FROM THE LIBRARY OF
REV. LOUIS FITZGERALD BENSON, D. D.
BEQUEATHED BY HIM TO
THE LIBRARY OF
PRINCETON THEOLOGICAL SEMINARY
Digitized by the Internet Archive
in 2013
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A N
Humble A1
TOWARDS THE
REVIVAL
%
JUL 12 1.^32
O F
Practical Religion
AMONG
CHRISTIANS,
BY A
SERIOUS ADDRESS
T O
MINISTERS and PEOPLE,
In fome Occafional Difcourfes.
-_ .
By /. IV ATT S% D. D.
The ThirdEdition,
L 0 N D 0 N :
Printed for James Brack.stone, at
the Globe in Cornhill. 1742.
THE
PREFACE.
AMong the Papers publijhed lajl Tear,
there hath been feme Enquiry made.
whether there be any Decay of the Diffenting
Inter eft and what may be fuppofed to have been
the Occafion of it. So far as I have fear, bed
into that Matter, I have been informed ; that
whatfoever Decreafe may have appeared infome
Places, there have been fenfible Adva?ices in
others. And without entering into any Debate
about the particular Reafons of its D-eclenJion
in any Town whatfoever *, I am well fatisfied
that the great and general Reafon is the Decay
of vital Religion in tht Hearts and Lives of
Men, and the little Succefs zvhich the Minijlra-
tions Gf the Gofpel have had of late for the Con-
verfion of Sinners to Holinefs, and the Reco-
very of t hern, from the State of corrupt Nature
and the ^ourfe of this World,4o the Life of God
by Jefus Chrift. If this be not our Hope and
Defign, the Support Gf the Diffenting Intereil
is but of little Importance. JVhai is it that we
mean by afferting the Rights and Freedom of
Confcience in our Separation from the eftablifioed
A 2 Church,
* This whole Affair h let in {t^ befi: Ligiit in a little
Pamphlet, entituled, Free Thoughts on the tnofl frobabh
Mca?:s of Reviving the Diffenting lnterefi% occa [toned by £
late Enquiry into the Caufes of its Decay: Printed iox
R. Hett in the Poultry. 1730.
fr PREFACE.
jChurch, but more effectually to promote -the
Kingdom of God amongft Men, to do more
Honour to the Name of Ch nil our Saviour in
his Inftitutions, and better to carry on the bleffed
Work of the Salvation of Souls ?
But if thefe Things are not happily promoted
ftmongft us, 'tis no wonder that Perfons releafe
themfeives from all the biccnveniencies that in
fome Places may attend their Separation from
a publick Eftablifbment, efpecially when ytis fa
evident that the Allurements of Riches and
Hcmurs, and publick Trufts and Offices lie all
on that Side.
Nor is the Complaint of the Decknfien of
Virtue and Piety made only by the Proteftant
Diffenters : 'Tis a general Matter of mournful
Qbfervation amongft all that lay the Caufe of
(Jed to Heart : And therefore it cannot be
thought amifs for every one to ufe alljuft and
proper Efforts for the Recovery of dying Reli-
gion in the World. And fine e fome thing may be
dgne amongft the Minifters, and fomething
among the People, to attain this defirable
End, I have been perfuaded to publifh thefe
following Exhortations or Addrefles which are
dire tied both to the one and the other.
"The Exhortation to Minifters was compofed
at the Requeft of my worthy Friend and Brother
Mr. John Oakes, and defigned to have been
delivered at his publick Ordination in the Con-
gregation of di ft en ting P rot eft ants at Chefhunt
in Hertfordfhire, on November \ith, 1729
But
PREFACE. v
But the Providence of God prevented me from
fulfilling that Service by confining me to a Bed
of Sicknefs on that Day. In the Compofition of
that Difcourfe my Thoughts ran out to four or
five Times the Length of what would have been
fufficient for that Service, fo that I mufi have
greatly contracted it in the Delivery : But
being much importuned both by my Reverend
Brother, who has perufedfar the great eft Part
of it, and by the Congregation now under his
Care, to make it publick, I have revifed it
with a larger View, and humbly hope that my
younger Brethren in the Miniftry may be in
fome Meafure excited and encouraged hereby to
do their Part toward the Revival of decaying
Piety. 'Tis exprefsly with this View andDefign,
that my worthy Friend Mr. David Some in
Leicefterfhire publifhed an excellent Sermon
loft Tear, the Perufal whereof I would heartily
recommend to all my Brethren.
The following Exhortation to the People
was delivered in fever al Difcourfes to the Con-
gregation which I ferve in the Gofpel \ and I
would hope it has made fome ferious Impreffions
on the Minds of thofe who heard it,ftnce it had
been much defer* d that they might have a Re-
view of it by theAffftance of the Prefs. Among
the many Motives which may be urged upon the
Confidences of our Hearers, in order to awaken
them to ftrengthen the Things that remain
and are ready to die, / thought it not impro-
per to borrow fome Arguments for this purpofe
from
vi PREFACE.
from their on n Profeffion as Proteflant Diflen-
ters, and as feparating from the ejiablijhed
Worfhip of the Nation : And this I have done
Without entering into a Detail of all theGrounds
cf our Practice, or vindicating the Caufe of
Nonconformity, which has beenfufficiently per-
formed by other Writers. While we quit all
the outward Advantages of the national Efta-
bli foment by worfnipping in feparate Afflcmblies,.
*tis prefumed in the Nature of Things, that we
clo it (or at leaf that we fhoulddo it) upon the
Profpeft of feme better Advantages for Religi-
on ; and we hereby alfo lay our felves under Jpe-
cial Obligations to make the beft Improvement
of thefe real or fuppofed Advantages.
But this particular Motive relating to the
DiiTenters is purfued only in the middle Part
cf thai Difcourfe : Thefrji and the latter Sec-
tions of it are of equal Concern and Importance-
to Proteftants of every Name and Party : The
Senfe and Style are fuited to common Under-
fan dings : Novelties and Elegancies are lefs
needful, where the Writer's whole Aim is to
charge andimprefs the Confcience with the plain
Rules and Duties cf practical Religion. And,
way the Spirit of God, by his heavenly Influ-
ences, render what was defigrfd fincerely for
the Revival of real Godlinefs amongft us all,
effectual to attain this bleffed End !
There is no Party of Chriflians whatfeever,
who have Liberty to chufe their own Way of
Worfhip, but pretend jhey are blefj'ed with
fome
PREFACE. vii
fome fpecial Advantages for the Service of
God, and their Increafe in Piety or Virtue be-
yond their Neighbours \ and ihefe 'pretended
Advantages lay them under proportionable
Obligations of Duty. A great Part of this
Addrefs which I have made to our People
tends to enforce every fort of Engagement upon
their Confciences, and to excite them tofuperior
Degrees of Holinefs ; and 9tis the fine ere Defire
of my Soul, that our Brethren of the Church of
England alfo may improve to the utmofh all
their pub lick Privileges of every kind for the
Increafe of Virtue and Religion. May every
Denomination of Chriftians in the Land main-
tain a holy Emulation with each other, which
of us fhall run fwiftefi in the Courfe of the
Chrifiian Life, and make the mofi eminent Ad-
vances toward the heavenly World ! Amen,
Jpril 2, 1 7J I.
A
Table of the Contents,
aN Exhrtation to Mini/1 ers from Col. iv. 17.
^— Take heed to the Miniftry which thou haft
received in the Lord, that thou fulfil it Page l
S E c T. I. Of a Minifler's perfonal Religion 3
II. Of a Minified s private Studies 1 1
III. Of his public k Miniflr at ions J 2
IV. OftheConverfationofaMinifler 80
V. Afokmn Enforcement ofthefe Exhortations on
the Confcience 92
Aferious Addrefs to the People from Matth. v. 47
What do you more than others?
S E c T I. The Text applied to the Difciples 1 08
II. "The Application of the Text to our own Age
and Gircumflanccs 1 1 6
ID". The Advantages ofProteflant Diffenters in
Matters of Religion 138
IV. Of tin Obligation ofProteflant Diffenters
to greater Degrees of Holinefs 186
V. Peculiar Practices of Piety and Virtue
among the ancient Nonconform if Is 213
VI. An Enumeration of fever al Advantages for
Piety which may be found among fome Chrif-
tians of every Party 236
VII. Special Obligations which lie upon fome
Chriflians of every Party 262
VIII. General Perfuafives to fuperior Degrees
of Piety proportionable t€ our Advantages and
Obligations. 279
AN
A N
Humble Attempt, &c.
An Exhortation to Ministers.
WHEN true Religion falls under
a general and remarkable De-
cay, 'tis time for all that are con-
cerned to awaken and route themfelves to
frefh Vigour and Activity in their feveral
Polls of Service. If the Interefts of Piety
and Virtue are things fit to be encouraged
and maintained in the World, if the King-
dom of the blefied God among Men be
worthy to be fupported ; furely it is a ne-
ceifary and becoming Zeal for every one
who hath the Honour to be a Minifter of
this Kingdom, to take Alarm at the Ap-
pearance of fuch Danger ; and each of us
lliould enquire, What can I do to ftrengthen
the things which remain and are readv to diey
as well as to recover what is loft ? Let my
Brethren therefore in the Miniftry forgive
me, if I prefume at this Seafon to let before
them a plain and ferious Exhortation.
It was prepared for a publick Solemnity,
wherein an eiteem'd young friend and Bro-
ther entered into the Miniiterial Office ; and
B upon
2 INTRODUCTION.
upon this Account I have ufed much more
Freedom in the Language than I could ever
pretend to juftify on any other Occafion.
'Twas in the Name of my Reverend Bre-
thren then prefent, as well as in my own,
that the Exhortation addrelfes him in the
Manner following.
You have this Day devoted and dedicated
yourielf to the Service of Chriji in the Mi-
niftry of the Gofpel, and particularly for the
Edification of this Church. Your Brethren
in the Miniftry have alfo done all that they
can do toward the dedicating and devoting,
you to the fame facred Service, by the va-
rious folemn Tranfactions of the Day ; and
now we entreat, we exhort, we charge you
in the Name of our Lord Jefus Chrift, and
in the Words of the great Apoftle, that
you take heed to the Miniftry which you have
received in the Lord that you fulfil #/, Col.
iv. 17.
While we are endeavouring to prefs this
Charge on your Confcience, we would fpeak
alio, each of us, to our own Souls, and re-
new the awful Charge upon our felves. We
would call to mind our own Vows and
Engagements this Day, and revive our de-
cayirig and dying Zeal in this facred and
important Service.
What I have to fay 0:1 this Subject fhall
be contained under four general Heads.
1.
Of a Mmifkers per final Religion. 3
I. Take heed to your own perfonal Re-
ligion, as abfolutely necefTary to the right
Difcharge of the Ministerial Office.
II. Take heed to your private Studies
and Preparations for public Service.
III. Take heed to your public Labours,
and actual Mitifftrations in the Church.
IV. Take heed to your Converfation in
the World, and efpecially among the Flock
of Cbrijl over which you preiide. Bear
with me while I enlarge a little upon each
of thefe.
SECTION I.
Of a Minifter's perfonal Religion.
I. KYfSAke heed to your own perfonal Reli«
X gipn% efpecially to the Work of God in
your own Heart, as abfolutely neceffary to the
right Difcharge of the Minifterial Office.
Surely there is the higheft Obligation on
a Preacher of the Gofpel to believe and
praftife what he preaches. He is under the
molt powerful and facred Engagements to
be a Chriftian himfelf, who goes forth to
perfuade the World to become Chriftians.
A Minifter of Chrift who is not a hearty
Believer in Chrift, and a fincere Follower
of him, is" a molt fhameful and inconfiftent
Character, and forbids in Praftice what he
recommends in Words and Sentences.
B 2 But
4 Of a Minifter s perfonal Religion.
But 'tis not enough for a Minifter to have
a common Degree of Piety and Virtue,
equal to the relt of Chriilians ; lie fhould
tranfeend and lurpais others. The Leaders
and Officers in the Army of the blefled
Jefns fhould be more expert in the Chriiti-
an Exerciies, and more advanced in the
holy Warfare, than his Fellow-Soldiers are
fuppofed to be, 2 Cor. vi. 4. In all things
approving our/elves (faith the Apoftle) as
the Minifter s of God in much Patience, &c.
and I may add, In much of every Chriftian
Grace. A little and low Degree of it is
not fufricient for a Minifter •, fee therefore
not only that you praftife every Part and
Inftance of Piety and Virtue which you
preach to others, but abound therein, and
be eminent beyond and above the reft, as
your Station in the Church is more exalted,
and as your Character demands.
