GOODNESS Proved to be the BEST PROTECTION FROM THE ARRESTS OF ALL HARMS.  
In A SERMON Preached before the University, upon Innocents' Day, in Great St. MARY'S Church in CAMBRIDGE.  
By Robert Nevil, B. D. Rector of Ansty.  
LONDON, Printed for Benj. Billingsley, at the Printing-Press under the Piazza of the Royal Exchange, 1687.   

To the Worshipful my much Honoured Friend, RALPH FREEMAN, Esq One of His Majesty's Deputy-Lieutenants and Justices of the Peace for the County of HERTFORD.  
Honoured Sir,  
YOU may perhaps be surprised to find your Name Usurped by me, to Grace and Honour this trifle of a Sermon; unless you please to consider, that it is the usual Fate of Persons of your obliging Temper, to receive Persecutions of this Nature, as Returns of your Candour and Goodness: And I have only this to at one for the Presumption of this Dedication; that I thought no person so fit to Patronise a discourse of Goodness, as him, in whom all those bright Stars, that make up the Constellation, shine with so great a lustre.  
Among all other Virtues which are resplendent in you, give me leave to trumpet abroad your exemplary Sobriety, which does approach so near to singularity in this age, that I can scarcely pay you your due praises, without a satire on most others; who, by their intemperate Quaffing, make their Houses, like those Enchanted Castles spoken of in Romances, which when a man hath once entered, there's no finding his way out again, by reason of an Enchanted Fountain there, the free Drinking whereof lays him and his reason both asleep: So that now a man can hardly avoid the Imputation of a Rude and Uncivil, unless he lose the Reputation of a Sober Man, and Sacrifice his health to the humour of his drunken Associates, and his Soul to the Devil, whose Factors they are, and for whose interest they drive on that drunken Trade: But to these inconveniencies no Person is exposed under your Roof, where though nothing (that may speak a generous and hearty welcome) is wanting, yet you are a professed Enemy to all Excess; and your Visitants may say the same of themselves, which Socrates did of his Scholars, that they were well the next day. I have dwelled so long upon this part of your Commendations, not because you deserve not greater, but because I am not able to express them in other Subjects; like an ill Swimmer, I have willingly stayed long in my own depth; and though I am desirous to perform more, yet I am loath to venture too far in the large Ocean of your Praises; least by my ill commending your other Virtues, I should so far incur your displeasure as to forfeit that Title, which I value myself upon; Namely, That of  
Honoured Sir, Your Most Faithful and Humble Servant R. Nevil. Ansty, Sept. 23th. 1687.   

THE CHRISTIANS BEST PROTECTION From the Arrests of all HARMS.  1 Epistle general of St. Peter, chap. 3. ver. 13. 
And who is he that will Harm you, if ye be followers of that which is good?  
WEre all who make a fair and plausible show of Religion, really such as they pretend to be; discourses of this nature would be no more needful than the Commendations of a great beauty, to one who is already a passionate admirer of it. But on the contrary we see, how common it is for men, first to throw dirt in the face of Virtue and Religion, and then persuade themselves 'tis her natural complexion; they represent it to themselves in a shape not pleasing to them, and then bring that as a plea, why they give it no better entertainment: Men must know, that though Virtue and Goodness be so fair and complaisant as to draw our affections, yet she is so modest withal; as to expect to be courted by us; and it may be deny our first suit, to prompt us to a second address, and heighten our importunity: and nothing hath oftener forbid the Banns between men and Religion, than their Neglect and Contempt of her, and abusing her by false and slanderous reports; by saying, That Religion is the Mother of Danger; and that the place of her abode, (like that of Archimedes grave) is septus Vepribus & dumetis, beset with Briars and Brambles. I have read of the Cannibal Anakims in the Confines of the Promised Land, that devour all that Travel towards that Region; but let not our Melancholic and Aguish fancies transplant all these into Christendom, and make them Emblems of those Harms and Dangers, that attend those who are followers of Goodness; don't let us fancy that there stands an Angel with a Flaming Sword, to keep us out of this Paradise of Virtue; nor report to the World, that if a Man hath no other guard but his own Innocence, he lies open to the assaults of all dangers and misfortunes, which is a mistake sufficiently confuted by St. Peter, who assures us, That Goodness and Innocence is our best Protection from the Arrests of all Harms, in these words of the Text. And who is he that will harm ye, if ye be followers of that which is 
(a) Quis est q●i nocere aut velit aut possit?  good? Upon which words Vorstius makes this Paraphrase; Who either will or can harm you? as if the Apostle had said, you that are followers of Goodness, may believe yourselves secure, and above the Sphere of all Harms: For there are scarce any so impious that will, or if they are so maliciously bend as to attempt it, they shall not have power to Harm you: which being premised, the Text will fall the more naturally into these two parts.  

