpreters, that no vice need fear being tried by the Scriptures, they 
 being judges. The cause of this has been already observed: it is 
 now considered how we may best secure ourselves against this great 
 abuse. The words of the text do not lead directly to this inquiry, or 
 aftord much light in it : but by observing how our Lord brought this 
 disputer to do justice to the law of God, and to own even the Sama- 
 ritan as the Jew's neighbor, we shall learn how men are to be dealt 
 with ; and how forced to give up the excuses under which they have 
 sheltered their iniquity. As what is farther to be said in this argu- 
 ment must arise from our Lord's answer to the question put to him 
 in the text, his answer must be placed in its true light. In answer 
 then to the lawyer's question, our Lord puts a case to him for his own 
 judgment: the story briefly related. Some have labored much so to 
 adjust this case, that it might be a proper answer to the lawyer's 
 question, ivho is my neighbor? that is, whom must I love as myself? 
 So that our Lord ought to have determined the extent and right of 
 neighborhood, and thence deduced the obligations of love and assist- 
 ance ; whereas the case reverses this order : the Priest and the Levite 
 were not neighbors, because they did not assist the wounded man ; 
 the Samaritan was, because he showed kindness to him : if then no 
 man is our neighbor till we have either showed or received kindness 
 from him, we cannot from the right of neighborhood infer the obli- 
 gations of love, but must determine, from the mutual exercise of love, 
 the notion and extent of neighborhood : and no man, if this be the 
 case, can offend against the law of loving his neighbor : for none 
 
Sherlock's discourses. —i.v. 175 
 
 being our neighbors except those we love, every man loves his neigh- 
 bors. But if we view the case fairly and in its true light, this sup- 
 posed difficulty vanishes. The lawyer asked the question in order to 
 justify himself: he had learned to call no man neighbor who was not 
 of the same stock and religion with himself: he expressly hated 
 Samaritans, and justified his hatred, because they were deserters of 
 the temple at Jerusalem. This great error was not to be wrested 
 from him by battling his prejudices, and arguing on the true sense of 
 the law ; for not being unaccustomed to such exercise, he would have 
 stood resolute against any such convictions; our Saviour therefore 
 puts him a case which shuts out all his prejudices. By placing a 
 Jew in distress, no exception could be taken against the person : a 
 Samaritan in the same state would have found no pity from a Jew, 
 "who would have thought it right to be an enemy to the enemy of 
 God. A priest and a Levite pass by and neglect him : these persons 
 stood in all those relations to the distressed, which the lawyer owned 
 to be just bonds of neighborhood, and therefore he could not but con- 
 demn their want of bowels to their brother; but a Samaritan passing 
 by, shows compassion to the poor Jew : here even the lawyer's pre- 
 judices carried him to a right judgment; for knowing the hatred 
 between the Jew and the Samaritan, he could not but the more 
 admire his kindness : hence our Saviour urges him to declare which 
 •was neighbor to the man in distress; that is, which acted most 
 agreeably to God's law, that we should love our neighbor as ourself: 
 the lawyer answers, he that showed mercy ; condemning thereby the 
 Jewish exposition and his own prejudices; for if a Jew was forbidden 
 to assist a Samaritan, the same reason held good why a Samaritan 
 should not assist a Jew. Our Saviour approving his judgment bids 
 him apply it to himself; go thou, and do likewise ; that is, since you 
 commend the Samaritan for acting like a neighbor to the Jew, do you 
 learn to act so to a Samaritan, which is the force of the word like- 
 wise. Thus the case fully determined the question, and showed that 
 no restrictions were to be laid on the law of God. From our Lord's 
 conduct here, we may learn how to apply to the passions and prejudices 
 of men ; and how most successfully to make truth occupy the seat 
 of error. If it were a defect of reason that made us thus disagree, 
 and act differently in cases where we have one and the same rule 
 to go by, the distemper would be incurable, as we are not able 
 to enlarge the faculties which are bounded by God and nature. 
 But it is not so; passion and prejudice hinder us from judging 
 rightly in cases of morality and natural justice ; and we find that 
 men's reason and judgment fail in the very same proportion that vice 
 and passion prevail. Did men judge perversely in all cases alike, 
 nothing less than want of judgment and reason could account for it : 
 but when we. see them to have reason in most cases, and to be dark 
 only in a few, we must search out some other cause. Now if we find 
 that a man's reason and virtue forsake him in the same instances, and 
 that where he judges perversely he acts perversely, and remarkably 
 so in them only, we may learn what misguides or rather enslaves the 
 mind, and how the freedom of reason may be restored : this beau- 
 
17C SUMMARIES OF 
 
 tifully illustrated in the cases of the covetous, voluptuous, and ambi- 
 tious man : self lies at the bottom ; it is not so much the vice, as self 
 that is to be defended; and if you can separate these, the vice will 
 soon fall under the common sentence of reason, and be left to be 
 condemned with its fellows. By this honest, this holy art, did our 
 Lord convince the lawyer, who put the question of the text to him, 
 intending to admit no one as his neighbor that was not nearly allied 
 to him, or at least of the same nation. Our Saviour stated a case to 
 him by which his prejudices were silenced : thus he who excluded 
 almost all mankind, owned even the Samaritan to be the Jew's 
 neighbor, and thus confessed the Samaritan's right, in that relation, 
 to expect and receive good offices from the Jew. Thus also did the 
 prophet Nathan force David, in the very height of sin and extrava- 
 gance, to give sentence on himself and his iniquity. The story of 
 Uriah briefly told. Had the prophet openly taxed David with the 
 murder, he would perhaps have justified himself, and said to the 
 prophet as he had to the captain, the sivord devoiireth one as ivell as 
 another ; or perhaps the prophet would have been rebuked for his 
 intrusion, and forced to fly from the king's anger. But he complains 
 to the king of a great oppression, which a very rich man had been 
 guilty of towards a very poor one. The story of the ewe-lamb fully 
 told. Then said the king, as the Lord liveth, the man that hath 
 done this thing shall surely die. The king having thus passed 
 sentence, the prophet opened the secret, and said, thoii art the man: 
 the parallel fully drawn. The king therefore had no retreat for his 
 justification : he had nothing left him but this plain confession, / 
 have sinned against the Lord. Thus again our Saviour, under the 
 parable of an householder and his vineyard, made the Jews bear 
 witness to God's justice in rejecting their nation from being his 
 people : this parable briefly related. It is not hard to force truth 
 out of men, when you have once got beyond their prejudices, and 
 separated the truth from all personal views and interests; for reason 
 is clear enough, when unclouded by passion and aft'ection : this made 
 the heathen moralists clothe their instructions in the dress of fable : 
 the reasons of this enlarged on, and illustrated in the case of a pas- 
 sionate man, who never reads the fable of the horse and the man, 
 but he laughs at the horse's folly and his impotent desire of revenge. 
 The consequences of these things are plain. I. The true art of con- 
 vincing a man of his error is plainly to throw him as much as possible 
 out of the case ; for the less he is himself concerned, the better he 
 judges. You must not fret his prejudices, but decline them; not 
 reproach him with the error you condemn, but place it so that he 
 may see it in its true light. IT. In private life, innocence is the 
 only preservative of reason and judgment: guilt causes you to seek 
 subterfuges, and misleads you in your opinion of yourself and your 
 duty. III. If you find yourself involved in the case you are to 
 judge of, instead of seeking new reasons and arguments to form your 
 opinion by, look back and reflect what sense you had of the matter 
 before it was your own; as your judgment will thus be more 
 impartial : or consider, if possible, what is the sense of the sober and 
 
Sherlock's discourses. — lvi. 177 
 
 virtuous, whom you may more safely trust than yourself, where your 
 passions are concerned. At least suppose your enemy in the same 
 circumstances with yourself; change places with him ; then consider 
 what judgment you would make of him, and so judge of yourself. 
 By these means perhaps we may preserve ourselves from the fatal 
 influences which vice and passion have over the reason and under- 
 standing of mankind. 
 
 DISCOURSE LVI. 
 
 ROMANS, CHAP. XIV. VERSE 16. 
 
 Let not then your good be evil spoken of. 
 
 St. Peter describes the condition of Christian warfare, adding 
 the example of Christ, who, when he was reviled, reviled not again. 
 Here one would think no man would overact his part ; reproach and 
 contempt are not riches, against the temptations or too eager pursuit 
 of which we need be warned. We are apt to shrink at calumny, 
 and excuse ourselves from duties, which performed would expose us 
 to envy or ill-will: what then is the meaning of the text? Does 
 Christ call us to suflfer revilings, and his Apostle call us to avoid 
 them ? But suppose that it is not inconsistent with our Christian 
 duty to avoid the reproach of the world ; yet can we stop malice 
 when we do our duty, or prevent others from speaking ill of our 
 good ? Is it not enough therefore to do good, without securing it 
 from the attempts of malice and envy ? to suffer patiently the malice 
 of wickedness, but must we partake the guilt of it too ? and shall it 
 be imputed a crime to us, that we let our good be evil spoken of? 
 Such reasojiings the text may suggest at first ; but maturely con- 
 sidered, it will teach us how to pursue things in themselves truly 
 praiseworthy ; not only how to be good ourselves, but useful in the 
 world, by exercising a truly Christian prudence and address in pro- 
 moting the interest of virtue and religion. The gospel calls us not 
 to court persecution for the sake of our profession : it is not for the 
 interest of religion, or the glory of our Master, voluntarily to expose 
 ourselves or doctrine to the contempt of the world : in both cases 
 our Saviour has directed us otherwise, Matt. vii. 6. : when he sent 
 his disciples forth to preach, his express command was, beivare of 
 men; thereby requiring them to consult their own personal safety. 
 This may satisfy us of the lawfulness of avoiding danger, and clear 
 our way to the fully understanding of the text. The rule is general, 
 and extends itself to all parts of our Christian conversation. The 
 Apostle applies it particularly to the controversy in the church of 
 Rome at the time this letter was written to them ; but as it arises 
 not out of the particular circumstances of that case, we may deduce 
 
 PART II. M 
 
178 SUMMARIES OF 
 
 it from the general principles of Christian prudence on which it ig 
 founded. To proceed clearly, it is inquired, I. What the Apostle 
 means by our good : II. Endeavor is made to show that our good 
 is often exposed to be evil spoken of through our own indiscretion, 
 and therefore that we may often prevent it : whence, III. Will 
 appear the reasonableness of the duty enjoined us in the text. — I. 
 Some by our good understand our religion, which is every Christian's 
 chief good : in which point of view the text is thought to recommend 
 simplicity of manner and inoftensiveness of behavior. But the 
 Apostle seems to aim at something farther: his business here is not 
 to deter us from the practice of evil, but to direct us in the use and 
 practice of good, that our virtue may be secured from reproach ; and 
 our good is not the topic whence the Apostle draws an argument or 
 exhortation, but the subject-matter of his directions. Thus then the 
 text may be paraphrased : be not content with merely doing what is 
 in itself good and commendable, but look forward to its probable 
 consequences, and thus try to prevent any mischief that may grow 
 out of it to yourself or others, that your good may be inoffensive and 
 irreproachable : in this sense it is proposed to consider the text. — 
 II. We cannot then be truly virtuous till we are above the tempta- 
 tions of the world, and free from the servitude of courting its opinion ; 
 but here men err in thinking this to be the same as to despise the 
 world and all that belong to it : and hence it is that virtue itself 
 attracts a moroseness which destroys its power of usefulness. Nor 
 is this all : the cause of virtue often suffers by the zeal and indiscre- 
 tion of such mistaken votaries, who disdainfully censure all the 
 prudent methods by which goodness may be advanced, as the effects 
 of worldly wisdom and cunning; and if what they do be justifiable 
 in itself, they care not for the consequences : nay, they eagerly 
 embrace inconveniences, esteeming it virtue to suffer for good ; 
 whence arises disdain and aversion ; and hence they value themselves 
 more for reproaching men with their vices than for correcting them. 
 Tiie success of such a method may be known by considering the 
 temper and disposition of mankind. To vex and exasperate men 
 makes them stubborn in vices and opinions, exposes your good to 
 reproach, and gives the enemies of religion occasion to blaspheme. 
 Zeal is the noblest grace, when duly tempered with charity and 
 prudence, and in this state produces the best fruit ; but growing- 
 extravagant, it becomes a grief to wise men, and the sport of fools. 
 The mistake of such men lies in not distinguishing between a servile 
 compliance with the world, and a prudent behavior towards it; the 
 difference between which is as great as between virtue and vice : one 
 is the way which men, who sacrifice honor and conscience to their 
 interest, make use of; by the other, wise and good men recommend 
 the practice of virtue and religion. Those whose virtue is too stiff to 
 court the world into a compliance with what is good, may do well to 
 consider how the Apostle is to be justified in the character which he 
 has given of himself, 1 Cor. ix. 19. Into what a variety of shapes 
 did he turn himself, to gain on the affections of men, that he might 
 win them over to the gospel ! This point enlarged on, and illustrated 
 
Sherlock's discourses. — lvi. 179 
 
 by the case of a skilful pilot. But to court the aflections of men 
 some think below the dignity of religion. How so? ought not men 
 to be made to love virtue and religion ? Yes ; and how is that to 
 be done but by engaging their aftections in its cause ? Is then the 
 attempt to do so an unworthy one ? How can these things be made 
 to agree ? But if it must be allowed that it is necessary to apply 
 to men's affections in the cause of virtue, it will show the reason- 
 ableness of the text, and the necessity of having recourse to Christian 
 prudence and wisdom to direct us in the practice even of good : for 
 all things have not the same appearance to all men, and we must 
 therefore beware of the ill impressions which may be made on others 
 by the good we do. This care not to offend is the foundation of 
 civility and good-breeding in common life, and will produce mutual 
 love and condescension in religion : this point enlarged on. View 
 but the difference in one Christian grace, when attended by this care, 
 aqd when not. This exemplified in the case of zeal, which is in 
 itself an excellent gift. Some there are who care so little for 
 securing their good from being evil spoken of, that their zeal for 
 good arises even from envy and strife : this spirit is still in being, 
 and often makes men spitefully good, delighting to exasperate others 
 who differ from them : this point enlarged on. They justify them- 
 selves by saying that men ought not to be ashamed when they are in 
 the right, or afraid of owning the truth ; two very good reasons sadly 
 applied : for men ought to be ashamed so to use truth, as merely to 
 insult, not to correct, the prejudices of mankind. But there is still 
 a farther mischief: when men truly labor to promote truth, and 
 recommend it to others, they always place it in the best light, and 
 take care to obviate the misapprehensions of those with whom they 
 deal : but when they dispute for opposition sake, or for their own 
 amusement at the expense of another, they care not whether he 
 understands the truth, or how grossly he mistakes ; for the more 
 violence he shows, the greater is their entertainment : this point and 
 its consequences enlarged on, showing the probability of his error 
 continuing for ever, thus exposing our good to be evil spoken of. 
 The same effect is often seen to proceed from a mixture of zeal and 
 ignorance. In this case men think they must do or say the things 
 which they approve, when they are before those who they know do 
 not approve them : this case enlarged on. Sometimes men expose 
 their good to be evil spoken of from pure pride and haughtiness of 
 temper: this is the case when men so despise the world as not to care 
 about guarding against the misapprehensions of those around them. 
 The very reason why you despise the world, and disdain to give an 
 account of your actions, viz. because it is weak and captious, is the 
 reason why you ought to try to satisfy it ; and in this the rule of the 
 Apostle is founded, as appears from chap. xv. 1. No man, how 
 great soever he may be, is above rendering an account of himself to 
 the world. It is not greatness of soul, but a narrow-spirited insolence 
 and pride that makes men averse to it, teaching them to glory not so 
 much in the worthiness of their actions, as in despising every one 
 else : a generous virtue enlarged on, showing that if candor were 
 
180 SUMMARIES OF 
 
 more practised in the world, it might prevent much hatred and 
 animosity ; since few intend half the mischief of which they are sus- 
 pected. — III. As it is often in our power to prevent our good from 
 being evil spoken of , so in many cases it is our duty. This duty may 
 be deduced from these principles ; the honor of God and of truth, 
 the charity that is due to our brethren, and the justice that is due to 
 ourselves. The honor of God is chiefly consulted by reconciling 
 men's minds to the love of virtue and religion, by removing their 
 prejudices, and gently drawing their affections to the cause of good- 
 ness : the most substantial honor that we can pay our Maker, is to 
 exalt his name among the people, and teach every tongtie to confess 
 his truth: this point enlarged on. It will appear also to be a part 
 of that charity which is owing to our neighbor : we know how much 
 his happiness depends on approving that which is good ; for tvithout 
 holiness no man shall see God: this duty then is to be performed not 
 by rendering our good odious and offensive to him, but by setting it 
 forth without scandal or offence, that he may be ashamed of nothing, 
 but rather love and embrace it. But farther, it is a piece of justice 
 which we owe to ourselves and our own character, to render our 
 good irreproachable : for when it suffers, we suffer with it, and share 
 in the reproaches that fall on it. It is doubtful whether it be justifi- 
 able in the good we do to have regard to our own reputation : to 
 make it the end of what we do is certainly bad ; for the applause of 
 the world is not the end of religion : but a good man can do so much 
 good by having a good reputation, that it is his duty to consult his 
 credit and character in what he does : hence he refrains from those 
 freedoms which the world judges unbecoming his character, though 
 harmless in themselves; and surely this restraint is an innocent way 
 of aspiring to a good reputation. Nor is this prudent behavior 
 inconsistent with a steady and constant adherence to the truth, which 
 is not to be deserted that it may not be evil spoken of, but is to be 
 practised without offence. In matters essential to religion there is 
 no room for compliance ; and in matters of Christian liberty there is 
 hardly any room for denying it : where we are free, the greatest 
 deference is to be paid to the opinions, nay, even to the prejudices of 
 others : this point enlarged on to the end. 
 
 DISCOURSE LVII. 
 
 NUMBERS, CHAP. XXIII. VERSE 10. 
 Let me die the death of the righteous, and let my last end be like his. 
 
 These affecting words are apt to engage us on their side at the 
 first hearing ; for whatever be our present prospects, when thus called 
 from them, we stand as it were beholding ourselves under the arrest 
 of death ; we want no arguments to direct our choice to what is best 
 
Sherlock's discourses. — lvii. 181 
 
 for ourselves : these circumstances carry conviction with them ; and 
 though unwilling to live the life of the righteous, we are willing 
 enough that our last end should be like his. There is a comparison 
 implied in the text between the cases of the wicked and the righteous, 
 which the mind readily supplies: it is stated under circumstances 
 which throw out all prejudices and partialities, and bring only the 
 merits of the cause on each side into judgment. You see the wicked 
 and the righteous both on the point of death, and you are to say 
 which condition you would choose : the pleasures of the world on 
 one side, the supposed hardsiiips on the other, are equally set aside : 
 you are to judge between virtue and vice, placed naked at the bar, 
 without color or disguise. It may seem perhaps that we have but 
 little confidence in the cause of virtue under all other circumstances 
 of life, when we defer this judgment to the last moments of it: it 
 may be thought unfair to state the case without the pleasures and 
 enjoyments on one side, and the difficulties and discouragements on 
 the other, which things weigh most with the generality of men ; 
 whilst we leave nothing but the doubtful prospect of a future state, 
 and every thing is taken out of the other scale, which, as we find by 
 general experience, serves to balance against such hopes and fears : 
 it is perhaps saying little for virtue, that its hopes should be preferred 
 to the fears of iniquity, when nothing but mere hope and fear is left ; 
 for who would not prefer the most uncertain chance of being happy 
 to the least degree of fear of being miserable, or even to tlie thoughts 
 of endless sleep? Were these exceptions well founded, the com- 
 parison in the text would lose much weight ; but there are no times 
 or circumstances of life in which virtue may not be compared with 
 vice, the passions, prejudices, and corruptions of men being put out 
 of the question. The words of the text, in their first and natural 
 sense, lead us to this comparison not only in the latest hours, but in 
 all the course and circumstances of life : they arise from the contem- 
 plation of the present and future prosperity of the Israelites in the 
 land of promise, compared with the misery of the idolatrous nations, 
 given up to sin and superstition, and therefore to ruin. Numb, 
 xxiii. 9. 10. and xxiv. 20. compared together: these passages help 
 to expound each other ; for as the prophecy relating to Amalek was 
 completed in the temporal destruction of that people, so by parity of 
 reason the prophecy concerning Israel imported their temporal happi- 
 ness. Bishop Patrick's interpretation of the words, let viy last end 
 be like his, by let my posterity be like his, gives us farther reason to 
 suppose that temporal prosperity was contained in the prophesier's 
 wish as a peculiar inheritance of the righteous. The other sense of 
 the text, which looks to a future life, is of ancient date : nor need 
 we be much concerned to determine between the two ; both fairly 
 arising from the text; both agreeable to the apprehensions of man- 
 kind, and founded in reason and nature. That righteousness exalteth 
 a nation, that sin is not only a reproach, but also a weakening to 
 any people, are truths which want no proof. In all ages, all law- 
 givers, philosophers, and moralists, have been of this opinion, which 
 experience has justified: this point exemplified by the rise and fall 
 
182 SUMMARIES OF 
 
 of nations. But besides this, if we believe the being of a God, and 
 have just notions of his attributes, and think him at all concerned in 
 the government of this his world, we must conclude that virtuous 
 nations are under his peculiar care : this point enlarged on. Yet 
 though all allow that virtue is the true foundation of the happiness 
 and prosperity of public societies, men differ much in opinion and 
 practice respecting the choice and pursuit of happiness for them- 
 selves; yet the same thing which is necessary to the happiness of a 
 kingdom, is also necessary to that of private families and private 
 men : this point enlarged on. Since then all allow that virtue is the 
 true way to public happiness, they must confess that private happi- 
 ness is to be obtained only by the same method : whence then the 
 inconsistency of men in preferring the momentary pleasures of vice 
 to the solid happiness arising from virtue? Whence is it that they 
 think, that what makes others miserable will make them happy? 
 This difference arises not from the nature of the things considered, 
 which is always the same, but from the passions of men, which are 
 excluded in the one case, and admitted in the other with all their 
 force to bias the judgment. We can deliberate calmly on what is 
 right for other men, as their passions have no effect on our under- 
 standing ; but in our own case all our passions are roused, and often 
 prove too strong for it. There is much truth in the common obser- 
 vation, that it is easier to give good instructions than to follow them : 
 but this ought to be no prejudice to the cause of virtue ; for when a 
 man speaks reason, and at the same time acts against it, he ought to 
 be taken as a strong witness for the truth. It may be asked perhaps, 
 why we prefer the judgment of a man when he chooses happiness for 
 others, to his judgment when he chooses it for himself. Do we not 
 know that men are most sincere when their own prosperity is con- 
 cerned ? this point enlarged on, from the consideration of men who 
 should form laws for suppressing vices which they themselves prac- 
 tised. But by this method of arguing, there is but one law for man 
 and beast : reason makes no difference in the case, since the happi- 
 ness of both consists in the mere gratifications of sense ; a conclusion 
 too absurd for any reasonable man to embrace : this point enlarged 
 on. But we have no reason to decline the comparison between the 
 pleasures of vice and the calm enjoyments of virtue ; let us view these 
 conditions nearer, and see whether there be no reason to wish that we 
 may live the life of the righteous as well as die his death. The 
 wicked can make out no peculiar title to the good things of this life, 
 which may be held and enjoyed by the righteous as well as by the 
 wicked, though they differ much in the use which they make of 
 them : therefore the only question is, whether a man is happier with 
 a large fortune, used within the bounds of virtue, or made subservient 
 to all the ends and pleasures of vice ; or, fortune being removed out 
 of the case, whether the difficulties of life attendant on mean circum- 
 stances are more tolerable to a virtuous or a vicious man. If we 
 allow the vicious man to have a greater share of sensual gratifica- 
 tions, he can claim no more advantages ; and let him set his own 
 value on them, which however enables him not to judge of the hap- 
 
Sherlock's discourses. — lvxi. 183 
 
 piness or unliappiiiess of those who deny themselves the same liber- 
 ties. The virtuous man not only abstains from the pleasures of vice, 
 but subdues the passions of it, and thus renders himself capable of 
 much nobler enjoyments, which perpetually delight the mind ; so 
 that even in this case there is reason to believe that virtue has the 
 advantage over vice. But the consequences of their dift'erent ways 
 of living, such only as are soon made manifest to the eyes of the 
 world, render the case very clear : observe the health and vigor 
 attendant on virtue, the pains and diseases which closely follow vice ; 
 the mind of the virtuous man surrounded with a constant calm 
 serenity, that of the other by disturbed imaginations, restless desires, 
 and unpleasant thoughts : this topic enlarged on, showing that reason 
 will have the last influence in making us happy or miserable. The 
 wounds of the body may be cured, but for the wouuds of the spirit the 
 world affords no salve : the truest touchstone to prove the things that 
 are conducive to our happiness, is to consider their future operations 
 on the mind for the rest of our life : this point illustrated by the case 
 of a man, who, having got possession of an estate through wicked 
 measures, is haunted by his own thoughts; and whether this man is 
 happy who lives under a continual displeasure with himself, let any 
 one judge. This displeasure is inconsistent with any real enjoyment; 
 so that sin lays the foundation of misery immovably and close to us. 
 Besides, the sense of virtue, which does and will exist among reason- 
 able beings, must render a vicious man contemptible both to himself 
 and others, and therefore unhappy ; for no man can easily bear con- 
 tempt, knowing that he deserves it. Thus in this case also does the 
 wicked man appear given up to misery. But hitherto his case has 
 been considered with respect only to this world, and the natural eflfect 
 of his vice ; which he will himself confess to be but an imperfect 
 description of his condition ; for he has other foreboding fears of 
 future misery sufficient to poison all the pleasures of life. He sees 
 that in this life all things come to an end, and that the wicked and 
 the righteous equally go down to the grave ; but what future distinc- 
 tions there may be, answerable to the natural hopes and fears of the 
 mind, he hates to remember, yet cannot forget. The satisfied passion 
 haunts him in the language of Israel's king : know that for all these 
 things God will call thee unto judgment. Say however, and it is all 
 the wicked have to say, that such imaginations may be delusive,- and 
 such fears vain ; yet weak as these fears may be, we must be still 
 weaker before we can get rid of them ; we must lose our reason and 
 understanding, before we can forget that there is a God who will 
 judge the world righteously. This result of innate reason, true or 
 false, must affect our present happiness ; and if true, will add eternity 
 to the misery of the wicked. Some sinners indeed are found, so 
 hardened as to be for many years proof against all such considera- 
 tions; yet they are not secure : vice will soon impair their strength, 
 and bring down the pride of their hearts: and when infirmities lay 
 hold of them, and death draws near to execute his commission, they 
 awake as one out of a dream ; and their long-silenced fears begin to 
 speak with double terror. Then what is the sinner's condition ? 
 
184 SUMMARIES OF 
 
 Ask him then whether the fears of futurity are all idle dreams'^ 
 And as you like his answer, follow his example. Concluding re- 
 flection?. 
 
 DISCOURSE LVIII, 
 
 PSALM CXIX. VERSE 165. 
 Great peace have they which love thy law. 
 
 In the exposition and self-application of this and such like texts, 
 men are apt to commit two great mistakes; which, though very dif- 
 ferent in kind, are in their consequences equally fatal and pernicious. 
 On the one hand they think that they cannot place too great a 
 reliance on the promise of the text ; easily persuaded that the general 
 name of peace comprehends whatever the world calls good : and 
 because that on which they fix their most sanguine affections, is what 
 the world places in competence and health, they fondly conclude that 
 the promise of peace infers the promise of these good things, which 
 they esteem the genuine and necessary effects of peace. On the 
 other hand, to secure their title to these things, they consider the 
 condition to which they are annexed in quite a different view; em- 
 ploying all their force to limit and expound away the rigor of this 
 article, and to show how easily, and on how small a portion of 
 righteousness and obedience, a man may be included among those 
 denoted by the text. There they make all reasonable allowances to 
 themselves through the great perfection of the law, which renders it 
 hard to practise ; through their own weakness so liable to offend, and 
 through the mercy of God, which will incline him to accept the will 
 for the deed. These deductions being made in the proportion which 
 best suits their own will and condition, they easily find themselves 
 within the articles of the text, and therefore expect the annexed 
 promises, to which they think they have so good a claim. But 
 as error naturally produces error and falsehood, so these mistakes are 
 exceedingly fruitful, and directly lead men to misapprehensions of 
 God, of themselves, and of religion : for as long as men conceive 
 prosperity and the enjoyment of it necessarily to attend virtue and 
 holiness, they will judge of their attainments in religion, and of God's 
 favor towards them, by what they enjoy: hence the spiritual pride 
 and presumption of rich and prosperous men, who esteem their for- 
 tune as the reward of their virtue ; hence the desponding imagination 
 of poor and miserable men, who look on their misery to be their 
 punishment, and the forerunner of their condemnation. It is needless 
 to speak of the pernicious consequences of the kind allowances which 
 men make to their own vices and imperfections, whilst they labor to 
 crowd into the number of those who love the law : for if they are 
 once persuaded that a little religion will serve their turn, it is not 
 
Sherlock's discourses. — lviii. 185 
 
 likely they will take pains to obtain more than they judge necessary. 
 To avoid these inconveniences, it is necessary to consider, I. The 
 nature of the peace spoken of in the text : II. Who they are who may 
 be said to love the law of God: III. To illustrate and confirm the 
 truth of the proposition in the text. And, I. The Psalmist plainly 
 makes this observation on his own personal experience and many 
 trials ; but yet even thus he does not set forth the splendid glories 
 which he enjoyed during his reign ; though he ought to have done 
 this, had he intended to infer that worldly peace, security, and health, 
 were the sure rewards of holiness and obedience. His life offered as 
 ample matter for such an observation as any man's. He was 
 specially raised by Providence from obscurity to the throne of Israel, 
 and his life was specially guarded by heaven : his glory likewise was 
 darkened, and his afflictions were sore; but on his repentance the 
 clouds dispersed, and he grew happy as he grew obedient : yet so far 
 is the Psalmist from considering these circumstances of his outward 
 glory, and thence making a general rule, that in the text he regards 
 only the inward peace he enjoyed during his afflictions, which peace 
 in the severest trials he found to be the undivided companion of faith 
 and obedience : this topic enlarged on. Nothing therefore was more 
 distant from the Psalmist's thoughts, than to promise outward peace 
 or temporal prosperity to the practice of virtue ; since he speaks only 
 of the peace of the righteous in their afflictions : he therefore adds, 
 a7id nothing shall offend them ; which would have been improper, 
 had he spoken of temporal peace before, in which there is nothing to 
 offend any man. But to enjoy a peace which sets us above the 
 power of evil or fortune, which opens our eyes to look through the 
 gloomiest scenes of sorrow to the blessed hope of future glory, this is 
 what the world cannot give ; and this is the peace which the Psalmist 
 speaks of as the peculiar inheritance of him who loveth the law of 
 God. But it requires pains, labor, and watchfulness over the affec- 
 tions and appetites of the flesh, before we can love what intirely 
 thwarts them: it is not enough to love the law in admiration, and to 
 obey it faintly ; our love must be active and fruitful, and satisfied 
 only in the enjoyment of its righteousness : all which will more fully 
 appear under the second head. In this psalm we find holy David 
 often declaring how much he loved the law of God. May we there- 
 fore from his character safely draw the picture of a man who loves 
 the law of God ? No : for David was a different man at difl'erent 
 times: this point enlarged on. He blessed God for his afflictions, 
 and soon afterwards he acknowleged the meicy and goodness of God 
 in thus afflicting him : what David therefore in himself condemned 
 when he loved the law of God, is inconsistent with the character of 
 one who loves it : the excuses of sinners drawn from the worst part 
 of the character of David and of other holy men, are a vain and 
 imaginary comfort; but there is a comfort to be drawn from hence : 
 these examples are a great encouragement to repentance, since we 
 see how readily God embraced the returning prodigal ; but whilst 
 men use them to soothe their consciences in the quiet enjoyment of 
 sin, they abuse God's mercy in selting forth these instances of his 
 
1U6 SUMMARIES OF 
 
 patience. Yet though the example of David be not intirely a safe 
 direction to ns, his inspired writings are ; and in this psalm we may 
 find the righteous man's character, (1-3.) The first good thing he 
 says of himself is his repentance, (59, (50.) His next step was to for- 
 sake his wicked companions, and associate with such as feared the 
 Lord, (63.) Next he resolves to persevere in holiness, (111, 112.) 
 He then describes his sense of religion, that source of peace and joy 
 in his bitterest aflSictions, which, in the text, he comprehends under 
 the general term of loving the law, (lGl-164.) From all this we may 
 see that to hate and abhor sin, to love and delight in the law of God, 
 are expressions implying no small degree of perfection : this point 
 enlarged on. There are some who on different views, such as are sug- 
 gested merely by fear, interest, or present conveniency, keep out of 
 sin, and make a tolerable show in the performance of their religious 
 duties; but, alas ! their work is labor and sorrow: such persons are 
 fond of every pretence which may help to ease thera of any part of 
 their duty, and excuse or protect them when under it; whereas they 
 who delight in the law of God want not to be excused from the work 
 in which they take pleasure ; nor do they wish the approaches to sin 
 to be made easy, since they have no appetite to embrace the monster, 
 which is their aversion. Hence St. John, in one of his epistles, has 
 given us this mark to know whether we love God or no ; his covi- 
 mcmdments are not grievous. This text explained, showing that the 
 connexion between the love of the law and of God was evidently in 
 the Psalmist's view ; since he aflSrms of one, what, properly speaking, 
 belongs to the other : this case fully laid out. Nor is it to be 
 imagined that when the Psalmist penned the text, his thoughts were 
 exalted no higher than to a stoical rapture in praise of virtue ; or that 
 he fetched his comfort from such uncertain and disputed principles : 
 no; his mind was fixed on God, ^rom whom cometh our salvation, 
 and in whom alone the faithful have peace for ever. That this is 
 the foundation which he builds on will appear, when we consider, 
 III. How little peace of mind worldly enjoyments afford ; this every 
 man in his own condition knows, though inexperienced in the pleasures 
 of the station above him. So that, allowing men to judge according 
 to their knowlege, all must agree that there is no lasting peace to be 
 had from the pleasures of this life, no security in them against afflic- 
 tion, no comfort under present evils, no assurance against future 
 ones : and even if there be some enjoyment, it is imperfect, and liable 
 to interruptions, unless supported by the hopes of religion : this point 
 enlarged on, from a consideration of the unchanging nature of man, 
 and his mind always looking forward beyond the limits of this world. 
 So that, however valuable the world may be, something else is want- 
 ing to calm our fears, and raise the hopes for futurity; and this 
 nothing but religion can do, which alone intitles us to God's protec- 
 tion. Having the assurance of this, we stand on an immoveable rock, 
 against which the winds and waves vainly spend their fury : this is 
 what we call a good conscience : this topic enlarged on, showing 
 that when we are thus armed, and can without reserve profess the 
 sentiment, / have loved thy law, God, and my deliyht hath been 
 
SHERLOCK S DISCOURSES. — LIX. 1U7 
 
 therein, we shall be superior to all the evils of life. That which fills 
 the breast of the worldly man with horror, gives us ease and comfort: 
 when he thinks how soon he must give an account to God, his blood 
 retires to his heart, and hardly there maintains its post : but to the 
 good man this thought so fills his mind, that, lost in pleasure and de- 
 light, he forgets all the pains and calamities of lite: this point illus- 
 trated by the example of the holy martyrs. Concluding remarks. 
 
 DISCOURSE LIX. 
 
 PSALM CXIX. VERSE 63. 
 
 I am a companion of all them that fear thee, and of them that 
 keep thy precepts. 
 
 Nothing is more essential in the pursuit of holiness, and indeed 
 in the whole conduct of our lives, than to observe how those who are 
 set forth by the holy Scripture as patterns, attained to that perfection 
 which made them shining lights of the world and declared favorites 
 of God. If from such examples we draw rules for our own use, we 
 shall be sure of two great advantages, viz. that these rules will be 
 proper and practicable ; practicable, because drawn from the practice 
 of men like ourselves ; proper, because we aim at the same end which 
 good men before us have attained to by the use of those means which 
 experience has already found to be proper. The division of the 
 Psalm containing the text sets before us the several steps by which 
 David recovered himself from the sin in which he had been involved. 
 First, he declares his choice, and his resolution to pursue that 
 choice, (57.) This he knew by experience he could do only by 
 the assistance of God, which he therefore applies for, (58.) : then he 
 diligently examines his heart, and forms resolutions which he imme- 
 diately puts into practice, (59, 60.) ; to secure all this, there was 
 need of patience and courage, and faith towards God. The way of 
 life is beset with dangers; we must therefore be prepared to endure 
 hardships, like good soldiers of Christ; he therefore mentions for 
 our learning, stedfastness under trials, (61.) : he then resolves on a 
 continued devotion towards God, (62.) : next follows the text. At 
 first sight this seems but a little thing to mention, after so many attain- 
 ments spoken of before : what should lead him so low as to add 
 that he was careful to keep good company ? Nothing but his own 
 experience had taught him that this was the great preservative of all 
 his other attainments, without which they would soon waste away, 
 and leave him once more an easy prey to the allurements of vice : 
 this point enlarged on, showing how he, being led away by evil 
 company, had almost perished but for the intervention of God. So 
 sensible was he of this danger, that he not only resolved to avoid it 
 himself, but made it his early care to forewarn bis son of it ; which 
 
188 SUMMARIES OF 
 
 made such an impression on him, that he, speaking on the same 
 topic, being full of the image of his father when he delivered the 
 instruction, introduces him as giving advice to him, his son, (Prov. 
 iv. 1-4.) ;■ and again, (14. 15.) But why, you will say, look far for 
 an advice so obvious, and an instruction which all parents give to 
 their children as well as David? It is true they do; for which 
 reason it is looked on as advice fit only for children ; and young 
 people hardly think themselves men till all restraints are broken 
 from, and they can with impunity choose the worst of company for 
 themselves. But to remove this prejudice against the advice implied 
 in the text, we must consider that though David gave this instruc- 
 tion betimes to his son, yet even in after-life, though improved in 
 holiness, he laid it down as a rule for his own conduct, a security to 
 his virtue, and defence of his innocence, (115.) He hardly thought 
 it practicable to associate with evil doers, and yet keep the com- 
 mandments of God ; as is plain from the reason which he gives after, 
 Depart from me, ye evil doers, for 1 tvill keep the commandments of 
 my God: which would be no reason, were it not morally impossible 
 to keep the commandments of God without departing from evil 
 doers. Men in a state of trial cannot safely expose themselves 
 unnecessarily to the constant insinuations of wicked men. The 
 reasonableness of the Psalmist's practice described in the text, and of 
 the rule therein implied, must proceed from a consideration of the 
 great danger of keeping ill company, and the great advantage of con- 
 tracting friendships with the good. But before this argument is 
 entered into, it is to be observed that none are concerned in it but 
 such as have a sense of religion and a due regard to virtue : such as 
 have no regard for these are not concerned in it ; nor will it be hard 
 to convince the former of their great danger in contracting friendships 
 with men who have prostituted their minds and bodies to the service 
 of sin. For, First, let it be considered that none of our resolutions to 
 keep clear from the pollutions of the company we keep, can give us 
 any security for preserving our innocence : they are often carried into 
 bad company, but seldom or never come off unimpaired ; for their 
 foundation being undermined, they themselves must fall to ruin. 
 Resolutions made against sin, because of its heinousness and evil 
 consequences, wear off by conversing with those who have learned to 
 make a mock of sin. When once we come to relish this subject, it is 
 but an easy step to practise what we thus far approve of : nor is it a 
 hard matter to imagine that our fears are but the prejudices of 
 education ; and from the example of our friends our treacherous 
 heart will say to us. Behold they sin, and no evil happeneth unto 
 them : this whole point enlarged on, showing that thus seduced we 
 fall asleep in the arms of pleasure, never perhaps to wake, till the 
 last trumpet calls us with all our sins into the presence of God. 
 Secondly : supposing that all these circumstances should not meet to 
 complete our ruin, yet the opportunities for sin which an evil 
 acquaintance affords, are of themselves great temptations : the virtue 
 of men is not always equally strong; and it is the happiness of those 
 who are unacquainted with the ways of wickedness, even when most 
 
Sherlock's discourses. — lix. 189 
 
 tempted, to be ignorant how to sin. This guard we lose in the society of 
 wicked men : this point enlarged on, showing how ready they are to 
 second our temptations in order that they may triumph in our full, 
 and illustrated by the case of a person subject to violent passion, 
 going into the company of one who would place arms in his hand, and 
 rejoice to see the extravagance of his fury. Thirdly : all acknowlege 
 that there are difficulties in religion, even with all the assistance and 
 advantages that may be had ; the nature of the case requires this ; for 
 being here in a state of trial, and in order that we may give proof of 
 our virtue, faith, and ready submission to God's will, if there were no 
 difficulty, there would be no trial. Now knowing our all to depend 
 on this trial, it must be extreme folly in any man to refuse any help 
 that may make his work easy, or to expose himself to difficulties that 
 may render its issue more uncertain ; yet this every one does who 
 lays himself open to the art and cunning, and deadly insinuations of 
 evil men, industrious in the bad cause they serve: (Prov. iv. 10, 17.) 
 These verses enlarged on, showing that when the fulness of meat and 
 drink has driven out thought and care, there springs up a brutal 
 courage, which neither fears God nor regards man. Even this 
 sensual indulgence, independent of its consequences, exposes us to the 
 wrath of God : Riotous persons and drunkards shall not enter into the 
 kingdom of heaven. This crime is heightened by a kind of self- 
 murder, destroying the man formed after God's image, and leaving 
 him in a worse condition than a helpless beast of the lield. Should 
 you propose to share these enjoyments with the libertines, and guard 
 against all other kinds and degrees of wickedness, yet even this is 
 destructive of the hopes of religion. If you bring but a taste and 
 relish with you for such pleasures, use and custom and example will 
 soon make you a proficient ; and you will be surprised too late at 
 finding yourself lost in excesses which you never thought of. Your 
 cheerful nights and succeeding heavy mornings will indispose you for 
 thought and reflection, and thus your sense of religion will gradually 
 decay. This whole case beautifully laid out, showing how the former 
 comforts of an innocent mind will yield to misgiving fears, and drive 
 a man to desperate intemperance ; and then nothing but the extra- 
 ordinary grace of God can save him; and whether he deserves this, 
 let any one judge. But the mercies of God, like the sun, rise on the 
 evil and the good, on the just and the unjust. Perhaps then he will 
 awaken you once more to a sense of danger. This is the best thing 
 that can befal you : but could you be sure of this, there is no 
 encouragement in it to enter into the societies of wicked men ; for 
 even thus you little think what misery you are preparing for yourself. 
 When immersed in sensuality, the gentle calls of the Spirit will not 
 awaken you ; rougher methods are then necessary : this point 
 enlarged on, showing that the methods to be used for rousing a 
 lethargic or apoplectic man, are to be employed in spiritual dis- 
 tempers: by such methods was David called back to himself : this 
 case enlarged on. Yet the external evils and aftlictions which we 
 call down on ourselves, will be but a light part of our misery ; for 
 
190 SUMMARIES OF 
 
 when at length we coine to see nothing to keep us from everlasting 
 ruin but our slender thread of life, what despair will possess our 
 minds ! This awful state enlarged on to the end. 
 
 DISCOURSE LX. 
 
 2 CORINTHIANS, CHAP. IV. VERSE 18. 
 
 For the things which are seen are temporal ; hut the tilings which are not 
 seen are eternal. 
 
 PART I. 
 
 The motives to obedience in all religions are thus far the same, 
 that they depend on the belief of another invisible world, and the 
 different state of men in it : for though it has been urged, with some 
 show of reason, that virtue is its own reward, and that man's chief 
 happiness would consist in the practice of it, independent of any 
 other rewards, yet this, even if true, is far too narrow a foundation to 
 build religion on ; as it would only influence men of abstracted 
 thought and reason. The generality of mankind live by sense, and 
 take their measures of happiness, not from the remote conclusions of 
 reason, but from their present feeling, and from the impressions 
 which they receive from their daily intercourse with men and things; 
 and the rewards and punishments of religion are calculated to this 
 sense and feeling, excepting only that they are distant, and incapable 
 of being made the present objects of sense ; and therefore they 
 operate so weakly on the minds and affections of men. Herein lies 
 the advantage of the things of this world, that the man of thought and 
 reflection cannot but see them, while the man of no thought sees 
 nothing else : hence the distinction made by the Apostle in the text. 
 In this lies all the force and strength of worldly temptations and 
 pleasures ; for were the enjoyments of this world and those of the 
 next equally remote, there could be no competition between them. 
 This most men would find to be true, would they but observe a little 
 what passes in themselves and others : this point enlarged on. If it 
 be true now, that it is wise to prefer the pleasures of life to the hopes 
 of futurity, it will be true fifty years hence, that a man acted wisely 
 by so doing ; for truth is always the same ; and yet if he lives till 
 then, it is great odds but that he judges otherwise; as we find men 
 do every day : this point enlarged on. Hence arises the difference, 
 that in one case reason is excluded by sense and the prevailing power 
 of present objects ; in the other it is free, and judges from the truth, 
 and nature of things. Throw out sense and appetite, and the question 
 will be reduced to these two points : I. Whether we can have suffi- 
 cient evidence for the existence of the things not seen, as may make 
 
Sherlock's discourses. — lx. 191 
 
 them capable of being brought into competition with the things that 
 are seen, the existence of which is in this question out of doubt? 
 II. Whether the value of the things which are not seen be so great, 
 that we ought in prudence to forego the enjoyment of the things 
 which are present with us ? There are several ways by which we 
 satisfy ourselves of the existence of things without us : the chief of 
 these is sense. This evidence extends to this world and the things of 
 it ; and though some have taken great pains to doubt the existence of 
 these, yet it is a question whether any man did ever reach that 
 perfection of scepticism. This evidence may be styled the strongest 
 in one respect, as it most universally aftects mankind, who more 
 readily receive the reports of sense than the conclusions of reason. 
 Not but that the evidence of reason is as strong for the existence of 
 things not seen, as sense is for the things which are seen; as is 
 manifest in the proof of a first cause : so likewise from the testimony 
 of others we believe in the existence of things which they have seen, 
 but we have not; this is the evidence of faith, and on it men act in 
 their dearest concerns in this world : this point enlarged on. Hence 
 it is no manner of proof that things do not exist because they are not 
 seen, as they may admit of another proof: yet the wisdom of the 
 voluptuous man is founded in this prejudice : he thinks it wisdom not 
 to part with a certainty for an uncertainty : this point enlarged on, 
 with respect to the things of this world, which he sees and feels, and 
 to future things, which lie out of the way of his senses. Sense is the 
 measure of his certainty, else why should he judge as he does ? His 
 senses only prove his present existence in this world ; not that he shall 
 not live hereafter in another ; and yet from the former he concludes 
 in prejudice to the other world ; which is very absurd, since this 
 evidence aftects not, 6ne way or other, the belief of future rewards 
 and glories: this point enlarged on. Hence therefore sense can 
 judge only on one side ; it can be no rule in this dispute ; for a rule 
 must be a common measure of the things to be estimated, and appli- 
 cable to both. Let sense prove, as strongly as you will, the existence 
 of this world, and the things of it, how can it aft'ect the belief of 
 another? That you live now proves not that we shall not live 
 hereafter ; therefore the evidence of sense for this world ought not to 
 prejudice our belief of another. The advantage of this evidence of 
 sense is great, because it is the first that men come to the use and 
 application of; and thus they learn to trust to it in all cases. 
 Men come later to the use of reason, for the evidence of which they 
 have less occasion ; and they use still less than they have occasion : 
 being then not equally acquainted with the certainty of this evidence 
 as with the demonstrations of sense, the deductions of reason satisfy 
 them less than the reports of sense. Such is the true state of this 
 question. Now if the evidence for unseen things be not of equal 
 weight with the evidence of sense, the things which are not seen 
 can never be made so clear as to compete with the things that 
 are seen ; though the means by which we arrive at the knowlege of 
 the former may aftord an evidence equal to the evidence of sense. 
 Many things are known only from reason, and yet are as well 
 
192 SUMMARIES OF 
 
 received as any report of sense : this point enlarged on, with 
 respect to the productions and works of nature. Another evi- 
 dence for things not seen is faith, an evidence to which the world in 
 temporal aftairs pays great respect, however shy they may be of 
 admitting it as a principle of religion : this point enlarged on, show- 
 ing that a man believes more about this world and its affairs, on the 
 report made from other people's senses than he does from his own. 
 This then the world must admit as good evidence for things not seen ; 
 since on it men believe the certainty of most things in the world. 
 Now this evidence, where it is perfect, falls little short of that of 
 sense; and men in many cases make no difference between them; 
 which shows that this kind of evidence may be so strong as to leave 
 no room for doubts or suspicions. Where then lies the reason of the 
 objection against the things of another world, because they are not 
 seen, and therefore not to be preferred to the things of this world, 
 which are seen ? Neither want their proper evidence ; and being- 
 possessed of it, they are not the worse for not having that evidence 
 which does not belong to them. If then the case is so, it is extreme 
 folly and want of thought to pursue the objects of sense in opposition 
 to things unseen, without a thorough examination of their evidence and 
 certainty. When you are told that for the blessings of another life 
 we have the certainty of reason and faith, you must own the argu- 
 ments are proper : the nature of the proof you cannot suspect ; and if 
 it be sufiBciently strong, you must acknowlege it to be demonstrative 
 in this as in all other like cases. The things of another world may 
 be objects of sense to those of the other world, and are therefore 
 capable of having the evidence of eye-witnesses : so that, should one 
 come down from Heaven, and report the state of things there, his 
 evidence must be admitted, the proof of his coming from Heaven 
 being supposed. Besides, this question concerning future rewards 
 and punishments is not the principal one in religion : it presupposes 
 the belief and knowlege of God, else there is no room for it : a 
 question then will arise, whether God can qualify men to be wit- 
 nesses to the world of these unseen things ? Doubtless he can reveal 
 these things to men if he pleases; and were the world satisfied that 
 he had revealed such things to such and such men, they must admit 
 them as good witnesses in that case : it comes therefore to this point ; 
 can men satisfy the world that God has indeed spoken to* them ? 
 This enlarged on. Since these things, then, are capable of such good 
 evidence, it will be worth while to inquire whether they have it or 
 no ; nor will it be the effect of wisdom to reject them unheard, and to 
 follow the impressions of sense at the hazard of final ruin. It would 
 be strange if a man who has eyes and ears doubted the evidence of 
 things continually thrust in at them. But to arrive at the evidence 
 of reason and faith requires the exercise of thought ; because these 
 proofs lie more out of the common road, and are not to be had with- 
 out being sought for. This is a just account of the reason why most 
 men act by the evidence of sense, and follow the things of this world, 
 while so few pursue with any heart or zeal the invisible things of 
 another. Not that the former are in themselves more real; but 
 
SHERLOCK'S DISCOURSES. — LX. 103 
 
 because men are sure of them, not being able to exchide the impres- 
 sions of them, but are dubious respecting the things of futurity, not 
 being able to attend to their proofs. How well this becomes men 
 of education, let any one judge : how they will account for their 
 neglect in not even proving and trying the things which make for 
 their salvation, is hard to say. If it had been intended that we 
 should be directed merely by our eyes, God need not have given us 
 the power of reflection ; and he will not excuse us for resigning our- 
 selves to sense, which was given, not to rule, but to serve man. 
 Concluding observations. 
 
 PART II. 
 
 Second subject of inquiry — whether the value of things not seen 
 be so great that we ought in prudence to forego the enjoyment of the 
 things that are present with us. There can be no ground to persuade 
 men to renounce the pleasures of life, and expose themselves to trou- 
 bles, which are often the companions of virtue, in hopes of future 
 glory, unless this glory be great enough to recompense them for the 
 losses and sufferings sustained in its pursuit. If the rewards of 
 Heaven be infinitely preferable to the things of this world, then it is 
 the part of wisdom to choose the greatest, though not the present 
 good, and to prefer the severe duties of religion to the soft allure- 
 ments of pleasure ; since our present afflictions are but momentary, 
 and will work for us a far more exceeding and eternal weight of 
 glory. On this principle the Apostle argues in the text, and justi- 
 fies his own practice and behavior : he suffered persecution gladly for 
 the sake of Christ and his truth : he suffered on the prospect of 
 future glory ; and though not dead to the sense of nature, or void of 
 feeling, yet knowing the value of the rewards for which he labored, 
 he made this choice. The Apostle's argument is founded on the dif- 
 ferent duration of the things of this world and of the other. It must 
 be allowed that we have the same evidence for the uncertain, and, at 
 best, for the short duration of the things of this life, as for their 
 existence ; that is, the evidence of sense : this point enlarged on. Let 
 us then examine what are the conclusions of reason from this head, 
 that the things which are seen are temporal. To estimate the happi- 
 ness of man, we must take into account the nature of his desires and 
 inclinations, and that of the objects which he pursues : if there be 
 such a due proportion between them, that the object is capable of 
 satisfying the desire, then the object obtained is capable of making a 
 man happy : uneasiness, and the want of something which we have 
 not, cannot do so ; which must always be the case when our de- 
 sires are fixed on objects which do not answer to them, and afford 
 not such a pleasure as may fill and content the mind. There are 
 different passions and desires incident to man ; not the same in all, 
 but varying according to temper, habits, age, and the like : these, 
 being so uncertain, enter not into this inquiry, which is after man's 
 natural happiness : this must be estimated by his natural and con- 
 
 PART II. N 
 
194 SUMMARIES OF 
 
 stant desires; among which the greatest is the desire of life: this 
 point enlarged on, showing that as life is but short, and must end in 
 death, the life of this world cannot be an adequate object of desire, 
 or make a man happy ; because it does not answer to his natural 
 desire, but leaves him restless and uneasy. Another natural and 
 constant desire, grafted on the former, and springing from it, is that 
 of happiness uninterrupted by afflictions of any kind : hence the fear 
 of losing what we possess often equals the pleasure of the possession ; 
 which shows that no temporary possession can justify the mind of 
 man ; thus proving that the natural desire is that of perpetual unin- 
 terrupted happiness : nothing less than this can make a man happy ; 
 and this the world does not afford. To place our happiness therefore 
 on this life, and the things of it, is, at best, to place it where it can- 
 not be had. We can never free ourselves from the natural desires of 
 life and happiness : this point enlarged on in the case of an atheist, 
 who, retaining the desire of eternal happiness, but denying the pos- 
 sibility of it, reduces himself to a state which cannot afford him 
 happiness : so that to have desires which cannot end in enjoyment for 
 want of suitable objects, is to have desires only to make us miserable. 
 If then this world has nothing that can make us happy, it cannot be 
 the effect of wisdom to seek it there : so that the first conclusion of 
 reason is, that the things of this world being temporal, and our 
 desires adapted to the fruition of things eternal, this world can never 
 make us happy : we must therefore seek where we may meet with 
 objects suited to our desires, and thus arrive at perfect happiness : so 
 that the voice of nature speaks the same language as our Saviour, 
 (Matt. vi. 19. 20) : these verses explained. That the things which 
 are seen are temporal, is no sufficient proof that there are things 
 which are not seen which are eternal ; though it is a great presump- 
 tion that God, not having fitted this world to our desires, has fitted 
 our desires to another world, and has not given us these cravings of 
 nature merely to vex us without the possibility of their being satis- 
 fied. The things of this world however being temporal, is a proof 
 that they cannot make us happy. Hence religion becomes a very 
 serious concern, since it alone can furnish objects adapted to our 
 natural desires. Is it not then very unnatural to see a man rejoice 
 and triumph in the thoughts that there is no eternal life or happiness? 
 It is indeed better not to be, than to be miserable ; the thoughts there- 
 fore of dropping into eternal silence may be the refuge of guilty fear, 
 but never can be a natural joy to the soul of man, which longs for 
 everlasting life. The only reason why any man can wish there may 
 be no other world is, that he may more freely enjoy this; a wise 
 reason, if we consider the value of this world, and how fleeting the 
 things of it are. So little do men gain by gaining this world, or lose 
 by losing it, that its concerns would weigh but light in this question, 
 were not men guided more by the violence of passion than either by 
 reason or the regular desires of nature. For, secondly, suppose that 
 religion were very uncertain, and a man liable to be deceived in his 
 hopes of future rewards ; let us again examine by this rule, that the 
 things which arc seen are temporal, the consequence of this mistake. 
 
Sherlock's discourses. — lx. 195 
 
 and how much a man would suffer by it. In ordinary life the plea- 
 sures that are consistent with innocence will be found to aftbrd more 
 real satisfaction than the vicious man can ever receive from the gra- 
 tification of his sensual desires. But we will waive this topic, as the 
 text supposes us to give up this world, and submit to many hardships 
 in order to obtain the other ; and it is always difficult to submit to the 
 restraints of religion, till men have mastered their appetites, and 
 learned to use this world as not abusing it. Say then, that a man 
 loses the pleasures of this world in pursuing those of another ; his loss 
 must be valued according to the worth of the thing lost. Now the 
 things of this world being very uncertain possessions, their loss can- 
 not be set very high : ill-success and disappointments often render all 
 our labor in pursuing them abortive ; and few attain to the end of 
 their desires. This being the case, he that pursues the glories of 
 another world to the neglect of this, may perhaps lose just nothing at 
 all : this point enlarged on. We may learn then, from the nature of 
 worldly possessions and our own experience, what chance a man has 
 of being satisfied with the enjoyments of life, even if he takes the 
 utmost pains for them : possibly he may never get them ; for there are 
 many pretenders who are ever jostling one another out : possibly too, 
 if he does get them, they may leave him before he has half done with 
 them, or he may even not relish them ; for many things are proved by 
 possession to be but empty and vain allurements. Now this chance 
 for worldly happiness is all that a man quits for religion : this point 
 enlarged on. On the other side, if religion reaches no farther than 
 this life, still it makes men easy under its disappointments ; so that 
 whatever the loss of the world may be to a worldly man, yet to a 
 truly religious one it is inconsiderable, as he is comforted and con- 
 firmed against such losses by the hopes of more solid enjoyments. 
 Add this therefore to the account, and religion will appear to be the 
 surest step, if not to happiness, yet to ease and contentment : this 
 topic enlarged on, showing that, as things go, it is well if the pain 
 and uneasiness of losing the world be not all we get by pursuing it ; 
 whilst religion teaches us that not to enjoy its pleasures is no great 
 mischief: so that, if there be no other world but this, we are sure by 
 religion to get the second best thing that can be had, that is, content- 
 ment. Admit that the principal thing is to have and enjoy the things 
 we want ; the next best is to be easy without them : the first the 
 world rarely grants ; the next religion never denies. And thus far 
 we may argue from the nature of worldly things, without making any 
 comparison between them and those of another life ; for this compa- 
 rison will even make it reasonable to choose the sorrows of life for 
 the sake of future glory ; since the things which are not seen are 
 eternal. Of the nature of future happiness we know but little: the 
 descriptions of it in Scripture are figurative, and lead not to the true 
 knowlege of its glories: possibly this world affords no notions proper 
 to express the happiness of Heaven, which therefore can be de- 
 scribed only by figures taken from our present sense of pleasure ; 
 from hence we only argue that the happiness is very great: but we 
 have a clear notion of duration ; here therefore the Scripture speaks 
 
19G SUMMARIES OF 
 
 plain, and tells us that this happiness is for evermore. Whosoever, 
 says our Saviour, believetk in me shall live, thotigh he die ; and ivho- 
 soever believeth on me shall not die eternally. This is the natural 
 happiness of man, since this alone can answer his natural desire of 
 eternal life ; and nothing can be more evident to sense than this is to 
 reason, that something has been from all eternity, and shall continue 
 to all eternity ; so that our desires of eternity are not loose ill- 
 grounded desires, but have objects in nature fitted to them. This 
 being the case, is it not agreeable to the very instinct of our nature 
 to seek those things which can alone make for our happiness, if by 
 any means we may attain to them ? To lead us to them is the work 
 of religion : to be employed in it therefore, is to be employed in the 
 work of nature, which is to seek its own happiness and perfection. 
 If religion be attended with difficulties, yet the glories we attain 
 thereby are worth the purchase : this point enlarged on. It is wise 
 to retire from the pleasures of the world, if it were only to guard 
 against this certain evil consequence, that if we follow things present 
 to the neglect of future happiness, the time will come when our pre- 
 sent enjoyments will be past, when things future will be growing into 
 things present : then this evil thought alone will haunt us, that for 
 the time past we have been comforted, but must be for the time to 
 come tormented. Shortlived as men are, they often outlast the 
 world, that is, its enjoyments: this point enlarged on. Concluding 
 reflections. 
 
 DISCOURSE LXI. 
 
 GENERAL EPISTLE OF ST. JUDE, VERSE 3. 
 
 It was needful for me to write unto you, and exhort you, that ye 
 should earnestly contend for the faith which was once delivered unto 
 the saints. 
 
 It is at all times the duty of pastors in the Christian church to be 
 zealous in maintaining and propagating the faith of the gospel ; but 
 there are some seasons which more especially require of them vigi- 
 lance to prevent, and of the people care to avoid, the danger of 
 growing errors and superstitions. Such was the occasion of this 
 Epistle, as we learn in verse 4. : hence the Apostle's exhortation in 
 the text. If this was needful in the Apostle's time, when the mis- 
 chief began first to show itself, what must it be in ours, when the 
 evil seems full-grown, and to surround us in different shapes? when 
 superstition on the one hand, and irreligion on the other, have left 
 true Christians but a narrow path to walk in, and the transition from 
 one of these extremes to the other is so much easier than from either 
 to the truth that lies between them ? 
 
 Another difficulty also distinguishes our times : St. Jude com- 
 
Sherlock's discourses. — lxi. 197 
 
 plains that teachers of perverse doctrines had crept in by stealth, 
 though the churches themselves taught the true faith of the gospel. 
 But in these latter days all churches are tainted with the infection 
 by corrupt members ; the errors which we have to contend with are 
 taught by authority as the necessary conditions of Christian commu- 
 nion : this point enlarged on. It is now then more needful than 
 ever to exhort men to contend earnestly for the faith once delivered 
 to the saints. This however is to little purpose, unless you give 
 them some sure mark of the right faith. If you ask of particular 
 churches or societies of Christians which is the true faith, each 
 answers that its own is right, and that of others wrong : hence no 
 church must be believed on its own word alone, without giving a rea- 
 son of its faith : yet this pretence of authority is all that can or does 
 justify the dominion of the church of Rome. With how much better 
 grace might St. Jude have told them of his own time, on his own 
 authority, what the true faith was ; but so far from doing it, he told 
 them to inquire what it was as formerly delivered to Christians. 
 Church authority is one of those unhappy subjects which is seldom 
 seen but from one of its extremes. With some persons it can do 
 every thing ; with others, nothing : these considerations are too 
 copious for the compass of a sermon ; some observations are made on 
 the text, which may be of use if duly considered. Firstly : since an 
 Apostle of Christ, in the early days of the church, sent Christians to 
 inquire after the faith delivered from the beginning, the Apostles 
 themselves could be but teachers and witnesses of it, and had no 
 authority or commission to make new articles; otherwise St. Jude's 
 conduct would have been absurd. This truth may be proved from 
 our Saviour's own words, (Mark xvi. 15.) That the gospel was to 
 be taught, not altered, is more expressly declared by St. Matthew, 
 (xxviii. 20.) : the promise annexed, (ver. 20.) and lo ! I am ivith you 
 to the end of the world, relates to their commission ; and on it they 
 could depend only whilst they taught what Christ had commanded. 
 Previously to our Saviour's leaving the world, he told his Apostles 
 that he would send them a Cotnforter, (John xiv. 16.) ; and he 
 describes his office, (ver. 26.) These verses enlarged on, showing 
 that the office of the Spirit, and the Spirit itself, was given only to 
 make them teachers of Christ's doctrine. 
 
 The conduct of the Apostles is next considered, and how they 
 executed the commission intrusted to them. They first elected an 
 Apostle in the place of Judas, and without doubt considered well 
 the qualifications necessary to the office : these are declared by 
 St. Peter (Acts i. 21. 22.) to belong to witnesses of the doctrines 
 and works of Christ ; their business therefore evidently was to report 
 the doctrines of Christ, not to deliver doctrines of their own. 
 St. Luke particularly tells us that he wrote his gospel, having had 
 perfect iinderstanding of all things from the very first, (i. 3.) : thus 
 following the rule prescribed by St. Jude, and reporting the faith 
 once delivered to the saints. St. John also refers to the beginning 
 and first revelation of the gospel, to show the authority of the doc- 
 trines which he delivered, (1 Epist. i. 1-3.) : these verses explained, 
 
198 SUMMARIES OF 
 
 showing also that a right of fellowship with the Apostles, or a right 
 to church communion, depends on embracing theya«^/< once delivered 
 to the saints, and on no other doctrines of later date whatever. 
 St. Paul's case was a singular one ; he had not the qualification 
 required in the Acts, or in the Epistle of St. Peter ; but the way by 
 which this defect was supplied, will justify the observation we are 
 on in the strongest manner imaginable. As St. Paul conversed not 
 with Christ in the flesh, so had he not the gospel from any of the 
 Apostles who did; but he had it by immediate revelation from 
 Christ himself; and therefore, says our Lord, I have appeai-ed unto 
 thee, &c. (Acts xxvi. 10.) : hence he speaks to the Galatians, of his 
 own authority, as an Apostle, (Gal. i. 1. 11. 12.) And this revela- 
 tion extended not merely to points of doctrines, but to the knowlege 
 of historical facts also; as is plain from 1 Cor. xi. 23. All these 
 things prove that the Apostles were witnesses and teachers of the 
 faith, and had no authority to add any thing to the doctrine of Christ, 
 or to declare new articles. If then the Apostles who were so highly 
 gifted, had not this power, can their successors without great impiety 
 pretend to it ? this point enlarged on in the case of the Romish church. 
 Can then any sober Christian trust himself to such guides, and not 
 tremble when he reads, thongh we or an angel from heaven preach 
 any other gospel, let him he accursed? When the corruptions of the 
 church of Rome were generally felt and complained of, and no appli- 
 cations caused any alteration, the fear of owning an error being more 
 powerful to continue old errors than the force of truth or even con- 
 viction was to reform them ; what was left for serious Christians to 
 do, but to separate between the old doctrines of the gospel and the 
 new inventions of men, and to build up a church on the foundation 
 of the Apostles, Jesus Christ himself being the head corner-stone ? 
 
 Hitherto we have spoken only of the doctrines of the gospel, and 
 points of Christian faith. If we extend this farther, and say that the 
 Apostles and the church after them had no more authority in any 
 thing else, we shall run into an extreme that can produce nothing but 
 disorder and confusion, and must in the end be subversive of all 
 Christian societies. Let us now then consider the grounds of this 
 distinction, as found in holy Scripture. We have this direction from 
 our Saviour : if thy brother shall trespass against thee, go and tell 
 him his fault, &c. (Matth. xviii. 15-17.) In cases which fall under 
 this direction, the church has a judicial authority, though it may be 
 and often has been flagrantly abused : to say it has none, is to deny 
 not only the authority of the church, but of Christ also, who gave 
 the direction. This authority is noticed by St. Paul, who rebukes 
 the church of Corinth for not using it to separate from them the 
 incestuous person, who had given ofl'ence, not to one, but to all 
 Christians. Another power which the Apostles had and exercised, 
 was the authority of settling churches, and prescribing rules of order 
 and decency to them. St. Paul's conduct in the disputes which 
 happened in the church of Corinth, will show how carefully he dis- 
 tinguishes between his duty to preach the pure gospel of Christ, and 
 his authority in matters of order and decency. The Corinthians had 
 
Sherlock's discourses. — lxi. li)l) 
 
 been guilty of great impropriety in eating the Lord's supper, as if 
 they had forgotten the end and use of it ; and they are set right by 
 St. Paul, as related 1 Cor. xi. 23. 33. 34. : he also committed the 
 like authority to his pastoral successors. The Epistles to Timothy 
 and Titus are full of canons for the government of their respective 
 churches. All these particulars laid together show that particular 
 churches had power to settle matters of discipline, order, and de- 
 cency, for themselves ; and that there were no rules of this kind of 
 universal obligation to all churches. As the Apostles, considered 
 singly in the light of commissioned and inspired teachers, had no 
 authority over the faith, neither had they when met together in coun- 
 cil. We have but one instance of an Apostolic council, which was 
 held at Jerusalem, of which the proceedings are recorded in Acts xvi. 
 This matter was plainly one of discipline, not of the substance of 
 faith ; and it was determined by prudential considerations, arising 
 from the circumstances of the Christian church at that time. This 
 case fully stated and commented on. 
 
 There is a question arising out of this case, viz. — why were the 
 particular orders to abstain from pollution of idols, and from forni- 
 cation, and from things strangled, &c. singled out, when the Jews 
 were strongly attached to other points of the law ? If we consider 
 the case, the reason of this distinction will appear: the great concern 
 being to prevent offence to the Jews, and thus to preserve peace in 
 the church of Christ, it was necessary to guard against practices 
 which lay open to every body's view in daily life : thus a Jew could 
 not have dined at the table of a Christian without having some secu- 
 rity that he should not meet with things offered to idols and the like; 
 and thus all intercourse between them would have been cut off, &c. : 
 but the great difficulty in this case lies in the word, fornication ; 
 which seems to be an offence of a moral kind, in which the Jews had 
 no particular concern. In the common sense of the word it could 
 have no meaning here. In respect to things offered to idols, and the 
 like, the Jews were not only forbidden the use of them, but all com- 
 munication with those who had, even though they were strangers, 
 (Lev. xvii. 12.) The word nopreln, which we translate fornication, 
 includes all carnal impurity. The abominable lewdness which made 
 part of the heathen worship will account for tlie worship of idols and 
 whoredom being joined together in the decree of the council. So 
 also they are joined together 1 Cor. vi. 9, and Rev. ii. 14. 20. Ido- 
 latry is also styled whoredom by the writers of the Old Testament; 
 and the great powers which spread idolatry in the world were charac- 
 terised under the image of a great whore ; so that nobody is at a loss 
 to understand the meaning of those writers, when they charge the 
 people with going a whoring after other gods. What has been said 
 in few words, the importance of the subject being considered, may 
 show us the foundation and proper bounds of church authority in 
 holy Scripture, and also the true foundation on which our reforma- 
 tion from the church of Rome stands. If that church asks why we 
 have departed from some which it accounts articles of faith, we 
 answer, because they are no part of the faith once delivered to the 
 
200 SUMMARIES OF 
 
 samts : if we are pressed with the authority of the church which has 
 received them, our answer is, that Christ Jesus tvas the author and 
 finisher of the faith; to which nothing can be added, and from 
 which nothing can be taken : if it be asked why we have discarded 
 much ceremony and discipline, we may, without entering into parti- 
 cular cases, answer that the church of England has as much autho- 
 rity to appoint rules for its members as the church of Rome has ; 
 that these have been settled on prudential considerations of the cir- 
 cumstances of England, whose church is a far better judge in this 
 respect than that of Rome. But, secondly ; if we are to contend ybr 
 the faith once delivered unto the saints, where are we to find this 
 faith, and how can we distinguish it from the addition of later ages? 
 When our Saviour came into the world, the case of the Jewish 
 church was in this respect the same as ours : the evil had been long 
 growing, and the ancient prophets had taken notice of it, as in Isaiah 
 xxix. 13. : but yet in our Saviour's time traditions were in such 
 esteem, that the Scribes and Pharisees challenged him to answer this 
 question : why do thy disciples transgress the traditions of the elders ? 
 (Mat. XV. 2.) — the very question this which is put to us by the church 
 of Rome, and the darling point insisted on by their emissaries. But 
 hear our Saviour's answer to it : ivhy do you also transgress the com- 
 mandments of God by your tradition ? — a question hard to be an- 
 swered, and which the rulers of the church of Rome should consider 
 well, for they are much concerned in it. If that church pretends to 
 have, by oral tradition, doctrines derived originally from the Apostles, 
 the Jewish doctors referred theirs to Moses, from whom, as they 
 supposed, they received them. The Jews had the writings of 
 Moses and the Prophets ; the church of Rome has those of the 
 Apostles and Evangelists; yet neither allow their own to be a com- 
 plete rule, but recur to tradition in order to supply the deficiency. 
 Consider how our Saviour treated this pretence of the Jewish church, 
 and it will direct us how to behave in the like case. He speaks of 
 them as holding doctrines of their own, not of God, (Mark vii. 8. 9.) : 
 he shows how their traditions contradicted the law of Moses, and 
 then tells them, you make the tvard of God of none effect, &c. : 
 plainly considering the written law of Moses as the commandment of 
 God, but the traditions of the elders as the law of men. To Moses 
 and the Prophets, who make up the Scripture of the Jews, our Lord 
 constantly appeals: he bids the Jews search the Scriptures; tells 
 them they err, not knowing the Scriptures ; and when he tells them 
 that on the two commandments, of loving God and our neighbor, 
 hang all the law and the prophets, he plainly declared that they con- 
 tained the whole of their religion ; for if he had considered the tradi- 
 tions as a rule of religion, he must have reduced them also to his 
 general precepts. In the parable of the rich man and Lazarus, our 
 Saviour has fully determined this point in the person of Abraham. 
 The application of this case is easily made to our own : we have 
 seen what our Saviour thought of the traditions, what of the law and 
 prophets of the Jewish church. The Christian church has its Apostles 
 and Evangelists, and also too many traditionary doctrines, not founded 
 
Sherlock's discourses. — lxii. 201 
 
 in holy writ. What are we to do then ? We cannot want better 
 authority than our Saviour's to reject the traditions of men, and to 
 hold fast the doctrine of the Apostles and Prophets of the gospel ; 
 that is, contend for the faith once delivered to the saints. 
 
 DISCOURSE LXII. 
 
 ROMANS, CHAP. XIII. VERSE 1. 
 
 Let every soul be subject unto the higher powers. For there is no power 
 but of God : the powers that be are ordained of God. 
 
