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<DATE>2013-02-13</DATE>
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<NAME>Olivia Bottum</NAME>
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<FRONT>
<DIV1 TYPE="title page">
<PB REF="1" MS="y">
<P>A SERMON AT THE Warwick-&s;hire MEETING, <HI>November</HI> 25, 1679. AT S. <HI>Mary-le-Bow</HI> in <HI>Cheap&s;ide, London.</HI></P>
<P>By <HI>William Ba&s;&s;et,</HI> Rector of <HI>Brinklow,</HI> in <HI>Warwick|&s;hire.</HI></P>
<P><HI>LONDON,</HI> Printed for <HI>T. Ba&s;&s;et,</HI> at the <HI>George</HI> near S. <HI>Dun|&s;tan</HI>'s Church in <HI>Fleet-&s;treet.</HI> 1679.</P>
</DIV1>
<DIV1 TYPE="dedication">
<PB REF="2" MS="y">
<PB REF="2">
<HEAD><HI>TO THE</HI> Right Wor&s;hipful Sir <HI>ROBERT VINER,</HI> Baronet, and Alderman of the City of <HI>Lon|don.</HI></HEAD>
<P>CErtainly this Meeting ju&s;tly claims a place among the con&s;iderable Benefits our Country doth enjoy, not only in regard of the corre&s;pondence the &s;everal members of it, that are removed to this City, hold one with another; but e&s;pecially that by this means &s;o many Plants are yearly removed from the barren parts of it to this richer Soil, where they are pruned and dre&s;&s;ed, and having depth and fatne&s;s of earth grow into Trees, that yield Profit and Beauty to the whole.</P>
<P>Nor is the advantage &s;mall to tho&s;e, who&s;e Lot doth not fall in this plea&s;ant place: &s;ince the Coun|try is yearly ea&s;ed of &s;o many, who, by rea&s;on of ill Circum&s;tances, would be rather a Burden, than advantage to their Neighbours; e&s;pecially tho&s;e places that have more Hands than Work; where Men &s;tand idle, perhaps, for no other rea&s;on, but becau&s;e <HI>none have hired them.</HI> And I have &s;ome|times known a Town at great expence, both of
<PB REF="3">time and Mony to keep out, it may be, &s;ome &s;in|gle per&s;on from being an Inhabitant, becau&s;e they had more than they could employ before. And where the younger do increa&s;e, the more ancient, while yet &s;erviceable, being left without employ, are nece&s;&s;arily &s;upported by the Contributions of the place. And in <HI>Corporations,</HI> and <HI>Market-towns,</HI> where &s;ome might have crept into little Trades, this is already divided into &s;o many hands, that (&s;ome few in a Town excepted) they have little el&s;e to do, but to open and &s;hut the Windows of their Shops, and when they have &s;hut, are &s;carce able to &s;et and keep them open. Whence we may take &s;ome mea&s;ures of the Benefit, the Country doth receive from this Company. For &s;hould they lay down &s;o good a Work, our poor, and therefore our payments would increa&s;e; more would die in|debted to the world, leave Charge behind them, and each way oppre&s;s the living: and the bu&s;ine&s;s of all private and publick Se&s;&s;ions would yearly increa&s;e.</P>
<P>Therefore certainly all the Inhabitants of that place are bound in point of policy, and rea&s;on, if not of duty too (according to their &s;everal Capa|cities) to encourage and maintain &s;o good a Work. E&s;pecially the <HI>Gentry,</HI> who&s;e Abilities, Diverti&s;e|ments, or other Concerns, calling them &s;o oft to
<PB REF="3">Town, give them &s;o fair an opportunity: e&s;peci|ally con&s;idering the&s;e Benefits reach even the <HI>high places</HI> them&s;elves are yet in. For <HI>Landlords thrive be&s;t, where Tenants pro&s;per.</HI> And <HI>Rents</HI> u&s;ually fall, where the poor, and therefore payments, do in|crea&s;e. I mu&s;t therefore impute it to the non-con|&s;ideration of the&s;e things, and perhaps, in &s;ome to the want of Generous and Publick Spirits, or at lea&s;t to the not kindling, tho&s;e Sparks of Virtue into a frame of Love, and Bounty, which (how|ever Titles go) are <HI>e&s;&s;ential to a Gentleman,</HI> that we are in this Affair &s;o far left by tho&s;e who&s;e pre|&s;ence would be an Honour to the Company, a Glory to the place of their Nativity, and would give new life and vigour to the bu&s;ine&s;s of this A&s;|&s;embly. <HI>Great Bodies move the le&s;&s;er.</HI> And good Leaders in that Contribution, which is not (as &s;ome &s;uppo&s;e) for the Stewards Pockets, but towards the Binding Children out to Trades, by their very example gain more from others, than the Sums them&s;elves do give can amount to. And the more is thus collected, the more the Stewards are incouraged to a free and large addition; that for their own Fame, and the Childrens Good they may place them to the better Trades, which often proves as great a kindne&s;s, as the &s;etting them out to any: for &s;ometimes ingenuity is forced to creep, when it might run high, if placed in a better Cir|cum&s;tance.
<PB REF="4">And &s;ince the want of publick Spi|rits prove a decay to a whole Society, to parti|cular Companies, and &s;maller Bodies; we are the more obliged, where we &s;ind them, to pay them due re&s;pects, and give a ju&s;t applau&s;e. And &s;ince <HI>&s;uch a &s;pirit</HI> appears &s;o eminently in your &s;elf, not only from your publick Works and Monuments in the City, and our County Town of <HI>Warwick,</HI> in which your name &s;hall live to future ages <HI>(He loves our nation, and hath built a &s;ynagogue)</HI> &amp;c. But al&s;o from the Incouragement you are plea&s;ed to give this charitable Work: in having formerly vouch&s;afed to be Steward of this Company; and in the Yearly Honour you do it by your pre&s;ence, not &s;uffering any bu&s;ine&s;s, no, not the Burden, as well as Honour, you &s;u&s;tain'd, when <HI>Lord Major</HI> of this City, to deliver you from it; I thought my &s;elf in duty bound, by this Dedication, to let you know the Honour and Re&s;pects our Country ows you, as well as him, who is</P>
<CLOSER><SIGNED>Your Wor&s;hips Humble Orator, And Servant, W. Ba&s;&s;et.</SIGNED></CLOSER>
</DIV1>
<DIV1 TYPE="dedication">
<PB REF="4">
<HEAD>TO <HI>Mr.</HI>
<LIST>
<ITEM>Richard Chandler,</ITEM>
<ITEM>Job Vere,</ITEM>
<ITEM>Thomas Gra&s;&s;ingham,</ITEM>
<ITEM>Henry Mar&s;hal,</ITEM>
<ITEM>John Skipwith,</ITEM>
<ITEM>William Brown,</ITEM>
<ITEM>George Shettleworth,</ITEM>
<ITEM>Richard Elborow.</ITEM>
</LIST> <HI>Stewards.</HI></HEAD>
<P>_WEll, your Charge and Trouble now is mostly over; but your Honour and Rewards, for having been Benefactors to your Coun|try, &s;till remain; and I hope, may out|live the Funerals of Time. For indeed you are able to give &s;o good an <HI>Account of your Steward&s;hip,</HI> that, as many as look upon this Meeting
<PB REF="5">of our Country-men, as an En&s;ample to all the other Counties of <HI>England,</HI> &s;o you are a fair Copy for all the follow|ing Stewards of the &s;ame Company to write after. And &s;uch have been your repeated kindne&s;&s;es to me, that I am bound to &s;ub&s;cribe my &s;elf</P>
<CLOSER><SIGNED>Your Obliged Country-man, And Servant, W. Ba&s;&s;et.</SIGNED></CLOSER>
</DIV1>
</FRONT>
<BODY>
<DIV1 TYPE="sermon">
<PB N="1" REF="5">
<HEAD>A SERMON PREACHED AT THE Warwick-&s;hire MEETING, <HI>November</HI> 25, 1679.</HEAD>
<EPIGRAPH>
<Q><BIBL><HI>ROM. 12.1.</HI></BIBL>
<P>I be&s;eech you, therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that ye pre&s;ent your bodies a living &s;acrifice, holy, accepta|ble unto God, which is your rea&s;onable &s;ervice.</P></Q>
</EPIGRAPH>
<P>IN the Foregoing Chapters the Apo&s;tle hath di&s;cour&s;ed &s;ome things, which the largene&s;s of our Subject will not &s;uffer us to look into: and from which the Text is a con|clu&s;ion, and for that rea&s;on is u&s;hered in with the Illative <HI>Therefore.</HI>]</P>