First, The Christians Protection from all Harms in these words, Who is he that will harm ye? or as Vorstius glosses upon the words, Who will or can harm ye?  
Secondly, The Qualification that entitles him to this Protection, namely his being a Retainer to Goodness, or as my Text calls him, A follower of that which is good.   
First on the first, or the Christians Protection from all Harms, in these words, Who is he that will Harm ye? a Christian is 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, out of gunshot, no real evil can annoy or molest him: He hath an Almighty protection to screen and secure him from it; if he will put on God's Livery, the Robes of Righteousness and enter into God's service; if he will get some dependence upon the Court of Heaven, wait upon God, and become his Servant in Goodness and Innocence, he shall have a Protection from the Arrests of all Harms; and this brings me to the second general part in the Text, where we have  
Secondly, The Qualification that entitles a Christian to this Protection, namely, his being a Retainer to Goodness, or (as my Text calls him) A follower of that which is good: Rari quippe Boni, now because good men are scarce and Rare, so that by the great scarcity and dearth thereof, it is not easy to discover what True Goodness is: it will be a worthy disquisition to Examine, 

First, What Goodness is?  
Secondly, What are the good Fruits and Effects of it. And  
Thirdly, From what Harms and Evils all Retainers to it are Protected?    
First, I shall Examine, What Goodness is?  
Goodness is a glorious Constellation, made up of these bright Stars, these Heavenly Virtues and Graces, Love, Compassion, Courtesy, Abstaining from Sin, doing works of Mercy, Unity, Peaceableness; as you may see in the eighth, ninth, tenth, and eleventh verses of the Chapter of my Text; where the Apostle exhorts the Jewish Converts to be of One Mind, having Compassion one of another, to Love as Brethren, to be Pitiful, to be Courteous, not rendering evil for evil, or railing for railing, but contrariwise Blessing: For he that will love Life, and see good Days, let him refrain his Tongue from evil, and his Lips that they speak no guile: Let him eschew evil and do good, let him seek Peace and ensue it. After an enumeration of all which Christian Graces, having in the twelfth verse of this Chapter, declared red God's favour and kindness to good Men that are possessed of them, he gives them this Protection from all Harms, in these words of my Text, And who is he that will harm ye, if ye be followers of that which is good? Of all the Attributes, by which a man may be styled, Goodness hath the chief place and sovereignty; and therefore God was called by the Heathens, first Optimus, then Maximus; first, Good, and then Great; there being no true Greatness without Goodness; and therefore that execrable and bloody Tyrant, who caused his Executioners to turn the Cradles of the Innocent Babes of Bethlehem into Graves, and rock them into a Dead sleep, was improperly styled Herod the Great, because he was far from being Herod the Good. A mere great Man without Goodness, is only so much Nobility by Patent, not by Merit; or so much Heraldry without Honour; he stays perhaps a while in the World, but 'tis only to fill up a number, and when he's gone there wants One, and there's an End: But when greatness and Goodness meet in One Person, he is highly to be valued and esteemed, like an Emerald or a Ruby set in Gold, 
— aut ubi flavo  
Argentum, Pariusve Lapis cum cingitur auro;   
Every man is to be esteemed and honoured as he is set down in God's Heraldry, and there Goodness hath the pre-eminence, Proverbs chapter 12. verse 26. The Righteous is better than his Neighbour, all good Men are of a Divine Extraction; they may derive their Pedigree from God himself; and say with St. Paul, and the Heathen Poet whom he quotes, 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉. We are his Offspring, Acts 17.28. and may therefore boast of his Celestial Pedigree, with better reason than Glaucus did in Homer, in these words, 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉.  
