A SERMON Preached before THE Lord Bishop OF CHICHESTER AT LEWES, At his First VISITATION there.  
By TIMOTHY PARKER Rector of East-Hothley in Sussex.  

IMPRIMATUR,  
27. April 1676. Georg. Hooper Reverend. Dom. Archiep. Cant. à Sacris Domesticis.   
LONDON, Printed for John Baker at the Three Pigeons in St. Paul's Churchyard, 1676.   

TO THE Right Reverend Father in GOD RALPH, BY DIVINE PERMISSION, Lord Bishop OF CHICHESTER.  
My Lord,  
YOur Lordship's favourable acceptance of this following Sermon, and Commanding it to be Printed (for such force Your desire carries with me) have at length made me adventure to present it to Your Lordship's View, with hope, that what upon hearing had Your approbation, will upon sight pass however for allowable.  
After Your Lordship's declaring in favour of it, I am little concerned what Reception 'twill find abroad, believing with some reason that what such a Judgement disapproves not, can not easily displease the Good and Candidly Judicious, and 'tis the good opinion of such only I have value for. If some few of my Brethren, by the Perusal of this plain Discourse, may be in the least measure aided towards making themselves and others Better, I have my end in it.  
To contribute the best I was able, to excite a greater sense of Religion amongst us, by animating the Ministers of it to display its Beauty in their Lives, as well as their Discourses, was the Design I proposed to myself. And what ever the Success be, I have the satisfaction that I did not take my aim amiss, and how unproportionable soever the means be I used; the defect was not from any want of Good will to lend the best assistance I was able; Prompted thereunto by a Spark of that Zeal for the success and prevalency of true Christian Piety against the Licentiousness of this present Age, that glows in the Hearts of all good men, and that Your Lordship in Particular is all on fire with. This my Lord it is that makes You Venerable, this gains You the Hearts of all good men, makes You awful to the bad. This will make You a Public Blessing whilst You live, Embalm Your Memory when dead? Nay, make You live after Death on Earth, in the Hearts and Memories of all good men that knew You, in Heaven in the Joys of our Lord. That God would long preserve Your Lordship for the Benefit of his Church, and make all Your Endeavours for its Prosperity eminently successful, is the Hearty Prayer of  
My Lord, Your Lordship's most Humble, And Dutiful Servant, Timothy Parker.   
MATTHEW 5.16. Let your Light so shine before men, that they may see your good Works, and glorify your Father which is in Heaven. 
THe greatest and most important Enquiry that ever was in the World, was that of the Psalmist, Who will show us any Good? Who will discover to us wherein true Blessedness lies, and by what ways and means we may be able to obtain it? An Enquiry that every man is highly concerned to be satisfied in, from that common Principle of Nature that inclines every thing to seek its own Preservation and Wellbeing: But such Darkness had man's Apostasy brought upon his mind, that he was utterly at loss how to arrive at any satisfaction in this Search, as by the great variety of differing Opinions about man's chiefest good sufficiently appears. Sad and deplorable was the condition of the World, plunged in misery, and lost as to all Remedy within Nature's ken and reach, when our blessed Saviour, the true light of the World, came from Heaven, on purpose to discover that happiness that mankind was groping after in the dark, and to this end communicated his light to those that were his first Hearers, not only to guide their own feet in the paths of peace, but that they by the light of their Doctrine, and good example, might illuminate a dark World, disperse the beams of saving truth from one end of the Heavens to the other, and by propagating it to their Successors, make such a comfortable day to those Nations that had long sat in darkness, and the shadow of death, as should know no night to the world's end: And to this purpose he enjoins them here in the Text; Let your Light so shine, etc.  
Which words, whether they were spoken to the promiscuous multitude of the Disciples, or appropriated to those that were to be the Stewards and Dispenser's of the Gospel Mystery, is disputed amongst Interpreters, nor need it be determined by me. 'Tis sufficient for my present purpose, that though the Charge here given belong not solely to the Apostles and their Successors, yet it casts a peculiar aspect upon them, it takes faster hold of them by an accession of peculiar ties, and binds them to its obedience in a higher and more improved sense: And that's sufficient to warrant my addressing a Discourse to my Brethren of the Clergy from these words: In which as they have a peculiar regard to them, they contain a duty enjoined, with a reason enforcing it; and in the duty enjoined these three things. 1. A knowledge of the Doctrine of the Gospel, and that such a knowledge as may enable us to instruct others. 2. A vigorous endeavour to propagate our light, and to communicate this wholesome knowledge to others. 3. A life conformable to this Doctrine. Of these in their order, beginning with the first.  