The World expefts more from you, your
own Conlcience requires more of you, and
Chrift your Lord both requires and expects
much more Religion to be found in you,
who are the Leader, than in the reft of his
Flock, final your Advantages are much
fuperior to molt of theirs.
Your Time and Life are in a fpecial Man-
lier devoted to the Things of God and Re-
ligion, and the heavenly World : Your par-
ticular Callings a Minifter is much nearer
a- kin to your general Calling as a Chriftian,
than
Of a Minijter s perfonal Religion. 5
than that of the reft cf Mankind, and you
ought to improve it for the Advancement
of your Chriitianity. You are more diien-
gaged from the bufy Cares and Embarraff-
ments of this Life than other Chriftians,
that you may have your Heart and Soul
more entirely employed in Things that re-
late to the Life to come.
Your daily Duty calls you to be more
converfant with the Word of God, with the
Rules of Piety and the Gofpel of Salvation :
The Precepts which require univerfal God-
linefs, and the Promifes that encourage it,
are better known to you, and your Mind
is better furnilhed with them, or at lealr it
fhould be fo.
You are obliged to copy out the Life of
Chrift more exactly, that you may be an
Example to the Flock in every Thing that
is holy.
Your Temptations to a vain and worldly
Spirit, and a lenfual Temper of Mind are
much fewer than thofe of many other Men,
whofe ETearts and Hands are neceffarily
bufied in the Affairs of the World, and
who are more frequently conftrained into
the Company of Sinners.
Now fince your Helps in the Way to
Heaven, both as to the Knowledge and
Practice of Duty, are much greater than
what others enjoy, and your Obftacles and
Impediments are in fome Inftances lefs than
B 3 theirs,
6 Of a Mh lifter's per final Religion.
theirs, it will be a fhameful thing in you, as
it is a Matter of Shame to any of us, to fink
below the Character of other Chriftians in
the practice of our holy Religion, or even
if we do not excel the moft of them, fince
our Obligations to it, as well as our Advan-
tages for it, are fo much greater than others.
Take heed therefore to your own practical
and vital Religion, as to the Truths Reality^
and Evidence of it, as to the Livelinefs and
Power of it, as to the Growth and Increafe of it.
J. Take heed to your own practical Re-
ligion, to the Truth and Reality cf ity and
the clear and undoubted Evidence of it to your
cvjn Ccnfcience. Give double Diligence to
wake your Calling and Election fure. See to
it with earned Solicitude, that you be not
miftaken in fo neceffary and important a
Concern ; for a Minifter who preaches up
the Religion of Chrijl^ yet has no Evidence
of ic in his own Heart, will lie under vaft
Uifcouragements in his Work; and if he be
not a real Chriftian himfelf, he will juflly
fall under double Damnation. Keep a con-
ftaht holy Jealoufy over your own Soul, left
white you preach to the eternal Salvation of
others ■, y our f elf become a Caff -away ^ or dif-
approved of God, and for ever banifhed
from his Prefence, i Cor. ix. 27.
Call your own Soul often to Account 5
examine the Temper, the Frame, and the
Motions of your Heart with all holy Seve-
rity,
Of a Mini fler s perfonal Religion. 7
rity, fo that the Evidences of your Faith in
J ejus ^ and your Repentance for Sin, and
your Conversion to God, be many and fair,
be ftrong and unqueftionable ; that you may
walk on with Courage and joyful Hope to-
ward Heaven, and lead on the Flock of
Chriji thither with holy Affurance and Joy.
II, Take heed to your own Religion, as
to the Livelinefs and Power of it. Let it not
be a fieepy thing in your Bofom, but
fprightly and active, and always awake.
Keep your own Soul near God in the way
in which you firft came near him, i. e. b>
the Mediation of Jefus Chriji. Let no Dis-
tance or Estrangement grow between God
and you, between Chrift and you. Main-
tain much Converfe with God by Prayer,
by reading his Word, by holy Meditation,
by Heavenly- mindednefs, and universal Ho-
Jinefs in the Frame and Temper of your own
Spirit. Converfe with God and with your
Own Soul in the Duties of fecret Religion,
and walk always in the World as under the
Eye of God. Every Leader of the Flock
of God, fhould adl as Mojes did, fhould live
as feeing him that is invifible^ Heb. xi. 27,
III. Take heed to your perfonal ReligL
as to the Growth and Increafe of it. Let it
be ever upon the advancing Hand. Be ten-
derly fenfibie of every wandering Affedtion
toward Vanity, every Deviation from God
and your Duty, every riling Sin, every De-
li 4 gree
8 Of a Miriifter's perfonal Religion;
gree of growing Diftance from God.
Watch and pray much, and converfe much
with God, as one of his miniftring Angels
in Flefh and Blood, and grow daily in Con-
formity to God and your blefled Saviour,
who is the firft Minifter of his Father's
Kingdom, and the faired Image of his
Father.
Such a Conduct will have feveral happy
Influences towards the fulfilling of your Mi-
niftry, and will render you more fit for eve-
ry part of your public Miniftrations.
i. Hereby you will improve in your Ac-
quaintance with divine Things, and the fpi-
ritual Parts of Religion, that you may bet-
ter teach the People both Truth and Duty.
Thofe who are much with God may expert
and hope that he will teach them the Se-
cret; of his Covenant , and the Ways of his
Mercy, by Communications of divine Light
to their Spirits. The Secret of the Lord is
witbtbm that fear him, and he willjbew them
his Covenant i Pfalm xxv. 14. Luther ufed
to fay, that he got more Knowledge in a
lhort Time by Prayer fometimes, than by
the Study and Labour of many Hours.
2. Hereby you will be more fit to fpeak
to the great God at all Times, as a Son with
holy Confidence in him as your Father, and
you will be better prepared to pray with and
for the People. You will have an habitual
Readinefs for the Work, and Increafe in the
Gift
Of a Minijlers perfonal Religion. 9
Gift of Prayer. You will obtain a Treafure
and Fluency of facred Language, fuited to
addrefs God on all Occafions.
Hereby you will gain a Freedom and In-
tereft in the Throne of Grace, and become
a more powerful Interceffor for your Peo-
ple, under the Influence of Jefus the great
Interceffor, who is ever near the Throne ;
and before you improve your Intereft in
Heaven, for the Edification of thofe who
are commited to your Care.
3. Hereby you will be kept near to the
Spring of all Grace, to the Fountain of
Strength and Comfort in your Work : You
will be ever deriving frefh Anointings, frefh
Influences, daily Lights and Powers, to en-
able you to go thro* all the Difficulties and
Labours of your facred Office.
4. Hereby, when you come among Men
in your facred Miniftrations, you will ap-
pear, and fpeak, and aft like a Man come
from God ; like Mofes with a Luftre upon
his Face, when he had converted with God ;
like a Minifter of the Court of Heaven
employed in a Divine Office ; like a Mef-
fenger of Grace who hath juft been with
God, and received Inftructions from him >
and the World will take Cognizance of you, as
they did of the Apoftlcs, that they were Men
who had been with Jefusy Afts iv. 13.
5. This will better furnifli you for (erious
Convcrfe with the Souls and Confcicnces of
B 5 ' Men,
jo Of a Minijlcrs per fond Religion.
Men, by giving you experimental Acquain-
tance with the Tilings of Religion, as they
are tranfafted in the Heart. You will
learn more of the Springs of Sin and Ho-
linefs, the Workings of Nature and Grace,
the Deceitfulnefs of Sin, the Subtilty of
Temptation, and the holy Skill of counter-
working the Snares of Sin, and the Devices
of Satan, and all their Defigns to ruin the
Souls of Men. You will fpeak with more
divine CompaiTion to wretched and perifh-
ing Mortals ; with more Life and Power to
fl upid Sinners \ with more Sweetnefs and
Comfort to awaken'd Confciences, and
with more awful Language and Influence
to backfliding Chriftians.
You will hereby learn to preach more
powerfully in all Refpedts for the Salvation
of Men, and talk more feelingly on eveiy .
facred Subjedt, when the Power and Senfe
and Life of Godlinefs are kept up in your
own Spirit. Then on fome fpecial Occasions
it may not be improper to borrow the
Language of David the Prophet, and of
St. Paul and St. John* two great Apoftles,
rho* it may be bell in Publick to fpeak in
the plural Number, We have believed,
therefore we have fpoken ; what we have heard
and learnt from Chrifi, we have declared
unto you -, what we have feen and felt, we are
bold to fpeak ; attend and we will tell you
what Cod has done for our Souls, You may
then
Of a Miniflers private Studies. 1 1
then at proper Seafons convince, direct and
comfort others by the fame Words of
Light and Power, of Precept and Promife,
of Joy and Hope, which have convinced,
dire&ed and comforted you : A Word
coming from the Heart will fooner reach
the Heart.
SECTION II.
Of a Minified s private Studies.
TH E Second general Head of Exhor-
tation relates to your own private Stu-
dies : Take heed to thefe, that you may bet-
ter fulfil your Mini (try. Give your/elf (faith
St, Paul to Timothy) to Readings to Medi-
tation, that your profiting may appear to ally
i Tim. iv. 13, 15.
Thefe private Studies are of various
Kinds, whether you confider them in gene-
ral, as neceffary to furnifh the Mind with
Knowledge for the Office of the Minifhy ;
or in particular, as neceffary to prepare
Difcourfes for the Pulpit.
ifi, Thofe general Studies may be juft
mentioned in this Place, which furmjh the
Mind with Knowledge for the Work of a Mi-
nifter ; for tho' it is known you have pafs'd
thro' the feveral Stages of Science in your
younger Years, and have made a good Im-
provement in them, yet a Review of many
B 6 of
12 Of a Minijlers private Studies.
of them will be found needful, and an In-
creafe in fome (fo far as Leiiure permits)
may be proper and ufeful, even thro* the
whole Courfe of Life.
Among thefe fome are neceffary to im-
prove the reafoning Faculty, to teach us to
diftinguifli Truth from Falfhood, and to
judge aright concerning any Subjedts that
are propofed to us ; fuch as are the Art of
Logick, which gives us Rules for judging
and reafoning, and fome of the fpeculative
Principles of the Mathematicks, particular-
ly the Demonftrations of Geometry* and
the Inferences or Corollaries that are drawn
from them, wherein we have the cleared
and faireft Examples to teach us Reafoning
by the Practice of it.
And as all Arts and Sciences have a Con-
nexion with and Influence upon each other,
ib for a Divine as well as for a Phyfician,
it is needful there fhould be fome Knowledge
x>f Nature and the Powers of it in the Hea-
vens and Earth, in the Air and Water, that
we may thereby learn and teach more of
the Glories of our Creator, and more ea-
iily diftinguifh between what is natural and
what is miraculous. This will enable us
alfo to think and fpeak more juftly almoft
upon any Subject which occurs in our pri-
vate Reading, in our publick Miniftry, or
n our daily Converfation •, and particular-
ly it is ufeful, if not neceffary for a Minifter
to
Of a Minijler s private Studies. 13
to have fome Acquaintance with human Na-
ture, in the two conftituent Parts of it
Soul and Body, and in the Powers and Paf-
fions of Mankind, that we may better dif-
tinguifh how far particular Actions are na-
tural and mechanical, and how far they are
voluntary and moral, virtuous or iinful ;
how far they are influenced by Flefh and
Blood, and how far they are under the Go-
vernment of the Will, which is of great
Importance in order to judge right in many
Cafes of Confcience, and to give Directions
for the moral or religious Life.
It is needful alfo, and of confiderable Mo*
ment, that a Divine fhould be acquainted
with the Arts of Method and of Oratory,
the one to range our Thoughts and Dif-
courfes in due Order, and to fet the Things
of God before Men in the plaineft, the molt
confpicuous and convincing Light ; and the
other to win upon the Hearts of the
Hearers, and to lead them by a fweet and
powerful Influence on their Affe&ions, in-
to the Love and Pradlice of Religion.