 We have, in this and the following verses, the duty which subjects 
 owe to their temporal governors, taught and maintained by several 
 arguments; to understand the sense and propriety of which, we must 
 consider the circumstances of the time, place, and persons here con- 
 cerned. There is no appearance in the gospel that our Saviour 
 intended to alter the civil governments of the world. His errand was 
 of a different nature; and he speaks of government only as occasion 
 required. In Matt. xxii. 17. we find a captious question put to him 
 by the Pharisees, whether it was lawful to pay tribute to the Roman 
 emperor or not ? The question arose from hence : that a certain 
 Jewish sect held this payment to be unlawful. The author of this 
 opinion was Judas of Galilee, who, when the nation was ordered to 
 be taxed, raised a great rebellion. His fate is related fully by 
 Josephus, and mentioned by Gamaliel in Acts v. 37. By degrees 
 they gathered strength ; and in the reign of Claudius ravaged many 
 places in Samaria : their pretence for freedom was, as we learn from 
 St. Chrysostom, that being the freemen of God, they ought not to be 
 the subjects or slaves of men. They were called Galileans, their 
 founder being of that country, as also many of his followers. By 
 this name Christians went in the first ages; they are so called by 
 several heathen writers : Julian thus also designates them. Hence 
 the Christians going by the name of Galileans were thought by the 
 heathens to entertain the opinions of those who refused obedience to 
 earthly princes, and were for setting up an independent government. 
 Thus Tertullus the orator accused St. Paul, (Acts xxiv. 5.); thus 
 also did the Jews accuse the Christians to the magistrates of Thessa- 
 lonica, (Acts xvii. 16.) Hence that question of the Pharisees, Is it 
 lawful to pay tribute to Ccesar? for they hoped to have found some- 
 thing whereof to have impeached our Saviour before the Roman 
 governor. The collectors of tax seem to have had the same jealousy 
 concerning our Saviour, when in Matth. xvii. 24. they inquired of 
 St. Peter whether his Master would pay tribute or no ; to which he 
 answers yes : and our Saviour, though he intimates that he ought to 
 have been exempted, says to St. Peter, when he had cast his hook 
 
202 SUMMARIES OF 
 
 into the sea, and taken the piece of money from the mouth of the 
 fish, ' Give it them as tribute for me and yourself, lest we should 
 offend them.' This scandal, which he and his Apostles lay under, 
 urged both him and them to vindicate themselves, and to teach their 
 followers such obedience to the higher . powers as might leave no 
 pretence for such an accusation. That the Apostles had reference 
 to the same in pressing obedience of all kinds on their disciples, is 
 evident from the argument with which they close their instructions; 
 that the word of God be not blasphemed, or evil spoken of: this 
 text commented on, showing that Christians were more liable to 
 reproach in this case than in any other : hence the reason why 
 our Lord bids St. Peter pay the tribute : hence St. Paul's orders 
 to Titus, ch. ii. 5. and 10. : also Tim. vi. 1. See also 1 Peter, 
 ii. 15, 16. Besides these reasons, drawn from the Apostle's 
 own writings, St. Jerome, in his comment on Tit. iii. 1., and 
 St. Chrysostom, on Rom. xiii., teach the same thing. Hence 
 we may see why the Apostles so earnestly press their new converts 
 with a more than ordinary obedience to their governors : the honor 
 of Christ and the gospel was nearly concerned in their behavior, 
 which ought to be dearer to them than their lives : this point enlarged 
 on. St. Paul more especially labors this point, when he writes to 
 the Christians at Rome, where the least disorder would be soonest 
 taken notice of, and most improved to the prejudice of the gospel. 
 If we examine what St. Paul has taught on this point, we shall find 
 it built on reasons purposely adapted to confute the error of the 
 Galileans and some judaizing Christians, and to require such a 
 scrupulous obedience as might clear the gospel and its professors from 
 the scandal thrown on them by the heathen. The doctrine of the 
 former part of the text opposes that of the Galileans ; and is sup- 
 ported in the latter part by arguments peculiarly adapted to combat 
 their error. He allows what they gay to be true respecting God ; 
 but this is so far from exempting them from subjection to temporal 
 power, that it proves the contrary : for the power of the magistrate 
 being delegated from God, is therefore more especially to be regarded 
 by those who pretend in a peculiar manner to be his servants. It 
 was obvious to object to this reasoning, that the powers then in being 
 could not be ordained by God, because they had thwarted all his 
 purposes. To prevent which he purposely adds, ol be ovaai e^ovaiai, 
 the powers which now be, are ordained of God ; whence he draws 
 this consequence, whosoever therefore resisteth the power, resistetk 
 the ordinance of God. In what sense the rulers of the world may 
 be said to be the ordinance of God, and to derive their power from 
 him, is to be found from the state of the world, which requires them 
 to protect the innocent and defend the weak : therefore to pretend an 
 exemption from their power is to act in opposition to his will. 
 As some pretended to withdraw their obedience from the prince, 
 because they had been made partakers of the freedom of the gospel, 
 so others in a state of servitude thought they had a right to throw off 
 their bondage for the same reason : the Apostle therefore uses the 
 same way of arguing with them, exhorting them to submit to their 
 
SHERLOCK'S DISCOURSES. — LXII. 203 
 
 masters as unto God. Thus he lays down this general rule : Let 
 every man abide in the same calling, &c. (1 Cor. vii. 20.) ; which he 
 particularises in Ephes. vi. 5. 7. The same is somewhat differently 
 expressed in Col. iii. : and is treated with some warmth in 1 Tim. vi. 
 3-5. In all these passages he plainly refers to the opinion of such 
 as taught that the gospel had introduced a perfect state of freedom, 
 and therefore teaches his converts that Christianity should make 
 them better, not worse servants ; since they ought to obey from the 
 heart, as serving God and not men. St. Peter also teaches the same : 
 snbttiit yourselves to every ordinance of man for the Lord's sake. 
 Hence it is plain that the Apostle's argument is chiefly directed 
 against those who were for making religion the cloak of disloyalty, 
 on the specious pretence of setting up the Lord Jesus. The Apostle 
 uses a second argument to inforce his doctrine, laid down at first in 
 the words of the text : Let every soul he subject to the higher poivers: 
 and here the first doubt is, where the argument begins ; for the words 
 immediately following those last treated of may either be taken as 
 the first of the second argument, or as a farther conclusion drawn 
 from the first : and they that resist shall receive to themselves dam- 
 nation. If they who resist the power, do resist the ordinance of 
 God, then this consequence is so evident, that it can lose nothing of 
 its force should it be taken as introducing a new argument ; which 
 on the whole it seems to do : reasons for this given. To go on with 
 the argument : it is drawn from the common topic of hope and fear ; 
 and by setting before us both the power and right of our governors to 
 punish us, when we refuse to acknowlege their authority, it tacitly 
 warns us to expect no protection from God against their just anger : 
 it is absurd to expect assistance from God in opposition to his own 
 authority delegated to earthly powers. The gospel in every page 
 encourages its disciples to bear up against the afflictions or persecu- 
 tions of the world, and to be exceeding glad, because their reward 
 shall be great in heaven ; but lest those who suffered as seditious 
 subjects should entertain these hopes, he also warns them that the 
 prince acts by the will of God in punishing such offenders. St. Peter, 
 on the same subject, has the same view before him, (iv. 14, 15.) as 
 he had before observed ; ichat glory is it, if ivhen ye shall be 
 buffeted for your faults, ye take it patiently? St. Paul's second 
 argument therefore is not a mere prudential motive to obedience ; but 
 it teaches us that we shall not only suffer, but deserve to suffer, which 
 every Christian ought to fear more than the evil itself. The steps of 
 the argument are, they that resist shall receive to themselves damna- 
 tion, that is, punishment or judgment ; the reason follows : for rulers 
 are not a terror to good works, but to the evil: hence we infer that by 
 good works obedience is especially meant ; and by evil works, resist- 
 ance : else his reason will not contain the proof of his doctrine : yet 
 the Apostle is now disputing with those who considered themselves 
 justified by the gospel in not thinking the resistance here spoken of 
 an evil work. Does he then beg this most material point? No: but 
 from his first argument, that whoever resists the power resisteth the 
 ordinance of God, he proves resistance to be an evil work : he then 
 
204 SUMMARIES OF 
 
 shows the prince's power over such workers of iniquity ; wilt thou 
 then not be afraid ofthepoiver? Do that which is good, and thou 
 shalt have praise of the same. This was a strange assertion, if 
 understood of good works in general : St. Paul knew that to obey 
 the gospel, to reject idolatry, was to do good ; yet that those who 
 did so, far from having the praise of their rulers, were daily tormented 
 by them : he knew that to preach the gospel was a good work, yet 
 that he himself for so doing had been in perils and in danger of his 
 life. How then could he assure his converts that if they did good, 
 they should have praise of their rulers? But the difficulty vanishes, 
 if we take good in the limited sense of the Apostle. By this reason- 
 ing the good must mean the same thing with good works ; and we 
 have shown good toorks to signify the work of obedience: hence, do 
 that which is good means, pay due obedience: and then this propo- 
 sition is universally true ; for obedience is a good work ; and, be 
 princes what they may, they will always praise it; and we are sure 
 to get this good by it, a quiet life at least. This exposition also 
 suits St. Paul's main design, which was to inculcate obedience to the 
 higher powers : temperance, chastity, and other virtues were out of 
 this question : if the Apostle then keeps to his point, the good thing 
 he recommends is that of obedience ; and the word in the original, 
 rendered ^root? in our translation, is appropriated by St. Paul and 
 St. Peter to denote the good of obedience in opposition to that evil 
 spirit which sets a government at nought. The promise made to 
 obedience is, thou shalt have praise of the same. What is meant by 
 praise may be understood from St. Peter, who speaks of governors 
 sentybr the punishment of evil doers, and for the praise of them that 
 do IV ell : where praise must denote protection and encouragement, 
 the only proper rewards good subjects can expect. And this will 
 explain the words, for he is the minister of God to thee for good. 
 The Apostle had promised reward to the obedient : he then supports 
 it by these words. To be a minister for good then, must denote his 
 being appointed by God as a dispenser of rewards ; else the argument 
 is lame : for if any other good be meant, the consequence is false ; 
 but if he be appointed by God to dispense rewards to those who do 
 well, and if obedience be the good work, we have reason to expect 
 reward for our obedience. And this sense will appear the true one 
 by comparing the former and latter part of the verse together: for 
 the Apostle goes on, but if thou do that which is evil, be afraid; for 
 he beareth not the sword in vain. He then adds, ybr he is a minister 
 oj God : for what ? He had before called him a dispenser of rewards, 
 a minister of God for good ; here then he should have called him one 
 for evil: but the expression being too harsh, he uses a periphrasis, 
 and says he is a revenger to execute icrath on him that doeth evil. 
 This expounds a minister for good to be an encourager of him that 
 doeth well. Compare all the parts, and there can be no doubt : this 
 comparison fully drawn out. What good we are to expect from 
 kings and governors, St. Paul has told us, 1 Tim. ii. 2. The peace 
 of society is the very end of temporal government ; and when pro- 
 moted by those in authority, then they are justly to be esteemed as 
 
Sherlock's discourses. — lxii. 205 
 
 ministers of God for good to the people, wlio in return are bound to 
 obey ; and this iutitles them to the praise and protection of those in 
 authority. By these two arguments St. Paul supports his doctrine 
 of obedience : that they are rightly divided he himself bears witness 
 in the next verse; wherefore ye must needs be subject, not only for 
 wrath, but also for conscience sake: here he refers only to two argu- 
 ments, one drawn from wrath, and one from conscience : the former 
 respects the present life and the magistrate's power; for the wrath of 
 God is included in the latter, which is no argument without it ; for 
 what is conscience where there is no fear of God ? You must then 
 submit for wrath, because the magistrate has the power of God to 
 execute wrath on him that doeth evil ; for conscience, since he that 
 resisteth the power resisteth the ordinance of God. The sixth verse 
 only mentions a particular instance of obedience, the paying tribute, 
 as being the very ground of this dispute. St. Paul, under the duties 
 of subjection, comprehends not only those owing to kings, but to every 
 superior; nay, even to our equals: Rom. xiii. 1.; and thus con- 
 cludes, Give no man any thiny, but to love one another ; referring 
 even the duties of love to this head of subjection : but more on this 
 point hereafter. The Apostle's concern was with such as were for 
 denying the right of government, and being every man his own king ; 
 he did not therefore intend to consider the measures and limits of the 
 power of earthly princes ; nor can the argument reach this point, nor 
 has Scripture meddled with it : it has commanded obedience to all 
 governors, and left us the laws and constitutions of our country to 
 know who they are, and what they are. The Apostle, in teaching 
 this doctrine, was chiefly concerned for the honor of the gospel, and 
 exhorted to obedience, that the name of God and Christ might not 
 be blasphemed. Had he taught the Christians at Rome that the 
 emperor was ordained by God for their good, and that they were 
 bound to obey him only so long as he was good to them ; would this 
 have cleared them of the scandal they lay under ? No : it would 
 have justified it, and confirmed this maxim to the powers of the 
 world, that if Christianity prevailed, their authority must sink. No- 
 tice taken of St. Peter's doctrine on this subject. His Epistle is 
 directed to the strangers scattered throughout divers countries : for 
 in the ninth year of Claudius the Jews, under which name the 
 Christians also were plainly comprehended, (Acts xviii.) were 
 banished Rome for tumults occasioned by their disputes. This 
 banishment is mentioned by Suetonius, and by St. Luke in the Acts. 
 St. Peter therefore was necessarily to press obdience in his exhorta- 
 tion to his scattered flock, (ii. 11, 12.) : then follows the general 
 precept : submit yourselves to every ordinance of man, for the Lord's 
 sake, &c. Here St. Peter is supposed to teach us that kings are the 
 ordinance of man : if so, he has contradicted St. Paul, who expressly 
 tells us that the poivers which be are ordained of God ; which clear 
 doctrine should make us cautious how w^e expound St. Peter to a 
 different meaning. His original words are Trao-jj ai'dpuirirr] Kriaei. 
 Now KTittis signifies sometimes in Scripture a creat^ire, and the ad- 
 jective joined with it, human : thus the doctrine is plain ; submit 
 
20G SUMMARIES OF 
 
 yourselves to every human creature, or to every man, for the Lord's 
 sake, How it signifies any thing made by man is unintelligible : 
 ardpionivt} aocftia is not wisdom made by man, but that wisdom 
 which man has given to him by God ; so that KTieris avBpbtirivr} is a 
 human creahire will appear from the whole tenor of his discourse. It 
 is usual with the best writers to set down the doctrine in general 
 words, and then to deduce the particulars : this is St, Peter's method 
 in the place before us. These particular cases detailed, which are 
 plainly included in the general rule, show the absurdity of our ver- 
 sion of this phrase : nay, St. Peter goes lower, and commands us to 
 love the brotherhood : so that we may as well say we made our bro- 
 ther, because we must love him, as our king, because we must obey 
 him. It was observed before, how St. Paul derived the duties of 
 subjection so low as to the love of one another : St. Peter does the 
 same. St. Paul's general rule is, render to all their dues : St. 
 Peter's is, submit to every human creature. St. Paul concludes, 
 owe no man any thing, but to love one another : St. Peter, yea, all of 
 you be subject one to another. Thus both take all degrees of duty 
 into the doctrine of submission ; so nearly do they agree : if St. Paul 
 has said that the higher powers are ordained of God, St. Peter has 
 said as much, by telling us that so is the will of God, that with well- 
 doing we may put to silence the ignorance of foolish men. If St. 
 Paul has said, we must obey for conscience sake, St. Peter has 
 affirmed that obedience is the will of God. Concluding observations. 
 
 DISCOURSE LXTIT. 
 
 GENESIS, CHAP. XVIII. VERSE 19. 
 
 For I know him, that he will command his children, and his household 
 after him ; and they shall keep the way of the Lord, to do justice and 
 judgment ; that the Lord may hring on Abraham that which he hath 
 spoken of him. 
 
 These words of the Lord concerning Abraham contain the reason 
 why God made choice of him, to make of him a nation to whom 
 should be committed the oracles of God: the verse before the text 
 contains the sentiment. It has been matter of difficulty with curious 
 inquirers to assign the reasons of God's regard to Abraham and his 
 posterity, while the rest of the world was permitted to remain in 
 ignorance and superstition : it is not intended to examine all the 
 reasons that may be assigned for this selection ; but since God has 
 been pleased to give one, it concerns us to consider it, as instructing 
 us how to render ourselves acceptable to God, and draw down a 
 blessing on ourselves and our posterity : Gen. xviii. 18, 19. We 
 may plainly see the connexion of the text with the preceding verse, 
 
SHERLOCK'S DISCOURSES. — LXIIl. 207 
 
 and the reason given for the distinguishing mercy bestowed on Abra- 
 ham, which is founded on these two propositions, and supposes the 
 truth of them : First, That it is the duty of every father and master 
 of a family so to command his children and household, that they shall 
 keep the way of the Lord : and, secondly, That the same duty is 
 incumbent on the governors and magistrates of all nations. If we 
 suppose the virtue here commended proper only to fathers and mas- 
 ters of families, the reason assigned in the text for making Abraham 
 a great and mighty nation is very absurd : nay, it would rather have 
 been a good one to keep all public authority out of his hands : this 
 point enlarged on generally with respect to magistrates, and in its 
 application to the present subject. It has been disputed whether 
 government is derived from the paternal authority, and is only the 
 extension of it, or from the consent or choice of the people : a point 
 of greater curiosity than use ; since the rights of nations will be 
 determined by their respective laws and usages, not by the specula- 
 tions of philosophers. But as to religion, every magistrate's duty, 
 with respect to his people, is the same as every father's with respect 
 to his household. This was the case with Abraham ; otherwise this 
 care over his family could have been no reason for extending his 
 authority over a great and mighty nation. The magistrate's care 
 with respect to the religion of his people, and the father's with 
 respect to that of his family, are so much the same, that they must 
 stand or fall together; both having the same reasons to support them, 
 and being liable to the same objections. If the father has his 
 authority from God, is the case of the magistrate different? If the 
 happiness of a family and its members consists in a due conformity to 
 the principles of virtue and reason, and if it be the father's duty natu- 
 rally to guard them against vice, is the happiness of a kingdom less 
 concerned in the virtue of the people ? or ought a prince less to 
 regard the welfare of his subjects? Turn it as you will, the argu- 
 ments are the same, and applicable to both cases. If you object to 
 the magistrate's authority in religion, and the impropriety of temporal 
 rewards and punishments, are they not as improper in the hands of a 
 father as of a prince? This point enlarged on. From the text thus 
 explained, it is inquired wherein the care of religion, public and pri- 
 vate, consists, and the means necessary to its support are justified. If 
 we consider the nature and disposition of mankind, we shall perceive 
 two things necessary to guard the practice of virtue and religion, viz. 
 instruction and correction : one, a proper remedy for the weakness of 
 the understanding; the other, for the perverseness of the will. 
 Where these two are joined together, the instruction is properly 
 authoritative; and this is the case both of parents and magistrates; 
 therefore Abraham's care is expressed by the word command. The 
 same precept, called teaching in Deut. xi. li). is in xxxii. 46. called 
 commanding. This duty princes cannot perform personally to all 
 their people ; therefore there has been an order of men set apart as 
 teachers and ministers of religion in every civilised nation; which, on 
 the footing of natural religion, the supreme power has doubtless a 
 right to appoint : such was the case with the people of Rome ; and, 
 
208 SUMMARIES OF 
 
 had their religion been right, no fault could have been found with the 
 constitution of their priesthood. This ri^ht under the law of Moses 
 was limited to one family, while the priesthood under the gospel is 
 confined to such methods of conveyance as Christ and his Apostles 
 have appointed or approved ; and being owned and established by 
 the public, they have the commission and authority of the magis- 
 trate for the edification of the people. The power of correction 
 is proper to be preserved in the hand of the magistrate, to be applied 
 for the punishment of wickedness and vice, and for the maintenance 
 of true religion and virtue. As these methods are necessary for the 
 promoting and preserving the virtue of nations, so are they for the 
 good government and improvement of private families : as to instruc- 
 tion separate from correction, no one but a friend to libertinism can 
 object to it. Some have thought that, since God has given all men 
 reason to direct them, they should be left to its guidance in discover- 
 ing the truths of religion, without having any principles instilled into 
 them by others, which they esteem only as so many prejudices. Not 
 to insist how contrary this is to all the rules of Scripture which 
 relate to the duty of parents, and to the practice of nations, it is 
 enough to observe that had God intended this, he must have sup- 
 plied all men with leisure for speculation as well as with reason. If 
 men have so much reason as to be able to discover their duty without 
 assistance, they can distinguish between truth and falsehood, when 
 proposed to them by others, and are not in more danger of being 
 betrayed, than if left to themselves. Those who have not reason 
 enough for this, must be governed by other methods. It is certain 
 that general errors have been perpetuated by traditionary instruction, 
 as well as general truths ; but if an end must for this reason be put 
 to all instruction, what single thing of use can be preserved in life ? 
 Must the world be starved, because some have suffered by intem- 
 perance ? or left in ignorance, because some, through false teachers, 
 have been miserably deceived ? But the strongest objections lie 
 against the use of correction in matters of religion. All allow the 
 magistrate to punish crimes which injure the state, or private per- 
 sons ; a concession not to be despised in behalf of religion, since our 
 duty to God and to our neighbor so concurs that he who punishes 
 offences offered to men, will so far punish vice and immorality. 
 Hence the plea for excluding the magistrate from matters of religion 
 can only affect such cases where the honor of God alone is con- 
 cerned, as profaneness, impiety, and the like. The reason assigned 
 for this is, that human punishments cannot make men religious : they 
 can make men comply outwardly with the law, but cannot reach to 
 the purifying their hearts, in the integrity of which the virtue of reli- 
 gion consists. But, first, it ought to be considered that such impiety 
 is prejudicial to the public, by the contagion of ill example. The 
 reverence men have for God is the best foundation of obedience to 
 temporal governors: this point enlarged on, with the ill conse- 
 quences of taking away this reverence for God. But, secondly, it is 
 want of the knowlege of human nature, which leads men to make this 
 objection : for though it is true that the sinner who abstains from 
 
Sherlock's discoiirses, — Lxin. 'im 
 
 vice through fear of temporal punii?hment, cannot be said to act on a 
 religious principle in so doing ; yet we must consider the consequence 
 which punishments produce. If you keep a sinner from vice at first 
 through fear, he will by degrees habitually do well ; his relish for 
 vice will abate, and by length of practice he will take pleasure in 
 virtue. We see that this is the case with children. And will it be 
 said, that when a man is grown to be habitually virtuous, he has no 
 true religion in him, because he was reclaimed at first by temporal 
 fears ? If not, it must be allowed that these fears are not destructive 
 of religion. Enough has been said to show, and also to justify the 
 means necessary to be used in discharging the duty recommended in 
 the text; it remains to exhort every one to do his part, and to make 
 all, as far as he is able, keep the ivay of the Lord, and do justice and 
 judgment. And first, the magistrate is to be watchful over the man- 
 ners of the people, and jealous for the honor of God. In this consists 
 the stability of nations; for righteousness exalteth a nation, but sin is 
 tfie reproach of the jjeople. This case descends from the supreme 
 head of justice to every officer of the kingdom, in proportion to his 
 power. But leaving this part of the exhortation, it is to be added 
 that private men, though vested with no public authority, can do 
 much by showing themselves pleased that others should do their 
 duty. Next to the magistrate, the chief care of virtue and religion 
 lies on fathers and masters of families. The kingdom is one great 
 family, which is made up of the small ones; in which if care be taken 
 for the instruction of youth, the public will soon see and feel the 
 happy effects of it: this point enlarged on, first, with respect to the 
 duty which we owe to God, who, if they perish, will require their 
 souls at our hands : secondly, with respect to our country, which is 
 deeply concerned that its youth should be trained up to virtue and 
 industry ; else how can we hope to see the nation supplied with 
 honest and worthy men ? thirdly, with respect to our children, whom 
 we have brought into the world, and whom we are obliged, by the 
 strongest ties of natural affection, to guard against the certain mise- 
 ries of this life and of the next : this point enlarged on. What 
 strong obligations then are parents under to be diligent in the dis- 
 charge of this duty ! and what happy days might we promise our- 
 selves, did the performance answer to the obligations! In many 
 cases ignorance and poverty preclude the performance ; hence the 
 institution of public schools, maintained by cotitributions for the 
 instruction and education of the poor ; calculated to promote nobler 
 views than those of private interest to any one set of men, and tend- 
 ing directly to the public good. The passions of men considered, it 
 is not to be expected that those who are permitted to go wild in their 
 youth, should prove harmless, much less useful to society in after 
 years. Necessity is a great temptation to wickedness ; and when 
 they have nothing but their corrupt affections to direct them, how 
 can they withstand these temptations ? Idle and undisciplined boys 
 often prove vicious young men, and fall a sacrifice to the severity of 
 the law before they become old ones. Thieves and robbers must be 
 punished, or the innocent will be ruined : is it not then a reproach to 
 
 PAKT II, O 
 
210 SUMMARIES OF 
 
 a Christian country, that great care should be taken to punish crime, 
 and little or none to prevent it? yet this is the case wliere the 
 instruction of the poor is neglected. This mischief is in some measure 
 provided for by the charity-schools ; and thus the rich are saved from 
 the violence of wicked necessitous men ; the poor from wickedness 
 and its punishments ; and so many useful hands are gained to the 
 public. But farther, the peace of tlie church is thus also provided 
 for; an end which every sincere Christian must take pleasure in pro- 
 moting: the consequent happiness obtained by such an education, 
 must give us an idea of its usefulness, and encourage us in its support. 
 If every gift thus bestowed shall have its reward, how abundantly 
 shall the charity be recompensed which serves all these purposes at 
 once ! This point enlarged on : concluding exhortations. 
 
 SUMMARIES OF 
 OCCASIONAL DISCOURSES. 
 
 DISCOURSE I. 
 
 Preached before Queen Anne at St. James's, Jan. 30, 1704, being 
 the anniversary of the Martyrdom of King Charles the First. 
 
 PROVERBS, CHAP. XXIV. VERSE 21. 
 
 My son, fear thou the Lord and the king; and meddle not with them that 
 are given to change. 
 
 The fear of God and of the king are joined together in Scripture, 
 to show the dependence which one has on the other. The advantage 
 of religion to all public societies and civil governments is evident : 
 and if we look into the history of former times, we shall find the first 
 symptoms of ruin in the dissolute lives of the people and their con- 
 tempt of sacred things. 
 
 The duty of fearing God is not considered farther than as the 
 obedience due to our superiors on earth is included in it ; the dis- 
 course therefore is confined to the following particulars: I. What 
 obedience to our governors is enjoined by the law of God : II. How 
 inconsistent with this obedience is the practice of those men, who 
 are given to change. 
 
 I. Obedience is seen chiefly in three things : first, in submission to 
 the laws and commands of our princes : secondly, in honor and reve- 
 rence to their persons and government: thirdly, in defending them, 
 when any danger threatens them or the public. First : to determine 
 
Sherlock's occasional discourses. — i. 211 
 
 the original of civil power, or the prince's right to the subject's 
 obedionce, is neither easy nor necessary. M'hen our Saviour ap- 
 peared in the world, various were the forms of government in it, and 
 ditterent the degrees of power exercised by its rulers ; none of which 
 were lessened or increased by the divine law, but all pronounced to 
 be the ordinance of God; and obedience was exacted, under penalty 
 of disobeying him, the original of all [>o\\er : for he that resisteth, 
 resisteth the ordinance of God, etc. 
 
 But since the nature of oi)edience is no where determined by the 
 law of God, while the practice of it only is commanded, some other 
 rule there must be to Judge of the extent of our duty. This shown 
 to be the measure of power and authority ; whatever the prince can 
 lawfully command in that, ihe subject is bound to obey. The thinijs 
 which are God's must be rendered unto God ; and therefore no divine 
 law can be supersedeil by the command of any earthly power : we 
 must obey God rather than man, and be content with the lot of them 
 who sutler for well-doing. But to reason abstractedly on the power 
 of princes is a sign of weakness and of a troublesome temper : custom 
 and the law of the land are, in each country, the highest reason : 
 otherwise the gospel, which was intended for the law of all nations 
 and people, could not have commanded obedience to the present 
 powers, so different in form and authority. 
 
 Obedience is primarily due to God, the fountain of all power. 
 Where God did not so visibly interest himself, as in the Jewish dis- 
 pensation, but committed the reins of government to earthly princes, 
 the making of laws for the external order of the world was remitted 
 to their authority; and therefore the gospel, though infinitely more 
 perfect than the law, gave us no system of laws, either for civil ov 
 ecclesiastical government. Of obedience there are two parts, the 
 external and the internal : the former is that in the due performance 
 of which the beauty and order of the world consists, and is therefore 
 the proper care of its governors. The same holds in religion, which 
 is the service of God : there are duties in which none are concerned 
 but God and our own souls; such as faith, repentance, &c. But 
 God requires also an external and visible worship from us, in which 
 order and decency are required, but not determined ; and therefore 
 they must be left to the jurisdiction of those to whom we are answer- 
 able for our outward behavior in all things. 
 
 The second instance of obedience is to honor and reverence our 
 governors ; a duty which we owe to all our superiors in proportion 
 to their dignity and office. Next to him, whose very name cannot 
 be taken in vain without guilt, are the supreme powers on earth, 
 great though the distance be : to them we owe respect, according to 
 the Apostle's rule, to render honor to whom honor, fear to whom fear 
 is due. Two things have a right to honor and respect; personal 
 virtue, and public character ; which, when happily joined together, 
 are to be accounted worthy of double honor ; but when separate, are 
 not to be defrauded of their due portion. Example of St. Paul, who 
 corrected himself when he had spoken rudely to the high priest. 
 
 The third instance of obedience is in defending the persona and 
 
212 SUMMARIES OF 
 
 government of our princes. Mutual defence is the end of all govern- 
 ment. Protection in life and fortune is the right of every subject; 
 this he may lawfully expect from his prince, and so is bound to him, 
 in the like duty of defending his person and government, whenever 
 occasion requires it. When men entered into civil society, they 
 resigned all their private rights and interests to the public good ; and 
 therefore the public happiness is to be preferred before our own : the 
 prince bears the person of the commonwealth ; by him the public 
 lives and acts ; therefore his life is sacred, and to be defended witii 
 zealous devotion. To maintain the established form of government 
 is the first and highest duty of men acting in society : to remove the 
 ancient landmarks of power and obedience tends to the ruin of all 
 government, and is an injury to the prince and his vested rights, as 
 well as disobedience to his power. 
 
 Second head considered : viz., how inconsistent with the obedience 
 required is the practice of those who are given to change. 
 
 ]So government was ever so perfectly formed at first, as to answer 
 all occasions, the wisdom of man not reaching far enough to view all 
 possible varieties of circumstances : therefore it is necessary for the 
 public good that there should be a power lodged somewhere, to adapt 
 old laws to present circumstances, or to those which may arise here- 
 after. To change thus is an act of lawful power, and therefore falls 
 not within the charge of the text. But then the most necessary 
 changes must be promoted and perfected by lawful authority, or else 
 they lose their good quality; for no change can be so beneficial, as 
 the usurpation of lawful authority is injurious : to seek public good 
 by such means is like the curing of a distemper by destroying the 
 patient. 
 
 To view with pleasure the factions and disturbances of a kingdom, 
 having in prospect our own advantage, is the part neither of a good 
 man nor of a good Christian ; and to encourage seditious principles 
 in others, though it may be done without danger, cannot be without 
 guilt : such practices have nothing in them appertaining to honor or 
 obedience to the prince. 
 
 The authority of the prince is as much concerned in maintaining 
 the honor and order of God's service, as of his own ; and the noblest 
 character that belongs to princes, is that of nnrsing fathers and mo- 
 thers to the church of Christ, the peace and order of which is at once 
 the splendor and security of a government : therefore the advice of 
 the text must be extended to the government of the church as well 
 as of the state. And the occasion of this solemnity gives good rea- 
 son for this application ; the alterations intended and practised on 
 the church having had no little influence in the barbarous treason 
 which was perpetrated towards the state. 
 
 There must be in the church, as in the state, a power to change 
 whatsoever by experience is found unfit for the end designed ; and to 
 effect this is their duty in whose hands the power is lodged : nor can 
 changes so effected ever be to the blemish or dishonor of the church. 
 But when men dislike without reason, and obstinately condemn 
 whatever has been settled by authority ; when they disclaim all the 
 
Sherlock's occasional discourses. — i, 213 
 
 power and the acts of the church ; either their ignorance must be 
 invincible, or their guilt unpardonable. 
 
 The reason of all changes ought to be very plain and apparent ; 
 since to change is the eftect and sign of weakness ; and to change 
 often always breeds contempt. To press for alterations when most 
 tilings in an establishment are owned to be good, and all tolerable, 
 is not the eftect of much judgment. If want of perfection be a rea- 
 son to change, this reason will last for ever, since all the laws of the 
 church are not of divine institution. 
 
 In matters of religious government, strange to say ! every man 
 thinks himself a competent judge of what is fit to be obeyed, though 
 he pretends not to the same discretionary power in state aft'airs; as if 
 the case were not the same in both instances; and as if obedience in 
 all things lawful and honest were not of like necessity in both. 
 
 The common people are led to esteem men who act thus, because 
 they appear to suffer for their opinions, forfeiting advantages and 
 worldly interests by not complying with the establishment, while 
 rewards are open to the obedience of others ; and as long as men are 
 weak enough to be misled, and the errors of some are profitable to 
 others, there will be no end of dissensions ; and should the restless- 
 ness of men once break in on the constitution, the event only could 
 show where it would end. 
 
 To what extremes the humor of men once set on change will run, 
 the mournful occasion of this day's solemnity is a sufficient proof. 
 The actors in those troubles thought of nothing less, when they be- 
 gan, than the event that succeeded. The good of the public and of 
 the king was the pretence ; and they never left oft" seeking it till they 
 had ruined the public, and brought the royal head to the scaffold. 
 With the same success the purity of the church was promoted ; which 
 ended in its utter subversion, and the blood of a great prelate. — 
 Character of Archbishop Laud. — His case might deserve more to be 
 lamented, did not that which followed bury all private injuries and 
 resentments. — Character and death of King Charles I. — Reflections 
 thereon. It is a hard case if princes have no right to the allowances 
 that are made to all besides ; harder, because by their high station 
 they are more exposed to the view of the world, and are obliged to 
 live by the opinion of those who are not always wise enough to 
 judge, or to let it alone. The privilege too, which extends to the 
 lowest cottager, of choosing his own friends, is not without murmur- 
 ing allowed to kings ; nor may they stoop to the innocent and harm- 
 less enjoyments of life. Every step men take, by which they rise in 
 the world, is an abridgment of their innocent liberty, and binds them 
 to a stricter self-denial ; for there is a natural envy in men, which 
 loves to see the honor and dignity of high station qualified with 
 trouble and anxiety. 
 
 Those however who are distinguished by the advantages of birth 
 and education, should be above the common prejudices and sordid 
 passions of the vulgar; thinking themselves obliged, both in honor 
 and duty, to pay a steady obedience t<) the established government: 
 this point enlarged on. 
 
214 SUMMARIES OF 
 
 It is through the goodness of God to us, that after so many con- 
 vulsions we still enjoy our ancient government; that there is still life 
 and vigor in tl.e religion and liberty of England ; a goodness that on 
 our part demands the utmost return of gratitude ; which can in no 
 way be so acceptably shown, as in the worthy use of the blessings 
 we enjoy. Concluding observations. 
 
 DISCOURSE II. 
 
 Preached before the Sons of the Clergy at St. Paul's Cathedral, 
 December o, 17 iO, 
 
 MATTHEW, CHAP. X. VERSES 41, 42. 
 
 He that receiveth a prophet in the name of a prophet, sliall receive a 
 prophet's reward ; and he that receiveth a rigliteous man in the name 
 of a righteoTis man. shall receive a righteous man's reward. And who- 
 soever shall give to drink unto one of these little ones a cup of cold 
 water only in the name of a disciple verily I say unto you, he shall in 
 no wise lose his reward. 
 
 Towards the beginning of this chapter, we read that our Saviour 
 sent forth his disciples to preach the kingdom of God. That they 
 might preach with authority, he endowed them with the gifts of the 
 Spirit ; and that they might attend on their ministry without dis- 
 traction, he eased them of the care of providing for themselves, by 
 giving them power to demand and to receive of those whom they 
 instructed whatever their Vv'ants required. It was not our Saviour's 
 intention to make poverty a necessary cjualitication for their profes- 
 sion. This shown from Luke xxii. 35. compared with Matt. x. 9, 10. 
 As the ofKce of preaching the gospel was to be perpetual in the 
 Christian church, so the right of maintenance was always to attend 
 it: see 1 Cor. ix. 14. And since in this kind of charity the honor 
 of Christ's name, and the promotion of his religion are immediately 
 consulted, he has distinguished it by a more honorable and glorious 
 reward : He that receiveth a prophet in the name of a prophet, shall 
 receive a prophefs reward, &c. 
 
 To receive a prophet sometimes signifies to receive his doctrine 
 and become his follower ; but in this place it cannot have this signi- 
 fication : reasons for this given. To receive a prophet in the name 
 of a prophet, is to receive him because he is a prophet; that is, on 
 account of his character and office, and the near relation which he 
 bears to Christ : this topic enlarged on. In treating on the words 
 of the text, two principal subjects are oft'ered for consideration : 
 I. The several degrees of charity mentioned in it, and wherein the 
 t-xcellency of one above the other consists : II. How truly Christian 
 
Sherlock's occasional discourses. — ii. 215 
 
 and excellent in its kind that cliarity is, which is the end and design 
 of this annual solemnity. 
 
 I. If we begin our account at the verse immediately preceding the 
 text, we shall find four degrees of charity enumerated, and tlistin- 
 guished by distinct promises. The first is that of receiving an 
 Apostle; the second is that of receiving a prophet; the third, that 
 of receiving a righteous man; and the fourth, that of relieving the 
 meanest of Christ's disciples. Charity is distinguished into these 
 different kinds and degrees, by tlie dignity of the persons who are its 
 objects ; for since the receivina; a prophet shall intitle us to a pro- 
 phet's reward, and the receiving a rigliteous man to a righteous man's 
 reward, it is plain that the former act as far exceeds the latter, as the 
 dignity of the one object is above that of the other. 
 
 To receive a prophet because he is our friend or relation, is but a 
 common degree of kindness : the honor must be paid him, because he 
 is a prophet : the motive and principle of our action must be taken 
 into account ; and in this lies the ditference between the Christian 
 and the moral virtue : the same object appears not in the same light 
 in both cases : this point enlarged on, showing that the love of Christ 
 is the foundation of Christian charity ; and that Christ in his mem- 
 bers is the object of it. 
 
 Hence one kind of Christian charity will differ from another in 
 perfection, as it more nearly approaches the person of Christ, who is 
 the object, and as it more strongly partakes of the principle, which 
 is the love of Christ: and by this rule of proportion our Saviour has 
 placed the several degrees of charity mentioned in the text: the 
 objects of that charity are of four sorts; Apostles, prophets, the 
 rigliteous, and the little ones : they are ranked according to the 
 dignity of their characters, which arises from the relation they bear 
 to Christ, who is the head over all : here then is a perfect scheme of 
 Christian charity, and a rule to direct us in the choice of proper 
 objects. 
 
 The Apostles, at the death of our Saviour, succeeded to the 
 government and direction of the church : under them were placed 
 teachers and pastors of different orders, comprehended under the 
 general name of prophets. These offices have been perpetuated in 
 the church by a constant succession of men duly called to them, and 
 who stand in the same relation to Christ that the Apostles and 
 prophets did, who went before tlie.ni in the same work of the 
 ministry; and we must so account of them, &c. 1 Cor. iv. 1. 
 
 The two next characters belong to the flock of Christ, who are 
 not distinguished from one another by any difference in character or 
 office, but only by their different attainments in faith : the righteous 
 are the strong in faith ; the little ones are the weak, who are 
 indicated by St. Paul, Ephes. iv. 13, 14. 
 
 The learned Grotius shown to be wrong, who makes only three 
 degrees, leaving out Apostles, and saying that there are tres disci- 
 pulorum Christi fjradus. His interpretation of the word hiKaioi, as 
 signifying a middle kind of Christian, and that of prophet, as signi- 
 fying only a perfect one, disproved. Besides, our Saviour's design 
 
21© SUMMARIES OP 
 
 here was evidently to lay a foundation for the support of the Christian 
 ministry ; he forbids them to provide for themselves, because they 
 were workmen worthy of their hire ; and to encourage men cheer- 
 fully to discharge their duty towards them, he adds, he that receivetk 
 you receiveth me : this being his design, could he forget all degrees of 
 teachers except Apostles, and yet be so particular in reckoning up 
 all degrees of Christians ? This point enlarged on. 
 
 From this declaration made by our Saviour, we learn what ought 
 to give the preference in Christian charity. The relation which men 
 bear to Christ is the foundation of the love and honor due to them ; 
 and the nearer this relation is, the greater love and honor are due to 
 it. It were easy to show the title which these several degrees of 
 charity have to their respective rewards ; it is sufficient to instance 
 the one which is most applicable to the present discourse, that of 
 receiving a prophet in the name of a prophet. 
 
 This charity is intitled to a prophet's reward; and well it may; 
 for it is a charity which does a prophet's duty : by enabling him to 
 do the work of his calling, we share it with him, and preach the 
 gospel by the mouth which we feed. 
 
 The work of the ministry is great, and requires our whole 
 attendance ; and if to this be added the constant care of supporting 
 ourselves and families against encroaching poverty, who would be 
 sufficient for these things? Must not the ignorant want instruction, 
 and the afflicted comfort, whilst the prophet is employed in the 
 meaner cares of the world ? And must not such as set the Lord's 
 prophets free from the world, and enable them to dedicate them- 
 selves to his service, be properly said to labor with them in the work 
 of the gospel ? And as they thus partake in the work, ought they not 
 also to partake in the reward ? 
 
 The properest way of exercising this charity is by allotting such a 
 maintenance to the ministers of Christ, ns may enable them to 
 provide for themselves and those who depend on them. Next to its 
 present wants and necessities, poverty has nothing more terrible in it 
 than the fear of futurity ; nor is there a more distressing case than 
 that which arises from the prospect of entailing want and misery 
 on those for whom we are bound by the dearest ties of nature 
 to provide. 
 
 After a present maintenance therefore, the next degree of charity 
 is to lighten this heavy burden ; that the ministers of Christ may with 
 cheerfulness, and without interruption, attend to the service of the 
 altar, seeing a way open for the support of their indigent families, 
 when they, their present support, shall be called away. And this 
 leads to the second consideration proposed ; viz. 
 
 How truly Christian and excellent in its kind that charity is, 
 which is the end and design of this annual solemnity. 
 
 Its objects are the widows and orphans of those who have spent 
 their lives in the service of the altar, and were found faithful. Con- 
 sidered in themselves, they are not the meanest of Christ's disciples; 
 but to their own they add the prophet's claim to charity, who has left 
 them nothing else to maintain them. 
 
Sherlock's occasional discourses. — iii. 217 
 
 Were their poverty the effect of luxury or idleness, we might be 
 ashamed to plead its cause in public : but its reasons are too well 
 known ; and it is so far from being a reproach, that in some measure 
 it is a glory : this point enlarged on. 
 
 Some who subsist on the charity of this corporation are living 
 witnesses of the laith and constancy of the English clergy to God 
 and to their king : allusion made to the widows of the sequestered 
 clergy. 
 
 Never does Christ more truly suffer in his members, than when his 
 members suffer for him ; nor can our acts of mercy ever more nearly 
 approach him, than when we relieve those who endure affliction for 
 his sake and that of the gospel. 
 
 The worldly advantages pointed out, which would have accrued to 
 these children, if their parents had been turned to the more profitable 
 employaients of the world : hence arguments are deduced for the 
 support of the charity. 
 
 DISCOURSE III. 
 
 Preached before the Lord Mayor at St. Paul's Cathedral, 
 Nov. 5, 1712. 
 
 LUKE, CHAP. IX. VERSES 51, 55. 
 
 And when his disciples James and John saw this, they said, Lord, wilt 
 thou that we command fire to come down from heaven, and consume 
 them, even as Elias did? But he turned and rebuked them, and said. 
 Ye know not what manner of spirit ye are of. 
 
 The provocation which the disciples had to call fire from heaven to 
 consume the Samaritans, may be learned from Luke ix. 51 — 55. 
 The hatred between the Jews and Samaritans, founded in religious 
 controversy, was so great as to prevent all interchange of the common 
 ofiices of humanity between them : see John iv. J) and 20. This 
 account is confirmed by Josephus, who also says that the animosity 
 was occasioned by a contest concerning the holiness of their respective 
 temples. St. Luke (ix. 51.) tells us that this journey of our Lord to 
 Jerusalem was taken about the time of the Passover ; which may 
 account for the conduct of the Samaritans, who, perceiving that the 
 disciples were going to celebrate the feast at Jerusalem, as the true 
 place of worship, sent them away unassisted. The disciples, calling 
 to mind the story of Elias, address our Lord in the expectation of 
 witnessing his vengeance, and are answered in the words of the 
 text: these circumstances enlarged on, as being applicable to the 
 case in question. It was hatred arising from a religious controversy 
 that bred the treason of this day : and to all concerned in it the 
 words of our Lord in the text are applicable. I'he controversies 
 
210 SUMMARIES OF 
 
 between us and the Romish church are too numerous to be con- 
 sidered ; but even supposing that church to have all the advantage 
 which the parallel in the text can aftbrd it, and ourselves to be 
 obstinately mistaken in our religion, their cruel thirst after blood 
 would still intitle them to the reproof of our Lord. Neither their 
 zeal and love for Christ, nor their faith, had they enough to work 
 miracles, could justify their practice of cruelty towards their fellow- 
 creatures. The same faith had the disciples in the text; and yet we 
 learn that their spirit was not right within them. A consideration of 
 Christ's judgment in this case will better enable us to judge of that 
 kind of spirit to which the treason of this day niay be ascribed. It is 
 to be considered how far this reason of our Lord's excludes all use of 
 temporal punishment in matters of religion ; and, I. It will be 
 shown that it holds in all cases with respect to church power : II. 
 That the argument does not aftect the civil magistrate's power, nor 
 prevent his interposing in matters proper for his jurisdiction, however 
 they may be pretended to be allied to religion: III. What is said 
 will be applied to the present occasion. — I. The wrath of the 
 disciples arose from two accounts. The objects of it were Samaritans 
 and apostates, who had inhumanly treated them and their master. 
 As Scripture forbids us to plead personal injuries to justify per- 
 secution, the weight of the argument lies on the honor of God and 
 the difference of relij^ion ; this is answered by our Saviour, Luke ix. 
 66. It is shown that, as the honor of God is best consulted by a 
 compliance with his designs, and as our Lord has said that his design 
 in coming into the world was not to destroy, but to save men's lives, 
 we cannot ofter a greater indignity to God than by making religion 
 an instrument of destruction. This argument, which is that of 
 • Christ himself, reaches to all methods of propagating religion which 
 are hurtful or injurious to men. As some punishments are calculated 
 for the good of the offender, and consequently all will not come 
 within this argument, it may still be pretended that there is room 
 for the exercise of temporal punishments in the case of religion ; 
 since they might be made to forward the salvation of men. This 
 reason can signify nothing in the present case, unless the church be 
 vested with the power of dispensing temporal punishments : it 
 cannot create a power; it can only direct the exercise of it where it 
 is : those therefore who urge the conveniency of temporal punish- 
 ments in matters of religion are answered by our Lord in the text. 
 The kingdom of Christ is not of this world, nor is it to be erected or 
 supported by any worldly power: see Matt. xxvi. 52. and John 
 xviii. 3(). The meaning and extent of Christ's argument, and how 
 contrary it is to the spirit of Christianity to found its faith in tem- 
 poral punishments, thus shown. Since Christ's kingdom is not of 
 this world, the powers belonging to his kingdom cannot be of this 
 world. If we take all spiritual power from the church, and derive 
 its authority from the magistrate or the people, we exempt the con- 
 sciences of men from a spiritual jurisdiction, to submit them to a 
 temporal one ; and thereby we become advocates of popery. The 
 power of the magistrate in matters of religion has been by some too 
 
SHEKLOCK's occasional DISCOLKSES. 111. 219 
 
 much exalted, and by otlieis too much depressed. — 11. It is shown 
 that the reason of the text does not prevent the civil magistrate from 
 interposing; with the sword in matters proper for its jurisdiction, 
 however they may be pretended to be allied to religion. The 
 principle on which the magistrate's power has been both unreasonably 
 exalted and depressed is liberty of conscience ; or rather on the one 
 side a liberty /row* conscience, for which reason all spiritual matters 
 are disregarded, and the magistrate's will set up as the supreme 
 law of conscience ; on the other side, the magistrate's power in all 
 cases where conscience is concerned is taken away, and men are 
 set at liberty to act as their consciences (however erroneously) 
 direct them. The arguments drawn from the nature of Christ's 
 kingdom against the use of temporal punishments are conclusive 
 only as to the ministers of that kingdom, and cannot extend to 
 the civil magistrate, whose business it is to consider men's actions 
 with regard to public peace and order, and to punish such as 
 disturb it, without respecting from what internal principle they 
 flow. When men's religion or conscience come to show them- 
 selves in practice, they then fall under the cognisance of the 
 civil power; and if their principles are destructive of the civil go- 
 vernment, they may be rooted out by the civil sword. On this 
 principle many penal laws have been enacted in this kingdom against 
 popery ; not on the weak supposition that no man's conscience ever 
 led him to be a papist, but on the known truth, that a papist must 
 always be an enemy to the constitution of this government; which 
 has therefore a right to secure itself against his practices by the terror 
 of temporal punishment, notwithstanding the pleas of conscience and 
 religion : and this argument may be applied to all sects professing 
 principles destructive of the legal constitution. It is only when 
 difterence of opinion produces such acts as concerns the public peace, 
 that it comes under tlie jurisdiction of the magistrate. Penal laws 
 are not laws of the church, but of the state, and are enacted to pre- 
 vent the growth either of principles or practices conceived to be 
 dangerous. The subject's conscience cannot bind the magistrate's 
 power from acting in its proper sphere : a thief might pretend that 
 liis conscience persuaded him that the goods of Christians were in 
 common ; but this would not be a sufficient plea in a court of jus- 
 tice ; and if so, it can be no general rule that conscience ought to be 
 exempt from penal laws. The church has no right to impose penal 
 laws on any account; nor has the state in matters purely of a reli- 
 gious nature : but if the controversy should breed convulsions that 
 affect the civil government, it becomes the magistrate to drive con- 
 science out of the state into its proper seat, the heart of man, whither 
 his power neither can nor ought to pursue it. As on the one side 
 the magistrate has no right to punish men for the errors of their con- 
 sciences, so neither is it his duty, when he calls a man to account for 
 his actions, to inquire whether those actions were suggested by his 
 conscience ; nor indeed could he arrive at the truth of these matters : 
 but if the action tend to breed mischief in the state, the magistrate 
 has a right to punish it without considering whether it be a religion* 
 
220 SUMMARIES OF 
 
 action or no. Disputes on this head would cease, if men would 
 attend to the just consequences of their own principles ; but they 
 assert that, as the magistrate has nothing to do with conscience, he 
 cannot punish men for acting according to their conscience; that is, 
 his authority is suspended by the plea of conscience, in which case 
 he must of necessity in the administration of justice enter into the 
 examination of conscience. If the just consequences of the principle 
 be attended to, the truth will be clear. As the magistrate has nothing 
 to do with conscience, and has no right to punish the errors of it 
 unless they affect the public good, so neither can the pleas of con- 
 science supersede his authority in any case proper for his cognisance : 
 this topic enlarged on and examples given. The limits of spiritual 
 and civil power may be thus defined : the ministers of Christ not 
 being of this world have no right to exercise power in it : the civil 
 magistrate, as he is of this world, is not to be excluded from the 
 affairs of it by any pretence of religion : pure religion cannot be 
 injured by this, as it never interferes with the magistrate's right : 
 those whose doctrines or practices are destructive of civil govern- 
 ment, must answer to God for perverting religion, and to the magis- 
 trate for disturbing the public. — III. What has been said applied to 
 the present occasion. The only two things which the church of Rome 
 can insist on are determined against them by the text. For, firstly, 
 whatever religious differences there are between us, their means of 
 conversion are unjustifiable: and, secondly, notwithstanding their 
 pleas of religion, the civil power has a right to punish their practices, 
 and did justly exercise that right in the case of this day. The great 
 cruelty of the Catholics in their attempt of this day enlarged on : the 
 mercy of God in turning their malice from us on their own heads : 
 the memory of the event deservedly distinguished in the British 
 calendar, &c. 
 
 Nothing is to be more feared by an Englishman than the prevail- 
 ing power of popery : to design its advancement is to design the ruin 
 of the state, and the destruction of the church. It is shown that no 
 interest is to be served by fomenting jealousies between the people 
 and their rulers ; but that those who wish well to the succession will 
 endeavor that there may be a mutual confidence and good opinion 
 between the people and the princes of the blood, &c. A recommen- 
 dation to men to enjoy the tranquillity of the reign, and to show their 
 zeal for religion in dutiful behavior to their governors, and in mutual 
 love and charity, rather than in disputes ; to let the purity of their 
 religion be expressed in the innocence of their lives, that at the 
 restoration of peace they may exemplify the words of the Psalmist, 
 when mercy and truth shall meet together, &c. : above all, they are 
 exhorted earnestly to pray for the good queen ; and that when she 
 shall be called to everlasting glory and a better crown, God in his 
 mercy would tenderly regard these kingdoms, and hide them under 
 the shelter of his wings till the danger be overpast. 
 
Sherlock's occasional discourses. — iv. 221 
 
 DISCOURSE IV. 
 
 Preached before the House of Commons at St. Margaret's, West- 
 minster, March 8, 1714, being the anniversary of Queen Anne's 
 accession to the throne. 
 
 2 SAMUEL, CHAP. XXIII. VERSES 3. 4. 
 
 The God of Israel said, the Rock of Israel spake to me, He tliat ruleth 
 over men must be just, ruling in the fear of God : and he shall be as 
 the light of the morning, when the sun riseth, even a morning without 
 clouds ; as the tender grass springing out of the earth by clear shining 
 after rain. 
 
 The words of the text are said to be the last of David, uttered by 
 the Spirit of the Lord, whose icord was in his tongue. In whatever 
 light they may be considered, they show the true art of governing, 
 by which a prince may render himself and his people happy. The 
 words shown to be applicable to the state of the nation ; whence 
 arise two considerations : I. The character of a good prince expressed 
 in them : II. The great blessing which a just prince is to his people. 
 — I. The nature of justice described, in the limited notion of the 
 word, and in its more extended sense as measured by the fear of 
 God; which makes princes to become true fathers of their people: 
 this topic enlarged on. This view carried through the particulars of 
 government; whence the happy influence of such a religious prin- 
 ciple is discovered. Character of the queen delineated ; and the 
 principle just laid down applied to her executive government. — 
 II. The great blessing which arises to his people from a just prince. 
 It is shown, first, that good laws, duly executed, are as much the 
 happiness of the people as they are the support of the crown : 
 secondly, how the very example of such a ruler has a natural ten- 
 dency to promote the peace and welfare of the kingdom ; and how 
 the virtue which shines from the throne, warms the hearts of all below 
 it: lastly, that the blessing and protection of Heaven attend the 
 government of a just prince; and that as kings are the immediate 
 ministers of God, so are they his immediate care. The virtues of the 
 queen shown to deserve well this divine protection ; and that if the 
 state may rejoice in the care taken of it by its monarch, the church 
 has an equal right to boast of her regard. Her excellent con- 
 duct considered, when the prospect of the church was dark and 
 gloomy ; when some who wore its honors, forsook its cause ; when 
 others silently lamented its condition, and the fears of popery sur- 
 rounded it. Transition to the glories and triumphs of the queen's 
 reign; her piety and compassion towards her conquered foes ; and 
 the noble end of her great victories in peace restored to harassed 
 nations. Exhortation to her subjects to complete her happiness by 
 uniting in love and mutual confidence, and by burying in oblivion 
 those animosities which threaten the peace of our Israel. Allusion 
 
222 SUMMARIES OF 
 
 to the queen's sickness, and to the general grief which pervaded the 
 nation on that account. Praise to God for dispelling those fears. 
 Her desire of life arising from a love of her country : her concern 
 for ihe good of posterity shown hy providing for the future peace 
 and happiness of these kingdoms, in the settlement of t'ie crov.n on 
 the ii,LUSTKious ho'lSE of HANOVER : a blessing for which the 
 nation can never be sufficiently thankful. Concluding remarks. 
 
 DISCOURSE V. 
 
 Preached at the Temple Church, Nov. 20, 1715. 
 
 ACTS, CHAP. VII. VERSE 25. 
 
 For he supposed his brethren would have understood how that God by 
 bis hand would deliver them ; but they understood not. 
 
 The text is part of the dying speech of St. Stephen, delivered to 
 the high priest and the people just before he was offered up a glo- 
 rious sacrifice for the truth of the gospel. The design of it was to 
 set before the people of Israel the history of their redemption from 
 slavery and idolatry, and excite them to attend to the present offers 
 of peace through Jesus Christ, by showing them the fatal mistakes 
 they had often made in despising or abusing former mercies : their 
 conduct to Moses in this point enlarged on. 
 
 To draw parallels between the histories in Scripture and those of 
 our own times, is a slippery subject, in which there is a danger of 
 missing Scriptural doctrines, and publishing our own partial senti- 
 ments, under cover of that divine book which was given to amend 
 them, Tlie subject of this discourse therefore is confined to such 
 observations and such applications of them, as naturally arise from 
 the text and our own circumstances. 
 
 First, then, we may observe from the text that Moses, though 
 raised by God in a wonderful manner to be the deliverer of his 
 people, yet fell under great discouragements from his countrymen, 
 for whose sake he was raised up : this topic enlarged on. Notwith- 
 standing however this blindness of the people, the murderer, as they 
 called him, was ordained by (iod to be their prince and deliverer; 
 and they were at last happily convinced of their mistake, by 
 receiving at his hand the blessings promised to their forefathers. 
 
 Secondly, we may learn what confidence and trust we ought to 
 place in God for the deliverance of his church and true religion, 
 notwithstanding the hopeless prospects which arise from human 
 affairs : this point enlarged on. If ever hopes are justifiable, they 
 are when the honor of God and the truth of religion is concerned : 
 the people of Israel had as little to boast of on their own behalf as 
 
Sherlock's occasional discourses. — v, 223 
 
 other nations ; but thoy were chosen by God to bear his name, to be 
 witnesses of his truth in the dark ages of the vvorhl, to prepare the 
 way for the coming of their great master; and though they were 
 often afHicted, yet they were as often restored, until they were at 
 last utterly rejected, for denying that great prophet for whose sake 
 they had been so long and so often preserved. 
 
 Application of these observations to the people of this nation. 
 Since the beginning of the Reformation in this kingdom, there never 
 was so fair a prospect of a firm establishment of the protestaiit reli- 
 gion as at the present time ; yet the people seem never to have had 
 less sense of it : their deliverance is near, but they understand it 
 not : this topic enlarged on. Allusion made to the various arts 
 played oft' by the church of Rome, to prevent the foundation of this 
 establishment. A succinct account given of the progress of the Re- 
 formation in this country, from its first step in the reign. of Henry 
 the Eighth, to the accession of George the First; in which the dan- 
 gers it has run, with the various arts and designs of the papists, are 
 clearly pointed out : whence we may learn wherein our true interest 
 consists. Fas est et ab ho&ic doceri : if we cannot Judge for our- 
 selves, let us learn of our enemies to know wherein to place our 
 security. The two greatest eft'orts made by popery to bring ruin on 
 this church and nation with force and violence, were one at this 
 time, the other in King James's reign ; and their great provocation 
 was, to see a succession of protestant princes likely to be established 
 among us. And as this is their fear, so is it our security. If we 
 consider the circumstances of times past, and the doubtful condition 
 in which we have often been, when our happiness has depended on 
 one single life, we shall have reason to think that Providence has at 
 this time both wisely and mercifully provided for our safety. 
 
 It is an easier matter to kindle the tires of popery and persecution, 
 than it would be to extinguish them. Should the wishes of some take 
 place, and a popish prince prevail over us, where will they next go 
 for protection ? What prince or family in Europe is left to which 
 they may apply for succor ? If therefore we have any sense of 
 loyalty, any concern for our religion, our country, and ourselves, let 
 us show it by a cheerful and steady obedience to the prince whom 
 God has set over us. 
 
 With regard to the second observation, that notwithstanding the 
 hopeless prospect of human aft'airs, the text aft'ords grounds for 
 dependence on God, this may well be spared ; the application being 
 made to our hands. God's care over us has already appeared, and 
 we are likely to be saved, whether we desire it or no. Concluding 
 exhortation. 
 
224 SUMMARIES OF 
 
 DISCOURSE VI. 
 
 Preached before the Incorporated Society for the Propagation of the 
 Gospel ill Foreign Parts, at St. Mary- le- Bow, Feb. 17, 1715. 
 
 MATTHEW, CHAP. IV. VERSE 17. 
 
 From that time Jesus began to preach, and to say. Repent: for the 
 kingdom of heaven is at hand. 
 
 The occasion of this meeting naturally suggests to our thoughts a 
 consideration of the encouragements and the difficulties which attend 
 the undertaking, as well as of the methods proper to be observed for 
 attaining to so desirable an end. This however is declined ; and 
 instead of it, a view is taken of the gospel ; on what foot it first set 
 out in the world ; and what it had to recommend it to the reason of 
 mankind, abstracted from those signs and wonders which were 
 wrought by God for its confirmation. 
 
 The first doctrine which our Lord taught was that of repentance, 
 as necessary to qualify men for the kingdom of Heaven. Repent, 
 for the kingdom of Heaven is at hand. What is to be understood by 
 this expression may be learned from Mark i. 14, 15. Whatever we 
 understand by the kingdom of Heaven, it is plain that the reason why 
 it was said to be at hand, was because the time was fulfilled for the 
 publishing the gospel to all the world, and that the exhortation of the 
 text agrees with that in St. Mark, Repent ye, and believe the gospel: 
 whence it is evident that repentance was inculcated, as necessary to 
 prepare us for receiving the gospel of Christ. The same appears also 
 from the preaching of John the Baptist. So also did the Apostles 
 teach repentance as the first necessary step : this fully shown by 
 examples. Before the consequences which arise from this state of 
 the case are stated, a few observations are made to clear the way for 
 what is to follow. We may observe then, that repentance was the 
 very first thing insisted on, wherever the gospel was published; 
 before any new law was promulged, or even mentioned. Secondly, 
 The gospel was ushered in by the doctrine of repentance, not only 
 when it was delivered to the Jews, but also when it was proclaimed 
 to the Gentile world : therefore the repentance taught did not regard 
 any particular institution, but that general law of nature to which 
 every man owed obedience in virtue of the reason and understanding 
 with which God had endowed him. Thirdly, True repentance 
 requires change of mind, and leads to a reformation of manners, 
 with due obedience, for the future, to that law of righteousness 
 against which the offence was committed ; for where the obligation 
 to any law ceases, there can be no call to repentance for disobe- 
 dience : this doctrine shown to be that of Scripture. 
 
 The consequences now shown, which seem to be the natural result 
 of this method, made use of in the publication of the gospel : the first 
 of which is, that the religion of the gospel is the true original religion 
 
^ttRRl.OCK S OCCASIONAL IH.SCOU RSKS. — Vi. "2%* 
 
 of reason and nature. It is so in part ; it is all that and more. Re- 
 pentance was necessary ; but it was not all : it was the first step 
 towards Christian perfection ; see Heb. vi. i. 
 
 This will appear by considering the nature of that repentance 
 which our Lord, and those who came after him, preached to the 
 world : repentance supjwses a transgressioi», and transgression sup- 
 poses a law ; for, as the Apostle argues, iv/iere there is no law, there 
 is no transgression: and since repentance consists in a change of 
 mind, in rectifying what was before amiss, and in fiilfiliing that obe- 
 dience which was before wanting, it is evident that to repent of the 
 violation of any law is to return to the obedience of it. The question 
 then is, against what law those ofi'ences were committed, the repent- 
 ance for which was so necessary, that without it there was no admis- 
 sion into the gospel. At the time of its publication there were many 
 forms and institutions of religion in the world ; but as these differed 
 much from each other, they could not be the ground of that repent- 
 ance, which, being generally taught, must respect some general law, 
 which relates alike to all : and this can be no other than that which 
 the Apostle has described in Rom. ii. 14, 15. However the light of 
 reason and nature was darkened and obscured by ignorance and 
 superstition, yet some remains of it were in all places to be found ; 
 and the general principles of religion were so riveted in human 
 nature, that she could not but start at any thing which directly con- 
 tradicted them : thus atheism was as detested a crime in the heathen 
 as in the Christian world ; and some were even thought worthy of 
 death for so unnatural an opinion : this point enlarged on ; whence it 
 appears that the gospel was a republication of the law of nature, 
 and its precepts declaratory of that original religion which was as old 
 as the creation. 
 
 That this must certainly be the case, will appear by considering 
 the nature of the thing in itself. The notions of good and evil are 
 eternally and unalterably the same ; which notions are the rules and 
 measures of all moral actions, and are consequently necessary and 
 constituent parts of religion ; and therefore if the religion of nature 
 was in its primitive state pure and uncorrupt, (which no one can well 
 deny,) though there was sufficient reason for a republication of it, 
 because of the great ignorance and superstition prevalent in the 
 world, yet there could be none for any alteration of it. The duties 
 of religion, considered as a rule of action, flow from the relation we 
 bear to God and to each other ; and religion must ever be the same 
 as long as these relations continue unaltered. 
 
 That the case is so might be shown from tlie particular laws of the 
 gospel, and their dependence on the maxims and principles of natural 
 religion ; this however would be too long a task. We may be con- 
 tent with one general proof, which reaches to every part of the 
 Christian doctrine, and yet will not lead us beyond the bounds pre- 
 scribed. Our Saviour in the 5th chapter of St. Matthew tells us, 
 that he came not to destroy the law and the prophets, but to fuljil 
 them. What his meaning was, he sufficiently explained in the fol- 
 lowing part of his sermon on the mount; in which, laying down first 
 
 PART II. p 
 
226 SUMMARIES OF 
 
 the old law, he showed in every instance what the true perfection of 
 that virtue consisted of, which the law required : this point enlarged 
 on. Since then it appears that the religion of the gospel is the true 
 original religion of reason and nature, the second thing to be observed 
 is, that it has, as such, a claim to be received independent of those 
 miracles which were wrought for its confirmation. 
 
 This consequence will be admitted by all who allow the force and 
 obligation of natural religion, and can be denied by none who know 
 or understand themselves. The principles of religion are interwoven 
 in the very frame of our minds ; and we may as well run from our- 
 selves, as from the sense of the obligations we are under : this point 
 enlarged on. 
 
 But some one may perhaps ask, why he may not teach the religion 
 of the gospel to the heathen, as well in his own name as in the name 
 of Christ ; since, being the very religion of reason, it wants no name 
 to support it ? To this we may reply, that if the heathen are such 
 masters of reason as to want no teaching, the question is impertinent ; 
 and if they do want instruction, there is no comparison between the 
 masters. 
 
 The truth is, that all the essentials of true religion are contained in 
 that part of the gospel of which so much has been said ; but how this 
 religion came to need renewal by a special commission from heaven, 
 how nature came to want that new light and additional assistance of 
 the Holy Spirit which the gospel has given and promised, is a mat- 
 ter of another consideration ; opening to us a new view, to see the 
 reasonableness and necessity of the doctrines peculiar to Christianity ; 
 which, though not difterent, are yet distinct from the principles of 
 reason and nature. 
 
 Had man continued in the purity of his first religion, he had wanted 
 no second ; the doctrine of nature had led him to the enjoyment of the 
 glorious hopes of life and immortality to which he was born. But 
 when he fell under the power of sin, he grew both blind and impo- 
 tent, had but little knowlege left to find his duty, and still less his 
 ability to perform it : this point enlarged on. 
 
 The Son of God came into the world not merely to restore the 
 religion of nature, but to adapt it to the state and condition of man ; 
 to supply the defects, notof religion, which continued in itsfirst purity 
 and perfection, but of human nature, which was fallen from the 
 original dignity of the creation. If death came in as the penalty of 
 disobedience to the law of nature, it was an evil for which natural 
 religion could afford no remedy; since no law provides a remedy 
 against its own penalties : and though the world retained some 
 notion of a future state, yet its hopes seemed to be rather the remains 
 of that first state in which nature had the full prospect of life before 
 her, and which subsisted when the blessing itself was forfeited, than 
 any just assurance of a future life, to be purchased by virtue and 
 obedience. To repair this breach, and to settle religion once more 
 on the sure foundation of the hopes and fears of eternity, our blessed 
 Lord brought life and immortality to light again by the gospel, &c. 
 
 But to what purpose was it to restore religion from the corruptions 
 
SHERLOCK'S OCCASIONAL DISCOURSES. — VII. 227 
 
 of ignorance and superstition ? to what end was this better hope 
 brought in ? Since our first parents, who wanted not this hope or 
 this knowlege, yet fell wretchedly from both by transgression, what 
 security can we, their sons, still worse than they, promise ourselves 
 from these advantages? It is we who are weak and degenerate, and 
 who stand in need of restoration. Hence it is that our admission 
 into the gospel is attended with a new birth unto righteousness ; 
 hence it is that we are put under the conduct and direction of the 
 Holy Spirit, who is always ready to comfort and support the faithful : 
 this point enlarged on. 
 
 It is true, the gospel has taught us things which by nature we 
 could not know ; but they are all designed to confirm and strengthen 
 our hope in God : it is true also, that some of its institutions are only 
 necessary to supply us with spiritual strength to do our duty : these 
 are the additions which it has made to natural religion ; and we may 
 well forgive the injury. Our blessed Saviour saw that the hopes of 
 nature were lost, and therefore he brought to light again lite and 
 immortality. 
 
 These considerations may suggest to us what probable ground there 
 is for success in our endeavors to spread the gospel of Christ in the 
 dark corners of the world ; and what is the true method of proposing 
 it to the uninstructed part of mankind. 
 
 DISCOURSE VII. 
 
 Preached before the House of Commons at St, Margaret's, West- 
 minster, June 7, 1716; being the day of public thanksgiving to 
 Almighty God for suppressing the unnatural Rebellion. 
 
 PSALM CXXII. VERSE 6. 
 
 Pray for the peace of Jerusalem : they shall prosper that love thee. 
 
 Nothing places religion in a more disadvantageous point of view, 
 than an opinion that the present peace and prosperity of the world is 
 foreign to its ends and purposes. It is shown that a concern for the 
 welfare of our country is not only a political but a religious virtue ; a 
 care that becomes us not only as citizens, but as Christians; more 
 particularly because religion is so connected with our civil rights, 
 that there is no hope of saving it out of the ruins of our country. The 
 psalm from which the text is taken turns wholly on two topics ; the 
 temporal prosperity of Jerusalem considered as the head of the civil 
 government, in which the happiness of the whole nation was con- 
 cerned ; and as the seat of true religion, as God's own city, on whose 
 peace depended the security of that religion : these points enlarged on. 
 
228 SUMMARIES OF 
 
 From this great authority in the text two considerations are brought 
 home to ourselves : I. What reason we have on both these accounts 
 to bless God for our deliverance from the late rebellion. II. What 
 obligations we are under, from the same motives, to use our own 
 best endeavors in perpetuating the blessing of this deliverance. 
 
 I. Some arguments there are which require rather a capacity of 
 feeling than any great acuteness of judgment to apprehend them ; 
 such as those drawn from a sense of pleasure or pain, from an expe- 
 rience of the conveniences or inconveniences of life : this position 
 applied to the case in question. Had men a proper sense of the 
 miseries of times past, it would teach them what consequences they 
 might expect from any successful attempt against the present esta- 
 blishment, or what usage a protestant church would find, under the 
 corruption and superstition of that of Rome. Reasons given for the 
 exclusion of papists from the aftairs of government. Historical 
 account of the treatment which heretical princes have met with from 
 the church of Rome. 
 
 Conduct of those who had courage and plain dealing enough to 
 refuse their assent to the Hanoverian succession, and thereby to 
 forego civil advantages, contrasted with the guilt of those who, after 
 having bound themselves by solemn oaths and obligations, openly or 
 secretly favored the rebellion. 
 
 II. Our obligation to perpetuate our deliverance considered. This 
 obligation is but the necessary consequence of the duty which we are 
 now met to perform. Thanksgiving is little more than a solemn 
 mockery, if we feel no value for the deliverance ; and in vain do we 
 pray for God's assistance in any case, while we neglect the means of 
 helping ourselves which he has put into our power. 
 
 How much the preservation of the establishment depends on the 
 success of public councils, every body knows : what private men can 
 do, they best know : many are well qualified by station and abilities 
 to promote the interest of their king and country ; and surely it is 
 every man's duty to do whatever he thinks he lawfully may do, to 
 serve these desirable ends. Unhappiness of the nation, from its 
 being divided into factions, dilated on. Evils of this state described. 
 
 Under such unfortunate circumstances there is more reason to wish 
 for, than ground to expect, peace and unanimity at home. It is easy 
 for a few designing men to fill the people with unjust apprehensions 
 of their rulers ; though his Majesty, in his wisdom and goodness, 
 took at the very beginning the properest step to prevent this mischief, 
 by declaring that he would always make the constitution in church 
 and state the rule of his administration. Concluding exhortations and 
 rules for quieting the angry spirit that is abroad, for suppressing false 
 hopes, and allaying false fears. 
 
Sherlock's occasional discourses. — viii, 229 
 
 DISCOURSE VIII. 
 
 Preached before the Lord Mayor, &c. at St. Bride's, April 23, 17 L7. 
 
 ACTS, CHAP. XX. VERSE 35. 
 
 I have showed you all things, how that so laboring ye ought to support 
 the weak ; and to remember the words of the Lord Jesus, how he said, 
 It is more blessed to give than to receive. 
 
 These words conclude the moving discourse of St. Paul to the 
 elders of the church of Ephesus ; his last advice, and the best legacy 
 that he could leave them. Two things he especially recommends ; 
 the care of the church of God ; and provision to be made for the 
 necessities of the poor and helpless: the former duty in verse 28, ; 
 the latter in the words of the text. In speaking of the duty of cha- 
 rity, in that restrained sense of the word in which it regards only the 
 temporal wants of our brethren, there are three things proper to 
 be considered : I. How far, and to whom, its obligations extend. 
 II. The objects who are duly qualified to receive charity. III. What 
 is the blessing and reward which attend on the faithful discharge of 
 this duty. 
 
 With regard to the first point, it is shown, by the Apostle's words 
 and his example, that he calls on all indiff"erently, the elders and 
 pastors of the church, as well as others, to labor, working with their 
 hands ; and that he charges on their labor, not only the duty of pro- 
 viding for themselves and families, but also the care of supporting 
 those among them who were indigent and necessitous: the measures, 
 however, and proportions of charity not being determinate, but rela- 
 tive to the condition of times and persons, varying and changing with 
 them, it must be absurd to apply the rules of charity, found in the 
 holy Scriptures, to ourselves and our own times, without making due 
 allowance for the ditference in our circumstances and theirs to whom 
 the rules were first directed. Hence it becomes necessary to consider 
 the state of the times and persons to which those rules have reference. 
 
 The church of Christ at the first consisted almost wholly of the 
 poor and indigent ; whence St. Paul chose rather to work for his 
 bread with his own hands, than to make his ministry burdensome to 
 the churches, though he always asserts his right to be supported by 
 them in his function : nor were the learning and education of the first 
 converts much better than their fortunes; even the rulers of the 
 church being often taken from trades and mean employments, the 
 Spirit of God wonderfully supplying all their defects : this point 
 enlarged on. 
 
 These circumstances of the first Christians considered, it is easy to 
 justify the propriety of the Apostle's exhortation in the text : though 
 it would scarcely be at this time a proper one. We must rather be 
 exhorted to part with something out of our abundance to relieve the 
 
230 SUMMARIES OF 
 
 necessities of the poor. Those however who are able to work, who 
 are blessed with health and strength and vigor of limbs, are rich with 
 respect to others who are incapable, through want of limbs, or by the 
 weight of years, to assist themselves : when therefore bodily labor 
 was the whole wealth of the church, there was a necessity that the 
 strong should work to support the weak ; or the weak must have 
 perished in their want and poverty. This shows the reason of such 
 precepts, in which men are exhorted to part with something, even out 
 of the little they can earn by the sweat of their brows. 
 
 This also will help us to understand some other passages of Scrip- 
 ture relating to the exercise of charity : examples given : hence also 
 we may learn to answer the first inquiry, viz. how far the duty of 
 charity extends. The Apostle brings all under it who are able to 
 labor; but this must be mitigated by the difference of circumstances 
 between us and those whom he addressed. He pressed all to labor 
 for the purpose of being charitable, because he had none to speak to 
 but such as lived by their labor : but if he were now to address us, 
 his exhortation would doubtlessly be directed to the rich and pros- 
 perous : this point enlarged on : exhortation, founded on St. Paul's 
 advice to the Corinthians, that they should lay by in store, the first 
 day of every week, as God had prospered them. 
 
 Second subject of inquiry, viz. who are duly qualified to receive 
 charity. 
 
 / have showed you all things, how that so laboring ye ought to sup- 
 port the weak. By the iveak here we must understand such as are 
 not able to labor and work for their own living ; for since all who 
 can labor are placed on one side and made debtors to charity, the 
 weak, who are placed on the other side, and have a right to be sup- 
 ported by charity, must be such as are not able to work or to provide 
 for themselves in any honest calling. This case is fully determined 
 by the Apostle in 2 Thess. iii. 10-12. The general rule therefore 
 arising from these apostolical precepts, seems to be this : that such 
 only are due objects of charity, who are, through sickness or other 
 infirmity, rendered incapable of labor. Yet this rule, rigorously con- 
 strued, would be found inconsistent with reason and equity ; for the 
 man who is most able and willing to labor, may be tiie most pitiable 
 and unexceptionable object of charity : this point enlarged on. 
 
 But though the rule of charity must not be so restricted as to ex- 
 clude all who can labor, it may seem reasonable perhaps so to limit 
 it, as that all who can work, should work before they are intitled to 
 assistance from others ; yet even to require this in all cases would be 
 cruel and inhuman : for instance, if you saw a man fallen under great 
 calamities, who had relieved thousands in the days of his own pros- 
 perity, would you, when the hand of God was thus on him, turn 
 aside from his afHiction and say. Go, work for your living? 
 
 Since then there can hardly be any general rule fixed which will 
 be equally applicable to all cases, it may be worth while to examine 
 the reason and equity from which this duty flows, which may serve 
 to direct us in it. 
 
 Charity is a relative duty, and supposes the distinction of rich and 
 
Sherlock's occasional discourses. — viii. 231 
 
 poor ; since without it there could be no reason assigned why any 
 man should part with what he has to another who is already in as 
 easy a condition as himself: the distinction of rich and poor supposes 
 property, for if all things were in common, one man could hardly be 
 richer than another : but then how unequally soever the good things 
 of the world are divided, the wants and necessities of nature are 
 shared in common ; and it cannot be supposed that God sent men 
 into the world with such wants and cravings, merely to starve and 
 perish under them : yet how shall their wants be supplied, who have 
 nothing to supply them with? Steal they must not: it remains 
 therefore, that they must obtain the things they want from the pro- 
 prietors of the world, in exchange for such services as they can per- 
 form. But, it may be said, is this a sufficient source for their 
 maintenance ? Will the rich so accept the services of the poor ? 
 This would be a hard question, were there not an equal necessity on 
 both sides ; had not Providence so ordered it that the rich can no 
 more live without the poor, than the poor without the rich : this topic 
 enlarged on. 
 
 It is agreeable then to reason and equity that the poor who have 
 strength and ability to labor, should work for their living. It is 
 next considered, how the duty of the rich stands with respect to this 
 sort of poor. 
 
 The right which all men have to maintenance and subsistence is a 
 superior right to that of property ; for the great law of self-preser- 
 vation is antecedent to all private laws and possessions whatever ; 
 the consequence of which is, that in the last result the property of 
 the rich is subject to the maintenance of the poor : this point enlarged 
 on. As reasonable as this may seem, yet it is hard to tell every 
 particular rich man what the measure of his duty is in this case, or 
 how many poor he ought to employ : but the wisdom of Providence 
 has in great measure superseded this difficulty ; for a rich man cannot 
 enjoy his estate, or live answerably to his condition, without creating 
 a great deal of work for the support of the poor. 
 
 Hence we may judge what real iniquity there is in the temper 
 and practice of the penurious miser : that he denies to himself the 
 comforts and enjoyments of life, is the least part of his crime; for 
 whilst he pinches himself, he starves the poor, and withdraws from 
 the needy and industrious that maintenance which God has provided 
 for them. 
 
 Whenever this ordinary method of supporting the poor fails, the 
 providing for them is a debt lying over the possessions of the rich; 
 for this is a nece.ssary condition of that law which secures them in 
 their property, by making it penal for the poor to dispossess them 
 by violence. The reasonableness of our poor laws shown from hence. 
 
 We see then how the duties arising from the distinction of rich and 
 poor, stand on the ground of natural reason and equity. 
 
 The gospel, though it has left men in possession of their ancient 
 rights, yet has enlarged the duties of love and compassion ; has 
 taught the rich to look on the poor not only as servants, but as 
 brethren : this point enlarged on. 
 
T6-1 SUMMARIES OF 
 
 To speak of the duty strictly, charity must begin where the maiH- 
 tenance of the poor fails; for whenever it becomes impossible for 
 them to provide for themselves, it becomes the duty of others tc 
 provide for them. Now work being the maintenance of the poor, it 
 is evident that, whenever this fails, they become objects of charity ; 
 and this happens many ways : these enlarged on : the report read. 
 Last thing proposed for consideration, viz, what is the blessing and 
 reward attending on the faithful discharge of this duty : it is more 
 blessed to give than to receive. 
 
 First; If we consider the different conditions into which men are 
 divided, and their several duties; if we consider the obligation of 
 the rich to assist the needy, and that of the poor to toil for a mean 
 livelihood, we shall have reason to bless God, who has placed us on 
 the happier side, and thankfully to comply with the duty of our 
 condition ; whence this comfort may be added to it, that it shall not 
 be taken from us. 
 
 Secondly ; In regard to present pleasure and satisfaction attending 
 on works of charity, the giver has in all respects a better share tharr 
 the receiver : this point enlarged on. 
 
 Thirdly ; If we look beyond this present scene, the difference is 
 still wider. There is no virtue in being relieved : a poor man is not 
 a better man for the charity he receives ; it rather brings with it an 
 increase of duty : it may happen that it may be a burden on his 
 future account, and will be so if he misapplies it. But the giver has 
 a better prospect before him : this enlarged on. 
 
 DISCOURSE IX. 
 
 The case of the Insolvent Debtors, and the charity due to thera, 
 considered. — Preached before the Lord Mayer, &c. at St. Bride's, 
 on Monday in Easter week, April 22, 1728. 
 
 MATTHEW, CHAP. XVIII. VERSES 29, 30. 
 
 And his fellow-servant fell down at his feet, and besought him, saying. 
 Have patience with me, and I will pay thee all. And he would not ; 
 but went and cast him into prison, till he should pay the debt. 
 
 When we consider the various distresses under which many 
 persons and families labor, and their utter inability to support them- 
 selves under these evils, it is some alleviation to observe the diligence 
 of Christian charity in finding proper methods for the comfort and 
 support of such objects. 
 
 This thought arises naturally from the business of the day. Series 
 of observations made on the present assembly; on the manner in 
 
Sherlock's occasional dis<;oukses. — ix. 2:^3 
 
 which men oppress the poor and miserable ; particularly in the case 
 to which the text refers ; that is, the hard-hearted cruelty exercised 
 towards insolvent debtors. Consideration of what reason, conscience, 
 and Christian charity require of us in this case. Observations on 
 the words of our Saviour's parable in the text. 
 
 First; Here is a debt supposed to be justly due. The poor man 
 owed his fellow-servant an hundred pence. 
 
 Secondly; When the debt is demanded, he does not deny it or 
 refuse to pay it, but desires forbearance only, till by his labor he 
 could discharge it. 
 
 Thirdly ; lie asks even this as a favor, and with great submission. 
 On the contrary. 
 
 Fourthly ; The creditor with insolence and violence demands the 
 debt; for which behavior he is called, ver. 32. Thou wicked ser- 
 vant. 
 
 Some of these circumstances seem to be added, in order to aggra- 
 vate the cruelty of this wicked servant; as the violence used on the 
 one side, and the submission made on the other. And the case 
 commonly falls out to be so. 
 
 But the circumstances on which the reason of the case depends 
 are principally two : First, That the debtor was not able to discharge 
 the debt at the time of the demand : Secondly, That he was willing 
 to do justice to his creditor, and to endeavor, by the best means in 
 his power, to raise a sum which might answer the demand. Therefore 
 where either of these circumstances are wanting, the reason of the 
 case ceases, and together with it all pleas for compassion and for- 
 bearance : this point enlarged on. 
 
