Sermons, Sermon 14
The XIV Sermon.
Rom. I. 26.
For this cauſe God gave them up unto vile affections.
-IN this moſt accurate Epiſtle that ever the Pen of man could lay title to, in which all the counſels, and proceedings, and methods of God in the work of our ſalvation are deſcribed, our Apoſtle in his diſcourſe goes on the ſame way that God is ſaid to do in his Decree; lays the foundation of it as low and deep as poſſible, begins with them as it were in Maſſa, and though they were already Romans and Chriſtians, yet before he openeth Heaven gates to them, and either teaches or ſuffers them to be Saints, he ſtays them a while in the contemplation of their impurity, and damn'd neglected eſtate of the ſtock they come from; looks upon them as polluted or troden down in their own blood, Ezek. XVI. 6.as the phraſe is, Ezek. xvi. 6. He plows and harrows, and digs as deep as poſſible, that the ſeed which he meant to ſow might be firm rooted, that their Heaven might be founded in the Center of the earth; and their faith being ſecur'd by the depth of its foundation, might encreaſe miraculouſly both in height and fruitfulneſs. Thus in the latter part of this firſt Chapter doth he ſhew them the eſtate and rebellions, and puniſhment of their heathen Anceſtors, that the unregenerate man may in that glaſs ſee his picture at the length, the regenerate humble himſelf in a thankful horrour, over-joyed, and wondring to obſerve himſelf delivered from ſuch deſtruction. And that all may be ſecured from the danger of the like miſcarriage, he ſets the whole ſtory of them diſtinctly before their eyes, 1. How the law and light of nature was ſufficient to have inſtructed them into the ſight and acknowledgement of God, and therefore that they could not pretend want of means to direct them to his worſhip. 2. That they contemn'd and rejected all the helps and guidances that God and nature had afforded them, and that therefore, 3. God had deſerted, and given them up unto the pride, and luxury, and madneſs of their own hearts, all vile affections: for this is the force of the illation, They abuſed thoſe inſtructions which God had printed in the creature to direct them, and therefore he will beſtow no more pains on them to ſo little purpoſe, their own reaſon convinced them there was but one God, and yet they could not hold from adoring many, and therefore he'l not be troubled to rein them in any longer; for all his ordinary reſtraints they will needs run riot, And for this cauſe God gave them up to vile affections. So that in the Text you may obſerve the whole ſtate and hiſtory of a heathen, natural, unregenerate life, which is a progreſs or travel from one ſtage of ſinning to another, beginning in a contempt of the light of nature, and ending in the brink of Hell, all vile affections. For the diſcovery of which we ſhall ſurvey, 1. The Law or light of nature, what it can do; 2. The ſin of contemning this law or light, both noted in the firſt words (for this cauſe) that is, becauſe they did reject that which would have ſtood them in good ſtead; 3. The effect or puniſhment of this contempt, ſottiſhneſs leading them ſtupidly into all vile affections; And laſtly, the inflicter of this puniſhment, and manner of inflicting of it, God gave them up: and firſt of the firſt, the law and light of nature what it can do.
To ſuppoſe a man born at large, left to the infinite liberty of a creature, without any terms or bounds, or laws to circumſcribe him, were to bring a River into a plain, and bid it ſtand on end, and yet allow it nothing to ſuſtain it; were to ſet a babe of a day old into the world, and bid him ſhift for a ſubſiſtence; were to beſtow a being on him, only that he may loſe it, and periſh, before he can ever be ſaid to live. If an infant be not bound in, and ſqueez'd, and ſwathed, he'l never thrive in growth or feature, but as Hippocrates ſaith of the Scythians, for want of girdles, run all out into breadth and uglineſs. And therefore it cannot agree either with the mercy or goodneſs of either God or nature, to create men without laws, or to beſtow a being upon any one without a guardian to guide and manage it. Thus, leſt any creature for want of this law any one moment ſhould immediately ſin againſt its creation, and no ſooner move then be annihilated; the ſame wiſdom hath ordered that his very ſoul ſhould be his Law-giver, and ſo the firſt minute of its eſſence ſhould ſuppoſe it regular. Whence is it that ſome Atheiſts in Theophilus ad Auto. L. 2. p. 82: B.which ſaid that all things were made by chance, and of their own accord, yet affirm'd that when they were made they had a God within them to guide them, their own conſcience, and in ſum affirm'd, foreign, that there was no other God in the world. Ariſtotle obſerves that in the creatures which have no reaſon, phantaſie ſupplies its place, and does the Bee as much ſervice to perform the buſineſs of its kind, as reaſon doth in the man. Thus farther in them whoſe birth in an uncivilized Countrey hath deprived of any laws to govern them, reaſon ſupplies their room, foreign, ſaith Arius Didymus, Euſeb. Prep.Reaſon is naturally a law, and hath as ſoveraign dictates with it,Ev. l. 15. p. 477 pronounceth ſentence every minute from the tribunal within, as authoritatively, as ever the moſt powerful Solon did in the theatre. There is not a thing in the world purely and abſolutely good, but God and nature within commends and preſcribes to our practice, and would we but obey their counſels, and commands, 'twere a way to innocence, and perfection, that even the Pelagians never dreamt of. To ſpeak no farther then will be both profitable and beyond exception, the perfecteſt law in the world, is not ſo perfect a rule for our lives as this foreign, as Methodius calls it,Photius. p. 915 this law of nature born with us, is for theſe things which are ſubject to its reach. Shall I ſay Scripture it ſelf is in ſome reſpect inferior to it? I think I ſhall not prejudice that bleſſed Volume; for though it be as far from the leaſt ſpot, or ſuſpition of imperfection, as falſhood, though it be true, perfect and righteous altogether, yet doth it not ſo evidence it ſelf to my dull ſoul; it ſpeaks not ſo clearly and irrefragably, ſo beyond all contradiction, and demur to my Atheiſtical underſtanding, as that law which God hath written in my heart. For there is a double certainty, one of Adherence, another of Evidence, one of faith, the other of ſenſe; the former is that grounded on Gods Word, more infallible becauſe it reſts on divine authority; the latter more clear, becauſe I find it within me by experience. The firſt is given to ſtrengthen the weakneſs of the ſecond, and is therefore called foreign,2 Pet. I. 19. 2 Pet. …. 19. A more firm ſure word, the ſecond given within us to explain the difficulties and obſcurities of the firſt, foreign,Verſe 16. verſe 16. we ſaw it with our eyes: ſo that Scriptures being conceived into words, and ſentences, are ſubject either not to be underſtood, or amiſs; and may either be doubted of by the ignorant, or perverted by the malicious. You have learnt ſo many words without book, and ſay them minutely by heart, and yet not either underſtand, or obſerve what you are about: but this unwritten law, which no pen but that of nature hath engraven, is in our underſtandings, not in words, but ſence, and therefore I cannot avoid the intimations; 'tis impoſſible either to deny or doubt of it, it being written as legible in the tables of our hearts, as the print of humanity in our foreheads. The commands of either Scripture or Emperour may be either unknown or out of our heads, when any caſual opportunity ſhall bid us make uſe of them: but this law of the mind is at home for ever, and either by intimation or loud voice, either whiſpers or proclaims its commands to us, be it never ſo gag'd, 'twill mutter and will be ſure to be taken notice of, when it ſpeaks ſoftlieſt. To define in brief what this law of nature is, and what offices it performs in us, you are to know, that at that grand forfeiture of all our inheritance, (goods truly real and perſonal) all thoſe primitive endowments of ſoul and body upon Adams rebellion, God afterwards, though he ſhined not on us in his full Image and beauty, yet caſt ſome rays and beams of that eternal light upon us; and by an immutable law of his own councel hath imprinted on every ſoul that comes down to a body, a