\. w ^ ■%.. 't:t$'i^j^r-% -^^■'^W:. rfl.. .'^^" Is.; *^'^i A /^ r% *^.:'^ r I h^' jf^ #i^ 4.-^*' from t^e Eifirar? of (ptoftBBox Wimam (gliffer Qpa^ton, ©.©., fe£.®. f f ^e feifirari? of (]()rinceton C^eofo^tcdf ^emindrj^ sec,. ^ I EB 13 1912 BY "^-— ^, " BENJAMIN GROSVENOR, D. D. NOW FIRST COLLECTED INTO A VOLUME BY JOHN DAVIES. RECOMMENDATORY PREFACE, REV. DAVID BOGUE, A. M. ISLE OF WIGHT: PRINTED FOR THE AUTHOR, By R. Tilling, Newport ; AND SOLD BY WILLIAMS AND SMITH, STATIONEr's- C'OUiiT, AND OGLE, HOLBORN, LONDON. 1808. CONTENTS. PAGE. Preface ^ Life of the Author - - - - ix DISCOURSE I. The Temper of Jesus ; or Grace to the Chief of Sinners 1 DISCOURSE II. On the Name Jesus - - - - 39 DISCOURSE III. On the Christian Name - - , - 73 DISCOURSE IV. The Preservative of virtuous Youth - - 115 DISCOURSE V. The Influence of Christ's Intercession - - 153 DISCOURSE VI. God's Good-will to Great Britain - - 179 DISCOURSE VII. The Protestant Religion, and the Liberties of England 199 DISCOURSE VIII. Pietry triumphant over Wickedness - - 21 7 DISCOURSE IX. The Convulsions of Nature subservient to the Interests of the Church - _ . , 047 DISCOURSE X. God's Eternity the Mourner's Comfort - §81 a 9 IV CONTENTS. DISCOURSE XI. Death of the Righteous improved - - 297 DISCOURSE XIL Peparation for Death the best Preservative against the Plague - - - - 315 DISCOURSE XIIT. God the Author of the Exaltation and Prosperity of Kings - - _ . 347 DISCOURSE XIV. Precious Death _ _ . S69 DISCOURSE XV. Rejoice vv'ith trembling _ _ - 393 DISCOURSE XVI. The Obligations to hearing the Word - - 419 PREFACE. JLhe increase of divine knowledge is a benefit to the world, and those who engage in the good work, have a claim to the encouragement of the religious public. By writing new books, and republishing old ones of superior value, this desirable object will be attainscd. New books will always be on demand. The manner of thinking, the way of presenting ideas, the me- thod, the colouring, the language, and the mode of composition of the present day, will always be more agreeable to the generality of readers, than the books of a former age. And why should not the men of the present time exert their powers in conveying useful knowledge to their contemporaries, as well as those of any preceding century ? The republication of old books is another method of augmenting divine knowledge. In every generation there appear some works of superior value ; and while those which form the VI PREFACE. mass, not rising above mediocrity, are left to perish, and sink into oblivion without regret, it is of the highest importance that the others should be handed down to posterity, and form a portion of the reading' of succeeding ages. Thus the world grows wiser and better by re- ceiving the benefit of the labours of the wisest and best men in former times, and retaining the fruit of all the discoveries which they made in the pursuit of truth. When authors have writ- ten much, in a few of their pieces commonly we have the essence of their researches, and the spirit of their works. On this account, a judi- cious selection of their best performances is peculiarly valuable. Much has been done in reproducing to the present age, the most celebrated performances of the puritans and non-conformists ; and to those who have executed this task, the friends of rehgion are debtors. But there were men of note in the succeeding age: their books are become scarce, and if new editions do not appear, .the treasures which they collected will be lost to mankind. To select the best of their pieces, and present them to the public at a reasonable price, will be rendering an acceptable service. Mr. Davies professes to render this service, PREFACE. VU and says that he has presented the public with a new edition of the best pieces of Dr. Grosvenor. The doctor was a dissenting minister, and one of the most celebrated of the presbyterian preachers in the metropolis, during the former half of the eighteenth century. Though he may not be entitled to a place among the first three of the mighty men in the republic of theological letters, he may be justly ranked among the thirty who were all renowned above their brethren. In perusing many of the religious books of that age, we are led to conceive that the mind of the writer was not Jon the stretch. They are full of eveiy-day thoughts, and contain only such ideas as most men who are well acquainted with the subject could easily furnish. Dr. Grosvenor was not one of this school. It is seen from his writings, that he stirred up his whole soul, and exerted his powers with energy to produce the best ideas, to express them in his best language, and to embellish them with the most appropriate decorations. Such a man pays proper respect to the public, and makes it a present worthy of re- ception. Where this is not done, men should not publish, and the world should not be pestered with the indolent conceptions of lazy souls. Vlll PREFACE. While private Christians will receive spiritual benefit from this volume, students in divinity, and young ministers will find much to improve their minds, and much to imitate in their dis- courses. May God command his blessing ; and every reader ask it before he begins the book. Were this more frequently done, greater benefit would be derived from the perusal. DAVID BOGUE, Gosport, Sept. 1808. SKETCH OF THE LIFE BENJAMIN GROSVENOR, D. D. Extracted from a Sermon on his Death,' by the Rev. John Barker. J1J)r. Benjamin Grosvenor was born on the first of January, 1675. His father was an upholsterer of considerable business in the city of London. Both his parents were pious, and this son discovered very early both a sprightly genius, and a great concern about religion.' When he was only ten years of age, he had a most awful sense of God on his mind, strong and territying convictions of the power and danger of sin, remained upon him for a considerable time, till at length, he heard a sermon at what was then called Mr. Shallet's meeting-place, in Gravel-lane, South- vyark, from a minister whose name he never knew, which brought him to a truer knowledge of God, his Saviour, himself, and of genuine religion. After this his soul found its true rest, and he perceived the difference between being awed by terror, and con- strained by rational conviction. He remained in this happy state for several years, performing the duties and exercises of religion, not as a task, but a pleasure. After he had acquired this serious and manly turn of mind, he no longer relished the diversions common X SKETCH OF THE LIFE OF to youth. But after the school hours, retired to his closet, spending many hours in prayer and devout me- ditation, and in reading books on divine subjects with unspeakable delight ; and was so frequent and fervent in these exercises, and carried them to so great a length tliat his good parents, who rejoiced at the eminent piety of their son, were yet, at length, very apprehensive, that he would impair his health, and hazard his constitution. He observes (in a diary now before me*) that, " His heart was glad at the approach of a Lord's-day, thathe might do nothingbut worship, learn, praise, and enjoy God. Speak Lord, for thy servant hears, was the language of my soul ; 1 was ready to put in prac- tice every thing, which was made known to me as my duty." And then he adds these remarkable words (well worthy the attention of us especially, who are called to the ministry of the gospel) : " If the preacher, that day had been showing tricks in divinity, either metaphysical, scholastical, or critical ; if he had been inflaming the passions of his audience, instead of delivering the plain things of life and godliness, I had then missed my aim, at least for that time." " Bar- barous practice ! (adds he) of those ministers, who have opportunities of speaking weekly to great num- bers, with all the advantage of public countenance, authority, and support, and consequently of doing extensive good ; and who yet retail trash and wrath ; inflame the passions they should allay ; and abuse to the disturbance of the world, the day which is appro- * This diaiy (which did not come to hand till I had finished the discourse, as 1 delivered it from the pulpit), has both obliged and enabled lue, to make some alterations and additions, that I might do justice to the doctor's character. BENJAMIN GROSVENOR, D. D. XI priated to the preaching of the Gospel ; or who em- ploy it in any other way, which has not a tendency to make men truly good, wiser, and better." " In the midst of these enjoyments (says he) it came into my mind how I might continue and secure them ; 1 could not bear the thought of exchanging these delights, for the business or gains of the world. A life of Christian duty and enjoyment was what I wanted to secure. Upon that, I resolved to be a minister, and then my whole life and business would lie in the things I most delighted in." At this season his mind was so deeply impressed with the truth and importance of religion, that he thought he could convert every body, he thought he could make them feel as well as hear ; that he could say so much concerning the love of Glod to mankind, the condescension and compassion of the Redeemer, the worth of the soul, the excellence and evidence of the Gospel, the glory and dignity of heavenly things, and the vanity and insignificance of those trifles which commonly seduce men's affections from God, together with theglorious or tremendous consequences of a timely acceptance, or total refusal of the Gospel salvation, as would certainly fasten the arrow of con- viction so deep in the heart of a sinner, that he should not be able to draw it out. Being at length, with the approbation of his parents determined for the ministry, he pursued such studies as he thought most likely to qualify him for that im- portant service ; but although he had a great esteem for learning, yet he declares, that the dryness of the school exercises, and the sweetness he tasted in practical religion, kept him backward in literature for some time, but afterwards he pursued it with more XH SKETCH OF THE LIFE OF industry and pleasure, though he always delighted most in the study of the Holy Scriptures. In the year 1693, he went from London, to pro- secute his studies under the reverend Mr. Jollie, at Attercliffe, in Yorkshire, of whom he gives this ami- able and instructive account, which from my own knowledge 1 am able to attest as true : " That he was a man of an excellent spirit, of great spirituality and sweetness of temper. The orders of his house were strict and regular; and few tutors maintained them better and vv'ith so little severity. Every thing hefe was systematical. But the defects in his institution, as to classical learning, free philosophy, and the catholic divinity, were made amends for to those who were designed for the pulpit, by something those pupils who had any taste, took from him in his public performances. He had a charming voice, flowing, and of a musical sound ; a natural eloquence ; his elo- cution and gesture were such as would adorn an orator. The pathetic was sometimes so heightened with that divine enthusiasm, which is peculiar to true devotion that he would make our hearts glow with a fervour, which he kindled in the breasts even of those, who endeavoured all they could not to be moved by him.^' " There have been tutors (adds he) of greater learning, who have been capable of laying out a greater compass of education ; but at the same time it must be acknowledged, that the relish for practical religion, that devotional spirit which was so improved by his example, that sweetness of temper and benevolent turn of mind, which a soul, of any thing the same make, insensibly catches from such an example, are things not every where to be met with, and yet have such an iufiueiice towards our usefulness and accept- BENJAMIN GROSVENOR, D. D. XlU ance as ministers, as cannot easily be supplied by any other qualities." I may observe, that no man appears to have been more formed after his tutor's model, than was our deceased friend, Dr. Grosvenor. In 1695, he returned from Attercliffe to London, and continued his studies under several masters, and particularly the Hebrew language under Monsieur Capell, who had formerly been a professor of the oriental languages at Saumur, in France, and was then an illustrious refugee, having fled with his wife and children, and a few books (and that was all !) out of the reach of popish cruelty. About this time, he observes, that doubts arose in his mind about being a minister, which he ascribes partly to the disputes among Christians. He says, *' he had a natural aversion to contest, he thought it equally ridiculous to side with any party. And yet if he did not, he knew it was the way to be dropt by both. He saw likewise a very ill taste amongst the people, crying up some ministers, and crying down others so very strangely. However, he blesses God he at length got the better of these discouragements, though they cost him many anxious hours, many prayers and tears." Would to God too much of this taste did not still remain amongst us ! In 1699, he passed his trials for the ministry, before the reverend Mr. Quick, Mr. Spademan, Mr. Thomas Rowe, Mr. Robert Fleming, Mr. Oldfield, Mr. Nes- bitt, and Mr. Harris, and the same year he w^as invited by Mr. Oldfield's congregation in Southwark, to be their assistant preacher. He accepted this call, but he shone with too conspicuous a lustre to be long confined to this station. His singular acumen, and XIV SKETCH OP THE LIFE OP lively imagination, and graceful utterance, and the warm devotion of his heart, which appeared in all his discourses, quickly brought him into London ; first to a lecture at the Old Jewry, set up by some young citizens of considerable rank, and very handsomely supported ; where he and his amiable friend, the Rev. Mr. Samuel Rose well, shone with distinguished lustre ; although the success and renown they ac- quired, few are now left alive either to remember or relate. One common friend of myself and thedeceased, a member and manager of that lecture, and afterwards an honourable and worthy member of this congrega- tion, thanks be to God, is yet alive, and has often mentioned his part in that service with no small pleasure. Mr. Grosvenor went into this lecture in the year 1702, and after the death of the Rev. Mr. Slater, minister at Crosby-square, which happened May 24, 1704*, was chosen to succeed him. He accepted this call, and was ordained July 11, the same year, and soon raised the congregation into a flourishing church and a crowded auditory, which continued for many . years without any considerable declension. In the year 1703, he married Mrs. Mary Southf, * There is this remarkable passage in the doctor's diary concern- ing Mr. Slater. The last sacrament he administered I received with him. He looked upon himself as near his end. At the close he took a solemn leave of the congregation, and ended with these words, which were delivered on his part, with the solemnity of a dying patriarch blessing his children, and with the authority of an apostle : « I charge you before God, that you prepare to meet me at the day of judgment, as my crown and my joy, and that not one of you be found wanting to meet me there at the right hand of God." t Of whom the doctor gives this character in his diary, « Boncf BENJAMIN GROSVENOR, D. D. XV daughter of captain Humphrey South, of Bethnal- green, a family of eminence among the protestant dissenters. The increase of the church and auditory, made it proper for him to have an assistant. Accordingly, in the year 1705, the congregation made choice of Mr. (afterwards Dr.) Samuel Wright for this purpose ; whose piety and whose useful preaching, and popular talents are well known in this city. On his being called to the pastoral office in the congregation at Blackfriars, on the death of Mr. Sylvester, in the year 1709, I was chosen to succeed him ; and my having stood in that relation to Dr. Grosvenor, and to this church for four years and upwards, with whom 1 lived in perfect harmony, I still review with pleasure, and account an honour. After my removal to Hack- ney, the doctor was assisted first by the reverend Mr. Oldsworth, and afterwards by the worthy and learned Edmund Calaniy, B. D. lately deceased. In 1707, he lost his wife, who was inexpressibly dear to him*, by a sudden and unexpected stroke, in dotis, melioris forrtKSi et optimce indolis :" of a handsome fortune, a comelier person, and of the most excellent disposition. * How deeply and how devoutly his soul was affected on this occasion, I cannot express so well as by transcribing a few of his meditations from his diary, on the first Sacrament he administered after this melanchblly providence. " Our Lord (says he) having his own death in view, greatly desired to eat the passover with his disciples. I have several deaths in view. I look back on one death, which has taken away my dearest earthly treasure ; I look forward upon my own, and I come now to fix my eye on the death of Christ, that 1 may support the one, and prepare for the other. «' God has appointed I should eat this passover with bitter herbs indeed ; and yet I am come here on purpose to abate tlie bitterness of my soul. There cannot be so much bitterness in that cup God XVI SKETCH OF THE LIFE OF the midst of their joy, after her supposed happy recovery on the birth of her second child. But though he lost his beloved companion, he retained the esteeni of her family, who always treated him with respect and honour*. In 1712, he married his second wife, Mrs. Elizabeth Prince, by whom he had four sons, William, Samuel, George, and Richard. All of whom are dead except the youngest. But his children inheriting neither has lately put into my hands, as there is sweetness in this cup of blessing which we bless. The bread of affliction, and the water of affliction have been the provision of ray lonely table ; I would with the more eager appetite, sit down to the bread of life that comes down from God. " Lord ! to whom should we go ? Thou hast the words of eternal life. Words of eternal life will come like healing balm into a spirit wounded by a death, that strikes as deep into me as my own. Words of art and eloquence wont do : I come hither for words of eternal life. Thy consolations, O God, are not small; all are but small without thine ! " Philosophy is a dry well, and an empty cloud. The fine spun reasonings, and the flourishes of wit, are works of men at ease. They teach me how to write and speak, but not to endure. No; but the words of eternal life are spirit and life. Speak such words to my troubled passions, and they will be assuaged : as when thou saidst, Peace, be still, to the obedient winds and waves. " I flee from one death to get relief in another. From the death of a dear relative, to the death of an infinitely dearer Saviour. — And vphat is there, O my soul, that can be bitter in the death of the most beloved upon earth, that is not sweetened by tlie death of him who was most beloved in heaven ! "As at the first marriage it was observed, that for this cause shall a man leave father and mother, and cleave to his wife. — So in this sacramental contract, which is our espousal to Christ, must a man leave wife and children, and all the world, if required, that he may cleave to the Lord with full purpose of heart,"' &c. * The doctor had only one son by this marriage, Benjamin South Grosvenor, who lived to grow up, but who died many years before him ; and a daui^hter who died an infimt. BENJAMIN GROSVENOR, D. D. XVli their father's prudence nor piety, occasioned him very- heavy affliction, which he supported with a patience and resignation that religion alone could inspire. God grant that his only son who now survives, may live to repair the family's honour ! In 1716, he was chosen one of the six preachers at the Merchant's Lecture, at Salter's-hall, which post he filled with great reputation, till he resigned it in the year 1749. Of how friendly a disposition he was, and how ready to do kind offices, 1 can declare from my own experience, during the first years of my public minis- try; nor am I ignorant how honourably and generous- ly he acquitted himself in some transactions of a private nature, which respected his v>'orldly interest, and which were occasioned by sqme misfortunes that happened in his father's family, where he readily gave up, what it was readily agreed, he had an unquestion- able right to retain. And his father and motlier being reduced in their advanced years, received the fullest proof of the high regard their pious son paid to the fifth commandment. His stature was low, but his mien was manly and graceful ; and though his constitution was rather ten- der than robust, yet he was seldom laid aside from his public work. His voice though small was sweet and melodious, especially until the year 1726, when he was obliged to submit to a painful operation of having his uvula cut out of his mouth in consequence of a violent inflammation ; and which ever afterwards occasioned an impediment in his pronunciation. Nevertheless, he had so great skill in managing his voice (owing, perhaps in some measure, to his knowledge in music), b KVIU SKETCH OF THE LIFE OF that I have hardly heard any speaker more capable of affecting and commanding an audience. He deli- vered serious truths from the pulpit with uncommon freedom and energy ; and if it should be allowed, that occasionally, some of his lively turns needed an apology, I am bold to say, many of them demanded admiration. His judgment and faith in the doctrines of the Christian religion were steady and unshaken. And though I know not that his sentiments ever much altered, on any points of controversy, yet he detested censoriousness, and abounded in candour and mode- ration. " I thank God (says he in his diary) for that temper of mind and genius, which has made it natural to me to have an aversion to bigotry. This has im- proved constantly with my knowledge. And the en- larging of my mind tow^ards those who differ from me, has kept pace with my illumination and intellectual improvements. ' Agree to differ' is a good motto. The reason and loveliness of such a friendly disposition would recommend it ; and I am persuaded, people would almost take it of themselves, if it were not for the several arts used to prevent it." He used to say, " If he was pleased with any of his own compositions, it is what he has entitled, The Temper of Jesus ;" and I do not wonder at this pre- ference, as he habitually laboured to transcribe into his own heart and life, what he there so charmingly describes. But as man is born to trouble, and finds this his surest inheritance in the present world, and as there is no season of life, in which religious truths are so felt and relished as a time of affl'ction, and as the piece itself is indeed a very masterly performance, I BENJAMIN GROSVJENOR, D. D. xix am inclined to think his Mourner bids the fairest to perpetuate his memory. In 1730 the university of Edinburgh conferred on him the degree of doctor in divinity, in the most re- spectful manner, he not having the least knowledge of their intention, till the diploma was delivered into his hands. Besides the books he published, to which he pre- fixed his name, he wjote some small pieces, both political and controversial, which are not universally known to be his. Notwithstanding his severe afflictions, and his love to devotion and retirement, he enjoyed life as much as most men, he abounded in lively sallies of wit, and few carried innocent cheerfulness, or pleasant con- versation higher, amongst chosen friends, than he did; but when pastoral duty required him to visit the sick, or comfort the distressed, he endeavoured to open springs of- divine consolation in the soul, and was solicitous, as a worker to2:ether with God, to turn the severest afflictions into inestimable blessings. He was a minister, in London, of distinguished re- putation upwards of fifty years ; but the infirmities of age obliging him to withdraw from public service ; he resigned the pastoral office in the year 1749, and was soon succeeded by your present worthy and ex^ cellent minister, Mr. John Hodge. The recess which the doctor gained by this means, he employed in reading with so much diligence, that hardly any new book on morals, or religion, or polite learning escaped him. During his retirement a painful disorder increased upon him, and by degrees wore him out ; but though many heard him groan, none heard him murmur or XX SKETCH OF THE LIFE OF > repine. I never perceived him to express any fear of dying, he viewed the darksome valley without any gloom or horror, he had long rejoiced in hope of the glory of God, firmly believing in Jesus as the resur- rection and the life, and in that God " Who raised up Christ from the dead, as a pledge and earnest that he would quicken the mortal bodies of his faithful servants, by his spirit which dwelleth in them*." To a friend at Dr. Watt's funeral, who took notice of his habitual cheerfulness, he made this reply, " I'll smile on death, if God will smile on me." And this tem- per of mind, owing in part to a natural sweetness of disposition, but principally to the supports of a divine faith, he preserved to the last. I took an affecting leave of him the night he retired into his chamber, where he remained seven weeks ; during which, his pain was very violent, but his patience had its perfect work. In my last visit he told me, nobody knew what he endured, but he did not murmur or complain. He lost his speech for some days, but not his senses, till he slept in Jesus, on Lord's-day morning, August the 27th. in the eighty-third year of age. " Blessed are the dead who thus die in the Lord ; they shall rest from their labours, and their works shall follow themf ;" and they shall assuredly arise again to consummate happiness and honour, when the returning Saviour shall come " To be glorified in his saints, and admired in all them who believe:^." * Rom. viii. 11. t Rev. xlv. 13. X 2 Thess.i. 10. SERMONS. DISCOURSE I. THE TJEMFIER OF JESUS OR, GRACE TO THE CHIEF OF SINNERS. BISCOUMSJE I. THE TEMPER OF JESUS, &c. LUKE XXIV. 47. AND THAT REPENTANCE AND REMISSION OF SINS SHOULD BE PREACHED IN HIS NAME AMONG ALL NATIONS, BEGINNING AT JERUSALEM. Our Lord Jesus being risen from the dead, the method he uses to demonstrate to his disciples the certainty of so great a miracle, is very complete. He begins with their senses, showing himself to them, and offering to be touched and handled, v. 39, " For a spirit has not flesh and bones, as you see me have." He next addresses their faith, by arguments from Scripture, proving, that " Those things must needs be fulfilled, which were written in the law of Moses, and in the prophets, and in the psalms, concerning him,^' v. 44. And lastly, completes the conviction, and furnishes them to make the best use of it, by open- ing their understanding, v. 45. " Then opened he their understanding, that they might understand the Scripture, that thus it behoved Christ to suffer, and to rise from the dead the third day ; and that repent- ance and remission of sins should be preached in his name, beginning at Jerusalem." b2 4 THE TEMPER OF JESUS, OR From which words we may observe, I. That repentance and remission of sins are both the fruits of Christ*s death and resurrection; since it behoved Christ thus to suffer and rise, that they might be preached. Had he not died and rose again, there would have been no forgiveness. There might indeed have been a kind of repentance, such as in hell, or such as that of Judas, which sent him thither; a repentance unto death and despair: but repentance unto life, and remission of sin, are the blessed fruits that grow out of the accursed tree, and do rise with ouF Lord Jesus out of the same grave. " It is Christ that died, yea, rather that is risen again," that is the ground of that following challenge, " Who shall lay any thing to the charge of God's elect?" IT, Repentance and remission of sins go together, both in the commission, and in the nature of the thing. To preach repentance is as truly the design and business of the Gospel-commission, as to preach re- mission of sins. Consequently, if 1 preach the na- ture of repentance, the motives to it, the necessity of it, it is all Gospel ; it is what the law of innocence knew nothing of, made no allow ance for ; but this makes one half of the Gospel-commission. Repentance, is a revolted sinner's returning back from sin and satan, from the w^orld and self, to God, his original happiness ; as to his sovereign Lord, to be obeyed; and his best portion, to be enjoyed; de- pending for acceptance on the recommendation of the Mediator. For this end Christ came into the world, with this he began his ministry, " Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand." With this message were the apostles and ministers sent inta all nations ; GRACE TO THE CHIEF OP SINNERS. 5 and it would be very strange indeed, if Christ, his apostles, his first ministers, and his own commission too, should be all of them only in a legal design, and governed by a legal spirit. III. The Gospel-commission and offer is without exception of nation or persons ; that repentance and remission of sins may be preached unto all nations. Impenitence and unbelief make the only excep- tions. They do indeed effectually keep our names out of the book of life, the list and characters of those whom the Gospel appoints to salvation. It is no imputation upon God that " The light of the know- ledge of the glory of God in Jesus Christ, is not as universal as the light of the sun ; and that the book of Scripture is not read, wherever the book of nature lies open. Their line is gone throughout all the world ; and wherever one line of nature's law is writ, it might hav€ been interlined with Gospel-discove- ries, if it had not been their own fault, for the com- mission was as wide as possible, but they would not suffer it to run. And though it was commissioned iflto all nations, those very nations absolutely refused it, and cannot justly tax Providence for the want of that which they would never receive. IV. These great blessings of repentance and re- mission of sins are commanded to be offered in the first place, to some of the vilest of sinners, beginning at Jerusalem. It is very affecting, that the first offers of grace should be made to those, who of all people in the world had done it the most despite ! That the heavenly gift should be tendered to those first, who least deserved it ! Not that any can deserve it at all, for then it were not grace ; but they of all people had B 3 b THE TEMPER OF JESUS, OR most deserved the contrary ! That they who had abused Christ to a degree be^^ond the most pitiful descrip- tion, should yet lie uppermost in his care, and stand foremost in his pity, and find so much mercy from one, to whom they showed none at all ! One would rather have expected the apostles should have received another kind of charge ; and that Christ should have said, ' Let repentance and remission of sins be preached, but carry it not to Je- rusalem, that wicked city, that has been the slaugh- ter-house of my prophets, whom I have often sent. After them I sent John the baptist, a burning and a shining light, him they killed in prison. Last of all, I myself, the Son, came also: and me, with wicked hands, they have crucified and slain. They may do the same by you ; the disciple is not like to be better (treated) than his Lord : let not the Gospel enter those gates, through which they led me, its author, to crucifixion. * I have been preaching there myself this three years, I have mingled my tears with my sermons, I have supported my pretensions and character from the Scriptures of Moses and the prophets, I have confirmed them by divine miracles, and sealed all with my blood, yet they would not give ear ! Oh Jerusalem ! Jerusalem ! all that I have left for thee now is, what I have before dropt over thee, viz. a compassionate tear and wish, " That thou hadst known in this thy day the things that belonged to thy peace !" but now they are hid from thine eyes! and so let them remain, for I charge you, my a'postles, to preach repentance and remission of sins to all other nations, but come not near that wicked city.' But God's thoughts are not as ours, neither are feRACE TO THE CHIEF OF SINNERS. 7 his ways as our ways ; but as far as the heavens are above the earth, so are his thoughts and ways above ours. Our way is, to make the chief offenders ex- amples of justice; to avenge ourselves upon those who have done us personal injury and wrong ; but Christ chooses out these, to make examples of mer- cy, and commands the first offer of eternal life to be made to them, and all the world are to wait till they have had the first refusal of the Gospel-salva- tion. As if our Lord had said, ' It is true, my sufferings are an universal remedy, and I have given my life a ransom for many, that the Gentiles afar off might be brought nigh, and all the ends of the earth might see the salvation of God. And therefore go into all nations, and offer this salvation as you go ; but, lest the poor house of Israel should think themselves abandoned to despair, the seed of Abraham, mine ancient friend, as cruel and unkind as they have been, go, make them the first offer of grace, let them have the first refusal of Gospel-mercy : let them that struck the rock drink first of its refreshing streams ; and they that drew my blood be welcome to its heal- ing virtue. ' Tell them, that as I was sent to the lost sheep of the house of Israel, so, if they will be gathered, I will be their shepherd still. Though they despised my tears, which I shed over them, and imprecated my blood to be upon them, tell them it was for their sakes I shed both ; that by my tears I might soften their hearts towards God ; and by my blood I might reconcile God to them. " Tell them I live ; and because I am alive again, my death shall not be their damnation ; nor is my b4 8 THE TEMPER OF JESUS, OR murder an unpardonable sin, but that the blood of Jesus cleanseth from all sin, even the sin by which that blood was drawn. ' Tell them, you have seen the prints of the nails upon my hands and feet, and the wounds of the spear in my side ; and that those marks of their cruelty are so far from giving me vindictive thoughts, if they will but repent, that every wound they have given me speaks in their behalf, pleads with the Father for remission of their sins, and enables me to bestow it ; and by those sufferings which, they may be ready to think, have exasperated me against them, by those very wounds, court and persuade them to receive the salvation they have procured. Say, " Repent, that your sins may be blotted out, against the times of refreshing shall come from the presence of the Lord,^' Acts iii. 19. ' Nay, if you meet that poor wretch that thrust the spear into my side, tell him there is another way, a better way, of coming at my heart, if he will repent, and look upon him whom he has pierced and will mourn. I will cherish him in that very bosom he has wounded ; he shall find the blood he shed an ample atonement for the sin of shedding it. And tell him from me, he will put me to more pain and displeasure by refusing this offer of my blood, than when he drew it forth. In short, ' Though they have gainsayed my doctrine, blas^ phemed my divinity, and abused and tormented my person ; taken away my life, and what is next valuable to every honest man, endeavoured to mur- der my reputation too, by making me an impostor, and imputing my miracles to a combination with Belzebub: however, go to Jerusalem, and by begins GRACE TO THE CHIEF OF SINNERS. 9 ning there, show them such a miracle of goodness and grace, that they themselves must confess too good for the devil to have any hand in, too God-like for him to be assisting to ; that may convince them of their sin, and at the same time, that nothing can be greater than their sin except this mercy and grace of mine, which, where their sin has abounded does thus much more abound, beginning at Jerusalem/ I shall further improve this passage b}' speaking to the following things. I. For what reasons, special to that place and peo- ple, must the Gospel first begin at Jerusalem ? II. For what reasons, common to the case of all great sinners, is the Lord Jesus so desirous of their conversion, and that they should know that he is so? First. For what reasons, special to that place and people, must the Gospel first begin at Jerusalem ? 1. Christ was first promised to them, and therefore must be first offered to them. He was the mercy promised to the fathers. The time of his coming is called the time of the fulfilling of the promise, in the hope of which they waited instantly day and night, to whom pertained the adoption, the glory, the cove- nant of promise, the giving of the law, and the ser- vice of God, and the promises. The promise of the Messiah was the peculiar en- tail of that family, of whom concerning the flesh Christ came. Indeed, in him also do the Gentiles trust, but we come in as legatees to the new wilj and testament in his blood, whereby he has broug|u Jews and Gentiles upon the same terms for salvatiob, viz. he that believeth shall be saved, to the .Jew first, and then also to the Gentile. 2. The wisdom of God thought fit to lay the fouti- 10 THE TEMPER OF JESUS, OR elation of the Gospel at that place, where its foun- dation was first struck at. The report of his being stolen away by his disci- ples was a blow at the root ; for if Christ be not risen, our faith is vain, and our preaching is vain ; there- fore do you go first to Jerusalem, and confute that lie. Though it is a lie that has the countenance of some in figure and authority, yet you must confront it; " You are my witnesses of these things," v. 48, and by your testimony I must dissipate that artifice of the devil. For otherwise, Christianity must have offered itself to the world around with great disadvantage, if it had not first shown itself at Jerusalem, and asserted the resurrection of Jesus to the teeth of those who were hired to disperse that ill-contrived lie* of his being stole away. The nations might sus- pect that the doctrine of Jesus durst not show itself at Jerusalem, for want of sufficient evidence of the resurrection of its author. But your testimony will either satisfy, or leave them without excuse. You are a sufficient number, you are of approved honesty, your interest lies another way, that should lead you rather to fall in with the spirit of the times, and to find your account in running down the suffer- ing cause ; you cannot bear your testimony without hazard, damage, and ruin ; and it was never known that any men forged lies to their own undoing, know- ing, as you do, that it will be so. Besides, your testi- mony shall be confirmed by signs, wonders, and mira- cles; not only performed by yourselves, but those * So St. Austin calls It. For, says he, if the soldiers were . asleep, how did they know his disciples stole him; if awake, why Wid they let them do it ? GRACE TO THE CHIEF OF S1^-NERS. 11 also who shall, by your testimony, believe in me. All which renders your testimony sufficient to lay the foundation of the Gospel sure, even at that very place where its foundation was chiefly attacked. 3. Upon hearing the Gospel preached elsewhere round about them, they might be apt to think, that, for the greatness of their crimes they were passed by, neglected, and abandoned. 4. Their day of grace was like to be the shortest. Begin at Jerusalem, for, yet a little while and there will be no Jerusalem standing ; their glass has but a little while to run. Yet forty years and Jerusalem shall be destroyed. Their nation, polity, and temple shall be no more. You will have time then to go over the nations, but to those who have so little time remaining, none should be lost, begin therefore at Jerusalem. 5. It was foretold by the prophets, that the Gospel should begin there, and from thence take its rise and progress into all the world ; that out of Zion should go forth the law, and the word of the Lord from Jeru- salem ; that in Zion he would lay a foundation stone. Say unto Zion, Thy King cometh, the tenour of se- veral Scripture prophecies of Gospel times, besides these that follow, Isa. ii. 3, 4. Mic. iv. 2. Ps. ex. 2. Isa. xxviii. 16. Isa. xl. &c. So that, to begin at Jerusalem was one prophetical mark of the divinity of this dispensation ; the church did hereby know where to look for their Messiah. That the world might not be at a loss in this, he ordered his prophets long before to point out time and place. Besides, it was fit the Son of David, who was to have the throne of his flitlier David, should begin his kingdom at the city of David. And farther, it is 1'2 THE TEMPER OF JESUS, OR considerable, how far some prophecies, which we commonly understand of the calling of the Jews, were to receive their accomplishment at this time, by the apostles successful execution of this commission among- them, whereby so many thousands of them were converted. 6. For a standing example of the riches and free- iicss of the grace of Christ, in the offer of it to the vilest of sinners. Begin at Jerusalem, and after the saving efficacy of my grace appears there, no one will question the pos- sibility of their own salvation. Shall not a poor peni- tent sinner be accepted, when the vilest of sinners are courted ? Poor sinners of the Gentiles must not question his grace, when they see it offered to his murderers. AVhen they see him willing to have mercy upon those who had no mercy upon him, and desirous of no other reparation for the injuries they did him, but only, that they would not refuse the grace he now offered to them, and that too before all the rest of the world. Secondly. For what reasons, common to the case of all great sinners, is our Lord so desirous of their conversion, and that they should know that he is so ? That he is willing they should be converted and saved, is very plain : he has not left this to be made out by inference and deduction, but has asserted it in so many words. " He is not willing that any should perish, but that all men should come to the knowledge of the truth and be saved." His behaviour towards some of the vilest of sinners, demonstrates to what low degrees of condescension he can stoop, with how much tenderness he will use GRACE TO THE CHIEF OF SINNERS. 13 those upon their retiu'n, whom by such indulgent measures he endeavours to reclaim. I am affected when I read, that God staid till the cool of the day, an emblem of rebated anger, before he comes to deal with fallen Adam ; and then follows the sinner with a promise, who was endeavouring vainly to hide himself from a curse, " The seed of the woman shall break the serpent's head ; what a seasonable relief and stay to a trembling rebel ! Manasseh was proverbial for wickedness, sold him- self to work iniquity, and thereby to the devil, and yet God did not suffer satan presently to run away with the purchase ; but by a sore affliction brought him to his knees, humbled and reformed him ; and if he was not truly converted and saved, still the method God used with him, was the ready way to it. When Christ came into the world bringing salva- tion, to whom did he 'offer it ? Was it not to publi- cans and harlots ? Publicans, the worst of men accounted; and harlots, the worst of women ? Giv- ing this reason, that " He came not to call the righte- ous, but sinners to repentance." It was with this good design he kept such bad company. And as a specimen of his saving power, he carried about with him several of those notorious converts, as it were with this proclamation — ' Behold the mighty things my grace can do, what sinners I can reclaim, what sins I can pardon, and how many devils I can cast out. Look upon these and believe, that I am able to save to the utmost all that come unto God by me ; look upon these and believe, that no kind, number, de- grees of sins, can keep a man out of heaven, that does not keep him from coming to Christ. The woman of Samaria, a lascivious person by her 14 THE tf::vIfer of jesus, or own confession, and by Christ's discovery, yet with how soft and winning- an address does he assure her, " If thou hadst known the gift of God, and who it was that said unto thee, give me to drink, thou wouldest have asked of him, and he would have given thee,'' &c. To covetous Zaccheus, he says, " This day is salvation come to thine house." Salva- tion to be had for fetching was great grace, but he brings it home to his house. How he dignifies his sufferings, how he turns the ignominy of his cross into glory, by proving the sav- ing merits of his death in the conversion and salva- tion of the dying thief ! There the poor wretch hung, bleeding his last : with what eyes, with what heart and thoughts, must the expiring criminal survey a Jesus hanging by him upon a cross, covered with blood and scorn ? so as to collect the remainder of his breath into such a prayer, " Lord, remember me when thou comest into thy kingdom." What ? to a dying person for life ? to a crucified Jesus for a king- dom ? to one, that appeared outcast by Jews, and deserted even by his own disciples, to such a one, for admission to the kingdom of glory ! How extra- ordinary the request? How gracious the inward operations that produced it? And how speedy and full the answer? " This day shalt thou be with me in paradise." ' I will carry thee up with me into heaven, as the fruit of the present travail of my soul, as a trophy of my victory over satan, and will show thee there, as part of the spoils that shall adorn my triumphs over hell and its powers ; and as the earnest of the full recovery and salvation of all thqse for whom I am now dying.' He snatches, from the very brink of hell, one that seemed not oiilv void of srrace^ but GRACE TO THE CHIEF OF SINNERS. 15 past grace ; and melts the heart in an instant^ that had been hardening for many years. St. Paul speaks of himself as if he were a monument set up by Christ to bear such an inscription as this, 1 Tim. i. 16, " This is a faithful saying, and worthy of all acceptation, that Jesus Christ came into the world to save sinners, of whom I am chief. Howbeit for this cause I obtained mercy, that in me first Jesus Christ might show forth all long-suffering, for a pat- tern to them who should hereafter believe on him to life everlasting." The crucifixion of our Lord was the dolefullest tragedy cruelty ever acted, or sorrow can describe. Wherever the guilt of it could fall, one would think it should be with weight enough to sink them below the reach of mercy. The apostle charges it home upon Jerusalem ; " Him — you have taken, and by wicked hands have crutified and slain/' Never can any minister again preach to so wicked an auditory, till anew kind of wickednesss arise, greater than the murder of 'the Lord of life. Yet to wash these wicked hands from the guilt of all they had done, he tenders the laver of the blood of Christ, inviting them to " Repent, and be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ, every one of you, for the remission of sins, and ye shall receive the gift of the Holy Ghost." Every one of you, not excepting any that were concerned in it, not excepting any of those priests, that persuaded the multitude to ask Barabbas, and destroy Jesus ; nor him that spit in his face, or struck him on the head ; nor him that thrust the spear into his side, if any of these should be in the crowd. And he was so happy as to prevail with about three thousand of them at that one sermon. And a little while after we are particularly 16 THE TEMPER OF JESUS, OR informed, that some even of the priests also were obe- dient to the faith. A thing so much the more worthy of remark, to the honour of the word and grace of God, as the knowledge of those sort of men did both aggra- vate the crime of their disobedience, and enable them beyond others to parry off the conviction of it. Simon Magus, though he had been a sorcerer, yet upon profession of his faith and subjection to Christ, the apostles were so far from supposing that he could not become a Christian, or that the mercy of God did not extend even to such a character, upon repentance, that they baptized him: and when afterwards it appeared, that he was yet in the gall of bitterness, and the bond of iniquity, and had only acted an hypocritical part; nevertheless to show that if he were yet lost, it could not be from any defect of the saving grace of God, but from his continuing to be a hypocrite, they send him to the grace of God by prayer, that the thoughts of his heart, as vile as they had been, might be forgiven him. The reasons of this merciful conduct towards the vilest and greatest of sinners may be such as these. 1. The desperateness of the case of great sinners makes it needful, that they should have good assurances. Their danger is more near and imminent. They are upon the very brink of destruction. Their dam- nation lingereth not, but hastens to meet them, and they at the same timeare advancing apace toward that; as Goliah, with large steps, made haste to meet the fatal sling and stone, with which David also ran toward him at the same time. Their sins are a vast number, the cry of them loud for vengeance, the weight and aggravations of them arc heavy : satan the GRACE TO THE CHIEF OF SINNERS. 17 executioner has them bound in the chains of lust, under the sentence of a condemning law; the justice of God is whetting its glittering sword to cut them off; and their is but a single breath between them and damnation, which may very easily and suddenly be stopped : so that the mercy is greatly heightened in being offered to such as these in the first place, and with a particular solicitude to win them over: this wine must be given to them that are so ready to perish. Besides this, it is with great difficulty that great sinners, upon conviction, are even now brought to believe there is mercy for them : it would have been harder still, had there been no instances of extraordi-. nary grace to sinners of an uncommon size. Had the Gospel taken a large round before it had come to Jerusalem, the proffers of mercy would not have been so easily believed, as when they came so fresh from his own lips, whose anger they had much more reason to fear, than to hope for his mercy ; but the unparalleled grace of sending it to them first, was superior to all objection. This sets it as much above all doubt and scruple, as it was beyond all example or expectation. Indeed, before sinners are awakened to a sense of their sins, and of God's justice, they are very confident of his mercy ; the mercy of God is infinite, say they, goodness is his nature, he never made any creatures to do them any hurt, and it is an easy thing enough to entertain the hopes of salvation through the merits of Christ, and the mercy of God. But how suddenly is the style altered, upon a deep conviction of conscience, and the opening the eye to the number, nature, and aggravation of their sins, together \vith the law, the holiness and justice of God IS THE TEMPER OF JESUS, OR arming against them ? Then, is there mercy for such a wretch as I ? Is it possible for me to be saved ? Can so black a soul as mine be washed into purity, and so much guilt as I have contracted be removed ? They, who before thought sin but a trifle, are now ready to think it all unpardonable; they, who a little before were ready to say, there is no fear, are now ready to conclude, there is no hope: they now do as much need the encouragement of such an instance as this, as before they were ready enough to abuse it. 2. The conversion of a great sinner renders the grace of God the more glorious. Begin at Jerusalem, and the wonders of my grace there will raise my name Jesus to its just esteem in the world. The Saviour, the God will appear in all their height and lustre, and my power to save to the uttermost all that come unto God by me. Let the world see what distempers the skill of this physician can heal, and what sins the grace of God can pardon; it is like the honour a physician gains by healing a distemper given over by all others. Jerusalem seemed abandoned to sin, misery, and the devil, when Christ said, now the things of thy peace are hid from thine e3^es, thine house is left unto thee desolate. A desperate case ! He must be mighty to save indeed, that undertakes such a case as this. And yet, that future ages might believe there could be no such thing as a foil to the skill and power of our Physician, to show his art in saving souls, he sends the remedy first thither, where one would have thought them past all, and makes it eftectual to all that put themselves into his hands ; " For God who is rich in mercy, for his great love wherewith he loved us, when we were dead in sins, hath quickened us together with Christ; GRACE TO THE CHIEF OF SINNERS. 19 for by grace ye are saved; and hath raised us up together, and made us sit together in heavenly places in Christ Jesus, that in the ages to come he might show the exceeding riches of his grace, and his kind- ness towards us, through Jesus Christ.'' Eph. ii. 4, 7. This, he declares, is to get himself a name ; for he says, " 1 will cleanse them from all their iniquity, whereby they have sinned against me ; and 1 will pardon all their iniquity, whereby they have trans- gressed against me, and it shall be to me a name of joy, and praise, and honour, before all nations of the earth, which shall hear of all the good I do unto them." Jer. xxxiii. 8, 9. " I, even I, am he that blotteth out your iniquity for my name's sake." So when they had heard that he which persecuted us in times past, now preached the faith, which once he destroyed, they glorified God in me. Gal. i. 23, 24. It renders the grace of God the more glorious. 3. The conversion of great sinners does more than ordinary Weakep the interest and kingdom of satan. They are leading men into the party of hell. They do a great deal of mischief before, and generally do a •great deal of good after their conversion. Their example very often draws in others. If one sinner spoils a great deal of good, the conversion of such an one prevents a great deal of mischief. Paul, who while an enemy, persecuted the church beyond mea- sure ; when an apostle, laboured more abundantly than they all. While an enemy he says of himself, that he was exceeding mad against the Christians, and when a preacher, he was thought to be so for them, in the greatness of his zeal. The devil lost all the cruel activity of such an agent, when he was talien off by grace, and the interest of Christ had t^he advantage c 2 . ^''"'' ^0 THE TEMPER OF JESUS, OR of a diligence in its favour, proportionable to what he had used before in doing mischief. They are sensible how much grace went to their recovery, how much was forgiven them, how much they are thereby obliged ; for to whom much is for- given, they love much, as our Lord said of a notorious convert. She anointed him with oil, bowed down to his feet, that she might bathe them with her tears ; she poured out her heart at her eyes, while she wept over them : she kissed them, and anointed them, wiped them with the hair of her head, Luke vii. 47; and there she could as willingly have poured out her life and blood. He could hardly get water for his feet of Simon, but he was a pharisee, and thought himself no very great sinner ; while the poor woman's love, was extremely tender, officious, and overflowing: " Seest thou this woman (says Christ), thou gavest me no water for my feet, but she hath washed my feet with her tears, and wiped them with the hairs of her head," &c. The reason of this different carriage he explains in the after parable, of which this is the sum, that to whom much is forgiven, they love much. Hence those fervent prayers, that activity and dili- gence, those warm affections, that ready self-denial, that exemplary piety, all which shine forth in some notorious converts, who think they can never do enough for him, who has done and suffered, who has given and forgiven so much to them. 4. In such notorious converts the graces of sane- tification do show themselves, and appear with singular advantage and lustre. Begin at Jerusalem, and if any of those obstinate sinners there shall be softened, melted, and converted to me, it will appear to be the grace of God indeed. GRACE TO THE CHIEF OF SINNERS. 21 Begin, not at Athens, among philosophers ; but at Jerusalem, among the worst of sinners : whose refor- mation, virtue, and goodness can be imputed to nothing else but the grace of God. When a person of good education and some morals, one that passes for a good sort of a man among his neighbours, is converted, the change is not so visible, the transition is not so discernible, neither to themselves nor others. For this reason it is, that the time and circumstances of conversion are seldom remembered by such, as the brightest line does not show itself upon a light wall. But when the grace of God lays hold of an immoral man, a person notoriously wicked, every one sees the new creature, the alteration is plain ; all behold it, and say, he is a new man, he is become quite ano- ther thing ; the Ethiopian skin is changed, and the leopard spots are removed, and the wolf is turned into a lamb. When they can say of one that neglected all duty, behold he prays ; of a persecutor, that he preacheth the faith that he once destroyed : when they see a Magdalen, whose former character and life was as wretched, as if she had been possessed with seven devils; if they see such an one at the feet of Jesus : a covetous Zaccheus, who never thought that he had enough, not only refund his unjust extortions, but giving half his goods to the poor: when they see the drunkard no more filled with wine, wherein is excess, but filled with the Spirit; the voluptuous become self-denying ; the passionate and revengeful, meek and patient ; the proud, humble and lowly : this shows the grace of God to the greatest advantage and set-off; when the divine pencil lays such bright colours and lovely features upon so black a ground. 5. The conversion of such notorious sinners will c 3 23 THE TEMPER OF JESUS, OR leave all those who continue obstinate and impenitent without excuse. Who can say, after this, that the mercy of God was not great enough to forgive his sin, or the grace of God not strong enough to evercome his corruptions, when this mercy and grace is offered to the vilest of sinners, even in the first place. " If I had not come, and spoke to them, they had no sin (in comparison), but now they have no cloak for their sin." Did I not fell thee, that I was able to save to the uttermost all that- come unto God by me ; and to give proof of it, ordered my Gospel to begin at Jerusalem. The sinner that shall stand at the bar of God, with guilt in his looks, trembling in his joints, and convul- sions in his conscience. Fearful apprehensions ! Can he deny his guilt ? No, the eye of the Judge, like a flame of fire, shoots into the heart and conscience, light and pain, conviction and anguish, at the same time: such light and conviction, that makes the old records there legible again, which time seemed to have devoured. Can he form excuses ? What can despair and unbelief say, for having kept a sinner from Christ ^nd heaven ? Ah Lord ! I thought myself too great a sinner to be pardoned ; that is (Christ may *'^PbO y^^^ thought I was a liar, when I told you, " All manner of sin and blasphemy should be forgiven unto men;" when I told you, that " The blood of Jesus cleanses froni all sin." Look then upon Adam, that destroyed a worlfl, ^lanasseh, llahab, Magdalene, Zaccheus, Paul, and especially on those Jerusalem sinners, who laid hold of eternal, life with hands stained with my own blood. But I thought it would have been time enough on a death-bead. But by my ordering them to besrin at Jerusalem, 1 let all the GRACE TO THE CHIEF OF SIXNERS. 23 world know, that no time was ever to be lost. I thought I could have pleaded what I have often put off others with, that if I was decreed to be saved, I should be saved, and if not — But who empowered thee to make such rules of acting to thyself? Upon this reasoning there was no need of beginning any where : why must secret things, that belong to God, be your rule, irr neglect of the plain revealed things, that belong to you and your children ; when I never made them a rule for your conduct, nor would you ever do it in any other case of value ? You never would venture your life, health, or limbs, upon such a notion of my decrees, which shows the hypocrisy of such a pretence: you never said with yourself, if I am decreed to escape, I shall escape, and so refused to avoid a wild beast, or the mouth of a cannon. If I am decreed to be preserved, I shall be preserved, and so let the fire burn, that had kindled upon your house ; and why the end, salvation should be expected merely from a decree, without the means, repentance, and faith, and holiness, when you always joined them together in other cases, is only because in this case you did not like the means. And by the very decrees you plead, I have ordained, that such shall never obtain this end, who dislike the means ; who neglect that holiness, without which no man shall see the Lord. But, O Lord, I had heard a great deal of thy mercy, even to thy murderers, and I thought I might have depended upon it. To which Christ may finally answer, such mercy as you depended upon was never heard of in my Gospel, was a pure invention of your own and the devil's ; and as for Jerusalem, repentance always went along with that commission, that carried them the forgiveness of sins. c 4 24 THE TEMPER OF JESUS, OR To what has been said, for the practical improve- ment of this behaviour of our Lord, we may add the following remarks. 1. The grace of God always prevents us, and begins with us. Begin at Jerusalem, or Jerusalem would have been long enough before they would have sought after him ; he prevents us with the blessings of his goodness. The good shepherd goes after the lost sheep ; for he came to seek, in order to save, that which was lost. While the prodigal was a great way off, the father runs to meet him, so little reason is there to fear he will run from us, when we come to him. 2. This is strong consolation against any tempta- tions to despair, that arise from the thought of your beifjg the greatest of sinners. A¥hat could our Lord do more to encourage you to hope ? And what can you do so unsuitable to all this, as to throw it up, in distrust of him? Is it possible for all the powers of darkness, to form a cloud so gloomy, as this will not dart some light and comfort through ? Open thy soul to this assurance, it is a beam from the face of thy Redeemer, " To give light to them that sit in darkness, and in the shadow of death. '^ Look upon Jerusalem city, and tell the devil he lies, the next time he says there is no hope. But he urges, I am a vile sinner. True, yet this text stands betwixt me and damnation, between me and despair. But I am the chief of sinners. Agreed, make me as black to my own conscience as possible, it shall only serve to raise my admiration of the free grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, and drive me the surer to him, who came into the world to save sinners of whom I am chief. — But thy sin is such it cannot be GRACE TO THE CHIEF OF SINNERS. 25 forgiven. — That is a lie of the devil; for the blood of Christ his Son cleanseth us from all sin, and all manner of sin and blasphemy shall be forgiven unto men. — But you have sinned the sin against the Holy Ghost. If so, you were too sure of me to give me all this disturbance; when the strongman keeps the palace all is in peace; no workings of the good Spirit, no disturbance from the evil one : my concerr about my soul, and your opposition, are things that are inconsistent with that sin you would persuade me I have committed. I will not let go my hope, since he wants nothing belonging to a complete Saviour, and I want nothing but what I may receive from him. 3. These things conclude as strongly against pre- sumption in the other extreme. Look over all the instances here mentioned, and see if any of them were saved without faith and repen- tance. Will you say St. Paul, Mary Magdalene, and the Jerusalem' sinners, were saved by Christ, upon their faith and repentance, and new obedience; therefore I shall be saved by this mercy, without these ? They were sAved from their sins, therefore I shall be saved in them. This is a presumption upon a sort of grace, that the Bible no where promises, and that never saved any one soul yet, nor ever will. Be- sides, were not those who remained impenitent, afterwards destroyed for all this ? Properl}^ none ought to despair of the mercy of Christ, but those who thus presume upon it, by expecting the benefit of it in a way it shall never be bestowed. The established order of salvation is repentance and remission of sins, we are saved by grace, through the washing of rege- neration, and the renewing of the Holy Ghost ; out of this method, all the merit of Christ, and the mercy of 26 THE TEMPER OF JESUS, OR God will not save me. It was mercy and grace brought forth this method, wisdom and justice ap- proved it ; can the same mercy and grace annul it ? Can truth and holiness ever leave it ? In this method the worst of sin shall not be my ruin ; but out of it, all the grace in heaven cannotprevent it, because, pro- perly speaking, there is no such grace in heaven, nor any where else, but in the vain imagination of those, who love their sins too weii, to part with them, even for eternal life. The offer of salvation, is, indeed, amazing grace ; but mercy merely offered saves no man, without ac- ceptance of the grace, and compliance with the method of salvation. It is to as many as received him, that power is given to become the sons of God. What is included in this acceptance of mercy ; how the grace of God works it in us, what we can do, or cannot do in it, belongs not to me at present to inquire. But the absolute necessity of the thing itself, is what appears from this text, against all presumption what- soever : because, there is nothing in heaven or earth provided in the room of faith and holiness, nor can any one stand forth and say, that the grace of the Gospel has made provision of any thing, either in God, Christ, or the Spirit of God, to stand in the room of faith and holiness ; for without faith I have no part in God nor Christ. And further, because these sinners of Jerusalem, who did not repent and believe, according to this commission, were after- w-ards, notwithstanding the grace of the offer, finally destroyed. In a word, the immense goodness of this oflcr forbids all despair, aixi yet at the same time doubles the damnation of such as dare sinfully presume upon it on the one hand, or refuse it on the other. GRACE TO THE CHIEF OF SINNERS. 27 4. This is a warrant, and obligation upon ministers, to offer salvation to the worst of sinners. They were to go into the city, and preach repent- ance and remission of sins to whomsoever they had met. If they had met the false witnesses, that wit- nessed against him ; if they had met those that cried out, " Crucify, crucify him," they must have preached this same crucified Jesus to them all. The original commissions are the model of all our after-preaching, and by comparing them together, they deliver the two great ends of preaching ; one is the conversion of sinners, let repentance and remis- sion of sins be preached unto all nations ; the other, the edification of saints, [teaching them to do what- soever I have commanded ; this is the whole counsel of God. You, therefore, who are Christians, should not think much of the time and pains laid out some- times upon sinners, in those things, both of know- ledge and practice, which, it may be, you are already very well acquainted with. There was a time when you needed the same things to be laid before you ; others then sat by, and heard those things that proved your conversion, though they were acquainted with them, and had heard them many times before*. They forget this, who gite way to such a nicety in hearing, as creates an indifference, if not uneasiness, under the plain and necessary addresses to those who are yet in their sins, and to people of a lower class. Some are all for a word of knowledge, and are ready to despise what is not deep, researched, and peculiar — we knew all this before. As if affecting the mind, impressing the conscience, with a moie religious * Melius est doctos onerare jam notis, quam rudcs fraudare disceudis. Leo. 28 THE TEMPER OF JESUS, OR sense of truths that are very well known, and repeat- ing thereupon the same acts of worship to God, which they are in their nature apt to produce, were no part of our religion, when indeed it is the very best part, and that, to which all knowledge is no further excel- lent, than as it is subservient. Others are all for a word of affection, and that which does not elevate, surprise, and powerfully move the passions, is with them, on the other hand, but a dull story ; forgetting, that our business is not only to raise the affections, but to inform the judgment, that you may grow in all wisdom and understanding. In short, we should have but few conversions, and the greatest part of the world would die in their sins, if you were never to hear any thing that you knew before. And on the other side, if we were always laying again the foun- dations, there would be but few built up in their most holy faith ; it remains, that we endeavour as we can, to approve ourselves such wise stewards, as to give every one their portion in due season ; that while the strong men must have their meat, the babes in Christ ma}' not want the sincere milk of the word, that they may grow thereby ; remembering always, that it is more to our purpose to convert one soul, than merely to entertain a thousand. 5. The infinite sufficiency of the merits of Christ's death and sufferings is seen in this offer. The ancients u.sed to say, if you would see the Trinity, you must go to Jordan ; where the Son was baptized in the river, the Holy Ghost descending upon him, and the Father's voice was heard, saying, *' This is my beloved Son." I may say, if you would see the infinite sufficiency of the merits of Christ, and the exceeding riches of his grace, you must go GRACE TO THE CHIEF OF SINNERS. 29 to Jerusalem, and see to what sort of people he does in the iirst place open the treasures of mercy. " The unsearchable riches of Christ ;" unsearchable indeed, since Jerusalem's sins could not exhaust them : " Be it known unto you, men and brethren, that through this man is preached unto you, forgiveness of sins, and by him, all that believe, are justified, from all things, from which they could not be justified by the law of Moses." 6. He that could thus destroy sin in its full strength, sin at the height, and in the worst of characters, can easily do it where it is in part already mortified and subdued. If sinners of such a rank and size are sanctified and saved, will he not carry on the work in a weak Christian ? He who was able thus to seize and re- cover the sturdy offender, that can thus conquer sin in its full strength and vigour, cannot he subdue it when it is half dead and mortified ? He that can raise from the dead, can surely continue life where it is begun. It is a comfort to a weak and trembling Christian to see what Christ has done for the most wicked and hardened sinners; for he that can thus turn a wolf into a lamb, can surely preserve the lamb from the devourer. 