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SERMONS 
 
 O N n/f M 
 
 Various Subjects, 
 
 JBy the Right RevereneI 
 
 PETER BROWNE, D. D. 
 
 Late Bifliop of Corke and Roffe, 
 
 Now firft publifhed from the Author's original 
 Manufcripts. 
 
 VOL. II. 
 
 DUBLIN: 
 
 f rinted for George and Alexander EWino a€ 
 the Angel and Bible in Dame-Jlreeti 
 
 MDCCXLlXi 
 
THE 
 
 CONTENTS 
 
 O F T H E 
 
 SECOND VOLUME. 
 
 T 
 
 SERMON XVII. 
 
 HE Duty and Meafure of Almfgiving. 
 
 Page I 
 
 Mark xii. 43, 44. And he called to his Dif- 
 ciplesy and faith to them, verily 1 fay unto 
 you, that this poor Widow hath cafi more in^ 
 than all they which have cajl into the I'rea- 
 fury. For all they did cafi in of their Abun- 
 dance y hut fie of her Want did cafi in all 
 fie hadi even all her Living, 
 
 SERMON XVIII. 
 
 Senfe of Religion more obfervable in the 
 middle and meaner rank of People, p. 45 
 
 Mat. xi. 25. I thank thee O Father Lord of 
 
 heaven and earth, becaufe thou hajl hid thefe 
 
 A 2 things 
 
CONTENTS, 
 
 things from the wife and prudent^ and hafl 
 revealed them unto babes, 
 
 SERMON XIX. 
 
 On the fame Subjed:. p. 66? 
 
 S E R M O N XX. 
 On the fame Subjed. p. 86 
 
 SERMON XXL 
 
 The neceflity of watching and praying, p. 105 
 
 Mat. xxyi. 41. Watch and fray that ye en^ 
 ter not into temptation : Thefpirit indeed i^ 
 ^willing but the flefh is weak* 
 
 SERMON XXII. 
 
 The war of the flefli and the fpirit. p. 130 
 
 Gal AT. V. 17. Forthefejh lujleth againji the 
 fpirit^ and the fpirit againd the flefl), and 
 the fe are contrary the one to the other: So 
 that ye cannot do the things that ye would. 
 
 SERMON XXIII. 
 
 The duty of plucking out the eye explained. 
 
 p. 156 
 
 Mark. ix. 47, 48. And ij thine eye offend 
 thee pluck it out : It is better for thee to en- 
 ter into the kingdom of God with one eye, than 
 
 having 
 
CONTENTS. 
 
 bavhjg two eyes to be call into helljire 5 "dohere 
 their worin dicth not, and their Jirc is not 
 quenched, 
 
 SERMON XXIV. 
 On the fame Subjedl. p. 17^ 
 
 SERMON XXV. 
 
 Phil. iii. 20, 21. For our converfation is 
 in heaven, jrom whence aJjo we look for the 
 Saviour^ the Lord J c fits Chrifl : Who flmll 
 charige our vile body, that it may be fapmn- 
 ed like unto his glorious body, according to 
 the workings whereby he is able eve?i to Jub-r 
 due all things unto himfelf. 
 
 SERMON XXVI. 
 
 On the Day of Judgment, p. 219 
 
 Revel. XX. 12. A?2d I faw. the dead^ fmall 
 and great, ft and before God : and the books 
 were openedy which is the Book of Life. And 
 the dead were judged out of thofe things which 
 were written in the books, according to their 
 works. 
 
 SERMON XXVII. 
 
 The law proved to be good from the evidence 
 of our own confciences. p. 240 
 
 Rom. vii. 19. For the good that I would, I do 
 mt : but the evil which I would not, that do L 
 
 SERMON 
 
 P.'^^ 
 
CONTENTS. 
 
 SERMON XXVIII. 
 
 The comfort of a good man at the approach 
 of death. P- 265 
 
 2 Tim. iv. 8. Henceforth there is laid up for 
 tne a crown of righteoufnefs^ which the Lord^ 
 the righteous Judge, [hall give me at that 
 day J and not to me only, hut unto all thofe 
 alfo that love his appearing, 
 
 SERMON XXIX. 
 
 The neceffity of crucifying our afFcdions and 
 y lufts. p. 285 
 
 ~ C^AL AT. V. 24. And they that are Chrift's have 
 crucified the Flefi, with the affeSlions and 
 lufts, 
 
 SERMON XXX. 
 The great neceffity of purity. P* 3 ^9 
 
 James iii. 17. 'Thewifdom that is jroin above 
 is fir p; pure, then peaceable, gentle, a?id eafy 
 to be entreated, full of mercy and good fruits, 
 ^without partiality, and without hypocrify. 
 
 SERMON XXXI. 
 
 The divine eloquence of our Saviour confider- 
 ed. p. 340 
 
 John vii. 46. T'he ofiicers anfwered, never man 
 /pake like this man, 
 
 SERM. XXXII. On the fame Subjea. p. 368 
 
THE 
 
 Names of the Subfcribers* 
 
 A. 
 
 THOMAS Adderly, Efq; 
 Oliver Anketell, Efq; 
 Rev. Dean Alcock. 
 Rev. JohnAverell, A. M. 
 Hobert Auften, A. M. 
 Mr. Walter Atkins, T. C. D. 
 
 B. 
 Right Hon. Henry Boyle, Efq; 
 
 Speaker of theHonourable Houfe 
 
 of Commons. 
 Col. Redmond Barry of Rath-Cor- 
 
 mick. 
 Rev. Benjamin Barrington, D. D» 
 Rev. St. John Browne, D. D. 
 Rev. Edward Browne, A. M. 
 Rev. Thomas Blennerhaffet. 
 Rev. Samuel Brome. 
 Rev. Mr. Brureton. 
 Rev. Robert Bligh. 
 Rev. Peter Briflow. 
 Rev. John Burgh. 
 Rev. Parker Bufteed. 
 *ev. John Beamilh. 
 Rev. John Bayly. 
 Mr. J. Browne. 
 Mr. Thomas Bcnsfield. 
 Mr. William Buftead. 
 Mrs. Burroughs. 
 Mrs. Mary Boles. 
 Winthrop Baldwin, A. B. T. C. D. 
 
 C. 
 Right Rev. Lord Bilhop of Corke 
 
 and RofTe. 
 Right Rev. LordBiftiop of Cloghcr. 
 Right Hon. Lord Vifcount Charle- 
 
 mount. 
 Mr. Mark Carew. 
 Mr. Charles Carleton. 
 Mrs. Mechetabel CoUhurft. 
 
 The Hon. Mifs Caulfield. 
 The Hon. Francis Caulfield. 
 Rev. Thomas Cooper. 
 
 D. 
 RightRev.LordBifliop of Drcmore. 
 The Hon. Col. O'Brien Dilkes. 
 Robert Deane, Efq ; 
 William Deane, Efq; 
 Rev. Mr. Francis Durham. 
 Rev. John Denis, A. M. 
 Mr. Sankey Denis. 
 Mr. John Dennis. 
 E. 
 Rev. John Euflace. 
 Mr. Peter Ellis. 
 
 F. 
 Rev. Mr. Nathaniel France* 
 Mr. William Fitton. 
 
 Mr. Riggs Falkiner. 
 
 Dr. Richard Franckland. 
 G. 
 
 Rev. Ifaac Goldfmith, Dean of 
 Cloyne. 
 
 Richard GifFord, Efq; 
 
 Major Gillman. 
 
 Standifli Grady, Efq ; of Elton. 
 
 Mr. Luke Grant. 
 H. 
 
 Rev. Lambert Hughes, D. D. 
 
 Rev. Philip Heydon, A. M. 
 
 Samuel Heydon, A. B. 
 
 Mr. Chriftopher Harvey. 
 
 Rev. Charles Hamilton of Bright^ 
 mount. 
 
 Rev. James Hamilton. 
 
 Rev. Samuel Hales. 
 
 Richard Hungerford, Efq ; 
 
 Mrs. Mary Hungerford oi Fox-Hall- 
 
 Mr. William Harding. 
 
 Mrs. Ifabella Harper. 
 
 I. Rev. 
 
Subfcribers NAMES, 
 
 Rev. William Jackfon. 
 
 K. 
 Right Hon. Lord Kingfale. 
 Rev. James Knight, F. T. C. D. 
 Rev. Thomas Keefe. 
 
 L. 
 Rev. Richard Lloyd, A. M; 
 Rev. Edward Ledwich, L. L.D. 
 Rev. Paul Limerick. 
 Mifs Judith Lefett. 
 James Lombard, Efq; 
 
 M. 
 Right Rev. Lord Bifliop of Meath. 
 Rev. Dean Madden. 
 Rev. Edward Mayne. 
 Mr. Daniel Meek of Corke. 
 Mr. Paul Maylor, Merc, in Corke. 
 Hugh Miilerd, Efqj Mayor of 
 
 Corke. 
 Rev. Dean Meade. 
 Rev. John Meade. 
 Rev. Ifaac Mann, D. D. 
 Rev. JohnMagill, A. M. 
 Rev. Edward Murphy, A. M. 
 Rev. William Martin of Bandon; 
 Mr. Thomas Moore, Bookfeller. 
 
 N. 
 Rev. Arthur Nevin, A. M. 
 Rev. Adam Nixon. 
 
 O. 
 Mifs Rofe O'Neill. 
 
 P. 
 Rev. John Payne, A. M. 
 Mr. Thomas Parker. 
 Mr. $amuel Pike, 
 Mr. James Piercy. 
 Mrs. Martha Pilkington, Bookfel- 
 . ler.in Corke. 
 Rev. John Pallifcr, A. M. 
 
 R. 
 Rev. William Reader, Archdeacbii 
 
 of Corke. 
 Mr. Jer. Riggs, Mer. in Corke. 
 
 S. 
 Rev. Dean Stopford. 
 Rev. George Sandford, A. M. 
 Rev. John Standifh, A. M. 
 Rev. Mr. Thomas Somerville. 
 Mr. Henry Shears Junr. 
 Mr. Matthias Smith. 
 Mr. Cornelius Sullivan, Bookfeller 
 in Corke. 
 
 T. 
 Right Rev. The Lord Archbilhojt 
 
 of Tuam. 
 Rev. George Tifdal, D. D. 
 Sampfon Towgood, Efq ; 
 Mr. Richard Terry. 
 Mr. John Terry. 
 Mr. Timothy Turner. 
 
 U. 
 John Ulher, Efq ; 
 
 W. 
 Rev. Archdeacon Walls. 
 Rev. Peter Weflenra, A. ^i. 
 Rev. Peter Waterhoufe. 
 Rev. George Wilfon. 
 Rev. Thomas White. 
 Rev. Samuel WoodrofFci 
 Aid. Randal Weftropp. 
 Mr. R. Wood. 
 Mifs Cath. White; 
 Mr. Thomas Weeke. 
 Mr. Edward Week, T. C. I). 
 
 Y. 
 Mr. John Yeomaas* 
 
[ » ] 
 
 SERMON XVII. 
 
 PREACHED 
 
 At the Parifh Church of St. Andrew %y Dublin, 
 on Sunday the 15th of Aprils 17 16. For 
 the Benefit of the Charity -School for Boyi 
 in that Pari/h» 
 
 The Duty and Mcafure of Alms- 
 giving. 
 
 Mark xii. 43, 44. 
 
 And he called to his DifcipleSy and faith td 
 them, verily I fay unto you, that this poor 
 Widow hath cafl more in, than all they which 
 have cajl into the Jreafury. 
 
 For all they did call in of their Abundance j 
 hut fhe of her Want did caft in ail j be had^ 
 even all her Living. 
 
 THIS treafary Was a kind of chefl inSERw. 
 the temple, anfwerable to the poor- XVII. 
 box fixed in fome of our churches, into which' 
 Vol. II. B the 
 
The Duty and Meajure of j^lms-ghing, 
 
 the free-will offerings were caft, for pious and 
 charitable ufes. Jefus fitting over agalnjt it 
 where he could have the ealieft view, and be- 
 holding how the people caft money into it, ob- 
 ferved a poor Woman throw in fwo mites; 
 which by the beft computation were in value 
 three farthings of our coin. The eyes of 
 others, and probably thofe of his Difciples 
 likewife, overlooked this poor contribution of 
 hers, as inconliderable and below their notice, 
 and were intent upon the greater Sums of the 
 rich : But Jefus who judged not according to 
 appearance, called to bis Difciples ; the expref- 
 iion (hews fomething of folemnity, and that 
 he had a Matter of no fmall confequence to 
 communicate to them. And left he might 
 thereby have difcouraged the greater offerings 
 of the rich, or given occafion of vanity to the 
 charitable Widow, he at that time imparts 
 what he had to lay only to them j and lets 
 them know, that what was feemingly fo 
 mean and defpicable in itfelf, contained a- 
 bundant matter of inftrudtion, even to them 
 who were to teach and reform the world : 
 For that this was a fingular inftance of an ex- 
 cellent and exalted charity, and of the noblell: 
 munificence. They were to learn this para- 
 dox, new to them, as well as abfurd and in- 
 credible tcr the Scribes and Pharijees Hypo- 
 crites J but full of divine ivifdom and truth to 
 fuch as are enlightened by the Gofpel : 
 Namely, that two Mites were more than an 
 hundred', and that one h\2Ss, farthing might be 
 
 of 
 
7he Duty and Meajiire of Alms^giving, 3 
 
 of greater intrinfick worth and value thanSERM. 
 thouj'ands cf gold and filver. XVII. 
 
 My bufinefs at prefent fhall be to purAie" 
 our Saviour's defign in tranfmitting this paf- 
 fage down to us ; and to lay this great exam- 
 ple before you in the bed light I can for your 
 imitation and encouragement. And this I 
 fhall do by obferving the feveral things which 
 it naturally fuggefts to us. Accordingly, 
 
 I. We learn from hence that the pooreft 
 fort of people are not exempted from this in- 
 difpenfable duty of aim/giving. The loweft 
 rank of people under the law was not excufed 
 from thefe offerings of God which were to be 
 made in the Temple ; and the duty of almf- 
 giving under the Gojpel arifes from the ex- 
 prefs command of God, Heb. xiii. 16. To da 
 good^ ana to diftribute forget not, for with fuch 
 facrifices God is well ^leafed. And Luke xi, 41. 
 GiiJe alms of fuch things as ye have. Befides, 
 this example before us is more immediately 
 fitted for the poor ; and the gracious acceptance 
 of that little gift fhews us how well pleafed 
 God was with it If any were left out of that 
 command of doing good by diftributing, this 
 woman had fufficient reafon to think her felf 
 of that number ; being by hery^;^ more help- 
 lefs than a man, and a widow too, and not 
 only fo but a poor one, and reduced to one 
 farthing to live upon, and perhaps could not 
 tell when {he was like to fee another. The 
 widow and ihtfatherlefs are propofed in fcrip- 
 ture as the moft common and fignal objedls 
 B 2 of 
 
T^be Duty and Meafure of Alms-giving. 
 
 of Charity, and yet even under this circum- 
 ftance fhe thought it her duty to give fome- 
 thing, though it viras next to nothing. If any 
 can pretend to be in a worfe condition than 
 this, then may they vi^ith fome colour plead 
 exemption from the performance of this great 
 duty; for they only are excufed fom giving 
 alms of Juch things as they have^ who have 
 nothing to give in alms. 
 
 II. Thejecond thing we may obferve from 
 lience is, that the true Mealure of our chari- 
 ties, in the account of God, is not the quan- 
 tity of what is given, but the proportion it 
 bea- s to our fortune in the World. This is 
 the plain import of the text, and what our 
 Saviour expreflly afferts in the cafe of this 
 widow who caft more in than all they who 
 caft into the ^reafury ; nay though it is not 
 improbable that the Difciples themjehes threw 
 fomething into it at the fame time -, for we 
 find, John xiii. 29. that it was their cuftom 
 to give to the poor out of the common 
 flock. The reafon afligned for this judg- 
 ment of his is becaufe the rich caft in i« w 
 Hipicro-EvovTo?, of ihoiv Juperfluity 'y what was re- 
 dundant and unnecejjary^ what could be fpared, 
 and that they might be well without. But 
 fhe gave «« t^? Jrtp««w« awT«, of what {he wanted 
 herjelf', what was to procure her not any 
 conveniency only, but the very necejfaries of 
 life. So that it was not a Jmall gift out of a 
 little^ which would have equalled any thing 
 
 the 
 
^e Duty and Meafure of Jims-giving, 5 
 
 the rich gave out of their abundance; but itSERM. 
 was all fhe had left in the world ; and there- X.VII. 
 fore it was impoflible for her to be out-done. ' 
 It was this that rendered her's fuch an excel- 
 lent and exemplary charity ; and if the wi- 
 dow's farthing was fo well accepted becaufe 
 it was all her ftock ; nothing is plainer from 
 hence than that the rich man's alms will not 
 be accepted, if it be but a little out of his 
 abundance. 
 
 A man who gives but a little to pious and 
 charitable ufes out of an eafy and plentiful for- 
 tune, is the very revcrje of this widow; and 
 for the fame reafon her alms proved an ac- 
 ceptable facrifice, his will be rejcdied as an 
 abomination in the fight of God 3 who has 
 told us that he that foweth little ^ that is little in 
 refpedt of his wealth and x\c\\t% Poall reap lit- 
 tky i e. in fcripture language, nothing at all ; 
 whereas otherwife we are taught by this paf- 
 fage, that he who foweth little out of a mean 
 fortune, (hall reap much. 
 
 There are in fcripture fo many woes pro- 
 nounced againft rich men, and fo much faid 
 of the danger of acquiring riches, that it is 
 enough to ftartle the minds of any who have 
 them in pofTeflion ; and fill them with anxious 
 fears, and even defpondency, with refped: to 
 their future flate, who are not awakened with 
 a fenfe of their danger, and perpetually on 
 their guard. Go to now, fays St. James, v. i. 
 Te rich men, weep and howl J or the miferies 
 B 3 that 
 
I'he Duty and Me afar e of Alms-giving, 
 
 that Jhall come upon you. Verfe 3. Tour gold 
 andjiher is cankered, and the ruft of them 
 ' float I be a witnefe again jl you, i. e. at the 
 day of judgment. And jlmll eat your flefh as 
 it were fire ; fubjedt both foul and body to 
 everlafting fire. Te have heaped treafure to- 
 gether j or the la ft days, a mafs of wealth to 
 inflame your account in the great day of ac- 
 counts. Verfe 5. Te have lived in pleafure 
 upon the earth, indulging your eafe and 
 humour in every thing, and therefore it will 
 fall the heavier upon you in another world : 
 And all this is purfuant to our Saviour's own 
 do(ftrine, that it ts eafier for a Camel to go 
 through the eye of a needle, thanjor a rich 
 mail to enter into the kingdom of heaven. 
 
 Would not the confideration of this make 
 any man thoughtful who had wealth or mo- 
 ney in ftore, and who had any ferious pur- 
 pofes of faving his foul, and efcaping the 
 damnation of hell? For furely there mufl 
 be fome reafon extraordinary for pronoun- 
 cing thus pofitively and in general upon the 
 condition of the rich, without any exprefs 
 exception or referve 5 and this can be no other 
 than the infuperable reludance they always 
 find in themfelves to the performance of this 
 duty of diftributing to charitable and pious 
 ufes, in fuch quantities as (hall bear a reafon- 
 able proportion to their worldly fubftance. The 
 great difficulty they are under of making a 
 friend in time of the Mammon of unrighteoul- 
 
 nefs, 
 
T^he Duty and Meafure of Alms-giving. 7 
 
 nefs, which will otherwife prove their greateft Se r m , 
 enetny ; that falfe and treacherous Mammon XVII, 
 which, it is odds, will deceive them to their ' 
 utter ruin and deftrudtion j but rightly ma- 
 naged will at laft become their greateft friend, 
 and receive them into everlafli?2g habitations. 
 As harfh and fevere as thefe fayings of our 
 bleifed Saviour and his Apoftle feem,. yet 
 how remarkably do we fee them verified in 
 the generality of the rich men of this world? 
 For how few of them are there who give 
 aims offuch things as they have, i. e. a good 
 (hare of what God has bleifed them with, 
 and who Jorge t not to do good ; and ^i) dijiri- 
 biite according to their Abilities ? Who lay 
 up in /tore jor them/elves a good foundation 
 again/i the time to come^ that they may attain 
 eternal life. i. e. Lay out fo much of their 
 fortune in charities, as (hall be a comfortable 
 ground for hope of falvation ? How few of 
 them confider they are but ftewards, and do 
 not look upon their riches to be all their 
 own ? And accordingly either heap them up 
 for their polierity^ or elfe live to the height of 
 what they have, or even beyond it; and {q 
 put it out of their power to perform works of 
 charity in fuch degrees as God will require 
 at their hands ? They live as if they were not 
 one day to account with him for every penny, 
 who has allow'd them part of their fubftance 
 for a falary, and as to the remainder has left 
 them Truilees only and managers for the 
 poor. A lamentable reckoning too many of 
 B 4 them 
 
^he Duty and Meafure of Alms-giving. 
 
 them will have with their great mafter at that 
 time when theivjdulsjball be required of them. 
 So much expended in pomp and equipage ; 
 fo much in gawdy cloathing, and coftly dain- 
 ties ; fuch and fuch fums laid out in mode, 
 and fafhion, and gallantry : And at the foot 
 of the account perhaps fome fcattered pence 
 or farthings to the poor j as if they were to 
 imitate this widow in nothing elfe but the 
 bulk and fize of her offering. But how very 
 different from this will her account be? So 
 much given at a happy opportunity to a pub- 
 lick and excellent charity, and nothing left to 
 depend on but God's providence for a meal's 
 meat. Learn from this Woman, who could 
 want her food rather than be wanting in the 
 difcharge of this duty ; learn I fay from her, 
 at leaft to part with all your fuperfiuities ; to 
 contrast your expences, and keep within com^ 
 fafsy and cut off many unntct^ary forms only 
 cf living J that you may not be under a ne- 
 ceflity of robbing God in his offerings, and of 
 coming (hort of fuch a quantity to be diftri- 
 buted for that purpofe as fhall bear a good 
 proportion to your worldly fubftance. And 
 this leads me to the 
 
 Hid. Thing obfervable from the text j name- 
 ly, that whatever is the quantity of pur alms, 
 whether greater or lefs, yet God chiefly re- 
 gards the heart it is given with. It is true the 
 better a man*s heart is, the more it will dif- 
 pofe him to diftribute ; but no quantity or 
 
 proportion 
 
The Duty and Meafure of Alms-giving, 9 
 
 proportion our alms bear to our worldly fub- Se r m. 
 fiance, is a fure indication of their proceeding XVII. 
 from a truly charitable principle. They may 
 proceed from vanity, or oftentation ; or from 
 fome other felfifh or unworthy motive j ac- 
 cordingly St. Paul fuppofes that a man may 
 bcftow all his goods to feed the poor, and yet 
 it may projit him nothing, for want of that in- 
 ward difpofition of foul, which was fo vifible 
 in her who was the fubjedt of our Saviours 
 remark. 
 
 She was in no danger of vain glory from a 
 gift fo fmall and inconfiderable, that it feemed 
 not worth the notice of any there prefent ex- 
 cept our blelTed Saviour : And if (he had not 
 conveyed it into thecorban or cheft With pri- 
 vacy, that which was fo approved and com- 
 mended by him, would in all likelihood have 
 met with contempt and ridicule from the 
 Scribes and Pharifees, who gave their alms to 
 befeen of men. Nor could {he have 2iX\y Jelfifh 
 or '■ivorldly motive ; for what worldly motive 
 could be ftronger than prefent food for an hun- 
 gry ftomach ? And {he who could deny the 
 cravings and necefhties of nature rather than 
 lofe the opportunity of doing an excellent cha- 
 rity, could not have done it in profped: of any 
 other worldly good. BeGdes, the alacrity 
 and chearfulnejs, with which it was performed, 
 is not obfcurely intimated in the particular 
 mention of her giving two miteSy which was 
 ftill more than if fhe had given one farthings 
 though they were of equal value. Had it been 
 
 one 
 
lo *3^be Duty and Medfure of Alms-giving, 
 
 Serm. o«^ piece of money, the doubt with her felf 
 XVII. would have been, whether (he fhould keep it 
 "to her felf, or lend it to God? But being 
 twOy there was fair Ground of hefitati on whe- 
 ther flie fhould keep one^ and part with the 
 other ? This it felf would have been a com- 
 mendable charity, and (he could have faid 
 with Zaccheus^ the half of my goods I give to 
 the foor. But fo great was her foul, that 
 though they were her lafl, fhe would not even 
 divide with God, but make him a prefent of 
 all ; and this was fufficient proof of her being 
 forry it was no more. 
 
 How fliould this great example excite in us 
 the like ready mind, and forward chearful- 
 nefs of fpirit which raifed thefe two mites to 
 fuch an immenfe value in the fight of God, 
 who regards not the quantity only of our alms, 
 but that difpoftion of the heart with which 
 they are given j who tells us, Heb. vi. lo. 
 That he is not unrighteous to forget thofe works 
 which proceed from love ; from the love of him, 
 and our neighbour. Who commands his mi- 
 nifters to charge them who are rich in this 
 worlds that they be ready to give^ and glad to 
 diftribute^ i Tim. vi. 17. Glad to find out 
 opportunities of doing good, and to feek them, 
 and rejoyce to fet forward any common and 
 extenfive good: 
 
 Now fince it is the giving freely and wil- 
 lingly is that which fandifies our alms ; and 
 that we are for that reafon warned, 2 Cor, ix. 
 
 7. not 
 
The Duty and Meafure of Alms-giving, 1 1 
 
 7. not to give grudgingly, or of necejjity, forSERM. 
 that God liveth a chearful giver -, I cannot clofe XVII. 
 this head without obferving, that the main oc- 
 cafion of people's failing in this great and even 
 eflential qualification of their charities, and 
 the reafon why they do not give with a w//- 
 Ung and Jree heart, is becaufe they do not 
 come to a fixed refolution with themfelves to 
 lay afide fome certain proportion of their clear 
 gain or yearly income for charitable ufes ; but 
 generally leave this at large and uncertain^ to 
 be performed when they happen to be well 
 difpofed, and that objedls or occafions of cha- 
 rity offer of themfelves. This makes men 
 carelefs and negligent in giving, and* they do 
 it with a fecret reluctance ; and at beft with 
 coolnefs and indiflrerence. Whereas if they 
 would obferve the rule laid down by St. Paul, 
 1 Cor. xvi. 2. that every one do weekly lay by 
 in jlore as God has projpered him, i. e. treajure 
 up, as it is in the original, and as it is clfewhere 
 expreffed, Treafure up jor themjelves treafures 
 in heaven, Matth. vi. 19, 20. they would 
 then be able to make a pretty good compu- 
 tation of what their treajure in heaven is ; and 
 what foundation they have laid agaiji/i the time 
 to come, for the attainment of eternal life. 
 They would then make it their bufinefs to 
 inquire for the greateft objeds of charity, and 
 feek diligently for opportunities of laying out 
 their money in fuch an invaluable purchafe. 
 They would not truft their own heart, which 
 is deceitful above all things, with a matter of 
 
 fo 
 
7he Duty and Mea/ure of Aims-giving. 
 fo great confequence to them ; nor leave it to 
 meer chance, and prefent temper, or inclina- 
 tion only J but determine well upon it from 
 their beft reafon and moft mature deliberation. 
 
 If any one (hould aik what proportion of 
 our worldly fubftance would be reafon able 
 thus to dedicate to God ? I (hall make no other 
 anfwer than what the Holy Ghoft has fur- 
 niflied us with in 2 Cor. ix. 7. Let every man 
 do according as he is dijpofed in his heart. And 
 verfe 6. He thatfoweth little^ fhall reap littky 
 and he that foweth plenteoujly fhall reap pien- 
 teoujly. It does not become us to prefcribe 
 bounds to what God has left at large and un- 
 determined for wife and important reafons j 
 namely that our deeds of charity may be in- 
 tirely free ; and that there might be Jull fcope 
 left for the largeft foul to exert itfelf to the 
 utmoft, in a virtue which can never mifs of a 
 fuitable reward in the highefl degree that it 
 is practicable ; nay though men come up to 
 this great pattern which Chrift has laid be- 
 fore us. Which brings me to the 
 
 IVth thing obfervable from this paflage, and 
 that is, how little danger we are in of any 
 blameahle excejs in the practice of this moft 
 excellent virtue. There is great danger of 
 coming (hort, and multitudes have been un- 
 done thereby, and fubjeded themfelves to that 
 final and irreverfible fentence, depart ye cut Jed 
 into everlafiifigfire^ pi eparedjor the Devil and 
 his Angels ; expreflly faid to be for their failure 
 in the due discharge of this great duty : But 
 
 fince 
 
7he Duty and Meajure of Alms-giving, 1 3 
 
 fince the world began was it never heard that Se r Nf, 
 ever any perfon over-adted this part? If ever XVII. 
 it was any one's cafe, it mufl be that of this' 
 widow, who caft into the facred treafury all 
 llie had, even all her living. The word is 
 Biof in the original, {he parted with her very 
 life 2ii\6i fuflenance 'j which at lea/l mud fignify 
 the whole allowance of that day, perhaps her 
 hire or wages ; and then (he both wrought 
 and fafted for her gift. The reft out of their 
 abundance contributed largely, but they ftill 
 kept more behind; but Chrift tells us fhc 
 wanted what fhe gave : It was no imaginary 
 but a real want j the greateft in nature, the 
 want of bread. 
 
 Now though this woman's offering v/as all 
 that God had allotted her for the fupplies of 
 hunger and thirft, yet we find our Saviour 
 did not condemn her, or argue her guilty of 
 any indifcreet profufenefs; no nor of tempt- 
 ing God by raflily and intirely throwing her 
 felf upon his providence : But on the contra- 
 ry magnifies her gift above all the pompous 
 charities of the rich ; and propofes it by way 
 of example and encouragement to all pofte- 
 rity. 
 
 This is not the only inftance wherein Chrift 
 has expreffed himfelf upon the work of cha- 
 rity even in this exalted degree > his direcflion 
 to the young man who had great poffeffions^ 
 Matth. xix. 21. was, go and fell that thou 
 ba/iy Ta iifd(x»rcc all your fubftance ; oW ixn<i fays 
 St. Mark, all you have, and give to the poor y 
 
 and 
 
The Duty and Meafure of Alms-giving, 
 
 and thou /halt have treafure in heaven. This 
 giving all a man's fubftance to charitable ufes, 
 has but a very harfh and ungrateful found in 
 the ears of a worldly minded man ; nay in the 
 ears even of fuch as are perhaps at the fame 
 time reducing themfelves to want and beg- 
 gary, by confuming all their fubftance upon 
 their lufts and vanities, and are thereby trea- 
 
 furing up to themfelves wrath againft the day 
 of wrath. And yet tell thofe very people of 
 parting with their fubftance and giving it to 
 the poor, and that they fliall have treafure in 
 heaven, and they will call it mockery. 
 
 But let not people be deceived ; this faying 
 of our Saviour's was not calculated for that 
 fingle perfon alone to whom it was Ipoke j 
 for then it would not have been on record in 
 the Gofpel 5 but is full of inftrudion to all 
 mankind, and no more than what he recom- 
 mends to his own little fiock^ Luke xii. 23. 
 Sell that ye have, and give alms ; provide your 
 
 felves bags which wax not old, a treafure in 
 the heavens which faileth not. 
 
 Thefe fayings of Chrift are not to be ta- 
 ken in the utmoft rigour, as if the advice 
 were to part with all, and reduce ourfelves to 
 the extremeft want and mifery ; it is not ex- 
 pected men fliould adt up to this widow, and 
 not leave themfelves one farthing. But they 
 import the giving to charitable ufes not only 
 fome reafonable proportion of their annuity 
 or gain, but the felling even their poffejjions 
 
 and 
 
The Vtity and Meajure of Alms-giving, l^ 
 
 and eftates \ the breaking bulk, and givingSERM. 
 alms out of the main (iock, and very fubftanceXVII. 
 of their fortune ; and that the precept is not' 
 to be ftrained beyond this is plain, for that St. 
 yohn had a houle of his own long after it was 
 given. And that even thus much is not al- 
 ways matter of neceflary duty to all chriflians, 
 is evident beyond doubt, from St. Peter's 
 difcourfe to Ananias, Adts v. 4. 
 
 The church of Rome underftands this ad- 
 vice to the young man, to be a counfel only 
 of perfediion ; as if by thdX Jingle ad: of fel- 
 ling all they have, and giving to the poor j or 
 by vows of a voluntary poverty, men were 
 immediately in a more exalted ftate of holinejs, 
 in a condition above all other chriflians, and 
 entitled to greater degrees of glory and to an 
 higher ftation in heaven ; this being a great 
 fund of merit both for themfelves and others. 
 Whereas there is no fuch thing as a ftate or 
 condition oi perjeSlion in the performance of 
 2iny Jingle virtue, or the attainment of any 
 one particular grace in the higheft degree : But 
 true chriftian perJeSiion confifts in a complica^ 
 tion of all manner of evangelical virtues and 
 graces J in the gradual increafe of univerfal 
 piety and holinefs ; and in fuch fettled and 
 confirmed habits of them in all inftances that 
 they become the prevailing temper and difpo- 
 fition of foul and body : And even this is fo 
 far from perJeBion in the ftridi fenfe of the 
 word, that after all we are but unprojitable 
 Jervants, Their ftraining of the precept thus 
 
 beyond 
 
1 6 ihe Duty and Me a fur e of Alms-giving. 
 
 Serm. beyond the plain and natural import of lU 
 XVI 1. has given occafion to others to run into the 
 quite contrary extreme, and take off all its 
 force of perfuafion and influence upon the 
 confcicnces of men ; and in fhort to render it 
 no motive at all to the performance of this great 
 duty. But as I faid, this was deligned for our 
 inftrudlion as well as his to whom it was 
 fpoke ; and though it be no counfel of per* 
 fed:ion in the ftrid: fenfe of the word, nor 
 matter of pofitive command to all chriftianS| 
 yet from thence we learn thefe three things. 
 
 1. That felling a man's eftate or parting 
 with the bulk ox jub fiance of his fortune to be 
 difpofed of in charitable ufes, is always thus 
 far a degree of perfedion j that when it is per- 
 formed with a good heart, it is a great and 
 exalted degree of this virtue of charity, and 
 ever highly acceptable in the fight of God, 
 and will not fail of a fuitable reward in ano- 
 ther world : That is where it is truly our own j 
 and that hereby no wrong or injuftice is done 
 to others ; which in all likelihood was the 
 cafe of this man who was young, and there- 
 fore as yet without neceffary dependants and 
 family. 
 
 2. We are hereby taught that fometimes 
 this giving allov much the greater part of our 
 fubftance to the poor, is very commendable 
 and highly convenient ; as in fuch cafes of 
 great extremity, when our abundance may be 
 a neceffary fupply to the wants and miferies 
 of many of our fellow-chriftians. This was 
 
 ths 
 
The Duty and Men fur e of Alms-giving, ly 
 
 the condition of the firft profeiTors of the Gof- Ser m. 
 pel J who many of them, Adts /^. Jbld tbeir^^^^- 
 lands and poffefjions^ and difiribution was made 
 unto every man according as he had need. And 
 St. Paul tells us, 2 Cor. viii. 2. of the chri- 
 ftians of Macedonia^ that in a great tryal of 
 aJ/liBion their deep poverty abounded to the 
 riches of their liberality^ i. e. that at a time 
 when they were under great ftreights and dif- 
 ficulties themfelves, they out of their poverty 
 gave abundance^ even beyond their power, for 
 the fupply of their chriftian brethren in Judaa. 
 
 A 3d thing plainly implied in our Savi- 
 our's difcourfe with the young man, is, that 
 in fome cafes the felling all we have and giving 
 it to charitable ufes may become even matter 
 of duty J and highly neceffary to falvation. This 
 was his very cafe; and that he underftood it 
 as a pofitive command to him, is plain by his 
 going away forrowful j for he would have gone 
 away chearful if he had thought he might 
 have entered into the kingdom of heaven with- 
 out obeying what was a counfel only of per- 
 fe(5lion, and no neceffary condition of falvation. 
 It was to him an immediate call to follow 
 Chrift in perfon as the Apoftles did, which 
 he could not then do without quitting his 
 great poffeiTions ; nor could he be (incere in 
 his faith if he failed in that tryal of it which 
 Chrift then laid upon- him, namely to fell his 
 eftate and diftribute it in charitie?. And this 
 will have the binding force of a command in 
 relped of all other chriftians likewife when 
 
 Vol. II. C God 
 
1 8 ^be Duty and Meafure of Alms-giving. 
 
 Serm. God (hall call them to it by any publick and 
 XVII. general calamities, and that the neceffities and 
 'miferies of God's church and people plainly 
 require it from them. 
 
 There is another cafe which may turn this 
 advice into a pofitive and neceflary command; 
 and that is, when the frame and temper of a 
 man's mind is fuch that a great fortune is an 
 invincible temptation to him, and leads him 
 into fuch occafions of fin as he finds by expe- 
 rience he is not able to overcome, but muft 
 inevitably be hurryed away with a conftant 
 fupply of thofe allurements which are thrown 
 in his way by it. In this cafe the parting with 
 great poffeffions, or at leaft quitting the ufe of 
 them, is no more than a neceffary ad; oifelj- 
 denyal founded on thefe fayings of our Savi- 
 our's, where a mans treafiwe is^ there ivill his 
 heart be alfo. And again, what Jh all it profit 
 a man to gain the whole worlds and loje his own 
 foul^ For what worldly weipht or confidera- 
 tion can a man throw into the ballance againft 
 his foul ? And furely then it becomes incum- 
 bent upon us to lell all we have, and give to 
 the poor, and follow Chrift, when we cannot 
 follow him without fo doing. When riches 
 become any way inconfiftent with our eternal 
 falvation, we muft part with them as we 
 muft cut off a right hand, or pluck out a 
 right eye It is more tTian probable this was 
 the very cafe of that youth j and that Chrift 
 who knew what was in man^ and could fore- 
 fee 
 
T'he Duty and Meaftire of Aims^giving] 19 
 
 fee how far he was from overcoming theSERM, 
 temptations of a great fortune, from thence ^^ ^^• 
 made his obfervation, how difficult it was Jor 
 a rich jnan to enter into the kingdom of heaven. 
 Does not our own experience fhew us how 
 this is daily verfied, infomuch that alas! there 
 are not many inftances to the contrary ? How 
 mofl who come young into plentiful fortunes 
 are for ever undone by them ; hurried into all 
 manner of vice and extravagance j and con- 
 trad fuch a habit and relifh of fin in their 
 younger years, and do fo entirely lavifli away 
 that portion of grace afforded them for their 
 firfl: fetting out in the world, that they rarely 
 or never after are brought to any feeling fenfe 
 of revealed religion ; infomuch that the chri- 
 Jiian is intirely funk and loft in tht ge?2tleman. 
 So great are the temptations of riches that 
 Chrift himfelf did not prevail for the perform- 
 ance of this in the circumftance of a perfon 
 where he faw it neceflary ; much lefs may 
 others hope to prevail on any in a like cafe to 
 ad up to this precept of his. Though like 
 that young man, they go away with no other 
 impreffion than that of fome fecret forrow or 
 regret at the hearing of this doctrine, yet let 
 them take this with them, and remember that 
 this faying of our Saviour's holds good to this 
 day, that it is eafier for a camel to go through 
 the eye of a needle^ than for a rich man to 
 enter into the kingdom of heaven. 
 
 If there are any fo prejudiced in Favour of 
 
 the things of this world that they cannot re- 
 
 C 2 lilh 
 
I'he Duty and Meafure of Alms-giving, 
 lifli this do(flrine, thus much at leaft they 
 muft allow to be plain and undeniable from 
 hence; namely, that if the heart is right in 
 the point of alrafgiving, we (hall rather exceed 
 than come /Jjort, If there be a difpolition cf 
 mind truly charitable, it will ever prompt us 
 rather to err on the right fide, than fail of the 
 utmoft of what God may require of us; to 
 venture an extraordinary dependance upon pro- 
 vidence, rather than any diftrufl of it : And 
 in all our doubtings concerning how much we 
 fhall give to charitable ufes, we fhall con- 
 clude the moft we think of to be always beft ; 
 and herein in fome degree to imitate the good 
 widow, who, to remove all fcruple, decided 
 the point againft her felf, and gave all flie 
 bad. 
 
 Vthly. I think it a remark upon this ex- 
 cellent a6t of the widow's charity not to be 
 pafs'd over becaufe it is fo obvious ; namely, 
 that it was performed while flie was in life 
 and health', fo as to be able to difpofe of it 
 with her own hands, nay though perhaps (lie 
 might have ventured her life for it, it being 
 all her livi?7g. If fcraping, and hoarding all 
 that is to be gotten, for fear of beggary and 
 flarving ; and then only leaving all we have 
 heaped together to charitable «/^j, when it can 
 be of no farther njc to our felves, was ever 
 commendable, it muft have been in the pcr- 
 fon of this woman : But the favourable notice 
 Chiift takes of her is for the contrary, the 
 giving while fhe was in a condition of want- 
 
 ing 
 
*Th e Duty and Meafure of AlmS'glmng, 2 1 
 
 ing her 'fclf. From whence we learn thnt^ERM. 
 when men defer what they [rive in charity liJl X^'II. 
 they are going out of the world, though they 
 firmly purpofe to perform bountifully then^ 
 it lofes all that which renders it acceptable 
 to God ; ihtjelf-de?iyal there is in it, and fpa- 
 ring from our felves ; the chearjiil and ready 
 mind, together with faith in the promifes of 
 God, and dependance upon his providence. 
 Nay it is in effedl a giving away what they 
 have no title to difpofe of, for as the Lord 
 Bacon oblerves, he who defers charities till 
 death, is rather liberal of another mans than 
 of his own. The right of all our worldly fub- 
 fiance at the hour of death devolves upon God, 
 who then transfers it to another. He who has 
 pity on the poor, lendeth unto the Lord-, but 
 fure it is a flrange time to begin to lend to hid 
 when he is taking all from us, and that we can 
 keep it no longer j and it is plain, if fuch a 
 perfon could carry his money wich him, he 
 would leave none behind for charitable ufes. 
 ^Ijou fool, fays our Saviour of the rich mifer, 
 this night fl: all thy foul be required rf thee, 
 and then whofe jlmll thofe things be? That is, 
 any man's in the world rather than his who 
 heaped them together. 
 
 Take therefore the Apoflle's advice, and 
 do good unto all men as you have opportunity. 
 And thar of Solomons, give when then hajl it 
 by thee, and fay not unto thy neighbour. To mor~ 
 row I will give thee \ that to morrow is ever 
 coming to the worldly and covetous man, 
 
 C 3 and 
 
/ ■ - • . 
 
 ^Ihe Duty and Meafure of Alms-givirig, 
 
 and it is never to day with him till he fees 
 his laft, and that the next morning is to be in 
 another world. It is a wretched thing for a 
 man to live to no other purpofe but to hinder 
 great fums of money from circulating and 
 doing good either to himfelf or any one elfe ; 
 whilfl he lives the poor may peri/b, and when 
 he dies the poor may /rj^ : He keeps all from 
 them as long as he can, and at laft leaves that 
 for others to do, which he could never find in 
 his heart to do himfelf. If this Widow had 
 done the fame by her two mites, and if the 
 reft who gave plentifully upon the fame occa- 
 lion, had forbore giving whilft they were alive, 
 under a notion of fome great and bulky cha- 
 rity at their death, how would the temple 
 have gone to ruin ? The publick worfhip of 
 God ceafed ? And what multitudes of the poor 
 and indigent had perilhed for want of the ne- 
 cefl'aries of life? 
 
 This is in truth no other than deferring the 
 practice of one of the greateft and moft indif- 
 penfable duties till that time when the exer- 
 cife of all virtues and graces in this world 
 ceafes ; Nor is it only thus abfiird in it felf, but 
 a manifeft inconfijlency with all the precepts 
 in the fcriptuie relating to deeds of charity 
 and aimfgiving. Is that a time to be rich in 
 good works^ when you cannot is^ork at all ? To 
 bring the poor to your houfe^ when you are 
 your ielf in your grave? To lay up fi ore for 
 the time to come, then only when time is paft? 
 To give when you can do it neither with fim- 
 ' plicity. 
 
^he Duty and Meafure of Jims-giving, 23 
 
 flicityy nor mercy y nor chearfulnejs? To doSERM. 
 your alms in Jecrety when all the worid mud ^VII. 
 know of it ? In fhort, to begin toJbWy when 
 you fliould reap ; and to think then to make 
 a friend of the Mammon oj U7irighteou/n:fs at 
 ajundure when he is to commence your ever- 
 lafting enemy? But above all, is tha. a nme 
 to vifit the fatherlejs and widows in their af- 
 fliBiony when your friends are invited to your 
 Ju?ieral? I was fick and ye vifited me, I was 
 in prifon and ye came to me j ihefe two words 
 are remarkable and worthy the divine wif iom, 
 which are not to be taken ordy in xh^ figura- 
 tive ^ but even in the literal fjnle, and are 
 defigned to fignify the aBual going to fee the 
 poor; viewing their condition and circum- 
 itances with our own eyes ; finding them out, 
 and acquainting our f.lves with their miferies ; 
 and often giving them our alms wiih our own 
 hands. As the very pre fence of thofe who re- 
 lieve them is a comtort to the diftrefled and 
 affl died ; and as we are hereby enabled to fute 
 our felves to their feveral wants, and to diftri- 
 bute our bounty more f.^ufonably and pru- 
 dently J fo it is no fmall improvement to our 
 felves. Such as live an eafy and pleafurable 
 life, and know not the want of a meal's meat, 
 have no notion of the miferies of the poor; 
 and are therefore very bad judges of the real 
 worth (5f this woman's charity. It is natural 
 for them to think a farthing was as lit.le to 
 her^ as to them j and that flie parted with it 
 becaufe it was not worth keeping; but ov\q. 
 C 4 vifit 
 
The Duty and Meafure of ^lms-giving» 
 
 mjit to any of thofe many cells or cottages 
 where hunger and thirji and nakednejs have 
 taken up their refidence, would make them 
 alter their opinion. If they were eye witnefTes 
 of the fir eights and difficulties many poor houfe' 
 keepers ftruggle with, who have no work or 
 employment and are afhamed to beg ; and if 
 they did but hear their children's cries for 
 bread when they have none to give them, this 
 would bring them to a merciful temper and 
 difpofition j it would make them truly fenfi- 
 ble of the bounty of God towards themreives ; 
 it would teach them to 'value his bl'fjifigs ; it 
 would create in them a true humility and low- 
 linefs of mind, as feeing what they themfelves 
 would be if they were in the fame condition. 
 And now let any one tell me what e^'eB or 
 influence all tbefe precepts can have upon a 
 dying man ? Or how they can operate to all 
 the wife ends 2iV\<i purpofes of them upon him 
 when he is dead ? And this naturally leads us 
 in the 
 
 Vlth place to pbferve, what an excellent 
 adt oi faith this woman's charity was, and of 
 a firm dependance upon the providence of God. 
 At the fame inftant (he threw into the treafury 
 all her worldly dependance, ihe muft have re- 
 iigned her body and foul into his hands to 
 whom fhe made the prefent. This extraor- 
 dinary a(5t of a publick charity in one who 
 muft have been her felf an oV)q(X of charity, 
 and flood in need of an alms, could have pro- 
 ceeded 
 
'^I'he Btity and Me a J lire of Alms-groing, 25 
 
 ceeded fiom none but a mind exercifsd to an Se rm. 
 habitual difcharge of holy duties, and wherein ^^Ih 
 there was a complication of virtuisand g'-aces. 
 She muft have been uled to fading and ab- 
 flinence,^ and to frequent felf-denials, who 
 could deny her felf the neceffaries of life. She 
 muft have been ftrongly affeded with a belief 
 of God's all-fufficiencyy as well as with a pre- 
 fent fenfe of his ail-feeifig eye. She mufl: have 
 had a warm zeal for the houfe of God and his 
 worfliip; and have been of a tender and com- 
 pairionate heart towards the poor, as having 
 a fellow-feeling of their miferijs. She was 
 furely of a devout and excellent fpirit, endued 
 with a great contempt of all worldly pleafures 
 and vanities; intirely void of all difcontent, or 
 murmuring at her poverty and the meannefs 
 of her condition j and of all envy at the flou- 
 rifliing condition of the rich who were abl6 
 to give fo plentifully. From whence we may 
 learn, that the pooreft perfon in the lowefl 
 condition of life, hath it in his power to ex- 
 ercife the moft exalted adts of virtue; nay and 
 to out-do thofe of an higher rank in that very 
 particular oi aim/giving ^ in which of all other 
 duties they feem to have the greateft advan- 
 tage over him. 
 
 Tliis was a full tryal of the truth and pn- 
 cerity of her heart towards God in a fignal 
 inftance of duty and love, and upon an ex- 
 traordinary occafion ; and a proof that no 
 harddiip or difficulty could overcome the re- 
 folution of her mind in afpiring to the greateft 
 
 height 
 
7he Duty and Meafure of Alms-giving, 
 height of virtue and goodnefs which was 
 prad:icable, nay though fhe ftarved for it: A 
 perfon's pafling fuch a tryal as this, in the pnly 
 point of virtue and goodnefs expreflly t9 be 
 recited in the day of judgment, muft be ever 
 after a ground of unfpeakable comfort tor 
 the reft of his hfe -, it {hews that God can 
 call him to nothing which he is not difpofed 
 readily and chearfully to obey. But it muft 
 be a refledlion full of finking and defpondency 
 for a man to be confcious to himfelf that 
 he has hitherto remarkably failed in what is to 
 be the main article of his account -, whatever 
 appearance or profeffion of religion he makes 
 in all other inftances, he may conclude the 
 heart is not right, and that his fervice is di- 
 vided between God and Mammon. 
 
 It is worth obferving, that in all this fhe 
 afted upon no higher principle than what the 
 old teftament could furnifli her with. She 
 might have heard of Maitna rained down 
 from heaven for a fupply to God's people in 
 the wildernefs; of the Prophet's being fed by 
 ravens', and xht widow s cruice o^ oy\ which 
 failed not in the famine. But ftie had not 
 been taught that though two /parrows v^tio. fo 
 inconfiderable as to ht fold for a farthing, yet 
 that one of them could not be killed without 
 God's permiffion j and that his care cf us is 
 fuch, that the very hairs of our heads are 
 numbered. And yet we find how little thought 
 fhe took for her life, what fhe fhould eat or 
 what fie fiould drink, who gave away all 
 
 her 
 
'The Duty and Me a fur e of Alms-giving, 27 
 
 her living 'y and how truly (he fought ^ry?SERM. 
 the kingdom of God and his rigbteoiifnefs, and XVII. 
 left it to him to add all other things as he faw 
 fit. Compare this woman with thofe who 
 make the fear of wanting an excufe for noc 
 giving to the poor ; nay fome to that degree 
 that they are not without perpetual boading 
 thoughts of ftarving in the midft of plenty. 
 Then it is faith when we look upon what we 
 give in charitable ufes to be the fureft pro- 
 vifion for our felves and families, and think 
 that we lend upon the beft fecurity. lie that 
 hath pity upon the poor lendeth unto the Lordy 
 and that 'which he hath borrowed will he pay 
 him again 3 pay him with intere/i, and com- 
 monly in this life : And if we had the whole 
 hiftory of this widow, 1 doubt not but we 
 fhould have had an account even of a tem- 
 poral reward for fuch an excellent charity, 
 and of fome providential relief for her who 
 had thus liberally cajt her bread upon the wa- 
 ters. Whenever charity fails of a return either 
 upon our felves or our pofterity even in this 
 world, it is in all likelihood becaufe we give 
 not chearfully or in proportion to our fortune, 
 but fparingly or with diftruftful and defponding 
 thoughts. Or becaufe, though we are not 
 wanting in the quantity of our charities, yet 
 we are not all of a piece, but fail in fome 
 other duties ; for though we fluould vifit theja- 
 therlefs and widows in their affliBion, it is not 
 pure religion unlefs we keep our felves unj'potted 
 from the worlds James i. 22. 
 
 VII. 
 
l^he Duty and Meafure of Alms-giving, 
 VII. The feventh thing we may obfervC 
 from this remarkable pafTage, is the great va- 
 lue and real excellency of a piiblick charity. 
 The corban or treafury was a common fund 
 for the repairs and furniture of the temple ; for 
 the fupport of the publick worfhip of God ; 
 and for the relief of the indigent. One would 
 be apt to think that dijarthtng was not worth 
 contributing to fo great a fund -, and that it 
 was vaiiity in the widow not to lay it out in 
 fome private charity, whofe low condition 
 mull have made her acquainted with mife- 
 rable objeds enough, and with fuch as wanted 
 it to buy them bread. But we find/Z'^' thought 
 otherwife, who chofe to comribute her two 
 mites to a publick charity ; and fo did our Sa- 
 viour, who from his full approbation of what 
 fhe had done, and magnifying it above all the 
 great and pompous charities of the rich, hath 
 recommended the like practice to all pofterity. 
 It is true, private cafes of great extremity^ or 
 fudden exigence^ and prefent mifery^ require an 
 immediate relief, and are preferable to any 
 publick charity whatfoever j and this we are 
 taught by Chrift in the perfon of the good 
 Samaritan, who was at expence in taking care 
 of the man he chanced to find flript and 
 wounded by the way ; whereas the priejl and 
 the Lcvite, who paffed him by, perhaps would 
 have pleaded for themfelves that they referved 
 their money for the corban. Such another 
 ieafonable adt of generofity and kindnefs was 
 that of the woman who cpnfumed the pre- 
 cious 
 
The "Duty and Meafure of Alms- giving, 29 
 
 clous oyntment on our Saviour when he fat at Serm; 
 meat, the price of which would have relieved XVII. 
 many of the ordinary poor. The import of 
 his anfwer upon that occafion was, that his 
 was a particular and extraordinary cafe, it 
 being dene not meerly out of a cuftomary 
 compliment, but upon a great and fudden 
 exigence, no lefs than by an excellent ac^ of 
 faith, the anointing of him for his burial. 
 
 But though fuch like inftances of prefent 
 exigence or mijery claim a preference before 
 all other, yet the contributing to promote a 
 ge?2eral and puhlick good is otherwife more pre- 
 ferable, as the good of the community is to be 
 confidered before that of any fingle pcrfon. 
 The common poor you have always with you^ 
 and you need never want opportunity of re- 
 lieving them 5 but opportunities of contribut- 
 ing to an united and publick charity ycu have 
 not always. We find this Widow left the 
 performance of thofe common and ordinary 
 charities to them who were able to perform 
 both i and wifely chofe to throw her farthing 
 into the publick trealury : And fmall as it was, 
 you fee it was not funk in fo great a mafs, but 
 came into the account with God, and brought 
 her in for no fmall (liare of that univerfal be- 
 nefit which from thence accrued to the whole 
 nation of the Jews, This little gift was an 
 argument of a large and generous foul, and 
 fhewed how plentifully {he would have given 
 if (he had been able. As none could equal 
 
 her 
 
30 7he Duty and Me a fur e of Alms-giving. 
 
 Serm. her in her bounty for the reafon given by our 
 XVII. Saviour, becaufe there was none fo poor, and 
 that fhe could not find any tliat wanted more 
 than her felf : So had her fortune been equal 
 to the goodnefs of her heart, {he had out-done 
 them all likewife in the^;^^ and number of 
 their offerings. She who could freely part with 
 two miles for the publick good, and want 
 bread for it that day, would have found no 
 reluctance in paring off all the fuperfluous va- 
 nities of a fafhionable way of living, and laying 
 of thein out in the purchafe of heaven and 
 eternul life. Nay it is plain (he had a foul as 
 great as that of David or Solomon j and if fhe 
 had wherewithal, fhe would have defrayed the 
 charges of re-building the temple with all it's 
 furniture, nothing inferiour to what it ap- 
 peared in it's greatefl fplendour. 
 
 If ycu are fenfible of the true value and 
 worth of a publick charity in the fight of God, 
 I fhall here proceed to the pre fen t occafion of 
 my laying before you this great and excellent 
 example of it propofed by our Saviour in the 
 Gofpel J which is a good opportunity now to 
 be given of making tryal of our own hearts 
 how far they are in a difpofition of being 
 moved and influenced by it. Namely, a col- 
 ledlion to be made for a number of poor help- 
 lefs children, to be laid out in providing for 
 them cloaths, and books^ 2S\^ jchooling ; in giving 
 them inftrudion in the firft rudiments of the 
 chiiftian religion, and acquainting them with 
 the doctrines and principles of our holy church ; 
 
 in 
 
7he Duty and Meafure of Alms-givtng, 3 1 
 
 in teaching them fuch things as may qualify Se i^ m. 
 them for trades and calUngs ; in binding them XVII. 
 out appienJces, a d fo putting them into a 
 condiiion of earning Bread for themfelves, and 
 being fome way ukful to the publick. 
 
 Now becaufe it is no fmall comfort to fuch 
 as give, that they do it in a well-chofen cha- 
 rity J that they give with prudence as well as 
 with a free and ready heart, it ought to be 
 confidered, that fetting afide cafes oi necejjif-f 
 and prefent miferyy this is one of the nobleffc 
 charities in the worli ; infomuch that it is hard 
 to tell how money can be given to better pur- 
 pofes, and how any liberaliiy whatfoever can 
 be greater in it's efFedls and confequences. For 
 
 I ft. It is an immediate relief to the great- 
 eft objeds of charity in the world ; it is for 
 cloathing the nakednefs of poor diftreffed and 
 fatherlefs children, who are not able to help 
 themfelves j and are by the providence of God 
 expofed deftitute of friends or relations, on 
 purpofe for a tryal of our obedience to God's 
 commands; of our faith in him ; and depen- 
 dance upon thofe bleffings which are promifed 
 to them who provide for the fick and needy ^ 
 Is not this the fa ft I have chofen^ fays God in 
 Ifai. Iviii. 6, 7. When thoufecft the Jiaked, that 
 thou cover him, i. e. When you fpare it from 
 your felves, and off your own backs to cloath 
 the naked ; not only fuch as are intirely fo, 
 but fuch as are either i?idece?itly or thinly clad; 
 in which fenfe St. Paul fays of himfelf, i Cor. 
 iv. II. that he himfelf 'ie.w ?iaked. And what 
 
 numbers 
 
7he Duty and Meafure of Alms-giving» 
 
 numbers of poor diftieiTed children are there 
 in our ftreets wandering in rags and dirt, fo 
 as to be even ofFcnflve and nauieousj and left 
 expofed, as St. Paul fpeaks of himfelf at the 
 13th verfe, as ih^ filth of the world, and off- 
 Jcouring of all things-^ and in all extremity of 
 weather even perilling with cold ? The argu- 
 ment made ufe of in that place of Ifaiah, is 
 a very moving one, hide not thy felf from thy 
 ownflefj ; we may fee our felves and behold 
 our own nature in every one of thofe mife- 
 rable children; they are the fame flefh and blood 
 with us ; and therefore if we but look upon 
 them and confider them, we cannot but be 
 touched with a fenfe of humanity, and nature 
 it felf will prompt us to take pity on them. 
 
 But 2dly, this charity is not only for 
 the immediate relief of their bodies, but for 
 the faving of their fouls as well as our own* It 
 is for giving them inftruftion in all neceffary 
 points of faith and practice required by the 
 Gofpel. It is for moulding and forming of 
 them in their tender years, before their appe- 
 tites get the mafterv of them, and that their 
 paflions grow refty and callous, and fo inflex- 
 ibly hardened, that they are paft all relifh of 
 the joys of a good confciencc, or any feehng 
 of an evil one. It is for rooting out \S^t.Jeeds 
 of vice and wickednefs ; for giving them early 
 habits of virtue and goodnefs \ for teaching them 
 to pray j acquainting them with xh^fcriptures, 
 and furniftiii g their memories with fuch por- 
 tions of them as may be a flock for the future 
 
 devotion 
 
^he Duty and Men fur e of Alms^gi'oing, 33 
 
 devotion of their lives, and enable them toSERM. 
 keep up fome communion with God, even in XVII. 
 the midft of w^ork and bufinefs. 
 
 It is a reproach to our common chrlftianity, 
 that in the midft of a nation where it is pro- 
 fefled and eftablifhed, fuch multitudes (hould 
 be found void of either natural or revealed re- 
 ligion, and even of the fi> ft; principles of the 
 oracles of God-, fcarce having tafted of the 
 milk of the word which is neceifary for the 
 nouriftiment of l?al?es in Chrift. The igno- 
 rance of many among the lower rank of peo- 
 ple, is incredible to any but fuch as have 
 fought for opportunities of trying them j nay, 
 many know no more of Chrift than the name, 
 and have as litde knowledge of our falvation 
 by him, as if they had been born wild Indians 
 or Americans, And which is yet more la- 
 mentable, when once men are grown up in this 
 ignorance, they are loft and undone paft all 
 remedy j for fad experience fhews us, that 
 when they pafs their childhood and youth 
 without any impreflions of virtue and holy- 
 nefs, it is an infuperable difficulty ever after 
 to work in them any truly fmcere and Lifting 
 fenfe of religion. So remarkably true is that 
 faying of the wife man's, Train up a child in 
 the way which he P:ould gOy and when he is 
 old he will not depart from it; the fall import 
 of which is, that if you do not train him up 
 in the right way while he is a child, he will 
 hardly ever be brought into it afterwards. How 
 deplorably is this verified through the whole 
 
 Vol. 11. D rank 
 
34 7"/5^ Duty and Meafure of Alms -giving. 
 
 SERM.rank of common beggars, who growing up 
 XVII. deftitute of all knowledge of the laws of God, 
 and below the notice of humane laws, are ge- 
 nerally the moft corrupt and profligate part of 
 mankind ; without any fenfe or feeling of re- 
 ligion, and never ufe the name of any perfon 
 in the holy trinity, but to profane it in their 
 loud and importunate clamours for an alms : 
 Ail which would have been in a great degree 
 prevented, had the laft age been fenfible of 
 the great and unfpeakable advantages of this 
 kind of charity. You fee the importance of 
 what you give to this ufe ; it is for feeding the 
 Iambs of Chrifl with fpiritual nourifhment ^ 
 refcuing them from the jaws of hell j building 
 up immortal fouls for heaven and everlafling 
 happinefs ; fouls as dear and precious in the 
 light of Chrift ivith ivbom there is no reffeSt 
 of perfonst as thofe of your own children, and 
 equally the price of his tlood. In fhort, it is 
 to fave them from perifliing for lack cf know- 
 ledge^ which is infiniiely vvorfe than perifliing 
 with hunger and cold. 
 
 A third thing of no fmall confequence to 
 which we contribute, is the breeding up num- 
 bers of children to be true and fiiithful fons 
 and daughters of the pureft and holyefl church 
 upon earth j and this muft be a motive of great 
 weight with all thofe who are lincere and un- 
 fhaken memr ers of it themfelves ; For furely 
 that communion which they make choice of 
 for their own falvation, except they be repro- 
 bates^ they cannot but judge moft fafe for the 
 
 falvation 
 
The Luty and Me a fur e of Alms-gro'mg. 35 
 
 falvdtion of othcrsj they muft be perfuadcd Serm. 
 that the fbpporting, and encouraging, and^^^I- 
 promoting the interelt of it, is one ot the mofl '^-'^^^^ 
 acceptable works to God which they can do. 
 It muft be a great comfort to them to lee 
 numbers of poor children, who but for their 
 bounty would have had no religion at all, 
 come duly and orderly to church ; to appear 
 there in decent cloathing; and with an awful 
 and reverend behaviour, fuch as becomes the 
 houfe of God; to hear them joyn in our 
 prayers and praifes to God, and fhew as much 
 attention and devotion as can be expelled from 
 their tender years. This, God knows, is 
 fadly overlooked and negled:ed by parents of a 
 higher rank in their children; who fjr want 
 of being ufed from the firft to a conftant at- 
 tendance upon the fervice of God, and to the 
 joyning with devotion in the publick worfhip, 
 for the reft of their lives come to church to 
 Ican^ or gaze^ or make their bows and compli- 
 ments to one another, even in the midft of the 
 moft exalted parts of divine fervice; or for 
 any other purpofe rather than to fay their 
 prayers with zeal and fervency, or bear a part 
 in finging the praifes of God. 
 
 I muft not omit here that what is given upon 
 this occafion, is for healing thofe rt7?/'iand di- 
 vifions which are made in the church, and a 
 moft effedual means of promoting peace and 
 unity among chriftians. As too many who 
 fet up for learning and refinement do run into 
 irf.Jc!it\' ; fo on the other hand, igjiorance is 
 D 2 the 
 
36 7he Duty and Meafure of Jlfm-giving, 
 
 Serm. the mother of enthiifiafm\ and this begets * 
 XVII. xzct oi herefies and fchifm^y which are in a 
 'great degree prevented by inftru6ling children 
 not in the words only, but in the fenfe and 
 meaning of the church catechifm j making 
 them acquainted with it's doBrines^ and pri?!- 
 ciples, and liturgy-j and creating in them a 
 reverence for all thijigs and perfons dedicated 
 to the more immediate fervice of God. This 
 ever after prevents in them that indifferency to 
 their own religion, and lukewarmnejs fo ex- 
 prefsly condemned in the church of L^(?(//V^^, 
 and which is fo fatally prevailing in our own: 
 O I may God avert any farther parallel in the 
 judgment likewife threatned, Rev. iii. 16. for 
 that prevailing hypocrify. This will keep 
 them from being tcjjed too (indjro\ and car- 
 ried about with every wind of dcEirine ; and 
 from any affedation of that (hameful halting 
 between two opinions fo much in vogue and 
 fafliion : So that they will walk uprightly^ 
 without a conftant turn of the head, and a 
 fide look ever towards feparate and contrary 
 communions. This will lay a foundation for 
 i}L\2X peace and unity ^ that brotherly love and 
 chrijiian charity in the next generation, which 
 is fo notoriouily wanting in thisj for thefe 
 poor children will have this advantage over 
 thofe of Perfons of greater fortune and quality, 
 that they will grow up without any feafoning 
 oi party prejudice, and prepofTeflion. 
 
 4. In the laft place, it is worth confidering 
 how many and great the Jecular advantages 
 
l^he Duty and Meafure of Alrrn^ giving^ 37 
 
 of {q well placed and prudent a charity are to Se r ^f . 
 the ftate. It is contributing to the common XVII. 
 good and benefit of mankind. It is not only 
 for the inftrudion of childicn in divine know- 
 ledge^ for the falvation of their fouls j but to 
 learn them fuch things as fhall firft qualify 
 them for it, and then to bind them out to 
 trades or callings. This renders them ufcful 
 to themfelves and to the commonwealth 3 this 
 refcues them from contrading fuch inveterate 
 habits of idlenefs at iirft, which they can 
 never after wear ofFj and puts them upon get- 
 ting their living by an honeft indudry. This 
 will confiderably lelTen that great multitude of 
 vagrant and wandering beggars which upbraid 
 us to God and the worlds and daily multiply, 
 to the difgrace, as well as curfe of the na- 
 tion ; and unlefs the further growth of them 
 be prevented by charity -Jchools^ and wholfomc 
 laws for that purpofe, may be the means of* 
 bringing down judgments upon us. 
 
 This will be found the moft effectual means 
 of converting the Irifh Papijis of this king- 
 dom ; a work which hath been too long ne- 
 glected, and the omiffion hath met with its 
 punifliment in thofe rebellions and mafTacres 
 they have been hurried on to, by a favage na^ 
 ture, and more favage and bloody principles* 
 Experience hath (hewn that all other means 
 without this are like to prove ineffed:ual; 
 the prefent generation have no more even of a 
 bad religion than the giving up ihtix fenfes and 
 their reajon^ which makes it almoft impoflible 
 D -, for 
 
38 , I'he Duty and Meafure of AlmS'gwing'. 
 
 Serm. for them ever to embrace the true one, bat a 
 XVII. general and united endeavour of fetting up 
 thefe fchools for their children through the 
 nation, before they have their eyes put out -, 
 and are grown up meer ideots in chriftianity, 
 could not but have a great effedt in a little 
 time ; and is the more likely to meet with a 
 bljing 2iuAjuccefSy becaufe of its being per- 
 formed by methods oi charity. 
 
 By fcajhning fo many children with an ear- 
 ly fenle of religion, and taking them off from 
 a whole life oi idlenefs and want, how many 
 immoralities do we Jbinder, which they would 
 otherwife be guilty of, and what a flood of 
 iniquity do we flem ? How many cheats and 
 thefts, and whoredoms, and robberies, and mur-^ 
 ders, will be efFed;ually prevented, which ex- 
 perience (hews us it is not in the power of 
 humane laws to reftrain ? All which, though 
 committed by the loweft rank of people, yet 
 come into a general account with God, and 
 are added to that mafs of fin which ripens a 
 nation for divine vengeance. How many will 
 by this means be relieved not only from igtio^ 
 ranee, Sind cold, ^.nd ?mked?ie/s ; but from pub- 
 lick /?j^^f, 2indprifon, and exemplary and un- 
 timely deaths? And is any thing more com- 
 mon, than for fuch as are brought to this, in 
 their laft dying words at the place of execu- 
 tion, to lay all their wickednefs and mifery up- 
 on the want of fome care and infliudtion in 
 their childhood. 
 
 What 
 
^'he Duty and Mcafure of AlmS'givi?7g. 39 
 
 What need I fay moe? Whatever is given Serw 
 on this occafion is for reforming the world, as XVII. 
 far as lies in each of us, and laying up a (tore 
 both of temporal and fpiritual bleflings for 
 pofterity. It is for making many, who would 
 otherwife never come to any fenfe either of 
 natural or revealed religion, good chrljllans^ 
 and good mcmbeis of the commonwealth; 
 good parents^ and good chiidyen ; good ma- 
 Jiers and mijlreffes, and good jervants-, and in 
 fhort, good in every relation of life. It is 
 not only for redeeming multitudes from pre- 
 feiit Jin and miferyy who would be otherwife 
 trained up and exercifed from their infancy in 
 all kind of villany ; but enabling them to con- 
 vey the many bleffings they receive, to thole 
 who come after them ; and thev as^ain will 
 tranfmit them farther downward; which is 
 doing good through manv generations: i^nd 
 thus a man may be the inftrument of unfpeak- 
 able good to perfons who (liall be born long 
 after he is dead ; he has dijperjed abroad^ he has 
 given to the poo}\ his righteoiijnejs^ even in this 
 i^viit^ remaineth for ever. 
 
 If it fliould come into any man's heart to 
 think that thefe are great things indeed in ima^ 
 gination and theory^ but may prove little ia 
 the real effcdts and confequences of the in- 
 tended charity ; and that if they could be fure 
 of the event, they would fpare no coil, but 
 contribute with great freedom and alacrity. 
 Then let me afk them, how far do they think 
 this poor widow's farthing could go in the re- 
 D 4 pairs 
 
40 *Tbe Duty and Medfure of Alms-giving. 
 
 Serm. pairs of that great temple at Jerufalem\ in 
 XVII. buying o^jacrtpce j and finding a conftant fup- 
 ply of oyl and incenfe for the worfliip of 
 God ? And yet was not this feeble effort as 
 acceptable as if (he had paid down the price of 
 hecatombs ? If to our power we contribute 
 to a general and lafling good, it is equal in the 
 light of God as if we lingly and in our own 
 perfon compleated the work : Let us do our 
 duty with faith and '<dependance upon God's 
 providence j let the charity fail of it*s confe- 
 quences, but let us not fail in our charity. 
 
 Vlll. Having fhewed yoa the excellency of 
 a publick charity in general, and of this in 
 particular, which is now promoting, I (hall in 
 the lafl place obferve to you from the words 
 of the text, the exadt notice which is taken 
 by God how all people from the richefl to 
 the poorefl difcharge themfelves in the per- 
 formance of this great duty of alms-giving. 
 A little before the words of the text it is faid, 
 that Chrifl beheld « ix^vq as it is in the origi- 
 nal, the multitude or crowd of people throw 
 in their money; and yet fo curious was he, 
 and had fo fharp an eye upon every one of 
 them, that he could form an exad: judgment 
 upon the quantity of each perfon's alms, and 
 the heart it was given with ; infomuch that he 
 could fingle out this poor woman, who in ap- 
 pearance gave the leaft of any one there, for 
 the lubjed of his remark^ fo full of divine 
 wifdom and inftrudlion ; and could pronounce 
 that fhe had eaft more in than all they who cafl 
 
 into 
 
I'hc Duty and Me a jure of Alms-ghifig, 41 
 
 into the trea/ury. This one farthing did not Serm. 
 cfcape his view, and he was fo far from over- XVII. 
 looking it, that he has pubHflied it to the whole 
 world for all future generations ; infomuch 
 that wherefoever the Gofpel is preached, this 
 alfo that this woman hath done^ is told Jor a 
 memorial of her. 
 
 Here then is a corban or treafury for you 
 who have abundance to give plentijtdly ; and 
 for you who have but a little^ to give of that 
 little. Though Chrift is not vifibly here in 
 perfon, and that we cannot fee him, yet he is 
 even now looking on, and beholds what every 
 one contributes. Little did that woman ima- 
 gine who was then prefent, applauding her at 
 the very inftant, and faying in effect, well 
 done thou good and Jaithful fervant. But we 
 know that the fame all-feeing eye which is 
 every where beholding the evil and the good, is 
 now upon us, and that every farthing which 
 is now given, and upon the like occalions, will 
 be weighed in the fcale ; and a moft exa6t 
 fcrutiny made what proportion it bears to our 
 worldly fubftance, and what that fecret dif- 
 pofition of the heart is with which it is given. 
 Let us learn from hence to take care that the 
 Jmaller contributions of the poor are not found 
 to out- weigh the greater offerings of the rich. 
 Let us learn rather to exceed in our charities, 
 and fail on the furer fide, than have them 
 found light in the ballance when the great day 
 of account comes. If we fall fhort in the per- 
 formance of this duty, how then will thefe 
 
 two 
 
42 7he Duty and Me a jure of /llms-gi'Ding. 
 
 Serm. two mitesof ayVw//^ woman rife up in judg- 
 XVII. ment againft the narrow^ fcant^^ and 1 may 
 fay hegrarly alms of too many chriftians, who 
 are diredly oppofite to the fpirit of the Gof- 
 pel, and of this widow ; rich in money and 
 worldly fubftance, but poor in good works ? 
 