ſecret, unwritten, yet indeleble Law, by which the creature may be warn'd what is good or bad, what agreeable, what hurtful to the obtaining of the end of its creation. Now theſe commands or preſcriptions of nature, are either in order to ſpeculation or practice; to encreaſe our knowledg or direct our lives. The former ſort I omit, as being fitter for the Schools then Pulpit to diſcourſe on, I ſhall meddle only with thoſe that refer to practice, and thoſe are either common, which they call firſt principles, and ſuch are in every man in the world equally, & ſecundum rectitudinem, & notitiam, ſaith Aquinas: Frima ſecundae, qu. 94.every one doth both conceive them in his underſtanding what they mean, and aſſent to them in his will; that they are right and juſt, and neceſſary to be performed; and of this nature are the Worſhip of God and juſtice amongſt men: for that lumen ſuper nos ſignatum, in Bonaventures phraſe,L. 2. d. 39. ar. 1. q 2. that light which nature hath ſeal'd, and imprinted on our ſouls, is able to direct us in the knowledge of thoſe moral principles, without any other help required to perſwade us; or elſe they are particular and proper to this or that buſineſs, which they call concluſions drawn out of theſe common principles; as when the common principle commands juſt dealing, the concluſion from thence commands to reſtore what I have borrowed, and the like. And theſe alſo if they be naturally and directly deduced, would every man in the world both underſtand, and aſſent to; did not ſome hindrance come in and forbid, or ſuſpend, either his underſtanding or aſſent. Hindrances which keep him from the knowledge or conceiving of them, are that confuſion and Chaos, and black darkneſs, I had almoſt ſaid that Tophet and hell of ſenſual affections, which ſuffers not the light to ſhew it ſelf, and indeed ſo ſtifles and oppreſſes it, that it becomes only as hell fire, not to ſhine but burn; not to enlighten us what we ſhould do, but yet by gripes and twinges of the conſcience to torment us for not doing of it.Verſe 21. And this hindrance the Apoſtle calls, ver. 21. the vanity of imaginations by which a fooliſh heart is darkned. Hindrances which keep us from aſſenting to a concluſion in particular, which we do underſtand, are ſometimes good, as firſt a ſight of ſome greater breach certain to follow the performance of this. So though I underſtand that I muſt reſtore every man his own, yet I will never return a knife to one that I ſee reſolved to do ſome miſchief with it. And 2. Divine laws, as the command of robbing the Aegyptians, and the like, for although that in our hearts forbid robbing, yet God is greater then our hearts, and muſt be obeyed when he preſcribes it. Hindrances in this kind are alſo ſometimes bad: ſuch are either habitude of nature, cuſtom of Country, which made the Lacedemonians eſteem theft a vertue, or again the tyranny of paſſions: for every one of theſe hath its ſeveral project upon the reaſonable ſoul, its ſeveral deſign of malice either by treachery, or force to keep it hood-winkt or caſt it into a lethargy, when any particular vertuous action requires to be aſſented to by our practice. If I ſhould go ſo far as ſome do, to define this law of nature to be the full will of God written by his hand immediately in every mans heart after the fall, by which we feel our ſelves bound to do every thing that is good, and avoid every thing that is evil, ſome might through ignorance or prejudice gueſs it to be an elevation of corrupt nature above its pitch, too near to Adams integrity; and yet Zanchy, who was never gueſt near a Pelagian, in his 4. Tome 1. l. 10. c. 8. Theſis would authorize every part of it, and yet not ſeem to make an Idol of nature, but only extol Gods mercy, who hath beſtowed a ſoul on every one of us with this character and impreſſion, Holineſs to the Lord; which though it be written unequally, in ſome more then others, yet ſaith he, in all in ſome meaſure ſo radicated, that it can never be quite changed, or utterly aboliſhed. However I think we may ſafely reſolve with Bonaventure out of Auſtin againſt Pelagius, Which Damaſcen. calls, lucem naturalem intellectus, as the Schools have it from him. Wiggerſ…p. 160.Non eſt parum accepiſſe naturale indicatorium, 'tis no ſmall mercy that we have received a natural glaſs, in which we may ſee and judge of objects before we venture on them, a power of diſtinguiſhing good from evil, which even the malice of ſin and paſſions in the higheſt degree cannot wholly extinguiſh in us, as may appear by Cain, the voice of whoſe conſcience ſpake as loud within him as that of his brothers blood: as alſo in the very damn'd, whoſe worm of ſenſe, not penitence for what they have done in their fleſh ſhall for ever bite, and gripe them hideouſly. This Light indeed may either by, firſt blindneſs, or 2. delight in ſinning, or 3. peremptory reſolvedneſs not to ſee, be for the preſent hindred ſecundum actum, from doing any good upon us. He that hath but a vail before his eyes, ſo long cannot judge of colours, he that runs impetuouſly cannot hear any one that calls to ſtop him in his career; and yet all the while the light ſhines, and the voice ſhouts: and therefore when we find in Scripture ſome men ſtupified by ſin, others void of reaſon; we muſt not reckon them abſolutely ſo, but only for the preſent beſotted. And again, though they have loſt their reaſon, as it moves per modum deliberationis, yet not as per modum naturae, their reaſon which moves them by deliberation and choice to that which is good, is perhaps quite put out, or ſuſpended; but their reaſon which is an inſtinct of nature, a natural motion of the ſoul to the end of its creation, remains in them, though it move not, like a Ship at hull and becalmed, is very ſtill and quiet, and though it ſtir not evidently, yet it hath its ſecret heavs and plunges within us.
Now that the moſt ignorant, clouded, unnurtured brain amongſt you may reap ſome profit from this Diſcourſe, let him but one minute of his life be at ſo much leiſure, as to look into his own heart, and he ſhall certainly find within him, that which we have hitherto talkt of, his own ſoul ſhall yield him a Comment to my Sermon; and if he dare but once to open his eyes, ſhall ſhew him the law and light of nature in himſelf, which before he never dreamt of. Of thoſe of you that ever ſpared one minute from your worldly affairs to think of your ſpiritual, there is one thought that ſuddenly comes upon you, and makes ſhort work of all that ſpiritual care of your ſelves. You conceive that you are of your ſelves utterly unable to underſtand, or think, or do any thing that is good, and therefore you reſolve it a great pain to no purpoſe ever to go about ſo impoſſible a project. God muſt work the whole buſineſs in you, you are not able of your ſelves ſo much as either ſee, or move, and that is the buſineſs which by chance you fell upon as ſoon as ſhook off again, and being reſolved you never had any eyes, you are content to be for ever blind, unleſs, as it was wont to be in the old Tragedies, ſome foreign, ſome new ſupernatural power come down, and bore your foreheads, and thruſt, and force eyes into your heads. 