7. Jerusalem is the mother-church of all churches, the mother of us all. There the Gospel began ; thence it had its rise and spring. As at Antioch the Christian name, so at Jerusalem the Christian church first began. How proud had Rome been, if either of these had been done at that city ? If Christ had said, let repentance and remission of sins be preached to all nations, in mv name, beo-innins^ at Rome ; or if it had been said, 30 THE TEMPER OF JESUS, OR the disciples were first called Christians at Rome ? they would immediately have cried out mother- church. They would have made a mighty noise about beginning at Rome, &c. This would have been demonstration for their sham supremacy over all churches. But as truly as Eve was the mother of all living, Jerusalem appears to be the mother of all churches. There Peter preached his first sermon ; there he made his first converts, and founded the first church, that is, the first congregation of faithful people. And this is what even they, who compli- ment Rome with this affected supremacy, are them- selves forced to acknowledge*, and we too are willing enough to allow her the title of mother, in such sense as the Scripture has done it before us, that is to say, " The mother of harlots, and abominations of the earth t. 8. This obliges all that have obtained this grace, to be of a like merciful and forgiving spirit. To be implacable is to be like a devil ; to be a Christian is to be like this Jesus, who, upon a cross, prayed for his enemies, " Father forgive them." Like this Jesus, who, after his resurrection, courted these murderers into the salvation purchased by his death and blood ; who gladly bestowed it upon all that would accept it, and waited forty years upon the rest, that they might have time and space to repent. This Jesus is the hpad, the author, and pattern of our religion ; and this religion is certainly like himself, a religion that inspires this godlike temper of mind ; a temper particularly chosen out to show the child of * Ecclesia Hierosolymetanae qute est aliorura omnium matei-. Baron, anno 382. Numb. 15. t Rev. xvii. 5. GRACE TO THE CHIEF OF SINNERS. 31 God, in one of the most genuine features of his heavenly Father. " But I say unto you, love your enemies, bless them that curse you, do good to them that hate you, and pray for them that despitefully use you, and persecute you, that you may (appear to) be the children of your heavenly Father." If Christianity does so much consist in a disposi- tion to treat even our very enemies thus ; if Christ has enjoined this temper of mind upon all his fol- lowers, as a mark of his true religion, and of its ge- nuine professors : if the very essence and beauty of this religion lies in having the " Same mind in us that was in Christ Jesus ;" and in some conformity to that most lovely person, whose zeal for God's house eat up himself indeed, but did not devour those about him: if it does so much consist in an imitation of that excellent Person, who is goodness and benevo- lence itself: if,. I say, this be the spirit of our reli- gion, and of its author, Jesus, even towards enemies themselves ; tell us, O ye severe, ye rigid, of all com- plexions and parties, tell us how must brethren be treated ? How must those who are weak in the faith be received ? Who though perhaps mistaken in differing from us, yet are not therefore enemies ; are not viler for mistaking the mind of Christ, than Jeru- salem sinners for killing the person. Will it please him, who has forgiven thee, and them, so many ta- lents, to see thee take thy brother by the throat for a few pence ; and they too not borrowed by him, but imposed upon him by thee ? Will perpetual worry- ing of thy brother suit the temper of that Jesus, who was no sooner got down from the cross, in a manner, but contrives how to save them that nailed him to it? One would imagine those Scriptures never had a place 32 THE TEMPER O^ JESUS, OR in our Bible, that command us to " Bear one another's burdens," instead of laying new ones on, " and so to fulfil the law of Christ ; that we should be kindly affectionate one towards another, even as God for Christ's sake has forgiven us." Bigots there may be, and have been, of all persua- sions; but an implacable, irreconcileable, cruel Chris- tian, is of the same figure of speech as a godly adul- terer, a religious drunkard, or devout murderer. A religion that inspires cruelty and revenge ; that is so far from forgiving injuries, that it multiplies them upon such as desire to injure nobody ; that can allow its votaries to contrive, as near as possible, the misery of poor people in this world, or their damnation in the next; as they do undeniably, who first tempt a poor creature to shipwreck his conscience, and then damage him for not doing it; first tempt a man to be an hypocrite, and next punish him for not being so : I say, a religion of this complexion needs no stronger confutation, nor can be better proved to be none of his, than to be compared with this temper and spirit, with this carriage and commission of the lovely Jesus. For, O Lord ! where didst thou ever put fire and sword, prisons, halters, and gibbets into thy commis- sion ? Or, what was ever seen in thee, that could look like approving of any such kind of methods? Hast thou ever said to thine apostles, go, preach the Gospel, beginning at Jerusalem ; and they that will not believe as you bid them, plunder, imprison, and starve them ? Didst thou ever give thine apostles such powers ? Are men to be forced by pain into the belief, that this Jesus was the most merciful being, that his religion was the kindest thing in the world, and his ministers are all sons of benignity and GRACE TO THE CHIEF OF SINNERS. 33 peace ; and if they will not believe it, to call for the jailor and the rack to prove it. Such a coHimission would rather be supposed to come from Apollyon, the destroyer, than from Jesus, the Saviour of man- kind ; who came into the world, not to destroy men's lives, but to save; to make the lamb and the wolf feed together, that there might be no more destroying nor hurting in ail thy holy mountain. Think once more, to whom it was this offer was going to be made : they had spit in his face, in whose presence angels cover theirs, raptured with delight and joy, and have no sweeter extasies than to be- hold his beaut}^ They had blindfolded his eyes, which had so often wept over them and their children, and so often turned up to his Father in heaven for them; they struck him, buffeted, scourged him ; they mocked him, despised him, and exposed him to the most contrived indignities, that ever attended a crown of thorns, and adismal cross ; he forgave it all, to every one of them that would but repent. If the history of the world had ever afforded an instance of a good prince, whose government was most, rightful, his administration according to the best laws, tempered with equity and moderation; his temper gentle and mild, most affable and conde- scending ; one that treated his subjects as any father could do his children, laying himself out intirely for their benefit and service, so that the people could not but own he had done all things well : how sur- prising would it be, to find after all, that this good prince was assassinated by those whom he had most obliged ? That there should be any beings on this side hell capable of such a thing ? Well, in the last agonies of his life, he calls some friends about him, D 34 THE TEMPER OF JESUS, OR and says to this purpose — ' I am dying of the wounds they have given me ; I had reason to expect a kinder return: however, I forbid all revenge upon any of those that relent upon it, and, before I die, I order that there be an act of grace forthwith drawn up, and proclaimed for the pardon of my murderers, upon condition only that they be sensible of what they have done, that they acknowledge their fault ; and to give them assurance that they may depend upon it, I will have it subscribed, and sealed, with some of that very blood which they have drawn. And since I find m3'self dying away, I do command with my last breath, that the heralds who shall proclaim this, do send the first copy of it to him that gave me the first wound, and the second to him that struck the deep- est' — and so gave up the ghost. How would all the annals have rung of such an instance as this ? What a noise would it have made in the world ? His name would have stood for the figure of all goodness. Arts and sciences would have lavished all their treasures upon the memory of so much grace. The historian, the orator, the poet, the paint * Dii Soteres. So ^sculapius and Hygisea or Saliis were called, and one of the Ptolemy's of Egypt was sirnamed Soter, by the Rhodlans, for bread, saving their lives by sending them corn in their extremity. t Judges iii. [)•- 15. 48 A DISCOURSE OX delivered the Grecians from servitude, and liberty was proclaimed by his order at the Isthmian games, the people cried out, soter, soter, a saviour, with so strong and loud a cry, that the air was so rent and shattered, that Plutarch says, the very birds fell down dead upon the place. King William, our glorious deliverer, may be called a saviour in such a sense ; when he came over to us, bringing one salvation along with him, and projecting many, many, future salva- tions for us and our posterity; wrapt up in that most invaluable blessing of the protestant succession, that has now so happily and wonderfully taken place. The whole nation was then under deep impressions. We felt a great deal, but saw a great deal more com- ing. The Joy was excessive, as the apprehensions before were dreadful. The misery then stood near, in full view, obvious to every capacity. Now it is removed at above thirty year's distance, it requires something of .good sense, memory, and gratitude to be affected by it ; and these do not abound in the world. When God turned the captivity of our Jacob, we were like men that dreamed ; and since that time, some have fallen asleep, and others worse, wakeful and watching for mischief, to bring us back again into the same anguish that then hung upon every soul. Having borrowed an illustration from T. Flami- nius's proclaiming liberty to the Greeks, I cannot forbear transcribing the passage out of Plutarch, it carries so lively an image of our own transport, at the time of our tireat deliverance. " The Isthmian games (says the historian in Vita T. Flaminii) were now renewed, and multitudes sat crowded in the theatre to see the exercises ; for THE NAME JESUS. 49 Greece, who, of late days, not only found respite from war, and was in full possession of peace, but entertained farther hopes of regaining their liberty too, made holiday for it ; as these were in celebrating, silence was commanded by sound of trumpet ; and the cryer, stepping forth amidst the spectators, makes proclamation, that the Roman senate, and Titus Quintus, the proconsular general having vanquished king Philip, and the Macedonians, restored the Corinthians, Locrians, Phocaeans, Eubseans, Achai- ans, Pthiotaeans, Magnetians, Thessalians, and Par- raebians, to their own country, laws, and liberty ; took off all impositions upon them, and with- drew their garrisons thence. At the first, many heard not at all, and others not distinctly what was said ; but an odd kind of bustle and stir there was in the theatre, some wondering, some asking, some call- ing out to the cryer, repeat that again, repeat that again. Wherefore fresh silence was made ; the cryer raising his voice, his speech more easily reached the ears of the company ; the shout, which in the extasy of joy they gave, was so incredibly great, that it was heard to the sea. The people all jump upon their legs, there was no farther regard to the diversions they camfr for, but all fell a leaping and dancing, and hugging one another ; and all salute Titus with the title of saviour and defender of Greece." But these were only temporal salvations, and saviours subor- dinate to the great Jesus, and the administration oF his kingdom. It is Jesus that saves by these, and is a saviour by his own power and merit, in a sense that carries an infinite emphasis and sweetness in it beyond all these ; as will appear if we consider the nature of his salvation, and the manner of his effecting it. 50 A DISCOURSE ON 1. The nature of this salvation, which is from sin and satan, from the wrath of God, unto heaven and happiness. FirsL It is a salvation from sin. As there is a whole hell in the consequence of sin, which brought in all the miseries of this life, opened the mouth of the grave and hell to us ; so there is an whole gospel in the name Jesus, and an whole heaven included in salvation by him. He saves from the guilt of sin, that it should not condemn ; from the dominion of sin, that it should no longer reign in our mortal bo- dies, nor domineer in our heart, affections, and lives ; to bid us " Go, and we go, come, and we come ;" to think, speak, and act as sin would have us, and we do it. He saves from what is called the filth of sin, as it is something that renders us unlovely and odious in the sight of God ; unqualifies for pure, and spiri- tual company, and is the abominable thing that his soul abhors, and unfits for his presence and enjoy- ment. He saves us from the tormenting sense of sin, that it may not terrify, disturb, and pain the consci- ence, to the destruction of inward peace and joy in the Holy Ghost. He saves from that tormenting sense of sin which often makes a man a terror to him- self, and a pity to others ; and is an instance how dreadful a thing it is to " Fall into the hands of the living God." For being " Justified by faith, we have peace with God." He saves from the destructive consequences of sin, though not from the miseries of this life intirely, nor the dishonours of the grave, yet so far from the evil of both, as to tuhi them into gain, and makes them the means of our escaping God's wrath ; \\ liich is the second thing to be taken no- tice of. ♦ THE NAME JESUS. 51 Secondli). He saves us from the wrath of God. " Even Jesus who dehvers us from the wrath to come*.'^ Tell me what the wrath of God is, and I can tell you better what the sweetness of this name Jesus is. " Even as thy fear is, so is thy wrath." According to our dread of that wrath of God must be the lovehness of that Jesus who dehvers us from it. " Much more (says the apostle) being now justified by his blood, we shall be saved from wrath to come-j*." Tlurdhj. This salvation is not merely negative, from sin and the wrath of God, but of a positive na- ture, he saves unto heaven, unto happiness. To God my chief good, my last end ; my only portion ; my sovereign Lord. To heaven, a better paradise than that from which sin banished my first father and all his family. To heaven, the palace of the eternal King ; of which sin had made me incapa- ble. To say all that I can say in the least compass that I can, it includes the enjoyment of God and all his perfections ; the Holy Spirit with all his graces, Jesus Christ in all his offices, and with all his bene- fits ; the Gospel with all its promises ; 'the covenant of grace with all its privileges ; heaven with all its glories ; and an eternity of all. This is complete, and great ; a complete salvation, " He is able to save to the utmost;" and a great salvation, " How shall we escape if we neglect so great salvation." It must needs be, that my happiness consists in likeness to God, and enjoyment of him. Without likeness there could be no enjoyment. Where there is no simili- tude of temper and disposition, there can be no more pleasure than there can be where there is no agree- ment between the object and the faculty. This evi- * Thess. i. 10. f Rom. v. 9. E 2 5C A DISCOURSE OxN dence arises from the nature of the thing ; but there is another proof from two such testimonies as cannot be gainsayed. The one witness is the Holy Ghost ; " Beloved, now are we the sons of God, and it does not (yet fully) appear what we shall be, but this we know, that when he shall appear, we shall be like him, for we shall see him as he is*:" (/. e.) we do not know at present the particular circumstances of our felicity ; but this we know in the general, that it is to consist in a likeness to God. The other testimony is that of the devil himself, when he tempted our first parents with that, " Ye shall be like gods," which he would never have made use of, if it had not been a received notion with them, and a thing allowed by him, that to be like God, was the most tempting thing in the world. It is that which fits for, and as- sures us of the enjoyment of God. " As for me, I shall behold thy face in righteousness, I shall be satis- fied when I awake in thy likeness f." Likeness and enjoyment make up the psalmist's satisfaction. Like- ness is a great part of our happiness in itself, our sub- jective happiness ; and a disposition, or qualification, to behold his face, i. e. enjoy him according to our measures of receiving, and his manner of communi- cating himself to us. 2. The way and manner by which Jesus saves his people from their sins. In the general thus. He saves us from the guilt of sin, " By justifying us freely by his grace, through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus." From the power and dominion of sin, " By teaching us to deny alt ungodliness and worldly lusts, and to live soberly, righteously, and godly in this evil world." From the * 1 John iii. '2. t Psalm xvii, 15. THE NAME JESUS. 53 filth and stain of sin, by " The washing of regenera- tion, and the renewal of the Holy Ghost ; and sanc- tifying us throughout, in body, soul, and spirit." From the tormenting sense of sin, by " Sprinkling our con- sciences from dead works;" evidencing our interest in his atoning sacrifice. From the consequences ot sin, by '* Suffering for us, the just for the unjust, that he might bring us to God, and deliver us from wrath to come ;" and at length from the very being of sui, by " Presenting us perfect and without blame before him in love, and without spot, or wrinkle, or any such thing." From all these evils, and unto the enjoyment of an happiness that begins herein this life, in a justified state, an holy nature; communion with God, peace of conscience, and joy in the Holy Ghost : and is completed gradually hereafter. First, the departed soul enters the happiness of the separate state ; then soul and body united, fitted more for one another, and both for God, do for ever take possession ot that kingdom " Prepared for them from the foundation ot the world. But to be a little more particular. Fh^st. He has meritoriously procured and obtained for us this salvation. It cost him dear to put on this name, and be called Jesus. It cost him his life and blood. He had before many great and glorious names. The name Jehovah was in him. The " Wonderful Counsellor, the everlasting Father, the Prince of peace, the mighty God, the Wisdom that dwelt with prudence, the Word that was with God, and was God." He had the worship of angels, and " Glory with the Father before the world began." But if he will wear the name Jesus among the rest, he must r 3 54 A DISCOURSE OS pay for it ; and he did so. The price of his most precious blood as of a Lamb without spot, and so he became our Saviour; at the same price by which he bought our souls, and heaven for them, he bought this name for himself " God sent his Son into the world, that the world through him might be saved*." " If while we were enemies, we were reconciled by his death, how much more being now reconciled, we shall be saved by his lifef." Second///. He doctrinally snows his people the way of this salvation, as the great Prophet of the church, revealing to us, by his word and Spirit, the will and way of God for our salvation. This he did in his own person, when he went about teaching and preaching the kingdom of God. After that, by the apostles, he sent forth, teaching to observe whatsoever he had commanded. Who were the ser- vants of the most high God, who show unto us the way of salvation J. And afterward by his ministers, who preach the same faith in Christ, repentance to- ward God, and holiness of heart and life, "Without which no man shall see the Lord." Jesus hath the words of eternal life. No man " Hath seen God at an}^ time, the only begotten Son, who is in the bosom of the Father he hath declared him||. He who was one with him, entirely beloved by him, entirely acquainted with all his councils, and will, and therefore qualified beyond all to reveal so much of the nature, mind, and will of God, as was neces- sary to our salvation, " He hath declared him," so as he was never before declared. He hath declared the nature of the happiness, the way to it, and so * John iii. 17- t R-o™- ■*'• lf>- + Acts xvi. 17. 11 John i. 18. THE NAME JESUS. 55 " Brought life and immortality to light by the Gospel." Thirdlij. He does efficaciously begin, and carry on, and perfect the work of this salviition in our souls. When he makes his word the " Power of God to salvation." When the " Arm of the Lord is made bare, the report of the Lord is believed." When light and knowledge break in upon the mind, and conviction bears in upon the conscience and judg- ment ; conviction of the evil of sin, and the terrors of the Lord ; of the necessity of Christ ; of the excel- lency of holiness: when faith which is the gift of God, and comes by hearing, opens its eye upon invi- sible things, and lets fall from it at the same time a tear of godly sorrow, which leadeth to repentance ; mourning over, and turning from sin, to newness of life. Then it is those words are fulfilled, " Awake thou that sleepest, and arise from the dead, and Christ shall give thee life." The night of darkness and sin is over, and we become the children of that day ; which from the first dawn of it shines more and more until the perfect, the eternal day. Fourthhj. Jesus actually confers salvation upon his people, and renders it complete. It is from his hand they must receive their crown, because by his blood it was bought. " Be thou faithful unto the death, I will give thee a crown of life." As Joshua, his name-sake, and type, actually led his people into Canaan, and gave them every one their inheritance by lot ; so will the Lord Jesus give to every one according to his lot. As thou hast " Given him power over all flesh, that he should give eternal life to as many as thou hast given him*. * John xvii. 2. E 4 66 A DISCOURSE ON III. Some practical use of all this. It is said in the Song of Solomon, " Thy name is as ointment poured forth, therefore do the virgins love thee*." Precious ointment was in use among the eastern people, for medicinal purposes, as well as to give a beauty and lustre to the countenance. Their riches did also consist in sweet oils and costly perfumes ; and when they were poured out, either for use or payment, they diffused a lovely fragrancy all around. This is the great name, of which the com- parison is made ; and how well the name Jesus an- swers to all that is healing, enriching, beautifying, or restoring we have already seen in part : and shall see a little further in the use that is to be made of it, by way of inference and exhortation ; and first by way of inference. I. How much was his heart set upon our salva- tion. And how great an account he made of it, since he puts it into his name? It must be something a person values himself upon, and glories in, that is w^orked up into his name. Sometimes the noble actions of ancestors ; sometimes the eminent qualities that distinguish their own cha- racter ; these are blazoned in coats of arms, drawn in paintings, artfully woven into hangings, or added to the name, and made a part of the royal stile and state of the person, in perpetuain rei memoriam. Salvation is woven into the name, and stile of our sovereign Lord Jesus ; to show what it is his heart was set upon ; what he aims at, and glories in. With this name he came into the world. With this he went through it. With this he went out of it: and with this he lives above, and bears it about him always; t Cant. i. 3. THE NAME JESUS. 57 not SO much a memento to himself, as a pledge to us, of the business he came down and went up for, viz. to save his people from their sins. 2. We observe the different genius and design of his name, and of some other great names in the world. A\^hen a great prince is born into the world, he usually takes his name from some province or princi- pality. After that, they either take to themselves, or flattery ascribes to them, the additional titles of excellence, highness, or the great, as Alexander the great, Pompey the great : but when the God that made all worlds, put on the nature of man, and the name Jesus, he had not one foot of land to take a denomination from, as he was the man Jesus : for though the earth was the Lord's, and the fulness thereof, yet the Son of Man had not where to lay his head. Some have taken their names from the devastation and ruin they have carried with them wherever they went. From the desolation of provinces, the over- turning of kingdoms and empires. Scipio takes the name African us, from the havock he made in Africa. And another Scipio is called Asiaticus, from the like doings in Asia. Germanicus another, from his ex- ploits in Germany. These men carried tiie blood and ruin of thousands in their formidable names. But when the Lord Jesus comes into the world (no mean person neither, for the angel said of him, " He shall be great, and shall be called the Son of the Highest, and the Lord shall give unto him the throne of his father David"), what is the name this great person fits on to himself? Whence does he take his name? Does he borrow it from the destruction of the fallen 58 A DISCOURSE ON angels ? Or from the final victory he will obtain over all his enemies, that " Would not that he should reign over them ?'' No, but from something that lay nearer his heart than all this, the salvation of his people from their sins. What Themistius said once to Valens, the emperor, in order to inspire him with compassion towards a city, that had so highly incurred his displeasure, that he was resolved it should be destroyed : " How much more excellent, great prince, is it, that you should derive your name from a people that you have spared, than from a people that you have destroyed?" Is here infinitely outdone : for blessed Jesus, how much more excellent is thy name, which thou hast derived from a people thou hast saved, rather than from a people thou conldest so easily destroy ? A name like thyself, all sweetness, goodness, and love ; it carries no blood in it but thine own, shed in order to accom- plish the salvation it imports. 3. The good or evil, that is merely temporal, is of a consideration infinitely below that which is eternal. When we consider that it is salvation from our sins that he has put into his name ; when we consider that his doctrine and example, his labours and suflfer- ings, do all conspire towards this, as their main end ; the planting the divine nature in the world, and root- ing out sin ; the inference is plain, that planting the world with holiness, and saving from sin, was an undertaking most worthy of his incarnation. " The Jews vainly expected that he should have built them up into a most glorious empire, and' secured to them the enjoyments, honours, and pleasures of this life. But since the great and humble Jesus despised that, as a trifling design in comparison of this, it manifestly THE NAME JESUS. 59 appears, that saving from sin, and planting holiness in the world, is above all the romantic gallantry of ambitious spirits. To be good, is more than to be great. To despise the world, is more than to conquer it with arms. To subdue the flesh, is more than to caress it with all the flattery of luxury and greatness. To know God, and obey his will, is s:reater honour, than to command the titles and fortunes of man- kind*." 4. We ought to observe, how he acted up to the full meaning of his name, to quicken us to act up to our expectation from it. Salvation is in his name. Temporal salvation comes out of it sometimes; as often as it is necessary to the spiritual and eternal. Whenever he said, arise and walk, and healed the body ; whenever he said, thy sins are forgiven, and healed the soul, and when he said, deliver him from going down to the pit, I have found a ransom, he is acting up to the name Jesus, and expounding upon his own name. " Lord, remember me, (says the penitent thief,) when thou comest into thy kingdom." One of the ancient writers addresses that petitioner after this man- ner: " Whence didst thou know that that same person that died in thy company, and passed for a malefactor like thyself; how didst thou know that he was thy Lord and Saviour ?" And he makes him answer thus, " Oh, says he, I could discern it by the very testimony of his enemies. Those words, which they flung upon him in reproach, he saved others ; himself he cannot save, this looks so like a Saviour ; to save others by giving up himself! That he saved not himself, was not for want of power; for then he could not have * Dr. Lucas. 60 A DISCOURSE ON saved others ; but for this cause he would not save himself, that he might save others*." So when Pilate gave this testimony to our Lord, I find no cause of death in this man ; St. Ambrose has this remark u{X)n it : " Alas ! (says he) there was indeed no cause of death in the man ; for he was innocent : but there was cause of death in his name ; which, he must die, in order to make good." His name Jesus upon the cross, was a certificate of the cause, end, and design of his death. The inscription over a malefactor usually signifies what he has done : that over our Saviour signified what he must do, viz. " Save his people from their sins ;" as a sacrifice, " Therefore you are mistaken, oh ye Jews, (continues he) when you said, let him come down from the cross and we will believe. Had he come down, he would have left his name Jesus behind him, and we should have had reason to have inverted the argument, and to have said, he hath'saved himself, and therefore he cannot save us, and we will not believe in him. You should rather have said, if he be the king of Israel, let him die for Israel. If he be the Son of God, let him die for the people of God. If he be indeed the Jesus, let him not desert his name." He would not abandon his character. No, that inscription was written in Latin, Greek, and Hebrew; three languages, that would then have gone over all the world ; as if designed to express that he died to save out of all kindreds, tongues, and people. In a word, had he come down from the cross and saved himself, he might have been our Lord, or aiiy other * Bernard, de Epiph. Serm. II. THE NAME JESUS. 61 name, becoming so great a person, but Jesus, in the sense of the text, he could not be. In the next place, these considerations on the name Jesus will give a proper occasion for some exhorta- tions. As, 1. Let us act up to our expectations from this name. You all know what you expect from Jesus — sal- vation from your sins. Then let us act like those who expect to be saved from their sins, and not as if we hoped to be saved in them. Do not let us expect that from the name, which Christ never put into it, nor designed should ever come out of it. Jesus is a sweet name (says one) but men do not love it should be Lord Jesus. " Grace be with all them that love our Lord Jesus Christ in sincerity*. Amen." They will not have him as God offers him, to be a prince and a Saviour. They divide what God has joined, the king and the priest.' They divide here too : they would be content to have some of their sins destroyed ; but they cannot leave the lap of Daliiah, nor divorce the beloved Herodias. They cannot be cruel to a right-eye, nor to a right-hand. If the Lord will but pardon them in this thing, he shall be their Jesus too, for all the rest. But what if Jesus and you part upon this > Will you give up your interest in this dear name, for any one lust in the world? No, fall out with it, mourn over it, turn from it, withdraw fi'om every occasion of it. Do they, who expect or desire to be saved from the plague, do they frequent the pest- house ? Do they who desire to be saved from falUng, dance and play carelessly upon the edge of the precipice ? Do they, who expect or desire to be saved from sin, lead themselves into temptation. * Epli. vi. 24. 62 A DISCOURSE ON 2. Look to your interest in this dear name, and in all the import of it. And let me enquire of myself ; Do I love him above all things, so as that for his sake, and in comparison of him, ali things else are counted as dross and dung ? Happy they, who to such a question can answer with the apostle Paul, " Yea, doubtless, and I count all things but iOss, for the excellency of the knowledge of Christ Jesus my Lord, for whom I have suffered the loss of all things, and do count them but dung that I may win Christ*." Do you think, that he by himself alone, can make you happy without the things of this world ? If God should strip you of every thing else, " Though the fig-tree should not blossom, neither fruit should be in the vines. Though the labour of the olive should fail, and the fields should yield no meat. Though the flock should be cut off from the fold, and there should be no herd in the stalls, yet will you rejoice in the Lord, and joy in the God of yoiir salva- tion ?'^ Though there should be a total failure of all creature comforts, j^et could 1 rejoice in Jesus, who will never ^ fail me, " Never leave me, nor forsake me . The Lord God is my strength, and he will make my feet like hinds feet, and will make me walk upon mine high places." V. 16. to the chief singer on my stringed instrument, Q. D. as a testimony of joy in God, even though I should be so reduced, I appoint the chief master of music, to set this prayer to a tune fit for my stringed instrumentst. ^' The Lord is my portion, saith my soul, therefore will I trust in him." And because he is so, I wilt * Phil. ii. 8. t Hab.iii. 17. THE NAME JESUS. 63 account the " Lines to have fallen to me in pleasant places, and that I have a goodly heritage/' But says the carnal mind, will an interest in this Jesus quench my thirst when I am dry? Will it clothe my naked children, or go to market for them, and fetch home provision ? I answer, is it more likely that all this should be done without an interest in him ? By throwing off regard-to him, who has all hearts and ways of men in his hand ; and thereby forfeiting his regards to thee ? I answer again, that it may bean interest in this Jesus may do all thisfor thee ; because does it not interest thee in those promises which are said to belong to godliness ? " And godliness hath the promise of this life as well as that which is to come." But I answer further, that whether it do all this or not, it will do something better and greater; as much better and greater as heaven is in comparison of earth ; the soul thali the body ; and eternity than time ; if God will either provide for us in this world, or take us out of it to heaven, we have no harm done us. But further still, nothing can suffice without this. Give the soul riches, pleasures, honours, they will not satisfy. It languishes after Jesus. You must give him Jesus or else he dies. Riches, without him, are a snare ; the prosperity of the fool that destroys. Beauty, without this, is an alluring varnish thrown over poison and death. Honours are but an elevation to a greater height, in order to the deeper fall. To return to the question. Is our heart with him ? How can we say we love him, if our heart be not with him ? Do we love to think of him ? Are we uneasy with- out him ? When he is withdrawn, are we unquiet and restless, till he return to us again ? Are we afraid 64 A DISCOURSE OX to offend him, and sorry when we have done so ? Do we mourn after the Lord, if he hides his face ; and are restless till we have found him, whom our souls love? Do we long to see him, meet him, and be with him ? This inquiry will concern two sorts of persons. 1. First, those who have not as yet an interest in this name, and the blessed meaning of it. Let me repre- sent a few things to you to co-operate with the design of Jesus in taking that name upon him. As thus, It is better to know that you have not an interest in him, whilst it may be had, than to go on in the ignorance of your condition ; it is better to find out our wants while they may be supplied, than to let the matter run on till it is too late. You may have an interest in the saving import of this name, as freely as others. " He shall save his people". You may be his people, as well as any that are called so. They, who are now his people, were once, lo ammi, were not his people. You, who are not not now, may be so. You are undone, if you are not. For there is no" Other name given under heaven, whereby you can be saved." Nor any other way of you/ being saved by that name, but by becoming his people ; for that name carries in it, salvation to his people — " He shall save his people from their sins." And besides, all the other names he wears will signify nothing to you without this ; nothing that you can take any comfort in. They will all be against you, and this name too will be against you, if it be not for you, if you neglect so great salvation. 2. To those who find they have an interest in this blessed name, I have a few things to say, and so close. Iri the first place, make use of this name with God. You have frequent business at the court above, unless THE NAME JESUS. 65 you are prayerless persons. You have suits there depending about mercy and grace. Whose name or interest can you use but this of Jesus ? It is with a mixture of pity and indignation that we hear the poor deluded papist crying out, Oh, holy Mary, mother of God, pray for us. Oh, sancte Paule, &c. Ora pro nobis, &c. Saint Paul, saint Peter, &c. and to all the rest of the saints, upon their list, pray for us. As if the names of Mary, St. Peter, and St. Paul, or a thousand other names, had any thing in them like the name Jesus. May not our Lord Jesus expostulate with these people, and say, ' What did I come down and put on this name for ? Did I put salvation into my name, to have others sought unto for the salvation it contains ? Have I not told you, there is " One INIediator between God and man, the man Christ Jesus ?" Have I not told you, that this is a name above every name, and that '"At this name of Jesus every knee shall bow ?" Have I not told you, that " What- soever you do, you must do all in the name of the Lord Jesus ?" Is this office conferred on the King's son, and do you go to the King's servants ? Have I not told you, that " Whatever you ask in my name, you shall receive ?" And by referring all along to my own name, do I not plainly disallow, the use of any other names*.' * After the mention of such plain Scriptures as these, with what indignation must a Christian read the story of Tracy and Brown, who, by the convocation in 1531, were prosecuted even after death, for taking no notice of other mediators, besides Jesus Christ ; the only Mediator betweeen God and man. Take the story in the words of Bishop Burnet's Hist. Ref. voL iii. p. 7*5. " The tirsfc motion, made by tlie lower house, was concerning Tracy's Testament; who had left his soul to God through Jesus Christ, to whose intercession alone he trusted, without the helj) of any other saint, therefore he left no pai t oi' his good-^ to any that F 66 A DISCOURSE ON Again, use this name with Jesus himself. Go to him and say, ' O ! Jesus, I am a poor sinner. I am come where thou hast bid me come, and where thy name invites me to come. I bring along with me thy dear name, Jesus. A name thou hast given out on purpose to encourage our pleas upon it, like so many bills of credit to be drawn upon the riches of grace, contained in that name. Does it not import salvation from my sins also ? Thou that wouldst not leave thy name upon a cross, wilt thou slight it upon a throne ? A throne of grace, when it is duly pleaded before thee ? No, it shall never be said that any petition was in a due manner presented in that name, that thou didst not answer. For thy name's sake therefore, for the credit of thy name Jesus, save me from my sins.' Further ; use this name, Jesus, with others. Let should pray for his soul. This touching the clergy very sensibly, they begun with it, and a commission was given for raising his body; " In the following session, the prolocutor complained of another Testament made by one Brown of Bristol, in the same strain. So to prevent the spreading of such an example, it was ordered that Trat'y's body should be dug up and burnt." This was done, to be sure, in the name of Jesus, as there are many things done in his name, directly against his will and his com, mands. Mankind was very excusable in comparison, for finding out other mediators, before God had declared to the world that he had appointed his Son to be our only advocate and intercessor : but for those who own his mediatorship, to make choice of others besides him, is to call in question the wisdom of the Father, or the suffi- ciency, interest, or kindness of the Son. For if God hath appointed him for this end,, and he be able to go through his work, and willing to help all that address themselves to him ; what need to call in other assistants ? Yea, what a dishonour is it for him to stand by, and application be made to them to do that office, which lie w/an appointed alone to dischage. Bishop Stillingfleet. of the Niituie of Superi-tition, THE NAME JESUS. 67 me use this name with you, as the apostle did to the Thessalonians : " We beseech you brethren, and ex- hort you by the Lord Jesus, that as you have received of us how you ought to walk, so you would abound more and more*." Once more ; use it with yourselves. Try what it will do against sin and satan. It will not indeed work like a charm ; but it is certain there are charms in it, that a good soul cannot easily resist. While I sdy with myself, upon occasion of sin or temptation, * Is this, oh my soul, is this worthy of that dear name I shelter myself under ? Is this suitable to the interest I claim in it, and the expectation I have from it ?' The name Jesnst has done wonders in time past. In the apostles' days many signs and wonders were done by the nam.e of thy holy child Jesus. And after their days for some time in the primitive church, w^e call Jesus our helper and redeemer (says Justin Martyr), the virtue of whose name the devils tremble at and fear; and even at this day, being abjured by the name Jesus Christ, who was crucified under Pontius Pilate, the governor of Judea, they obey us : that thence also it may appear unto all, that the Father hath given him so great power, that even the devils are subject to his name, and to the economy of his passion: but if you should abjure them by the names of any of the kings and prophets, or patriarchs, that have been among you, not one of them w^ould yield obedience +. Depend firmly upon this name, and believe in it. * Thessalonians iv. 1. t Acts iv. 30. X Dialog, cum Triplion in Hanmer's View of Antiquity. 68 A DISCOURSE OX This js his commandment, " That we believe an the name of his Son Jesus Christ, and that we love one another as he hath commanded us*." Believe that he is, and will be, and will do, all that which his name imports. Love and reverence this name, while others abuse it ; some in swearing by it, some in presuming upon it, and others in a superstitious use of itt. There are that bow to it in the church, and swear by it in the street, and trample it under foot in their lives. There can be neither love nor reverence to this name, while those sins are retained and loved at the same time ; the salvation from which is the very meaning of it. It is a banter upon the name Jesus, to sham off this reason of the name, while the head bows to the sound of it. To bow in the name of Jesus i is to submit to his authority, in his name to bring all our petitions, and depend upon his recom- mendation of us to the divine acceptance. Without this our outward reverence is but repeating the mockery of — hail king of the Jews, and smiting him ; or hail master, and betraying him with Judas. The knees that are to bow are in heaven as well as the earth. Spirits above or below have no knees, but are in subjection to the majesty and power, glory and authority of Jesus. * John iii. 23. f Papists ascribe an efficacy to the name Jesus for driving away the devil, diseases, and enemies from man and beasts. It is used mucli to the same superstitious or prophane purpose by those who, when any accident happens, suddenly cry out, oh, Jesus ! some write it on paper and parchment, and hang it about their necks, or tix it up at their doors, and with the names of Mary and St, Anne added, think it a wonderful protection against the plague. X Phil. ii. y. THE NAME JESUS. 69 It is observed of Mr. Herbert, the divine poet, that whenever he mentioned the name Jesus, with any solemnity, it was always with the addition of Jesus my master. St. Austin, in his confessions, tells us, that he used to read Cicero, and was very much delighted with that inimitable master of eloquence ; but at length he did not find so much pleasure in him, because he could not find the name Jesus there. For (says he) through thy goodness, O Lord, the name of thy dear Son, my Saviour, Jesus, was so engraven upon my heart, that nothing could recom- mend itself to me upon any other score, at least not so much if it wanted that. St. Ambrose has composed an hymn upon the name Jesus, wherein the sentiments are as much beyond the diction and stile, as he was a better Christian, than he was a poet: some of it is to this purpose. " Thy nam© is music to the ear, sweet- ness to the mouth, and a cordial to the heart. A thousand desires go up towards thee. But why do I say a thousand, when thou art infinitely desirable ? Altogether lovely? O ! when wilt thou come, and by thy coming make me glad with a gladness and joy, not arising from the slight refreshments of life, but from the complete satisfaction of my whole soul? In the mean tJme I languish after thee ; my soul is inflamed with unextinguishable affection to love and obey thee with all my heart and spirit. Jesus, thou refuge of the penitent mourner, Saviour of the world, reward of the conqueror, the joy and beauty of the heavenly world, hear the prayer of him who desires nothing in comparison of thee." Take the comfort from this name, which it aflfords, f3 70 A DISCOURSE ON against the fears that may arise from the power of our enemies, or our own weakness. I disquieted myself in vain when I sat down and said, " What will become of me at last ? Corruption within, temptations without ! an insnaring world ! a subtle devil ! a powerful adversary, by his great cun- ning and vast experience in the arts of destruction ! all this is true ; but why art thou cast down, oh my soul ? I will set Jesus against them all ; the salva- tion wrapped up in that name is superior to all hazard or difficulty arising from these.'' 8. Consider that the time is coming, when this name Jesus will be the most lovely sound, and he that wears it, appear to be the most lovely person in the world. At death, oh then for an interest in this Jesus, and all the saving import of his name! At judgment, wdien he shall come in the glory of his Father, and in the glory of his holy angels, and in his own glory. When he shall take his place upon the throne, as judge of the v^orld, and as the Saviour of them that believe in Jesus. Let them that are able figure to themselves with what a spirit and joy they will look up to him who have an interest in him, and lift up their heads, because their redemption and Redeemer are come. As for others, I am persuaded they would never have been represented crying to the rocks, and to the mountains, to fall on them, and hide them from his face, if it were to any purpose to cry to Jesus himself at that day. " No (says Jesus), I wore this name long enough to let you know that I was willing of your salvation, as well as that of others, but you would none of me. ' You have no THE NAME JESUS. 71 more to do with that name. I am judge of all the ■world, and will give to every man according to his works ; but I am Jesus only to those who Ibelieved in me, and belong to me. Your sins have ruined you, which you would not be saved from ; and when you despised the reason of this name, you threw away the benefit of it too.— ^Depart from me, Jesus knows you not." — To have damnation pronounced by one whose name carries salvation in it. But then to those on the right hand — " Come ye blessed of my Father, come and enjoy the full contents of his name Jesus in a complete salvation. You see the misery I have saved you from ; from weeping, wail- ing, and gnashing of teeth; from eternal confusion, despair, and anguish ; immortal flames, and the worm that never dies. Come and take possession of what I have saved you to — The kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the w^orld." And then plac- ing himself at the head of all his church, he leads up the beautiful, the glorious triumph ; and after they have been presented to the Father, a glorious church without spot, welcomed by angels, and have taken their allotted places and stations ; all they shall hear, see, and enjoy for ever, will be the eternal unfolding of the name Jesus. f4 PISCOURSE III. THE CHRISTIAN NAME ITS ORIGIN, IMPORT, OBLIGATION, AND PREFERENCE TO ALL PARTY DENOMINATIONS. DISCOURSE III. ON TMJE CHRISTIAN NAME. ACTS XL 26. THE DISCIPLES WERE CALLED CHRISTIANS FIRST AT ANTIOCH. JLhe Christian name, that name that has been sanctified by the holy lives of so many godly men, and consecrated by the blood of so many martyrs ; a name that has filled the world with so much renown in so many ages, is now become little more than a name with some ; is slighted by many who do not much care to rank under it; and prostituted by others who still wear it, where it is the fashion to do so. The love of this word has, in a great measure, eat out the thing ; and party denominations have almost devoured the name : — what shall we do to recover both name and thing.? Though it be but a little that we can do, it ought not to discourage our attempt ; we must do what we can. And when we read that those persons who first of all brought both name and thing to Antioch, were of so mean a character and condition in the world that St. Luke, the historian, does not so much as name them, but only says, Acts xi. 20. that some 76 A DISCOURSE ON of them were men of Cyprus and Cyrene, who, when they were come to Antioch, spake unto the Grecians, preaching the Lord Jesus: we are encou- raged to hope for that from the blessing of God, that is not to be expected from the abilities of men. The persecution raised against St. Stephen having scattered the brethren, some of them came to Anti- och, and others, as they fled from it, carried the Gospel wherever they were dispersed. Ver. 19, 20. " They that were scattered abroad upon the persecu- tion that arose about Stephen travelled as far as Phoenice, and Cyprus, and Antioch : preaching the word to none but unto the Jews only, and some of them were men of Cyprus and Cyrene." The enemy thought they had done great excution against the Christian religion ; but that very method which they took to suppress it proved, by God's providence, the occasion of propagating it far and wide. He made the storm that was raised against the church to scat- ter the good seed. He made it take root, and spring up wherever it fell. A society de propaganda fide could but have sent forth his missionaries ; and Christ's own commission did but order what his providence brought about ; for (v. 21.) " The hand of the Lord was with them." Thus does the great God bring light out of darkness, and make the wrath of men to praise him ; and promote the designs of divine goodness by the very malignity of its enemies. Thus the blood of the martyrs has been the seed of the church ; and the persecution of St. Stephen, the first martyr, sends the Gospel to Antioch. The news of this success, and of the number of converts, came to Jerusalem : ver. 22, 23. " Then tidings of those tiiinsfs came to the ears of the THE CHRISTIAN NAME. 77 church that was at Jerusalem, and they sent forth Barnabas, that he should go as far as Antioch ; who, when he came, and had seen the grace of God, was glad/' Nothing is more a joy to a good minister, and a good man, than to see the grace of God prevail in the world. There is joy in heaven at the conver- sion of a sinner ; there is joy in the Father's family at the return of a prodigal ; and if there had not been joy in Barnabas at the sight of this grace of God he would have appeared as unfit for a missionary as some of our modern ones : but the following charac- ter shows him to have been the best qualified for it in the world : ver. 24. " For he was a good man, full of the Holy Ghost, and of faith, and much people were added unto the Lord." When he found there was likely to be such an harvest, he required more labourers to be joined with him : ver. 25. " Then departed Barnabas to Tarsus to seek Saul, whom, when he had found, he brought him unto Antioch : and it came to pass, that a whole year they assembled themselves with the church, and taught much people, and the disciples were called Christians first at Antioch." Here are Barnabas and Saul mentioned, but not a word of St. Peter as con- cerned in the matter. So far was he from foundino- this church, that he was not so much as upon the place till there was a settled church, with whom Barnabas and Saul assembled themselves for a whole year, ver. 26. Certain Cyreneans and Cyprians, upon the dispersion by St. Stephen's persecution, went and preached the Gospel to the Antiochians. They made great conversions, numerous enough to form a church ; upon which the apostles sent forth Barnabas, a man full of the Holy Ghost, and of faith, 78 A DISCOURSE OX a character something like a propagator of the Gos- pel indeed. He was not ambitious of doing all him- self, to reap all the honour and advantage of it, like some of our modern propagators, but he seeks out Saul that he might have a helper with him. The reason is, because he acted from conscience, and not from ambition ; with an eye to God's glory, and not his own ; and from a love to the souls of men, and not from the mean designs of interest and self. Saul was the fittest person in the world to be his colleague in the service. By birth and education he was a Jew, by travel and conversation he was well acquainted with the Gentiles, and so the fitter to deal with both. Thus vve see that the first founder* of the church at Antioch were certain Cyprians and Cyreneans, ver. 20. After them came Barnabas to carry on the work, ver. 22. He goes and invites Saul into a share of the labour, ver. 25. A church assembles together, and they with it, for a year toge- ther, ver. 26. And not a word of St. Peter. That so famous a city as Antioch, the metropolis' of Syria, should be converted to the Christian faith ; or at least, a church founded there by a few obscure Cyprians and Cyreneans is a circumstance that some men can hardly bear ; it is so out of the way of hu- man relish, and of those pretensions that afterwards came into fashion. It is plain from the sacred text, that St. Pete r was not there till the church at An- tioch was founded and flourishing. But though it does not please Baronius that these mean people should be the first founders of the Antiochian church, it ])leased God. And as for St. Peter, there is not a word of him till the Christians there had their church and their name, if St, Peter was first of Antioch, THE CHRISTIAN NAME. 79 and afterwards of Rome, how came he to invest Rome, which he never founded, with more authority than Antioch, which (as they falsely pretend) he was the founder of * ? We shall, ^r 5^, consider the place where the Chris- tian name first began, viz. at Antioch. Not at Jerusalem. From Jerusalem came the thing,' called Christianity; according to an ancient prophecy, " Out of Zion shall come forth a law, and the word of the Lord from Jerusalem (Tsa. ii. 3.) ; and according to Christ's commission to his disciples, that repentance and remission of sins should be preached in his name unto all nations, " Beginning at Jeru- salem." Luke xxiv. 47. There the thing began, there the foundation was laid. There the Author sealed it with his blood, and witnessed to it by his resurrec- tion. It was an honour too great for one city to have both name and thing to commence from it ; it was re- served to a Gentile city, to give the name to that re- ligion, that began at a Jewish one. So God, in his * St. Peter does not appear to have been so much as a compa- nion in this matter, either to these Cyprians and Cyreneans, or to Barnabas, or Saul. I refer to the remark of Basnage in l»is Exercitat. Crit. His. in Baron, mihi p. 25G. Si non Barouio fortasse, at Deo fuit idoneus Barnabas, licet Ecclesiae principem non pra^staret, cui absolvenda Antiochena Ecclesia committeretur ; plus virium ad id perticiendum virtutibus Barnabae habentibus, quam PontiHcali Mlthra gemmis illustrata. The first time I can find St. Peter at Antioch with any certainty, was when he was reprimanded by St. Paul for his com- pliance with the prejudices of the Jewish converts, in favour of some ceremonials which the Gospel had freed all Christians from. Gal. ii. 11. When Peter was come to Antioch I withstood him to the face because he was to be blamed. Which was a matter of seven years after this Christian churcli and name was settled at Atitioc]). 80 A DISCOURSE ON providence, shared the honour between two cities that was too much for one. As he died without the gates of a Jewish city, as one, the merit of whose sacrifice was not a property to be engrossed by Jews; so his rehgion takes its name from a Gentile city, to show that all are one in Christ. Again, At Antioch, not at Rome. Had this come to pass at Rome, what a noise would they have made with it ? and what a boasting for ever ? Though indeed, if both the Christian religion, and the Christian name, had commenced from Rome, it would have given it no more authority over other churches than Jerusalem and Antioch have now upon that account over Rome. But they who, with such a forehead, can erect themselves up into a supremacy over other churches, and arrogantly claim subjection upon such slender pretences as we find in their bocks, what would they not have done with so much colour as this? though it would have been but a colour, that the disciples were first called Christians at Rome. Tjj( Christian religion began at Jerusalem, the Chris- tian name began at Antioch, and yet Rome must be the mother-church ! without either of these, without deserving so much as to be called Christian at all ; in the judgment of those who believe that church to be antichrist; unless there is any propriety in saying antichristian Christians. But to return to the place where the Christian name began, the city of An- tioch : 1 have these remarks to make. 1. It was an Heathen city that gave birth to the Christian name. Here Christ set up his standard to the Gentiles; displayed his banner according to the prophecy : " In that day there shall be a root of Jesse, which THE CHRISTIAN NAME. 81 shall Stand for an ensign of the people, to that shall the Gentiles seek, and his rest shall be glorious, Isa. xi. 10. '2. It was a most wicked city, for all manner of debauchery and lasciviousness. It was called before Epidaphne, from its neighbourhood to that infamous grove Daphne ; a place made by nature for pleasure, and improved by art. In its walks you, every where, trod upon carpets of green moss, and the embroidery of flowers ; its trees were laurel and cypress ; so ordered, as to admit no more of the sun-beams, in the hottest day, than would beautify the shade, and improve the delight of it. Its fountains and streams were said to be derived from the Castalian springs, and its sweet air and delicious fruits are as much celebrated as all the rest. But it was as infamous a place for the abuse of all these perfections, as it was remarkable for them. Insomuch, that Chrysostom tells us, that it was an untrodden quarter to persons of honour and good life. If an army of Roman sol- diers, or some legions of it, were quartered there- abouts, upon any necessity of affairs, they were generally good for little afterwards. They were so effeminated by the pleasures of that place that their generals found it less dangerous for them to attack an enemy in the field than to dissolve in the plea- sures of Daphne. Now, methinks, it adds something to the triumphs of the Gospel-grace, and to the beauty of this provi- dence, for that name, which obliges every one that names it to depart from iniquity, to begin at that place where all iniquity did so much abound. It is planting the standard of the King of heaven upon the enemy's rampart. Where may not the grace of God S'2 A DISCOURSE ON bring salvation if it can teach Antioch and Daphne to deny iingodhness and worldly lusts, and to live godly, righteously, and soberly in this present world ? 3. It was a city that had its name (Antioch) from one of the bitterest enemies and persecutors of the people of God, viz. from Antiochus Epiphanes, of ten'ihle memory to the poor Jews. He was the anti- christ of the Old Testament, as popery is of the New : and by Grotius is supposed to be the Magog, spoken of by the prophet Ezekiel*. Now it appears glorious for Christ to set up the trophies of his grace where satau had his throne. Commanding the new name of his church and king- dom to begin from a place that took its denomination from so great an enemy, who endeavoured to extin- guish the line of Abraham, the law. and people of the Jews, and therein struck at the Gospel, and the Christian church. So God makes the cockatrice eg§ to bring forth a dove. Where God is the operator, no transmutations are too hard to be expected. 4. It was a very great and powerful city, the metropolis of Syria, as Alexandria was the head of Asia, and Rome of Europe. It had been the royal seat of the kings of Syria for many years t ; and in the highest flourish of the Roman empire it was the ordinary residence of the prefect of the eastern pro- vinces, and sometimes of the Roman emperors them- selves. This gave the greater spread to the Christian name from such a city as from a centre of communi- cation ; it could more easily proceed to all parts with the circulation of a general correspondence. There is a passage in history that will show the populousness of Antioch afterwards ; and at the same » Ezi.\i. 33, 3<). t Cosmography, in Syria. THE CHRISTIAN NAME. 83 time the happiness of having this circumstance plead- able in its favour, viz. that the Christian name began there. About the year 388 the emperor Theodosius having an occasion to raise a greal deal of money, exacted large supplies from the people. The inha- bitants of Antioch, particularly, looked upon their quota to be so unreasonable, that they raised a sedi- tion in the city, demolished the statues of the empe- ror, together v^'ith those of the empress Flaccilla ; of his two sons, and of his father, Theodosius, with many indignities. Upon the news of this the emperor was so enraged, that he at first thought of nothing less than destroying the whole city, and turning it into a heap of ashes. Commissioners were sent accord- ingly with a force to take a full revenge. There was nothing to be heard but lamentation, mourning, and woe. Chrysostom, who then resided at that place, in conjunction with some religious, obtained a re- prieve from, execution till the last representation might be made. None seemed more ready, or more proper than Flavianus, bishop of the place, to make this one effort more for mercy. He goes to Con- stantinople, gets an audience ; he spoke, he moved the very soul of Theodosius ; and having represented the repentance of the Antioch ians, he goes on — " They die (says he) with grief for having affronted your images, they have repaired them : — remember, these poor souls are the images of the King of heaven. — • You cannot repair them after the blow is given: — - think of.the greatness of that city. The question is not about the preservation of two or three poor creatures; no, nor of any small number: 1 am pleading for infinite myriads, for a city the head of the world. This is the city where the disciples were r/2 S4 A DISCOURSE ON fust called Christians. — Honour Christ. — Show re- gard to the place that first published that desirable, that lovely name." He prevailed. — The Christian name had that honour ; a Christian city had that salvation ; by a compassion suitable to that good name that inspired it. 5. It is now a desolate heap of ruins, or at most, an inconsiderable village: famous only for what it has been, and for giving this name to our religion. Its churches and palaces are buried in their own ruins. It hardly falls under the notice of the geographer. It is omitted in most maps, unless it be in those which designedly lay down sacred geography ; and what is worse, there is hardly a Christian now to be found in that place, where the Christian name began. Maho- metan infidels are in possession: and if there be here and there a Christian of the Greek church, they are Christians of such an edition as are hafdly to be compared with these primitive ones, any more than Antioch now is like what it was then. Let the most flourishing churches learn humility from this, and the most populous cities. Thus the fashion of this world passeth away. If God remove the candlestick all is darkness. O London! do not de- pend upon thy numbers, thy situation, populousness, and commerce : Antioch was to Syria what London is to England. — London may be what Antioch is*. If the honour of deriving the Christian name to the disciples did not preserve Antioch, what may the provocation of abusing that name do to London ? So * Ornueis qiue usquain rerum potiuntur urbe^, ubi fuerint ? a!i- quando quuiretur ; et vavio exitii genere tollentuv: alias destiuent bella, alias desidia, yiaxque ad inertiam versa consumet, et magnis 0[/il)US CKitiosine ulteriore sui de- fensione ca{)ite plectitor. Alsted. Chron. 331. Though bj' Trajan's rescript to i'liny, t'aere seems to have been no public edict, or settled from of proiecutiou of the Christiaus» THE CHRISTIAN NAME. 99 rison of the horrid crime of wearing the Christian name. The worst of criminals had the privilege of dying at once, according to the common forms, but Christians must have no mercy allowed them. That pity to the miserable, w^ithout which human nature itself seems to be put off, the poor Christians must have no benefit from. It was a crime against the state, or rather against the priests of the established religion, so much as to pity the Christian under the torture, to which his name only condemned him. " We are hated merely for the name of Christ,^' says Justin Martyr, according to that, Matt. xxiv. 9. " Ye shall be hated of all men, for my name sake.'' But, on the other hand, it was not more the scorn and hatred of the heathen, than it was the glory and boast of the Christians. They owned this name when it w^as death to own it. They would not part with it to save life; much less would they have ex- changed it for the queer denominations since taken from men. Lucianus was asked by the judge, what countryman he was ? he answered a Christian. He was asked what trade, or business he was of? he an- swered a Christian. Of what house or family ? he still answered a Christian. He knew it was for be- ing a Christian that he was taken up, and called in question : and he would make no other answer, to show how he gloried in that name. Nay sometimes, without being asked, they would proclaim themselves to be Christians, which was certainly too forward, and not to be defended by the common rules of pru- dence, or self-preservation ; but may possibly be ac- counted for, from some extraordinary impulse they were under ; so that at the last day they may apjiear to have had a sufficient warrant from God, which is H 2 100 A DISCOUKSE ON no rule to us, unless we have something of the same nature. Blandina suifered under Antoninus, and she refreshed herself under lier sufferings, and renewed her courage, by repeating this declaration, Christiana s//m, I am a Christian. So well had they studied that lesson, 1 Pet. iv. 13. " Think it not strange concerning the fiery trial ; if you be reproached for the name of Christ, happy are you; the Spirit of God and of glory resteth upon you : for on their part he is evil spoken of, but on your part he is glorified. If any man suffer as a Christian, let him not be ashamed, but let him glorify God on that behalf." Tertullian says, that the accusation of being Chris- tians, was what they wished for; being indicted of it in form, they troubled not themselves to make any defence; being pronounced guilty, they rejoiced; being condemned, they gave thanks to God ; the execution for it was their triumph. While the hooks were tearing their flesh, while the crosses hoisted them up into the air; while the fires were preying upon their flesh and bones, and turning both into ashes; while the sword was whetting for the throat, or the wild beasts leaping toward them with hungry jaws, with unshaken courage, and with a cheerful countenance, they gloried still in this, that they were Christians. 1 am sometimes ready to wonder at the unreasonable enmity to this lovely and harmless name. But when 1 think again, that the kingdom of sa tan was concerned, and the interests of the heathen priests, I have done wondering. I turn my admiration towards the glori- ous sufferings of those early witnesses to Christianity, and acknowledge the full accomplishment of those words of St. Peter, that " The Spirit of God and of THE CHRISTIAN NAME. 101 glory, did indeed rest upon tbem*." They had this consolation in all, that they suffered as Christians, for owning that name, and adhering to Christ's reli- gion. I look upon every man that suffers any thing because he will own no other name, nor any other master in religion, to suffer as a Christian. Though the modern persecutors wont allow us that honour; we are, it seems, heretics and schismatics, and must be hanged and burnt now because we will own no other name but Christian, nor any other master, in matters of conscience and salvation, but Christ. And though this is of the essence of the Christian character, yet we must not be allowed the honour of suffering as Christians. We now conclude with some remarks, as an im- provement of the whole, 1. This reproves those who are either ashamed of the Christian name ;.or a shame to it. I wish there are none who are ashamed of it, who think it a low thing to be called a Christian, as if there were some- thing mean and indifferent in the denomination. The deist is ashamed of it, the wicked Christian is a shame to it. Those who will wear the name, where it is in fashion, without any of the goodness it implies, and obliges to, have helped to make the nonsense so * Pliny, in bis account to Trajan of his method of dealing with the Christians, says, " I asked them if they were Christians. They confessinoj that they were so, I asked them again, and a third time, threatening them with punishment; they persisting in it, I ordered them to execution/' He imputes this to their obstinacy, and thinks that alone, whatever the cause might be, worthy to be punished ; tittlt' thinking that what he counted obstinacy, wa:; fidelity to a master, whom they must not deny before men. But at tiie close of his letter (lib. x. epist. 