Works Volume 4, Sermon 8
THE EIGHTH, Being a Lent SERMON at Oxford, A. D. 1645.
ACTS 24.25.
And as he reaſoned of righteouſneſs, and temperance, and judgment to come, Felix trembled.
THE Words are the Notes taken from a Sermon of St. Pauls; And the ſucceſs it met with among the Auditors, the trembling of one heathen Officer that was at it, is intirely the conſideration that commended it to me at this time, in hope it might help to perform that ſtrange work, beget a ſpiritual palſie or ſoul-quake in the Chriſtian ſinner, that wor…er kind of Heathen, at the repetition.
There's matter enough, God knows, of trembling abroad, (though there were never a judgment to come) to put us all into Belſhazzars paralytick poſture (the countenance changed, the thoughts troubled, the joints or the loins looſed, and the knees ſmiting againſt one another) and we bear it with a ſtrange conſtancy, continue ſtill in as perfect an unconcern'd tranquillity, as if 'twere but a Scene, a Romance, a News from Germany all this while; the Jonas that is gone down to ſleep in the ſides of the Ship, and is the cauſe of all this tempeſt, muſt not be awaked after all theſe billows, our lethargick habits of ſin not diſturbed, only a few cowardly Mariners may be allowed to pray every man to his God, and that's the utmoſt that all theſe prodigies of vengeance can extort from us.
You will therefore give me leave to count it a prize, that I have here found a clap of thunder, that could awake ſomebody, a Sermon that ſet one Felix a trembling; I ſhould be too happy, if the repeating of it, might have the ſame effect on any here preſent. And as he reaſoned of, &c.
In the Words I ſhall but obſerve,
1. The matter of St. Pauls Sermon, righteouſneſs and temperance, and judgment to come.
And 2. the form of it by way of reaſoning. As for the trembling, that muſt be Gods work on you, while I treat of theſe.
The matter I muſt conſider, 1. Abſolutely; then, as it is here cloathed in a double relation, 1. To the Text on which 'twas preach'd, and that you ſhall ſee in the verſe precedent, to be the Faith of Chriſt. 2. In relation to the prime Auditor, Felix, whether as an Officer of Caeſars, or as a Heathen, or as one peculiarly guilty of theſe ſins to which the diſcourſe is accommodated.
I begin firſt with the matter, conſider'd abſolutely, righteouſneſs, &c.
Three grand particulars, which though they are Common places and vulgar themes, may yet have leave to give you divertiſements awhile.
The foreign, whether juſtice, or righteouſneſs in the front, (if you had the Fathers wiſh, to ſee and hear S. Paul in the Pulpit, a preſſing at large what you have here only in brachygraphy) would look very ſternly upon the moſt unrighteous oppreſſions of the many; that trade of ſubtilty and intricacy, that hath gotten the incloſure of all not only the wealth and greatneſs of the world, but of the credit alſo, the reputation of wiſdom, yea and of vertue too; the only honourable handſom quality, that all our reſpects and eſtimations are paid to; that new body of morality, that inſtead of the old out-dated deſpiſed rules of juſtice and uprightneſs, hath ſet up that one beloved law of ſelf-preſervation, (that other Antipheron in the Rhetoricks, that always ſeeth his own picture before him, and if health, or ſecurity may be acquired, can ſay to himſelf, as Paracelſus to his ſcrupulous Patient, if the cure be wrought, what matter is it whether it be by God, or the Devil?) in ſtead of the comfort of a pure immaculate conſcience, the pleaſure of ſatisfaction of having outwitted and over-reach'd our Brethren; the joy and raviſhment, the high taſte and ſenſuality, as it were, of an indirect action, being to him far above the advantage and gain of it; and either of them able to outweigh the myſtery of Godlineſs, the (whether conſcience, or) reward of blameleſs ſouls.
O! 'tis a fatal character of an accurſed rebellious people, when in the Prophets ſtile, he that abſtaineth from evil, maketh himſelf a prey, when all thoſe generous Chriſtian vertues of meekneſs, and innocence, and charity, and not retaliating to enemies, ſhall become both undoing and ſcandalous qualities, a lawful prize for every Harpy to ſeize on, and ex abundanti, over and above, matter of contumely and reproach to any that ſhall have ſo learn'd to be fools of Chriſt.
And it were a glorious and a royal deſign, worthy the gallantry of this Congregation, and that which would bring Chriſtianity into ſome credit in the heathen world, would give us more hope of Proſelytes from thence, than the Apoſtle of the Indies (Xaverius with his double Goſpel, one of Chriſt, the other of Saint Peter) ever brought back his Maſters; if ſincerity, and uprightneſs, and dove-like innocence (thoſe good natured rarities that our Saviour could not behold without loving the owner of them, although he were no Chriſtian, Mar. 10.21.) might be brought in faſhion in a Court, or Kingdom; if oppreſſion and the groſſer acts of piracy might be driven out like Wolves, and Bears, and beaſts of prey; and diſguiſes, and crafts, and cheats, and all kind of artifices and ſtratagems, have as many names of vermin allotted to them, and all in one herd purſued, and hounded out of the world; if the examples of a Jacob, a David, a Nathaniel, a Chriſt, might be permitted to reſcue the guileleſs hearts and lips (at leaſt) from reproach, and ſcorn, if not from the Vultures talons, if it might be eſteemed but as infamous and vile to act, as 'tis to ſuffer injuries, as ungentiemanly a thing to thrive by fraud, as to periſh by good conſcience. And till this be ſet afoot among us (this that an heathen Socrates would, if he were alive again, venture another martyrdom to replant among his Athenians) may this firſt point of St. Paul's Sermon be for ever a ringing in your ears, foreign, of righteouſneſs, and a thundering judgment to come, for all thoſe that are not edified by that doctrine.
