THE LIBRARY
O.F
THE UNIVERSITY
OF CALIFORNIA
LOS ANGELES
THE
SERMONS
O F
Mr. Y O R I C K.
VOL. V.
A NEW EDITION.
LONDON:
inted for W. STRAHAN ; and T. CADELL,
in tie ^Strand. 1779.
29914
PR
v. 5
CONTENTS
O F T H E
FIFTH V O L U M E.
SERMON XV.
Defcription of the World.
SERMON XVI.
St. Peter's Charader.
SERMON XVII.
Thirtieth of January.
SERMON XVIII.
CONTENTS.
SERMON XIX.
Truft in God.
SERMON XX.
SERMON XXI.
Sanflity of the Apoftles.
SERMON XXII.
Penances.
SERMON XV.
Defcription of the World.
2 PETER Hi. 1 1.
Seeing then, that all tbefe things Jhall
be diflohiedi what manner of per-
1 Jons ought ye to be in all holy con-
verfaticn and godlinefs ? looking and
baftening unto the coming of God.
THE fubjed upon which St.
Peter is difcourfing in this
chapter, is the certainty of Chrift's
coming to judge the world; and the
words of the text are the moral ap-
plication he draws from the repre-
fentation he gives of it, in which,
in anfwer to the cavils of the fcoffers
VOL. V. B
2 S E R M O N XV.
in the latter days, concerning the
delay of his coming, he tells them,
that God is not flack concerning his
promifes, as fome men count flack-
nefs, but is long fuffering to us
ward i that the day of tie Lord will
come as a thief in the night, in which
the heavens foall pafs away with a
great noife, and the elements Jhall melt
with fervent heat, the earth alfo, and
the works that are therein, (hall be burnt
up. Seeing then, fays he, all thefe
things mall be diffolved, what man-
ner of perfons ought ye to be in all
holy converfation and godlinefs ?
The inference is unavoidable, at lead
in theory, however it fails in prac-
tice; how widely thefe two differ,
I intend to make the fubject of this
SERMON XV. 3
difcourfej and though it is a melan-
choly companion, to confider, c what
manner of perfons we really are,* wiih
4 what manner of perfons we ought to
be;' yet as the knowledge of the one, is
at lead one flep towards the improve-
ment in the other, the parallel will
not be thought to want its ufe. '
Give me leave, therefore, in the
firft place, to recal to your obferva-
tions, what kind of world it is we
live in, and what manner of perfons
we really are.
Secondly, and in oppofuion to this,
I (hall make ufc of the apoftle's ar-
gument, and from a brief reprefent-
ation of the Chriftian religion, and
the obligations it lays upon us, (hew,
B 2
4 S E R M O N XV.
what manner of perfons we ought to
be in all holy converfation and god-
linefs, looking for and haftening unto
the coming of the day of God.
Whoever takes a view of the world
will, I fear, be able to difcern but
very faint marks of this character,
either upon the looks or actions of
its inhabitants. Of all the ends and
purfuits we are looking for, and haften-
ing unto, this would be the leaft
fufpected, for without running into
that old declamatory cant upon the
wickednefs of the age, we may fay
within the bounds of truth, that
there is as little influence from this
principle which the apoftle lays ftrefs
on, and as little fenfe of religion,
as fmall a fhare of virtue (at leaft as
SERMON XV. 5
little of the appearance of it) as can
be fuppofed to exift at all in a country
where it is countenanced by the
ftate. The degeneracy of the times,
has been the common complaint of
many ages: how much we exceed
our forefathers in this, is known alone
to that God who trieth the hearts.
But this we may be allowed to urge
in their favour, they flu died at leaft
to preferve the appearance of vir-
tue; public vice was branded with
public infamy, and obliged to hide
its head in privacy and retirement.
The fervice of God was regularly
attended, and religion not expofed to
the reproaches of the fcorner.
How the cafe ftands with us at
prefent in each of thefe particulars, it
Bj
6 S E R M O N XV.
is grievous to report, and perhaps un-
acceptable to religion herfclf ; yet as
this is a feafon wherein it is fit we
fhould be told of our faults, let us
for a moment impartially confidcr
the articles of this charge.
And firft, concerning the great
article of religion, and the influence
it has at prefent upon the lives and
behaviour of the prefent times ;
concerning which I have faid, that if
we are to truft appearances, there is
as little as can well be fuppofed to
exift at all in a chriftian country.
Here I mail fpare exclamations, and
avoiding all common place railing
upon the fubjecl, confine myfelf to
facts, fuch as every one who looks
out into the world, and makes any
S E R M O N XV. 7
obfervations at all, will vouch for
me.
Now whatever are the degrees of
real religion amongft us, whatever
they are, the appearances are ftrong
againft the charitable fide of the
queftion.
If religion is any where to be
found, one would think it would be
amongft thofe of the higher rank in
life, whofe education and opportu-
nities of knowing its great import-
ance, (hould have brought them over
to its intereft, and rendered them as
firm in the defence of it, as eminent
in its example. But if you examine
the fad, you will almoft find it a teft
of a politer education and mark of
B 4
8 S E R M O N XV.
more fhining parts, to know nothing,
and indeed, care nothing at all about
it : or if the fubjeft happens to
engage the attention of a few of the
more fprightly wits, that it ferves
no other purpofe, but that of being
made merry at, and of being re-
ferved, as a (landing jeft to enliven
difcourfe, when converfation fickens
upon their hands.
This is too fore an evil not to be
obferved amongft perfons of all ages,
in what is called higher life; and fo
early does the contempt of this great
concern begin to (hew itfelf that it is
no uncommon thing to hear perfons
difputing againft religion, and raifing
cavils againft the Bible, at an age
when fome of them would be hard
SERMON XV. 9
fee to read a chapter in it And I
may add, that of thofe whofe ftock in
knowledge is fomewhat larger, for
the moft part it has fcarce any other
foundation to reft on but the finking
it of traditional and fecond hand
objections againft revelation, which
had they leifure to read, they would
find anfwered and confuted a thouiand
times over. But this by the way.
If we take a viey of the pub-
lic worfhip of Almighty God, and
obierve in what manner it is reve-
renced by perfons in this rank of life,
whofe duty it is to fct an exam-
ple to the poor and ignorant, we fliall
find concurring evidence upon this
melancholy argument of a general
want of all outward demonftration of
jo S E R M O N XV.
a fenfe of our duty towards God, as if
religion was a bufinefs fit only to em-
ploy tradefrnen and mechanics and
the falvation of our fouls, a concern
utterly below the confideration of a
perfon of figure and confequence.
I (hall fay nothing at prefent of the
lowerranksof mankind though they
have not yet got into the famion of
laughing at religion, and treating it
with fcorn and contempt, and I be-
lieve are too ferious a fet of creatures
ever to come into it i yet we are not
to imagine but that the contempt
it is held in by thofe whofe examples
they are too apt to imitate, will in
time utterly {hake their principles,
and render them, if not as prophane,
at leaft as corrupt as their betters.
SERMON. XV. n
"When this event happens and we
begin to feel the effects of it in our
dealings with them, thpfe who have
done the mifchief will find the necef-
fuy at the laft of turning religious in
their own defence, and for want of a
better principle, to fet an example of
piety and good morals for their own
intereft and convenience.
Thus much for the languifhing
ftate of religion in the prcfent age;
in virtue and good morals perhaps the
account may ftand higher.
Let us inquire
And here, I acknowledge, that an
unexperienced man, who heard how
loudly we all talked in behalf of virtue
and moral honefty, and how unani-
12 SERMON XV.
mous we were all in our cry againft
vicious characters of all denomina-
tions, would be apt haftily to con-
clude, that the whole world was in an
uproar about it and that there was
fo general a horror and deteftation
of vice amongft us, that mankind
were all aflbciating together to hunt
it out of the world, and give it no
quarter. This I own would be a na-
tural conclufion for anyone who only
trufted his ears upon this fubject. -
But as matter of fact is allowed better
evidence than hear-fay let us fee in
the prefent how the one cafe is con-
tradided by the other.
However vehement we approve
ourfelves in difcourfe againft vice I
believe no one is ignorant that the re-
SERMON XV. ij
ception it actually meets with is very
different the conduct and behaviour
of the world is fo oppofite to their
language, and all we hear fo contra-
dicted by what we fee, as to leave
little room to queftion which fenfe
we are to truft.
Look, I befeech you, among thofe
who.'e higher flarions are made a
fhelter for the liberties they take,
you will fee, that no man's chara&er
is fo infamous, nor any woman's fo
abandoned, as not to be vifited and
admitted freely into all companies,
and, if the party can pay for it, even
publicly to be courted, carefied, and
fh< rered. If this will not overthrow
the credit of our virtue, take afhorc
view of the general decay of it, from
14 S E R M O N XV.
the faftuonable excefles of the age,-
in favour of which there feems to
be formed fo ftrong a party, that a
man of fobriety, temperance, and
regularity, i'carce knows how to ac-
commodate himfelf to the fociety he
lives in, and is oft as much at a lofs
how and where to difpofe of him^
felf-, and unlefs you luppofe a mix-
ture of conftancy in his temper, it
is great odds but fuch a one would
be ridiculed, and laughed out of his
fcruples and his virtue at the fame
time; to fay nothing of occafional
rioting, chambering, and wanton-
nefs. Confider how many public
markets are eftablifhed merely for the
fale of virtue, where the manner of
going, too fadly indicates the inten-
SERMON XV. 15
tion ; and the difguife each is under,
not only gives power fafely to drive
on the bargain, but too often tempts
to carry it into execution too,
This finning under difguife, I own,
feems to carry fome appearance of a
fecret homage to virtue and decorum,
and might be acknowledged as fuch,
was it not the only public inftance
the world feems to give of it. In
other cafes, a'juft fenfe of fhame
feems a matter of fo little* concern,
that inftead of any regularity of be-
haviour, you fee thoufands who are
tired with the very form of it, and
who at length have even thrown the
maflc of it afide, as a ufelefs piece of
incumbrance. This I believe will
need no evidence, it is too evidently
4
16 SERMON XV.
feen in the open liberties taken every
day, in defiance (not to fay of reli-
gion) but of decency and common
good manners ; fo that it is no un-
common thing to behold vices,
which heretofore were committed
only in dark corners, now openly
fhew their face in broad day, and oft
times with fuch an air of triumph, as
if the party thought he was doing
himfelf honour, or that he thought
the deluding an unhappy creature,
and the keeping her in a ftate of guilt,
was as neceffary a piece of gran-
deur as the keeping an equipage,
and did him as much credit as any
other appendage of his fortune.
If we pafs on from the vices to
the indecorums of the age (which is
SERMON XV; i?
a fofter name for vices) you will
fcarce fee any thing, in what is called
higher life, but what befpeaks a ge-
neral relaxation of all order and di
cipline, in which our opinions as
well as manners feem to be fet loofe
from all reftraints ; and, in truth,
from all ferious reflections toot-
and one may venture to fay, that
gaming and extravagance, to the utter
ruin of the greateft eftates, minds
diffipated with diverfions, ano 1 heads
giddy with a perpetual rotation of
them, are the mod general characters
to be met with ; and though one
would expect, that at leaft the more
folemn feafons of the year, fet apart
for the contemplation of (Thrift's fuf-
ferings, mould give fome check and
VOL. V. C
i 8 SERMON XV.
interruption to them, yet what ap-
pearance is there ever amongft us,
that it is fo 5 what one alteration
does it make in the courfe of things ?
Is not the doctrine of mortification
infulted by the fame luxury of enter-
tainments at our tables ; is not the
fame order of diverfions perpetually
returning, and fcarce any thing elfe
thought of? does not the fame
kvity in drefs, as well as difcourfe,.
{hew itfelf in perfons of all ages? I
fay of all ages , for it is no fmall ag-
gravation of the corruption of our
morals, that age, which by its autho-
rity was once able to frown youth
into fobriety and better manners, and
keep them within bounds, feems
but too often to lead the way, and
SERMON XV. 19
by their unfeafonable example give a
countenance to follies and weaknefs,
which youth is but too apt to run
into without fuch a recommendation.
Surely age, which is but one re-
move from death, fhould have no-
thing about it, but what looks like a
decent preparation for it. In purer
times it was the cafe, but now,
grey hairs themfelves fcarce ever ap-
pear, but in the high mode and
flanting garb of youth, with heads
as full of pleafure, and clotkes as
ridiculoufly, and as much in the
fafhion, as the perfon who wears them
is ufually grown out of it: upon
which article give me leave to make
a fhort reflection -, which is this, that
whenever the eldeft equal the youngeft
C 2
20 S E R M O N XV.
in the vanity of their drefs, there is
no reafon to be given for it, but that
they equal them, if not furpafs them,
in the vanity of their defires.
But this by the bye.
Though in truth the obfervatiort
falls in with the main intention of
this difcourfe, which is not framed
to flatter our follies, or touch them
with a light hand, but plainly to
point them out , that by recalling to
your mind, what manner of perfons
we really are, I might better lead
you to the apoftle's inference* of
what manner of perfons ye ought to
be, in all holy converfation and god-
linefs ? looking for, and haftening
unto the coming of the day of God,
SERMON XV. 21
The apoftle, in the concluding
verfe of this argument, exhorts, that
they who look for fuch things be
diligent, that they be found of hini
in peace, without fpot, and blame-
lefs; and one may conclude with
him, that if the hopes or fears, either \
the reafon or the paffions of men
are to be wrought upon at all, it
muft be from the force and influence
of this awakening confideration in
the text: " That all thefe things
Ihall be difiblved," that this vain
and perilhable fcene muft change,
that we who now tread the ftage,
muft fhortly be fummoned away ;
that we are creatures but of a day,
haftening unto the place from whence
~
2* SERMON XV.
we fhall return no more ; that whilft
we are here, our conduct and beha-
viour is minutely obferved; that
there is a Being about our paths and
about our beds, whofe omnifcient
eye fpies out all our ways, and takes
a faithful record of all the pafifages
of our lives; that thefe volumes
lhall be produced and opened, and
men lhall be judged out of the thtogs
that are written in them , that with-
out refpect of perfons, we fliall be
made accountable for our thoughts,
our words, and actions to this greateft
and beft of Beings, before whofe
judgment-feat we muft finally ap-
pear, and receive the things done in
the body, whether they are good, or
whether they are bad.
SERMON XV. 23
That to add to the terror of it,
this day of the Lord will come upon
us like a thief in the night; of that
hour no one knowethj that we are
not fure of its being fufpended one
day or one hour ; or, what is the fame
cafe, that we are {landing upon the
edge of a precipice, with nothing
but the fingle thread of human life
to hold us up ; and that if we fall
unprepared in this thoughtlefs Hate,
we are loft, and muft peri(h for
evermore.
What manner of perfons we ought
to be, upon thefe principles of our
religion, St. Peter has told us, in all
holy converfation and godlinefs ,
and I fhall only remind, how dif-
ferent a frame of mind, the looking
C 4
24 SERMON XV.
for, and haftening unto the coming
of God, under fuch a life, is, from
that of fpending our days in vanity,
and our years in pleafure.
Give me leave, therefore, to con-
clude in that merciful warning, which
our Saviour, the judge himfelf, hath
given us, at the clofe of the fame
exhortation.
Take heed to yourfelves, left a,t
any time your hearts be over-charged
with furfeiting and drunkennefs, and
the cares of this life ; and fo that
day come upon you unawares: for
as a fnare (hall it come upon all that
dwell on the face of the whole earth.
Watch therefore, and pray always,
that ye may be accounted worthy to
SERMON XV. 25
efcape all thefe things that flaall come
to pafs, and to ftand before the Son
of man. Which may God of his
mercy grant, through Jefus Chrift.
Amen.
SERMON XVI.
ST. PETER'S Character.
ACTS Hi. 12.
And when Peter faw it, be anfwered
unto tbe people, Te men oflfrael, wby
marvel ye at tbis? cr wby lock ye fo
eameftfy on us, as though by our own
power or bolinefs we bad made tbis
man to walk ?
