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<DATE>2012-10-18</DATE>
<RESPSTMT>
<NAME>Louis Goldberg</NAME>
<RESP>MURP</RESP>
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<ITEM>Checklist: xChange DATE, validate xAdd DIV TYPEs, validate xReview structure, use FRONT,BODY, BACK or rarely GROUP xCheck PB placement and completeness, ensure sequence of N= xProof title page(s) xAdd FIGDESC= to any and all likely illustrations. xCheck HEAD TRAILER ARGUMENT EPIGRAPH xCheck OPENER CLOSER SIGNED SALUTE BYLINE DATE xCheck ^, oe, abq, italic I / J, _Initals, tb, space between &amp;c. xCheck hashes at signs -- UNCLEAR LB FIGURE xCheck frac; eogon; deg; BLANK xCheck GAP MISSING DUPLICATE xCheck for &punc; xCheck ABBR, q-semi-colon, start-q end-q to remove them, look for Q that shouldn't be marked as such xCorrect errors from proof sample xCorrect illegibles from proof sample xCheck illegible page, para, line, span, word, dollar signs xSkint if need be xRun Check afterwards Look at html online view if need be Note that in Black Letter, every capital U must be changed to a V Look for lists, illustrations, tables, music, math, end-notes, quasi-tabular arrangments, and marginalia Look for unobtrusive numerations: Do they mark divs? milestones? Examine marginalia. Is it all best tagged as NOTE? If appropriate, check for yoghs If appropriate, check for Latin problems, e.g. oe and ae digraphs If appropriate, check for abbreviation and brevigraph problems (1500s) If appropriate, check for units of measure, symbols (alchemical, astronomical, etc.) and the like xFinal validate Corrected [ ] illegible groups out of [ ]. Converted [ 7 ] illegible groups to GAP DESC="illeg." DONE</ITEM>
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<FRONT>
<DIV1 TYPE="imprimatur">
<PB REF="1" MS="y">
<P>IMPRIMATUR.</P>
<CLOSER><SIGNED>Carolus Al&s;ton, <HI>R. P. D.</HI> Hen. <HI>Epi&s;c.</HI> Lond. <HI>&agrave; Sacris.</HI></SIGNED>
<DATELINE><DATE>Febr. 12. 1694/5.</DATE></DATELINE></CLOSER>
</DIV1>
<DIV1 TYPE="title page">
<PB REF="1" MS="y">
<P> SIX SERMONS (Preached before the Late Incomparable PRINCESS QUEEN <HI>MARY,</HI> AT WHITE-HALL.</P>
<P>WITH Several <HI>Additions,</HI> and large <HI>Annotations,</HI> to the Di&s;cour&s;e of Ju&s;tification by Faith.</P>
<P>By <HI>GEORGE BRIGHT,</HI> D. D. Dean of St. <HI>A&s;aph,</HI> and Chaplain in Ordinary to His Maje&s;ty.</P>
<P><HI>LONDON,</HI> Printed by <HI>J. H.</HI> for <HI>Walter Kettilby,</HI> at the <HI>Bi&s;hop's-Head</HI> in St. <HI>Paul</HI>'s Church-Yard, MDCXCV.</P>
<PB REF="2">
</DIV1>
<DIV1 TYPE="dedication">
<PB REF="2" MS="y">
<HEAD>TO THE KING's Mo&s;t Excellent MAJESTY.</HEAD>
<OPENER><SALUTE>SIR,</SALUTE></OPENER>
<P>THIS &s;mall Volume was de|&s;igned, humbly to crave the Acceptance of your late Roy|al Con&s;ort, that mo&s;t truly Excellent Prince&s;s; who not only heard, but reli&s;hed Di&s;cour&s;es proper for her E|dification. The&s;e pre&s;ent ones dare pretend only to an Attempt, and en|deavour
<PB REF="3"> for &s;uch a Purpo&s;e. But &s;he is for ever gone from hence, where her vertuous and pious Soul had neither Books nor Company good enough for its Entertainment! May her ju&s;t Character be pre&s;erved, fre&s;h and fair, to the la&s;t of Time! may her goodly Pre&s;ence &s;trike the Imagination of every one who en|ters into your Royal Palaces, that her exemplary Vertue, Piety, Pru|dence and Sweetne&s;s may never be forgotten there.</P>
<P>Forgive me, Great Sir, if I for once lightly touch the Wound, not only of your own Royal Heart, but al&s;o of the Hearts of all your Sub|jects, except here and there a Self-intere&s;ted, weak and peevi&s;h thing, or two, in this matter, whatever they may be el&s;e-where.</P>
<PB REF="3">
<P> But as this &s;evere Providence hath brought with it a mighty Lo&s;s, and not reparable to Your Maje&s;ty one way; &s;o hath it given you a mighty Advantage another; for all the Af|fections and Hopes which your Peo|ple had divided between two, are now publickly ve&s;ted in, and &s;ettled upon Your Maje&s;ty's Per&s;on alone. And we hope, and pray, that as God will continue your own Portion of his Ble&s;&s;ings to you, &s;o he will not with|hold hers from you. So that now your force being doubled and uni|ted too, cannot probably be much longer re&s;i&s;ted, by your haughty and malicious, though pui&s;&s;ant Enemy.</P>
<P>That God would continue and multiply his Ble&s;&s;ings upon Your Royal Head, fill your Heart with Pie|ty, Wi&s;dom and Integrity in all your Coun&s;els, pro&s;per your Arms for the Cha&s;ti&s;ement of Tyranny, Violence
<PB REF="4"> and Inju&s;tice; for the Peace, Safety, and Univer&s;al Happine&s;s of your Peo|ple, and all <HI>Europe,</HI> is the con&s;tant Prayer of</P>
<CLOSER><SIGNED>Your Maje&s;ty's Mo&s;t obedient Subject, and Chaplain, <HI>George Bright.</HI></SIGNED></CLOSER>
</DIV1>
<DIV1 TYPE="preface">
<PB REF="4">
<HEAD>THE PREFACE TO THE READER.</HEAD>
<P>IT hath been my Aim in the&s;e en&s;uing Sermons, as it hath been always my En|deavour in all Di&s;cour&s;es of the like Nature, to repre&s;ent the Duties and Do|ctrines of our Religion plain and rea&s;onable, that the real and great Advantage which it hath above all others may be manife&s;t, and the Cavils and Contempts of irreligious Men may be put to &s;ilence and &s;hame. Nor can I think, whatever &s;ome Difficulty may do, that &V;nintelligibility or Ab&s;urdity in any Religion ought to commend it to any; I am
<PB REF="5"> &s;ure it never will to inqui&s;itive, con&s;ide|rate, and hone&s;t Men, who are the be&s;t, though infinitely the lea&s;t part of the World. Such, I mean, who ask Que&s;tions, and ex|amine things in Religion, not to &s;hew their Subtilty, or po&s;e Men, not to di&s;grace ano|thers Profe&s;&s;ion, or to get room and ea&s;e for Licentiou&s;ne&s;s, or to make them&s;elves and others greater Scepticks, and doubt, and droll more: but like the Noble <HI>Beraeans,</HI> to &s;ee whether things are &s;o or no, that they may know more, and be &s;atisfied in matters of &s;o great Concernment, that they may not be abu&s;ed, led into Errour, and kept there by Force, Confidence, or bare Authority. Such as the&s;e, I think, are to be taken care of, that they be not ju&s;tly &s;candalized, or offend|ed at Religion. Nay, they are in the fir&s;t place to be regarded, who are not only in|tended &s;urely by God to be &s;aved as well as the Vulgar; but may al&s;o be great In&s;tru|ments of the In&s;truction and Confirmation of others, and the E&s;tabli&s;hment of the due E&s;teem, and Reputation of Religion. Strange it is, that the weak, the ignorant, and the peevi&s;h, &s;hould be treated with &s;o much Ten|derne&s;s: but the&s;e &s;hould be rudely put off with the wi&s;e Application of Not many wi&s;e according to the Fle&s;h, <HI>&amp;c.</HI> And, Where is
<PB REF="5"> the wi&s;e, where is the Di&s;puter of this World? or perhaps with the Reproach, and Back|bites of Indifferents, and &V;nderminers of Religion.</P>
<P>This way of teaching and preaching the Chri&s;tian Religion, as it is at all times ju&s;t, and of &s;olid Advantage to it, &s;o is it now become nece&s;&s;ary. There are very many in this Age, more than formerly, inqui&s;itive, knowing, u&s;ed to a more accurate Exerci&s;e of their &V;nder&s;tanding every where in Divine matters, as well as Natural, Moral, and Po|litical. The&s;e will not be put off with gene|ral, confu&s;ed, figurative and ob&s;cure Noti|ons, nor with fal&s;e, uncertain, remote Rea|&s;onings; they will know what, and why they believe.</P>
<P>And hitherto is very well, the pre&s;ent Age being happy in it, whatever others may plea&s;e to think: And had it been thus for &s;ome Centuries before us, a Thou&s;and Fal&s;e|hoods and Fopperies had never crept into Chri&s;tian Religion; which have already, and yet will co&s;t the World &s;o va&s;t an Expence of Labour, and fill it with infinite Troubles, and &V;nquietne&s;&s;es, to drive them out again, and re&s;tore our Excellent Religion to its native and primitive Beauty.</P>
<PB REF="6">
<P> But as that Occa&s;ion of the Nece&s;&s;ity of Clearne&s;s, and true Rea&s;oning in Religion is good, &s;o hardly any thing can be wor&s;e than the Licentiou&s;ne&s;s of our Time, when the gene|rality of Men, (e&s;pecially of tho&s;e who pre|tend to any Wit or Breeding) have not only re&s;cued them&s;elves from the Slavery of Super&s;tition, and u&s;urped Authority, but &s;haken off even the natural Reverence of Mankind to true Religion, the &s;ublime&s;t Per|fection and Glory of Humane Nature: Nay, they have run further yet, and pertly taken up a mean Opinion and Contempt of it, and all that belongs to it, as being nothing but Craft or Pedantry. Now the&s;e Men mu&s;t be knocked down by weighty Rea&s;on, (for they &s;light the Holy Scriptures) and expo&s;ed to contempt them&s;elves, for gentler Dealing will not do.</P>
<P>It mu&s;t be &s;hewn, that if they will make good their Title to the Man, they mu&s;t be Religious and Chri&s;tians too: And that there is nothing more Rea&s;onable than a Chri&s;tian's Belief, and nothing in his genuine Religion not adulterated, unbecoming of God, and di&s;|agreeable to Rea&s;on, if rightly &s;en&s;ed and under&s;tood; that it is the weakne&s;s or igno|rance of its Doctors and Commentators, and perhaps ever will be in &s;ome Degree, if any
<PB REF="6"> thing in it appear, or be repre&s;ented other|wi&s;e; and that they have been infinitely to blame, who have been the Cau&s;es of Grud|ges, and Di&s;&s;atisfactions in the minds of men, between Religion and Rea&s;on, and e|ven made irreconcileable Quarrels between them, which &s;hould cohabit with con&s;tant and mutual Endearments and A&s;&s;i&s;tances. I hope, and am apt believe, that &s;uch will be the next turn of Divine Providence, which invi&s;ibly governs the World, that the Holy Writings will every Day receive more light, and Divine Truths, more clearne&s;s from another Method, than what mo&s;t Men make u&s;e of.</P>
<P>To conclude this &s;hort Preface, I am of opinion that now Miracles are cea&s;ed, this way of teaching the Chri&s;tian Religion, ac|companied with a judicious Affection, and followed with a &s;ober and well governed Life, &s;eems the principal means left in our Power, to re&s;tore it to its Beauty, Force, and ju&s;t Au|thority, and the Church of Chri&s;t to its Purity and Honour; which now (as it is &s;aid) is crammed with conceited Drolls, Indifferents, and down-right Infidels; and in no part of Chri&s;tendom more, than where it appears with its greate&s;t External Splendor and
<PB REF="7"> Domination. This very bad E&s;tate of the Church, I be&s;eech God to amend in his own time, and to introduce &s;incere and judici|ous Religion, neither Theatrical, nor Fa|natical.</P>
<CLOSER><SIGNED>G. B.</SIGNED></CLOSER>
</DIV1>
<DIV1 TYPE="table of contents">
<PB REF="7">
<HEAD>THE TEXTS OF THE Several Sermons.</HEAD>
<LIST>
<LABEL>SERMON I.</LABEL>
<ITEM>1 <HI>COR.</HI> 15. 33. Evil Communi|cations corrupt good manners.</ITEM>
<LABEL>SERMON II.</LABEL>
<ITEM>1 <HI>Pet.</HI> 4. 4. Wherein they think it &s;trange that you run not with them to the &s;ame Exce&s;s of Riot, &s;peaking evil of you.</ITEM>
<LABEL><PB REF="8"> SERMON III.</LABEL>
<ITEM><HI>P&s;alm</HI> 35. 5. I will confe&s;s my Tran&s;|gre&s;&s;ions unto the Lord.</ITEM>
<LABEL>SERMON IV.</LABEL>
<ITEM><HI>P&s;alm</HI> 14. 1. The fool hath &s;aid in his heart There is no God. They are cor|rupt, they have done abominable works.</ITEM>
<LABEL>SERMON V.</LABEL>
<ITEM><HI>Rom.</HI> 5. 1. Therefore being ju&s;tified by Faith, we have peace with God thro' our Lord Je&s;us Chri&s;t.</ITEM>
<LABEL>SERMON VI.</LABEL>
<ITEM>2 <HI>Cor.</HI> 5. 19. To wit, that God was in Chri&s;t reconciling the World to him&s;elf, not imputing their Tre&s;pa&s;&s;es unto them.</ITEM>
</LIST>
</DIV1>
</FRONT>
<BODY>
<DIV1 N="1" TYPE="sermon">
<PB N="1" REF="8">
<HEAD>SERMON I.</HEAD>
<EPIGRAPH>
<BIBL>1 COR. XV. 33.</BIBL>
<Q>Evil Communications corrupt good Man|ners.</Q>
</EPIGRAPH>
<P>I de&s;ign from the&s;e words to begin (for little more can be done in &s;o &s;hort an Exerci&s;e) a Di&s;cour&s;e concerning Evil Examples; which I take to be one of the mo&s;t general, and too effectual ob|&s;tructions of Reformation of Life and Man|ners. So powerfull for the mo&s;t part, as to defeat and defy all the force, not only of &s;ome dull and noi&s;y Sermons; but al&s;o of the mo&s;t wi&s;e, rational and eloquent Di&s;|cour&s;es, either &s;poken or written.</P>
<P>It is true, every ones particular experi|ence gives in but too much evidence, that our Natures have been by &s;ome ways mi&s;e|rably corrupted from the womb; that we never &s;aw the light clear and innocent; that our vicious inclinations came into the
<PB N="2" REF="9"> world with us: but it is as certain they had never been &s;o numerous and multiplied, never &s;o &s;trong and violent, never &s;o conti|nued and la&s;ting, were it not for the mul|titude and magnitude too of bad examples, perpetually pa&s;&s;ing before us, enticing and &s;ometimes hurrying us with great violence, even again&s;t reclaiming Rea&s;on and Strug|ling Con&s;cience. We &s;et fire one to ano|ther, and like &s;mothering Coals put toge|ther, we increa&s;e the heat of our lu&s;ts to &s;uch a degree, that at la&s;t they bur&s;t forth into a flame; and that &s;ometimes &s;o fierce, that no-body dares to approach &s;o near as to allay or &s;lacken them. <HI>Vivitur exem|plis.</HI> The rules of Mens lives for the mo&s;t part, is what they &s;ee other Men do, not what they are taught, and what in &s;ober temper they dare not deny they ought to do. Precepts are of &s;mall force again&s;t this, and are as little able to with&s;tand it, as a grave Senator with his wi&s;e and elo|quent Orations, the rude charge of a Troop of boy&s;terous Soldiers.</P>
<P>I know there are &s;ometimes examples of good and happy Influence, and we are not &s;o far to di&s;courage tho&s;e that are, or tho&s;e who are fairly inclined to be good Men, as to tell them, that they are all alone, and &s;o always like to be; that they'll never
<PB N="3" REF="9"> make one Pro&s;elyte, and it is well if they can &s;ecure them&s;elves. For the Con|ver&s;ation of a wi&s;e and vertuous Man, e|&s;pecially joyn'd with a goodne&s;s of Nature, may move, and &s;ometimes effectually con|vert the Minds and Manners of tho&s;e who are con&s;tant witne&s;&s;es of it: but alas, it is a thou&s;and to one perhaps otherwi&s;e; and all to be expected, is, that if you live ver|tuou&s;ly and piou&s;ly, &s;ome few will com|mend you, but rarely any imitate you.</P>
<P>The number of good examples is very &s;mall; and when we have in our view tho&s;e of both kinds, we are all more apt to run to the wor&s;t &s;ide, by rea&s;on of the mo&s;t unhappy inclination and pente of our nature. <HI>Quoniam dociles imitandis&mdash;tur|pibus &amp; pravis omnes &s;umus.</HI></P>
<P>To which we may add the ob&s;ervation, that vertuous and religious men are gene|rally of a more mode&s;t, prudent and re&s;er|ved temper and behaviour: but contrari|wi&s;e, vicious men generally are more con|fident, active and bold; which &s;eems to incon&s;iderate &s;pectators (infinitely the greate&s;t number) witty, generous and plea&s;ant, yea and rea&s;onable too; becau&s;e rea&s;on &s;hould precede confidence; and con|&s;equently their examples make greater im|pre&s;&s;ions. But I &s;omewhat prevent my &s;elf.</P>
<PB N="4" REF="10">
<P> The words are a proverbial ver&s;e in <HI>Me|nander</HI> the Poet. Whether S. <HI>Paul</HI> had read it him&s;elf, or heard it often quoted as a very u&s;efull proverbial Speech is not mate|rial. Something may be &s;aid of the true rendring of the words, before we lay out the matter of the Di&s;cour&s;e, but very briefly.</P>
<P>There is &s;ome difference in the tran&s;lati|on of <GAP DESC="foreign"> <HI>[communications]</HI> and <GAP DESC="foreign"> <HI>[good manners.]</HI> The fir&s;t is tran&s;lated by &s;ome <HI>Colloquies, Narrations, Di&s;cour&s;es;</HI> by our own here <HI>Communications;</HI> by o|thers <HI>Conver&s;ation, u&s;ing of Company,</HI> or the like. I &s;hould think this la&s;t be&s;t. (1.) Be|cau&s;e it is more general and includeth the former. (2.) Becau&s;e Lexicographers ex|pound it of both. <HI>Phavor.</HI> <GAP DESC="foreign">. The word <GAP DESC="foreign"> is taken for <HI>di&s;cour&s;ing,</HI> or <HI>conver&s;ing</HI> with another. And in <HI>Suidas</HI> <GAP DESC="foreign"> is <GAP DESC="foreign">, <HI>to conver&s;e together.</HI> As for <GAP DESC="foreign">, <HI>good manners,</HI> a learned Expo&s;itor of our own would rather have it turned <HI>good nature,</HI> or <HI>good di&s;po&s;itions; i. e.</HI> &s;uch who are very pliable and ea&s;y to agree with others in their di&s;cour&s;e and actions; which is u&s;ually out of weakne&s;s of under&s;tanding, and &s;oftne&s;s of nature to|gether; and &s;ometimes from an imprudent
<PB N="5" REF="10"> civility, (in which may be exce&s;s) and loathne&s;s to give offence, and willingne&s;s to plea&s;e every body. But I &s;hould rather retain our own tran&s;lation of <HI>good manners.</HI> Becau&s;e although <GAP DESC="foreign"> may &s;ome|times have &s;uch a peculiar &s;ignification as <HI>good di&s;po&s;itions,</HI> yet the other &s;ignification is far more frequent and more agreeable to the &s;cope and context of the words. So that I &s;hould read the Text thus; <HI>Evil conver&s;ations [i. e.</HI> of &s;ome] <HI>corrupt good manners, [i. e.</HI> of others].</P>
<P>From hence we &s;hall take occa&s;ion to di&s;cour&s;e a while concerning the general influence of bad Examples, and how migh|ty an hindrance it is of the conver&s;ion and reformation of Sinners, and that under the&s;e heads:</P>
<LIST>
<ITEM>I. Give the Rea&s;ons of the efficacy of Examples again&s;t Precepts.</ITEM>
<ITEM>II. Mention &s;ome of the Cau&s;es of the prevalency of evil Examples again&s;t good ones.</ITEM>
<ITEM>III. Shew how the&s;e evil Examples do operate.</ITEM>
<ITEM>IV. Give a caution or two to be ob&s;er|ved in non-compliance with evil Examples.</ITEM>
<ITEM>V. Make an Inference or two.</ITEM>
</LIST>
<P N="1"><PB N="6" REF="11"> I. What are the Rea&s;ons why Examples are more powerfull than Precepts, and con|&s;equently bad ones prevail ea&s;ily again&s;t Precepts and Rules of Duty. They &s;eem to be the&s;e.</P>
<P N="1">1. Becau&s;e Examples are more frequent than In&s;truction. For In&s;truction, the rules and rea&s;ons of our opinions and practice, are met withall only in a few good Books, (the Bible in the fir&s;t place) or in Di&s;|cour&s;es and Lectures out of Pulpits and Desks, or in the Conver&s;ation of wi&s;e and vertuous Men. The fir&s;t of the&s;e are &s;eldom looked upon, except on the out&s;ides, and it is a very few hours of their lives that the greate&s;t part of Men, and even of tho&s;e of Education and Lei&s;ure, who&s;e time lies upon their hands, &s;pend in &s;uch an Em|ployment.</P>
<P>What they do read is only &s;omething of Wit and Fancy; or fine Words, and perhaps Filthine&s;s.</P>
<P>'Tis not ea&s;ily to be imagined how much the World would mend, if Books containing true and rational Religion, Mo|rality and Wi&s;dom, were put into Men's hands, and frequently peru&s;ed by them; if it were but once the fa&s;hion and humour of the Age, to furni&s;h their Libraries and
<PB N="7" REF="11"> Memories and Di&s;cour&s;es with the choice&s;t Thoughts of the wi&s;e&s;t and be&s;t Men.</P>
<P>The fir&s;t place no doubt is ju&s;tly here gi|ven to the Oracles of God, or the Wri|tings of in&s;pired Men well proved and well under&s;tood; and it is as certain that the Books of the New Te&s;tament, or Chri&s;ti|an Religion contain in them the be&s;t Col|lection of Dogms, both for Speculation and Morality that ever the World knew. But becau&s;e there are a &s;ort of Men who will &s;u&s;pect Credulity or Cunning in the be&s;t Religion, or pretend to do &s;o; it is to be wi&s;hed they would then at lea&s;t vouch|&s;afe to look into the Writings of tho&s;e, who have had no other Ma&s;ters but Na|tural Light and Rea&s;on, and who have been in great Reputation for Wi&s;dom and Knowledge, for now many Centuries of Years.</P>
<P>The Names and Sects of &s;uch as <HI>Plato,</HI> and <HI>Tully,</HI> and <HI>Seneca,</HI> and <HI>Epictetus</HI> with his Commentators, and that excellent Empe|rour <HI>Antoninus,</HI> who may &s;eem better to de&s;erve a Saint&s;hip than many fooli&s;h things in the Church of <HI>Rome,</HI> are &s;till every where known and great. Their Morality though in &s;ome few in&s;tances defective, yet is generally excellent.</P>
<PB N="8" REF="12">
<P> And it hath been known often, where Men have been by reading their Di&s;cour|&s;es &s;hamed and rea&s;on'd into good Man|ners, and re&s;trained in bad ones, and there|by mightily prepared for a great E&s;teem, and reli&s;h of the Chri&s;tian Religion.</P>
<P>Wherefore it is rea&s;onable to believe, that the Modern humour of calling, read|ing even of the choice&s;t Books of the wi&s;e&s;t Men, by the contemptuous Name of <HI>Pe|dantry,</HI> and ju&s;tling out the Study of Books by the pretended Study of Men (not to help to mend but to corrupt Humane Nature; not to avoid but to imitate Vices, which otherwi&s;e they had never known; not &s;o much to &s;ecure them|&s;elves and their Friends the hone&s;t and innocent, as to circumvent and &s;upplant others) I &s;ay, that this modern Humour hath had a con&s;iderable influence upon the Degeneracy and Immorality of this Age; and is truly great <HI>Pedantry</HI> it &s;elf, if want of rea&s;on and judgment be as it ought, &s;ig|nified by that Name: And it may well &s;eem to be &s;et abroad, and with an Air of Manline&s;s receiv'd, by &s;ome who could hardly write or read well, or at lea&s;t in no other Tongue than what their Nur&s;e taught them: like as &s;ome Fa&s;hions have been invented to cover &s;ome natural or vi|ciou&s;ly contracted Infirmities.</P>
<PB N="9" REF="12">
<P> The Truth of the Ca&s;e is, as I think, and which will do no harm to mo&s;t Men to remember, that the generality of Men are the wor&s;t Books that can be read, and the Study of good Books approved by the wi&s;e&s;t, which contain Men's Thoughts, Pa&s;&s;ions, Actions, Laws, Rules and Pre|cepts, what Men have thought, done, and &s;hould do, is the be&s;t Study of Men.</P>
<P>Though the other too managed di&s;creet|ly for hone&s;t and vertuous Ends is a great improvement for any, and even nece&s;&s;ary for many Employments and Stations of Life. And then for Pulpit-Di&s;cour&s;es or others of the like Nature, they are but rare likewi&s;e in compari&s;on of Examples, which occur every Hour; and many of them too, as they &s;ometimes &s;hould, contain Mat|ters of Faith more than of Practice; and when they are practical (to mention it by the bye) they are but too little regar|ded, though they want not Eloquence, Rea&s;on and Judgment; or at lea&s;t &s;uch both Matter and Dre&s;s as may be mo&s;t proper for the Auditory.</P>
<P>Finally the Conver&s;ation of wi&s;e and good Men is &s;eldom to be had, few Men's Company being in&s;tructive; or el&s;e more in Matters of Speculation than Practice, more in other &s;ort of Knowledge, than in
<PB N="10" REF="13"> wi&s;e and u&s;efull Ob&s;ervation in practical Religion, and good Manners.</P>
<P>But on the other hand, Examples are in our view every moment almo&s;t, except we be of that &s;mall Number who conver&s;e much with the dead and the ab&s;ent, (I mean Books) and with them&s;elves. Which were it more frequent and intermixed &s;ea|&s;onably and di&s;creetly with Experience and Conver&s;ation, would much &s;ecure us from the Corruption of the Examples of Vice and Folly; of which otherwi&s;e we are in very great danger by rea&s;on of their fre|quency, notwith&s;tanding the Precepts and Rules and Exhortations which are to op|po&s;e and hinder them.</P>
<P N="2">2. A &s;econd Cau&s;e of the greater Efficacy of Example above that of Precepts is, that Examples are Objects of Sen&s;e and Imagi|nation; but the Precepts or Rules of life only of Rea&s;on and Under&s;tanding. The Impre&s;&s;ions of Example upon Sen&s;e, Ima|gination and Corporeal Memory, are dee|per and &s;tronger than tho&s;e of Precepts up|on our Under&s;tanding. And con&s;equent|ly upon our Pa&s;&s;ions, and then upon our Choice and Inclinations, that is, our Man|ners; and we may truly add finally, upon our opinions. For there is not a per&s;ua&s;ion in an Hundred, which is not the effect
<PB N="11" REF="13"> more of affection and inclination than of rea&s;on and judgment.</P>
<P>The &s;en&s;e and meaning of Precepts are by few Men well conceived and appre|hended, or but faintly and ob&s;curely, be|cau&s;e they are intellectual Objects.</P>
<P>For which rea&s;on Hi&s;tory, but more e&s;pecially <HI>Biography,</HI> or the Hi&s;tory of the Lives of the mo&s;t excellent Men in all kinds, where mental Endowments or the Qualities of Men's minds are repre&s;ented as it were embodied with &s;en&s;ible Circum|&s;tances, written by judicious and virtuous Men, &s;eems the mo&s;t proper and effectual Way, for the good In&s;truction of the Ge|nerality of Men.</P>
<P N="3">3. A third Cau&s;e of the prevailing In|fluence of Examples, if we con&s;ider the whole Life of Man together, is the early precedency of it to that of Precepts and In|&s;tructions. We are capable of ob&s;erving and receiving great Impre&s;&s;ions from, and imitating of Examples too, e&s;pecially of tho&s;e whom we love and e&s;teem, before we know what we do, or come to the u&s;e of any Rea&s;on; much more of &s;o much as to under&s;tand a good In&s;truction or Precept.</P>
<P>The fir&s;t is from our very Childhood, the &s;econd rarely comes before we arrive at an Age thought fit to manage an E&s;tate,
<PB N="12" REF="14"> and it is well if we then &s;ee it. So that we have been under the power of Exam|ples, and are formed u&s;ually by them, be|fore we are capable of the Di&s;cipline of an In&s;tructor or Tutor.</P>
<P>Whence it is that men &s;eldom much change the Inclinations they have contract|ed to that time; and generally if by good example and government we are well &s;ea|&s;on'd and temper'd to that Age, or &s;ome few years beyond, we &s;eldom prove at lea&s;t very bad. Although by long and fre|quent ill company and example, too great a part may be undone again, and &s;ometimes all &s;poiled, which is very rare, becau&s;e it is very difficult to obliterate tho&s;e early characters and impre&s;&s;ions &s;o often repea|ted.</P>
<P><HI>Have no fellow&s;hip with the unfruitfull works of Darkne&s;s, but rather reprove them,</HI> &s;aith the Apo&s;tle in that excellent Epi&s;tle, <HI>Eph.</HI> 5. 11. <GAP DESC="foreign">, &amp;c. <HI>From the good you'll learn good, among the bad you'll &s;urely grow wor&s;e:</HI> like to that of the Wi&s;e man, <HI>Prov.</HI> 13. 20. <HI>He that wal|keth with wi&s;e men &s;hall be wi&s;e; but the companion of fools &s;hall be de&s;troyed. A&s;pice quid faciunt commercia, venerat ob&s;es.</HI> The Youth once was very innocent, behold what he is now; how &s;trangely changed
<PB N="13" REF="14"> by lewd company? <GAP DESC="foreign"> A&s;|&s;ociate not thy &s;elf to a wicked man. The&s;e and &s;uch like are the Sayings of the Scripture, and the wi&s;er &s;ort of men, which do but remind us of the efficacy of exam|ples upon our manners, and that far be|yond the power and force of all Precepts, In&s;tructions and Directions.</P>
<P>Nor do I yet know how this prevalency of example may be prevented or remedied, but either (1.) by a more than ordinary felicity of temper from the birth, whereby we are enclined to u&s;e our Rea&s;on more than our Sen&s;es, and are capable of giving Precepts and Examples too: or, (2.) by the providence and grace of God, which may happily order the condition of our lives, or even immediately work upon our minds, and particularly by afflictions: or finally (which is mo&s;t in our own power) by &s;ome con&s;iderable retirement from too frequent and tumultuous conver&s;ation, and accu&s;toming our &s;elves to Reading and Thinking. That be &s;poken to the Fir&s;t General; <HI>viz.</HI> the Rea&s;ons of the Efficacy of Examples again&s;t Precept.</P>
<P N="2">II. The Second is, the Rea&s;ons of the prevailing influence of bad Examples a|gain&s;t good ones. Why ill Examples do &s;o
<PB N="14" REF="15"> much more harm, than good ones do good, we may ob&s;erve the&s;e among others.</P>
<P N="1">1. Evil examples are infinitely more nu|merous. We can hardly light upon a good one, we can hardly mi&s;s a bad one. Good ones we can hardly &s;ee any, bad ones we cannot but &s;ee many. The High and the Low, the Rich and the Poor, and the Mid|dle too. It hath been thought indeed that this la&s;t &s;ort of men are generally the mo&s;t Sober and Religious; becau&s;e great and rich men think them&s;elves above God and Religion, poor men below it. The one behave them&s;elves as if God Almighty da|red not to take notice of them, the other as if he would not; both equally mi&s;taken.</P>
<P>But &s;uppo&s;e it &s;o: yet Bad examples far out-number the Good among all ranks and conditions of men, though of different vi|ces according to their re&s;pective temptati|ons: of different particular Vices, but the &s;ame general want of the &s;en&s;e of Vertue, of Con&s;cience, and the fear of God in all.</P>
<P>And now if the number of Good Exam|ples be &s;o &s;mall in proportion to Bad ones, how much greater will the influence of the&s;e certainly be? For if we ob&s;erve, 'tis frequency and repetition of thoughts and affections and actions, which form our Manners. Tho&s;e Objects which we
<PB N="15" REF="15"> mo&s;t frequently and generally conver&s;e withall, which po&s;&s;e&s;s our thoughts, have the command of our affections, and con&s;e|quently our inclinations and actions. We &s;eldom think or talk of, love, hate, de&s;ire, delight in any but them.</P>
<P>And this is the rea&s;on why in a Family &s;mall or great, and in Palaces them&s;elves, the &s;ingle example even of one or two of the greate&s;t in it, though de&s;ervedly ho|nour'd and beloved too, doth &s;o little good upon all the re&s;t; though it would other|wi&s;e be far wor&s;e. It is becau&s;e they are very many again&s;t one. And how much le&s;s is it to be expected that in a place con|&s;i&s;ting of many &s;cores or hundreds of Fa|milies, the example of one or two who&s;e bu&s;ine&s;s it &s;hould be to back their in&s;tructi|ons with good ones, &s;hould have any vi&s;ible good effect, unle&s;s their number be increa|&s;ed, (which would become the Eccle&s;ia|&s;tical and Civil care too) or &s;ome more be plea&s;ed to give their a&s;&s;i&s;tance, and make up a number.</P>
<P N="2">2. But Secondly, the Greatne&s;s of bad Examples is another cau&s;e of their greater influence. I do not know but that in pro|portion to their number, there may be as many Religious and Vertuous per&s;ons in the Superiour as in the Inferiour Ranks of
<PB N="16" REF="16"> men, and that with more judgment and genero&s;ity: But &s;till the <HI>greate&s;t</HI> part of the Great, the Potent, the Honourable, the Rich (the more is the pity) are of the bad &s;ide. Though in the whole lump of all &s;orts of men put together infinitely the Major part (in their practices at lea&s;t) &s;hould vote for the licentious and vicious &s;ide; yet it would not have near the influ|ence it now hath, were not the Major part of the Great on that &s;ide too, and of the &s;ame Party to head and lead them. So that it appears, it is not only the number of Voters, but al&s;o the power and great|ne&s;s of them, that makes ill example go &s;o far and prevail &s;o much. Were it the pro|perty of the vulgar and inferiour &s;ort only to be Irreligious, Immoral and Di&s;&s;olute, we &s;hould &s;oon &s;ee that Party decrea&s;e and ge|nerally de&s;ert both in inward Principles and outward Practices. One excellent ex|ample of a great Man would be <GAP DESC="foreign">, outweigh a great number of &s;mall ones. The generality of men far from wi&s;e, fir&s;t e&s;teem the Men and then the Manners. At lea&s;t the dignity and height of a vicious man makes that Vice &s;eem little and tolerable if not honourable, which were it only &s;een in tho&s;e of lower place, would be thought contemptible and puni&s;hable.</P>
<Q><PB N="17" REF="16">
<L>Alea turpis.</L>
<L>Turpe &amp; adulterium mediocribus, haec ta|men illi</L>
<L>Omnia c&ugrave;m faciant, hilares nitidi&abque; vocantur.</L></Q>
<P>We admire men for their power, pomp and wealth, and then all that belongs to them, leaving not out their very vices too. Like as the <HI>Pagans</HI> of old, not only deify'd their Heroes, but built Temples and erected Al|tars to &s;ome of their flagitious actions and abominable crimes; as <HI>Tully</HI> &s;omewhere complains.</P>
<P>On the contrary the poor and mean man's actions, according to the Wi&s;e-man's little Hi&s;tory <HI>(Eccl.</HI> 9. 14.) though never &s;o wi&s;e and beneficial too, for that very rea&s;on are not heeded or &s;oon forgotten.</P>
<P>Indeed it is Truth and Rea&s;on, and not vulgar opinion only, that Power and Great|ne&s;s, Ability to effect and bring to pa&s;s, is to be honoured; but then Wi&s;dom and Goodne&s;s, which are to direct and deter|mine that Power, de&s;erve it much more. It is true, Wi&s;dom and Goodne&s;s without Power are movele&s;s and ineffectual things; but then Power without them may be mo&s;t mi&s;chievous. Goodne&s;s without Power if it can do no good, yet it can do no
<PB N="18" REF="17"> harm: But power without goodne&s;s may be u&s;ed to make mi&s;erable, if it be mana|ged by Cunning, Pride, Malice and Ill|nature.</P>
<P>But above all is that Per&s;on honourable and amiable, where Greatne&s;s, Wi&s;dom and Goodne&s;s are in Conjunction, as it is in God with Infinity. The Examples of &s;uch work marvellous Effects in their Sphere, and carry all before them. They have great force to change the very inward Springs and Principles of Men's Actions, their Opinions and Inclinations; at lea&s;t they outwardly bind them to their good Beha|viour. And oh! that Heaven as it hath begun among us, would go on to ble&s;s the World with &s;uch an Happine&s;s, and refre&s;h the Souls of Righteous men, grieved and tired with wicked Generations, by &s;o beau|tifull and lovely a Sight. And here we can|not mi&s;s to make the Ob&s;ervation, how much greater obligations the Great are under, to look at their Conduct and Ex|ample, than others, and how much larger their Account will be for the Evil they have, and the Good they might have done, and what can be &s;aid by tho&s;e for them|&s;elves, who becau&s;e they are great already, will be greater than God him&s;elf who made them &s;o, and take that liberty which he never u&s;ed?</P>
<P N="3"><PB N="19" REF="17"> 3. A third Cau&s;e of the greater influ|ence of bad Examples is their Confidence, Promptne&s;s and Fiercene&s;s. Good men more generally (unle&s;s they be very hap|py in the Gifts of Eloquence, quick Ap|prehen&s;ion and Courage all together) con|ver&s;e with Caution, and con&s;equently are more &s;paring in their Speech and Actions, more mode&s;t in their Affirmations, more tender of the Reputation of their Conduct, more carefull of their own peace and &s;atis|faction, more &s;ollicitous concerning the in|fluence of their Examples.</P>
<P>Now the confidence and boldne&s;s of bad Examples, is u&s;ually accompanied with &s;ome Wit and Freedom of Speech and Car|riage, and &s;ome Pa&s;&s;ion, always with more vigour and life. Which things are more di&s;cernible and acceptable to mo&s;t Com|pany, than good Sen&s;e and Rea&s;on; and often make &s;o great an impre&s;&s;ion, as al|mo&s;t to force them&s;elves upon tho&s;e who a&s;&s;uredly know much better.</P>
<P>There is al&s;o in &s;uch Confidence a cer|tain heedle&s;ne&s;s and negligence, which car|ries the Air and Appearance, and is &s;ome ingredient of Genero&s;ity and Courage, which fir&s;t much commends the Per&s;ons, and then their Di&s;cour&s;e and Actions, e|&s;pecially to tho&s;e who are their Equals or
<PB N="20" REF="18"> Inferiours, and are no wi&s;er than them|&s;elves; though in other Circum&s;tances where it may &s;eem exce&s;&s;ive or un&s;ea&s;on|able, to under&s;tanding Men it is u&s;ually as offen&s;ive. Finally the confidence of bad Examples to the greate&s;t part of Specta|tors, is a &s;ign of a&s;&s;urance of Truth and Rea&s;on in what they &s;ay and do; at lea&s;t of no great harm or folly; but where the former inclinations to imitation are back'd by appearing Rea&s;on, its force is irre&s;i&s;tible.</P>
<P>On the contrary, Calmne&s;s and Re&s;er|vedne&s;s &s;eem lifele&s;s, dubious, cowardly; and even when they are thought to be the Effect of Wi&s;dom and Judgment; yet they are gratefull but to very few of the &s;ame temper, and the Examples of &s;uch reach the Generality with no force, or with ve|ry little impre&s;&s;ion.</P>
<P>Whence good Men may be advi&s;ed, that there is place and rea&s;on &s;ometimes for Freedom and a hand&s;ome Confidence in conver&s;ation (though many very wi&s;e may want that faculty) managed with a regard to the Mea&s;ure, Sea&s;onablene&s;s and other Circum&s;tances, and with a De&s;ign to con|vey as opportunity may &s;erve, &s;ome good &s;entiment and in&s;truction.</P>
<P>It is a laudable and u&s;efull Dexterity in conver&s;ation, to communicate wi&s;e and
<PB N="21" REF="18"> vertuous things with advantage, and to convey it acceptably, and particularly with a &s;eeming heedle&s;ne&s;s of what one is doing, when indeed it is the main De&s;ign to do it well: like as the di&s;creet Phy&s;i|cian may &s;eem to his ungovernable Patient to be doing nothing of con&s;equence, when he de&s;igns the admini&s;tration of &s;ome effe|ctual Remedy for his Di&s;ea&s;e.</P>
<P N="4">4. The la&s;t Cau&s;e we &s;hall name is the mo&s;t general Corruption of Humane Na|ture, con&s;i&s;ting principally in prevailing Inclinations to other Objects, above tho&s;e to Religion, Vertue and Wi&s;dom.</P>
<P>The depravation and vitio&s;ity of our active Powers is this, that tho&s;e Appetites and Inclinations, which &s;hould be mode|rate, governable and &s;ub&s;ervient, are the mo&s;t violent, ungovernable and comman|ding.</P>
<P>Though this Cau&s;e be very general, yet it is not remote, but near and immediate. This is the rea&s;on why, &s;uppo&s;ing good and bad Examples equal in number &s;et be|fore us, and recommended alike advanta|geou&s;ly, we &s;hould, except here and there one &s;ecured by a rare Felicity of Temper, or the Grace of God, without much deli|beration enter our &s;elves into the wor&s;t Company.</P>
<PB N="22" REF="19">
<P> This is the rea&s;on, why, if Orations could be made with equal &s;eeming Rea&s;on and Eloquence for Vertue and Vice, and we were the Moderators perfectly left to our own liberty without the re&s;traint of &s;hame, we &s;hould &s;oon heartily determine again&s;t Vertue. This is the Rea&s;on at the Bottom, why one &s;ingle Example of one great Man hath more influence than twenty of the prudent and vertuous, the wi&s;e and the good. 'Tis becau&s;e our very opinions, as well as our practices, are perverted and corrupted. We e&s;teem, admire, and love Power more than Goodne&s;s, to be great rather than good, to do what we li&s;t ra|ther than what we ought. And then our general Veneration and great Opinion of the Great, inclines us to a particular pro|mi&s;cuous Approbation and Imitation of what he is and doth. 'Tis from this mi|&s;erable inborn Propen&s;ion of our Natures to Vice, heavy and forcible, that if &s;ome|times by the mo&s;t excellent and celebra|ted Examples, we are a little heaved up|wards, that's all, and we pre&s;ently flop down again all at once.</P>
<P>And &s;ometimes they do not in the lea&s;t move us; and all their beauty and lu&s;tre no more affect us, than if we were deaf or blind. 'Tis from hence till it be changed,
<PB N="23" REF="19"> that like the filt by Swine, we will never learn to be cleanly, though in the Mid&s;t <GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="MURP" EXTENT="1 letter">f a verdant Meadow covered with inno|cent Sheep, if there be but one Puddle where we may wallow in the Mire; or like &s;ome naturally clowni&s;h and &s;lovenly People, who will never be taught any de|cent Carriage and Manners, though al|ways in the Company of tho&s;e who are gentile and well-bred. Oh the deplora|ble Pravity and Degeneracy of Mankind! de&s;perate and utterly incurable without a mercifull Touch by the Finger of God, and the &s;pecial powerfull Influence of his Grace, preventing, following, a&s;&s;i&s;ting our ear|ne&s;t Prayers, and &s;erious Endeavours, without which the Company of Heaven it &s;elf would never mend them.</P>
<P>They would &s;till retain the Propen&s;i|ons and Inclinations, nay the Actions too if they could, of Devils and Brutes in the mid&s;t of Saints and Angels. The&s;e are &s;ome of the mo&s;t con&s;iderable Cau&s;es of the prevalency of evil Examples again&s;t good ones, in An&s;wer to the &s;econd Que|&s;tion.</P>
<P N="3">III. How do the&s;e evil Examples ope|rate? This is convenient to be known, that &s;o we may the better prevent or ob|viate
<PB N="24" REF="20"> their mi&s;chievous Influence. The &s;everal ways may be ob&s;erved to be &s;uch as the&s;e.</P>
<P N="1">1. By their Number, Variety and Con|&s;tancy. They take up all our attention and ob&s;ervation; they wholly po&s;&s;e&s;s our thoughts. Evil examples are oft-times like the ill-de&s;igning Companions and Coun|&s;ellours of &s;ome great Man not over-wi&s;e, who will not permit any other Company but them&s;elves to approach him, nor &s;uf|fer him to hear or know much more, than he hath from them. Sometimes we may be &s;o unhappy in our almo&s;t con&s;tant Con|ver&s;ation, as to have little occa&s;ion to ob|&s;erve any thing that is good, or not &s;o much, or &s;o often as to make any impre&s;|&s;ion. There are &s;ome Per&s;ons &s;o brought up, &s;urrounded always with &s;uch Compa|ny, that folly and vice are their perpetu|al entertainment, &s;carce ever hearing a wi&s;e Word, or &s;eeing a wi&s;e Action. Swear|ing and cur&s;ing, and brawling, and railing, and drinking, and gluttony, and trifling, and dre&s;&s;ing, and gaming, and wantonne&s;s, and at the be&s;t worldly drudgery or diver|&s;ion, are &s;et before their eyes, and upon their ears perpetually. They rarely hear but the very Names of Con&s;cience, Wi&s;|dom, and Vertue, of Sobriety and Piety,
<PB N="25" REF="20"> of Prayers and other Exerci&s;es of Devotion. They &s;carce know whether there be any &s;uch men or things in the world.</P>
<P>And it &s;eems very likely, that were it not for the con&s;tant Publick Exerci&s;es of Religion and Divine Wor&s;hip; Piety, and Devotion, and Con&s;cientiou&s;ne&s;s, and all other Vertues, but what are more immedi|ately nece&s;&s;ary for civil Society, for men's Dealing and Traffique one with another, would be &s;o far neglected and thru&s;t into corners, &s;o little any-where appear, that thou&s;ands more would in a &s;hort time be ignorant of there being any &s;uch things at all. As it is now, how many are there who hardly ever &s;ee (&s;o as to take any no|tice of) a pious well governed Family or Per&s;on, and when they do, they &s;eem to them like Foreigners from &s;ome &s;trange Countrey, with an unknown Language, an uncouth Garb, and odd Manners; nay perhaps &s;ome would &s;eldom hear of a God or Je&s;us Chri&s;t, but in Oaths and Impreca|tions.</P>
<P>The Corruption and Degeneracy of the Gentile World in &s;ome parts of it, was &s;o great before the Preaching of the Go&s;pel and the Doctrine of Chri&s;tianity came a|mong them, that they wondred at the Chri&s;tians for ab&s;taining from the mo&s;t
<PB N="26" REF="21"> abominable ways in which they &s;ecurely walked, of la&s;civiou&s;ne&s;s, lu&s;ts, exce&s;s of Wine, revellings, banquettings, abomina|ble Idolatries. Nay they did not only think their Manners very &s;trange, but they revil'd them for them. Their &s;ober and vertuous Lives were not only matter of their wonder, but of their Reproach (1 <HI>Pet.</HI> 4. 4.) they had never &s;een nor been u&s;ed to &s;uch things before. And it is beyond doubt, that there is but too much of this among&s;t tho&s;e, who have indeed been admitted Members of the Church, and bear the name of Chri&s;tians. From the time they were fir&s;t entred by the Sa|cred Rite, they have heard little, &s;een le&s;s, and practi&s;ed lea&s;t of their Religion. The Families, and Relations, and Acquaintance among whom they have been brought up, living more like Heathens than Chri&s;tians, and that none of the be&s;t &s;ort of Heathens neither. And what can be ordinarily ex|pected from tho&s;e of any thing that is good, who have &s;carce &s;een any thing but what is evil?</P>
<P N="2">(2.) But among others who have had &s;o far the happine&s;s of better In&s;truction and Conver&s;ation, that they are not alto|gether ignorant, or ill inclined, or in&s;en|&s;ible of what is good and vertuous, evil
<PB N="27" REF="21"> examples &s;oon bring mo&s;t of them over to Imitation, by taking away the re&s;traint of &s;ome &s;hame and fear, which they were be|fore under. Few per&s;ons at the beginning of evil cour&s;es, are &s;o hardy and imp<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="KEYERS" EXTENT="1 letter">isent, as not to &s;tand in &s;ome awe both of them|&s;elves and others; of their own Con&s;cien|ces, and other mens opinions concerning them, and the con&s;equences of them. As bad as our Natures are, there are very few who do not at fir&s;t boggle at many vices; they blu&s;h and hang back at them. Such as are Drunkenne&s;s, Swearing, Fornicati|on, La&s;civiou&s;ne&s;s, Prophanene&s;s, Di&s;re|&s;pect and Contempt of the wi&s;e, &s;ober and grave, or in general of their Superiours. But let but two or three of the bolder and wor&s;t of them begin, and how &s;oon &s;hall you &s;ee the re&s;t to follow; and when their number is increa&s;ed to a multitude, how fierce and in&s;olent do they &s;oon grow? They are backward and cowardly oft-times, till they are entred into villainy by &s;ome experienc'd Practitioners, or by &s;ome one of note who leads them the way; but per|haps being once entred they go beyond their Patterns, and outdo tho&s;e who taught them. Now when once natural mode&s;ty, &s;hame and fear of the reproof of their own Con&s;ciences, whether well or ill informed,
<PB N="28" REF="22"> and of the judgments of others are taken out of the way, then tho&s;e, as natural in|clinations to the vices of evil examples have more their liberty, take their &s;wing, an<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="KEYERS" EXTENT="1 letter"> <GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="MURP" EXTENT="3 letters"> their very motion gather &s;trength and celerity. We &s;ee in a Rabble got toge|ther in a riotous and unlawfull manner commanded by Authority to depart, every one afraid at fir&s;t to di&s;obey or affront it, till one more impudent and fierce than the re&s;t makes an attempt. And the violence of Robbers at fir&s;t trembles more than they whom they &s;et upon and rifle. And among&s;t the mo&s;t de&s;perate and bloody Ruffians hi|red to murder &s;ome per&s;on of Innocency, Eminency and Merit, every one is afraid to &s;trike the fir&s;t &s;troke; but that being once given, the re&s;t &s;oon fall on.</P>
<P N="3">(3.) Evil Examples work their effect not only by removing and taking away the &s;hame of Vice, but by making men a&s;ham'd of Vertue; and this e&s;pecially when they are numerous and great. They make men a&s;hamed and afraid to be vertuous and good, both po&s;itively and negatively; both to do that which is good, and not to do that which they know to be evil. Men well di&s;pos'd and enclin'd are oft fearfull to give offence, to appear &s;ingular, to break company, even when their con&s;cience and
<PB N="29" REF="22"> di&s;cretion tells them, they omit to do what they ought; and what they do is not only fooli&s;h, but plainly unlawfull. Although the Man who thus practi&s;eth be not &s;o bad as he that gives a bad Example, or is as ready to follow as the other is to begin; yet he is far from being &s;o good as he &s;hould be; nor indeed if it be his habitual Temper and more frequent Carriage is he to be deemed a good Man. For it is a &s;ign he fears the di&s;plea&s;ure of Men, more than that of God, and <HI>loves the Prai&s;e of Men, more than the Prai&s;e of God</HI> (John 12. 43.) like the chief Rulers who believed on Je|&s;us, but dared not to confe&s;s and own him. We are generally like the ordinary &s;ort of Soldiers in the Field, who either very wil|lingly change &s;ides at any time with their Commanders and Comrades, (which is a further &s;tep &s;till) or el&s;e at lea&s;t they are afraid of the reproach of their Company. Whereas we &s;hould heartily engage in and e&s;pou&s;e the Cau&s;e of Vertue and Religion, and then &s;tand to it: that if it be po&s;&s;ible we may keep others from de&s;erting them, or recall them again. The truth of it is, we want courage generally in &s;o ju&s;t and honourable a Cau&s;e, when we do not want &s;ome Approbation and fair Inclination to it. Which if it &s;hould be &s;aid to &s;ome Men in
<PB N="30" REF="23"> other matters, would hardly be let pa&s;s without a challenge. We want &s;ome re|&s;olution to follow Vertue and Piety boldly. We are much more fooli&s;h and timorous in our Manners than our Fa&s;hions, for we will not follow the&s;e if we find them im|proper or inconvenient for us; but tho&s;e we generally do, though in our di&s;cretion and con&s;cience we condemn them as foo|li&s;h and hurtfull, both to them who lead and follow too. It would make an hone&s;t Man of ordinary Spirit a&s;hamed, to &s;ee tho&s;e who will take no other Affront but upon the point of a Sword, to &s;neak and be cowardly in the Cau&s;e of Vertue and Goodne&s;s, which they them&s;elves ju&s;tly e&s;teem. We not only dare not draw our Swords (that's not de&s;ired) but not &s;o much perhaps as &s;peak in their behalf, when they are unju&s;tly reproached and de&s;pi&s;ed. We draw in our heads (indeed &s;ilence may be in &s;ome Ca&s;es both mo&s;t proper and fit) or rather take part with their Enemies, and &s;econd perhaps their jeer with &s;ome conceited humorous Wit of our own, and this as hath been &s;aid to plea&s;e others again&s;t our own Con&s;ciences. Thus evil Examples &s;eem principally to keep us bad, and make us often appear in|deed wor&s;e than we inwardly are: but
<PB N="31" REF="23"> there is great danger if we &s;till keep &s;uch company, and u&s;e &s;uch practices, we &s;hall really &s;oon be as bad as we &s;eem. But,</P>