 Her contribution was to the repairs of the 
 /emfle oiAv J what is given upon this occafion 
 is for the building up and beautifying many 
 temples of the liviug God. That temple was 
 but wood and ftone, and in a few years (as 
 it feems from Luke xxi. 6. our Saviour ob- 
 ferves upon this very oecaiion) there was not 
 to be left of it one {I one upon another : But thefe 
 are fo n\2iV\yJp' ritual 2^x16. immortal fouls, made 
 to laft for ever; and every one of them of 
 greater value in the fight of God, than Solo- 
 vwn% in all it's glory. That was built only 
 for a type of Chrift ; thefe are all made after 
 the very image oi God, and are to be formed 
 into the real likenefs of Chiifl's glorifyed body. 
 She gave for providing oi facrifices and inecn/e, 
 and the fupport only of a ceremojual worfhip; 
 but what is now given, is for the prefenting 
 many living facrijices holy and acceptable unto 
 God, and for promoting of a rea finable fervice 
 and evangelical holynefs. She afted wholly 
 from the dark rudiments of the law which 
 gave a profped; only of a temporal reward, 
 the great motive of the old teftament ; fuch as 
 ke lihogiveih unto the poor floall not lack, Prov. 
 xxviii, 27. And again, Ihe liberal joul floall 
 be made fat i Prov. xi. 25. And, cajl thy bread 
 
 upon 
 
^e Duty and Meafure of Jims-giving^ 43 
 
 upon the waters ^ and after many days thou fJjak S e r m. 
 Jind them. But flie was ignorant of thofe clear XVII. 
 revelations which we enjoy under the Gofpel ;' 
 {he had not learnt that our alms Hke thofe of 
 Cornelius^ come up jor a memorial before God^ 
 A(fls X. 4. That they are a trcajure laid up in 
 the Heavens^ that fai'eth not^ Luke xii. 33. 
 That they are the purchafe of an eternal 
 weight of glory ; and that we fliall furely be 
 recompenfed for them at the refurreBion of the 
 juft. Nor was fhe exprefly told that when the 
 Jon of man floall come in his glory, and all the 
 holy Angels with him, and [hall fit upon the throne 
 of his glory 'j and vfhtn bejore him P^all be ga- 
 thered all nations, that this ot alms-giving is 
 the great diftinguifhing duty upon which the 
 feparation of i\\Q Jheep from iht goats is foun- 
 ded ; and the only inftance to be inferted in the 
 la ft joyful welcome, come ye ble [fed of my Fa- 
 ther, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from 
 the beginning of the world. Sec. But leaft of 
 all did this woman know, that all fuch deeds 
 of charity are in the account of God as if 
 done to the very per/on of Chrift himfelf : In 
 as much as ye have done it to one of the leaft of 
 theje my brethren, ye have done it unto me. 
 
 Behold then, you who have learnt all this, 
 a number of thofe little ones in a very literal 
 fenfe, who are prepared to be fo many advo- 
 cates for you in that gi eat day j who will plead 
 loudly that chari:y (hewn to them, which 
 your modefty would conceal ; they will then 
 rife up and call you blefled, and own the fea- 
 
 fonable 
 
'4.4. *^he Duty and Meafure of Alms-giving, 
 
 Serm. fonable benefadlion. That th^ were heiplefs 
 XVII. or /<z^/>^r/fc/i children, and that you took row- 
 
 * pajjion on them ; that they were nakeJand yoa 
 cioat bed them j that they were ignorant and 
 you inJiruBed thena j that you faved them 
 from iiDant and beggary ; from a life of mifery^ 
 2ind Jin^ 2ind wickedne/s ', nay many of them 
 from prijon, and Jhameful deaths-, and were 
 the happy inftruments of faving their fouls. 
 One would think all good chriftians fhould 
 rejoyce to have fuch a fund as this to caft their 
 alms into, that they may come in for a fliare 
 in the reward for all that great, and publick, 
 and kiting good, which mufl be the effedt and 
 confequence of this mofl prudent kind of be- 
 neficence. Remember that all you fpend in 
 the 'vanities and pleafures of this life perijheth 
 with the ufing^ and that when death or the 
 great change at the laft day comes, we fhall be 
 in a moment flripped of all but what is given 
 in good works, and charitable ufes: Thus 
 much we have made for ever our own j it is put 
 out of the power oijate % and caft into a trea- 
 
 fury which will remain untouched^ when the 
 whole world is confumed in flames. 
 
 SERMON 
 
Senfe of Religion mere ohfervable^ Sec. 4 c 
 
 SERMON XVIII. 
 
 Senfe of Religion more obfervable in 
 the middle and meaner rank of 
 People. 
 
 Mat. xi. 25. 
 
 / ihanik thee O Father Lor J of heaven and 
 earthy becauje thou haft hid thefe things from 
 the wife and prudent y a?id haft revealed them 
 unto babes* 
 
 IT hath been ever accounted a great preju- Serm. 
 dice againft any opinion or profeffion, and XVIII. 
 never fliiled to be urged by the enemies 
 thereof, where the caufe would bear it ; that 
 it hath been generally received by mean and 
 illiterate Ibrt of people ; by fuch as were low 
 in the opinion of the world, and in leaft repu- 
 tation for knowledge and quicknefs of parts 
 and apprehenfion : And this not without a very 
 plaufible fliew of reafon ; fince it muft be al- 
 lowed, that ignorance makes men eafy and 
 credulous, and this ad:ually difpofes them to 
 
 fuperftition \ 
 
4^ ^enfe of Religion more obfervable 
 
 Serm. fupei'ftition ; to a ready affent to error and de- 
 XVIU. lufion ; and fuch a zeal for what they have 
 once entertained, as makes them reily and in- 
 flexible in it. 
 
 Now becaufe this prejudice feems to lye fo 
 fairly againft the Gofpel, which comes openly 
 recommended to the poor and illiterate ; which 
 applies itfelf profeffedly to fuch, and fpeaks lo 
 plainly of the difficulty there is to the rich and 
 wife to enter into the kingdom of heaven : 
 Therefore my defign from thefe words is, to 
 remove this prejudice, and juflify the wifdom 
 and goodnefs of God in this matter. 
 
 And this I (hall the rather do, hecaufe the 
 enemies of revelation think they'have this ad- 
 liantage againft us j for though they do not 
 yet, that I know of, urge it openly, however 
 they infinuate that this gives a glofs and colour 
 to all their arguments; namely, that they are 
 the men of converfation in the world, and of 
 a moi'e refined education and greater freedom 
 of thought, who incline to rejecfl and defpife 
 revelation. But this is fo far from being any 
 juft prejudice againft our caufe, that, as 1 hope 
 v.'ill appear, it is much to its advantage ; it is 
 no new thing ; it was ever fo from the begin- 
 ing of the Gofpel. And the great author of 
 our religion is fo far from lamenting it, or 
 being difcouraged with it, that he praif:s God 
 for it in this hearty form j / thank thee O 
 Father Lord of heaven and earth, becaufe thou 
 had hid thefe things from the -ivije and prudent^ 
 and haft revealed them unto babes. 
 
 Which 
 
in the middle and meaner rank of People. 47 
 
 Which ejaculation proceeded from a confi-SERNf. 
 deration of that fort of reception his do^ftrine XVIU, 
 found amoijg men, and the occafion of it was" 
 this J when the difciples of Joh.i the Baptilt 
 Ijad departed f.omour Saviour, to whom they 
 came on a melliige, to know whether he were 
 the Meiiias > he took this oppoitunity of dif- 
 courfing to the multitude concerning John, 
 and to (hew them how inexcufable they were 
 fir not receiving John's teftimony concc:rning 
 him. 
 
 It is plain, lays he, you all allowed him to 
 be a Prophet ; for (urely you did not go iiuo 
 the wildernefs upon fuch a trifling errand as 
 to fee a reed played upon by the wind ; nor 
 did ycu go out to him to gratify your curiolity 
 in feeing fome great and extraordinary perfon- 
 age ; you would have gone to a court for this, 
 and not to a dcfart. So that it is evident you 
 all went out to him as to a Prophet. And fo 
 far you are in the right, for he is more than a 
 Prophet ; for the Prophets and the law only 
 propheiyed till John ; (i. c.) all that fpoke of 
 Ghiift under the law, only marked him out 
 at a diilance; but John adually pohits him 
 out and fays, tbis is he: Now thou(.^h you 
 acknowledged him to be a Prophet, as he is 
 in truih more than a Prophet ; and though 
 ye were rds baptized into his dodrine, which 
 was that of the immediate prefcnce of the 
 l^ieflias; yet now you adl in contradiction 
 boLn to yourlelves and him, in not icceivino: 
 
 mc 
 
48 ^enfe of Religion more obfervable 
 
 Serm. me for the Meffias when he tells you plainly, 
 
 XVIII. that I am he. ' 
 
 Upon this he obferves to them how they 
 fruftrated all the methods of God for their con-r 
 verfion ; efpecially the Scribes and Pharifees, 
 and Rulers, who of all men had the beft title 
 to him and his dodrine, and ought to have 
 received him with the greateft readinefs and ' 
 chearfulnefs. But on the contrary, from the 
 days of John the Baptift until now, the king- 
 dom of heaven fuffers violence, and the vio- 
 lent take it by force (i. e.) from the beginning 
 of John's baptifm to this very day, it is ob- 
 fervable how the wifefl and greateft men of 
 the Jews, the generality of the rulers, ne- 
 glected the high priviledges of the Gofpel, 
 and defpifed the mercies of God offered to 
 them in Chrift : Whereas the publicans and 
 finners, the profelytes, and mixt multitudes 
 break in upon their inheritance, feize upon 
 their birth-right, and {hare it among them 
 like a prey ; and they whofe more immediate 
 right the Gofpel is, are totally excluded from 
 any fhare, like perfons robbed and plundered 
 of all their fubftance. Therefore it is that he 
 rejoyced in fpirit^ as St. Luke hath it, and of- 
 fered up this thankfgiving to almighty God, 
 ^hat he had thus hid thefe things from the 
 wife and prudent, and had revealed them unto 
 babes. 
 
 By babes, in this text, we are to under- 
 ftand innocent, plain, and honell: perfons of a 
 low and meaner rank among men, who are 
 
 little 
 
in the middle and meaner rank of People, 49 
 
 little in the efteem of the world for their want Se r m. 
 of riches and honours, their leLtrning and parts : ^^V^ 
 As they are oppofed to the wife, und rich, and 
 powerful men of this world j and they are 
 called babes from that fimplicity and ingenuity 
 of difpofition which is generally remarkable in 
 them, and hardly to be found atnong thofe 
 wbofe minds are full of the knowledge, and 
 the wealth, and grandeur of this life. 
 
 The occafion and meaning of the words 
 being thus explained ; in enlarging on them I 
 {hall obferve this method. 
 
 I. 1 {hall be a little more particular in (hew- 
 ino- the truth of this faying of our bleiled Sa- 
 viour's. . 
 
 2o I (hail confider the reafons of this, and 
 where the true caufe of it lyes. 
 
 3. I (hall fhew where the great wifdom of 
 God appears in this manner of difpenfadon. 
 
 4, And laflly 1 fliall draw fome inferences 
 from the whole, and make fome application 
 of it to the two different forts of people men- 
 tioned in my text. 
 
 1. As for the truth of this faying, it hath 
 appeared in a great degree already from what 
 hath been faid ; and perhaps there is not any 
 one thing more frequently and plainly incul- 
 cated i.i the holy fcriptures, than the ir.reat in- 
 difpofition of the wife, and rich, and powerful, 
 for the reception and pra6lice of the Gofpel ; 
 and therefore the poor and i^no.ant, the peo- 
 ple of no figure, or notice in the world, are 
 every where fuppofed to be the only perfons 
 
 Vol. 11. E '^^ 
 
^o Senje of Religion more ohjervable 
 
 Serm. in a condition of yielding to the (incere belief 
 XV III. of its dodrines, and hearty practice of its pre- 
 *'"'"^'*"*^ cepts: And accordingly it is directed to them 
 in particular J and all otheis are, as it were, 
 given over as men of whom there is little 
 hopes. 1 Cor. i, 26. You fee your calling bre- 
 thren^ (fays St. Paul) how that not many wife 
 men after the flefh^ not many mighty^ not many 
 noble are called. It is true they are not pe- 
 remptorily excluded ; but however, the Gof- 
 pel fpeaks of them with a great deal of diffi- 
 dence, and very little aiTurance of any fuccefs 
 upon them. And therefore in James ii, 5. 
 it is faid. Hath not God chcfen the foor of this 
 world to be heirs of the kingdom ? And as it fol- 
 lows, the rich men blafpheme that worthy name 
 by which ie are called* 
 
 Now this is fo remarkably fa(5t, with re- 
 fpe<fl to the chriftian religion, that it is become 
 one great argument of its truth and divinity ; 
 for among many other things which were 
 foretold of the ftate of the Gofpel, feveral 
 hundred years before it appeared in the world» 
 this was one; and particularly Ifai. xxix. 19* 
 fpeaking of the times of the Gofpel fays that, 
 the meek fi all increaje their joy in the Lordy and 
 it is i he poor among men fh all rejoyce in the holy 
 one of Ifrael. This, as well as all the other 
 circumftances foretold, had a mofl cxadl com- 
 pletion j and therefore, when the difciples of 
 John came to afk our baviour whether he were 
 the Meffias J inftead of a dired: anfwer he ob- 
 ierves to them, how the blind receive their 
 
 fight. 
 
in the middle and meaner rank of "People. c i 
 
 fight, the lame walk, the deaf hear, the dead Sep at. 
 are raifed up, and the poor have the Gofpel XVIII. 
 preached to them. And accordingly the men ' 
 our Saviour chofe for his difciples were of 
 mean employs, uneducated, and people of his 
 own humble rank in the world. When he 
 began to preach we find, (Luke vii. 29.) that 
 the multitudes and the publicans heard him ; 
 iut the Scribes^ (i. e.) Lawyers, andthe Phari- 
 fees reject d the counf el of God towards them-, de- 
 fpifing the dodrine of our Saviour, as they 
 had before done the baptifm of John; info- 
 much that they themfelves ufed this as a pow- 
 erful argument againft him; ha'ue any of the 
 Rulers and the Pharifees believed on him? 
 They were the Scribes (i. e.) Lawyers who 
 came tempting him, and endeavouring to en- 
 trap him with infidious queftions: He was 
 condemned by the High-Prieft and council of 
 the Jews; and was at laft crucified by the 
 power of the magiftracy. 
 
 After he was gone, and the management 
 of affairs was left to his Difciples, the fuc- 
 cefs was the very fame ; great multitudes were 
 converted, but ftill of the meaner fort : And 
 among the Philofophers or Statefmen, the rich 
 and great, and wife men of the world, it was 
 only an odd perfon here and there that em- 
 braced the Gofpel. The Chriftians were of fo 
 little note that they could not obtain intereft: 
 enough in the civil power to ftop a perfecu- 
 tion, undertaken upon any frivolous pretence ; 
 infomuch that they underwent ten of them 
 E 2 fucceflively, 
 
"^2 Setife of Religion more obfeMtihte 
 
 Serm. fucceflively. And though the number of 
 XVIII. chriflians was very great in the world, yet it 
 was three hundred years before the Gofpel 
 was received at court j and it was no fooner 
 there but it found the poifon too ftrong for 
 the cure : It was remarkably corrupted by what 
 it was defigned to reform ; and then began the 
 Arian herefy, with all its various brood of er- 
 rors, to infed: and rend the church in pieces. 
 Till then herefy never paft into a law, nor 
 was fupported by the civil power. It was 
 improper to fay the church was corrupted, be- 
 caule though there were many hereticks, yet 
 they were always a fe(^ by themfelves j and 
 the church never failed to ufe that power fhe 
 then had of declaring againft vice and error j 
 and purging herfelf of all infeiftion ; and cut- 
 ting off all unorthodox members, either in doc- 
 trine or practice, from the myftieal body of 
 Chrifl. 
 
 The governors of the church had not yet 
 given up that power, derived immediately 
 from Chrift, into the hands of the civil magi- 
 ftrate > and betrayed that jurifdi^ion, in mat-' 
 ters purely ecclefiaftical, which they had no 
 power to difpofe of j nor others to receive, or 
 exercife it for them. 
 
 Nor doth this faying of our Saviour's re- 
 fped: only the firfl: times of the Gofpel, but is 
 univerfally true of all ages of the church. It 
 is among the middle and lower rank of people 
 that there is generally the trueft and moft fe- 
 rious fenfe of religion 5 and very little of the 
 
 true 
 
in the middle and meaner rank of Pccple. 53 
 
 true zeal and fpirit of the Gofpel is vifible in^ e r m. 
 the courts of princes. Wherever there is moft ^^I^^- 
 of worldly bufinefs and grandeur, there reli- 
 gion finds the cooleft entertainment : Not but 
 that there are and have been many particular 
 inflances of the contrary j but my meaning is 
 the fame with our Saviour's in my text, that 
 this is generally true. And accordingly, the ex- 
 perience of our own age can let us fee plainly, 
 how it is the ftatefmen, and philofophers, 
 and poHticians of the world that flight and dif- 
 regard the Gofpel; it is the pretended wits 
 of the age who make fport with it ; and the 
 refined modiih freethinkers, fubtle reafoners 
 that watch to fpy out fallacies, and would fe- 
 rioully argue it out of the world. 
 
 II. I am to enquire into the reafons of this, 
 and where the true caufe of it lyes. And be- 
 fore I come to fpeak more particularly to this, 
 it will be neceffary to fhew, that it is not any 
 want of evidence, or reafonablenefs in chrifti- 
 anity, that occafions this difefleem of it in the 
 opinion of the rich, and great, and cunning 
 men of this world 3 and which makes it more 
 acceptable to the plainer fort of people. If 
 thefe could have been a religion more agree- 
 able to the higbeft reafon of man, we had not 
 had this. The myfleries of our religion are 
 revealed to us by the fame God who gave us 
 our faculties of knowledge ; and for him to 
 give us a religion which we cannot entertain 
 without adling in contradi(flion to thefe, vv^ould 
 be to leave us under a necelTity ofdifobeying 
 E 3 him^ 
 
Senfe of Religion more ohfervable. 
 
 him. But if the truths which God hath re- 
 vealed to us in Chrift be agreeable to the 
 pureft, and moft uncorrupt reafon of men ; fo 
 that if thev confider them without prejudice, 
 it is impoffible but they muft affcnt to them ; 
 then they are left without exculb ; and the 
 name of God will be juftified in their con- 
 demnation, as it will be glorified in the falva- 
 tion of all thofe who believe and entertain 
 them heartily. 
 
 Now to make it appear that chriftianity is 
 agreeable to the ftrideft and moft refined 
 reafon of men, let us fuppofe ourfelves in a 
 meer ftate of nature j the very condition that 
 the enemies of revelation are bringing us to 
 as faft as they can 5 and then confider what 
 things mankind would wifh to be refolved in, 
 and what are the points of greateft concern- 
 ment to us, about which we fliould be moft 
 inquifitive, and which would certainly take up 
 our moft anxious thoughts j and we (ball find 
 them to be thefe following. 
 
 1. How we came into being ; what fort of 
 beings we really are ? And vvhat ends we were 
 made for. 
 
 2. How mankind came to be corrupted, 
 and in this miferable condition of infirmity. 
 
 3. What cure can be found for this corrup- 
 tion of our natures 5 to reftore us to health both 
 of body and mind. 
 
 4. Whether there be another life after this. 
 
 5. What fliall be the reward of virtue and 
 the punifliment of vice. 
 
 6. What 
 
in the middle and meaner rank of People. 55 
 
 6. What Tort of government there is in the^F. r 
 univerfe. 
 
 It is plain if We had no revelation, and 
 were in a ftate of heathen ifm, thcfe are the 
 points concerning which we (liould make the 
 ilri(fleft enquiry, or at leafl: ought to do foj 
 becaufe they are the things of the utmcft im- 
 portance to us. Let us therefore confider what 
 account chriftianity gives us of thefe things, 
 and compare them with what we have received 
 from the wifeft heathens ; and then it will ap- 
 pear whether our revealed religion is reje<^ed 
 and defpifed by the wife men, the wits, and 
 gentlemen of fafliion of the world, for want of 
 any reajbnahlenefs in it. And 1 (hall do this 
 the rather, becaufe it muft be acknowledged 
 that the fureft way of knowing what mea 
 could do, without revelation no%Vy is to con- 
 fider how far their natural abilities have 
 reached, when they were altogether without it: 
 Efpecially fmce the wife men of the heathen 
 world have already made as great a progrpfs as 
 was poflible, for mere reafon in the knowledge 
 of thefe important matters, which ought to 
 be the greatell enquiries of mankind -, and yet 
 upon a view of them both it will appear, that 
 the foolijhne/s of God is wifer than men ; that 
 the weaknejs of God is Ji ranger than men -ySind 
 that no worldly wijllom hath reajon to glory in 
 his prefence. And therefore, 
 
 I. As to the fiift great enquiry, which is, 
 
 how we came into being. Tnisisone of the 
 
 E 4 firft 
 
Senfe of Religion more obfervahk. 
 
 firft things that offers itfelf to our thoughts, 
 ind that to which the mind of man is led by 
 a natural curiofity : And accordingly all parts 
 of the heathen world have had their different 
 conj;(ftures, and nothing hadi occafioned 
 greaier variety ot opinions. Some of the phi- 
 lofophers would have it that the race of man- 
 kind did exift from all eternity ; which opi- 
 nion they were led to for \yant of abilities tq 
 folve the difficulty ; for when they could not 
 tell how mankind came to have a beginning, 
 all they had left to fay was, that he had none. 
 Others have gueffed that mankind was firfl 
 formed like vermine, out of llime and mud, by 
 the heat and warmth of the fun. But this is 
 ib far from being true of mankind, that mo- 
 dern experiments have (hewed us, that there 
 is no fuch thing cs any anomalous generation 
 of animals, not even of flies. Others, and a 
 nation too very famous for learning and arts, 
 heln that mankind was firft formed in the earth 
 like mandrakes, and then fprang up like trees. 
 The Americans believed that their idol Deity 
 fhot lome arrows into the ground, which be- 
 came men and womeno - The Chinefe will 
 have their idol to have created the firfl man, 
 and have given him a power and commiiHon 
 of creating others. And laftly, that is a well 
 known Itory of F^rometheus's forming the firfl 
 man of the eauh; and when he had done, 
 leaving the lifelefs carcafs here on earth, till he 
 went to heaven and ftole fome fire from the 
 
 chariot 
 
in the middle and meaner rank of People, 57 
 
 chariot of the fun, by which he infpired itS er m. 
 with life and motion; an i with all what a^VIII. 
 flrange expedient the oracL- found out f r the 
 reftoration of mankind, after it v^2>.^ deflroycd 
 by Deucalion's flood. 
 
 Now thefe, and fuch like, are the ways 
 which the wifeft of the Heathens have found 
 to bring us into bein?. But the holy fcrip- 
 tures tell us that we are the workmanfliip of 
 the one only true God, who is infinite in wif- 
 dom and power, and by whom were all things 
 made that were made ; that we were created 
 at the beginning of this earth male and female ; 
 that he made us of the earth ; that dufl we 
 are, and to dufl we fhall return ; that he 
 breathed into us a Hying foul, and made us 
 after his own image, (i. e.) of a fpiritual and 
 immortal, of a free and reafonable nature ; fo 
 that we now can fay with David, thy hands 
 tnade me and fafhioned me, and I am won- 
 derfully made \ thine eyes did fee my Jiib fiance 
 yet bei?7g imperfeB^ and in thy book were all 
 my members written^ which day by day were 
 Jafhioned, when as yet there was none of 
 them. 
 
 By this we know well from whence we had 
 our being, and to whom we are to return the 
 glory and the praife of it: But all other accounts 
 are trifling andfoolifh; and though we fhould 
 grant that many of them are only the fidtions 
 of their Poets; yet it is plain they are fubfti- 
 tured infl:ead of the truth ; and that which put 
 them upon invention was, becaufe they were 
 
 wholly 
 
5 5 ^cnfe of Religion more obfervable 
 
 Serm. wholly ignorant of the true way. But fuch 
 XVIII. fiQions and inventions as they are, they went 
 to make up the body of the heathen theology ; 
 they were part of their creed, and whatever 
 the wifer fort thought of them, yet the gene-^ 
 rality believed them, as they believe the romi(h 
 legend in the church of Rome, 
 
 II. Another enquiry of the greateft impor- 
 tance to the whole race of mankind is, how 
 we came to be in this corrupt and degenerate 
 ftate. They all were inclined to think we 
 were not originally fo ; and therefore as they 
 very much bewailed this depravednefs of hu- 
 man nature, and its pronenefs to all manner 
 of wickednefsj fo they talked much of a 
 golden age, a time when there was no wicked- 
 nefs in the world j and when men were not 
 afraid of one another J when love, and amity, 
 and peace reigned among men ; and when 
 juftice, and temperance, and chaftity prevailed 
 over the world : But when Aftrea fled to hea- 
 ven all virtue and goodnefs went along with 
 her, and left all vice and wickednefs to reign 
 upon earth. Another way they had of folving 
 this corruption of human nature was, by fup- 
 pofing two firfl principles or caufes, the one 
 the caufe of all the goodnefs and perfe(5tion, 
 who made us pure at firft ; the other the au-r 
 thor of all evil and imperfe(5tion, which cor- 
 rupted us afterwards ; which is a faint allufion 
 to the truth. Some of the Philofophers would 
 have the foul corrupted before it came into the 
 body, and fo retain its original pravity, but 
 
 gave 
 
in the middle and meaner rank of People, 59 
 
 gave no account how it became fo in that pre-SE rm. 
 cxiftent ftate which they fuppofe. The Ame- XVIII. 
 ricans fay that mankind came very pure out of 
 the hands of the Deity, but he had a mif- 
 chievous mother who fpoiled all that he made^ 
 and mankina among the reft, 
 
 Cebes, in his portraiture of human life, at^ 
 tributes this corruption to a poifonous glafs, 
 which every one drinks more or lefs of as they 
 enter into life. And we know the ancients 
 attributed this to a box full of all difeafes and 
 infedtion, which Jupiter fent down among 
 mortals j being incenfed with Prometheus for 
 the fire he ftole from heaven ; or rather out 
 of envy at thofe new creatures he had made, 
 which when it was opened the infedlion flew 
 out, and filled them with all thofe diflempers 
 both of body and mind. 
 
 Thefe, and fuch like, arethe refult of the 
 wifdom and learning of thofe who were void 
 of all revelation. 
 
 I need not flay to fhew how ridiculous aTid 
 fenfelefs they are, and how much below, not 
 only revelation but, the ordinary reafon of a 
 man : Whereas the account our revealed reli^ 
 gion gives us of this, is plain and eaf^ ; it tells 
 us that when God had made our firft pa- 
 rents pure and unfpotted, they became cor- 
 rupt by their own wilful difobedience, in 
 tranfgrefTing a pofitive command given them 
 for their good ; that they were tempted to this 
 by the Devil, the great enemy of mankind, 
 
 who 
 
dor Senfe of religion more obfervabk^ 
 
 Serm. who for this very thing is called a murtherer 
 XVIII. from the beginning ; and in the fecond chapter 
 'of the book of wildom, it is faid, God created 
 man to be immortal^ and made him to be 
 an image of his own eternity ; neverihelefs, 
 through the envy of the Devil, death came 
 into the world. And that our firft parents 
 being thus corrupted, we derive the fame cor- 
 ruptions both of body and mind from them 
 by a courfe of nature. 
 
 III. 1 he gre..teft ^nd moft important en- 
 qu ry of all is, what remedy can be found for 
 this corruption of human nature j and what 
 means can be (^fFeftual enough to reftore man- 
 kind to the flate of perfe^^ion they were in at 
 firft ? 
 
 Now in order to this, natural reafon tells 
 us, that when a fault is committed againft 
 any one, there are two things neceflary in or- 
 der to a reconciliation ; there is firft fome 
 amends to be made for the injury ; and fecondly 
 a fecurity that they will not be guilty of the 
 fame again. And accordingly upon fuppoft- 
 tion that we are in a corrupt and finful ftate, 
 there are thefe two things to be done. 
 
 I ft. There is fome fatisfad:ion to be made 
 for the wilful corruption of our nature, and 
 our a<5tual fins. And that fome fatisfacftion 
 was to be made to the divine juftice, feemed 
 to be known even by an inftindt of nature; 
 becaufe that cuftom of facrificing prevailed fo 
 univerfally over the world, and in all ages. 
 
 This 
 
in the itiiMe and meaner rank of People, 61 
 
 This fliews they all imagined that fome a-SERM. 
 tonement was to be made ; and the way they XVI II. 
 took for this was that of offering hearts upon 
 their altafs j and thus, as they imagined, ap- 
 peafing the anger of the Gods with their 
 blood, by making them fuffer that death which 
 they acknowledged as due to themfelves for 
 their own offences. This was the true caufe 
 of their facrificing, and the very notion which 
 continued it, the principal part of all heathen 
 worfhip J and this fhews it to be the fenfe of 
 all mankind. And indeed it would be a very 
 hard thing to give a reafon, why a fatisfadlion 
 fhould be made to men for an offence, and 
 yet not to Godi If they fay God is more mer- 
 ciful than men ; then it is eafy to anfwer that 
 he is more juft too, and that there is a great 
 deal of mercy (hewn even in admitting of a 
 fatisfadtion. 
 
 Now thus far they were in the right, that 
 fome atonement was 'to be made, efpecially 
 jf we confider that in cafes of publick calami- 
 ties, and where whole cities and nations were 
 concerned, they offered even human facrifices; 
 and though this fhewed they imagined an ef- 
 fedual atonement was to be made by one of 
 their own kind, yet it was impoffible to recon- 
 cile this to the common notions of juflice; 
 why one man fhould fuffer for the fins of ano- 
 ther. But it was befides all the fenfe and rea- 
 fon of man to think as they did, that the 
 blood of a harmkfs innocent beaft, fhould 
 take any guilt off them, and make a fuffi- 
 
 cient 
 
62 Senfe of Religion more obfervabie, 
 
 Serm. eient atonement by dying in their ftead: So 
 XVTII. that as far as they dcfigned and underftood 
 their meaning, it was no other than unnatural 
 cruehy j and inftead of atoning for them, it 
 looked Hke adding one guilt to another. 
 
 But our revealed religion hath difcovered to 
 us the reafon of this j and now we fee plainly 
 what was the ground of that natural inftindt 
 which led all mankind to this way of wor- 
 fhip J and withall how no facrifices could be 
 of any force or efficacy, but with refpedt to 
 that great facrifice, which was to be made 
 for the fins of all mankind in the perfon of 
 Chrift. 
 
 We fee plainly, as the author to the He- 
 brews argues, that it is not poffible that the 
 blood of bulls, and of goats, (hould take away 
 Hn 5 there can be no reafon for it in nature : 
 Wherefore when he cometh into the world he 
 faith, Jacrifice and o^ering thou wouldft not, 
 but a body hafl thou p-epared me, (i. e.) God 
 will accept of none of thofe offerings as of a 
 real atonement for fin, but as they are figni- 
 ficativc of the death of Chrift 5 and therefore 
 a body haft thou prepared, (i. e.) therefore it is 
 the decree and purpofe of God, that Chrift 
 ihall come into the flefh, and by offering of 
 himfelf, fhall make fuch atonement as thofe 
 facrifices could not do. ^hen /aid /, lo I 
 come (in the volume of the book written of 
 me) to do thy will O God, (i. e.) therefore 
 according to that good purpofe of God, I come 
 into the world to ofTer fuch a facrifice as God 
 
 will 
 
in the middle and meaner rank of People. 63 
 
 will accept of. And thus revelation gives a cleaf S e r m J 
 folution of this firfl part of the difficulty i how XVII. 
 atonement fhall be made for the corruption^ 
 of our natures, and thofe fins which are al- 
 ready committed, (i. e.) by a fatisfadtion in the 
 perfon of Chrift, who was by the good pur- 
 pofe of God appointed to this very thing, and 
 who prepared himfelf fuch a facrifice for the 
 fms of men as he will accept of. 
 
 2d. Another thing to be done in order to 
 the recovery of our corrupt natures, is the 
 healing thefe infirmities and corruptions of 
 ours : But how this was to be done they were 
 wholly at a lofs j and had not the leafl notion 
 or glimpfe of any help for human nature. It 
 is true they generally thought that this reco- 
 very was to be efFeded by the practice of vir- 
 tue ; but how, or by what means or expe- 
 dients mankind fhould become fincerely vir- 
 tuous and good, who in their very natures were 
 evil and corrupt, never entered into their minds 
 to think of: Whereas upon iuppofition that 
 men are naturally addidted to vice and wicked- 
 nefs, and their wills fiom the very firft have a 
 propenfity to evil, which they all allowed j 
 then it is who ly out of their own power ever 
 to attain one virtue, or fo much as defire it : 
 For if the tendency of any thing be natural, 
 there is nothir.g in the nature of that thing to 
 alter it -, and it muft be fomething from with- 
 out which can give the mind a new biafs, 
 and incline it a quite con:iary way. Now, 
 though from a principle of leafon fome help 
 
 and 
 
04 Senfe ofReliglon mere ohfer'uable 
 
 Serm. and affiftance appears thus abfolutely necel^ 
 XVIII. fary, yet they never thoughjt of this j nor if 
 they had, could they have told what would 
 have been the efFec^. 
 
 But revelation hath opened the eyes of men, 
 fo that they now fee clearly that fome fuch 
 means is neceifary ; and .he true reafon of it 
 is, beqaufe we are conceived and born in fin^ 
 and of ourfelves have no one inclination in our 
 minds to goodnefs ; fo that we cannot fo much 
 as think a good thought. 
 
 And this means, as we are told in Scripture 
 is the ficret influence of the holy fpirit of 
 God upon OUT fouls, inclining our wills to 
 good, which are in themfelves free, and there- 
 fore can never be made virtuous and holy by 
 force or compulfion; the renewing of our iin- 
 ful corrupt natures, by Arengthning and af- 
 lifting our infirmities ; helping us to cohtra- 
 did:, and fupprefs, and extinguifli all our vi- 
 tious inclinations I giving us grace and ft rength 
 in proportion to our difficulties j and working 
 in us both to will and to do according to his 
 good pleafure : Infomuch that by the power 
 and efficacy of his concurrence, we perfeftly 
 conquer and beat down the ftrongeft and molt 
 violent tendencies both of body and mind : 
 And this affiftance, we learn, is purchafed for 
 us by the merits of that facrifice by which 
 we are reconciled to God, which otherwife 
 could never have been affiDrded us. 
 
 But perhaps it may be thought that the 
 Heathens, even in a ftate of nature, arrived to 
 
 great 
 
in the middle and meaner rank of People, 65 
 
 great degrees of fome virtues; it is true they Serm. 
 did, but not without fome degree of the divine -^^^^ I; 
 afliftance. It is not improbable, that they had 
 a fhare of this unfeen operation of the fpirit, 
 though they knevir nothing of it; as they will 
 partake of the merits and fatisfadion of Chrift, 
 though they never heard of him, if their lives 
 were fuitable to that natural fenfe of moral, 
 good, and evil : But I fliall defer the further 
 confideration of this fubjedt to the next oppor- 
 tunity. 
 
 Vol. II. F SERMON 
 
66 Senje of Religion more obfervable 
 
 SERMON XIX. 
 
 Senfe of Religion more obfervable in 
 the middle and meaner rank of 
 People. 
 
 Mat. XI. 25. 
 
 1 thank thee Father Lord of heaven and 
 earthy becaiife thoii haft hid thefe things from 
 the wife a fid prudeiit, and haft revealed them 
 unto babes, 
 
 Serm. T N a former difcourfe upon this text, after I 
 XIX. JJL had {hewn the occafion of it, and the force 
 of our Saviour's difcourfe, concerning John the 
 Baptift in this chapter^ and how he fhewed 
 the Jews adted in contradi6lion both to them- 
 felves and John the Baptift, in not receiving 
 himfelf for the Meffias. I told you my de- 
 lign from it was to remove one great preju- 
 dice, which feemed to lye fairly again ft the 
 chriftian religion ; namely, that it hath been 
 generally received by mean and illiterate fort 
 
 of 
 
/;/ the middle and meaner rank of "People, Cy 
 
 of people. And in order to this, the method Serm. 
 I laid down for my difcourfes on this text was, XIX. 
 
 1. To be a little more particular in ihew- '"''■^'^** 
 ing the truth of this faying of our blelled Sa- 
 viour's. 
 
 2. To confider the reafons of this, and 
 where the true caufe of it lies. 
 
 3. To fliew where the great wifdom of 
 God appears in ttiis manner of difpenfation* 
 
 4» And laftly to draw fome inferences from 
 the whole, and make fome application of it 
 to the two different forts of people mentioned 
 in my text. 
 
 As to the firft of thefe, 1 fhewed how the 
 Gofpel came particularly dired:ed and recom- 
 mended to the meaner fort of people ; and v 
 how it fpoke of the rich, and great, and wife 
 men of this world with much diffidence, as 
 if there were very little hopes of their conver- 
 fion and effedlual reformation. 
 
 As to the fecond, before I came to enquire 
 what were the true reafons of this, 1 was to 
 fhew, that it is not any want of reafonablencfs 
 in revealed religion that occafions the difefleem 
 of it in the opinion of the wife and great 
 men of the world, and makes it more eafily 
 entertained by the plainer part of mankind. 
 
 And in order to this, to (hew that chriil:ia- 
 nity is agreeable to the flridleft and moft re- 
 fined reafon of men ; the beft way I could 
 think of was to fuppofe our felves in a flate 
 of nature, the very condition the enemies ot 
 revelation are bringing us to as fafl as they can ; 
 F 2 and 
 
68 Sejife of Religion more obfewahle 
 
 and then to confider what things mankind 
 could wiih to be refolved in, and what are the 
 matters of greateft concernment to us, about 
 which we fhould be mofl inquifitive ? And to 
 compare the account we have of .them from 
 revelation, with thofe we have from the wifeft 
 heathens: And they are tbefe. 
 
 1. How we came to be,^ and what fort of 
 being we are, and what we were made for. 
 
 2. How mankind came to be corrupted, 
 and in this miferable condition of infirmity. 
 
 3. "What cure can be found for this corrup- 
 tion of our natures, and to reftore" us to our 
 health both of body and mind. 
 
 4. Whether there be another life after this. 
 
 5. What Ihall be the reward of virtue and 
 the punifhment of vice. 
 
 6. What fof t of government there is in the 
 univerfe. 
 
 As to the firft of thefe, I laid before you the 
 feveral folutions we have received of this mat- 
 ter from the wifeft men of the heathen world ; 
 and the feveral accounts they gave of the origin 
 of mankind : As likewife, that we have re- 
 ceived from the holy fcriptures y wherefore I 
 iliall now proceed to the 
 
 IV. The fourth queftion of greateft con- 
 cei nment to mankind, and a doubt which na- 
 turally arifes in the minds of all men is, whe- 
 ther there be another life after this ? To this 
 enquiry all m^en have been ever led, not by 
 nieer curiofity, as if it were matter of fpecu- 
 
 latioii 
 
in the viiddle and meaner rank of Per pie. 69 
 
 lation only; but as to a matter on which de-SEP.M. 
 pended their greateft and moll important in- XIX. 
 tcreft ; for all the heathen world have agreed, 
 that if there be another life after this, the alte- 
 ration muft be much for the better or the 
 worfe; and men muft needs be much more 
 miferabl-', or much more happy than they are 
 in their prefent ftatc : And yet they were 
 ftrangely divided in their opinions about it, 
 and could come to no fixt and fettled refolu- 
 tion of this queftion. Many of the Philofo- 
 phers held there was no life after this 3 the 
 epicureans were of opinion that there was a 
 difTolution of the whole man at his death, and 
 that he fhould never come into being again; 
 unlefs in the courfe of numberlefs ages, the 
 fcattered particles of his frame fhould be hud- 
 dled together ag^in, by fuch another lucky- 
 chance as united them at firft. Nay even of 
 thofe who allowed the creation of man by a 
 fuperior power, many thought they came into 
 the world to dye like beafts; and though they 
 were great admirers of virtue, yet for this rea- 
 fon they made it its own reward ; and ufed no 
 other motives to encourage men to be virtuous 
 than the innate excellency of virtue itfelf. 
 
 And of thofe who were inclined to believe 
 a future ftate, none of them allowed it for 
 the body ; they all unanimoufly agreed that, 
 this was never to live again j for it could never 
 enter into their heads, that any power fhould 
 be able to bring together again into one, the 
 fcattered duft of the body; and therefore they 
 F 3 allowed 
 
Senfe of Religion more ohfervahle, 
 allowed the foul only to be immortal : So that 
 this alone (hould partake of the happinefs or 
 mifery of another life. 
 
 This was the utmoft they could arrive to by 
 the light of nature, infomuch that none of 
 them ever fufpeded the refurreftion of the 
 body to another life. But our revealed reli- 
 gion hath brought the life and immortality of 
 the body as well as the foul to light j and 
 gives us this plain and full account of this great 
 and important queftion : Namely, that at the 
 end of the world there fhall be a general re fur- 
 region of all the bodies of men -, that the trump 
 of God fmll founds and that all that are in 
 their graves (hall hear the voice of the f on of 
 Gody and all fhall come forth, they that have 
 done good, unto the refurreSlion of life, and 
 they that have done evil unto the refurreBion of 
 damnation. And it was the profpe(fl of this 
 occafioned that faying of Job's, 1 know that 
 my redeemer liveth, and that he (hall (land at 
 the latter day upon the earth : And though worms 
 defiroy this body, yet in my jiefh fhall I fee God, 
 whom I fhall fee for my jelf and mine eyes fhall 
 behold and not another. 
 
 Nor d^o we learn by revelation only that 
 the bodies of men fhall rife, but that they 
 {hall undergo a great alteration, and receive a 
 great improvement, though it be fown in cor- 
 ruption, yet it fhall be raijed inincorriiption; it 
 is fown a natural body, but it fhall be raifed 
 a fpiritual one. So that this corruption (hall 
 put on incorruption-, and this mortal Jball put 
 
 on 
 
in the middle and meaner rank cj People. 7 1 
 
 On immortality. And again, that though ^//Serm. 
 men jhdH not d)e, yet all (hull be changed \ and XIX. 
 that this fliall be efFeded in the twinkling of ^■**^*'~*" 
 an eye, by the almighty power of God ; who 
 is as able to do all this, as he was to make us 
 at fiift ; and hath given fufficient proof of his 
 power in railing up our Saviour from the dead, 
 who is therefore called the refurredlion and fir jl 
 fruits of them that flept, 
 
 5. Another enquiry of the highefl concern- 
 ment to mankind is, what {hall be the re- 
 ward of virtue in another life, and the punish- 
 ment of vice , and what fliall be the different 
 ilate and condition of good and bad people 
 in another world. As to this they all allowed, 
 as it was very natural for them to do, that 
 there were different manfions for the fouls of 
 good and wicked people -, and accordingly they 
 called one by the name of Elyfium^ and the 
 other Tartarus^ placed as they imagined in the 
 confines of one another, both of them below; 
 fo that they imagined that the fouls of all 
 went downwards, and none went upwards to 
 heaven, but fuch as were admitted into the 
 number of their Gods. And they found out 
 fuch rewards and punifhments as were fitter 
 to make diverfion, than to be any real encou- 
 ragement to virtue, and to deter men from 
 vice. 
 
 As to the rewards, they never thought of 
 
 any beyond the fenfual pleafures of this hfe : 
 
 Every one was apt to fancy the happinefs of 
 
 anoiher world to be, whatever pleafed him 
 
 F 4 moft 
 
Senfe of Religion more ohfervable. 
 
 mofl in this life; fuch as pleafant meats, and 
 drinks, and women, and walks, and fpacious 
 gardens and palaces : And it was no wonder 
 that they could think of nothing better for 
 themfelves, when this was the only happinefs 
 they allowed their Gods. 
 
 And then as to the punifliments they found 
 out for the fouls of men in another world, 
 they were odd and ridiculous ; fuch as rolling 
 a great ftone from the bottom of a hill to the 
 top, which tumbling down again (hould per- 
 petually renew the labour ; the carrying water 
 in a fieve ; and that of Tantalus placed up to 
 the chin in water, and many the like witty 
 fancies. Thefe were the refult of all the wif- 
 dom of the Grecians and the Romans con- 
 cerning this matter; which were the mofl re- 
 fined and polifhed parts of the heathen world; 
 and therefore muft be fuppofed to have gone 
 as far in the knowledge of this important 
 queftion, as human reafon can reach ; and 
 therefore I omit the ridiculous notions of the 
 Americans and Mahometans, and other illite- 
 rate and barbarous parts of the world, concern- 
 ing the future conditions of men. 
 
 But the account revealed religion gives us of 
 the reward of men in another world is, that it 
 will not confift in the pleafures of fenfe, but is 
 fomething beyond all that we can think, or 
 fpeak, or enjoy at prefent, it is what eye hath 
 not ft en, nor ear heard; nor can it enter into 
 the heart of man to coficeive ijchat the pleafures 
 of another life are. And therefore we muft 
 
 have 
 
in the middle and meaner rank of People. y^ 
 
 have all the faculties of our fouls and bodiesSERM. 
 improved and enlarged before we can know XIX. 
 what they are, or (hall be able to enjoy them ; 
 but we are told that they will conlift in the 
 knowledge and love of God, and the bleft fo- 
 ciety of thofe glorious beings that attend liis 
 throne. 
 
 And on the contrary it reprefents the mi- 
 feries of the damned to us, by that of everlafi- 
 7?7g turnings in a lake of fire and [irim/ione, by 
 the worm that fi all iievcr dye; by v»^hich is 
 fignified the flings and remorfe of guilty ccn- 
 fcience, and by eternal feparation from the 
 prefence of God, which is the only fourcc and 
 fountain of happinefs and perfecflion. So that 
 eternal life fliall be given to all thofe who, by 
 continuance in well doing feek for glory and 
 honour J and immortality ; but indignation and 
 wrath ^ tribulation and anguifh upon every foul 
 of man that doth evil. 
 
 And as they knew nothing of the refurrec- 
 tion of the body, fo they never thought of a 
 general judgment of all the world at once, 
 which is every way necefl'ary for the mani- 
 feftation of the glory and juflice of God; yet 
 they never once fufpeded any thing of it, but 
 appointed feveral judges of hell, who were to 
 judge and try the fouls of men as they departed 
 out of this life ; and it is the Gofpel alone 
 which hath difcovered to us the great day of 
 the revelation of the rig;hteous judgment of 
 God ; that day wherein God hath appointed to 
 judge the world in righteoufnefs, and wherein 
 
 the 
 
74 Senfe of Religion fnore obfervahle 
 
 SERM.the fon of God fhall come in the clouds of 
 XIX. heavsn in power and great glory; that before 
 him {hall all nations be gathered ; that his an- 
 gels (hall feparate the good from the bad ; and 
 Laftly that he fhall acquit the righteous, and 
 pronounce an irreverfible fentence of eternal 
 condemnation upon the wicked. 
 
 6. The laft great enquiry 1 fhall now men- 
 tion, which is of greateft concernment for 
 mankind to be refolved in is, what fort of go- 
 vernment there is in the univerfe; nothing is 
 more neceffary to quiet the minds of men ; and 
 without fome fatisfadion in this, they are left 
 in endlefs uncertainty and diftradion ; and yet 
 how far were the wifeft Heathens from giving 
 any fatisfadory account of this. The Epicu- 
 reans attributed all to chance, and allowed no 
 intelligent being at all to be concerned in the 
 government of the univerfe -, and therefore his 
 Gods were faid to be placed in the void fpaces 
 between his worlds, as being wholly ufelefs in 
 them. 
 
 The floicks attributed the whole feries of 
 all events to fome ftrange fatal necefliiy, 
 though they could not tell where it took its 
 rife, nor what it was that made this neceffity. 
 The want of fome reafonable account of this 
 great queftion was that which made them mul- 
 tiply their Deities ; fo that they had a God for 
 every element, for every country and city, nay 
 for every difeafe and misfortune. And all the 
 heathen world were fo much in the dark, 
 concerning this matter, that it was ordinary 
 
 for 
 
in the middle and meaner rank of People. 75 
 
 for them to fet up one Deity in oppofition toSERM. 
 another, to make them clafh and quarrel, XIX. 
 and difpute one another's dominion after the '— ~»~*- 
 manner of petty Princes among men. 
 
 But it is revealed rehgion alone that hath 
 clearly difcovered to us the fovereignty of one 
 abfolute univerfal power, wholly independant 
 of all other, and fole manager and dii'pofer of 
 all things, who is infinite in power, and wif- 
 dom, and goodnefs; who created, preferves, 
 and governs all things j who is the fountain of 
 all perfedion, and from whom alone every 
 good and perfed: gift cometh ; whofe king- 
 dom ruleth over all, whofe mercy is over all 
 his works, and who governs all things both 
 in heaven and earth : and we are told that his 
 providence is fo particularly and immediately 
 concerned in the management of the affairs 
 of this world, that a fp arrow cannot fall to the 
 ground without him j and that the very hairs of 
 our heads are numbred : Therefore he is repre- 
 fented to us as omniprcfent and filling heaven 
 and earth; a defcription of which David gives 
 us in the 139th Pfalm, in a ftrain of eloquence 
 beyond any thing that ever entered into the 
 head or heart of a heathen. 
 
 Such knowledge is too 'wonderful for me^ I 
 cannot attain unto it j whither then fJjall 1 go 
 from thy fpirity and whither flail I go then 
 jrom thy prefence ? If I climb up into heaven 
 thou art there \ ij I go down into bell thou art 
 there alfo ; if I take the wings of the morning 
 and remain in the uttermojl parts of the fca^ 
 
 even 
 
SeJife of religion more objervabie, 
 
 even there alfo thy hand Jhall lead me and thy 
 right hand Jld all hold me : If I fay the darknefs 
 ^fjall cover me^ thenPoallmy night be turned into 
 da\\ for the darknefs and light to thee are both 
 alike. 
 
 Having thus laid before ycu the accounts 
 from revealed religion of thefe important ques- 
 tions, together with the heft folutions we have 
 of them from the wifefl of thofe men, who 
 were void of all revelation, I fhall at prefent 
 only make two or three inferences from what 
 hath been faid. 
 
 I. And the firft thing I (hall obferveto you 
 from hence is, the great improvement revealed 
 religion is in point of knowledge, and what 
 light it gives us into matters of pure fpecula- 
 tion ; not to fay any thing now of thofe prac- 
 tical points which are direftly confequent to 
 them : So that it hath given us a clear and 
 open view of things, in which the wifeft of 
 men without it had no notion at all, or at leaft 
 but very rude and imperfed; gueffcs ; they 
 knew thofe were the things which ought ro 
 take up their thought?, and that there is no 
 concernment in this world of fuchconfequence 
 as the being refolved in them ; they were fen- 
 fible they had not this knowledge in them- 
 felves, and yet they knew not where to look 
 for it, and therefore were forced to take up 
 with thofe odd inventions and extravagant 
 fancies which they made a fhift with inftead 
 of the truth. 
 
 But 
 
;;; the middle and meaner rank of People, yy 
 
 But revelation luuh given us fuch a refoIu-SERM. 
 tion of thefe important quePiions as any rea- XIX. 
 fonable man may acquielce in, fo as to look 
 no farther, but reft fatisfied in the account we 
 have of thele points, which are the very things 
 that are faid to be hid from the wife and pru"' 
 dent^ and revealed unto Babes. 
 
 Thefe matters which lay {o far out of the 
 reach of the greateft Philosophers, and puzled 
 all the learning and wifdom of the heathen 
 world, are now brought down to the capaci- 
 ties of all men. In thofe days, (fpeaking of 
 the times of the Gofpelj faith the Lord, / %vill 
 put my laws into their mind and write them in 
 their hearts^ and they JJjall not teach eve. y man 
 his neighbour and every man his brother ^ for 
 they Pmll all know me from the greatejl even to 
 the leafly which is fo literally verified, that by 
 the light of the Gofpel all thefe important 
 truths are made fo plain that they are become 
 obvious and eafy to the common fenfe and rea- 
 fon of men ; fo that a mean illiterate perfon 
 knows more of thefe things, and hath a larger 
 profped: and clearer infight into them, than 
 the greateft wits and moft learned men of the 
 heathen world. 
 
 As far as they are necefTary for us we 
 know nothing better, and now they are dif- 
 covered to us we know they are true, for 
 truth always carries along with it an evidence 
 to diftinguifti it from error, and fuch infalli- 
 ble marks of its divinity, that men always 
 
 know 
 
78 SiTife of Retigion more obfervable, 
 
 Serm. know it to be fo when ever they light upon 
 XIX. it J fo that we need not now complain for 
 want of neceflary knowledge of thefe matters, 
 and fay, who p:all go up Jor us into heaven 
 and bring it down to us^ jor the word is nigh 
 unto thee in thy mouth and thy hearty that thou 
 mightejl know them ; we require no new reve- 
 lation for them, nor exad: elaborate fkill in 
 arts and fciencesi they are made plain and in- 
 telligible to every capacity, and fall in foeafily 
 with the innate fenfe of mens minds that they 
 feem to be born with them, and nothing but 
 prejudice and wilful clofing of their eyes can 
 hinder men from feeing them. 
 
 2. I fhall obferve to you from hence the 
 tendency that revealed religion only hath to 
 procure peace and tranquillity to the minds of 
 men : If thefe things were matters of fpecu- 
 lation only, the want of a competent know- 
 ledge in them need not give us any great dif- 
 turbance ; but when our life is in them, and the 
 welfare of body and foul both now and forever 
 depends upon them, then nothing can make 
 us eafy and fatisfied but what gives us a rea- 
 fonable account of thefe things ; and yet where 
 is it out of revelation that this is to be had ? 
 What religion in the world can give any rea- 
 lonable account of any one of thefe fix points? 
 Whereas the Gofpel gives us full fatisfadiion 
 in them all, fo as to convince the reafon of 
 any unprejudiced man, that he may now 
 come to a refolution with himfclf and know 
 
 in 
 
in tki mi dale and meaner rank of People. 79 
 
 in what to acquiefce : This fhews him a folidS e r m. 
 foundation for his hopes and fears, fo as that ^IX. 
 he is not carried to and fro with delufion and 
 the fuggeftions of his own or other peoples 
 imaginations. 
 
 So that we have now fuch a religion as all 
 good and conlidering men would bewail the 
 w^ant of if they were without it, and there is 
 nothing they would make fuch (Iridt enquiry 
 after; and when a man had let his thoughts 
 range and wander as far as poflibly they could, 
 the refult of all his wifhes would be, that 
 fome kind fuperior being would reveal to him 
 juft fuch a religion as this is, which (hould 
 enlighten his mind, and give him a reafonable 
 fatisfadtory anfwer to all thofe important quel- 
 tions, upon the knowledge of which the eter- 
 nal well-being of mankind depended, and dif- 
 cover thofe truths which alone are anfwerable 
 to all the flraits and exigencies, all the wifhes 
 and defires of human nature. 
 
 Man is born to trouble as the fparks fly 
 upwards; the condition of our nature is fuch 
 that our minds are full cf ignorance and er- 
 ror, and efpecially in thofe things which con- 
 cern us molt ; we are furroundcd with weak- 
 neffes and infirmities of body ; we are fubjed: 
 to many evils and calamities both within and 
 without; and all thefe miferies follow our 
 being by the fame natural neceflity that the 
 fparks fly upwards : So that of ourfelves, and 
 in a fl:ate of nature, we are the mofl: helplefs 
 
 creatures 
 
8o Senfe of Religion more ohferoabk 
 
 Serm. creatures in the world, and without revelation 
 XIX. man had neither known the utmoft of his mi- 
 fery, from whence it came, nor how to re- 
 move it ; whereas the Gofpel hath, done all 
 this for us, and is calculated to give us help 
 and comfort under all thefe diftradions of the 
 mind and miferies that attend the body. 
 
 While men are in health and profperity 
 they may feem to have no full convi(ftion of 
 the truth of thefe relations, but when they 
 come to be under any great troubles or diftrac- 
 tions of mind, or groan under the anguifli of 
 bodily pains, and all the comforts of this world 
 forfake them, then they feel the truth of this, 
 how there is no other flay or confidence for 
 mortal man to rely upon but what revelation 
 affords us ; nothing that can quiet his mind 
 and give it perfect repofe in the midfl of all 
 the uncertainties and misfortunes that attend 
 our prefent fcate ; and therefore it is when dif- 
 eafes and afflidions bear hard upon men who 
 have not placed their confidence in thefe truths, 
 they are neceffarily void of all relief and com- 
 fort, having quitted thefe there is no other 
 foundation to build their hopes upon ; thefe 
 are the only fecurity upon which a man can 
 venture foul and body for ever ; and finding 
 nothing in this world befides that can give 
 them any hopes, they commonly go out of 
 the world in fullennefs and flupidity, which 
 pafTes with men of the fame flrain for refolu- 
 lion and greatn'efs of mind. 
 
 But 
 
in the middle and meaner rank of People. 8 1 
 
 But the truths of revelation ftick by a man S e r m 
 to the laft, they do not forfake him in diftrefs, XIX, 
 but are always at hand when he hatli moft 
 need of them j they do not vanifli by degrees 
 and fteal away from us, but clear up when 
 wc are leaving the world. So th?t under the 
 foreft tryals that man can undergo, wc can 
 polTefs our fouls in patience, and rejoyce in 
 hopes of the glory of God ; and even under 
 the pangs of death, we can look up and de- 
 Kght ourfelves with that ravifhing profped: of 
 future happinefs, which all wife men of this 
 world are blind to. So that I fay, if a man 
 were to lit down and confider what it is he 
 would defire or expect from a religion, and 
 were left to chufe one for himfelf, after he 
 had racked his invention and called up all th6 
 doubts and anxieties that vex and difquiet hu- 
 man nature, he would at laft clofe with this 
 we have, as that alone which is able to re- 
 move them all, and give full fatisfadion and 
 reft to his foul. 
 
 3. The laft thing I fhall obferve from 
 hence is, the unreafonable folly of thofe men 
 who infift altogether upon natural religion in 
 oppofition to revelation ; it is not only wicked 
 and impious towards God, but it is cruel and 
 malicious towards men, becaufe they do what 
 they can to deprive mankind of thofe revealed 
 truths by which alone a wife and confiderate 
 man would willingly ftandorfall; they take 
 away the only help and remedv there is for 
 
 Vol. II. G ' the 
 
Senfe of Religion more ohfeycahle* 
 the ignorance and infirmities of mankind, and 
 leave the world wholly deftitute of any refo- 
 lution of thofe great queftions, which are the 
 neareft concernments of us allj they endea- 
 vour to deftroy and banifh out of the world 
 that revelation, which is the only means left 
 us of information in thofe things, without 
 w^hich we are in endlefs confufion and uncer- 
 tainty. 
 
 In this miferable condition of ignorance and 
 infirmity that we are now in, take away reve- 
 lation, and then tell us whither we {hall fly 
 for the heahng of our natures? For redrefs of 
 all our grievances, for relief in all our miferies, 
 and comfort in all our afflidtions ? Where is 
 it that we can find true confolation in the 
 worft of circumftances, and what can fupport 
 the finking and defpondencies of a' perplext 
 and troubled foul ? And in a word, what is 
 there befides revelation can convince us that 
 we are not born to be miferable for ever ? 
 
 What therefore can be more injurious to the 
 whole race of men, than to deprive them of 
 that light which fhews them what they were, 
 what they now are, and what they rtiall be 
 hereafter J which furnifhes mankind with a 
 remedy for all the evils of his nature; fup- 
 plies all his defeds; anfwers all his doubts; 
 (hews him where to place h:s afl^edions, what 
 to (liun and avoid, and what to afpire to? 
 And without which all mankind were left in 
 it moft defperate and deplorable condition. 
 
 The 
 
in the middle and meaner rank of People. 8^ 
 
 The knowledge of thefe truths fo clearly Serm. 
 revealed to us in the Gofpel, is fo neceffary XIX. 
 for the eafe, and comfort, and fatlsfadlion of *'"'^''*^ 
 all men, and fo conducive to the common 
 good and welfare of all mankind, that a wife 
 man would grieve to part with them ; and 
 would be heartily forry they fhould be falfe, 
 becaufe he is fure no other account of them ia 
 this world can be true : And that we have 
 fomc account of them is abfolutely neceffary 
 both for our comfort here, and happinefs here- 
 after ; and therefore herein they are utterly in- 
 excufable, becaufe they would take away thefe 
 accounts we have, and fubftitute no other ia 
 their room. 
 
 For them to tell us we need no fatisfadtion, 
 when we find ourfelves grievous offenders, and 
 have fuch a load of guilt upon us, is to leave 
 us over head and ears in debt without a pofll- 
 bility of difcharging it ; and to tell us that wc 
 want no grace or fpiritual affiftance, is to leave 
 our whole nature in a fick languifhing condi- 
 tion without any cure or help, upon this 
 groundlefs prefumption, that nature is able to 
 work off the difeafe of itfelf : And laftly, to 
 tell us that we want no information of thefe 
 great truths from revelation, is to contradid: 
 the experience of the whole heathen world 
 before they had any. 
 
 And therefore it is but a reafonable requeft 
 
 to thefe men, that they would lay down fomc 
 
 other principles or fcheme of reafon that fliall 
 
 anfwer all thefe ends, and give more fatisfac- 
 
 G 2 tion 
 
84 Sen/e of Religion more obfervable 
 
 Se rm. tion in all thefe points, and bid fairer for the 
 XIX. belief and acceptance of any reafonable man ; 
 'nay that they themfelves would rather truft to 
 and confide in : When they do this, we will 
 quit all revelation and go over to them ; but 
 till then let them leave us in the quiet poffef- 
 fjon of what we have already. But we are 
 very fure the world cannot afford any other 
 reafonable or probable hypothefis, which fhall 
 carry us through all thefe doubts and' difficul- 
 t-ies, and not leave a juft fcruple in any thing 
 wherein our eternal well-being is concerned. 
 Alas ! what is there in nature that can reftore 
 us, what remedy can be found of force and 
 efficacy enough to heal all the wounds of our 
 bruifed nature, and reftore fuch mifcreants to 
 the favour of God j if there be, let them fhew 
 it us^ if not, why will they difown the ne- 
 ceffity of fupernatural means procured for uSj 
 and applycd by the Lord Jefus Chrift the great 
 phyfician of our fouls. 
 
 Have we not a great deal of reafon to com- 
 plain of thefe men, for thus ftriking at that 
 foundation which is the only one human na- 
 ture hath to build upon, and depriving us of 
 that revelat'on from whence we have all that 
 information which a reafonable man can truft 
 to? Let them rob us of all worldly fubftance, 
 fo as to leave us deftitute and naked ; nay, let 
 them have life and all, and our chriftianity 
 teaches us to forgive them : But let them not 
 take away our faith, and our hope, and ftrip 
 us of all thofe facred truths which alone can 
 
 fill 
 
in the mi Me and meaner rank of People, 85 
 
 fill the mind with folid joy and comfort, andSERM. 
 overcome all anxiety and trouble j and fix all^ ^^' 
 the paflions of our fouls upon the greateft 
 and moft fubftantial good fo firmly, that all 
 the powers of hell and death cannot fhake us. 
 Thele things which they thus defpife we ac- 
 knowledge to be the depths of the wifdom of 
 God } and therefore we blefs his holy name, 
 who by the revelation of thefe truths to us, 
 hath begotten us to a lively hope ; and may 
 we all have grace to fhew forth his praife who 
 hath thus called us out of darknefs into his 
 marvellous light. 
 
 SERMON 
 
S6 ^^n]e of Religion more obfervabJe 
 
 S E R M O N XX. 
 
 Senfe of Religion more obfervable in 
 the middle and meaner rank of 
 People. 
 
 Mat. xi. 25. 
 
 1 thank tbee O Father Lord of heaven and 
 earthy becauje thou haft hid thefe things from 
 the wife and prudent^ and bajl revealed them 
 unto babes, 
 
 AN D thus I hope it hath fufficiently 
 appeared, that it is not any want of 
 reafonablenefs in revealed religion, that is the 
 true caufe of its being not received fo heartily 
 and readily by the wife and prudent men of 
 this world ; fince all the wifdom of the whole 
 world befides, is not able tQ fupply us with 
 any fatisfadory account of thole great quef- 
 tions, upon which depends the welfare of 
 mankind. 
 
 This 
 
271 the middle and meajier rank of People. 87 
 
 This is fuch a clear and unconquerable evi-5 v. km. 
 dence for the divinity and excellency of chri- XX. 
 flianity, that one would think cv^ry confi- 
 dering perfon would embrace it greedily, and 
 entertain it as the greateft bleffing that ever 
 was vouchfafed to human nature. So that the 
 caufe of infidelity is not in the religion, but in 
 the men; and this faying of our Saviour's in 
 my text, is not to be underftood as if the 
 Gofpel were not calculated for the pureft: and 
 moft refined reafon of men ; and as if parts 
 and learning were in themfelves enemies to 
 it, and rendered men indifpofed for the recep- 
 tion of it. The cafe is fo much otherwile, 
 that this very thing will one day be an ar- 
 gument of endlefs confufion to all the ivi/e 
 and prudent men of the world, that they re- 
 jecfted thofe truths which were infinitely more 
 agreeable to the purefl reafon, than thofe er- 
 rors which they are zealous for j and which 
 they would furely have entertained, if there 
 were no temptation to the contrary, they are 
 all the wifdom of God, and that muft be 
 agreeable to the trueft wifdom of men. 
 
 And therefore now it is plain how God is 
 faid to hide thefe things from the wije and 
 prudent^ not as if he had ordained them pur- 
 pofely for ignorance and error, with defi^n to 
 impofe upon the credulity of men, as if" the 
 Gofpel were in truth a net to catch none but 
 unwary and unthinking men, and could gain 
 upon none but fuch as will be cheated into fal- 
 vation : But becaufe he hath made the nature 
 
 G 4 of 
 
Senfe of Religion more obfervaMe 
 of this light of the Gofpel fuch,.that men can- 
 XX. not fee it through their prejudices. He hath 
 'ordered the matter fo, that the plaineft reafon, 
 and common underftanding of men {hall dif- 
 cern it eafily, when the greateft fophiftry and 
 moft intricate methods of human art or fcience 
 {liall mifs it. So that the excellency of thefe 
 truths fliall appear in their juft proportion 
 to the naked eye, when all thofe elaborate 
 opticks which men of a longer reach and larger 
 profped: make ufe of, fliall fadly mifreprefent 
 and disfigure them : For which reafon he de- 
 clares that he fpoke to the Jews in parables, 
 that feeing they might not Jee, and that hearing 
 they might not underfiand: Not as if it were 
 the defire of God it {hould be fo, purfuant to 
 any eternal decree oi* purpofe of his to rejed: 
 them ; for he would have all men be faved 
 and come to the knowledge of the truth: But 
 becaufe he would deliver the truths of the 
 Gofpel after fuch a manner, that an honeft un- 
 prejudiced mind fliould fee them ; when un- 
 fmcerity and perverlenefs fhould be as a thick 
 cloud over the eyes of men ; for to what pur- 
 pofe fliould they fee that light of the Gofpel, 
 whofe vitious inclinations are fo ftrong that 
 they will furely lead their lives in contradic- 
 tion to it. So that the meaning of our Saviour 
 is this, 1 thank thee O Father, Lord of heaven 
 and earth, becaufe thou haft ordered thefe divine 
 revelations after fuch a manner, that a plain, 
 hone 11, well meaning perfon is better difpofedfor 
 the reception oj thtm^ than the great, and wife, 
 
 and 
 
'in the middle and meaner rank of People. S9 
 
 and cunning -men of the world: So that it isSerm. 
 not the imperfedion, but the excellence of ^^• 
 chriftianity is the occafion of this ; and it is ' 
 not any want of power in men to fee this, 
 but their prejudices that will damn them. 
 
 And therefore now I (hall proceed to (hew 
 what thofe prejudices are, and what are the 
 true reafons of this faying of our Saviour's. 
 And accordingly, 
 
 I. The firft reafon why the wife and pru- 
 dent men of this world are blind to the tiuths 
 of revelation is, becaufe of that haughtinefs 
 and vanity of fpirit which goes along with all 
 worldly knowledge ; there is a pride that is 
 almoft infeparable from it, which makes peo- 
 ple pofitive, and fo to abound in their own 
 fenfe of things, that they difdain every thing 
 that is not agreeable to thofe principles they 
 have once entertained ; this we derived from 
 the old Serpent, and had it in exchange for 
 our innocence. 
 
 This is the very root and firft caufe of error 
 in the minds of all thofe who are otherwife 
 of good fenfe and underftanding ; men of 
 fuch quick parts and {harpnefs, that there is 
 no impofing upon them in a matter of their 
 private worldly concerns ; yet when they think 
 or fpeak any thing with relation to another 
 world, and to thofe matters which are the great, 
 and common, and eternal interefl of mankind; 
 they reafon fo loofely and incoherently, and 
 make fuch wide and foolifh inferences, as if 
 
 they 
 
Senfe of Religion more obfervahle 
 
 they were void of the ordinary underftanding 
 of men. 
 
 But the bottom of this is the pride of mens 
 hearts, and the true caufe of all that oppofition 
 given to revealed religion, is the great opinion 
 they have of their ovvrn ftock of knowledge : 
 So that in truth all that contend for natural re- 
 ligion, and oppofe reafon to revelation, do 
 plainly fet up the wifdom of men in con tra- 
 dition to the wifdom of God j it is as if they 
 would not be beholden to him for a religion, 
 and would have one of their own or none 
 at all. 
 
 But the great blindnefs of thefe men is dif- 
 cernible in nothing more than in this, that 
 they fet up revelation in oppofition to itfelf, 
 and do not know that they do fo ; they oppofe 
 it with its own weapons, and fet up one part 
 of it againft another : For what they call na-^ 
 /«r^/ religion, is in truth revealed. They think 
 that the knowledge they have now of thefe fix 
 points, which are the great concernments of 
 mankind, is from reafon-, whereas I have (hewn 
 that not one of them is fo, and that we muft 
 have had them from revelation or not at all : 
 Nor without revelation could they have that 
 clear notion of all thofe practical duties which 
 are confequent to them ; and yet reafon muft 
 be all in every thing with them, when it is 
 plain it cannot give us a fatisfa(5tory account 
 of any one of thofe great truths, upon which, 
 by their own confeffion, the well-being of all 
 mankind depends for ever : So that they had 
 
 as 
 
in the middle and meaner rank of People. 91 
 
 as good fay they fee with their eyes, and not Serm. 
 by the Hght of the fun. But they would ra- XX. 
 ther be beholden to any thing for this know- 
 ledge than the Gofpel ; and they will not own 
 that benefit and improvement of knowledge 
 they have received from it, though it is plain 
 they could come by it no other way. They 
 fufpedl every thing that is not immediately 
 from themfelves ; and they doubt the truth of 
 all revealed truths, becaufe they find them not 
 within them ; but have a ftrange and prepos- 
 terous jealoufy that God himfelf may delude 
 them. And thus, as the fon of Syrach fays, 
 many are deceived by their own vain opinion^ 
 and an evil fufpicion hath overtbroivn their 
 judgments. 
 
 And thus we fee how the wifdom and pru- 
 dence of this world blinds the underftandings 
 of men, fo that they cannot difcern the excel- 
 lency of the myfteries of chriftianity, and the 
 neceflity of them in order to the falvation of 
 our fouls. Thefe notions of their own do fo 
 polTefs the heads and imaginations of men, 
 that they find it very difficult to part with 
 them, and be reconciled to any thing elfe. 
 
 The plaineft reafon of men is always the 
 pureft ; and as far as men fearch by ftrength 
 of reafon alone into the depth of things, re- 
 lating to another world, fo far they flray from 
 the truth j and when we come to another 
 world, we (hall find that moft of that learning 
 and knowledge which men are proud of here, 
 
 was 
 
Senfe of religion more obfervabk 
 
 was no other than dreams of their imagination, 
 and cobwebs fpun out of their own brain. 
 
 2. Becaufe of the oppdfition between the 
 things of this world and the things of another, 
 about v/hich the underftandings of men are 
 employed ; the nature of them is very different, 
 fo that men cannot be equally intent upon 
 them both : For the mind of man is not made 
 to look two ways at once any more than his 
 eyes. So that he can no more let his thoughts 
 dwell both upon the things of this world and 
 another, than he can look upwards and down- 
 wards at the fame time. And therefore, when 
 the thoughts and inclinations of men are taken 
 up with the things of this life, and full of the 
 knowledge of the world, there is a fort of na* 
 tural neceffity there fhould be a negled: and 
 contempt of all fpiritual matters. 
 
 For we muft confider, that the knowledge 
 of the dodlrines of religion is a habit, as well 
 as the practice of any of its precepts j and there- 
 fore when men will not accuftom themfelves 
 to the thinking much of religious matters, and 
 that the whole current of their thoughts doth 
 run another way, it is no wonder they are in- . 
 difpofed for the things of another life, which 
 are to be fpiritually difcerned j by which is not 
 meant that any immediate infufion of the 
 ipirit is required in order to this, but that it is 
 neceflary that men fet their minds that way, 
 by taking them ofFthe eager purfuit of worldly 
 knowledge j by diverting their reafon and their 
 imaginations from being fixt and intent upon 
 
 worldly 
 
in the middie and meaner rank of 'People. 93 
 
 worldly wifdom and knowledge, that theySERM. 
 may be imployed on fpiritual matters ; for X^- 
 otherwife they can never have a true know- ^^-^^^ 
 ledge of them, or be rightly affeded with 
 them. So that we need not wonder that peo- 
 ple of ready parts and good underftandings in 
 othef things, are fliamefully ignorant in divine 
 matters : It is for the fame reafon that they 
 are ignorant of any other art or fcience that 
 they do not give their minds to. Men are now 
 as little to expedl fudden infpiration in the 
 necefiary knowledge of religion, as in the bu- 
 finefs of their trade or calling j they are to 
 look for nothing more than the ordinary grace 
 of God upon their endeavours. 
 
 The knowledge and pradice of religion re- 
 quires thinking and obfervation, and that their 
 reafon and underftanding be imployed about 
 them with diligence and vigour: So that hea- 
 ven is to be got as men get riches and v/orldly 
 policy ; they muft make it their bufinefs, and 
 fet their minds to the work, and refolve to ac- 
 quire thefe by the fame methods they do any 
 other habit : And this they muft do with the 
 utmoft ftrengrh and refolution of their fouls ; 
 for as I obferved before, the prevailing bent of 
 our minds can be but one way at once. 
 
 3. Another reafon of this faying of our Sa- 
 viour's, as it refpcdls the rich and great men of 
 this world is, becaufe of the great force that 
 the riches and fplendor of this world have to 
 blind mens eyes, and gain upon their affec- 
 tions. 
 
Senfe of Religion more obfervabk 
 
 tions. Both the rich and poor, the mean and 
 great, have many and ftrong temptations ; and 
 at firft thought, one would imagine thofe of 
 poverty, and a low condition in the world, to 
 be the ftrongeft, and overcome with greateft 
 difficulty; and indeed they are fo in them- 
 felves. But that which makes the difference 
 between thefe two conditions, in refpe<ft of 
 their difpofition for the practice of virtue and 
 holinefs, is the different nature of thofe temp- 
 tations which are incident to profperity and 
 adverfity : For though we fhould allow the 
 temptation of want and mifery to be the 
 ftronger, yet thofe of wealth and profperity 
 are the more treacherous and fubtiler, much 
 more apt to gain upon us and have the advan- 
 tage of the other feveral ways. 
 