1. A knowledge of the Gospel Mysteries, and that such a knowledge as may enable us to instruct others in them. The great end why the Gospel Ministry was set up, was to turn sinners from darkness to light, from the power of Satan to God, and the chains wherewith the Devil holds men in captivity are chains of darkness. They are altenated from the life of God through the darkness that is in them. All the affairs of this dark Kingdom are carried on by Falsehood and Imposture. All the Sophisticate Wares that he obtrudes upon men, for which he gains their souls in exchange, are put off by the advantage of darkness and obscurity; hence sinners and fools are terms convertible in Scripture, and 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, that all sins in some sense are sins of Ignorance is good Divinity. The Devil deals with sinners as Elisha with the Syrians, first smites them with blindness, and then leads them captive at his pleasure; as the Philistims with Samson, first boreas their eyes out, and then they are fit for his drudgery. 'twould spoil the Merchants of Hell to have their Merchandise seen by a true light: And consequently he that would be instrumental to rescue sinners from under the Prince of darkness, must be furnished with an excellent knowledge, with a clear and bright understanding, able to represent things in their true colours; the beauty of holiness and the deformity of fin, both stripped of those disguises the Devil puts upon them to make the one lovely, and the other hated. A little knowledge with an honest heart may qualify an ordinary Christian for Heaven: But 'tis no small scantling of knowledge will qualify a man to undertake ex officio, the charge of conducting others thither: 'Tis sufficient for an ordinary Christian to know his own duty, his own weaknesses, his own temptations; but he that hath the care of others souls, must know what duty belongs to them in their different Stations; What temptations their various conditions are assaulted with, and what Weapon; are proper to repulse them, what dangers they are exposed to, and what remedies are to be provided against them. The World is a Hospital of diseased souls, labouring under variety of spiritual distempers, that call for the compassionate skill of the spiritual Physician; who should know what remedies to apply to their different maladies, and have them always in a readiness: How to address against Pride in the Ambitious, Covetousness in the Mammonist, Cruelty in the Oppressor, Craft and Overreaching in the Fraudulent, Error, Prejudice, and Misperswasion in many a well-meaning but deluded soul: How to convince the obstinate, and silence the gainsayer, to satisfy the scrupulous, and confirm the weak; to encourage the timorous, and alarm the drowsy; to make Hypocrisy let fa●l her Vizard, Vain Glory her Plumes, and prefumption her delusive hopes; to make the stubborn ungovernable spirits of men to understand the ●●auty and benefit of Government. His lips should preserve knowledge, that when he speaks it may be as the Oracles of God, suitable to the occasion, evident to the understanding, forcible on the affections; otherwise he will never approve himself a workman that needs not be ashamed. He must have milk for babes, and stronger meat for grown Christians; be able to acquaint them with the beauty of God's Works, the Impressions of Power, Wisdom, Goodness that he hath stamped on all his Creatures, to which an inspection into the Works of Nature is requisite. To make them see the Beauty of Providence, the watchful care that God hath exercised over his Church in all Ages; to which the knowledge of Church History and Antiquities is necessary. Above all to make them understand in some good measure 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, the wonders of love and mercy, wisdom and goodness displayed in the Work of our Redemption; which cannot be well done without great study, and serious application of mind to find out the meaning of the Holy Ghost in Scripture, which is the only Authentic Volume in the World where the knowledge of these wonders is recorded. To a true understanding whereof a great variety of other knowledge in Languages, Antiquities, Customs of the Eastern Nations, lend a very good assistance.  
I might speak myself out of breath, before I could give a summary of those things the man of God ought to be instructed in, before he be competently furnished for the management of his important Charge. The Physician of souls should be well versed in Soul Anatomy, know how to govern the Passions of men; what's proper to raise, allay, and moderate them; for he can never well govern the lives of men, that doth not in some measure hold the reigns of their affections in his hands. So difficult and important is the Ministerial Charge, that the Father had reason to say 'twas a work Angelorum humeris formidandum, and not to be managed by every trifling undertaker. So sensible was the great Apostle of the weightiness of it, though endowed with extraordinary abilities from Heaven, that he cries out, 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉; Who is sufficient for these things! How much then doth it concern us, upon whom these ministerial abilities are not conferred but by God's blessing upon our own industry implored by earnest prayer, to study, pray, read, meditate, that we may be enabled to discharge our Function; so, that we may not be ashamed of our workmanship, that God and our consciences may approve of us, that others may receive benefit, and we find favour and acceptance in the day of righteous retributions.  
