Forty Sermons

Whether the term that limits this accepted time be meted out by years and months, so much time I will bear with them and expect, as the instance of the old world gives some color for; or whether it be not set to days and hours, but measured by their reckonings of iniquity, when they have made up and filled the Epha, their time shall be out, as the Amorites example and the Israelites in the wilderness would evince: or whether both ways, as Jerusalem's and Ninivehs seem plain for, 'tis not for me to determine. Each or any of them does assure us that the time is bounded, beyond which there is no term, no day left if we do outstand that. O that thou hadst known in this day, saith he, but that being expired, then is the hour of darkness, now they are hidden from thine eyes; nor are they only hidden from their eyes, but God also shuts their eyes, sends them the spirit of slumber on them, that they may not see, not perceive, not understand, nor be converted, least he heal them. The Predeterminations that do limit out the Age of men's Repentance, seem much more unalterable than those are that bound the Age of Life. Good Hezekiah's tears and prayers got him fifteen years accession to his days, time did go back for him, and he lived part of his Age over again. But when the life that is allotted for the possibilities of Repentance is spun out, when the day of God's expectation is once gone, we have no instance to produce that he will call back, or protract it to us: death may let go its hold, but obstinacy in sin does not; marble Monuments have heard and been obedient, yielded up, but the stony hard heart will not. And indeed to be innexible arises from the very nature of that course and progress in sin that does weary out God's forbearances, outstands all his offers, wastes the whole day of salvation. For to pass by the instances of the old World and of the Amorites, of which we have no more account, but that these Amorites were given up so to unnatural sin and uncleanness, that the Land spewed them out; in the other, that the Daughters of men had effac'd all the thoughts and knowledge of God out of the very Sons of God, that the wickedness of man was so great that every imagination of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually. But in Israel, whom S ^t Paul represents to us for caution, thus their state was; they had set their hearts on present satisfactions so eagerly and impotently, that whenever there was the least want of any, they repin'd that God had brought them out of Egypt; that their Jehovah should be at that distance from them as in Heaven, and their sustenance come thence too, quite discouraged them, broke all their confidence and faith: they must have their Provisions and their Deity too nearer, cry out for Flesh-pots and the Calf of Egypt, that their meat and God too may be present. And altho God always answered their complaints by satisfying of them, miracle sustained them constantly; yet, as Moses told them, Deut. 29. 2, 3, 4. Ye have seen all that the Lord did before your eyes in the land of Egypt unto Pharaoh, and unto all his servants, and unto all his land, the great temptations which thine eyes have seen, the signs and those great miracles, yet ye had not an heart to understand, and eyes to see, and ears to hear unto this day: they had no sense of them but what brute beasts were capable of having; only gaz'd as lookers on them; did not mind, consider, and much less discern how great he was that wrought those wonders, and how able, ready and desirous to supply whatever they could need or he had promised, and that whatsoever they might want 'twas sure they should not want a miracle to furnish, and by consequence had all obligation that could be imagined to believe in, trust upon him and his promises. But of this they were not sensible, made no such reasonings; but when ever anything they had a mind to was not present, or when any danger looked upon them, disbeliev'd and murmur'd still, flew in his very face, insomuch that God says Num. 14. 11. How long will this people provoke me, and how long will it be ere they believe me? Now after all those strong, most operative ways of making faith, they still persisting in their incredulity and most unreasonable and senseless doubtings, not believing him is but consequent they would not hearken to him, and be wrought on or persuaded by him; but resisted his will always, and, as it must follow, grew more and more stubborn and inflexible, that is, stiff-neck'd, as God calls them, having their hearts hardened. For it is the nature of things hardened to be such intractables. And being so to that degree that Miracles, God's most effectual method, could make no impression on them, that he labored in vain with them, he must needs abandon them, and give them over as incorrigible: and so having worn out all his methods, and by consequence all his forbearance, he swore they should not enter in Canaan; and however he endured them to live forty years, their opportunity was dead and their day ended.

I might tell you how the same ill temper of that Nation, looking after present earthly satisfactions, consequently for a temporal Messiah, made them disbelieve, and hardened them against Christ's miracles and teachings, but that former instance serves my turn; and when S ^t Paul proposes this Example to the Christians as a warning that they suffer not their day to pass them, least they be shut out of their eternal rest, their heavenly Canaan, he expressly cautions them against the same two things, that they fall not by the same ensample of unbelief Heb. 4. 11. and that their hearts be not hardened by the deceitfulness of sin Heb. 3. 13. Christ's Miracles, if they did not make faith of his person and commission, of the duties, promises and threats of the Gospel to the Jews, when present with them, we may fear their efficacy may be fainter in men at this distance: and if strong inclinations to the present, howsoever sinful satisfactions of their appetites, together with long practice and converse in them, have got a great love to them, 'tis most certain that this will not suffer them to receive the love of the Gospel; no not of its promises and blessednesses, all which are so averse and opposite to those satisfactions: and not loving it, it is impossible they can be willing to give credit to it. Yea those sensual affections blind the Understanding so that indeed it discerns not the truth of it, and engage the heart so that it gives no great heed to it; and then as Attention to it doth, the belief of it must decay. The man is only such a stupid Auditor of what is recorded in Scripture, as the Jews in the wilderness were Spectators of it, without faith or reflection; he considers not himself concerned much in whatever it proposes, whether by injunction, threat or invitation, whether it do promise blessedness or denounce judgment, and so grows insensible of his condition as to either: and then coming thus to have no sense of his condition, therefore neither hath he any fear by reason of it, i. e. so far his heart is hardened, and so going on continuing in that state, it is so perfectly. And what that is, Pharaoh can inform us. 'It is such an heart as admits no compunction, though you let fly all God's arrows at it. No respect to God, what grounds soever of experienced goodness he have for it, softens it: if you beseech him on God's part, he is not moved, nor yields altho you threaten him; if God invite him by prosperity and kindness, he is ungrateful, and he grows more dissolute; but if he scourge him, he grows either senseless or else furious and desperate, shameless here, fearless of hereafter, of all human things regardless, of Divine contemtuous: all past things are most perfectly past to him, he remembers nothing of the good or evil, so as to consider or make use of either; and altho he throw away the present, yet as if the future would never arrive, altho you lay before him certain death and the ensuing two Eternities, it is not possible to move him to provide for that Futurity. And then, when neither present, past, nor future can work anything upon him, how is it possible to change him? Now 'tis no wonder if God give him over, when his state is thus unalterable. Indeed as this condition when 'tis grown thus irreversible, makes the state of Hell here as to sinning, so it seems to make the state of it hereafter as to suffering, adding weight and in some sort Eternity to its torments; for with the other grounds that show it just for God to plague the little transient satisfactions of our sins with an immortal worm and everlasting burnings, this also is one, that the Sinner's appetite and resolution to sin is endless, and as much as in him lies eternal, and were he not cut off from the commission, his iniquity would be immortal. And it does appear so certainly, when if God set him out a time for his Repentance and their Reconciliation, and how great soever he have made his heaps, if he do not seal up the sum with this hard-heartedness and persevering obstinacy, if while there is yet any sand to run, he will consider and take up, then God will pass by all the rest, and cancel the whole reckoning; if yet he will refuse this mercy, will go on to fill his Ephah, and commits even while the life of his Repentance is breathing out its last, while the possibilities of mercy are upon their death-bed gasping, the accepted time and the day of Salvation just ending, there is no doubt, his will, his appetite and resolutions to it are immortal, and 'tis therefore also fit his worm should be so: and there is no security against this, but by laying hold upon the present; for behold now is the day of Salvation, the last thing I am to speak to.

I shall not press this from the common place of the uncertainty of this life, of which whatever we have past as death possesses, so the succeeding moments Judgment may lay hold of; we are sure of nothing but the present. But if we had not only the assurances which constancy of health and strength of constitution give but a lease of years, as Hezekiah had from God himself, we have no assurance of the time of acceptance. Many men, though they live fast, furiously spend the stock of Nature, sin yet with a much fiercer carrier, as the horse, in Jeremiah's expression, rusheth into the battle, and they spend the day of Salvation faster. Men may deceive themselves by reckoning to repent hereafter. We cannot conclude with reason we have space left for it while our life lasts, since those opportunities are not always, and perchance not frequently, commensurate with the life or being of a profligate man or Nation: and when they end together 'tis not that their whole life or being was allotted to those opportunities, but when these are forfeit or extinguished, God cuts off the other. Thus indeed he did destroy the old World, when the one hundred and twenty years for their repentance were expired; and several men are cut down out of time, as Job saith c. 22. 16. men that shall not live out half their days, as David saith of the deceitful and the bloody men, that drink their own Blood when they thirst for others; men whose time for their acceptance went not out while their life lasted, because when it went out God cut off their life. But 'tis not always so. Not first in Nations: four Generations filled the measure of the Amorites iniquity, but five were past before destruction made approaches to them. Judah had its sentence of excision in Manasseh reign, but its execution was suspended till the time of Zedekiah near a hundred years. And again the things that belonged to the peace of Jerusalem were taken from them when they killed the Peace-maker, their day of Salvation too was darkened at Christ's Crucifixion, but the City lived yet forty years. Nor secondly in persons: Pharaohs time was out at the sixth plague, but God at once upheld and hardened him until the tenth was past. And those six hundred thousand, that were doomed for murmuring, were afterwards near forty years in dying, lived so long to rebel against more miracles. Now all that time the state of all these, whether men or Nations, was irreversible, as to the doom past upon them. Did we know indeed our measure of iniquity, how many crimes we wanted to fill up our Ephah, make an end at once of sin and the day of Salvation also; 'twere no wonder if we did not think it necessary now to seize the opportunity, having yet so many sins good. But there are commissions of great bulk, few of which will do it; the men that sin post, soon arrive at the end of the race that is set before them. There are whose life is nothing else but perpetual variety of wickedness, and they will quickly make up their account; the constancy inflames the reckoning, and the sum does advance mightily: how know they but the next of any of these greater magnitudes may fill up the score? To such now only may be the accepted time. However

1. They that, whenever such considerations are suggested, will not at that present, even now resolve to attempt to break their sins off by repentance, it is plain they are entangled in them, love them so, that they resolve expressly not to part with them yet, though they are made to consider by the course of all God's several workings for them and their own provokings, that they may have wasted almost all the stock both of God's methods and their own opportunities, and will venture doing it completely, rather than forego their darling customs. Now such a love to sin, as it works induration, (as I showed you) hardens men's hearts; so it does betray it, and evince they are in some degree so. Such a resolution is sufficient not only to provoke God to contract the measure and cut short the account Rom. 9. 28. but itself bids fair to fill it up. The present therefore must be their accepted time; and they do all that in them is to put out the day of Salvation, who do thus put off from them this Now.

2. Of this that hath been said, whether Almighty God be now about to make the application, either as to what concerns the Nation or particular persons, is not may part to determine or debate; It is not for us to know the times and seasons, which the Father hath put in his own power. Many seem indeed to have uncomfortable expectations, great fears both as to the Nation; and I must say they have reason, we may justly fear those judgments which we have deserved most justly, and provoked most heinously, willfully, impudently; and great fears too as to Religion, nor without good cause, yet not because those men that earnestly desire a change talk of it as at hand with comfort. False, ungracious, treacherous Sons to their poor Mother, who do what they can to blast and weaken her, that they may have color to forsake her. But this they have talked oft with great confidence, and he that sits in Heaven always laughed their confidence to scorn, & we hope he will do so to the world's end. Sure I am there could be no fear of what they expect and wish so from comparison of the Religions; or if we would answer our Religion by our living. But there is great cause of fear we may provoke God to desert that reformation we deform so with our manners, and put out the Worship we unhallow. And indeed a flood of Atheism and contempt of all Religion and Virtue, or the having a Religion that is next to that itself, looks like just dereliction of them, who would not let God be in their thoughts, nor Piety or Morality in their actions. Now if this be so, and by consequent these fears be reasonable & just, there can be no prevention but by closing now with the proposal of my Text by laying hold upon the present. Any least forbearance may make our state irreversible, and does certainly provoke God towards it; whereas, if now, when God shows us the rod, we would break off our sins, reform ourselves, live up to our Religion, there would be no cause to fear destruction, since God's work were don, & whatever shall happen, all would work together for the everlasting good of those that did so. This, if earnest also, must preserve Religion to us. The certain and the only way to keep Religion is to practice it; it is impossible that they can take it from us while we live it, and without that no Religion, however current, can be useful to us. But this must secure our Faith here, and secure us of the end of our Faith, the Salvation of our Souls.

SERMON XVI. OF THE EVIDENCE of Faith.

THE words do need no other explication than the reading the whole verse: it runs thus, For which cause (for the Gospel's sake) I also suffer these things; nevertheless I am not ashamed, for I know whom I have believed, and I am persuaded that he is able to keep that which I have committed unto him against that day. Let those that suffer for ill doing be abashed and troubled at it, I am neither ashamed of the Gospel, nor the least discouraged by my sufferings, how great and ignominious soever for its sake, and for doing my duty in relation and obedience to it; for I trust and depend on one that will secure me, and will bless and crown my labors. That he wills and intends it I am sure, for he hath promised, and in what he hath promised I know he is faithful, and he is also able above all that I can ask or think; and consequently whatever in pursuance of his promise is entrusted to him, must be safe in his hands I am sure, for I know whom I have believed. So that the words direct us how to quiet and secure ourselves in what estate soever affairs, whether public or our own, are; namely in a close dependence upon God: and in the handling them I have but these three things to speak to.

1. Who this I is, I know; and in what respect qualified for such secure dependence.

2. What those cases are, wherein dependence do's admit such confident assurance, as is here expressed by the word know, I know.

3. Who this is on whom the person that is qualified thus does so depend, and upon what account, especially in relation to him, hath the man that does depend upon him such assurance that he can profess, I know whom I believe: to all which I shall make plain answers, and shall only give you God's word for them.

1. Who this I here is, I know? and in what respect, and how qualified? This I here is S ^t Paul, whom I do not mean to speak of in that narrow notion as an Apostle, but as one in such circumstances as do make him fit to represent the state of any one that is qualified to commit all his concerns into God's hands with a perfect resignation and with full assurance. Now as to this, first it is certain every person is not qualified for such dependence, cannot trust on God, rely upon his promise, as not having any right that it should be fulfilled to him. No not where the promise being general, for example, made to the whole present body of a Nation, by consequence concerns most of the individual persons of that Nation, even there it may not be sure to them: and of this we have a pregnant instance Num. 14. 30. Doubtless ye shall not come into the Land concerning which I sware to make you dwell therein, and ye shall know my breach of promise, v. 34. And that very justly, they first having broke with him: for there being some, at least tacit, condition still implied in all such promises as well as threatenings, therefore as to one and the other God sets this down as a general rule in his proceedings, and not only with particular persons but with Nations, Jer. 18. 7, 8, 9, 10. as at what instant I shall speak concerning a Nation, or concerning a Kingdom to pluck up, and to pull down, and to destroy it, if that Nation against whom I have pronounced turn from their evil, I will repent of the evil that I thought to do unto them: so whenever I shall speak concerning a Nation, and concerning a Kingdom to build and to plant it, if it do evil in my sight that it obey not my voice, then I will repent of the good wherewith I said I would benefit them, that is will not do it. And accordingly the Prophet Daniel, though it be said c. 9. 2. He understood by books the number of years, that God would after seventy years restore Jerusalem, yet saith Theodoret 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉 , he did not stand still and expect the fulfilling of God's promise of it, but v. 3. sets his face to the Lord God to seek by prayers and supplications, with fasting, and sackloth, and ashes, as knowing 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉 , though he had promised it a thousand times, if we render ourselves unworthy of it, 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉 we put a bar against God's performance, do not suffer him to make it good: and in those solemn supplications and addresses to Almighty God thus he bespeaks him v. 4. O Lord, the great and dreadful God, keeping covenant and mercy to them that love him, and to them that keep his commandments; whereupon S ^t Jerome saith, non ergo quod pollicetur Deus statim futurum est, sed in eos sua promissa implet, qui custodiunt mandata illius; what God does promise any, is not therefore sure to be fulfilled; those are they whom he performs with, who keep his Commandments. With the rest that do not but transgress, the Prophet Zacharias in an emblem shows God's way of dealing c. 11. 10. And I took my staff, even beauty, and cut it asunder, that I might break my covenant which I had made with all the people: and we see the real practice with that Nation for their wickednesses Neh. 9. from the 30 ^th verse. Now this being thus in general declared that all men cannot trust God, we are therefore as to this particular person, this I here to find out how he was qualified for this dependence.

It is certain first that S ^t Paul had been a great Sinner, a Blasphemer, Persecutor and injurious person: 'tis true he says 1 Tim. 1. 13. he was so ignorantly, out of unbelief, he knew not nor believed that he did ill in doing what he did; yea more, he said that he lived in all good Conscience before God all that time also, had don nothing which he was not persuaded in his conscience that he ought to do. But altho this good conscience might prepare him for a readier and more sound conversion, than profane, presumptuous, habitual Sinners are disposed for; (for the will of such a one is true to God and right already, and you have but to remove the ignorance of his Understanding, a little better information must reform him, and will turn his persecuting and whatever other factious or injurious heats into true zeal, holy devout warmths, as it did in him,) yet while he was mistaken, that his good but erring conscience could not possibly excuse, much less could it sanctify his actions; 'twas injury, 'twas blasphemy and persecution, though 'twas conscience, guilts these of a bloody and deep scarlet, and this very conscientious man found cause to call himself the chief of Sinners v. 15.

Howbeit secondly he tells us v. 16. for this cause I obtained mercy, that in me first Jesus Christ might show forth all longsuffering for a pattern to them that should hereafter believe on him to life everlasting; that in me the worst of men might have example and encouragement to depend upon him for eternal mercies, if they will but come in to him, he was pleased to show me mercy, call me in the very flagrancy and execution of my crimes.

Whereupon, as he says thirdly, he not only was not disobedient to the Heavenly Calling, but (as if by owning himself chief of Sinners he had set himself a standard for his service, put upon himself an obligation to be chief of all Christ's Votaries) he became more laborious in his duty than all others; and particularly so sincere, faithful, resolute and constant, as nothing could remove him, neither opposition stop him, nor temptation divert him. Now it is this faithfulness, this being honest-hearted to Almighty God; 'tis the firmness of this purpose to go thro with duty in a constant tenor of obedience in whatever circumstance we are placed, whatever happens not to be allured nor frighted, neither bias'd nor forced out of it, with the conscientious pursuance of this resolution that particularly qualifies for this secure dependence upon God for success, it does dispose a man for perfect resignation of himself and full assurance. It was S ^t Paul's case here, for this I suffer, saith he, (and indeed he lived almost in constant martyrdom) yet all this does not in the least discourage me, but by God's gracious assistance I will do my duty, come what can come. Now discerning himself thus resolved and thus assisted, he concludes that he hath ground enough for trust, for he that is thus faithful to him may trust on him; then he says, I know whom I have believed.

And that we may not think this is an instance solitary, in the third of Daniel, when Nebuchadnezzar told the three Children, If ye worship not the Image I have set up, ye shall be cast the same hour into the midst of a burning fiery furnace, and who is that God that shall deliver you out of my hands? Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego answered and said to the King, O Nebuchadnezzar, we are not careful to answer thee in this matter; if it be so, our God whom we serve is able to deliver us from the burning fiery furnace, and he will deliver us out of thine hand, O King: but if not, (i. e. but if he would not) be it known unto thee, O King, that we will not serve thy God's, nor worship the golden image which thou hast set up. The being conscious to themselves that they were thus resolved in earnest not to offend against the Lord, but to obey how dear soever their obedience cost them, and so casting themselves on him to do what he would with them, gave them confidence, made them know and say he would deliver them; and so he did. It is according to the measures of discerning the integrity and faithfulness of our own hearts that we assure our hearts before him, as S ^t John expresseth 1 Epist. 3. 19. and then tells us, if our heart condemn us, God is greater than our heart, and knoweth all things, v. 20. If we find not that sincerity within, if anything be false there, if our conscience accuse us, our own hearts condemn us, 'tis most certain God will do so too, because he knows all those things of us that we can know of ourselves. But if we truly cannot charge that insincerity upon ourselves, we need not fear that God will charge us with the things we are not guilty of. No surely, as he there goes on, Beloved, if our heart condemn us not, then have we confidence towards God, v. 21. And this is the confidence that we have towards him, that if we ask anything according to his will, he heareth us; and if we know that he hears us, whatever we ask, we know that we have the petitions that we desired of him, c. 5. 14, 15. And whatsoever we ask, we receive of him, c. 3. 22. Thus by assuring their own hearts to God they know this, have this confidence towards him, i. e. have the trust and the dependence in the Text, which in what cases it admits this strong assurance, that is here expressed by the word know, is my next inquiry.

I know. Now by the last words it should seem as if in every case, in everything that he can want or does desire, the person that is qualified so, had a ground to trust with full assurance. We know, saith S ^t John, that whatsoever we ask we receive of him; and accordingly in all the Spiritual needs of the Thessalonians both in particular and as the Church, S ^t Paul, when he had blest them and prayed for them thus: The very God of peace sanctify you wholly, and I pray God your whole spirit and soul and body may be preserved blameless unto the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, 1 Thess. 5. 23. adds in the 24 ^th • erse, Faithful is he that calleth you, who also will do it. And here in this Epistle of himself he says, The Lord shall deliver me from every evil work, and will preserve me unto his Heavenly Kingdom, 2 Tim. 4. 18. Nor did good men want this confidence as to the things of this life; for in times of public consternation, in the want of all things Habakkuk does thus assure himself c. 3. 16, 17, 18. When I heard, my belly trembled, my lips quiver'd at the voice, rottenness entered into my bones, when he cometh up unto the people he will invade them with his troops; but in that state he adds, Altho the Fig-tree shall not blossom, neither shall fruit be in the Vines, the labor of the Olive shall fail, and the fields shall yield no meat, the flock shall be cut off from the fold, and there shall be no herd in the stalls; yet I will rejoice in the Lord, I will joy in the God of my salvation. The exstasy of trust, the rapture is too elegant and gay, too high and full of transport to admit of any descant. Holy Job went yet a little farther, Tho he slay me, yet will I trust in him, c. 13. 15. In a word at once, in whatsoever God hath promised, there the Faithful Christian hath a right to trust. I will not be so rude as to suppose my Auditors so unacquainted with the rich and precious Promises, those Christian Treasures, which God's Book is the Repository of, that I should need to mind them of them; and indeed to do it were to read a very great part of that Book. 'It is sure in every case of every, whether public or particular, real just concern, whether in temporal, spiritual, or eternal things, in some indeed more absolutely than in others, but in all these there are promises; and promises were made to be believed, and every faithful Christian that trusts to them, does know whom he hath believed.