2. For Temperance, or, as the word foreign, both here and *1 Cor. 9.25. & Ignat. ad Philip. foreign, ſpeaking of men and women.elſewhere, more properly ſignifies, Continence, and command of paſſions and luſts, the foreign, the maſtery over a mans ſelf: One cannot, in charity to Chriſtendom, but ſtay upon it awhile, and recommend it to mens favour, ſo far at the leaſt, that it may find the ordinary juſtice, to be preferr'd (in their judgments, if not their paſſions) before beſtiality and villany, before the foreign, the infamous affections which nature itſelf hath reproach'd and branded, that the preſerving our bodies the temples of the holy Ghoſt, may be but as creditable a thing, as any of thoſe foreign, noon-day Devils, in Gregentius phraſe, thoſe impudencies, that have put off the vail, that are become ſo daring and confident, fornication, adultery, uncleanneſs, i. e. in the New Teſtament dialect, foreign, outlared abominable idolatries; that chaſtity may be kept in ſome countenance, not paſs either for ſuch a ſtrange, or ſuch a ridiculous, ſuch an impoſſible, or ſuch a ſcandalous rarity.
Beloved, there was once a piece of diſcipline in the Church of God, of ſending the Devil into ſuch ſwine, of delivering up the incontinent to Satans ſmart, his real corporeal ſtripes, and inflictions, in the Apoſtles Age; and after, this ſmart was commuted for ſhame, caſting them out of the Church, out of the ſociety of all civil men, foreign, that they might be aſhamed.
It ſeems it was then a more faſhionable creditable thing to be a praying in the Church, than a dallying in the Chamber; Continence was recommended to Chriſtians, not only among the foreign and foreign, the venerable and the pure, but the foreign and foreign, lovely and commendable, Phil. 4. Embraced by men of quality upon the ſame motives, on which now all the contrary vices are taken up, in adoration to that great Idol, Civility and Reputation; Vertue was then the more ſplendid title, the more courtly name; And 'tis none of the meaneſt ſins and plagues, provocations and vengeances of this Kingdom, that the meaſure of honour and gallantry among us, is taken from fools and mad-men, and by that means, ſhame ſo prodigiouſly tranſplanted; The chaſt man is the only leper to be ſeparated and thruſt out from the Camp, Modeſty the only ſcandalous thing; the three degrees of the new-faſhion'd Excommunication, are denounced and executed, like the Athenian Oſtraciſm, upon the ſeveral gradations of that vertue; The purity of the body, the Tongue, the Eye, have a kind of Nidui, Cherem and Scamatha proportioned to them, no man is civil enough for ordinary converſe, till he hath renounced ſuch puſillanimous innocencies, and brought forth fruits worthy of that repentance, a whole Knight errantry in that ſin, confeſſion with the mouth, glorying of their maſculine enterprizes (enough to fill a Romance) and even martyrdom it ſelf, and many ſad encounters, and real helliſh ſufferings in that ſervice, and all this penance, of the leaſt to expiate the crime of baſhfulneſs, to reconcile the modeſt Puny, to make him fit for ſociety with men.
I remember a conceit of Herodotus, when the Greeks beſieged Troy, he believes Helena was in Aegypt, becauſe otherwiſe had ſhe been in the City, they would certainly have deliver'd her up, and ſaved themſelves: ſo ſtrange did it ſeem to him and irrational, that men ſhould chuſe rather to die, than part with a luſt, And yet to the ſhame of us Chriſtians, when Gods judgments make ſuch direful approaches to us on this great quarrel for our vile, and reproachful luſts, when a black grim cloud …ngs juſt over our heads, gather'd from the vapours, which this one dung-hill hath exhaled, (as Rome, they ſay, and others as well as that, is enabled to oppreſs Countries by the penſions it receives from them) when the voice is come flaſhing out of that cloud, and the buſineſs driven to a cloſe iſſue, repent or periſh irreverſibly, (the kingdom uſed by God at this time, as Antiochus of old by the Roman Ambaſſadors, put into a circle, as it were, and not ſuffered to come out, till we ſhall give our anſwer) we deſert and renounce eſtates and lives, honours, and ſouls and all, rather than retrench or abate ought of this accurſed ſuperfluity.
And to this unſavoury humour and cuſtom of the world, one Uſe may be brought home from St. Pauls Sermon, though taken in cypher, foreign, of continence, I beſeech you ſave me the pains, reſume and enlarge it to your ſelves.
3. For judgment to come, 1. That there is ſuch a thing. 2. That it deſcends to ſuch mean particulars as juſtice and continence, I cannot but in paſſing be your Remembrancer.