2. A second thing included in this Charge, as it casts a peculiar aspect upon the Ministers of the Gospel, is a vigorous endeavour to communicate our light, and to impart this saving knowledge to others, which is done by instructing their Ignorance, and awakening their consideration. First, by instructing their Ignorance, addressing to their Understandings, illightning the minds of men to make a right judgement of things. The Understanding, which is the leading faculty of the soul must first be enlightened, before the will which is the principle of action can embrace what's good and avoid what's evil. What ever the grace of God does in renewing the minds of men, it does it by first irradiating the Understanding; And the Ministers of the Gospel, who are subworkers to Grace, must proceed in the same method. Light was the first in the Old Creation, when the rude mass of being began to put on Beauty, and 'tis the first in the new Creation, when Christ is form in the soul. This therefore must be his first work, and business to bring them to a right understanding, to restore them to their right minds. But he must not think it enough to convey truth into their understandings and leave it there, but he must work it upon their affections by awakening their consideration, by all the forcible motives of persuasion, by all the arts of wise and prudent insinuation, forcing all the passions and affections within men to engage on the side of truth, to print it the deeper in their minds. Sometimes awakening their fears by representing the terrors of the Lord, sometimes animating their Hopes, by showing them the recompense of the Righteous. He must never give them over till the truth is rooted in their souls, and till the fruits of piety appear in their lives. No nor then neither, but still he must be watering the tender plants, still cherishing all good beginnings, the first sproutings of piety, and encouraging small proficients to greater growth, the good proficients to aspire after perfection, till Grace ripen into Glory, and all the Runners in this Race, all the Combatants in this Warefare have got the Crowns on their Heads, and the Palms of Victory in their Hands. Never forgetting all the while to beg of God, who alone gives the increase to Paul's planting and Apollo's watering, to crown his endeavours with success. And to excite himself hereto such considerations will be useful.  
1. That this is the end for which all Ministerial abilities were bestowed, Ephs. 4.11, 12. He gave some Apostles, and some Prophets, and some Evangelists, and some Pastors and Teachers; For the perfecting of the Saints, for the work of the Ministry, for the edifying of the Body of Christ. All these several Orders of Ecclesiastical Persons, and all variety of gifts that qualify for the discharge of their several Functions, were for the benefit of the Church of God. And no Talents shall be more severely accounted for than those given for this use. The very bestowing them is an exaction of duty, the receiving them like that of Press-money, an engagement to service and employment. If we let these Treasures lie by and rust, the very rust of them will witness against us.  
2. 'Tis the best testimony of our love, the greatest proof of our fidelity to our Lord and Master. That great lover of Souls hath entrusted many of them to our care, and in them the worth of many Worlds is deposited in our hands. Whether they shall live Eternal Ages in Joys, too big for Mortal thoughts to conceive, or die the Devil's Slaves, and partake his torments, depends in great measure upon our care in instructing them. What value our Saviour puts upon them is best understood by the price he paid for them, they were redeemed with the blood of God; and by his passionate recommending them to the care of those whom he appointed their Guides and Instructors. Simon Son of Jonah lovest thou me? Feed my Sheep. And again, and a third time, lovest thou me? Feed my Sheep, feed my Lambs. If we have any affection for that Saviour of ours to whom we own our present valuable enjoyments, and all our future hopes; if any compassion for those souls which are the purchase of his blood, if any regard of that important trust that must be accounted for with greatest severity, we cannot but bend all the Forces and Powers of our Souls to the discharge of it, and apply ourselves to it with greatest cheerfulness and alacrity in testimony of the great honour he hath put upon us: For  
3. It is the Noblest employment in the World. A work of the greatest Charity, and Charity is the work of Heaven. The greatest object of compassion in the World are the souls of men blinded by Ignorance, enslaved to lust, in bondage to the Devil; and the greatest labour of Love is that that's undergone to rescue them out of that captivity. To  naked backs, and feed empty bowels, and redeem miserable Captives from the thraldom of merciless Tyrants, is a charity that God accepts, and highly rewards. But to  the nakedness of men's understandings by making them wise to salvation, to feed poor hungerstarved souls with the bread of life, to break off the Devil's fetters, and redeem them from hellish tyranny, is a charity as much more noble, as Eternity exceeds Time, as the Souls of men are of more worth than their Bodies. 'Tis a Work that rejoices Heaven, causes Joy amongst the Angels. Those Blessed Spirits keep, (as it were) a Festival upon the day of a sinner's New-birth. And shall a work applauded by all the Inhabitants of Heaven be managed with coldness and indifferency, with faint and languishing endeavours. There's nothing makes men more Godlike than becoming great and public Benefactors; and none are more Eminently so, than they that are instrumental to turn many souls to Righteousness. He that hath any sense of true Godliness in his heart, cannot but think it one of the greatest blessings God can bestow upon him, to make him an instrument of deriving blessings upon a Multitude: Much more, blessings of that importance that do men good for ever, blessings that fit and prepare men for Heaven, that shall be everlastingly remembered there with eternal Hallelujahs to God the Author, and eternal acknowledgements to men the instruments. For it is not to be supposed Ingratitude, a Vice so detestible on Earth, should ever find any place in Heaven.  