But yet it cannot be denied, since God hath threatened Ezek. 14. 13, 14, &c. When a Land sinneth against him by transgressing grievously, then he will stretch out his hand against it; and if he say, sword, go thro the Land, and pour out fury upon it in blood, and break the staff of bread thereof; he swears, though Noah, Daniel, and Job were in it, they should but deliver their own souls: then if we chance to see wickedness overspread a Nation, vice and profaneness grown so universal and habitual, that 'tis almost natural; when impunity hath made it safe and upon that account familiar, and then familiar practice made it necessary, yea and great examples made it honorable, and by this all virtue is made mean and contemptible, and insolently domineer'd over or derided petulantly; when a people looks so like the thing God threatened so: 'tis hard to apply the promises of safety to it, or with confidence rely upon God for its preservation. And yet there is the resolution of a case so like this in the Prophet Micah c. 7. as is able to revive a dying hope, and give it vigor and security: Woe is me, for I am as when they have gathered the summer-fruits as the grape-gleanings of the Vintage, there is no cluster to eat: the good man is perished out of the Land, and there is none upright among men; they all lie in wait for blood, they hunt every every man his brother with a net. That they may do evil with both hands, the Prince asketh, and the Judge asketh for a reward, and the great man uttereth his mischievous desire, so they wrap it up. The best of them is as a briar, the most upright sharper than a thorn-hedge: and then he adds, the day of visitation cometh, now shall be their perplexity; but he recollects himself and says, Therefore I will look unto the Lord, I will wait for the God of my salvation, my God will hear me. Rejoice not against me, O mine Enimy, when I fall I shall arise, when I sit in darkness the Lord shall be a light unto me. So that when we cannot hope well of the Commonwealth, yet we may hope in God still. And I pray you tell me whether way looks quieter and safer, hath more comfortable expectations, to confederate, make factions, lay plots, dark, sometimes illegal, and unjust contrivances, and sow the seeds of trouble and dissention, and think with these to carry all their own away, not enduring to submit to Providence, or be contented with God's dispensations, but will help him, as if he had need of such arts or instruments, and could not govern except his commands were broke: when 'tis certain such contrivances, if they do not thwart his counsels, (which if they comport not with, he laughs at and defeats,) yet they do his commands; and then he will punish them, however he may let them give a while some trouble. And then whether is this better, or to do our duty faithfully and trust God? when we are assured, if one sparrow, two of which are worth yet but one farthing, fall not to the ground without our Heavenly Father, a Church and State shall not fall without him. But yet 'tis certain Governments are sometimes broken or else fall in pieces, and while the fury of the sword does ravage all, the innocent as well as guilty suffer the same miseries, and the same carnage does devour the righteous with the wicked; yea Religion hath been swept away too by the inundation, and whole Churches have been quite un-Christian'd; and no doubt there was all reason in the world for this. Yet though I will not take upon me to mark out the lines by which God moves either in his ways of mercy or of judgment, nor to give the reasons of them; yet when plenty hath brought in all sorts of luxury and dissoluteness, and (as it must needs) that corrupts all, loosens all the bonds by which Societies and Government consist, the very bonds of common right and justice, those that either men's propriety or their security and lives depend on, and besots men so, as that they take no other rule or measure of their interests than as things serve the ends and satisfactions of luxurious appetites; and if Religion also, while 'tis trampled on, despised and scofft down by such sensual persons that have no Religion, and so not having countenance, being injured, and cut short by others, does decay; or else, if willing to comply and save itself, it grow itself debauched in some measure, learn by formalities to serve worldly purposes; yea possibly learns to adopt principles and consecrate some practices which are enemies to the very nature of Religion, wound, destroy Christianity, and dishonor the God of it: if everything does thus seem to provoke and call for present ruin, and God stir himself up, as he did in the Prophet, Shall I not visit for these things, shall not my soul be avenged on such a nation as this; yet in such a Nation if there be enough remaining of those that can stand in the gap and maintain the breach against him, as once Moses alone did, he will turn away his indignation, so as not to stir up his whole wrath; and, altho he leave them not altogether unpunisht, he will not destroy them utterly. Now he knows what the numbers are of faithful Christians, such as wrestle day and night with him and do not let him rest. If the hairs of our heads be all numbered, sure the knees are, that cleave to the ground in humble adorations and petitions to him. Yea and so they are; for when Elijah brought his charge in against Israel, whose condition looked so desperate, that he thought there was no servant of God but himself, I, even I only am left, 1 Kings 19. 10. God tells him v. 18. he had seven thousand knees in it that had never bowed to Baal: and when those three Noah, Daniel, and Job are not able, seven thousand men yet may prevail. Indeed if once Religion grow so low, be so defiled that 'tis not worth preserving with all those corruptions that get into it, when not only the Professors of it are depraved, but its very constitution in its vitals, in the doctrines both of faith and manners vitiated; and it is hard to show where God did ever overthrow a Church and a Religion wholly, where it was not so; and then it was not he that did destroy it, it destroyed it self. If also in a state Judgment be turned into Wormwood, and you find oppression for Justice, and for Righteousness behold a crying; in a word, if a Church and State sink by such proportions as Sodom and the rest of the Cities of the Plain, when in all Pentapolis there was not ten Righteous, for whose sake five great Cities might be spared: in fine, when once they have wrought out the measure of God's mercies, and their iniquity is full, it is no wonder if the measure of their Judgment be full too, and itself irreversible and utter. But yet though in all these Judgments, whether partial or final, Innocent and Righteous persons suffer with the wicked, All things come alike to all, there is one event to the clean and to the unclean, to him that sacrificeth and to him that sacrificeth not, as is the good so is the sinner, and he that sweareth as he that feareth an oath, Ecclesiastes 9. 2. So as that it should seem the sincere Christian can no more depend than others, or if he do his trust will fail him; yet to omit the reasons of this dispensation of God's Providenc which are many very just ones, that alone sufficeth good men in the midst of all such Judgments to depend upon, which S ^t Paul writes on the very account of such distresses and necessities Rom. 8. 28. We know that all things work together for good to them that love God; even those afflictions working for them a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory 2 Cor. 4. 17. They are God's words, and so trusting and depending on them we know whom we have believed, namely God, the person, and my last part, wherein I am to inquire on what accounts especially he that does depend upon him in these cases hath assurance, such as that he can profess, I know whom I have believed.

Now there is scarce that Attribute in God which is not a firm ground for resignation of ourselves to, and of reliance on him. But to pass all those, which are everywhere in God's Book to be met with, and are urged with all advantage, and to name two other only. First 'tis certain that we may with the most comfortable hope and greatest confidence rely on him, who, when we have most need, is readiest to relieve. As we read in the Scripture of an accepted time, of the day of Salvation, to let us know that it is not to be catched in every season, as if whensoever we shall have a mind to be delivered and ask for it, God must hearken and command deliverances; no sure there are proper set times, and we must be unwearied in waiting for it: so also ordinarily that the time of greatest need is God's opportunity, and the day of extremity the day of Salvation, is obvious. All other times he tries us and does exercise our virtues, but when we are past all other help, then he relieves us. Therefore David is most peremtory with the Lord on that account Psalm 102. 13, 14. Thou shalt arise, and have mercy upon Zion; for it is time that thou have mercy upon her, yea the time is come. And why? thy servants think upon her stones, and it pitieth them to see her in the dust: and Psalm 9. 9. The Lord also will be a refuge 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉 , LXXII. in opportunitatibus, in tribulatione, in the true opportunity, that is, when trouble comes. And we shall find a reason for this way of working in his Prayer Psalm 109. 26, 27. O save me according to thy mercy, that they may know that this is thy hand, and that thou, Lord, hast don it. When we are in such distress as is past man's aid, then if deliverance come we cannot choose but know the hand: when we are in darkness and dimness of anguish, and if we look unto the earth behold nothing but darkness as of the shadow of death, then if any light arise we know it is the day-spring from on high that visits us.

And if besides this reason and those Texts we but consult the Annals of God's actings, we shall find it always thus: and not to mention those that refer to particular persons, of which Joseph's single story is a manifold instance, which also gave birth to those great events which shall make up a demonstration that this is the way of God's procedure. In Egypt when the design was laid so, that the People of Israel could not have lasted longer than one Age, (for posterity was forbidden, and the Nation was to be murdered by a prohibition of being born,) and when they could not to avoid this persecution get out thence, except the sea would at once make a passage for them, and a wall and rampart to secure that passage; and if it also should do so, it would but land them in a wilderness, and they but fled from water to perish for want of it, and escapt being drowned to die with thirst; a place too where unless the desert can bring forth the bread of Heaven, unless Flesh and Manna can grow there where nothing grew, they have but changed their fate, and brought themselves into a more unavoidable and speedy ruin: when this state of exigence was come, then God comes in by weak means, a stammering tongue and little rod works all deliverance.

And again afterwards in the captivity of that Nation, a state which Jeremy the Prophet when he had bewailed in sorrowful eloquence, in lamentations that live still, yet wished his head had been a fountain of tears to weep for it; when in seventy years the people was so mixed, incorporated with their Conquerors, as must needs be very hard to separate and tear them asunder; and as for their Temple it was ruined and despoil'd of all its holy furniture, which was not only robbed but desecrated and profaned, so as not to be likely nor scarce fit to be returned, the vessels of the Sanctuary being made the utensils of their Idol-feasts and their own riots, and those holy bowls made up their drunkeness as well as sacrilege: yet when these conquering Robbers were enjoying their spoils and crimes, as if wine in those holy bowls did stupity men past all sense, they and the great Babylon are taken ere they knew it, and the Jews return strait followed.

Again, when Cestius Gallus had sat down before Jerusalem at the Feast of Tabernacles, when the Nation being obliged by their Religion was all in that City, and the Christians of the Land were there too, after several assaults, and when he might have taken it, he on a sudden raised the siege 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉 , saith Josephus, without any reason, nobody knows why, but only as God put it in his heart to do so to give way for the Christians to obey that voice, which the same Josephus saith was heard in the Temple at the Feast of Pentecost, 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉 , let us go hence, and upon it all the Christians went to Pella, not one staid, but everyone escapt that ruin which Titus sitting down before that City, brought upon that People, (the great Enimies of his Church) to a final utter desolation.

Once more, when after the nine Persecutions, which like so many torrents of fire had swept away the Christians in flame, Dioclesians like a tenth wave came as if it meant to swallow not the relics only of Christ's Church, but also all the memory of the other cruelties; when in one small Province in a month he put to death one hundred and forty four thousand Christians; banished seven hundred thousand more, and proportionably so in other places thro the Roman world with such success, that he took confidence to write on his triumphal Arches, Deleto nomine Christiano, as he had blotted out the very name of Christians, then at the last gasp of his Church it pleased the Lord to raise up Constantine, and strait the whole face of the world was Christian, and Dioclesian himself lived to see it. I might have instanced in our own so fresh deliverance, but that it would not look like an encouragement, it may be, to rely and cast ourselves again upon him, if so soon we call upon ourselves the same needs by the same wretchless methods; and there are some, they say, that apprehend so. And God knows the ruin of the Reformation and our Church hath from its first beginning been still working by her restless indefatigable Enimies, and hath often been preserved only on the account I am now speaking, that when things are past all human help, then is God's set time for relief. I know the Churches Adversaries brag of multitudes, and they come up on every side close to her; yea and which is worse, we seem to labor to make God himself our Enimy, or at least provoke him to desert that Chutch and Reformation we pollute so, put out the Worship we unhallow and profane so by ill lives, make those that will have nothing of Religion but some forms it may be loose them too, and let them die for want of substance, and the show go out, not leave so much as the hypocrisy of piety. Indeed a flood of Atheism and contempt of all Religion and virtue looks like a just dereliction of them who would not let God be in their thoughts, nor Religion or Morality in their actions. Nay may it not look like a kindness to remove the Gospel which proves only the savor of death unto death, put out that light which men are but resolved to sin against? Or can there be a greater mercy than to refuse all the means of mercy to such men as only make them work out condemnation to them? O Lord, to us indeed belongs confusion of face, but notwithstanding to the Lord our God belong mercies and forgivenesses, though we have rebelled against him; and as he knows how to reserve the ungodly to the day of Judgment to be punished, he knows too how many thousand knees do bow to him in secret, reckons all those tears that are poured out in Religion's and the Churches cause; and how wicked soever the Professors of Religion, the Church Members may be, if the constitution of Religion and the Church themselves yet be not vitiated or defective, there is hope still. And truly whereas many blame the Reformation that it did not keep more hold upon the Consciences of the Community, did not retain some power, which altho not of Divine Institution, but things warily and by degrees brought in as seeming to work towards piety, and most certainly in human ways of judging serving to procure more veneration and outward security of the Church and Religion; to work out which the other consequential worldly interests we see the very scheme of some Professions, not their discipline only but their faith too is contrived: I think on the other side, if our Reformation instead of doing thus, as it consulted not at first with carnal Politicks, but Christ's institutions as the Scripture and other primitive Records conveyed them, and designed no more to themselves than those bare naked Spiritual doctrines, rights and powers which Christ gave them, left to Caesar whatsoever was Caesar's, knowing God had promised Kings should be their Nursing-fathers; and to be so, is part of their Office: trusting therefore God and Governments with their protection, and defense of Church and Religion. So also if thro all succeeding times, whether of flourish or depression and calamity, Religion itself, whatever its Professors are, have retained always the same simplicity of principles, be it self untainted, not new modeled to serve ends or interests, then whenever men shall begin to clip it, I do not say in maintenance, seizing what their Father's sacrilege had left them, but I mean because ours did not so as other Churches, grasp some usurped power to secure their own, shall therefore cut her Spiritual powers short, so that they cannot serve the ends of piety; because they know her Children will not, cannot by their principles resist, i. e. if they endeavor to destroy them for this reason, that they make men the best Subjects and of the most Christian Principles; that is, persecute their Christianity itself, and martyr that; I must profess that it will look like God's set appointed time to arise and to have mercy upon Zion; when it is exposed a naked Orphan, left to his protection only, then he cannot pass it by; but when he sees it in its blood thus, he will say unto it, live: and though he plague her wicked and ungracious Sons, and possibly take away many of the good ones from the evil to come, yet the Religion will not die. Let them believe it hopeless who desire a pretence to leave it, who do what they can to stab their Mother, and make it a reason to forsake her then, because she is so desperately wounded; and let them declare it, who design to betray men out of it. But whether is wiser to believe these, or the God from whom we have these promises, and these experiences, and the other grounds of trust? Sure we know better whom we have believed, especially since the very trust to him is an engagement to him not to fail us: that's my last ground.

'It is itself a means prescribed us by himself, Isaiah 50. 10. Who is he among you that feareth the Lord, that walketh in darkness & hath no light? Let him trust in the name of the Lord, & stay upon his God. There is nothing in the world that more engages any man that is not profligately false, than trusting to him; and for God, there is no other piece of piety or virtue gives such honor to him & his Attributes, as sincere dependence on him do's. It does acknowledge his Omniscience, that he knows our needs, & be they never so perplexed & intricate, knows how to help them; his Omnipresence, that he is at hand on all occasions; his Omnipotence, how he is able above all our possibility of want; his Mercy, Goodness, & Benignity, in that he condescended to be willing to relieve us; his Faithfulness, & Truth, and Justice, in observing his good promises and never failing them, and his Immutability in all these and his other Attributes of loving kindness. Now truly as our miseries required all these, so our trust to him gives him the glory of all these; and therefore 'tis no wonder if some men made this reliance or dependence, trust or faith our whole condition of the Covenant. But though 'tis true the Covenant does require some disposition in us that we also may be trusted, for those that are not faithful to him, cannot have faith in him; for us he knows our needs, he knows our hearts too, and if they be false he sees it, and the trust is broken on both sides: such hearts cannot trust him, for it is impossible that one can trust upon another, if he know that other does discern that he is false to him▪ for he knows that he is not in condition to be dealt with by the rules of trust. Yet the sincere and honest-hearted person may cast all his care there, Faith does his work, and he knows well whom he hath believed.

The sum is this, however grievous Sinner one hath been, if he return, and with entire submission to God's will become faithful to him, and assure his own heart towards him, he may commit himself and all his Spiritual and Eternal interests with all assurance absolutely into his hands, and his temporal so far as they shall be succesful in all cases, except those wherein God sees it necessary for his more advantage to determine otherwise. All his concerns too for Religion he may put into the same safe hands with all assurance; for God will never destroy his own Religion, if it do not change first, vitiate and put out itself. And in whatever Judgments God at any time shall bring upon the public, he may perfectly ass • re himself, that whatsoever happens, shall be for good to him; for how sad soever the necessity be, he knows both it and how to remedy it, and is able and hath said he will, he is true and just and faithful in his promises, it is his very Nature that he cannot change or fail him; and how desperate soever his condition seem here, that state is God's opportunity, and that time his set time, and depending on him is yet a further engagement to him.

Yet in all this I have said very little, all these grounds for trust & reliance the old Covenant afforded. Thus far the Jew knew whom he had believed; but sure the Christian knows more comfortably, hath more cause to trust on God as on the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. And certainly we may rely upon that Father, that he will deny us nothing, who denied ns not his son. 'It is S ^t Paul's argument Rom. 8. 32. He that spared not his own Son, but delivered him up for us all; how shall he not with him also freely give us all things. We may resign ourselves into his hands that loved us at these rates, and cannot but be confident as the Apostle was v. 38, 39. that neither death nor life, nor Angels, nor principalities, nor powers, nor things present, nor things to come, nor height, nor depth, nor any other creature shall be able to separate us from the love of God, which he hath to us in and thro Christ our Lord and Savior▪ or shall hinder him from preserving and delivering us in and from the hopes and fears, the terrors and allurements of them all, the temptations that either fear of death or hope of life, or malice of the Devil and his Angels, or of Principalities or powers, whether earthly Potentates or infernal, or distresses present or to come, or heights of honor or depths of disgrace may assault us with. How can these hinder, when sin could not hinder? Or what possibly can separate, when God chose to be divided as it were from his own Son, rather than anything should separate him from the love of man? And then what may we not expect from this, the Eternal Son of God, who became one of us, that so he himself suffering by being tempted might be able to succor them that are tempted? Heb. 2. 18. Able to succor? Sure he could have don it ere he took upon him weak flesh, being God Almighty; he was not less able, when he was Omnipotent: yet being, when he was made man himself, afflicted, having the experience of our infirmities, in all points tempted like as we are, he is enabled to be much more sensibly compassionate and touched with the feeling of our weak condition, which himself felt: so the ability which he hath gained, is the Omnipotency of kindness. One would have thought indeed it had been large enough before, when to show mercy to us seemed more dear to him and more considerable than to enjoy Divinity, when he emtied himself of this, that he might be qualified for the other. How infinitely willing then was he to be compassionate to us, when he takes flesh to learn to be compassionate? How desirous was he to succor us, who lays down Heaven and glory above, and life here below, that he might be able to succor us? To whom can we betake ourselves for mercy with such confidence, as him who made himself like one of us, that he might be a merciful High Priest to expiate and make reconciliation? We that are the sheep of his pasture, what hands can we possibly resign our Souls into with such assurance, as to those of this Bishop and Shepherd of our Souls, this good Shepherd who not only seeks the lost sheep that is run away, but who also lays down his life for his sheep? 10. 15. And what may not his poor Church depend upon him for, who purchased to himself his Church with his own blood? What design can he have to fail us possibly, who would be crucified for us? In a word, if one that for us men and for our Salvation would come down from Heaven, be incarnate and made man, a man of sorrows and afflictions, and would suffer want shame and reproaches, agonies, a Cross, a bitter passion and a cruel death for us; and who is sat down on the right hand of Majesty and Power, hath all power in Heaven and Earth, the keys of Death and Hell; in whom all the promises of God are yea and Amen, faithful and true, faithful to immutability, Jesus Christ yesterday, today, and the same forever: if, I say, he that is all this, can be trusted, we know whom we have believed.

And now I have no more to do but only ask, whether we are assured of any other whom on more or safer grounds we have or may believe? I will upbraid none with that Irony which Eliphas insults on Job with c. 5. 1. Call now, see if there be any that will answer thee, and to which of the Saints wilt thou turn thee? There are that do with all the evidence imaginable of a strong confidence and cheerful hopes to speed in doing so, pour out their needs, their whole Souls to a fancied, or it may be true Saint, whom they have adopted as the object of their invocation, which it seems they cannot do so feelingly, with such a close and intimate dependence, with such comfortable expectations upon Christ himself. Now I would only put the question of ^f S ^t Paul to such a one, was that Saint crucified for thee, that he should be more concerned for, and more sensible of thy condition, and that thou shouldest have a greater confidence of his good will, than of his that did and suffered all that for thee, that he might be merciful and faithful, touched with thy necessities, that I mention not the rest of those qualifications that do make one fit to be relied upon? 'It is to be feared such persons do not know well whom they have believed. But I pass them. There are that trust their being here to Policy and Prudence, to their own contrivances, that is, trust to themselves, and give credit only to what interest or their ambition suggests, and accordingly design ends, and devise means, weave plots, spread their nets abroad with cords, and lay snares, and do all this with that confidence of success, as if they did believe they were fulfilling Prophecies, and moved by the directions of Heaven; for many times they seem to do this in the fear of God, and in subserviency to Religion: but whatever fair pretences some of them may have to wash or color their intentions, God, you may be sure, hath no hand there in those designs, where his Commandments are broken. Where you discern either as to particulars, treachery, or fraud, or falseness, undermining and supplanting to serve interests, or pride, or malice, or revenge; or as to public, interverting justice and the due course of Laws, or mutiny, sedition, raising discontents, and making breaches, 'tis not he on whom they have believed. And did they but consider what they see perpetually, how false interests are, and how unstable high place; how this tumbles men down headlong, those change daily; and altho men thrive so that they wash their steps with butter, they are only so much more in slippery places, where God also leaves them, sometimes overturns them suddenly. Or did they consider who the great Patrons of interest and ambition are, Mammon the fomenter and encourager of almost all the mischiefs upon Earth, and Lucifer that was discontent in Heaven, had ambition to be greater there too, mutinied and stirred sedition up against God, and got by it to be chief of Devils only, Prince of Hell. Did these designers but reflect on these things, they would know then whom they have believed, a deceitful world, a false glistering light that mocks them, and a treacherous malicious Devil that hath been a Liar and a Murderer from the beginning.

I might ask the sensual person, whether he that hearkens to the cravings of the one or other of his inclinations, and is so persuaded, overcome by their insinuations, that whenever any of his appetites is high, he thinks there is no joy that is like the satisfaction of that appetite, and is mad till he have it; yet hath found himself betrayed, fooled, cheated every time he served it, but still courts and embraces the false treacherous mischief, and will not be disenchanted, whether he considers whom he hath believed, whether he knows that he lets his horse ride him, and is guided, animated by, and believes the beast.

Once more, whether he knows whom he hath believed, that owns being an Infidel, any one of those that with great seeming gravity, or wit and railery declares dissatisfaction at the proof of those things, which the world for many hundred years continued so convinced of, that they chose to die rather than say that they did not believe them: when as for them, good Souls, they think they can believe nothing but upon demonstration; yet if a man consider but the men themselves, the method and the means of their conviction into that their unbelief, he would find that themselves are always vicious, and that they examine little but converse much, and keep company with them that in the heat and confidence of drink and vice swear 'tis impossible those things can be, and rally them that give heed to or profess them; and then themselves give easy credit to this and their own inclinations, that would have them all impossible; for it is their concern, they are eternally unhappy if they be not: so that we know whom they have believed, their debauched company and their evil inclinations; and these stupid Infidels are the most credulous, we see, on the least grounds of any in the world. It is not my employment at this time to make comparison betwixt the one and others grounds, the several motives of belief and infidelity; 'tis plain, Christ Judge'd the arguments and grounds of faith were so sufficient, that he positively gives his charge thus, Go and preach the Gospel to the whole world, he that believeth is saved, and he that believeth not is damned. And if his threats are as inviolable as his promises, 'twill be but ill knowing him, whom we would not believe; the conviction will be very fatal, when their unbelief will become vision. And this gives me yet occasion to ask, what temptation Sinners can have not to believe, to be willing to come in to Christ and be saved? They cannot choose but see all others whom they have believed, betrayed them and will fail them: all their satisfactions must go out, their expectations die and perish, and why will ye not take up here then, why will ye die forever? Is your case, think you, desperate, and have you gone too far to be received if you should turn? Why our Saint here, the person of the Text declares, he was the chief of Sinners that obtained mercy for encouragement to all that would believe and turn: and if you did but know whom he believed, you must know one that went to meet the Prodigal in his return, when he was yet far off; that sought the lost sheep while he straied and ran away still, till he found him, and when he was gone so far that he could not return, he carried him. And will you neither be invited into life, nor carried into it? Why will ye die? Can ye not help it? Have your inclinations and customs, think you, so prevailed upon you, that to leave them looks impossible? Then 'tis plain you know not whom you have believed. Is anything impossible for him, that is Almighty, whose grace is sufficient? Or can he command too hard things, who enables to perform what he commands, who, as S ^t Paul saith, worketh in us both to will and to do, if we will suffer him? He never prayed and tried in earnest, watched, endeavored, and comported with God's workings, that complains thus. You cannot but believe indeed they are too hard while you hearken to the cravings of your lusts, your customs and your inclinations; but why will you believe them still? Why will you die? Is it not in fine worth while to strive against it, but even go on with the stream, abandon all consideration of concern for that life? Indeed if that which God thought worth the concern of all his Attributes, the contrivance of his Wisdom, the assistances of his Almightiness, the invitations of his Promises, the engagement of his Justice, Truth and Faithfulness; worth all the issues of his Goodness Mercy and Benignity, worth the Incarnation, Death and Passion of his Son, worth Christ's Blood to purchase, worth the giving him all Power in Heaven and Earth, exalting him to his own right hand a Prince and Savior to give us repentance and remission, that we might be capable of that life, and then to bestow it on us: if this be not worth the while to strive for, not in opposition to Hell eternal, then indeed we know not whom we have believed. Consider how it is this issue that such put it to, a most fatal issue, but the sure one of all those that will give credit to the suggestions of their flesh▪ and this world; Lord Christ, we believe thee, help our unbelief.