 I, The temptations incident to a low con- 
 dition come upon men with open force and 
 commonly rufh in all at once, and their greateft 
 violence is felt at firft onfet. Now this awa- 
 kens mens minds, and calls up all the powers 
 of their fouls ; and if they have any fpiritual 
 ftrength kft they exert it vigoroufly ; they are 
 always upon their guard, and dilcern plainly 
 every ftep the temptation gains upon them. 
 But the allurements of a profperous ftate infi- 
 nuate themfelves infenfibly; they lay all our 
 faculties afleep, and fteal in upon us before wc 
 are aware. We take them at firft for friends 
 and give them admittance; and we do not fee 
 our miftake till they have us in bonds and 
 
 fetters. 
 
in the middle and meaner rank of People, g^ 
 
 fetters, and fuch as we are not willing to beSERM. 
 freed from. Fear and terror, pain and mifery, XX. 
 do indeed ruffle and difcompofe the fpirits of* 
 men, but they do not leave that deep impref- 
 fion upon the confcience; for we are apt to 
 refift and flruggle with them to the laft : But 
 the allurements of eafeand pleafure gain upon 
 us by thof'e inclinations that are moft intimate 
 to our nature, and make their way through 
 our hearts -, which difference of the tempta- 
 tions that affault us in our way to heaven, is 
 well reprefented in the fable, by the conteft 
 between the fun and the wind, which fliould 
 have the greateft force and influence upon the 
 traveller; the gradual heat and warmth of the 
 fun brought to pafs cffedlually, what the ruder 
 violence of the wind could not effedt. And 
 thus it is with the funfhine of profperity, it 
 diffolves all the powers of our fouls, it ener- 
 vates and breaks the ftrength of all our refo- 
 lutions, and too commonly leaves us no- 
 thing but faint and languifhing defires of vir- 
 tue and goodnefs, juft enough to keep us 
 in a good opinion of it, but not to influence 
 us ftrongly to the practice of it. 
 
 2. Another great difadvantage of a wealthy 
 and profperous flate is, that it fupplies all the 
 finful inclinations of our natures with obje<5ts 
 to gratify them; want of opportunity hath 
 kept thoufands in innocence, which from 
 thence hath been improved into folid virtue 
 and holinefs. But riches and honours fupply 
 
 men 
 
5li6- Benfe of Religion more obfervable 
 
 Serm. men with fewel for all their lufts; they lay 
 
 ^■^- ^ before us all the allurements of this world, and 
 ply all our vitious inclinations inceffantly, and 
 give us opportunities for indulging them all ; 
 they befet us round with temptations, and 
 ftraw gins and traps in our way ; fo that we 
 meet them at every turn, and it is impoflible 
 for man with his ordinary flrength to be fo 
 perpetually on his guard, as to contradid: and' 
 overcome them all. 
 
 3. Another thing which makes the charms 
 of eafe and plenty fo unconquerable, is the ten- 
 dency they have to gain upon our affedtions. 
 We have a natural abhorrence ofthofe things 
 which are any way the occafion of pain or 
 grief to us, and it iseafy to fet ourfelves againlt 
 them when they would draw us into fin : But 
 when temptations are agreeable to the inward 
 inchnations of body and mind, and aie apt to 
 engage all our affedlions, and take faft hold of 
 all our paffions, it is very hard to (hake them 
 oif; they cling about us and kill us with a pre- 
 pofterous fondnefs 5 they blind our underftand- 
 ingsand deprave our judgments, fo as to carry 
 our reafon along with them into all manner 
 of fin : And when once they have brought us 
 into a love of the world, (which they feldom' 
 fail .to do) then the love of God and religion 
 is not in us, (i. e.) they tak^ away all juft re- 
 gard to the fervice of God and the preferva- 
 tion of a good confcience : This is the reafon 
 of our Saviour's faying that it is bard for a 
 rich man to enter into the kingdom of heaven^ 
 
 (i. e) 
 
In the middle and meaner rank of Peopk, 97 
 
 (i, e.) as he himfelf explains it for them thatSERM. 
 truft in riches J but this makes it a little eafier XX. 
 only in appearance, becaufe it is hard for them 
 not to truft in their riches : It is the moft un- 
 likely thing in the world, that a rich man 
 fhould not in a great degree place his confi- 
 dence in his riches, and reft upon them ; and 
 it is very hard for him to conquer or avoid 
 thofe temptations which they neceffarily bring 
 upon him -, it is very rare they do not fet their 
 hearts upon them, for where their treafure is 
 there wtll their hearts be alfo : Therefore we 
 are often warned in fcripture againft this love 
 of the world, and bid to fet our hearts on things 
 above, and not to be conformable to this 
 world J but that we (hould be transformed in 
 the renewing of our minds. 
 
 4. The laft thing which renders the temp- 
 tations of a wealthy and profperous condition 
 fo dangerous, beyond that of a lower rank, is 
 the tendency it hath to make men thoughtlefs 
 of another world, Necellity and want, and 
 all manner of afflictions are apt to make men 
 think and refledl ; they wean them from all 
 the pleafures of this life, and put them upon 
 thinking of another -world ; but plenty and 
 eafe make people carelefs and negligent j they 
 divert all thoughts of death and judgment, and 
 of that endlefs ftate of happinefs or mifery that 
 is to follow them. In troubles and afflidions 
 all men are apt to call upon God, and apply 
 themfelves for mercy and afliftancej but in 
 their profperity they forget him, and them- 
 VoL. II. H felves 
 
g8 Seiife of Religien more ohfervable 
 
 Serm. felves too; as it is reprefented by our Sa- 
 XX. viour in the cafe of the rich man in the Gof- 
 pel, whoie thoughts were all taken up in the 
 management of his ftores, that he had no lei- 
 fure to confider of the time when his foul 
 fhould be required of him. This is a very ge- 
 neral cafe among us, and it is ordinary to fee 
 people fo intent and eager upon getting of 
 wealth, that they are ever in a perpetual hurry, 
 and in a reftlefs greedy purfuit of it : So 
 that every thing is time loft that doth not fome 
 way promote their worldly intereft. Thele 
 are the very men in the parable, who being 
 invited to the wedding fupper, had no leifure 
 to come and pay their attendance : And there- 
 fore the poor and the maimed, the halt and 
 the blind were invited in ; thofe who had no- 
 thing elfe to do, and fo little worldly bufinefs, 
 that they could not tell how to difpofe of 
 themfelves. 
 
 And thus we fee how poverty and a low 
 condition are often the greateft mercies in this 
 world, as being a means to difpofe men for 
 virtue and holinefs: So that riches and ho- 
 nours are fo often a curfe upon thofe who have 
 them, that it is not eafy to tell when they are 
 not fo. And this brings me to the third thing 
 I propofed, which was, 
 
 3. To (hew wherein the wifdom of God 
 appears, in propofing the truths of the Gcfpel 
 to men after fuch a manner, that they fhould 
 be hidden from the great and prudeiit men of 
 this world, and be revealed unto Babes^ This 
 
 would 
 
in the middle and meaner rank of People. 99 
 
 would appear very plainly if I had but time to Se rm, 
 fhew at large, how it could not have been XX. 
 otherwife from the prefent condition of our 
 infirmity, and the nature ofthofe things which 
 go to make up the body of a religion if they 
 will have any ; and how they mud live a life 
 of faith, if they will have any religion at all. 
 But I (hall at prefent give you only one ob- 
 vious reafon, which abundantly juftifies the 
 wifdom and goodnefs of God in this manner 
 of difpenfation, and that is. 
 
 That if the Gofpel was not thus contrived, 
 it had not been a religion for all the world j 
 the revelations of God were defigned for the 
 falvation of all men, and therefore they mufl 
 have been adapted to all forts and conditions, 
 to all ages, fexes, and degrees of men j that 
 which was defigncd for all men muft have 
 been plain, and obvious, and intelligible to the 
 moft natural reafon of a man ; and therefore 
 thofe wife men of the world, who are apt to 
 defpife it for being fo, muft neceffririly loofe 
 the benefit and advantage of it. Had God 
 given us a religion which was dark and ab- 
 ftrufe, made up of fcience and demonftration, 
 and that fort of evidence and worldly wifdom 
 which the Greeks fought after formerly, and 
 our modern oppofers of revelation require from 
 us nowj it had been a religion but for a very 
 fmall number of men : For very few even of 
 thofe who infift upon this are capable of un- 
 derflanding it rightly if they had it. Had 
 God given us a religion made up of clofe ar- 
 H 2 gument, 
 
Senfe of Religion more obfervable 
 gument, and fuch a chain of confequences as 
 in thofe fciences which are the inventions of 
 men, how few would have been the better 
 for it ? And how would the greater part of 
 mankind, which are the beft difpofed for vir- 
 tue and piety, been totally excluded j and no 
 one would have been qualified for it, but the 
 wife men of this world. 
 
 There is no refpedt of perfons with God ; 
 and they are ftrangely miftaken in thinking 
 that he muft value the wifdom and the know- 
 ledge of this world in the fame proportion that 
 we do. Alas! our wifdom is as trifling and 
 infignificant to him as our riches, which are 
 only thick clay ; and we make a very falfe 
 judgment, when we fancy God muft take the 
 methods of our fyftems in his revelations, and 
 go about to prove to us by lines and figures 
 that we ftand in need of a fatisfadion, when 
 we find ourfelves grievous offenders -, or that 
 we ftand in need of fome fupernatural aflift- 
 ance, when we find ourfelves unable for the 
 pradtice of virtue and holinefs j that there are 
 three perfons in the Godhead j that there are 
 cndlefs joys for good men, and everlafting 
 torments for the damned in another world : 
 had he done any thing of this nature, we 
 might juftly have fufpe(5ed it for the inven- 
 tion of men ; but by this method children 
 could not have attained to an early knowledge 
 of religion, and fo the time for improvement 
 in what was to qualify them for heaven would 
 have been ftiortned. 
 
 But 
 
m the middle and meaner rank of People, loi 
 
 But the defign of God in his revelations S e r m. 
 was the faving of fouls, and not gratifying the ^X. 
 curiofity and pleafing the imaginations of men j * 
 our religion is for praiflice and not fpeculation, 
 and therefore it was requifite it fliould be made 
 up of fuch truths as are intelligible to every 
 capacity ; fuch as fall in with the plaineft rea- 
 fon and moft natural fentiments of men j that 
 the moft ignorant might be capable of them, 
 and the wife and prudent left inexcufable, and 
 expofed to a juft condemnation for overlooking 
 and defpifing of them. 
 
 Having thus gone through what I defigned 
 from the words, I fhould proceed to make 
 fome inferences from what hath been faid ; 
 but the time not permitting me, I (hall only 
 make fome application in fliort to the two dif- 
 ferent forts of people mentioned in my text. 
 And, 
 
 I. To the firft fort I ftiall give St. Paul's ad- 
 vice, that they become fools that they may be wife ; 
 this is a precept peculiar indeed to chriftianity, 
 but hath a fignification beyond all the wifdom 
 of the heathens ; and the meaning is, that they 
 have a more moderate opinion of that know- 
 ledge and wifdom that is fo much efteemed 
 among men, and employed about the perifhing 
 things of this world; and bend their thoughts 
 towards thofe things which concern the future 
 well-being of foul and body for ever; this is 
 every where in fcripture called wifdom^ in op- 
 pofition to the learning, and prudence, and 
 cunning that is fo much admired in temporal 
 H 3 affairs; 
 
102 Sen/e of Religion more obfervable 
 
 Serm. affairs ; and the reafon of it is, becaufe how 
 XX. fharp, and cunning, and prudent, how wife 
 and learned foever men are in the things of 
 this world, it all dies and perifhes with them ; 
 they leave it all behind them, and it will be 
 of as little ufe to them then as their money. 
 But the knowledge of thofe truths which are 
 the great concernments of our fouls, follows 
 them into another world. 
 
 True Wifdom confifts in forecaft, and the 
 greateft point of it is for men to provide for 
 the worftj he is the wifeft man who looks 
 faftheft, and confiders what things will end 
 in, what Will be the final iflue of all worldly 
 things, and what fhall be his laft ftate and 
 condition. And that is truly folly which leaves 
 all this to a venture, and makes no provifion 
 againft the evil day, but fixes all his thoughts 
 upon the prefent, and is intent only upon the 
 perilling things of this world : This is folly or 
 rather defperate madnefs, and there is nothing 
 on this fide hell can exprefs itj it is as if a 
 man were bufy in drawing a fcheme when he 
 is going to execution , or as if a perfon fhould 
 be foUicitous about a drefs, when the houfe is 
 all on fire about him -, and imploy all his 
 thoughts only that he might be burnt in a 
 gawdy garb. 
 
 II. But fecondly, as to thofe who are Babes 
 in the fenfe of the text, to whom thefe things 
 of falvation are faid to be revealed, let them 
 not be difcouraged or perverted from the truth, 
 becaufe they fee it hath fo little efFedl upon 
 
 the 
 
tn the middle ajid meaner rank of People. 103 
 
 the rich, and great, and wife men of the world j Serm. 
 and becaufe that men of wit, and learning. XX. 
 and parts defpife it, and expofe our chriflian 
 myfteriesi let them net be difmayed as if it 
 were a new or a ftrange things it was ever fo 
 from the firft preaching of the Gofpel, that 
 thefe things were hid fro?n the wife and pru- 
 denty and revealed unto Babes : It is the very 
 nature of the Gofpel, and it is the effed: of in- 
 finite wifdom that it (liould be fo. 
 
 Nor need we wonder fo much at the dege- 
 neracy of the age, and fancy immediately that 
 the church of God mud fail ; for infidelity 
 and atheifm are the natural relult of plenty and 
 eafe, and thofe who move in a higher fphere 
 among men, were always moil fubjed: to im- 
 piety and prophanefs, and a difregard to all 
 religion ; and it will be {o to the end of the 
 world : And he hath warned us of this before- 
 hand, that we might not be flaggered, ahd 
 take any offence from thence or prejudice to 
 chriftianity. 
 
 Though the preaching of the crofs is Jboli/h- 
 nefs to them^ yet to us it is the power of God. 
 Notwithflanding they endeavour to pervert 
 our faith, and corrupt the Gofpel both in their 
 prad:ice and converfation ; yet thefe fecrets of 
 God (liall be among them that fear him, and 
 he Vvill fhew them his covenant, and the truth 
 of God (hall prevail in the end ; for God will 
 deftroy the wifdom of the wife, and bring to 
 nought the underftanding of the prudent. Let 
 us therefore, with our Saviour, here blefs and 
 
 H 4 magnify 
 
^enfe of Religion more obfervable 
 
 magnify the holy name of God, that be hath 
 
 thus hid thefe things Jrom the wife and prudent, 
 
 and revealed them unto Babes ; fuch as are befl 
 
 qualified to be his children, and heirs of his 
 
 glorious kingdom in heaven ; that he hath not 
 
 made any flock of worldly knowledge, or 
 
 learning, or great quicknefs of parts and appre- 
 
 henfion neceffary to falvation ; but a plain ho- 
 
 neft heart, and a fincere induftrious mind ; 
 
 that he hath not regard to the perfons of men 
 
 in the revelations of his will, but had refpedt 
 
 to the humble and meek, and made humility 
 
 and fincerity the only neceffary qualifications 
 
 for the reception of the Gofpel. Let this cheer 
 
 up our fpirits, and excite our diligence, and 
 
 confirm our faith of all the myfteries of chri- 
 
 ftianity, in oppofition to thefe men of the 
 
 world; for when Chrift (hall deftroy the 
 
 wifdom of the wife, bleffed, ever bleffed fliall 
 
 they be who are not offended in him. 
 
 SERMON 
 
7he necejjity of watching and fraying, loc 
 
 SERMON XXI. 
 
 The neceffity of watching and 
 praying. 
 
 Mat. XXVI. 41. 
 
 Watch and pray that ye enter not into tempt a^ 
 tion : The fpirit indeed is willing but the 
 Jle/h is weak, 
 
 AL L men have ever had a great fenfe of Se r m. 
 the corruption and w^eaknefs of human XXI. 
 oature, and it is vv^hat hath ever fufficiently ' 
 been felt, and complained of, and bewrailed j 
 and the Devil hath in all ages made his ad- 
 vantages of it, giving men a formidable prof- 
 pe<5t of the difficulty of virtue and holinefs, 
 by fubduing their lufts and vitious inclinations, 
 and reflraining all the evil tendencies of our 
 nature : This hath never failed of its effedt in 
 thofe who confider this grievous infirmity 
 w^ithout an eye to the mighty power and 
 energy of thofe means by which it is to be 
 cured. 
 
 And 
 
^he neceffity of 'watching and praying. 
 
 And accordingly fome looking on the re- 
 ftraint of their lufts to be a flrife againft na- 
 ture (as indeed it is) ceafe all endeavour to- 
 wards a good life, they quite give out; and 
 then the only v^rork they have left, is to take 
 care that the thoughts of another world give 
 their pleafures as little intermiffion and diftur- 
 bance as they can. 
 
 Others lefs hardy, but tvei'y jot as foolifh, 
 are always ftrugghng with their lufts, though 
 not to any fubftantial purpofe of religion ; they 
 live in hopes this weaknefs is incurable ; this 
 is their great fupport and comfort in their fins, 
 and they have all along in their minds a flrange 
 mixture of fenfual pleafure and remorfe ; of 
 luft and godly for row. 
 
 The laft fort of men, on whom the fenfe of 
 this infirmity hath a malignant influence, are 
 thofe who have fet in earnefl upon the work 
 with great fincerity and vigour, with great 
 courage and refolutibn ; and if the work were 
 to be done of a fudden, nothing would be too 
 hard for them. But after fome tryals, finding 
 the work always new, they coibe off of this 
 religious fury ; and when thefe firft warmths 
 are abated they feel this weaknefs of the flefh 
 as much as ever : Thefe catinot be eafy under 
 the thoughts of damnation; and therefore 
 though they are foiled and beaten back again, 
 yet they are always beginning but feldom 
 make any confiderable progrefs. 
 
 Nay even in thofe who have made confider- 
 able advances in piety and holinels, this weak- 
 nefs 
 
The necejpty of watching and prating, 107 
 
 nefs of the fle(h often gives a check to their Serm. 
 endeavours, it makes the work go on heavily XXI. 
 and fills them with defpondency j fo that the '' ""^ 
 confideration of this weaknefs of human nature 
 hath unhappily every confequence but what it 
 fhould have in the minds of men, and that is 
 to awaken them with a fenfe of the danger 
 they are in, and ftir up their endeavours, and 
 make them conftant, and vigorous, and refolute. 
 Our blefled Saviour, who had himfelf a 
 feeling of our infirmities, in ihefe words de- 
 fcribes moft exactly wherein this weaknefs of 
 our nature confifts, and the mod effedlual 
 method of our cure. Tbe fpirit is willing^ 
 the difficulty doth not lye there, but the fie (Jo 
 is weak ; and for that reafon we muft watch 
 and pray that we enter not info tempt at ion^ (i. e.) 
 that we are not overcome by it. He faid this 
 at a time when he himfelf was under the 
 greateft temptation and tryal that ever loaded 
 any of the fons of Adam. Watching and 
 praying were the means he ufed himfelf and 
 found effedlual ; thefc are what he recom- 
 mended to his Dilciples then, when a great 
 temptation was coming on them, and they 
 failed for want of ufing them; and thefe are 
 what he hath laid down for all fucceeding 
 chriftians if ever they hope for fuccefs. With- 
 out the ufe of thefe means our natuial infir- 
 mities are never to be overcome ; and on the 
 contrary a right ufe of them will never fail: 
 So that the words are no excufe for fin, but a 
 powerful motive to fubducand overcome it. 
 
 My 
 
^he necejjity of watching and praytngl 
 
 My bufinefs at prefent (hall be to enlarge 
 upon thefe two things contained in the text, 
 being of the higheft confequence and neareft 
 concern to us : Namely, to confider 
 
 1 . The great frailty of our nature, wherein 
 it confifts ; and the great difficulty of attaining 
 to any good degree of virtue, even after a full 
 purpofe and refolution of the mind to endea- 
 vour it. 
 
 2. The true remedy for this weaknefs, and 
 the great means by which wc are to overcome 
 and furmount this difficulty. 
 
 As to the firft, in order to a more diftindl 
 knowledge of the frailty of human nature, it 
 will be neceffary to obferve, that the fcriptures 
 do every where fuppofe two contrary prin- 
 ciples within us interwoven in our frame, parts 
 of our firft make, and diftinguifhed in holy 
 writ by the names oi Jiejh and fpirit. The 
 latter of which is that more refined and ex- 
 alted part of us which derives its original 
 from heaven, carries on it a ftamp of the di- 
 vine likenefs 5 it is that immaterial, immortal 
 part of us, whofe firft and innate tendencies 
 were all to good, and all its inclinations to 
 virtue and holinefsj and when it can act of 
 itfelf it cannot help owning and acknowledg- 
 ing them. This is what the Apoftle St. Paul 
 I Cor. ii. II. calls xht fpirit of a man which 
 is in hiniy in diftindtion from the fpirit of God 
 in the verfe immediately preceding. And in 
 Rom. vii. he calls the law of his mind. 
 
 Now 
 
7he nece/fity of watching and praying, 109 
 
 Now though this be in itfelf purely fpiritual S e r m. 
 ever ready to own an'd acknowledge the excel- XXI. 
 lencies of virtue and goodnefs, and in a difpo-^ 
 fition made for the beauty of holinefs, to feel 
 its charms, and be ever carried towards it by 
 an inceffant ftron^ propenfion ; yet it is but a 
 part of us, and fince the fall and corruption 
 of our nature, it is immerfed and funk in fle{h j 
 to which, though it communicate life, and 
 motion, and underflanding, yet it cannot dif- 
 fufe its own native inclinations and defires 
 through the unweildy mafs which fets up a 
 great variety of lufts and appetites of its own 
 in diredl oppofition to them ; infomuch that 
 the pure fpirit hath loft all power of diredion 
 and government; and in a ftate of nature its 
 faculties are fo broken and impaired, fo over- 
 powered and obftrudted, that of itfelf it is ut- 
 terly unable to reftrain any one irregular paf^ 
 fion or appetite of the lower man, and exert 
 itfelf to any good purpofe by thought, word, 
 or deed. 
 
 This wretched feeble condition of the mind 
 of man is, that which hath made fome help 
 and afliftance abfolutely neceffary in order to 
 its recovery ; and that could be no other than 
 the fecret influence of the holy fpirit of God 
 upon this fpirit of ours, which hath beenufed 
 to be called by a particular emphafis, the grace 
 of God, becaule it is the greateft favour ever 
 vouchfafed to mankind, and a purchafe made 
 for us by the blood of Chrift, 
 
 This 
 
no 'The necejfity. of watching and prapng. 
 
 Serm. This infpires the foul with new life andvl- 
 XXI. gour; that fame breath of God which gave it 
 being, blows it into a flame j it llirsup the ori- 
 ginal tendencies of the mind, and fills it with 
 new and frefli defircs of virtue and holinefs j 
 and this is the beginning of a chriftian life. 
 So that now we fee how to underfland di- 
 flind:ly what is meant by the fpirit in thofe 
 many places of the new teftament, where it 
 is fet in oppofition to the flefh, (i. e.) that fpi- 
 rit of a man that is in him thus newly ani- 
 mated and revived by the fweet influences of 
 the holy fpirit of God. Thejpirit indeed is 
 willing, (i. e.) the mind of man, wrought upon 
 by the operations of God's holy fpirit, is filled 
 with good defires and holy refolutionsj it is 
 lincere and forward, ^nd apt to be flufhed 
 with great hopes and aflurance of fuccefs, and 
 ready to encounter any temptation. And, thus 
 it is oppofed to the flefh, by which, both here 
 and in, other places of fcripture, is meant not 
 only this grofier body of ours with all its flefh- 
 ly lufts and appetites; but the inferior foul 
 which is the feat of our paflions and affedions, 
 and all other corrupt defires and vices of the 
 mind, which hath been ufed both by Jews 
 and Chriflians to be exprefi^ed by the name of 
 a third principle, refulting from the union of 
 the pure fpirit with the body. 
 
 This is that part of us that is faid to be weak 
 in the text, very weak indeed to all goodnefs, 
 but violent and headftrong to all manner of 
 vice and wickednefs ; which natural condition 
 
^be necefftty of watching and praying. m 
 
 of infirmity the holy fcripture reprefents, bySERM. 
 our being (hapen in iniquity^ and conceived in XXI. 
 fm ; by having every imagination oj the thoughts 
 of our Ixarts to evil continually-y they call it 
 the law of the members warring again fl the law 
 of the mind and bringing it into captivity^ in- 
 ibmuch that in i\{\sjlejh d%velleth no good thing. 
 And with refped: to religion we are faid to be 
 in a ftate of death, (i. e.) in a condition as 
 unapt for the exercife of virtue and holinefs, 
 as a dead body is for thofe of life and motion. 
 
 Afrer this, when the holy Ghoft hath 
 breathed into us a new principle of fpiritual 
 life, and that by God's preventing grace the 
 mind is rouzed out of this lethargy, then be- 
 gins the ftruggle ; the principles of reafon and 
 grace again ft the appetites and propenfions of 
 nature ; and then it is we begin to have a fenfe 
 and feeling of our weaknefs and the manifold 
 infirmities of the flefh. We are full of holy 
 defires and good refolutionsj we are daring 
 and refolute, very confident of ourfelves, and 
 have a fecret pleafure and rejoycing as a Giant 
 that is to run his coiirfe^ having a full aflli- 
 rance of the vi(5tory. 
 
 We are apt then to fancy it will never be 
 otherwife with us, and to think the work done 
 before we have well begun it ; this is com- 
 monly in the abfence of temptation, the firft 
 approaches of which fhock and ftagger all 
 tbefe refolutions ; and as it fteals upon them 
 by degrees, fo they are all melted down into a 
 compliance j infomuch that it could not enter 
 
 into 
 
112 ^he necejjity of watching and praylngl 
 
 Serm. into his thoughts that ever he fhould be fo 
 XXI. baffled and overcome : Then when remorfe of 
 confcience, a fcene of fhame, and profpedl of 
 damnation fets him a thinking again, all his 
 refolutions are renewed ; but the temptation 
 returns again with the fame fuccefs, and 
 quafhes all thofe good defires and holy pur- 
 pofes of the mind : This is done frequently ; 
 and every defeat contributes to the impairing 
 of our Spiritual ftrength, and breaking the 
 powers of the mind -, our defires of goodnefs 
 decay, our good purpofes grow faint and lan- 
 guid, till at laft we have only one refolution 
 left ; namely, that we will refolve to purpofe 
 fome time or other. 
 
 This is the very ft ate of infirmity defcribed 
 in the text, which was occafioned by a fam- 
 ous inftance of the moft ardent and forward 
 zeal, and of the great infirmity and weaknefs 
 of human nature j when Chrift was to be 
 apprehended and crucified, though all menjhah 
 be o-ff ended becauje of thee, yet will I never be 
 o^ended, fays Peter, though 1 fhould dye with 
 thee yet will I not deny thee : Likewife alfo 
 faid all his difciples, yet there was not one 
 that flood by him j and he that expreflTed 
 himfelf with the moft confidence of them all 
 denied him thrice with oaths and protefta- 
 tions. Our blefled Saviour who had himfelf 
 a fenfe of this infirmity, and forefaw what 
 templation was coming on them, advifed them 
 to the ufe of thofe means which alone could 
 enable them to overcome it, (i. e.) watching 
 
 and 
 
7he necejfity of watching and prayhg\ 113 
 
 and praying: They however flept, for their S>^^u» 
 eyes ivere heavy, and they fell fhamefully. ^XI, 
 Their mafter put them both in pradlice and ''^^^ 
 obtained a glorious victory over all the powers 
 of hell. 
 
 . And now we fee what that work is that 
 lies before us, the great bufinefs and employ- 
 ment of our lives The fl.fh is weak indeed, 
 but it mud be made ftrong in a fpiritual fenfe. 
 Nature mud: be overcome, and a fecond na- 
 ture introduced ; all, even its moft craving ap- 
 petites muft be left unfatisfied, and fo fre- 
 quently crofled and disappointed that they 
 fhall all be brought under the power of the 
 mind, infomuch that we (hall be ready to 
 pluck out an eye, to cut off a right hand, and 
 remove from us that very darling temptation 
 which hitherto hath been dearer to us than 
 our fouls and everlafting felicity : Our very 
 members muft become inftruments of righ- 
 teoufnefs to God, and we muft glorify God 
 in our bodies ; fo that even they (hall become 
 a living Jacrifice, holy and acceptable to him, 
 
 I (hall now proceed to confider the means 
 laid down here for the doing of this ; means 
 that never yet failed of fuccefs, where they 
 were duly put in pradtice, and without which 
 it is in vain ever to attempt the healing of a 
 ficldy and corrupted nature. And therefore, 
 2dly. The great means, by which we are 
 to fur mount and overcome this difficulty, are 
 
 here fiid to be watching and praying. 
 
 . Vol. II. I 1. As 
 
*!tbe necejjfity of watching and praying. 
 
 I. As to the firfl of them, that of watching 
 XXI. againft temptation, is a metaphor taken from . 
 the careful obfervance of an enemy or robber' 
 in the night, and being upon our guard that 
 we might not be furprifed by them and taken 
 at a difadvantage j it is a very general word, 
 and doth more particularly imply, diligence 
 and perfeverance. 
 
 By diligence I mean a fincere and earneflr 
 enr'eavour of virtue and holinefs, and of fub- 
 duing all our fleflily inclinations; that our 
 heart be in the work, and that we do this with 
 the full bent of the foul : So that we labour 
 to carry on and improve our good refolutions 
 into a {laid and fettled flate of holinefs ; and 
 do this with the fame vigour and intenfenefg 
 of the mind that fome purfue riches and ho- 
 nour, or any other worldly ends. It is a vain 
 expedation of people, who think that the 
 work of religion wiH go on fmoothly without 
 iet or difturbance, whenever they refolve in 
 earneft to fet about it ; it hath been a miftakc 
 fatal to the fouls of many, who after they 
 have begun well, and meeting with fuch dif- 
 ficulty and uneafinefs as they did not expedt, 
 in denying the vitious inclinations of the flefh, 
 and retraining their lufts they are beaten back 
 and quite difcouraged ; and there is no thought 
 fo natural to fuch beginners than, that when 
 they refolve indeed to be good and virtuous, 
 they fhall in fome degree live a life of Angels, 
 in undifturbed innocence and tranquillity. 
 The fpirit of God forefeeing the evil of this, 
 
 hath 
 
The necefpty of watching and praying, 115 
 
 hath not more efFcdlually endeavoured to re-SeRivf. 
 move any miftake or error, to which the ^XI. 
 mind of man was fubjed: than this; warning 
 us of the difficuhies we are to meet with in a 
 chriftian courfe, reprefenting it by the fimi- 
 litudesof a race, 2i journey, a warfare, telling 
 us that we wreftle 71 ot againfl fiefh and blood 
 only, but againfl principalities and power s^ 
 again ft the rulers of the darknefs of this uorldy 
 (i. e.) againfl all the malice and fubtilty of 
 hell : And therefore advifes us to put on the 
 whole armour of God, and all little enough. 
 And accordingly, in the text we are bid to 
 watch, (i. e.) to look for ^nd expedt uneafi- 
 nefs and difficulty. Eccl. ii. i. My/on, fays 
 the fon ofSyrach, If thou come to Jerve the 
 Lord, prepare thy foul for temptation: It will 
 certainly come upon you, and probably when 
 you leafl fufped: it, and are in the leaft pre- 
 paration for it ; therefore fit down firft and 
 confult whether you are able, with ten thou- 
 fand, to meet him that comes againfl you 
 with twenty thoufand ; whether, with this 
 willingnefs of the mind, and thofe fupplies of 
 grace that are given you, you are able to en- 
 counter the world, the flefh, and the devil. If 
 you thus look for temptation, and fet your 
 mind into a poflure to receive it, and put your 
 whole flrength to the work, you cannot fail 
 of fuccefs. 
 
 Virtue is indeed difficult, but It is neceffary 
 and pradicable ; and nothing need to be faid 
 
 I 2 more 
 
'the necefjitj of matching and praying, 
 more for that on which eternal falvation de- 
 pends. 
 
 The attaining any commendable degree of 
 virtue and holinefs, will require conftant ap- 
 plication and inceffant labour of the mind ; 
 this will fhew what it can do, it will exercife 
 all its power and moft vigorous efforts : Foe 
 this flefli of ours mull be crucified with all it% 
 a^eBiom and lufls^ and we mud be renewed 
 in the fpirit oj our minds-, the prevailing bent 
 of our minds muft be to piety and holinefs, 
 and what it is to do this to any good purpofe^ 
 they little know, who have not felt the trou- 
 ble of it, and no one can be fenfible what it 
 is to become a truly good man but by the 
 tryal ; what pains he muft take with himfelf 
 in finding out all his corruptions and infirmi- 
 ties, that none of them might efcape him ; 
 what nice obfervation of what virtues and 
 graces he is yet without, and what advances he 
 hath made in thofe he hath j what unwearied 
 care and watchfulnefs left he be any way 
 brought under the power of temptation : Now 
 to do this habitually, fo as to keep up a fenfc 
 of holinefs in the mind, and preferve a fecret 
 communion with God in the midft of the 
 bufinefs, and diverfions, and converfation of a 
 finful world J hie labor, hoc opus. Let any man 
 wei2;h this thoroughly and then tell me, whe- 
 ther this can be compafTcd on any eafier 
 terms, than having it ever nppermofc in our 
 thoughts, and making it the chief imploy- 
 ment of our lives. 
 
 The 
 
^he nece[jtty of wafchifig and praying, 1 1 y 
 
 The other thing intended by watching inSnRM. 
 the text I faid was perfeverance ^ we are not XXI. 
 only to put our whole ftrength to the work, 
 but we mud continue fo to do without in- 
 termiffion ; and therefore here 1 muft obviate 
 another miftake near allied to the former, but 
 not the fame ; and that is, of thofe who are 
 indeed fenfible of the difficulty of the work, 
 bi^t imagine that it is to be compleated of a 
 fudden, and that all the danger and difficulty 
 will be foon over. And therefore, after they 
 have gained fome good degrees of religion, 
 and perhaps done a great deal in a little time 
 by a violent obftinate refolution, they are apt 
 to fall into fecurity and triumph too foon, 
 not confidering that they are but ftill a begin- 
 ning j for the breaking off from a courfe of 
 fin, and the improvement of every particular 
 grace and virtue, into a fettled ftate and temper 
 of the body and mind, are two very different 
 things. The firfl may be done by help of a 
 fudden furious zeal, and the heat and fire of 
 our imaginations; and fo far it is very wtll; 
 it doth great things while it holds, and it is a 
 pity it cannot lad ; but nothing that is violent 
 can do fo ; and therefore when thefe heats are 
 expired, they muft be fupplied by confidera- 
 tion, and judgment, and refiedVion ; and after 
 all, we fliall find that cool and gentle reaf -n 
 is the greatefl friend of virtue, and the 
 flirewdefl: enemy to vice. This doth not rile 
 and fall with the weather, or ebb and flow 
 with the circulation of the blood, but will 
 I -i Uul 
 
I'he nece/Jify of 'watching and praying. 
 laft as long as the temptation, and be ready t© 
 engage it at every turn. 
 
 The great ftrength of temptation doth not 
 lye in a ludden violent onfet, and an open fu- 
 rious affault, this happens but in a few in- 
 ilancesj but in the conftancy and perpetuity 
 of it : And herein is the great weakness of the 
 fle{h, that its finful appetites are natural and 
 permanent; fo that it mu ft be dealt vf\ih. not 
 as being ill of an acute difcafe, but as being 
 of a crazy habit and infirm conftitution, 
 which is to be healed by variety and con- 
 tinued application of remedies, by diet, and 
 phyfick, and uninterrupted regular manage- 
 ment ; and v^ith all this it recovers but fiowly, 
 and it is a long time before it is brought to a 
 firm athletick flate of health. 
 
 Now becaufe all our corruptions are natural 
 to us, and all virtue and goodnefs is acquired, 
 there is no way of overcoming nature but by 
 cuftom and habit. For want of weighing this 
 thoroughly, many a refolute and lincere chri- 
 flian hath been cut off fliort in his progrefs, 
 and hath fallen from the faireft hopes into 
 the depth of defpondency j whereas he had 
 nothing more to do but to perfevere, and 
 though he could not be fenfible of any ground 
 he gained, yet to go on and be always doing. 
 Though he is not aware of it, yet he grows 
 in grace and goes on i n fen fibly from ftrength 
 to ftrength. No oppofition of infirmity . or 
 temptation fliould make us defift or be any 
 juft difcouragement to us, becaufe the means 
 
 of 
 
Ihe nece[pty of watching and praying, 119 
 
 of grace are put into a method as fure and S e r m. 
 infallible as the courfe of nature, and all great -^-^l- 
 productions in both of them fpring from very- 
 minute originals i they take their fii ft rife 
 from a point, and are carried on to their full 
 proportion by a very gradual increafe. 
 
 No force but that of cuftom and habit can 
 overcome nature j we every day fee the power 
 of it in the body by conftant practice, even to 
 that degree that it would exceed all belief but 
 that we hear and fee it. Juft thus are the 
 weakneiTes of nature healed, and the habits of 
 virtue to be obtained by unwearied applica- 
 tion J by having a iharp and watchful eye 
 upon all our vitious inclinations and appe- 
 tites; by continual croffing and thwarting 
 them, interrupting all their afts and leflening 
 them perpetually j and by taking every little 
 opportunity of putting virtue in pradlice : For 
 every fmgle a6t of virtue gains a new acceflion 
 of additional ftrength j and the frequent repe- 
 tition of them is the fame with this multipli- 
 cation of powers in mechanifm, which from 
 the greateft weakncfs is enlarged by a con- 
 tinued motion to an immenfe and irrefiftible 
 force. 
 
 Thus by conftancy and perfeverance we 
 {hall arrive to a fulnefs of ftature, to a con- 
 firmed and manly ftatc of holinefs ; infomuch 
 that that grace or virtue, for which we had 
 not the leaft difpofition at firft, (hall grow up 
 into our very conftitution and temper, crejcit 
 ecculto velut arbor (evo^ fays Horace fpeaking 
 
 1 4 of 
 
^he necefjitj of nsoatching and fraying, 
 of the growing virtue and fame of youhg 
 men ; but David more fully fpeaking of the 
 man whofe delight is in the law of the Lord, 
 and who exereifes himfelf in that law day and 
 night, he likens him to a tree planted by the 
 'water Jide, that will bring forth its fruit in 
 due feafon : The limilitude is very expreffive 
 and full of fignification, for the feeds of virtue 
 are fmall, and its increafe is by imperceptible 
 degrees j till at laft it fhoots up to a mighty 
 height ; it becomes confpicuous, as a tree 
 fpreads its branches in the air, and is proof 
 againft all ftorm and weather. It will furely 
 come to this at laft with us, if we never ceafe 
 endeavour but proceed in a conftant fteady 
 courfe of improving every good ^nd virtuous 
 habit i but then on the contrary, every inter- 
 miffion will carry us backward and renew the 
 difficulty ; and therefore we muft ever have 
 it in our minds that we ftrive againft nature, 
 and are rowing up the ftream ; and while we 
 continue to do fo, our progiefs though but 
 How, yet it is lure j but every time we flacken 
 we are carried down the torrent, and by fre- 
 quent negleds and intermiffions we occafion a 
 perpetual round of the fame trouble and diffi- 
 culties over again. 
 
 The moft refty and ftubborn nature will 
 be tamed at laft ; and though it may indeed 
 give us work enough to manage, and create 
 us much pain, and difturbance, and unealinefs, 
 yet It can never run away with us till we have 
 
 let go the reins. 
 
 2. Another 
 
^he neceffify of watching and praying. 121 
 
 2. Another means here propofed for ovefrSFRM. 
 coming temptation is that of prayer, the ab- XXI. 
 folute necelfity of which arifes from hence, 
 that the weaknefs and infirmity of our nature 
 is fuch, that without God's fpecial afliftance 
 all temptation will be too ftrong for us ; and 
 therefore we are taught to pray daily that God 
 would not had us into temptation. The moft 
 pernicious effecSt, and the greateft danger of all 
 temptation is, that it takes away the very dif- 
 pofition to pray ; and when once it hath cut 
 off the afliftance of divine grace, then it is 
 furc to prevail upon us. 
 
 Let therefore no infirmity of oufs, or 
 ftrength of temptation difcourage us from 
 praying, fince this is the very reafon why we 
 ought to pray, becaufe we are weak and temp- 
 tation ilrong; and that God will furely give 
 his holy Jpirit to them that ajk him. No cuf- 
 tom whatever hath fo diredl a tendency to fpi- 
 ritualize the mind and difengage it from the 
 world and all flefhly appetites; and every 
 prayer we make is an adt and exercife of that 
 virtue or grace we pray for: Wherefore if 
 temptation prefs hard upon you, be thou ur- 
 gent in prayer, as it increafes (o repeat your 
 importunities; if it continue pray again, and 
 let every return of the temptation fend you to 
 God for help ; if you take care to go on to 
 do this inceffantly, and not to faint, affure 
 yourfelf God will never be tired with your 
 prayers; fo that the temptation muft be the 
 iirfl thing that fails ; though you find not a^ 
 
 yet 
 
"The nece/Jity of watching and praying, 
 
 yet the effed: of your prayers, yet pray on^ 
 and this is faith. All things what/over ye Jh all 
 ajk in prayer believing^ ye fhall receive^ (i, e.) 
 whatfoever is neceflary for us. If we firmly 
 depend on him for the doing it after his own 
 manner, and in his own good timej fo that we 
 can never be difappointed but by our own im- 
 patience, or diftruft and wearinefs. 
 
 When we have brought our minds to a diC- 
 pofition to pray on all occafions 3 to power 
 out our fouls to God ; to lay our weakneiies 
 and infirmities before him j and to implore his 
 aid in all difficulties and temptations, and per- 
 iift in doing this in faith without wavering: 
 The Devil will then hardly know how to af- 
 fault us ; becaule every temptation to a fin, 
 •will ferve only to encreafe our devotion, and to 
 mind us of putting in practice the contrary vir- 
 tues. 
 
 This is an excellent frame and temper of 
 mind. But then this fpirit of devotion is not 
 to be had, but by the fame means that other 
 virtues are obtained, by a long ufe and cuftom 
 of praying; it is a habit, and muft be got by 
 pradice and frequent exercifej and as the 
 Apoftle fpeaks by watching thereunto with all 
 per fever arice. 
 
 Having thus fpoke to thofe things which 
 are more exprefly contained in the text, I (hall 
 only make three inferences from what hath 
 been faid, with refped: to three forts of people 
 who take in the whole body of chriftians. 
 
 I. Thi 
 
^he neceffity of watching and praying, 123 
 
 I. The finl: is the fatal miftake of thofe who Se r m 
 reft in the defires of goodneis, and are eafy in XXI. 
 themidft of known and wilfull fins, only up- 
 on this prefumption, that the temptation is in- 
 fuperable ; and make this very text an excufe 
 for their fin, which will be an unanfwerable 
 argument of their condemnation : Becaufe 
 the fleOi is weak, and the fpirit as yet only 
 willing ; therefore, they are to watch and pray 
 that they efiter not into temptation^ (i. e.) that 
 they are not overcome by it; and if they are 
 overcome by it, it is an infallible fign they did 
 not watch and pray, to as good purposes as 
 they might have done. The text was fpokc 
 to the A poftles "before the holy Ghoft came 
 upon them, and though they fell at that time, 
 yet they afterwards glorified God in their lives^ 
 and by their deaths ; and no temptation was 
 too ftrong for them. This text, together with 
 all others in the new teftament of the like na- 
 ture, is applicable only to the firft beginnings, 
 and infant (late of a chriftian, when he firft 
 fets upon the work of religion, full of good 
 defires and fincere refolutions of virtue and 
 holinefs; and nothing can be more abfard 
 than to imagine that it muft be always thus 
 with them: And to conclude, that the 
 great and glorious work of religion is done, 
 when they have only a willing mind to it ; 
 the flefh indeed is weak, but this weaknels 
 muil: be healed or we are undone for ever. 
 
 A fad condition of the foul this, when people 
 hftvc no other hope of falvation left them, but 
 
 that 
 
i24 ^'^^ neceffity of watching and praying. 
 
 S £ R M. that their duty is impradlcable. They are in- 
 XXI. deed in a ftate of infirmity, as they fay of them- 
 felves, and therefore they fliould fpend their 
 whole Uves in its cure. But this is fo grofs and 
 palpable a delufion that nothing can move ad- 
 miration more, than that fuch numbers of peo- 
 ple {hould be gulled and cheated with it : But I 
 am perfwaded that notwithftanding all their 
 ihew of fan(9:ity, there is no one who allows 
 himfelf in fin upon colour of this principle, 
 who would not have been as wicked without 
 it; it is only their way of flifling confcience 
 for the prefent, and if they had not this, they 
 would have found fome other way of doing 
 it as efFe(3:ual]y, or continue in fin againft the 
 full and clear conviction of their eonfciences. 
 
 2. Another thing I Ihall obferve from hence 
 is, the deplorable condition of thofe perfons in 
 whom all inclination of the mind to virtue and 
 holinefs is ceafed ; who have worn out all de- 
 figns and purpofes of religion and piety, and 
 have fo increafed this natural weaknefs of the 
 fiefh by vitious habits, that they are pafl feel- 
 ingy and quite alienated from the life of God: 
 Who have given them/el'ves over to lafciviouf- 
 ne/Sj to work all uncleannefs with greedinefs : 
 And then every ferious thought of God is a 
 check upon their minds, and carries terror in 
 it, and the very mention of virtue and holi- 
 nefs makes them uneafy. 
 
 The defire of goodnefs is the laft thing that 
 leaves a man, it is the ultitnum moriens in a 
 
 chriftian 
 
The neceffiiy of watch ing and praying. 125 
 
 Chriflian fenfe; fomethingof it remains whilcSERM. 
 there is any vital heat or fpirits left, and is hard- XXI. 
 ly quite extinguiflied till the man is fpiritually '^ 
 dead: And then if a ftate of virtue and holi- 
 nefs v^^ere to be had for a wifh, he can hardly- 
 frame his mind to it ; for the very mind and con-- 
 Jcience is d< filed. His foul is fo polluted in every 
 faculty, and the moft fecret receiTcs of it fo 
 impregnated with the guft and relifh of fin, 
 that he can have no more deiire of being good 
 than a man in the height of drunkennefs, of 
 being fober, the caufe and the efFe(fl is the 
 fame in nature; he hath finned away his rea- 
 fon, his head fwims, and for the remainder of 
 his hfe he talks and thinks from a difordered 
 imagination : Then at laft tumbles into the 
 grave, where having flept out his debauch, rea- 
 fon then takes it's place again, it recoils terri- 
 bly upon him, and fills him with endlefs and 
 unfpeakable remorfe. 
 
 Now though we cannot fay that fuch mea 
 have finned out their day of grace, fo as to be 
 fealed up to damnation by any pofitive ad: of 
 God's ; yet we know that the fpirit of God may- 
 be fo far grieved as to leave off flrivin?, and 
 when that hath left a man he is carried to all 
 fin as neceffarily as a body moves downwards: 
 So that though we cannot fay his damnation is 
 abfolutely certain, yet it is high'y probable; 
 becaufe there is no ground of hope left either 
 in nature or grace : And therefore all who have 
 any fufpicions of their bordering upon this con- 
 dition, would do well to look before them, 
 
 and 
 
126 *Ihe necejjity of watching and praylngl 
 
 Serm. and fee how near they are to the very brink of 
 XXI. this precipice; and for ought they know, one 
 'flep farther may plunge them into the bottom- 
 lefs pit. The lefs inclination they have to 
 God and goodnefs, let them fufpedt their con- 
 dition the more ; and if they find in them- 
 selves any remains of this fpiritual principle, 
 any fparks of thefe holy defires, let them im- 
 prove them without delay ; let them call up 
 all the powers of their mind, and fhew what 
 is the mighty force of an obftinate refolution, 
 and a perfevering prayer. 
 
 3. The lafl thing I (hall infer is the en- 
 couragement that may be drawn from hence, 
 to all who are fmcere and hearty in the work 
 of religion, and do in earneft fet about the 
 conqueft of all their lufts, and healing all the 
 vitious tendencies of nature; but are apt to 
 be difcouraged at the prevalence and conftancy 
 of temptation. Watch and pray that ye enter 
 not into temptation. And therefore if ye do ufe 
 thefe means ye will not enter into it, (i. e.) fo 
 as to be overcome by it ; for God will never 
 Juffer you to be tempted above what you are able, 
 (i. e.) above the power of thofe means that he 
 hath appointed for that purpofe. 
 
 Wherefore, if God hath given us a willing 
 fpirit and put in our mind good defires, our 
 bufinefs is to cherifli and improve them into a 
 hunger and thirft after righteoufiefs. Till thefe 
 inclinations have taken full pofleffion of our 
 fouls, and got the afcendency over all the af- 
 fe(^ions and appetites of nature ; infomuch 
 
 that 
 
^he necejjity of watching and praying. 127 
 
 that the main current of our thoughts runs allSs r m. 
 that way ; fo as to put in pradlice all the means XXI. 
 of grace, with the fame vigour and apphcation 
 and eagernefs, that we would endeavour to ge^ 
 meat and drink when we are thirfty and ftarv- 
 ing : And to ufe as much temperance and rc- 
 ftraint and management in healing this weak- 
 ncfs of the flefli, as we would do to fave our 
 lives in a dangerous languifliing diftemper. 
 
 If we thus prefs on forward, and not fuffer 
 ourfelves to be beaten off from our hearty en- 
 deavours by any difficulties we meet with; 3 
 fure and certain victory attends us : For through 
 God that (Irengthem us ive Jhail be able to do all 
 things : We {hall gain infenfibly every day, 
 till at lafl our ftrength is made ferfeSi in weak" 
 9iefs, (i. e.) till temptation itfelf (hall ferve only 
 to renew our refolutions and increafe the vi- 
 gour of our minds, till it fliall be only the ex- 
 ercife of our virtue, and not the occafion of 
 fin to us ; and then it is that we may count it 
 all joy y when we fall into divers temptations. 
 
 O ! it is a glorious conqueft this, when temp- 
 tations become only an occafion of our virtue, 
 and that the Devil himfelf withdraws them out 
 of malice to us, left they fhould be inftrum.ents 
 of our virtue here, and of greater degrees of 
 glory to us hereafter. When light and wanton 
 obje(5ts only raife our indignation, and the 
 moft exquifite meats and drinks become op- 
 portunities of felfdenial. When the higheft fta- 
 tion doth not raife our minds above the level of 
 the meaneft fincere chriftian, and that the hard- 
 eft 
 
128 7he necejjity of watching and praying. 
 
 S E R M. eft prefTure of afflidion exalts our fouls above 
 XXI. the world 3 inlomuch that the greaieft extremi. 
 ties make us take fafter hold on the promifes of 
 God. When our very religion and piety caufe 
 in us ajealoufy of ourlelves, lo that Ipiritual 
 pride, the laft and moft fubtile temptation of 
 the Devil, is fully difcovered, and itfelf become 
 a prevailing motive of humility in us. When 
 temptations beat upon us as the waves upon 
 a rock not only to recoil again, but to wafh off 
 all the dirt, and leave our virtue brighter and 
 more confpicuous. 
 
 . Then is the man all tranquillity and inno- 
 cence within^ though there is nothing but 
 ftorm and tumult about himj and hke Lot in 
 the midft of the lodomiies keeps his reierve till 
 he leaves the world to be confumed with all it*s 
 lufts and vanities. In fhort, he hath then gain- 
 ed a good refemblance of the Holy Jefus, on 
 whom the greateft temptations could not make 
 the leafl impreffion. Then the foul is fit for 
 that place wheie there is no temptation ; it is 
 already upon the wing for Heaven, and waits 
 with impatience till this clog of flefh and blood 
 is ftruck off. BlelTed God what a femblance 
 of Heaven is there in the bre;ift of that man, in 
 whom all the pleafures of the world have lofl 
 their charms, and that we have a quick guft and 
 relifh of virtue and goodnefs ; lo that all our 
 longings are that way, even to pant after them 
 when we find a fecret delight in the pract'ce of 
 virtue and holincfs, and are then only filled 
 
 and 
 
^f^e tieceffity of watching and pra\ ing. J2§ 
 
 iahd pleafed and fatisfied as it were with war-SERM, 
 row and fatnefs i.vhen we obtain it; then we XXI. 
 have laid a foundation for peace; for that 
 peace cf God which pajjeth alt under [landings 
 and therefore cannot be underflood till it is 
 felt. 
 
 Having therefore this encouragement {dear- 
 ly beloved)^ let us cleanfe ourfelves from allJiU 
 thinefs of flefh and Jpirit : PerfeBing holinejs 
 in thejear of God^ 
 
 VoL.lI. K SERMON 
 
1^0 ^he war of the fiejh and thefpirit, 
 
 SERMON XXII. 
 
 The war of the flefli and the fpirit* 
 
 Galat. v. 17. 
 
 For the fiejh lujleth againji the fpirity and the 
 Jpirit again/l the fiejh ^ and thefe are contra- 
 ry the one to the other : So that ye cannot do 
 the things that ye would, 
 
 Serm. ^ I ^HIS diflindion of flefh and fpirit, and 
 XXII. J^ the great oppofition between them, 
 'is intirely new under the Gofpel, wherein it is 
 made fo much ufe of that it runs through the 
 whole ftyle of the new Teftament. The 
 heathen Philofophers did indeed diftinguifh 
 nicely, between the fenfitive appetite which is 
 common to us with brutes, and that rational 
 faculty which they found in themfelves, (i. e.) 
 between fenfe and rcafon ; and this was fo ob- 
 vious they could not mifs it. They faw a 
 mighty difference between thefe two, that they 
 often clafhed and difagreed j they found them- 
 felves drawn two different ways at once by an 
 
 oppofitc 
 
^he war of thefejh andthc fpirlt, 13 1 
 
 oppofite force, and that the violence of their Serm. 
 fenfual appetites hurried them on to the doing XXII. 
 of things contrary to the didlates of their rea- ^""'"^ 
 fon, and the full convidlion of their minds i 
 this they felt and complained of; but they 
 little imagined what was the firft fpring and 
 true caufe of all this contradid:Ion within 
 us J namely, that there are two diftin6t parts 
 of our frame of a very different nature, en- 
 dued with contrary qualities^ and oppofite in 
 all their inclinations and tendencies. This is 
 peculiar to the Gofpel, and fuch a key of 
 knowledge, as opens to us thofe difficulties 
 both of nature and grace, which were lockt 
 up from the whole race of mankind before: 
 and no man is aware at firft reading how far 
 this one text leads us into the knowledge both 
 of ourfelves, and of religion in general. T^he 
 flefh lufleth againfi the fpirit^ and the fpirit a- 
 gainfi the fie jh^ and thej'eare contrary the one to 
 the other j fo that ye cannot do the things that 
 ye would. Infomuch that I would put this one 
 faying of St. Paul's in the ballance with the 
 united moral wifdomof the heathen world. 
 
 For as it fuppofes the original of our cor- 
 ruption by the fall, which they knew nothing 
 of, fo likewife it intimates to us that there are 
 two very diftindb|)arts of our make, and con- 
 trary in their whole nature. The true feat of 
 this great corruption of humanity, with the 
 exa6l manner and caufe of it, namely the con- 
 tradidion of that fleftily part to the genuine 
 di(^ates of the fpirit, which then becomes par- 
 
 K 2 taker 
 
i^a ^ke war of the flefh and, the Jplrit, 
 
 Serm. taker of its corruption, when it yields and k 
 XXII. captivated by it ; that the reafon of our yield- 
 ing to fin is becaufe of that impetuoufnefs and 
 violence of our fleflily inclinations, which like 
 a mighty ftreani bear down all the refiftance 
 of that fpiritual part of us, fo that this makes 
 men adt againfl the clear light of reafon and 
 full perfwafion of their minds j that this con- 
 tradiction of the upper part to the motions of 
 the lower, is a fufficient demonftration of the 
 effential gcodnefs of the laws of God, (which 
 is the ufe he makes of it, in the vii. of Romans,) 
 and confequently that the true perfedion of 
 human nature confifts, in bringing the fleOily 
 part in fubjedion to the fpiritual, this is the 
 true 5r«^^vyv!V£o•(«, or renovation of our natures ; 
 and laflly that the only effedual means of do- 
 ipg this^ is by conftant habitual oppofition to 
 the inclinations of the flefh, and thwarting 
 ^nd croffing all it's appetites till it is brought to 
 be tame, and yielding, and ready to comply 
 with the genuine (entiments of the pure mind. 
 This is .the philofophy of the text, this is 
 philofophy for all the world, they are things 
 of tlie lafl confequence to mankind ; and 
 therefore the contemplation of them mud be 
 profitable and delightful. But becaufe 1 am 
 not now to wi ite a trad, butpiake a difcourfe, 
 I (hall put what I have to fpeak to thefe into 
 this mcLhod. 
 
 ift. 1 {hall confider a little more particular- 
 ly, what is here meant by fleih and ipirit. 
 
 2dly, 
 
7he war of the fcpj and the /pit it. 133 
 
 sdly, I fhall confider in what inflanccs they ^erm 
 are contrary to one another, and the nature XXII. 
 of their oppofition. 
 
 3dly, 1 fhall fpeak fomething as briefly as I 
 can, to thofe feveral things which are either 
 exprefly contained in this text, or dircdtly de- 
 ducible from it. 
 
 I. As to the firft then. By xhcfefJj is here 
 meant not only thofe bodily appetites which 
 are common to us with brutes, but likewifs 
 thofe irregular paffions and afFc(5lions of the / 
 foul, which are proper only to rational crea- ' 
 tures. By the fpirit is fignified, that moft 
 refined and excellent part of us, by which we 
 are more immediately formed after the image 
 of God : That which the Hebrews exprelTed 
 by the word Rudh^ that immaterial immortal 
 part of us, which is the feat of the pure under- 
 flanding and will j in oppofition ioNafa//j, the 
 feat of ail carnal defires and afFcd:ions; (i e.) 
 the fenlitive foul as it includes all thofe evil in- 
 clinations of the mind, which proceed from 
 any compliance with fenfual appetites, and as 
 far as it is tainted by any intercourfe, or com- 
 merce with them. 
 
 But becaufe it is a diflindion of no fmall 
 ufe, both in the theory and p adice of religi- 
 on, that we may apprehend the difference 
 more exadly, we mufl confider that it is an 
 opinion founded on very good leafon, that our 
 frame iscompofed of three diflinft parts, each 
 of them feveraliy expreffcd by S:. Paul, in 
 I TUJ. V. 23. y^rid If pi ay God your nvhole 
 
134 ^^^ '^^^ ^f ^^^ fi^l^ ^nd the fpirit, 
 
 Serm. fpirit, and foul, and body be preferved blamelefs^ 
 XXII. unto the comingoj our Lord Jefus Chnft. The 
 Greek word is plainer to this purpofe, it calls 
 thefe three parts sxox^epov Cf^m the whole of you. 
 It is not likely that bt. Paul here would have 
 made ufe of a frivolous and groundlefs rliftinc- 
 lion with fo much folemnity ; And a learned 
 man in his comment upon the text, remarks, 
 that the fame difference might be obferved 
 from the words of the creation of man, where 
 there is mention made diftin(flly of the diift of 
 the earthy the living fouly and the breath oj life\ 
 and fhews withal, how this text of St. Paul's 
 was fo taken by the learnedefl fathers of the 
 Church J which is not at all to be wondered 
 at, lince I cannot lee how it can be underftood 
 any otherwife, without a needlefs tautology. 
 
 Now by the body we are to underftand this 
 bulky weight of flefli and blood, this unweil- 
 dy groffer part of us which we fee and feel as 
 we do any other body, and lies as plain and 
 obvious to our fenfes as any other mafs, a 
 flock or a flone. 
 
 By the fpirit js fignified that fprightly im^' 
 material part of us without bulk or quanti- 
 ty^^npt confined even to motion 5 which 
 comes immediately out of the hands of God 
 like himfelf a pure uncompounded being, the 
 only feat of our underftanding and reafon, 
 which the Greeks expreft, by the to >;y.j^o»j«o», 
 the commanding principle part, tm Iv rit.» fiw?, 
 the God in us -, and the Latins by particulam 
 mrc^ dlvince^ a particle of the divinity, or 
 
 communication 
 
7he war oftheJIe/Ij andthe fpirit, 13^ 
 
 communication of the divine nature; andSERM. 
 which Lucretius meant by his fourth ingredient XXI. 
 of the foul, his fomething, he knew not what, 
 which he called the animam ipfius animce : And 
 in the language of the New Teftament, it is 
 ufually expreft by the word ttni^x or fpirit, as 
 particularly in the i Cor. ii. 11. What man 
 knows the things of a man^ fave the fpirit of 
 man that is in him : And it is the more re- 
 markable, becaufe here there is a comparifon 
 made between ours and the fpirit of God, in 
 the former verfe. 
 
 Laftly, by the foul in that text of St. Paul's 
 is meant that middle part of us, which in- 
 cludes our imagination, and is the feat of all 
 our paflions and affedions ; which is expreft 
 here by "Tvx*! the Soul : And for this the Greeks 
 had many names of contempt, they called it 
 KXoyU unreafonablenefs J iw.St^/Aja concupifence; 
 r^TTTOf the horfe; Ti0«pEio» the wild beaft and bru- 
 tal part of the man. 
 
 So that now we may fee very diftindly 
 what is meant by the flefh in my text, (i. e.) 
 the body with all it's natural appetites ; and the 
 lower foul with all it's variety of paflions and 
 affedions; and by the fpirit, that immortal 
 immaterial part of us, which is the immediate 
 feat of our underftanding. 
 
 It will be only neceflary to remark farther 
 here, that though the fpirit of man is more 
 immediately intended in this text; yet we 
 may likewife underftand the fpirit of God as 
 
 K 4 far 
 
136 7he war tj iheflep and theffirit. 
 
 Serm. far as it works in concurrence with our fplrlt, 
 XXII. and aflifts it againft the oppofition given it b)^ 
 ^* — ^'""^ the lower and corrupted part of the man. 
 
 II. To confider in what inftances they are 
 contrary one to another, and the nature of 
 > ^'beir oppofuion, , And firft, in general they 
 I are contrary in this ; that the fpirit is in it felf 
 pure and undefiled in it's own nature, as.Httle 
 \ liable to moral as natural corruption 5 and cari 
 \ \)& no otherwife polluted, than by thofe llains 
 which are derived upon it by its union, and 
 clofe conjunction with the lower foul and 
 body : It may be fo overcome by the force of 
 bodily appetites, and borne down by the vio- 
 lence of our finful paffions and affedions by 
 giving way to them, that it can no way exert 
 jt felf: So that there fhall not be one virtuous 
 inclination left in the whole man : And then 
 he may properly be faid to be corrupted in his 
 ipery mind and confcience. And again, when 
 by any fecret impulfe of the fpirit of God the 
 mind is rouzed, recovers it felf again, fo as to 
 bear down all the vitious inclinations of the in- 
 ferior man, that they become obedient to its 
 motions j that it can fway them which way 
 it will ; then he is faid to be rei.ewed in the 
 fpirit of his mind: So that my meaning is, 
 that there is a fpiritual principle within us, 
 that muft, and will ever acknowledge virtue 
 and goodnefs, and will it too j infomuch 
 that the wickedeft man living would be good 
 gnd virtuous, if it mJght be had for a wifli : 
 
Ihe war of the flefli and the [pint, 137 
 
 Nay, even the Devil himlelf would beanSERM. 
 Angel of light again. XXII. 
 
 Now that there is fiich an indelible charac- 
 ter of goodncfs, and innate tendency towards 
 it, imprinted upon the fpirit of man ; which 
 though it ipay be defaced and oblcured, yet 
 can never be totally obliterated ; fuch a portion 
 of heavenly fire, whicli though it may be bu- 
 ried under a mighty heap of aflies, yet can 
 never be wholly extinguiflicd. This I fay 
 feems to be the fenfe of mod of thofe divine 
 epithets, given to the fuperior part of man by 
 the Philofophers ; though they took it only 
 for a diflindi quality. Among others they gave 
 to the rational foul one was, that it was aVaG>ij 
 without paiTion, and therefore not fubjedt to 
 tranfgrefs ; which in all likelihood gave occa- 
 iion to that miflake of the Stoicks apathy, 
 xv-hkiC.opinion was true, if applyed only to 
 tht-ptirely, fpiritual part. And Mato fays, this 
 rational part of us, like the top of Olympus, en- 
 joys a perpetual ferenity ; and looks down upon 
 the irrational part, beholding all the florins of 
 It's pafjmis and affeBions, like clouds, and izinds^ 
 and thunder in the lower region. And the 
 learned Dr. Willis, in that excellent chapter, 
 where he compares the foul of man with that 
 of brutes, fpeaking to this very purpofe hath 
 thefe words; non it a tamen accipi debet, qua/i 
 anima rationales utpote immatcrialis ; protn- 
 d^quey mTrxdr.i habita a quolibet apfulfu boni ijcl 
 mali, fuccuffa turbulentis cupiditatibus, aut aver- 
 fatiom/m affeB.bus obnoxia fuerit ; hoc enim na- 
 
 tura 
 
7he war of the flefh and thejpirtf, 
 tures ejus incorporea, quin &' dignitati, fU" 
 per que aliis potentiis prcerogativce repugnat. 
 
 Befides, the fcripture feems to be very ex- 
 prefs in this; our Saviour fays, the fpirit is 
 willing^ but thejiejh is iveak. And this notion 
 runs through the v^rhole 7th of the Romans, 
 where the law of the mind is fuppofed to be 
 very good, even in thofe corrupt and unre- 
 generate perfons he is there defcribing j and op- 
 pofes it to the law of fin in their members. And 
 at the 1 6th verfe, he fuppofes a man may do 
 that that he would not, (\. e.) that in_ the 
 committing of (in, the inferior man adts in. 
 plain contradiction to the purely fpiritual part 
 of him ; and therefore it follows, // is no more 
 I that do it, (i.e.) the purely fpiritual part,) 
 but Jin that dwells in me, (i. e.) the vitious in- 
 clinations of the lower man. For I know that 
 in me dwelleth no good thing : And he explains 
 himfelf, (i. e.) in my flefh. So that he all 
 along fuppofes a fpiritual principle within us, 
 pure in its fentiments, in the midft of all bo- 
 dily pollutions; the miflaking of which, and 
 imagining that St. Paul meant that of the 
 whole man, which he applies only to one part 
 of him, gave occafion to that damnable herefie 
 of the Gnofticks, who fancied that a fpiritual 
 perfon was no more polluted by his fins, than 
 gold is by being rolled in the dirt : And like- 
 wife to that fatal error fo near of kin to it, of 
 our diffenting brethren y who imagine St. Paul 
 fpeaks here in the perfon of a regenerate man ; 
 
 which 
 
^he war of the fie fh and the fpirit, 1 39 
 
 which I (hall have occafion to fpeak of before Serm. 
 I have done with this lubjed:. XXII. 
 
 II.' But 2diy, as this is in itfelfpure, fo the ' 
 lower man compofed of the body and fenfitive 
 foulj is the immediate leat cf all our corrup- 
 tion, and is totally polluted and defiled in all 
 its faculties ; there is not by nature one regular 
 motion in our whole frame ; and all the in- 
 clinations and tendencies of it are io ftubborn 
 and inflexible to good, and under fo httle 
 command, that without the motions and con- 
 currence of God's preventing grace, we are not 
 able fo much as to think one good thought ; 
 much lefs to put any good purpofe in execu- 
 tion; And now, becaufe the nature of the 
 pure mind is fuch, that it can never be brought 
 to approve thofe corrupt and wicked appetites 
 and inclinations ; therefore, there is perpetual 
 war and eternal contradidion between them. 
 There can never be any league or truce, they 
 are implacable enemies j and there is fuch in- 
 nate inveteracy between them, that they can 
 never come to any terms of compofition ; 
 and nothing can put an end to the ftrife, but 
 the abfolute in tire conqueft of one or the 
 other. 
 
 Here is the true caufe and ground of that 
 civil war within us; this fpark of divinity 
 which lay buried under the ruins of the fall, is 
 firft blown up by the fame fpirit that breathed 
 into us the breath of life ; then are all endea- 
 vours ufed to flifle and fupprefs, and if it were 
 poflible, utterly to extingui/h it. As the fpirit 
 
 prevails, 
 
1 40 ^he war of the Jlefh and the fpirit, 
 
 Serm. prevails/ fo for a while, the refinance of the 
 XXII. inferior man is ftronger; its appetites and paf- 
 'fions oppofe it with their utmofl violence ; 
 and when they begin to fail and give ground, 
 then the powers of hell are alarmed, and the 
 wiles of the Devil are lent for fuccours -, and 
 then the mind doth not wreftle only againfl 
 fJefh and hkod^ hut againfl prirxipallties^ againfl 
 powers^ and againfl the rulers of darknefs : 
 However, if it do perfift, the grace of God 
 is fufficient for it, and a fure and certain vic- 
 tory attends it in the end. 
 
 However, fuch is the corruption of the lower 
 man, that it makes a flrong refiflance, and 
 lofes it's ground but by inches; fometimes it 
 gains upon the mind, and then is beaten back 
 again ; but never ceafes to oppofe and contra- 
 di(5t all its fentiments and refokitions : And 
 thefe two contradidlory principles within us 
 was what the Heathens were very fenfible of, 
 and bewailed even in the moft obdurate ftate 
 of impiety; and when they were about the 
 greatefi; villanies, they had a fenfe of the guilt, 
 and found fomething within which diffwaded 
 them from it, but was always overpowered. 
 Medea, in the tragedy, reqdy to murder her 
 young brother, and cut him into (hreds fays, 
 1 am fenfible of the villany I am about to 
 
 commit, GffAo? ^6 xfiiaeruv run ifjuuv ^aXevfjkecruf, DUt my 
 
 paflion overcomes my will. And Laius being 
 difl'waded from his cruel purpofe of making 
 away his fon, anfwers, I am-ali'cady fenfible of 
 
 all 
 
The war ofthefejh and the fpirlL j^i 
 
 all yoQ fay, it is all right, yva^fAr," ^' r^-.^Ta ;*'.,' (^J-Sfrm. 
 tTK <?.a|uT«., yet nature hurries mc on contrary XXII. 
 to the lenfe of my own mind : And Ovid gives ' 
 a fliort defcription of this in that well known 
 faying of his, vido meliora prob'jque detericra 
 fequor. And fays Seneca, complaining of this 
 contradi(5tion within him, quid efl quod ms 
 alio tendentes, alio trahit? ^iidcollu6latur cum 
 animo tioflro f FluBuamus inter varia confilia : 
 And therefore well might another fay with in- 
 dignation, odi artus, fragilemque hunc corporis 
 ufumy defertorem animi. I loath thefe mem- 
 bers, this feeble body of mine runegado from 
 the foul. 
 
 But St. Paul gives a much more lively de- 
 fcription cf this oppofition, and wherein the 
 corruption of our nature confifts j for fpeaking 
 of a peifon yet in his fins, 1 delight, fays he, 
 in the law of God after the inward man ; but 
 there is another law in my members warring' 
 againft the law of my fnmd, and bringifig me 
 ifito captivity to the law cf Jin^ which is in my 
 members: And again, He finds a law, that 
 when he would do good evil is prefent with him : 
 And again, I know that in me, (i. e.) in my 
 fieflj dwelleth no good thing, (i. e ) in the lower 
 man, as it is oppofed to the purely fpiritual 
 part of us ; which till it is ftifled, and utterly 
 put to filence, never fails to contradid: all the 
 motions of concupifcence in the body and 
 fenfuive foul ; and to dilTwade us from giving 
 way to ^U their finful dcfires and affedions. 
 
 The 
 
7he war of the fie fh and theJpiriL 
 The experience of every man's own con- 
 fcience, who looks into himfelf, will give him 
 a lively notion of this warfare j he finds two 
 contradidtory principles within him, drawing 
 him two different ways at the fame time j he 
 finds himfelf often diftraded with contrary re- 
 folutions 5 he feels warm difputes within him, 
 arguments offered on both fides, and urged on 
 both fides, with potent and prevailing motives ; 
 this minute he is bold, and fixt, and deter- 
 mined to take the council of the fpirit ; the 
 next perhaps he is fliaken, and flaggered, and 
 bends quite another way. And while we are 
 deliberating we are carried down the flream 
 of our flefhly defires, at the fame time that 
 "we are liflening to the dictates of the mind 5 
 and plunged into fin with the applaufes of 
 them in our mouth : So that the lower man 
 often drags the fpirit with it, to wallow in the 
 mire of thofe fins, which it can never juflify or 
 approve. When the relifh of the fin is over, 
 then the fpirit chides, and upbraids it with the 
 guilt and the folly of the fin ; this is remorfe. 
 Then the mind prevails to put the whole man 
 again into a poflure of defence, and he is pre- 
 pared for another tryal j and this is repeated, 
 till by frequent relapfes, the power and influ- 
 ence of the mind, over the inferior faculties, is 
 much impaired. At lafl they grow rampant 
 and ungovernable j they run into open rebel- 
 lion ; cafl off its yoke; difown its power; 
 bind it hand and foot in chains, till, as the 
 fcripture expreffes it, // is captivated to the iaw 
 
Ibe war of the fie jh and the Jpirtt, 143 
 
 of fin: Then they take their fwing without Se rm, 
 controul j and then the man is fpiritually dead ; XXII. 
 becaufe the condition of the mind is then fo ^ 
 weak and feeble, that nothing lefs than a mi- 
 raculous degree of grace can reftore it to a 
 matey and dominion over the lower man. 
 
 But on the contrary, if at any time during 
 this engagement, (though it be when the mind 
 is near dethroned) being rouzed by any potent 
 motive, or quickened and encouraged by the 
 fecret operation of the fpirit of God working 
 with our fpirit, it lays in its claim j afferts it's 
 right of dominion ; then it brings over firft 
 the weaker party ; by degrees it gains ftrength 
 enough to grapple with the ftrongeft appetites j 
 it recovers its birth-right, fits in the throne 
 and governs the rebellious paflions with a rod 
 of iron 5 revenging itfelf upon them with mor-» 
 tifications and felf-denials ; and upon all occa- 
 fions punifhing them with feverities according 
 to their deferts 5 and then the man is in a 
 happy and regenerate ftate. 
 
 Herein therefore, lies our difeafe and our mi- 
 fery, that the defires and inclinations of the 
 lower foul and body are, by nature, io much 
 ftronger than the purely fpiritual part of us : 
 But the grace of God helps this infirmity of 
 ours, and conveys fecret affiftance to the 
 mind, in proportion to the degrees and violence 
 of our corruption ; which if it makes ufe of, 
 it will gather ftrength every day i but if it fails 
 to exert itfelf according to that power that is 
 afforded, it will lofe ground continually ; the 
 
 grace 
 
^he war of theflefl:) and the Jplrti. 
 
 grace of God will be withdrawn from it by de-^ 
 grees; till it is left at lalt in a pure ftate of na- 
 ture, unable to overpower the lead tendency 
 in us to fin. 
 