THESE words, as the text tells
us, were fpoke by St. Peter, on
the occafion of his miraculous cure
of the lame man, who w%s laid at the
gate of the temple, and, in the begin-
ning of this chapter, had afked an
2 8 SERMON XVI.
alms of St. Peter and St. John, as
they went up together at the hour of
prayer ; on whom St. Peter fatten-
ing his eyes, as in the 4th verfe, and
declaring he had no fuch relief to
give him as he expected, having nei-
ther filver nor gold, but that fuch
as he had, the benefit of that divine
power which he had received from
his Matter, he would impart to him,
he commands him forthwith, in the
name of Jefus Chrift of Nazareth, to
rife up and walk. And he took him
by the hand and lifted him up, and
immediately his feet and ancle-bones
received itrength ; and he leaped up,
flood, and walked, and entered with
them into the temple, leaping and
praifing God..
SERMON XVL 29
It feems he had been born lame,
had pafled a whole life of "defpair,
without hopes of ever being reftored ;
fo that the immediate fenfe of
ftrength and activity communicated
to him at once, in fo furprifing and
unfought-for a manner, caft him into
the tranfport of mind natural to a
man fo benefited beyond his expecta-
tion. So that the amazing inftance
of a fupernatural power ; the noto-
riety of fact, wrought at the hour of
prayer; the unexceptionablenefs of
the object, that it was no impoflure,
for they knew that it was he which
fat for alms at the Beautiful gate of
the temple ; the unfeigned expref-
fions of an enraptured heart almoft
befide itfelf, confirming the whole j
4
30 SERMON XVI.
the man that was healed, in the loth
verfe, holding his benefactors, Peter
and John, entering into the temple
with them, walking and leaping, and
praifing God; the great concourfe
of people, drawn together by this
event in the nth verfe, for they all
ran unto them, into the porch that
was called Solomon's, greatly won-
dering. Sure never was fuch a fair
opportunity for an ambitious mind
to have eftabliuVd a character of fu-
perior goodnefs and power. To a
man fet upon this world, who fought
his own praife and honour, what an in-
vitation would it have been to have
turned thefe circumdances to fuch a
purpofe ; to have fallen in with the
paffions of an aftonifhed and grateful
SERMON XVI. 31
city, prepofTefied, from what had hap-
pened, fo flrongly in his favour al-
ready, that little art or management
was requifite to have improved their
wonder and good opinion into the
higheft reverence of his fanciity, awe
of his perfon, or whatever other belief
fhould be neceffary to feed his pride,
or ferve fecret ends of glory and in-
tereft. A mind not fufficiently mor-
tified to the world, might have been
tempted here to have taken the ho-
nour due to God and transferred it to
himfelf. He might not fo a dif-
ciple of Chrift : for when Peter faw it,
when he law the propenfity in them
to be miQed on this occafion, he aa-
fwered and faid unto the people, in the
words of the text, Ye men of Ifrael,
3
$2 SERMON XVI.
why marvel ye at this? or why look
you fo earneftly on us, as though by
our own power and holinefs we had
made this man to walk ? the God of
Abraham, and of Ifaac, and of Jacob,
the God of our fathers, hath glorified
his fon Jefus.
O holy, and blefled apoftle !
How would thy meek and morti-
fied fpiric fatisfy itfelf in uttering fo
humble and fo juft a declaration ?
What an honeft triumph wouldft thou
tafte the fweets of, in thus con-
.quering thy pafTion of vain gloryj
keeping down thy pride, difclaim-
ing the praifes which mould have fed
it, by telling the wondering fpecla-
tors, It was not thy own power, it
SERMON
Mvas not thy own holinefs, which had
wrought this, thou being of like
pafiions and infirmities-, but that it
was the power of the God of Abra-
ham, the holinefs of thy dear Lord,
whom they crucified, operating by
faith through thee, who waft but an
inftrument in his hands. If thus ho-
neftly declining honour, which the
occafion fo amply invited thee ta
take ; if this would give more fatif-
faclion to a mind like thine, than the
loudeft praifes of a miftaken people,
what true rapture would be added to
it from the reflection, that in this
inftanceof felf-denial thou hadft not
only done well, but, what was dill SL
more endearing thought, that thou
hadft been able to copy the example
VOL. V. D
34 SERMON XVI.
of thy divine Matter, who, in no ac-
tion of his life, fought ever his own.
praife, but, on the contrary, declined
all poffible occafions of it ^ and in
the only public inflance of honour
which he fuffered to be given him in
his entrance into Jerufalam, thou
didft remember, it was accepted
with fuch a mixture of humility, that
die prediction of the prophet was not
more exactly fulfilled in the hofannas
of the multitude, than in the meek-
nefs wherewith he received them,
lowly and fitting upon an afs. How
could a difciple fail of profiting by the
example of fo humble a mafter, whofe
whole courfe of life was a particular
lecture to this virtue, and, in every
inftance of it, (hewed plainly he came
2
SERMON XVI. 35
not to {hare the pride and glories of
life, or gratify the carnal expectation
of ambitious followers; which, had
he affected external pomp, he might
have accomplimed, by engrofTmg, as
he could have done by a word, all the
riches of the world; and by the fplen-
dour of his court, and dignity of his
perfon, had been greater than Solo-
mon in all his glory, and have at-
tracted the applaufe and admiration
of the world : this every difciple
knew was in his power; fo that the
meannefs of his birth, the toils and
poverty of his life, the low offices
in which he was engaged, by preach-
ing the gofpel to the poor the num-
berlefs dangers and inconveniencies
attending the execution, were all vo-
D 2
36 SERMON XVI.
luntary. This humble choice both
of friends and family out of the
meaneft of the people, amongft
whom he appeared rather as a fervant
than a matter, coming not, as he often
told them, to be miniftered unto, but
to minifter, and as the prophet had
foretold in that mournful defcription
of him, having no form nor comeli-
nefs > nor any beauty that we mould
defire him.
How could a difciple, you'll fay,
reflect without benefit on this ami-
able character, with all the other
tender pathetic proofs of humility,
which his memory would fugged had
happened of a piece with it, in the
courfe of his matter's life ; but par-
ticularly at the conclufion and great
SERMON XVI. 37
cataftrophe of it, at his crucifixion;
the imprefftons of which could never
be forgotten. When a life full of
fo many engaging inftances of humi-
lity, was crowned with the moft en-
dearing one of humbling himfelf to
the death of the crofs, the death of
a (lave and a malefactor, fuffering
himfelf to be led like a lamb to the
(laughter, dragged to Calvary with-
out oppofition or complaint, and as
a fheep before his (hearer is dumb,
opening not his mouth.
O blefied Jefus ! well might a dif-
ciple of thine learn of thee to be meek
and lowly of heart, as thou exhortedft
them all, for thou waft meek and
lowly : well might they profit,
when fuch a leflbn was feconded by
D 3
38 SERMON XVI.
fuch an example ! It is not to be
doubted what force this muft have
had on the actions of thofe who were
attendants and conftant followers of
our Saviour on earth; faw the mcck-
nefs of his temper in the occurrences
of his life, and the amazing proof of
it at his death, who, though he was
able to call down legions of angels Co
his refcue, or by a fmgle aft of omni-
potence to have deftroyed his ene-
mies j yet fuppreffed his almighty
power, neither refented or reven-
ged the indignity done him, but pa-
tiently fuffered himfelf to be num-
bered with the tranfgreffors.
It could not well be othervvife,
but that every eye-witnefs of this
muft have been wrought upon, in
SERMON XVI. 39
fome degree, as the apoftle, to let
the fame mind be in him which
alfo was in Chrift Jefus. Nor will
it be difputed how much of the4io-
nour of St. Peter's behaviour in the
prefent tranfaction might be owing
to the impreflions he received, on
that memorable occafion of his Lord's
death, finking ftill deeper, from the
affecting remembrance of the many
inftances his matter had given of this
engaging virtue in the courfe of his
life.
St. Peter certaJnljjjeasLpf a warm
and fenfible nature, as we may col-"
led from the facred writings, a
temper fitteft to receive all the ad-
vantages which fuch impreflions could
give ; and therefore, as it is a day
D 4
40 SERMON XVI.
and place facred to this great apoftle,
it may not be unacceptable, if I
engage the remainder of your time,
in a fhort effay upon his character,
principally as it relates to this par-
ticular difpofition of heart, which is
the fubje<ft of the difcourfe.
This great apoftle was a man of
diftinction amongft the difciples,
-^-and was one of fuch virtues
and qualifications, as feemed to have
recommended him more than the
advantage of his years, or know-
ledge.
On his firfl admiffion to our Savi-
our's acquaintance, he gave a mod
evident teftimony that he was a man
pf real and tender goodnefs, when
SERMON XVI. 4 j
being awakened by the miraculous
draught of the fiflies, as we read in the
fifth of Sr. Luke, and knowing the
author muft neceffarily be from God,
he fell down inftantly at his feet,
broke out into this humble and pious
reflection; Depart from me, for I
am a finful man, O Lord! The
cenfure, you will fay, expreffes him a
finful man; but fo to cenfure him-
felf, with fuch unaffected modefty,
implies more effectually than any
thing elfe could, that he was not,
in the common fenfe of the word,
a finful, but a good man, who, like
the publican in the temple, was no
lefs juftified, for a felf-accufation ex-
torted merely from the humility of
a devout heart jealous of its own im-
42 SERMON XVI.
perfections. And though the words,
depart from me, carry in them the
face of fear, yet he who heard
them, and knew the heart of the
fpeaker, found they carried in them
a greater meafiire of defire. For
Peter was not willing to be difcharged
from his new gueft, but fearing his
unfitnefs to accompany him, longed
to be made more worthy of his con-
verfation. A meek and modefl dif-
truft of himfelf, feemed to have had
no fmall mare, at that time, in his
natural temper and complexion ; and
though it would be greatly improved,
and no doubt much better principled
by the advantages on which I en-
larged above, in his commerce and
obfervation with his Lord and
SERMON XVI. 43
matter, yet it appears to have been
an early and diftinguifhing part of
his character. An inftance of this,
though little in itfelf, and omitted
by the other evangelifts, is preferved
by Su John, in his account of cur
Saviour's girding himfelf with a nap-
kin, and wafhing the diiciples feet ;
to which office, not one of them is
reprefented as making any oppofi-
tion : But when he came to Simon
Peter, the Evangelift tells, Peter
faid to him, Doft Ttou warn my
feet ? Jefus faid unto him, What I
do, thou knoweft not now, but (halt
know hereafter Peter faid to him, ~
Thou (halt never wafli my feet.
Humility for a moment triumphed
over his fubmiffion, and he expof-
44 SERMON XVL
tulates with him upon it, with all the
earned and tender oppofition which
was natural to a humble heart, con-
founded with fliame, that his Lord
and matter mould infift to do fo
mean and painful an aft of fervitude
to him.
I would fooner form a judgment
of a man's temper from his behaviour
on fuch little occurrences of life, as
thefe, than~ frorrr~tne more weighed
and important aftions, where a man
is more upon his guard j has more
preparation to difguife the true dif-
pofition of his heart, and more
temptation when difguifed to impofe
it on others.
This management was no part of
Peter's character, who, with all the
SERMON XVI. 45
real and unaffected humility which
he fhewed, was pofleiTed of fuch a
quick fenfibility and promptnefs of
nature, which utterly unfitted him
for art and premeditation; though
this particular caft of temper had its
difadvantages, at the fame time, as
it led him to an unreferved difcovery
of the opinions and prejudices of his
heart, which he was wont to de-
clare, and fometimes in fo open and
unguarded a manner, as expofed him
to the iharpnefs of a rebuke where
he could lead bear it.
I take notice of this, becaufe it
will help us in fome meafure to re-
concile a feeming contradiction in his
character, which will naturally occur
here, from confidering that great
46 SERMON XVI.
and capital failing of his life, when
by a prefumptuous declaration of
his own fortitude, he fell into the
difgrace of denying his Lord ; in both
of which he afled fo oppofite to the
character here given, that you will
afk, How could fo humble a man
as you defcribe ever have been guilty
of fo felf-fufficient and unguarded a
vaunt, as that, though he fhould
die with his Matter, yet would he
not deny him ? Or whence, that fo
fmcere and honeft a man was not
better able to perform it ?
The cafe was this
Our Lord, before he was betrayed,
had taken occafion to admonim his
difciples of the peril of lapfing tell-
SERMON XVI. 47
ing them, 3ift verfe, All ye (ball
be offended becaufe of ire this
nigh:.- To which Peter anfwering,
with a zeal mixed with too much
confidence, That though all fhould
be offended, yet will I iuvar h&
offended; to check his truft in him-
felf, cur Saviour replies, that he in
particular fhould deny him tbrice.
But Peter looking upon this mor.i-
tion no farther than as it implied a
reproach to his faith, and his love,
and his courage; ftung to the heart
to have them called in queftion by
his Lord, he haftily fummons them
all up to form his final refolution,
Though I fhould die with thee, yet
will I not deny thee. The refolve
was noble aad dutiful to the laft dc-
4 3 SERMON XVI.
gree, and I make no doubt as"
honed a one that is, both as juft
in the matter, and as fincere in the
intention, as ever was made by any
of mankind ; his character not fuf -
fering us to imagine he made it in a
braving difiimulation: no; for he
proved himfelf fufficiently in earned
by his fubfequent behaviour in the
garden, when he drew his fword
againd a whole band of men, and
thereby made it appear, that he had
lefs concern for his own life, than he
had for his mader's fafety. How
then came his refolution to mifcarry?
The reafon feems purely this :
Peter grounded the execution of ic
upon too much confidence in him-
felf, doubted not but his will was
SERMON XVI. 49
in his power, whether Gcd's grace
afTifted him or not; furely thinking,
that what he had courage to refolve
fo honeftly, he had likewife ability
to perform, This was his miftake,
and though it was a very great one,
yet it was in fome degree akin to a
virtue, as it fprung merely from a
confcioufnefs of his integrity and
truth, and too adventurous a con-
clufion of what they would enable
him to perform, on the fharpeft en-
counters for his Mailer's fake: fo
that his failing in this point, was but
a confequence of this hafty and ill-
confidered refolve ; and his Lord, to
rebuke and punilh him for it, did
no other than leave him to his own,
ftrength to perform it; which, in
VOL. V. E
5 o SERMON XVI.
effect, was almoft the fame as leaving
him to the ncceflity of not perform-
ing it at all. The great apoftle had
not confidered, that he who precau-
tioned him was the fearcher of
hearts, and needed not that any
fhould ( teftify of man, for he knew
what was in man: he did not re-
member, that his Lord had faid be-
fore, Without me ye can do no-
thing; that the exertions of all our
faculties were under the power of his
will : he had forgot the knowledge
of this needful truth, on this one un-
happy juncture, where he had fo
great a temptation to the contrary,
though he was full of the perfuafion
in every other tranfadion of his
life, but moft vifibly here in the
SERMON XVI. 51
text, where he breaks forth in the
warm language of a heart ftill over-
flowing with remembrance of this
very miftake he had once com-
mitted; Ye men of Ifrael, why mar-
vel ye at this ? as though by our own
power and holinefs we had wrought
this ? The God of Abraham, of I faac,
and of Jacob, the God of our fathers,
through faith in his name hath made
this man whole, whom ye fee and
know.
This is the beft anfwer I am able
to make to this objection againft the
uniformity of the apoftle's character
which I have given: upon which let
it be added, that was no fuch apo-
logy capable of being made in its
behalf-, that the truth and regu-
E 2
52 SERMON XVI.
larity of a character is not, in jufticc,
to be looked upon as broken, from
any one fingle aft or omifiion
\ which may feem a contradiction to it :
the beft of men appear fometimes
to be flrange compounds of contra-
dictory qualities : and were the acci-
dental overfights and folly of the
wifeft man, the failings and imper-
fections of a religious man, the hafty
acts and paffionate words of a meek
man; were they to rife up in judg-
ment againft them, and an ill-na-
tured judge be fuffered to mark in
this manner what has been done
amifs, what character fo unexcep-
tionable as to be able to ftand be-
fore him ? So that, with the candid
allowances which the infirmities of a
SERMON XVI; 5
man may claim when he falls, through
furprile more than a premeditation,
one may venture upon the whole
to fum up Peter's character in a few
words. He was a man fenfible in his
nature >: --pXgyik^paffions, tempered
"with the greateft^humilit^jin^jnoft
unaffected poverty of fpirit that ever
met in fuch a character. So that in
the only criminal inftance of his life,
which I have fpoke to, you are at a lofs
which to admire moft; the tender-
nefs and fenfibility^ojFJhisJaul, in be-
ing wrought upon to repentance by
a look from Jefus ; or the uncom-
mon humility of it, which he teftified
thereupon, in the bitternefs of his for-
row for what he had done. He was
once prefumptuous in trufting to his
E 3
54 SERMON XVI.
own ftrength; his general and true
character was that of the mod engag-
ing meeknefs, diflruftful of himfelf
and his abilities to the lad degree.