<P N="4">(4.) The operation of evil Examples is yet more immediate to fix, or to alter, and change the very Temper and Inclina|tions of our minds, and in great part our opinions and judgments.</P>
<P>The great pronene&s;s of our Nature to imitation every one knows, and 'tis one of the fir&s;t &s;igns of rea&s;on which appear in Children. And if there be no particu|lar impediment in our Nature (much more if there be any di&s;po&s;ition to it) we take that fir&s;t which fir&s;t comes, and mo&s;t frequently pre&s;ents it &s;elf to us. Thus we act, we &s;peak, we chu&s;e, we delight in, we hate, we admire, we de&s;pi&s;e as we &s;ee others do, (e&s;pecially tho&s;e whom we love and e&s;teem) without any de&s;ign of imi|tation, and we do not ob&s;erve or know it our &s;elves, unle&s;s others take notice of it and tell us &s;o. We hear Children and young People, and tho&s;e of inferiour con|dition at every turn, &s;aying, they love &s;uch a thing as their Eye, and they hate to do this, or that, (the one perhaps a trifle, and the other good or of no great harm) for no other rea&s;on, but becau&s;e they have often heard others their Superi|ours &s;ay &s;o.</P>
<PB N="32" REF="24">
<P> Now if we often &s;o &s;peak, act, chu&s;e, reli&s;h, love, hate, <HI>&amp;c.</HI> it &s;oon begets in us habitual Inclinations to, or aver&s;ations from certain Objects, and in time &s;o &s;trong and ob&s;tinate, that we cannot for the pre|&s;ent be, or do otherwi&s;e, nor ordinari|ly weaken or de&s;troy them, but in a long time, by a great change of the circum|&s;tances of our conditions, and by the in|ward grace and a&s;&s;i&s;tance of God him&s;elf. And the&s;e habitual Inclinations are called our manners, our temper and con&s;titution of mind; by which we are, and are cal|led good or bad Men. According to the&s;e we are e&s;timated, and &s;hall be treated by God, who better knows them than we do our &s;elves. Now our manners being in this fa&s;hion corrupted by evil Examples and Conver&s;ation, our opinions and judgments will at lea&s;t in great part be &s;oon &s;uitable to them.</P>
<P>It is in the power of Man to believe what he li&s;ts, unle&s;s it be &s;ome immediate Axiom; &s;uch as the whole is bigger than its part. And even there too a Man may confound, darken, perplex, and indi&s;po&s;e his mind in &s;uch manner, as not to di&s;cern &s;o clear a Truth; and then he can much ea&s;ier turn him&s;elf away from regarding it, and con&s;equently he can &s;u&s;pend his
<PB N="33" REF="24"> judgment, or not actually belleve it if he plea&s;e.</P>
<P>It is naturally con&s;equent to all other Inclinations, to be enclin'd to believe and judge that to be true, which may mo&s;t gratify and plea&s;e them. When therefore by evil Examples we are &s;wayed and bent to that which is Evil, and brought to de|light in it, we will per&s;wade our &s;elves contrary to what we thought before, that it is even laudable, or at lea&s;t of no great harm, and therefore tolerable, and a mat|ter of je&s;t more than Reproof.</P>
<P>Our Lu&s;ts and unlawfull Affections by the Influence they have upon our Wills, bribe our very Con&s;ciences, and bring them over to plead and argue on their &s;ide, or at lea&s;t to excu&s;e and extenuate them; to call Evil good, and Good evil, put Darkne&s;s for light, and Light for dark|ne&s;s. The&s;e are defiled Con&s;ciences, as the Scripture &s;peaketh: and how deplora|ble is the condition of &s;uch Men, who&s;e light is wor&s;e than darkne&s;s, and who&s;e very guide betrays them, and leads them to &s;ure de&s;truction, not &s;u&s;pecting or fearing any &s;uch matter. Be&s;ides our opinions are changed by evil Examples another way. Mo&s;t men have no other rea&s;on for their practice, to believe it lawfull or un|lawfull,
<PB N="34" REF="25"> wi&s;e or fooli&s;h, but only the Inti|mations of their own Con&s;ciences, and the Te&s;timony of others. Now evil Examples invalidate both the&s;e, and fir&s;t the Te&s;ti|mony of others again&s;t any Vice. When we &s;ee &s;o many confidently and &s;ecurely indulge them&s;elves in it, we are apt to believe, that they think it a pa&s;&s;able or commendable thing. And as they &s;eem to think no wor&s;e of them&s;elves for it, &s;o will they not of us; and a great many more may be of their mind. And then con|&s;equently it weakens the credit of our own Con&s;ciences with us too. We begin to &s;u&s;pect, and at la&s;t we conclude, that they have been hitherto but ill informed; that we are &s;uper&s;titious and more timorous than we need to be, through natural Tem|per, Education, want of u&s;e and expe|rience.</P>
<P>Thus by this time we may more di|&s;tinctly &s;ee the ways, how evil Examples make their attacque upon us, and the me|thod of their proceedings, and being be|fore-hand advi&s;ed and admoni&s;hed thereof, we may, if we in good earne&s;t be willing, and wi&s;e, prevent their mo&s;t dangerous and ruinous Influence upon us.</P>
<P N="4"><PB N="35" REF="25"> IV. In the Fourth place, I am to give a Caution or two to be ob&s;erved in Non|compliance with evil Examples, to &s;ecure our Prudence and Innocency: They are but two. (1.) In re&s;pect of the matter of our Actions. (2.) In re&s;pect of their End.</P>
<P N="1">(1.) As to the matter, the mo&s;t general Advice is, that we be well a&s;&s;ured, that the Examples be really evil. One of the mo&s;t certain &s;igns of which is, a thing's being uni|ver&s;ally forbidden in the Scripture, and if we can be equally a&s;&s;ured of it by true Rea&s;on too. That which is prohibited by God univer&s;ally, hath certainly in every particular Action more mi&s;chievous than good effects; though we may not &s;ee it at pre&s;ent our &s;elves, or be able to make it appear to others; and therefore it is not at any time to be done. As contrariwi&s;e, that which is univer&s;ally commanded hath more good than bad, and therefore is ne|ver to be omitted. In things therefore that are thus forbidden or commanded, compliance with others, to do, or not do as they would have us is never ju&s;tifiable. If Company, Conver&s;ation and Cu&s;tom de&s;ire us, and God forbid us; if they for|bid us, and God command us, it is no que&s;tion, whom we are to follow.</P>
<PB N="36" REF="26">
<P> But becau&s;e we are oft-times liable to great mi&s;takes, we are hear to endeavour &s;incerely to be well informed, as was be|fore advi&s;ed. We may judge that univer|&s;ally forbidden or commanded by God, which truly is not &s;o. We are to avoid &s;ingularity through ignorance, or mi&s;infor|mation in our Duty, and con&s;equently gi|ving a needle&s;s offence, and expo&s;ing our &s;elves to the contempt of the ill-natur'd and ungenerous, or to the pity and di&s;|e&s;teem of the be&s;t &s;ort of men for our weakne&s;s or &s;u&s;pected Contumacy and Self-will; &s;ometimes to the lo&s;s of our &s;e|cular advantages, whereby we may not only live comfortably, but perhaps very u&s;efully. And then we are with the &s;ame &s;incerity to judge as truly on the other hand too, and not to believe that lawfull which is really forbidden, or that not to be commanded which is really &s;o: and con&s;equently to take an undue liberty, and in a more proper and important Sen&s;e give offence. And becau&s;e of our general pronene&s;s to indulge our &s;elves, and live ea&s;ily, we have more rea&s;on to be vigilant and carefull over our &s;elves in this la&s;t Extream.</P>
<P N="2">2. The &s;econd Caution is in re&s;pect of the End. We are to take care (and there
<PB N="37" REF="26"> is need of it) that we refu&s;e not to con|form to, and follow received Practice and common Example, or to comply with company at any time, no not in things materially evil, out of pride or affectati|on of &s;ingularity; not out of an humour to contradict the World, and controll o|thers; to be leaders, not followers; not out of a de&s;ign to be pointed at and &s;hew|ed, that &s;uch an one will not do &s;o; not out of a &s;ly intention to be known, talk|ed of, e&s;teemed as a Man of Courage, Re|&s;olution, Self-government; not out of &s;ur|line&s;s and unwillingne&s;s to gratifie others. The&s;e are all naughty and ill principles and ends, which defile and pollute, otherwi&s;e materially and eventually very good, pro|fitable Actions; and are very apt as in o|ther places. So here to creep into our minds; and either to thru&s;t out, or at lea&s;t mix them&s;elves with tho&s;e that are worthy, ju&s;t and rea&s;onable. There are &s;ome, and ve|ry many &s;pecious, external Carriages and Behaviours, to which men pay a great deal of Reverence, which have no better Spring, at lea&s;t in great part. Whence then mu&s;t our diver&s;ity of manners from the evil Ex|amples of the re&s;t of the World proceed? From Charity to the World, becau&s;e thou &s;ee&s;t &s;uch Cour&s;es and Carriages to be foo|li&s;h,
<PB N="38" REF="27"> unworthy of Men or Chri&s;tians, nox|ious and mi&s;chievous; from prudence, be|cau&s;e thou knowe&s;t them to be unworthy, or unbecoming thy &s;elf, nor u&s;efull, nor &s;afe; but indecent, trouble&s;ome, hurtfull, and of dangerous, bad con&s;equence here, and hereafter: In few words, from Piety, Charity, Prudent Self-love, and Care of our &s;elves. Our Carriage and Conduct here will be very beneficial and effectual, if the &s;ame Spirit and Temper appear in the re&s;t of our Conver&s;ation, &s;hewing our &s;elves generous, and civil, and ea&s;ie, and willing to comply, and gratify in things which are not unlawfull or very inconve|nient, or have no good rea&s;on again&s;t it. And even where we refu&s;e &s;infull and in|commodious Compliances, we are to ap|pear unwilling to give offence, or not to gratify; but that our Charity to our &s;elves and others, and even to our Companions them&s;elves: Our prudence and our Duty to God, oblige us nece&s;&s;arily &s;o to do.</P>
<P>To conclude this Caution we mu&s;t take care to avoid two Extreams. The one Pride; which word and vice I take &s;o generally as to comprehend all parti|culars of affectation of &s;ingularity, con|tradiction, <HI>&amp;c.</HI> ju&s;t before warned a|gain&s;t, as &s;o many kinds, and many
<PB N="39" REF="27"> more which may be named. The other is too much &s;oftne&s;s, too great loath|ne&s;s to offend or di&s;plea&s;e for the pre&s;ent, either out of love or fear; when we know in our Con&s;ciences, that it will be better for the future, both for them and us, not to gratifie or comply with them: and to this infirmity that which we call good Na|ture (otherwi&s;e a valuable thing) is ob|noxious, an will often betray us, if we do not (as we ought, all other natural di&s;po&s;itions and inclinations) regulate it by a judicious and re&s;olved Vertue.</P>
<P N="5">V. The fifth and la&s;t thing to be done is, to make an inference or two from what hath been &s;aid.</P>
<P N="1">1. We are with great care to avoid gi|ving bad Example. Certainly good Man|ners is a good thing, if there be any in the World; and to corrupt a thing &s;o good, &s;o ab&s;olutely nece&s;&s;ary to any tolerable &s;ub|&s;i&s;tence in this or any other State, is the wor&s;t of Employments. Now the giving bad Examples tends to it, the following of them effects it. If any be &s;o wicked as de&s;ignedly to give an ill Example in any Vice (&s;uppo&s;e Irreligion) and to make it their &s;tudy or diver&s;ion to corrupt the World.</P>
<PB N="40" REF="28">
<P> This &s;eems to proceed from pure Malice again&s;t God and Men. But if we be only carele&s;s and heedle&s;s of what we do, tho' it be never &s;o ill, and what others may do after us, it is at lea&s;t want of good Go|vernment of our &s;elves, and want of that kindne&s;s and charity which we owe to our Brother, and draws upon us the guilt of tho&s;e &s;ins, which our Examples have been the Cau&s;es of. Like as we &s;hould reckon that Man devili&s;h and inhumane, and wor|thy of the &s;evere&s;t Puni&s;hment, who know|ing him&s;elf infected with the Plague, &s;hould mingle him&s;elf with all Company, and in|du&s;triou&s;ly or carele&s;ly breath out his Pe|&s;tiferous &s;teams upon all he met.</P>
<P>But more e&s;pecially are they concerned in this Admonition, who&s;e Examples are of the mo&s;t forcible and diffu&s;ive Influence. Such who are mo&s;t eminent and con&s;picu|ous, with whom compliance and invitati|on brings great conver&s;ation, honour, and &s;ecular Advantages. The rich, the potent, the ingenious and learned, are like Stars of the fir&s;t Magnitude, which draw all men's Eyes towards them; and we know how far it reacheth, and thanks be to God we know too how far it is prevented, when the Commands and Examples of Pie|ty and Vertue come together from the
<PB N="41" REF="28"> Throne it &s;elf; who&s;e force we hope will in &s;ome time make its way through, and alter the Con&s;titution of the whole Body, and drive out the Venom and Lepro&s;ie of Vice, which hath &s;o long defiled and deformed it.</P>
<P>After Hypocri&s;ie, Enthu&s;ia&s;m, Immora|lity, Impiety, and Contempt of all Religi|on, Super&s;tition and Idolatry &s;ucce&s;&s;ively, we are in hopes to &s;ee a &s;erious, enlight|ned and judicious Piety and Virtue; which &s;hall not &s;o much frighten as &s;hame and rea|&s;on Men out of Vice. And if, together with this, Virtue and Sobriety were al|ways, among others, the Di&s;tingui&s;hing Condition, as they ought to be, of Honour and all other Secular Advantages, a great work would &s;oon be in great mea&s;ure done: For I think Vice never yet had &s;o much e&s;teem as to have one &s;mall Martyr for it. But,</P>
<P N="2">2. We are not to follow bad Examples when given. They can but tempt us, not force us; when the Text tells us, <HI>That evil Comunications corrupt good Manners;</HI> the meaning is, That they have always a natural tendency to it; but not that they always effect it. We may prevent and de|feat their Influence by Precepts of Wi&s;dom, by Vigilancy and Re&s;olution. We may learn, receive and po&s;&s;e&s;s our Minds with
<PB N="42" REF="29"> right and ju&s;t Opinions, with good and whol&s;ome In&s;tructions and Documents, with generous Pa&s;&s;ions and Purpo&s;es. We may &s;oon attain to the Capacity of look|ing upon Examples to be only Repre&s;enta|tions, not Rea&s;ons of our Manners, to help our Imaginations, but not Arguments, to determine our Judgments. We need not be either &s;urprized or overborn by them. We may, we ought to di&s;cover, examine, con|front and compare them with others, re|ceive or reject them if we plea&s;e. If we find them fooli&s;h, mean, impious or bad, we are not to be drawn away by their Greatne&s;s, Number, Impunity, nay, En|couragement too. For we need not be advi&s;ed of a thing &s;o common, that the Companions and Mini&s;ters of Vice may be cheri&s;hed, honoured and rewarded; when Religion and Virtue are neglected and &s;light|ed as trouble&s;ome, unea&s;ie and ill Com|pany.</P>
<P>Thus we may behave our &s;elves, and not only &s;ecure our &s;elves, but many o|thers, from the Infection and Contagion of fooli&s;h and wicked Examples. But it may be otherwi&s;e too, and we are always in very great danger of them. And truly, generally, as the &s;tate of the World now goes, they reach us, and have their mi&s;|chievous
<PB N="43" REF="29"> and pernicious effects more or le&s;s upon us; which ought not to di&s;may us; but &s;till to encrea&s;e our Caution, Cou|rage and Re&s;olution.</P>
<P>Indeed we have had too long an Experi|ence of it, and have felt its Influence &s;o deep, and almo&s;t univer&s;al, that it is not like in a long time yet to be worked and worn out by the mo&s;t operative and pow|erfull Remedies that can be applied. We &s;eem to have great need of a Confederacy here too, and all too weak and in&s;ufficient, without the Conjunction of the Supream Power to head and conduct it, which we may promi&s;e our &s;elves. Never can Au|thority and Power be employed in a bet|ter Cau&s;e; in which they &s;hall certainly have God on their &s;ide, his A&s;&s;i&s;tance, Fa|vour, Ble&s;&s;ing and Reward; the Hands and Hearts of the be&s;t Men, and the Con&s;ci|ences of all, even of the very wor&s;t.</P>
<P>As for our particular, Let us li&s;t our &s;elves under this Confederacy, and aug|ment the number of Heaven's Forces again&s;t the Armies of Hell and Vice, and even by Multitude oppre&s;s them if we can: But if not that, at lea&s;t, let us by Courage and Conduct make good our Ground, and keep our &s;elves entire; not only receiving the bolde&s;t Attacks of Vice and Folly un|moved,
<PB N="44" REF="30"> but &s;ometimes charging through the mo&s;t re&s;olute of their Troops. <HI>And may the God of all Power and Victory, who is not an unconcern'd Spectator of the Endea|vours and Prayers of his Faithfull Servants, multiply their Number, encrea&s;e their Zeal, Courage and Con&s;tancy, and in &s;ome mea&s;ure grant them here pre&s;ent Succe&s;s:</HI> However, we are abundantly a&s;&s;ured, that he will hereafter &s;ignally own their Service, and crown it with a glorious Reward.</P>
</DIV1>
<DIV1 N="2" TYPE="sermon">
<PB N="45" REF="30">
<HEAD>SERMON II.</HEAD>
<EPIGRAPH>
<BIBL>1 PET. IV. 4.</BIBL>
<Q>Wherein they think it &s;trange that you run not with them to the &s;ame Exce&s;s of Riot, &s;peaking evil of you.</Q>
</EPIGRAPH>
<P>WHEN fir&s;t Chri&s;tian Religion was introduced, and Societies which made Publick profe&s;&s;ion of it were formed, there never appeared a greater contrariety of Manners in the World, than there was between the Chri|&s;tians and all the re&s;t of Mankind. The former were eminently pure, &s;piritually|minded, humble, ju&s;t, and in all in&s;tances charitable; the latter mo&s;t impure, proud, malicious, envious, cruel.</P>
<P>The Gentiles, except here and there a Philo&s;opher, or a good Natur'd-man, were as much corrupted in their manners and lives, as inhabiting together upon this Earth could well bear. Their very Reli|gion
<PB N="46" REF="31"> was the wor&s;t part of their condition, teaching them Bea&s;tline&s;s and Cruelty to &s;uch exce&s;s, that it was nece&s;&s;ary to be corrected by the light of Nature, and the &s;upreme, civil Power; as the <HI>Bacchanalia</HI> among the <HI>Romans.</HI> Some of the Fathers ju&s;tly reproach them, that their Religion taught them nothing of Morality, as the Chri&s;tian Religion did: but only childi&s;h, &s;uper&s;titious, or bea&s;tly Rites and Ceremo|nies. And the Holy Scripture in &s;everal places, gives us abundantly to under&s;tand, the mo&s;t lamentable condition of the Gen|tile World, when the Go&s;pel or Chri&s;tian In&s;titution came fir&s;t among them; particularly the Epi&s;tles <NOTE PLACE="marg"><HI>Rom.</HI> 1. <HI>Ephe&s;.</HI> 2. 4.</NOTE> to the <HI>Romans</HI> and the <HI>Ephe&s;ians.</HI></P>
<P>As for the Jews, though their Religion was good and wi&s;ely in&s;tituted, in that place which it had of the whole Divine Oeconomy and Providence over all Man|kind from beginning to end; and although they had excellent Books of Morality, of which I reckon Piety and Devotion the principal part in their hands: yet both their inward manners and outward practice generally, were little better than that of the Heathens, except in one point of Ido|latry.</P>
<PB N="47" REF="31">
<P> They living every where promi&s;cuou&s;ly with the Gentiles, and under their Domi|nion, &s;oon grew like them, retaining only what they could of the Rites of their Re|ligion, and &s;ome true opinions concerning the Deity to di&s;tingui&s;h them. St. <HI>Paul</HI> chargeth them with an univer&s;al Defection and Corruption in his Epi&s;tle to the <HI>Romans,</HI> Chap. 2. 3. and their own Writers are wit|ne&s;&s;es how wicked they were. And the <HI>Talmudi&s;ts</HI> particularly had a Tradition, that ju&s;t before the coming of the <HI>Me&s;&s;ias,</HI> Impudence in wickedne&s;s &s;hould abound, as &s;ome think it will before his &s;econd Coming.</P>
<P>This was a deplorable State of humane Race; but con&s;idering the Ignorance and Darkne&s;s which had &s;o long covered the face of the Earth; where they rarely heard or but &s;u&s;pected any thing better, it was not &s;o much to be wondered at. But &s;trange it was when they heard the Do|ctrine of the Go&s;pel, or did but &s;ee the contrary manners and practi&s;ers of its Pro|fe&s;&s;ors, that they were not all of them &s;tartled; and yet &s;tranger that they &s;hould wonder at the Chri&s;tians, that they would not live as they did. And yet &s;o it was then with the Heathens towards the Chri|&s;tians; and &s;o it is &s;till with bad Chri&s;tians,
<PB N="48" REF="32"> little more &s;uch than in Name, and infi|nitely the mo&s;t Numerous towards the Good, who are in Heart and Life obedient to the Laws of Chri&s;t. And that is the Ob&s;ervation as briefly as may be to be treated of.</P>
<P>Vicious and di&s;&s;olute Men wonder that all others are not like them&s;elves.</P>
<P>It is not to be doubted of, but that they have their Rea&s;ons for it, what-ever they be. And they are the &s;ame by which they u&s;e to ju&s;tifie and excu&s;e them&s;elves and all others, who are drawn to compliance with naughty Manners, and corrupted by evil Examples.</P>
<P>It &s;hall be my bu&s;ine&s;s at this time to &s;ee what &s;ome of them are, and to give the &s;tronge&s;t of them its full An&s;wer.</P>
<P>We may conceive &s;ome of them to be the&s;e.</P>
<P>They &s;ay then, that as the World ever did, and now goes, to be Con&s;cienti|ous, Pious and Virtuous is, (1.) To be Singular, and to call all men's Eyes, and Talk, and Cen&s;ures towards us. (2.) It is to be Solitary, Melancholy and Cheer|le&s;s, when others are diverted, courted and crouded with good Company. (3.) 'Tis to be contemptible and ridiculous. (4.) To be revil'd and per&s;ecuted. (5.) 'Tis to un|dertake
<PB N="49" REF="32"> an impo&s;&s;ible, or at lea&s;t an ex|treamly difficult, and con&s;equently painfull thing. We have not time to &s;peak any thing con&s;iderable to all the&s;e Excu&s;es: For the pre&s;ent we'll take only the three la&s;t, and of them put the two fir&s;t together more brief|ly: but the la&s;t of all, which &s;eems the be&s;t they have, and is by experience found mo&s;t to deter Men from the Re&s;olutions of undertaking a vertuous Life, and bid|ding a final farewell to vicious Manners and Company, is that which we &s;hall hear and an&s;wer more particularly.</P>
<P N="1">(1.) In the fir&s;t place then to ab&s;tain from the evil Manners and Lives of the bad, to joyn our &s;elves to and practi&s;e with the good; the fir&s;t being the generality of Men of all ranks and conditions, will expo&s;e us to much contempt, hatred and ill Treatment. We &s;hall meet with neither favour nor ju|&s;tice. Such was the u&s;age of the Chri&s;tians by the Heathens. Here in the Text they are &s;aid to be <GAP DESC="foreign"> &s;peaking evil, <HI>viz.</HI> of the Chri&s;tians. No doubt their Tongues, and their Hearts, and their Actions went to|gether; they reviled, de&s;pi&s;ed, hated, and ill u&s;ed the Chri&s;tians, becau&s;e they would not comply with their abominable Cu|&s;toms and Practices. And it is the &s;ame thing &s;till in general (though there may
<PB N="50" REF="33"> be &s;ome difference in degrees, and &s;ome Circum&s;tances) between the bad and the good, even of the &s;ame external Profe&s;&s;i|on of Religion. Of which &s;ome of the Cau|&s;es in few words &s;eem to be, The fooli&s;h and fal&s;e Opinions of Libertines (e&s;peci|ally if great, who take licentiou&s;ne&s;s to be the privilege and property of their rank) that religious and con&s;cientious Men are timorous, and mean &s;pirited, becau&s;e they dare not venture upon &s;ome Actions and Cour&s;es, which they fear not; when it truly proceeds from their Judgment, Choice, and a great Mind; or on the contrary they will have them to be proud and &s;elf-con|ceited, thinking them&s;elves wi&s;er than eve|ry body el&s;e, and on purpo&s;e contradicting common practice; whereas 'tis true Wi&s;e|dom and good Under&s;tanding, to fear God and depart from evil. 'Tis Piety to God, Charity and Compa&s;&s;ion to the World, prudent Care of their own greate&s;t Inte|re&s;ts. Finally, they think, that the op|po&s;ite Manners of good and vertuous Men reproach them fir&s;t; the&s;e by their cour|&s;es of life which they take, in effect call them Fools, or perver&s;e, weak, or wilfull. Which indeed is true: but it is the nece&s;|&s;ary &s;ignification of their Principles which they cannot help: nor are they willing if
<PB N="51" REF="33"> they could, becau&s;e they hope it may at la&s;t prevail upon &s;ome of them to be wi|&s;er, and to do better. At lea&s;t they think them&s;elves obliged to appear in, and for the Cau&s;e of Religion and Vertue, and not any way to contribute to the danger of the few good, or the confirmation of the many bad.</P>
<P>But let the Cau&s;es of this unju&s;t u&s;age of the Religious and Con&s;cientious be what they will, 'tis confe&s;&s;ed that the Matter of Fact is true; but it is denied to be a &s;uffi|cient rea&s;on, either for the compliance of the good, or for the wonder of the bad, that they do not.</P>
<P>As if there were no better rea&s;on for Vertue, and living well, than the plea&s;ing of Men; not one in 1000 of which have any rea&s;on at all for what they are, <GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="KEYERS" EXTENT="2 letters">d do; but only humour, pa&s;&s;ion, appetite, and example of the mo&s;t and wor&s;t. 'Tis true, he that di&s;creetly and con&s;cientiou&s;ly will not go with a multitude to do evil, may be evil &s;poken of, and ill u&s;ed by the blind, incon&s;iderate, or cowardly; but can never de&s;erve it.</P>
<P>'Tis they, who are the fooli&s;h, and oft|times perver&s;e and wilfull in their pernici|ous Folly; and therefore their Qualities to be de&s;pi&s;ed, and their Per&s;ons pitied.</P>
<PB N="52" REF="34">
<P> Let men give me better rea&s;on than I have for what they do, and I'll follow and thank them too. But this contempt of tho&s;e, who have no other rea&s;on, but their confidence, number, and humour, or blind pa&s;&s;ions, and inclinations is to be contem|ned; and will never move a Man of ordi|nary &s;pirit or under&s;tanding, who knows what, and for what rea&s;ons he ought to do any thing. And the truth is the Argu|ment for imitation of the many (great or &s;mall) in evil Manners to avoid being neglected, contemned, de&s;pi&s;ed, frowned upon, or hated, reacheth only the more mean and vulgar minds, whatever they appear; from which notwith&s;tanding, they ought to be &s;ecured by particularly &s;hewing and minding them, of the folly and inju&s;tice of it, in re&s;pect of God, our Neighbour, and our &s;elves; and that there is no com|pari&s;on to be made which is wor&s;t, to be really an ill man, and to be ill-&s;poken of, or ill-u&s;ed by ill men, through pride and ill-nature, or even by the better through mi&s;take. For we'll take but that one con|&s;ideration of our own true Intere&s;t, and a prudent care of our &s;elves. Who would not take it for a Reproach, to be counted like a &s;illy Sheep to drown for company, or prefer being wicked and mi&s;erable, with a
<PB N="53" REF="34"> Multitude before being innocent and hap|py alone, lea&s;t they &s;hould &s;coff or be an|gry with them for Cowardice, or breaking Company. Suppo&s;e nineteen of twenty &s;hould in a Frolick draw their Blood, or drink Poy&s;on to the Ruin of Health, or endangering Life, doth any man think him&s;elf under the lea&s;t Temptation to imi|tate &s;uch folly and madne&s;s, lea&s;t he &s;hould be taken for a Da&s;tard, or an ill Compa|nion?</P>
<P>The&s;e Similitudes are not impertinent, or improper, let men believe as they plea&s;e. For wicked Cour&s;es of Life continued in, are and will be, as &s;urely the death and de|&s;truction of our Souls, and often of our Bodies and E&s;tates altogether, as &s;ome Wounds and Potions are mortiferous to our Bodies only.</P>
<P>Add to this the con&s;iderations of Piety to God, and Charity to Men. The good Man who reckons him&s;elf born for the Service of God, and to do good to others, as well as enjoy it him&s;elf, rea&s;ons well when he thinks him&s;elf the more obliged to honour God, and to pre&s;erve him&s;elf and others from the Infection of bad Ex|ample, when their Number, Confidence, and Security is &s;o great, as to wonder, and de&s;pi&s;e, and treat hardly all tho&s;e who
<PB N="54" REF="35"> are not like them&s;elves: the more the mi|&s;ery and folly, and impiety of the World encrea&s;eth, he thinks him&s;elf the more bound to endeavour to le&s;&s;en it, by &s;aving him&s;elf, at lea&s;t if he can do no more. 'Tis the mo&s;t &s;ea&s;onable and nece&s;&s;ary then to be the be&s;t, when the World is the wor&s;t, and men are generally running to their ruine. Such is the Apo&s;tolical Ad|monition to Chri&s;tians, <HI>to be harmle&s;s and blamele&s;s the Sons</HI> <NOTE PLACE="marg"><HI>Ephe&s;.</HI> 2. 15.</NOTE> <HI>of God in the mid&s;t of a crooked and per|ver&s;e Nation, and to &s;hine as lights in the World.</HI> Never more need of light, than in a gro&s;s and general Darkne&s;s, nor of the Mounds and Banks of re&s;olute, vertu|ous Examples, than when the Floods of vicious ones threaten to drown all. Af|ter all this, we mu&s;t not allow or grant too much to this Plea and Excu&s;e, for Con|formity to evil Examples, and bad Man|ners.</P>
<P>There are a great many wi&s;e and good Men (though too few) who&s;e Commen|dation, Favour and A&s;&s;i&s;tance, we &s;hall not fail of by our retreat and &s;eparation from wicked Practices, though never &s;o nume|rous and great, and then oft-times at lea&s;t, if our Non-conformity be as di&s;creet and prudent, as it is &s;incere and con&s;cientious,
<PB N="55" REF="35"> tho&s;e very Per&s;ons who from the Teeth outward, reproach and &s;light us, will &s;i|lently in their own thoughts e&s;teem, and commend us; or if at &s;ometimes, when upon the rant, and in the heat of pa&s;&s;ion, they may inwardly contemn and hate us too, yet at others in their &s;ober Moods, when they are mo&s;t them&s;elves, they may be of another opinion.</P>
<P>And I think it is not to be doubted, that the Text &s;peaks here only very generally; and that &s;ome even of the Gentiles, were &s;truck and awakened by the light, and beau|ty of the innocent, vertuous, &s;piritual and heavenly Conver&s;ations of the Chri&s;tians, and inwardly mov'd to e&s;teem and admire them. Nay after &s;ome time, &s;ome even of tho&s;e, who at fir&s;t wondred at the Sin|gularity and Novelty of their Manners were &s;o affected, though they did not yet leave their own. For that we may ob|&s;erve by the way, that men may in &s;ome con&s;iderable Degree, approve, e&s;teem, and love that in others which they do not practi&s;e them&s;elves; the one co&s;ting no|thing, the other much pains and &s;olici|tude: and that therefore &s;incere Piety and Vertue, have not &s;o many and fierce Ene|mies as from appearance may be thought. Be&s;ides, this excu&s;e hath no place, when
<PB N="56" REF="36"> the greatne&s;s of our Condition, and our advantageous Circum&s;tances may be &s;uch, as to command Honour and Imitation of us; not to fear contempt or ill-u&s;age, for not imitating of others; when it is thought our part to give Examples, not to follow.&mdash;But as I have &s;aid, It is the la&s;t excu&s;e of men for going along with the Crowd of the vicious; namely, the difficulty and painfulne&s;s of doing otherwi&s;e, that &s;hall mo&s;t enlarge this Di&s;cour&s;e.</P>
<P>To follow a Multitude is always jolly and plea&s;ant: but when our Nature &s;ets us going too, it is little le&s;s than nece&s;&s;ary, and the contrary impo&s;&s;ible. Let us hear it at large.</P>
<P N="2">2. They will then alledge for them|&s;elves, that Vertue and Sanctity to our Natures, &s;uch as they are born, and &s;uch as they are by long u&s;e and cu&s;tom now made, are in the highe&s;t degree difficult and laborious, and con&s;equently grievous and painfull, and next to impo&s;&s;ible; but Vice is ea&s;ie, and thence delightfull and plea&s;ant. And it is certain, that one of the mo&s;t general, and &s;ure Cau&s;es of the begin|ning, and continuance of the Inclinations and Actions of humane Nature, is fir&s;t Faci|lity, and then Plea&s;ure. What is painfull will either be never attempted, or &s;oon left off.</P>
<PB N="57" REF="36">
<P> To &s;peak more di&s;tinctly and properly: We acknowledge (&s;ay they) &s;ome re|mainder of an appetite to Vertue, and mo|ral good; but we find an hundred others in|comparably more forcible and &s;trong.</P>
<P>Now to exalt Vertue to an univer&s;al Su|premacy, and to pre&s;erve it there con|&s;tantly; to bring all other appetites and pa&s;&s;ions down to its &s;ubjection and obedi|ence, &s;o as to receive all their motions, their very being, end, and mea&s;ures from its directions and commands, tell us whe|ther, and how it may be done? For the man void of all Honour and Love to God, nay an Hater of that mo&s;t perfect and ho|ly Nature, to be his devout Adorer and Imitator; for the little &s;elfi&s;h Soul con|tracted to a point to become great, and widen it &s;elf to his Countrey, Mankind, or even the Univer&s;e; for the malicious and &s;owre Ill-nature to be &s;weetned into Cha|rity; for the proud and covetous to de&s;ire and value no more of Honour, Power and Wealth, than what he may be able to ma|nage to the Honour of God, his Sovereign, and the good of others his fellow Subjects, and for that very end; for the voluptu|ous and luxurious to &s;corn any bodily Plea&s;ures, or &s;en&s;ual Delights, any fur|ther than they are the Means and In&s;tru|ments
<PB N="58" REF="37"> of Piety, Charity, and our own &s;piritual and eternal Good; any further than they are nece&s;&s;ary or u&s;efull in this frail Life of Fle&s;h, to remove the Hinde|rances, or to procure the helps of Vertue and Beneficence, of being and doing good. Thus to turn all the Motions, Inclinations; and Aver&s;ions of our Souls up&s;ide down; <HI>To put off the old man,</HI> <NOTE PLACE="marg">Eph. 4. 22, 24. Col. 3. 9, 10.</NOTE> <HI>which is corrupt according to de|ceitfull Lu&s;ts</HI> (as the Scripture phra&s;eth it) <HI>and to put on the new man, which is created after God in Righteou&s;ne&s;s and true Holine&s;s:</HI> This, this is an undertaking mo&s;t difficult, irk&s;ome, tedious, if not im|po&s;&s;ible to be ever performed; of which the &s;mall number of tho&s;e, who but &s;eem to do it, and the va&s;t multitude of tho&s;e, that never think of it, is an evident Argu|ment.</P>
<P>And may we not well wonder at the fir&s;t, who will adventure to turn head, and with &s;ore labour perpetually tugg again&s;t the Stream of Nature, and almo&s;t univer|&s;al Example? may we not well excu&s;e tho&s;e, who &s;wim down ea&s;ily with &s;o vio|lent a Tide, or permit them&s;elves to be carried by it?</P>
<P>This is the Summ of their la&s;t Plea (and I think the be&s;t they have) made
<PB N="59" REF="37"> u&s;e of, by vicious and di&s;&s;olute Men, for their wonder at tho&s;e who will undertake to be better, and defence of tho&s;e who are as bad as them&s;elves. And to this we &s;hall return, I hope, no in&s;ufficient An|&s;wer, and that in the&s;e particulars.</P>
<P N="1">1. That Reformation and Conver&s;ion from Vice to Vertue, from Sin to Sancti|ty, however it is effected, is not impo&s;&s;i|ble, needs no other Evidence than the emi|nent Examples of &s;ome, and the good ones of many. We confe&s;s that they are but few, comparatively: yet in various in|&s;tances and degrees more than bad Men are willing to allow; who indu&s;tri|ou&s;ly dimini&s;h them, and will &s;ome|times pretend to believe, that there is hardly any in &s;incerity and reality, but only for by-ends, and in outward appea|rance. But this is certainly fal&s;e, and there are tho&s;e in the World, who after impar|tial Enquiry and mature Deliberation of what is really true and good, (nor do they affect to be mi&s;taken, as wilfully vicious Men do) are convinced, that Vertue and Holine&s;s are the Perfections of their Na|ture, and the only Source of Felicity of Life; which leaves not there, but intire|ly po&s;&s;e&s;&s;eth them with the mo&s;t inward inclinations of their heart to it, and with
<PB N="60" REF="38"> the mo&s;t ardent A&s;pires to the utmo&s;t per|fection of it their Nature can receive; and are &s;o unea&s;ie under the Delays, Hin|drances and Oppo&s;itions they meet withall in this State, that they have oft-times much ado to &s;ecure their patience and du|tifull Behaviour to God Almighty. That again&s;t the pretended impo&s;&s;ibility.</P>
<P N="2">2. For the great difficulty, pain; and pain we &s;ay, that it is not &s;o great and frightfull as is u&s;ually imagined. For,</P>
<P N="1">(1.) We are not alone and helple&s;s, far from it. There is, in this de&s;ign and re&s;o|lution of re&s;cuing our &s;elves from the Do|minion and Slavery of that evil One, of blind Concupi&s;cence, contemptible Appe|tites, and pernicious Lu&s;ts, and of return|ing to our ju&s;t Obedience to God, and Rea|&s;on; there is, I &s;ay, one greater for us than all that are again&s;t us. The Grace of God is always ready to a&s;&s;i&s;t us. Nay, it is that which prevents us all in &s;ome de|gree or other with good Coun&s;els and De|&s;ires, and cau&s;eth us to begin to look the right-way, to bethink our &s;elves, to be &s;e|rious, and not to play the children all our lives. This, if we cheri&s;h them, is more at hand &s;till; and if con&s;cious or &s;u&s;picious of our own weakne&s;s, we by earne&s;t Pray|ers implore it, and by our Endeavours
<PB N="61" REF="38"> concur with it, we &s;hall not fail of &s;uch a &s;upply, which together with the Divine Providence di&s;po&s;ing the circum&s;tances of our lives, will render the Work much ea|&s;ier than was at fir&s;t thought, and in &s;ome time delightfull. The Heathens them&s;elves were not ignorant of Divine Operations and Influence upon the Souls of Men; but it makes a con&s;iderable, and in my Opi|nion a very augu&s;t part of the Doctrine of Revealed Religion. But,</P>
<P N="2">(2) It is truly &s;aid, that this difficulty of change from bad to good; of with|drawing from old but evil company and practice is principally at the beginning: <GAP DESC="foreign">, <HI>&amp;c.</HI> Things are indeed by the Divine Di&s;po&s;ition come to that pa&s;s, that Vertue is to be &s;weat for at the begin|ning; the way to it at fir&s;t is &s;teep and rough, but when the A&s;cent is mounted, there opens a &s;pacious and &s;mooth plain, which makes abundant recompence by its ea&s;e and delight. The &s;uite, the progre&s;s of a virtuous and holy &s;tate of Soul, perpe|tually exerci&s;ing it&s;elf in Acts of Godli|ne&s;s, Righteou&s;ne&s;s, and Sobriety, is full of plea&s;ures, the mo&s;t &s;incere, penetrating, con&s;tant and durable without any mix|ture, remor&s;e, uncomfortable reflexions,
<PB N="62" REF="39"> &s;u&s;picions, or forebodings; nay multiplied by remembrances and hopes, which Vice never dared to pretend to.</P>
<P>When the fir&s;t brunt is over, and the In|clinations of the mind &s;et right, and re&s;to|red to their primitive, ju&s;t, and natural order and con&s;titution (for Virtue was fir&s;t, Vice &s;uper-induced) the great pain and difficulty then will be to commit a &s;in, to do a fooli&s;h or ill thing, and continue in it; the ea&s;e, the plea&s;ure will be to ac|knowledge, condemn, and for&s;ake it. Then the &s;cales will be turned; not gratifying, obeying, &s;ubmitting to a malapert Appe|tite, an in&s;olent Lu&s;t, a blind Pa&s;&s;ion; but the denial, command, &s;uppre&s;&s;ion, &s;teady Government of all the&s;e by Religion and Rea&s;on, will be our glory, peace, and inti|mate &s;atisfaction. They have been the Heathens too, who have &s;aid &s;uch things as the&s;e, of which &s;ure many of the&s;e very Wanderers could not be ignorant. <HI>Semita cert&egrave; tranquillae per virtutem patet unica vi|tae.</HI> Much like that of the Divine Poet, <HI>Great peace have all they that keep thy Law.</HI> Now if it be thus (as mo&s;t cer|tainly it is) bad Men are mi&s;taken in their plea, and much out in their reckoning, when they fright them&s;elves and others from a good and virtuous life, by the pain|fulne&s;s
<PB N="63" REF="39"> of it. For the tediou&s;ne&s;s and plea|&s;ure of an whole journey (&s;uch as our life is) would be very childi&s;hly e&s;timated by the fir&s;t mile or two. And yet further, (3) I think it mo&s;t certain (that we may not &s;hrink at the fir&s;t on&s;et) that the very fir&s;t &s;teps of change and conver&s;ion from bad manners to good, &s;ome of the fir&s;t Acts of Repentance: (Such as are &s;elf-condem|nation, indignation, &s;orrow, and contri|tion of heart for our mo&s;t beloved &s;ins, firm re&s;olution utterly to for&s;ake them, follow|ed with watchfulne&s;s and endeavour, ear|ne&s;t prayers to God for forgivene&s;s;) I &s;ay, even the&s;e have that &s;ecret plea&s;ure and &s;atisfaction attending them, which out-weighs their trouble and difficulty.</P>
<P>'Tis true, to be di&s;ordered, a&s;hamed, con|founded and vexed at our wickedne&s;s and folly, to de&s;pi&s;e and reproach our &s;elves, to pull from our hearts with a violent hand, that which hath had &s;o long and kind an abode there, and &s;till makes great re&s;i&s;tance (for all cannot be done at once) this cer|tainly by it &s;elf is no de&s;irable condition. But then it is blended with, or immediate|ly followed by a &s;trange &s;ecret joy and &s;a|tisfaction, diffu&s;ed through the intimate rece&s;&s;es of the Spirit, from a &s;en&s;e of the beginning, recovery, and reconvale&s;cency of
<PB N="64" REF="40"> our Souls; of their re&s;titution to their na|tural con&s;titution at the fir&s;t birth of Souls, of the a&s;&s;ured reconciliation and favour of Almighty God our Heavenly Father, and finally of an hopeful, nay, &s;afe condition to Eternity. So that take all together, a Man may with great a&s;&s;urance affirm, that there is, or may be more of joy than &s;ad|ne&s;s, more of ea&s;e and comfort than pain and &s;orrow in Repentance, the &s;owre&s;t diet a good Man ta&s;ts of; and this proportion is &s;till the greater, by how much the grief for &s;in is more penetrating and pre&s;&s;ing, as being an evidence of its &s;incerity. A Pe|nitent upon his knees &s;ipping in his briny Tears as they trickle, may take down a more delicious draught, than he, who quaffs off his full Bowls filled with the choice&s;t Liquors. Sincere Repentance is like relief under a heavy burden, or the &s;etting a di&s;|joynted limb, or the recovering of good appetite, clear health, and vigorous &s;en&s;e by a bitter Potion or two. So is it, I &s;ay, even now found by experience as unhappy as our nature now is; and tho&s;e who are at pre&s;ent very hard to believe it, will never I am &s;ure employ their time better, than to make tryal of it them&s;elves.</P>
<P>All this, I doubt not, was mo&s;t remar|kably verified in holy <HI>David,</HI> one of the
<PB N="65" REF="40"> greate&s;t Souls that ever dwelt in an earth|ly Body, of which he him&s;elf be witne&s;s in &s;everal P&s;alms; and it may be often ob|&s;erved in other good Men after &s;uch a per|formance, who without any de&s;ign never appear more ea&s;ie and plea&s;ed in them&s;elves, and more innocently chearfull with others. Such then be the &s;econd An&s;wer to the plea of the extreme difficulty, pains and pain in conver&s;ion and reformation, in correcting this propen&s;ion of depraved Nature; and quitting the mo&s;t numerous evil examples: Namely, that we have the Grace of God to a&s;&s;i&s;t us, and render it more ea&s;ie; that the difficulty is principally at the begin|ning and fir&s;t on&s;et; and yet that, even there the plea&s;ure and ea&s;e far out-weigh the pain and labour; and finally, that in the &s;uite of a virtuous &s;tate of Soul exer|ci&s;es and actions, there are plea&s;ures &s;incere, deep, con&s;tant, and durable, and but the &s;ample and commencement of infinitely greater &s;till. The difficulty and pain will lie on the &s;ide of Vice; and that it is mo&s;t true, that a &s;incere and generous good Man may find it more hard and vexatious to him to be brought to do an evil thing, than the mo&s;t bold and accu&s;tomed &s;inner to do a good one. Go we on further, and,</P>
<PB N="66" REF="41">
<P> 3. Suppo&s;e if we plea&s;e that which is fal&s;e, the utmo&s;t difficulty, labour, and &s;uffering throughout the whole cour&s;e of a virtuous and con&s;cientious life; nay, &s;up|po&s;e we may lo&s;e life it&s;elf for their &s;ake, and in their cau&s;e; have we never heard of any thing hereafter? or have we &s;atisfied our &s;elves with a demon&s;tration that we are not concern'd in that? Will there be no reward for the righteous, no vengeance for the wicked? had not the&s;e very <HI>Gen|tiles</HI> them&s;elves, their <HI>Ely&s;ian</HI> Fields for the ju&s;t, their <HI>Tartara, Styx</HI> and <HI>Acheron,</HI> and various &s;orts of never ending puni&s;h|ments for their wicked too? Had not the <HI>Jews,</HI> many of whom were infected with the Heathen Manners, their <HI>Paradi&s;e</HI> for the Holy, and their <HI>Gehinnom</HI> for &s;inners; if they did not believe the Fable, they a&s;&s;u|redly did believe the moral of it, <HI>viz.</HI> the happy &s;tate of the good, and the mi&s;erable one of the bad, and that everla&s;ting too, as might be &s;hown.</P>
<P>As for Chri&s;tians, do they not know, that in the day when God &s;hall judge the World by <HI>Je&s;us Chri&s;t,</HI> he will render to every Man according to his deeds; to tho&s;e who patiently continue in well-doing eter|nal life, and to tho&s;e who obey unrighte|ou&s;ne&s;s, indignation, wrath, tribulation,
<PB N="67" REF="41"> and angui&s;h? Hath not Truth it&s;elf told them that there is a time when the righ|teous &s;hall go into everla&s;ting life, but the wicked into everla&s;ting puni&s;hment? we need not &s;tand to rea&s;on upon &s;uch con|ce&s;&s;ions. The ca&s;e is plain what we ought to do, if we have but common &s;en&s;e and under&s;tanding. Is it not a mo&s;t contem|ptible and pitiable condition we are in, if we &s;uffer our &s;elves to peri&s;h everla&s;tingly, becau&s;e we will not take the pains of a few days to be &s;aved? to fall into a &s;tate of meanne&s;s and mi&s;ery, whence no redem|ption, through mere lazine&s;s or cowardice; having not the heart to encounter &s;ome difficulty, or courage to bear &s;ome pre|&s;ent pains and pain, though it were the pulling out of an Eye or cutting off an Hand? Oh! where is the wi&s;dom of &s;uch, who ea&s;ily &s;wim down in a plea&s;ant &s;tream, which runs into a dead Sea, or a lake of Fire and Brim&s;tone? Where is their rea&s;on, who forewarned, dance on merrily with a jolly croud in a &s;mooth way, till at la&s;t they tumble altogether into the mouth of a <HI>Volcano,</HI> when they were an hundred times advi&s;ed, and entreated to take a certain path; at its entrance, indeed more &s;olitary, rugged, and a little toil&s;ome (if you plea&s;e:) But which in a &s;hort time
<PB N="68" REF="42"> would bring them into a place beyond all imagination delicious, furni&s;hed with the mo&s;t agreeable and excellent company, eternally &s;ecure from any di&s;turbance from within or without? Who&s;e part is it now to wonder? are the riotous, di&s;&s;olute, and vicious to wonder at the folly and weak|ne&s;s (as they think) of the pious, vertu|ous, and well-governed; or the&s;e at the willfull madne&s;s or &s;otti&s;hne&s;s of the for|mer? The&s;e no doubt, if all be true that hath been &s;aid.</P>
<P>But &s;ome who have the greate&s;t rea&s;on to fear, will not believe &s;o great &s;everity (&s;o they term it) of Almighty God to &s;in|ners, though they are willing to believe his kindne&s;s and bounty to the good. Men can believe almo&s;t what they plea&s;e, and that again&s;t the mo&s;t univer&s;al Tradition, Rea&s;on, and Con&s;cience of Mankind. But they have &s;ome rea&s;on: what's that? Sin|ners cannot hurt God, and do but enjoy them&s;elves. Is this &s;aid in earne&s;t? or is it only becau&s;e they will not openly own Infidelity? But,</P>
<P N="1">(1) They would hurt God Almighty if they could, and every one el&s;e; were their power an&s;werable to their will, God him&s;elf would not be &s;afe or happy. Every knowing and willfull Sinner, who oppo|&s;eth
<PB N="69" REF="42"> or complies not with God's mo&s;t wi&s;e and beneficial Government of the World by his Laws and Decrees, by his Commands and Appointments, hath the In&s;olence, and doth what he can, to make God and all the World be&s;ides, the Mini&s;ters of his Per|&s;onal plea&s;ures and lu&s;ts, and is the Enemy of God, and all that he hath made. And I think &s;uch an one de&s;erves the &s;evere&s;t puni&s;hment, and &s;o doth all humane Govern|ment judge and act too. The very will and purpo&s;e alone is a tendency to &s;uch mi&s;chief; it is a partial and inchoative cau&s;e, and is accordingly to be u&s;ed; of which further rea&s;ons may be &s;till given. But,</P>
<P N="2">(2.) According to this rea&s;oning God mu&s;t not reward his faithful Servants who love him; for they can as little profit God as the rebellious and malicious hurt him. If God accept the will for the deed, and reward it too, why may he not puni&s;h the will for the deed likewi&s;e? And,</P>
<P N="3">(3.) I do not &s;ee, but that the Act of will is the only proper Act of a Man, and that all external effect is from God, when and in what mea&s;ure he plea&s;eth. So that in proper &s;peaking, a &s;inner hurts no body; but wills to do it. He is indeed inwardly malicious, proud, carele&s;s of every one
<PB N="70" REF="43"> but him&s;elf, or gratifying his own lu&s;ts; that the&s;e have any external effect more or le&s;s, comes from another hand.</P>
<P>La&s;tly, he can hardly &s;eem in earne&s;t, who asks why vicious Men &s;hould be pu|ni&s;hed &s;o &s;everely only for enjoying them|&s;elves: Neverthele&s;s, becau&s;e we do not know how childi&s;h, trifling, and fooli&s;h Vice, may indeed render &s;ome Men, even in things of the va&s;te&s;t importance, we &s;ay that (to take the three capital and general ones, malice, pride, and &s;en&s;uality, impi|ety, inju&s;tice, covetou&s;ne&s;s, and an hun|dred others, being only their kinds or in|&s;truments) the malicious Man delights in mi&s;chief and would do nothing el&s;e too, if God would permit or rather lend him his power for &s;uch a purpo&s;e. The proud Man and the envious (which &s;eems com|pos'd of pride and ill-nature) would have every one under his feet, and may affect &s;uperiority in every thing to &s;uch a degree, as to permit none to enjoy any good thing but him&s;elf, if his will and de&s;ires were at|tended by an equal power to execute them. The &s;en&s;uali&s;t (who &s;eems mo&s;t intended in this excu&s;e) if he will enlarge and in|dulge his carnal appetites and lu&s;ts, would command and force all that belongs to all Men to &s;atisfie them, if he dared and could.