<P><HI>I be&s;eech you [therefore.]</HI></P>
<P>In the words them&s;elves we &s;hall ob&s;erve</P>
<P N="1"><PB N="2" REF="6"> 1. A kind and familiar compellation, <HI>Brethren.</HI></P>
<P N="2">2. An earne&s;t Supplication: I <HI>be&s;eech you.</HI></P>
<P N="3">3. A farther inforcement of the matter in hand: <HI>By the mer|cies of God.</HI></P>
<P><HI>I be&s;eech you, brethren, by the mercies of God.</HI></P>
<P N="4">4. The &s;ubject matter of this Di&s;cour&s;e, <HI>That ye pre&s;ent your bodies a living &s;acrifice, holy, acceptable to God.</HI> And</P>
<P N="5">5. The equity and meetne&s;s of the thing, <HI>Which is your rea|&s;onable &s;ervice.</HI></P>
<P><HI>I be&s;eech you, therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that ye pre&s;ent your bodies a living &s;acrifice, holy, acceptable to God, which is your rea&s;onable &s;ervice.</HI></P>
<P>I begin with the</P>
<P N="1">1. <HI>Brethren.</HI></P>
<P>We once all lay in that common matter, which <HI>Mo&s;es</HI> calls the void and formle&s;s earth, and others expre&s;s by their <HI>materia pri|ma;</HI> &s;ome by <GAP DESC="foreign">, and others by <GAP DESC="foreign">. Which though without form, was yet &s;u&s;ceptive of any the great Creator &s;hould plea&s;e to impre&s;s upon it. Out of this Infinite Power and Wi&s;dom did produce all earthly Beings, and gave them a Law and Power of propogating their &s;everal kinds. Whence all Mankind were taken out of the &s;ame common matter, had all the &s;ame Maker; for which rea&s;on the Poet calls them,
<Q>Chara Dei Soboles&mdash;</Q> <HI>The Off-&s;ping of God.</HI> And are all de&s;cended from the &s;ame common Parents, which are the fir&s;t, and mo&s;t general grounds of this Relation.</P>
<P>And when it plea&s;ed God by confu&s;ion of Languages (there|by turning &s;in into an univer&s;al Ble&s;&s;ing) to nece&s;&s;itate men to di|vide them&s;elves into many little Bodies, according to their &s;eve|ral Tongues, and &s;o to di&s;per&s;e them&s;elves over the face of the whole earth, that there might be the more room, incourage|ments and nece&s;&s;ity of Propagation; and that the &s;everal parts of the earth, by the indu&s;try of men, might communicate their good things one to another; whereupon mankind became diver&s;i|fied, as to Speech, Sentiments, Manners and Cu&s;toms of Life,
<PB N="3" REF="6">according to the &s;everal Climes they did inhabit, and other cir|cum&s;tances they were placed in; yet they of the &s;ame Body were knit together by a nearer Relation, than tho&s;e of different Societies.</P>
<P>And, as one &s;peaks,
<Q>Jam cuncti gens una &s;umus&mdash;</Q></P>
<P>Noting that a new and nearer Relation doth ari&s;e upon the u|nion of two different Nations, and therefore the &s;everal particu|lars of the &s;ame Nation are more nearly related, than tho&s;e of different Societies be.</P>
<P>And when the &s;ame Country upon certain occa&s;ions, and for divers rea&s;ons, hath fallen under &s;everal divi&s;ions, as <HI>Pari&s;hes, Tythingries, Hundreds</HI> and <HI>Shires,</HI> they of the &s;ame part are more nearly related, than tho&s;e of different Divi&s;ions. Nor doth a new, or nearer relation ari&s;e &s;olely from the place of our Birth, but of our education, from our &s;everal Callings, Trades and o|ther Circum&s;tances.</P>
<P>And if we look upon men as linked together in a Sacred Socie|ty, we have all <HI>one faith, one bapti&s;m, one hope, one God and Father of all:</HI> whence we are &s;aid to be <HI>Heirs of God,</HI> and <HI>Co-heirs with Chri&s;t.</HI> And thus con&s;idered, we are all under the &s;ame Head, make up one and the &s;ame Body, which is the Church; and are Members one of another. This is the be&s;t, and mo&s;t Honourable of all Relations; which the ancient Chri&s;tians were ready upon all oc|ca&s;ions to expre&s;s by the term of <HI>Brother</HI> and <HI>Si&s;ter.</HI> However of late it is fallen under reproach, and is &s;eldom u&s;ed, unle&s;s in Drollery, by rea&s;on it hath been &s;o horribly abu&s;ed by unrea&s;on|able pretenders to Purity, and is made as a Characteri&s;tical dif|ference, whereby to di&s;tingui&s;h different Parties and Factions.</P>
<P>So various and manifold are the Grounds and Rea&s;ons of this Relation, that there are no men, but what upon &s;ome accounts or other are Brethren. And by how many the more ways we are &s;o related, by &s;o many the more indearments we have one to a|nother, and obligations to mutual love and kindne&s;s.</P>
<P>This term hath been &s;ometimes u&s;ed, not only to a good end, but with good &s;ucce&s;s too. For when the <HI>Romans</HI> were in Mu|tiny,
<PB N="4" REF="7">and ready to tumult, they were all appea&s;ed and hu&s;hed into &s;ilence, by this one word <HI>Quirites,</HI> by which they were re|minded they were all of the &s;ame Country, and had the &s;ame Captain, and Founder.</P>
<P>To the like purpo&s;e, though not with like &s;ucce&s;s, did <HI>Mo&s;es</HI> wage it, when he &s;aw two Jews, Men of the &s;ame Nation, and &s;ame Religion contending together, <HI>Act.</HI> 7.26. <HI>Sirs, ye are bre|thren, why do ye wrong one to another?</HI></P>
<P>Sometimes it is u&s;ed to u&s;her in a reproof, which otherwi&s;e might be apt to move &s;ome unruly pa&s;&s;ions, <HI>Jam.</HI> 1.16. <HI>Do not err, my beloved brethren.</HI></P>
<P>And otherwhiles to &s;weeten and &s;mooth men into a more ea&s;ie and ready reception of &s;ome important duty; which is the de&s;ign and bu&s;ine&s;s of it in the Text,</P>
<P><HI>I be&s;eech you, brethren,&mdash; that ye pre&s;ent your bodies,</HI> &amp;c.</P>
<P>Whence we come to the &s;econd part of the Text,</P>
<P><HI>I be&s;eech you.</HI></P>
<P>S. <HI>Paul</HI> was one of the greate&s;t of the Apo&s;tles, in regard of his extraordinary, and immediate Call from Heaven, his Suf|ferings, his Labours, his Revelations, and his Learning, having been brought up at the Feet of <HI>Gamaliel,</HI> and skilled in all the Learning of the <HI>Jews.</HI> Yet writing to the <HI>Romans,</HI> who were but newly converted from Heatheni&s;m; and among&s;t whom there were many weak Chri&s;tians, who were &s;till intangled in the Rudiments of the World, and were &s;ubject to Ordinances: being &s;o far from u&s;ing their liberty, as a Cloak and Plea for Sin, as the manner of &s;ome is, that they &s;uffered much for not under|&s;tanding it, yet appears as their humble Supplicant,</P>
<P><HI>I be&s;eech you.</HI></P>
<P>Which great conde&s;cen&s;ion him&s;elf takes notice of to the <HI>Co|rinthians,</HI> 2. <HI>Ep.</HI> 10.11. <HI>I Paul my &s;elf be&s;eech you.</HI> Which form of &s;peech is never u&s;ed, unle&s;s in the&s;e, and &s;uch like Ca|&s;es.</P>
<P N="1">1. To expre&s;s the vehemency of the &s;peaker, and to &s;hew the whole Soul is taken up, and filled with an earne&s;t de&s;ire of &s;uc|ceeding in the affair before him. No Rhetorick &s;o winning as &s;uch a pa&s;&s;ionate and courtly in&s;inuation, which &s;eems enough to melt down the affections, and form them to the mold, and me|thods of &s;uch an Orator.</P>