He denied his matter But in all
inftances of his life, but that, was
a man of the greateft truth and fin-
cerity; to which part of his .cha-
racter our Saviour has given an un-
deniable teftimony, in conferring on
him the fymbolical name of Cephas,
a rock, a name the moft expreflive
of conftancy and firmnefs. ,
He was a man of great love to his
mafter, and of no lefs zeal for his
religion, of which, from among many,
I (hall take one inftance out of St.
John, with which I mail conclude this
3
SERMON XVI. 55
account. Where, upon the defer-
tion of feveral other difciples, our
Saviour puts the queftion to the
twelve, Will ye alfo go away ?
Then, fays the text, Peter anfwered
and faid, Lord! whither lhall we
go? Thou haft the words of eternal
life, and we believe, and know that
thou art Chrift the fon of God.
Now, if we look into the gofpel, w
find what our Saviour pronounced OR
this very confeflion.
Bleffed art thou, Simon Barjona, for
flefh and blood hath not revealed it
unto thee, but my father which is
in heaven. That our Saviour had the
words of eternal life, Peter was abfe\
to deduce from principles of natural
reafon; becauie reafon was able to
E 4
56 SERMON XVT.
judge from the internal marks of his
doctrine, that it was worthy God, and
accommodated properly to advance
human nature and human happinefs.
But for all this, reafon could not
infallibly determine that the mefTen-
ger of this doctrine was the Mefllas,
the eternal fon of the living God :
to know this required an illumina-
tion; and this illumination, I fay,
feems to have been vouchfafed at that
inftant as a reward, as would have
been fufficient evidence by itfelf of
the difpofition of his heart.
I have now finifhed this fhort efTay
upon the character of St. Peter, not
with a loud panegyric upon the power
of his keys, or a ranting encomium
upon fome monaftic qualifications,
SERMON XVI. 57
with which a popifli pulpit would
ring upon fuch an occafion, without
doing much honour to the faint, or
good to the audience; but have
drawn it with truth and fobriety, re-
prefenting it as it was, as conGfting
of virtues the moft worthy of imita-
tion, and grounded, not upon apo-
cryphal accounts and legendary inven-
tions, the wardrobe from whence po-
pery drefles out her faints on thefe
days, but upon matters of fact in
the facred Scriptures, in which all
chriftians agree. And Cnce I have
mentioned gopery, I cannot better con-
clude than by oblerving, how ill the
fpirit and character of that church
refembles that particular part of St.
Peter's which has been made the fub-
58 SERMON XVI.
ject of this difcourfe. Would one
think that a church, which thrufts
itfelf under this apoftle's patronage,
, and claims her power under him,
would prefume to exceed the degrees
of it which he acknowledged to pof-
fefs himfelf ? But how ill are your
expectations anfwered, when inftead
of the humble declaration in the text,
Ye men of Ifrael, marvel not at us,
as if our own power and holinefs had
wrought this ; you hear a language
and behaviour from the Romifh court,
as oppofite to it as infolent words and
a&ions can frame!
So that inftead of, Ye men of Ifrael,
marvel not at us, Ye men of Ifrael,
do marvel at us, hold us in admira-
tion: Approach our facred pontiff,
SERMON XVI. 59
(who is not only holy but holinefs
itfelf ) approach his perfon with re-
verence, and deem it the greateft ho-
nour and happinefs of your lives to
fall down before his chair, and be ad-
mitted to kifs his feet,
Think not, as if it were not our
own holinefs which merits all the ho-
mage you can pay us. It is our own
holinefs, the fuperabundance of it,
of which, having more than we know
what to do with ourfelves, from
works of fupererogation, we have
transferred the furplus in ecclefiaftic
warehoufes, and in pure zeal for the
good of your fouls, have eftablimed
public banks of merit, ready to be
drawn upon at all times.
o SERMON XVI.
Think not, ye men of Ifrael, or fay
within yourfelves, that we are unpro-
fitable fervants; we have no good
works to fpare, or that if we had, >
we cannot make this ufe of them ;
that we have no power to circulate
our indulgences,, and huckfterthem
out, as we do, through all the parts
of Chriftendom. Know ye by thefe
prefents, that it is our own power
which does this; the plenitude of
our apoftolick power operating with
our own holinefs, that enables us to
bind and loofe, as feems meet to us
on earth j to fave your fouls or de-
liver them up to Satan, and as they
pleafe or difpleafe, to indulge whole
kingdoms at once, or excommunicate
SERMON XVI. 61
them all; binding kings in chains,
and your nobles in links of iron.
That we may never again feel the
effects of fuch language and prin-
ciples, may God of his mercy grant
us. Amen.
SERMON XVII.
Thirtieth of January.
EZRA ix. 6, 7.
And I faid, my God^ I am ajhamed
and blujb to lift up my face to tbee 9
my God: for cur iniquities are in-
creafed ever our bead, and our tref-
pafs is grown up unto the heavens.
Since the days of our fathers have
we been in a great trefpafs unto tbis
day.
THERE is not, I believe,
throughout all hiftory, an in-
ftance of fo ftrange and obftinately
qorrupt a people, as the Jews, of whom
Ezra complains; for though, on one
64 SERMON XVII.
hand, there never was a people that
received fo many teftimonies of God's
favour to encourage them to be
good, fo, on the other hand, there
never was a people which fo often
felt the fcourge of their iniquities to
dimearten them from doing evil,
And yet neither the one or the
other feemed ever able to make them
either the wifer or better; neither
God's bleffings, nor his corrections
could ever foften them ; they flill
continued a thanklefs, unthinking
people, who profited by no leffons,
neither were to be won with mercies,
nor terrified with punilhments, but
on every fucceeding trials and occa-
fions, extremely difpofed againfl God,
to go aflray and act wickedly.
5
SERMON XVII. 65
In the words of the text, the pro-
phet's heart overflows with forrow,
upon his reflection of this unworthy
part of their character; and the
manner of his application to God, is
fo expreflive of his humble fenfe of
it, and there is fomething in the
words fo full of tendernefs and fhame
for them upon that fcore as be-
fpeaks the mod paternal, as well as
paftoral concern for them. And he
faid, O my God, I am aihamed,
and blufli to lift up my face to thee,
my God. No doubt, the holy man
was confounded to look back upon
that long feries of fo many of God's
undeferved mercies to them, of which
they had made fo bad and ungrateful
a ufe : he confidered, that they had
VOL. V. F
66 SERMON XVII.
all the motives that could lay re*
ftraints either upon a confi derate or
a reafonable people; that God had
not only created, upheld, and fa-
voured them with all advantages in
common with the reft of their fellow-
creatures, but had been particularly
kind to them; that when they were
in the houfe of bondage, in the moft
hopelefs condition, he had heard
their cry and took companion upon
their afflictions, and by a chain of great
and mighty deliverances, had fet them
free from the yoke of opprefllon.
The prophet, no doubt, reflected at
the fame time, that befides this in-
ftance of God's goodnefs in firft fa-
vouring their miraculous efcape,
a feries of fuccefies, not to be ac-
3
SERMON XVII; 67
counted for from fecond caufes, and
the natural courfe of events, had
crowned their heads in fo remarkable
a manner, as to afford an evident
proof, not only of God's general
concern, but of his particular provi-
dence and attachment to them above
all people: in the wildernefs he
led them like fheep, and kept them
as the apple of his eye ; he fuffered
no man to do them wrong, but re-
proved even kings for their fake ;
that when they entered into the pro-
mifed land, no force was able to
ftand before them -, when in pof-
fefllon, no army was ever able to
drive them out ; that nations greater
and mightier than they, were thruft
forth from before them j that, io a
F 2
68 SERMON XVII.
word, all nature for a time was driven
backwards by the hands of God, to
ferve them, and that even the fun
itfelf had flood ftill in the midft of
heaven, to fecure their victories ;
that when all thefe mercies were caft
away upon them, and no principle
of gratitude or intereft could make
them an obedient people, God had
tried by misfortunes to bring them
back j that when instructions, warn-
ings, invitations, miracles, prophets,
and holy guides had no effect, he
at laft fuffered them to reap the
wages of their folly, by letting them
fall again into the fame ftate of bon-
dage in Babylon, from whence he
had firfl raifed them. -Here it is
that Ezra pours out his confeffion.
SERMON XVII. 6$
It was no fmall aggravation to Ezra's
concern, to find that even this laft
trial had no good effcd upon their
conduct; that all the alternatives
of promifes and threats, comforts and
afflictions, inftead of making them
grow the better, made them ap-
parently grow the worfe: how could
he intercede for them, but with fhamc
and forrow; and fay, as in the
text, O my God, I am aihamed and
blulh to lii't up my face to thee,
for our iniquities are increafed over
our heads, and our trefpafc is grown
up unto the heavens; fince the
days of our fathers have we been in
a great trefpafs unto this day.
Thus much for the prophet's hum-
ble confeffion to God for the Jews,
7 o SERMON XVII.
for which he had but too juft a
foundation given by them; and I
know not how I can make a better
ufe of the words, as the occafion of
the day led me to the choice of
them, than by a ferious application
of the fame fad confefiion, in regard
to ourfelves.
Our fathers, like thofe of the Jews
in Ezra's time, no doubt have done
amifs, and greatly provoked God by
their violence ; but if our own ini-
quities, like theirs, are increafed over
our heads ; if fince the days of our
fathers we have been in great trefpafs
ourfelves unto this day, 'tis fit this
day we mould be put in mind of it ;
nor can the time and occafion be
better employed, than in hearing with
SERMON XVII. 71
patience the reproofs which fuch a
parallel will lead me to give.
Itmuft be acknowledged, there is no
nation which had ever fo many extra-
ordinary reafons and fupernatural mo-
tives to become thankful and virtuous
as the Jews had ; yet, at the fame
time, there is no one which has not
fufficient (and fetting afide at prefent
the confideration of a future ftate as a
reward for being fo) there is no na-
tion under heaven, which, befides the
daily blefiings of God's providence
to them, but have received fufficient
bleflings and mercies at the hands of
God to engage their bed fervices, and
the warmeft returns of gratitude they
cay pay : there has been a time,
72 SERMON XVIf.
may be, when they have been de-
livered from fome grievous calamity,
from the rage of peftilence or fa-
mine, from the edge and fury of
the fword, from the fate and fall
of kingdoms round them , they
may have been preferved by provi-
dential difcoveries, and plots, and de-
figns againft the well-being of their
flates, or by critical turns and revo-
lutions in their favour when begin-
ning to fink ; by fome fignal inter-
pofition of God's providence; they
may have refcued their liberties, and
all that was dear to them, from the
jaws of fome tyrant; or may have
preferved their religion pure and un-
corrupted, when all other comforts
failed them.
SERMON XVII. 73
If other countries have reafon to
be thankful to God for any one of
thefe mercies, much more has this of
ours, which at one time or other hath
received them allj infomuch that
our hiftory, for this laft century, has\
fcarce been any thing elfe but the hif- \
tory of our deliverances, and God's j
bleffings, and thefe in fo compli-
cated a chain, and with fo little inter-
ruption, as to be fcarce ever vouch-
fafed to any nation or language be-
fides, except the Jews ; and with
regard to them, though inferior in
the ftupendous manner of their work-
ing, yet no way fo in the extenfive
goodnefs of their effects, and the in-
finite benevolence which muft have
wrought them for us. Here then let
us ftop and look back a moment, and
74 SERMON XVII.
inquire, as in the cafe of the Jews,
what great effects all this has had
upon our lives, and how far worthy
we have lived of what we have re-
ceived ?
A ftranger, when he heard that
this ifland had been fo favoured by
heaven, fo happy in our laws and
religion, fo flourifhing in our trade,
fo blefled in our fituation and na-
tural product, and in all of them fo
often, fo vifibly protected by pro-
vidence, would conclude, our gra-
titude and morals had kept pace
with our blefiings ; and he would
fay, as we are the moft blefled and
favoured, that we muft be the moft
virtuous and religious people upon
the face of the earth.
SERMON XVII. 75
Would to God ! there was any
other reafon to incline one to fo cha-
ritable a belief; for without running
into any common-place declamation
upon the wickednefs of the age, we
may fay within the bounds of truth,
that we have profited in this refpect
as little as it was poflible for the
Jews ; that there is as little virtue,
and as little fenfe of religion, at
leaft as little of the appearance of ir,
as can be fuppofed to exift at all, in
a country where it is countenanced
by the ftate. Our forefathers, what-
ever greater degrees of real virtue
they were pofiefied of, God, who
fearcheth the heart, bed knows ;
but this is certain, in their days they
had at leaft the form of godlinefs,
;6 SERMON XVII.
and paid this compliment to reli-
gion, as to wear at leaft the appear-
ance and outward garb of it The
public fervice of God was better fre-
quented, and in a devout, as well
as regular manner; there was no
open profanenefs in our ftreets to put
piety to the blufli, or domeftic ridi-
cule, to make her uneafy, and force
her to withdraw.
Religion, though treated with free-
dom, was dill treated with refpefti
the youth of both iexes kept under
greater reflraint; good orders and
good hours were then kept up in rnoft
families ; and, in a word, a greater
ftriflnefs and fobriety of manners
maintained throughout amongft peo-
ple of all ranks and conditions ; fo
SERMON XVIL 77
that vice, however fecredy it might
be pra&ifed, was afhamed to be
fcen.
But all this has infenfibly been
borne down, ever Ence the days of our
forefathers trefpafs; when, to avoid
one extreme, we began to run into
another -, ib that inftead of any great
religion amongft us, you fee thou-
fands who are rired even of the form
of it, and who have at length thrown
the mafk of it afide, as an ufcleis
incumbrance.
But this licentioufnds, he would
fay, may be chiefly owing to a long
courfe of profperity, which is apt to
corrupt men's minds. God has fince
this tried you with afflictions ; you
4
;8 SERIVTON XV1L
have been vifited with a long and ex-
penfive war : God has fent, more-
over, a peftilence amongft your cattle,
which has cut off the flock from the
fold, and left no herd in the flails.
Surely he'll fay, two fuch terrible
fcourges mufl have awakened the
confciences of the moft unthinking
part of you, and forced the inhabit-
ants of your land from fuch ad-
monitions, though they failed with
the Jews, to have learnt righteoufnefs
for themfclves.
I own this is the natural effect,
and one would hope mould always be
the natural ufe and improvement from
fuch calamities i for we often find
that numbers who, in profperity, feem
to forget God, do yet remember
SERMON XVII. 79
him in the day of trouble and dif-
trefs. Yet confider this nationally,
we lee no fuch effect from it in fact,
as one would be led to expect from
the fpeculation : for inftance, with
all the devaftation, bloodihed, and
expence which the war has occa-
fioned, how many converts has it
made to frugality, to virtue, or even
to ferioufnefs itlelf ? The peftilence
amongft our cattle, though it has
diilrefled and utterly undone fo many
thoufands, yet what one vifible alte-
ration has it made in the courfe of
our lives ?
And though one would imagine
that the neceflary drains of taxes for
the one, and the lofs of rents and
property from the other, mould in
8o SERMON XVII.
fome meafure have withdrawn the
means of gratifying our paffions, as
we have done-, yet what appear-
ance is there amongft us, that it
isfo?
What one famionable folly or ex-
travagance has been checked by it ?
Is not there the fame luxury and
epicurifm of entertainments at our
tables ? do we not purfue with eager-
nefs the fame giddy round of trifling
diverfions? is not the infection dif-
fufed amongft people of all ranks,
and all-ages ? And even grey, hairs,
whofe fober example and manners
ought to check the extravagant
fallies of the thoughtlefs, gay, and
unexperienced, too often totter un-
der the fame coftly ornaments, and
SERMON XVII. 81
join the general riot. Where vanity,
like this, governs the heart, even
charity will allow us to fuppofe, that
a confcioufnefs of their inability to
purfue greater excefies, is the only
vexation of fpirit. In truth, the ob-
fervation falls in with the main in-
tention of the difcourfe, which is
not framed to flatter your follies, but
plainly to point them out, and fhew
you the general corruption of man-
ners, and want of religion ; which
all men fee, and which the wife
and good fo much lament.