I glory and boast of this Celestial descent and extraction: and St. Hierom would say of Paula a Noble Virgin, descended from Aeneas on the Father's side, and from Agamemnon on the Mothers, that she was Genere Nobilis, Sanctitate Nobilior; Noble in Stock but more Noble in Goodness and Sanctity; 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, the pious and good man is the best Man in all regards, saith Clemens of Alexandria.  
External Power and grandeur may render us dreadful and formidable; depth of Learning may raise us in the esteem of the World, and make us the objects of all men's admiration; our large Revenues and vast Estates may purchase us external Respect and Honour, make all men strike Sail to us, and pay us the constant tribute of outward Obeisance; but that which commands men's Hearts, charms their Affections, and chains their Souls to us, is Goodness; which is a great Friend to humane Conversation, the Foundress of all Societies; all other excellencies (how great soever) appear Melancholy and solitary; they only put on a glorious Aspect when in the possession of one, or few persons; and once made common grow cheap and contemptible; but Goodness is better natured, and of so public a Spirit, that without being communicable, it may no more be called Goodness, than the Sun without its diffusive and expansive light, may be called the Sun: as the good man's Religion, so also is his goodness and compassion Catholic: He thinks it a kind of moral Judaisme, to tie it either to persons or places; as knowing that he is commanded by St. Paul, Galatians 6.10. To do good to all men; and his language is what tully's was, in one of his Epistles to Lentulus, I 
(b) T●ntùm enitor ut neque amicis, neque etiam alienioribus, operâ, consilio, labour, desim.  endeavour only that I may not be wanting, either to Friends or Strangers, by my Pains, Counsels, or Labours, and he really is, what St. Hierom advised Pammachius to be, caecorum oculi, manus debilium, claudorum pes, eyes to the blind, a hand to the weak, and a foot to the lame, and consequently must needs be very acceptable, and dear to them; and this brings me to the second particular, namely,  
The Good Fruits and Effects of Goodness, which are these that follow.  

1. 'Tis a Lure to bring us the Love of Men.  
2. It draws and attracts the Love of God.  
3. It assimilates and makes us like God.   
1. 'Tis a Lure, to bring us the Love of men; The good man may have that Character, which was given of the Roman Emperor Vespasian, Deliciae humani generis, the Delight of Mankind, the darling of the World; for by his Courtesy, Charity, Civility, and Peaceableness, he obliges all men, makes all his Friends and thereby becomes also a Friend to himself; for as Seneca says, Qui sibi amicus omnibus amicus, he that is a Friend to himself, is a Friend to all the World: the good man will, if it be possible, quarrel with no man; he is no man's Enemy, and therefore no man is an Enemy to him; and we may say the same of him, that Cornelius Nepos did of Pomponius Atticus, 
(c) Nullas inimicitias g●ssit, quòà nec laedebat quenquam, neque si quam injuriam acceperat, maleóat ulcisci quàm Oblivisci.  He was infested with no Enmity, because he hurt no man, and if he had received an injury, he was more willing to forget then to revenge it; so that goodness is the best Policy, even in a worldly account; 'tis the best Decoy to allure men to our Friendship. There is no such bait whereby to catch men as goodness is, and it may therefore borrow our Saviour's words, which he spoke to Peter and Andrew his Brother, Matthew 4.19. Fellow me and I will make you Fishers of men: And then  
2. Goodness draws and attracts the Love of of God; 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, God delights as much in good men as in Heaven itself; and Hierocles, who recites that golden verse of Pythagoras, does himself affirm, That God hates no man; but as for the good man, 
(d) 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉.  he embraces him with an extraordinary Affection: and it was a saying much used by the Pythagoreans, That 
(e) 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉.  God hath not in the whole Earth, a more familiar place of Residence, than the pure, the good Soul. A good man is God's Heaven upon Earth; and therefore when the Philosopher Heraclitus came by accident into a house where a good man dwelled, he cried out presently, Hic Dij habitant, the Gods dwell here; the Philosopher tells us that those things 
(f) 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉.  which are like and related to us, are for the most part pleasing; and how pleasing then must the good man be to God, who resembles him in Goodness?  