There are other parts of Science which
are neceflary for Miniflers to be well ac-
quainted with, and particularly thofe which
are the Foundations of all Religion, fuch
as the Knowledge of God and his Attributes by
the Light of Nature of Reafon, the Know-
ledge of Man as a Creature of God, in his
natural ' Dependance upon his Creator, and in
his
14 Of a Miniftery s private Studies.
his 'moral Relations both to God and his FeU
lozv-Creatures^ together with the Obligations
to Duty which are derived thence, andwhich
branch themfelves into all the Parts of Mo-
rality and Religion.
*Tis requifite to have fome Acquaintance
alfo with the Heathen Writers, the Folly
and Madnefs of Pagan Idolatry, the Hifto-
ry and the Cuftoms of ancient Ages and
Nations, and the Hiftory of the Church of
t\\tjews and of Chri/iia?is, in order to efta-
blifh our Faith in the Dodlrines of Chrifti-
anity, and to prove the Religion of Chrift
to be Divine, and that the Bible is the
Word of God.
When this great Point is once fettled,
then our chief Bufmefs will be to underftand
this Bible, and to find out the Meaning of
the Holy Scriptures -$ and for this End
(as well as for the reading of ancient Hea-
then Authors) 5tis requifite that we fhould
have fome Skill in the Tongues : and parti-
cularly thofe wherein the Scriptures were
written, viz. Htbrew^ and Greeks that we
may be able at lealt to judge a little for
ourfelves, concerning the Tranflation of any
Text in our Language.
For this Purpofe alfo fome Knowledge of
the Cuftoms of the Ancients, both Jews
and Pagans^ is neceflary, in order to give
us ajufter Idea of many Things recorded
in Scripture * and we fhould get fome Ac-
quaintance
Of a Minifier s private Studies. 15
quaintance with Geography and Chronology,
which will be of great fervice to fet before
our Eyes the diftant Places and Times
wherein thofe ancient Affairs were tranf-
a6ted, which the Scripture relates, and
without which the Hiftory of Scripture, as
well as fome of the Prophecies, can never
be well underflood.
Nor is it an unprofitable Study to read
fome of the Writings of the Fathers, who
lived in the very firfl Ages of Chriltianity,
that we may know the Sentiments and Cus-
toms of thofe who lived neareft to the Days
of the Apoftles ; this may give a little Light
to fome Expreflions and Phrafes ufed in
Scripture, and enable us fometimes better
to underftand what the Evangelifts and
Apoftles wrote. But it muft be confefs'd,
that immediately after the Apoftolic Age,
and jndeed before the Apoftles were dead,
there were fo many Corruptions and Mif-
takes both in Faith and Worfhip, fo many
Fancies and Inventions of Men crept into
the Church, that there is fcarce one ancient
Writer perfectly free, and not one of them
to be entirely trufted as a Direftor of our
Confciences, or as a Regulator of our Be-
lief or Pradlice. St. Paul himfelf tells us,
that in his Days the Myftery of Iniquity be-
gan to work, 2 Thef. ii. 7. The Fathers,
as they are called, have many weak and
fanciful Things in their Writings -> ^tis the
Bible
1 6 Of a Minifter's private Studies.
Bible alone that muft be our Guide •, the
Word of the Lord is pure and p erf eft.
Above all Things therefore the conftant
Reading and Study of the holy Scriptures
are necefiary, in order to a larger and more
compleat Acquaintance with our divine Re-
ligion. Here our Faith and Confcience may
reft fafely, in all our Enquiries about Mat-
ters of Belief or Pradtice. The Dodtrines,
the Commands, the Types and Hiftories, the
Prophecies, the Promifes and Threatnings
of the Word of God, are the brightelt and
nobleft Part of the Knowledge of a Mini-
fter. Thefe are the Things that are able to
make us and our Hearers ivife to Salvation^
and to furwjh the Man of God for every good
Word and Work, 2 Tim. iii. 15, 16, 17.
Let us never imagine we know enough of
Divine Things, while we dwell in Flefh and
Blood. God and Chrijl, and the Things of
Heaven, are fruitful and inexhauftible Sub-
jects of our Enquiry and Knowledge -, they
are fo in this World, and they will be fo for
ever in the World to come. The Angels of
God pry further into them* nor fhall the
Sons of Men ever know them to perfec-
tion. Thefe will be the glorious Obje6ts
of everlafting Study, and everlafting En-
tertainment.
I might add in the laft Place, that there
are fome other Parts of human Knowledge,
which, thtf they are not neceflary, yet are
greatly
Of a Minifter s private Studies. ly
greatly ornamental to a Minifter in the
prefent Age, which is fo much enrich'd
with Knowledge, viz. Some further Ac-
quaintance with modern Geography, the Na-
tions and Kingdoms of this World : Some
general View of Afironomy, the Appear-
ances, and feeming or real Motions of the
Sun and Moon, Stars and Planets, and of
this Earth, which is now generally agreed
to be one of the planetary Worlds : To
which we may join fome Skill in Philology ,
Criticifm on the Writings of Men as well
as on Scripture, and various Parts of Sci-
ence which go under the Name of the Belles
Lettres, or polite Learning. Thefe are fuch
fort of Accomplifhments of the Mind as
will embeilifh the Character of a Minifter,
and render his Perfon and his Labours more
acceptable to the World.
But amongft all thefe Enquiries and Stu-
dies, and thefe various Improvements of
the Mind, let us take heed that none of
them carry our Thoughts away too far from
our chief and glorious Defign, that is, the
Minijlry of the Go/pel of Chrijl. Let none
of them intrench upon thofe Hours which
fhould be devoted to our Study of the
Bible, or Preparations for the Pulpit : And
wherefoever we find our Inclination too
much attached to any particular human Sci-
ence, let us fet a Guard upon ourfelves, left
it rob us of our diviner Studies, and our
bed
I 8 Of aMinifters private Studies.
beft Improvement. A Minifter fhould re-
member, that himfelf, with all his Studies,
is coniecrated to the Service of the San&u-
aiy : Let every Thing be done therefore
with a View to our great End : Let all the
reft of our Knowledges be like Lines drawn
from the vaft Circumference of- univerial
Nature, pointing to that divine Centre, God
and Religion : and let us purfue every Part
of Science with a Defign to gain better Qua-
lifications thereby for our facred Work.
Forgive me, my Friends, that I have
dwelt fo long on thefe general Preparations
for the Work cf the Miniftry. Tho' they
are learnt at the Academy, yet I can by no
means think it proper they fhould be left
there and forgotten.
2dly, I come to fpeak of thofe particular
Studies which are preparative for the publick
Work of the Pulpit \ and here when you re-
tire to compofe a Sermon, let your great
End be ever kept in View, i. e. to fay fome-
thing for the Honour of God, for the Glory
of Chrift, for the Salvation of the Souls of
Men ; and for this Purpofe a few Rules
may perhaps be of fome Service.
One great and general Rule is, Ask Advice
cf Heaven by Prayer about every Part of
your preparative Studies \ feek the Direction
and Afliftance of the Spirit of God, for in-
clining your Thoughts to proper Subjects,
for guiding you to proper Scriptures, and
framing
Of the Compofure of Sermons. i g
framing your whole Sermon both as to the
Matter and Manner, that it may attain the
divine and facred Ends propofed. But I
infift not largely on this here, becaufe
Prayers for Aids and Counfels from Heaven
belongs to every Part of your Work, both
in the Clofet, in the Pulpit, and in your
daily Converfation.
The particular Rules for your prepara-
tory Worlc may be fuch as thefe.
I. In chufing your Texts or Themes of
Difcourfe, feek fuch as are mofl fuited to
do good to Souls, according to the prefent
Wants, Dangers, and Circumftances of the
People ; whether for the Inftrudtion of the
Ignorant ; for the Convidtion of the Stu-
pid and Senfelefs ; for the melting and
foftening of the Obflinate ; for the Conver-
fion of the Wicked ; for the Edification of
Converts •, for the Comfort of the Timo-
rous and Mournful ; for gentle Admoni-
tion of Backfliders, or more fevere Reproof
Some Acquaintance with the general Cafe
and Charadter of your Hearers is needful
for this End.
II. In handling the Text, divide, ex-
plain, illuftrate, prove, convince, infer, and
apply in fuch a Manner, as to do real Ser-
vice to Men, and Honour to our Lord Je-
fus Chri.fl, Do not fay within yourfelf, How
much or how elegantly I can talk upon fuch a
Text, but What can I fay mcfl ufe fully to
thofe
20 Of the Compofure of Sermons.
thofe who hear me, for the Injlruftion of their
Minds , for the Conviction of their Confidences,
and for the Perfiuqfion of their Hearts ? Be
not fond of difplaying your learned Criti-
cifms in clearing up the Terms and Phrafcs
of a Text, where Scholars only can be
edified by them ; nor fpend away the pre-
cious Moments of the Congregation, in
making them hear you explain what is
clear enough before, and hath no need of
explaining ; nor in proving that which is fo
obvious that it wants no proof. This is
little better than trifling with God and Man.
Think not How can I make a Sermon fioon-
efi and eafieft ? but how I can make the mofi
profitable Sermon for my Hearers : Not what
fine Things I can fay, either in a way of Cri-
ticifm or Philofiophy, or in a way of Oratory
and Harangue, but what powerful Words I can
fpeak to imprefs the Confidences of them that
hear with a ferious and lafiing Senfie of moral,
divine, and eternal Things. Judge wifely
what to leave out as well as what to fpeak.
Let not your chief Defign be to work up
a Sheet, or to hold out an Hour, but to
fave a Soul.
III. In fpeaking of the great Things of
God and Religion, remember you are a Mi-
nifter of Chrift and the Gofpel, fent to pub-
lifh to Men what God has reveal'd by his
Prophets and Apoftles, and by his Son Je-
fhs j and not a Heathen Philofopber to teach
the
Of the Compofure of Sermons. 2 1
the PeopJe merely what the Light of Rea-
fon can fearch out : You are not to Hand
up here as a Profeffor of Ancient or Modern
Pbilofoph)\ nor an Uflier in the School of
Plato or Seneca^ or Mr. Locke ; but as a
Teacher in the School of Chrift, as a Preach-
er of the New Teftament. You are not a
Jezvijh Prieft to inftrud: Men in the precife
Niceties of ancient Judaifms^ legal Rites
and Ceremonies ; but you are a Chrijiian
Minifter ; let Cbriftianity therefore run
thro* all your Compofures, and fpread its
Glories over them all.
It is granted indeed^ that Reafonings from
the Light of Nature have a confiderable
Uie in the Miniftry of the Gofpel. 'Tis
by the Principles of natural Religion, and
by Reafoning from them on the wonderful
Events of Prophecy and Miracle, &c. that
we ourfelves mud learn the Truth of the
Chrijiian Religion, and we muft teach the
People to build their Faith of the Gofpel
on juft and rational Grounds •, and this may
perhaps, at fome Time or other, require a
few wThole Difcourfes on fome of the prin-
cipal Themes of natural Religion, in order
to introduce and difpJay the Religion of
Jefus. But fuch Occafions will but feldom
arife in the Courfe of your Miniftry,
7/ is granted alfo, that it is a very ufeful
Labour fometimes in a Sermon to fhew how
far the Light of Nature and Reafon will
carry
2 2 Of the Compofure of Sermom.
carry us on in the Search of Duty and Hap-
pineis ; and then to manifeft how happily
the Light of Scripture fupplies the Defici-
encies of it ; that the People may know
how greatly they are indebted to the pecu-
liar Favour and Goodnefs of God for the
Book of Divine Revelation.
And yet farther^ fince the Whole of na-
tural Religion is contained and included in
the Gofpel of Chrift^ it is proper ibmetimes
to fhew that Reaibn as well as Scripture
confirms the fame Doctrines, and obliges us
to praftife the fame Duties. 'Tis certain
alfo that human Reaibn, tho' it could not
difcover the Religion of Chrijl, yet it is
able to point out many admirable Glories
and Divine Condecencies in this Religion
when 'tis difcover'd. It is good to imprefs
the Confcience as well as inftruft the Uncler-
ftanding by the two great Lights that God
has given us, (viz.) Reafon and Revelation.
Two fiich Pillars will fupport the Structure
of Religion better than one. And when we
happen to hear any of our Brethren occa-
fiohally infifting on the Themes of natural
Religion, and enforcing the Belief of
Truths, or the Praftice of Duties by the
Principles of Reafon, let us candidly fup-
pofe they are purfuing fome of thefe De-
signs which I have now mentioned, and
that the Principles and Topicks of Re-
velation and Chriftianity are in Referve
to
Of the Compofure of Sermons. 23
to be difplay'd at large in their following
Sermons.