 III. I (hall not here ftay to fhew how this 
 oppofition of two contrary principles within 
 us, is a plain and evident proof of the imma- 
 teriality of the foul J nor how far this notion 
 may be improved, to give a clear folution of 
 mod of thofe difHculties, both in the theory 
 and practice of religion, which have run men 
 into fo many perplexities ; which have been 
 canvafTed with fo much heat and uncharitable- 
 nefs on all fides 5 and have been the grounds 
 of many objed:ions made againft the chriflian 
 religion, by men who are glad of any pretence 
 to be debauched ; and fince they are refolved 
 to be fo, do catch at any thing that makes for 
 the prefent eafe and quiet of their confciences ; 
 fuch as the necefiity of a fupernatural aflifl- 
 ance; the juftice of eternal torments j the na-^ 
 ture and propagation of original fin ; the effen- 
 tial difference between moral good, and evil ; 
 together with the natural necefTity of mifery 
 to the wicked in' another world : Which are 
 plain confequences from this text j but I leave 
 thefe things for another place, and fhall now 
 only mention two of the mofl pradical infe- 
 rences from this text. And accordingly, 
 
 ifl. We may, from what hath been faid, 
 obferve what a fatal error thofe people live in, 
 who miflake this meer ftate of nature for a 
 ftate of grace j and make ufe of this very text 
 
 to 
 
^e war ofthepp^ and the Jpirit, I45 
 
 to fupport the vileft and mofl dangerous fort ^''Rm. 
 of hypocrify. It is faid plainly, iay they,XXII. 
 that we cannot do the things that we would:' 
 But the words in the original are ;»« /*,) ^ ci» 
 fii'AflTt, tavra. woj^rt, So that ye do not the things 
 that ye would. So that the plain fenfe of the 
 text is this j the purely fpiritual part of us, 
 flirred up by the grace of God, disapproves 
 and oppofes the committal of fin ; but the ap- 
 petites of the body, and evil inclinations of 
 the fenfitivc foul, make a ftrong oppofition j and 
 this is the reafon why fo many perfons a(^ clear 
 contrary to the judgment of their minds, and 
 the fuggeftions of the holy fpirit of God, (i. e.) 
 in (hort the reafon why fo many fins are com- 
 mitted, though they know better, and have 
 an inclination to virtue, is, becaufe that in op- 
 pofition to the mind, they fuffer themfelves 
 to be carried away with the violent inclina- 
 tions of the lower man : this is the literal fenfc 
 of the text. And now therefore, what will 
 become of all thofe who have comforted 
 themfelves with this notion amidfl their habi- 
 tual wilful fins, and built all their hopes of 
 mercy upon this airy foundation; nothing but 
 a meer miftake in the tranflation ? O but fay 
 they, though this faying of St. Paul will not 
 bear that meaning, yet he fpeaks it plainly in 
 another place, in the 7th of the Romans, 
 The good that I would I do not, and the evil that 
 Iwouldfiot that do 1. But they fliould confi- 
 der that thefe two are parallel places, and 
 therefore mufl have the fame meaning; efpe- 
 VoL. 11. L daily 
 
7he war ofthefefh and thefpirif. 
 
 cially being fpoke by the fame perfon. If he 
 hath no fuch meaning here, that a regenerate 
 perfon may be guilty of wilful fms, they 
 may well prefume that he can have no fuch 
 meaning in the other. 
 
 And indeed this text naturally leads us into 
 the true meaning of that whole chapter. The 
 whole fubftance of his argument in that chap- 
 ter is built upon what he fays exdrellly here ; 
 that there are two very different parts of our 
 make, the pure mind, and the fleshly part of 
 us, which includes all the appetites of the 
 body, and finful paffions of the inferior foul. 
 This fpirit of ours, by the motions of God's 
 grace, approves what is good, and hath a will 
 to it ; but the lefs noble part of us is polluted 
 in all its faculties, and inclines quite the con- 
 trary way ; and from hence he infers his con- 
 clufion undeniably, fince I or any man elfe 
 that commits a fin, hath fomething within 
 him that at the fame time difapproves it, and 
 tries to diifwade him from itj this is a fair 
 proof that the laws of God are holy, and juft, 
 and true. 
 
 So that we fee thefe are fome of thofe places 
 in St. Paul's epiftles, which St. Peter obferve?, 
 fome that were unlearned and undable Jhould 
 reft to their own deJlruSlion ; which is io re- 
 markable of our age, that vaft numbers of 
 chriftians, whole focieties, and profeflions of 
 them are zealous aiferters of this falfe and 
 groundlefs interpretation J though as a learned 
 
 made 
 
7he war of thefejlj andthe fptrit, 147 
 
 man obferves in his comment, thefe texts were Serm. 
 iinderflood in the right fenfe, by all the or- XX 11, 
 thodox party, for the firft three hundred years 
 of chriftianity. 
 
 We are fo fenfible of our own frailty, that 
 God knows how little reafon we have to 
 make the conditions of falvation harder than 
 they really are ; and did we not fee plainly 
 that this is a broken reed, we fliould be as 
 ready to catch at it as they : But we fee plainly 
 how it is contrary, not only to St. Paul's de- 
 fign in thefe places, but againft common lenfe 
 and reafon, to think that the abhorrence of a 
 fin, and reludlance of the mind, which is the 
 great aggravation of fin, fhould be the excufe 
 for it ; it is this very thing that makes it a fm; 
 and this prefent fenfe of the mind, and judg- 
 ment of their confciences, will one day render 
 them liable to the judgment of God and eter- 
 nal damnation. 
 
 A ftrange reafon this for people to give, 
 why they may live in any fin, becaufe they 
 have a temptation to it j if there were no temp- 
 tation to fins of luft and covetoufnefs ^ of in- 
 temperance, of cheating, and didionefty, and 
 fpiritual pride j they would be very chaft'e, and 
 hberal, and temperate, andjuft, and humble. 
 But it is a dangerous ftatc of foul when people 
 are holy without being virtuoL^.s: For fur e I 
 am, our chriftianity requires them both ; and it 
 is then people become truly find:ified and re- 
 generate, when they are able to abftain from 
 the evil they would not, and have it iji their 
 L 2 power 
 
7he war of the flefh and, the jfini, 
 
 power to do the good that they would ; when 
 they have brought the fle{h fo much in fub- 
 jeftion to the mind, that they can glorify God 
 in their body, as well as in their fpirit. 
 
 This relu<ftance of the mind, as you have 
 already feen, is no more than what the Hea^ 
 thens found in themfelves at the committal of 
 the greateft and moft unnatural villanies j it 
 was no excufe for them, and fliall it be an 
 excufe for chriflians, who have greater aflift- 
 ance of grace ? 
 
 They muft own at beft, thefe texts are not 
 very clear for them \ but 1 will give them plain 
 texts againft them, Rom. viii. 13. If ye Ihe 
 after the fiefld ye jhcill dye\ but if through the 
 Jpirit ye mortify the deeds of the body, ye JJjall 
 live : And that they may have no opinion at 
 all left of the goodnefs of their ftate, from 
 that mighty abhorrence they find in themfelves 
 of thofe fins they are guilty of, let them con- 
 fider that St. Paul fays, that though they may 
 he delighted with the law of God in the inner 
 tnan \ at the very fame time, the motions of fins 
 may work in their member Sy to bring forth jruit 
 unto death. 
 
 2. Another thing we may obferve from 
 thefe words i?, the true worth and value of 
 mortifications, and the abfolute neceflity of 
 habitual felf-denials: We have feen how the 
 cafe is w^th us, the parts of our frame are be- 
 come a conti'adidiion to one another; and our 
 ir.iiery is, that the inclinations and appetites 
 
 of 
 
^he war of the fie [h and the Jpirit, 149 
 
 of the lower man have now the upper hand jSerm. 
 the flcpo lu/ieth again/i the Jpirit^ and oppoles^^^^ 
 all it*s motions with fuch force and violence/ 
 th.it it bears down before it all the fuggeftions 
 of the fpirit ; which makes fo weak and fee- 
 ble a refiflarice, that we rarely do the good 
 things that we would; we are hurried into fm 
 with impetuous violence, contrary to the itx\{Q 
 of our minds, and the judgment of our con- 
 fciencesi which condition of infirmity is very 
 well expreffed by that fimilitude of Socrates, 
 who calls the purely rational part of us the 
 rider ; and the lower part of us, containing our 
 paffions and appetites, the Horje ; which being 
 refty, and wild, and unmanaged ; frets, and 
 foams, and plunges, and runs away with it*s 
 rider into bogs and precipices. 
 
 Now there is no way of taming this beaftly 
 part of us, and bringing it to fome temper and 
 obedience to the mind, but by croffing and 
 contradidting all it's motions; abating the fury 
 of it's paffions and appetites, by denying it 
 thofe objed:s that gratify and nourifh them ; 
 if we continue to do this, this horle of ours 
 will become tame and gentle ; it will keep the 
 road, and carry us on our journey to heaven 
 with courage. 
 
 This is the proper bufinefs of our lives, to 
 break the force and violence of thefe irregular 
 inclinations, by felf denials, and mortifica- 
 tions, and fcverities ; thefe are the ftire and 
 effectual means of virtue and holinefs, and no 
 good degree of thefe is to be obtained without 
 
 L 3 them. 
 
7be war of the flejh and the fftrif. 
 
 them. And this is the reafon why the ftile 
 of the new teftament is fo full of expreflions 
 to this purpofe ; and that fuch an air of fadnefs 
 and melancholy runs through the whole tenor 
 of theGofpel} becaufe croffes, and pain, and 
 trouble, do all of them break and fupprefs the 
 vitious inclinations of the lower man ; they 
 quicken the mind, and make it exert all it*s 
 ftrength and force: Whereas riches, and 
 plenty, and quiet^ make provijion for the flejh ^ 
 to fulfil all the liijis thereof. And this is the 
 reafon why our Saviour fays, it is fo hard for 
 a rich man to enter into the kingdom of heaven ; 
 becaufe there are conftant fupplies of all ob- 
 jects, which gratify their flefhly defires ; info- 
 much that it is next to a natural impoffibility 
 for thofe who live in foftnefs, and eafe, and 
 pleafure, ever to gain an entire conqueft over 
 the lower man. 
 
 And therefore, all thofe who live in plenty 
 and eafe would do well to confider, that fince 
 the providence of God hath exempted them 
 from necelTary want, and croffes, and afflic- 
 tions ; how neceffary it is for them to fupply 
 the abfencc of them with voluntary felf de- 
 nials and feverities upon themfelves, one way 
 or other ; for it is moft true that, through much 
 tribulation we muji enter into the kingdom oj 
 heaven. 
 
 How much felf-denials and mortifications 
 are out of requeff, and undervalued by thofe 
 very perfons, who fancy the grace of the Gof^ 
 pel will, difpenfe with the fins they commit 
 
 with 
 
The war of the fie (h and the fpirit. 151 
 
 with great reludtance, I need not mention; Serm. 
 becaule though they are always uneafy at^^^^- 
 hea ing the truth, yet they are never con- 
 vinced. Parting from fin, fay they, is the 
 true faft ; and denying our lufts, the beft felf- 
 denial: Yes, if they could be fure of denying 
 their fin, without ever denying themfelves that 
 which is no fin. But of all people living (hall 
 they have this in their mouths, who yield to 
 their lufls in hopes of mercy, becaufe they 
 are too violent to be overcome ; and at the 
 fame time defpife this only effectual means of 
 conquering them. Catch them in fuch a con- 
 tradid:ion as this is, in buying and felHng if 
 you can. 
 
 But I am more concerned to take notice of 
 the great negledt of thefe things, among thofe 
 of our own communion. It is hard to tax the 
 lightnefs of the age, after any manner, with- 
 out the imputation of ill nature and fournefs. 
 But if we muft not upbraid people with their 
 vices, yet I hope we may bewail the dano-er 
 of their condition; fmce it isalmoftimpoiTible 
 to reconcile all the modes of vanity, and ufual 
 gaiety of the world to chriftianity. That vain, 
 and ccftly, and affed:ed variety of drefs, Ihews 
 plainly that the mind is funk in flefh ; and 
 that notwithftanding fome little 'appearance of 
 a fa{hionable piety, yet^ there is a manifeft 
 want of the very life and fubftance of religion. 
 They that are after thefiep,\ fays St. Paul, do 
 mind the things of the fie jh ; and they that are 
 after the fpirit^ the things of the fpirit : Which 
 L 4 of 
 
1 52 7he war of theflejh and the fptrif. 
 
 Serm. of thefe two is their cafe, they muft be blind 
 XXII. that cannot fee j it is a fure way of judging 
 'whether or no they give way to thofefiefhly lufts 
 that war againft tbejoul : And therefore, fincc 
 they thus low to the flefh, they muft expert 
 of the flefh to reap corruption. 
 
 Our Saviour fays, if any man will be my dif- 
 cipie, let him deny himjelf, and take up his 
 crofs and follow me. Let him not wait for af- 
 fiidions, and troubles, and crofles ; but take 
 it up of his own accord, by many inftances of 
 felf-denial, and the frequent exercifes of feve- 
 rities upon himfelf. And St. Paul tells us, he 
 fought not as one that beat the air ; becaufe 
 he kept his body under and brought it into fub- 
 jeBion ; and indeed all reh'gion is but hypocrify 
 without it. So that we fee what is generally 
 miftaken for a degree of perfe(5tion in religion, 
 is for the moft part a thing of indifpenfible 
 obligation. And from hence we may fee the 
 true value even of the greateft voluntary fe- 
 verities, and retirements, and abnegations of 
 the world ; becaufe they effedt the maftery of 
 themfelves in a little time, and as it were all 
 at once ; which perhaps would not otherwife 
 be compaffed in the courfe of many years : 
 Though it muft be confeiTed, they commonly 
 have this ill efftd:, that they puff" men up with 
 an opinion of themfelves ; fo that they become 
 haughty, and troublefome, and arrogant. I 
 do not fay that thefe extraordinary degrees are 
 matter of duty ; but as much of them is ne- 
 ceflary as is required to vanquifti thefe bodies of 
 
 ours. 
 
^he war of the fle[h ana the fpirtt, 153 
 
 ours, and bring them into abfolate fubjedion : Serm. 
 And ftill the more we are mortified to our- XXII. 
 felves and the world, the clearer and more af- ^'~^~^ 
 fedling fenfe we (hall have of virtue and holi- 
 nefs ; and the greater advances we fhall make 
 towards heaven and happinefs. 
 
 Let us therefore fet ourfelves to the work of 
 renewing our nature, and purging it from all 
 this drofs and corruption ; let us offer up our 
 prayers to almighty God for daily fupplies of 
 grace, that the fpirit of God may work together 
 with ourjpirit^ that it may obtain an intire 
 vi(3:ory over the lower man ; and let us omit 
 no means of doing this j let us in this conteil 
 give the mind fair play ; let us hearken to its 
 di<ftate?, and cherifh all its motions; let us 
 give it all the helps we can ; affift and cncou-i 
 rage it, by cutting off all fupplies of the lower 
 man ; and let us maintain the ground it gets 
 by conflant perfeverance, till by degrees our 
 bodies become a living facrifice, holy and ac- 
 ceptable unto God. 
 
 I muft confefs there is a great deal of trou- 
 ble and uneafmefs in the work ; and it will coft 
 many a fore conflict before it comes to this ; 
 and little do thofe people know, who never 
 tryed heartily, what a difficult thing it is to be 
 intirely and fincerely good ; all the means we 
 can ufe is little enough. Let us therefore be 
 content to be reftlefs and uneafy for a while j 
 and then refl, eternal reft, will follow. This 
 little pain will be our fecurity from eternal tor- 
 ments. 
 
154 ^^^ '^^^ ^f i^^ fl^P^ ^^d the fpirlf, 
 
 Serm. merits, and will purchafe for us an exceeding 
 XXII. weight of glory. 
 
 O ! it will be a moil: glorious change, everi 
 in this life, when all the appetites and paf- 
 lions of the lower man, by a holy violence and 
 courfe of rigorous and voluntary feverities, are 
 fo tamed and intirely fubdued that they fliall 
 wait the motions of the mind j when it governs 
 them with abfolute power, fays to one go, and 
 it goes; to another come, and it comes; and 
 can fay to the proudeft pailion, hitherto [halt 
 thou come, and no farther. 
 
 Then {hall be effeded the moft wonderful! 
 change in nature ; thefe two combatants fhall 
 lay down their animolities, and kifs and em- 
 brace each other; thefe enemies, from the mofl 
 inveterate enmity, and implacable malice, fhall 
 become the moft intimate, deareft friends-, they 
 will live together here in a more than conjugal 
 affedion; till they depart hence in peace, and 
 their next joyful meeting fhall be at the refur- 
 rediion of the juft ; never to part again, and 
 yet never to be weary of one another ; never 
 to fall out or difagree: There will not be the 
 leaft jarr nor fufpicion of one another left ; 
 but they fhall live in everlafling joy, and peace, 
 and love* 
 
 This flefh, in which now there du-elleth no 
 good things fhall then have nothing in it that 
 is bad ; that which is now fo full of ftubbornnefs 
 and contradidion, fhall then clofe with the 
 pure mind in all it's motions; and what is now 
 its load, and its prifon, fhall then be its orna- 
 ment. 
 
^he war of the fefi and the fpirlt. 155 
 
 ment, and it fliall delight in the union; forSERM. 
 there fliall be no perfedion in the foul but fhall XXII. 
 have a correfpondent beauty in the body ; and' 
 it fliall be more perfedl and glorious than when 
 it firft came out of the hands of God. 
 
 Call up therefore all the powers of your 
 minds, and fet to the work. The weakeft per- 
 fon that hears me hath this image of God, this 
 fpark of heaven within him ; and it is ndt 
 worldly wifdom, but the divine grace that muft 
 be your affiftance : Make it therefore your bu- 
 finefs to trim this lamp, and fupply it with oil, 
 that it may burn clear at the appearing of the 
 lamb. And I pray God your b:d)\ and foul ^ 
 and fpirit may be preferred unblameable^ unto 
 the coming of our Lord Jefus Chrid : To whom 
 with the Father and the holy Ghoft, the holy 
 ever bleffed and glorious Trinity, be all ho- 
 nour, and glory, and praife, and thankfglving, 
 adoration and worfliip, now and to all eternity. 
 Amen. 
 
 SERMON 
 
J ^6 T^e duty of plucking out the eye explained. 
 
 SERMON XXIII. 
 
 The duty of plucking out the eye 
 explained. 
 
 Mark ix, 47, 48. 
 
 'And if thine eye offend thee pluck it out l It is 
 better for thee to enter into the kingdom of 
 God with one eye^ than having two eyes to 
 be cafi into hell fire ; where their worm dietb 
 not, and their Jire is not quenched. 
 
 Serm. ' I ^HESE words of our Saviour are re- 
 XXIII. Jl^ cited, as fpoke upon two occafions : In 
 'the 5th of St. Matthew they are an application 
 to what he fpeaks concerning the purity and 
 chaftity of the mind, which is equally necef- 
 fary with that of the body. Here, and elfe- 
 where, they follow our Saviour's difcourfe, 
 concerning giving offence to weaker chriftians, 
 and difcouraging any beginnings of chriftianity 
 in others, out of fpiritual pride and fondnefs 
 for our own opinions. In one place is iigniiied, 
 
 our 
 
The duty of plucking out the eye explained. \ ^y 
 
 our being drawn into fin ourfelves; intheSERM. 
 other, the being the occafion of fin to others. XXIII. 
 
 Now whether the text is an anfwer to any 
 objedion exprefsly made, as fome think j or 
 whether they were fpoke to obviate the 
 thoughts of mens minds, upon hearing of pre- 
 cepts which had fo much appearance of dif- 
 ficulty, is much the fame thing ; it is plain 
 they fuppofe precepts he had been giving of 
 the chaflity of the very eye, and the lincerity 
 and humility of the mind, by cherifliing all de-^ 
 grees of religion and piety in others, in contradic- 
 tion totheir own opinions and worldly interefts, 
 might look like a heavy yoke, and were hard 
 fayings, and degrees of virtue too refined for 
 fiefh and blood. If people muft not tranfgrefs 
 with a look themfelves, nor be any way the 
 occafion of fin to others, though by doing 
 what is innocent ^nd lawful in itfelf ; who then 
 can be faved ? 
 
 But in the words of my text be lets them 
 know, that thefe degrees of virtue are both 
 necefiTary and pofijble; and therefore, that 
 they are difficult is no objection j for what 
 ought not men to do to gain heaven, and a- 
 void the everlafting torments of Hell? If men 
 will endeavour as much for the prefervation of 
 their fouls, as they ordinarily do for the health 
 of their bodies, they will furely gain their 
 point, and overcome the ft rongeil temptations: 
 If thy hand or foot offend thee cut it off; 
 and if thine eye offend thee pluck it out; it is 
 better for thee to enter into the kingdom of 
 
 God 
 
158 "^he duty of plucking out the eye explained. 
 
 Serm. God maimed, or with one eye; than having 
 
 XXIlI.two eyes to be caft into hell fire. 
 
 The word to offend or fcandalize is meta- 
 phorical, and taken from walking: So that 
 it fignifies any thing fuch as a ftone, or 
 block in our way, which may make us trip 
 or flumble ; from thence it is ufed to exprefs 
 any thing which may let or hinder us in our 
 chriflian courfe, and make us ftumble or fall 
 into fm ; and therefore if our eye offend us, 
 or be any occafion of fin, if all other ways 
 fail ; we are bid to pluck it out. 
 
 As to that ^exprefiion of entering into the 
 kingdom of God with one eye; the meaning 
 is, that it is better for us to want one of our 
 eyes while we are in this world, and go to 
 heaven at laft ; than to keep both our eyes 
 here, and by that means be caft into hell here- 
 after. A form of fpeaking very agreeable to 
 what we find in other places; as where our 
 Saviour jays, that the publicans and Harlots 
 enter into the kingdom of Heaven before 
 them; (i. e.) thofe who had been publicans 
 and harlots. 
 
 Nothing is lefs intended here, than that 
 people fliould ufe any violence to their bodies, 
 by wounding or maiming themfelves any way, 
 and difabling it for any the anions of life; 
 this is contrary to the laws of God and nature; 
 we are never to do any thing for religion and 
 virtue that is unnatural or unreafonable. But 
 the whole is a figurative way of fpeaking ; by 
 our eyes, is fignified any thing that is near and 
 
 dear 
 
^he duty of plucking out the eye explained. 1 59 
 dear to us j and by plucking them out is meant, Serm. 
 the removing them from us, and denying the XXIII. 
 gratification of any incHnation cf the body, " 
 or defire of the mind which betrays us into 
 fin. The force of the argument is in this; 
 it is highly prudent and advifable to quit fome 
 prefent pleafure or advantage, though with 
 great uneafinefs and reludance, than lofe a 
 greater good hereafter, and undergo a greater 
 evil ; it is a piece of prudence that common 
 icn^Q fuggefis to every one j it is no other than 
 what men pradlife every day in the concern- 
 ments of life: And nothing is more ufnal 
 than for people to have their flefh fear'd, and 
 their limbs cut off to preferve the reft of their 
 body ; they undergo a prefent pain, though 
 very acute and violent, for future health and 
 eafe. This is what headvifeth men to in re- 
 ligion ; and though they feel much uneafinefs 
 and hardfhip, in denying their lufts and viti- 
 ous inclinations; and find the attainment of 
 virtue and holinefs ever fo difficult; yet, let 
 them ad: by the fame rules and principles of 
 prudence in this, that they do in other things; 
 and let the expedlation of thofe advantages they 
 fhall procure by it hereafter, prevail on them 
 tp undergo chearfully the hardfhips and diffi- 
 culties ; and let the profped: of hell flames on 
 the other hand, make them forego thofe finfiil 
 pleafures which will furely bring them to that 
 miferable end. 
 
^he duty of plucking out the eye explained. 
 
 So that here we have in thefe words, 
 
 ift, The hardship and difficulties of virtue 
 and holinefs on one fide, laid againft the joys 
 of heaven on the other. And, 
 
 2dly, The pleafures of fin in this life com- 
 pared, with the torments of hell hereafter. 
 
 And therefore, to carry on this motive of 
 our Saviour's, and render it of as great effica- 
 cy as we can ; let us in each of thefe inftances 
 confider, the great difproportion between the 
 lofs there is on one hand, and the gain on the 
 other. 
 
 I. As to the firft then ; the great difpropor- 
 tion between the difficulties of virtue and ho- 
 linefs, and the advantages obtained by them 
 will appear, if we confider thefe three things. 
 
 I. That fince it is even pofliible to fecure 
 our innocency and to be virtuous and holy ; 
 let the hardfliips and difficulties be what they 
 will, yet they are nothing to what is gained 
 by them. If it had been utterly impoflible 
 for us to attain that virtue and holinefs, which 
 is neceffary to qualifie us for heaven and happi- 
 pinefs, then all our reafonable wiflies had been 
 that God would onlyput it in our power > nay, 
 we had defired no more in order to obtain 
 heaven ; and what ever the difficulties were, 
 we fliould appear willing to undergo them. 
 What is it we fhould not be willing to do in 
 fuch a cafe, in order to procure the everlaft- 
 ingjoys of a future ftate ? Now this very wifti 
 we have obtained j it is in our power; and 
 by the unfpeakable goodnefs of God we are 
 
 left 
 
7he duty of pluchng out the eye explained. thl 
 
 left in the hand of our council j life andSERM. 
 death is before us, we have a perfedt freedom of XX II I. 
 choofing either one or the other; and theworft 
 we can imagine is what our Saviour fuppofes 
 here, that we voluntarily undergo fome pain 
 and uneafinefs for the prevention of a Sin. 
 
 And therefore, were we all literally to cut 
 off our hands and feet, and that God required 
 we (hould adtually pluck out our eyes to pre- 
 ferve our innocence, yet this would be but a 
 fmall and eafy condition for obtaining thofe 
 unfpeakablejoys of another life. Men will do 
 all this for a little health, and fuffer the tor-- 
 ture of cutting off their limbs only to prolong 
 their life, and lupport a finking carcais a few 
 years longer in this world : T hey will have one 
 limb cut off after another, and dye by piece- 
 meal rather than go off all at once. What is 
 more ufual than for people to undergo the fe- 
 vereft methods of cure, and endure the fear- 
 ing, the cutting, and burning of their flefh, 
 in order to their health and eafy living a while 
 longer here. 
 
 And if men will do all this for a little health, 
 and to continue perhaps a crazy fickly carcafa 
 in life, only a few days longer j then how 
 much rather fhould they undergo this, to pre- 
 ferve that health and innocence of foul, which 
 places them in a condition of entering into 
 the kingdom of God, where there is fullneis 
 of joy, and unconceivable pleafures for ever- 
 more; nay, if we were to cut off a limb (if it 
 were poffible) every day, and pluck out an 
 
 Vol. II. M eye; 
 
1 62 ^he duty of plucking out the eye explained* 
 
 Serm. eye ; yet, this would bear no proportion to that 
 XXIII. weight of glory which {hall be revealed in us. 
 Now though this be not required from us 
 in any general precept, and that no one may 
 exercife fuch unnatural violence upon himfelf ; 
 yet (as it is with the health of the body) men 
 may fall into fuch circumftances, that there is 
 no preferving their fouls in virtue and inno« 
 cence, without yielding their members to be 
 cut off, and their very eyes to be pluckt out, if 
 the enemies of religion and virtue fhould 
 make ufe of thefe methods of cruelty. If we 
 cannot keep them without a fin, without 
 tranfgreffing fome of the commands of God, 
 or denying the faith of Chrifl; we mufl: yield 
 them up to the tormentors: All natural affec- 
 tion muft ceafe, even to the members of our 
 own body ; and we muft caft them from us 
 with indignation, for the effeds of willful 
 and deliberate guilt upon the foul are as real, 
 and of as fatal a confequence, as that of a 
 fpreading gangrene in the body, and will as 
 furely prove mortal in the end; and when 
 once it comes to this fatal cafe, there is no 
 other method of cure. 
 
 So that then the queftion is often literally, 
 as our Saviour puts it; v/hether it be not better 
 to cut off their hands and feet, and pluck out 
 their eyes, or being maimed here, or fuffering 
 a painful and violent death to enter into the 
 kingdom of God; than by preferving their life 
 or limbs to be caft into hell fire, where their 
 worm dies not, and the fire is not quench- 
 ed? 
 
l^he duty of fhchig out the eye explatned, 1 63 
 
 ed? And accordingly we find many who haveSERN-; 
 been adually reduced to this extremity whofeXXUj. 
 lot, or rather whofe great glory and happinefs 
 it was, to be thought worthy to fufFer for the 
 truth, have made the better choice j to whom 
 this precept of our Saviour was practicable ia 
 it's flrid:e(l fenfe. Who having their eyes up- 
 on that recom pence of reward, in the mid ft 
 of racks and tortures, have rejoyced in hope 
 of the glory of God. If it fliould come to 
 this with us, yet it is no more than what hath 
 been done before us, by thofe who were 
 tortured not accepting deliverance, that they 
 might obtain abetter relurred^ion; they were 
 floned, they were fawn afunder^ flain with the 
 fword, were deftitute, afflided, tormented. 
 Thehiftories of the primitive Church, abound 
 with examples of multitudes who underwent 
 great variety of torments for the faith of Chrift, 
 and the prefervation of a good ccjnfcience; and 
 we need not look far back for large catalogues 
 of martyrs who endured cutting, and racking, 
 and burning, and all that the malice of their 
 enemies could inflid: upon them, or the body 
 of man could fiiffer; and all upon this prin^ 
 ciple, that it is better to enter into life maim- 
 ed, than by fparing their life and lin.bs to 
 run the hazard of eternal death. 
 
 II. The difproportion between the difficult^ 
 of virtue and holinefs here, and the joys of 
 heaven hereafter will appear, if we confider 
 that the difficulty is not fo great as we ima- 
 gine i for the greateft difficulty in religion 
 M 2 (excepting 
 
1 64 ^f^^ ^iify of plucking out the eye explained. 
 
 Serm. (excepting the cafe of perfecution only) is, 
 XXIT.L the firft cuibing our vitious inchnati^ns, and 
 breaking the force of our evil habits: This in- 
 deed is d fficult to flcfh and blood, for many 
 of thofe inclinations are now in one fenfe 
 natural to us j we are {hapen in wickednefs, 
 and in fin hath our mother conceived us. 
 The evil tendencies of our nature, are part of 
 ourfelves, which is the realon why they are 
 here expreft by cutting off a hand, or a foot, 
 and plucking out an eye, and they are ftill 
 more rivet ted and confirmed by cuftom and 
 habits, which are as a fecond nature to us 5 
 and therefore it cannot but be a matter of 
 great difficulty J nay, it is fo great, that the 
 fcriptures exprefs it by that of a natural impof^ 
 fibility, as of the ^Ethiopian changing of his 
 skin, and the Leopard his fpots: And in 
 truth it is fo hard, that it is utterly impoffible 
 for us by meer natural ftrength to get over 
 the iii ft difficulty, it is too ftrong for all the 
 power of human refolution ; and therefore 
 it is, that the fupernatural affiftance of God's 
 preventing grace is afforded us. And though 
 we have this, yet our own experience may 
 tell us, what a mighty conflfd there is between 
 the flefh and the fpirit, between the grace of 
 God, and our own reafon on the one hand, 
 and the lawof fin in our members on the other ; 
 when we attempt to oppofe and contradicft 
 the finful appetites of our body, or vitious 
 inclination of our mind, we meet with mighty 
 oppofition and re 1 usances 5 the temptation 
 
 drawls 
 
T^he duty of plucking cut the eye explained, 1 6 c 
 
 draws us one way, the profpedl of our lofs and S e r m . 
 danger another; the temptation whifpcrs XXIII. 
 nothing; but dehght and p'e.,fure in one ear, 
 our confciences, the lofs of heaven, and the 
 vengeance of hell in the other ; fo that what 
 between doubting and wavering, yielding 
 and recoiling again, the mind is in perplexity 
 and diftr.id:ion, and can hardly come to a fix- 
 ed purpofe and refolution. 
 
 We muft confefs this is hard; and fo great 
 a difficulty that few make their way through 
 it. The curbing or flifling a natur^.! in«.lina- 
 tion, or breakng off a finful cuftom, either 
 of injuftice or envy, of intemperance or un- 
 chaftity, of pride or luxury, is in truth a 
 cutting off a limb, or plucking out an eye; 
 it is like the tearing of our flefh and parting 
 with a rotten member ; but how hard fo ever 
 it may be, even upon this fappofition, that it 
 is the greateft difficulty in the world, fince it 
 is but difficult and not impoCTible, it is better 
 to undergo it than never enter into the king- 
 dom of heaven. 
 
 Confider what ftrange difficulties men will 
 undergo in profecution of any worldly ends ; 
 h )W much pains they will be at to get a fum 
 of money, or preferment : They will deny 
 themfelves mod of the diverfions and fatisfac- 
 tions of this life, their meat and drink, and 
 fleep; they will impair their health, break 
 off with their deareft friends, they will ven- 
 ture their lim's and life and all, and ac- 
 tually go through fire and water to gain their 
 M 3 point : 
 
"^he duty of fhchng out the c-^e explained. 
 point : How fedulous and careful they will be 
 to mind an error in their carriage and deport- 
 ment, and how reftlefs and uneafy they make 
 themfelves to redlify a natural defed: in the 
 body, nay, almoft to the quitting moft of 
 the enjoyments of this life j and it is with in- 
 credible trouble that fome men attain to habits, 
 either of body or mind, in order to their 
 pleafure or profit. 
 
 Now there is not the twentieth part of this 
 difficulty even in the firfl cutting off a finful 
 inclination, or a vitious habit i and indeed 
 men take infinitely more pains for thefe little 
 trifles, than they need do for heaven. 
 
 For as I faid before, all the difficulty is in 
 firfl: cutting off our evil habits j when once' 
 that is over we are more eafy, and the pairt" 
 wears off by degrees : And the reafon why this. 
 appears much harder than it is in reality, is, 
 becaufe men are a great while about it, and 
 do not enter upon it with that firmnefs and 
 conftancy of mind, that the matter requires. 
 As the comparifon here in my text, imports 
 an evil inclination or habit ; mufl be cut off 
 fhort all at once, and caft from us by a fudderi 
 force and violent refolution ; and then as it 
 is in the cutting off our limbs, the extremity 
 of pain is fhorr, and the wound heals by de- 
 grees, till at length we have perfed: eafe. 
 And where rnen*s minds are as intent upon 
 heaven, as they are upon the objeds of this 
 world, they adually take thiscourfc, and make 
 .nothing of the trouble and anguifh, which 
 
 never 
 
The duty of f lucking out the eye explajjied, 167 
 never lafts long, if after this they perfift and Se u m. 
 fuffer not themlelvesto be tainted any more. XXIII. 
 
 But when men, as they generally do, at- 
 tempt this irrefolutely and faintly, and are 
 long about it, and but half relolv'd, fome- 
 times intent upon it, and at other times wa- 
 vering and dubious; then they renew the 
 pain and the difficulty, they are ever in the 
 midft of the greateft hardfhip and extremity; 
 then it is like trying to cut off the fame limb 
 every day, the wound is always frefh, and 
 the pain continues exquifite. This makes the 
 way to Heaven appear fo narrow, and the 
 gate fo ftrait ; becaule men are always pref- 
 iing backwards and forwards, only fteping 
 out and into it perpetually, and make little 
 farther progrefs. Whereas if they would do 
 this, all the bufinefs of religion would become 
 pleafant and eafy, and vice would be 
 irkfome and loathfome to us : So that in 
 truth, the difficulty is not worth a naming 
 in compirifon of the advantage it brings us. 
 Let us but fecure a firm fixed refolution in our 
 minds, and the body will fufier any thin<T; 
 Projice (fays Seneca) qucecunque cor tuum la~ 
 nia?itj qua Ji aliter extrahi nequirent^ cor ip~ 
 fum cum illis evellendum eft. Cafl away 
 from you with violence whatfoever difoiders 
 your heart, and if you have no other way to 
 be rid of it, tear out heart and all. It was a 
 brave expreffion of the generrus refolution of 
 a healhen, and all he propofed by it was no 
 M 4 more 
 
i68 ^he duty of plucking out the eye explained. 
 
 Serm. more than the prefent eafe of a man's mind. 
 XXIII. But how much doth this faying of our Savi- 
 our's exceed him, who, when he bids us pluck 
 out our eye, adds the realon ; becaufe it is 
 better to want our eyes here, and enter into 
 the kingdom of God hereafter, than by pre- 
 ferving both our eyes to be caft into hell fire. 
 III. The difproportion will appear greater 
 yet, if we confider, that the difficulties of vir- 
 tue and holineis are but fliort ; If they were 
 ever fo great, the enjoyment will infinitely 
 exceed the difficulty of the purchafe. As I 
 have (hewn, the trouble and uneafinefs is over 
 with the firft violence of our vitious habits ; 
 but if it were continued all our lives long, yet, 
 this could bear no proportion to that felici- 
 ty which {hall never have an end. When a 
 few days are told here, all the hurry of our life 
 is over j fo foon paffeth it away and we are gone : 
 And yet this i/ght aJfliBion which can laji but 
 for a moment^ works for us a more exceeding 
 and eternal weight of glory. 
 
 By the kingdom of God here is meant, 
 that everlafting ftate of blifs, which will be 
 the fure reward of our virtue and holinefs in 
 this life ; and we learn from the text, that our 
 eternal well-being depends upon this fhort 
 fpace; and fince it doth fo, whatever refif- 
 tance or oppofition temptations give us, this 
 confideration fhould be always prefent to our 
 minds : How much better it is to undergo 
 trouble and uneafinefs, than lofe that crown 
 of glory which fadeth not away i a ftate of 
 
 joy 
 
^he duty of plucking out the eye explained. \ 69 
 
 joy and felicity, which is uncorruptible uh-Serm. 
 changeable, and everlafting in the heavens j a XXIII. 
 flate which we know nothing of, as it is in it- 
 felf ; and for that very reafon mud be ex- 
 ceedingly happy, becaufe we can conceive 
 nothing of it's real nature now. Whatever 
 our trouble is, the fuj^erings of this p7'ejent 
 time are not worthy to be compared with the 
 glory which P^all be re 'ce a ltd in us. 
 
 And this leads me to the fecond comparifon, 
 
 II. Between the pleafures of fin in this life, 
 
 and the torments of hell hereafter ; and the 
 
 great difproportion between thefe will appear, 
 
 if we confider thefe two things. 
 
 I. How little real fatisfad:ion there is, in all 
 the enjoyments of this world : He that made 
 it his bufmefs to hnd out the utmoll there 
 was in them, came to the refult at laft, that 
 they were vanity and vexation of fpirit. He 
 calls it all folly and madnefs^ as being unwor- 
 thy of rational creatures, and as if all thofe 
 were out of their wits who purfue them with 
 fo much eagernefs : Many of them are fuch as 
 nature blufhes at, and is afhamed to ownj 
 moft of them are nothing but a meer outfide, 
 and make us happy only in the opinion of 
 others ; when at the fame time they are fo 
 far from giving us real enjoyment, that per- 
 haps they are a load and burthen to ourfelves : 
 And did not the cuftom of the world raife 
 thefe unneceffary things into fome efteem; 
 and that people could be rid of them with- 
 out 
 
lyo '^he duty of plucking out the eye explained. 
 
 Serm. out the remarks and refle6lionst)f others, they 
 XXI il. would chufe to be without them, and throw 
 ""■•^v*— ^them away as troublefome and uneafy trifles. 
 All the pleafure this world affords, beyond 
 the neceffary fupplies and conveniencies of na- 
 ture, isfo inconfiderable that it is hardly mift;'i 
 and nothing makes them agreeable to us but " 
 the being ufed to them j nothing but cuftom 
 and opinion renders many of them tolerable : 
 And if we confider the matter juftly, there is 
 no fuch thing as real and pofitive happinefs in 
 this world ; fmce mofl: of the enjoyments in it 
 are only the fupplying the defects of nature, 
 and ridding it from uneafinefs at the prefent. 
 We eat only to cure the gnawingsof an empty 
 ftomach ; we drink to quench the irkfom vio- 
 lence of thirft ; we clothe ourfelves to prevent 
 the pain of cold and nakednefs j and thus it 
 is in moll other in (lances: All that we do is 
 not to make us happy, but to prevent a little 
 prefent mifery and uneafinefs j when we are 
 at the height of all worldly enjoyments : even 
 a pain in our finger {hall make them all vanifli 
 like a dream, and rob us of all guft and relifh 
 of them ; and though there were no interrup- 
 tion from any pain in the body, yet, even in 
 the moil hardned finners, there is fome re- 
 morfe of confcience always attending the com- 
 mittal of fin, which palls the enjoyment : Nor 
 are ail the pleafures of this life, in their greateft 
 purity, comparable to the fecret complacence 
 and the real pofitive fatisfadtion of mind, which 
 
 follows 
 
^he duty of plucking out the eye explahicd. lyi 
 
 follows the cutting off a fin, and the cnnqucft Serm. 
 of a llrong temptation ; fo little ?.re they worth XXlIf. 
 buying at the rate of our fouls, and the being ' 
 cafl into hell fire. 
 
 Alas ! how low and mean, and wretched 
 are all thofe things that are called enjoyments 
 in this world ! The gratifying mens brutifli 
 appetites, a little fine cloathsand equipage, a 
 few meats and drinks extraordinary ; the pri- 
 viledge to fit, or go before other people ; a few 
 glittering titles, and to be called by fome other 
 name befides their own j to have their houfe 
 a little larger than others, and many ufclefs 
 things about them to look at every day -, and 
 above all to have a confiderable fum of money 
 to leave behind them when they dye. Thefe 
 are the things which go by the name of plea- 
 fure and enjoyment, which people are as fond 
 of as they are of their eyes; daily purchafeat 
 the price of their fouls, and will rather be cafl 
 into hell fire than part with them. This is 
 fuch a degree of folly and madnefs as men 
 will never be thoroughly fenfible of, till they 
 come to another world ; it is as if one (hould 
 drink a glafs of deadly poifon, only that they 
 might tafte the Iweet of it while it is going 
 down : But then they will feel how little it 
 profits a man to gain the who 'e world and lofe his 
 own foul J and how much better it is to pluck 
 out the eye that offended them, than having 
 two eyes to becaft into hell fire. 
 
 II. If we (hould fuppofe the finful pleafures 
 of this life, to be as great as the moil corrupt 
 
 and 
 
172 ^ke duty of plucking out the eye explained, 
 
 Serm. and defiled imagination can reprefent them, 
 XXIII. yet they will lafl: but for a (hort time; the 
 ^^'^n-^ longefl is but for the life of the man, and then 
 this world paffth away^ and the lu(i thereof^ 
 and all that is in it\ the luft of tie fleihy the 
 luji of the eye, and the pride of life disappears ; 
 then the fcene changes, and they are fucceeded 
 by an eternity of woe and mifery ; a fure and 
 certain change ! and then the greater their plea- 
 fure was before, the more they e? joyed of 
 their good things in this I fe^ the more unfup- 
 portable will be that ftate of mifery, which 
 fhall never have an end. 
 
 Now, the eternity of thofe torments is the 
 great aggravation, here mentioned, of that woe, 
 which fhall be the punifhment of lin j and of 
 the folly of making fjch an exchange, by en- 
 joying the pleafures of fm for a feafon, to be 
 caft into hell, where their worm dies not^ and 
 their Jire is ?iot quenched. 
 
 This was a received form of fpeaking among 
 the Jews; who as the fon of Syrach fays, vii. 
 17. were generally of an opinion, that the 
 vengeance prepared for the ungodly confided 
 in fire, and worms. The moll probable ac- 
 count how it came to be fo was this : Among 
 the Jews, the utmoft feverity they executed 
 upon malefactors for any grievous offence was, 
 not to fuffer them to be buried after execu- 
 tion ; and the place they cad their dead bodies 
 into, was the valley of Hinnom, a little dif- 
 tance from Jerufalem, where they lay till their 
 flefh was eaten up of worms, and then their 
 
 bones 
 
*The duty of plucking out the eye explained. 173 
 
 bones were burnt to afhes in a fire kept always Serm. 
 therefor that purpole; from which fire, toge-XXIII. 
 ther with that fuppofcd to be in the fame val- 
 ley, where the idolatrous Jews burnt human 
 facrifices to their ido's, the extreme punish- 
 ment of wicked men in another world was 
 ufually fii^nified amongil them, by that of fire 
 and worms; and the being caft into a place 
 of torment hereafter, was fignified by the 
 being call into Gehenna, (i. e.) the valley of 
 Hinnom. 
 
 Now from hence the words are transferred 
 by our Saviour, to fi^nify the torments of the 
 damned. And 
 
 I ft, He fays their worm fhall never dye; 
 which expreflion hath been ufed to fignify the 
 torments of the mind, as that of fire exprefles 
 the punifliment of the body ; and it aptly re- 
 prefents to us that everlafting remorfe of con- 
 icience, which fliall be the confequence of 
 guilt in another world ; fhame and remorfe 
 and anguifti of mind, are the infeparable com- 
 panions of guilt, and people never fail to find 
 it while they are young finners, till by habits 
 of finning it becomes fo familiar to them, that 
 in time they wear ofl^ all feiife of it, and by 
 this means the worm of confcience dies in this 
 world; yet it fliall be revived again in the 
 other, where we are told it (hall never dye. 
 
 How exquifire a punifhment this will be, is 
 impofiible to conceive, till men come to know 
 what that kingdom of heaven is which they 
 
 have 
 
174 ^^^ ^^^y of plucking out the eye explained. 
 Serm. have loft, and at how great a diftance their 
 XXIII. fins have placed them from God, whofe pre- 
 'fence alone can make us infinitely happy, and 
 preferve us from being miferable; yet there 
 are two things which may help us to fome 
 notion of it. 
 
 I. One is, that compundlion of mind, and 
 anguifti of heart, which every fincere penitent 
 feels for his paft fins ; that forrow which (as 
 the Apoftle fpeaks) works a repentance nei:er to 
 he repented of. What this is, thofe alone can 
 be fenfible of who have felt it ; in fome it is 
 fo great that it leaves a lafting impreflion on 
 their minds, it dwells upon their fpirits ; fo 
 that they can fcarce be faid to enjoy any thing 
 in this world : In the whole courfe of their 
 lives they cannot lift up their eyes to heaven 
 with chearfulnefs ; and their greateft hopes 
 have a mixture of defpondency. But above all 
 the moft pungent fenfe of guilt is that which 
 follows the committal of a fin, after the 
 ftrength of the temptation was broke, and after 
 a long confirmed habit of the contrary virtue : 
 This renews the wounds of confcience, it 
 makes them bleed afrefti, and all before feemed 
 but a fmarting, in comparifon of that raging 
 pain in fucb a perfon's mind ; he hath now 
 many additional degrees of folly to upbraid 
 himfelf with ; he is now under the difpleafure 
 of God, who was once in his favour : The 
 bitternefs of his foul is fuch, that his flefh 
 trembles for fear of God, and he is afraid of 
 his judgments. 
 
 Now 
 
^he duty of plucking out the eye explained. '\y^ 
 
 Now if the anguifli of a truly penitent heart Se r at. 
 be thusgicat, while men are in this world, and XXIII. 
 have it in their power to repent i then what' 
 muft it be hereafter, when there is no room 
 left for repentance. 
 
 II. Another thing, which may help us to 
 conceive what that worm of confcicrnce {hall 
 be hereafter, is the fearful condition of perfons 
 in defpair. I am not inclined indeed to think, 
 that all thofe perfons do indeed defpair, who 
 affirm it; nor that the condition of thofe is def- 
 perate who obll'nately decline all comfort, and 
 can entertain little or no hope of the mercy of 
 God. While their fears are all on their own 
 fide, and they do not abate of their endeavours 
 to amend, others may reafonably conceive good 
 hopes of them, and may juftly have entertained 
 a great charity for them, though they will have 
 none for themfelves. 
 
 Yet it is not unlikely, that even in this life, 
 God may give over a perverfe and obftinate 
 finner, to the malitious infinuations of the 
 Devil, and the lalhes of an evil confciencej 
 and perhaps we are not without fome terrible 
 inftances of fuch black defpair in wicked men, 
 efpecially near their death ; when the grace of 
 God is intirely withdrawn, the time of re- 
 pentance part, and all degrees of hope entirely 
 cut off, fo that the wretch hath nothing left 
 to reflet!! upon but his fins, and that eternal 
 vengeance that experts him. When a dead 
 and hardened confcience is thus awakened in 
 the laft extremity, it is vifiblc how the terrors- 
 
 of 
 
176 ^he duty of plucking out the eye explained. 
 
 Serm. of the Lord are let loofe upon him ; he is then 
 XXIII. in the gall of bitternefs, and this worm of con- 
 'fcience torments him before his time, as if it 
 were in hafte to devour him. He raves in- 
 ceflantly of the wrath aud fury of God, of 
 vengeance and damnation ; he breathes out no- 
 thing but horrid execrations ; and fcarce names 
 the name of God but to blafpheme. 
 
 Rage and madnefs are terms of peace and 
 mildnefs to this, infomuch that he fcares and 
 confounds all about him ; his very filence is 
 full of horrour, and his looks betray a legion 
 of tormentors within. To exprefs compaf- 
 fion would be to mock him j for there is no 
 ufe of pity from men where there is no hopes 
 of mercy from God.' 
 
 I muft confefs all impenitent finners at their 
 death, have not this amazing fenfe of guilt, 
 and the vengeance that belongs to it; the na- 
 ture of their diftemper, a fudden violence, 
 and many accidental caufes may prevent it ; 
 and where there is none of thefe, the confci- 
 ences of fomc finners are fo ftupid and be- 
 nummed that they continue infenfible to the 
 laft, and go with a fullen lilence, into the 
 regions of darknefs. But the gnawings of 
 this worm will be more furprizing and never 
 the lefs fierce and violent in another world -, 
 though wicked men feel it not at prefent ; yet 
 like thofe rotten carcaiTes in the valley of 
 Hinnom, they are engendering thofe worms 
 that (hall eat though their own bowels ; and 
 the fiercefl fting of that worm will be the fad 
 
 refledions 
 
7he duty of plucking cut the eye explained. i '^y 
 
 refledions upon their own madnefs and folly, Serm. 
 who for want of bearing a little trouble and XXI IT. 
 uneafinefs in this world, quitted heaven, and 
 loft the kingdom of God ; and for thofe fliort 
 momentary pitiful pleafures. Which did not 
 deferve the name ot fuch ; are now caft into 
 hell fire. 
 
 II. Another aggravation of that future ftate 
 of mifery is, that their fire is not quenched. 
 This expreffion of an unquenchable fire, took 
 it's firft rife from a fire which confumed fo in- 
 tirely, as to leave no memory or remains of 
 what was caft into it, as it is faid, J^ai. xxxiv. 
 lo. Speaking of the deftrudion ofldumea. 
 He Jays it's fire poall not be quenched^ night nor, 
 day^ the fmoak thereof Jhall go up for ever^' 
 from one generation to another it fhall lye wafie. 
 So Sodorii and Gomorrah are faid to Idc ict 
 forth as an example, fuftering the vengeance 
 of eternal fire ; (i. e.) a fire which confumed 
 them, fo as that they fhall lie eternally wafte : 
 From hence it became the ufual phrafe, to 
 exprefs thofe torments of wicked men in a- 
 nother world, which fhall never have an end. 
 And thus it is ufed by our Saviour in his laft 
 fentence upon the wicked, depart ye curfed 
 into everlafting fire^ prepared for the devil 
 and his angels, and in the 20th ot the Rev, 
 It is called a lake, of fire wherein the wicked 
 fliall be tormented for ever and ever: And in 
 this fenfe hell fire is faid in the text not to 
 be quenched. 
 
 Vol. II. N Now 
 
^he duty of plucking out the eye explained. 
 
 Now whether it be a real fire or no, is 
 not at all material for us to determine 5 for if 
 it be, and if the flames of hell are literally to 
 be underftood, then who will be able to dwell 
 with everlafting burnings ? And how dear will 
 the finful pleafures of this world be bought, at 
 fuch a monftrous price. Men fhrink at the 
 thoughts of burning alive, and nature Harts 
 at the mention of it j and therefore it is 
 flrange that people (hould have fuch a mighty 
 dread of fire here, and yet be fo little moved 
 with the burning for ever hereafter. Nothing 
 can poffibly be the reafon of this, but becaufc 
 they do not believe it, or do not confider it. 
 But whether men have any hearty perfwafion 
 of the truth of this or no, it is better to part 
 with all the pleafures of this life, than run fo 
 great a hazard. 
 
 If it be not literally a fire, it is certainly 
 called fo for want of fomething on earth more 
 dreadful, and of a pain more exquifite, where- 
 by to reprefent it, fo that this inflead of lef- 
 fening the terrour adds extremely to it. Whe- 
 ther it be one or the other, it is furely infup- 
 portable and eternal, and therefore as our Savi- 
 our fays here, it is better, infinitely better, to part 
 with all our deareft fins, and pluck out the very 
 eye that offends us, and enter into the kingdom 
 of God with one eye, rather than having two 
 eyes to be cafl into hell fire, where their 
 worm dies not, and their fire is not quenched. 
 
 I (hould now proceed to make fome oblerva- 
 tions and inferences from this text j but this 
 1 (hall defer to the next opportunity. 
 
 SERMON. 
 
7he duty of plucking out the eye explained, ijg 
 
 SERMON XXIV. 
 
 The duty of plucking out the eye 
 explained. 
 
 Mark ix» 47, 48. 
 
 And if thine eye offend thee pluck it out : It is 
 better for thee to enter into the kingdom of 
 God with one eye^ than having two eyes to 
 be ca/i into hell fire ; where their worm dieth 
 not^ and the fire is not quenched, 
 
 IH A V E already fpoke to thefe words, s e r m." 
 which whether they are an anfwer or not XXIV. 
 to any objedion made, or deligned to obvi- 
 ate one which might reafonably be expeded, 
 yet, they fuppofe the duties our Saviour had 
 been difcourling of, to be offome difficulty and 
 uneafinefs. But though they are hard, yet 
 he {hews in thefe words that they are necefla- 
 ry and poffible, if men will do as much for 
 the innocence of their fouls, as they ordinari- 
 ly do for the health of their bodies. 
 
 N 2 And 
 
i8o ^he duty of plucking out the eye explained, 
 
 Serm. And he teaches us here how much it con-« 
 XXIV. cerns us to undergo fome trouble and uneafi- 
 ^nefs, and quit fome prefent pleafure or profit, 
 in order to virtue and holinefs. For it is bet- 
 ter to enter into the kingdom of God with 
 one eye, than having two eyes to be caft in- 
 to hell fire. So that here we have thefe two 
 things, 
 
 I ft. The hardfhip and difficulty of virtue 
 on one fide, laid againft the joys of heaven on 
 the other. And, 
 
 2dly, The pleafures of fin in this life, are 
 compared with the torments of hell hereafter. 
 In each of thefe I carried on the ccmpari- 
 fon, and (hewed the great difproportion be- 
 tween them, and confequently the folly of thofe 
 who take up with the prefent pleafures, and 
 decline the trouble and uneafinefs of virtue. 
 From thence I proceeded to confider, the two 
 aggravations of thofe infernal punifhments 
 fignified here, by that of their worm not dy- 
 ing, and their fire not being quenched. 
 
 And therefore, having already fpoke to 
 what was more exprefly contained in the 
 words, and more immediately intended by 
 our Saviour who fpoke them j becaufe they 
 feem to be of farther ufe and inftrudion to us 
 all, I fhall here make fome of thofe obferva- 
 tions and inferences, which follow eafily from 
 them. 
 
 1, The firft thing T fhall obferve to you 
 from the words is, the great condefcenfion 
 there is to the frail condition of humanity, 
 
 even 
 
The duty of plucking out the eye exphiined. 18 1 
 
 even in the flricflefl and moft fevere precept of Sf. r m, 
 chriftianity; for by our Saviour's giving the -^^^_^\ 
 inftance of mortification and felf denial, in 
 cutting off only one of our hands, and pluck- 
 ing out but one of our eyes, he well fignifies 
 here, that in order to virtue, and the graces of 
 the Gofpel, it is not neceffary that v^'e quite 
 extinguifli all our natural inclinations and ap- 
 petites, but that we moderate and reftrain 
 them within the due bounds of nature and 
 religion. So that our bufinefs is not utterly 
 to deftroy, but to redify them j and this 
 feems to be the reafon of that emphafis laid 
 upon this expreffion, as it is in St. Math. If 
 thy right eye offend thee^ which is an ufual form 
 of fpeech, to exprefs how dear and valuable a 
 thing is to us, and it imports thus much, 
 that though a finful manner of gratifying our 
 natural inclinations, ftiould appear more a- 
 greeable and pleafant to us, than what our 
 religion hath prefcribed, yet we are to check 
 and curb them, and give way to tliem no far- 
 ther than is confident with the law of God. 
 
 Were it indifpenfibly required from us, to 
 cut off both our hands, and pluck out both our 
 eyes, (i. e.) fo to deface and abolifli all the in- 
 clinations and appetites of nature, that there 
 fliall be no remains of them left, it were indeed 
 a very hard faying, and who could bear it? 
 This is utterly impoffible to fle{h and blood, 
 for many of them are part of ourfelves, "and 
 wholly to root them out, would be fo far to 
 
 N 3 deftroy 
 
The duty of plucking out the eye explained, 
 
 deftroy our being ; fo that if this were the 
 meaning, we might all ask who then could 
 be faved ? 
 
 But the Gofpel propofeth to us only, the 
 redtifying all thofe ten<^encies of body or mind 
 which follow our being j to curb and reftrain 
 them from thofe exceffes, which they were 
 not originally made for. So that as the Gofple 
 is calculated for the truth and purity of reafon, 
 fo it is for the firft frame and difpofition of 
 nature ; though it is from God, yet it is a re- 
 ligion for men j and at the fame time it raifes. 
 us to an imitation of the divine perfedions, 
 it doth it by condefcenfion tp the weaknefs, 
 and infirmities of man. 
 
 It gives way to the innocent gratification of 
 our natural appetites and inclinations, and 
 there is room left for an innocent enjoyment 
 of all the bleflings of this Life. So that the 
 ends both of natyre and religion may be an- 
 fwered ; and in cafes even of the greateft ex- 
 tremity we are to confult our health and fafe- 
 ty ; if they perfequte UA in one city, we may 
 jlee to another^ nor are we commanded not to 
 be angry, but not to fin when we are fo, and 
 the ftate of marriage is not only permitted to 
 avoid fornication, but commended and faid 
 to be honourable in all. 
 
 And therefore thofe libertines who give way 
 to their lufls upon that principle, and argue 
 the unreafonablenefs of chriftianity from this 
 topick, as if it's precepts were a diredt contra- 
 di(5tion to nature, and therefore required what 
 
 was 
 
*tbe duty of plucking out the eye explained, 183 
 
 was unreafonable and impofTible ; they do it out Ser m. 
 of ignorance of the true nature of virtue, and XXIV. 
 temper of evangelical holinefs ; which may be 
 acquired vi^ithout bereaving ourfclves of all 
 worldly fatisfadtion, and confifts in moderat- 
 ing our bodily appetites, reftraining the incli- 
 nations of our minds, and keeping them with- 
 in compafs, and by governing our paffions, 
 and exercifing them on proper, and worthy 
 objedls. 
 
 And this is one thing which diflinguifhes 
 Chriftianity, and makes it differ from all o- 
 ther religions, which do commonly run into 
 thefe extremes either of giving a loofe to all 
 mens natural appetites, and driving men on 
 to extreme riot and excefs in them, or elfe to 
 fuch degrees of reftraint as defeat the ends 
 both of nature and religion j infomuch, that 
 their greateft flrains of virtue are an unreafo- 
 nable force upon the mind. 
 
 II. Another inference I (hall make from 
 thefe words is, the great neceflity of mortifi- 
 cations and felf denials in order to a good 
 degree of virtue and holinefs j the words 
 of the text do plainly fuppofe there arc 
 fome temptations fo ftrong, and importunate, 
 that there is no dealing with them any other 
 way J and that they are unconquerable with- 
 out ufing fuch harftiips and feverities to our- 
 felves, as are here expreft, by cutting off a 
 hand, or plucking out an eye: For though 
 chriftianity doth not oblige us to any unnatu- 
 ral violences upon ourfelves, yet, the conditi- 
 
 N 4 on 
 
*The duty of plucking out the eye explained, 
 
 on of our infirmity is fuch, and our vitious 
 inclinations are fo head-flrong and violent, 
 that they will hardly ever be brought under 
 and fubdued, without fome methods of leveri- 
 ty, and fuch reftraints as give us much unea- 
 fmefs and regret. 
 
 It hath been the practice of fome people, to 
 decry all mortifications and felf denials in any 
 inftances whatfoever, which they do by mag- 
 nifying the grace of God, as if this were pow- 
 erful enough to renew us thoroughly in body 
 and foul, to heal all the diftempers of our 
 corrupted nature, and fet us right in all our 
 inclinations and appetites; and they have im- 
 prov'd this notion fo far as to llacken all hu- 
 man endeavours, and bring the neceffary 
 means of virtue and holinefs into contempt, 
 fo that even fafting is looked upon as an ufelefs 
 work of fupererogation. 
 
 I muft confefs if they could approve them- 
 felves to be holy in all refpe^ts, without any 
 thing of this nature, and found that they were 
 ftridily upright, arid could acquire the virtues 
 of meeknefs and charity, of temperance and 
 chaility, and devotion, without giving them- 
 fclves this needlefs trouble, they would effec- 
 tually confute both us and the fcripture, 
 which fiequently recommends thefe methods 
 of feverity and felf dnial. They are men of 
 like infirmity with ourfelves, and we truft we 
 have the fpirit of God as well as they, and yet 
 our own experience fufficiently convinces us of 
 |:he neceliity of ufing thofe means of virtue, 
 
 they 
 
^he duty of plucking out the eye explained. 185 
 
 they are all but little enough, and it is well wcSerm. 
 can prefcrve our innoccncy when all is done. XXIV. 
 
 Nor can it be any difparagement to the 
 grace of God, but for the praife and glory of 
 ir, that it is powerful enough to prevail with 
 men to put in practice all thofc means of vir- 
 tue recommended to us in the holy fcriptures, 
 and that it gives a blefling and fuccefs to them 
 in the attainment of virtue and holinefs, St. 
 Paul who had miraculous degrees of the fpi- 
 rit, and had vouchfafements and revelations 
 beyond any they can pretend to, tells us it 
 was his own. pra6lice to keep his body under, 
 and biing it in fubjedlion. And to convince 
 us how neceflary a means of virtue this may 
 be, he adds this reafon for his lo doing, le/t 
 while he preached to others, he himfelj ft)ould 
 be a cafl auay. Our Saviour who had the fpi- 
 rit without meafure, yet lived a life of con- 
 ftant feverity, and fclf denial, and fafted 
 forty diys and forty nights, and bid his dif- 
 ciples watch and pray, that they enter not into 
 temptation. And after the Holy Ghoft had 
 come upon them, fafting and prayer was 
 their conftant pradice. And if after this, thefe 
 perfons will think or fay, they have lefs oc- 
 cafion for mortifications and felf denial than 
 any of thele, we muft leave them to their 
 fpiritual pride, and in the humility of our 
 Souls, fet our felves to the practice of what 
 the wifdom of God hath thought neceffary 
 
 for 
 
i86 7/&<f duty of plucking out the eye explained. 
 
 Serm. for us, thus through the fpirit to mortify the 
 
 XXIV. ^0g^^ of the body. 
 
 ^'^"^ And as we learn from hence the neceflity 
 of mortifications and felf-denial, which the 
 text fuppofes frequently to occur in the courfe 
 of a chriftian life, fo we learn likewife the 
 true limitation of tliem ; how far they are to 
 be efteemed and thought neceffary; and 
 wherein the juft value of them lies ; namely, 
 as far as they are inftrumental to the prevention 
 of a fin, or obtaining of a virtue j it is when 
 our eye offends us we are to pluck it out, when 
 h is the occafion of fin or hindrance of a vir- 
 tue j for otherwife, where men over- value 
 things of this nature, and lay too great a ftrefs 
 upon them, confidered in themfelves without 
 farther regard to the end or defign of them, 
 they become foolifh and fuperflitious. 
 
 By this miftake men Jofe the end, and reft 
 only in the means, as is manifeftandvifible in 
 the church of Rome ; for to what purpofe are 
 all thofe whippings with fcourges, and lafliing 
 of themfelves ; that pageantry of heathen cru- 
 elty ? What means that ftiunning of the con- 
 verfation of the world in cloyfters; their pil- 
 grimages, their antique fliavings, and frightful 
 drefles ; their hair clothes j going barefoot, with 
 eyes fixt on the ground, and all that ilrange 
 variety of ill contrived penances y who requires 
 ihefe things at their hands ? Our Saviour indeed 
 laids us cut off our right hand, and pluck out 
 pur right eye when it offends, us (i. e.) to part 
 
 with 
 
7be duty of plucking out the eye explained. 187 
 
 with the deareft enjoyment in this world, when Serm. 
 it is the occafion of a fin or the hindrance of a XXIV. 
 virtue ; therefore they will cut off a great many 
 things which do not offend them, and fpare 
 and cherifh thofe things that do ; in hopes that 
 their penances fliall atone for the guilt of 
 thofe fins they indulge themfelves in j thus they 
 pervert our Saviour's defign in this, as they 
 do in all other refpeds ; deftroying the power 
 of godhnefs, and turning all religion into air. 
 
 III. Another thing which is evidently im- 
 plyed in thefe words is, that there is no purging 
 or expiation of a fin in another life ; and that 
 there can be no fuch place as purgatory, where 
 by undergoing very acute pains, for a limited 
 time, and enduring exquifite torture in pro- 
 portion to the greatnefs of mens fins, or by the 
 prayers of the church which are offered up for 
 them J all their vitious inclinations are cured, 
 and they perfedly cleanfed from the guilt of all 
 their fins, and in the very fame difpofition for 
 heaven as if they had mortified and fubdued 
 all their finful inclinations in this life. 
 
 I fay it is plain from the text, how there is 
 no fuch provifion made in another world, to 
 fave men the labour of acquiring true virtue 
 and holinefs here ; for there is a diredl oppofi- 
 tion here made between the kingdom of God 
 on the one hand, and hell fire on the other, a 
 fire which never fliall be quenched ; and the 
 whole force of what our Saviour fays here de- 
 pends upon this fuppofition, that there is an 
 
 unavoidable 
 
i88 ^he duty of plucking out the eye explained. 
 
 Serm. unavoidable neceflity of mens taking up with 
 XXIV. one or the other, and that they are for ever to 
 hz determined by that choice they make in this 
 world. Whereas upon the principle of the 
 church of Rome in this matter, it is eafy to 
 evade the force of the dilemma; namely, 
 that we may keep both our eyes in this world, 
 and yet enter into the kingdom of God 
 through purgatory; it is only the being caft 
 into a place where their worm will dye, and 
 their fire be quenched after a feafon, at leaft 
 in refpedl of us who (hall be delivered out of it 
 by the prayers of the faints upon earth. 
 
 But here we are taught, that men are under 
 a fatal necefiity, either of entering into the 
 kingdom of God, or of being caft into a fire 
 which fhall never be quenched ; and that the 
 final ilTue of things in another world will de- 
 pend upon our cutting oflT our limbs here, and 
 plucking out our eyes, (i. e.) upon the effec- 
 tual mortification of all our finful appetites and 
 vitious inclinations, while we are in this world; 
 now is the only time of putting ourfelves into 
 a pofture for heaven ; and if we flip this fhort 
 fpace of life, we (hall never have another op- 
 portunity afforded us in all eternity. 
 
 And yet how contrary is the do^rine of 
 the church of Rome to this plain and exprefs 
 dcdtrine of our Saviour, which teaches us, that 
 in cafe men do flip their time here, yet there 
 is a farther remedy hereafter; another way 
 of being purged from their fins, though mor? 
 
 painful 
 
^he duty ef plucking out the eye explained. 1 89 
 
 painful and troublefome than that which 18 Serm. 
 here propofed to us: Upon which groundlefsXXIV. 
 confidence people omit the practice of all thofe 
 virtues and grace?, that have any thing of trou- 
 ble or uneafinefs in the attainment of them, 
 and indulge their vices j fo flrangely are men 
 mifled and deluded, by the opinion they have 
 of others, contrary to their own fenfe and 
 reafon : For if they would freely ufe that mea- 
 fure of underftanding they have, inftead of 
 obferving this plain exprefs dod:rine of our Sa- 
 viour, they would never give themfelves up 
 to the conduct of thofe who teach the very re- 
 verfe of this precept; and by keeping their 
 people in ignorance, do in effect take away 
 both their eyes, and fend them blindfold into 
 that fire which fhall never be quenched. 
 
 4. Another thing I {hall obferve to you 
 from thefe words is, that the only fure and 
 effedual means of overcoming temptation is 
 to cut off all the occafions and opportunities 
 of finning, either to remove the temptation 
 from us, or ourfelves from the temptation ; if 
 we fuffer it near us, it is odds but it will gain 
 upon the ftrongefl: and moft fincere refolu- 
 tions : And therefore, our blefied Saviour who 
 knew the infirmity of our nature, and the ut- 
 moft of our ftrength, prefcrlbss us this as the 
 only expedient in cafes of flrong and dangerous 
 temptations; to cutoff and caft away from us 
 any thing that offends us, and is the occafioii 
 ttf drawing us into a fin ; and the reafon why 
 
 the 
 
190 ^be duty of plucking out the eye explained. 
 
 Serm. the plucking out our eye is given as an in- 
 XXIV. ftance, is, becaufe it lets all the temptations of 
 the world in upon us^ for which reafon it is 
 faid, if thine eye be fingle thy whole body 
 fhall be full of light j and yet we muft part 
 with it though it is one of the tendered and 
 moft ornamental parts of the body. 
 
 And this is fo far from being a hard fayingj 
 that the only intent of it is to make the prac- 
 tice of virtue and holinefs eafy to us j it would 
 have been a very hard faying indeed, if he had 
 required us to expofe ourfelves to all manner 
 of temptations, to be ever in the way of them, 
 and yet to refift and overcome them all 5 if he 
 had commanded us to be always in the midfl 
 of infecftion, and yet never fuffer ourfelves to 
 be tainted with it. This perhaps would have 
 been as impoffible in religion as it is in nature j 
 for many temptations are infedious and catch- 
 ing, and we are naturally difpofed to be 
 wrought upon by them as by licknefs, and 
 there is a great likenefs in both with refpedt to 
 us: So that it is eafy to keep ourfelves from 
 it, but the remedy or cure is very hazardous 
 and uncertain. 
 
 So that there is a neceffity of depriving our- 
 felves of any enjoyment whatever, though as 
 dear to us as our eyes, if it be the occafion of 
 fin to us. Some temptations are of that na- 
 ture, that they never will be conquered by any 
 other means J if we venture upon them any 
 other way, at the befl we do but create our- 
 felves 
 
^he duty of plucking out the eye explained. 191 
 
 felves a great deal of danger and uneafinefsjSERM. 
 and it is ten to one bat it gets the better of us XXIV. 
 at laft. So that in many cafes we are to (hun 
 temptation, and fly from it rather than flay 
 and encounter it: There is a great deal of 
 chriftian fortitude in flying ; for if I know my 
 frailty to be fuch, that the prefence of a temp- 
 tation is too ftrong for me, I overcome it ef- 
 fedtually by keeping out of the way of it, 
 and cutting of all occafion or opportunity ; and 
 though fome aflfedion or inclination to the fia 
 may remain, (as people may have a gfeat ten- 
 dernefs for thofe infeded limbs they cut oflf to 
 preferve their life,) yet if I reftrain myfelf fo 
 far as to keep out of the reach of the tempta- 
 tion, which if prefent I have reafon to fear 
 would be too hard for me, it is but temptation 
 ftill, and my innocence is preferved. 
 
 Men never gain any thing by daring of 
 their fpiritual enemies; this vaunting hath 
 commonly as ill fuccefs in religion as it hath 
 in war j they are not to be met in the field 
 and engaged in a pitched battle, unlefs in ex- 
 traordinary cafes, where God gives us a war- 
 rant and unufual flrength for the fight. In- 
 ftead of engaging them all at once in the field, 
 in their greateft force, we have more need of 
 prudence, and caution, and forcfight to weaken 
 them by degrees; by guarding all our out- 
 works, preventing their approaches, and keep- 
 ing them always at a diftance. 
 
 5. Another inference I (hall make from 
 thefe words is, that no wilful fins perfifi:ed in 
 
 can 
 
102 '^hs duty of plucking out the eye e>:plained, 
 
 Se R M. can be of excufable infirmity; nothing is more 
 XXIV. ordinary in the world, than for people upbii 
 the ftrength of a lively imagination, and, a 
 warm temper, to keep up a great appearance 
 of devotion and piety, though they at the 
 fame time continue in the pradice of wilful 
 and deliberate fins; and they quiet their con-' 
 fciences with the hopes, that they are only the 
 unavoidable infirmities of good and regenerate 
 perfons. But let the temptation be what it 
 will, it is abfolutely neceflary that we (hould 
 conquer it ; for if our hand offends us we mufl 
 cut it off; if Qur very eye offends we muff 
 pluck it out ; there is nothing fo dear to us 
 that we muft not part with to avoid a fin ; no 
 pleafure fo great that \ve inufi: not foregoe ; 
 and we muff quit the greateft worldly enjoy- 
 ments, which our own experience Ibews us 
 we cannot preferve without a fin ; this is in- 
 difpenfibly required from us in the words of 
 my text. 
 
 And it Ts certainly in our power to undergo 
 the fevereft methods of virtue, and to conquer 
 the fi:rongcft temptation incident to human 
 nature, if we will but follow our Saviour's 
 diredions, and cut off and caft away from 
 us every thing that is a ftrong temptation to 
 lis ; for though it may not be in our power to 
 overcome the temptation, yet, it is certainly in 
 our power to remove it, and this will render 
 us inexcufable before God. How ftrong fo- 
 ever our natural inclinations to fin are, we 
 
 liiuft: 
 
^he duty of plucking out the eye explained, 193 
 
 muft fupprefs and reftrain them, and HowSerm. 
 great foever the temptation is we muft over--^^^^- 
 come it 3 there is no other condition of falva- 
 tion, and we are told plainly we cannot enter 
 into, the kingdom of God upon any other 
 terms. 
 
 No excufe of weaknefs or infirmity will 
 ?ffferveour turn, for the grace of God will be 
 fufficient for us if we ufe the means ; and 
 this is the proper means to cut oft' the temp- 
 tation, and remove from us what we are not 
 able to conquer. All pretence of infirmity is 
 ihamefully foolifti and ridiculous, while peo- 
 ple continue the immediate caufes and op- 
 portunities, and occafions of finning : This is 
 the true reafon of that weaknefs they com- 
 plain of, becaufe they will not part with the 
 temptation ; they will cherifti a fnake in their 
 bofom, and then complain they cannot pre- 
 vent being ftung by it. 
 
 Let no one therefore encourage themfelves 
 in any falfe hopes of falvation, while they re- 
 main in any known fin ; for it is certain that 
 he that commits fin is of the Devil, and they 
 that are born of God do not commit fin; 
 there is no pleafure or advantage this world 
 aflTords, but they are ready to cut off and 
 caft away from them with indignation ; and 
 they are ready to part with all that is near and 
 dear to them, for the prefer vation of inno- 
 cence and a good confcience. 
 
 VI. Another thing I ftiall obfcrve to ycu 
 from thefe words is, that a thorough conqueft 
 
 Vol. II. O cf 
 
194 ^^^ ^^^y of f lucking out the e^e explained. 
 