'Tis a bleſſed deſire and gracious humility in any one to invoke God to every thought they venture on, and not to dare to pretend to the leaſt ſufficiency in themſelves, but to acknowledge and deſire to receive all from God: but ſhall we therefore be ſo ungratefully religious, as for ever to be a craving new helps and ſuccours, and never obſerve, or make uſe of what we have already obtained, as 'tis obſerved of covetous men, who are always buſied about their Incomes, are little troubled with disburſements,Art. in Ep. foreign, without any proportion betwixt their receipts and expences. Shall we be ſo ſenſeleſs as to hope that the contempt of one bleſſing will be a means to procure us as many? I told you that God had written a law in the hearts of every one of you, which once was able, and is not now quite deprived of its power to furniſh with knowledge of good and evil: and although by original, and actual, and habitual ſin this inheritance be much impaired, this ſtock of precepts drawn low; yet if you would but obſerve thoſe directions which it would yet afford you, if you would but practice whatever that divine light in your ſouls ſhould preſent and commend to you, you might with ſome face petition God for richer abilities, and with better confidence approach and beg, and expect the grace that ſhould perfect you to all righteouſneſs. In the mean time bethink your ſelves how unreaſonable a thing it is that God ſhould be perpetually caſting away of alms on thoſe who are reſolved to be perpetually bankrupts: how it would be reckoned prodigality of mercies, to purchaſe new lands for him that ſcorns to make uſe of his inheritance. As ever you expect any boon from God, look, I conjure you, what you have already received, call in your eyes into your brains, and ſee whether your natural reaſon there will not furniſh you with ſome kind of profitable, though not ſufficient directions, to order your whole lives by; bring your ſelves up to that ſtay'dneſs of temper, as never to venture on any thing, till you have askt your own ſouls advice whether it be to be done or no; and if you can but obſerve its dictates, and keep your hands to obey your head; if you can be content to abſtain when the ſoul within you bids you hold, you ſhall have no cauſe to complain that God hath ſent you impotent into the world; but rather acknowledge it an unvaluable mercy of his, that hath provided ſuch an eye within you to direct you, if you will but have patience to ſee; ſuch a curb to reſtrain and prevent you, if thou wilt only take notice of its checks. 'Tis a thing that would infinitely pleaſe the Reader to obſerve, what a price the Heathens themſelves ſet upon this light within them, which yet certainly was much more dimmed and obſcured in them by their idolatry and ſuperſtition, then I hope it can be in any Chriſtian ſoul, by the unrulieſt paſſion. Could ever any one ſpeak more plainly and diſtinctly of it then the Pythagoreans and Stoicks have done, who repreſent conſcience not only as a guide and moderator of our actions, but as foreign, a tutelary ſpirit, or Angel, or genius, which never ſleeps or dotes, but is ſtill preſent and employed in our behalf? And this Arrian ſpecifies to be the reaſonable ſoul, which he therefore accounts of as a part of God ſent out of his own eſſence, foreign, a piece or ſhread, L. 1. c. 14.or as others more according to modeſt truth call it, foreign, a ray or beam of that inviſible Sun, by which our dull, unactive, frozen bodies, after the fall were warmed and re-inlivened. Now if any one ſhall make a diligent inquiſition in himſelf, ſhall, as the Philoſopher in his Cynical humour light a candle to no purpoſe, or as the Prophet Jeremy, ſeek and make hue and cry after a man through all Jeruſalem, and yet not meet with him: if, I ſay, any body ſhall ſearch for this light in himſelf, and find all darkneſs within, then will you ſay I have all this while poſſeſt you with ſome phanſies and Ideas, without any real profit to be received from them; you will make that complaint as the women for our Saviour, We went to ſeek for him, and when we went down all was dark, and emptineſs,Joh. XX. 13. They have taken him away, and I know not where they have laid him. Nay, but the error is in the ſeeker, not in my directions: he that would behold the Sun muſt ſtay till the cloud be over; he that would receive from the fire, either light or warmth, muſt take the pains to remove the aſhes. There be ſome encumbrances, which may hinder the moſt active qualities in the world from working, and abate the edge of the keeneſt metal. In ſum, there is a cloud, and gloom, and vail within thee, like that darkneſs on the face of the deep, when the earth was foreign, without form and void, Gen. i. 2. or like that at Lots door among the Sodomites, or that of Aegypt, thick and palpable: and this have we created to our ſelves, a sky full of tempeſtuous, untamed affections; this cloud of vapors have we exhaled out of the lower part of our ſoul, our ſenſitive faculty; and therewith have we ſo fill'd the air within us with ſad, black meteors, that the Sun in its Zenith, the height or pride of its ſplendor would ſcarce be able to pierce through it. So that for to make a ſearch for this light within thee, before thou haſt removed this throng, and croud of paſſions which encompaſs it, and ſtill to complain thou canſt not meet with it, were to bring news that the Sun is gone out, when a tempeſt hath only masked it, or to require a candle to give thee light through a mud-wall. Thou muſt provide a courſe to clear the sky, and then thou ſhalt not need to entreat the Sun to ſhine on thee, eſpecially if this cloud fall down in a ſhowr, if thou canſt melt ſo thick a viſcous meteor as thoſe corrupt affections are, into a ſoft rain, or dew of penitent tears, thou mayeſt then be confident of a fair bright Sun-ſhine. For I dare promiſe that never humble, tender, weeping foul, had ever this light quite darkned within it, but could at all times read and ſee the will of God and the law of its creation, not drawn only, but almoſt engraven and woven into its heart. For theſe tears in our eyes will ſpiritually mend our ſight; as whatever you ſee through water, though it be repreſented ſomewhat dimly, yet ſeems bigger and larger then if there were no water in the way, according to that Rule in the Opticks, Whatever is ſeen through a thicker medium ſeems bigger then it is. And then by way of Uſe, ſhall we ſuffer ſo incomparable a mercy to be caſt away upon us? Shall we only ſee and admire, and not make uſe of it? Shall we fence, as it were, and fortifie our outward man with walls and bulwarks, that the inner man may not ſhine forth upon it? Or ſhall we like ſilly improvident flies make no other uſe of this candle, but only to ſinge, and burn, and conſume our ſelves by its flame; receive only ſo much light from it as will add to our hell and darkneſs? 'Tis a thing that the flintieſt heart ſhould melt at, to ſee ſuch precious mercies undervalued; ſuch incomparable bleſſings either contemned, or only improved into curſes. Arrian calls thoſe, in whom this light of the ſoul is, as I ſhewed you,L. 1. c. 19. clouded and obſcured, foreign & foreign, dead trunks and carkaſſes of fleſh, c. 2. 9.and to keep ſuch men in order were humane laws provided, which he therefore calls, foreign, miſerable hard laws to keep dead men in compaſs, C. 13.and again, foreign, Earth and Hell, the places to which dead bodies are committed. And certainly, if ſo, then by way of contrary, all the life that we poſſeſs is but by obedience to this law within us; and 'tis no longer to be called life, but either ſleep, or death, or lethargy, every minute that we move out of the circle of its directions. There is not a ſtep, or moment in our lives, but we have a ſpecial uſe, and need of this law to manage us: every enterprize of our thoughts or actions will yield ſome difficulty which we muſt hold up, and read, and judge of by this candle, nay, ſometimes we have need of a glaſs, or inſtrument to contract the beams and light of it, or elſe 'twould ſcarce be able to get through to our actions, paſſion, and folly, and the Atheiſm of our lives, hath ſo thickned the medium. Wherefore in brief, remember that counſel,Mal. II. 15. Mal. ii. 15. Take heed to your ſpirit, and let none deal treacherouſly with the wife of his youth: the wife of his youth, i. e. ſaith Jeroms gloſs, legem naturalem ſcriptam in corde, the law of nature written in his heart, which was given him in the womb as a wife and help to ſuccour him. Let us ſet a value on this polar Star within us, which hath, or ſhould have an influence, at leaſt directions on all our actions; let us encreaſe, and nouriſh, and make much of the ſparks ſtill warm within us. And if Scholars, and Antiquaries prize nothing ſo high as a fair Manuſcript or ancient Inſcription, let us not contemn that which Gods own finger hath written within us, leſt the ſin of the contempt make us more miſerable, and the mercy profit us only to make us unexcuſable. And ſo I come to my ſecond part, the ſin of contemning or rejecting this law. For this cauſe he gave them up, 1. becauſe the contempt of his law thus provoked him.
The guilt ariſing from this contempt ſhall ſufficiently be cleared to you, by obſerving and tracing of it not through every particular, but in general through all ſorts of men ſince the fall, briefly reducible to theſe three heads, 1. the Heathens, 2. the Jews, 3. preſent Chriſtians, and then let every man that deſires a more diſtinct light deſcend and commune with his own heart, and ſo he ſhall make up the obſervation.