<PB N="71" REF="43"> Nor can he generally gratifie intemperance, luxury, and wantonne&s;s without In&s;tru|ments and Companions, whom he makes and keeps as bad as him&s;elf; and never without the mi&s;chief of a bad example; and of all this were &s;ome <HI>Roman</HI> Emperors examples, as notorious, as odious, and mi|&s;erable in the end.</P>
<P>Be&s;ides a Sen&s;uali&s;t is unju&s;t to God, to others, to him&s;elf; all have a right to the u&s;e of any power, which God hath endu|ed any one withal, &s;o far as it will go. All power is to do good to its utmo&s;t extent, like as every member of the body ('tis St. <HI>Paul</HI>'s excellent compari&s;on) were it endued with under&s;tanding, would be obli|ged to do its utmo&s;t for the greate&s;t good of the whole; not to be in any degree u&s;e|le&s;s or mi&s;chievous. The Po&s;&s;e&s;&s;our hath only the privilege to judge of Per&s;ons, Sea|&s;ons, and Mea&s;ures, and accordingly to di&s;tribute, God is the Ma&s;ter and Owner of all our faculties, abilities, enjoyments, we are but his Stewards. The Sen&s;uali&s;t im|paireth, oppre&s;&s;eth, or abu&s;eth tho&s;e powers and faculties, which God hath given him for his honour and &s;ervice, for his own and others, e&s;pecially &s;piritual and eternal good. He deprives him&s;elf of perfection, tranquility, happine&s;s, a thou&s;and of times
<PB N="72" REF="44"> more than he enjoys; and if cha&s;ti&s;ement and puni&s;hment be ju&s;t for tho&s;e who will|fully murder or maim their Bodies, (&s;o it may be by &s;ome mark of Infamy) or, who will idle away their time and &s;trength, be|cau&s;e their labour and u&s;e is lo&s;t to the pub|lick and them&s;elves too, why not for tho&s;e who do the &s;ame to their Souls?</P>
<P>The immediate rea&s;on of all reward and puni&s;hment &s;eems to be the maintenance, encouragement, propagation, of any prin|ciple, power, or action, which is good and beneficial, and the re&s;traint, di&s;courage|ment, oppre&s;&s;ion of that which is evil and mi&s;chievous, either privatively or po&s;itive|ly; and &s;uch &s;urely at lea&s;t is the willfull, neglect, or omi&s;&s;ion, and con&s;equently im|pairing of the u&s;e of that power any Man hath to &s;erve God and do good withal; much more the abu&s;e and conver&s;ion of it to di&s;honour and di&s;plea&s;e God, to oppo&s;e and hinder his Service, and to do mi&s;chief with it.</P>
<P>The &s;lothfull Servant was thrown into the &s;ame kind, though per|haps not the &s;ame degree of <NOTE PLACE="marg">Matth. 24. 51. <HI>and</HI> 25. 30.</NOTE> puni&s;hment, with the evil Ser|vant. And the evil Servant too was he, who eat and drank with the drunken, as well as he who &s;mote his Fellow Servant,
<PB N="73" REF="44"> He that did but enjoy him&s;elf, (as the phra&s;e is) as well as he who abu&s;ed others.</P>
<P>The rea&s;on of the Puni&s;hment of impe|nitent Sinners, after this Life, is not their Amendment that we read in Scripture; but the manife&s;tation of the Wi&s;dom, San|ctity, Ju&s;tice and Goodne&s;s of God, in the Government of the World, and for Confir|mation and Prevention in others. For An|gels and Saints &s;hall be Spectators and A|dorers of the Righteous Judgment of God, by Je&s;us Chri&s;t, in that great and terrible Day of the Lord.</P>
<P>The be&s;t rea&s;on of the everla&s;ting Con|tinuance of the mi&s;erable State of the Con|demned, &s;eems to be the continuance of the &s;infull State of their Souls: Their in|ward Di&s;po&s;itions, and Inclinations, and Wills, being in no &s;ort changed for the better by their Sufferings. Which we need not wonder at, &s;ince we &s;ee here &s;uch mul|titude of Examples, in whom afflictions and &s;ufferings in extremity alter nothing of their inward Manners: not the lo&s;s of parts and endowments, not Ignominy, Po|verty, Pri&s;ons and Gaols, not corporeal Di&s;ea&s;es, and grievous Tortures and Pains; nay, finally, not Death it &s;elf, for heinous Crimes.</P>
<PB N="74" REF="45">
<P> You may hear them bitterly complain of their misfortunes, pains, unhappine&s;s; but not a word of their &s;ins. You &s;hall &s;ee them wriggle and turn a Thou&s;and ways for their Diver&s;ion, Ea&s;e, and Delive|rance, but not to the humble Confe&s;&s;ion of their Sins, tho' they know as well as the Damned are like to do, that they are the Cau&s;e of their Sufferings; not to &s;incere Re&s;olution of Amendment, earne&s;t Prayers to an offended God, not only for Pardon, but for Purification of their Hearts, accor|ding to that admirable Pattern of that Pi|ous Prince holy <HI>David,</HI> P&s;. 51.</P>
<P>If it otherwi&s;e happen in this Life, as it doth &s;ometimes, it is to be attributed to the &s;pecial Operations of the Grace of God up|on &s;uch Occa&s;ions. Without which, even in this pre&s;ent State, to him who con&s;iders things, the habitual Change of our Na|tures, may well &s;eem impo&s;&s;ible again&s;t the <HI>Pelagians;</HI> how much more then in the State of the Damned hereafter.</P>
<P>What &s;ufficient rea&s;on <HI>Origin</HI> had &s;o pe|remptorily to determine, that the hideous Sufferings of the Damned, would natural|ly force them, as it were, to Repentance, (by which, I mean, an inward Charge of the very Inclinations of the Soul, to love God, that all perfect Nature, and Good|ne&s;s,
<PB N="75" REF="45"> or the Sanctity and Purity of his Na|ture, above all other things) I know not.</P>
<P>And <HI>Plato</HI> him&s;elf, from whom it <NOTE PLACE="marg">Phaed.</NOTE> is like, he had the fir&s;t notice of this Doctrine, doth teach, that as &s;ome wick|ed Men might be <GAP DESC="foreign">, capable of being re&s;tor'd to a vertuous State of Soul, by their Sufferings in the mi&s;erable State hereafter: So others there were <GAP DESC="foreign"> in|curable, and con&s;equently, to continue there Eternally, and never to come out from that Infernal Pri&s;on.</P>
<P>But why <HI>Plato</HI> &s;hould make &s;uch a dif|ference between the mi&s;erable there, I know not, excluding any &s;upernatural Ope|ration. If Sufferings naturally in &s;ome men altered their Opinions, and Inclinati|ons of Soul, by bringing them to reflexion and con&s;ideration fir&s;t, why &s;hould they not have that effect in all, &s;ooner or later, in &s;ome time or other?</P>
<P>And for my part, I do not &s;ee how any man can hope for an End of Puni&s;hment there, till he can prove, that God will &s;ometime afford his effectual Grace, for his Conver&s;ion, and the Change of his vi|cious and corrupt Nature. And when he can prove the one, I think, he may be a&s;|&s;ured of the other. For as God will not there any longer &s;uffer the wicked, his E|nemies,
<PB N="76" REF="46"> to be as well, or better treated, than the Righteous his affectionate Ser|vants, as they &s;eem to be here in outward Re&s;pects: So will he never keep a good Man in &s;uch a bad place and company.</P>
<P>Perhaps &s;ome part of this Di&s;cour&s;e may &s;eem too long a Diver&s;ion; but a little &s;pice of Sceptici&s;m or Infidelity from a &s;culking Objection, is &s;o apt to abate or defeat the force of all Arguments, and Per&s;ua&s;ions to be good, that I was not unwilling to men|tion it, (for I am not the maker of it) and at the &s;ame time &s;ufficiently to &s;atisfy it, as I hope I have done. Though more amply and particularly to prove many of the&s;e things, will require more time and words, than is meet to be &s;pent in this Pre|&s;ence. And let this be then the third An|&s;wer, to the be&s;t Plea of the wonderer at the good, and the ju&s;tifier of bad Men and Manners.</P>
<P>The An&s;wer in few words is this, That &s;uppo&s;ing the whole Cour&s;e of a con&s;cien|tious and vertuous Life, to be very pain|full and grievous, which is fal&s;e; yet it is a folly and madne&s;s which de&s;erves the greate&s;t wonder and pity, for the avoiding of that, to lo&s;e an everla&s;ting Happine&s;s, and to plunge our &s;elves into an eternal Mi&s;ery, which is not Talk only, but Truth
<PB N="77" REF="46"> and Ju&s;tice, if there be any God or Provi|dence in the World.</P>
<P>To a man of a comprehen&s;ive Rea&s;on, Ju&s;tice and Genero&s;ity, may be added fur|ther, and beyond all the re&s;t. A</P>
<P>4. An&s;wer, which I mu&s;t not now in|&s;i&s;t upon; but only in very few words, &s;ay. To plea&s;e, &s;erve, and honour God by love and obedience, to contribute what we can to the common Good and Happi|ne&s;s, by all vertuous Life and Actions (Vice is u&s;ele&s;s or mi&s;chievous, a common Nuy&s;ance) is certainly a Duty and an Obligation, which no Difficulty, Pains or Suffering in this Life, can di&s;charge us from.</P>
<P>I do not under&s;tand how all our Duty is derived from our own Intere&s;t, although, I know they are in&s;eparable. To &s;erve and plea&s;e God, and to do good to others, meerly for our own &s;akes, and to refu&s;e to undergo any thing for theirs, when nece&s;|&s;ary, &s;eems neither ingenuous nor rea&s;on|able. And I am &s;ure it &s;eem'd &s;o to that great Heathen, <HI>Tully.</HI> As if &s;uch things, or rather nothings as we, were more to be con&s;ider'd than the Infinite God, and all the World be&s;ides; when we may as well weigh a &s;ingle <HI>Atome</HI> again&s;t the Univer&s;e. Nor &s;eems there any difference between a good
<PB N="78" REF="47"> and bad Man, in re&s;pect of their Will, but only of their Under&s;tanding, if both of them make them&s;elves their entire ulti|mate End. The one takes the right cour&s;e to be happy, the other the Wrong: But this la&s;t is mi&s;taken only, and would have done as the fir&s;t, if he had known better. And even the Man of Courage and Gene|ro&s;ity, would take it for a great Reproach to be told, that he fights only for a little Wages or Honour either, and would not venture upon a Wound or Death it &s;elf, to &s;ave his Prince, and Countrey, and to re|pre&s;s an in&s;olent and malicious Enemy, who plea&s;eth him&s;elf in the De&s;truction of all Mankind, to gratifie his boundle&s;s Lu&s;ts. Which with many other In&s;tances is an Argument, that the Soul of Man at pre&s;ent, is not uncapable of &s;o great and no|ble a Quality. I am &s;ure our divine Religion hath taught us as much, both by Precept and Example, when it commands us to love God above all things, and our Neigh|bour as our &s;elves. Nor do I &s;ee rea&s;on to find a Figure in the known Expre&s;&s;ions of <HI>Mo&s;es,</HI> and St. <HI>Paul.</HI> To &s;uch a Greatne&s;s of Soul we ought to a&s;pire.</P>
<P>Notwith&s;tanding we are to know, which may be proved even to a Demon&s;tration from the Nature of God, and of the Soul,
<PB N="79" REF="47"> that our Duty and Intere&s;t, our perfection of Nature and Happine&s;s of Life are in&s;e|parable, except for a Moment or two in this Life, for Exerci&s;e and Improvement of Vertue or other Ends, which vani&s;heth in|to nothing compar'd with Eternal Dura|tion.</P>
<P>It is impo&s;&s;ible that the wicked &s;hould be happy or not mi&s;erable, and that the vertuous and good &s;hould be mi&s;erable or not happy. As impo&s;&s;ible as that there &s;hould be no God at all: or that God &s;hould not be infinitely powerfull, wi&s;e and good, and con&s;equently di&s;tributively ju&s;t.</P>
<P>And now, I have &s;aid all I have at pre|&s;ent, in An&s;wer to the wonderers, and their be&s;t rea&s;on for vicious Manners, Pra|ctices, Cu&s;toms and Examples; and per|haps the general Heads of all that can be &s;aid, and what I think cannot be an&s;wered again, by tho&s;e who will act like Men, and be governed by Truth and Rea&s;on.</P>
<P>But as for tho&s;e who di&s;claim or bur|le&s;que their own mo&s;t excellent Nature, and will abandon them&s;elves to blind and haughty Self-will, Humours, Lu&s;ts, and Pa&s;&s;ions; who will be like the Hor&s;e or Mule, that wanteth under&s;tanding; I leave them to other Arts and Methods of Per&s;wa|&s;ion, and to the Mercy of God Almighty,
<PB N="80" REF="48"> which we will not confine. All that can be done for them on our parts, is to pity and pray for them, as we do daily, when we &s;ay, <HI>Thy Kingdom come, thy Will be done,</HI> That God may at la&s;t rule over, and in the Hearts of all the Sons of Men. He can when he plea&s;eth work mo&s;t effectually upon the Souls of the mo&s;t &s;en&s;le&s;s and ob|durate Sinners; even upon tho&s;e who &s;corn all In&s;truction as a mean, and hate under|&s;tanding as a trouble&s;ome thing; even up|on tho&s;e who mo&s;t fooli&s;hly take it for a Point of Wi&s;dom, and Greatne&s;s of Heart, to make a Mock at Sin; even upon tho&s;e finally, who with the Heathen Idolaters in the Text, think it &s;trange that all Men run not with them to the &s;ame Exce&s;s of Riot, &s;peaking Evil of them becau&s;e they will not.</P>
</DIV1>
<DIV1 N="3" TYPE="sermon">
<PB N="81" REF="48">
<HEAD>SERMON III.</HEAD>
<EPIGRAPH>
<BIBL>PSAL. XXXII. 5.</BIBL>
<Q>I &s;aid, I will confe&s;s my Tran&s;gre&s;&s;ion unto the Lord.</Q>
</EPIGRAPH>
<P>I Am a while to treat of a Duty of Re|ligion, both revealed, and, as I think, natural, which perhaps pa&s;&s;eth among the wi&s;e and brave of this World, for a weak and mean thing, and an effect of &s;uper&s;tition rather than Religion: But to me it &s;eems ju&s;t contrary, &s;o qualified and directed, as &s;hall pre&s;ently be mentioned. Confe&s;&s;ion of Sin to Almighty God, hath very evident Arguments of many excellent Qualities.</P>
<P>For, is it not a &s;ign of a ju&s;t Honour for God, and all his Laws made known, by Rea&s;on or Revelation? Is it not a Mark of a generous Love of the Truth, and that a Man will own his Faults and Follies, tho' to his pre&s;ent Di&s;advantage, and that he is
<PB N="82" REF="49"> more a&s;hamed to commit a Sin than con|fe&s;s it? Is it not a proof of great probity and &s;trength of mind, for a man not only to permit, but command his Con&s;cience (and others too if there be occa&s;ion) to report to him all the Truth, and nothing but the Truth concerning him&s;elf; to &s;et all his Faults and Infirmities before him, and not to conceal, excu&s;e, or ju&s;tifie any, becau&s;e he is not willing to mend any, or hath no concern for the Health and Orna|ment of his Nature? Are not the&s;e, and &s;uch like Qualities, highly laudable? On the contrary, are not a vulgar Carele&s;ne&s;s and In&s;en&s;ibility of our Manners and Acti|ons, vain, &s;elf-conceit, arrogance, affecta|tion of appearing to ones &s;elf, and others, &s;omething worthy, rather than being &s;o in|deed; and above all, the contempt of the Word, and Commandments of Omnipotent Goodne&s;s, Wi&s;dom and Sanctity, by a weak, ignorant and &s;infull Creature; I &s;ay, are not the&s;e &s;ordid and truly contempti|ble?</P>
<P>Nor doth this confe&s;&s;ion of &s;in to the Supreme Deity &s;eem to me le&s;s a part of natural Religion, than Prayers and Prai&s;es to him; though we have little mention of it among the Heathen Morali&s;ts.</P>
<PB N="83" REF="49">
<P> And as this is Truth in it &s;elf, &s;o we find that the greate&s;t Souls who have had the Knowledge of the true God, have al|ways behaved them&s;elves with Truth and Decency towards him; acknowledged their Sins, thrown them&s;elves at his Feet, and humbly implored his Pardon and Grace. Nor was there ever recorded a more emi|nent Example of this than <HI>David,</HI> as great a Prince as Saint.</P>
<P>He wanted not &s;urely that Courage which is &s;o magnified and adored by the World, who when &s;carce got out of his Childhood, killed the Lion and the Bear; and, when a Stripling armed only with a Sling, ventured upon the prodigious Bulk of a Giant, a Man of War from his Youth, and laid him dead at his Feet, and returned to the Camp, lugging his Head, the Trophee of his Vi|ctory; who from a &s;imple Swain was ad|vanced to the Alliance, and then Po&s;&s;e&s;&s;ion of a Throne for his Prowe&s;s and Wi&s;dom. And yet, lo this is the Man who cries out (P&s;alm 51.) <HI>Have mercy upon me, O God, according to thy loving kindne&s;s; according to the multitude of thy tender mercies, blot put all my tran&s;gre&s;&s;ions. Wa&s;h me thoroughly from my &s;in, for I acknowledge my tran&s;gre&s;|&s;ion, and my &s;in is ever before me. Again&s;t thee only have I &s;inned,</HI> &amp;c. This is the
<PB N="84" REF="50"> man who, in this <HI>P&s;alm,</HI> proclaimeth the Ble&s;&s;edne&s;s of the Innocent, or the Pardon|ed, and telleth us, <HI>That while he kept &s;i|lence his bones waxed old through his roaring all the day long;</HI> This is he, finally, who in the Ver&s;e of the Text, acknowledged his &s;ins unto God; who &s;aid and did accor|dingly, <HI>That he would confe&s;s his tran&s;gre&s;|&s;ions unto the Lord.</HI></P>
<P>And becau&s;e it is, and ought to be a dai|ly Religious Duty enjoyned, and recom|mended in our publick and private Devo|tion and Wor&s;hip, it ought al&s;o, more e&s;pe|cially, to be well under&s;tood, prudently directed, and &s;hewn to be mo&s;t agreeable to natural Rea&s;on and Ju&s;tice, as well as expre&s;ly commanded and con&s;tantly pra|cti&s;ed by good Men in the Holy Scripture.</P>
<P>Accordingly, we &s;hall chu&s;e out three things for the Heads of our Di&s;cour&s;e con|cerning it. <HI>Fir&s;t,</HI> the Nature and Parts of it: <HI>Secondly,</HI> the Rules for it: <HI>Thirdly,</HI> the Rea&s;ons of it.</P>
<P>1. And very briefly, in a more &s;olemn and deliberate Confe&s;&s;ion of Sin, e&s;pecially (and it is be&s;t to take into its &s;ignification more than one &s;ingle Act) three <NOTE PLACE="marg">Three Parts.</NOTE> parts may be ob&s;erved, and that in this Order.</P>
<P N="1"><PB N="85" REF="50"> 1. Self-accu&s;ation: The Penitent having fir&s;t enquired into his pa&s;t Temper and Be|haviour, con&s;ulted his Con&s;cience concer|ning his Duty, and ob&s;erved his Aberrati|ons from the Rules of it: He proceeds as a Per&s;on different from him&s;elf, to accu&s;e and bring an Endictment again&s;t him&s;elf, and here he acts like a Plaintiff.</P>
<P N="2">2. But <HI>Secondly,</HI> Follows an ingenuous and free Acknowledgment of the Truth, of what with the greate&s;t Impartiality he judgeth to have been bad in him, or ill done by him. Neither by Super&s;tition or Timidity vainly frighting, nor by Boldne&s;s or Partiality favouring him&s;elf. Here he acts the part of a guilty Defendant, and an upright Witne&s;s again&s;t him&s;elf.</P>
<P N="3">3. <HI>Thirdly,</HI> He pronounceth him&s;elf guil|ty and de&s;erving of the Puni&s;hment, which God hath threatned for the Tran&s;gre&s;&s;ion of his ju&s;t Laws. And &s;o he leaves him&s;elf to God, whether he will execute the Sen|tence, and puni&s;h him as he de&s;erves, or el&s;e be plea&s;ed upon his humble Confe&s;&s;ion, and other parts of a compleat Repentance, to &s;hew him mercy, reprieve and forgive him.</P>
<P>Thus the true Penitent in this part of Repentance termed Confe&s;&s;ion, acts as a Pro&s;ecutor, guilty Defendant and Witne&s;s, and an inferior Judge.</P>
<PB N="86" REF="51">
<P> In &s;uch manner may be, in &s;hort, di|&s;tinctly conceived the Nature and Parts of Confe&s;&s;ion.</P>
<P><HI>2ly,</HI> The Rules follow. Some of which may be the&s;e;</P>
<P>1. Let our Confe&s;&s;ion be made with ex|act Truth. We are at no time and with no Per&s;on to &s;ay, that which is not true: Lea&s;t of all, when we addre&s;s our &s;elves to God. This fault can only be on one &s;ide, <HI>viz.</HI> by confe&s;&s;ing tho&s;e things to be &s;in|full in us, which are not &s;o, or to de&s;erve a greater Puni&s;hment than they truly do. For if we fal&s;ly think any thing really &s;in|full in us, not to be &s;o, we do not confe&s;s that at all. The number and evil De&s;erts of our Sins, are truly great enough in them|&s;elves; we need not to multiply or magni|fie them in our Confe&s;&s;ion by imagination and pa&s;&s;ion. As tho&s;e (for example) have always &s;eemed to me to do, who in their Prayers acknowledge all their Actions, before their Conver&s;ion to be &s;ins, <HI>i. e.</HI> before Grace was generally the ruling Prin|ciple in their Hearts, or their lives were governed by their Con&s;ciences. For a bad man generally &s;peaking, may now and then drop a good Action.</P>
<P>Nay there are tho&s;e who have been &s;o humble (which is excellent when it &s;peaks
<PB N="87" REF="51"> truth, and not de&s;pi&s;able even when it is mi&s;taken, if &s;incere) in their Confe&s;&s;ion, as to &s;ay, That all the very be&s;t Actions of the be&s;t Men, after their Conver&s;ion are &s;ins too, but pardoned in Chri&s;t, which I do not well under&s;tand.</P>
<P>Defective indeed they may be (and &s;o is the mo&s;t perfect love to God in the highe&s;t Angel; for no Creature can ho|nour and love him in that degree which he de&s;erves) defective I &s;ay they mu&s;t needs be, but not &s;ins. He who loves God with all his might, &s;trength, and under|&s;tanding, as I doubt not hath been done often by pious Souls, &s;urely &s;ins not, nor need ask any pardon for it, though he may ju&s;tly acknowledge, that the greate&s;t affe|ction our hearts are capable of to him, are infinitely below the infinite Excellency of his Nature. The Confe&s;&s;ion of the neg|lect of a more than Jewi&s;h Ob&s;ervation of the Sabbath, in &s;ome men's Phra&s;e is upon this account blameable: but &s;uch an Ob|&s;ervation of the Lord's Day, and other Fe&s;tivals, as is pre&s;cribed by the Church of <HI>England,</HI> in one of their pious and grave Canons, is mo&s;t agreeable to Chri&s;tian Piety and Prudence, and the general wil|full neglect of it, more than &s;avours of Pro|phanene&s;s. There are other &s;trange things
<PB N="88" REF="52"> too, which in the depth of a &s;eeming or mi|&s;taken humility have been uttered, e&s;pecially in &s;ome men's <HI>ex tempore</HI> Confe&s;&s;ion, with|out countenance from Scripture rightly in|terpreted, and &s;hocking the common Rea|&s;on of Mankind. Numerous al&s;o are the In&s;tances of this Errour among the <HI>Roma|ni&s;ts,</HI> who out of ignorance or de&s;ign, un|rea&s;onably, oft-times rack and vex men's Con&s;ciences. But the&s;e things, need not to be too &s;ubtilly &s;earched into. It is too much, that the be&s;t of us have too many, and too great faults to confe&s;s to Almighty God.</P>
<P>The mo&s;t u&s;ual Cau&s;es of this Fault in confe&s;&s;ion is, &s;uch a degree of Self-revenge, Indignation, and Contempt again&s;t our &s;elves, as to cau&s;e us to forget Truth and Ju&s;tice to our &s;elves, as they would ordi|narily be the Cau&s;es of fal&s;e Judgment on the wor&s;t &s;ide again&s;t others, whom we are apt in &s;uch Fits to accu&s;e of much more than they are guilty of. But of this Cau&s;e (though &s;urely it be a fault) I am almo&s;t tempted to wi&s;h we could &s;ee more.</P>
<P>But there is a &s;econd Cau&s;e very dange|rous, and that is a De&s;ign to flatter Al|mighty God.</P>
<P>It is not impo&s;&s;ible but, that &s;ome with|out reflection may conceit, that the Ho|nour
<PB N="89" REF="52"> they do to God, by confe&s;&s;ing all, and more than all the &s;ins they are guilty of, may procure a Connivance for &s;ome &s;ins, though they never for&s;ake them. It is enough, or very well to load them&s;elves with the heavie&s;t Accu&s;ation, though they do not, or perhaps think they cannot grow better. Much like a great Debtor, who will readily own greater Summs than he really owes, if for that his Creditor will permit him to run further into his Debt, and not be angry.</P>
<P>But the mo&s;t frequent Cau&s;e of this Mi&s;|carriage is Super&s;tition, <HI>i. e.</HI> a groundle&s;s Timidity, by rea&s;on of mi&s;take in the Na|ture and Degrees of Sin&punc; which is a thing of bad con&s;equence; when our Judgments are deceived, and our Affections abu&s;ed; we may &s;wallow that which is truly wicked, and greatly mi&s;chievous, and be frighted at that which is really &s;o far from being evil, that it may be good and com|mendable. Let our confe&s;&s;ion therefore of &s;in be truly informed and well advi&s;ed: Which is the fir&s;t Direction.</P>
<P><HI>2dly,</HI> The &s;econd is to confe&s;s our &s;ins mo&s;t impartially. As we mu&s;t not on the one &s;ide make or magnifie our Sins through Self-revenge, Flattery of Almighty God, Super&s;tition or Timidity: So we mu&s;t on
<PB N="90" REF="53"> the other hand take great care, that we do not excu&s;e, connive at, or extenuate a|ny. Such are our mo&s;t profitable and de|lightfull Sins; Tho&s;e which by corrupt Nature, or evil Cu&s;tom and Practice are deepe&s;t in our Hearts, and therefore mo&s;t difficult and painfull to for&s;ake: We mu&s;t be in all &s;incerity mo&s;t willing to &s;ee, ac|knowledge and amend what is truly faul|ty in our &s;elves, and what is mo&s;t &s;o.</P>
<P>The De&s;ign of a true hearted Chri&s;tian is to be better, and his hearty de&s;ire is to reform univer&s;ally, and in order to that, he mu&s;t know what is really ami&s;s, and out of order. Like the wounded or &s;ick Man, who longs for his Cure and Health. He is not willing to conceal or forget any of his Ailments from him&s;elf, or his Phy|&s;ician. So far from that, that he be&s;eech|eth his Phy&s;ician's care, as well as u&s;eth his own ob&s;ervation to di&s;cover all, lea&s;t through ignorance or neglect, &s;omething may prove fatal to him.</P>
<P>And what a fooli&s;h thing is it to &s;ay no|thing of, or &s;lubber over &s;ome &s;weet, &s;ome darling Sins we are loth to leave, when we are upon our knees before God? He needs not our confe&s;&s;ion for his informati|on. He &s;eeth the mo&s;t &s;ecret and dark Cor|ners of our Hearts, and knows full well
<PB N="91" REF="53"> whether we hide any thing there or no. He ob&s;erves whether we deal truly or hypo|critically with him, and if he find the la&s;t, will reject us and our confe&s;&s;ion too. Fol|low we that great Example <HI>David. Clean&s;e me from my &s;ecret &s;ins</HI> (P&s;alm 19. 33.) prays that holy Man; and &s;ee if there be any way of wickedne&s;s in me, and lead me in the way everla&s;ting. He that thus prayed for the di&s;covery of all his &s;ins without re|&s;erve, no doubt in his Confe&s;&s;ion &s;pared none.</P>
<P><HI>3dly,</HI> A third Rule of our Confe&s;&s;ion is, that it be performed &s;eriou&s;ly and affectio|nately. The confe&s;&s;ion here meant, is not uttering a few words with our Mouths, though never &s;o good: but it is in the mind and &s;pirit, though we &s;hould not &s;peak a &s;yllable. Nor is it to be &s;light and carele&s;s, as if it were a thing of no great moment, whether it were true or no, and we indifferent whether it were done at all. No! It is at the &s;ame time to be expre&s;ly a&s;&s;ented to by our Judgment, owned by our Con&s;ciences, and thence pa&s;s further into our affections. We are to be really troubled, a&s;hamed, di&s;ordered and trem|ble at the mention and remembrance of our &s;ins, according to the various Degrees and Aggravations. We are to be affected
<PB N="92" REF="54"> with them in our Devotion, when our own Con&s;cience only can accu&s;e us, as if men of Gravity and Authority &s;hould openly and publickly charge us. Nay (&s;etting a|&s;ide the difference which the hopes of par|don here may make) as if God him&s;elf in&s;tead of our Con&s;ciences, was judging of us. And do we think at that terrible Day, when Je&s;us Chri&s;t &s;hall appear with all the En&s;igns of Ju&s;tice and Maje&s;ty, with Re|wards and Puni&s;hments in his hands, we &s;hall be looking another way? Shall we then &s;tand unconcern'd, and confe&s;s our &s;ins in &s;uch a manner, as if neither God nor our &s;elves need take any notice of it. No, then with &s;inking Hearts, and trem|bling Knees, we &s;hall &s;ee, believe and con|fe&s;s, that we are mi&s;erable Sinners indeed. And yet all in vain, becau&s;e it proceeds only from the Terrour of the Sentence and Puni&s;hment ju&s;t ready to be executed, not from the hatred of &s;in, from the dread of the Judge; not from the love of him, or hatred of our Crimes. But now in this Day of Grace, our pa&s;&s;ionate Confe&s;&s;ion and Cries from a truly penitent (that is changed) Heart to the Judge of all the World, that indeed we have pre&s;umptu|ou&s;ly, and ungratefully offended again&s;t his holy Laws, and that he would have
<PB N="93" REF="54"> mercy upon us mi&s;erable offenders, &s;hall through Heav'ns Goodne&s;s find a gracious Audience and Acceptance. Of &s;uch tem|per, and in &s;uch manner &s;hould be our con|fe&s;&s;ion in the third place.</P>
<P><HI>4ly,</HI> Our confe&s;&s;ion ought to be &s;uitable and proportionable. I mean our confe&s;&s;i|ons is to be proportionable to our &s;ins. Thus we ought between God and our own &s;elves, mo&s;t frequently and pa&s;&s;ionately to confe&s;s tho&s;e &s;ins which are in them&s;elves really the greate&s;t, and which we mo&s;t frequently and deliberately commit. To be always with great vehemency, filling our Prayers with &s;maller Faults (though none are to be &s;lighted and indulged, for &s;mall &s;ins known, weaken con&s;cience and make way for greater) but more rarely or faintly to mention tho&s;e &s;ins, which are truly more provoking, is to offend a|gain&s;t this Rule.</P>
<P>Thus to confe&s;s impertinent and wan|dering Thoughts in Religious Duties, vain u&s;e of God's Name (though the&s;e things are by no means to be allowed or negle|cted) but never to &s;ay any thing of Pride, Covetou&s;ne&s;s, Inju&s;tice, Fraud, Hypocri|&s;ie, Malice, or the like, or &s;o coldly as if we &s;carce thought them any &s;ins; I &s;ay, this is to perform this Duty with great in|di&s;cretion
<PB N="94" REF="55"> if not Hypocri&s;ie. For it is a &s;hrewd &s;ign we can be very favourable to &s;in, when it is agreeable or profitable, and therefore painfull to &s;ubdue and mortifie it. When we are clamorous again&s;t the &s;ins we get little by, or which co&s;t us little of expence, or pains to for&s;ake: but other|wi&s;e &s;ilent or &s;oft; it is very &s;u&s;picious that there is not in us that hearty Zeal again&s;t &s;in, which we would &s;eem to be po&s;&s;e&s;&s;ed withall.</P>
<P><HI>5ly,</HI> And <HI>la&s;tly,</HI> Our confe&s;&s;ion will be the more commendable if it be voluntary, and from pious Motions in our heart al|lowed by our judgments, when we freely open and di&s;clo&s;e our Souls to God, and earne&s;tly de&s;ire witne&s;s, and judge God and our Con&s;ciences to inform and remem|ber us of our Faults. As may be more e&s;pecially done at tho&s;e times which are &s;et a-part for a longer and more deliberate performance of this Religious Duty.</P>
<P>This is better &s;urely than when our con|fe&s;&s;ion is thru&s;t upon us by a per&s;ecuting guilty Con&s;cience, which we fly from as much as we can; or when it is extorted from us by the urging Interrogatories, or undeniable Proofs of our Friends or Ene|mies, and then uttered with coldne&s;s and indifferency.</P>
<PB N="95" REF="55">
<P> Such are &s;ome of the Directions or Rules for our Confe&s;&s;ion, which was the &s;econd general Head.</P>
<P><HI>3ly,</HI> The third is &s;ome good for the fre|quent performance of this Duty of Religi|on. They are many.</P>
<P>1. <HI>Fir&s;t,</HI> By a &s;erious affectionate and impartial Confe&s;&s;ion of our &s;ins, we give God and his Laws their ju&s;t Honour. At the &s;ame time we acknowledge and bewail our evil doings, in &s;inning again&s;t God and tran&s;gre&s;&s;ing his Laws, we proclaim the Righteou&s;ne&s;s of both; nay the Ju&s;tice of our Puni&s;hment which God hath, or may inflict upon us. When we accu&s;e, confe&s;s, condemn our &s;elves, we ju&s;tifie God in his Nature, Commands and Dealings towards us, when we &s;eriou&s;ly cry guilty, confe&s;s what we have done and de&s;erve, we at the &s;ame time declare that God's Nature is holy, his Precepts right, and all his Dealings with his Creatures ju&s;t and unblameable. Like that great Example of Penitents, P&s;alm 51. <HI>Again&s;t thee only have I &s;inned and done this evil in thy &s;ight, that thou may'&s;t be ju&s;tified when thou &s;peake&s;t, and clear when thou judge&s;t.</HI></P>
<PB N="96" REF="56">
<P> <HI>2ly,</HI> This confe&s;&s;ion of &s;in is very edi|fying to others, both good and bad, when it is performed publickly or with others, and owned our Duty in &s;ecret too. We hereby do &s;omewhat con&s;iderable towards the Confirmation of the good, and Refor|mation of the bad. The mi&s;chief we have been the Authors of by our naughty Ex|ample, we undo again in part by a free and &s;erious Confe&s;&s;ion; we thereby tell the World it was not our di&s;cretion, or com|mendation to have lived, and done as we have done formerly. No! 'twas our folly and &s;hame. We call now to them not to follow us, or if they have adventured after us, to retreat pre&s;ently. If they have imi|tated us in &s;inning, they would do it now in confe&s;&s;ing, and condemning them&s;elves.</P>
<P><HI>4ly,</HI> This confe&s;&s;ion of &s;in is very ac|ceptable to good Men; nay, I may &s;ay, generally to bad Men too, who have &s;ome kindne&s;s and good liking for Vertue and Piety: but are &s;o entangled and captivated in vicious Cour&s;es, that they cannot find in their heart to take the pains to leave them. The conver&s;ion of a &s;inner, of which free and humble Confe&s;&s;ion is a fair &s;tep and a great mark, is certainly the joy of Angels and Saints. Nothing more melt|ing, than the hearty and unaflected Con|fe&s;&s;ion
<PB N="97" REF="56"> of a Penitent &s;inner. It is a &s;ign of &s;o many amiable Qualities, (as &s;incere Piety, Humility, <HI>&amp;c.)</HI> that a good Man cannot ob&s;erve it without joy, and even a bad Man without &s;ome motion and ten|derne&s;s. It is a more than ordinary plea|&s;ure, to hear a pious Soul &s;ighing out his confe&s;&s;ion of his &s;ins, and de&s;ires of grace, and pardon before God, when he thinks no body hears, or is regardle&s;s whether they do or no.</P>
<P><HI>5ly,</HI> This confe&s;&s;ion of &s;in is a very comfortable Duty to us. What calmne&s;s, ea&s;e, and &s;ecret comfort is diffu&s;ed through the Soul of a devout Man, after he hath opened and disburthened him&s;elf by a &s;incere and humble Confe&s;&s;ion to Al|mighty God? His con&s;cience &s;oftly tells him, that he hath not in vain di&s;clo&s;ed his heart; that he hath not confe&s;&s;ed his faults to the deaf Ear of too rigid a Ma&s;ter, or &s;evere Father; that God as great, and as high as he is, regards the Soul in &s;uch a po&s;ture with great kindne&s;s and compa&s;&s;i|on; and that now the offender may &s;afely put him&s;elf into his hands. If in our Con|fe&s;&s;ion we are con&s;cious to our &s;elves, of no Hypocri&s;ie or Formality, it creates an humble confidence in God, with a free re|&s;ignation and &s;ubmi&s;&s;ion of our &s;elves to
<PB N="98" REF="57"> him, notwith&s;tanding our former &s;ins, and contracted guilt. Nor is this confidence vain. For &s;o far as our confe&s;&s;ion is a &s;ign and exerci&s;e of real Goodne&s;s and Piety in us, it doth render us more capable of his Favour, and truly acceptable to him.</P>
<P><HI>6ly,</HI> Confe&s;&s;ion of our &s;ins, &s;uch as I have directed, is a Duty of Devotion of great benefit to us, and that many ways. As,</P>
<P>1. It is a certain and notable means for pre&s;erving us in that Degree of Holine&s;s and Goodne&s;s we may have attained to, and of making further progre&s;s therein conti|nually.</P>
<P>For as it brings to remembrance our for|mer known &s;ins (nor are we only to con|fe&s;s new &s;ins, but old ones, and the &s;ame very often, e&s;pecially if more heinous, nor even to forget them to our lives end) &s;o it di&s;covers to us many before unknown. Before e&s;pecially a more deliberate Con|fe&s;&s;ion, we are to reflect upon, and exa|mine our &s;elves carefully, and that will hardly be done without &s;ome further knowledge and di&s;covery of our faults, and (which is of great u&s;e) of their tempta|tions and occa&s;ions. And even in the times them&s;elves of our devout Confe&s;&s;i|on, u&s;ually the temper of our minds is
<PB N="99" REF="57"> &s;uch, that &s;ome &s;ins then may fir&s;t appear, which before we had never ob&s;erved or &s;u&s;pected. Now all this is nece&s;&s;ary for our amendment, and the prevention of the like again. For how &s;hall we avoid that, which we never knew or have forgot. Add to this that every &s;erious and hearty (not cu&s;tomary) Confe&s;&s;ion, impre&s;&s;eth upon us &s;ome more di&s;like and aver&s;ion from the &s;ins confe&s;&s;ed. In&s;omuch, that by the frequent practice of it, we may at la&s;t become utterly a&s;hamed to confe&s;s our &s;ins &s;o often, but not to for&s;ake them; to &s;in on in a round, perpetually committing and confe&s;&s;ing the &s;ame &s;ins by turns. Our con&s;ciences will be apt &s;o to reproach, that we &s;hall leave off either to commit or confe&s;s. Thus as an hearty and uncon|&s;trained Confe&s;&s;ion is a &s;ign and effect of an ingenuous and generous Di&s;like and Ha|tred of &s;in, &s;o doth it confirm, heighten and increa&s;e it.</P>
<P>2. Another benefit and advantage of this Religious Duty, is a right Under&s;tanding, a true and ju&s;t Opinion of our &s;elves; to know what is bad and defective in our &s;elves, as well as what is good and u&s;efull. This is one principal Branch of that mo&s;t excellent Grace <HI>humility,</HI> which contain|eth many other. The great Errour of the
<PB N="100" REF="58"> World is on that hand, to be arrogant and pre&s;umptuous. Fooli&s;h Self-love renders us wilfully blind, &s;o as to &s;ee no faults, &s;py no defects, ob&s;erve no &s;ins in our &s;elves. We deny all, or excu&s;e all, or ju|&s;tifie all.</P>
<P>We all know the Behaviours of the Pha|ri&s;ee, and the Publican in their Devotion <HI>(Luke</HI> 18. 9.) They both went up into the Temple to pray. The Phari&s;ees Pray|er was &s;o far from any confe&s;&s;ion, that it was all boa&s;ting <HI>God, I thank thee that I am not as other men,</HI> &amp;c. The Publicans contrary, was all Confe&s;&s;ion, Shame, Sor|row, begging for Mercy. He &s;tands a far off with a dejected Countenance: He with a revengefull hand beats his Brea&s;t, and &s;ighs out, <HI>O Lord, be mercifull to me a &s;in|ner.</HI> Our Saviour tells us what was the effect. <HI>I tell you this man went down ra|ther ju&s;tified than the other.</HI> As the Pha|ri&s;ees Self-conceit and Arrogance, made him pray in &s;uch a manner as he did, &s;o his Prayer made him more arrogant &s;till: It could not but increa&s;e his pre&s;umptuous Opinion of him&s;elf, to reckon up, and that before God him&s;elf, all his Religious Qua|lities and Actions without taking notice of but one &s;mall fault, and to have compa|red him&s;elf with one &s;o de&s;picable in his
<PB N="101" REF="58"> Eyes, as the poor Publican. It is rea&s;on|able to believe, he went away bigger and &s;tatelier from his Prayers, than he came to them. On the contrary, as the Publi|can's Behaviour, Po&s;ture and Prayer pro|ceeded, no doubt, from a due Sen&s;e of his &s;in and guilt, and con&s;equent humility: So did it likewi&s;e di&s;mi&s;s and &s;end him a|way with a greater Degree of it. He &s;aw that before in him&s;elf, which made him cry out with &s;hame and indignation a|gain&s;t him&s;elf, <HI>Lord, be mercifull to me a &s;inner.</HI></P>
<P>And doubtle&s;s he &s;aw it yet more, and with deeper impre&s;&s;ion upon his heart, for having made his &s;hort but mo&s;t pa&s;&s;ionate Confe&s;&s;ion.</P>
<P>4. This confe&s;&s;ion of &s;in makes us le&s;s cen&s;orious and contemptuous of others, more backward to publi&s;h their Faults or to in&s;ult over them. We &s;hall not be &s;o ready to cen&s;ure, talk of, de&s;pi&s;e others, when we are accu&s;tomed to look upon, and ju&s;tly and humbly to acknowledge what is as bad or wor&s;e, at lea&s;t bad enough in our &s;elves. We are not &s;o forward to reproach others, when we permit our own Con&s;ciences to reproach our &s;elves. We are loth to condemn, at lea&s;t to treat others with Wrath and Contempt; when if we
<PB N="102" REF="59"> are impartial, we &s;ee too much cau&s;e to do the like by our &s;elves. No men &s;o ready to proclaim and aggravate other men's Faults, as tho&s;e who take the lea&s;t notice of their own. He who knows his own defects and mi&s;carriages as he pi|ties him&s;elf, &s;o is he apt to do to others. Mo&s;t men e&s;teem and de&s;pi&s;e others com|paratively, or as thy judge them &s;uperior or inferior to them&s;elves in worthy, and de&s;erving Qualities and Performances. We take the Mea&s;ures of others from our &s;elves. Now he that ob&s;erves mo&s;t Infirmities and Faults in him&s;elf, will think him&s;elf le&s;s a|bove or more under Men, than he who though ignorance or &s;elf-conceit, &s;ees no blemi&s;h nor blame in him&s;elf.</P>