SERMON XVII. THE CHILDREN OF THIS WORLD are wiser than the Children of Light.

BY the Children of this World are meant those that look after and take care for only the advantages and satisfactions of this World, have no thought of, or at most design for any other: by the Children of Light all those that see farther, into one to come, and who look after that; accordingly all Christians are called so, 1 Thess. 5. 5. of whom howsoever some are more and some less Christian, all yet are supposed to have been visited by that day-spring from on high, enlightened in some measure by the Gospel, which brought Life and Immortality to light.

2. Those former are said here, in their generation, in their own affairs of this World, (which alone they busy and concern themselves in,) or in their contrivance for their Age or time in this life, to be wiser than those others. Now Wisdom, though it import many offices and of highest concernment, which have place in every serious action of our lives, it weighs interests and obligations, and considers circumstances, which do sometimes make necessities, and sometimes void them, and which cannot all fall under Rules and Precepts, and are therefore left to the decisions of Prudence which does judge of them, and then accordingly direct and steer the actions; yet these offices of Wisdom do not come directly into this comparison of our Savior. Its main office in the general is 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉 , to consult and counsel well and rightly, which acts, since they cannot be emploi'd but about things that must be don in order to an end; therefore

1. The Wise man always looks at, and intends some end; and

2. He pitches on such means as seem most useful, and directly tending to that end: yea

3. Since this Wisdom is not speculative, but 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉 , is Ratio agibilium, deals in things that must be don; it therefore sets the man upon the use of those means in pursuit of that end, it applies him to it and guides him in the execution, and does all by Rules proper to each one of these Offices.

Now as to these three Offices of Wisdom, we will try to find out how far, and in what respect the Children of this World are wiser than the Children of Light, the Worldling than the Christian, than the most of them, yea than the best, and how this comes to pass; that so if men will not be wrought upon by any Rules, not by God's Precepts, nor by means examples, yet comparing themselves with themselves how much they fail of the observance of the Rules of Prudence that concern the next World in comparison of their observance of those very same Rules as to this World, they may shame themselves into discretion, and may learn to be a Rule and an Example to themselves, which I must first enforce by that property of Wisdom, which I mentioned in the first place, that the wise man always looks at, and intends some end.

I suppose this, and I may well do so; for the World allows the action that hath no end, to be to no purpose, vain and foolish. Now the worldly man, as such, proposes, as I told you, to himself the satisfactions of this world, either more particularly of someone kind, or else all in general; and the Child of Light, so far as he is so, designs especially the happiness of the world to come. But then if in relation to their aims, those men be wisest that propose the best end to themselves, the Child of Light is as much wiser than the worldling, as eternal Blessedness above is better than the little broken dying starts of satisfaction here below. And truly 'tis not in relation to their several ends in general that our Savior here compares them, but the one, saith he, are wiser in their generation, in their own concerns; and that first in relation to their ends.

For the worldly man is intent upon his end, his will is fixed to it, and his affections all concenter in it. We are most assured of this by the pains he takes to compass it, all which are carried on and sweetened and made easy merely by his aims and expectation, which his heart is therefore passionately set on; for men's actions will be cheerful, vigorous, and lively only by those measures that the Soul breaths spirit into them. If the will and outward faculties looked several ways, all his external motions would be force and violence, not nature; but since his pursuits are eager, his affections are in them. I should enter into an Abyss of matter and should find no end of the discourse, should I attempt to show this in the several states of men of this World in relation to their several inclinations to this World's advantages. Some pour out and sell the blood and souls both of their own and other Nations, but to purchase some accession to their Territories, to enlarge their bounds and glory. And it is matter of astonishment how 'tis possible that human nature should attain to such a monstrous excess of barbarous & bloody villainy to acquire their ends, as Sylla and Marius practice'd. Yet neither should men wonder, and complain of these so much; for every little great man, that hath power, would be enterprising upon others, outing and supplanting, catching at more power, cutting short, diminishing the rights of others to extend their own: and altho these Aggressors be not bloody as the former, (which 'tis possible they would be, if they durst,) yet they are as unjust and false; and they that are not able to do so much, are not in a state to put a force on others, force themselves, break their own natures into soft compliances and servile attendances to reach their ends. 'It is thus in all conditions, the Soldier charges and storms fire, and the Merchant storms the raging Sea and Tempests; and if the man's heart be once bent on getting wealth, he • ells his meals, his sleeps, his sweat, the whole employment of his life, and his anxieties for that which only brings him more care and more parsimony, and by consequence more want.

Now is there anything that is like this in those others who pretend to aim at Heaven and the Blessedness that God is happy in? Nay do they mind it cordially, when they stand before him in his house in order to it? Or is their heart upon it there, while they are praying for it? Whenever we discern religious performances are uneasy or unpleasing to us, we may then assure ourselves the mind is not intent upon the end of them. For 'tis impossible he should not busy, concern himself extremely in the things that his affections are engaged in, which possess him mainly, and which are his treasure. But 'tis as when God asked the question by the Prophet Jeremy c. 2. 32. Can a maid forget her ornaments, or a bride her attire? Yet my people have forgotten me days without number. He asks a gentler question by the Prophet Isaiah c. 49. 15. Can a woman forget her sucking child, that she should not remember the fruit of her womb? There is some object for an heart, that it should mind and pour out itself in tenderness to that dear part of its own breast and bowels; it is no wonder, if it be not with so sensible affection set on any of those remoter objects, such as God and Salvation in Heaven; but that they should be less considerable than attire, the Robe of Immortality not so much minded as a dress, that to be gay should challenge morning hours and cares, but to be blessed scarce engage a prayer, wish, or thought, is sad. The truth is, such is man's corruption, that there is scarce any inclination left in nature that desires, or is indeed content to be upon the way to Life Eternal. Before anything can be don for man, he must be made willing not to destroy himself; for S ^t Paul tells us 'tis God that by his power worketh in us both to will and to do. We must not only be obliged by duty not to neglect and forsake our own mercies, but we must be wrought and made contented to receive them; all God's arts and methods used, the terrors of the Lord, and the promises of Heaven, and the strivings of the Holy Spirit, and the power of Grace employed to work in us to will, for it is God that worketh in us to will.

In this the men of this World have especial advantages over the generality of Christians, that they mind and are intent upon their aim. For the mere being so engages them to the observance of that Rule of Prudence, which above all others is to regulate the counsels and the actions of all men in order to their several ends, if they mean to act wisely in relation to them, which is this, namely to be true to their own ends, still observing their main point. I say not they should never look off from it, mind no other; secondarily they must do that. For as in the wise Government of Nations Princes must take care, not only that their Subjects live in Godliness and honesty and keep all the Laws, but that they may live, as S ^t Paul says, peaceable and quiet lives, secure as far as may be from the danger of their Enimies abroad or at home, in all tranquility and plenty; and the like in Oeconomical and Military Wisdom: So in Christian Prudence we are so to look at everlasting life hereafter, as not to neglect this here, but may contrive for the conveniences of this life, to avoid what may be dangerous or incommode us, provided we do nothing that's against the other. So S ^t Paul was wise, when both the Sadducees and Pharisees conspired against his life, to break that their confederacy by throwing in the question of the Resurrection of the dead, which was certain to divide them, since the thing he said was true, and consequently since the means he used did not at all clash with his higher purposes: the Rule thus signifying, that wise men in order to whatever end their wisdom lies, must still be true to their own end, be careful to do nothing that may take them off from, or oppose their main aim, (for that were to destroy their own design) and must be certain never to avoid whatever tends most to attain their purposes.

Accordingly the Children of this World are used to stick at nothing that is likely to advance their ends. This was the case expressly of the Text, and thereupon our Savior pronounces they are wiser. The unjust Stewards aim was to provide what should maintain him and his ease and reputation the remainder of his life, a comfortable plentiful subsistence, when his office should be taken from him; and discerning no way to this, but to cheat his Master, and engage his Master's debtors in the wrong too, making them as false and wicked as himself, regards not the injustice, but pursues his mark. And so the Child of Light, so far as he is wise, in order to his aim, the price of his high calling; looks directly forward to it. If he cannot at once do his duty in relation to his great end, life eternal, and take care of the conveniences of this life, he will not for these let go the other, never will look after these, but when, and so far as they will consist; does not turn aside to any other ends that thwart that, is neither bias'd from his mark by any flattering considerations of whatever this World temts with, nor is forced from it by terrors or whatever sufferings. We have great instances of this in the second book of Maccabees the seventh chapter, the Mother and her seven Sons, who looking to obtain a blessed resurrection, as S ^t Paul saith Heb. 11. 35. did in order to it resolve to die under God's Covenant of everlasting Life, would not therefore accept life here, and deliverance from most cruel torments on condition to transgress the Laws. Thus the three wise men in Dan. 3. 17, 18. told Nebuchadnezzar, Our God whom we serve is able to deliver us from the burning fiery furnace, and he will deliver us out of thine hand. But if not, be it known unto thee, that we will not serve thy God's, nor worship the golden image which thou hast set up. Thus Eleazar 2 Macc. 6. from v. 19. chose to die gloriously rather than to live stained with an abomination, as it behov'd them that are resolute, to stand out against such things as are not lawful to be tasted; though the penalty proposed were loss of life, and though the Officers that were his friends besought him to bring flesh of his own provision, such as was lawful for him to use, and make as if he did eat of the flesh taken from the Sacrifice, he began to consider discreetly and as became his age and his most honest Education from a child, or rather the holy Law made and given by God. Therefore he willed them straitways to send him to the grave, v. 24, 25. For it becometh not our age in any wise to dissemble, whereby many young persons might think that Eleazar were now gone to a strange Religion; and so they thro my hypocrisy and desire to live a little time should be deceived by me.

'It is said the Prince of Condé gave this answer to King Charles the IX. of France, who told him he must make his option either of going to Mass, or death, or to perpetual prison: for the first by God's help he would never choose it, in the other he submitted to his pleasure, but that God would certainly dispose of them as it seemed good to him. On the other side we have an instance, Chilon, one of the wise men of Greece; who, whatsoever his last aim was, here his end was to live justly and according to right reason, who upon his death-bed told his friends, it was not then a time for him to flatter & deceive himself, his thoughts did not suggest unto him anything he had don in his whole life that troubled him but one, that when he with two others was to sit in judgment on a man that was his great friend, who had broke the Law so heinously that it was necessary to condemn him, looking out for some means that might save his virtue and his friend too, he resolved on this, that since the suffrages were given so that none could know what sentence any one Judge in particular pronounced, he persuaded his Companions to absolve him and himself condemned him, thinking thus he salv'd his duty both as Judge and Friend: but when he came to die, he thought 'twas wicked and perfidious to draw others in to do that, which he held not just for him to do, he was not true to his own end, but was diverted by the calls of friendship to serve other, and in that he found his Wisdom failed him, and his Conscience condemned him. So that we have seen the Rule exemplified in all kinds.

Now by this Rule we may make experiment both of the truth of what our Savior here pronounces, and men's wisdom also of what kind it is, what the aim is, whether of this World or of the other, and which of the pursuers are the truer to their end, and so wiser.

There is scarce any one profession, dignity, or place of power, nor indeed condition or state of life, but is adapted so that it may serve ends, either of the Child of this World or the Child of Light, and contribute either to the advantages of this life or of that which is to come. To take a view of one or two of them: the man that gets into authority and place, may have for his end to serve God and his Country, if he intend it for an opportunity truly and indifferently to administer justice to the punishment of wickedness and vice, and to the maintenance of God's true Religion and virtue; by such Sons of restraint, as the Scripture calls them, vice may be discountenanc'd, goodness cherished, till judgment run down like waters, and righteousness like a mighty stream, and the Nation be taught to live in peace and honesty: or he may intend to serve himself, to gratify his pride or his ambition by getting into place and power, that so he may be over others, and his person more regarded, and his will observed, and himself be more uncontrollable in his words and actions, may be vices; or to gratify his covetous desires, if in the perquisites of his place he find an opportunity for bribes, a power to sell justice, or what's worse, impunity of wickedness, an office where men may buy off their duties, yea their crimes and punishments, at least a place of doing something like this as they find occasion. Now whereas Authority finds good men often modest in the use of it as to its true ends of Religion and Justice, power will scarce give them countenance and courage for its executions, 'tis uneasy, or they are solicited or awe'd, and they look off, at least they seldom put themselves upon it as upon the prosecution of a thing they mainly aim at, or they seldom persevere so: on the other side in order to the other ends men struggle for them, buy the opportunities of selling, give bribes that they may have power to receive them, use all arts to compass offices to serve their worldly end with. This is more notorious if the Office be Ecclesiastical, the true end of whose Ministry is to gather Christ's Sheep that yet go astray, to carry on the Salvation of those Souls which God hath purchased with his own blood, to preserve his Children from Eternal Hell, to be applying to the wounds and the distempers of the body of Christ, to prepare his Spouse for the marriage of the Lamb, to be Dispensers and Stewards of his means of Grace and Glory; in fine, Fellow-workers with him to the Everlasting blessedness of those that are committed to their charge, and who is sufficient for, and does not tremble at these things? to all which yet they do solemnly in express words dedicate themselves and their faithful endeavors, and are consecrated to it by the Holy Spirit. Or the end of this Ministry may be to advance themselves, to reap the profits, to receive the fleece, enjoy the honors, no great care appearing of those other dreadful obligations, or concern that looks proportionable to them: and if men will purchase this charge too, as some say, we may be sure they do not buy the duty or those fearful obligations, and much less the Holy Spirit or his graces; but 'tis somewhat else they bargain for, which they break thro oaths to come at, some other end they aim at.

2. As for states of life I must be endless should I enter into them, to name but that which God himself did institute and first before all others, which he made to be the complement of the felicities of Paradise, to be mutual support in every state of life, give all the comforts of society with innocence, to preserve from vice in the most dangerous and fatal instances, and so assist in the recovery of lost Paradise; to fill earth, so as by their good education it might people Heaven, and repair its loss of fallen Angels. But some also may intend no more by it than dowry, or to serve the needs or interests of families, and to raise them; for as for other satisfactions, they intend to make them to themselves much otherwise, and design not this at all a bar to any, do not look upon it as God meant it for a remedy, because they would not be preserved from the transgression, only they purpose to have such posterity, it may be, as the Law will suffer to inherit what their vices leave, and their arts can secure from Creditors. Yet truly, since men learnt to disbelieve or not regard their own immortality, and then learn not to care for living after they are gone hence in a good name; it is not strange if they esteem not living in posterity, and however brutish they are, mind not yet that immortality which beasts endeavor towards, to live in successive Offspring: yea where such men have it, they so little mind the giving them good education, that their vices only seem to live in their descendants. Thus men convey ruin into all the future Ages of their own families, and all this the most certain consequent of depraving this Divine primary Institution which was of such absolute necessity and benefit to mankind as he judged, and of slighting his ends in it, drawing it aside, and so making it of no reputation to others.

By these few instances we may discern, that there is no profession place or state of life, but may be taught to serve ends either of the Child of this World or the Child of Light. It is not my part to affirm that most men make them minister to worldly purposes, that is not necessary to make good my Thesis, which says only that the Children of this World are truer to their own ends, more careful to do nothing that may call them off from, or oppose their purposes, more certain never to avoid what tends to the attaining them, and by consequence are in their generation wiser. Men's practice in those instances (and 'tis the like in others) look them in the face so, that it were a shame to prove it to them; and 'tis as easily discerned what kind men's wisdom is of, they need no marks to distinguish them. In a word, he that will act wisely in order to those ends and objects which the light of Christianity discovers and proposes, must in every serious action look before him and consider what he purposes and designs by it, and, not giving ear to the suggestions of his prejudices, interests or any passions, shutting out their counsels, think where and what his aims are in it; whether by what he is about to do, he can intend an act of justice, honesty, charity or religion; whether he can do it out of love of God and for his service: or else passing by that, whether it does look another way aside to something else, and then consider, since Almighty God is infinitely just, and will be sure to punish what is grossly don amiss, and eternally reward what is faithfully endeavored in his service, whether therefore by thy action thou art going to work towards, and ascertain thy felicity, or not. For if it be to gratify carnality or worldliness, to serve but any present inclination that will call thee off from, or will make thee worse disposed for duty, and will not comport with thy designs of Piety and Heaven, then thou art not true to thy own ends, run'st counter to thy own design and everlasting interest; but if thou canst really and in truth intend to do that thing for Heaven and God, on God's name do it, if I say, thou dost intend directly by just means, that being the second property of our wise man, that he pitches on such means as seem most useful and directly tending to his end, which I am next to speak to.

And as to this the Child of Light is furnished now with all, that he, who is the Wisdom of the Father and his Everlasting Word, could judge was necessary or conducing to his end, and would prescribe for the attaining it. For however in the state of Heathenism they were much in the dark, both as to vice and virtue, and to the rewards and punishments, and thro the prejudices of their education in a world corrupted wholly both in practices and principles; they sinned out of piety, and their Religion was their greatest crime: yet he that brought life and immortality to light, was himself the way, the truth and the life, the true living way to it, sent by his Father to trace out, and walk before us in that only true way that can bring us to that Life and immortality. Faith and Repentance make up the whole duty of man. To believe on him, to endeavor faithfully and with sincerity to obey him, and when 'ere we fail, to be humbled for it and amend, these are the true men's to attain eternal Life, as God hath by two most immutable things assured us, both by Promise and by Covenant, which he sealed to us in the blood of his own Son, which blood also purchased it. And his Word declares infallibly all the Rules of our duty, not in general only, but oft brought down to particular cases with their circumstances, and resolved in most familiar instances. So that as to this part of Wisdom, which consists in pitching upon good means, sure the Child of Light is prepared as much better than the other, as the Wisdom of God exceeds that of men. 'It is true the other hath the compass of all Arts, Professions, and all other human Inventions for his choice, but besides that they are human, how fantastically are most put upon their course of life as to this world? To some chance does appoint it, others are determined to it oft without considering their capacities, whether they can fulfil the obligations of the charge they undertake, are blindly set down; one for example for a Soldier, this a Merchant, one a Scholar, this for Law, that other for the Gospel &c. as if they thought God in the distribution of his faculties and abilities were bound to follow their rash inconsiderate appointments. But be the ways and means designed well, yet how insufficient they are for the most part for their ends is every man's complaint, who seldom can attain them with all industry imaginable, The race is not to the swift, nor the battle to the strong, There is no King saved by the multitude of an host: the ways to some too are false and slippery and on a precipice, the men that aim at high place often find it, men that build on air, as others do on water, on the waves, men whose means are most uncertain; so the paths in seas are also to the Merchant, and the winds and weather: some are dangerous too as shelves and tempests to them. So the Soldier's constant conversation is with death too, and his life is always in his hand, saith David. Yea many of the means men use are treacherous, false arts, exactions, frauds, injustices, and bribes breed rust and canker in the gold and silver which they get, and eat the flesh like fire, James 5. 2. And what is taken from the Altar hath a live coal in it. And as to the means men use in order to the plentiful enjoyments of their good things, the luxurious oft eats surfeit, the intemperate drinks fever, the incontinent embraces rotteness that eats out his marrow. So that certainly the worldly man that aims at satisfactions of this life by such means, makes the worse choice, and were wiser, if he sought them also by those means that tend to life hereafter, to Salvation even in the ways of piety; for as David and S ^t Peter both prescribes, he that loves life and would see good days, let him eschew evil and do good.

But he hath a very obvious objection, it is the most concerning part of wise men in the choice of means to pitch on such as are within their power; for to deliberate about, and to intend impossibilities, is the most horrible instance of folly. Now the man of this world chooseth such means, as humanely speaking, seem within man's power. But the means whereby the Christian must attain his ends he thinks are not so, and he is glad to think so, 'tis Apology, and he had rather have the excuse of God's not giving grace to him, than have the virtue; and 'tis certain truth, that God must give it. O God, from whom all holy desires, all good counsels, all just works do proceed, saith our Church. All holy desires, for he prepares the heart that his ear may hearken thereto, his Spirit is the Spirit of supplication, he must intercede in us with groans unutterable, as if men need not set themselves to it, but were to wait for inspiration for it from that Spirit who blows where he listeth. All good counsels also and just works are from him; For we are not able of ourselves to think a good thought, as of ourselves, all our sufficiency is of God, 2 Cor. 3. 5. the very preparations of the heart are from him Psalm 10. 17. 'tis he that does touch the heart, 1 Sam. 10. 26. and open it, Acts 16. 14. turn it, Jer. 31. 18. he must draw us, John 6. 44. which if he do not, no man cometh to him; and must give an heart to know him, Jer. 24. 7. give a new heart, Ezek. 36. 26. and in all variety of expression, a new spirit I will put within you, and will take away the stony heart out of your flesh, and cause you to walk in my statute, and ye shall keep my judgments and do them. In a word, he worketh in us both to will and to do, Phil. 2. 13. Now since he only does all this at his own pleasure, as S ^t Paul affirms there, therefore 'tis not in man's power: I know, O Lord, saith Jeremy c. 10. 23. that the way of man is not in himself, it is not in man that walketh to direct his steps, no not to his main sovereign end. And in this the worldling thinks he has advantage; but does he not know that he must pray too, as well as labor for his own bread Matt. 6. 11. it is God produceth all in order to it; He bringeth food out of the earth, and giveth wine that maketh man's heart glad, and bread which strengthens it, Psalm 104. 14, 15. He that watereth the hills from his chambers v. 13. and his clouds drop fatness, he prepares men corn, Psalm 65. 9, 10. &c. 'It is he that gives us power to get what we have, and he that does not know this, knows not God, Deut. 8. 14, 17, 18. Beware that thou forget not the Lord thy God, and say in thy heart my power and the might of my hand hath gotten me this wealth; but thou shalt remember the Lord thy God, for it is he that giveth thee power to get wealth, yea he gives it itself, whatever labor we bestow in getting it 1 Chron. 29. 16. O Lord our God, all this store cometh of thine hand, and is all thine own; riches and honor come of thee v. 12. 'It is I gave them corn, and wine, and oil, and multiplied her silver and her gold [even that] whereof they did make Baal, made an Idol. And God is so jealous of his honor in this particular, that if men do not render this acknowledgment, he threatens to take all away: Therefore will I return, and take away my corn in the time thereof and will recover my wool and my flax given to cover her nakedness, Hos. 2. 8, 9. And if he do not take it, he must bless it, otherwise we shall not thrive, shall have no comfort in it; for the blessing of the Lord it maketh rich, and he addeth no sorrow with it, Prov. 10. 22. Without that, bread may stuff us but not nourish, we may have saturity but not have sustenance 1 Hag. 6. 9. for I did blow upon it, saith the Lord. So that for ought appears, if Scripture signify to the men of this world, as here they appeal to it, the means whereby they should attain their Ends seem no more in their power then the others. For as in the order of Grace those general rules to which he hath determined the conversion of a sinner, God must work with his means to make them effectual; so in the order of Nature those general rules by which all things in nature are effected; he must prepare the means, and bestow the power, and bless the endeavors, yea and himself give all too, otherwise they also cannot be effectual. Thus he hath in both appointed, that in one and the other we should live with constant application to, and with entire dependence on him in the faithful use of means both in the one and the other order. So that the objection is quite vanished. 'It is true though sometimes God doth blast men's actions so, that do they what they can, they cannot prosper for some secret cause that's unaccountable to us, yet because for the most part in the sphere of Nature, so far as the men of this world diligently use the means, they attain their aims in some measure; therefore notwithstanding all the interest God pleads in these things, they make no doubt but they are sufficiently in their power; much more then those in the sphere of Grace are in that of the Christians, where they have express promises of not being disappointed, and are required by most strict and multiplied commands which represent the work of grace as duty. For though all good desires and Prayers, come from God's good Spirit, and from his preparing of the heart as we saw, yet Before thou prayest, prepare thyself, and be not as one that temts God, as one that waits for a particular inspiration to it, one that will not pray without a Miracle. Tho God is said to open Lydia's heart; yet Rev. 3. 20. he dos only knock, and we must open. He turns the heart, and therefore Ephraim prays turn thou me, O God: yet by Ezekiel he says turn yourselves from your transgressions, and bids Judah Return now every one from his evil ways, and make your ways and your doings good. He promises to circumcise the heart Deut. 30. 6. but yet he bids them circumcise the foreskin of their hearts, Deut. 10. 16. He dos engage to put a new heart and a new spirit in them, Ezek. 18. 31. In fine altho he worketh in us both to will and to do as S. Paul says, yet he therefore charges us, Work out your own Salvation, For it is God that worketh in you.