97.) the persecution had this effect, that " The temples that were almost desolate, begin again to be frequented ; the sacrifices, that were a long time intermitted, are agaiaoifered." u3 102 A DISCOURSE ON familiar, that we dent startle at the contradiction there is in saying a wicked Christian. A Pagan life and spirit, and a Christian name, are a shame to each other. It is one way of taking his name in vain ; and something worse, it is throwing his name in the dirt, and trampling upon it*. Scipio Africanus had a son who had nothing of the father but the name ; a coward, a dissolute sorry rake; the son of one of the greatest captains in the world ! This son wore a ring upon his finger, wherein was his father's picture. His life and character was so oppo- site to that of his father, and so unworthy, that by an act of the senate he was commanded to forbear wear- ing that ring. They judged it unfit that he should have the honour to vrear the picture of his Father, who would not himself be the resemblance of his father's excellence. It is an edict of greater autho- rity than all the senates in the world, " Let him that names the name of Christ depart from iniquity." Either part with iniquity, or part with the name. Was there any povi^er in being, that could now strip every one of the Christian name who had not the Christian temper, how just a thing would it be, that those whose wickedness flatly renounces their Chris- tian baptism, should be obliged ta fling the name after it, and take their rank among baptized heathens. How unlike is the Christian world, to the Chris- tian doctrine t! The seal is fair and excellent, but the impression is languid, and hardly visible. The Ciunstian spirit is love, joy, peace, long-suffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, meekness, temperance, * Quid est aliud sanctum vocabulum sine merito, quam orna^ mentum in luto. Suiv. Gub. 1. 4. f A'l Expostulation of Mr. How's. THE CHRISTIAN NAME. 103 against such there is no law ; and they that are Christ's have crucified the flesh, with the afi'ections and lusts thereof:" but if nobody was allowed to wear the name, but those who could show this right to it, •what a reduction would it make ? Do men think to be saved by an empty name ? and glory in the meer appearance of that, the life and power of which they hate and deride ? It was smartly said, by that great man, at a time when godliness was greatly derided — " It is a reproach with us, for a man not to be called a Christian ; it is a greater reproach to be one in deed and in truth*." For serious godliness, heavenly- mindedness, and spirituality, which is the thing that belongs to that name, was ridiculed by many of those who wore the name, but were averse to the thing. You are no farther a Christian, than you are deter- mined by the mind of Christ in what you believe, and by the authority of Christ in what you practise in religion. And if this be the principle you act upon, it may carry you perhaps to believe, and to practise somewhat different from the established forms, and then the worst name in the world is too good for you : on that very account for which you deserve the best, viz. believing only as you discern the mind of Christ, and practising only as you discern his autho- rity. You are not allowed to be a Christian by virtue of that wherein the essence of Christianity does con- sist, but you must purchase the honour of that name, by parting with so much of the thing, as is given up when you suffer any authority to over-rule you, in which you cannot see the mind of Christ. Togo on with the expostulation of Mr. How, in his own words. * Mr. How. h4 104 A DISCOURSE OX " If such and such doctrines do not obtain in our behef, and in our creed, then we are heretics, infidels; if they do obtain in our practice, then we are preci- sions and fanatics. To be serious and circumspect, and strict, and holy, to make the practice of godli- ness so much our business as the principles of our religion require, is to become a scorn and derision. Not to profess religion is barbarous ; to be truly reli- gious, and in good earnest, is ridiculous. In other thino's men are wont to act accordins; to the rules of their calling and profession ; he that should sow when others reap, and continue to have his harvest in the midst of winter, he might call himself an husbandman as much as he pleased, no one would allow him to be one." He that should sow fitches and yet expect wheat, he might call himself a husbandman as solemnly as he pleases, it would make his neighbour only laugh the louder. " It is in religion only that it must be accounted absurd, to be and to do according to its known principles : and he is a fool who practises, according as all about him profess to believe." Lord, whence this inconsistency ! that seriousness in religion should be thought the character of a fool ? That a man must make a mockery of the fundamental articles of their faith to save his reputation ; and not mention or insist upon the name of Christ or Chris- tianity, for fear of not writing like a gentleman, or not being read by gentlemen. 3. The real disciple of Christ has the only right to the Christian name. A man may with equal truth, or pro- priety, assume to himself the title ofknight of the gar- ter, or any other name of dignity, or distinction, w ith- out the real dignity, or true distinction, made necessary by the rules of the order. Unless the head of this order THE CHRISTIAN NAME. 105 of Christians, must not be allowed the power that other sovereigns of orders have. The name Christian is the outward inscription of an inward character, and principle, and spirit. As he is not a Jew that-is one outwardly, but he that is so inwardly ; so he is not a Christian that is so outwardly only. It is not faith as it is in the creed, that will save us ; but faith as in the heart working by love. The doctrines of Christianity do nothing, if they only fill the head and wag the tongue; they must transform the soul, and govern the life. Common custom has so long prevailed against the truth and nature of things, that we can only point out the ancient boundary and say, this it was for- merly to be a Christian ; and to be so, was the only right of being called so. " Then are ye my disciples indeed, if ye continue in my word,'' John viii. 31. It is not in human laws, or favour of princes ; it is not in majorities of assemblies of men, who meet together and- agree to call one another by big names ; it is not in the power of any of these to make one a Christian, who is not a disciple indeed; no more than to make any thing a part of Christianity that Christ himself has not made so. Whatever is beyond, or besides his appointment, is all romance in religion ; and as impertinent as what is against his appoint- ment is insolent and rebellious. And the unanimous assembly of every individual upon earth concurring to the establishment of the same impertinence, or insolence, cannot alter the nature of it; it would only prove the impertinence and rebellion to be of so much the greater spread and extent. 4. We may as well deny the Christian name to any true disciple of Christ as the Christian communion. Some true disciples may not have learned so far as 106 A DISCOURSE ON Others, who are not therefore to be disowned for dis- ciples. The having intirely given themselves up to the teaching of that great Master is more essential to the character of the disciples than the having learned this or that one particular lesson. There were many- truths which Christ's own disciples did not presently learn concerning his death and resurrection : " They understood none of these things, it was hid from them ; neither knew they the things that were spoken," Luke xviii. 34. And there were also several truths, which their great Master did not pre- sently teach them : " I have many things to say unto you, hut you cannot bear them now." And yet they were disciples, and deserved the name, because they had actually given themselves up to his teaching, as their Master, Prophet, and Oracle. The lowest form or seat is of the school, as truly as the upper ; and though one disciple may be of greater proficiency in learning than another, he that has made the greatest progress has no warrant from thence to turn out of the school one of less ability and progress ; least of all, if the lesson be absolutely necessary to be learned, because b.e turns him away from the means and oppor- tunity of learning what is thought to be so needful. 5. We learn from hence what to think of the practice of making the Christian name, privileges, and character depend upon things not essential to discipleship and Christianity. To say a man is no Christian, nor must be allowed the name, if not of such a church and communion ; if not baptized by such particular hands ; if not practised in such rites and ceremonies that are of men's invention ; to make this character, and the privileges belonging to it, depend upon things invented long since the name THE CHRISTIAN NAME. 107 and privileges were settled upon mere discipleship to Christ ; is as if some of the king's subjects should melt down the broad seal into their own form, and then resolve among themselves that nothing shall be valid but what is stamped with that new impression. Men will not hear it now, nor receive it, although it be written with a sun-beam in the Avord of God and the nature of things, that the communion of saints lies in that only which is common to all saints as such. The first imposing of any party-badges of partition was the going oif from the catholic commu- nion, and the insisting upon this still is continuing the schism. 6. Let us come back to the primitive demonina- tion for all Christ's disciples : our religion is the Bible, our name is Christian, our master is Christ. What Adam called every living creature that was its name : what the second Adam hath called every living member, every true disciple, let that be his name. It was the glory of Israel to be called by the name of their God. Deut. xxviii. 10. "And all the people of the earth shall see that thou art called by the name of the Lord." It is the glory of the Chris- tian church to be called by the name of Christ, and all the world ought to see that you will own no other name than that into which you are baptized. Surely we were never baptized into one name, in order to be called by another. The great men, from whom some have affected to denominate themselves Lutherans and Calvinists, and the like, have expressed their own abhorrence of any such thing. Luther protested against any man's calling himself by his name, upon the same reasons I have mentioned. The doctrine is not 108 A DISCOURSE ON mine, says he, but -Christ's. It was not I that died for you, but Christ. And because St. Paul would not bear it, says he, in his own person*. Luther saying St. Paul would not bear it in his own person, refers to 1 Cor. i. 10 — 13. " 1 beseech you, brethren, by the name of Christ : now this I say, brethren, that every one of you saith, I am of Paul, and 1 of Apollos, and I of Christ: — is Christ divided into these denominations ? Was Paul crucified for you ? A¥ere you baptized in the name of Paul ?" The ar- gument is this, that he who is our Lord, our head, our master, whose doctrine we profess, whose name we were baptized into, his name we should wear, and not the names of our fellow Christians, no not of apostles themselvest. St. Paul makes it his business here to take off the Corinthians from the factious way of denominating themselves from the particular masters and leaders whom they followed, and whose scholars they pro- fessed themselves to be ; and to reduce them into one body as the scholars of Christ, united in the belief and practice of that Gospel he had preached to them. His first argument is that, in Chrsstianity, they had all but one master, viz. Christ ; and there- fore w^ere not to fdll into parties denominated from dis- tinct teachers, as they did in the schools of philoso- phy. Chap. i. 10. " Now I beseech, brethren, by the name of our Lord Jesus Christ." As he here intends to abolish the names of the leaders they distin- * Noiuit Lutherus ut quisquam se de suq nomine appellaret : quia doctrina non sit sua : quia ipse pro nemine sit mortuus : quia sanctus Panlus id noluerit in sua persona ferre. Adami Vit. Luth. t I honour Peter, but I am not called a Petrian ; 1 honour Paul but I am not called a Faulian. Gretf. Naziau. Orat. 31. THE CHRISTIAN NAME. 100 giiislied themselves by, he beseeches them by the name of Christ common to all ; of whom the whole family of heaven and earth is named, or ought to be named*. St. Paul intimates in the course of his arguments, that we are to be supposed to wear the name that we were baptized into. 1 Cor. i. 16. " Lest any should say I baptized into my own name." To be baptized into any one's name, is solemnly, by that ceremony, to enter himself a disciple of him, into whose name he is baptized, with profession to receive his doctrine and rules, and submit to his authority: a very good argument here w'hy they should be called by no one's name but Christ'st. If some men will call themselves from Paul, Ce- phas, or Apollas, there will be others w^ho will only answer to the name of Christ; which, how much soever it may be their duty, yet still it makes Christ's name look like a party denomination rather than his being the head, of the whole church : to have his name worn in competition, as it were, with the names of other leaders, his own servants. The sin of party names derived from men is aggravated from this, that it makes even the name of Christ itself look like a party name. Is Christ divided ? Is he a leader of a party, or the head of all ? Having heard wdiat Luther's thoughts were upon this, let us now hear Calvin, another of those names complimented this way, beyond w'hat St. Paul, or Luther would bear, and we shall find him in the same sentiment in his commentary upon the fore-quoted place of Scripture ; he says, " Therefore there are contentions among you, because each of you glory * Vide Locke in loc. f Ibid. 110 A DISCOURSE ON in the name of some man*. And when it is come to that pass (says he) what remains but for them that are godly to separate themselves from such party spirits, unless they will deny Christ. The apostle does so assert the mastership in the church to Christ alone, upon which we should all depend, that among us there should be but one only Lord and Master named, and no man's name opposed to it. They, therefore, who draw disciples after them, and rend the church into sects, he condemns them as the most pernicious ene- mies of the Christian faith f." Vitembogart, in a speech to the states of Holland, in 1609, expresses finely the same thing that I appre- hend Luther and Calvin both mean in the passages I have quoted : " Once more, my lords, I venture to say I am no Arian, no Papist, no Calvinist, no Lutheran, no Pelagian, but a Christian, ordained to preach up the perfection of him who hath called us out of darkness into his marvellous light + ." Dii Moulin's scheme, drawn up at the appoint- ment of king James I. for uniting protestant churches, determining their differences, and preventing the lika for the future, has this article in it. " Art. 20. It will be absolutely necessary for the several princes and states to promise that they will make use of their authority, to the end that those names of Lutheran, * Ideo coutesitiones inter vos esse dioo, quia unusquisque ves- tmm in homiuis nimine gloriaUir, &c. Calv, in loc. t Nee aliud restat j)iis nisi ut se ab aliis seperarent, si non velint Christum abnegare. Vult uni Christo magisterium ita asserere in ecclesia, ut ab eo penderemus omnes, ut unus inter nos dominus et magister noniinetur. Ne ulluui contra hominis nomen opponetur, qui ergo disci pulos post se trahunt ut scindant ecclesiam in sectas, eos damnat, tanquam perniciosissinios fidei hostes. Calv. ib, J Brandt's Ilistorj^, vol. II. p. 58. THE CHRISTIAN NAME. Ill and Calvinist, Arminian, Zwinglist, Sacramentariaiij may be abolished, and that all our churches be called Christian reformed churches." This was in the year 1615, above an hundred years ago ; but I hope it will not be an hundred years more till people become so wise, and just, and good, as to follow this good advice. Bishop Hall (as he was afterwards) gives the same advice in his sermon before the synod of Dort. " Labour after peace. We are brethren, let us also be fellow-servants. Why should we use those re- proachful terms of Remonstrants, and Contraremon- strants, Calvinists, and Armenians, when we are all Christians ?" Dr. Rust, bishop of Dromore, in his funeral ser- mon on bishop Taylor, says, " Religion and virtue is the crown of all other accomplishments; and it was the glory of this great man to be thought a Christian ; and whatever, you added to it he looked upon as a term of diminution ; and yet he was a zealous son of the church of England." Mr. Baxter, in answer to those who queried what party he was of. " I will tell you — I am a Chris- tian — a meer Christian, of no other religion : and the church that I am of, is the Christian church ; and has been visible wherever the Christian religion and church has been visible. But must you know what sect or party I am of? 1 am against all sects and dividing parties. I am sorr}^ that you are not content with meer Christianity, and to be a member of the catholic church, and hold the communion of saints, but that you must needs also be of a sect, and and have some other name." (Second preface to his church-history.) 112 A DISCOURSE ON There are some plausible objections against this, and perhaps more than I am aware of, that may deserve a distinct paper ; but none of those J. have hitherto met with, nor all of them together, do at all discourage me from repeating the exhortation, viz. let all the disciples of Christ return to the primitive denomination of Christian. Let us return with the language of the ancient church. Isa. xxvi. 13. " Other lords have had dominion over us, but by thee only will we make mention of thy name." " And in that day there shall be one Lord, and his name one," Zech. xiv. 9. Is not that day yet come > " To us, says the Apostle, there is but one Lord Jesus Christ," 1 Cor. viii. 5. and his name, in token of his Lordship, one name upon all his disciples, viz. the Christian name*. No doubt but there were at Antioch persons of various sentiments and opinions, with regard to the doctrines of the new religion they had embraced : the difference of capacity, and of degrees of know- ledge, made it unavoidable. But they seem never to have thought of affixing to the common disciples of Christ as many different names as there were diffe- rent sentiments, under pretence of better knowing who and who were together, when they were all too^ether under one denomination — that of Christian. Let us walk worthy of this holy name wherewith we are called, that when the question is asked, what is a Christian ? It may be explained from our own character and behaviour to signify one that lovesl Ciod, and loves to please him ; that fears God, and fears to offend him ; one ihat loves all, that do love * Joseplms toUs us of some Jews that would die under torments mther than rail any uiau master upon earth. THE CHRISTIAN NAME. 113 God ; that denies ungodliness and worldly lusts, and lives godly, righteously, and soberly in this present world. One who believes the doctrines of Christ, obeys his commands, and depends upon his promises. One that walks worthy of the vocation wherewith he is called ; in all lowliness, and meekness, and long- suffering, forbearing one another in love ; in that love which is the badge of discipleship ; the bond of peace, and the fulfilling of the law. Then we shall " Not only be called Christians, but be found truly to be so, and appear faithful when we appear no more to this world." DISCOURSE IV. THJE F]R1]SE3]RTATIY]E OF TIRTUOUS "YOUTM*. PSALM XVIII. 23. I WAS ALSO UPRIGHT BEFORE HIM, AND I KEPT MYSELF FROM MINE INIQUITY. JLn the day when God had delivered David out of the hand of all his enemies, and out of the hand of Saul, the most bitter and dangerous of them all, he spake this song of triumph. He triumphs in the sanctuary for what God had done for him in the field, and brings those laurels he had gathered in a success- ful campaign, and lays them down at the feet of God, He describes his dangers to set off his deliverance, and to glorify its author, who, as he had before taught his hands to war, and his fingers to fight, now teaches the same fingers to strike the trembling string, and inspires his song with all the fervours of devotion, and with all the beauties of sacred poetry. David cries out in his distress, v. 6. " And (saj'S he) he heard my voice out of his temple, and my cry came before him even into his ears. Then the earth shook and trembled." The heavens bow down, the * This discourse^ v.as preached at the Old Jewry, May 17, 1714, to a society of young persons. I 2 116 THE PRESERVATIVE OP earth trembles, the hills are torn up from their foun- dations ; he comes, nay, he rides, he flies upon the wings of the wind. What dispatch ? What speed ? What an impression does the creation feel of the de- scending God ? The matter was, an upright man in distress ; the evidence of that uprightness was, ver. 21. " For I have kept the ways of the Lord, and have not wickedly departed from my God, for all his judgments were before me, and I did not put away his statutes from me. I was also upright before him, and I kept myself from mine initjuity.'' It is not certain to me whether this Psalm was composed after the atiair of Uriah, though it seems to be placed as if it were, 2 vSam. xxii. However, if it were so, the exception that the Scripture has made, in David's character, must be implied here ; " That David was right in the eyes of the Lord, and turned not aside from any thing that he commanded him, all the days of his life, save in the matter of Uriah, thelTittite," 1 Kings XV. 5. Besides, the denomination of a person is not to be taken from a single action, but from the habit and frame of spirit, the tenour and course of life. As one good action, though never so excellent, could not denominate him a good man, who is habitually and prevailingly bad, so neither can one bad action denominate him a bad man, who is habitually and prevailingly good ; no more than a single speck upon any face can denominate the whole complexion. Even Abraham's faith once tottered, and Peter's steady resolution failed, without ruining either of their pro- per characters ; the one was still the father of the faithful, and the other was nevertheless an honest heart. And further, sincere repentance secures the denomination of uprightness, as truly as perfect VIRTUOUS YOUTH. 117 innocence. I say, sincere and true repentance, not that whining in a morning for a debauch over night, that permits the return of the same sin upon the return of the occasion, and so on, to sin and repent in a circle ; but such repentance as changes the heart and mind, turns the course and hfe,from sin to God and goodness ; to live godly, righteously and soberly in this present world. And the same grace that justifies such a sinner, and it justifies no other, will allow such an one, notwithstanding his fall, to say, " I was also upright before him, and I kept myself from mine iniquity." Had I designed to preach over all this text, I must have observed to you, that here is a most excellent character, one of them in the world, " 1 was upright before him," and the surest proof of it that could be given, " I kept myself from mine iniquity ;" and all this subjected to the strictest test and observation that could be named, it was before God, under his eye. My concern will be chiefly with the latter part of these words, " I kept myself from mine iniquity." And if I can help you to do so, I am persuaded I shall do you such service as you will thank God for, the longest day you have to live, and after that to eternity. Knowledge and practice are the whole of man ; without knowledge the heart cannot be good, and without practice the knowledge is good for nothing ; nay, so far worse than nothing, as it intitles to the greater number of stripes. As for knowledge, you are in the best way imaginable ofattaining a considerable degree, a method that deserves the encouragement of all, that are sensible of the consequence of having the best principles well planted in the rising generation ; and under the conduct and direction of a person, at I 3 118 THE PRESERVATIVE OF whose feet, even they who are teachers of others would be glad to sit. Every one has some sin that does most easily beset him, that may be called his iniquity, whether it arises from the constitution of the body, which is observed to inchne the sanguine to lightness, vanity, and wan- tonness : the choleric to passion and resentment ; the phlegmatic to idleness, sloth, and carelesness ; the melancholy to suspicion, jealousy, and a sourness of temper: or whether it arises from the age of life wherein we are, all ages having their particular temp- tations ; those of youth are many, but they mostly spring out of this one thing, an addictedness to plea- sure, and sensual delights; hence all those inclinations which the apostle calls youthful lusts ; not but that they are often found in other ages, but they especially belong to this : or whether it be the predominancy of some prevailing passion or affection, or occasioned by the callings and business we are placed in, and the affairs of life we respectively pursue ; or from the opposite states of prosperity or adversity ; or from the company we keep, or the times we live in : from some, or all of these, may arise that sin which you may call your iniquity. You may further pursue the discovery by such marks as these. It is that sin we are most naturally inclined to, and consequently do most easily slide into the commission of; or in the apostles phrase, " The sin that doth most easily beset us ;" it is commonly the master-sin and that upon which all other sins and lusts are made to attend ; it is that which engrosses our time and thoughts ; it is that sin which we can least bear the reproof of: it is that sin which flies in our face upon the apprehension of danger, sickness or death ; it is VIRTUOUS YOUTH. 119 that which we are most inclined to wish no sin, and to grudge at the divine law for having made it one by his prohibition ; that sin, which, when we are almost converted, hinders us from being altogether Christians ; it is that which we are most hardly brought to part with at last, even when the grace of God does prevail in us, and what we do the latest give up, and what after our conversion, does most hazard our relapse, and endanger our perseverance ; and is the only, or at least the chief obstacle, to the most flourishing grace, and to the fullest evidence of uprightness. To keep ourselves fi-om this, signifies, not only to abstain from the outward commission of it; but to subdue and mortify the inward inclinations ; " For they that are Christ's have crucified the flesh with the afl'ections and lusts thereof." They so regulate the natural aflections of flesh and blood, as that they shall not govern ; and subdue the sinful, so as they shall not have dominion over them. To assist you in which 1 shall lay before you, I. The directions how we may keep ourselves from this our iniquit^^ II. The motives. I. Some directions how we may keep ourselves from these our iniquities. Before I proceed, I think myself bound to protest to you, that I am not going to prejudice any of your lawful pleasures, nor has religion any such tendency or design. I know I am not offering any thing that will rob 3'ou of what young people are so much afraid of being spoiled of, pleasure and delight : no, lam rather showing you how to improve them, to give them a deeper relish, and by making them truer to make them greater, to turn 120 THE PRESERVATIVE OF them into a purer channel, without abating their tide, and show how they may run into, and join with, " Those rivers of pleasure that are at God's right hand for evermore." To that end, 1. Begin with true repentance for all the instances of the commission of it already. Where Christ began his preaching, we must begin the practice of the Gospel, " Repent for the kingdom of heaven is at hand." So David begins his stricter walk, and purer life, with repentance for what w^as already done, " Purge me with hysop and 1 shall be clean, wash me and I shall be whiter than snow." Peter went out and w ept bitterly : and Zaccheus upon the spot, promises an immediate reparation of any thing got by injustice and fraud. Delay not repentance for a day ; we are not to let the sun go down upon our own wrath, much less (says one) should we let the sun go down upon God's. Every delay of repent- ance is a step to final impenitence, which is utterly unpardonable. 2. Come to a resolve with yourselves, what you will do, and be, and how you will act as to this iniquity. Are you come to a resolution, to set yourselves in earnest, to endeavour to " Keep yourselves from your iniquity ?" To be holy in this world, and happy in the next ? Have you issued that matter with your- selves, and brought it to a point, that you are resolved to go to heaven, whatever it cost ? Or like Austin before his conversion, do you only pray with your lips, to be kept from your iniquity, while at the same time, your heart says, not yet Lord ? You have a mind to taste a little more of it first. That I may be better understood, I v/ill suppose now, one who finds it an hard matter to keep himself from his iniquity, VIRTUOUS YOUTH. 121 to have retired into his chamber, and there sitting himself down, and reviewing the struggles of his soul, the arts of the tempter, and the danger of his case, I will suppose such an one, to call upon himself thus : Oh, my soul, I summon thee this day to a debate of infinite importance. And oh, my God, I pray thee be present at it, be present with the awe of thy majesty, and the influence of thy grace. Here is a certain sin does easily beset me, if 1 do not conquer that it will conquer me. If I do not destroy that, it will destroy me ; likely in this world, but surely in the next. If I do not keep myself from that, that will keep me out of heaven. To be banished from God as a sot addicted to my lust, is what I cannot bear the thoughts of! And yet to bid adieu to this my darling iniquity, is what I cannot bear to think of neither. It is cutting of a right hand, it is plucking out a right eye, nay, I sometimes think I could more easily do either, or both of those. I have hitherto saved it with shifts and evasions ; I have coloured it over with pretences and excuses ; but I find 1 must either part with that, or with my God, my heaven, my happiness ! That is a thought again which I cannot bear; to live without God in this world, to die without God in another, and be without him for ever! Oh God can the scales hang long in suspence between a God and a lust? Can I suffer a paltry inclination to put such an indignity upon the greatest and best of beings ? No, I am resolved, it shall bleed and die, a sacrifice to the pleasure of hea- ven. Let it draw tears from the eye, nay blood from the heart, it shall go. Though it crosses the grain of flesh and blood, though it wrench ar-d tear away its darling inclinations and appetite, as if the inward strings of my heart were drawing out by slow degrees ; 122 THE PRESERVATIVE OF it is but a temporal conflict ! It secures endless delight. Is it not " Better to enter into life maimed r" I have sworn and will not repent, I will keep thy righteous judgments. 1 have sworn it in my baptismal dedi- cation, if I own it and take it upon me. I have sworn "it in the resolutions at my conversion, if I know any thing of that grace of God. I have sworn it at a sacra- mental table, if I have approached it in a due manner. And I sware it afresh this day, as an oath for confir- mation, to end this strife between my God, and my lust, so help me God. 3. Go on to harden yourselves against it, by all the considerations, that can affect the man, or move the Christian. Slight no thought that may be of use, though you prefer such as are most genuine, and of the most evangelical strain. It is a mercy to be kept from sin, let the motive be what it will : whether from reputation, interest, hope, or fear. But it is a sign of a more excellent spirit, to act in this matter, from the nobler principles of the love of God, constraining us to deny ourselves a little for him, who denied himself so much, and so long for us. To act up to the dignity of our character, and the approbation of the greatest judge. All thoughts do not affect all persons, nor at all times alike. There is a baseness and meanness in some compliances, that a man o'ets over, by the help of thataflront they carry in them, to the opinion we ought to maintain of ourselves, as men, or as Christians. What, has the grace of God given me no power over myself? No command of the inferior appetites ? Must I obey them in the lusts thereof, though I know their vile nature, and miserable consequences ? Why VIRTUOUS YOUTH. 123 then, I am, it seems, not my own man. I am a slave to divers lusts and pleasures. I am not brought into the glorious liberty of the sons of God. At this rate it is plain, had any thing else an equal power over me, I must have obeyed it. No thanks then either to the reason of a man, or the conscience of a Christian, in me, that I am no drunkard, blasphemer, thief, adulterer, any thing else that had happened to have been mine iniquity, for the same reason, would havs had the dominion, as this has, because it is my darling. Why then if any man steals my goods, ravishes, plunders, or murders my friend, sets fire to my house in revenge, it must excuse him with me, when I am given to understand that either of these was his darling sin, and he was under the power of them. For this is the only plea I have for the sin that does so easily beset me : and if it be a plea for me, it will do as well for others, and with equal strength and reason. At this rate it seems, I want nothing in order to commit the vilest things, but only to have them become my darling sins, and as such, to be excused, coloured^ retained, and defended. And has not any man in the world as much reason as this comes to, for the worst things he can do, viz. he loved them above ail others? And have not our children as good reason for all the evil they do, though never so offensive to God or us, or injurious to man, viz. they loved it best ? Think, oh my soul, further of the nature, tendency and consequences of this thine iniquity. That this is a sin, I am always persuaded in cool blood and calm reflection. After all the artifices that corrupt nature has used to excuse, disguise, and colour it, to make it pass for none. When it is to be com- mitted, the evidence is hardly heard, but when con- 124 THE PRESERVATIVE OF science is at liberty to speak, especially when trouble and affliction, with sickness and death, are in view ; then it appears like itself, however desirous I was of retaining some opinion of it before. Can I be conscious of my indulgence to this with any consist- ency, either with my safety or comfort ? Do not I find how it inclines me more and more to sin, till at length I may be hardened through the deceitfulness of sin ? Does it not argue a great degree of that evil heart of unbelief in departing from the living God ? Does it not make me less afraid of sin ? For why should I be more afraid of any other sin than of this ? Do not I find it estranges me from God and Christ, from their company and communion, and from pray- ing to him, and delighting in him ? Or if to stop the clamours of conscience upon notorious neglect, 1 do drag my body into a closet retirement, is it not more like the formal visit of strangers than the mterview of friends? Besides, if I regard iniquity in my heart, will the Lord hear my prayer ? And am I able to go on praying without any hope of being heard ? Does it not weaken the essential parts of prac- tical godliness: inward purity and peace, commu- nion with God, and the obeyed influence of the blessed Spirit ? Go on, my soul, to excite a holy indignation and scorn at thyself for being so much within the power of any thing so unworthy. What, must then the inferior faculty govern the superior? Must the body govern the soul, the appe- tite the reason, the brute the man ? Lord! shall a single inclination, common to me with brutes, be too hard for reason, conscience, God, heaven, and the eternal weight of glory? Do I really believe that VIRTUOUS -yOUTH. 125 the heaven of eating, drinking, and sporting, is better of the two than the heaven my Bible speaks of? Mahometans have the sense to add eternity to such a sort of an heaven of theirs, and am I contented with one of a moment, merely because it is present ? For the heaven my Bible speaks of, it seems 1 wont do, nor suffer any thing ; but for the present heaven of eat- ing, drinking, sporting, and pleasure, I am willing to do and suffer a great deal, even to lose my God, and endure eternal hell, for 1 am not yet an infidel. But is this to be borne withal ? Indignation choak those lusts in their rise that would carry us into such absurdities as these ! Absurdities that are not capable of being aggravated, because there can be no greater follies by which to expose them ; for there can be nothing greater than heaven, nothing more miserable than hell, nothing longer than eternity, or better than God! ' • Take it then as it is acted over in matter of fact every day. There is a man of figure, of sense and conduct; nay, it may be, we are in civility obliged to own him upon his outside appearance, a man of religion, conscience, and honour; a person of some grandeur of spirit, and of such pretensions, that he would cock up his hat in defiance to any one that should challenge him on any of the fore mentioned articles. This is a very fine gentlemen ; but now let his darling sin demand his attendance, let the lust kindle, and the appetite give the signal for gratifica- tion ; no spaniel dog is more fawning, truckling, sub- missive, yielding, and obsequious than he to the commanding lust. Let my soul blush with infinite scorn, that ever these base slaves should usurp the throne of their rightful Lord and unman me, and 126 THE PRESERVATIVE OF depose v^my reason, which is all I have to show that I am not a beast; and bear down my conscience, which is all I have to show that I am a Christian. 4. Exercise the graces that are most opposite to the sin you would keep yourselves from. Such as temperance, if your iniquity be drinking. Liberality, if you are inclined to a close and covetous love of the world. If thine iniquity be wantonness, set the limits and barriers of decorum a little more strait, and keep more strictly within them, to cut off all occasions. This exercise of opposite graces is of great use upon several accounts. Partly by way of revenge upon former failings. Partly to gain and confirm the habits of grace, which are acquired by exercise : and whatsoever is once become habitual, is done with ease and pleasure, however difficult it might have been before. And partly by way of revul- sion, to pluck back the rriind, and turn the soul and thoughts another w^ay. As bleeding at the nose is sometimes stopped b}^ opening a vein, so may we sometimes check the encroachment of our darling sin by resolute diverting the thoughts, and calling off the mind to better things. 5. Maintain your relish for spiritual delights and intellectual pleasures, for peace of mind, and joy in God. Let them know you do not want for pleasures that add no sorrow with them ; that leave no stain upon the name, no sting upon the conscience, no guilt upon the soul. Pleasures that will bear the review, and spring afresh upon reflection. Communion with God, peace of mind, joy in the Holy Ghost, present grace and favour, and future prospects. Never let me think these consolations of God so small as to be VIRTUOUS YOUTH. 127 exchanged for what a transitory lust can offer. No tempter, you bid me much to my loss. If I must part with communion with God, joy in the Holy Ghost, peace of conscience, calmness and sweet tran- quility of spirit, delightful prospects of living pure, dying safe and comfortable, and rising happy and glorious. What! part with these pleasures that will solace me when alone, in the dark, when deserted and abandoned by all others, and in the valley of the shadow of death : — part with these for — for v/hat ? for sorrow, darkness, guilt, fear, repentance ; nolo tanti emere pwnitentiam^ I will not buy repentance at so dear a rate, for repentance must follow in one w^orld or other. No, says the tempter, you misre- present my proposal, it is pleasure, young man, that 1 offer you in exchange. Get thee behind me, Satan, thy pleasures perish with thee that are the bait to my destruction, and -the price of my soul. I must part with great pleasures for little ones. Lasting for transitory, innocent and divine, for guilty and cri- minal, profitable and useful, for those which profit not. For what fruit shall I have in those things whereof I know I shall be ashamed. Voluptas tran- sit^ turpe^ factum manet^ the turpitude, guilt, and shame will last a long long while after the pleasure is vanished. " Walk in the Spirit, and ye shall not fulfil the lusts of the flesh." Gal. v. 16. Invite his presence, observe his commands, yield to his dictates and motions, cultivate his graces, give in to that frame of isoul, that calm, heavenly, divine frame, that may evidence the dear inmate to have taken up his resi- dence in you, and then the law of the Spirit of lift* 1^8 THE RPESERVATIVE in Christ Jesus will make you free from the law of sin and death, 6. Lay into your mind such parts of the word of God as are directly against your darling sins, and may be ready to assist you against their temptations. The ammunition should not be to seek when it should be used. We combat the same enemy in a temptation as the Captain of our salvation fought with (Matt, iv.) ; and it must be with the same wea- pon, the sword of the Spirit, the Word of God : it is written, " Wherewithall shall a young man cleanse his ways but by taking heed thereto according to thy word ?" it is written, " Thy word have I hid in my heart thy I might not sin against thee." Hid in mine heart fi. e.J, in the understanding by knowledge ; in the affection by love ; in the judgment, by prizing and valueing it ; in the memory, by retaining it there for use. As thus, in two instances only. Suppose your iniquity to be drinking, how season- able an hint would it be to some who are flourishing their parts over an intemperate glass, and are never greater divines than when they are most sots; how seasonable I say would these Scriptures be, " Add to thy knowledge temperance. Take heed to yourselves, lest at any time your heart be overcharged with sur- feiting and drunkenness," either through the pleasure of company, lucre of gain, or lust of wine. " Be not drunk with wine, wherein is excess, but be ye filled with the Spirit. Let us walk honestly as in the day, not in rioting and drunkenness. Now the works of the flesh are manifest, envyings, drunkenness, revel- ling, and such like, of which 1 have told you before, that they shall not inherit the kingdom of God, He that lovetli pleasure shall be poor ; and he that ioveth VIRTUOUS YOUTH. 139 wine and oil shall not be rich. Wine is a mocker, strong drink is raging, and whosoever is deceived thereby is not wise. Woe unto them that are mighty to drink wine, men of strength to mingle strong drink, and rise up early in the morning, and continue until night, till the wine inflame them. Be not among wine-bibbers, nor riotous eaters of flesh ; for the drunkard and the glutton shall come to poverty, and the sleeper shall be clothed with rags." Or if the sin that most easily besets you be lust and wantonness, bear down upon it with such Scrip- tures as these, which show the evil nature and mis- chievous consequences of it. "This is the will of God, even your sanctification, that you should abstain from fornication, uncleanness, inordinate affections, and evil concupiscence. Not in chambering and wantonness, but put ye on the Lord Jesus Christ, that every one of you pay know how to possess his vessel in sanctification and honour, not in lust of concupiscence, even as the Gentiles that know not God, for God hath not called us to uncleanness but unto holiness. Dearly beloved brethren, I beseech you as pilgrims and strangers abstain from fleshly lusts vyhich war against the soul. Keep thee from the evil woman that flattereth with her tongue, from the strange wumau. Lust not after her beauty in thine heart, nor let her take thee with her eye-lids. Can a man take fire in his bosom, and his clothes not be burnt ? For it is a fire that consumeth to destruction, and would root out all thine increase; will bring a man to a morsel of bread ; it is a deep ditch, and the abhorred of the Lord do fall therein. Let no man therefore deceive you with vain words, for because of these things the wrath of God cometh K 130 THE PRESERVATIVE OF upon the children of disobedience." Some of these Scriptures presenting tiiemselves in the very season, have been known to preserve from the brink of ruin ; and had they been regarded as they should, there would not have been so many confessors to lust now walking the streets in rags, or rotting in goals ; nor would so many martyrs to the devil have expired in horror and putrefaction. 7. Lay by also some proper answers, aud ready replies, to the insinuations and delusions of the ene- my, especially such as you have before known to have been of force and influence. As thus : It will be represented, no doubt, how pleasant to the appetite : how delightful to the fancy. But be- fore the pleasing poison has run up into the veins, and wound itself into the intangled aftection, shake off the viper presently, with replying, pleasant you say, but will it be pleasant after commission ? Will it be pleasant upon the review ? Are the pangs of a wounded conscience pleasant? or the uneasiness of a withdrawn God ? Can that be pleasant that must be mixed with the thoughts of a lost heaven, an angry God, and an eternal hell ? Besides, is nothing plea- sant but this ? Is there no pleasure but what comes in by the senses ? Are not angels pleasant without that which for which I languish ? Will it not be more pleasant to look back upon the conquest of this pleasure ? a God pleased, grace acted and evidenced, all heaven delighted with the spectacle of my combat and conquest. Are not peace of conscience, joy in God, the prospect of heaven, the sn;iiles of a Saviour, the living above the fears of death, and dying without the fears of hell — are not these pleasant too ? And which pleasures of these two are likely to last the VIRTUOUS YOUTH. 131 longest, and end happiest ? Some who are of an aspiring genius, ambitious, will be told, that this course will lead them to honour, or save them from the contempt of men. Quickly reply, it may be not ; every one does not reach the condition he aims at, and to which he makes his conscience a footstep ; there is a noble text that sometimes lies cross to the advancement men aim at in a sinful way : " They that honour me I will honour, but they that despise me shall be lightly esteemed.^' Shall I aim at honour in a way dishonourable to God, and hope to succeed? Is not the reproach of Christ really more honourable ? Will it not be esteemed so in the court of heaven, the best judges of honour in the world ? Can I call that honourable here that will disgrace me to eternity ? Does not the honour that comes from God satisfy the ambition of the highest order of angels ? Tell me not of gain, for " What shall it profit a man to gain the whole world, and lose his own soul ;" or what profit hath the hypocrite, though he hath gained, when God shall take away his soul ? Besides, you tell me of pleasures, profits, and honours, as if God had none that belonged to him, as if purity, goodness, and truth had none to bestow ? know that my God has all these in his gift, e^-en durable riches and honours, true, solid, real, lasting, everlasting; aye, but nobody sees — Why ? Hast thou put out the all-seeing eye of God ? or is such language as this to be born by God or man ? To say nobody sees but God ; is God nobody, who will bring every secret thing to lis^ht before angels and men? Is not conscience instead of a thousand witnesses ? And God greater than our conscience, and knoweth all things, and is mwch more able to condemn, \feii, but it js only in a k2 132 THE PRESERVATIVE OF small instance, it is but a little one, but a little one ! A man can never promise himself where to stop that once consents. The vilest enormities, and the great- est apostacies, have had their beginnings in little sins, as the greatest fires have risen from a single spark ; and gangrenes, that have threatened life and limb, have proceeded from a small scratch of a pin. Our sins are seldom stinted by our own intentions; but when we give guilt leave to go so fVir, it will go far- ther without our leave ; and so those ill habits will insensibly lead us on to pure enmity with God, in which, at first, we intended no... more than the bare pleasing of our passions. I shall, to render this direction more perfect and useful, close it with some maxims of great use this way, w^hich have been enlarged upon by the writers upon this subject. The best wisdom is to do, not what is best in some few respects only, but what is absolutely best, lovely, and desirable. A good conscience is a continual feast. ' God alone is enough for thine happiness (if it be proper to say God alone, of him who is all in all), but without him it is infinitely impossible for any thing to be enough. Thy soul is more worthy thy care than thy car- case ; the life to come than this, eternity than time. Not the opinions of men, epecially of those lulled asleep by voluptuousness and sensuality, but God's estimate of matters, must be the wisest rule, and the opinion of the best and wisest men ; or if you will, even of the worst of men too, when they come to be sick and die,, or when they come to judgment. Repentance is always bought too dear, whatever we give for it, but everlasting happiness cannot be so. VIRTUOUS YOUTH. 133 The hardest doings or sufferings for Christ are infinitely easier than everlasting misery. Heaven and happiness will more than recompence all the self-denial and mortification that we can ever go through to make them sure. In the mean time, the very hope of it, besides the peace of God that passeth all understanding ; the grace of God, and comforts of the Spirit, will sweeten thy way to heaven with inexpressible satisfaction, with joy unspeakable, and full of glory. 8. Let us frequently consider the range of lawful pleasure God has indulged to us, which we may enjoy with the divine allowance and blessing. All reasonable desires, all becoming appetites and inclinations, all the senses of the body, all the pas- isions and affections of the mind, are largely provided for ; and what need any man sin against God, wound his conscience, defile and damn his soul for pleasures, when there is enough to be had without all that con- fusion which sinful ones unavoidably have entailed upon them. There are indeed some boundaries set, but they are wide enough: there is as spacious a field of enjoyment as a man and a Christian need to desire ; aird it is extremely sordid to say, I cannot be easy, pleased, nor quiet, unless 1 break through those bounds, without which even no pleasure nor property in the world could possibly subsist. Why should I drink on to intemperance ? Christ has not forbid his followers the use of the vine as Mahomet has done to his. 1 am allowed to drink for refreshment ; why should I sacrifice time, health, life, soul, and all to this world, and make so great an idol of it ? Has not God allowed me to mind the affairs of it to all needful degrees of attention ? Tp k3 134 THE PRESERVATIVE OP look well to my herds, and to mind the state of my flocks ? AVhy should I give way to exorbitant pas- sion ? When 1 am allowed to be angry and sin not. Need I take up pleasures at so great a discount as the forfeiture of God's favour, of the peace of my con- science ? What need I borrow of lascivious wanton- ness, pleasures that run purer in a cleaner channel ? Is there not an institution provided by God, for all the pleasures of social life, and of consummate frieudRhip ? If stolen waters are sweet, they are so only in the mouth, they will be bitter in the belly; they v:i\\ be bitterness in the latter end, and, like the waters of jealous}' to the guilty, cause rottenness and corruption, when thy flesh and thy body are con- sumed, or thy spirit defded and destroyed. Drink wa- ters therefore out of thine own cistern ; nevertheless, to avoid fornication, let every man have his own wife : there are no difficulties attend that honourable state, comparable to those wherewith the guilt and shame of lewdness do overwhelm a man's name and affairs through the righteous judgment of God. While Esau was eating his red pottage, his greedy appetite told him, that his birtii-right was a triQe compared to these sensitive delights, but he did not think then of that cry, that exceeding bitter cry, that tbllowed upon it, when he found what he had sacrificed to a gust of appetite. Gen. xxvii. 34. Why any thing out of God's way? or otherwise than in the manner of his allowance ? His allowance is large enough ; and, for all the objections against it, best concerted for the happiness of the general world, whi.ch ought to be dear«^r to us than the gratification of particular fancies. Was our gard'. n of God no paradise, because there was one forbidden tree in it ? It was but one that VIRTUOUS YOUTH. 135 was forbidden ; there was variety and plenty besides within their reach : " Of all the trees of the garden thou mayest freely eat." It had been well for our first parents if, in the height of temptation, they had took into their heads to go round the garden, from tree to tree, and to have tasted of all the allowed pleasures there, since they were so eagerly bent upon pleasure; such an amusement in allowed pleasures might have diverted them from the forbidden fruit, by the enjoyment of that which was lawful. But so it is : let a man's circumstances be what they will, never so plentiful or delightful, never so well accom- modated, in the midst of a paradise of allowed plea- sures, he is undone always for what is forbidden ; he is uneasy, and fancies himself miserable for want of that which it is certain misery to meddle with. 9. Take to yourselves the whole armour of God. I have mentioned one piece of it already, the sword of the Spirit, which is the Word of God. You have the several pieces laid together in Eph. vi. 11. " Put on the whole armour of God, that you may be able to stand against all the wiles of the devil. '^ Ver. 13. " That you may be able to stand in the evil day.'^ Ver. 14. *' Stand therefore, stand, stand, stand," as combatants, and not quit the cause, nor yield, nor go back. Stand as conquerors, and not fall before the enemy. Having your loins girt with truth {i. e.), your minds confirmed by truth. Truth in the judgment in opposition to error. Truth of sincerity in opposition to hypocrisy. And truth of fidelity and trustiness to God and man. Having on the breast-plate of righte- ousness (/. e.), such resolved purpose of obeying God in all things, and such gracious habits disposing us to it, that may guard the vital parts as effectually as k4 136 THE PRESERVATIVE OF that piece of armour does the breast. The feet shod with the preparation of the Gospel of peace (i. e.), having received the truth in the love of it, and your mind being confirmed thereby in the iuM^ard purpose of doing and suffering all that lies in your w^ay to heaven, you aie thereby as effectually prepared for a march thither, through all the hardships and labours of the WAV, as those feet that -are vv^ell shod, are pre- pared to hold on steadily through briars and thorns, or any roughness of the way. " x\bove all things taking the shield of faith, wherewith you shall be able to quench all the fiery darts of the wicked (/. e.), faith in Christ as the way, the truth, and the life. Faith in his doctrine as my rule, in his life as my pattern, and in his death as the meritorious cause of all my good, and the moral cause or obligation to all the most grateful returns. " The love of Christ coii' straining us because we thus judge, that if one died , for all, then were all dead, to the end that we who live should not henceforth live to ourselves, but unto him that died for us, and rose again.'' Faith in the promises, and threatenings relating to sin and grace, and to another world : this faith will shield off those temptations, that are like so many fiery darts, while we say in ourselves, no, I cannot do these things, they are the very things he died for : they are the very things he died to save me from, before I can ever enjoy what he died to save me to. This is much the same with that hope of salvation which the apos- tle here compares to an helmet : because a well- grounded hope of eternal life will enable us to bear off' a blow. The connexion is plain, for he that hath this hope purifieth himself, even as he is pure, because this purity is a condition, without which it VIRTUOUS YOUTH. 139' cannot be attained ; and a qualification for it, without' which it cannot be enjoyed if it could be attained. 10. " Praying with all prayer and supplication in the Spirit," Eph. vi. 18. With all prayer, public and private, solemn and occasional, ordinary and extraordinary, stated and ejaculatory prayer, and supplication in the Spirit. Pray for the Spirit, and pray in the Spirit : for that divine assistance, that grace of God, that must teach, if ever we learn it, " To deny ungodliness, and worldly lusts, and to live godly, righteously, and soberly in this present world." A very great man he was indeed, who, under temptation, knew no better way than immediate recourse to the throne of grace, for " Grace and mercy to help in time of need. There was sent me a thorn in the flesh (says he) ; for this I besought the Lord thrice that it might depart from me." I prayed divers times j I prayed again and again. If ever we conquer sins effectually, it must be upon our knees. We must be fervent in prayer, and must keep ourselves in a praying frame, and by dependence upon God, and application for his grace, do the honours due to that power, without which we can do nothing: without this humble prayer for the assistance of divine grace all 1 have hitherto said besides will avail little. This is so handsomly repre- sented by a curious writer, and in a manner so much to my purpose, that I cannot forfear insert- ing his words. Having taken notice of some who exalt nature above her due measures, and invest her "with such a self-sufficiency as would make the grace of God appear superfluous: he goes on thus, Quid opus est votus'^ P saith the philosopher. What need * You no's Sermons, vol. I. JSS THE PRESERVATIVE OP is there to pray ? Make thyself a good man ; it is idle to petition to God for that which thou canst bestow upon thyself. And many among Christians (besides Pelagius) seem to have consulted the philo- sopher more than the Scriptures for their method of inculcating religion, and a good life. They recom- mend virtue in pompous harangues, and urge religion from the rational topics of conveniency and inconve- iiiency; they display the aimabieness and advantages of good, and the deformity and mischiefs of evil. " How ugly is envy; how tormenting is revenge; how brutal is drunkenness ; how pernicious is lust. On the contrary, meekness, temperance, and benefi- cence ; how serene are they in their state, and how commodious in their effects. And needs a man now (say they) any infusion here to determine his choice ? Or any assisting influence to put it in execution ? All that he seems to need is only this, that he do not turn fool, and desert the use of those faculties and powers which nature has given him." After such a moral discourse as this, having called upon reason, and stirred up advertency to apply it, they presume they have done enough, and leave us to grow good upon our own stock and strength. But alas ! these are Icarus's flights, nature has provided no wings for man to soar so high with ; vice will never be chased out of the world with invectives, nor virtue advanced to her empire by panegyrics. The most prudent advertency, and the most manly resolutions, the most rational love, and the most generous indigna- tion that ever opinionative moralist could conceive, and fortify his breast withal, will never be able to secure a man against the subtle approaches, or the violent assaults of sin. It is only the divine assist- VIRTUOUS \'OLTH. 139 ancc that is our castle and defence, and the vita] spring of all our good habits ; and whosoever termi- nates his hopes, even of serving and pleasing God, upon llie confidence of any other strength than what is derived from God, his hopes are impious, and he must miscarry. It is true, that rational arguments are proper, nay, necessary to excite a man to his duty, which is a rational service, and affected by rational endeavours, not lazy presumptions ; but then this is the point, a man must likewise know, that when he is about his duty he is not sufficient for that which he is about ; for God has reserved a par- tial agency to himself; and he does as much cm- inand our application to him for his assistance as he does demand all the rest of our duty. For as God does requirrs us to keep his commandments, so in order to the doinc: of this he does altogether as much require us to ask, to ^eek, and to knor'k ; that is, to apply ourselves for ability to do what he commands. Which is done (I may add} by two things, by the use of all proper means, and by an application to God in humble prayer for assistance in the use of those means, and a blessing upon them ; and there- fore (continues he) he who siiall unoertake to reason and argue a man into his duty, without insisting on the necessary application to God, docs the same thing in resemblance as if he should cut off the trr>vel- ler's legs, and provide him with a staff. That one instance of St. Peter to our Saviour (Ivlait. xxvi), *' Though I should die with thee, yet wdl I not deny thee,'' being as stout a resolution, upon as good motives, and from as honest an hcari, jis any man ( Ise can ever dare to pretend to, has suiliciently baffled all humane confidence, and demonstrated that the 140 THE PRESERVATIVE OF opinion of strength in ourselves is vanity, and the issue of it defeat. Thus far mj author. In so short a prayer as our Lord's prayer, you see Christ would make room for one petition against temptations, " Lead us not into temptation." Lord, 1 am pursued by the worst dangers, thou art my refuge, I fly to thee ; I am attacked by the worst of enemies, save me, O Lord, for in thy succours do I put my trust against the cunning, the power, the malice, of those that lye in wait for my soul. I have known the time wheni my convictions were clear, and my resolutions hearty, and I have thought myself fortified against all that the enemy could do, and it has all melted away upon the first return of the tempting occasion : Lord, remove the occasions, abate their force, weaken their impressions, strengthen my resolves ; give me the graces that are opposite to my darling corruption ; give me such humi* lity as may take away the vanity and conceit, and self-valuation, that seldom fails of being morti- fied, both by God and man ; give me that temperance that may keep me from running to the same excess of riot with the rest of the world ; give me that love of God, and of divine pleasures, and such a content- cdness with thine allowance that may save me from all excesses, and never suffer me to be a lover of pleasure more than a lover of God : that I may not only keep from the bench of the drunkard, and the lap xof Dalilah, and from playing with those sparks that may burn down to the lowest hell ; but may cleanse myself from all filthiness, both of tlesh and spirit, perfecting holiness in the fear of God. Hast thou not said, " if any man lack wisdom let him ask it of God, ask and ye shall have, seek and ye shall VIRTUOUS YOUTH. 14i find ? ^' That thou givest " Power to the faint, and to them that have no might thou renewest strength ? Hear now when I call upon thee, O Lord God of ray righteousness, help, save, and deliver, for thy name's sake." Prayer is an excellent means of resisting tempta- tions, as it calls off the thoughts from the matter of the temptation, and turns them another way ; as it raises the spirit and soul to heavenly things, and puts us directly under their influence, and into the imme- diate presence of God ; as it puts us into the way of the promises, and is a performing of the condition on our part, upon which the aids of his grace are given, and puts us into a temper and disposition the better to receive the succours of the divine Spirit, which either keeps us from temptations, or helps us through them. 11. Watching thereunto with all perseverance; join watchfulness with prayer. Without this all the rest is to no purpose; our very graces themselves cannot preserve us. We may be surprised with all our armour about us, as a town may be though never so well fortified, if there be no centinels upon their watch. It is for this reason the Scripture joins prayer and watchfulness together, Matt. xxvi. 41. " VYatch and pray that you enter not into temptation." Watch, that you may do your part: pray, that God may do his. Watch, for God wont do all : pray, for you cannot : pray, for without him you can do nothing ; and watch, for without that your prayers are good for nothing. It is watch- ing that makes prayer effectual, and proves it sincere ; it is praying that makes your watching be to any purpose. li'2 THE PRESERVATIVE OP Watch against outward occasions and inward motions. 1. Watch against the outward occasions and ob- jects, to avoid them, and thereby disappoint the devil ; withdraw the fewel from corrupt nature, and act upon the prudent maxim, that prevention is bet- ter than cure, though never so infalUble. What a dismal train of consequences has one glance of the eye sometimes drawn after it ? One turn away of the head at a proper time ; one resolute bold step away from the door of a gaming house or tavern ; from the known resort of ensnaring com- pany, might have saved such an one's estate that is now lost, and another's body and life that is now con- sumed, might have saved such an one from rotting in a goal, and another from the damnation of hell. It is nonsense to pretend to keep ourselves from our iniquity if we do not watch against the occasions of it, time, place, and persons ; or according to the wise man's comparison, " We may as well pretend to take fire in our bosom, and hope not to be burnt." When Ulysses was resolved not to be taken with those charms that had undone so many, he would not allow himself to hear the Syren's voice, but stopt his ears with wax, and took a method to baffle his inclina- tions even before they rose : the poet, it seems, understood the nature of things so well as to teach us thereby, that they who are resolved not to fall into a snare must avoid the occasion. It is a jest for persons to spend one part of the day in finding out the occasions of sin, hunting cut such, and such com- panions and places, and then come home and pray, " Lord, lead us not into temptation;" that is, to haunt the pest-house, and yet pray against the VIRTUOUS YOUTH. 143 plague. That hn-ely young man, Joseph, might have said an hundred times, " How can I do this thing, and sin against God," and yet might have done it at last, had he not, at the same time, resolved against the occasion of the sin ; for it is said, " He hearkened not unto her to be with her," Gen. xxxix. 10. He that would keep from the sin must keep out of the way. " Remove thy way far from her, come not nigh the door of her house," Prov. v. 8. Enter not into the path of the wicked, and go not in the way of evil men. Avoid, pass by, turn from it, and pass away," Prov. iv. 14, 15. It is worth our while at any time to go a great way round about, to avoid falling into a pit. David should have avoided that sauntering idle frame he was in, and have ob- served the covenant with his eyes. Judas should have resigned the bag, and not held that pilfering occasion to his covetous nature. Peter should have kept out of the high priest's hall. 2. Watch to suppress the first inward motives and inclinations. Conscience, when it is in a good state, will quickly alarm us, and give us warning; observe, says con- science, that motion of the blood, that flash of the animal spirits ; it is an ambitious heat of thought, down with it, crush it at once, now it is easily to be stifled ; be as bold as you will in the cause of God, dare to be good and upright ; religion has nothing sneaking in it, bat makes the righteous bold as a lion, and forms other-guest heroes than pride and vanity can do: but this is an intemperate sally. When, at another time, conscience calls upon you to take notice of another motion of the blood, that is a lust- ful heat, vigorously, and without parly, crush the 144 THE PRESERVATIVE OF cockatrice in the egg; it is more easily done than when it is grown a serpent. " Keep thine heart thus with all diligence, for out of that are the issues of life ;" life and death, happiness or misery, depend upon this matter ; the suppressing the first motions. Properly speaking, this is all the resistance we can make, for it is too late, ver}' often, to resist effectually when the sin has gone farther than the first motion ; when the imagination is fired ; when the affections are mutinying in favour of tlesh and blood ; the fancy that is heated by lust has an influence upon the judg- ment, darkens the understanding, and thereby stops the passages through which the succours should come to our relief; and at the same time pours in fresh forces for the enemy, from false reasoning, falla- cious maxims, strong inclinations, customs of the world, commonness, &c. that a man may as well hope to stop after his feet are over the precipice ; therefore quickly throw it off, turn to something else; stifle it by main strength of mind, exerting the grace that God has given us for that purpose ; this is the ordinary way of escaping or overcoming: if ever w-3 are preserved after we have gone farther, that is all miracle, and is not ordinarily to be expected. II. The reasons and motives to persuade us to fol- low these directions, and to keep ourselves from our iniquity. 1. Hard as it is, it is yet possible the thing may be done. Every body will own that it is sometimes very hard, hard as " Cutting off' a right hand, or plucking out a right eye," to which it is compared ; nay, it is sometimes compared to things that are next to impos- sible ; " Can the Ethiopian change his skin^ or the VIRTUOUS YOUTH. 