The Heathens ſin will be much aggravated, if we conſider how they reckon'd of this law, as the ſquare, and rule, and canon of their actions, and therefore they will be inexcuſable who ſcarce be ever at leiſure to call to it to direct them, when they had uſe of it.A…r. Ep. l. 2. c. 9. The Stoick calls it foreign, the promiſe that every man makes; the obligation that he is bound in to nature at his ſhaping in the womb, and upon which condition his reaſonable ſoul is at his conception demiſed to him; ſo that whoſoever puts off this obedience doth (as he goes on) renounce and even proclaim his forfeiture of the very ſoul he lives by, and by every unnatural, that is, ſinful action, foreign, deſtroyes the natural man within him, and by a prodigious regeneration is in a manner tranſubſtantiate into a beaſt of the field. Which conceit many of them were ſo poſſeſt with, that they thought in earneſt, that 'twas ordinary for ſouls to walk from men into Cocks and Aſſes, and the like, and return again at natures appointment, as if this one contempt of the law of nature were enough to unman them, and make them without a figure, comparable, nay coeſſential to the beaſts that periſh. 'Twere too long to ſhew you what a ſenſe the wiſeſt of them had of the helps that light could afford them: ſo that one of them cryes out confidently,Heſych. foreign. in vit. Aeſch. foreign, &c. If all other laws were taken out of the world, we Philoſophers would ſtill live as we do, thoſe directions within us would keep us in as much awe, as the moſt imperious or ſevereſt Law-giver. And again how they took notice of the perverſneſs of men in refuſing to make uſe of it: for who, ſaith one, ever came into the knowledge of men without this foreign,Arr. l. 2. c. 11. this knowledge and diſcretion of good and evil, as old in him as his ſoul? And yet who makes any uſe of it in his actions: nothing ſo ordinary as to betray, and declare that we have it, by finding fault, and accuſing vices in other men; by calling this juſtice, this tyranny, this vertue, this vice in another: whilſt yet we never are patient to obſerve or diſcern ought of it in our ſelves. foreign, &c. Who ever ſpares to call injuſtice which he ſees in another by its own name, for his own reaſon tells him 'tis ſo, and he muſt needs give it its title? But when the caſe concerns his own perſon, when his paſſions counſel him againſt the law within him, then is he content not to ſee, though it ſhine never ſo bright about him; and this was one degree of their guilt, that they obſerved the power of it in their ſpeculations, and made uſe of it alſo to cenſure and find fault with others; but ſeldom or never ſtrived to better themſelves, or ſtraighten their own actions by it. Again, to follow our Apoſtles argument, and look more diſtinctly upon them in their particular chief ſins which this contempt produced in them, you ſhall find them in the front to be Idolatry and ſuperſtition, in the verſes next before my Text: When they knew God they glorified him not as God, Verſe 21.verſe 21. But changed his glory into an Image, Verſe 24.&c. verſe 24. And then we may cry out with Theodoret in his, foreign, the errors and vanities of their worſhip hath raſed out all the characters that God anciently had written in them. And can any man ſhew a greater contempt to a book, or writing, then to tear, and ſcrape, and ſcratch out every letter in it? The firſt voice of nature in the creature which it uttered even in the cradle, when it was an infant in the world, and therefore perhaps, as children are wont, not ſo plainly, and ſyllabically, and diſtinctly, as could have been wiſhed, is the acknowledgment and worſhip of one eternal God, Creator of that ſoul we breath by, and world we live in; as one ſimple, incorporeal, everlaſting eſſence; and thus far (no doubt) could nature proclaim in the heart of every Gentile, though it was by many of them, either ſilenced, or not hearkned to, which if it were doubted of, might be deduced out of the 19. verſe of this chap. God hath ſhewed unto them, Verſe 19.&c. Now this light ſhining not equally in all eyes; ſome being more overſpread with a film of ignorance, ſtupid conditions and paſſions, and the like, yet certainly had enough to expreſs their contempt of it, ſo that they are without excuſe, Verſe 20.ver. 20. All that would ever think of it, and were not blind with an habit of ſottiſhneſs, acknowledged a God,Vid. Origen. contr. Celſum, l. 1. p. 7. foreign, &c. Clem. Strom. l. 1. yet none would think aright of him. Some would acknowledge him a ſimple eſſence, and impoſſible to be deſcribed, or worſhip't aright by any Image, as Varr… an Heathen obſerves, that the City and Religion of old Rome continued 170 years without any Images of the Gods in it. Yet even they which acknowledged him ſimple from all corporeity and compoſition, would not allow him ſingle from plurality. Jupiter and Saturn, and the reſt of their ſhole of Gods, had already got in, and poſſeſt both their Temples, and their hearts. In ſum their underſtandings were ſo groſs within them, being fatned and incraſſate with magical phantaſms, that let the truth within them ſay what it would, they could not conceive the Deity without ſome quantity, either corporeity, or number; and either multiply this God into many, or make that one God corporeous. And then all this while how plainly and peremptorily, and faſtidiouſly they rejected the guidance of nature, which in every reaſonable heart, counſelled, nay proclaimed the contrary; how juſtly they provoked Gods diſpleaſure, and diſertion, by their forſaking and provoking him firſt by their fooliſh imaginations, I need not take pains to inſiſt on.1. 6, 7, c. Ariſtotle obſerves in his Rhet. that a man that hath but one eye loves that very dearly, foreign, and ſets a far higher price on it, is much more tender over it then he that hath two; ſo he that hath but one ſon, cannot chuſe but be very fond of him, and the greateſt lamentation that can be expreſt, is but a ſhadow of that which is for ones only Son, as may appear, Amos viii. 10.Amos VIII. 10. Zach. xii. 10. when 'tis obſerved that, foreign and foreign,Zach. XII. 10. the only begotten and the beloved are taken in Scripture promiſcuouſly, as ſignifying all one. And then what a price ſhould the Heathen have ſet upon this eye of nature, being foreign, having no other eye to ſee by? having neither Scripture nor Spirit, thoſe two other glorious eyes of the world to enlighten them: and therefore being ſure by the contemning and depriving themſelves of this light to turn all into horrible darkneſs. 'Twould ſtrike a man into agony of pity and amazement, to ſee a world of Gentiles for many years thus impriſoned, and buried in a dungeon, and grave of invincible idolatrous ignorance; and from thence engaged in inevitable hell, as 'tis in the Book of Wiſdom, and all this directly by contemning this firſt, and only begotten light in them, which God ſet in the Firmaments of their hearts, to have lead and directed them a more comfortable way. And this or as bad is every unregenerate mans caſe exactly, if they be not forewarned by their elder brethren the Heathens example: as we ſhall anon have more leiſure to inſiſt on.