 Another circumstance, on which the judgment of our Saviour in 
 this case depends, is, that there be a readiness and willingness in 
 the debtor to do justice whenever he is able, and to use his best 
 endeavors for that purpose : consequently all such debtors are out of 
 this case who deny their just debts, or any part of them ; or who 
 conceal their effects to defraud their creditors ; also such as live idly 
 and profusely on the estate which ought to be applied to do justice 
 to whom it is due. The reason of these exceptions given in each 
 case. 
 
 In these therefore, and others of the like nature, a good man may, 
 and a wise man will, make use of the power which the law gives 
 him for the security of his property. 
 
 But when the circumstances mentioned in the text meet together ; 
 when the debtor is chargeable with no fraud or fault, but is disabled 
 by mere poverty from discharging his debts, to use the extremity of 
 the law against such a man is not only cruel and inhuman, but 
 contrary to the true meaning and design of the law : this point 
 enlarged on. 
 
 Is it then a general rule that the law can never with good con- 
 science be executed against insolvent debtors? There may possibly 
 be many exceptions ; but they must all be attended with this circum- 
 stance, that there be a prospect of recovering the debt, though the 
 debtor be insolvent : this point explained. 
 
234 SUMMARIES OF 
 
 Some think that no severity is loo great to be used against those 
 who have spent their estates riotously, to the injury of their creditor ; 
 and indeed little is to be said in behalf of such persons. Yet still it 
 is worth consideration, whether a man would choose to be judge and 
 executioner in his own cause. 
 
 But the case which is now principally in view, stands clear of 
 these exceptions. Those unfortunate persons with whom the jails 
 are crowded, are for the most part such as have neither money nor 
 friends to assist them ; such as have fallen into poverty by misfor- 
 tunes, by a decay of business, or perhaps by the numbers of a 
 family which their utmost diligence could not support. Were they 
 at liberty, they might be of use to themselves, to their poor families, 
 and also to their creditors : this case enlarged on : the report read. 
 Concluding observations. 
 
 DISCOURSE X. 
 
 Preached before the House of Lords at Westminster Abbey, 
 
 Jan. 30, 1733. 
 
 MARK, CHAP. III. VERSE 24. 
 If a kingdom be divided against itself, that kingdom cannot stand. 
 
 Though the words of the text are read in the gospel, yet they 
 have not their authority merely from thence ; since an appeal lies 
 to common sense and experience for the truth contained in them. 
 
 As observations of this kind depend on a great number of facts, 
 so are there in the present case a great number to support it. We 
 have examples of our own growth. 
 
 The late unhappy times of Charles the First were attended with 
 this peculiar felicity, that no foreign nation was at leisure to take 
 advantage of our divisions. But though there was no such enemy 
 to ruin us, yet ruined we were. Such is the malignity of intestine 
 division ! 
 
 When national quarrels grow extreme, and appear in arms, it is 
 easy to foresee their sad consequences ; and whoever looks back 
 with partial or impartial eye on the years of distress under which this 
 country labored in the late times, will see enough to convince him 
 how fatal a thing it is for a kingdom to be divided against itself: 
 it will be therefore of little use to enlarge on this part of the 
 argument. 
 
 But there are other evils less discernible, which spring from the 
 same bitter root, and naturally prepare a way for the greater mis- 
 chiefs which follow. 
 
Sherlock's occasional discourses. — x. 235 
 
 National divisions are sometimes founded in material differences, 
 sometimes owe their rise to accidents; but all divisions, how different 
 soever in their commencement, grow in their progress to be much 
 alike ; and there are evil effects which may generally be ascribed to 
 them all, as the fruit they naturally produce. 
 
 I. The zeal and warmth which attend public quarrels, are apt to 
 get possession of men's minds and affections so far as to render them 
 in great measure unable to form a right judgnient of things and 
 persons; and without this it is impossible for men to be of any 
 service to their country ; since a foundation for public good can 
 never be laid in a wrong judgment of things and persons : this topic 
 fully treated. 
 
 II. One great guard to virtue, and placed in the minds of men by 
 the hand that formed them, is the sense of shame when we do ill ; 
 of the same kind, and a twin of the same birth, is the pleasure 
 arising from the praise of having done well : but to make these 
 natural passions of any service to us, they must be kept true to their 
 proper objects, good and evil ; and whenever the judgment is so 
 corrupted as to lose sight of this difference, the love of praise and the 
 fear of shame will become not merely useless, but mischievous and 
 destructive; which must be the case when a false standard is set up. 
 This applied to a nation or kingdom divided against itself. 
 
 III. When praise and reproaches are distributed with so little 
 justice, it has another very ill effect in hardening men against 
 reproach, even when they deserve it most : this point enlarged on. 
 
 IV. It is a farther aggravation of this evil, to consider that such 
 infamous conduct seldom fails of being successful ; for when the 
 malignity of intestine division is far spread, it becomes a shelter for 
 all iniquity : party zeal usurps the place of Christian charity, and 
 covers a multitude of sins : men then trust their hopes and fortunes 
 to the merit of their zeal, and this seldom fails them ; for, 
 
 V. As credit and reputation, the natural rewards of virtue, are 
 perverted and misapplied by the blind spirit of division, so are the 
 rewards which the public has provided and destined to the encourage- 
 ment of true merit, diverted into a wrong channel : this point 
 enlarged on. 
 
 These are the steps by which division corrupts the manners and 
 morality of a nation. And what hopes are there of seeing a people 
 grow great and considerable, who have lost the sense of virtue and 
 of shame ; who call evil good, and good evil ; and who are prepared 
 to sacrifice their true interest and that of their country to their own 
 and their leaders' resentment ? 
 
 These general observations might be justified by numberless 
 instances, drawn from the late times; but to do justice to the subject 
 and the solemn occasion of the day, it is necessary to take one 
 step into their history, and to view the works of division in its utmost 
 rage. 
 
 It is difficult to speak of any thing relating to the unhappy period 
 which this day calls to mind, and truth can hardly be borne on 
 either side; yet testimony must be given against the unnatural and 
 
2:J0 SUMMARIES OF 
 
 barbarous treason, and the acts of violence which prepared the way 
 for it; a treason long since condemned by the public voice. 
 
 The subject illustrated by some examples, which the history of the 
 late times affords, and which reach to the full extent of the text, 
 that a kingdom divided against itself cannot stand. 
 
 To put a stop to innovations, correct abuses, and redress grievances 
 by the known rules of Parliament, is the true and ancient method of 
 preserving the constitution, and transmitting it safe to posterity ; but 
 when this wholesome physic came to be administered by the spirit of 
 faction and division, it was so interaperately given, that the remedy 
 inflamed the distemper, and the unhappy contest which began about 
 the rights of the king and the liberties of the people ended in the 
 destruction of both. 
 
 The contest about civil rights was rendered exceedingly hot and 
 fierce, by having all the disputes and quarrels in religious matters, 
 under which the nation had long suft'ered, incorporated with it : thus 
 conscience was called in to animate and inflame the popular resent- 
 ments : the effect was soon felt, for the church of England fell the 
 first sacrifice. 
 
 The bishops of those days were generally inclined to save and 
 support the crown ; the consequence thence drawn was, that 
 episcopacy itself was an usurpation ; and the bishops were ex- 
 cluded, not only from the House of Parliament, but from their 
 churches also. 
 
 But why mention this, when so much more fatal a blow was given 
 to the liberties and constitution of England, by the House of Lords 
 itself being declared useless, and the peerage excluded from a share 
 in the legislature ? 
 
 The nobility were not free from the infection of those times ; and 
 yet to their honor be it remembered, that the execrable fact of this 
 day could not be carried into execution so long as the peerage of 
 England had any influence in the government : when once they were 
 removed, the crown and the head of him that wore it fell together. 
 
 It is said that very few persons comparatively were wicked and 
 bold enough to dip their hands in royal blood. But then, how fatal 
 to kingdoms is the spirit of faction and division, which could in the 
 course of a few years throw all the powers of the kingdom into the 
 hands of a few desperate men, and enable them to trample on the 
 heads of princes, the honors of the nobility, and the liberties of the 
 people ! 
 
 Could these acts of violence, and the causes which produced them, 
 be suft'ered to lie quiet in history, as so many beacons, we might be 
 wiser and better for the calamities of our fathers ; but if we permit 
 their passions and resentments to descend on us; if we keep alive 
 old quarrels by mutual invectives, what else are we doing but nursing 
 up the embers of that fire which once consumed these kingdoms? 
 
 The application of what has been said is so natural and obvious, 
 that were it pardonable to omit it on this occasion, it would not be 
 mentioned. 
 
 There is no pleasure in viewing the follies and distractions of 
 
Sherlock's occasional discourses. — xi. 2:37 
 
 former times ; nor is there any advantage, unless it be that we may 
 grow better and wiser by the examples which history sets before us. 
 In the present case we have the experience, which cost the nation 
 dear, to warn both rulers and subjects how carefully they should 
 avoid all occasions of division. The true way to act is, for each side 
 to maintain its own rights without encroaching on those of the other ; 
 for the constitution must suffer whenever the rights of the crown, or 
 the liberties of the people, are invaded : this point enlarged on. 
 Concluding- observations. 
 
 DISCOURSE XI, 
 
 The nature and extent of charity. — Preached at St. Margaret's, 
 Westminster, before the Trustees of the Infirmary in James Street, 
 April 26, 1735. 
 
 LUKE, CHAP. X. VERSES 3C, 37. 
 
 Which now of these three, tliinkest thou, was iieiglibor unto liim that fell 
 among thieves ? And he said. He that showed mercy on liim. Then 
 said Jesus unto him, Go, and do thou likewise. 
 
 The case of the good Samaritan was not principally intended to 
 show the necessity of works of mercy, &c. : these have their founda- 
 tion in, and are recommended by, the law of nature ; but to remove 
 various pretences or prejudices was the direct object of our Lord in 
 stating this case : and he was led to this by the inquirer, who 
 admitted the love of our neighbor to be a fundamental duty, though 
 he sought after limitations and restrictions on the practice of it : this 
 point enlarged on. The parable itself is so well known, that it is 
 sufficient to mention the mere circumstances of it. 
 
 Taking the direction of our Saviour, as it stands explained by these 
 circumstances, it will lead us to the following considerations: I. The 
 nature and extent of charity : II. the value of the excuses which 
 men often make for the neglect of it : III. The excellency of that 
 particular charity which has given occasion to this day's meeting. 
 First ; as was before observed, our Saviour's intention was not prin- 
 cipally to show the necessity of charitable works, or to recommend 
 one of them above the rest. In stating a case, however, it was 
 necessary to instance some sort of charitable work ; but the conclu- 
 sion, Go and do thou likewise, is not confined to that kind of work 
 only, but is intended to show us who are our neighbors in regard to 
 works of mercy in every kind. The works of mercy are as various 
 as its objects, and all who are miserable are objects of pity ; nor can 
 any reason be assigned for excluding such from our compassion, if we 
 consider ourselves merely in the light of reasonable creatures : this 
 topic enlarged on. 
 
238 SUMMARIES OF 
 
 And as the case stands on the ground of reason and the natural 
 sentiments of men, so likewise have the precepts of the gospel bound 
 these duties on us in the same extent. 
 
 Honor and reverence are due to those who deserve them ; but love 
 is a debt due to all men, which can never be fully paid and 
 exhausted. Therefore St. Paul commands that we render to every 
 man his due, fear to whom fear, honor to whom honor is due : but 
 when he speaks of love, he varies his style, and considers us in this 
 respect as debtors to every man : owe no man any thing but to love 
 one another. 
 
 If we consider these laws as derived from the author of nature and 
 of the gospel, we shall find that they proceeded from a love as 
 universal as that which they enjoin ; the general good of mankind 
 being provided for in them : this point enlarged on. 
 
 The extent of this great duty of love and mercy having been 
 considered, it will be easy, in the second place, to estimate by this 
 measure the value of excuses often made for the neglect of it. 
 
 To speak without confusion, it is necessary to distinguish between 
 love as merely a sentiment or habit of the mind, and as coupled with 
 a power and ability to exert itself in external acts of mercy : this 
 subject considered. 
 
 Where men are able to practise acts of love and generosity towards 
 others in distress, there is often an unwillingness, and always an 
 excuse to attend it. From what has been said of the duty in general, 
 it is evident that to confine our charity to relations, acquaintance, 
 &c., is inconsistent with the great reasons on which the duty itself is 
 founded, and is therefore a breach of duty which cannot be justified : 
 indeed it is that very pretence which our Saviour intended to exclude 
 and condemn in the parable. But what shall we say to the personal 
 merit of those who are objects of charity ? In the parable the 
 person relieved was a stranger to his benefactor, known to him only 
 by his misery and distress ; here therefore personal character had no 
 influence in the charity. And to follow such an example we are 
 exhorted in other places of the gospel. But as no man's ability 
 to do good in any way is unlimited, it is commendable surely to 
 seek for the properest objects of charity ; and in this consideration 
 the virtue and innocence of the sufferer must be of great moment. 
 
 There would perhaps be little reason to be very nice and curious in 
 the choice of objects, were it not for the many frauds daily practised 
 on well-disposed persons, since begging has become a trade, &c. 
 
 Another great discouragement to charitably disposed persons, is the 
 ill use which the poor often make of their benefactions : this point 
 enlarged on. 
 
 How to advise charitable persons to steer clear of these incon- 
 veniences in their private benevolence, is difficult : perhaps it may 
 be a good rule not to be too curious, or hard to be satisfied. But 
 with respect to the great work of charity connected with the day, 
 this stands free of all such difficulties. This shown ; first, from the 
 nature of the charity itself; secondly, from the method in which it is 
 conducted. Concluding exhortation. 
 
Sherlock's occasional discourses. — xii. 239 
 
 DISCOURSE XII. 
 
 Preached before the Society, corresponding with the Incorporated 
 Society in Dublin, for promoting English Protestant Schools in 
 Ireland, at St. Mary-le-Bow, March 7, 1738. 
 
 DEUTERONOMY, CHAP. XXXII. VERSES 45, 46. 
 
 And Moses made an end of speaking all these words to all Israel : and he 
 said unto them, Set your hearts nnto all the words which I testify 
 among yon this day, which ye shall command your children to observe 
 to do, all the words of this law. 
 
 This is the last piece of advice which Moses gave to the people 
 of Israel ; and as the last advice of dying friends makes a strong 
 impression on the minds of the survivors, so is it natural for those who 
 are leaving this world, to make the thing which they deem of the 
 highest importance, the subject of their last advice. 
 
 If the character and circumstances of Moses be considered, the 
 advice of the text is no less interesting than it is to be expected : it 
 aims at laying a solid foundation of happiness for that and all 
 succeeding generations, by instructing the people how to perpetuate 
 to their posterity the knowlege of God and of his law, and to make 
 him their constant friend and protector ; viz. by instilling into the 
 minds of their children a sense of what God had done for them and 
 their forefathers, and by forming them early to obedience. 
 
 The Jews had a still greater reason for discharging this duty : they 
 well knew that they were distinguished from the rest of the world by 
 Providence for the sake of it. 
 
 That the command of Moses lays an obligation on parents to use 
 their authority with their children to bring them into subjection to 
 the law of God, is put out of all doubt by the language of the text. 
 But this precept had a larger and more extensive view, being given 
 not merely as the advice of a preacher, but as the injunction of 
 a great lawgiver. The education therefore of the children of a 
 country may, and ought, in all wise governments, to be considered as 
 a national concern. 
 
 To judge of the methods which have been, or may be, applied to 
 propagate or preserve religion in the world, we must consider the 
 nature, capacities, and circumstances of men in general ; the influ- 
 ences under which they act, and which of them may be properly 
 made use of in the case in question. Religion being the service of a 
 free agent, all external force is excluded as absolutely improper : 
 instruction is the proper application to a reasonable mind ; and were 
 men under no influence but that of reason, instruction would be the 
 only proper application : but men are born with passions also that 
 become turbulent; and therefore authority is wanted as well as 
 instruction, to form the mind to virtue and religion. 
 
 Some persons object to this method of propagating religion, and 
 
240 SUMMARIES OF 
 
 think that all men should be left free to judge for themselves, 
 without the prejudices of education being thrown into the scale 
 on either side. It is no uncommon thing for men to pursue their 
 speculations till they lose sight of nature ; whence they fall into 
 notions contradictory to the experience of mankind, and impossible to 
 be reduced to practice. If we look into the history of ages past, we 
 shall find no instance of children brought up free from the impressions 
 of custom and education; the nature. and condition of men con- 
 sidered, it is impossible there ever should be : so that where parents 
 do omit the instruction of their children, it is but leaving them 
 to receive impressions from far worse hands. 
 
 But as this objection, if there be any weight in it, directly 
 impeaches the means ordained by Providence for perpetuating the 
 great truths of religion both under the Jewish and Christian dispen- 
 sations, it may be proper to consider farther, how it stands on the 
 grounds of reason and human nature. 
 
 Did men come into this world perfect, and equally perfect, as to 
 all the faculties of the understanding, there might be some reason 
 perhaps for saying, ' leave them to judge for themselves.' But as the 
 case is otherwise, and we arrive by slow degrees to the use of reason 
 and the knowlege of things about us, nature directs that parents 
 should teach their children, as they grow capable of learning, the 
 things that are necessary to their well-being. 
 
 The great force of custom and education, whether rightly applied 
 or otherwise, could not be long unobserved in the world : as soon as 
 it was observed, it became a strong call on the natural affection 
 of parents to guard the tender minds of their children against wrong 
 impressions, and to prevent evil habits. Without the exercise of this 
 care in some degree, authority cannot be maintained on the part of 
 parents, nor duty required on the part of children. If parents have 
 nothing to teach, what have children to obey? 
 
 When the ways of men grew corrupt, custom and education went 
 • over to the side of vice and superstition, and soon spread the follies of 
 idolatry far and wide: these took such deej) root, that human reason 
 could not shake them, but was content for ages to wear the chains of 
 blind superstition. Custom and education cannot be shut out of the 
 case : influence they must and will have ; and if they are not 
 secured on the side of reason, they will soon grow to be tyrants over 
 it ; and men will think and act as if they had none. 
 
 So general and so strong is the force of custom and education, that 
 the influence may be said to be natural to the mind of man ; and if 
 so, it was doubtless intended by Providence to serve good purposes. 
 That he intended it for this use, is manifest also from his making this 
 use of it, and from his interposing to correct the abuses to which this 
 natural influence was but too liable through the passions and 
 corruptions of men. 
 
 Consideration of what provision was made at the beginning of 
 things for propagating religion in the world. 
 
 Consideration of what care was taken of religion at the restoration 
 of the world after the deluge : to check the course of succeeding 
 
SHERLOCK'S OCCASIONAL DISCOURSES. — XII. '211 
 
 impiety, and keep up a sense of true religion, a nation of God's own 
 peculiar people was raised up: Abraham made choice of: a law 
 given to his descendants, with signs and wonders: memory of it per- 
 petuated by various rites and ceremonies: these, introduced at first 
 by positive law, soon obtained the force of national customs, and 
 were a strong barrier against idolatry. 
 
 These institutions however were not intended to operate merely by 
 the force of custom, but were adopted to preserve and renew the 
 memory of the true reasons in which the Jewish religion was 
 founded : they were intended to make custom subservient to reason 
 and true religion. 
 
 On this ground did that religion stand, till God thought fit by 
 a new revelation to call all the world to repentance and obedience to 
 the gospel. The nations of the earth were idolatrous before the 
 coming of Christ; their worship was impure and depraved; and 
 their forms of superstition, su[)ported by custom, had got strong 
 possession of the human heart. 
 
 To root out this inveterate evil required supernatural assistance ; 
 and yet such as was consistent with the freedom and reason of human 
 minds, and agreeable to the nature of religion, which loses its very 
 being when it is separated from freedom and reason. The power of 
 miracles was such an assistance ; for miracles are an appeal to 
 reason, as much as the works of nature are ; and therefore, when 
 oft'ered in support of true religion, are to be considered as new arms 
 put into the hands of reason, to subdue the powers of corrupt custom 
 and education. 
 
 The subject does not lead to a consideration of all the purposes 
 which Providence had to serve by the power of miracles ; but this 
 manifestly was one, to awaken the attention of the world, to consider 
 what they and their idolatrous fathers had been doing, &c. 
 
 When reason and true religion were by this powerful assistance set 
 free from the shackles of idolatry and superstition, miracles ceased ; 
 and for perpetuating the knowlege of God and of his truth in 
 the world, the natural and ordinary methods of teaching and 
 instructing received an additional strength, by an order of men set 
 apart for that purpose. This was an additional strength to the 
 ordinary means of instruction, but was never meant to supersede 
 them ; for parents are obliged by the law of the gospel and of nature 
 to bring up their children in the nurture and admonition of the Lord; 
 and where this care has been neglected, it is rarely that the other can 
 take place. 
 
 What then is there in the present circumstances of things that we 
 can do to promote virtue and religion ? We have only natural and 
 ordinary means within cur power. May we use them ? or must the 
 care of virtue and religion be given up ? If not, the properest, if not 
 the only way to preserve them, is to lay a foundation for the youth of 
 the country. But these general reflections arise so naturally, that we 
 may go on to consider the particular case now before us. 
 
 The state of religion in Ireland well deserves the attention of 
 
 PAliT 11. Q 
 
242 • SUMMARIES OF 
 
 every man in this kingdom, who has a concern either for the purity 
 of the gospel, or the security of our government. 
 
 The Reformation was very imperfectly carried on in that country ; 
 so that the bulk of the people have ever been, and still are, papists: 
 state of Ireland from this circumstance, as well as from the peculiar 
 language of the people, which renders it difficult to enlighten them, 
 considered. Uncomfortable state of the Protestant clergy there 
 described : feeling exhortation addressed to all who may have it in 
 their power to alleviate this state of things. Encouragement to do 
 this, arising from a consideration of the prosperity and welfare of our 
 own constitution. The present government and the protestant religion 
 must stand or fall together : papists are by principle enemies to 
 both ; and by the lowest computation they are in Ireland as Hve to 
 two. Civil and military power indeed are in the hands of pro- 
 testants ; and in times of peace perhaps they are able to preserve 
 public tranquillity ; but in public commotions the strength of popery 
 has always been grievously experienced : this point enlarged on. 
 
 What then shall we say to this state of the case? Shall these 
 numbers continue siill to be our enemies? or shall we try to gain 
 their aflections, and make them friends to the government? Shall 
 we allow them even to remain untaught, uncultivated, and therefore 
 useless to themselves and to the world ? or shall we show them the 
 arts of life and honest industry, teach them to be happy, and 
 ^erviceable to themselves and to the public ? There can be no 
 doubt which part is to be chosen. Concluding observations. 
 
 DISCOURSE XIII. 
 
 Preached at St. Sepulchre's, May 21, 1719, at the anniversary 
 meeting of the children educated in the charity school. 
 
 II CORINTHIANS, CHAP. IX. VERSE 12. 
 
 For the administration of this service not only supplieth the want of the 
 saints, but is abundant also by many thanksgivings unto God. 
 
 To take in the full sense of the Apostle on this subject, the 14th 
 verse ought to be read together with the text. 
 
 The occasion of these words explained : hence an inference is 
 drawn, that it is not only lawful, but laudable, to make the natural 
 passions and inclinations of men subservient to the cause of virtue 
 and religion. These motives however must be kept in their proper 
 place; we may recommend them, but they cannot make a duty : the 
 ground of obedience lies deeper : this shown to be regard for the 
 honor of God, for the good of our brethren, and for our own happi- 
 
SHERLOCK'S OCCASIONAL DISCOURSES. — XIII. 243 
 
 ness; which principles, though considered distinct, are as it were 
 «inited ; nor must we imagine that they are peculiar to works of cha- 
 rity, since they extend to all parts of our duty; and from them all 
 religion is derived. 
 
 In treating therefore this subject, three considerations are pro- 
 posed : I. How these principles influence religion in general : 
 II. How plainly and evidently they lead us to works of charity and 
 mercy : III. How effectually they conspire to recommend that good 
 work which is the object of this meeting in the presence of God. 
 
 First, then : Man is a religious creature, in consequence of his 
 being a rational one : our obligations to do right arise from the natu- 
 ral powers with which we are endowed, to distinguish between right 
 and wrong: this point enlarged on. When once a man has attained 
 to the knowlege of God, and of the relation he bears to him, and feels 
 the natural obligations from thence arising to love, honor, and obey 
 his Maker; though other considerations may come in to incline him 
 to his duty, yet none can add to his obligations ; since he already 
 acts on the highest principle which a rational mind is capable of 
 entertaining. 
 
 The second principle of duty, which is the love of our neighbor, 
 may be considered in two views; either as it results from the common 
 relation which all men bear to God, or from the relation which men 
 bear to each other. In the first view, to love our neighbor is pro- 
 perly a religious act, and part of the duty which we owe to God, 
 whose attributes must render it acceptable to him. But besides this, 
 could we suppose men to forget God without forgetting themselves, 
 and losing the reason which they are endowed with, the very light of 
 reason, assisted by their natural faculty of distinguishing what is right 
 and wrong, would oblige them to use each other with justice and with 
 tenderness : this point enlarged on. 
 
 Join these two considerations together, and you see into the very 
 source of all the obligations a man can be under to do good to his 
 fellow-creatures. We can consider men only as they stand related 
 to us, or as they and we stand equally related to God, our common 
 father; and under these views we may discover whatever we owe to 
 man for his own sake, or for the sake of God who made him, and dis- 
 cern the whole compass of our duty vvith respect to the second great 
 branch of it, Thoii shall love thy neighbor as thyself. 
 
 The third thing then is now considered, viz. the love of ourselves 
 and our own happiness ; and Iww far this will and ought to influence 
 our religious obedience. 
 
 It is evident from the common and universal sense of mankind, 
 that the desires of life and happiness are impressions which come from 
 the Author of nature; and consequently that to follow these impres- 
 sions, and act according to them, is agreeable to nature and to the 
 will of God, the Author of them. It is reasonable for a man to be 
 concerned for his own happiness, and consonant to the divine will ; 
 and considering the strict union which God has made between our 
 happiness and our duty, this principle will always be a powerful one 
 in matters of religion : this point enlarged on. 
 
244 SUMMARIES OF 
 
 To judge rightly therefore of the motives on which men act in their 
 religious concerns, we must judge of the nature of the happiness 
 Avhich they propose to themselves; and as long as men seek after that 
 which is natural and proper, and intended for them by God, so long 
 they act on motives agreeable to his will. 
 
 The happiness in which men are capable of having any share, or 
 for which they have any desires, is either that which belongs to this 
 world, or that which belongs to the world to come. That future 
 rewards are proper incitements to virtue and religion, is plain from 
 Scripture ; but these do not alter the nature of religion, or give to 
 iiod a better title to our obedience than he had before : this point 
 enlarged on. 
 
 As to the happiness of this present life, we can as little question 
 whether God intended men to be happy here, as whether he intends 
 thera to be so hereafter : the natural desires of men after this happi- 
 ness, the necessary connexion between it and virtue, and the goodness 
 of God towards his creatures, will not jjerniit us to doubt it. Under 
 the old law we find the promises of this life expressly made to reli- 
 gious obedience by God himself: even under the gospel we are 
 assured that godliness has the pro)iiises of the life that now is, and of 
 that which is to come. To encourage ourselves therefore in our duty 
 with the hopes that God will reward us here with life, health, and 
 prosperity, is no blemish to our religion, but rather an act of f^ith in 
 God as Governor of the world. Our Saviour reckons but two heads 
 of religion, the love of God, and the love of our neighbor; but the 
 second of these plainly infers another, the love of ourselves, for we 
 are to love our neighbor as ourselves : this point enlarged on. 
 
 Second consideration ; How plainly and evidently these principles 
 lead us to works of charity and mercy. 
 
 He that oppresseth the poor, reproacheth his Maker; but he that 
 honoreth him hath mercy on the poor. The poor are the creatures of 
 God, not only as they are men, but also as they are poor men : the 
 different orders and degrees of mankind are from the hand of God ; 
 and to despise or oppress a man for being what God has thought fit 
 to make him, is to reproach God. Besides, works of mercy redound 
 to the honor of God, through the praises and thanksgivings of those 
 who feel comfort and relief by them. Unexpected relief given to the 
 indigent naturally creates in them a great sense of Providence; it 
 raises thera to a thankful acknowlegement of his regard towards 
 them, and disposes them to a religious dependence on him in the 
 midst of all their distress. That the good and welfare of men are 
 directly consulted by the charitable hand, is too plain to admit of a 
 doubt ; hence it is to be lamented tiiat so many impostures make 
 good people distrustful, and thus bring difficulties on the deserving 
 poor. We therefore can no otherwise answer this end of charity, 
 the doing good to others, than bj^ taking some care to place our cha- 
 rity right, and to distinguish between the truly needful and the idle 
 beggar. 
 
 But, thirdly. By works of mercy and charity we make the best 
 provision for our own present and future happiness. This may be 
 
Sherlock's occasional discourses. — xiii. 245 
 
 concluded tVom what lias been already said ; for since such works 
 have so plain a tendency to promote the honor of God, we cannot 
 doubt but that he will reward such as take pleasure therein : add to 
 this, the express promises of the gospel made to these works espe- 
 cially, and we have all the security that can be desired or expected. 
 
 The final retribution for this and every other work must be 
 expected from the justice of God in the day of judgment, but this 
 hinders not but that we may justly hope for part of our reward in 
 this life : this point enlarged on. 
 
 Last thing proposed, viz. To show how these considerations con- 
 spire to recommend to us that good work which is the object of the 
 present meeting. 
 
 If to supply the temporal wants of the brethren be a work redound- 
 ing- to the honor of God, behold these numerous objects, all wearing 
 the livery of charity, not as a badge of servitude to any earthly mas- 
 ter, but as a token that they and their benefactors are equally ser- 
 vants of God: nor are their present wants and necessities the only 
 concern of this pious institution ; for a foundation is laid for the con- 
 stant support of themselves and their families. 
 
 But the supplying of the temporal wants of the poor is not the only 
 nor the chief end of these institutions : they have another view, which 
 more directly regards the honor and glory of God ; the instructing of 
 youth in the principles of virtue and religion, teaching tlicm to know 
 God betimes, and the obedience due to him. To instruct undisci- 
 plined youth in the principles of faith and obedience, what is it but 
 to extend the dominion of God over his creatures, and to lay up in 
 store for ourselves more than a conqueror's crown ? 
 
 The argument has the same advantage with respect to the good of 
 those who are the immediate objects of this charity : it has this in 
 common with other charities, that it supplies the wants of the poor : 
 it has this above many others, that it is a provision against future 
 wants : but its chief glory is, that it is a provision not only for the 
 present comforts of this life, but also for the happiness of that which 
 is eternal. Lastly, As to the encouragers and supporters of this good 
 work, God is their reward ; and they need not doubt but that the 
 promises of the gospel shall be justified to them both in this life and 
 in that which is to come. Conclusion. 
 
246 SUMMARIES OF 
 
 DISCOURSE XIV. 
 
 Preached October G, 1745, on occasion of the Rebellion in Scotland. 
 
 JUDGES, CHAP. II. VERSE 7. 
 
 And the people served the Lord all the days of Joshua, and all the days of 
 the elders that outlived Joshua, who had seen all the great works of the 
 Lord that he did for Israel. 
 
 Thus far all was well ; but the case quickly altered : no sooner 
 were the men who had seen the works of the hon\ gathered nnto their 
 fathers, but there arose another generation after them whieh knew 
 not the Lord, &c. The elieets of their departing from God their 
 deliverer, are described at the 14th verse. 
 
 This is the case of the Israelites. Would that it was a singular 
 one, and that the rest of the people of God stood clear from the like 
 imputation ! It is but a melancholy reflection to think that the mis- 
 behavior here charged on the people of Israel, is almost a natural 
 eftect of the present degenerate and corrupt state of nature : this 
 pointed out in the common alFairs of life ; but public blessings make 
 still less impression on the minds of men : this point enlarged on. 
 
 The mischief which such a temper of ingratitude produces in pri- 
 vate and in public concerns, is very manifest ; but its eftect in the 
 afiairsofthis life, and among ourselves, is a light matter compared 
 with its influence with regard to religious duties. 
 
 The common blessings of Providence are received and enjoyed by 
 multitudes who seldom or never think of the hand that supplies their 
 wants: the constant and regular supply of our necessities makes us 
 imagine that we have a ri^iht to it by prescription, and have a pro- 
 perty in it as children of the earth ; or that if any thing be owing to 
 wisdom, it is to our own, in managing the ground and seasons to the 
 best advantage : thus forgetting the Author of every good gift, and 
 transferring to ourselves the honor which is due to him, we do, in the 
 language of the prophet, sacrijice unto our net, and burn incense to 
 our drag, &c. Hab. i. 16. 
 
 But however these common blessings, which come to all without 
 distinction, are neglected and overlooked, one would imagine that 
 signal deliverances would be had in perpetual remembrance, and 
 transmitted with gratitude and reverence to posterity : yet the case 
 is far otherwise. The history of the Jews, a people under the pecu- 
 liar and visible government of Providence, is a series of rebellions 
 and revolts against God, who had so often and so miraculously deli- 
 vered them from the hands of their enemies. In their story the coun- 
 sels of God with respect to them and to their neighbors are laid open : 
 from their example we may learn to reckon with ourselves, and to 
 know what to fear and what to hope from the justice and mercy of 
 God : for the ways of Providence are unalterable, and the sanje 
 
Sherlock's occasional discourses.— xiv. 247 
 
 wisdom and justice that governed the Jews, governs all the people of 
 the world : this topic enlarged on. Examples drawn from different 
 nations. 
 
 Final punishments, whereby nations are rooted out, are of use to us 
 as warnings to flee from the wrath to come; otherwise they can do 
 us no service: for should we ever fall into so wretched a condition, 
 who can deliver us from the hand of the living God ? But other 
 judgments, how sharp soever they may be, are the effects of mercy, 
 and intended for our correction : moreover the perverseness and cor- 
 ruption of men's hearts justify the goodness and equity of God in the 
 infliction of such punishments; and they must blame themselves for 
 not attending to the gentler calls of Providence. 
 
 Perhaps there may be no great occasion here to justify the ways of 
 God towards the children of Israel ; all are of one opinion, to con- 
 demn their perverseness and ingratitude. But are we ourselves 
 innocent from this great oft'ence ? 
 
 Let us consider our own case ; and we have great reason to con- 
 sider it, now the enemies of our religion and liberty appear with 
 triumph in the land. The unhappy divisions in civil matters are 
 passed over; for our conduct towards God and his holy religion is 
 the first and most interesting consideration. 
 
 The special providence of God over the people of Israel was not 
 the effect of partiality, or a weak fondness for a particular set of men ; 
 but the house of Abraham was called for the sake of true religion ; 
 to preserve a knowlege of God in the world, &c. ; and as they were 
 chosen for these great purposes, so whenever they acted contrary to 
 them, they ceasfd to be the chosen people, and were treated as 
 enemies and rebels. 
 
 We are apt enough to boast of the purity of our reformed religion, 
 and to flatter ourselves that we also are a peculiar people of God. 
 And if we judge from our many deliverances, we have reason to 
 acknowlege the care and protection of Heaven over us. But let us 
 remember still that we too are chosen to profess and maintain the 
 truth of God's holy gospel, and to bear our testimony against the 
 corruptions which have prevailed over great part of the Christian 
 world. If, instead of acting up to this, we grow careless and indif- 
 ferent to our holy profession, we forfeit our title to God's protection, 
 and must expect to be treated as enemies. 
 
 Our present condition is attended with fears and apprehensions ; 
 and if we look back and consider from whence we are fallen, we may 
 see but too much reason to suspect that they are well founded. How 
 has this nation been blessed with the light of the gospel ! How won- 
 derfully and how often has it been rescued from danger, when to 
 human appearance there was no help at hand ! History of its suc- 
 cesses, dangers, and deliverances, from the Reformation to the Res- 
 toration. At that time the hearts of the people were turned as the 
 heart of one man : nor was it in vain they sought the Lord ; for by a 
 wonderful series of providential mercies he delivered them ; and 
 we have seen for many years the crown on the head of protestant 
 
248 SUMMAUIES OF 
 
 princes, the natural guardians of the religion and liberties of tliis 
 country. 
 
 If we have made a right use of this last deliverance, let us fear no 
 change ; for God will not forsake us till we forsake him. But the 
 prospect before us, the dangers that draw near to us, call on us to 
 act uprightly with ourselves, and not deceive our hearts by sup- 
 posing that God will remember us, if we have forgotten him and his 
 mercies. 
 
 Our histories will always remind us of our great deliverances, and 
 we cannot forget them ; nor did the Jews forget the wonders wrought 
 in Egypt, and the redemption of their ancestors from captivity : but 
 the charge against them is the same as that brought by St. Paul 
 against tiie Gentiles ; when they knew God, they glorified him not as 
 God, &c. Do we stand clear of this charge ? Let every man recol- 
 lect v/hat he has heard, read, and seen, within the compass of a few 
 years. State of the nation commented on : its infidelity and pro- 
 faneness ; its neglect and violation of the Sabbath ; its proneness to 
 theft and robbery ; its hatred of popery shown to be not so much a 
 concern for the purity of the gospel, as fear of the powers of a popish 
 church. In the mean time popery itself has been gaining ground in 
 many places by the artful and unregarded insinuations of the adver- 
 sary, and by applications of another kind, which do but little honor 
 to the converts or converters ; since the price at which a man may 
 sell his faith is become almost a known sum. 
 
 We have but too exactly copied the Jews in their days of prospe- 
 rity : let us learn of them likewise in their adversity, and cry unto 
 God for help against our enemies. 
 
 And as in all the dispensations of Providence it is expected that 
 we should make i^se of the means which God puts into our power for 
 our own defence and safety, let us on this occasion, with cheerful- 
 ness, and with the hearts of men who trust in God, be ready to 
 employ our persons and fortunes in defence of our king and country, 
 and of the happy constitution in church and state under which we 
 live. Conclusion. 
 
249 
 
 SUMMARIES OF DISCOURSES 
 ON THE USE AND INTENT OF PROPHECY 
 
 DISCOURSE I. 
 
 2 PETER, CHAP. 1. VERSE 19. 
 
 We have also a more sure word of prophecy ; whereunfo ye do well that 
 ye take heed, as unto a light that shineth in a dark place, imtil the day 
 dawn, and the day-star arise in your hearts. 
 
 Evident comparison in the text between the icord of prophecy, 
 and something before mentioned or intended. At the IGth verse the 
 Apostle says, We have not followed cxinningly devised fables, when 
 toe made knoivn to you the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. And 
 after thus disclaiming all art and deceit in setting forth the promises 
 of the gospel, he declares on what evidence and authority he had 
 raised such expectations in them : but (we) were eye-witnesses of his 
 majesty, &c. And this voice xvhich came from heaven we heard, when 
 we were ivith him in the holy mount. Immediately follow the words 
 of the text, We have also a more sure word oj prophecy . 
 
 We see then on what foundation the inference of a sceptical writer 
 stands, who asserts that "prophecy is a stronger argument than a 
 miracle, which depends on external evidence and testimony." In- 
 terpreters differ much in expounding the passage, but all agree in 
 rejecting this sense, which gives to prophecy a superiority over other 
 evidence by which the truth of the gospel is confirmed. It is shown 
 that the text, so interpreted, not only contradicts the general sense of 
 mankind on this subject, but is inconsistent with itself and many 
 other places of Scripture. Consider, if any prophet can give greater 
 proof of his divine mission than the power of working miracles. 
 When Gideon is called by the angel of the Lord to the deliverance 
 of Israel, and a prophecy is delivered to encourage him, he demands 
 a miraculous sign : such a one is given him, and he undertakes the 
 work, to which he is again encouraged by two miracles wrought at 
 his request. In this case was the word of prophecy more sure before 
 the miracles than after? If so, why was a sign desired ? and, when 
 desired, why was it granted? Does God work miracles to humor 
 men in their folly, or to confirm their faith ? A still higher instance 
 adduced in the case of Moses. 
 
250 SUMMARIES OF 
 
 But farther ; the comparison in the text is between the wordof pro- 
 phecy and the immediate word of God ; accordingly St. Peter, by 
 this interpreter, is made in his own person to say, that the dark pro- 
 phecies of the Old Testament were a surer evidence than the imme- 
 diate voice of God. But let the account which St. Peter himself 
 gives of this u-ord of prophecy be considered. He compares it to a 
 tight shining in a dark place; and distinguishes it from daylight, 
 and from that brightness which is ushered in by the day-star : it is 
 but as the glimmering of a candle in a dark night seen at a distance, 
 which, tiiough it gives some direction, is nothing when compared to 
 clear daylight. This is a choice account to give of the best evidence 
 for that gospel which was to lighten the Gentiles, and to be the glory 
 of the people of Israel. Ask St. Paul what state Christians are in, 
 and he will tell you that the light of the glorious gospel of Christ, 
 ivho is the image of God, has shone unto them. Ask the Evangelists ; 
 and they will answer that the day-spring from on high has visited us, 
 &c. : this point enlarged on. 
 
 But let us go one step farther, and we shall find that St. Peter in 
 the text is so far from speaking of the word of prophecy as of the best 
 light or evidence to be had for the point in question, that he mani- 
 festly speaks of it as not the best, but as a light to be attended to 
 only till a better comes ; until the day dawn, and the day-star arise : 
 this point enlarged on. 
 
 Such reasons as these probably prevailed with interpreters to quit 
 the apparent sense of this text ; but they are far from being agreed in 
 the establishment of any other. The Greek expositors suppose that 
 prophecy is now to Christians a more sure evidence than ever it was, 
 having been verified and established by events ; which interpretation 
 preserves the force of the comparison, but places it where St. Peter 
 has not placed it : this shown. 
 
 Others suppose that the comparative is here used in the sense of 
 the positive, to denote the great certainty of the evidence ; but this 
 introduces a new use of language into the text without sufficient 
 authority. 
 
 Others, preserving the natural signification of the words, and 
 admitting the comparison, will not allow it to be absolute, but only 
 relative, that is, to the opinions and prejudices of the Jews, to 
 whom this epistle was directed: this shown not to be the Apostle's 
 meaning. 
 
 These are the most considerable expositions of the text : it appears 
 that every interpreter has been sensible of the absurditj' of setting up 
 prophecy as superior to all other gospel evidence, and to avoid this 
 difficulty, has been driven to seek out another meaning. Yet the 
 words do certainly import that the evidence of prophecy is a surer 
 evidence than that before mentioned; which was the Apostle's own 
 testimony of the glory of Christ, which he had seen with his eyes ; 
 and of the voice of God declaring Christ to be his beloved Son, of 
 which St. Peter was an ear-witness on the mount. Yet we are not 
 hence to conclude that prophecy is better than all other evidence of 
 the mission of Christ and of the truth of the gos[>el ; since it is neither 
 
Sherlock's discourses on prophecy. — i. 251 
 
 of these to wliich the text refers. To clear this matter, let us 
 consider wliat the Apostle intended to prove. 
 
 The second epistle of St, Peter was written to sup|)ort the hopes 
 and expectations which he had raised in his first. The Christians 
 to whom this was written were in a state of severe trial and persecu- 
 tion : (see ch. i. (?. ii. 1'2. iii. 10. iv. 4. 14. &c.) wherefore the 
 Apostle administers suitable advice to them, and bids them account 
 it a happiness that tliey were reproached for the name of Christ : 
 (see ch. iv. 1, 13, 14. ") He reminds them this was no strange event, 
 but what they had reason to expect; as it had been foretold, &c. 
 (see ch. iv. 12, 17. v. 9. Together with these admonitions he gives 
 them assurance of a certain deliverance near at hand. He tells them 
 that they ivere kept by the power of God, through faith, unto salva- 
 tion, ready to be revtaled : i. 5. He bids them have perfect hope and 
 confidence in this deliverance (13.); and for the certainty of it he 
 appeals to the ancient prophets, and the spirit of Christ in them, 
 <!tc. (i. 11, 12.) The first scene, the sufferings of Christ, being over, 
 (iv. 1.) his glory ^^d^ ready to be revealed, which would bring to 
 ■hem exceeding joy, and to the ungodly, their persecutors, destruc- 
 jon, (iv. 13, IB.) All these hopes were founded in this; that Christ 
 lad already received glory and power, and would return in that glory 
 ind power to save true believers. Now it is very probable that the 
 lersecuted Christians of those times looked daily for this deliverance ; 
 )ut when one year after another passed, and no deliverance came ; 
 when the scoffers began to mock them and ask, where is the promise 
 of his coming? (2 Ep. iii. 3, 4.) their hearts grew sick, and hope 
 deferred became an additional grief; filling them with fear lest they 
 had believed in vain : whence many gave way, listened to corrupt 
 teachers, fell from their steadfastness, and, to avoid suffering, denied 
 the Lord that bought them: (2 Ep. iii. 17. 1.) 
 
 In this state of things, after an interval of five or six years, the 
 Apostle sends his second epistle ; and it answers in every point to 
 this account. He endeavors, in the first chapter, to re-establish 
 their hopes : in the second he notices the false teachers, and threatens 
 them with sivift destruction: in the third he considers the scoffers 
 and their irreligious insult, entering into their argument, and show- 
 ing, from what had already happened in the world, how perversely 
 they reasoned about future things. He concludes with proper cau- 
 tions to Christians respecting the times and seasons of God's judg- 
 ments, and guards not only his own, but St. Paul's doctrine, on this 
 article, viz. the coming of Christ, against the arguments of the un- 
 learned and unstable. 
 
 This then is the main point of the second epistle ; and St. Peter 
 himself tells us that his intention in both his epistles was, to make 
 them to whom they were sent, mindful of the ivords ivhich were 
 spoken before of the holy prophets; adding also, and of the com- 
 mandments of us the Apostles of the Lord and Saviour : 2 Ep. iii. 
 1, 2. This key will open this so much perplexed passage of Scrip- 
 ture ; from which it is evident that the power and coming of our 
 Lord Jesus Christ is the only point here in question ; and that not a 
 
io2 SUMMARIKS OF 
 
 word relates to any other fact or doctrine of the gospel. To prove 
 this point, the Apostle declares that he had himself been an eye- 
 witness of his majesty and glory. But this evidence is not sufficient. 
 What is there to prove his future coming again in this power and 
 glory ? There is a great presumption that he will so come, in that 
 the Apostle saw him glorified, and God openly declared him to be 
 his ivell-belovcd So7i : but to assure us that he will indeed so come 
 and use his power, it is said, We have a more sure word of prophecy. 
 This interpretation is shown to be necessary to the Apostle's argu- 
 ment, plainly enforced by the context, and to stand clear of all diffi- 
 culties. The more sure word of prophecy here mentioned is shown 
 to refer not only to the prophecies of the Old, but also to those 
 of the New Testament. The above interpretation of the passage 
 furnishes an answer to one objection, stated by the learned Grotius, 
 against the authority of the epistle. 
 
 DISCOURSE II. 
 
 CoNSlDEUATlON of the character which St. Peter gives to pro- 
 phecy, and the degree of evidence we may reasonably expect from 
 it; which amounts to this, that the knowlege which God gives us of 
 things future by means of prophecy, is but imperfect and obscure ; 
 not to be compared with the clear knowlege that will attend on the 
 manifestation of the things themselves. This proposition is confirmed 
 by the authority of Scripture, and some useful observations on the 
 nature and evidence of prophecy are suggested. 
 
 If we look into the first epistle of St. Peter, we shall find that the 
 ancient prophecies, of which he speaks in the text, and which he 
 styles the more sui'e word of prophecy, were not apprehended or 
 clearly understood by those inspired persons who delivered them : 
 see ch. i. 11. To the same purpose our Saviour speaks. Matt. xiii. 
 17. St. Paul also gives the like account of the gift of prophecy 
 under the gospel dispensation, 1 Cor. xiii. 9-12. Now if the pro- 
 phets and righteous men of the Old and New Testament knew only 
 in part, and prophesied only in part, seeing but darkly as through a 
 glass, it is most evident that others less qualified must have had but 
 a confused and indistinct notion of things foretold. The prophet 
 Daniel, after an extraordinary vision, adds, / heard, but I under- 
 stood not : then said I, O my Lord, what shall be the end of these 
 things ? And he said. Go thy way, Daniel ; for the words are closed 
 up and sealed till the time of the end. Our Saviour gave a similar 
 answer to the Apostles, Acts i. 6, 7. These passages relate to such 
 prophecies especially as seem to design the times and seasons of 
 God's working ; the delay of which often brought the prophets and 
 their predictions into contempt : see Ezek. xii. 22. 27. The case is 
 
Sherlock's discourses on prophecy. — ii, 253 
 
 very much tlie same in regard to other prophecies : this point en- 
 hirged on and explained. 
 
 Hence it appears that prophecy was never intended to be a very 
 distinct evidence ; and St. Peter's meaning is shown, when he com- 
 pares it to a light shining in a dark place, and makes this evidence 
 so inferior to that which we are to receive when the fulness of time 
 comes. 
 
 But allowing this to be the case of prophecy at the time of deli- 
 very, may we not expect to find the prophecy clear and distinct, and 
 exactly corresponding with tlie event, whenever it comes into exist- 
 ence ? Consequently is it not absurd, after an event is come to pass, 
 to apply any ancient prophecies to it, that do not clearly, to the eye 
 of common sense, appear to belong to it ? 
 
 These questions being admitted, another will be asked ; how 
 comes it that many prophecies applied to our Saviour and his actions 
 are still obscure, requiring learning and sagacity to show the con- 
 nexion between them and events ? 
 
 In answer to this it must be observed that the obscurity of pro- 
 ])hecy does not arise from its being a relation or description of some- 
 thing future ; since it is as easy to speak plainly of things future as 
 of things past or present. It is not of the nature of projjhecy there- 
 fore to be obscure ; for if he who gives it thinks fit, it may be made 
 as plain as history. On the other hand, a figurative and dark de- 
 scription of any future event, will be figurative and dark still when 
 the event happens : this exemplified from Isaiah xi. 6. So that the 
 argument from prophecy for the truth of the gospel does not rest on 
 this, that the event has necessarily limited and ascertained the parti- 
 cular meaning of every prophecy ; but on this, that every prophecy 
 has in a proper sense been completed by the coming of Christ. We 
 must not expect conviction from every single prophecy applied to 
 him : the evidence must arise from a view and comparison of all 
 together. 
 
 Prophecies are not all of one kind, or of equal clearness: the 
 most literal of them relating to Christ were not always at the time of 
 delivery the plainest ; for many of them, involving the most wonder- 
 ful events, wanted not the veil or cover of figurative language ; for 
 being plainly foretold, they could hardly, from the seeming incredi- 
 bility of the things themselves, be admitted in their literal meaning. 
 This instanced in the prophecy, a virgin shall conceim a sou. Also 
 in the prophecies from which the resurrection of Christ is inferred. 
 
 We may observe therefore, that the most literal prophecies have 
 received the greatest confirmation and most light from the event ; 
 but no event can make a figurative expression to be a plain or a lite- 
 ral one, nor restrain to one determinate sense what was originally 
 capable of many. 
 
 Thus much is said to show what sort of clearness and evidence we 
 ought to expect from prophecies after their accomplishment; and 
 that we should not expect from such evidence more than it will 
 yield, but be content with that light and direction which God has 
 thought fit to bestow on us. 
 
254 SUMMARIES OF 
 
 Tt is doubtless a mistake, to suppose that prophecy was intencleil 
 solely or chiefly for their sakes in whose time the events predicted 
 are to happen: this point enlarged on and explained. It we con- 
 sider the use of prophecy, this will help us to conceive the de<i;ree of 
 clearness which ought to attend it. Some people talk as if they 
 thought the truth of some facts recorded in the gospel depended on 
 the clearness of the prophecies relating to them ; and they seem to 
 think that they are confuting the belief of our Saviour's resurrection, 
 when they are trying to confound the prophecies which refer to it : 
 but we must be in possession of the fact before we can form any 
 argument from prophecy ; and therefore the truth of the resurrection, 
 considered as a fact, is quite independent of the evidence or authority 
 of prophecy. The part of unbelievers should be, to show from the 
 prophets that Jesus was necessarily to rise from the dead ; and then 
 to prove that in fact he never did rise : here would be a plain conse- 
 quence ; but if they do not like this method, they ought to let the 
 prophecies alone. 
 
 There are many prophecies in the Old Testament relating to the 
 Babylonish captivity, with the destruction of Jerusalem, and the 
 Temple, &c. Can it be supposed that these prophecies were intended 
 to convince the people of the reality of the events when they should 
 happen ? Was there any danger that they should imagine them- 
 selves safe in their own country, when they were captives at Ba- 
 bylon, unless they had the evidence of prophecy for their captivity? 
 This point enlarged on. 
 
 But if it be the case that we must admit all the facts of the gospel 
 to be true, before we can come at the evidence of prophecy, what 
 occasion, it may be said, have we to inquire after prophecy at all ? 
 Are not the many miracles wrought by Christ and his Apostles suffi- 
 cient evidence to us of the truth of the gospel, without troubling our- 
 selves to know whether and how these facts were foretold ? In 
 answer to this it may be said that such facts, once admitted to be 
 true, are a complete evidence of the divine authority of a revelation. 
 Had we known no more of Christ than that he claimed to be 
 attended to as a person sent by God, he needed no other credentials 
 than those which he showed ; and it would have been impertinent to 
 demand what prophet foretold his coming ? For in a like case, who 
 foretold the coming of Moses ? His authority as a divine lawgiver 
 stands on his miraculous works, and on the wonderful attestations 
 given to him by God ; but not on prophecy, since there were no 
 prophecies relating to him : and this shows that prophecy is not 
 essential to the proof of a divine revelation. 
 
 But the case of the gospel differs from that of the law ; for though 
 the law was not prophesied of, the gospel was : he who delivered the 
 law was one of the first who prophesied of the gospel, and told the 
 people so long beforehand, that God would raise a prophet like unto 
 him, lohom they must hear in all things. Of him also the succeeding 
 prophets speak more fully. Now one of the characters which our 
 Saviour constantly assumes and claims in the gospel is this, that he 
 is the person spoken of by Moses and the prophets. This then is the 
 
Sherlock's discourses on prophecy. — iii. 255 
 
 point to be tried on the evidence of prophecy ; viz. whether there be 
 enough plain and clear in the prophecies to show us that Christ is 
 the person foretokl under tlie Old Testament. If there is, we are at 
 the e:id of our inquiry, and want no farther help from prophecy, 
 especially since tve have seen the day datvn, and enjoyed the viar- 
 vellous light of the gospel of God. 
 
 We do not here take into consideration the great advantages that 
 may be made of prophetical evidence for convincing unbelievers of 
 the truth of the gospel : we are only considering how far the truth 
 of the gospel necessarily depends on this kind of evidence. These 
 are two very different in(piiries : this point enlarged on. 
 
 DISCOURSE III. 
 
 To enable ourselves to judge of prophecy, we must inquire to 
 what end it was given. It cannot be maintained that we have any 
 right to the knowlege of things future ; we can make no demand on 
 the wisdom, or goodness, or justice of God for any degree of it ; 
 whenever therefore we have any, we must ascribe it to some special 
 reasons of Providence, which reasons alone can limit it : for if we 
 have from prophecy so much light as fully answers the end of giving 
 it, what reason can we have to complain for want of more ? We 
 come therefore to the only proper consideration : what end did the 
 wisdom of God propose by the ancient prophecies, and how has it 
 been served by them ? What the writer understands by prophecy 
 explained. 
 
 It cannot be supposed that God has delivered prophecies only to 
 satisfy curiosity, or afford amusement to the world : there must be 
 some end intended worthy of the Author ; and what end can be con- 
 ceived worthy of God, but the promotion of virtue and religion, and 
 the general peace and happiness of mankind ? 
 
 It is true, it may be said, that these things belong indeed to God ; 
 but what has prophecy to do with them ? God can govern the world 
 without letting us into his secrets; and as for virtue, religion, and 
 our happiness, he has given us a plain law to walk by, in the result 
 of that reason and knowlege with which he has endowed us. Pro- 
 phecy can never contradict or overrule this light ; nor can we suppose 
 that we came so imperfect from our Maker's hands as to be in constant 
 want of an admonisher. 
 
 W^e may allow the original state of human nature to be as perfect 
 and complete as the objector can require. 
 
 But what if the case be altered ? how will matters then stand ? 
 Since man was created a moral agent, with freedom of will, it was 
 possible for him to fall, and consequently, possibly he may have 
 
256 SUMMARIES OF 
 
 fallen. Suppose this to be the case, and then say, from natural reli- 
 gion, what must such sinners do ? Repent, perhaps ; for it is agree- 
 able to the goodness of God to accept repentance, and to restore 
 offenders to his favor. The inefficacy of mere repentance fully shown. 
 When you prove to sinners the excellency of natural religion, you 
 only show them how justly tiiey may expect to be punished for their 
 iniquity ; a sad truth, which wants no such conrtrmation : whether 
 God will ever pardon and restore them never can be learned from | 
 
 that source. i 
 
 Should God think fit to be reconciled to sinners, natural religion 
 would again become the rule of their future trial and obedience ; but 
 their hopes must flow from another spring ; from the promise of God 
 alone, that is, from the word of prophecy ; for which reasan prophecy 
 must ever be an essential part of such a sinner's religion. And this 
 reasoning agrees with the most ancient and authentic account of the 
 beginning of prophecy in the world. 
 
 During the time of man's innocence there were frequent communi- 
 cations between God and him, but not the least hint of any word of 
 prophecy delivered to him : the hopes of natural religion were then 
 alive and vigorous; it wanted no other assistance, and therefore it 
 had no other. 
 
 But when the case was altered by the fall of our first parents, 
 when natural religion had no longer any sure hopes or comfort, but 
 left them to the fearful expectation of God's judgment, then came in 
 the word of prophecy ; not in opposition to natural religion, but in 
 support of it, and to convey new hopes to man. 
 
 The prophecy then given, being the foundation of all that have 
 been since, deserves particidar consideration. 
 
 Previous observations on tiie historical narration of the fall, show- 
 ing that the commonly received interpretation is the true one. If we 
 iuterpret the words of Moses with the same equity as we use towards 
 any other ancient writer, this plain fact undeniably arises from the 
 history, that man was tempted and disobeyed God, and forfeited all 
 title to happiness and to life itself; that God judged him, and the 
 deceiver likewise under the form of a serpent. No more than this is 
 required for considering the prophecy before us, which is part of the 
 sentence passed on the deceiver : I will pit t enmity bettvcen thee and 
 the tcovmn, and between thy seed and her seed: it shall bruise thy 
 head, and thoii shalt brnise his heel: Gen. iii. 15. 
 
 Christian writers apply this to our blessed Saviour, emphatically 
 styled here the seed of the icoman, who came in the fulness of time to 
 bruise the serpent's head by destroying the works of the Devil, and 
 restoring those who were held under the bondage of sin. Objections 
 are made to this interpretation by those who look no farther than to 
 the third chapter of Genesis. To understand it rightly, we must go 
 back to that state and condition of things which was at the time of 
 the delivery of this prophecy, and consider (if haply we may discover 
 it) what God intended to discover, and what our first parents may be 
 supposed to have understood by it. 
 
 It is shown from that state of things, that the primary intention of 
 
Sherlock's discourses on prophecy. — iir. 2o7 
 
 this prophecy must have been to comfort and support them under 
 their awful and severe judgment; and that this was necessary to the 
 state of the world, and of religion, which could not have been upheld 
 without the communication of some such hopes. They must neces- 
 sarily have understood the prophecy either according to the literal 
 meaning of the words, or according to such as the whole transaction, 
 of which they are a part, requires. The absurdity of understanding 
 it in the literal sense pointed out. The meaning which all the cir- 
 cumstances of the transaction indicated is next shown. 
 
 The application which we are to make of this instance considered. 
 
 This prophecy was to our first parents very obscure ; it was but 
 a light shining in a dark place ; and all they could conclude from it 
 was, that their case was not desperate ; that some remedy and deli- 
 verance would in time appear ; but when, or where, or by what 
 means, they could not understand : yet if it was a foundation for 
 religion and confidence in God, after their fall, it fully answered the 
 necessity of their case, and manifested to them all that God intended 
 to make manifest. It is indeed obscure, but it is obscure in those 
 points which God did not intend to explain at that time, and which 
 were not necessary to be known. 
 
 But if this prophecy was obscure to our first parents, how is it that 
 we pretend to discover so much more, and to see in it Christ, the 
 mystery of his birth, his sufferings, and his final triumph over the 
 powers of darkness ? 
 
 Known unto God are all his works from the beginning ; and what- 
 ever light he thought fit to give to our first parents, or to their chil- 
 dren in after times, he must have always known the methods by which 
 he would restore mankind ; and therefore all notices given by him of 
 his intended salvation must correspond to the great event, whenever 
 the fulness of time shall make it manifest. But no reason can be 
 given why God should at any time clearly open the secrets of his 
 providence to men ; though there is a necessary reason to be given, 
 why all such notices as he thinks fit to give should exactly answer, 
 in due time, to the completion of the great design. The argument 
 from prophecy therefore is not to be formed thus. All the ancient 
 prophecies have expressly pointed out and characterised Jesus 
 Christ : but it must be formed in this manner : — All the notices 
 which God gave to the fathers of his intended salvation are perfectly 
 answered by the coming of Christ. These methods tried on the pro- 
 phecy before us. 
 
 As this prophecy is the first, so it is the only considerable one in 
 which we have any concern, from the creation to the days of Noah. 
 What has been said therefore on this occasion may be understood as 
 an account of the first period of prophecy, under which its light was 
 proportioned to the wants and necessities of the world, and sufficient 
 to maintain religion after the fall of man, by aftbrding ground for 
 trust in God : this topic enlarged on. 
 
 The bringing in of prophecy was not the only change in the state 
 of religion occasioned by the fall. Sacrifice came in at the same 
 time, as appears by the course of the history ; and it is hardly possible 
 
 PART II. R 
 
258 Sr MM ARIES OF 
 
 it should come in, especially at the time it did, any otherwise than 
 on the authority ot" divine institution. It is the first act of religion 
 mentioned in the sacred story to have been accepted by God : in 
 later times, when the account of things grows clearer, it appears to 
 be appointed by him as an expiation for sin. There is indeed no 
 express declaration of the use of sacrifice in religion at its first 
 appearance; yet there does appear something in the account of 
 Cain's and Abel's offering, which throws light on the matter : this 
 subject considered ; the interpretation of which leads us to perceive 
 that the true religion instituted by God has been one and the same 
 from the fall of Adam, subsisting ever on the same principles of 
 faith ; at first on only general and obscure hopes, which were gra- 
 dually unfolded in every age, till the better days came, when God 
 thought good to call us into the marvellous light of his gospel. 
 
 DISCOURSE IV. 
 
 We have seen the beginning of prophecy, with the measure of 
 light and hope which it brought. The next inquiry is, By what 
 degrees this promise was unfolded in succeeding ages. 
 
 If we consider the first prophecy as the foundation of those hopes 
 in which all the sons of Adam have an interest, we shall not wonder 
 to find that the administrations of Providence have had in all ages 
 relation to it, and will have until its full accomplishment. 
 
 One thing in this inquiry cannot easily be denied ; that if the 
 ancient prophecies regarding mankind be divine oracles, there must 
 be a consistency in the whole ; and however obscure some part of 
 them may have been at first, or in succeeding ages, they must con- 
 spire and centre in that great end which was always in the view of 
 Providence. Known unto God are all his icorks, &c. Acts xv. 18. 
 Taking this prophecy then to contain God's purpose with regard to 
 mankind, his administrations and succeeding declarations must be the 
 best commentary on it. 
 
 The account we have of the antediluvian world is very short, and 
 conveys to us but little knowlege of religion, or of the hopes and 
 expectations then entertained ; yet something there is to show that 
 the curse of the fall was remembered and felt ; and that those who 
 preserved a sense of religion, had an expectation of being delivered 
 from the curse ; which could only be grounded, as far as appears, on 
 this prophecy. 
 
 Noah was born in the eleventh century after the fall, when his 
 father Lamech, by the spirit of prophecy, declared. The same shall 
 comfort ns concerning our icorh and toil of our hands, because of the 
 ground which the Lord hath cursed : Gen. v. 19. 
 
 This curious passage will throw some light on the condition of the 
 world during this period. It is shown how we may fairly conclude 
 from it: I. That the cirse on the ground subsisted in all its rigor to 
 the days of Lamech : II. That there was an expectation in his time, 
 
Sherlock's discourses on prophecy,— jv, 259 
 
 at least, anioHg those who had not forgotten Cod, of a deliverance 
 from tlic curse of the fail : III. That the ancient expectation founded 
 on the prophecy given at the fall, was not of an immediate and sud- 
 den deliverance : IV. That the ancient expectation was not, that the 
 world should be delivered all at once from the whole curse, but that 
 the deliverance should be gradual ; to which notion St. Paul alludes, 
 who tells us. The lust enemy that shall be destroyed is death. 
 
 In consequence of this exposition of Lamech's prediction, it must 
 be maintained that the prophecy has been verified in the event ; that 
 the earth has been restored from the curse of the fall, and now 
 enjoys the effect of the blessing bestowed on Noah. Against this 
 notion there will arise many prejudices. 
 
 In the first place, the prophecy given at the fall has been usually 
 appropriated to Jesus Christ, antl to the deliverance we expect from 
 him, by restoration (o life and immortality. 
 
 In answer to this the following observations are oflered : I. That 
 the curse of the fall manifestly consists of several parts. II. The 
 prophecy given to support man under this curse mentions no kind of 
 deliveiance particularly, but conveys a general hope, which is limited 
 to no one circumstance of it more than another. ITI. Should there 
 appear reason for thinking that one part of the prophecy is fulfilled, 
 and one part of the curse removed, this, far from weakening, will 
 strengthen our hopes of seeing the whole removed in God's own time. 
 IV. It ought to be no objection that this prophecy is supposed to 
 point out more events or mor€ persons than one, since this is analo- 
 gous to odier ancient prophecies. 
 
 Another prejudice will arise from the common notion of the pre- 
 sent and past state of the earth. Instead of seeing any alteration for 
 the better, according to Lamech's prophecy, men think they see a 
 change for the worse in every age : their observations however show 
 how much they themselves alter, but show nothing else. This 
 prejudice has a great support from the ancient traditions of the 
 golden age. But it is shown that this golden age may be, and 
 ought to be, referred to times succeeding the flood, which times 
 afforded ground enough for those ancient traditions, without sup- 
 posing any such alterations in the state of the earth as are commonly 
 imagined. These prejudices therefore being set aside, the truth of 
 the case is examined by the best light now remaining. 
 
 Three different inter()retations of Lamech's prediction are re- 
 futed : I. "^Ihat Noah found out proper tools and instruments of 
 husbandry: II. That he discovered the art of making wine: 
 III. That Lamech had no view but to the circumstances of his own 
 family, and only rejoiced to see a son born, who might in time assist 
 him in cultivating the ground. 
 
 The Jewish interpreters are generally agreed in expounding it as a 
 deliverance from the labor and toil of tillage, occasioned by the 
 curse on the ground; but the Scripture will be our best guide. 
 
 Lamech foretels that his son Noah should comfort them concerning 
 the works and toil of their hands, because of the ff round which the 
 Lord had cursed, When God informs Noah of his design to destroy 
 
260 SUMMARIES OF 
 
 the world, he adds, But ivith thee I will establish my covenant. 
 Lamech expected, in virtue of God's promise, a deliverance from the 
 curse of the earth, and foresees that deliverance would come through 
 his son : this point enlarged on. 
 
 The flood being over, God declares, / will not again curse the 
 ground any more for tnayi's sake. From which it appears, I. That 
 the flood was the eftect of that curse denounced against the earth 
 for man's sake: II. That the old curse was fully executed and 
 accomplished in the flood; in consequence of which discharge a new 
 blessing is immediately pronounced on the earth : see Gen. viii. 22. 
 This is called a covenant between God and the earth, ix. 13. and a 
 covenant with Noah and his seed, and ivith every living creature, &c. 
 ix. 8-10. And it is with respect to this covenant that the Psalmist 
 breaks forth into admiration of God's goodness : Psalm xxxvi. 5, 6. 
 
 When Adam was tirst formed and placed on the earth, he had 
 several blessings and privileges conferred on him by God : these 
 were forfeited by the fall. But what if we see these very blessings 
 restored after the flood to Noah and his posterity ! This fully shown 
 from Gen. i. 28. compared with ix. 1., Gen. i. 28. with ix. 2., i. 19. 
 with ix. 3., i. 11. with viii. 22., i. 14. with viii. 22. 
 
 It may perhaps be thought that we see but little eftect of this new 
 blessing ; that the life of man is still labor and toil, and that he still 
 eats the bread of carefulness, &c. Such complaints however are but 
 the eff'ect of prejudice : men speak in this case as if they thought 
 there were no thorns and thistles till after the fall. Yet for what 
 employment do they suppose that man was made : For a little sleep, 
 a little slumber, and a little folding of the hands to sleep? Surely 
 this was not the case : even in Paradise it was Adam's business to 
 dress and keep the garden ; and this required some labor without 
 doubt. After the fall labor increased, and continued very burden- 
 some to the time of the flood ; and God's promise of regular seasons 
 after the flood seems to intimate that they were very irregular and 
 confused before ; which circumstance will account for all the change 
 we suppose. 
 
 There are serious writers who think that the earth was much 
 damaged and rendered less fertile by the flood. But this judgment 
 ought to be grounded on the knowlege, not only of the present state 
 of the earth, but also of its state before the flood : of this we know 
 only that it was a very bad one, which is not enough to support us 
 in judging that the present state is much worse. 
 
 We meet with frequent allusions to this covenant with Noah in 
 later times, and in later books of Scripture. The son of Sirach tells 
 us that an everlasting covenant (or the covenant of the age, biadr/Kui 
 aluiyoi) teas made with him, xliv. 18.: for Noah was the father of 
 the age, and had the covenant of the age after the flood, as Christ 
 was the father, and brought in the new covenant of the succeeding 
 age. 
 
 Jeremiah introduces God appealing to his fidelity in the execution 
 of this first covenant, as a reason why he should be trusted for the 
 performance of the second : xxxiii. 20. 21. 25. So also Isaiah liv. 9. 
 
Sherlock's discourses on prophecy. — iv. 261 
 
 The Ixvth Psalm too seems to be a comment on God's covenant with 
 Noah : this illustrated. 
 
 During the age of this covenant, the character by which God was 
 known and applied to, was relative to this covenant and the blessings 
 of it : see Job v. 8-10. ; Ps. cxlvii. 7-9, ; Jer. v. 24. Also Acts 
 xiv. 17. Our blessed Saviour likewise commends and extols the 
 mercy of God in the works of this first covenant: He makcth his 
 sun to rise on the evil and on the good, and sendeth rain on the just 
 and on the unjust : which words are a direct comment on the terms of 
 Noah's covenant for fruitful seasons, which were to continue without 
 being interrupted again for the sake of man's iniquity ; or as the text 
 itself expresses it, though the imagination of inan^s heart is evil from 
 his youth: Gen. viii. 21. This point enlarged on. 
 
 These allusions, and many more such, suppose a restoration of the 
 earth after the flood, and a new blessing given to it in virtue of God's 
 covenant; and without this supposition it is difficult to account for 
 some passages in Scripture, which speak of the goodness of the earth, 
 and the great plenty it affords. How comes it that this very earth, 
 cursed with barrenness, and to be a nursery for thorns and thistles, 
 is afterwards represented as flowing with milk and honey, &c. ? 
 Only by the curse of the fall being expiated at the flood. 
 
 The state of prophecy after the flood is next considered ; and on 
 what ground the religion of the new world subsisted. 
 
 No new prophecy is given to Noah after the flood, nor to any of 
 his children, till the call of Abraham ; the reason of which seems to 
 be this : the power and sovereignty of God were so manifestly dis- 
 played in the deluge, and made such strong impressions on the few 
 persons then alive, and came so well attested to succeeding genera- 
 tions, that religion wanted no other support. When idolatry and 
 wickedness prevailed, the word of prophecy was renewed. 
 
 It may seem surprising that God should say nothing to the rem- 
 nant of mankind about the punishments and rewards of another life, 
 but should make a new covenant with them relating merely to fruitful 
 seasons, &c. All that can be said to this difficulty is, that a 
 gradual working of Providence towards the restoration of mankind is 
 apparent; that the temporal blessings were first restored, as an 
 earnest and pledge of better things to follow : this point enlarged on ; 
 and the law of Moses, which was founded on no other express 
 promises and threats but temporal ones, referred to it. 
 
 It is shown that, if men had hopes of future blessings before the 
 flood, grounded on the prophecy consequent to the fall, the coming 
 in of the flood could not destroy them, and the covenant of temporal 
 blessings with Noah must greatly have confirmed them. 
 
 That Noah had expectations of future deliverance from ail the 
 effects of the curse, and transmitted them to his posterity, seems 
 evident from the peculiar blessing which he gave to Shem. Blessed, 
 says he, be the God of Shem, &c. Gen. ix. 26, 27. Why the God 
 of Shem, and not the God of Japhet, who was the elder, and equally 
 pious towards his father, &c. ? This blessing farther commented on 
 to the end. 
 
262 SUMMARIES OF 
 
 DISCOURSE V. 
 
 We are now advancing to times of greater light ; to clearer and 
 more distinct prophecies, and more nearly relating to God's great 
 dispensation of mercy, manifested by the revelation of his Son. This 
 period begins at the call of Abraham, and runs through the Law and 
 the Prophets, ending where the gospel of Christ commences. It 
 embraces a greater variety and number of prophecies than can bo 
 comprised in these short discourses ; but it may be useful to point out 
 the great and geueral design of Providence in them, &c. 
 
 How soon the world after the deluge lost tiie knowlege of the true 
 God, we cannot certainly know; but this we know, that in Abra- 
 ham's time idolatry had spread far and wide, and taken deep root 
 even in the family of Shem. Hence it is highly probable that true 
 religion would have entirely failed in the world, had not God visibly 
 interposed to preserve such a sense of it as M'as necessary for the 
 accomplishment of his great design to restore mankind. 
 
 It may be said necessary to this end, for it is evident that it was 
 not the intention of Providence in the call of Abraham, or in giving 
 the law to Moses, to propagate or restore true religion among all 
 nations of the old world: this point fully explained. These inter- 
 positions were merely subservient to some other view. 
 
 If we consider the whole world as lost to religion, estranged from 
 God, and void of hope, and then suppose one family chosen to be 
 delivered, merely for their own sakes, this gives so mean and partial 
 a view of God, that no religion can subsist with it. 
 
 But if the law of Moses was intended to be neither a general law 
 for mankind, nor yet as a partial favor to the Jews only, what 
 remains but that we must consider it as a method of Providence 
 working towards the great end always in view ? as the opening of 
 that scene which was to restore mankind, and bring a blessing on all 
 nations? Accordingly we find this to be the case : when Abraham 
 was called, he received assurance not only of peculiar temporal 
 blessings to himself and his posterity, but also of a general blessing to 
 be conveyed through him to all mankind : / tvill make of thee, says 
 God, a great nation, and I loill bless thee, &c, ; and then it immedi- 
 ately follows. And in thee shall all families of the earth be blessed: 
 Gen. xii. 2. It is of great importance, in the present question, to dis- 
 tinguish rightly between these promises. Accordingly they are fully 
 commented on and distinguislied. The promise of temporal prospe- 
 rity to Abraham and his posterity is sufficiently explained in the 
 course of his story ; but this promise was derived from the temporal 
 covenant established with Noah and his sons after the flood, in which 
 other nations had a share as well as himself, and some of them, in 
 some respects, a much greater. But if we look forward, we shall see 
 the distinction between the several promises grow plain, when God 
 renews the covenant, and limits the peculiar blessing of Abraham to 
 
Sherlock's discourses on prophecy. — v. 20:3 
 
 the son which should be born of Sarali his wife. In the seventeenth 
 chapter of Genesis it is said, / ivill make a covenant bctivccn inc and 
 thee, and I ivill imdtiply thee exceedinyly : and thou shall be a father 
 of many nations. i\nd at the 7th and 8th verses God promises to 
 establish an everlasting- covenant with him and his seed after him ; to 
 give him and them all the land of Canaan for an everlasting posses- 
 sion, and to be their God. Here are either two covenants, or else 
 the same covenant repeated, with this difference, that in the last 
 place it is styled an everlasting one, and the land of Canaan is 
 assigned for an everlasting possession, with this remarkable addition, 
 that God promises to be the God of Abraham and of his seed after 
 him. And this is the first time that this peculiar character assumed 
 by God occurs in Scripture, and it is evidently connected with the 
 everlasting covenant ; and this indicates two distinct covenants as 
 mentioned in this place. This subject carried on. The everlasting 
 covenant was established with Isaac the son of Sarah, and not with 
 Ishmael the son of Hagar, though he fully partook of the temporal 
 promises, and was admitted to the benefit of the temporal covenant 
 as well as Isaac. This distinction between the two covenants is the 
 foundation of St. Paul's argument to the Galatians : It is written 
 that Abraham had two sons, the one by a bondmaid, the other by a 
 free woman, &c. 
 
 Since then the promises of temporal prosperity to Abraham and 
 his seed are distinct from the subject-matter of the everlasting cove- 
 nant made with him, and limited to Isaac and Jacob, and afterwards 
 to the tribe of Judah and family of David, it remains to see what the 
 subject of the covenant so limited is. 
 
 If we look back to the call of Abraham, and the promises that 
 attend it, we shall find one blessing added, in which all the world 
 has an interest, and which was to be conveyed to them through 
 Abraham and his seed. In thee, says God, shall all the families of 
 the earth be blessed. Whatever Abraham understood by this, he 
 surely could not understand it as his children at this day understand 
 it; who expect, in virtue of the promises, to have dominion over all 
 people; which indeed would be a strange kind of blessing to them, 
 thus to lose their liberty, and become subject to the dominion of one 
 nation ! But before we inquire into the special meaning of this 
 blessing on all nations, we must see whether it were truly the matter 
 of God's special, everlasting covenant with Abraham. 
 
 Ishmael, as we have seen, was excluded from this special cove- 
 nant, and Isaac admitted to it. Both are admitted to the temporal 
 covenant ; but the covenant with Isaac renews this very promise : 
 In thy seed shall all the nations of the earth be blessed: Gen. xxvi. 
 4. — a plain proof that the special matter of God's covenant, limited 
 from Abraham to Isaac, and exclusive of Ishmael, consisted in the 
 promise of this universal blessing. We have the like evidence from 
 a like case between the children of Isaac, Esau, and Jacob, The 
 blessing of Abraham was limited to Jacob, and denied to Esau ; yet 
 Esau received a temporal blessing from his father as well as Jacob : 
 this case enlarged on. The profancness which the Apostle to the 
 
•204 SUMMARIES OF 
 
 Hebrews attributes to Esau in selling his birthright, accounted for by 
 his selling the blessing of Abraham. The limitation of Jacob's 
 blessing on Esau, thou shalt serve thy brother, commented on and 
 explained. It appears therefore that the blessing given to Jacob, 
 and expressed in words implying, rule over his brethren, was truly a 
 conveyance of the birthright to him in the family of Abraham ; that 
 the birthright in Abraham's family respected the special blessing and 
 covenant given to Abraham by God ; that Isaac himself calls this 
 right of primogeniture in his house the blessing of Abraham ; that 
 God himself, in confirmation of Jacob's right of primogeniture, 
 assures him that in his seed all the families of the earth shall be 
 blessed. 
 
 Now this promise being the only special promise made to Isaac 
 and Jacob in preference to their brethren, and in consequence of 
 God's everlasting covenant limited to them, this promise must neces- 
 sarily be understood to be the subject-matter of the everlasting cove- 
 nant. False interpretation of this promise by some commentators 
 exposed. What distinct notion Abraham had of the blessing pro- 
 mised to all nations through him and his seed, as well as of the 
 manner and method by which it should be etfected, we cannot pre- 
 tend to say ; but that he understood it to mean a deliverance of man- 
 kind from the curse of the fall, there can be little doubt: this fully 
 shown. 
 