1. That there is ſuch a thing.
Injuſtice and incontinence are two main ſupplanters of all belief of the judgment to come; when a man hath once ſet up that infamous trade of the foreign, 1 Tim. 6. of reſolving to be rich in ſpight of all thoſe objections, and ſtops, and encumbrances of honeſty and direct dealing, when he is come to a contemning that pedantry of juſtice, of obſervation of Oaths, that ſhall interpoſe ſo uncivilly to reſiſt his thrift and advancement in the world, believe it, the minae vatum, the news of the judgment to come, in the Preachers mouth, will be under an heavy ſuſpicion of fraud and cheat, and in fine, paſs but for fictions and mormo's, too weak to outlook a brave glittering temptation: the Taxes on the Eccleſiaſticks in Florence, which no body elſe dare collect for fear of the Popes thunderbolts; the Jews will exact undauntedly. Now the covetous worldling is that Jew, whoſe ſoul being gone down into the bowels of the earth, foreign, in Diodorus his phraſe, to an eternal drudgery in the gold-mineral, is out of the reach of ſounds from Heaven, out of the awe, or noiſe of thunderbolts. The Mammoniſt is in your danger, at your mercy to turn Atheiſt, whenſoever you bid him, whenſoever the lure of Gold ſhall be at leiſure to tempt him, ready to renounce all hope, all fear of another world, whenſoever your goods are ſo put within his reach, that an eaſie perjury will bring them into his Inventory.
And for the luſts of the fleſh, 'twas Ariſtotles obſervation, that they are foreign, they debauch and corrupt our principles, they ſend up more heathen fumes into the brain, than any other diſtemper can do. Saint Cyril tells us of ſome Idolaters that would have only a day-God, becauſe the night was a time for revelling, and to have a God then, would deſtroy their game, and therefore they pitcht upon the Sun, foreign, that they might be Atheiſts all night, and then they take it out to purpoſe, foreign, (as St. Baſil ſaith of the Gluttons faſts) revenging themſelves on their Day-devotions by their Night-revels, never acknowledge a God, when a luſt is to be loſt by it: and Athenagoras hath given it for a rule, that the denying of the Reſurrection, the reſolved concluding the world with this life, and believing nothing of another, is the foreign, the only beloved doctrine of the voluptuous. He that hath once transformed himſelf into that ſwine, hath his Optick Nerves ſo chang'd in his forehead, that (as Plut. obſerves of that creature) he never ſees Heaven again, till he be laid on his back. And, I fear the race of ſuch heathen ſwine, is likely within a while to prove the prime ſtaple commodity of the land.
We are fallen into peeviſh times, wherein all Gods methods are quite perverted; the powerfull'ſt means that were ever afforded for the caſting ſuch Devils out of a Kingdom, are debauch'd into matter of improvement and heightning of the humour, and even dethroning God, if he will not comply with it; the very Angels that came to Sodom to viſit for villany, are once more aſſaulted and violated by our luſts; I mean, thoſe judgments from Heaven upon a vitious Generation, that would have inſpired a Colony of Scythians with ſome piety, by a ſtrange kind of Antiperiſtaſis, or contrary working, have made men more profane, and godleſs, than ever they were before; the ſtorm ſo cloſe over our heads, that in other Kingdoms they ſay ſets them a ringing bells, ſhooting guns, lifting up voices to break and diſſolve the cloud that threatens them, hath ſet us upon the ſame deſign by oaths and blaſphemies, and thoſe accurſed foreign the ſhouts of our Souldiers, have broke the cloud indeed, brought down (not the Dove flying over our heads, as Hiſtorians tell us, a ſhout in an Army once did, and an Army of united prayers may do ſo again, but) the Eagle to a carkaſe, the Night-raven to the funeral of a Conſumptive Church and Monarchy, an Hell from Heaven upon an abominable people.
foreign, could the Tyrant Phalaris ſay, He that is not made ſo…er by many ſufferings is abſolutely inſenſate. And yet God knows, out of this rock the greateſt part of this Age ſeems to be hewed: The thunder about our ears that could teach the moſt barbarous Nations to believe and tremble, the breaking in of the Lions that diſciplin'd the Aſſyrians in Samaria to ſeek out inſtruction in the manner of the God of the land, 2 Kings 17. Gods uſing us as the Phyſician, in the Epigram, did the Lethargick Patient, putting a Lunatick into the ſame room with him, to dry-beat us, is poſſible, into ſenſe and life again: His proceeding to that great cure of the foreign, diſſolving the habit of the body politick, and to that end, letting blood to a deliquium, which Hippocrates reſolves ſo neceſſary to abate the foreign, the high, full, athletick health, that is ſo dangerous in his Aphoriſms; the driving out into the field with Nebuchadnezzar, which infuſed reaſon into that foreign, which untransform'd him again, and raiſed up his eyes to an acknowledgment of him that liveth for ever, Dan. 4. have, God knows, wrought the quite contrary on us, waſted the ſeeds of natural piety within us, erected Academies of Atheiſm, endowed them with Schools and Profeſſours, where the art of it may be learned at a reaſonable rate; a young ſinner of an ordinary capacity, may within a few months obſervation, ſet up Atheiſt for himſelf, prophane, ſcoff at the Clergy, be very keen and witty upon Scripture, have exceptions againſt the Service of the Church, and all with as good grace as if he had ſerv'd and Apprentiſhip in Italy; or at the feet of that great Maſter, that Martyr of Atheiſm, Vanninus.