Now when the man of this world thinks all those expressions of God's workings in the course of Nature are such as yet leave all to him to do, so far, that he were a Fanatic as to worldly interests who without endeavoring in the use of means, should look that God would work out his ends for him, give bread without sowing, nourish without eating, notwithstanding that Scripture dos ascribe to God the entire efficacy: shall the like expressions in the order of grace, leave nothing for the Christian to do, especially when the same endeavors are commanded him too? I know not whether these expressions made to us to turn our felves &c. do make more Pelagians that deny all need of grace; or else ascribed to God, make more deny all need of our endeavors, even of our prayers, or of anything but more dependence, waiting for his season. Whereas indeed we are to work, because he works and gives means to enable us; and not to use the means he gives us is to temt him, 'tis to refuse Salvation by the ordinary methods of his workings, & expect new miracle, 'tis to be that fanatic that dos look to live without food. 'It is gospel truth to say it is not the direction of God's laws can rule us, nor his promises allure us, nor his threats affright us; but his Holy spirit must direct and rule our hearts. Coll. 19. Sun. aft. Trin. and he must write his laws there Heb. 8. 10. and he must give us a heart to love and dread him. To affirm the other is heresy: and to say that a sinner can dispose himself for his conversion, or that the outward means can by their own moral efficacy turn a sinner, is an heresy against grace, but grace where it hath not been too far resisted, still accompanies the means. God's word is the ministration of the Spirit and of rightousness, and his word and Spirit go together Acts 7. 51. for to resist one is to resist the other. And if the heart be not by evil education, bad converse and example (great advancers these of reprobation) depraved, either hardened or made dissolute, or overgrown with principles that choke all God's good seed that can be sown in it, those means so assisted call attention, work some disposition to regard them. The ordinariest means are blest to that end. Prov. 23. 14. thou shalt heal him with the rod and deliver his soul from hell. Yea they do it, though the force of good education have been broken, when these gracious means find congruous soft seasons, lay hold on occasions of calamity or such like; and they move the inclinations, and so make soil prepared for God's husbandry. And since experience shows us mere Gentile breeding and converse, if there be but care and parts, can temper, take off, at least moderate all insolence and passion, make men generous, and meek and humble, decent as to all behavior towards God and man, not one ill vicious habit in their practice, but an universal probity upon the face of their whole life; why therefore may not those beginnings of God's workings, which he never fails to carry on for his part, do as much? And if they but keep off ill habits, and by constant practice weaken inclinations to them; here 'tis plain that God's means of grace find not so much resistance, and that which in another state of mind would not have been sufficient there becomes effectual; especially when with them that work, he works, and as S. James says, gives more grace to them that use it, and diverts temptations, enables to do all things thro Christ that strengthens. O that the Christian would but try and strive to use his means as heartily as the Child of this world! It is because men are not so industrious for salvation, answer not the motions of God's Spirit, but neglect grace given, when the worldly man is indefatigable in, and therefore is wiser in order, to his end.

Yet in relation to their proper means in order to their several ends I must confess the worldling does observe the rules of prudence better; the true child of this world for the most part chooseth the prescribed known ways to his end, and do's use the general means and methods of the world, gets into a profession or a place in which if he use false arts, they are trades now, mysteries well taught and known; there are few adventure on untrodden paths: Projectors seldom thrive. But the generality of Christians who would gladly reconcile God and this world, life hereafter with the being well here, do not therefore acquiesce in God's means only, but make Principles, by-Rules of Conscience, which they guide themselves by on occasions, and have taught themselves to think they are safe ways, and such as do not lead them from salvation.

It is too well known what one sort of men have attempted in this case, how by new-raised principles of Probability and directing the intention, they have reconciled all villainy with Christian life, made it safe yea meritorious to lie, forswear, and bear malice, to defame, revenge by either force or treachery, rebel, massacre, drown whole Nations in their own blood, depose or murder Kings. But passing these as monsters in Religion & honest heathen humanity; there are pretenders to some tolerable regard of God and virtue, who on occasions, fit their conscience to their convenience. Besides S. Paul's good Conscience void of offense to God and man, there is one of gentility, of Politics, of Honor, of friendship, and a conscience for persons, times and places, one of compliance and one of the mode, one for the interests of a Profession, and the like. I might have named some quite the other way; the Conscience that is ruled by rolling changeable Principles, which▪ play fast and loose, now strains at Gnats, and now can swallow camels: or a Conscience of caprice, that sets itself strong sudden heats of nice observances sometimes in little things, sometimes in greater, but is firm in nothing. But waving these, and that for Politics too, which is governed wholly by reasons of State, which is too nice and high for my consideration; the man of honor makes himself a Principle which will allow him to require reparations for the least affront so called; for otherwise what Gentleman would be of Christ's Religion; he can right himself with sword and pistol and with a good Conscience. The conscience for friendship is like that of Chilon, whom I mentioned to you, hath a by-rule. And indeed who is there almost that hath the same sentiments or laws for equity and justice in his own cause or the cause of those he is most concerned for, as in others? They measure not by the same standard: do not think in conscience the same case is like when it makes against, as when it serves a turn. As for persons, so for times. We have one conscience for the time of health, and one for sickness. Things do not equally seem good or evil in their different seasons. And as for places, ut vestitum, sic sententiam aliam domesticam, aliam forensem saith the Orator. Men have their shifts of conscience as of clothes; their dress is carefuller, and their rules stricter much abroad in public, then when at home or out of sight. As for the conscience of compliance, many do not only do things which they have dislike to, out of compliance, but satisfy themselves because they do them with reluctancy against their inclination, to avoid the being singular or offensive. For the mode too; Men learn to interpret God's laws also by the practice of the age, live and judge by imitation and example. The man's conscience though it boggle at first sight of dangerous uncomely liberties, yet conversation with them, as it takes away the horror of them, so he thinks it do's the danger and ill influence. And as fashion makes all dresses to be mode and not look uncomely; so the custom of these things makes them seem indifferent. A Conscience also for the interests of a Profession: as in trade for example, and in Corporations of it, it thinks their combinations for the better keeping up the Company fair and honest, and therewithal make tricks and exactions lawful. And in single traders such another principle makes Princes Laws be broken, & their dues stolen without any check of Conscience; and I verily believe that many think these are not inconsistent with a good mind. I might have instanced in other professions; particularly in that which satisfies itself in the defending manifestly wrongful, and in right causes, in protracting suits to men's great molestation and the ruin of just rights. But in truth this is paltry trifling with religion, having false weights and measures of what's lawful and unlawful, things that God abhors: and indeed these frauds will in the end return upon their authors, and the unhappy artist will most certainly deceive his own soul. For he never can arrive at life, whom he that is the way do's not lead thither, Christ and his rules only can introduce us into the mansions of Eternity. 'It is true there may be doubts sometimes about the way of duty (for 'tis that I speak to) in applying general rules; for circumstances may perplex & vary cases, obligations seem to clash and quarrel, so that one may be uncertain which to follow, what means he should take to attain his great end.

2. Now in case of such uncertainty, as to the means, the Child of this world do's observe a Rule of Prudence better then the Christian, for he takes advice. For who intends to purchase an inheritance but he goes to Counsel, and if there be the least appearance of uncertainty in the Title, spares no charge to have it searched and to be sure? The least indisposition drives the man that aims at life to his Physician. In every difficulty of a voyage where there's any apprehension of a shelf or rock, the Merchant and the Master will consult the Pilot. But in the voyage towards heaven how many make shipwreck of a good conscience, because they will not commit themselves to any conduct? How often do they shake their Title to God's inheritance, because they will not take advice of him at whose mouth God commanded they should seek the Law? And who do's go to the Physician of Souls to prevent death Eternal? I do not say men should betake themselves to a director in each action of their lives; For who goes to a Doctor to know whether he should eat stones or poison; or who asks a Lawyer whether he should keep or burn his evidences? Now for the most part what I ought to do, what to forbear, is every jot as clear as those, except where circumstances trouble, or else seeming cross obligations a muse our judgment; and then for a man not to ask direction in his way to heaven, is unanswerable folly in a man that will inquire the way to the next village; 'tis nothing but a wretchless stupid carelessness in the Eternal interests of his own Soul. When he that takes the best directions he can get with this sincere intent that he may not transgress, may quiet his own mind in this that he hath don his utmost faithfully towards duty, and in doing that with our good God shall be interpreted to have don his duty, if he also faithfully pursue the means directed, the 3 ^d . property of Wisdom, which does set the man upon the use of those means which he must attain his end by; the last thing I am to speak too.

Now as to this I must confess the Child of this world wiser: and give up the cause. Whoever does resolvedly intend his profit, pleasure, honor, or whatever state in this life, 'tis the business of his parts, his study and his whole life to pursue it: and it is so while the appetite of any carnal end is eager in him, Anger, hate, revenge &c. And I cannot say it is so with the Christian as to his end. But the worldly man besides the zeal in using all means in pursuit of his end, he observs two Rules that wisdom dictates, with more carefulness; 1. Be circumspect, then wary; both prescribed us by S ^t . Paul Ephes. 5. 15. See that ye walk 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉 circumspectly, not as fools but wise, as we translate it, and the Vulgar caute warily, with caution. Now the first of these two, Circumspection signifies the looking every way about him to discern, or if he can foresee whatever may obstruct him in his progress, give him any hindrance in whatever shape it is likely to attempt it; whether it do threaten with inconvenience, or do flatter with the deceitful appearances of being useful; come with treachery or open opposition, as a false Friend or a known Enemy: and the other, Caution sets him upon all the care he can make use of to avoi'd or rid himself of such impediments of what kind soever.

Now tis evident the man of this world in whatever occupation, trade, profession, or place he may be, from the lowest to the highest, who proposes any one thing to himself, and does not live ex tempore and follow ends and objects as the boy's do Crows, but hath at least someone design, so far as he does so, looks round him, that he may shun everything that would defeat, divert, or but disturb him in it, and endeavors to move every stone, which he may stumble at in his pursuit, whatever may be an impediment to his attainments.

Now the Child of Light hath warning given him by the wise man also, My Son if thou come to serve the Lord, prepare thy soul for temptation. There are those that will attempt to break his progress in pursuit of any such designment; His enemy the Devil like a roaring Lyon, his false friend the Flesh, and a third (that will assault him under both appearances) the World, sometimes by reproaches taunts and insolent scorn, by turning piety and virtue into raillery, discouraging men from the pursuit, sometimes by vexatious molesting, injuring, oppressing good men that they think will bear it, making a prey of the meek, patient and longsuffering, treading underfoot the humble; because they know their principles will make them suffer it: and sometimes by invading them with downright persecution, when duty and Religion are made crimes, true faith and a good Conscience mark men out for ruin. Sometimes on the other side it courts us, shows us all it's glory, it's places, powers, plenties, pomps and gayeties, and so kindles in us the desire of wealth, which is the only way to compass all those; which desire if it touch the heart once, if the world can charm us once with the deceitfulness of riches as our Savior words it Matth. 13. 22. we are quite betrayed. For these deceitful riches, though they are and may be made great instruments of good, and most well minded men, when they are in the way of getting them, imagine they shall do more good with more of them, when they have got them, they deceive them, prove occasions and foments of vices, do not only serve, but grow incentives to those Sins, which men have any inclinations too, yea many times betray them into those they before had no disposition towards, by putting them into their power, and by heightening for them. And however many that possess them, do make blessed use of them, yet those that seek them and endeavor their increase on the account of doing so, to make them help their entry into life, do in our Savior's judgment for the most part so deceive themselves, and are as sottish as a man that should get up upon a Camel, to ride thro the eye of a Needle. 'It is our only wisdom to beware of all temptations. 'Twas Christ's last advice in that agony both of his Love and Sufferings. Watch and pray that ye enter not into them; Look about you, give no opportunities to them to approach you undiscerned, advert still that you may be either able to avoi'd them, or have time to fortify and call up all the succors Reason and Religion offer, and all those of Grace, which God is ready to bestow upon your prayers, that you may not be surprised and taken unprepar'd; and rather bear & suffer anything then yield. Whatever 'tis that is most precious to thee, serves thy greatest uses, contributes to thy most charming satisfactions, rather part with it then let it temt thee. 'It is our Saviors charge, if thy right Eye offend, ensnare, thee pluck it out and cast it from thee. It is sad indeed when the Eye that should watch, the organ of Circumspection and with which we should discern the snare to shun it, should itself lead into it, and be it. But 'tis sadder when the snare is dear to men as the usefullest part and most delightful of their senses, when they can no more endure to withdraw from temptation, then to cut off their right hand, or pull out their right Eye, when they use those parts to look about for ruin, and lay violent hands upon the instruments of their Perdition; when they will loose any of those organs rather then not pursue what the temptation suggests, rather cut off a right hand and pull out a right Eye, then not satisfy the appetite it raises, give up all their own aims, and the worldlings also for that only; loose their Salvation, their God and their own Soul, spend wealth and strength and body, honor and understanding on one sin, that they may become their own ruins here in this life, and the type of their judgment in the life to come. Now these are such instances of folly that the men that practice them and call themselves Christians, are not to be put in the comparison with the children of this world, who in every part of wisdom are much wiser, in relation to their ends, and to the means they pitch upon, and to the use of those means in pursuit of their intentions: which I undertook to show.

And then when all their Wisdom is foolishness with God, and branded with the worst extremest names of it in Scripture; in what rank of folly stand most Christians? And truly to sum up all, 'tis a most astonishing contemplation how 'tis only in these everlasting interests that most men act without any consideration, as men wholly destitute of understanding, and that could not think. He that hath a journey or a voyage which he must make, and accordingly designs, he takes some thought of fit means of conveyance, and providing whatsoever else is at least necessary for it, never is so sottish as to choose and prepare a Ship for land, or a Coach for Sea, nor to hire and put himself in any one he meets by hazard, without minding whether it is going and will carry him. Now each man hath a journey to the other World, knows he must make it, and is going on it, and and pretends at least to be assured there are two ways to that world; one that leads to felicities which never can die, and the other to as endless and immortal misery and torment: yet the one of these however dreadful, and the other how desirable soever never enter into his Consideration so as to weigh ought with him, and to incline him in the choice he makes of that way which he walks in all his life long. And though men know that they approach nearer to that terrible moment every day, and have for ought they know few paces more, but are to step immediately into one of these two Eternities; yet if you ask them why they go that way they march in, not another, whether they ever minded where that way will lead them: why alas they did not ask themselves that question, may be never yet reflected on it; but their inclinations and affections, the example of converse with others carried them along without consideration whither: these did guide them wholly, and from these they took their sentiments of things and actions, which they followed without ever giving heed too, or examining how they came by them, or what grounds of truth or goodness they have for them, but pursued them constantly, and doing so, that while those sentiments remain in them as judgments, and remaining long so and by that becoming prejudices, with them go for Principles; and if ever they be called on to reflect upon the way they walk in, being willing out of a desire that's natural to man, and is inbred in him, to justify themselves as much as may be in their inclinations and their actions, they seek reason or color of it to guild over and beautify the principles they took up so. Thus they come to have their maxims and rules, and so a Conscience which excuses or at least does not reprove their conduct; and so go on confidently, and acquiesce in those, and never take nor ask other direction. Yet these very men will hire a Tutor to direct their footings that they may be to the measures and the rules of Music; will be bountiful and docile & obedient to him, and spend time too in reflecting how to set their paces to the cadences of an air: so much more considerable 'tis to dance well then to live and die well. No guide in that science that must teach them how to be forever blessed; they march forwards in the way they fall into, in which provided all their appetites be entertained well, and themselves diverted, the good company submissive and complaisant, and let them have their will, and rule it, then they go on pleasantly not ever thinking what way they are in or whither going. Much less are they circumspect and wary, watching both their ways and steps; but rather love to walk amongst, break into snares; and so walking so entangled, their last fatal minute overtakes them: never till then sensible, but then made so by despair, when, as the wise man words it, they repenting and groaning for anguish of spirit, shall say within themselves, The Righteous we had in derision and a proverb of reproach, we fools accounted his life madness; how is he numbered among the Children of God, and his lot is among the Saints. Therefore have we erred from the way of truth; we have wearied our selves in the way of wickedness, yea we have gone thro deserts. Where there lay no way; but as for the way of the Lord we have not known it. What hath pride profited us, or what good hath riches with our vaunting brought us? All those things are passed away like a shadow. For the hope of the ungodly is like a thin froth that is driven away with the storm, but the Righteous live for evermore; the reward of them is with the Lord, and the care of them is with the most High. Therefore shall they receive a glorious kingdom, and a beautiful Crown from the Lord's hand. Which Crown God of his infinite mercy grant, &c.

SERMON XVIII. THE LIGHT OF THE BODY is the Eye.

IN days that above all others so pretend to light, yet then in which the Church was scarcely ever more involved in darkness, wholly overspread with error and confusion, and these new lights prove but like those fires that do mislead them that are overtaken by the night; guide them only out of their way into dangers and precipices, and make them loose themselves in many wanderings; only Religious meteors: It cannot be unseasonable or needless to try what kind of light it is that Christ would have us follow; if all were true those others do pretend, 'twould give them but enlightened brains: but Christ's light here will give us shining lives, make our whole bodies full of light; and which light if men want, notwithstanding all their wild illuminations, they are still in the most amazing darkness. For the light of the body is the eye. &c.

The words are clearly the former part of a comparison, only hinting at, and leaving us to guess and to draw out the latter; which hath by divers been assigned diversely. In their direct view they say thus much, The Eye is the candle of the body: that is, as in the body of man the Eye is the director, do's that office to it that a lamp dos in the dark, shows it which way it should walk, what it should do, and by its guidance the body can discerningly set about its offices and perform its functions: and if the Eye be as it ought, pure and right, it directeth well; but if not, the body not being able to discern, not only cannot exercise its functions as it ought, but also may walk on in dangerous errors, and stumble upon precipices into ruin. So also it fares in our spiritual estate. But the particulars thereof are not by all agreed upon, and are very variously rendered. The single and the evil eye being expressed by such words as do assure us that a spiritual eye is here intended, yet leaves place for enquiry into what it is: and though several meanings have been pitchit upon, and but one was meant, yet each having either large authority or reasons, I know not why I may not apply it too, and treat of everyone: seeing each way afford's us true and good instructions. And first that which hath most generally been adhered to is that the singleness of the Eye should mean the singleness or simplicity of heart, & purity of intention. So Abimelech Gen. xx. 5, 6. when he had taken Sarah to him, pleads for himself he did it in the simplicity of his heart, and God acknowledges he did so; with an honest intention, meaning to make her his wife, not knowing that she was so to another man. And then the second part of the comparison says thus: So also if thy heart be single and sincere, thy intentions right to God, if in all thy actions thou intend his service and Glory, that thy good meaning will derive a goodness into all thy doings, thy whole body will be full of light, all thy actions holy; but if thy intentions be vitiated, if in the duties I named before, alms, prayer, fasts thou aim not at my service, but the praise of men, if thy heart be impure, mudded with the desire of earthly things, which I did last forbid thee; thy actions must needs be dark and foul: yea indeed how. great a spiritual darkness, how much unholiness must needs dwell upon thy doings, if the only thing, that should give light, and shed an holiness into them, thy intentions be dark and evil? To this sense I shall first speak, and divide my text into subjects rather then parts.

1. The first shall be this, the lamp of the body is the eye, a good intention a well meaning must enlighten & direct every action to make it not reprovable.

2. I shall lay before you a single eye, show you what is required to make a Religious intention singly and purely so.

3. That from such a single eye the body shall be light, that such good hearty meanings do either break out into holy actions, or are accepted as such.

4. That such a single eye makes the whole body light, that by such pure religious intentions a man may sanctify all the actions of his life.

5. The remaining part of the text, but if thine eye be evil &c. being but the affirming all the contraries to these of the evil eye, the bad meaning, the intention that is not honest and pure, must needs be proved and pressed in pressing of the former part; and therefore that shall only furnish me with application.

First of the first, the candle of the body is the eye, a good intention; a well meaning must enlighten and direct every action to make it not reprovable. I mean in actions that are any way matter of duty▪ I know only an innocent harmless intention, if there be no other unhandsom circumstance, will serve to make the common actions of life innocent and not blameable; but without the Religious intention the action cannot be accounted duty, and upon this score 'tis in Religion reprovable.

Among all creatures here below man is the only one that hath a faculty to choose his ends, & consequently that can direct his intentions. Things without life are carried only to the makers ends, not to their own; the stone however by its own weight it hurry downwards to it's sphere of rest, and as it does approach goes faster still and faster, as if there were it's inclination, and that inclination were more sensible as it came nearer, and so increased upon it; yet 'tis determined to it's line, 'tis bound to move by plummet, and cannot possibly turn one point aside, not make the smallest crook to meet a nearer knob of earth that stretches up itself to give it soonest rest: and all it's hast is only weight not inclination, not choice, but natural violence as it were. Things that have life and sense, have indeed aims, and these do prosecute those aims with eager strong intentions; but they also are limited, determinantur ad unum, as the Schools speak; their end is set to them, nor do they pick and choose upon comparative considerations; that which strikes their present sense with strongest relish, that they necessarily fix upon: and therefore Buridan tells us of an Ass that was so justly placed between two bottles of hay of so exact and equal sent and goodness, that neither of them being able to determine his appetite to the one more then the other, his inclinations stood divided equally betwixt those equal invitations, and being not able to prefer, nor consequently choose any, he wanted both, and two bottles sterv'd him whom one would have preserved. But 'tis not so with man, for as there is as great a difference betwixt his ends as does distinguish Hell from heaven in obedience on one side, and transgression on the other; life and death, eternity of blessedness, and immortality of misery are set before his choice; one of these everlastingnesses sets out itself before every action of his that is not merely indifferent, and offers itself to be his aim. So also he hath (as it mostly proves) a most unhappy privilege, that he can choose his ruin: and as by the assistance of that Grace, which God does not deny, he can intend those actions that look directly towards happiness; so he can by the power of his will prosecute his own destruction. Now then as for him that can thus choose his ends, that can direct his intentions either to good or evil, to limit this his freedom to the choice of evil would be most unreasonable; God knows 'tis too much so for him to let the lawful delights of his senses according to their degrees and strengths fix and determine much of his intentions; and to employ his soul to spring and start such pleasures, and let his appetite still hover over them, and the fairest quarry always engage it in the pursuit, tied to that object that does strike his sense with greatest vigor of temptation: for this is to live merely a life of sense, 'tis to degenerate from man into the rank of lower creatures; for just these are their aims, and so they make their choices: and did God place an immortal and Angelic Spirit in a man only to make him be a more sagacious brute? But then much more then brutish would it be when as two objects court his choice, as different as Hell and Heaven in desireableness; for him to choose the terrors, to pursue that which carries with it inconsistency to all his happiness. The beasts cannot do so, they cannot choose the worse, but man will prefer misery, and make his choice of wretchedness. And truly thither every action of man does tend, that is not otherwise leveled and directed by honest intentions. It is the meaning that distinguisheth the deeds, and as the mind intends, so it alters the exterior action into good, bad or indifferent. If I do take a walk to the next town, whether I do it for fresh air and recreation, or else to make a charitable Christian visit, so to relieve or help a weak sick soul, or go to meet companions of my sin and to appoint or execute a vice, the walk is still the same, but those so different ends do make the action tend to consequences of an eternal difference. Nay the aim hath so great an influence upon the deeds, that though the action be an action of a virtue or Religion, yet according to the quality of the man's meaning that performs it, so it may either lose its virtue, or transmute into a vice, and the very Religion become sin. The first part of this chapter is all demonstration of this: 'tis lawful without question by all good human means to seek to advance my reputation, but he that does endeavor it by his devotions, though his life be all strictnesses, and he do spend himself in alms and fasts and prayers, by all these holy practices he does not purchase the reward of piety, but only praise of men; so that all that Religion ceaseth to be holy, and if it mainly aim at that, becomes hypocrisy. And all the reason in the world it should be so; for he that merely in order to his ends does choose and practice such means, 'tis certain he does love those means no otherwise then as they serve that end, and therefore though the means be virtue, he does not love the Religion of that virtue, but the convenience of it as it does contribute to his aim. Now if it be convenient to an ill end, 'tis an evil convenience, and so in choosing virtue he chooseth evil; if but to an indifferent end, 'tis an indifferent convenience; and so the Religion becomes insipid and indifferent; and though there be honesty in the thing, yet 'tis by accident as to his mind, 'tis not for that he chooses it, but for its usefulness; and ordinarily 'tis not that males it convenient or useful for ends, or if it do, yet the appearance of it is as good as it is itself; and so 'tis clear, howsoever he choose virtue, yet the virtue hath no interest in his performance, not in his intention, nor election. Thus he that is charitable to one in distress on purpose to oblige him afterwards for some designs he hath in using him, he does contract, not give, and 'tis not alms, but commerce, 'tis rather earnest of wages, then a liberality. She that abstains from vicious and suspected company, and observes strictest chastity merely to avoid an ill name or worse consequences, does not fear God, but shame and being undone, and 'tis not virtue this but care of reputation: she's no more chaste as to the Religion of it, then she that does abstain from places suspected of diseases, that would spoil her face or do her other injury: she does avoid uncleanness, as she does small pox or breaking of her limbs; and she that will not lame or deform herself is every jot as virtuous. They that make long prayers for a pretence to cover their devouring widows houses, that their opinion of their Religion may palliate some other wickednesses they have; their prayers only pull down woes upon them Matth. 23.