145 leopard his spots ? then may they that are accus- tomed to do evil learn to dwell/' Jer. xiii. 23. Yet it may be done if you are not wanting to yourself, for God and his grace will not be wanting to you. If there was not grace immediately ready to help in this time of need, then you might lie still and cry, I can- not do it ; but to say you can do nothing, when you have God's promised grace to help you to do every thing, is a prevaricating with God in the language of humility. When Christ says, " Of yourselves you can do nothing, '^ he means, abstracted from, and without the help of divine grace ; but when you say in excuse of your lying still, and neglecting the grace of God, that of yourselves you can do nothing, and therefore will do nothing, you mean not to use that promised grace that is always ready to help you to do what you cannot do of yourselves. This makes that to be a lie in your mouth that was a truth ia Christ's ; for though it is a truth that I can do nothing without divine help, it is a lie to say, I can do nothing with it ; which is the case of those who lie still under that pretence, because we put them upon doing nothing without the grace of God. Now it is the same thing in effect as if I could do every thing, if I have that grace ready to do for me, what I cannot do myself. There is nothing too hard for the grace of God, and what you cannot do that will, and does, in the use of the means prescribed. " 1 can do all things through him that strengtheneth me;" and grace itself can do nothing if it be not used. Of ourselves it is true we can do nothing, but then it is a.s true, that of ourselves we cannot breathe, step, speak, nor subsist, without God, in whom we live and move, and have our being;, but L 14(5 THE PRESERVATIVE OF 3^et we breathe, speak, step, walk, and eat, without ever distrusting the divine concurrence, and without a tedious dispute concerning it, we lift up our feet, and put out hands to our mouths. 2. It may be done, and must be done, for nothing else in the world will do instead of this, keeping our- selves from our own iniquity. Not all that we can do or suffer besides is any thing; without this our prayers are to no purpose; "If we regard this iniquity in our hearts the Lord will not hear us," Psal. Ixvi. 18. And if he will not hear our prayers, he will not regard all the rest of our religion. The mercy of God will not do instead of this. Mercy will cover the worst of sin that we turn from. " Because he hath considered, and turned from all his transgressions which he hath committed, he shall surely live, and shall not die," Ezek. xviii. 28. But mercy will hide none of those which we wilfully continue in; because the grace of God is thereby turned into wantonness, which ought to have led us to repentance. The merits of Christ cannot do instead of it, nor any lazy presumption upon them ; for can a liberty to continue in sin be one of the benefits purchased by Christ ? Did he uot come to redeem us from all iniquity, and to save his people from their sins ? To continue in them is to defeat the redemption we trust in. ■ Some hope by charity to bribe God Almighty to excuse them in their darling sin, and to compound with him for it they will part with their money to the poor, build upon the sound of Ijhat text, " That charity covereth a multitude of sins;" when, alas, the sense of it is quite another thing, and means not the charity of alms-giving, but the charity of candor VIRTUOUS YOUTH. 147 and moderation, that inclines us to cover other sins from the world, and not to expose them. There is nothing meant of covering our §insfrom God, which nothing can do but divine forgiveness; and as to their giving alms vi'ith such intentions, it only shows that they love their darling sin better than money, I should throw away youf time should I expose some other dependencies of the ignorant and superstitious, such as the absolution of a priest, and the use of several superstitious whims, whereby poor creatures are cheated of their souls, and money too. You have not so learned Christ, as to imagine that heaven or earth can save the man whom the divine sentence con- demns, as it does all those that are under the domi- nion of sin. That any man can have a commission from God to act contrary to God's positive declara- tions, which annex salvation to holiness and upright- ness only, the evidence of which is, " Keeping our- seves from our iniquity. Without holiness no man shall see the Lord,'^ though he be absolved by all the priests in the world. 3. Consider that this, thy darling sin, can never go alone, it will be attended by others that wait upon it, and subserve it : or if it could be alone, that alone were enough to ruin thee, as it hinders thy complete conversion by retaining thee under its dominion, and will, of itself, consign thee over to the judgment of God. 4. Consider how far even some Heathens have gone in keeping themselves from their own iniquity, out of scorn that any lust should domineer over them. How did Socrates, by natural temper the most choleric of men, by practice striving and curb- L 2 I48' THE P'RESERVATIVE OF ing himself, become an example of meekness and' steadiness of mind, fit to be compared with a Moses. How will the Christian (so called), who, for the love of money, will sell his country to misery, and his soul to the devil ;: how, I say, v/ill he be able to look that Lacedemonian general in the face, \vho, when the king of Persia would Have bribed him against hi.s country's interest, no, says he, if he w^ill brijbc me, he must send me his crown and sceptre. When I read, that Scipio, while general in Spain, was pre- sented with the most exquisite beauties, and yet would never after suffer them to come into his sight, that he might cut off the outward occasions: and that young Alexander took the same course to con- quer himself, after he had conquered the world; I am fired with indignation to see less honour done to infinitely better principles ; to see the Christian, with all his light about him, and with all his better pros- pects before him, and all his graces within him, so outdone, and put to shame. 5. Consider the many saints that have practised^ and are practising this, of keeping themselves from their iniquity, with great success, pleasure, and satis- faction. The glorious company of the apostles, the goodly fellowship of the prophets, the noble army of martyrs, the holy church throughout all the world, who not only deny themselves, but suffer hard things ir^ defiance of sin and satan, show the way, and provoke to tbliow. Those Christians who now set you this example, it may be, have not more knowledge, nor more grace, than you, nor greater encouragement and and assistance. They keep themselves from their iniquity, some of them, with greater ditficulty, trou- TIRTUOUS YOUTH. 149 t>le, and hardship than you need be at. They are aiot statues, void of sense, nor angels void of passions, any more than you ; they feel the impression made by objects, and the appetite springing forward to meet them as well as you. 6. Keeping yourselves from this iniquity, it will be more easy to keep from any other; it will facili- tate your conquest over all the rest. This is the Goliah that longest defies the powers of the living God, and when this falls the rest will be a more easy victory. 7. He that yields to this darling sin is in a fair way of yielding to all the rest in time. You say now, were I but indulged in this I would •defy all others ; yes, till other sins came to be as much beloved as this, as they would be in their course, upon your indulgence in this ; and then the petition would be in l^ehalf of the next favourite lust, and so on. The indulgence to this hardens the con- science, and prepares for the next sin that becomes as pleasant. Besides, when a man takes one step in sin, neither he, nor any man alive, knows where he will stop. David no more thought that murder and adultery would be the consequence of that heed- iess wander of his eyes, than Hazael did, that he was a dog. And therefore (as one says) it is ill trving conclusions with fire and gunpowder. 8. Every conquest of this darling sin will facilitate the next conquest over the same sin, whereas every yielding will make it harder to resist the next time. 9. This is the sin that keeps you low in your graces and comforts ; thy faith weak, thy hope feeble^ "^ l3 150 THE PRESERVATIVE OF thy love cool, and consequently thy joy like a brook that fails, which would be as a river, if thy righteous- ness wpre as a mighty stream. 10. The honour of religion, and the success of all you have been doing in it hitherto, depends upon the conquest of this; and will you lose the things you have wrought ? 11. Consider how dear this sin has cost our Lord Jesus Christ ; the sorrows and sufferings, the labours, agony, and groans, the blood and death ; and can all this be made so light of? 12. How pleasing it will be to him to see thee vigorously bear up against it for his sake, but griev- ous and offensive to him to see this great rival of Christ in thy heart, gain the better in the compe- tition. 13. Consider how dear it has sometimes already cost thee, and how much more so it is likely to do if it be not conquered at last. Why should the occa- sion be repeated of so much pain, trouble, sorrow, and uneasiness of mind? Resistance of it, though unto blood, will never cost thee so dear as compli- ance and commission ; be sure your sin will find you out, both in this world, in a time of trouble, sickness, and death ; and in the other world, either in the loss of thy happiness, or diminution of it. 14. Consider the blessings that attend and reward thy resolute resistance. What a glorious triumph will crown thy conquest ? With what flourish and show will the Redeemer hand them forward into the presence of God, and of his hqly angels? As it were with the sound of trumpet, proclaiming, " These are they who have not defiled themselves VIRTUOUS YOUTH. 151 with women. They .are they that have kept them- selves unspotted tVom the world. These are they that have been faithful unto death, and they shall receive the crown of life." To conclude : if we thus keep ourselves from our iniquity, if we lay aside every weight, and the sin that does so easily beset us, our graces will thrive, our souls will flourish, our righteousness will be as a stream, and our peace as a mighty river. The joy of the Lord will be our strength, and the glory of God will be our sure jeward. DISCOURSE V. THJE INFILUIENCE OF CHRIST'S INTERCESSION, AND OUR FRUITFULNESS, ON OUR LIVING FROM YEAR TO YEAR*. LUKE XI IT. 8. LORD, LET IT ALONE THIS YEAR ALSO. il- HE course of nature, which, by its swift and con- tinual motion, measures out our time, and winds up the thread of our lives, by its annual revolution, has now brought us to the expiration of the old year, and the beginning of the new. The twelve months past are gone like a tale that is told ; of those to come we have seen nothing ; and properly, we have in our hands but one moment at a time ; the present now is the only part of our time that we can call our own, as if time were so valuable a treasure, that we were not to be trusted with any more than a single mite of it at once. All that is behind, I say is vanished like a dream ; and if all eternity, if all heaven or hell, depended * This also is a sermon to youth, preached January 1, 1714, jn Gravel-lane, Soutbwark. 154 THE INFLUEI^CE OF upon the calling back of one of the moments of the last year, neitiier heaven, earth, nor hell, could do it. Nothing remains now of all that year that is past but the guilt of what we have done amiss, or the happy fruits of what we have done well ; and consi- dering how much evil we have done, and how little good, we may well conclude, that our having lived over the one year past, or any hopes of the year that is to come, are both owing to this intercession of Christ in my text, " Lord, let it alone this year also." That we ever began the last year, that we came to the end of it, that the old year, and our lives did not expire together; that we are entering upon a new year, that we are yet in the Vineyard, and have been there so long, that such unfruitful trees should so long escape the axe that is laid to the root; that we have not been cut down, and cast into the fire, is all owing to this intercession, " Lord, let it alone this year also." There v/as some that told our Lord the tragical news of Pilate's severity upon the poor Jews of Galilee, the followers, probably, of one Judas, the Gauionite. This fellow, it seems, had insinuated into the minds of a faction that he had raised, that they being the people of God, ought to own no other king or governor but God himself; and that, therefore, it was their duty to shake off the Roman yoke, and save themselves the charge and shame of paying continual tribute to Cex^sar. Such a notion as this, to be sure, exposed th-^m to t,he government ; and Pilate, vv^ho was always jealous for the emperor's interest, and fierce against the Jews, took the oppor- tunity, as they came to the passOver, to fall upon CHRIST^S INTERCESSION. 155 ihis party as they were sacrificing, and made their own blood, and that of their sacrifices, run down in one common stream. Christ seconds this story with another unhappjr accident of the eighteen, on whom the tower of Siloam fell ; and knowing the consorious temper of the Jews to prevent their concluding these poor suf- ferers to be greater sinners than others, or that they themselves were ever the better for being spared, he lets them know, by an admirable parable, that they Avere not spared on the merit of any goodness of theirs above the rest of the world, but that, unless they repented, they should perish by judgments of a like nature ; and their continuing so long was owing to the mercy and patience of God, and the interpo- sitions of their Messiah for them : as for a tree, of which there might be yet some hopes, and therefore *' Let it alone this year also." Q. D. Whatever you may think of yourselves, because you are alive; whatever you may think of those whom death, by casualties or distempers, has, this last year, carried off. 1 tell you, your out-living them is is not owing to your fruitfulness, but to God's patience ; and without improving the mercies of God you cannot escape this judgment ; for the axe is laid to the root of every barren tree. He illustrates all this by a parable, the scope of which is to show, that God having borne long with the Jews for their unfruitfulness, and having at last sent his Son to bring them to repentance and obe- dience, it was owing to this intercession that they were yet spared ; and if this last trial of them was ineffectual they must expect nothing but destruc- tion. 156 THE INFLUENCE OF The vineyard is the church of God, the fig-tree planted in it is any person under the means of grace; the Jew first, and also the Gentile. Its cumbering the ground is bringing forth no fruit, or none that is answerable to the expectations of the owner : the intercession made for it is the voice of Christ, *' Let it alone this year also." All which I shall draw out a little further, and accommodate to this day of our entrance upon a new year, after I have premised two or three things. First, God has expectation of fruit and service from every man's life, who is under the means of grace. The fruits of faith and repentance, holiness and goodness, usefulness to men, and glory to God. To v,^hat purpose else did God send you into this world, ©r plant you in his vineyard ? Peoples coming into the world, and going out of it, is a very common thing, so common that it is no more regarded than the rising and setting sun, in a manner, unless the instance be something near to us. We call it the common course of nature : one generation passing away, and another coming. But God looks upon the world as his own plantation, and the church as his vineyard ; and if I do not answer the end for which God sent me into the work!, and planted me in his church, I wish 1 had never been born, and perished in the embryo. Secondly, We must not look upon all that die within the compass of any year, to be cut down in the sense of judgment. The wicked only are cut down as barren, the righteous are transplanted because fruitful. The death of the wicked is part of their execution. Christ's intercession. 157 the bes:inning of eternal death : they are rooted out of the earth, or cut down for the fire. The righteous are transplanted, because fruitful, into the paradise of God. Indeed Solomon says, as dies the wise man, /. e. a good man, so dies the fool, i.e. the sinner; very much alike, oftentimes, as to the eye of the world ; but there is an infinite difference between them, both in the nature of the thing, and in the names given to each in Scripture ; the death of the righteous is expressed by names the most softening and reconcil- ing, such as a sleep, rest, God's taking us, uncloath- i»g ; and the consequences of it are represented as the o;reatest advantage and sain, while the death of the wicked is set forth by the figures of whirlwind, cutting down, rooting up, and every idea of terror. In a word, though they may both die in the same year of the same disease, or in the same common calamity, the. one is cut down to be thrown into the fire, the other is transplanted to flourish in the paradise of God. Thirdly, Whether we die well, or live on one year longer in order to it, it is owing to the intercession of Jesus Christ: that we have been allowed to live one year longer, and that we see one another alive this first day of a new year, we must go and thank Jesus Christ for it ; he has obtained leave for us, to be " Let alone one year longer." We must take Christ's intercession into the m.ean- ing of that saying, "- That man lives not by bread alone, but by the word that proceedeth out of the mouth of God," Matt. iv. 4 ; and this is one of those words that proceed out the mouth of God our Saviour, " Lord, let it alone this year also." 158 THE INFLUENCE OF Without this intercession for us our food could no more nourish us than poison, our raiment no more fence off the injuries of the weather than a cobweb, but would soon give place to the winding-sheet ; physicians would be of no value ; our constitution would moulder like dust, and the best health in the world vanish like a shadow. It is part of the office of the high priest not only to shed his blood without the veil, but to sprinkle it within, and there to make " Intercession for the trans- gressors/^ And it is highly becoming him, who is the faithful and merciful high priest, who has com- passion on the ignorant, and on such as are out of the way, to show that compassion in such a prayer as this, " Lord, let it alone this year also:" as he prayed for poor sinners upon the cross, " Father for- give them, for they know not what they do,^' so he prays from the throne, " Father, let them alone, spare them a little longer, give them a little more time ; if peradventure they may be brought to repentance, and might be converted, that I should heal them." O ! stop thine hand but for one year : I ask the mercy of one year in the name of those merits which thou art not wont to deny any thing to : let them hear one new year's sermon more : let me deal with them by one providence more, and my spirit strive a little longer ; so let me " Dig about it, and dung it, and if it bring forth fruit, well." You sinner, if Jesus Christ should leave off pray- ing for thee, thou wouldst drop immediately into hell ; it is thy life, thou art dead, thou art damned, if he did not ; and is this the person you swear and curse by ? Is this the persQn you neglect, you forget, despise, oppose, abuse? What hinders the vessel of wrath. Christ's intercession, IS^ fitted for destruction, from being filled with wrath and destruction ? What reprieves the execution of him that is condemned already ? The axe that has been lifted up so long, justice crying, cut it down, why cumbers it the ground, what keeps it from fall- ing with a vengeance upon the barren tree but thi,^ merciful interposure, " Lord, let it alone this year also ? And do you thus requite the Lord, O foolish and unwise ? For the further improvement of these words, I shall, L Consider this prayer of Christ as answered in our being let alone for this last j^ear. IL As continued for the ensuing year, or some part of it. IIL As dropt and given over, as I doubt not, but it is with respect to several of this assembly. L To consider this prayer of Christ as answered, in our being let alone for this last year. And I would recommend two things to the medi- tation of this day. 1. To have lived a year, ought not to be over- looked as a slight matter, though it be so common. Upon this day we say, we are now a year older, and is that all ? Do we carry our reflection no fur- ther? Am I, not a year nearer the grave, nearer to heaven or hell ? Have I not a year more to answer for, and one year less to live ? Why was not 1 among those thousands that are gone down to the grave the, last year ? The tree has been shaken by many a blast ; the tabernacle has been tottering towards the dust by many an indisposition, and threatened by many an accident, and is at all times of such a constitution a^ to 160 THE INFLUENCE OF be crushed sooner than a moth. The fineness of our .make and composition renders our continuance for a year ahuost as great a wonder as itself; that our hfe and health, made up of so many thousand depen- dencies, of so intricate and imperceptible a minute- ness, should last out a year ; that an instrument of ten thousand strings should be kept so long in tune ! When by how many thousand fibres, nerves, sinews, tendons, vessels, passages there are, upon which my health and life depends, by so many thousand to one it is that 1 am a dead man by to-morrow morning : instead of staring upon one another upon the news of such an one's sudden death, and the other man's dropping down dead in the streets, one would rather lift up one's hands with astonishment to see an old man in the streets, or an assembly that has survived a whole year. The commonness of some things is apt indeed to abate their wonder, but in this case, as well a? some others, it ought rather to increase it ; it is a greater thing in itself, that the sun should rise and set so regularly every day, than that it should stand still for Joshua the length of one day ; that a thing so necessary, and so great, should be so common and ordinary, if it abates the wonder, it ought to add to our grateful acknowledgment, that what is so very needful should yet be so common, as light and life : in short, whether we consider the forfeitures by our guilt, or the frailties of our nature, we cannot look upon it to be a light matter to have been " Let alone for thi» year also." 2. The mercy of being let alone the last year points to the duty of this that is coming. Vcv. 8. *' Let it alone this year also :" well, it is 161 done, and for what, ver. 9, " And if it brings forth fruit, well ;" so that the end and design of being let alone is to bring forth fruit. God and we too have lost the year if we bring forth no fruit in this. Gratitude is perished from among men, and all sense of duty, and regard of God, if I do not thus argue with myself; well, I have been let alone one year more, and left standing in the vineyard; if it please God, I will not be a cumber-ground ; I will not despise the riches of his goodness and forbearance, and long suffering, least I treasure up wrath, where otherwise grace would abound: the goodness of God in the last year shall lead me to repentance in this, for otherwise 1 shall, in the hardness and impenitence of my heart, from year to year, treasure up wrath against the day of wrath, and the revelation of the righteous judgment of God. II. Let us consider this intercession as continued for the year jensuing, or for some part of it. Suppose Christ has said, " Lord, let it alone this year (coming) also,^' or at least for some part of it. For some of you, it may be, one half of it ; for others, some months ; for some, a few weeks ; and, it may be, for some of us Christ has only said, " Lord, let it alone" for a few days of this new year. 1. As it is not owing to the fruitfulness of the last year that we have lived it over, nor is it upon that, that we must ground our hopes of being let alone this year also. It is through the good hand of God upon us that we have obtained hitherto. This intercession sup- poses that we have been defective, because it comes in to stop the hand of justice, and the blow that was coming down upon the barren tree. M 162 THE INFLUENCE OF God has crowned the year with his goodness. Every time we have sat down at our tables we have seen that the earth is fruitful in its kind, and does not drink in the rain, and receive the influences of the heavens, sun, and air, in vain ; but to how little purpose we have received the blessings of them all is a melancholy inquiry, though a necessary one, at such a time as this when we cast up our accounts, and see how much God has done for us, and how little we have done for him. It was a tradition among the Jews, mentioned by Mai mon ides, that, upon a new-year's-day, God en- tered into judgment for the sins of the year past; they sa}^, that he then takes the balances into his hand, and weighs every one's good works against his bad ; they that are found righteous are sealed up unto life, they that are found wicked are sealed up unto death. We dare none of us stand this trial ; we shoidd see but a very little of this new year if the award were to be made according to our pleasing God in the last; oh, the waste of time, of thou2:hts that God ought to have had ! the abuse, or hiding of talents ! Being weighed in the balance, we should be found wanting, and therefore we must cry out, " Enter not into judgment with thy servants, O Lord, for in thy sight shall no flesh living be justi- fied." But though we pray that God woidd not enter into judgment with us we will enter into judgment with ourselves; for if we will judge our- selves, we shall not be judged of the Lord ; and when we find that our evil does overbalance our good to to such a degree, we pray thee, O Lord, hear this prayer of thy Son for us this once more, and let us alone this year also. 163 2. God will not overlook a little fruit though there have been but a little. Ver. 7. " He came seeking fruit ;" he does not say what quantity. It was a rule among the Jews, cut not down a palm tree if it bear but a cab of dates ; nor an olive tree if it bear but a quarter of a cab ; he that is in any degree useful, serviceable, holy, is not alto- gether a cumber ground ; though " Herein is my father glorified, if you bring forth much fruit." However he that brings forth but little, shall not lose his reward ; but then again, it is to be observed, that if we are resolved to be but alittle useful, a little serviceable, and bear a little fruit, let not such a man think much, if God should remove him to make room for one that will bring forth much more. 3. If this prayer be continued for thee for this year^ or for some part of it, it may be the last year of thy standing, the last tim.e he will pray for thee, let it alone. We know not what a day may bring forth, much less a year. I have known some persons lie dead upon the floor, the very same day that was appointed for the festival entertainment of their friends and relations. As I know no hurt it need do, so I am sure it may do me a great deal of good, if I ^ake it for granted, that I am not to see another new-year's-day, and order every thing accordingly. 4. The bringing forth fruit, if this should be our last year, v/ill prevent our being cut down in the sense of the parable, that is, in judgment and for the fire. Ver. 8. " Let it alone this year also, and if it bring forth fruit, well." What then ? Must I be cut dowii notwithstanding ? No, that would not be well, that is contrary to the supposition in the text : 1 may die but 164 THE INFLUENCE OF not be cut down ; 1 must die ; " The living know that tliey shall die," but as I said before, the death of the fruitful is not a cutting down, but a transplantation. God expressly forbids the destroying the fruiful trees, and safe guards them, even from the fury of war, and of the wasting of a siege. " Thou shalt not destroy them by forcing an axe against them, for of them thou mayest eat ;"' Deut. xx. 19, 20. which is but an emblem of his own tenderness, not to destroy if there be a blessing in it. 5. The longer you are let alone, and there be no fruit at all, the more severe and unpitied will be your cutting down at last. The longer it is coming, the heavier it will fall ; it gathers all the way fresh weight, and growing guilt. Abusing patience, and despising riches of goodness, is more than mere disobedience : this is therefore said, to be " Treasuring up of wrath against the day of wrath," that is, against the day, when the current, that has been stopt a long time, is swelled to the uttermost ; and presses so irresistably upon the dam, till it bears down all before it with the wider desolation and ruin. III. I shall consider this intercession as dropt and given over, and that he no longer interposes in the behalf of a barren sinner. 1. The intercession ceasing, sentence and execution immediately follows. What should hinder it, when that which has hitherto stopt it is given over ; when God shall be able to say, 1 have come not only three years, but many times three, " Seeking fruit but finding none." I planted thee a fig tree in my vineyard, but even in that good soil thou art degenerated into a bramble, or wild olive tree. 1 sought for figs, but behold thistles ; and for Christ's intercession. 165 grapes, but behold wild grapes : 1 sought the fruits of the Spirit, love, joy, peace, holiness, brotherly-kind- ness, charity, but behold the works of the flesh are manifest; thy grapes are grapes of Sodom, and thy apples, apples of Gomorrah. I came in thy childhood, " Seeking fruit, but finding none," saying, " I love them that love me, and they that seek me early shall find me ; my soul desired the first ripe fruits." But then the excuse was not yet Lord, " It is not yet the time of figs ; I am too young to be serious and godly, especially, since I have time enough before me. I came in the time of youth, " Seeking fruit but finding none ;" persuading, that it was " Good for a man to bear the yoke in his youth ; but then the ex- cuse was, that there were pleasures belonging to that age, which it was as easy to part with a right hand, or a right eye as to forego. I came in the time of manhood, saying, surely now in the ripeness of reason, he will say, where is God my Maker : but then thou wast a man of business, and business kept God out of the family, and prayer out of the closet, and spirituality out of the heart, and the heart out of heaven. But because the affairs of life have their allowed portion of time, and the neces- sities of life claim a due regard, should God and hea- ven, thy soul and its happiness, be the only things neglected and forgot, as if they were no part of thy business, and still 1 said, " Let it alone one year also." But now the year of vengeance is come ; the day of recompence is mine heart. Mercy indeed belongs to me, but so does justice too; and must that attribute be cancelled in me, to oblige one that has despised my goodness } No, " My Spirit shall not always M 3 166 THE INFLUENCE OF Strive with man/' nor my intercession always strive with God. " I have a long time holden my peace, I have been still and refrained myself, but now will I cry like a travailing woman ; I will destroy and devour at once ; cut it down (says God) why cumbers it the ground. Let it be so, says Christ, I have no more to say, all that remains on his part, is a compassionate tear, as he shed over Jerusalem, oh that thou hadst known in thy day, before the last year expired, or thy portion of this was quite spent, the things that belonged to thy peace, but now there remains no more sacri- fice for such sins, no more intercession for such sinners, but a fearful looking for of judgment, and a fiery indignation that shall devour the adversary. Go to now, thou vain fool, seek the world over, show the thing, if thou canst, for which it is worth thy w hile to be damned ; to be thus cut down and thrown into the fire. Think upon thy darling lust, under the sense of Christ having given over to pray for thy life and standing this year, and say, is it for this that I have lived barren, and must die destroyed? Cut down, and throvv'n into the buriiing ? What, for such a moment of pleasure must 1 now lie down in ever- lasting sorrow ? But, 2. God uses the proper means before he comes to this extremity. Ver. 8. '' Till I shall dig about it, and dung it ;" ver. 9. " And if it bear fruit, well, if not, then shalt thou cut it down." The case is so plain, that even the I^Iediator, who has kept it off so long, now says, it shall be done then, then shalt thou cut it down for me; and how sure is their destruction ; for whom mercy itself has not a word to say? After God has used the proper means to make you fruitful, and you re- Christ's intercession. 167 main barren. I gave her time and space to repent, says God of Jezebel, and she repented not, one j^ear after another, wherefore " I will cast her into great tribulation." I close with some remarks upon this conduct of God, and prayer of Christ. 1. This teaches us patience and forbearance one towards another, God bearing so long with us all. We are apt to say, flesh and blood cannot bear this or that. What then ? If flesh and blood cannot bear it, am I nothing but flesh and blood ? Have I no better principles to govern me than flesh and blood ? *' They that are in the flesh cannot please God ; if we live after the flesh we shall die." A Christian must act above flesh and blood, and against it, or he is not worthy of the name ; and in this particular, in bearing with others, and forgiving others, for the sake of God's bearing so long with us, and forgiving us; forgiving " One another, even as God for Christ's sake has forgiven you." 2. See the folly and baseness of the sinner's enmity to Jesus Christ. His prayer is thy life from year to year, more than thy breath and soul ; for if it were not for his prayer, that breath would soon be stopped, that soul would soon be in hell, and wilt thou con- tinue an enemy to one that is so much thy friend } To hear them cry, " Crucify, crucify," and to hear him cry, " Father forgive them, they know not what they do ;" to hear them cry, " Away with such a fellow from the earth," and to hear him cry, " Let them alone this year also;" how ill a requital, and how base is such an enmity } Lord, thy bounty fills all their stores, thy providence spreads their tables, these dogs eat of the crumbs that fall from thy table, M 4 168 THE INFLUENCE OF and yet they snarl at him that feeds them i They are in hell the very moment thou ceases to pray for them, and yet they fly in the face of thee and thine ! They would tear the throats out of thy poor children, and by their good-will would not let Christ have one ser- vant alive upon earth ! They are barren themselves, and would have nobody else bring forth any fruit ! Nay, they would destroy the vineyard itself, and be glad to la}^ it waste ; this is to cut the branch upon which they stand, to spurn at the bowels that yearn towards them. 3. You have been let alone the last year, look to it that you frustrate not the designs of that mercy, and turn it to a judgment. Sometimes God lets persons alone in judgment. " Ephraim is joined to idols, let him alone ;" so the Jews were let alone to " Fill up the measure of their iniquity ;" and Pharaoh kept alive to be the more signal instance of God's handling a tyrant ; " For this cause have I preserved thee alive, that I might shew forth all my power upon thee." We have been preserved alive from as many deaths, as we have taken steps, or eaten morsels, or drawn breaths ; is it in mercy ? I answer, it is even just as you improve it ; it is Christ's own answer, ver. 9. " if it bear fruit, well," and then only -well, v.hen long life is fruitful; grey hairs are then only a blessing, v.- hen in a way of righteousness, for the sinner of an hundred years old is accursed ; for that is only to be let alone to grow and harden in sin and wickedness, and so to ripen for hell and misery; to fall a dry tree into the burning, to be an old servant of the devil, and have more of those wages of sin which is death, in proportion to more of the service of sin unto iniquity. Christ's intercession. 169 4. The value we ought to have for our time, and tlie improvement we should make of it from this con- sideration, that it is the fruit of Christ's intercession. Do I make hght of that which is the purchase of his blood, and the matter of his prayer? Do I fling it at my heels, as if 1 could not squander it away last enough ? Time has now again turned up its annual glass, our life runs out with the sands, and spend as fast as they ; think when thou see the sands posting through the glass; think with thyself, my Saviour is now praying, that I may enjoy these minutes of time; now then, O my conscience, I ask thee, and he thou faithful to me, and tell me, dost thou think, O my soul, that my Saviour prays for thee to have this time, and to be let alone to do what thou dost with thy time; and for the purposes to which thou dost apply it? Needful business, and needful refresh- ment being allowed for (that you may not say we carry the matter too far into sourness and severity), dost thou think that he prays for this time for thee to be let alone to be idle, slothful, to do nothing; to dream it away in brov.'n studies, much less to do mischief in. Dost thou thus abuse the fruit of his intercession in the service of thy lusts, and the gift of his mercy, in sacrifice to the devil. 5. The last year of trial will come, the last day, the last hour, that he will procure thy being let alone. When Christ will no more say, " Let it alone," but will join in with the voice of abused patience, and say, Cut it down, ver. 9. " If it bear fruit well ; but if not, then shalt thou cut it down." Who is it that says this last word, "Then shalt thou cut it down ?" Even the same person, who in the eighth verse had said, " Let it alone this year also." So 170 THE INFLUENCE OF that the time will come when that Saviour, in whom you presume, will not only leave off to plead for the barren tree, but will himself join in w^th, and pro- nounce the sentence, " Cut it down, why cumbers it the ground ?'* And if we should understand it of natural life only, of how many of us who are here now, may this be the case, whose last year is expired, or now running? Should a man's hand upon the wall come forth, and write the names of those, who shall never see another new-year's-day, with that text to each of them, Jer. xxviii. 16. " This year thou shalt die." How would some of our hearts ache within us, and our faces gather paleness ? What a cry would go up from this place, Lord, let us alone this one year longer also, and if we bring not forth fruit then Ah ! but how^ many of you have said so already, upon sick beds, and under troubles, spare me a little longer, " Oh ! spare me, that I may recover strength, before I go hence, and be no more :" a thousand worlds for a year longer ; or, to use the words of one dying, " A thousand worlds for a day, for an hour, I am going, lam going, but I know not whither; but the horrors of my soul make me feel that I am upon the borders of hell. Spare me but this once, and then" Then ! What then ? -Why truly if we were to measure, what then, by the common issue of such outcries on sick beds, after recovery, then they will get rid of their fears, forget their vows, wear off the impressions that were made as fast as they can ; and as soon as ever the business and pleasures of life have catched them again, corrupt nature flies back again, like a spring that had been bent the contrary way. — But will God be mocked at this rate, and must the design of Christ's Christ's intercession. 171 prayer be eluded thus ? Let those triflers know, that the experience of the world has produced two obser- vations, that are seldom known to fail ; the one is, that such mockers of God have seldom any warning again, any time before their death ; generally they are taken ofFsuddcnly; the other is, that if they do lye some time they are rarely known to have their senses, or to be capable of doing any thing for their souls, or giving any evidence to those about them of their sincere return from their apostasy. And therefore let me close this head with that solemn advice of Elihu — " Because there is wrath (against such as these), beware, lest he take thee away with his stroke, then a great ransom cannot deliver thee." Job xxxvi. 18. 6. The comfort the fruitful may take to themselves, and the great motive this is to ail of us to be so ; to bring forth more fruit; fruitfulness ! An indication of spiritual life, a preservative of the temporal, in some respects, and a pledge of the eternal. They die in- deed, but after a fruitful life, it is not the ax that cuts them down, it is the tender hand of the husband- man that gathers the full ripe fruits, and transplants the stock into a better soil. This comfort 1 am to present you with, an oppor- tunity of securing to yourselves in the noble and useful charity of this day, and this place. Here are fourscore poor children taught to read, and write, and cypher; they are qualified for some business in the world, and are instructed in their catechism, whereby the principles of religion are early laid in their minds. Thus does your charity extend to both worlds ; the poor children are tolerably fitted to get a livelihood in any honest calling ; they not only cease to be a burden and a nuisance to the public, for it is out of 172 THE INFLUENCE OP the ignorance, corruption, and savageness of neg- lected poverty, that those vermin grow up, which the public justice is forced to destroy, but they are put into the way of being useful to them- selves and others ; are civilized by education, are brought under the influence of another world, princi- ples are laid in for conscience to work upon when it is awakened, and for the Word of God to take hold on in order to it. In a word, they are hereby shown the way how, as well as the reason why, they should be neither beggars nor thieves. This charity, therefore, is something more than giving a present supply to a poor man, that is spent and gone, and the indigent receiver wants another benefactor, an so on : but this puts them in a way not to need your charity; nay, by the blessing of God upon honest diligence, to be able to do good to others. There is another excellency in this founda- tion, which will very much recommend it to every truly Christian catholic spirit, and that is, that these poor children are received and taught without any distinction of parties and denominations. Blessed be God for one such instance of charity unconfined ! that is, of cliarity managed, so as not to be a contra- diction to itself; for charity is kind, ; charity envieth not, vaunteth not itself, is not puffed up, does nothing through strife in opposition to others, nor vain glory in setting forth ourselves. Care is taken tliat they worship God ; but the place where, pro- vided it be allowed by the government, is not made the condition of their admission. What you give is not as so much press-money, that is to list them under the banners of any party, but from a love to mankind, that objects merelv as such are received, 173 and in imitation of that God, who does good to all, and from that inward goodness of spirit, which is the temper of Jesus, and witiiout which, as the apostle says, " Though I gave all my goods to the poor 1 am nothing." The charge of such a number must needs be great ; it has, with great difficulty, been hitherto defrayed by the charity of some private persons, and by the help of this single collection once in a year. We hope that the death of some of the benefactors, and the declension of others, will be so supplied, as that we shall not be obliged to take otf from the number of the poor children. I am afraid indeed this cause will suffer in myhand ; I have a poor talent at persuasion in these cases, I have little expectation from any thing I can say ; but I will tell what that God sa3^s, who is the Father cf the fatherless, and the Patron of the poor. God says, that though you do not see an immediate return of what you do, yet there will be a return, and you shall not lose your reward; Eccles. xi. 1. " Cast thy bread upon the waters (or thy corn into moist ground*) for thou shalt find it after many days." The bread we give to the poor, and epecially that which we put them into a capacity of getting for them- selves ; however it may seem to be thrown away as so much bread upon the face of the waters, yet it will be found, after many days, in the usefulness and support of these poor children hereafter, and in our own future reward ; for that this is the true meaning of this place, and that it refers to charitable distribution, is above all dispute, from the whole strain of the con- text round about, for it immediately follows, ver. 2, * Essav on New Translatiou of the Bil;le. 174 THE INFLUENCE OF *' Give a portion to seven, and also to eight, for thou knowest not what evil shall be upon the earth." Therefore lose no opportunity of doing good while you have it, and also provide against evil times by being charitable ; for whatsoever is so laid up is cer- tainly saved, whatever becomes of the rest. Besides, God has a special care of such as are charitable in the day of trouble, whether it be of calamity or sick- ness, a time of affliction, or of distemper ; both which are joined together in tliat promise, " Blessed is he that considereth the poor, the Lord will deliver him in the time of trouble ; the Lord will preserve him, and keep him alive, he shall be blessed upon the earth, and thou w ilt not deliver him into the will of his enemiesj the Lord will strengthen him upon the bed of lano-uishins:, thou wilt make all his bed in sick- ness," Fsal. xli. 1, 2. Soft indeed must the bed be which God makes ! And a great motive, instead of an objection, arises from the apprehension of evil times ; for a safeguard in trouble, and a cordial in sickness, is the wisest preparation for both. But as Solomon adds, in the fourth verse, " He that ob- serveth the winds shall not sow, and he that regard- eth the clouds shall not reap ;" so he that withhold- eth his charity, till every objection can be answered, will never bestow it. It is observed that God does not destroy a charita- ble and praying people ; the prayers and alms of this city have come up before him as a memorial, and done more towards the preservation of it from its worst enemies than the policies of its best friends; and we may justly apply to the case of the many noble and useful charities of this land that saying, " if the Lord would have destroyed us, would he CHRIST S INTERCESSION. 175 have shown us such thhigs as these ?^' May the happy symptom grow upon us, rather than dechne, in the instance before us, all this will be fruit abounding to account. " An odour of a sweet smell, a sacrifice acceptable, well-pleasing to God through Jesus Christ. Again ; God tells us, that our outward wealth and estate very much depends upon our doing good with it, and is very much promoted and secured thereby. *' Honour the Lord with thy substance, and with the first fruits of thine increase," there is the command ; " So shall thy barns be filled with plenty, and thy wine presses shall burst forth with new wine," there is the promise : and though it would be very merce- nary to do charity with that view only, as well as foolish, because the insincerity of it would disap- point itself, yet is it a great encouragement to the liberal hand to understand, that by devising liberal things, he is not projecting any damage to his affairs, but rather taking the true way of making a little to be much, and much to be more : while on the other hand, there is that withholdeth more than is meet, more than in proportion to his abilities and opportunities he ought to do, and instead of saving any thing by it, it tendeth to poverty. You that have children of your own, you expect the providence of God should be kind to them ; be kind then to these poor children, who either have no father or mother, or none that are able to do for them, but what your charity blesses them with. You know not what some of your children may come to, you are by this laying in a blessing for them, and showing a kindness to your own posterity, according to that entail, upon the seed of a merciful man, Psah 176 THE INFLUENCE OF xxxvii. 26. " He is ever more merciful, and lendeth, his seed also is blessed." You that have no children have the less to provide for, and are the more able to do for these, whom you may adopt, at least, into your compassions. You that are rich are under the special charge, as well as obligation, to be careful to maintain good works. You who are not rich, and yet have some- thing to spare for doing good, there is an apostolical canon that says, " Let him labour, working with his hands, the thing that is good, that he may have to give to him that needeth," Eph. iv. 28. " And it is accepted according to what a man hath, and not according to what a man hath not." But it is some- thing shocking to see the labouring hand cheerfully throwing in the shilling, that perhaps it worked for the day before ; and to see at the same the fine and delicate hand carefully picking out a shilling from the midst of a number of idle guineas that are but the overflowings of their abundance. When our Lord placed himself over against the treasury of the temple, and observed what every one put in ; he did, by that action, acquaint us, that his eye would be upon our heart and hand upon such occasions as this. I know it will go well if I can leave you under the influence of that eye, which will make the same observation now as it did then. Therefore to con- clude, by all the mercies of the last year, and the hopes of that which is to come; by all the expecta- tions you have from him, who is >able to make this whole year good or bad to you, according to the con- secration of the first fruits of it thus to God; and above all things, by the mercy of that intercession. CHRIST S INTERCESSION. 177 that has preserved us so long, let this day be the date, and this service the pledge of our fruitfulness, for the time to come. Oh ! let all our old sins, our old barrenness, be put off with the old year ; let a new heart and life, a new fruitfulness, begin the new. Then may we be indif- ferent whether we see the end of it or no, whether the year that is begun upon earth be ended in heaven ; begun in the vineyard, be ended in paradise. Whe- ther Christ shall say, let it alone for another year ; or say to us, come up hither. It is with these desires that we take leave of the last year, and wish you the happiness of the new one. Happy if you see the end of it, happy if you do not; for if you do, it will be fruitful in holiness ; and if you do not, the end will be everlasting life; a life, a life that is not measured by time, not parcelled out by the succession of mqnths and days : no more the glass of time, .but the circle of eternity ; in an inheri- tance incorruptible, undefiled, and that fadeth not awav. Amen. DISCOURSE YI. GODS GOOD WILL TO GREAT BRITAIN*. DEUT. XXXIII. 16. AND FOR THE GOOD WILL OF HIM THAT DAVELT IN THE BUSH. yy K are led by these words to the original of all the pleasures of this day. The good will of God has made it one of the most auspicious days in the Bri- tish calendar. We are. met together to mingle reli- gion with our joys. That while we give to Caesar the things that are Caesar's, wishing to him, accord- ing to the Roman salutation, to a man upon his birth- day, midtos etfelices, that he may see many of them, and happy ; we may also give to God the things that are God's, by acknowledging the gift of this day, and all the happy consequences of it to the good will of him that dwelt in the bush. God had bid Moses go up and die. He was ready at a word. It was no more betwixt God and Moses, but go up and die, Moses. Moses goes up and dies. As when a father commands the child to bed, the obedient child goes without any hesitation. But Moses would die, more majovum^ after the manner of * This is a Sermon preached to the society of the Lord's-day morning-lecture, at Little St. Helens, upon May 28, 1720, the birth-day of his majesty, king George. N 2 180 god's good will the ancient patriarchs. Before he died, he would take a solemn farevvel, and pray over them ; he would leave behind him some useful instruction, and pro- nounce a solemn blessing upon them. This is the blessing with which Moses, the man of God, blessed the children Israel before his death, ver. 1 — 6. The introduction to this blessing is a fine instance of the sublime. It commands attention ; it breathes a wonderful spirit ; we feel rapture and inspiration all the way. " And he said, the Lord came from Sinai, and rose up from Seir unto them ; he shined forth from mount Paran, and he came with ten thousands of his saints ; from his right hand went a fiery law for them ; yea, he loved the people, all his saints are in thine hand, and they sat down at thy feet, every one shall receive thy word — Let Reuben live.'^ He does not only bless Israel in general, but he lays his hand, as it were, upon the head of every tribe in particular, and prays over them, and prophecies of them, and pronounces such blessings upon them, as were according to the designs of God's providence towards each tribe, and the lots that afterwards fell to them. The words I have read are part of the blessing of Joseph, ver. 13; — 17. The allusion is to the story of the burning bush, Exod. iii. 2, The bush was an emblem of the low estate of the church at that time. If number, riches, outward pomp and splendor, are the marks of the true church, as the papists would have us believe, one might have gone about with that mark in one's hand long enough before the true church could have been found in many ages of the world. It was not always that God's people had this mark on their side in the Old Testament, and more sel- TO GREAT BRITAIN. 181 ■clom under the New. It is something odd to make those things the marks of the true church, which a man is bound to renounce in virtue of being a member of it, viz^ the pomps and vanities of this world. The visi- ble church of God was, at one time, shut up in the ark. At another time, it was to be found only in the family of Abraham. At another time, they were slaves in Egypt. Such were its deplorable circumstances that were, at this time, represented by a bush on fire. " And he looked, and the bush burned with fire." The fire of affliction, hard slavery, and cruel per- secution, but the bush was not consumed. Under .all their hard labours, cruel task-masters, and mur- der of their children, tlie more they were oppressed, the more they grew and multiplied: the reason is, because God was there, of a truth among them. God's appearing in fire, carried in it a represen- tation of his own m.ajesty, purity, and power, and a comfort to his people, though a terror to his, and their enemies. The light of Israel is a consuming fire to the adversaries of Israel. " The light of Israel shall be for a fire, and his holy One for a flame ; and it shall burn, and devour his thorns, and his briars in one day: and shall consume the glory of his (the Assyrians) forest, and his fruitful field, both soul and body ; and they shall be as when a standard-bearer fainteth," Isa. x. 17. The place of this appearance of the burning bush was called Horeb, but afterwards mount Sinai. Sinai, as some critics tells us, comes from an x\rabian word, which signifies a bush ; perhaps, because the ground there had a great deal of that sort of growth upon it. However that be, it was from this place afterwards, that the great God again appeared in flaming fire ; N 3 1S2 god\s good will " The Lord came from Sinai, and rose from Seir, unto them ! he shined forth from mount Paran, and came with ten thousand of his holy ones." His holy angels, who vA'ait on their God, make up his train, and attend the Shecinah, or glorious appearance, in a manner suitable to the majesty of heaven. From his right hand went a fiery law : given from the midst of fire, and having effects and consequences like those of fire, purifying and cleansing them that obey, but destruc- tive to the disobedient. Our text says, that he dwelt in the bush. The church has the honour of God's residence in it, though in its lowest estate. There he dwells as one friend dwells with another, for converse and commu- nion. There he dwells as a proprietor in his own, as a relation, as a father among his children; an hus- band with his spouse, lie dwells in his church as a God in his temple ; here will I dwell, and here will 1 record my name. He dwells there as a principle of life, to communicate vital influence throughout the whole body. He dwells there as an instance if his good will, and with all his good will along with him. The good will of God to his people in adversity is a greater blessing than all the prosperity of the wicked without it. It makes the state of a good man at the lowest and worst better than that of a wicked man at his highest and best. As Lazarus with his dung- liill, sores, and poverty, was in a condition infinitely preferable to 13ives ; and as this burning bush was more honoured, safe, and glorious, than all the cedars of Lebanon ; for God was there with his good will, and the good will of God is the best of blessings to any person, family, people, or nation. This mav serve as the observation from the words ; TO GREAT BRITAIN. |S9 which we may improve, in a mamier somewhat suita- ble to the present occasion, by showing, I. What this good will is, and what it supposes and includes ? II. That it is the greatest and best of blessings to any person, family, people, or nation. I. What this goodwill of God is ? And it signifies not only that benevolence of God, whereby he wills good to all his creatures, " Not willing that any should perish, but should come to the knowledge of the truth, and be saved : not only his common beneficence, whereby he does good to all, and his tender mercies are over all his works ; causing his sun to shine and his rain to fall upon the just and the unjust:" and with a liberal hand scatters promiscuous bounties over the world, which are picked up by wicked men as dogs do crumbs under their master's table : but the good will of God here must be understood to signify something more excellent ; and comprehends, 1. His affection for them as his chosen people. *' Yea, he loved the people, all his saints are in th}^ hand, and they sat down at thy feet, every on shall receive of thy words." Deut. xxxiii. 3. His bringing them out of Egypt was one instance of this love ; " When Israel was a child I loved him, and brought him out of Egypt." Hos. xi. 1. And his giving them the law in so glorious a manner is set down as another; " For he showeth his word unto Jacob, his statutes and his judgments unto Israel : he hath not dealt so with any nation." Psalm cxlvii. 19, 20. 2. His kind designs and purposes towards them. These were ever of old. Had an early date, a con- tinued train through many gracious promises and prophecies. The good will that promised to make N 4 184 god's good will Abraham's family numerous as the stars of heaven, did shine forth in all its glory, by carrying the first promise of the seed of the woman through every generation down to the fulness of time: when the same good will that dwelt in the bush was proclaimed by angels, (and it may be by the very same angels, that attended the Shecinah, or divine glory at Horeb). " Suddenly there was with the angel, a multitude of the heavenly host praising God and saying, glory to God in the highest, peace on earth, good will towards men/' Luke xiv. 10, 11. The good will purchased by Christ, proclaimed by angels, and offered in the Gospel. 3. His acting for them in pursuance of these designs. This made the Israelitish history the most wonder- ful of any in the world. " He did great things in Egypt, wondrous works in the land of Ham, and terrible things in the Red Sea. Who can utter the mighty acts of the Lord ? Who can show forth all his praise ?'' Fsalm cvi. It follows, " Remember me, O Lord, with the favour thou bearest unto thy people." So that it was the good will of God that did those wonders for them. That divided the sea to make a passage for his chosen people ; that brought water out of the rock, manna from heaven, and flesh from the clouds; it was this that drove back Jordan, dismantled Jericho, made the sun stand still to light Joshua to the end of a victory ; as afterwards the good will of God made it go back to indulge a favourite with a sure token of his recovery. 2 Kings, xx. But to complete the notion of this good will of God, we we must add, 4. it includes a covenant interest in God, and his favour through Jesus Christ. TO GREAT BRITAIX. 185 This was the thing pointed to; when out of the bush, God said, " I am the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob." Exod. iii, 6. Owning his covenant with them, which it was good will to enter into, and good will to put Moses in mind of, for the support of his faith. The good will of God in Christ towards those in covenant with him, includes, First, the special conduct of the divine providence. " The eyes of the Lord run to and fro beholding the evil and the good." There is the general providence : but they are in a particular manner said to be fixed upon the righteous, he " Withdraweth not his eyes from the righteous." Job xxxvi. 7. There is his special providence. " The eyes of the Lord are upon the righteous, from the rising of the sun to the going down thereof." It would carry me too far, to illustrate this, from all the special providences to Israel, from Egypt to Canaan ; how he " Carried them upon eagles wings," and " Hid them in the secret of his presence." How he made all nature obsequious to their accommoda- tion, safety, and glory ; and when nature failed, he wrought miracles that they might not be destitute. If there be another people in the world to whom this sort of language may be applied, they are the people of this nation. We have also been brought out of Egypt ; saved from popery and slavery ; a land of darkness, idolatry, cruelty, plagues, and bondage ; by an high hand, and an outstretched arm ; by miracles of good will ; which, if they have not been so obvious to vulgar apprehension, as to strike the sense, do equally affect the mind, and are iiot less considerable in their consequence and effects. We celebrate the good will of God to Great 1S6 god's good wilx Britain, in the gift of this day sixty years ago, in the year of the restoration ; a pledge, that it should in time become a blessing beyond expectation. It was the good will of God that gave our present sovereign such an happy constitution of body and temperament of mind, as made him capable of such an application to public affairs. It was this watched over his adventurous j'outh, and formed his riper years. That so often covered his head in the day of battle, both while he was learning the art of war in the imperial armies, and when he was gathering laurels in Hungary and Morea; where he fought against the enemies of Christianity : and afterwards in Germany and Flanders, where he commanded against the disturber of the peace of Europe. That the family, now happily established among us, should continue protestant, surrounded with papists as they were, and not without their temptations ; that the settlement should be made at the only time, as it should seem, that ever it could have been ; and that it should be so often strengthened by the legislature when it was assaulted a many ways, by those, who would have persuaded us, that we could never be safe, till the thing that we feared came upon us ; nor happy, without popery or slavery ; a yoke, which neither we nor our fathers were able to bear; that the succession should at last take place, through all the -seemingly invincible obstacles, that arose in its way ; and that after the accession of our sovereign, those who might have proved the most dangerous enemies, were taken away, at the most critical junctures of time ; these are things that refer us to that branch of the good will of God the special conduct of divine 4)rovidence. TO GREAT BRITAIN. 187 It is not for me to pretend to enumerate all the instances of it, with my short warning, and little time for this service. Somebody else may, and it will be very well worth the while to do it. It will be suitable to this occasion, edifying to all, who " Fear God and honour the king;" whom God has honoured by such a train of successes, from the time of his birth till now; in such numbers, and with such peculiarities as are proper enough when the design is to prevent our taking them for ordinary providences. It will be observed how our sovereign has been favoured by the winds and waves ; the elements and seasons of the year. By the critical timing of things, the discovery of secret conspirators, and defeating the open attempts of his traiterous subjects at home, and disappointing expeditions from enemies abroad. Lay them together, for a view of the good will of God to us, and it will give us that sort of pleasure, which every one has to see his interests conducted by a person so accustomed to good success. " Whoso is wise and will observe these things, even he shall understand the loving- kindness of the Lord. Secondly. The good will of God considered as a co- venant interest in his favour through Jesus Christ, does also include the special influence of the divine Spirit. Our Redeemer, taking leave of his disciples, pro- mises them the Holy Spirit as a token of his love and good will ; and to make amends for his absence from them. " If I go 1 will send the comforter. "John xvi.7. The common influence of this Spirit, where it has been well improved, has made great men* ; and the special influence of it, has made illustrious Christians; according to the measure of the gift and grace of God, * Nemo vir magiius sine aliquo afflatu divino unquatn fuit. Cic. 188 in restraining from evil, and exciting to that which is good; assisting in duty ; leading into truth; and for- tifying against temptation ; guiding in the Christian course ; supporting under troubles ; sweetening the enjoyments of life: sanctifying the afflictions of it; comforting under them ; and carrying on the work of grace unto perfection. Thirclhf. The good will of God, considered as a co- venant interest in God through Jesus Christ, does fur- ther take in the free and full pardon of our sins. This is good will indeed, for the great God to visit the soul ■with a smile in his face, and these words in his mouth, " I, even I am he, who blotteth out all thy transgres- sions for my name sake." And if the great God has nothing against us, who else " Shall lay any thing to the charge of God's elect ? It is God that justifieth, it is Christ that died ; yea rather that is risen again : there is therefore no condemnation to them that are in Christ Jesus." Fourthhj. In the last place, it takes in a freedom of access into his presence at all times. It would be thought good will indeed, if our sove- reign should say to any of us, " Come and welcome to my court, at any time, and upon any occasion. Come boldly, in every time of need ; come and ask and knock, and seek. I do assure you, your impor- tunity I will never count unseasonable ; nor shall it ever give me any offence. '^ I hardly need to make a distinct head to tell you where all this will end! You know that the good will of God will never have accomplished all its kind designs upon you, till it has bought you to partake of all that, which good will can provide for its beloved •objects; in the full enjoyment of himself to all TO GREAT BRITAIN. 189 eternity : for " Where he is, there shall his servants be, that they may behold his glory." If. This good will is the greatest and best of bless- ings to any person, family, people, or nation. This is a position that does not need proof, but rather a serious consideration: that it is 1. The good will of a God. A great deal of pains is sometimes taken, a great deal of charge men are at, and every art of insinuation is mnde use of, to obtain the good will of man ; of some persons, who, if they had never so good a will to us, can do but little for us; are of narrow capacities, and of bounded power. But the good will of a God, whose idea includes every excellence to infinite per- fection, is, for that reason, infinitely more valuable ; " Blessed are the people who are in such a case." 2. The good will of God is the fountain of all other blessings. Whatever comes in the way of a blessing, and de- serves the name, takes its rise from the good will of God. Not but that a great many precious things of the earth may be given, and are daily given, to those for whom God has not this good will ; to the covetous whom the Lord abhors ; estates, equipage, and abun- dance of those fine things, are given along with the meaning of that text, Mai. ii. 2. " I will curse your blessings (that is, the things you count and call bless- ings, 1 will curse) ; and make your table a snare to you ;" for, S. Nothing, without the good will of God, is a blessing; but that, even alone, of itself, can make us happy. All the precious things in heaven and earth cannot make us trulv blessed withoul- this ; whereas this cart 190 bless us, and make us perfectly so, eternally so, with- out them all. This is what the carnal mind cannot comprehend. Not blessed ; a good estate, ample revenues, an honourable post, all the accommodation of life, and pleasures of sense at command, and not blessed ! — How would you have a man blessed ? I answer, with the good will of God : that favour which is better than life, and that loving-kindness which is beyond all the comforts of life. A thousand worlds cannot make up the room of a lost God ; or do instead' of his good will ; but the great God can easily fill up the room of a lost world. With the good will of God, if we live, we live to the Lord ; and if we die, we die to the Lord ; living and dying we are the Lord's ; but without it, w^hile we live, we live under a curse ; and when we die, we die into the curse ; and are swallowed up of eternal curse, misery, and death. 4. The good will of God gives the sweetness and comfort to all other blessings. Here were a great many good things poured out upon the head of Joseph. But they would not all put together do without the good will of God. The good will of God stands in the midst of all the other blessings, like the tabernacle in the midst of the camp ; decics et tutamen^ the glory and defence of all the rest, ver. 13. And of Joseph he said, blessed of the Lord be his land, for the precious things of the heavens ; the influence of the sun and air. And from the dews above, the rain that fructifies the earth. And for the deep that coucheth beneath : the springs that arise from beneath the earth, or the sea, vvhicli, by subterraneous conveyances, supplies the springs and fountains of water. And for the pre- cigus things brought forth by the sun, and the pre- TO GREAT BRITAIN. 