Secondly, among the Jews, under which name I contain all the people of God, from Adam to Chriſt, 'tis a lamentable contemplation to obſerve, and trace the law and the contempt of it; like a Jacob at the heels ſupplanting it in every ſoul which it came to inhabit. Thoſe Characters of verum and bonum which in Adam were written in a ſtatelier Copy and fairer Manuſcript then our ſlow undervaluing conceits can gueſs at: nay afterwards explain'd with a particular explication to his particular danger; Of the tree of knowledge, Gen. II. 17.&c. thou ſhalt not eat, Gen. ii. 17. Yet how were they by one ſlender temptation of the Serpent preſently ſullied and blurr'd? ſo that all the aqua fortis, and inſtruments in the world will never be able to waſh out or eraſe that blot; or ever reſtore that hand-writing in our hearts to the integrity and beauty of that Copy in its primitive eſtate. And ſince when by that ſin darkneſs was in a manner gone over their hearts, and there remained in them only ſome tracks and reliques of the former ſtructure, the glory whereof was like that of the ſecond Temple, nothing comparable to the beauty of the firſt: inſtead of weeping with a loud voice,Ezra III. 12. as many of the Prieſts and Levites did, Ezra iii. 12. or building, or repairing of it with all alacrity, as all Iſrael did through that whole Book, their whole endeavour and project was even to deſtroy the ruins, and utterly finiſh the work of deſtruction which Adam had begun, as being impatient of that ſhelter which it would yet, if they would but give it leave, afford them. Thus that foreign and foreign, two ſparks of that primitive ſacred flame, which came from Heaven ſtill alive and warm, though weak in them, intended by God to direct them in his will, and for ever ſet either as their funeral pile, or their Ordeal fire, their puniſhment, or acquittal, either as their Devil, or their God, to accuſe, or elſe excuſe them, were both in their practice neglected, and ſlighted; nay in a manner oppreſt and ſtifled. For any natural power of doing good, (God knowes) it was utterly departed, and therefore this thin meaſure of knowledge or judgment, betwixt good and evil that was left them (which my awe to Gods ſincere love of his creature makes me hope and truſt he beſtowed on them for ſome other end then only to increaſe their condemnation, to ſtand them in ſome ſtead in their lives, to reſtrain and keep them in from being extreamly ſinful.) This, I ſay, they horribly rejected, and ſtopt their ears againſt that charmer in their own boſoms, and would not hear that ſoft voice which God had ſtill placed within them, to upbraid their wayes, and reprove their thoughts. What a provocation this was of Gods juſtice, what an incentive of his wrath, may appear by that terrible promulgation of the Ten Commandments at Mount Sinai. They deſpiſed the law in their hearts where God and nature whiſper'd it in calmly, inſenſibly, and ſoftly, and therefore now it ſhall be thunder'd in their ears in words, and thoſe boiſterous ones,Exod. xix. 18. at which the whole mount quaked greatly, Exod. xix. 18. And in the 16.Verſe 16. verſe, it muſt be uſher'd with variety of diſmal meteors upon the Mount, and the voice of a trumpet exceeding loud, ſo that all the people that was in the Camp trembled. Thus upon their contempt and peeviſhneſs was this manuſcript put in print, this Privy Seal turned into a Proclamation, and that a dreadful one, bound and ſubſcribed, with a Curſed is he that continues not in every title of it to perform it. Mean while the matter is not altered, but only the diſpenſation of it. That which till then had taught men in their hearts, and had been explain'd from tradition, from Father to Son. Adam inſtructing Seth, and Seth Enoch in all righteouſneſs, is now put into Tables, that they may have eyes to ſee, that would not have hearts to underſtand, that the perverſe may be convinced, and that he that would not before ſee himſelf bound, may find, and read himſelf accurſed. And after all this yet is not the old law within them, either caſt away or cancel'd by the promulgation of the other: for all the book is printed, the old copy is kept in archivis, though, perhaps, as it alwayes was, neglected, ſoil'd, and moth-eaten, and he ſhall be cenſured either for ambition or curioſity, that ſhall ever be ſeen to enquire, or look after it. Still I ſay, throughout all their wayes, and arts, and methods of rebellions, it twing'd, and prick't within, as Gods judgments attended them without, and as often as ſword, or plague wounded them, made them acknowledge the juſtice of God, that thus rewarded their perverſneſs. Nay you ſhall ſee it ſometimes break out againſt them, when perhaps the written law ſpake too ſoftly for them to be underſtood. Thus did Davids heart ſmite him when he had numbred the people; though there was no direct commandment againſt muſtering or en…olment, yet his own conſcience told him that he had done it either for diſtruſt, or for oſtentation,Ex. XXX. 12. and that he had ſinned againſt God in truſting and glorying in that arm of fleſh, or paid not the tribute appointed by God on that occaſion. To conclude this diſcourſe of the Jews, every rebellion and idolatry of theirs was a double breach, of a double law, the one in tables, the other in their heart; and could they have been freed from the killing letter of the one, the wounding ſenſe of the other would ſtill have kept them bound, as may appear in that buſineſs of crucifying Chriſt, where no humane law-giver or magiſtrate went about to deter them from ſhedding his blood, or denying his miracles, yet many of their own hearts apprehended, and violently buffetted, and ſcourged, and tormented them. At one time when they are moſt reſolved againſt him, the whole Senate is ſuddenly pricked, and convinced within, and expreſs it with a Surely this man doth many miracles, John XI. 48.John xi. 48. At another time at the top and complement of the buſineſs, Pilate is deterr'd from condemning, and though the fear of the people made him valiant, yet, as if he contemn'd this voice of his conſcience againſt his will, with ſome reluctance, he waſhes his hands when he would have been gladder to quench the fire in his heart, which ſtill burnt and vext him. Laſtly, when Judas had betray'd and ſold him, and no man made huy and cry after him, his conſcience was his purſuer, judge, and executioner, perſecuted him out of the world, haunted him, would not ſuffer him to live, whom otherwiſe the law of the Country would have reprived, till a natural death had called for him.
Laſtly, even we Chriſtians are not likely to clear our ſelves of this bill; 'tis much to be feared, that if our own hearts are called to witneſs,Arr. l. 2. c. 11. our Judge will need no farther Indictments. 'Twas an Heathen ſpeech concerning this rule of our lives and actions, that to ſtudy it hard, to reform and repair all obliquities and defects in it, and then foreign, to ſet it up ſtrong and firm as a pillar in our hearts, was the part and office of a Philoſopher; and then afterwards to make uſe of it in our whole converſation, this was the part of a vertuous man complete and abſolute. And how then will our contempt be aggravated, if Chriſtianity, which Clemens calls ſpiritual Philoſophy, and is to be reckoned above all moral perfections, hath yet wrought neither of theſe effects in us? if we have continued ſo far from ſtraightning, or ſetting up, or making uſe of this rule, that we have not ſo much as ever enquired or mark't whether there be any ſuch thing left within us or no? Theodoret in his ſecond foreign.Theod. Therap. 1, 2. is very paſſionate in the expreſſion of this contempt of the foreign, the light of truth ſhining in our underſtandings. There be a ſort of birds, ſaith he, that flie or move only in the night, called from thence Night-birds, and Night-ravens, which are afraid of light, as either an enemy to ſpy, to aſſault, or betray them; but ſalute, and court, and make love to darkneſs as their only Queen, and Miſtreſs of their actions, foreign, as a creature ſent on purpoſe to preſerve them: and theſe, ſaith he, deſerve not to be child but pitied, for nature at firſt appointed them this condition of life, foreign, 'tis their birthright and inheritance, and therefore no body will be angry with them for living on it: foreign, &c. But for them who were made creatures of light, and, had it not been for their wilfulneſs, had ſtill continued light in the Lord, who are altogether encompaſt and environed with light, light of nature, light of reaſon, light of religion, nay, the moſt glorious aſteriſm, or conjunction of lights in the world, the light of the Goſpel to walk in; for theſe men meerly out of perverſneſs of wilful hearts, to hate and abjure, and defie this light, to run out of the world almoſt for fear of it; to be for ever a ſolliciting and worſhipping of darkneſs,Ariſtoph. in Nub. as Socrates was ſaid to adore the clouds, this is ſuch a ſottiſhneſs, that the ſtupidſt element under Heaven would naturally ſcorn to be guilty of: for never was the Earth ſo peeviſh, as to forbid the Sun when it ſhould ſhine on it, or to ſlink away, or ſubduce it ſelf from its rayes. And yet this is our caſe, beloved, who do more amorouſly, and flatteringly court, and woo, and ſollicite darkneſs, then ever the Heathens adored the Sun. Not to wander out of the ſphere my Text hath placed me in, to ſhew how the light of the Goſpel and Chriſtianity is neglected by us, our guilt will lie heavy enough on us, if we keep us to the light only of natural reaſon within us. How many ſins do we daily commit, which both nature and reaſon abhor and loath? How many times do we not only unman, but even uncreature our ſelves? Ariſtotle obſerves, that