4. This will be a very great evidence of our own sin cericy. 'Tis the nature, the true Indoles of true Piety, wherever it is, to spread and dilate itself. All good is communicative, and the better any thing is, the more diffusive. Piety enlarges the hearts of men to espouse the Interest of all mankind; 'tis a daily prompter to good and worthy actions, whereby others may be advantaged; an active, restless Principle that can no more cease from benefitting all that come within its reach, than fire can cease from burning, or a spring from streaming forth. The love of God and man are the Elements of its Nature. Above all, it makes men painful and industrious in their Callings, faithful in their own places and stations. Since than God hath made it our business and employment in the World to communicate the knowledge of himself and his Christ to men, to direct them in the Paths that lead to eternal happiness; We cannot have a better evidence that we are partakers of the Divine Nature, than by imitating the Divine Goodness in employing those Talents he hath bestowed upon us, to the use for which he designed them. Our own Sonship will be best made out by our resemblance to our Heavenly Father, and Almighty goodness is that Character that most readily offers itself to the minds of men, when they would srame an Idea of God within themselves.  
5. The faithful performance of this duty is recompensed with an ample & Superlative reward, Every Soul that we are instrumental to bring to Heaven will add a new lustre to our Crown, Dan. 12.3. They that be wise shall shine as the brightness of the Firmament, and they that turn many to righteousness as the Start for ever and ever, or if that place be capable of another meaning that of our Saviour will put it out of doubt, He that receives a Prophet in the name of a Prophet shall receive a Prophet's neward. Where if a Prophet's reward did not in port something extraordinary and transcendent, there would be nothing of encouragement and enforcement to the duty. And if we had not this assurance of a Divine Promise, it might be strongly argued from that natural influence the happiness we are instrumental to procure for other, will have upon our own. To be instrumental to bring Souls to Heaven, to add new Members to the Church Triumphant, is to provide so many everlasting Monuments of our pious care and pains, whose Joys will all unite and centre upon us, we looking upon them but as ourselves divided, Children begotten by us to God, with whom we travelled in pain, till Christ was form in them. Besides, God who in justice punishes the Accessary, as well as the Principal in evil deeds, will be more inclinable to reward in us that good, that others do by our counsel, persuasion and direction, by how much he is more prone to show mercy, in which he delights, than to afflict the children of men, which he does unwillingly. And what an encouragement is this to labour in the Lord's Harvest, to spend ourselves for the good of our Flocks, when every soul that we are instrumental to save from death, will bring such an accumulation to our Joys, and add a new Coronet to our Crown.  
3. A third thing in this Charge, is a Life conformable to the Doctrine of the Gospel. Not to mention the obligations common to us with the rest of Christians, there are several considerations peculiar to us as Ministers of the Gospel, that enforce the strictest conformity to the Laws thereof.  
1. Whereas other men, by the urgency and exigence of their secular employments, have their thoughts often called off from attending the Concerns of Eternity; Our very office and employment in this World confines our thoughts to the things of another. It is the happy Privilege of men of our Order that their general calling as Christians, and more special as Ministers, do in a manner coincidere, fall into one, at least they hold an intimate correspondence, and lend a friendly assistance to each other. Those larger portions of time that others are generally obliged to bestow upon employments secular, we are engaged to spend in such, as promore our own and others salvation. And if the want of consideration occasion most men's neglect of the Gospel (as 'tis certain it does.) It is but just and reasonable to expect that they whose office obliges them to give themselves wholly to the meditation and practice of divine things, who are Juris Evangelici consulti, should live most exactly answerable to the Gospel Law. Abeunt studia in Mores, said the Orator, men's studies have an influence upon their morals. Both God and men than will expect that they whose sole employment it is to regulate their own and others Lives according to the admirable Rules of Christian Religion should walk suitably to their profession. Especially being provided for in temporals almost without their care, that they may with less distraction attend the affairs of a higher nature. They should endeavour to escape not only Vitia, but infirma Naturae, the common frailties incident to humanity, and approach as near as possible to perfection of Angels, whom they so nearly resemble in employment, they being ministering spirits sent forth for the good of those who shall be heirs of Salvation. What greater indecency can there be, than for men that converse frequently with holy things, and toss them often in their thoughts to have no sense and relish of them upon their hearts? To meditate upon the love of God and Christ, to be able to tell affectionate and melting stories of it to others, and that possibly with a seeming transport of affection, and yet to freeze by this fire; to have the passage betwixt the head & heart so obstructed, that not a spark of truth that enlightens the understanding can get into the heart, and warm it with such a love as is the spring of obedience, is such a Devil's Miracle as vies with that of Almighty God, who preserved the three Children from all smell of fire in the midst of a fiery Furnace. That men, who can discover to others the Reasonableness, the Necessity, the Beauty of Religion, should neither be prevailed upon by the Reason, nor constrained by the Necessity, nor charmed with the Beauty of it, is the most unaccountable thing in the World. What will they be able to answer to God, to their own Consciences, when their own Reasonings, Discourses, Sermons will rise up in Judgement against them? What will they do in the day of Visitation, when the great Bishop of their Souls will call them to account for their scandalous and unchristian Lives, so dissonant to the Principles of that holy Doctrine they pretend to be the Teachers of?  