 Sbrm. of that temptation which is flrongeft and 
 XXIV. moft prevalent with us, is the greateft evidence 
 ^ of our fincerity in religion ; and indeed the 
 only one upon which we can build any com- 
 fortable hopes of heaven : It is true what our 
 Saviour fays here may be applied to all temp- 
 tations which affault any of us ; but however 
 they plainly intimate that fome one temptation 
 in each perfon is moft powerful, and that one 
 perfon may have a hand to cut off, and ano- 
 ther an eye to pluck out ; and he feems to lay 
 the greateft ftrcfs upon that very inftance of 
 virtue and holinefs which we dre apteft to 
 tranfgrefsj and upon avoiding that very fin 
 which we are moft violently tempted to. 
 - It is very common with pedple to fay, by 
 way of juftification of themfelves, as they or- 
 dinarily do for other people, that this is my 
 only great failing, and the only infirmity I 
 have not maftered ; I am very well inclined in 
 all other refpecfls j and fince I am not other- 
 wife faulty, I hope God in mercy will pafs by 
 this, and accept of my obedience in all other 
 inftances ; efpecially fince I do not pcrfift in 
 fin out of any defigned contempt : This is too 
 general a deceit, and a prevailing hypocrify ; 
 but it is a fatal one, and will as furely cut 
 them off from heaven, as if they were guilty 
 in all other refpedts; for he that offends in one 
 point is guilty of the whole law, he is as liable 
 to condemnation as if he had tranfgrefred 
 it all. 
 
 How 
 
7lje duty of plucking out the eye explained. 195 
 How many more pcrfons would have beenSERM. 
 faved than there are, if it were not for that XXIV. 
 one prevailing luft or temptation, which they 
 never can bring themfelves to part with, that 
 one fin which they found out feveral excufes 
 to retain ; which they palliated and difguifed, 
 and made a thoufand ufelefs pretences to bring 
 it under the notion of infirmity, and within 
 the conditions of pardon? But all in vain, there 
 was but one efledual way of dealing with it, 
 and that was what our Saviour here propofes; 
 namely, though it were as dear to them as 
 their limbs to cut it off and cad it from them, 
 it had been much better for them to have done 
 fo, than to be (hut out of the kingdom of 
 God, and caft into that fire which (hall never 
 be quenched. That one fin, for which alone 
 they hoped to be difpenfed with, was their 
 trial for heaven i it Was by conquering that 
 Very temptation that they were to efcape dam- 
 nation : They had refolution enough to do 
 every thing elfe for heaven, and fo far they 
 did well ; but one thing more they lacked, 
 that which was in a more efpecial manner 
 their way of trial i and for want of that one 
 thing all the reft of their religion is but hy- 
 pocrify, and all their labour loft. 
 
 Vll. The laft inference I (hall make from 
 thefe words is, that the happinefs of heaven, 
 and the mifery of hell torments are a motive 
 of obedience ftrong enough to prevail with 
 men to prefcrve their virtue and innocence in 
 the moft difiicult cafes whatfoeveri they are 
 O 2 able 
 
igS ^he duty of plucking out the eye explained. 
 Serm. able to make us undergo the greateft hard- 
 XXIV. {hips, .and quit the greateft pleafures of this 
 'r'~»~*-^ life in order to the practice of virtue and ho- 
 linefs: For if we weigh the matter rightly 
 we {hall certainly conclude with our Saviour, 
 that it is better to part with any finful plea- 
 fures whatfoever, than lofe heaven and fuffer 
 eternal mifery for it ; and if we confider this 
 motive enough, it could never fail to work 
 it's effedts upon us. So that men have nothing 
 more to do but to perfuade themfelves that 
 they have fuch an intereft at flake, to be 
 thoroughly convinced of the truth and cer- 
 tainty of it. 
 
 Nor is it enough that people barely believe 
 the rewards and punifhments of another life ; 
 for even of thofe who yield a hearty afTent to 
 the truth of thefe things, how few are there 
 that are wrought up by them ? Becaufe they 
 do not ponder and confider them enough, fo 
 as to make them ever prefent to their minds, 
 till their hearts are deeply affeded with them, 
 and that they are as feelingly touched by the 
 thoughts and mention of them, as they are 
 by any prefent danger that threatens the body. 
 If men would do this, nothing could pofUbly 
 influence our hopes and our fears more power- 
 fully, infomuch that no one perfon whatever 
 who thinks of them enough could ever mif- 
 carry. 
 
 The word of God is quick and powerful, 
 and the terrors of the Lord are of fufHcient 
 force to perfuade men 3 if they will fet their 
 
 minds 
 
T^he duty of plucking out the eye explained, 197 
 minds that way, and yield themfelves to beSERM. 
 perfwaded } otherwife thefe motives will lofeXXlV. 
 all their virtue and efficacy, and be in refpe<fl 
 of us as if there were no fuch things. Now 
 nothing can conduce more to the making of 
 us do this, than thofe two confiderations the 
 text fuggefts to us. 
 
 I. Firft that mifery, everlafting mifery, is 
 the fure and neceflary confequence of unre- 
 pented guilt, for the cuftom or habit of any (in, 
 like a fpreading gangrene in any of our limbs, 
 if it be not cut off and forfaken, proceeds till 
 at laft it becomes incurable and brings certain 
 death. Every wilful (in you are guilty of and 
 perfift in, forfeits heaven and puts you into a 
 ftate of damnation : And befides, nothing can 
 be a greater evidence of that everlafting fling 
 and horror of confcience, than the remorfe 
 which ever accompanies guilt in this world ; 
 for no man would have any regret at the com- 
 mittal of a fin, if it were not for fomething 
 within, that fuggefts a future vengeance, that 
 tells him they who do fuch things (hall have 
 no inheritance in the kingdom of God, and 
 that the wicked, and all that forget God fhall 
 be turned into hell. And, 
 
 II. That the one or the other of thefe two 
 things mufl: unavoidably be the final condition 
 of every man j there is no middle flate, eter- 
 nal happineis, or everlafting mifery muft be 
 your lot; and therefore expedt one or the 
 other, and reckon upon it as your inheritance 
 for ever. It would aftonifh mofl of us if we 
 
 O 3 knew 
 
198 *The duty of plucking out the eye explained. 
 
 Serm. knew how foon it would be determined; and 
 5^Xiy. that we (hall be fealed up irreverfibly to one 
 'of them: The day will come as fureiy. as if 
 it were to morrow ; perhaps there may be but 
 a few hours between, when you muft either 
 enter into the kingdom of God, or elfe be caft 
 into hell fire^ which (hall never be quenched. 
 
 And therefore God of his mercy grant^ that 
 we may lay this to heart in time ; that we may 
 never come into that place of torment, where 
 there is nothing but weeping, and wailing, 
 and gnafhing of teeth to all eiernity, 
 
 SERMON 
 
On our change at the refurreBlion, 199 
 
 SERMON XXV. 
 
 On our change at the refurredion, 
 
 Philip, iii, 20, 21. 
 
 For our converfation is in heaven, jrom whence 
 alfo we lookjor the Saviour, the Lord J ejus 
 Chrift : Who fiall change our vile body, that 
 it may bejafbioned like unto his glorious body, 
 according to the working, whereby he is able 
 even tojubdue all things unto himjelf. 
 
 THESE words of St. Paul have a pecu- S e r m 
 liar force and fignificancy in the ori- XXV 
 ginal, which cannot be eafily exprefled in any 
 other language. And it is very obfervable, 
 that whenever he does but touch upon this 
 fubjedl, of the change our bodies are to un- 
 dergo at the laft day, he is warmed in an in- 
 flant J his ftile fwells, and he can hardly fpeak 
 of it but in rapture. In the 15th of his i Cor. 
 where he enlarges upon it, he outdoes himfelf ; 
 and is carried on to a height of eloquence* 
 Q 4 which 
 
On our change at the reJtirreBion. 
 
 which never yet was unparalled, The fub- 
 ftance of which he fums up towards the clofe, 
 ' behold IJhewyou a myftery^ we (hall not all Jleep, 
 but we fldall all be changed: For the trumpet 
 (loall founds and the dead fJjall be raifed incor- 
 ruptible, and we (loall be changed. 
 
 In fpeaking to thefe words, I fliall crave 
 leave to confider the feveral part'culars con« 
 tained in them, in the fame order the lye in the 
 text before us. Accordingly, 
 
 I. The firft thing to be obferved is, that \x\, 
 them we have a clear and full account of the 
 hope of Chriflians J and that too in dired op- 
 pofition to thofe, who mind earthly things, 
 who are given up to the pleafures of fenfe and 
 appetite, who have their minds fo taken up 
 with the things of this life, that all" their de- 
 fires and affedions are that way ; infomuch 
 that things of another world have loft all force 
 of perfwafion and influence upon them : 
 And are no more the governing principle of 
 their life and adions, than if they were alto- 
 gether feigned and imaginary. 
 
 This lort of people he had defcribed ex- 
 adly in the foregoing verfe, but as for us, fays 
 he, we on the contrary look for the Saviour^ 
 the Lord Jefiis Ckrift. Look for him, (i. e.) 
 have our eye fixed upon him, and our hearts 
 fet upon his coming. This expedation is 
 our whole dependance, it is our all ; it is this 
 alone hath full pofleffion of our hearts, it fills 
 our thoughts, and the main tendency of our 
 whole life and actions is all that way. 
 
 And 
 
On our change at the rejurreBion, 201 
 
 And now we fee the reafon of that fo-SERM. 
 lemnity in this exprefllon of the Apoftles, XXV. 
 ufing thefe four names, the Saviour, the 
 Lord, and Jefus, and Chrift. Becaufe the 
 text is leveled at fuch as had but a low and 
 contemptible opinion of him, and his Reve- 
 lations: And the plain import of it is, that, 
 that very perfon called Jefus Chrift, fo much 
 defpifed and negledted by fijch people as he had 
 been defcribing, we own to be our Saviour, 
 and our Lord : This is the very man we look 
 for. And we depend fo entirely upon him, 
 that we live by faith and not by fight. Looking 
 Jor that joyful dayy when he fhail come in the 
 clouds of Heaven^ with power and great glory, 
 
 IL The next thing remarkable in the text 
 is, that debafing epithet, our 'cile body. The 
 Greek expreffeth it much more emphatically 
 by a Hebrew idiom, <r^ft« t? TaTruyaVta*? ^Vwx, the 
 body of this low abjed: condition of ours, i(i 
 this life : So that he doth not call it vile only 
 in rcfpedt of thofe many defers and miferies 
 to which it is now fubjecfl, but means that it 
 is fo even in it*s heft ftate, and when it ap- 
 pears to moft advantage in the bloom of 
 youth, and greateftgaicty of health and vigour. 
 It is true this amufes us now, becaufs we 
 are acquainted with nothing better ; and it be- 
 comes agreeable only by comparifon, when 
 ■we obferve the little differences of fiiape and 
 colour in others, who are in truth only a little 
 lefs deformed. 
 
 The 
 
eo2 On our change at the refurreBion. 
 
 Serm. The body was without doubt very excel- 
 XXV. lent in it's firft defign, when newly formed $ 
 when God viewed the work of his hands, and 
 we pleafed him j and he could call us good. 
 Yet even in that ftate of innocence it had im- 
 perfedlions which required a change, before it 
 could be tranflated up into heaven. 
 
 But in the ruin of our nature by the 
 fall, the body funk into a wretched and 
 defpicable condition, fubje^S: to number- 
 le(s difeafes and infirmities; infomuch that 
 all our care in this world, is only to fupply 
 the feveral defedts of nature; to fupport this 
 tottering fabrick. To ftave off that corrupti- 
 on, which is every hour feizing us: And when 
 the foul hath left it, it turns all to ftench 
 and rottennefs ; it fends out poifon and infec- 
 tion ; and quickly becomes the ipoft loath- 
 fom and odious thing in nature. 
 
 The Heathen had fo contemptible a notion 
 of the body, that they called it the fepulchre 
 of the foul ; they imagined the foul confined 
 to it by way of punifhment. The refurredi- 
 on of it, by way of derifion, they called the 
 hope of worms. And looked upon the rifing 
 again of fuch a body as this is, to be a naufe- 
 ous and abominable thought, unworthy of 
 God. What ! fays Celfus in Origen, * that e- 
 
 * ver God fhould raife fo foul and odious a 
 
 * thing as a dead carcafs !' thus they erred, not 
 knowing, the fcriptures, nor the p.wer of God. 
 
 III. But thirdly, another thing exprefly 
 ^flbrted in the text is, that notwithflanding 
 
 this 
 
On our change at the refurreBion. 203 
 
 this mighty aUeration, it will be the fdmebody Sep. m. 
 ftill, and not another. And now we fee the XXV. 
 realcn why the Apoftle ufed a Hebrew idiom 
 on this occafion, namely, the n.ore effedual- 
 ly to prevent and obviate that imagination, 
 of our having other bodies at the laft day, 
 inftead of thefe; and compofed of celeftial 
 matter. Who fhall change this body of our 
 prefent low dejected flate, (i. e.) the very 
 body we carry about us, in this vale of mifery. 
 
 It is here plainly called a change; and left 
 we fhould miftake, and fancy it a change of 
 one body for another, the original fays, it fliall 
 be only transformed J a word always in ufe 
 where the fubftance remains, and a thing is 
 changed only in it's form and figure : Which 
 js the very thing fpoke here at length, for in 
 the original it is, that this body may have 
 the fame form or figure >vith the body of 
 Chrift. 
 
 The fpirit of God forefeeing there would 
 in time arife a fort of men, who fhould elude 
 the dodtrine of the refurredtion by this wrong 
 turn; hath thus plainly, and with defign been 
 fo particular in dired oppofition to them; not 
 only in this text, but in all other places where 
 this change is fpoke of Our blefled Saviour, 
 who is the tarnert, and ftandard of our refur- 
 redtion, rofe again before bis body was in any 
 degree corrupted ; and it was fo literally 
 the fame, that it retained the very marks of 
 the wounds he had received, before the fepa- 
 f^tion of it from the foul. 
 
 But 
 
2 04 - O^ our change at the refurreBion. 
 
 Serm. Bui what is there fo contrived even by the 
 XXV. wifdom of God, which the mind of man 
 'cannot pervert to it's own deftrudion ! 
 
 IV. And now I come to the fourth and 
 main point of the text, which is a revelation 
 peculiar to Chriftianity; namely, that this 
 change of our bodies, (hall be into the like- 
 nefs of Chrift's glorious body. W^e are told 
 exprefly in another place, where this change 
 is Ipoke of, that it doth not yet appear what we 
 Jhall be. And it is plainly implied, that we 
 are not to hope for any knowledge of this 
 likenefs, till the coming of Chrift at the lafl 
 great day, when we ftiall be adually polTeft 
 of it; So that it is in vain to go about to 
 form any notion of it. We have not the leaft 
 glimpfe or idea of that glorified body we fhall 
 be like ; it is as much out of the reach of all 
 human underftanding, as the real perfections 
 of the divinity; for which reafon it is faid, 
 that our life is hid with Chrifi in God. 
 
 Here then we are at a full fland, we have 
 gone the length of our line, we frankly 
 own our ignorance ; and that what is farther 
 incumbent upon us is, with a full truil and 
 confidence in the power and wifdom of God, 
 to wait for fuch a change as we have no con- 
 ception of. 
 
 And now the matter is thus reduced to a 
 point, by this conceffion ; are we to yield 
 and give up the caufe to the dijputer of this 
 worlds No when we leem to give the ene- 
 mies of revelation all the advantage they 
 
 could 
 
On our change at the refurreBlon 20^ 
 
 could wifh, by acknowledging ourfelves atSeRw, 
 the utmoft ftretch and period of human un- XXVi 
 derftanding; we (hall now fet out again, and 
 launch into that immenfe field of knowledge 
 opened to us by the revelations of the Gofpel ; 
 that thofe men may fee how i\{\s, foolijhnefs of 
 God is wifer than men. 
 
 And therefore in this one inftance, let us 
 obfervethe true nature of all the other myfte- 
 ries of the Gofpel. 
 
 Behold IJhew you a myjlery^ fays St* Paul, 
 we (hall not alljleep^ hnt wefiall all be changed* 
 Now it is revealed to us that thefe bodies of 
 ours {hall receive fuch a mighty alteration in 
 the refurrecftion, it is what we all underftand^ 
 it is 'Very eafy and obvious j and yet plain as it 
 is now, all the wit of man and utmoft ima- 
 gination could not have found it out ; and no- 
 thing but a revelation from Heaven can con- 
 vince us of the truth and certainty of it. And 
 here is our faith, that we believe a thing we fo 
 well underftand, upon the teftimony of him, 
 that reveals this dodtrine to us. 
 
 Again, the fame St. Paul fays with refpe<fl 
 to this change, that it doth not appear what we 
 Poall he. This is the other part of that fame 
 myftery, which is yet in the dark and unre- 
 vealed. And herein is our faith and our hope, 
 that we look for this change and have our 
 whole dependance upon it, though we have 
 no capacity at prefent to frame the leaft thought 
 or conception of it, 
 
 AikI 
 
2o6 Oh our change dt the refurreSilon. 
 
 Serm* And here is that faith, and that knowledge 
 XXV» put together with refpedl to the fame myftery, 
 'which the wife men of this world have made 
 fueh a noife aboutj and laboured to reprefent 
 as incohfiftenti 
 
 Thus we fee how that which hath taken 
 the colour of an objedion, is in truth the tranf- 
 eendent excellency of Ghriftianity. That it 
 carries the mind beyond it*s prefent fphere of 
 knowledge J and raifes our hopes in another 
 world, to fomething that we neither do nor 
 can know ; and which it cannot enter into the 
 heart of man to conceive. It is this alone 
 which makes it a powerful motive to virtue 
 and goodnefs 5 and of weight and influence 
 enough toreftrain the headftrong appetites, and 
 unruly paflions of human nature. For alas ! all 
 that we can have a notion of in this world, is 
 too low for our hopes. But when we are to 
 expedl a change of our bodies, which can be 
 no otherwife reprefented to us now, than that 
 it will be like that of Chrifl's j this enlarges 
 the mind of man, gives it full fcope, and fills 
 the vaft ambition of our fouls. 
 
 And why? becaufe the reafon given why 
 we cannot form any conception of this like- 
 nefs, is becaufe we have no capacities for it in 
 this world. When He foall appear, we Po all he 
 like him, (fays St. John,) for we fhall fee 
 him as he is, (i. e j by having all our faculties 
 enlarged and exalted, we fhall be rendered ca- 
 pable of that beatifick vifion. In the mean 
 time, we take the fame method in thinking 
 
 and 
 
On our change at the rcfurre&ion. 207 
 
 and fpeaking of it, that wc do of all other Serm. 
 things of another world : Firft, by confider- XXV 
 ing what it is not, removing from it all the' — — 
 imperfed:ions of our prefent ftate, and then 
 reprefenting it by the ^reatefl ideas our imagi- 
 nations are flockt with, and choiceft refem- 
 blances this world can afford. Though when 
 all is done, we fpeak. in the language of chiU 
 dren ; and we fhall never be able to think of 
 it, as it really is in itfelf, till that great dayj 
 when there fliall be a manijeftation of the fom 
 of God, 
 
 We are.in ourfelves naturally very afpirlng^ 
 the mind of man is framed to great and lofty 
 thoughts ; and yet we are fo far from being 
 limited or reftraincd in our hopes of this glo- 
 rious change, that the divine revelations do 
 not only cherifh and encourage them ; but 
 they carry them on yet farther, even vaflly 
 beyond our moil elevated imaginations. 
 
 This likcnefs of Chrift which we are told 
 we fhall refemble, is no lefs than that of the 
 divinity it felf. He is called the brightnefs 
 of his Father s glory, and the 'exprefs image of 
 his perjon. Which doth not come up to the 
 word in the original, for that implies the full 
 and perfed tranfcript of the living God. And 
 again it isfaid thati« him dwells all the fnllne/s 
 of the God-head bodily : Which can mean no- 
 thing lefs, than that his body now partakes of 
 the glorious perfedions of the divine nature. 
 Thus high are our hopes raifed by the Gofpel, 
 
 even 
 
20 8 OnourchangeatiherefurreBiojL' 
 
 Serm. even to a likenefs of God himfelf, that foun- 
 XXV. tain of all perfection. There is no check 
 given to our ambition j fhort of a refemblance 
 of the divinity ; and here the mind muft flop, 
 fince there is nothing greater to be wiflied for 
 either in this v^^orld or the next. 
 
 That very image of God which the angels 
 loft, is to be confered upon us 3 and if this 
 liad not beenjfo plainly revealed to us, the firft 
 thought of it would have ftruck the mind with 
 terror: And what we are now fo much en- 
 couraged to hope for, would have appeared to 
 us like the blafphemy of Lucifer, whofe crime 
 was, that he would have afcended and been like 
 the mofl high. 
 
 So that after this, we may give the utmoft 
 loofe to our imaginations; leave the mind to 
 dilate itfelf ; and let the fancy traverfe over all 
 the beauties of the vilible creation, it (hall 
 find nothing to compare with what it fhall be 
 itfelf. For our bodies to put on the bright- 
 nefs of the firmament, and outfhine the fun 
 and ftars ; is indeed a dazling thought ! but 
 alas! what is all this to a refemblance of that 
 ftupendous being ? And what are all the co- 
 lours of the rainbow, or glowing of a great 
 ball of fire, to that eternal weight of glory 
 which fhall be, one day, revealed in us. 
 
 We are in no danger of exceeding j let us 
 fay what we will of this mighty change, we 
 are fure to come fhort. And therefore what 
 we have to do is, to think and fpeak the beft 
 
 we 
 
On our change at the refurrcdiion, 209 
 
 we can of it, from the light of nature aflifted Serm. 
 by thofe revelations that are afforded us. XXV 
 
 Accordingly we are told that this mortal 
 fiallput on immortality : (i. e.) The body fliall 
 then be framed into a temper difpofed for end- 
 lefs d irationj fubjcdl to no principle of decay 
 in itfelf, nor to any violence from abroad j 
 fo that no power either from within or with- 
 out, (excepting only that which is almighty,) 
 fliall be able to diforder or deftroy the glori- 
 ous creature. The union of foul and body 
 will be fo intire and complete, and they (hall 
 be fo much the fame, that they fliall never 
 more be liable to diffolution. Nay, perhaps 
 the diftlndion of foul and body will ceafe ; 
 both fubftances be wrought up into one un- 
 diftinguiflied effence, and io mortality floall be 
 fw allowed tip of Lije. 
 
 Again it is fa id, this corriiptihle floall put 
 on incorruption : (i. e.) all imperfedtions both 
 natural and moral, which we now labour un- 
 der, fliall quite difappear J we fliall be purged 
 from all thofe grofs and impure qualities, 
 which clog our nature, and render us a bur- 
 den to ourfelves. We fliall be perfedly cleanf- 
 ed from all Jilt binefs of jifn and.fpirit^ thefe 
 two fliall no more be contrary^ the on: to the 
 other \ All contention between them fliall 
 ceafe, and they fliall be united in perfed: har- 
 mony and agreement. Their inclinations and 
 tendencies will be all one way, infomuch that 
 even in the body, there will not be the leafl: 
 reludance to the greateft: goodnefs. Thus 
 
 Vol. II. P fliall 
 
On our change at the reJiirreBion\ 
 
 {hall it be adorned with the beauty of hoUnefi-, 
 not with that virtue which is acquired by 
 habit. No, we fhall be pure and holy by 
 the internal redlitude of our nature ; and this 
 fhall be more the temper and difpofition of 
 our bodies, than vice and wickednefs is now; 
 by which means we {hall be as fecurely good, 
 as if we were necelTarlly io. 
 
 Another epithet by which this change is 
 defcribed is, that it fJoall be ajpiritual body. 
 
 It is true, we know not what a fpirit is, and 
 therefore cannot tell wherein this refemblance 
 of it will confift. However, though the body 
 will have many perfections which we cannot 
 now conceive, yet certainly it will want none of 
 thofe we can; therefore, it muffc mean 
 •what firfl occurs to our thoughts, namely, that 
 the body (hall be rendered capable and apt 
 for all the operations of the mind. That 
 whereas it is now tied down to this little globe 
 of earth, it ftiall then be raifed above all the 
 laws of nature, which we are acquainted with; 
 expatiate into the world of fpirits; and be fit- 
 ted for a communication with the univerfe. 
 
 Whereas the body is now unequal to the 
 powers of the mind, fo as to check and ob- 
 flruft it's nobleft and moft vigorous efforts; it 
 will then promote and forward thofe operations 
 of the foul, which it now ob(lrud:s; and con- 
 tribute to render them more excellent and ad- 
 mirable: Infomuch that we fhal! a(5twith the 
 fame plcafurc and freedom, as if we were all 
 
 fpirit. 
 
 Whereas 
 
On our change at the refurre^tlon,- 2 1 r 
 
 Whereas it is now iiniler confinement andSERM. 
 reftraint, it (liall then be fprightly and un- XXV. 
 confined j we fliall then move vvith the fame '-^ w *^ 
 eafe we think ; and the body fliall be quick 
 enough even for the will. 
 
 Accordingly we read, that wefliall nofoon- 
 er find curfelves thus happily transformed, 
 but we fliall immediately take our flight. 
 The Apoftle tells us whither, To meet the 
 Lord in the air, when he (hall defcend with 
 the "coice of the Arch angel ^ and with the trump 
 of God. 
 
 It is faid indeed we P:all be caught up in the 
 clouds 'i but this is by the fame figure that 
 they are called the chariots of God. We fliall 
 be with him in the inftant he appear?, with a 
 motion quick enough to prevent our wifhes. 
 And when the folemnity of that great and ter- 
 rible day is over ; we fhall mount with our 
 Saviour into the highefl heavens j that valt 
 and bound lefs fpace : And go in to poffefs the 
 kingdom : That kingdom which was prepared 
 for us before the beginning of the world. 
 
 V. That this change fhall b6 effedled by the 
 mighty power of Chnfl. It is the Saviour, 
 the Lord Jefus Qhrifi^ whom we look for, 
 that fhall change our vile body, according to 
 the workings whereby he is able even to fubdue 
 all things unto him'felf. Here is plainly Al- 
 mighty power attributed to him; and that 
 which renders this more remarkable is, that 
 this is the very form of fpeaking which is ufei 
 of God the Faiher, Eph, i. 19, 20. with re- 
 P 2 i^Qa 
 
212 ' On our change dt the refurreSlion. 
 
 gERM. fpedt to the raifing of Chrift from the dead. 
 XXV. And he {hall do this great work by that omni- 
 potent power, whereby he is able to fubdue all 
 things to himfelf, (i. e.) whereby he can make 
 even duft and afhes, death and corruption, 
 turn to this great account ; and render them 
 thus fignally inftrumental to his own glory, 
 and our great acivantage. 
 
 And who are they that will take upon them 
 to fet bounds to that power which is infinite? 
 He that made a human body out of the duft 
 of the earth J who made that duft out of no- 
 thing, and afterwards united it to the Divi- 
 nity ; what muft we think ot them, who un- 
 jdertake to lay, that hitherto he can refine 
 matter, and no farther ? Is it not better to 
 wait with faith and humility to fee what God 
 can make of us. Certainly we ftiall be a build- 
 ings as the Apoftle calls it, worthy the art of 
 God, at a time when he undertakes to (hew 
 how fine a ftrudture he can raife out of thefe 
 grofs materials. And this is fo far from hav- 
 ing any difficulty in it with refped; to him ; 
 that we are told this aftoniftiing work (hall be 
 performed in a moment^ in the twinkling of an 
 eye. 
 
 Having thus gone through the particulars 
 in the text, I fhall only make the fame ap- 
 plication of it which the Apoftle here doth, 
 namely, to oblige us all to have our conver/a- 
 tion in heaven : Which he would urge upon 
 our confciencies from his own example j and 
 
 which 
 
On our change at the refurreBion. 213 
 
 which is indeed the main defign and purpofeSERM, 
 of this revelation. By that expreflion he plainly ^^^ 
 intimates to us two things. '^ 
 
 I. That virtue and holinefs here, is a ne- 
 ceflary difpofition for this glorious change 
 hereafter : That if vi^e would be like God 
 hereafter, we muft attain fome likenefs of him 
 here. This is the conftant ftyle of fcripture, 
 wherever the appearing of Chrift, and this 
 change is fpoke of: As in i John iii. 3. Ewry 
 man that hath this hope in him, purifieth him- 
 felf; even as he is pure. I chofe to inftance 
 in this one only, becaufe the reafon here given 
 why we ftiould endeavour to be pure and holy 
 is, becaufe God is lo; which plainly implies, 
 that purity and holinefs are necelTary in the 
 very nature of the things, to render us capable 
 of that image of God ; and puts the whole 
 man into a poflure, fitted to receive a likenefs 
 of that immaculate fpirit: This is that leal of 
 the living God, in the Revelations, with which 
 the fervants of God are faid to be marked. 
 This future glory is founded in grace, and they 
 both receive their improvements gradually in 
 the fame proportions; the change is now 
 beginning in this life ; the holy fpirit is already 
 forming us to this likenefs of himfelf ; and 
 every virtue, and every grace we acquire, there 
 is fo much of the divine nature tranfcribed 
 upon ours ; and the greater degrees of them 
 we attain, we (hall (hine with greater luftre in 
 
 another world. 
 
 P 3 The 
 
On our change, at the refurreBion. 
 
 The cafe of the wicked is quite the reverfe > 
 it is faid, ihty JJ: all rife to fldame and ever- 
 lajliiig contempt^ which expreffion being, in 
 Daniel 12. oppofed to thofe vjho Jhall fhine 
 as the brightnefs of the firmament^ {hews, that 
 their change fhall be quite contrary, into the 
 likenefs of the Devil. Vice and wickednefs 
 have a diredt tendency, even in this hfe towreft 
 our Hneaments. Anger, when it rages gives 
 the vifage a frightful afpedl, envy, hollows and 
 contrads the features; and no imagination can 
 paint out the horror of a defpairing look : 
 Racks and tortures cannot diftort the face to 
 fo much terror and amazement, as that remorfe 
 of confcience in a refolute finner, when he 
 hath before him a certain profped: of damna- 
 tion, and no hope of mercy. This will dif- 
 clofe itfelf yet more in another world ; when 
 the wicked fhall appear in their own eves, the 
 moft deteftable and loathfome of all beings; 
 terrified with their own deformity, and racked 
 with indignation at themfelves. 
 
 Whereas we fee virtue and goodnefs hath 
 a quite different effed, the calmnefs of the 
 foul difplays itfelf with ferenity in the looks ; 
 it fettles the countenance, and forms all our 
 lines to the fweet and eafy air of innocence; 
 infomuch that the joys and tranfports oi the 
 mind have been viiible, even under the pangs 
 and agonies of death; which are in truth no 
 other than the faint glimmerings of eternal 
 light. 
 
 2. The 
 
On our change at the rejurrecilon. 215 
 
 2. The other thing which is implied inSERM. 
 having our converfation in heaven is, that we XXV. 
 raife our minds to a full affurance and lively 
 hope of this furprifing change, into the like- 
 neis of the glorious body of Chrift j having 
 our heart and our affections fet upon that 
 great day, and looking for that bleffed hope, and 
 the glorious appearing of the great God, and our 
 Saviour Jefus Chrifi. Till this becomes the 
 great prevailing motive with us ; the flrongeft 
 bent of our minds ; and able to influence our 
 whole life and acftions to fuch a degree of vir- 
 tue and holinefs, that we fliall long for his 
 coming with impatience : Nay, till it becomes 
 the joy of our hearts, and that we can breathe 
 out from the humility and faith of a pious foul, 
 even fo come Lord Jefus, and be it unto us ac-^ 
 cording to thy holy word. 
 • The Apoflle, in i Thef. iii. 1 8. giving a 
 particular account of that great day, and how 
 the dead in Chrifi fhould rife firfl j he advifes 
 them to comfort one another with thefe worcls : 
 Accordingly let us do fo. Nothing but want 
 of faith, or of a true repentance, can deprive 
 us of this unfpeakable comfort. 
 
 Now are we the fons of God, a.nd joy nt heirs 
 with Chri/l. The ghry that thou gavefl jne^ 
 fays he, I give unto them ; and that we read 
 was the glory he had with God before the world 
 was. How then lliall we be filled with tran- 
 fport, to behold our Saviour's body in the 
 glory of God; and our own in the glory of 
 Chrifl's? The change will be fo furprifing, 
 P 4 that 
 
On our change at the refurreBiofi, 
 
 that we (hall then wonder at the low and hari 
 row thoughts we have of it now. 
 
 Our imaginations cannot paint out to us any 
 creature fo rare and beautiful, fo lovely and 
 admirable, as the body of a faint will be at 
 the refurrediion.- The fin eft perfonage upon 
 earth, is but a dark and gloomy (hade to it. 
 Imagine a human creature in the moft exad: 
 fymmetry and proportion of all its parts ; with 
 a fairnefs beyond the light, and a complexion 
 exceeding the gayeft pride of art and nature ; 
 clothe it with the brighteft beams of the fun j 
 then add to all this whatever the moft extra- 
 vagant imagination can fancy; after all, this 
 creature of our brain comes as fliort of that 
 workmanftiip of God, as a lump of earth doth 
 of the un. And if we were, in th s life, ca- 
 pable of the leaft glympfe or idea of it, we 
 ftiould be afliamed of our ignorance, and IJufti 
 at the comparifon ; one fuch glorious appear- 
 ance would now confound us J and we fliould 
 be apt to worftiip our fellow-creature. 
 
 It will be a being of that unconceivable 
 fweetnefs, and marvellous alpe(5t, that God 
 himfelf ftiall be pleafed with it. He will fee 
 fo much of himfelf in us, that he cannot but 
 love us ; and it muft pleafe him, to fee the 
 work of his hands fo much improved beyond 
 the firft defign : For then, like the original 
 ftandard, we ftiall be difpofed for glory and 
 happinefs in ourfelves, fo as not to be beholden 
 to any outward ornament : No, our perfec- 
 tions will be all internal and efTential to us; 
 
 this 
 
On our change at the refurvetlion. 2 1 7 
 
 this glory will ifliie from within, and wefhallSERM. 
 be an everlafting fountain of rays : We fhall XXV. 
 Jhine as the fiars in the firmament ; only with 
 this difference, that they are now obfcured by 
 the greater light of the iun ; out we {hall (hiiie 
 jorth in the kingdom of the Father^ and appear 
 glorious even in the prefence of God. 
 
 Let us therefore laait all the days of our ap- 
 pointed time, till our change comes. Though 
 it doth not yet appear what we (hall be -, let us 
 pojfefs our fouls in patience j and ftay but a little 
 while ^ and we fhall fee him, him whom we 
 look for. He is only gone before to prepare 
 a place for us j where all the rays of that ftu- 
 pendous being fhall not only be vifiblej but 
 fhall be fo far diffufed through our whole na- 
 ture, that we fhall become intelledlual light all 
 within, and radiant brightnefs all without. 
 
 Yes, we fhall j and therefore in a full af- 
 furance of this change, let us blefs the holy 
 name of God, who hath begotten us to this lively 
 hope, through Jefus Chriji : Let it be the fub- 
 jed: of our meditation, of our wifhes and de- 
 fires ; and let it make fuch a deep imprefTioii 
 upon our hearts, that it may be a motive 
 powerful enough to draw us off from the finful 
 pleafures of this life; and fpur us on to the at- 
 tainment of thofe virtues and graces, which 
 are the feeds of Glory. And fince it is never 
 to be attained to, without the habitual pratlice 
 of virtue and holinefs, I fhall end with thefe 
 words of the Apol\le, i Tim. vi. 13. 
 
 / charge 
 
2 1 8 On our change at the refurreBion, 
 
 Serm. 1 charge you all in the fight of God, who. 
 XXV. quickefis all things ', that you keep his command- 
 ^tnents without fpot, until the appearing of our 
 Lordjefus Chrifl, 
 
 Which in his time he jhalljhew\ who is the 
 blejfed and only potentate y the King of Kings , 
 and Lord of Lords. 
 
 Who only hath immortality ; dwelling in 
 the light which no man can approach unto-, 
 who no man hath feen, nor can fee. To 
 whom be honour and power everlafting. 
 Amen. 
 
 SERMON 
 
On the day of judgment. 219 
 
 SERMON XXVI. 
 
 On the Day of Judgment. 
 
 Revel, xx, 12. 
 
 And I faw the dead, [mail and greats jland 
 hejore God : and the books were opened. And 
 another hook ui'as opeJted, which is the book of 
 Life. And the deadwere judged out of thofe 
 things which were written iti the books^ ac- 
 cording to their works, 
 
 THESE words are part of a vifion feen S e r m.' 
 by St. John, wherein was reprefented XXVI. 
 to him the folemnity of the lafl great day of 
 accounts. They are a lively prophecy, and 
 very particular defcription of a general judg- 
 ment, which in fcripture is ufually reprefented 
 by the formality of courts of judicature among 
 ourfelves; as being the mod lively emblem of 
 it, and the apteft to make impreffions on our 
 minds. And therefore it is faid, in the verfe 
 before this text, That he faw a great white 
 throm\ a?jd him thatjat on it j from whofejace 
 
 the 
 
22 o Oft the day of judgment, 
 
 Se RM. the earth and the heavetis Jied away, arid there 
 XXV 1 was fou}id no place for them ; which is a (hort 
 ^ and elegant defcription of a new ftatc of things: 
 and then it follows, that hcfaw the dead both 
 Jmcill and great (land before God, i. e. before 
 Chrift, who is God. John v. 22, 23, for 
 the Father judgeth no man j but hath committed 
 all judgment unto the Son : that all men flooiild 
 honour the Son, even as they hotiour the Father. 
 The feveral particulars of this folemnity are 
 fpoken of in a figure, in condefcenfion to our 
 prefent way of thinking ; but the whole fub- 
 ftance of them will prove neverthelefs literally 
 true. And it ought to afFe(5t us the more, be- 
 caufe we are now able to conceive them by re- 
 lemblance only and fimilitude. For the true 
 reafon of this is, becaufe our limited under- 
 landing in this life is not capable of fo much 
 joy or fo much terror as the reality fliall occa- 
 iion i this we muft wait for till our change 
 comes. However in the mean time this is a 
 very obvious confequence, that if thefe things 
 are fo apt to affect us in the refemblance only, 
 and at a diftance ; then what muft they 
 do in the reality, and when they are prefent. 
 
 This defcription of a day of judgment is fo 
 natural and agreeable to the beft undeiftand- 
 ing of men, that now it is revealed to us, no- 
 thing is moreeafy of belief ; becaufe it falls in 
 with the reafon and pradice of mankind, who, 
 if they will allow any univerfal judgment, muft 
 own this to be a probable account of it. 
 
 I fliall 
 
On the day of judgment. 221 
 
 I {hall confider the feveral things contained Serm. 
 in thefe words in this order : XXVI. 
 
 I. I fhall explain what thefe books are which 
 are here faid to be opened. 
 
 II. Who are meant by the dead f mall and 
 great y who are faid to ftand before God. 
 
 III. What thofe works are which are faid 
 to be written in the books, according to which 
 men (hall be judged. 
 
 As to the fir ft, the books here fpokcn of are 
 of two forts. 
 
 1. Thofe books which contain the laws of 
 God. 
 
 2. Thofe books in which are contained all 
 the violations and tranfgreflions of thofe di- 
 vine laws. 
 
 I. Thofe which contain the laws of God are, 
 I. The book of the laws of noture written in 
 our hearts ; 'tis that innate fenfe of good and 
 evil interwoven with our frame, which qua- 
 lifies us for a judgment to come; namely, be- 
 caufe we are able to reafon of rrghteoufnefs, 
 and temperance, and chaftity, and all other 
 moral virtues, fo as to determine what things 
 are in their own nature honcji^ what things are 
 jiijl, what things are furc and lovely, and of 
 good report; and in fliort, what things are 
 virtuous, and praife-worthy. Our finding 
 within us a power of diftinguifliing between 
 virtue and vice, and letting them in oppofition 
 one to the other from the force of our under- 
 ftanding, even contrary to the violent tendency 
 of our corrupt appetites and affedtions, is in- 
 
 . ftead 
 
222 On the day of judgment. 
 
 Serm. ftead of a thoufand arguments, to Ihew that 
 XXVI. the difference between them is efTential and 
 'eternal; and that a time muftcome, when all 
 the degrees of them will become confpicuous, 
 either in the great improvement, or deprava- 
 tion of human nature. This fhould make all 
 people have a great regard to the didates of 
 natural confcience, and to the pradice of all 
 moral virtues ; and they who negled: or de- 
 fpifethefe, under any pretence or notion of a 
 iirong faith, or a more refin'd and exalted pi- 
 ety, to their great amazement, will find them- 
 felves come fhort in a main part of their ac- 
 count in the day of judgment. 
 
 2. The Holy Scriptures is that other book 
 of laws which {hall be opened for the tryal of 
 all that ever had the opportunities of the Gof- 
 pel, thofe oracles of God which were given by 
 infpiration ; which are profitable for inftruc- 
 tion in righteoufnefs, which contain the whole 
 counfel of God, and are able to make us wife 
 unto falvation ; and wherein we have the whole 
 difpenfation of God towards mankind, from 
 our firft creation to the laft great day of ac- 
 counts. Thefe carry in themfelves fuch evi- 
 dence of their divinity, that 'tis fufficient to 
 convince all who are at the trouble to confider 
 them with humihty and fincerity ; infomuch, 
 that the mofl: profefled and pofitive deiil: will 
 be left without excufe, when he comes to be 
 tryed for his infidelity. They will all then fee 
 that there is no other name under heaven given, 
 where b\ they may bejaved^ hut that oj the Lord 
 
On the Day of Judgment. 223 
 
 Jefus Chrifl. And that Z?^ that believeth and ^e km- 
 is b apt i fed, fiall be fa'ved, and that he that be-^^^^' 
 lieveth not, [Jmll be damnd. 
 
 Nor can their condition be much better, 
 who now beh'eve the Scriptures to be the very- 
 word of God, and yet omit the conftant read- 
 ing and underflanding of them. For men to 
 allow that they fet life and death before us ; 
 that the true will of God is revealed in them ; 
 and that they (hall furely one day be acquitted 
 or condemned eternally, as they frame their 
 lives and converfations by them j and yet hard- 
 ly ever mind them when they are read, or look 
 into them themfelves; when at the fame time 
 they are intent upon fuch books as gratify their 
 curiofity or pleafures, is a folly no way to be 
 accounted for, but from the lamentable ftupid- 
 nefs and infatuation of human nature. 
 
 O! did they but coniider how this book 
 will, at the laft great day, be produced as the 
 Gkrious Gojpel of the bleffed God-, and laid o- 
 pen to upbraid their ft upidnefs and contempt of 
 that ineftimable treafure; and how it will be 
 more tderable for Sodom and Gomorrah in the 
 day of judgment, than for fuch as did negledt 
 and defpifefo great filvation; they would ftu- 
 dy them day and night; when they fit in their 
 boufes, or walk by the way ; when they lie downy 
 and when they rife up. 
 
 2. The fecond kind of books intended more 
 dire^Slly in iii;s text are, fuch- wherein the vi- 
 olation of thofe laws of God are regiftred. 
 'Tis in allufion to thefe books that thofe e^- 
 
 preffions 
 
224 ^^ ^^^ ^^y 9f Judgment, 
 
 Serm. preffions are fpoke, Col. ii. 24. iorgiving our 
 XXVI. trefpajjes by blotting out the hand ^writing that 
 ^is againfi us. And again where we are bid to 
 repent, that our fimmay be blotted out, which 
 the' they are fpoken in condefceniion to our 
 capacities, and after the manner of men ; and 
 that we know not the true nature of thofe di- 
 vine records, yet we may reafonably conclude, 
 that there are thofe four feveral ways of record- 
 ing the adtions of men, 
 
 I. By the omnifcience of God, whofe eyes 
 are faid to be in e^-cery place beholding the coil, 
 and the good ^ and Jer. ii, 19, upon all the uays, 
 cf the Jons of men, there is nothing in Scrip- 
 ture more frequently mentioned, and urged af- 
 ter a more lively and affedling manner, than 
 the particular notice God takes of all our 
 thoughts, words and actions, and thereafon af- 
 figned Is, that he might give to every one ac- 
 cording to his ways, and according to the fruit 
 of his doings. So that all this exad: and uner- 
 ring knowledge of our ways by that all-feeing 
 Eye, being only in order to a future judgment, 
 and general retribution ; we may conclude 
 that every minuteflcircumflance of guilt, with 
 all its aggravations, are recorded in the un- 
 bounded mind of God, which comprehends 
 all things. He who knows all our thoughts, 
 long before they are conceived, can never for- 
 get them when they are paft ; and He who 
 lo long before ordained thofe good works that 
 we {hou!d wall in; and in the volume of 
 whofe book was written from eternity, that 
 
 whole 
 
On the day of judgment. 22 c 
 
 whole will of God which Chrift came to FuI-Serm. 
 fil ; keeps as fure a regiiiry of the perf )rmanceXXVr. 
 of thofe works, and of our failure in the dif- 
 charge of them, Nay, we think meanly of 
 God, when we imagine any thing is pail:, or 
 to come in relped of him with whom there is 
 no variabl nefSy or fh.^dow of turnings or fuc- 
 ceffion of time. From whence 'tis plain, that 
 as we are now as much in the immediate pre« 
 fence of God as if we faw him, fo all that he 
 now beholds iii us will be asprefent to him at 
 the time of tryal, as they were the firft minute 
 they were tana^ted. 
 
 2. But fecondly, 'tis not enough for the ma- 
 nifertation of God's juflice, that He himielf 
 will then have a perfect knowledge of the fms 
 of men : but that finners might acknowledge 
 the juftice of their condemnation, they niuft 
 themfelves have an exad: remembrance of all 
 their fine ; and therefore by one of thefe books 
 mufl be meant, the zonfcietices of men, which 
 take a nice account of all our fins, and book 
 them down in the order they are committed. 
 That fecret remorfe and clamour within us, 
 which is the infeparable companion of guilt, 
 is a certain fign that our fins will come to light 
 fome time or other ^ for othcrwife, why 
 fliould w^e find any uneafinefs at what can ne- 
 ver be dilcover'd or known to any one elle? 
 And on the other hand, if a man is innocent, 
 he finds comfort within, tho* the whole world 
 accufe himj now there can be no reafon for 
 this, but becaufe a day will come, when they 
 fhall be all undeceived, and his innocence 
 r Vol. II. Q^ cleared 
 
226 On the day of judgment. 
 
 Serm. cleared to all mankind. This regret on the 
 XXVI. one hand, and peace of mind on the other, 
 'arifes only from the exa6l knowledge we have 
 of what paffes in our felves; and that is con- 
 fcience, an unerring, faithful witnefs, within 
 ns. 'Tis true, the tranfgreffions of habitual 
 finners, are io numerous, that were they ever 
 fo willing, it is impoffible for them in this life, 
 to recoiled and retain them all. But tho' the 
 remembrance of mens fins, wears off as they 
 are fucceeded by new ones ; and tho' men fin 
 on, till they are pajijeeling^ and have no re- 
 morfe left; yet we are to look upon our con- 
 fciences as part of ourfelves, and therefore in 
 the laft great change, when the whole man 
 will revive, he will then appear to be all that 
 ever he was, and will become in one inftant, 
 what he had ever been in every moment of his 
 life; and thus the confcience, will lay before 
 the finner, one general view of all that ever he 
 committed, and give in its evidence to a tittle. 
 'Tho he is dead in fin, yet his confcience is a- 
 wake; when it is moft filent, it takes the 
 fharpeft notice ; the lefs it fpeaks, the more in- 
 tent it is in taking an account of all the hidden 
 motions of the foul ; and it does not ceale to 
 be a 'Kttnefs^ when it leaves off to be a moni- 
 tor. It is neceflary that God fhould have fuch 
 a witnefs within us, that men being condemn- 
 ed by no other evidence but themfclves, He 
 might be juftijied in his/ayings, and clear when 
 he is judged^ clear even by their own confef^ 
 fionj and that they might for ever own and 
 
 acknowledge 
 
On the day of judgment* 227 
 
 acknowledge the juftice of that irreveiTibleSERM. 
 fentence, wheeby they are doomed to ever- XXVI. 
 lafting punifliment. But, 
 
 3. It is not lufficient that God knows all 
 the fins of men, nay, and that men fliall then 
 have an mward convid:ion of the guilt of them 
 in themfelves; but it is further neceffary for 
 the juftification of God's attributes, that all 
 the fins of men be known to every body elfe^ 
 and therefore, there muft be another way of 
 recording the fins of men, a way, which (hall 
 render them vifible to all orders of intelligent 
 beings, men and angels, that all might know 
 thofe crimes, for which the wicked undergo 
 fuch a dreadful fentence, and are necefiTarily 
 confign'd over to endlefs and unfupportable 
 torments. And that can be no other than 
 the very nature of the fins themfelves, which 
 have all a tendency to difpofe men for incon- 
 ceivable deformity in the lafl: great change. 
 All the motions and fentiments of our fouls, 
 will then become confpicuous, as our bodily- 
 parts are now j and difclofe themfelves in the 
 very make and conflitution of our whole frame. 
 Sin will then appear to be as real a deformity, 
 as an unnatural fliape or a difiorted member in 
 the prefent condition of the body ; only with 
 this difference, that the one is a defed: only in 
 nature, the other will be monfi:rou3 in another 
 world, and feem a foul and odious deflection 
 from that eternal ord^r of things, which God 
 hath obferved in the works of the whole crea- 
 tion. Then will it be difcover'd, at what a 
 0^2 diftance 
 
228 On the day of judgment. 
 
 Serm. diftance the fins of men, place them from 
 XXVI. thelikenefs of God, that fbuntahi of all beau- 
 ty and perfection J and how it imprints the li- 
 militude of an infernal fiend. Thus the fins 
 of men will become vifible, by a natural ne- 
 celTary confequence j and will be recorded as 
 one fpeaks, non in chartis corruptibilibuSy fed 
 in immortali fiaturd : not by writing on pa- 
 per, but in eternal nature. All the great va- 
 riety of guilt, will then difplay itfelf in the 
 horrid foulnefs of the (hape, infomuch, that 
 every feature of the mifcreant, will call aloud 
 for vengeance on his own head. And how 
 muft he then give himfelf up to terror, when 
 he fees there is no room for mercy, without 
 changing the nature of things, and overturn- 
 ing the whole order and ceconomy of the 
 univerfe. 
 
 4. There is another way of taking anexad: 
 account of the adions of men, and that is by 
 the miniftry of Angels. We know from ma- 
 ny inftances in fcripture, that they are mini- 
 ftring fpirits, and very much employ 'd in the 
 affairs of mankind. It hath been an opinion, 
 not without (hew of probability, that every 
 perfon hath a good, and an evil angel, to at- 
 tend him J whether this be fo or no, to be 
 fure we are furrounded with angels, who, tho* 
 they are invifible to us, yet we are not fo to 
 them : we are adling upon the flage of this 
 world, and they are the fpedtators; and 'tis 
 fure they muft be very nice and curious obfer- 
 vers of our whole behaviour, by that joy there 
 
 is 
 
On the day of judgment » 229 
 
 is in heaven, over one finner that repents.SERM. 
 'Tis certain the evil fpirits watch us narrowly, XXVI. 
 for the Devil is call'd, the accufer of the bre- 
 thren. 
 
 Now that this can be done without them, 
 is no argument at all, that they are not con- 
 cerned in it; becaufe the mighty power and 
 knowledge of God is able to perform every 
 thing without them ; and therefore for the 
 fame reafon, there would be no occafion for 
 their miniftry in any thing elfe. Now how, 
 or after what manner they regifter thofe fins 
 of men, is utterly unknown to us ; without 
 doubt it is by fome way that exceeds all hu- 
 man certainty. 
 
 II. This brings me to the fecond thing I 
 was to fpeak to, namely, who are the deady 
 fmall and great ^ who are here faid to [land be- 
 Jore God. By this is meant perfons of all ages 
 and conditions, the whole race of mankind, 
 from the begining of the world to the lafl 
 great day. Agreeable to what the apoflle fays, 
 2 Cor. ^, 10. for we muji all appear before the 
 judgment feat of Chrifty that every one may re- 
 ceive the things done in his body, according to 
 that he hath done, whethtr it be good or bad. 
 Both Jews and Heathen, had fome knowledge 
 of the fouls of men being tryed and condemn- 
 ed after their departure : but they had no no- 
 tion of one general judgment of the whole 
 race of mankind at once, both for foul and bo- 
 dy. This is a revelation peculiar to the Gof^ 
 pel, which doth not only tell us that God 
 (^3 hath 
 
2 5© On the day of judgment. 
 
 Serm. hath appointed a day in the which he will judge 
 XXVI. the world in right eoufnefs, but is fo particular in 
 V— V— ** defcribing the manner and circumftances of it, 
 with the very words of the fentence which 
 will be pronounced, that nothing feems to be 
 conceal'd from us, but that of the time when 
 it will be. 
 
 Now it is neceflary that there {hould be 
 one general day of judgment, and that all 
 mankind fhould come upon their tryal at 
 once. 
 
 I. For the juftification of God, and clear- 
 ing of his mercy and his juftice, that he might 
 appear to h&jiift and true in all his dealings by 
 the children of men. How many ways have 
 men of charging God foollflily ? As if per- 
 mitting Adam and Eve to fall, were not con- 
 fiftent with his Goodnefs. As if the curfefor 
 his difobedience were wrongfully extended to 
 his pofterity. As if the laws of the Gofpel 
 were unnatural refl:raint?, upon fuch appetites 
 and pailions as areelTential tons. And laflly, 
 as if the eternal punifhment of the fins of men, 
 were not confiftent with infinite mercy. Now 
 for the clearing up of thefe and fuch like diffi- 
 culties, 'tis neceflary that all mankind fliould 
 appear at once, that in their prefence, he 
 mio^ht convince all that are ungodly among them, 
 of all their ungodly deeds^ and of all their hard 
 fpeeches, ijchich ungodly fmners have fpoken a- 
 ' gainfl him -, that they may fee and allow, that 
 God did all that was confiftent with the pu- 
 rity of his attributes, for the falvation of men's 
 
 foulS| 
 
On the day of judgment, 231 
 
 fouls, and could not have done more without Serm," 
 injury to his nature. That it might be ma- XXVI. 
 nifcft, how he is clear frot?i the blood of all' 
 men-, and how the everlafting damnation of 
 the wicked, is wholly chargeable upon them- 
 fclves. 
 
 2. Another reafon why mankind muft ap- 
 pear all at once in the laft day is, becaufe the 
 fins of men will never come to their full fize, 
 and receive all their aggravation till the whole 
 race of men are extind. The confequences of 
 fome men's fins, run thro' many generations, 
 and by a notorious bad example, and corrupt 
 writings, may receive new aggravations to the 
 end of the world j and therefore 'tis reafonable, 
 this general judgment ot wicked men, fhould 
 not be until the meafuie of their iniquities is 
 filled up. 
 
 3. The laft reafon I fliall afllgn of this is, 
 for the perfedl completion of all the threats 
 and promifes of God. We are now told, that 
 the righteous fliall be raisd in glory, and that 
 when Chrid: appears, they fliall appear with 
 him, as he is. And on the contrary, that the 
 wicked fliall be turned into hell, and doom'd 
 to everlafiing fire prepared for the Devil and 
 his angels -y wherefore 'tis neceflary there fliould 
 be a general meeting of all the race of man- 
 kind, that the wicked might aftually behold, 
 the glory of the righteous; and the righteous, 
 the miferable condemnation of the wicked : 
 that, as Job fpeaks, all men might fee with 
 their own eyes, and not another s, how not one 
 
 CL4 jot 
 
232 On the day of jw^gmenf, 
 
 Serm. jot or tittle will faill of the word of God, 
 XXVI. 'till it be fully accompliflied in the prefence of 
 'the whole world. 
 
 And now when all the whole race of 
 Adam, is thus called together into one com- 
 pany, by a general fummons of the laft 
 trump ; what an amazing fpedacle will it be ! 
 The very thought of it bears hard upon the 
 mind, and fills it with honor. I know not 
 how to go about to give you a notion large 
 enough, to bear any proportion to it. Con- 
 fider the fixfcore thoiifandjouls, at once in Ni- 
 neveh, who kjjew not thetr right hand from 
 their left. And that the polterity of Abra- 
 ham only, were faid to be as the /and of the 
 Jea ', then where (hall we find a comparifon 
 for that aflonifliing multitude, which St. John 
 fays, Rev. 9. that he beheld , which no man 
 could number, oj all nations, and kindreds, and 
 feople, and tongues flanding bejore the throne. 
 And yet thefe are only the good he fpeaks of 
 here, which are faid to be the leiTer part. Tnen 
 what muft that whole number be, mentioned 
 in Daniel, vii. 10. where he fays that when 
 the judgment u^asfet, and the books were operid-, 
 thoufa7id tho fands, minilired imto him, and 
 ten thoufand times ten thoufand, flood before 
 him. 
 
 Now if to all thefe we add, thofe myriads 
 of holy angels, who are faid to come in 
 the clouds of heaven with our Saviour. And 
 iikewife thofe accurfed fpirits who fell with 
 Lucifer, and are faid to be referred in ever- 
 
 lafting 
 
On the day of judgment, 233 
 
 iaiiing chains ^ under darknefs^ unto the judg'S>zKM. 
 ment of the great day ; this will be a immber ^'^^^'f• 
 vvorthy the majefty of that great tribunal. ^— v-^ 
 
 Should any of us behold this multitude in a 
 vifion as St. Juhn did, without being fupported 
 with the fame ftrength of fpii it which was ne- 
 cefTary for him, it would ftrike us with con- 
 fulion. I fhall only mmd you, that every one 
 of us here prefent will bear a part in this laft 
 great fcene j and either be acquitted, or con- 
 demned, as we now prepare ouifelves for that 
 great account. And this leads me to the 
 
 III. And laft thing I am to fpeak to from 
 the words j and that is, what thofe works are 
 which are written in the books. And they are, 
 
 1. All men's outward actions, all the frauds 
 and oppreffions of the poor and needy, that 
 ever they were guilty of j all their deceits and 
 unfair dealingsjallthe adulteries, murders, and 
 fornications J all the wickednefs they were 
 prompted to commit by their luft, or avarice, 
 or pride and ambition j all the wrongs and in- 
 juries they have done to the perfjns and for- 
 tunes of other people ; every acft of gluttony 
 or drunkennefs that ever they were guilty of. 
 
 2. All their evil words are wrote in thefe 
 books, every Oath they fwore through their 
 whole lives j all the curfes and execrations ; all 
 the prophanejefts and virulent IcofFs they caft 
 upon reli2;ion and holy things ; all lies and flat- 
 teries, difli.nulationsand hypocritical fpeechcs; 
 all their back-biting and defamation of other 
 
 p^iople. 
 
234 ^^ ^^^ ^^y of judgment. 
 
 S E R M . people, and malicious refledions upon the per- 
 XXVI. fons and anions of other men. 
 
 3. All their thoughts will be more perfe(5tly 
 defcribed than it was poffible for themfelves 
 to exprefs them with a multitude of words ; 
 all the evil imaginations and wicked defignsof 
 their hearts, which v/ere never reduced to 
 pra6:ice 5 all the pride of their minds j their 
 fecret vanity and envyings ; and all thoughts 
 of luft, or malice, or treachery, or revenge, 
 which either want of opportunity, or regard 
 only to their temporal purfuits, hindered them 
 from accomplifhing. 
 
 4. And laftly their fins of omiflion will 
 make up no fmall part of that account which 
 is taken of the wicked : all opportunities of 
 doing good they ever llipt, are noted down -, 
 every facrament they turn their backs upon j 
 all their negleds of his publick and private 
 worship ; with their undevout and carelefs, 
 their indecent, light, of wanton behaviour in 
 the houfe of God; all negled: of neceffary in- 
 lliu6:ion of children and fervants, and thofe 
 who have a dependance upon them ; all the 
 a(5ls of charity and beneficence that ever were 
 in their powxr, but omitted by them. 
 
 Nor fliall all thefe be recorded barely as 
 they appear to us, but with a thoufand aggra- 
 vating circumftances, which men never dream 
 of now ; they fliall be recorded with all their 
 black train of attendants, and numerous evil 
 confeqiiences, which we are not able to com- 
 prehend 3 for men's fins have a malignant in- 
 fluence 
 
On the day of judgment, 235 
 
 fluence farther than we can reach with our H-Serm. 
 mited ftock of knowledge. XXVf. 
 
 Nor (hall there any one good work that ever 
 a wicked man did be remembered to him j 
 they (liall be all as if they never were j they 
 fhail be all blotted, together with his name, 
 out of the book of the living : and when they 
 begin to mention fome of their good works, 
 and plead for mercy upon that fcore, Lord 
 have we not eaten and drank in thy name^ 6cc. 
 He will own nothing at all either of them or 
 their works, and will openly declare he knew 
 them not. 
 
 Now as to fuch as are per fwaded this day will 
 furely come, and that they themfelvesmufl: in 
 a fliort time be configned over to it by death : 
 the next thought that naturally arifes in the 
 mind is, what if it were to be now prcfent ? 
 with what conflernation would this flrike the 
 foul of an unrepenting finner, who is in no 
 preparation to meet his judge ? Let us fuppofe 
 then that this were the very m.oment the apo- 
 flle fjTcaks of, and that the trumpet fhould found y 
 and that the great and general change were e- 
 ven now to be performed in the twinkLhig of 
 an eye. Good God ! how fliould wc fee the 
 little diftindtions of this life vanifli, and all 
 worldly grandeur and precedency at once de- 
 flroyed and confounded ? How fliould we fee 
 the whole order and fubordination cf all ranks 
 and degrees of men among us quite inverted ; 
 fo that perhaps the firfl: fhould be laft, and the 
 Jaft might be firft ? And how different would 
 
 men 
 
23 6 ^^ ^^^^ ^^y ^f judgment. 
 
 Se R M . men appear from that fhew they make in the 
 XXVI. eye of the world, when the fecret virtue and 
 uprightnefs, and piety and devotion of fome 
 men's fouls, become vifible in the very frame 
 and make of the whole man, and difpofe them 
 for being transformed into the bright and glo- 
 rious image of the Son of God ? How would 
 the fecieL lufl and vanity, pride andcovetouf- 
 nefs, malice and envy ; with all the other un- 
 rcftrained and unconquered paffions of a wick- 
 ed perfon, combine together to make up a 
 hideous and terrible compofition, the moft 
 frightful fpeftacle in the univerfe ? A horrible 
 fhape and form that muft be, that leaves them 
 in no condition of mercy from God, or pity 
 from m.an or angel, and difpofes them for al- 
 mighty vengeance and fury, and to be loath- 
 fome and deteilable in the view of all intelli- 
 gent beings j but to none more odious, than 
 they v/iil be in their own eyes. 
 
 Now thus transformed into a creature in- 
 conceivablv deformed, flartled and confound- 
 ed at his own image, let every perfon who is 
 confcious to his own heart of living in wilful 
 and habitual fm, imagine himfelf to be, and 
 that he were to be, this inftant dragged by the 
 infernal fiends, to make his dreadful approach 
 to the tribunal of an incenfedand angry judge : 
 confider but the conflernation of a criminal, 
 when he comes before our courts of judicature 
 to be tryed for his life j then who can con- 
 ceive the anguifh of him who is to come up- 
 on his tryal for foul and body j not with any 
 
 profpe(5t 
 
On the day of judgment. 237 
 
 profpedl of being acquitted, but felf-condcinn- S e rm- 
 ed, with a glaring procf and evidence of iiis XXVI. 
 fin in every fhape and feature ; and v/ith a *" ' 
 
 ghaftly mixture of all variety of guilt and 
 horror in his countenance. 
 
 It cannot enter into our hearts to conceive 
 what a furprize it will be to him, who en- 
 deavoured nothing more than to forget his fins 
 in this life, to find an exadtand impartial tran- 
 fcript of the whole courfe of his life in thofe 
 books which fhall be opened : When he (hall 
 have all the fins that ever he committed in one 
 view, together with ail their aggravations ; when, 
 as 'tis faid in Pfalm 50, 21, God flmll fet his 
 fins in order before his eyes. What muft it be 
 to have all this load of guilt preil upon him 
 at once, without any thing to fupport him j he 
 will not be able to bear the weight j tho' he 
 will have flrength for ever to labour under it. 
 How muft he ftand aftoniflied at this tribunal, 
 where all the hidden counfels of his heart are 
 manifeft j all his thoughts and works of dark- 
 nefs placed in open view, which he made it 
 his fludy to conceal ; and thole things ex- 
 pofcd to the fight of all men, which he would 
 now rather die than have difcovered ? How 
 muft he be filled with infupportable fliame 
 and confufion, when he finds there is no cor- 
 rupting or gainfaying thefe records ; and that 
 no artificial colours, falfe delufions, or fubtile 
 evafions, will ftand him in any ftead ? 
 
 And to make the fceneyetprelent, let fuch 
 a perfon imagine he were immediately to hear 
 
 that 
 
238 On the day of judgment, 
 
 Serm. that final fentence pronounced upon him, Z)^- 
 XXVI. part^ thou curfed, mto ever lading fire, prepar- 
 * ed for the devil a?id his a?jgcls. O eternity of 
 milery! doom'd to everlafling burnings ! how 
 muft the mention of it fcare and terrify the 
 guilty confcience ? that when infinite ages are 
 expired, his torments are not nearer to an end 
 than when he was firft plunged into the fiery 
 lake. Let him carry his mind on to the clofe 
 of this great and terrible folemnity, and ima- 
 gine that the fentence is no fooner pronounced, 
 but that the good and bad areadually feparat- 
 ing from each other, never, never to fee one 
 another more. When he looks up and be- 
 holds the glorious company with the Lor a in 
 the air, and takes his laft parting view, as they 
 are going in to poffefs the kingdom j how muft 
 this thought gnaw and fting his foul, that it 
 was once in his power to have been of that 
 blefied number, but he dipt the happy oppor- 
 tunity, and can never have another tryal to 
 all eternity. 
 
 No diftorted vifage In the midft of racks and 
 tortures, can give us any notion of it ; nor can 
 any imagination paint out to us the wild dif- 
 tradlion of their fouls. No ! they will then 
 have ways of expreffing their anguifh and re- 
 morfe, which is but feintly fignified to us now 
 by weeping and wailing, and gnafhing of teeth, 
 Alas ! {hiieks and groans are but ways men 
 now have of complaining, and giving their 
 fears or forrows vent , but thofe will be wholly 
 ufelefs then, when there is none to pity ; and 
 
 nothing 
 
On the day of judgment, 239 
 
 nothintir is left them for their portion, but black Serm. 
 defpair for ever. aavi. 
 
 I wifli I could leave thefe terrors of the Lord ' 
 on the mind of every one that hears me ; that 
 they may dwell there, ready to ftart up at the 
 approach of every temptation ; to break the 
 force of it ; and render all the finful pleafures 
 of this life little and contemptible. I befeech 
 God, that what hath been faid may have that 
 effcdl upon you ; that this and fuchlike warn- 
 ings beforehand, might not add to your con- 
 demnation in that great day of accounts ; but 
 that when Chrift fhall come to judgment, 
 every one of our names may be found written 
 in the book oj life of the Lamb. 
 
 S ERMON 
 
24© ^h^ iii'^ proved to be good 
 
 SERMON XXVII. 
 
 The law proved to be good from the 
 evidence of our own confciences. 
 
 Rom. vii. 19. 
 
 For the good that I would, I do not : but the 
 evil which I would not^ that do L 
 
 THERE is little doubt but that this is 
 one of thofe paflages in St. Paul's epifties, 
 which St. Peter obferves are hard to be under- 
 flood, and which they that are unlearned and 
 iinflable, wrefl as they do other fcriptures, unto 
 their own defiruBion, 
 
 The ufual caufe of moft erroneous interpre- 
 tations of fcripture is, that people fing'e out 
 particular texts, and then put their own con- 
 ftrudion upon them, without any regard to 
 what goes before or after 5 and without con- 
 fidering the context, and the whole drift of 
 the difcourfe : Whereas it is plain, that thofe 
 very perfons who deal thus by the book of 
 
 God, 
 
from the evidence of our own confciences] 241 
 
 God, would cenfu re any one, who would do Sep. m. 
 the fame by any other book whatfoever. XXVII. 
 
 There is nothing more common than this * ^ ^ 
 in the world, and it might eafily be fhewn, 
 how this is the occafion of moft errors, that 
 are held in oppofition to the eftablifhed doc- 
 trine of the Church. 
 
 When we all come to have our differences 
 decided in the laft day, by him who revealed 
 the Gofpel to us, 'tis to be feared that this ve- 
 ry thing, will hinder multitudes from plead- 
 ing invincible ignorance for their errors, viz. 
 becaufe that they did not ufe the fame in- 
 genuity and common fenfe in underflanding 
 the Scripture, which they never failed to ufe in 
 any human author. 
 
 This is one of thofe texts which hath been 
 thus fingled out, and to worfe purpofes than 
 that other of our Saviour's, 7his is my body ; 
 for that opinion of tranfubflantiation, is big 
 with errors in opinion only, and is the imme- 
 diate occafion but of one error in pradice, 
 that of Idolatry, But the falfe acceptation of 
 this text, hath an univerfal malignant influ- 
 ence upon the pradlice of men, in which con- 
 fifls the very life and foul of religion. 
 
 For the notion that multitudes, and parti- 
 cularly the Presbyterians, and all our Seda- 
 ries have of the lenfe of thefe words, is this, 
 viz. that tho' they do indeed omit fome ne- 
 cefTary duties, and are guilty of fome ninljiil 
 and habitual finsj yet it is much againfl the 
 inclination of their fouls, their heart is right 
 
 Vol. II. R with 
 
^he law proved to he good 
 
 with God J fo that they ferve him in the inner ^ 
 man, and make no queftion, but that he will 
 accept of thofe good wijhes and de/ires of 
 theirs. 
 
 Many indeed, will not exprefs thus much, 
 but they carry this in their minds, to quiet 
 their confciences, whenever they find them 
 uneafy at the fins they live in. 
 
 And others will not flick openly to juftify 
 their grofs, wilful, habitual fins by it -, and 
 call them the unavoidable weaknefles and in- 
 firmities of their nature; and all the while af- 
 fume fuch an air of piety and holinefs in their 
 countenances, and make fuch confident pre- 
 tences to fincere religion, that they appear the 
 moft fand:ified people in the world : And in- 
 deed, their great unhappinefs is, that they 
 think themfelves fo, for this makes it a dan- 
 gerous fort of hypocrify. 
 
 It is a cafe very common in the world, and 
 therefore it muft be worth while to confider 
 the true fenfe of this part of fcripture, on 
 which they build that falfe and mifi:aken opi- 
 nion of themfelves. 
 
 That which makes this Chapter feem thus 
 obfcure is, St. Paul's fuppofing, the objedions 
 which he anfwers, already known ; as in- 
 deed they were among thofe he wrote to, 
 and therefore he only glances at them, and 
 doth not exprefs them in full, fo as to fl:ate 
 them formally and at large. 
 
 Wherefore the only way to know his 
 meaning is, to obferve the drift and chain of 
 
 his 
 
from the evidence of our own confc'iencfL 243 
 
 his whole difcourfe. His main defign in thisSERM. 
 and the foregoing chapter, is to convince both .^^^^^' 
 'Jews and Gentiles^ that they lay under no 
 obligation to obferve the law of Mofes. 
 
 As for the Jews, they were fo wedded to 
 their law, that at the hrft preaching of the 
 Gofpel, it was not fife for the Apoftles to in- 
 lift upon this great point of doctrine to them. 
 For if they had fallen diredlly and immediate- 
 ly upon it, this would have (luck as an invin- 
 cible prejudice with thofe who were otherwile 
 well enough inclin'd to embrace the Gofpel ; 
 fo that this matter was to be opened by de- 
 grees: our bleffed Saviour began it iirft in his 
 difcourfe to the woman of Samaria; and as he 
 himfelf obferved the whole law, fo the difci- 
 ples complied for fome time after his afcen- 
 tion. And at laft St. Paul, who was himfelf 
 a zealous and obftinate Jew, was by the wif- 
 dom of God made choice of to declare the a^ 
 hrogation and nullity of what himfelf was but 
 lately fo acftive and violent for. And accord- 
 ingly he began it among the Gentiles, as we 
 read in the 21ft of the Adts, who were much 
 eafier to be convinced than the Jews. And 
 here in this chap, he fpeaks of the matter fully, 
 to the Jews that were at Rome, and tells 
 them in plain terms, that they are wholly- 
 freed from the obfervance of the ceremonial 
 law, that they are dead to the law, and deli- 
 vered from it. And urges and explains the 
 matter by the (imiliuide of a married woman* 
 While her husband is alive fhe is bound \o 
 R 2 him 
 
*fhe law proved to be good 
 
 him by the law ; but when he is dead, {he is 
 free to marry another : fo when the eld law 
 was in force, men were obliged to obey it, 
 but now it being done away (as he fpeaks) and 
 dead in the perfon of Chrift, who was crucifi- 
 ed for that purpofe, they were free to embrace 
 the Gofpel of Chrift, which is a much better 
 difpenfation, becaufe it requires the purity of 
 our hearts, and inward holinefs of foul, in- 
 ftead of thofe outward ordinances. Upon this 
 there occurs an objedtion, If fo, then the law 
 was the caufe of fin, viz. becaufe it com- 
 manded only an outward obedience, and did 
 •not exadt that inward fpiritual purity. 
 
 To this he anfwers, that the law was not 
 the caufe of fin, for it did require inward as 
 well as outward obedience, as is evident from 
 that precept, thou [halt not covet. But the 
 truth of it is, tho* the law required this in- 
 ward obedience of the mind, yet it had no 
 penalty annexed to the breach of that part of 
 the law, as the Gofpel hath, viz. that of e- 
 ternal damnation. 
 
 And therefore men took occafion from this 
 to indulge themfelves in all their lufts, as far 
 as they could without temporal punifhment : 
 and thus the law which was in itfelf ^oo^, and 
 ordained to life, was found to be unto death. 
 
 Here another objedion is raifed at the 13 th 
 verfe, where he comes more immediately to 
 the matter we are now upon. The objedion 
 is this, However good as the law is, yet it be- 
 came death to us 3 and the fault of men's mif- 
 
 \ carrying. 
 
from the evidence of our own confclences. 245 
 
 carrying, will lye upon the law, and not up-SERM. 
 on themfelves. No! he anfwers, that men's ^^^^^• 
 ruin will lye upon their own heads for all that/ 
 for the law forbidding thofe impurities of our 
 hearts, doth not make any alteration in the 
 nature of them ; they do not become evil only, 
 becaufe forbidden by the law, they are bad 
 in themfelves, and the law only declares 
 them to be foj it makes us fenfible of their 
 guilt, and makes them appear to be exceeding 
 vile and fmful as they are : So that it is plain 
 our fm and ruin is no way chargeable upon 
 the law. 
 
 But it is we, who are naturally very cor- 
 rupt, and it is this corruption of our hearts, 
 which inceffantly inclines us to adt contrary to 
 it's dictates J that is the true and only caufe of 
 our ruin, and not the law, which fo fairly 
 warns us againft it. He goes on, and fays, 
 that which puts this beyond all doubt, is the 
 inward fenfe of our own fouls, and the regret 
 we have, when we are guilty of any of thofe 
 things which are thus forbidden by it. And 
 to urge the matter more home to them, he 
 appeals to the confciences of men, whether 
 they did not check and rebuke them at the 
 very inftantthey finned. 
 