that by which any thing is known firſt, that which doth diſtinguiſh one thing from another à priore, Mat. 4.foreign, is to be called the beginning or cauſe of that thing, and that the light of reaſon diſtinguiſhing one action from another, being the firſt thing that teaches me that this is good, that otherwiſe may from thence be termed the beginning of every reaſonable action in us, and then where ever this cauſe or beginning is left out, and wanting, there the thing produced is not ſo called a poſitive act, or proper effect, but a defect, an abortion, or ſtill-born fruſtrate iſſue; and of this condition indeed is every ſin in us. Every action where this law within us is neglected, is not truly an action, but a paſſion, a ſuffering or a torment of the creature. Thus do we not ſo much live and walk, which note ſome action, as lie entranced, aſleep, nay, dead in ſin; by this perverſneſs 'tis perpetual night with us, nay, we even die daily; our whole life is but a multiplyed ſwoon or lethargie, in which we remain ſtupid, breathleſs, ſenſleſs, till the day of death or judgment with a hideous voice affrights and rouſes us, and we find our ſelves awake in Hell; and ſo our dark ſouls having a long while groped wilfully in the Sun, are at laſt lead to an everlaſting, inevitable darkneſs, whither the mercy or rayes of the Sun can never pierce; where it will be no ſmall acceſſion to our torment, to remember and tremble at that light which before we ſcorn'd. Thus, I ſay, do we in a manner uncreate our ſelves, and by the contempt of this law of our creation, even fruſtrate and bring to nothing our creation it ſelf, and this is chiefly by ſins of ſloth, and ſtupid, ſluggiſh, unactive vices, which, as I ſaid, make our whole life a continued paſſion, never daring, or venturing, or attempting to act or do any thing in Church or Commonwealth, either toward God or our Neighbour; and of ſuch a condition'd man no body will be ſo charitable as to gueſs he hath any ſoul, or light of reaſon in him, becauſe he is ſo far from making uſe of it, unleſs it be ſuch a ſoul as Tully ſaith a Swine hath, which ſerves it only inſtead of ſalt, to keep it from ſtinking. For 'tis Ariſtotles obſervation, that every one of the elements,De animâ l. 1. c. 2. beſides the earth, was by ſome Philoſopher or other defin'd to be the ſoul. Some ſaid the ſoul was fire, ſome that 'twas air, ſome water, but never any man was ſo mad, as to maintain the earth to be it, becauſe 'twas ſo heavy and unweildy. So then this heavy, motionleſs, unactive Chriſtian, this clod of earth, hath, as I ſaid, uncreatured himſelf, and by contemning this active reaſon within him, even deprived himſelf of his ſoul. Again, how ordinary a thing is it to unman our ſelves by this contempt of the directions of reaſon, by doing things that no man in his right mind would ever have patience to think of? Beloved, to paſs by thoſe which we call unnatural ſins, 1. ſo in the higheſt degree, as too horrid for our nature, ſet down in the latter end of this Chapter, for all Chriſtian ears to glow and tingle at, and I had hoped for all Engliſh ſpirits to abhor and loath. To paſs theſe (I ſay) our whole life almoſt affords minutely ſins which would not argue us men, but ſome other creatures. There be few things we do in our Age, which are proper peculiar acts of men; one man gives himſelf to eating and drinking, and beſtows his whole care on that one faculty which they call the vegetative growing faculty;foreign, &c. Porphyr. foreign 1. 3. p. 44. and then what difference is there betwixt him and a tree, whoſe whole nature it is to feed and grow? Certainly unleſs he hath ſome better imployment, he is at beſt but foreign, a plant-animal, whoſe ſhape would perhaps perſuade you that it hath ſome ſenſe or ſoul in it, but its actions betray it to be a meer plant, little better then an Artichoak or Cabbage: another goes a little higher, yet not far, doth all that his ſenſe preſents to him, ſuffers all that his ſenſitive faculties luſt, and rage to exerciſe at freedom; is as fierce as the Tyger, as luſtful as the Goat, as ravenous as the Wolf, and the like: and all the beaſts of the field, and fowls of the air, be but ſeveral Emblemes, and Hieroglyphicks concurring to make up his character, carries a wilderneſs about him, as many ſins as the nature of a ſenſitive creature is capable of: and then who will ſtick to compare this man to the beaſts that periſh? For 'tis Theophilus his note,Ad Anto. l. 2. p. 95. that the cattle and beaſts of the field were created the ſame day with man,Gen. 1. 25. Gen. i. 25. to note, foreign, the brutiſh condition of ſome men, and that therefore the bleſſing was not beſtowed on them, but reſerved for the man which ſhould have the dominion over them, Verſe 26, 28.verſe 26, 28. In ſum, every action which Reaſon, or Scripture, or Gods ſpirit guides not in us, is to be called the work of ſome other creature of one of theſe three ſorts; either earthly, the work of a plant, or ſenſual, the work of a brute, or thirdly,foreign Iambl. Protrept. p. 145. above the condition of both theſe, devilliſh. Thus do you ſee the ſin of the contempt of the light of nature, which although it be dimm'd in us by our corruption, yet ſhined ſo bright in the Heathen, that they were left without excuſe; in the Jews, that even their own hearts accuſed them for their rebellions; and in us Chriſtians, that unleſs we move according to its directions, we are fallen below the condition of men, almoſt of creatures. 'Twere now ſuperfluous farther to demonſtrate it, our time will be better ſpent if we cloſe with ſome uſe of it; and that will prove manifold, 1. by way of caution, not to deifie or exalt too high, or truſt in this light of nature. It was once a perfect glorius rule, but is now diſtorted and defaced; it once was light in the Lord, almoſt an Angel of light, it ſhone as the Sun in the Firmament, in majeſty and full brightneſs, but is now only as the Moon, pale and dim, ſcarce able to do us any ſervice, unleſs it borrows ſome rays from the Sun of Righteouſneſs. The fall hath done ſomewhat with it, I know not what to call it, either much impaired it, and diminiſht its light in its eſſence, or elſe much incumbred, or oppreſt it in its operations, as a candle under a vail, or lanthorn, which, though it burn, and ſhine as truly as on a candleſtick, yet doth not ſo much ſervice in enlightning the room: the ſoul within us is much changed, either is not in its eſſence ſo perfect, and active, and bright, as once it was; or elſe being infuſed in a ſufficient perfection, is yet terribly overcaſt with a gloom and cloud of corruptions, that it can ſcarce find any paſſage to get through, and ſhew it ſelf in our actions; for the corruptible body preſſeth down the ſoul, &c.Wiſd. IX. 15. Wiſd. ix. 15. And from this caution grow many lower branches, whence we may gather ſome fruit; as in the ſecond place, infinitely to humble our ſelves before God for the firſt ſin of Adam, which brought this darkneſs on our ſouls, and account it not the meaneſt, or ſlighteſt of our miſeries, that our whole nature is defiled, and bruiſed, and weakned: to aggravate every circumſtance and effect of that ſin againſt thy ſelf, which has ſo libera…ly afforded f…el to the flames of luſt, of rage, and wild deſire, and thereby without Gods gracious mercy to the flames of Hell. This is a moſt profitable point, yet little thought on; and therefore would deſerve a whole Sermon to diſcuſs to you. 3. To obſerve and acknowledge the neceſſity of ſome brighter light, then this of nature can afford us, and with all the care and vigilancy of our hearts, all the means that Scripture will lend us, and at laſt with all the importunities and groans, and violence of our ſouls, to petition and ſollicit, and urge Gods illuminating ſpirit to break out and ſhine on us. To undertake to interpret any antient Author, requires, ſay the Grammarians, a man of deep and various knowledge, becauſe there may be ſome paſſage or other in that book, which will refer to every ſort of learning in the world, whence 'tis obſerved that the old Scholiaſts and foreign, were moſt exquiſit Scholars. Thus certainly will not any ordinary skill ſerve turn to interpret and explain many dark ſayings, which were at firſt written in the book of our hearts, but are now almoſt paſt reading; only that omniſcient Spirit, that hath no ſhadow of ignorance, the finger that firſt writ, muſt be beſeeched to read and point out the riddle. We muſt make uſe of that rotten ſtaffe of nature, as far as its ſtrength will bear, and that very gingerly too, never daring to lean, or lay our whole weight upon it, leſt it either wound with its ſplinter, or elſe break under us: our help and ſtay, and ſubſiſtence, and truſt muſt be in the Lord, our eyes muſt wait on his inlightning Spirit, and never loſe a ray that falls from it. Fourthly, to clear up as much as we can, and reinliven this light within us. And that firſt,
By ſtirring up and blowing, and ſo nouriſhing every ſpark we find within us. The leaſt particle of fire left in a coal, may by pains be improved into a flame; 'tis held poſſible to reſtore, or at leaſt preſerve for a time any thing that is not quite departed. If thou findeſt but a ſpark of Religion in thee, which ſaith, A God is to be worſhip't, care, and …edulity, and the breath of prayers, may in time by this inflame the whole man into a bright fire of Zeal towards God. In brief, whatever thou doſt, let not any the leaſt atome of that fire, which thou once feeleſt within thee, ever go out: quench not the weakeſt motion, or inclination even of reaſon towards God, or goodneſs: how unpoliſh't ſoever this Diamond be, yet if it do but gliſſen, 'tis too pretious to be caſt away. And then 2.