2. The great influence of our Examples in ●tramque partem may be another consideration. A little to change my Author's words, Eo sumus loco constituti, ut bona malaque nostra ad Rempublicam pertineant. We can neither go to Heaven, nor Hell solitary. I mean, we cannot go to either of those so distant places, but in all probability others will attend as drawn by the Influence of our Examples.  
First, Our Holy and Exemplary Lives will render our Labours more successful, add Authority and Veneration to our Persons, weight to our words, make them 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, (as he said of Epectetus) effectual prevailing words. 'Twill put an edge upon our reproofs, facilitate their entrance, promote their efficacy, be a means to drive them home. The words of God in our mouths are more likely to become 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 living Oracles, the Seed of a New Birth. Not but that the Seed may prosper what ever the hand be that sows it. 'Tis God's blessing gives the increase, and that depends not on the qualification of the Instrument: But yet 'tis most usually found attending upon the endeavours of good men. Our Saviour himself (I think I may say) would not have been thought to have spoke as never man spoke, if he had not lived as never man lived. With what irresistible Authority did he check the sins of others, when he ushered in his reproofs of them with his appeal to themselves touching his own innocency? Which of you convinces me of sin? Christian Religion is admirable in the Divinity of its Author, in the Purity of its Precepts, in the excellency of its end, in the mightiness of its aids; but its Beauty is never seen to advantage till it become visible in men's lives. Then it most charms the affections of men, recommends itself to their esteem and approbation, when it subdues Lust and governs Passions, and adorns the Conversation. When it makes men meek and merciful, pure and peaceable, humble and resigned, watchful to lay hold of, and improve all opportunities to do good. When to a great measure of knowledge these qualifications unite in the same Person, his Doctrine distils as the rain, winds itself into the hearts of men, insinuates into their affections, takes fast hold of their souls. Besides the blessing that attends upon a good man that renders his endeavours successful, there is a natural aptness in his words to work an Impression on his Hearers. His own soul having the stamp of truth upon it, being cast into the mould of it, and touched with a sense of its importance, and a tender love and compassion to the Souls of men, will oblige himself to press it home with that unaffected gravity and seriousness, that his very heart will discover itself in his Language, he will give you a razed of his soul in his Discourse. His words come from the heart, and are most likely to reach the hearts of others, they proceed from a living Principle, and are most likely to beget life in his Hearers. Even Seneca would advise his Friend Lucilius to make use of such Instructors. Qui vità. docent, qui cum dixerint quid faciendum sit, faciendo, probant; qui docent quid vitandum sit, nee unquam in eo quod fugiendum dixerint deprehenduntur; quos magìs admireris, cum videris, quam cum audieris. A good Life with him was beyond all Topics of Persuasions.  
Secondly, Our ill Examples have a malignant influence, and scatter infection far and wide, will give Authority to Vice, and furnish it with excuse and apology. If the Salt of the earth lose its savour, rotteuness' and putrefaction will cover the face of it. Two things make wickedness bold and daring, and overflow beyond all measure, when 'tis either established by a Law, or encouraged by leading examples. 'Tis observable all along that the greatest symptoms of decaying piety were legible in the vicious lives of a depraved Clergy. And th● best Prognostics of the future growth of Religion is, when it not only tipps the Tongues, but lives in the Hearts, adorns the Conversations, and regulates all the Actions of its Ministers. So that Cato's definition of an Orator, Vir bonus dicendi peritus, is a more necessary ingredient into a Preacher's. For with what decency & congruity can he be severe in reproving the faults of others, who is indulgent and favourable to his ow●? Quid enim turpius quam ab aliis vitae rationem reposcere, quam tuae non potes reddere? All severity of this nature must begin at home. In all probability he will wink at those vices in others which he allows in himself, spare to strike at the root of those sins where every blow he gives lights upon himself. For with what face can he control the vices of others, whose reproofs rebound upon himself and fly in his own Face? With what likelihood of success can he attempt to shame men out of their sins, who by his own example brings sin into credit? Will those Remedies he tenders to others be accepted and esteemed by them, when 'tis apparent he either never used them, or if he did found them ineffectual? Physician, cure thyself, will be retorted to his shame. For a Demas to declaim against Covetousness a Diotrephes against Pride and Contention, a Judas against Treachery, a Hophni and Phineas against lust and intemperance, a conceited Pharisee against Hypocrisy, is but to do public Penance every time he gets into the Pulpit, to light up a torch to expose his own shame by, to proclaim himself a wilful, hardened, self-condemned sinner, to render himself a miserable and sad spectacle to good men, but the scorn and mirth of fools. To what end serves the Ministry but to persuade people to conform their Hearts and Lives to the laws and example of the holy Jesus? And what more effectual course can we take to render all our endeavours insuccesful, than to shame our own profession by an unsuitable Conversation, to violate those Laws we should enforce obedience to, to confute our holy Doctrine by a lewd practice? Little credit is given to him who frequently contradicts himself, and no contradiction so injurious to a holy Doctrine as an unholy life. Quid verbis opus est cum facta videam, is but too usual a Plea though very unwarrantable whereby men shift off the obligations pressed upon them by those who break lose from all the ties of duty themselves. Sin reflects contempt upon every thing it meddles with, makes not only the persons of men despised, but their useful Counsels, their wholesome Reproofs, their best and most convincing Arguments lose their value and esteem, as coming from them. Which the Spartan Senators well understood, when a worthless person having mentioned something useful to the Public, they voted it should be anew propounded by some Person of Worth and Integrity, and then put in execution.  