But the inquirer will naturally go
on, and fay, that though this repre-
fentation does not anfwer his expec-
tations, that undoubtedly we muft
have profited by thefe lefibns in
VOL. V. G
82 SERMON XVII.
other refpefts; that though we have
not approved our underftanding in
the fight of God, by a virtuous ufe
of our misfortunes, to true wifdom ;
that we muft have improved them,
however, to political wifdom 5 fo
that he would fay, though the
Englifh do not appear to be a reli-
gious people, they are at leaft a
loyal one : They have fo often felt
the fcourge of rebellion, and have
tailed fo much fharp fruit from it,-
as to have fet their teeth on edge
forever. But, good God! how would
he be aftonifhed to find, that though
we have been fo often toft to and
fro by our own tempefluous hu-
mours, that we were not yet fick
of the ftorm j that though we fo-
8
SERMON XVII. 83
lemnly, on every return of this day, j
lament the guilt of our forefathers
in ftaining their hands in blood,
we never once think of our princi-
ples and practices, which tend the
fame way: and though the provi-
dence of God has fet bounds, that
they do not work as much mifchief,
as in days of diffraction and defola-
tion, little reafon have we to afcribe
the merit thereof to our own wif-
dom ; fo that, when the whole ac-
count is ftated betwixt us, there
feems nothing to prevent the appli-
cation of the words in the text ;
that our iniquities are increafed over
our heads, and our trefpafs is grown
up unto the heaven. Since the days
of our fathers have we been in a
G 2
$4 SERMON XVII.
great trefpafs unto this day; and
though it is fit and becoming that
we weep for them, 'tis much more
fo, that we weep for ourfelves,
that we lament our own corrup-
tions, and the little advantages we
have made of the mercies or chaftife-
ments of God, or from the fins and
provocations of our forefathers.
This is the fruit we are to gather,
in a day of fuch humiliation j and
unlefs it produces that for us, by a
reformation of our manners, and by
turning us from the error of our
ways, the fervice of this day is more
a fenfelefs infult upon the memories of
our anceftors, than an honeft defign
to profit by their miftakes and mif-
fortunes, and to become wifer and
6
SERMON XVII. 85
better from our reflections upon
them.-
Till this is done, it avails lit- ,
tie, though we pray fervently to
God, not to lay their fins to our
charge, whilft we have fo many re-
maining of our own. Unlefs we are
touched for ourfelves, how can we
expect he mould hear our cry ? It is>
the wicked corruption of a people
which they are to thank for whatever
natural calamities they feel; this
is the very ftate we are in, which,
by difengaging providence from tak-
ing our part, will always leave a
people expofed to the whole force of
accidents, both from within and with-
out: and however ftatefmen may
86 SERMON XVII.
difpute about the caufes of the growth
or decay of kingdoms, it is for this
caufe, a matter of eternal truth,
that as virtue and religion are our
only recommendation to God, that
they are, confequently, the only true
bafis of our happinefs and profperity
on earth. And however we may
flicker ourlelves under diftinclions of
party, that a wicked man is the
worfl enemy the flare has; and for
the contrary, it will always be found,
that a virtuous man is the bed pa-
triot, and the bed fubject the king
has. And though an individual may
fay, what will my righteoufnefs pro-
fit a nation of men? I anfwer, if
it fail of a bleffing here (which is
SERMON XVII. 87
not likely), it will have one advan-
tage, it will fave thy own foul,
and give thee that peace at the laft,
which this world cannot take away.
Which God, of his infinite mercy,
grant us all. Amen.
G 4
SERMON XVIII.
ROMANS ii. 4.
Defpifeft tbou tbe riches of bis gocdnefs*
and forbearance ) and long- faff tring^
knowing that tbe goodnefs of God
leadetb tbee to repentance ?
So fays St. Paul. And
EcCLESIASTES viii. II.
Becaufe fentence againft an evil work
is not executed fpeedily ; therefore the
heart of tbe fons of men is fully fet in
them to do evil.
TAKE either as you like it, you
will get nothing by the bar-
gain.
'Tis a terrible characterof the world,
which Solomon is here accounting
90 SERMON XVIII.
for, that their hearts were fully fet
in them to do evil. And the general
outcry againft the wickednefs of the
age, in every age, from Solomon's
down to this, (hews but too lament-
ably what grounds have all along
been given for the complaint.
The diforder and confufion arifing
in the affairs of the world from the
wickednefs of it, being ever fuch,
fo evidently feen, fo feverely felt,
as naturally to induce every one who
was a fpectator or a fufferer, to give
the melancholy preference to the times
he lived in; as if the corruptions of
men's manners had not only exceeded
the reports of former days, but the
power almoft of rifing above the
pitch to which the wickednefs of the
SERMON XVIII. 91
age was arrived. How far they may
have been deceived in fuch calcula-
tions, I fhall not inquire; let it
fuffice, that mankind have ever beeiA
bad, confidering what motives they 1
have had to be better; and taking/
this for granted, inftead of declaiming
againft it, let us fee whether a dilcourfe
may not be as ferviceable, by endea-
vouring, as Solomon has here done,
rather to give an account of it, and
by tracing back the evils to their firft
principles, to direct ourfelves to the
true remedy againft them.
Let it here only be premifed,
that the wickednefs either of the pre-
i:nt or pad times, whatever fcandal
and reproach it brings upon chri-
flians, ought not in reafoa to reflect
92 SERMON XVIII.
difhonour upon chriflianity, which is
fo apparently well framed to make
us good, that there is not a greater
paradox in nature, than that fo good
a religion mould be no better recom-
mended by its profefibrs. Though
this may feem a paradox, 'tis dill,
1 fay, no objection, though it has of-
ten been made ufe of againft chrifli-
anity:, fince, if the morals of men
are not reformed, it is not owing to
a defed in the revelation, but 'tis
owing to the fame caufes which de-
feated all the ufe and intent of reafon,
before revelation was given. For
fetting afide the obligations which a
divine law lays upon us, whoever
confiders the flate and condition of
human nature, and upon this view,
SERMON XVIII. 93
how much ft rongejs^the- -natural mo-
tives are to virtue than to vice, would
expect to find tnT"worT3mucR better
than it is, or ever has been. For
who would fuppofe the generality of
mankind to betray fo much folly, as
to act againft the common intereft of
their own kind, as every man does
who yields to the temptation of what
is wrong ? But on the other'fide,
if men firft look into the practice of
the world, and there obferve the
flrange prevalency of vice, and how
willing men are to 'defend as well as
to commit it, one would think they
believed that all difcourfes of virtue
and honefty were mere matter of
fpeculation for men to entertain fome
idle hours with 5 and fay truly, that
94 SERMON XVIII.
men feemed univerfally to be agreed
in nothing but in fpeaking well and
doing ill. But this cafts no more
dilhonour upon reafon, than it does
upon revelation; the truth of the
cafe being this, that no motives
have been great enough to reftrain
thofe from fin who have fecretly loved
it, and only fought pretences for the
practice of it. So that if the light
of the gofpel has not left a fufficient
provifion againft the wickednefs of
the world, the true anfwer is, that
there can be none. 'Tis fufficient
that the excellency of chriftianity in
doctrine and precepts, and its proper
tendency to make us virtuous as well
as happy, is a ftrong evidence of its
divine original, and thefe advantages
SERMON XVIII. 95
it has above any inftitution that ever
was in the world : it gives the beft
directions, the beft examples, the
greateft encouragements, the beft
helps, and the greateft obligation to
gratitude. But as religion was not to
work upon men by way of force and
natural neceffity, but by moral per-
fuafion, which fets good and evil
before them ; fo that, if men have
power to do evil, or chufe the good,
and will abufe it, this cannot be avoid-
ed. Not only religion, but even rea- \
fon itielf, muftnecefiarily imply a free- I
dom of choice; and all the beings in the 1
world, which have it, were created free I
to ftand or free to fall: and therefore
men that will not be wrought upon by
this way of addrefs, muft expecl, and
96 SERMON XVIII.
be contented, to feel the ftroke of that
rod which is prepared for the back of
fools, oft times in this world, but un-
doubtedly in the next, from the hands
of a righteous governor, who will
finally render to every man according
to his works.
Becaufe this fentence is not always
executed fpeedily, is the wife man's
account of the general licentioufnefs
which prevailed through the race of
mankind, fo early as his days ; and
we may allow it a place, amongft
the many other fatal caufes of depra-
vation in our own j a few of which,
I mall beg leave to add to this ex-
plication of the wife man's ; fubjoin-
ing a few practical cautions in rela-
tion to each, as I go along.
SERMON XVIII. 97
To begin with Solomon's account
in the text, that becaufe fentence
againft an evil work is not executed
fpeedily, therefore the hearts of the
fons of men are fully fet in them to "
do evil.
It feems fomewhat hard to under-
ftand the confequence, why men
fhould grow more defperately
wicked, becaufe God is merciful
and gives them fpace to repent ;
this is no natural effect, nor does
the wife man intend to infmuate that
the goodnefs and long-fuffering of
God, is the caufe of the wickednefs
of man, by a direct efficacy to harden
fmners in their courfe. But the
fcope of his difcourfe is this, Becaufe
a vicious man efcapes at prefent, he
VOL. V. H
98 SERMON XVIII.
is apt to draw falfe conclufions from
it, and from the delay of God's
punimment in this life, either to
conceive them at fo remote a dif-
tance, or perhaps fo uncertain, that
though he has fome doubtful mif-
givings of the future, yet he hopes
in the main, that his fears are greater
than his danger i and from obferv-
ing fome of the worft of men both
live and die, without any outward
teftimony of God's wrath, draws
from thence fome flattering ground
of encouragement for himfelf, and
with the wicked in the pfalm, fays
in his heart, Turn, I (hall never be
caft down, there mall no harm hap-
pen unto me: as if it was necefiary,
if God is to punilh at all, that he
SERMON XVIII. 99
muft do it prefently ; which by the
way, would rather feem to befpeak
rage and fury of an incenfed party,
than the determination of a wife and
patient judge, who refpites punifh-
ment to another (late, declaring for
the wifeft reafons, this is not the
time for it to take place in, but
that he has appointed a day for ir,
wherein he will judge the world in
righteoufnefs, and make fuch unal-
terable diftinctions betwixt the good
and bad, as to render his future
judgment a full vindication of his
juftice.
That mankind have ever made an
ill ufe of this forbearance, is, and I
fear will ever be the cafe : and St.
Peter, in his defcription of the fcof-
H 2
ioo SERMON XVIII.
fcrs in the latter days, who, he tells
us, fhall walk after their own lufts
(the worft of all characters), he gives
the fame fad folution of what fhould
be their unhappy encouragement ;
for that they would fay, Where is
the promife [where is the threaten-
ing, or declaration of, r? fTrxyttXux.']
of his coming, for fince the fathers
fell afleep, all things continue as they
were from the beginning of the cre-
ation j that is, the world goes on
in the fame uninterrupted courfe,
where all things fall alike to all,
without any interpofition from above,
or any outward token of divine
difpleafure: upon this ground,
" Come ye," fay they, as the prophet
reprefents them, " I will fetch wine,
8
SERMON XVIII. 101
and we will fill ourfelves with ftrong
drink, and to-morrow mall be as this
day, and much more abundant."
Now if you confider, you will find,
that all this falfe way of reafoning
doth arife from that grofs piece of
felf-flattery, that fuch do imagine
God to be like themfelves, that is,
as cruel and revengeful as they
are, and they prefently think, if a
fellow-creature offended them at the
rate that finners are faid to offend
God, and they had as much power
in their hands to punifli and torture
them as he has, they would be fure
to execute it fpeedily ; but becaufe
they fee God does it not, therefore
they conclude, that all the talk of
God's anger againii vice, and his
102 SERMON XVIII.
future punilhment of it, is mere
talk, calculated for the terror of old
women and children. Thus fpeak
they peace to their fouls, when there
is no peace , for though a finner
(which the wife man adds by way
of caution afcer the text) for though
a 'finner do evil a hundred times,
and his days be prolonged upon the
earth, yet fure I know, that it fhall
be well with them that fear God,
but mail not be well with the
wicked. Upon which argument, the
pfalmift, fpeaking in the name of
God, ufes this remonflrance to one
under this fatal miftake which has
mifled thoufands j thefe things thou
didft, and I kept filence: And it
feems this filence was interpreted
SERMON XVIII. 103
into confent ; r for it follows, and
thou thoughteft I was altogether fuch
a one as thyfelf; but the pfalmift
adds, how ill he took this at men's
hands, and that they fhould not know
the difference between the forbear-
ance of finners, and his neglect of
their fins; but I will reprove thee,
and fet them in order before thee.
Upon the whole of which, he bids
them be better advifed, and confider,
left, while they forget God, he pluck
them away, and there be none to
deliver them.
Thus much for the firft ground
and caufe which the text gives, why
the hearts of the fons of men are fo
fully fet in them to do evil; upon
which I have only one or two cau-
H 4
jo4 SERMON XVIII.
tions to add, That, in the firft place,
we frequently deceive ourfelves in
the calculation that fentence fhall
not be fpeedily executed. By fad
experience, vicious and debauched
men find this matter to turn out very
different in practice, from their ex-
pectations in theory ; God having
fo contrived the nature of things
throughout the whole fyftem of moral
duties i that every vice, in fome
/ meafure, mould immediately revenge
itfelf upon the doer ; that falfehood,
I and unfair dealing, ends in diftruft
\ and dimonour; that drunkennefs
and debauchery, mould weaken the
thread of life, and cut it fo fhort,
that the tranfgrefTor mall not live out
half his daysj that pride fliould be
SERMON XVIII. 105
followed by mortifications; extra-
vagance by poverty and diftrefs ;
that the revengeful and malicious
Ihould be the greateft tormentor of
himfelf, the perpetual disturbance
of his own mind being" Ib imme-
diate a chaftifement, as to verify what
the wife man fays upon ir, That as
the merciful man does good to his
own foul, fo he that is cruel troubleth
his own flem.
In all which cafes there is a punifh-
ment independent of th-fe, and that
is, the pun^mejy^jvhidL--a- man's
own mind takes upon icfelf, from
the remorfe of doing what is wrong
Prima eft h&c ultio, this is the firft
revenge which (whatever other pu-
nifhmsnts he may efcape; is fure to
io6 SERMON XVIII.
follow clofe upon his heels, and
haunts him wherefoever he goes ;
for whenever a man commits a wilful
bad action, he drinks down poifon,
which, though it may work flowly,
will work furely, and give him per-
petual pains and heart-aches, and
if no means be ufed to expel it, will
deftroy him at laft. So that, not-
withftanding that final fcntence of
God is not executed fpeedily in exact
weight and meafure, there is never-
thelefs a fentence executed, which
a man's own confcience pronounces
againft him ; and every wicked man,
I believe, feels as regular a procefs
within his ov/n bread commenced
ag-iinft himfelf, and finds himfelf as
much accufcd, and as evidently and
SERMON XVTII. 107
impartially condemned for what he
has done amifs, as if he had received
lentence before the moft awful tri-
bunal 5 which judgment of confci-
ence, as it can be looked upon in no
other light but as an anticipation of
that righteous and unalterable fen-
teace which will be pronounced here-
after by that Being to whom he is
finally to give an account of his ac-
tions I cannot conceive the ftate of
his mind under any character than of
that anxious doubtfulnefs defcribed
by the prophet, That the wicked
are like the troubled fca when it can-
not reft, whole waters caft up mire
and filth.
A fecond caution againft this uni-
form ground of falfc hope, in fen-
io8 SERMON XVIII.
tence not being executed fpeedily,
will arife from this confideration,
That in our vain calculation of this
diftant point of retribution, we ge-
nerally refpite it to the day of judg-
ment ; and as that may be a thou-
fand, or ten thouland years off, it pro-
portionably lefiens the terror. To
rectify this miftake, we fhould firft
confider, that the diftance of a thing
no way alters the nature of it.