<P>The former often de&s;pi&s;eth him&s;elf com|paratively with others; the latter fooli&s;h|ly de&s;pi&s;eth every one be&s;ides him&s;elf. In the Example ju&s;t now alledged how haugh|tily doth the Phari&s;ee hold up his Head, and with what Contempt doth he throw his Eye upon the Publican? <HI>This Publican,</HI> &s;aith he: But we hear no &s;uch Language from the Publican, who in truth had more rea&s;on to have derided the Ignorant and Hypocritical Phari&s;ee.</P>
<PB N="103" REF="59">
<P> <HI>5ly,</HI> And <HI>la&s;tly,</HI> This confe&s;&s;ion makes us more &s;en&s;ible of the Divine goodne&s;s, and di&s;po&s;eth us to greater Gratitude and Love to God. The Divine goodne&s;s may well be our wonder. That the infinite Maje&s;ty &s;o provoked, hath not yet made us re|markable Examples of his Ju&s;tice and Di&s;|plea&s;ure; Nay, that he hath continued to us Life, Health, Strength, Plenty, Power, and the like Favours, which we ungrate|full Wretches have di&s;honoured him with. His lenity and long &s;uffering cannot but be admired by us, when we con&s;ider that we have grown wanton and proud again&s;t him by his own benefits; and his boun|teous Goodne&s;s which &s;hould have highly obliged us, hath made us carele&s;s and pre|&s;umptuous, as if we now wanted him no more, and could &s;tand upon our own Legs. But that which may ju&s;tly increa&s;e our won|der is, that after all this upon our humble confe&s;&s;ion and actual Change of our Behavi|our towards him, he is ready to forgive our greate&s;t Crimes, and to blot out all our Tran&s;gre&s;&s;ions. So great is his good|ne&s;s, that he is more ready to give us his pardon upon &s;uch a Repentance, than we are to ask it, or by Repentance to render our &s;elves capable of it; as if he courted our Friend&s;hip, and &s;tood in need of our
<PB N="104" REF="60"> Reconciliation. Finally, there is &s;ome|thing yet more which exceeds wonder, and that is, that God &s;hould be plea&s;ed &s;o kindly to accept our late Repentance and Obedience, as to take occa&s;ion from thence to be&s;tow upon us, no le&s;s than Eternal life. Now the &s;erious and deliberate Con|fe&s;&s;ion of our &s;ins, giving us a nece&s;&s;ary occa&s;ion to ob&s;erve, and con&s;ider all this; &s;o certainly the Truth; cannot but deeply affect us with Gratitude and Love, to the Authour of &s;uch unparallell'd Goodne&s;s and Love, expre&s;&s;ing it &s;elf by all ways po&s;&s;ible, our Words, Services, whole Lives. Of &s;o great and much greater &s;piritual be|nefit and profit, is a true, &s;incere, &s;erious, affectionate and free Confe&s;&s;ion of our &s;ins to Almighty God. Which was the fifth Rea&s;on for the performance, and frequent Exerci&s;e of it.</P>
<P>And now, if we put all the&s;e Arguments together; the ju&s;t Honour we owe to God and his Laws, the Edification and Plea&s;ure of others, our own &s;piritual Comfort and great Benefit, one would think they &s;hould be &s;ufficient to rea&s;onable Men, guided in their opinion and actions by good under|&s;tanding, though we had no Commands from revealed Religion, not only to &s;ecure this Duty of Religion and Piety from con|tempt
<PB N="105" REF="60"> or neglect: but e&s;pecially to recom|mend it to their frequent and &s;erious Pra|ctice from the highe&s;t to the lowe&s;t.</P>
<P>For no mortal &s;o high, whom it doth not exceedingly become, and perhaps bet|ter than the meane&s;t. For excellent and great Qualities &s;it be&s;t upon the greate&s;t, are mo&s;t amiable in them, and mo&s;t ju&s;tly expected from them. And true Religion, the right Knowledge, rea&s;onable Wor&s;hip, and Re&s;emblance, and Imitation of the Su|preme Being, and the Univer&s;al Parent, is the utmo&s;t Perfection and Attainment of humane Nature. Nor is there any in this Life &s;o holy and innocent (take all our Lives together) who have not great cau&s;e for, and abundant need of this con|fe&s;&s;ion of &s;in.</P>
<P>Thrones and Shrines, Crowns and Glo|ries, Soveraigns and Saints are with all ju&s;t Humility to lie at the Foot-&s;tool of the Al|mighty, and mo&s;t mercifull Father of his Creatures; we may altogether &s;end up with one Heart and Voice, our common Cries of Confe&s;&s;ion of Guilt, and Petition for Pardon, without fear of offending again&s;t the Dignity of our Condition, or Sanctity of our Profe&s;&s;ion. None too great, none too good, to &s;ay with this great and good Prince;</P>
<PB N="106" REF="61">
<P> <HI>I acknowledge my &s;in unto thee, and mine iniquity have I not hid. I &s;aid I will con|fe&s;s my tran&s;gre&s;&s;ion to the Lord, that he might forgive the iniquity of my &s;in.</HI></P>
<P>For a conclu&s;ion of this Di&s;cour&s;e, it may not be ami&s;s to pick out of it, and put together a brief Repre&s;entation of a true penitent Confe&s;&s;our, in &s;ome &s;uch man|ner as follows.</P>
<P>The &s;incere and deliberate Penitent then is no negligent Per&s;on of him&s;elf, to let all things go at random, but is de&s;irous to bring things to a Trial, and to keep them in order in the Affairs of his Soul; nor is he &s;lothfull or afraid to take notice of, and bring an Indictment again&s;t the Offender, though it be him&s;elf, when he thinks he hath been guilty, he will bring his Accu|&s;ation, and let him an&s;wer for him&s;elf as well as he can. Nor doth he after this en|deavour to withdraw him&s;elf, not to ap|pear to his Action or Indictment, but to &s;culk, lie hid, or have the bu&s;ine&s;s pa&s;&s;ed over: nor doth he when his carriage comes to be canva&s;&s;ed, alledge Pretences, make frivolous Apologies, &s;hift and turn him&s;elf any way to excu&s;e and defend him&s;elf, or to abate and extenuate what he cannot de|ny. No: but he willingly makes his ap|pearance,
<PB N="107" REF="61"> de&s;ires nothing more than that the Truth may be known, and all that can be &s;aid again&s;t him may be produced; that either he may where he ju&s;tly can vindicate, or where he cannot condemn him&s;elf, were he is convinc'd of his Faults or Crimes, though never &s;o heinous, he owns it, he cries guilty to God; &s;aying, O Lord! I have indeed tran&s;gre&s;&s;ed thy Commandments, I have done fooli&s;hly, I have been wicked, ungratefull, wilfully ig|norant, or carele&s;s, or pre&s;umptuous; I con|fe&s;s it; I am perfectly a&s;hamed of my &s;elf, I de&s;pi&s;e and abhor my &s;elf; what &s;hall I &s;ay unto thee, O thou great Maker, and Pre&s;erver, and Benefactor of Men? I am obnoxious to thy greate&s;t Severity and Ju|&s;tice, I de&s;erve to be puni&s;hed as thy un|erring Wi&s;dom thinketh mo&s;t fit, I &s;ubmit my &s;elf to thy Sentence, and receive and own it, what&s;oever it &s;hall be as the mo&s;t ju&s;t. But I hope that Ju&s;tice may be mix|ed and allayed with Mercy, and that that Goodne&s;s which hath &s;ome way thus far led me to true Repentance, will go on &s;o far to compleat it in me, as to render me capable of thy pardon and forgivene&s;s. Nor is this Confe&s;&s;ion forced from this con|fe&s;&s;ing Penitent, nor wrung out of him, nor thru&s;t upon him by his per&s;ecuting
<PB N="108" REF="62"> con&s;cience, which he flies as much as he can, nor extorted by the urging Interroga|tories of his Friends or Enemies, with a great coldne&s;s and unwillingne&s;s. No, it is the mo&s;t free and voluntary; he him&s;elf di&s;clo&s;eth and openeth all his Heart, and whatever he knows by him&s;elf, and ear|ne&s;tly de&s;ires both witne&s;s and judge too, to produce all his faults, and to tell him what he may be ignorant of, or hath for|gotten. He is not willing to connive at any in him&s;elf, though never &s;o criminal and &s;hamefull, nor doth he de&s;ire any to conceal them from him; he hath no dar|ling which he would not look upon, be|cau&s;e he would not leave; or wink hard, becau&s;e he would not &s;ee it, or believe it to be no &s;in, or &s;o &s;mall, that it de&s;erves not the trouble of any notice or acknow|ledgment. He drags out his mo&s;t beloved, and his mo&s;t ju&s;tly &s;u&s;pected &s;ins, and is not a&s;hamed to betray them, which he hath &s;o perniciou&s;ly hugged, and which have and would betray him by their Flat|teries, In&s;inuations and Charms to his ut|ter Ruin and De&s;truction. He prudently hath his Eye there where there is the grea|te&s;t danger, and his greate&s;t, mo&s;t delight|full and mo&s;t frequent Sins he will bring to the light, and &s;o often till he makes al|mo&s;t
<PB N="109" REF="62"> the &s;ins them&s;elves to blu&s;h, and per|fectly wonders at his own blindne&s;s and &s;tupidity. 'Tis not a few words only that this man mumbles over, or a Repetition of any Form, as it were of Recantation with his Lips, when he is in&s;en&s;ible, or perhaps laughs at it in his heart; no, it is within in his Soul: judgment and con&s;ci|ence, and affections; all within him is em|ployed and moved. He is no Hypocrite or Actor of a part, but oft-times appears rather on the other hand to have no &s;uch thing, or to be of no &s;uch temper when he is. None can tell perhaps whether he hath been in his Clo&s;et, or what he hath been doing there. Neverthele&s;s he doth not refu&s;e if there be ju&s;t occa&s;ion (as in publick Devotion) to let all the World know, both by his words and carriage, what he thinks of him&s;elf, generou&s;ly to ju&s;tifie God and his mo&s;t righteous Laws and Di&s;pen&s;ations; but to accu&s;e, reproach and condemn him&s;elf. To advi&s;e and ad|moni&s;h all men, that they beware of what he &s;eeth his Folly in, and not to imitate his pa&s;t bad Example. He is willing that good men &s;hould under&s;tand, they have one come over to their party, and that bad men &s;hould follow him. He is very glad to plea&s;e good men with &s;uch a &s;ight,
<PB N="110" REF="63"> nad even to add to the Joy of Angels. He &s;oon &s;pies the great benefits of this devout Exerci&s;e, and is very &s;en&s;ible of the plea|&s;ure and comfort of it. He now di&s;covers more pravity, di&s;order, and &s;in, and more aggravations of them than he did, and con|&s;equently according to his earne&s;t de&s;ire, can better prevent or amend them: he under|&s;tands him&s;elf infinitely better than he did, and &s;ees great rea&s;on for humility, charity, pity and compa&s;&s;ion to offenders; but not for an indifferency and neglect of the pro|pere&s;t way he can u&s;e to reform them. As he is grave and &s;erious, and hath a ve|ry indifferent and mean, and &s;ometimes contemptuous opinion of him&s;elf; &s;o is he for that very rea&s;on again cheerfull and gay, for that nothing is more &s;o, than innocence or repentance. He makes his addre&s;s to God Almighty as with great hu|mility and mode&s;ty, &s;o with great good hopes for &s;ucce&s;s in his reque&s;ts, or for that which is better. He makes u&s;e of God upon all occa&s;ions, and in all con|cerns, as his refuge, his &s;helter, his &s;up|port, his &s;upply, his patron, protectour, benefactour; nay, his Father; ca&s;ting all his cares upon him with moderate indu|&s;try and endeavour, but without &s;olicitude and vexation.</P>
<PB N="111" REF="63">
<P> In fine, Though he have grievou&s;ly and unworthily for the time pa&s;t offended and di&s;plea&s;ed God, yet he is not afraid of him, but a&s;&s;ured of his pardon, love and favour for Chri&s;t's Sake, becau&s;e he is well a&s;&s;ured of his Repentance; and becau&s;e that God cannot lye, who hath &s;aid, <HI>That he that confe&s;&s;eth and for&s;aketh his &s;ins &s;hall find mercy.</HI></P>
<PB REF="64">
</DIV1>
<DIV1 N="4" TYPE="sermon">
<PB N="113" REF="64">
<HEAD>SERMON IV.</HEAD>
<EPIGRAPH>
<BIBL>PSALM XIV. 1.</BIBL>
<Q><HI>The Fool hath &s;aid in his heart there is no God: They are corrupt,</HI> &amp;c.</Q>
</EPIGRAPH>
<P>AN Argument of late e&s;pecially, of|ten treated of, and perhaps in this great Audience, and truly for great rea&s;on. It may be hoped there is le&s;s need of it now; I am &s;ure there are great hopes that there will be; when &s;implicity, pro|bity, and piety have more &s;ea&s;oned the fir&s;t &s;ources of manners and opinions. However, I doubt there may be &s;ome need of it &s;till: The God whom the wic|ked Fool denies, only knows when it will be otherwi&s;e. Good men would rejoyce to &s;ee the time (and it may come) when it &s;hall be as ridiculous to doubt of the Being, Attributes and Providence of the true God, as it is of the Sun's Being in Heaven, and its influences upon this Earth; as in|deed
<PB N="114" REF="65" MS="y"> it now is too in it &s;elf, and to an ho|ne&s;t man's thinking in a right method.</P>
<P>But let us briefly run over the words, read, and &s;ee what in&s;truction they will afford us to di&s;cour&s;e upon. By the term <HI>Fool</HI> it is well known, that in the Scrip|ture generally is not meant only an ig|norant or erroneous Per&s;on, but al&s;o one who is wicked and of ill-manners, becau&s;e he knows not, or mi&s;takes his own inte|re&s;t, as well as departs from his Duty. The Hebrew word is here, <GAP DESC="foreign"> which &s;ig|nifies him that doth foul, as well as fooli&s;h Actions. So <HI>Nabal</HI> is &s;aid to have done ac|cording to his Name, when he was &s;o un|gratefull and churli&s;h to <HI>David,</HI> as well as &s;o fooli&s;h and imprudent; that had it not been for <HI>Abigail,</HI> by &s;paring a little he had lo&s;t all, 1 <HI>Sam.</HI> 25. 25. And the Syriack Ver&s;ion here renders the Hebrew word, <GAP DESC="foreign"> by <GAP DESC="foreign"> <HI>i. e.</HI> an unju&s;t, wicked and per|ver&s;e Man.</P>
<P>2. It follows, <HI>hath &s;aid in his heart,</HI> i. e. he hath thought &s;o, though perhaps he ne|ver dared to &s;ay &s;o; for that was Bla&s;phe|my, and therefore death by the Jewi&s;h Law.</P>
<P>3. There is no God, <HI>i. e.</HI> there is no &s;uch thing really exi&s;tent; 'tis but a name
<PB N="115" REF="65"> or an imagination. Or if he be any where yet he is not pre&s;ent upon this Earth; he meddles not with humane Affairs. Some fooli&s;h, wicked Men, in their thoughts, de|ny either the Being, or the Providence of God, extending it &s;elf to this lower World. Like the Ancient Sect of the <HI>Epicureans,</HI> a|mong the Greeks, long after the&s;e Fools of the P&s;almi&s;t; and con&s;equently the true and nece&s;&s;ary Perfections and Attributes of his Nature, his Omnipre&s;ence, Omni&s;ci|ence, Omnipotence, his Univer&s;al Good|ne&s;s (whereby he governs and directs the whole Univer&s;e at once) to the be&s;t Ends, his Sanctity, Ju&s;tice, and the like. And further con&s;equent to this, they deny all di&s;tinction between Moral good and evil, right and wrong, vertue and vice, other than the pre&s;ent gratification, and fulfil|ling their own lu&s;ts of haughtine&s;s, pride, violence, covetou&s;ne&s;s, voluptuou&s;ne&s;s, <HI>&amp;c.</HI> which &s;ort of Men the P&s;almi&s;t here more particularly means by the Fool. Nay, fi|nally; hence it mu&s;t nece&s;&s;arily follow that they were, <GAP DESC="foreign"> as the Jews &s;peak, <HI>i. e.</HI> they denied their Religion, de&s;pi&s;ed even the Authority and Laws of <HI>Mo&s;es,</HI> and were Judaical Infidels, as ours now-a|days are Chri&s;tian ones; which is the more u&s;ual &s;ignification of the word, and re|&s;trained
<PB N="116" REF="66"> to revealed Truths. This la&s;t &s;en&s;e wants not Equal probability with the former. For it is likely, that from the be|ginning of Mankind, there have been ma|ny more, who have que&s;tion'd the Provi|dence and true Attributes, than the Exi|&s;tence of a God, for want of the true noti|on of his Nature, and therefore the <HI>Chaldee</HI> Paraphra&s;e &s;eems not to have done ami&s;s, when it paraphra&s;eth <GAP DESC="foreign"> <HI>the fool hath &s;aid in his heart</HI> that God hath no Dominion or Government in the Earth.</P>
<P>4. The words, <HI>they are corrupt, they have done abominable works,</HI> &amp;c. may be looked upon with the coherence, either of a cau&s;e or an effect of the preceding Propo&s;ition. <HI>The fool hath &s;aid in his heart,</HI> &amp;c. As if they &s;hould be thus uttered. Becau&s;e they are corrupt, <HI>&amp;c.</HI> therefore they have pro|ceeded to that extremity of folly and im|pudence, as to think there is no God at all, and that he doth not &s;ee and know what they do; or if he doth, yet he can|not or will not concern him&s;elf to puni&s;h them. Or we may read then to this &s;en&s;e: Fooli&s;h and lewd Men have fir&s;t per&s;wa|ded them&s;elves that there is no God, or no Providence which reacheth humane Affairs, and then have let loo&s;e the Reigns to their
<PB N="117" REF="66"> lu&s;ts, which have carried them to the mo&s;t wicked Works, and abominable Practices.</P>
<P>From whence we may learn the&s;e Two things.</P>
<P N="1">1. That they who deny the Being or Pro|vidence of God over Mankind, and the con|&s;equent Truths mentioned, are both igno|rant and wicked; or infidelity is the qua|lity of vicious Fools. <HI>The fool,</HI> &amp;c.</P>
<P N="2">2. That the denying of tho&s;e great Truths, and &s;uch like, is the cau&s;e of cor|rupt manners; or infidelity is followed with &s;till greater corruption of manners, and wickedne&s;s of practice.</P>
<P>To take the fir&s;t of the&s;e.</P>
<P>Among many heads of Di&s;cour&s;e, which have and may be handled, in this great and mo&s;t important Argument, I &s;hall choo&s;e but the&s;e Two.</P>
<LIST>
<ITEM><HI>1&s;t.</HI> To ob&s;erve &s;ome of the mo&s;t fre|quent cau&s;es of this Di&s;ea&s;e. And,</ITEM>
<ITEM><HI>2ly.</HI> To propo&s;e &s;ome remedies to pre|vent or &s;uppre&s;s their Efficacy.</ITEM>
</LIST>
<P>And becau&s;e tho&s;e of both parts are ma|ny to be named, I &s;hall be as brief as I can in each of them; and do little more than enumerate them.</P>
<PB N="118" REF="67">
<P> <HI>1&s;t.</HI> The fir&s;t cau&s;e then of this infidelity is ignorance. A charge which perhaps they may wonder or &s;mile at, who have &s;o often been by them&s;elves, and others taken for more than ordinary Wits; and &s;o indeed they are, but 'tis in levity, &s;hal|lowne&s;s, temerity, &s;elf-conceit and bold|ne&s;s, and &s;ome other as worthy qualities to be mentioned. And we affirm &s;till, that one of the leading and fir&s;t Cau&s;es of infidelity is great ignorance of the Nature of all Beings, &s;hort of infinite Perfection, and particularly of the material or corpo|real World, to believe it po&s;&s;ible for any thing to exi&s;t without a God, or a Being, who&s;e E&s;&s;ence is to be infinitely perfect, and con&s;equently nece&s;&s;arily to exi&s;t him|&s;elf, and to be the productive and con&s;er|vative Cau&s;e of all other things what&s;o|ever exi&s;tent: And then when there is &s;uch a Being, it is to have lo&s;t the faculty of rea&s;oning, &s;eriou&s;ly to deny tho&s;e Attri|butes of his Nature before mentioned, and his Univer&s;al Providence. For it would be to ungod him again. It mu&s;t be from a gro&s;s ignorance more particularly, for any man to doubt his Univer&s;al Goodne&s;s, whereby he di&s;po&s;eth and ordereth all things for the be&s;t State of the Univer&s;e of Beings, in all its duration taken toge|ther,
<PB N="119" REF="67"> and con&s;equently his Ju&s;tice; &s;o that it &s;hall be better with the Good and Righ|teous, than with the Evil and Wicked, all Conditions or their whole Duration con&s;i|dered and comprehended.</P>
<P>It is from no better Cau&s;e, that any man que&s;tions the Immortality of humane Souls in their own Nature, and the un&s;ui|tablene&s;s of the Divine Attributes to anni|hilate them. And it is far more incredi|ble, and further from all belief, that God &s;hould make our Souls <HI>only</HI> for this point of time we live upon this Earth, than that he &s;hould make all humane Race to come into this World only to cry and die.</P>
<P>'Tis (I &s;ay it again) from a contempti|ble ignorance of the Nature of Body and Spirit, the Nature of God, the true Ends of all Being, Life and Action, that the&s;e grand and fundamental Verities are &s;eriou&s;ly, and <HI>ex animo,</HI> di&s;puted or denied by any. It would be at pre&s;ent too tedious and im|pertinent to deduce at large, the particu|lar proofs of the&s;e mo&s;t important Truths. It hath been e&s;pecially, in this la&s;t Age, ex|cellently well performed; to which in &s;ome things a further Addition may be made. Let Infidels or Scepticks &s;uffici|ently an&s;wer that fir&s;t: I think we may without vanity, challenge all the power
<PB N="120" REF="68"> and force of their Wit and Learning to do its utmo&s;t. Let us &s;ee if they be in ear|ne&s;t, whether they be not extremely igno|rant, and (if we may have the leave or pardon of this Royal Audience, to pro|voke them with a great, but ju&s;t reproach) whether they be not both bold and bloc|ki&s;h: Of which the &s;econd Cau&s;e of infi|delity will give &s;ome Account.</P>
<P><HI>2ly,</HI> And that is the difficulty of appre|hending and conceiving tho&s;e intellectual Objects, which are ab&s;olute. Such as are the Properties and Actions of God, An|gels, humane Souls, whence &s;ome have concluded them to be mere Words and Talk, or mi&s;taken for &s;ome corporeal Na|ture. Such are tho&s;e, who fir&s;t beginning at the &s;ub&s;tantiality and immortality of the Soul, proceed to deny the Providence, the Attributes, and at la&s;t the very Being of God; impudently affirming, nothing can be conceived by us but Body, and that which belongs to it. This mi&s;erable Infirmity of humane Nature, confines the noble Soul of Man, to the mo&s;t ignoble and dead part of the Univer&s;e, deprives it of its greate&s;t plea&s;ure and perfection, and deba&s;eth it both in its knowledge and man|ners, in its perceptive and active Powers. The men who are mo&s;t liable to it, are
<PB N="121" REF="68"> tho&s;e of much &s;ecular Bu&s;ine&s;s and Em|ployment, perpetually taken up with ob|&s;ervation and rea&s;oning, and plodding a|bout &s;en&s;ible objects and affairs of this bo|dily Life.</P>
<P>And &s;ome there are running &s;o far to the extreme of this &s;ide, as to give little, either encouragement or opportunity to any other knowledge or employment of the mind of man, be&s;ides Mechanicks Trade and civil Ju&s;tice, as if all other things were mere Chymera's, and unpro|fitable, fruitle&s;s, empty Notions, and no|thing de&s;erved our regard, but only how to handle a Tool well, or to buy and &s;ell, or at the highe&s;t to prevent or decide a Controver&s;ie about an Hou&s;e, Field, or Fence, and other little Properties. Which indeed are at pre&s;ent nece&s;&s;ary, and of great u&s;e for Temporal plenty and peace; but are not in the lea&s;t to be compared to the goods of the Spirit, and to the hopes, acqui&s;ition and enjoyments of immortali|ty in the Heavens.</P>
<P>Alas, how little do &s;uch men under|&s;tand or con&s;ider, that if all the furniture of this momentany bodily Life be not de|&s;igned by God, and u&s;ed by us for &s;piri|tual and eternal good things, it is &s;carce worth our coming into Being at all, much
<PB N="122" REF="69"> le&s;s undergoing the manifold unea&s;ine&s;&s;es, incommodities, cares and calamities of it. The effects of this humour and genius in a Nation, to which lap&s;ed and degenerate Mankind are prone enough, for &s;ome &s;mall time prevailing, &s;eems to be profound ig|norance and oblivion of intellectual and heavenly things, the increa&s;e of Athei&s;m, irreligion and prophanene&s;s, Immorality in heart and life, any further than it is in|con&s;i&s;tent with &s;ecular intere&s;t, and re|&s;trained by the Laws of civil Society.</P>
<P>For which one rea&s;on, it &s;eems highly expedient, or rather ab&s;olutely nece&s;&s;ary, to &s;et a-part one order of men, in con&s;ide|rable number with places, and other proper and convenient Circum&s;tances, to pre&s;erve and improve the knowledge and e&s;teem of &s;piritual and heavenly things among&s;t Men, otherwi&s;e truly in great danger to be lo&s;t: And without which we &s;hould live like the Fi&s;h and Mole, as ignorant of the nature and privileges and felicity of the &s;uperi|our World, infinitely the va&s;te&s;t and no|ble&s;t part of the Univer&s;e, as they are of ours.</P>
<P>It is more than likely &s;ome men may be content with it. But &s;urely they will be &s;o humane and charitable, as not to hinder, but to help tho&s;e which are not.</P>
<PB N="123" REF="69">
<P> It is certain that the two great differen|ces between that part of the World which is called barbarous, and that which is ci|vil, are intellectuality and charity; and &s;o far as we lo&s;e either, we return again to Barbari&s;m.</P>
<P><HI>3ly,</HI> Another mo&s;t frequent and lamen|table Cau&s;e indeed of infidelity, is licenti|ou&s;ne&s;s. Men would live as they li&s;t, and gratifie and indulge their lu&s;ts to the full, without any fear, re&s;traint or allay. And becau&s;e their con&s;ciences are at fir&s;t more or le&s;s trouble&s;ome, they endeavour to bribe, corrupt, and bring them over to their party; to tell them that they may &s;afely and hone&s;tly too, follow &s;uch cour|&s;es. For that which is ordinarily believ'd (&s;ay they) and talked of vertue and vice, and difference of Actions, except only from agreeablene&s;s and pre&s;ent plea&s;ure; of God, his Sanctity and Ju&s;tice, of Heaven and Hell, of Reckonings and Recompences hereafter, are but imagination and talk, or fal&s;e, or at lea&s;t dubious things.</P>
<P>The&s;e men do the Work throughly of debauching, and eternally ruining them|&s;elves; they do not only hire their Con|&s;ciences to be &s;ilent or &s;tand Neuters, but to give their lu&s;ts all po&s;&s;ible a&s;&s;i&s;tance and encouragement; like &s;ome who have
<PB N="124" REF="70"> fought de&s;perately in a bad cau&s;e, not without con&s;cience, but with one as bad as their cau&s;e. And here the&s;e Per&s;ons who will &s;uffer them&s;elves to be thus abu&s;ed by their lu&s;ts, ought timely to be aware in what great danger they are, not only to deny the Lord that bought them, but al&s;o the Lord that made them with all Religi|on, that ever Rea&s;on and Nature hath taught; and con&s;equently to be deny'd by them.</P>
<P>4. In men of an haughty &s;pirit; that very temper of theirs is a frequent cau&s;e of infi|delity, they will needs be uncontroulable by any, and not endure any bounds to their de&s;ires and enjoyments, but what they plea&s;e to &s;et them&s;elves. It is for ordinary and low &s;pirits, and not for &s;uch great minds as they are (&s;o &s;ay their flatterers, and they believe them) to &s;uffer them&s;elves to be re&s;trained by any Laws of Nature, Rea&s;on or Religion, or to depend upon any Being what&s;oever &s;o much, as to hope or fear from him; and therefore they will not be|lieve there are any &s;uch things. Men who &s;peak as big as <HI>Pharaoh, Who is the Lord that I &s;hould obey him?</HI> Exod. 5. 2.</P>
<P>Poor creatures! who though they are not a jot wi&s;er or better, and truly com|paratively very little greater, than other
<PB N="125" REF="70"> meaner Mortals; yet they'll a&s;pire to the Prerogative of God their Creator, to whom by rea&s;on of his e&s;&s;ential Sanctity, immu|table Ju&s;tice, all comprehending Wi&s;dom and Almighty Power, it only belongs to know no other Laws, but tho&s;e of his own Nature and Will, and to court no Power &s;uperior to his own.</P>
<P><HI>5ly.</HI> We may add to the&s;e a certain gay|ne&s;s of &s;pirit in &s;ome men. The&s;e hate all care, attention, reflection and fore&s;ight, which contract the &s;pirit, and cau&s;eth it to gather it &s;elf together; and con&s;equent|ly they like not to hear of or believe, nay they are re&s;olved to disbelieve every thing which may di&s;turb the &s;ecurity, or con|fine the liberty, or darken the gayety of their minds. It is plain, if we entertain and &s;ettle in our minds the great practical Truths of revealed and natural Religion, they will oblige us to make u&s;e of &s;ome prudence and attention; to direct our A|ctions by certain Rules to a certain End; and not to leave our &s;elves to a tumultu|ous boonne&s;s of &s;pirit, and to the fortui|tous tides or ru&s;hes of our appetites and pa&s;&s;ions. So it hath been &s;aid of the An|cient <HI>Epicureans,</HI> that their Exclu&s;ion of their Deities from humane Affairs, was recommended by them as a comfortable
<PB N="126" REF="71"> dogm, freeing Men from all fear and &s;oli|citude, to plea&s;e or di&s;plea&s;e them.</P>
<P><HI>6ly,</HI> Sometimes in &s;ome men infidelity hath proceeded from a &s;owerne&s;s of mind, great di&s;plea&s;ure conceived and fermented into an impatience again&s;t God and his Providence: Perhaps their impetuous de|&s;ires have been cro&s;&s;ed, their darling de|&s;igns broken, and their jolly hopes fru&s;tra|ted, or their &s;weet enjoyments &s;uddenly &s;wept away from them; whence fir&s;t they have entertained very hard thoughts of God and his Providence, and broken out into rude and unmannerly expre&s;&s;ions again&s;t them. Then in revenge proceeded to wi&s;h them out of the World, and at la&s;t have thought it more ea&s;ie and &s;afe to deny them.</P>
<P><HI>7ly,</HI> In others again an affectation of &s;ingularity and de&s;pi&s;ing what is common, an humour of contradicting of what is or|dinarily believed di&s;po&s;eth to infidelity. Becau&s;e the generality of men do believe tho&s;e great truths &s;o often mentioned, therefore they will not. They would &s;eem more &s;earching, or fortunate or bold in their di&s;coveries and opinions, than all the World be&s;ides. They would appear to know, or at lea&s;t dare to &s;ay, that which the generality of Men have been ignorant of, or that which, if &s;ome few of the more
<PB N="127" REF="71"> curious and inqui&s;itive and penetrating have thought as well as them&s;elves, yet they had not the courage to publi&s;h it. Now the&s;e men are under a far more dan|gerous prejudice from affectation of &s;ingu|larity and novelty, than the generality of men whom they u&s;ually de&s;pi&s;e are, from Antiquity, Cu&s;tom and Example.</P>
<P>If we con&s;ider both the&s;e ab&s;tractedly, it is far &s;afer to follow common received opinions of many Countries and Ages, e|&s;pecially if believed of great importance, than the new inventions of one or &s;ome few.</P>
<P>Though both may be fal&s;e, yet if no other rea&s;ons be con&s;idered, the old is much more likely to be true than the new. And I believe it is the experience of tho&s;e who impartially examine things, that ge|nerally the common and well near univer|&s;ally received opinion of all places, and ages (e&s;pecially if thought of great con&s;equence whether true or fal&s;e) are at la&s;t found in the main part of them to be true. And it is one of the be&s;t Employments of men of great Wit, and more than ordinary &s;a|gacity and capacity, to conceive and de|liver them more clearly and di&s;tinctly, and to pare off and &s;eparate &s;ome ab&s;urdities and fal&s;hoods, which may in &s;ome tract of
<PB N="128" REF="72"> time, by pa&s;&s;ing through many unskilfull hands, have been fa&s;tned to them. But of this more will be &s;aid, when we come to the remedies of infidelity.</P>
<P>8. (To add no more at pre&s;ent) Envy again&s;t the Profe&s;&s;ors, but of Ingenuity, Philo&s;ophy and Sobriety, much more of Religion and Piety; e&s;pecially, if attended with any thing of Dignity, Reputation and Revenue hath been the Cau&s;e, I doubt, in many ill-tempered and ill-living Men of this Infidelity.</P>
<P>Some of the&s;e at fir&s;t out of this ill-hu|mour and quality feign to them&s;elves, and then indu&s;triou&s;ly bring them&s;elves to be|lieve it, that the things are frivolous or fal&s;e, for which Men of Learning and Re|ligion, have been thought worthy of their Rewards of E&s;teem, Honour and Revenue. And what's the Cau&s;e or Rea&s;on? No other but that their Eye is evil, and they would not have them to enjoy them. They do not well abide it, to &s;ee them in po&s;&s;e&s;&s;ion of that, which either they would have them&s;elves, whether de&s;ervedly or not, or at lea&s;t no body el&s;e. Others again, &s;peak meanly or di&s;gracefully of their Doctrine, Opinion, and Profe&s;&s;ion; becau&s;e they &s;poil the Reputation of their manner of life, and are incon&s;i&s;tent with that licen|tiou&s;ne&s;s
<PB N="129" REF="72"> and liberty which they profe&s;s, practi&s;e and delight in. Hence it is, they give them the bad and contemptible names of Pedantries, uncertainties or fal&s;hoods. Here we may take in another &s;ort of men, which are but &s;ervants and attendants to the former, tho&s;e, <HI>viz.</HI> who get their live|lihood, and &s;ometimes more, by the exce&s;|&s;es, contentions, quarrels, perjuries, and o|ther wickedne&s;&s;es of the Age.</P>
<P>The&s;e two, as far as their Wit and Inte|re&s;t will go, help on and promote the dis|belief of all &s;ober, vertuous and religious Principles.</P>
<P>The&s;e and others, which may be &s;till ad|ded, are the inward Cau&s;es, and inherent in our &s;elves, of unbelief and disbelief, and which are mo&s;t in our own Power, to pre|vent or remove.</P>
<P>There are al&s;o &s;ome others external and occa&s;ional, &s;uch as the Example of witty and acceptable Company; Hypocri&s;ie in Religion both revealed and natural (&s;o ta|ken, and &s;eeming at lea&s;t) e&s;pecially in the Teachers of them; when men profe&s;s they believe their grand Truths, but do not live in any &s;ort, as if they did. Which accu&s;ation is partly fal&s;e; for the generality of men, though they do not indeed live near up to their Faith, yet they would be
<PB N="130" REF="73"> much wor&s;e without it. Partly it is to be put to another Cau&s;e, <HI>viz.</HI> heedle&s;ne&s;s and want of application of their belief to their practice. But perhaps few things have been more an occa&s;ion of the Infidelity of &s;ome men, than the over-zealous and blind Cre|dulity of others. Some men's believing too much, and otherwi&s;e than they ought, and yet fiercely impo&s;ing it, hath been the Cau&s;e of others believing too little, and &s;ometimes they who have mo&s;t complai|ned of Sceptici&s;m and Infidelity, Unbelief and Disbelief (which are different things) have contributed much to it them&s;elves.</P>
<P>The introducing of many Opinions of neither light or u&s;e, or very little either way, uncertain or trivial; nay, &s;ometimes not only ju&s;tly &s;u&s;picious, but manife&s;tly fal&s;e, and then the impo&s;ing them under what Penalties men have in their own Power, the lea&s;t of which is commonly the Cen&s;ures and Reproaches of <HI>Enemies or Indifferents in Religion, Hereticks, Athe|i&s;ts, Infidels:</HI> I &s;ay, the&s;e have begotten and extremely nouri&s;hed Sceptici&s;m and In|fidelity, e&s;pecially in this knowing and in|qui&s;itive Age, bold when they dare, lur|king and doing more mi&s;chief oft-times when they dare not &s;hew them&s;elves, be|cau&s;e they cannot be examined and receive their An&s;wers.</P>
<PB N="131" REF="73">
<P> This is the infirmity of tho&s;e well-mea|ning Men, who will have every thing be|lieved and impo&s;ed too, which &s;eems to them to make for the honour and reputa|tion of their Religion, not minding what &s;hould be in the fir&s;t place known, whe|ther it be true or fal&s;e.</P>
<P>But it is the wickedne&s;s of tho&s;e who do it for their own &s;ecular intere&s;t, and care not how much Mankind be abu&s;ed; &s;o that their Domination be advanced and &s;ecured, at lea&s;t they connive at it, and let it pa&s;s.</P>
<P>This Cau&s;e hath its effect principally a|mong the ingenious and witty, the great and haughty, but not wi&s;e and ju&s;t, who want either lei&s;ure or patience, or capaci|ty or probity, to examine and di&s;tingui&s;h things. They ea&s;ily throw away the Wheat with the Chaff; what is true and &s;olid, with what is fal&s;e and light.</P>
<P>'Tis al&s;o probity of mind they want, who being licentiou&s;ly given, and no great friends to any Religion or Truth either, which may lay any re&s;traint upon them in their opinions or practices, gladly take any advantages again&s;t them.</P>
<P>That men look upon all profe&s;&s;ing Re|ligion and Con&s;cience to be Ignorant, Su|per&s;titious, or Cunning; &s;o that their Ex|ample
<PB N="132" REF="74"> or Rea&s;on are of no Authority with them. Neither doth this humour &s;top a|mong this &s;ort of men, but it is &s;oon con|veyed into the vulgar too, who &s;oon learn to contemn Religion, and the Prie&s;t e&s;pe|cially in times of liberty.</P>
<P>Wherefore it is to be advi&s;ed, (and &s;in|cerely Religious men, wi&s;e and hone&s;t, who heartily de&s;ire the Advancement of true Religion will &s;o do) that we be fir&s;t a&s;&s;ured of the truth of our belief and opi|nions in Religion, and be now carefull and ju&s;t to appear for nothing but what is &s;o, and for that rea&s;on. And when we cannot fairly maintain any thing to be &s;uch, tho' it appear never &s;o much for the honour and intere&s;t of Religion (as many very fal&s;e and forged things have) let it re&s;t, and go as it is till time may further di&s;co|ver. And as for the vulgar, it is &s;urely their &s;afe&s;t way to rely upon the Conduct of &s;uch wi&s;e and hone&s;t Men, though they may be even exhorted to &s;ee with their own Eyes too if they can. For it is much more ea&s;ie for them to know who are &s;uch, than to judge them&s;elves of the truth and fal&s;hood, Univer&s;al conveniencies and in|convenienc<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="KEYERS" EXTENT="1 letter">es of things, to know who are the be&s;t Guides, than to guide them|&s;elves.</P>
<PB N="133" REF="74">
<P> This plain dealing without fraud or force, will &s;urely much advance the ju&s;t E&s;teem of Religion, and its Mini&s;ters, and con&s;equently its influence and efficacy.</P>
<P>We have but too much proof of this Cau&s;e of Infidelity from experience. We have &s;een &s;ome Men, and that of the fir&s;t rank, who have taught us &s;uch a God, and that out of his own Books, which others judge to be an ab&s;olute impo&s;&s;ibility: And yet after all, they will be the only Or|thodox, and reprobate all tho&s;e who will not be of their opinion. Many al&s;o are tho&s;e, who have made the Holy Scriptures, the mo&s;t excellent Collection of Writings which were ever extant, to &s;peak &s;uch things, which hath cau&s;ed others not brooking their Interpretations, nor being &s;ufficient to find out better them&s;elves, to have mean and injurious thoughts of them. And yet if any pious Man with the &s;incere&s;t intentions, and endeavours to pre&s;erve, and vindicate their due honour by &s;alving dif|ficulties, which &s;eem to check Rea&s;on, do advance any thing incon&s;i&s;tent with their &s;ettled Opinions and Sy&s;tems, he is pre&s;ent|ly irreligious and a &s;evere Athei&s;t, too &s;e|vere Cen&s;ures, whatever their mi&s;takes may be. But they are much more nume|rous &s;till, who have made up &s;uch an
<PB N="134" REF="75"> Hotch-potch in Religion, by their Additi|ons to the Holy Scriptures, from preten|ded or enthu&s;ia&s;tical Revelations, forged or fal&s;e Miracles, Traditions, Eccle&s;ia&s;ti|cal Authority and Infallibility, as fir&s;t, to turn men's Stomachs again&s;t it, and at la&s;t, to cau&s;e a great many quite to di&s;|charge them&s;elves of it altogether. But of the&s;e, and &s;uch like, I &s;hall &s;ay no more at pre&s;ent: But go on to the next general Head.</P>
<P><HI>2ly,</HI> To propo&s;e &s;ome remedies proper to prevent, or repre&s;s the influences of the&s;e Cau&s;es of Infidelity; whereof &s;ome are more general, &s;ome more particularly relating to &s;ome Cau&s;es and Circum&s;tan|ces.</P>
<P>The fir&s;t of the&s;e is,</P>
<P><HI>1&s;t,</HI> To advi&s;e and a&s;&s;i&s;t Men to im|prove, and advance their Knowledge to the highe&s;t Degree they are capable of. For it &s;eems ju&s;t to deal &s;o uprightly, and plainly with the World, as not to make u&s;e of mere Authority, in&s;tead of under|&s;tanding and rea&s;on, where men are truly capable and hone&s;t; though, where they are ignorant, but yet conceited, &s;elf-willed or di&s;hone&s;t, in things of importance and con&s;equence, Authority mu&s;t be allowed to interpo&s;e for their own, and the publick
<PB N="135" REF="75"> good, which otherwi&s;e would greatly &s;uf|fer. Let therefore Men know, as much as they can, and examine the&s;e great ve|rities with the greate&s;t &s;everity. A&s;&s;ured|ly the more they know, the more rea&s;on they will &s;ee to believe them &s;eriou&s;ly, and re&s;olutely to live according to them. <HI>Search the Scriptures,</HI> &s;aith our Saviour to the unbelieving Jews <HI>(John</HI> 5. 39.) to convince them that he was the promi&s;ed <HI>Me&s;&s;ias,</HI> and the Per&s;on to whom all his Characters there did agree. So &s;ay we, <HI>Search the Scriptures,</HI> Nature it &s;elf, and Rea&s;on too, for they bear witne&s;s of all the&s;e great Truths. But then &s;earch them throughly, examine them to the bottom, &s;ee clearly, rea&s;on carefully and ju&s;tly; weigh all things with indifferency and impartiality; which will be pre&s;ently a direction by it &s;elf. Otherwi&s;e, as the Jews did erroneou&s;ly in|terpret the Holy Scriptures, and conclude from them: So may Men here through want of patience, and attention, and ap|prehen&s;ion, err and mi&s;take in their Con|clu&s;ion, concerning the great Truths of Morality and all Religions.</P>