By removing all hindrances, or incumbrances that may any way weaken or oppreſs it, and theſe you have learnt to be corrupt affections. That democracy, and croud, and preſs, and common people of the ſoul, raiſes a tumult in every ſtreet within us, that no voice of law or reaſon can be heard. If you will but diſgorge, and purge the ſtomach, which hath been thus long oppreſt, if you will but remove this cloud of crudities, then will the brain be able to ſend ſome rayes down to the heart, which till then are ſure to be caught up by the way, anticipated, and devoured. For the naked ſimplicity of the ſoul, the abſence of all diſordered paſſions is that foreign,In T…p. l. 1. ſaith Aphrodiſeus, that kindly familiar good temper of the ſoul, by which it is able to find out and judge of truth. In brief, if thou canſt crop thy luxuriant paſſions, if thou canſt either expel, or tame all the wild beaſts within thee, which are born to devour any thing which is weak or innocent, then will that mild voice within thee, in the cave, take heart and ſhew it ſelf. In the mean time this hurry of thy ſenſes drowns that reaſon, and thou canſt not hope to ſee, as long as like old Tobit, the dung, and white film doth remain upon thine eyes. If thou canſt uſe any means to diſſolve this dung of affections which an habit of ſin hath baked within thee, the ſcales will fall off from thine eyes, and the blind Tobit ſhall be reſtored to his ſight. In brief, do but fortifie thy reaſonable ſoul againſt all the undermining, and faction, and violence of theſe ſenſual paſſions, do but either depoſe, or put to the ſword that Atheiſtical Tyrant, and Uſurper, as Iamblichus calls the affections, do but ſet reaſon in the chair, and hear, and obſerve his dictates, and thou haſt disburthened thy ſelf of a great company of weights, and preſſures: thou wilt be able to look more like a man, to hold thy head more couragiouſly, and bend thy thoughts more reſolutely toward Heaven: and I ſhall expect, and hope, and pray, and almoſt be confident, that if thou doſt perform ſincerely what thy own ſoul prompts thee to, Gods ſpirit is nigh at hand to perfect, and crown, and ſeal thee up to the day of redemption.
In the next place, thou maiſt ſee thine own guilts the clearer, call thy ſelf to an account even of thoſe things which thou thinkeſt thou art freeſt from; that which the Apoſtle in this chapter and part of my diſcourſe hath charged the Heathens with: and if thou lookeſt narrowly, I am afraid thou wilt ſpy thine own picture in that glaſs, and find thy ſelf in many things as arrant a Gentile, as any of them. For any ſincere care of God, or Religion, how few of us are there, that ever entertained ſo unpleaſant a gueſt in their hearts: we go to Church, and ſo did they to their Temples: we pray, and they ſacrificed; they waſhed and bathed themſelves before they durſt approach their deities, and we come in our beſt cloths, and cleaneſt linen; but for any farther real ſervice we mean towards God there, for any inward purity of the heart, for any ſincere worſhip of our ſoul, we are as guiltleſs, as free from it, we do as much contemn, and ſcorn it, as ever did any Heathen. Again, what man of us is not in ſome kind guilty even of their higheſt crime Idolatry? Some of them took the brain to be ſacred, foreign, ſaith Athenaeus; and therefore hearing ſome cry God help when one ſneezed, the ignorant ſort worſhipt that noiſe as an expreſſion of a Deity in the brain; and ſo as ſenſleſly many of us deify our own brains, and adore every thing that ever comes out of them. Every conceit of ours muſt be like the birth of Jupiters brain, a Minerva at leaſt; be we never ſo ignorant or mechanical, every device, every fancie of our own (eſpecially in matters of Religion) is ſtraight of Divine Authority; and having reſolved our ſelves the children of God, every crochet we fall upon, muſt be neceſſarily Theopneuſt, and inſpired, and others accuſed for irreligious, or ſingular, that will not as ſoon give homage to it. In ſum, every imagination becomes an Image, and the Artificer deifies his own handy-work, forgetting that he made it as 'tis deſcribed in the 13. of Wiſd. Wiſd. XIII.toward the end, and this is one kind of Idolatry. Again who is there that hath not ſome pleaſure in his heart, which takes place of God there? They had their Sun and Moon moſt glorious creatures, their Heroes, whoſe vertues had even deified their memory, and ſilly men they admired, and could not chooſe but worſhip. The Devil, and a humor of ſuperſtition cuſtomary in them, fee'd and bribed the law in their hearts to hold its peace, and not recall them. But how baſely have we out-gone their vileſt worſhips? How have we outſtript them? Let but one appearance of gain like that golden calf of the Iſraelites, a beautiful woman, like that Venus of the Heathens, nay in brief, what ever Image, or repreſentation of delight thy own luſt can propoſe thee, let it but glance, or glide by thee, and Quis non incurvavit? Shew me a man that hath not at ſome time or other faln down and worſhipt. In ſum, all the lower part of the ſoul, or carnal affections are but a picture of the City of Athens, Acts xvii. 16.Acts XVII. 16. Wholly given to Idolatry. The baſeſt, unworthieſt pleaſure or content in the world, that which is good for nothing elſe,Wiſd. XIII. 13. the very refuſe of the refuſe, Wiſd. xiii. 13. is become an Idol, and hath its ſhrines in ſome heart or other: and we crouch and bow, and ſacrifice to it, and all this againſt the voice of our ſoul, and nature within us, if we would ſuffer it to ſpeak aloud, or but hearken to its whiſperings: foreign, ſaith Philoponus, 4 Ar. de. au.Nature only bids us feed our ſelves with ſufficient, luſt brought in ſuperfluity and pleaſure. But this only by the way, leſt you might think that part of my Sermon concerning the Heathens contempt of this law, did belong little to you, and ſo might have been ſpared.
Laſtly, not to lade every part of my former diſcourſe with its ſeveral uſe, or application, take but this one more. If this Light ſhines but dimly within us, then let us ſo much the more not dare contemn it. That Maſter that ſpeaks but ſeldom, then ſurely deſerves to be obeyed; he that is flow in his reproofs, certainly hath good reaſon when he falls foul with any body. If Craeſus his dumb ſon in Herodotus, Herod. l. 1.ſeeing one come to kill his father, ſhall by violence break the ſtring of his tongue that formerly hindred his ſpeech, and he that never ſpake before roar out an foreign, Sir kill not Craeſus, I wonder not that the Perſian held his hand: a very Barbarian would be amazed, and ſtopt by ſuch a prodigy; it muſt needs be an odious thing when the child which can ſcarce ſpeak expreſſes indignation. Wherefore if ever our beſtial ſoul, that of our ſenſe, ſhall ſeduce us to any thing that our manly ſoul, that of our reaſon, which is now ſomewhat decrepit, and dim-ſighted, ſhall yet eſpy and find fault with: if in any enterprize this natural law within us ſhall give the check, let us ſuddenly remove our project, and not dare to reject ſuch fatherly, ſage admoniſhments; if all the means in the world can help to avoid it, let us never fall into the ſnare. And if at thy audit with thy own ſoul, and examination of thy ſelf, amongſt the root of thy cuſtomary ignorant ſins, (and O Lord deliver me from my ſecret faults) if in that heap and chaos, thy own heart can pick out many of this nature, and preſent them to thee, which it before forewarned thee of; then let the ſalteſt, moſt briny tear in thy heart be called out to waſh off this guilt: let the ſaddeſt mortified thought thou canſt ſtrain for be accounted but a poor unproportionable expiation. Think of this ſeriouſly, and if all this will nothing move you, I cannot hope that any farther Rhetorick, if I had it to ſpare, would do any good upon you. Only I will try one ſuaſory more, which being ſomewhat rough may chance to frighten you, and that is the puniſhment that here expects this contempt, and that a diſmal hideous one, all the wild ſavage devourers in the wilderneſs, Vile affections, which puniſhment together with the inflicter, and manner of inflicting it, are the laſt parts of my diſcourſe, of which together in a word. God gave them up to vile affections.