2dly, That we are deceived in this
diftant profpect, not confidering that
however far off we may fix it in this
belief, that in fact it is no farther off
from every man than the day of his
own death. And how certain that
day is, we need not furely be re-
-minded: 'Tis the certainty of the
SERMON XVIII. 109
matter, and of an event which will as
furely come to pafs, as that the fun
mall rife to morrow morning, that
mould enter as much into our calcu-
lations, as if it was hanging over our
heads. For though, in our fond ima-
ginations, we dream of living many
years upon the earth; how unex-
pectedly are we fummoned from it !
How oft, in the ftrength of our
age, in the midft of our projects,
when we are promifing ourfelves the
eafe of many years! how oft, at
that very time, and in the height of
this imagination, is the decree fealed,
and the commandment gone forth to
call us into another world !
This may fuffice for the examina-
tion of this one great caufe of the
no SERMON XVIII.
corruption of the world ; from
whence I mould proceed, as I pur-
pofed, to an inquiry after fome other
unhappy caufes which have a mare
in this evil. But I have taken up fo
much more of your time in this than
I firft intended, that I mall defer
what I have to fay to the next occa-
fion, and put an end to this difcourfe,
by an anfwer to a queftion often alked
relatively to this argument, in preju-
dice of chriftianity, which cannot be
more feafonably anfwered than in a
difcourfe at this time; and that is,
Whether the chriftian religion has
done the world any fervice in reform-
ing the lives and morals of mankind,
which fome who pretend to have
confidered the prefent ftate of vice,
SERMON XVIII. in
feem to doubt of? This obje&ion
I, in fome meafure, have anticipated
in the beginning or this difcourle ;
and what I have to add to that argu-
ment is this, that as it is impofllble
to decide the point by evidence of
faces, which at fo great a diftance
cannot be brought together and com-
pared, it muft be decided by reafon,
and the probability of things ; upon
which iffue, one might appeal to the
moft profefled deift, and truft him to
determine, whether the lives of thofe
who are fet loofe from all obliga-
tions, but thofe of conveniency,
can be compared with thofe who have
been bleft with the extraordinary
light of a religion ? and whether fo
juit and holy a religion as the chriilian,
ii2 SERMON XVIII.
which fets reftraints even upon our
thoughts, a religion which gives us
the moil engaging ideas of the per-
fections of God, at the fame time
that it imprefies the moft awful ones
of his majefty and power ; a. Being
rich in mercies, but if they are abufed,
terrible in his judgments; one con-
ftantly about our fecret paths,
about our beds : who fpieth out all
our ways, noticeth all our actions,
and is fo pure in his nature, that he
will punifh even the wicked imagina-
tions of the heart, and has appointed
a day wherein he will enter into this
inquiry, and execute judgment ac-
cording as we have deferved.
If either the hopes or fears, the
paffions or reafon of men are to be
SERMON XVHI. 113
wrought upon at all, fuch principles
muft have an effeft, though, I own,
very far fhort of what a thinking man
ihould exped: from fuch motives.
No doubt, there is great room for
amendment in the chriftian world,
and the profeflbrs of our holy reli-
gion may in general be laid to be a
very corrupt and bad generation of
men, confidering what reafbns and
obligations they have to be better.
Yet ftill I affirm, if thofe reftrainta
were leffened, the world would be\
infinitely worfe; and therefore we*
cannot fufficiently bleis and adore the
goodncfs of God, for thefe advanta-
ges brought by the coming of Chrift,
which God grant that we may
VOL.V. I
M4 SERMON XVIII.
live to be more deferving of; that,
in the laft day, when he fhall come
again to judge the world, we may.
rife to life immortal. Amen.
SERMON XIX.
Trnft in God.
PSALM xxxvii. 3.
Put tbou tby truft in tbe Lord.
WHOEVER feriouQy reflects
upon the flate and condition
of man, and looks upon that dark
fide of it, which reprefents his life as
open to fo many caufes of trouble ;
when he fees, how often he eats the
bread of affliction, and that he is
born to it as naturally as the fparks
fly upwards; that no rank or de-
grees of men are exempted from
this law of our beings i but that
I 2
ii6 SERMON XIX.
all, from the high cedar of Liba-
nus to the humble fhrub upon the
wall, are fhook in their turns by
numberlefs calamities and diftref-
fes: when one fits down and looks
upon this gloomy fide of things, with
all the forrowful changes and chances
which furround us, at firft fight,
would not one wonder, how the
fpirit of a man could bear the in-
firmities of his nature, and what it
is that fupports him, as it does, under
the many evil accidents which he
meets with in his pafiage through
the valley of tears? "Without fome
certain aid within us to bear us up,
fo tender a frame as ours, would be
but ill fitted to encounter what gene-
rally befals it in this rugged jour-
SERMON XIX. 117
ncy: and accordingly we find,
that we are fb curioufly wrought by
an all- wife hand, with a view to this,
that in the very competition and
texture of our nature, there is a
remedy and provifion left againft
moft of the evils we fufrer ; we be-
ing fo ordered, that the principle
of felf-love given us for prefervation,
comes in here to our aid, byopen-
ing a door of hope, and in the worft
err.erger.cies, Sr.ieri-g us wi:h a be-
lief that we ihall extricate ourielves,
and five to fee better days.
This expectation* though in fa&
it no way alters the nature of the
crofs accidents to which we lay open,
or does at all pervert the courie of
them, yet impofes upon the fenfe
13
n8 SERMON XIX.
of them, and like a fecret fpring in
a well-contrived machine, though it
cannot prevent, at lead it counter-
balances the preflure, and fo bears
up this tottering, tender frame under
many a violent (hock and hard juft-
ling, which otherwife would unavoid-
ably overwhelm it. Without fuch
an inward refource, from an incli-
nation, which is natural to man, to
truft and hope for redrefs in the moft
deplorable conditions, his ftate in
this life would be, of all creatures,
the moft miferable. When his mind
was either wrung with affliction, or
his body lay tortured with the gout
or (lone, did he think that in this
world there fhould be no refpite to
his forrow j could he believe the
SERMON XIX. 119
pains he endured would continue
equally intenfe, - without remedy,
without intermiffion ; with what de-
plorable lamentation would he lan-
guim out his day, and how fUU
as Job fays, would the clods of the
valley be to bim ? But fo fad a per-
fuafion, whatever grounds there may
be fometimes for it, fcarce ever gets
full poflfcffion of the mJM^ofmaa.
which by nature ftruggles againft
defpair : fo that whatever part of us
fuffers, ihe darkeft mind inftandy
ufliers in this relief to it, points out
to hope, encourages to build, though
on a fandy foundation, and raifes an
expectation in us, that things will
come to a fortunate iffue. And in-
deed it is fomething furprifing to
14
120 SERMON XIX.
confider the ftrange force of this pal-
fion; what wonders it has wrought
in fupporting men's fpirits in all
ages, and under fuch inextricable
difficulties, that they have fometimes
hoped, as the apoftle exprefies it,
even againtt hope, againft all like*
lihcod ; and have looked forwards
with comfort under misfortunes,
when there has been little or nothing
to favour fuch an expectation.
This flattering propenfity in us,
which I have here reprefented, as it
is built upon one of the moft deceit-
ful of human paffions (that is)
felf-love, which at all times inclines
us to think better of ourfelves, and
conditions, than there is ground
forj how great foever the relief is,
SERMON XIX. i2i
which a man draws from it at prefent,
it too often difappoints in the end,
leaving him to go on his way forrow-
ing, mourning, as the prophet
fays, that his hope is loft. So that,
after all, in our feverer trials, we
ftill find a neceiTity of calling in
fomething to aid this principle, and
direct it fo, that it may not wander
with this uncertain expectation of
what may never be accomplimed,
but fix itfelf upon a proper object
of truft and reliance, that is able to
fulfil our defires, to hear our cry,
and to help us. The paffion of hope,
without this, though in ftraits a
man may fupport his fpirits for a
time with a general expectation of
better fortune 5 yet, like a fliip tofied
"122 SERMON XIX.
without a pilot upon a troublefome
fea, it may float upon the furface
for a while, but is never, never
likely to be brought to the haven
\ where it would be. To accomplilh
I this, reafon and religion are called
1 in at length, and join with nature
/ in exhorting us to hope ; but to
hope in God, in whofe hands are'the
iffues of life and death, and with-
out whofe knowledge and permifllon
we know that not a hair of our heads
can fall to the ground. Strength-
ened with this anchor of hope, which
keeps us ftedfaft, when the rains
defcend, and the floods come upon
us, however the forrows of a man
are multiplied, he bears up his head,
looks towards heaven with confi-
SERMON XIX. 123
dence, waiting for the falvation of
God: he then builds upon a rock
againft which the gates of hell can-
not prevail. He may be troubled, it
is true, on every fide, but fhall not
be diftrefied, perplexed, yet not in
defpair : though he walks through
the valley of the madow of death,
even then he fears no evil ; this rod
and this ftaff comfort him.
The virtue of this had been fuffi-
ciently tried by David, and had, no
doubt, been of ufe to him in the courfe
of a life full of afflictions ; many of
which were fo great, that he de-
clares, that he mould verily have
fainted under the fenfe and appre-
henfion of them, but that he believed
to fee the goodnefs of the Lord in the
124 SERMON XIX.
land of the living. He believed !
how could he do otherwife ? He had
all the conviction that reafon and in-
fpiration could give him, that there
was a Being in whom every thing
concurred which could be the proper
object of truft and confidence ;
power to help, and goodnefs always
to incline him to do it. He knew
this infinite Being, though his dwel-
ling was fo high that his glory was
above the heavens, yet humbled
himfelf to behold the things that are
done in heaven and earth: that he
was not an idle and diftant fpedator
of what paflxd there, but that he was
a prefent help in time of trouble :
that he bowed the heavens and came
down to over-rule the courfe of
SERMON XIX. 125
things; delivering the poor, and him
that was in mifery, from him that was
too ftrong for him ; lifting the fimple
out of his diftrefs, and guarding him
by his providence, fo that no man
fhould do him wrong : that neither
the fun (hould fmite him by day, nei-
ther the moon by night. Of this the
Pfalmift had fuch evidence from his
obfervation on the life of others, with
the ftrongeft convidion, at the fame
time, which a long life full of perfonal
deliverances could give ; all which
taught him the value of the leflbn ia
the text, from which he had received
fo much encouragement himfelf,
that he tranfmits it for the benefit of
the whole race of mankind after him,
to fupport them, as it had done him,
126 SERMON XIX.
under the afflictions which befel
him.
in God\ as if he had faid,
Whofoever thou art that fhall here-
after fall into any fuch ftraits or trou-
bles as I have experienced, learn by
my example where to feek for fuccour ;
truft not in princes, nor in any child
of man, for there is no help in them :
the fens of men, who are of low de-
gree, are vanity, and are not able to
help thee j men of high degree are
a lie, too often deceive thy hopes,
and will not help thee : but thou,
when thy foul is in heavinefs, turn
thy eyes from the earth, and look up
towards heaven, to that infinitely
kind and powerful Being, who nei-
ther flumbereth nor fleepeth ; who is
SERMON XIX. 127
a prefent help in time of trouble :
defpond not, and fay within thyfelf,
why his chariot wheels (lay fo long?
and why he vouchfafeth thee not a
fpeedy relief? but arm thyfelf in
thy misfortunes with patience and
fortitude; truft in God, who fees
all thofe conflicts under which thou
laboureft, who knows thy neceffities
afar off, and puts all thy tears into
his bottle ; who fees every careful
thought and penfive look, and hears
every figh and melancholy groan
thou uttereft.
In all thy exigencies truft and de-
pend on him; nor ever doubt but
he, who heareth the cry of the father-
Icfs, and defendeth the caufe of the
widow, if it is juft, will hear thine,
3
128 SERMON XIX.
and either lighten thy burden, and
let thee go free-, or, which is the
fame, if that feems not meet, by
adding ftrength to thy mind, to ena-
ble thee to fuftain what he has fuf-
fered to be laid upon thee.
"Whoever recollects the particular
pfalms faid to be compofed by this
great man, under the feveral diftrefies
and crofs accidents of his life, will
perceive the juftice of this paraphrafe,
which is agreeable to the ftrain of
reafoning, which runs through,
which is little elfe than a recollection
of his own words and thoughts upon
thofe occafions, in all which he ap-
pears to have been no lefs fignal in
his afflictions, than in his piety, and
in that goodnefs of foul which he
SERMON XIX. 129
difcovers under them. I faid, the
reflections upon his own life and
providential efcapes, which he had
experienced, had had a (hare in form-
ing thefe religious fentiments of truft
in his mind, which had fo early taken
root, that when he was going to
fight the Philifline, when he was
but a youth and flood before Saul,-
he had already learned to argue in
this manner : Let no man's heart
fail him , thy fervant kept his fa-
ther's fheep, and there came a lion
and a bear, and took a lamb out of
the flock, and I went out after him
and fmote him, and delivered it out
of his mouth i and when he arofe
againft me, I caught him by the
beard, and fmote him, and flew
VOL. V. K
1 3 o SERMON XIX.
him ; thy fervant Qew both the lion :
and the bear, and this uncircumcifed
Philiftine will be as one of them ;
for the Lord, who delivered me out
of the paw of the lion, and out of
the paw of the bear, he will alfo
deliver me out of his hand.
The conclufiort was natural, and
the experience which every man has
had of God's former loving-kindnefs
and protection to him, either in dan-
gers or diftrefs* does unavoidably
engage him to think in the fame
train. It is obfcrvable that the
apoftle St. Paul, encouraging the
Corinthians to bear with patience the
trials incident to human nature, re-
minds them of the deliverances that
God did formerly vouchfafe to him*
SERMON XIX. 131
and his fellow-labourers, Gaius and
Ariftarchus; and on that ground
builds a rock of encouragement, for
r truft and dependence on
him. His life had been in very
great jeopardy at Ephefus, where
he had like to have been brought
out to the theatre, to be devoured by
wild beafls, and indeed had no hu-
man means to avert, and confe-
quently to efcape it; and therefore,
he tells them, that he had this ad-
vantage by it, that the more he be-
lieved he Ihould be put to death,
the more he was engaged by his
deliverance, never to depend on any
worldly truft, but only on God, who
can refcue from the greateft extre-
mity, even from the grave and death
K 2
ijz SERMON XIX,
itfclf. For we would not, brethren-,
fays he, have you ignorant of our
trouble, which came to us in Afia,
that we were prefied out of meafure,
above our flrength, infomuch that
we defpaired even of life ; but we
had the fentence of death in our-
felves, that we fhould not truft in
ourfelves, but in God, who raifeth
the dead, who delivered us from fo
great a death, and doth deliver, and
in whom we truft that he will (till
deliver us.
And indeed a ftronger argument
cannot be brought for future truft,
than the remembrance of paft pro-
tection-, for what ground or reafon
can I have to diftruft the kindnefs
SERMON XIX. 1:3
of that perfoo, who has always been
017 friend and benefactor ?
On whom can I better rely for
affiftance in the day of my diftrefs,
than on him who flood by me in all
mine affliction P and, when I was at
the brink of deftrufton, delivered
me out of all my troubles ? Would
it not be highly ungrateful, and
refleft either upon his goodoefs or
his fufficiency, to diftruft that pro-
vidence which has always had a
watchful eye over me? and who,
according to his gracious promifes,
will never leave me, nor forfake me;
and who, in all my wants, in all my
emergencies, has been abundantly
more willing to give, than I to afk
it. If the former and the latter rais
i 3 4 SERMON XIX.
have hitherto defcended upon the
earth in due feafon, and feed time
and harveft have never yet failed ;
why Ihould 1 fear famine in the
land, or doubt, but that he who
feedeth the raven, and providently
caterethfor the fparrow, mould like-
wife be my comfort? How unlikely
is it that &ver he ihould fuffer his truth
to fail! This train of reflection, from
the confideration of pad mercies, is
fuitable and natural to all man-
kind; there being no one, who by
calling to mind God's kindnefles,
which have been ever of old, but
will fee caule to apply the argument
to himfelf.
And though, in looking back upon
the events which have befallen us.