They that go to the place of God's Worship and Service and to the exercises of devotion, intending there to offer up some eyes and thoughts to some object, which their vicious inclinations have service for, their very Religion is Idolatry; and truly they who do good actions to an ill intent, their wickedness is multiplied, they do not only sin in the intention, but they defile the means, they make Piety serve their vice, and Christ Minister unto Belial. Occasion enough to persuade us to look to our intentions, and have a care our meanings be purely and singly religious; which when they are I am now next to show you.

Now for this intentions may be considered either precisely in order to the end they aim at, without taking in the consideration of the means, by which I must prosecute that end; as for instance, from this time forward I intend strictly and duly to observe my private and the public hours of prayer; nothing but such an occasion, as God shall interpose, shall hinder me. Or I intend according to my ability to practice charity to the distressed. Or secondly the man considers also what means there are for him to pursue that intention, and chooseth what he thinks the most convenient, and by that means intends to compass his designs. So in order to my constant keeping prayers, I will be sure to rise so early, as that the hast of any business I shall have, shall not hurry me from my private morning devotions; I will be up timely enough for both: and I will so and so order my business of the day, and so cut off, or so dispose my pleasures as that they shall not enterfere with prayers, shall not intrench on my Religious hours, but doing so and so I will have void spaces left for them, that are so much more my concerns; and will not suffer trifles to detain me from them; or from any part, such as I may easily shake off, or defer for so much better interests then trifles, as the business of my prayers is; which yet truly 'tis to be doubted they do scarce believe, that let trifles turn them either from all or part, or slacken them in coming. And for my charity I do intend out of such my revenue, or my wages, or out of the superfluity of my expenses (from which I do discern I could spare something, and be never the worse) to lay aside constantly for the uses of that virtue. And so any man intends to set upon the serious practice of sobriety and temperance or chastity; and then considers that 'tis necessary for him to avoid such and such engaging practices, or such and tempting companions, and occasions, and thereupon intends that too: where we see the means come in with the end to make up the intention; as where they do not, God knows the bare intention of the end is but imagination and fancy.

1. Now as to both these intentions: First for the precise intention of the end; that in religious aims that may be single and pure, I must 1. take heed that neither temporal nor vicious aims do mixe in any degree with my Religion in my thoughts, nor that the pious meaning do decline unto any such intention. For any either mixture or defilement, makes a thing not pure and single. Do not mistake me, temporal ends such as profit, recreations; reputation are not only lawful, but necessary for our intentions, provided they do not transgress their bounds of time ot measure, but they must not in any degree come into your obediences to God. To intend both in that, were to endeavor that which Christ says we cannot do, 'twere to serve God and Mammon, or God and pleasure, or the Lord and Honor: yea 'twere to serve them with the Lord's Religion, to make the very worship of my God be the Idolatry of my covetousness, 'tis one of the worst kinds of sacrilege to alienate his own service from him. Nay I must take a care that an intention piously begun, do not decline into any degree of such meanings. I may out of a real sense of my imperfections or detestation of some of my former practices begin a confession, and complaint against myself, and have the thoughts of emtyness and of humility of heart, when this intention springs within me, but if I then find some have a better opinion of me for it, and speak well of my modesty or my humility, and that opinion do begin to tickle me, that air to fill me (and I shall easily discover it, if there be anything of such an aim, for if I cannot well endure another should say that of me which I say myself, then it is sure that my confessions were either dissimulation, or fishing after praise:) here the humble intention declines, & now 'tis time to have a care and turn my thoughts from other men's opinions to my own guilty consciousness.

So for vice, if the same confessing man acknowledge sadly former loosnesses, or out of a good meaning tell some story to aggravate the vileness of such fault, and doing this before a female auditor makes her pleased with the expression of it, and as she begins to like the person for the story, so the contagion spreads, and the relator from such a liking (as it quickly will) contracts a mutual kindness, and refreshes decayed desires; here the good meaning is sunk and drowned in sin; desinit in piscem, 'tis but a Mermaid intention, the fair upper part, however beauteous, ends in monster, the Saint declines into a feind.

2. If none of this, yet if I can foresee some casual unconcerned evil accident will happen and come in; then I must either free my good intention from that, or change it. If I intend to reprove my Superior towards whom I have some office of so doing, for his vice, and do foresee that probably upon that his just respect and authority may decay with some others; I will then take some other way of doing it. If by aggravating the guilty heinousness of some practices of those that do profess the strictness of Religion, I can guess my doing so will cast a dash upon the profession of Religion itself in the esteem of some that hear me; I will forbear a good of so ill consequence, except such aggravation be necessary upon some other score, as to take off the opinion of those that may be mislead by those persons into guilt.

If I foresee my laying open of a false opinion (provided that it be not fundamental as to practice) in a man of pious learning and of reverend esteem, may chance to stagger the beliefs of some that must receive their knowledge from instruction and cannot do it better then from such; and make them thinkalas from whom shall we learn truths, or what assurance have we that anything we have given credit to is so: sure my intention is more noxious then his false opinion and to be turned aside.

If by telling a true story intended for the disparagement of vice, I think aspersions may come upon a person (which are not at all necessary for my hearers avoiding of the vice,) yea though he be mine enemy, the story and my intentions would be much better spared.

A meaning then is purely good, when it hath nothing else but good in view of it; and that intention is not truly single, that hath two ends, altho but one be mine, and the other chances only; for if I foresee it, I some way adopt it, and do make it mine. So for the first intentions.

2. The entire intentions as they take in the means succeed into our consideration; and here I would be plain because I know it is the common plea and ground of most whereby they excuse actions otherwise very blameable by saying that they did it with a good intent: and this they think will stop the mouths of their impleaders and their conscience. On this score Phineas's zeal is grown a Christian principle (though the like zeal were blamed by Christ in his disciples) yea and that stretched now much beyond the original; such a zealous intention shall execute real murders, and all the bloody heinous consequences of a war undertaken upon no other appearing ground: when not upon a visible confessed Idolatry, and impudent whoredom, as that in Phineas case, but upon only controverted doubts, or indeed fancied stains in an established happy Church; their zealous intention must warrant them to let out those taint's together with the life, to blood them with the sword; and if they cannot call for fire from Heaven to purge away the dross, yet they will make the reformation with fire and faggot, prune the worship by cutting up both root and branch: Tantum Religio potuit suadere malorum. And Religion must persuade and warrant all these mischiefs.

A like good meaning shall engage men to defy the persons and authority of their most just Superiors, to both which they were bound by laws and oaths; but they are nothing to a good intention: and while they prosecute the ruin of their Governors, and desolation of their Nation, yet they can mean well to them both, and be still innocent.

So the ends of self-preservation, or which is much worse, preservation of a little wealth or dignity, shall justify perjury and doing things against the conscience: and those things looked upon as slight transgressions in order to that end, when the pride of an estate, or of a wife and family is in the intention.

I could make divers other instances in common actions of our lives, in which whatever men do practice, if they have a good meaning, they believe themselves excusable. Therefore

1. That an intention may be good, 'tis absolutely necessary, that it do not take in any forbidden means to bring about its end; for if it do, however the end were good, the intention will be sinful. The reasons clear, because that particular intention do's especially respect and include that particular means; which means is evil, that is to say, it do's especially respect and include evil, and consequently is so. Nay if I use ill means, though to advance an end of noblest Religion, yet in so intending that intention do's not do God service, nor obey his commands for it is impossible that the same action of the mind should in itself be both commanded and forbid by God.

Now as the intention takes in and pursues the evil means so 'tis forbid, and consequently is a sin, and therefore cannot be service to God nor obedience to his command. If that this reason will not do, example and command shall do it. Saul did intend to sacrifice when he did spare the fattest of the sheep and oxen: 'tis true he was commanded to slay all, but he intended to preserve the best for God, his meaning was Religion and worship; but yet that good intention of worship did condemn him, and he and his posterity lost the Kingdom for this Religion.

God do's not require any action, which he sees I cannot compass without sin; for the requires no man to sin, for that were to require that we should break his commands, and 'twere a strange obedience to the Lord to disobey him for his own sake; shall I speak wickedly for God, saith Job, Job. 13. 7. and talk deceitfully for him? will ye accept his person? and plainer yet S. Paul. Rom. 3. 5, 6, 7, 8. But if our unrighteousness commend the righteousness of God, what shall we say? Is God unrighteous who taketh vengeance? (I speak as a man.) God forbid: for then how shall God judge the world? For if the truth of God hath more abounded thro my lie unto his glory; why also yet am I judged as a sinner? And not rather as we are slandrously reported, and as some affirm that we say, Let us do evil, that good may come: whose damnation is just. The argumentation runs thus, If God's way of grace may be thus set out, and more illustriously seen by the sins of men; why should God thus punish their sins which so tend to his glory (Irecite the objection of some men) or if he do's, is it not injustice in him so to do? v. 7. For (say they) if the faithfulness, and mercifulness of God in performing his promises to Abraham giving the Messiah hath appeared more abundantly, and tended more to his glory by occasion of the Jews sins or infidelity, there will be then no reason why they that are guilty of such sins so much tending to God's honor should be complained of or proceeded with in judgment; but on the other side men might do well to commit such sins, from which so much good or glory to God might come. I recite, says the Apostle, a damnable doctrine, and in opposition say, that no one sin is to be committed, though in order to and contemplation of the greatest good, God's glory. And this is proof enough, and therefore

2. though an intention that sets it self an holy and Religious end, the glory of God, the purity of Religion, the peace and flourish of Jerusalem, nay Church and nation, or some particular service to God, while it looks only at the end is good and holy, yet when it comes to think of means in order to that end, if he can find there is only one within his compass, and that forbidden, as he is bound to renounce the means, so also he must desert the intention instantly: for if he go on to intend good, which he knows he cannot compass but by doing ill, 'tis clear he do's intend the doing ill; as he that know it is not possible, that he should shoot at such a mark, behind which a man stands, but he must kill the man, if he intend to shoot, he do's intend to kill. No, he may pray for such an end that God would find expedients to bring it about, but must not set wickedness on work to do it; God do's not need the aids of sin to promote his glory or service. And therefore

3. A truly Religious intention of a good end purely as it is good cannot suffer a man to choose an evil means of working towards it. It is not possible that he should do it; for he that do's choose a means unto an evil end, intends it only as 'tis useful to that end, and otherwise he could not like nor pitch upon it; but sin cannot be useful to a virtuous action as it is virtuous, but perfectly repugnant to it. I may exact, and gripe, oppress deceive, and many more such things, that so I may be rich, and have to give to them that want; but I cannot do those things truly intending the Religion of charity, because that would not suffer me to do them. Those actions are perfectly contradictions to its nature, they ruinate the very being of a virtue, as it is in obedience to God; for a man cannot disobey God in obedience to him, and therefore are not useful to it, as it is a virtue, nor chosen so but on some other motive. The man that heaps by fraud and by oppression intending to build hospitals, intends thereby to build himself a monument, and leave as great a name behind him, as he do's treasure may be, but if he truly had intended charity, he had not been uncharitable for charity.

The man that do's intend to be a daily constant person in the public exercises of Religion, and travail up and down to get the opportunities, if when he do's begin to think how he is to prosecute those intentions, and so considers that then he must neglect his calling greatly and impoverish, may be break himself and family, if he then set down with himself; I may allow myself some arts of thriving, take ways of getting greater gains in my commodities then are fit for others that do not give God so much of their time; or I will restrain my hand as to the poor; for if Religion to God take away so considerable a part of what I should gain, charity to the poor, hath no reason to have a great share too in what I have; and so leave off to be a doer, that he may be a hearer, or do that which is not justifiable, use some deceitful methods, or be not merciful (and these are no strange things they say) 'It is clear this man do's not intend towards the real power of religion, for that would not allow him such ways to it, which are so far from useful to it, that they are perfect oppositions to its nature, but either the repute of a professor, or the being owned as of a party, or some such motive lurks under the visor of Religion; it may be undiscerned by him who minds that fair appearance of a good end, so intently as not to search, and try the whole intention, the means as well as aim. For such means, however they may contribute to the action of Religion and virtue in the general, yet they cannot be useful to the Religion, or the virtue of the action, nay do they not contribute sin more then their own to the intention? 'It is a hard question; and though indeed it be apparent, that he that chooseth an ill way only to bring about a good intent; do's not like or choose that ill for itself, and would not embrace it if it were not dressed and varnisht with the adornments and the paint of a well meaning, and consequently is not so malicious, as they that choose sin barefacit in its own shape and colors; yet when to do so is so directly against the very nature of piety, against reason and command, and hath so harsh a sentence as S. Paul do's thunder out against them, that shall entertain such a doctrine, that truly I do not know what to say to them, that notwithstanding that dare practice it. I'am sure the wise man saith Eccles. 34. 20. He that bringeth an offering of the goods of the poor, doth as one that killeth the Son before the Fathers eyes; an offense that to the Father, that hath more then his sons death in it, it strikes him also thro the eyes and would make his own sight his murderers, do's make it to be his torment; and defies his displeasure, choosing to spite him to his face: and some such aggravation it should seem vice carries in it, when it comes into Religion, as it do's, when it thrusts into our holy intentions, as means to pious ends. However it be, I am sure I have said enough to prove that truly good intentions cannot take in evil means, and that such means when they are taken in, make the intention mixed and unholy, and therefore far from pure: and so have don the second thing, and let you know what is required to make a Religious intention singly & purely so. The third follows

3. That from such a single eye the body shall be light, that such good hearty meanings do make the actions good and holy, or are accepted as such actions. The former part, that actions regulated by intentions completely Religious are Religious, needs no proof; because our actions derive these guilt or their Religiousness from thence: there can be nothing there to blame; for when the end is good, and the means good, then all is so. But I would tell you such intentions have a privilege beyond this of making outward actions acceptable to the Lord: for where we do endeavor in pursuance of such intentions, and cannot bring them into act there those intentions are in God's sight as the actions themselves, he do's so value them, and so he will reward them. For God accepts the will for deed, and if there be first a willing mind, it is accepted according to that a man hath, and not according to that he hath not, 2 Cor. 8. 4. Here thy good meaning if it put forth itself according to thy power is complete performance; here is a way the meanest soul may be an Heroe in Religion: there is no bounds that can be set to holy meanings. My actions may be fettered in, tied by impossibilities, that I cannot perform such holy deeds as others, but my intentions are free as Angels; I can mean heartily and intend to the utmost, and by such an art the poor widow, that gave nothing but the expression of the meanest poverty, did yet give more then they that bestowed treasures, because in two mites she meant to give her utmost; and at such rates God will reward them too.

Those good intentions that sincerely mind God's glory shall themselves reap glory, even before the action shall. From resurrection to eternity is time enough to reward holy actions, but before that, betwixt death and judgment, the soul shall be rewarded with the blessing of its intentions. As it did often do its part in piety without the body, so it shall have a crown before the body, shall forestal happiness, and for a while it shall alone be blessed, as oftentimes it hath been virtuous alone in good intentions, when it could not act.

4. But all this is not strange, that the great mercy of our God should so interpret to our advantage our designs of piety, as to impute good meanings to our glory as if they were good doings, and consequently where the intentions are holy, the actions must be holy, and where this eye is clear, the body must have light: but 'twill be very strange if a clear eye make the whole body full of light, illustrate those performances which have no relation to the soul. Most of the actions of our life are common and indifferent, serve only the necessities or recreations of nature, and how can these be holy? Why yes, by pure Religious intentions a man may sanctify all the actions of his life, and if thine eye be single, thy whole body shall be full of light.

Whether you eat or drink or whatsoever you do, do all to the glory of God, saith S. Paul 1 Cor. 10. 31. Every therefore the most common action may be intended to God's glory, and then 'tis sanctified. That the Lord should look for honor from the devout performances of our strictest Religion, 'tis no wonder, for therefore he requires them: but that when in the meanest instance I do serve myself, in doing so I should be able to give glory to my God, is sure by virtue of some strange stratagem, some Divine elixar that will so transmute things: why a good meaning will do this. To show thee how, when thou goest about the employments of thy lawful calling, have but good thoughts about thee, good intentions in them, and the actions of thy calling are for the uses of grace, and thy necessities do prove thy virtue. As for instance, when thou laborest do but consider to what pains sin hath put thee, sells thee thy bread for sweat; for if man had not sinned, Eden had furnishit him with all the delicacies of Paradise, without his care or contribution, and he had had the fruits of the tree of life without the pains of planting anything: 'tis sin that gives thee all this toil; and then do but resolve to use this as an argument to thyself to make thee hate the cause of so much trouble: I will sure labor most against that, which hath so changed and debas'd my condition, and which do's aim to make me far more miserable to eternity. If I am weary of my work e're night, what shall I be of everlastingness of torment? If little thirsty heats and drops of sweat offend me, what will unquenchable feavors, and what a lake of brimstone? And think again upon the mercies of thy God, who offers thee at the rate of easier endeavors the food that lasteth to eternal life; the calling of a Christian being the least painful, and yet it brings the greatest fruits, the price of that high calling being blessedness, if thou but labor in it.

If thou be sustaining the necessities of nature in meat and drink, look up to him that do's provide for them, and resolve only not to use his blessings to his dishonor by excesses, not to spew his mercies out into his face again; but use them as assistances of nature to enable thee for such employments as his providence hath assigned to thee.

And in thy recreations also do but take notice thankfully how God hath provided for delights too, how he hath not only brought forth bread to strengthen man, but wine to make his heart glad, and oil to make him a cheerful countenance, and instruments of sport to delight him: and but acknowledge all these things to God, and intend with thyself to use them only to his ends. Thy calling either to provide for thy subsistence here, that thou mayest serve him, or to do good to others. Thy meals for preservation of that life which he hath lent thee for his uses; and recreations for refreshment and for health; and make no doubt if nothing do interpose to spoil these instances, that thou art serving God in all of these, that thy most secular actions are thus make spiritual employments by being dedicated so to God undertaken in his fear, and intended for the uses of his providence: so that if whensoever thou art going about anything, thou do but ask thyself, why thou doest set upon it, and canst but make a good intention look towards it, and resolve only to let it serve such ends, resolve not to transgress in it the bounds that God hath set thee either of time or measure, and to make all subordinate and to assist towards piety some way or other; and then sometimes with eyes lift up, call for, and look for a blessing down upon thee in it: and by this means the action is sanctified, so thou dost consecrate thy deeds to God and he accepts thy meaning in it, as an offering to him, the action is adopted into the stock of Religion meant to God, and so thy whole life may be made pious by such good intentions, and thus thy single eye makes thy whole body full of light.

And this consideration alone might apply itself with pressingness upon us. Shall I think God not easy to be served when I may teach my recreations to serve him? Shall I think Heaven placed out of my possibilities, when I can learn my sports to wing me towards it? Religion sure is not so very difficult, when a good honest meaning can transmute every action of my life into Religion; and then who would not at such easy rates change his employments, which he must do, and his sports which he will do, into pieties; when it is don by putting good intentions into them, by good thoughts and ejaculations engaging God along in them? But the last words do urge an application which I promised in one word.

But if thine eye be evil, thy whole body is full of darkness. My brethren, if ill intentions have so destructive an influence upon our actions, that when the end is foolish, though the action I practice be a virtue, yet that aim do's defeat it of its vertuosness, it loseth all its taste of piety, and an ill enddo's debauch it into vice, as I have proved; and so for want of a good meaning I either lose my Religion, or my Religion becomes sin unto me: Unhappy I that when with such intentions I practice duty, I lose the pleasures or the profits of the sins I might have practice'd every jot as innocently, and much more usefully, as to those ends; and I lose the duty, and by the very duty I purchase condemnation; enjoy neither the vice I do omit, nor yet the piety I practice, nor anything, but the sad sentence of they have their reward.

And on the other side, if my ends be never so pious, if I intend to compass them by unlawful means, and do evil though that good may come thereof; what do's the justice of my ends do for me, but only make damnation just to me? Alas! then in one word what is their doom, who do by evil means intend to compass evil ends, whose intentions are entirely singly wicked, that design only the pleasures or the profits of iniquity, that level directly at sin both all the way and at the mark too, whose aims and whose contrivances are wickedness, thy purpose such an evil action, and care not by what means they compass it, so they acquire their ends? Our Savior had no way to express the condition fo these, but that of an admiring question: If the light that is in thee be darkness, how great is that darkness? The Sinner notwithstanding all his pomp of shine and splendor, that he thinks himself clothed with, dressed up with guilded profits or with a glory of pleasures; yet he is still in the dark, his life is all night, and that condition, which three days made intolerable to Egypt, is always on the Sinners soul; he is envelopit in thick darkness like theirs that may be felt by anything but by a soul of such stupidity as the sinners is; a darkness such as Christ had not a fit word for, nor did know how to phrase but by being astonishit at it. How great is that darkness! a state indeed that is most proper for his deeds and intentions of darkness that need a night to cover them: a darkness, that do's border on the regions of utter darkness, that shall never have any dawn, but such as flaming brimstone strikes into it: and O How great is that darkness? O blessed Savior, who art the day spring from on high, that came to visit us, deliver us from those dark regions. O thou Eternal Sun of righteousness that camest to enlighten the darknesses of the world by thy example and by thy doctrine, and the illuminations of thy Holy Spirit, let these thy methods shine powerfully upon our souls to scatter all the clouds and mists that dwell upon our hearts; that we may have no misapprehensions of our duty, that our intentions may be clear, our affections pure, and all our actions regular and holy. We know, O Lord, we were created for thy glory, and our own eternal happiness: We beseech thee direct all the purposes of our minds, the inclinations of our hearts and actions of our lives unto these blessed ends. Teach us to mind thee in everything we do, that so whatever we shall do in our whole lives, may work towards our future happy life. Let no unholy aims mixe with any of our actions, no forbidden contrivances or purposes creep into, and make sinful our performancs. Let not self-ends of pride, vain-glory, gain, revenge, or any vice make our Religion hypocrisy of sin, nor any poor low ends of little pleasure or of profit rob the actions of our callings or recreations of that Religion, which a good intention may put into them: but make all our actions so orderly and temperate, and so subordinate to holy ends, that they may all turn into duty: make us heartily intent on our Religious performances in their seasons, and submitting all our other works to the occasions of Religion, and making them serve and assist towards it, and thereby become Religion; that so our whole lives may be consecrated unto thee, and our whole conversation become holy. And do thou prevent us in all our doings with thy most gracious favor, and further them with thy continual help, that in all our works begun, continued and ended in thee, we may glorify thy holy name, and after an age of doing so may be glorified with thee in thy Kingdom, thy power and thy glory forever &c.

SERMON XIX. THE LIGHT OF THE BODY is the Eye.

WHat is observed of the lights of our days that they still abound in their senses; will appear true of the light in the Text: and indeed 'tis but proper, that it should have that most excellent quality of light still to communicate itself without decay, to pour out fresh streams every moment, and yet be still the same: one of the rivulets we have exhausted in the last days discourse; and we shall also find that in another sense The light of the body is the eye.