He that at the breaking in of this torrent of miſery upon the land, had but walk'd in the counſel of the …ngodly, was but upon probation and deliberation whether he ſhould be wicked or no; that after ſome months, when the waters began to turn into blood, was yet advanced to a moderate proficiency, a ſtanding in the way of ſinners, and found it but an uneaſie weariſome poſture, a ſtanding upon thorns or flints; is now fairly ſate down in the chair of the Scorner, or prophane Atheiſt; in cathedrâ, as a place of eaſe or repoſe, can blaſpheme without any regrets of a petulant conſcience; in cathedrâ, as a ſeat of ſtate, prophanes with a better grace than he can do any thing elſe, is become a conſiderable perſon upon that one account, is valued among Lookers on, by that only excellency; and in cathedrâ again, as a Profeſſors chair, a Doctor of that black faculty, ready to entertain Clients, to gather Diſciples, to ſet up an Independent Church of rational Blaſphemers, and (being himſelf a complete Convert, ſufficiently approved to Satan) to confirm and ſtrengthen thoſe puny Brethren, that are not arrived to the accurſed meaſure of that fulneſs, fit them with Machiavels capacity for vaſt undertakings, by that excellent quality of being wicked enough, the want of which, ſaith he, hath been the undoing of the world. And ſhall not God viſit for this? ſhall he not be avenged on ſuch a Nation as this? A wonderful and horrible thing is wrought in the land, the judgments that were ſent to awake, have numni'd and petrefied us, the fire in the bowels of this earth of ours, hath turn'd us into perfect quarry and mine, and as Diodorus tells us, in Arabia the Ice and Cryſtal is congeal'd foreign, by the power of Divine fire, and not by cold: ſo are theſe icy Cryſtal hearts of ours frozen by that fire from Heaven, that ſhall one day ſet the whole Univerſe a melting.
But beſides theſe Atheiſts of the firſt magnitude, other inferiour pretenders there are, that cannot ſhake off all apprehenſions of all judgment to come, but yet upon diſtant tamer principles, can do Satans buſineſs as well; for ſuch trifles as this Text takes notice of, the contraries to juſtice and continence, they have an foreign, like Marcus in Iren. that charnied ſhield from the Mother of the Gods, which ſhall render them foreign, inviſible to the Judge; The judicature erected by Chriſt, takes not cognizance of ſuch moral breaches as theſe, there nothing but infidelity proves capital, or if the breaches of the Firſt Table may be brought in collaterally under that head▪ yet for theſe venial defailances againſt the Second, this toy of circumventing our brethren, of defiling the fleſh, (as its conſequent in S. Jude, ſpeaking evil of dignities) Chriſt came to make expiation for ſuch, not to receive bills of indictment againſt them, to be their Prieſt, but not their Judge. I remember a ſaying of Picus Mirandula, That a ſpeculative Atheiſt is the greateſt monſter but one; and that is the practical Atheiſt. And yet this is the darling of the carnal Fiduciaries, that can help him to reconcile his groſſeſt ſins, his any thing with Faith; how well, you will have leiſure to ſee, if you pleaſe to deſcend with me from the abſolute to the relative view of the matter of S. Pauls Sermon, and conſider firſt the relation which it hath to the Text on which he preach'd it, and that you ſhall ſee in the former verſe, foreign, concerning the faith on Chriſt, and that is my next ſtage.
foreign, The faith on Chriſt, the phraſe that ſome nice Obſervers have laid ſuch weight on, to denote the ſpecial act of juſtifying faith, as 'tis and affiance on Chriſt; of a far higher pitch, than either the believing Chriſt, or believing in Chriſt; and yet it ſeems, thoſe ſo deſpicable moral vertues, (thoſe that ſo few think neceſſary, and ſome have affirm'd, deſtructive and pernicious to ſalvation) are here brought in by S. Paul, (I hope not impertinently) under this head, juſtice, and continence, and judgment to come, parts of a Sermon of the faith on Chriſt.
So 1 Cor. where St. Paul had faſten'd his determination, chap. 2. to know nothing among them but Jeſus Chriſt, and him crucified, in the very next chap. he charges them with ſins of carnality, ſtrife, envying…, factions; in the 5. with Fornication or inceſt; In the 6. with going to law before Infidels: all theſe, it ſeems, the prime contrarieties to the faith or knowledge of the crucified Saviour. Thus in St. James, you may mark, that works of charity and mercy are called foreign, Religion, ch. 1.27. And being authorized from ſuch great Apoſtles, I ſhall not fear to tell you, that the prime part of the knowledge, and faith, and religion of CHRIST, the life and power of Chriſtianity, is the ſetting up and reigning of theſe vertues in our hearts: you may ſee it, Tit. 2.11. The grace of God that bringeth ſalvation to all men, hath appeared, foreign, the Catholick ſalvifick grace, be it Chriſt himſelf, or the Goſpel of Chriſt; and the end of this Epiphany follows, foreign, to diſcipline, or to teach us, that denying ungodlineſs and worldly luſts, we ſhould live ſoberly and righteouſly, the very vertues in this Text, with the addition of one tranſcendent one, and godly, in this preſent world: A ſtrange catalogue of fundamentals, one would think, for Chriſt to aſcend the croſs to preach unto us; We expect other manner of doctrines from him, doctrines of liberty, Jubilee and manumiſſion, (as the merit and acquiſition of his ſufferings) of ſecurity and protection from ſin, that a little carnality ſhall not hurt us, of freeing us from this bondage to obediences, at leaſt, from any judgment to come, for ſuch errors as theſe, that fleſh and blood makes ſo neceſſary and incorrigible: We have generally a ſmoother ſcheme of Chriſtianity than Salvian dream'd of, in his [Quid eſt fides, niſi praeceptis Chriſti obedire?] What is is Faith, but obedience to the commands of Chriſt?] The neceſſity of purifying, or mortifying of luſts, goes for an hereſie of this nicer Age, which muſt ſuperadd works to faith, our own obedience to the righteouſneſs of Chriſt, and ſo in Simon Magus his phraſe, homines in ſervitutem redigere, make ſlaves of free-born men, have them live as well, as if Chriſt had never died for them.