In general, 'tis molt fafe and honourable
for a Minifter of Cbrift to make the Gofpel
appear to be the reigning Principle in his
Difcourfes, and make our Hearers fee how
glorioufly it has improved the Religion of
Nature.
If you fpeak of our natural Knowledge
of the Attributes of God, and the Truths of
Religion that Reafon dictates , fliew how they
are all exalted, how brightly they fliine in the
Gofpel of Chrifi, and what new Difcoveries
and new Glories relating to them are de-
rived from the Holy Scriptures.
If you fpeak of the Duties which Men
owe to God, or to one another, even thofe
which are found out by Reafon and natural
Confcience, fhew how the Gofpel of Chrifi
hath advanced and refined every Thing that
Nature and Reafon teach us : Inforce thefe
Duties by Motives of Chriftianity as well
as by philofophical Arguments drawn from
the Nature of Things : Stir up the Practice
of them by the Examples of 'Chrifi and his
Apoftles, by that Heaven and that Hell
which are reveal'd to the World by Jefus
Chrifi our Saviour : Imprefs them on the
Heart by the conftraining Influences of the
Mercy of God, and the dying Love of our
Lord Jefus Chrifi, by his glorious Appear-
ance to judge the Living and the Dead, and
3 by
2 4 Of the Compofure of Sermons.
by our blcfled Hope of attending him on
that Day. Thefe are the appointed Argu-
ments of our Holy Religion, and may ex-
pert more divine Succefs.
When you have Occafion to reprefent
what Need there is of Diligence and La-
bour in the Duties of Holincfs, fhew alio
what Aids are promifed in the Gofpel to
humble and feeble Souls who are fenfible of
their own Frailty to refift Temptations, or
to difcharge religious and moral Duties ;
and what Influences of the Holy Spirit may
be expedited by thofc who feek it. Let them
know that Ckrift is exalted to fend forth
this Spirit, to bejloiv Repentance and San6li-
fication as well as Forgivenefs,for without him
we can do nothing, Aft. v. 31. Johnxv. 5.
As there are Seafons and Times proper
to imprefs the Mind with the Glories of
God our Creator, and to enforce the Du-
ties of Morality, to teach Men to govern
their unruly Appetites and Paflions, to bind
all the Rules of Virtue on the Confciences
of Men, and prefs them with Zeal and
Fervour according to the Example of the
Apoftles in the New Teftament \ fo there
are Times and Seafons to treat more at
large on the peculiar Truths of Revelation
and the Glories of Chrijtianity, both for
the Honour of our Saviour, and for the
Welfare of Souls. For this Reafon they
are fo largely infilled on by the holy Wri-
ters,
Of the Compofure of Sermons. 25
tens, thofe bleffed Patterns of our Miniftiy.
There muft be fbme Seafons allotted to the
Defcriptions of the finful and miferable State
of Mankind as revealed in Scripture, to the
Dignity of the Perfon of Cbrift the Re-
deemer, the only begotten Son of God and
the Son of Man, to the Covenant of Grace,
of Pardon and Salvation made with Men, in
and thro* this glorious Mediator, to the In-
carnation, Life and Death, the Sacrifice
and Atonement, the Refurrc£tion, Intercef-
fion and univerfal Government and Lord-
fhip of Jefus Chrifi^ and his coming to
judge the World at the laft Day, and to the
appointed Methods of our Participation of
the Bleflings which he beftows. Thefe il-
luftrious Do6lrines are big with a thoufand
Duties both to God and Man ; all the Prac-
tices of Faith and Love, Repentance and
univerfal Holinefs flow from them by plain
and eafy Deduction : All the facred Rules
of Piety and Virtue, Sobriety, Juftice and
Goodnefs, the holy Skill of living and dy-
ing in the Love and Favour of God, are
the mod natural and happy Inferences from
thefe fublime Truths of our Religion.
We preach the Gofpel in a very defective
Manner if we negledt the moral or divine
Duties which are derived from the Faith of
Cbrtft.
If you would raife the Hearts of your
Hearers to a Jutland high Eiteem of this
C Gofpel
2 6 Of the Compojure of Sermons.
Gofpel of Grace, and imprefs them with
an awful Senft of the divine Importance
and Worth of it, be not afraid to Jay hu-
man Nature low, and to reprefent it in its
Ruins by the Fall of the hrdJdam. 'Tis
the vain Exaltation of ruin'd Nature that
makes the Gofpel' fo much defpifed in our
Age. Labour therefore to make them fee
and feel the deplorable State of Mankind as
defcribed in Scripture, that by one Man Sin
entered into the World, and Death by Sin, and
a Sentence of Death hath pajfed upon all
Men, for that all have finned : Let them
hear and know that Jews and Gentiles are
all under Sin, that there is none righteous, no,
?io t one -, that every Mouth may be flopped and
all the World may appear guilty before God.
Let them know that Wis not in Man that
walkefh to dirett his Steps ; that we are not
fufficient of our f elves to think any good thing:
that we are without Strength, alienated from
the Life of God thro" the Ignorance and Dark-
nefs of our Underflandings, and are by Nature
Children of Difobedience, and Children of
Wrath \ that we are unable to recover our
j elves out of thefe Depths of Wretchedncfs
without the Condefcenfions of Divine Grace,
and that the Gofpel of Chrift is introduced
as the only fovereign Remedy and Relief
under all this Defolation of Nature, this
overwhelming Diftrefs ; neither is there Sal-
vation in any other, for there is none other
Name
Of the Compofure cf Sermons. 27
Name under Heaven given among Men, where*
by we mufil be faved, Acts iv. 12. And they
that wilfully and obftinately rejeft this Mef-
fage cf divine Love, muft perifh without
Remedy and without Hope ; for there re-
mains no more Sacrifice for Sin^bat a certain
fearful Expectation cf Vengeance, Heb. x. 26.
By this Conduct you will approve your
feif to be a faithful Meffbiger of Chrift in
good Earned, a Mmifter of the New Tefia-
menty and a Workman that needs not to be
afhamed, if you take fpecial Seafons to dis-
cover to Men what the Word of God re-
veals concerning their Mifery, and declare
to them the whole Counfel cf God for their
Salvation.
I intreat you, my dear Friend and Bro-
ther, to get it deeply impreft on your
Heart, that as (I believe) your real and fin-
cere Defign is to fave the Souls of Men from
Sin arid eternal Death, fo 'tis the Gofpel of
Chrift which is the only Inftrument where-
by you can ever hope to attain this blefied
End •, and that for two Reafons.
(1.) *Tis this Gofpel which in its own
Nature is mod happily diked in all the
Parts of it to this great Defign, and no other
Schemes which the Wit or Reafon of Man
can contrive are fo : *Tis the Voice of par-
doning Grace and Reconciliation to God
by Jcfus Chrift that powerfully allures and
encourages the awakened Sinner to return
C 2 to
2S Of the Compofure of Sermons.
to his Duty to God and his Maker : 'Tis
the Promife of Divine Affiftance to enable
us to mortify Sin, and to pra&ife Holinefs,
which animates the feeble Creature to at-
tempt it : 'Tis the attractive View of hea-
venly Bleflednefs as revealed in the Gofpel
that invites the Soul onward to make its
Way through all the dangerous Inticements
and Terrors of this World which is at en-
mity with God. The divine Fitnefs of this
Gofpel of Grace to reflore fallen Man to
the Favour and Image of his Maker is fo
various and aitonifhing, that to defcribe
it in all Inftances would require a large
Volume.
And (2.) As the Gofpel is fo happily
fuified to attain thefe Ends, fo 'tis the only
effectual Means that God has appointed in
the Lips of his Minifters for this Purpofe.
'Tis with thefe wondrous Difcoveries of this
Gofpel that he furnifhed the Minds and
Lips of the Fifhermen and illiterate Per-
fans, when he fent them forth to convert
and fave a perifhing World. Thefe were
the facred Weapons with which they were
armed, when our exalted Saviour gave them
Commiffion to travel thro' the Dominions
cf Satan, which were fpread over the Hea-
then Countries, and to raife up a Kingdom
for himfeif amongit them. *Twas with
Principles, Rules and Motives derived from
this Gofpd that they were lent to attack the
Of the Compofare of Sermons, 29
reigning Vices of Mankind, to reform pro-
fligate Nations, and to turn them from dumb
Idols to ferve the living God. And tho' Si*,
Paul were a Man of Learning above the
reft, yet he was not fent to preach the inti-
cing Words of Man9 s Wifdom? nor to talk as
the Difputers of the Age and Philofophers
did in their Schools ; but his Bufinefs was
to preach Chrifi crucified : Tho' this Doc-
trine of the Crois and the Son of God hang-
ing upon it, was a Stumbling-block to the
Jews, and the Greeks counted it Foclifhnefs,
yet to them that were called, both Jews and
Greeks, this Dextrine was the Power of
God and the Wifdom of God for the Salvation
of Men. And therefore St. Paul deter-
mined to know nothing among them in compa-
nion of the Doctrine of Chrifi and him cru-
cified. Thefe were the Weapons of his War-
fare which were mighty thro9 God, to the pul-
ling down of the fir ong Holds of Sin and Satan
in the Plearts of Men, and brought every
Thought into Captivity to the Obedience of
Chrifi. 'Twas by the Mini ft ration of this
Gofpel that the Fornicators were made
chafte and holy, and Idolaters became Wor-
fhippers of the God of Heaven •, that
Thieves learnt honeft Labour, and the Co-
vetous were taught to feek Treafures in
Heaven ; the Drunkards grew out of love
with their Cups, and renounced all Intempe-
rance, the Rev Hers governed their Tongues
C 3 ami
5 o Of tic Ccmf dure of Sermons.
and fpeke well of their Neighbours, and the
cruel Extortioners and Oppreffors leafnM to
practife Compaffion and Chanty : Thefe
vileft of Sinners, thefe Children of Hell,
were made Heirs of the Kingdom #/ Heaven,
g wafted^ being fanllified, being juftifed
in the Name of the Lord Jefus, and by the
it of our God, i Cor. vi. 9, t£c.
Had you all the refined Science of Plato
or Socrates, all the Skill in Morals that
ever was attained by Zeno, Seneca or Epic-
ictus, were you furnifhed with all the flow-
ing Oratory of Cicero, cr the Thunder of
r;:es, were all thefe Talents and Ex-
rncies uuited in one Man, and you were
ihi Pc-rfon fo richly endowed, and could
you employ them all in every Sermon you
preach, yet yen could have no reafonable
Hope to convert and fave one Soul in
Great-Britain, where the Gofpel is pub-
lished, while you lay afide the glorious Gof-
pel of Chrift and leave it entirely out of
your Difcourfcs.
Let me proceed yet further and fay, Had
you the fullefi Acquaintance that ever Man
aquired with all the Principles and Duties
of natural Religion, both in its regard to God
and to your Fellow-Creatures, had you the
Ski!! and Tongue of an Angel to range all
thefe in their faireft Order, to place them
in their fulleft Light, and to pronounce and
v.prefent the whole Law of God with fuch
Force
Of the Compojure of Sermons. 3 1
Force and Splendor to a Britijh Auditory
as was done to the Ifraelites at Mount Sinai,
you might perhaps lay the Conferences ct
Men under deep Conviction, /?r ^>» ^ L^w
ij the Knowledge of Sin : But I am hilly per-
iuaded you would never reconcile one Soul
to God, you would never change the Heart
of one Sinner, nor bring him into the Fa-
vour of God, nor fit him for the Joys el-
Heaven without this bleffed Gofpel which is
committed to your Hands.
The great and glorious God is jealous of
his own Authority and of the Honour of
his Son Jefus : Nor will he condefcend to
blefs any other Methods for obtaining fo
divine an End, than what he himfelf has pre-
fcribed , nor will his Holy Spirit, whole
Office is to glorify Chriji, (loop to concur
with any other fort of Means for the faving
of Sinners where the Name and Offices of
hrs Son, the only appointed Saviour, are
known, and defpifed and neglected. 'Tk
the Gofpel alone that is the Power of God to
Salvation. If the Prophets will not ft and in
his Counfel, nor caufe the People to hear his
Words, they will never be able to turn If
rael from the Iniquity of their Ways, nor the
Evil of their Doings, Jerem. xxiii. 22.