<P N="2"><PB N="5" REF="7"> 2. When the truth propo&s;ed, or duty pre&s;&s;ed upon us, is of grand importance and concern, as <HI>Ephe&s;</HI> 4.1. <HI>I be&s;eech you, that ye walk worthy of the vocation wherewith ye are called.</HI> The matter of which exhortation compri&s;es all the Duties of Chri&s;tian Religion; and therefore ju&s;tly calls for &s;o earne&s;t an importunity. For, as it is matter of prudence, as well as duty, to proportion our love, de&s;ire, and hope, according to the mea&s;ures of good, that are in the things to which they are terminated; &s;o it is all the rea&s;on in the world, that the Orator and Divine &s;hould &s;uit his pains to the nature of the Subject: which is but like the giving a price according to the u&s;efulne&s;s and worth of the thing pur|cha&s;ed. And indeed Nature and Revelation &s;omewhat nece&s;&s;i|tate to do &s;o. For the le&s;s things concern us, the le&s;s capable they are of truth: as may be in&s;tanced in the plurality of worlds, the motion of the earth, the rea&s;on of the ebbing and flowing of the Sea, and the ri&s;e of the River <HI>Nilus:</HI> and the remoter things are from the life, and e&s;&s;ence of Religion, &s;till the more contro|ver&s;ial, as appears from the manner of the traduction of Original Sin, the perpetual Virginity of the ble&s;&s;ed <HI>Mary,</HI> &amp;c. In which kind of points a man cannot be mighty earne&s;t in pre&s;&s;ing your belief, becau&s;e the nature of the Subject will bear but little, if a|ny certainty or weight, But where things are of &s;ome great im|portance, there nature is more plain and &s;atisfactory, and &s;o is Revelation too: for whatever is ab&s;olutely nece&s;&s;ary to Salvation, whether it be matter of faith or practi&s;e, is &s;uited to the mode of all capacities. The&s;e &s;o ea&s;ily appear plain and rea&s;onable, and the inducements to them &s;o &s;trong and weighty, that they both afford good ground for importunity; and likewi&s;e &s;o warm the affections, and move the Speaker, that he is u&s;ually clo&s;e and pre&s;&s;ing. Therefore when the Apo&s;tle is putting us upon this great and rea&s;onable part of our Religion, <HI>viz.</HI> the pre&s;enting our Bodies a Sacrifice to God, he both commands and courts us to it:</P>
<P><HI>I be&s;eech you, that ye pre&s;ent your bodies,</HI> &amp;c.</P>
<P N="3">3. It may be further u&s;ed, where men are not ea&s;ily brought to comply with the matter propo&s;ed.</P>
<P>There are &s;ome things indeed &s;o readily received, and &s;o tena|ciou&s;ly held by many men, that &s;carce any thing is able to check
<PB N="6" REF="8">their belief, or re&s;train from the practice of them, and &s;uch be the darling conceits of the lawfulne&s;s of re&s;i&s;ting the lawful Ma|gi&s;trate, and of &s;eeking our own pre&s;ervation in forbidden, and therefore in unlawful ways: which mu&s;t be accounted to proceed from their agreeablene&s;s to vile affections, and the debaucheries of nature. Whereas the cleare&s;t truths and indi&s;pen&s;able duties, though indeed the more they are &s;o, the more agreeable they be to natural light, and the rea&s;ons of men, as the re&s;i&s;ting and mor|tifying our own corruptions, yet &s;till they are not &s;o ea&s;ily re|ceived, and reduced to practice. But we have more need of un|deniable arguments, and an importunate zeal to convince and per&s;wade their reception, than others have to put off their fal&s;e and counterfeit Wares. The rea&s;on of which is, the&s;e &s;uit with evil inclinations, and therefore are ea&s;ily received: while they are again&s;t, and for that rea&s;on oppo&s;ed by natural corruptions; in the one, that enemy of all good helps forward, in the other, he en|deavours to hinder us either in the whole, or in part; or el&s;e in the motive or end of our faith, or action. Therefore the Apo|&s;tle might the more earne&s;tly pre&s;s us to the pre&s;enting our Bodies, that by &s;uch means he might overcome all oppo&s;itions, and there|upon per&s;wade men to captivate their thoughts to the belief, and &s;ubmit them&s;elves to the practice of &s;o great a Duty.</P>
<P><HI>I be&s;eech you, brethren.</HI></P>
<P>And le&s;t this &s;hould be too little, he adds,</P>
<P N="4">4. A further inforcement of the &s;ame thing:</P>
<P><HI>By the mercies of God.</HI></P>
<P><HI>I be&s;eech you, brethren, by the mercies of God.</HI></P>
<P>By which he means all tho&s;e things, that the Ancients com|pri&s;ed under tho&s;e three Heads:
<LIST>
<ITEM>1. The Goods of Fortune, as our E&s;tates and Enjoyments in the world, which make our lives a ble&s;&s;ing, and without which to live, would be at pre&s;ent to be mi&s;erable.</ITEM>
<ITEM>2. The Goods of the Body, as Health, Strength, Perfection, and due proportion of Parts.</ITEM>
<ITEM>3. The Goods of the Mind, as the u&s;e of all our Faculties, whereby we are able to rea&s;on, di&s;cour&s;e and di&s;tingui&s;h between good and evil, and make provi&s;ion again&s;t pre&s;ent and future Exigencies. All which are &s;o valuable, we know not what price
<PB N="7" REF="8">to &s;et upon them; and the want of any one of them would ne|ce&s;&s;arily infer the pre&s;ence of &s;ome great evil.</ITEM>
</LIST></P>
<P>Nay, the&s;e Mercies include all tho&s;e good and perfect gifts, which come down from the Father of Lights; the Redemption of the World, and that by a price of infinite value, as the giving his Son, and that to all the &s;inle&s;s infirmities of humane nature, which &s;peaks the purcha&s;e, the ju&s;t admiration of Men and An|gels: that Omnipotency it &s;elf &s;hould conde&s;cend to be carried in the Arms of a feeble Woman! That he, who &s;ate on the Throne of Heaven, &s;hould vouch&s;afe to lie in a dirty Manger! That he, whom the Heaven of Heavens cannot contain, &s;hould be wrapt up in Swadling Cloaths! That he, who gave life and being to all things, &s;hould lay down his life for the wor&s;t of Sinners! That Love it &s;elf &s;hould &s;it on a Thorny Bough, dying even for tho&s;e that killed it! and to perfect the wonder, that this mu&s;t be a death the mo&s;t painful and ignominious in the world! That he &s;hould ever live, as the Scripture &s;peaks, to make interce&s;&s;ion for us, as if it was the &s;ole end of his life to plead <HI>our</HI> Cau&s;e in Hea|ven!</P>
<P>And when after all we have lived un&s;uitable to his Mercies, that he &s;hould yet continue the means of Grace, and Tenders of Sal|vation, and pur&s;ue us with all the glorious propo&s;als of Bli&s;s and Happine&s;s! That he &s;hould &s;trive with us by natural con&s;cience, the motions and whi&s;pers of the ble&s;&s;ed Spirit, as if he re&s;olved to take no denyal, but would even force him&s;elf, and eternal Glories on us: the&s;e are Mercies of the greate&s;t magnitude, the mo&s;t winning endearments that love and kindne&s;s can lay upon us! Obligations that &s;hould make us plyable to all the &s;ignifications of the Divine Will, and to turn our hands and hearts to every duty; e&s;pecially con&s;idering the great de&s;ign of them is, both to oblige, and al&s;o to inable us to a pious, and an holy life, for which cau&s;e the Apo&s;tle argues from them to the duty before us.</P>
<P><HI>I be&s;eech you by the mercies of God, that ye pre&s;ent your bodies,</HI> &amp;c. which is the fourth part of the Text, <HI>viz.</HI> the &s;ubject of the Di&s;cour&s;e.</P>
<P><HI>That ye pre&s;ent your bodies a living &s;acrifice, holy, acceptable to God.</HI></P>
<P>This is an allu&s;ion to the Law of Sacrifices under the <HI>Mo&s;aick</HI>
<PB N="8" REF="9">Di&s;pen&s;ation, of which we &s;hall ob&s;erve &s;ome few things, that we may the better under&s;tand this Phra&s;e, and the Duties it re|quires of us, as</P>