The truth is, the doctrine we have now in hand, if believed and obey'd, is ſo certainly deſtructive of the Devils kingdom (and none other ſo certain but this) that you cannot blame Satan and his inſtruments, to cry it down as the vileſt hereſie in the world.
He may hope for ſome tolerable quarter from any other principles, eſpecially from thoſe of the Solifidian and Fiduciary, brave, delicate, inoffenſive doctrines, that have nothing in them contrary to paſſions, and that gets them ſuch zealous Advocates, for by this divinity they have their luſts. And though it pleaſes God, by the power of his Grace to preſerve ſome men, that have imbibed theſe principles, from thoſe foreign, in Epiphaniu… 's phraſe, thoſe ſtreams of brimſtone, that naturally flow from ſuch mines as theſe, I mean from the pernicious and poyſonous effects of them, though ſome that conceive obedience unneceſſary to juſtification, live very ſtrict and gracious lives in ſpight of all thoſe advantages and encouragements to the contrary, yet now God knows, the truth is too groſly diſcovered; the Gnoſticks Divinity begins to revive, a great deal of carnal, I am ſure of ſpiritual filthineſs, yea all the profaneneſs and villany in the world, is now the moſt natural ſpawn of thoſe infuſions; and to look no further than the glaſs, and thoſe foul ſelves which that reflects unto us, The cauſe of God, and the faith of Chriſt, of which we are ſeriouſly ſuch Champions, is I fear as much diſhonoured and renounced by our faithleſs, apoſtate, atheiſtical actions, by our helliſh oaths and imprecations, (that pultroon ſin, that ſecond part of Aegyptian plague of frogs and lice, and locuſts, the baſeſt that ever had the honour to blaſt a Royal Army, that caſts us into ſuch Epileptick fits, ſuch impure foamings at the mouth, and will not be bound, no not with chains; in a word, by our going on in ſuch ſins, againſt which the denunciation is moſt punctual, that they which do theſe things ſhall never enter into the kingdom of Heaven, and yet flattering our ſelves, that we ſhall not fail to enter, as by all the ſpecies of infidelity, all the Judaiſm, and Mahometiſm, and Barbariſm in the world. And therefore as it is the mercy of the Apoſtle thus to diſabuſe his beſotted Corinthians, [know ye not] and [be not deceived] neither Fornicators, nor any of that beſtial crew, ſhall inherit the kingdom of heaven; in th…ſi, ſo is it the juſtice of his charity to make it a prime ingredient in an Apoſtolick Sermon; ſcarce any other Article ſo neceſſary to be preached, eſpecially to a Felix, whether as a Commander, or as a Heathen, or as one peculiarly guilty of thoſe ſins: and that is the ſecond part of the relative aſpect of theſe words, as they refer to the Auditory, my next particular.
And 1. as Felix was an Eques Romanus, Procurator of Judaea, whoſe power gave him opportunities to be unjuſt; and his ſplendid life, temptations to incontinence; no part of Chriſtian Religion, no Article of the Creed is ſo proper for his turn, as the doctrine of the judgment to come, for ſuch ſins as theſe: that palliate vulgar cure of healing and not ſearching of wounds, of preaching aſſurance of preſent pardon, before reformation is wrought, of ſolacing but not amending of ſinners, is not the method in Saint Pauls, in Chriſts diſpenſatory; 'tis the ſcandal rather and reproach of Chriſtianity in Julian, foreign, ſecurity, and protection, and place of confidence from Chriſt to the moſt polluted villain, the defamation of Conſtantine in Zoſimus, that he turn'd Chriſtian, becauſe he was guilty of ſuch ſins, for which no other Religion allowed expiation; No, the only ſafe medicinal courſe is, to apply corroſives and cauſticks, the terrours of the Lord, and the conſuming fire of the Lord, the judgment to come, when any mortified fleſh is to be gotten out; and to accept the face of a F…lix in this kind, to withhold thoſe ſaving medicines in civility to the perſon to whom they are to be adminiſ…ed, and ſo ſuffer that ſin upon my ſplendid Neighbour, that my charity requires me to rebuke in any meaner perſon, this is the unjuſteſt rudeneſs in the world, the moſt treacherous ſenſleſs compliance, the moſt barbarous civility, cruel mercy, the telling him in effect, that he is too great to be cured; this, ſaith Procopius, is the ſaluting by the way, which Eliſha forbids Gehazi, and Chriſt the Diſciples, the one when he went to cure, the other to preach; and 'tis his obſervation there, that ſuch civilities foreign, keep Preachers from working any miracles, the gentle handling of the great mans ſins, is many times the damning of him, and debauching all the neighbourhood; The Lord be merciful to our whole Tribe, for our uncharitable omiſſions in this matter.