Perhaps it may be faid in oppofition to
this Advice, that the peculiar Doctrines and
Difcoveries of the Gofpel of Chrift were
neceffary to be publifhed in a more large
C 4 and
32 Of the Compofure of Sermons.
and particular Manner at the firft Inftitution
of our Religion, and to be infilled upon
with greater Frequency among the Jews,
and efpecially among the Gentiles, who be-
forc were unacquainted with the Name, the
Hiftory and the feveral Offices of the blef-
fed Jefus : But there is no fuch need of re-,
peating them in Chrijlian Countries, where
People are trained up from their Infancy to
know Jefus Cbrift the Son of God, the Sa-
viour of the World : And therefore 'tis more
needful in our Land to preach upon the na-
tural Duties of Piety towards God, of Jus-
tice and Truth and Goodnefs toward our
Neighbour, and Self-government and So-
briety with regard to ourfelves. And this
may be done with good Succefs among the
People upon the plain Principles and Mo-
t.ves which arife from the very Nature of
Things, from the Beauty and Excellency
of Virtue and its Tendency to make all Men
happy, and the natural Deformity of Vice,
and the Mifchiefs that attend it.
But give me leave to anfwer this Objecti-
on with thefe three or four Inquiries.
Firft , Was it not the fpecial Defign of
thefe Dodtrines of Cbrift, when they were
firft gracioufly communicated to the World,
to reform the Vices of Mankind which
Reafon could not reform, and to reftore the
World to Piety and Virtue, for which the
Powers of Reafon appeared fo feeble and
impotent :
Of the Compofure of Sermons. 33
impotent ? The Nations of the Earth had
made long and fruitlefs EfTays what the
Light of Nature and Philofophy would do
to bring wandering degenerate Man back
again to his Maker : Ru.tlefs and 'long EC-
lays indeed, when after fome Thoufands of
Years the World, who had forgotten their
Maker and his Laws, ftill run further from
God, and plunged themfelves into all abo-
minable Impieties and corrupt Pradtices !
Now if the all- wife God faw the Gofpel of
Chriji to be fo fit and happy an Inftru-
tnent for the Recovery of wretched Man to
Religion and Morality, if he furnifhed his
Apoitles with thefe Dodtrines for this very
Purpofe, and pronounced a Bleffing upon
them as his own Appointment, why fhould
we not fuppofe that this Gofpel is ftill as fit
in its own Nature for the fame Purpofes as
it wras at firft ? And why may we not hope
the fame heavenly Bkfling in a great mea-
fure to remain upon it, for thefe Purpofes, to
the End of the World ?
While we introduce thefe divine Topicks,
drawn from the Gofpel of Cbrijiy to inforce
Piety and Virtue upon the Conferences of
Men, God forbid that wc fhould abandon
thofe Arguments drawn from the Nature
of Things, and from human Reafon : The
Gofpel does by no means exclude them,
but clears and enlightens and advances them
all, and gives them ten-fold Power for the
C 5 Purpofes
34 Of tie Compofure of Sermons.
Purpofes for which they are defigned. The
Melted Apofties themfelves fomctimes made
ufe of them *, and they may be fpread
abroad in a rich Variety by every Preacher
of the Gofpel to much better Purpofe than
a Seneca or an Epi£tetus could difplay them.
All kind of Efforts are neceflary, and every
fort of Weapon may be ufed in its proper
place to make A (faults upon the Kingdom
of Satan in the Hearts of Men ; but 'tis
evident that the divine Principles and Mo-
tives of Cbriftianity were fent us down
from Heaven as more fovereign Remedies
for the mortal Difeafes of the Soul, and
far more effectual for the Reformation of
Mankind.
Secondly^ If the beautiful Ideas of Virtue
and Religion, and the natural Tendency of
it to make Men happy, be fuch fufficient
Motives to inforce the Practice of it, I
would enquire why was not the Gentile
World reformed without the Gofpel ? Why
were the polite and knowing Nations fo
abominably and almoft univerfally funk in-
to fliameful Vices ? Why did not the felf-
fufficient Reward of Virtue conftrain great-
er Numbers of Mankind to change their
Manners, and to praclife good Morality ?
If this had been the beft and moft effedtual
Way of changing the Hearts and of re-
forming the profligate Lives of Men, why
was not St. Paul fent only or chiefly with
thefe
Of the Compofure of Sermons. 3 5
thefe Principles and Inftruftions of Reafon,
to talk of the divine Beauty of Religion
and Excellency of Virtue amongft them,
and the Advantages that it brought into
human Society and private Life ? What need
was there that he .fhould be commiffioned
to preach the Doftrine of the Crofs of
Chrift, and the Love of the Son of God
defcending from Heaven to die for Sinners ?
What makes him dwell fo much upon the
Recovery of a finful World to God by the
Atonement and Sufferings of the blefled
JefuS) as a Means and Motive to periuade
Sinners to forfake their Sins, and be recon-
ciled to God ? Why are the Evangelic To-
picks fo often infifted on and reprefented in
lively Language for the Encouragement of
Virtue and Piety, and as a Guard againft
Sin ? What need had he of the Hiflory of
a crucified Son of God rifing from the
Dead, afcending to Heaven, fitting at the
right Hand of God, interceding for Sin-
ners, and governing the World, in order to
reform Mankind from Vice and Impiety ?
Why does the Scripture tell us, that the
Hearts of Men are to be purified by Faithy
that believing in the Son of God is the Way to
get the victory over the World ? What need
was there that St. Paul fhould teach us, that
our Sins are to be mortified in us by the Af-
fiftance of the Holy Spirit, or that St. Peter
or St. John fhould tell us, that we nmft be
C 6 • born
36 Of the Compofure of Scrmom.
horn again and made new Creatures by the
JVord of God, and by this blefied Spirit and
his Influences ? Were all thefc Doftrines fo
needful in the primitive Days, and attend-
ed with fuch illuftrious and divine Succefs,
and are they grown ufelefs and needlefs
now ?
Let me inquire, in the Third place, Are
all the Hearers that make up our publick
Aflemblies fo well acquainted with the Doc-
trines of thrift and the Gofpel in our Day,
that they have no need to be taught them ?
Have they all enjoyed fo happy an Educa-
tion from their Infancy, as to underftand
the Principles of the Cbriftian Religion, and
the peculiar Articles of the Faith, which
are io necefiary to reftore Sinners to a di-
vine Life ? Do they fo much as know that
they are by Nature dead in TrefpaJJes and
Sins ? And do they know how to apply
thofe vital Truths to the blefied Purpofes of
Godlinefs ? I am fure when we make par-
ticular Inquiries, we find many of them
ignorant enough both of themfelves and
their Saviour, and they have need to be
taught the firft Principles of the Oracles of
God, and the Faith of Jefus.
Shall I inquire yet further, Is this a Day
when we fhould leave the peculiar Articles
of the Religion of Chrift out of our Mini-
ftrations, when the Truth of them is boldly
called in queftion, and denied by fuch Mul-
titudes
Of the Compcfure of Sermons. 37
titudes who dwell amongft us ? Is this a
proper Time for us to forget the Name of
Cbrifi in our publick Labours, when the
witty Talents and Reafonings of Men join
together and labour hard to caft out his fa-
cred Name with Contempt and Scorn? Is
it lb feafonable a Practice in this Age to
negleft thefe evangelick Themes, and to
preach up Virtue without the fpecial Prin-
ciples and Motives with which Chrift has
furnifhed us, when there are fuch Numbers
amongft us who are fond of Heathenifmy
who are endeavouring to introduce it again
into a Cbriftian Country, and to fpread the
Poifon of Infidelity thro* a Nation called
by his Name ? If this be our Praftice, our
Hearers will begin to think indeed, that
Infidels may have feme Reafon on their
fide, and that the glorious Doftrines of the
Gofpel of Chrift are not fo neceffary as our
Fathers thought them, while they find no
Mention of them in the Pulpit, no Ufe
made of them in our Difcourfes from Week
to Week, and from Month to Month, and
yet we profefs to preach for the Salvation
of Souls. Will this be our Glory to imi-
tate the Heathen Philofophers, and to drop
the Gofpel of the Son of God ? To be com-
plimented by Unbelievers as Men of fupe-
rior Senfe and as deep Reafoners, while we
abandon the Faith of JefttSj and ftarve the
Souls of our Hearers by neglecting to dis-
tribute
38 Of the Compofure of Sermons.
tribute to them this Bread of Life which
came down from Heaven ? O let us who are
his Minifters remember the laft Words of
our departing Lord, Go, preach the Gofpel
to every Nation : He that believes and is bap-
tizedfall be faved, and he that believe th not
/hall be damned ; and ho, I am with you al-
way j to the End of the World. Let us fulfil
the Command, Jet us publifh the Threat-
ening with the Promife, and Jet us wait for
the attendant Blefling.
Wherefoever this Gofpel is publifhed
with clear and proper Evidence, the Belief
of it is made neceffary to Salvation, and 'tis
part of the Commiflion of Minifters to
make known this to the People : Nor is
there any thing elfe which can ftand in the
Room and Stead of this Gofpel, or attain
thofe happy Purpofes for which this holy
Inftitution was defigned. Unlefs therefore
you have fuch an high Efteem for the Gof-
pel of thrift, and fuch a Senfe of its divine
Worth and Power, as to take it along with
you when you defire to fave Souls, you had
better lay down the Miniftry and abandon
your facred Profeffion ; for you will but
fpend your Strength for naught, and wafte
your Breath in vain Declamations : You will
neither fave your own Soul, nor them that
hear you •, and you will have a terrible Ac-
count to give at the laft Day, what you
have done with this Gofpel which was in-
trufted
Of the Compofure of Sermons. 39
tr ufted with you for the Salvation of Men :
You have hid this divine Talent in the
Earth, you have traded intirely with your
own Stock, you have ccmpaffed yourfelf about
with Sparks of Light of your own kindling,
and you muft lie down in Sorrow with eter-
nal Lofs.
Forgive me, my dear Brother and Friend,
and you, my beloved and honoured Bre-
thren in the Miniftry, forgive me, if I have
indulged too much Vehemence in this Part
of my Difcourfe, if I have given too great
a Loofe to Pathetic Language on this
needful Subjedt. I doubt not but your own
Confidences bear me witnefs that this eleva-
ted Voice, is not the Voice of Reproof, but
of friendly Warning ; and, I perfuade my
lelf, that you all join with me in this Senti-
ment, that if ever we are fo happy as to re-
form the Lives of our Hearers, to convert
their Hearts to God, and to train them up
for Heaven, it muft be done by the Princi-
ples of the Gofpel of Chrift. On the Oc-
cafion of fuch an Head of Advice, there-
fore, I allure my felf you will forgive thefe
warm Emotions of Spirit. Can there be
any jufter Caufe or Seafon to exert Fervour
and Zeal, than while we are pleading for
the Name and Honour, and Kingdom of
our adored Jefus ? Let him live, let him
reign for ever exalted on his Throne of
Glory 5 let him live upon our Lips, and
40 Of the Compofure of Sermons.
reign in all our Miniftrations : let him live
in the Hearts of all our Hearers ; let him
live and reign thro' Great-Britain and thro*
all the Nations, till Iniquity be fubdued,
till the Kingdom of Satan be dettroyed,
and the whole World are become willing
Subjects to the Scepter of his Grace !
Thus I have finifhed my third Exhorta-
tion relating to the Preparation of your Ser-
mons for the Pulpit.
IV. In addrefling your Difcourfe to your
Hearers, remember to diftinguifh the dif-
ferent Characters of Saints and Sinners, the
converted and the unconverted, the fincere
Chriftian and the formal Profeffor, the ftu-
pid and the awakened, the diligent and back-
fliding, the fearful or humble Soul, and
the obftinate and prefumptuous : And in
various Seafons introduce a Word for each
of them. Z7ms you will divide the Word of
God aright L, and give every one their 'portion,
2 Tim. ii. 15.
The general way of fpeaking to all Per-
fons in one View and under one Character,
as tho' all your Hearers were certainly true
Chrijlians and converted already, and want-
ed only a little further Reformation of
Heart and Life, is too common in the
World, but I think 'tis a dangerous way of
Preaching : It hath a powerful and unhap-
py Tendency to lull- unregenerate Sinners
a-fleep in Security, to flatter and deceive
them
Of the Compofure of Sermons. 4 1
them with Dreams of Happinefs, and make
their Confciences eafy without a real Con-
verfion of Heart to God.