SERMON XIX. ij 5
we are apt to attribute too much to
the arm of flelh, in recounting the
more fuccefsful parts of them; fay-
ing, My wifdom, my parts, and
addrefs, extricated me from this mif-
fortune; my forefight and penetra-
tion faved me from a fecond ; my
courage, and the mightinefs of my
ftrength, carried me through a
third : However we are accuftomed
to talk in this manner, yet whoever
coolly fits down and reflects upon
the many accidents (though very im-
properly called fo), which have be-
fallen him in the courfe of his life,
when he confiders the many amaz-
ing turns in his favour, ibmetimes
in the moft -unpromifing cafes, and
often brought about by the moft
K 4
136 SERMON XIX.
unlikely caufes; when he remem-
bers the particular providences which
have gone along with him, the
many perfonal deliverances which
have preferved him, the unaccount-
able manner in which he has been
enabled to get through difficulties,
which on all fides befet him, on one
time of his life, or the flrength of
mind he found himfelf endowed
with, to encounter afflictions, which
fell upon him at another period :
where is the man, I fay, who looks
back with the leaft religious fenfe,
upon what has thus happened to
him, who could not give you fuffi-
cient proofs of God's power, and his
arm over him, and recount feveral
cafes, wherein the God of Jacob was
SERMON XIX. 137
his help, and the Holy One of Ifrael
his redeemer?
Haft thou ever laid upon the bed
of languifhing, or laboured under a
grievous diftemper which threatened
thy life ? Call to mind thy forrowful
and penfive fpirit at that time ; and
add to it, who it was that had mercy
on thee, that brought thee out of
darknefs and the lhadow of death,
and made all thy bed in thy fick-
nefs.
Hath the fcantinefs of thy con-
dition hurried thee into great ftraits
and difficulties, and brought thee
almofl to diftra&ion ? Confider who
it was that fpread thy table in that
wildernefs of thought, who was it
made thy cup to overflow, who
138 SERMON XIX.
added a friend of confolation to thee,
and thereby fpake peace to thy
troubled mind. Haft thou ever fuf-
tained any confiderable damage in
thy (lock or trade? Bethink thyfelf
who it was that gave thee a ferene
and contented mind under thofe
loffes. If thou haft recovered,
confider who it was that repaired
thofe breaches, when thy own fkill
and endeavours failed : call to mind
whofe providence has blefled them
fmce, whole hand it was that has
fmce fet a hedge about thee, and
made all that thou haft done to
profper. Haft thou ever been
wounded in thy more tender parts,
through the lofs of an obliging huf-
band ? or haft thou been torn away
SERMON XIX". 139
from the embraces of a dear and
promifing child, by its unexpected
death ?
O confider, whether the God of
truth did not approve himfelf a father
to thee, when fatherlefs, or a huf-
band to thee, when a widow, and
has either given thee a name better
than of fons and daughters, or even
beyond thy hope, made thy remain-
ing tender branches to grow up tall
and beautiful like the cedars of Li-
banus.
Strengthened by rhefe confider-
ations, fuggefting the fame or like
paft deliverances, either to thyfelf,
thy friends or acquaintance, thou
wilt learn this great leflbn in the
text, in all thy exigencies and clik
I 4 o SERMON XIX.
treffes, to truft God; and whatever
befals thee, in the many changes and
chances in this mortal life, to fpeak
comfort to thy foul, and to fay in
the words of Habakkuk the prophet,
with which I conclude,
Although the fig-tree fhall not
bloffbm, neither fhall fruit be in
the vines j although the labour of
the olive lhall fail, and the fields
lhall yield no meat j although the
flock (hall be cut off from the
fold, and there fhall be no herd in
the flails ; yet we will rejoice in the
Lord, and joy in the God of our
falvation.
To whom be all honour and glory,
now and for ever. Amen.
SERMON XX.
EXODUS xxi. 14.
But if a man come prefumptuoufly upon
his neighbour^ to Jlay him with
guile ; tboujhalt take him from my
altar t that be may die.
AS the end and happy refult of
fociety, was our mutual pro-
tection from the depredations which
malice and avarice lay us open
to, fo have the laws of God laid
proportionable reftraints againft fuch
violations as would defeat us of fuch
a fecurity. Of all otffi attacks
which can be made agamlTm, that
of a man's life, which is hilsall,
3
i 4 2 SERMON XX.
being the greateft, the offence, in
God's difpenfation to the Jews, was
denounced as the moft heinous,
and reprefented as moft unpardon-
able. At the hand of every man's
brother will I require the life of
man. Whofo fheddeth man's blood,
by man mail his blood be fhed.-
Ye mail take no fatisfaction for the
life of a murderer j he mall furely
be put to death. So ye mall not
pollute the land wherein ye are,
for blood defileth the land; and the
land cannot be cleanfed of blood
that is fhed therein, but by the blood
of him that fhed it. For this reafon,
by the laws of all civilized nations,
in all parts of the globe, it has been
punifhed with death.
SERMON XX. 143
Some civilized and wife commu-
nities have fo far incorporated thefe
levere difpenfations into their muni-
cipal laws, as to allow of no dif-
tinction betwixt murder and homi-
cide, at leaft in the penalty;
leaving the intentions of the feveral
parties concerned in it to that Being
who knows the heart, and will adjuft
the differences of the cafe here-
after. This falls, no doubt, heavy
upon particulars, but it is urged
for the benefit of the whole. It is
not the bufinefs of a preacher to
enter into an examination of the
grounds and reafons for fo feeming
a feverity. Where moft fevere,
they have proceeded, no doubt,
from an excefs of abhorrence of a
144 SERMON XX.
crime, which is, of all others,
moft terrible and fhocking in its
own nature, and the moft direct
attack and ftroke at fociety , as the
fecurity of a man's life was the firft
protection of fociety, the ground-
work of all the other bleffings to be
defired from fuch a compact.
Thefts, oppreffions, exactions, and
violences of that kind, cut off the
branches; this fmote the root:
all perilhed with it , the injury irre-
parable. No after-act could make
amends for it. What recompence
can he give to a man in exchange
for his life ? What fatisfaction to
the widow, the fatherlefs, to the
family, the friends, the relations,
cut off from his protection, and
SERMON XX. 145
rendered perhaps deftitute, perhaps '
rciferable for ever !
Xo wonder, that, by the law of
nature, this crime was always pur-
fued with the moft extreme ven-
geance -, which made the barbarians
to judge, when they faw St. Paul
upon the point of dying a fudden and
terrifying death, Xo doubt this man
is a murderer; who, though he has
'efcaped the fea, yet vengeance fuf-
fereth not to live.
The cenfure there was rafh and
uncharitable; but the honed deteft-
ation of the crime was uppermost.
They faw a dreadful punifhment,
they thought; and in feeing the
one, they fufpeded the other. And
VOL. V. L
i+6 SERMON XX.
the vengeance which had overtaken
the holy man, was meant by them
the vengeance and punifhment of
the almighty Being, whofe provi-
dence and honour was concerned in
purfuing him, from the place he had
fled from, to that ifland.
The honour and authority of God
is moft evidently ftruck at, moft cer-
tainly, in every fuch crime, and
therefore he would purfue it; it
being the reafon, in the ninth of
Genefis, upon which the prohibi-
tion of murder is grounded;- for
in the image of God created he
man; as if to attempt the life
of a man had fomething in it pecu-
liarly daring and audacious 5 not only
(hocking as to its confequence above
6
SERMON XX. 147
all other crimes, but of perional
violence and indignity againft God,
the author of our life and death.
That it is the higheft ad of injufticc
to man, and which will admit of no
compenfation, I have faid. But the
depriving a man of life, does not
comprehend the whole of his fuf-
fering; he may be cut off in an
unprovided or diibrdcred condition,
with regard to the great account be-
twixt himfelf and his Maker. He
may be under the power of irregular
paGons and defires. The belt of
men are not always upon their
guanL And I am furc we have all
reafon to join in that affe&ing part
of our Litany, That amongft other
evils, God would delifcr us from
E *
148 SERMON XX.
fudden death ; that we may have
fome fore-fight of that period to
compofe our fpirits, prepare our
accounts, and put ourfelves in the
belt poflure we can to meet it ; for,
after we are mod prepared, it is a
terror to human nature.
The people of fome nations are
faid to have a peculiar art in poifon-
ing by flow and gradual advances.
In this cafe, however horrid, it
favours of mercy with regard to our
fpiritual ftate; for the fenfible de-
cays of nature, which a fufferer mu ft
feel within him from the fecret
workings of the horrid drug, give
warning, and mew that mercy which
the bloody hand that comes upon
his neighbour fuddenly, and flays him
SERMON XX; 149
with guile, has denied him. It
may ferve to admonifh him of the
duty of repentance, and to make his
peace with God, whilft he had time
and opportunity. The fpeedy exe-
cution of juftice, which, as our laws
now ftand, and which were intended
for that end, muft ftrike the greater
terror upon that account Short as
the interval between fentence and
death is, it is long, compared to the
cafe of the murdered. Thou al-
lowedft the man no time, faid the
judge to a late criminal, in a moft
affecting manner; thou allowedft
him not a moment to prepare for
eternity ; and to one who thinks at
all, it is, of all reBedions and felf-
accufation, the moft heavy and un-
i^o S E R M O N XX.
furmountable. That by the hand of
violence, a man in a perfect (late of
health, whilil he walks out in per-
fect fecurity, as he thinks, with his
friends; perhaps whilft he is fleep-
ing foundly, to be hurried out of
the world by the affaffin, by a
fudden ftroke, to find himfelf at
the bar of God's juftice, without
notice and preparation for his trial,
'tis moil horrible !
Though he be really a good man,
(and it is to be hoped God makes
merciful allowances in fuch cafes)
yet it is a terrifying confideration at
the beft ; and as the injury is
greater, there are alfo very aggra-
vating circumftances relating to the
perfon who commits this aft. As
SERMON XX. 151
when it is the effecl: not of a rafh
and fudden paffion, which fometimes
diforders and confounds reafon for a i
moment, but of a deliberate and '
propenfe defign or malice. When;
the fun not only goes down, but rifes
upon his wrath; when he fleeps
not till he has ftruck the ftroke ;
when, after he has had time and lei-
fure to recoiled himfelf, and con-
fider what he is going to do-, when,
after all the checks of confcience,
the ftruggles of humanity, the re-
coilings of his own blood, at the
thoughts of fheddmg another man'?,
he mail perfift ftill, and refolve
to do it. Merciful God I protect
us from doing or fuffering fuch
evils. Blefied be thy name and pro-
L4
152 S E R M O N XX.
vidences which feldom or ever fuffers
it to efcape with impunity. In vain
does the guilty flatter himfclf with
hopes of fecrecy or impunity : the
eye of God is always upon him.
Whither can he fly from his pre-
fence ! By the immenfity of his
nature, he is prefent in all places ;
by the infinity of it, to all times ;
by his omnifcience, to all thoughts,
words, and actions of men. By an
emphatical phrafe in Scripture, the
blood of the innocent is faid to cry
to heaven from the ground for
vengeance; and it was for this rea-
fon, that he might be brought to
juftice, that he was debarred the
benefit of any afylum and the cities
ofre/uge. For the elders of his city
SERMON XX. 153
fhall fend and fetch him thence, and
deliver him into the hand of the
avenger of blood, and that their eye
fhould not pity him.
The text fays, Thou (halt take
him from my altar that he may die.
It had been a very ancient imagi-
nation, that for men guilty of this
and other horrid crimes, a place
held facred, as dedicated to Gcd,
was a refuge and protection to them
from the hands of juftice. The law
of God cuts the tranfgrefibr off from
all ddufive hopes of this kind ;
and I think the Romifh church has
very litrle to boaft of in the fanclu-
aries which (he leaves open, for this
znd o'her crimes and irregularities.
Sanctuaries which are often the firil
i 5 4 SERMON XX.
temptations to wicked nefs, and there-
fore bring the greater fcandal and
dilhonour to her that authorifes their
pretenfions.
Every obftruction of the courfe of
juftice, is a door opened to betray
fociety, and bereave us of thofe blefT-
ings which it has in view. To
Hand up for the privileges of fuch
places, is to invite men to fin with
a bribe of impunity. It is a ftrange
way of doing honour to God, to
fcreen aclions which are a difgrace to
humanity.
What fcripture and all civilized
nations teach concerning the crime
of taking away another man's life,
is applicable to the wickednefs of a
man's attempting to bereave himfelf
SERMON XX. 155
of his own. He has no more right
over it, than over that of others :
and whatever falfe glofles have been
put upon it by men of bad heads or
bad hearts, it is at the bottom a
complication of cowardice and wick-
ednefs, and weaknefs; is one of
the fataleft miftakes, defperation can
hurry a man into ;-r-inconfiftcnt with
all the reafoning and religion of the
world, and irreconcileable with that
patience under afflictions, that re-
fignation and fubmifllon to the will of
God in all (Iraits, which is required
of us. But if our calamities are
brought upon ourfelves by a man's
own wickednefs, dill has he lefs to
urge, lead reafon has he to re-
nounce the protection of God when
i 5 6 SERMON XX.
he moft (lands in need of it, and of
his mercy.
But as I intend the fubject of felf-
murder for my difcourfe next Sun-
day, I (hall not anticipate what I
have to fay, but proceed to con-
fider fome other cafes, in which the
law relating to the life of our neigh-
bour is tranfgrcffed in different de-
grees. All which are generally
fpoken of under the fubjecl of mur-
der, and confidcred by the bed
cafuifts as a fpecies of the fame, and
in juftice to the fubjecl: cannot be
paired here.
St. John fays, Whoibever hateth
his brother is a murderer ; k is the
firft ftt-p to this fin i and our Savi-
SERMON XX. 157
our, in his iermon upon the Mount,
has explained in how many (lighter
and unfufpeded ways and degrees,
the command in the law, Thou (hale
do no murder, may be oppofed, if
not broken. Ail real mifchkfs and . .
injuries malicioufly brought upon a
man, to the forrow and disturbance /
of his mind, eating out the comfort ^
of his life, and fhortening his cays,
are this fin in difguife; and the
grounds of the Scripture expreffing it
with fuch feverhy, is, that the be-
ginnings of wrath acd malice, in
event, often extend to fuch, great
and unfbrefeen effects, as, were we
foretold them, we fhould give fo
little credit to, as to fay, Is thy fcr-
vaht a dog, that he fhould do this
158 SERMON XX.
thing? And though thefe begin-
nings do not neceffarily produce the
worft (God forbid they fhould), yet
they cannot be committed without
thefe evil feeds are firft fown : As
Cain's caufelds anger (as Dr. Clarke
obferves) againfl his brother, to
which the apoflle alludes, ended
in taking away his life; and the bed
inftrudtors teach us, that, to avoid a
fin, we muft avoid the fteps and
temptations which lead to it.
This mould warn us to free our
minds from all tincture of avarice,
and defire after what is another
man's It operates the fame way,
and has terminated too oft in the
fame crime. And it is the great ex-
cellency of the chriflian religion,
SERMON XX. 159
that it has an eye to this in the
ftrefs laid upon the firft fprings of )
evils in the heart; rendering us ac- /
countable not only for our words, !
but the thoughts themfelves, if not
checked in time, but fuflfered to pro-
ceed further than the firft motions of
concupifcence.
Ye have heard, therefore, fays our
Saviour, that it was faid by them of
old time, Thou [halt not kill; but
I fay unto you, whofoever is angry
with his brother without a caufe, (hall
be in danger of the judgment; and
whofoever (hall fay to his brother,
Raca, fhall be in danger of the coon*
cil ; but whofoever fhall fey, ** thou
fool," (hall be in danger of hell-
fire. The interpretation of which I
xo S E R M O N XX.
fhall give you in the words of a great
fcripturifl, Dr. Clarke, and is as fol-
*"'*^ ^^r
lows ; That tITe three gradations of
crimes are an allufion to the three
different degrees of punifhment, in
the three courts of judicature amongft
the Jews. And our Saviour's mean-
ing was, That every degree of fin,
from its firfl conception to its out-
rage, every degree of malice and
hatred, lhall receive from God a
punilhment proportionable to the of-
fence. Whereas the old law, ac-
cording to the Jewim interpretation,
extended not to thefe things at all,
forbade only murder and outward in-
juries. Whofoever lhall fay, " thou
fool," fhall be in danger of hell-
fire. The fenfe of which is not that,
SERMON XX. t6t
in the ftrift and literal acceptation,
every ralh and pafiionate expreflion
ihall be puniihed with eternal dam-
nation ; (for who then would be
faved ?) but that at the exact account
in the judgment of the great day,
every fecret thought and intent of
the heart (hall have its juft eftimation
and weight in the degrees of punifh-
ment, which (hall be afiigned to every
one in his final date.