And for once I may chance to deſerve your pardon, if I do not conceive the flatteringſt addreſſes to you, to be always the friendlieſt: If in meer charity to ſome Auditors I imitate my Saviour, and tell you of woes even under a Saviour, of caſting into utter darkneſs where the worm never dieth, and the fire is not quenched, with all the variations and exchange of accents, three times repeated by our Saviour, within four Verſes; of an horrendum eſt, what a fearful thing it is to fall into Gods hands, and be ground to powder, by that fall, if I bring out all thoſe Topicks of ſo true, and withall ſuch amazing Rhetorick, with [who can dwell with everlaſting burnings?] and all little enough to rouze you out of that dead prodigious ſleep of ſin, to retrench the fury of one riotous luſt,
I beſeech you tell me, is there ever a judgement to come, ever an account to be given for moral vertues? Do you ſo much as fear, that for every unclean embrace, or dalliance, every ſhameleſs loud riot, for every boiſterous rage or execration, that I may not add, for every contumelious rude addreſs to the throne of grace, every baſe contempt of that majeſty that fills this place, God ſhall one day call you into judgement? if you do, and yet go on in theſe, believe me, you are the vallianteſt daringſt perſons in the world: and if death be not more formidable to you than hell, you are fit for a reſerve, or forlorn hope, for the Cannons mouth, for Cuiraiſiers, for fiends to duel with: and let me for once ſet up an infamous trade, read you a Lecture of cowardiſe, and aſſure you that a judgment to come may be allow'd to ſet you a trembling; that it may be reconcilable with Gallantry, to fear him that can caſt both body and ſoul into hell, and put you in mind of that, which perhaps you have not conſidered, that you are not Atheiſts enough, to ſtand out thoſe terrours when they begin to come cloſe up to you, in a death-bed-clap of thunder: Cain that was the firſt of this Order, was not able to bear that near approach, he went out from the preſence of the Lord; and the Rabbins have a fanſie of Abſalom, that when he was hang'd by his hair in the midſt of his rebellion, he durſt not cut it, becauſe he ſaw hell below him, but choſe to die rather than adventure to fall into that place of horrour, that his attached conſcience had prepared for him; They are, believe it, ſuch unreformed Atheiſtical hights as theſe, that have made it ſo indifferent a choice, Whether the kingdom be deſtroyed, or no; whether it be peopled with Satyrs, or with wilder men, become all deſart, or all Bedlam.
This heavieſt judgment that ever fell upon a Nation, extream miſery, and extream fury, is, I confeſs, a moſt direful ſight, but withall, a more inauſpicious prognoſtick, a ſound of a Trumpet to that laſt more fatal Day, with an Ariſe thou dementate ſinner and come to judgment; When all our moſt bloudy ſufferings and more bloudy ſins got together into one Akeldama or Tophet, ſhall prove but an adumbration of that heavier future doom, after which we ſhall do that to ſome purpoſe, which we do now but like beginners, by way of eſſay, curſe God and die, ſuffer and blaſpheme, blaſpheme and ſuffer for ever.
But then ſecondly, this doctrine of juſtice, and continence, and judgement to come, is moſt neceſſary, as to awake the courtly Governour Felix, ſo in the next place, to convert the unbelieving heathen Felix.
Will you ſee the firſt principles of the doctrine of Chriſt, when they are to be infuſed into ſuch an one, or as the Original hath it, foreign, Heb. 6.1. the doctrine of the beginning of Chriſt, the laws of the foreign, or initiation of a heathen Convert, the elements of his Catechiſm, they are in that place, Heb. 6.2. 1. Repentance from dead works. And 2. Faith towards God. 3. Reſurrection. And 4. Eternal judgment: and believe me, for him that thus comes unto God out of his animal heathen unregenerate life, foreign, the Catalogue of the neceſſariò credenda, is not over large, he muſt believe that God is, and that he is a rewarder, Heb. 11.6. this, and it ſeems no more but this, is the minimum quod ſic, the ſumm of the faith, without which 'tis impoſſible to pleaſe him: and therefore perhaps it was, that Ammianus Marcellinus expreſſes his wonder, that Conſtantius ſhould call ſo many Councils, whereas before; Chriſtian Religion was res ſimpliciſſima, a plain Religion without contentions or intricacies, and Epiphanius of the primitive times, that foreign & foreign, divided the Church into its true and erroneous members, Impiety the only Heretick, good life the orthodox profeſſour.
Next the acknowledgment of the one God, and his eternal Son the crucified Meſſias of the world, and the Holy Ghoſt, thoſe one and three Authors of our Religion, into which we are baptized (and thoſe few other branches of that faith) the judgment to come, and the practice of Chriſtian vertues in the elevated Chriſtian pitch, is the prime, if not only neceſſary. And though there be more to be known, fit to exerciſe his induſtry, or his curioſity, that hath treaſur'd up theſe fundamentals in an honeſt heart; yet ſure, not to ſerve his carnal mind, to purge his ſpleen, to provoke his choler, to break communions, to dilapidate that peace, that charity, that Chriſt, beyond all other inheritances, bequeathed to his diſciples. Let us but joyn in that unity of ſpirit in thoſe things which we all know to be Articles of Faith, and the preciſe conſcientious practice of what we cannot chuſe but know to be branches of our duty, and I ſhall never lead you into any confounding depths or mazes, divert you one minute by a walk in the gallery, from that more Chriſtian imployment and task in the workhouſe: And that will be the improvement of the ſecond particular.