<P N="1">1. The perfection of tho&s;e things that were to be offered to God, they mu&s;t be the be&s;t of their kind: <HI>Levit.</HI> 22.19, 20, 21. <HI>Ye &s;hall offer a male [without blemi&s;h] of the beeves, and of the &s;heep, and of the goats. But what&s;oever hath a blemi&s;h, that &s;hall ye not offer, for it &s;hall not be acceptable for you.</HI> And <HI>Mal.</HI> 1.14. God lays a cur&s;e upon him, that &s;hall pre&s;ume to offer him a <HI>cor|rupt thing.</HI></P>
<P>Now as the&s;e Sacrifices were typical of &s;omething that was to be under the Go&s;pel, <HI>viz.</HI> that immaculate Sacrifice of the ble&s;|&s;ed Je&s;us, which he was once to make for our Sins, whence he is called the Lamb of God, &s;lain from the foundation of the World. So the perfection of them taught the purity, which God requi|red of them that &s;hould offer them&s;elves unto him under each Di|&s;pen&s;ation. That God, who would not allow of imperfections in the things offered, would by no means &s;uffer the blemi&s;hes of Sin in the per&s;ons offering. For this is a greater provocation than the other, for that teaches the nece&s;&s;ity of this: therefore as &s;uch Sacrifices were rejected, &s;o were &s;uch Sacrificers too. And &s;ome|times the &s;potle&s;s Offering was abhorred for the &s;pots of him that offered it: <HI>I&s;ai.</HI> 1.11. to ver&s;. 16. <HI>To what purpo&s;e is the multitude of your &s;acrifices to me? &s;aith the Lord. I am full of the burnt-offerings of rams, and the fat of fed bea&s;ts, I delight not in the blood of bullocks, or of lambs, or of he-goats. Bring no more vain oblations, incen&s;e is an abomination,</HI> &amp;c. The rea&s;on of which is <HI>ver&s;.</HI> 15. <HI>Your hands are full of blood.</HI></P>
<P>Now by this allu&s;ion the Apo&s;tle &s;hews that the Sacrifices under the Go&s;pel mu&s;t be pure, which he expre&s;&s;es by that word <HI>holy;</HI> and becau&s;e our Sacrifices now mu&s;t be our per&s;ons, and not our bea&s;ts, he adds a <HI>living &s;acrifice,</HI> in oppo&s;ition to the dead ones under the Law; therefore it is plain, that he that comes unto God, mu&s;t come with a Con&s;cience purged from dead works, and refi|ned, as far as is po&s;&s;ible, from all the dro&s;s and imperfections of corrupted nature. The nece&s;&s;ity of which we are &s;ometimes taught by more proper expre&s;&s;ions, 2 <HI>Cor</HI> 7.1. <HI>Let us clean&s;e our &s;elves from all filthine&s;s of fle&s;h and &s;pirit; perfecting Holine&s;s.</HI></P>
<PB N="9" REF="9">
<P> Thus we mu&s;t imitate that fir&s;t good, and reach after &s;ome participations of the Divine Nature; becoming <HI>holy as the Lord our God is holy:</HI> and <HI>perfect even as our Father which is in Heaven is perfect.</HI> That &s;o there may be &s;ome congruity and &s;uitablene&s;s between God and tho&s;e that wor&s;hip him; and indeed this is the great condition of finding acceptance: for as God would not accept of a blemi&s;hed Sacrifice, &s;o the Text expre&s;ly declares, that we mu&s;t pre&s;ent our &s;elves a Sacrifice <HI>holy,</HI> if ever we mean to be <HI>acceptable</HI> to him.</P>
<P><HI>That ye pre&s;ent your bodies a living &s;acrifice, holy, accepta|ble to God.</HI></P>
<P N="2">2. The&s;e Sacrifices were made, and offered to God, which was part of the Divine Wor&s;hip. And this <HI>viz. Wor|&s;hip</HI> is a &s;tanding and perpetual Duty.</P>
<P>Though the <HI>Modus</HI> be changed, yet the thing &s;till re|mains.</P>
<P>Therefore in that very place where our Saviour rejects the Temple, and the Service peculiar to it, he yet retains Wor&s;hip &s;till, and thereby makes it a Go&s;pel-duty; <HI>Joh.</HI> 4.23. The true <HI>Wor&s;hipers</HI> &s;hall <HI>wor&s;hip.</HI> And the Father &s;eeks &s;uch to <HI>wor&s;hip</HI> him. So S. <HI>Paul,</HI> Tit. 2.12. compri&s;es all Religion under the&s;e three Heads, <HI>viz.</HI></P>
<P N="1">1. <HI>Sobriety,</HI> which includes the Duties we owe to our &s;elves, and forbids all intemperance and exce&s;s.</P>
<P N="2">2. <HI>Righteou&s;ne&s;s,</HI> which contains all the Offices we owe to others, and is a doing to all men, as we would all men &s;hould do to us. And</P>
<P N="3">3. <HI>Godline&s;s,</HI> which compri&s;es the &s;everal Duties we owe immediately to God, whereof <HI>Adoration</HI> or <HI>Wor&s;hip</HI> is one, in the judgment of the Gentile World, who ever paid the&s;e Tributes of Honour to the Deity.</P>
<P>Therefore when <HI>Epicurus,</HI> by denying Divine Providence, took the ready cour&s;e to rob God of his Wor&s;hip, he was char|ged by others, and the better of the Philo&s;ophers, <HI>tollere Deos,</HI>
<PB N="10" REF="10">in effect to deny his very exi&s;tence, and run the world into right down Athei&s;m.</P>
<P>And that Command that prohibits the wor&s;hip of Gra|ven Images, doth yet retain this wor&s;hip as proper, and pe|culiar to the true God. For as God is the mo&s;t excellent of all beings, &s;o he will have &s;omething re&s;erved for him&s;elf, which no creature &s;hall &s;hare with him in, and this is e&s;pe|cially Wor&s;hip which is forbid to the creature, for this very rea&s;on, that it is due to God only, and that both by virtue of Precept and Eminency.</P>
<P>Which thing is here expre&s;&s;ed by <HI>pre&s;enting,</HI> that ye <HI>pre|&s;ent</HI> your bodies, <HI>viz.</HI> in a way of Adoration and Wor|&s;hip.</P>
<P>That Religion then mu&s;t needs be lame and imperfect, which re&s;ts in &s;ome moral Virtues, but is deficient in this great point, that is willing to appear blamele&s;s to the world, but matters not by Divine Wor&s;hip to give Prai&s;e and Glory to the Deity. For as it was not &s;ufficient to the Jews to pre|pare their Sacrifices, but not to offer them: &s;o neither is it &s;ufficient for us to make our bodies a living Sacrifice, and ne|ver pre&s;ent them, as &s;uch, before God.</P>
<P>The Metaphor mu&s;t hold in the&s;e two points, el&s;e it would have been improperly u&s;ed, and would reach but one part of that which other Texts in the New Te&s;tament make our du|ty: and the word <HI>[Pre&s;ent]</HI> mu&s;t be of no u&s;e and &s;ignifi|cation. Nay, a thing is not properly and &s;trictly a Sacrifice till it be offered, or at lea&s;t in offering: before, when it is prepared, it is but <HI>for</HI> a Sacrifice, it is the offering that makes it &s;uch.</P>
<P>Therefore by <HI>pre&s;enting our bodies a &s;acrifice,</HI> we are mo&s;t certainly and clearly put upon the offering them to God in a way of wor&s;hip: for &s;o Sacrifices were.</P>
<P>And indeed one great end of Religion is to give Prai&s;e and Glory to God, which is done very much, and, perhaps, in
<PB N="11" REF="10">nothing better than by wor&s;hip; for in the&s;e very acts we own him the greate&s;t, and be&s;t of all Beings; and our &s;elves but poor and dependent creatures.</P>
<P>God is never more magnified by men, than when they fall down and wor&s;hip him. Therefore as the wor&s;hiping the Creature is &s;aid to be a <HI>giving God's glory to another, and his prai&s;e to graven Images;</HI> I&s;a. 42.8. So the not wor&s;hiping mu&s;t needs be a with-holding from, or a denying him the &s;ame Prai&s;e and Glory. Therefore of what civil behaviour, what &s;ober conver&s;ation, or how ju&s;t &s;oever men may be in their Societies and Commerce, yet if they do not pre&s;ent their bodies a living Sacrifice to God, they are no Wor&s;hipers, and therefore wanting in one of the be&s;t parts, and main ends of all Religion.</P>