Let your Hearers know that there is a
vaft and unfpeakable Difference betwixt a
Saint and a Sinner, one in Chriji and one
out of Chrift, between one whofe Heart is
in the State of corrupt Nature or unrenew-
ed, and one that is in a State of Grace and
renewed to Faith and Holinefs, between one
who is only born of the Flejh and is a Child of
Wrath, and one who is bom again, or born
of the Spirit and is become a Child of God,
a Member of Chri/l, and an Heir of Heaven.
Let them know that this Diftmction is great
and neceflary •, and 'tis not made (as fome
have imagined; by the Water of Baptifm,
but by the Operations of the Word and Spi-
rit of God on the Hearts of Men, and by
their diligent Attendance on all the ap-
pointed Means and Methods of converting
Grace. 'Tis a moft real Change and of
infinite importance, and however it has been
derided by Men, 'tis glorious in the eyes of
God, and it will be made to appear fo at
the laft Day in the eyes of Men and An-
gels : But it will bring with it infinite Ter-
ror to thofe who. thought themfelves fafe in
a common carelefs Profeflion of Chriftianity,
without any inward and divine Change of
Heart. That little Treatife written by the
learned Mr. John Jennings concerning the
Preaching
4 2 Of the Compofure of. Sermons.
Preaching of Chrifi and experimental Preach-
ings has many valuable Hints relating to
thefe two laft Particulars of my Exhorta-
tion.
V. Lead your Hearers wifely into the
Knowledge of the Truth, and teach them
to build their Faith upon folid Grounds.
Let them firft know why they are Chriftians,
that they may be firmly eitabiifhed in the
Belief and Profeffion of the Religion of
Chrift^ that they may be guarded again ft
all the Affaults of Temptation and infide-
lity in this evil Day, and may be able to
render a Reafon of the Hope that is in the?n :
Furnifh them with Arguments in oppofi-
tion to the rude Cavils and Blafphemies
which are frequently thrown out in the
World againft the Name and Dodtrines of
the holy Jefus.
Then \tt the great, the moft important
and moft neceiTary Articles of our Religion
be fet before your Hearers in their faireft
Light. Convey them into the Underftand-
ings of thofe of meaneft Capacity, by con-
defcending fometimes to plain and familiar
Methods of Speech ; prove thefe important
Doclrines and Duties to them by all proper
Reafons and Arguments : But as to the in-
troducing of Controverfies into the Pulpit,
be not fond of it, nor frequent in it : In
your common Courfe of Preaching avoid
Difpufes,- efpecially about Things of lefs
Im-
Of the Ccmpofure of ' Sermcm. 43
Importance, without an apparent Call of
Providence. Religious Controversies fre-
quently introduced without real Neceffity
have an unhappy Tendency to hurt the Spi-
rit of true Godlinefs both in the Hearts of
Preachers and Hearers, 1 Tint. iv. 7.
And have a care of laying too much
Strcfs on the peculiar Notions and Terms
and Phrafes of the little Sefts and Parties
in Chriftianity : Take heed that you do not
make your Hearers Bigots and Uncharitable,
while you endeavour to make them know-
ing Christians. Eftablifh them in all the
chief and molt important Articles of the
Gofpel of Chriji) without endeavouring to
render thofe who differ from you odious in
the fight of your Hearers. Whenfoever
you are conftrained to declare your Dif-
approbation of particular Opinions, keep
up and manifeit your Love to the Perfons
of thofe who efpoufe them, and efpecially if
they are Perfons of Virtue and Piety.
VI. Do not content your felf to com-
pofe a Sermon of mere Doctrinal Truths
and Articles of Belief, but into every Ser-
mon (if poffible) bring fomething Pradtical.
*Tis true, Knowledge is the Foundation of
Practice ; the Head muft be furnifhed with
a Degree of Knowledge or the Heart can-
not be Good : But take heed that dry Spe-
culations and mere Schemes of Orthodoxy
do not take up too large a part of your
Com-
44 Of the Compofure of Sermons.
Compofures ; and be lure to imprels it fre-
quently on your Hearers, that Holinefs is
the great End of all Knowledge, and of
much more Value than the fublimeft Specu-
lations, nor is there any Doftrine but what
requires ibme correfpondent Practice of
Piety or Virtue.
And among the practical Parts of Chri-
ftianity, fometimes make it your Bafinefs to
infift on thofe Subjects which are inward and
fpiritual, and which go by the Name of
Experimental Religion. Now and then take
fuch Themes as thele, (viz) the firft A-
wakenings of the Confcience of a Sinner by
fome fpecial and awful Providence, by fome
particular Paffages in the Word of God, in
pious Writings, or publick Sermons, the
inward Terrors of Mind and Fears of the
Wrath of God which fometimes accompa-
ny fuch Awakenings, the Temptations
which arife to divert the Mind from them,
and to footh up the Sinner in the Courfe of
his Iniquities, the inward Conflicts of the
Spirit in thefe Seafons, the Methods of
Relief under fuch Temptations, the Argu-
ments that may fix the Heart and Will for
God againft all the Inticements and Oppo-
fitions of the World, the Labours of the
Confcience fluctuating between Hope and
Fear, the rifing and working of indwelling
Sin in the Heart, the fubtil Excufes framed
by the Flefli for the Indulgence of it, the.
Peace
Of the Compojure of Sermons. 45
Peace of God derived from the Gofpel al-
laying the inward Terrors of the Soul un-
der a Senfc of Guilt, the Victories obtain-
ed over ftrong Corruptions and power-
ful Temptations by the Faith of unfeen
Things, by repeated Addreffes to God in
Prayer, by trufting in Jefus the great Me-
diator who is made of God to us Wifdom
and Right eoufnefs^ Sanclification and Re-
demption.
While you are treating on thefe Subjects,
give me leave to put you again in mind
that it will fometimes have a very happy
Influence on the Minds of Hearers to fpeak
what you have learnt from your own Expe-
rience, tho* there is no need that you fliould
tell them publickly 9tis your own : You may
inform them what you have borrowed from
your own Obfervation, and from the Ex-
perience of Chriftians, Ancient or Mo-
dern, who have paffed thro' the fame Trials,
who have wreftled with the fame Corrupti-
ons of Nature, who have grappled with the
fame Difficulties, and at Jaft have been made
Conquerors over the fame Temptations.
As Face anfwers Face in the Glafs, fo the
Heart of one Man anfwers to another, and
the Workings of the different Principles of
Flefh and Spirit, corrupt Nature and re-
newing Grace, have a great deal of Re-
femblance in the Hearts of different Per-
fons who have paffed thro* them. This
fort
46 Of the Compojure of Sermon*.
fort of Inftrufcion drawn from juft and fo-
ld Experience wiil animate and encourage
the young Chriftian that begins to (hake off
the Slavery of Sin, and to let his Face to-
ward Heaven : This will make it appear
that Religion is no impracticable thing :
? Twill eftablifh and comfort the Profeffors
of the Gofpel, and excite them with new
Vigour to proceed in the way of Faith and
Hoiincfs, it will raife a ftedfaft Courage
and Hope, and will generally obtain a moil
happy Effect upon the Souls of the Hearers
beyond all that you can fay to them from
Principles of mere Reafoning and dry Spe-
culation ; and efpecially where you have
the concurrent Experience qi any fcriptural
Examples.
VII. Whether you are difcourfing of
Doftrine or Duty, take great care that you
i-mpofe nothing on your Hearers, either as
a Matter of Faith or Praftice, but what your
Lord and Matter Chrift J e fits has impofed.
Thefe are the Limits of the Commiffion
which Chrijl gave to the firft Miniflers of
the Gofpel, Mat. xxviii. ult. Go9 difciple
all Nations ^ baptizing them who are willing
ro become my Difciples, and teach them to
obferve whatfoever I have commanded you.
He has not given leave to his Minifters,
whether feparate in their (ingle Congrega-
tions, or united in Synods or Councils, the
lead Degree of Power to appoint one new
3 Article
Of the Compofare of Sermons. 47
Article of Faith, nor to injoin any new fort
of Devotion or Practice, nor to impofe any
one Rite or Ceremony of Worihip, but
what he himfeif has framed and injoined.
And yet, to our univerfal reproach, there
is fcarce any Party of Chriftians but hath
been too ready to impofe fome Dodtrines
upon the Belief of their Profelytes, which
Chrijl has not impofed, or to require of
them fome Practices or fome Abftinences,
aBout Meat or Days, or Things indifferent,
which Chrijl has not required. 'Tis this
aflliming Power that has turned Chriftiani-
ty into an hundred Shapes, and every one
of them in fome degree unlike the glorious
Gofpel. 'Tis this has brought in all the
Superftitions and Fooleries, the fplendid
Vanities, the ufelefs Aufterities and the
chiidifh Trifles of the Greek and Roman
Churches *, and 'tis this has too far corrupt-
ed the Purity and defaced the Beauty of
moft of thofe Churches who boaft of Re-
formation, and wear the Proteftant Name.
Now to difcourage and deter us all from
fuch Prefumption : Let us remember that
this impofing Spirit has generally found it
neceffary to fupport its Commands with Pe-
nalties and Perfecutions. Hence proceed
the Imprifonments and the Murders, the
Cruelties, the Tortures, and the wild and
bloody Fury that has ravaged the Nations
of Chrijlendoni) and caft a foul and lading
Blot
48 Of the Compofure of Sermon:.
Biot and Infamy upon the Religion of the
bkfled J ejus. Bleffed Jefus, when (hall this
Stain be vvailicd out from thy Religion, and
this Scandal die ? If we furvey the perfec-
ting Laws and Edicts that have been framed
and executed in Great -Britain^ or in foreign
Nations, in ancient or later Times, we
fhall feJdom find that the plain and expli-
cite Doctrines and Duties of the Gofpel
liave been guarded with thefe Terrors : But
'tis the wretched Inventions of Men, 'tis
the Inftitution of Priefts or the Appoint-
ments of Kings, (all which have been mere
Additions to the Word of God) that have
had the Honour, fhall I fay, or the In-
famy to be thus guarded with bloody Se-
verities, and with Engines of Death. 'Tis
the abfolute Determination of Men upon
fome Points which Chriji has not plainly de-
termined, 'tis fome Forms of pretended
Orthodoxy which Scripture knows nothing
of, or at leaft which the Word of God has
not made necelTary to our Faith, 'tis fome
Ceremonies or Modes of Worfliip which
Chriji and his Apoftles never commanded,
that have generally been the fhameful Oc-
cafion of Excommunications, and Priibns,
of Banifhments and Martyrdoms. See to
it therefore with a holy and religious Care,
when you dictate any thing to your
Hearers as neceffary to be believed or
pra&ifed, that you have the plain and evi-
dent
Of the Compofure of Sermons. 49
dent Diredtion of Scripture to fupport you
in it.
'Tis this corrupt Mixture of human O-
pinions and human Forms of divine Ser-
vice that has fo difguifed the pure Religion
of the Gofpel, as to tempt the Deift to re-
nounce it intirely. The pure Religion of
Jefus has divine Charms in it, and is, like
the Author, altogether lovely : But when on
one hand 'tis corrupted and debafed by new
Doctrines foifted into our Creeds, and new
Myfteries which Men have invented to
over-load our Faith-, when 'tis encumbred by
new Rituals of Worfhip, or impofed Rules
and Practices on the other hand, which the
holy Scripture has not enjoined, when Men
make Articles of Faith which are no where
plainly revealed, when they pronounce that:
to be a Sin which God hath no where for-
bidden, and appoint that to be a Duty
which God hath never commanded, (which
I take to be the very Nature of Super-
ftition) it cafts fuch a V<ril of Deformity
over the Beauties of the Gofpel, that 'tis
no wonder if the Men of Reafon ftart at ic
and pronounce againft it. While we hold
forth this confuted Mais and Mixture ot
Things Divine and Human, and call it the
Religion of Chrift^ we tempt the Men of
Infidelity to eftablifli themfelves in their
Unbelief; and they will hardly now give a
favourable hearing to the pure Doctrine of
D the
t;o Of the Compofure of Sermons.
the Gofpel, becaufe they have been fo much
difgufted with the Sight of it in a corrupt
and fuperftitious Drefs.