3. Conformity of life to the Laws of our Religion is the ready way to obtain that skill in the Mysteries of Christianity that will render us abl● Ministers of the New Testament. Christianity is a Doctrine according to Godliness, and the honest heart is the best qualification in the learner. A mystery of Godliness, and Piety is the best Key to the Mystery. Such a wisdom as gins in the fear of the Lord, increases by doing good, and departing from Iniquity, ends in the Beatifical Vision. Our understandings are enlightened in this Mystery by the same degrees that our hearts are purified, till at length when all sin is purged out, we shall be admitted to the sight of God, who is the Author & the end of our Religion, whither it leads us by sanctification of the spirit, and belief of the truth. Christianity is not Ostentatio scientiae, but le● vitae, and whosoever does not conform his life to its rules, will be very short sighted in its Mysteries, Error in Judgement is the natural issue of a pollured heart, 'tis a people that do err in their hearts. If the Judgement continue Orthodox with an unchristian practice, 'tis so by mere contingency. He hath no security to be preserved from dangerous ertour, who does not guard himself from wilful sins; it being too usual to make shipwreck of faith and a good conscience both together. Whereas he, who uses the best means of information, and does his duty to the best of his knowledge and ability, hath the greatest security imaginable he shall not our dangerously. The secrets of the Lord are with them that sear him● A good understanding have they that do thereafter. The lamp of knowledge is fed with the oil of ●iety, as this increases or decreases, that waxes brighter or dimmer; if this be not preserved that will be in danger to be extinguished, at best it will cast but a faint and languishing light, like the sepulchral lamps of the Ancients that were imprisoned in a dark Vault, and lent only a wan, pale light to a dead Carcase. 'Tis only by doing good and eschewing evil that we come to have our senses exercised to discern betwixt the one and the other. There is a spiritual sensation in the soul of man that sees a Beauty, and relishes a sweetness in all the acts enjoined by Religion, that lies asleep, unless by an active and vigorous prosecution of our duty it be exercised and stirred up.  
4. I add fourthly the consideration of the Person whom we represent, the Person of the Son of God, the Great High Priest of our profession, who was holy, harmless, undefiled, separate from sinners. A Person that never trod one step awry. A Divine pattern of holiness and purity, humility and charity. His whole life was a paraphrase of this Sermon upon the Mount: All his Actions, Motions, whole Behaviour were exemplary and instructing. We bless the people in his Name, offer up their prayers to God in his Name, beseech people in his stead to be reconciled to God. How necessary is it those hands should be cleansed from all pollution, that are lift up to a holy God, in the Name of the Holy Jesus, in the behalf of a people that he purified to himself to be a peculiar people zealous of good works? How incongruous and misbecoming is it, that the Ambassadors of the Son of God, who came into the World to destroy the works of the Devil, should be addicted to any of those which their Lord and Master came to destroy, that they who are Agents for the Prince of peace, should be of quarrelsome and contentious spirits; that they, whom he hath set apart to draw others to a conformity to his Laws and great example, should violate and trample upon his Laws, and represent his example so ill as if he were a Patron and Advocate of Impiety?  
I might add lastly (as deserving our consideration) that we cannot be wicked without being more inexcusable than other sinners, whether we know more or less than they. If we know more, and do as ill our stripes will be multiplied proportionably to the greatness of our Knowledge. If we know as little, and live as wickedly, the greater obligations and opportunities of knowing better, will be put upon our accounts. The Devils who fell from Heaven, fell deepest into Hell; and they who fall from Heaven Gates, from the greatest advantages of knowing and living well, will be next to them in Torments.  