<P N="3">3. Sacrifices were not only offered, but in a <HI>publick</HI> place and manner: <HI>Deut.</HI> 16.5, 6. <HI>Thou may&s;t not &s;acrifice the Pa&s;sover within any of thy gates, which the Lord thy God giveth thee. But at the place which the Lord thy God &s;hall chu&s;e to place his name in.</HI> Levit. 13.3, 4. <HI>What&s;oever man,</HI> &amp;c. <HI>that kills an ox, or lamb, or goat,</HI> &amp;c. <HI>and brings it not to the door of the Ta|bernacle of the congregation, to offer an offering to the Lord, before the tabernacle of the Lord, blood &s;hall be imputed to that man.</HI> And Deut. 12.17, 18. <HI>The tithe of corn, wine, oil, the fir&s;tlings of the herd, and of the flock, vows, free-will-offerings, and heave-offerings, were to be eaten before the Lord, in the place which the Lord &s;hould chu&s;e.</HI></P>
<P>And though private Wor&s;hip was required of the Jew, as well as of the Chri&s;tian; yet the Old Te&s;tament, e&s;pecially the P&s;alms, do &s;o far prefer the publick before private wor|&s;hip, that a man would be almo&s;t apt to think all wor&s;hip confined to this. For though <HI>David,</HI> when driven to and fro by <HI>Saul,</HI> and whil&s;t among the Phili&s;tines, had opportu|nity of private Adoration, and &s;ecret Devotions, yet &s;peaks
<PB N="12" REF="11">of him&s;elf, as driven from the pre&s;ence of God, when dri|ven from his Hou&s;e and publick Wor&s;hip: <HI>P&s;al.</HI> 84.1, 2. <HI>How amiable are thy tabernacles, O Lord of Ho&s;ts! My &s;oul longs, yea even faints for the courts of the Lord: my heart and my fle&s;h cry out for the living God.</HI> Ver&s;e 3 he &s;peaks the Swallow more happy than him&s;elf, in that, while he is ab|&s;ent, &s;he is &s;uffered to vi&s;it, and <HI>build her ne&s;t about the altars.</HI> P&s;al. 42.1, 2. <HI>As the hart panteth after the water-brooks, &s;o pants my &s;oul after thee, O God: When &s;hall I come and appear before God!</HI> Now the P&s;almi&s;t very well knew, he was al|ways in the Divine Pre&s;ence; and therefore <HI>P&s;al.</HI> 139.8. to <HI>Ver&s;e</HI> 13. proves by an induction of particulars, that there is no place of concealment from him; not in Heaven, nor in Hell; not in the utmo&s;t parts of the Sea, nor in the darke&s;t night; therefore <HI>ver&s;e</HI> 7. <HI>Whither &s;hall I flee from thy pre|&s;ence?</HI></P>
<P>Which being propo&s;ed by way of que&s;tion, implies the &s;tronger Negation.</P>
<P>Therefore if we will make &s;en&s;e of tho&s;e places, we mu&s;t under&s;tand the P&s;al. as reaching after a more than ordinary pre&s;ence, which is the pre&s;ence of God in places of publick wor&s;hip, which all &s;incere wor&s;hipers do enjoy. By which kind of &s;peeches he &s;eems &s;o to value the pre&s;ence of God in his publick wor&s;hip, that he looks upon all things, without this to be worth nothing. And certainly where there is a &s;piritual life wrought in us, it will di&s;cover it &s;elf by reaching after the utmo&s;t participations of divine things.</P>
<P>And the Go&s;pel however a furtherer of private devotions, yet doth in an e&s;pecial manner command and incourage a publick Service; as by the example of the Apo&s;tles, which as a tacite precept requires the like of us. To which end we find &s;ometimes the place of their a&s;&s;embling recorded, <HI>Act.</HI> 1.13, 14. <HI>In an upper room they continued with one ac|cord in prayer and &s;upplication.</HI> And otherwiles the time is
<PB N="13" REF="11">mentioned, <HI>Joh.</HI> 20.26. <HI>After eight days the di&s;ciples again were within</HI> &mdash; which number includes two Sundays, according to a computation then in u&s;e, which was to take in the day from which they began their account, thereby putting two Sundays into one week. And when Chri&s;tians began to grow cool, and negligent in the publick pre&s;enting their Bodies, the Author to the <HI>Heb.</HI> 10.25. both reproves this growing evil, and charges others to avoid it, <HI>not for&s;aking the a&s;&s;embling your &s;elves together; as the manner of &s;ome is.</HI> And no wonder the Scripture is &s;o round in this matter, &s;ince the neglect of publick, mo&s;t certainly draws after it the neglect of all private duties; therefore tho&s;e that excu&s;e their not frequenting publick Ordinances by a pretence of &s;erving God at home, are like tho&s;e that will have every day a Sabbath, till at la&s;t they keep none at all.</P>
<P>And good rea&s;on private devotions &s;hould give way to publick &s;ervices, becau&s;e the&s;e are the mo&s;t ordinary, and beaten road to Heaven, and a more u&s;ual conveyance of Grace, than other Performances. For <HI>Faith</HI> is &s;aid to come by <HI>hearing,</HI> and this hearing &s;uch as is from Preaching. <HI>How &s;hall they hear without a Preacher,</HI> Rom. Chri&s;t appeared to the fir&s;t Chri&s;tians, when a&s;&s;embled together; <HI>Joh.</HI> 20.26. The Holy Gho&s;t de&s;cended upon them, when <HI>met together with one accord in one place;</HI> Act. 2. And our Saviour promi&s;es, <HI>Matth.</HI> 18.20. that when <HI>two or three are met together in his name, he will be in the mid&s;t of them.</HI> Which mu&s;t be un|der&s;tood in a more peculiar and e&s;pecial manner, than by his e&s;&s;ential pre&s;ence, in regard of which he is at all times pre&s;ent with all his Creatures.</P>
<P>And no wonder this hath the greater ble&s;&s;ing, &s;ince we do in this more than any other way, make a vi&s;ible profe&s;&s;ion, and thereby give more prai&s;e and glory to God than in pri|vate, and un&s;een &s;ervices.</P>
<PB N="14" REF="12">
<P> Therefore as God hath &s;o entwi&s;ted his Honour, and our happine&s;s together, that it is impo&s;&s;ible to &s;eparate them, for the &s;ame Acts do both: &s;o tho&s;e acts that mo&s;t advance his Glory, u&s;ually tend mo&s;t to the advantage of him that doth them.</P>
<P>Whence the Apo&s;tle &s;eeing the&s;e two ends be&s;t attainable by a publick wor&s;hip, doth pre&s;s us to <HI>pre&s;ent our bodies a living &s;acrifice,</HI> and therefore to pre&s;ent them in that way that Sacrifices were offered, which was in the mo&s;t &s;olemn, and publick manner.</P>
<P N="4">4. The Text fixes this Wor&s;hip on the Body, <HI>That ye pre|&s;ent your Bodies.</HI> Which by a <HI>Synechdoche partis pro toto,</HI> is put for the whole man: That ye pre&s;ent your &s;elves.</P>
<P>Where ob&s;erve</P>
<P><HI>That the Body is engaged in this work.</HI></P>
<P>Though indeed there is no Text that doth expre&s;ly ex|clude it, yet becau&s;e there is one that doth not <HI>in terminis</HI> include the Body, as <HI>John</HI> 4.23 <HI>The true wor&s;hipers &s;hall wor|&s;hip in &s;pirit, and in truth,</HI></P>
<P>Therefore &s;ome will have the Soul alone concerned, and not the Body at all in Divine Wor&s;hip.</P>
<P>But as <HI>out of the fulne&s;s of the heart the mouth &s;peaks:</HI> &s;o bo|dily wor&s;hip is in, and flows from that of the &s;pirit: nothing being more natural than outwardly to expre&s;s our inward &s;en|timents; and e&s;pecially the awfulne&s;s we have of the Deity. In mo&s;t ordinary ca&s;es it is judged Hypocri&s;ie to do other|wi&s;e, and in this it cannot be without &s;ome violence offer|ed to our &s;elves: for it is certainly contrary to the rea&s;ons and experience of all ob&s;erving men, that when we come to the place and Offices of a publick Wor&s;hip, men &s;hould have any due and &s;uitable thoughts of the pre&s;ence they come