But in this Sate of Frailty and Imperfec-
tion, Dangers attend us on either hand. As
we muft take heed that we do not add the
Fancies of Men to our divine Religion, fo
we fhould take equal Care that we do not
curtail the Appointments of Chrift. With
a facred Vigilance and Zea! we fhould
•maintain all the plain, exprefs, and neceflary
Articles that we find evidently written in
the Word of God, and fuffer none of them
to be loft thro5 our Default. The World
has been fo long impofed upon by thefe
fhameful Additions of Men to the Gofpel
of Chrift^ that they feem now to be refoived
to bear them no longer. But they are un-
happily running into another Extreme: Be-
caufe feveral Sefts and Parties of Chriftians
have tacked on fo many falfe and unbe-
coming Ornaments to Chriftianity, they re-~
fo've to deliver her from thefe Difguifes*
but while they are paring off all this foreign.
Trumpery, they too often cut her to the
quick, and fometimes let out her Life*
Blood-, (if I may fo exprefs it) and maim
her of Iter very Limbs and vital Parts. Bj-
fe fo many irrational Notions and Follies
e been mixed up with the Chrifttari
m :, Ms now a modilh Humour of the
o renounce almoft every thing that
Keafon
Of the Compofure of Sermons. 51
Reafon doth not difcover, and to reduce
Chriftianity itfelf to little more than the
Light of Nature and the Di£tates of Rea-
fon. And under this fort of Influence there
are fome who are Believers of the Bible and
the Divine Million of Cbrift, and dare not
renounce the Gofpel itfelf, yet they inter-
pret fome of the peculiar and exprefs Doc-
trines and Duties of it into fo poor, fo nar-
row, and fo jejune a Meaning, that they fuf-
fer but little to remain beyond the Articles
of natural Religion. This leads fome of
the learned and polite Men of the Age to
explain away the Sacrifice and the Atone-
ment made for our Sins by the Death of
Chrift, and to bereave our Religion of the
ordinary Aids of the Holy Spirit, both which
are fo plainly and exprefly revealed, and fo
frequently repeated in the New Teftament,
and which are two of the chief Glories of
the blefled Gofpel, and which perhaps are
two of the chief Ufes of thofe iacred Names
of the Son and the Holy Spirit into which we
are baptized. 'Tis this very Humour that
perfuades fome Perfons to reduce the In-
jury and Mifchief that we have fuftained
by the Sin and Fall of Adam to fo flight a
Bruife and fo inconiiderable a Wound, that
a fmail Matter of Grace is needful for our
Recovery; and accordingly they impoverifh
the rich and admirable Remedy of the
Gofpel to a very culpable Degree, fuppo-
D 2 fing
52 Of the Compojurc of Sermom.
fitng no more to be neccfiary for the Refh>
ration of Man, than thoie few Ingredients
which in their Opinion make up the
whole Compofition. Hence it comes to
pafs chat tire Doctrine of Regeneration, or
entire Change of corrupt Nature by a
Principle of Divine Grace, is almort loft out
of their Chriftianity, or at lead they fup-
pole renewing Grace and San&ification by
the Holy Spirit and his Affiftances to carry
nothing more in them than the outward
Divine Meflages and Difcoveries of Grace
made and attefted by the extraordinary
Gifts of the Spirit to the Chriftian World.
This is a dangerous Extreme on the other
hand •, I hope it will never obtain amongft
us Proteftant Diffenters : But fince 'tis' a
iafhionable Error, you ought to fet a ftri&er
Guard a2;ainft it. As he that adds or takes
away from the Words of the Prophecy in the
latter End of the Book of God is left under
a Curie, Rev. xxii. fo we fhould fet a holy
Guard upon ourfelves, left we add any things
to the Gofpel of Cbrifl \ or take any thing
from if, left we expofe ourfelves to the fame
Divine Indignation.
To avoid both thefe Extremes, permit
me to give this general Word of Advice,
and may God enable me to take it myfelf,
{Viz.) That in all our Miniftraticns v/e keep
a conftant and religious Eye upon the holy
\ :p:ure, that in the ncc?ftary and moft
importan:
Of the Compofure of Sermons. 53
important Points of Dodtrine or Duty, we
may teach our Hearers neither more nor
lefs than the Scripture teaches. Our great
Rufinefs is to expound Scripture, and en-
force the Word of God upon the Minds
and Hearts of Men : When therefore we
explain the great and neceffary Points of the
Gofpel contained in any one Scripture, let
us do it as much as poflible by bringing
other Parts of Scripture into the fame View,
that the Word of God may be a Comment
on itfelf. When we have Occafion to make
Inferences from it, Jet us take care that
the Connexion of them be ftrong and evi-
dent, and that they lie not far off at a dis-
tance, for in very diftant Inferences we are
more liable to Miftake. When we are de-
livering our own beft Opinions concerning
divine Subjefts, and giving our Advice
upon Matters which are not fo evidently
and fo exprefily revealed, let us pradtife the
Modefly of the bleffed Apoftle, 1 Cor. viu
6, io, 12, 25, &c. I /peak this by Per-
mijjion or Advice^ and not of Commandment :
"* 'Tis I {peak ity and not the Lord : I have
D 3 no
* I know thefe Hxpreffions of the Apoftle have ano-
ther Turn given them by fome judicious Commentator. %
(<uiz.) that the Apoftle had fufficient Proof of the Direc-
tions which he pronounces ftrongly, to be the Commands
cf Chrift from other Places of Scripture ; but that thefe
which he expreftes focautioufly were Directions which
Cbrifl had not elfewhere given us, but were made
known
54 Of the Compofure of Sermons.
no plain Commandment of the Lord about it,
yet I give my Judgment as one that has ob-
tained Mercy of the Lord to be Faithful: I
fuppofe therefore that in the prefent Cafe this
is good to be pracftifed, or that to be avoid-
ed : Judge ye ivit bin your fehes whether what
I fpeak be agreeable to the Word of God5
i Cor. xi. 13.
VIII. Remember that you have to do'
with the Under ft anding, Reafon and' Memory
of Man, with the Heart and Confcience,
with the Will and AffeBtons \ and therefore
you mu ft vfc every Method of Speech
which may be mod: proper to engage and
employ each of theie Faculties or Powers of
human Nature en the Side of Religion and
in the Interefts of God and the GofpeJ.
Your firft Bufinefs is with the Under-
ftanding^ to make even the lower Parts of
your A uditory know what you mean. En-
deavour therefore to find out all the cleared
and moft eafy Forms of Speech to convey
divine Truths into the Minds of Men. Seek
to obtain a perfpicuous Style and a clear and
diftindt Manner of Speaking, that you may
effectually imprefs the Underftanding while
you pronounce the Words-, that you may
known to him by his own fpecial Inspiration. I am
not fuMy affured which is the true Senfe, but I rather
think 'tis to be underflood a- St. PauPs own private Senfe
or Things, who was a Man favoured with many lnfpi-
rations.
fo
Of the Compojure of Sermons. c§
fo cxaftly imprint on the Mind of the
Hearers the fame Ideas which you yourlelf
have conceived, that they may never mif-
take your Meaning. This Talent is fooncr
attained in younger Years by having feme
judicious Friend to hear or read over your
Difcourfes, and inform you where Perfpicui-
ty is wanting in your Language, and where
the Hearers may be in danger of miftaking
your Senfe. For want of this, ibme young
Preachers have fixed themfelves in fuch an
obfeure way of writing and talking, as
hath very much prevented their Hearers
from obtaining diftinft Ideas of their Dif-
courfe. And if a Man gets fuch an unhappy
Habit, he will be fometimes talking to /be
Air, and make the People ftare at him as
though he were fpeaking fame unknown Lan-
guage.
Remember you have to do with the red*
fining Powers of Man in preaching the Go-
fpel of Chrift ; for tho' this Gofpel be re-
vealed from Heaven, and could never be
difcovered by all the Efforts cf human Rea-
fon, yet 'tis the Reafon of Man muft judge
of feveral Things relating to it, (viz.) It is
Reafon muft determine whether the Evi-
dence of its heavenly Original be clear and
itrong: It is Reafon muft judge whether fuch
a Decline or fuch a Duty be co tatned in
this Gofpel, or may be juftly de< rorn
it: It is the Work of human P
D 4,
56 Of the Compojure of Sermons.
compare one Scripture with another, and
to find out the true Senfe of any particular
Text by this means : And it is Reafon aifo
muft give its Sentence whether a Do&rine,
which is pretended to be contained in Scrip-
ture, be contrary to the eternal and un-
changeable Relations and Reafons of Things 5
and if fo, then Reafon may pronounce
that this Doctrine is not from God, nor
can be given us by Divine Revelation. Rea-
fon therefore hath its Office and pro-
per Province even in Matters of Revela-
tion ; yet it muft always be confefied, that
fome Propofitions may be revealed to us
from Heaven, which may be fo far fupe-
rior to the Limits and Sphere of our reafon-
ing Powers in this prefent State, that hu-
man Reafon ought not to rejedt them, be-.
caufe it cannot fully underftand them, nor
clearly and perfectly reconcile them -9 un-
lefs it plainly fee a natural Abfurdity in
them, a real Impoffibility, or a plain In-
confiftence with other Parts of divine Re-
velation.
Well then, fince you have to do with
reafonable Creatures in your facred Work,
let your Manner of fpeaking be rational,
and your Arguments and Inferences jult
and ftrong, that you may effectually con-
vince your Hearers of the Truth of what
you deliver in your Miniftrations of the
GofpeL
And
Of the Compofure of Sermons. 57
And in your Reprefcntation of Things
to the Reafon and Under/landing of Men, it
would ibmetimes be of fpecial Advantage
to have fome Power over the Fancy or Ima-
gination : This would help us to paint our
Themes in their proper Colours, whether
of the alluring or the forbidding Kind. And
now and then we fhould make ufe of both*
in order to imprefs the Idea on the Soul
with happier Force and Succefs.
When you wouM defcribe any of the per-
fonal or focial Virtues of Life, fo as to en*
force their Praftice, {et yourfelf to difplay*
the Beauties and Excellencies of them in
their own agreeable and lovely Forms and
Colours. But do not content yourfelf with
this alone: This is not fufficient to allure
the degenerate and fenfual Mind of Man to
praftife them. Few Perfons areoffo happy
a Difpofition, and fo refined a Genius, as to
be wrought* upon by the mere Afpeft c£
fuch inviting Qualities. Endeavour there-
fore to illuitrate the Virtues by their con-
trary Vices, and fet forth thefe moral Mif-
chiefs both in their Deformities and their
dangerous Confequences before the Eyes of
your Hearers. Think it not enough to re-
prefent to them the fhining Excellencies of
Humility and Benevolence, of Juftice, Ve-
racity, Gratitude and Temperance ; but
produce to fight the vile Features of Pride,.
Envy,. Malice, Spite, Knavery, Faifhood,
D 5 Revenge,
58 Of the Compofure of Sermons.
Rev * • -faality, Luxury, and the reil
of that curled Train, in their proper Pla-
ces and Seafons. Make it evident, how
contrary they are both to the Law of God
and the Golpel of Chrift; defcribe them in
all their feveral Forms, Shapes and Ap-
pearances ; ftrip them of their falfe Pre-
tences and Difguiies •, fhew how they insi-
nuate and exert themfelves in different Oc-
currences of Life, and different Constitu-
tions*, and purfue them fo narrowly as it
were by a Hue and Cry, with fuch exa£t
Defcriptions, that if any of thefe Vices are
indulged by your Hearers, they may be
found out by ftridt Self-Examination, that
the Confidences of the Guilty may be laid
under Convi6tion of Sin, and be fet in the
way of Repentance and Reformation.
Whenfoever any Vice has found the way
into our Bofoms, and made its . Neft there,
its proper and evil Features and Characters
had need to be marked out by the Preacher
with great Accuracy, that it may be dif-
covered to our Confciences in order to its
Deftruftion : For thefe wretched Hearts of
ours are naturally fo fond of ail their own In-
mates, that they are too ready to hide their
ill Qualities from our own Sight and Con-
viction, and thus they cover and fave them
from the Sentence of Mortification and
Death, which is denounced againft every
Sin in the Word of God. And let the
Preacher
Of the Compojitre of Sermons. 59
Preacher and the Hearer both remember,
that Sin muft be purfued to the Death, or elfe
there is no Life for the Soul. 'Tis only the
Chrifuan who by the Spirit mortifies the fin-
ful Deeds of the Body, has the Promife of Sal-
vation and Life j Rom. viii. 13.