A puniſhment indeed; and all the Fiends of Hell could not invent, or wiſh a man a greater: there is not a more certain preſage of a foreign, or total ſubverſion of body and ſoul, nor a more deſperate prognoſtick in the world.P. 36. 9. 'Tis obſerved in Photius, as a ſure token that Jeruſalem ſhould be deſtroyed, becauſe puniſhment came upon it in a chain, every link drew on another, no intermiſſion, or diſcontinuance of judgments, foreign, &c. A ſingle judgment that brings no train after it is cheaply entertained, and is therefore called not a calamity, but a viſitation: but when one plague ſhall invade, ſhall ſupplant another, when the peſtilence ſhall fright out the famine, and the ſword purſue the peſtilence, that neither may ſlay all, but each joyn in the glory of the ſpoyl: then muſt the beholder acknowledge foreign, that God is reſolved to make them the ſcene of his rage, not only of his wrath. Thus alſo in the ſpiritual foreign of the eſtate of the ſoul, ſome ſins may be ſuffered to invade us, and ſtick as did the Amorites, to goad our ſides, not deſtroy, but humble us. But when ſins ſhall come like gaol birds linked, and chained together, when our corruptions, and inſolent tyrannical paſſions ſhall make us contemn the light and law of reaſon, and nature; when that contempt ſhall bring forth Idolatry, and the like, either worſhip of Idolgods, or vain conceits, or imaginary delights, every luſt of our baſer ſoul, then can it not be expected that God will have ſo little to do, as to take any more care of us, that he will have ſo much mercy as even to puniſh us any longer.Eſ. 1. 5. The next voice that we can expect, is that horrible mercy of his, Why ſhould you be ſmitten any more? Any reſtraint either of chaſtiſement, or inſtruction would be ſcarce ſeen upon us, and therefore 'tis but loſt labour to beat the air, or to lay ſtripes upon the ſea with Xerxes. The height of Gods wrath in this world, is but our juſt reward, and that is diſertion, or dereliction, and giving us over, and giving us up, which will ſuddenly bring us to that which our corrupt nature poſts after, all vile affections.
The iſſue of all is this; that thoſe that contemn Gods ordinary reſtraints, God ordinarily leaves to themſelves, and ſuffers them to run into moſt horrible ſins. 'Tis juſtice that they which delight in errour, ſhould be let alone in their courſe, that they may ſee and acknowledge the errour of their delight, that they which have contemned Gods voice, and natures within them, ſhould be forſaken and left without either, ungodly, unnatural; that they which lul'd their reaſonable ſoul into a lethargie, for fear it ſhould awake them, or diſturb their delights, ſhould not have life enough without it, ever to awake or rouſe themſelves or it; that they which have maliciouſly, and contemptuouſly put out the Sun, ſhould for ever ſuffer a continued night.De aqu. aer. & locis. 'Tis Hippoer. his obſervation that the Africans are very libidinous: they are neither hardy nor valiant, nor laborious, foreign, Luſt hath ſo effeminated them, that they are fit for nothing, but for ſoftneſs: and therefore ſaith he, foreign, there be among them beaſts of all ſorts of ſtrange ſhapes, the heat and violence of the ſame luſt makes the very beaſts unnatural, the confuſion of ſpecies is ordinary among them; and ſo almoſt every birth a Monſter: nature is almoſt loſt amongſt them, and many beaſts may be found in Africk, which never had any of their kind in the Ark; Africa ſemper aliquod apportat novi, whoſoever hath a mind to a ſtrange ſight, there he ſhall have ſtore of them. Thus is it in the ſoul, if the upper, the manly part of it be overſwell'd with luſt, it ſtraight becomes effeminate, and enervate, hath neither ſtrength, nor ſinews, nor courage for any undertaking: and then the beaſts of the field, the lower, baſer, ſenſual faculties of the ſoul are not only luſty, but outragious, having no keeper to govern them, they become wilde: ſcorn any limits, or bounds of nature, do every day conceive horrid, unnatural, vile imaginations, and every ſeaſon grow big, and bring forth Monſters, monſtrous oaths, monſtrous delights, monſtrous vanities. Some new art or trick of ſinning that was never heard of before, is invented againſt every ſolemn ſeaſon of our jollity, and this we carry about, and ſhew, and brag of as a new creature, or ſtrange ſight, and get a great deal of applauſe, and admiration, and perhaps ſome money by the employment. 'Twere too long to point out the ſeveral ſorts of theſe vile affections, which contempt of this light hath produced in every one of us; only let us ſtrive, and ſtrain, and ſtretch the eyes that are left us to examine, and obſerve, every degree and Symptome, and prognoſtick of them in our ſelves, and never leave poring till we have pierced through that carnal ſecurity that blinded us, and fully humble our ſelves in a ſenſe of that deſperate eſtate, and almoſt the hell that we are fain blindfold into. And if we are ſtill blinded, ſtill unable to ſee, or move, or relieve our ſelves, let us then lay hold of the next poſt or pillar we meet with, and there fix and dwell and weep, and pray, to that omnipotent Phyſician of our ſouls, that Reſtorer of reaſonable creatures, that he will by ſome ſpiritual eye water, recover us to that ſenſe. 'Tis impoſſible ſaith Tobias, for any one to reſtore us to the Image of the Father which was once on us, Photius p. 601.but him only who was the eternal Image of the Father, he only could foreign, turn out that unreaſonable blind ſoul within us, made up of our ſins which move us, and reduce us to the dignity of reaſonable creatures. He hath already by his incarnation, delivered us from one long night, the dark gloom of our heathen Anceſtors, O that he would be born again ſpiritually in our ſouls, to deliver us from other more Cimerian darkneſs, the night, and hell of habituate ſin, wherein we grope. He once breathed on us the breath of life to make us men, O that he would again but breath on us the foreign, His holy breath, his hallowing breath, his breath of holineſs to make us Saints. It is he that muſt prevent us with his Spirit, or elſe we run headlong into all vile affections.
O that he would but Sanctifie us, and then the moſt plauſible flattering ſin in the world, nay, the moſt boyſtrous, impetuous luſt, ſhould not be able to tyrannize over us. In the mean time, let us remain men till it ſhall pleaſe that free voice to call us into Saints. Grace is never placed but in a reaſonable creature; and is therefore ſaid to be ſent to make reaſon ſee, what by nature only it cannot, never to blemiſh it in what it can comprehend, as the Learned Biſhop hath obſerved againſt the Jeſuit. Let us make much of all the light that nature and reaſon will afford us, let us not ſuffer one precious ray to be caſt away upon us, but improve it to the extent of its virtue, for the direction of our lives. And whenſoever this light ſhall fail that it cannot guide us, or our eyes dazle that we cannot follow, let us pray to the father of lights, and God of Spirits, that he will ſhine ſpiritually in our hearts, and fulfill us with his light of grace here, which may enable us to behold him, and enjoy him, and rejoyce with him, and be ſatisfied with that eternal light of his Glory hereafter.
Now to him which hath elected us, hath created, redeemed, &c.