 To preserve the hopes of this restoration in the world, and the 
 expectation of future life and immortality, was Abraham called from 
 his own country, then tainted with idolatry, to be a witness to God 
 and his truth. Without this, the knowlege of God had been lost, 
 and the remembrance of his creating man at first, and the hopes of a 
 second and better creation after the fall. Abraham was not called 
 for his own sake; much less were his stiff-necked posterity preserved 
 for their own sakes, but that both parties might be instruments in the 
 hands of God in the redemption and restoration of the world. The 
 great article of the covenant, limited to Abraham and his chosen 
 seed, evidently regarded the whole human race, and was to grow, in 
 fulness of time, into a blessing on all nations. He and his posterity 
 were depositories of these hopes ; for the Jews' chief advantage above 
 others was, that unto them ivere committed the oracles of God. 
 
 This account will help us to a distinct view of the prophecies 
 relating to the period of time of which we are speaking : this point 
 enlarged on. 
 
 Many of the ancient prophecies relate to both covenants; hence it 
 comes to pass that at the first appearance many ancient predictions 
 seem to be hardly consistent with themselves, but to be made up of 
 ideas which can never unite in one person or in one event. Thus the 
 promises to David of a son to succeed in his throne, have some cir- 
 cumstances which are applicable only to Solomon and temporal 
 dominion over Israel ; some which are peculiar to that Son of David, 
 who was heir of an everlasting kingdom : hence it is that we often 
 find the promise of temporal felicity and deliverance raised so high 
 that none can answer the description ; the thoughts and expressions 
 
Sherlock's discourses on prophecy. — v. 205 
 
 of the prophets naturally moving from the blessings of one covenant 
 to those of the other, &c. Nor is it to be wondered at that they 
 often speak of both kingdoms together, or make use of the temporal 
 deliverances as an argument to encourage hopes of the spiritual ; 
 since the temporal deliverances being the actual performance of one 
 covenant, were a great security for the performance of the other : and 
 it would have been unnatural to see the hand of God performing one 
 promise, without reflecting on the certainty of his performing the 
 other. 
 
 The blessings belonging to the special covenant with Abraham 
 and his seed were reserved to be revealed in God's appointed time. 
 The prophets under the law could not be commissioned to declare 
 them openly, without anticipating the time of their revelation : hence 
 it is that the predictions concerning Christ and his kingdom are 
 clothed in figures proper to raise the hopes and attention of the peo- 
 ple, without carrying them beyond the bounds of knowlege prescribed 
 to the age of the Jewish covenant. 
 
 If each kind of prophecy be considered distinctly by itself, it will 
 be more clearly seen how this case stands. 
 
 Abraham was called from his father's house, on a promise that he 
 should become a great nation, and that his seed should possess the 
 land of Canaan. This promise could not be fulfilled in all its parts, 
 till Abraham's family was multiplied into a nation. This required 
 many years; and what must become of these children of promise in 
 the mean time, who had no country of their own wherein to settle 
 and multiply ? Without launching out into speculations on the 
 methods of Providence, let any one read the prophecies from the 
 call of Abraham to Moses, and he will see evidently that they refer 
 to this state of things : this point made out. The times of Moses and 
 of Joshua, those days of miracles as well as prophecies, want no 
 explication : the intention of Providence appears plain in every step. 
 The commonwealth of Israel was raised, and flourished, under the 
 temporal covenant, given at first to Noah ; and in a particular man- 
 ner, with additional promises, confirmed to Abraham and his seed : 
 for this reason all the promises and threatenings of the law are tem- 
 poral, suitable to the age and season of the world. But these tem- 
 poral blessings and punishments were so visibly administered by the 
 hand of God, that every execution of the threats and promises of the 
 law became a new proof of its divine authority. If it be asked why 
 God did so visibly interpose in their temporal affairs, the answer may- 
 be thus given : No other nation ever had a divine law given on the 
 establishment of temporal blessings and punishments; and therefore 
 God had not so bound himself to any other nation, to account to 
 them for their temporal prosperity and adversity : but to the Jews, 
 with whom he had established a law and a covenant on temporal 
 promises, he stood obliged to make good his word, and to justify him- 
 self to them in the administration of temporal aftairs. For this rea- 
 son a succession of prophets was raised up among them, at whose 
 mouths they might receive the direction of God ; and this is what 
 Moses means in Dcut. iv. 7. 
 
2C6 SUMMARIES OF 
 
 That they might not be tempted by the prosperity of other natiotii} 
 and their own a,dversity to fall away to other gods, they were fore- 
 warned of the things that were to befal them ; their calamities were 
 prophetically described to them, that they might know, whenever 
 they suftered, that it was the very hand of their own God that was on 
 them : hence it is that we tind so many prophecies, under the law, 
 relating to the civil state of the Jews : for this cause the great capti- 
 vity of Babylon is so largely and fully foretold by the prophets, that 
 the people might not be tempted to think that the gods of the nations 
 had prevailed against them, and thereby be seduced to forsake God 
 in their distress ; but might know that his hand was in all their suf- 
 ferings ; might become humble and obedient ; and farther, might 
 know that all their adversity and prosperity came on them accord- 
 ing to the express terras of their covenant with God : this point 
 enlarged on. 
 
 Hence we may account for all the prophecies of the Old Testament 
 relating to the temporal state of the Jewish nation ; with which we 
 have no farther concern than only to give a reasonable account of 
 them. 
 
 The people of the Jews were so prone to idolatry, following the 
 customs of the nations around them, that to the times of the captivity 
 there was a perpetual struggle between the prophets of God and the 
 false prophets of other nations, which should prevail : with this view 
 are many ancient prophecies given, to preserve the people from being 
 seduced by the surrounding nations: see 2 Kings i. 3, 4. and Isaiah 
 xlviii. 3-5. We see therefore on what ground all the prophecies in 
 the Old Testament stand, which relate to the temporal concerns of 
 the Jewish nation ; and also why this kind of prophecy has ceased in 
 the Christian church. The gospel is not founded in temporal pro- 
 mises; so far from it, we are called on to take up our cross, &c. 
 Those prophecies relating to the things of this life concern us but 
 little ; they have long had their completion in events which effect 
 us not : but others there are, relating to the great dejjositum intrusted 
 to the Jews, even the hopes of redemption, to be a blessing to all the 
 earth; and these deserve our particular consideration. 
 
 DISCOURSE VI. 
 
 The prophecies of the Old Testament relating to the temporal 
 covenant with Abraham and his descendants having been considered 
 with regard to the purport and tlesign of Providence, it remains that 
 those which relate to that great and universal blessing promised to 
 him and his seed, and through them to all nations of the world, be 
 considered in the same method : inquiry being made, not into the 
 express meaning and accomplishment of every single prophecy, but 
 into the general use and design of them. 
 
Sherlock's discourses on prophecy. — vi. 207 
 
 The propliecies of the several periods already considered have 
 been found to correspond with the state of religion in the world 
 at the time of giving the prophecy ; a great presumption tiuit the 
 case was the same under the Jewish dispensation. AVe must there- 
 fore consider the state of religion under the Mosaic law, and ex- 
 amine how far and to what purposes prophecy was requisite. 
 
 With respect to this state, every man may know it by reference to 
 the books of the law. But there are two questions to be considered 
 previously. First: the promise to Abraham consisting, as we have 
 seen, of two distinct parts or covenants, temporal and spiritual, to 
 which of these two is the law of iMoses annexed? If the law was 
 given in execution of the promise made to all nations, then have the 
 nations nothing farther to expect ; God has fulfilled his word, and 
 we are wrong in rejecting the Jevyish law. But if this law be built 
 on the temporal covenant only, and given properly to the Jews 
 alone, then both Jews and Gentiles have farther hopes, and just 
 expectations of seeing God's promise to all nations accomplished. 
 It is fully shown and explained that the law of Moses was given to 
 the Jews only, and not to all nations. 
 
 This being the case, it is evident that the promise of a blessing to 
 all nations subsisted in its full force and vigor during the continuance 
 of the law of Moses ; for as the promise was not completed by the 
 giving of the law, in which all nations were not concerned, so neither 
 could so general a promise be annulled by a private law, given to 
 one people only : and this is the meaning of St. Paul, Gal. iii. 17. 
 
 Secondly, another question to be considered is this : How far the 
 religion of the Jews was preparatory to that new dispensation, which 
 was in due time to be revealed in accomplishment of the promise 
 made to all nations? If Abraham and his posterity were not chosen 
 merely for their own sakes, and if the temporal covenant was given 
 for the sake of the everlasting one, and to be subservient to its intro- 
 duction, it is probable that all parts of the Jewish dispensation 
 were adapted to serve the same end. If this appears to be a 
 reasonable supposition, then have we a foundation to inquire into the 
 meaning of the law, not merely as it is a literal command to the 
 Jews, but as it contains the figure and image of good things to 
 come. 
 
 To proceed then. The Jewish dispensation not conveying to all 
 nations the blessing promised, but being only the administration of 
 the hopes and expectations created by the promise of God, in this 
 respect it stood entirely on the word of prophecy ; and inasmuch as 
 it did virtually contain the hopes of the gospel, the religion itself 
 was in fact a prophecy, and the prophetical office in some measure 
 necessary and essential to this church. 
 
 In what manner the blessing of all men was established with 
 Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, we have already seen. The next 
 limitation of it is to the tribe of Judah, in that famous prophecy, 
 Gen. xlix. 10. Of this there are many interpretations and diffi- 
 culties ; but take the whole prophecy relating to the tribe of Judah 
 together, and there will be enough to answer our purpose : this fully 
 shown. The next and last limitation of this special promise is to the 
 
208 SUMMARIES OF 
 
 family of David; a point so uncontested that it cannot be called in 
 question without rejecting the authority of all the prophets : this 
 point enlarged on. 
 
 It is much to be observed that the prophecies relating to the 
 covenant of better hopes were given to the people of God when 
 religion itself seemed to be in distress, and to want all helps to sup- 
 port it. This shown in the case of Abraham, in the case of Isaac 
 and Jacob, and of the people of Israel in Egypt: as soon as God 
 appeared manifestly, making good his temporal promises, &c. and 
 the people wanted no other evidence to keep them in obedience, we 
 meet with few instances of this sort of prophecy. While God was 
 their king, directing all their affairs by the voice of his prophets, 
 their adversity and prosperity, which were always proportionate to 
 their obedience and disobedience, were a suiEcient instruction to 
 them : this the case from Moses to David. But when succeeding 
 kings fell into idolatry, and the people followed their example, and 
 God determined to scatter them, then for the sake of the few 
 righteous were the better hopes revived. Isaiah, who speaks so 
 plainly of Christ's kingdom, entered on his office not long before the 
 ten tribes were carried into captivity, in punishment for their idolatry. 
 The prophet Jeremy saw the other tribes carried away to Babylon ; 
 and Daniel was himself one of the captives. This was the time when 
 faith wanted the comfort of future hopes, and therefore God thought 
 fit to give plainer intimations of his purpose than ever had been 
 given V)efore. Now it was that the seed in xohom all nations tvere to 
 be blessed was manifestly described, and all things relating to him 
 foretold. This great scene being thus clearly opened, the work of 
 prophecy was finished, and the gift itself soon ceased : a plain evi- 
 dence that the spirit of prophecy is the testimony of Jesus. 
 
 The ten tribes, which were carried away by the king of Assyria, 
 never returned to their own country : the tribe of Judah, after 
 seventy years' captivity, came back to Canaan, erected a new tem- 
 ple, and continued a tribe and a people till the last destruction of 
 Jerusalem by the Romans. Can this have been by chance ? And 
 if the hand of God be visible in it, why this partial regard to the 
 tribe of Judah ? There was nothing in them to justify it : they were 
 as bad as their neighbors; but they had one advantage ; they had a 
 promise which none of the ten tribes had, that the sceptre should not 
 depart from Judah till Shiloh came. Observations on the forfeited 
 privileges and destitute condition of this people in the land of their 
 forefathers, to account more clearly for the ceasing of prophecy some 
 ages before the coming of Christ. 
 
 That the prophecies relating to the second and better covenant 
 produced a suitable effect on the righteous among the Israelites, may 
 be collected from some few allusions in the books of the prophets ; 
 see Amos v. 18. Isa. v. 18, 19. Ixvi. 5. and Ecclus. x. 4. 
 
 That the prophecy given at the time of the fall was understood in 
 the ancient Jewish church to relate to the times of the Messias, may 
 with great probability be inferred from many passages, but especially 
 from one in Isaiah, Ixv. 25. ; where after a full description of 
 Christ's kingdom, and the happiness of the seed of the blessed of the 
 
Sherlock's discourses on prophecy. — vi. 200 
 
 Lord, the state of the wicked in the time of that kingdom is thus 
 described in few words, and dust shall be the serpent's meat. This 
 allusion commented on. 
 
 These prophecies relating to the kingdom of the Messias have still 
 a larger and more extensive use. They were given to the Jews of 
 old for the support of their faith, and are a standing reproof to those 
 of this age for their unbelief: they are a support and evidence to the 
 gospel, and furnish every true believer with an answer, to him who 
 asketh the reason of the hope that is in him. 
 
 They who are educated in the belief of Christianity, and taught 
 to receive the books of both Testaments with equal reverence, are 
 not apt to distinguish between the evidence for their faith, arising 
 from the one and from the other. This distinction pointed out, and 
 exemplified by the diflerent method of St. Paul's preaching to the 
 Jews at Autioch, Acts xiii. and to the Athenians, Acts xvii. In 
 the former case he argues professedly with Jews, to whom were com- 
 mitted the oracles of God, and who by them were well instructed 
 in the great marks and characters of the expected Messiah. It had 
 been highly absurd then to reason with tliem on other arguments, till 
 he had tirst convinced them by their prophets : and having so con- 
 vinced them, it would have been impertinent. To them therefore he 
 urges and applies the authority of prophecy only. But to the 
 Athenians, who knew not, or, if they knew, reverenced not the 
 prophets, it had been ridiculous to offer proofs from prophecies : the 
 appeal therefore before them is made to the sound and clear prin- 
 ples of natural religion, and to the miracles of the gospel, the truth 
 of which, as they were matters of fact, was capable of undeniable 
 evidence and demonstration. 
 
 It is observable that St. Paul calls the Athenians only to repen- 
 tance, and to faith in Christ as appointed by God to judge the world, 
 having natural religion with him for all his doctrine, except this 
 latter point ; and for that he appeals to the evidence of the resurrec- 
 tion. But to the Jews he speaks of a Saviour, of remission of sins, 
 of justification beyond the law of Moses. Whence this difference, 
 unless that the Jews were from their Scriptures acquainted with the 
 lost condition of man, and knew that a redemption was to be 
 expected ? But the Gentiles had lost this knowlege, and were first 
 to be taught the condition of the world, &c., before they could have 
 any just notion of its redemption. From the state of the case farther 
 displayed, it is shown that to the Jew prophecy was the first proof, 
 to the Gentile it was tlie last. The Jew believed in Christ because 
 foretold by the prophets ; the Gentile because they had so exactly 
 foretold Jesus Christ. Both became firm believers ; having, each iu 
 his way, a full view of all the dispensations of Providence towards 
 mankind. 
 
 This account will enable us to clear the argument from prophecy 
 of many misrepresentations ; but we must proceed to observe another 
 use of prophecy with regard to the Jews, for which the Gentiles seem 
 not to have had the like occasion. 
 
 The Jews lived under a divine law, established in signs and won- 
 ders, founded in great promises and terrible threats, as far as the 
 
270 SUMMARIES OF SHERLOCK'S DISCOURSES, 
 
 blessings and terrors of tliis world go. They are warned over and 
 over not to forsake their law, or to sufter any strange customs to 
 grow up among them. These cautions, intended to preserve them 
 from the corruptions of surrounding nations, might easily, as even- 
 tually they have done, grow into j)rejudices against any future revela- 
 tion, though made on the authority of God himself. Hence it was 
 but reasonable to give them early and frequent notice of the change 
 intended, &c. There are many prophecies of this sort in the Old 
 Testament; many declarations on God's part that he had no pleasure 
 in sacrifices, &c.; strange declarations, considering that they were 
 of his own appointment ! but not so, considering the many prophe- 
 cies of a new and better covenant. Instance given from Isaiah i. J 1. 
 14. But the most remarkable one is the prophecy of Moses himself, 
 Deut. xviii. 15. The Lord thy God will raise np unto thee a prophet 
 from the midst of thee, of thy brethren, like nnto me, unto him ye 
 shall hearken. And the same is repeated at ver. 18. with this addi- 
 tion ; And it shall come to pass, that tchosoever ivill not hearken unto 
 my words, which he shall speak in my name, I will require it of him. 
 Here now is a plain declaration on God's part, at the very time the 
 law was established, of another prophet, like unto Moses, to be raised 
 in time, as a new lawgiver, to whom all were to yield obedience. 
 The interpretation of those who refer this to a succession of prophets, 
 refuted, from the letter of the text, and from the great difference that 
 existed between the other prophets and Moses, who is distinguished 
 from them by the Jews themselves in four particulars : I. Moses had 
 no dreams nor visions: II. He had light from God immediately 
 without the interposition of angels : III. His mind was never dis- 
 turbed or dismayed by the prophetic influence ; for God spake to him. 
 as a man speaks to his friend : IV. He could prophesy at all times 
 whenever he would ; whereas others prophesied only at such times 
 when the word came to them. But another chief dignity belonging 
 to Moses, and not unto them, is, that he was a lawgiver; and the 
 prophet foretold was evidently to resemble Moses in this particular : 
 this point enlarged on. 
 
 Now if we inquire, from historical evidence, after the completion 
 of this prophecy, we shall find that it did most punctually agree with 
 the character of our blessed Saviour, and not with any other prophet 
 either before or after him : this fully shown. But, moreover, the 
 execution of the threat annexed to this prophecy has been literally 
 fulfilled on the whole Jewish nation : who can deny that this part of 
 the prophecy at least has been punctually verified ? 
 
 This prophecy and many others seem intended for the Jews, prin- 
 cipally to prepare them betimes for the reception of a new lawgiver, 
 and to intimate that the Mosaic covenant was not to be perpetual. 
 
 The above exposition of the several periods of prophecy under the 
 Old Testament n)ay show the main design and use of it, opening a 
 way to a fair and impartial consideration of the particular prophecies 
 relating to each period. 
 
TEXTS 
 
 OF 
 
 SHERLOCK'S DISCOURSES. 
 
 PAGE 
 
 I. John vi. 67 — 69. — Then said Jesus unto the twelve, Will ye also 
 
 go away? Then Simon Peter answered him, Lord, to whom 
 shall we go ? thou hast the words of eternal life. And we 
 believe, and are sure, that thou art that Christ, the Son of the 
 living God. .......... 1 
 
 II. Heb. VII. 25. — Wherefore he is able also to save them to the 
 
 uttermost that come unto God by him, seeing he ever liveth 
 
 to make intercession for them. ..... . C 
 
 III. Matt. xi. 6. — Blessed is he whosoever shall not be offended 
 
 in me. 8 
 
 IV. 1 CoR. I. 21. — For after that, in the wisdom of God, the 
 world by wisdom knew not God, it pleased God by the fool- 
 ishness of preaching to save tliem that believe. . . .13 
 
 V. John in. 16. — God so loved the world, that he gave his only- 
 
 begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, 
 but have everlasting life. ........ 16 
 
 VI. 2 Tim. i. 10. — And hath brought life and immortality to light 
 through the gospel. . . . . . . . • .18 
 
 VII. Romans iv. 25. — Who was delivered for our offences, and was 
 raised again for our justification. ...... 20 
 
 VIII. Romans viii. 16. — The Spirit itself beareth witness with our 
 spirit, that we are the children of God. . . . . .22 
 
 IX. John xx. 30, 31. — And many other signs truly did Jesus in the 
 presence of his disciples, which are not written in this book. But 
 these are written, that ye might believe that Jesus is the Christ, 
 the Son of God ; and that believing ye might have life through 
 
 his name. ........... 25 
 
 X. Acts ii. 22. — Jesus of Nazareth, a man approved of God among 
 you by miracles and wonders and signs, which God did by him in 
 
 the midst of you, as ye yourselves also know. . . . .28 
 
 XI. Psalm viii. 4. — What is man, that thou art mindful of him? 
 and the son of man, that thou visitest him ? .... 32 
 
 XII. Acts x. 34, 35. — Then Peter opened his mouth, and said, Of a 
 truth I perceive that God is no respecter of persons: but in 
 every nation he that feareth him, and worketh righteousness, is 
 accepted with him. ......... 33 
 
 XIII. Matt. xxii. 40. — On these two commandments hang all the 
 law and the prophets. ........ 35 
 
 XIV. Heb. hi. 12. — Take heed, brethren, lest there be in any of you 
 
 an evil heart of unbelief in departing from the living God. . . 37 
 
 XV. Acts xv. 1, 2. — And certain men, which came down from 
 
272 TEXTS OF 
 
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 Judea, taught the brethren, and said. Except ye be circumcised 
 after the manner of Moses, ye cannot be saved. When therefore 
 Paul and Barnabas had no small dissension and disputation with 
 them, they determined that Paul and Barnabas, and certain 
 other of them, should go up to Jerusalem, unto the apostles and 
 elders, about this question. ....... 42 
 
 XVI. Ephes. 11. 18. — For through him we both have access by one 
 Spirit unto the Father 44 
 
 XVII. Ephes. ii. 8. — For by grace are ye saved through faith ; and 
 that not of yourselves ; it is the gift of God. . . . .46 
 
 XVIII. Philip, ii. 12, 13. — Work out your own salvation with fear 
 and trembling : For it is God which worketh in you both to will 
 and to do of his good pleasure 47 
 
 XIX. Luke xui. 23, 24. — Then said one unto him. Lord, are there 
 few that be saved ? And he said unto them. Strive to enter in at 
 the strait gate ; for many, I say unto you, will seek to enter in, 
 and shall not be able. 49 
 
 XX. Luke xii. 48. — Unto whomsoever much is given, of him shall 
 be much required ; and to whom men have committed much, of 
 him will they ask the more. 50 
 
 XXI. Luke iv. 1, 2. — And Jesus, being full of the Holy Ghost, 
 returned from Jordan, and was led by the Spirit into the wil- 
 derness, being forty days tempted of the devil. . . .53 
 
 XXII. 2 Cor. vii. 10. — Godly sorrow worketh repentance to sal- 
 vation not to be repented of; but the sorrow of the world 
 worketh death. .56 
 
 XXIII. 1 Peter ii. 11. — Dearly beloved, I beseech you, as strangers 
 and pilgrims, abstain from fleshly lusts, which war against the 
 soul 57 
 
 XXIV. Matt, xxvii. 38. — Then were two thieves crucified with 
 him ; one on the right hand, and another on the left. . . 62 
 
 XXV. Psalm lxxvii. 9, 10. — Hath God forgotten to be gracious? 
 hath he in anger shut up his tender mercies? And I said. This 
 is my infirmity : but I will remember the years of the right hand 
 
 of the Most High 65 
 
 XXVI. Psalm xciv. 19. — In the multitude of my thoughts within 
 me, thy comforts delight my soul. ...... 71 
 
 XXVII. Psalm lxxxviii. 15. — While I suffer thy terrors, I am 
 distracted. ........... 74 
 
 XXVIII. Psalm xix. 14. — Let the words of my mouth, and the 
 meditation of my heart, be acceptable in thy sight, O Lord, my 
 strength and my redeemer. ....... 80 
 
 XXIX. Luke xii. 21. — So is he that layeth up treasure for himself, 
 and is not rich towards God. ....... 82 
 
 XXX. Luke xxii.61, 62. — And the Lord turned, and looked on 
 Peter. And Peter remembered the word of the Lord, how he 
 had said unto him. Before the cock crow, thou shalt deny me 
 thrice. And Peter went out, and wept bitterly. . . .85 
 
 XXXI. Matt. xiv. 1, 2. — At that time Herod the tetrarch heard of 
 the fame of Jesus, and said unto his servants. This is John the 
 Baptist : he is risen from the dead ; and therefore mighty works 
 
 do show forth themselves in him. ...... 87 
 
Sherlock's discourses. 273 
 
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 XXXII. Romans vi.21. — What fruit had ye then in those things 
 whereof ye are now ashamed ? For the end of those things is 
 deatli. »}> 
 
 XXXIII. Prov. XIX. 27. — Cease, my son, to hear the instruction 
 that causeth to err from the words of knowlege. . . . i)'i 
 
 XXXIV. Luke xvi. 31. — And he said unto him, If they hear 
 not Moses and the prophets, neither will they be persuaded 
 though one rose from the dead. ...... itf) 
 
 XXXV. Psalm xix. 12. — Who can understand his errors? Cleanse 
 thou me from secret faults. ....... J)7 
 
 XXXVI. Matt. xii. 36. — But I say unto you, That every idle word 
 that men shall speak, they shall give account thereof in the day 
 ofjudgment. .......... UK) 
 
 XXXVII. Ephes. IV. 28. — Let him that stole, steal no more ; but 
 rather let him labor, working with his hands the thing which is 
 good, that he may have to give to him that needeth. . . 105 
 
 XXXVIII. — 1 Peter iv. 8. — And above all things, have fervent 
 charity among yourselves ; for charity shall cover the multitude 
 of sins. . . . . . . . . .110 
 
 XXXIX. — Gal. vi. 9. — And let us not be weary in well-doing: 
 
 for in due season we shall reap if we faint not. . . .115 
 
 XL. Matt. xiii. 29. — But he said. Nay; lest, while ye gather up 
 
 the tares, ye root up also the wheat with them. . . .118 
 
 XLI. Matt. xxvi. 41. — Watch and pray, that ye enter not into 
 
 temptation : the spirit indeed is willing, but the flesh is weak. . 123 
 XLII. Isaiah liii. 3. — He is despised and rejected of men ; a man 
 
 of sorrows, and acquainted with grief. ..... 12G 
 
 XLIII. CoLoss. m. 1. — If ye then be risen with Christ, seek those 
 tilings which are above, where Christ sitteth on the right hand 
 
 of God 129 
 
 XLIV. James hi. 17. — The wisdom that is from above is first pure, 
 then peaceable, gentle, and easy to be intreated, full of mercy 
 and good fruits, without partiality, and without hypocrisy. . 131 
 
 XLV. Matt. v. 48. — Be ye therefore perfect, even as your Father 
 
 which is in heaven is perfect. . . . . . .134 
 
 XLVI. John hi. 19. — This is the condemnation, that light is come 
 into the world, and men loved darkness rather than light, because 
 their deeds were evil, ........ 136 
 
 XLVII. John v. 44. — How can ye believe, which receive honor one 
 
 of another, and seek not the honor that cometh from God only? 138 
 XLVIII. Mark vim. 38. — Whosoever therefore shall be ashamed of 
 me, and of my words, in this adulterous and sinful generation, of 
 him also shall the Son of man be ashamed, when lie cometh in 
 the glory of his Father with the holy angels. .... 141 
 
 XLIX. 2 Cor. v. 10, 11. — We must all appear before the judgment- 
 seat of Christ, that every one may receive the things done in his 
 body, according to that he hath done, whether it be good or bad. 
 Knowing therefore the terror of the Lord, we persuade men. . 144 
 L. Philipp. 11. 6— 11.— Who, being in the form of God, thought it 
 not robbery to be equal with God ; but made himself of no 
 reputation, and took on him the form of a servant, and was made 
 in the likeness of men: and being found in fashion as a man, 
 he humbled himself, and became obedient unto death, even the 
 part II. s 
 
274 TEXTS OF 
 
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 death of the cross. "Wherefore God also hath highly exalted 
 him, and given him a name which is above every name ; that 
 at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of things in heaven, 
 and things in earth, and things under the earth ; and that every 
 tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of 
 God the Father. 147 
 
 LI. Titus II. 14. — Who gave himself for us, that he might redeem 
 us from all iniquity, and purify unto himself a peculiar people, 
 zealous of good works. ........ 157 
 
 LII. 1 Tim. i. 15. — This is a faithful saying, and worthy of all 
 acceptation, that Christ Jesus came into the world to save 
 sinners. . . . . . . . . .160 
 
 LIII. 1 Thess. 1.9,10. — For they themselves show of us what manner 
 of entei'ing in we had unto yon, and how ye turned to God from 
 idols, to serve the living and true God ; and to wait for his Son 
 from heaven, whom he raised from the dead, even Jesus, which 
 delivered us from the wrath to come. . . . . .163 
 
 LIV. Prov. IX. 10. — The fear of the Lord is the beginning of 
 
 wisdom ; and the knowlege of the Holy is understanding. . 167 
 
 LV. Luke x. 29. — But he, willing to justify himself, said unto Jesus, 
 
 And who is my neighbor? ........ 170 
 
 LVI. Romans xiv. 16. — Let not then your good be evil spoken of. . 177 
 
 JjVII. Numbers xxiii. 10. — Let me die the death of the righteous, 
 
 and let my last end be like his. ....... 180 
 
 LVIII. Psalm cxix. 165. — Great peace have they which love thy 
 
 law ^ . 184 
 
 LIX. Psalm cxix. 63. — I am a companion of all them that fear thee, 
 
 and of them that keep thy precepts. . ..... 187 
 
 LX. 2 CoR. IV. 18. — For the things which are seen are temporal; 
 
 but the things which are not seen are eternal. . . . .190 
 
 LXI. JuDE 3. — It was needful for me to write unto you, and exhort 
 you, that ye should earnestly contend for the failh which was 
 once delivered unto the saints. . . . . . . .196 
 
 LXn. Romans xiii. 1. — Let every soul be subject unto the higher 
 powers. For there is no power but of God : the powers that be 
 are ordained of God. ........ 201 
 
 LXIIL Genesis xviii. 19. — For I know him, that he will command 
 his children, and his household after him; and they shall keep 
 the way of the Lord, to do justice and judgment ; that the Lord 
 may bring on Abraham that which he hath spoken of him. "206 
 
 OCCASIONAL DISCOURSES. 
 
 I. — Preached before Queen Anne at St. James's, Jan. 30, 1704, being 
 the anniversary of the Martyrdom of King Charles the First. 
 
 Prov. xxiv. 21. — My son, fear thou the Lord and the king; 
 and meddle not with them that are given to change. . 210 
 
 IL— Preached before the Sons of the Clergy at St. Paul's Cathedral, 
 December 5, 1710. 
 Matt. x. 41, 42. — He that receiveth a prophet in the name of 
 
Sherlock's discourses, 275 
 
 I'AOK 
 
 a prophet, shall receive a prophet's reward ; and he that re- 
 ceiveth a righteous man in the name of a righteous man, shall 
 receive a righteous man's reward. And whosoever shall give to 
 drink unto one of these little ones a cup of cold water only in the 
 name of a disciple, verily I say unto you, he shall in no wise 
 lose his reward. . . . . . . . .214 
 
 Iir. — Preached hefore the Lord Mayor at St. Paul's Cathedral, 
 Nov. 5, 1712. 
 
 Luke ix. 64, 65. — And when his disciples, James and John, 
 saw this, they said. Lord, wilt thou that we command fire to 
 come down from heaven and consume them, even as Elias did? 
 But he turned and rebuked them, and said. Ye know not what 
 manner of spirit ye are of. ........ 217 
 
 iV — Preached before the House of Commons at St. Margaret's, 
 Westminster, March 8, 1714, being the anniversary of Queen 
 Anne's accession to the throne. 
 
 2 S.\MUEL xxiii. 3, 4. — The God of Israel said, the Rock of 
 Israel spake to me, He that ruleth over men must be just, ruling 
 in the fear of God : and he shall be as the light of the morning, 
 when the sun riseth, even a morning without clouds ; as the 
 tender grass springing out of the earth by clear shining after 
 rain 221 
 
 V. — Preached at the Temple Church, Nov. 20, 1715. 
 
 Acts vii. 25. — For he supposed his brethren would have 
 understood how that God by his hand would deliver tlieni ; but 
 they understood not. ........ 222 
 
 VI. — Preached before the Incorporated Society for the Propagation 
 of the Gospel in Foreign Parts, at St. Mary-le-Bow, Feb. 17, 
 1716. 
 
 Matt. iv. 17. — From that time Jesus began to preach, and to 
 say, Repent: for the kingdom of heaven is at hand. . . 224 
 
 VII. — Preached before the House of Commons at St. Margaret's, 
 Westminster, June 7, 1716 ; being the day of public thanks- 
 giving to Almighty God for suppressing the unnatural Re- 
 bellion. 
 
 Psalm cxxii. 6. — Pray for the peace of Jerusalem : they shall 
 prosper that love thee. ........ 227 
 
 VIII. — Preached before the Lord Mayor, &c. at St. Bride's, April 
 23, 1717. 
 
 Acts xx. 35. — I have showed you all things, how that so 
 laboring ye ought to support the weak ; and to remember the 
 words of the Lord Jesus, how he said. It is more blessed to give 
 than to receive. ......... 229 
 
 IX. — The Case of the Insolvent Debtors, and the Charity due to them, 
 considered. — Preached before the Lord Mayor, &c.at St. Bride's, 
 on Monday in Easter week, April 22, 1728. 
 
 Matt. xvui. 29, 30. — And his fellow-servant fell down at his 
 feet, and besought him, saying, Have patience with me, and I 
 will pay thee all. And he would not ; but went and cast him 
 into prison, till he should pay the debt. ..... 2.32 
 
 X. — Preached before the House of Lords at Westminster Abbey, 
 Jan. 30, 1733. 
 
 Mark hi. 24. — If a kingdom be divided against itself, that 
 kingdom cannot stand. ........ 234 
 
 XI. — The Nature and Extent of Charity. — Preached at St. Margaret's, ^f 
 
276 TEXTS OF SHERLOCK'S DISCOURSES. 
 
 Westminster, before the Trustees of the Infirmary in James 
 Street, April 26, 1735. 
 
 Luke x. 36, 37. — Which now of these three, thinkest thou, 
 was neighbor unto him that fell among thieves ? And he said. 
 He that showed mercy on him. Then said Jesus unto him, Go, 
 and do thou likewise. ........ 237 
 
 XII. — Preached before the Society, corresponding with the Incor- 
 porated Society in Dublin, for promoting English Protestant 
 Schools in Ireland, at St. Mary-le-Bow, March 7, 1738. 
 
 Deut. xxxn. 45, 46. — And Moses made an end of speaking 
 all these words to all Israel : and he said unto them, Set your 
 hearts unto all the words which I testify among you this day, 
 which ye shall command your children to observe to do, all the 
 words of this law. ......... 239 
 
 XIII.— Preached at St. Sepulchre's, May 21, 1719, at the anni- 
 versary meeting of the children educated in the charity school. 
 
 2 Cor. ix. 12. — For the administration of this service not only 
 supplieth the want of the saints, but is abundant also by many 
 thanksgivings unto God. ........ 242 
 
 XIV. — Preached October 6, 1745, on occasion of the Rebellion in 
 Scotland. 
 
 Judges ii. 7. — And the people served the Lord all the days of 
 Joshua, and all the days of the elders that outlived Joshua, who 
 had seen all the great works of the Lord that he did for Israel. 246 
 
 DISCOURSES ON PROPHECY. 
 
 I. 2 Peter i. 19. — We have also a more sure word of prophecy; 
 whereunto ye do well that ye take heed, as unto a light that 
 shineth in a dark place, until the day dawn, and the day-star 
 arise in your hearts. ......... 249 
 
 II 252 
 
 III 255 
 
 IV 258 
 
 V 262 
 
 VI 266 
 
SUMMARIES 
 
 JEREMY TAYLOR'S SERMONS. 
 
 SERMON I. 
 
 ADVENT SUNDAY.— DOOMSDAY BOOK ; OR, CHRIST'S 
 ADVENT TO JUDGMENT. 
 
 2 CORINTHIANS, CHAP. V. VERSE 10. 
 
 For we must all appear before the judgment-seat of Christ, that every 
 one may receive the things done in his body, according to that he hath 
 done, whether it be good or bad. 
 
 PART I. 
 
 Virtue and vice are essentially distinguished from each other : this 
 distinction necessary for the well-being of men in private, and in 
 societies, &c. But it is not enough that the world hath armed itself 
 against vice, and taken the part of virtue : reasons for this given : 
 therefore God hath so ordained it, that there sliall be a day, when 
 every word and every action shall receive its just recompense: far- 
 ther consideration of the things for which we shall be called to 
 account. On that day all the evils of the world sliall be amended, 
 and the dispensations of Providence all vindicated. This is what 
 the Apostle in the next verse calls the terror of the Lord : reasons 
 for this in a consideration, I. Of the persons that are to be judged, 
 with the attendant circumstances, &c. ; IT. Of the judge and his 
 judgment-seat ; 3. Of the sentence then to be pronounced, &c. 
 
 I. The persons that are to be judged : even all the world ; kings 
 and priests, nobles and learned, the wise and the foolish, the rich and 
 the poor, the tyrant and the oppressed, shall all appear together to 
 receive their symbol ; which will be so far from abating any part of 
 their terror, that it will greatly increase it: this fully shown, and 
 illustrated by examples of the deluge, and a great pestilence. More- 
 
 PART III. T 
 
278 SUMMARIES OF 
 
 over, this general consideration may be heightened by four or five 
 circumstances. 
 
 1. We may consider what an infinite multitude of angels, and 
 men, and women, shall then appear: all the kingdoms of all ages: 
 all the armies of heaven, and the nine orders of blessed spirits. 
 
 2. In this great multitude we shall meet all those, who by their 
 example and holy precepts have enlightened us, and taught us to 
 walk in the paths of virtue. And then it shall be remembered how 
 we mocked at their counsel, or forgot their precepts, &c. 
 
 3. There also shall be seen all those converts, who, on easier 
 terms, with less experience and grace, with less preaching, and more 
 untoward circumstances, suftered the word of God to prosper on their 
 spirits, and were obedient to the heavenly call. There the men of 
 Nineveh shall stand upright in judgment. There shall appear 
 against us the men of Capernaum, the Queen of the South, and the 
 men of Beroea, &c. 
 
 4. But there is a worse sight than this, which in that great assem- 
 bly shall distract and amaze us. There men shall meet the partners 
 of their sins ; those whom they tempted to crime by evil example, or 
 pernicious counsel ; those souls whom they helped to destroy, and 
 for whom the Lord Jesus died : the miseries of this sight strikingly 
 delineated. 
 
 5. We may consider that this infinite multitude must needs have 
 strong influence on every spirit that shall there appear : for every 
 thing will be then revealed, in all its naked deformity, to every per- 
 son : all our follies and impurities will be declared, as it were, from 
 the house-top, by the trumpet of an archangel : this topic enlarged 
 on. The foregoing heads briefly recapitulated. 
 
 II. Second general consideration : That we must be judged: we 
 must appear before the judgment-seat of Christ ; and that is a new 
 state of terror and amazement ; for Christ shall rise from the right 
 hand of his Father ; he shall descend towards us on the clouds; and 
 he shall make himself illustrious by a glorious majesty, by an innu- 
 merable retinue, and by circumstances of terror and a mighty power. 
 This is that which Origen aflirms to be the sign of the Son of Man. 
 Others interpret this expression of the cross of Christ : that of Origen 
 shown to be most reasonable. The majesty of the Judge, and terms 
 of the judgment-day, dilated on. 
 
 Fifteen terrible signs, or days of prodigies, related by St. Jerome 
 out of the Jews' books, as immediately preceding Christ's coming. 
 Though the Jevvish doctors reckon these by an order and method, 
 for which they have no revealed authority, yet the most terrible of 
 them are disclosed by Christ's own words in holy Scripture : these 
 enumerated. 
 
 The trumpet of God also shall sound; and the voice of the arch- 
 angel, that is, of him who is prince of the great army of attending 
 spirits ; and this also is part of the sign of the Son of Man: for the 
 fulfilling of all these predictions, and the preaching of the gospel to 
 all nations, and the conversion of the Jews, and these prodigies, and 
 the address of majesty, make up that sign. The notice of which 
 
JEREMY TAYLOR'S SERMONS. — I. 279 
 
 tilings, by some way or other, came to the notice of the very 
 heathen. 
 
 And when these things actually come to pass, it will be no wonder 
 if men's hearts shall fail them for fear, &c. : and it is an extreme 
 wonder that the consideration and certain expectation of them do not 
 awake us from the death of sin : concluding exhortations and re- 
 flections. 
 
 PAUT II. 
 
 1. If we consider the person of the Judge, we first perceive that he 
 is interested in the injury done by the crimes which he is to sentence. 
 77/e?/ shall look on him whom they jnerced. It was for our sins, and 
 to take away sin, that the Judge suffered such unspeakable torments : 
 this enlarged on. Now it is certain that they who will not be saved 
 by his death, are guilty of his death : then what is to be expected 
 from that Judge before whom they stand, as his murderers and be- 
 trayers : but this is not all ; since 
 
 2. Christ may be crucified again, and on a new account jnit to an 
 open shame. For after having done all this by the direct actions of 
 his priestly office, in sacrificing himself for us, he hath done very 
 many things for us, which also are the fruits of his first love, and 
 prosecution of our redemption : these enlarged on : also the terror 
 and amazement of those who meet that Lord, whose love and honor 
 they have so disparaged. 
 
 3. And as it will be inquired, in the day of judgment, concerning 
 the dishonor done to Christ, so also concerning that done to his insti- 
 tution, and its poorer members. Every man who lives wickedly 
 disgraces the religion of Jesus, dec. ; but although it is certain the 
 Lord will resent this, yet there is one thing which he takes most 
 tenderly, and that is, the uncharitableness of men towards his poor : 
 it shall then be upbraided to them by the Judge, that himself was 
 hungry, and they refused meat to him who gave his own body for 
 them, &c. : this topic enlarged on. 
 
 4. To this if we join the omnipotence of our Lord, his infinite 
 wisdom, and his knowlege of all causes, persons, and circumstances, 
 his infinite justice and infiexible impartiality ; there can be nothing 
 added to the greatness or the requisites of a terrible and almighty 
 Judge. 
 
 But of all qualities, that which now demands our most serious 
 attention, that wiiich has most terror in it, is the severity of our Lord. 
 For then is the day of vengeance, and there will be no mercy but to 
 them who are the sons of mercy. 
 
 1. If we remember the instances of God's severity in this life, 
 when in the days of repentance and mercy there are still mingled 
 some storms and violence, some fearful instances of divine justice, we 
 may readily expect that it will be infinitely worse at that day, when 
 judgment shall triumph, and mercy shall be the accuser of the wicked. 
 This topic illustrated by examples ; &c. 
 
280 SUMMARIES OF 
 
 2. If God, on single instances, and before our sins have come to 
 the full, be so fierce in his anger, what must we imagine it to be in 
 the day when the wicked are to drink the dregs of that horrid 
 potion ! This topic enlarged on. 
 
 3. We may guess at the severity of the Judge by the lesser strokes 
 of that judgment which he is pleased to send on sinners in this world, 
 to make them afraid of the horrible pains of doomsday ; that is, the 
 torments of a guilty conscience : this head enlarged on. 
 
 4. That all may think themselves concerned in this consideration, 
 let us remember that even the righteous and most innocent shall pass 
 through a severe trial. Opinions of ancient Fathers on this point 
 uncertain : this however is sure, that even the most innocent person 
 hath great need of mercy, and even the absolved shall suffer the terror 
 of that day, and the fearful circumstances of Christ's coming; xvhere 
 then shall the wicked and the sinner appear ? 
 
 5. But the matter is of still more concernment. Many Christians, 
 like the Pharisees of old, think that all is well with them if they 
 abstain from such sins as have a name in the tables of their law, &c. 
 But when the day of judgment comes, they shall be called to a severe 
 account by their omniscient Judge ; who, all prejudices being laid 
 aside, shall judge us for our evil rules and false principles, by the 
 severity of his own laws and measures of the Spirit. 
 
 6. The circumstances of our appearing and his sentence next con- 
 sidered. Men who, at the day of judgment, belong not to the por- 
 tion of life, shall have three accusers : 1. Christ himself, who is their 
 Judge : 2. Their own defiled consciences : 3. The Devil, their 
 enemy, whom they served. 
 
 1. Christ shall be so, not only on account of those direct injuries 
 before mentioned, but on the titles of contempt, unkindness, and 
 ingratitude : and the accusation will be nothing else but a plain 
 representation of those invitations, assistances, importunities, and 
 constrainings, used by our dear Lord to draw us from sin, and to 
 render it almost impossible for us not to be saved. [A short scheme 
 is here drawn of what the wisdom and mercy of God contrived for 
 bringing us safely to eternal happiness.] 
 
 2. Our conscience shall be an accuser, which signifies these two 
 things ; 1. that we shall be condemned for the ills we have done, 
 and which we shall then, by God's power, clearly remember, seeing 
 things as they really are with all their evil circumstances, &c. : 
 2. that not only the justice of God shall be confessed by us, in our 
 shame and condemnation, but the evil of the sentence shall be re- 
 ceived into us, to break our hearts in pieces ; because we are the 
 authors of our own death : this enlarged on. 
 
 3. The third sort of accusers are the devils ; and they vplll do it 
 with malicious and evil purposes : the prince of the devils hath hiu- 
 fioXos for one of his chief appellatives, ' the accuser of his brethren ;' 
 as the Holy Spirit is Trnpa/cXr^ros, a defender. Description of the 
 manner in which the devil shall accuse even the saints and servants 
 of God, declaring their follies and infirmities, &c. : manner in which 
 they shall be defended and cleared by the Holy Spirit, that maketk 
 intercession for vs. Different case of the wicked described. 
 
JEREMY Taylor's sermons, — i. 281 
 
 It concerns us therefore to consider in time, that he who now 
 tempts us will hereafter accuse us, &c. Exhortation to prevent all 
 the mischief arising hence, by a timely accusation of ourselves. 
 
 PART III. 
 
 III. Consideration of the sentence itself. * We must receive,' 
 &c. Nothing shall then be worth owning, or a means of obtaining 
 mercy, but a holy conscience. 
 
 There are two great days, in which the fate of all the world is 
 transacted. This life is man's day ; in which he does what he pleases, 
 and God holds his peace. But then God shall have his day too : the 
 day of the Lord shall come, in which he shall speak, and no man 
 shall answer, &c. Similitude drawn from the case of Zedekiah. 
 
 * According to what we have done in the body.' This is the 
 greatest terror of all; for all mankind is an enemy to God ; man's 
 very nature is accursed, and his manners are depraved. Consider- 
 ation of the things which we do in the body ; how inconsistent with 
 the precepts of the gospel ; yet by those precepts we shall be judged. 
 Nay, evej-y idle word that men shall speak, they shall give accoxmt 
 thereof at the day of judgment : for which reason every one trembling 
 D)ay say with Job, what shall I do when the Lord shall come to judg- 
 ment? This topic enlarged on : some other considerations proposed. 
 
 ]. To relieve in some degree our sadness, and to encourage our 
 efforts, we may consider that this great sentence, though it shall pass 
 concerning little things, yet shall not pass by little portions, but gene- 
 ral measures ; not by the little errors of one day, but by the great 
 proportions of our life. 2. This sentence shall be passed, not by the 
 proportions of an angel, but by the measures of a man. 3. The last 
 judgment will be transacted, not by strange and secret propositions, 
 but on the same principles by which we are guided here : this 
 explained. 4. Sentence shall pass on us, not after the measures of 
 nature, and possibilities, and utmost extents, but in the mercies of the 
 covenant, &c. 
 
 5. It is to be given by him who once died for us^ and now prays 
 and perpetually intercedes for us. 
 
 On these premises we may dare to consider what the irrevocable 
 sentence itself shall be ; whether it be good or bad. 
 
 1. If good, it will be infinitely better than all the good of this 
 world ; and every man's share in it will be greater than all the plea- 
 sures of mankind in one heap. 
 
 2. The portion of the good at the day of judgment shall be so great 
 as to reward them in an infinite degree for all the ills and persecu- 
 tions of life : this point enlarged on. 
 
 But how, if the portion be bad ? And it is a fearful consideration, 
 that it will be so to the greater part of mankind. This sad lot 
 represented by some considerations. 
 
 1. Here all the troubles of our spirits are but little participations 
 of a disorderly passion ; and yet ambition, envy, impatience, ava- 
 
282 SUMMARIES OF 
 
 rice, lust, &c., are all of them great torments: but there these shall 
 be essential and abstracted beings; the spirit of envy, and the spirit 
 of sorrow ; devils that shall pour the whole nature of evil into the 
 minds of the accursed, &c. 
 
 2. The evils of this world are material and bodily, and the mind 
 is troubled because its instrument is ill at ease : but in those regions 
 and days of sorrow, when the soul shall be the perfect principle of all 
 its actions, the pains will be like the horrors of a devil and the groans 
 of an evil spirit. 
 
 'S. The evil portion of the next world is so great, that God did not 
 create or design it in the first intention of things : it was incidental, 
 and consequent on horrid crimes. 
 
 4. And when God did prepare a place of torment, he did not at 
 all intend it for man : it was prepared for the devil and his angels, as 
 the Judge himself says. Matt. xxv. 34. 
 
 5. The evil portion shall be continual, without intermission of 
 evil : no days of rest, no nights of sleep, no ease from torment, ichere 
 the worm clieth not, and thejire is not quenched. 
 
 0. And yet this is not the worst; for as it is continual during its 
 abode, so its abode is for ever; continual and eternal: this topic 
 enlarged on. Objections of Origen and some others against this 
 doctrine of eternal punishment, noticed. 
 
 But that, in this question, what is certain may be separated from 
 what is uncertain, we may consider : 
 
 1. It is certain that the torments of hell shall last as long as the 
 soul lasts ; which, as it is immortal either naturally or by gift, shall 
 be tormented for ever, or until God finally takes away the life that 
 he restored : this is the gentlest sentence of some of the old doctors. 
 
 2. But the generality of Christians have been taught to believe 
 worse things of this state ; and the words of our blessed Lord are 
 Ki'tKacTLs niu)vios, eternal affiictioH or smiting : and St. John, who well 
 knew the mind of his Lord, confirms this, saying, that the smoke of 
 their torment ascended iip for ever and ever ; and they have no rest 
 day nor night: this topic enlarged on. 
 
 ;\. And yet if God should deal with man hereafter more mercifully 
 and proportionably to his weak nature than he does to angels, yet he 
 will never admit him to favor: he shall be tormented beyond all the 
 measure of human ages, and be destroyed for ever and ever. 
 
 Concluding energetic exhortations, that we should prepare our- 
 selves, whilst there is yet time, to meet the terrors of the final day of 
 judgment. 
 
JEREMY Taylor's sermons. — ii. 283 
 
 SERMON II. 
 
 THE RETURN OF PRAYERS: OR, THE CONDITIONS OF 
 A PREVAILING PRAYER. 
 
 JOHN, CHAP, IX. VERSE 31. 
 
 Now we know that God heareth not sinners ; but if any man be a wor- 
 shipper of God, and doeth his will, him he heareth. 
 
 PART I. 
 
 It is difficult to determine which is the greater wonder, that prayer 
 should produce such vast and blessed eft'ects, or that we should be so 
 unwilling- to use such an instrument for procuring them. Reasons 
 for this, our extreme folly, given. Inelficacy of prayer which is 
 offered up by wicked and hypocritical supplicants. God heareth not 
 sinners. This a known case, and an established rule in religion. 
 * Wicked persons are neither fit to pray for themselves, nor for 
 others.' 
 
 This proposition is considered, First, according to that purpose in 
 which the blind man in the text spoke it ; and it is shown that (Hod 
 heareth not sinners, in that they are sinners, though a sinner may be 
 heard in his prayer, in order to a confirmation of his faith ; but if he 
 be a sinner in his faith, God hears him not at all, in that wherein he 
 sins ; for God is truth, and cannot confirm a lie ; and whenever he 
 permitted the devil to do it, he secured the interest of his elect, that 
 is, of all that believe in him and love him. 
 
 Secondly, This proposition is considered in a manner which con- 
 cerns us all more nearly : that is, if we be not good men, our prayers 
 will do us no good : we shall be in the condition of them that never 
 pray at all. God turneth away from the unwholesome breathings of 
 corruption. The doctrine under discussion reduced to method, under 
 various heads : these enumerated. 
 
 I. Whosoever prays whilst he is in a state of sin, or in the affec- 
 tion to sin, his prayer is an abomination to God. This truth believed 
 by the ancient world; hence the appointment of baptisms and cere- 
 monial expiations : ceremonies of the Gentiles and Jews considered : 
 internal purity recommended by them. Some considerations on this 
 head. 1. It is an act of profanation for any unholy person to handle 
 holy things and offices : reasons given for this : 2. A wicked person, 
 whilst he remains in that condition, is not a natural object of pity, 
 I've. 3. Purity is recommended by the necessary appendages of 
 prayer required or advised in holy Scripture ; as those oi' fasting, of 
 almsgiving, Sec. : also by the various indecencies which are espe- 
 cially prohibited, (not only for their general malignity, but for the 
 groat hinderance they give to our prayers,) such as nnmercifvlness, 
 which unfits us to receive pardon for our own trespasses; lust, and 
 
2a 4 SUMMARIES OF 
 
 uncleanness, which are direct enemies and obstructions to prayer, 
 defiling the temple, and taking from a man all affection to spiritual 
 things : this state fully dilated on, and its inconsistency with devotion 
 and prayer to God explained. 
 
 PART II. 
 
 After the evidences of Scripture, and reason derived from its ana- 
 logy, there is less necessity to take any particular notice of those 
 little objections, which are usually made from experience of the suc- 
 cess and prosperities of evil persons. If such men ask things hurtful 
 and sinful, it is certain that God hears them not in mercy : this topic 
 enlarged on ; with various instances of success in improper prayers, 
 turning out to the disadvantage or destruction of the petitioners. 
 
 II. Second general head : Many times good men pray, and their 
 prayer is not a sin ; but yet it returns empty ; because although the 
 man may be, yet the prayer is not, in proper disposition : and here 
 the collateral and accidental hinderances of a good man's prayers are 
 to be accounted for. 
 
 1. The first thing that hinders the prayer of a good man from 
 obtaining its eft'ects is violent anger, or a storm in the spirit of him 
 that prays : disturbing effects of anger on the mind described. Prayer 
 is an action, or a state of intercourse and desire, exactly contrary to 
 the character of anger : its gentle and meek spirit, its soothing and 
 calm influences, fully described. 
 
 2. Indift'erency and easiness of desire is a great enemy to the good 
 man's prayer. Answer of Diogenes to Plato : this compared with 
 our intercourse with God in prayer. The dislike which God bears 
 to lukewarmness stated ; with the reasons of this dislike. He that is 
 cold and tame in his prayers hath not tasted the delight of religion 
 and the goodness of God ; he is a stranger to the secrets of his king- 
 dom : this topic enlarged on. Instances of fervent prayers of holy 
 men in Scripture : character of one in the practice of St. Jerome. 
 Strong exhortation to passionate importunity in prayer : example of 
 our Saviour, who prayed with loud crying s ; and of St. Paul, who 
 made mention of his disciples in his prayers 7iight and day. 
 
 3. Under this title of lukewarmness and tepidity may be comprised 
 also these cautions ; that a good man's prayers are hindered some- 
 times by inadvertency, sometimes by want of perseverance. Inad- 
 vertency indeed is an effect of lukewarmness, and a certain appendage 
 to human infirmity; and is only remedied, as our prayers are made 
 zealous, and our infirmities pass into the strength of the Spirit : this 
 enlarged on. 
 
 But concerning perseverance, the consideration is something dis- 
 tinct ; for when our prayer is for a great matter, and a great neces- 
 sity, strictly attended to, yet we pursue it only by chance or humor, 
 by fancy, or natural disposition ; or else our choice is cool as soon as 
 hot, and our prayer is without fruit, because the desire does not last. 
 If we would secure the blessing and the effect of our prayers, we 
 
JEREMY Taylor's sermons. — ii. 285 
 
 must not leave off till we have obtained what we need. Farther 
 observations on the want of perseverance : danger of remitting our 
 desires and prayers for spiritual blessings indicated. Observation of 
 St. Gregory, ' that God loves to be invited, entreated, importuned, 
 with a restless desire and a persevering prayer.' Quotation of a 
 similar tendency from Proclus : topic enlarged on. 
 
 4. Tlie prayers of a good man are oftentimes hindered and ren- 
 dered destitute of their effect, for want of their being put up in good 
 company ; for sometimes an evil and obnoxious person hath so 
 secured a mischief to himself, that they who stay in his company 
 share also in his punishment : instance of the Tyrian sailors, who, 
 with all their vows and prayers, could not obtain a prosperous 
 voyage whilst Jonas was in their bark. In such case the interest is 
 divided, and the public sin prevails above the private piety. Story 
 of the philosopher and Antigonus. So it is in the case of a good 
 man mingled in bad company : if a curse be too severe for a good 
 man, a mercy is not to be expected by evil company ; and his 
 prayer, when made in common, must partake of that event of things 
 which is appropriate to such society. Purport of this caution ; that 
 a man mingle not his devotion in the communion of heretical persons, 
 and in schismatical conventicles : the evil of such a practice dilated 
 on, and examples given. But when good men pray with one heart, 
 and in a holy assembly, that is, holy in their desires, and lawful in 
 their authority, though the persons be of different complexions, then 
 their prayers ascend to God like the hymns of angels. 
 
 The sum is this. If the man that makes the prayer be an unholy 
 person, his prayer is not the instrument of a blessing, but of a curse : 
 but when the sinner begins to repent truly, then his desires begin to 
 be holy. Yet if they be holy, just, and good, they are without 
 profit and effect, if the prayer be made in schism or in evil com- 
 munion ; or if it be made without attention ; or if the man soon gives 
 over ; or if the prayer be not zealous ; or if the man be angry : this 
 topic carried on to the conclusion. 
 
 PAUT III. 
 
 III. The next inquiry and consideration is. What degrees and 
 circumstances of piety are required to make us fit to be intercessors 
 for others, and to pray for them with probable effect. It is said with 
 ' probable effect,' because in this case we must consider whether the 
 persons for whom we pray are within the limits and possibilities of 
 present mercy. Instance of the emperor Maximinus, whom the 
 prayers of all the Christians, even after he revoked his cruel decrees, 
 could not save. This topic enlarged on. 
 
 But supposing the person for whom we pray to be capable of 
 mercy, within the covenant of repentance; yet no prayers of others 
 can farther prevail, than to remove this person to the next stage in 
 order to felicity : this enlarged on. No prayers can prevail with 
 
28G SUMMARItS OF 
 
 regard to an indisposed person ; as the sun cannot enlighten a blind 
 eye, &c. Therefore 
 
 1. As the persons must be capable of mercy for whom we pray, 
 so they that pray for others must be extraordinary persons them- 
 selves. 
 
 And if persons be of an extraordinary piety, they are apt and fit 
 to be intercessors for others. This exemplified in the case of 
 Job (ch. xlii. 7, 8.), and of Phinehas. It was also a vast blessing 
 entailed on the posterity of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob : because 
 they had a great religion, they had a great power with God. History 
 of the worship paid to God by the earliest nations : this improved by 
 Abraham and his immediate descendants, when God established a 
 church with them ; and God was their God, and they became fit 
 persons to bless ; as appears in the instances of their own families, of 
 the king of Egypt, and the cities of the plain. A man of ordinary 
 piety cannot water another man's garden and bless it with a gracious 
 sltower : he must look to himself. Few indeed are those who can 
 intercede for others ; they are as soon told as the gates of a city, or 
 the mouths of the Nile. 
 
 But then we must consider what an encouragement this is to a 
 very strict and holy life ; what an advantage it may be to our rela- 
 tives, &c. if we chance to live in times of great trouble and adversity; 
 what benefits we may thence procure to our country. 
 
 We must consider also how useless and vile we are, when our 
 prayers are of no avail to assist even the meanest person : the folly 
 of a vicious advocate, or of an ordinary person pleading with God, 
 exposed. And yet every one that is in the state of grace, every 
 man that can pray without a sinful prayer, may also intercede for 
 others ; and it is moreover a duty prescribed to him : this topic 
 enlarged on. 
 
 2. That we should prevail in our intercessions for others, we must 
 talce care, that, as our piety, so also our offices be extraordinary. 
 He that prays to reverse a sentence of God, &c. must not expect 
 great effects from a morning or evening collect, or from an honest 
 v.'ish put into the recollections of a prayer, or a period put in on 
 purpose. Conduct of Mamercus, bishop of Vienna, when his city 
 and diocese were in danger of destruction by an earthquake. Times, 
 manner, and circumstances of prayer dilated on. Prayer at the holy 
 communion particularly recommended ; and the necessity of taking 
 Christ with us in all our prayers. 
 
 One great caution given : that in our importunity and extraor- 
 dinary offices for others, we must not make our account by a multi- 
 tude of words and long prayers, but by measures of the Spirit, by 
 holiness of the soul, justness of the desire, and usefulness of the 
 request to God's glory, Sec. 
 
 We must not be ashamed or backward in asking ; but our modesty 
 to God in prayer hath no measures but these : distrust of ourselves, 
 confidence in God, humility of person, reverence of address, and 
 suhniission to God's will : these being observed, our importunity 
 siioidd be as great as possible; and it will be the more likely to 
 prevail. 
 
JEREMY Taylor's sermons. — ii. 287 
 
 3. The last great advantage towards a prevailing intercession for 
 others is, that the person who prays for his relatives be one of extra- 
 ordinary dignity, employment, or designation ; for God hath appointed 
 some persons, by their calling, to pray for others ; such as fathers for 
 their children, bishops for their dioceses, kings for their subjects, and 
 the whole ecclesiastical order for all the men and women in the 
 Christian Church, 
 
 And it is well this is so, since so few understand their duty to 
 themselves and others. Excellence and utility of prayers for their 
 flocks by the ministers of religion dilated on. 
 
 But here comes in the greatest difficulty of the text ; for if God 
 hcarctk not sinners, what infinite necessity there is that the ministers 
 of religion should be very holy, since their very ministries consist in 
 preaching and praying ; to which two are reducible all the ministers 
 ecclesiastical, that are of divine institution : this topic fully dila- 
 ted on. 
 
 IV. Last consideration ; Of the signs of our prayers being heard, 
 concerning which there is not much of particular observation : but if 
 our prayers be according to the warrant of God's word, if we ask ac- 
 cording to God's will things honest and profitable, we are to rely on his 
 promises, and to feel sure that we are heard; besides this, we can have 
 no sign but ' the thing signified :' when we feel the eft'ect, then we are 
 sure that God has heard us; but till then we are to leave it with him, 
 and not to ask a sign of that for which he has given us a promise. Yet 
 there is one sign, mentioned by Cassian, that may be named : ' Tbat 
 it is a sign we shall prevail, when the Spirit of God moves us to 
 pray, with a confidence and holy security of receiving what we ask.' 
 But even this is no otherwise a sign, but because it is a part of the 
 duty. 
 
 All may be summed up in the words of God by the Prophet: 
 Rnn to and fro through the streets of Jerusalem, and see, and knotc, 
 and seek in the hroad places thereof, if you can find a man, if there 
 be any that execiiteth judgment, that seeketh truth, a man that 
 sceketh for faith ; and I will pardon it, (Jer. v. 1.) Concluding 
 observations. 
 
288 SUMMARIES OF 
 
 SERMON III. 
 OF GODLY FEAR, &c. 
 
 HEBREWS, CHAP. XII. VERSE 28, 29. 
 
 Let us have grace, whereby we may serve God with reverence and 
 godly fear. For our God is a consuming fire. 
 
 PART T. 
 
 Different interpretation of the text proposed ; that is, instead 
 of, Let us have grace, ' We have grace:' reason for this; that the 
 Apostle, having enumerated the great advantages which the gospel 
 has above law, makes an argument a majori, and answers a tacit 
 objection. The law was delivered with amazing terrors; but the 
 gospel was given by a meek prince, with a still voice, &c. But that 
 this may be no objection, he proceeds and declares the terror of the 
 Lord ; as if he should say, ' deceive not yourselves ; our Lawgiver 
 appeared so on earth, and was truly so ; but now he is ascended into 
 heaven, from whence he speaks to us.' His future terrors at his 
 second coming dilated on. This truth may have power and efficacy 
 to make us do our duty : this is the grace which we have to enable 
 us to do so, &c. ; and therefore the Apostle declares in the text, by 
 way of caution, our God is a consuming fire. 
 
 Reverence and godly fear, they are tlie effects of this considera- 
 tion, tliey are the duties of every Christian, they are the graces of 
 God. They are here pressed only to purposes of awe, modesty of 
 opinion, and prayers, against those strange doctrines which some 
 have introduced into religion, to the destruction of all manners and 
 prudent apprehension of the distance between God and man ; such 
 as are the doctrine of the necessity of a familiarity with God, a 
 parity of estate, and an evenness of adoption ; whence proceed 
 rudeness in prayer, indecent expressions, &c. : this enlarged on: utility 
 of the fear of God in this point of view. 
 
 Concerning this duty three considerations are urged; 1. How 
 far fear is a duty of the Christian religion. 2. What men ought to 
 fear, and on what grounds. 5i. What is the excess or obliquity of 
 fear, whereby it becomes a state of evil, and not a state of duty. 
 
 T. Fear is taken sometimes in Scripture for the whole duty of 
 man ; for his whole religion towards God : this shown. 
 
 Fear is sometimes taken for worship : this also shown. Thus far 
 ihew fear is not a distinct duty, and cannot come under the text. 
 
 Therefore fear, as it is a religious passion, is divided as the two 
 Testaments are ; it relates to the old and new covenant, and accord- 
 ingly hath its distinction. In the law God used his people like 
 servants ; in the gospel he hath made us to be his sons : this topic 
 dilated on. Hence they of old feared God as a severe Lord ; but 
 we have not received that spirit unto fear, that is, servile fear; but 
 the spirit of adoption and filial fear we must have : this enlarged on. 
 
JEREMY TAYLOR'S SERMONS. — III. 289 
 
 The proportions of Christian or godly fear are more exactly measured 
 by the following propositions. 
 
 1. Godly fear is ever without despair; because Christian fear is 
 an instrument of duty ; and duty without hope can never go forward : 
 this topic enlarged on. 
 
 2. Godly fear must always be with honorable opinion of God, 
 without disparagement of his mercies, without quarrellings at the 
 measures of his providence, or the rough ways of his justice; and 
 therefore it must be ever relative to ourselves, our own failings and 
 imperfections : this dilated on. 
 
 3. This fear is operative, diligent, and instrumental to caution 
 and strict walking : for so fear is the mother of holy living ; and the 
 Apostle urges it by way of upbraiding : What ! do we provoke God 
 to anger? Are we stronger than him? meaning, if we cannot check 
 the flowing of the sea, or add one cubit to our stature, how shall we 
 escape the mighty hand of God ? 
 
 Let us heighten our apprehensions of the divine power, justice, 
 and severity, as much as possible, provided the effect pass on no 
 farther, than to make us reverent and obedient : but that fear is 
 unreasonable which ends in bondage and servile affections, &c. : its 
 proper bounds are humble and devout prayers, holy piety, &c. To 
 God's grace and mercy we may safely commit ourselves ; but 
 because we are earthen vessels under a law, assaulted by enemies 
 and temptations, it concerns us to fear, lest we make God an 
 enemy and a party against us. And this brings us to the next con- 
 sideration. 
 
 II. Who and what states of men ought to fear, and for what 
 reasons. For as the former cautions did limit, so this will encourage : 
 those did direct, but this will exercise our godly fear. 
 . The general reasons of fear, which concern every man, are not here 
 insisted on ; though every one, even the most confident and holy, 
 has cause to fear, when the eye of God is ever on him, and he is 
 assaulted by enemies from within and from without. 
 
 Instances only are given in the case of some peculiar men, who 
 least think of it, and therefore have the greatest cause to fear. 
 
 1. First, are those of whom the Apostle speaks. Let him that 
 thinketh he standeth, take heed lest he fall. They are persons of an 
 ordinary course of life, who falling into no enormous crimes have no 
 reflections and checks of conscience; whose faith is tempted, and 
 whose piety does not grow ; who yield a little, do all they lawfully 
 can do ; and study how much is lawful, that they may lose no 
 temporal good. Many sorts of such persons, and their danger, 
 described. 2. They also have great reason to fear, whose repentance 
 is broken into fragments, and is never a whole and intire change of 
 life ; who resolve and pray against a sin, till that unlucky period 
 arrives in which they use to act it, and then they as certainly commit 
 it, as they will repent afterwards. There are many Christians who 
 feel this feverish repentance to be their best state of health ; who 
 get not the victory over their sin, but remain within its power: this 
 dilated on. Opinions of the primitive church and fathers thereon. 
 
290 SUMMARIES OF 
 
 Such men ought to fear lest God should deride the ft)lly of their 
 oft-renewed repentance, and at length give them no farther oppor- 
 tunities of exercising it. 
 
 PART II. 
 
 Subject resumed. They have great reason to fear, whose sins are 
 not yet remitted ; for they are within the dominion of sin, within the 
 kingdom of darkness, and the regions of fear: state of such persons 
 described ; and the course which they generally take, of relying on 
 God's mercy, and hoping for pardon on the slightest conditions. 
 Terrible state of those men who grow old in habitual sins, and yet 
 think, if they die, that their account stands as fair in the sight of 
 God's mercy, as St. Peter's after his tears and sorrow. 
 
 Our sins are not to be pardoned on such easy terms: this shown. 
 There is great reason for such men to fear and tremble when their 
 Judge summons them to appear : this enlarged on. 
 
 If we consider on wliat trifling grounds most men hope for pardon, 
 (if that can be called hope which is but a careless boldness,) we shall 
 see good reason to pity many, who are going on merrily to a sad and 
 intolerable end. Pardon of sins is a mercy which Christ purchased 
 with his blood, which he ministers to us on conditions of an inlinite 
 kindness, but yet of great holiness, obedience, and living faith : it is 
 a grace that the most holy persons beg of God with mighty passion 
 and diligence, expecting it with trembling fears and uncertain souls; 
 whilst it enters on them by degrees and small portions. This conftict 
 compared to the flowing of the tide, which retires oft and gains the 
 shore by little and little. Example of David enlarged on. If we 
 expect to find the sure mercies of David, we must gain them on the 
 same terras; on such as are revealed, and which include time, labor, 
 watchfulness, fear, and holy living. Pardon of sins is not easily 
 obtained : but because there are sorrows and dangers and temptations 
 environing us, it will concern all men to know when their sins are 
 pardoned. A certain sign of this declared, as follows, 
 
 1. Sin makes God angry; and his anger, if not averted, will 
 render us accursed and miserable. 2. Sin has obliged us to snfter 
 many evils, even whatsoever the anger of God is pleased to inflict, 
 and as in his several covenants he has expressed. 3. In the law of 
 Moses sin bound them to temporal evils only, though sore and heavy : 
 in the gospel Christ added the menaces of evils spiritual and eternal. 
 
 4. The great evil of the Jews was their abscission, or cutting oft' from 
 being God's people, to which eternal damnation answers with us, &c. 
 
 5. When God had visited any of the sinners of Israel with a grievous 
 sickness, then they lay under the evil of their sin, and were not par- 
 doned till God took away the sickness; or the taking away the evil 
 of the punishment was the pardon of the sin : and so it appears in 
 the gospel, from Christ's words to the man sick of the palsy ; 
 Matt. ix. 2-6. The next step is this; that although under the gospel 
 God punishes sinners with temporal judgments, and tokens of his 
 
JEREMY TAYLOR'S SERMONS. — 1 IF. 291 
 
 wrath, yet besides these lesser evils he has much worse with which to 
 chastise the disobedient : he punishes one sin with another ; vile acts 
 with evil habits; these with a hard heart; this again with impeni- 
 tence ; and impenitence with damnation. Now because the worst 
 of evils are such as consign us to hell by our perseverance in sin, as 
 God takes otF our love and our aft'ections, our relations and bondage 
 under sin, just in the same degree he pardons us; because the 
 punishment of sin being taken oiY, there can remain no guilt: and 
 since spiritual ills and progressions in sin, &c. are the worst of evils, 
 when these are taken off, the sin hath lost its venom and appendant 
 curse : in the same degree therefore that a man leaves off his sin, is 
 he pardoned ; and he is sure of it : for although a curing of the 
 temporal evil was the pardon of sins among the Jews, yet we 
 must measure our pardon by the cure of the spiritual : this topic 
 enlarged on. 
 
 They have great reason to fear concerning their condition, who 
 having been in the state of grace, having begun to lead a good life, 
 and given their names to God by solemn and deliberate acts of the 
 will, retire to folly, unravel all their holy vows, and commit again 
 those crimes from which they ran. Evils of this return to folly 
 enumerated. 1. He that so falls back does yriece the Holy Spirit of 
 God, by which he was sealed to the day of redemption: foi- if, at the 
 conversion of a sinner, there is joy in heaven, the antithesis is evident. 
 2. This falling away after we have begun to live well, is a great 
 cause of fear, because there is added to it the circumstance that it is 
 inexcusable. The man hath been taught the secrets of the kingdom, 
 and tasted its pleasures ; his sin began to be pardoned, he felt tlie 
 pleasures of victory and the blessings of peace ; but he fell oft', 
 against both his reason and his interest : this enlarged on. 3. He 
 that thus returns from virtue to his old vices is forced to do violence 
 to his own reason, in order to make his conscience quiet : he has no 
 way left but either to be impudent, which is hard at first, or to 
 entertain new principles, and apply his mind to believe a lie : this 
 enlarged on. 4. Besides all this, he that thus falls away may be 
 said to add ingratitude to his load of sins : he sins against God's 
 mercy, and throws away the reward of virtue for an interest which 
 he himself despised the first day in which he began to take sober 
 counsels. So that this man has great cause to fear ; and if he does, 
 his fear is as the fear of enemies and not sons : not that this fear is 
 displeasing to God ; for it is such an one as may arrive at goodness, 
 and produce the fear of sons, if it be rightly managed. No fear is 
 displeasing to God, whether it be fear of punishment, or fear to 
 offend ; but the effects of fear distinguish the man, and are to be 
 entertained or rejected accordingly : this topic carried on to the end. 
 
 PART III. 
 
 Concerning the excess of fear, not directly and abstractedly, as 
 it is a passion, but as it is subjected in religion, and as it dege- 
 
29-2 SUMMARIES OF 
 
 nerates into superstition (beiaibai/dovia), or fear of God, as if he were 
 a tyrant. 
 
 But this fear was by some of the old philosophers themselves 
 thought unreasonable in all cases, even towards God himself; and it 
 was a branch of the Epicurean doctrine, that God meddled not with 
 human aftairs, and was to be loved and admired, but not feared ; 
 and therefore they taught men not to fear death, nor future punish- 
 ment, nor any displeasure of God, &c. 
 
 But besides this, there was another part of its definition : ' the 
 superstitious man is also an idolater, one that is afraid of something 
 besides God.' The Latins, following the Greeks, had the same 
 conception of this, and by their word superstitio understood the 
 ' worship of demons.' What they meant by this explained. Fear 
 is most commonly the principle, always an ingredient of superstition. 
 This sin is reducible to two heads: 1. Superstition of an undue 
 object; 2. Superstition of an undue expression to a right object. 
 
 Superstition of an undue object is that which the etymologist calls 
 * the worshipping of idols :' the Scripture adds, ' a sacrificing to 
 demons.' It is not however necessary to dilate on this topic, since 
 no Christians are blaraable therein, except the Church of Rome, in 
 the worship of images, angels, saints, &c. 
 
 But as it is superstition to worship any thing ' besides the Creator,' 
 so is it to worship God otherwise than is decent, proportionable, or 
 described. The atheist called all worship of God superstition; the 
 Epicurean called all fear of God so, without condemning the worship 
 of him : other wise men called all unreasonable fear and all inordinate 
 worship superstition, but did not condemn all fear; but the Christian, 
 besides this, calls every error of worship, in the manner or in the 
 excess, by this name, and condemns it. 
 
 The three great actions of religion are, ' to worship God ; to fear 
 him ; and to trust in him.' Hence, excess of fear, obliquity in trust, 
 and errors in worsliip, are the three sorts of superstition. The first 
 of these alone pertinent to the present discourse, 
 
 1. Fear is the duty we owe to God, as being the God of power 
 and justice ; the judge of heaven and earth, &c. ; so great an enemy 
 to sin, that he spared not his own son as a sacrifice for it. Fear is 
 the great bridle of intemperance, the restraint of a dissolute spirit, 
 the arrest of sin ; it is the guard of a man under prosperity, and it 
 gives a warning to those that are in the chambers of rejoicing, &c. 
 
 But so excellent a grace is soon abused in the best and most tender 
 spirits: this shown. And fear, when inordinate, is neither a good 
 counsellor nor a friend; for he who fears God as his enemy, is the 
 most miserable person in the world : this enlarged on. Such persons 
 do not believe noble things concerning God; do not think that he is 
 ready to pardon his sinning servant; do not believe how much he 
 delights in mercy, nor how wise he is to make abatement for our 
 unavoidable infirmities : this topic enlarged on. 
 
 Moreover, he that is afraid of God cannot in that disposition love 
 him at all ; for what delight can there be in that religion which draws 
 us to the temple as victims to be sacrificed ? 
 
JEREMY Taylor's sermons. — iit. 293 
 
 But that tlie evil may be proportionable to the folly, there is no 
 man more miserable in the world than l»e who fears CJod as his 
 enemy, and religion as a snare. Whither shall sueh a man go? 
 where shall he lay down his burden, or find sanctuary ? This 
 subject dilated on. 
 
 Almost all ages of the world have observed many instances of 
 fond persuasions and foolisli practices proceeding from violent fears 
 and scruples in matter of religion. Examples of this folly among 
 the ancient Pagans quoted. Similar ones among the Roman 
 Catholic Christians, and the ancient Jews. 
 
 To this may be reduced the observation of dreams and fears from 
 the fancies of the night; for the superstitious man does not rest even 
 whilst he sleeps : this topic enlarged on. 
 
 2. But besides this superstitious fear, there is another fear directly 
 criminal : this is called worldly fear, of which the Spirit of God 
 hath said, but the fearful and incredulous shall have their part in the 
 lake that burnetii with fire and brimstone ; which is the second 
 death: that is, such fears as make men to fall in the time of persecu- 
 tion, who dare not own their faith in the face of a tyrant : this topic 
 dilated on. 
 
 3. This fear is also criminal, if it be troublesome from an appre- 
 hension of the mountains and diflSculties of duty, and is called 
 pusillanimity. For some persons see themselves encompassed with 
 temptations; they observe their frequent falls, and perpetual returns 
 from good purposes to weak performances, &c. ; and because they 
 despair to run through the whole of their duty, think it as good not 
 to begin at all, as to lose their labor after so much trouble and 
 expense : this topic enlarged on. 
 
 Thus far concerning good fear and bad, that is, filial and servile : 
 they are both good, if by servile we intend initial, or the beginning 
 fear of penitents; but servile fear is vicious when it retains the 
 aftectiou of slaves. 
 
 But to the former sort of virtuous fear, some also add another, 
 which they call angelical ; that is, such a fear as the blessed angels 
 have, who before God hide their faces, and /a/Z down before his 
 footstool, &c. 
 
 This is the same that is spoken of in the text; or rather all holy 
 fear partakes of the nature of that which divines call angelical : this 
 topic carried on to the end. 
 
294 SUMMARIES OF 
 
 SERMON IV. 
 THE FLESH AND THE SPIRIT. 
 
 MATTHEW, CHAP. XXVI. VERSE 4l. 
 The spirit indeed is willing, but the flesh is weak. 
 
 PART I. 
 