1. Tamerlain being presented with a Pot of Gold, asked whether the Gold had his Father's Stamp upon it, and being told that it had not his Fathers, but the Roman Stamp, he refused to receive it; Goodness is God's stamp, and as holy Ignatius tells us, a good man 
(g) 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉.  is a piece of Money of Gods own Coin and Stamp; now if God does not see his stamp of goodness upon us, he will never Own us for his. The very proper character, and essential Tincture of God, is nothing else but goodness: nay I may be bold to add, that God is therefore God, because he is the highest and most perfect good: Whatsoever God doth in the World, he doth it, as 'tis suitable to the highest goodness; The first Idea and Copy whereof is his own Essence; virtue and goodness in the Creatures, as Plato well discourses, are not therefore good because God loves them, and will have them to be accounted such; but rather, God therefore loves them, because they are in themselves simply good.  
3. A third good Fruit and Effect of goodness, is, That it Assimilates and makes us like God.  
Goodness is that wherein God himself doth most delight; and therefore all the Actions of our Saviour, while he was conversant here were but so many testifications of his Mercy and Goodness, without the least tincture of severity, two only excepted, his driving the Buyers and Sellers out of the Temple, and Cursing the Figtree; and yet in both these, his Mercy seemed to ride in Triumph, and make Judgement follow its triumphant Chariot; the first of these actions, though it brought some small reproach and smart upon the objects of it, yet it did them no great Harm; and the second had as small a Taste of severity, as being exercised upon a barren-Tree, a dull senseless Creature, uncapable of smart or punishment, but was merely exemplary to us; Christ being pleased to punish our unfruitfulness in the Figtree, as the Persians were accustomed to beat the garments in stead of the bodies of their Grandees, when they had offended.  

(g) Summa 〈◊〉 Religio im●t●●● quem colis.  'Tis the best and highest piece of Religion to imitate and resemble the Object of our Worship, says Lactantius. 
(h) 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉.  And a man cannot Worship him aright, whom he does not imitate, says Clemens of Alexandria; we must therefore endeavour to imitate and resemble God in goodness; goodness being that Godlike Quality, which exalts our humane Nature, sublimates and heightens it into Divinity, and makes us like God: and thus having shown you the good Fruits and Effects of goodness, I come now to show you.  
Thirdly, From what Harms and Mischiefs it Protects us; as namely, 

First, From all those Harms and Mischiefs that men can do us.  
Secondly, From all the Harms and Mischiefs that arise from sin.  
Thirdly, From those eternal Harms and Torments, which those who are strangers to goodness shall suffer in Hell. First on the    
First, That goodness will protect us from all those Harms and Mischiefs that Men can do us; Innocence is our most faithful guard; this is our 
(i) Fidelissima est Custodia ipsa innocentia. Haec Arx inaccessa, hoc inexpugnabile munimentum, munimento non egere.  most inexpugnable and strong Fortress; to be so good, so innocent, as to need No Guard, No Fortress, says Pliny in his Panegyric to Trajan. It was Seneca's complaint, that he 
(k) Vix quenquam inveni qui aper to ostio vivere possit.  could rarely meet with any, that might venture to live with open doors, and 'tis the good man only that dares live so; his innocence will shield him from all Harms; from the worst that men can breathe or Act against him: all the Harm that men can do us, is either, 

First, By Words, or,  
Secondly, By Actions.    