191 eious things put forth by the moon ; according to the course of the moon, or from month to month. And for the chief things of the ancient mountains ; the mines of gold and silver that are generated in the secret beds of ancient mountains. iVnd for the pre- cious thinsrs of the everlasting hills, that shall con- tinue to the end of the world. And for the precious things of the earth, and the fulness thereof: all its creatures and fruits above ground, and its treasure underneath. And for the good will of him that dwelt in the bush. So that fruitful season, the eartb loaden with plenty, and mines of gold and silver ; in a word, all. the precious things of heaven and earth will not make up a blessing complete without the good will of God. AH the joy and sweetness, all the blessing and happiness, of every precious thing, is the good will of God, from which it comes, with which it is enjoyed, vvli.ich it will end in after they are gone from us, or w^e are parted from them for ever. I conclude with a few remaks, proper to such a subject and occasion as this. 1. This is a consolation to the godly afflicted. Your afflictions dot not prove that you have not God's good will, no more than that it did not dwell in the bush because it was on fire. And further, thou hast that which is better than all the precious things of the earth. Here were poor labourers in, brick-kilns, poor bondmen, who were almost wearied to death ; beaten, murdered, abused, a many ways ; God comes down, and owns good will to them, owns them of his kindred and family, and is not ashamed to be called their God. 2. Having the good will of God, let us be the Ies& concerned at thn ill will of men. 192 GOD S GOOD WILL Let who will bear us an ill will ; he can either turn their hearts. If a man's ways please the Lord, he can make his enemies at peace with him ; or he can prevent the mischief of their ill will ; or over rule it to good purposes ; or his good will can be enough without theirs, and make amends for all the harm of their ill will to us. The good will of God will be too hard for all the ill will of men in the world. We rejoice this day in that good will of God that has worked its way through a deal of the ill will of men. But if their numbers had been greater, if their interest, riches, or alliances, had been much more considerable, we would set the good will of God against them all. He will establish the work of his own hands, he will deliver us from wicked and unrea- sonable men. Every day shall lead us (we trust) into a discovery of more and more of the good will of God towards us, in the character and conduct of our sove- reign king George. Which is an inviting subject. But 1 must forbear indecency; and leaving it to better hands, and more leisure : I shall close this article with an observation, which, I believe, delivers our common sense : " Were an honest Britain to wish for a sovereign, who in the present situation of affairs, would be more capable of advancing our national hap- piness, what could he desire more than a prince mature in wisdom and experience ; renowned for valour and resolution ; successful and fortunate in his? under- takings ; zealous for the reformed religion ; related or allied to all the most considerable protestant powers of Europe ; and blest with a numerous issue, who surround and adorn the throne ; who carry our pros- pects of happiness a great way into futurity, and seem an entail of the good will <>f God to those who TO GREAT BRITAIN'. 193 come after us, if not. cut off by their sins. A failure in any one of these particulars has been the cause of infinite calamity to the British nation ; but when they all thus happily concur in the same per- son, they are as much as can be suggested, even by our wishes, for making us a happy people, so far as the qualifications of a monarch can contribute to it." 3. Let the good will of God to you all, engage you to maintain mutual good will towards one another. How it comes to pass 1 leave to others to inquire, but the observation is too obvious, that those periods of providence that have displayed the greatest good will to us all, have not proved, as they should have done, the opportunities of manifesting the most good will to one another. Is it a corruption that must always be drawn forth by the shine of favour ? Is it too great a blessing for us to know the things that belong to our peace? Is it no approach to us for the world to observe that we have nothing of that principle of the ancient Romans, donare inlmicitias reipublicce ? to give up private quarrels to the public good ? Is it that the great enemy of our religion knows what it glories in as her crown and excellency, that he endeavours to detroy that temper which so justly recommends Christianity to the approbation of wise and considerate men ? The most acceptable return to the good will of God, would be to practice the good will recommended by the apostle, " Let us consider one another, to provoke unto love and good works, ^' Heb* x. 24. Consider one another's natural temper, and nvake due allowances for it. The most ofiences Christians take at one another, are only the breaking out of natural temper on one side, and the other not considering it, or making some allow- o 194 god's good will ance for it. Consider the different lights in which things are seen. The difference of education, and the srong bias that it gives. The different capacities and attainments of persons. And how natural it is, even for those persons, that will not make these allowances to others, yet, upon occasion, to claim them for themselves. " If Christians will pot love one another (says a good man now with God) till they all come to the same mind, they may even lay aside that duty till they come to heaven ; but they who lay it aside upon that account, do not look as if they were going thither'* ." The world of love above, where good will reigns as on its throne, and flowing from him who is the fountain of it, diffuses itself into every breast, and rebounds again from every soul mutually upon each other. I say that world of love will open its gates to none that have dropped this grace by the way, if such a thing were to be sup- posed. Never strive with one another about any thing, so as to lose mutual good will in the contest. A^hatever point is gained with the Iocs of this, the victory is too dear. There is more lost than gained ; because without this nothing else can be useful to man, or acceptable to God. There is nothing left when this love is gone that will do instead of it, by which a true disciple can be known. " For by this shall all men know that ye are my disciples, if ye have love to one another," John xiii. 35. There are twenty things by which a party-man may be known to the world, and distinguished from others, By this shall all men knov*' to what denomination, you have filed off" from the Christian name, ii'you have the Shibbo- leth ; but that only shows the partisan, and not the ^ Thf: latp Uev K. Tr«il. TO GREAT BRITAIN. 195 Christian. The Christian, the disciple, is not to be known, but by this. If ye have love one to another. Nothing else shows him, so as to demonstrate the real character. Not baptism, witness Simon Magnus. Not external communion with any church in the world; this could not distinguish Judas from Peter. Not any outward forms and modes of worship ; for here the hypocrite may be as loud, and as long, as the most sincere, and outdo him too in all the postures and modes in fashion. Not the greatest attainments in gifts and parts ; for though I speak with the tongue of men and angels, and had all knowledge, and have not charity; I am become as a sounding brass, or a tinckling cymbal. Not the profession of any doctrine, or of all the doctrines of Christianity, whether bundled up in a confession, or retailed out in sin- gle articles ; for this profession may be made by those who believe nothing of. the matter, or if they do be- lieve the Christian doctrine, but have not the Chris- tian temper, they have got no farther than devils and wicked men have arrived. No farther than what a man may go to, and yet be nothing. For though I understand all mysteries, and all knowledge, and had all faith — and have no charity, I am nothing. Finally, not miracles themselves can show the Christian with- out this. In Christ's name have many done wonder- ful works, to whom he will yet say, " Depart from me, 1 know you not. For though I could remove mountains, and have not charity, I am nothing*.'^ This is the stress which the Spirit of truth himself has laid upon mutual charity. And can truth be endan- * To separate goodness and mercy from God, compassion and charitj' from relij^on, is to make the two best things in the world, God and religion, i^ood for nothing-. Tillot. 196 GOD^S GOOD WILL gered by the regards due to " The Spirit, who bear- eth this witness, because the Spirit is truth," 1 John V. 6. Besides, is not this as great a truth as any, that without charity all truth, faith, and knowledge are nothing; as to pleasing God, or profiting our- selves. So far are we from leaving truth in the lurch by recommending charity, that rather, " Hereby we know that we are of the truth, and shall assure our hearts before him, if we love not in word, nor in tongue, but in deed and in truth," 1 John iii. 18, 19. Charity to our brother will engage us to endea- vour his better information, and to rescue him from any errors we can possibly convince him of. Zeal for truth arises from abundant charity to the souls of men. So that charity and zeal are nearly allied, if they are genuine, and should not be represented as standing in opposition one to the other. If I have a zeal for charity, as the bond of perfection, and a fair stage for universal truth ; and if 1 have a charity even for that zeal, the manner of whose operation may be something ofl'ensive, and liable to exception ; while 1 believe the intention is as honest as my own, 1 demand of all the sons of strife and discord, who speak and write from the bitterness of their own minds, and the mistaking the minds of others, whe- ther this does not come nearest to that " Wisdom that is from above, which is pure, and peaceable, and gentle, and easy to be entreated." Let us have a care of forfeiting this good will of God, or obstructing the issues of it by our sins. Our former sins have made us unworthy of the blessing of this day. Our continuing in sin will render Uij incapable of what the good will of God may have TO GREAT BRITAIN. 197 in reserve for us. Let us unite our earnest prayers for the peace of Jerusalem, and the good of his chosen. And accompany our prayers with repentance and re- formation : without which they will be but abomina- tion to the Lord. Politicians may despise this way as much as they please, but without it, I am sure God will despise all their other ways. We have all contributed towards that measure of iniquity, which if once filled up, the good will of God may be turned into a just indignation. There is no remark more common among ancient historians than this, that when a state is corrupted with avarice and sensuality, it was in the nearest danger of being betrayed and ■sold. What though we were, more than we are, re- formed in doctrine and worship ? Nothing can save us that does not sanctify us, and reform us in our morals. Nothing else can save our souls from dam- nation, for " Without. holiness no man shall see the Lord :" nor our nation from ruin and confusion ; " Only fear the Lord and serve him in truth, with all your heart ; for consider how great tilings he hath done for you. But if ye shall still do wickedly, ye shall be consumed both ye and your king." Sam. xii. 24,26. To fear and serve God then is to be loyal as well religious. It is at once to do our duty to God and the king. It contributes to the guard and security of his person, to the glory of his administration, to the prosperous state of Great Britain. All which doing wickedly tends so to undermine, that a wicked man is, so far, a bad subject. He will not part with a lust to' please his God, or preserve his king and country. May the goodwill of God attend the person and reign of our king. May he long continue the defender o 3 198 god's good will, &c. of our faith, the asserter of liberty, and maintainer of civil rights. May the happy influence of his govern- ment extend to all Europe, as the support of his allies and friends, the terror of his enemies, the guardian of the protestant interest, the refuge of the oppressed and persecuted, and the delight of his people. And when full of days and glory he shall be gathered to his fathers, may the day of his death be better to him that the day of his birth ; or the day of his corona- tion ; as eternal life and glory is better than temporal; and the crown that fades not away, is better than all earthly crowns put together. And when this tem- poral crown shall descend upon his royal son, may the glories of it shine brighter and brighter; and be carried through every succession to a still greater height, by the good will of God, to our latest posterity. Amen. DISCOURSE VII. THE PROTESTANT RELIGION, AND THE ILIBJERTIIES OF ENGLANB^ PSALM XLVIII. 3. GOD IS KNOWN IN HER PALACES FOR A REFUGE. Jl HIS psalm- and this day agree as if they were made for each other. The one a psalm of praise for the deliverance of Jerusalem from some imminent danger; and the other is a day of praise, for the double deliver- ance of our Jerusalem, from the worst of all evils, popery and slavery. Two names that present the full idea of the completest misery that can overtake us in this world ; and (so far as ignorance, idolatry, the treacherous dependences of a false religion, and the violations of conscience, can do it) deliver over to perdition in the world to come. The church of God has had much the same sort of enemies in all ages, though under different names. * This is a sermon preached at Crosby Square, November 5, 1709. In commemoration of our deliverance from popery and slavery. o 4 200 THE PROTESTANT RELIGIOX, AXD Egypt and Babylon, were no more formerly, than what France and Rome are now. Nay, those were but the types of these. Israel were slaves in Egypt, but even there, their consciences were so far free, that we do not find they were forced to worship Egyptian gods. In Babylon indeed they had some time their choice, of the idol, or the fiery furnace ; but there was mercy in the dispatch of that way of dying: mystical .Babylon has to herself intire the fame of the most artful cruelty, to prolong miseries, and multiply deaths: in dungeons, gallies, and miserable exile, or forced conversions beyond the trials of all former persecutions. Our dangers and deliverances are so much the same, that their praises will very well fill our mouths, and suit our occasions. Zion and Jerusalem need no explication ; and the name of Egypt and Babylon can hardly be misapplied : the words 1 have read do as properly become this auspicious day as that tor which they were first composed, for " God is known in our palaces for a refuge." The beginning of this psalm speaks the grandeur of the divine JNlajesty ; ver. 1. " Great is the Lord, and greatly to praised, in the city of our God (there es- pecially), in the mountain of his holiness." It closes with a claim of a special interest in God ; ver. last, " This is our God for ever and ever, he will be our guide even unto death." So great a being, and so nearly related, is the shortest account, " Wh}' he is known in her palaces for a refuge." In her palaces — In the king's palaces, so many times preserved from the plunder of the enemy. Once from Senacherib and his army ; Isa. xxxvii. 35. " For I will defend this" city, to save it for my own sake, and fc r my servant David's sake." Ver. 36. " Then the THE LIBERTIES OF ENGLAND. 201 angel of the Lord went forth, and smote the camp of the Assyrians." The blasphemies, that Heathen pride and insolence uttered against God, were flung back upon the head of the insulting foe, and vengeance pursued him to the house of his God, where he was slain. Another time when the " Children ofMoab and Ammon came up against Jerusalem, and Jehosophat said, Lord, we have no might, but our eyes are up to thee; then they looked unto the Lord, and were lighten- ed, and their faces were not ashamed." 2 Chron. xx. 12. Again, God is known in the private palaces of the rich and great men of Jerusalem ; in their pre- servation from fire, rapine, and the violence of a prevailing enemy, together with their furniture, and pleasant or precious things, that have not been given up to the spoilers. But above all, in the preservation of the temple, the palace of the great King ; concerning which he hath said, " Here will I dwell, and here will I record my name to all generations." It was this that made Zion a place so beautiful, the mountain of holiness, and so much the joy of the whole earth. These were the palaces of Zion, whose stateliness, magnificence, and strength, were the delight of the inhabitants, the wonder of travellers, and the terror of enemies, Ver. 4. " For lo, the kings were assembled, they passed by together." Ver. 5. " They saw it, and so they marvelled, they were troubled, and hasted away." Ver. 6. " Fear took hold upon them there, and pain, as of a woman in travail." These are the palaces, and this the city that had the honour to be the figure of Christ's church, the Gospel Zion, /. e» the whole body of those that '202 THE PROTESTANT RELIGION, AND espouse his interest, in opposition to the world, flesh, and devil ; who also have the honour to be able to say the same thing with those in the text, that " God IS known in her palaces for a refuge." The meaning of these words, and the providences of this day, ma}^ be spoke to, under these two general heads. I. The characters under which God is known in Zion. II. The import of this phrase, is known for a refuge. I. The characters under which God is known, &c. 1. God is known in her palaces, as a friend and ally. That which in the world is almost a prodigy, is here in perfection, inviolable friendship. The honour done to the father of the faithful, is part of the noble entail upon all the children, i. e. to.be the friends of God. He is not only a friend to the whoie collective body, the church, but to every individual of that body, though they should happen to have no other friends in the world besides. You know the mutual endearments of friendship, how it makes joys and griefs, and interests common : £0 that they feel each others pain, and taste each others pleasures, and their satisfactions rise by com- munication. This is the account of the sympathy God expresses toward us, so as to declare that *' In all our afflictions he is afflicted." This is a " Friend that sticketh closer than a brother ; a friend that was known iji the time of need, in the day of adversity." Witness the double salvation of this day, in the discovery of the powder plot ; and almost an age after- ward in effecting the late happy revolution : two mercies of the largest size. Nothing that deserves THE LIBERTIES OF ENGLAND. 203 the name of a blessing, hut some way or other springs out of the mercy ot this day, which is a standing memorial that God is a true friend and a faithful ally. The covenant of grace is a league offensive and defensive, into which God has entered with his people; consequently, they that do violence to his people, provoke the anger, and awaken the vengeance of their most powerful ally. This would be a charming truth (you will say)^ and yield abundance of comfort, were not a black cloud drawn over it in France, the Palatinate, Hungary, and Piedmont, &c. Were not they the friends of God, and confederates of heaven ? And yet God is no longer " KnovA'u in their palaces for a refuge;'^ for their palaces are levelled with the ground, their temples are demolished, their good people destroyed or dispersed, and vfhat is worse than all, overcome with continual sufferings. God is departed from them, and lo ammi^ye are not my people written upon, them in fire and blood, and a general desolation. The sufferings of the good, and the prosperity of the wicked, are acknowledged to be hard chapters in pro- vidence. But as hard as they are, there is light enough in thisdark matterto lead usto this conclusion ; that his providences never do in reality contradict his promise, nor ever can falsify his word and his co- venant. That covenant has no article in it, whereby God has obliged himself to stay, and see himself trampled upon, and affronted by a backsliding peo- ple. No article that exempts the church from sufferings and atflictions, but rather goes upon the supposition that his people behave themselves suitable to their engagements, as ever they ex- pect (jod should appear as their ally. We should •204 THE PROTESTANT RELIGION, AND resent it ourselves, if one ally should presume upon the expence, courage, and labour of another in the alliance ; without exerting themselves according to contract and quota ; such is the presumption of degenerate professors, who by leaving God to do all, leave him at liberty to do nothing, while they neglect those very terms upon which he covenanted to do any thing. If there was only a promise in the case, then the promised blessing might drop into our arms without so much as unfolding them ; but a covenant in its notion implies a restipulation for something to be done on the other part, upon the non-performance of which God may withdraw ; for so the league runs, according to that copy of it, 2 Chron. xv. 2. " Hear ye me, Asa, and all Judah, and Btenjamin ; the Lord is with you, while ye be with him; and if ye seek him, he will be found of you : but if ye forsake him, he will forsake you." They did forsake him, and were thereupon forsaken of God, without any imputution to his faithfulness, and truth. Besides, a whole nation or church may with as much reason as David, in his own particular say, " In very faithfulness thou hast afflicted me." Severities do sometimes illustrate the truth and faithfulness of God ; as they are the means of the church's reforraaiion ; declare God's abhorrence of sin ; evidence a future retribution ; and how unavoidable the vengeance is that shall overtake the wicked, when we see " Judgment beginning at the house of God ;" but towards those of his house such judgments are always managed with due regard to that article of the covenant," That , if my children forsake my law, and walk not in my judgments ; if they break my statutes, and keep not my command- ments; then will I visit their transgressions with a THE LIBERTIES OF ENGLAND. 205 rod, and their iniquity with stripes ; nevertheless my loving-kindness will 1 not take away, nor suffer my faithfulness to fail : my covenant will I not break, nor alter the thing that is gone out of my lips.'^ II. God is known in Zion's palaces as their Prince and Governor. Hence Zion is called the city of the great King, ver. 2. even the King eternal, immortal, invisible ; whom they own absolute in his authority, as he is infallible in his wisdom, and irresistible in his power. How tenderly and passionately do they infer pro- tection from his being their King and Governor ? " Lord, we are thine, thou never barest rule over them, they were not called by thy name.^' Isa. Ixiii. 19. And David insists upon the same plea, " Thou art my King, O God, command deliverance for Jacob." Psalm xliv. 4. Q. D. It is the business of a king to protect, and save, and do' good ; iind it is as easy for thee to do this, as to speak the word of command. Lord, if thou but give the word, Jacob is safe, " And the children of Zion will rejoice in their king." Psalm cxiix. 2. It is their inviolable allegiance to this prince, that has so often drawn upon them the anger of such as affect a share in the divine Sovereignty ; not content with that humane authority God has given ; an affec- tation which the greatest angel in heaven durst not entertain ; it would cost the highest of them their seat in glory, and add to the number of devils. Dominion over the conscience is an empire, wherein it is no less than treason against heaven to acknow- ledge a rival authority with that one Lawgiver, who is able to save and destroy : who has reserved to himself this throne ; and obliged us to do so too ; by the very same authority whereby he has enjoineil our obedience 206 THE PROTESTANT RELIGION, AKD in civil things to other princes, /. e. for conscience sake. III. He is known in Zion as the common Father to all her true children. " Doubtless thou art our Father, though Abraham be ignorant of us, and Israel acknowledge us not : thou, O Lord, art our Father, our Redeemer, thy name is from everlasting." The endearments of this relation that are felt by nature, are but the shadow of those that are understood by grace. The honour of it in this case, and the advantage is as much beyond ail account and description, as what God has laid up for them that fear him, is far from having entered into the heart of man to conceive. rV^. As a protector and Saviour in the time of danger and trouble, or (as the text) known for a refuge. When they know not where to run, he has cham- bers to hide his people till a calamity be over-past. When they know not were to look, their eyes are up to him. When our dangers are unseen to all other eyes, his eye is upon them. When we were under no apprehension, and consequentl3^ could use no precautions, as in the case of the powder plot, he traces every step of it, and watches the contrivance with as close an observance, as if the train were laid under his own throne: and the blow desi^rned aoainst himself in the first intention. And as we have heard of our salvation from the powder treason in 1004 ; " So we have secH in the city of the Lord of hosts, inthe city of our God," our second salvation in the late glorious revolution, 168S. How God was known for a refuge from that miserv, which, in our mrniori.es was intended THE LIBERTIES OF ENGLAND. 207 for US. When another train was laid, not of gunpow- der, but of politics (such as they were) designed however, to be no less fatal, a train not to blow up one single parliament only, but all parliaments at once, and the whole constitution; and to have thereby turned our legal monarchy into tyranny ; our religion into pageantry and superstition ; and ouk liberties into so abject and vile a slavery ; that to have left us our lives after they had made them so miserable, would have been the only cruelty that could have remained for them to inflict. The steps, that were taken towards this, were designed to be like those that lead down to the cham- bers of death, effectually destructive, and yet insensibly gradual : that the danger might not be discovered till the remedy was too late ; and the pit might close its mouth, before ever we thought ourselves so much as upon the brink. It was very- plausible, to begin the extirpation of the protestant religion with the declaration for liberty of conscience ; which at the same time it declared for liberty, began a persecution upon those, whose conscience would not suffer them to pronounce all the laws of the land cancelled by one sheet of paper, in the style of vvill and pleasure. A paper that meant nothing less, than the liberty it carried in the title. An indulgence proclaimed for dissenters, with the same design that their persecution and hardships were promoted before ; that is, to introduce the popish religion, and destroy the protestant, both church and dissenters : and as to this purpose they had often played one party against the other ; so if they could have bound both to one stake in Smithfield, and kindled the faggots with this paper, it: would ha\>^ '208 THE PROTESTANT RELIGION, AND given the truest light into the real design of that declaration. The hiring of cellars, and laying in barrels of gun- powder, was a clumsy and mechanical way of doing mischief. Our enemies refine every age upon the methods of destruction : they had now found the way of blowing up a parliament, and leaving the house standing, and members in it. One bench of judges well chosen, enlightened in the article of dispensing power; asserting that it is a branch of the prerogative to dispense with all laws at pleasure ; and there is no more need of Guy Faux with his. gunpowder, dark- lanthorn, and lighted match. One blast of royal breath can do as much execution, by dispensing with laws in a moment, that have been established for for several ages : and our statute books become waste paper, and our parliament as insignificant a junto as that of Paris ; that comes together only to say Amen to the dictates of an absolute monarch ; and should have had no more shadow of power remaining, than what might aggravate the miserable remembrance of what they once were. The most astonishing part of that misery we were sinking into, does not lie in destroying our charters, disfranchising corporations, and thereby ravishing away the most valuable birth-right of English men, the liberty of choosing our representatives in parlia- ment: nor in modelling the army with French and Irish papists ; nor in putting the militia and the ports into the hands of our enemy ; which was setting the thief to keep the door, for herein they acted but like themselves : but the astonishment lies in this, that any management in the world, whether closet- ting, wheedling, or threatening, should make it pos- THE LIBERTIES OF ENGLAND. 209 sible for any on this side the sea to beg and pray that they might be slaves: and to make humble addresses that they might have the happiness of being allowed to surrender their charters, without giving the court so much as the trouble of a quo x soon to fall upon the pre^s they had gone a surer pace^ But thanks be to God for having in this case made the wrath of men to praise him : thanks be t© God that they made a little too much haste. When we saw the colleges of our universities seized, and the legal possessors turned out, for no other crime but because they would not be perjured ; when we saw the papists in the commands of the army and navy, and our laws uncapable of being any longer a protection to us, since they could not protect them- selves against a dispensing power, or standing army ; when the very appealing to the laws was counted the first step to a rebellion, and fixed the brand of dis- affected and disloyal ; and the petitioning for a free parliament, was sure to be answered with the ever- lasting bugbear of 41. When we saw the church undermined by an ecclesiastical commission : a legen- dary prince, or (what is much the same to England), a popish one, prepared to fill the throne. When we saw the goods of the church seized, as a prologue to future depredations ; and in a word the lives and liberties of all precarious : even they, who reasoned wrong could feel right ; and the smart they were under was a most sensible argument, and what will at any time bear down all the sophistry in the world. If there had indeed been no design upon the con- stitution, if no dispensing power had been openly asserted, if there had not been so nnueh as one single essay of arbitrary government: if the protestant reli- gion had not been undermined, and popery openly professed, and its worship set up : if there had been a protestant prince upon the throne, not only a favourer of the church, but zealously concerned for its welftire, so as to adorn it with his example, and enrich THE LIBERTIES OF ENGLAND. 211 it with his bounty, and would be sure to protect it with his sword. If there had been no violent suspicion of a pretended prince that was to succeed to the crown and kingdom, and to the noble design of extir- pating heresy ; no seizing of charters, refusing of parliaments, but instead of all this, a legal liberty of conscience in a parliamentary way, peace, union, and moderation, recommended and practised; in such a case, it is hardly to be imagined why nature should be roused. The uneasiness of a few persons disap- pointed, it is to be hoped, could not have engaged a people sensible of present happiness, in such measures as nothing but the apparent ruin of a nation could justify. But for a free people to exert themselves in preservation of their liberty, and of all that is dear to them ! It is as great a mystery how this should be a crime, as it is, how the driving popery and arbitrary power out of the nation, and endeavouring to keep themi out upon, the same principles, should bring our establishment into danger. In this extremity our first look was up to heaven in prayers and tears, and our next look was to his highness the prince of Orange, the only person on earth on whom we could turn our eyes : a person born of a family raised by providence to be the -scourge of tyrants, and the restorer of kingdoms, lb be the instrument of such a deliverance, so seasonable, so extensive, was doubtless a satisfaction to the hero's mind, that sweetened all his toils abroad, and was a balance to the ingratitude he met with at home, ile had been less a hero had there been no enemy to encounter but those in the field. I have left no room for the pleasing remarks unon those circumstances in our revolution, that evidence p 2 £12 THE PROTESTANT RELIGION, -AND the finger of God, and the concern of heaven. All cannot be said at once. I shall therefore only observe that had the French king's ofler of 30,000 men been accepted at the English court, and those 30,000 joined the forces that made the standing army at that time, the princes 14,000 might have sacrificed themselves with us, but could never have cut their way through such a body ; nor could those friends here that had promised assistance, have performed their word. Or had ^ the proposals of the French ambassador to the court of England taken place, that the French should abandon their designs upon Germany, and carry the war into Holland, it must unavoidably have broken all the prince of Orange's measures ; and nothing but a divine providence could so far infatuate the French councils as not to do it, whether the English court approved of it or no. For by that means they would either have forced the prince's troops back again for the defence of their own country ; or left them exposed to the danger of being overrun b}^ a formidable army, in the height of his power surround- ed with experienced generals, and numerous armies. He told the states at parting, that he believed their country would certainly be attacked as soon as he was gone, and that with the utmost efforts : but withal he added, that by the blessing of God there was no danger, if they were but unanimous. And ftu'ther desiring that they would always mind him in their public and private prayers : he added, that he should have the same regard for them : at which words the tears ran down his face ; and so they took their leave one of the other; and he embarked for England with our salvation. on board, and the safety of the whole protastant interest : and at length, after some remark- THE LIBERTIES OF ENGLAND. 213 able circumstances which we must omit, landed upon this day, which is thereby become memorable for two of the greatest salvations that ever God wrought for England. So then, " According to this time shall it be said of Jacob, and of Israel, what hath God wrought." Numb, xxiii. 2;3. Though nobody could foresee the miracles he has done by his wonderful prudence, conduct, and cou- rage : for the greatest thing which has been under- taken these thousand years, or perhaps ever, could not be effected, without virtues hardly to be imagined, till seen nearer hand : yet any body might foresee what the consequences would be of the miscarriage of such an undertaking. You may read them at large in the history of the French persecution: your own books of martyrs ; the bloody assizes in the west, upon the defeat of Monmouth ; the misery of the principality of Orange; and the poor Palatines. It ought not to be a wonder, if breaking our chains, and snatching the knife from our throat, did fix our eyes and hearts very much upon our deliverer; and cause us to say, we trusted that it was he that should have restored our Israel. But we see God has re- served the finishing work to other hands. And as we look upon her majesty's succession to the throne, to be one of the greatest blessings of the revolution ; so we pray, that she may have the glory of finishing what he began : in the settlement and safety of the liberties of Europe, and the protestant religion, the end of persecutions, the healing our divisions, and uniting our hearts as well as our nation : that when posterity shall say, blessed be God for king Yvilliam, that brought us up out of Egypt; they may always add, blessed be God for queen Anne, that has saved p '.' 214 THE PROTESTANT RELIGION, AND US from returning- back into it : and trinmphed over our enemies, and placed us in the promised land of peace abroad, and unity at home. Thus having gone through what I designed with respect to the present occasion, 1 shall only mention the second general, with some short bints tor your after-thoughts to enlarge upon. II. The import of this phrase, " God is known in her palaces." He is known in heaven by the presence of his glory ; known to the world by the visible things of creation and providence : known in the church by the special influence of his Spirit, and the revelation of his word: be is known to his people as a present help in time of need, by his gracious promises for their protection, by the experience of gracious providences ; by many distinguishing marks and signatures of the divine in- terposure on their behalf. He is known so as to be acknowledged not only by his own people, but the heathen that look on and see what God does in and for Zion, say among them- selves, " The Lord hath done great things for them, Psyl. cxxvi. 2. Known by his allowing to Zion the claim of a peculiar interest in God, to say, " This God is our God, he will be our guide even unto death." Known by being served, loved, and obeyed, in return for all these mercies, the true way of prais- ing him, and without which no other thank-ofiering will be accepted, or can be sincere. Let us then live as a people saved by the Lord : saved from our enemies; and s^ved' from our sins, our worst enemies, because they tend to make God our enemy. We are saved from popish religion not to live ifj THE LIBERTIES OF ENGLAND. 215 protestant sins : but to abhor a slavery to our own lusts and passions, as much as we disdain a vile servitude to those of others : always remembering, that a wicked life is as damning as a wicked reli- gion : and that short, very short, will be the loudest joys of tempoi»al deliverance, that are not crowned wjth spiritual and eternal salvation. p 4 DISCOURSE VIII. PIETY TRIUMPHANT OTJER WICKIEBNJESSn PROV. XI. 11. BY THE BLESSING OF THE UPRIGHT A CITY IS EXALTED : BUT IT IS OVERTHROWN BY THE MOUTH OF THE WICKED. -fl-HESE words may sel've as a general inscription to your whole design ; a design that intitles you to the honour of having God at the head of your societ}^. For it is under him you act, and for him you rise up against evil doers, and stand up against the workers of iniquity. A design, for which magistracy was ordained (Rom. xiii. 4, 5.), and into which the su- preme authority of this nation, both in the former and present reign, has entered with so much concern and zeal, expressed in several acts of parliament, addresses, and proclamations, against immorality and profaneness, and other royal intimations of approba- bation, countenance, and favour, to these societies ; that as there never was so happy a conjuncture be- * This is also a sermon preached to the Societies for Refuima- tion of Manners in London and Westminsier, at Salters' Hall, in London, July 2, 1705. "SIS PIETY TRIUMPHANT fore, SO the Neglect of this may draw upon us the judgment of never being tried or blessed with another. An attempt, which the ministers of the Gospel more especially are devoted to promote ; for one end of the grace which they are preachers of, is to teach men to live soberly and righteously ; which does not therefore cease to be a part of their bussiness and success, for its being a less valuable part than that ojther attainment of living godly in this present world. We aim indeed at transforming the nature, and to turn the wolf into a lamb : but if they will resist the t:harm, and hate to be reformed, public convenience calls for their being chained >up and restrained. If we cannot prevail with them to save themselves, they may be hindered from destroying others. It is fit to have a madman's hand tied, though that falls short of a restoration. The magistrate is the guardian of the public peace and welfare ; and for as much as public ruin must be the effect of general debauchery, his iaws are to prevent the spreading of that infection, which our Gospel has not cured, that sin and misery may not be epidemical, that those who are resolved to be undone may be so in as little company as pos- sible, and may perish alone, and not draw after them the overthrow of the city. And it would be with a very ill grace that we could abandon you. In this conflict, wherein the the divine assistance, spirit, and blessing, and the united prayers of assembled Christians are so neces- sary that no pretence ought to be heard against the importance of setting out with God from time to time, of taking measures, directions, and encourage- ment from him; inquiring- at his oracles; and by OVER WICKEDNESS. 219 fetching new fire from the altar, inflaming your zeal, that when it begins to rebate and cool, it may be quickened according to his word, Psal. cxix. 25. For us, I say, not to wish you good speed, and bless you in the namr> of the j^ord, wo^iid be as unaccountable to our institution ind office, a? it would have been traiterously unkind to israel ha^ Aaron on the one side, or Hur on the other, refused the help of hold- ing up Moses's hands, when they knew that if the hand was not lifted up to heaven Amelek would certainly prevail. This consideration struck all my objections dumb, and they were not a few I could have raised against my coming upon this service at this time. Arising so far from any indifference to the cause, that it was an hearty zeal for it that would have still inclined me to refer it to some other hand. But as in our duty to God our encouragement is, that where abi- lity fails, it is accepted if there be first a willing mind ; so when 1 discerned in you the candour of accepting an honest endeavour 1 resolved not to decline it, though I could little more than demon- strate the completeness of what others have done, or stir up your pure minds by way of remembrance : the remembrance of what you have had in substance often demonstrated to you, that by the blessing of the upright the city is exalted ; but it is overthrown by the mouth of the wicked. This book of Proverbs is an incomparable treasury of wisdom and morals ; and though it is not delivered in form of a system is yet a most complete directory of management and conduct, humane and divine, temporal and spiritual, political, family, and personal. That connexion and coherence that is observed in 2120 Fir:TY triumphant other parts of Scripture is rarely to be found here; nor is it indeed needful where the design is a miscel- laneous collection ; yet my text seems to have a dependence upon its immediate foregoing context. A^er. 10. " When it goeth well Avith the righteous a city rejoiceth ; but when the wicked perish there is shouting :" (i. 6.) when good men are countenanced and encouraged, distinguished and promoted, the whole city rejoiceth, in the expectation of the equit}^ justice, and all the blessed fruits of their righteous administrations. But the promotion of evil men is but empowering them to be what they always would be but for legal restraints, viz. a protection to evil doers, and a terror to them that do well ; and the miseries following upon that inversion of things accounts for the harshness of what follows, that when the wicked perish there is shouting: because of the just judgment of God upon them, who have been instruments of so much mischief, because of the deliverance from the grievance and burden of power- ful wickedness: as when Nero died the people of Rome broke out into excessive joy, and congratu- lated each other, as upon deliverance from a wasting plague, or devouring monster : and then a third rea- son is given in my text, because "By the blessing of the upright a city is exalted, but it is overthrown by the mouth of the wicked. The opposition in the text is exactly the same with that in the world, between the two great parties of the upright and the wicked. And as the words are a summary account of your present design, so they do in short forewarn us into what the contro- versy will infallibly issue on either side, viz. the exal- tation or overthrow of the city. The exalting this OYER WICKEDNESS. 221 city to a nooler pitch of order, regularity, and conse- quently of grandeur, than ever it has yet attained : or its entire overthrow in its laws, constitution, peace, order, and prosperity ; not only as the judi- cial consequence of a divine blast and curse from a provoked God, but as the natural effect of growing profaneness, and unrestrained lust and appetite, and a connivance at plain and uncontested impiety; which, next to the practice of it, is the worst thing that can be charged upon a community, and is to all ruining and destructive purposes much the same as if iniquity were established by a law. And this I take to be the substance and meaning of the text, which may be shortened into this observation, as the ground of what follows, Olfs. The attempt for reformation is a struggle between the two great parties of upright and wicked, carried on by the blessing of the one against the pro- fane mouth of the other ; and according to the respec- tive tendency of either side will issue in the exal- tation of a city, or its overthrow and ruin. To answer the observation, and the present occa- sion, we should here consider, I. The persons or parties mentioned, upright and wicked ; and state their proper character and notion. II. The consequent necessary opposition of the blessing of the righteous against the mouth of the wicked. III. The opposite influence that the prevailing side has upon civil society ; exaltation by the bless- ingof the righteous, or overthrow by the mouth of the wicked. IV. The use of all, and special accommodation of this truth to our present purpose. 223 PIETY TRIUMPHANT I. The persons or parties mentioned, upright and wicked. The proper notion and character of these persons is a matter of the highest importance ; and therefore the Scripture uses such fulness and variety of expli- cation, that we may not mistake the roll upon which we stand. In the general, it is the same with holy, righteous, good, &c. But in the precise notion of this rendering, upright, it denotes, toward God and heaven, an inflexible and steady aim, and a mind that cannot stand bent in compliance to sin and this world, but aspires to perfection in a better ; and the distinguishing properties of such compose a most lovely character. Their understandings are light in the lord. Their consciences tender ; sin is their aversion and fear*. And notwithstanding the two many blemishes of sur- prise and infirmity, purity is the general complexion of their souls, and that which they always endeavour to carry off safe, though it be through racks and torments, and death ilselff. Their will is laid at the feet of God ; their affections set on things above, and on their beloved Jesus, with an inseparable embrace: in them he reigns without any allowed rival; faith, love, and duty is their principle, the Word is their rule. As for this world, if given in, it is their wel- come servant ; if not, as having nothing yet possess- ing all things ; for God is their chosen portion. And their life is to do all the good they can in this world, * Psal. xcvil. 10. " You that fear the Lord hate evil." t It was bravely answered"^ by a sufferer to the threats of his persecutors, " Look you, you may do wliat please, but I must do what I ought." So Ghrysostom, in answer to the threatening message of Eudoxia, the empress : " Tell her (says hr) that I fear nothing but sin." OVER WICKEDNESS. 2S3 and make sure of a better. And this, with a few abatements to frailty and temptation, is their character. And is it not a lovely one ? Does it not promise as much as the text ascribes to it, viz. the exaltation of that city where they abound ? A city of these would be like the New Jerusalem, would anticipate the blessedness of the general assembly, and give a taste of the joys of heaven upon earth. Now the character of the wicked is the reverse of all this : " They are alienated from the life, law, and nature of God, through the darkness of their minds and the hardness of their hearts. Conscience in them is an office shut up ; their will and humour is their lord, custom and inclination their rule, their senses the only measure of good, and their interest of right and wrong ; to contradict either of which, is with them as great nonsense, as to deny first principles. For the other world is thrown out of their scheme, and the present- is their chosen portion. And for want of principle, they sin on without knowing any reason of doing otherwise. By this means sin has the full eonsentof their will, and their inclinations stand bent to their lusts, while they say unto God, depart from us. Thus they resemble in temper, and imitate in practice, their father the devil, and the works of their father they will do. For they that will sacrifice their own souls to their sensual gratification, will never value what other mischief the}'- do to come at it, though it should be the overthrow of cities. II. The consequent necessary opposition of these upright and wicked, expressed here by the blessing of the one against the mouth of the other. Light and darkness, blessing and cursing, salvation and destruction, are not more opposite than these 224 PIETY TRIUMPHANT characters in their nature, tendency, and influence. Sin, in its own nature, is all contradiction and enmity. When there was but one man in the world, it set him at variance with himself, his God, and his happiness : and in the first brothers we read of, it excited a quarrel that ended in the murder of the upright one ; and for no other reason assigned by Scripture than " Be- cause his brother's works were righteous." 1 John iii. 12. So that the first man that died, after death came into the world, died in this very cause ; and the apos- tle's inference from it, is the very head I am upon, and the use I would make, ver. 12. " Marvel not my bre- thren that the world hate you," your persons, your design, and your conduct ; for from the blood of righte- ous Abel, down to the blood of that zealous reforming officer*, Mr. Cooper, all the blood that has been shed on God's side has been owing to this opposition. Now this opposition is carried on with this remark- able difference, that whereas the wicked hate the very persons of the righteous with a cruel hatred, Psal. XXV. 19. the righteous enmity lies only against their wickedness. Our hostility is only to their vices, which is indeed the truest friendship to their persons.- We aim at the destruction of nothing but their sins, which will prove the salvation of their souls. "The blood-thirsty man hateth the upright; but the just seeketh his soul." Prov. xxix. 10. This is doing good to them that hate you indeed. So Christ shed his blood to save his very murderers, and prayed for them at the time it was running. So Paul wished himself an anathema, i. e. devoted, to any dangers, penalties, and deaths, for the good even of those who * A ronstablc killed at ^lay-fair br the rioters that opposed the reforms !;;. OVER WICKEDNESS. 225 " had given hitn three times forty stripes save one*/' So the blessed martyr, Sanders, when committed to prison by bishop Gardner, thanked God for a place where he might have a little rest and leisure to pray for the conversion of the bishopt. So the upright in my text oppose their blessing to the mouth of the wicked : their good words, good wishes, good actions, prayers, and endeavours, against the mouth, i. e. against their daring impudence, expressed hereby the chief seat of it. And against their foul and profane language, expressed by the instrument of it, and by an Hebraism. The mouth here stands for the action, conversation, and distinguishing property and cha- racter of the wicked. For there is no word which the idiom of that language does more indulge in a latitude of application and variety of figure. But to be a little particular. 1. The blessing of 'the upright lies partly in the influence of thfeir excellent example and conversation. Hence called the lights of the world, salt of the earth, the epistles of Christ known and read of all men, read and remarked by those who will not read the Bible, whose example is a living law, a ser- mon to the eye, that very often enters conviction deeper than argument is suffered to reach, and triumphs over those minds that can almost wrangle away the force of demonstration itself. It operates by a mixture of authority and attraction, as it com- mands reverence, and draws esteem, and like a perfume, diffuses its influence so as to gain possession before you discern its approach ; and thereby insen- sibly surprises into imitation and acknowledgement. * Compare Rom. ix, 3. with 2 Cor. xi. ^>4. f Acts and Mon. vol. III. page 110. Q '226 PIETY TRIUMPHANT those who were above being taught any other way. This is the blessing of the upright; and would to God this blessing was of equal extent with that denomination. The example and conversation of the wicked has a quite opposite influence. Their rotten speech is offensive as the stench of an open sepulchre ; and not only so, but destructive too. It infects like a plague ; for as in this men breath destruction upon one another in salutations ; so in that the poet and the apostle agree, that " Evil communications corrupt good manners.'' As if the Holy Ghost had designed so needful a caution, should stand charged upon us by the experience of men, and inspiration of God. So needful I say, for what can be the effect of a cor- ruption of manners, but that in the text, the overthrow of the city. Do not their oaths make the land mourn, and their imprecations wear the divine patience, and wound our souls ? The omnipotence they play withal is our dread, and their damnation slumbers not, though it be part of their diversion. Does not perjury, which is robbing or murdering with the mouth, dissolve the common bond of civil society, and at once strike at the foundation of religion, as it is an appeal to God, turned into a defiance, and of government too, as the conscience of an oath is the only way of ending otherwise endless strifes r And as it is impossible to take fast hold of that person, w^ho is loose from the obligation of conscience and truth ? Does not flattery undermine, swell, and deceive, and by raising the price of a man to himself, lessen it to others, and therebv sow the seedt; of endless discord. OVER WICKEDNESS. 227 How does lying destroy common credit, which is the hinge upon which ail commerce and conversation turns? How does profane and wanton speech sink in upon an unguarded spirit, and kindle upon a mind that is like tinder to the spark ? Or, to use Solomon's similitude, like '' An arrow shot through the liver ;" especially, when it is feathered and pointed with wit and fancy, and all that force w^ierewith the god of this world seldom fails of inspiring the poet, and dis- charged in a manner as shall do most execution, as at those places, where lewdness is the trade of some, and the sport of others : and where the theory and practice of it goes hand in hand, and relieves each other, under the pretence of entertainment and diversion. The play-houses, I mean, which the wisest part of the world have always looked upon as batteries, erected to help overthrow a city by the mouth of the wicked. A sort of artillery that may 'be depended on, and seldom fails of doing execution, and has sometimes saved the expense and trouble of armies : as when a certain king of Assyria chose rather to overcome the city of Babylon, by sending in players and lewd women to debauch it (by which means he effectual ly did it, and gained his end), than to invade it with a powerful army*. This our forefathers were so sensible of, that the whole city joined in a petition to queen Elizabeth, upon which they were expelled the city, and their houses suppressedt. May that which was so happily begun by one queen, be finished by another, to whom we hope this glory is reserved, of stopping the mouth of the wicked, and of triumphing over vice and division at home, as well as over her enemies abroad. * Account of the socielies for reformation, p. 100. t About the year 1580. Q e 228 PIETY lim'xMPlIANT 2. The blessing of their advice, wisdom, and coun- sel ; blessed is that city or nation, for it holds in pro- portion as well as " That man that walketh not in the counsel of the ungodly.'*' Psalm i. 1. The councils of the wicked usually drive and are driven headlong like those of Rehoboam's young men, that grew up with him, of adding weight to the yoke, scorpion to the whips, and making the " Little finger heavier than the loins." 1 Kings xii. 10, 11. But we may say here as God to the prophet, P^zek. xi. 2. " Son of man, these are they which devise mischief, and give wicked counsel in this city." Solomon has comprised in one proverb, all I need farther add upon this, Prov. xii. 10. " Deceit is in the heart of them that imagineevil, but to the counsellors of peace is joy." 3. The blessings that, for the sake of the upright, are very often conferred upon a city, against the judgments that are drawn down by the wicked. How often has God given his presence and protec- tion, and a lengthening out of tranquillity, for their sakes } Had there been so small a society for refor- mation as ten in Sodom, it had been spared. Pharoah's family prospered for the sake of Joseph, who, under God, was acknowledged by all Egypt as the common saviour. So the whole ship's crew' had perished, but for Paul. And for the sake of a few of God's people in Corinth, that city had the enjoyiuent of the greatest blessing in the world continued to them. Acts xviii. 10, 11. Nay, God has honoured the memory of a departed saint with saving a city for his sake. Isa. xxxvii. 36. " I will save this city to defend it for my servant David's sake." A noble monument indeed to the memory of David, and of the favour of God to him, and of the blessing of the righteous. OVER WICKEDNESS. 229 But on the contrary, to tell how many judgments the unbridled mouth of the wicked has brought upon a people, I must transcribe a great part of sacred and civil history, which would give such abundant evidence of sin and sinners, being the Achans that trouble Israel, as could not fail of making a due impression, were we not fallen into those times, wherein if the Son of Man should come, he would hardly find faith upon the earth. 4. The blessing that the upright obtain by prayer. Scripture speaks of the power of prayer in such terms as raises a dispute between the faith and modesty of a Christian. " That the effectual fervent prayer of the righteous man availeth much," they dare not but believe ; and yet that they should have such an interest with God, is a privilege that nothing but faith could ever persuade their humility to own. " My servant Job shall pray for you, 1 will accept him." Job xlii. 8. How great does that look upon Job ? It is said, to open and shut heaven, to have the power of life and death, Gen. xx. 7. Jam. v. 15. To stand in the gap, and stop the entrance of vengeance at those breaches that sin has made, with abundance more of expressions, promises, and instances, which as they recommend and magnify this blessing of the righteous, so they demonstrate what destruction and overthrow there is in sin, that the intercession of the most beloved favourites, men who never use to be denied, whose prayers have been answered to a miracle, and have sometimes stopped the mouths of lions, unlocked the secrets of futurity, as Daniel's; saved their families from universal ruins, as Noah ; and gained audience, when nobody else could have been heard, as Job. Yet even these men could not have been able to save a Tillotson's Sermons, Prov. xiv. 37. Dr. Haley's Reformation Sermon. 236 PIETY TRIUMPHANT concerned, is the very reason of their institution. The public peace and welfare is a trust committed to them, which they betray, and therein are false to their oaths, consciences, and souls, by slight neg- lect, or cold indifference here, which would be as flagitious as to stand by, and silently look upon a person firing the city; for fire is but one way of over- throw, the mouth of the wicked is another. The guilt of connivance is the same, though the ways of destruction are different. But now to discourage those any ways who endeavour to extinguish the tlame, to prevent our overthrow, is a wickedness, to which Nero's singing over burning Rome is no more to be compared than temporal calamity to eternal destruction ; and an iniquity of that nature, that the words are i yet to be found out that can possibly describe it. But when I say a Christian magistrate, how much greater is the obligation ? How much more pow- erful the motive, more excellent the rule, and more noble the end, more glorious the reward, and con- sequently more diligent, and in earnest, should be the endeavours of a reformation r This must needs be the effect of a careful regard of God^s honour and authority, without which the name of Christian is an usurpation. For the thing is a design to destroy the works of the devil, and utterly inconsistent with doing those works, or taking pleasure in them that do them. Magistrates, in this respect, are the pillars of the earth: Psal. Iv. S. '* I bear up the pillars of the earth." But how? (ver. 2.) " By judging uprightly.'^ So that when upright judgment is taken avva}', the pillars arc removed, and the city overthrown of course. OVER WICKEDNESS. 237 A righteous magistrate knows himself appointed to this very end, " To be a terror to evil-doers, and a praise to them that do well." And it is no question sure with any but the criminals, whether executing the laws of the land, that are the same with those of God, be doing well or no ? A magistrate can do a great deal with his very eyes to scatter away evil, Prov. XX. 28. Or to discourage the righteous : and by the air of his countenance, can either hearten or deaden this work, make it easy or troublesome, in all the parts of information and prosecution. They are the master-spring of the whole, accord- ing to which all the other movements are either brisk or languid: it must die or live in their hands, and and they must be answerable for the consequences. " They are appointed to attend continually upon this very thing," Rom. xiii. 6. And therefore it is not a business by-the-bye, nor a matter of condescension or courtesy, but the chief reason of their institu- tion. But if they fail us, which God forbid : if, when offenders are brought before them, they should, like Gallio, care for none of these things ; if they should drive away the righteous with their eyes, and encou- rage the wicked in their abominations, who need no more to make tliem rampant than connivance and impunity ; if they should study to make all the steps of reformation heavy, difficult, and tiresome, our watchmen would betray us ; and they that keep the gates let in the enemy. We should look in the place of righteousness, and behold a cry ; and in the place of justice, and behold iniquity; they would rise up for evil doers against God, and join with the moulh of the wicked to overthrow tlje 238 PIETY TRIUMFHAM city: and if the foundations be thus destroyed, what can the righteous do ? 2. It is not only inhuman and ungodly, but it is impolitic and ruinous to civil interest, for any govern- ment to persecute the upright, whose blessing is such an exaltation to a city, and a preservative against its overthrow. Come let us root them out of the earth, says the mouth of the wicked. And suppose it effected ; all they would gain thereby, would be to break down the banks between them and destruction ; to cut down the branch upon which they stand, and the dismantling their own garrison. The covenant of grace is a league offensive and defensive, into which God has entered with his people ; and therefore whosoever falls upon them, touches the apple of his eye, awakens his jealousy, challenges the omnipo- tent arm, and draws upon them the vengeance of their powerful ally, which will overtake them never the less sure because it is sometimes slow. It is certain this way of overtlirowing must always proceed from the mouth of the wicked. For the best of governments have all along been of the mind, that as nbthing is more contrary to the profession of Christian religion, and particularly to the doctrine of all protestant churches, than persecution for consci- ence sake only ; so it is as impolitic as it is unchris- tian, as contrary to the real interest of the kingdom as it is to the profession of the Christian religion. Not only as it provokes God to return in judgment the violent dealings of men upon their own head, but also, because nothing in the world does so natu- rally make places desolate and abandoned as violence Rud persecution : whereas, on the other hand, nothing OVER Vv^ICKEDNESS. 239 gives such a vigorous complexion to the body poHtic ; nothing so much heartens trade, encourages industry, which, together with mutual confidence, are the spi- rits and vitals of a icingdom, as to know that they are not labouring for the spoilers. And to this purpose I shall only add the remark of an eminent traveller*, that notwithstanding France and Italy are incomparably more rich, and better fur- nished with all the pleasures and conveniencies of life, than Switzerland, that lies between both ; yet the last is much better peopled, and has, every where, all the marks that can be looked for of plenty and wealth ; while the two former are, in a manner, dispeopled, and reduced to that misery and poverty that appears in all the marks in which it can show itself. Such is the tendency of living at ease under a gentle government to the exal- tation of a city, and of tyranny and oppression to its overthrow. For people will feel right though, in the general ideas of government, they may argue false. 3. This answers the objection against the proceed- ings of your society, as being too much ado about small matters. And what hurt does it do me, says one, that ano- ther is drunk, or swears, orbreaks the Sabbath ? 1 doubt not but they that talk thus are of the same mind with pope Julius the third, who thought an apple a small matter that God should be so angry with Adam for ; as if the sin were to be measured by the value of the matter, rather than the malignity of spirit, the autho- rity affronted, or the judicial and natural conse- quences of the diobedience. But is it a small thing to have the laws of God and man to be made a jest of by offenders, or a dead let- * Dr. Burnel's Letters, letter I. 240 PIETY TRIUMPHANT. ter by neglect of execution ? And by a course of provocation publicly indulged, to have it become public guilt, and charged to a common account ? And so at length to have God's name concerned to ruin us, in vindication of its own honour, upon tole- rated blasphemy and swearing ? To have the religion of serious oaths perish entirely through an accustom- edness to those that are profane ? To have the Lord's- day observed only as a festival to the devil, a dedi- cation to vanity, idleness, or mammon ? To have luxury, idleness, and intemperance, stock the nation with beggars, thievery, and fraud, and men suffered to proceed from one degree of wickedness to another, till those who have been let alone to fly in the face of God will know no reason of sparing to fly in yours ? For sin is an endless circle of mischiefs here, as it will be of punishment hereafter. 4. This shows who ought to be accounted the best friends to a city or nation : the upright, whose blessing exalts a city or nation ; or the wicked, whose profane mouth, whether they think it or no, tends to its overthrow. Those who will sacrifice the public to their private satisfaction, or those who prefer Jerusalem to their chief joy : those who are for setting us one against another by their heats, and God against us all by their sin ; or those who are for following peace with all men and holiness : those who mourn for the sins of the land, and continually pray to God to divert impending judgments: or those who provoke the wrath of God, and seem to challenge him by their imprecations to do his worst : and rather than cross a lust, or deny a paltry appetite, will sink a navy> betray an army, and overthrow a government. OVER WICKEDNESS. 24i It is true, some very ill men may, upon political principles, be friends to a particular constitution of government : but a wicked man, by his provoking practice, helps to frustrate his best designs, and to overthrow that with his mouth which he is for establishing in his judgment. For the purpose, those that swear and drink for a cause do thereby blast and ruin the interest they espouse. He that hates refor- mation in himself and others is so far a dangerous enemy to the kingdom, if there be any truth in that text (Psal. cvii. 34.), " A fruitful land is turned into barrenness for the wickedness of them that dwell therein." 5. The upright will make conscience of contribute ing their blessing toward this exaltation of the city, and preventing its overthrow by the mouth of the wicked. You cannot be indifferent in this matter: you cannot be neuter in this warfare. You must choose your side : God calls you to it, saying, " Who is on my side, who?" Exod. xxxii. 20. Psal. xciv. 16. You say, you wish well to the reformation, and desire and pray for its success. You do well. And if you can do no more, it will be accepted according to what a man hath, and not according to what a man hath not. But if it be in the power of thine hands to do more than wish and pray, do not think that " God bless the reformation" will be reckoned as the blessing of the upright in my text ; no more than " be ye fed, and be ye clothed," will pass tor charity from an able person : or " Lord have mercy upon us" at a dying hour, waft an impenitent soul sheer out of all danger. Be not deceived, says the apostle, as R 242 PIETY TRIUMPHANT a man sows, so shall he reap ; if a man sow nothing but words what can he reap but wind ? Well, but you do pray heartily for the progress of the reformation. Let me ask you, can I pray heartily for what I am not heartily concerned for ? And can I be heartily concerned for that I will be at no cost upon, but think too dearly promoted at the expense of a trifle, which I can so easily bear, as indeed not easily to miss ? Suppose you had a friend taken pri- soner by the French, and you should, both in letters to him, and converse with others, express, upon all occasions, a mighty sorrow and concern, and yet would not part with a penny, nor the least assignable quota towards his ransom ; would not ev^ery body suspect the sincerity of your concern ? I apply it by this practical rule, that nothing so much demoa- strates the sincerity of our prayers as the contributing all we can towards the obtaining what we petition for. It is certain that laws, though never so good, cannot execute themselves. All the most positive enacting clauses, and the utmost show and pomp of authority in parchment only, cannot make statutes, like engines, play of their own accord. It is also certain, that good words will not bear the charges of prosecutions. The reformation will have but few advocates if it must be left to plead m forma pauperis. But farther ; I am so possessed of the truth of what I have said upon these words, that I now add, the reformation is a design, that, if well followed, will, I am persuaded, lessen your other public charges more and more, till w^e should have no payments to make, but those of praise to God, thanks to our queen OVER WICKEDNESS. 