 For the good that I would, I do wt : and 
 the evil that I would not, that do 1; which is 
 as much as to fay, you, or T, or any other 
 perfon, when we omit the doing of any good 
 adtion we have opportunity for, we find our 
 minds uneafy at itj we are well enough in- 
 R 3 clined 
 
*The law proved to he good 
 
 clined to do it, and would furely perform It, if 
 the vitious bent of our natural inclinations did 
 not divert us from it, and draw us another 
 way. And fo likewife, when we are about 
 to commit a fin, it is plain we have fomething 
 within us, that checks and deters us from it ; 
 and the voice of confcience is fo plainly heard, 
 that we would not commit the fin, if there 
 were not a temptation, and our corrupt hearts 
 too well difpofed to yield to it. However, 
 by our own experience we find it is always 
 with regret and remorfe of confcience we 
 comply J and from hence he infers his conclu- 
 iion very naturally, that we muft own the 
 law to be good, and no way the caufe of their 
 death : but that it is chargeable upon the bafe 
 and fmful compliance with the corruptnefs of 
 their own hearts. 
 
 This, in fhort, is the fubflance of what he 
 enlarges upon in this difcourfe^ and this me^ 
 thinks, fhould be enough to fliew that St. 
 Paul means nothing lefs than the giving peo- 
 ple encouragement to commit fin by his own 
 example : A thing which at firfl hearing, ap- 
 pears fo abfurd, that people ought to fufpe6t 
 it fo far at leaft, as to weigh well whether he 
 means any fuch thing or no ; efpecially fince 
 if they are in the wrong, it is a miflake that 
 may prove fatal to their fouls. And there- 
 fore, for the fake of fuch as are inclin'd to 
 this erroneous interpretation, I fhall be a lit- 
 tle more particular j and fhew, that St. Paul 
 pan not mean what he fays here, in his own 
 
 perfon, 
 
from the evidence of our own confciences. 2.a^j 
 
 perfon, or in the perfon of any good chriftian.SRRivt. 
 And, XXVll. 
 
 I ft. That he cannot mean what he fays here ^~^'~^ 
 in his own perfon, is evident from that cha- 
 racter he gives of himfelf in other places of his 
 epiftles. He tells us of himfelf in another 
 place. Rom. viii. 2. That the fpirit of life^ 
 had made him free from the law of fin. And 
 again, 
 
 That the world was crucified to him, and he 
 to the world. And in another place, 
 
 That he kept under his body, and brought it 
 into fubjeSlion. And, 
 
 That he \i2id fought a good fight, and finiPo- 
 ed his courfe. 
 
 Now let us compare thofe places with 
 what he fays here. 
 
 Here he fays, that^/z revived, and he died\ 
 that is fpiritually, and one fpiritually dead is 
 in a ftate of eternal death and damnation, if 
 he goes out of the world in that condition of 
 foul. 
 
 That it had flain him ; that is, deftroyed 
 his foul ; utterly defaced and aboliflied all 
 fenfe of God and goodnefs, and rendered him 
 lyable to the juft punifhment and vengeance 
 of God. 
 
 That he was captivated and fold under fm • 
 a perfe(ft flave to all his lufts and paflions. 
 
 Th2Lt fin wrought in him all mdnncr of lu/l 
 and concupifcence j fo that he gave a loofe to 
 all his lufts and appetites. 
 
 R 4 Now 
 
^he law proved to be good 
 
 Now thefe things are fo inconfiflent, that 
 it is utterly impoffible they (hould be both 
 meant of the fame man. The things are in 
 their own nature contradictory to each other ; 
 fo that they who affirm St. Paul fpeaks in his 
 own perfon here, muft at the fame time fay 
 that he plays the hypocrite in all thofe other 
 places, where he gives a quite different ac- 
 count of himfelf. 
 
 2 And then 2dly, that he doth not mean 
 what he fays here in the perfon of a good 
 chriftian, and a regenerate man, is plain j be- 
 caufe what is faid here is diredly contrary to 
 the whole tenor of chriftianity ; which lays 
 down quite different conditions of falvation, 
 and gives quite another defcription ot fuch as 
 are fincerely good and regenerate. And par- 
 ticularly. 
 
 That they are made free from the law of fin 
 and death. They are defcribed to be fuch as 
 do not commit fin -, and that their bodies are the 
 tewfles of the Holy Ghofl. And James ii. lo. 
 whofoever fjall keep the lEhcle law, and yet oj- 
 jend in one point (that is wilfully and habitual- 
 ly) he is guilty of all. 
 
 And in this very difcourfe whereof my text 
 is a part, he defcribes good people after a 
 quite different manner. In the i8, 19, 22, 
 23. where he fays they are fuch ?s are be- 
 come fervants of righteoufnefs -, fuch as yield 
 their members to be fervants of righteoufnefs, 
 unto holinefs j That they have their fruit unto 
 holinefs. 
 
 Now 
 
from the evidence tf our own cojifciences. 24^ 
 
 Now all this, and more to this purpofe, being Serm. 
 faid in this fame difcourfe, one would think ^^Vir. 
 it were enough to prevent cfFed:ually any fuch 
 odd interpretation of thefe words. For it is 
 plain, that they who fay this place is fpoke 
 in the perfon of a regenerate man, do make 
 the fpirit of God fpeak things contradictory, 
 even in the fame difcourfe. 
 
 And thus I think it appears very plain and 
 clear, that the Apoftle can have no fuch mean- 
 ing as they faften upon him. 
 
 But to all this they anfwer, that he mufl 
 mean himfelf, becaufe he ufes the firft perfon 
 all the way. But it is a thing very ufual, not 
 only with St. Paul (as it were eafy to inflance) 
 but even in common converfation to ufe the 
 firft perfon when they fpeak of another. Sup- 
 pofe I {hould go about to difwade any perfon 
 from the fin of drmikewiefi^ and fhould ad- 
 drefs my felf to him after this manner; and 
 teirhim,thatdrunkcnnefsisa fin againft which 
 we all know there is a pofitive command ; by 
 this fin I render myfelf odious to God, by de- 
 facing his image ; I expofe myfelf to be laught 
 at by men ; 1 diforder my reafon ; I mifpend 
 my time ; I ruin my health and reputation ; 
 and by it, I become obnoxious to eternal 
 damnation. And if I fhould add to this, that 
 the very relu(5lance and remorfe of confcience 
 with which I commit that fin, is a plain and 
 convincing argument of the excellency of the 
 Gofpel,which flridlly forbids alldrunkcnnefs. It 
 is fo much againfl the light of nature, that in 
 
 being 
 
^he law prcued to he good 
 
 being drunk I ad; againft my judgment, nay, 
 and againft my inclination too, fo that it is e- 
 vident, that the evil which I would not^ that do 
 7, by yielding to temptation, contrary to the 
 fentiments of my own mind. 
 
 Again, fuppofe I fhould endeavour to make 
 a man fenfible of the finfulnefs of his want of 
 charity to the poor, after this manner : Surely 
 nothing can hinder me from relieving the lick 
 and needy, but my own covetous temper and 
 immoderate love of money 5 and were it not 
 for this, I fhould perform that neceflary duty 
 willingly; nay, and find great pleafure and 
 fatisfaftion of mind in the difcharge of it : So 
 that in this fin of omiffion it is plain, that the 
 good that Iwouldi I do not. This plainly de- 
 monftrates the excellency of the evangelical 
 law, which requires charity and giving of alms; 
 and though the Gofpel becomes death to men 
 by this means, yet it is through our own wilful 
 negledl and difobedience to its moft holy and 
 righteous precepts. 
 
 Now it would be very odd to infer, that 
 therefore fuch a one were guilty of drunken- 
 nefs, becaufe he diflTwaded another from it, by 
 defcribing the guilt and danger of it in his 
 own perfon. 
 
 Yet odd as it is, the cafe is the very fame 
 here : if St. Paul goes about to {hew the law 
 not to be the occafion of fin, by the convic- 
 tion of men's own confciences who aft againft 
 it, and doth this in his own perfon, it is very 
 jibfurd to infer, that therefore he himfelf was 
 
 the 
 
from the evidence of our own confciences. 251 
 
 the guilty man he defcribesj and from hence Serm. 
 immediately to catch at an opportunity of juf- XXVIL 
 tifying our wilful habitual fins, as if they were 
 the unavoidable infirmities of our nature. 
 
 But becaufe I would leave no room for 
 doubt, let us change the argument, and apply 
 what bt. Paul fays of the Law to the Gofpet, 
 and thofe under it ; to chriftianity, and thofe 
 profefiTors of it, who own the Gofpel, but do 
 not think there is that indifpsnfible neceflity 
 for an univerfal and entire conquefi: over all 
 their lufts and vitious inclinations ; and do 
 from this place infer, that the grace and mer- 
 cy of the Gofpel will difpenfe with thofe fins 
 of theirs, which they commit unwillingly, and 
 with regret and reludance. 
 
 And the rather, becaufe this is the very thing 
 which St. Paul dcfigns to confute, and the ve- 
 ry miftake which firfi; gave occafion to this 
 whole difcourfe ; as we fhall find, if we look 
 at the I ^th verfe of the foregoing chapter. 
 
 When he had faid that they were freed from 
 the law, what then, fays he, ftjall we fin be- 
 caufe we are not under the law, but under grace ? 
 Becaufe there is more abundant mercy and 
 room for repentance under the Gofpel, (hall we 
 therefore think that we may commit fin, even 
 wilful deliberate fins, becaufe the grace of the 
 Gofpel will difpenfe with them ? ?2o, Godjorbid. 
 And from hence to the end of this chapter he 
 (hews, on the contrary, the indifpenfible obli- 
 gation that lay on them, effedually to conquer 
 
 and 
 
^he law proved to be good 
 
 and fupprefs all their lufls and vitious inclina- 
 tions, and to perform an univerfal and entire 
 obedience. 
 
 Therefore I fay, inftead of the haw^ let us 
 apply thofe miftaken verfes to the Go/pel^ and 
 to thofe who think the gofpel may be thus far 
 the occalion of fin, by permitting it thus, and 
 difpenfing with it: We will fuppofe them 
 fpoke in the perfon of a Chriftian^ inftead of 
 the perfon of a Jew^ and then fee how much 
 they will make for their purpofe ; at the 7th 
 verfe of this chap, what (hall we fay then, is 
 the Gofpel thus far the occajionof Jin^ no, God 
 forbid. At the 14th verfe, for we know that the 
 Gofpel isfpiritual, but we are carnal. The 
 Gofpel plainly forbids thofe fins they indulge 
 themfelves in, but their corrupt heart carries 
 them on to adl contrary to its precepts ; and 
 at the fame time that they are guilty of thole 
 fins, their confciences check them ; they know 
 them to be againft the exprefs commands of 
 the Gofpel ; but they are won upon to comply 
 againft their judgment and their confciences, 
 with the importunity of their linful lufts and 
 paffions. 
 
 And herein they tacitly acknowledge the pu- 
 rity of the Gofpel, and confequently the in- 
 difpenfible obligation that lies on them to an 
 entire obedience. For as it is in the words of 
 the text, it is evident that they omit thofe good 
 things which they ought to do, as they are 
 Chriftiansj and which they would do, did 
 they not find the law of their members make 
 
 fome 
 
from the evidence of our own confctences, 253 
 
 fome oppofition, and their vitious inclinations Sernc. 
 bias them another way. ^^^}' 
 
 And it is as evident, that they commit thofe 
 things which the Gofpel tells them are fins, and 
 which they are never guilty of without unca- 
 finefs in their minds, and without a remorfe 
 and regret of confcience j fins they would ne- 
 ver be guilty of, if they were not inveigled to 
 comply with thofe vile inclinations, which 
 the Gofpel tells them plainly it is their duty to 
 fupprefs and conquer effectually, if ever they 
 hope to be faved, and received to the mercy 
 of God. 
 
 So that you fee, inftead of excufing thofe 
 fins of theirs by the gracious difpenfation of 
 the Gofpel, all that they can infer from this 
 place is, that fuch finners fland convicted by 
 the judgment of their own confciences j and 
 that whofoever fays that the Gofpel will afford 
 them pardon for any wilful fin they continue 
 in, are condemned by their own confciences : 
 Therefore, let 110 one flatter himfelf upon this 
 fcore J for the fame confcience of the fin which 
 thus accufes them here, will undoubtedly do 
 the fame when they come to appear before the 
 judgment feat of God. 
 
 And now all the difficulty concerning this 
 matter, is rcfolved into this one queftion, viz. 
 Whether, with the afliftance of grace, they 
 are able to avoid thofe fins, or whether they 
 are not? (i, e.) whether they are truly fins of 
 infirmity, or no ? for that the Gofpel forbids 
 all thofe fins is undeniable ; and that their con- 
 fciences 
 
Ihe Idw proved to be good 
 
 fciences accufe them for them is plain ; fo that, 
 if it be any way in their power to avoid them, 
 then they will certainly be accountable 
 for them; but if it be not in their power to avoid 
 them, then indeed they will never be required 
 at their hands : And in truth this is the thing 
 they would fain perfwade themfelves. They 
 are willing to believe that the temptations are 
 fo ftrong, that they are too weak to overcome 
 them, and they yield to them tamely, in hopes 
 that they are too weak, and pleafe themfelves 
 with the ferving God, as St. Paul fays, with 
 the inward tnan^ with holy thoughts, and 
 purpofes, and defires, and with continual 
 bewailing the frailty and weaknefs of the fiefh. 
 
 But they would do well to confider, that 
 no lefs than the effedual mortifying of all our 
 finful lulls and paflions, is theneceffary condi- 
 tion of falvatio'n propofed to us in the Gofpel. 
 Our Saviour fays, that it is thty tha.t do tbe will 
 of his heavenly father that fhall enter into the 
 kingdom oj heaven ; and in the chapter follow- 
 ing my text, 13 verfe, 'tis faid, // y^ live 
 after the Jiefh, ye jhall dye; but if through the 
 fpirit ye mortify the deeds of the body, ye (hall 
 live. 
 
 And that this is not too hard for us is evi- 
 dent, for otherwife God would not require it 
 from us : Though we are not able of ourfelves, 
 yet through God that Jlrcngthens us^ we are able 
 to do all things required from us 5 i Cor. x. 13, it 
 is faid, that God wilhitverfuffer us to be tempt- 
 ed above what we are able. 
 
 So 
 
jrom the evidence of our own confciences, zee 
 
 So that it is the treachery and corruptnefs of Se u m. 
 our own hearts that makes thofe temptations X^var. 
 feem invincible j if we were not wanting to 
 ourfelves, nothing, with God's affiftance, would 
 be too hard for us ; for the fame Gofpel which 
 threatens damnation to thofe tins, doth afiford 
 us grace fufficient to overcome them. 
 
 If fuch as complain of the ftrength of temp- 
 tations would but confider by what fteps th^y 
 fall into their fins ; by what degrees the temp- 
 tation infinuates and gains upon them j if they 
 did but confider ferioufly as they ought, what 
 are the beft and mofl effedual means of con- 
 quering temptations, and carefully avoid the 
 occafions and opportunities of finning ; and 
 when they have thus done what lies in them 
 fincerely and heartily, if they would put up 
 their prayers to Almighty God continually for 
 his aiTillance, they would foon find how little 
 reafon they have thus injurioufly to charge 
 their fins upon the want of fufficient flrength, 
 or upon the invincible corruption of their na- 
 tures. 
 
 When a temptation is very ftrong, and that 
 they are violently inclined to commit one ot 
 thofe fins they iliink they cannot avoid, if they 
 did but imagine that they were infiantly to be 
 committed to the flames for it, this would 
 take off the edge of the flrongeft temptation, 
 and render it Very weak and feeble. And why 
 fliould not the thoughts of eternal fire be of 
 as great force ? for that is certain and unavoid- 
 able, and, for ought any one Vr'ho commits a 
 
 fin 
 
256 ^he law proved to be good 
 
 Serm. fin knows, may be fudden and immediate too, 
 XXVII. And now it is time to wonder that, lince 
 the cafe is thus evident, any perfons fhould de- 
 ceive themfelves, by underftanding a text quite 
 contrary to the intent of it, and make ufe of 
 it to juftify an opinion, which (as we have 
 feenj it was purpofely deiigned to confute. 
 The true reafon of this is, a fecret defire men 
 have to reconcile their hopes of heaven with 
 the gratifying their prefent lufts 3 it is this that 
 puts them upon wrefting fcripture to fuch mif- 
 taken fenfes: And if they would confider 
 themfelves impartially, they would find that 
 which makes them catch at this miftakenfenfe, 
 is to quell the clamours of their confcien- 
 ces, merely for the prefent eafe of their minds, 
 and not to lay any folid foundation on this 
 text for the falvation of their fouls. 
 
 Some lins are fo profitable, or fo agreeable 
 to their conftitutions, that they cannot find in 
 their hearts to part with them ; and yet they 
 are not able to bear the thoughts of being 
 damned for them j and therefore they filence 
 the clamours of their confciences with fuch 
 charms as thefe are. If they would look into 
 themfelves they would find this at the bottom 
 of this opinion ; it is a pernicious and a dan- 
 gerous error, and they may well fay as it is in 
 the clofe of this chap. 6 wretched men that 
 they are^ who jhall delher them jrom the body 
 of this death ? 
 
 And now I have been thus long upon it, yet 
 moil of what hath been faid being of fome dif- 
 ficulty. 
 
from the evidettce of our own confciences. 2 C7 
 
 ficulty ; I fhall for the fake of fuch as cannot Serm. 
 go along with the chain of a difcourfe, make^^^^^- 
 the cafe yet plainer. And that I may do this, " 
 and bring what hath been faid, home to 
 particular confciences as I can, I muft obferve 
 to you, that the reludiance men find in their 
 minds to the committal of fin, is no other 
 than the oppofition given to the fleili by the 
 fpirit ; the fpiritof a man aflifted by the grace 
 of God. Thefe two are in a ftate of war, 
 and our eternal falvation or damnation, de- 
 pends upon an intire conqueft and victory on 
 one fide or the other. I {hall in few words 
 reprefent the true ftate of this Chriftian war- 
 fare between the flefh and the fpirit, and then 
 leave it to the confcience of every particular 
 perfon who hears me, to confider which is 
 his own cafe. 
 
 Now there are four forts of people, in 
 whom the fi:ate of this war is very difl^erent. 
 
 I ft. The firfl fort are tho.^e in whom the 
 fpirit or the mind is in perfed fubjedtion to 
 the fle(h. The mind is in the condition of a 
 flave, quite conquered and utterly difabled 
 from making any refiftance ; intirely at the 
 command of every brutifh luft and paflion. 
 And this is the cafe of fuch, who have been 
 long and habitually virions 3 who have worn 
 oft all fcrious fenfe of religion, and have given 
 themfelveSup to commit any fin that fhall of- 
 fer it felf; who have caft off all ferious 
 thoughts of faving their fouls j who not only 
 negled: or defpifc all reveaf d religion, but have 
 
 Vol. IJ. b fg 
 
2^^ ^he law proved to be good 
 
 Serm. fo defaced all the impreffions of natural con- 
 XXVIL fclence, that they have worn off all uneafmefs 
 'and remorfe in finning, and nothing gives 
 them more difturbance, than the thoughts of 
 fuch as live conformable to the laws of God ; 
 who are for that reafon the fure objedt of their 
 fcorn and contempt, as well as the conftant 
 fubjedl of their feoffs and raillery. Thefe have 
 no flriving within them, no doubts or fcru- 
 ples ; their confciences are dumb, and rarely 
 give them any difturbance ; fo that they fin 
 with very little regret and reludtance. St. Paul 
 defcribes them as men whofe very minJs and 
 confciences are defiled ^ the whole bent and in- 
 clination of their fouls is all to the gratifica- 
 tion of their appetites and pafTions ^ the want 
 of any fenfe of religion at the heart, is vifible 
 thro' the whole courfe of their life and con- 
 verfation. 
 
 Now this is not properly a flate of war, be- 
 caufe the fight or contefl between the fiefh 
 and fpirit is ended ; the fpiritual part is capti- 
 vated to the law of fin ; the mind truckles to 
 it, and dare not fo much as contradidt the 
 motions of a tyrant luft. 
 
 This is a defperate condition, becaufe they 
 are pafl all the ordinary methods by which 
 God ufeth to fave men's fouls ; and for that 
 reafon, they feem to be feal'd up to the 
 dreadful day of vengeance upon all impenitent 
 finners. 
 
 All the comfort we can give to thefe is on- 
 ly, that they need not yet defpair. For if 
 
 they 
 
from the evidence of our own confclences\ 259 
 
 they would, even yet, bravely put on a migh- Serm. 
 ty, obftinate refolution, to break through all ^^y^/- 
 this reftraint, tho' they have loft that ftrength 
 of foul they once had, yet this may move 
 God to renew it again to that degree, that 
 they may in time overcome all their enemies, 
 fo that the mind fliall have the maftery at 
 laft. 
 
 2d. But 2dly, another fort there are, in 
 whom the war between the fiefh and fpirit is 
 newly begun, which is the cafe of everyone, 
 when they firft enter upon an holy life. The 
 mind ftruggles, and will not yield, tho' it 
 fights to all difad vantages. The flefti at firft 
 hath yet the upper hand, becaufe of our natu- 
 ral tendency to all fin •, however, the mind is 
 refolved to fight it out, relying on thofe aflift- 
 ances which God hath promifed ; and will not 
 yield, tho' frequently foil'd by the violence 
 of temptation. 
 
 This is a nice and critical jund:ure, and the 
 dangerous point in the chriftian life, becaufe 
 the firft onfet, is ever the moft fierce and vio- 
 lent. Many, in their younger days efpecially, 
 put on firm refolution of entering on a holy 
 life, and they begin well, but not being able 
 to bear the firft (hock of temptation, they are 
 fo quite beaten off the field, that they are en- 
 tirely to begin a new. And the fatal confe- 
 quence is. 
 
 That multitudes are all at once fo difmay- 
 
 ed and terrify'd, that they never rally again 
 
 S 2 through 
 
26o *The law proved to he good 
 
 Serm. through their whole lives, but bafely and cow- 
 XXVir. ardly yield themfelves up to be for ever the 
 '{laves and fervants of fin: they lay afide all 
 thoughts of a virtuous and holy life, and ha- 
 bitually follow the bent of their natural paffi- 
 ons and appetites. Thefe have remorfe of 
 conlcience for fome time, but it wears off 
 gradually, until at length they are eafy and 
 fecure, fo as not to have the lead inclination 
 to the greateft good, nor any reludance to the 
 greateft evil. 
 
 Others again there are, who are not fo ef- 
 fe<5lually overthrown and difcouraged by the 
 violence of temptation on their entrance on 
 a holy life, and who refolve to take the field 
 again, and meet the enemy, but yet ftill 
 with the fame fuccefs j thus they are ever re- 
 folving one time after another, and ever 
 breaking their refolutions; they are always 
 beginning, they live and dye refolving, but 
 never make any progrefs in the conquefts of 
 their luft and paflions, and in the attain- 
 ment of true virtue and evangelical holinefs. 
 To this irrefolute wavering ftate of people, 
 who are ever new beginners, my text is par- 
 ticularly applicable. fThe good that they would, 
 they do f20t, and the evil they would not^ that 
 do they. They have a willing mind, and are 
 ever full of feeble refolutions, but becaufe 
 they do not keep the field of battle, they ne- 
 ver have a prof^ed: of vidory over the world, 
 the flefh and the Devil, and then they are apt 
 to fall into the fatal delufion and hypocrily, 
 
 and 
 
from tke evidence of our own confciences. 261 
 
 and ridiculous imagination that God will ac-SERM. 
 cept of their good wifhes and defires of holi- XXVII. 
 nefs, for that virtue and holinefs itfelf, which 
 is their indifpenfible duty to acquire, under all 
 the difficulties and hardfhips of chriftian war- 
 fare. 
 
 3d. But 3dly, another fort there are, in 
 whom thefe enemies feem to ftand upon e- 
 qual terms, neither is conquer'd, and neither 
 hath the vi(5tory ; fometimes the flefh gets 
 the better, and the mind is overborne with 
 the number and inceffant importunity of 
 temptations. At other times the fpirit baffles 
 the ftrongeil: of them. 
 
 Now this is the heat of the battle, and the 
 weighty jun(5ture that muft decide the victory 
 on one fide or the other. Thefe have many- 
 anxious thoughts and defponding fcruples; 
 but they may be all reduced to this one, viz. 
 whether they perfevere or no^ for they have 
 not the vid:ory which will crown them yet. 
 It is yet but a partial obedience ; they are in- 
 deed near the kingdom of God, but they 
 mult thoroughly fubdue their enemies before 
 they have a juft title to it. It is a thorough 
 conqueft that is the neceffiry condition of lal- 
 vation ; therefore let none think themfelves 
 fafe, while they come fliort of in tire and u- 
 niverfal obedience ; for the living in one ha- 
 bitual wilful fin, will blaft all their hopes. 
 
 The danger of thofe who thus engage in 
 earneft, commonly lies in fome one particular 
 fin, to whicli their refpeftivc natural temper 
 
 S j and 
 
262 T^he law proved to be good 
 
 Serm. and conftitution, or their calling and condir 
 XXVIL tion of life, or their worldly intereft leads; 
 ^ ~~ them into j it is notorious that many, who 
 appear in other refpedts to be good men, do 
 yet indulge fome one darling luft or paffion, 
 which like Agag is fpared and cherifhed, tho* 
 the reft of their fpiritual enemies are deftroy- 
 ed. The furcft and the fhorteft way to a com- 
 pleat vidtory, is to fingle out that one giant- 
 fin, for a fingle combat, and when that is 
 vanquifhed, all the reft of their enemies will 
 be overcome with eafe ; and this thefe com- 
 batants may be affured of, that their hopes 
 and their fears of eternal lalvation, are better 
 or worfe founded, in proportion to their ob- 
 ftinate perfeverance, and the degrees of that 
 victory they obtain over their fpiritual ene- 
 mies, juft as the ftrength of all temptations 
 proves weaker, and all virtue and goodnefs 
 becomes more cafy and prafticable, and plea- 
 fant to them. 
 
 Let us not fancy thofe giant- fins of ours, to 
 be unconquerable, but ftrive all we can, and 
 pray heartily for grace. Let us but befet them, 
 and God will fight our battle. But if we fay 
 as the Jews did, the people of the land are 
 mighty^ and only wifh we were fit for the 
 po&ffion of heaven, we fhall never enter in- 
 to it. 
 
 4th. A 4th and laft fort, are fuch as by a 
 continual hearty endeavour, affifted by the 
 grace of God, have brought the flefh intirely 
 in fubjedtion to the fpiritj fb that it truckks 
 
 as 
 
from the evidence of our own confciences. 263 
 
 as much to the mind, as the mind did to itSERw. 
 before the engagement. Nor can this fo pro- XXVIL 
 perly be called a ftatc of war ; for the fpirit 
 hath compleated the vidlory, (i. e.) when we 
 have arrived to a fettled habit of virtue and 
 piety. Then are we truly faints, and not till 
 then. Then we are truly regenerate and in a 
 ftate of falvation. 
 
 When we have fo mortify 'd the lufts of the 
 body, and conquer'd the finful paflions of 
 the mind, that we commit no fin wilfully or 
 deliberately, or habitually j and when all the 
 (in we are guilty of is in fmaller inflances, 
 and that too by furprize and inadvertency. 
 When in all material inflances, the good that 
 we would we do and perform, and the evil 
 which we would not, we conflantly forbear, 
 and avoid. When we prefs on towards per- 
 fection, and have no caufe to lament and be- 
 wail any other than the unavoidable infirmi- 
 ties of human nature, I mean fuch as are tru- 
 ly fuch in the fight of God. 
 
 Let us therefore not flatter ourfelves with 
 any thing fhort of this, for this is the truth 
 of God, and nothing lefs will do. 
 
 When we are become univerfally and ha- 
 bitually holy, in all our adions as well as 
 thoughts, and defires, and inclinations, then 
 we may with an humble afTurance fay, wc 
 have jought a good Jighty and that henceforth 
 there is lafd up J or us a crown of glory, wbicb 
 God the righteous judge ^ Jhall give^ us at that 
 daw 
 
 S 4 It 
 
264 'T^^ ^^"^ proved to be goody Sec, 
 
 Serm. It is true, while we are in the flefh, the re^ 
 
 XXVII. ^niains of captivated fins will murmur, and up* 
 on all occafions ftrive to break out into vio- 
 lence ; but this will do us no harm, if WQ 
 prevent their adiually doing fo ; if we fup- 
 prels them in their beginnings, and not let 
 them grow upon us, and gain ground again. 
 
 This itfelf, is a bufinefs of great care and 
 circumfpedion even in the beft of men j how- 
 ever, it need be no matter of fcruple and def- 
 pondency, for if they perfevere they need not 
 doubt their reward j they may rely intirely 
 upon the promifes of God to have their victo- 
 ry crowned with a glorious immortality : And 
 from that peace of confcience which they may 
 even here enjoy, they will be tranflated to 
 that place where they fhall for ever reign in 
 the full and juil perfection of the fons of God, 
 
 SERMON 
 
*Ibe comfort of a good man, &c. 365 
 
 SERMON XXVIII. 
 
 The comfort of a good man at the 
 approach of death. 
 
 2 Tim. iv. 8. 
 
 Hencejorth there is laid up for me a crown of 
 right eoufnefs, which the Lord, the righteous 
 Judge^ flddll gi've me at that day ; and not to 
 me only, but unto all thofe alfo that love his 
 appeari?ig. 
 
 THE lime when this epiftle was writ, 5 e r m 
 hath been difputed, whether at St. Paul's xxviir 
 firfl appearing before Nero, or at his fecond, ' 
 which was the time of his death : But the 
 reafons which are given why the epiftle was 
 wrote immediately before his martyrdom, feem 
 much to out-v/eigh thofe of the contrary fide ; 
 and the poftfcript is very exprefs that it it was 
 written from Rome when Paul was brought 
 before him the fecond time, which, if it be 
 allowed authentick, puts the matter out of 
 doubt; And indeed it is not likely that theApoftle 
 """" would 
 
 M. 
 
266 ^he comfort of a good man 
 
 Se RM. would haveufed fuch folemn expreflions of his 
 XXVIII. courage and behaviour in any one particular 
 'danger, as is fuppofed by thofc of the other 
 opinion. It is much more probable, that theie 
 words were a relult of a ferious view of the 
 manner of his difcharging the great truft com- 
 mit icd to him, and that at a time when he 
 had an immediate profpe(ft of death, and was 
 like to have no farther opportunity of confirm- 
 ing the truth of the Gofpel, but by his blood. 
 He was now apprehended by the Emperor, as 
 is thought, under pretence of firing the city j 
 and was fentenced to death for that crime, 
 which he himfelf was guilty of : For when 
 he had fired the city in fport, to take off the 
 odium, he laid it on the chriftians. And that 
 which isfaid to have incenfed him more againft 
 the Apoftle, was his converting one of Nero's 
 concubines, from lewdneis and heathenifm, to 
 the modefty and chaftity of the Gofpel. His 
 end being near, as he fays in the verfes before 
 the text, when he was ready to be offered, and 
 the time of his departure being at hand, all 
 his labours and fervices adminifler folid joy and 
 comfort to him ; his hopes clear up at the ap- 
 proach of the death ; all his defpondences be- 
 gin then to vanifli, and he hath fuch a full af- 
 furance of hope, that he already fees Heaven 
 open to receive him, and the inward teftimo- 
 ny of his conlcience is fo clear and fincere, 
 that it breaks out into thefc expreflions of a 
 full truft and confidence in the veracity and 
 goodneis of Godj I havs jought a good fight ; 
 
^he comfort of a good man 267 
 
 7 have finilhed my courfc. Henceforth^ tscc. S e r m . 
 
 In which words, we have thefe five things ^^^^[^ 
 exprefsly contained, in this order. 
 
 The I ft thing is. That there is a reward of 
 virtue and piety in another world, which is 
 here exprefled with a full confidence, and the 
 greateft affurance imaginable, which {hews that 
 the faith and perfwafion of his mind, founded 
 upon the promifes of God, was as firm and un- 
 fhaken, as any afTent could be from demon- 
 ftration or fenfible evidence. When men's 
 minds are purged of the prejudices of fenfe, 
 by the habits of virtue and piety, and aredif- 
 entangled from the fenfual pleafures of this, 
 world, and are ufed for fome time to refled: 
 upon themfelves and a future ftate, then their 
 minds clear up as to thefe matters ; they begin 
 to have quick and lively (entiments of them ; 
 and then the evidence they have of moral 
 truths, is nothing fhort of what knowledge 
 we acquire by the ftridteft methods of reafon- 
 ing: And that prophane and carnal men, per- 
 fons habitually wicked, whofe eyes the God 
 of this world hath blinded, are fo much in the 
 dark, as to thefe things of another life, is no 
 wonder ; for people that do not apply them- 
 felves to fcarch into the nature of any particu- 
 lar fcience, cannot expedl to comprehend the 
 force of any reafoning of that nature : And 
 fo it is in religion ; unlefs people will bend 
 their minds this way, and put themfelves in 
 the road of thinking, they will not difcern the 
 great ftiength, and invincible force of that e- 
 
 videiice 
 
^e comfort of a good man 
 
 vidence we have for the moral and myftical 
 truths of our religion, and particularly of this, 
 of an eternal weight of glory, for good and 
 virtuous people, in Heaven; of which St, 
 Paul's words fhew us he had fuch a firm per- 
 fualion. 
 
 The difpofition of men's minds, when 
 death is near them and unavoidable, is very 
 different, according as their lives have been 
 truly good and virtuous, or lewd and vitious : 
 When good people are going out of the world, 
 then they are filled with comfortable and joy- 
 ful expeiiations of being for ever happy ; and 
 the wicked in thofe circumftances, are terri- 
 fied with a dreadful looking for of judgment^ 
 and fiery indignation. Thefe things are not 
 fleeting and traniient, but lafting and durable, 
 and leave fuch deep impreffions upon the 
 minds of men, that they can never bear them 
 off. Though vitious men, in health and prof- 
 perity, banilli all thoughts of another world, 
 and feel but little remorfe of confcience, yet 
 when any danger threatens them, then they 
 are alarmed with fudden apprehenfions of ven- 
 geance ; whereas, the greater the danger is, 
 the more firm and politive is the teftimony of 
 a good confcience ; and the nearer death ap- 
 proaches, thefe hopes and fears become more 
 flrong. And thus St. Paul, when he was in 
 prifon, and was convinced that the time ot his 
 execution drew nigh, initead of being dejed- 
 ed, his hopes v^ere enlarged at the approach 
 of death. But 2dlv, 
 
 The 
 
at the approach of deaths 26^ 
 
 The fecond thing cxpreffed in thefe words, Serm. 
 is the nature of the reward of virtue and good- XXVIII. 
 nefs in another world, and it is here called a ^"^^ 
 crow?i of righteoiifnejs. That of a crown is 
 the moft ufual reprefentation of thofe heavenly- 
 joys that are to be the reward of virtue here- 
 after ; and accordingly, it is called elfewhere a 
 crown oj glory that fades not away. And it is 
 faid, that Chrifi hath made us kings andpriefls 
 to God J and that we [Is all reign with him for 
 ever'. By which expreffions is undoubtedly 
 fignified fome extraordinary dignity that fhall 
 be conferred upon us in heaven, but of what 
 nature, we are able not now to conceive. It is 
 called a crown of righteoufnefs for thefe two 
 reafons : 
 
 I ft, Becaufe the promifesof eternal happi- 
 pinefs are made only to good and virtuous per- 
 fons ; and therefore it is faid, that without ho- 
 linefs no manpall fee the Lord, And, 
 
 2dly, Becaufe of the natural tendency of 
 virtue and hohnefs to make men glorious and 
 happy in another world, infomuch that glory 
 is literally begun in grace -, and this is the rea- 
 fon of thofe fcripture expreffions of calling 
 virtue and goodnefs by the name of light, and 
 that the righteous fl) all fhine beyond the glory cf 
 the Sun J and that piety and holinefs go by the 
 name of the white robe in the Revelations. 
 
 I fliall only obferve to you, that this crown 
 of glory is faid here to be laid up for us j be- 
 caufe the true nature and degrees of this glory 
 and happinefs of the faints is fo obfcured from 
 
 us 
 
zyo ^he comfort of a good mati 
 
 Serm. us now, that we have little or no notion of 
 XXVIII. them, and therefore it is faid, that our life is 
 hid with Chrijiin God; becaufc, as it is faid in 
 another place, it doth not yet appear whatjJdall 
 be 5 but we know^ that when Chrift fldall appear^ 
 wejhall be like him* But then we muft con- 
 fider well, that this crown of glory is not laid 
 up for us as an inheritance that will furely de- 
 volve upon us as heirs, by any unalterable fet- 
 tlement or decree, as we are the peculiar eleft 
 of God j but it is laid up as a reward or prize 
 that is to be obtained by labour and induftry, 
 by refolution and courage, and by an habitual 
 practice of a holy life : So that if ever we hope 
 to obtain it, it muft be by thus prejjing towards 
 the mark for the prize of our high calling; for 
 if we do not make this calling and eledion fure 
 to us while we are in this world, we {hall come 
 {hort of the glory of God in the next. But 
 
 The third thing expreft in this text, is the 
 giver; which God the righteous judge Jhall giv^ 
 us ; and that this is not added here without 
 very good reafon ; for that muft be exceeding 
 great and valuable, which is worthy of God to 
 beftow, who is the great Creator and Difpofer 
 of all things ; and nothing is fo apt to raile 
 our thoughts, to enlarge our apprehen lions, 
 and give us worthy notions of thofe rewards 
 of virtue in another world, as the confidera- 
 tion of the giver. If we do but coniider, that 
 he is a God of infinite power, and wifdom, 
 and goodnefs, what can be too great to hope 
 
 for 
 
4it the approach of death. 27 1 
 
 for from him ? As he is Omnipotent, what^ERM. 
 is it he cannot do for us? And fince he made^^^^^^- 
 us out of nothing, to how great a degree can. 
 he improve our nature ? And to what a vafl 
 extent can he enlarge all our faculties ? Of how 
 great things can he make us capable? And then 
 how great things can he prepare, to fill them 
 all with unfpeakable delight and ravifliment ? 
 And then, as he is of infinite wifdom, there 
 is nothing io great, that he cannot contrive 
 for us: He knows what will be moft fuitable 
 to all our fpiritual appetites and defines ; and 
 therefore, we {hall not only be pofilfled of 
 that which is good in itfelf, but of that which 
 is exquifitely beft : For what can lye hid from 
 infinite wifdom and knowledge ? 
 
 But above all, the confideration of his good- 
 nefs ftrikes our minds with a yet more quick 
 and lively fenfe of thofe heavenly joys ; for 
 this will engage him to befl:ow upon us all that 
 his wifdom can contrive, or his almighty 
 power can effect. For this ciown of glory 
 that he will place upon our heads, is not the 
 payment of a debt, or the reward of our me- 
 rit; if it were, we fhouldjufi:ly have but very 
 fcanty notions of it : But it is the free gift of 
 his grace j it is the bounty of God ; and there- 
 fore, how great muft that glory be, when he 
 ihall reward us, not according to our fervices, 
 but according to his own immenfe, unlimited 
 goodnefs. Nothing can be too great for him 
 to confer upon us, though the leaft of his fa- 
 vours is too great for us to deferve. Nay, what 
 
 muft 
 
Sy2 *The comfort of a good man 
 
 Serm. mufl it be when he himfelf becomes our re- 
 - XXVIII. ward ; he that is the fource and fountain of 
 glory and happinefs, who hath all perfec- 
 tions, and makes all things good and happy 
 only by difcoveries of himfelf to them. It 
 muft be fomething unconceiveably great and 
 worthy of him, when he fets himfelf after a 
 folemn manner to fhew us what he can do 
 for us at a time when he fhall come to be glo- 
 rified in his Saints, §nd to be admired in all 
 them that have believed in him ; when he 
 gives us a near view of himfelf, and unfolds 
 all the excellencies of his nature to be adored, 
 and praifed, and magnified by all the choicefl 
 works of his creation. 
 
 Nay, what mufl it be when we come to be 
 one with him, which is an exprefiion we 
 durft not utter, but that our Saviour fpoke it 
 firft, and gives us warrant for it ; this carries 
 the mind on to fomething fo lofty and af- 
 piring, that we are apt to check our too for- 
 ward thoughts, and fear the fin of Lucifer. 
 But oh ! the depth of the goodnefs of God to 
 us, beyond even what we read of to the An* 
 gels, for undoubtedly, this expreflion of be- 
 ing one with him, iignifies a myftical union, 
 the nature of which we are not able to con- 
 ceive 5 however, thus much we may fay of 
 it, that it imports thefe three things. 
 
 I. That as the humanity of Chrift is united 
 to the Godhead, fo there {hall be a union of 
 all glorified faints in Heaven, to the fame e- 
 
 ternal 
 
at the approach of death. > 273 
 
 ternal God, though we know not in what it^EP. vr. 
 will confift. xxviir. 
 
 2. It denotes a likenefs of nature, and a 
 great refernblance we (liall then have of the 
 divine nature, and a participation of his ex- 
 cellencies and perfecflions. 
 
 3, And laftly, it muft fignify a famenefs of 
 enjoyments in kind, though not in degree, 
 and then if we do but confider what is the na- 
 ture of thofe enjoyment which make up the 
 felicity of God, then when we come to par- 
 take of the fame, how happy muft it needs 
 make us, this is the very top of what we are 
 able now to think or fpeak of thofe heavenly 
 joys, and therefore nothing more remains for 
 us in this life, but lilent wonder and admira- 
 tion. 
 
 I fhall only obferve to you here, that God 
 is faid to be a righteous Judge in conferring 
 thefe things upon us, not becaufe they are a- 
 ny due reward of our merit, but becaufe he 
 hath bound himfelf by promife to give this 
 crown of glory to all that feek for it by pa- 
 tience in well doing ; fo that it is become a 
 debt in refpedl of God, and the obligation he 
 hath laid upon himfelf, though it be none in 
 refpeil of us ; fo that though we cannot earn 
 it and deferve it, yet we have a fure and folid 
 foundation for our hopes, the repeated prc- 
 mifes of almighty God, who is a God of 
 truth, and keeping his promife for ever, and 
 this is the ground of St. Paul's confidence; 
 his confcicnce approved of his fervices, and 
 
 Vol. li. ■ T fincc 
 
274 ^^^ comfort of a good man 
 
 S^RM. fince he had done what God required, there 
 XXVIII. remained nothing but the fulfilling of his 
 word. 
 
 4. The 4th thing mentioned in this text, 
 is the time when this crown (hall be given, 
 (i. e) at the day of judgment, which is here 
 called, as it is in many other places, that day, 
 by way of excellence, as it is the great and ter- 
 rible day of the Lord, and the day of the re- 
 velation of the power of God. And the rea- 
 foii why this crown is laid out of our fight 
 until that day, is, 
 
 1 . Becaufe while we are in this world, is 
 the time of tryal, and fince it is a kingdom to 
 be fought for, and a prize to be obtained, it 
 is not to be conferred until we have conquered 
 our fpiritual enemies, and that our race is 
 ended. And then 
 
 2. We can not hope to come to the confum- 
 mation of our happinefs until foul and body 
 meet, to be rewarded together; not but that 
 the foLil, even in the ftate of feparation, fliall 
 enjoy great degrees of blifs, but that it is 
 much (hort of what will be conferred upon 
 them at the day of judgment is plain, from 
 that impatience of theirs for that day, expreflfed 
 in the Revelations. 
 
 3. And then 3dly, this is defigned to (hew 
 us that the rewards of virtue and goodnefs, are 
 not to be expedted in this life, as fome perfons 
 have dreamt of an earthly crown, and then 
 reigning here on earth with Chrift in a vifible 
 appearance j no, it is a crown of righteoufnefs, 
 
 which 
 
at the approach of death, 2yc 
 
 which will not be conferred until that day, Serm. 
 which is not temporary, but fhall remain e-^^Vlir.^ 
 ternal in the heavens. 
 
 5. The 5th and laft thing exprefled is the 
 character of the perfons to whom this reward 
 will be given, and that is to St. Paul and to 
 all who love the appearing of our Saviour. 
 By his appearing, is more efpecially meant that 
 time when the fon of man fhall appear in the 
 clouds of heaven, arrayed in the glory of his 
 father, with the holy Angels, to reward eve- 
 ry man according to his work ; and they are 
 faid to love his appearing, who by an un- 
 feigned repentance, and a fincere pradlice of 
 a holy life, have juft reafon to hope for his 
 coming at the day of judgment, thofe who 
 have quitted and foregone all the finful plea- 
 fures and vanities of this life, and brought 
 their mind fo much off from the perifhing 
 fatisfa6tions of this world, that all their hopes 
 and expedations are bent upon what fhall 
 then be conferred upon them 3 it is natural 
 for all people to long for the time when they 
 have any certain expe<ftations of good, efpe- 
 cially what their hearts are fet upon, and there- 
 fore if peifons by denying themfelves many of 
 the pleasures and ratisfad:ions of this life for 
 the pref.Mvation of a 2;ood confcience, have 
 few or no worldly defires left, if by frequent 
 converfiag with God, by prayer and medita- 
 tion, by thinking often of divine things, and 
 le.iing their mind run upon virtue and holi- 
 nels, upon God and the things of another 
 T 2 world. 
 
276 7he comfort of a good man 
 
 Serm. world, have arrived to a good degree of lin- 
 XXVIII. cere religion, fo as to render all the appetites 
 and afFed:ions of their fouls divine and fpiri- 
 tual, they will of courfe be plea fed with the 
 thoughts of that day when ail thefe defires of 
 theirs fhall be filled, and all they lived in ex- 
 pectation of brought to pafs. 
 
 I am fenlible the thought what I am now 
 fpeaking occafions in the mind of every fincere 
 Chriflian that hears me is this, if the loving 
 his appearing, and longing for the day of 
 judgment, be a necefTary qualification for it, 
 they have reafon to fufped: their condition, 
 for they find in themfelves a mighty fear of 
 that day, and they are apt to be filled with 
 terror at the thoughts of it. But there is a 
 great difference between thefe fears of good 
 Chriftians, and thofe boading thoughts of ven- 
 geance, which upon every appearance of danger 
 or approach of death, rife up to terrify and fill 
 the wicked with black and difmal thoughts ; 
 there is a great difference between defpon- 
 dency and defpair : to defpair, is to have no 
 degree of hope left, but to defpond, is only 
 to have our hopes intermixt with fears and 
 ^ealoufies of our felves, and our own perfor- 
 mances, which proceed from the weaknefs of 
 our judgment, or from a melancholy confli- 
 tution, or from the fuggeftions of the Devil j 
 and the firfl occafion of them, is the great 
 eagernefs of our minds, and the earneft bent 
 of our fouls upon thofe heavenly enjoyments, 
 fo that we think we can never be fure enough 
 
 of 
 
at the approach of death. 277 
 
 of them. But that all thefe diftradl'ons doSERHf. 
 not To much deftroy their hopes while they ^'^J^ 
 continue their endeavours, is plain ; for no 
 man would ufe the leaft endeavour in a thing 
 he had no hopes at all of fucceeding in. So 
 that if thefe things quicken their endeavours, 
 make them more watchful over themfelves, 
 and more exad: in the difcharge of their duty, 
 it is fo far from deftroying their hopes, that it 
 encreafes that very grace which they think 
 they tend to deftroy. It is with religion, as 
 with our endeavours in any worldly matter 
 which we profecute : if men have no hopes 
 at all, they wholly defift : if their confidence 
 be too great, this naturally makes them care- 
 lefs and negligent, and many a perfon hath 
 loft heaven by this prefumptuous aflurance : if 
 his hopes are mixt with fears, this quickens 
 his endeavours, makes him more refolute and 
 vigorous, and adive, and thus his fears be- 
 come the greateft means of gradually ftrength- 
 ening and enlarging his hopes. 
 
 But I muft confefs there feems to be lome- 
 thing beyond this, defigned in thefe words of 
 loving his appearing^ and that is, that Chri- 
 ftians by conftancy in virtue and holinefs, 
 fliQuld wear oft' thefe fears by degrees, and 
 arrive to fuch a difpofition of mind, that the 
 thoughts of that day fhall be comfortable to 
 them J that it fhall chear their minds, and 
 that they fliall live in a joyful expedlation of 
 it, and this is the reafon of thofe expreffions 
 T 3 where 
 
 V 
 
27 S ^^^ comjorf of a good man 
 
 Se RM. where we are bid to abound in hope, to rejoice 
 XXVni.^in hope of the glory of God. 
 
 So that in truth it is matter of duty to ac- 
 quire as good a degree of this joy in the holy 
 Ghoft as we can ; and therefore we are bid 
 daily to pray thy kingdom come^ becaufe all fin- 
 cere Chriftians are fuppofed to be in a condi- 
 tion of wiihing for this appearance of the fon 
 of God. And the reafon of this is, becaufe a 
 ftrong and lively hope is the greateft encou- 
 ragement to virtue and holinefs that poffibly 
 can be j he that hath this hope purifieth him- 
 felf as God is pure, it is the natural effed: of 
 hope, to make us cleanfe and purify ourfelves, 
 and this hope of falvation is by St. Paul, more 
 than once called a helmet. The fimilitude is 
 very apt and fignificant, for when our 
 thoughts are thus taken up with the things of 
 another world, when our fancy is full of it, 
 and our imaginations deeply affedted with 
 them, temptation cannot tell how to affault 
 us, nor where to enter. 
 
 1 {hall obferve here, that this crown of glo- 
 ry is laid up not for him only, but for all that 
 love the appearing of our Saviour, for all good 
 Chriftians who in the piety and fincerity of 
 their hearts, are difpofed for any fuffering if 
 God fhould call them to it, for it is not pre- 
 pared for Apoftles, Martyrs, and Confeflbrs 
 only. 
 
 So that there is not one of us here prefent, 
 but through the grace of God we have it in our 
 power to arrive at this comfortable aflurance, 
 
 we 
 
at the approach of death. 279 
 
 vvc have the fame encouragements and the af- Sek m 
 fiftance of the fame fpirit. So that we may ^^y^J^\ 
 triumph even on this fide the grave, and glory 
 over our fpiritual enemies here in the midft of 
 their own kingdom. There wants nothing 
 to efFe<ll this but an obftinate invincible refo- 
 lution in time, before we have loft all oppor- 
 tunity for virtue, and it is this will fting the 
 fouls of wicked perfons, when they are near 
 their death, that they did not provide this 
 comfort for the evil day, when it was fo ea- 
 fily in their power. 
 
 Having thus fpoke to thofe five things con- 
 tained in the text, I {hall only make two in- 
 ferences which diredlly follow from this paf- 
 fage of Scripture. 
 
 I. And the ift is, that the only good foun- 
 dation for affurance of glory and immortal life, 
 is that of good works and the practice of a 
 virtuous and holy life ; it is this we find was 
 the ground of St. Paul's aflurance, and that 
 upon it he built all his hopes. In the verfe 
 before the text, he fays, that he hath fought a 
 good fight, he hath finished his courfe, he 
 hath kept the faith, and therefore it is that he 
 concludes fo peremptorily, that henceforth 
 there is laid up for him a crown of glory, 
 which the Lord the righteous judge (hall .give 
 him at that day. 
 
 It was not any confident perfwafion of his 
 
 particular eled:ion by which he came by this 
 
 affurance^ but by thofe good works and vir- 
 
 T 4 tuous 
 
XXVIII. 
 
 28o Tthe comfort oj a good man 
 
 SERrvT. tuous pradices of his, which he propofes to 
 our imitation in the 2 Cor, 6. by patience, by 
 labours, by watchings and faftings, by pure- 
 nefs, by enduring afflidions, giving no offence, 
 and approving himfelf to God. 
 
 It was by keeping his body under and 
 bringing it into fubjedion, and in fhort, by 
 cxerciiing himfelf in all things, to have a con- 
 fcience void oj offence towards God and to- 
 wards man^ and this good man had fo little 
 dependance upon his being of the number of 
 fuch as were abfolutely eleded, that in the 
 latter part of that former verfe, the reafon he 
 gives why he was fo vigorous in acquiring 
 thefe virtues and graces, and in the difcharge 
 of his duty in all refpeds, is, left that while 
 he preached to others, he himfelf might become 
 a caft-away ; and in the words of my text, he 
 declares, that this crown is not laid up for 
 him only, or for any peculiar number of peo- 
 ple, but for all perfons who live in obedience 
 to the Gofpelas he did, and fecure themfelves 
 aright, in the promifes of God by the habitual 
 pradice of a virtuous and holy life. 
 
 From whence we may fee plainly what a 
 fandy foundation they build their hopes of 
 falvation upon ; who inflead of acquiring af- 
 furance by this only one infallible method, 
 make it a great part of their religion to be all 
 their lives working themfelves up to a ftrong 
 ima2;ination of their beino; of the number of 
 God's eled people ; and upon this confidence 
 f^ncy^ they can never fall finally, and there- 
 fore 
 
at the approach of death. 281 
 
 fore live in the practice of fome fins, thinkingSE r m. 
 that either they are pure infirmities, or that XXVlir. 
 they fliall furely repent of them fome time 
 or other. 
 
 I appeal to the confciences of many that 
 hear me, whether this hath not been their 
 own cafe, and whether it is not plain, that 
 fuch perfons build their hopes upon the wind ; 
 this is what St. Paul calls running uncertainly, 
 2.nd fighting as one that beats the air. Thefe 
 fancies will all vanifh at the approach of death, 
 and leave them poor and naked, and comfort- 
 lefs ; and though cuftom, and a warm imagi- 
 nation, may keep up fomething of this to the 
 laft, yet in that day it will appear to be the 
 hope of the hypocrite ; iox the hope which maketh 
 not ajhamed-, as St. Paul tells us, is that which 
 is from experience ; i. e, that which is built 
 upon tryal of ourfelvesj what degrees of vir- 
 tue and goodnefs we have attained to. 
 
 2. The other inference I (hall make from 
 hence is, that a fall and abfolute alTurance of 
 our falvation, is not to be had till the approach 
 of death : This is a dired; inference from 
 thefe words of his, fince in all the former part 
 of his life we read nothing of this nature, at 
 leafl: fo pofitive ; but, on the contrary, we 
 find expreflions of his fearfulnefs and defpon- 
 dency, and particularly in Philip. 3. hefpeaks 
 how he had not already attained, nor was al- 
 ready perfed: ; and therefore, forgetting thofe 
 things he had already arrived to, he reached 
 forth unto thofe he as yet wanted. But thefe 
 
 of 
 
^he comfort of a good man 
 
 of the text were fpoke when he had fini(hed 
 his courfe. That which gives us a full aflii- 
 rance of hope, is the holding out to the end j 
 and though a man be ever fo well difpofed at 
 prefent, he cannot tell what he (hall be here- 
 after : They who ftand, are bid to take heed 
 left they fall, becaufe they may do fo ; and we 
 are told, that then is the time of boafting and 
 glorying j not when we put on our armour, 
 but when we come to put it off 3 till the bat- 
 tle is near over, we cannot tell whether we 
 have won the day ; nor can we tell whether 
 we have gained the prize, till the race is near 
 ended. 
 
 When men come to dye, then indeed their 
 eyes are opened, and they have a clearer prof- 
 pedl of that eternity that is before them ; and 
 their minds are filled, either with terror or 
 jo)'', as either the flames of Hell or the glories 
 of Heaven come v/ithin their view : And then 
 the moft terrified fancy cannot paint out to it- 
 felf the horror and confternation of a wicked 
 man, when he refled:s upon his former fins, 
 when he hath f ipt his time for repentance and 
 good works j when all the comforts of this 
 life have left him, and that he muft expedt 
 none in the next; when he fees there is no reme- 
 dy, but he mufi: go hence into the other world, 
 then he may affirm the clear contrary to what St. 
 Paul fays : That henceforth there remains no^ 
 thing to him, but a fad expedlation of a due re- 
 ward oVi'\\%nm\^i^o\!i{x\^\%^ and a dreadful lool" 
 higjor oj judgment and fiery indignation^ which 
 
 God, 
 
at the approach of death, 2 S3 
 
 God, who is a righteous judge as well as merci- Serm. 
 fulfather, (hall furely denounce againft him, and XXVIir. 
 not only againft him, but againft all fuch wicked 
 impenitent wretches who, by reafon of their fins, 
 have caufe rather to tremble at the thoughts of 
 his appearing than to wiQi for it with impatience, 
 and rejoice at the hopes and expectation of it. 
 But, on the contrary, when they find 
 they have conquered all their fiiiful incli- 
 nations, and made it their bufinefs to acquire 
 the virtues and graces of the gofpel ; when 
 looking back on their former life, they find 
 they have laid hold of the opportunity, and 
 have not flipt the proper feafons for virtues ; 
 when they confider how they were meek and 
 humble, and fober and temperate, and chafte 
 in the greateft vigour of their youth j that 
 they were juft and upright in all their dealings in 
 the bufieft time of their age : When by recol- 
 led:ion they find, that in theforeft tryals of af- 
 fronts and injuries from others, of reproaches, 
 and flander and calumny, they had borne it all 
 with patience, and an humble refignation to 
 the divine will, and without any returns of fu- 
 ry, or recrimination or revenge; that they did 
 all a(5ts of mercy and charity when opportu- 
 nity offered, and while their fubftance was truly 
 their own, before another had any right in it by 
 the approach of their death ; that they were dili- 
 gent in their proper bufinefs, and faithful and ac- 
 tive in thedifcharge of their calling while they 
 were in full ftrengthofbodyand vigour of mind; 
 and, in fhort,when they confider that they took 
 
 up 
 
284 ^^^ comfort of a good man^ &c. 
 
 Serm. up in time, remembered their Creator in the 
 XXVIII. ^ays of their youth y and begun the pradlice of 
 virtue andholinefs foon enough to make all 
 virtues and graces of the Gofpel habitual, fo as 
 to grow up to this very temper and difpoiition 
 of their foul. 
 
 O ! thefe are the things will give folid joy 
 and comfort to a dying man 3 it is this will 
 make his confciencefpeak peace to him, though 
 it were in the midfl of racks and tortures j 
 thefe are the things that will make him triumph 
 over death and the grave, and fill his foul with 
 fo much fweetnefs and complacence, with fuch 
 joys and tranfports, that no expreffion can 
 reach them 5 they have fo much of Heaven in 
 them, that it cannot enter into the thoughts 
 of any, but thofe bleft departing fouls who 
 enjoy it ; who with juft confidence, and a 
 full afiiirance of hope, may with St. Paul fay, 
 that henceforth there is laid up for them a crown 
 of glory, which God, the righteous Judge, /hall 
 give them in that day j and not to them only, but 
 to all thofe who love his appearing. 
 
 SERMON 
 
^he neceffity of crucifying, &c. 285 
 
 SERMON XXIX. 
 
 The neceffity of crucifying our affec- 
 tions and lufto. 
 
 Gal AT. V. 24. 
 
 A?id they that are Chriffs have crucified the 
 FleJJj, with the afeSliom and lujts, 
 
 THIS of crucifying the flefli is a figura- o ^ 
 tive expreffion of a very large extent, XXIX* 
 and comprehenfive fignification, and imports 
 no lefs than the reflraining and mortifying all 
 the corrupt and vitious inclinations of our na- 
 ture, redifying and correcting all the excefles 
 and irregularities of our appetites and paffions, 
 and the gaining fuch a conqueft over them, that 
 they (hall be brought intirely under the direc- 
 tion and condudl of reafon and grace : The 
 allufion of the phrafe is to the body of Chrift, 
 which was nailed hands and feet to a crofs, fix- 
 ed fo, that it could neither ftir nor move, nor 
 go whither it would, (as Chrifl himfelf fpeaks, 
 alluding, as is conjcftured, to the fame death 
 of crucifixion, which St. Peter underwent for- 
 ty 
 
286 ^he neceffity of crucifying 
 
 Serm. ty years after.) The body thus nailed and faf- 
 XXIX. tened, hath loft the ufe of all its members 5 
 it is paft the exercife of any of its powers and 
 faculties j it grows ftlll more faint and languid, 
 till at laft it expires, and has neither fenfe nor 
 motion left. And that which makes this man- 
 ner of fpeaking yet more apt and expreffive is, 
 the fimilitude there is between the great trou- 
 ble and uneafinefs men find in croffing and 
 breaking the force and prevalence of their af- 
 fedions and lufts, and that pain and anguifh 
 endured by a body nailed to a crofs. It is in 
 allufion to this, that the ftile of the New Tef- 
 tament runs fo much upon our being dead to 
 fin, and hving to holinefs. Rom. viii. 10. If 
 Chriff be in you the body is dead^ becaufe of fin -^ 
 but the fpirit is life, becaufe of righteoufnefs ; 
 confonant to which, the whole complex of all 
 the evil propenfions and tendencies of our cor- 
 rupt nature is called the body of Jin, Our old 
 many fays St. Paul, Rom. vi. 6, is crucified 
 with himy that the body of fin might be deftroyed. 
 In other places, it is called ihtfefh, in which 
 the fame Apoftle fays there dwelleth no good 
 thingy Rom. vii. 18. And in another place. 
 Gal. V. 17, that the fie (h lufteth agai n ft the fpi- 
 rit y and the fpirit againft the flefhy and thefe 
 are contrary the one to the other. 
 
 Thus we fee the great excellency of this 
 manner of fpeaking, which is plain and eafy, 
 yet very expreflive and full of fignification, in- 
 fomuch, that the oppofition made between 
 the flefti and fpirit, the crucifying the one, and 
 
 the 
 
our affeBions and lufts. 287 
 
 the cherifhing and encouraging of the other, Serm. 
 together with the comparifon fo frequenily XXIX. 
 made between the natural hfe and death of the *■ 
 body, and the good or ill condition of the 
 mind, with refpe6t to virtue or vice (the fure 
 efFed and confequence of which is, literally, 
 either the everlailing life or death of body and 
 foul) ; chefe obvious figures, I fay, and eafy 
 comparifjns, have given greater light into the 
 knowledge, even of natural religion, than all 
 the moraliiy of the Heathen worlds they en- 
 large t ur thoughts, and open to the mind a 
 vaft fcene of the moft ufeful and neceffary 
 knowledge, a diftind: knowledge, void of all 
 confufion ; it takes away all blindnefsand un- 
 certainty concerning our greatefl intereft ; oui: 
 duty is hereby fixed and determined, and the 
 work of our life plainly cut out for us ; fo 
 that there is no difficulty now left in the theory, 
 but in the practice. 
 
 We muft not mind the things of the flefh, 
 to fulfil the lulls -hereof: We are to mortify 
 the deeds of the body ; fo that our very members 
 muft be made ijifirumeiits oj right eoufnefs. 
 And in the words of the text, we muft crucify 
 the fie (Ji^ with the off eB ions andlufts-, we muft 
 cleanfe ourfelves /row all filthinejs of fie (h and 
 fpirity and be renewed in the fpirit of our 
 minds. This is the work that lies before us ; 
 in this confifts the true perfection of our na- 
 ture ; thus we are to be reftored to a ftate of 
 innocence, to the favour of God ; and thus 
 we are to avoid the mifery, and attain to the 
 
 happinefs 
 
288 'I he fieceffity of crucifying 
 
 Serm. happlnefs of another world ; and thus we fee 
 XXIX. that Chrift crucified, which to the Greeks was 
 ^J-QoUPonefs, appears to be in truth the po^er 
 of God to reftore fallen man ; and the wifdom 
 of God in a my fiery, which God ordained before 
 the inorld for our glory. 
 
 In difcourfmg of thefe words, I fhall ob- 
 ferve this method : 
 
 I. I fhall inftance thofe affedions and lufls 
 in particular, which are to be crucified. 
 
 II. I fhall fpeak of the mofl effedlual means 
 and method of performing this. 
 
 III. 1 fhall obferve two or three things as 
 rules of prudence, for our belter condud: herein. 
 
 IV. I fhall apply the motives implied in 
 the text, to prevail on us to the performance 
 of this great work. 
 
 And ifl. As to the firfl then, St. Paul tells 
 us, at the 1 9th verfe of this chapter, that the 
 works of the flefh, which are to be crucified, 
 are manifefl ; i. e. they are well known by the 
 lio;ht of reafon ; they are againfl natural reli- 
 gion, and the common fentiments of the befl 
 informed part of mankind, which are thefe; 
 itAo.x£'« Adultery, the wronging and defiling 
 the marriage-bed, •no^n^a Fornication, the de- 
 filements of perfons unmarried -, either with 
 one another, or with married perfons, '«xaS«poia 
 VncleannefSy by which is fignified all manner of 
 luflful adtions that are inceftuous or unnatural, 
 and whatever is not referred to adultery and 
 fornication, aVEA^E.a, Lajcivioufiiefs, to which 
 is to be referred all the unchaffity of the mind, 
 
 impure 
 
our ajfedliom and lujls. 2S9 
 
 impure thoughts ; all obfcenity in words and Serm. 
 expreflionsj all wantonnefsin looks or gefture ; ^^^X* 
 all incitements to luft, and whatfoever difpofes 
 the body or mind for the committal of any 
 grofTer a£ts of this fin : So very particular hath 
 theApoille thought it neceflary to be, in enu- 
 merating the feveral inftances and degrees of 
 this prevailing fin. And if the Apoftle here 
 affirms, that they who indulge themfelves in 
 any of \\\tit Jkall not inherit the kingdom of 
 God, what fliall we think of fuch who have 
 given themfelves over to lafcivioufnefs, to work 
 all unclean nefs with greedinefs ? 
 
 The next is n^u^oy^uTfia Idolatry. This was le- 
 velled by the Apoftle at the Heathen pradices 
 in his days ; but, if he were alive now, he 
 would apply it to the prad:iceof Chriftians ia 
 ours, who pay that worfliip, which is due to 
 God alone, to wafers, images, and reliques, 
 and to faints and angels, their fellow-creatures. 
 4)«Pf*«xE;* IFitcbcraft j which, befides the grof- 
 fer adt of compact with the devil, implies the 
 confulting of fortune-tellers j ufing of any 
 means of incantation by fpells or charms, 
 which is at this day in pradice among the ig- 
 norant and fuperftitious ; though it lie in truth 
 no other than going to the devil for folution 
 of their doubts, and repair of their lolles. 
 
 "Ex^fcci Hatred^ manentiaodia, faysGrotiasj 
 fettled inveterate hatred conceived againft any 
 one, or for any caufe, which prompts us to 
 wi(h for and catch at all advantages againft 
 him we hate, to vent our rancour and fpleea 
 
 Vol. II. U againft 
 
SQO The neceffity of crucifying 
 
 Serm. againfl him on all occafions. To this the 
 XXIX. Apoftle afterwards oppofes love^ which difpofes 
 ^men to friendlinefs and an amicable correfpon- 
 dence with all men, even with their greateft 
 enemies, as far as may be with fafety to them- 
 felves. 
 
 "Epi.s Variance. By which is meant all words 
 and expreffions that are therefultof anger and 
 fury ; all opprobrious language, railing and re- 
 viling; all contentious difputes, perverfe rea- 
 fonings, and obftinate debates which proceed 
 from a fpirit of contradicftion, and a defigned 
 induftrious oppofition to the fentiments of o- 
 *ther men. 
 
 Zi5^o* Emulations. Eager contentions about 
 place and dignity ; drivings about fuperiority, 
 and reftlefs purfuit of preferment ; together 
 with thofe unjuft and uncharitable criminati- 
 ons, malicious infinuations to blacken com- 
 petitors, and leflen their charader ; grieving at 
 their fuccefs; together with all the other indi- 
 red: pradlices, fo notorious in all fuch compe- 
 titions ; which proceed from a great opinion 
 we have of our own merits and qualifications, 
 and the contempt we have for others, perhaps 
 more deferving men than ourfelves. 
 
 0f//,ot Wrath. This is fpoke of perfons who 
 are apt to refent, and take fire on all occafions 
 that offer, who are fubjedt to fudden and vio- 
 lent paflions upon every furmife or colour of 
 provocation given them ; who are of a wafp- 
 ifh temper, of a peevifh and fretful difpofi- 
 tion, made uneafy to themfelves and others by 
 
 every 
 
Qur affe6lions and lufis, z^i 
 
 every trifle; ever ruffled and difcompofed bySERM? 
 things of no moment or conflderation : dif-^ XI X 
 pleafed with every perfon and every thing, that 
 doth not hit their humour, and exactly fuit 
 their fancy. That which difcovers the great 
 impotence and prevarication of men of this 
 temper is, that they always make the faireft 
 {hew of gayity and an agreeable converlation 
 to ftrangers, and fuch as do not value their re- 
 fentments \ end turn their dark and gloomy 
 fide to their own family, and fuch as have a 
 neceflary dependance upon them ; they vent 
 all their good humour abroad, and wreck all 
 their fpleen at home, upon luch as are under 
 a necejflity of bearing it j upon fuch whom, of 
 all people, they are bound to love and cherifh 
 moft, and who have the beft title to their ten- 
 dered affed:ions, by the laws of God and na- 
 ture. 
 
 'Ep.Saia, Strife. This imports a mind trouble- 
 fome and turbulent ; bent upon promoting de- 
 bate and contention among men ; fowing the 
 feeds of difcord, and fetting them at variance 
 with one another ; and taking a delight and plea- 
 fure'^inthe diiTentions and quarrels of other men. 
 
 A.^oraTta Seditions. The fame vf'uhfchijms in 
 other places of the new teftament ; dividing 
 from the reft of our Chriftian brethren, and 
 fetting up diftind: and feparate communions, 
 without a plain and abiolute neceffity. The 
 confequences of feparate communions in the 
 church are fo numerous ; namely, by weak- 
 ening and deftroying the power of the church 
 
 U 2 to 
 
292 ^he necejpty of crucifying 
 
 Serm. to reftrain vice and wickednefs, and fo giving 
 XXIX. a loofe to all irreligion and prophanefs^ by a- 
 bolifliing all Chriftian charity j by bringing a 
 difefteem on the moral duties of religion, 
 which are the life and fubftance of it, turning 
 them into zeal for a party, refining of it into airy 
 and fantaftical opinions ; and, in fliort, by 
 defeating all the ends of God in conftituting a 
 church. The confequences, I fay, of feparate 
 communions, are fo many and dreadful, that 
 wherever that load of guilt will lie, it will be 
 infupportable. There is not any thing in this 
 world that ought to be more clear or undoubt- 
 ed, than the caufe for which a man feparates, 
 and it muft be of weight enough to cut-bal- 
 iance all thefe, and the many more evils that 
 enfue. A man had need of a full convidlion 
 of his judgment, fo as to leave no room for 
 doubt, fince the Apoflle fays here, that they 
 who are guilty of this fin Jhall not inherit the 
 kingdom oj God* 
 
 The next a.p£crEK Herefes, do differ from y?- 
 ditions or fchifms in this, that a fchifm is a fe- 
 paration from the communion of the church 
 without a fufficient caufe ; a herefy is when 
 men do not only feparate, but do likewife, in 
 oppoiition to the church, maintain docftrines 
 openly and diredly deftrudive of the faith of 
 Chrift, and purity of the Gofpel i fuch as if 
 they perfifted in, though they were of the 
 communion of the church, they {hould be cut 
 oft from it. 
 
 ♦o»w» Envyings ; by which Is fignified the ba- 
 
 feft 
 
our affeBiom and lulls, 293 
 
 feft paflion of the foul, grieving at the fuccefs- S e r m . 
 es and profperities of others ; the having our XXIX. 
 eye evil becaufe God is good. 
 
 <^o^ai Murders ; i. e. not only the taking away 
 the hfe of another unlawfully, but being any 
 way accefTary to it, wifhing it, or being plead- 
 ed with it when it is done ; and therefore in- 
 flanced here, becaufe the preceding paflions 
 difpofe men for the committal of it. 
 
 M/9a, xw/Ao* Drunkennefsj Revellings j all ex- 
 cefTes in drinking and eating, and thofe extra- 
 vagances that are confequent to them. 
 
 It follows, andfach like^ to fhew, that, he 
 hath named here only the moft common and 
 principal lufts and affedlions, and fuppofes the 
 other (inful lufts and affections as well known 
 by the light of nature as thefe. I am now 
 to confider 
 
 Ildly, The moft effedlual means and method 
 of getting a conqueft over all our lufts and af- 
 fections ; and I ftiall at prefent inftance only 
 in three. 
 
 I. And I ft, whofoever will gain a conqueft 
 over all his paffions and appetites, muft begin 
 with a conftant and regular temperance ; the 
 iirft appetite which muft be effectually over- 
 come, is that we have to eating and drinking ; 
 till a man hath gained a conqueft over him- 
 felf in this point, all other endeavours for the 
 fupprefUng and reftraining his affections and 
 lufts, will prove fruitlefs and vain j it is in 
 truth no other than heaping on fuel to make 
 our lufts burn more violently, and then labour- 
 U 3 ing 
 
7he necefflty of cnuifftng 
 
 ing to extinguifli them. There is nothing we 
 eat and drink beyond the jufl proportions, but 
 'is poifon to our nature, and diredly deftruc- 
 tive of all inclinations to goodnefs both in bo- 
 dy and mind. Intemperance is the fure and 
 immediate caafe of unchaflity, which of all 
 manner of fm hath the mofl fatal tendency to 
 the defacing and abolifhing all fenfe of virtue 
 and holinefs; infomuch that a man may have 
 other virtues and vices, both of them in no fmall 
 degrees, but this is utterly inconfiftent with all 
 kinds and degrees of virtue; it is infection to 
 our whole nature ; it fpreads confufion over 
 the whole man like a leprofy ; the very mind 
 and confcience is defiled by it ; and for the 
 time it remains unreftrained and unmortified, 
 it fufpends all exercife of virtue and goodnefs ; 
 of piety and holinefs ; and, if it continues to 
 be indulged and gratified, it quite extinguifhes 
 the grace of God, and leaves the man void of 
 all religion : There are but too many living in- 
 llances of perfons thus dead to all fenfe of 
 virtue and holinefs. 
 
 Then, as to the efiredl of intemperance in 
 the mind; the extreams of gluttony and 
 drunkennefshavefuch immediate vifible effed:?, 
 that they put a man intirely out of his own 
 power, paft any conteft with his lufts and af- 
 fedlions. But 1 am now fpeaking of lefler de- 
 grees of intemperance, which, though they 
 do not commonly go by the names of gluttony 
 and drunkennefsj do however diforder and 
 impair the mind, render its operations dull and 
 
 inadlive ; 
 
our affediiom and lulls. 295 
 
 inacflive ; fo that notwithftanding many good Serm. 
 purpofes and refolutions, we cannot proceed XXIX, 
 with conftancy in this great work j and expe- ' 
 rience will convince us what interruption one 
 intemperate meal will give to the work of pi- 
 ety and religion. They who will make any 
 commendable progrcfs in the crucifying their 
 affcdions and lufts, and obtaining good de- 
 grees of thofe virtues and graces that are con- 
 trary to them ; who will bring their minds to 
 habitual holinefs and a heavenly temper ; to 
 meeknefs and humility, and all the graces of a 
 devout and pious foul, mufl bring themfelves 
 to that pafs,- that they {hall command their ap- 
 petites, with refpedl both to the quantity and 
 quality, of fuch meats and drinks as they find 
 prejudicial to the health either of body o r mind. 
 Every man that drives jor the majlery^ lays St, 
 Paul, I Cor. ix. 25, is temperate iti all things ; 
 which is meant more particularly of eating and 
 drinking 3 fince the allufion is to fuch as dieted 
 themfelves after a particular manner for running 
 a race, and he propofes his own example ; / 
 therefore fo run, not as uncertainly -y Jo fight /, 
 not as one that beateth the air ; becaufe, as it 
 follows, he by temperance and abftinence kept 
 his body under, and brought it into fubjed:ion, 
 which if he had not done, his progrefs in a 
 Chriftian courfe would have been with great 
 uncertainty ; his ftruggle with his affedtions 
 and lulls be but beating the air, and he himfelf 
 would have been a caft-away. 
 