Amongst the divers things to which the Eye in the Text may have Analogy, and which may make Christ's Aphorism here true in the spiritual sense, as well as in the outward literal; the second and indeed in my apprehension much more proper then that I have already given, though not so general, is Conscience; that Eye of the mind in order to practice, from which alone and nothing else in matters of Religion the actions have all their direction and guidance; and which so far as it is clear and well informed, the actions that are regulated by it are all full of light and Piety: and on the other side so far as the Conscience is amiss, so far the man's deeds must of necessity be dark and evil. And that I may now for all say, without discussing every minute particular Analogy, 'tis for this that the expressions of blindness of mind, understanding darkened, and sins being called darkness; and on the contrary holiness light, and the Eye of the understanding enlightened, are so frequent in the Scripture, to let us see the whole comparison is good. For to declare to you that the Conscience may be properly set out by the Analogy of an eye, I need but tell you this eye of the mind is in the little world the frame of man, the true deputy and Vicegerent of that universal and all seeing eye of Providence and inspection: for as that eye of inspection spies all our ways, watches over all a man's motions, inclinations and thoughts; and as the eye of Providence guides and directs everything to its ends; all this the Conscience do's in man: 'tis privy to every little rising of the appetite, it knows each bending of the will. There is not any closet, no recess in the whole heart, where the soul can retire to think of, wish, or design anything, but this same Eye of Conscience looks in, beholds it all, and lays it up. And Conscience also is the under-Eye of Providence in man, it prescribes to all our actions, it leads the will that potentia caeca, and gives directions to all that man attempts or do's in matter of Religion. Thy word, saith David, is a lanthorn to my feet, and light to my paths, and it is certain God's Commandments are the light we are to walk by, except we will walk on in darkness unto the land of utter darkness. But as a lanthorn is no guidance to the blind, and a light is of use only where there is an eye; so God's commandments can have no influence upon, nor give direction or assistance to our ways except this eye of the mind be enlightened by them; for it is Conscience that is the conveyance to all duty to the heart of man, that cannot set up obedience, but as the Conscience do's press it on it, that conveys the immediate obligation. My Conscience tells me this I must forbear, that I must practice. Yea where there was no law to give direction, the eye of Conscience looking over the frame of man, a creature reasonable in his making, could strait see a necessity of doing things agreeable to right reason; and viewing the materials of the pile saw he was built of Soul as well as body, of of an immortal Spirit, as well as a carnal part, knew that his life was to be ordered to the uses of the Spirit, as well as of the flesh: (and more indeed that being the better part) and easily could gather hence, that man was not to serve his lower brutish part the body, so as to discompose his soul, and when it did so did condemn him for the doing of it. And upon this S. Paul affirms. Rom. 2. 14, 15. When the Gentiles that have not the Law, do by nature the things contained in the Law, they having not the Law, are a Law unto themselves, which show the work of the Law written on their hearts, their Conscience bearing them witness. Which says that though the rest of the world had not the Revelation of God's will, and Law as the Jews had, yet from the dictates of their reason, and the notions of good and evil implanted in them, their conscience did oblige them unto the performance of such things as the Law required, and upon such performance or omission without any other Law did either excuse them, as men that did not culpably wander out of those paths, which the light and Eye that God had planted in them, did direct them in; or else accuse them as transgressors, and render them obnoxious to punishment. And so it did before the Law. So Rom. 5. 13, 14. For until the Law sin was in the world, but sin is not imputed where there is no Law, Nevertheless death reigned from Adam to Moses even over them that had not sinned after the similitude of Adams transgressions. First after Adams time till Moses before the giving of the Law men fin'd, and though it be true that sin is not charged to punishment but where there is a Law to forbid it under that penalty, and therefore it might be thought that sin without the Law would not have brought death into the world, yet from Adam till Moses death reigned, men died that had not sin'd as Adam did against an express actual precept promulgated, as his was, and establishit with a positive threat of death: but died because they had sin'd against the laws of their nature, the principles of duty that were put into their making, which Conscience pressed upon their practice and whose guidance they would not follow, they pulled death upon themselves in the errors of their ways.

'Twas by the equity of this that when the wickedness of men grew great in the earth, the flood grew so too: an inundation of waters overspread it, when sin had once don so, and iniquity against the dictates of conscience struck all the world at once with death, except eight persons. Conscience therefore where there is law, and also where there is none, is the great director of our actions; and to this I shall apply our Saviors discourse dividing not the Text but Conscience, and in the several members verifying what our Savior he reaffirms.

1. Conscience either respecteth actions to be don, or actions already don. First as it respecteth actions to be don, telling us this we must do, that we must forbear, so first as it answers to the single Eye, it denotes the pure Conscience the enlightened Eye of the mind as S. Paul calls it, that is a truly well informed Conscience, a Conscience that judges according to its rule: and to this I shall first tell you what is the entire rule of conscience, and consequently when its dictates are right, when it informs me truly this I must do, that I must forbear.

2. Prove to you that all our actions that are regulated by such a well informed conscience are good and honest; so that if this eye be single, the whole body shall be full of light. If the conscience be pure, the man's holy, and so the first part of the text is proved.

2. As it answers to the evil eye, so it denotes an evil conscience, a conscience that do's not give true judgment of duty, ill informed. And this either First wholly so, and then 'tis reprobate sense, such as that of them that call good evil and evil good, from which men are stilled 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉 1 Tim. 4. 2. or 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉 , that is 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉 , saith Phavorinus, Rom. 1. 31. Or secondly but in part, and then 'tis either first an erring conscience, or secondly a doubtful conscience, or thirdly a scrupulous conscience, to which also several others will fall in. And I shall show you how every of these do's mislead a man into the dark. The scrupulous raiseth clouds and mists about him, dark errors and discomforts too: the doubtful do's instead of guiding leave him so puzl'd, that he knows not which way to be-take himself; and the erring conscience lights him into the pit, takes him by the hand to thrust him down, guides him into a necessity of sin; and the no conscience, the reprobate sense, it is a darkness somewhat worse then that, the blackness of Hell here. All this I shall do in order.

Upon the other part conscience as it relates to actions already don, so it do's testify, and in so doing either excuse or accuse Rom. 2. 15. Now though conscience in the other former respect hath indeed the greater influence upon our practice, and so to it the text do's more directly answer: yet this latter having some also in order to the making future actions holy by repentance, (for when once the soul hath shipwrackit on a sin, and she is ready to sink and perish, there is no plank on which she can escape but repentance.) Now 'tis this Eye that must look out for that; 'tis an accusing conscience that must set him upon Repentance: this hurry's him about and will not let him rest, 'till he get upon the plank that's fastened to the Anchor, even the Anchor of hope, by which until it be secured, a good conscience never is at quiet. Because I intend to say but little to this, I shall dispatch it now. And that in order to its actions excusing and accusing.

And first if conscience be the Eye: then a clear single eye is a clear conscience; and then of that it must be true that it do's make the man full of light; and so it do's indeed as light do's signify joy and gladness, and so it often do's in Scripture Psalm 4. 6, 7. And truly the applauds of an honest undeceiving heart, that is conscious to it self of cordial endeavors after good, and knows it neither had ill ends nor ill means, they shed comforts beyond all that the earth can give, they shed the peace of God that passeth understanding. If my conscience be clear, let my condition be never so overcast, never so dark and cloudy, yet do I live in shine. This is the only thing that makes every estate gladsome: If my condition be low pressing adversity, yet if my conscience assure me 'tis not my fault that threw me down into it, my sin did not put out the light of God's candle of prosperity that before shone about me; but rather because I would hold fast my duty, and would not let go a good conscience, therefore I was thrown down with them into deep affliction, here my conscience assures me I am in a case which S. James bids me count all joy Jam. 1. 2. and which our Savior do's call blessed Matth. 5. 11. S. Peter tells me: If ye be reproached for the name of Christ (and 'tis so for all duty) happy are ye; for the spirit of Glory and of God resteth on you, 1 Pet. 14. 14. What if I be in the place of Dragons, my conscience do's assure me 'twas my duty not guilt did put me there, that is, God brought me thither, and he is with me there: the Spirit of God resteth on you. What if I be in darknesss and dimness of anguish, encompassed with the shadow of death, the Spirit of Glory resteth on me. And then sure a clear conscience makes the man full of light, when it makes him full of glory: when in his darkest solitudes there do's break in the light of God's countenance.

Let them be sadded with afflictions, who understand no delight but in carnalities, whose souls are married to some little comforts of this world. Adversity indeed sweeps all their joys away at once, a cross throws blacks upon them strait, their heart's in mourning instantly. But he that understands the comforts of a good conscience, and knows where to find them, and hath a treasure of them in his breast, will soon be able to allay the other sadnesses.

What can I want while I have a continual feast, for so'is a good conscience? It is not in the power of words to express the happiness of this blisful state. It is the peace of God which passeth all understanding Phil. 4. 7. and though felicity seems to be measured by our perception of it, here we are happy beyond the scanty limits of our narrow apprehensions, do not take in the beatific object, but are ourselves enclosed, and enter into the joy of our Lord, Matt. 25. 23.

2. In order to the second act, accusing; if conscience be an eye, then the well qualified eye is the tender conscience. I mean not in the modern sense, not only as it is accompanied with, but as 'tis but another word for a weak Judgment and a proud heart; sturdy opposing private opinion or fancy against public authority. And whereas conscience is said to be the eye of the soul, a tender conscience has the sme importance in this case, as when we call a blear or bloudshot, a tender eye. A gentle word for a troublesome malady. The innocent importance of the word is that which denotes, besides weakness in judging, quickness in perception; for conscience is the judgment of the mind concerning actions, and whatsoever is tender is weak; but a conscience which is such, as tender things are always, is sensible of every the least touch of guilt, checks at whatsoever we do amiss; the least thing we do is a wound to it. This is the tender conscience. Such a one as is deeply sensible of the majesty, and power, and justice of Almighty God, and the fatally provoking guilt of sin; fears always, doubts and trembles, foregoes lawful enjoyment, least they should prove to be unlawful, and flies from every not only approach, but even appearance of evil. This is an uneasy state, but the inconvenience is abundantly repaid by the safety it procures, whilst this flaming sword that turns every way, guards both our Paradise and us, and suspicions render us secure. But if my heart grow hard, not tender, and my conscience insensible, there is no hopes of cure.

I shall content myself with this one instance in answer to the evil eye as it relates to both these actions of accusing and excusing: though I might also name the conscience that accuseth to despair. This is an evil eye indeed that entertains itself with the terrors of utter darkness in their own shapes, that sees nothing but feinds, those spirits of the dark; nor will see any other. An eye that will not endure, but hates the least light of instruction or comfort. A darkness this, out of which the grave hath been counted an escape, the darks of death a refuge, yea to avoid the horror they have run into the shades of Hell. And oh! how great, how insupportable is this darkness?

But God knows in this age we see little cause to fear, nor reason to endeavor to prevent this. Some little beginnings of it would be mercies to most men, the danger now a days is in the insensibleness of conscience, the heart that never do's accuse of its commissions in earnest, nay rather do's find out excuses; it do's not check or sting them to the quick, but rather tickles them. Good God▪ the heathens had a much more tender constitution of soul. The Poet says of guilty souls

They that knew not there was an Hell to recompense iniquity, nor knew that God threatened it with plagues; yet when they heard it thunder, their guilt did strike them like the thunder-bolts, their souls did faint as it were the voice of God pronouncing wrath to their iniquities, as if its lightnings were the flashes of that brimstone in whose eternal burnings sin must dwell. This conscience did in them, when knowing Christians can stand unappal'd. We read of men of sear'd consciences 1 Tim. 4. 2. and such indeed cannot be tender. Searing do's make insensible of pricks or little touches, that you may lance and gash, and it will not perceive. And so it seems are some men's consciences: and you will find there some other qualifications of such men, they depart from the faith, they give heed to seducing spirits and doctrines of Devils; and it will be no wonder if they desert the holy Christian faith, who have put themselves under the tutorage of Satan, and have imbib'd the doctrine of Devils, who with his institution, have received his flames, whose consciences are feared, that feel no stripes from their commissions, and are such whom sin do's not wound.

We read of a strange evil eye Matth. 7, 3. seest not the beam that is in thine own eye. A beam upon the eye must needs make all dark: but the insensibleness of such an eye, that do's not feel a beam is strange beyond imagination, yet 'twas but fit to word a conscience that was not sensible of the guilt of willful gross deliberate sins; 'tis like an eye that under the dead weight of a mighty beam yet rouls and feels no pressure. A much worse then feared conscience this. That which is seared though it will not shrink for a prick or gash, yet 'twill shrink under load; but this feels no degree of weight; but though it be that weak and tender part the eye, yet is this without feeling under that which the whole body cannot stand under, nothing but pillars can support.

The characters of such a conscience, and its dark consequence (to fit it to my text,) are given by S. Paul Eph. 4. 18, 19. You see here a blind heart like an evil eye creates a darkness such as makes them aliens to the life of God; for indeed they lead the life of feinds the inhabitants of darkness, and they do quickly grow to an estate past feeling, and then they commit evil with greediness.

And indeed 'twere very easy for me to show how this do's grow by deading the tenderness of conscience at the first, by fortifying against its checks and pricks, by seeking little excuses to allay and palliate the sores, either Christ do's not mean so strictly; or getting other principles to set against the strictness, as custom of the age, or honor, or the like; God knows things that will not be principles, nor be allowed in any lest degree, when he comes to examine, but in the mean time they do stop the mouth of conscience, and the doing so frequently, together with the conversations of sin, do clear take off the horror, and the aversation, and by degrees the sense • the mind first leaves to be afraid and startle at it, and then leaves to check for it. All this I could deduce at large, but that I hasten to the other remaining consideration of conscience, as it respecteth actions to be don, as it signifies the judgment of the mind informing us what we may or must do, or what we must forbear.

And so, I told you, as it answers to the single eye, so it denotes the pure Conscience, the enlightened eye of the mind, that is, a truly well informed conscience, a conscience that judges according to its rule. And to this I must (what I promised) tell you first, What is the entire Rule of conscience, that so we may know when conscience do's inform us truly this we must do, that not. For conscience being not itself supreme director, it hath a God above it, that conscience may be right, it must be according to its rule, therefore we must inquire of that; and

First 'tis certain that the Law of God in force (as all the law of Christ is to us Christians, particularly that of these Chapters that contain Christ's sermon on the Mount, Repentance, self-denial, Charity, forgiving injuries, humility &c.) is a rule of conscience. And here I will suppose that I do not speak to Antinomians, and that I need not to prove that we are obliged to do what God by his commands has enjoined, and that whether the mandate terminat in duty to himself, or to our fellow men, especially his Vicegerent upon earth the lawful Magistrate. There are some men I know who would acquit themselves to their Governors, if they are content to suffer in case of disobedience: but unless there were guilt in the neglect of active obedience, it would be very unjust to enforce passive, especially when 'tis plain that all the Apostles arguings Rom. 13. do prove an obligation to active duty. 1. Because the Magistrate hath Commission from God; and therefore he that will not yield active obedience to their lawful constitutions, will not obey the Lord's commission v. 2. and then 4. he is the minister of God, his officer; and he that do's refuse obedience to those Constitutions of an officer, which his superior hath impower'd him to make, he do's refuse it to that Superior. And out of these he then infers Wherefore ye must needs be subject.

Yea indeed if the just laws of such Governors do not oblige the conscience, neither can many of God's laws. To instance; God hath commanded me I shall not steal, and I think myself bound in conscience not to do it; but what is it to steal? To take that which of right is another man's against his will. And what do's give a right but human Law? 'It is according to that, anything is thine or mine. Christ do's not interpose in settling rights; for when the man would have had him speak to his Brother to divide the inheritance with him; answers Man who made me a Judge or a divider amongst you, let the laws do it. That inheritance which here a Man do's claim as eldest, in other places of this very Nation the youngest should have only right too; where the tenure of Burrough English takes place. And again in other places each brother should have equal right to by Gavelkind. And in some other Nations, as in Denmark for example, no child of any second Wife hath any right, according to the example of Abraham: yet all these several ways of right are one as just as another, and in one place the one hath as true a right as the other hath in the other. Establishit laws therefore do give the only right, and by those human Laws thou hast a right in conscience to that which they make thine; for otherwise how can it be a sin against my conscience to take that from thee, which neither thou nor any man else hath a right in conscience to? Such human laws therefore do oblige the Conscience, or else God's eighth and tenth Commandments cannot.

3. There is yet another branch of the Rule of conscience, and that is the law of scandal. In things that both by God's and by man's law are free to me to do or not, if yet by doing any of them, or by not doing, I see others will be ensnared in sin, I am bound in conscience to avoid either such actions or omissions. 1 Cor. 8. from v. 8. Rom. 14.

And here I will not wonder how barefacit temptations to vice, and pressing sin upon a man with all the arts of friendship, or of treachery or force, should grow to be civilities and kindnesses; when an innocent lawful action is so ill character'd because it may prove a stumbling block: but I will only sum up what hath been said in one word: the Will of God is the Rule of conscience, I am bound in conscience to do what God will have; and so the law of Christ, and the just laws of our just Governors (which that we should submit too, is the will of God saith S. Peter ) and the law of scandal are the full and entire rule of conscience. Whatsoever they prescribe or forbid, that my conscience, if it be rightly informed, will tell me I must do or forbear; and if I act according to the dictates of a conscience so informed, my actions will be good and honest, and such a single eye makes my whole body full of light, which was the second thing.

Now this is proved in one word; that must needs be a good life, which is regulated by a good conscience, because all good life is called by the name of a good conscience 1 Tim. 1. 19. This was S. Paul's whole charge to Timothy holding faith and a good conscience, there's the belief and duty that's the whole. So 1 Pet. 3. 16. a good conscience is explained by a good Conversation in Christ, and plainer yet Heb. 13. 18. We trust we have a good conscience willing in all things to live honestly. Sincere endeavors to obey the conscience in everything, not boggling with it accepting the persons of duties, and being very conscientious in some things, but taking liberty in other, bribing my conscience to wink like an evil eye, and leave me in the dark as to some actions, this is not to be conscientious; he is so only that is willing to live honestly in all things, and to do so is matter for the Apostles confidence 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉 . This also was the sum of all S. Paul himself endeavored after Acts 24. 16. And herein do I exercise myself to have always a conscience void of offense towards God and towards man. He had no stricter aims, here was the height of his Religion, these were his exercises. And the ancient Father Clemens Alex. Strom. 6. says 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉 . And what would any man have more? Yea 'tis apparent from the very terms; for if thy conscience truly inform thee of all thy duty, and thou dost accordingly, then thou dost all thy duty, or which is all that we can do. So far as thy hearty endeavor is to this, so far is thy life good and acceptable.

And here I have an hint for application by conviction of those, who guide their conscience, and consequently their lives by humors and fancies, and not by the certain rules of conscience, the laws I have assigned. Some men will call that conscience which is their inclination, though they do not examine whence the inclination springs, from God, or from suggestion of an interest, or an affliction, and think they are bound to do, or may do that they have a mind to do. Some men's rash heats that have something like zeal, and it may be that have good intentions in them, are strait the dictates of their Conscience, and they must actuate those animosities and heats, for they are bound in conscience. Some men are advised by their fears, and that will look like conscience in a little time. Some men's imaginations promted by loose and libertine interpretations of Scripture or false infusions, are strait their conscience, and then their conscience tells them they must act accordingly. But where's the Law for these? Conscience was, I told you, God's Vicegerent, possessed his throne in man, and was his Deputy, prescribed to all man's actions and took cognizance of them; and accordingly did sentence: and will a man have humor give the Law to God's Vicegerent, or vain imaginations rule 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉 that God within us, as the ancients called it, set fancy on the Throne?

Or I might secondly complain of them that would divide the rule of conscience, and pick and choose and take but part of it; the immediate law of God they would think themselves bound to, but for the law of scandal they regard it little. Who did make them the keepers of their brothers soul? If others by misunderstanding of their actions be drawn to sin, at their own peril be it; and at so little rates they value the salvation of that soul, which Christ thought worth his blood, that for their meat or drink, as S. Paul words it, they will let their Brother perish, for whom Christ died, do actions for their interest or security under a close and secret sense of their own, which being not understood by other weaker souls that look on their example with some Reverence, they are led to sin and to perdition.

But much less do they think a law of man a Rule for conscience. According to the Spartan method, to be found out was transgressing the law, the crafty performance was merit and virtue: and whereas only Almighty God has cognizance of the heart, his laws alone can reach designs and the obortive issues of the thought, or those reserved enormities that are committed in the dark, and without the privity of a witness.

Here were a subject for a sad complaint, but that I have occasion for a worse, and that is of the conscience, that answers to the evil eye, the other subject of the parable, that is, an evil conscience, a conscience that do's not give true judgment of duty, ill informed. And first that which is totally, or for the most so, and of that but a word for 'tis not pleasant sure to rake in such a sink.

We read in Scripture, of men given up to a reprobate mind or sense, Rom. 1. 28. and to every good Work reprobate Tim. 1. 16. men who against all the checks of conscience, and in despite of all its oppositions have chosen and pursued forbidden interests and pleasures so long, till custom of them hath made them a part not only of their family but themselves: and they do nothing now but prosecute them by contrivances and actions, and have don this till conscience is stupefied; and as pleasures are especially saith Aristotle, corruptive of principles, from the absolute necessity they have conceived of them they think them little sins, and from a long practice none at all, these men are so far in a reprobate ense, their hearts give a false judgment, as false indeed as Satan would have them give, and falser much then he can give himself of things of Religion, who believes and trembles. For they stick not to think those terrors Clergy men do talk of are but mormo's, vizards of fear, only Religious spectres, shades of terror; those strictnesses of virtue and of the means of practicing it, but the dreams of bigots, foolish self injuries, and those things we with so much eager zeal call sins, the only and not dangerous enjoyments.

'It is the Apostles asseveration, and it is justified by every days unhappy experience, that evil men and seducers wax worse and worse, deceiving and being deceived 2 Tim. 3. 13. Habits of ill improve gradually as those of virtue; only with this difference, that the growth is more sudden and prosperous: like that of weeds and noxious plants in respect of those which are medicinal. There is no opinion, nor no practice so bad which men by degrees cannot make plausible; as custom renders vice necessary, so by familiarity it becomes acceptable; the first horrors are soon worn off; and as it fares in War; the enemy is made a servant, and after grows up to be a favorite, and is at length a master. The progress from bad to worse, is like that of heavy bodies downwards, the native weight, gains fresh accessions from the decent already made, and the motion being continued grows still more rapid and irresistible. That fool who said in his heart there is no God, e're long emproves into a wit, and loudly says there neither is or can be one. Conscience galled with perpetual ill usage contracts a callows hardness, and becomes utterly insensible; and by these unhappy steps, ungodly men are dead, while they live 1 Tim. 5. 6. are dead in trespasses and sins. Eph. 2. 1.

O thou the day-spring from on high that camest to visit us, who sat in darkness and in the shadow of death, in ignorance and sin, and in the suburbs of eternal darkness, shed thy light in our hearts we beseech thee and by the Illuminations of thy Holy Spirit give us enlightened minds, and sanctified wills and affections. Thou hast placed conscience in thy stead within us, to do thy offices and to be thy Vicegerent, to lay thy laws to us for our direction, and to watch over all our actions, to teach us, to convince us, to correct, or comfort us. Furnish we beseech thee then this thy commissioner within us with all qualifications necessary for thy offices, endue it with the knowledge of all thy will, that we may have a right judgment in all things, and then endue us with obsequious hearts, that may be always ready to obey the dictates of our consciences, willing to live piously and honestly in all things, exercising our selves always in this to have a conscience void of offense both towards God and towards man, and when the good Lord delivers us from this sad state and the occasions of it, and if at any time we do rebel against thy officer our conscience, Lord arm it with thy terrors that it may whip and lash us back again into our duty, and sting, and goad, and never let us rest till we return to our obedience and persevere therein unto the end, then shall we have the blessed comforts of a good conscience here, and the gladsome light of a clear heart in this world; and in the world to come light and Glory with the in thy Kingdom &c.

SERMON XX. THE LIGHT OF THE BODY is the Eye.