There is another fpecies of this
crime which is fcldom taken notice
of in difcourfes upon the fubject,
and yet can be reduced to no other
dafs : And that is, where the life of
our neighbour is fhortened, and
often taken away as directly as by a
weapon, by the empirical fale of no-
VOL. V. M
162 SERMON XX.
ftrums and quack medicines, which
ignorance and avarice blend. The
loud tongue of ignorance impu-
dently promifes much, and the ear
of the fick is open. And as many
of thefe pretenders deal in edge
tools, too many, I fear, perifh with
the mifapplication of them.
So great are the difficulties of
tracing out the hidden caufes of the
evils to which this frame of ours is
fubjecl, that the moft candid of the
profeflion have ever allowed and
lamented how unavoidably they are
in the dark. So that the beft medi-
cines, adminiftered with the wifeft
heads, fhall often do the mifchief
they were intended to prevent.
Thefe arc misfortunes to which we
SERMON XX. 163
are fubjecl: in this ftate of darknefs ;
but when men without {kill,
without education, without know-
ledge either of the diftemper, or even
of 'what they fell, make merchan-
dize of the miferable, and from a
dilhoneft principle trifle with the
pains of the unfortunate, too often
with their lives, and from the mere
motive of a difhoneft gain, every
fuch inftance of a perfon bereft of
life by the hand of ignorance, can
be confidered in no other light than
a branch of the fame root. It is
murder in the true fenfe ; which,
though not cognizable by our laws,
by the laws of right, every man's own
mind and confcience, muft appear
equally black and deteftable.
M 2
164 SERMON XX.
In doing what is wrong, we ftand
chargeable with all the bad confe-
I quences which arife from the action,
whether forefeen or not. And as
the principal view of the empiric in
thofe cafes is not what he always
pretends^ the good of the public,
. but the good of himfelf, it makes
the addon what it is.
Under this head it may not be
improper to comprehend all adulte-
rations of medicines, wilfully made
worfe through avarice. If a life is
loft by fuch wilful adulterations,
and it may be affirmed, that in many
critical turns of an acute diftemper,
there is but a fingle caft left for the
patient, the trial and chance of a
fingle drug in his behalf} and if
SERMON XX: i6 5
that has wilfully been adulterated and
wilfully defpoiled of its beft virtues,
^what will the vender anfwer ?
May God grant we may all anfwer
well for ourfelves, that we may be
finally happy. Amen.
SERMON XXI.
Sandity of the Apoftlcs.
MATTHEW xL 6.
Ble/td is be that JbaU m*t Ir offended
in me.
THE general prejudices of the
Jewifh nation concerning the
royal ftate and condition of the Sa-
viour, who was to come into the
world, was a ftone of (tumbling,
and a rock of offence to the greateft
part of that unhappy and prepof-
feflcd people, when the promife was
adually fulfilled Whether it was
altogether the traditions of their
M 4
168 SERMON XXI.
fathers, or that the rapturous ex-
preflions of the prophets, which re-
prefented the Median's fpiritual king-
dom in fuch extent of power, and
dominion, mifled them into it ; or
that their own carnal expectations
turned wilful interpreters upon them,
inclining them to look for nothing
but the wealth and worldly grandeur
which were to be acquired under
their deliverer j whether thefe, or
that the fyftem of temporal bleflings
helped to chcrifh them in this grofs
and covetous expectation, it was
one of the great caufes for their
rejecting him, " This fellow, we
know not whence he is," was the
popular cry of one part ; and they
who feemed to know whence he was,
SERMON XXI. 169
fcorafully turned it againft him, by
the repeated quere, Is not this the
carpenter, the fon of Mary, the
brother of James and Jofes, and of
Judah and Simon r and are not his
fifters here with us? And they were
offended at him. So that, though
it was prepared by God to be the
glory of his people Ifrael, yet the
circumftances of humility, in which
he was manifested, were thought a
fcandal to them. Strange! that he
who was born their king, fhould
be born of no other virgin than
Mary, the meaneft of their people;
(for fee hath regarded the low
eftate of his handmaiden)-^and of one
c: :;-.r ric/.:: :~:> : fof f:ir bad no:
a lamb to offer, but was purified,
1 70 SERMON XXT.
as Mofes directed in fuch a cafe, by
the oblation of a turtle-dove ; that
the Saviour of their nation, whom
they expected to be ufhered amidft
them with all the enfigns and appa-
ratus of royalty, mould be brought
forth in a (table, and anfwerable to
diftrefs ; fubjeded all his life to the
lowed conditions of humanity: that
whilft he lived, he mould not have
a hole to put his head in, nor his
corpfe in, when he died ; but his
grave too, muft be the gift of cha-
rity. Thefe were thwarting confi-
derations to thofe who waited for the
redemption of Ifrael, and looked for
it in no other fhape, than the accom-
plimment of thofe golden dreams of
temporal power and fovereignty,
SERMON XXI. 171
which had filled their imaginations.
The ideas were not to be recon-
ciled; and fo infuperable an ob-
ftacle was the prejudice on one fide,
to their belief on the other, that it
literally fell out, as Simeon prophe-
tically declared of the Meffiah, that
he was fet forth for the fatt^ as
well as the rifing again, of many in
IfraeL
This, though it was the caufe of
their infidelity, was however no ex-
cufe for it. For whatever their mif-
takes were, the miracles which were
wrought in contradiction to them,
brought conviction enough to leave
them without excufe; and befides,
it was natural for them to have con-
cluded, had their prepofleffions given
i 7 2 SERMON XXI.
them leave, that he who fed five
thoufand with five loaves and two
fifties, could not want power to be
great \ and therefore needed not to
appear in the condition of poverty
and meannefs, had it not, on other
fcores, been more needful to confront
the pride and vanity of the world,
and to fhevv his followers what the
temper of chriftianity was, by the
temper of its firft inftitutor ; who,
though they were offered, and he
could have commanded them, de-
fpifed the glories of the world ;
took upon him the form of a fervant ;
and though equal with God, yet
made himfelf of no reputation,
that he might fettle, and be the ex-
ample of fo holy and humble a reli-
SERMON XXI. 173
gion^and thereby convince his dif-
ciples for ever, that neither his king-
dom nor their happinefs were to be
of this world. Thus the Jews might
have eafily argued , but when there
was nothing but reafon to do it with
on one fide, and flrong prejudices,
backed with intereft, to maintain the
difpute, upon the other, we do not
find the point is always fo eafily
determined. Although the purity
of our Saviour's doctrine, and the
mighty works he wrought in its fup-
port, were demonflratively flronger
arguments for his divinity, than the
unrefpected lowlinefs of his condi-
tion could be againft itj yet the
prejudice continued flrong ; they
had been accuftomed to temporal
174 SERMON XXI.
promifes; fo bribed to do their
duty, they could not endure to
think of a religion that would not
promife, as much as Mofes did, to
fill thtir bafket, and to fee them high
above all nations: a religion whofe
appearance was not great and fplen-
did, but looked thin and meagre;
and whofe principles and promifes,
like the curfes of their law,
called for fufferings, and promifed
perfecutions.
If we take this key along with us
through the New Teftament, it will
let us into the fpirit and meaning of
many of our Saviour's replies in his
conferences with his difciples, and
others of the Jews; fo particularly
in this place, Matthew vi. when
SERMON XXI. 175
John had fent two of his difciples to
inquire, Whether it was he that
mould come, or that they were to
look for another? Our Saviour,
with a particular eye to this preju-
dice, and the general fcandal he knew
had rifen againft his religion upon
this worldly account, after a recital
to the meffengers of the many mira-
cles he had wrought ; as that the
blind received their fight, the lame
walked, the lepers were cleanfed,
the dead railed ; all which charac-
ters, with their benevolent ends, fully
demonftrated him toTbe the Meffiah
that was promifed them ; he clofes
up his anfwer to them with the
words of the text, And blefled is
he that mail not be offended in me ;
8
176 SERMON XXI.
blefled is the man whofe upright
and honeft heart will not be blinded
by worldly confiderations, or hearken
to his lufts and prepofieffions in a
truth of this moment. The like
benediction is recorded in the 7th
chapter of St. Luke, and in the 6th of
St. John ; when Peter broke out in
that warm confeffion of their belief
Lord, we believe, we are fure that
thou art (Thrift, the fon of the living
God. The fame benediction is ut-
tered, though couched in different
words, Blefied art thou, Simon Bar-
jona ; for flefii and blood has not
revealed it, but my father which is
in heaven. Flefh and blood, the
natural workings of this carnal de-
fire ; the luft and love of the world
3
SERMON XXI. 177
have had no hand in this conviction
of thine ; but my father, and the
works which I have wrought in his
name, in vindication of this faith,
have eftablifhed thee in it, againft
which the gates of hell fhall not
prevail.
This univerfal ruling principle, and
almoft invincible attachment to the
interefts andglories ofthe Wjjrld,'
which we fee firft made fo powerful
a ftand againft the belief of chrifti-
anity, has continued to have as ill
an effect, at leaft, upon the practice
of it ever fince , and therefore,
there is no one point_pi^wilJiiom, that
is of nearer importance to^us, than,
to purify this grofs appetite, and re-
ftrain it within bounds, by lowering
VOL. V. ~*"~
178 SERMON XXI.
our high conceit of the things of
this life, and our concern for thofe
advantages which mifled the Jews.
To judge juftly of the world, we
muft ftand at a due diftance from
it ; which will difcover to us the
vanity of its riches and honours, in
fuch true dimenfions, as will engage
us to behave ourfelves towards them
with moderation. This is all that is
wanting to make us wife and good -,
that we may be left to the full
influence of religion ; to which
chriftianity fo far conduces, that it is
the great blefling, the peculiar ad-
vantage we enjoy under its inftitu-
tion, that it affords us not only the
mod excellent precepts of this kind,
but alfo it fhews us thofe precepts
5
SERMON XXI. 179
confirmed by moft excellent exam-
pies A heathen philofopher may
talk very elegantly about defpifing
the world, and, like Seneca, may
prefcribe very ingenious rules to teach
us an art he never exercifed himfelf :
for all the while he was writing in
praife of poverty, he was enjoying
a great eftate, and endeavouring to
make it greater. But if ever we
hope to reduce thofe rules to prac-
tice, it mud be by the help of reli*
gion. If we would find men who
by their lives bore witnefs to their
doctrines, we mud look for them
amongft the acts and monuments of
our church, amongft the firft fol-
lowers of their crucified Matter; who
fpoke with authority, becaufe they
N 2
i8o SERMON XXI.
fpoke experimentally, and took care
to make their words good, by dc-
fpifing the world, and voluntarily
accounting all things in it lofs, that
they might win Chrift. O holy and
bleffcd apoftles! blefled were ye
indeed, for ye conferred not with
flefli and blood, for ye were not
offended in him through any con-
fiderations of this world; ye con-
ferred not with flefh and blood, nei-
ther with its fnares and temptations.
Neither the pleafures of life, or
thd pains of death laid hold upon
your faith, to make you fall from
him Ye had your prejudices of
worldly grandeur in common with
the reft of your nation 5 faw, like
them, your expectations blaftedj
SERMON XXI. i8r
but ye gave them up, , as men go-
verned by reafon and truth. As ye
furrendered all your hopes in this
world to your faith, with fortitude,
fo did ye meet the terrors of the
world with the fame temper. Nei-
ther the frowns and difcountenance of
the civil powers, neither tribulation
or diflrefs, or perfecution, or cold,
or nakednefs, or famine, or the
fword, could feparate you from the
love of Chrift. Ye took up your
crofles cheerfully, and followed him ;
followed the fame rugged way
trod the wine prefs after him ; ^
voluntarily fubmitting yourfelves to
poverty, to punilhment, to the
fcorn and the reproaches of the
.wo-ld, which ye knew were to be
N 3
i8z SERMON XXI.
the portion of all of you who en-*
gaged in preaching a myftery fo
fpoken againft by the world ; fo un-
palatable to all its paffions and plea-
fures, and fo irreconcilable to the
pride of human reafoh. So that ye
were, as one of ye exprefTed, and all
of ye experimentally found, though
ye were made as the filth of the
world, and the offscouring of all
things, upon this account; yet ye
went on as zealoufly as ye fet out.
Ye were not offended, nor afhamed
of the gofpel of Chrift; wherefore
fliould ye ? The importer and hy-
pocrite might have been afhamed ;
the guilty would have found caufe
for it; ye had no caufe, though
ye had temptation. Ye preached
SERMON XXI, it$
but what ye knew, and your honeft
and upright hearts gave evidence,
the ftrongeft, to the truth of it -,
for ye left all* ye fuffered all, y
gave all that your fincerity had left
you to give. Ye gave your lives at
laft as pledges and confirmations of
your faith and warmeft affection for
your Lord. Holy and bkfled men !
ye gave all, when alas ! our cold
and frozen affection will part with
nothing for his fake, not even with
our vices and follies, which are worfe
than nothing; for they are vanity,
and mifery, and death.
The ftate of chriftianity calls not
now for fuch evidences, as the
apoftles gave of their attachment to
it. We have, literally fpcaking,
N 4
i&4 SERMON XXL
neither houfes nor lands, nor poflefr
fions to forfake; we have neither
wives or children, or brethren or
fitters, to be torn from ; no ra-
tional pleafure or natural endear-
ments to give up. We have no-
thing to part with, but what is not
our intereft to keep, our lulls and
paffions. We have nothing to do
for Chrift's fake but what is mod
for our own ;- that is, to be^tenia-
perate, and chafte, and juft, and
peaceable, and charitable, and
kind to one another. So that if man
could fuppofe himfelf in a capacity
even of capitulating with God, con-
cerning the terms upon which he
would fubmit to his government ;
$nd to chufe the laws he would be
3
SERMON XXI. 185
bound to obferve in teftimony of
his faith - t it were impoflible for him
to make any propofals which, upon
all accounts, mould be more advan-
tageous to his interefts, than thofe
very conditions to which we are
already obliged ; that is, to deny
ourfelves ungodlinefs, to live foberly
and righteoufly in this prefent life,
and lay fuch reflraints upon our ap-
petites as are for the honour of
human nature, the improvement of
our happinefs, - our health, our
peace, our reputation and fafety.
When one confiders this reprefent-
ation of the temporal inducements
of chriftianity, and compares it
with the difficulties and difcourage*
ments which they encountered who
186' SERMON XXI.
firft made profcffion of a perfecuted
and hated religion ; at the fame
time that it raifes the idea of the
fortitude and fanctity of thefe holy-
men, of whom the world is not wor-
thy, it fadly diminimes that of our-
felves, which, though it has all the
biddings of this life Apparently on
its fide to fupport it, yet can fcarce
be kept alive; and if we may form
a judgment from the little ftock of
religion which is left, fhould God
ever exact the fame trials, unlefs
we greatly alter for the better, or
there mould prove fome fecret charm
in perfecution, which we know not
0f, it is much to be doubted, if the
Son of Man mould make this proof,
i of this generation, whether there
SERMON XXI. 187
would be found faith upon the
As this argument may convince
us, fo let it fliame us into virtue,^-
that the admirable examples of thofe
holy men may not be left us, or
commemorated by us to no end ;
but rather that they may anfwer the
pious purpofe of their inftitution,
to conform our lives to theirs, that
with them we may be partakers of
a glorious inheritance, through Jefu
Chrift our Lord. Amen.
SERMON XXII.
Penances.
i JOHN v. 3.
And his commandments are not
grievous.
NO, they are not grievous, my
dear auditors. Amongfl the
many prejudices which at one time
or other have been conceived againft:
our holy religion, there is fcarce
any one which has done more dif-
honour to chriftianity, or which has
been more oppofite to the fpirit of
the gofpel, than this, in exprefs con-
trad idion to the words of the text,
190 SERMON XXII.
" That the commandments of God
are grievous." That the way which
leads to life is not only ftrait, for
that our Saviour tells us, and that
with much tribulation we fhall feek
it; but that chriftians are bound
to make the worfl of it, and tread it
barefoot upon thorns and briers, if
ever they expect to arrive happily at
their journey's end. And in courfe,
during this difaftrous pilgrimage,
it is our duty fo to renounce the
world, and abftradl: ourfelves from .
it, as neither to -interfere with its
interefts, or tafte any of the plea-
fures, or any of the enjoyments of
this life.