 U 4 2. He 
 
2g6 . The necejity of crudjftng 
 
 Serm. 2. He that will intirely get the better of 
 XXIX. himfelf in reflraining all his appetites, and 
 V'^^^''^ governing his paffions, mufl take his mind off 
 from this world, and place it upon the other :This 
 indeed looks like a very general faying, and in 
 its full extent takes in all the bufinefs of reli- 
 gion 5 but 1 fpeak of it now in a more re- 
 flrained and limited fenfe -, and my meaning 
 is, that a man mufl once for all propofe to 
 himfelf Heaven, and the happinefs of the life 
 to come, as the chief end of all his actions ; 
 he muft refolve to fave his foul, though it be 
 at the expence of all the fatisfadions and plea- 
 fures of this life ; and poiTefs his mind tho- 
 roughly with this thought, what fiallit profit 
 a man if he gained the whole world and loj'e his 
 own foul. He may be very induftrious in the 
 bufinefs of this world, and it is often his duty 
 fo to be J but in the midfl of the greatefl hur- 
 ry of worldly affairs, our mind mufl be fo loofe 
 to them^ that the main bent of our thoughts 
 and inclinations mufl be the other way j and fo 
 jforceably too, that all the things of this world, 
 fhall be fubfervient to another. It is in this 
 fenfe our bleffed Saviour fays we cannoty^r'u^ 
 God and Mammon j either this world or the 
 other will have the afcendancy in us, and be 
 the chief prevailing motive j and that which 
 is uppermofl in our thoughts, will have the 
 j)efl title to our fervices. 
 
 Now when this is once become the firm 
 and unfhaken purpofe of the mind, and that 
 w? t^^y? !^^^ down to ourfelves a fixt and de- 
 terminate 
 
our off eB ions and lufls. 297 
 
 terminate fcope, then of courfe all the powersSERM. 
 and faculties of foul and body take abiafs that^XIX. 
 way, we have our eye upon it through the 
 whole courfe of our lives, and it becomes the 
 obje<ft of all our pafTions and inclinations, in- 
 fomuch, that from the hour that a man thus 
 fets his mind upon heaven, he ftrikes off thofe 
 bands that tye him down to this world ; he is 
 difengaged and at liberty, and all the things 
 of it begin to lofe the power and force they 
 have to work upon his paffions and affe(flions ; 
 and .then he will find the work of crucifying 
 them eafy and pradicable: "johere your trea^ 
 jure isy i e. your main fcope and great end, 
 there will your hearts be alfo^ all your defires 
 and longings will be that way j we {hall be 
 ever purfuing of it; all our affeftions and 
 paffions will center there ; it is that will fway 
 and injBuence them all, and though there be 
 ever fome reluctances and contrary tendencies 
 in the flefb, which may occafion many inter- 
 ruptions, yet whenever the mind hath time 
 to deliberate, the great end we have laid down 
 to ourfelves will prevail. 
 
 Thus it was that St. Paul was crucified t^ 
 the worlds and the world to him; the things 
 of this life became dull and infipid to him, 
 trifling and untempting, fo that he was paft 
 being feduced by them. He had lofl all tafje 
 and relifli for them, he counted them all but 
 dung, and was as unmoved by them, as if he 
 had neither fenfe or appetites left; fo Wrong- 
 ly had he impregnated his foul with a great 
 
 opinion 
 
29^ T^he necejjity of crucifying 
 
 Serm. opinion of the crofs of Chrift, and fet his 
 XXIX. heart upon the view he had to the glorious 
 confequences of his death and fufferings. 
 
 3. Another great means of crucifying our 
 afFed:ions and lufts is the ufe of voluntary 
 mortifications and felf-denials. When any 
 thing becomes the occafion of fin to us, and 
 hath the force of a temptation likely to prevail 
 upon us, whether our company, our diver- 
 fion, our food, nay, our bufinefs or any world- 
 ly enjoyment whatfoever, we mufl: deny it our 
 felves be it ever fo dear to us, ever fo agreeable. 
 This is matter of indifpenfible duty j this is 
 not in our choice; for thofe temptations 
 which are not to be overcome when they are 
 upon us, mufi: be always kept at a diftance. 
 The mortifications and felf denials I am now 
 fpeaking of, are more voluntary, namely, 
 what St. Paul, i Tinio. iv. 8. calls^^^^/7y exer- 
 cife^ which he fays, profiteth little, i. e. they 
 are of no value, if compared with that holi« 
 nefs they are only the means of acquiring^ 
 that righteoufnefs which he oppofes to it 
 which is profitable for all things, i. e. truly- 
 valuable in it felf, and which intitles us to the 
 bkffings of this life and another, fo that con- 
 iidered in themfelves, and put upon the level 
 with righteoufnefs, or in oppofition to it, they 
 OTC of no weight at all ; but as they are 
 means and indruments of acquiring that holi- 
 ness, they are of great value. This bodily ex- 
 crcifeconfifls in frequently reftraining ourfelves 
 
 in 
 
cur off ecf ions and liifls, 299 
 
 in our lawful plealures; and occafions painSERM. 
 and uneafinefs in the ufe of things difagiecableXXIX. 
 to our fenfual appetites, habitually crofliiig^"*^^—^ 
 and thwarting our inclinations and defires, 
 and ufing them to difappointments, even in 
 inftances no where forbid. This becomes 
 matter of duty in fome cafes, where the pow- 
 er of fin in us cannot be broke without a ri- 
 gorous courfc of feverities ; fome kinds will 
 not be caft out without fafting and prayer : and 
 this expreffion in the text, of crucifying our 
 affe6lions and lufts, fuppofes fuch prevalent 
 corruptions in our nature, that they are not 
 to be overcome without the ufe of fuch mor- 
 tifications and felf-denials, and particularly 
 without chaftening our foul with fafting, as 
 David fpeaks, which is therefore fo much re- 
 commended in the New Teflament, where- 
 fore if in the denying yourlufts aud afFed:ions; 
 and in the ufe of thefe voluntary felf-denials 
 and mortifications, you find uneafinefs and 
 regret and trouble, confider that the flefli is 
 then a crucifying ; the more pain and uneafi- 
 nefs, the better ; and that whatfoever the an- 
 guifh and trouble is, it is vaftly fliort of thof^ 
 pangs which were endured by our Saviour on 
 the crofs, and which we ourfelves muft endure, 
 if God fliould call us to it. 
 
 Now from hence appears the great advan- 
 tage of all afflidions and fufferings, and the 
 reafon of that flrefs which is laid on them in 
 the N.:w Teftament, in order to the attain- 
 ment of evangelical holinefs; namely, becaufe 
 
 of 
 
300 ^he neceffity of crucifying 
 
 Serm. of the direct tendency they have to (ubdue and 
 XXIX. mortify all our corrupt inclinations, to hum- 
 ble the mind, and take it off from the things 
 of this world. Rom. viii. 29. it is faid that 
 whom he didforeknoWy he did predejiinate to 
 he conformed to the image of his fon, (i. e.) by 
 fufferings ; thefe having fo great an efficacy 
 to form us to the image and likenefs of the 
 fon of God. Therefore St. Paul tells us, 
 Phil, iii. 10. that his earneft ambition vt'as to 
 be made conformable to his death, by fuffering 
 as he did, who himfelf was made perfeEi 
 through his fufferings ; and he fays in another 
 place, that he bore in his body the marks oj the 
 Lord JefuSy that is, his fufferings, which 
 gave him fuch a refemblance of his Saviour. 
 
 The pains, and labours, and miferies, inci- 
 dent to us all in this life, are fo neceffary to 
 wean us from it, and crucify all our affedions 
 and lufts, that the curfing of the ground, and 
 dooming of man to eat his bread in the fweat 
 of his brow, feems to be turned into the great- 
 eft bleffing. For to what ftupendous height 
 of wickednefs would mankind have arrived to, 
 if they had all variety of incitements to work 
 upon their luft and paffions, without thefe fre- 
 quent and powerful checks and allays. 
 
 It is true, that if the afflictions come upon 
 us for the teftimony of a good confcience, and 
 profeffion of the truth of the Gofpel, the 
 bearing of them with patience carries with 
 it an additional merit. But however they 
 come upon us, there- is this great and excellent 
 
 ufe 
 
mr affeBions and Itifls. 301 
 
 life to be made of them, and therefore, what Se rm. 
 we are to do is, by a perfedt refignation to the^XIX, 
 will of God, to turn them as far as we are 
 able, into voluntary afts of mortification and 
 felf-denial; this is fo far from being any 
 height of fancy, or abftradted thought, that 
 it will be literally performed if we make the 
 right ufe of them, and apply them all as hap- 
 py opportunities of crucifying our affections 
 and lufls, and taking off all the paflions of the 
 mind from this world, to place it upon ano- 
 ther. 
 
 And there is this difference between ma- 
 king a good and proper ufe of thofe alBidlions 
 which come upon us unaccountably, by a ge- 
 neral providence, and thofe which are appa- 
 rently for the profeflion of truth ; that the 
 former fuppofes in the mind a full convidlion 
 of the over ruling hand of God in all things 
 that befal us, and a firm perfwafion that God 
 will make all things work together for our 
 good in the end. 
 
 Having thus fpoke of the moft efFeftual 
 means of performing this great work of cruci- 
 fying our lufts and affedions, I am now 
 come to the third thing I propofed. 
 
 III. Namely, to inflance in two or three 
 things, in order to prevent miftake, and for 
 the more prudential condud of ourfelves here- 
 in. 
 
 I. And firft then, the wifefi: and the fhort- 
 eft courfe we can take is, to mark out that 
 lufl or finful afFedion which is mofl reigning 
 
 and 
 
302, ^he necefjity of crucifying 
 
 Serm. and predominant in us. In all tempers therC 
 XXIX. is fome one fin that prevails beyond all other, 
 1 mean till men ate become intirely proffligate 
 and quite alienated from the life of God ; then 
 they are equally difpofed for all wickednefs with 
 greedinefs. I am not now fpeaking to thefe, 
 but even in fuch as have not caft off all refo- 
 lutions of repentance and amendment, there 
 is fome one temptation which hath the afcend- 
 ancy of all other, and is apteft to captivate and 
 overcome them j in fome it is unchaftity j in 
 others cdveteoufnefs •, in others vanity and 
 ambition j in others gluttony and drunken- 
 nefs ; in fome one, in fome another, accord- 
 ing to their different ages, or conftitutions, or 
 circumftances : this darling luft or. deareft af- 
 fection, muft be fingled out, and we mufl en- 
 gage it with the utmofl vigour and refolution j 
 we muft fet ourfelves againft it with all our 
 might, and though the ftruggle be painful, 
 and the habit inveterate, yet we muft never 
 delift nor yield, until we have got the better, 
 and gained an intire conqueft over ourfelves 
 in that point. 
 
 When once this is pei formed to good efFe6l, 
 and that tiie one grand afpiring lin is thus 
 thrown down i it's fall will be like that of 
 Lucifer's, and carry witb it a numerous train 
 of inferior lufts and affedions, which were 
 all it's conftant attendants and neceffary ad- 
 herents ; for if you obferve it, whatever luft 
 or pafTion predominates, it hath a ftrange 
 power to diftort all the faculties of body and 
 
 mind. 
 
cur afft'Bions and hifts» ^o-s 
 
 mind, and wrefl them to it felf, io as to make Se r m. 
 them all fubfervient to the great end it purfuesiXXIX. 
 fo that when the force of this great temptation* 
 is broke, the greateft part of our trouble and 
 uneafmefs is over; the reil will fall of courfe, 
 and we {hall find but little pain in crucifying 
 whatfoever of them lurk behind, upon the 
 firft difcovery. 
 
 The only great danger here, is left we 
 fhould what this ftrongeft tendency to lin in 
 us is ; for though people are commonly very 
 quick and difcerningin fmallerinftancesiof fins, 
 yet they are blind to that which is moft reign- 
 ing and predominant in them. It may be for 
 the fame reafon, that we can eafily fpy out 
 leffer fpots in the skin, but when the taint is 
 general, and over runs the body, it deceives 
 the view ; when it is all one colour, we mif- 
 take it for our natural complexion, and are 
 not folicitous for a cure. Upon this fatal 
 miftake it is, that you will fee men exprefs 
 much zeal in mortifying their other lufts and 
 affecflions, and yet intirely overlook the great 
 prevailing fm ; though this be fuch trifling:, 
 that it is hard to find a comparifon that v/ill 
 come up to the folly of it; it is as if one 
 fliould fadly lament a little pain in the finger, 
 when the whole body is afi^edcd with a mortal 
 diftemper : for this very reafon it is, that fo 
 many ftruggle with temptation to fo httle 
 purpofe, and labour all the davs of their lives 
 with fo little progrefs, becaufe they began at 
 the wrong end; they never gain a comenda- 
 
 ble 
 
304 ^he necejjity of crucifying 
 
 Serm. ble conquefi: over their fpiritual enemies, be- 
 XXIX. caufe they never engage the main body, and 
 ' fpend all their ftrength in skirmifhes vt^ith the 
 outguards only, and inconfiderable parties, 
 
 2. Another thing we are to obferve, is that 
 the great work of crucifying our lufts and af- 
 fections, is not to be performed all at once ; 
 it is not one fingle ad: of execution, as that of 
 our Saviour's, from whence the expieffion is 
 taken ; but a continued habit of breaking the 
 force and power of them gradually. It is true, 
 that upon the ftrength of the firft refolutions, 
 men may abftain from all grofler afts of every 
 kind of fin, but to gain an intire conqueft o- 
 ver all the vitious inclinations of our nature, 
 and bring them intirely under the conduct of 
 reafon and grace, fo as to adorn our fouls with 
 all the inftances of evangelical holinefs that 
 are oppolite to them ; this is a work of time, 
 and is to be the imployment of our whole 
 lives. 
 
 If this work of crucifixion were to be effect- 
 ed by the violent effort of a furious zeal, ma- 
 ny more would attain to it than doj they 
 would rufh upon it of a fudden, and bear a 
 great deal for a little time 3 but when the heat 
 of their refolution abates, and they find fuch 
 conftant returns of the temptation, and feel 
 the pain and anguifh ftill remain, then they 
 can bear it no longer, and quit the glorious 
 "conqueft for a little prefent eafe. 
 
 Alas 1 the crucifying our affedtions and 
 lufts, is more than giving our body to be 
 
 burnt 5 
 
our affe5fions and liifls\ '305 
 
 burnt; it is a work of mature deliberation" oFSerm. 
 a continual patience and fteady perfeverance. XXIX, 
 
 Thofe primitive Chriftians, whofe forward 
 zeal hurried them on to a voluntary refignation 
 of themfelves to torments and death, might 
 this way have gratified the utmoft ambitioa 
 of their fouls, by rendering their whole lives 
 one continued martyrdom ; they might thus 
 have died daily with St. Paul, for months and 
 years, and many revolutions of them. 
 
 3. Another thing we are to obferve in cru- 
 cifying our affe<5lions and lufts is, that we are 
 not to expect that they can be totally extin- 
 gulfhed. This was the foohfh extreme of 
 Pagan ignorance, and profefTedly maintained 
 by a whole fed; of men ; and is at this day no 
 fmall hindrance to the progrefs of virtue in 
 Chriftians, who do not confiJer it: for being 
 for this reafon ignorant of the true bounds and 
 nature ofvirtue and vice,itbecomesmatter of no 
 fmall fcruple and difcouragement to them. All 
 our natural appetites are neceffary for the life, 
 and health, and vigour of the body, and our 
 paffions are necelTary inftruments of virtue and 
 goodnefs in the foul ; in our firfl creation, 
 they were the ornament of our nature, and 
 the immediate feat of our perfediion and hap- 
 pinefs; and it is by the improvement of thefe, 
 that we fliall (hine with rays of glory in ano- 
 ther world. 
 
 The true import of this expreffion, of cru- 
 cifying our lufts and affedlons is, that we re- 
 gulate and govern them; that we break the 
 Vol. JI. X violence 
 
3o6 I'he necejpty of crucijylng 
 
 Serm. violence of all our bodily appetites, fo as to 
 XXIX. have it in our power to gratify them in fuch 
 degrees only, as reafon and Religion {ball pre- 
 fcribe ; and that vjc ever deny them in all for- 
 bidden inftances, that as the Apoflle expreffeth 
 it, fi?i might not reign in otirmortal bodies, and 
 that we fhould not fulfil the lulls of the flefh ; 
 that we moderate our paffions and redify the 
 defires and afFedtions of our minds ; that we 
 place them upon right objedts, take off our 
 affections fo from the things on the earth, and 
 fet them on things above, that nothing here 
 may ever move or tranfport us to any immode- 
 rate degree, that we may know how to be 
 angry and not fin ; this the Apoflle calls mor- 
 tifying our inordinate affeBion. When our 
 paffions are brought under this regulation, e- 
 ven themofl violent of them, by giving them 
 a different turn, may be changed from the 
 depth of fin> to a great height and perfedion 
 of holinefs, as it was in the cafe of St. Paul. 
 When they are thus under government, and 
 exercifed upon their proper objedts, they give 
 life to the will, render it active and forward, 
 and infpire it with vigour and fprightlinefs. 
 
 Becaufe neither our appetites nor pafllons 
 are to be totally extinguifhed and deftroyed, 
 the flruggle between the flefh and the fpirit 
 will never ceafe intirely in this world j our ap- 
 petites will be ever craving, and our affedions 
 v/ill always have fome tendency to fuch things 
 as give a piefent pleafure and entertainment to 
 the mind : while we live in this world there 
 
 will 
 
our affections andlufls. 307 
 
 will be always fome remains of them, andSERw. 
 they will be the occafions of a continual ex-^^IX. 
 ercife of virtue : but they are then fa id to be' 
 crucified, when they are reflrained from be- 
 ing luxuriant and exorbitant; when they do 
 not domineer or rage, when they refift but 
 with faint and feeble efforts, when they ftrug- 
 gle, but always without fuccefs, when though 
 they crave continually, they are always croft 
 and difappointcd, and in fliort, when they 
 are fo pertedly conquered, that though they 
 livcj yet it is like captives in chains and fet- 
 ters, which ferve only to grace our triumph. 
 
 I cannot forbear obferving here, how fall 
 an anfwer this is to the taunts and fleering ob- 
 jedlions of wicked and profligate men, againft 
 perfons of a true profeflion of piety and holi- 
 nefs ; by faying that they are not without the 
 fame appetites and inclinations with other 
 men : it is true they are flefli and blood, and 
 men of like pafllons with themfelves; wc 
 have all the fame natural propenfions of body 
 and mind, and thus far they fay true, but 
 that which makes the diffijrence is, that fome 
 men reftrain and govern them, and indulge 
 them in fuch degrees only, and in fuch in- 
 ftances, as are permitted by the laws of God 
 and nature, the other give them a loofe, and 
 gratify them in all inftances indifferently, 
 without regard to either. And this is fo great 
 a difference, that it renders one a good man, 
 and the other a wicked ; a difl:in6lion fo great, 
 that it will laft to eternity. That is a true 
 X 2 condition 
 
Jo 8 ^he neceffity of crucifying 
 
 Serm, condition of foul, where the appetites are ne- 
 XXIX. ver indulged beyond the due proportion j 
 where the affedions obey, though unwilling- 
 ly, and are undet intire command, though a- 
 gainft their own bent and tendencies j where 
 they will yield, though againfl nature, and 
 fubmit to principles that thwart and contradict 
 them, and comply with what is moll oppo- 
 iite and difagreeable to them, 
 
 IV. And now I am come to the 4th and laft 
 thing I propofed, which was to apply the 
 two motives in the text, to prevail on us to 
 the performance of this great work. 
 
 I. The firfl of them is more plain from the 
 text, namely, that they who do not crucifjr 
 the affections and lufls are none of Chrift's. 
 A little before, where he numbers up many 
 of thofe affedlions and lufts that are to be cru- 
 cifyed, it follow?, of the which 1 tell you be^ 
 fore J as I have alfo told you if2 time pafi, that 
 they which do fiiCh things fhall not inherit the 
 kingdom of God. i. e. remember, 1 warn you 
 before hand, and tell you over and over, that 
 they who live and die with any of thefe affec- 
 tions and lufts unmortified in them, can ne- 
 ver hope to be faved : and then he fays at the 
 24th verfe in the words of the text, that they 
 that are Chrifi's have criicified them already -, 
 and if ihcy have not done fo, it is plain rhey 
 are Chriftians in name only, in a publick 
 fliew and appearance. 
 
 Now if a man had but a thorough fenfe of 
 the great infirmity and corruption of human 
 
 nature, 
 
our affcBiom and lujls. 309 
 
 nature, he would begin to be fenfible how Serm. 
 great and difficult the work is, this of cruel- XXIX. 
 fying all our afFedtions and lufts, it is no obr 
 vious eafy thing to be begun and carried on to 
 perfedion upon the ftrength of a few good re- 
 folutions, though ever fo fincere ; this is no 
 more than a good beginning, and the cool of 
 the morning with the labourers, and they can- 
 not yet make a judgment of what they are to 
 undergo in the heat of the day, when they 
 find the flubbornnefs of their villous inclinati- 
 ons abate but by infenfible degrees, and that 
 nature Is ever and anon recoiling upon them, 
 and withal, by what flow fleps th.y will ad- 
 vance, in introducing into their fouls the ha- 
 bits of all the contrary virtues, and by what 
 continued and unwearied diligence, they 
 mud add to their faith, virtue j and to virtue, 
 knowledge; and to knowledge, temperance; 
 and to temperance, patience; and fo through 
 all the virtues and graces of the Gofpel. 
 
 No man can know the difficulty of this 
 work but by the trial, it is a long time before 
 the anguifh of this crucifixion abates, and one 
 hardly ever arrives in this world to be ahoger 
 ther infenfible of the pain, though he may 
 bear it with refolution, and triumph over it. 
 The many poor fouls who are deceived with 
 this notion, that they can commence faints of 
 a fudden whenever they pleafe to fet about it, 
 little confider this, and how great the change 
 is which the Scripture fuppofes to be made in 
 ' the inclinations and tendencies of our whole 
 
 X 3 nature. 
 
310 'T^^^<^ necejjity of crucifying 
 
 Serm. nature. Infomuch that we (hall with a 
 XXIX. mighty emphafis, be denominated dead and 
 crucified. Rom. viii. lo. If Chrift be in ^^ou^ 
 the body is dead becaufe of /in^ lays St. Paul, 
 and he fays of himfelf in another place, Gal. 
 ii. 20. lam crucified with Chriju 
 
 And yet as great and difficult a thing as this 
 is, it is the lb re mark of diltind:ion between 
 thofe that are truly Chrifl's, and thofe who 
 are none of his. And it is not difficult for a 
 perfon to form a judgment of himfelf fiom 
 hencCj whether he be a true and fincere Chri- 
 ftian, or in profeffion only. The Apoftle 
 hath put the matter upon a Ihort and peremp- 
 tory iiTue, Rom. viii. 13. Jf ye live after the 
 fefh he (hall die ; but if ye through the fpirity 
 do mortify the deeds of the body, ye Jhan live, 
 what then muft they think of themfelves who 
 grow old in their fins ? and through the whole 
 courfe of their lives never have one ferious 
 thought of crucifying their afiecStions and 
 lufts, nor ever decline the gratifying of any of 
 them, in all inftances wherein they may 
 do it without an open violation of the rules of 
 f:iviruy, and the laws of the land. Should 
 you point one of thefe men out, and tell him 
 that he is no Chriftian, or that it is mockery 
 to call himfelf fo, he would take fire at the 
 affiont, and though perhap? he haih an in- 
 ward contempt for all revealed religion, and 
 not the lea It regard for it left, if he were to be 
 cut off from the body of the church by ex- 
 communication, he would oppofe it with all 
 
 his 
 
our afe^im and lujfs. 3 1 1 
 
 his worldly fubftance, and to his ability Scrm. 
 would ftir up all the powers of Earth and XXDC 
 Hell to wreck his revenge upon thofe who ""^ 
 fliould attempt it; and all this for the name 
 of chriftian, which will lerve for no other 
 purpofe, but to render his damnation the more 
 infupportable : with fuch monftrous abfurdity 
 and contradiction do men aift in religion, who 
 in all the things of this world are very quick 
 and difcerning. 
 
 But I am fenfible how little any difcourfe 
 of this nature is like to touch thofe that are 
 pad feeling. I wifli I could tell what to fay 
 that might leave a deep impreflion upon the 
 minds of fuch, who having a plentiful for- 
 tune, and being in eafy circumftances, never 
 think of thefe feverer duties of religion, and 
 who, though they are guilty of nothing grofs 
 and exorbitant, yet indulge themfelves in all 
 tendernefs and dejicacy^ live in wantonnefs 
 and luxury, and who make it the ftudy of 
 their lives to gratify every longing defire, in- 
 fomuch, that they are feared with the very 
 expreffion of crucifying their luftsand affecSti- 
 ons. It is for this very reafon our Saviour fays, 
 it is edfier for a c cornel to go through the eye of 
 a needle, than J or a rich man to enter the king- 
 dom of God, becaufe of the infuperable diffi- 
 culty there is in reftraining and mortifying 
 our vitious inclinations, where there is afflu- 
 ence and abundance of the things of this world 
 to gratify them all ; they would do well to 
 confider our Saviour's fimijitude is drawn 
 X 4 from 
 
312 7 he neceffity of crucifying 
 
 Serm. from a natural impoffibility, and that he re- 
 
 XXIX. folves the work of their falvation into the mi- 
 
 ""^ raculous and extraordinary power of God. 
 
 2. The other motive I Ihall mention, is ^ 
 very ftrong one, though drawn from the text 
 by implication only, that is, that unlefs we 
 crucify them, they will crucify us, and be our 
 tormentors both in this world and the next. 
 
 How far unmortified appetites and paffions 
 unreftrained conduce to render people milera- 
 ble in this life, is the obfervation of every day. 
 All the miferies that pome upon human na- 
 ture proceed from this qaufej and ycu (hall 
 rarely hear of any perfon ruined and undone, 
 but it is originally from the gratifying of thefe: 
 And how many inftances are there of perlbns, 
 who, by one lingle a(5t of gratifying a lufl or 
 diforderly paflion at their fiifl fetting out in 
 the world, have entailed upon themlelves a fe- 
 ries of miferies for their whole life j and by 
 making but one falfe flep, have never been 
 able to recover it. In fome this happens all at 
 once ; in the cafe of others, the milchief Heals 
 upon them more gradually, fooner or later, 
 as they give way to the indulgence of their 
 finful iuAs and affections. 
 
 But where it never comes ^o this extremity, 
 
 ■ there js not fo poor a wretch as he that hath 
 
 given himfelf up to the ilavcry of his fen- 
 
 fual appetites and inordinate affed:ions; and 
 
 is come to that pafs, that he is ever eafy or 
 
 - uneafy in his mind, ■ juft as thefe are gratified 
 
 . or difappqinted i then it is in ^he power of 
 
 evwy 
 
our affections and lufls. 2 1 J 
 
 every body and every thing to ruffle and dif-SERM. 
 compofc him, to break, his reft and deflroy XXIX. 
 his quiet ; any one with the breath of his ' ^ ^ 
 mouth' may raife a ftorm in his bieafl:, and 
 make it v/ork hke the troubled fea ; and he is 
 never without perpetual uneafinefs when all 
 things do not fuit his fancy and humour, and 
 exadly hit his guft and relifh. 
 
 Now this fliews itfelf much more when 
 men grow into years, when all their bodily- 
 appetites decay ; when thefe become languid 
 and feeble, then they are nice and curious j there 
 is perpetual vexation and anxiety in the hu- 
 mouring of them; they are more craving felian 
 ever, and yet more difficult to be gratified; 
 and that v/hich compleats the mifery of this 
 condition is, that at the fame time the appe- 
 tites grow weaker, the paffions grow ftronger, 
 and both of them much more difficult to be 
 redlified and overcome than ever ; infomuch 
 that it is an obfervation well worth laying to 
 heart, namely, that unlefs men obtain a conqueft 
 and maflery over their lufls and paffions in the 
 ftrength and vigour of their life, when they are 
 in their greateft force and violence, the work is 
 hardly ever to be done to good efFc6i afterwards. 
 But there are yet worfe effcdts of giving way 
 to the inordinate and irregular paffions and af- 
 fe<5|:ions of the mind; for by a long and habitual 
 
 . indulgence of any of them, they often gain fuch 
 an afcendency over a man, that he Oiall be 
 
 ^ intirely out of his own power, and it fliall 
 end in lome degree of frenzy and diftiacftion. 
 
 1 do 
 
314 ^^^ nece^ity of crucifying 
 
 Ser M. I do not fay that this is always the caufe of a 
 XXIX. difturbed imagination and difordercd reafon*; 
 ^ ~~ ' but it is more commonly fo than is generally 
 believed ; and it is often a degree of madnefs 
 before it goes by that name. The diforder of 
 the head begins in the heart ; they fet their 
 hearts upon fome worldly enjoyment, upon 
 which their minds dwell fo long, and all their 
 afFedlions aie fointenfely employed upon it, that 
 their thoughts are fixed ; and that alone can 
 move them, and every thought or mention of 
 it moves them intemperately. This fame 
 holds true in a great variety of in (lances of this 
 fort J infomuch, that nothing is more ordinary 
 than to fee people fo far gone in the habitual 
 indulgence of fome finful affection, that they 
 are paft all cure, from the reafpnings either of 
 themfelves or others 5 and when they are thus 
 pofltft with their own, as with an evil fpirit, 
 it hurries them on to many extravagancies, 
 and cafls them fometimes into the fire^ and 
 fometimes into the water. Nor will the difr 
 order of their reafon take away the guilt of 
 the fins they are betrayed into by this, it being 
 all wilful in its caufe, and fhould haye been 
 prevented by a timely reftraint and regulation 
 of thofe paflfions vi^hich have brought them to 
 that. 
 
 This I take to be much the cafe of melan- 
 choly. It is true, fome conftitutions are more 
 difpofed for it than others ; but in all, when 
 it is indulged to that degree as to impair the 
 reafon, it too often proceeds from the predo- 
 minance 
 
our qffeBions and lufls* 315 
 
 m'lnance of (ome finful paflion or affedllon ; Ser m. 
 fuch as difcontentment at their condition ;XXIX. 
 want of faith, and diftruft of God, and his 
 promifes to us through the merits of a crucified 
 Saviour ; or from ibmething of that nature 
 which they let grow upon them, till it takes 
 full polltflion of their minds J and thence it 
 proceeds to the unreasonable fcruples, and 
 groundlefs fears and defpondencies, of a reli- 
 gious melancholy j whereas it was all at firft 
 the fin of their loul?, which it was their bufi-» 
 nefs and their duty to have redified in time. 
 
 And thus it is v/ith thofe fplenetick pangs 
 and agonies of the mind, which fome people 
 defer i be to be fo grievous and terrible. This 
 pafies currently for a diftemper altogether of 
 their body ; whereas it is too ofcen the fin of 
 their fouls, and takes its firft rife from affec- 
 tions unmortified, and paflions too intently- 
 bent upon the things of this v^orld : Sometimes 
 from fear cf fome misfortunes falling upoa 
 them in this world, they know not how nor 
 when : But all fears unaccountable or ground- 
 lefs are fiiiful. Sometimes from covetoufnefs, 
 or envy, or anger ; nay, fometimes from ma- 
 lice, and want of opportunity of revenge: 
 Sometimes from ambition, and a clofe inten- 
 tion of the mind upon worldly fchemes and 
 projects. When thefe, or any thing of this 
 nature faffens upon the mind, fo as to grow 
 troublefome and uneafy to a man in his retire- 
 ment, then it gets the name of a difeafe, and 
 then it is a ready excufc for fin ; it is at lafl 
 
 indeed 
 
3 1 6 7he neceffity of cruet fymg 
 
 Se R M . indeed a bodily diftemper ; for the continuance 
 XXIX. of any of thefe affedions does operate upon 
 the body till it grows into an habitual infirmi- 
 ty: This again infects the mind, and then in- 
 deed the help of phyfick is neceffary to work 
 the cure. But it is very often laid upon the 
 body, when the diforder is in the mind ; and 
 is in truth a predominance of fome finful paf- 
 lions and afFe(5tions, and a want of thofe evan- 
 gelical graces, which, if rightly improved, 
 would fettle and compofe the mind. 
 
 Now as to another life, howfarunmortified 
 affeftions and lufts will contribute to the mife- 
 ry of the damned, is mipoffible to conceive; 
 but that they will do fo, is more than probable 
 from thofe fad eifeds we fee of them in this 
 life. And I take this to be the very reafon of 
 the precept of crucifying them j becaufe the 
 wifdom of God doth fee, that otherwife they 
 will render us eternally miferable ; for certain- 
 ly damnation and mifery in another world, 
 will follow by a neceffity piore natural and in- 
 evitable, than is generally thought. 
 
 It is obferved, that when the health and vi- 
 gour of the body decays by age or infirmity, 
 all its appetites that have been habitually and 
 immoderately gratified, leave (o deep an im- 
 preffion on the mind, that they remain there 
 to the lad, in full (Irength, and become then 
 more infuperable than when they were in the 
 body. And if the defilement of flefhly lufts, 
 can thus taint the very mind and confcience even 
 in this life, it is more than probable that the 
 
 wretch 
 
our off e^ ions and lu/is. ^'^T 
 
 ^'retch will carry them all to another woildSERw. 
 with him. And what a deplorable condition ^^I^-' 
 of foul muft that be, when he hath no power 
 left for gratifying his apperites to the things of 
 this world, and hath not the leafl inclination 
 or defire for the things of another -, v/hen he 
 hath nothing now to expe<fl, but the time 
 when all the great variety of luftsand pailions 
 in human nature, fhall revive again, and ren- 
 der him fit company for thofe infernal fiends; 
 of whom we can form no conception now, 
 but under the fimilitude of a body racked and 
 diftorted with raging lufts and furious pa ffions. 
 It is no wonder that libertines and fenfaalifls 
 when they come near their end, are obferved 
 to cling to this world, loath to let go their 
 hold ; and catch at every little hope of life, as 
 a drowning man would at a bulrufli ; and fure- 
 ly they mull: have no flight notion of what the 
 torment of infatiab'e lufls and raging paflions 
 in another world muft be, who run the ha- 
 zard of everlcifting burnings, rather than un- 
 dergo the pain and anguifh of denying the 
 gratification of them in this life. 
 
 On the contrary, if we perfift with refolu- 
 tion and conftancy in crucifying thefe affec- 
 tions and lufts, till we get intirely the com- 
 mand of them, it is the mofl glorious con- 
 qiieft in the univerfe. Our whole nature is 
 then put into a pofture and difpofuion for that 
 glorious change at the laft day j for the migh- 
 ty power of God to carry on that improve- 
 mwiit, wrought by the aUiflance of his grace 
 
 in , 
 
'3 13 ^h^ neceffity of crucifying. Sec. 
 
 Se RM. in lis here, to inconceivable degrees of perfec- 
 XXIX. tion. Thisb.ings us to that heavenly temper 
 that will one day render us fitconverfation for 
 thofe celeftial fpirits^ who are in their firfl 
 make framed to love, joy, peace, and all thofe 
 gentler pallions of the mind, which we with 
 fo much pains attain to here below, and will 
 qualify us to be partakers of their blifs. 
 
 When a man hath arrived to this heavenly 
 temper, fo as to be perfedly difengaged f om 
 this world, and his affedlions all bent towards: 
 another; when he is athirft for God, and all 
 -the deiiresand longings of h:s foul are towards 
 him, then he hath laid a foundation for peace. 
 Peace with God ; with all good rrien here ; , 
 wirh faints and angels hereafter ; for eternal 
 eafe and quiet, and everlafting peace in hijn- 
 felf. 
 
 And may with an humble confidence fay 
 with St. Paul, Gal. ii. 20, I am criicificedwithl 
 Cbri/fy fieverthelefs I live j yet not /, but Chrifl 
 Uveth in me : And the life which I now live in 
 tbeflepD, 1 live hy the faith of the Son oj God^ 
 •who loved me, and gave himfelf for me. 
 
 SERM ON 
 
JhQ great necejtty of purityl '315! 
 
 -n 
 
 SERMON XXX. 
 
 The great neceffity of purity. 
 
 James iii. 17. 
 
 ihe wifdom that isjrom above, is firfl pure^ 
 then peaceable, gentle j and eafy to be entreat- 
 edj jull of mercy and good Jruits^ without 
 partiality^ and without hypocrijy. 
 
 Nothing hath done Chriftianlty moreg^^^^j 
 harm, than that humour which hath XXX. 
 more or lefs prevailed in all ages of the church, 
 of refining upon its dodrines, and making 
 them more myflerious and fpiritual than they 
 really are. As far as they are defigned to have 
 an influence upon our lives, nothing can be 
 more plain, and eafy, and intelligible 5 nor 
 better fitted for the encouragement of virtue, 
 and utter fubverfion of all degrees of vice and 
 wickednefs, when they are confidered and urg- 
 ed with that fimplicity they were firft: deliver- 
 ed. But by this means men take off the edge 
 and power of the Gofpel ; they turn it all in- 
 to air and notion j fo that inftead of being a 
 
 rule 
 
3^0"" 7he great necefftty of pur it f. 
 
 SfiRM. rule for life; a light and direction for our 
 XXX. paths, and powerful motive to folid virtue and 
 holinefs, it thus becomes the entertainment of 
 men's fancies, and too often works no efFedls 
 beyond thofe powerful impreffions it leaves on 
 the imaginations (;f men. 
 
 This was the firfl: policy of the Devil again ft 
 Chriftianity, arid the greateft ftratagem that 
 ever he put in pradice to defeat its ends, and 
 make it asufelefs as he could to the great pur- 
 pofe for which it was defigned, the fubverfion 
 cf vice and vvickednefs, and reformation of the 
 world. For no fooner had the Gofpel been 
 preached, and the number of converts were 
 multiplied, and that people were taken with 
 its fimpiicity and agreeablenefs to the natural 
 fenfe of their minds, but there arofe a fort of 
 . people, who turned all its doctrines into vayi- 
 tery, to avoid the practice of its precepts. The 
 Gofpel was too low and mean for them, and but 
 a beggarly element; and therefore they would 
 outdo the ApoRlcs themfelves, and go beyond 
 all mankind in divine knowledge, and myfte- 
 ries, and revelations, infomuch that they were 
 called Gnofticks, from that profoundnefs of 
 knowledge which they arrogated to themfelves. 
 Thus they wrapt up all the clear light of 
 the Gofpel in clouds and obfcurity, that they 
 might work the works cf darknefs; and this 
 they called wifdom, and knowledge, and a 
 degree of revelation out of the reach of any 
 but thofe of their own way. And therefore 
 they pitied and defpifed all thofe who could 
 
 find 
 
7he great ncceffity of purity, 321 
 
 find no way to difpenle with their duty ; and ^eom. 
 wrought out their falv. lion by a fohd intire ^XX. 
 virtue, and a pure and undiiT.mbled holinefs. 
 It is to thefe exahed knowing; men in foiri- 
 tual matters, that St. Jamis here in my text 
 oppofes the wifdom from above. Under pre- 
 tence of knowledge and myftcrv, tr ey had 
 found out a way to evade the dilbhar^ing all 
 neceffary pra(5tical duties, and had incorporat- 
 ed all vitious lafciv-ous praiflices into the very 
 body of tlieir rclieion. And tlierefjre ai the 
 15th verfe of t ms chapter he tells them, tiiis 
 wildom defcendeih not from above, but is 
 earthly, fenfual, and devilifh. Thofe eleva- 
 tions of mind, and pretences to fomething ve- 
 ry great and extraordinary in religion, were 
 not from God, but from the Dt vil. What- 
 ever gave any encouia'^ement to vice and wick- 
 ednefs, and a I arts of reconciling fin with the 
 Chriftian religion, could not be from anv in- 
 fulion of the Spirit of God, but the delufiuns 
 of their tancies, and came fiom Hell, tf ho, 
 fays he, is the wife man^ an. i endued with know- 
 ledge among youf let him (hew out of a g od 
 con erfation his works with m eknefs of wif- 
 dom y i.e. if any man will approve himlelf to 
 be truly wife, let him fliew his wifdom, not 
 in nice and intricate opinions, in pretences to 
 revelations and myfleries, and unaccountable 
 elevations of mind, out of the v\ay or other 
 people i but in the prudent condud: and n.a- 
 nagement of his whole life, and a c n. ant u- 
 niverfal difcharge of thofe virtues and gra- 
 VoL. U. Y ces. 
 
7he great necejjit'^ of puHfy, 
 
 ces which are plain and obvious to every body. 
 And here in the words of my tcxi he pro- 
 ceeds to give a character of the true wifdom 
 from above, or that which proceeds from the 
 holy fpiritof God, as it is diftinguifhtd f om 
 all falfe pretences uhatlbever. The wi/dom 
 that is jrom above ^ isfirlipure^ &c. So that 
 here are fix marks of that truly divine wifdom, 
 and the fir ft of thefe (hall be the lubjed of 
 my prefent difcourfe. 
 
 I. And hrft, the wifdom from above is faid 
 to be pure, aV"*? ; /. e. chafte j or, as anotiier 
 Apoftle exprefieth it, by the cleanfing curfelves 
 from filthinefs both of flefh ai.d fpirit, from 
 all unchafte inclinations of the body, and im- 
 pure defires of the mind j from all immo- 
 defty in outwaid deportment, and from all the 
 defilements of the fancy or imagination. This 
 is the firft property of that truly divine and 
 heavenly wifdom, which St. James here pla- 
 ces in diredl oppofition to that (pecious pretence 
 of elevated fandity and holinefs in thofe firft 
 hereticks, who under colour of a more refined 
 and fpiritual religion, and of more extraordi- 
 nary degrees of knowledge, defpiied the prac- 
 tice of plain folid virtues ; luch as juftice, and 
 temperance, and particularly chaftity ; info- 
 much that their confciences were eafy, and 
 they frequently entertained themfelves with re- 
 ligious tranfports, in the midft of all manner 
 of lafcivious praftices. 
 
 Now though nothing in nature can be more 
 abfurd, and contrary notonly toChriftianity, 
 
 but 
 
I 
 
 Ihe great necejfity of purity. 323 
 
 but to that common fenfe of good and bad, o^ ^/i^!l- 
 vice and wickednefs, which is in every one :aXX. 
 Yet there are not wanting, even at this day,^''^"^ 
 many who lye under this fatal delufion; and 
 think that their devotion and outward piety, 
 their fpiritual vouchfafements, their confident 
 perfuafi.m of their eledion, their frequent re- 
 ligious heals, and the zeal and warmth of their 
 imaginations, (hall out-power the guilt of all 
 their unchaftity and lafcivioufnefs, and fandli- 
 fy thefe worft of vices. It is this which fup- 
 po;ts the efteem of thefe things in the hearts 
 of many, and which puts them upon making 
 it the main bufinefs oiF religion to labour after 
 thefe things inceflantly, even to the utter ne- 
 glc6l of a thorough reformation of all vice, 
 and the pradice of folid virtue. 
 
 I am perfuaded 1 fieak to their confcienccs, 
 and reach the very bottom and firft fpring of 
 all thole fpiritual delufions, when I fay, that 
 which makes them fo intent and eager after 
 things of that nature, is a fecret opinion they 
 have, that they will in a great degree compen- 
 fate the want of aftridldifcharge of thefe mo- 
 ral pradical precepts of Chriftianity. Thus 
 they turn the grace of God into lafcivioufnefs, 
 going on in habitual lewd and vitious pradi- 
 ces, together with a conftant difcharge of all 
 things which carry the appearance of holinefs: 
 Their pangs of confcience, and elevations of 
 mind, *have their due returns, and fucceed 
 each other. So that the zeal of thofe people 
 is a ftrange kind of monftrous compoiition, 
 Y 2 made 
 
^he great necejjlty of purity. 
 
 made up of the heats of luft, and the warmtliS 
 of a religious frenzy : The {a"nt anu devil is 
 united in one perfon, they are now cejedled, 
 and again very full of confidence and afTur- 
 ance, both in very great extreams ; but their 
 imagination commonly gets the better of their 
 judgments, quiets their conlciences, and leaves 
 them eafy at the Liff.. 7 here is a lively dc- 
 fcription of this fo:t of people in the Pioveros, 
 ^here is a generatio?iwho are pure in their own 
 eyes J and yet are not wafhed from their Jilthmejs : 
 And the Apoftle's delcription of them is, that 
 they hold the myftery of faith ^ but not in a pure 
 conjcience. They believe all the articles of 
 fai h, and are very much affcded on allocca- 
 lions with the confideration and mention of 
 them ; but are manifeftlydefedive in that in- 
 tire reformation of life which the Gofpel re- 
 quires. 
 
 The chief caufes and ground of this delufion 
 
 feem to be one or both of the!'e things, either 
 
 I. That opinion fo many have taken up of 
 
 their abfolute election, a dodrine fo diredly 
 
 deftrudive of virtue and goodnefs, that it hath 
 
 fent many a foul tc hell, with a full perfwa- 
 
 fion of their being faved ; btcaufe they did not 
 
 well conlider, that the Gofpel will never fave 
 
 any but thofe that it reforms. So that though 
 
 people were enaued with the gijt oj prophecy , 
 
 and unaer flood all myfterles and all knowledge ; 
 
 though they had adjaith, jo that they could re- 
 
 moie mijuntains ; yet, without a flrid; obferv- 
 
 ance of the precepts of the Gofpel, and of 
 
 thof© 
 
The great neceffity of purity. 325 
 
 thofe of chaflity among the reft, they fhallallSERM. 
 avail them nothing ; as the Apoftle fays in the XXX. 
 cafe of charity, they fliall be -ii^ founding bra fi 
 an I a tinkling cy;nbal\ nothing but an infigni- 
 ficant empty noife, without any thing of the 
 real power and efficacy of religion. 
 
 2. Another too general caufe of thefeground- 
 lefs prefumptions is, their inclinablenefs to lay 
 all their fins, of this nature efpecially, upoa 
 the account f infirmity 3 they look upon the 
 temptations of this kind to be the greateft that 
 are mcideni to human nature, and therefore 
 they hope it is not in their pbwer to conquer 
 them. So that they appeafj the clamours of 
 their confciences with this thought, that their 
 minds are pure, though their bodies are pol- 
 luted J and though they do indeed cf)mmit (in, 
 yet it is with no hearty concurrence of their 
 judgments; \\. \s, i he evil they wow'd not .hat 
 they commit ; and they are the m^ )re confident 
 of their being (ins of unavoidable infirmity, 
 becaufe they ferve God after the inner man, 
 in all other inftances of devotion and piety. 
 But as i" is the mod profound hypocrify, lo 
 this excafe doth but render it more dangerous 
 and incurable; for this very thing, as tiie A- 
 poftle argues in that whole chapter, from 
 whence thfy fetch their comfort ; this very 
 thing, is what will render their fin yet more 
 linful and damnable. For to commit any 
 iins with a full perfwafion of mind that they 
 are fuch, is one of .the greateft ag-ravations 
 in the world 3 they are already acculed by 
 Y 3 tlieir 
 
^he great mcejjity of purity » 
 
 their own confciences j and though they acquit 
 themielves by a vain confidence of their own 
 rehgious performances, yet as St. John fays, 
 God is greater than their confciences^ and will 
 furely condemn them. And it is then only 
 we can have a juft confidence to waids God, 
 when our hearts condemn us not j /. e when 
 we cannot accufe ourlelvesof any unmortified 
 lufls, or wilful fins that we live in. 
 
 The Evangelical precepts of chaftity of 
 body and purity of mind, are indifpenfible ; 
 and God will furely judge all whoremongers 
 and adulterers, whether thefe fandtified and 
 timorous ones, or the more bold and profane; 
 nor fhall any lafcivious perfon enter into the 
 kingdom of God or of Chrift. 
 
 All the devotion and piety in the world, will 
 not atone for the want of any one virtue what^ 
 ever; and particularly that of chaftity. The 
 true life and power, and energy of religion, 
 doth not confill in the outward pomp and fo- 
 lemnity, but in the inward lubftantial change 
 of the heart and mind ; in the renewal of our 
 nature, by a pei fecft ccnquefl over all our finful 
 inclinations; and inftead of them, introdu- 
 cing into our fouls all the virtues of morality, 
 and the divine graces of the Gofpel; among 
 which, this of purity of mind is one. 
 
 Having thus laid open thathypocrifyof men, 
 which it was St. Paul's defign here to expofe ; 
 J ftiall obferve to you a few things concerning 
 the nature and excellency of this moft divine 
 virtue of purity. 
 
 I. And 
 
The great ?ieceffify of purity, 327 
 
 I. And firft, it is the foundation of all o-Serm. 
 ther virtues and graces whatlbever ; and there- XXX. 
 fore the Apoflle fays, the wifUom from above, 
 or that rchgion which is from God is ch^i/le 
 and holy, and allows no degrees of impurity, 
 either of body or mind. He places this qua- 
 lification of it in the front of ail the left, and 
 fays, it i^ fir/t pure, or cha/te, becaufe this is a 
 neceflary difpofition for all goodnefs, and a 
 fruitTul parent of all virtue and holiiicfs ; info- 
 much that without this, it is utterly in vain to 
 endeavour after virtue and goodnefs in any o- 
 ther inftance whatfoever. Let a pcrfon get 
 but this conqueft over himfelf in this, and 
 then all o' her graces and virtues will flew in 
 upon the foul : And it is eafy for one who 
 hath acquired habitual purity of body and 
 mind, to be any thing elfe that is good. When 
 they have obtained this glorious victory, no- 
 thing in religion can be too hard and excellent 
 for them: Nay, I may fiy, it is hard for them 
 not to be good in all other refpedls ; for when 
 this clog is removed that weighs down the foul^ 
 it mounts of its own accord to .vards Heaven, 
 for its original deiires were there : And it is 
 thefenfual pleafures of tliis life that fink it as 
 low as Hell ; and inftead of being invefled 
 with the bright glory of Seraphims, they leave 
 it in endlefs flames, which fhall never ceafe 
 to burn, but never purify its drofs. 
 
 By the attainment of this purity, the moft: 
 inveterate prejudices againfl: religion and vir- 
 tue are removed ; then they have a clear prof- 
 Y 4, pcd 
 
328 T'he great Jteceffity of purity, 
 
 Serm. pe6l of the innate excellency and neceffity of 
 XXX. them; thev make a true judgment of things, 
 a; d can think lighrly, and confider coolly, 
 and give ajufl weight to all the arguments for 
 religion, and motives to virtue ; which they 
 can never do who give way to their lufts and 
 indulge their fenlual appetites: For of all fins 
 thofe of in. purity have the directed tendency 
 to blind the unde.ft.ndings of men, and take 
 away the ule of their reafon, as well as of 
 their paffions in matters of religion. It fpreads 
 a dark cloud ov r lM the faculties of the mind, 
 fo that they neither fee nor confider any thing 
 beyond this world. It utterly deftroys all 
 fenfe of viriue, and leaves no place in the foul 
 for grace or goodnefs; it hardens the heart as 
 if it were ieared with a hot iron ; their very mind 
 and conkience is detiled, as St. Paul fpeaks, fo 
 that they become ca lous and infenfible, and 
 harcily ever to be reftored to their native foft- 
 nefs and temper again. And therefore in an^ 
 other place, fpeakiiig of thofe who gave them- 
 felves over tolafcivioufnefs, he fays, //(?y/j^'U(f 
 their under jland'ings drnkcned^ being quite a- 
 lierated jrom tbe life of God^ becaufe of the 
 hlindnefi of their hearts ; that they are part all 
 feeling, and therefore they work all uncleannefs 
 with gre.dijiefs -, which are fentences fo full 
 andfignificant, to exprefsthe delperate condi- 
 tion of all thole who are given up to this 3 how 
 it waftes the coufciences, embafes their minds, 
 obliter t.s aL ienleof God and goodnefs, and 
 leaves them unaer a fatal netelliiy of damna- 
 tion 3 
 
The great neccffity of purity. 329 
 
 tion ; fo that tlicy feem to be already in theSERM. 
 poiTeirion of the Devil. 1 lay the Apoftleex-XXX- 
 preffeth himfclf (o pofitivcly to this purpofe, 
 that it might well ftrike all thole with 
 horror andcoufufion, who are perlons of the 
 fame ftamp and charadler. 
 
 2. Of all virtues, this of purity gives us the 
 greatcft likcnefs of God. He is a Ipiiir, and 
 therefore the felicities and perfections of the 
 divine nature are all intelled:ual, and farther re- 
 moved from fenfual pieafures than we can ima- 
 gine: And therefoi e it is laid, that they who have 
 any hopes of glory, purif themjches^ eve?i as 
 God is pure. They imitate this purity of God 
 by weaning themfelves from all lenlual piea- 
 fures, and fixing their minds upon the felici- 
 ties of heaven. When the minds of men are 
 purged from thofe grofs and earthly pieafures, 
 then it is that the love of God takes place, 
 and that our bodies become the Temples of the 
 Holy Ghoft ; and by his fecret powerful ope- 
 ration, we are formed in all our faculties to 
 the likenefs of the divine perfections. Where- 
 as the contrary vice, by a natural efficacy, cre- 
 ates in us a hatred of God ; it defaces the i- 
 mage of our Maker in us, and fpreads the 
 likenefs of the Devil over all our faculties, by 
 giving them adifpoiition to all manner of vice, 
 fo that they have not one lincere inclination 
 to goodnelb lefr. But when the beauty of ho- 
 linefs (hall become vifible to all the world, 
 then how fliall we be ravifhcd with the light 
 
 of 
 
The great necejjity of purity, 
 
 of a pure foul transformed into the fimllltude 
 of Chrift, by being weaned from the plea- 
 fures of fenfe j then we (hall fee what are the 
 charms of a chafte mind and a pure foul, 
 which in the midft of even this infirm ftate, 
 breathes out nothing but holy wifhes of future 
 enjoyments, when all the defires of it are to- 
 wards heaven, when the mind is athirft for 
 God, and can fay with greare/t ardency and 
 vehemence, O ! when {hall I come to appear 
 before God, that I may behold his gl>ry, and 
 be made fit for the converfation of thofe un- 
 polluted fpirits, who kept their flation and 
 jiever knew fin ? How different is the flate of 
 thefe men from the condition of thofe who 
 are given up to the gratification of their lufls, 
 who cannot think of God without terror, nor 
 of heaven without defpair, nor of their fins 
 without a fecret dread and fearful expectation 
 of future vengeance ; for alas 1 all thefe gaudy 
 incentives to lufl, mufl firfl be turned into 
 rottennefs and corruption, and then become 
 fuel fo! the infernal flames. 
 
 3. The 3d thing 1 fhall obferve to you 
 concerning the nature of this mofl divine vir- 
 tue of purity is, that it mufl be intire j it ad- 
 mits of no degrees of impurity, and it muft be 
 had to a good perfedion or not at all. We 
 may have a moderate degree of any other 
 grace or virtue, and continue at a fiay with- 
 out any great improvement or decreafe, but 
 there is no mean in chaftity. If there be any 
 way given to impurity it knows no bounds, 
 
 and 
 
The great neceffity of purity. 331 
 
 and when people will indulge it in any degree, Serm, 
 it is furcly no fenfe of confcience, but lomeXXX. 
 temporal regard tliat rellrains them from going 
 fartlier. So that it iseafy to be wholly and in- 
 tiiely chafte, but nothing is more difficult 
 than to be partly fo. In relpcd: of this virtue 
 nien are placed upon a precipice, and one 
 falfe Hep lends them down a deep defcent to 
 the chambers of death, and their fleps go 
 down to hell with that violence, that Lhough 
 it's flan.es are within view, yet they have nei- 
 ther will nor power to draw back, but arc 
 hurried on to eternal death and damnation, 
 with a clear profped: and full convidtion of 
 what they arc coming to. but where people 
 refolve to give no way to this fin, and to be 
 intirely pure, and cut off all the prologues 
 and incentives to luft and debauchery, and to 
 avoid thofe common levities of a mixt and 
 promifcuous converiation, which betray them 
 to the firft degrees of it, no virtue will be- 
 come eaficr and better fecured. 
 
 If people would but carry a firm perfwa- 
 fion in their minds, that all degrees of this fin 
 are unlawful, and withal, that the leaft de- 
 gree of it leaves them in a full difpolition for 
 the greatefl : I fay if this were thoroughly con- 
 fidered, it would be an effedual motive to pu- 
 rity, to all thofe who have any ferious 
 thoughts of falvation left. 
 
 Though of all fins in the world, this leaves peo- 
 ple under thegreatefl difficulties of repentance 
 
 and 
 
^32 '^ke great necejjiiy of purify. 
 
 Serm. andreformation, yet ifthey have not finned away 
 XXX. all d lire of purity and holinefs (for then their 
 condition is defperate) and that they have 
 any fincere purpofe of becoming truly virtuous 
 left, it is certainly in their power to break 
 through all difficulties, until thev arrive at a 
 perfed chaftity. An orderly condud of their 
 lives, and prudent choice of their conve. fa- 
 tion, a regular temperance and diligence in 
 their calling, together with certain returns of 
 prayer to almighty God. I fay, a firm refolu- 
 lion and obflinaie perfeverance in thele things, 
 will overcome the firongefl inclinations in our 
 nature. In this as in all other tempta ions, 
 if we fet our minds to it, and our heart be in 
 the work, we fhall overcome all difficulties; 
 for we cannot exprefs the mighty power of 
 cuftom, and the fecret foice of a habit, in 
 any inffance of virtue and goodnefs whatfoe- 
 ver ; though it work its effects but gradually, 
 yet if it proceed it is irrefiflible ; nothing is 
 too flrong for it, nor is any obflacle able to 
 Hand before it ; it defeats all the powers of 
 hell, and operates until it makes a change 
 in us as great as if we were born again, and 
 ill a Vv^ord, until virtue becomes eafy, and 
 pleafa It, and natural to us. 
 
 4. The laif thing I fhall obferve to you 
 conce ning this continence or purity is, that 
 no virtue whatfoever hath fuch a tendency to 
 give us comfort in the time of age or ficknefs, 
 and in the hour of death. There are two 
 things chiefly which adminifter comfort to a 
 
 perfon 
 
^he great necefftty of purity. 33-5 
 
 perfon in the time of extremity, and when heSERM. 
 is about to depart this world j the one is a XXX. 
 view of his , aft Hfe, and the ocher the in- 
 fluences of the holy Ipirit of God. As to the 
 I ft. A view of his paft life, thofe who in 
 the ti r.e of you'h and health did not get a 
 conqutft o^ er themfelves in this point, and 
 did not reftrain and lubdue their lufttul incli- 
 nations wh^n they were at the ftrongeft, can 
 never be able to judge of the fincerity of their 
 repentance, when they come into a condition 
 of vveaknefs ad inhrmity, for there aie two 
 condicions n celTary to that repentance w])ich 
 is never to be r pen ted of, 10 ro.v and amend- 
 ment. As to their forrow, there is no judging 
 of the finceiity of this, beca^fe every body is 
 forry for their fin, when they can fin no lon- 
 ger; fo that let the fori ow and anguifh of their 
 minds be ever fo great, vet it may be nothng 
 more than what the Gofpel calls the forrow 
 of the wo Id, ti:at worketh death, that is, 
 fuch a forrow as men conceive for any world- 
 ly crofs or diiappoiutment, which doth not at 
 all contribute to mend what is amifs, or re- 
 trieve the lofs, and provide a remedy, but 
 ferves only to vex and dilquiet the mind; fo 
 thfir forrow may be no other than the gnaw- 
 ings of a guilty confcience, and apprehenfions 
 they have of the deplorable condition they 
 have brought themfelves to 3 and they have 
 no way ot judging of the fincerity of it left, 
 fince the other necellary condition, that of 
 
 amend- 
 
334 ^-^^ ^r^^/ neceffity of purify^ 
 
 Se R M . amendment, is then wholly out of their pow- 
 XXX. er. Men in age, and ficknefs, and infimity, 
 may have a trial of mod other virtues and gra- 
 ces in lome degree, but when the fins of luft, 
 and temptations to inipuiity have left them, 
 the mealure of their in iquiy, in this refped:, 
 is filled up ; they have dipt the feafon for this 
 virtue, which will never return again. 
 
 And befides it is very obfervable, how per- 
 fons who in their younger days have given 
 themfelves the loofe, and have indulged their 
 vitious inclinations, do carry them with them 
 to their graves; for as the Apoftle fpeaks, 
 thtir very minds and confciences are corrupt^ 
 ed: what were the appetites of the body, take 
 fuch deep root in the mind, that they remain 
 there v/hen the temptation ceafes in the body, 
 fo that they become the exad: emblem of the 
 Devil, who though he be a fpirit, and there- 
 fore can have no bodily appetites, yet is plea- 
 fed and delighted with them. 
 
 But on the contrary, when a perfon in old 
 age, or on his death bed, looks back upon 
 his fo' mer life, and hath it to fay that he ex- 
 ercifed this virtue in its proper ieafon ; that he 
 brought his body under, and by the grace of 
 God fuppreffed and overcame ihe ftrongefl 
 tendency of human nature to vice and wicked- 
 nefs; and acquired habitual chaflity in the 
 greateft ftrength and vigou.r of life; that then 
 he glorified God in this body ; that he was 
 modeft and leferved in his whole deport- 
 ment 
 
^ht great neceffity of purity. ^3^ 
 
 ment, and that his chafte converfation, Serm. 
 was vifible to God and men. O! what XXX. 
 a foundajon has he laid for comfortable 
 hopes of pardon and acceptance at the hands 
 of God ; what clear evidence this is for the 
 truth and iincerity of his repentance, and 
 how fure is he that lie would do the very 
 lame, if he were to live his life over again. 
 
 2. Another thing which adminifters com- 
 fort to a dying man, is the fecret operation 
 and i fluences of the holy f^jrit oi God : no 
 viitue doth fo fit and prepare the foul for the 
 entetainmentof theHoly Ghoft, which as he 
 afforded help and affiftance for the attainment 
 of this virtue, fo he will apply comfort and re- 
 frelhment to the foul, when it ftands moft 
 in need of it. By purity more efpeci^illy, the 
 body of a man becomes the Temple of the Ho- 
 ly Ghoft, and he delights to dwell there, and 
 where he dwells there muft be peace of con- 
 fcience, and joy, and aflurance, when he 
 lees them necelTary for our fupport and com- 
 fort. 
 
 There are fecret and infenfible ways, hy 
 which the holy fpirit of God doth influence 
 the mind, and convey ftrength and comfort 
 to our fouls : by which I do not mean any 
 fuch vifible effeds as (hew themfelves by vio- 
 lent heats of the imagination, and are exprefl 
 with extravagance of gefture and vehemence 
 of fpeech, and are but often the tranfports of 
 fuch as live in fin, and die in raptures ; for 
 
 when 
 
33^ ihc great necejjity of purify. 
 
 Serm. when hypocrites through the courfe of theif 
 XXX. lives have got a cuftom of difTe nbling with 
 ^^''~'~' themfelves and all the world befides, it isjufl 
 in God to give them up to llro'.g delnfions, 
 that at the approach ot death they fhould be- 
 lieve a lie. 
 
 But the effeds of the fpirit are fuch, as ne- 
 ver will deceive any ; it gives fuch a peace of 
 conlcience, ajoy in the Holy Ghoft, as creates 
 a calmnefs all within -, it is the flill voice of 
 God that whilpers falvation, and gives us fuch 
 an affarance as is full of humility j fuch de- 
 iires of the prefence of G d, and the glo ies 
 of heaven, as are ri:J,htly tempered with fear 
 and reverence ; and fuch a full uufl: in the me- 
 rit and mediation of Chrifl, as is accompanied 
 with a modeft diftruft of ourfelves and our 
 own perfo.mances; and upon the whole mat- 
 ter, fuch a degree of hope, as fufF.rs us never to 
 let go our hold and confidence, but wafts us 
 fafe over into the manfions of the blefl ; 
 though our heads are giddy with fcruples and 
 defpondencies by the way 5 where thofe fparks 
 of light and uncertain dawnings of glory 
 which are here afforded in the midft of clouds 
 and darknefs, fliall clear up into a peifecftday, 
 and leave us in the full fruition of an eternal 
 weight of glory. 
 
 This bleffed degree of hope and comfort in 
 the hour of death, is the natural refult of this 
 moft divine virtue ; whereas on the contrary, 
 no fin like that of impurity empties the foul 
 of grace, and fo totally cuts off all communi- 
 cations 
 
^he great neccffity of purify. 33;^ 
 
 cations of the fpirit of God: the body andSERw.' 
 mind are become foul and odious, and a fit- XXX- 
 ter habitation for the unclean fpirits of dark- 
 nefs, than for the Holy Ghofl to dwell in j fo 
 that nothing fets men at a greater diftance 
 from God, in whofe prefence alone there is 
 fullnefs of joy : and therefore when men are 
 utterly deprived of all the emanations of his 
 fpirit, and totally feparated and cut off from 
 him for ever, if they have not finned paft 
 feeling, if they can confider and refled:, and 
 have any thought at all left, there can be no- 
 thing but fright and aftonifhmentj for when 
 once they are wholly forfaken by the fpirit of 
 God, and that he is quite gone away, then 
 all the terrors of hell rufh in upon their fouls. 
 
 It is a dreadful thing for the mind of man 
 not to know which way to turn itfelf in the 
 midfi; of pain and weaknefs, and in the ago- 
 nies of death, nor where to apply itfelf for 
 help and comfort; there is no help from God^ 
 nor can we have it any where elfe. And 
 therefore after the refl:lefs foul hath furveyed 
 Heaven and earth, and left no place unfearch- 
 ed, it is forced to retire at laft, that it might 
 give itfelf up to horror and amazement, and 
 acquiefce in mifery, without any expectation 
 of relief, or the leaft: profpeft of ever being 
 otherwife. 
 
 O ! there is no defcribing it ! nor is it poffi- 
 ble to imagine what it is to want the com- 
 forts of the fpirit in the time of extremity; 
 until they come to feel it, they cannot be fen- 
 
 VoL. II. Z fiblc 
 
338 ^he great necejjity of purltf, 
 
 Serm. fible what it is for a man to look up to God, 
 
 XXX. but in vain ; to cry for fome help and com- 
 
 V'^"*-^ fort, and yet to have no anfwer 3 to be allured 
 
 that there is no help but from God, and yet 
 
 to defpair of it there ; and to beg for mercy 
 
 and pardon, and yet find no room for it. 
 
 This is what all are coming to, that give 
 way to their fins of impurity and lafciviouf- 
 nefs. And therefore I have now no more to 
 do at prefent, but to exhort you, that no one 
 perfon here may go out now from the pre- 
 fence of that God of purity and perfed holi- 
 nefs, without a thorough conviction of the 
 great excellence and necefiity of this virtue of 
 purity, and of the ftupifying, damning na- 
 ture, of the contrary vices, that you may be 
 prevailed upon to exercife this virtue' in its 
 proper feafon, and acquire it while it is to be 
 had. 
 
 By this means you will provide folid com- 
 fort for the time of age and weaknefs, and 
 fecure the confolations of the fpirit in the hour 
 of death. You will render yourfelves amiable 
 and lovely in the fight of God, that imma- 
 culate being and eternal fountain of purity 
 i and holinefs, and you will become fit com- 
 
 panions for thofe glorious and fpotlefs fpirits 
 which furround his throne, and for thofe 
 blefiTcd Saints who have done the fame before 
 you, and who becaufe they kept themfelves 
 undefiled, are now faid to follow the Lamby 
 whither foe'ver he goes. 
 
 Let 
 
^he great necejfity of purity. 339 
 
 Let us follow their example, by denying Serm. 
 ungodlinefs and worldly lufts, looking for that^^^' 
 blejjed hope, and the glorious appearing of the *-"^"'^ 
 great God, and our Saviour Jefus Chrifi, who 
 gave himjelf for us, that he might redeem us 
 from all iniquity, arid purify to himfelf a pecu- 
 liar people zealous of good works. 
 
 Z 2 SERMON 
 
He divffie eloquence of our Saviour conjidered. 
 
 SERMON XXXI. 
 
 The divine eloquence of our Saviour 
 confidered. 
 
 John vii. 46. 
 
 ^he ojicers anjwered^ never man fpake like 
 this man. 
 
 WHl-^N the chief Priefis and Pharifees, 
 the mofl inveterate enemies of our 
 Saviour, faw that his divine difcourfes met 
 withfuccels among the people, they began to 
 be apprehenfive what might be theconfequence; 
 for majty belie'ved on him ; infomuch, that the 
 multitude was already divided, and they had 
 reafon to fear, as they did, that the world might 
 go ajter him -, and fince they had no other 
 way of confuting him but by force, they fent 
 foldiers to apprehend him ; who when they 
 came, and heard thofe excellent difcourfes he 
 made to the people at the feaft, they returned 
 without executing their commands ; and made 
 no other excufe for tliemklves but that in the 
 words of this text, that ?iever jnan /pake like 
 this man. 'i hey did not fay for themlelves 
 
 that 
 
^he divine eloquence of our Saviour conjidered. 341 
 
 that they could not find an opportunity, or Serm. 
 
 that they feared the muhitude, which they XXXI. 
 
 might have done, as the cafe Hood, with great 
 
 fliew of probability ; but they freely and in^ 
 
 genuoufly confefled the truth, that though they 
 
 went with command and firm refolution to feize 
 
 him, yet there were fuch charms and con vidlion 
 
 in all he faid, that he fent them away with a 
 
 full perfwafion that he was an excellent pcrlbn. 
 
 He fpolce fo well in his own defence, and rea- 
 
 foned fo clearly concerning things, out of the 
 
 reach of the common underftanding of men 
 
 before, that they were even amazed to hear, 
 
 and had neither heart nor power left to lay 
 
 hands upon him. 
 
 I fliall not ftay to draw a comparifon be- 
 tween thofe great names for oratory among 
 the heathen, and the divine eloquence of our 
 blefi^ed Saviour ; I fhall only obferve in fiiort, 
 that they adapted themfelves and all they faid 
 to men's lufts and paflions ; to their corrupt 
 appetites and inclinations, and took all advan- 
 tages of their ignorance, and prejudice, and 
 credulity ; whereas our Saviour laid all that ^- 
 fide, and applied himfelf only to the pureft 
 re^ffon of men, and their beft and moft regu- 
 lar inclinations ; having no end but one, name- 
 ly, to lay a firm foundation for holinefs ; they 
 perfwaded by foothing and cherifhing the im- 
 perfections of nature ; his difcourles tended on- 
 ly to heal and redify them, they moved with 
 fenfible reprefentations only, he infifted on 
 things fpiritual and infenfible ; their great 
 Z 3 topicks 
 
3 42 ^he divine eloquence of our Saviour con/idered. 
 
 Serm. topicks were riches, and honours, and plea- 
 XXXI. fures, and eafe and fplendor; his rhetorick 
 was croiTes and misfortunes, afflidlions and 
 miferies, torments and death j infomuch, that 
 he preached what was altogether new to the 
 world, that they were bleffed that mourn 5 
 and that through much tribulation men muft en- 
 ter into the kingdom of Heaven j they ufed all 
 the methods of delufion and fallacy, thofe 
 ijoordi of men* s wijdom ; he overcame only by 
 undilguifed and naked truth. By this fhort 
 comparifon, we fee how little thofe mighty 
 ftandards of heathen eloquence begin to appear 
 already 5 for in truth their oratory was but one 
 great art of deceiving. How very different 
 from this is that of our Saviour, who never 
 fpoke but that men might become more wife, 
 and virtuous and holy ? It is no ftrange thing 
 that a great father of the primitive church 
 made it the firft of his three wifhes, to have fee n 
 cur Saviour in thejiefh : But it may juftly 
 raife our admiration, that thefecond (hould be 
 the hearing St. Paul preach ; for v/ho was 
 more like to have gratified his curiofity, and 
 filled his expedations, than he who was the 
 very m}ord of God, as he was the moft ex- 
 cellent perfon that ever was, fo he was the 
 greateft orator. The tongues of men and an- 
 gels are not able to defcribe this divine elo^ 
 quence, according to the worth and dignity of 
 it. But fince he is our great Lord and Ma- 
 iler whom we muft follow, though at fuch an 
 jOimenfc diftance behind 5 apd a guide that 
 
 w^ 
 
rhe divine eloquence of our Saviour confidered. 343 
 we muft ever keep in fight, though we canSERM 
 never overtake him ; and that we of the der- XAAI. 
 gy are to imitate him in a double fenfe, as well 
 in his manner of teaching, as in the pradice 
 of holinefs ; I ftiall enter upon the confidera- 
 tion of this divine eloquence of our baviour ; 
 that through the affiftance of that fpirit that 
 was on him without meafure, among the o- 
 therperfeaions of his mod holy life, we may 
 in fome degree copy after him m this, which 
 is the great privilege and glory of our order. 
 And in doing this, Ifhall 
 
 I. Confider the m.atter and fubftance ot what 
 hefpoke, and the ftile he uled. 
 
 II I (hall confider fome of thofe advanta- 
 ges our bleffed Saviour had, beyond all others, 
 to fpake as never man Jpake ; and how far he 
 is imitable by us in thofe inftances. 
 
 I And firft, as to the matter and fubltance 
 of his fpeech, it excelled all others in thefe 
 three refpeds. 
 
 I. That it was of things beyond the reach 
 of men to conceive, thofe myfteries of Chrif- 
 tianity which lay hid from the foundation ot 
 the world, and which it was impoflible tor the 
 utmoft ftrength ofreafon todifcover anything 
 of And indeed who could reveal the fecret will 
 and mind of God, befideshim whocamedovvn 
 from God ? Who but he that was the eternal 
 wifdom of the Father, could Qiew men that 
 there was a fatisfadion to be made to the jufticc 
 of God for the fins of men ? That God incar- 
 nate was to lay dmn his lije a ranfom for ma- 
 
 Z 4 • ''•>*•* 
 
344 ^^^ divine eloquence of our Saviour conjlderid^ 
 SERM.«y: and that through his blood, repenting 
 XXXI. finners were to be made clean ? The whole 
 world had been ufed to offer facrifices, in or-r 
 der to appeafe their Deities j but he alone could 
 difcovertous, ihdii the blood of bulk and oj goats 
 could not take away fin \ and therefore, that what 
 efRcacy there was m them, was only, as they 
 had a refpccft to that one great facrifice, which 
 alone could be a fufficient atonement for them. 
 Who befides could teach men, that a fuper- 
 jiatural affiflance was neceffary to think rightly 
 in religious matters, to help us to form true 
 notions of God and ourlelves j and that we 
 could never overcome our evil inclinations, and 
 raife our minds to virtue and holinefs, by mere 
 flrength of nature ? He alone could teach how 
 the loft condition of mankind was to be re- 
 ilored ; how our (hattered and diftempered na- 
 ture was to be healed ; and by what methods 
 we are again to be reinftated in the favour of 
 God } how we are to recover the divine image 
 we loft in our fall, and again become perfed:, 
 as cur Father which is in Heaven is perfcB, 
 
 He alone could teach us the dodtrine of the 
 Trinity ; that we are to be baptized in the 
 Ziame of the Father ^ and of the Son^ and of- 
 the Hcly Ghoft ; that God is a Spirit ^ andmufl 
 be nzorfloipped infpirit and in truth j that the 
 inward reditude of our minds is neceffary to 
 pleafe him who is the fearchcr of heart s^ and 
 that he values no outward obfervances without 
 it 3 that he will haie mercy, and not facrifice ; 
 
 and 
 
Ti&tf divine eloquence of our Saviour co?ifidered. 345 
 
 ^nd that faith and repentance are tlie only con-SEKM. 
 oition of remiflion of tins and lalvation. XXXI* 
 
 Which of the Philofophers ever taught, 
 that the happinefs of Heaven is to be obtained 
 by forrow and lamentation ; that they are bleff- 
 ed who mourn, for they Jhall be comforted ? 
 Which of them in all their laboured fyftems 
 of morals ever equalled this, lf'hatfoe\:er yc 
 wouLtthat men JJjould do unto you ^ do ye alfo un- 
 to them-y and for which the Roman Emperor 
 railed to him a flatue, and placed him among 
 the number of the Gods? Or where (hall we 
 find any thing like that other faying j What 
 (ha Hit profit a man if he gain the whole world, 
 and lofe his owJi Joul? And what fJjall a man 
 give in exchange for his foul? He only was 
 able to Ipeak it who brought life an i immorta- 
 lity to I ghty and could fay to the thief on the 
 crofs, This day fJjalt thou be with me in Para- 
 dife; thereby difcovering to us the happinefs 
 of a pious foul in the ftate of feparation. 
 