I Have drawn you the parallel betwixt the Eye and the Conscience, to several of their objects and uses; showed you how the clear eye is not a better guide to a man's walks, nor finds more pleasure in the prospects of those beauties that are made to temt and entertain the sight, then a pure conscience do's find in looking over the landshape of a life led righteously, soberly, and Godly, which it must needs if it follow the guidance of this single eye, this well-informed conscience: I have lead you also to the confines of that more dismal prospect, the dark of that sad state, which an evil conscience do's lead into. This I have done in one, and that in the worst consideration, that of a sear'd reprobate conscience; there remain three that I proposed to consideration; the first that of an erring conscience, second doubtful, third scrupulous.

And now I am to show how each of these do's lead a man into the dark; the scrupulons raiseth a dust about him, leads into error and discomfort too; the doubtful do's instead of guiding him leave him so puzl'd that he knows not which way to betake himself; and the erring conscience lights him into the pit, and takes him by the hand only to thrust him down: if in any of these ways the eye be evil, the whole body shall be full of darkness. Of these in their order.

2. An erring conscience, a conscience that gives false information of duty, that either tells me I may or I must do that which either God's Law or some Law in force upon me tells me I must not do; or else tells I must not do that which I am bound to do, or at the least may do. Now that this is a light indeed like those deceitful ones that lead men over precipices into dark ruins; like such lights that were so placed between the rocks as to guide the mariner into a shipwreck, to make it necessary for him to be dashed against the one or the other, is most certain: for so it is here. There is scarce such another infelicity as that this man lies under, whose conscience tells him one thing, when God's Law, or that which is any way his duty do's require the contrary; for if he do according to the Law of God, he acts against his conscience, and so sins; and if he act according to his conscience, he sins against the Law of God. Poor soul! Sin lies on the right and on the left hand, which way soever he do's turn, it seizes on him, and all this I shall prove.

1. That if he act against his conscience he sins, (though the Law of God make it no sin) Scripture and reason shall make good. Rom. 14. 14. I know, and am persuaded by the Lord Jesus, that there is nothing unclean of itself, but to him that esteemeth anything unclean, to him it is unclean. God had once forbidden such and such meats under pain of sin to the Jews by Moses Law, and made them unclean, that is, unlawful to their use: Now Christ had taken off this obligation, and made all meats lawful for any man; S. Paul saith that he knew so. I am assured that Christ hath so removed all obligation to the Law of Moses, that to a Christian no meat is unlawful to be eaten: but yet for all this 'tis unlawful to him, who thinks it still prohibited, and if his erring conscience tell him he ought not eat it, though by Christ's certain Law he may, he sins if he do eat against his conscience, and that to such an height, that he whose example wrought with him to eat against the persuasion of his mind, destroyeth the man v. 15. Destroy not him with thy meat for whom Christ died; 'tis therefore a destroying sin to do a lawful thing against a man's conscience. The reason of all this is clear, because no Law of God or man, no rule of duty can be applied unto us, but by the mediation of conscience: for till my conscience lays it to my heart, and tells me such a thing is commanded and my duty, it is to me as if there were no such command, and it were not my duty, for till then I knew nothing of it; this alone therefore do's propose and apply duty to us, and consequently whether that which it proposes be my duty really in itself or no, yet I must needs look upon it as so, having no other direction imaginable what to do or forbear, but what my conscience some way instructed tells me God or my Governors have commanded or forbid me. So that if I am resolved in my mind of the sinfulness and obliquity of an action proposed, though really the thing be innocent, yet to me in my present circumstance 'twill be utterly unlawful, and though the action be innocent, the agent will be guilty.

2. That God hath placed the conscience in us as the only next and immediate rule of all our actions, according to which they are to be directed, which if they be not, they are faulty, as every thing that swerves from its rule is not right: though what I have said will sufficiently prove, yet Scripture do's confirm; when it says Rom. 14. 23. Whatsoever is not of faith is sin, that is to say, whatsoever is contrary to the persuasion of lawfulness, that is in other words contrary to conscience, is sin; whatsoever he do's as long as he thinks in conscience he should not do it, he sins whether the thing be sin or no, as that was no sin of which he there spake. And reason good; for we are so far honest hearted lovers of God, as we embrace that which our hearts are really possessed is his service and our duty, and hate the contrary; that is, as we follow our conscience: conscience being nothing but the persuasion that this is duty, which if we go against 'tis sure we like and follow that which in our thoughts is vicious and wicked; be it what it will in itself, to us 'tis so: 'tis sure the inclinations and the actions pursue vice, when they pursue that which they cannot look upon but as vice. Conscience therefore is the rule from which 'tis sin to recede.

'It is with fair pretence to reason said, that nothing can be a rule which is itself crooked and irregular. That which is strait is indeed said to be index sui & obliqui, and having justified its own rectitude, becomes qualified to be a test of right and wrong in others. For certainly if the man knew what God's Law do's require of him, in that case the conscience do's not err; if he do not know what God's word do's require, how can he follow it against that which his conscience tells him God requires? And it is certain if the man should suspend his action, and have not reason to act according to his erring conscience, he never can have reason to act according to a conscience well-informed, not when it tells him God is to be loved; for it is sure his conscience do's as much propose the error as his duty, as it do's the truth: the man as really believes the one is to be don as the other, and hath no reason to make difference, and therefore if at any time he must follow his conscience, he must always, and it will be sin to act against it, be it what it will.

But then you will hope it will excuse to act according to it. Oh no alas! for that's the second thing in this case of erring conscience: if a man act according to his conscience he sins too, if he act against the Law of God. Scripture will furnish me with several examples and proofs of this, and 'tis a doctrine worth the taking notice of, it having proved to so many persons a plea for actions otherwise abominable; they followed their conscience, 'twas, it may be, mistake in judgment, but 'twas uprightness of heart, sincerity of conscience. Now to take off this color, which I shall do with all imaginable plainness. Our Savior John 16. 2. foretells to his Disciples, they shall put you out of their Synagogues yea the time will come that whosoever killeth you will think that he doth God service, 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉 , that he do's offer God an oblation or worship; shall think it not only lawful but acceptable to God, and of the nature of a Sacrifice which propitiates for other offenses, to put you to death. See here a conscience bravely glos'd, when the error looked like Religion and Atonement, (a color not at all strange to our days in such another case,) and yet these Jews that did so (for of them he speaks) were given up to the direst punishments that ever any nation did groan under. Of the same Jews S. Paul says Rom. 10. 2. I bear them record, that they have a zeal of God, but not according to knowledge; that is, I must testify of them, that they are very many of them great zealots for their Law, as that which is commanded them by God, and so in their way and heart zealous to have God obeyed, only for want of knowledge they are mistaken in their zeal. Here is strong conscience granted in these Jews, and that built up upon a Law of God, then indeed outdated, which yet thro a zealous earnestness they were ignorant of: but yet the following this zeal and conscience was plagued with total induration of of that people c. 11. 8, 9, 10.

Nor was this S. Paul's heat against that persecuting nation, but that Apostle do's more plainly yet and home to our matter say of himself, Acts 23. 1. I have lived in all good conscience before God until this day: I have all my life long, even when I was a defender of the Mosaical Law against Christ's reformation, acted sincerely and uprightly according to my conscience: and again 2 Tim. 1. 3. I thank God, whom I serve from my forefathers with a pure conscience, i. e. whom I have obeyed sincerely all my time, even when thro ignorance I persecuted the Christian faith, doing according to the dictate of my conscience, and as I was persuaded I ought to do. And now if conscience will excuse, there was enough of that, a good conscience and a pure conscience; and will his fiery persecutions n • w by virtue of his conscience be Christened holy zeal, shall the pure conscience make his bloody hands to be undefiled? Oh no: 'twas Blasphemy, and injury, and persecution, for all 'twas conscience, 1 Tim. 1. 13. I was before a blasphemer, &c. and notwithstanding I did it all in the uprightness and sincerity of my heart, I am the chief of sinners, v. 15. And let us not suppose these aggravations were laid on by S. Paul upon himself because of his unbelief, that that was the only thing that gave guilt to his actions, and that we thro faith and assurance shall escape, if we do such gross actions out of an erring conscience. For on the contrary S. Paul do's bring his unbelief not as the Aggravation, but the Apology of his crimes, he pleads that for himself v. 13. and he finds another occasion for God's remitting him not from his conscience, which might alleviate the faults, but by his being by the horror of his sins a greater instance of God's wonderful grace in forgiving, v. 16. Howbeit for this cause I obtained mercy, that in me first Jesus Christ might show forth all longsuffering, for a pattern to them which should hereafter believe in him to life everlasting. God dealt most mercifully with me, called me from heaven, whilst I was persecuting him, to be a prime object of his patience and longanimity, and in order of time the first that was so miraculously called, that so the wickedest of the Gentiles may in me have an example of hope of mercy, if they shall come in to Christ.

And will it now be fit, my Brethren, with this of S. Paul, who notwithstanding such true pleas of conscience is forced to seek out for such motives of forgiveness, and plead hard ignorance and unbelief, and yet confess himself the chief of sinners, with this I say to parallel some actions of our days, that under the pretence of conscience (which too hath no Law, as that of S. Paul had, though then outdated) will justify forbidden actions even against repentance, men will not ask forgiveness where they can pretend conscience: I could instance in a strange particular of one of my remembrance, and my knowledge of the person and the story sufficiently notorious, who because the Papists believing that to be Christ, which indeed is bread, worship it, therefore thought in his conscience all kneeling at the Sacrament Idolatry, and to that error adding the command Deut. 13. 6, 7, 8, 9. cut off his brother's and his mother's head: yea and when condemned to death by sentence of Law for the action, would not be beaten from his hold, but on the strength of that mistaken place went as boldly with that blood on his hand and his soul to face the judgment seat, as he could have don, had he been washed in Christ's own blood; and of this resolute fury the Zealots of our neighbor country of Scotland have made many recent instances in their revived Ravilliacs. See the sad issue of an erring conscience, an action whose horror feinds would startle at, such a persuasion do's make meritorious, and yet God knows, that erring consciences have brought the Parent of a Nation (a thing of much direr guilt) to the same state; and yet that conscience must be admitted an excuse, when God knows jealousies and suspicions have been all the ground and all the rule for their determinations of conscience, and yet on that stock alone they could misjudge and censure, speak evil of and revile the actions of just Governors, and do that which I dare not say. When against all Laws both of God and man, all ties sacred and civil, obligations of oaths and duties, that it may be impossible to plead ignorance, men yet will act under the banner of such a thin conscience, that never could produce any Law of God for its direction or its quiet, and yet think themselves secure. When a confident persuasion of heart, God knows how taken up, shall quite annual that command of Christ, of taking up the Cross, and change that state which he calls blessed, suffering for righteousness sake, (if there were such a thing) change it into so great a curse, as men will rather embowel themselves in their brother's hearts, involve a Nation in blood and misery, in guilt and ruin, than not throw off the Cross from off their shoulders.

And now 'tis to no purpose to observe, that when perjury and sacrilege and breach of almost every Commandment in the Decalogue shall not only become tolerable, but be the only character of a godly side by virtue of a thing called conscience; surely S. Paul was a weak man, that when he had don some such things out of a good and pure conscience, yet calls himself the chief of sinners. In like manner in the Church new religious fancies are bold to take upon them the holy face of conscience, and then to quicken men into schisms, and all uncharitable separations and factions, withdrawing them from the obedience of them that have the spiritual rule over them, not at all submitting themselves to them, who by God's appointment watch over their souls, but rather flying in their faces, at once with open disobedience, loud reproaches, bitter censures, and severe condemnations. Others, by having had men's persons in admiration, and consequently their opinions, suffered their models to be stamped upon their conscience, and then that must justify Ecclesiastical parricides, destroying their own fathers that begot them to the Church, and at once cutting off the whole line of those progenitors, that can derive their race from Christ, a fairer stem and pedigree than most can show. But alas! my Brethren, if we shall grant that these opinions really possess their souls, and that in the uprightness of their heart they did pursue them, that neither interest nor faction, nor having been disoblig'd, or having suffered, hath puffed up a passion into conscience, but that 'tis all sincerity; yet we have seen that cannot bear us out in such commissions, 'tis but an erring conscience still that animates a man into any breach of duty, and if there be no other Law to warrant actions, the conscience is so far from being able to justify them, that while it errs, it but entangles a man in the necessity of sinning, leads him into such Labyrinths of guilt, that whatever he do's, he offends: on one side if he do what his erring conscience dictates to him, he sins against God's Law; on the other side, if he forbear, he sins against God's Vicegerent, his own conscience; there is the guilt of his deed, here is the guilt of his heart, which do's oblige a man to follow that which it is sin to follow, and which makes him he must and ought to do that, which he must not nor ought to do.

And sure, my Brethren, the only application to such a conscience is to advise the laying it aside, to rectify the error. Good counsel that indeed, but the hardest to be taken in the world; for that a man may rectify, he must know himself in an error, and if he know that, then he hath not an erring conscience: this when it is strongly so, doth not so much as doubt of his opinion, and while he do's not doubt, what temptation hath he so much as to set upon the rectifying? I shall but name some means.

The first will be Prayer for Divine illumination; S. James has directed this, if any man lacks wisdom, let him ask of God, that giveth to all men liberally, and upbraideth not, c. 1. 5. and our Savior has promised, that he will give his Holy Spirit to them that ask him, Luke 11. 13. whose office, we know, is to lead us into all truth, John 16. 13.

The second means will be, not to be wanting to ourselves, not to shut our eyes against, or resist the truth, Acts 28. 27. 2 Tim. 3. 8. nor by a wretchless unconcerndness take up with slight appearances, and receive a vulgar error for a sacred revelation, and having men's persons in admiration, Jude 16. believe as doctrines the devices or commandments of men, Matt. 15. 9. not to consider what this celebrated Teacher, or this Sect and Party say, but make our resort to the Law and to the Testament, what Law of God there is for, or against this action. For in this case it is most true, There is one Law-giver, who can save and destroy, James 4. 12. and if sin be the transgression of a law, 1 John 3. 4. it inevitably follows, that where no law is, there is no transgression, Rom. 4. 15. And yet 'tis strange to see, how men amuse and embarras themselves in things that have no bottom or foundation in Scripture, and in the mean time omit the weighty matters of the law, judgment, mercy, and faith.

Thirdly, if I have been engaged in any practices, of which by the contrary practices of other sober rational men, I see there may be reason, if not to doubt, yet to search into them; then I will take the same course in order to the settling, or the rectifying of my judgment; and especially if any obligations to the contrary have got possession of me, if obedience and meekness, and peace of the State or Church, or any sacred bond, in a word, if any commands of Superiors, or engagements to them seem strong for the other side, then nothing but clear Law of God or my Superiors shall fixe me.

Fourthly, where things are not absolutely convincing on either side, and there is no clear Law on neither, or else so much like Law on both sides; here, as I must suspend if possible my action, for these must needs make doubts, so if I be necessitated to act on one side or other, then if my conscience do mistake, according to the degree of my diligence in examining, so will be the degrees of my guilt. If I have searchit to my utmost, and so offend out of an ignorance I could not overcome, it is the constant doctrine of all, that the mercy of our God by the tenure of the Gospel will not impute the error to a person otherwise of holy life: but if there was a means of knowing, that either heat, or any other thing did hurry me from a sufficient consideration thereof, according to my means so is my sin. Abimelech had a competent ground to think that Sarah was not Abraham's wife, when both herself, and he had told him so, and upon that he says, he took her to him in the integrity of his heart, his conscience reasonably well-informed telling him that he might do it; and yet God p • nisheth his hast: he determined too speedily, his desire was too quick, did not proceed by those slow steps, that a good careful conscience do's move with, that will examine with all strictness where he discerns there will be gross sin on the other side. The Jews had a strong prejudice against Christ's reformation of the Law, by those so many promises of Scripture that their sacrifices should be eternal, and when for many ages they had been brought up in a Religion so owned by God, and were so hardened in that Religion by all their Teachers, 'twas no wonder they rejected the Apostles preaching out of conscience of their own Religion, Paul himself had don so, and yet God gives them up to final induration for it; because they had sufficient means of knowing Christ was sent by God to reform their Religion, for have they not heard? Rom. 10. 18. Thy diligence therefore shall alleviate the fault, and where it is used in a good measure, probably will not suffer the conscience to be long positive and peremtory in a mistake, but at the most will let it only be a doubting conscience, which how far 'tis an evil eye, and how we are to guide ourselves out of that darkness it do's lead into, we must now show.

A doubting conscience may be either in things of very little moment, and also where there is very little light to guide it, and then we only call it scrupulous; or else in things of consequence, and of these we now treat; and the Position is, that he that acts according to a doubting conscience sins, and this evil eye leads into utter darkness. The Aphorism is a certain reveled pronuncit truth, he that doubteth is damned if he eat, Rom. 14. 23. However sacred the tribunal of conscience can be thought to be, it must not stand in competition with the Throne of Almighty God, and oblige us to do that which the Divine Command has interdicted, or to leave that undon, the doing of which he has expressly charged upon us. It was thought to be a tyrannous hardship which the Egyptian task-masters put upon the Israelites, that they should be beaten because they made not brick, when they had no straw to make it with: but it would seem a more tyrannous cruelty, to punish them if they made, and also to punish if they did not make it. But so it is; he who chooses to do that which his conscience suggests he ought to avoid as being ill, and resolves to omit that which he judges or believes he ought to do as being good, has all the inordination of mind that constitutes the most flagrant guilt; he pursues evil, and turns away from good apprehended to be such, and so has that depravation of mind that constitutes a Devil. But on the other side, our opinions cannot alter the real natures of things, nor will my belief that my act is laudable make it to be so, any more than my fancy that Poisons are wholesome food, will free them from their noxious venom, and render them restoratives and cordials. In like manner, my adventuring on an action which I think is bad, upon the cold reserve of a possibility, that it may be otherwise, involves the desperate resolution of doing it howsoever; which differs very little from doing it, though I know it to be certainly unlawful. But a doubting conscience admits of a counterpoise from a contrary doubt, and there is fear of sin, as on the one, so also on the other part. I am uncertain whether I may not do ill in acting, and yet whether I may not do worse in forbearing: or thus, I am not sure that what I enterprize is lawful, but yet I have no ground to believe it is unlawful. Now from this exigent thus declared I might deduce resolutions in many cases of our life. As

1. When there is no ground to build a certain judgment on of either side, but it is only probable the thing is not sin, and consequently I cannot be sure it is not, yet if upon that probability I act, this is clear different from the state of the doubting conscience: for though I may have some doubt 'tis possible the thing may not be good, yet having honestly examined it, I have no reason to think it not good, and I am sure of my own heart, that if I thought it were so, I would not do it; here is no choosing of a sin, not with the least degree of inclination. 'It is this secures the Physician, who cannot possibly be assured there may not something lurk in his Patient's body, (for whose dark and unwholesome closets he hath no prospective,) to which the physic he prescribes may be pernicious; yet because God hath revel'd no certain grounds for guidance in this case, therefore he upon diligent search and grounds of art, which are the best God hath allowed us prescribing what he really believes will do him good, satisfies a good conscience. Upon the same account the Pilot satisfies himself, where he adventures his ship and freight upon shelfs and shallows: and the Captain, when he leads his men upon he canon's mouth, and other desperate attempts of war.

Shall I make more familiar instances to you: some have doubted whether celebrating Christ's Nativity be not will-worship, because 'tis not commanded in Scripture; other have doubted of the use of Garments prescribed Ministers from the same ground, and from their being significant. Now as to these, not to show the unreasonableness of these doubts, though I could easily do it: for in God's name why is it to set apart a day to thank God for the Redemption of mankind will-worship, and yet to set apart a day for the deliverance of a Nation from a temporal plague not will-worship? Is the fifth of November in the Scripture anymore than the twenty fifth of December? Or is it the infinitely greater mercy of Christ's Birthday that makes it more unlawful than the Gunpowder-Treason day, and therefore 'tis not lawful because 'tis more fit? And for the Garments of the Clergy, I would they were all significant, but that that is an argument against them in these days. It is true Scripture prescribes them not, and by that rule they should wear none, for it prescribes none: but pray tell me, will not any of these doubting men seek a Pulpit to preach in, or now a days a bason to baptize with, never looking whether they have a warrant in Scripture to command it? Just so, rational and sensible men select a particular habit for a Priest, whereby his words and exhortations may be received with greater respect and authority, and this without any written precept: for as where Scripture commands, it renders everything necessary; so where it is silent, it renders nothing unlawful in such circumstantials.

So a prescribed way of Prayer is boggled at, and why that more unlawful than a limited way of praising God? They had effusions of those in the first times, why do not we as well pretend to the one as to the other? Or why should it be less faulty to have set forms of singing Psalms than have set forms of Liturgy, in which too people might communicate, as they do also join in praises? or indeed would that Rhyme and tune become unlawful, should the Magistrate command them too?

But passing over this, and to speak in short of the whole matter. If the man that doubts, bids his conscience stand aside, and because of legal penalties muffles himself, and resolvedly goes on, notwithstanding his speculative irresolution, with desperate boldness judging it better to trust God with his soul, than the Law with his estate or liberty: if he fears to consider or inquire, least he should get conviction, that suits not with his interest, and thinks it easier to doubt than to be certain, because he's certainly determined to do what is enjoined, though it be never so unlawful. This is a profligate state of mind, that wants nothing but occasion to engage upon the greatest villainies, and close with Apostasy itself, when recommended by impunity. But if this doubting makes another scheme of reasoning, and performs what is enjoind, because the Magistrate's command is certain, but its unlawfulness is only dubious, and the safest course is ever the most innocent, because it is the most prudent; then the obligation to suspend the going on to act in case of doubting, is superseded by another obligation, actually to obey the undoubted injunction of Superiors, and the good Subject will not fail to be a good Christian too.

But alas! why should I busy myself in picking cases which here, I hope, are not useful, when as upon this very Proposition we are now upon, other things do apply themselves to most men's hearts of a more strong concern, and of more daily practice. If an action otherwise lawful will make up an indictment to our condemnation, if don with a doubting conscience; what guilt and damnation is there in those actions that are don against present full persuasion of conscience. Truly, my Brethren, I have no aggravation for sins don against knowledge, that being the worst that can be said of sin; and I shall only add, that they who so defy their conscience, are in the ready way to have no conscience, the sad estate of whom my last did display to you; and in short, 'tis no wonder, if God's Vicegerent do depart, when he is so affronted. There is a great and sad example of this procedure Rom. 1. 18, 19, 20. For the wrath of God is reveled from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, who hold the truth in unrighteousness. Because that which may be known of God, is manifest in them, for God hath shown it unto them. For the invisible things of him from the creation of the world are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made, even his eternal power and God-head, so that they are without excuse. There is no plea for such, because they did not use their knowledge to his service, but sinned against it, and by their deeds of darkness put out that light, which was vouchsafed them by God, yea indeed did commit those deeds of darkness in the face of light.

I have to what I have already said, one word to add for the scrupulous conscience. Scruples are little suspicions in things of small concern or indifferency, and where there is but little ground; for otherwise they swell into that we call doubts, and which denominates a doubting conscience. Now scruples, which are small particles of dust, do indeed cast dust into the eyes, which dim the sight, and make the eyes to roll, and fret, and grieve; and so do these the mind: they disturb duty wonderfully, by taking up the heart, and making it restless and unquiet, and so quite discompos'd for duty; for the heart is still called aside, & wandering about that which troubles it. And indeed these quite take off the edge of the mind; for while scruples arise, I am unsatisfied in everything I do, and then with what heart can I do them? I am in fear of every performance, and such a fear exceedingly damps love, and quashes all endeavors. I have no cheerfulness in my actions, and consequently never can be eager and forward, but cold and slack; for these do still put demurs, and nothing but discomfort dwells upon my spirit.