I am sensible what misconstruction may be put upon my honest meaning, and that this pressing the Ministry to the regard of purity, may by some be interpreted Reproach and Libelling. But to this I shall only say, that they who have the thousand witnesses to attest the truth of their sincerity, may with joy and exultation of spirit, turn admonition to Panegyric. And I hope there is a great number of such here, who the less they have to reform, the more they have for which to rejoice and to bless God. And for those whose hearts smite them, may they continue so to do till repentance and amendment follow. We must please all men for their edification, and for their edification we must displease them too. 'Twas a good wish that of Bernard's, Sic mihi contingat semper beare amicos, terrendo salubriter, non adulando fallaciter. Let us not think that our faults can escape Notice, the publickness of our station, the nature of our employment will not suffer it. We are a Spectacle to Angels and men; the eyes of Friends and Enemies are upon us; these watch for our halting, those eye us as their patterns. Let us not become a scorn to the one, nor a grief to the other, nor lay a stumbling block in the way of either. Let us be content to hear out Duties pressed upon us by our Friends, who do it in love and compassion to our souls; or rather let not that content us, but let us proceed to extirpate and abandon all our Vices. This is the most effectual course we can take to make all men good, and to make the hearts of all good men bless God for us, to gain our enemies, and force them to become our friends. God will not fa●l ●a make that Promise good to us, wherein to Christians in general he hath obliged himself: If a man's ways please the Lord he will make his Enemies to be at Peace with him.  
I proceed now to the latter part of my Text, the Reason enforcing the Charge here given; That they may see your Good Works, and Glorify your Father which is in Heaven. That they may see your Good Works. We must take heed we stop not there, for if our Aims be short of Heaven, our Reward will be on this side Heaven too. The most specious and glorious works if done only to be seen of men, will find a Hell for their Reward in stead of an Heaven. But though a Good Naice may not be our last end, yet as tis subservient to the Glory of God, as it renders us more useful to the World, and puts us into a greater Capacity of doing good, it is to be accounted one of God's Choicest Blessings, to be received with thanks, preserved with care, and procured by all warrantable means. Of all men a Minister ought to be most tender of it, since the Credit of his Person credits the Cause he manages, and 'tis natural for Contempt to pass from the former to the latter. If men entertain a low and mean opinion of the Speaker, they'll disesteem the things he speaks, slight his Doctrine, reject his Counsels, scorn his Reproofs, never counsult him in Doubtful Cases, and (to the Hazard of their Souls) neglect that necessary assistance that otherwise they might receive from him: And therefore Saint Paul thought it no misbecoming thing to wipe off those Aspersions cast on him by the Factious Teachers in the Church of Corinth. Indeed, 'tis sometimes so far from being a fault that it becomes a piece of Necessary Justice that we own to ourselves, to vindicate our Names from Slander and Reproach. 'Tis one way of resisting the Devil, whose very name carries Slander in it, and one of whose greatest Stratagems, to obstruct the progress of Religion, is to blast the Reputation of its Ministers, and bring both their Persons and Office into disgrace. And I could wish they would take notice of this, who any ways contribute to bring a disrepute upon the Clergy, that they only promote the interest of Hell, lend their assistance to the Devil, and help to uphold by this means his otherwise tottering Kingdom.  
But after all, a Good Name is best secured by the same Method our Eternal Salvation is. That patiented continuance in well-doing whereby we seek for Glory, Honour, Immortality hereafter, will secure us such a measure of esteem here, as God sees needful for us. Let us be but careful to discharge our Duty, and for our other concerns deposit them in the same hands in which we trust our Souls. And if when we do well we are evil spoken of, we may wear the Reproaches of men as our Crown.  