 From the beginning of days man hath been so cross to the divine 
 commandments, that in many cases there can be no reason given, 
 vphy a person should choose some ways, or do some actions, but only 
 because they are forbidden. Instance of the Israelites and Canaan- 
 ites. The whole life of man is a perpetual contradiction. Instance 
 of the absurdity of man's will in refusing the injunction to be tem- 
 perate ; and the evils of intemperance dilated on. Whereas our 
 body itself is but a servant to our soul, we strive to make it master, 
 or heir of all things : hence proceed the vices of the worst, and the 
 imperfections of the best men : the spirit is in slavery, and when the 
 body is not strong to mischief, it is weak to goodness. Even to the 
 Apostles themselves our Lord addressed the words of the text. 
 
 The spirit, or inward man, especially as helped by the Spirit of 
 grace, that is willing; for it is the principle of all good actions : but 
 the flesh is a dull instrument; so weak, that, in Scripture, to be in 
 thejlesh signifies a state of weakness and infirmity. 
 
 The old and the new man cannot dwell together ; and therefore 
 here, where the spirit inclining to good and holy counsels associates 
 with the flesh, it means only a weak and unapt nature, or a state of 
 infant grace : for in this only is the text verified. Four distinct 
 heads of the following discourse enumerated. 
 
 I. We are to consider the infirmities of the flesh naturally. Our 
 nature is too weak for our duty and final interest ; so that at first it 
 cannot move one step towards God, unless God, by his preventing 
 grace, puts into it a new capability. Primary object of man's 
 creation. State of man after the fall. By nature we are the sons of 
 wrath, that is, born heirs of death, which came on us through God's 
 anger against sin. There is nothing in us that can bring us to 
 felicity; nothing that can sanctify us; and so it is necessary that 
 God should make us a new creation, if he means to save us: this 
 enlarged on. And thus God does teach and invite us ; lends us 
 helps, and guides our hands and feet; constraining us, yet as reason- 
 able beings : and as this is a great glorification of his free grace, so 
 does it declare our manner of cooperation, and show the weakness, 
 ignorance, and aversion of our nature from goodness : this enlarged 
 on. Particulars instanced, in the temptations of pleasure and of 
 pain, wherein the flesh will most certainly fall, unless assisted by a 
 mighty grace. 
 
JEREMY TAYLOR'S SERMONS. — IV. 29d 
 
 i. In pleasure we see it by the public miseries and follies of the 
 world. Instances given and dilated on, in the love of money ; in 
 carnal lust; and in drunkenness. ' Men are so in love with pleasure 
 that they cannot think of mortifying their appetites : we do violence 
 to what we hate, not to what we love.' Even amidst the glories of 
 Christianity, there are so many persons covetous, intemperate, and 
 lustful, even now when the spirit of God is given to render us liberal, 
 temperate, and chaste, that we may well imagine, since all men have 
 flesh, and all men have not the Spirit, that the flesh is the parent of 
 sin and death. 
 
 2. And it is no otherwise when we are tempted with pain. So 
 impatient are we of pain, that nothing can reconcile us to it ; not the 
 laws of God, the necessities of nature, the interests of virtue, or the 
 hopes of heaven : we will submit to pain on no terms, but the basest ; 
 for if sin brings us to pain, we-choose that, so it be in the retinue of 
 a lust or a base desire : but we accuse God, and murmur, if pain be 
 sent to us from him who ought to send it, and who intends it as a 
 mercy: sad instance of human infirmity, in one of the forty martyrs 
 of Cappadocia. Infirmity of the flesh in time of sickness dilated on. 
 In these considerations we find our nature under great disadvantages : 
 but it is no better in any thing else ; it is weak in all its actions and 
 passions : this enlarged on. 
 
 To sum up all the evils that can be spoken of the infirmities of the 
 flesh, the proper nature and habitudes of men are so foolish and im- 
 potent, so peevish and averse to all good, that a man's will is of itself 
 only free to choose evils : so that it is scarcely a contradiction to 
 mention liberty, and yet suppose it determined to one object only: 
 because that object is the thing we choose : this topic enlarged on. 
 Till we are newly created, we are, as it were, wolves and serpents; 
 free and delighted in the choice of evil, but stones and iron to all 
 excellent things and purposes. 
 
 II. Second general consideration : Weakness of the flesh in the 
 beginning even of the state of grace. 
 
 1. In some dispositions that are forward, busy, and unquiet, when 
 the grace of God has begun to take possession of them, it seems to 
 their undiscerning spirits so pleasant to be delivered from the sottish- 
 siess of lust, and the follies of intemperance, that, reflecting on the 
 change, they begin to love themselves too well, and despise those 
 who are below them : having mortified corporal vices, they keep the 
 spiritual : for this our Saviour censured the Pharisees. 
 
 2. Sometimes the passions of the flesh spoil the changes of the 
 spirit, by natural excesses, &c. : it mingles violence with industry, 
 fury with zeal, uncharitableness with reproof, censure with disci- 
 pline, &c. : this topic enlarged on. 
 
 3. In the first changes and progresses of our spiritual life, we find 
 a weakness on us, because we are long before we begin, and the flesh 
 is powerful, and its habits strong, and it will mingle indirect pre- 
 tences with all the actions of the spirit : this illustrated. 
 
 4. Some men are wise and know their weaknesses, and make 
 strong resolutions, &c. ; and what then ? This shows that the spirit is 
 
206 SUMMARIES OF 
 
 willing ; but the storm arises, and the winds blow, and the rain 
 descends, and presently the whole fabric is thrown into disorder and 
 ruin. 
 
 5. But some, when they have felt their follies, back their resolu- 
 tions with vows, to fortify the spirit : but a vow will not secure our 
 duty, because it is not stronger than our appetites. 
 
 6. Moreover, some choose excellent guides, and stand within their 
 restraints ; the young adopting tliat of modesty, the more aged that 
 of reputation, the more noble that of honor, and all that of conscience. 
 These shown to be weik defences; from the inclosure of which our 
 nature is apt to break loose. 
 
 7. When the spirit is made willing by the grace of God, the flesh 
 interposes in deceptions and false principles. If you tempt a man 
 openly to some notorious sin, he steadily refuses: but if you put it 
 civilly to him, and disguise it with little excuses and fair pretences, 
 &c , the spirit instantly yields. 
 
 \}. The flesh is so mingled with the spirit, that we are forced to 
 make distinctions in our appetite, to reconcile our aft'ections to Qod 
 and religion, lest it be impossible to do our duty: we weep for our 
 sins, but we weep more for the death of our dearest friends, or other 
 temporal evils : we had rather die than lose our faith, and yet we do 
 not live according to it, &c. 
 
 9. The spirit is abated and interrupted by the flesh, because the 
 flesh pretends that it is not able to do those ministries which are 
 appointed in order to religion: it is not able to fast, to watch, to 
 exercise charity, to sufter pain, &:c. : here the flesh betrays its weak- 
 ness, for it complains too soon ; and the spirit of some men, like 
 Adam M'ho was too fond of his wife, attends to all its murmurs and 
 temptations. Yet the flesh is well able to endure much more than is 
 required of it in its jsual duties: this shown. 
 
 The foregoing complaints are not without cause. The remedies of 
 the evil next to be considered. Concluding exhortations. 
 
 PART II. 
 
 III. Third general consideration : Inquiry into the remedies of this 
 mischief, if it be possible to cure an evil nature. 
 
 In order to this it is considered, 1. That since it is our flesh and 
 blood that is the principle of mischief, we must not think to have it 
 cured by washings and light medicaments, &c. but we must have a 
 new nature put into us, which must be the principle of new counsels, 
 and better purposes, of holy actions and great devotion ; and this 
 nature is derived from God, is a grace and favor of heaven : this 
 topic enlarged on. 2. Our life and all our discourses, observations, 
 reason, &c., are too little to cure a peevish spirit, silly principles, 
 bad habits, and perverse aflections : art and use, experience and 
 reason, may be something, but cannot do enough: there must be 
 something else, and this is the Spirit of grace : therefore the proper 
 
JKREMY TAYLORS S KUMONS. — IV. *297 
 
 cure is to be wrought by those general means of inviting and cherish- 
 ing God's hoiy Spirit, &c. 
 
 1. Tlio lirst great instrument of changing our nature into the state 
 of grace, and flesh into the spirit, is a firm belief in, u perfect assent 
 to, and a hearty entertainment of the promises of the gospel : for 
 liuly Scripture speaks great words concerning faith: this topic 
 enlarged on and illustrated. 
 
 '2. The second great remedy of our evil nature is devotion, or a 
 state of prayer and intercourse with God : for the gift of his spirit is 
 properly and expressly promised to prayer. (Luke xi. J3. &c.) The 
 pleasures of this holy communion with God dilated on, and con- 
 trasted v/ith the feverish, vain, and transient pleasures of the world, 
 
 3. As this cure is to be wrought by the Spirit of God, we must 
 endeavor to abstain from those things which by a special malignity 
 are directly opposite to tlie spirit of reason, and the spirit of grace ; 
 from drunkenness and lust : evils and dangers of these defiling sins 
 descanted on. 
 
 4. We must also avoid all flatterers and evil company : flattery 
 does but bribe an evil nature, and corrupt a good one. 
 
 5. He that would cure his evil nature, must attend diligently to 
 subdue his chief Inst ; which when he has overcome, the lesser 
 enemies will more readily yield. 
 
 6. In all actions of choice he should deliberate and consider, that 
 he may never do that for which he must ask a pardon, or suflfer 
 smart and shame. 
 
 7. In all the contingencies of chance and varieties of action, we 
 must remember that we are the makers of our own fortune, and of 
 our own sin: we must not charge God with it, nor consider the 
 violence of our passions as any superinduced necessity from him. 
 
 8. We must avoid all delay in the counsels of religion ; since 
 every day of intlulgence increases the evil. 
 
 9. We must learn to despise the world, or rather learn truly to 
 understand it. Our nature is a disease, and the world nourishes it : 
 but if we omit such unwholesome diet, our nature will revert to its 
 first purities, and to the entertainment of God's grace. 
 
 IV. Fourth general consideration ; How far the infirmities of 
 the flesh can be innocent, and consist with the spirit of grace ; for 
 all these counsels are to be entertained by a willing and active 
 spirit, cVc. 
 
 1. If the flesh then hinders us in our duty, it is our enemy ; and 
 our misery is, not that the flesh is weak, but that it is too strong. 
 2. When it abates the degrees of duty and stops its growth, or pre- 
 vents its passing on to action and effect, then it is weak, but not 
 directly nor always criminal. But to speak particularly, 
 
 1. If our flesh hinders us in any thing that is a direct duty, and 
 prevails on the spirit to make it do an evil action, or contract an evil 
 habit, the man is in a state of bondage to sin ; his flesh is the mother 
 of corruption and an enemy to God. Nothing which God exacts 
 from us is made impossible to us : the willing is the doing ; and he 
 
298 SUMMARIES OF 
 
 who says he is willing to do his duty, but cannot, does not under- 
 stand what he says, &c. 
 
 2. If the spirit and the heart be willing, it will pass on to outward 
 actions in all things, where it ought or can. 
 
 3. With regard to those things which are not in our power, those 
 in which the flesh is inculpably weak, or naturally or politically dis- 
 abled, the will does the work of the outward, as well as of the inner 
 man : this explained. 
 
 4. No man however is to be esteemed of a willing spirit, but he 
 who endeavors to do the outward work, or to make all the supplies 
 he can. And as our desires are great, and our spirits willing, so 
 shall we find ways to supply our want of utility and express libe- 
 rality, &c. 
 
 I 
 
 SERMON V. 
 OF LUKEWARMNESS AND ZEAL ; OR, SPIRITUAL FERVOR, 
 
 JEREMIAH, CHAP. XLVIII. VERSE 10. 
 Cursed be he that doth the work of the Lord deceitfully. 
 
 PART I. 
 
 Christ's kingdom, being in order to the kingdom of his Father, 
 must therefore be spiritual, because then it is that all things must 
 become spiritual, not only by way of eminency, but by intire consti- 
 tution and change of natures. The changed faculties, employments, 
 and enjoyments of men, &c. in this state, dilated on. Contrast 
 between our desires in this world and in the next. 
 
 Between these two states of natural flesh and heavenly spirit, the 
 miseries of the world and the happiness of heaven, there is a middle 
 state, the kingdom of grace, wrought for us by our mediator Jesus 
 Christ, who came to reform our nature, &c. The religion which he 
 taught is a spiritual religion ; it designs to make us spiritual, serving 
 God not only with our hearts and aft'ections, but with fervent, active 
 zeal, according to the nature of things spiritual. Now though God 
 always perfectly intended it, yet because he less perfectly required 
 it in the law given to the Jews, they fell short in both these respects. 
 Por, 1. they rested in the outward action, thinking themselves 
 chaste if they were not actual adulterers ; and, 2. They had no holy 
 zeal for God's glory, nor any quickness of action, excepting a few 
 zealots, who were inflamed rather than fervent : their character dilated 
 on. All this Christ came to mend : to teach us to do our duty, both 
 sincerely and fervently : for if we fail in either of these respects, we 
 do the Lord's work deceitfully. 
 
 Here then is the duty of all. 1. God requires of us to serve him 
 
JEREMY Taylor's sermons. ~v. 290 
 
 with a whole or intire worship and religion : 2. He requires of us to 
 serve him with intense affections : 3. After these topics the measures 
 of zeal and its insubordinations will be discussed. 
 
 I. He that serves God with the body, without the soul, serves 
 him deceitfully : for God says, My sou, give me thy heart. 
 
 First, To worship God with our souls confesses one of his glorious 
 attributes : it declares him to be the searcher of hearts, &c. : 2. It 
 advances the powers and concernments of his providence, and con- 
 fesses him ruler of all the affairs of men : 3. It distinguishes our 
 duty towards God from all our conversation with man, &:c. : 4, He 
 that secures the heart, secures all the rest, because that is the fountain 
 of all moral actions : 5. To sum up many reasons in one, God by 
 requiring the heart secures the perpetuity and perseverance of our 
 duty, its sincerity, its integrity, and its perfection : this topic 
 enlarged on. 
 
 Secondly, He that serves God with the soul without the body, 
 when both can be conjoined, doth the work of the Lord deceitfully. 
 God will make all due allowance for wants and infirmities ; but as 
 he hath rendered the body an apt minister to the soul, and hath 
 given money for alms, power to protect the oppressed, knees to serve 
 in prayer, and hands to serve our needs, tlie soul alone is not to 
 work; but the body must serve the spirit; so that what one desires, 
 the other may effect : this topic enlarged on. 
 
 Thirdly, They are deceitful in the Lord's ivork, who reserve one 
 faculty for sin, or one sin for themselves; or one action to please 
 their appetite, and many for religion. Doctrine of Rabbi Kimchi 
 and other Jews on this head. Cautions against the sin of pride in 
 our virtues. Saying of St. Augustine on this point. St. Peter was 
 safer by his fall than by his former confidence. 
 
 Two of the noblest Christian virtues are made to many persons 
 a savor of death ; that is, faith and charity : some men think that if 
 they have faith, it is enough to answer all the accusations of sin, &:c.; 
 whilst others keep sin alive, and make account to pay for it ; God 
 being put to relieve his own poor, at the price of the sin of another 
 of his servants; but the case of conscience in this particular is as 
 follows. Charity is a certain cure of sins that are past, not that are 
 present. He that repents, and quits his sins, and then relieves the 
 poor, turns his former crimes to holiness. Faith is the remedy of all 
 our evils ; but then it must be faith with repentance at first, faith 
 with charity at last. The larger ingredient of virtue and evil actions 
 will prevail ; but this is only when virtue is habitual, and sins are 
 single, casual, and seldom committed; without choice and affection : 
 this topic enlarged on. 
 
 Fourthly, There is one deceit more in the matter of the extension 
 of our duty, destroying the integrity of its constitution : for they do 
 the work of God deceitfully, who think that he is sufficiently served 
 by abstinence from evil, and who strive not for the acquisition of 
 holy charity and religion. Observation of Clemens Alexandrinus on 
 this point, regarding the Pharisees : topic enlarged on. 
 
 Fifthly, Those are deceitful workers, who promise to God, but 
 
DOO SUMMARIES OF 
 
 mean not to pay what they once intended ; people that are confident 
 in the day of ease, and fail in that of danger ; they that pray pas- 
 sionately for a grace, and if it be not obtained at that price, go no 
 farther ; such as delight in outward forms, and regard not the sub- 
 stance or design of an institution ; &c. Conclusion. 
 
 PART II. 
 
 IT. The next inquiry is into the intenseness of our duty : and here 
 it will not be amiss to change the word deceitfully , as some Latin 
 copies do, into negligently ; implying that as our duty must be lohole, 
 so it must he fervent. Animated description given of persons whose 
 affections in religious duty are lukewarm and languid. God is said 
 to hate such a fixed state even worse than that of frigid indifference : 
 wherefore it must contain some peculiar evils. These displayed. 
 
 1. It is a state of the greatest imprudence : for it makes a man to 
 spend his labor for that which profits not, and to deny his appetite 
 for an unsatisfying interest: he puts his monies into a broken bag, 
 and thus loses the principal for not increasing the interest : this topic 
 enlarged on. 
 
 "2. The second appendant evil is, that lukewarmness is the occa- 
 sion of greater evil ; because the remiss and easy Christian shuts the 
 gate against the heavenly breathings of God's Holy Spirit ; he is 
 tempted to security : whoever slips in his spiritual walking, does not 
 presently fall ; but if that slip does not awaken his diligence and 
 caution, then his ruin begins. 
 
 3. A state of lukewarmness is more incorrigible than a state of 
 coldness ; while men flatter themselves that their state is good ; that 
 they are rich and need nothing ; that their lamps are dressed : 
 character of such persons dilated on. 
 
 It concerns us next to inquire concerning the duty in its proper 
 instances ; in faith, in prayer, and in charity. 
 
 I. Our faith must be strong, active, patient, reasonable, and 
 unalterable ; without doubting, fear, or partiality. 
 
 1. Our faith and persuasions in religion are most commonly im- 
 printed in us by our country, &c. But whatever it was that brought 
 us into it, we must take care, when we are in, that our faith stand on 
 its proper and most reasonable foundations. 
 
 2. The faith and the whole religion of many men is the production 
 of fear : that is but a deceitful and lukewarm faith which a man 
 wants courage to disbelieve. 
 
 3. The faith of many is such, that they dare not trust it : they will 
 talk of it and serve their vanity or interests by it; but in any emer- 
 gency they dare not trust it. Speech of Antisthenes to the Orphic 
 priest recorded. 
 
 4. Some measure their faith by shows and appearances, by cere- 
 monies, professions, and little institutions. But the faith of a 
 Christian has no signification at all except obedience and charity : 
 this enlarged on. 
 
JEREMY TAYLOR'S SERMONS. — V. 301 
 
 II. Our prayers and devotions must be fervent and zealous, sup- 
 ported by a patient spirit, set forwards by importunity, continued by 
 perseverance, carried along by strong but holy desires, and ballasted 
 by resignation to the divine will : then they are as God likes them, 
 and do the work to God's glory and our interest effectively : this 
 topic enlarged on. Lukewarm and fervent prayer contrasted under 
 the similitudes of a sluggish creeping brook, and of a full and rapid 
 stream. 
 
 III. Our charity also must be fervent. Our duty to God should 
 be very pleasing to us; it must pass on to action, and do the action 
 vigorously : it is called in Scripture the labor and travail of love. 
 lie that loves passionately will do not only what his friend needs, 
 but what he himself can : this topic enlarged on. 
 
 Consideration concerning the degrees of intention and forward 
 zeal. 
 
 1. No man is fervent and zealous as he ought to be, but he that 
 prefers religion before business, charity before his own ease, the 
 relief of his brother before money, and God before his friend or 
 interest. Which rule is not to be understood absolutely, and in par- 
 ticulur instances, but always generally; and when it descends to 
 particulars, it must be in proportion to circumstances, and by their 
 proper measures : this fully shown. 
 
 2. To the fervor and zeal which is necessary, it is required that 
 constancy and perseverance be added. Be faithful unto death, and 
 I icill give thee a crown of life, said the Spirit of God to the angel 
 of the Church of Smyrna. He that is warm to-day and cold to- 
 morrow, hath not yet well chosen what side he will be of, does not 
 see reason enough for religion, and has not confidence enough tor its 
 contrary ; and therefore he is, as St. James says, of a doxibtfulmind: 
 this topic enlarged on. 
 
 3. No man is zealous as he ought, but he who delights in the 
 service of God : without this no man can persevere, but must faint 
 under the pressure of an uneasy load. If he goes to his prayers as 
 chilflren go to school, if he gives alms like those who pay contri- 
 butions, and meditates with the same willingness as young men die, 
 such an one ' acts a part which he cannot long personate, but will 
 &oon find out many excuses to desert his duty :' this topic dilated 
 on to the end. 
 
 PxiRT III. 
 
 So long as our zeal in religion hath only the above-mentioned 
 constituted parts, it hath no more than can keep the duty alive : but 
 beyond this there are many degrees of earnestness, which are pro- 
 gressions towards perfection : of this sort is reckoned frequency in 
 prayer, and alms above our estate. Concerning these instances two 
 cautions are given. 
 
 I. Concerning frequency in prayer, it is an act of zeal so ready 
 and prepared, so easy and so fitted to every man's affairs, necessities, 
 
302 SUMMARIES OF 
 
 and possibilities, that he who prays but seldom, cannot in any sense 
 pretend to be a religious person. Exhortations of Scripture on this 
 head. The many things which urge a man to pray, recounted. 
 The activity of Satan to hinder us in this duty pointed out, and the 
 reasons of it. Utility of acquiring a habit of prayer, and the plea- 
 sure gained thereby. Caution above referred to, on this point, viz. 
 that frequency in prayer, and that part of zeal which relates to it, 
 must proceed only from a holy spirit, a wise heart, and a reasonable 
 persuasion; not from passion or fear, imitation, desire of fame, &c. 
 else it will be unblessed and unprosperous : if therefore it happen to 
 begin on a weak principle, we must be careful to change the motive. 
 Also, when you are entered into a state of zealous prayer and regular 
 devotion, whatever interruptions you meet with, observe their 
 causes, and be sure to make them irregular, seldom, and contingent : 
 this enlarged on. 
 
 2. Concerning the second instance named, namely * to give alms 
 above our estate,' it is an excellent act of zeal, and needs no other 
 caution to make it secure from illusion and danger, but that we 
 should not let our egressions of charity prejudice justice. See that 
 thy alms do not other men wrong, and they will never hurt thee by 
 their abundance : this topic discussed, and our duty towards our own 
 family, in this point of view, defined. Various other acts of self- 
 dedication, self-devotion, austerity, liberality, and protection afforded 
 to others, referred to this head. 
 
 3. The proper measures to be observed in acts of zeal, by which it 
 will become safe and holy. 
 
 1. The first measure, by which our zeal may comply with our 
 duty, and its actions become laudable, is charity to our neighbor; 
 in which we particularly glorify God by imitating him : this charity 
 in spiritual matters dilated on. Powers and ministries given to us 
 all by God to promote his religion, and the good of other men's 
 souls : this ought to be the object of frequent self-examination : 
 method of this charity dilated on. Caution given, that zeal for our 
 neighbor's amendment be only expressed in ways of kindness, not of 
 cruelty or itnportunate justice : persecution through zeal for religion 
 condemned : all bitterness of zeal reproved. Christ's reproof to 
 Peter for drawing his sword. Zeal of the Jews for their religion 
 commented : that of the Apostles contrasted with it. 
 
 2. The next measure of zeal is prudence ; for as charity is the 
 matter of zeal, so is discretion the manner. Let the end be con- 
 sonant to the design ; let charity be intended, and charity be done. 
 
 But there is also a zeal for religion or worship : and this hath more 
 need of caution ; for religion can be turned into a snare and abused 
 into superstition, &c. Evils of this dilated on. 
 
 Therefore, 1. our zeal must never carry us beyond that which is 
 profitable. There are many institutions and customs introduced into 
 religion on very fair motives, and adapted to great necessities : but 
 to imitate them when disrobed of their proper ends, is an importune 
 and imprudent zeal : this applied to celibacy and to fasting. 2. Our 
 zeal must never carry us beyond that which is safe : to some persons. 
 
JEREMY Taylor's sermons. — vi. 308 
 
 at their first entry on religion, no repentance seems sharp enough, no 
 charities expensive enough, no fastings afflictive enough, &c. ; but 
 the event is, that this passionate spirit evaporates; and indignation, 
 hatred of holy things, carelessness, or despair succeeds to it. 3. Let 
 zeal never transport us to attempt any thing but what is possible. 
 Vow of M. Teresa : the spirit must be secured by the proper nature 
 of the duty, the circumstances of the action, and the possibilities of 
 the man. 4. Zeal is not safe, unless it be exercised in a likely 
 matter: this is necessary to prevent scruples and snares, shameful 
 retreats, and new fantastic principles. In all our undertakings, we 
 must consider what is our state of life, our natural inclinations, our 
 society and dependencies ; by what necessities we are depressed ; by 
 what hopes we are biassed ; by these let us measure onr hearts and 
 their proper business. Return of the subject to exhortations in the 
 cause of zeal. 
 
 SERMON VI. 
 
 THE HOUSE OF FEASTING; OR, THE EPICURE'S 
 MEASURES. 
 
 1 CORINTHIANS, CHAP. XV. VERSE 32. 
 Let us eat and drink, for to-morrow we die. 
 
 PART I. 
 
 This text is the epicure's proverb, begun on a weak mistake : 
 thought witty by an undiscerning company ; and prevailing greatly, 
 because it strikes the fancy, &c. Reason why the pagans recom- 
 mended sensuality in this life, because they thought there were no 
 enjoyments in another ; that the number of the days of darkness and 
 the grave could not be told. 
 
 They are to be excused rather than us. They placed themselves 
 in the order of beasts and birds, making their bodies nothing but 
 receptacles of flesh and wine ; and therefore they treated themselves 
 accordingly. But then, why should we do the same things, who are 
 led by other principles, under a more severe institution, with better 
 notices of immortality, &c. ? 
 
 To reprove the follies of mankind, and their improper motions 
 towards felicity, the following topics are advanced : — 
 
 I. That plenty, and the pleasures of the world, are no proper 
 instruments of happiness. 
 
 II. That intemperance is a certain enemy to it, making life unplea- 
 sant, and death intolerable. 
 
 III. Some rules and measures of temperance, &c. given. 
 
304 SUMMARIES OF 
 
 1. Plenty and the pleasures of the world are no proper instruments 
 of felicity. It is necessary that a man have some violence done to 
 himself before he can receive them : this explained, and the bounti- 
 ful provision made for man by nature considered. If we go beyond 
 vvhat is needful, as we find sometimes more than was promised, and 
 very often more than we need, so we disorder the certainty of our 
 felicity, by putting that to hazard which nature hath secured. For 
 it is not certain, that, if we desire to have the wealth of Snsa, robes 
 of purple, and the dainties of Vitellius, we shall never want. It is 
 not nature that desires these things, but lust and violence ; by a dis- 
 ease we entered into the passion and the necessity, and in that state 
 of trouble it is likely we may ever dwell, unless we reduce our appe- 
 tites to nature's measures : this topic enlarged on, and illustrated by 
 examples. Happiness of the virtuous poor man in his cottage, his 
 sound sleep, his quiet breast, his composed mind, his easy provision, 
 his sober night, his healthful morning, and joyful heart, contrasted 
 with the noises, the diseases, the passions, the violent and unnatural 
 appetites, which fill the houses of the luxurious and the heart of the 
 ambitious. Illustrations and examples. 
 
 2. Intemperance in eating and drinking is the most opposite course 
 to the epicure's design in this world; and the voluptuous man has 
 the least share of pleasure : this topic enlarged on. 
 
 II. Second consideration : in which it is shown, 1. That intempe- 
 rance is an enemy to health : 2. It gives less pleasure than the tem- 
 perate table of the hermit or laborer, etc. : 3. It is an impure foun- 
 tain of vice: 4. It is a destruction of wisdom : 5. It brings man to 
 disrepute and a bad character. 
 
 1. It is an enemy to health, which has been called a ' handle by 
 which we can apprehend and perceive pIe;:smGs; and that sauce 
 which alone makes life delicious:' for what content can a full table 
 administer to a man in a fever ? The excellency and delight of 
 health described : also the feelings of a person restored to it from 
 disease. 
 
 Health carries us to church, and makes us rejoice in the commu- 
 nion of saints: but an intemperate table makes us to lose all this; 
 being one of those sins which St. Paul affirms to he manifest, leading 
 before nnto judgment. It bears part of its punishment in this life, 
 and has this appendage, that unless it be repented of, it is not remit- 
 ted in the life to come ; so that it is punished both here and here- 
 after ; which the Scripture does not affirm of all sins. But in this 
 the sinner gives sentence with his mouth, and brings it to execution 
 with his hands. 
 
 Instances of gluttony among the ancient Romans, and the evils 
 which thence ensued to them ; fevers, lethargy, and death ; so that 
 the epicure's genial proverb might well be a little altered. Let ns eat 
 and drink, for by this means to morrow we shall die. But this is not 
 ail ; for such men lead a healthless life ; they are long in dying, and 
 die in torment. Folly of men who have a terrible apprehension of 
 death, and thus increase the pain and evil of it. Folly of those who 
 go to temples or churches, and pray that God would give them 
 
JEREMY TAYLOR'S SERMONS.— Vr. 305 
 
 healthy bodies, &c. and when tliey arise from their prayers, pour in 
 loads of flesh and seas of wine, Itst there should not be matter 
 enough for disease : this topic enlarged on. 
 
 The temptations which men meet with from without, in these cases, 
 are in themselves most unreasonable, and soonest confuted. He 
 that tempts me to drink beyond measure, what does he, but tempt me 
 to lay aside my reason, or civilly invite me to a fever? this topic 
 dilated on. 
 
 Report concerning Socrates, that when Athens was destroyed by 
 the plague, he escaped, through the spare and severe diet to which 
 he had accustomed himself: he had enough for health and study, 
 philosophy and religion, for the temples and the Academy; but he 
 had no superfluities to bring on groans and sickly nights. All the 
 world of gluttons is convinced of the excellency of temperance in 
 order to moral felicity and health ; for after they have lost both, they 
 are obliged to go to temperance to recover them. Fools, not to keep 
 their health by the means which they seek to restore it ! Such men 
 (as St. Paul's expression is) heap vp icrath against the day of lurath. 
 When the heathens feasted their gods they gave nothing but a fat 
 ox, a ram, or a kid ; poured a little wine on the altar, and burnt a 
 little frankincense : but when they feasted themselves, they had ves- 
 sels of Campanian wine, turtles of Liguria, Sicilian beeves, &C. the 
 same we do. So little do we spend in charity and on religion ; so 
 much on ourselves, to make ourselves sick, that we seem to be in 
 love with our own mischief, &c. 
 
 PART II. 
 
 2. A constant full table is less pleasant than the temperate provi- 
 sions of the virtuous, or the natural banquets of the poor. ' Thanks 
 be to the God of nature, (said Epicurus,) that he hath made that 
 which is necessary to be ready at hand, and easy to be had; whilst 
 that which cannot easily be obtained is not necessary at all ;' which 
 in eflect is to say, it cannot be constantly pleasant : for necessity and 
 want make the appetite, and the appetite makes the pleasure ; so 
 that men are greatly mistaken when they despise the poor man's 
 table, &c. 
 
 Fortune and art give delicacies, nature gives meat and drink ; and 
 what nature gives, fortune cannot take away, whilst every change 
 can take away that which is only given by fortune, &c. Moreover, 
 he that feasts every day, feasts no day ; and however a man treats 
 himself, he will sometimes need to be refreshed beyond it : but what 
 will he have for a festival, who wears crowns every day ? Even a 
 perpetual fulness will make you glad to beg pleasure from empti- 
 ness, and variety from humble fare : this topic enlarged on, and. 
 illustrated. 
 
 o. Intemperance is the nurse of vice. By the experience of the 
 world it is the nourisher of lust : and no man dare pray to God for a 
 pure soul in a chaste body, if he lives intemperately, making j)^'^^^' 
 
306 SUMMARIES OF 
 
 sionfor thejlesh, to fulfil the lusts of it ; for in this case he will find 
 ' that which enters hitn shall defile hira,' more than he can be 
 cleansed by vain prayers that come from his tongue and not from his 
 heart : particular evils specified to which intemperance gives rise. 
 
 4. Intemperance is a perfect destruction of wisdom. ' A full- 
 gorged belly never produced a sprightly mind;' and therefore the 
 Cretans were called slotv-bellies by St. Paul, out of their own poet: 
 this topic illustrated by many examples and apophthegms. The 
 heavy and foul state of an intemperate person compared to that of the 
 sun, clouded with fogs and vapors, when it has drawn too freely from 
 the moisture of nature. But temperance is reason's girdle, and pas- 
 sion's bridle ; the strength of the soul, and the foundation of virtue. 
 
 5. After what has been said there is less need to add that intem- 
 perance is a dishonor to the nature, person, and manners of a man. 
 But naturally men are ashamed of it, and night is generally a veil to 
 their gluttony and drunkenness. 
 
 III. Third general consideration ; Hespecting the measures of our 
 eating and drinking, that neither our virtue nor our conscience may 
 fall into an evil snare. 
 
 1. The first is our 'natural needs:' these are the measures of 
 nature, ' that the body be free from pain, and the soul from violence.' 
 Hunger, thirst, and cold, are the natural diseases of the body; food 
 and raiment are their enemies, and therefore are the measures. But 
 in this there are two cautions. 1. Hunger and thirst are only to be 
 extinguished while they are violent or troublesome ; and not to the 
 utmost extent and possibilities of nature : this enlarged on. 2. Hun- 
 ger and thirst must be natural, not artificial and provoked : for many 
 men make necessities to themselves, and then think they are bound 
 to provide for them : this enlarged on. 
 
 2. Reason is the second measure, or rather the rule whereby we 
 judge of intemperance ; for whatsoever loads of meat and drink make 
 the reason useless or troubled, they are eft'ects of this deformity: not 
 that reason is the adequate measure ; for a man may be intemperate 
 on other causes, though he do not force his understanding and trouble 
 his head : this topic enlarged on. 
 
 3. Though reason is strictly to be preserved, yet the measures of 
 nature may be enlarged beyond the bounds of prime and common 
 necessity ; for besides hunger and thirst, there are labors both of the 
 body and of the mind, and loads on the spirit from its communica- 
 tion with the indispositions of the body ; and as the laboring man 
 may be supplied with larger quantities, so may the student and con- 
 templative man with more delicious and sprightly nutriment, &c. : 
 but in these cases, necessity, prudence, and experience, are to make 
 the measures and the rule. 
 
 4. Sorrow and a wounded spirit may as well be provided for in 
 the quantity and quality of meat and drink, as any other disease ; 
 and this disease by this remedy as well as by any other : topic 
 enlarged on. 
 
 5. Even when a man has no necessity on him, natural or artificial, 
 it is lawful in some cases of eating and drinking to receive pleasure, 
 
JEREMY TAYLOR'S SERMONS. — Vll. 307 
 
 and to intend it. But in this case of conscience, these cautions are 
 to be observed : 
 
 1. So long as nature ministers the pleasure and not art, it is mate- 
 rially innocent. 2. Let all the pleasure of meat and drink be such 
 as can minister to health, and be within the former bounds. 3. It is 
 lawful, when a man needs meat, to choose the pleasanter, merely for 
 its pleasure. 4. Let the pleasure, as it conies with meat, so also 
 pass away with it. 5, Let pleasure not be the principal, but used as 
 a servant. 6. Let pleasure, as it is used within the limits of nature 
 and prudence, be changed into religion and thankfulness. 
 
 To sum up these particulars : there are many cautions to make our 
 pleasure safe, but any thing can make it inordinate ; and then 
 scarcely any thing can keep it from becoming dangerous ; and the 
 pleasure of the honey will not pay for the smart of the sting. Con- 
 clusion, on the madness of those who love to swallow death, diseases, 
 and dishonor, with an appetite which no reason can restrain. 
 
 SERMON VII. 
 
 THE MARRIAGE RING ; OR, THE MYSTERIOUSNESS 
 AND DUTIES OF MARRIAGE. 
 
 EPHESTANS, CHAP. V. VERSE 32, 33. 
 
 This is a great mystery, but I speak concerning Christ and the church. 
 Nevertheless, let every one of you in particular so love his wife even 
 as himself, and the wife see that she reverence her husband. 
 
 PART I. 
 
 The first blessing which God gave to man, was society : and that 
 society was a marriage ; and that marriage was joined by God 
 himself, and hallowed with a blessing. In the beginning, the world, 
 being rich and empty, was naturally desirous of children ; a single 
 life was reckoned a curse, and a childless person one hated by God : 
 men were desirous of great families, to build them cities, and to 
 become fountains of great nations : this was consequent on the first 
 blessing, increase and nmltiply. The next blessing was, the promise 
 of Messias: and that also increased to a wonderful degree the desire 
 of marriage : to be childless in Israel was the greatest of sorrows to 
 the Hebrew women. 
 
 But when the Messias was come ; when his doctrine was pub- 
 lished ; when his ministers were iew, and his disciples were to suffer 
 persecution, &c. in which case the state of marriage produced many 
 inconveniences; it pleased God to inspire into the hearts of his ser- 
 
308 SUMMARIES OF 
 
 vants a disposition and desires towards a single life; and on this 
 necessity the Apostles and apostolical men published doctrines, 
 declaring the advantages of it; not by the command of God, but by 
 the spirit of prudence, for present and then incumbent necessities : 
 this topic enlarged on and illustrated. 
 
 But in this first interval, public necessity and private zeal, mingling 
 together, did sometimes overact their love of a single life, even to the 
 disparagement of marriage, and the scandal of religion : and this vras 
 increased by the occasion of many pious or converted persons renoun- 
 cing their contract of marriage vpith unbelievers. Instances quoted : 
 insomuch that it was reported among the Gentiles, that the Christians 
 did not only hate all that were not of their own persuasion, but were 
 enemies of the chaste laws of marriage. Hence it grew necessary 
 for St. Paul to state the question right, to do honor to the holy rite, 
 and to snatch the mystery out of the hands of zealous folly. The 
 Apostle therefore so explains it, &c. that, as it begins with honor, so 
 it may proceed with piety, and end with glory. 
 
 For although a single life hath in it such privacy and simplicity of 
 affairs, such leisure for religious duties, and shows such a perfect 
 mortification of our strongest appetites, that it is a state of great 
 excellency ; yet concerning the state of marriage we are taught by 
 Scripture, and by wise men, that marriage is honorable in all men: 
 so is not single life; for in some it is a snare, and a trouble, &c. : 
 it is never commanded, but in some cases marriage is; and he that 
 burns, sins often if he marries not. Marriage was ordained by God, 
 was instituted in paradise, and had the first blessing. The mother 
 of our blessed Lord was betrothed in marriage. The first miracle 
 which Jesus did, was in honor of it : various excellences and honors 
 of this state farther dilated on. 
 
 Single life makes men in one instance to be like angels; but mar- 
 riage in very many things makes the chaste pair to be like to Christ. 
 This is a t/reat inystery : but it is the symbolical and sacramental 
 representation of the greatest mysteries of our religion : this topic 
 enlarged on. Hence it behoves all who enter into its golden fetters, 
 to see that Christ and his church be in at all its periods, and that it 
 be intirely conducted and overruled by religion ; for so the Apostle 
 passes from the sacramental rite to the real duty; that the man love 
 his ivife, and the wife reverence her husband: this part of the pre- 
 cept now proposed for discussion. Subject divided as follows : 
 
 I. The duty is propounded as it generally relates to man and wife 
 in conjunction. II. The duty and power of the man. III. The 
 rights, privileges, and duty of the wife. 
 
 I. In Christo et ecclesia : that begins all ; and there is great need 
 it should be so : for they that enter into a state of marriage, cast a 
 die of the greatest contingency, and j^et of the greatest interest in the 
 world, next to the last throw for eternity. Life or death, felicity or 
 a lasting sorrow, are in the power of marriage. A woman indeed 
 ventures most, for she hath no sanctuary to retire to from a bad 
 husband : this point enlarged on. And though the man can run 
 from many hours of his sadness, yet he must return to it again : this 
 
JEREMY TAYLOR'S SERMONS.— VII. 309 
 
 point also enlarged on. The worst of the evil is, that both fell into 
 the snare by an improper way ; Christ and his church were no ingre- 
 dients of their choice. The folly of entering into marriage from 
 worldly or improper motives fully dilated on. 
 
 2. Man and wife are equally concerned to avoid all offences of 
 each other in the beginning of their conversation. Every little thing 
 can blast an infant blossom : this topic enlarged on. After the hearts 
 of man and wife are endeared and hardened by mutual confidence 
 and experience, there are many remembrances, and some things 
 present, that dash all little unkindnesses in pieces. 
 
 3. Let man and wife be careful to stifle little things, that, as fast 
 as they spring up they may be cut down and trod on ; for if they be 
 suffered to grow in numbers, they make the spirit peevish, the society 
 troublesome, and the aft'ections loose by an habitual aversion. 
 
 4. Let them be sure to abstain from all those things which by 
 experience and observation they lind to be contrary to each other : 
 this enlarged on. 
 
 5. Let them carefully avoid a curious distinction of mine and 
 thine: for this hath caused all the laws, and all the suits, and all the 
 wars in the world : let them have but one person and one interest : 
 this enlarged on. 
 
 These are the duties of them both, which have common regards 
 and equal necessities and obligations ; indeed there is scarcely any 
 matter of duty, but it concerns them both alike, and what in one is 
 called love is in the other called reverence ; and what in the wife is 
 obedience, is in the husband duty : this topic carried on to the end. 
 
 PART IL 
 
 The next inquiry is more particular, and considers the power and 
 duty of the man : let every one of you so love his wife, even as him- 
 self. She is as himself, the man hath power over her as over him- 
 self, and must love her equally. 
 
 A husband's power over his wife is paternal and friendly, not 
 magisterial and despotic. ^I'he wife is under conduct and counsel ; 
 for the man's power is founded in the understanding, not in the will 
 or force : this topic enlarged on, and illustrated by quotations, &c. 
 And therefore, although there is just measure of subjection and 
 obedience due from the wife to the husband, yet nothing of this is 
 expressed in the man's character, or in his duty : this enlarged on. 
 So that we cannot discourse of the man's right without describing the 
 measures of his duty : that therefore follows next. 
 
 2. Let him love his ivife, even as himself: that is his duty and the 
 measure of it too. Be not bitter against her. And this is the least 
 index and signification of love : a civil man is never bitter against a 
 friend or a stranger, much less to him who enters under his roof and 
 is secured by the laws of hospitality. But a wife does all that and 
 more ; she quits all her interests for his love ; she gives him all she 
 can give, and is as much identified with him as another person can 
 possibly be: this state dilated on. Now he is worse than a viper, 
 
 PART III. X 
 
310 SUMMARIES OF 
 
 who for reverence of this sacred union will not abstain from bitter- 
 ness : the injustice and impropriety of brutal conduct in a husband 
 towards his wife forcibly described. 
 
 The marital love is infinitely removed from all possibility of such 
 rudeness : it is a thing pure as light, sacred as a temple, lasting as 
 the world. That love which can cease was never true. The happi- 
 ness of a man who is blessed by conjugal love beautifully described. 
 Instances given of persons who have made the greatest of sacrifices 
 for their wives. 
 
 But the cases in which this can be required are so rare and con- 
 tingent, that Holy Scripture does not instance the duty in this par- 
 ticular : but it contains in it, that the husband should nourish and 
 cherish her, making all the cares and evils of life as light and easy 
 to her as possible by his love, &c. 
 
 3. Hither also is to be referred that he secure the interest of her 
 virtue and felicity by a fair example : proneness of the woman to 
 imitate her husband's ideas described and illustrated. 
 
 4. Above all other instances of love, let him preserve towards her 
 an inviolable faith, and unspotted chastity ; for this is the marriage 
 ring, which ties two hearts by an eternal band, &c. This is a grace 
 that is secured by all acts of heaven, by the defence of the laws, the 
 locks and bars of modesty, honor and reputation, fear and shame, 
 interest and high regards: this topic enlarged on. 
 
 These are the lines of a man's duty : the duties of the woman next 
 described. 
 
 1. The first is obedience ; which, because it is no where enjoined 
 that the man should exact it, but is often commanded her to pay, 
 gives demonstration that it is a voluntary cession which is required ; 
 such a cession as must be without coercion and violence on his part, 
 but on fair inducements, and out of love and honor on hers : this 
 state of obedience, and the usefulness of it, &c. described. Con- 
 cerning its measures and limits we can best take accounts from 
 Scripture. The Apostle says, in all tilings as to the Lord. St. 
 Jerome mistook this, when he translated it, ut ancilla domino : real 
 meaning of it, 'that religion must be the measure of a wife's obe- 
 dience and subjection.' 
 
 But in this also there is some peculiar caution. For although, in 
 things necessary to faith and holiness, the woman is subject to Christ 
 alone, who only is the Lord of conscience ; yet as it is part of the 
 man's office to be a teacher, guide, and master, it will relate much 
 to the demonstration of aftection, if she obey his counsels, imitate his 
 virtues, is directed by his wisdom, &c. : this topic enlarged on and 
 illustrated. 
 
 2. The next line of the woman's duty is compliance, which 
 St. Peter calls the hidden man of the heart ; the ornament of a meek 
 and quiet spirit ; and to it he opposes the outward and pompous 
 ornament oft he body ; this is to be limited by Christian modesty, 
 and the usages of the more excellent and severe matrons : folly of 
 this extravagance dilated on ; the brightest ornaments of a wife 
 described; and the folly of those husbands who are pleased with the 
 indecent gaieties of their wives, illustrated. 
 
JEREMY TAYLOR'S SERMONS. — VIII. 311 
 
 3. Remember the days of darkness, for they are many : the joys 
 of the bridal chamber are quickly past, and the remaining portion of 
 the state is a dull progress, without variety of joys, yet not without 
 the change of sorrows : but that portion, which shall enter into the 
 grave, must be eternal. Conclusion. 
 
 SERMON VIII. 
 APPLES OF SODOM ; OR, THE FRUITS OF SIN. 
 
 ROMANS, CHAP. VI. VERSE 21. 
 
 What fruit liadjye then in tliose tilings whereof ye are now ashamed .' 
 For the end of those things is death. 
 
 PART I. 
 
 The son of Sirach prudently advised, concerning judgment made 
 of the felicity or infelicity of men. Judge none blessed before his 
 death ; for a man shall be known in his children. This thought 
 dilated on ; and various instances of profligate unworthy descendants 
 of great and virtuous parents quoted : so that he who is cursed in his 
 children cannot be reckoned among the fortunate. 
 
 What is here said concerning families in general is most remark- 
 able in the retinue and family of sin : for it keeps a good house, 
 which is full of company and servants ; it is served by the possessions 
 of the world, courted by the unhappy, flattered by fools, made the 
 end of human designs, and feasted all the way of its progress, &c. 
 
 But then if we look to what are the children of this splendid 
 family, and see what issue sin produces, it may help to untie the 
 charm. Sin and concupiscence marry together, and feast highly : 
 but the children of their filthy union are ugly and deformed, foolish 
 and ill-natured : the Apostle calls them shame and death. These 
 are the fruits of sin, the apples of Sodom ; fair on the outside, but 
 within full of ashes and rottenness. And the tree with its fruits go 
 together : if you will have the mother, you must take the daughters. 
 What fruit had ye then ? That is the question. 
 
 In answer to which we are to consider, I. What is the sum total 
 of the pleasures of sin : II. What fruits and relishes it leaves behind 
 by its natural efficiency : III. What are its consequences by its 
 demerit, and the superadded wrath of God, which it hath deserved. 
 
 I. 1. If then it be considered what pleasures there are in sin, most 
 of them will be found to be very punishments. To pass over the 
 miseries ensuing from envy, or murder, or a whole catalogue of sins, 
 every one of which is a disease in its constitution and nature, we may 
 observe, that nothing pretends to pleasure but the lust of the flesh, 
 
312 SUMMARIES OF 
 
 ambition, and revenge: these alone cozen us with a fair outside; 
 and yet, on a survey of their fruits, we shall see how miserably they 
 deceive us. 
 
 2. For a man cannot take pleasure in the lusts of the flesh, unless 
 he be helped forward by inconsideration and folly. We see evi- 
 dently that grave and wise persons, men of experience and considera- 
 tion, are extremely less affected with lust and loves, &c. than the 
 hair-brained boy : this topic dilated on. 
 
 3. The pleasures of intemperance are nothing but the relics and 
 images of pleasure, after that nature hath been feasted : for as long 
 as she needs, and as long as temperance waits, so long pleasure also 
 stands by : but as temperance begins to go away, having done the 
 ministries of nature, every morsel, and every fresh goblet, is still less 
 delicious, and cannot be endured, but as men force nature by vio- 
 lence to stay longer than she would : this topic enlarged on ; and the 
 fatal effects of intemperance described. 
 
 4. With pretenders to pleasure there is so much trouble to bring 
 them to act an enjoyment, that the appetite is above half tired before 
 it comes. It is necessary that a man should be wonderfully patient 
 who is ambitious ; and no one buys death and damnation at so dear 
 a rate as he who fights for it, enduring heat and cold, and hunger ; 
 and who practises all the austerities of the hermit, with this diffe- 
 rence ; that the one does it for heavenly glory, the other for uncer- 
 tain honor and an eternity of flames : this passion farther dilated on ; 
 and that of revenge discussed, which is pleasant only to a devil, or 
 to a man who has the same accursed temper. 
 
 5. These sins, when they are entertained with the greatest fond- 
 ness from without, must have very little pleasure, because there is a 
 strong faction against them : something that is within strives against 
 the entertainment ; and they sit uneasy on the spirit, when the man 
 is vexed that they are not lawful : this illustrated, &c. 
 
 6. The pleasure in the acts of these few sins that do pretend to it, 
 is a little limited nothing, confined to a single faculty, to one sense, 
 &c. and that which is the instrument of sense, is the means of its 
 torment : by the faculty through which it tastes, by the same it is 
 afflicted ; for so long as it can taste, it is tormented with desire; and 
 when it can desire no longer, it cannot feel pleasure. 
 
 7. Sin hath little or no pleasure in its very enjoyment, because its 
 very manner of entry and production is by a curse and a contradic- 
 tion : it comes into the world like a viper, through the sides of its 
 mother, by means violent and monstrous: this enlarged on. 
 
 8. The pleasures in the very enjoyment of sin are infinitely trifling 
 and inconsiderable, because they pass away so quickly : if they be in 
 themselves little, this makes them still less; but if they were great, 
 this would not only lessen the delight, but change it into torment, 
 and load the sinner's spirit with impatience and indignation : this 
 dilated on. 
 
 9. Sin hath in its best advantages but a trifling, inconsiderable 
 pleasure : because not only God and reason, conscience, honor, 
 interest, and laws do sour it ; but even the devil himself, overruled 
 
JEREMY TAYLOR'S SERMONS. — VIII. :J13 
 
 by God, or by a strange malice, makes it troublesome and intricate ; 
 so that one sin contracts another, and vexes the man with a variety 
 of evils, &c. 
 
 10. Sin has so little true relish, and so trifling a pleasure, that it 
 is always greater in expectation than it is in the possession. If men 
 could see this beforehand, they would never pursue it so eagerly. 
 
 11. The fruits of its present possession, the pleasures of its taste, 
 are less pleasant, because no sober person, no man that can dis- 
 course, likes it long. He approves it in the height of passion, and 
 under the disguise of a temptation ; but at all other times he finds it 
 ugly and unreasonable : the remembrance at all times abates its 
 pleasures and sours its delicacies: this topic dilated on. Concluding 
 remarks. 
 
 PART II. 
 
 II. Second general consideration. What fruits and relishes sin 
 leaves behind by its natural efficiency. These are so many, as must 
 needs aftVight the soul, and scare the confidence of every considerate 
 person. 
 
 It is said that our blessed Saviour shall present his church to God 
 without spot or wrinkle. Many have been the opinions concerning 
 the nature of that spot or stain of sin : these recounted. But it is 
 not a distinct thing, or inherent quality, that can be separated from 
 the other evil effects of sin, which St. Paul comprises under the 
 scornful appellation of shame : these now reckoned by their more 
 proper names. 
 
 1. The first natural fruit of sin is ignorance. Man was first 
 tempted by the promise of knowlege : he fell into darkness by 
 believing that the devil held forth to him a new light. It was not 
 likely that good should come from so foul a beginning : the man and 
 the woman already knew good ; and all that was off'ered to them 
 was the experience of evil. Now this knowlege was the introduction 
 of ignorance : when the understanding suffered itself to be so baffled 
 as to study evil, the will was so foolish as to fall in love with it; 
 and they conspired to undo each other. For when the will began 
 to love it, then the understanding was set on work to commend, ad- 
 vance, approve, believe it, and to be factious in behalf of the new 
 purchase. 
 
 It is not here meant that the understanding of man received any 
 natural diminution ; but it received impediment by new propositions : 
 it lost and willingly forgot what God had taught, went from the 
 fountain of truth, and gave trust to the father of lies. The devil 
 indeed grew more quick-sighted in abusing us ; but we became more 
 blind by that opening of our eyes. 
 
 The philosophy of this mischief, or the connexion of causes 
 between sin and ignorance, may be omitted : but it is certain, that 
 whether a man would fain be pleased with sin, or continue quiet 
 under it, or persuade others to be so, he must do it by false proposi- 
 
314 SUMMARIES Ol' 
 
 tions, &c. Who in the world is a greater fool, a more ignorant and 
 wretched man, than an atheist? The folly of such a person de- 
 scanted on. 
 
 But though the devil never prevailed to a great extent in this, yet 
 he has in a thing almost as senseless as atheism, and that is idolatry ; 
 which not only makes God after man's own image, but in the like- 
 ness of a calf, a cat, or a serpent; nay, makes man to worship a 
 quartan ague, fire, water, onions, and sheep. This is the philosophy 
 which man learned of the devil. What wisdom can there be in any 
 one who calls good evil, and evil good ; that says fire is cold, and 
 the sun black ; that fornication can make a man happy, or drunken- 
 ness make him wise ? And yet this is the state of a sinner who 
 delights in iniquity : he cannot be pleased with it if he thinks it evil ; 
 he cannot endure it, without believing this proposition. That there is 
 in lust or drunkenness, pleasure and good enough to make amends 
 for the intolerable pains of damnation : this enlarged on. Such is 
 the sinner's philosophy. And no wiser are his hopes: he hopes 
 without a promise, and believes that he shall have mercy for which 
 he never had a revelation. 
 
 There are some sins whose very formality is a lie. Superstition 
 could not exist, if men believed that God was good and wise, free 
 and merciful : no man would dare to do in private, what he fears to 
 do publicly, if he knew and thought that God sees him there, and 
 will bring that work of darkness into light, &c. 
 
 We need not thrust into this account other evils that are the 
 events of ignorance, but introduced by sin ; such as are, our being 
 moved by what we see strongly, and weakly by what we understand ; 
 by fables rather than syllogisms, by parables than by demonstrations, 
 by examples than precepts, by shadows than by substances : this 
 topic enlarged on and illustrated. 
 
 2. Sin naturally makes a man weak, that is, unapt to do noble 
 things ; by which is not understood a natural disability ; for it is 
 equally ready for a man to will good as well as evil ; and the under- 
 standing is convinced, and the hand can obey, and the passions can 
 be directed to God's service : but because they are not used to it, 
 the will finds a difficulty to do them violence, &c. There is a law 
 in the members, and he that gave that law is a tyrant, and the sub- 
 jects of it are slaves : this subject enlarged on ; and the difficulty of 
 breaking loose from wicked habits shown. Two things instanced, 
 which seem great aggravations of the slavery and weakness of a 
 customary sinner. 
 
 1. The first is, that men sin against their interest : they know they 
 shall be ruined by it; that it will undo their estates, ruin their for- 
 tunes, destroy their body, impoverish their spirit, confound their 
 reason, and destroy their hopes ; but the evil custom still remains. 
 
 2. The second is, that custom prevails against experience. Though 
 the man hath already smarted, though he hath been disgraced and 
 undone, though he is turned out of service and unemployed, though 
 he begs with a load of old sins on his back, yet this will not cure an 
 evil custom : this topic dilated on. 
 
JEREMY TAYLOR'S SERMONS. — VIII. 315 
 
 Now this is such a state of slavery, that persons who are sensible, 
 ought to complain that they serve lords worse than Egyptian task- 
 masters. The abject slavery of sinners exemplified in various in- 
 stances. 
 
 3. Sin naturally introduces a great baseness on the spirit, ex- 
 pressed in Scripture sometimes, by the devil's entering into a man ; 
 as in the case of Judas. So St. Cyprian speaks of those who after 
 baptism lapsed into foul crimes. Men fall by this means into sins, 
 of which there can be no reason given, which no excuse can lessen, 
 which are set oft" by no pleasure, advanced by no temptation, and 
 which deceive by no allurements : instances of such given. Progress 
 of a sinner, and the wretched state of a confirmed one described. 
 
 PAUT III. 
 
 Although these are shameful effects of sin, and a man need no 
 greater dishonor than to be a fool, a slave, and a base person, yet 
 there are some sins which are directly shameful in their nature and 
 proper disrepute : a great many are the worst and basest in several 
 respects ; that is, every one of them has a venomous quality of its 
 own. Thus the devil's sin was the worst, because it came from the 
 greatest malice ; Adam's, because it was of most universal dissemi- 
 nation ; Judas's, because it was against the most excellent person : 
 this topic enlarged on. There is a strange poison in the nature of 
 sin, that of so many sorts, every one of them should be the worst. 
 Every sin has an evil spirit of its own, to manage, to conduct, and 
 to embitter it : yet to some sins shame is more appropriate, and a 
 proper ingredient in their constitution : such are lying, and lust, and 
 vow-breaking, and inconstancy. Lust makes a man afraid of public 
 eyes and common voices ; it is a work of darkness ; it debauches the 
 spirit, and makes it to fall oft' from courage, resolution, constancy, 
 and freedom. The shame which attends this vice more fully di- 
 lated on. 
 
 We see the existence of this degeneracy in sad experience. What 
 arguments, what preaching, what necessity can persuade men to con- 
 fess their sins ? So ashamed are they, that they prefer concealing 
 them before their remedy ; although in penitential confession the 
 shame is going off: but such is the fate of sin, that the shame grows 
 more and more ; we lie to men, and we excuse it to God. 
 
 If then we remember how ambitious we are for fame, honor, and 
 reputation all our days, and when our days are gone ; and that no 
 ingenuous man can enjoy any thing if he lives in disgrace, let us 
 consider, what an evil condition we are put into by sin ; which ren- 
 ders us not only disparaged and despised here, but unpitied and dis- 
 honored in our graves ; where indeed our disgrace will not sleep, but 
 will cover us with shame and confusion, in the sight of men and 
 angels, before the tribunal of God. Dreadful state of the sinner at 
 that time dilated on. 
 
 III. Third general consideration. There is one other great cir- 
 
31G SUMMARIES OF 
 
 cumstance of the shame of sin, which enlarges the evil of it; the 
 added wrath of God. The rod of God, which ' cometh not into the 
 lot of the righteous,' strikes the sinner with sore strokes of ven- 
 geance. 
 
 1. The first of these noticed, is that aggravation of the shame of 
 sin, which consists in the impossibility of concealment, in most cases 
 of heinous crimes. No wicked man that dwelt and delighted in sin, 
 did ever go off from the scene of his unworthiness without a vile 
 character : the intolerable apprehensions of sinners themselves, and 
 the slightest circumstances lay open the cabinet of sin, and bring to 
 light all that was transacted behind the curtains of night : this topic 
 enlarged on and illustrated. 
 
 2. A second superinduced consequence of sin, brought on it by 
 (he wrath of God, is sin. When God punishes sin with sin, he is 
 extremely angry ; for then the punishment is not medicinal, but final 
 and exterminating. One evil invites another ; and when God is 
 angry, and withdraws his grace, and the Holy Spirit is grieved, and 
 departs from his dwelling, the man is left at the mercy of the merci- 
 less enemy, who will receive him only with variety of mischiefs : the 
 terrible state of such a sinner commented on. 
 
 3. Sin brings in its retinue fearful plagues and evil angels, mes- 
 sengers of the displeasure of God : of this the experience is so great 
 and the examples so frequent, that it need not be dilated on. But 
 one thing is remarkable ; that God, even when he forgives the sin, 
 reserves such remains of punishment, even to the best persons, as to 
 show that every sinner is in a worse condition than he dreams of. 
 Instances of this in the case of David, Zedekiah, and others, from 
 profane history, &c. So much, and more is due to sin : and though 
 Christ hath redeemed our souls, so that, if we repent, we shall not 
 die eternally, yet he hath no where promised that we shall not be 
 smitten. 
 
 Two appendages to this consideration. 1. That there are some 
 mischiefs which are the proper and appointed scourges of certain 
 sins : each has a punishment of its own which usually attends it, as 
 giddiness does a drunkard : this enlarged on and illustrated. 2. 
 That there are some states of sin, which expose a man to all mischief, 
 by taking off every guard and defence, driving the good spirit from 
 him, and stripping him of the guardianship of angels. This is the 
 effect of habitual sin, of an evil course of life ; and it is called in 
 Scripture a grieving of the good Spirit of God: this dilated on. 
 Concluding remarks on the deadly nature and lamentable evils 
 of sin. 
 
JEREMY TAYLOR'S SERMONS. — IX. 317 
 
 SERMON IX. 
 THE GOOD AND EVIL TONGUE. 
 
 EPHESIANS, CHAP. IV. VERSE 29. 
 
 Let no corrupt communication proceed out of your mouth, but that which 
 is good to the use of edifying, that it may minister grace unto the 
 hearers. 
 
 PART I. 
 
 Preliminary observations on the prudence of holding one's 
 peace. But by the use of the tongue God has distinguished us from 
 beasts ; and by the well or ill using it we are distinguished from one 
 another ; and therefore, although silence be perfectly innocent, yet 
 it is rather the state of death than life. The tongue, in fact, is the 
 band of human intercourse, and makes men apt to unite in societies: 
 by it we sing the praises of God ; by it our tables are made to differ 
 from mangers, our cities from deserts, our churches from herds of 
 cattle, &c. But the tongue is a fountain both of bitter waters and 
 of pleasant : it sends forth blessing and cursing : it praises God, 
 and rails at men, &c. This topic dilated on. Subjects of discourse 
 proposed. 1. The vices of the tongue. 2. Its duty and proper 
 employment. 
 
 I. Let no corrupt communication proceed out of your mouth : ttcLs 
 V amrpos \6yos' corrupt or ' filthy' communication : so we read it; 
 and it seems properly to note such communication as ministers to 
 wantonness: this topic enlarged on. 
 
 But the word which the Apostle uses means more than this : 
 meanings of the word aanpos given; by which it is shown that we 
 are forbidden to use all language that is in any sense corrupted, 
 unreasonable, or useless ; language proceeding from old iniquity or 
 evil habits, called, in the style of Scripture, the remains of the old 
 man, &c. Under this is forbidden, 1, Useless, vain, and trifling 
 conversation : 2. Slander and calumny : 3. Dissolute, wanton, 
 tempting conversation ; and its worst ingredient, flattery. 
 
 I. First of trifling, vain, and useless conversation. Let no vain 
 communication proceed out of your mouth. The first part of this 
 inordination is talking too much; concerning which, because there is 
 no rule or just measure for the quantity, discourse must take its 
 estimate by the matter and end, and must change according to its 
 circumstances and appendages. This point illustrated. Evils of 
 talking over much considered ; as well as the nature of idle words, 
 such as are not useful to edification and instruction. Remarks on 
 the expression, every word that is idle, or empty of business. 
 
 The case of conscience stated in this matter : I. That the words 
 of our blessed Saviour, being spoken to the Jews, were intended as 
 they best and most commonly understood them ; and by vain they 
 understood yii/sc or lying, not useless or imprudent, &c. II. Of 
 
818 SUMMARIES OF 
 
 every idle word we shall give account; but yet so, that sometimes 
 the judgment shall fall on the words, not on the persons, who shall 
 merely have no honor or fair return from such discourses. III. If 
 all unprofitable discourses be reckoned for idle words, and put on 
 the account, yet even the capacities of profit are so large and 
 numerous, that no man hath cause to complain that his tongue is too 
 much restrained by this severity : this topic enlarged on. IV. 
 Although in the latitude thus given, a man's discourse may be free 
 and safe from judgment, yet he himself is not, unless he designs it, 
 by an habitual and general purpose, to good and wise ends: 
 concerning which he may, by the following measures, best take his 
 accounts : 
 
 1. Let him speak nothing that can minister to vice, willingly and 
 by observation. 
 
 2. If any thing be of a suspicious and dubious nature, let him 
 decline to publish it. 
 
 3. Let him, by a prudent moral care, watch over his words. 
 
 4. Let him offer up to God in his prayers all his words, and then 
 look to it, that he speak nothing unworthy to be offered. 
 
 5. Let him often interweave discourses of religion, glorifications 
 of God, instructions to his brethren, &c. not only to sanctify the 
 order of his discourses, but to call him back to retirement and sober 
 thoughts, lest he wander and be carried off too far into the wild 
 regions of impertinence. 
 
 V. This account is not to be taken by little traverses and inter- 
 courses of speech ; but by greater measures, and more discernible 
 portions ; such as are commensurate to valuable portions of our time, 
 for which every man is sure to be called to account : this topic 
 enlarged on ; and the evils of much talking pointed out. 
 
 These and many more such have given great advantages to silence, 
 and made it to be esteemed an act of discipline and great religion : 
 recommendation and practice of it among the ancients and early 
 Christians, &c. 
 
 PART II. 
 
 Hitherto general excess in talking has been considered, without 
 mention made of particulars. But because it is a principle and 
 parent of much evil, it is with great caution to be cured, and the 
 evil consequences will quickly disband. Some considerations on this 
 point proposed. 
 
 1. Plutarch advises that ' such men should give themselves to 
 writing:' but the experience of the world has confuted this. 
 
 2. Some advise, that such persons should associate with grave and 
 wise men, before whom the better parts of discourse only are usually 
 brought forward. And this is apt to give assistance by the help of 
 modesty, &c. 
 
 3. A consideration of the dangers and consequent evils hath some 
 efficacy to restrain loose talking, by the help of fear and prudent 
 apprehension, &c. 
 
JEREMY TAYLOR'S SERMONS.— IX. 319 
 
 4. Some advise that such persons should change their speech into 
 business and action : but these are not sufficient for the cure alone, 
 unless we add retirement : this shown. 
 
 5. Others advise that the employment of the tongue be changed 
 into religion ; and if there be an itch of talking, let it be in matters 
 of religion, pious discourses, &c. But this cure will, it is feared, be 
 improper or insufficient : for in prayers, &c. a multitude of words is 
 sometimes foolish, often dangerous; and of all things we must 
 beware not to offer unto God the sacrijrce of fools, &c. 
 
 6. But God's grace is sufficient to all tliat will make use of it ; 
 and there is no cure for this evil, but the direct obeying of counsel, 
 and submitting to precept, and fearing the divine threatening ; 
 always remembering, that of every icord a man speaks, he shall give 
 account, &c. 
 
 The vain tongue, and the trifling conversation, have some proper 
 evils; as, 1. Stultiloquium, or the speaking like a fool; 2. Scurri- 
 litas, or immoderate and absurd jesting ; 3. The revealing of secrets. 
 
 1. Concerning stultiloquy, it is to be observed that the masters of 
 spiritual life mean not the talk and useless babble of weak and 
 ignorant persons, &c. but the Inbricum verbi, as St. Ambrose calls 
 it, ' the slipping with the tongue,' by which prating persons betray 
 the vanity of their spirit, and discover the hidden man of the heart. 
 No prudence is a sufficient guard, when a man is in perpetual floods 
 of talk ; and hence it comes that at every corner of the mouth a folly 
 peeps out, or a mischief creeps in. A little pride and a great deal 
 of vanity will soon escape, and many men will soon talk themselves 
 into anger, &c. 
 
 2. Concerning scurrility, or foolish jesting, the Apostle so joins it 
 with the former, fxwpoXoyia, foolish speaking, &c. that some think 
 this to be explicative of the other : reason given why this seems to be 
 so. Subject dilated on, and illustrated. It should be considered 
 how miserable every sinner is, if he does not deeply and truly repent ; 
 and how discordant with such repentance is foolish, inconsiderate 
 jesting. But the whole state of the question is thus briefly stated. 
 
 1. If jesting be unseasonable, it is also intolerable. 2. If it be 
 inordinate, it is also criminal. 3. If it be in an ordinary person, it 
 is dangerous ; if in an eminent, consecrated, or wise man, it is scan- 
 dalous. 4. If the matter be not of an indifferent nature, it becomes 
 sinful by giving countenance to vice, or ridicule to virtue. 5. If it 
 be not watched, so that it complies with all that hear, it becomes 
 offensive and injurious. G. If it be not intended to fair and lawful 
 purposes, it is sour in the using. 7. If it be frequent, it combines 
 and clusters into formal sin. 8. If it mingles with any sin, it puts 
 on its nature, &c. 
 
 Instances given of eminent men in the ancient church whose con- 
 versation was cheerful and pleasant : usefulness of this descanted on. 
 But when the jest hath teeth and nails; when it is loose, wanton, 
 and unseasonable ; when it serves ill purposes, or spends better time ; 
 it is then the drunkenness of the soul, &c. 
 
 But above all the abuses which dishonor the tongues of men. 
 
320 SUMMARIES OF 
 
 nothing more deserves the whip of an exterminating angel, or the 
 stings of scorpions, than profane jesting ; which is a bringing of 
 the Spirit of God to partake of the follies of man : this topic 
 enlarged on. 
 
 3. The third instance of vain, trifling conversation, and immo- 
 derate talking, is the revealing of secrets ; which is a dismantling 
 and rending of the robe from tlie privacies of human intercourse. 
 The evils of this practice enumerated. In one case it puts on new 
 circumstances of deformity; when he that ministers to the souls of 
 men, shall publish the secrets of a conscience, turning an accuser, 
 weakening the heart of penitents, and driving them from their remedy 
 by making it intolerable : this topic enlarged on. 
 
 The proper evils of the vain and trifling tongue have been enume- 
 rated : but hither also some other irregularities of speech are to be 
 referred, although they are of a mixed nature. 
 
 1. The first of these is common swearing, against which St. Chry- 
 sostom spends twenty homilies ; and by the number and weight of 
 arguments hath left this testimony : that it is a foolish vice, but hard 
 to be cured ; infinitely unreasonable, but strangely prevailing, &c. : 
 this topic fully dilated on. 
 
 2. The next appendage of vain and trifling speech is contention, 
 wrangling, and perpetual talk, proceeding from the spirit of contra- 
 diction ; the clamors and noises of which folly St. Paul reproves : 
 Let all bitterness and clamor be put away. Conclusion. 
 
 PART III. 
 
 OF SLANDER AND FLATTERY. 
 
 II. The mischiefs above cited from vain and foolish talking, are 
 inferior to two which remain behind : 1. The spirit of detraction : 
 2. The spirit of flatterj'. The first is vile, but the second is worse ; 
 the very poison of the soul : and both are to be avoided like death 
 itself. 
 
 1. Let no calumny, no slandering, &c. proceed out of your mouth. 
 The first sort of this is that which the Apostle calls ivhispering ; 
 which means to abuse our neighbor secretly, by telling a private 
 story about him ; wherein the man plays a sure game, as he sup- 
 poses ; doing a mischief without a witness. Evils of this crime 
 enlarged on, as the destroyer of friendship, of the peace of families, 
 of the vital parts of charity, &c. 
 
 2. But such tongues as these, where they dare, and where they 
 safely can, love to speak louder; and then it is detraction; when 
 men, under the color of friendship, will wound a person's reputation, 
 speaking some things of him fairly, in order that they may be 
 believed without suspicion when they speak evil : this topic illus- 
 trated. This is what the Apostle calls Trovijp/ar, a crafty and deceit- 
 ful way of hxirting, which renders a man's tongue as venomous as that 
 of a serpent. 
 
JEREMY TAYLOK's SERMONS. — IX. 321 
 
 3. But tlie next sort is more violent; and that is, raUiny or re- 
 viling ; which is often the vice of boys and rich men, proceeding from 
 folly or pride. Tliis is that evil which possessed those of whom 
 the Psalmist speaks: Our tongues arc our oivn ; we are they that 
 ought to speak: icho is Lord over tis? But St. James declares that 
 the toiiyue is an unruly member which no man can tame. Our 
 blessed Saviour, in restraining this hostility of (he tongue, threatens 
 hell fire to them that call their brother ybo/; evils of this practice 
 farther dilated on. 
 
 4. The fourth instance of calumniatiny , filthy communication, is 
 that which we properly call slander ; the inventing evil things, or 
 falsely imputing crimes to our neighbor. This is the direct murder 
 of the tongue ; for life and death (says the Hebrew proverb) are in 
 the hand of the tongue: this topic illustrated: peculiar evils of it 
 pointed out ; as that it lies in the face of heaven, and abuses the ears 
 of justice ; it oppresses the innocent, defeats all the charity of laws, 
 and calls on the name and testimony of God to seal an injury. Sec. 
 
 5. The last instance of this evil now represented is curs in y ; con- 
 cerning which this may be said, that although the causeless curse 
 shall return on the tongue that spake it, yet, because very often 
 there is a fault on both sides, when there is reviling or cursing on 
 either, the danger of a cursing tongue is highly to be declined, as the 
 biting of a mad dog, or the tongue of a smitten serpent. This topic 
 enlarged on. 
 
 III. The third part of filthy communication, that in which the 
 devil does the most mischief, is the spirit ofjlattery. Evils of this 
 vice in common cases dilated on : but he that persuades his friend, 
 who is unchaste in morals, that he is a holy and pure person ; or that 
 his looseness is a sign of a quick spirit, &c. this man hath given the 
 greatest advantage to his friend's mischief; he hath made it grow in 
 all the dimensions of the sin, till it becomes intolerable, and perhaps 
 unpardonable. And what a fearful destruction and contradiction of 
 friendship is this ! the topic enlarged on. Various species of flattery 
 described ; for example, 1. Some flatter by giving great names, and 
 propounding great examples ; as the Egyptians hung a tumbler's rope 
 on their prince, and a piper's whistle, because they called their Pto- 
 lemy by the name of Apollo, their god of music. 
 
 2. Others flatter by imitation, encouraging vice by making it 
 popular and common. 
 
 3. Some pretend rusticity, or downright plainness, and on the 
 confidence of that they humor their friend's vice, and flatter him to 
 his ruin. 
 
 4. Some will dispraise themselves, that their friend may think bet- 
 ter of himself, or less severely of his faults. 
 
 5. Others will reprove their friend for a trifle, as if that were all ; 
 for an honest man would have told him the worst. • 
 
 6. Some will laugh and make a sport of vice, and hear a friend's 
 narrative of his adultery, or drunkenness, &c. v.'ith merriment ; as if 
 the everlasting ruin of his friend were a very good jest. 
 
 One caution in this case, however, is to be observed, viz, that we 
 
322 SUMMARIES OF 
 
 do not think all praise given to our friend to be flattery ; for some- 
 times praise is the best conveyance for a precept and the encourager 
 of infant virtue. Concluding remarks. 
 
 PART IV. 
 
 THE DUTIES OF THE TONGUE. 
 
 It was an old proverb, that ' men teach us to speak, and God 
 teaches us to hold our tongue.' Advantages of proper silence dilated 
 on. Plutarch said well, that ' to be taught tirst to be silent, then 
 to speak well and handsomely, is education fit for a prince.' And 
 that is St. Paul's method here : first we are taught how to restrain 
 our tongues, in the foregoing instances ; and now we are called on to 
 employ them in religion. 
 
 We must speak that ivhich is good; any thing that may serve the 
 ends of God and of our neighbor, in the measures of religion and 
 usefulness: this topic enlarged on; whereby it is shown that our 
 speech must be such, that it may minister grace, something that may 
 please and profit men, according as they shall need; all which is 
 reduced to these three heads : to instruct, to comfort, to reprove. 
 
 1. Our conversation must be bibai^TiKos, * apt to teach :' for since 
 all our hopes depend on obedience to God, and all obedience is 
 grounded in faith, and faith is founded naturally in the understand- 
 ing, it is not only reasonably to be expected, but is experimentally 
 felt, that in weak and ignorant understandings, there are no sufficient 
 supports for the vigor of a holy life : he therefore that carries to the 
 understanding of his brother notices of faith, incomes of spiritual pro- 
 positions, and arguments of the Spirit, forwards him in the work and 
 practices of a holy life : this topic dilated on. 
 
 2. Our conversation must be TrapcuXjjros, apt to comfort the dis- 
 consolate : nor can men here below feel greater charity than this : 
 for since half the duty of a Christian in this life consists in the exer- 
 cise of passive graces, God hath sent some angels into the world, 
 whose office is to refresh the sorrows of the poor, and to lighten the 
 eyes of the disconsolate : he hath made some creatures whose powers 
 are chiefly ordained to comfort. But this is not all. The third person 
 of the Holy Trinity is known to us by the name and dignity of the 
 Holy Ghost, the Comforter ; and God glories in being the Father of 
 mercies, and the God of all comfort : therefore to minister in this 
 office, is to imitate the charities of heaven ; and God hath fitted 
 mankind for it : this subject enlarged on. 
 
 3. Our communication must in its just season be kXeyKTiKus : we 
 must reprove our sinning brother ; for the wonnds of a friend are bet- 
 ter than the kisses of an enemy, says Solomon : we imitate the office 
 of the great Shepherd, if we go to seek and save that which was lost : 
 and it is a fearful thing to see a friend going to hell undisturbed, 
 when the arresting him in his horrid progress may possibly make him 
 to return : subject enlarged on. In the performance of this useful 
 duty, the following measures are fit to be observed. 
 
JEREMY Taylor's sermons. — ix. 323 
 
 1." Let not your reproof be public and personal. If it be public, 
 it must be general ; if it be personal, it must be in private : and this 
 is expressly commanded by our Saviour. But this caution is not 
 always necessary ; as in the case of a public and authorised person ; 
 where the crime is great, but not understood to be any at all ; 
 where certain circumstances of person allow it, as in the case of a 
 bishop, &c. 
 
 '2. Do not usually reprove thy brother for every thing; but for 
 great things only : since that is the oflSce of a tutor, not of a friend ; 
 and few men will suffer themselves to abide always under pupillage. 
 
 3. Use not liberty of reproof in the days of sorrow and affliction: 
 for the calamity itself is sufficient to chastise the gaities of sinning 
 persons, and bring them to repentance, though it may be fit to insi- 
 nuate a mention of the canse of that sorrow, in order to repentance 
 and a cure : but severe and biting language is then out of season. 
 
 4. Avoid all evil appendages of this liberty : for to reprove a 
 sinning brother is, at best, but an invidious employment, though a 
 charitable one ; therefore we must not make it hateful by adding 
 reproach, scorn, violent expressions, scurrility or bitter invectives : 
 this topic enlarged on. 
 
 To the foregoing measures this piece of advice is lastly added; 
 that no man should, at that time when he is reproved, give counsel 
 and reproof to his reprover: for this betrays an angry spirit, makes 
 discord out of piety, and changes charity to wrangling. 
 
 Persuasives for men to use proper reproof, and for others to 
 suffer it. 
 
 If it be asked whether every man is bound to reprove every per- 
 son, if he sins, and he converse with him; it is answered, that if it 
 should be so, it were to no purpose, and for it there is no command- 
 ment. Every man that can, may instruct him that wants it; but 
 every man may not reprove him that is already instructed. Conclusion. 
 
321 SUMMARIES OF JEREMY TAYLOR's 
 
 SUMMARIES OF SERMONS 
 PREACHED AT GOLDEN GROVE. 
 