A dark and ill state this, and therefore 'tis no wonder if the Spirit of darkness sheds it, especially where he cannot draw in the soul to works of darkness; if he cannot quench the heats of their devotion, then he will strive to cool them by these arts, which like little dashings of water thrown into the fire, if they cannot put it out, yet at least they darken the flame, and change that which was pure and clear into thick fume and smother: so do these raise smoke and cloud in the soul. If the Devil cannot betray the heart to downright vice, but his suggestions are shut out, and temptations scorned, or at least avoided; then he will trouble them in their duties, he will suggest things that under the vizor of nicer and stricter Religious shall be let in, and when they are in, shall put the soul in little combustions, and disturb all its performances. Therefore these are to be combated with, and the heart to be fortified against them; as soon as ever we find these little spies and incendiaries of Satan stirring in the mind, let us strait seize them, and examine what they do there, what account they can give of themselves. Have they any ground or plea? when a thought checks me with a sudden motion of heart, least what I do may be amiss, I will question instantly, hath God said so anywhere, is there any Law that forbids it? If I cannot resolve myself, I will call in counsel; (for if I be not ashamed to whisper the unhandsomnesses of nature to a Physician, to betray uncomely infirmities, shall the cheerful quiet of my Soul, and the comfortable progress of my Religion be less considerable to me?) and if by these means I cannot find God hath forbid it any way, either directly or by consequence, why then shall I do Satan's work for him, help him to disquiet my own heart, make the semblance of Religion hinder my Religion, and with a pudder about duty keep myself from doing duty, much more of which I might perform with less trouble, than I do think of these things, and with infinitely more comfort? No sure, I will make no sins to myself that God hath not made, but in God's name with an upright heart set about my known duty, in full assurance of faith. But

Secondly it will become us, whosoever is at any time troubled with these, to consider with ourselves, when we find scruples arise about things of very small concern, to examine, am I thus wary and thus nice in every piece of known duty, have I as sharp checks there, and is my conscience as stirring in every circumstance of sure Religion; if a true object of charity pass by me, or I hear of such an one, whose real wants seem to call upon me for Christ's sake, and I instead of satisfying his needs, satisfy only the importunity of my own thoughts by some little excuse, I have not about me, or let others give that are more able, or why should I give to everyone that asks me? In this case now is my heart restless and scrupulous, least the real wants of the poor soul should make an alms duty, unsatisfied till I either know that, or till I do relieve him?

If when Prayers call, and at the same time either a trifle or something, which I had time enough before to prevent, and knew well enough the fit times of doing one and toother, yet seek to detain me; have I scruples here, and are they strong enough to throw aside the less concerns, and will not let my heart rest till it brings me honestly and zealously to my devotions? If some little slight injury, or it may be inadvertency of another fret my mind, and begin to swell me into a passion, or thicken into a grudge, and I am in present heat of words, and remember him with a slight or a less esteem; do scruples rise as fast as these heats, and my heart become more troubled at it self, than at the little conceived injury, and never well at ease, till I am calm to him? If it be not thus, but we who strain at gnats and swallow camels, we whose eyes boggle at motes in the Sun, can wink, or suffer beams to hood-wink them; we that scruple at things indifferent, things of which we have no rule to judge them sins, and are not nice at all in things of certain duty, have no such scrupulous conscience in known faults, or at least in much more concerning matters, we may do well to consider, whether our nicest carefulness in these do not betray, that in such little things the main of our Religion lies, our hearts lay their greatest stress upon these. There are certain formalities of Religion, things that speak people Professors, distinctive characters of a Party professing Godliness, little things by which they are discriminated, as niceties in habits, or gestures, or modes, or tones of speaking, or forms of doing things in Religion, or some strict forbearances of things that all the world beside themselves never imagined hurt in. Now they that do make such to be the stamp and signature of a Professor, it is no wonder if they be nice and scrupulous in them; and truly to be scrupulous, especially in such indifferencies, do's dangerously look towards that: 'tis certain, where the greatest care and watchfulness is laid, there will the most and greatest scruples be apt to stir; so that if these be most in such indifferencies, either the heart hath entertained some end besides Religion, the seeming strict or a Professor; or else the heart hath been betrayed, and by being bred up to strict cares, especially in such things, it hath let itself be besotted by those strict and handsome appearances, and low spirited as it is, hath raised no higher, but set up his chief rest there; they think if they do these things, they are religious. There cannot be any other reason given of these different strictnesses, this scrupulosity in little things, and negligence in greater interests; and therefore 'tis worth the search in every heart, in which examination whosoever shall find his scruples to be universal, and proportioned to the duty, his heart watchful, especially where the concern is greatest, and there most careful where it most behooves him; let that heart take comfort, that quality is but the nicety, the quickness of a clear, pure eye, that can endure no dust, no soil upon it, and such an eye shall lead a person thro the paths of God's word, which is a light to the feet, and a light unto the paths here to the Land of everlasting light and glory, where in God's light he shall see light for evermore.

SERMON XXI. THE LIGHT OF THE BODY is the Eye.

THE Kingdom of Heaven is like unto a treasure hid in a field, Matth. 13. 44. a field this much richer than it shows for, that provides for several uses of our life, that furnisheth with food and wealth too, and is both granary and treasury; and just such is the word of the Kingdom also, it hath in it more than it promises to sight, there are still hidden treasures besides the food that grows before our eyes: if we search, we shall find still more and more furniture for life, more wealth yet in the bowels of it. These words give us experience of this, from which though we have had several spiritual entertainments, provisions for divers cases of our life, yet have we not exhausted them; for we shall find that yet in another sense The light of the body is the eye, &c.

To the two interpretations, I have given of these words, the first of which that by a single eye should be meant a single intention, an entire, honest meaning, an heart like that of Jacob, plain, simple, and upright, such as may therefore style a man an Israelite indeed, in whom there is no guile, no doubling, but such an one as lays always to itself good ends, and intends to take in no ill means to compass them, hath been generally adhered to by almost all Expositors. The second, that by the single eye should be meant the pure, clear, good conscience, which to me indeed seems much more proper than the other; to neither of them have I any objection but this, that they do not at all relate to the matter of the discourse, which our Savior hath in hand, and 'tis not imaginable why Christ should in the midst of a Paragraph concerning mortifying the desire and love of wealth, the beginning of which commands laying up treasure in heaven, and the end tells us we cannot serve God and Mammon, should interpose anything of conscience or intentions: and therefore, though what we have delivered of them be exactly consonant to the words, and built upon other certain Scripture, and be the sense of most men, yet we will view one other, which though it be assigned but by one Expositor, that I know of, yet being exactly pertinent to the matter in hand, and having a surer plea for its being the sense of the place, than any of the rest have, it shall not escape us, though no more have lighted upon it. Now the way of finding out the meaning was, not to consider what may be compared to a single eye or an evil eye, for possibly so many things may be; but by seeing what those words do constantly signify in Scripture, and so what light and darkness also do, and then put them together, and see whether they will so here: and we shall take those grounds.

1. Then what a single eye and evil eye do use to signify in Scripture: and for the evil eye, we find it often Prov. 23. 6, 7. Eat thou not the bread of him that hath an evil eye, neither desire thou his dainty meats; for as he thinketh in his heart so is he; eat and drink, saith he to thee, but his heart is not with thee: which means, eat not the meat of him that is a niggard, who though he do invite thee to it, yet he do's grudge it thee, and grieves thou eatest it; his heart do's not speak in his invitations, but he had rather thou wouldest spare, and he computes thy morsels. So again Prov. 28. 22. He that hasteth to be rich, hath an evil eye, that is, is covetous; he envies every other man's prosperity, (so most Translations render it here) is troubled to see another flourish, and thinks their gain his loss. So Matt. 20. 15. Is thine eye evil, because I am good? he says to them, who though they had contracted for a penny by the day for labor, yet when they saw those that had wrought but a little part receive so much, strait entertained desires and hopes of more than they had bargain'd for, and when they saw they should have nothing but their due, they murmur'd; to whom the Master do's reply, Friend, I do thee no wrong, didst thou not agree with me for a penny, be thou content with that which comes to thy share? This man that came last to work (it being not his fault that he came no sooner, but his not being sooner called, and he having labored honestly and cheerfully ever since he came) shall by me, who accept the will for the deed, be rewarded with the same reward that thou hast; and sure thou hast no reason to complain, that I dispose of my own as I see cause: what reason is there that my bounty to others should be matter of envy and discontent to thee? So that an evil eye signifies unsatisfiedness with ones own condition, and envy at another's, an eye that grieves to see anything go besides itself; in one word, an illiberal, covetous, envious mind. You have its perfect character Ecclesiasticus 14. from v. 3. to 10. Riches are not comely for a niggard, and what should an envious man do with money? He that gathereth by defrauding his own soul, gathereth for others, that shall spend his goods riotously: he that is evil to himself, to whom will he be good? he shall not take pleasure in his goods. There is none worse than he that envieth himself, and if he doth good, he doth it unwillingly. The envious man hath a wicked eye, he turneth away his face, and despiseth men; a covetous man's eye is not satisfied with his portion, and the iniquity of the wicked dries up his soul: a wicked eye envieth his bread, and he is a niggard at his table.

Next for the single eye, that certainly is set as opposite to the evil eye, as meaning liberality and cheerful bounty, and we shall see accordingly that singleness do's signify; for so our Bible almost always translates the word: 2 Cor. 8. 2. Their deep poverty abounded unto the riches of their liberality, the riches of their singleness it is in the Original. So chap. 9. 11. being enriched in everything to all bountifulness, to all singleness; again v. 13. liberal distribution, singleness of distribution the Greek do's say; and so in many places which others have observed; and Rom. 12. 8. He that giveth, let him do it with simplicity or singleness, for 'tis the same word still, and there our Margent tells you, that it means liberality. Single therefore do's in Scripture signify bountiful, and we shall find that coupled with the eye, Prov. 22. 9. He that hath a bountiful eye shall be blessed, for he giveth of his bread to the poor. And so we have the Scripture sense of these two words, the single eye do's signify a liberal mind, and the evil eye a niggardly, uncontented, envious disposition. And here let us stop a little, and say a word on these expressions, why these things to the eye? is that the chief seat of those qualities, is not the heart much rather? 'It is true indeed that discontent and envy shed themselves into the eye, they dwell there in a cloud, the eye flags and is dull, and do's so certainly betray a niggard, envious heart, that we may see it grudges spirits to its own eyes, and do's restrain that current that is to feed them with a vigorous life: when bounty on the other side flows into the eyes in a cheerful stream of spirits, that make them full and bright. But this is not all the reason; 'tis not only the sign of these same inclinations that hangs out in the eye, but the lust itself do's lodge and dwell there. S. John calls covetousness the lust of the eye, 1 John 2. 16. and that not only because the eye of the covetous is never satisfied with wealth, but lusts still more and more; but there is reason why it should be the lust of the eye, for when goods increase they are increased that eat them, and what good is there to the owners thereof saving the beholding them with their eyes? Ecclesiasticus 5. 11. When plenty do's stream in upon us with a torrent, while we do lay it by and do not use it, then it is clear, that nothing but the eye enjoies it: when we do lay it out, if we dispose it to comply with fashions, or to serve pomp and ostentation, or to feed emulation, because I will not be without what any other hath, or else to entertain sports and delights, it is clear that nothing but the eye is treated with the expense, and with the magnificence of these; neither the back nor belly hath the least relish of them, nor hath the soul any other organ to employ about them, but the organ of seeing. But if thy riches be expended in great provisions for the appetite, unless a man can stretch his belly as he do's his barns and his demesnes, and make all bigger, enlarge his stomach as he do's his table, pull out new sides of appetite, and multiply his hungers as he do's his dishes; the wealthy man himself devours but little more, than when he had not such abundance, only he sees more meat, and sees more eaters of it: so that muchness of wealth, what is beyond sufficient competency, nothing but the eye enjoies, and it is therefore said that that lusts after it; 'tis the eye desires riches, and with them we serve no other part.

And then, my Brethren, this expression of single eye or bountiful eye do s let us see, that liberality is no great pressure to a man, it do's require no inconveniences from him, it do's retrench from nothing but his eye; if we can but get this to be moderate in its objects, get but a single eye, an eye that is not covetous of every thing it likes and that delights it, an eye that will be satisfied with competencies, and then a man will have no other uses for much wealth, but only those of doing good with it; for if thine eye be not always gaping after superfluities and daily novelties of entertainments, pursuing everything it fancies, or any other man possesses, and still ambitioning the heights of whatsoever it beholds that pleases it; if he can keep it from thirsting after everything that feeds its own pride, or another's envy: keep, I say, but the eye in bounds of moderation, and there is nothing else in man, that do's require much for its satisfaction. 'It is nothing else but the unlimited, unwearied eye, that looks thro all the world for entertainments, and must have services from every part of the whole universe; the Indians must dive into the depths of the Abyss, and dig the rocks to get a Jewel that shall dash a little light into thine eye; the Mariner must pass throughout all the variety of climes, must cross the frozen and the torrid Zones to pick up those diversities of things that are to please thy sight, with a new garment for thyself or for thy chamber, or rather are to make a dress, not for thy back indeed or for thy room, but for thy eye, which is not well, except it see fine things; that must have furniture out of the bowels of the worms, and out of the bowels of the earth, have gold and silver utensils, and silken ornaments, and have I know not what: so also several nations must conspire to make up almost any one in the whole variety of sports, which yet do but pass by, and please the eye, and move away as quick as sight itself. It is the eye indeed that endears every excessive sin to us. The Scripture do's most properly express it, when it says the Adulteries of the eye; for its delights, those of variety I mean, for that too hath no other, serve nothing but the eye. So it is in the sin of pride, and covetousness, and pleasure: it is that part spends almost all the riots and intemperances, that drinks in objects minutely, and thirsts for all diversities, these consume. Do but teach that to be content, and there will be enough for charity. If God had bid us rob our bowels for to feed the hungry, divide necessity betwixt us, and deny nature's cravings to hear those of the poor, it had been hard; and though the Lord emtied himself for us, yet sure the croaking of our empty bowels would have sounded much like murmurings at such a precept: but when he bids us only spare a little of the provisions of our eye, which wants nothing at all of them, do but deny thy sight some little portion of its excesses, and lay out some of its unnecessary objects on the Poor, and I will ask no more for charity. This sure is no hard duty. Get but a single eye, an eye that is not niggardly and covetous, that catches at and grasps at everything that likes it; do but moderate its desires and lusts, and all the rest of thee, thy back and belly will be easily contented, will spare enough for liberality: 'tis nothing but an evil eye that hinders. The pinching Miser he can deny all other appetites to gorge his eye, he crucifies his flesh, and almost starves his body to provide for his sight; 'tis this alone he cares for, to have wealth to behold, not use. Could he cure this Wolf, this canine appetite in his eye, that is so greedy to look on wealth, he might afford to give his heaps, for he do's nothing else with them, but see them. And 'tis the very same with them who are as covetous of pleasures for their sight, or things to furnish out the pomps of pride or ostentation of vanity; if their eye would abate in these, bounty would have provisions.

And sure, my Brethren, among the lovely changes that the eye delights in, this might come in for one handsome variety, to see such and so many souls live cheerfully thro the help of thy liberality, to see thy wealth, not only feed the instruments of thy delight, thy Dogs, it may be, or thy Hawks, but feed poor Christians, but feed the members of thy Savior; to see when with a great deal thou canst hardly furnish one room well, much less of it do's furnish such poor laboring families: furniture of a very comfortable prospect it will be at that day, I am sure, when all the other satisfactions of thy eyes are dead, or else dissolving in a flood of fire, then to behold those works which thy estate did help thee to perform; for they shall follow thee to Heaven, Rev. 14. 13. and to see that Christ upon the Throne, whom in his members thou hast oft relieved; an object that will comfort such a single eye with everlasting light. And so I pass to the second terms to be expounded, Light and Darkness.

1. Light in Scripture do's often signify Prosperity, as Darkness do's the contrary. I need not cite much Scripture for it, Psalm 18. 28. For thou wilt light my canlde, the Lord my God will enlighten my darkness. Job 21. 17. How often is the candle of the wicked put out, and how oft cometh their destruction upon them? God distributeth sorrows in his anger to them. Isaiah, c. 5. 30. do's express times of affliction thus, and if one look unto the earth, behold darkness and distress, and the light is darkened in the heavens thereof. So chap. 8. 22. Behold trouble, and darkness, and dimness of anguish. Now if it mean thus here, then the sense is, a single eye fills the body full of light; Charity makes a man prosperous in all his actions; but if the eye be evil, the body shall be full of darkness, he that either to furnish coffers, pride, or pleasures, or excesses do's retrench from bounty, however he advance these for a while, yet before long God will cut off the opportunities of these; he that will not put a good portion of what he hath to good uses, the time will come, when either he or his, however well provided for, shall not have for their own uses: if their eye be so evil as not to let their candle shed a light to any other but themselves, God will put out their canlde, and uncharitableness shall bring adversity upon them or upon their families; and if the verse mean thus, then it agrees with Solomon's Aphorism Prov. 11. 24. There is that scattereth, and yet increaseth; there is that withholdeth more than is meet, and it tendeth to penury. But to this I have spoke already; now I shall only say, this is a doctrine that we need not only trust on Christ for the truth of, a very Turk believes it, and not the Gospel only, but the Alcoran affirms it: saying, that which they lay out of their wealth in the way of God, in pious charitable uses, is like a grain that brings forth seven stalks. Blessed harvest of Charity, increase more than an hundred fold! and I will add but one place of Scripture to it, which says over the Text in larger and more glorious words Isaiah, 58. 7, 8, 10, 11. To deal thy bread to the hungry, and that thou bring the poor that are cast out to thy house, when thou seest the naked that thou cover him, and that thou hide not thyself from thine own flesh; then shall thy light break forth as the morning, and thine health shall spring forth speedily, and thy righteousness shall go before thee, and the glory of the Lord shall be thy reward: and if thou draw out thy soul to the hungry, and satisfy the afflicted soul, then shall thy light rise in obscurity, and thy darkness be as the noon-day: and the Lord shall guide thee continually, and satisfy thy soul in droughts, and make fat thy bones, and thou shalt be like a watered garden, and like a spring of water, whose waters fail not. The expressions seem to grow upon the Prophet, first he says, Thy light shall break forth as the morning, by little slow degrees of increasing light, which peeps out first in a dawn, and so grows into day; and so shall thy prosperity, which dawns and brightens by degrees, as thou drawest out reliefs: but he corrects these words, and thinks this is not blessing quick enough for this virtue, whose return shall be more eminent, conspicuous, and notable; thy light, says he, shall rise in obscurity, shall have no creeping twilight for to usher it, but they very night shall break into Sun-shine, and in the midst of hopeless affliction the face of joy and gladness shall rise upon thee. Yea more as if the rising light were but weak, and too faint for his meaning, Thy darkness shall be as the noon-day, strong and hot brightness shall break in upon thy occasions of sadness, which shall both cherish and enlighten thee, thaw everything that did sit cold about thine heart, and make all pleasant shine about thee. But where, I pray you, are the Luminaries that are to shed this Noon? The Prophet hath them here, thy Righteousness, that is in Scripture dialect thy Alms, shall go before thee, and the glory of the Lord shall be thy reward: Light expressed not only in terms of overflowing blessedness, but terms of guard and strength; Light he shall have here that shall be glory to him, and shall be fortification to him; the glory of the Lord shall be his reward, as if the charitable man did also dwell in Light that were inaccessible, who is so guarded as to have righteousness in his van for his avantguard, and the glory of the Lord of hosts and victories for his rere-defense; which means in plain words this, that the Lord will make the righteousness of such a man appear, and will do good and glorious things for him in this life. And then let others please themselves to have their wealth break out in shining pomps of bravery about them, or flow in streams of plenty and of delicacy, or of pleasure; alas the spring of these will quickly fail. If any scorching weather come, any fiery trial, any persecution, yea any days of adversity, the wealth will go out that is to furnish them; or if there do not come such days, yet the too full streams will drain the fountain, and there will be no spring to feed the current; yea or however in a while these streams must grow unpleasant, and they will choke the soul that swims in them: but the charitable man, the man that deals his bread, and draws out his soul to the hungry in relief, while he hath the means, and in compassion and assistance while he hath not, whatever fail, the fountain of the glory of the Lord cannot be exhausted, he will have righteousness and glory still about him; the comfortable streams of which are of another relish than those carnal worldly delights which wealth provides, or else can give; of a more blessed goust, the inextinguishable shine of which is surely far more cherishing and gladsome, than the gauds of vanity or fading pleasures. The brightness of God's glory cannot die, cannot be taken from thee, it is its own defense and shine: for righteousness shall go before thee, and the glory of the Lord shall be thy rearward, and then 'tis clearly proved, that such a single Eie shall make the body full of light.

2. Light do's signify holiness of life, deeds truly Christian; walk as Lights in the Lord, nothing more common in Scripture: and Darkness signifies a sinful and un-Christian life, a life that's full of deeds of darkness. And then the words mean thus; as the eye is the candle of the body, lightens and directs it well if it be as it ought, but otherwise very ill, and the man is in the dark, if his eye be ill, and do not serve him: so is the heart of man, as to the guidance and direction of his actions; if his eye be single, if he have an heart taken off from the world, a liberal, bountiful mind, not set upon the love and desire of the things of this world, his whole body will be full of light, his whole life will be very Christian, all his actions holy and heavenly, and to the making of them so, liberality of mind hath a very observable influence. It will incline a man wonderfully to pious courses, it is a leading virtue, as the eye is a leading part. But if the eye be evil, but if the heart be worldly set upon wealth, either for itself, or for those heights or fine things, or pleasures which wealth do's procure; if it be unsatisfied in these things for itself, or envious at others for them, the whole body will be full of darkness, the whole life will be very un-Christian; such a disposition of mind as that, quite draws a man off from the temper that Christ requires: the unsatisfied, the envious, and the covetous person can never serve God, but only Sin, those dispositions being the root of all evil. Now if the light that is in thee be darkness, if thy heart be un-Christian, and if thy leading virtue, that was to take thee off from all worldly inclinations, be extinct and dark in thee, how great is that darkness? what an un-Christian life will there be, and whatever light do's shine about thee of the Gospel, whatever light thou dost pretend of knowledge, or of whatsoever else, there is a deep darkness dwells upon thy heart, and is in all thy actions.

Now this sense we see connects what went before and that which follows after, drives on our Savior's design that he is pressing here, and to this sense Scripture always speaks in the expressions of single and of evil eye, of light and darkness; and therefore this was certainly the sense that was intended by our Savior, and to the prosecuting of it I shall show,

1. That to have a generous, liberal mind, an heart taken off from the self uses and advantages of wealth, is the great means, the great engine and instrument of making all the actions very Christian, the life holy.

2. This grace in the heart, bounty of mind, is a great evidence of a true Christian heart.

3. A worldly heart, loving and desiring wealth, troubled at its condition, envying others that are in better, and for the ends of any advantages to itself, straitening its liberality, is not only in it self an un-Christian temper, but such as is the root and cause of a life wholly un-Christian and unholy. Of these in their order.

1. To have a liberal mind &c. That the throwing of this earth out of the heart is a most hopeful way of making the man clean and pure, we have most pregnant Scripture, Luke 11. 39, 40, 41. Now do ye Pharisees make clean the outside of the cup and the platter, but your inward part in full of ravening and wickedness. Ye fools, did not be that made that which is without, make that which is within also? But rather give alms of such things as you have, and behold, all things are clean unto you: which bears this seen, ye hypocritical Pharisees wash yor selve as if a man should wash his vessels, the outside of them only, leaving the insides of them full of filthiness; for thus do ye wash your bodies, leaving your souls full of all uncleanness. This is an extreme folly; for it your outward washings were in obedience to God, you would cleanse the insides, your hearts and souls, as well as your bodies. The best way of purifying yourselves, your estates, your meats and drinks, &c. from all pollution cleaving to them, is by works of mercy and liberal alms gifts, and not by washing pots and vessels. Thy broken meats, thy scraps, thy charities shall cleanse thy platters more than washing them shall do, alms shall make all things clean. But how this? To cleanse hath two aspects, either on the guilt of past actions, or on the habits and dispositions to future commissions; and is to cleanse us from the evil that we have don, or to make us clean from those vices that were in us, and which would make us do more evil: the first of these is don by Repentance, not by Alms. Indeed the Wise man says, the alms of a man is as a signet with the Lord, and he will keep the good deeds of a man as the apple of an eye, and give repentance to his sons and daughters, Ecclesiasticus 17. 22. the happiest way of purchase for a family in the world. The give to children an estate perchance is but to give an instrument of vice, bestow the means of sinning on them; at best 'tis but to leave them pomp and superfluity; but to give Repenetance to them is to give security of everlasting blessedness, this is as it were to entail Heaven on ones children. But this is not the thing we mean, we are to see how Alms should make us clean from vice. It is observed by a Reverend Expositor, that our Savior speaking Syriac, useth a word for alms, which in that language and Arabic signifies cleansing; that is, give Alms, which as it comes from a word that signifies to cleanse, so all shall be clean to you: and they give this reason of the notion, they derive Alams from a word that signifies to cleanse, quod opes ab inquinamento, & animum ab avaritiae sordibus purgat,