 He was the firft that ever fpoke plainly of 
 the refurredtion of the body ; and confuted the 
 Sadducees, by (hewing them, how God was 
 7iot the God of the dead, but of the living. No 
 one before him ever fo much as mentioned a 
 general judgment of all the world at once : He 
 doth not only do this, but he defcribes the 
 very manner of it fo particularly, that we (hall 
 fcarce know more of it when we fee it : That 
 before him fhall be gathered all nations , that the 
 angels fhall fepar ate the good from the bad \ that 
 fentence jhall be pronounced on the wicked :■ That 
 
 tbefe 
 
346 T^he divine eloquence of our Saviour confidered, 
 
 Serm. thefejhall go away into everlajling punifhmentj 
 'X^'Kl.alakeofJire; but the righteous into life e- 
 ternaL 
 
 He only hath dlfcovered to us, that the hap- 
 pinefs of another life is not fenfual ; that we 
 fhall not fublift then after the grofs manner we 
 do here, but that we fliall be as the Angels in 
 Heaven. 
 
 Thefe, and fuch like wonderful things of 
 God, were the fubjedls of his difcourfe 5 truths 
 of fo exalted a nature, that his hearers could 
 not but be amazed and delighted with them: 
 And what he thus plainly and with authority 
 declared, none had ever before given the leall 
 intimation of. And, good God, what mon- 
 ftrous and abfurd fancies did the wife men of 
 the heathen world amufe and cheat mankind 
 with, inftead of thefe truths of God! They 
 fubftituted fuch wild notions and extravagant 
 dreams, inftead of them, that we cannot 
 fufiiciently wonder at the times of that pro- 
 found ignorance and delufion. 
 
 2. He always fpoke of thefe things which 
 were of the greateft concern and importance 
 to mankind. Thofe who were moft noted for 
 eloquence, employed it generally for a party 
 or faction, or to ferve their own or lome other 
 perfon's private intereft ; but his difcourfe was 
 ever of things of univerfal confequence to all 
 degrees of men in every age : What he fpoke 
 was not in order to thofe little ends which 
 mankind bufy themfelves fo much about. 
 l^ed qua adunum ijittd neceffarium promoven- 
 
 dum 
 
^he divine eloquence of our Saviour conjidered, 347 
 
 duni jpeBant ; namely, the eternal well-beingSE r m. 
 of foul and body in another Hfe: Not to put^XXl. 
 men in the way of getting riches and honours,* ' 
 
 but to teach them to be contented unth food and 
 raiment ■. and that if they feek jirfi the ktjig- 
 dom of Gg^j and his righteoufnefs^ all o:her 
 things that are necelTary /Ijall be added unto 
 them. This was the great fcope and defign of 
 all his difccurfes, and he never fpoke any thing 
 but what had a tendency that way. His doc- 
 trine was not like that of the Scribes and Pha- 
 rifees, empty and cold, trifling about tything, 
 mint, and cummin, wafhing of pots, and 
 {hapingof philaderies; but about the weightier 
 matters of the law, fuch as made men fubflan- 
 tiallygood, reformed their minds, made them 
 acceptable to God, and ufeful to men. They 
 Ipent ail their labour and pains in the very let- 
 ter of the law, negleding the plain fignifica- 
 tion of the words j but he explained and en- 
 forced that holinefs and perfedion of virtue 
 which was fignified by it. 
 
 The lubftance of his difcourfe was won- 
 derful in this, that the things he treated of 
 were all very agreeable to the heft reafon of 
 men, and fuitable to thole fentiments that are 
 natural to all men, thou^^h the things were be- 
 yond their reach to find out, ail divine and 
 fpiritual j yet there is a wonderful condefcen- 
 fion in all he faid to the frailty of human un- 
 derflanding : he did not only difcover what 
 could not have entered into the heart of man 
 to conceive, but made them plain and cafy to 
 
 every 
 
3 4^ ^h^ divine eloquence of our Saviour conjiderea. 
 
 Se RM. every capacity, fo that the true will of God is 
 XXXI. not now in Heaven, that we fhould fay, who 
 ^Jhall go up for us to Heaven and bring it unto 
 uSy that we may hear and do it, for the word 
 is nigh unto us in our mouths and in our hearts ^ 
 life a?ia good^ death and evil are fet before eve- 
 ry man J infomuch that the meanefl capacity, 
 and the mod: illiterate perfon, knows more of 
 thofe truths of God that are the great concern- 
 ment of all mankind, than all the Philofo^ 
 phers of the heathen world did. 
 
 The Scribes and Pharifees bufied themfelves 
 in long and perplexed genealogies, and in 
 finding out ftrange myfteries in theverv letter 
 of the law, where they never were defigned j 
 in reviving obfcure traditions, and in dark 
 ^enigmatical commentaries upon the text of 
 Mofes. And it was the cuftom of the hea- 
 thens to wrap up all their knowledge, whe- 
 ther in nature or morality, in hieroglyphicks, 
 in dark allufions and fimilitudes, in knotty 
 fayings, and odd far-fetched inferences, and 
 in all things they faid, it feemed as if they 
 took a pride in not being underftood. 
 
 With what ftrange notion did Plato amufe the 
 world with, concerning his anima mundi, and 
 fivefold fubordination of worlds, de primo unOy 
 ^ de circumvolutione omnium rerum circa deum^ 
 et in rebus quce ad mores fpedlant qualia tradit 
 aut potius Jlmniatur communi hominum intelUC' 
 tui prorfus aliena, De reminijcentia^ de pulchro 
 & bono^ ds K«*o, 5'«ifAQH(z et Et;^«j(Aowa. Somc 
 
 few 
 
T^he divine eloquence of our Saviour confidered. 349 
 
 few Philofophers may apprehend what heScRvf. 
 means, and hardly thefe, but of what ufe are XXXI. 
 thefe things to the whole race of men ? And 
 much lefs can they apprehend what Pytha- 
 goras means by his dod:rine of numbers, by 
 his odd number which he makes finite, and 
 his even which he makes infinite, and the 
 long feries of philofophy he draws out of 
 thele, all mere cobwebs Ipun out of his own 
 bowels, without any foundation in the truth 
 of things: what odd and extravagant things 
 has he taught concerning the tranfmigration of 
 fouls, and our affinity to beafts? And how did 
 he lake care by fymbols that no body {hould 
 underftand what he thought every one ought 
 to pracStife? 
 
 And thus mofl of the Philofophers rendered 
 obfcure what was in itfelf eafy, as if they had 
 a mind to cover the plaineft things from the 
 knowledge of others. But how much then 
 to be admired is he, who though he knew all 
 things, yet made no oftentation cf his learn- 
 ing or knowledge ? Though he revealed thofe 
 heavenly myfteries which none of themhad 
 the leaft glympfe of, yet he made them fo 
 plain and eafy, that none could be ignorant 
 of the truth of them ^ fo that all men might 
 fo fir become divine Philofophers, as to un- 
 derftand what fliould promote their welfare 
 he e, and piocure them immortal happinefs 
 hereafter : an.l though he fpoke often in pa- 
 rables, yet they were plain to all who were 
 not wilfully blind, and luch only he delign- 
 
 cd 
 
I'he dhine eloquence of our Saviour confidereL 
 
 ed (hould not fee, and therefore it was that he 
 ufed them, that jeeing they might not fee, and 
 that hearing they might not iinderftand. 
 
 From whence we may fee the error of thole 
 perfons, who are at great pains in rendering 
 thefe principles of chriftianity dark and ob- 
 fcure, which he hath delivered fo plainly: he 
 avoided all unneceffary niceties and abflrad:i- 
 ons, which ferved only to puzzle cur under- 
 llandings, but not to influence our lives > it 
 had been happy for the church of Chrift if all 
 the preachers of the Gofpel had laboured to 
 imitate their great Lord and Mafter in this re- 
 fpe(!^i but inftead of recommending and en- 
 forcing the dodtrines of the Gofpel with that 
 plain nefs and limplicity he delivered them,how 
 have fome fpent all their lives in propagating 
 empty and fruitlefs notions, and in raifing 
 difficulties that are not, on this fide the grave 
 at leaft, to be folved ; and what a ftir has been 
 kept about trifles? How manv queftions have 
 been propofed to be difcufTed in publick 
 which are impious and prophane? And what a 
 flrange cultom has prevailed of late, of min- 
 gling vain philofophy with our divinity, of 
 folving all the methods of our redemption 
 as well as of the creation by hypothefis, as if 
 what Chrift hath delivered us concerning this 
 matter were not learned enough, and as if they 
 were too mean for fcholars, wherein I will 
 be bold to fay, that mofl of that which now is 
 called learning, is but the dreams and fancies 
 of men who let go the fubitance of religion, 
 
 and 
 
IJje divine eloquence of our Saviour conjidered. 351 
 
 and catch at a fhadow? — And that the know-SERM. 
 ledge of Chrift, and him crucified is the no- XXXI. 
 bleft, as well as the moft interefting and im- 
 portant exercife of our underftandings and af- 
 fections. 
 
 Having now in fome meafure confidered 
 the fum and fubftance of what our Saviour 
 fpoke, 1 {hall make a few obfervations on the 
 flyle he ufed. 
 
 I ft. And the ift is, that it was natural, his 
 expreffion was plain and eafy, his words were 
 fuch as were generally underftood, and com- 
 mon in the converfation of the world, his li- 
 militudes and illuftrations were taken from 
 the moft obvious things in nature, as from feed 
 fown in the ground, a grain of muftard feed, 
 a net, a husbandman, or from the known 
 cuftoms of the world, as that of an unjuft 
 fteward, and the parable of the ten virgins, 
 and many fuch like ; he did not make ule of 
 any terms of particular arts and fdences, bc- 
 caufe the Gofpel was defigned for the illite- 
 rate as well as for the learned, and that our 
 Jaith Jhould not fland ill the wifdom oj men^ but 
 in the power of God. 
 
 This plainnefs and perfpicuity is vifible 
 through the whole courfe of his preaching and 
 converfation, and this was one thing that made 
 the generality of the people admire his dif 
 courfes, becaufe he made every thing he fpoke 
 fo plain and fo eafy j he did not fpake in the 
 language of a kCt or party, but after fuch a 
 
 manner 
 
352 ^he divine eloquence of our Saviour confidered, 
 
 Serm. manner as was common and ufual, fo as to 
 XXXI. make what he faid equally intelhgible to all 
 'forts of people. 
 
 Now in this the preachers of his Gofpel 
 fhould clcfely and induftrioufly follow him, 
 and the negleft of this may well be counted as 
 one of the reafons, why preaching is general- 
 ly attended with fo little fuccefs. And there 
 are two extreams which many run into, and 
 thereby avoid the right path which has been 
 marked out for us. 
 
 One is that of mean and fordid expreflion, 
 which is the general ftyle of people who have 
 fallen into any degree of enthufiafm, they 
 having neither learning nor infpiration, but by 
 the help of fpiritual pride and a warm ima- 
 gination, or a heated fancy, they acquire a 
 cuflom of heaping together a parcel of godly 
 words and fentences, with numberlefs repeti- 
 tions of God and Chrifl, caUing eledlion, 
 reprobation i faith, regeneration ; falvation, 
 damnation j and other words of godly, impor- 
 tant, and terrible found, without any con- 
 nexion, or reafonable, uleful application or 
 purpofe J thus taking God's holy name in 
 vain, prophaning his truths, and fo terrifying 
 fome, and deceiving others, but never make 
 any fober and fteady profelytes to the dodtrine 
 of the Gofpel; and then that they may ap- 
 pear to have greater intimacy with Heaven, 
 and familiarity with God, they are apt to ufe 
 many odious and indecent comparifons, bold 
 and trifling expreffions, fometimes even to 
 
 prophanenefs 
 
The divine eloquence of our Saviour conjidered. 353 
 
 prophanenefs and blafphemy, and this they*^ERM. 
 call infpiration, and Ipeaking by the fpirit, XXXT. 
 which is the refult of the greateft fl)lly and ig- 
 norance, and a mere mockery of God and re- 
 ligion. 
 
 But 2dly, the other extreme, though it is 
 not fo bad, yet it is almoft as ufclefs, and that 
 is when preachers neglecting the fubftance of 
 what they are to fpeak, and the conditions of 
 the people they are to fpeak to, they employ 
 the llrength of their mind in finding out wit- 
 ty allufions, in adorning their difcourfes with 
 all the gaudy figures of rhetoric, and delight 
 in round periods, or quaint fentences, and la* 
 hour to befurprizing in every thing they fay. 
 
 This is the common fault of young begin- 
 ners, who coming newly from the exercifes 
 of the fchools, imitate the fame flrain in divine 
 things, which they ufed to admire in prophane, 
 and where they are not made fenfible of their 
 error in time, it diffipates and breaks the 
 ilrength of their minds, and they contracft 
 fiich a habit of turning every thing that way, 
 that they carry on the humour to the laft, and 
 fo continue to talk like boys when they are 
 grey. 
 
 But we mufl: remember that we are to 
 preach and not to declaim, and that the my- 
 fteriesof the Gofpel and precept of Chriftia- 
 nity, ftiould be treated on and enforced, in a 
 ftyle like to that in which they were deliver- 
 ed; they are deprived of their force, by being 
 thus difguifed, and lofeall their reverence in 
 Vol. IL A a fuch 
 
354 ^^^^ divine eloquence of our Saviour con/idered, ' 
 
 Serm. fuch a light and gaudy garb. The word of 
 XXXI. God is of itfelf quick and powerful, and {harp 
 ' ' as a two edged fword, but this method of 
 
 preaching it, takes off all its edge, and pre- 
 vents its power and efficacy. St. Paul who 
 was well inftrudted in all the eloquence of his 
 time, yet fays, that his fpeech and his prefence 
 was not with the e?2ticing words of maris isoij- 
 doniy but in demonliration of the fpirit and of 
 power. It is true, divine things fhould be 
 handled with as exaft politenefs of language 
 and ftyle, as any worldly matters, and it re- 
 quires as muchjudgment to fpeak in the Church 
 as in the Court, but this does not confift in a 
 great variety of metaphors and figures of rhe- 
 torick, but in the purity, and plainnefs, and 
 fignificancy of our expreffion : that is not true 
 eloquence which dazzles, but that which 
 gives a ufeful light, and well pioportianed to 
 the eye? of men's underftandingj that is ever 
 the beft expreffion which is moft natural, and 
 which comes neareft to that ufed in common 
 converfation : our words are but the pi(5tures 
 of our thoughts, and as that is always the beft 
 pidlure which moft exadly reprefents the 
 truth of the thing, and not that which is 
 painted in gaudy colours, fo that expreffion is 
 beft, which gives the beft and the moft lively 
 ideas of things as they are in themfelves. 
 
 It is no eafy thing to make our expreffions 
 full and proper and fignificant; to make them 
 eafy and intelligible, and the whole feries of 
 our difcourfe clean and pure, not to wander in 
 
 genera- 
 
'^he divine eloquence of our Saviour confide red. 35^ 
 
 generalities, but to reprefent all our notlonsSERM. 
 clearly and diftindtly, fo as to have a fixed XXXI. 
 and determinate fenle in all we lay, that all 
 our meaning may be as clear as the light, fo 
 that other people fliall eafily apprehend us ; 
 fo to adapt bur expreflion to the nature of the 
 things, .that it keep pace with them, and rife 
 and fall together with the fubjedt. 
 
 Thcfe are the properties of a trtie fiyle, 
 and the fhortefl way to attain them all, is ever 
 to be attentive to the matter we treat of, 
 without being over follicitous about our 
 words } let us take care to think well and 
 diftindly, and the expreflion will generally 
 firft offer itfelF which is mod fuitable to the 
 nature of the thing, and we (hall find that 
 few of our thoughts are abortive in the expref- 
 iion but what were imperfect in the concep- 
 tion J if we obferve this, our judgment will 
 improve^ and our ftyle will become more po- 
 lifhed every day ; but if we apply our 
 thoughts chiefly to the choice of words and 
 fentences, our judgments will by degrees be 
 corrupted and impaired, and all our difcour- 
 fes turned into froth and levity. 
 
 2. Another thing obfervable in our Sa-* 
 viour's flyle is, that it is ftridly rational, and 
 often clofely argumerftative, though the infe- 
 rences are fometimes obfcure to us, from the 
 cudom of the eaflern nations, who fpoke the 
 fubftance of the premifes, and left the appli- 
 cation to be made by the hearers. And there 
 A a 2 are 
 
3 c6 ^he div'me eloquence of cur Saviour conjidered, 
 
 Ser M. are very few things pathetical in any of his dif- 
 XXXI. courfe; plain reafon, and inftrudion, and 
 propagating the truth was what he aimed at, 
 and he did not endeavour fo much to move 
 men's afFedions as to inform their underftand- 
 ings, and this was alfo what his Apoftles had 
 chiefly in view in their writings. 
 
 Now from hence we may fee plainly, how 
 much both the preachers and people have been 
 miftaken, who are apt to value every thing 
 they hear or fpeak, only as it is more or lefs 
 pathetick. But certainly, that eloquence 
 which works upon the underftanding, is 
 more valuable than that which only moves the 
 affedions. There is no fuch triumph as a 
 convided mind, this receives a lafting impref^ 
 fion: the reafon of man is fixed and fleady, 
 and always the fame, and does not eafily 
 change ; but all our paflions are fleeting and 
 tranfient, they ebb and flow, and are then 
 apteft to vanifli when they are at the greateft 
 height J and therefore, though we may move 
 men's aflPedions ftrongly, yet we may have 
 but little influence upon their wills j the only 
 way to do this eflfedually, is to make our way 
 to it through the reafon of men, and if we 
 prevail on that, we need not be concerned a- 
 bout putting their paflions into a tumult, for 
 this often makes people think themfelves very 
 pious and holy when they are very wicked, 
 and who are always very religious when their, 
 afi^edions are warmed, and yet are very prone 
 to commit fm in cold blood. 
 
 Certainly 
 
^be divine eloquence of our Saviour conjidered. 3 57 
 
 Cerainly this very mi flake has done much Serm. 
 harm in the world: 1 allow that we (hould try to XXXT. 
 fway the wills of men, by working on their paf- 
 fions as well as their reafon, but then we mufl: 
 always begin with this latter, and when the 
 underftanding is fully informed, then we are 
 to endeavour to flir the affedtions. 
 
 Nothing is more vain and foolifh, than to 
 ftrive as fome men do, to be all pathetical, 
 and who feem to expedt to raife the minds of 
 their hearers with their very firft paragraph ; 
 but in this they muft be difappointed, for 
 you never move them lefs than when you 
 openly appear moft relolved to do foj but 
 when a good foundation has been laid by con- 
 vincing their underftanding, then indeed you 
 may hope to engage their paffions and affec- 
 tions in the caufe ; but ilill this is to be at- 
 tempted gradually, and when we have in 
 fome meafure fucceeded in it, when we have 
 wrought them up to a good pitch, it will then 
 be prudent, not to continue our endeavour too 
 long, but leave off in time, and give them in- 
 termifTion, for the nature of men's afFed:ions 
 requires it, and which will not bear to be 
 ilrained too high. 
 
 II. I come now in the 2d place to confider 
 
 fome of thofe advantages our blefled Saviour 
 
 had beyond all others, to /pake as never man 
 
 /pake ; and how far he is imitable by us, in 
 
 thofe inftances. And accordingly, 
 
 I. The firfl great advantage our bleffcd Sa- 
 
 ▼iour had towards fpeaking, was that autho- 
 
 Aa 3 rity 
 
^ 5B T^he divine ekquence of cur Saviour confidere^^ 
 
 Se R M. rity with which he fpoke j this was fo pecu- 
 XXXI. har to his difcourfes, and fo remarkable in 
 his wiiole manner of teaching, that after his 
 fermon in the mount, St. Mathew fays the 
 people were ajlonipjed at his doBrine, «te7rxuWo»Tc( 
 they were flruck with amazement for he 
 taught them as one having authority^ and not 
 as the Scribes ; by which we are to underfland 
 thefe two things. 
 
 Firft, that he fpoke immediately from him- 
 felf, and not by commiflion only fromano^ 
 ther, not from»former writings and tradition, 
 but from an inherent power of prefcribing and 
 making new laws. The Scribes and Pharifees 
 fpoke altogether lom tradition, and the writ-^ 
 ten Uw of Aiofes j the moft they could pre- 
 tend to was to explain and confirm all they 
 faid with great names and authorities ; Chrift 
 fpqke like a lawgiver and not an interpreter, 
 the flyle of the Pharifees was ye have heard 
 that it hath been faid of old. His form of 
 fpeech was, But I fay unto you. He was the 
 way^ the truths and the life, the voice of God 
 himfelf, and therefore all he faid flowed from 
 an eternal fountain of truth. 
 
 Now this form of fpeaking was altogether 
 new to the Jews, and it was the more lurpri- 
 zing, becaufe the fpirit of propliecy had for a 
 long time quite ceafed among them, infomuch 
 that froj;n the time of Malachi, for about 
 400 yea; s, there had been no frophet in Is- 
 rael, and they were fo lenfible of this, that it 
 prevailed among them as a received aera, and 
 
 manner 
 
Tl:e divine eloquence of our Saviour conjidered. 359 
 
 manner of counting their years. HithertoSERM. 
 Prophets, /. e. to the time of Efdras, from XXXI. 
 thence downward, only learned men; none 
 but Scribes and Dodors of the Law, who 
 could give no final determination of any con- 
 troverfy in Religion, and could only back 
 their opinions with reafon and authorities ; and 
 to this refers that expreflion in the firll book 
 of the Maccabees, where it is faid that the af- 
 JiiBion of the children of Ifrael was at that 
 time greater than had befaln them^ ftiice the 
 time they had no Prophet among them. And 
 accordingly if any matter of controverfy arofe, 
 as there did not a few, which could not be a- 
 greed Upon, they always left it undecided un- 
 til God fliould fend them a Prophet, which 
 they all lived in expectation of, and every fedt 
 among them looked for with impatience, af- 
 firming with much confidence and affurancc, 
 that he would decide the matter on their fide, 
 and this was the reafon oi their glorifying God, 
 Luke vii. 16. and faying, a great Prophet is 
 rifen up amongfl iis^ and God hath mfited his 
 people. And tor the fame reafon, the woman 
 of Samaria propofed to our Saviour, the great 
 point of controverfy that had run to fuch a 
 mighty height between the Jews and the Sa- 
 maritans. 
 
 But our blefled Saviour fell in with no fe(fl 
 
 or party among them, they were all in the 
 
 wrong, and he took every fair occafion of let- 
 
 -ting them know it, without regard to the per- 
 
 ibns of men. And this is the other thing fig- 
 
 A a 4 nified 
 
360 7 he divine eloquence of our Saviour conjtdered, 
 
 Serm. nified by his fpeaking with authority, he 
 XXXI. fpoke the truth impartially, opened to them 
 all their errors, and reprehended their vices 5 
 his bufinefs was to deliver the will of God, 
 though it was contrary to the opinions and 
 practices of every fort and degree of men a- 
 mong them ; infomuch that he was moll fe- 
 vere upon thofe who had the greatefl reputa- 
 tion among the people for fandity and holi- 
 nels: this courage of his in reprehending all 
 forts of vice, and declaring the truth on all 
 occafions, the people took great notice of, Lo 
 he fpeaketb boldly, and they fay nothing unto 
 him. 
 
 Now this authority with which he deliver-* 
 ed himfelf. and the confirmation of what he 
 faid with miracles, gave his words a power 
 and influence beyond all human eloquence, 
 this was peculiar to him, and therefore inimi- 
 table. However, there is fo much of that 
 authority derived down upon us, as gives our 
 preaching a virtue and efficacy beyond what is 
 merely human ; our commiffion is from God 
 and not from man, as my Father fent me, fq 
 fend I ymi ; from thefe words we firft derive 
 our power and authority, from hence it is, 
 that we are, as the Apoftle fpeaks, 2 Cor. viii. 
 23. The mejfengers of the churches, and the 
 glory of Chrifi. This word glory, is ufed in 
 fcripture, to fignify the divine prefence in any 
 place or perfon, and the meaning of it here 
 is, that the prefence of Chrill is in us ; his au- 
 thority and power goes along with our mini^ 
 
^be divine eloquence of our Saviour conjidered. 361 
 
 ftry, and in this fenfe it is, that he himfelfSEiiM. 
 fays, Lo, 1 am with you even to the end of /i&^XXXI. 
 uorld. 
 
 The Apoftles when they were filled with 
 the Holy Ghoft, the effed of it was that they 
 Jpoke the word of God with boldnefo^ and St. 
 Paul exhorts the Ephefians to pray for him^ 
 that u iterance might be given to him^ that he 
 mig/Jt open his mouth boldl\\ to make known the 
 tnyiiery of the Gofpel. We are to be follow- 
 ers of them, as they were of Chrlft, and put 
 on the fame courage and refolution, and de- 
 liver ourfelvvTS with that decent authority that 
 becomes the dignity of our truft, not that ima- 
 ginary femblance of authority put on by a 
 haughty brow or threatning look, by violence 
 or paffion, or extravagance in the voice or ge- 
 ftures J thefe are the weakneffes of human na- 
 ture, and have nothing of the power of Chrift. 
 This we muft leave to enthufiafts, thofe awk- 
 ward mimicks of true infpiration ; we are not 
 of that manner of fpirit. The boldnefs and 
 aflurance I fpake of is, that which proceeds 
 from a firm perfwafion of our divine commil- 
 lion, and the concurrence of that Holy Spirit 
 which attends the execution of it; from a 
 true zeal for the glory of God and his Church ; 
 from a confcioufnefs of the fincerity of our 
 own repentance, and of a regular piety and 
 habitual hollnefs of life ; thefe are the things 
 that infpire a divine orator with decent cou- 
 rage and aflurance ; that raife him above all 
 the terrors and the flatteries of the world, fo 
 
 that 
 
362 T^s divine eloquence of our Saviour conjidered, 
 
 Serm. that no profpedl of worldly intereft or gran- 
 XXXI. deur can byafs his mind, or give a wrong turn 
 ' ''to his thoughts; that on all occafions that re- 
 
 quire it, he is ready to declare himfelf for the 
 truths of God, to own and acknowledge them, 
 in the midft of dangers, to make publick con- 
 feflion of them, and never conceal any part 
 of the truth for the advantage of religion, but 
 leave the fuccefs to God, who beft knows up- 
 on what foundations to eftablifli his Church. 
 2. Another great advantage beyond all men 
 living, which our Saviour was endued with 
 ^.towards fpeaking was, his divine knowledge, 
 that excellent fpirit of wifdom, by which he 
 had a full comprehenfion of all the truths of 
 God, and the hidden things of nature; he 
 grew in wifdom as in ftature, and was wife as 
 he was good by nature, and this made people 
 wonder fo often, when he was a child difpu- 
 ting with the doftors ; they wondered at the 
 gracious words which proceeded out of his 
 mouth ; and again, whence hath this man 
 this wifdom f And how hmweth this man 
 letters having never learned ? But the Spirit 
 was upon him without meafure, and confe- 
 quently his knowledge infinite, it muft have 
 been the fame with that of God^ and there- 
 fore it is, that the Apoftle St. Paul fays, in 
 him are hidden all the treafures of wifdom and 
 knowledge-, it was this that enabled him to 
 fpeak things beyond the reach of all men, be- 
 caufe he knew io much more than any other 
 man, and particularly of the lecret will of 
 
 God 
 
^he divine eloquence of our Saviour conjidered. 363 
 
 God, wliich he came to reveal to us; heSEiiM. 
 plainly declared '.hat all things were delivered ^^XI. 
 to him of his Father, and that no man know- 
 eth the Son but the Father j neither knoweth a^ 
 ny man the Father^ (i. e.) the true nature and 
 the mind of God, fave the Son, and he to 
 whom the Son will reveal him, (a ftrong 
 proof this text is, that we can have no 
 dependence on any of our reafonings about 
 the nature and will of God and his purpofes 
 relating to mankind, but what is grounded on 
 the Gofpel of his Son Chrift Jefus). Now if 
 the things themfelves which he declared, had 
 not been the refult of wildom and know- 
 ledge, the mod happy expreffion could never 
 have fo powei fully enforced them on his hear^ 
 ers. Now this very thing in which our Sa- 
 viour excelled by nature, is laid down by 
 all who treat of rhethorick and oratory, as the 
 main foundation of all true eloquence. Where 
 there is not by nature a folid judgment and 
 quicknefs of apprehenfion, a good invention 
 and lively fancy, they are not to be had other- 
 wife than by infpiration, which no man can 
 now expert, they may be improved but ne- 
 ver obtained by labour 3 they are the gift of 
 God, not by infpiration but b^a felicity of 
 nature. 
 
 Nor is this fufficient to make a man di- 
 vinely eloquent, unlefs thefe natural endow- 
 ments are improved by education and learn- 
 ing, for we can no more be learned and 
 knowing, than we can be virtuous by nature 
 
 as 
 
364 ^he divine eloquence of our Saviour conjidered, 
 
 Se RM. as our Saviour was, and therefore we muft ac- 
 XXXI. quire thefe by labour and induftry, and furnifh 
 'our minds with a flock of learning and 
 knowledge by thofe methods, which are laid 
 down for that purpoie. Islemo fays Cicero, 
 foterit ejfe omni laude cumulatus orator, niji 
 erit omnium magnarum rerum & artiumfci^ 
 entiarum tonfecutus, and what he fays of 
 Brutus, one of the mofl eloquent men of the 
 age, is, erat in Bruto natura admirabilis^ 
 exquifita do£frina & induftria fin^ularis. 
 
 Now thefe are no lefs neceffary to divine 
 than human oratory, and the truths of the 
 Gofpel fliould be taught and enforced with 
 fome degree of that knowledge by which they 
 were firft revealed : from whence appears the 
 folly and arrogance of thofe enthufiafts, who 
 take upon them the performance of this mofl 
 important and difficult work, without either 
 parts or learning ; for want of that good fenfe 
 which is the life and foul of oratory, they are 
 but as founding brafs or a tinkling cymbal, 
 and while they fet up for a more immediate 
 imitation of Chrifl and his Apoflles, are be- 
 yond all others the farthefl irom them ; little 
 confideringljiat fulnefs of fenfe there was in 
 all he and tney faid, and that clofenefs of con- 
 jequences, and wifdom of the application, 
 which are things they never think of. 
 
 The one great fundamental rule of elo- 
 quence is, to confult good fenfe, and to be 
 ftridtly rational in all we fay, even when we 
 are leafl argumentative 5 dicere nemo bene pa- 
 
 uft 
 
^he divine eloquence of our Saviour conjijered, 365 
 
 tejl nifi qui prudenter intelligity one grain oFSerm. 
 good fenfe and found reafon is more truly va-XXXI. 
 luable, than all the flouriflies of rhetorick j 
 whofoever is rational and plain will be elo- 
 quent, and whofoever is not fo, may amufe 
 and furprize his hearers, but will never con- 
 vince or perfwade them. 
 
 3. Another advantage peculiar to him that 
 our Saviour was poflefTed of, was, that ex- 
 traordinary concurrence of the Holy Spirit in 
 all he faid and did, which proceeded more 
 immediately by emanation from himfelf. 
 This wrought in the hearts of thofe he fpoke 
 to, in a fecret and powerful manner, and 
 gave his words an irreliftible force in the 
 minds and confciences of all that were rightly 
 difpofed to receive the truths of God ; it was 
 by this that he fo frequently touched their 
 hearts, and the Difciples who were going to 
 Emmaus, felt the power of it when they 
 found their hearts burn within them. Now 
 though this be a perfection which no mere 
 man can attain to, yet there are two ways of 
 arriving at fome degree of it. 
 
 I ft. By a lively imagination, which does 
 not only enable men to form clear and diftind: 
 ideas and perceptions of things, but gives them 
 a ftrange powerof conveying them with great 
 ftrength and clearnefs into the minds of others, 
 nay, it enables them even mechanically, to 
 raife the like paflions in others by which they 
 themfelves are aduated ; we are all inftru- 
 ments of the fame make and frame, and o- 
 
 thers 
 
366 ^he divine eloquence of our Saviour confidereL 
 
 Serm. thers being men of like paflions with ourfelves, 
 XXXI. when our fancy is difpofed to receive vigorous 
 ■and ftrong expreffions of things, by a fecret 
 power in nature, we flamp the Hke on all a- 
 bout us ; there is inchantment in it, and by 
 the help of this alone, ftrange cfFedts have 
 been wrought : many things have been attri- 
 buted to magick, which were effe(5ted by 
 working up men's imaginations to a mighty 
 pitch, lo as to ftrike the minds and bodies 
 with a fecret and irrefiftible force. 
 
 We lee it to be the conftant practice on the 
 flage for men to impregnate their minds 
 ftrongly with thofe paffions they would raife 
 in others, they endeavour to forget them- 
 felves, and believe they are the very perfons 
 they reprefent 5 and by this means their paf- 
 fions move us, though we know them to be 
 feigned. Now if the imagination has fuch 
 an influence upon the hearts of men in things 
 fiditious and imaginary, what may its power 
 be in things real and ferious, and of the moll: 
 exalted and important nature? So that wc 
 fhould dired: the whole force of our minds 
 that way, if we hope to incline others to be 
 affedted as we would perfwade them to be j 
 we mull plainly and Itrongly appear to have 
 a quick and a feeling fenfe of thofe truths 
 which we would perfwade our hearers to be- 
 lieve. 
 
 But the 2d and mod: effedual wayof fupply* 
 ing the want of that holy Spirit our Saviour 
 
 had. 
 
7he divine eloquence of our Saviour conjidered. 3 67 
 
 had, is by our earnefl: and incelTant prayer ioSerm. 
 Almighty God, that his Spirit would lead us ^^XI. 
 into whatfoever {hall be moft for his glory.' 
 This is abfolutely neceffary, if we defire that 
 our words fhould not fall to the ground but 
 be fruitjul in the hearts of our hearers. 
 
 But this and the further profecution of 
 this fubjed, 1 fhall defer to another opportu- 
 nity. 
 
 SERMON 
 
3 6 8 7he divine eloquence of our Saviour conjidered. 
 
 SERMON XXXII. 
 
 The divine eloquence of our Saviour 
 confidered. 
 
 This was preached before the convocation Ja- 
 nuary the 30th, being Sunday, 1703. 
 
 John vii, 46. 
 
 ^he ojicers anjwered^ never man [pake like 
 this man, 
 
 Serm. "TN my former difcourfe upon thefe words, 
 XXXII J[^ when I had {hewn the occafion of them, 
 and obferved the tranfcendent excellency of 
 the divine eloquence of our bleffed Saviour 
 beyond that of the moft celebrated orators a- 
 mong the Heathen j I propofed to enter upon 
 the coniideration of this divine eloquence of 
 our bleffed Saviour j that through the affiftance 
 of that fpirit that was upon him with- 
 out meafure, we may in fome degree copy af- 
 ter him in this, which is the great privilege 
 and glory of our order : And in doing this, 
 1 did, as I then propofed, in the firft place, 
 
 confider 
 
The divine eloquence of our Saviour confidered. 369 
 
 conlider the matter and fubftance of what he Serm. 
 fpoke, ami the ftile he ufed. XXXII 
 
 I then alfo, in the fecond, propofed to con- ' 
 fider feme of thofe advantages our blefled Sa- 
 viour had beyond all others, io /pake as never 
 man /pake, and how far he is imitable by us in 
 thefe particulars. At which time I fhcwed 
 you, that the fiift advantage he had was that 
 peculiar authority with which he fpoke. 
 
 The fecond was that excellent fpirit of know- 
 ledge which he was endued with. 
 
 The third was that extraordinary concur- 
 rence of the holy fpirit in all he faid^ and that 
 too by a more immediate emanation from 
 bimfelf. There were two things I then obferv- 
 ed were to fupply this defedt in us j the one 
 was the power of the imagination, the ufe of 
 which I then fhewed. 
 
 2. And therefore I am now to proceed to 
 the other thing, which is to fupply the want of 
 this in us ; and that is, the fame concurrence 
 of the holy Spirit of God ; which, becaufe it 
 cannot operate with us after the fame manner 
 by emanation from ourfelves, is therefore to be 
 obtained by earneft and inceffant prayer to Al- 
 mighty God. This is abfolutely necelTary in 
 order to the forming our conceptions, and then 
 giving them power in the hearts of men. 
 
 That concurrence of the Spirit is neceflary 
 
 to the right forming the conceptions of our 
 
 mind, and the cloathing them with fuch ex- 
 
 preffions as fhall make ihem conduce moft to 
 
 Vol. II. B b the 
 
3 'JO ^he divtJie eloquence of our Saviour conjidered, 
 
 Se R M. the great ends of preaching, that the medita- 
 XXXII tions of our hearts, and the words of our 
 mouths, may be firft acceptable to God, fuch 
 as are truly meet and proper for his own di- 
 vine purpofes J and then his Spirit goes along 
 with them, giving them virtue and influence 
 upon the hearts and confciences of our hearers. 
 There is fo great a variety in the frame of mens 
 hearts, in the inward make and difpofitions of 
 their minds; and the conditions of mens fouls 
 are fo very differerrt, that nothing lefs than in- 
 finite knowledge can contrive what fhall be of 
 greatefl efficacy. He only who is the fearcher 
 of the heart, and knows all its times and fea- 
 fons ; who fees perfedly how the difpofitions 
 of men differ from one another, and the fame 
 man from himfelf ; and with all the fecret and 
 infenfible degrees of our fpiritual growth and 
 improvement in holinefs : He it is that can 
 dired: and lead the mind into what fhall be 
 mofl for his own glory, and for fupplying the 
 various wants and necefiities of thofe particular 
 fouls that are to hear us. It doth not fall with- 
 in the compafs of human underftanding and 
 fagacity to fee all this, and provide for it : It is 
 true, found dodrine is good at all times, but 
 the fecret is in the due difpenfation of it, and 
 in the proper application of it to the prefent 
 condition of mens fouls ; to think and fpeak, 
 not only what is in itfelf good and commend- 
 able, but what v;ill be of real benefit and advan- 
 tage, which lies far out of our fight, and for the 
 moil part, to be difcerned only by the all-fee- 
 ing 
 
The divine eloquence of our Sa'uiour conjidered. 371 
 
 ing eye of God. Peifons whofpoke formerly S e r m. 
 by immediate infpiration, often knew not theXXXII 
 main importance and full extent of what they' 
 faid ; the very fame is in fome degree true of 
 thofe who are aded by the ordinary operations 
 of his fpirit, that they know not what power 
 and efficacy their words may have, nor how 
 far they are adapted to the purpofe by the fe- 
 cret infenlible diredtion and condudl of the ho- 
 ly Spirit. But as this grace of God is neceffa- 
 ry to lead us into all fealbnable truths, fo muft 
 it go along with our words, and prepare the 
 hearts of our hearers to be wrought upon, that 
 they may not fall to the ground, but leave a 
 lafting impreffion in their minds, fo as to have 
 a real effedl in making them more virtuous and 
 holy. By good natural endowments and ac- 
 quired abilities we may anfwer all other ends 
 of preaching, but this only can anfwer that of 
 edification. And this is one great advantage 
 that facrcd oratory hath beyond prophane, 
 the effeds of which, and the whole drift and 
 fcope, were known and felt ; whereas the ef- 
 fect of preaching, that I mean which is pecu- 
 liar to it, is as infenfible as the growth and 
 nourifhment of our bodies ; and yet at the 
 fame time it carries with it a perfuafion above 
 the ftrength of any thing in nature, and a 
 force beyond the power of words. Though 
 miracles are ceafed, yet the power of faith re- 
 mains ftrong and mighty, in order to the great 
 and glorious ends of religion : And to this day 
 thus much is fure, that the greater dependance 
 B b 2 a man 
 
^ ^^2 ^^^ din) me eloquence of bur Savicur conftdered, 
 
 ;SERi^. a man hath upon the Spirit for the illumina- 
 XX^XIItion of his mind, and the more intire triift he 
 'hath in God for the neceflary concurrence 6f 
 ^ his grace with his words, if he is not wanting 
 ^ in his^Wn endeavours, fo much the greater 
 ■'\vill' be his fucCefs and his reward. 
 
 It is a vfery uncertain way of judging of the 
 ^l&ccefs 6f^ preaching, by the opinion of men; 
 •fhey are indeed, Ynany of them proper judges 
 ' of what isgood in itfelf, and how far it is a- 
 ^^riseable to them ; but how far it hath a real 
 ■efficacy and 'fuccefs in the minds of men, for 
 ^thfeir reforfriation and improvement, is no ea- 
 ^■fy matter to diftiriguifli even in a man's felf, 
 s^iid much lefs in others. The efFe<5l of preach- 
 •ii1g,'in the confciences of men, arid the trtie 
 
 • influence it hath upon their fouls to make 
 ' ithem truly virtuous and holy, is not to be 
 -known in this life ; its operations areas fecret, 
 ' as thofe of the fpirit that goes along with it' : 
 - So that fnany who might have been in much 
 '^^fteem, may find that all the while they fowdd 
 'but chaff; and others, whofe inceffant pray- 
 
 • crs and lively faith in God brought doWn the 
 dew of Heaven upon what thty fow zudplant^ 
 
 -^fliall be furprized with a plentiful harveft. 
 
 This coiifideration (hould make us poffefs 
 "'•our minds with a firm belief that, whatever 
 ''may appear toourfelves or others, yet that no 
 
 • endowments or qualifications whatfoever will 
 give our words that unfeen energy which none 
 but God can give ; we may indeed dazzle our 
 admirers, but there may be ftill v/anting that 
 
 ufeful 
 
*Ihe divine eloquence of our Saviour ccnjidered. 37 ? 
 
 ufeful light, and necefliiry warmth, which Serm. 
 can come no way but from the Father oj lights. XXXII 
 
 As Chrift had this holy Spirit in himfclf, (o^ ' ' 
 we mufL have it by emanatipn from him. 
 What we have to do then is, to put our minds 
 into a pofture to receive it, to give ourfelves up 
 to it, to confecrate our fouls by due prepara^ 
 tion for the defcent of the Holy Ghofl upo^ 
 us ; and to be earneft and inceffant in our pray- 
 ers to God for this bleiTed communication of 
 his Spirit. There it not any thing in Scripture 
 fo particularly and exprefly faid to be the im- 
 mediate reward of prayer, as this ; our Hea- 
 venly Father gives the Holy Spirit to them that 
 ajk it: And again, James i. 5. If any of you 
 lack wifdom, let him aJk of Gody that giveth 
 to all men liberally. If God gives liberallv, 
 why fhould we not afk it frequently and irp- 
 portunately ? and ever pray th^t God would 
 fandify our conceptions, and form them all to 
 virtue and holinefs ; that by a fecret condu^ 
 he would lead us infenfibly into what {hall 
 have the greateft fitnefs and tendency to pro- 
 mote the falvation of fouls ; and then give it 
 life and power in theconfciencesofmen!. Let 
 us ufe the beft of our endeavours to plant 
 and water, and when that is donq, let us 
 hope for the increafe, not as we preach, 
 but as wc pray. If we take care to per- 
 form this with that fervour and conftancy 
 that becomes us, then let us leave the event to 
 God, who knows h,ow to make all things 
 work together fo as to promote his own ends ; 
 B b 3 who 
 
374 ^^^ divine eloquence of our Saviour confidered. 
 S E R M . who doth not judge of means as they appear to 
 XXXII us ; who loves to make f coll fh the wifdom of this 
 world 'j and delights to bring about the greatefl 
 effedts by the fmalleft inftruments. 
 
 4. Another great advantage beyond all men 
 living which our bleffed Saviour was endued 
 with towards fpeaking was, that infight he had 
 into the hearts of men. As to that excellent 
 fpirit of knowledge that v^^as in him in general, 
 1 have formerly fpoke to it : This is but a part 
 of it, and a more immediate qualification for 
 divine eloquence and perfwafion. St. John 
 tells us, that He knew all men^ and needed not 
 that anyfiouldtefiify of fnan, for he knew what 
 uas in man. He was that xoyo?, that eternal 
 Word of God by whom all things were made. 
 He fpoke us into being. He /aw our fubjlanceyet 
 being imperfedi^ and in his book^ the book of Na- 
 ture, were all our members written. And there- 
 fore, when this Word was madeflejh^ he needed 
 not tocomeat the heart of man by any fearch or 
 conjed:ture j for he difcerned the parts of this 
 fearful contexture and wonderful frame of hu- 
 man body; he couldtraverfe over all this laby- 
 rinth, andfaw perfeiSly that numerous train of 
 fubtle complicated lines, the neareft inftruments 
 of|the foul, which lie farout of the reach of all 
 fenfe and human obfervation : He faw to the 
 end of them all ; where they receive the firft 
 impreflion from the mind, the common 
 fource of all our reafonings, of all our paf- 
 fions and affections. He knew where to touch 
 upon them with moft advantage, and could 
 
 unfold 
 
l^he divine eloquence of our Saviour confidered, 375 
 
 unfold them all, though miferably perplexed Serm. 
 and tangled by the grievous corruption of ourXXXII 
 nature. 
 
 This perfedl knowledge of the her.rts of 
 men, gave him an unfpeakable advantage o- 
 ver them, and enabled him to fpeak to their 
 thoughts often, and not to their words \ as 
 particularly in Math. ix. 4, 5, where it is faid 
 that Jcjus knowing their thoughts, anfwers^ 
 Wherefore think ye evil in your hearts ? For 
 whether is it eajier to jay thy fins are jorgiven 
 thee, or to/ay arife and ivalk f The thought 
 of their heart was, that he blafphemed by 
 that expreffion ; and the force of his anfwer is 
 this, that whether he ufed one or the other of 
 thofe expreflions, or any other, the miracle 
 was never the lefs ; words did not alter the na- 
 ture of the thing, the fa6t was a fufficient 
 proof of itfelf, of its proceeding from a divine 
 power ; and the reafon of his choice of that 
 expreffion was, that what he did might be a 
 feafonable proof to them of his having it in his 
 power to forgive fins. The word in the on- 
 ginalisi?«», Jefus/?f;«!g- their thoughts; which 
 well expreffes the manner of this knowledge, 
 being by a direct intuition, by a proper innate 
 power in hin:ifelf, and not by any fupernatural 
 information. And fo again, John viii. 3, 
 when the Scribes and Pharifees brought to him 
 a woman taken in the ad: of adultery, with 
 defign to accufe him ; for if he had acquitted 
 her, then he had aded apparently againfl the 
 law of Mofes, and have been ajuftifier of fin- 
 B b 4 ners 5 
 
37^ ^ he divine eloquence of our Saviour confidcrtd^ 
 
 Serm. ners; if he had condemned her, then he af- 
 XXXlIfumed the power of the maeiilrate, they- 
 ' bringing her to him in a judicial way, as being 
 
 one who took upon him to acquit and con- 
 demn linners. He firft decHned anfwering, 
 which made them more urgefnt, as being a 
 fnare from which he could not extricate him- 
 felf J but he knowing the guilt of their fouls, 
 anfwered. He that is without Jin among you\ let 
 him fir ji caji aftone at her ; by which he mkde 
 the woman's cafe their own, and ftruck them 
 with fuch a fenfe of their own guilt, that they 
 withdrew with fhamc. It was a ft range fur- 
 prizing judgment he pafTed, which acquitted 
 the woman fo far as to leave her room for re- 
 pentance, and condemn the accufers, whofe 
 pride and obftinacy put them beyond all likeli- 
 hood of it; and at the fame time preferved a 
 juft veneration for the law of Mofes, and left 
 the power of lentence in the hands of the ma- 
 glftracy. This was fuch a complication of 
 wifdom and knowledge, that no man clfe upon 
 earth was capable of it ; none but he who 
 knew what was in man, who faw into the 
 darknefs of the heart, could pafs over what 
 men fpoke, and dirciS his words to their moft 
 fecret thoughts. By this means his hearers al- 
 ways found themfelvcs, in what he faid, not 
 a titde of it fell befide them, and when he 
 forefaw that his fpeaking would not meet with 
 luccefs, he was always filent. 
 
 Now this it was that made him never open 
 his mouth without effctft, that gave him luch 
 
 unheard 
 
T^be divine eloquence of our Savioi:r conJiderccL 377 
 
 unheard-of power over the minds and con-SERM. 
 fciences of men, for the convid^ion of their XXXII 
 reafon and moving their afFcdions 3 infomuch 
 that the moft feared and hardened cxDnfcieixes 
 felt impreflions of remorfe and.fhamci they 
 found themfelves flruck dumb and confound- 
 ed in every attempt upon him, and owned. 
 He fpake as never man [pake. Envy allowed 
 him this J (lie confelTed, as the Devils did, in. 
 the mid L of her rage and torment 5 and the 
 moft inveterate of his enemies fufFered his 
 fpeaking to gain every efFe(ll upon them, but 
 that of their converfion. Eiit on the other 
 hand, where his words met with hearts right- 
 ly difpofed, as Solomon foretold of him, his 
 lips were like lillies drcppifig Jwcet-Jmelling 
 myrrh. His mouth was moji Jiuet : In the 
 Hebrew it is, His throat wcs fweetneffeSy al- 
 luding to the harmony of a charming voice : 
 This it was that made his difc'plcs forlakc their 
 worldly profpedls, and follow after him with 
 a call. His hearers wom'ered at the gracious 
 words that proceeded out of- his mcuth^ and 
 found their hearts burn within them while he 
 was fpeaking. By this wonderful knowledge 
 of the heart of man, he hath fo contrived all 
 his diicourfes, that what hefiid to a few, was 
 fpoke to all mankind, and more need not be 
 faid to all generations of men ; they will car- 
 ry down with them the fame efficacy to the end 
 of the world, to prevail over the judgments 
 of men, and never fail to fway their pairions, 
 whenever they are duly con lidered and applied. 
 
 And 
 
378 1'he divine eloquence of our Saviour conjidered. 
 
 Serm. And now we muft lower our thoughts, and 
 XXXII defcend from this ftupendous height of elo- 
 ^'""^"■^ quence, to confider what it is in ourfelves, 
 how this innate power of feeing diredly into 
 the hearts of men is to be fupplied in us, and 
 how we are by imitation to attain to a faint 
 refemblance of this perfection. It is indeed a 
 fall as low as from the Heaven to the Earth, 
 and our eloquence to his is but as a ftiadow to 
 the fuflance -, however, it hath its virtue, 
 though it be derived, therefore this knowledge 
 of the heart, which we cannot have by intu- 
 ition, we muft acquire, in as great a degree as 
 we are capable, by ftudy and obfervation. 
 Among the miraculous gifts afforded in the firft 
 times of the Gofpel, one of them is faid to be 
 that of difcerning of /pints j i. e. of judging 
 of the fincerity of men's hearts, and of the 
 qualifications of their minds for the reception 
 of the Gofpel, whether they were in a difpo- 
 fition to be wrought upon or no. This was 
 neceffary, that they might not ca/i their pearls 
 before [wine 5 and that fince they had a great 
 deal to do, they might not lofe their time 
 and their labour in fruitlefs endeavours. This 
 gave the firft preachers of the Gofpel a mighty 
 advantage, and enabled them to adapt their 
 difcourfes to the feveral tempers of men, and 
 led them into the ufe of fuch motives and ar- 
 guments as were likelieft to fucceed, and leave 
 a lafting impreffion on their hearers. Now 
 though there be nothing of this left in the 
 Church, more than the ordinary direftion and 
 
 conduft 
 
The divine eloquence of our Saiiour conjijered. 379 
 
 condudl of the holy Spirit of God, yetfomeSERM. 
 perfons are bklTed with a peculiar ftrength of^^^II 
 genius for the knowVdge of men j they are ve-' " 
 ry happy that way beyond others, and by a 
 ftrange felicity of nature are let into this know- 
 ledge of the hearts of men : not of their pre- 
 fent immediate thoughts, for that is miracle ; 
 but for a fliarp difcerning judgment, and a 
 comprehenfive underftandingof the particular 
 tempers and inclinations of men, fo as to be 
 able to apply themfelves more clofely, and bring 
 all their difcourfes home to the prefent ftatc 
 and temper of men's minds ; and this feems to 
 be the diftinguifhing qualification of an ora- 
 tor. For men may have a good flock of know- 
 ledge both in words and things, and yet be 
 very unhappy in the management and applica- 
 tion of them, to the inflrud:ion or pcrfwafion 
 of others. Niji naturas hominum^ vimqiie 
 omnem humanitatis orator perjpexerit, dicendo 
 quod volet perficere nonpoterit, {Cicero de Or at : 
 lib. I.) fays Cicero, who fludied mankind, 
 and was therefore more eloquent than others, 
 becaufe he knew the ftrength and weaknefTes 
 of human nature. And another obferves, That 
 men are no farther eloquent, than they are know- 
 ing in the heart of man. The heart of "man is 
 a comprehenfive word, and takes in all the 
 powers of the mind, with the great variety of 
 reafonings, of affections and inclinations to 
 which it is fubjecSti and their meaning is, that 
 we fhould make ourfelves acquainted with all 
 its movements, and obferve nicely all the mif^ 
 
 take* 
 
bo lb€ atvtne eloquence oj vur oaviQur conjiaerea* 
 
 Serm. takes and errors of men j their opinions and 
 XXXII prejudices ; their diflimulations and hypocri- 
 'fies, with all the falfe colours by which they 
 are abufed themfelves, and impofe on others. 
 That wc find out the true motives that fway 
 men, and the real principle that adls, them j 
 and fee how far the world is governed by hur 
 mour, and paffion, and intereft j that we conr 
 fider all their vain hopes, and groundlefs fears; 
 their real vices, and imaginary virtues ; the 
 weaknefs of their judgments, and the force of 
 their paflions ; and above all, to weigh well the 
 great variety there is in men's tempers, and 
 the true caufes of their differences and a- 
 greements ; how fouls mingle or diffent, have 
 a hidden attractive virtue to draw one another, 
 or elfe rebound at every approach ; vv^hat it is 
 that makes them meet, and then fly off again j 
 what fecret chains they are that link them into 
 parties, or divide them into fadions ; and what 
 is the true nature of that difcord or harmony 
 of the min<l, that makes people friends or e- 
 nemies \ thus we {hall be able to turn our 
 thoughts into all fliapes, reprefent every one to 
 themfelves, and become all things to all men. 
 
 But there is no readier way to the knowledge 
 of other men's hearts, than by being well ac- 
 quainted with our own ; if we look inward, 
 obferve nicely what is doing there, we fhall 
 be able to give a good conjedure at what pafTes 
 in the minds of others j for we are all men of 
 like paflions, v/e are all liable to the fame a.f- 
 fedions and inclinations, and fubjedt to the 
 ~ fame 
 
'^he divine eloquence of our Saviour conjidered, ^ H i 
 
 fatne infirmities : So that by a diligent fearchSERM. 
 and fcrutiny into ourfelves, fo as to know one XXX II 
 well, we go a great way towards the know- 
 ledge of all mankind. 
 
 ^Now the great neceffity and ufefulnefs of 
 this knowledge of men is, in order to the two 
 great ends of facred eloquence 5 namely, for 
 
 ■ the information of men's underftanding, and 
 for the moving of their paffions. 
 
 I, It conduces to the improvement of the 
 onderftandings and realon of men, by enabling 
 us to think and fpeak naturally, to exprefs the 
 truth of nature and religion, and give a juft re- 
 prefentktion of all things as they are in them- 
 felves; and not give the mind the liberty of 
 transforming them ifito what (hapes wepleafe, 
 and never bring them forth to view but in 
 fome (Irange difguife of our own. When 
 men fet themfelvesto exprefs their thoughts to 
 others, they of courfe fall into one of thefe 
 two very different ways, either to look with- 
 out themfelves, with defign to reprefent things 
 as they are, and paint them from the life with 
 all the advantage they will bear ; or, on the 
 contrary, they frame to themfelves conceptions 
 without any dridl regard to the juftnefs and 
 truth of things: So that from flight materials 
 of knowledge, by various workings of the i- 
 magination, they raife to themfelves feigned 
 images, and labour to deck them with fuita- 
 ble ornaments, all the fancy of the fpeaker, 
 iand nothing of the likenefs or true drefs of na- 
 
 ' ture i and therefore, the imprefllons they make 
 
 on 
 
382 I'he divine eloquence of our Saviour conjidered, 
 
 Serm. on the hearers are none of her ftamp. Now 
 XXXII according as men bend the flrength of their 
 minds to think either one of thefe ways or the 
 other, and purfue it, fo is their fuccefs either 
 a fid:itious flafh, or a fubftantial oratory. And 
 if a man have fo great a diffidence of himfelf 
 as to venture on neither of thefe ways, but 
 think and fpeak altogether by imitation of o- 
 thers, then he follows the fortune of thofe he 
 copies after, and he is in the right or the 
 wrong way, as they chance to be who go be- 
 fore him. 
 
 It is a great misfortune, and a very unhappy 
 miflake, not to fee this from the beginning of 
 a man's compofures, fo as not to fet out right 
 at firft ; becaufe the fuccefs of his whole life 
 depends much upon it. Refpicere exemplar 
 vita, mcrumq;, is one of the befl rules that 
 can be given ; ever to have an eye to the life 
 and manners of men, fo as to make them 
 your model and pattern ; et veras hi?ic ducere 
 voces ; and employ the vigour of the mind in 
 fitting our expreffions to the things, and not 
 in adapting of things to our expreffions. This 
 is certainly the fjndamental rule of all oratory 
 both facred and prophane, to think and fpeak 
 of every thing in nature and religion as it is. 
 It is the mofl plain and fimple rule in the 
 world, and therefore one would think the ea- 
 fieft to beobfervedj and perhaps the reafon 
 why it is fo overlooked is, becaufe it is fo ob- 
 vious ; fo that bv lying open to all men, it is 
 in truth become the great fecret of eloquence. 
 "" Men 
 
^he divine eloquence of our Saviour conjidered, 383 
 
 Men are apt to think it below them, theySERM. 
 think, every body can do that which fo many XXXII 
 thoufands have attempted in vain j and in 
 truth they will not defcend fo low as to be tru- 
 ly eloquent. 
 
 It is true, this genuine oratory walks upon 
 the ground, and yet at the fame time caput 
 inter nubila condit, it hath a divine power and 
 efficacy. It is what everybody is apt to think 
 he could do when he fets about it -, qui/q-y 
 Jibi fperet idem^ fays the poet, Jrujlraq, labo- 
 rat^ aufus idem. He little knows the danger 
 of the attempt, when he dares to defcribe origi- 
 nal nature, to exprels the true life and fpirit of 
 religion, and paint out the beauty of holinefs 
 in its true and genuine colours. It requires 
 fom.e maflery of thought and expreiTion to do 
 this, a comprehenfive mind, and a judgment 
 enlarged and formed by reading and obferva- 
 tion. There is danger in fpeaking plain, and 
 following the fimplicity of nature j becaufe a 
 man is then under a neceffity of fpeaking good 
 fenfe, and to the purpofe ; all his defedls are 
 vifible and glaring; all his failings are more 
 confpicuous and lefs pardonable when he doth 
 not perform with fome truth and exadnefs ; 
 fo that a man without fufficient qualifications, 
 may aim at it to his undoing, fo as to appear 
 very flat and in fipid, who might have made 
 forne tolerable figure in any other way of 0- 
 ratory. 
 
 This is what is properly the chaftity of elo- 
 quence, which carries with it a fecret irrefift- 
 
 ible 
 
3 84 ^^^ divine eloquence of our Saviour conjidered, 
 
 'Ser M. ible power, and charms beyond themoft exqui- 
 ^ XXXII fue artificial beauty : It makes its way to the 
 
 "* heart, while the otfter only plays about the eyes 
 and ears, and floats in the imaginations of men. 
 When you thus tread in the fteps of 
 nature, and neither lag too far behind, nor 
 . ouL-run her, you are fiare not to wander, but 
 that your difcourfes will at length come home 
 to every man ; they will feel what is faid j 
 there is fomething withjn them that echoes 
 to your words, gives a tacit confent, acknow- 
 ledges every thing that is fpoke, and o w ns that it 
 . is fo. Every thing tliat is fpoke according to 
 
 ...the truth of nature and religion, is foon under- 
 
 ^'llood, and finds an eafy affent when it comes 
 without any unnatural difguife, becaufe it 
 meets with faculties agreeable, and there is 
 fomething congenial to it in the mind, found- 
 
 , ed in that connexion and correfpondcnce there 
 is between all tru.h 5 and for that reafon it is, 
 that all abftraftions on the one hand, and 
 all mighty flight? of oratory on the other, have 
 litde of folidity and real knowledge in them 
 when, they come to be unravelled, and put in- 
 to plain words j becaufe fuch as affcdt them, 
 are not defcribing nature or religion, but them- 
 felves, and labour to reprefentit, not as in re- 
 ality, but what it is in their imaginations : 
 They draw out their brains into curious webs, 
 which difcover much of admirable art and 
 finenefs of parts, which are only to te admi- 
 xed, and have neither folidity nor ufe; by 
 -which means it too often happens that men 
 
 arc 
 
ne divine ehquence tfour Saviour confidered, 3 S5 
 
 are never more fuperficial than when they pre- Se r m. 
 tend to go x.o the bottom of things. XXXIf 
 
 This knowledge of the heart is in order to'-^'^''"^ 
 rnoving of the pafTions ; bat becaufe the ule 
 and management of the paflions in religion 
 will not come within the compafs of this dif- 
 courfe,- I {hall pafs on to 
 
 5. Another great advantage towards fpeak- 
 ing, which our blefled Saviour had peculiar to 
 him, was his unfpotted innocence, that di- 
 vine purity and holinefs that was in him. He 
 was that Lamb without blemifh, who had not 
 the leaft ftain of adtual or original guilt, and 
 remained all his life-time in fuch undefiled pu- 
 rity and holinefs, that at his death He ofiered 
 himfelf up without fpot to God. This was the 
 holinefs of God ; Jor in him dwelt thefullnefs of 
 the godhead bodily : His humanity was parta- 
 ker of the perfecftions of the divinity : And 
 though he was thefon of David according to the 
 JleP^j yet he was the Son of God according to the 
 fpirit of holinefs^ of that fpirit that was upon 
 him without meafure. He had not the leafl 
 error in his underftanding, or corruption in his 
 will, but had in himfelf the utmoft perfedlion 
 of all virtue and goodnefs ; there lay their o- 
 riginal characters ; fo that he could defcribe 
 them all from his own breaft, the fource from 
 whence all holinefs is derived upon us : This 
 gave his fpeaking an unknown influence and 
 authority. In his difcourfe with the Jews, he 
 appeals to his innocence ; Which of you convin- 
 ceth me of fm f and if Ifay the truth, why do 
 Vol.. II. C c ye 
 
386 l^he divine eloquence of our Saviour confiaered, 
 
 S E R M . ye not believe me ? He gives them the true rea- 
 XXXII fon why they believed him not, becaufe he 
 told them the truth; for had he been a wick- 
 ed impoitor, and told them a lye, they would 
 have believed him upon (lighter evidence and 
 demonftration than he gave them 5 but that 
 rendered their infidelity utterly inexcufable, 
 when it was plain they had no juft exception 
 either to his perfon or his difcourfes. No- 
 thing could render this joint evidence ineffec- 
 tual, as he obferves to them, but a feared and 
 hardened conicience ; for thofe who had ears 
 to hear, this gave his difcourfes invincible pow-' 
 er and efficacy. When he fat difcourling with 
 the Dodors in the Temple, we read, that all 
 that heard bim were afionifhed at his under- 
 Jianding and anfucers. They could not but be 
 flruck with that air of fweetnefs and inno- 
 cence that his difcourfes at that time received, 
 by their coming from the mouth of a child : 
 He had the fame innocence when he was pail 
 thirty years of age ; and to fuch as confidered, 
 it muft have been then more wonderful and 
 furprizing, and have given his words inex- 
 preffible grace and energy. 
 
 Now this is a qualification of no fmall con- 
 iequence to a chriftian orator ; and though we 
 can have no fuch inherent perfedl holinefs of 
 our own, yet, as the Apoftle fpeaks, we may 
 he made partakers of his holinefs, by a diligent 
 and conflant imitation of his virtue and inno- 
 cence. Our preaching cannot have that au- 
 thority and power, which is peculiar to uner- 
 ring 
 
7he divine eloquence of our Saviour confiderei. 3B7 
 
 ring obedience, and unftained innocence j butSERM. 
 it may have that good degree of aflurance on-^^^^^ 
 our part, and influence upon others, which ^-^^'^^ 
 proceeds from a confcioufnefs in ourfelves of 
 an unfeigned repentance, and a fincere habi- 
 tual endeavour of uprightnefs and integrity of 
 life. This virtuous good difpofition of the mind 
 is a quahfication laid down by thofe Heathens 
 who have given the beft rules of oratory, as 
 abfolutely neceffary to eloquence and perfwa- 
 fion. None can be a good orator, fays Cicero, 
 but he that is a good man, and adds, viri 
 probi fermo licet lenocinUs defli tutus Jit, fat is 
 tamen naturd fud ornatur ; nee quicquam non 
 diferte quod honefte dicitur ; and in another 
 place, ^ualis cuju/q-, aiiimi a^eEius^ tain ejl 
 homo ; qualis autem ipfe homo eft, talis ejus^ efi 
 ooratio. (Cicero, vol. ii. p. 397) and certainly 
 if in the opinion of Heathens, no man could 
 be truly eloquent and fpeak well without a 
 good fenfe of moral honefty, we may well 
 think it no lefs neceffary in order to the effec- 
 tual preaching of the Gofpel; nay more, as 
 much as the revelations of it are beyond the 
 meer light of nature, fo there is a fenfe of piety 
 and holinefs required in the mind of the 
 fpeaker, in proportion to the height and ex- 
 cellence of evangelical graces, beyond virtues 
 purely moral. 
 
 How much the habitual pradice of a good 
 life conduces to the efficacy and fuccefs of 
 preaching, is very obvious from that advantage 
 it gives us in the opinion of others, by difpo- 
 iing them to hear without prejudice or reluc-r 
 C c :^ tanco 
 
3 88 ^he divine eloquence of our Saviour confidered, 
 
 Serm. tance ; it reconciles them to what is faid, and 
 XXXII gives it authority and weight; and devout per- 
 sons are but too apt to have men's perfons in 
 admiration : it is in itfelf no real difadvantage 
 to the truth, to be fpoke by thofe who have 
 little of it in their own hearts, however, it is 
 among the infirmities of human nature, that 
 the beft of people then are apt to naufeate and 
 rejedt it, the mind fhrinks at it, it clofes it- 
 felf and denies it admittance. But feared and 
 incorrigible linners find eafe and comfort in the 
 wickednefs of the preacher ; it quiets the cla- 
 mours of their confciences, and they value 
 themfelves upon open profanenefs in oppofition 
 to that fecret hypocrify. But all true virtue 
 and holinefs carries on it a ftamp of the Divi- 
 nity ; it hath fo much of the likenefs of God, 
 thift it darts terrour into their Souls ; the wordg 
 of a good man break in upon the moft hard- 
 ened confciences, and leave their goads be- 
 hind them, and where they cannot difpoflefs 
 men's vices, they extort a confeffion of the 
 truth, and make them fear and tremble be- 
 fore it. 
 
 Now befides the advantage a virtuous and 
 good Life gives us in the opinion of men, by 
 reconciling them to what is faid, and difpofing 
 them to be wrought upon, it hath a mighty 
 influence upon ourfelves in order to divine elo- 
 fjuence and perfwafion ; it enables us to form 
 juft and lively conceptions of all things in 
 Religion. By a hearty fincere endeavour of 
 doing the will of God, we ftiall arrive to a 
 good degree of knowledge in it, and be able 
 
 to 
 
7 he divine eloquence of our Saviour conjidered. ^80 
 
 to think and fpeak of the nature of virtue andSERM. 
 holinefs after fuch a manner as is^not attaina-XXXII 
 ble any other way. No man can defciibe the' 
 true Ufe of Religion but he that hves it : who 
 can fpeak fo exadly of all moral virtues and 
 evangeHcal graces, as he that makes it the chief 
 ambition of his Soul to pradlice and acquire 
 them ? Who can exprefs the forrows of a tru- 
 ly broken and contrite Heart, like him who 
 hath felt that forrow which works a repentance 
 never to be repented of? Who can tell what 
 that loye of God is, that raifes a man above 
 the world and all things in it, like him whofe 
 breaft is inflamed with a fenfe of hisperfe£ti- 
 oas^ and of that intire dependance he hath up- 
 on him ? And who can difcover the pleafures 
 of a good confcience, like that n^an who hath 
 arrived to fome good degree of joy in the Ho- 
 ly Ghoft, who hath placed his reft in God, 
 hath arrived to a full truft in his mercy through 
 the ineffable almighty virtue and efficacy of 
 the blood of Chrift. Then it is that a man 
 addreffes himfelf feelingly to the confciences 
 of others, when he fpeaks from his own ex- 
 perience, and hath run through that fet of 
 temptations with which the Devil is ufed to 
 affault men in the whole courfe of a chriftian 
 life : When he defcribes his own infirmities, 
 and his conquefts, his temptations and his 
 vidloriesj his fears and his hopes; his faihngs 
 and recoveries ; his own defpondence, and his 
 affuranccs ; fo true it is that the natural man re- 
 ceiveth not the things of the fpirit of Gcd, neither 
 can he know thcm^ becaufe they are fpiritually 
 
 dijcermd 
 
29© ^^^^ divine eloquence of our Saviour confldereal 
 
 Serm. discerned. The mind muft be fet apart and 
 XXXII fandtified f^r this j it muft be intirely given up 
 ^"^'to it, and the main current of a man's 
 thoughts muft run habitually that way ; then 
 he will be able to bring all thefe things out of 
 the treafure of his heart, when it is thus en- 
 riched and become a choice repofitory of vir- 
 tue and holinefs. 
 
 But beiides that true piety enlarges our 
 thoughts, it gives them an additional force and 
 vigour beyond the ftrength of our reafons and 
 the power of words ; and it is fure that no- 
 thing makes its way fo forcibly to the hearts of 
 others, as that which comes from the bottom 
 of our own. As the Devil when he afTumes 
 the form of an Angel of light, fo is a wicked 
 man when he goes about to recommend vir- 
 tue and defcribe the power of Godlinefs. He 
 3S a ftrange unnatural mixture of the two moft 
 difagreeing things in the univerfe, and a mon- 
 fter made up of a refemblance of Heaven and 
 Hell ; a man confciousto himfelf of fecret un- 
 repented guilt, of unmortified paffions, and 
 appetites in their full natural ftrength, when 
 his lips go without his heart, his words muft 
 turn upon himfelf and fly in his face, and he is, 
 though otherwife of great abilites and endow- 
 ments, at beft but as founding brafs and a tink- 
 ling c^mbaly nothing but noife, without any fenfe 
 or feeling of what is fpoke. His fpeaking on 
 divine Subjed:s is ftrained and unnatural, and 
 no difiimulation or hypocrify can come up to 
 the genuine air of fincere piety. For as there is 
 fomethin^ in vice and wickednefs that makes 
 
 adif- 
 
Ihe divine eloquence of our Saviour confidered, 391 
 
 a difcovery of itfelf, and can hardly be con-SERM. 
 cealed, fo there is fomething in fincere religion XXXII 
 that cannot be counterfeited. When the^ ' 
 
 mind is flrongly impregnated with a fenfe of 
 God and goodnefs, and the breaft warmed 
 with religion, it affeds the very lineaments of 
 the face; it breaks through the eyes and 
 looks, and gives an expreflive paffion to the 
 countenance ; when the mouth thus.fpeah out 
 of the abundance of the hearty it infpiies others 
 with its fentiments and affedions, and the 
 man breathes out his foul with his words. 
 
 But of all virtues, that which a preacher is 
 immediately concerned to fecure, is that of a 
 pure intention; without this, whatever the 
 fuccefs be to others, the reward is loft to our- 
 felvesj we fell it all for the breath of men ^ 
 perhaps but of a few whofe guft we have 
 chanced to hit ; we proftitute the nobleft em- 
 ployrnent to the pooreft ends ; and thofe who 
 are given to this vanity, make it much more 
 to themfelves than it really is; they think of 
 it without thofe weaknefTes that are vifible to 
 difcerning judgments, who fee all their faults; 
 and of that allay of envy which is never ap- 
 peafed but with the facrifice of the objed that 
 troubles it, as it proved in the cafe of our 
 Saviour; it was /or emy they delivered him. 
 And yet he had nothing to be envied but his 
 life and his dilcourfes, for no man envies a 
 miracle; he never fpoke but to do good, and 
 declined the piaife of men, as much as was 
 confident with the exercife of his miniftry ; 
 mfomuch that it was remarkable of him, that 
 
 after 
 
'3"9^ ^'^^ dt'vine eloquence of our Saviour confideNdi 
 
 Serm. after his miracles and difcourfes, he withdrew 
 XXXII himfelf from appiaafe, betook himfelf to re* 
 tircments and recefles to avoid it. He gave 
 fufficient demonft ration that he had eloquence 
 enough to have brought about any worldly 
 defigns ; that he had the hearts and paffions of 
 men at his command, and could work them 
 up to what height he pleafed, fo as to turn and 
 wind them irrefiftably to any thing but virtue 
 and holinefs. He could have prevailed on 
 them to make him a King, and could have 
 proceeded from thence to the empire of th6 
 world. The Devil faw this, and this was at 
 the bottom of that temptation when he pro- 
 mifed him all the kingdoms of the earth {f he 
 would fall down and worjhip him. But he an- 
 fwers him, thou flmlt worjhip the Lord thy 
 God, and him only fhalt thou ferine, and there- 
 'fore he could make ufe of this irrefiflable pow- 
 er of perfwafion no farther than it was for the 
 lervice of God, and promoting of the great 
 ends of religion. His kingdom was not of this^ 
 world, and accordingly he was fo far from 
 ferving any temporal defigns by it, that he had 
 720 where to lay his head. Here is a glorious 
 example before us ! and O ! that we could i- 
 mitate our great mafter in this divine virtue, 
 who fays of himfelf, 1 feek not my own glor% 
 there is one that feeks and judgeth, meaning 
 the fearcher ©f hearts, who fees whither we 
 direft all our difcourfes, who alone can blefs 
 them with fuccefs here, and give them an e- 
 ternal reward of glory hereafter. 
 
 F I N I S. 
 
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