<P>We heartily de&s;ire, that men's Faith and Belief may be the effect of a plain, &s;erious and deliberate Conviction, more than of Cu&s;tom, where it may be. And truly
<PB N="136" REF="76"> then, as well as when it is wrought in the heart by the grace of God, (which is a|nother Cau&s;e mentioned in the Scripture) great is its Power, and forcible its Opera|tion, and life it &s;elf is at its devotion and &s;ervice. Such was the effect of it in all the Apo&s;tles, and particularly &s;uch is the Faith in Je&s;us Chri&s;t, mentioned of Saint <HI>Thomas,</HI> and Saint <HI>Peter,</HI> when one cries out, <HI>my Lord, and my God,</HI> and the other, <HI>Lord whither &s;hould we go, thou ha&s;t the word of Eternal Life.</HI> Let that then be the fir&s;t remedy again&s;t Infidelity, <HI>viz.</HI> the utmo&s;t improvement and be&s;t exerci&s;e of our knowledge and rea&s;on.</P>
<P><HI>2ly,</HI> Po&s;&s;e&s;s we our minds with a &s;in|cere and zealous Hone&s;ty and Probity. By which, I mean, a &s;trong habitual pro|pen&s;ion and inclination to that which is right and ju&s;t. This will have three Ef|fects very proper to beget, or confirm a right belief of the Truth, and to pre&s;erve us in it.</P>
<P>The <HI>Fir&s;t,</HI> A fervent love of the Truth.</P>
<P>The <HI>Second,</HI> A free and ingenuous ac|knowledgment of it, where-ever we di&s;co|ver it, be it for us, or be it again&s;t us.</P>
<P><HI>Thirdly,</HI> A de&s;ire to act &s;uitable and live according to it.</P>
<PB N="137" REF="76">
<P> I &s;ay, a &s;incere and re&s;olute Probity hath the&s;e effects. For &s;urely, never any hone&s;t man doubted whether it was mate|rial, more fit and ju&s;t (of better effect) for a good man who will make good u&s;e of his knowledge, to be knowing rather than ignorant, or to believe the truth ra|ther than a lye, in order to direct him in all his inward Motions and outward Acti|ons. Without the fir&s;t, we &s;hall not trou|ble our &s;elves to &s;earch, or find the truth. Without the &s;econd, when we know it, we &s;hall either not believe, or deny it if po&s;&s;ible; or if by the clearne&s;s and evi|dence we cannot do that, yet we &s;hall turn our minds away from it. Finally, without the third, we &s;hall little e&s;teem or u&s;e it. And indeed, the fir&s;t, is al|ways attended with the other two. For he that hath a great affection for truth, will readily embrace it where ever he di&s;|covers it, endeavour to recommend, and make the be&s;t u&s;e of it he can, &s;hewing what influences it hath upon his heart and life. This excellent quality of our Spirits, is more than once commended and com|manded in the Holy Scriptures. 'Tis this which our Saviour means in his Parable by the <HI>hone&s;t and good heart, which having</HI> re|ceived <HI>the word, keeps it, and brings forth</HI>
<PB N="138" REF="77"> <HI>fruit with patience,</HI> Luke 8. 15. It was the want of this, which was one of the Cau&s;es of the &s;eduction from the Verity of the Go|&s;pel, in tho&s;e who peri&s;hed, <HI>viz.</HI> Becau&s;e they received not the love of the truth, <HI>i. e.</HI> Not only the Go&s;pel, particularly called the truth, but of truth in general, 1 <HI>The&s;&s;.</HI> 2. 10. And it was this our Saviour, above all things, required in men to become his Di&s;ciples. And 'tis for this rea&s;on, toge|ther with the incomparable evidence of the truth of Chri&s;tian Religion, that it is to be believed, that never an hone&s;t man of capacity, who hath been rightly in&s;tru|cted in the principal Doctrines of it, hath long held out again&s;t it, and finally di&s;|believed it. We may add to this natural effect of probity, the extraordinary and &s;upernatural one, even in tho&s;e who may be for &s;ome time doubtfull, or erroneous in tho&s;e greate&s;t Verities (&s;o perhaps may God permit.) It procures God's e&s;pecial care, to enlighten and encline &s;uch to the reception of truth.</P>
<P><HI>3ly,</HI> Another cure of this Infidelity is a branch of mode&s;ty; that is but a ju&s;t and true e&s;teem and value for our &s;elves, and therefore particularly to be carefull, we entertain not too great a Conceit of our own ability and &s;ufficiency above other
<PB N="139" REF="77"> mens, to find out the fal&s;ity or weakne&s;s, or uncertainty in common receiv'd opini|ons of con&s;equence. If we &s;eem to our &s;elves to ob&s;erve it, let us &s;till be diffident of our own Judgment, and believe we may be mi&s;taken, and that there may be &s;ome|thing in them, or for them, which we do not yet &s;ee; and therefore re&s;erve the al|teration of our belief to further con&s;idera|tion: Tho&s;e who are &s;trongly conceited of their knowledge and &s;ufficiency in judg|ment above other men, and are hugely plea&s;ed with it, are very forward and am|bitious to &s;hew it to them&s;elves fir&s;t, and then to other men; more e&s;pecially in contradicting and correcting what is ge|nerally taught and believed, and that by the mo&s;t e&s;teem'd, and of the be&s;t Repu|tation and Authority.</P>
<P>The Holy Scripture hath given us this general advice al&s;o. <HI>Rom.</HI> 12. 3. <HI>Not to think too highly of our &s;elves, but &s;oberly ac|cording as God hath dealt to every man the mea&s;ure of faith.</HI> But becau&s;e &s;ome men in their Infidelity, may rely more upon the Wit and Learning of one whom they much e&s;teem, than upon their own, it is to be advi&s;ed.</P>
<P><HI>4ly,</HI> To have a great deference and re|&s;pect to the mo&s;t publick Te&s;timony, or
<PB N="140" REF="78"> to the mo&s;t general received Opinion; &s;o much the more &s;till, by how much it is larger in re&s;pect of places and ages.</P>
<P>The lea&s;t effect, this con&s;ideration ought to have upon us, is to make us cautious and &s;u&s;picious, when we are inclined to believe and advance any Opinion con|trary, becau&s;e it appears true to our &s;elves, or &s;ome few other really knowing men. We ought diligently and impartially to ex|amine what it is, in the common Opinion, we cannot per&s;wade our &s;elves to be true, and how &s;uch a general mi&s;take &s;hould come to pa&s;s. He that contradicts an Uni|ver&s;al belief, had need be the wi&s;e&s;t of men, and he that rejects a very general one, &s;hould be very wi&s;e. The fir&s;t is not to be done without a Demon&s;tration, and even that which &s;o appears to us is rea&s;on|ably to be &s;u&s;pected; though, till we &s;ee otherwi&s;e, it cannot be denied by us; be|cau&s;e, in a thing a thou&s;and times con&s;i|dered and debated, it may &s;eem much, that none before hath light upon this De|mon&s;tration, though I do not &s;ay it is im|po&s;&s;ible. And, as for tho&s;e per&s;wa&s;ions which are very general in things judged of great concern, and con&s;equently, mo&s;t frequently brought into conver&s;ation, wri|ting and practice, it had need be a very
<PB N="141" REF="78"> great evidence; and having lain long un|der variety of examination, is at la&s;t al&s;o generally approved, that &s;hould entirely re|move or di&s;place them. Yet I deny not, but a man may have &s;ometime a rea&s;on &s;ufficient at fir&s;t to &s;u&s;pect, to doubt, to &s;ay, that the new Opinion looks with a good countenance, and &s;eems not to want a fair probability. And then it &s;eems no more than Ju&s;tice, and a thing becoming the publick Care, that it &s;hould have a fair hearing.</P>
<P>But here too, that we be not impo&s;ed upon, we are to take a true account of the Univer&s;ality, or Generality of received per|&s;wa&s;ions; not call tho&s;e of one Nation or Country, or perhaps one quarter of the World, introduced, and maintained by mere intere&s;t, cunning and force, or of one, or &s;ome few Ages; I &s;ay, we mu&s;t not call the&s;e univer&s;al, or more general than indeed they are. This is the fault and folly of the Roman Church, which will needs have Tran&s;ub&s;tantiation, Purgatory, Image and Saint Wor&s;hip, and an hundred others, to be the Catholick Opinions, and Practices in the Church of Chri&s;t; when we can produce whole Countries and Nations greater than theirs now, and many more Ages, and the be&s;t even of their own Church,
<PB N="142" REF="79"> which neither believed nor practi&s;ed &s;uch things.</P>
<P>This remedy is proper again&s;t blame|able &s;ingularity, whether out of ignorance or affectation. I will add but one more, and &s;o have done with this general head al&s;o. And that is,</P>
<P><HI>5ly,</HI> That as it hath been already a ge|neral Advice to po&s;&s;e&s;s our minds throughly with probity and plain hone&s;ty, and con|&s;equently a prevalent love of the truth: So it will much help and a&s;&s;ure the effect thereof, to purge them of all prejudices which may oppo&s;e it; and to leave truth and hone&s;ty as few, and as weak Enemies in our Brea&s;ts as it is po&s;&s;ible for us. We mu&s;t therefore turn out, and &s;end away all unrea&s;onable Inclinations, Humours, Ap|petites and Pa&s;&s;ions, which may have any influence upon our under&s;tanding, and judgment, in our enquiring or a&s;&s;ent to any truth: We are to keep our minds &s;incere and upright.</P>
<P>This will prevent or repre&s;s the Influ|ences of many Cau&s;es of Infidelity at once. For in pur&s;uance and application of this general Direction, we &s;hall free our minds from the love of any lu&s;ts, from the ex|travagant and mo&s;t unrea&s;onable de&s;ire of liberty, uncontroulablene&s;s and indepen|dency,
<PB N="143" REF="79"> from pride, vain &s;elf-conceit, and affe|ctation of &s;ingularity, from the humour of &s;etting our &s;elves in good earne&s;t to oppo&s;e and contradict, from wrath and impatience again&s;t God Almighty and his Providence: from &s;pite and envy again&s;t knowledge and goodne&s;s, and good men, again&s;t their reputation and intere&s;t in the World; and finally, from Sceptici&s;m it &s;elf (or as I now take the word) from timidity, in|con&s;tancy, in&s;tability of judgment and a&s;&s;ent, in which there &s;eems &s;ome pa&s;&s;ion and inclinations without rea&s;on, as well as in all the re&s;t. Then &s;hall we be clear and free to believe the truth, merely, be|cau&s;e it is the truth, as far as we can ap|prehend, and for no other rea&s;on what&s;o|ever. Till we have thus clean&s;ed our &s;ouls, depo&s;ed and laid a&s;ide all the&s;e prejudices, the more ingenious and witty we are, the greater is our danger of error and unbe|lief; and the common &s;ort of men who have not &s;o much Wit, Haughtine&s;s, Self-conceit, and Pride, do with much more &s;afe|ty and &s;ecurity, follow the ea&s;ie and natu|ral Sen&s;e of their own minds, and the common belief of the World, who are wi|&s;er than them&s;elves.</P>
<P>And now, what u&s;e &s;hall we make of this whole Di&s;cour&s;e? I &s;hall make but
<PB N="144" REF="80"> one inference from it; and that is, If what we have all this time been delivering be truth and rea&s;on, as I hope it is, then it is our Duty to contradict the <HI>Fool</HI> here in the Text, and that two ways, both in his Infide|lity, and in his con&s;equent Practice. Hath the vitious <HI>Fool &s;aid in his heart there is no God,</HI> or no Providence: Let us deliberately, peremptorily and decretorily conclude in our hearts, and confe&s;s it with our mouths, that there is a God, and verily, that this God judgeth in the Earth. But then let us be &s;ure, boldly to oppo&s;e and contra|dict him in the con&s;equence of our Faith, el&s;e our Faith and Profe&s;&s;ion will &s;erve us to no purpo&s;e, but to condemn us out of our own mouths, or it will be &s;u&s;pected, that our inward Faith and outward Profe&s;|&s;ion do not agree; that we &s;ay one thing as loud as any, and think another. At lea&s;t, that our Faith is very &s;light, cold and rare, and therefore little valued by us. For a &s;erious, expre&s;s, firm and frequent Faith, or actual A&s;&s;ent, e&s;pecially after de|liberation or doubting, is a great matter and very operative. We &s;ee the &s;ettled Opinions of men in other Affairs of Life, how &s;turdy and forcible they are. They govern even their Pa&s;&s;ions, and Per&s;ons, and are difficultly ma&s;tered, or hindered
<PB N="145" REF="80"> by any oppo&s;ition. So would it be al&s;o in Divine Faith, if it were as well rooted in our hearts, and as frequently made a|ctual u&s;e of. Is then this wicked <HI>Fool</HI> corrupt, and vitious? Hath he done abo|minable Works? Let it be our firme&s;t re|&s;olution, and utmo&s;t care and endeavour, to be of an incorrupt, &s;ound and &s;trong Vertue, and a laudable and amiable Pra|ctice, and do good Works. But more par|ticularly, and immediately, the Vertue which our belief in God, his Nature, At|tributes and Actions &s;hould produce and pre&s;erve is that of Piety and Religion, or Divine Wor&s;hip, in which I comprehend all our Duty to this God. Let us then &s;pare him as many thoughts as we can, and contemplate his Beauty and Glory, as much as our frail Nature and Condition will bear; let us conceive the mo&s;t wor|thily of him; let us honour him with all the force of our Souls, love him with all our might above all things together, both in Heaven and Earth; rejoyce and be hap|py in his Favour, and fear his di&s;plea&s;ure; put our ultimate tru&s;t in him alone, and above all, entirely re&s;ign up our Wills to his, in whatever is to be done or under|gone by us, and all his Creatures; that
<PB N="146" REF="81"> his Will may be done both in Heaven and Earth. This which is the internal Wor|&s;hip of God, we are at all fit Sea&s;ons and Circum&s;tances, to &s;ignifie by our Lauds, Prai&s;es, Prayers, Thank&s;givings, &s;olemn Profe&s;&s;ion of a &s;incere, univer&s;al, con|&s;tant, perpetual Obedience to all his Com|mands and Appointments, and above all by the Tenor of our Life and Actions, which is External Wor&s;hip.</P>
<P>Behold a heart and life &s;utable to our Faith, and to the God in whom we be|lieve. An employment worthy indeed of all rea&s;onable Creatures, from the highe&s;t to the lowe&s;t. The perfection of all their noble Powers and Exerci&s;e of them. This Religion and Conver&s;ation with the Dei|ty, is the highe&s;t Accompli&s;hment and Fe|licity of any &s;piritual Nature. All other objects do not fill their Capacities. This State we are all here as much as we can (which is but little) to endeavour to at|tain to. The re&s;t we are to de&s;ire, hope, and prepare our &s;elves for.</P>
<P>Now to this God, whom the wicked <HI>Fool</HI> denies; who made and upholds all things by the Omnipotent Word of his Power, and governs all things by his All-wi&s;e Provi|dence; to this one mo&s;t excellent infi|nite
<PB N="147" REF="81"> Nature in three Per&s;ons, the Father, the Son, and the Holy Gho&s;t, be all this inward and outward Wor&s;hip, con&s;tantly rendred by Men and Angels, from hence|forth, and for ever-more. <HI>Amen.</HI></P>
<PB REF="82">
</DIV1>
<DIV1 N="5" TYPE="sermon">
<PB N="149" REF="82">
<HEAD>SERMON V.</HEAD>
<EPIGRAPH>
<BIBL>ROM. V. 1.</BIBL>
<Q>Therefore being ju&s;tified by faith, we have peace with God, through our Lord Je&s;us Chri&s;t.</Q>
</EPIGRAPH>
<DIV2 TYPE="sermon proper">
<P>THere are hardly any words of the Holy Scripture, more common in the Mouths of Chri&s;tians, e&s;peci|ally reformed, or uttered with more affe|ction, or more frequently made u&s;e of, than the&s;e of <HI>Ju&s;tification by Faith.</HI> Nor is there any Doctrine of Chri&s;tianity, which hath of late been di&s;puted, with more Volumes or greater Heat, than that which is &s;aid to be contained under them.</P>
<P>To which we may add, that in truth, it is a Doctrine both in matter and phra&s;e, in great mea&s;ure, new and proper to the Chri&s;tian Religion, and yet of a great im|portance; honourable to God, and comfor|table to Men. For the mo&s;t devout, and
<PB N="150" REF="83"> even in&s;pired by God among the Jews, as far as appears, knew little of the princi|pal Part of it, and the mo&s;t learned a|mong the Heathens nothing. Nay, it &s;eems, by what we read, that it hath been defectively, and but ill-under&s;tood even by Chri&s;tians them&s;elves, till of late.</P>
<P>And although in a good part of this la&s;t Century, it hath been much cleared and recovered by many learned Men, who be|gan better to under&s;tand the Style, Phra&s;e, Occa&s;ion, and other Circum&s;tances of the New Te&s;tament; and by none more, per|haps, than our own judicious, pious Para|phra&s;t: yet, me-thinks, &s;omewhat more may be done in the matter.</P>
<P>I &s;hall at pre&s;ent, only, briefly and plain|ly endeavour, the explication and applica|tion of the words.</P>
<P>The two things which de&s;erve a parti|cular explication are, (1) <HI>Ju&s;tification,</HI> (2) <HI>Faith.</HI></P>
<P><PTR TARGET="A29503-NOTEA"> 1. For the word <HI>Ju&s;tification.</HI> I take the original and general Notion of it to be, the doing by any Per&s;on (for to that I now re&s;train it, though it be &s;poken of Actions al&s;o) as u&s;eth to be done to one who is ju&s;t and righteous: <HI>i e</HI> &s;ome way to &s;hew favour, or to do good to him, whether by approbation, commendation
<PB N="151" REF="83"> or beneficence. Of this general &s;en&s;e of the word, it is ea&s;ie to &s;ee that the juridi|cal Sen&s;e of acquitting ab&s;olving, <HI>&amp;c.</HI> is but one in&s;tance or kind.</P>
<P>This u&s;age may be in re&s;pect of &s;ome particular Act, or Quality only, or of a man's general Temper of Mind and Cour&s;e of Life. We have &s;everal Examples of the fir&s;t. It is &s;aid by our Saviour of the Pub|lican, who went up with the Phari&s;ee to the Temple to pray, that he went away rather <HI>ju&s;tified</HI> than the other (or ju&s;tified, and not the other, according to a known Hebrai&s;m.) ju&s;tified! <HI>i. e.</HI> accepted, appro|ved by God, in that particular Act of his Prayer to God, as u&s;eth, or ought to be done to him who is ju&s;t, and doth well. The &s;ame is the Sen&s;e of the word, <HI>Rom.</HI> 8. 33. 'Tis God that <HI>ju&s;tifieth,</HI> who is he that condemneth? We know the World doth condemn, reproach, hate us Chri&s;ti|ans for our Religion, for our believing up|on Je&s;us: but that we de&s;pi&s;e, becau&s;e we know too, that we have the favour and approbation of God for &s;o doing.</P>
<P>Thus al&s;o it is recorded of <HI>Phinehas, P&s;alm</HI> 106. 30, 31. that he executed judg|ment (&s;lew <HI>Zimri</HI> and <HI>Cozbi</HI> in the Act of Uncleanne&s;s) and it was counted to him for righteou&s;ne&s;s, or for <HI>ju&s;tification,</HI> or the
<PB N="152" REF="84"> effect of it was <HI>ju&s;tification</HI> (for <GAP DESC="foreign"> and <GAP DESC="foreign">, have often the &s;ame &s;ignificati|on, as <HI>Gal.</HI> 2. 21.) <HI>i. e.</HI> he was, and ought to be, and ever &s;hall be unto all Generations greatly approved, and highly prai&s;ed for that Action in &s;o eminent a degree, righte|ous and ju&s;t, done with &s;o much Zeal and Courage for the Honour of his God, and the good of his People. And we read too, how he was rewarded by God for it with the high Prie&s;t-hood in his Family. Nay, the <HI>ju&s;tification</HI> of <HI>Abraham</HI> him&s;elf, is &s;aid &s;ometimes to be in the &s;ame &s;en&s;e, for &s;ome one particular eminent Act of Obe|dience to God, <HI>Rom.</HI> 3. 18. <HI>Heb.</HI> 11. 8, 17. <HI>Jam.</HI> 2. 21. though at other times for his general Faith, and Piety, or obediential Temper to God. And of this <HI>ju&s;tification</HI> he is &s;et forth as an eminent and extraor|dinary Example, <HI>Rom.</HI> 4. So it is in like manner with all good men, who walk in the &s;teps of the Faith of <HI>Abraham,</HI> as the Apo&s;tle phra&s;eth it, <HI>viz.</HI> who are religious, ob&s;equious to the Will of God, in what manner, and when&s;oever he &s;hall &s;uffici|ently make it known to them; and con|&s;equently men of &s;incere Probity of Spirit, devoted to all that is good and ju&s;t. Of which hereafter.</P>
<PB N="153" REF="84">
<P> This u&s;age of a ju&s;t man, or <HI>ju&s;tification</HI> may be di&s;tingui&s;hed into (1) negative, or doing him no harm: (2) po&s;itive, do|ing good to him, be&s;towing certain bene|fits, and po&s;itive favours upon him. But there are three more remarkable in&s;tances of both the&s;e, and frequently mentioned in the Scripture. The fir&s;t is remi&s;&s;ion of &s;ins upon repentance, or an omi&s;&s;ion of puni&s;hment for them: like as one that hath been ju&s;t, and never committed any &s;in, u&s;eth to be treated. He &s;uffers no evil from God for &s;in, and this is negative. The &s;econd is the Holy Spirit's influen|ces, operations in the Souls of Men. And the third is Eternal Salvation upon per&s;e|verance in a good and holy life. All the&s;e are more particularly regarded by St. <HI>Paul</HI> in the Text: As if he had &s;aid. Therefore being by Faith (of which pre&s;ently) re&s;to|red to the Favour of God, particularly ex|pre&s;&s;ed in the forgivene&s;s of &s;ins, the gift of the Holy Spirit, the promi&s;es and a&s;&s;u|rances of Eternal life, we have peace with God. We are in a &s;tate of Amity and Friend&s;hip with him, and we have Peace and Tranquility in our own Con&s;ciences, which do not now threaten us with God's Anger or Puni&s;hment, and that through our Lord Je&s;us Chri&s;t.</P>
<PB N="154" REF="85">
<P> Now if this be the true notion of <HI>ju&s;ti|fication,</HI> when it is joined with Faith, as I think it is: Then fir&s;t, it is not the &s;ame with <HI>&s;anctification,</HI> or making a man in|herent, holy and ju&s;t. Ju&s;tifying the un|godly through Faith in the Scripture-&s;tyle, is not making an ungodly man godly, as the Papi&s;ts, <HI>Socinians</HI> and <HI>Grotius</HI> would have it. A mi&s;take in that learned Man, which hath led him into many other Mi&s;|interpretations of Scripture. Nor (2) is it in a &s;trict Sen&s;e an accounting or rec|koning a Man perfectly ju&s;t, or more than he really and truly is: for that were to &s;ay, that God may be deceived, and judge things otherwi&s;e than they are. It is true, the Church of <HI>England</HI> in one of her Arti|cles hath u&s;ed the words, <HI>accounting righte|ous for the merits of Je&s;us Chri&s;t by faith, and not for our works.</HI> But there needs no force to make them &s;ignifie, <HI>the treating or u&s;ing as righteous,</HI> for the Merit of Chri&s;t upon the condition of Faith, without any Me|rit on our part, which is the true Chri&s;ti|an Doctrine of Ju&s;tification, as we &s;hall pre&s;ently &s;ee. Nor (3) is Ju&s;tification to pronounce or declare a Man inherently ju&s;t, as it were in a &s;olemn Sentence, who is not &s;o; for this were to make God give a fal&s;e &s;entence. Nor (4) is it to cover or
<PB N="155" REF="85"> cloth a Man (even a penitent &s;inner) with the pure Robes of Chri&s;t's perfect Righte|ou&s;ne&s;s, and then to appear to God, pure and &s;potle&s;s, as Je&s;us Chri&s;t him&s;elf: For this were to &s;uppo&s;e God to look no fur|ther than the out&s;ide, and repre&s;ent him like old <HI>I&s;aac,</HI> deceived by <HI>Rebekah</HI> and <HI>Jacob.</HI></P>
<P>The&s;e are the notions of men, who &s;eem never to attend to the proper Na|ture of things: but are content to talk only in Figures. And in truth they might do much more harm, if they were not an|tidoted by other plain Scripture Doctrines; &s;uch as that of the nece&s;&s;ity of Holine&s;s of heart and life for the forgivene&s;s of &s;ins and everla&s;ting Salvation. Nor (5) is Ju&s;tification God's imputing the Righte|ou&s;ne&s;s of Chri&s;t to Man, who lives in any &s;infull Breach or Neglect of God's Law.</P>
<P>There is indeed a comfortable and true notion under tho&s;e phra&s;es; and that is, That &s;inners fare the better for the com|pleat Righteou&s;ne&s;s, or perfect Obedience of Chri&s;t. Great and many indeed were the benefits God was plea&s;ed to afford &s;in|full mankind, for the &s;ake of Je&s;us Chri&s;t. No le&s;s than &s;uch as the&s;e; his long &s;uffe|ring and forbearance, all &s;orts of tempo|ral Ble&s;&s;ings, all the inward and outward means of Vertue and Goodne&s;s; All this
<PB N="156" REF="86"> even to &s;inners while &s;inners; which &s;ome learned men have called degrees of remi&s;|&s;ion of &s;ins: I &s;hould rather &s;ay in&s;tances of <HI>ju&s;tification,</HI> or dealing by men as u&s;eth to be done to the innocent and ju&s;t, who had never offended. Then further, upon true repentance, entire pardon for all pa&s;t &s;ins: All in the other life, and all in this, except, what God in his fatherly Wi&s;dom may think fit for our di&s;cipline and means of further improvement in Vertue and Holine&s;s; con&s;tant forgivene&s;s upon con|&s;tant repentance, for the interfering faults of good Men, and finally, Everla&s;ting life. All this Men owe to the compleat Righte|ou&s;ne&s;s of Je&s;us Chri&s;t, from the begin|ning to the End of his life. It was for his &s;ake, God was plea&s;ed to have any regard to, or compa&s;&s;ion upon the degenerate Race of Mankind; that God might by &s;o eminently rewarding him, &s;hew the World how acceptable to him Holine&s;s and Ver|tue were, and encourage to the Attain|ment of the highe&s;t Degree of them po&s;&s;i|ble. All this is true, and a rea&s;onable Ad|mini&s;tration of God in the Government of the World. But yet it is not Ju&s;tification it &s;elf. God's imputing Chri&s;t's Righteou&s;|ne&s;s to us in &s;uch manner, is one Cau&s;e of our Ju&s;tification: but Ju&s;tification it &s;elf, or
<PB N="157" REF="86"> the u&s;ing of us in &s;uch favourable and kind manner is the effect of that imputation. Nor (6) and la&s;tly, is Ju&s;tification a bare remi&s;&s;ion of &s;ins. They who &s;ay &s;o, &s;peak too little: for the u&s;ing a man as a Righ|teous and ju&s;t man is not negative only, or doing him no harm; but po&s;itive, al&s;o doing him good; and therefore it contains not only &s;ecurity and exemption from the evil of &s;uffering; but the be&s;towing the good things of enjoyment, the principal of which are, &s;piritual and eternal; the A&s;&s;i&s;tances for Vertue here, and Heaven hereafter, or Grace and Glory as is u&s;ually &s;aid. I will only here ob&s;erve, that al|though &s;uch as I have &s;aid, be the general notion of Ju&s;tification of &s;inners: yet it mu&s;t here in the Text be re&s;trained to tho&s;e in&s;tances of favour, which follow Faith taken for a quality in us: &s;uch as remi&s;&s;ion of &s;ins, <HI>&amp;c.</HI> becau&s;e it is &s;aid <HI>ju|&s;tified by &s;aith.</HI> Faith is the Cau&s;e of Ju&s;ti|fication, <HI>viz.</HI> a condition qualifying, or ca|pacitating Cau&s;e. Ju&s;tification, or being u&s;ed kindly by God, is the effect of this our Faith. And &s;o much for the Expli|cation of the Term Ju&s;tification.</P>
<P>In &s;umm, this it is to u&s;e or treat a Per|&s;on, as u&s;eth to be done to a ju&s;t and good man, which is to do him no harm, but
<PB N="158" REF="87"> to bear him good Will, &s;ome way or other to do him good, &s;hew him favour and kindne&s;s.</P>
<P>For the &s;econd Term <HI>faith,</HI> I mean, ju|&s;tifying or &s;aving Faith, by which we are &s;aid to be ju&s;tified, it is as much conte|&s;ted, and perhaps with more difficulty and le&s;s certainty re&s;olved, than the former of <HI>ju&s;tification.</HI></P>
<P>I for my part have ob&s;erved the&s;e three &s;ignifications of it. The la&s;t of which I intend principally to enlarge my pre&s;ent Di&s;cour&s;e upon.</P>
<P><HI>Fir&s;t,</HI> The fir&s;t Sen&s;e of it may be Piety, or Religion in general, or rather <HI>religiou&s;|ne&s;s,</HI> i. e. Such an habitual Temper of mind, whereby a man is di&s;po&s;ed to obey the Will of God: and con&s;equently to do that which is right and ju&s;t, however made known to him from God. It is this tem|per of Soul by which God e&s;timates a good Man, and by which he is qualified for God's Approbation, Acceptance and Beneficence. Particularly in tho&s;e great In&s;tances of Pardon, Grace and Glory. Which if vigorous and prevalent, and con|&s;tant enough to denominate us good men, will certainly exert it &s;elf in all actual Obe|dience of inward Will, and outward Acti|on, when it is not nece&s;&s;arily hindred, as
<PB N="159" REF="87"> it may be, by pure and invincible Igno|rance, by Di&s;ea&s;es and Di&s;orders of the Bo|dy, or any external Impediments. I &s;ay again, becau&s;e I think it wants and de|&s;erves Ob&s;ervation, that it is according to the Degree and Con&s;tancy of this habitual Inclination of Soul that God e&s;timates us, and we &s;hall be dealt withall by him. Outward Actions, e&s;pecially, and inward too are contingent, may cea&s;e, and are liable to an hundred Hindrances and Ob|&s;tructions, when the habitual Inclination of the Will is a con&s;tant thing, and remains fixed in the Soul; which God certainly knows, though others, and even our own &s;elves &s;ometimes may be ignorant of it, &s;o that the Jews from whom probably the <HI>Mahometans</HI> had it, might &s;ave them&s;elves and God the labour of ca&s;ting up, and weighing their good and bad Actions, to know which Number weighs mo&s;t, and how the Ca&s;e will &s;tand with them in the Day of Judgment, any further than they are &s;igns of the Degree and Con&s;tancy of habitual Temper, &s;ometimes fallible enough. But let this &s;tand for a little Digre&s;&s;ion. To return,</P>
<P>I cannot yet tell what better notion to fix upon <HI>faith,</HI> when it is &s;aid, <HI>The ju&s;t &s;hall live by faith,</HI> quoted by Saint <HI>Paul,</HI>
<PB N="160" REF="88"> <HI>Rom.</HI> 1. 17. and <HI>Gal.</HI> 3. 11. from <HI>Hab.</HI> 2. 4. to prove Ju&s;tification not to be by the Law, but by Faith; and that too Synecdochical|ly put, <HI>viz.</HI> The Doctrine of the Condi|tion of Ju&s;tification for all the re&s;t of the Go&s;pel-doctrine concerning it, as we &s;hall pre&s;ently more largely di&s;cour&s;e. <HI>The ju&s;t &s;hall live by faith,</HI> i. e. A good and ju&s;t Man by his Piety and Religiou&s;ne&s;s &s;hall be in the Favour of God, &s;o as to be &s;afe and happy, when the proud and wicked Man for&s;aking God, &s;hall be for&s;aken by him. An habitually Religious man, which will certainly produce actual Obedience to God, when&s;oever he &s;ufficiently declares his Will and Laws, ever was, and ever will be approved, accepted and favoured by God. Which as he did once by <HI>Mo&s;es,</HI> &s;o hath he in the&s;e la&s;t days more evident|ly and perfectly by his Son the Lord Je|&s;us Chri&s;t. Wherefore it is not nece&s;&s;ary, that the ju&s;t Man &s;hould live, or be ju&s;ti|fied only by the actual Ob&s;ervance of the Mo&s;aical Law, which is what the Apo&s;tle proves by the&s;e words. Let us examine a little the importance of the whole Ver&s;e, in <HI>Heb.</HI> 10. 38. and <HI>Hab.</HI> 2. 4. <HI>The ju&s;t &s;hall live by faith: but if he draws back</HI> (&s;o it is to be rendred, there being no <GAP DESC="foreign"> there, but &s;uppo&s;ed to be put in by our own In|terpreters,
<PB N="161" REF="88"> in favour of the Doctrines of ab&s;olute Election and Per&s;everance; <HI>My Soul &s;hall have no plea&s;ure in him.</HI> We &s;hall not meddle with the difference of the <HI>Heb.</HI> in <HI>Habb.</HI> and this quotation by the Author to the <HI>Hebrews,</HI> but only ob&s;erve, That <HI>to live,</HI> is to fare well from God, to be ap|proved by him, and be in his favour, &s;o as to receive from him the Promi&s;e of Sal|vation, and Deliverance from their &s;uffer|ing Condition here, or after this Life the reward of a happy Condition, or both; or as it is expre&s;&s;ed in the next Ver&s;e, <HI>the &s;aving of the Soul.</HI> This, I &s;ay, is the &s;en&s;e of <HI>living</HI> (as it is commonly of the Hebrew word <GAP DESC="foreign">) becau&s;e, <HI>God's having no plea&s;ure in him,</HI> i. e. God's disfavour, is oppo&s;ed to it. Be&s;ides, in the <HI>Gal. To live</HI> (not only <HI>vivere,</HI> but <HI>valere)</HI> is plainly of the &s;ame importance with Ju&s;tification, in the latter part of the Ver&s;e.</P>
<P>And then for Faith, <GAP DESC="foreign">, it is manife&s;tly the believing of God's promi&s;es &s;o effectu|ally, as to produce an entire, &s;ubmi&s;&s;ive, and ob&s;equious Temper of Heart to God, and con&s;equently an actual Obedience, and doing the Will of God in the profe&s;&s;ion and practice of the Chri&s;tian Religion; becau&s;e it is oppo&s;ed to a Man's withdrawing <HI>(viz)</HI> from that his Duty to God, through fear
<PB N="162" REF="89"> or diffidence, or any other evil Affection. And it is of the &s;ame importance with that in the following Ver&s;e, <HI>believing to the &s;al|vation of the Soul,</HI> by which a good Man lives. Faith, by which a good Man lives, cannot be either according to common rea&s;on, or the Tenor of Revelation, a bare A&s;&s;ent to God's Veracity, Goodne&s;s and Power, or the fulfilling of his Promi&s;es; but the effect thereof, a dutifull and obe|diential Heart to God. It was in the &s;ame manner, that <HI>Abraham</HI> was ju&s;tified <HI>(viz.)</HI> by his Piety, and generous, obediential Di&s;|po&s;ition of Soul towards the true God; ready and prepared cheerfully to receive and execute all his Commands though ne|ver &s;o difficult, at all times. And as he was then ju&s;tified by that pious Temper of Heart, manife&s;ting it &s;elf in actual Obedi|ence to the Commands of God then laid upon him: So &s;hall we Chri&s;tians (&s;aith St. <HI>Paul)</HI> if we be of the &s;ame pious Tem|per of Soul with <HI>Abraham,</HI> exerting it &s;elf in an actual Obedience to the Laws of God now declared, and enjoyned by Je&s;us Chri&s;t. Nay, we may add, That the Jews them&s;elves (though they little under&s;tood it) were all along ju&s;tified upon the &s;ame Condition too. Not &s;o much by the Ob|&s;ervance of the particular Laws of <HI>Mo&s;es,</HI>
<PB N="163" REF="89"> as &s;ent from God by <HI>Mo&s;es,</HI> as they &s;tiffly contend (mo&s;t of which were but tempo|rary, and fitted for the particular Circum|&s;tances of that People) as by that devout Temper of Love, Reverence and Obedience to God, declaring his Will for that time by <HI>Mo&s;es.</HI> And where-ever that Temper was among the Jews, it had the &s;ame effect of actual Obedience to God by Je&s;us Chri&s;t, when he was &s;ufficiently preached, and made known to them. True, &s;incere Pie|ty, the Love of Truth and Goodne&s;s pre|vailing again&s;t all worldly Intere&s;t and Prejudices, brought the Jews them&s;elves mo&s;t certainly over to Chri&s;tianity. If we would know more of this Temper by Ex|ample, we may &s;ee the 119 <HI>P&s;alm,</HI> the Hi|&s;tory of <HI>Cornelius,</HI> tho&s;e of the New Co|venant, into who&s;e Hearts and Minds God will put and write his Laws, <HI>Heb.</HI> 10. 16. tho&s;e whom our Saviour calls his Sheep, who know, hear his Voice, and follow him. And what is &s;aid of the Son of God him|&s;elf, <HI>Heb.</HI> 10. 7. <HI>Lo, I come, (in the volume of thy book it is written of me) to do thy Will, O God.</HI> The&s;e are the Per&s;ons, this the Qualification, Condition, and Capacity for God's Favour, Approbation, Commen|dation and Reward; or in one word, for his <HI>Ju&s;tification;</HI> A &s;ubmi&s;&s;ive, obediential Temper of Heart to God.</P>
<PB N="164" REF="90">
<P> I &s;ay a Qualification or Condition of God's Favour in general, and particularly expre&s;&s;ed in remi&s;&s;ion of &s;ins: which by no means excludes the Con&s;ideration of Chri&s;t's Obedience and Sacrifice, which ever was another Cau&s;e of Ju&s;tification from the beginning, and ever will be. This &s;en&s;e of Faith, <HI>(viz.</HI> Piety) will not be thought &s;trange by tho&s;e who have ob|&s;erved the Hebrew way of &s;peaking. Thus we read, <HI>Exod.</HI> 14. <HI>ult.</HI> that the I&s;raelites <HI>believed</HI> in the Lord and his Servant <HI>Mo|&s;es,</HI> [<GAP DESC="foreign">] <HI>i. e.</HI> they &s;ubmitted them|&s;elves to God's Laws and Government by <HI>Mo&s;es.</HI> Their belief or faith in God and <HI>Mo&s;es,</HI> was a di&s;po&s;ition of mind in them, to ob&s;erve the Commands of God by <HI>Mo|&s;es.</HI> For it is of the &s;ame general Impor|tance with the Phra&s;e immediately be|fore, <HI>The people feared the Lord.</HI> The <HI>I&s;raelites</HI> were (as they profe&s;&s;ed) ready to hear and do the Will of the Lord by <HI>Mo&s;es.</HI> So they expre&s;s them&s;elves, <HI>Exod.</HI> 19. 8. <HI>All that the Lord hath &s;poken, we will do to obey the Voice of the Lord, and to keep his Covenant.</HI> Nor is it to be doub|ted, but that the <HI>I&s;raelites,</HI> if they were really in their hearts what they profe&s;&s;ed with their mouths, were then al&s;o ju&s;ti|fi<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="KEYERS" EXTENT="1 letter">d, and in the Favour of God, before
<PB N="165" REF="90"> they had heard any one <HI>particular</HI> Com|mand of the Law from God by <HI>Mo&s;es,</HI> ei|ther Ceremonial, as Circumci&s;ion, Fe&s;ti|vals, Sacrifice, <HI>&amp;c.</HI> or Moral: and if any of them then died (as no doubt &s;ome did) they were al&s;o &s;aved.</P>
<P>Nor is the rea&s;on of this &s;ignification of <HI>faith,</HI> when it is joined with Ju&s;tification and Salvation, le&s;s ea&s;ie. 'Tis becau&s;e Faith in its &s;trict and primary Sen&s;e of <HI>a&s;&s;ent</HI> to &s;ome Truths, nece&s;&s;arily preceeds this Re|ligiou&s;ne&s;s of Heart, this habitual Piety. A Man mu&s;t firmly believe, that there is right and wrong, moral good and evil, that the Will and Laws of God are the mo&s;t infallible Rules of it, that he will reward and puni&s;h the Ob&s;ervers or Tran&s;gre&s;&s;ors of them, before he is effectually re&s;olved, or habitually di&s;po&s;ed, univer&s;ally to be obedient to God, and to plea&s;e him, as the Authour to the <HI>Hebrews</HI> hath it <HI>Chap.</HI> 11. In like manner, the love and fear of God are every where u&s;ed in the Scriptures Sy|necdochically, for all Religion and Vertue, becau&s;e tho&s;e Affections, in their &s;trict and proper Sen&s;e, produce in us a di&s;po&s;ition of Soul to univer&s;al Obedience to him, and con&s;equently all In&s;tances of Righte|ou&s;ne&s;s.</P>
<P>Such may be the fir&s;t Notion of <HI>ju&s;tify|ing,</HI> or &s;aving Faith.</P>
<PB N="166" REF="91">
<P> <HI>Secondly,</HI> A &s;econd is more particular and limited, and that is an obedient Temper of Heart to God, making known his Will and Laws to us by Je&s;us of <HI>Nazareth,</HI> the true Chri&s;t, or by being a Chri&s;tian. It was one of the principal Errours of the Jews, again&s;t whom St. <HI>Paul</HI> in various places di&s;putes, about the Point of Ju&s;tification, that they would admit no other Condition of it, than the Ob&s;ervance of the Mo&s;aical Law, which he calls the <HI>Law,</HI> and the <HI>Works of the Law.</HI> St. <HI>Paul</HI> maintains again&s;t them, that it was not: but a vertuous and holy Temper of Soul, which loved Righteou&s;|ne&s;s and hated Iniquity, and con&s;equently mo&s;t de&s;irous to know and do the Will of God, when, and in what&s;oever In&s;tances he &s;hould plea&s;e to declare and reveal it. But more e&s;pecially, and particularly, now by Je&s;us of <HI>Nazareth,</HI> the true <HI>Me&s;&s;ias</HI> de&s;cribed, foretold, and promi&s;ed to their own Nation.</P>
<P>He was now appointed by God to be his Vicegerent, and Legi&s;lator under him&s;elf to all Mankind to the End of the World, as <HI>Mo&s;es</HI> was for a certain time only to the Jews. Now God expects and requires Sub|mi&s;&s;ion and Obedience to his Laws by this Je&s;us, from all Men every where. All, I &s;ay, to whom this Declaration of his Will
<PB N="167" REF="91"> &s;hall come, and particularly from the Jews, to whom he was preached by him&s;elf and other Di&s;ciples. Which if they did, and per&s;ever'd, they &s;hould be <HI>ju&s;tified</HI> by God, and in his Favour, particularly receive from him remi&s;&s;ion of &s;ins, the Holy Gho&s;t, and Eternal Salvation.</P>
<P><HI>Thirdly</HI> and <HI>la&s;tly,</HI> Some have named a third Sen&s;e of <HI>faith,</HI> and that is Faith ob|jectively taken, or the Doctrine of Chri|&s;tianity, or if you plea&s;e, the Chri&s;tian Re|ligion. For Religion objectively taken, I would call a Doctrine revealed from God: or a Sy&s;tem of revealed Doctrines, and that which is by Je&s;us Chri&s;t, the Chri&s;tian Do|ctrine or Religion, &s;o that Ju&s;tification by Faith, is the &s;ame with Ju&s;tification; accor|ding to the Doctrine of the Go&s;pel, or ac|cording to the Chri&s;tian Religion; and Ju|&s;tification by the Law, or Works of the Law, is Ju&s;tification according to the Do|ctrine of the Mo&s;aical Law. Not that which <HI>Mo&s;es</HI> him&s;elf really taught, or de|livered, but that which the Jewi&s;h Doctors, the Interpreters of that Law, and the ge|nerality of the Jews, taught and believed in St. <HI>Paul</HI>'s Time. Such may be the &s;en&s;e of <HI>Rom.</HI> 3. 22. <HI>The Righteou&s;ne&s;s of God by faith,</HI> i. e. taught by the Go&s;pel; and then fitly follows the particulars of that Do|ctrine,