243 and government, and gratitude to the worthy patriots of these societies, whose memories will be em- balmed in perpetual honour. Whereas, if this cause be starved through the covetousness of its pretended friends, and the mouth of the wicked should prevail against the blessing of the righteous, it may be said over our ruins, that we destroyed ourselves on pur- pose to save charges. 6. You see what is likely to be the effects of giving over this design, and fainting in it. But that is so threatening, so dreadful a thought, that I hardly dare allow myself to make the suppo- sition. You have been laying the foundation of a reformed world, and have carried the design on to some height ; and not only most parts of the king- dom, but many nations, kindled by your zeal, and formed by your model, have gone on so vigorously as to become an example even to their originals. Oh, let not all this at last become a babel, for God's sake through any confusion of languages, or want of mate- rials ; but let its top reach unto heaven ; that is, may there never be an end of your societies till there shall be no farther need of them ; till that definitive sentence is gone forth, that he that is filthy shall be filthy still ; and he that is holy shall be so still. Think what will become of us if you should suffer yourselves to be broken and borne down. For if, while you oppose your whole force and united strength, backed with the authority of the nation, it is as much as you can do to make an honourable stand, unless a fresh spirit redouble your vigour, and enable you to bear up against the impetuous stream ; if the wicked Achans, and troublers of our Israel, can R 2 344 PIETY TRIUMPH AXT find money, friends, and advocates, to entangle your prosecutions, and by increasing these charges, render the law itself a terror even to them that do well ; if those laws that fence about our property, and guard our peace, are now so often violated; if religion is now insulted, and its name a jest ; if dissoluteness and debauchery does even now tacc the sun, and sometimes brave both heaven and you at the same time; what would it be if there were none to call for justice ? If there were none to make the laws heard and felt, by that due excution which is their only signifi- cancy. The devil would return upon us with seven spirits worse than the former. Lord God of heaven ! all future attempts for a reforming society would be laughed out of countenance by the example of your defeat ; and the wide desolation of an overflowing flood, that had been a long time swelling upon its dam, and at length borne down all before it, would be but a faint resemblance of the terrors of this deluge of iniquity that would come in upon us, which we tremble to think of, and find impossible to express. And therefore let none of you so much as seem to fall off, or to desert so important a cause. For some who do not think themselves deserters, nor would be thought so by others, do yet seem to be so, and that has a tendency to make others really so. Deal not, I beseech you, and your brethren of the society particularly beseech you, to deal not with Christ's interests as his disciples did by his person, who forsook him and fled ; except a few, and those that were nearest him fell asleep, and so let the reforma- tion shift for itself. Nothing is so discouraging and weakening:, nothing leans so much toward a fatal DYER WICKEDNESS. 245 dissolution, as not keeping close to each other. Ob- serving the times of meeting, and keeping up that heart that is given by mutual presence, joint council, and assistance. Let not the burden lie upon a few, which would be easy when shared among a great many. You have no need to discourage one ano- ther. You have enough of that from abroad. Having set your hand to the plow, therefore do not look back : for there are as many more reasons why you should go on now as there were for you ever to have begun ; as the mischiefs following a retreat would be more and greater than those that first awakened your zeal, and brought you into the field. In ail the wars of the Romans, none wore so infa- mous a brand as those that turned their backs : they were always marked with infamy, as flying from the glory of victory, or the honour of a valiant death. And therefore those soldiers that turned their backs at the defeat at Cannae, by Hannibal, were, by the decree of the senate, made incapable of wearing a crown or garland for ever after, and could hardly obtain of Marcellus so much as to be called soldiers. In this case, the Roman and the Christian warfare agree : he that does not fight through shall never be crowned ; and he that turns his back shall not be owned for a soldier: *' For if any man draw back, my soul shall have no pleasure in him.^' Heb. x. Here 1 migiit mention the excuses, &c- but I will rather suppose they will never be mentioned more. For, pray gentlemen^ may not those that stick close to the cause alledge the same things ? Have they no business ; or are they dead to all pleasures ; or could they not find something to do more profitable to themselves than to attend an affair which, to the r3 246 PIETY TRIUMPHANT, &C. glory of the undertaking, is not a penny in their way ? Besides, if self-denial be an inseparable property of a Christian, 1 am sure there cannot be a more noble occasion. The combinations of wicked men against you, do not use to fail each other: no, they are united close, like the scales of the Leviathan ; and they laugh at the sword and the spear. The enemies of religion are at unity in their enmity : " Have one mind," Rev. xviii. 3. " And consent together with one consent," Fsal. Ixxxiii. 5. And that makes your union and joint endeavours the more needful ; otherwise you attack a close and embattled enemy in distance and disorder : and need I tell you the effects of that ? To conclude : As your erection into a society, and actings upon it, was the happiest omen to the nation, next to that revolution that gave you your establish- ment, and restored the nations : so your disbanding and giving over would be the most threatening pre- sage of God's giving us up as a people that hate to be reformed, and over whom he might repeat what was formerly the sentence of an abandoned people. Jerem. vi. 29. " The bellows are burnt, the lead is consumed in the fire, the founder melteth in vain, for the wicked are not plucked away :" (i. e.) they had defeated all methods of reformation and recovery. And therefore (ver. 30.) " Reprobate silver shall men count them, because the Lord hath rejected them." DISCOURSE IX. CONVULSIONS OF NATURE SUBSERVIENT TO THE INTERESTS OF THE CHURCH*. nOSEA VIII. 7. FOR THEY HAVE SOWED THE WIND, AND THEY SHALL REAP THE WHIRLWIND. -ETHiNKS we look like persons driven under shel- ter by one storm, with an aim of insuring a refuge from another. And it will be a merciful judgement indeed if our late tempest of wind shall have that effect, as to prevent a greater storm that any cloud of affairs may seem to threaten ; we might then sing of mercy and of judgement, a mixture of trembUng and joy, and say, behold the goodness and severity of God : severity making way for goodness as a tempest clears the sky. Then will it appear that we have been shook, that we might not be overturned, the tops of our houses shattered to save the founda- tions, that we were threatened only to prevent execu- * This Sermon was occasioned by the dreadful Storm, November 26, 1703, and accommodated to the design of the pubUc fast, January 19, 1704. R 4 248 CONVULSIONS OF NATURE SUBSERVIENT execution, that a few lives only were given up to a destroying angel, instead of a commission for slaugh- ter in every family as in Egypt, or the desolations felt in the seat of war, and designed by our enemies, that would make our midnight cries as doleful and universal as theirs The voice of her majesty has seconded that of God and providence, calling us to repentance by a proclamation so serious and sensible, so truly expres- sive of piety, tenderness, and compassion, of such a vein and spirit throughout, that has very rarely come from any throne since that which was filled with the preacher, Eccle. i. J2. For Her majesty standing upon a rising ground, the eminence of her station gives her a larger prospect of affairs, and a wider compass of observation : she has the face of the heavens" in view, the motion of the enemy, the gathering of the clouds, and upon the intire scene before her, calls a whole nation to pray- ers with that fervency and affectioa that condemns the security of some, and the neglect of others ; and should awaken the concern of all to follow their prayers with a speedy reformation and repentance. The day of humiliation falling at such a distance from the occasion, does eventually serve to these two purposes. 1. To revive upon us the impressions made by the late storm, and carry them deeper into our hearts. Had the solemn day followed immediately upon the storm, the judgement, and its useful impressions, had been over ; nothing more common than to forget the danger as soon as escaped. It was the reproach of Israel, that though they sung God's praises, yet they soon forgot his works, Psal. cvi. 12, 13. And it is the TO THE INTERESTS OF THE CHURCH. 249 reproach of England, that, though we sometimes tremble at his judgements, we soon forget our vows. While any storm is upon us, with Pharaoh we are ready to cry out, oh, entreat the Lord for me : but no sooner do we think the danger over but with him too we practically say, who is the Lord that we should obey him, to let this people go free, and return to our former course as naturally, and with as strong a current, as a stream that has only been kept back by some violent wind. The threatening sound no sooner out of our ears, though its terrible effects are yet before our eyes, and felt much further than they are seen, but our apprehensions are blown over with the storm, the generality acting as if their safety lay in taking no warning. But now, after the imme- diate sense of the calamity had spent itself, and begins to be worn oiFby an infinite variety of other occur- rences, this day comes to bring back our seriousness, revive the sense of God's judgements, the vows we made for safety, and the call to repentance*. 2. That a whole nation might be actually at prayer at the very time when the king of Spain was proceed- ing in his voyage, and that important expedition was before the wind. That he that carried so much of the common cause, so much of the interest of Europe, so much of our particular interest along with him, may also carry * God Indeed answered us by terrible tilings in righteousness when that fleet was afterwards put back by another storm (as if God would rebuke our daring to proceed after such a terrible judgement as that Nov. 26, 1703, without making prayer and humi- liation our first step). But the late happy revolution has taught us, that it is sometimes God's way to carry the kind designs of his providence securely, and with the more triumph through some dif- ficulty and amazing disappointments. 250 CONVULSIONS OF NATURE SUBSERVIENT along with him our prayers ; and the blessing of God, that the breath of prayer might fill his sails, and carry them to his expected port ; that the wickedness and profaneness, the blasphemy and oaths of those that live on that element, a sort of wind which they too plentifully sow, may not raise storms and whirlwinds, the natural harvest of such a kind of seed. It is indeed a melancholy thought that so many of those that used to call for damnation are now sunk to the bottom, their imprecations are beat back in their faces, and they that have sowed such wind have reaped the whirlwind. This chapter begins with an aposiopesis, a figure of passion, by which the mind snatches its thoughts from the present subject and tract, and of a sudden abruptly tacks about to some other point. It denotes here the great anger of God, which he had in part expressed in the reproaches and threatenings of the foregoing chapter, breaks off, and commands the prophet to set the trumpet to his mouth, ver. 1. Q. D. Go second me in what I have done, follow my providences by my word, and carry on the alarum. Tell them what I mean by what I have done, " Lift up thy voice like a trumpet, cry aloud and spare not." When God speaks, heaven and earth are his auditory, it is with the greatest solemnity of thunder, lightning, earthquake, and flames of fire, that usually go before him as the sound of a trumpet to command silence, and attention, before the proclamation of a great king, set the trumpet to thy mouth. And the first thing he is to alarm them with is the threatened invasion of Sallmanasser king^ of Assyria, who afterwards carried them away cap- TO THE INTERESTS OF THE CHURCH. *251 tive. Ver. 1. " He shall come up as an eagle against the house of the Lord, because they have trans- gressed my covenant, and trespassed against my law." As an eagle his marches swift and speedy, as if he flew, voracious and pitiless as an hungry eagle stooping to the prey, so shall the army of the Assyrians be, surmounting all difficulty in the way with as much ease, as if borne with the wings of an eagle. For what cannot they do, who, besides their native dex- terity and malice, come with a rommisf^ion from God to punish a rebellious and sinful people, " Because they have transgressed my covenant, and trespassed against my law." This first blast of the prophet's trumpet overthrew two of their greatest confidences at once. 1. The confidence of the safety of their situation. They might flatter themselves with the thoughts that the Assyrians were a great way off, there were large tracts of frontier country, Mesopotamia and Syria, the rivers Tygris and Euphrates, they can make no military preparations, but we must hear of their motions, and so put ourselves in a posture to receive them. But this confidence is destroyed, when they are told, that as an eagle shall he come, who almost as soon as she sees the prey, though from never so great a height, is upon it, " He shall lift up an ensign in the nations from far, and will hiss unto them from the end of the earth, and they shall come with speed and swiftly." Isa. v. 26. 2. The confidence of their being the people of God, and having his temple among them. Of their knowing him, to whom those very Assyrians were strangers, V. 2. " Israel shall cry unto me, my God 1 know thee." But God confounds the hypocrisy of that 252 CONVULSIONS OF NATURE SUBSERVIENT pretence, and dashes their confidence by that answer, V. 3. " Israel hath cast off the thing that is good, the enemy shall therefore pursue him." Even those men are for claiming acquaintance with God in troubles, who at other time, say unto God, depart from them. But in vain do any pretend an interest in that God whom they will not obey, or any protection from the best religion in the world, while they forsake the thing that is good. England may say, my God we know thee, as the tem- ple of the Lord, the temple of the Lord was theircry, till they and their temple were ruined together, we are the church, the best, and indeed theonly church, and people of God upon earth, and yet that was no security to those *' Who forsake the thing that is good, the enemy shall pursue them, as an eagle shall he come, even against the house of the Lord." The house of God will be no protection to sinners, for judgement must begin at the house of God, at the time when hypocrites in Zion must be made to tremble. The house of prayer will be no sanctuary to a den of thieves. Pretended nearness to God, adds more weight to our guilt, and aggravation to our sin, as done more in his sight, looks like insulting him to his face, and he is undone that depends upon being overlooked. No, as Joab was plucked from the very horns of the altar (1 Kings xiii.'i.), the wicked priests sacrificed upon it, and Jeroboam's hand withered before it, so vengeance will seize the hypocrite that creeps never so near it. He that spared not the seven churches of Asia, tliat were candlesticks of his own setting up, furnished with the brie;htest lijrhts, himself walking;' in the midst lotthem, that were truly apostolical, he that spared not TO THE INTERKSTS OF THE CHURCH. 25o the church of France, of which I might assert the same things ; what can he see among us more likely to move his pity, or engage his favour ? Every thing we behold upbraids and reproaches our flattering pretences to more favourable regards, if we cast off the thing that is good, which is very much the sense of this" proverbial expression, they have sown the wind, &c. In the handling of which I shall I. Explain the terms, sowing the wind, and reaping the whirlwind. II. Show the certain connexions between such seed and such harvest. III. Improvement in some reflexions upon our late dreadful storm. I. To explain the terms, sowing the wind, &c. I. Their more immediate and literal sense, or what they stand for as proverbs, and so they signify two things. First. Labour in vain, pursuit of emptiness, disappointment, taking pains to no purpose, sow- ing upon the sands, plowing upon the rocks, sow- ing blasted corn, that has no heart, and will afford no harvest. Such is the labour of all those that fofget God, and cast off" the thing that is good, that set up idols, or any false dependencies, their labours and pains, hurry, and most diligent application is to as little purpose, as for a husbandman to spend the whole seed time in committing blasted corn to the earth, which in. other places is expressed by labouring for the wind, Eccl. v. 16. " Feeding upon the wind," Isa. xxvi. 18. " Inheriting the wind," Prov. xi. 29. And here, " Sowins," the wind, and reapiiig the whirlwind." 254 CONVULSIONS OF NATUIIE SUBSERVIENT Secondlij. But it does not only bring forth disap- pointment, but mischief and detriment. It is not only labouring in vain, but labouring for mischief. The returns of it are not so harmless as the emptiness of wind, but ruinous as its violence, a whirlwind ; a whirlwind may well be put for any manner of judge- ments ; because it is expressive of all calamities in Scripture, and indeed in a manner including all, in its terrible effects. This harvest we have reaped in the letter of it, pray God it may not be the emblem of some other more dreadful, such as afterward overtook Israel, scattered them into unknown countries, threw down their temple wherein they confided, and to which their devotion run out more than to the God that dwelt therein, v. 8, 9. 2. Their metaphorical sense, or what they import in this place. Sowing and reaping, are in Scripture used to express the course and event, the Vv'ay and the end of person's lives and actions, either by natural or judicial connexion and consequence. Q. 13. Your cause has been vain and sinful, your lives dissolute, your worship idolatrous, and as costly and elaborate as it has been, lavishing out of the bag silver and gold for your idols, while little or nothing- could be spared for my service ; all the good those idols can now do for you, is to convince you of the folly of your depending on them. This dependance drops you, your expectation disappoints you, and your guilt sinks and overwhelms you in miseries, calamities, and judgements that do as certainly follow upon such courses, as harvest and so\ying does follow on the other. Here we are to inquire in what respects we are chargeable with the guilt, folh', and mischief of " Sowing the wind, and reaping the whirlwind/^ TO THE INTERESTS OF THE CHURCH. 255 And this, with that brevity I am confined to, I shall consider as chargeable upon persons, families, churches, and nations, and upon so wide a compass, to pretend to more than some hints of things, would be to tell the seeds that make the harvest, or the particles of air that go into a whirlwind. And^^i'sf, in single persons. 1. All trifling and vanity of mind, discourse and actions. To call a vain person a sower of wind, is hardiy a metaphor ; it has been a complaint ever since the fourth psalm was writ — " O ye sons of men, how long will ye love vanity, and follow after lies ? It is vanity to forget God, and like a feather before the wind be tossed from pleasure to pleasure, as " Lovers of pleasure, more than lovers of God :" and it is a lie, that any thing can so well deserve our pursuit as his favour, or that any thing can be a gain, whereby con- science and religion is .lost. There is not upon earth a more contemptible insect, than a vain person, whose life is all froth and levity, forgetful of God, disobe- dient to parents, proud, conceited, eaten up with frolic, mad upon pleasure, striking at every thing that is like it, resolved upon his own way, adoring himself in the attributes of trim and dress, snuffingatali that is serious, and who by a contemptuous toss at re- ligion, seems to profess that God and Christ were not fit company for men of air air indeed, even in the sense of my text ; which tells us the seed they sow% and the harvest they are like to reap. For what else can the end of those things be, but that the wave of the sea, driven of the wind and tossed, should at last be dashed to pieces against the rock, James 1. 6. 2. The secret hopes of impunity in a sinful course, is sowino- the wind. 256 CONVULSIONS OF NATURE SUSERVIENT This is laying in for a large harvest of misery, and (as it is elsewhere called) a " Treasuring up of wrath against the day of wrath." To say in our hearts, " We shall have peace, though we add drunkenness to thirst, and walk in the imagination of our own hearts," is not only sowing, but covering and culti- vating the seeds of destruction, with a seeming care not to be disappointed of ruin. God cannot bear to be thus made an accomplice in the rebellion against himself, that is an outrage intolerable, too much in all reason, and yet that is very much the sense of dreaming of peace and quiet, though we pro- claim vv'ar against God. Q. D. I will be a rebel, and what is more, God will find me ammunition, Opportunity, continual supplies to fight against him- self. Such an one is pointed out for destruction ; for it follows (Deut. xxix. 19, 20.) " The Lord will not spare him (whoever escapes), but the anger of the Lord, and his jealousy shall smoke against that man, and all the curses that are written in this book shall lie upon him, and the Lord shall blot out his name from under heaven." Such presumption infers some necessity of destruction, that the world may not think God and the wicked are combined to disturb the rest of mankind. Upon this view David offers that strange petition, Ps. lix. .5. " Be not merciful to any wicked transgressor." David could not mean the narrowing the compass, or stopping the course of that mercy which he so much extolled, and which was his con- stant and dehghtful theme ; but it declares how aban- doned to any mercy from God, these sort of sinners will be, who with unaccountable hopes of impunity, go on in their sins, and with a sort of fondness of de- TO THE INTERESTS OF THE CHURCH. 257 struction, in spite of all that God can say to them, will say to themselves " They shall have peace," &c. " Because judgment is not speedily executed against evil doers, their hearts are fully set in them to do evil ;" they say," The Lord does not see, neither does the Al- mighty regard/' Mistaking his pity for inadvertence, his patience for connivance, his forbearance for a license, and that goodness that should lead them to repent- ance, for an easiness in government, from which they have no reason to fear. But seed-times and harvest do not more naturally follow one another, than certain destruction shall overtake this presumption ; for he has given his word for it, " He will mock at their calamity, and laugh when their fear cometh, when their destruction cometh as a whirlwind, and fear as desolation." How foolishly do some make this conduct of divine Providence, in the delay of punishment, an objection against it. Hasty spirits are for immediate execu- tion upon the sinner, the perjured person struck dead upon the spot, damnation stop the mouth that calls for it, and wonder the devil does not snatch away the per- son that devotes himself to him. Diagoras turned avowed atheist, because a thun- derbolt did not immediately from heaven strike the person that swore him out of his right. As if, for- sooth, that God was not worth owning, whose ven- geance would not wait upon the resentment of a silly mortal. Whereas it is an evidence of his being, that the divine nemefis takes a course, which it would never do, were it not under the direction of infinite perfection. If any other besides so wise and so good a Being governed the world, it had long ere this been an aceldama, a field of blood, a stage of slaughter 258 CONVULSIONS OF NATURE SUBSERVIENT and confusion, one universal scafTold of execution. Every night had been more tragical than that of Egypt, when the death of so many lirst-born sent up a common cry. Every shower like that of Sodom and Gomorrha, destructive lightning more constant than sun beams, or revenge had set it all on fire be- fore this time ; and our city had been made a common grave. Could any other gather the wind in his fist, or make the stormy wind fulfil their word? But this is not the time and place for full retribution ; for that he has appointed a day, and 1 am God, and not man, is made the reason why he will not execute the fierce- ness of his anger, why he will not return to destroy ! Hos. xi. 9. Why then must his forbearance be an argument against his being? Strange! that what he counts a ray of his divinity, should to us render it obscure, and that we should ilatter ourselves that there is no reckoning, because the score is suffered to run on ; that there will be no wrath, because we are let alone to treasure it up. This will make us the objects of the severest displeasure; for such is always that which follows upon abused mercy, 'io come home to ourselves — drowsy security cannot be awak- ened to reform an heedless confidence of escaping, as we have often done ; as if God had always a miracle at our service, and would deliver us u]jon any terms; and in spite of our own endeavours to be slaves would preserve our liberties and religion from the ruins in which they lie almost in all the protestant churches round about us. Our long course of sinning, during God's forbearance, and the time that the bitter cup has been handed round lo others, fills every good mind and considering spirit with melancholy appre- hensions, and draws forth many a tear and prayer like TO THE INTERESTS OF THE CHURCH. 259 that between the porch and the altar : " O spare thy people, O Lord, and give not thine heritage to re- proach, that the heathen should rule over them, wherefore should they say among the people, where is their God?" Joel ii. 17. Secondly. In respect to families. 1. The utmost diligence in our calling, the closest application to business, without advising with God, asking his blessing, and studying his favour, is but sowing the wind. It is working not only for disap- pointment, but for loss. It is as much as to tell God you can do without him, which provokes him dread- fully to convince you that you are mistaken. And methinks, when God has so many thousand unseen, unthought-of ways of crossing our schemes and pro- jects, that whatsoever we hold is by the only tenure of his will and pleasure, it were but common sense to ask him leave to prosper. Where is the long head, the wise foresight, the shrewd man of reach and penetration, that cautioned against the late storm ? that sunk his ships and bat- tered his house, that almost ruined him by spoiling others ? How absurd is it for a merchant to send goods to sea, a tradesman to come down into his shop, a scholar to pore upon authors, a government to send forth armies and fleets without asking God leave to thrive, to see returns, to succeed and prosper. Without acknowledging that the blessing of the Lord maketh rich, but making haste to be rich is a way that in tails a curse. Family curses and blasting come in usually at the same door at which family religion goes out. The world very often wonders how some flourishing fami- lies wither of a sudden, and sink, notwithstanding a s 2 260 CONVrLSIONS OF NATT'Ri: SUBSERVIENT many seeming props and supports ; as those from the shore that stand and see the ship under sail, with flags and streamers, tossing gallantly along, may wonder to see it sink all of a sudden, not knowing the neglected leak at which destruction insensibly entered. We seldom see the secret moth (Hos. v. 12.) that mars the estate, the worm that strikes the flourishing gourd, but we can oftener point out the houses, concerning which we may say, there are the houses that have turned God out of doors, have ba- nished his daily worship, and daily bread seems to be going after, since they w^ould not ask it. There are the families whom God has numbered with the hea- then in character and punishment, Jer. x, ult. ■' Pour out thy fury upon the heathen that know thee not, and upon the families that call not upon thy name; for they have eaten up Jacob, and devoured him, and have made his habitation desolate.'^ Want of time is the pretence, when want of incli- nation is the cause ; and God will confound the hypo- crisy of that excuse that shall pretend want of time for acknowledging God, and securing a blessing, when the true meaning is, that their interest, humour, or pleasure shall not abate a minute, no, though the blessing or curse of a family depend upon it. Wit- ness the long sittings at taverns, the indulged loiter- ings in vain conversation, the fields and roads. Can it be loss of time to do that, without which all other time is lost, and we ourselves too in tlie end ? The man that thinks to add much to his stores by what he subtracts from God and his duty, must find a better protection against that text, than ever I have met with, Hag. i. 6. " Ye have sown much, and bring in liitle. ve eat, but ve hav his word nor providences shall stand for ciphers; they have a meaning and signification v/hich, not to discern and regard, endangers a repe- tition of the same judgements, Isa. xxvi. 11. Will they not see when my hand is lifted up, but they shall see before I have done with them, or else my hand shall be lifted up still. The judgement carries this comfortable intimation. (1.) That God has not given us up, tlien he would have said, as of Israel. TO THE INTERESTS OP THE CHURCH. 275 *' Why should they be stricken any more, they will still revolt more and more,'^ Isa. i. 5. Our physician has not given us over since he continues the means of cure. We ai'h not given up to that curse, Hos. iv, 7. As blessed a thing as some think it to be let alone (/. e.), to be destroyed, rather than to be chastised for our amendment and salvation. It is better to have wrath come down upon us, than that it should be reserved for us. For temporary wrath may come down upon his friends, but he reserveth wrath for his enemies, Nah. i. 2. God's voice was lately in the whirlwind, and it spoke this language : " How shall I give thee up, O England ! How shall I make thee as Flanders, the seat of war ; as Germany given up to the spoilers ? How shall I give thee up to French slavery, and to popish darkness ; rather let God take us into his own hands, whose tender mercies are very great, than give us into the hand of our enemy, whose tender mercies arc cruelty/' (2.) Yet does it loudl}^ testify his displeasure. That God is angry the groans of nature tell, and the whirlwind, which is the breath of his nostrils, so quick and forcible, as it always is in a person greatly incensed. The tops of our houses look as if we had been preparing for a bombardment. But, blessed be God, it is only from heaven ; it is God lays a siege, but it is our vices only that he would destroy. To surrender will be our happiness, glory, and triumph, it is yielding to be happy, it is opening to salvation and joy, prosperity, plenty, and peace, did we but know i'n this our day the things of our peace. Stand it out we cannot, he will be mas- ter oi" us either by our surrender, or by storm ; by dedication, or by seizure ; by the purchase of Christ's T 2 276 CONVULSIONS OF NATURE SUBSERVIENT blood, or the forfeiture to hfs justice. Again (3.), By this he lets us know what he can do. And what can he not do, who can do such things ; who can do all things .> To whom the earth is but a dust of the balance, and which he can as easily blow away. He bringeth the wind out of his treasures ; he hath them in the hollow of his hand. So that it is but for him to open his hand wide enough, and there is an end of houses and lands ; and all distinctions of nations, seas, lands, heaven, and earth, all are swept away as easily as chaff, which the wind carries away. It was easy, therefore, for God to have given but a little more force to our late tempest, and have left not one city in England standing. A few degrees of violence more had buried thousands above ground where it buried one. In one night could God have ruined us, by sinking our fleet, have blown down the walls of our nation, and laid us open, by destroying our ships of trade, torn out our vitals, and given such an intire overthrow to our city, by wind and earth- quakes, that in after 3^ears men might point and say% " There is the place where the once famous London stood ;" and if we add, what is more than all this, that he could have sent the inhabitants down to hell too. How fitly will the words of Christ come in here : '* I say unto you fear him ; for who would not fear thee, O Lord ; who would not fear before thee, Lord God almighty?" (4.) Another end is to teach us humility under his mighty hand. How low sisould this lay us in the dust? How little does this make the creature ; and how great did it represent Gud ? To see the world tremble at his descent, and all the great spirits, the haughty and the proud, sneak and dwindle at the convulsions the world and their TO THE INTERESTS OF THE CHURCH. 277 own spirits were in, at the blast of the Lord, at the breath of the Almighty. 5. Reflect upon the frame of your mind while the storm was upon you. And what your convictions then were keep alive still, and forget not to pay your vows. You must needs be convinced (1.), that it was not in all human power to abate or stop it one moment. The united power of the nation, of the whole confederacy of all the world, could not do it. (2.) The importance and blessing of having God for our friend. He is the best and greatest ally ; without him, all others are nothing ; and with him only, it is they or we can be any thing. For- merly the Spaniard could say, when God, fighting for us, destroyed the armada, and batfled the pride of their title Invincible, " That if God had but stood neuter they should have done our business." If they could do our business when God stands but neuter, how much more an over-match would they and the French together prove now, should God also fight against us in storms and tempests. God is an enem}^ that can attack us all ways at once, at sea and land, body, goods, houses, families, hearts, and con- sciences, and make us an 'hissing to others, and an astonishing terror to ourselves. It is a despicable weakness to grow proud and secure, because of our distance from the French. Alas ! God need not send for the French to bombard us : his own artillery can batter down our houses; and those flourishino; navies that the French durst not look in the face one day, may be sunk to the bottom the next, or scattered like straws in a whirlwind. It is a truth beyond any exception, that nothing can be so much our business or safety as making God T 3 !278 CONVULSION'S OF NATURE SUBSERVIENT our friend, who can be a wall of fire round about us, or a consuming fire to us. And consequently, they that render God our enemy, are our greatest enemies, both to church and state ; and people may talk what they will, but our greatest enemies to both, are the wicked and profane ; it is they that provoke that displeasure which you see can reach us, when our enemy cannot. All wicked men, of what denomination soever, let their profession or party be what it will, are so far in the French interest, as their sins tend to betray us to them, and to those judgements that are the shortest way to ruin, for which they pave the v/ay, and ripen us for judgements in this world, and damnation in the next. The righteous, of what denominations soever, are the nation's truest friends, and best treasure. For their sakes many a storm is kept off, and many a time the nation saved, as Sodom had been, if there had been but ten ; and the whole ship's crew was saved for the sake of one Paul, though afterward they had no more gratitude to God, nor to him, than to push on designs of taking away his life, Acts xxvii. 48. To secure the friendship of God therefore is the one thing needful, that while we have war abroad we may have peace with God at home ; for it will be no lessening of us at all to say, that we are not a match for earth and heaven at the same time. (3.) Were you not then convinced of the great blessing and com- fort of being always ready : be ye always ready in the easy application of such a destructive providence. Oh that 1 were now prepared with some good hope through grace to meet the eflects of this dreadful night : then, though nature might startle at the rush- ing violence of the blast, yet it is but the noise of the chariot wheels that is sent to fetch me home, It is TO THE INTERESTS OF THE CHURCH. 279 my Father's chariot, though it should be a flash of iire like Elijah's: my Father's voice, though he spake in a whirlwind as to Job. If lightning lick up my spirits (for what matter it by what a Christian dies) I know it is not a flash from hell, the suddenness of it is the speed of love and not of wrath : for surely God will not shoot the arrows of vengeance at his own image : and though 1. may die in a common calamity yet 1 shall die in peace as good Josiah, who, though he fell in battle, is said to be " Gathered to the grave in peace," 2 Kings xxii. 20. peace of con- science, peace with God, and peace eternal. Oh what a happy composure of mind is this, in the midst of storms and tempests without to have no tem- pest within ; no storm in the conscience, no wounds festering in the breast, no vengeance pursuing at the back, but to have God come to us in such a night, as to Paul in the storm,, saying, (Acts xxvii.) " Fear not, for I am with thee." This makes us rejoice with our trembling, as the case makes us tremble with our rejoicing. And now, ye sons of pride and vain glory, ye slaves of mammon, ye servants of divers lusts and pleasure, I appeal whether this be not a happy state, infinitely out-bidding that you are so fond of, filled with remorse and stings. Know thou, that courts, I know not what, with all the pains and concern as if it were heaven ; that with all thy plumes, thy bags, and mansions, the poorest Christian, whose sins are forgiven, is more happy than thou, and a much greater man : for though he did not think it worth his while to be damned to get money ; to lose his soul for what he could not keep ; nor give himself to the devil in exchange for the world, yet he has been so T 4 2S0 CONVULSIONS OF NATURE SUBSERVIENT, &C. wise as to get something that he shall never lose, the better part that shall not be taken from him, and shall stand the shock of the last universal tempest, which leads me to my last reflection. 6. Remember the greatest storm is yet to come. Wherein nature shall breathe its last; wherein none can avoid losing all they have in this world, for the world itself shall be lost. Rev. xx. 11. " Earth and heaven fled awa}?-, and there was found no place for them." This is the shipwreck of universal nature, the shattered parts of the world shall float about in an ocean of fire. There we shall see the earth rolling away in the burning waves of that sea : " Earth and all the works therein burnt up," '2 Fet. iii. 10, And to swell the fiery deluge, the burning orbs shall pour down all their heat, drop out of their sphere ; and those spheres, with a mighty noise, be broken to pieces, and all the elements melted down by this fervent heat, till earth and heaven, sun, the bright stars and moon, sea, air, and clouds, like so many broken planks of a great vessel, shall float in the same waves. Horror, confusion, amazement, despair in all its hideous forms, devils, damned spirits, wicked men, torment, pain, anguish, shall all be driven along by this mighty storm, with dreadful uproar, down to hell, the place of their eternal abode, and where nothing else shall be heard for ever : " For the wicked shall be turned into hell, and all the fiations that forget God ; upon the wicked he will rain snares, fire and brimstone, and an horrible tem- pest : this shall be the portion of 'their cup," Psal. Ni. 6. " While the righteous have a covert even from this storm, a kingdom that cannot be shaken, and shall shine as the stars in the firmament for ever siild ever.'" DISCOURSE X. GOD'S ■■ ETEMMITY THE MOURNER'S COMFORT*. PSALM CII. 27. BUT TIIGU ART THE SAME, AND THY YEARS HAVE KO END. ^y HEN our mind is struck through with a susprising calamity, it is .natural for us to turn every way for a relieving thought. Of all relief under trouble, there is none like that which comes from above, the con- solations of God, that are not small. It comes like balm into a wounded spirit, while we are mourning over a dying friend, to remember that we have a friend that never dies, whose years have no end. The title of this psalm shows, that the author of it made the same use of this consideration that we are now endeavouring to do: the title is this — " A prayer of the afflicted, when he is overwhelmed, and poureth out his complaint before the Lord." — So that when a man is aftlicted, so atllicted as to be overwhelmed, this * This sermon was preached at Crutched-friars, June 8, 1.740, en occasion of the death of the late Rev. Dr. Wilh^'m Harris. 282 god's eternity the is his consolation, tliat — " Thou art the same, and of thy years there is no end. And I hope it will be of the same use to all of us who are, no doubt, tenderly affected with fehe loss of that excellent man, Dr. William Harris, the late reverend and worthy pastor of this church. In the multitude of our thoughts within us, this comfort delights our souls, that we have a friend whose years have no end. When every thing about us is perishing, the hea- vens themselves not excepted ; whose revolutions measure out their own duration, as well as ours ; and the earth, as firm as it seems to stand, shall fail ; its pillars be shaken, and its foundations sink away from under our feet ; when every thing about us, 1 say, is perishing, is it not fit that we shoidd turn our eyes to that which is durable, to a world that never perishes ? to a friend that never dies ? to a state of life and health that never decays ? to a duration that never expires ? I would speak a little concerning the eternity of God, so as to lay a foundation for some practical remarks, that may be suitable to this occasion, in three propositions. I. The eternity of CJod is absolute, not relative, only, to future duration, as in the case of angels and the souls of men. Angels and the souls of men, though they had a beginning, shall have no end ; but God's eternity is absolute, without beginning and without end. " From everlasting to everlasting thou art God." Fsalm. xc. 2. As his immensity denies all bounds, or limits of his presence, so his eternity denies ail bounds or limits of hi-^ duration. As bv his immensity he is every where, mourner's comfort. 283 so by his eternity he is always the same, " Which was, and is, and is to come/' " I am that 1 am.'^ II. This absolute eternity is necessary in the divine nature, and unavoidably included in the idea of God, that he is from everlasting to everlasting. If there ever had been a point of duration, wherein there had been no being, there never could have been any being. For how should there have been any thing, if once there had been nothing? Could nothing make any thing? when, even God, could not nriake himself? The Christian creed is — " I believe in God the Father Almighty, Maker of heaven and earth ;" the Atheist creed is — I believe in nothing, the origin oiail things : which do you think is most philosophical ? III. Though this is very plain in the idea to the mind of man, that if something had not been from eternity, nothing could have been at all, yet an eternity backward is • very hard to be conceived of. The imagination cannot take hold of it, though our understanding cannot avoid assenting to it ; because it appears to the mind utterly impossible to be otherwise. He only to whom this eternity belongs, can com- prehend it : " The high and lofty one that inhabiteth eternity.^' Isa. Ivii, 15. I now proceed to such remarks on the doctrine of God's eternity, as the subject, and the occasion require. And in the first place. 1. Ueilce we better understand one Scripture, the wording of which seems to have in it something of paradox. It is 2 Pet. iii. 8. " 1 would not have you ignorant, bretiiren, that one day is with the Lord as a thousand years, and a thousand years as one day.^^ 284 god's eternity the Now here he does not say that one day is as long as a thousand 3'ears, or that a thousand years is as short as one day but that they are with regard to God, and to his eternity, one, the same with the other, in some respects : as for instance. First. In respect to his knowledge. A thousand years will no more add to his knowledge than one day ; and this one day, he knows as much as he will in a thousand years. Known unto God are all his works, from the begin- ning to the end; that is true, but it is a greater thing to say, known unto God, are also all possibles that he can do, as well as all that he has done, or designs to do. Secondlij. A thousand years are as one day witli the Lord, with respect to his enjoyment and happiness. No new enjoyment occurs to him in a thousand years, any more than in one day, Tliirdlif. A thousand years are as one day with the Lord, as to any proportion they have to God's eternity, any more than one day. Take away a thousand years from God's eternity, you leave as much behind, as if you took away but one day ; that is, you leave an eternity behind. For no possible number, bears any proportion to that which is without number; though the smallest num- ber bears some proportion to the greatest. To illustrate this a little farther. A drop of water, bears some proportion to the ocean, because the ocean is made up of a certain number of drops ; but the ocean itself bears no proportion to the infinite space, because, no possible measure can bear any proportion to that which is without measure. So that after the same manner we may say, that a drop, is to the infinite scace, as the ocean., and the ocean as ^85 one drop, i. e. no proportion at all. So in the case before us, a day bears some proportion to a thousand years, because a thousand years is made up of such a number of days ; but a thousand years bears no more proportion to eternity, than a day, because no number bears any proportion to what is without number. If we offer to add to God's eternity, or take from it, it is all one, whether it be one day or a thousand years. We adore the eternal God, under the influence and impression of this attribute. We proceed to a second remark. 2. This eternal God, whose years have no end, must needs be the best friend, and the worst enemy. He must needs be the best friend, on this account among others. Other friends die, their yeare have an end, they leave us behind to shift for ourselves, " But of thy years there is no end: the Lord liveth, and blessed be my Rock." Firm as a rock, and immoveable by that stream that bears down every thing else before it. Will you secure him for your friend ? If you do not he will be the worst enemy you can have, for the same reason. Other enemies sometimes want power to do us harm, he never. Other enemies, if never so powerful, die away before they can execute all their purposes, and there is an end of their terror. Isa. li. 12. "I even I am he that comfortetli thee. Who art thou that thou shouidest be afraid of a man that shall die. '^ But God ever lives; and there lies the emphasis of those words, Heb, x. 31. " It is a fear- ful thing to fall into the hands of the living God." 3. Behold the proper ground of the church's hope and trust in God for things yet to be done, there are promises made, and prophecies given out, which you 286 god's etermty the nor I shall ever live to see the accomplishment of; however, " The Lord lives, and of his years there is no end." The words of my text are used in this very view in this psalm. This psahn was written during the Babylonish captivity. Things were very low with them ; however (ver. 16) " The Lord shall build up Zion," as little prospect as there was of it at that time. Ver. 24. " Take me not away in the midst of my years ;" Q. D. 1 would be glad to see the accomplish- ment of those great and good things, but if 1 die be- fore, my trust is in the ever-living God that he -will do it. Ver. 27. " Thou art the same, and thy years shall have no end ; the children of thy servants shall continue, and their seed shall be established before thee.^' Q. D. Though the church be low, and Jacob is small, though the heavens ]3crish and we die, " Thou art the same, and thy years have no end" — • there is your trust. " Put not your trust in princes, nor in the sons of men, for their breath goeth forth." 4. This administers a thought of consolation to the dying believer with respect to those he leaves behind him, to be applied thus: Q. D. " Lord, my years are come to an end, thine have none ; thou iivest to take care of mine as thou didst of me. If they serve- thee religiously thou wilt be their God, as thou hast been mine. If they prove wicked, they do not de- serve thy care: 1 commit my soul to thee, I may well commit every thing else to thee, and leave them with a better friend and father than the one they lose." 5. The duration of things excelleat in their nature ought to determine the value of them, and the degrees of our estimation. Of all the glory of this world, say only that it i^ mourner's comfort. 287 but temporal, and you blast it in the comparison ; you infinitely depreciate it. So that the apostle would not look at it — " We look not at the things that are seen, which are but temporal," Carry this balance along with you, and weigh every thing in it, and it will appear, that the soul must needs be of more worth than the body, and more worth than the world, heaven, and earth ; because they shall perish, the soul never. Let a man gain the whole world, how long can he keep it ? The pleasures of it, says Moses, they are but for a season ; 1 rather choose a suffering lot with the people of God. The sorrows and suf- ferings of it, says Paul, they are the light afflictions of this present time. How diminutively they speak of what is temporal ! Settle it v/ith yourselves, as a maxim from whence you will never depart, that nothing can be of any weight, when eternity is put in the other scale. 6. How foolish is it in man, who is but of yester- day and knows nothing, to censure the counsels and conduct of God, whose views are from everlasting to everlasting. Because we do not see the connexion between what is done in our day, with what shall be done an hundred years hence, we take upon us to find tault and mutter things against the divine govern- ment. So the child sees a man draw geometrical figures, and diagrams ; the child thinks the man is employed in scratches and scrawls, because he knows not the connexion of things. He does not know that what he calls scratches and scrawls, is architecture, which by and by shews itself in palaces and stately buildings. He does not know that it will come out navigation, and other useful arts and sciences, which make a great man, and a flourishing country. 288 god's eternity the A piece of tapestry is unfolded in part only, and there appears a man^ and some other figures in posi- tion very odd, so as we cannot make any thing of them : we pronounce presently that there is no mean- ing, no harmony of invention in the piece, no unity of design. By and by the vvhole piece is unfolded, and we see that those animals are going into the ark, that the man was Noah, and the piece was finely drawn, and the history extremely well expressed, and we conclude we were too hasty. Let these considerations withdraw our souls from temporal things. It is eternal happiness the soul was made for, and capable of, and nothing else will satisfy it: nothing else can fill up the immensity of its de- sires, nor extend to the eternity of its duration. Let this suffice for the subject ; we proceed now to the occasion. We mourn this day, and so does every one that knew the Rev. Dr. Harris, either in the way of inti- mate friendship, or general acquaintance. The world has lost one of those who are the salt of the earth. The church of Christ has lost a minister of the Gospel, at a time when they can be ill spared. And this church, in particular, has lost an able divine, a diligent and faithful pastor ; who fed the flock of God, over which the Holy Ghost had made him over- seer. So he fed them, according to the integrity of his heart, and guided them by the skilfiilness of his hands. A workman that need not be ashamed, rightly di- viding the word of truth ; able, by sound doctrine, both to exhort and to convince gainsayers. A steward of God's household, who knew how to bring out of the good treasures of his heart things new and old. MOURNER S COMFORT. <189 Christianity has lost a defender of its faith, against those who look back upon paganism with a wishful eye ; and those who want another Gospel than that we have received; a Gospel without its peculiar doc- trines, or consisting purely of promises without any commands. Liberty and truth have lost an able advocate, and the protestant religion a champion. His distressed yokefellow a tender husband. Lord support her under her melancholy disorder, as well as her mournful state of widowhood. His acquaint- ance and friends have lost a most agreeable friend and companion, both edifying and entertaining. And God only knows what I have lost, as he once said in a like case. But I recover myself — " The Lord liveth, and blessed be my Rock." Let us but get together into the eternal world, where friendship and grace will be in perfection, and then, even our own years there will h'ave no end. In our early days, there was a knot of young crea- tures, who used to meet together once a week for prayer, and reading, and religious conversation ; to communicate such knowledge as we had ; and to help one another in the way of God, and to strengthen one another's hands against the solicitations of vici- ous youth, and wicked company. He joined himself to this little society — " We took sweet counsel toge- ther, and went to the house of God in company," till business called some of them into the world, and death called others out of it, and others went to the schools of learning. Here began our acquaintance, which has now sub- sisted above forty years, without a word of anger be- tween us, as I can remember, through so long an in- tercourse of friendship and conversation ; although u 290 god's eternity the we were not always on the same side of the ques- tion. I shall spare myself and you the trouble of tracing him from the languages to the sciences ; from the grammar-schools to the academy ; only 1 remember well his diligence was remarkable, and so was his pro- gress, in philosophy, divinity, history, and other parts of learning. So that he came into the pulpit with an uncommon degree of furniture, as well as with that solid judgment, which has been so much taken notice of in him all along. From a child he had known the holy Scriptures, which are able to make us wise unto salvation, through f^ith which is in Christ Jesus. These he read, not only as a Christian, for the daily bread of his spiritual life, but as a Christian minister and critic ; sensible that he ought to have such an acquaintance with the original languages, in which the Scriptures were written, as to prevent being imposed upon himself, and to enable him to come at the true sense of the place. For, as he himself has said, with regard to Scripture criticism, " Without some knowledge of it no man can thoroughly understand his Bible, or make a proper use of it ;" meaning as a minister, who is not only to exhort, but to convince gainsayers. From the Scriptures only he fetched his notions of Christianity, its doctrines, and duties. From thence he form.ed his judgement upon every question, and when once he had formed it, he was immoveable. Though he read every thing on every side, in every debate, he was determined by nothing but Scripture evidence, and the reason of things. To me he seem- ed to be of no party ; men might call him by what name they pleased, he was fond of no denomination mourner's comfort. 291 but that of a Christian. Truth had him of her side, always where he saw her, and he embraced her as heartily as if she aKvays brought along with her a dowry of worldly emolument. Nor could I ever dis- cern that he was under any bias from those consi- derations that sometimes warp the mind of some who would be thought inquirers after truth. His high veneration for the oracles of God, inclined him always to encourage the attempts of learned men who wrote upon them. Of which sort of writings he has made a very large collection, as well as of other branches of learning, in his library, valuable both for the number and choice of books ; and which, from the like spirit of doing good that animated a thousand good offices in his life, he has by will given (the chief of them) to the public after his death, to be added to the library of the late Rev. Dr. Williams. And these two great benefactors t6 the public lie now together in the same vault. But to return. However useful this literature we have been speak- ing of may be to a minister, there is another qualifi- cation that always ought to be joined with it, and that is, the grace of God, the love of Christ, and of the souls of men ; the fear of God, and reverence of his majesty : religion at heart, spirituality of soul, that relishes the truths that are delivered, and bows to the authority with which they are stamped. Is a man likely to impress others v/ith what he does not feel himself? Can we expect that God should bless those in the work, whose hearts are not in it ? I never dispute what God may do, by what instru- ments he pleases ; but a preacher of the Christian religion, who is not a Christian ; a preacher of Christ, who has never received Christ Jesus the Lord, so as u 2 292 GOD S ETERNITY Tilt to walk in him, is very uni)romisii)g, A preacher of grace, to whom the grace of God has never appeared, so as to teach iiim to deny ungodliness and worldly lusts, is not very likely to teach others to do so. Our dear brother began to preach when he was young ; and was assistant to the Rev. Mr. Read, in Gravel-lane, Southwark ; from thence he was chosen to this place, to succeed that excellent preacher the Rev. Mr. Cruso. Coming after so popular a man, made him hesitate for some time upon your call. He sometimes ex- pressed his anxiety in the words of Jeremiah, chap. i. 6. " Ah Lord God, behold 1 cannot speak, for I am a child." But then he was encouraged again by what follows (ver. 7.), " And the Lord said unto me, say not I am a child, for thou shalt go to all that I shall send thee, and whatsoever I command thee thou shalt speak." Lord I am a child — there was his humility and modesty : say not I am a child, for I am with thee, (ver. 8.) there was his encouragement. The result of this debate with himself and his friends, was to accept of your call ; and accordingly he was ordained in this place, in that manner, which he always thought to be according to the Scripture pat- tern, viz. with fasting and prayer, and with the laying on of the hands of the presbytery. It was about this time that he got the keys of this place, and coming here, all alone, he spent the whole day in fasting and prayer to God for direction and blessings in that work which he took upon him with so much fear and trembling. Surely (xod heard the prayers of that day ; for he has been blessed with growing abilities, great accept- ance with the knowing and the judicious, and with mourner's comfort. 293 eminent usefulness ; not only as a preacher, but as a min of business, who knew a great deal of this world, as well as of that to which he is gone. As a preacher, his compositions are allowed to be very accurate, by those who may be esteemed to be judges. Mis method always clear and distinct. The heads of his discourses were generally of such a number as was easy for the memory to carry away ; and in such order as to have nothing out of its place. His language was compact and concise, sententious, and loaded w^ith sense, strong and nervous, carrying the mind along with it, and bearing down opposition with irresistible force. In the choice of his similes he shewed as fine an imagination, as he did judge- ment in the government of his fancy, m presenting to view the striking part of the resemblance. I think we may be allow^ed to rank his writings among the standards of the English language, or at least, may say, that the English language owes seve- ral embellishments to his manner of writing. His voice was strong and manly, somewhat dis- turbed and hoarse at the beginning of the service; but by degrees clearing itself as he went on, till he made his audience glow with the same w'armth that he him- self felt, toward the application, which was always pathetical and affecting. As a casuist, he has shown how well he could untie a knot, and unravel a difficulty, in some of his printed discourses on difficult subjects ; and some of. you enjoyed the benefit of hi« furniture that way, who attended the Monday evenings after the sacra- menti in this place, when he spoke to a question given in before. As a man of business, he had a zeal for the public u 3 294 eOD's ETERNITY THE service, which could not escape the observation of every one concerned with him. Often called upon to assist on such occasions as required his talents, a solid judgememt, a quick apprehension, copiousness of words, a readiness of expression, great propriety of language, and an handsome manner of address. To younger ministers he was a very great friend and patron, an advocate for them wherever there was the least room for it; contriving for their employ- ment, and to bring them forward into the world. An unwearied solicitor for their encouragement ; and sometimes he met with returns of gratitude. He was concerned in several lectures, and socie- ties besides ; in all which he was very useful, and greatly respected. I think he was, from the begin- ning, one of the preachers of the Friday-night lectures at the Weigh-house, in Eastcheap, designed to pro- mote the delightful exercise of psalmody, in order that our congregations may perform that part of divine worship with greater decency and better edification ; which has been carried on for above thirty years by a society of gentlemen, who have, even in this age of sensuality, a taste for the pleasure of angels — harmony and devotion. And he was chosen one of the six preachers of the merchant's lecture at Salter's-hall, in the room of the late Rev. Mr. Tong, April 12, 1727. He had an uncommon veneration for the elder ministers of the last century ; for their great useful- ness and character ; from a grateful sense of his being so much beholden to them, for their assistance and countenance ; for the benefit he received from their learned labours, and for the pleasure of their con- verse ; from whom he learned many things, with MOURNERS COMFORT. 295 which his memory was enriched, and of which he was always very communicative, which made his company so edifying and so entertaining: and yet he was above being enslaved by any implicit attachment to the authprity of any man. lie received the highest marks of respect from two learned bodies, the univer- sities of Aberdeen and Edinburgh, with some other of his brethren ; without their knowledge, and in the most honourable manner. And now, to close all. After an useful and laborious life, spent in the ser- vice of God and the souls of men, forty-two years of which he ministered to you in holy things, he was mercifully exempted from the painful sutierings of a lingering and tedious sickness ; and instead of that, the nature of his distemper leading to it, he began to sleep, and slept on for a few days, and then fell asleep in Jesus ; and ,they that sleep in Jesus will fxod bring with him. u 4 DISCOURSE XL THE DEATH OF THE RIGHTEOUS IMPROVED*. HEBREWS VI. 12. THAT YE BE NOT SLOTHFUL, BUT FOLLOWERS OP THEM, WHO, THROUGH FAITH AND PATIENCE, INHERIT THE PROMISES. Jl o follow our friends to the grave, and leave them m dust, is the mournful part of these soleamities ; to follow them to heaven is the comfortable prospect. The way to it is to follow them in that feith and patience by which they have got thither. In order to that we must observe the caution, that ye be not slothful ; and comply with the exhortation, to be " Followers of them who, through faith and patience, inherit the promises." The caution is, " That ye be not slothful." " Not slothful in business, but fervent in Spirit, serving the Lord." There is no room for slothfulness in the Christian religion. This race cannot be run ; * This sermon was preached at Crosby-square, Nov. 10, 1723, oecasioiied by the death and funeral of John Deacle, Esq. who de- parted tliis life October 29. 298 THE DEATH OF this warfare is not to be accomplished by them that are so. The kingdom of heaven must be taken by violence. Not a violence upon others, but upon ourselves. There must be a violent contest with ene- mies, a violent opposition to temptations, a violent struggle with corruptions, and striving for the mastery; things that stand directly opposed to sloth and lan- guid endeavours ; which are not likely to conquer in this warfare, nor to win the prize in this race that is set before us. As to the nature of this sloth it is an indisposedness to spiritual things in their proper sea- son, arising from remissness and formality in religion, or carnality and worldliness of mind. Allowance must be made for temptation, which may, at some times, occasion more remissness than is habitual. Allowance must be made for ihe infir- mities of nature, constitution, old age, and other cir- cumstances, which may not be criminal indispositi- ons but distemper. No Christian but may occa- sionally be overtaken with it. Peter, James, and John were so at a very unseasonable time, when their Saviour was in agony, pressing forward in the work of our salvation. Yet our Lord's censure of it is gentle, " The spirit is willing, though the flesh is weak." So that it may be an actual fault where it is not an habitual vice. But it prevails to a dangerous degree indeed when it is generally the frame. When it appears in the frequent neglects of religion. When we are glad of any excuses for our omissions, especially if we seek them, and find out shifts and evasions, and begin to make excuses. " I have put off my coat, how shall I put it on ?" As if a small trouble were fit to be com- pared with the benefit of euiiiinunion with Christ our THE RIGHTEOUS IMPROVED. 299 beloved. It prevails indeed when, in the conflict about vvhat is our present duty, the scale is turned generally on the side of flesh and blood, of ease and sloth ; or we perform without life and vivacity, or any spiritual relish. Formerly you watched against temptations with a godly jealousy ; you strove against them even to agony, and found a pleasure in the conquest beyond the pleasures of yielding to sin. If all this be over, which contained so mucii of the Christian life, it is a sisin this sloth has prevailed to a dangerous degree indeed. The exhortation stands in direct opposition to this Laodicean frame of spirit, this lukewarmness and indifference. As if he should say, if you would not be slothful be " Followers of them who, through faith and patience, inherit the promises:" or if you be " Follow ers of them who, through faith and patience, inherit the promises, "'you will n )i be slothful. In this exhortation 1 have three things to speak to. I. A lovfly description of the state and condition of departed saints, they inherit the promises. II. The means whereby they attained that state, through faith and patience. III. The duty of surviving friends and relations, to be followers of them. I. The lovely description of the state and condi- tion of departed saints, they inherit the promises. It is spoken immediately of the fathers of the Old Testament, it is true of all that die in the Lord. Abraham, our father, is brought in as an example, not as the only one, but an illustrious one, ver. 13. None could be more pertinently proposed to those who gloried so much in having Abraham to their father. '' But we believe, that through Xhe grace of sao THE DEATH OF our Lord Jesus Christ we shall be saved, even as they, Acts xv. 11. " For if we believe, then are we Abraham's seed and heirs according to promise.'' They will inherit all the promises they died in the faith of. The sum of what they have at present is perfect purity, satisfying enjoyments, and both as an inheritance. 1. Complete purity and holiness. The spirits of just men are there made perfect. Like to Christ himself, by seeing him as he is, and knowing him as we are known. No more infirmities, natural or moral. No more temptations to new sins, nor mourning over old ones. No tempter to solicit without, nor corruptions to betray within. No more crying, oh my head, because of the weakness of understanding; nor, oh my heart, for the depravity of mind, and coldness of frame. One and the same stroke will separate between soul and body, and the soul and sin for ever. That sin, whose condemning power was taken away in justification ; whose domi- nion was broken by sanctification ; its very being will at last be destroyed by death. Then we shall inherit this promise, of being sanctified and cleansed by the washing of water through the word, that he might present us to himself a glorious church, not having spot or wrinkle, or any such thing, but that It should be holy, and without blemish. 