Nor has this been confined merely
to fpeculation, but has frequently
SERMON XXII. 191
teen extended to practice, as is
plain, not only from the lives of
many legendary faints and hermits,
whofe chief commendation feems
to have been, " That they fled un-
naturally from all commerce with
their fellow-creatures, and then
mortified, and pioufly half flarved
themfelves to death ;" but likewiie
from the many auftere and fantaftic
orders which we fee in the Romifh
church, which have all owed their
origin and eftablifhment to the fame
idle and extravagant opinion.
Nor is it to be doubted, but the
affectation of fomething like it in
our Methodifts, when they defcant
upon the neceflity of alienating them-
felves from the world, and felling
192 SERMON XXII.
all that they have, is not to be
afcribed to the fame miftaken enthu-
fiaflic principle, which would caft
fo black a (hade upon religion, as
if the kind Author of it had created
us on purpofe to go mourning, all
our lives long, in fack-cloth and
aflies, and fent us into the world,
as fo many faint-errants, in queft of
adventures full of forrow and af-
fliction.
Strange force of enthufiafm !
and yet not altogether unaccount-
able. For what opinion was there
ever fo odd, or action fo extrava-
gant, which has not, at one time of
I other, been produced byjgnorance,
conceit, melancholy ; a mix-
an ill con-
s R M o N xxii. 193
currence of air and diet, operating
together in thelairne perfon. When
the minds of men happen to be thus
unfortunately prepared, whatever
groundlefs doctrine rifes up, and fet-
tles itfelf ftrongly upon their fan-
cies, has generally the ill-luck to be
interpreted as an illumination from
the fpirit of God ; and whatever
ilrange action they find in themfelves
a flrong inclination to do, that im-
pulfe is concluded to be a call from
heaven; and confequently, that they
cannot err in executing it.
If this, or fome fuch account, was
not to be admitted, how is it pofilble
to be conceived that chriftianity, which
breathed out nothing but peace and
comfort to mankind, which profef-
VOL. V. O
i 9 4 SERMON XXII.
fedly took off the feverides of the
Jewifh law, and was given us in the
fpirit of meeknefs, to eafe our fhoul-
ders of a burden which was too
heavy for us ; that this religion, fo
kindly calculated for the eafe and
tranquillity of man, and which enjoins
nothing but what is fuitable to his
nature, fhould be fo mifunderftood y
or that it fhould ever be fup-
pofed, that he who is infinitely
happy, could envy us our enjoy-
ments j or that a Being infinitely
kind, would grudge a mournful paf-
fenger a little reft and refrefhmenr,
toftipport his fpirits through a weary
pilgrimage j or that he fhould call
him to an account hereafter, be-
caufe, in his way, he had haftily
S E R M O N XXII. 195
fnatched at fome fugacious and inno-
cent pleafures, till he was differed
to take up his final repofe. This is
no improbable account, and the many
invitations we find in Scripture to a
grateful enjoyment of the bleflings
and advantages of life, make it
evident. The apoftle tells us in the
text, That God's commandments
are not grievous. He has pleafure
in the profperity of his people, and
wills not that they fhould turn tyrants
and executioners upon their minds
or bodies, and inflict pains and
penalties on them to no end or pur-
pofe : That he has propofed peace
and plenty, joy and victory, as the
encouragement and portion of his
fervants; thereby instructing us,
O 2
196 SERMON XXII,
that our virtue is not neceffarily en-
dangered by the fruition of outward
things -, but that temporal bleffings
and advantages, inftead of extin-
guiihing, more naturally kindle our
love and gratitude to God, before
whom it is no way inconfiftent both
to wormip and rejoice.
If this was not fo, why, you'll
fay, does God feem to have made
fuch provifion for our happinefs ?
"Why has he given us fo many powers
and faculties for enjoyment, and
adapted fo many objects to gratify
and entertain them ? Some of which
he has created fo fair, with fuch
wonderful beauty, and has formed
them fo exquifitely for this end,
that they have power, for a time, to
SERMON XXII. 197
charm away the fenfe of pain, to
cheer up the dejected heart under
poverty and ficknefs, and make it
go and remember its miferies no
more. Can all this, you'll fay, be
reconciled to God's wifdom, which
does nothing in vain ; or can it be
accounted for on any other fuppo-
fition, but that the Author of our
being, who has given us all things
richly to enjoy, wills us a comfort-
able exiftence even here, and feems
moreover fo evidently to have ordered
things with a view to this, that the
ways which lead to our future happi-
nefs, when rightly underftood, he
has made to be ways of pleafantnefs,
and all her paths peace ?
03
j 9 3 SERMON XXII.
From this reprefentation of things
we are led to this demonftrative truth,
then, that God never intended to
debar man of pleafure, under certain
limitations.
Travellers on a bufinefs of the lad
and mod important concern, may be
allowed to pleafe their eyes with the
natural and artificial beauties of the
country they are paffing through,
without reproach of forgetting the
main errand they were fent upon ;
i-^and if they are not Jed out of
their road by variety of profpects,
edifices and ruins, would it not be
a fenfelefs piece of feverity to (hut
their eyes againft fuch gratifica-
tions ? For who has required fuchfer-
'vice at their hands ?
SER&ON XXII. 199
The humouring of certain appe-
tites, where morality 4s not con-
cerned, feems to be the means by
which the Author of nature intended
to fweeten this journey of life, and
bear us up under the many Ihocks
and hard joftlings, which we are fure
to meet with in our way. And a
man might, with as much reafon,
muffle^ up himfelf againft fun-fhine
and fair weather, and at other times
cxpofe himfeif naked to the incle-
mencies of cold and rain, as debar
himfelf of the innocent delights of
his nature, for affected rcfcrve and
melancholy.
It is true, on the other hand, our
paffions are apt to grow upon us by
indulgence, and become exorbitant,
4
200 SERMON XXII.
if they are not kept under exact
difciplinr, that by way of caution
and prevention, 'twere better, at cer-
tain times, to affect fome degree of
needlefs referve, than hazard any ill
confequences from the other extreme.
But when almoft the whole of reli-
gion is made to confift in the pious
fooleries of penances and fuffer-
ings, as is praclifed in the church of
Rome (did no other evil attend it),
yet, fmce it is putting religion upon
a wrong fcent, placing it more in
thefe than in inward purity and in-
tegrity of heart, one cannot guard
too much againft this, as well as all
other fuch abufes of religion, as
rnake it to confift in fomething which
it ought not. How fuch mockery
SERMON XXIf. 201
became a part of religion at firft,
or upon what motives they were ima-
gined to be fervices acceptable to
God, is hard to give a better account
of than what was hinted above 5
namely, that men of melancholy
and morofe tempers, conceiving the
Deity to be like themfelves, a gloomy,
difcontented and forrowful being,
believed he delighted, as they did,
in fplenetic and mortifying adions,
and therefore made their religious
worfhip to confiit of chimeras as wild
and barbarous as their own dreams
and vapours.
What ignorance and enthufiafm
at firft introduced, now tyranny and
impofture continue to fupport. So
that the pel ideal improvement of
4
202 SERMON XXII.
thefe delufions to the purpofes of
wealth and power, is made one of
the ftrongeft pillars which upholds
the Romifh religion , which, with
all its pretences to a more ftricl: mor-
tification and fanclity, when you
examine it minutely, is little elfe
than a mere pecuniary contrivance.
And the trueft definition you can
give of popery is, that it is a
fyflem put together and contrived to
operate upon men's weaknefles and
pafiions, and thereby to pick their
pockets, and leave them in a fit
condition for its arbitrary defigns.
And indeed that church has not
been wanting in gratitude for the
good offices of this kind, which the
doctrine of penances has done them j
SERMON XXII. 203
for, in confideration of its fervices,
they have raifed it above the level
of moral duties, and have at length
complimented it into the number of
their facraments, and made it a ne-
ceffary point to falvation.
By thefe, and other tenets, no lefs
politic and inquifitional, popery has
found out the art of making men
m iferable _in fpkc of their j^cnjgSf*
and the plenty with which God has
blefled them.
So that in many countries where
popery reigns, but efpecially in that
part of Italy where fhe has raifed her
throne, though, by the happinefs of
its foil and climate, it is capable of
producing as great variety and abun-
dance as any country upon earth ;
204 SERMON XXII.
yet fo fuccefsful have its fpiritual
directors been in the management
and retail of thefe bkffings, that they
have found means to allay, if not
entirely to defeat, them all, by one
pretence or other. Some bitternefs
is officioufly fqucezed into every
man's cup for his foul's health, till,
at length, the whole intention of
nature and providence is deftroyed.
It is not furprifing, that where
fuch unnatural feverities are praclifed
and heightened by other hard(hips,
the mod fruitful land fhould be
barren, and wear a face of poverty
and defoiaiion; or that many thou-
fands. as have been obferved, mould
fly from the rigours -,f fuch a go-
vernment, and feck fhehcr rather
SERMON XXII. 205
amongft rocks and deferts, than lie
at the mercy of fo' many unreafon-
able tafk-mafters, under whom they
can hope for no other reward of their
induflry, but rigorous flavery, made
flill worfe by the tortures of un-
neceflary mortifications. / fay un-
necejjary^ becaufe where there is a
virtuous and good end propofed from
any fober inftances of felf-denial and
mortification, God forbid we mould
call them unneceflfary, or that we
mould difpute againft a thing from
the abufe to which it has been put ;
and, therefore, what is faid in ge-
neral upon this head, will be under-
ftood to reach no farther than where
the practice is become a mixture of
fraud and tyranny, but will no ways
be interpreted to extend to thofe
206 SERMON XXII.
felf-denials which the difcipline of
our holy church directs at this folemn
feafon; which have been introduced
by reafon and good fenfe at fir ft, and
have fmce been applied to ferve no
purpofes, but thofe of religion :
thefe, by reftraining our appetites
for a while, and withdrawing our
thoughts from grofler objects, do,
by a mechanical effect, difpofe us
for cool and fober reflections, incline
us to turn our eyes inwards upon
ourfelves, and confider what we
are, and what we have been doing;
for what intent we were fent into
the world, and what kind of charac-
ters we were defigned to act in it.
It is neceflary that the mind of
man, at fome certain periods, fhould
be prepared to enter into this ac-
SERMON XXII. 207
count; and without fome fuch dif-
cipline, to check the infolence of un-
reftrained appetites, and call home
the confcience, the foul of man,
capable as it is of brightnefs and
perfection, would fink down to the
lowed depths of darknefs and bru-
tality. However true this is, there
{till appears no obligarion to renounce
the innocent delights of our beings,
or to affect a fuilen diftafte again ft
them. Nor, in truth, can even
the fuppofition of it be well admit-
ted : for pleafures arifing from the
free and natural exercife of the facul-
ties of the mind and bod}', to talk
them down, is like talking arpinll
the frame and mechanifm of human
nature, and would be no Icfs fenfe-
8
208 SERMON XXtl.
lefs than the difputing againft the 1
burning of fire, or falling downwards
of a ftone. Befides this, man is fo
contrived, that he ftands in need of-
frequent repairs; both mind and
body are apt to fink and grow un-
aclive under long and clqfe attention;
and, therefore, mud be reftored by
proper recruits. Some part of our
time may doubtlefs innocently and
lawfully be employed in actions
merely diverting ; and whenever
fuch indulgencies become criminal,
it is feldom the nature of the actions
themfelves, but the excefs which
makes them fo.
But fome one may here afk, By
what rule are we to judge of excefs
in thefe cafes ? If the enjoyment of
SERMON XXII. 209
the fame fort of pleafures may be
either innocent or guilty, according
to the ufe or abufe of them, how
lhall we be certified where the boun-
daries lie? or be fpeculative enough
to know how far we may go with
fafety ? I anfwer, there are very
few who are not cafuifts enough to
make a right judgment in this point.
Forfince one principal reafon, why
God may be fuppofed to allow plea-
fure in this world, feems to -be for
the refrefhment and recruit of our
fouls and bodies, which, like clocks,
muft be wound up at certain inter-
vals, every man underftands fo
much of the frame and mechanifm of
himfelf, to know how and when to
unbend himfelf with fuch relaxations
VOL. V. P
210 SERMON XXIT.
i
as are neceflary to regain his natural
vigour and cheerfulnefs, without
which it is impoftible he fhould either
be in a difpofition or capacity to dif-
charge the feveral duties of his life.
Here then the partition becomes
vifible.
Whenever we pay this tribute to
our appetites, any further than is
fufficient for the purpofes for which
it was firft 4 granted, the adion pro-
portionably lofts fome mare of its
innocence. The furplufage of what
is unneceflarily fpent on fuch 'occa-
fions, is fo much of the little portion
of our time negligently fquandered,
which, in prudence, we mould apply
better j becaufe it was allotted us for
more important ufes, and a different
3
SERMON XXII. 211
account will be required of it at our
hands hereafter.
For this reafon, does it not evi-
dently follow, that many actions
and purfuits, which are irreproach-
able in their own natures, may be
rendered blameable and vicious, from
this fingle confideration, " That they
have made us wafteful of the mo-
ments of this fhort and uncertain
fragment of life, which mould be
almoft one of our laft prodigalities,
fince of them all, the leaft retriev-
able." Yet how often is diverfion,
inftead of amufement and relaxation,
made the art and bufmefs of life
itfelf? Look round, what policy
and contrivance is every day put in
practice, for pre-engaging every day
P 2
212 SERMON XXII.
in the week, and parcelling out every
hour of the day for one idlenefs or
another, for doing nothing, or
fomething worfe than nothing; and
that with fo much ingenuity, as fcarce
to leave a minute upon their hands
to reproach them. Though we all
complain of the fhortnefs of life,
yet how many people feem quite
overftocked with the days and hours
of it, and are continually fending
out into the highways and ftreets of
the city for guefts to come and take
it off their hands. If fome of the
more diftrefsful objects of this kind
were to fit down and write a bill of
their time, though partial as that of
the unjuft fteward, when they found
in reality that the whole fum of it,
SERMON XXII. 213
for many years, amounted to little
more than this, that they had rofe
up to eat, to drink, to play, and
had laid down again, merely becaufe
they were fit for nothing elfe :
when they looked back and beheld
this fair fpace, capable of fuch hea-
venly improvements, all fcrauled
over and defaced with a fuccefllon.
of fo many unmeaning cyphers,
good God! how would they be
afhamed and confounded at the ac-
count !
With what reflections will they be
able to fupport themfelves in the
decline of a life fo miferably caft
away, mould it happen, as it fome-
times does, that they have flood idle
even unto the eleventh hour. We
. 5
ii4 SERMON XXII.
have not always power, and are not
always in a temper, to impofe upon
ourfelves, When the edge of appe-
tite is worn down, and the fpirits of
youthful days are cooled, which hur-
ried us on in a circle of pleafure and
impertinence, then reafon and re-
flection will have the weight which
they deferve; afflictions, or the
bed of ficknefs, will fupply the place
of confcience; and if they fhould
fail, old age will overtake us at
laft, and fhew us the pad purfuits
of life, and force us to look upon
them in their true point of view. If
there is any thing more to caft a
cloud upon fo melancholy a pro-
fpect as this mews us, it is furely
the difficulty and hazard of having
SERMON XXII. 215
all the work of the day to perform
in the laft hour; of making an
atonement to God, when we have no
facrifice to offer him, but the dregs
and infirmities of thofe days, when
we could have no pleafure in them.
How far God may be pleafed to
accept fuch late and imperfect fer-
vices, are beyond the intention of
this difcourfe. Whatever ftrefs fome
may lay upon it, a death-bed re-
pentance is but a weak and (lender
plank to truft our all upon. Such
as it is ; to that, and God's infinite
mercies, we commit them, who will
not employ that time and oppor-
tunity he has given to provide a
better fecurity.
216 SERMON XXII.
That we may all make a right
ufe of the time allotted us, God
grant through the merits of his Son
Jefus Chrift. Amen.
END OF THE FIFTH VOLUME,
Thiibook.U
date stamped below.
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