<PB N="168" REF="92"> in the four next Ver&s;es, and <HI>v.</HI> 28. <HI>We conclude that a man is ju&s;tified by faith,</HI> without the deeds of the Law; and <HI>v.</HI> 30. It is one God which &s;hall ju&s;tifie the Cir|cumci&s;ion <HI>by faith,</HI> and Uncircumci&s;ion <HI>through faith.</HI> See al&s;o <HI>Gal</HI> 3. 17. and <HI>Rom.</HI> 10. 6. And truly &s;uch a kind of Lan|guage and Speaking, &s;eems agreeable e|nough to that of the mo&s;t Ancient and Modern Jews; Nay, I think, to one who never &s;o little con&s;iders, it is plain. For the Righteou&s;ne&s;s of God, and the Righ|teou&s;ne&s;s which is of Faith, or by the Faith of Je&s;us Chri&s;t, <HI>(Rom.</HI> 10. 3, 6. and <HI>Rom.</HI> 3. 21, 22.) are the &s;ame thing. But the Righteou&s;ne&s;s of God is manife&s;tly that way or method of Ju&s;tification (all the Cau&s;es of Ju&s;tification together) which God had appointed after the Coming of Chri&s;t under the Go&s;pel, and which Saint <HI>Paul,</HI> and the re&s;t of the Apo&s;tles taught. For <GAP DESC="foreign"> there, as frequently el&s;e|where, <HI>(Gal.</HI> 5. 5. <HI>Rom.</HI> 3. 21, 22. 30. com|pared with, <HI>Rom.</HI> 9. 31.) is put for <GAP DESC="foreign">, as appears from the oppo&s;ition of <GAP DESC="foreign">, the Righteou&s;ne&s;s of God, <HI>(Rom.</HI> 10. 2.) to that of the Jews own Righteou&s;ne&s;s.</P>
<P>To interpret that of inherent or impu|ted Righteou&s;ne&s;s is not probable, though it may be a po&s;&s;ible &s;en&s;e, which &s;en&s;e
<PB N="169" REF="92"> of the word is yet more plain from <HI>v.</HI> 10. <HI>with the heart man believeth to righteou&s;ne&s;s, i. e.</HI> to <HI>ju&s;tification.</HI> From hence it follows, that the Righteou&s;ne&s;s of Faith, is the way of Ju&s;tification by God's Appointment, and Command preached by the Apo&s;tles the Mini&s;ters of the Go&s;pel, or Chri&s;tian Do|ctrine. Again, the Righteou&s;ne&s;s of God and of Faith is oppo&s;ed to the Righteou&s;|ne&s;s of the Law, of the Works of the Law, of their own Righteou&s;ne&s;s, and St. <HI>Paul</HI>'s own Righteou&s;ne&s;s of the Law, <HI>Phil.</HI> 3. 9. and therefore mu&s;t have the &s;ame kind of &s;en&s;e. But the&s;e Righteou&s;ne&s;&s;es are all ma|nife&s;tly no other thing than Ju&s;tification, according to the Doctrine and Belief of the Jewi&s;h Doctors of the Law, the Genera|lity of the Jews, and St. <HI>Paul</HI> him&s;elf be|fore his Conver&s;ion to Chri&s;tianity.</P>
<P>And what if we &s;hould reduce the other two Sen&s;es of ju&s;tifying Faith to this la&s;t, and &s;ay, That Faith where it &s;ignifies pri|marily, the Condition or qualifying Cau&s;e in us of Ju&s;tification, as hath been explai|ned, may be taken Synecdochically; a part for the whole, one part of the Chri|&s;tian Doctrine concerning Ju&s;tification, and that which was more earne&s;tly conte&s;ted by the Jews, for the whole of that Do|ctrine. A thing ordinary enough in the
<PB N="170" REF="93"> Style of the Holy Scripture. Nor do I &s;ee it be&s;ides the mind of the Apo&s;tle. Be&s;ide, if this &s;en&s;e be but equally probable, it will be the be&s;t taken, becau&s;e it compre|hends the other two.</P>
<P>Now to know what were the principal Differences between the Doctors of the Jews, and Chri&s;tians concerning Ju&s;tifica|tion, we are to con&s;ult both the Scrip|tures, and the Jewi&s;h Authors them&s;elves.</P>
<P>And, as I think, we may therein ob|&s;erve the&s;e Five.</P>
<P><HI>Fir&s;t,</HI> The Jews were of opinion, that there were &s;ome men who needed no Ju|&s;tification at all, no favour of God in that particular of remi&s;&s;ion of &s;ins. Some of the&s;e they thought had never &s;inned in all their lives; the other again by their own &s;tudy and exerci&s;e, became without all faults, and their exact Righteou&s;ne&s;s made recompence for their pa&s;t Tran&s;gre&s;&s;ion. The&s;e they called perfectly Righteous, <GAP DESC="foreign">, as they had two &s;orts more to appear in the Day of Judgment, <HI>(viz.)</HI> perfectly wicked, and a middle between both; when as <HI>Mahomet</HI>'s Di&s;ci|ples fan&s;ie God will make u&s;e of <NOTE PLACE="marg"><HI>Poc. ad por. Mo&s;. not. cap.</HI> 6. <HI>Tal. Ro&s;ch. ha&s;ch. c.</HI> 1.</NOTE> Scales, to weigh good and bad Works one again&s;t the other; and if the Scales happen to be even,
<PB N="171" REF="93"> mercy will weigh it down on the favou|rable &s;ide. Of this &s;ort among the Jews might be the Phari&s;ee, who went to the Temple with the Publican to pray, for he recites only his religious Actions, but &s;aith not a word of any thing ever ill done. And it is &s;aid, <HI>Luke</HI> 18. that our Saviour &s;pake that Parable again&s;t certain which tru&s;ted in them&s;elves that they were Righ|teous. And the occa&s;ion of the Parable, <HI>Luke</HI> 11. and <HI>Matth.</HI> 8. 13. is &s;ome Argu|ment, that it was an opinion among the Jews, that there were &s;ome men who need|ed no repentance. Perhaps St. <HI>Paul</HI> might once reckon him&s;elf among the&s;e perfectly Righteous, when he knew no better; for he &s;aith of him&s;elf, <HI>That touching the Righ|teou&s;ne&s;s which was in the Law, i. e.</HI> in Vogue and Reputation among the Lawyers or Doctors of the Law, <HI>he was blamele&s;s Phil.</HI> 3. And I remember &s;ome-where in the Talmud, to have read of &s;ome Ma&s;ters of &s;uch perfect Sanctity, as never to have committed one &s;in, and to have been &s;uch from, and in their Mother's Wombs, as <HI>Je|remiah</HI> is &s;aid to be; which there &s;ignifies no more, than his being &s;o early by God de&s;igned and &s;eparated to his Prophetical Office and Employment. Now this opi|nion of theirs St. <HI>Paul</HI> denies, affirming
<PB N="172" REF="94"> that all Men (except the Ble&s;&s;ed Je&s;us, the true <HI>Me&s;&s;ias)</HI> have been, and &s;till conti|nue in &s;ome Degree, or other, Sinners; and that all Men therefore &s;tood in need of con|tinual Repentance and Remi&s;&s;ion; That Jews and Gentiles have all fallen &s;hort of the Glory of God, and were guilty before him; That even the be&s;t of the Jews them|&s;elves, were not exact Ob&s;ervers of their own Law, e&s;pecially in the inward and moral part of it. This St. <HI>Paul</HI> proves out of their own &s;acred Authors, which he quotes, <HI>Rom.</HI> 3.</P>
<P><HI>Secondly, <REF TARGET="A29503-NOTEB">(b)</REF></HI> The Jews held generally, that there was no need of the Merits or con&s;i|deration of any other, no not of the <HI>Me&s;|&s;ias</HI> him&s;elf, for who&s;e &s;ake Ju&s;tification or Remi&s;&s;ion of Sins, particularly, &s;hould be granted by God: But that Repentance, good Works, Fa&s;tings, Prayers, Sacrifices, Oblations, temporal Puni&s;hments, or final|ly, corporeal Death were &s;ufficient for the expiation of all &s;in what&s;oever. Or if any thought that there were any &s;ins to be for|given for the <HI>Me&s;&s;ias</HI>'s &s;ake, as &s;ome few of the Ancients thought <HI><REF TARGET="A29503-NOTEC">(c)</REF>,</HI> yet the&s;e were but few, and re&s;trained the Privilege to tho&s;e of their own Nation, and Religion: and la&s;tly, however they would not hear of &s;uch a thing, as that it was for the &s;ake of
<PB N="173" REF="94"> Je&s;us of <HI>Nazareth,</HI> whom they denied to be their <HI>Me&s;&s;ias,</HI> and rejected with an ob|&s;tinate &s;corn. To this St. <HI>Paul</HI> oppo&s;eth three things, and maintains, <HI>Fir&s;t,</HI> That God ever did, and ever would ju&s;tifie, and for|give &s;inners, upon Con&s;ideration of, and with regard to the perfect Obedience and Sacrifice of the <HI>Me&s;&s;ias,</HI> and not without it. <HI>Secondly,</HI> That this great Favour and Indulgence of Heaven was extended to all mankind. And, <HI>Thirdly,</HI> That Je&s;us of <HI>Na|zareth</HI> was this true <HI>Me&s;&s;ias.</HI> And that all this, as it was in it &s;elf mo&s;t rea&s;onable, &s;o was it agreeable to <HI>Mo&s;es</HI> and the Prophets, and now with &s;uch undeniable Proof, and clear Evidence, declared to be the Will of God, that it was not indeed any longer to be di&s;puted.</P>
<P><HI>Thirdly,</HI> The Jews advanced yet further and affirmed, that their Repentance, Pray|ers, Sacrifices, and all other their good Works and Qualities, were not barely a capacitating Condition of Ju&s;tification, for|givene&s;s of Sins, and the happy Life to come, but meritorious; and that God was obliged in Ju&s;tice to give the&s;e for them. And as for the perfectly Righteous who needed no Repentance, no que&s;tion but that God was &s;trictly bound to reward them with a future, happy State of Life, e&s;peci|ally
<PB N="174" REF="95"> at the Re&s;urrection of the Dead, and the Day of the great Judgment.</P>
<P>Nay, when they wanted Merits of their own, they had recour&s;e to tho&s;e of their Ance&s;tours, <HI>Abraham, I&s;aac</HI> and <HI>Jacob,</HI> and others; like the Works of Supererogation among the Papi&s;ts.</P>
<P>Nay, &s;ome were &s;o be&s;otted with vain Conceit and Arrogance, that they thought God cho&s;e their Ance&s;tors for their Merit, and was in love with their Po&s;terity for it too. And &s;till there remains among them an Enthu&s;ia&s;tical and Arrogant &s;train, be|yond all this, probably older than St. <HI>Paul;</HI> That God created the World for their &s;akes, fore&s;eeing, I &s;uppo&s;e, what a lovely and excellent People they would prove. We need but look into both Ancient and Mo|dern Jewi&s;h Authors to learn all this. Though, if we knew nothing of this their Arrogant Opinion and Temper from them|&s;elves, yet the Holy Scripture would &s;uffi|ciently inform us <HI><REF TARGET="A29503-NOTED">(d)</REF>.</HI></P>
<P>Now, St. <HI>Paul,</HI> &s;o zealous for the Honour of God and Je&s;us Chri&s;t, mo&s;t de&s;ervedly in his di&s;putes with them about Ju&s;tificati|on, repre&s;&s;eth and refutes &s;uch in&s;olent and fal&s;e Opinion and Language. And therefore a&s;&s;erts the Righteou&s;ne&s;s or Ju&s;ti|fication of God, or of God's Appointment
<PB N="175" REF="95"> by Faith of Je&s;us Chri&s;t, de&s;cribed and taught in the Go&s;pel to all them that be|lieve. This way of Ju&s;tification of God's Appointment was fir&s;t to believers, <HI>i. e.</HI> real Chri&s;tians in their hearts and lives, And then through the Redemption that is in Chri&s;t Je&s;us the propitiation; and la&s;tly, freely by the grace of God. This, God's way of Ju&s;tification being thus, upon the Condition of our Chri&s;tian Obedience, and Con&s;ideration of perfect Obedience, and Death of Je&s;us, and of the free grace of God, every way excludes the boa&s;ting of the Jews; which they thought in their way they had &s;o much rea&s;on for. This Righte|ou&s;ne&s;s of God was neither without the in|terpo&s;ition of the perfect Obedience and Sa|crifice of Je&s;us the true <HI>Me&s;&s;ias,</HI> nor by any Merit of theirs by which they may claim Ju&s;tification, as a Debt from God. Nor was it &s;o much, as upon Condition of the Ob&s;ervation of the Law of <HI>Mo&s;es,</HI> (of which pre&s;ently) much le&s;s upon the Ac|count of its Merit, <HI>Rom.</HI> 3. 22.</P>
<P>And becau&s;e the Jews had &s;o great an Opinion of the Merit of their Father <HI>Abra|ham.</HI> He affirms, that <HI>Abraham</HI> him&s;elf was ju&s;tified in the &s;ame manner too. He was ju&s;tified by Faith too; taking Faith fir&s;t for a godly, religious Temper of Heart
<PB N="176" REF="96"> as the Condition; and then this one part of the Go&s;pel-doctrine of Ju&s;tification for the whole of it, by a Figure ordinary e|nough with St. <HI>Paul,</HI> and other Holy Wri|ters, as hath been before ob&s;erved. But he denies peremptorily, that <HI>Abraham</HI> was ju&s;tified by his Works of any &s;ort, <HI>i. e.</HI> that he was ju&s;tified either according to their Doctrine in general, or more parti|cularly by the Merit of his Works.</P>
<P>He doth not deny Ju&s;tification by good Works, as a Qualification or Condition, which is the Sen&s;e of St. <HI>James</HI> writing again&s;t an Errour of &s;ome Chri&s;tians, who taught a bare Belief in Je&s;us, and Profe&s;&s;i|on of it enough. And it is likely they had it from the Jews too; the Vulgar of whom thought their mere being Jews &s;ufficient for Salvation.</P>
<P>Nor hath either the Jewi&s;h or Chri&s;tian Church ever wanted &s;uch &s;ort of People, and very numerous too; e&s;pecially in times and places of great ignorance, when their idle, ignorant and corrupt guides them|&s;elves have taught them as much. St. <HI>Aug.</HI> tells us, that there were &s;ome in his time, who believed all to be &s;a|ved <NOTE PLACE="marg"><HI>Civ. Dei lib.</HI> 21. <HI>cap.</HI> 22.</NOTE> who gave Alms, who &s;aid daily in the Lord's Prayer, <HI>Forgive us our Tre&s;pa&s;&s;es,</HI> &amp;c. and did forgive when ask|ed,
<PB N="177" REF="96"> &s;ometimes; who remained in the Church, however they lived otherwi&s;e. And he believes there were many in St. <HI>Paul</HI>'s time too, who not rightly <NOTE PLACE="marg"><HI>Lib.</HI> 80. <HI>quae&s;t.</HI></NOTE> under&s;tanding St. <HI>Paul</HI>'s Ju&s;tification by Faith without Works did really think, that having once believed in Chri&s;t, they &s;hould be &s;aved by that Faith, though they lived wicked and flagitious Lives. Tho&s;e Chri&s;tians in St. <HI>James</HI> &s;eem &s;uch a &s;ort of People: And if the Epi&s;tle to the <HI>Romans</HI> was written before that of St. <HI>James,</HI> they al&s;o might be led into &s;uch a Conceit by St. <HI>Paul</HI> him&s;elf mi&s;under&s;tood (not min|ding what he had otherwi&s;e by word or writing every where taught) and parti|cularly in <HI>Rom.</HI> 10. 9, 10. <HI>That if thou &s;halt confe&s;s with thy Mouth the Lord Je&s;us, and &s;halt believe in thine heart, that God hath rai&s;ed him from the dead, thou &s;halt be &s;a|ved. For with the heart man believeth unto Righteou&s;ne&s;s, (i. e.</HI> Ju&s;tification) <HI>and with the mouth Confe&s;&s;ion is made unto Salvation.</HI></P>
<P>Here it is ob&s;ervable, how one Circum|&s;tance of the Per&s;ons who are written to, and their Opinion, may determine the &s;en&s;e of words. St. <HI>Paul</HI> wrote to the Jews, who affirmed, that their good Works merited Ju&s;tification; St. <HI>James</HI> to Chri|&s;tians who believed, and taught that they
<PB N="178" REF="97"> were not &s;o much as a qualification or con|dition, and no way nece&s;&s;ary to it.</P>
<P>They both wrote true: Ju&s;tification was, and was not by good Works. It was by them as a qualification and condition, it was not by them as meritorious in the mo&s;t received and common &s;en&s;e of that word. But to return to St. <HI>Paul,</HI> he flatly denies that <HI>Abraham</HI> him&s;elf was ju&s;tified by the Merits of his Works, &s;o as that God was in manner of a Debtour obliged to it; much le&s;s was his Po&s;terity. <HI>Abraham</HI> in|deed was a Per&s;on extraordinary, and &s;o might ju&s;tly pretend to &s;ome privilege a|mong&s;t Men: but had no rea&s;on to claim or challenge any thing; particularly, &s;o great things as remi&s;&s;ion of &s;ins, and &s;al|vation from God, merely for his own &s;ake, or in &s;uch manner as a Creditour or Servant, may do from his Debtour or Ma|&s;ter, <HI>Rom.</HI> 4.</P>
<P>This Doctrine of his &s;o directly oppo|&s;ite to theirs, he proves from <HI>Mo&s;es</HI> and <HI>David;</HI> for one &s;aith, that <HI>Abraham</HI>'s Faith (his Piety and Obedience) was imputed to him for Righteou&s;ne&s;s or Ju&s;tification; and the other, ble&s;&s;ed is the Man to whom the Lord will not impute &s;in. Now this word <GAP DESC="foreign"> <HI>impute,</HI> imports in God no|thing of payment of a Debt, nor of Me|rit
<PB N="179" REF="97"> from him: but an Act of Di&s;cretion, Liberty, Choice, Goodne&s;s; though mo&s;t wi&s;e and rea&s;onable too, in pur&s;uance of the one great End of all his Coun&s;els and Acti|ons: This was the Doctrine of St. <HI>Paul,</HI> and the other Apo&s;tles el&s;e-where, as if it were a matter they much de&s;ire Chri&s;tians &s;hould be well in&s;tructed in.</P>
<P>And in truth it is mo&s;t agreeable to na|tural Rea&s;on: For to talk of Merit in its proper &s;en&s;e, and &s;o as it u&s;ually &s;ignifies among&s;t us, between God and the be&s;t of Men, or the mo&s;t excellent Angel, is to give a very fal&s;e Idea of the Ca&s;e. For to merit from any one, is fir&s;t to profit or advantage him &s;ome way; and then it is to impart &s;ome-what of his own; and la&s;tly, he that receives the Benefit, is bound to requite it by &s;ome Law with|out, and &s;uperiour to him&s;elf. Now there is nothing of all this, between God and his Creature. For, can a Man profit his Maker? A Ma&s;ter indeed may be benefit|ed by the labour and &s;ervice of his Ser|vant. Next the &s;trength, indu&s;try, and fidelity of the Servant, is his own in re|&s;pect of his Ma&s;ter; he never had any of this from him. But what have we, which we have not received from God? Our very Being, Faculties, Liberty, all kind
<PB N="180" REF="98"> of Ability and Capacity, are they not the free gifts of our great and good Creatour? Finally, what Law is there &s;uperiour to God's own Nature and Will, to oblige him to any Action? who can, or ought to &s;ay to him, What do&s;t thou! not &s;o much in re&s;pect of his irre&s;i&s;tible Power (for there is no Tyranny in Heaven) as his all com|prehending Wi&s;dom, his immutable Righ|teou&s;ne&s;s and e&s;&s;ential Goodne&s;s: It is true, there is &s;uch a thing as ju&s;t and right, eter|nal and unchangeable: But it is therefore &s;o, becau&s;e God is &s;o. It was eternally a property of the Divine Will (if I may &s;o &s;peak) as truth was of the Divine Under|&s;tanding. It is his own immutable Nature to do that which is right and fit. That which we call right, fit, ju&s;t, is a due Relation, or Habitude of all Will, Action, Power to its Object; which Object is <HI>bo|num,</HI> good, and that the greate&s;t too in re|&s;pect of intention, exten&s;ion and duration, (and there can be no more re&s;pects.) This is the ultimate, due End and Object, I &s;ay, of all Will, Action, and Power what|&s;oever. But this Relation or <GAP DESC="foreign">, is there|fore eternal and immutable, only becau&s;e God is &s;o. It could never have exi&s;ted without a Subject, and that Subject the Di|vine Will exi&s;ts nece&s;&s;arily. The very Be|ing
<PB N="181" REF="98"> or Exi&s;tence therefore of any &s;uch thing, depends upon the Exi&s;tence of the Divine Will. Be&s;ides, this Relation which we call <HI>Right and Ju&s;t</HI> is &s;omething, where|fore it as all other &s;omethings, mu&s;t have the Will of God or active Power, or his Nature for its Cau&s;e. But though Right and Ju&s;t depend upon the Divine Will for its eternal Exi&s;tence; yet we cannot con|ceive it ever &s;eparated from them, or without them: We cannot but conceive it a pure perfection, and therefore cannot but attribute it to God, an All-perfect Being.</P>
<P>For an in&s;tance or application; we &s;ay, that the Object of God's will, is always the Univer&s;al good, the good of all Be|ings, the greate&s;t good, either fit or po&s;&s;i|ble; and in order to this he wills, <HI>ben&egrave; bonis, mal&egrave; malis,</HI> he ju&s;tifies the Righte|ous, and condemns the Wicked: He or|ders and di&s;tributes re&s;pective recompences of rewards and puni&s;hments to the good and bad; the quantity, quality, time and o|ther Circum&s;tances are to be left to the Di|vine Wi&s;dom. But this proceeds from no Cau&s;e without the Divine Will it &s;elf. We cannot but conceive the Divine Will thus to act. There is no Power or Will to de|termine or con&s;train it. God's Nature is
<PB N="182" REF="99"> &s;uch, that we cannot but conceive him to will, and do that which is ju&s;t and right, (for the greate&s;t good of all rea&s;onable Be|ings) and yet mo&s;t freely, becau&s;e it is his own immutable Nature: for what can be more free than what is natural? Liber|ty in God is not an indifferency (for that would be an imperfection) but that infi|nite force and delight with which he acts. I have no better words to expre&s;s my mea|ning by. Liberty and Nece&s;&s;ity therefore in God are not only con&s;i&s;tent, but in&s;e|parable. It is right and ju&s;t for God to reward the good, who keep his Command|ments and ob&s;erve his Laws, which are the infallible Rules and In&s;tances of what is right and ju&s;t; but we mu&s;t not &s;ay God is bound to it, or that tho&s;e who are good merit it from him, in a &s;trict and mo&s;t re|ceived Sen&s;e, and common U&s;age, becau&s;e that imports, as if he mu&s;t do it whether he would or no, and there were &s;ome Law or Per&s;on without, or &s;uperiour to him&s;elf. We may and ought to &s;ay, that God mo&s;t certainly will do &s;o, becau&s;e it is his own immutable Nature to do it. <HI>The Righteous Lord loveth Righteou&s;ne&s;s, and his Counte|nance beholdeth the upright.</HI></P>
<P>'Tis true (to put an end to this not u&s;ele&s;s, or very impertinent Digre&s;&s;ion)
<PB N="183" REF="99"> that worthy Qualities and Actions, <HI>i. e.</HI> &s;uch as do effect or but tend to the com|mon good, that are u&s;efull or beneficial to the World, do ju&s;tly entitle any Per&s;on to a Reward, &s;uch as Honour, Power, Wealth or plea&s;urable Life, becau&s;e tho&s;e &s;ame Qualities and Actions are thereby maintained, increa&s;ed and propagated, and con&s;equently the be&s;t and happie&s;t State of the World, furthered and advanced. Every one in his place, and according to his Ability, is bound to this, but e&s;pecial|ly all &s;orts of Governours. And &s;uch qua|lities have, and may with good rea&s;on ob|tain the Name of Merits among&s;t Men, and in re&s;pect of them in its mo&s;t com|mon and received &s;en&s;e. For they are the property of tho&s;e who po&s;&s;e&s;s them, they never received them from other Men, they are beneficial and u&s;efull to Men, and there is a &s;uperiour Law and Power to oblige, and compell Men to reward them, none of which can be &s;aid in re&s;pect to God. Though it being a congruous and rea&s;on|able thing, as is above mentioned, God always doth, and always will, nece&s;&s;arily from his own Nature, will and act in &s;uch manner. And if there be no more meant by <HI>meriting</HI> than that, we may &s;afely in &s;uch a &s;en&s;e be &s;aid to merit from God too.</P>
<PB N="184" REF="100">
<P> And in this &s;en&s;e it is, that St. <HI>Paul</HI> &s;aith, that God is not <HI>unrighteous to forget your work and labour of love,</HI> Heb. 6. 9. And <HI>benceforth there is laid up for me a Crown of Righteou&s;ne&s;s, which the Lord the Righ|teous Judge &s;hall give me at that day; and not to me only, but unto all them al&s;o that love his appearing,</HI> 2 Tim. 4. 8. <HI>i. e.</HI> It is a congruous and fitting thing of be&s;t ef|fect certainly in God's Government of the World, that good Men &s;hould be &s;o u&s;ed by him.</P>
<P>I have been &s;ome-what the longer in this Digre&s;&s;ion, becau&s;e I believe the whole Controver&s;ie about Merit, between the Jews and St. <HI>Paul</HI> with his Chri&s;tians, and between the Pontificians and the Prote|&s;tants, may, by the little that hath been here &s;aid, be ea&s;ily cleared and decided. At la&s;t we conclude then with St. <HI>Paul,</HI> and the Go&s;pel-doctrine again&s;t the Jewi&s;h Doctors, and the legal Doctrine which they taught, <HI>viz.</HI> That we &s;inners are ju&s;ti|fied by God, and more particularly upon our repentance and per&s;everance in Holi|ne&s;s of heart and life, pardoned and &s;aved, not by Works of Righteou&s;ne&s;s which we have done, not by any Merit in us from him, in its proper &s;en&s;e as hath been ex|plained; but according to his Mercy, and
<PB N="185" REF="100"> by the free grace, and unde&s;erved good|ne&s;s of God, <HI>Rom.</HI> 2. 24. <HI>Eph.</HI> 2. 8. Tit. 3. 5.</P>
<P><HI>Fourthly,</HI> Another Doctrine of the Law, or of the Jewi&s;h Doctours concerning Ju|&s;tification was, that admitting all Men to be &s;inners, and God to ju&s;tifie them with con&s;ideration of the perfect Righteou&s;ne&s;s and Sacrifice of the <HI>Me&s;&s;ias,</HI> and that this <HI>Me&s;&s;ias</HI> was Je&s;us of <HI>Nazareth,</HI> and that none of their own qualities and performan|ces, were truly meritorious of &s;o great a favour from God: yet the nece&s;&s;ary qua|lification or condition of Ju&s;tification to all Men, tho&s;e at lea&s;t to whom the Mo&s;ai|cal Law was made known, was the ob|&s;ervance of all the particular Commands of that Law. For that Law was certainly from God, and (as they deemed) never to be changed. In&s;omuch that the <HI>Me&s;&s;i|as</HI> him&s;elf, was not to aboli&s;h the lea&s;t Tit|tle of it: but to cau&s;e it by his Authority and Power to be more punctually, and &s;trictly ob&s;erved. And here St. <HI>Paul</HI> had to do not only with the unconverted, but converted Jews al&s;o. For a multitude of them, who believed Je&s;us of <HI>Nazareth</HI> to be the true <HI>Me&s;&s;ias,</HI> and remi&s;&s;ion of &s;ins through his Name, yet were zealous of the Law of <HI>Mo&s;es, Acts</HI> 21. 20. And &s;uch were the whole Sect of Chri&s;tians, called
<PB N="186" REF="101"> <HI>Nazarenes,</HI> as &s;ome of the Fathers report. They believed the <HI>Me&s;&s;ias</HI> was not to change the Law, but to explain, confirm and com|mand it.</P>
<P>This opinion of the Jews, St. <HI>Paul</HI> with much Zeal and Courage oppo&s;eth: And one of his Arguments, <HI>Rom.</HI> 2. four la&s;t Ver|&s;es, is to this effect: If God ju&s;tified &s;in|ners, <HI>Abraham</HI> and the Patriarchs, nay even you your &s;elves, <HI>Mo&s;es</HI>'s Di&s;ciples, upon the qualification of an obediential Temper and Di&s;po&s;ition of Heart to the Commands of God in any in&s;tances, and how&s;oever he &s;hall be plea&s;ed to declare them, and particularly tho&s;e by <HI>Mo&s;es</HI> to you Jews, till the coming of the true <HI>Me&s;|&s;ias,</HI> to declare God's Will, and give Laws in his Name to all Men, granting you, that the Doers of the Law &s;hall be ju&s;tified, till that great Prophet the <HI>Me&s;&s;ias</HI> &s;hall come, <HI>Rom.</HI> 2. I &s;ay if this be &s;o, as I have proved in the Ca&s;e of <HI>Abraham,</HI> and the Patriarchs; then, why may not God now al&s;o, &s;ince the <HI>Me&s;&s;ias</HI> is come, even Je&s;us of <HI>Nazareth,</HI> invincibly proved to be the Per&s;on by Prophecies, Miracles, Re&s;ur|rection, A&s;cen&s;ion, Mi&s;&s;ion of the Holy Gho&s;t, ju&s;tifie all Sinners, Jews and Gen|tiles upon the &s;ame condition of a Religi|ous di&s;po&s;ition of heart, exerting it &s;elf in
<PB N="187" REF="101"> Obedience to his Will and Laws declared by this Je&s;us of <HI>Nazareth</HI> the true <HI>Me&s;&s;ias?</HI> Why may not God make an alteration in the particular Condition of his Favour, <HI>i. e.</HI> his particular Laws, the general one, an o|bediential and pious Temper and Di&s;po&s;iti|on of Soul to God, and con&s;equently to what is right and ju&s;t remaining always the &s;ame? why may he not do it now by the <HI>Me&s;&s;ias</HI> after <HI>Mo&s;es,</HI> as he did by <HI>Mo&s;es,</HI> after all the Holy Men before <HI>Abraham,</HI> and the Patriarchs your Ance&s;tours? why may not God make the <HI>Me&s;&s;ias</HI> the Me&s;|&s;enger of his Will and Plea&s;ure, with Al|teration, Addition, Abolition, <HI>&amp;c.</HI> as well as <HI>Mo&s;es?</HI> And &s;uch I believe to be the pur|port of that ob&s;cure and unu&s;ual way of &s;peaking to our Ears, but perfectly of Jewi&s;h Style, <HI>Rom.</HI> 10. <HI>v.</HI> 5. <HI>Say not,</HI> &amp;c. <HI>Mo&s;es</HI> (&s;aith St. <HI>Paul)</HI> did &s;ay indeed, and that from God, that the man which obeyed God's Law by him &s;hould live, <HI>i. e.</HI> have his Favour and Ble&s;&s;ing. But now the &s;ame God &s;aith by Je&s;us the Chri&s;t, and by us his Apo&s;tles, that he hath &s;ent the <HI>Me&s;&s;ias,</HI> even this Je&s;us, the great Pro|phet foretold and promi&s;ed even to you, and that if we believe and profe&s;s him to be the Chri&s;t, and con&s;equently be obedi|ent to, and hear him in the Name of God,
<PB N="188" REF="102"> we &s;hall be &s;aved. Or in &s;hort Terms: God indeed did formerly command you if you would be happy to obey <HI>Mo&s;es</HI> in his Name; now he commands you to obey Je&s;us the Chri&s;t him&s;elf, &s;ent now by him to you and all mankind. Before the Com|ing and Appearance of Je&s;us the true <HI>Me&s;|&s;ias,</HI> the Condition of Ju&s;tification to you Jews was, Believe in <HI>Mo&s;es,</HI> to be the Di&s;|ciples of <HI>Mo&s;es,</HI> and the Ob&s;ervance of the Laws of <HI>Mo&s;es;</HI> but now both to Jew and Gentile, and all to whom Je&s;us is preach|ed, the Condition is, believing in Je&s;us, becoming his Di&s;ciples, ob&s;erving his Laws, and keeping his Words. It will not be ami&s;s a little to paraphra&s;e the&s;e few Ver&s;es, to make the &s;en&s;e of the Apo|&s;tle ea&s;e and clear, beginning at the &s;e|cond Ver&s;e.</P>
<Q><P>I believe (&s;aith St. <HI>Paul)</HI> and openly declare it, that many of my Brethren, the Jews, are truly zealous for God's Honour, and their Duty. But they are unhappily at this time, igno|rant and mi&s;taken in both. They do not think of, or rightly conceive God's way of Ju&s;tification; part of which is, doing it upon con&s;ideration of the per|fect Righteou&s;ne&s;s, and voluntary Obla|tion of Je&s;us of <HI>Nazareth,</HI> the true <HI>Me&s;|&s;ias;</HI> and this ever was, and ever will be,
<PB N="189" REF="102"> from the beginning to the end of man|kind. So is al&s;o another part of it, <HI>viz.</HI> the general Condition and Qualification in us for it; namely, a pious and religi|ous Temper of Heart to God: But the Application of this general Condition is new, namely, Obedience to the parti|cular Laws of God by Je&s;us Chri&s;t, with|out any regard to the Laws of <HI>Mo&s;es,</HI> any further than they are, according to his primitive and univer&s;al Laws of Rea|&s;on and Nature, or repeated, allowed, and confirmed by this Je&s;us.</P>
<P>And being thus ignorant of God's Method of Ju&s;tification, they go about to continue and e&s;tabli&s;h their own way without Je&s;us Chri&s;t, and will have the particular Ob&s;ervance of the Laws given by <HI>Mo&s;es</HI> to be nece&s;&s;ary, and which they &s;till imagine and believe now and ever to the End of the World ought to be re|tained. But they ought to know, that now Je&s;us Chri&s;t is come, he hath put an end to the Law of <HI>Mo&s;es.</HI> All who believe him to be the <HI>Me&s;&s;ias</HI> (and all &s;hould to whom he is preached) are to have no more regard to <HI>Mo&s;es,</HI> as their Legi&s;lator and Ma&s;ter now, but to Je|&s;us, irrefragably proved and demon&s;tra|ted to be the true <HI>Me&s;&s;ias. Mo&s;es</HI> did &s;ay,
<PB N="190" REF="103"> and truly in his time (and for &s;o long time as it plea&s;ed God, <HI>i. e.</HI> to the Re|velation of the <HI>Me&s;&s;ias)</HI> that if the Jews his People hoped for God's Ble&s;&s;ing, Fa|vour and Reward, they mu&s;t be of an ob&s;equious and obedient Heart to God, and with reverence ob&s;erve tho&s;e Laws in particular, which God had mo&s;t evi|dently commanded <HI>Mo&s;es</HI> to de&s;cribe and enjoyn them, as a Condition there|of: But now Je&s;us the <HI>Me&s;&s;ias</HI> hath been &s;ent from God to you, and all Man|kind, with infinitely greater proof of his Mi&s;&s;ion from God, than ever <HI>Mo&s;es</HI> was; both he, and we commanded by him, teach and preach that all Men who &s;hall hear our Doctrine, and have op|portunity of &s;ufficient in&s;truction in it, are not in the lea&s;t to doubt, (it being an exceeding manife&s;t and plain thing) but that this Je&s;us is this <HI>Me&s;&s;ias;</HI> but are to believe it firmly, and profe&s;s it boldly, and con&s;equently to become his Di&s;ciples, particularly &s;hewing their Pie|ty to God, and their mo&s;t religious Di&s;|po&s;ition of Heart, Submi&s;&s;ion and Obe|dience to him, by the Ob&s;ervance of his Will and Laws by this Je&s;us the Chri&s;t, if they intend to be &s;aved. Obedience to God by <HI>Mo&s;es</HI> was, now Obedience
<PB N="191" REF="103"> to Je&s;us Chri&s;t is, and ever hence-forward will be (as the Jews fal&s;ly imagine con|cerning their Law) the Condition of, and Qualification for the Divine Favour, Ju|&s;tification, Remi&s;&s;ion of Sins, and final|ly Salvation.</P></Q>
<P>Such may be the Sen&s;e of St. <HI>Paul,</HI> &s;o we may &s;uppo&s;e him to have &s;poken to us in tho&s;e ob&s;cure words.</P>
<P>The only thing of moment which the Jews had to object, and which converted and unconverted to Chri&s;tianity were very fond of, was the perpetuity of the Law of <HI>Mo&s;es,</HI> clearly as they thought affirmed in their Law and Prophets. But this St. <HI>Paul</HI> every where ab&s;olutely denies with the re&s;t of the Apo&s;tles, and with great rea|&s;on. For be&s;ides that that Law is impo&s;&s;i|ble to be ob&s;erved by all mankind; neither <HI>Mo&s;es</HI> him&s;elf, nor any of the Prophets ever affirmed it. Nay, they have intima|ted the contrary, <HI>Jer.</HI> 31. 31. with <HI>Heb.</HI> 8. <HI>Mo&s;es</HI> him&s;elf promi&s;eth the Jews, <HI>That the Lord their God would rai&s;e up a Pro|phet like him, whom they &s;hould hear, Deut.</HI> 18. with <HI>Acts</HI> 7. This, as it may pro|mi&s;e a Succe&s;&s;ion of Prophets, &s;o it had a principal Re&s;pect to the <HI>Me&s;&s;ias,</HI> who was a Per&s;on &s;ent immediately from God with larger Authority than <HI>Mo&s;es,</HI> and to be heard by them: Not as they too meanly
<PB N="192" REF="104"> thought of him, as if he were to be only the Servant and &s;econd of <HI>Mo&s;es.</HI> No, he was to be a Law-giver from God like <HI>Mo|&s;es,</HI> and to take and leave what he thought fit in his Law. And &s;o the Prophecy is only compleatly fulfilled in the <HI>Me&s;&s;ias.</HI> None of the Prophets were &s;o like <HI>Mo&s;es</HI> as he.</P>
<P>The <HI>Me&s;&s;ias,</HI> only, was a Legi&s;lator from God like <HI>Mo&s;es.</HI> 'Tis true, none of the Talmudi&s;ts, Paraphra&s;ts or Rabbins, that I remember, have apply'd this place to the <HI>Me&s;&s;ias;</HI> but neither have they done that by many other places where they fairly might, and with much more rea&s;on than where oft-times they have.</P>
<P>But it is enough, if <HI>Mo&s;es</HI> and the Pro|phets, never really and in truth affirmed the perpetual Duration of the Law. For now God hath given abundantly more am|ple Proof of his Mi&s;&s;ion of Je&s;us, than ever he did of <HI>Mo&s;es;</HI> by his Doctrine, Life, Miracles, Re&s;urrection, A&s;cen&s;ion, Mi&s;&s;ion of the Holy Gho&s;t upon them who believed in Je&s;us, and not upon the Jews: and from this Je&s;us, I have learned (&s;aith St. <HI>Paul)</HI> that a great part of the Mo&s;aical Law &s;hould be aboli&s;hed; princi|pally in order to the uniting all Mankind into one Body by Religion; That Circum|ci&s;ion
<PB N="193" REF="104"> and Uncircumci&s;ion now availeth nothing (to Ju&s;tification) but Faith work|ing by Love: A religious and obedient Heart to God by Je&s;us Chri&s;t, producing all the &s;ub&s;tantial Actions of Piety and Charity to God and our Neighbour, the &s;umm and end even of the Mc&s;aical Law it &s;elf; that no man who now believeth in Je&s;us ought to oblige him&s;elf, by Circum|ci&s;ion, to the ob&s;ervance of all the little temporary, and now u&s;ele&s;s things of the Mo&s;aical Law. Nay, if he doth, Chri&s;t &s;hall profit him nothing, as being di&s;obe|dient to one expre&s;s Command of Chri&s;t, liberty and freedom from that compara|tively mean in&s;titution. Such then is the fourth fal&s;e Doctrine of the Jews concer|ning Ju&s;tification.</P>
<P><HI>Fifthly</HI> and <HI>la&s;tly,</HI> In few words: The Jewi&s;h Doctors taught, that they might perform and fulfill all the Commandments of their Law, by their own natural Strength and Power <HI><REF TARGET="A29503-NOTEE">(e)</REF>,</HI> but St. <HI>Paul,</HI> and the Divine Writers, teach a contrary Do|ctrine; <HI>viz.</HI> That the grace of God is ab|&s;olutely nece&s;&s;ary for our performance of good Works, or rather for being good men; the Condition of our Acceptance and Ju&s;tification <HI><REF TARGET="A29503-NOTEF">(f)</REF>.</HI></P>
<PB N="194" REF="105">
<P> The&s;e are all of the mo&s;t con&s;idera|ble Opinions and Doctrines of the Jewi&s;h Doctors, or Expounders of the Mo&s;ai|cal Law concerning Ju&s;tification, that I at pre&s;ent remember. Now all the&s;e Do|ctrines of the Jewi&s;h Doctors put together, are the <HI>Ju&s;tification by the Law, or the Works of the Law,</HI> as I conceive. Which, in not many words, are to this effect. Some men needed no Ju&s;tification, but tho&s;e who did, were ju&s;tified without any Merits but their own; <HI>viz.</HI> for the due Ob&s;ervance of the Law of <HI>Mo&s;es,</HI> by their own Strength, Care and Indu&s;try.</P>
<P>Ju&s;tification then by Faith, or according to the Chri&s;tian Doctrine, as oppo&s;ed to the Law, mu&s;t be on the contrary. That all men being &s;inners are ju&s;tified, and particularly receive remi&s;&s;ion of &s;ins, the Holy Spirit and Everla&s;ting Salvation, from the free and unde&s;erved goodne&s;s of God, upon the con&s;ideration of the perfect Righ|teou&s;ne&s;s, and the meritorious Sacrifice of Je&s;us Chri&s;t, and upon the Condition or Qualification of a pious Temper of Heart for the future, to obey the Will of God, (and con&s;equently to do the thing that is right and ju&s;t) how&s;oever he &s;hall be plea|&s;ed to declare it; but particularly by the Lord Je&s;us Chri&s;t; which very Condition
<PB N="195" REF="105"> too we had never been able to perform, without the a&s;&s;i&s;tance of the grace of God. This, as I think, may be the comprehen|&s;ive Sen&s;e of Ju&s;tification by Faith; but if it &s;hould prove otherwi&s;e, it is but a mi|&s;take in the &s;ignification of a Phra&s;e, I confe&s;s ob&s;curely enough delivered to us now at this di&s;tance of time, and of &s;o different a way of &s;peaking from the Apo|&s;tolical Age. However that be, certain it is, that the Doctrine it &s;elf is taken out of, and according to the Holy Scriptures; in which I &s;ee nothing but what is plain, ea&s;ie and rea&s;onable. After this, we may in very &s;hort ob&s;erve, that if any of the three Sen&s;es of <HI>ju&s;tifying faith</HI> mentioned, <HI>viz.</HI> A general Piety, or a Chri&s;tian Obedi|ence, or according to the Chri&s;tian Do|ctrine, be that of the Holy Scripture, then ju&s;tifying Faith is not a meer a&s;&s;ent to the whole Doctrine of the Go&s;pel; nor, <HI>Se|condly,</HI> is it a bare reliance upon God and Chri&s;t, and tru&s;t in their promi&s;es; or as others expre&s;s it, a rolling and throwing our &s;elves upon Chri&s;t, for pardon and &s;al|vation; nor, <HI>Thirdly,</HI> is it a confident per|&s;ua&s;ion, that our &s;ins are pardoned in Je|&s;us Chri&s;t; nor, <HI>Fourthly,</HI> is it what&s;o|ever men have confu&s;edly meant by tho&s;e Metaphors of going to Chri&s;t, or embra|cing
<PB N="196" REF="106"> Chri&s;t, or eying him by Faith as an in&s;trument; as if &s;uch a thin <GAP DESC="foreign"> or Ex|ile Relation of Faith were a thing for which Faith &s;hould be &s;o much predicated, and to which no le&s;s than Ju&s;tification, and Eternal Salvation &s;hould be attributed. Be|&s;ides, if Faith &s;hould thus ju&s;tifie, becau&s;e it apprehends, takes hold of, and embra|ces Chri&s;t, how much more &s;hould love be &s;aid to do it; which more properly may be &s;aid to take hold of, and embrace Chri&s;t.</P>
<P><HI>Finally,</HI> There is no mention in the Scripture of Faith's ju&s;tifying or &s;aving, as &s;uch a kind of in&s;trument, nor of any thing which infers it, or would &s;o much as give any hint or &s;u&s;picion of it; but as a nece&s;&s;ary Condition or Qualification every where, in the &s;ame manner as Re|pentance, Obedience, Confe&s;&s;ion of Sins, and believing him to be rai&s;ed from the Dead, <HI>Rom.</HI> 10. 9, 10. Both the&s;e la&s;t are Synecdochically taken, for being true Chri|&s;tians, or Obedience to God by Je&s;us Chri&s;t.</P>
<P>The&s;e notions, I conceive, have been invented and received principally in op|po&s;ition to the Pontifician &s;en&s;e; and then, for want of the knowledge of the Orien|tal way of &s;peaking, or from former pre|judices.