Let us not therefore separate what our Saviour hath here united, but seek our Credit and Reputation so far only, as it is subservient to the further Ends of God's Glory, and our brethren's Edification, That men may see our Good Works and glorify, etc. What it is for men to glorify God our Saviour himself can best interpret, and he tells us, John 15. v. 8. that it is to bear much fruit; To have their Souls shining with Divine Graces, and their lives beautified with the Works of Holiness, that is, to be renewed after the Image of God, which Renovation is wrought upon them by a hearty belief of the Gospel, and sincere endeavours to conform to the precepts of it. This then is the Purport of our Saviour's Words in the latter part of the Text; By being thus burning and shining Light, we may be happy Instruments to make others hearty and serious Christians. For by this means they will be brought first, to love and liking of the Gospel. They will conceive there is in it something more than Humane, when it makes men so holy, humble and charitable, so useful to the World, so wholly taken up in promoting the greatest interest of mankind. 'Twill breed in them an high esteem of the Gospel. For as nothing is more injurious to it than an unsuitable conversation in those who are the Promulgers of it, so nothing more courts the esteem of men to it, and recommends it to their approbation, than a strict conformity to its Rules. And when men once come to conceive High and Honourable thoughts of it, the next step will be to submit themselves to the Laws of it, to put themselves under its Discipline, and try what efficacy it may have upon their own Souls, which they see hath wrought such admirable effects in the Souls of others. We may by this happy Union of Purity both in Life and Doctrine, be Instruments of begetting such a quick and lively sense of Religion in the hearts of men, such a serious and sober practice of it in their lives, such a Zeal in them to transmit it down to their Posterity, that the places we live in may be the better for us to the World's end, and all after-Ages may reap the fruits of our endeavours. The whole Christian World hold their Religion at this day from those that were the first Planters of it; every Age since hath been irradiated with their light, and swayed by their Great Examples. The Children of Light in all after Ages acknowledge them for their spiritual Fathers, and the Generations yet to come will rise up and call them blessed. They had extraordinary Abilities (you'll say) and brought Credentials from Heaven, the Gift of Miracles, to attest the Truth of their Doctrine. 'Tis true, they had so, and so 'twas necessary they should, being to propagate a new Doctrine, a Doctrine so contrary to all the Religions then received in the World, they being so few, and having such a wide Province as the World assigned them, and that so entirely captivated by Satan. But God, who proportions the measure of his Gifts to the necessities of the Age in which they are to be employed, is not wanting to bestow upon us, even in this Age, what's needful for the maintenance of true Religion, and successful opposition to the Kingdom of Darkness. Inspired Gifts and Miracles were then necessary to convert a Heathen World. Abilities acquired by God's blessing on our own Industry, employed with honest hearts, seconded by good example, influenced by the Spirit of God, are as sufficient for this Age, as Miracles were, for that. Manna wane cessary in the Wilderness where all ordinary and natural supplies were wanting; but when Israel arrived in Canaan, where the necessities of life were supplied in a natural way from the Plenty and Fertility of the Soil, their miraculous food ceased, nor do we find that stubborn, mutinous People ever repining at the loss of it, their necessities being amply provided for without it. I persuade myself, were Miracles necessary for the Age we live in, we should not want them. The Spirit of God, sent on purpose to enable for the Work of the Ministry, doth still afford all necessary Aids. Inspired Gifts indeed are ceased, and Miracles, but the gracious effects of it upon the Hearts of men, attending our Ministry are still continued. Where ever I see a Soul that's humble, and pure, and charitable, rejoicing in God, despising the World, patiented in Sufferings, and forgiving injuries and enemies, there I am sure the Spirit of God hath Breathed, Nay there he dwells. And (thanks be to God) the World is not so degenerate, but that many of this temper may be found that own this Renovation of their minds to the influence of the Divine Grace upon them in the use of the present Ministry. So that what was adapted to the Circumstances of the first Ages of Christianity, that is ceased; but what things accompany Salvation, what tend to renewing the Image of God in the minds of men, fitting them to be partakes of the Inheritance of the Saints in light, these are still continued, and shall be to the World's end.  
Let us therefore (my Brethren) acquit ourselves like faithful Stewards in the Discharge of our mighty Trust. Those Souls that were redeemed with the blood of God, are committed to our care. Let not what was so dear to him, be vile and cheap with us. Let us think no pains too great, no labour and circumspection too much to be used in such a weighty affair. Cursed, saith the Prophet, is he that doth the Work of the Lord negligently. And the more important the Work is, the heavier will be the Curse, upon either total neglect, or lazy performance. We have two Powerful Engines to reform a depraved World, the Purity of our Doctrine, and the Piety of our Lives, and they never work kindly and effectually, but in Conjunction. Never Conjunction of happy Stars ever portended such Blessings to the World, as these Gemella Sydera, these Twin-Lights, when they twist their beams, and shed their united Influence upon it.  
These would make us such a Light of the World as would chase all works of darkness out of it, the Rulers of the darkness of this World would not be able to stand before us, if we put on this Armour of Light. A knowing and well instructed Piety is both Armour and Ornament; Armour both of defence and offence, the weapons of our warfare that will render us successful in fight the Lord's Battles, signally instrumental in reducing a stubborn rebellious World to obedience to the Laws of our Blessed Saviour, the Captain of our Salvation. Let but this Command in the Text be obeyed, and we are secure of his Aids whose Banners we fight under. For if our Light so shine before men, they will see our Good Works and Glorify our Father which is in Heaven. We shall hereby secure our own Salvation, credit the Gospel, rejoice the Angels in converting Sinners, make all good men with thankful hearts and tongues bless God for us, and ourselves, after we have for a while been burning and shining Lights in the World, shine as Stars for ever and ever in the Upper Regions of Light and Bliss.  
FINIS.   

ERRATA.  
Page 7. line 27. read enlightening for illightning, page 17. line 19, read Epictetus for Epectetas.