<PB N="15" REF="12">before, and not expre&s;s the &s;ame in outward ge&s;tures and behaviour. I am &s;ure none will believe that man hath any internal or mental reverence for his Superiours, who, when in their pre&s;ence, doth not outwardly expre&s;s the &s;ame. For we mea&s;ure the thoughts by the actions, and gue&s;s at the Soul by the Body.</P>
<P>Much more mu&s;t we think thus in the ca&s;e before us; for God being the greate&s;t, and mo&s;t excellent of all beings, if we have worthy thoughts of him, the mind is &s;o &s;truck, and the &s;oul receives &s;uch deep impre&s;&s;ions, that we much more nece&s;&s;arily in outward ge&s;tures di&s;cover the awful and reve|rend thoughts, we have of the Deity, than we do our re|&s;pects to Superiors, who, being but fellow-creatures, differ from us, not in infinite, as God doth, but in &s;ome few and little di&s;tances: and doubtle&s;s our Saviour requiring a &s;piri|tual wor&s;hip, doth as much intend that of the Body too, as tho&s;e Scriptures mean &s;o many <HI>per&s;ons</HI> that &s;peak only of &s;o many <HI>&s;ouls,</HI> Gen. 12.5. <HI>And Abraham took Sarai his wife,</HI> &amp;c. <HI>and all the Souls they had gotten,</HI> &amp;c.</P>
<P>And it &s;eems very ob&s;ervable, that when men once ex|clude the reverence of the Body, they quickly lo&s;e that of the Soul too: as appears from &s;uch mens expre&s;&s;ions, who make their prayers familiar di&s;cour&s;es with God Almighty, which mu&s;t proceed from want of due thoughts of God, whereupon they make them&s;elves too much like him; or him too much like them&s;elves.</P>
<P>Neither is it any wonder that our Saviour expre&s;ly re|quires a &s;piritual wor&s;hip, rather than a bodily. Becau&s;e</P>
<P N="1">1. This is the greater, and carries the other along with it: whereas that is the le&s;s, and may be, becau&s;e it &s;ometimes is without this.</P>
<P N="2"><PB N="16" REF="13"> 2. Chri&s;t was here nulling the <HI>Mo&s;aick</HI> Di&s;pen&s;ation, which was called a <HI>Carnal Command</HI> Heb. 7.16. the rea&s;on of which we find <HI>Ch.</HI> 9, 10. becau&s;e <HI>it &s;tood in meats and drinks and divers wa&s;hings, and carnal ordinances impo&s;ed upon them.</HI></P>
<P>Therefore being now to bring in a wor&s;hip which re&s;ted not &s;o much in bodily Exerci&s;es, it was mo&s;t proper and &s;ub|&s;ervient to this pre&s;ent de&s;ign, to call it a &s;piritual wor&s;hip, not only becau&s;e the denomination is now taken from the major part; but al&s;o that men might hereby be prepared by taking off their minds from tho&s;e carnal Ordinances, to clo&s;e with the propo&s;als of a more &s;piritual Law.</P>
<P>But yet this Text cannot in rea&s;on be &s;uppo&s;ed to exclude the body: becau&s;e <GAP DESC="foreign">, from whence <GAP DESC="foreign">, and <GAP DESC="foreign">, Wor&s;hipers, and &s;hall wor&s;hip, do come, &s;ig|nifies to ki&s;s, which implies an act of the Body; and the <HI>Septuagint</HI> u&s;es the &s;ame word to expre&s;s a wor&s;hip, which was for the mo&s;t part bodily, <HI>viz.</HI> that of <HI>Baal,</HI> 1 King. 19.18. <HI>I have left me &s;even thou&s;and in I&s;rael, all the knees which have not bowed to Baal, and every mouth,</HI> <GAP DESC="foreign">, <HI>that hath not ki&s;&s;ed,</HI> that is, that hath not wor&s;hiped him; and why the &s;ame word &s;hould in one place &s;ignifie a wor&s;hip, which is mo&s;tly bodily: and in the other place, <HI>viz.</HI> this of S. <HI>John,</HI> &s;hould &s;ignifie a wor&s;hip purely &s;piritual, or exclu&s;ive of the Body, I do not yet under|&s;tand.</P>
<P>But it is a common rule in expounding Scripture, that that cannot be the meaning of one Text, which contradicts a|nother, and &s;uch is this &s;en&s;e which excludes the Body from acts of wor&s;hip. For in <HI>Exod.</HI> 20.5. <HI>Bowing down</HI> the Bo|dy being the highe&s;t expre&s;&s;ion of our inward reverence; and therefore meete&s;t for the wor&s;hip of the great God, is
<PB N="17" REF="13">made an act of Divine Wor&s;hip, and for that very rea&s;on is forbid to be paid to the creatures, as repre&s;entations of the Deity. Therefore if we mu&s;t not bow down to the true God, then we may bow down to Graven Images: and con|trariwi&s;e, if we mu&s;t not bow down to Graven Images, then we mu&s;t bow down to the true God; and the rea&s;on is, becau&s;e it is forbid to be paid to the one, upon this very ac|count, that it is re&s;erved as proper, and peculiar to the other; and therefore &s;o long as it is forbid to be given to Images, &s;o long it remains a debt to God, which is for ever, this Com|mand being moral, and con&s;equently perpetually obliging.</P>
<P>It mu&s;t needs therefore be, that tho&s;e men who bow down to neither, as they are no Idolaters, &s;o they are no Wor|&s;hipers, and becau&s;e they would not be Redundants, will therefore be Defectives in their Religion. From this precept have flowed tho&s;e Exhortations, <HI>P&s;al.</HI> 95.6. <HI>O come, let us wor&s;hip, and fall down, and kneel before the Lord our maker.</HI> Which are no parts of the Ceremonial Law, but &s;treams from this Fountain.</P>
<P>And &s;ince God made, redeemed, and promi&s;ed rewards to the Body, as well as the Soul, it is all the rea&s;on in the world he &s;hould be wor&s;hiped by both: from which Topicks that great Apo&s;tle argues, 1 <HI>Cor.</HI> 6.20. <HI>Ye are bought with a price, therefore glorifie God in your body, and your &s;pirit, which are Gods.</HI></P>
<P>Whence we proceed to the fifth part of the Text, <HI>viz.</HI> the meetne&s;s and equity of the thing,</P>
<P><HI>It is your rea&s;onable &s;ervice.</HI></P>
<P><HI>That ye pre&s;ent your bodies a living &s;acrifice, holy, accepta|ble to God,</HI></P>
<P><HI>Which is your rea&s;onable &s;ervice.</HI></P>
<P>That is, a Service agreeable to the rea&s;ons of men, and dictates of nature, ab&s;tracting from her Corruptions.</P>
<PB N="18" REF="14">
<P> And indeed it mu&s;t needs be &s;o, becau&s;e it is a part of the natural Law. For as <HI>Cicero</HI> &s;aith, <HI>con&s;en&s;io omnium gentium lex naturae putanda e&s;t. The con&s;ent of all Nations in any one thing mu&s;t be reputed the law of nature.</HI> And truly as what nature teaches, mu&s;t needs be known, and &s;pread as far as humane nature it &s;elf: &s;o when we find all Nations agreeing in any one thing, we cannot in rea&s;on a&s;&s;ign any other teach|er of that thing but the &s;ame nature.</P>
<P>Now Jew and Gentile, Greek and Barbarian, did all a|gree in this, according to their &s;everal Modes and Capaci|ties, that it is a mo&s;t meet and rea&s;onable thing, that we &s;hould <HI>pre&s;ent our bodies a living &s;acrifice to God.</HI> Whence they had their Temples, their Prie&s;ts and Sacreds. And in their moral Di&s;cour&s;es, they taught the nece&s;&s;ity and way of rooting out Vice, and acquiring Virtue, in order to their making them&s;elves <HI>holy and acceptable to God.</HI></P>
<P>Neither can any think me too daring in this part of my Di&s;cour&s;e, that con&s;iders that great and learned men hold there is nothing purely po&s;itive in the Go&s;pel, but the two Sacraments; and &s;ome think the&s;e in part founded on nature, and rea&s;on too: becau&s;e they find &s;ome &s;hadows and foot|&s;teps of them in Gentile Writings, as Purification by Wa|ter, and this before <HI>Homer,</HI> or at lea&s;t by him mentioned; and their making Leagues <HI>inter vinum &amp; epulas,</HI> with eat|ing and drinking.</P>