<PB N="197" REF="106"> Such notions and language would have &s;eemed very &s;trange and unintelligi|ble to the Greek, the Roman, and e&s;peci|ally the Jew, the Adver&s;ary of St. <HI>Paul,</HI> whom he endeavours to convince and con|fute, and when under&s;tood very mean and improbable. And yet there may be truth under all the&s;e expre&s;&s;ions, if they be ta|ken figuratively with &s;ome &s;ort of expli|cation; and we may be &s;o charitable as to believe, that pious and good Men have &s;o under&s;tood them; and that others &s;ome|times can better tell, and explain their thoughts, than they them&s;elves. As for example, if we take Faith fir&s;t &s;trictly for an A&s;&s;ent, but then add, &s;o firm, repeated, attentive and deliberate an one, like that of <HI>Thomas,</HI> as to produce in us profound veneration and &s;ubmi&s;&s;ion of Soul to God and Chri&s;t, and an actual Obedience to their Will and Commands, and con&s;e|quently a true Vertue and real San|ctity of Heart and Life; I &s;ay, if this be the Sen&s;e of ju&s;tifying Faith, it is true and good; and &s;o if believing and relying upon Chri&s;t, and tru&s;t in him for pardon of &s;in and acceptance, be not a pre|&s;umptuous one, but well grounded upon a true Repentance, the real Change and Conver&s;ion of the Heart, and &s;uppo&s;ing
<PB N="198" REF="107"> and comprehending that, it may pa&s;s for a ju&s;tifying Faith. So may receiving and embracing whole Chri&s;t, as they phra&s;e it, as King, Prie&s;t and Prophet; becau&s;e it in|cludes Obedience to Chri&s;t's Laws as a King. And on the other hand, to receive Chri&s;t as a Prie&s;t and Prophet may be in|cluded in Obedience, becau&s;e we are com|manded to believe Chri&s;t's Doctrine, and to tru&s;t in God for the remi&s;&s;ion of &s;ins procured by him upon repentance; final|ly, when they call their ju&s;tifying Faith a <HI>lively Faith,</HI> or Faith working by love, and bringing forth the Fruits of Holine&s;s and good Works, it may do very well; tho' it is an odd kind of expre&s;&s;ion of what &s;ome contend for, That Faith alone ju&s;ti|fies without Works or Obedience; which is like as if a Man &s;hould &s;ay, That the Root and the Fruit of a Tree nouri&s;heth, to &s;ig|nifie that the Root only doth it.</P>
<P>We have now gone through the expli|cation of the words promi&s;ed. For the application of them, let the Apo&s;tles own inference &s;uffice at pre&s;ent, to recommend unto us a ju&s;tified State. <HI>We that are ju&s;ti|fied by Faith</HI> (&s;aith the Apo&s;tle) <HI>have peace with God;</HI> that is, we are in a State of Amity and Friend&s;hip with God; &s;o that, we not only have no rea&s;on to fear
<PB N="199" REF="107"> any harm from that Terrible and Almigh|ty Power, which the Confederation of all Heaven and Earth cannot &s;ecure us from: but we have all rea&s;on to hope for, and be a&s;&s;ured of all In&s;tances of Favour and Bounty, which his infinite Wi&s;dom &s;hall think fit, more and greater than we can conceive. What can intercept or re&s;train his Magnificent goodne&s;s to his Friends whom he delights in, and delights to ho|nour? And then our Con&s;ciences will not terrify us, or make us unea&s;ie with Mena|ces or Su&s;picions of our Guilt, and his Ju&s;tice one Day, and drive us from all thoughts of God. But on the contrary, they will invite, encourage, command us to make u&s;e of him, to make him our Re|fuge, our Tru&s;t, our Solace in all Condi|tions at all times. Then, when all the World, as kindly as it may now look up|on us, &s;hall neglect us, or for&s;ake us, or hate us, or (which is certain to come to pa&s;s &s;ooner or later) &s;hall not be able in the lea&s;t to help us though it would; then when Death &s;hall envi&s;age and &s;ummon us to an appearance before that Sovereign Tribunal, and when we &s;hall &s;tand there to receive our final Doom, and irrever&s;i|ble Sentence.</P>
<PB N="200" REF="108">
<P> Oh, mo&s;t de&s;irable and happy of all Conditions! without the a&s;&s;urance of which if we would draw our Curtains about us, and be &s;erious but one hour, we could not be quiet or ea&s;ie in our &s;elves. We pro|claim the Per&s;on mo&s;t happy and fortu|nate, who hath the Eye, the Ear, the Heart of a Prince; but what can the greate&s;t Po|tentates do for us more, than heap upon us Riches and Honors for a few Days; which many to one we had better have wanted. Even the continuance of bodily Life and Health, the greate&s;t bodily Ble&s;|&s;ings are out of their Power; but how much more the goods of the mind, and the Trea&s;ures of Heaven. Whereas the Eternal Sovereign Lord of the Univer&s;e, hath all things perfectly at his own di&s;po|&s;al, to be&s;tow upon whom he plea&s;eth; and that here with the Wi&s;dom and Care of a Father, but hereafter certainly Full|ne&s;s of Joy and Plea&s;ures for ever more. Be&s;ides, where God fixes his Affection, and vouch&s;afes his Friend&s;hip, we are &s;ure there is true Worth, and &s;omething of re|al and good Value, though of his own gift; when Earthly greatne&s;s through ig|norance, mi&s;information, humour or ne|ce&s;&s;ity may mi&s;place them.</P>
<PB N="201" REF="108">
<P> And the belief of, and reflection upon God's Approbation, who is the be&s;t Judge, is at all times extreamly gratefull and &s;a|tisfactory to us naturally. This is certain, that a wi&s;e and ju&s;t Man takes more plea|&s;ure in not being unworthy of Favour which he doth not enjoy; than in enjoy|ing what he doth not de&s;erve. We con|clude all in turning St. <HI>Paul</HI> s Doctrine and Inference into an exhortation and motive. Let us u&s;e our utmo&s;t Care and Endeavour on our part, and God will not fail to per|form what is to be done on his, to get into the Number of tho&s;e who are Evangeli|cally ju&s;tified; our Sins pardoned, our Souls inhabited and &s;anctified by the Holy Spi|rit, and our Eternal Salvation a&s;&s;ured; that &s;o we may enjoy the great Honour, and the un&s;peakable Comfort of being the Friends of God, and at peace with him through our Lord Je&s;us Chri&s;t.</P>
<P><HI>To whom with the Father, and Holy Spirit, be all Honour, and Prai&s;e, both now and for evermore.</HI> Amen.</P>
<PB REF="109">
</DIV2>
<DIV2 TYPE="endnotes">
<PB N="203" REF="109">
<HEAD><HI>Annotations</HI> and <HI>Additions</HI> On the <HI>Di&s;cour&s;e</HI> of Ju&s;tification.</HEAD>
<DIV3 ID="A29503-NOTEA" N="a" TYPE="note">
<P><HI>(a)</HI> FOR the ample Proof of the No|tion and Sen&s;e of <GAP DESC="foreign"> and <GAP DESC="foreign"> &s;ometimes, which I have given, I think what follows will be abundantly &s;ufficient.</P>
<P N="1">(1) Let it be premi&s;ed, that though <GAP DESC="foreign"> in its mo&s;t preci&s;e Notion, &s;ignifies to pronounce ju&s;t, to di&s;charge, acquit and ab&s;olve from Fault and Puni&s;hment; yet in its more general U&s;e, it &s;ignifies more generally, <HI>Viz.</HI> to treat, or u&s;e as ju&s;t, in our Opinions, Words or Actions; and this, becau&s;e they are always, or ought to be conjoined; and becau&s;e that the pronouncing ju&s;t is for that very End, that a Per&s;on may be &s;o dealt with, and u&s;ed in all the above-named Re&s;pects.
<PB N="204" REF="110"> This is mo&s;t ordinary in all Languages, and particularly, 1 <HI>Kings</HI> 8. 32. <GAP DESC="foreign">, and <GAP DESC="foreign">, are of the &s;ame importance.</P>
<P N="2">(2) It is certain, that the word <GAP DESC="foreign"> in the Septuagint, Apocryphal Books, and the New Te&s;tament, in above twenty Pla|ces, &s;ignifies our Sen&s;e. For Example, we may con&s;ult the&s;e, <HI>Gen.</HI> 44. 16. <HI>Exod.</HI> 23. 7. <HI>Deut.</HI> 25. 1. 1 <HI>King.</HI> 8. 32. <HI>Je&s;.</HI> 5. 23. and 50. 8. <HI>Prov.</HI> 17. 15. <HI>&amp;c.</HI> In two or three Places, (2 <HI>Sam.</HI> 15. 4. <HI>Mic.</HI> 7. 9. <HI>P&s;al.</HI> 81. 3.) it &s;ig|nifies to judge or give &s;entence, either on the good or bad &s;ide, but rather on the good, and then it an&s;wers to be Hebrew words, <GAP DESC="foreign"> and <GAP DESC="foreign">. Twice it &s;ignifies to be ju&s;t neutrally, not to make ju&s;t active|ly, <HI>Gen.</HI> 38. 26. <HI>P&s;al.</HI> 19. 10. In one or two places it may be equally taken in our &s;en&s;e, or the Pontifician, of making ju&s;t. Final|ly, in two places only, the Pontifician and Socinian &s;en&s;e cannot be denied, <HI>viz. P&s;al</HI> 73. and <HI>Apoc.</HI> 22. but that may very well happen, becau&s;e it an&s;wering to the Hebrew, <GAP DESC="foreign">, the grammatical Force of that Conjugation may take place &s;o rarely. But the &s;en&s;e of a word, &s;urely, is to be ta|ken from its mo&s;t common u&s;e; from twenty places, rather than one or two.</P>
<P N="3"><PB N="205" REF="110"> (3) The Hebrew word, <GAP DESC="foreign">, to which <GAP DESC="foreign"> an&s;wers in the Septuagint, mani|fe&s;tly &s;ignifies our &s;en&s;e of Ju&s;tification in above twenty places: Nor can <HI>Bellarmine,</HI> or any other, find any more than two places, where it is u&s;ed in their &s;en&s;e of making righteous. The one is <HI>Je&s;.</HI> 53. 11. <HI>By his knowledge &s;hall my righteous &s;ervant ju&s;tifie many.</HI> But the Foren&s;ick &s;en&s;e &s;eems there more proper, becau&s;e it follows, <HI>for he &s;hall bear their iniquities.</HI> My righte|ous Servant &s;hall bring many into a Con|dition of Grace and Favour with God, by his bearing their Iniquities; the Chal. Pa|rap. here u&s;eth the word, <GAP DESC="foreign">, which gene|rally &s;ignifies foren&s;ically, and <HI>R. Selom.</HI> gives the &s;ame &s;en&s;e. The other place which <HI>Bellarmine</HI> quotes is, <HI>Dan.</HI> 12. 3. <HI>they that turn many unto righteou&s;ne&s;s,</HI> <GAP DESC="foreign">. But the Septuagint otherwi&s;e read the Hebrew Copy, <HI>viz.</HI> for <GAP DESC="foreign"> they read <GAP DESC="foreign">, rendring it <GAP DESC="foreign">. But &s;uppo&s;e this reading doth not give &s;o good a &s;en&s;e, and finally, granting this &s;ingle In&s;tance of <GAP DESC="foreign"> &s;ignifying Ju|&s;tification, or making righteous, is there any proportion between one place and twenty, to determine the otherwi&s;e dubi|ous &s;ignification of a Word?</P>
<P N="4"><PB N="206" REF="111"> (4) The Chaldee, Syriack and Rabbi|nical words which interpret the Hebrew, <GAP DESC="foreign"> and the Helleni&s;tical <GAP DESC="foreign">, are cer|tainly much oftner u&s;ed in the foren&s;ick Sen&s;e, &s;uch as are <GAP DESC="foreign">, as any one will find who reads the Targums. The Syriack Ver&s;ion and the Talmudi&s;ts and Rabbins, particularly the Treati&s;e San|hedrim.</P>
<P N="5">(5) The oppo&s;ite Hebrew word to <GAP DESC="foreign">, <HI>viz.</HI> <GAP DESC="foreign">, mo&s;t commonly &s;igni|fies to condemn, or to afflict, vex, u&s;e ill, as wicked men are wont, and ought to be u&s;ed. This &s;ignification we may find a|bove twenty times in the Old Te&s;tament; and the la&s;t particularly, 1 <HI>Sam.</HI> 14. 47. but it never &s;ignifies to make a Man wic|ked in a double active Sen&s;e.</P>
<P N="6">(6) This &s;en&s;e we have given is plainly to be collected out of the Apo&s;tle St. <HI>Paul</HI>'s own words, compared. Thus, <HI>Rom.</HI> 5. 9. ju&s;tified by his Blood, <GAP DESC="foreign">, is the &s;ame &s;en&s;e with that in Ver&s;e 10. We have been reconciled by the Death of his Son, <GAP DESC="foreign">. Ju&s;tification and Reconcilia|tion were the &s;ame, <HI>viz.</HI> to be re&s;tored to Grace and Favour with God; to be deli|vered from puni&s;hment for &s;in, and to be u&s;ed generally by God, as tho&s;e u&s;e to be,
<PB N="207" REF="111"> to whom he is favourable and kind, as he always certainly is to a ju&s;t Man.</P>
<P>Again, <HI>Rom.</HI> 4. from the 2<HI>d.</HI> to the <HI>9th.</HI> Ver&s;e, it is manife&s;t that <GAP DESC="foreign">, <HI>to be ju&s;tified,</HI> and <GAP DESC="foreign"> <HI>to ju&s;tifie,</HI> are of the &s;ame meaning, with having Faith, <GAP DESC="foreign">, imputed for righteou&s;|ne&s;s, and <GAP DESC="foreign">, to impute for righteou&s;ne&s;s: But the phra&s;e of impu|ting for righteou&s;ne&s;s, <HI>&amp;c.</HI> is of the &s;ame im|portance with <GAP DESC="foreign"> and <GAP DESC="foreign">, the remi&s;&s;ion and covering of &s;ins. Therefore <GAP DESC="foreign"> is of the &s;ame impor|tance too. And what is remi&s;&s;ion of &s;ins, or to be freed from puni&s;hment for them, but only one in&s;tance of the more general di|vine Favour, and of being u&s;ed and regar|ded by God, as a good and ju&s;t Man u&s;eth to be? Finally, <HI>Rom.</HI> 4. 16. 18. <GAP DESC="foreign"> and <GAP DESC="foreign"> and <GAP DESC="foreign">, Condemnation and ju&s;tification are oppo&s;ed, therefore what is the &s;en&s;e of <GAP DESC="foreign"> which no doubt, is the judging, pronouncing, and treating a Man as wicked: &s;uch, on the contrary, mu&s;t be the &s;en&s;e of <GAP DESC="foreign">.</P>
<P>I think therefore enough is here &s;aid to e&s;tabli&s;h, and fix the notion of <GAP DESC="foreign">, or to <HI>ju&s;tifie,</HI> when conjoined with the word <HI>Faith.</HI></P>
</DIV3>
<DIV3 ID="A29503-NOTEB" N="b" TYPE="note">
<P N="7"><PB N="208" REF="112"> (7) There is abundant proof of this out of their own Writings mo&s;t ancient; nor is it to be doubted, but that the ge|neral Opinions of their Doctors in our Saviour's time, were the &s;ame with tho&s;e we now find among them, e&s;pecially who were neare&s;t to it. In the Treati&s;e, <HI>Sanh. cap</HI> 6. <HI>Mi&s;na</HI> 2. Expiation of &s;in, and a por|tion in the World to come, as they &s;peak, is attributed to Confe&s;&s;ion, from the Ex|ample of <HI>Achan.</HI> It is without doubt, they &s;uppo&s;ed Repentance too, as they expre&s;ly mention in the next quotation.</P>
<P>By which we may &s;ee, how Judaical that Synecdochical way of &s;peaking is u&s;ed al&s;o by St. <HI>Paul, Rom.</HI> 10. 9, 10. If thou &s;halt <HI>confe&s;s with thy mouth,</HI> &amp;c. In the <HI>Gemara</HI> of <HI>Cod. Joma. cap.</HI> 8. we have two leaves filled with the Elogies of Re|pentance. Among other things, they &s;ay, that there are three divi&s;ions or kinds of Expiation, with each of which Repentance is to be joined. If any one &s;hould &s;in a|gain&s;t an affirmative Precept, Repentance alone would be &s;ufficient for Expiation: But if again&s;t a negative one, then Repen|tance &s;u&s;pended the Puni&s;hment, till the Day of Expiation expiated it. If any one committed a &s;in which de&s;erved Exci&s;ion, or Death by the hands of the Magi&s;trate,
<PB N="209" REF="112"> then Repentance and the Day of Expiati|on did only &s;u&s;pend Puni&s;hment, till Af|fliction and Cha&s;ti&s;ements expiated and wiped away Guilt and Puni&s;hment, (I &s;uppo&s;e.) Finally, if any had been guilty of Bla&s;phemy again&s;t the Name of God, nothing could expiate but corporal Death.</P>
<P>In the &s;ame place, they tell us, that Re|pentance was &s;o great and excellent a thing, that by its Vertue, even &s;ins of pre&s;ump|tion [<GAP DESC="foreign">] <HI>i. e.</HI> of the mo&s;t hainous and atrocious Nature, became merits. In the <HI>Gemara</HI> of <HI>Ro&s;ch ha&s;chanah.</HI> cap. 1. <HI>fol.</HI> 17. 2. and 18. 1. Repentance is &s;aid to undo and re&s;cind the very Decree of Judgment; And the iniquity of the Hou&s;e of <HI>Eli,</HI> not to be expiated by Sacrifices or oblations, but <GAP DESC="foreign"> and <GAP DESC="foreign"> by the Law and the Retributions of pious Men, or of the Saints, <HI>i. e.</HI> by Alms and Works of choice and Charity. The &s;en&s;e of the phra&s;e <GAP DESC="foreign">, <HI>or, by the Law,</HI> &s;eems to be either by the reading or &s;tudying of the Law, as they el&s;ewhere commonly &s;peak; or by the dili|gent general Practice of the Law, and Ob|&s;ervation of it, or of its Commands. And that of Retribution of the Saints, or of the Reli|gious, &s;ignifies more than Ob&s;ervation of Command, <HI>viz.</HI> Works of Charity, Good|ne&s;s, Bounty, Liberality, beyond what is
<PB N="210" REF="113"> by any Divine Law required or due. Now it was by both the&s;e for the future, not by the fir&s;t only, that they &s;ay the Iniqui|ties of <HI>Eli</HI>'s Hou&s;e, were to be expiated. See al&s;o <HI>Windet de vit&acirc; functorum &s;tatu,</HI> pag. 193.</P>
<P>We may here fitly ob&s;erve, that the phra&s;e of <GAP DESC="foreign"> to be expiated, or purged by the Law, expre&s;&s;eth part of St. <HI>Paul</HI> s <GAP DESC="foreign"> and <GAP DESC="foreign"> and <GAP DESC="foreign">, which he peremptorily denies to expiate &s;in, as he doth al&s;o the other of their Works of Liberality and Charity. He denies it, I &s;ay, not as a Condition, but as meritorious of God's Favour and Forgivene&s;s: For we ought here further to ob&s;erve, that in the&s;e quo|tations, two of the Jewi&s;h Opinions con|cerning Ju&s;tification are contained. The one the needle&s;ne&s;s or exclu&s;ion of the con|&s;ideration, or regard to the Merits of any other, even of the <HI>Me&s;&s;ias</HI> him&s;elf, lea&s;t of all to the Sacrifice of him; which, they deeming him to be a great Prince to &s;ub|jugate all Nations, abhorred. The other, that their own good Works both of Duty and Choice, of Precept and Charity, were abundantly meritorious, and by their Worth and Merit did expiate all their &s;ins, and oblige God in Ju&s;tice to forgive them,
<PB N="211" REF="113"> and receive them into his Favour again; of which more in the next particular. Wee'll here add &s;omewhat more. In the Author of <HI>Eccle&s;. Cap.</HI> 18. 22. there is a foot&s;tep of expiation of &s;in by corporal Death, <HI>Defer not</HI> (&s;aith that Author) <HI>till Death to be ju&s;tified.</HI> And then for Alms or Works of Charity, how much the Jews attribute to them, we may abundantly learn from the Talmudi&s;ts, and Apocryphal Authors. See <HI>Bav. Bath. Cap.</HI> 1. fol. 8, 9, 10, 11. in <HI>Gemara;</HI> we read al&s;o <HI>Ecclus.</HI> 3. 30. <GAP DESC="foreign"> <HI>Alms make an atonement for &s;in.</HI> And <HI>Tob.</HI> 12. 9. <GAP DESC="foreign">, for Alms doth de|liver from Death, and &s;hall purge away all &s;in. The Holy Authors of the New Te&s;ta|ment, never expre&s;s them&s;elves in &s;uch manner; but always attribute expiation of &s;in to Je&s;us Chri&s;t, no doubt, as a Sacri|fice and a meritorious one, by his volunta|ry oblation of him&s;elf. So St. <HI>Paul,</HI> Rom. 3. 25. calls Je&s;us Chri&s;t <GAP DESC="foreign">, a propi|tiation, and <HI>Titus</HI> 3. 5. <GAP DESC="foreign">, <HI>&amp;c.</HI> not by Works of or by Righteou&s;ne&s;s which we have done, but according to his Mercy he &s;a|ved us by the wa&s;hing of Regeneration, and renewing of the Holy Gho&s;t. And
<PB N="212" REF="114"> <HI>John</HI> 1. 7. <GAP DESC="foreign">. The Blood of Chri&s;t clean&s;eth us from all &s;in; in the foren&s;ick Sen&s;e it is to be confe&s;&s;ed, that &s;ome pla|ces in the Canonical Scriptures, might give occa&s;ion to this opinion of the Jews: Such as <HI>Prov.</HI> 16. 6. <HI>By mercy and truth iniquity is purged,</HI> in the Hebrew <GAP DESC="foreign">, by them iniquity &s;hall be ex|piated, as it is always &s;aid of Sacrifices: And in the Septuagint <GAP DESC="foreign">. And &s;o <HI>Prov.</HI> 10. 2. and 11. 4. Righteou&s;ne&s;s de|livereth from Death, where <GAP DESC="foreign">, Righteou&s;ne&s;s, is mo&s;t probably to be ta|ken in the Helleni&s;tical Sen&s;e, for <HI>Alms.</HI> Becau&s;e it is in both places oppo&s;ed to Trea&s;ures and Riches, which profit no|thing in the Day of Wrath. But mo&s;t probable it is, that what the Canonical Writers, and Apocryphal too, perhaps looked upon as a condition and qualifi|cation only, for Forgivene&s;s and Divine Favour, the Jews of the following Ages &s;o mi&s;took them, as to &s;tretch it to an Obligation of Ju&s;tice upon God, as much as upon a Ma&s;ter to pay his Servant his Wages, or a Debtor his Creditor. They improved their Repentance and good Works, their ob&s;ervance of their Law, and
<PB N="213" REF="114"> their Works of free Choice, as Alms, <HI>&amp;c.</HI> to a proper and &s;trict Merit; as &s;ome &s;ort of Chri&s;tians do their Repentance, and &s;ometimes that only which they call Pe|nance. Nor are we to think, that they extended the effect of their Merit no far|ther than this corporal Life. For they tell us, it reached the future Life too. In their Talmudical Tract, <HI>Bav. Bath.</HI> before quoted <HI>(fol.</HI> 10. 1.) The que&s;tion is asked why it is twice &s;aid <HI>(Prov.</HI> 10. 2. and 11. 4.) That Righteou&s;ne&s;s delivereth from Death. The An&s;wer is, becau&s;e it delivereth from two kinds of Death; from a violent Death [here], and from the Judgment of Hell.</P>
</DIV3>
<DIV3 ID="A29503-NOTEC" N="c" TYPE="note">
<P><HI>(c)</HI> Tho&s;e who &s;eem to have thought &s;o were but few, and of &s;ome extraordinary Sagacity, or perhaps there might have been a touch of Revelation or In&s;piration. Nor do we know what, or how many thoughts may by &s;uch means fir&s;t come into the minds of men. The generality of their Doctors thought of no &s;uch thing, nor make any mention of the Merits of the <HI>Me&s;&s;ias.</HI> Nor did tho&s;e few &s;peak of it as nece&s;&s;ary or certain, and then they re|&s;trained the Privilege to their own Nation, and People. Finally, they &s;ay nothing who this <HI>Me&s;&s;ias</HI> was, and it is certain the Apo&s;tles Adver&s;aries, the Bulk of the Jewi&s;h
<PB N="214" REF="115"> Doctors denied Je&s;us of <HI>Nazareth</HI> to be him. Who the&s;e Ancient Jewi&s;h Authors were, &s;ome of them &s;ee in the Preface to the fir&s;t Volume of <HI>Lightfoot,</HI> pag. 14, 15. and <HI>L'empereur</HI>'s Annotations on <HI>Jach.</HI> on <HI>Dan.</HI> 9. which is enough to let a Jew &s;ee, how far a Jew may go in believing this Chri&s;tian Doctrine.</P>
</DIV3>
<DIV3 ID="A29503-NOTED" N="d" TYPE="note">
<P><HI>(d)</HI> The ancient wi&s;e Men (&s;aith <HI>Maiem. Comm.</HI> on <HI>Pir. Anoth. Cap.</HI> 4. par. 5.) who taught the Law <HI>Gratis,</HI> without any re|ward, were believers of God, and the Law [<GAP DESC="foreign">] by which a Man merits the Life of the World to come; and again, <HI>parag.</HI> 16. Let a man get tho&s;e Vertues here, by which he may merit the World to come. See al&s;o <HI>pir. Anoth. cap.</HI> 6.</P>
<P>And to prevent the Objection that the word, <GAP DESC="foreign">, which I render to merit or de|&s;erve, &s;ignifies no more than to obtain, as &s;ome have &s;aid of the word <HI>mereri,</HI> u&s;ed by the Latin Fathers; we may ob&s;erve, that that is &s;ignified more fitly by the word <GAP DESC="foreign"> in the former part of the Sen|tence. And if the Author had meant no more, he had u&s;ed the &s;ame word. But it is &s;ufficiently known to tho&s;e, that are ac|quainted with the Talmudical and Rabbi|nical Language, that properly and &s;trictly
<PB N="215" REF="115"> to merit by being Righteous and Ju&s;t, is the fir&s;t &s;ignification of the word <GAP DESC="foreign">.</P>
<P>In the Targums of <HI>Jon.</HI> and <HI>Hiero&s;. Gen.</HI> 22. <HI>Abraham</HI> is brought in praying to God. That when the Sons of <HI>I&s;aac</HI> were in &s;traits and di&s;tre&s;s, and made their Ad|dre&s;s to God, they might have deliverance and remi&s;&s;ion of their &s;ins, for the meri|torious Piety of <HI>I&s;aac</HI> their Father, in &s;ub|mitting him&s;elf voluntarily to be bound, and offered by his Father <HI>Abraham.</HI> And <HI>P&s;alm</HI> 60. 7. the <HI>Chal, parap.</HI> introduceth <HI>David</HI> praying for the &s;ake of the Truth of <HI>Abraham,</HI> the Righteou&s;ne&s;s of <HI>I&s;aac,</HI> and the Piety, <GAP DESC="foreign">, of <HI>Jacob.</HI></P>
<P>And in <HI>Targ. Cantic.</HI> 1. 9. The pa&s;&s;age of the <HI>I&s;raelites</HI> through the Red-&s;ea, is attri|buted to the Merits of <HI>Abraham, I&s;aac</HI> and <HI>Jacob.</HI></P>
<P>'Tis true, the Holy Scripture it &s;elf telleth us, that God did oft-times do good to Men, yea, and forgive &s;ome puni&s;hments of &s;ome &s;ins, for the &s;ake, and at the reque&s;t of &s;ome other eminently, holy and righ|reous Man; (&s;o <HI>Pharaoh</HI>'s Steward was ble&s;&s;ed for <HI>Jo&s;eph</HI>'s &s;ake; the <HI>I&s;raelites</HI> at <HI>Mo&s;es</HI>'s humble Reque&s;t were &s;pared; the <HI>Sodomites</HI> for ten Righteous Per&s;ons at the reque&s;t of <HI>Abraham,</HI> had e&s;caped that dread|full De&s;truction) and we believe he doth
<PB N="216" REF="116"> &s;o &s;till. But the Jewi&s;h opinion extends this privilege of good men beyond its bounds, even to the utmo&s;t. They expe|cted all puni&s;hment for all &s;ins here and hereafter, to be remitted for their &s;akes. What we Chri&s;tians are taught, to be the ju&s;t and due honour only of the <HI>Me&s;&s;ias,</HI> even Je&s;us of <HI>Nazareth.</HI> Be&s;ides, we be|lieve, that this very great favour afforded to the be&s;t of Men, is be&s;towed upon them for the &s;ake of Je&s;us the Chri&s;t, which the Jews never thought of.</P>
<P>In their own Books it is common, that all <HI>I&s;rael</HI> &s;hall have a portion in the World to come, that not one of them &s;hall peri&s;h, or go to Hell, except Apo&s;tates, and &s;uch who deny &s;ome fundamental Articles of their Religion, otherwi&s;e wicked enough.</P>
<P>So we find it in the Treati&s;e <HI>Sanhedrin. cap.</HI> 11. <HI>mi&s;n.</HI> 1. <HI>&amp;</HI> 4. I know they do not all &s;ay ju&s;t the &s;ame things in this matter, as well as in others: But from their own Books, and the Scripture it &s;eems mo&s;t probable, that the Generality of the Do|ctors and People did believe that their ve|ry relation to <HI>Abraham,</HI> and being the Di&s;|ciples of <HI>Mo&s;es,</HI> did de&s;erve very good u&s;age from God. Much more &s;urely, their ex|ternal Penances, and &s;trict Ob&s;ervance of their Law. The Holy Scripture confirms
<PB N="217" REF="116"> all this. For in <HI>Je&s;. cap.</HI> 58. we read, there were tho&s;e who challenged God's Favour for their meer external performances; and in the Evangeli&s;ts how much did they vaunt them&s;elves, for being the Children of <HI>Abraham,</HI> and the Di&s;ciples of <HI>Mo&s;es?</HI></P>
<P><HI>Mo&s;es</HI> him&s;elf &s;eems to intimate, what an in&s;olent and arrogant People they were, and would prove, <HI>Deut.</HI> 9. 4. when he tells them, that they were rather wor&s;e than other Nations, and that God's Choice of them, was only from his own free Good|ne&s;s.</P>
</DIV3>
<DIV3 ID="A29503-NOTEE" N="e" TYPE="note">
<P><HI>(e)</HI> We do not, as I remember, meet with any acknowledgment of Divine Grace, any &s;upervenient additional In|fluence or A&s;&s;i&s;tance, either in the Scrip|ture, or in their own Writings, as <HI>nece&s;&s;a|ry</HI> to Repentance, Reformation, or becom|ing a good Man, by any Phari&s;aical Jew, &s;uch as St. <HI>Paul</HI> di&s;putes again&s;t?</P>
<P>And it &s;eems to me the mo&s;t genuine Sen&s;e of that known and ancient &s;aying a|mong&s;t them <GAP DESC="foreign"> <HI>i. e.</HI> all things are in the Power and di&s;po&s;al of Heaven, except the fear of God. The &s;en&s;e I take to be that <HI>that dependeth not at all upon God s Will,</HI> not <HI>&s;olely on</HI> <NOTE PLACE="marg"><HI>Conc ad</HI> Exod. 7. 3.</NOTE> <HI>God's Will,</HI> as <HI>Men. Ben. I&s;rael</HI> ex|pounds it. A Man may do it, or not do
<PB N="218" REF="117"> it merely of him&s;elf, by his own natu|ral Power; if God hinder it not, that is enough.</P>
<P>It is true, there may be met with in &s;ome of their Prayers extant among them, a Petition for God's help to keep his Com|mandments, to &s;erve him and keep them from &s;in, but not as <HI>nece&s;&s;ary,</HI> without which they could not perform it. So we find in their Office for the Day of Expiation, <GAP DESC="foreign">, that God would <NOTE PLACE="marg"><GAP DESC="foreign"> <HI>fol.</HI> <GAP DESC="foreign"></NOTE> purifie their Hearts to &s;erve him, that it would plea&s;e God they might not &s;in. But it is more than I know, if they any where u&s;e it as an Argument for this their Prayer, that they cannot po&s;&s;ibly obtain tho&s;e their De&s;ires, without God's &s;pecial help and aid. We meet with no &s;uch expre&s;&s;ions among them, as, <HI>We who cannot do any thing that is good without thee.</HI> And again, <HI>for as much as without thee we are not able to plea&s;e thee,</HI> and many &s;uch like in our own Liturgy.</P>
<P>This opinion of their natural &s;trength &s;ufficient (like Pelagiani&s;m &s;o called a|mong&s;t us) to repent and be converted, might induce them to their opinion about Merit; though indeed it was no &s;ufficient proof, &s;uppo&s;ing it true. For what if they had &s;o much Power of Nature left, whence
<PB N="219" REF="117"> had they it? was it their own originally? did they give it them&s;elves? or was it not the gift of God who made them? did not God continue this natural Power, and the Liberty of u&s;ing it? But &s;uch thoughts and rea&s;onings, never came into the head of a Scribe, Lawyer, or Phari&s;ee.</P>
</DIV3>
<DIV3 ID="A29503-NOTEF" N="f" TYPE="note">
<P><HI>(f)</HI> Every where in the Scripture, but more e&s;pecially in the Epi&s;tles, Sanctifica|tion, Regeneration, Renovation, Salvati|on, <HI>&amp;c.</HI> are a&s;cribed to God and the Holy Spirit, the beginning and improvements of goodne&s;s in us, and of the &s;piritual life, are attributed to the grace or influence of God, preventing, concurring, exciting, &s;trengthening our Re&s;olutions and Endea|vours. So as to give us to under&s;tand, that a Man cannot reform or convert him|&s;elf without God, and that God will not without him&s;elf, ordinarily &s;peaking, for God no doubt can, and hath irre&s;i&s;tibly and phy&s;ically (as they &s;peak) conver|ted &s;ome, (&s;uch as St. <HI>Paul)</HI> for eminent Examples of the Power of Divine Grace, when God plea&s;eth, and particularly when he de&s;igneth a Per&s;on for &s;ome pre&s;ent, great and &s;pecial Service. Mans nature, as it is now corrupted, cannot recover the Rule and Dominion of Rea&s;on, Con&s;cience, Vertue and Goodne&s;s in his Soul, without
<PB N="220" REF="118"> the powerfull Aid of Divine Grace; tho', when it is offered, it may refu&s;e it too. Such places are, <HI>Eph.</HI> 2. 8, 9, 10. <HI>By grace are ye &s;aved,</HI> &amp;c. <HI>not of works lea&s;t any man &s;hould boa&s;t, for we are his workman&s;hip, cre|ated in Chri&s;t Je&s;us to good works:</HI> And <HI>Tit.</HI> 3. 5. <HI>Not by works of Righteou&s;ne&s;s which we have done,</HI> &amp;c. <HI>but by the wa&s;hing of Regeneration, and renewing of the Holy Gho&s;t.</HI> Rom. 8. 13. <HI>If ye through the &s;pi|rit mortifie the deeds of the fle&s;h.</HI> Mo&s;t plainly, <HI>Phil.</HI> 2. 12. <HI>Work out your own &s;al|vation; for it is God that worketh in you both to will and to do of his good plea&s;ure.</HI> Nay, the &s;ame Doctrine may &s;eem fairly intimated, in &s;everal places of the Old Te&s;tament, as <HI>Deut.</HI> 30. 16. <HI>God promi&s;eth to circumci&s;e the hearts of the</HI> I&s;raelites, <HI>and their Po&s;terity,</HI> &amp;c. where we may ob&s;erve a &s;piritual promi&s;e in the body of the Law. And <HI>Jerem.</HI> 13. 23. <HI>Can an Aethiopian change his skin,</HI> &amp;c. and <HI>David</HI> prays in his peni|tential P&s;alm, that God would not take his holy Spirit from him, as (&s;uppo&s;ed) ne|ce&s;&s;ary to his per&s;everance, much more than to Repentance. Although it is to be acknowledged, that this Doctrine of the Nece&s;&s;ity of Divine Grace, Influence and Operation, and e&s;pecial Providence to make, and keep Men inwardly holy and
<PB N="221" REF="118"> good, was only reached by &s;ome of the Prophets, or mo&s;t eminent Saints, or of a &s;ublimer genius among the Jews; the ge|nerality never thinking of any &s;uch thing, and when by Chri&s;tianity taught, denied by them. Nor was it &s;carce ever dreamt of among the Gentiles, except here and there a Philo&s;opher or Poet may have dropt &s;omething that looks that way. But hardly any Doctrine more common and known in the Chri&s;tian Church, where every Child learns it before its Letters. And certainly the Belief, and frequent At|tention to &s;o near, e&s;pecially, and con|&s;tant Pre&s;ence of the Deity to the Souls of Men, as it is true, &s;o is it many ways a great Cheri&s;her of Piety and Religion.</P>
<P>It were to be wi&s;hed that the Fathers, &s;uppo&s;ed by &s;ome to know be&s;t the mind of the Apo&s;tles, as being neare&s;t to them, had enlightned us here in this ob&s;curely to us delivered Doctrine. But the&s;e next of all to the Apo&s;tles, were content to &s;peak &s;imply, and little varying from the Apo|&s;tolical words, <HI>Clem.</HI> Epi&s;t. to the <HI>Cor.</HI> p. 41. <GAP DESC="foreign">.