2. Satisfying enjoyment. We shall be satisfied when we awake in thy like- ness : we never can be intirely satisfied till then. " Blessed are the dead that die in. the Lord :" we never shall be completely blessed till then. What an improvement of knowledge will there be. How extensive in the compass of it. How clear as THE RIGHTEOUS IMPROVED. SOL to perception and evidence. How easy in the acqui- sition : easy as the entrance of light into a vvell-dig- posed eye. Now we see but as through a glass darkly. So say the apostles ; darkly, and yet their glass was as good, and their sight as strong, as any to be found in them who think they see every thing: not darkly, but so plainly and clearly as to be angry that others do not see all they see, or do not see with their eyes: but then it will be face to face. Again ; how extensive into the history of providence ; the philosophy of all God's creations; and the divi- nity of the redemption of mankind by Jesus Christ ; and such a display of the perfections of the divine nature as God shall see fit to make us progressively capable of. And as for clearness, there will be no cloud or darkness, no doubts or difficulties, arising from the ambiguity of words, and equivocation of language, or false ideas, which, in this world, is the cause of a great deal of mistake, and a great deal of quarrel. What an entertainment will arise from the glories of surrounding objects. The palace of the- eternal King is built on purpose for the entertain- ment of all those whom the King of heaven delights to honour. In that celestial architecture to be sure infinite wisdom has shown its skill, and infinite goodness has not been sparing, from a treasury that IS inexhaustible, in erecting of that building of God, an house not made with hands, eternal in the heavens; of which Christ says, it is my Father's house, in which there are many mansions. A great ingredient of happiness is the company and conversation, that it be agreeable and delightful. The company in the heavenly world is of the finest sort. There is the blessed God, the Father, Son, and 302 THE DEATH OF Holy Ghost. The holj^ angels, and all our godly friends amongst them, who have 2:ot the start of us into the blessed world. In that company there is no dulness, disagreeableness, or jealousy ; no misunder- standing or wrong design. The conversation never flags for want of furniture, nor fires for want of tem- per. Spirits made perfect know no vapours or spleen ; but everlasting vigour enlivens ; the glory of God entertains and unites them, while they sit together at the rivers of pleasure that are at God's right hand. 3, And all by inheritance. They have it hereditariojure, they inherit the pro- mises. How come they to inherit? The same way that others do, by being the true heirs? How^came they to be heirs? By being the children of God ; " For if children, then heirs, heirs of God, and joint heirs with Jesus Christ,^' Rom. viii. 17. How came they to be children of God ? By the grace of regeneration, born into his family. Born from above. Born again. And born of God. Which respects the participation of the divine nature. And by the favour of adoption into the family of heaven, which respects the privileges of the sons of God, and both through faith in Christ. Gal. iii. 26. *' Ye are all the children of God, by faith in Christ Jesus." H. The means by which they arrive to this inhe- ritance, viz. by faith and patience. So they did, and so have our friends who have gone before us, and so must we if ever we come thither. Nothing is better calculated for such a world as this than faith and patience; to go through this world, to go out of it, and to secure a better world after it. Faith is the evi- dence of things not seen ; patience is the support under THE RIGHTEOUS IMPROVED. 303 what is felt. The faith of what is hereafter to be enjoyed helps our patience in what is now to be borne. By ftiith the truth of the Gospel is received and retained, by patience it is practised. Adversities are sustained, troubles overcome, and difficulties sur- mounted. Faith to believe the promises, and pa- tience to carry us through all that lies in our way to them. He that will not bear something for what he believes, it is no great matter what he believes. 1. The first grace here mentioned is faith. Faith is an assent to the doctines of the Gospel ; a dependance upon the promises of it, and an accept- ance of Christ as he is oflfered to us there in all his mediatorial ofl^ices. We take him to be our Prophet to teach us ; our King to govern us ; and our Priest to recommend us to God, by the merit of his death, and the prevalence of his intercession. This faith is distinguished from the presumption of those who think themselves believers, because they can recite their creed, by the properties of it. It purifies the heart. Acts xv. 9. It overcomes the world, 1 John, v. 4. And it works by love. Gal. v. 6. And it derives continual influence from Christ for final perseverance. We work by faith, we live bv faith, we die in faith. 2. The second grace mentioned is patience. The work of patience consists in three things. In doing good; in bearing evil; and in waiting for the reward after we have done good, and endured evil ; and for the farther accomplishment of prophecies and promises. Patience in doing good is that patient continuance in well doing, whereby we seek for glory and honour, immortality, and eternal life, not weary of well doiijg, knowing that avo shall reap if we faint not. 304 THE DEATH OF Again ; patience in bearing unavoidable evil. No patience obliges us to bear what we can avoid inno- cently, but what we cannot avoid without sin ; then the rule is, in patience possess your souls. Some have got the name of heroes by doing mischief in the world; the Christian hero has his name from doing good, and bearing evil. " Here is the faith and patience of the saints ! '' Rev. xiv. 12. The want of this has increased the number of apostates in trying times, and lessened that of the m irtyrs. Again ; patience in waiting for the reward. " You have need of patience, that after you have done the will of God, you may receive the promises," Heb X. 36. Few think it any trial of patience to be kept out of heaven. Few whose heart is made sick by the deferring of that hope. They can stay longer in this world without any great pain. Here and there is one, who having little comfort in this world, and great assurance of another, may be crying, " How long. Lord ! when shall I come and appear before thee ! " To whom it may be an exercise of patience to wait in pain and weakness for what is just before them. Biit it must be great grace indeed that can make a man long for another world, who has all that heart can desire in this. There are consi- derations enough to make a Christian capable of beholding death, not as the dissolution, but consum- mation of his life. We have not these considera- tions always ready, nor are we always in a condition to use them in the best manner ; a perfect freedom from sin and suffering, and a full possession of the happiness of the separate state, are inviting things. Another employment of patience, is the waiting for THE RIGHTEOUS IMPROVED. 305 the accomplishment of those promises and prophe- cies that remain to be fulfilled concerning the king- dom of Christ, and his interest in the world. Such as the calling of the Jews, the fulness of the Gen- tiles, and the downfall of antichrist. Concerning all which there is an appointed time, called, " His time," who, in his time, shall show who is the only Poten- tate, King of kings, and Lord of lords. He that believes makes not haste, but says, let God take his own time. His time is the best time, and shall be my time. It is not for us to know the times and the seasons which the Father hath put into his own hands. I will be thankful for present mercies God has bestowed upon the church, I will mind my present duty, and will wait with humble faith and patience for that which is so come. HI. The duty of surviving relations and friends is to be followers of those. All people are ready enough to follow their de- parted friends into the inheritances they leave be- hind them ; but it is of infinitely greater importance to follow them into that inheritance they are entered into. What comparison is there between succeeding to an estate that you must die from, as well as those who have left it, and following them into the inheri- tance incorruptible, undefiled, and that fadeth not away ? But to be followers as in the text, is to be imitators. Act the same faith by which they trusted in God, and were not ashamed; by which they saw things invisible, and brought near things at a distance ; by which they overcame the world, the devil, and a corrupt nature. The same faith that purified their hearts, and worked by love. Employ the same pa- X 308 THE DKaiir (31 tiencet, by whieh they endured, as seeing bim that IS iuvisibtG. Tread in the same path, and walk in the saaie way, and you will come to the same end. .This will secure an happy meeting again between the godly husband, and the godly wife, parents, and children, and godly friends, who are gone before. We have not quite done, it seems,- with our de- parted friends when they are gone. We have some- thing to do with their memories, to embalm them by our grateful acknowledgements. We havp something to do with their present felicity ; to rejoice in their enjoyment of it, to take aim at it, and keep our eye upon it, all the way we walk up the heavenly road. We have something to do with their example ; to follow it, or be imitators ; and especially to imitate their faith and patience. It is for this purpose that the righteous are to be had in tn-erlasting remem- brance. 1 look upon those Scriptures which propose the characters of good persons to our remembrance and imitation, to be some warrant for the commemoration of what was excellent in our departed friends. The whole eleventh chapter to the Hebrews is an eulo- gium of those eminent saints. This is called theo- logia paradeigmatica, consisting of examples proper to excite us to our duty, as well as show it us. Indeed this excellent institution of setting forth the praises of the saints has been abused to mean purposes. And what is there in the world that has not been so r Sensible people are apt to be shy of methods that have been prostituted to par- tiality and flattery, which makes us sometimes think we. can never be too sparing upon these occasions. But on the other hand, honour to whom honour is THE RIGHTEOUS IMPROVED. 30? due, is as much the word of God as Elihu's defiance of giving flattering titles to men ; and our love to the original makes it easy for us to relapse into the tender pleasure of viewing the picture. I have it in direction indeed to improve this occa- sion to the edification of the living rather than the praises of the dead. I shall not much transgress this way. I am sure such a direction was very agreeable to his own indifference to any thing that looked like the affectation of applause. Remote from all vanity of that kind ! he seemed to go a great way into the other extreme of indolence and unconcern. And so any one would have thought who never had the opportunity of observing that his great in- difference to the honour that comes from men was owing, in a laudable degree, to the superior satis- faction he had in the honour that comes from God, and the delights of a good conscience. I have understood that an early tincture of religion gave a beautiful regularity and order to his younger days, and delivered him from those stains that are too often contracted by the vanity and corruption of that dangerous time of life when passion runs high, and discretion too often very low. When loose men^ and the tempter, with their own levity and appetite, are conspiring their ruin under the pretence of pleasing their fancy, the escape of one youth in a great number ought to be celebrated with the acclamations of rehgious joy. 1 believe it seldom happens but some peculiar favour accompanies those who are religious betimes, for he hath said, " 1 love them that love me, and they that seek me early shall find me." Providence had thrown a great deal of this world X 2 308 THE DEATH OF into his possession, as it were, to show that a great estate does not always spoil the man that comes to it. That pride and haughtiness, neglect of God, and contempt of religion, only go along with the pros- perity of fools that destroys them ; and not with tho-e riches that are accompanied with the grace and biessing of God. To show that a man may have a great accession to his outward estate, and yet be the same man still. To show that all mammon is not the niammon of unrighteousness ; but where the grace of God is, it teaches a Christian to make that mammon, which is the world's idol, to be God's ser- vant, and his own, a means of serving God, and his generation. When God made the most acceptable addition to his comforts that he had further to wish, by giving him the companion of life that he set his affec- tion upon, he was ready to acknowledge, that he had *' Found favour of the Lord," Frov. xviii. 22. As this is one of the most important steps of any man's life, so it was one of the most desirable articles of his success. He was resolved never to make a compli- ment of his religion to any one.. That is, never to live with any one with whom religion could not sub- sist ; but all is harmony and sweetness where the relish is the same for every thing that is truly good , where the assistance is mutual for true religion, family, and personal ; and where every method is readily promoted, whereby they and their house might serve the Lord. When he had the honour of serving his country as member of parliament, his love to his country carried him to that degree of attendance and assi- duity as was beyond what could be expected from THE RIGHTEOUS IMPROVED. 309 any one under the infirmities that prevailed upon his constitution. The many hours he hath sat in that house under pains and difficulties, that would have- kept any one away that had less love to his king and country, the protestant religion, and the liberties of Europe ! but he would sacrifice his ease and health to the preservation of those dear blessings ; to which I believe he was ready to have sacrificed his life itself. It was from the same principle that he would, upon necessary occasions, come up to the public service in this city, under great disorders, when some others could hardly be persuaded to go cross a street. He had, in his young days, lived some time in France, and seen the effects of the want of liberty. It is one of the best thin^^s our travellers very often bring home with them from abroad, a deep conviction of the miseries that follow upon the giving lip our liberties to the prince, or to the priest' A man may be misled in his notion by the sophistry and eloquence of party writers, but it is going about to persuade a man out of his senses, to argue against what he has seen and felt. He well understood the right he had to choose for himself in matters of religion ; as a man, as an Eng- lishman, and as a Christian ; as a reasonable creature, he could not reconcile it that another must judge for him, while he must be accountable for himself to God. As an Englishman, he thankfully enjoyed the benefit of the law that indulges this liberty. And as a Christian, in matters purely spiritual, he knew that one was his master, even Christ, Matt, xxiii. 10. and that to this, his own master, he must stand or fall, llom. xiv. 4. His stated communion was among the protestant X 3 310 THE DEATH OF dissenters, and frequently with the French churches, especially in former years. He loved and valued all good men ; and did not measure their goodness by their speaking his phraseology, or thinking just after his way and manner. He loved this interest as the cause of liberty, truth, and godliness ; not considering it in opposition to other denominations in Christianity, that would be too much degrading it into a party. Other denominations in Christianity may also aim at liberty, truth, and godliness, though in a way that may seem to us less fitted to attain those ends : but he considered it as a branch of general Christianity, and as an useful balance against any encroachment upon Christian liberty, and as a way most agreeable to his own sentiments, and suited to his own edifi- cation ; and the laws of God warranting the privilege of choosing for ourselves, and the laws of the land indulging it ; the man who takes this liberty, with a loving and charitable temper towards others, is much more remote from being a schismatic than he that can find in his heart to call such a one by that name. We thank God for his usefulness among us while he lived ; for the many benefactions whereby he honoured the Lord with his substance, and was ser- viceable to the public interest. Whatever liberal things he might be farther devis- ing in his own thoughts, they seem to be fallen under Job's remark, " My days are past, my purposes are cut off, even the thoughts of my heart,'' chap. xvii. 11. His first seizure was very sudden and surpris- ing; but all the while he lay, an entire resignation to the will of God did shine through all the weak- ness and disability of dying nature. The distemper prevailed. Death got ground every hour upon the THE RIGHTEOUS IMPROVED. 311 Other half of him, wherein life held out the longest. He who before was wont to acknowledge God in all his ways would have the assistance of some ministers with whom he had often joined upon other occasions; and: when he was asked what he would have us pray for more particularly, as well as he was able, and with with some difficulty, he uttered these two words, faith and patience; which I suppose to bfc the rea- son of their having been given me upon this occa- sion. We shall all need these graces in our turn to carry us through the same work, and in the mean time to bear the loss of useful and valuable friends. His loving and tender consort has lost an aflectionate companion of life. All relations must needs main- tain an honourable regard to his memory. We of this church have lost a useful member, a beloved brother, and an ornament. You of this congregation will see him no more here among the earliest waiters upon God, particularly at the table of the Lord. He must have been very bad indeed if his place was ever empty then, though sometimes it was in such an exercise of faith and patience as few are called to : faith, in the devout expectation of the blessing and grace of God ; and patience, under what he was sometimes forced all the while to endure. It has been observed of him, that he had a talent at endur- ing. The drops that would run down his face should sooner tell the company what he sometimes endured than any complaints of his own. But he has done with enduring. He inherits the promises. And among others, that promise is now all his own (Rev, xxi. 4.), " God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes, and there shall be no more death nor crying, nor shall there be any more pain.'^ X 4 812 THE DEATH OF It is done; and what remains ? It remains that we follow. I close all with a few remarks proper to this subject and occasion. 1. This shows the proper use of sacred history, and of the exemplary lives of godly persons. These things are written on purpose for our learning, that we, through patience and comfort of Scripture, might have hope. 2. No failures or infirmities in ^ny good people should hinder us in following that which was good in them. Be you followers of them— -of whom ? There were none of the ancients that he proposed to their imi- tation but had some flaws in their character. Abra- ham's faith was not without some unbelief Some impatience was mixed with the patience of Job. Solomon was not all wisdom, nor David all holiness. The apostle therefore cannot be supposed to recom- mend the following of them throughout, in their wrong steps as well as in their right ones. The world is more forward to censure a single miscarriage than to imitate a course of godliness; and to point at the blemishes of a character while you are showing the beauties of it. But the apostle slights this hu- mour by recommending to our imitation those who took some unwise steps ; and he thereby establishes this maxim, that no prejudice ought to be derived from something bad, against the imitation of what was good. We are to imitate that which is good, even in those who had some things wherein they were not to be imitated. 3. It suggests a proper rule of life to every one of us; that is, so to live as that we may be followed also. ■'. THE RIGHTEOUS IMPROVED. 313 It would be of some use to us to ask ourselves at the close of a day, what have 1 done this day that is worthy to be followed ! that deserves imitation ? As it is our duty to follow those who have gone before us in their faith and patience, it is no less so to leave a good example to those who come after us, 4. This is the best way of expressing our love to our departed friends and relations. To tread in their steps, to walk in their path, to do good as they did, and bear evil as they did. i^ you loved such a one that is gone to heaven take care that you go thither to, that the separation may not be eternal. If you go on towards hell, while they »re in heaven, does that look as if you loved them, or their company ; or desired to secure the society of such lovely creatures, so improved as now they are ? Christ has made them unspeakably more amiable than ever they were, or could be here. 5. This is the only world wherein a believer stands in the need of faith and patience ; such faith and patience as is accompanied with any pain, and is the way to the promise. Even the souls departed have a faith in all that remains yet to be accomplished, and wait for the fulfilling of the prophecies and pro- mises. The souls of the martyrs under the altar are represented as crying, " How long, O Lord, holy and true 1" And to have used that language now above sixteen hundred years. And all believing souls departed wait for the adoption, to wit, the redemption of our bodies from the grave. But this is a faith and patience improperly so called. A faith without any fight, and a patience without any bur- den. For that share of the promises they already enjoy, is to them an assurance of all that is to fof- '314 THE DEATH OF THE RIGHTEOUS, &C. low ; and like the young prince's entertainment at the court in expectation of the coronation-day. There is nothing so unseen as it is now, to be the work of such a faith as ours ; nothing so troublesome, to be the work of such a patience. 6. How lovely is the alteration that death makes in the case of good people; from a state of faith and patience to a state above the need of any such mili- tant graces. Let us not faint, nor be weary in our minds. Re- ligion and holiness will have a comfortable issue at last; wherefore lift up the hands that hang down, renew the combat ; a little more faith and patience, and there will be an end of both. Come home, says God, to one of his children : — down goes the earthly house of this tabernable, and away goes the immortal part into the regions of holiness and happiness, the kingdom, life, and light of love. 7. This subject affords one more pleasing notion of death, viz. it is the inheriting the promises. Living: — that is faith and patience. Dying: — that is inheriting promises. We live with the pro- mise in our hand, which is the assignment of the estate ; we die into the actual possession. It is not the going off like a transported malefactor into sla- ^-ery or banishment, but it is the promoted favou- rite that sets sail for an eminent post ; or rather it is an heir to a kingdom, a kingdom prepared by the Father, and purchased by Jesus Christ ; an inheri- tance incorruptible, undefilcd, and that fadeth not i^wav. DISCOURSE XII. PREPARATION FOR DEATH, THE BEST PRESERA^ATIVE AGAINST THE PLAGUE*. LUKE XIL 47. WILL, AND PREPARED NOT HIMSELF, SHALL BE BEATEN WITH MANY STRIPES. W E read in our books of a great commander who led a vast army out of Asia into Greece, and as they passed in review before him, it is said, that he could not forbear weeping at the thought, " That within the compass of one age, there should not be one of these eight hundred thousand men alive." This thought has frequently come into my mind, when I have cast my eyes over a numerous assembly, that within less than an age there is not one of theXD whose place shall know him any more. His place in this city shall know him no more. His place at the exchange, in the church, and in his own family shall know him no more. Every eye here shall be closed in the darkness of the grave; every tongue * This is the substance of two sermons, preached at the mer- chant's lecture in Salter's-hall, Jan. 17 and 31, 1721. 316 THE BEST PRESERVATIVE silent ; every complexion turned into rottenness ; and this whole congregation will be under ground. But I must carry my remark farther than Xerxes did his ; and to the tenderness of his retlection, must add the serious weight of this thought, that, within the compass of an age, tiiere will not be one of this assembly but will be either saved or damned for all eternity. This never entered into his head. He was an heathen. We shall deserve a worse name, and have a worse portion, if while we know the issue of time, and into what an ocean that little stream will discharge us, we shall not prepare ourselves. " That servant which knew his Lord's will, and prepared not himself, neither did according to his will, shall be beaten with many stripes.'' We have here the sin of this evil servant, " He prepared not himself:'' and the aggravation of it, in that he knew his Lord's will, and did not according to it : and the great punishment which sinning thus against knowledge truly deserves, and surely draws after it, " He shall be beaten with many stripes." When we know it to-bc our Lord's will, that we pre- pare ourselves for his coming, whether he comes in the way of his judgements, or in the ordinary expec- tation of the hour of death, and do it not ; the sin is the more heinous, and the punishment likely to be, by-^many degrees, the more dreadful. This is the lesson of the text, and of the providence we are under. The common illustrations of our frailty are motives enough to a wise man to prepare ; but when they are enforced by the apprehension of that dreadful cala- mity that hovers over our coast, and threatens every day to invade us ; a little further help towards pre- paring for the worst, 1 cannot but think to be a word AGAINST THE PLAGUE. 317 in season. I should not care to have the whole art of dying to learn, with the tokens upon me. It is work for a man whose understanding is clear ; and whose faculties are not broken by sickness and fears, distraction and pain. To have it all to learn when it comes to be done, is an absurdity hardly ever com- mitted in any other case. " He that prepares not for death before his last sickness, is like him that begins to study philosophy when he is going to dis- pute publicly in the faculty*." You have souls that must live for ever. The death of the body does no more interrupt the life of these souls, than the breaking the crystal glass destroys the sun-beam that shined so brightly in it. Since then they will survive the dissolution of the outward frame, the question is, where, and with whom ; with what company, and in what manner are they likely to do so ? I answer, even as you choose, as you are fitted and prepared, according as you are either vessels of wrath fitted for destruction, or vessels of mercy fitted for glory. The resolution of this ques- tion depends upon what, and whom you die prepared for. Every one shall go to that world, and to that company they are most fit for. 1 would quicken myself and you, to prepare against the sting of death, that it may not hurt us, by getting into a state of grace ; and against the fear of death, that it may not fright us, by knowing that we are in such a state. And to that purpose 1 beg your serious considera- tion of the following things. I. Of the necessity of preparation for death, in whatsoever shape it may appear to us. II. Of habitual preparation. ^ Dr. J. Tavlor. 318 THE BEST PRESERVATIVE III. Of actual readiness. IV. That this preparation for the plague is the best preservative against it. I. Of the necessity of preparation for death, whether by the plague, or in whatever aspect it may appear to us. And here I desire it may be considered, 1. That men are naturally unprepared for death. Though man is born to die, he must be new-born to be fit to die. For childhood and youth are vanity ; and riper age, without grace, is but maturity in sin ; an aversion to God and holiness, and consequently to heaven. The carnal mind is enmity against God ; and if a man dies with that carnal mind, he cannot be prepared to meet him, or enjoy him. 2. It is but common sense to prepare for things of the greatest importance, for things we have a mind should be done safe and well. If it be a journey of consequence to be taken, the man would be pointed at for a fool, who should have all to seek the very morning he is to set out, the way to learn, the business to be informed in, the letters of recommendation to be expedited ; the habilements to provide, or the art of riding to learn. Or, if it be a trial, especially if for life and death, would any man have every thing to seek when the process begins? Now dying is both a journey into another world, and a decision for eternal life or death ; fur all that follows death, depends upon the state and manner in which we die. It is true, the day of judgement is the great day of trial ; but it is the day of our death upon which the sentence and decision of the judgement-day de- pends. It is as death leaves us that judgement will fmd us. AGAINST THE PLAGUE. 319 3. It is against common sense to prepare then only to do a thing when it is actually to be done. What man alive would, in any other case, refer the prepara- tion for a thing till the time wherein it is actually to be done ? For instance, who would propose to learn arithmetic when large accounts are actually to be given up: or the art of navigation, at the very time when the ship weighs anchor, which he is to conduct to the other side of the' globe ? If I could find such a proposition as this in my Bible, that there was no need to learn to die, in order to go to heaven, I should have reason to conclude all the rest of the Bible was written to no purpose, But on the contrary, so far from that, that in the next place, 4. The Scripture abounds with commands and directions of preparing for going out of this world, and the constitution of the Gospel supposes and re- quires it. " Be ye therefore ready,'^ is the moral, or doctrine ; of the whole parable of the ten virgins, as the most affecting part of it is, that " They who were ready went in, and the door was shut" against all the rest ; the door of opportunity, the door of mercy, the door of hope, and of heaven ; all will be sliut against the unprepared ; shut by him " Who shutteth, and no man openeth \^\ shut for ever, never to be opened to the longest intreaties and loudest cries. Consider here, what they are shut out from, and what they are shut out to, and the eternity of both. (1.) What they are shut out from, or the pceiia damni. From the " Marriage supper of the Lamb,'' from all the pleasures and joys designed by that re- presentation, from all portion in the heavenly Bride- groom, and from being any part of the bride, or having any share of the love and favour implied in that 820 THE BEST PRESERVATIVE name ; from the festival, the company, the entertain- ment ; from the presence *' Where there is fulness of joy,^' and from that " Right hand, where there are pleasures for evermore." From that place, contrived on purpose by infinite wisdom, and builded by an equal power, to be the receptacle of all those lovely people, whom the King of heaven delights to honour. Let the place, the company, the enjoyments, the em- ployment of that blessed world be what they will, the unprepared must be shut out from them all. (2.) Consider what they are shut out to, or the pcena sensus. To darkness, sorrow, and shame. The allusion is made to the nuptial ceremonies used in the Eastern countries; they were celebrated in the night; within doors were the lights, the company, the music, the entertainment; without was darkness, dogs, and rabble. But further, we are told of" Weeping, and wailing, and gnashing of teeth," upon being cursed away with a " Depart ye cursed, into everlasting fire, pre- pared for the devil and his angels ; of the lake that burns with fire and brimstone, where the \vorni dieth not, and the fire is not quenched." Let them that need it, raise to themselves the poor consolation of imagining, that this does not signify material fire, nor contain so much as it threatens, and is not to be un- derstood according to the letter, that it only signifies the wrath of God against sin ; that is, it only signifies something more intolerable to the soul than all the fire in the world is to the body'; it only signifies something, which fire is, it seems, in God's own ac- count, the aptest resemblance of; besides the inbred passions that will tear the soul in pieces. Besides AGAINST THE PLAGUE. 321 the insults of malicious and tyrannising devils, there is what the Scripture calls " Fiery indignation" (Heb. X. 27.) ; which is more to be dreaded than any of those material emblems of it, by which it is represented. (3.) Consider, that all this is without remedy, and irrecoverable. *' If once the Master of the house has risen up, and the door is shut" (Luke xiii. 25.), it is shut against you for ever. If " Depart from me" were all, it were a killing word ; but when it is added, " Into everlast- ing flames," these words have a sting in them that can never be fetched out. Hope of end there is none, after never so many millions of ages ; and 3'et, tor- ment without intermission or end, is what we cannot bear the thoughts of ! How then shall we bear the thing ? Some people have endeavoured to sink the import of those terms, to reduce their meaning to something infinitely less than they roundly assert, and do assert it in the very same terms that are used to set forth the eternity of heavenly joys, and in great variety of expression ; viz. that the wicked " Shall go away into everlasting punishment ; but the righteous into everlasting life." Matt. xxv. " He that believeth not, shall not see life, but the wrath of God abideth on him." John iii. ,36. " He will burn up the chaff with unquenchable fire." Matt. iii. 12. " Who shall be punished with everlasting destruction from the pre- sence of the Lord, and from the glory of his power." 2 Thess. i. 9. " Where their worm dieth not, nor their fire is not quenched." Mark ix. 46. Now, be- cause we cannot bear the thoughts of eternal tor- ments, endeavours have been used to represent these declarations, as inconsistent with the notions we have of the mercy of God, and to find out such senses to Y 322 THE BEST PRESFJIVATIVE put upon them that there is no warrant for ; and for which, I am afraid, many poor souls will bitterly curse that criticism, which makes the word everlast- ing, though joined with no circumstance of limita- tion, signify a duration that shall end, some time or other ; and the words " Shall not see life," to signify, -shall see it some time or other; and when it is said, the wrath of God so abides upon him, that he shall not see life, the meaning they would have is, that it does not abide so lono- but that he mav see life: and when it is said, they shall be " Punished with everlasting destruction," the meaning is, no punish- ment at all after such a time. A little more concern for the truth of God than this way of expounding carries in it, would not be amiss. 1 am apt to think God's truth is more in danger b}^ this gloss than his mercy can be by keeping to the words of the text. To my apprehension, they make the great God to say after this manner — " Ye sons of mei|, do not you com- mit sin, for if you do, I will punish you in a manner that does not become me. I threaten you, indeed, with what it would not be fit for me to execute." Now I cannot think it becomes the great Governor of the world, to threaten that which it would not be- come him to execute. However, I must believe, that the phrases denoting eternity of punishment, are to be understood in a proper sense ; because, they are the same that set forth the duration of the heaven- ly joys, set in direct opposition to them, without any need of recourse to a figurative retrenchment of their meanino' ; unless because we cannot bear the thouohts of it, as in some cases, when they must be understood with limitation. The Bible was writ on purpose to prepare us for AGAINST THE PLAGUE. 323 another world, and show us the way to it. I must transcribe a great deal of it indeed, if I recite the com- mands and directions to it. " Except ye be converted, and become as little children, ye cannot enter the kingdom of heaven." " Except a man be born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God." " Without holi- ness no man shall see the Lord." " Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God.^' " Not every one that saith unto me. Lord, Lord, shall enter the king- dom; but he that does the will of my Father." These are the true and faithful sayings of God, as plain as they are true, and as important as they are plain. Wherever election runs, it is unto holiness as the way, in order to happiness as the end. " God hath from the beginning chosen us to salvation, through sanctifi- cation and belief of the truth." 2 Thess. ii. 13. " Ac- cording to the foreknowledge of God the Father through sanctification of the Spirit unto obedience, and the sprinkling of the blood of Christ." 1 Pet. i. 2. " Pre- destinated to be conformed to the image of his Son." Ilom. viii. 29. " According as he hath chosen us in him, before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and without blame before him in love." Ephes. i. 4. Those who say, none but the elect can be saved, and those who say, some besides the elect may be saved, both agree in this, that none can be saved without holiness ; which is a conclusion of much greater importance than the decision of the debate between them. Nor is there any redemption by Jesus Christ that can take place, but in a way of holiness and sancti- fication. If he " Gave himself for us," it was to " Redeem us from all iniquity, and to purify unto Y 2 324 THE BEST PRESERVATIVE himself a peculiar people, zealous of good works/' Tit. ii. 14. " He loved the church, and gave him- self for it, that he might sanctify and cleanse it by the washing of water, through the word." Ephes. v. 26. And to bring about this, is the work of the Spirit of God, in the use of means appointed ; all which shows the necessity of preparation for the better world, for nothing that " Defileth shall enter there.^' Rev. xxi. 27. 5. Preparation- for heaven is absolutely necessary in the nature of the thing, as well as from the com- mand of God. If there were no other reason but that it was com- manded by the Word of God, that ought to satisfy us; heaven is his own, he may give it upon what terms, or in what way, or to what sort of persons he pleases. But that is not all ; it is, in the nature of the thing, impossible to enjoy heaven without being fit to enjoy it, as it is to be happy without enjoying happiness, as it is to have a noon-day that had no morning, or a full-grown age that had no birth : as impossible as that there should be pleasure without capacity for it ; the pleasures of harmony, for instance, without an ear, or of light and colours without an eye. We must be " Made meet for the inheritance of the saints in light" (Coloss. i. 12.), otherwise we are unfit for the services, unsuitable to the societv, and uncapable of the enjoyments of that blessed world. The particular instances of their service we know not ; but, in the general we are informed that the will of God is done perfectly in heaven ; that the contemplation of the divine perfections and works, the praise, the love, the worship of God, and all with- out weariness and interruption, are of the employ- AGAINST THE PLAGUE. 325 ments above. But what are all these to the soul, averse to the service of God ; to the carnal mind which is enrnity against God ? He is unsuitable to the society there. There is God, whom he has never desired to have any thing to do with. There are angels, who do God's will ; the unprepared sinner would always do his own will. There are saints and blessed spirits made perfect in that holiness, for which the sinner hated them on earth. In a word, heaven is a world of life, and light, and love ; he is dead, and dark, and enmity itself; and what communion has light with darkness ? 6. They who are prepared for death, are ready for every thing else. They are ready for sacraments, whenever they re- turn ; and need only to have their good habits ex- cited into act, and a gracious state act like itself in a spiritual frame. They are prepared for sickness, and for the plague ; and may for themselves welcome that manner of dying as well as any other*, whatever con- * I refer to Mr. Shaw's Welcome to the Plague, upon Amos xiv. 12. " Prepare to meet thy God, O Israel." Published in 1674. The title was thought to be something harsh ; but the in- struction it was designed to convey was this, that a person prepared for death might, for himself at least, welcome it under any aspect. This good man's family was visited with the plague, l665, being infected by some relations from London, who came from thence to avoid it. He preached to ^he family, while it was sbut up, the substance of that discourse called, A welcome to the Plague. " He buried two children, two friends, and one servant of that distemper : but he. and his wife, who both had it, escaped ; and not being ill both at once, looked after one another, and the rest of the family, \vhich was a great mercy, for none durst come to their assistance ; but he was in a manner shut up for about three months together. He was forced to attend his sick, and bury his dead himself, in his own garden." Dr. Calaroy's Abridgement, vol. II. p. 426". I shall Y 3 326 THE BEST PRESERVATIVE cern they may have for others, and for the public safety. give the reader some passages out of Mr. Shaw's own Preface to his Welcome to the Plague. " I see all the reason in the world why 1 should endeavour that some instructions may accompany that astonishment, which from me and my house has spread itself far and near. Whence arise all those uncharitable censures, with which the afflicted soul is apt to charge both himself and God ? Spring they not certainly from these two grand causes, viz. a mis- apprehension of the nature of God, and of the nature of good and evil. — If ever, therefore you would be established in your minds in a day of affliction, 1. Labour to be rightly informed concerning the nature of God ; away with those low, gross apprehensions of God, whereby your carnal fancies ascribe unto God such a kind of indulgence towai'ds his children as you bear towards yours. Hia goodwill towards his children is a solid, wise, holy disposition, infi- nitely unlike our humane affections. 2. Labour to be rightly in- formed concerning the nature of good and evil. Judge not the goodness or evilncss of things, by their agreeableness or disagree- ableness to your flesh, palate, or carnal interest, but by the rela- tion that they have to the supreme good : the greatest prosperity in the world is no further good than as it tends to make us partakers of God ; and the greatest affliction may thus be really good also. — Be of good cheer, O my soul ! he hath taken away nothing but what he gave, and in lieu of it hath given thee that which shall never be taken away — ^the first-fruits of life, instead of those whom the first-born of death hath devoured. But why do I say devoured ? Doth not thiit truly live at this day, which was truly lovely in those darlings ? Didst thou, oh my fond heart, love beauty, sweetness, ingenuity incarnate; and canst thou not love it still in the foun- tain ? — Canst not thou, O my soul, taste uncreated goodness and sweetness, except it be embodied, and have some material thing to recommend it to thy palate? Be ashamed, that thou being a spirit,' as to thy constitution, art no more spiritual in thy affections and operations. Let me call upon men and angels to celebrate the almighty grace of God, who enabled me to 'abide the day of his coming ; made me willing to suffer him to sit as a refiner of silver in my hcuse ; who carried me above all murmurings against, I Iiad almost said all remembrance of, those instruments which conveyed the infection to me; who reconciled my heart to the disease, so that AGAINST THE PLAGUE. 327 7. Prepared or unprepared, you must go when God calls, and death comes upon that errand. You can neither by purchase, force, or fraud, add one minute to your stay ; nor by all the cries and tears of the most doleful sorrow — frighted to find you are going off! Prepared or not, you must go ! And this is a thought I would rather recommend to you to dwell upon in your own mind sometimes, than enlarge upon here. 8. I only add, in the last place, that dying is a work but once to be done ; and we had need prepare to do that well which we can do but once, and shall it seemed no more grievous, noisome, or scandalous tlian any other. Who subdued me to, I had ahiiost said, brought me in love with this passage of the divine will. Who gave me a most powerful and quick sense of the plague of a carnal heart, self-will, and inordinate creature love ; convincing me, that these were infinitely worse than the plague in the flesh. Who wonderfully preserved me from the assaults of the devil, never let him loose so much as to tiy his strength upon my integrity. Who enabled me to converse with his love and mercy in the midst of the chastening, to see his shining and smiling face through this dark cloud. Who knew my soul in adversity, and made me to appear to myself, never less shut up than when shut up. Who cleared up my Interest in his Son, strength- ened my evidences in his love, satisfied and assured my soul of its happy state more than any time, more than at all times formerly ! The valley of tears brought me more sight of my God, more in- sight into myself than ever the valley of vision, all duties and ordi- nances had done. Who supplied my family; who maintained my health in the midst of so great a death. I do not remember that ever sorrow of mind or sickness of body prevailed so much upon me, during three months seclusion, as to hinder me of my ordinary study, repast, devotion, or my necessary attendance of my several infected rooms, and administermg to the necessities of my sick. These ensuing discourses were then composed." Thus he, who being prepared for death, welcomed the plague, which is called the lirist-born of death, a glorious specimen of the happiness of such a state ! Y 4 328 THE BEST PRESERVATIVE have no opportunity of coming back to rectify any mistakes. II. Of habitual preparation, or a state of grace. Such a state to which salvation does belong, in which it is begun, and with which it is surely connected. The things that have salvation in them, Heb. vi. 9. 1. We must be converted to be habitually pre- pared. " Except ye be converted, and become as little children, ye cannot enter into the kingdom of heaven," Matt. xiii. 3. The reason why becoming a good man, or fit for heaven, is called by this name of conversion is, because by sin we are turned away from God, averse to him, and going on in that posture, with our backs upon heaven, and our faces toward hell, till the grace of God reaches our hearts, and that turns us about from this world to heaven ; from sin to holiness ; from self to God, as our sovereign Lord to be obeyed, and as our most excellent portion to be enjoyed. 2. We must be in a justified state; that is, our sins must be pardoned, and our persons treated as righteous persons, for the sake of the righteousness and satisfaction of Jesus Christ. Justification is a law-term, a word borrowed from the courts of judicature, and signifies a judicial act, and consequently may be well explained from thence, and have its true notion settled. This has been done by an excellent writer at large* ; a small sketch of it I shall give in the narrowest compass 1 can. Justification supposes a charge; the person charged must plead, either in person, or by his advocate. The plea is either guilty, or not guilty. If not guilty, jus- tice itself must justify; but then there is properly * Gibson of Justification in the Morn. Exer. AGAINST THE PLAGUE. 329 no pardon where there is no guilt; but that cannot be our plea ; we must own our guilt, and then there are but two ways before us ; the one is of suing for mere mercy, for mercy's sake ; but that is not pro- perly to plead but to beg : or else to sue for mercy for the sake of a satisfaction, or atonement made to the justice of the governor, whereby the honour of God is as much secured as if his law had never been broken. You plead this atonement made by Jesus Christ, what is that satisfaction ? It is the whole humiliation, death, and sufferings of Jesus Christ. What renders all this so satisfactory .'' That which renders it satisfactory, besides the appointment and acceptance of God, is the infinite merit there is in all this, arising from the dignity of his person who is God and man ; and the perfect freedom of consent with which he gave himself for us, a propitiation for our sins ; all that he did and suffered was perfectly voluntary, ancl antecedent to his own voluntary en- gagement in the covenant of redemption ; he was not bound to become man, nor then to have died. But how comes all this to be ours, or pleadable by us ? The answer is, since all was perfectly voluntary and free grace he may assign the benefit of it to whomsoever he pleases, upon what terms soever, or in what way soever he and the Father shall please to appoint. Now they have agreed and declared, that it shall be made over or imputed to, or pleadable by those who believe in Christ, and repent of their sins, and obey the Gospel of Jesus Christ, otherwise you have no share in it, nor pretence to it. It is faith and repent- ance that distinguishes the Gospel plea of a true Christian from the insolent claims of ungodly pre- sumption. 330 THE BEST PRESERVATIVE There must be faith in Christ, whereby the soul, quitting all pretensions of being justified by any righteousness of its own, flies to Christ, lays hold on him, and gives up himself intirely to him, and to the whole method of his salvation, assenting to all divine truths discerned to be revealed by him, and so takes Christ for his Prophet to teach him. Consenting to all known duties, and so takes Christ to be his King to govern him ; relies intirely upon Christ for recom- mendation to the divine acceptance, and so takes him for his only Priest to bring him to God. vSuch a faith, wherever it is, indeed and in truth, will evidence itself to be so, by purifying the heart, overcoming the world, and working by lore. Repentance is made up of a change of a mind ; a godly sorrow for what is past, and amendment for time to come. This faith and repentance is the appointed v/ay of receiving the benefits of Christ^s death. The way agreed between the Father and Son in the covenant of peace that was between them both. The man in whom the}^ are, who believes and repents, has this plea good in his mouth : justify me, O Lord, freely by thy grace, through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus. And the plea is as good as the Giospel is true ; as the atonement of Christ is sufficient, and as the covenant of grace is well ordered and sure. He that believeth, thou hast said, shall be saved ; I do be- lieve, therefore justify me freely by thy grace. He that repents shall have his sins blotted out ; I do repent, therefore let my sins be blotted out against the times of refreshing do come from the presence of the Lord. Such an one is entitled to all those triumphs which the apostles pat into the mouths of AGAI-^ST THE PLAGUE. 331 prepared Christians: " Who shall lay any thing to the charge of God's elect, it is God that justifies ; it is Christ that died, yea, latiier that is risen again ? There is no condemnation to them who are in Cnrist Jesus, who walk not alter the tlesh, but aiter the Spirit." Now such a justified state is a prepared state, " For whom he justified, them he also glorified." 3. We must become children of God by the grace of regeneration, and the favour of adoption. Rege- neration is a word used to express that divine nature we receive from God, as children do the nature of their father; we are born again, born from above, born of God, and like him. Adoption refers to all the happy privileges of the sons of God. Having predestinated us to the adoption of children to him- self, according to the good pleasure of his will, to the praise of the glory of his grace, wherein he hath made us accepted in fhe beloved, in whom we have redemption through his blood, even the forgiveness of sins, wherein he hath abounded towards us in all wisdom and prudence." Ephes. i. 5 — 8, A child of God dies into his Father's arms, and goes home to his Father's house, where there are many mansions, and one for him. Now we are the children of God by faith, and need not be anxious in life, as if we had nobody to take care of us, for our heavenly Father knows what things we have need of; nor be frighted in death, as if there were any thing more in it than a father's sending for a child home. 4. To be habitually prepared for death, we must be sanctified throughout, in body, soul, and spirit (1 Cor. viii. 34.), in every part, though it be in part only, that each faculty and power is so. " Without holiness no man shall see the Lord," Heb. xii. 14. S32 THE BEST PRESERVATIVE This is the work of God's Spirit, whereby we are renewed in the whole man, and are enabled, more and more, to die unto sin, and live unto righteous- ness. The graces which form the new creature are of his implanting; knowledge, faith, repentance, love to God and the brethren, godly fear, humility, which in the sight of God is of great price; self-denial, patience, experience, and hope which maketh not ashamed nor afraid ; the joy of the Lord, which is our strength, zeal to honour God, and do good to man : this is that oil in the vessel, the grace of God in the heart, with which the wise virgins went forth to meet the Bridegroom. They were foolish ones, indeed, that went forth to meet him in death or judgement, with a lamp of a shining profession only, without this grace in the heart. Foolish indeed ! to think that a mere profession could do any thing for them. Foolish ! to put oft' preparing for the coming of the Bridegroom, till the midnight cry ; or to expect admittance after the door was shut. These are things in which consist habitual prepa- ration : and if we are indeed converted to God, and justified from all our sins; if we are the children of God, and sanctified by the graces of the Spirit of God : we need not fear w hat death can do unto us, let it come in what shape it will, either of a plague, or common fever, or under any other aspect. Justi- fication is a relative change, or a change of state; sanctification is a real change, or a change of the temper and spirit of a man : an holy life is the fruit and evidence of both. Having oiir fruits unto holi- ness, the end is everlasting life: here the common saying comes in, in its proper place, that an holy life makes an happy death. Habitual preparation AGAINST THE PLAGUE. 333 being secured, the life of holiness that follows it is our actual preparation. It is not doing a few good works that must be called holiness, but such a life and coLU'se as naturall}'^ grows out of the state and fraoie before described ; between which, and the good works which unconverted sinners do too often depend upon, there is as much difference as between the boughs hung on upon a dead tree, and the fruit- ful branches that grow out of a living root. They who walk in the fear of God may expect, dying, the comforts of the Holy Ghost. " Blessed are the un- defiled in the way, that walk in the law of the Lord." " Christ did not redeem us only that we might die well, but that we might live well ; not only that we might be safe at last, but that we might glorify him here*." That " We might serve him without fear, in holiness and righteousness before him, all the days of our life" (Luke i.' 74, 75.) ; " Wherefore we labour, that whether present or absent we may be accepted." 2 Cor. v. 9. The best general rule of actual preparation that I know of, is that laid down by the apostle in Titus ii. 11 — 14. " To live soberly, righteously, and godly."- This, though it be a general and short account, includes every thing needful to actual preparation : the words are, " The grace of God, that bringeth salvation, hath appeared unto all men ; teaching us, that denying ungodliness and worldly lusts, we should live soberly, righteously, and godly, in this present world ; looking for that blessed hope, and the glorious appearance of the great God, and our Saviour Jesus Christ: who gave himself for us, that he might re- deem us from all iniquity, and purify unto himself a * Dr. Mantoii. 334 THE EEST PRESERVATIVE peculiar people zealous of good works." It is an ad- mirable place of Scripture, and very comprehensive. The grace of God. The doctrine of grace, and the prin- ciple of it, wherever it brings salvation, does teach to deny ungodliness and worldly lusts, and to live soberly, righteously^, and godly. If it does not so teach us, it has not appeared unto us in its efficacy, nor brought salvation ; that grace which has appeared unto all men in the doctrinal discovery, has appeared in its powerful efficacy only to those whom it teaches to deny ungodliness and worldly lusts; and to live soberly, righteously, and godly. The Old Testament calls it ceasing to do evil, and learning to do well: the Nev/ Testament calls it denying ungodliness and worldly lusts, and living soberly, righteously, and godly. Soberly, wisely, and moderately. In a wise mode- ration of appetite in meats, and drinks, and pleasures; so as not to unfit ourselves for the service of God, or the business of life ; so as not to impair health, rea- son, or estate ; so as not to inflame our lusts, or waste our time, which ought to be better employed : it includes the government of our passions, and a regular exercise of our desires and atfections. Con- tent witli those circumstances wherein we apprehend God will have us to remain, which is consistent enough with all allowed endeavours to make them better. Not distracted with the cares of this life, though employed about them, according to the duty of our station and calling. Not cast down with our troubles, nor lifted up with our advantages, though not insensible, of either. In our pleasures, taking care that they be such as may need no repentance, but what may belong to the common infirmities of AGAIKST THE PLAGUE. 335 life; still preferring the pleasures of religion, peace of conscience, joy in the Holy Ghost, and the pros- pect of our own share in the eternal world. To manage all our affairs with discretion, sobriety, and resignation, so as not to neglect our duty, or use unlawful waj'^s and means, sinful compliances, or distracting eagerness and greediness in the pursuit of present things. Righteously to live, respects our duty to man, and obliges to truth in our words, justice in our dealings, and not to be injurious to our neighbour's name, person, or estate ? much less to his soul, either by our example, discourse, or conversation ; all which is summed up in that most excellent rule of righte- ousness, the doing as we would be done by. But it is added, to complete the account and cha- racter of saving grace, that we are to live godly : and this has a regard to bur duty towards God : the believing his revelations, doing his commands, imi- tating the perfections and excellencies of his nature, giving to him the glory due to his name by our worship and homage, and sorrowing when we have offended: for surely the great God has his rights as well as men have theirs. Godliness is certainly as necessary as righteousness or sobriety. Let us see that none of these be wanting ; for none of them alone, and by themselves, is the Christian religion. Sobriety and righteousness is giving men their due ; but where is God's dujB ? What are these without godliness ? Or must these do instead of godliness ? As if when men had gone off clear with their rights, or Avhat is due to them, the great God had a right to nothing ; as if because you give to Caesar the things that are Caesar's, or to your neighbours the things that are. 336 THE BEST PRESERVATrVEE theirs, you were not to give God the things that are God's. Leave godliness out, and you may call your sobriety and righteousness by what name you please ; you cannot call it Christian religion : you may call it prudence, or moral philosophy, or any thing that will best suit the sobriety and righteousness that is without godliness, but it cannot be Christian reli- gion ; no more than religion itself can be without the idea of a God. A certain man tells me that he is sober in himself, and just to every body, is a good neighbour, and pays every one their own, and, says he, dj you think that God will not save such an one? I answer, not without godliness, if God him- self has informed us right. Where is your godliness ? You live soberly and righteously! very good; but why do you not add godly too ? You give to every one their due ! Is nothing due to God ; or is it all included in the duty to man ? Is not the wrath of God revealed from heaven against all ungodliness, as w^ell as unrighteousness of men ? Rom. i. 18. Against ungodliness, whereby God is robbed of his homage and service due to him ; as well as against unrighteousness, whereby we are injurious to men ? \^ou are sober, and do not injure your own body ; you are righteous, and do not injure your neighbour's property; but if you are not godly you have not the grace of God that brings salvation ; and can you be saved without the grace that brings salvation ? On the other hand, to pretend to godliness, without so- briety and righteousness, is so wild and absurd a thought as can only enter into the head of that man who can think, there is no absurdity at ail in a godly drunkard, a godly knave, or a gracious soul who is neither sober nor just. AGAINST THE PLAGUE. 337 And thus I have given the character of that life, which I think I may well call the actual preparation for death ; but there are a few particulars that are necessary to be pointed to, in order to actual readi- ness for death, and will be very subservient to it ; as, 1. To have the graces we spoke of in their daily exercise, in their power and strength ; actually exert- ing themselves: to have grace in the habit is one thing, to have grace in the exercise is another ; as it is one thing to have the armour hung up in the hall, and another to have it fitted on for immediate use. Try this rule through all the graces, and you will find it contain a great deal of actual preparation in it. He that daily lives by faith is the better prepared to die in the faith upon an immediate call. Thus he that dies daily to the world, by self-denial, is the more ready to die out of it. He who every night lies down as if it were 'to be his last, is the fitter to lie down for good and all. He whose patience works experience, and experience hope, which hope puri- fies the heart even as he is pure, is actually ready for the blessing of the pure in heart, for they shall see God ; and need not be concerned that he is blessed too soon by the promise taking place before to-mor- row. He who practises repentance daily finds it easier by being habitual ; and a shorter score lessens the apprehension of a reckoning-day. When he who lives in love comes to die, he goes off in a fit of love, which he shall never come out of. To live thus in the daily exercise of grace is like a man trained up in the use of arms, acquainted with their use, and ready for the combat ; while another must say, as David of Saul's armour, " 1 have not tried it.'* This daily exercise of the graces contributes to the z 338 THE BEST PRESERVATIVE clearer evidence that we have them. We can hardly; doubt that we have the grace that we find we daily use. Besides exercise gives strength and vigour to all habits, and that prepares it for an occasion that will need it all ; hereby our love is made perfect, " That we may have boldness in the day of judge- ment'' ("1 John iv. 17.) : by what ? By dwelling in love (ver. 18.), actual living upon God by faith, living to him by obedience, and living in him by love ; hereby the heart is purified, the conscience i^ peace- ful ; a sweet correspondence is maintained between Christ and the soul ; death is conquered ; heaven opened ; and an abundant entrance administered. 2. The daily mortification of our corruptions ; the weakening more their power is a useful instance of actual preparation. Not only that the dominion of sin may be destroyed, but that it may be brought low ; for want of which it has sometimes made dread- ful sallies, even in some good men, to the wounding their own souls and religion too. 3. Have a care of deliberate sin. Watch in parti- cular against the sin that does most easily beset you. If you would be actually ready keep yourselves from your own iniquities. It is very uncomfortable for death and sin to stare us in the face together. 4. The practical improvement of every talent, and the account of them ready, is a great part of our actual preparation. To every servant the Lord has delivered some of his goods; to one he gave five talents, to another two, and to another one ; to every one according to his several abilities, Matt, xxv.14,15. Now since the dying-time is one season of account- ing for these trusts, it must needs bi-long to actual preparation to have those accounts ready, in order to AGAINST THE PLAGUE. 339 give an account of our stewardship, when we must be no longer stewards. Whatsoever we receive from God is both a gift and a talent : a gift, as it is freely bestowed ; a talent as it is to be improved and accounted for. Every one has some or other of these, some more, some less. Answer- able to our present talents will be our future account. The actual improvement of these, and ready account of them, is a great part of our actual readiness, and is the very thing itself understood by our Lord's find- ing us so doing. Our talents are life, health, and strength ; reputa- tion and riches ; interests and friendship ; authority, power, and influence over others. Time, leisure, and opportunity ; learning and knowledge : these are our talents. And when God gave them he did not say, take these and wallo\y in all the luxury they can minister to ; melt down your precious time in these ; plume your pride, and gratify your sensuality. No ; but when he gave them he said, occupy till 1 come ; I give you these to set up with for eternity. \ou are bankrupts for ever if you thrive not upon them ; you are denominated profitable, or unprofitable ser- vants, according to the issue. If they be wicked servants, who, by slothfulness, have not improved their talents, what are they who, by wickedness, have sacrificed them to the devil, and their ou'n lusts ? 5. To have and keep our evidences for heaven clear and plain, is a part of actual readiness. If faith and love, if repentance and holiness, are evidences of an interest in Christ, and in the heavenly happiness ; if these are the things, without v.hich it is impossible to be saved, and with which it is impossible to be z 2 340 THE BEST PRESERVATIVE damned ; the keeping these clear and discernible must needs be a great part of our actual readiness for dying. 6. To have our house m order, as well as our souls. It is the direction of a great prophet to a great king, " Set thy house in order, for thou shalt die,^' 2 Kings XX. 1. Put every thing in such a posture and con- dition as may answer all the purposes of equity and justice, charity and love, when you are gone ; that there may be no need, upon a death-bed, of disturbing or employing your thoughts upon worldly matters at that time; but according to the common petition, and a very good one too when we come to die, we may have nothing to do but to die; nothing of that worldly sort that concerns the dis- posal of our worldly affairs ; nothing that may either disturb or employ our thoughts, or call them away from those heavenly views that yield support to the dying patient, and give aim to the soul in its flight from this lower world. Allowance must be made for tlie variety of people's circumstances in the world, for the nature and situ- ation of affairs, which may be so different as may ren- der it utterly impossible to have them all actually stated in the same manner: but in all cases whatso- ever the rule is good ; that so far as we can we order our affairs so, that they may give us no trouble when dying, nor others afterward. It was a good reproof to one who seemed to mind every body's business more than his own ; wdio was anxiously concerning himself what such a king would do next: what would be tlie consequence of the motion of such an arnjy iti one place; what AGAINST THE PLAGUE. 341 \vouId be the issue of such a congress in another. Get you home, says one to him, and consider what will be the condition of your family, how your own matters will be after your death, which may happen this night. j^7. Maintain a spirit weaned from this world, and suited to the other. Be not fond of life ; get cured as much as you can of that hankering after this life, that makes men unhandsomely catch at it, loath to let it go, though it be to lay hold of eternal life. A spirit suited to the other world will have a spring that way : it is natural to the new nature, as it is to the old, to feel a sweet attraction towards the native soil. Every thing naturally tends to its element and centre of rest. The soul that is born from above aspires thither. The cares of life, and the snares of the world, and the corruptions in flesh, hinder it a great deal, even in the best ;' nevertheless, all that is truly heavenly in us has this property in some degree. Be reconciled to the work of dying. In order to that familiarize it to your own mind, by often acting over the scene in your own thoughts. This was the practice of a good man, with whose words I close this branch of the subject. " vSometimes (says he) in my contemplation I die, I strip myself of all, and bid farewell to my dearest friends. My fancy wraps my body in its winding-sheet, and wafts my soul to God. I enter, as far as 1 can, into heaven, and I dwell there : and so the taste of the other world, like eating of manna, makes my palate too nice for the garlic and onions of Egypt*." IV. This preparation for death is the best preser- vative against the plague. ■* Dr. Lucas's Practical Christianity, page 227. z 3 342 THE BEST PRESERVATIVE To be converted from the evil of our ways; to be justified freely by God's grace; to become the chil- dren of God by the grace of regeneration, and the favour of adoption ; to be sanctified in heart and life ; to live godly, righteously, and soberly, instead of abounding in wickedness. This would save a nation.,; for " If my people, which are called by my name, shall humble themselves, and pray, and seek my face, and turn from their wicked ways ; then will I hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin, and will heal their land." 2 Chron. vii. 14. If good people, who are habitually ready, would actually prepare to meet their God ; in the daily exercise of grace, mor- tification of their corruptions, careful avoidance of deliberate sin ; in the improvement of their talents, in keeping their evidences for heaven bright and clear; if they would set their house in order, and get their spirits weaned from this world, and suited to a better, and be reconciled to the work of dying in order to go to it : such persons have nothing to fear that can do them any hurt. " Say unto the righteous it shall be well with them." This is not the character of a peo- ple whom the Lord will destroy. Plagues are not sent upon such errands. Pardon upon repentance is the voice both of the word, and of the rod of God. Set yourselves rightly to prepare for it, and it is impossible to miss one of these two comforts ; that if it comes you are ready for it ; and if it does not, you escape two plagues at once ; that of Marseilles, which kills the body, and that of sin, which destroys the soul. What mercy was ever promised in any other way, or is to be expected ? Without this preparation, our prayers are no more than telling of beads; for " If AGAINST THE PLAGUE. 