Laſtly, as the Felix was guilty of thoſe ſins, which thoſe vertues did reproach to him.
This Felix is to be met with in our books, preſented to us on a double view of Tacitus and Joſephus; Tacitus renders him an Eques Romanus, that Claudius had ſent Procurator of Judaea, to manage it for a time, and ſaith, he did it per omnem ſaevitiam & libidinem, in the moſt cruel arbitrary manner; and then ſee the difference of an Apoſtolick Preacher, from Tertullus the Rhetor, the one at his humble addreſs and acknowledgment of the obligations that the whole Nation had received from this most excellent Felix, ver. 2. But Saint Paul in a pricking cloſe diſcourſe, of juſtice, and (upon neglect of it) judgment to come.
Joſephus he looks nearer into his actions, and finds him a tyrannical uſurper of another mans wife, Druſilla ſeduced to his bed from her husband Azys the King of the Emeſſ…ni. And then the Sermon of the faith on Chriſt preſently lets looſe at this adulterous couple; and ſo you have the ſeaſonableneſs of the foreign too, of chaſtity to the unchaſte Felix, and of judgment to come on ſuch waſting ſins.
This will certainly teach the Preacher, the combatant of the Lord, the foreign, the regular manner of his duelling with ſin, not the foreign, wounding the empty air, laſhing thoſe ſins or ſinners, that are out of reach of his ſtripes, but the cloſer, nearer encounter, the directing his blows at thoſe crimes that are preſent to him, moſt culpable and viſible in his Auditory; and thus graſping with the Goliah of Gath, the talleſt Philiſtine in the company.
There is a wide diſtance betwixt reproaching of preſent, and abſent ſinners, the ſame that betwixt reproof, and backbiting, the boldneſs and courage of a champion, and the detractions and whiſpers of a villain; the firſt, is an indication of ſpirit; the ſecond, of gall; the firſt, that a man dares attempt the loving, and ſaving of his brother, when he ſhall endanger being curſed and hat…d for it, ſacrifice your opinion to your health, your kindneſs to your ſouls; the ſecond, is a character of a Sollicitor fee'd on none but Satans errand, an Orator to ſet you a railing, but not a trembling, one that can write Satyrs, on condition they ſhall do you no good, incenſe, but not reform, that if it ſhall be poſſible for hell to loſe by his Sermon, will never preach more; The one meaneth to transform his Auditory into converts and Saints, the other into Broylers and Devils; the one hath all the charity, the other all the mean malice and treachery in his deſign.
And having ſuch a copy before our eyes, ſuppoſe a man ſhould divert a little to tranſcribe it, and inſtead of prudence, and tempering and reviling of thoſe that are out of our reach, reaſon a while of one branch of juſtice, yea, and of the faith of Chriſt, in which 'tis poſſible we may ſome of us be concern'd; and enquire, Whether there be not a piece of Turkiſh Divinity ſtole out of their Alchoran into our Creed; that of Proſperum & felix ſcelus virtus vocatur, whether the great laws of Vertue and Vice, be not by ſome Politici, taken out of the Ephemerides, nothing decreed honeſt, but what we can prognoſticate ſuccesful, the [victa Catoni] the liking that cauſe which the heavens do not ſmile on, is a piece of Philoſophical ſullenneſs, which we have not yet learn'd of Chriſt; What is this, but as Saint Bernard complains in his time, that thoſe images had the moſt hearty adorations performed to them, which had moſt of the gold and gemms about them; the God obliged to the Image, and the Image to the dreſs, for all the Votaries it met with; Have the Romaniſts marks of the Church ſo convinc'd us, that we muſt preſently forſake a Saviour, becauſe we ſee him in danger of crucifying, tear our Goſpels, and run out with horrour, aſſoon as we come to the 26. of Mat. The multitude with ſwords and ſtaves for to take him? Was the Cauſe of God worth the charge and pains of killing men formerly, and is it not worth the patience and conſtancy of ſuffering now? Is there any condition in the world ſo hugely deſireable, as that of ſuffering for or with Chriſt? foreign, [Behold, we count them happy that ſuffer,] was Goſpel in Saint James his days, Chap. 5.11. (the foreign denotes the ſtate of the foreign, the dead Saints in their countrey of Viſion, as you know Saint Steven at the minute of his ſufferings ſaw the glory of God, and Jeſus ſitting) the ſtate of ſuffering is a ſtate of bliſs, I may add a ſuperiour degree of a glorified ſtate, a more than foreign, a dignity above that Orbe that the Angels move in; For, they for want of Bodies are deprived of the honour of ſuffering, all that they aſpire to, is but to be our Seconds, our Aſſiſtants in this combate; only Chriſt and we have the encloſure of that vaſt preferment. And if there be any need to heighten it yet further, is there any prize more worthy that maſculine valour, than that venerable ſacred name Jeruſalem the Mother of us all, that brought us forth unto Chriſt, begot us to all our hope of bliſs, and now, for no other crime but that, is a ſtrugling under the pangs and agonies of a bitter combate with the ingratefull'ſt children under Heaven? the Church of England, I mean, which whoſoever hath learning and temper enough to underſtand, knows to be the brighteſt image of primitive purity, the moſt perfect conjuncture of the moſt ancient and moſt holy Faith, that for theſe twelve hundred years any man ever had the honour of defending, or ſuffering for. And ſhould the