<PB N="222" REF="119"> And we therefore being called by the Will of God in Je&s;us Chri&s;t, are not ju&s;tified by our own Wi&s;dom, or Under&s;tanding, or Piety, or Works, which we have done in Sanctity of Heart; but by Faith, by which the Al|mighty hath ever ju&s;tified all Men from the beginning, which differs little in words, nothing in &s;en&s;e, from the Apo&s;tle, <HI>Rom.</HI> 4. in the ca&s;e of <HI>Abraham.</HI> And the Author to the <HI>Hebrews,</HI> Chap. 11. explain'd in the Di&s;cour&s;e above.</P>
<P>But if we go further downward among the Fathers, I do not know whether we &s;hall learn much concerning this point. Tho&s;e who plea&s;e may try them&s;elves. <HI>Ju&s;t. Martyr</HI> the Philo&s;opher &s;eems to me to have taken the Notion of it be&s;t, and St. <HI>Augu&s;tine</HI> and St. <HI>Jerome</HI> (in &s;ome pla|ces at lea&s;t) though wor&s;t, with a preju|dice and narrowne&s;s, common to Per&s;ons of Wit, Eloquence, and Zeal in their own Religion, e&s;pecially when flouri&s;hing in Power and Reputation. Such a zeal in &s;o truly excellent Religion as the Chri&s;tian, even when mi&s;taken, is pardonable: But more acceptable to the wi&s;er &s;ort of Men, when attended with Judgment, and a ju&s;t regard to Truth. St. <HI>Jerome</HI> &s;eems to have been a greater Ma&s;ter in the Language of
<PB N="223" REF="119"> the Jews, &s;o far as Biblical Hebrew and Chaldee went, than in their Opinions, and their Books in which they are contained.</P>
<P>And though he may &s;ometimes mention &s;ome-what he had learned in conver&s;ation with his Ma&s;ters, as in his Epi&s;tle to <HI>Al|ga&s;ia,</HI> the Collection called <HI>Mi&s;na</HI> (as I think again&s;t <HI>Morinus)</HI> and a Cu&s;tom or two of the Jews, and their opinion con|cerning <HI>Melchi&s;edeck,</HI> in his Epi&s;tle to the Evangeli&s;ts: Yet I do not know, (perhaps others may know better) whether he hath quoted any one Sentence out of any Jewi&s;h Book in its own Language. But without doubt there were enough of them in his time to have quoted, and which contain|ed the &s;ame Opinions concerning Ju&s;tifi|cation, which we have cited in the&s;e An|notations, and the Jews teach to this day. Or if St. <HI>Jerome</HI> had read &s;uch Books, it &s;eems it was not in his thoughts to com|pare St. <HI>Paul</HI>'s Doctrine in this matter with that of the Jews. Let any one read St. <HI>Je|rome</HI> on <HI>Gal.</HI> 3. St. <HI>Aug.</HI> quae&s;t. 80. quae&s;t. 73. and <HI>de &s;pir. &amp; litera ad Marcell.</HI> and his Expo&s;. of the Epi&s;tle to the <HI>Gal.</HI> and his Book <HI>de fide &amp; operibus,</HI> and others. There may be &s;ome things very good now and then dropt: But generally what they &s;ay, is of &s;uch confu&s;ed and uncertain Sen&s;e
<PB N="224" REF="120"> (and &s;ometimes not true) that a man is little the better, but only to know that &s;uch men have &s;aid &s;o.</P>
<P>I would not be here thought by this, to de&s;ire the Abatement of the ju&s;t E&s;teem of &s;o great a Name, as the Fathers. For I believe them to have been generally of ex|ceeding Piety, and the greate&s;t men of their Ages for knowledge; &s;ome in one thing, &s;ome in another, &s;ome in all; but it cannot be allowed that they were equal either in Philo&s;ophy, the true knowledge, and di&s;tance of the Natures of things, or in the skill of expounding and interpreting the Holy Scriptures, which this pre&s;ent Age by the good Providence of Almighty God doth enjoy. We &s;hall, I think be very unju&s;t to it, if we do not acknowledge &s;o much. May the effect of this our advan|tage in knowledge be al&s;o our improve|ment, in a &s;ub&s;tantially religious and ver|tuous Temper and Practice; without which it is but diver&s;ion, not bu&s;ine&s;s; that which may plea&s;e the Speculators, but profit no body, and nothing mend the State of the World.</P>
</DIV3>
</DIV2>
<DIV2 TYPE="author's note">
<PB N="225" REF="120">
<HEAD>ADVERTISEMENT.</HEAD>
<P>BY rea&s;on of the Affinity of the Sub|jects of. <HI>Ju&s;tification</HI> and <HI>Satisfaction;</HI> I had thoughts of adding a Di&s;cour&s;e of this la&s;t, and that under the&s;e general Heads.</P>
<P N="1">I. What was the Doctrine of the Scrip|tures concerning that which is &s;o called, <HI>viz. Satisfaction by the death and merits of Je&s;us Chri&s;t?</HI></P>
<P N="2">II. What was the di&s;tinct Nature, Ends and U&s;es of a Sacrifice, and particularly of an Hyla&s;tick or Expiatory one?</P>
<P N="3">III. How they operated, or what they contributed toward the procuring, &s;ecuring, or recovering the Favour of God in gene|ral, and particularly that in&s;tance of his Favour, Remi&s;&s;ion of Sins upon Repen|tance, and how?</P>
<P N="4">IV. Whether Je&s;us Chri&s;t dying, was not a proper Expiatory Sacrifice?</P>
<P N="5">V. Whether he was not in many re|&s;pects a more excellent Expiatory Sacrifice, than the Patriarchal or Mo&s;aical?</P>
<P N="6"><PB N="226" REF="121"> VI. What is the true and di&s;tinct Noti|on of a Merit, and how the Merits of Je&s;us Chri&s;t might obtain in general, the Favour of God to &s;infull Mankind, and particu|larly Remi&s;&s;ion of Sins to Penitents, and the rea&s;onablene&s;s thereof?</P>
<P N="7">VII. Whether the Act of God's forgiv|ing Sins to penitent Sinners, in Con&s;idera|tion of the Sacrifice and Merits of Chri&s;t Je&s;us, in&s;tead of the Act of puni&s;hing them, might not be called properly, and according to the Original, and received u&s;e of the word <HI>Satisfaction,</HI> i. e. of as much value, of equal or more good Effects to the Community, or rather in the World which God governs.</P>
<P>In all which I think much would be &s;aid, which hath not been &s;aid before, or not &s;o clearly and di&s;tinctly.</P>
<P>But this and &s;omething el&s;e, if God give life and health, may find another opportu|nity.</P>
</DIV2>
</DIV1>
<DIV1 N="6" TYPE="sermon">
<PB N="227" REF="121">
<HEAD>SERMON VI.</HEAD>
<EPIGRAPH>
<BIBL>2 COR. V. 19.</BIBL>
<Q>To wit, that God was in Chri&s;t, recon|ciling the World to him&s;elf, not impu|ting their Tre&s;pa&s;&s;es unto them.</Q>
</EPIGRAPH>
<P>IN the&s;e few words, we read the mo&s;t important part of the De&s;ign of Chri|&s;tian Religion. The <GAP DESC="foreign"> indeed, the glad Tidings which the Go&s;pel hath brought to the World. Now do we hear the joyfull News, and the be&s;t that ever &s;ounded in the Ears of Mankind. The So|vereign Lord of Heaven and Earth, who is only able to &s;ave or de&s;troy us Eternal|ly, looks towards us with a Countenance full of Compa&s;&s;ion and good Will.</P>
<P>Here we have the Completion of that Prophetical Hymn, &s;ung at the Birth of the Great Je&s;us by a Choire of Angels. <HI>Glory be to God on high, on Earth peace, good Will towards men,</HI> and very fitly repeated
<PB N="228" REF="122"> by all hearty Chri&s;tians, who&s;e Minds are enlightned, and Hearts &s;en&s;ibly touched af|ter the Communion in that Service, <HI>i. e.</HI> the &s;ending of &s;uch a Per&s;on as the Ever-ble&s;&s;ed Je&s;us, and with &s;uch a De&s;ign, would one Day redound to the Glory of the Divine Wi&s;dom and Goodne&s;s, both Heaven and Earth &s;ounding aloud his Prai|&s;es. It would al&s;o be peace on Earth, ju&s;t Cau&s;e of un&s;peakable Comfort and Joy in all Men, who &s;hould hear the News, that the Eternal God, an infinite offended Ma|je&s;ty, did lay a&s;ide his frowns and regard them with a &s;erene and mercifull Counte|nance, or Peace on Earth, <HI>i. e.</HI> between all Mankind, Jew and Gentile, Greek, Barba|rian and <HI>Scythian;</HI> there was now to be no Hatred, Contention, or Strangene&s;s in re|&s;pect of Religion. All were to be united in the Service of the &s;ame God and Lord. Chri&s;t, was to be the Peace, or Peace|maker, breaking down the Partition-wall. <HI>Eph.</HI> 2.</P>
<P>Finally good Will towards Men, in Con|&s;equence to God's gracious regard, what Acts of Grace and Favour might not Men then expect. Great were the Ble&s;&s;ings and Benefits now, more e&s;pecially, which God was preparing for the Sons of mortal and &s;infull Men. Who ought to echo back the
<PB N="229" REF="122"> Cele&s;tial Hymn in &s;uch words, as that of the P&s;almi&s;t. <HI>O &s;ing unto the Lord a new Song, &s;ing unto the Lord all the Earth; &s;ing unto the Lord, ble&s;s his Name, &s;hew forth his Salvation from day to day.</HI> P&s;. 96. 1.</P>
<P>Mo&s;t of the words in the Text, may af|ford us matter of excellent Ob&s;ervation. The&s;e five,</P>
<LIST>
<ITEM>I. The Act, Reconciling.</ITEM>
<ITEM>II. The Author, God.</ITEM>
<ITEM>III. The Parties, God and the World.</ITEM>
<ITEM>IV. The In&s;trument, Chri&s;t.</ITEM>
<ITEM>V. The principal In&s;tance or Effect of this Reconciliation, (not the onely one) Not imputing their Tre&s;pa&s;&s;es unto them.</ITEM>
</LIST>
<P N="1">I. The Act, the De&s;ign, the Bu&s;ine&s;s to be done, <HI>Reconciliation.</HI></P>
<P>This &s;uppo&s;eth &s;ome Aver&s;ion and En|mity in the Parties to be reconciled, God and the World. The Parties were Enemies. This we ought a little to explain, and &s;hew in Propriety of Speech,</P>
<P>(1) How man was God's Enemy, and (2) how God may be Man's. It needs not much explication or proof, that Mankind hath been, and in greate&s;t part, &s;till is, the Enemy of God. Enmity imports 2 things:</P>
<P>(1) A Contrariety of Nature and Will, (2) and more &s;trictly, mi&s;chievous De&s;igns,
<PB N="230" REF="123"> Intentions and Actions, according to ones Power. In both the&s;e re&s;pects Man was, and is generally, &s;till the Enemy of God. In the 7^t^h^. Chapter to the <HI>Ro|mans,</HI> is an excellent Comment <NOTE PLACE="marg"><HI>Rom.</HI> 7. 12.</NOTE> upon this Enmity, between the Divine Nature and Laws, and the unregenerate Man; for in &s;uch Sen&s;e St. <HI>Paul</HI> &s;peaks of him&s;elf. And the &s;ame Apo&s;tle tells us, <HI>That the fle&s;h lu&s;teth again&s;t the &s;pirit, and the &s;pirit again&s;t the fle&s;h,</HI> Gal. 5. 17.</P>
<P>The degenerate and regenerate Nature, are contrary one to the other, <HI>Ephe&s;.</HI> 4. 22. <HI>The old Man is corrupt, the new Man is created after God in Righteou&s;ne&s;s and true Holine&s;s.</HI> Mo&s;t expre&s;ly and plainly, <HI>Rom.</HI> 8. 7. <HI>The carnal mind is Enmity again&s;t God, for it is not &s;ubject to the Law of God, neither indeed can be.</HI> And the Gentiles (which were almo&s;t all the World, nor were the generality of the Jews inwardly much better) among&s;t other their abominable Qualities, are termed <HI>Haters of God.</HI> Thus we &s;ee how man is the Enemy of God. But how is God man's Enemy, <HI>i. e.</HI> &s;infull and degenerate Man? (1) It mu&s;t be ac|knowledged that God's Nature, Will, and Laws, are as contrary to Man's, as his is to God's. (2) That God hates a &s;infull Nature as &s;uch (to &s;peak after the manner
<PB N="231" REF="123"> of men) infinitely more than the wicked Man doth the holy and pure Nature of God. A wicked man is not &s;o perfectly, and in &s;o high a Degree wicked and &s;infull, as God is righteous and holy, and &s;o it is every where expre&s;&s;'d in the Scripture, God's Soul hates the wicked, <HI>Prov.</HI> 15. 9. It mu&s;t be acknowledged, (3) that God often treats wicked Men, in &s;ome re&s;pects, as a Man u&s;eth to treat his Enemy. He puni&s;heth and de&s;troys them too, when ir|reclaimable. But then, more generally, he u&s;eth them like one, who beareth their Per&s;ons good Will: for he pities their blindne&s;s and perver&s;ene&s;s, he bears them with the utmo&s;t Patience; In the mid&s;t of their highe&s;t Injuries and Provocations, he continues his Ble&s;&s;ings corporal and &s;piri|tual; the good things of this Life oft-times in plenty, and the means of Repentance and Salvation, his word and &s;pirit; He in kindne&s;s cha&s;ti&s;eth them to the &s;ame pur|po&s;e. All the&s;e are the Effects of his Be|nevolence, and love of good Will to them, even while Enemies.</P>
<P>Indeed, after all this, if they grow &s;en&s;e|le&s;s, obdurate, and contemptuous. He oft|times makes them Examples in this World, however in the next. He utterly de&s;troys them Body and Soul; not their Being, but
<PB N="232" REF="124"> all for which it is de&s;irable. But this Treatment proceeds not from any Malice in God again&s;t their Per&s;ons; but from Love and Care of the re&s;t of his Creatures. It is only when it becomes nece&s;&s;ary to the Government of the World; when wicked Men ought not to be any longer born; when their mi&s;chievous Impiety and Ex|ample becomes intolerable.</P>
<P>Thus we &s;ee the difference between wic|ked Men's Enmity to God, and God's to Men. On God's part what there is, is mo&s;t ju&s;t and nece&s;&s;ary; but on Man's, hor|ribly unju&s;t. However an Enmity there is, but not irreconcilable. For God was in Chri&s;t reconciling the World to him&s;elf. And that's the</P>
<P N="2">II. Thing: The Author, God. He began the De&s;ign immediately after the Apo&s;ta|cy and degeneracy of Man, and hath been ever &s;ince pro&s;ecuting of it, and that in or by Chri&s;t too, as we &s;hall pre&s;ently men|tion: and here we are to ob&s;erve, that it is but one of the parties at Enmity, that de&s;ign'd and endeavour&punc;d a Reconciliation, and that is God.</P>
<P>Stupendious Goodne&s;s! God, an infinite Maje&s;ty, Sovereign of Heaven and Earth, de&s;ires a Reconciliation with man, the meane&s;t of his own rea&s;onable Creatures;
<PB N="233" REF="124"> God, infinitely holy, wi&s;e and good; Man unholy, fooli&s;h and wicked: God negle|cted and forgotten, and mo&s;t part wilful|ly, injuriou&s;ly offended, and even in&s;olent|ly de&s;pis'd: Man, his unnatural and un|gratefull Creature, and Off-&s;pring.</P>
<P>Finally, God Omnipotent, who could have done him&s;elf right every Moment, cru&s;h'd this pitifull Worm to dirt, turn'd him out of Being, or into Eternal Mi&s;ery; Man who could at his wor&s;t but have wrigled, turned up his bla&s;phemous Mouth, and contemptible Head again&s;t Heaven (not without its permi&s;&s;ion neither) and final|ly peri&s;hed in his inveterate Enmity a|gain&s;t it.</P>
<P>'Tis this God, I &s;ay, who began, and &s;till carries on the De&s;ign of Reconcilia|tion, with this contemptible and perver&s;e Enemy, Man: Even &s;o far, as to be&s;eech him to be friends, as it follows in the Ver&s;e after the Text. <HI>Now then we are Emba&s;&s;adours for Chri&s;t</HI> (and Chri&s;t is for God) for it is added, <HI>as though God did be&s;eech you by us, we pray you in Chri&s;t's &s;tead be reconciled to God.</HI> How can&s;t thou hear &s;uch words, O man, and not pre&s;ently fall down upon thy Knees, en|deavouring to prevent, in appearance, &s;uch an indecent Conde&s;cen&s;ion? And do&s;t thou,
<PB N="234" REF="125"> O Heavenly Father, be&s;eech me? is it not below thy infinite Maje&s;ty, to be a Suitor to a mean and &s;infull Creature? &s;hall a prodigal and rebellious Child &s;uffer his wi&s;e, and good Father, to beg reconci|liation at his hands? nay, &s;urely, that part is mine, and only becomes me. St. <HI>Peter</HI> was &s;o &s;urpri&s;ed with the Humility of Je|&s;us, when he would wa&s;h his Di&s;ciples Feet, and &s;o offended at it, that he was bold to &s;ay, He &s;hould never wa&s;h his, till our Saviour threatned him into a Submi&s;|&s;ion, <HI>John</HI> 13. 8.</P>
<P>In like manner, a good Man, duely &s;en|&s;ible of the infinite Di&s;tance between God and him&s;elf, and how the Ca&s;e &s;tands, may, at fir&s;t &s;ight, be tempted to think &s;o great a Conde&s;cen&s;ion of God, as Entrea|ties for Peace and Reconciliation with men, &s;ome-what undecent and unbecom|ing, if he him&s;elf had not expre&s;ly told us otherwi&s;e, and laid his Commands upon us, not to di&s;pute his Wi&s;dom.</P>
<P>But upon a little Enquiry, he would &s;oon find it rea&s;onable and nece&s;&s;ary. For alas, as for a great part of Mankind, they were fallen into profound Ignorance of the true God, the Per&s;on to whom they were to be reconciled, and to whom they were Enemies in their minds by wicked
<PB N="235" REF="125"> Works, by their degenerate and corrup|ted Nature. And though they &s;hould have known him, and how the ca&s;e &s;tood be|tween them, (as we through his great mer|cy do:) yet through Perver&s;ene&s;s, Pride, Haughtine&s;s and Licentiou&s;ne&s;s, natural and affected Delight in evil Temper and Pra|ctice, they would have refu&s;ed his kind Offers, and not have given him the hear|ing; like the Barbarous of Mankind, who will not be brought to a civil Life, but chu&s;e to continue in Na&s;tine&s;s, Rudene&s;s and Bru|tality, mortally hating all tho&s;e, who would per&s;wade them to change their man|ners. In&s;omuch, that it is one of the fir&s;t &s;teps of the mo&s;t mercifull Author of Re|conciliation, to bring Men to be willing to hear his Propo&s;als, and to enter into a Treaty with him. That's the 2<HI>d.</HI> thing ob&s;ervable in the words, the Author of this Reconciliation, <HI>God. God was in Chri&s;t,</HI> &amp;c.</P>
<P N="3">III. The third is the Parties to be recon|ciled, God and the World: And here we cannot omit particularly to ob&s;erve two things: (1) the Goodne&s;s of God. Again, (2) his Conde&s;cen&s;ion; or, as I think I may be bold truly to call it, his <HI>Humi|lity.</HI></P>
<P N="1">1. The Goodne&s;s of God, that he would be plea&s;ed to be reconciled at all, that he
<PB N="236" REF="126"> would vouch&s;afe to take any cour&s;e to re|move the Enmity between him&s;elf and &s;in|ners; that he would contrive and pro&s;e|cute (to &s;peak after the manner of men) &s;uch a de&s;ign, that man fir&s;t might have no unju&s;t Enmity in his Nature again&s;t him, and then that there might be none in him again&s;t Man; and that he might not be obliged by his Sanctity, Ju&s;tice, and even Univer&s;al Goodne&s;s it &s;elf, to u&s;e him as an Enemy, that there might be &s;ettled and pre&s;erved, an hearty Amity and Corre&s;pondence between God and Man. But,</P>
<P N="2">2. That which is here mo&s;t proper, is God's gracious Conde&s;cen&s;ion, or even <HI>Hu|mility.</HI> Conde&s;cen&s;ion to the lowe&s;t Acts of Goodne&s;s and Charity, where it doth not hinder greater, (as it doth not in God, who is always &s;ufficient for all kinds and in&s;tances of it together) is one Branch of Humility; and therefore God may be &s;aid, in a mo&s;t proper Sen&s;e to be <HI>humble.</HI> The highe&s;t doth not think any Office of Goodne&s;s below him, becau&s;e it is low, as oft-times proud Man doth. He feedeth the very young Ravens when they cry, and cloatheth the Lilies of the Field.</P>
<P>But there is another more general No|tion of <HI>Humility,</HI> which may mo&s;t truly be
<PB N="237" REF="126"> attributed to God him&s;elf, and that is, not to e&s;teem or u&s;e any Power <HI>ultimately</HI> for it &s;elf, as to be feared or honoured for it.</P>
<P>This is the true general Notion of <HI>Hu|mility;</HI> and then there is nothing more tru|ly &s;aid, than that God is the mo&s;t humble of all Beings. He doth nothing <HI>merely and ultimately,</HI> for the O&s;tentation and Ex|erci&s;e of his Power and Greatne&s;s: He va|lues his Power only as directed by his Wi&s;|dom for the Ends of Goodne&s;s, as their In&s;trument of doing good. His Power o|ver all his Creatures is nece&s;&s;ary for their Government, and for the mo&s;t happy State of them all: If God could not controul Angels and Men, reward and puni&s;h the good and bad as he plea&s;eth, the World would be all Mi&s;ery and Confu&s;ion. But contrary-wi&s;e, Pride, the oppo&s;ite to Hu|mility, which is to love and de&s;ire Power for it &s;elf; an Affectation to do what one li&s;ts, Good or Evil; to have all others Wills and Actions at our command; to &s;trut and &s;well with it; to make all know it, which may be in doing mi&s;chief, as well as good; all this, I &s;ay, hath no place in Heaven. It dwells only in Earth and Hell. The good Angels imitate their Ma|ker, and the&s;e mighty and powerfull Spi|rits are &s;o humble, as to be the Servants of
<PB N="238" REF="127"> good Men here below. Whence we Mor|tals may be advi&s;ed, that the Vertue of Humility in general, as mean a thing as it may &s;ound or &s;eem, and that Branch par|ticularly of Conde&s;cen&s;ion to the lowe&s;t Acts of Charity and Goodne&s;s, where it hinders not greater, is an Imitation not only of Angels, but of God Almighty him&s;elf. But to return to our Ob&s;ervati|on. This gracious Conde&s;cen&s;ion of God may be (if we plea&s;e) ju&s;tly rai&s;ed by the di&s;tinct Con&s;ideration of three things. (1) That he vouch&s;afes to be reconciled to his own Creatures. There is infinitely greater di&s;tance between God, and the No|ble&s;t of his Creatures, than there is be|tween the greate&s;t Emperour upon his Throne, and the mo&s;t de&s;picable Beggar upon the Dunghill. (2) To the meane&s;t of his rea&s;onable Creatures, and that is Man. It might &s;eem more decent to do it to Angels, but to &s;uch a contemptible thing as Man is great indeed. <HI>Lord, what is Man, that thou art &s;o mindfull of him, and the Son of Man that thou thus vifite&s;t him, P&s;al.</HI> 8. 4. And (3) to Man &s;o mean a Crea|ture, and yet &s;o proud and willfull a &s;inner as &s;ome are at lea&s;t in great Degree, (and the wor&s;t are not excepted) who carele&s;|ly and contemptuou&s;ly, continually pro|voke
<PB N="239" REF="127"> him, who defie him, proclaim War again&s;t him, and are re&s;olved to per&s;i&s;t and die in their Rebellion, and Enmity a|gain&s;t him. But we leave the&s;e things to further Meditation.</P>
<P N="4">IV. The 4^t^h^. ob&s;ervable in the Text, is the In&s;trument of Reconciliation, the Per|&s;on whom God makes u&s;e of in the Execu|tion of his Coun&s;el, and De&s;ign of Recon|ciliation, and that is <HI>Chri&s;t,</HI> <GAP DESC="foreign">, <HI>i. e.</HI> by Chri&s;t. Such is the ordinary Helleni|&s;tical u&s;e of the Hebrew [<GAP DESC="foreign">]. So we have it, <HI>Acts</HI> 13. 39. <GAP DESC="foreign"> rendred <HI>by</HI> him all that believe are ju&s;tified. Here might be a large Field of Di&s;cour&s;e, by particu|larizing the manner and method, which Je&s;us Chri&s;t, God's Me&s;&s;enger to Mankind, &s;ent to effect and execute this De&s;ign of Reconciliation, makes u&s;e of: We &s;hall at pre&s;ent do little more than name them. The (1) with which God by Je&s;us Chri&s;t begun the Execution of his De&s;igns, was the miraculous Hi&s;tory of Chri&s;t, from and before his Birth, to his &s;ending the promi|&s;ed Gift of the Holy Gho&s;t. This was all along the mo&s;t evident Proof of his Mi&s;&s;i|on and Commi&s;&s;ion, from God for this Affair, and it was nece&s;&s;ary in order to his entring upon, and continuing his Nego|tiation. (2) The 2<HI>d.</HI> was his Doctrine.
<PB N="240" REF="128"> Here Je&s;us was to explicate, open and de|clare his Me&s;&s;age and Bu&s;ine&s;s more parti|cularly and di&s;tinctly. He was to tell them who and what he was, from whom he came, his Relation to Man, <HI>&amp;c.</HI> that He was the one only true God, infinitely great, holy and ju&s;t; but above all, good, mercifull, compa&s;&s;ionate, infinitely de&s;irous of their Welfare, and that they might be &s;aved, or be the Objects of his Eternal Fa|vour and Delight, not of his Ju&s;tice and unavoidable Severity, that he was their Maker and Father; that he would not only receive their Return and Submi&s;&s;ion with Joy, but effectually help and a&s;&s;i&s;t them in it. Such a taking and moving Repre&s;en|tation of God, is that of the Parable of the Prodigal. He was more-over to acquaint them with the conditions and terms of Re|conciliation, which were Repentance, fu|ture Obedience, humble Submi&s;&s;ion, and &s;incere Application for pardon, and that for the Sake, and upon the Account of him&s;elf, or of what he was appointed by God to do and &s;uffer, the Con&s;equence of their accepting or refu&s;ing the Condition &s;o graciou&s;ly offered by God. All this was done in his Precepts, Promi&s;es, Threat|nings: And thus far the Application was made immediately to Man, to take away
<PB N="241" REF="128"> the Enmity that was in his Nature and Will to God, and to qualifie him for the Amity and Friend&s;hip of God. The (3) of the&s;e means of Reconciliation, was his Merit and Oblation of him&s;elf as a Sacri|fice: His mo&s;t exactly vertuous, holy and perfectly obedient Life to God, and being an Univer&s;al Sacrifice for all Mankind, who had been Offenders. By the Inter|po&s;ition and Con&s;ideration of the&s;e, it be|came the Ju&s;tice, Clemency and Wi&s;dom of God, to be mercifull and benevolent to rebellious Mankind, in all the&s;e In&s;tances, pre&s;ently to be mentioned: That is, it was the wi&s;e&s;t way, and of be&s;t effect to the World, better than to have been reconci|led without it. And this part of the means re&s;pecting God immediately, was to re|move the Enmity on his &s;ide, that he might be ju&s;t, and yet not ca&s;t away all kindne&s;s and care, even of all de|generate Man; but particularly be the Ju|&s;tifier of all them that believe, who &s;hould now become dutifull and obedient to God, by Je&s;us Chri&s;t. We may add to the&s;e a fourth, and that is the continual Interce&s;&s;ion of Je&s;us Chri&s;t in Heaven, by which he &s;till carries on the reconciling De&s;ign be|tween God and the World. For I make account that his Interce&s;&s;ion in Heaven,
<PB N="242" REF="129"> reacheth as far as his Propitiation here up|on Earth; that is, to the whole World, bad and good, unconverted and conver|ted, impenitent and penitent. For the impenitent he interceeds to God for his patience and forbearance, and his continu|ance of his Ble&s;&s;ings inward and outward: All the means of Repentance and Conver|&s;ion to them, &s;o long as God in his infinite Wi&s;dom &s;hall think fit. For the penitent and good he interceeds for their general Pardon, upon their general Repentance, and particular when they fall into any &s;in. He interceeds al&s;o for their improve|ment, advance and per&s;everance in their Duty and Obedience to God, that they might be pre&s;erved through God's Power and Care, through Faith unto Salvation, and finally, at la&s;t, be put into po&s;&s;e&s;&s;ion of immortal Bli&s;s, be with him where he is, and &s;ee and partake of his Glory.</P>
<P>V. The la&s;t ob&s;ervable in the Text is, one principal Effect of God's Reconcilia|tion, <HI>viz. Not impating their Tre&s;pa&s;&s;es un|to them.</HI> I call it but one, becau&s;e there are &s;everal others, as we &s;hall pre&s;ently &s;hew. More-over, this is an Effect of Re|conciliation, which mu&s;t nece&s;&s;arily be preceded by others, and without which this will never follow. For it is not &s;o
<PB N="243" REF="129"> well &s;aid by &s;ome very learned Men, (as it &s;eems to me) that <NOTE PLACE="marg">Grot. Satisf. &amp; Outr. de Sacrif.</NOTE> there are &s;everal Degrees of Re|mi&s;&s;ion of Sins, as it would, that there are &s;everal Degrees, or rather Effects of Reconciliation. Su&s;pen&s;ion of puni&s;h|ment is not remi&s;&s;ion. Some of the&s;e mu&s;t go before the other. Let us &s;ee them in order briefly. (1) The fir&s;t Effect of God's Reconciliation to the World, is his For|bearance and Long-&s;uffering; not pre&s;ent|ly &s;eizing and bringing Sinners to execu|tion, that he &s;trikes not immediately up|on our Indignities and Provocations, and not only &s;o, but during this time of his Patience, affords them the Obligations, Means, Helps and A&s;&s;i&s;tances of Repen|tance and Reformation. Such are all cor|poral Ble&s;&s;ings, his holy Word and Spirit, the Examples of holy and vertuous Men, who by the&s;e means have been converted, and &s;ome of them perhaps irre&s;i&s;tibly on purpo&s;e, that they might be the means of others Conver&s;ion or Confirmation, and Improvement in Goodne&s;s. All this we all owe to the Merits, Oblation and Inter|ce&s;&s;ion of Je&s;us Chri&s;t. I &s;ay all, both bad and good, <HI>i. e.</HI> tho&s;e who generally live according to the Fle&s;h, who are under the Power of Lu&s;ts and inordinate Appetite,
<PB N="244" REF="130"> and tho&s;e who live according to the Spi|rit, who are generally governed by their Con&s;cience, the Fear and Love of God, a Divine Principle in&s;pired or commanded by the Holy Spirit. The bad are almo&s;t perpetual Sinners, the be&s;t in this Life are not altogether without Sin; the bad live in Sin, the good are &s;ometimes over-taken by it. Now it may be truly &s;aid, that it is for Chri&s;t's Sake, that God is &s;o far re|conciled to the World by him, as to for|bear the pre&s;ent Execution of his di&s;plea|&s;ure or puni&s;hment, and to continue the motives and means of better Behaviour; that he waits a bad Man's general, and a good Man's particular Repentance; that he gives time and means for the Reformati|on of the one, and recovery of the other. (2) A 2<HI>d.</HI> Effect of God's Reconciliation, is pardon of &s;in upon repentance, not without it. Upon our Sanctification by the due u&s;e of the means afforded us, fol|lows Ju&s;tification, being favoured by God, and particularly in the Forgivene&s;s of pa&s;t &s;ins. This we &s;ee in the Effect, e&s;pecially mentioned in the Text, <HI>not imputing,</HI> &amp;c. but not exclu&s;ively of all others. 'Tis that which the Apo&s;tle thought fit to men|tion to the Jews, with whom his di&s;pute was about this matter.</P>
<PB N="245" REF="130">
<P> The Que&s;tion between them was, &s;ince all men are &s;inners, as at lea&s;t the Apo&s;tle affirmed, how &s;hould their Sins be forgi|ven, or their Tre&s;pa&s;&s;es not imputed unto them. The Apo&s;tle tells them, that it was by Je&s;us Chri&s;t; that God was in general reconciling the World to him&s;elf by Chri&s;t; and among other Effects of it this was one, more e&s;pecial and remarkable, re|mi&s;&s;ion of penitent Sinners (none el&s;e) for Chri&s;t's Sake.</P>
<P>Accordingly, we &s;ee the Apo&s;tle every where to in&s;i&s;t upon this Article: They were to preach among all Nations, repen|tance and remi&s;&s;ion of &s;ins; and through this Name is preached to you forgivene&s;s of &s;ins, <HI>Acts</HI> 13. 38. A 3<HI>d.</HI> Effect of God's reconciliation, is a good Man's improve|ment in grace and holine&s;s. As God for Chri&s;t's &s;ake is plea&s;ed to afford men means whereby of bad they may become good, &s;o he is plea&s;ed to continue or augment them, to encrea&s;e and multiply his influ|ence of light, &s;trength, comfort, and joy, in well doing, to make good men better, that they may per&s;evere and be made more meet &s;till, for conver&s;ation with the Saints in light. <HI>4th.</HI> The la&s;t general Effect of Reconciliation, is Eternal Salvation, a Life immortal without &s;in or &s;orrow. After
<PB N="246" REF="131"> the effects of affording means of conver&s;i|on, and their proving effectual, remi&s;&s;ion of pa&s;t &s;ins, and per&s;everance in Holine&s;s, we are to &s;ee God. God will &s;ettle us eternally in &s;uch a State of Life, where our A&s;pires after the &s;piritual Life of Wi&s;dom, Vertue and Holine&s;s, which were always here &s;trugling, and &s;ometimes oppre&s;&s;ed and ma&s;tered by the in&s;inuating or boy&s;terous Affections and Appetites of the carnal Life, &s;hall be perfectly gratified, con&s;tantly vi|ctorious, or without any Enemy to con|te&s;t withall.</P>
<P>There are yet &s;ome more particular Ef|fects of God's reconciliation taken notice of in the Scripture, &s;uch as peace of con|&s;cience, confidence, and full tru&s;t in God, acce&s;s with boldne&s;s to the Throne of Grace, a con&s;tant, comfortable and joyous State of mind, which we leave to reflection and meditation. We have taken occa&s;ion, from one of the principal mention'd in the Text, to reckon up many others, that we may not think it the only one, and at once &s;ee the mighty Advantages of God's recon|ciliation and friend&s;hip by Je&s;us Chri&s;t, and our as great obligations of duty and affe|ction to them. We &s;hall briefly now con|clude all, with an Inference or two, from what hath been ob&s;erved and di&s;cour&s;ed.</P>
<PB N="247" REF="131">
<P> From hence it follows, that we have a ju&s;t Object of our Admiration and Adora|tion too, the goodne&s;s of Almighty God, and the ble&s;&s;ed Je&s;us, the Author and In|&s;trument of our Reconciliation; we can|not give this conde&s;cending goodne&s;s of theirs too great Names. St. <HI>Paul</HI> &s;peaks oft of this Love of God, and Chri&s;t mo&s;t pa&s;&s;ionately. <HI>God commendeth his love to|wards us,</HI> &amp;c. <HI>Rom.</HI> 5. 8. And <HI>God who is rich in mercy,</HI> &amp;c. <HI>Eph.</HI> 2. 4. Our Saviour him&s;elf in <HI>John</HI> 15. 13. <HI>Greater love than this hath no man,</HI> &amp;c.</P>
<P>That here we may be duely affected, con&s;ider we the Parties, what God, what we are. (1) God is the Party greatly injured, and mo&s;t unju&s;tly provoked by our contemptuous Di&s;obedience, our &s;tu|pid Ingratitude, our contracted Enmity, and Contrariety of Nature to him. God needs us not, our love and &s;ervice what can it advantage him? Can a man be pro|fitable to God? <HI>Job</HI> 32. 2, 3. God, who&s;e Power is irre&s;i&s;tible, who can avenge him|&s;elf upon us, when, and as much as he plea&s;eth, though all his Creatures &s;hould be our Confederates, and undertake to de|fend and protect us. And what (2) are we? the Aggre&s;&s;ours, the wilfull and ob|&s;tinate Continuers of this Ho&s;tility. 'Tis
<PB N="248" REF="132"> we who are his Creatures, Servants and Children. 'Tis we who are under un|&s;peakable Obligations to him, who have received life and breath, and all things from him, and &s;ometimes the highe&s;t De|gree of Honour and Happine&s;s in this Life, and pre&s;erved us there in &s;afety, again&s;t all open and &s;ecret Enemies. 'Tis we whom he hath provided for, maintained, taken care of Souls and Bodies here and hereaf|ter. 'Tis we who are &s;ometimes the mo&s;t ungratefull and undutifull, whom he is re|conciling to him&s;elf, and be&s;eeching us to be reconciled to him too. Finally, 'tis we who are the meane&s;t of his rational Crea|tures, the Off-&s;pring of Du&s;t, the Inhabi|tants of Clay and Dirt, the rever&s;ion of Worms. 'Tis &s;uch as we that God is, as it were &s;olicitous, to &s;ave and &s;ecure from his Anger and Ju&s;tice, by per&s;wading and a&s;&s;i&s;ting us to be reconciled, and to be friends with him. 'Tis not Angels he hath been &s;o kind to, for what rea&s;on his Wi&s;|dom be&s;t knows; but to the Sons of men. And it &s;eems as if God were like &s;ome Parents, mo&s;t indulgent to their younge&s;t and weake&s;t Children. Oh! the un&s;earch|able Riches of his goodne&s;s, the incompre|hen&s;ible Dimen&s;ions of that love, which pa&s;&s;eth all under&s;tanding? what, for the
<PB N="249" REF="132"> Supreme Monarch of the World, who&s;e Throne fills the immen&s;e Spaces of the Univer&s;e, who&s;e Foot-&s;tool is paved with Stars, who&s;e word immediately flyeth eve|ry where, and pierceth to the Center; at who&s;e whi&s;pers Cherubins and Seraphims cover their Faces, wor&s;hip and obey; for him to de&s;cend as it were from his Throne to a Worm upon a Mole-hill, to be&s;eech his Friend&s;hip, and count his Reconcilia|tion; to u&s;e all the gentle ways to per|&s;wade him to love, imitate and obey him, <HI>i. e.</HI> to be partaker of his own Nature and Felicity; to leave a Dunghill a mean and &s;ordid manner of life, and to qualifie and dre&s;s him&s;elf for an Eternal Inheritance, Re&s;idence and Conver&s;ation with him&s;elf in his own Palace? what love and good|ne&s;s ever heard like this? But 2<HI>d.</HI> it is not enough to wonder at &s;o conde&s;cending goodne&s;s; but we are to comply with God's Offers of Reconciliation; mo&s;t glad|ly be friends with him, and embrace the Motion, and indu&s;triou&s;ly carry on the De&s;ign without cea&s;ing, till it be compa&s;&s;ed and &s;ecured.</P>
<P>The motives to this Advice may be re|duc'd to two, (1) the Advantages of God's Friend&s;hip, (2) the terrible Con&s;equences of his Enmity.</P>
<PB N="250" REF="133">
<P> (1.) The Advantages of his Friend&s;hip are all the good we are capable of. The Ble&s;&s;ings of this pre&s;ent bodily Life, &s;o far as they are good for us, are the meane&s;t Effects of his favour; the &s;piritual ones of Wi&s;dom, Knowledge, Vertue, Goodne&s;s, Comfort, Joy, and Peace of Con&s;cience, are greater and nobler; but tho&s;e of Hea|ven in quality and degree, and duration, are beyond our under&s;tanding. If God be our Friend, we need not fear the Power and Malice of any; if he be reconciled, he will either cau&s;e our Enemies to be at peace with, or defend us from them; as if he be our Enemy, he can expo&s;e us to them. If he love us in Chri&s;t, who, or what &s;hall &s;eparate us from it? who &s;hall hinder the Fruits and Effects of it? no|thing; &s;o &s;aith the Apo&s;tle, with as ju&s;t, as mighty a Triumph, <HI>Rom.</HI> 8. 15. But (2) what are the Con&s;equents of God's Enmity at la&s;t? In few words, oft-times &s;evere Pu|ni&s;hment, in re&s;pect of this bodily Life, and hardned Heart, and a &s;eared Con&s;ci|ence, and a reprobate Sen&s;e, to be for&s;a|ken of God, to heap one load of guilt up|on another; to die &s;en&s;le&s;s without Com|fort, or with De&s;pair and Terrour; and finally, to be condemned publickly to E|ternal Mi&s;ery, without mercy once de&s;pi|&s;ed,
<PB N="251" REF="133"> but now too late &s;ought after. If the&s;e things be true, as mo&s;t certainly they are, if Religion and Rea&s;on are to be believed, then &s;urely it is good to be well advi&s;ed be times, to make our peace with God, our Adver&s;ary, while we are in the way, and agree with him upon his own Terms, and whil&s;t he continues &s;uch kind and graci|ous Offers unto us.</P>
<P>'Tis too true, that there are too many who will make light of &s;uch coun&s;el. And what's the rea&s;on of it? Is it becau&s;e they think there is no God; or that he is not powerfull, holy and ju&s;t; or that he is all mercy, or rather &s;oftne&s;s; or that they are well enough with him, and &s;ufficiently re|conciled to him already? no more need to be an&s;wered to all this, than to ask one que&s;tion. Suppo&s;e there were at this time, many &s;hrewd Signs of the near Approach of the End of the World, and the Day of Judgment. Suppo&s;e the Sun and the Moon &s;hould &s;tand &s;till, as it did upon <HI>Gibeon,</HI> and in the Valley of <HI>Ajalon,</HI> in the Days of <HI>Jo&s;hua,</HI> for a Month in&s;tead of a Day, and the Sun to go backwards really as ma|ny Degrees in the Heavens, as it did De|grees on the Dial of <HI>Ahaz.</HI> Suppo&s;e all the Sea&s;ons of the Year Retrograde, or at a &s;tand, and the Sun growing pale and &s;ick,
<PB N="252" REF="134"> as it is &s;aid to have been in one of the Ro|man Emperour's Time.</P>
<P>Imagine we a-while from beneath, hor|rible Roarings in the Bowels of the Earth, and its lofty and ma&s;&s;y Structures every where tumbled down, or &s;wallowed whole into an Aby&s;s, the Sea boiling, and the Air filled with fiery and &s;ulphureous Steams, hideous Storms of Thunder and Lightning, for &s;ome Days together. Let us Imagine, I &s;ay, all the&s;e, and (it is no|thing new but what every one talks of) would the Men of Infidelity, Security and Bravery, be then of the &s;ame Opinion they are now? would they then que&s;tion whether there was a God, and a great, ju&s;t, and terrible one too? would they then think their Ca&s;e well enough, and dare to expect the Univer&s;al Judgment, and ap|pear with the &s;ame Unconcernedne&s;s and Confidence that they now pretend to?</P>
<P>Should we not rather &s;ee all but a few penitent, &s;incerely, vertuous Souls, who were indeed at peace with God through Chri&s;t, and lived con&s;tantly in love and duty to him. I &s;ay, &s;hould we not &s;ee all the re&s;t, except this &s;mall Number, with trembling Hearts, mi&s;giving, accu&s;ing and condemning Con&s;ciences, crowding to the Churches and Altars; nay, every where, in
<PB N="253" REF="134"> Streets and Fields crying for mercy, and mo&s;t humbly begging for Forgivene&s;s and Favour? what would they refu&s;e to be, or do, &s;o they might have but a graci|ous look from an angry God, or a de|&s;pi&s;ed Saviour? and yet, perhaps, when they &s;hould find all this to prove a Mi&s;take, and their Panick fears over, they would re|turn to be the &s;ame they were before, and live as carele&s;ly, and contemptuou&s;ly, of God's mo&s;t gracious Offers of Peace and Friend&s;hip, as ever, be as unbelieving, &s;e|cure and confident, as they were in the Days of <HI>Noah,</HI> till Death or Judgment re|ally come upon them, when all Repen|tance and Mercy, De&s;igns and Conditions of Reconciliation are at an End. Never|thele&s;s, hence it appears, how little rea&s;on they have for their pre&s;ent Infidelity, Carele&s;ne&s;s and Pre&s;umption; what they would do then, they &s;hould do now. It is really as true now, that they ought to take care without delay, and to be well a&s;&s;ured of being reconciled to God by Chri&s;t, as it will be, when God &s;hall come to judge the World by Chri&s;t.</P>
<P>It remains only then to renew the Ad|vice, and to repeat the Exhortation, to embrace and pur&s;ue our Reconciliation to God, with all due Thankfulne&s;s, and Sen&s;e
<PB N="254" REF="135"> of the Divine Goodne&s;s, with all Diligence and Indu&s;try. If God be in Chri&s;t recon|ciling the World to him&s;elf, I think, we may &s;ay, it is our Duty and Intere&s;t to be reconciling God in Chri&s;t to our &s;elves al&s;o by Repentance, and con&s;tant future Obedience; and in order thereto, by effe|ctually making u&s;e of tho&s;e means, Je&s;us Chri&s;t hath left us for that purpo&s;e; his holy Doctrine and Example for our dire|ction and encouragement; his holy Spirit for our A&s;&s;i&s;tance; his meritorious Life and Death for our comfort, &s;atisfaction and a&s;&s;urance. And in his &s;tead it is, as the meane&s;t of his Emba&s;&s;adours, accor|ding to our Duty and Tru&s;t, we be&s;eech, and earne&s;tly pray, all to be reconciled un|to God.</P>
<TRAILER>FINIS.</TRAILER>
</DIV1>
</BODY>
<BACK>
<DIV1 TYPE="publisher's advertisement">
<PB REF="135">
<HEAD><HI>Books lately printed for</HI> Walter Kettilby, <HI>at the</HI> Bi&s;hop's-Head <HI>in St.</HI> Paul<HI>'s Church-Yard.</HI></HEAD>
<P N="1">1. A Treati&s;e relating to the Wor&s;hip of God, divi|ded into &s;ix Sections, concerning; <HI>1&s;t,</HI> The Na|ture of Divine Wor&s;hip. 2<HI>d,</HI> The peculiar Object of Wor|&s;hip. 3<HI>d,</HI> The true Wor&s;hippers of God. <HI>4th,</HI> A&s;&s;i&s;tance requi&s;ite to Wor&s;hip. <HI>5th,</HI> The Place of Wor&s;hip. <HI>6th,</HI> The &s;olemn Time of Wor&s;hip.</P>
<P N="2">2. A Defence of reveal'd Religion; in &s;ix Sermons, upon <HI>Romans</HI> 1. 16. Wherein it is clearly and plainly &s;hown, that no Man can po&s;&s;ibly have any real Ground or Rea&s;on to be a&s;ham'd of Chri&s;tianity: By <HI>Henry Halli|well,</HI> M. A. and Vicar of <HI>Cowfold</HI> in <HI>Su&s;&s;ex.</HI></P>
<P N="3">3. Mi&s;cellanies; in five E&s;&s;ays: 1. Upon the Office of a Chaplain; 2. Upon Pride; 3. Upon Cloaths; 4. Up|on Dealing; 5. Upon general Kindne&s;s. The four la&s;t of which, are by way of Dialogue: By <HI>Jer. Colliers,</HI> A. M.</P>
<P N="4">4. Mi&s;cellanies upon moral Subjects, the &s;econd Part: By <HI>Jeremy Collier,</HI> A. M.</P>
<P N="5">5. The My&s;teries in Religion vindicated; or, the Fi|liation, Deity, and Satisfaction of our Saviour, a&s;&s;erted a|gain&s;t <HI>Socinians,</HI> and others: With occa&s;ional Reflections on &s;everal late Pamphlets: By <HI>Luke Milbourn,</HI> a Presbyter of the Church of <HI>England.</HI></P>
<P N="6">6. Apparatus ad Theologiam, in U&s;um Academiarum: 1. Generalis; 2. Specialis. Auctore Stephano Penton, Rectore de Glympton, <HI>Oxon.</HI></P>
<P N="7">7. <HI>Guardian</HI>'s In&s;truction; or, the Gentleman's Ro|mance; written for the Service and Diver&s;ion of the Gentry.</P>
<P N="8">8. New In&s;tructions to the Guardian, &s;hewing, that the la&s;t Remedy to prevent the Ruine, advance the In|tere&s;t, and recover the Honour of this Nation, is, <HI>1&s;t,</HI> A more &s;erious and &s;trict Education of the Nobility and Gentry. 2<HI>d,</HI> To breed up all their younger Sons to &s;ome
<PB REF="136"> Calling and Employment. 3<HI>d,</HI> More of them to Holy Orders; with a Method of In&s;titution from 3 Years of Age to twenty One: By <HI>Stephen Penton,</HI> Rector of <HI>Glymp|ton,</HI> Oxon.</P>
<P N="9">9. Johannis Antiocheni Cognomento Mallalae Hi&s;toria Chronica, &egrave; M. SS. Bibliothecae Bodleianae. Praemittitur Di&s;&s;ertatio de Authore; per <HI>Humph. Hodium,</HI> D. D.</P>
<P N="10">10. A Sermon preached before the King at <HI>Ken&s;ington,</HI> Jan. 13.&mdash;95. By <HI>John Lamb,</HI> D. D. Dean of <HI>Ely,</HI> and Chaplain in Ordinary to His Maje&s;ty.</P>
<P N="11">11. The Dean of <HI>Canterbury</HI>'s Sermon before the King at <HI>Ken&s;ington,</HI> Sunday, <HI>Jan.</HI> 20.&mdash;95.</P>
<P N="12">12. Dr. <HI>I&s;ham</HI>'s Sermon at the Funeral of Dr. <HI>Scott,</HI> late Rector of St. <HI>Giles</HI>'s in the Fields, <HI>March</HI> 15.&mdash;95.</P>
<P N="13">13. Profitable Charity. A Sermon preached before the Lord Mayor and Court of Aldermen, at the Pari&s;h Church of St. <HI>Brides</HI> on <HI>Ea&s;ter-Munday:</HI> By <HI>Robert Grove,</HI> Lord Bi&s;hop of <HI>Chiche&s;ter.</HI></P>
<P N="14">14. The Doctrine of the glorious Trinity, not explai|ned, but a&s;&s;erted by &s;everal Texts, as they are expounded by the Ancient Fathers, and later Divines: By <HI>Francis Gregory,</HI> D. D. and Rector of <HI>Hambeden Bucks.</HI></P>
<P N="15">15. An E&s;&s;ay to receive the Nece&s;&s;ity of the Ancient Charity and Piety; wherein God's Right in our E&s;tates, and our Obligations to maintain his Service, Religion and Charity, is demon&s;trated and defended again&s;t the Preten|ces of Covetou&s;ne&s;s, and Appropriation. In 2 Di&s;cour&s;es: By <HI>George Burghope,</HI> Rector of Little <HI>Gadde&s;den</HI> in <HI>Hertford|&s;hire,</HI> and Chaplain to the Right Honourable the Earl of <HI>Bridgewater.</HI></P>
<TRAILER>The End of the Catalogue.</TRAILER>
<PB REF="136">
</DIV1>
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</TEXT>
</EEBO>
</ETS>