 SERMON I. 
 WHITSUNDAY.— OF THE SPIRIT OF GRACE. 
 
 ROMANS, CHAP. VIII. VERSES 9, 10. 
 
 But ye are not in the flesh, but in the Spirit, if so be that the Spirit of 
 God dwell in you. Now if any man have not the Spirit of Christ, he 
 is none of his. And if Christ be in you, the body is dead, because of 
 sin ; but the Spirit is life, because of righteousness. 
 
 PART I. 
 
 The day in which the Church commemorates the descent of the 
 Holy Ghost on the Apostles, was the beginning of tlie gospel of 
 Jesus Christ; the first day that his religion was professed ; when 
 the Apostles opened their commission, and read it to all the people. 
 The Lord gave his Spirit (or his word), and great was the company 
 of the preachers. Observations on this change of spirit for ivord. 
 The gospel is called the Spirit. 
 
 1. Because it contains such glorious mysteries, which were revealed 
 by the immediate inspirations of the Spirit, not only in the matter, 
 but also in the manner, and powers to comprehend them. This point 
 explained and illustrated. 
 
 2. But when we had been taught all these mysteries, we could 
 not, by any human power, have understood them, unless the Spirit of 
 God had given us a new light, created in us a new capacity, and 
 made us to be new creatures : this topic enlarged on. 
 
 •^. The gospel is called Spirit, because it consists of spiritual pro- 
 mises and spiritual precepts ; making all that embrace it truly, to 
 become spiritual men : and therefore St. Paul adds an epithet, and 
 calls it a quickening Spirit, &c. 
 
 4. But, beyond this, is the reason which is the consummation of 
 all the faithful. The gospel is called the Spirit, because by it God 
 has given us not only the spirit of manifestation, but the Spirit of 
 confirmation, or obsignation, to all that believe and obey ; that is, the 
 power of God is come on our hearts, by which we are made sure, in 
 the nature of the thing, of a glorious inheritance : this topic enlarged 
 on and explained. 
 
 Meaning of the phrase, in the Spirit, given, viz. to be in the 
 power of the Spirit : this explained and illustrated: excellent state 
 
SERMONS AT GOLDEN GROVE. — I. 325 
 
 of a person who is tlius in the Spirit, or in subjection to the Spirit. 
 They that strive to be quit of this subjection love the liberty of out- 
 laws, and the licentiousness of anarchy, &c. He that is in the 
 Spirit, is under tutors and governors, until the appointed time of the 
 Father, just as all great heirs are ; only the first seizure which the 
 Spirit makes is on the will. He that loves the yoke of Christ and 
 the discipline of the gospel, is in the Spirit ; that is, in the Spirit's 
 power. On this foundation the Apostle has built two propositions : 
 
 1. Whosoever hath not the Spirit of Christ, he is none of his, &c. : 
 
 2. Whosoever is in Christ is dead to sin, and lives to the Spirit of 
 Christ, &c. 
 
 I. All that belong to Christ have the Spirit of Christ. Immedi- 
 ately before the ascension, our Saviour bid his disciples tarry at 
 Jenisalem, till they should receive the promise of the Father. Who- 
 ever stay at Jerusalem, and are in the actual communion of the 
 Church of God, shall certainly receive this promise ; for it is made to 
 as many as God shall call. Manner in which the Spirit was formerly 
 given described. But in the gospel, it is given without measure, 
 &c. ; so that Moses's wish is fulfilled ; and all the Lords people are 
 prophets in some sense or other. 
 
 In the wisdom of the ancients it was observed, that there are four 
 great cords which tie the heart of man to vanity and corruption ; viz. 
 pleasure, pain, fear, and desire : so that men are tempted, 1. To lust 
 by pleasure; 2. To baser arts by covetousness ; 3. To impatience by 
 sorrow ; 4. To dishonorable actions by fear : and this was the state 
 of man by nature, and under the law, and for ever, until the Spirit 
 of God came, and, by four special operations, cured these four 
 inconveniences, 
 
 1. God gave us his Spirit, that we might be insensible to worldly 
 pleasures, having our souls wholly filled with spiritual and heavenly 
 relishes. A man that hath tasted of God's Spirit, can instantly dis- 
 cern the madness that is in rage, the folly and disease that are in 
 envy, the anguish that results from lust, &c. ; and he understands 
 things truly as they are ; that is, that charity is the greatest noble- 
 ness in the world, temperance the best security of health, and that 
 religion has the truest pleasures. And all these relishes are but the 
 antipasts of heaven, ttc. 
 
 And when once we have tasted of the Spirit of God, no food but 
 that of angels, no cup but that of salvation is agreeable to us. And 
 there is no greater external testimony that we are in the Spirit, and 
 that the Spirit dwells in us, than if we find joy and spiritual pleasure 
 in the greatest mysteries of our religion : this subject fully en- 
 larged on. 
 
 2. The Spirit of God is given to all who truly belong to Christ, 
 as an antidote against sorrows, against impatience, against the evil 
 accidents of the world, and against the sinking of our spirits under 
 the cross. There are noted in Scripture two births, besides the na- 
 tural : the first is, to be born of water and of the Spirit; the second 
 is, to be born of the Spirit and of fire: to these may be added a 
 third, or an operation of the new birth, but the same spirit, the Spirit 
 
 PART III. Y 
 
32G SUMMARIES OF JEREMY TAYLOR's 
 
 of rejoicing. Now the God of hope Jill you with all joy and peace 
 in believing^ &c. There is a certain joy and spiritual rejoicing that 
 accompanies them in whom the Holy Ghost dwells ; a joy in the 
 midst of sorrow, given to allay the pain of secular troubles, and to 
 alleviate the burthen of persecution. This topic dilated on to the 
 end. 
 
 PART II. 
 
 3, The Spirit of God is given to us as an antidote against evil 
 concupiscences and sinful desires; and is then C2^^[e(\. the Spirit of 
 prayer and supplication. Ever since the affections of the outer man 
 prevailed on the ruins of the soul, all our desires grew sensual, and 
 therefore hurtful : for ever after our body grew to be our enemy. In 
 the looseness of nature and ignorance of philosophy, men used to 
 pray, with their hands full of rapine, and hearts full of malice ; and 
 they prayed accordingly. 
 
 The Jews were better taught ; but God gave the Spirit to them 
 only in single rays : this subject enlarged on. But God hath poured 
 his Spirit into our hearts, the Spirit of prayer and supplication. 
 And now, 
 
 1. Christians pray in spirit, with sighs and groans; and know 
 that God, who dwells within them, can as clearly distinguish those 
 secret accents, as he knows the voice of his own thunder. 
 
 2. Likewise the Spiiit hefpeth our infirmities ; for tve knoio 
 not ivhat ice should piay for as ive ought : it hath taught us that 
 happiness cannot consist merely in freedom from afflictions, but in 
 patience, resignation, and noble sufferance, &c. 
 
 3. Whereas only a Moses or a Samuel, a John or the Messias 
 himself, could describe and indite forms of prayer to the accent of 
 Heaven ; now every wise and good man is instructed perfectly by 
 the Scriptures what to ask for, &C. 
 
 4. The Spirit of God hath made our services to be spiritual, holy, 
 the effects of choice and religion, the consequence of a spiritual 
 sacrifice, and of a holy union with God. The prayer of a Christian 
 is with the effects of the Spirit of sanctification : and this is by 
 St. James called the prayer of faith, which is said to be certain to 
 prevail. 
 
 5. The Spirit gives to us great relish and appetite for prayers: 
 and this St. Paul calls serving of God in his Spirit ; that is, with a 
 willing mind : and they who pray from custom only, or with trouble 
 and unwillingness, &c. give a great testimony that they have not the 
 Spirit of Christ within them ; that Spirit which maketh intercession 
 for the saints. 
 
 6. The Spirit of Christ and of prayer helps our infirmities, by 
 giving us confidence and importunity ; for as is our faith and trust in 
 God, so is our hope, and so is our prayer ; weary or lasting, long or 
 short, not in words, but in works and in desires ; for the words are 
 no part of the spirit of prayer : this consists in holy desires and holy 
 actions. 
 
SERMONS AT GOLDEM GROVE. — I. 327 
 
 7. Some men have thought of a seventh way, and explain our 
 praying in the Spirit by a mere volubility of language ; which is 
 directly to undervalue the Spirit of God and of Christ, to return to 
 the materiality and imperfection of the law, to retire from Christ to 
 Moses, from real graces to imaginary gifts : this topic fully di- 
 lated on. 
 
 Thus have been described the effluxes of the Holy Spirit on ns in 
 his great channels. But the great eftect of them is this ; that as by 
 the acts of the spirits of darkness and our own malice our souls are 
 rendered carnal, tliat is, servants to the passions and desires of the 
 flesli ; so, on the other side, by the grace of God, and promise of the 
 Father, and influences of the Holy Ghost, our souls are recovered 
 from that degradation, and transformed into a new nature : this sub- 
 ject is next to be considered. 
 
 11. As soon as the tyrant sin is overcome, and a new heart is put 
 into us, instantly we have a new name given us, and we are esteemed 
 a new creation, having a new nature within us. This may seem 
 strange ; but it is one of the great mysteries of the gospel. Every 
 man naturally consists of soul and body; but every Christian man 
 who belongs to Christ, has more ; for he has body, soul, and spirit. 
 The text is plain on this head ; if any man have not the Spirit of 
 Christ he is none of his. And by Spirit is meant not merely the 
 graces of God and his gifts, enabling us to do holy things ; but the 
 Spirit of adoption, through Christ, by which we are made sons of 
 God, capable of a new state, intitled to another mode of duration, 
 &c. : this subject fully dilated on. 
 
 This very mystery itself is the greatest possible encouragement to 
 us in our duty, and by way of thankfulness. He that gives great 
 things, ought to have great acknowlegements. If the fire be quenched, 
 the fire of God's Spirit, God will kindle another in his anger that 
 shall never be quenched : but if we entertain God's Spirit with our 
 own purities, employ it diligently, and serve it willingly, then we 
 shall be turned into spiritual beings. 
 
 If this be a new principle, and be given us in order to the actions 
 of a holy life, we must take care that we receive not the Spirit of 
 God in vain, and remember that it is a new life. Every man hath 
 within him either the Spirit of God or the spirit of the devil : this 
 topic enlarged on and illustrated. Here is a greater argument for a 
 holy life than Moses had when addressing the children of Israel ; 
 Behold I have set before you life and death, blessing and cur sing : 
 this said Moses : but by this Scripture is set before us the good Spirit 
 and the bad, God and the devil : we have to choose unto whose 
 nature we will be likened, and into whose inheritance we Mill be 
 adopted : this topic enlarged on. 
 
 The purport of this discourse stated to be, that since the Spirit of 
 God is a new nature, we are thereby taught and enabled to serve 
 God, by a constant course of holy living, without the frequent 
 returns and interventions of such actions as men cd\\ sins of infir- 
 inity. Whosoever hath the Spirit of God, lives the life of grace; 
 the Spirit of God rules in him, and is strongs and allows not such 
 
328 SUMMARIES OF JEREMY TAYLOR'S 
 
 sins which we think unavoidable : this topic enlarged on, and the 
 question more particularly considered, 
 
 1. No great sin is a sin of infirmity, or excusable on that score ; 
 though indeed every sin may be said to be a sin of infirmity, in some 
 sense or other. When a man is in the state of spiritual sickness or 
 death, he is in a state of infirmity, a prisoner, a slave, weak in his 
 judgment, impotent in his passions, &c. : but he that is thus in infir- 
 mity cannot be excused ; for it is the aggravation of the state of his 
 sin : such a one is the servant of sin, a slave to the devil, and heir to 
 corruption ; that is, he hath not the Spirit of Christ in him ; for 
 where the Son is, there is liberty : this topic enlarged on. 
 
 2. Sins of infirmity, as they are small in their instance, so they 
 put on their degree of excusableness only according to the weakness 
 or infirmity of a man's understanding : this enlarged on. 
 
 3. The violence or strength of temptation is not sufficient to 
 excuse an action, if it leaves the understanding still able to judge; 
 because a temptation cannot have any proper strength, but from 
 ourselves, &c. 
 
 4. No habitual sin, which is repented of and committed again, is 
 excusable under a pretence of infirmity ; but that sin is certainly 
 noted, and certainly condemned, and therefore returns, not because 
 of the weakness of nature, but of grace: the principle of this is an 
 evil spirit, an habitual aversion to God, a dominion of sin : this topic 
 enlarged on. Concluding remarks. 
 
 SERMON II. 
 THE DESCENDING AND ENTAILED CURSE CUT OFF. 
 
 EXODUS, CHAP. XX. VERSES 5, 6. 
 
 I the Lord thy God am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers 
 on the children unto the third and fourth generation of them that hale 
 me ; and showing mercy unto thousands of them that love me, and 
 keep my commandments. 
 
 PART I. 
 
 A MAN would not think it necessary that a commonwealth should 
 hire orators to dissuade men from running into houses infected by 
 the plague; yet God has hired servants to fight against sin, and 
 advocates to plead against it ; has made laws against it, and esta- 
 blished a peculiar order of men to give an alarm at every approach 
 of it. God hath edged sin about with thorns; and sin of itself too 
 brings thorns, Szc. Moreover, it moves God first to jealousy, which 
 takes off his friendship towards us ; and then to anger, which makes 
 
SERMONS AT GOLDEN GROVE. — II. 3-29 
 
 him a resolved enemy : it also brings evil, not only on ourselves, but 
 on our children, relatives, and posterity. If all this will not deter a 
 man from sin, there is no hope left for his recovery; but he must 
 sink under the strokes of a jealous God. 
 
 God is a jealous Crorf.— That is the first and great stroke he aims 
 against sin. He speaks after the manner of men ; and in this we 
 know that he is jealous, suspicious, inquisitive, and, lastly, impla- 
 cable. 1. God is pleased to represent himself as a person very sus- 
 picious both in respect of persons and things, for which we give him 
 cause enough : this fully shown. 2. And therefore he is inquisitive : 
 he looks for that which he would fain never find, and so sets spies 
 on us : this enlarged on and illustrated. These spies, the blessed 
 angels and the accursed devils, good and bad men, our own con- 
 science, the eye of Heaven, and God himself, all watch lest we rob 
 God of his honor, and ourselves of our hopes ; for he hath chosen so 
 to get his own glory, as may best consist with our felicity. But, 3. 
 his jealousy hath a sadder effect than this : all this is for mercy ; but 
 if we provoke his jealousy, if he finds us fixed in our spiritual trans- 
 gressions, he is implacable, that is, he is angry with us to eternity, 
 unless we return in time : and if we do, it may be that he will not be 
 appeased in all instances ; when he forgives he makes some reserva- 
 tions ; he will punish us in our persons or estate, in our bodies or our 
 children ; for God visits the sins of the fathers on the children. 
 This is the second great stroke he aims against sin, and is now to be 
 considered. 
 
 That God doth so is certain, because he saith he doth: and that 
 this is just in him, is also as certain, because he doth it. But since 
 God is pleased to speak after the manner of men, it may consist with 
 our duty to inquire into the equity of this proceeding. 
 
 1. No man is made a sinner by the fault of another man, without 
 his own consent ; for to every one God gives his choice, and sets life 
 and death before all the sons of Adam ; and therefore this death is 
 not a consequence to any sin but our own. And it is not said that 
 si7i passed on all men, but death: the death brought in by sin was 
 nothing superinduced to man ; man was only reduced to his own 
 natural condition, from which, before Adam's fall, he stood ex- 
 empted by supernatural favor: also, before any man died, Christ 
 was promised, by whom death was to lose his sting, and cease to be 
 an evil ; and it does cease to be so to all who follow Christ. Hence 
 the divine justice is vindicated in this matter. The material part of 
 the evil came on us from our first father ; but the formality of it, the 
 sting and the curse, is only from ourselves. 
 
 2. For the fault of others many may become miserable ; even all, 
 or any of those whose relation is such to the sinner, that he in any 
 sense may, by such inflictions, be punished or oppressed : in this case 
 the influence is perceived ; the sin is infectious, not only in example, 
 but in punishment. With respect to this, it is to be shown, 1. In 
 what instances it is so : 2. For what reasons it is justly so : 3. In 
 what degrees, and in what cases, it is so : 4. What remedies there 
 are for this evil. 
 
330 SUMMARIES OF JEREMY TAYLOR'S 
 
 I. It is SO in kingdoms, in churches, in families, in political, arti- 
 ficial, and even in accidental societies. This instanced in the case of 
 the people whom David numbered ; of the Gibeonites, Joshua, and 
 Saul ; in that of Saul's sons ; of Ahab and his sons ; of Solomon and 
 the son of Bathsheba ; of the family of Eli : in that of Cham and 
 his posterity ; of Amalek and his nation ; and above all, in that of 
 the Jews, who put to death the Lord of life : this dreadful example 
 enlarged on. With regard to churches, the state of the seven 
 churches in Asia is instanced. In addition, it may be remarked, 
 that there is even danger to those who are in evil company, in sus- 
 pected places, in the society and fellowship of wicked men : instances 
 given. 
 
 II. The next consideration is, why this is so, and why it is justly 
 so. First, then, between kings and their people, parents and their 
 children, there is so great a necessitude and natural intercourse, &c. 
 that the latter are by God and the laws of nature reckoned as the 
 goods and blessings of the former : this enlarged on ; and the severity 
 of punishment when these our goods and blessings are injured or 
 taken away from us. 2. As this is a punishment to us, so it is not 
 unjust to them, though they be innocent; since the calamities of the 
 world are incident to all, even the most godly persons: this enlarged 
 on : moreover, they themselves may be sanctified by sorrows, and 
 purified by affliction, and receive the blessing of it, &c, 3. God 
 hath many ends of providence to serve in this dispensation of his 
 judgments : he expresses the highest indignation against sin, and 
 makes his examples lasting and most efficacious : it arrests the spirits 
 of men, and restrains their looseness, &c. it serves to satisfy the fear- 
 fulness of such persons as think the wicked prosperous, and the proud 
 happy : this explained and enlarged on. 
 
 III. The third consideration is, in what degree, and in what 
 cases, this is usual, or to be expected. In the text it is instanced in 
 the worship of images : and he who is so jealous of his honor in this 
 particular, is also very curious of it in all others ; and though the 
 children are more solemnly threatened with punishment in this sin, 
 yet we find it inflicted indifterently in any other great one. 
 
 One thing is strictly to be observed, that the wrath of God does 
 not, as some erroneously have taught, descend only on children who 
 imitate their fathers' wickedness : this is expressly against the text, 
 and the examples of the thing. God afflicts good children of evil 
 parents for the sins of their fathers. And this hath been observed 
 even by wise men among the heathens: instances cited : and this was 
 so in the case of Jonathan, who lost the throne of Israel and his life, 
 on account of the sins of Saul. What has been said in vindication of 
 divine justice need not be repeated. But so it is in the world. The 
 posterity of a traitor become dishonorable and beggars. The subject 
 €nlaroed on : the natural eftecfs of sin, in the constitution of the 
 body entailed on children, considered. The great preservative which 
 tliis ought to be against every species of vice. Concluding exhorta- 
 tions. 
 
SERMONS AT GOLDKN GKOVE. — II. DlU 
 
 PART II. 
 
 IV. Fourtli consideration ; namely, what remedies there are for 
 sons to cut off this entail of curses ; and whether, or by what means, 
 it is possible for them to prevent the being punished for the sins of 
 their fathers. And since this matter is so perplexed and intricate, it 
 cannot but be thought, that there are ways left, not only to vindicate 
 God's justice, but to reconcile man's condition to the possibilities of 
 God's usual mercies. 
 
 The first means to cut off the entail of wrath from a family, is, for 
 the sons to disavow those actions of impiety in which their fathers 
 were deeply guilty. A son comes to inherit his father's wickedness 
 in three ways : 1. By approving, or any ways consenting to his 
 father's sin, as by speaking of it without shame, pleasing himself in 
 the story, or being apt to do the like : 2. By imitation and direct 
 practice ; when the curse is likely to come with accumulation : 
 3. By receiving and enjoying the purchases of his father's rapine and 
 oppression, &c. 
 
 Now, in all these cases, the rule holds. If the son inherits the 
 sin, he cannot call it unjust if he inherit the punishment. But to 
 break the fatal chain of God's anger, a son is tied in all these cases 
 to disavow his father's crime. But because the cases are several, he 
 must also in several manners do it. 
 
 1. Every man is bound not to glory in, or to speak honorably of, 
 the powerful and unjust actions of his ancestors : this topic enlarged 
 on. Children are bound to pray to God to sanctify, to cure, to 
 forgive their parents: this also enlarged on. 
 
 2. Those curses which descend from the fathers to the children by 
 imitation, are to be cut oft' by special and personal repentance and 
 prayer, as being a state directly opposite to that which procured the 
 curse : but it must be observed, that no merely public or imaginative 
 disavowal, no ceremonial and pompous recission of the fathers' 
 crimes, can avail to interrupt the succession of the curse, if the 
 children do secretly practise or approve, what they in pretence or 
 ceremony disavow : this illustrated in the case of the Pharisees : 
 
 Wo unto you, for ye build the sepulchres of the prophets, and your 
 fathers killed them. 
 
 3. But concerning the third case there is more difficulty. Those 
 persons that inherit their fathers' sins by possessing the price of their 
 fathers' souls, namely, by enjoying their unjust possessions, may (juit 
 the inheritance of the curse if they quit the purchase of the sin ; 
 namely, if they pay their fathers' debts of justice, and of oppression. 
 Still some measures are to be observed in this case ; nor is every 
 man bound to give up all the land which his ancestors may have un- 
 justly usurped. But though children of far-removed lines are not 
 thus bound, yet others are, for various reasons. 1. Sons are tied to 
 restore what their fathers usurped, or to make recompense for it, if 
 the case be visible and notorious, and the oppressed party demands 
 it: reason of this given. 2. Though by all the solemnities of law 
 
3:32 SUMMARIES OF JEREMY TAYLOR'S 
 
 the unjust purchase be established, and in conscience the heirs may 
 continue to enjoy it without a new sin ; yet, if we see a curse descend- 
 ing on the family for sake of the old oppression, or if we reasonably 
 suspect such to be the case, then, by making all possible restitution, 
 we may certainly remove the curse : this topic enlarged on. 
 
 The sum is this : as kingdoms and churches used to expiate the 
 faults of others by acts of justice and censure, so the heirs and sons 
 of families are to remove the curse descending from their fathers' lines 
 on their house, by acts ; by disavowal ; by praying for pardon ; by 
 humbling themselves; by renouncing the example; by quitting all 
 affection for the crime ; by not imitating the kind of actions; and, 
 lastly, by refusing to rejoice in the ungodly possessions. 
 
 But, secondly, after all this, cases occur, in which we find that 
 innocent sons are punished. How may they prevent, or take off, the 
 curse ? this considered. 
 
 1. The pious children of evil parents are to stand firm on the 
 confidence of divine grace and mercy ; and on that persuasion to 
 begin to work on a new stock : for it is as certain that a man may 
 derive a blessing on his posterity, as that his parents could transmit a 
 curse : by this he shall do more than escape the punishment of his 
 father's follies : this enlarged on and illustrated. 
 
 2. But if great impiety and clamorous wickedness have stained 
 the honor of a family, and discomposed its title to the divine mercies, 
 it is not an ordinary piety that can restore this family : an ordinary, 
 even course of life, full of goodness and innocence, will secure every 
 single person in his own eternal interests; but that piety, which shall 
 be a spring of blessings, and communicative to others, &c. must be 
 very great and excellent : this topic enlarged on. 
 
 3. It is of great use for the securing of families, that every master 
 of one order his life so, that his piety and virtue be as communicative 
 as possible; namely, that he secure the religion of his family by a 
 severe supravision and animadversion, and by cutting off all those 
 unprofitable branches that injure the tree, &c. 
 
 4. If a curse be feared to descend on a family, let the descendants 
 perform some heroical act of piety. Thus, if there should happen to 
 be one martyr in it, this might reconcile the whole to God. Instance 
 of Phineas, of the sons of Hechab, &c. 
 
 One farther piece of advice given to all parents and fathers of 
 families, from whose loins a blessing, or a curse, may proceed ; that 
 they be particular in the matter of repentance ; and after this, that 
 they be fervent, hearty, and continual in prayer for their children, 
 ever remembering, when tliey beg a blessing, that God hath put 
 much into their hands. They that can truly bring down a blessing 
 on their families are such only as lead a blessed life, &c. Con- 
 clusion. 
 
SERMONS AT GOLDEN GROVE. — III. 333 
 
 SERMON III. 
 
 THE INVALIDITY OF A LATE OR DEATH-BED REPENT- 
 ANCE. 
 
 JEREMIAH, CHAP. XIII. VERSE 10. 
 
 Give glory to the Lord your God, before he cause darkness, and before 
 your feet stumble on the dark mountains, and, while ye look for light 
 (or, lest while ye look for light), he shall turn it into the shadow of 
 death, and make it gross darkness. 
 
 PART I. 
 
 God is the eternal fountain of honor and the spring of glory; and 
 yet he is pleased to say that our sins dishonor him, and our obedience 
 glorifies him ; though he can be really glorified by nothing but by 
 himself and by his own instruments which he makes as mirrors to 
 reflect his glory : thus he glorified himself in making the frame of the 
 universe ; and even when he destroyed the old world, he glorified 
 himself in the image of his justice: but, above all, God rejoiced in 
 his holy Son, who hath transmitted to us a great manner of the 
 divine glorification, being to us the author and example of giving 
 glory to God, &c. 
 
 He that hath dishonored God by his sins, hath no better way to 
 glorify him, than by returning to his duty, and advancing the divine 
 attributes. Concerning the philosophy of the expression to glorify 
 God, much need not be said : certain it is, that, in the style of 
 Scripture, repentance is the glorification of him ; and the prophet, by 
 calling on the people to give God glory, calls on them to repent. 
 And this it was which Joshua said to Achan. (Josh. vii. 19.) The 
 words of the text therefore may be read thus : Repent of all your 
 sins, before God cmise darkness, and before your feet stumble on 
 the dark mountains. Hence we have the duty of repentance, and 
 the time of it. 
 
 This exhortation of the prophet was always full of caution and 
 prudence, but now is highly necessary: this shown. Certainly, 
 nothing hath made more ample harvests for the devil, than the 
 deferring of repentance on vain confidences, and the lessening it in 
 extension and degree, whilst we imagine that a few tears will blot 
 out the baseness of fifty years of impiety. For the curing of this 
 evil, the nature of repentance is exhibited, and the inefficacy of a 
 repentance which is deferred to a death-bed. 
 
 I. First, then, repentance implies a deep sorrow, as the beginning 
 and introduction of this duty ; not a superficial sigh or tear, but a 
 hearty pungent sorrow : yet it must be observed that sorrow for sins 
 is not repentance ; not that duty which gives glory to God, so as to 
 obtain of him that he will glorify us. Repentance is a great volume 
 
3:U SUMMARIES OF JEREMY TAYLOR's 
 
 of duty, and godly sorrow is but the frontispiece or title-page. 
 Godly sorroiv tvorketh repentance : sorrow is the parent, and repent- 
 ance is the offspring. Our sorrow for sin is not to be estimated by 
 our tears and sensible expressions, but by our active hatred and 
 dereliction of sin. 
 
 2. It is a sad error among many who do some things towards 
 repentance, that they mistake the first addresses and instruments of 
 this part of repentance for the duty itself. Confession of sins is in 
 order to the dereliction of them : but then confession must not be 
 like the unlading of a ship, to take in new stowage. No confession 
 can be of any use, but as it is an instrument of shame, humiliation, 
 and dereliction of sin : this topic enlarged on. 
 
 3. Let us then suppose our penitent advanced thus far, as that he 
 decrees against all sin, and in hearty purposes resolves to decline it, 
 as having been his betrayer and destroyer : yet we must be curious 
 (for now only the repentance properly begins) that it be not like the 
 springings of the thorny or the high-way ground, soon up and soon 
 down : various states of resolution commented on. That only is the 
 beginning of a holy repentance, which goes forth into acts, whose 
 acts enlarge into habits, and whose habits produce the fruits of a 
 holy life. 
 
 From hence we are to take our estimate, whence our resolutions of 
 piety must commence. He that resolves not to live well till the 
 time comes that he must die, is as ridiculous in his great design, as 
 he is impertinent in his intermedial purposes, and vain in his hope. 
 How can a dying man, to any real effect, resolve to be chaste ? for 
 virtue is an act of election, and chastity is the contending against a 
 proud imperious lust : what then does lie resolve against, who can be 
 no more tempted by his lust, than he can return to his youthful 
 vigor? And since none of the purposes of a dying man can be 
 reduced to act, by what law, reason, or covenant can we distinguish 
 them from those of a lively and healthful person ? this topic enlarged 
 on. The hope of those persons shown to be vain, who go on in 
 their evil ways till their last sickness; or whose purposes are for 
 ever blasted with the next violent temptation, &c. 
 
 4. Lastly, suppose all be done ; and that, by a long course of 
 strict severity, mortification, and circumspection, we have overcome 
 all our vicious, baser hal)iis, and that we are clean and swept; yet 
 this is but one half of repentance. To renew us, and to restore us to 
 God's favor, having escaped the corruption that is in the xvorld 
 through lust, tve must give all diligence, and add to orir faith virtue, 
 to virtue hnowlege, to knowlege temperance, to temperance -patience ; 
 (and so on) to godliness, brotherly kindness and charity. This is the 
 sum total of repentance : we must not oidy have overcome sin, but 
 we must, after great diligence, have acquired the habits of all those 
 Christian graces which relate to ourselves, our neighbor, and to 
 God : this topic pursued. Conclusion, on the difficulty of beginning 
 a repentance which has been long delayed, &c. 
 
SERMONS AT GOLDEN GROVE. — III. 3;J.> 
 
 PART ir. 
 
 This great subject pursued ; in which it is shown, 1. What parts 
 and ingredients of repentance are assigned, when it is described in 
 Scripture : 2. What are the absolute necessities of a holy life, and 
 what is meant by the Scripture phrase, to live holily : 3. What 
 directions or intimations we have concerning the last time of be- 
 ginning to repent, or what is the longest period to which any man 
 may venture with safety. 
 
 1. Repentance is not only an abolition and extinction of the body 
 of sin, a bringing it to the altar, &c., but we must also mingle gold 
 and rich presents, the oblation of good works and holy habits with 
 the sacrifice; which has been already shown. 
 
 If we would see repentance in its full stature and constitution 
 described, we shall find it to be one half of all that which God 
 requires of Christians. Faith and repentance make up the whole 
 duty of a Christian. Faith is a sacrifice of the understanding to 
 God ; repentance sacrifices the whole will to him : the one makes 
 us disciples, the other servants of Jesus Christ: so that as faith con- 
 tains all knowlege necessary to salvation, repentance comprehends 
 the whole practice and working duty of a returning Christian. 
 Whatsoever is practical, the practice of all obedience, is called in 
 Scripture repentance from dead u-orks ; which means not mere 
 sorrow from dead works, which is not sense ; but supposes two 
 terms, a conversion from dead works to living works; from the 
 death oj" sin to the life of righteousness. 
 
 The lineaments of this great duty described out of the Old Testa- 
 ment ; in which it is shown that there is nothing to countenance a 
 persevering sinner, or a death-bed penitent. 
 
 The same aLso shown out of the New Testament. Practice of 
 the primitive church in not admitting sinners to communion, till after 
 a long time passed in penitence. 
 
 Repentance stated to be the institution of a philosophical and 
 severe life, an extirpation of all impiety, a final passing through all 
 the parts of holy living. Consideration whether this be possible on 
 a death-bed, when a man is frightened into an involuntary, sudden, 
 and unchosen piety. This first subject of consideration ended with 
 a plain exhortation ; that since rey)entance is a duty of such vast 
 dimensions, it should not be crowded into such a narrow room that 
 it may be stifled in its birth, &c. Reflections added: 1. That he 
 who resolves to sin on a resolution to repent, by every act of sin 
 makes himself more incapable of repenting, by growing more and 
 more in love with sin, &c. : 2. To repent, signifies to be sorrowful, 
 to be ashamed, and to wish a thing had never been done : then see 
 the folly of this temptation; I would not sin, but that I hope to 
 repent, that is, 1 hope to be sorrowful for having done it, to come to 
 shame and self-reproach for it, &c. : 3. For it must be considered, 
 that he who re()ents wishes he had never committed the sin. Does 
 he then wish so on reason, or without reason ? Surely, if he may, 
 
330 SUMMARIES OF JEREMY TAYLOR's 
 
 when he has satisfied his lust, ask God pardon, and be admitted on 
 as easy terms for the time to come, as if he had not done the sin, he 
 has no reason to be sorrowful, or to wish he had not done it. But 
 he that truly repents, wishes and would give all the world that he 
 had never done it : surely then his present condition, in respect of his 
 past sin, has some very great evil in it ; or why else should he be so 
 much troubled ? This shown in the hard duty to which he is bound, 
 &c. Concluding reflections on this topic. 
 
 II. On the necessity, the absolute necessity, of holy living. God 
 hath made a covenant with us that we must give up ourselves, our 
 bodies and souls, not a dying, but a living and healthful sacrifice. 
 He hath forgiven all our old sins ; and we have bargained to quit 
 them, from the time we first enlisted under the banners of Christ. 
 We have taken the sacramental oath, to believe, obey, and keep our 
 station, against all adversaries, &c. 
 
 The pretence that God's commandments are impossible, shown to 
 be false ; assistance of God's grace given if we do our utmost, &c. 
 We are to follow peace tcith all men, and holiiiess, ivithont ivhich no 
 man shall see the Lord : this commented on and explained. 
 
 This then is the condition of the covenant ; and it is certain that 
 sorrow for not having done what is commanded us, and a purpose to 
 do it, will not acquit us before God. For what purpose are all 
 these injunctions in almost every page of Scripture, of walking in 
 light, of being holy as God is holy, of putting on the Lord Jesus, 
 &c. &c. but that it is the purpose of God, and the design of Christ, 
 and of the covenant made with us, that we should expect heaven on 
 no other terms but those of a holy life, in faith and obedience to 
 Christ? 
 
 Now, if a person, who has been vicious and ungodly through life, 
 can, for any thing which he may do on his death-bed, be said to live 
 a holy life, then his hopes are not desperate. It will be a vain 
 question to ask, whether or no God cannot save a dying man that 
 repents; for God's power is no ingredient in this inquiry; but only 
 his will, which is declared against such a supposition : the topic 
 farther considered : miserable state of those men shown, who sow in 
 the flesh, and would reap in the spirit. 
 
 III. Last inquiry ; into the time, the latest time of beginning our 
 repentance. VVhat is the last period, after which all repentance will 
 be ineft'ectiial ? To this captious question many things may be 
 opposed : J. We have entered into a covenant with God, to serve 
 him from the day of our baptism to our death : this enlarged on : 
 2. Scripture names no other time but to-day : 3. The duty of a 
 Christian is described by Scripture to be such as requires length of 
 time and patient industry: 4. There is a certain time set for repent- 
 ance, and beyond that all our industry is ineftectual. There is a day 
 of visitation, our own day, and there is a day of visitation, God's 
 day. This exemplified in the destruction of Jerusalem : the topic 
 enlarged on. 
 
 Therefore concerning the time of beginning to repent, no man is 
 certain but he that hath done his work. He that repents to-day, 
 
SERMONS AT GOLDEN GROVE. — IV. WM 
 
 repents late enough in not beginning yesterday : but he that puts it 
 oft" till to-morrow, is vain and miserable. 
 
 But, it may be said, what will you have a man to do that hath 
 lived wickedly, and is now cast on his death-bed ? Shall he despair, 
 and neglect all movements of piety, &c. ? God forbid. Let him do 
 all he can, for it is little enough. 
 
 But shall such persons despair of salvation. This only can be 
 said ; that they are to consider the conditions which God requires of 
 us, and whether they have done accordingly. If such persons have 
 a promise of heaven, let them show it, and hope it, and enjoy it : if 
 they have no promise, they must thank themselves for bringing 
 themselves into a condition out of the covenant. 
 
 But will not trusting in the merits of Jesus Christ save such 
 persons ? For that we must be tried by the word of God, in which 
 there is no contract made with a person who lived in name a Christian, 
 but in practice a heathen, Sec. 
 
 But why may we not be saved, as well as the thief on the cross ? 
 Because our case is not at all like his : this fully shown. 
 
 Therefore let no Christian, who hath covenanted with God to 
 give him the service of his life, think that God will be answered 
 with the sighs and prayers of a dying man. Let him not deceive 
 himself: for no man can in a moment root out long-contracted 
 habits of vice, nor exercise the duty of self-mortification, &c. on 
 his death-bed. 
 
 SERMON IV. 
 THE DECEITFULNESS OF THE HEART. 
 
 JEREMIAH, CHAP. XVII. VERSE 9. 
 
 The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked ; who can 
 
 know it ? 
 
 PART I. 
 
 Folly and subtilty divide the greatest part of mankind : some 
 are crafty enough to deceive, others foolish enough to be cozened : 
 and yet the scales also turn ; for they that are most crafty to cozen 
 others, are often the veriest fools : they rob their neighbor of his 
 monev, and lose their own innocency ; disturb his rest, and vex their 
 own conscience ; throw him into prison, and themselves into hell, &c. 
 Origin and progress of man's ignorant, helpless, and miserable con- 
 dition described. The feebleness and wretchedness of those external 
 aids, on which he too often relies, exposed ; also of that, to which 
 he too often turns, when he has experienced their impotence ; 
 namely, his own heart, which is deceitful above all things, and 
 
338 SUMMARIES OF JKRKMY TAYLOR's 
 
 desperately wicked. Deceitful ness of the heart may be reduced to 
 two heads : a man sometimes deceives because he is false, and a staff 
 because it is weak ; but the heart because it is both. One sort of 
 deceitfulness is its calamity, and the other its iniquity, which is the 
 worse calamity of the two. 
 
 1. The heart is deceitful in its strength : when we have the growth 
 of a man, we have the weakness of a child ; the more advanced we 
 are iu age, the weaker are we in courage. The forward heat in new 
 converts, and its subsequent coolness, described. This applied to 
 tlie primitive church, and to the same in after times. This weakness 
 of our heart accounted for, by our letting in the dominion of 
 lusts, &c. Our unwillingness to pray is a great sign of our spiritual 
 weakness. 
 
 And yet this weak heart is strong in passions, violent in desires, 
 irresistible in its appetites, &c. This compared to the strength of a 
 man in a fever or delirium ; the strength not of health, but of fury 
 and disease. 
 
 Examination of a heart that yields to the temptation of its lusts. 
 Such a heart deceives a man, not because it cannot resist the tempta- 
 tion, but because it will not set about it; for it is certain that the 
 heart can, if it list: this shown in various instances. The heart is 
 deceitful in managing its natural strengths : it is naturally and phy- 
 sically strong, but morally weak and impotent. 
 
 2. The heart of man is deceitful in making judgment concerning 
 its own acts : it does not know when it is pleased or displeased ; it is 
 peevish and trifling ; it would and it would not, &c. Suppose a man 
 that hath spent his younger years in vanity and folly, and is by the 
 grace of God apprehensive of it, and thinks of returning to sober 
 counsels : this man will find his heart so false, subtle, and secret, 
 that it will be hard to learn whether he repents or no : this shown, 
 and the subject enlarged on. 
 
 So deceitful is our heart in this matter of repentance, that spiritual 
 masters are fain to invent suppletory arts and stratagems to secure 
 the duty : and we are advised to mourn, because we do not mourn ; 
 to be sorrowful, because we are not so. Now if we be sorrowful in 
 the first stage, how is it that we know it not ? Is our heart so secret 
 to ourselves? But if we be not sorrowful in the first period, how 
 shall we be so, or how know it, in the second ? We may as well be 
 sorrowful in the third place, for want of sorrow in the second, &c. : 
 so that we shall never be secure in this artifice, if we be not certain 
 of our natural and hearty passion in our direct and first appre- 
 hensions. 
 
 Thus many persons think themselves in a good state, and make no 
 question of their salvation ; being confident, only because they are 
 confident; and they are so, because they are bid to be so ; and yet 
 they are not so at all, but extremely timorous and fearful : for how 
 many, who say they are sure of salvation, dare to die? So deceived 
 is the heart in its own acts and opinions. 
 
 3. The heart is deceitful in its own resolutions and purposes : for 
 many times men make their resolutions only in their understandings, 
 
SERMONS AT GOLDEN GROVK. — IV. 339 
 
 not in their will, <fcc. But suppose them advanced farther, their 
 will and choice also being determined ; see how the heart deceives 
 them. 1. They resolve against those sins that please them not, or 
 where temptation is not present; or they think by great zeal against 
 some sins to gain an indulgence for others : this illustrated. 2. They 
 resolve against sin, that is, they will not act it in the same circum- 
 stances as formerly : this explained. 3. Tliey resolve against it 
 when the opportunity is slipped, and lay it aside as long as the 
 temptation shall please ; even till it come again, and no longer : this 
 enlarged on. 
 
 4. The heart is false, deceiving, and deceived, in its intentions and 
 designs. A man hears the precept of God, enjoining us to give 
 alms of all we possess : he readily obeys, and his charity appears 
 lovely; but there is a canker at the heart: he blows a trumpet to 
 call the poor together, and hopes the neighborhood will take notice 
 of his bounty. A man with a true story may be malicious to his 
 enemy, and by doing himself right may do him wrong. Some men 
 pursue virtue with great earnestness, but cannot with patience look on 
 it in another; where it is plain that reputation, not virtue, is the 
 thing desired : and yet if you were to tell a man so, he would charge 
 you with malice and detraction. It is easy to distinguish these 
 things in precepts; but when the heart comes to separate alms from 
 charity, God's glory from human praise, sincerity from hypocrisy, 
 &c. it so implicates the question, and confounds the ends, that we 
 have reason to think our best actions sullied by some excrescences. 
 
 Here, one would think, were enough to abate our confidence and 
 the spirit of pride ; to make us constantly stand on our guard, and 
 keep a strict watch on our own hearts, as our greatest enemies from 
 without. Concluding exhortations. 
 
 PART II. 
 
 Epictetus observes, that ' it is the beginning of wisdom to know a 
 man's weaknesses and failings, in things of greatest necessity : ' and we 
 have here so many objects to furnish out this knowlege, that we find 
 it the longest and the latest, before it can be obtained. Our hearts 
 are blind, or our hearts are hardened : they do not see, or they will 
 not see, the ways of God. 
 
 I. Our hearts are blind, wilfully blind. This ignorance is taken 
 in on design. God hath opened all the windows of heaven, and 
 sent the Sun of righteousness, and discovered the abysses of his own 
 wisdom ; he has made the second person of the Trinity to convey his 
 precepts, and the third to inscribe the doctrine on the book of our 
 hearts ; with miracles and prophecies to be its arguments, and the 
 whole world to be the verification of it, &c. This hath God done 
 for us; and what do we for him ? We stand in our own light, and 
 quench that of God : we love darkness more than light, and act 
 accordingly: this topic enlarged on. 
 
310 SUMMARIES OF JEREMY TAYLOR'S 
 
 To be more particular, the heart of man uses devices that it may 
 be ignorant. 
 
 1. We are impatient of honest and severe reproof; ordering the 
 circumstances of our persons and addresses, so tliat we shall never 
 come to the true knowlege of our condition : this siiovi'n. Our heart 
 is so impatient of seeing its own stains, that, like the elephant, it 
 tramples in the pure streams before it drinks, in order that by mud- 
 dying them it may not see its own deformity. 
 
 2. In order to this, we heap up teachers of our own, and they 
 guide us, not whither, but which way, they please : for we are 
 curious to go our own way, and careless of our hospital or inn at 
 night. A fair way, and a merry company, and a pleasant easy 
 guide, will entice us into the enemy's quarters ; and such guides we 
 cannot want. ' If we have a mind to be wicked, we shall want no 
 prompters :' this topic enlarged on. 
 
 3. But the heart of man hath yet another stratagem to secure its 
 iniquity by means of ignorance ; and that is incogitancy or inconsi- 
 deration. The grace of God is armor and defence enough against 
 the most violent incursion of the spirits and works of darkness ; but 
 then we must hear its excellent charms, consider its reasons, remem- 
 ber its precepts, and dwell with its discourses : but this the heart of 
 man loves not. If such incogitancy comes to be habitual, as it is in 
 many men, — First, By resisting the motions of the Holy Spirit, then 
 by quenching him, — we shall find the consequence to be, first an 
 indifferency ; next a dulness; then a lethargy; then a hatred of the 
 ways of God, which commonly ends in a wretchedness of spirit to be 
 manifested on our death-bed, &c. Indifference to religion still far- 
 ther descanted on. The effect of all which is, that we are ignorant 
 of the things of God ; we make religion to be the work of a few hours 
 in the whole year ; and are without any appetite or affection for the 
 severities of a holy life, &c. 
 
 II. But the heart is not only blind, but hard also. Not only 
 folly, but mischief also, is bound up in the heart of man. If God 
 strives to soften it with sorrow and sad accidents, it is like an ox, it 
 grows callous and hard : consideration of particulars. 
 
 1, The heart is strangely proud. If men commend us we think 
 that we have reason to be distinguished from others ; if they do not, 
 we suppose them to be stupid or envious ; and we then are apt to 
 speak well of ourselves, and ourselves only : this topic enlarged on. 
 
 2. The heart of man is deeply in love with wickedness, and with 
 nothing else, against not only the laws of God, but against its own 
 reason, interest, and security : for is it imaginable, that a man who 
 knows the laws of God, the rewards of virtue, the horrid effects of 
 sin ; that considers the intolerable pains of hell ; that knows the joys 
 of heaven to be unspeakable, and yet attainable by a holy life ; is it 
 imaginable that this man should, for a transient action, forfeit all this 
 hope, and incur all that calamity ? Yea, but the sin is pleasant, and 
 the man is clothed with flesh and blood, and the appetites are mate- 
 rial, and importunate, and present, and the discourses of religion are 
 
SERMONS AT GOLDEN GROVE. — V. 341 
 
 concerning things spiritual, separate, and apt for spirits and souls 
 departed. To take oft" this, we will suppose the man to consider and 
 to believe, that the pleasure of the sin is vain and transient; that it 
 leaves bitterness behind it ; that he remembers and considers, that as 
 soon as the sin is past, he will have an intolerable conscience, and 
 recollects also the miseries of eternity : yet that this man should sin ! 
 Nay, suppose the sin to have no pleasure at all, like that of swear- 
 ing ; nay, suppose it painful, like that of envy ; what should make 
 the man sin against reason, religion, and interest, without pleasure 
 and for no reward ? Here the heart betrays itself to be desperately 
 wicked: this topic fully dilated on. 
 
 Many other topics might be mentioned, if time permitted; as that 
 we are false ourselves, and dare not trust God ; we love to be 
 deceived, and are angry if we are told of it ; we love to seem vir- 
 tuous, but hate to be so ; we are impatient, yet know not why ; we 
 are troubled at little things, and are careless of greater, &c. &c. 
 Concluding exhortations, to watch our heart at every turn ; to deny 
 it its desires ; to suspect it as an enemy ; not to trust it in any thing ; 
 but to pray with importunity and constancy for the grace of God, to 
 bring good out of these evils. 
 
 SERMON V. 
 
 THE FAITH AND PATIENCE OF THE SAINTS; OR, THE 
 RIGHTEOUS CAUSE OPPRESSED. 
 
 I PETER, CHAP, IV. VERSE 17, 18. 
 
 For the time is come that judgment must begin at the house of God : and 
 if it first begin at us, what shall the end be of them that obey not tlie 
 gospel of God? And if the righteous scarcely be saved, where shall the 
 ungodly and the sinner appear ? 
 
 PxiRT I. 
 
 So long as men lived by sense and discourses of natural reason ; so 
 long as they were abated with human infirmities, and not at all 
 heightened by the Spirit and divine revelations, they took their 
 accounts of good and bad by their being prosperous or unfortunate : 
 that only was accounted honest which was profitable ; he only was 
 wise that was rich; and those men were beloved of God, who 
 received from him all that might satisfy their lust, ambition, or 
 revenge. 
 
 But because God sent wise men into the world, and they were 
 treated rudely by the world, and exercised with evil accidents ; and 
 this seemed so great a discouragement to virtue, that even these wise 
 
 PART III. z 
 
342 SUMMARIES OF JEREMY TAYLOR's 
 
 men were more troubled to reconcile virtue and misery, than to 
 reconcile their aftections to the suffering; God was pleased to 
 enlighten their reason with a little beam of faith ; or else he height- 
 ened their reason by wiser principles than those of vulgar under- 
 standing, and taught them, in the clear glass of faith, or the dim 
 perspective of philosophy, to look beyond the cloud, &c. And 
 according as the world grew more enlightened by faith, so it grew 
 more dark with mourning and sorrows : this topic enlarged on. 
 
 Adam was first placed in a garden of health and pleasure ; from 
 which when he fell, he was only tied to enter into the covenant of 
 natural sorrows, which he and his posterity, till the flood, ran 
 through : this state described : but such easiness and quiet was 
 turned by the world into sin ; till God destroyed mankind, that he 
 might begin the government of the world on a new system. 
 
 Then God made new laws ; and gave to princes the power of the 
 sword ; and men's lives were shortened ; and slavery was intro- 
 duced, &c. This state farther described, with the public evils which 
 were then added to the personal miseries of mankind. 
 
 When Christ's line was drawn forth, and Abraham's family was 
 chosen, to belong to God by a special right, God found out a new 
 way to try that patriarch, even with a sound affliction ; the off"ering 
 of his son : this a type of Christ, but a type of sufferings. State 
 of the chosen nation considered ; their sufl'erings and afflictions 
 increasing as the time of Christ's manifestation approached. Then 
 Christ came, at which period the changed method of God's provi- 
 dence was perfected ; for Christ was to do his great work by suffer- 
 ings, and by suff"erings to enter into glory. God made the same 
 covenant with us that he did with his holy Son ; and Christ obtained 
 no better conditions for us than for himself; The servant must not 
 be above his master, &c. : this topic dilated on. 
 
 The state of the gospel then is one of suff'erings, not of temporal 
 prosperities. This was foretold by the prophets : instances quoted. 
 And as it was predicted, so it came to pass. Christ was the captain 
 of our suff'erings; and he began. His entrance into the world with 
 all the circumstances of poverty, his suffering life, and his ignomi- 
 nious death, detailed. His passion may be said also to continue 
 even after his resurrection, since he suffers in all his members, is 
 crucified again, and put to open shame. 
 
 All that Christ came for, was, or was mingled with, sufl^ering ; 
 God being more careful to establish in him the covenant of sufferings 
 than to refresh his sorrows. The peculiar suff'erings of Jesus 
 described : but that which concerns this question most, is, that he 
 established for us a covenant of suff'erings : his doctrines are such, 
 as suppose a state of affliction ; his very promises were sufferings ; 
 his beatitudes were suff'erings ; his rewards and arguments to invite 
 men to follow him, were only taken from suff'erings in this life, and 
 the reward of sufferings hereafter. 
 
 If we sum up the commandments of Christ, we shall find humility, 
 mortification, self-denial, renunciation of the world, mourning, taking 
 
SRKMONS AT GOLDEN GROVE. — V. 343 
 
 lip the cross, patience, poverty, and a dying- for him, standing in 
 the chief rank, and in the direct order to heaven : this subject 
 dilated on. 
 
 Since this was done in the green tree, what might we expect 
 should be done in tlie dry ? Consideration of the manner in which 
 God has treated his saints and followers in the descending ages of 
 the gospel. 
 
 To begin with tlie Apostles, who were to persuade the world to 
 become Christian ; we shall never find that they used any arguments 
 of temporal prosperity : and of all the Apostles, not one, except 
 John, died a natural death. Their various sufferings commented on : 
 those of St. Paul described. 
 
 And now began to work the greatest glory of divine Providence: 
 here was the case of Christianity at stake. The world was rich and 
 prosperous, learned, and fidl of wise men : the gospel was preached 
 with poverty and persecution, in simplicity of discourse, and in 
 demonstration of the spirit: this state farther described, and the 
 victory which Christianity gained over the world. 
 
 Persecutions and martyrdoms in the early ages of the church 
 described. 
 
 When persecution ceased, the Holy Ghost, in pursuance of 
 Christ's design, was pleased to inspire the church with the spirit of 
 austerity and mortification : this topic dilated on. And there is no 
 state in the church so serene, no days so prosperous, in which God 
 does not give to his servants the powers and opportunities of suffering 
 for him : not only they that die for Christ, but they that live accord- 
 ing- to his laws, shall find many ways to suffer for him, in killing and 
 crucifying the old man with his lusts, &c. : this topic enlarged on. 
 
 Let no Christian make any judgment concerning his condition or 
 his cause, by the external event of things : for although in the law of 
 Moses God made with his people a covenant of temporal prosperity, 
 (Src. yet in Christ Jesus he made a covenant of sufferings. Most of 
 the graces of Christianity are suffering graces, and God has predes- 
 tinated us to sufferings, &c. : this topic enlarged on. 
 
 God was fain to multiply miracles to make Christ capable of being 
 a man of sorrows; and shall we think that he will work miracles to 
 render us delicate? He has promised us a glorious portion here- 
 after; and shall we choose our portion of good tkimjs in this life? 
 this subject enlarged on. 
 
 Christ considers nothing but souls ; he values not their bodies or 
 estates, supplying our want by his providence : and we are secured 
 that our bodies may be killed, but cannot perish, so long as we pre- 
 serve our duty and our conscience. Concluding reflections. 
 
 PART II. 
 
 It follows now that we inquire concerning the reasons of divine 
 Providence in this administration of affairs, so far as he hath been 
 
344 SUMMARIES OF JEREMY TAYLOR's 
 
 pleased to draw aside the curtain. In this valley of tears, it is no 
 wonder if they rejoice who shall hereafter weep eternally, and that 
 they who sow in tears shall reap in joy. 
 
 For innocence and joy were appointed to dwell together for ever. 
 And joy went not first; but when innocence went away, sorrow and 
 sickness dispossessed joy of its habitation; and now this world must 
 always be a scene of sorrows, and no joy can grow here but that 
 which is imaginary and fantastic : this enlarged on : but the same 
 instant that sets us free from sin and the failings of mortality, wipes 
 all tears from our eyes : this however is not in this world. In the 
 mean time, 
 
 God afflicts the godly that he may manifest many of his attributes, 
 and his servants exercise many of their virtues. For without the 
 suffering of saints, God would lose the glories of bringing good out of 
 evil; of being with us in tribulation; of sustaining our infirmities ; 
 of triumphing over the malice of his enemies. Without these suffer- 
 ings, where would be the exaltation of the cross ? where the trial of 
 our faith ? or the exercise of long-suffering? or the opportunities to 
 give God the greatest love ? — how should that, which the world calls 
 folly, prove the greatest wisdom ? — how should God be glorified by 
 events contrary to expectation ? 
 
 By the suffering of the saints, the Christian religion is proved to 
 be most excellent and desirable. That man's nature is passible, is its 
 best advantage ; for by it we are all redeemed ; that is, by the pas- 
 siveness and sufferings of our Lord and Brother. Do this and live, 
 was the covenant of the law : but in the gospel it is, suffer this and 
 live. By the sufferings of saints, God chastises their follies, and 
 suffers them not to grow into vices; we must not therefore call that 
 a misery which he intends to make an instrument of saving them. 
 By this economy God gives a great argument to prove the resurrec- 
 tion ; since sorrow cannot be the reward of virtue, &c. The suffer- 
 ings of saints make the sum of Christian philosophy : they are sent 
 to wean us from the vanities of the world, &c. Christ nourishes his 
 church by sufferings : he gives a single blessing to other graces, but 
 a double one to the persecuted, who are innocent and afflicted like 
 him : without this, patience would signify nothing. Moreover, great 
 shall be the reward of that virtue which suffers persecution for 
 Christ's sake : this topic fully dilated on. 
 
 But besides all this, there is another account to be made con- 
 cerning the prosperity of the wicked ; for if judgment first begin at 
 lis, ivhat shall the end be of them that obey not the gospel of God? 
 that is the question of the Apostle, and is the great instrument of 
 comfort to persons ill-treated in the actions of the world. Although 
 the servants of God have suffered calamities from evil men, yet still 
 it is preserved as one of the fundamental truths of Christianity, that 
 all the fair fortunes of the wicked cannot make them happy, nor can 
 persecutions make good men miserable, nor yet are their sadnesses 
 arguments of God's displeasure against them. For when a godly 
 man is afflicted and dies, it is his business; and if the wicked prevail. 
 
SERMONS AT GOLDEN GROVE. — V. 345 
 
 that is, persecute the godly, it is only what was to be expected from 
 them : but we must not judge of the things of God by the measures 
 of men : this illustrated. 
 
 Sin is not virtue because it is prosperous : a little crime is sure to 
 smart ; but when the sinner is rich and prosperous and powerful, he 
 gets impunity ; but that is not innocence : rather he treasures up 
 wrath against the day of wrath, and, by a continued course of sin, 
 he is prepared for an intolerable ruin. The Spirit of God bids us 
 look on the end of these men, not the way they walk, or the instru- 
 ment of that pompous death. Various examples given of virtue and 
 virtuous enterprises unsuccessful in this life. Inhere is indeed no age 
 or state in the world, that hath not ministered an example of an 
 afflicted truth, and of a prevailing sin. 
 
 But what, after all, is the prosperity of the wicked ? To dwell in 
 fine houses, command armies, live luxuriously, &c. Yet consider, 
 would any man amongst us kill his lawful king, to be heir of all 
 these things? Would any man have God angry with him for them? 
 A wise and good man certainly would not : it cannot therefore 
 be any great happiness to thrive on the stock of sin : this topic 
 enlarged on. 
 
 Instances of God's vengeance overtaking sinners or their posterity 
 even in this life. But if we should look under the skirt of the pros- 
 perous and prevailing tyrant, we should find, even in the days of his 
 joy, such allays and abatements of his pleasure, as serve to make him 
 wretched even here, besides his final misery : this enlarged on : stings 
 of conscience described : comforts of innocent poverty : so that they 
 who admire the happiness of a prosperous tyrant, know not the 
 felicities that dwell in innocent hearts, and poor cottages, and small 
 fortunes. 
 
 A Christian, so long as he preserves his integrity, is bold in all 
 accidents ; he dares to die, and he dares to be poor ; but if the per- 
 secutor dies, he is undone : this topic dilated on. 
 
 God hath many ends of providence to serve by the hands of 
 violent and vicious men. By them he not only checks the beginnings 
 of error and sin among his predestinate ; but by them he changes 
 governments, alters kingdoms, and is terrible among the children of 
 men : this subject enlarged on. 
 
 He that shrinks from the yoke of Christ, from the burden of the 
 Lord, will have cause, on his death-bed, to remember that by that 
 time all his persecutions would have been over, and nothing would 
 remain for him but a crown of glory : this topic enlarged on and 
 illustrated. Conclusion. 
 
 PART III. 
 
 But that the persecuted may be aided as far as they are capable, 
 some rules are propounded, by which they may learn to y at her grapes 
 from their thorns. Sorrow must be endured : but the evil and 
 danger of the suffering must be declined, and turned, by spiritual 
 arts, into medicine and health. 
 
310 SUMMARIES OF JEREMY TAYLOR'S 
 
 1. They that suft'er any thing for Christ, and are ready to die for 
 him, let them do nothing against him; for certainly they think too 
 highly of martyrdom, who believe it able to excuse the evils of a 
 wicked life. A man, says the Apostle, may give his body to be 
 burned, and yet have no charity ; and he that dies without charity, 
 dies without God : this topic enlarged on. 
 
 2. He that suffers in a cause of God, must be indifferent what the 
 instance be, so that he may serve God ; must be indifferent in the 
 suffering, so it be of God's appointment: let us choose God, and let 
 him choose all the rest for us. 
 
 3. Whoever suffer in a cause of God, let them not be too forward 
 to prognosticate evil and death to their enemies ; but let them solace 
 themselves in the assurance of the divine justice, by general consi- 
 derations ; and in particular, let them pray for their persecutors : 
 this topic illustrated. 
 
 4. Do not trouble yourself by thinking how much you are afflicted, 
 but consider how much you make of it: for reflections, &c., on the 
 suffering itself can lead to nothing but pride, impatience, temptation, 
 or apostasy. He that measures the grains and scruples of his perse- 
 cution, will soon sit down and call for ease, or for a reward, &c. 
 
 5. Let your suffering be entertained by a direct election, not by 
 collateral aids and fantastic assistances : this particularly applied to 
 the case of martyrdom. And let no man hope to glorify God and 
 gain heaven by a life of sufferings, unless he first begin in the 
 love of God, and thence derive his choice and patience, &c. : this 
 topic dilated on. 
 
 6. Lastly, when God has brought you into Christ's school, and 
 entered you into a state of sufferings, remember the advantages of 
 that state : consider how unsavory earthly things will appear to you, 
 when under the arrest of death ; the comforts of God's Spirit; the 
 sweets of religion ; the vanity of sin's appearances ; your new reso- 
 lutions ; your longings after heaven; and all the things of God. 
 And if God finishes your persecutions with death, proceed in them : 
 if he restores you to the light of the world, change but the scene of 
 sufferings into an active lile, and keep your former principles : this 
 topic enlarged on. 
 
 'J'he whole of the foregoing discourse is now to be made use of, 
 being removed to its utmost spiritual sense, which the Apostle does 
 in the last words of the text : If the righteous scarcely be saved, 
 where shall the wicked and the sinner appear? 
 
 1. These words are taken out of Proverbs xi. 31. according to the 
 translation of the LXX. If the righteous scarcely be safe : where 
 the word (xoXis implies that he is safe, but by intermedial diflficulties: 
 and cro)$eTat, he is safe in the midst of his persecutions: they may 
 disturb his rest, and discompose his fancy ; but they are like the fiery 
 chariot to Elijah ; he is carried up to heaven in a robe of flames : 
 this topic enlarged on. 
 
 2. But /Lio\(s may also signify raio. If the righteous be seldom 
 safe: which implies that he sometimes is, even in a temporal sense. 
 God sometimes sends halcyon days to his church, though it is often 
 
SERMONS AT GOLDEN GROVE. — V. 347 
 
 the greatest blessing not to give us such too freely. But this is fjtvXis, 
 scarcely done : and yet at times it is, and God refreshes languishing 
 piety with such arguments as comply with our infirmities, to support 
 our weak flesh, ^c. and to this purpose also he sometimes sends 
 the thunderbolts of his wrath against evil men, destroying their 
 strongholds, &c. 
 
 And yet, the worst of evils that can happen to the godly, are 
 better, temporally better, than the greatest external felicity of the 
 wicked. 
 
 If it be hard with good men, with the evil it shall be far worse. 
 The godly man is timorous, and yet safe ; impaired by evil accidents, 
 but righted by divine comforts; abused by the world, but yet an 
 heir of heaven ; he hath nothing to afflict him but the loss of that 
 which might be his danger; and, in recompense for this, he hath 
 God for his father, Christ for his captain, the Holy Ghost for his 
 comforter. 
 
 But though Paul and Silas sang psalms in prison, under the hang- 
 man's whip, and in an earthquake; yet neither the jailer, nor the 
 persecuting magistrates could do so : for the prosperity of the wicked 
 is like the winter's sun, or the joy of a condemned drunkard : this 
 state dilated on at large. The godly, in short, are not made unhappy 
 by their sorrows ; and the wicked are such, whom prosperity itself 
 cannot make fortunate. 
 
 3. And yet, after all this, it is but fiuXis (rui^erat, not abyQijaerai : 
 he "escapes but hardly here:" it will be well enough with him 
 hereafter. When persecution hews a man down from a high fortune 
 to the face of the earth, or from thence to the grave, the good man is 
 but preparing for a crown ; and the tyrant does but first knock off 
 the fetters of the soul, the manacles of passion and desire : and if 
 God suflfers him to finish the persecution, he then can but dismantle 
 the soul's prison, and let the soul itself forth to fly unto the moun- 
 tains of rest : this topic enlarged on : also the state of the prosperous 
 wicked, who are as it were fatted for the slaughter, crowned for the 
 sacrifice. Miserable indeed are they who cannot be blessed, unless 
 there be no day of judgment; who must perish, unless the word of 
 God should fail. 
 
318 SUMMARIES OF JEREMY TAYLOR's 
 
 SERMON VI. 
 
 THE MERCY OF THE DIVINE JUDGMENTS; OR, GOD'S 
 ' METHOD IN CURING SINNERS. 
 
 ROMANS, CHAP. II. VERSE 4. 
 
 Despisest thou the riches of his goodness, and forbearance, and long- 
 sufl'ering, not knowing that the goodness of God leadeth thee to 
 repentance? 
 
 PART I. 
 
 From the beginning of time till now, all effluxes which have 
 come from God, have been nothing but emanations of his goodness, 
 clothed in variety of circumstances. He made man with no other 
 design than that man should be happy, and by receiving derivations 
 from his fountain of mercy, might reflect glory to him. This topic 
 enlarged on, and the mercy of God traced through all his dispensa- 
 tions to mankind. The sense and paraphrase of the text is this ; 
 Despisest thoii the riches of his goodness, &c. ? Thou dost not know, 
 that is, thou considerest not, that it is for thy farther benefit God thus 
 acts towards thee ; the goodness of God is not a design to serve 
 his own ends on thee, but thine on him : it leadeth thee to re- 
 pentance. 
 
 The several parts of God's method in curing mankind, namely, 
 XP>joTdrr;s, c'tvoj^)), and fiaKpodvfiUt, laid down in order, and explained. 
 
 1. The first great instrument that God uses to bring us to him, is 
 XPJjoTcrTjs, profit or benejit. And this must needs be ; for those in- 
 struments whereby we have a being, are so great mercies, that besides 
 giving us the capacity of other mercies, they advance us in the 
 greatest instances of promotion in the world. Our creation from 
 nothing to something ; our creation in a rank little lower than that of 
 the angels, with a capacity for eternal blessedness, dilated on. 
 
 God's mercies in the production of us, and the sustaining still 
 farther displayed. But when we degenerated and made ourselves 
 by sin more base and ignoble than all other creatures ; even then, 
 from thenceforward, God began his work of leading us to repentance 
 by the riches of his goodness. 
 
 God's blessings enumerated, in his causing us to be born of 
 Christian parents under so excellent a law, which extends not to 
 fallen angels; excellency of this law, and all it does for us, through 
 the sacrifice and intercession of Christ, &c. enlarged on. And that 
 we may know what he intercedes for, he hath sent ambassadors to 
 declare the purport of his design. And therefore let us here 
 consider, if it be not infinite impiety to despise the riches of such 
 r/oodncss, &c. 
 
 After the enumeration of these prodigies of mercy and loving- 
 
SERMONS AT GOLDEN GROVE. — VI. 340 
 
 kindness, much need not be said on the particular mercies of God to 
 men : but .the poorest person, besides the foregoing graces and bless- 
 ings, hath enough, in the accidents of every day, to shame him into 
 repentance. These divine mercies enumerated. 
 
 If with these good things we remain obdurate, a time will come, 
 when our stony heart will be upbraided to us ; that we made God to 
 sow his seed on the sand : this topic enlarged on and illustrated. 
 
 However, that we may see the greatness of God's goodness, he 
 seldom leaves us thus : for if he sees that his mercies do not allure us 
 and make us thankful, he continues his mercies still to us in a different 
 guise : he is merciful in punishing us, that we may be led to repent- 
 ance by such instruments as will scare us from sin : and here begins 
 the second part of God's method, intimated in the word forbearance. 
 
 2. 'Ayo^ij, or forbearance. God begins his cure by caustics, by 
 incisions and instruments of vexation, to try if the disease that will 
 not yield to the allectives of cordials, frictions, and baths, may be 
 forced out by deleteries, scarifications, and more salutary, but less 
 pleasing physic. The word cifox') signifies laxamentum or inducias, 
 that is, asuspension of God's temporal judgments, that is, a reprieve, 
 or else an ease and remission of them; in both of which, though in 
 judgment, God remembers mercy: yet we are under discipline, and 
 at least are shown the rod. 
 
 This subject considered first in general. The riches of the divine 
 goodness are manifest in beginning this new method of cure by 
 severity, though we may think the way of blessings and prosperity 
 the best : this topic enlarged on. 
 
 Repentance is a duty that best complies with affliction ; this 
 shown. And because God knows this well, and loves us better than 
 we do ourselves, he therefore sends on us the scrolls of vengeance, the 
 hand-writing on the wall, to denounce judgment : not that he always 
 strikes as soon as he sends out his warrants : instances of Noah and 
 Jonas : these were reprieves and deferrings of the stroke. 
 
 But God sometimes strikes once, and then forbears: instances 
 given : these are the louder calls to repentance, but still instances of 
 forbearance. 
 
 Indeed, many times this forbearance makes men impudent : 
 instance of Pharaoh commented on. Cautions to us, not to let his 
 forbearance have the effect of hardening our hearts, &c. 
 
 Exhortations, to remember the resolutions we may have made in 
 any great danger or calamity : to take the account of our lives, and 
 read over the lessons which God has given us ; the dangers we may 
 have escaped ; the blessings we may have received ; the warnings 
 that may have been given to us, &c. Conclusion. 
 
 PART II. 
 
 Third consideration, fxaKpodvfiia, long -suffering. In this one word 
 are contained all the treasures of the divine goodness : here is the 
 length and extension of his mercy. And here also is niuch of the 
 
iioO SUMMARIES OF JEREMY TAYLOR'S 
 
 divine justice: for though God forbears to destroy us, he does not 
 forbear to punish us : and that he should thus bring us to himself, 
 wliether we will or not, by such gracious violences and merciful 
 judgments, which he uses as his last remedies, shows not only a 
 miglity mercy, but an almighty power. 80 hard is it to make us 
 leave our follies, that were not the mercies of God eft'ective with 
 mighty power, every sinner would perish irrevocably. But this is 
 the fiery trial, the last purgatory fire which God uses to purify the 
 dross. When we are under this state of cure, we are so near to 
 destruction, that the same instrument used to cure us, is also prepared 
 to destroy us, &:c. It is sad that we put God to such extremities; 
 and it too often happens, as in long diseases, when the remedies 
 which physicians use for the last seldom prevail. If, when our vices 
 were young and our strength more active, &c. we suffered sin to 
 prevail on us, in the midst of all those remedies which God 
 applied to the beginning of our disease ; much more desperate 
 indeed is our recovery, when the disease is stronger, and our faculties 
 more weak. 
 
 Yet though this be sad, and we should strive against coming to 
 this extremity, if it be on us, we must do as well as we can : but 
 then we are to look on it as a design of God's last mercy, beyond 
 which, if we protract our repentance, our condition is desperately 
 miserable ; the whole state of which mercy we understand by the 
 parable of the king reckoning with his servants that were in arrears 
 to him : this explained. A sentence may be sad, but acted with a 
 gentle instrument ; and it is well for those who are condemned to pay 
 the scores of their sins with a load of judgments, that this will not 
 adhere to them through eternity. When God slew the 23,000 
 Assyrians for their fornication, that was a final justice on their 
 persons, and consigned them to a sad eternity ; for beyond such an 
 affliction there was no remedy : but when God sent lions to the 
 Assyrian inhabitants of Samaria, and drove them to inquire after the 
 manner of the God in the land, &c. that was a judgment and a 
 mercy too : the * long forbearance of God,' who destroyed not all, 
 led * the rest' to repentance. 
 
 1. First observation : that when things come to this pass, and God 
 is forced to the last remedies of judgment, this long-sufferance will 
 little or nothing concern particular persons, but nations and commu- 
 nities of men : for if any are smitten with judgment, if God takes his 
 hands off again, and so opens a way for their repentance by prolong- 
 ing their time, that comes under the second part of God's method, 
 the di'ox'), or forbearance : but if he smites a single person with a 
 final judgment, that is a long -suffering, not of him, but towards 
 others; and God hath destroyed one to make others repent, the 
 former's time being expired, and the date of his possibility deter- 
 mined : this explained. 
 
 2. And this must be observed, that we may truly estimate the acts 
 of the divine justice and mercy. For all the world being but one 
 intire argument of the divine mercy, we are apt to abuse it to vain 
 confidence and presumption ; first, mistaking the end, as if it would 
 
SERMONS AT GOLDEN GROVK. — VI. 351 
 
 be indulgent to our sin : this explained : and also mistaking the 
 economy of it, and the manner of its ministration. 
 
 3. For if God suffers men to go on in sins, and punishes them not, 
 it is not a mercy or a forbearance ; it is a hardening of them, a con- 
 signing them to ruin and reprobation : and they themselves give the 
 best argument to prove it; for they every day multiply their iniquity, 
 and every day grow more an enemy to God. 
 
 A prosperous iniquity is the most un prosperous condition in the 
 world : this illustrated. What wisdom, philosophy, experience, 
 revelation, promises and blessings cannot do, a mighty fear can ; and 
 therefore God's mercy prevails, even when nothing can be discerned 
 but his judgments. 
 
 God's mercy is often given to us in parts, and to certain purposes. 
 Sometimes he only so forgives us, that he does not cut us oft' in the 
 sin, but yet lays on a heavy load of judgment: instance of the 
 Jewish captivity. Sometimes he makes a judgment less, and strikes 
 more gently: instance of David (2 Sam. xii. 13.): sometimes he 
 puts the evil oft' to a farther day, as in the case of Ahab and 
 Hezekiah. And thus, when we have committed a heinous sin 
 against God, we are not sure to be wholly forgiven on our repent- 
 ance ; but are happy if he so far forgive us as to spare us the pains 
 of eternity : instance of David. 
 
 For if we sin and ask God forgiveness, and then are quiet, we feel 
 so little inconvenience in the trade, that we are easily tempted to 
 make a trade of it indeed : this topic enlarged on. No man that 
 hath sinned can be restored to perfect innocence and perfect peace ; 
 so that he must watch and strive always against his sin ; must mourn 
 for it, pray for pardon, and always find cause to hate it, by knowing 
 that he is for ever in danger on account of it, even though God may 
 have pardoned him. 
 
 Sometimes we find a severer judgment happening on a people ; 
 and yet his mercy generally prevails over his justice. The result is, 
 that God's mercies are not, and ought not to be instruments of 
 confidence to sin, because the very purpose of his mercy is to the 
 contrary ; and the very manner of his economy is such, that his 
 mercy goes along in conjunction with his judgments: this topic 
 enlarged on. 
 
 The use of all the premises is that which St. Paul expresses in 
 the text, that ive do not despise all this ; and he only despises not, 
 who serves the end of God in all these designs of mercy, that is, who 
 repents of his sins. But there are many despisers : these described, 
 and their folly pointed out. 
 
3i>2 SUMMARIES OF JEREMY TAYLOR'S 
 
 SERMON VII. 
 OF GROWTH IN GRACE. 
 
 2 PETER, CHAP. III. VERSE 18. 
 
 But grow in grace, and in the knowlege of the Lord Jesus Clirist, to 
 whom be glory both now and for ever. Amen. 
 
 PART I. 
 
 When Christianity first enlightened the world, amazing the minds 
 of men, entertaining their curiosity, and seizing on their affections, it 
 was no wonder that whole nations were converted at a sermon, that 
 multitudes were instantly professed, that their understandings fol- 
 lowed their affections, and their wills followed their understandings, 
 &c. All this was a great instance of providence, for the firm 
 planting of Christianity, and aft'oiding precedents and examples to 
 all future ages. Universality and fervor of piety among Christians 
 in those early times descanted on. This lasted about three hun- 
 dred years ; after which it has gone on declining : heresies first 
 crept in, pride increased, faith was weakened, and charity was 
 lessened, &c. 
 
 But because such is the nature of things, that either they grow 
 towards perfection, or decline towards dissolution, there is no proper 
 way to secure religion, but by setting its growth forward. 
 
 The way of doing this indicated in the text, but grotv in grace. 
 Considerations proposed concerning, 1. What the state of grace is, 
 into which we must enter, in order that we may grow in it: 2. The 
 proper parts, acts, and offices of growing in grace: 3. The proper 
 signs, consequences, and significations, whereby we may perceive 
 that ICC arc groivn, and so judge of our state, &c. 
 
 1. Concerning the state of grace, it may be said, that no man can 
 be in it who retains an affection for any one sin : this topic enlarged 
 on. When we have left every sin, when we resolve never to return 
 to the chains, when we have no love for the world, but such as may 
 become a servant of God, then we may be said to have entered into a 
 state of grace, whence this precept may commence, gi'otv in grace, 
 and in the knowlege of our Lord Jestis Christ, 
 
 And now the first part of this duty is, to make religion the chief 
 business of life ; for this is the great instrument to produce our 
 growth in grace, and the perfection of a Christian ; for a man cannot, 
 after a state of sin, be instantly a saint, &c. : this topic enlarged on. 
 God has sent us into the world for religion ; we are but to pass 
 through our pleasant fields or our hard labors, to lodge awhile in our 
 fair palaces or in our meaner cottages ; but then only it is that man 
 does his proper employment, when he prays, acts charitably, restrains 
 his lusts and passions, and strives to imitate his Saviour. Then he 
 
SERMONS AT GOLDEN GROVE.— VII. 353 
 
 is dressing himself for eternity, where he must abide, either in bliss 
 or in misery, &c. Let us not be weary then in well-doing-, &c. 
 That is the first particular. 
 
 2. The second step of our growth is, when virtues grow habitual, 
 apt and easy in our manners and dispositions. The way is long and 
 difficult at first ; but in the progress and pursuit we find all the knots 
 made plain, and the rough ways made smooth. The spirit of grace 
 is like a new soul within a man, giving him new appetites and new 
 pleasures, rendering- worldly things unsavory to his appetite, but 
 those of religion delicious : this topic enlarged on. 
 
 3. But because, in the course of holy living, the sensible relishes, 
 the flowerings of aftection, the zeal and visible expressions do not 
 always make the same emission, but we are sometimes more busy 
 and intent on the actions of religion ; in such cases we are to judge 
 of our growth in grace, if, after every interval of extraordinary piety, 
 the next return be more devout and affectionate, the labor more 
 cheerful and active; — if religion returns oftener, stays longer, and 
 leaves more satisfaction in the spirit: this dilated on. 
 
 4. To discern our growth in grace, we must inquire concerning; 
 our passions, whether they be mortified and quiet, complying with 
 the ends of virtue, and under command ; for since they are the 
 matter of virtue and vice respectively, he that hath brought into his 
 power all the strengths of the enemy, and the fortresses from whence 
 the enemy infested him, he only hath secured a holy walking with 
 God. But because this thing is never perfectly done, and yet must 
 always be doing, grace grows according as we finish our portions of 
 the work. 
 
 And although no man must take account of his being in or out of 
 the state of grace, by his being dispassionate ; yet, as to the securing 
 that state, he must provide that he be not the slave of passion : so to 
 declare his growth in grace, he must be sure to take the measures of 
 his affections, and see that they be lessened : he must see if his fear 
 be turned into caution, his lust into chaste friendship, his imperious 
 spirit into prudent government, his revenge into justice, &c. : and 
 not this only; in his scrutiny and judgment concerning his passions, 
 he must watch against passions in the reflex act, against self-com- 
 placency or peevishness attending on virtue: this explained. 
 Conclusion. 
 
 PART II. 
 