And the good, the Innocent man, is proof against both these  
First, Men cannot hurt or harm him by Words. His innocency is a shelter, a Sanctuary from the poisoned Arrows of a slanderous and evil Tongue: The whole Earth is not big enough to cast a shadow, totally to Eclipse a good Man's credit; the Teeth of his enemy's malice many times do but file his innocence the brighter; and (like rough Diamonds) the more 'tis cut it shines with the greater lustre: They are not only the beauties of a Face, which draw new Graces from those black Spots and Patches, (which one would think) should disfigure them: those shadows which a slanderous Tongue casts upon Innocence, makes it but the more remarkable, in the same manner as an Eclipse is a cause of the Suns being more taken notice of: The testimony of a good Conscience is more to be valued by us than all Reports, though there were neither Friends, nor Enemies, to Praise or Reproach us; Beauty and Comeliness will always find satisfaction enough in the glass, Deformity vexation: now the Conscience does the same for Virtue or Vice, that a Mirror or Glass does for faces: We should therefore seek our Consolation in our own Breasts and Consciences, and when we have done all we can, to deserve a good name, we may slight and contemn a bad one; and be no more troubled when we are said to be guilty of what we are not; than if we were said to be sick, when we find ourselves well; and what wise man will be troubled at that, which should rather move his laughter? And as goodness gives us a protection from all harms by Words, so  
Secondly, Does it shelter us from all the Harms that can arise from the Actions of Men; Men can but kill the body, the death thereof terminates and bounds their Malice; 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 says Socrates; they may kill but they cannot hurt the good and Innocent; Death being no more to them than a dark Entry to a glorious Palace, or a Shady Wilderness to a promised Canaan; thus Herod's Tragical and Barbarous Cruelty acted upon the Innocent Babes of Bethlehem, did but accelerate and hasten their eternal bliss; these tender Plants were but transplanted from Earth to Heaven, but removed from their Earthly mother's breast, to their heavenly Father's bosom; the first blossoms of their Infancy were by a compendious improvement ripened into heavenly Fruit; God lent them the Wings of a Dove to fly to their Eternal rest, before some of them were able to use their Feet. Now that goodness, that Innocence, will shelter us from all the harms that can arise from the Actions of Men, I shall further prove to you by these two Reasons and Arguments.  

1. Because it procures us Almighty God for our Protector.  
2. Because it procures us the good Angels for our Guard.   
1. Because it procures us Almighty God for our Protector, and this is intimated to us in the verse foregoing my Text, for the Eyes of the Lord are over the Righteous, so that he may with confidence borrow those words of the Psalmist, Psalm 56.11. In God have I put my trust, I will not fear what man can do unto me; or say as Paris did in Homer, God 
(l) 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉  is on our side, and if God be with him what need he care or value, who is against him? One in Livy said, 
(m) Satis sibi Copiarum cum Publio Decio, & nunquam nimium hostium fore.  That he had Forces and Strength enough, having Decius on his side, and that he could never have too many Enemies. This a good man may apply to himself, and say, that God alone is Forces and Strength enough, and having him his Friend and Assistant, he can never have Enemies enough to deserve his fear, but may buoy up himself with those words of Holy Anselm 
(n) Nemo te laedat nisi qui deum vincat.  That none can hurt him unless they can first conquer God; unless they can overcome Omnipotency itself, slay Immortality, and confound the whole Host of Heaven: As they say in Philosophy, That the Concupiscible faculty of the Soul sets the Irascible on work; So God's Love to the Good and Innocent, quickens and incenses his Wrath against their Enemies. A sense whereof encouraged Tertullian to discourse at this rate to Scapula the Precedent of Africa, 
(o) Nulla Civitas impunè latura est sanguinis nostri Effusionem.  That no City should go unpunished, where their innocent blood had been shed; and he gives him a Catalogue of several Precedents, who 
(p) Qui in fine vitae suae recordati sunt deliquisse quòd vexâssent Christianos.  when at the point of death, were touched with some remorse for their Afflicting the Innocent Christians: and that in particular Vigellius Saturninus, who first drew the Sword of Persecution against them was deprived of his eyes. And that Claudius Herminianus in Cappadocia, after he had handled them with great Cruelty, was, whilst alone in his Praetorian Palace, struck with a strange Plague, and overrun with noisome Worms; and then he makes a warm and close Address to Scapula himself; who having lately condemned innocent Mavilus to the Beasts, was seized with a sharp Distemper; desiring him to forbear 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, to fight against God.  