<P>Though indeed &s;ome men are &s;o fan&s;iful, that if they per|ceive any the lea&s;t likene&s;s between the Notions and Cu&s;toms of the Jews and Gentiles, (as e&s;pecially <HI>T. G. in his Court of the Gentiles</HI>) it mu&s;t needs pa&s;s as a clear Demon&s;tra|tion, that therefore the Gentiles had the&s;e things <HI>mediately,</HI> or <HI>immediately</HI> from the Jews. By which means I dare un|dertake to make out to the rea&s;ons of men, that they may
<PB N="19" REF="14">as well make the Hi&s;tory of one Nation but an imitation and corruption of the Hi&s;tory of another. Whereas both Jew and Gentile having the &s;ame natural light, might be directed thereby to many the &s;ame notions and like cu&s;toms. I would ask whether the Gentile by the natural light of the under|&s;tanding might not hit upon &s;ome truth? El&s;e to what pur|po&s;e doth that light &s;erve? O what benefit is it to that part of Mankind, that had no further Directions? Then whe|ther the Jews having the &s;ame light, together with the far|ther addition of Revelation, might not hit upon the &s;ame truths, whether it nece&s;&s;arily follows, that the Gentiles had this from the Jews? Again, &s;ince each Light directs man|kind to the Belief and Wor&s;hip of the Deity, and becau&s;e there can be no publick Wor&s;hip without the appointment of per&s;ons, time and place, to that end, whence they mu&s;t de|&s;cend to many particular Con&s;titutions and Cu&s;toms, as to the&s;e grand requi&s;ites of Wor&s;hip, whether we can in rea|&s;on &s;uppo&s;e that it is not likely there will be &s;ome &s;imilitudes, as to Per&s;ons, Habits, Sacreds, or one thing or other, be|tween the wor&s;hip of each, although the&s;e two Bodies of Men might never hear, or know any thing one of another? Whence let rea&s;on judge, what an irrefragable argument likene&s;s of Notions, or Cu&s;toms, is, to prove them all of Jewi&s;h Original.</P>
<P>Though indeed moderate and rational Di&s;cour&s;es on this Subject may much advance the Glory of Sacred Writings, yet to pre&s;s them &s;o far, as &s;ome have done, robs the great|er part of Mankind of their very Rea&s;ons, detrudes them into lower Species, and therefore makes them like the Bea&s;ts that peri&s;h; leaving them without light, without any rule of life, without Law, and con&s;equently without any thing whereby they may be judged at the la&s;t day.</P>
<PB N="20" REF="15">
<P> But I know not how any man can deny the point before us to have been di&s;covered by natural light, unle&s;s he will correct S. <HI>Paul,</HI> who affirms a Law written on our hearts by nature, and that Con&s;cience accu&s;es, or excu&s;es, accord|ing as Men have kept or broke it: <HI>Rom.</HI> 1.14, 15. which he &s;peaks expre&s;ly of the Gentiles, <HI>Who being without law,</HI> viz. that of Revelation, <HI>do by nature the things contained in the law, having the law written on their hearts</HI>&mdash;For the <HI>pre&s;enting our &s;elves a &s;acrifice holy, and acceptable to God,</HI> is the whole &s;ub&s;tance of all the practick part of natural Re|ligion, which being taken away, we know not where to place &s;uch Religion, unle&s;s in mere notions, or &s;peculations; and &s;uch can be neither a <HI>Religion,</HI> nor a <HI>Law,</HI> which doth not direct, and oblige us in matters of good and evil.</P>
<P>Therefore the &s;ubject of, and duty pre&s;&s;ed by the Text, being natural, and con&s;equently a <HI>rea&s;onable</HI> &s;ervice, we have this advantage and incouragement to it, <HI>viz.</HI></P>
<P>When the Go&s;pel propo&s;es, and pre&s;&s;es this duty upon us, <HI>Rea&s;on</HI> &s;teps in, and &s;peaks it good and eligible, and condu|cive to our pre&s;ent and future &s;afety. This is the main thing that makes <HI>his commands,</HI> as S. <HI>John</HI> &s;peaks, 1 <HI>Ep.</HI> 5.3. <HI>That they are not grievous.</HI></P>
<P>For when rea&s;on can di&s;cover no good and nece&s;&s;ity in the thing injoyned, as it is in pure po&s;itives, &s;uch as be Cir|cumci&s;ion, Ab&s;tinencies from &s;ome &s;orts of Meat, and in divers other <HI>Mo&s;aick</HI> Rights and Cu&s;toms, nature draws back, and rejects the&s;e Precepts, as matters of toil and &s;elf|denyal, but of no advantage, which perhaps is the rea&s;on, why the breach of &s;ome Po&s;itives under the Law was more &s;everely threatened than &s;in in &s;ome points, that were intrin|&s;ecally good and evil.</P>
<PB N="21" REF="15">
<P> Whereas when the matter of a Precept is agreeable to our Rea&s;ons, we have an argument within, even the &s;ame rea&s;on which pre&s;&s;es us to clo&s;e with the external Precept. And that it is &s;o in this ca&s;e, I leave even your &s;elves to judge. For what is more ju&s;t and rea&s;onable than this, that we &s;hould <HI>pre&s;ent our &s;elves a living &s;acrifice</HI> to that God from whom we have received our Bodies, our Beings, toge|ther with all the comforts and ble&s;&s;ings of them? What more fitting than that we &s;hould live to his Glory, <HI>in whom we live and move?</HI> What more equitable, than that we &s;hould obey him, to whom we do belong by all the &s;acred ties of <HI>Creation, Redemption, Dedication,</HI> and <HI>voluntary Re|&s;ignation</HI> of our &s;elves? This is &s;o clear and undeniable a thing, that all men that have, and will u&s;e their rea&s;on, mu&s;t &s;ub&s;cribe to it as our</P>
<P><HI>Rea&s;onable Service.</HI></P>
<P>Therefore if men will not do &s;o, the di&s;advantage lies here, that they &s;in not only again&s;t Revelation, but nature too. And therefore &s;hall be &s;elf-condemn'd, as well as by that Judge of quick and dead. And thence go with &s;hame and &s;ilence into tho&s;e mi&s;eries that wait them, who know God, but will not call upon his name.</P>
<P>Therefore, if there be any Virtue, any Prai&s;e, any Pity and Compa&s;&s;ion for your &s;elves, let the importunity of &s;o great an Apo&s;tle prevail with us in a thing &s;o ju&s;t and rea&s;on|able.</P>
<P><HI>Ibe&s;eech you, brethren, by the mercies of God, that ye pre|&s;ent your bodies&mdash;which is your rea&s;onable &s;ervice.</HI></P>
<P>In fine.</P>
<PB N="22" REF="16">
<P> One great rea&s;on why many live no better, and do no more good in their generations, is this, that they wor&s;hip no more. Therefore S. <HI>Paul</HI> doth pre&s;s us to the duties of the former Table, that is, to own and <HI>pre&s;ent our &s;elves a &s;acrifice to God:</HI> and in ca&s;e men are &s;incere in this one point, it will mo&s;t certainly put them upon <HI>Sobriety</HI> and <HI>Righteou&s;|ne&s;s, Brotherly-kindne&s;s</HI> and <HI>Charity,</HI> injoyned by the latter Table; that by this means men may be not only a Sacrifice, but al&s;o <HI>holy and acceptable to God.</HI> For this part of our Re|ligion doth &s;weetly influence our whole lives. For this wea|kens corruptions, re&s;tores us more to our &s;elves, and inables us to live up to the Rules and Dictates of right rea&s;on: and therefore di&s;po&s;ed to all good Offices. And where men are not &s;o much wanting in the thing, as mi&s;taken in the ends, and motives of it, this rectifies all the&s;e errours too.</P>
<P>Therefore it is chiefly from hence, that men become truly kind and affable, which is not only agreeable to our natures, as we are &s;ociable creatures, but doth al&s;o capacitate us to become the greater Benefactors to our &s;elves, and others. For by &s;ociety and conver&s;e we come to under&s;tand the world, and thereby become more capable of advancing our own, and other mens intere&s;t, and therefore by the &s;ame means mutually inable, and incourage to do good to others, as God hath done good to us.</P>