 5. He is well grown in or towards the state of grace, who is more 
 patient of a sharp reproof than of a secret flattery. They who are 
 furious against their monitors are incorrigible ; but it is one degree of 
 meekness to suffer discipline ; and a meek man cannot easily be a 
 bad man, especially in the present instance. But it must be observed 
 that this is only a good disposition towards repentance and resti- 
 tution ; it is a sign of growth in grace, according as it becomes 
 natural, easy, and habitual. To endure a reproof without adding a 
 new sin, is the first step to amendment; that is, to endure it without 
 
354 SUMMARIES OF JEREMY TAYLOR's 
 
 scorn, hatred, or iiulignation. 2. Tlie next is to suffer reproof witli- 
 out excusing ourselves; which is only to set it aside in a civil 
 manner. 3. Then he that proceeds in this instance, will admit it 
 without regret, or secret murmuring and unwillingness. 4. But it", 
 in addition to this, he voluntarily confesses his fault, and eases his 
 spirit of the infection, then it is certain that he is not only a professed 
 enemy to sin, but a zealous and prudent person, active against all its 
 interests; who never counts himself at ease but while he rests on the 
 banks of Sion, or at the gates of the temple ; he reckons it no shame 
 to be abased in the face of men, so that he may be gracious in the 
 sight of God : this topic enlarged on. 
 
 C. He that is grown in grace and the knovvlege of Christ, esteems 
 no sin to be little or contemptible ; none fit to be cherished or 
 indulged in. He not only thinks that it is inconsistent with the love 
 of God to entertain any indecency or beginning of a crime, but he 
 always remembers how much it cost him to arrive at the good state 
 to which the grace of God hath already brought him. It makes 
 men negligent when they have an opinion that they are persons extra- 
 ordinary in nothing ; that a little care will not mend them ; that 
 another sin cannot make them much worse : but it is a sign of a 
 tender conscience and a reformed spirit, when a man is sensible of 
 every alteration ; when an idle word is troublesome ; when a wan- 
 dering thought puts the spirit on its guard ; when a too free merri- 
 ment is wiped off with a sigh and a sad thought, a severe recollec- 
 tion, and a holy prayer. 
 
 7. He that is grown in grace, pursues virtue for its own interest, 
 without the mixture of collateral designs and equally-inclining pur- 
 poses. God, in the beginning of our returns to him, entertains us 
 with promises and threats, and the apprehension of temporal advan- 
 tages, with fear and with shame, &c. ; and, at first, men snatch at 
 the lesser or lower ends of virtue, and such rewards as are visible, 
 and which God sometimes gives in hand, to entertain our weak and 
 imperfect desires : this topic enlarged on. But perfect persons 
 should serve God out of mere love to him and his divine excellences ; 
 and, doubtless, many come to that growth of charity, that the good- 
 ness and excellency of God are more pressing on their spirit than 
 any considerations of reward ; they love God for himself, and do 
 their duties for the fruition of him and his pleasure ; all that, is but 
 heaven in another sense, and under another name. 
 
 H. Some men there are, who in the beginning of their holy walking 
 with God, and while they are babes in Christ, are presently busied 
 in delights of prayers, and rejoice in public communion, and count 
 all solemn assemblies as festivals : but as they are pleased with them, 
 so they can easily be without them : but it is the sign of a common 
 and vulgar love, only to be pleased with the company of a friend, 
 and to be as well without him : this enlarged on. 
 
 9. But as some are active only in the presence of a good object, 
 but remiss and careless for the want of it ; so, on the other hand, an 
 infant grace is safe in the absence of a temptation, but falls easily 
 when it is in presence. He, therefore, that would understand if he 
 
SERMONS AT GOLDKN (iROVE. — VII. 335 
 
 be grown in grace, may coiisiilcr if liis satoty consists only in peace, 
 or in the strength of the Spirit. It is good tliat we will not seek 
 opportunities of sin ; but are we not too apprehensive of it when it is 
 presented ? or do we not sink under it when it presses us ? This 
 topic enlarged. on. 
 
 10. No man is grown in grace, but he that is ready for every 
 work ; that chooses not his employment ; that refuses no imposition 
 from God, or his superior. A ready hand, an obedient heart, and a 
 willing, cheerful soul, in all the work of OJod, and in every office of 
 religion, is a great index of a good proficient in the ways of godli- 
 ness. This is not to be expected from beginners ; for they must be 
 enticed with fit employments ; and it may be that their office and 
 work so fits their spirits, as to make them first in love with it, and 
 then with God for giving it : this enlarged on. 
 
 11. Lastly; some there are, who are firm in all great and foreseen 
 changes, and have laid up in tlie storehouses of the spirit, reason 
 and religion, arguments and discourses enough to defend them against 
 all violences, c*v:c. : but something may be wanting yet ; and in the 
 direct progress towards heaven, that may be called an infallible sign 
 of a great grace, and the greatest degree of it, when a man is prepared 
 against sudden invasions of the spirit, surreptitious and extemporary 
 assaults : this topic enlarged on. These are the parts, acts, and 
 offices of our growing in grace : concerning which a few cautions 
 must be interposed. 
 
 1. The growth of grace is to be estimated as other moral things 
 are; not according to the growth of things natural. Grace does 
 not grow by observation, and a continual efflux, and a constant pro- 
 portion, &c. 
 
 2. It is not always to be discerned, in single instances, or in single 
 graces. 
 
 3. We must be careful to observe that these rules are not all to be 
 understood negatively, but positively and affirmatively : that is, a 
 man may conclude he is grown in grace, if he observe in himself the 
 characters above mentioned ; but he must not conclude negatively, 
 or that he is not grown in grace, if he cannot observe such signal 
 testimonies : this enlarged on. 
 
 4. In considering our growth in grace, let us take more care to 
 reckon matters that concern justice and charity, than those that 
 concern the virtue of religion ; because in these may be much, in the 
 other there cannot easily be any illusion and cozenage. 
 
 To these parts and actions of a good life, or growth in grace, are 
 added some considerations, which are rather signs than parts of it : 
 such as, 1. To praise all good things, and to imitate what we praise : 
 2. 'Vo feel a noble emulation : 3. To bear sickness patiently, and to 
 improve it : 4. Devotion and delight in prayer : 5. Whispers of 
 God's Spirit, prompting us to obedience : 6. The ofl^"ering of peace 
 to those that have injured us, &c. : 7. Love to the brethren : 8. Not 
 repining at the honors or fortune of others: i). A freedom from 
 temptation, dc. : 10. An excellent habit of body and of the material 
 
356 SUMMARIES OF JEREMY TAYLOR'S 
 
 passions: 11. Peculiar acts of devotion ; but though those may pro- 
 ceed from a great love ot" virtue, yet because some men may do these 
 and no more, they are not to be relied on : but we must be content 
 to work on still. Conclusion. 
 
 SERMON VIII. 
 
 OF GROWTH IN SIN ; OR, THE SEVERAL STATES AND 
 DEGREES OF SINNERS, WITH THE MANNER HOW THEY 
 ARE TO BE TREATED. 
 
 JUDE, VERSES 22, 23. 
 
 And of some have compassion, making a difference: And others save 
 with fear, pulling them out of the fire. 
 
 PART I. 
 
 Man has but one entrance into the world, but a thousand exits. 
 And as in the natural, so it is in the spiritual state : nothing but the 
 union of faith and obedience can secure our regeneration ; but there 
 are a thousand passages turning to darkness. There are various 
 stages and descents to death, as there are degrees of torment in the 
 kingdom of sorrow: yet for every one of these stages of sin, God 
 hath measured out a proportion of mercy. If sin aboimds, grace 
 shall tnuc/i more abound. Yet there are some sins for which God 
 bath not appointed a remedy : some men have sinned like the fallen 
 angels, and have outrun the conditions of grace. This is a state to 
 be avoided with all care and anxiety. The aim of this discourse 
 stated : — to remonstrate on the several states of sin and death, and to 
 show the remedies which God hath proportioned for them ; that we 
 may observe the evils of the least, and so avoid the intolerable 
 mischiefs of the greater ; lest we fall into such sins as the eternal God 
 will never pardon. 
 
 I. Of some have compassion. These reduced to four heads or 
 orders of men and actions: all which have their proportional 
 remedies, 
 
 1. The first are those that sin without observation of their peculiar 
 state ; either because they are uninstructed in the special cases 
 of conscience, or because they do an evil against which there is no 
 express commandment. Millions are in a state of sickness and 
 danger, who are made to believe that they are in perfect health : and 
 they do actions concerning which they never made a question 
 whether they were just or not, nor were ever taught by what names 
 to call them: this explained. Others sin, because the crime is not 
 under the restraint of an express commandment, and there is no 
 
SERMONS AT GOLDRN GROVE. — Vlll. 357 
 
 letter of the law to condemn them by an express sentence : this 
 enlarged on. 2. Men sin without an. express prohibition, when they 
 commit a thing that is like to a forbidden evil. When St. Paul had 
 reckoned many works of the flesh, he adds, and such like ; that is, all 
 that have the same unreasonableness and carnality : this explained. 
 3. A man is guilty, even when no law names his action, if he does 
 any thing that is a cause or an effect, a part or unhandsome adjunct, 
 of a forbidden instance : this explained. 4. Besides the express 
 laws of our religion, there is a universal line and limit to our passions 
 and designs, which is called the analogy of Christianity, that is, the 
 proportion of its sanctity, and the strictness of its holy precepts. 
 This is not forbidden ; but does it become you ? Is it decent 
 in a Christian to live in plenty and ease, and heap up money, and 
 never to partake of Christ's passions? this subject dilated on. It is 
 but reasonable that we should take account of our lives by the pro- 
 portions, as well as by the express rules of our religion ; for that 
 which in the accounts of men is called reputation and public honesty, 
 is the same which in religion we call analogy and proportion : this 
 point enlarged on. 
 
 II. The next sort of those who are in the state of siii, and yet to 
 be handled gently and with compassion, are those who entertain 
 themselves with the beginnings and little entrances of sin: this point 
 enlarged on : the compassion to be used to such persons is the com- 
 passion of a severe tutor or of a physician. Chastise thy infant sin by 
 discipline and acts of virtue. He that means to be temperate, and 
 to avoid the crime and dishonor of drunkenness, must not love 
 to partake of the songs, or bear a part in the foolish scenes of 
 laughter which distract Wisdom, and fright her from the company. 
 Danger of admitting the first entrances of sin described, and illus- 
 trated by a beautiful simile. 
 
 III. There are some who are very much to be pitied and assisted, 
 because they are going into hell, and, as matters stand with them, 
 they cannot, or they think they cannot, avoid it. There are persons 
 whose life is wholly in dependence on the will of others; and if the 
 prince or patron be vicious and imperious, it is the loss of his 
 dependent's fortune not to lose his soul : state of such persons 
 enlarged on. So also it is when ignorant people are catechised into 
 false doctrine, and know nothing but such principles as weaken the 
 nerves and enfeeble the joints of holy living; they never heard of any 
 other. State of those considered who follow great and evil examples, 
 who are engaged in the public sins of a kingdom, which they under- 
 stand not, and either must venture to be undone on the strength 
 of their own little reasonings, or else must go where the popular 
 misery has made the way plain before their eyes, though it be 
 uneven and dangerous to their consciences- Many, if they be left 
 alone, out of the sight of their tempter, go whither their education or 
 custom carries them : but it is not in some natures to deny the face of 
 a man and the boldness of a sinner, especially when it is not their 
 interest to do so. These men are in a pitiable condition, and are to 
 be helped by the following rules: — 
 
 Part hi. 2 a 
 
358 SLIMMARJKS OF JEREMY TAYLORS 
 
 1. Let every man consider that he has two relations to serve, and 
 he stands between God and his master, or his nearest relative : in 
 such cases it comes to be disputed, which interest is to be preferred ; 
 which of the persons is to be displeased, God or his master, God or his 
 prince, God or his friend. If we be servants of the man, let us 
 remember that we are also servants of God : this topic enlarged on. 
 
 2. The next advice to persons thus tempted is, that they should 
 learn to separate duty from mistaken interest: let them both be 
 served in their just proportions, when we have learned to make a dif- 
 ference. Take tlie counsel of the son of Sirach : ' Accept no person 
 against thy soul, and let not the reverence of any man cause thee 
 to fall.' 
 
 3. When passion mingles with duty, and is a necessary instrument 
 of serving God, let not passion run its own course, and pass on 
 to liberty, and thence to license and dissoluteness : this explained. 
 
 4. Let every such tempted person remember, that all evil comes 
 from ourselves, and siot from others ; and therefore all pretences and 
 prejudices, all commands and temptations, all opinions and neces- 
 sities, are but instances of our weakness, and arguments of our folly ; 
 for unless we listed, no man could make us drink beyond our 
 measures ; and if I tell a lie for the advantage of my master or my 
 friend, it is because I prefer a little money or flattery before my 
 honor and innocence : this topic dilated on to the end. 
 
 PART IT. 
 
 IV. The last sort of those that sin, and yet are to be treated with 
 compassion, is of them that interrupt the course of an honest life with 
 single acts of sin ; whose resolution stands fair, and whose hearts 
 sojourn in religion, or rather dwell there ; though, like evil husbands, 
 they go abroad and enter into places of dishonor and unthriftiness. 
 Such as these all histories remember w ith a sad character : instance 
 of David. God has given us precepts of such holiness and purity, 
 meekness and humility, as have no pattern but Christ, no precedent 
 but his own purity : and therefore it is intended that we should not 
 live a life whose actions are chequered with white and black, half sin 
 and half virtue. It is not meant by this that a man's life must be as 
 pure as the sun : but it may be like the moon, in which there are spots, 
 but they are no deformity ; a lessening only and an abatement of 
 light : this enlarged on. The danger of allowing ourselves to enter 
 on the confines of vice, to see the beauties, as it were, of the enemy's 
 country, described : comparison of Dinah, Jacob's daughter. When 
 men thus fall, not by design, but by folly; not by malice, but by 
 surprise; not by the strength of the will, but by the weakness 
 of grace: they are to be treated with great compassion, and to be 
 assisted by the following considerations and exercises : — 
 
 1. First, we should consider, that for a good man to be overtaken 
 in a single crime, is the greatest dishonor and unthriftiness in the 
 world. • As a fly in a box of ointment, so is a little folly to him who 
 
SERMONS AT GOLDEN GROVK.— VIM. 359 
 
 is accounted wise.' Evil of this dilated on. Every crime com- 
 mitted interrupts the acceptation of grace, and makes the man to enter 
 into a state of enmity with God. Sins once pardoned return again to 
 all the purposes of mischief, if we, by a new sin, forfeit God's former 
 loving-kindness. Such imprudence compared with theirs, who throw 
 away in one night the wealth of long saving. They sow much and 
 gather little, stay long and return empty, &c. This consideration 
 ought to be effective in restraining us from sins, if the particulars be 
 summed up : for he that hath lived well, and then falls into a 
 deliberate sin, is infinitely dishonored, is most imprudent, unsafe, and 
 unthankful. 
 
 2. Let persons tempted to single instances of sin in a laudable life, 
 be very careful that they sufi'er not themselves to be drawn aside by 
 the eminence of great examples : instances cited. Exhortation, that 
 we should first be as devout as David, and as good a Christian as St. 
 Peter, and then we shall not dare, with design, to do that into 
 which they fell by surprise : and if we should fall as they did, then, 
 when we have repented like them, it may be said of us, that we did 
 fall and break our bones, bjit God did heal and pardon us, 
 
 3. Remember, that since no man can please God, or be partaker 
 of any promises, or reap the reward of any actions in the returns of 
 eternity, unless he performs to God an intire duty, according to the 
 capacities of a man so taught, tempted, and assisted, such a person 
 must take care that he be not cozened with the duties and per- 
 formances of any one relation. Some there are who think that all 
 religion consists in prayer, or in public and private offices of devotion : 
 others judge themselves as they are spoken of by their betters: some 
 have been admired abroad, in whom their own family never saw any 
 thing excellent, &:c. 
 
 4. He that hath passed many stages of a good life, to prevent his 
 being tempted to a single sin, must be very careful that he never 
 entertain his spirit with the remembrance of past sins, nor amuse 
 it with fantastic apprehension of the present. When the Israelites 
 fancied the relish of the flesh-pots, they longed to return and taste : 
 this topic enlarged on. We cannot stand, unless we be watchful in 
 this particular. 
 
 These are the sorts of men who are to be used with compassion, 
 concerning whom we are to make a difference, as says the text. 
 Danger of the sins above-mentioned, and methods of our treating 
 them in others, still farther dilated on. 
 
 II. Others save with fear, pnlling them out of the Jire. Some 
 sins there are, which in tiieir own nature are damnable; and some 
 are such as will certaiidy bring a man to damnation : this topic 
 dilated on. If any man hath fallen, by great and repeated crimes, 
 into a sinful habit, his case is little less than desperate : but that little 
 hope which remains, has its degree, according to the infancy or the 
 growth of the habit. 
 
 1. For all sins less than habitual, it is certain a pardon is ready on 
 repentance; that is, to all that sin in ignorance, infirmity, or inad- 
 vertency ; in small instances, or infrequent returns ; with involuntary 
 
360 SUMMARIES OF JEREMY TAYLOR'S 
 
 actions, or imperfect resolutions : but humility, and praj'er, and 
 watchfulness, are the direct instruments of the expiation of such 
 sins. 
 
 2. But then, secondly, whosoever sins without these abating cir- 
 cumstances, that is, in great instances, where his understanding cannot 
 be deceived ; or in the frequent repetitions of any sin, where his 
 choice cannot be surprised; where there is a love of the sin, and a 
 power over his resolutions ; — in these cases it is a miraculous grace, 
 and an extraordinary change, that must turn the current of iniquity : 
 and pardon is more uncertain, and repentance more difficult, and the 
 man must be made miserable, that he may not be accursed for ever. 
 1. His pardon is uncertain, because there are some sins unpar- 
 donable, and they are not all particularly named, &c. 2. It may 
 also be, that the time of pardon is past. 3. Pardon of such habitual 
 sins is uncertain, because life itself is so ; and such sins require much 
 time for expiation. 4. Every delay of return is, in the case of habitual 
 sins, an approach to desperation ; because the nature of habits is like 
 that of crocodiles, which grow as long as they live, &c. But as the 
 pardon of these sins is uncertain, so the conditions of restitution are 
 hard even to them who shall be pardoned. St. James (ch. iv. 
 1. 3.) plainly declares the possibility of pardon to great sins; these 
 specified : and also (ch. v. 20.) implies it to an habitual sinner. 
 But then, the way that he appoints for the restitution of such persons, 
 is humiliation, penances, and afflictions, resisting the devil, returning 
 to God with weeping and mourning, &c. (ch. iv. and v.) These are 
 harder conditions than God requires in the former cases ; and are a 
 kind of fiery trial. 
 
 Some additional cautions given ; since the nature of these sins 
 is such, that they may increase in weight and duration ; and then 
 they will increase in mischief and fatal effects ; and so go beyond the 
 text. One more topic dilated on ; namely, that there are some 
 single actions of sin, of so great malice, that in their own nature they 
 are beyond the limit of gospel pardon : several such enumerated. 
 Conclusion. 
 
SKRMONS AT GOl-DEN GROVE. — IX. 361 
 
 SERMON IX. 
 THE FOOLISH EXCHANGE. 
 
 MATTHEW, CHAP. XVI. VERSE 20. 
 
 For what is a man profited, if lie shall gain the whole world, and lose his 
 own soul ? or what shall a man give in exchange for his soul ? 
 
 PART I. 
 
 When God's mercy had decreed to rescue mankind from misery, 
 and so triumphed over his own justice, the excellent wisdom of God 
 resolved to do it in ways contradictory to the appetites and designs 
 of man, that it might also triumph over our weaknesses and imper- 
 fect conceptions. Jesus Christ hath preached a new philosophy, and 
 cancelled all the old principles; he hath reduced the appetites of 
 sense to the discourses of reason, and heightened reason to the sub- 
 limities of the Spirit ; for now sensual pleasures are not delightful ; 
 riches are but dross: now if you would enjoy life, you must die ; if 
 you would be at ease, you must take up Christ's cross ; if you would 
 be rich, you must abound in good works, &c. And therefore he 
 having stated the question so, that either we must quit this world or 
 the other, our affections to this or our interest in that, the choice is 
 rendered easy by the words of the text ; because the distance is not 
 less than infinite: the comparison is between heaven and hell, 
 eternity and a moment, &c. What shall it profit a man ? or what 
 shall a man give? Is there any exchange for a man's soul? The 
 question is an Hvlrjam of the negative. Nothing can be given as a 
 price to satisfy us for its loss. The blood of the Son of God was 
 given to recover it. When our souls were forfeited to God, nothing 
 less could pay the price to him, who was yet not concerned in the 
 loss, save only as regarded his pity : this topic enlarged on. After 
 which it is proposed to consider, first, the propositions of the 
 exchange; the world and a man's soul : secondly, what is likely to 
 be obtained really of the world ; and what are really the miseries 
 of a lost soul : thirdly, what considerations may be applied to our 
 practice. 
 
 1. First, then, suppose a man gets all the world ; what is it that 
 he gets? It is a bubble and a phantasm, and hath no reality beyond 
 a present transient use; a thing that is impossible to be enjoyed, 
 because its fruits and usages are transmitted to us by parts and by 
 succession : this enlarged on. 
 
 2. It may be considered, that he who is the greatest possessor in 
 the world, enjoys its best and most noble parts, only in common with 
 inferior persons and the most despicable of his kingdom. The 
 poorest artisan of Rome, walking in Ciesar's gardens, had the same 
 pleasures which they ministered to their lord. 
 
362 SUMMARIES OF JEREMY TAYLOR's 
 
 3. Suppose a man lortl of all the world, yet since every thing is 
 received, not according to its own greatness and worth, but accord- 
 ing to the capacity of the receiver, it signifies very little as to our 
 content. He to whom the world can be given, to any purpose 
 greater tlian a private estate can minister, must have new capacities 
 created in him : this topic enlarged on. 
 
 4. The greatest vanity of this world is remarkable in this ; that 
 all its joys summed up together are not big enough to counterpoise 
 the evil of one sharp disease, or to allay a single sorrow ; whilst a 
 holy conscience can sweeten the most bitter potion of this world, 
 making tortures and death itself a subject of joy. 
 
 5. Suppose a man lord of all this world, a universal monarch: 
 this cannot minister content to him ; not that content which a poor 
 contemplative man, by the strength of Christian philosophy, and the 
 support of a very small fortune, daily enjoys. All his power cannot 
 command the sea, or make his children dutiful and wise : this 
 enlarged on. Imagine a person as blessed as can be supposed with 
 regard to worldly interest ; when all his accounts are cast up, he 
 differs nothing from his subjects or servants but in mere circumstance : 
 he has more to wait at his tables, more ceremonies of address, and 
 higher titles; but can a multitude of dishes give him a good appe- 
 tite ? or does not satiety cloy it ? this enlarged on. 
 
 6. But this supposition hath a lessening term. If a man could be 
 born heir of all the world, it were something; but no man ever was 
 so, except him who enjoyed it least. But in the supposition it is. 
 If a man could gain the whole world; which supposes labor and 
 sorrow, trouble and hazard, &c. that besides the possession not being 
 secured to us for a term of life, our lives are almost expired before 
 we become fixed in our purchase : this topic enlarged on. 
 
 II. But still all this is only a supposition, like the putting of a 
 case, or a fiction of law. For if we consider how much every man 
 is likely to get really, and how much it is possible for any man to 
 get, we shall find the account far shorter yet, and the purchase most 
 trifling and inconsiderable. For the world is enjoyed at the same 
 time by all its inhabitants, and the same portion of it by several 
 persons in their several capacities. A prince enjoys his whole king- 
 dom, not as all his people enjoy it, but in the manner of a prince ; 
 the subject in the manner of subjects : this enlarged on. 
 
 2. But consider how far short of the whole world the greatest 
 prince that ever reigned did come. Instance of Alexander the 
 Great. But why talk thus? Every man that loses his soul for the 
 world must not look to have the portion of a king : this enlarged on. 
 
 3. Though these premises may suffice to show that the supposed 
 purchase is but vain, yet even the possession of it, whatsoever it be, 
 is not pure and unmixed, but allayed with sorrow and uneasiness : 
 this topic enlarged on. 
 
 4. He that enjoys a great portion of this world, hath most com- 
 monly the allay of some great cross, which, although God sometimes 
 designs in mercy to wean his affections from worldly things, is yet an 
 insepaidblo appendant and condition of humanity. We shall gene- 
 
SERMONS AT GOLDEN GROVE. — IX. 303 
 
 rally find him to be raost happy that hath most of wisdom and least 
 of the world ; because he only hath the least danger and the most 
 security. 
 
 5. And, lastly, his soul so gets nothing, that wins all this world, 
 it" he loses his soul, that it is ten to one but he that gets the one, 
 shall thereby lose the other: for to a great fortune sin is so adherent 
 and insinuating, that it comes to him in the nature of civility. Its 
 possessor will have no real friends to point out to him the danger of 
 his ways. 
 
 We may omit to speak of the habitual intemperance which is too 
 commonly annexed to festive and delicious tables, where there is no 
 other measure and restraint on the appetite, but its fulness and 
 satiety. Ai\d although the grace of God is sufficient to great per- 
 sonages and masters of the world, yet it is a mercy mi.\ed with 
 danger. Happy are they who use the world, and abuse it not; who 
 possess a part of it, and love it for no other ends but the necessities 
 of nature, and the discharge of religious and charitable offices. 
 Conclusion. 
 
 PART II. 
 
 And lose his own soul? or xvhat: shall a man give in exchange Jor 
 his soul? And now the question is finally stated; and the dispute 
 is concerning the sum of aftairs. Therefore when the soul is at 
 stake, and that for its eternal interests, it is not good to be hasty 
 without taking just measures of the exchange. But the nature of 
 the bargain will be better understood, if we consider the soul that is 
 exchanged ; what it is in itself; what price the Son of God paid for 
 it ; and what it is to lose it. 
 
 I. First, if we consider what the soul is in its own capacity for 
 happiness, we shall find it to be of an excellency greater than the 
 sun, an image of the Divinity, &c. For the Scriptures inform us 
 that God made man after his own image: this explained. But the 
 soul is all that whereby we may be, and without which we cannot be 
 happy : this topic enlarged on. The excellency of the soul may be 
 inferred from the consideration, that we ourselves cannot understand 
 how excellently perfect it is; that being the best way of expressing 
 our conceptions of God himself: the means whereby the soul receives 
 pleasure commented on. But the losing a soul is not a mere priva- 
 tion of those felicities, of which the soul is naturally designed to be 
 a partaker, but it is an investing it with contrary objects, and cross 
 eftects, and contrary perceptions, &c. 
 
 II. Secondly, If we consider the price paid by the Son of God 
 for the redemption of a soul, we shall make a better estimate of it 
 than from the weak discourses of our imperfect philosophy. Not 
 the spoil of rich provinces, not the value of kingdoms, not the price 
 of Cleopatra's draught, nor any thing which was unable to retard 
 for one minute the term of its own natural dissolution, could be a 
 price for the redemption of one perishing soul, «!i:c. 
 
364 SUMMARIES Of JEREMY TAYLORS 
 
 When God made a soul, it was only, Let ns make man, &,c. He 
 spake the word, and it was done. But when man had lost this soul, 
 which the Spirit of God breathed into him, it was not so soon 
 recovered : this eidarged on. 
 
 A soul ill God's account is valued at the price of the blood, and 
 shame, and tortures of his beloved Son ; and yet we throw it away 
 for the exchange of sins that a man is naturally ashamed to own : 
 this topic enlarged on. And all vice is unreasonable; the most 
 splendid temptation being nothing but a well-weaved fallacy, a mere 
 tritk, a sophism, and an abuse of the understanding. M'hat an 
 affront then is this to the wisdom of God, thus to undervalue a soul 
 in which our own interest is so concerned, and for which, when lost, 
 he gave the ransom of his eternal Son ! Tt may be said, that when 
 a soul is so valued, we ought not to venture the loss of it, even to 
 save the world : this explained, 
 
 III. But it may be, some natures, or some understandings, care 
 not for all this. We proceed therefore to the third and most mate- 
 rial consideration, namely, what it is to lose a soul ; which Hierocles 
 thus explains: " An immortal substance can die, not bv ceasing to 
 be, but by losing all well-being," or by becoming miserable ; which 
 agrees with the caution given us by our Saviour, not to fear them 
 that can kill the body only, but him ivho is able to destroy both body 
 and soul in hell ; which word signifies, not death, but tortures. 
 
 Some brief explication of the terms used in Scripture to represent 
 to our understandings the greatness of this perishing : hell-fire, brim- 
 stone and fire ; that which our Saviour calls the oute}' darkness; 
 where, because God's justice rules alone, without the allays and 
 sweet abatements of mercy, there shall be pure and unmingled 
 misery, beyond all those expressions which the tortures of this world 
 could furnish to the sacred writers. 
 
 This consideration represented in that expression of our blessed 
 Saviour, which he took out of the prophet Isaiah, ichere the icorm 
 dieth not, and the fire is not quenched. This quotation commented 
 on, and illustrated from Isaiah xxxiv. 8, &c. ; where the prophet 
 prophesies of the great destruction of Jerusalem for all her iniquities. 
 It is the day of the Lord's vengeance, and the year of recompenses for 
 the controversy of Sion, &c. 
 
 Comment on the words for ever, — everlasting, — eternal, — the 
 never-dying ivorm, — the fire unquenchable. Being words borrowed 
 by our Saviour and his Apostles from the Old Testament, they must 
 have a signification proportionable to the state in which they have 
 their signification ; so that as this worm, when it signifies a temporal 
 infliction, means a worm that never ceases giving torment till the 
 body is consumed ; when it is translated to an immortal state, it 
 must signify as much in that proportion : this subject carried on. 
 
 Even if Origen's opinion were true, and accursed souls were to 
 have a period to their tortures after a thousand years, would it not 
 be madness to choose the pleasures of a few years here, with trouble, 
 danger, uncertainty, labor, and the intervals of sickness ; and this to 
 endure the flames of hell fur a thousand years together ? If a man 
 
SKRMONS AT GOLDEN GROVE, — X. 365 
 
 were condemned to lie still, or to lie in bed in one posture for seven 
 years together, would he not buy it off with his whole estate ? But 
 what is this to the minutes, years, and ages of eternity, where there 
 is no hope ? for hell could not be hell if there were hope. 
 
 And though the Scripture uses the word fire to express the tor- 
 ments of accursed souls, yet tire can no more equal the pangs of 
 hell, than it can torment an immaterial substance : for they are to 
 suffer the wrath of God, who is a consuming fire : and when God 
 takes away all comfort from us, nothing to support our spirit is left ; 
 sorrow is our food, and tears our drink, &c. We may guess at this 
 misery of losing our soul by the terrors of a guilty conscience, those 
 terrible thorns of the soul : this topic dilated on. 
 
 Exhortation, that we take care, lest, for the purchase of a little 
 trifling portion of this world, we come into this state of torment. Let 
 us not have such a hardiness against the threats and representations of 
 divine vengeance. Way in which different men deceive themselves ; 
 some by taking up atheistical opinions, — others, by supposing that 
 God is all mercy, forgetting his justice, and putting off all repentance 
 to the last hours of life, &c. 
 
 Our youth, and manhood, and old age, are all of them due to 
 God; and justice and mercy are to him equally essential. We 
 should remember the fatal and decretory sentence which God hath 
 passed on all mankind : 7/ is appointed to all men once to die, and 
 after death comes judgment. And if any of us were certain to die 
 next morning, with what earnestness should we pray '. with what 
 hatred should we remember our sins! with what scorn should we 
 look on the licentious pleasures of the world ! This topic enlarged 
 on. He therefore is a great fool that heaps up riches ; that greedily 
 pursues the world ; and at the same time heaps up wrath to himself 
 against the day of wrath. Conclusion. 
 
 SERMON X. 
 OF CHRISTIAN PRUDENCE. 
 
 MATTHEW, CHAP. X. VERSE 16. 
 Be ye therefore wise as serpents, and harmless as doves. 
 
 PART I. 
 
 When our Saviour entailed a law and a condition of sufferings, 
 and promised a state of persecution to his servants, and withal had 
 charmed them with the bands of so many passive graces ; being sent 
 forth as sheep among ivolves, innocent and defenceless, &c. ; their con- 
 dition seemed nothing else but a designation to slaughter ; and when an 
 
Md SUMMARIES OF JEREMY TAYLOR's 
 
 Apostle invited a proselyte to come to Christ, it was, as it were, a 
 snare laid for his life ; for he could neither conceal his religion nor 
 hide his person, &c. But though God bound our hands behind us, 
 he did not tie up our understandings : although we might not use our 
 swords, yet we might use our reason, &c. ; and thus the disciples of 
 Christ overcame the power of the Roman legions by a wise religion : 
 and the Christian, though exposed to persecution, is so secured that 
 he shall never need to die, but when circumstances are so ordered that 
 his reason is convinced that it is then fit he should ; fit in order to 
 God's purposes and his own. For he that is innocent is safe against 
 all the powers of the world, if they rule with justice; and he that is 
 prudent will escape many violences that come from injustice ; and no 
 wit of man, no government, no armies can do more. Here then are 
 the two arras defensive of a Christian ; prudence against the evils of 
 men ; innocence against the evils of the devil and of his kingdom : 
 this topic enlarged on. 
 
 In order to the following discourse, we are first to consider whether 
 this can be a commandment, or what it is : can all Christians be 
 enjoined to be wise and prudent ? It is as if God commanded us to 
 be elocjuent, or learned, or rich. Prudence is a gift of God, a 
 blessing of an excellent nature, which therefore cannot be imposed on 
 us, as arising from ourselves. 
 
 To this it may be answered ; that Christian prudence is, in many 
 instances, a direct duty : this explained. Its parts and proper acts 
 consists in the following particulars. 
 
 1. It is the duty of Christian prudence to choose the end of a 
 Christian, that which is perfective of a man, satisfactory to reason, 
 the rest of a Christian, the beatification of his spirit; and this is, to 
 choose, desire, and propound to himself heaven, and the fruition of 
 God, as the end of all his acts and his purposes : for in the nature of 
 things, that is most eligible, which is most perfective of our nature, 
 and which is the satisfaction of our most reasonable appetites : this 
 topic enlarged on; and the emptiness of the things of this world 
 shown, in comparison with the excellence of those things which 
 belong to God and to religion. 
 
 2. It is a duty of Christian prudence to pursue this great end with 
 apt means and instruments in proportion to that end. It cannot be a 
 vigorous prosecution, unless the means have an efficacy or worth pro- 
 portionate to the difficulty, and something of the excellency of the 
 end which is designed : this topic dilated on ; the value of the things 
 sought explained, as well as duty, in fervency of prayer, watchfulness 
 of conduct, resistance of temptation, &c. 
 
 3. It is an office of prudence to serve God, so that we may, at the 
 same time, preserve our lives and estates, our interest and reputation, 
 as far as they can consist together. The Christian religion carrying 
 us to heaven, does it by the way of a man ; and by the body it serves 
 the soul, as by the soul it serves God ; and therefore it endeavors to 
 secure the body and its interest, that it may prolong the stage in 
 which we are to run for the mighty prize of our salvation, &c. He 
 that through an indiscreet zeal casts himself into a needless danger, 
 
SERMONS AT GOLDEN GROVIi. — X. 367 
 
 hatU betrayed his life to tyranny, and tempts the sin of an enemy : he 
 
 loses to God the service of many years, eVc. He that invites the 
 cruelty of a tyrant by his own follies, sutlers as a wilful person, and 
 enters into the portion and reward of fools. Hence the precept of 
 our Saviour, Beivare of men. Use your prudence to tiie purposes of 
 avoiding their snares. Walk circumspectly, not as fools, &c. : if you 
 fall into evil times, purchase what respite you can, by all honest 
 arts, if you do not compromise your duty ; and wlien the tyrant drives 
 you forth from all your guards and retirement, oftering violence to 
 your duty and tempting you to dishonest acts, then boldly lay down 
 your neck to the stroke ; fear not to die the most shameful death of 
 the cross or the gallows : this topic enlarged on : instances given 
 of honest evasion and of religious prudence among the early 
 Christians. Sometimes, however, they used improper arts and sub- 
 terfuges : instance of this in the libellatici, or libellers, who gave 
 money for false certiticates of their having sacrificed to idols ; by 
 which means they disgraced their religion, were excommunicated, 
 and not received again but after a severe repentance. He that con- 
 fcsseth me before men, says our Saviour, I icill confess him before my 
 heavenly Father; and if here he refuseth to own me, I will not own 
 him hereafter. As this is against Christian nobleness and fortitude, 
 so is it against Christian prudence to provoke danger, like those who, 
 when inquisition was made after Christians, went and oftered them- 
 selves to die. God, when he sends a persecution, will select such 
 persons as he will have to sutler. In the mean time, let us do our 
 duty, as long and as strictly as we can ; neither turning our zeal into 
 the ambition of death, nor our prudence into craft and covetousness. 
 Conclusion. 
 
 PART II. 
 
 4. It is the part of Christian prudence so to order the affairs of our 
 life, as that, in all the offices of our souls and conversation, we may 
 do honor to the religion which we profess ; for the follies and vices ot 
 its professors give great advantage to the adversary to speak reproach- 
 fully, and do alienate the hearts and hinder the compliance of those 
 undetermined persons, who are apt to be persuaded, if their under- 
 standings be not prejudiced. 
 
 But as our necessary duty is bound on us by one tie more, in order 
 to the honor of God's cause, so it particularly binds us to many cir- 
 cumstances, adjuncts, and parts of duty, which have no other com- 
 mandment but the law of prudence. There are some sects of 
 Christians which have some one constant indisposition, which, as 
 a character, divides them from all others, and makes them reproved 
 on all hands. Some are so suspicious and ill-natured, that if a person 
 of gentle disposition fall into their hands, he is presently soured and 
 made morose. Others do things so like what they condemn, that 
 they are forced to insignificant distinctions, in order to make them- 
 
361) SUMMARIES OF JEREMY TAYLOR'S 
 
 selves believe they are innocent, whilst they offend all men besides : 
 this topic enlarged on. 
 
 Never let sins pollute our religion vt'ith arts of the world, nor let 
 us offer to support the ark with unhallowed hands, nor mingle false 
 propositions with true, nor do things which are like to vices; neither 
 let us ever speak things dishonorable to God, nor abuse our brother 
 for God's sake, &c. 
 
 Among ourselves also we serve the devil's ends, and minister to an 
 eternal disunion, by saying and doing things which look unhand- 
 somely : this explained. 
 
 One thing should be observed ; that here the question being about 
 prudence, and the matter of doing honor to our religion, it is not 
 enough to say we can with learning justify all that we do, and make 
 all whole with three or four distinctions : this topic enlarged on and 
 illustrated. 
 
 We must be curious in observing the circumstances of men, and 
 satisfying all their reasonable expectations, and doing things at that 
 rate of charity and religion, which they are taught, as being pre- 
 scribed in the institution : this enlarged on. 
 
 But above all things, those sects of Christians, whose professed 
 doctrine brings destruction and diminution to government, give the 
 most intolerable scandal and dishonor to the institution ; and it had 
 been impossible for Christianity to have prevailed over the wisdom 
 and power of the Greeks and Romans, if it had not been humble to 
 superiors, patient of injuries, charitable to the needy, obedient 
 to rulers, Arc. 
 
 There are some persons, whose religion is much disgraced, because 
 they change their propositions, according as their temporal necessities 
 or advantages return. They that in their weakness cry out against 
 all violence as against persecution, and when they become pros- 
 perous swell out into tyrants, let all the world know that at first they 
 were pusillanimous, and at last outrageous; that their doctrine first 
 served their fear, and at last served their rage ; and that they did not 
 intend at all to serve God : and then who shall believe them in any 
 thing else? this enlarged on. 
 
 5. It is also a duty of Christian prudence, that the teachers of 
 others by authority, or reprovers of their vices by charity, should 
 make their own persons apt to do it without objection. He that 
 means to gain a soul, must not make his sermon an ostentation of his 
 eloquence, but the law of his own life : this enlarged on. 
 
 Hither it also appertains, that in public or private reproofs we 
 observe circumstances of time, of place, of person, of disposition. 
 The vices of a king are not to be opened publicly ; and princes must 
 not be reprehended as a man reproves his servant. He also that 
 reproves a vice, should treat the person with honor and civility, and 
 by fair opinions and mild address place the man in the regions of 
 modesty, and the confines of grace and repentance : this topic 
 enlarged on. 
 
 (j. It is a duty of Christian prudence not to suffer our souls to 
 
.SERMONS AT GOLDEN CiROVK, — X. 309 
 
 walk alone, unguarded, unguided, and more single than in other 
 actions and interests of our lives, which are of less concernment. If 
 we consider how much God hath done to save our souls, and after all 
 that, how many ways there are for a man's soul to miscarry, we should 
 think it very necessary to call to a spiritual man to take us by the 
 hand, and lead us in the ways of God, in the regions of duty, and 
 through the labyrinths of danger : this topic enlarged on ; wherein it 
 is shown that it is at least worth our while to take a spiritual guide. 
 But because we are in the question of prudence, we must consider 
 whether it be necessary to do so. If a man's estate be questioned, or 
 his life shaken by diseases, it is not thought enough to employ one 
 agent, or to send for a good woman to minister the juices of her 
 garden. But then is the soul the only safe and trifling thing about 
 us ? Are there not a thousand dangers, and ten thousand difficulties, 
 and innumerable possibilities of misadventure ? this topic enlarged 
 on. But what advantage shall we reap from a spiritual guide ? 
 Much every way. For this is the way that God hath appointed, who 
 in every age hath sent a succession of spiritual persons, whose office 
 is to minister in holy things, and to be stewards of his household, 
 dispensers of his mysteries, preachers of his law, &c. ; and that 
 which is good discourse in the mouth of another man, is in theirs an 
 ordinance of God, and prevails by way of blessing : this topic 
 enlarged on to the end. 
 
 PART III. 
 
 7. As it is a part of Christian prudence to take a spiritual man for 
 a guide to the conduct of our souls, so it also concerns us greatly that 
 we be prudent in the choice of him. Concerning which it will be 
 impossible to give characters particular enough, without the aid of 
 prayer, experience, and the grace of God : this enlarged on and 
 explained. When St. John was to separate false teachers from 
 true, he took no other course but to mark the doctrine which was of 
 God ; and by this he bids his scholars avoid the different heresies 
 which then prevailed respecting the coming and the nature of Jesus 
 Christ. But this will signify nothing to us; for all Christians 
 confess Jesus Christ come in the flesh. 
 
 In the following ages of the church, men have been so curious to 
 signify misbelievers, that they have invented and observed signs, 
 which in some cases were real appendages of false believers, but yet 
 such as might attach themselves to good members of the catholic 
 church. Some few will here be remarked, that, by removing the 
 uncertain, we may fix our inquiries on certain significations. 
 
 1. Some men distinguish error from truth, by calling the doctrine 
 of their adversaries new, and of yesterday. And certainly this is 
 a good sign, if it be rightly applied ; for since all Christian doctrine 
 is that which Christ taught his church, and which the Spirit enlarged 
 or expounded, and the Apostles delivered, our account begins then ; 
 and whatever is contrary to what they taught, is new and false; and 
 
370 SUMMARIES OF JRREMY TAYLOR'S 
 
 whatever is besides what they taught, is no part of our religion. But 
 if a truth returns, as it were, from banishment; if it was from the 
 first, though the holy fire hath been long buried, we do not call that 
 new, &c. : this topic enlarged on. 
 
 2. Some would have false teachers sufficiently signified by a name, 
 or private appellative, as Papist, Lutheran, Calvinist, or Socinian ; 
 and think it enough to denominate them not of Christ, if they are 
 called by the name of a man. And indeed the thing is in itself bad : 
 but if by this mark we esteem false teachers sufficiently signified, we 
 must follow no man, no church, nor communion ; for all are by their 
 adversaries marked with an appellative of singularity and separation : 
 this enlarged on. 
 
 3. Amongst some men a sect is thought to be sufficiently reproved, 
 if it subdivides and breaks itself into little fractions, or changes its 
 own opinions. If indeed its followers decline their own doctrine, no 
 man hath reason to believe them on the reputation which they have 
 thus forfeited or renounced, in changing that which they at first 
 passionately set forth ; and therefore we need not believe them 
 farther than when they can prove what they say : but for the other 
 part of the sign, when men fall out among themselves on account of 
 other interests or opinions, it is no argument that they are in error 
 concerning that doctrine, which they all unitedly teach or condemn 
 respectively : this enlarged on. 
 
 4. Whoever break the bands of a society or communion, in whose 
 confession they were baptised, bring scandal on their doctrines and 
 persons, and give suspicious men reason to decline their assemblies, 
 and not to choose them for any thing of their authority or outward 
 circumstances. And St. Paul bids the Romans to mark them that 
 cause divisions and offences; but the following words make the 
 caution prudent and practicable, contrary to the doctrine icliich ye 
 have learned, and avoid them : they that recede from the doctrine 
 which they have learned, they cause the off"ence ; and if they also 
 obtrude this on their congregations, they also make the division. We 
 must receive no doctrine which is contrary to that taught by Christ 
 and his Apostles ; but in that case must separate from the con- 
 gregation, and adhere to Christ. But this is not to be done, unless 
 the thing be evident and notorious : this topic dilated on. 
 
 5. The ways of direction which we have from Holy Scripture, to 
 distinguish false Apostles from true, are taken from their doctrine, or 
 their lives. That of the doctrine is the more sure way, if we can hit 
 on it ; but that also is the thing signified, and needs to have other 
 signs. St. John and St. Paul took this way, for they were able to do 
 it infallibly : this shown. And we also might do so as easily, if men 
 would suffer Christian faith to rest in its own perfect simplicity, 
 unmingled with arts, and opinions, and interests. When we choose 
 our doctrine or our side, let us take that which is in the plain un- 
 expounded words of Scripture. Next let us choose that which is 
 most advantageous to a holy life, and to the proper graces of a 
 Christian ; in which St. Paul directs us : Let vs be careful to main- 
 tain good works for necessary uses: for he that heartily pursues these 
 
SERMONS AT GOLDILN GROVF,. — X. 371 
 
 proportions, cannot be a bad man, though he were accidentally, and 
 in particular explications, deceived. 
 
 6. But, because this is an act of wisdom rather than prudence, 
 and supposes science or knowledge rather than experience, therefore 
 it concerns Christians to observe the practice and rules of practice, 
 which their teachers and catechists use in their spiritual ministry ; 
 for although many signs are uncertain, yet some are infallible, and 
 some highly probable. 
 
 7. Therefore those teachers that pretend to be guided by a private 
 spirit, are certainly false. No scripture is of private interpretation, 
 saith St. Peter, that is, of private emission or declaration : this 
 explained. Such pretence of a single extraordinary spirit is nothing 
 else but the spirit of pride, error, and delusion ; a snare wherewith to 
 catch easy, credulous souls, Sec. 
 
 8. Those are to be suspected for evil guides, who, to get authority 
 among the ])eople, pretend great zeal, and use great liberty in 
 reproving princes and governors, nobility and prelates, &c. Such 
 homilies cannot be the effects of a holy religion, as undermine autho- 
 rity, make the people discontented, bold against their rulers, and im- 
 modest in their stations: this topic enlarged on. 
 
 9. The Apostles, in all prophecies concerning «iich men, have 
 remarked lust to be the inseparable companion of these rebellious 
 prophets. They are filthy dreamers; they dejile the flesh, saith St. 
 Jude. They walk after the Jlesh, in the lust of vnclcanness, saith 
 St. Peter, &c. : this topic enlarged on. 
 
 10. Those prophets and pastors, that pretend severity and live 
 loosely, or are severe in small things and give liberty in greater, or 
 who forbid some sins and yet practise or teach those that serve their 
 interests or their sect, are to be suspected and avoided. 
 
 11. The substance of all is this ; that we must not choose our doc- 
 trine by our guide, but our guide by the doctrine, &c. 
 
 12. Besides these premises, there are other lesser lights that may help 
 tomakeourjudgraent clearer; but only when they are in conjunction with 
 some of the preceding characters, which are drawn by the great lines 
 of Scripture : such as, for example, when the teachers of sects stir 
 up unprofitable cpiestions ; causelessly retire from the universal cus- 
 toms of Christendom ; cancel memorials of the greatest mysteries of 
 our redemption ; make their religion to consist in speculations, ab- 
 stractions, raptures, or in outward ceremonies, &c. &c. Here indeed 
 is the great necessity that we should have the prudence and discre- 
 tion of serpents. But two or three cautions are to be inserted. 
 
 1. We cannot expect that by these, or any other signs, we shall be 
 able to discover the characters of all men, whether they teach an 
 error or not. It is enough that we decline those guides that would 
 lead us to hell : we need not think that we are enticed to death by 
 the weaknesses of every disagreeing brother. 
 
 2. In all discerning of sects, we must be careful to distinguish the 
 faults of men from the evils of their doctrine : for some there are that 
 speak very well, and do very ill ; men of holy calling, but of 
 unholy lives, &c. 
 
379. SUMMARIES OF JEREMY TAYLOll'S 
 
 3. Let us make one separation more, and then we may act accord- 
 ing- to the premises. If we espy a design or an evil mark on one 
 doctrine, let us divide it from the other that are not so spotted : this 
 topic dilated on. 
 
 These are the general rules of Christian prudence here chosen to 
 be insisted on : there are others indeed more particular, and well 
 worthy of our observance ; namely, that we be careful to decline a 
 danger, watchful against a temptation, wise in choosing our com- 
 pany, reserved and wary in our friendships, communicative in our 
 charity, &c. : this topic dilated on to the end. 
 
 SERMON XI. 
 OF CHRISTIAN SIMPLICITY. 
 
 MATTHEW, CHAP. X. VERSE 16. 
 
 And harmless as doves. 
 
 PART I. 
 
 Our blessed Saviour having prefaced concerning prudence, adds 
 to the integrity of the precept, and the conduct of our religion, that 
 we be simple as well as prudent, innocent as well as wary ; other- 
 wise prudence may turn into craft, and simplicity may degenerate 
 into folly : this topic dilated on. 
 
 We do not live in an age when there is so much need to bid men 
 be wary, as to take care that they be innocent. Indeed we are too 
 apt to be loose and ungirt, exposing ourselves to temptation, others 
 to offence, and the cause to dishonor ; and we are open to every evil 
 but persecution, from which we are close enough, and that alone we 
 call prudence ; but in the matter of interest we are wary as serpents, 
 tenacious as grappling-hooks, and, above all, false and hypocritical 
 as thin ice spread over a deep pit : this enlarged on. 
 
 It is a usual and a safe way to cozen under color of friendship or 
 religion ; but that is vastly criminal. To tell a lie for the purpose of 
 abusing a man's belief, and by it to take possession of any thing to 
 his injury, tends to the perfect destruction of human society; is op- 
 posed to God, who is truth itself; and is a base cowardly vice. It 
 is also the greatest injury possible to the abused person : for besides 
 that it makes against his interest, it renders him insecure and uneasy 
 in his confidence; it makes it necessary for him to be jealous and 
 suspicious, namely, troublesome to himself and others. Moreover, it 
 robs the deceiver himself of the honor of his soul, debasing his mind 
 and understanding. But the duty must be reduced to particular 
 heads, in order to discovir the contrary vice. 
 
SKRMONS AT GOl-DKN i;ra)VK. — XI. '.iT3 
 
 1. The first office of Christian simplicity consists in our religion 
 and manners ; that they be open and honest, public and justifiable, 
 the same at home and abroad : this is necessary ; because whoever is 
 a hypocrite in his religion, mocks God, either denying him to be the 
 searcher of hearts, or openly defying his omniscience and justice. 
 
 It is a crafty life that men lead, carrying on designs, and living on 
 secret purposes, invading others' rights by false propositions in theo- 
 logy, &c. Such persons have abused all ages of the world, and all 
 religions ; it being so easy for men to creep into opportunities of 
 devouring the flock on pretence of defendiiJg it, and to raise their 
 estates under color of saving men's souls. 
 
 It may sometimes concern a man to seem religious, and to show 
 fair appearances, for God's glory, or the edification of a brother, or 
 the reputation of a cause : yet this is only sometimes ; but it always 
 concerns us, that we be religious ; and we may reasonably think, that 
 if the colors of religion profit us so much, the substance would do so 
 much more : this topic enlarged on. Neither doth the sincerity of 
 our religion require that we should not conceal our sins : for he that 
 sins, and dares to own it publicly, may become impudent ; and so 
 long as in modesty we desire our shame to be hid, we are under the 
 protection of one of Virtue's sisters. But if any other principle 
 draws the veil, if we conceal our vices because we would be honored 
 for sanctity, or would not be hindered in our designs, we serve the 
 interest of pride or ambition, covetousness or vanity : this subject 
 enlarged on. One thing more is to be added to the simplicity 
 of religion ; and that is, that we never deny it, nor lie concerning our 
 faith, nor tell our propositions and articles secretly, nor instruct 
 novices with fraud ; but teach them honestly, justly, and severely, 
 &c. 
 
 2. Christian simplicity, or the innocency of prudence, relates to 
 laws both in their sanction and execution ; that they be decreed with 
 equity, and proportioned to the capacity and profit of the subjects ; 
 also that they be applied to practice v.'ith remissions and reasonable 
 interpretations, agreeable to the sense of the words and the mind of 
 the lawgiver. But laws are not to be cozened and abused by con- 
 tradictory glosses and fantastic allusions; for if their majesty be once 
 subjected to contempt and easy resolutions, they will soon sufter the 
 shame of prostitution : this subject illustrated, and enlarged on. 
 
 3. Christian simplicity relates to promises and acts of grace 
 or favor ; and its caution is, that all promises be simple, ingenuous, 
 agreeable to the intention of the promiser, truly and effectually 
 expressed, and never less in the performance than in the expression : 
 concerning which there are several cases. 1. All promises, in which 
 a second or third person hath no interest, that is, promises of kind- 
 ness or civility, are bound to pass into performance, though they 
 may force you to some small inconvenience ; yet never to a great 
 one: this explained. 2. Promises, in matters of justice or of grace, 
 as from a superior to an inferior, must be so singly and ingenuously 
 expressed, intended, and performed, that no condition is to be 
 reserved to warrant their non-performance, but impossibility, or, what 
 
 PART III. 2 B 
 
374 SUMMARIES OF JRHRMY TAYLOR'S 
 
 is next to it, an intolerable inconvenience : in which case we may com- 
 mute our promises, so we pay to the interested person a good at least 
 equal to that which we first promised. And to this purpose it may 
 be added, thatitisnot against Christian simplicity to express our pro- 
 mises in such words as we know the interested man will understand 
 in a different sense, so that what we mean be not less than what he ex- 
 pects. Example of our Lord's promise to his disciples, that they 
 should sit on twelve thrones, &c. God's dealing with mankind dilated 
 on. He promises more than we could hope for; and when he hath 
 done that, he gives us more than he had promised. 
 
 In this part of simplicity we Christians lie under a special obliga- 
 tion : for our religion being ennobled by the greatest promises, our 
 faith made confident by the veracity of our Lord, and his words 
 made certain by miracles, prophecies, and all the testimony of God 
 himself; if we suffer the faith of a Christian to be an instrument to 
 deceive our brother, we dishonor the sacredness of the institution, 
 and become strangers to the spirit of truth and the eternal word of 
 God : this topic dilated on to the end. 
 
 PART II. 
 
 4. Christian simplicity teaches openness and ingenuousness in 
 contracts, covenants, associations, and all other such intercourses as 
 suppose an equality of persons regarding matter of right and justice in 
 the stipulation. Nothing is more contrary to our religion, than that 
 we should deal with men as if we dealt with foxes, &c. 
 
 There are some in the world who love to smile, but their purpose is 
 only to deceive; and many are so full of hypocrisy, that their arts 
 can only be taken off, and their intentions laid open, by the society of 
 banquets and the festive goblets. But it is an evil condition that a 
 man's honesty shall be owing to his wine, and that virtue must live 
 at the charge and will of a vice. The proper bond of societies and 
 contracts is justice, and religion, and the laws, &c. 
 
 Because a man may be deceived by deeds and open actions as well 
 as by words, it becomes a duty that no one, by any action done on 
 purpose to make his brother believe a lie, abuse his persuasion and 
 interest: this explained and illustrated. But when actions are of a 
 double signification, or when a man is not abused or defeated of his 
 right by an uncertain sign, it is lawful to do a thing to other purposes 
 than is commonly understood. Flight is a sign of fear; but it is law- 
 ful to fly when a man fears not : this farther illustrated. 
 
 But as our actions must be of a sincere and determined significa- 
 tion in contract, so must our words. In all parts of traffic let our 
 words be the signification of our thoughts, and our thoughts design 
 nothing but the advantages of a permitted exchange. But the 
 precept of simplicity, in matters of contract, hath one step of severity 
 beyond this ; for it is not lawful so much as to conceal the secret and 
 undiscernible faults of the merchandise ; but we must acknowlege 
 them, or else affix prices diminished to such proportions and abate- 
 
SEUNKJNS AT OOl.DKN GUOVl-,. — XI. 375 
 
 njoiits as those faults should luake. He that secures his own profit, 
 and regards not the interest of another, is more greedy of a full purse 
 than of a holy conscience. 
 
 God sent justice into the world, that all conditions, in their several 
 proportions, should be equal ; and he that receives a good should 
 pay one : justice is a relative term, and supposes two persons 
 obliged ; and though fortunes are unequal, and men are wise aiul 
 foolish, honored and despised, yet in the intercourse of justice God 
 has ordained that there should be no difference ; and therefore it 
 was esteemed base to dismiss a servant when corn was dear, and 
 ill the danger of shipwreck to throw out an unprofitable boy, and 
 keep a fair horse, &c. This topic dilated on, 
 
 o. Christian simplicity hath also its necessity, and binds us 
 towards our enemies, in questions of law or war. lie that is a 
 good soldier is not always a good n)an. Enemies are not persons 
 bound by contract and society, and therefore are not obliged to open 
 hostilities and ingenuous prosecution of the war ; and if it be lawful 
 to take by violence, it is not unjust to take the same thing by craft. 
 But this is to be so understood, that where there is an obligation, 
 either by the law of nations or by special contracts, no man must 
 dare to violate his faith or honor, but must in these things act with 
 the same ingenuousness as the world shows in tlie case of peaceful 
 promises and the intercourse of relatives. This topic enlarged on 
 and illustrated. 
 
 6. Thus we see how far the laws of ingenuousness and Christian 
 simplicity have put fetters on our words and actions, and directed 
 them in the paths of truth and nobleness: and the first degrees of 
 permission in the way of simulation are in the arts of war and cases 
 of just hostility. But here it is usually inquired, whether it be lawful 
 to tell a lie or dissemble to save a good man's life, or to do him a 
 great benefit? this point illustrated by cases from Scripture, as that 
 of Abraham and Isaac, who told a lie in their danger to Abimelech, 
 &c.; concerning which Irena^us gives a rule. That those, whose 
 actions the Scripture hath remarked, and yet not chastised or cen- 
 sured, we are not, without great reason and certain rule, to condemn. 
 But whether his rule can extend to this case is now to be inquired. 
 1. It is certain that children may be cozened into goodness, and sick 
 men into health, and passengers in a storm into safety ; because not 
 only the end is fair, charitable, and just, but the means are such as 
 do no injury to the persons who are to receive benefit, &c. 2. 
 Sinners may not be treated with the liberty we take in the case of 
 children and sick persons, because they must serve God by choice 
 and election, and must not be cozened into their duty; and therefore 
 they are to be treated with argumenis proper to move their wills, &c. 
 Sinners that oft'end God by choice, must have their choice corrected, 
 and their understanding instructed, or else their evil is not cured. 
 3. For it is here very observable, that in intercourses of this nature 
 we are to regard a double duty — the matter of justice, and the 
 rights of charity; namely, that good be done by lawful instruments: 
 for it is certain that it is not lawful to abuse a man's understanding. 
 
;i7C SUMMARIES OF JEREMY TAYLOR's 
 
 with a purpose to gain him sixpence; it is not fit to do evil for a 
 good end, or abuse one man to benefit another : this topic enlarged 
 on and illustrated. 4. And now, on the grounds of" this discourse, 
 we may determine more easily concerning the saving of a man's life 
 by telling a lie in judgment: instance of refusal in the case of 
 Pericles : to lie in judgment is directly against the being of govern- 
 ment, the honor of tribunals, and the command of God : therefore by 
 no accident can it be hallowed ; and all those crafty and delusive 
 answers recorded in Scripture were extra-judicial, &c. : this topic 
 fully enlarged on. 
 
 7. One thing more is to be added, that it is not lawful to tell a lie 
 in jest. As Christian simplicity forbids all lying in matters of 
 interest, &c. so does it prohibit us to lie in mirth ; for of every idle 
 ivord a man shall speak, he shall give account in the day of judgment. 
 Nothing is easier than simplicity and ingenuousness, by which men 
 converse, as do the angels ; doing their own work, securing their 
 proper interests, serving the public, and glorifying their Creator; but 
 hypocrites, and liars, and dissemblers, spread darkness over the face 
 of affairs, and are the enemies of justice, truth, peace, and all the 
 comforts of society. 
 
 SERMON XII. 
 THE MIRACLES OF THE DIVINE MERCY. 
 
 PSALM LXXXVl. VERSE 5. 
 
 For thou, Lord, art good, and ready to forgive, and plenteous in mercy 
 to all tbem that call on thee. 
 
 PART I. 
 
 Man, having destroyed that in which God delighted, the beauty 
 of his soul, fell into an evil portion, and being seized on by the divine 
 justice, grew miserable : state of this his sorrow dilated on. Yet in 
 this misery God remembered his own creature, and by his mercy 
 rescued him from the sword of his justice, the punishment of his 
 guilt, and the disorder of his sin : the topic of God's mercy enlarged 
 on. He that deeply considers it, and dwells awhile in the depths 
 thereof, can hardly help talking wildly and without order in his 
 discoursings : this illustrated. 
 
 It is proposed in the present discourse to consider, 1. That mercy, 
 being an emanation of the divine goodness towards us, supposes us 
 and found us miserable. But in this account of God's mercies, we 
 must not reckon the miracles and graces of creation, or any thing of 
 the nature of man, in the noble faculties and capacities for delight 
 with which he endowed us, or the evil qualities and passions 
 
SERMONS AT GOLDEN GROVE. — XII. 377 
 
 imparted to other animals, which he imparted not to us : these are 
 to be considered as acts of bounty rather than mercy; these God 
 gave to us when he made us, and before we needed mercy : but when 
 we forfeited all his favor by our sins, then that these endowments 
 were continued or restored to us, this became a mercy, and ought to 
 be so reckoned : for it was a rare mercy that we were suffered to 
 live at all, or that the anger of God punished us so gently : but when 
 the rack is changed into an axe, and the axe into an imprisonment, 
 and the imprisonment into an enlargement, and the enlargement into 
 an entertainment, and the entertainment into an adoption, these are 
 the steps of a mighty favor and perfect redemption : this topic 
 enlarged on. And if God be thus kind when he is angry, what is he 
 when he feasts us with caresses of his more tender kindness ? 
 
 2. But as a circle begins every where and ends no where, so does 
 the mercy of God: after all this great progress, it began anew. 
 Now that he had once more made us capable of mercies, God had 
 what he desired, and what he could rejoice in; something on which 
 he could pour forth his kindness. 
 
 3. God's mercies, or the mercies of his giving, came first on us by 
 the mending of our nature : for the ignorance into which we fell is 
 instructed, and better learned in spiritual notices, than Adam's 
 morning knowlege in Paradise : our appetites are made subordinate 
 to the Spirit, and the liberty of our will is improved, having the 
 liberty of the sons of God. Christ hath done more for us in grace 
 and advantage, than we lost by Adam : and as man lost Paradise 
 and got Heaven, so he lost the integrity of the first, and got the per- 
 fection of the second i\dam : his living soul is changed into a 
 quickening spirit, &c. But there are two great instances in which 
 human nature is vastly advanced : 1. Besides body and soul, which 
 was the sum total of Adam's constitution, God hath superadded to 
 us a third principle, the beginner of a better W^e, the Spirit; by 
 which the new man is renewed in us day by day : 2. The advance- 
 ment of human nature by Christ, when he carried it up with him, 
 at his ascension, above the seats of angels: this topic fully en- 
 larged on. 
 
 4. To this it may be added, that the divine mercy is so enlarged 
 towards us, that we are not only fellow-ministers and servants with 
 the angels, and, regarding our nature in Christ's person, exalted 
 above them, but we shall also be their judges: this explained and 
 illustrated. 
 
 5. The next order of divine mercies to be remarked is also an 
 improvement of our nature, or an appendage to it ; for, whereas our 
 constitution, both of body and soul, is weak and subject to mutilation 
 and imperfection, (tc, God hath, in his infinite mercy, provided for 
 every condition rare supplies of comfort and advantage against natural 
 defects and wants. Thus he gives to blind men better memories: 
 want of children he recompenses with freedom from care and pain : 
 sorrow he alleviates by the sympathy which he implants in the 
 breasts of men, &c., God sent no greater evil into the world than the 
 necessity of our eating bread in the sweat of our brows ; but even 
 
378 SUMMARIES OF JEREMY TAYLOR'S 
 
 here lie defeats the purposes of his wrath by the iruindatioii of his 
 mercy : for this labor and sweat of our brows is so far from being a 
 curse, that without it our very bread would not be so great a 
 blessing. And for the other part of the severe law and laborious 
 imposition, that we must work out our spiritual interests with the 
 labors of the spirit; though this may seem to be a device of torture, 
 to punish man with continual vexation, yet it hath in it a large ingre- 
 dient of mercy, or rather is nothing but an intire mercy in its consti- 
 tution. For, if it were not for this, we had nothing of our own to 
 present to God, nothing proportionable to the great rewards of 
 heaven, &c. : this enlarged on. 
 
 6. Ay an appendage to this instance of the divine mercy, we may 
 account, that, not only in nature, but in contingent and emergent 
 events, God makes compensation to us for all the evils of chance 
 and the hostilities of accident. Instance of Joseph ; of the children 
 of Israel in Egypt; the overturning of many kingdoms. In the 
 uiean time affliction serves religion, and tries the children of God. 
 Instance of David, who would have suffered more had he suffered 
 less : other examples cited. 
 
 They that love to talk of the mercies of the Lord, and to recount 
 his good things, cannot but have observed that God delights to be 
 called by appellatives which relate to miserable and afflicted persons : 
 he is the Father of the fatherless, and an Avenger of the tvidow's 
 cause ; &c. On this ground let us account whether mercy be not the 
 greater ingredient in that death and deprivation, when I lose a man, 
 and get God to be my Father, &c. And if, in our greatest misery 
 God's mercy is so conspicuous, what can we suppose him to be in 
 his loving-kindnesses? The sum is this: God intends every accident 
 should minister to virtue, and every virtue is the nurse of joy, and 
 both of them are daughters of the divine goodness, &c. 
 
 PART II. 
 
 7. God having by these means secured us from the evils of nature 
 and contingences, as our Father ; he next makes provision for us to 
 supply all those necessities which himself hath made. For even to 
 make them was a great circumstance of his mercy : this instanced in 
 the case of hunger and thirst ; also in the case of our other desires or 
 wants, and the large abundance of things created for their gratifi- 
 cation. God uses us as Joseph did his brother Benjamin : we have 
 many chaniies of raiment, and our mess is five times bigger than the 
 provision made for our brothers of the creation. But the mercies of 
 God are to be estimated also according as provision is dispensed to 
 every single person; for, not to speak of his bounties to the rich, God 
 hath also made provision for the poorest persons ; so that if they can 
 but rule their desires, they shall have their tables furnished : this 
 topic enlarged on. It may also be observed, that there are vast pro- 
 visions made for our health in the secret storehouses of nature ; and 
 these are so many miracles of Providence, that they give plain 
 
SERMONS AT GOLDEN GROVE.— XII. 3TO 
 
 demonstration of what relation we bear to heaven : this topic farther 
 enlarged on : and it is shown that God plants remedies there, where 
 the diseases are most popular ; and that every country is best pro- 
 vided against its own evils, 
 
 8. But because such is the bounty of God, that he hath provided a 
 better life for the inheritance of man ; if he be so merciful in making 
 provision for our less noble part, what rare arts may we expect from 
 his mercy in securing to us our eternal portion ! Here it may be 
 considered, that it is an infinite mercy of the Father of mercies, that 
 he hath appointed to us such a religion as leads us to a vast felicity 
 through pleasant ways : this topic enlarged on. It is concluded that 
 we cannot be happy without being pious ; and that the Christian 
 religion is the greatest security and most certain instrument of making 
 a man rich, and pleasing, and healthful, and wise, and beloved : this 
 remarked in two or three instances. 
 
 (1.) The whole religion of a Christian as it relates to others, is 
 nothing but justice and mercy, certain parents of peace and benefit; 
 and, on such a supposition, what evil can come to a just and merciful, 
 a necessary and useful person ? this explained. 
 
 (2.) And because there is no evil that can befall a just man, unless 
 it comes by injury and violence, our religion hath also made as good 
 provision against that too, as the nature of the thing will suflfer : for 
 by patience we are reconciled to the sufferance, by hope and faith we 
 see a certain consequent reward, &c. 
 
 (3.) But when we consider that the Christian religion consists in 
 doing good to all men ; that it is made up of mercies and friendly 
 conventions; and that all are to do good works for necessary 
 uses, and not to be burthensome where it can be avoided ; 
 what more can be wished for men in relation to others, and 
 what can be more beneficial to themselves, than that they be such as 
 others will value for their own interest, such as princes and nobles 
 ought to esteem, and all men can make use of according to their 
 several conditions; so that unless a persecution disables them, they 
 can not only maintain themselves, but oblige others to charity ? 
 
 (4.) To which may be added this material consideration : that all 
 those graces, which oblige us to do good to others, are nothing else 
 but certain instruments of bringing advantage to ourselves : this 
 enlarged on. 
 
 (5.) The very charity, and love, and mercy, that is commanded 
 in our religion, is in itself a great excellency; not only in order to 
 heaven, but to the comforts of the earth also; and such, without 
 which a man is not capable of blessing or comfort. And he that sent 
 charity and friendship into the world, intended charity to be as 
 relative as justice, and to have its effect both on the loving and the 
 beloved person : this explained and illustrated. 
 
 The above account being so great, we need not reckon the col- 
 lateral issues and little streams of comfort, which God hath made to 
 issue from that religion to which he hath obliged us ; such as are 
 mutual comforts — visiting the sick— instructing the ignorant — con- 
 verting souls, &c. — Christian graces, which God hath made neces- 
 
380 SUMMARIES OF JEREMY TAYLOR'S 
 
 sary, and obliged us to possess them under pain of damnation ; that is, 
 he hath made it so sure to us to become happy even in this world, 
 that if we will not be so, he threatens to destroy us : this topic 
 enlarged on. But other mercies must now be considered. 
 
 9. God, that he might secure our duty, with our present and 
 consequent felicity, hath tied us with golden chains, and bound us not 
 only with the bracelets of love and hope, but with the ruder cords of 
 fear and reverence ; even with all the innumerable parts of a restrain- 
 ing grace. Various methods described by which God's interposing 
 graces check the eflforts of our desires, and prevent our bad and 
 lustful designs from taking effect. And his mercy is not less in 
 separating men from the occasions of sin ; from the neighborhood and 
 temptation to it: this topic enlarged on. 
 
 10. The next order of mercies is of so pure and unmingled a 
 constitution, that it hath at first no regard to the capacities and dis- 
 positions of the receivers: and afterwards, when it hath, it relates 
 only to such conditions as itself creates and produces in the sus- 
 cipient ; that is, the mercies of the divine predestination : this topic 
 enlarged on. 
 
 11. Lastly; all the mercies of God are centred in that which 
 is the whole felicity oi" man ; and God is so great a lover of souls, 
 that he provides securities and fair conditions for them, even against 
 all our reason and hopes, our expectations and weak discoursings : 
 this instanced in a few particulars. Conclusion. 
 
 PART III. 
 
 There are other orders of mercies : but, as the number is without 
 measure, we can reckon only a few more, and them without order. 
 
 1. Good men have observed, that the providence of God is so 
 great a provider for holy living, and does so certainly minister 
 to religion, that nature and chance, the order of the world, and the 
 influences of heaven, are taught to serve the ends of God and the 
 spirit of man : this considered in the case of the Jews. But when the 
 Christian religion had taken root and filled all lands, then the whole 
 nature of things, the creation, became subservient to the kingdom of 
 grace ; and the head of the religion is also the head of the creatures, 
 and ministers all the things of the world in order to the Spirit of 
 grace : this topic enlarged on. 
 
 2. But that which is next, and not much unlike the design of this 
 wonderful mercy, is, that all the actions of religion, though mingled 
 with circumstances of differing, and sometimes of contradictory 
 relations, are so concentrated in God their proper centre, and 
 conducted in such pure channels of reason and rule, that no one duty 
 contradicts another; and it can never be necessary for any man, in 
 any case, to sin : this explained and commented on. 
 
 1. After all this, we may sit down and reckon by great sums his 
 gracious gifts, and tell the minutes of eternity by his mercies. God 
 hath given us his laws to rule us, his word to instruct us, his Spirit to 
 
SERMONS AT GOLDEN GROVE — XII. 301 
 
 guide us, his aiic;els to protect us, his ministers to exhort us: he hath 
 revealed all our duty, attVighted our follies with the fear of death, 
 exercised our faith, aud coufirmed our hopes, &c. : a large catalogue 
 of his mercies farther enumerated : yet this is but one half. The 
 mercies of giving only have been told : but those of forgiveness are 
 greater, though not more. He is ready to forgive ; and on this 
 stock thrives the interest of our great hope, the hope of a blessed 
 immortality. The state from which God desires to deliver us de- 
 scribed : the easy conditions which he requires from us. In all the 
 parts of our duty, it may be, there is but one instance in which we 
 are to do great violence to our natural and first desires : nature and 
 evil of a besetting sin dilated on. 
 
 2. God's readiness to pardon appears in this, that he pardons before 
 we ask ; for he that bids us ask for pardon, hath in design and 
 purpose done the thing already. 
 
 3. Nay, God is so ready in his mercy, that he did pardon us even 
 before he redeemed us. For what is the secret of the mystery that 
 the eternal Son of God should suffer for us? He that did this is 
 God : and when he did this that he might pardon us, was he at that 
 instant angry with us? was this an effect of his anger or of his 
 love? 
 
 4. God even pardoned us before we sinned ; and when he foresaw 
 our sin, he sent his Son to die for us; our pardon was effected by 
 Christ's death many ages ago : and for the sins of to-morrow, and of 
 the next day, Christ is already dead ; is already risen from the dead ; 
 already makes intercession and atonement : this topic eidarged on. 
 
 5. 'rhere is yet a higher degree : for God so pardoned us once, that 
 we should need no more pardon : he pardons us by turning every one 
 vf us away from our iniquities. 
 
 6. Moreover, a higher degree of pardon is still left beyond this : 
 for although we do not abjure our covenant, renounce Christ, and 
 extinguish tlie Spirit, yet we resist him, and grieve him, and go off 
 from the holiness of the covenant, and return again, and very often 
 step aside, and need this great pardon to be perpetually renewed : 
 and to this purpose Jesus Christ is our Advocate with the Father : 
 this enlarged on. 
 
 7. God is so ready to forgive, that he himself works our dis- 
 positions towards it by his preventing grace, without which we should 
 not be found to hope for a pardon, nor to work for it, nor to ask it, 
 nor to receive it: this topic enlarged on. 
 
 These are the great degrees of God's forwardness and readiness to 
 forgive ; for the expression of which no language is sufficient, but 
 God's own words, describing mercy in all those dimensions which can 
 signify to us its greatness : His mercy reacheth unto the Ileavens, &c. 
 But besides the former great lines of the mercy of forgiveness, there 
 is another chain, which but to produce and tell its links, is to open a 
 cabinet of jewels, where every stone is as bright as a star, &c. 
 
 1. God is long-suftering, though he be provoked every day, t^c. : 
 
 2. he also forgives a sinner oftentimes, and takes a little thing lor an 
 excuse, &c. : 3. when God perceives himself forced to strike, yet 
 
3B2 SUMMARIES OF JEREMY TAYLORS 
 
 tlieii he takes oft" his hatul, and repents him of the evil : 4. when he 
 is forced to proceed, he yet makes an end before he has half done, 
 and is glad of a pretence to pardon us ; 5. he forgets our sin, and 
 puts it out of his remembrance : 6. he sometimes gives pardon beyond 
 all his revelations and his declared will, &c. : 7. God pardons 
 the greatest sinners, and hath left them on record : instances 
 quoted, &c. 
 
 We see the largeness of this treasure : but we can see no end : for 
 we have not yet looked on the rare arts of conversion, nor considered 
 that God leaves the natural habits of virtues, even after the accep- 
 tation is interrupted, &c. 
 
 The result of this consideration is, that as we fear the divine 
 judgments, so we should adore and love his goodness; and let the 
 golden chains of his mercy tie us to a no"ble prosecution of our duty, 
 and the interests of religion : but let us never forget that mercy 
 is like the rainbow ; it shines here as long as it is not hindered; but 
 we must not look for it after it is night. 
 
 SUxMMARIES OF TEN SERMONS 
 
 ON 
 
 THE NATURE OF FAITH AND OBEDIENCE, &c. 
 
 SERMON I. 
 THE RIGHTEOUSNESS EVANGELICAL DESCRIBED. 
 
 MATTHEW, CHAP. V. VERSE 20. 
 
 For I say unto you, that except your righteousness exceed the righteous- 
 ness of the Scribes and Pharisees, ye shall in no case enter into the 
 kingdom ofheaven. 
 
 Rewards and punishments are the best sanction of laws; and 
 although their guardians sometimes strike softly in their execution of 
 sad sentences, yet in the sanction they make no abatements, but so 
 proportion the duty to the reward, and the punishment to the crime, 
 that by these we can best tell what value the lawgiver puts on obe- 
 dience. And therefore the law of Moses, whose rewards are merely 
 temporal, could never make the comers thereunto perfect; but Me 
 super induction oj a better hope hath endeared a more perfect obe- 
 dience. Christ having brought life and immortality to light, &c. we 
 
SERMONS ON FAITH, &C. — 1. ^83? 
 
 are enabled to do all that God requires ; and he requires all we can 
 do : tills enlarged on. 
 
 The matter required in the text is certainly very great ; for it is to 
 be more righteous than the Scribes and Pharisees, more holy than the 
 doctors of the law, more virtuous than some that were prophets and 
 high priests, &c.: this topic enlarged on. 
 
 Here then we have two things to consider ; 1. what was the right- 
 eousness of the Scribes and Pharisees ; 2. how far that is to be ex- 
 ceeded by the righteousness of Christians. 
 
 1. Concerning the first ; we need not be so nice in the observation 
 of these words, as to take notice that Christ does not name the Sad- 
 ducees, though there may be something in it : this explained. 
 
 The Pharisees obeyed the commandments in the letter, not in the 
 spirit: they minded what God spake, but not what he intended: 
 they were busy in the outward works of the hand, but incurious of 
 the affections and choice of the heart : this topic enlarged on. 
 
 2. In moral duties, where God expressed himself more plainly, 
 they made no commentary of kindness, but regarded the prohibition 
 so nakedly, that if they stood clear of that hated name which was set 
 down in Moses' tables, they gave themselves a liberty, in many 
 instances, of the same kindred and alliance : this illustrated. 
 
 a. They placed their righteousness in negatives ; they would not 
 commit what was forbidden, but they cared little for the included 
 positive duty; and the omission of good actions did not much trouble 
 them. 
 
 4. Still worse than this, they broke Moses' tables into pieces, and 
 gathering up the fragments, took to themselves what part of duty 
 they pleased, but let the rest alone. Lastly, St. Austin summed up 
 the difference between pharisaical and evangelical righteousness 
 in two words, timor and amor: they served the God of their fathers 
 in the spirit of fear ; we worship the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ 
 in the spirit of love and of adoption. Hence they would do, 1. all 
 that they thought they lawfully could do : 2. they would do nothing 
 but what was expressly commanded. 
 