Thus also was Herod Ascalonita smitten with a signal Vengeance from Heaven, after the bloody Massacre of those poor Innocents', which he Sacrificed to his Pride and Cruelty: his punishment being a complicated Judgement, made up of Tortures both of Soul and Body; his Bowels, which were strangers to all Compassion, were tortured with an intimate and ward heat, 
(q) 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉.  a slow fire, which to the outward Sense seemed not so vehement; but did inwardly afflict and torment him, as Josephus tells us; and his body was the subject of as many Tortures and Convulsions, as his Mind was of Terrors and 
(r) 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉.  Distractions; every blow he received seemed to come from Heaven, and inflicted by the strong hand of an enraged Deity: Every Creature (when God calls) is a Soldier to fight for the Good and Innocent; the whole Militia of Heaven, even thousands of Angels are Auxiliary Forces to them; and this brings me to the second reason, why Goodness will shelter us from all harms, that can arise from the Actions of Men; and that is,  
2. Because it procures the good Angels for our Guard, Psalm 34.7. The Angel of the Lord encamps about them that fear him, and delivers them; Infinite Legions of Angels attend God in Heaven, and every single Angel is as strong as a whole Army of Men; one Angel in the Book of Kings, is sent out against an Army of the Assyrians; and in one Night a Hundred Fourscore and Five Thousand persons die by his hand; now all the Angels and Host of Heaven are the good man's Lifeguard, and what humane Power is able to withstand them? The presence and assistance of Angels to good men is no new thing, though their apparition is now very rare; they had peculiar care over good Men in ancient times. Lot was led out of Sodom by Angels: And Matthew chapter 2. verse 13. An Angel appeared to Joseph to warn him to fly into Egypt, with the young Child, The Holy Jesus; whose Life was chief sought by Herod, when he died and discoloured all the Coasts of Bethlehem with the blood of so poor Innocents'. An Angel delivers St. Peter out of Prison, Acts, chapter 5. verse 19 An Angel Comforts St. Paul in the Tempest, Acts chapter 27. verse 23. And Socrates (in His Ecclesiastical History) tells us that when the Citizens of Constantinople were dejected, for Fear least the Persians should overcome the Romans, to whose protection many Christians had committed themselves, a Company of Angels appeared to some, who were Travelling to Constantinople, and bid them cheer up the Spirits of the Inhabitants with this joyful News, that the Romans should defeat the Persians, and come off Victorious. And our own Historians make mention of a Celestial Herald, an Angel from Heaven, who appearing to JAMES the Fourth King of Scotland, advised him not to Fight his intended Battle with the English; which Counsel he neglecting, Himself with most of his Nobles and Army fell in that fatal Battle.  
And though the appearance of Angels is not now to be expected by us, because never promised; and converse with them is a Blessing which our state of infirmity cannot bear; yet is not their Ministry wholly ceased, they still (though invisibly) succour and help us, Hebrews chapter 1. verse 14. are they not all Ministering Spirits, sent forth to Minister for them, who shall be Heirs of Salvation? And this shall suffice for the proof, that goodness will protect us from all those harms that men can do us either by Words or Actions. I now proceed to show you.  
Secondly, That Goodness will shield us from all the Harms and Mischiefs that arise from Sin. There is incomparably more trouble in the ways of Sin, than in those of Goodness and Virtue: Every notorious Sin is naturally attended with some inconvenience, of Harm, Danger or Disgrace, which the sinner seldom considers till the sin be committed, and then he is in a Labyrinth; and in seeking the way out of a present inconvenience, he entangles himself in more.  
There is a Divine Nemesis that attends wicked men; and Sin and the Fear of the Divine Vengeance are chained together, as the Romans did their Malefactors to the Soldiers who were to be their Keepers and Executioners: The sinner is almost always haunted with inward gripes and twinges of guilt, though sometimes he is not punished here visibly, nor scourged with a market Lash.  
And who would not rather die a thousand times than live under such a Conscience, whose every Accusation is no less than a summons to Death? 
(s) Neque frustra sapientes affirmare soliti sunt, si recludantur Tyrannorum mentes, ictus posse aspici & laniatus.  It is not for nothing (saith the Historian Tacitus) that the wisest men have told us, that were the hearts of wicked men laid open, we should see their Swell and Ulcers, Stripes and Torments; Here a bruise by Impatience, here a swelling of Pride, here a deep wound which malice hath made.  
It is the good man only that leads a Comfortable and Happy Life, whereas wicked men's Lives are Toilsome and Miserable, Jeremiah, chapter 9 verse 5. They weary themselves to commit Iniquity. They take as much or more pains to go to Hell, than good Men do to go to Heaven. 
(t) 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉.  Even the things of the Devil are not attained without Labour and Pains, saith St. Chrysostom. How Laborious is our Revenge? How busy our Cruelty? How Watchful and Studious our Lust? What Penance does our Covetousness put us to? How strangely does our Envy possess us, like an Evil and Malignant Spirit? Which one in Stobaeus calls, 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, the Basest Spirit, and yet most Just, because it punishes the Delinquent in the very Act; doing as Aelian speaks of the Polypus, 
(u) 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉  who, when he wants his prey devours his own Arms, the secret pangs of his Envy gnaw and feed upon himself: Thus Men become (as I may so speak) Martyrs of the Devil and damnation, and the subjects of all those Harms and Mischiefs, that are of sins retinue, from which they might be freed; if they would once become Proselytes to Virtue and Goodness.  