provocations of an ungracious people the not valuing or not walking worthy of the treaſures here reſerv'd, the rude continued iniquities of our holy things, tempt God to deliver it up, as he did once his Ark to the Philiſtins, his Chriſt to the Phariſees and the Souldiers, the zeal of the one, and the fury of the other; yet ſure this would not be the confuting of what now I ſay, 'twould not, I muſt hope, be an argument of Gods renouncing that Ark, and that Chriſt, which he did not thus deliver. The Turks having conquer'd and torn out of the Chriſtians hands the places of the Birth and paſſion of Chriſt, did after this way of Logick, infer that God had judg'd the cauſe for Mahomet againſt Chriſt; and Trajan could ask the primitive Martyr Ignatius, Et nos non tibi videmur foreign, &c. Have not we as much of God in us as you, who proſper by the help of our deities againſt our enemies? Let me purloin or borrow this heathen piece out of your hands, and I ſhall be able to give you an antienter piece in exchange for it, a thorough Chriſtian Reſolution of abiding by God, of approving our ſelves to Heaven, and to our own breaſts, whatſoever it coſts us, of venturing the Ermins fate (the very Hunters hand, rather than foul her body) the pati, & mori poſſe, the paſſive as well as the active courage, which will bear us up through all difficulties, bring us days of refreſhment here, or elſe provide us anthems in the midſt of flames, a paradiſe of comfort here, and of joyes hereafter. and let this ſerve for the exemplifying the point in hand, the fitneſs of our Apoſtles diſcourſe to Felix's ſtate.
I might do it again by telling you of the dreadful majeſty that dwells in this houſe, the deſignation of it to be a houſe of Prayer to all people, a place of crying mightily to the Lord at ſuch times as theſe: ſhould I let looſe a whole hour on this theme in this place, 'twould be but too perfect a parallel of Saint Pauls diſcourſe of chaſtity before Felix, which in any reaſon ought to ſet many of my Auditors a trembling, but it ſeems we have not yet ſufferings enough to do ſo: and there is one particular behind that will reſcue you from this uneaſie ſubject, the manner of Saint Pauls handling this theme, by way of reaſoning. And when he reaſoned, &c.
The importance of this reaſoning I ſhall but name to you, which I conceive to be, 1. The propoſing to a very Heathens conſideration, the equity and reaſonableneſs that there ſhould be a judgment to come, to recompence the unjuſt and incontinent perſon. And 2. the charging home to each ſinners heart, the extream unreaſonableneſs, that for ſo poor advantages as either of thoſe ſins bring in to any man, he ſhould think fit to venture that diſmal payment in another world.
And now my Brethren, to conclude this reaſoning, and your task of patience together; when you are likely to have ſo little excuſe in periſhing, ſo no colour of reaſon for ſo wild an option, of chuſing death in the errour of your wayes, when you muſt be ſo out of countenance when you come to that place of darkneſs, ſo unable to give an account to any fiend that meets you, why you ſhould caſt away all the treaſures in the world for that ſo ſad a purchaſe, and act that really which the Rabbins feign of the Child Moſes, prefer the coal of fire before the ingot of gold, chop it into your mouths and ſo ſinge your tongue, not to make you ſtammer with him, but howle with Dives for ever after, and not get one drop to quench the tip of that tongue, which is ſo ſadly tormented in thoſe flames; when, I ſay, you are likely to come ſo excuſeleſs to your torments, ſo unpitied, and ſo ſcorned, ſo without all honour in your ſufferings, as having but your petitions granted you, advanced to your vengeance as to your preferment, optantibus ipſis, whilſt Heaven was look'd on as a troubleſome impertinent ſuiter, and you would not be happy, only becauſe you would not; O remember then the Diſciples farewel, when they gave over the Jews, and turn'd to the Gentiles, Behold you deſpiſers, and wonder, and periſh; But before you do ſo, if it be poſſible give one vital ſpring, and if but for Pythagoras's [foreign] for the reverence, (if not the charity) for the honour and awe you owe to your own ſouls, if not to ſave them, yet to ſave your credits in the world, to manifeſt that you are not ſuch abject fools, retract your choice, call back the hoſtages you have given to Satan, and ſet out on a more rational, more juſtifiable voyage. You have heard of the rich Spaniard that had put all his eſtate into jewels, how he was ready to run mad with the fanſie of thinking what a condition he ſhould be in, if all men next morning ſhould awake wiſe, that he ſhould become not only the arranteſt Begger, but the moſt ridiculous Fool. And believe it, that laſt Trump when it begins to ſound, will have the faculty thus to make all men wiſe, to diſabuſe, and inſpire the whole world with a new ſenſe: Thoſe that are in the flames before you, will reproach your madneſs, count you but Bedlams to come thither; Poor Dives, if he had but a Meſſenger, would long ſince have ſent you a hideous report and admonition, that whatever it coſt you, you ſhould not venture coming to that place of torments; O let Saint Pauls reaſoning do it to us here, that we make not ſuch piteous bargains, pay not ſo ſad a price for ſo pure a nothing. Let us be wiſe now, that we may be happy eternally; which wiſdom the only way to that happineſs, God of his infinite mercy grant us all: to whom, &c.