<P>Which is the great de&s;ign of this days A&s;&s;embly, as ap|pears not only from the practi&s;es of former Stewards of this Company, who have yearly &s;et out to Trades as many poor Children of our County of <HI>Warwick,</HI> as there be Stewards of the &s;aid Company, which be, in number, eight. But al&s;o from the generous inclinations of <HI>you,</HI> the pre&s;ent Stewards, who &s;eem re&s;olved not to fall &s;hort of any that have went be|fore you.</P>
<PB N="23" REF="16">
<P> And indeed as this is one of the fir&s;t of all the Counties of <HI>England,</HI> that hath met in this nature, &s;o <HI>you</HI> have from year to year in &s;uch mea&s;ures out done them all, that you are looked upon as En&s;amples to the re&s;t. So true is it of your works, as S. <HI>Paul</HI> &s;peaks of the <HI>Romans</HI> Faith, they are famous in the world. And &s;ince we may &s;ay, <HI>you have run well,</HI> though I do not fear it this pre&s;ent year, it is pity it &s;hould ever be &s;aid, <HI>Who hath hindered you?</HI></P>
<P>For to do good, and to communicate in any way, is wor|thy of Men and Chri&s;tians. But this is certainly one of the mo&s;t generous and be&s;t methods of Charity we can think of. For to relieve &s;inking per&s;ons, and Families is a very good Office, and in no wi&s;e &s;hall mi&s;s its reward, but is not likely to prove &s;o advantageous to a Society as this; for by &s;uch means we keep tho&s;e per&s;ons &s;o relieved from &s;ome mea|&s;ures of Di&s;tre&s;s, but they are never likely hereby, unle&s;s in &s;ome rare in&s;tance, &s;o to ri&s;e in the world, as to become &s;erviceable to their Generations.</P>
<P>Whereas this puts poor Children, who el&s;e might have lay as Va&s;&s;als, unable to help them&s;elves, or others, into a capacity of becoming men, and of making others &s;o.</P>
<P>Therefore you know not how exten&s;ive your Liberalities may prove, and what <HI>publick</HI> Ble&s;&s;ings time and indu&s;try may make them; for who can &s;ay what great Traders, what large E&s;tates, and what con&s;iderable Families may &s;pring from the&s;e beginnings? Therefore as the main end of all Societies is the pre&s;ervation of the whole, which is be&s;t done by pre&s;erving and advancing particulars, you do in this way <HI>admirably</HI> an&s;wer her main intendments.</P>
<PB N="24" REF="17">
<P> And if we look back to former Ages, we &s;hall find &s;uch publick &s;pirits, even in the Gentile World, that the <HI>Roman</HI> Orator lays it down as a common Truth, <HI>Non nobis nati,</HI> we are born for the good of others, as well as our own. Which principle carried &s;ome of them &s;o far, that they deemed it a happine&s;s when need required,
<Q>Pro patri&acirc; mori&mdash;</Q> To give their lives for the Honour and Safety of that place where they fir&s;t received them.</P>
<P>Much le&s;s then &s;hould <HI>we</HI> be unwilling to part from &s;ome|thing of our time, and other good things that God &s;hall be plea&s;ed to give us, for the Glory, and Advantage of our Na|tive Soil.</P>
<P>And truly our County of <HI>Warwick</HI> is a Place &s;o famous for <HI>Antiquities,</HI> and Marks of Honour; adorned at pre&s;ent as well as in former Ages, with &s;o many <HI>Noble</HI> and <HI>Gentile</HI> Families, hath given breath to &s;o many others, famous in their Generations, as even this A&s;&s;embly in &s;ome good mea|&s;ure te&s;tifies; who&s;e <HI>Piety</HI> and <HI>good Works</HI> &s;o eminently ap|peared in former times from the va&s;t number of <HI>Religious Hou&s;es;</HI> and &s;till doth from the many <HI>Ho&s;pitals, Free-Schools,</HI> and <HI>Augmentation of poor Vicaridges,</HI> that in the&s;e things we act by the mea&s;ures, and follow the Foot&s;teps of our gene|rous Ance&s;tors, and &s;peak our &s;elves <HI>Warwick-&s;hire</HI> Men in Nature, as well as Name.</P>
<P>Nor is it our Prai&s;e only, but our duty too, to do all the good we can. Therefore S. <HI>John</HI> 1 <HI>Ep.</HI> 4.11. argues from God's Bounty to us, to that Bounty and Kindne&s;s, we owe
<PB N="25" REF="17">to others. <HI>Beloved, if God &s;o loved us, we ought al&s;o to love one another.</HI> Now as God's Love di&s;covered it &s;elf, not in a fruitle&s;s pity, but in doing tho&s;e good things to us which were mo&s;t &s;uitable to our wants; as the Redemption of the World, thereby re&s;cuing Mankind out of the hands of mi|&s;ery and death: &s;o our love ought to evidence it &s;elf, not barely in compa&s;&s;ionate Speeches, and unprofitable wi&s;hes, like him in S. <HI>James</HI> 2.16. <HI>Depart in peace, be warmed, be filled: without giving tho&s;e things, that be needful for the body.</HI> But in doing tho&s;e good Offices which are mo&s;t conducive to mens ea&s;e, and comfort, &s;o far as opportunity and abilities will well allow. The&s;e are returns we make to God; and expre&s;&s;ions of our thankfulne&s;s to him, for all the benefits he hath done unto us.</P>
<P>This is the way to increa&s;e our pre&s;ent Enjoyments, and to &s;ecure them to po&s;terity: for S. <HI>Paul</HI> compares this to &s;owing, thereby teaching us, that what we part from in &s;uch ways, will bring us (according to what we &s;ow, whe|ther more or le&s;s) a plentiful Harve&s;t, and a ble&s;&s;ed In|crea&s;e.</P>
<P>And truly every man that is born into the world, hath a natural right to a maintenance here, one as well another; for the world was made, not for &s;ome few per&s;ons, or Families, but for mankind in general. And though Providence hath wi&s;ely ordered divers di&s;tinctions, as to Honours and E&s;tates, for if all were equal, none would &s;erve, or obey others, which would nece&s;&s;arily run a Society into di&s;tractions, a State of War, and perhaps, into final Confu&s;ions. Yet this doth not take away any mans natural; for &s;till a &s;ub&s;i&s;tance remains due, el&s;e many mu&s;t be &s;ent into the world, either to tre&s;pa&s;s upon other Rights, or el&s;e to peri&s;h at other mens plea&s;ure; which neither Nature nor Religion
<PB N="26" REF="18">can allow. Therefore if any cannot help, or maintain them|&s;elves, they ought to be a&s;&s;i&s;ted by them that may. Whence Alms are &s;omewhere called <GAP DESC="foreign">, our <HI>Righteou&s;ne&s;s,</HI> thereby &s;hewing we do but what is ju&s;t, and right in giving them. And hence that Judge of the world &s;hews the&s;e works are &s;o acceptable to God, that they &s;hall receive from him an everla&s;ting Recompen&s;e. <HI>I was an hungry, and ye gave me meat: thir&s;ty, and ye gave me drink: naked, and ye cloathed me: inpri&s;on, and ye vi&s;ited me. Therefore come ye ble&s;&s;ed of my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you.</HI></P>
<P>To which place, God of his Mercy bring us, for Je&s;us Chri&s;t his &s;ake. To whom, with God the Father, and God the Holy Gho&s;t, be all Honour and Glory. <HI>Amen.</HI></P>
<TRAILER>FINIS.</TRAILER>
</DIV1>
</BODY>
<BACK>
<DIV1 TYPE="errata">
<PB REF="18">
<HEAD>ERRATA.</HEAD>
<P>IN: Epi&s;tle 1. page 3. line 3. for yet read &s;et. l. 10. f. frame r. flame. p. 4. l. 17. f. deliver r. detain. Epi&s;tle 2. l. 7. take out the &s;econd as. In the Sermon, p. 4. l. 6. f. wage r. urge p. 5. l. 14. f. truth r. proof. p. 19. l. 7. f. o r. or. p. 25. l. 29. after natural r. right. l. 31. after o|ther. r mens.</P>
</DIV1>
</BACK>
</TEXT>
</EEBO>
</ETS>