Their very Enemies could say of the Athenians, That there was nothing that they could count a Feast, but 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the having done what they ought; and if a Christian cannot outvie those Heathens, if he doth not highly esteem of the Feast of a good Conscience within him, and the Satisfactions that are to be reaped from a good Life, which are present Happiness in themselves, and pledges of future Glory; his palate is vitiated, he is no competent judge of Dainties, And as goodness will shield its followers from all those harms and Mischiefs that arise from Sin, so,  
Thirdly and Lastly, Will it free them from the Eternal Harms and Torments, which those who are strangers to Goodness shall suffer in Hell. Lactantius was so hard in believing the roundness of the Earth, that he thought that those Homines Pencils (as they call them) those men that hang on the other Cheek of the Face of the Earth, those Antipodes (whose feet are directly against Ours) must needs fall from the Earth; but whither then should they fall? If they fall, they must fall upwards, towards Heaven: So good Men, the Spiritual Antipodes to Sin, may in some sense be said to fall, when they fall to Repentance, to Mortification, and other good Duties, and when they fall off from their Sins; but their fall is upwards, they fall towards Heaven; Hell hath no Power over them; for God hath set his mark, stamped the Impress of his Goodness upon them; and that is their Protection from all the Arrests of Satan; That will keep them out of his dark infernal Prison: Hell is only a place for Wicked men; 'tis their proper Centre, and the Gravity and Heaviness of their sins make them tend thither, Psalm 9.17. The Wicked shall be turned into Hell, and as the strong Magic of Nature pulls and draws every thing continually to that place, which is suitable to it, and to which it belongs; so Hell, wheresoever it is, will by a strong sympathy pull in all sin, and Magnetically draw it to itself; as on the contrary true Goodness is always breathing upwards, and fluttering towards Heaven, striving to Imbosom itself with God.  
We may flatter ourselves with what conceits we please, but so long as we are void of Goodness, we do but Dream of Heaven, and I know not what fond Paradise; we do but Court a painted Heaven, and woe happiness in a Picture; the glory of Heaven being nothing else but innocence enthroned, and attired her in white Robes, and Goodness Triumphant; Goodness with a Palm of Victory in her hand, and a Crown upon her Head: And how happy will the Good, the Innocent Man be, when he shall receive that Crown, with this deserved Encomium and Commendation? Euge bone Serve! Well done Good and Faithful Servant! What a Ravishment and Transport will it be to him? What an Oleo of High Tastes compounded together? O then let us all be Followers of Goodness! This, This, is our best 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉; the best Charm against all Evils; The best Amulet and Preservative against all harms; Our safest Port, our best Haven; here we can never suffer Shipwreck, hereno storms can come at us to hurt us; here we are above the Sphere of men's Power to harm us; in this blessed Station the Torments of Hell cannot reach or fasten upon us. Goodness then is our best Asylum, our best Sanctuary, our safest Refuge, from the harms both of Men and Devils; for saith St. Peter, Who is that will Harm ye, if ye be followers of that which is Good? Which God grant we may all be, for his Dear Son Jesus Christ his sake, to whom with the Father, and the Holy Spirit, be all Honour, Glory, and Adoration, both now and Ever, AMEN.  
FINIS.   

Five Sermons lately Published by the same Author, and sold by Benj. Billingsley.  

1 A Sermon Preached before the Right Honourable the Lord Mayor and Court of Aldermen of the City of London at Guildhall.  
2. The necessity of Receiving the Holy Sacrament, declared in a Sermon at a Conference of the several Ministers of the Deanery of Braughin, in the County of Hertford, appointed by the Right Reverend Father in God Henry Lord Bishop of London to be held at Ware.  
3. The great Excellency and Usefulness and Necessity of Humane Learning.  
4. The Nature and Causes of hardness of Heart, Together with the Remedies against it.  
5. The Things above proved to be the most Proper Objects of the Mind and Affections. All Three Preached before the University, at Great St. Mary's Church in Cambridge.