 This was the righteousness of the Scribes and Pharisees, and of 
 their disciples the Jews, which our Saviour reproves, and calls us on 
 to a new righteousness, that of God, the law of the spirit of life, &c. : 
 it concerns us therefore to look after the measures of this ; it being a 
 question of life and death eternal. 
 
 Now concerning this, we shall do very much amiss if we take our 
 account from the manners and practices of the many who call them- 
 selves Christians ; for there are the old and the new Pharisees. In- 
 deed it would be well if it were no worse. But the world is too full 
 of Christians, whose righteousness is very little and their iniquities 
 very great. But let us leave off complaining, and go to the rule, 
 and describe the necessary measures of righteousness evangelical. 
 
 1. Therefore, when it is said, that our righteousness must exceed 
 that of the Scribes and Pharisees, let us first take notice, by way of 
 precognition, that it must be at least so much : we must kee^} the 
 
3B4 SUMMARIES OF JEREMY TAYLORS 
 
 letter of tlie whole moral law : we must not do less than the Phari- 
 sees, who did the outward work, &c. : this topic enlarged on. 
 
 This much being supposed, our question is, how much more must 
 we do ? And the first measure is this : whatsoever can be signified 
 and ministered to by the body, in that the heart or the spirit of a 
 man must be the principal actor. We must not give alms without a 
 charitable soul, nor suffer martyrdom but in love and obedience : and 
 when we say our prayers, we mispend our time, unless our mind 
 ascend up to God on the wings of desire, for desire is the life of 
 prayer : this enlarged on. Solemn prayers and the sacraments and 
 the assemblies of the faithful, and fasts and acts of external worship, 
 are the solemnities and rites of religion ; but the religion of a Chris- 
 tian is in heart and spirit. True it is, God works in us his graces by 
 the sacrament ; but we must dispose ourselves to a reception of the 
 Divine blessing by moral instruments. 
 
 2. The righteousness evangelical must exceed that of the Scribes 
 and Pharisees by extension of our obedience to things of the same 
 signification. There must be a commentary of kindness in understand- 
 ing the laws of Christ. We must understand all God's meaning; 
 we must secure his service ; we must be far removed from the dan- 
 gers of his displeasure. And therefore our righteousness must be the 
 purification and perfection of the spirit; so that it will be nothing 
 for us not to commit adultery, unless our eyes be chaste and our de- 
 sires clean. A Christian must not be lustful ; and therefore he must 
 not feed high, nor drink deep ; for these things make provision for 
 lust : this topic enlarged on. 
 
 3. Of the same consideration also it is, that we understand Christ's 
 commandments to extend our duty, not only to what is named, and 
 what is not named, of the same nature and design ; but that we ab- 
 stain from all such things as are like unto sins. Of this nature there 
 are many ; as all violence of passion, gaming, prodigality of our time, 
 indecency of action, easiness to believe evil of others, curiosity of 
 diet, excess in ornaments, &c. He is dull of hearing indeed, who 
 understands not the voice of God, unkss it be clamorous in an ex- 
 press and loud commandment. Thus much concerning the first sort 
 of measures of Christian righteousness ; those of caution and negative 
 duty. But there are greater things yet behind. 
 
 4. The fourth thing noted therefore is, that Christian righteousness 
 must be universal ; not a little knot of holy actions scattered in our 
 lives, and drawn into a sum at the day of judgment, but it must be a 
 state of holiness. One duty cannot be changed or interposed for an- 
 other; and three virtues will not make amends for one remaining 
 vice : this topic fully enlarged on. 
 
 5. Lastly, Pharisaical righteousness was the product of fear ; and 
 therefore what they must needs do, that they would do ; but no more. 
 But the righteousness evangelical is produced by love, managed by 
 choice, cherished by delight and fair experiences. Christians are a 
 willing people ; and no man hath this righteousness, if he resolves to 
 take all the liberty that is merely lawful, or to do no more than is 
 
SERMONS ON FAtTH, &C. — I. 38^ 
 
 just commanded him : the reasons of which are plain: for, 1. The 
 Christian tliat resolves to do every thing that is lawful will many 
 times run into danger and inconvenience ; and the lines of right and 
 wrong are so nice, that he will often pass into what is unlawful imper- 
 ceptibly. 2. He that will do all that he thinks he may lawfully do, 
 need have an infallible guide always by him, to answer every 
 case of conscience; for if he should be mistaken, his error is his 
 crime, and not his excuse. 3. He cannot be innocent, so long as 
 there are in the world so many bold temptations and presumptuous 
 actions, so many scandals, and so much ignorance of the things of 
 God, so many things that are suspicious, and of evil report, &c. 
 4. Besides all this, he that thus stands on his terms with God, and 
 so husbands his duty, will never be exemplary in his life, or grow ii» 
 grace, and therefore will never enter into glory. 
 
 And the case is very similar with them that resolve to do no more 
 good than is commanded them : for no man does do all that is com- 
 manded him at all times ; therefore he that will not sometimes do 
 something more, besides that he hath no love and holy zeal, can 
 never make any amends towards the reparation of his failings ; 
 &c. 
 
 We must also know, that in keeping God's commandments, every 
 degree of internal duty is under them ; and therefore, whatever we 
 do, we must do it as well as we can : this topic enlarged on. 
 
 To this description of Christian righteousness as above, and op- 
 posed to the Pharisaical, it must be added, that our blessed Saviour's 
 precept is to be extended to the direct degrees of our duty. We 
 must do more duties; and we must do them better. And though 
 this be understood of the internal aftection, because that must never 
 be abated (for God is always to be loved and served with all our 
 heart); yet, concerning the degrees of external duty, as prayers, 
 alms, and the like, we are tied to a greater excellency in this degree, 
 than were the Scribes and Pharisees. Parther consideration ex- 
 tended to this inquiry, namely, to how much more of external duty 
 Christians are thus obliged. The sum of all declared to be; that 
 the righteousness evangelical is the same as that which the ancients 
 called " to lead an apostolical life :" this enlarged on to the end. 
 
3H<) SUMMARIES OF JKREMY TAYLOR's 
 
 SERMON II. 
 THE CHRISTIANS CONQUEST OVER THE BODY OF SIN. 
 
 ROMANS, CHAP. VIT. VERSE 19. 
 
 For tlie good that I would, I do not ; but the evil whicL I would not, tliat 
 
 I do. 
 
 What the eunuch said to Philip, Of whom speaketh the prop/iet 
 this, oj himself, or some other man? may be asked coneeriiing the 
 words of the text. Does St. Paul mean this of himself, or of some 
 one else ? farther remarks on this topic. The text is one of those 
 hard places of St. Paul, which, as St. Peter saj's, the ignorant and 
 vnstable ivrest to their oicn destruction: farther remarks on this 
 point. For the proper stating of this great case of conscience, there 
 mnst be considered, 1. What are the proper causes, which place men 
 and keep them in this state of a necessity of sinning. 2. The abso- 
 lute necessity of our coming out of this condition. 3. In what de- 
 gree is this to be effected. 4. By what instruments it is to be 
 done. 
 
 I. With respect to the causes, &c., the first is the evil of our na- 
 ture ; which we may know by experience : this topic dilated on. 
 
 1. We have brought ourselves into an accidental necessity of sin- 
 ning, by the evil principles which are sucked in by the greatest part of 
 mankind. We are taught ways of going to heaven witiiout forsaking 
 our sins : of repentance without restitution ; of charity without 
 hearty forgiveness and love ; of trusting in Christ's death without con- 
 formity to his life, &c. 
 
 2. To our weak corrupted nature, and our foolish discourses, men 
 daily add bad habits and customs of sinning. Thus the evil natures, 
 and the evil principles, and the evil manners of the world, are the 
 causes of our imperfectly willing, and our weaker acting, in the 
 things of God. 
 
 II. But what then ? Cannot sin be avoided ? Cannot a Christian 
 mortify the deeds of the body ? Cannot Christ redeem and cleanse 
 MS from all our sins ? That is the next question. 
 
 He that saith he hath not sinned, is a liar: but what then? 
 Because a man hath sinned, it does not follow that he must do so 
 always. Hast thou sinned? do so no more, said the wise Ben-Sirach : 
 and so said Christ. The case is indeed confessed, that all men have 
 sinned, &c. But is there no remedy for this ? Must .sin for ever 
 have the upper hand ? God forbid. There was a blessed time to 
 come ; and, blessed be God, it hath long since come : Yet a little 
 while, and iniquity shall be takeii out of the earth, and righteousness 
 shall reign among you : for that is in the day of Christ's kingdom, 
 the manifestation of the gospel. When Christ reigns in our heart by 
 his spirit, Dagon and the ark cannot stand together. As in the state 
 
SERMONS ON FAITH, tVc— II. SB7 
 
 of nature no good thing dwells within us ; so, when Christ rules in 
 us, no evil thing can abide there : this topic fully enlarged on ; 
 whereby it is shown, that as there is a state of carnality, spoken of 
 in the text, in which a man cannot but obey the flesh ; so there is a 
 state of spirituality, when sin is dead, and righteousness is alive : 
 and in this state the flesh can no more prevail, than the spirit could 
 in the other : this state still farther enlarged on. 
 
 III. In the next place, we are to inquire in what degree this 
 is to be effected : for no man can say that he is totally clean from sin. 
 
 In the words of St. Gregory, All man's righteousness will be 
 found to be unrighteous, if God shall severely enter into judgment 
 with us : therefore, even after our innocence, we must pray for 
 pardon : this illustrated. Concerning good men, the question is not, 
 whether or no God could not, in the rigor of justice, blame their 
 indiscretion, or chide them for a foolish word and a careless action, 
 a fearful heart and trembling faith ; these are not the measures by 
 which he judges his children : but the question is, whether any man, 
 that is covetous, or proud, or a drunkard, can at the same time be a 
 child of God ? Certainly he cannot. But then we know that God 
 judges us by Jesus Christ; that is, with the allays of mercy, &c. 
 By the measures of the gospel, he will judge every man aceording to 
 his works. What these measures are, is now the question. To 
 which it is answered, first, generally; then more particularly. 
 
 In general, thus: a Christian's innocence is always to be measured 
 by the plain lines of the commandments ; but is not to be taken into 
 account by uncertain fond opinions, and scruples of zealous or 
 timorous persons. Some men say, that every natural inclination to 
 a forbidden object is a sin : if so, then a man sins whether he resists 
 his inclinations or not ; whether he prevails, or not ; and there is no 
 other difi'erence but this; he that yields to his desires, sins greatest; 
 and he that never yields, but fights always, sins oftenest : hence the 
 very doing our duty supposes sin : this general topic enlarged on. 
 But God judges of us only by the commandment without, and from 
 the heart and conscience within : he never intended his laws to be a 
 snare to us, &c. So much for the general measure. Consideration 
 of particulars. 
 
 1. Every Christian is bound to arrive at such a state, that he have 
 remaining in him no habit of any sin whatever. Our old man must 
 be crucijied, &c. 
 
 2. He that commits any one sin by choice and deliberation, is an 
 enemy to God, and under the dominion of the flesh. 
 
 3. Every Christian ought to attain to such a state, as that he 
 never shall sin, even by passion ; that is, no passion ought to make 
 him choose a sin. 
 
 4. There is one step more, towards which we must greatly strive ; 
 namely, to gain so great a dominion over our sins and lust, that we be 
 not surprised on a sudden : this is indeed a work of time ; and it is 
 Yi'ell if it ever be done ; but it must be attempted. 
 
 JV. Next consideration, how all this is to be elTected. 
 
anH SUMMARIES OF JKRKMY TAYLORS 
 
 1. Tlic first great instrument is faith. Faith overcometh the world : 
 this topic enlarged on. 
 
 2. He that would be free from the slavery of sin, must always 
 watch : nature of this Christian watchfulness explained and illus- 
 trated. 
 
 3. In the next place, he must be sure, in the mortifications of sin, 
 to leave willingly or carelessly no remains of it, no nest-egg, no prin- 
 ciples of it, or affections to it: if any such remain, they will prove to 
 him as manna did to the children of Israel on the second day : it 
 will stinU and breed w^orms. 
 
 4. Let us, witiiout further question, put this argument to a 
 material issue: let us do all we can to destroy the whole body of 
 sin ; but let us never say we cannot be quit of our sin, before we 
 have done all we can towards the mortification of it. 
 
 5. He that would be advanced beyond the power and necessity of 
 sinning, must take great caution respecting his thoughts and secret 
 desires : for hist, ivheii it is conceived, brincjeth forth sin; but if it 
 be suppressed in the conception, it comes to nothing. 
 
 6. Lastly, if sin hath gotten the power of you, consider in what 
 degree it hath prevailed : if only a little, the battle will be more easy, 
 and the victory more certain : but then be sure to do it thoroughly, 
 because there is not much to be done. But if sin hath prevailed 
 greatly, you have much to do : therefore begin betimes, and defer it 
 not till old age shall make the task extremely difficult, or death 
 impossible : this topic eidarged on. To sum up all ; every good man 
 is a new creature, and Christianity is not so much a divine institution, 
 as a divine frame and temper of spirit; which if we pray heartily 
 for, and endeavor to obtain, we shall find it as hard and uneasy to 
 sin against God, as now we think it to abstain from our most pleasing 
 sins. Conclusion. 
 
 SERMON HI. 
 FIDES FORMATA; OR, FAITH WORKING BY LOVE. 
 
 JAMES, CHAP. II. VERSE 24. 
 
 You see, then, how that by works a man is justified, and not by 
 
 faitli only. 
 
 That we are justified hy faith, St. Paul tells us : that we are also 
 justified hy works, we are told by St. James in the text .: and both 
 may be true : observations on this point. Purport of this discourse 
 explained. The two Apostles spake by the same spirit, and to the 
 same great design ; though with differing intermedial purposes. 
 Some preliminary observations necessary on this important subject. 
 
SERMONS ON FAITH, &C. — Uf. 38D 
 
 1. That no man may abuse himself ov others by mistaking hard 
 words, spoken in mystery and allegory, such as fait k, just ijicat ion, 
 impiUation, righteousness, and works, we must consider that the word 
 faith in Scripture is very ambiguous: this shown, 
 
 2. As it is in the word faith, so also it is in that of icorks ; by 
 which is meant sometimes the things done, sometimes the labor of 
 doing, sometimes the good will, &c. 
 
 3. So again is it in the word justification ; for God is justified, 
 and wisdom is justified, and man is justified ; and a sinner is not 
 justified, as long as he continues in sin ; and is justified when he 
 repents and is pardoned, t"v:c. 
 
 4. Not only the word faith, but also charity, and godliness, and 
 religion, signify sometimes particular graces, and sometimes the 
 union of them all. 
 
 5. Neither can this phenomenon be solved by saying that faith 
 alone does justify, yet when she justifies, she is not alone, but good 
 works must follow ; which is said to no purpose : four reasons for 
 this given. 
 
 The consequence of these observations is briefly this: 
 That no man should fool himself by disputing about the philo- 
 sophy of justification, and what casuality faith has in it, and whether 
 it be the act of faith that justifies, or the habit; whether faith as a 
 good work, or faith as an instrument, dfcc. Let us rather look to 
 the theology of it; the direct duty, the end of faith, and the work of 
 faith; the conditions and instruments of our salvation, &c.; how 
 faith can destroy our sin, and unite us to God : this part of the 
 subject enlarged on. 
 
 The text has in it two propositions ; a negative and an affirmative. 
 The negative is. By faith only a man is not justified : the affirmative, 
 By works also a man is justified. 
 
 1. AVith regard to the first; hy faith only, is here meant, faith 
 without obedience. For what do we think of those that detain the 
 faith in unrighteousness? They have faith, else they could not keep 
 it in so evil a cabinet: but yet the Apostle reckons them among the 
 reprobates, who, for all their faith, shall have no part with faithful 
 Abraham ; for none are his children but they that do the works of 
 Abraham : this topic fully enlarged on. So much for the negative 
 proposition of the text, a man is not justified by faith alone, that is, 
 by faith which hath not in it charity and obedience. 
 
 2. If faith alone will not do, what will? The affirmative part of 
 the text answers : not faith alone ; but faith, with works as an 
 ingredient: a man is justified by works. It will be to no purpose to 
 say that^oiM alone does justify, if, when a man is justified, he be no 
 the nearer to salvation. Now that without obedience no man can 
 see the Lord, is so evident from Holy Scripture, that he who denies 
 it can have no faith. If faith purge not away our sins, it can never 
 justify : this farther considered in general. Next come the particular 
 considerations which follow. 
 
 1. No man's sins are pardoned, but in the same measure in which 
 
 PART 111. 2 c 
 
390 SUMMARIES OF JEREMY TAYLORS 
 
 they are mortified and taken away ; so that if faith does not cure 
 our sinful natures, it can never justify, or procure our pardon : and 
 therefore it is, that as soon as ever faith in Jesus was preached, at 
 the same time also they preached repentance from dead works : this 
 topic enlarged on and illustrated. 
 
 2. No man is actually justified, but he that is in some measure 
 sanctified; for justification, when it is attributed to any cause, does 
 not always signify justification actual : this topic explained. 
 
 3. He that does not believe the promises of the gospel cannot 
 pretend to faith in Christ : but the promises are all made to us on 
 the conditions of obedience ; and he that does not believe them as 
 Christ made them, believes them not at all : this subject enlarged 
 on. Thus much for the affirmative proposition of the text, a man is 
 
 justijied by icorks. But there is still more in it to be considered. 
 St. James does not say, rve are justijied by tvorks, and are not 
 justijied by Jaith; for that had been irreconcilable with St. Paul : 
 but we are so justified by works, that it is not by faith alone : it is 
 by faith and works together; that is, by the obedience of faith. 
 Faith and good works are no distinct parts, but members of one 
 entire body : they together work the righteousness of God : this 
 topic fully enlarged on. Some practical considerations proposed. 
 
 1. In the early ages of Christianity there was no distinction of 
 sects and opinions in the Church : she knew no ditference of men, 
 but good and bad : there was no separation made except by piety 
 and impiety ; which is all one, says Epiphanius, with fidelity and 
 infidelity : this topic enlarged on, and illustrated. 
 
 2. When our faith is spoken of as the great instrument of justifica- 
 tion and salvation, let us take Abraham's faith as our best pattern, 
 and that will end the dispute; because he was justified by faith, 
 when his faith was mighty in effect; when it passed into an act of 
 the most glorious obedience, &c. 
 
 3. Let every one take heed, lest by an importune adherence to, 
 and reliance on a mistaken faith, he really make shipwreck of aright 
 faith, like Plymena^us and Alexander, who lost their faith by putting 
 away a good conscience. 
 
 4. From these premises we may see but too evidently, that though 
 a great part of mankind pretend to be saved by faith, yet they know 
 not what it is, or else vv^ilfuUy mistake it, and found their hopes on 
 the sand. Believing is the least thing in a justifying faith : for faith 
 is a conjugation of many ingredients, and faith is a covenant, and a 
 law, and obedience, and a work, and a sincere closing with the terms 
 of the gospel in every particular: this topic enlarged on at full 
 length. To live a wicked life, and then to be confident that in 
 death God will pardon us, is not faith, but a direct want of faith. If 
 we did believe the promises on their proper conditions, or that God's 
 commandments were righteous and true, or that his threats were as 
 really intended as they are terribly spoken, we should not dare to live 
 at the rate we do. But wicked men have not faith, says St. Paul ; 
 and then the wonder ceases. 
 
 Let us therefore cast up our reckonings impartially; let us see 
 
SERMONS ON FAITH, iVc. — IV. Wl 
 
 what, will be lorjuiiod at our liands ; and let iis not tliink lliat we 
 sluill be jdstKied by faith, unless our faith be greater than all our 
 passions. Conclusion. 
 
 SERMON TV. 
 
 Consecration Sermon, preached at Dublin. 
 
 LUKE, CHAP. XII. VERSES 42, 43. 
 
 And the Lord said. Who then is that faifhCul and wise steward, whom his 
 Lord shall make ruler over Ids household, to give them their portion of 
 meat in due season .' Blessed is that servant, whom his Lord, when he 
 eometh, shall find so doing. 
 
 The words of the text shown not to be properly a question, the 
 particle rls being, not interrogative, but hypothetical. In them 
 something is insinuated, and much expressed. 
 
 1. That which is insinuated is only, who the stewards were whom 
 Christ had, and would appoint over his church: they are nt)t here 
 named, but will be found out by their proper direction. 
 
 2. That which is expressed, is the office itself in a double capacity. 
 1. In its dignity, as a rule and government. 2. In the care and duty 
 of it, which determines the government to be paternal and profitable. 
 3. Lastly, there is the reward of the faithful and wise dispensation of 
 it. These are treated in order. 
 
 Who are these rulers of Christ's family? The Apostles shown to 
 be first meant by the text : they were the first stewards : but their 
 office dies not with them. Here then begins the inquiry ; who are 
 their successors? Some say, all who have any work or office in the 
 family ; others fix on the presbyters, saying that presbyter and bishop 
 are the same thing, and have the same name in Scripture ; and, 
 therefore, the offices cannot be distinguished. This opinion refuted. 
 
 Who then are successors in the apostolical order ? 
 
 I. It is certain that Christ appointed two sorts of ecclesiastical 
 persons, — twelve apostles, and the seventy-two disciples : to these 
 he gave a limited commission ; to those a fulness of power : to these 
 a temporary employment; to those a perpetual and everlasting one. 
 From these two societies, founded by Christ, the whole church of 
 God derives its two superior orders in the sacred hierarchy ; and as 
 bishops do not claim a Divine right but by succession frcmi the 
 Apostles, so the presbyters cannot pretend to have been instituted by 
 Christ, but by claiming a succession to the seventy -two. And then 
 consider the dift'erence; for the seventy-two had nothing but a mis- 
 sion on a temporary errand, and we hear nothing of them in Scrip- 
 ture; but on the Apostles Christ poured all ecclesiastical power, and 
 
392 SUMMARIES OF JEREMY TAYLORS 
 
 made them the ordinary ministers of that Spirit, which was to abide 
 with the church for ever. 
 
 But we may see the very thing itself — the very matter of fact. St. 
 James, the bishop of Jerusalem, is by St. Paul called an Apostle : 
 other Apostles saw I none, save James, the Lord's brother, lliis topic 
 enlarged on. 
 
 Moreover, this great office passed forth into a demonstration and 
 practice of the whole catholic church : testimonies of the ancient 
 church, and of its adversaries, on this point, collected and commented 
 on. 
 
 This part of the incpiiry summed up in the sentence of the council 
 of Chalcedon, determining the point in question ; &c. The next 
 consideration is that of the office itself. 
 
 II. This office is the stewardship, that is, episcopacy, or the office 
 of a bishop. The word was chosen because it is in itself a monition 
 of duty; and the faithful were used to it in the days of Moses and 
 the prophets : this topic enlarged on. But our inquiry is not after 
 the name, but the office, and the dignity and duty of it. It is called 
 by St. Cyprian, " a high and a divine power from God of governing 
 the church ;" by St. Cyril, " a great and precious thing in the sight 
 of God," 6lC. : but the account on which it is so desirable, is the same 
 that makes it formidable : this topic enlarged on. It is shown that 
 the honor does not pay for the burden. 
 
 But to render this discourse more useful, we must descend to parti- 
 culars : these will best be enumerated in a recital of the worthy 
 offices and actions, by which Christian bishops have blessed and built 
 up Christendom. 
 
 1. The Christian church was founded by bishops ; not only because 
 the Apostles, who were bishops, were the first preachers of the gospel, 
 and planters of churches ; but because the apostolical men, whom the 
 Apostles used in planting and disseminating religion, were by all an- 
 tiquity affirmed to have been diocesan bishops : this enlarged on ; 
 also the character for wisdom, &c., which is necessary to those who 
 have succeeded them as stewards of Christ's family. 
 
 2. As bishops were the first fathers of churches, to which they 
 gave being, so do they preserve them in being ; for without sacra- 
 ments there will be no church, or it will be starved and die ; and 
 without bishops there can be no priests, and, consequently, no sacra- 
 ments. That also must needs be a supreme order from whence ordi- 
 nation itself proceeds : this enlarged on, with the consequent of 
 this; namely, if sacraments depend on bishops, let them take care 
 that holy materials be conveyed to the people, sanctified by a holy 
 ministry, and ministered by holy persons; &c. 
 
 •i. The like also is to be said concerning prayer; for the episcopal 
 order is appointed by God to be the great ministers of Christ's priest- 
 hood in the intercourse of prayer and blessing. Hence may be con- 
 sidered what a calamity is a vicious prelate to that flock wliich he is 
 appointed to bless and pray for. 
 
 4. All the offices ecclesiastical always were, and ought to be, 
 conducted by the episcopal order, as is evident in the universal doc- 
 
SERMONS ON FAITH, &C. — V. 393 
 
 trine and practice of the primitive church : the consequence of vvhicli 
 is no other than the admonition in the text. And, let it be remem- 
 bered, that nothing- can oblige the people to obey tlieir bishops as they 
 onght, unless the latter do to them that duty and charity which God 
 requires : this topic enlarged on. 
 
 it may be observed, that the episcopal order is the principle of 
 unity in the church. Several other great advantages of it described : 
 also a description of what is a bishop's right employment; namely, 
 to be busy in the service of souls, to do good in all capacities, to pro- 
 mote all public benefits, to propagate Christ's kingdom, &c. 
 
 As long as it was thus done by the primitive bisho|)s, princes and 
 people gave them all honor: this shown. But afterwards, when 
 they fell into secular methods, and made their counsels vain by pride, 
 or dirtied their sentences by money, they then beame like other men: 
 and so it will always be, unless bishops be more holy than other 
 men. 
 
 Concluding exhortations, on the great duty of bishops, and on the 
 important interests that are entrusted to them : rules given for 
 the direction of their conduct ; danger of neglect energetically pointed 
 out. 
 
 SERMON V. 
 
 A Sermon preached at the opening of the Parliament of Ireland, 
 May 8th, IGCl. 
 
 1 SAMUEL, CHAP. XV. VERSES 22, 23. 
 
 Behold, to obey is better than sacrifice, and to hearken than the fat of 
 rams : For rebellion is as the sin of witchcraft, and stubbornness is as 
 iniquity and idolatry. 
 
 Nothing is more easy than to say our prayers, and to obey our 
 superiors; yet there is nothing to which we are so averse as to prayer, 
 and nothing seems so intolerable as obedience: this topic enlarged 
 on ; also the great example of our blessed Lord in this matter. 
 Meaning oi sacrifice and obedience in the text explained. The text 
 stated to be a perfect proposition, and to have no special remark in 
 the words of it. It is instanced in the matter of obedience to God : 
 but obedience to our superiors is really, and is to be accounted, obe- 
 dience to God ; for they are sent by him, and are his vicegerents, 
 
 &CC. 
 
 Two things are to be observed. First, we may perceive that God 
 speaks to us, when he uses the ministry of men, as when he uses 
 that of angels; one being as much declared, and as certain, as the 
 other. 
 
 Secondly ; there can be but two things in the world required to 
 
:31»l SUMMARIES OF JERKMY TAYLOR'S 
 
 make obedience necessary ; the greatness of the authority, and the 
 worthiness of the thing. The thing itself is but one ; there is but one 
 authority in the world, and that is God's. But is there no difterence 
 in the hing commanded? Certainly there is some; but nothing to 
 warrant disobedience; for whatever the thing be, it may be com- 
 manded by man, if it be not countermanded by God. For, 1. it is 
 not required that every thing commanded should of itself be neces- 
 sary ; for God himself often commands things, which have in them 
 no other excellency than that of obedience: this enlarged on: 2. 
 and if we pretend willingness to obey in such matters, when a divine 
 command interposes, why should we desire to be excused if it be 
 only a command of man ? Can we become a law unto ourselves, 
 and cannot the word and power of our superiors also become a law 
 to us ? this enlarged on : 3. but what if our princes, or our prelates, 
 command things against the word of God ? We must obey God and 
 not man : this subject enlarged on, and mistakes of sectarians, &c. 
 arising from it, pointed out. Considerations respecting what autho- 
 rity is to do in this case, and what sectarians and recusants are 
 to do. 
 
 1. Concerning authority. All disagreeing persons, to cover their 
 shame of disobedience, plead conscience for their judge, and Scrip- 
 ture for their law. On the same ground the superior may do 
 what he thinks his duty, and be at least as safe as they are : this en- 
 larged on. 
 
 2. The superior is tied, by the laws of Christian charity, so far 
 to bend in his laws, as to pity the invincible ignorance and weakness 
 of his abused people, devoured by evil shepherds: but this is to 
 last no longer than till the ignorance can be cured, and the man 
 be taught his duty : this enlarged on. 
 
 The next inquiry is. What must the disagreeing subject do, 
 when he supposes the superior's command to be against the law of 
 God ? If he thinks so, and thinks truly, he must not obey in that. 
 But because many think amiss in this case, there are some particulars 
 to be considered by them. 
 
 1. Let such think charitanly of others, &c. and that they them- 
 selves are fallible ; that not all their opinions are from inspiration of 
 God, &c. 
 
 2. Every man engaged against authority, would do well to study 
 his doubtful opinion less, and humility and obedience more, &c. 
 
 3. In all disputes, he that obeys his superior can never be 
 a heretic in the estimate of law, or a schismatic in point of con- 
 science ; so that he certainly avoids one great death, and, very pro- 
 bably, the other : this topic enlarged on. 
 
 Such are the blessings of obedience. Other considerations remain, 
 which are highly proper to be addressed to the high and honorable 
 Court of Parliament. 
 
 1. There is no better method of peace, than the reducing all 
 men to obedience, and all questions to the measures of the laws : this 
 explained. 
 
SERMONS ON lAlTH, S:C. — V. 39o 
 
 2. This is true not only in religions prudence and plain necessity ; 
 but it is the way which God has appointed and blessed, &e. 
 
 3. And because this is God's way of ending onr controversies, the 
 matter of authority is highly to be regarded: this explained. 
 
 4. Let no man be too busy in disputing the laws of his superiors ; 
 for by that he seldom gets good to himself, and seldom misses to do 
 mischief to others : this enlarged on. 
 
 5. Moreover, the laws and decrees of a national church ought, on 
 account of their own advantages, to be esteemed as a final sentence 
 in all things disputed : the thing is a plain command : see Heb, xiii. 
 7. : this topic enlarged on. Observations on such a passive obedience 
 as does not acquit a man before God. 
 
 Another part of the text still remains to be handled : this from 
 want of time is included in a brief exhortation to the honorable 
 auditory. 
 
 The judicial power of majesty is now delegated to them, &c. It is 
 not reasonable to expect that the subject should obey them, unless 
 they obey God, &c. Exhortations addressed to them more par- 
 ticularly on their capacity of union and government, and the special 
 duties thereby incumbent on them. 
 
 1. Take care that all power and counsels be employed in doing 
 honor and advantage to piety and holiness : this enlarged on. 
 
 2. As God is to be obeyed, and you are to take care that he be, 
 so God must be honored by reverence and religious obedience 
 paid to those whom he hath been pleased to honor in the dispensation 
 of his blessings and the ministration of his religion : this en- 
 larged on. 
 
 3. In the same proportion, you are to take care of all inferior 
 relatives of God and of religion : this explained. 
 
 4. You cannot obey God, unless you do justice; for this also 
 is better than sacrifice: particular topics in this case insisted on. 
 
 5. As obedience is better than sacrifice, so God also said, I will 
 have mercy and not sacrifice; meaning, that mercy is the best 
 obedience. 
 
 Concluding recommendations to union among themselves, and 
 cautions against divisions. 
 
ay6 SUMMARIES OF JEREMY TAYLORS 
 
 SERMON VI. 
 VIA INTELLIGENTLE. 
 
 JOHN, CHAP. Vli, VERSE 17. 
 
 If any man will do his will, l>e shall know of the doctrine, whether it be of 
 God, or wliether I speak of myself. 
 
 Preliminary observations, on the peaceable nature of Chris- 
 tianity, and the folly or wickedness of quarrels and dissensions 
 which men raise about it. Let us then go to Christ for the truth, 
 and he will tell us an easy way of ending our quarrels ; by * doing 
 the will of God.' First considerations on the ways which men have 
 propounded to find out truth, on the foundation of which Christian 
 peace might be established. 
 
 1. That there is but one true way, all are agreed on ; and 
 therefore almost every church, that lives under a government, 
 proposes a collective body of articles, and calls this the true religion, 
 &c. ; but of this there can be no end, or agreement, &c. 
 
 2, Others recommend submission to an infallible guide; and this 
 is the way of the Romish church : reasons against such a method 
 urged. 
 
 :J. Some wise men have undertaken to reconcile the differences of 
 Christendom by a way of moderation and mutual concession : 
 instances of proposers, and of synods held for this purpose : also 
 causes of its failure. 
 
 4. Others endeavor to make the matter clear by plain statements, 
 and intelligible definitions, &c. This would be a good way, if all 
 men were wise and considerate, &c. 
 
 5. As a last remedy, some good men have proposed a way of 
 peace, rather than of truth ; i. e. that all opinions should be tolerated, 
 and none persecuted. Reasonableness of this rule stated : also the 
 reasons which prevent the eft'ects desired. 
 
 What then is to be done? Must truth be for ever in the dark, and 
 the world for ever divided and disturbed ? The wise Governor 
 of the world has not here forsaken us ; he has given us excellent 
 directions. Observations on the question, 'What is truth?' and on 
 our means of discovering it. As God is the author, so he is the 
 teacher of truth ; and the way to learn it, is to follow the words of 
 the text. 
 
 In the handling of this text, it is considered, first, that the certain 
 causes of our errors are nothing but direct sins, &c. : next, that 
 holiness is the only way of truth and understanding. 
 
 1. No man understands the word of God, as it ought to be 
 understood, unless he lays aside all affections to sin : for Aristotle 
 himself observes, that " wickedness corrupts a man's reasoning:" it 
 
SERMONS ON FAITH, &C. — VI. 397 
 
 gives liiin false principles and measures of things : this to|)io enlarged 
 on and illustrated. 
 
 2. He that means to understand the will of God and the truth of 
 religion, must lay aside all inordinate affections to the world. In- 
 stance of the Jews, whose hearts were blinded by their hopes, which 
 dwelt on secular advantages : this topic dilated on. 
 
 3. No man, how learned soever, can understand the word of God, 
 or be at peace in the questions of religion, unless he be master of his 
 passions : this also enlarged on. Thus it appears that our evil life is 
 the cause of our quarrels and ignorance in religion. The right way 
 of knowlege is next to be described. " Do God's will, and you 
 shall understand his word." 
 
 1. In this inquiry, one thing must be taken for a prcecognitum, 
 that every good man is QeohihuKTos, is "taught of God." i\nd 
 therefore it naturally follows, that by how much nearer we are 
 to God, by so much better we are likely to be instructed. This 
 being supposed, we can easily proceed in the economy of this 
 Divine philosophy : for, 
 
 2. There is, in every righteous man, a new vital principle; the 
 Spirit of Grace is the Spirit of wisdom, and teaches us by secret 
 inspirations, by proper arguments, by actual persuasions, by personal 
 applications, by effects and energies : and as the soul of a man is the 
 cause of all his vital operations, so is the Spirit of God the life of 
 that life, and the cause of all actions and productions spiritual : this 
 topic fully enlarged on and illustrated. 
 
 3. Sometimes God gives to his choicest, his most elect and precious 
 servants, a knowlege even of secret things, which he communicates 
 not to others. Instance of Abraham, and of Daniel : this promised 
 to be the lot of the righteous man in the days of the Messias. 
 
 4. A good life is the best way to understand wisdom and religion ; 
 because by the experiences and relishes of religion, there is conveyed 
 to us a sweetness, to which all wicked men are strangers. 
 
 5. Lastly, there is a sort of God's dear servants, who walk in 
 perfectness ; who 'perfect holiness in the fear of God;' and they 
 have a degree of clarity and divine knowlege more than we can 
 discourse of, or conceive; and this is called by the Apostle, 
 anaiiyaaiia tov Qeuv. Christ is this ' brightness of God,' manifested 
 in the hearts of his dearest servants, &c. But that we may not 
 dwell on things mysterious, how is it effected, that a holy life is 
 the best determination of all questions, and the surest way of 
 knowlege ? 
 
 1. It is effected by holiness as a proper and natural instrument : 
 for as the eye sees visible objects, and the understanding perceives 
 intellectual objects, so does the Spirit perceive the things of the 
 Spirit. ' The natural man knows not the things of God ; for they 
 are spiritually discerned.' This topic enlarged on. 
 
 2. Holiness is not only an advantage in the learning of wisdom 
 and righteousness, but in the discerning that which is wise and holy 
 from what is trifling, useless, and contentious : to one of these heads 
 
»98 SUMMARIES OF JEKEMY TAYLOR's 
 
 all questions will return ; and therefore, in all, we have from holiness 
 the best instructions : this subject enlarged on. 
 
 3. Holiness of life is the best way of finding out truth and 
 understanding; not only as a natural medium, nor only as a prudent 
 medium, but as a means by way of Divine blessing. We have 
 a promise of this in St. John's Gospel, ch. xiv. 21. ; and on this we 
 may rely : this subject considered at large. 
 
 4. When this is reduced to practice and experience, we find not 
 only in things of practice, but even in deepest mysteries, that every 
 good man can best tell what is true, and best reprove an error : this 
 subject enlarged on. 
 
 Application of the doctrine of the text. It is a sure rule, if the 
 holy man best understands wisdom and religion, then, by the pro- 
 portions of holiness we shall best measure the doctrines that are 
 obtruded on us. And therefore, 
 
 1. That is no good religion, whose principles destroy any duty of 
 religion. 
 
 2. It is but a bad sign of holiness when a man is busy in troubling 
 himself and his superiors in little scruples and fantastic notions 
 about things which do not concern the life of religion, or the 
 pleasure of God, &c. 
 
 3. That is no good religion that disturbs governments, or shakes 
 the foundation of public peace. 
 
 Concluding exhortations, to such as are, or intend to be, of the 
 clerical order : that they see here the best compendium of their 
 studies, the truest method of wisdom, and the only infallible vi'ay of 
 judging concerning the disputes or questions of the Christian church. 
 
 SERMON VII. 
 
 Preached at the Funeral of the Lord Primate of Ireland. 
 
 1 CORINTHIANS, CHAP. XV. VERSE 23. 
 
 But every man iu his own order: Christ the first-fruits; afterward they 
 that are Christ's at his coming. 
 
 Preliminary observations, on the weak and limited state of 
 man in this world ; on the hope of man in the resurrection of the 
 soul, even in this world, from sorrow and sad pressures, &c. ; on 
 death as the end of all his mortal hopes, and joys, and troubles ; and 
 on the resurrection from death ; from the death of the body, to the 
 life of the soul, &c. 
 
 The great hinges of our religion are these : 1. Christ is already 
 
SERMONS ON FAITH, I've. — VII. 39© 
 
 risen from the dead : 2. we also shall rise in God's time and our due 
 order; for Christ is the lirst-fniits : this topic cidarged on. 
 
 1. Christ is the fiist-fruits : he is already risen from the dead, for 
 he alone could not be held by death. Death was sin's eldest 
 daughter; but Christ was conqueror over both, and came to take 
 away one, and to disarm the other. This was a glory fit for the 
 Head of mankind ; but it was too great and good to be easily 
 believed by incredulous and weak-hearted men : doubts stated, 
 objections answered, and proofs alleged. This article was so clearly 
 proved, that men became no longer ashamed of the cross, &c. ; but 
 it soon came to pass that the religion of the despised Jesus infinitely 
 prevailed : nature of this religion described, &c. : conduct of its 
 disciples, &c. : so that men could no longer doubt of the resur- 
 rection of Jesus, when they saw such forcible reasons for belief: 
 these enumerated. He therefore is the first-fruits ; and if we hope 
 to rise through him, we must confess that he is first risen from the 
 dead. That is the first particular. 
 
 2. There is an order for us also: we too shall rise again. If 
 it was done once, it may be done again ; for since it could never 
 have been done but by an infinite Power, that infinite must also be 
 eternal and indeficient. When man was not, what power, what 
 cause, made him to be? Whatsoever it was, it did then as great 
 a work to raise his body to the same being again : this topic 
 dilated on. 
 
 Opinions, even of the heathens, were not against this mystery. 
 God makes it credible to us by sleep, the image of death, &c. 
 Nature herself is a sulficient preacher on this point: instances of 
 night and day, of the seasons, of generation and corruption, &c. : 
 the Old Testament and the New, the words of Job and the visions of 
 the prophets, the history of Jonas, Jews, and Christians, the faith of 
 believers, and the philosophy of the reasonable, all join in the 
 verification of this mystery. God's intent declared in his translation 
 of Enoch. But Christ, the first-fruits, is gone before ; and himself 
 did promise, that when he was lifted up, he would draw all men after 
 him. Every man in his own order ; first Christ, then they that are 
 Christ's at his coming. Concerning this order some observations are 
 to be made. 
 
 3. First Christ, and then we; and we therefore, because Christ is. 
 already risen : but it must be remembered, that the resurrection and 
 exaltation of Christ was the reward of his perfect obedience and 
 pure holiness ; and he calling us to an imitation of the same, prepares 
 a way for us to the same resurrection : there are no other terms ; 
 no other method by which God, who brought Christ to glory, will 
 bring us. 
 
 4. Furthermore; Every man in his own order ; first Christ, and 
 then they that are Christ's. But what will become of those that are not 
 Christ's? There is an order for them too : first they that are Christ's, 
 and then they that are not his. There is a first and a second resur- 
 rection even after this life : the dead in Christ shall rise first. Now 
 blessed are they that have their portion here ; for on these the second 
 
400 SUMMARIES OF JEREMY TAYLOR'S 
 
 death shall have no power. As for the recalling of the wicked from 
 their graves, this is no more a resurrection than the taking of a 
 criminal from prison to the bar is a giving of liberty : this subject 
 enlarged on and illustrated. Exhortations to those who profess their 
 belief in this article of the resurrection. Considerations on the 
 uncertainty of life, and the certainty of all men, whatever be their 
 station, lying down in the grave. Piety of the Christian church in 
 commemorating great and worthy persons. Example of St. Paul 
 considered. Character of the Lord Primate dilated on. Conclusion. 
 
 SERMON VIII. 
 
 Countess of Carbery's Funeral Sermon. 
 
 2 SAMUEL, CHAP. XIV. VERSE 14. 
 
 For we must needs die, and are as water spilt on the ground, wliich can- 
 not be gathered up again : neither doth God respect any person ; yet 
 doth he devise means, tliat his banished be not expelled from him. 
 
 Previous observations on the mortality of man and his subjec- 
 tion to death, as the effects of sin and disobedience. All must die. 
 We are as water spilt on the ground, which cannot he gathered up 
 again. 
 
 1. We are as water, weak and of no consistency, always descend- 
 ing, abiding in no certain place, unless where we are detained by 
 violence, &c. 
 
 2. But besides the weaknesses and natural decay of our bodies, 
 if chances and contingencies be innumerable, then no man can reckon 
 our dangers, and the preternatural causes of our deaths ; so that he is 
 a vain person whose hopes of life are too confidently increased by 
 reason of his health, &c. : peculiar dangers of infancy exhibited. 
 
 3. But in the middle way the case is altered. Nature is strong, 
 and art is apt to give us ease and remedy : but still there is no secu- 
 rity. Peculiar diseases to which men are incident, and various 
 stages of them, described, &c. Our farther likeness to water in- 
 sisted on. 
 
 4. In all the process of our health we are running to the grave : 
 private vices and quarrels, public wars, &c. enlarged on : so that we 
 make ourselves like to water spilt on the ground, throwing away our 
 lives, as if they were wholly unprofitable. There is no redemption 
 from the grave : the topic commented on and illustrated. 
 
 This consideration intended as a severe monitor of carefulness ; 
 that we should so order our affairs as to be partakers of the first re- 
 surrection, that is, from sin to a life of grace ; for such only can or 
 
SERMONS ON FAITH, &C. — VIII, 4dl 
 
 will be called a resurrection from death to life : the taking of 
 the wicked from their graves to the bar of judgment, can scarcely be 
 called a resurrection : such are but the solemnities of an eternal 
 death : the wicked are spilt like water, and shall never be gathered 
 up again. But the godly also come under the sense of the words: 
 they descend into the grave, and are no more reckonel among the 
 living ; they have no more concern with what is done under the sun, 
 &c. It is true, they envy and murmur not; they are consigned to 
 kingdoms where these passions disturb them not : " yet there is a re- 
 lation continued still." Opinion of Aristotle, that the dead take 
 thought for the good of the living : that also of the church. 
 
 We must remember, that in this world we are something besides 
 flesh and blood : we may not, without violent necessities, run into new 
 relations ; but must preserve the affections which we bore towards our 
 dead when they were alive : we must not so live as if they had pe- 
 rished, but as pressing forward to the most intimate participation of 
 the communion of saints : this topic enlarged ou. Though to us they 
 are as water spilt, yet to God they are as water fallen into the sea; 
 safe in his comprehension. 
 
 Farther consideration of the sentence : this descending to the 
 grave is the lot of all men : the rich is not protected through favor, 
 nor the poor for pity ; the old man is not reverenced for his age, nor 
 the infant regarded for his tender years : youth and beauty, learning 
 and prudence, wit and strength, all lie down equally in dishonor : 
 this subject enlarged on. 
 
 Well, it may be said, this is a sad story. Is there no comfort after 
 this ? Shall ice all go hence, and be no more seen, and have no re- 
 compense ? Is there no allay to this great calamity ? 
 
 Yes, there is a yet in the text ; yet doth he devise means, &c. AH 
 this sorrow and trouble is but a phantasm, and receives its account 
 and degrees from our present conceptions, &c. Death is nothing but 
 the middle point between two lives : this illustrated from Scripture. 
 
 We must not venture to determine what are the circumstances of 
 the abode of blessed souls in their separate dwellings; yet possibly 
 that might be easier than to tell what or how the soul is, and how it 
 works when in the body, &c. 
 
 Certain it is that the body hinders many actions of the soul : it is 
 an imperfect body, a diseased brain, or a violent passion, that makes 
 fools ; for no one has an imperfect soul ; &c. That the soul is alive 
 after our death, St. Paul affirms: Christ died for us, that, whether 
 we wake or sleep, tve should live together with him. It is a weak 
 and unlearned proposition to say, that the soul can do nothing 
 of itself, without the provisions of the body. Reasons given 
 against such a supposition. 
 
 To which this consideration may be added ; that our souls have 
 the same condition that Christ's soul had in the state of sepa- 
 ration ; because he took on himself all our nature, and all our condi- 
 tion, &c. 
 
 But if these arguments should fail, yet the felicity of God's saints 
 cannot fail : for suppose the body to be a necessary instrument,^&c,, 
 
402 SUMMARIES OF JEREMY TAYLOR's 
 
 yet then God devises other means that his departed be not expelled 
 from him. For God will restore the soul to the body, and raise the 
 body to such a perfection, that it shall be an organ tit to praise him 
 on : it shall be made spiritual, to minister to the soul, when the soul 
 shall become a spirit: this topic enlarged on. In the mean 
 time, whatever may be the case with regard to the soul's separate 
 consciousness, it will concern us only to secure our state by holy 
 living, leaving the event to God ; that xchether j)resent or abseiit, 
 whether sleeping or leaking, whether perceiving or perceiving not, wo. 
 may be accepted of him. Character and conduct of Lady Carbery 
 displayed. Conclusion. 
 
 SERMON IX. 
 THE MINISTER'S DUTY IN LIFE AND DOCTRINE. 
 
 TITUS, CHAP, II. VERSES 7, 8. 
 
 In afl things showing thyself a pattern of good works: in doctrine sliow- 
 ing uncorruptness, gravity, sincerity ; sound speech that cannot be con- 
 demned ; tliat he tliat is of the contrary part may be ashamed, having 
 no evil thing to say of you. 
 
 Preliminary observations on the degrees and orders which God 
 ordained when he first created the world, and also when he created 
 it afresh under the gospel. All Christians are holy unto the Lord : 
 Christians, however, must be not only holy, but eminently so, &c. 
 But in this affair there are many steps and degrees of progression. 
 
 1. All God's people must be delivered from all sin. — Christ came 
 to present his church tvithoiit spot or ivrinkte. 
 
 2. Christians must acquire all the graces of God's Holy Spirit. 
 An Apostle gives the catalogue, 2 Pet. i. 5. 
 
 3. There is yet another degree to be added thereto : it is not 
 enough for a Christian to be free from corruption, and to have these 
 graces; but they nmst be in us and abound : this enlarged on. 
 
 4. There are yet three more steps beyond this. God requires of 
 us perseverance : it is not sufficient to dicellin holiness, we must still 
 pursue it, and that unto the end. 
 
 5. Besides this extension of duration, there must be intension of 
 degree : we must aim at perfection : be ye perfect, as your heavenly 
 Father is peifect. 
 
 G. And after all this, we must be so for ourselves, and we must 
 also be so for others ; we must be so to please God, and we 
 must be so to edify our brethren. Let your light so shine before men, 
 that they may glorify your Father which is in heaven : this enlarged 
 on. 
 
SERMONS ON FAITH, c>CC. — IX. 403 
 
 These considerations premised, as including the duty of all 
 Christians whatsoever, and as a foundation to what is addressed to 
 the clergy. 
 
 Ministers of the gosj)el are separated beyond this separation. God 
 hath separated them again, and put them anew into the crucible : by 
 then) God intends to plant holiness in the hearts of men, tic. 
 
 To them these things are spoken properly, these powers really 
 conveyed ; and on them God hath poured his spirit plentifully, &c. : 
 and if he accepts none of the people unless they have within them 
 the conjugation of all Christian graces, it is scarcely possible to ex- 
 press by words that which God requires of his ministers. Here 
 then is, 1. their duty : 2. the degrees and excellency of it. 
 
 The duty is double : 1. holiness of life : 2. integrity of doctrine. 
 Both of these have their degrees. 
 
 1. The holiness of life and conversation that is befitting a minister 
 of the gospel described. He must be a pattern to others. 
 
 2. Integrity of doctrine: four qualifications necessary ; it must bo 
 incorrupt, grave and chaste, sound in speech, evidently demonstrated. 
 Also it must be sincere, not polluted with foul intentions and 
 devices of secular interest. But it is proposed to handle the duties 
 and degrees of them together, &c. It is required of every minister, 
 that in all things he show himself a pattern of good works. This 
 15 on all accounts necessary : 1. in general ; 2. in particular. 
 
 I. In general. The very first words of the Psalter are an argu- 
 ment of this necessity. The primitive church would not admit a man 
 to the superior orders of the clergy unless he could repeat all David's 
 Psalter by heart, so wisely and mysteriously by God made pre- 
 liminary to the whole office. 
 
 To the same purpose is the observation of St. Jerome concerning 
 the vesting of the priests in the Levitical ministrations. I'he words 
 of David (Ps. 1. IG, 17.) considered. The primitive church would 
 admit no man to holy orders who had done public penance. Letters 
 of P. Hormisda to the bishops of Spain commented on. But all this 
 is general : there are considerations yet more particular and mate- 
 rial. 
 
 1. A minister of an evil life cannot do so much good to his 
 charges : he pulls down as fast or faster than he builds up : he is 
 contemptible to his people ; he cannot preach with fervor and 
 efficacy ; he cannot love to see others better than himself; and thus 
 like will beget like. 
 
 2. A wicked minister cannot with success and benefit pray for 
 the people of his charge: and this is a great matter; for prayer is the 
 key of David, and God values it so highly, that Christ is made the 
 prince of all intercession, &c. : this topic fully enlarged on. 
 
 3. The ecclesiastical order is by Christ appointed to minister his 
 Holy Spirit to the people: but can he minister it, from whom the 
 Spirit of God is departed ? this enlarged on. 
 
 4. Consider, that every sin committed by a minister of religion, is 
 more than one ; and it is soon espied too ; for more men look on the 
 sun in an eclipse, than when he is in his beauty. 
 
404 SUMMARIES OF JEREMY TAYLORS 
 
 5. The accounts which an ungodly minister of religion shall make, 
 must needs be intoleraVjle, when the sins of his neglected flock shall 
 be added to his own. 
 
 0. Every minister that leads an evil life, is that person whom our 
 blessed Saviour means under the odious appellation of a hireling : 
 this explained. 
 
 7. These things have been said, that yoU sin not: but this is 
 not the great thing here intended : ministers may be innocent, 
 and yet not zealous of good works: but if they be not this, they 
 are not true ministers of Jesus Christ. Concluding pious exhor- 
 tations. 
 
 PART II. 
 
 II. Rules and measures of doctrine, which ministers are to teach 
 the people, next considered. 
 
 1, Let them be sure that they teach nothing but what is found in 
 Scripture. This rule alone were sufficient to guide us, if we were 
 not weak, wilful, ignorant, and abused, and if the holy Scriptures 
 had not received so many interpretations and various meanings, 
 &c. : this topic enlarged on. Some rules and advice given on 
 this head. 
 
 1. Because it is not to be expected that every minister should 
 have all the gifts of the Spirit, &c., they may make use of the 
 labors of those worthy persons, whom God has raised up as 
 lights to the world : several such recommended, &c. In the in- 
 terpretation of Scripture there are ways of doing it well and 
 wisely, without the too laborious methods of weary learning, &c. : 
 therefore, 
 
 2. In all interpretation of Scripture, the literal sense is to be pre- 
 sumed and chosen, unless there be evident cause to the contrary : 
 reasons for this : three corollaries mentioned, as consequent to this 
 proposition. 
 
 3. We must remember that not the grammatical or prime signifi- 
 cation of the word only is the literal sense ; but whatsoever was the 
 prime intention of the speaker, though the word to be taken meta- 
 phorically may signify more meanings than one : this topic dilated 
 on : errors of different sects enumerated. 
 
 4. We must admit in the interpretation of Scripture but one literal 
 sense ; that is, but one prime literal sense, agreeably to the purity 
 and simplicity of the Spirit of God, &c. 
 
 5. Yet others that are subordinate may be intended subordi- 
 nately, &c. 
 
 6. Lastly, sometimes the literal sense is lost by a plain change of 
 the words, which, when it is discovered, must be corrected by the 
 fountain; and till it be, as long as it is pious and commonly re- 
 ceived, it may be used without scruple : this illustrated. 
 
 II. There is another sense or interpretation of Scripture; and 
 that is mystical or spiritual : this explained. Some short rules 
 given. 
 
SF.KMDNS ON FAITH, i^C. — IX. 40r» 
 
 1. Though every place of Scripture hafJi a literal, yet every one 
 liath not a spiritual or mystical sense ; and, therefore, Origen was 
 blamed for resolving all into spirit and mystery. 
 
 2. Whoever will draw spiritual senses from any history of the 
 Old or New Testament, must first allow the literal sense, or else he 
 will soon deny an article of necessary belief. 
 
 3. In moral precepts, &c., there is no other but the literal sense 
 to be looked for. 
 
 4. If the letter of the story infers any indecency or contradiction, 
 then it is necessary to look for a mystical sense : some other cases 
 mentioned where it may be useful : folly of some mystical commen- 
 tators displayed : instances of very absurd glosses given. 
 
 Some other rules for the more particular duty of ministers. 
 
 1. Though they are to teach the people nothing but what is the 
 word of God, yet by this is to be understood all that God spake 
 expressly, and all that by certain consequence can be deduced from 
 it : this enlarged on. Quest. But how shall our reason be rightly 
 guided in this case ? To which it is answered, 
 
 2. In the making deductions, the first great measure to direct our 
 reason and our inquiries is the analogy of faith : this explained, &c. 
 
 3. It is necessary also that we be very diligent in reading, assi- 
 duous in the studies of Scripture, Sec. 
 
 4. Next to the analogy of faith, the consent of the Catholic 
 church should be our measure, &c. : not indeed distinct from, 
 much less against Scripture, for that were a contradiction : this 
 enlarged on. 
 
 Next head of the Discourse. The doctrine of a minister must be 
 grave and reverend ; without vain notions, pitiful contentions, &c. : 
 the rules for which are easy. 
 
 1. Do not trouble the people with controversies, or with what 
 engenders strife : this topic enlarged on. 
 
 2. Let not sermons and discourses be busy arguings about hard 
 places of Scriptm'e : this also enlarged on. 
 
 Third head of the Discourse. Let your speech be salutary and 
 wholesome : rules given. 
 
 1. It is never out of season to preach good works : but when any 
 one does this, let him not indirectly disgrace them, by telling how 
 his adversaries spoil them : this topic enlarged on. 
 
 2. In deciding questions and cases of conscience, never strive to 
 say what is pleasing, but what is profitable, &c. 
 
 Lastly, the Apostle requires of every minister of the gospel that 
 his speech and doctrine should be unreprovable ; not such against 
 which no man can cavil, but such as deserves not blame : rules and 
 advices given for this. 
 
 J. Be more careful to establish a truth than to reprove an error. 
 
 2. If any man have a revelation or discovery, be not too quick to 
 condemn it : reasons for this given. 
 
 3. Let no man from his own head reprove the religion that is esta- 
 blished by law and a just supreme authority : this explained. 
 
 4. Whatever Scripture you pretend for your doctrine, take heed 
 
 PART III. 2 D 
 
40G SUMMARY OF JEREMY TAYLOR's SERMON 
 
 that it be not chargeable with foul consequences : this explained and 
 illustrated. If you will not have your doctrine reprehensible, do 
 nothing tvith offence. Frame your life and preaching to the canons 
 of the church, the doctrines of antiquity, and the sense of the Holy 
 Fathers : reasons for this given. Concluding exhortations. 
 
 SIR GEORGE DALSTON'S FUNERAL SERMON. 
 
 1 CORINTHIANS, CHAP. XV. VERSE 19. 
 
 If in this life only we have hope in Christ, we are, of all men, most 
 
 miserable. 
 
 When God, in his infinite wisdom, had decreed to man a life of 
 labor and a body of mortality, &c., he was pleased to do two great 
 things which might confirm the faith and entertain the hopes of his 
 servants, who were ill used by the accidents of this Avorld. 
 
 1. First, He sent his Son to take on him our nature, that no 
 man might think it hard to suffer, when God thus spared not his own 
 Son, &c. 
 
 2. Next, He taught, not only by revelation and his prophets to 
 the church, but by competent methods to all mankind, that the soul 
 of man does not die. Right deductions of the ancient philosophers 
 and others on this point related and commented on. When they 
 descended to particulars, they fell into error : instance of the doc- 
 trine of the transmigration of souls : this notion prevailed amongst the 
 uninstructed of the Jews. Though God was pleased at all times to 
 communicate notices of the other world sufficient to encourage virtue, 
 yet he was ever sparing in telling the secrets of it : subject enlarged 
 on. In this life, then, we see plainly that our portion is not, &c. 
 Three propositions to be considered. 
 
 1. The servants of God in this world would be very miserable, 
 were it not for their hopes of what is to come hereafter. 
 
 2. Though this be a place of hopes, yet we have not our hopes 
 only here, &c. 
 
 3. The consummation and perfection of the felicity of the godly, 
 when all their miseries shall be changed into glories, is in the world 
 to come ; which is the main thing here intended by St. Paul. 
 
 I. The servants of God in this life are troubled and afflicted : they 
 must live under the cross. This shown in extraordinary sufferings, 
 also in the ordinary occurrences of life. 
 
 Hence it was, that the very heathens fetched a strong argument 
 for a day of recompense hereafter : hence, also, our Lord convicted 
 the Sadducees. Hence St. Paul observes, he that cotneih to God, 
 must believe that he is, and that he is a rewarder of them that difi- 
 
ON THE DEATH OF SIR (i. BALSTON. 407 
 
 f/ently seek him. Hence, also, the argument of our blessed Saviour, 
 God is the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob : that is, the rewarder 
 of them, who are not dead, but fallen asleep, and shall be restored 
 at the resurrection, to receive their rewards, &:c. : this topic enlarged 
 on. Neither is this so to be understood, as if the servants of God 
 were so wholly forsaken by him in this world, so left to the malice 
 of evil men, that they have not many refreshments, and great 
 comforts, &c. But God, who intends vast portions of felicity for 
 his children, does not reckon these little joys to the account of his 
 elect. But as for the evil which they have, it is such as their 
 Saviour had ; and, bad as it is, it is to be chosen rather than a 
 better ; because it is the highway of the cross ; a sharp, but a short 
 step to bliss : parable of Dives and Lazarus commented on. 
 
 II. Second head. Not in this life o?ify ha,ve the godly hopes; 
 therefore hereafter. As soon as they die, as soon as the soul goes 
 out of the body, it is blessed : blessed, though not perfect : an 
 objection here removed. The proposition itself taken up : in the 
 state of separation, departed souls perceive the blessing and comfort 
 of their labors ; they live after death, &c. 
 
 This was the undoubted opinion of the Jews before Christ, and 
 after ; and therefore our Saviour's words to the converted thief, 
 wherein he undoubtedly spake so as to be understood : this topic 
 farther enlarged on. But this we learn more perfectly from the 
 raptures of St. Paul : instances also from the book of Revelation 
 given and commented on. But to make this proposition useful and 
 clear, some things are to be added by way of supplement. 
 
 1. Reasons given why this place of separation was called para- 
 dise, &c. 
 
 2. As the spirits of good men were said in the Old Testament to 
 be loith Abraham, so the being with Christ is the specification of their 
 intermediate state in the New Testament: this enlarged on. 
 
 3. It is to be noted, that although our blessed Saviour is, in 
 the Creed, said to descend into hell, yet this does not prejudice 
 his other words, this day thou shalt be with me in paradise : this 
 explained. 
 
 4. It is observable, that in the mention of paradise by St. John, 
 he twice speaks of the tree of life, but never of the tree of knoivlege 
 of good and evil: this explained, &c. 
 
 III. Third head. The great reward of the godly shall be at the 
 day of judgment, after the resurrection of the dead. 
 
 At his coming, at his glorious appearing, we also shall appear 
 glorious: this shown from 1 John, ii. 28. and iii. 4. We shall then 
 see him as he is ; but this beatific vision shall not be till then : this 
 topic enlarged on, proved, and illustrated from Scripture. 
 
 This doctrine shown to have been that of the primitive church. 
 It is that of the Greek church unto this day, &c. 
 
 This doctrine shown to overthrow the arguments for a state of 
 purgatory. 
 
 The proposition being established, let us consider that God is our 
 God when we die, if we be his servants while we live : this topic 
 
40li SUMMARY OF JEllEMY TAYLOR's ^ 
 
 enlarged on. Some men, by reading or hearing strange opinions, 
 have fallen into a desperate melancholy ; and others have so totally 
 despaired of the divine mercy, as to lay violent hands on them- 
 selves : and yet they only thought this or feared it; and might have 
 altered it if they would have hoped and prayed : reflections on this 
 subject. 
 
 Now it is well with us, and we may secure our welfare for ever ; 
 but within an hour it may be otherwise with any of us : reflections 
 on this topic. The exposition of the text is finished ; but another 
 text, and another sermon, as it were, still remains. Exhortations 
 to caution and amendment of life, and the securing of God's favor. 
 Example of Sir George Dalston proposed : his character delineated. 
 Conclusion. 
 
 SERMON 
 
 On the Anniversary of the Gunpowder Treason. 
 
 LUKE, CHAP. IX. VERSE 50. 
 
 But when James and John saw this, they said, Lord, wilt thou that we 
 command fire to come down from heaven, and consume them, even as 
 Elias did ? 
 
 Parallel of fire in the text. Difference of character between 
 the persons in the text, and those of the day. 
 
 The words of the text in their own order point out, 1. the persons 
 that asked the question : 2. the cause that moved them : 3. the per- 
 son to whom they addressed it : 4. the question itself : 5. the prece- 
 dent they urged from a fallible topic, in a special and different 
 case. 
 
 I. The persons were disciples of Christ, and Apostles. They 
 were angry, and therefore it is not surprising that they sinned : not the 
 privilege of an apostolical spirit, &c., can guard from sin those who 
 are overruled by passion : this topic enlarged on. The spirits of 
 these * sons of thunder' had been inflamed under the law, and there- 
 fore their blessed Lord reproves them for ignorance, not of the law, but 
 of his spirit. 
 
 But we need not look far for persons, professing, at least, to be 
 disciples of Christ's school, yet as great strangers to his merciful 
 i^pirit, as if they had lived under the law, or had been foster-brothers 
 to llomulus, suckled by a wolf: and they are Romanists too, pre- 
 sented to us by this day's solemnity, who call themselves Christians 
 and Jesuits. 
 
 One would have thought that such men, set forth with such mer- 
 ciful appellatives, would have endeavored to support the ruinous 
 
SERMON ON THE GUNPOWDER TREASON. 4()i> 
 
 fabric of the world's charity, and not have pulled it over our ears. 
 Inquiry made into this anti-christian depravity, and the sermons of 
 those who blast royalty, and breathe forth treason and slaughter, 
 contrary to the spirit of our Lord. 
 
 Bloody doctrine of Sanders, our countryman, quoted and com- 
 mented on, also that of Emmanuel Sa, who, in his Aphorisms, 
 affirms it to be lawful to kill a king, if the pope hath sentenced him 
 to death. Many other instances brought forward. Such doctrines 
 were not denied by the Romanists to Arnald, the French king's 
 advocate : horrid acts of French regicides, commended by papistical 
 writers of eminence. Similar language used by Baronius. Apolo- 
 gists for the Jesuits Guignard and Garnet noticed : enumeration of 
 the above-mentioned writers, who would fain make such doctrine 
 catholic : if it prove to be but apostolic too, then is found out 
 an exact parallel for James and John, the Apostles : and whether 
 the See Apostolic may not be sometimes of a fiery and consuming- 
 spirit, we have such examples at home, that we need seek no farther 
 for a resolution of the question. Instance of the bull of excommu- 
 nication put forth by Pius V. against Queen Elizabeth, in which is 
 a command for men to turn rebels, and a necessity for their being 
 traitors : history, nature, and consequences of this bull exposed and 
 commented on. Instance of Sixtus Quintus, who pronounced a 
 speech in full consistory, comparing the assassination of Jaccjues 
 Clement on Hen. III. to the exploits of Eleazar and Judith. Thus 
 much for the persons that asked the question. 
 
 II. Next inquiry; the cause of their angry question. This is 
 learned from the foregoing story ; particulars of it cited : reflections 
 on the subject of indiscreet and uncharitable zeal : danger of allow- 
 ing religion, which ought to be the greatest antidote to malice, 
 to become its greatest incentive, &c. Case of the persons alluded 
 to by the day, compared with that of the disciples. 
 
 Endeavors to make a just discovery of the cause which moved 
 such traitors to so accursed a conspiracy. 
 
 It is shown that there was no cause at all given to them by us ; 
 none were put to death for being Roman Catholics, or punished on 
 account of their religion. 
 
 Act of the 13th of Elizabeth against the papal bulls commented 
 on : comments on the farther laws against recusancy, against sedi- 
 tious and traitorous books, and against the residence of popish 
 priests in England ; making the first finable with a pecuniary mulct, 
 the two latter capital, as being of a treasonable nature. Concerning 
 seditious and traitorous publications, little need be said. Th3 
 banishment of the priests was the highest acme of the severity of this 
 state against them : alleviations of this severity enumerated. It is 
 next shown that this proscription was for just cause, as the case then 
 stood, and deserved on their part. It is also shown that it was but 
 reasonable, in case they obeyed not the proscription, that their dis- 
 obedience should be punished capitally. 
 
 It is shown that the traitors were encouraged and primarily moved 
 
410 SUMMARY OF JKRKMY TAYLORS 
 
 to this treason, by the prevailing opinion on that side, that it is law- 
 ful to depose heretical princes ; and not only this, but that it is also 
 necessary, and that Roman Catholics are taught to do it sub mortali. 
 Nay, more, the killing such, in case of necessity, or of greater con- 
 venience, is not excluded. 
 
 If these things be put together, and we should prove to be 
 heretics in their opinion, we are in a fair way, both prince and 
 people, and need look no farther why tire was called for to consume 
 us, nor why we may fear it another time : farther observations on this 
 subject, and the great danger of the assumed power of the pope. So 
 much for the cause of this query of the disciples, when their Lord, for 
 his difference in religion, was turned out. 
 
 III. Which when they saw, they said. Lord. It was well they 
 asked at all, and would not too hastily act what they too suddenly 
 intended : it would have been their best warrant, could they have 
 gained his permission. But that was not likely : nothing could be 
 more strange to his disposition : this shown. 
 
 Difterence between Mahoraetanism and Christianity in this case 
 pointed out. Practice of the primitive church falsely accounted for 
 by papistical writers. Christ's conduct on the night when he was be- 
 trayed considered. Conduct of martyrs. Doctrine of the council of 
 Toledo. 
 
 Hence may be drawn a strong antithesis between the spirit of our 
 blessed Saviour, who answered the question of the text, and that of 
 the fathers confessors, of whom was asked the question of the day. 
 
 The conduct of these men next considered, as not only misinform- 
 ing their penitents, but as concealing their intended purpose : for 
 even in this way the persons to whom the question was propounded 
 made themselves guilty of the intended machination : this point 
 argued in two ways. 
 
 1. The treason was not revealed to these fathers confessors in 
 formal confession, but only propounded to them in way of question or 
 consultation ; not subject to their penitential judicature, &c. 
 
 2. If it had been, this did not bind them to secrecy. General 
 reasons why confessions in some cases may be revealed. Doctrine of 
 the church of England, on this head, is in the affirmative : also that 
 of the Roman church. Four cases enumerated, in which it allows 
 the seal of formal confession to be broken ; the last of these being 
 that of treason. Examples of such publication both in France and 
 in Rome. Instances given from Sozomen and Origen of the lawful- 
 ness of such publication ; so that it is vain to contend that the seal 
 of confession is founded on Catholic tradition. So much for the per- 
 sons to whom the question was propounded : they were the fathers 
 confessors in the day ; but it was Christ our Lord in the text. 
 
 IV. The question itself follows. Shall ice command fire to come 
 down from heaven and consume them ? 
 
 'Vhe question was concerning the fate of a whole town of Samaria : 
 in our case was no more ; the fate of a whole kingdom. It had been 
 well if such a question had been silenced by a direct negative, or put 
 
SERMON ON THE GUNPOWDER TREASON. 4il 
 
 oft" indefinitely, &c. : for it was such, that a Christian could not 
 doubt about it, though he had been fearfully scrupulous in his reso- 
 lutions : this explained. 
 
 But to the question. It was fire they called for ; the most mer- 
 ciless of the elements, — the fittest instrument for merciless men. Tt 
 was fire they called for ; but not like that in the text, — not fire from 
 heaven. They might have called for that, as loud and as long as 
 those priests did, who contended with Elijah : none would have 
 descended to consume such a sacrifice, &c. 
 
 V. Lastly ; it was a fire so strange, that it had no example. The 
 Apostles, indeed, pleaded a mistaken precedent ; they desired leave 
 to do but even as Elias did. The Greek and Roman churches retain 
 only this clause : and really these Romano-barbari could never pre- 
 tend to any precedent for an act so barbarous. Instances of cruel 
 persecution given from sacred and pjofane history ; by which it is 
 shown that nothing was ever so bad as this accursed, treason. Con- 
 cluding exhortation to thankfulness and praise to God for our 
 escape. 
 
TEXTS 
 
 JEREMY TAYLOR'S SERMONS. 
 
 TWENTY-FIVE SERMONS, 
 
 BEING FOR THE WINTER HALF-YEAR. 
 
 PACK 
 
 I. — Doomsday Book ; or Christ's Advent to Judgment. 
 
 2 Corinthians v. 10. — For we must all appear before the 
 judgment-seat of Christ, that every one may receive the things 
 done in his body, according to that he hath done, whether it be 
 good or bad. .......... 277 
 
 II. — The Return of Prayers ; or, the Conditions of a prevailing 
 Prayer. 
 
 John ix. 31. — Now we know that God heareth not sinners ; 
 but if any man be a worshipper of God, and doth his will, him he 
 heareth 283 
 
 III.— Of Godly Fear, &c. 
 
 Hebrews xii. 28, 29. — Let us have grace, whereby we may 
 serve God with reverence and godly fear. For our God is a 
 consuming fire. .......... 288 
 
 IV.— The Flesh and the Spirit. 
 
 Matthew xxvi. 41.— The spirit indeed is willing, but the flesh 
 is weak. ........... 294 
 
 V. — Of Lukewarmness and Zeal ; or. Spiritual Fervor. 
 
 Jeremiah xlvmi. 10.— Cursed be he that doth the work of 
 the Lord deceitfully. 296 
 
 VI. — The House of Feasting ; or the Epicure's Measures. 
 
 1. Corinthians xv. 32.— Let us eat and drink, for to-morrow 
 we die 303 
 
 VII.— The Marriage Ring; or, the Mysteriousness and duties of 
 Marriage. 
 
 Ephesians v. 32, 33.— This is a great mystery, but I speak 
 concerning Christ and the church. Nevertheless, let every one 
 of you in particular so love his wife even as himself, and the 
 wife see that she reverence her husband 307 
 
TEXTS OF JEREMY TAYI.OR's SERMONS. 41 :J 
 
 PACt 
 
 VIII. — Apples of Sodom ; or, the Fruits of Sin. 
 
 Romans vi. 21. — What fruit had ye then in tliose tliing.i 
 whereof ye are now ashamed ? For the end of those things is 
 death. 311 
 
 IX. — The good and evil Tongue. — Of Slander and Flattery. — The 
 Duties of the Tongue. 
 
 Ephesians IV. 29. — Let no corrupt communication proceed 
 out of your mouth, but that which is good to the use of edifying, 
 that it may minister grace unto the hearers. . . . . .317 
 
 TWENTY-SEVEN SERMONS, 
 
 BEING FOR THE SUMMER HALF-YEAR. 
 
 I. — Whitsunday. — Of the Spirit of Grace. 
 
 Romans viii. 9, 10. — But ye are not in the flesh, but in tlie 
 Spirit, if so be that the Spirit of God dwell in you. Now if 
 any man have not the Spirit of Christ, lie is none of his. And 
 if Christ be in you, the body is dead, because of sin ; but the 
 Spirit is life, because of righteousness. ..... 324 
 
 II. — The descending and entailed Curse cut off. 
 
 Exodus xx. 6, 6. — I the Lord thy God am a jealous God, 
 visiting the iniquity of the fathers on the children unto the third 
 and fourth generation of them that hate me ; and showing mercy 
 unto thousands of them that love me, and keep my com- 
 mandments. .......... 328 
 
 III. — The Invalidity of a late or death-bed Repentance. 
 
 Jeremiah xni. 16. — Give glory to the Lord your God, before 
 he cause darkness, and before your feet stumble on the dark 
 mountains, and, while ye look for light (or, lest while ye look 
 for light), he shall turn it into the shadow of death, and make 
 it gross darkness. ......... 333 
 
 IV. — The Deceitfulness of the Heart. 
 
 Jeremiah xvii. 9. — The heart is deceitful above all things, 
 and desperately, wicked ; who can know it ? . . . . 337 
 
 V. — The Faith and Patience of the Saints; or the righteous Cause 
 oppressed. 
 
 1 Petek IV. 17, 18. — For the time is come that judgment 
 must begin at the house of God : and if it first begin at us, 
 what shall be the end of them that obey not the gospel of God ? 
 And if the righteous scarcely be saved, where shall the ungodly 
 and the sinner appear? ........ 341 
 
 VI. — The Mercy of the Divine Judgments ; or, God's Method in 
 curing Sinners. 
 
 Romans ii. 4. — Despisest thou the riches of his goodness, and 
 forbearance, and long-suffering, not knowing that the goodness 
 of God leadeth thee to repentance ? 34S 
 
 PART 111. 2 E 
 
414 TEXTS OF 
 
 PAGE 
 
 VII.— Of Growth in Grace, with its Proper Iiistruments-and Signs. 
 2 Peter hi. 18. — But grow in grace, and in the knowlege of 
 the Lord Jesus Christ, to whom be glory, both now and for ever. 
 Amen. .......■••• 352 
 
 VIII. — Of Growth in Sin ; or, the several States and Degrees of 
 Sinners, with the Manner how they are to be treated. 
 
 JUDE 22, 23. — And of some have compassion, making a dif- 
 ference : And others save vvith fear, pulling them out of the 
 fire • 356 
 
 IX.— The Foolish Exchange. 
 
 Matthew xvi. 26. — For what is a man profited, if he shall 
 gain the whole world, and lose his own soul? or what shall a 
 man give in exchange for his soul ?...... 361 
 
 X. — Tlie Serpent and the Dove; or, a Discourse of Christian 
 Prudence. 
 
 Matthew x. 16. — Be ye therefore wise as serpents, and 
 harmless as doves • 365 
 
 XI. — Of Christian Simplicity. 
 
 Matthew x. 16. — And harmless as doves 372 
 
 XII. — The Miracles of the Divine Mercy. 
 
 Psalm lxxxvi. 5. — For thou. Lord, art good, and ready to 
 forgive, and plenteous in mercy to all them that call on thee. . 376 
 
 TEN SERMONS 
 
 ON THE NATURE AND FAITH OF OBEDIENCE, &C. 
 
 I. — The Righteousness Evangelical. 
 
 Matthew v. 20. — For I say unto you, that except your 
 righteousness exceed the righteousness of the Scribes and 
 Pharisees, ye shall in no case enter into the kingdom of Heaven. 382 
 
 II. — The Christian's Conquest over the Body of Sin. 
 
 Romans vii. 19. — For the good that I would, I do not; but 
 the evil which I would not, that I do. ..... 386 
 
 III. — Faith working by Love. 
 
 James ii.24. — You see, then, how that by works a man is 
 justified, and not by faith only. 388 
 
 IV. Preached at an Epispocal Consecration. 
 
 Luke xii. 42, 43. — And the Lord said, Who then is that 
 faithful and wise steward, whom his Lord shall make ruler over 
 his household, to give them their portion of meat in due season? 
 Blessed is that servant, whom his Lord, when he cometh, shall 
 find so doing 391 
 
 V. — Preached at the Opening of the Parliament of Ireland. 
 
 1 Samuel, xv. 22, 23. — Behold, to obey is better than sacri- 
 fice, and to hearken than the fat of rams : for rebellion is as 
 the sin of witchcraft, and stubbornness is as iniquity and 
 idolatry. . 393 
 
JEREMY TAVLOR'S SERMONS. Al 'i 
 
 PAGE 
 
 VI. — Via Intelligentifp. 
 
 John vii. 17. — If any man will do his will, he shall know 
 of the doctrine, whether it be of God, or whether I speak of 
 myself. 396 
 
 VII. — Preached at the Funeral of the Lord Primate of Ireland. 
 
 1 Corinthians xv. 2;}. — But every man in his own order: 
 Christ the first fruits ; afterward they that are Christ's at his 
 coming. 398 
 
 VIII. — Countess of Carbery's Funeral Sermon. 
 
 2 Samuel xiv. 14. — For we must needs die, and are as water 
 spilt on the ground, which cannot be gathered up again ; neither 
 doth God respect any person ; yet doth he devise means, that 
 
 his banished be not expelled from him 400 
 
 IX. — The Minister's Duty in Life and Doctrine. — In Two Parts. 
 
 Titus ii. 7,8. — In all things showing thyself a pattern of good 
 works : in doctrine showing incorruptness, gravity, sincerity ; 
 sound speech that cannot be condemned ; that he that is of the 
 contrary part may be ashamed, having no evil thing to say of 
 you 402 
 
 Sir George Dalston's Funeral Sermon. 
 
 1 Corinthians xv. 19. — If in this life only we have hope in 
 Christ, we are, of all men, most miserable. .... 406 
 
 Preached on the Anniversary of the Gunpowder Treason. 
 
 Luke ix. 54. — But when James and John saw this, they 
 said. Lord, wilt thou that we command fire to come down from 
 heaven and consume them, even as Elias did? . . . .408