343 we regard iniquity in our hearts, the Lord will not hear us.'^ Psal. ixvi. 18. To pray against God's judgements with the very same evil spirit or practice which those judgements are called forth to avenge, is only adding to our other sins the hypocrisy of mock- ing God, and deceving men. But if we are renewed in the spirit of our minds ; if our reformation go deep as our hearts, and spread wide as our lives; if we bring forth the fruits meet for repentance, though the axe were at the root of the tree, it should not be hewn down, and cast in tlie fire : but he that dies, though it were of the plague, is only transplanted into a better soil. " At what instant I shall speak concerning a nation, and concerning a kingdom, to pluck up, and to pull down, and to destroy ; if that nation, against whom I have pronounced, turn from their evil, 1 will repent of the evil that 1 thought to do unto them." Jer. xviii. 7, 8. Which is the true account of the salvation of Ninevah, after it had been proclaimed, that " Yet forty days and Ninevah shall be destroyed" (Jonah iii. 4.), for " God saw their works, that they turned from their evil ways ; and God repented of the evil that he had said that he would do unto them." Jonah iii. 10. Had they entered into fierce disputings one with another about the possibility of being saved, after a denunciation in so absolute a form ; or about the immutability of the divme decrees: had they gone to worrying one another about the sense of the threatening, and the extent of it; about the hopes that could arise from fasting, prayer, and reformation ; and in what manner such a method could operate ; they had been all lost. Some of them might indeed have shown tlieir parts wonderfully, and whilst all perished misera- z 4 344 THE BEST PRESERVATIVE bly, no doubt but some would have gone down to destruction more in the right than others. But, oh, how much more excellent a way did the Spirit of God show to these poor penitent heathens ? And what a warm impression does it make upon our hearts to observe the ground upon which they pro- ceed in all this ? Ver. 9. " Who can tell if God will turn and repent, and turn away from his fierce anger, that we perish not ?" If we will cry mightily to God, and turn, every one of us, from our evil ways, we may not only say, who can tell, &c. but we can say, we know this to be the way to mercy and salvation, temporal and eternal ; as appears by the many sweet and precious promises he has made, too numerous to be brought into this discourse. The ninety-first psalm is supposed to have been written upon occasion of some public calamity like what we fear ; speaking of the good man that dwells in the secret place of the most High, and makes God his refuge and fortress, he says, " He shall not be afraid of the terrors by night, nor of the arrow that flies by day; nor for the pestilence that walketh in darkness ; nor for destruction that wasteth at noon- day. Though thousands fall at thy side, and ten thousand at thy right-hand ; but it shall not come nigh thee. Only with thine eyes shalt thou behold and see the reward of the wicked." Psal. xci, 5 — 8. If it should come upon us we need not scruple to call it the reward of our wickedness; as without breaking in upon the charity our Lord recommended to us from the story of the Galileans, we may call it a reward of their wickedness where it now rages. Suspicions indeed without cause are ungodly. Evil surmises (/. occasioned by the death of Mrs. Susannah Rudge, December 25. 1715. 370 PRECIOUS DEATH. as for want of breath, and breathes his last only to breathe his soul into the hands of a faithful Creator and merciful Redeemer. It is such a death that is the occasion of our pre- sent solemnity. It is such a person we have lately taken our leave of; and having lodged in the dust ail that was dust, all that could die, the never-dying spirit is gone to the enjoyment of that happiness, to secure which is the greatest business of lite, and to enjoy which it is at any time Avorth our wliile to die. And if at any time, much more in a good old age, and full of days, when the relish for the things of this world is expired before us, and a fondness even for lite itself. After an old disciple' has been walking with God, and all the days of his appointed time has been waiting till his change come, when the time does come he seems rather to get rid of life, and its incumbrances, than to have it taken from him; and the good soul mounts away like a bird that has slip- ped its string, and finds itself to have recovered its native element and freedom. Such dying is desira- ble to all men, and precious in the sight of the Lord. It is desirable to all men ; '- Oh let me die the death of the righteous, and my last end be as his !" and " Precious in the sight of the Lord is the death of his saints." This psalm was composed in acknowledgement of some signal deliverance ; to be a standing monument of God's goodness, and the author's gratitude. What the particular occasion was is not easy to determine ; it was something very threatening, frightful, and afflictive, that he calls " The sorrows of death which compassed him about, and the pains of hell which took hold upon him, he found trouI)le and sorrow^' PRECIOUS DEATH. 371 (ver. 3.), to that degree, that he was ready to throw up all in dispair, and say, " That all men were liars" (ver. 6.), the prophets themselves not excepted : whatever it was, he takes the course that all good men do in their afflictions ; he goes to God in ear- nest prayer ; he prays ; God hears, saves, delivers ; in return he indi es this psal.n, which begins with love (ver. 1.), " I will love the Lord because he hath heard the voice of my supplications,^' and ends with praise (ver. last), " Praise ye the Lord." If we take the words strictly, in reference to their occassion and context, they are an observation made upon the care God showed of his life, and his mer- ciful regard to his preservation : Q. D. 1 have found by experience, that though mine enemies have often sought my life, God will not easily give me up to them, nor suffer me to become their prey. As small a matter as the life or death of a saint may appear in the eye of the world, God sets a great price upon it, and will not fling it away as a trifle. For wise ends he suffers the wicked sometimes to take it away: but they shall pay dearly for it dne day, for robbing the world of that usefulness, and God of that glory, which the life of a saint brings, and which makes their death so precious in his sight. But I know nothing should hinder us from considering them as an absolute truth in themselves, containing this pro- position, that the death, as well as life ot a saint, has that in it that makes it precious in the sight of God. I shall treat of, L The Character of the person spoken of, " His saints." IL That which is said of them, that their death is precious in the sight of the Lord. B b2 372 PRECIOUS DEATH. I. The character of the persons spoken of, " His saints." God always has had, and always will have, a cer- tain number in the world, whom he will own to be his saints. This is the character 1 am to draw, and it is with a great deal of pleasure I set myself to do it ; because all the while the pencil is in my hand, I have a saint in my eye. Every feature I can set on, every air and colour 1 can lay, will be taken from the life, spirit, and temper, of our departed friend ; and when I shall have done and finished the whole piece, I am sure those who knew her best will be ready to say, this is she. A saint then is one whose understanding is en- lightened with the knowledge of God, in Jesus Christ, whom to know it is eternal life ; whose will is sub- jected, in a prevailing measure, to the will of God; whose affections are sanctified, so as to love what God loves, and to hate what God hates. This regu- lation of will and affections proves the knowledge of God to be saving grace, which otherwise would be no more than intellectual accomplishment. A saint is a person that fears God, and hates evil. That fears God's displeasure more than any sorrow, and values his favour more than all other pleasures. " Thy loving-kindness is better than life." One that makes the Word of God the rule of his life ; and the glory of God, and the salvation of his own soul, the end of it. His great soul disdains the thought of any thing for his portion and happiness short of God ; whom he takes to be his most excellent portion and sovereign Lord ; to whom he gives himself up in covenant, to be governed, disposed, and saved in his own wa\^; that is, in the way of faith, repentance, and perse- PRECIOUS DEATH. 373 vering holiness : this discovers itself in those gracious qualities which form a character agreeable to the several renderings of this word here translated saints. They are meek and merciful, just and holy, useful and beneficent : they have an inward principle of grace implanted in them by the Spirit of God, which becomes habitual by practice, whereby they maintain an irreconcilable war against the world, the flesh, and the devil ; against the world with all its snares, the flesh with its corrupt inclinations, the devil with his temptations : against all these, striving to live godly, righteously, and soberly in this evil world. In which warfare, though sometimes corruptions may betray, and temptations may surprise (as God knows they too often do), yet, through the constant supply of strength from Christ, and under the direction and influence of the blessed Spirit, in the use of the appointed means, they, .growing in grace, and going on to perfect holiness in the fear of God, shall finally overcome, and be more than conquerors through him that hath loved us. These we call saints : these have a right to the name for the only reason that can give it; that is, because they are holy ; these we call saints, in spite of the sneer of a prolane world, that know nothing of the matter, in spite of the pretensions of the bishop of Rome, to the sole power of conferring that deno- mination. We regard not his canonization any more than we do his indulgences and pardons; all which pretensions, together with the other grave cheat, of the keys of heaven and hell, have always been of more service to himself in this world, and those who divide the spoil with him, than ever they are like to be to anv body in the next. Bb3 flW4 PRECIOUS DEATH. These we will call saints, in spite of all those names of obloquy, that party-heat and zeal may sometimes throw about. May my eternal lot be with those whom God and his word will own to be such, in the day when God shall say, " Gather my saints together, such as have made a covenant with me by sacrifice." I am not a real Christian ; but so far as I am holy in heart and life, and so tar as 1 am holy, so far 1 am a saint : the very character and title to which all true Christians are called: " Unto the church of God which is at Corinth, to them that are sanctified in Christ Jesus, called to be saints." 1 Cor. i. 2. Some saints are more eminent than others, for which reason we say St. Peter and St. Paul by way of eminence; their commission was extraordinary, so were their giftjs and graces, as well as their success in that work of the Gospel in which they were first employed ; all extraordinary, Yet he whom we call St. Paul gives the same title to all the members of the Corinthian church, as that character to which they were called; called to be saints, because all Christians, so far as they are true Christians, are saints, whose names are written, not in the calen- dars of men's approbation, but in the book of life. There the honour will abide sure to them, and will be enjoyed by them when all the calendars in the world shall be burnt up, and time and days shall be no more to be measured by them. Our departed sister was all this I have described a saint by to a very exemplary degree. It is the greatest thing that can be said of a creature, that it is like its God. lie places his own glory in his holi- ness — " Glorious in holiness." Certainly then, to be holy, must needs be our greatest glory. These are PRECIOUS DEATH. 375 the persons, who shall one day look great and glo- rious, when the greatest monarch that ever waved a sceptre (in resemblance of the power of God) shall make a sorry figure if destitute of the more amiable but less coveted resemblance of the holiness and and goodness of God. Men may agree among them- selves to call things by what names they will, and give one another what titles they please ; but when they have done all, God is the fountain of honour as well as of being and excellence ; and every one is more or less honourable according to the resemblance they bear to him. If she ever mentioned the former companion of her life, his honourable character, ample fortunes, or endeared affections ; if she ever ran over, with a pleasing reflection, the flourishing branches that sprang from them, their numbers, their dutiful regard to her, their reputation, honours, and prosperity, it was with design and care ; apparently to be thankful to God rather than to gratify any vanity of her own ; vanity so common a thing, and too often to be ob- served, even where there is far less temptation. Methinks I see with what seriousness and humi- lity she used to lift up her pale hands when the con- versation turned upon these things ; first in acknow- ledgement of her own unworthiness, and then in some hearty prayers, that the grace of God, and the heavenly happiness, might be the crown of all their other advantages to her and hers. Besides the esssentials of Christianity that secure another world, she had a great deal of that which was ornamental ; of that sweetness of temper, and friendliness to all; of that humility which, in the sio'ht of God, is of great price, joined with that B b 4 \ 376 PRECIOUS DEATH. smartness, sprightliness, and vigour, that while she knew how to take upon her what was indeed her due upon many accounts, and make every one know their place, she acquired at the same time new honours by her lovely condescension to persons of low degree. She abounded in charity of both kinds, both as it signifies giving to the poor, which, the apostle says, a man may do, even all his goods, and yet not have charity ; and as it signifies candour and love to our brethren, without which, all faith, all gifts, all mira- cles, all communions, here or there, are declared to be vain. As to her charity to the poor, she did not refer all to her death. They who are resolved to do no good that way till they die, it is no great matter how soon that is ; and sometimes it provokes God to think so too. Nor did she disable herself from doing largely at her death, for which many poor creatures do now rise up and call her blessed. The other notion of charity, her candour and love to all good persons was truly catholic. Her maxim was, to adhere to what she conscientiously preferred, and allow to others the same liberty, and to love all that love the Lord Jesus Christ in sincerity, though they cannot all see the same things in the Bible. This was what she first learned out oP the New Testament, and grew up, and was confirmed in by the ministry of this place, many years under your former excellent pastor, and I hope had lost no ground in it since I have been among you, who have so often inculcated this, that no article of faith is more necessary to the doctrine of Christianity than this is to the temper of it. When those who were lately in power thought PRECIOUS DEATH. 377 it necessBry to their designs to diffuse an uncharita- ble, violent, and inhuman spirit, how have I heard her bewail that ever the holy name of religion should be prostituted to the destruction of its chief excel- lence, and most useful property, in this world, and beneficial to society, a Christian temper, and tlie love of one another ! She has been for many years an honourable mem- ber of this church. The pains I have seen her take to get into this place, after all the convenience she had of coming to it ; her short breath, feeble limbs, pale, but venerable and cheerful looks, 1 have often thought has upbraided the negligence and laziness of younger and stronger persons ; and when she was got hither, she was a most serious and attentive hearer. Her love to good discourse in conversation with men, and her love to prayer for converse with God, were real evidences of a godly spirit : when she could hardly speak a sentence she would call for prayer by pronouncing the word prayer, prayer. She was serious without sourness, and cheerful without Jevity. There was no affectation or demurencss in her seriousness, no unguardedness of spirit in her cheerfulness. As the youngest person found a plea- sure in such a cheerful old age, and found no other awe upon thern than what proceeded from their love and esteem of her, so the eldest found an entertain- ment and a pattern. After she had run an honour- able course, the promise that was made to Abraham was fulfilled to this daughter of Abraham ; " Thou shalt go to thy Fathers in peace, and shall be buried in a good old age." Gen. xv. 15. She all along leaned to the doubtfid side as to her case and state, on purpose to avoid the more dan- 378 PRECIOUS DEATH. gerous one of being too confident. When the con- nexion between grace and glory was laid before her, as certain from the promises and covenant of grace, and as comfortable, able to support under sickness, and carry through death ; and as her own, upon those gospel-terms of faith, repentance, and holiness, the evidences of which she must not deny, and could not disown, however mean she might think of herself: she would still answer, " Aye, if I were sure that I bad that grace to which those promises are made." If this abated any thing of her comfort for a time it added to her safety, and in the reflection became an argument for her conifort too ; as it was an additional evidence of sincerity to be willing to know the worst of her state, and the utmost of her duty. When, in her last sickness, I once took directions from her mouth what I should more particularly pray for, I easily perceived the posture of her soul by the answer that she made, " Pray for patience to bear the pains and troubles of sickness ; pardon of all sins ; the evidence of that pardon ; acceptance with God in the beloved, our Lord Jesus Christ; a welcome^ reception into his presence. The nearer she came to her end the more her assurance grew ; and when doubts and scruples were in some measure answered, at length we heard those words, " I thank God I have no clouds nor fear remaining." From that time we stood round the dying as curious spectators, to see, to observe, how heaven met the travelling soul upon its way ; to learn to die; to see religion in some of its grandeur; to catch now and then an ejaculation from her lips, and carry it on, and improve it a little to her comfort, and our own edification ; and finailv, to see a mortal PRECIOUS DEATH. 379 triumph over death, and through faith and patience, more than a conqueror, through the blood of the Lamb. And after she had, with the majesty of an ancient patriarch, given the last admonitions and blessings to the several branches of her family, she waited but a little while for leave to die, to use her own words. II. We are now to observe what is said of persons of this character, of the saints ; namely, that their death is precious in the sight of the Lord. They die as we' I as others; they must not, they, of all men, would not live always. Holiness is no acquittance from the grave, though it be a protection from hell. The first man whose death we read of was righteous y\bcl. Your fathers, where are they? and the prophets, do they live for ever? Did any of them so much as dream that an exemption from death was one privilege of the covenant of grace. No, no ; Enoch and Elijah both look upon their own translation to be as much a singularity as any of us can do. Besides, they were holy; therefore fit to die, fit for heaven ; for that reason it is not fit that such as they should always stay in this world. But God loved them, and why do they die whom God loved ? 1 answer, sometimes the rather because be loves them, loves them so well, as not to continue their trials, or lengthen their pains, or delay their happi- ness. " Where 1 am, there shall my servant be, that he may behold my glory." But lias not Christ abo- lished death, and conquered death ; why then does it continue thus to prey upon its saints ? 1 answer, Christ never pretended, by his dying, to save the saint from temporal death: he has delivered them 3S0 PRECIOUS DEATH. from the tormenting fears of death, from its sting, and from its destructive consequences ; he has taken care that the good person shall not be one hair of the head the worse for dying*, but an infinite gainer; like their Lord, they conquer by dying ; or else it were a jest to triumph where there was no conquest ; as, *' O, death, where is thy sting ? O, grave, where is thy victory ? Thanks be to God, who hath given us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ." To insist therefore upon it, that the reparation by the second Adam should be in kind, is unreasonable ; not only as it arraigns the wisdom and counsels of God, which are infinitely beyond us ; but as it would be to our loss, as much as heaven is beyond Paradise ; as immortality and eternal life, or an happiness that is indefeasable, is beyond the precarious state of bless- edness that may be lost. Let God take his own way to fit us for heaven, and bring us to it, and let us not set our little wits to show him a better way than he has appointed. Die a saint must, but his death is precious in the sight of Godt. He esteems it as a thing of vast consideration ; he has his eye much upon it, as people have upon that which is dear to them. He does very much interest and concern himself in it. Certainly he that counts the good man's steps, which are ordered by the Lord, will order this last most important step, the step from one world to another ! He that numbers the hairs of their head, that " Not one falls to the - * Luke xxi. 16. " And some of you shall, they cause to be put to death ;" " But there shall not an liair of your head perish." ver*. 16. Put to death ; yet not an hair perish. "f The several renderings of the original word here rhay be laid together to complete the gense. PRECIOUS DEATH. 381 ground without our Father," suffers not the head itself to be laid in the dust without himself! No! He presides during the whole operatifm ; he unties the vital knot, whatsoever happens to be the instru- ment; and when the separation is made he wraps up the one part in his bosom, and lays up the other part safe in the grave ; takes care of it all the while it lies there, to have it forth-coming upon the call of the last trumpet, and not one needful particle shall be wanting, however it may have been scattered and dispersed. What is there in the death of a poor, sighing, dying, suffering saint, whether rich or poor, high or low, that should make it so precious in the sight of God ? I answer, 1. Their persons are precious in the sight of God. The Holy Ghost has put together all the precious things in the world, to represent how precious the peo- ple of God are to him. The world sometimes counts them the off-scouring of the earth ; he calls them his peculiar treasure, and where the treasure is there the heart will be, especially when it is removing from one world to the other. The world sometimes cries> away with them, they are not worthy to live : God says, " The world is not worthy of them.^^ Heb. xi. 38. The world has a thousand terms of reproach to cast upon them ; he calls them his portion, inheri- tance, jewels, glory, crown, diadem, the care of his providence, and the delight of his heart. " Thou shalt be mine in the day when 1 make up my jewels." Mai. iii. 17. " Thou shalt also be a crown and a glory in the hand of the Lord, and a royal diadem in the hand of thy God ; thou shalt no more be termed forsaken, nor shall thy land be termed any more 382 PRECIOUS DEATH. desolate, but thou shalt be called Hephshebah, for my delight is in her." Isa. Ixii. 3. They are persons of the most precious characters, as before described, and stand in the most precious relations to God in Jesus Christ. He is their Mas- ter, Lord, and King: their Friend, their Father, their Maker is their Husband, the Lord of Host is his name. The love of ail these relations meet in him. Think with what heart and mind, with what tender- ness of affection, such relations would stand round the dying relation ; and then think with yourself, if I do but die in the Lord, his single eye upon me will be all this, and infinitely more, as he infinitely exceeds all other relations in love and goodness, power and wisdom. This is comfort to them that die alone, w^io either have no such relations, or by providence are obliged to expire at a distance from them. And that which adds yet more comfort to this thought is this, that death, which dissolves all other relations, even the nearest and dearest, consummates this, and brings us nearer than ever. 2. " Precious in the sight of the Lord is the death of his saints," because it is another thing to what it naturally was, and is still to the ungodly man. They arc alike in common appearance, as the brazen serpent was in shape and appearance like the fiery ones that stung ; but it had no poison, no sting, it healed the wounds the fiery serpents gave ; the sting of death is sin, and where that is forgiven, the sting is removed, and the death of such an one is another thing : for (as it has been often observed on such a subject as this) the death of a saint is neither total, nor perpetual, nor penal in the same sense with that of the wicked, nor detrimental. PRECIOUS DEATH. 383 Not total ; it is but a part of me that dies ; the other, the belter part, is out of reach, and never lived more truly and properly than since it has shook off that flesh and blood that cannot enjoy the kingdom of God. The ungodly are not so, they die totally; the body by dissolution, the soul by damnation ; not by extinction of being, but by sentence to the worm that never dies, and the fire that is not quenched ; the body is thrown into the grave, there to lie and rot; the soul is thrown into hell, which is the second death*. Nor is the death of a saint perpetual; even that part that drops into the grave shall rise again ; the grave shall never be able to keep it any longer than the appointed time. " O grave, I will be thy de- struction." Hos. xiii. 14. He that brake its bars, and triumphed over all its powers, by his own resur- rection, will redeem the purchased possession of every saint's body that lies waiting tor the adoption, to wit, the redemption of their body. Rom. viii. 23. It is true the wicked also have their resurrection; but how gladly would they rather lie for ever in their dust and darkness than be brought out as criminals, that are taken out of prison only to be set to the bar? John viii. 28. " The hour is coming in the which all that are in the graves shall hear his voice (ver-29), and shall come forth ; they that have done good unto the resurrection of life, and that they have done evil unto the resurrection of damnation.'^ Again ; the death of a saint is not penal in the same sense, and as it is the punishment to the wicked. Rom viii.. 1. "There is no condemnation to them that are in Christ Jesus," and where * Rev. XX. 14. " Into the lake of fire; this is the second death." 384 PRECIOUS DEATH. there is no proper condemnation, there is no proper execution ; especially, considering further, that it is not detrimental in the issue (Phil. i. 21.) : " For them to live is Christ, and to die is gain." And therefore death is reckoned in the inventory (as some call it) of the Christianas possessions : 1 Cor. iii. 21, 22. " For all things are yours (for your use, benefit, advantage, and salvation), whether Paul, or ApoUos, or Cephas, or the world, or life, or death, or things present, or things to come, all are yours." 3. '' Precious in the sight of the Lord," &c.because of the honour which the death of a saint brings to the Lord Jesus Christ. As the Father loves the Son upon account of what he has done and suffered for our good : John x. 17. " Therefore doth my Fa- ther love me, because I lay down my life, and I take it up again." vSo does he love us upon account of what we do for the Son's honour and glory : John xii. 26. " If any man love me, him will my Fa- ther honour." Every thing is precious to him that brings honour to Jesus Christ. Now the death of a saint brings a great deal of honour to Christ. There is one more who, through the grace of a Mediator, has conquered the world, the flesh, and the devil, struggling with his last enemy, and shall overcome by the blood of the Lamb. I undertook for him (may the Redeemer say), and here he is. I have led him through the wilderness of this world ; 1 have now brought him to the gates of the grave; I will not leave him there,, but will keep him company through the valley of the shadow of death. It is my business to see he takes no harm, I will show him the path of life. I know, O Lord (says the dying saint), thou wilt PRECIOUS DEATH. 385 not forsake me now, " Thy rod and thy staff will comfort me ; thou will show me the path of life." Thou wilt present me to the Father without spot. I carry thy blood upon me to the Holy of Holies, and thy good Spirit will finish me for the " Spirits of just men made perfect." Thou wilt show me to the inha- bitants of the upper world, as another seal to the value of thy death, the merit of thy blood, the preva- lence of thine intercession; another monument of the truth of thy promises, the wisdom of thy con- duct, the efficacy of thy grace, the unfailing certainty of thy covenant : yea, Lord, upon this I have, in my life, ventured my all, and built all my hopes, and upon these I will now venture my parting soul : I know in whom I have believed. As thou hast made me, in some measure, faithful to the death, so if thou wilt now give me a crown of life I will lay it at thy feet, where all the heavenly hosts cast down their crowns. It is no new, nor unusual thing, for me to give myself, body and soul to thee ; it is what thou knowest I have often done: had 1 never given them up to thee, but when 1 could keep them no longer, as in a last will and testament on a death-bed, I should have reason to suspect the sincerity of the dedication, and certainty of thine acceptance ; but I have done it upon my conversion, in solemnly taking upon myself my baptismal dedication : I have often done it at a sacrament, and often in my closet ; and since it is no new thing to me I can now do it with the greater confidence. And as to my soul, may say, with St. Stephen, Lord Jesus, receive my spirit : and as to my body, thou wilt, in thy due time, make it like to thine own glorious body. 4. '' Precious in the sight ofthe Lord," &c. for the c c ^36 rRECIOl?S DEATH. honour done to religion, by the behaviour of a dying saint. This, we must confess, must be understood only in proportion to that nieasure of grace, that strength of mind, and clearness of apprehension, that favours the occasion, and that degree of comfort God is pleased to bestow. All saints do not die alike in this particular. But to see a saint dying hke him- self! with patience under present pains, faith in future rewards and blessings, with contempt of this world, and trust in God for the future ; though he slay him, yet trusting in him! This makes religion look glorious. It is then (as the Jews say) the divine majesty sits upon the bed's head of a dying saint. By how much the more terrible death is to nature, by so much \he more glorious above human nature does the triumphant mortal appear. The sayings of one upon the brink of eternity are next to those of one returned from the dead ; they stand upon the borders of both worlds, and speak- ing to us (as one says) with some of the fruits of Canaan in their mouths, they bring up a glorious report upon the good land*. 5. " Precious in the sight of the Lord," &c. because * Dr. A. Rivet, under pains of a distemper that can hardly be thou"-bt of >vithout trembling, thus addresses himself to God : " Lord, tho'i kuowest my weakness and intirmity, permit not the grievousness of my pains to cast me into any impatience or mur- muring. Either make my pains less, or furnish me with constancy sufficient to bear them, that I may not offend." And he adds, " Let all men have access to visit me. I ought to give an example of dying to other men, as I have taught them how to live." See Dr. Rivefs Last Hours. It is said of Mr. Ambrose, tliat composing himself to expire dfcceutlv, he sat himself down in his chair, and lifting up his eyes PRECIOUS DEATH. 387 it is the last stroke they are to bear. With this, all sighing and sorrow is ended, and all enemies have done their worst. 6. " Precious in tlie sight of the Lord," &c. because it is the opportunity of bringing those he loves nearer to himself. Where there is a great deal of affection, that which is the means of bringing such persons together after a long distance is precious to both. With what extasy did old Jacob look upon the waggons that were come from Joseph to fetch them down to Egypt? "And when he saw them, the spirit of Jacob, their father revived." Gen. xlv. 27. The reason was, because Joseph was precious to him, and Benjamin. In this sense, and upon these accounts, the death, ofa saint is precious in the sight of God, because their persons and lives are so ; their death is another thing to what it naturally was, and is still to the ungodly man, because of th@ honour which the death ofa saint brings to the Lord Jesus Christ; and to religion and its principles, by the behaviour of a dying saint, because it is the last stroke they are to bear; and that which brings the two loving parties near to one another, so as never to part more. I close all with a few practical remarks. 1. Let a saint die where, and how, and when he will ; by whatsoever casuality or distemper, whether by a sudden death, or slow, there is still something in it that makes it precious in the sight of God. to heaven, with these words, " Angels, do your office," which they immediately did : he died that instant. Martyrdom itself, which is dying for religion, is hardly more glorious than dying thus under the power of it, and its principles. c c 2 388 PRECIOUS DEATH. All the world cannot make it otherwise; thougb 3ome excellent pei-sons, dear to God, have suffered some crud deaths in dungeons, on the wheel, on the gallows ; and the enemies have studied to make their deaths shameful as well as painful ; have denied them what they call Christian burial ; yet all the malice of men, or devils in hell, cannot hinder but the death of a saint will be precious in the sight of the Lord upon such accounts as these : precious in the sigiit of the Lord was the death of Lazarus upon a dunghill, pining with hunger, pained with sores; and abominable in the sight of the Lord was that of Dives, with all the luxury of his life, and the pomp and show of his funeral after death. 2. " God will avenge the death of his saints upon persecutors." That which renders the death of a saint so pre- cious must needs make the vengeace very heavy that shall fall upon the persecutors, when he comes to make inquisition for blood. " He hath ordained his arrows as^ainst the Persecutors." Psal. iii 12. Precious in the sight of the Lord is the blood of his saints ; and when he comes to make inquisi- tion for blood he will not forget the cry of the humble ; no, not of the meanest Christian. Shall not God avenge his elect ? Doubtless he will avenge them, and that speedily. And what a reckoning has Babylon to make, in whose skirts is found the blood of the saints and martyrs ! 3. This should qualify and moderate 'our sorrows upon the decease of our godly friends. Their persons and lives were precious to us, and so should their deaths be to us, as they are in the sight of God: for their work is done, their race is PRECIOUS DEATH. 389 i'un, their reward is received, their sorrows are ended, their endless joys are begun. God has continued them so long in mercy to us, and now taken them away in mercy to themselves. It would be selfish- ness to wish them out of their present happiness, merely that they might be with us : but might not their happiness be delayed? And why not yours cut short, as well as theirs delayed ? Why should they not die for their own gain, pleasure, and felicity, as well as live for yours ? 4. One word to poor sinners. You see the death of a saint is precious in the sight of God ; yours is not so. You have neither part nor lot in this matter. In what manner will you die, and after how different a way ? If conscience is awaken- ed, it will be in a frightful manner to yourself and all about you. If stupid and insensible, your neighbours may call your insensibility " Going off like a lamb ;" but the Scripture represents it, '' Dying like the beasts that perish." Where is your hope, when God taketh away your soul ? What will you do ? Where will you go ? You will not be carried by angels to the bosom of Abraham, but dragged by devils Lo the bar of God ; arrested for a debt ^ou can never pay, dragged to an execution that Will never be over; thrown into a prison from whence there is no redemption, and where " The worm dieth not, and the fire is not quenched." Dreadful ! a poor creature lies dying, and thinking thus — my 'possessions 1 must let go, my name must rot; my hopes will expire with me, and be like the giving up of the ghost. My soul, oh, my soul ! that will be lost. Then they catch at life again, ready to adore the physician if he can hut flatter their hope. c c 3 390 PRECIOUS DEATH. But God Strikes the blow, the irreversible blow, and name, hopes, estate, body, and soul perish together. " Oh that men were wise, that they understood this, that they would consider their latter end,^' in order to secure a pleasing time of it, and a precious death. In short, we call him poor that has nothing to live on; but he is the poorer soul that has nothing to die on. 5. How much do we owe to the precious death of our Lord Jesus Christ. It is that which has made the death of a saint so precious a thing, changed its nature, and given it all its softening names, and pleasing and precious ideas ; that has taken away the sting, and removed the curse, and laid in for the abolishing the fear of it ; and " De- livered those, who through fear of death, were all their life-time subject to bondage. Lastly. Let us form our notion of death upon this Scripture foundation. I will not then take my notion of death from the heathen writers, from the common sentiments of the world, from dark rooms, mourners going about the streets ; not from the hollow sinking eyes, ghastly looks, panting breasts, or dying farewels of departing friends : these things disguise the death of a saint, and give a false notion of it ; they only show how it looks to an eye of sense, and what it would have been in itself. He that said, death was the most terrible of terribles, was an heathen, and knew nothing at all of the change which Christ had made in it to a be- liever. He that called death the Icing of terrors, gave an account of what the world about him thought of it, and not what it was to him, who could say of life, '' I loath it, i would not live always." PRECIOUS DEATH. 391 I grant, you will never reconcile flesh and blood to this, or to any notion of death. Nor can flesh and blood take it in. There are three things to which flesh and blood will never be reconciled ; the one is, spirituality of worship, communion with God in the exercise of proper graces, in the institutions of Christ, unaccompanied with any additions or inventions that might entertain the senses, the eye, or ear. The other is, the cross of Christ, or afflictions for Christ's sake, how beneficial soever they may be to grace or glory, and whatever sweetness may attend them here, or whatever crown they may entitle to hereafter. The third is death ; flesh and blood will never be recon- ciled to these things while the world stands. But are we nothing but flesh and blood ? Must not the language of heaven, of faith, of Scripture, of God, must not their language be spoken, because it is not the language of flesh and blood, and the dialect of this lower world ^ Let fears and guilt, let ignorance or negligence, dress up the business of dying, as frightfully as they can ; nay, though my own tremblings, when it comes to my turn, should upbraid my neglect, and reproach me with not having made my conduct and prepara- tion suitable to my notions and expectations on this matter; yet will I not change my style, that the death of a saint is a blessed and precious thing; for, *' Blessed are the dead that die in the Lord." And, " Precious in the sight of the Lord is the death of his saints." c c 4 DISCOURSE XV. REJOICE WITH TREMBLING\ PSALM II. 11. REJOICE WITH TREMBLING. JLt is many hundred years since the wars first broke out between England and France, in the times of Wilham the first, and Philip of France ; that seemed entailed upon the successors, and posterity of those princes of so many generations, and have drawn more noble blood, and been attended with more memora- ble achievements than any national quarrel we read of either in ancient or modern story t. The intervals of peace have seemed only to be re- treating for breath to renew the combat, and have always been used for that purpose by France. Their treaties of peace have been only the couchings of the tyger, to watch some advantage by which the more surely to bear upon the prey. The enmity is now become national and hereilitary ; and how near soever we may be to a peace, and mutual trade, mutual friendship must be a work of longer time. They hate our liberty and freedom : a tyrant of * This sermon was preached at the Thanksgiving, November?, 1710. t Remark of Sir W. Temple. ^94 REJOICE WITH TREMBLING. France can hardly think himself safe amidst his guards and armies, so long as his subjects (slaves I should say) can look over into England and behold the blessings of a legal constitution, which to them is forbidden fruit. They are also jealous and alarmed at the reputation of our arms, and the renown of our valour. They gnash their teeth to see our nation yet able to step between them and their vast designs ; yet able to hold the balance of Europe, and turn it in favour of the house of Austria, or Bourbon, according as these realms shall take into the interests of either of those families. They hate our religion too, as sore eyes abhor the light ; and having destroyed it, as they think, intirely in their own dominions, have been watching all opportunities to do the same here, and every where else, and had effected it long ere this, if we had not been a people whom the Lord our God cared for, in a very particular manner. If he had not watched over us when we were often asleep, and saved us, not only beyond even our hopes, and against Our deserts, but sometimes in a manner even against our wills. Our enemies have too often shown us, that we ought not to have a mean opinion of their councils and management, of their military skill, activity, and courage : those can never add more to the glory of our arms, than they take away from the common pride of success ; since the more formidable our ene- mies are, the more do we owe to the tender provi- dence of God, who has taken a critical care, through all this war, to set his own mark' upon the trophies, the honours, and successes of our arms. Therefore, as in the distribution of the spoil after victory, the common soldiers come in for their share, though the REJOICE -WITH TREMBLING. 395 general's conduct, as the animating spirit to the great body, entitles him to the name and glory of the day, so our generals, officers, and soldiers have their share; that is, the honour of being instruments in the hand of God ; and it is honour enough for the best of them to be so in such a cause. Yet it is the Lord of hosts, the general of our forces, that went forth this year "vvith our armies ; it is he that has our supreme ac- knowledgements ; it is in his name that we Hft up our banners, and set up our trophies ; it is to him we offer our praise ; to him that we now come to pay our vows for mercies received, and renew them for blessings to come. 1 his we shall acceptably do, if we suit our beha- viour to the text, as our text is suited to the aspect of our afifairs, that is, if we " Rejoice with trem- bling." By the persons these words are directly spoke to, the kings and judges of the earth, it appears that how eminent soever the dignity of magistrates may be above the rest of mortals, they stand all upon a level with respect to that God, in whose eye nothing ap- pears great but himself; to whose impartial laws even they also are subject who give laws to others. And that these great persons, with all their politics, can never be truly wise, till they are instructed to serve the Lord w ith fear. This fear of God, for ever, will be the surest motive of obedience in the subject, and the greatest safety and glory to the prince. " Be wise novi'', therefore, O ye kings, be instructed, ye judges of the earth : serve the Lord with fear, and rejoice with trembling." But though these words are more immediately ad- dressed to kings and judges, bcfaiisc they were the SM REJOICE WITH TREMBLING. persons before described to have most opposed the kingdom of Christ: " The kings of the earth set them- selves, and the rulers take council together, against the Lord, and against his anointed/' ver. 2. And because they were persons whose example would have a mighty influence upon others ; yet in the na- ture of the thing, that must needs be the duty of all, "which was spoken to them, " To serve the Lord with fear/' And as to the service of this day, the direc- tory is complete by the last clause, " Rejoice with trembling." To improve these words to the business of this day, I have two things to speak to. L That it is the will of God, and the voice of pro- vidence that we rejoice in the success of our arms. IL That we should qualify this rejoicing with an holy fear and trembling. L It is the will of God that we rejoice in the bles- sings of his providence, and in the success of our arms. We do not rejoice in the miseries of our enemies themselves, no, not even of such enemies as would delight in ours. This is what a Briton scorns, and the Christian abhors. We rejoice in our own preser- vation, but are sorry that our enemies perverseness makes it so necessary to purchase our own safety at the price of their blood, whose destruction is not our first design. To use all the means of a safe reconci- liation, and to restore them to friendship and kindness upon it, is the meaning of that command of loving your enemies, which Christ has given us such a pat- tern of in himself, and helps us to imitate by his grace. This is a tenderness natural to a protestant, whose religion never obliges him to throw off his REJOICE V/ITH TREMBLING. .397 humanity, sweetness, and gentleness toward aU men. Nor is our joy to be merely sensitive and carnal, arising only from considerations pleasing to flesh and blood ; such as honour, interest, and safety, which, though they are lawful, yet if they are the only mo- tives of rejoicing, it will be a sign that we have no relation to God as our Father, or to the church of God as our mother. " If I forget thee, O Jerusalem, and prefer not thee above my chief joy. ^' If the glory of God, the safety, liberty, and progress of Scripture religion be not the most sensible motives of our plea- sure, in the victories we obtain over those who are enemies to them all. The manner of rejoicing must not be dissolute and sensual, a thanksgiving-day is the offering of praise, glorifying God ; not a sacrifice to the flesh and lusts thereof; not an indulgence proclaimed to excess and intemperance, and a loose given to all the rabble of appetites and inclinations to riot without controul ; as in the Saturnalia, the slaves and servants were allowed to do what they pleased, without any regard to their masters. Public expressions of joy there must be for public blessings, they give the signal to a city to put on a thankful spirit, and shoot a cheerful commotion through the minds of the people, but who will think that God can be put off with noise, fire, and smoke ? Cheerful praise, and humble gratitude, realized in the life and conversation, is the sacrifice that ausw^ersto that question, " What shall I return to the Lord for all his benefits?" What long-neg- lected duty shall 1 now resume or begin the practice of .^ What foolish and hurtful lust shall 1 now sacri- fice to the God my Saviour > Say, as the Lord lives, 398 REJOICE WITH TREMBLING. and as my soul lives, it shall die this day before the Lord. 1 will review the passages of my Itfe, and see what may be amended and reformed. 1 will look over the frame of my mind, and see what repairs of spirituality are needful. My family, my closet, and my conversation shall witness, that i am not only glad, but thankful. Thus our joy and our religion will improve and adorn each otiier ; the cheerfulness of the day, the pleasure of the occasion, and our more liberal, though temperate refreshments, will be all made use of, in the best manner, that is, to heighten the relish of God's goodnt-ss, and the sense of our own obligations. Having said these (ev^^ things upon the motives and manner of our rejoicing, we come now to the matter and occasion of it, and to'' Consider how great things God has done for us." The names of Flockstet, Blenheim, and Ramillies, carry in them a joyful sound; and are to be men- tioned upon a thanksgiving-day, as ancient standards and old plate were wont to be brought out and shown upon a solemn feast. The happy union of the two kingdoms, and the influence tliat had in defeating the designed invasion : the victory of Oudenard that fol- lowed so seasonably, that the pretender, from running before our navy at sea, came tirne enough to the campaign to flee before our armies at land ; and to see those who pretended to give him our crown and kingdom, hardly able to defend their own : the taking of Lisle, which was a blow in the vital part, as it de- stroyed the credit of our enemies : the disappointing the league between the Italian princes and the pope, by our becoming masters of Sardinia, keeping them in awe by our fleets, so that that pontiff being left REJOICE WITH TREMBLING. 399 alone, the emperor has been able to bring him to some terms : the taking of Tournay and Mons, and the battle that preluded to the siege of the latter: these former amazing successes, together with what they suffered from the immediate hand of God in the ex- tremity of one winter, have forced them to use other methods than honourable arms, and a fair course of war. It must certainly be a great mortification to them but so much as to appear to ask a peace, of those to whom they had so haughtily pretended to give it. Upon their request, a preliminary treaty was set on foot, insidious as it appears in the design, as it was fruitless in the issue. The design was partly to amuse and divide the allies, and partly to encourage their own subjects to bear more patiently the burden and miseries of the war, by the hopes of an approaching peace. The issue has been rather to unite the allies to one another; from a conviction they must all have received of the truth of what her majesty some time since observed, " That nothing is farther from his thoughts than peace, which he has pretended to v.ith so much deceit*." With so much deceit, indeed, that we have been assured from very good authority, that " At the same time the king of France was treating with the allies for the restitution of the Spanish monarchy to king Charles III. he carried on a negociation for the maintenance and support of the duke of Anjou upon the throne of that kingdom t.'' The allies were neither amused nor divided, but made the most hearty and early preparations that have been known. Our parliament having been very * Queen's Letter to the Diet of Empire. t Gazet Aug. 1'^, 1710. 400 REJOICE WITH TREMBLING. early in their supplies, our army was very early in the field ; and we scarce heard of their being assembled, be- fore we heard of their having passed the lines near the Scarp. We rejoice the more in that action, because it was an unbloody one. Our enemies had the wit to run away, after a great deal of pains and cost laid out in the fortifications of those lines ; remembering, we may suppose, at the battle of Mons, to how little purpose it was for them to be posted to the utmost degree of security, that the most timorous could de- sire, or the most artful invent. Though we could not hinder the conjunction of their forces, yet when they were joined we had the pleasure of seeing them continually flee before us, and it was a venturesome achievement for them, to come so near at any time, as to look on and see us take one town after another. The first was Doway, which we took after all their endeavours for its relief. When there was no hopes of bringing them to an engagement, we sat down before Bethune and took it, the French army looking on. To improve the remainder of the fair season, the two princes, Marl- borough and Eugene, resolved to besiege at once St. Venant and Aire, which are now surrendered to us. All these places were carried against numerous garri- sons, and a most vigorous opposition of governors, that were resolved to merit the favour of their master by a most obstinate defence. These successes have laid France more open to the impression of our arms, and bid very fair for the accomplishment of what our general was reported once to have said, upon the un- satisfactory overtures of the French plenipotentiaries, *' That the peace was to be treated of in France by one hundred and fifty thousand plenipotentiaries.^' In REJOICE WITH TREMBLING. 401 Spain, which is not only another scene of the war, but the prize of it too, God has this year comfortably and most seasonably prospered our arms. All advices agree, that the {^reparations made against us tliere were ver}- threatening ; greater than had been in Spain for this hundred years past. They flattered themselves with the hopes of driving the allies out of Catalonia this campaign, or at least of shutting them up once more within the walls of Barcelona ; and we did indeed begin to despair of king Charles's main- taining himself in that country, so vigourously attack- ed on all sides, when the providence of God has given such victories there, that seem to want nothing of being decisive, but only to be well seconded, and well pursued. We may observe, what mighty things are made to depend upon small incidents. For besides the con- duct and courage of our 'generals on that side, our vic- tories in Spain" are very much owing to the landing that small handful of men in the Languedoc. An action of small appearance, and fruitless as to the main, and yet had a mighty influence upon this success. As it occasioned the D. de Noailles to march with ail speed for the defence of that province, which gave leave to recall from Lampourdon the 5,000 men, that enabled king Charles to fight the enemy, and give them such an overthrow, that may prove a total revo- lution in that kingdom. The grateful applause and acceptance of their country, is' one part of the rewardof our conquerors. This is the bed of honour in which some fall, these are the laurels with which others return. And indeed next to the approbation of God, and of a good consci- ence, nothing is more worth v ambition than the D d 403 REJOICE WITH TRE.^IBLINC;. smiles of a gracious sovereign, and the acknowledge- ments of a sensible ingenuous people. Were I capable of so much as showing the glory of our heroes, it should be by describing how exactly they emulate each other : for to name Marlborough, Eugene, and Stanhope in the same line ; and to say they copy one another, is the most glorious thing that can be said of each. Their diligence, conduct, and courage have raised the reputation of our arms to such a pitch, that our posterity vvill not need to borrow from antiquity the ideas of military perfection, and of consummate generals. The driest relation that can be made of what they have done, could not fail of inspiring ardours, a little like what they felt themselves, when they lead up, when they charged at the head of their troops^ when they stormed, or forced to surrender. . What we particularly rejoice in, is, the good under- standing between these our generals, not only because there is so little of it in the world besides, but because competitions for glory are the most tender and nice things in the world. Yet with how much pleasure has the world looked on, and seen Marlborough and Eugene, not only allow each other to shine, but jealous in no point so much as this, who shall share more pleasure from the other's glories. Nor is this kind of honour only in Flanders, after L. G. Stanhope had, in the defeat of Almenara, blotted out the reproach of Almanza ; after he had cut down one of their generals with his own hand, and brought off victory, with a wound to perpetuate the remembrance of it: for his catholic majesty, and general Starembuvgh, who were themselves such noble parts in that attack; for them 1 say, to give him thanks in so public a manner, for his great services in the action of that day, does re- REJOICE WITH TREMBLING. 403^ present them to be much greater men, than mere victory could ever make them appear ; when we see many that can bravely fight an enemy, unable to con- quer themselves. Saul coukl slay his thousands ; nay, could die, but that David could slay his ten thousands, was what he could not bear. But the field of battle is not the only scene of this general's triumphs. We have seen him in the forum contending for the security of the same queen, her crown and throne, that he fights for abroad. Defend- ing the same liberties of his country, for which he stakes his life and draws his blood. We have seen the power of his eloquence as irresist- able as the fall of his sword ; the patriot, the orator, and the soldier, exerting themselves for a constitution that deserves it all, a constitution, which if he thought to be in danger upon one account -, it should easily be allowed for by those, who were also guilty of think- ing it in danger upon another, and made that very apprehension the excuse for an alarm, that kindled those ferments in the nation, which have made our dangers more real than ever they were before ; and till the spirit of love and unity, of mutual affection and forbearance, restore Christianity to us, whatever occasions we have to rejoice (and blessed be God we have many), we shall not want a great many to mix trembling with our joy. Which is the next thing I am to take notice of. II. It is the will of God that we qualify our rejoic- ing with an holy fear and trembling. This does not impose upon us any melancholy dejectedness of spirit, that we should spend this day that God has shined so bright upon, under a cloud of foreboding suspicions ; and drawing black scenes in DC 2 404 REJOICE AVITH TREMBLING. our imagination. Tlie wicked will not do this, and the good man needs not, " Who shall not be afraid of evil tidings ; whose heart is fixed trusting in the Lord." Psal. cxii. 7. But it implies such an awful regard to God. and the mysteries of his providence ; such a sense of our dependance upon him, for the successes of war, and the blessings of peace; that should make us fear to offend him, and careful to please him, and dispose us to use the good providence of God, not to our entertainment only, but also to our reformation. Here we may consider, 1. The reasons why our rejoicing ought be so qualified. 2. The benefits of such a way of rejoicing. 1. The reasons why" our rejoicing ought to be so qualified. Are we not accountable for so many more mercies as God has this year given us? Can our returns for former successes be thought on without affliction ? Are we able to calculate the exact number of years that God will bear with us, and keep those miseries at a distance that we tremble to hear of? Have not plague and pestilence, famine and wars, persecution and cruel desolations, walked their rounds in Europe? And for what reason has the destroying angel so long passed over us? AVill not the dregs of the cup be very bitter? It is true, we rejoice that our enemies have not been able to destroy us ; but has God pro- mised that he will not suffer us to destroy ourselves ? Is there virtue enough in Britain to use the power that God has given us to save ourselves; and to dis- cern the things of our peace, before they be hid from our eves ? Are there not with us, even with us, sins REJOICE WITH TREMBLING. 405 '•against the Lord our God, of the heaviest guilt ? the careless neglect, the scandalous profession, and the profane contempt of the Christian religion ? and that which is equal to it all, and very much the cause of it all, the continued prostitution of the most sacred thing to the vilestof men, and the meanest of purposes? Making that ordinance which was designed by Christ to be a badge and means of union among Christians, to serve only to such purpose as a shoulder-knot might do, to tell what party you are of. But to insist upon a few particulars. (1.) Our enemies are not be despised ; their power is yet formidable; their vigour and management is more so. They have stood the blows of Schellemburoh, Ilock- siet, Blenheim, Ramillies, Turin, and Blarignees. We thought we had brought them upon their knees, but we only flattered oursekes. They faced us upon the return of the years (except of late) as early, and as numerous as ourselves. They are the people that are .spirited by disappointments, and know how to improve their defeats, and make them incentives to greater ■efforts. 1 know not which is the greater wonder, the victory obtained by the allies, over the immense pow- ers of France, or the incredible diligence with which they so far repaired their losses, as not only to be able sometimes to have stopped our progress, but to gain several advantages. But France is one. Their situation is in the midst of the great theatres of war. Their re- sources of men and money are very surprising. And though all this adds to the glory of our arms, and to the sense we have of God's goodness in our successes ; yet it also shows us, that in no fond opinion of their low condition, should we, or our allies, abate Dd 3 406 REJOICE WITH TREMBLING. the forwardness and activity of our preparations, lest our enemies, in the sequel of all, should be the greatest gainers by our victories themselves. (2.) The blood that our rejoicing does cost, should make us rejoice with trembling. We rejoice when battles and sieges turn in our favour ; but what a quantity of blood, and how many thousand lives, go to obtain for you one thanksgiving- day ? What an harvest does death and destruction reap every campaign ? Direful ambition ! Moloch was an harmless idol compared with thee ; a young child was now and then thrown into its burning arms : but thy lust of empire has filled the world with blood and misery ; multiplied the fatherless and widows, whose groans will mix with our thanksgiving joys. We rejoice that we can wash our hands, and say, Lord, we are not guilty of this blood ; Lord, lay not this blood to our charge. It is not glory, it is not pride of arms, nor for enlarging territory, that we draw the sword, but for pure self-preservation which we know can be no longer sure, than while it is not in the power of our adversary to destroy us. And the only advantage that any can promise them- selves in declining the common cause, is to be de- voured last. But we tremble to think how heavy all this blood must somewhere fall : to think, that every drop of it must be accounted for, and inquired after ; and that when he maketh inquisition for blood he will not forget the cry of the humble; no, not of the meanest, the poorest common soldier, that has fallen a sacrifice to that savage glory, and wild ambition of the great ; who, in the bloody game of war, play off men into the other world, as a thing of sport, or a mere trial of skill. REJOICE WITH TREMBLING. 407 (3.) For the present desolations of the church in fo- reign parts, and the danger it is in, we tremble with our rejoicing. Eli's heart trembled for the ark of God, and so does every heart now, that has any thing of Eli's goodness; for the ark of God does as truly now go down into the battle. How unequal are the stakes we fight for ? If we conquer to the utmost of our desires, the utmost of our desires do not reach to the deprivation and •destruction of the enemy, but only for each ally to re- cover their own, and to see themselves in a condition to keep it : but if he overcomes us, our destruction in >church and state, in our liberties and religion, is the thing that he avows ; having set up a traitor for our king, and dragooned our religion out of his kingdom, to show how tender he would be of it, in all other places that ever come under his influence or power. Our overthrow draw's after it the utter extirpation of common liberty and the protestant religion. In the former wars of Europe, we had reason to think, that the protestant religion in such a particular place might be in danger ; but in these the blow has been aimed at the whole, after they have so much weaken- ed it in the several parts. In the beginning of the last age, the protestant religion was more than a match for the Roman catholic : but now the king- dom of Bohemia, that was almost all protestan.t, is intirely popish. Near half the subjects of Hungary, Austria, and Moravia were protestants. You know ;their condition now. In Germany the houses of Newburg were protestants. The protestants of Ba- varia, Bamburgh, Cologn, Wurtsburg, Heidleburg, INlanheim, Spire, Frankcndale, and Worms are all destroyed. The Palatines and Saxons were pro- D d 4 408 REJOICE WITH TREMBLING. testanls of the better sort. Against the Palatines a violent persecution was begun, though checked at the instances and solicitation of England and Holland : but by the frequent invasions, and repeat- ed inroads of the French, whereby more than two thousand of their greatest cities, towns, and villages have been burned down to the ground*, they were at length ruined ; and you had an opportunity of seeing what it was to be intirely ruined, in those miserable remains of the poor Palatine protestants whom you lately relieved. As for their neighbours the Saxons, where the reformation first began, their elector is turned papist to obtain the crown of Poland ; though it has hitherto proved but a crown of thorns. All the arts peculiar to themselves, are used to pre- vail with the electoral prince to embrace the same religion ; which they look upon as the most effectual means to bring back to the church of Rome, a country where the protestant religion first began to flourish. This point is of so much importance to the court of Rome, that the pope has declared he will spare no- thing to bring it about t. They have already sung te deum at Rome, for the progress of the Roman ca- tholic religion in Saxony. The duke of Wolfenbuttel is no longer a protestant. They have found means to render that prince's sense and learning useless to his own preservation; though his protestant ministers did in the most moving^ and tender manner throw themselves at his feet, overwhelmed with orief, be- seeching him, through the mercy of God, and with the most profound respect, obedience, and submis- sion, not to forsake the constanter which he had * Queen's Brief for the poor Palatines, June 23, 170£». + State of Europe. REJOICE WITH TREMBLING. 409 taken for iiis motto ; nor to encroach upon the pro- testant religion, and to give them at least, before he CHANGED, time to remove his doubts, and pray ardently for him*. It is no wonder they are trying experiments upon the hereditary prince of Moscovy, and endeavouring to introduce popery into that king- dom, when we hear of them from China, and of their diligence and swarms in almost all parts of the world; " Compassing sea and land to make proselytes." But to come nearer home ; in France the pretestants were formerly powerful enough to maintain eight or nine civil wars in the defence of their religion, and always came off with advantage ; but now they are destroyed by a pcu'secution, the most dreadful that ever the sun beheld. "Can these dry bones live? Lord thou knowest." In the Spanish low countries, V'audois and Savoy, after many struggles it is extinct. Thus the protestant religion, which had spread itself over all Europe, gained the entire possession of some coun- tries, the greater part in others, and a mighty interest in most, has, through the restless, never ceasing en- deavours of its adversaries (and oh ! that the malice of its enemies were the only thing to be thought on here) been subverted and destroyed, in country after country, till it is at last reduced to a little corner of what it once possessed ; and of that remainder, Den- mark and Sweden are weakening one another, the few protestant cantons are surrounded with papists, and but ill united among themselves. In Holland the papists are very numerous. Upon certain payments to the state, they enjoy the exercise of the Roman catholic religion, as free and easy, though not so * Letter of the consistory of Brunswick, Lunenburgb, and Wol- feubuttel, in the Memoirs of Lit. 41© REJOICE WITH TREMBLING. cheap and so avowed as the rest : and, not to wrong them of any thing that is their due, it is observed by the same excellent person, that their behaviour there has been very singular ; because, he says, " They have not given any disturbance to the government, nor expressed any inclinations to a change, or to any foreign power*." A remark with which I was the most surprised of any thing 1 ever read. But, if we turn our eyes to Ireland, the present state of that kingdom as to this matter, is expressed in the words of the late lord lieutenant: " 1 am obliged, and di- rected to lay before you, another consideration of in- finite consequence, and that is, to put you in mind •of the great inequality there is, in respect of num- bers, between the protestants and the papists of this kingdom. And of the melancholy experienccj you have had of the good nature of this sort of men, when ever they have had it in their power to distress or to destroy yout." To which that parliament replied, in an address to his excellency, " That they had found by fatal experience that the protestant religion, and British interest, in that kingdom, were no longer -safe than while it was not in the power of papists to "■ M^:^ ■^ ^.\ yr...- ^'^, ,^w-'" i" ^^^ % \ ^\ ^ zr^^.ii^ . it* .> "v -^ ^•^ .>:^' """^ ! \W