It would be a happy Thing, if this vi-
vacious and fprightly Power of the Fancy,
which too often becomes an ingenious and
fuccefsful Tempter of the. Soul to Guilt,
Mifchief and Ruin, might, by the Art of
the Preacher, be gained over to the Interefts
of Virtue and Goodnefs, and employed for
God and Salvation.
Think farther, that you Jfhould take
fome Care alfo to ingage the Memory, and.
to make it ferve the Purpofes of Religion..
Let your Reafonings be never fo forcible
and convincing, le: your Language be never
fa clear and intelligible, yet if the whole
E>ifcourfe glide over the Ears in a fmooth
and delightful Stream, and if nothing be
fixed in the Memory, the Sermon is in great,
danger of being loft and fruitlefs. Now
to avoid this Danger, I would recommend
to you the Care of a clear and difcind Me-
thod, and let this Method appear to the
Hearers by the Divifion of your Djfcourfes
into feveral plain and diftind Particulars, fo
that, the Whole may not be a mere loofe
Harangue without evident Members and
dilarnable Reds and Paufes, Whatfoever-
D 6 EroRer
60 Of the Compofure of Sermons.
proper and natural Divifions belong to your
Subjett, mark them out by the Numbers
i ft, 2d, 3d, &V. This wiil afford you Time
to breathe in the Delivery of your Dif-
courfe, and give your Hearers a fhort Sea-
fon for Recollection of the Particulars which
have been mentioned before.
But in this Matter take care always to
maintain a happy Medium, fo as never to
arife to fuch a Number of Particulars as may
make your Sermon look like a Tree full of
Branches in the Winter, without the beau-
teous and profitable Appearance of Leaves
or Fruit.
Caft the Scheme of your Difcourfe into
fome diftindt general Heads, and letter Sub-
divifions in your firft Sketches and Rudi-
ments of it : This will greatly affift you in
the Amplification, this will help you to
preferve a juft Method throughout, and fe-
cure you from repeating the fame Thoughts
too often : This will enable you to commit
your Sermon to your own Memory the bet-
ter, that you may deliver it with Eafe, and
it will greatly affift the Underftanding as
well as the Memory of all that hear you.
It will furnifh them with Matter and Me-
thod for an eafy Recolleftion at home •, for
Meditation in their devout Retirement, and
for religious Conference or Rehearfal after
the publick W orfhip is ended.
Confider
Of the Compofure of Sermons. 6 i
Confider again, your Bufinefs is with
the Conferences and Wills and Affections of
Men. A mere Gonviftion of the Reafon
and Judgment by the ftrongeft Arguments
is hardly fufficient, in Matters of Piety and
Virtue, to command the Will into Obedi- *
ence, becaufe the Appetites of the Flefh
and the Interefts of this World are ingaged
on the oppofite fide. 'Tis a very common
Cafe with the Sons and Daughters of Adam
to fee and know their proper Duty, and to
have the Reafons that enforce it frefli in
their Memory \ and yet the powerful Ef-
forts of the Flefh and the World with-hold
the Will from the Practice, forbid its holy
Refolutions for God and Heaven, or keep
them always feeble, doubtful and wavering.
The God of Nature therefore has furnifhed
Mankind with thofe Powers which we call
PaJJions, or Affections of the Heart, in order
to excite the Will with fuperior Vigour and
Adtivity to avoid the Evil and purfue the
Good. Upon this account the Preacher
Ynuft learn to addrefs the Pajfwns in a pro-
per Manner, and I cannot but think it a
very imperfect Character of a Chriflian
Preacher, that he reafons well upon every*
Subject, and talks clearly upon his Text,
if he has nothing of the Pathetick in his
Miniftrations, no Talent at all to Itrike the-
Paflions of the Heart.
Awaken-
62 Of the Compqfure of Sermons.
Awaken your Spirit therefore in your
Compofures, contrive all lively, forcible
and penetrating Forms of Speech to make
your Words powerful and impreflive on
the Hearts of your Hearers when Light is
firft let into the Mind. Praftife all the aw-
ful and folemn Ways of Addrefs to the
Conicience, all the foft and tender In-
fluences on the Heart. Try all Methods to
rouze and awaken the cold, the ftupid, the
fieepy Race of Sinners-, learn all the Lan-
guage of holy Jealoufy and Terror to af-
fright the Prefumptuous •, all the compaf-
fionate and encouraging Manners of fpeak-
ing* to comfort, encourage and direft the
Awakened, the Penitent, the Willing and
the Humble v all the willing and engaging
Modes of Difcourfe and Expoftulation to
conftrain the Hearers of every Character to
attend. Seek this happy Skill of reigning
and triumphing over the Hearts of an Af-
fcmbly: Perfuade them with Power to love
and prattife all the important Duties of
Godlinefs, in oppofition to the Flefh and
the World -, endeavour to kindle the Soul
to Zeal in the holy Warfare, and to make
*t bravely vi&orious over all the Enemies
of its Salvation.
But in all thefe Efforts of facred Orato-
ry, remember ftili you are a Minifter of the
Gofpel of Chrift: And. as your Style muft
not affeft the Pomp and Magnificence of
the
Of the Compofure of Sermons. 6$
the Theatre, fo neither fhould you borrow
your Expreflions or your Metaphors from
the coarfeft Occupations, or any of the
mean or uncleanly Occurrences in Life.
Swell not the Sound of your Periods with
ambitious or pedantick Phrafes; drefs not
your ferious Difcourfes to the People in too
glittering Array, with an Affectation of
gaudy and flaunting Ornaments, nor ever
defcend to fo low a Degree of Familiarity
and Meannefs, as to fink your Language be.
low the Dignity of your Subject, or your
Office.
IX. As the Art of Reafoning and the hap-
py Skill of Perfuafton are both neceffary to
be ufed in framing your Difcourfes, fo both
of them may be borrowed in a good mea-
fure from the Holy Scriptures. The Word
of God will furnifh you with a rich Varie-
ty of Forms both to prove and perfuade.
Clear Inftru&ion, convincing Argument,
and pathetick Addrefs to the Heart, may
be all drawn from thefacred Writers. Ma-
ny fine Strokes of true Logick and Rheto-
rick are fcattered thro5 that divine Book
the Bible : Words of Force and Elegance
to charm and allure the Soul, glitter and
fparkle like Golden Ore in fome peculiar
Parts of it. Ycu may find there noble Ex-
amples of the awful and companionate Style,
and inimitable Patterns of the Terrible and
the Tender. Shall I therefore take the
Freedom
64 Of the Compqfure of Sermons.
Freedom once again to call upon you to
remember that you are a Miniller of the
Word of God, a Profeflbr and Preacher of
the Bible, and not a mere Philofopher up-
on the Foot of Reafon, nor an Orator in a
Heathen School ?
I am not here directing you to compofe
your whole Sermons of nothing elfe but a
perpetual Connexion of Texts of Scripture,
nor to fpend the whole Hour in running
from one Text to another, as a Concordance
or the Margin ftiall point them out. Per-
fons of low Degrees of Learning, who give
themfelves up to this Method, have fre-
quently introduced Scripture in their Dif-
courfes in a Senfe which the holy Writers
never thought of, and which the Spirit of
God never defigned : And yet if a learned
Man would happily explain the more diffi-
cult Parts of the Word of God, perhaps
it will be generally beft done, and especially
in the Pulpit, by comparing them with
other Texts which are more piain and eafy.
Scripture is the beft Interpreter of itfelf.
As for Argument to confirm a Doftrine
or enforce a Duty, you may borrow much
of this from the Word of God. It is true,
when we fpeak of thofe Subjects which be-
long to natural Religion, we may very pro-
perly bring Arguments from the Nature of
God and Mar, and from the Reafon of
Things, to (hew how necefiary and reafon-,
able
Of the Compofure of Sermons. 65
able it is to believe fuch a Truth, or to
pra&ife fuch a Virtue; nor is the Scripture
itfelf barren of fuch Reafonings, and even
in the peculiar Articles of Chriftianity it is
a mod excellent and ufeful Defign now and
then to fhew how confident and harmoni-
ous they are with Reafon, and how worthy
of our Faith and Practice, fince the Word
of God has revealed them, tho' they could
not be found out by the Light of Nature.
Yet thefe Arguments, if they are long and
laboured, and not immediately apprehended
by the Mind, are much more proper to be
communicated to the World by Writing
than by Speaking: There the Reader may
review and dwell upon an Argument till he
has grafped the whole Chain, and admits
all the connected Inferences, and fees the
undoubted Evidence of the Conclufion:
But Reafonings in the Pulpit for the molt
part fliould be fhort and eafy, that they
may ftrike Convi&ion into the Mind almoft
as foon as they ftrike the Ear, unlefs your
Hearers were all Men of Learning and re-
fined Education.
But the Bulk of our Auditories, whether
in the City or Country, are not much pro-
fited by Sermons merely made up of rational
Proofs of any Doftrine or Duty, deeply
and laboriously deduced from the original
Springs and prime Nature of Things. They
don't find their Minds fo much enlightened
nor
66 Of the Ccmpofure of Sermons.
nor their Hearts warmed by a tedious
Train of connefted Inferences that are
fetched from diftant Principles of Nature
and Philofophy. This Method, I confefs,
may entertain a few of the more rational,
the more learned, or more polite Perfons
in an Auditory, who can furvey and com-
prehend the Senfe of fuch Diieourfes, and
feel the Force of fuch long Chains of Ar-
gumentation ; and thefe Perfons, I own,
ought to have due Refpedl paid them in
fome Parts of our Miniftry. Yet 'tis not
the great Bufinefs of a Preacher of the Go-
fpel only to pleafe the Few, but to become
all Things to all Men, and if poftible, to
win a Multitude of Souls to Ghrijl. The
Generality of our Hearers have their Lives
filled up with the Bufinefs of their Station,
and have little Leifure or Advantage to
improve their Underftandings in the Art
of deep Reafoning, Thefe will yawn and
nod, and grow weary of the Sermon; nor
will fuch a Preacher (tho3 his Difcourfes
are never fo much laboured) profit the Af-
fembly any more than pleafe them if he
goes on refolutely in this Way : Such a
Minifler will quickly defpife his Hearers,
and they will Icon be tired with their
Preacher; and if fome Providence does not
remove him to another Congregation, or
if he does not betake himfelf to fome other
Bufinefs of Life, he will be temoted to for-
Of the Compofure of Sermons. 6y
fake the Proteftant Dilfenters, and throw
himfelf into the Eftablifhed Church when
he has perfuaded his Conference to comply
with the impofed Terms of Minifcerial
Conformity.
I grant it is neceflary to ufe good Reafon
thro' your whole Difcourfe, and conned: all
the Parts of it with Juftice: But, as I hinted
before, let your Arguments to prove any
Point be generally fhort and eafy, and with-
in the Grafp of a common Underftanding:
Remember that a few plain and obvious
Reafonings from familiar and well known
Principles, and fome clear and well chofen
Texts of Scripture, with a Word or two
to explain or apply them to the Under-
ftanding and Confcience of Men with Light
and Zeal, will imprds the Judgment and
pierce the Heart with more fpeedy and
powerful Conviftion: And our Hearers,
who regard a plain fcriptural Argument as
the Word of the living God9 will much more
readily receive it, and fubmit much foonef
to the Force and Authority of it. Thus
faith the Prophet^ or Thus faith the Apoftle^
carries greater Weight with it, both to
convince and to perfuade, than a long Series
of Demonftrations from remote Principles,
tho* they fhould be firm and flrong as
thofe of Euclid or Sir Ifaac Newton.
And as for bright, warm and pathetick
Language, to ftrike the Imagination or to
affe<5t
68 Of the Co?npofure of So mens.
affecft the Heart, to kindle the divine Paf-
fions or to melt the Soul, there is none of
the Heathen Orators can better furnifh you
than the moving Expoftulations of the an-
cient Prophets, the tender and fprightly
Odes of holy David, or the affectionate
part of the Letters of St. Paul, which even
his Enemies in the Church of Corinth con-
fefs to be powerful. The Eajlern Writers,
among whom we number the Jews, were
particularly famous for lively Oratory, for
bright Images, and bold and animated Fi-
gures of Speech. Could I have heard Ifaiah
or Jeremy pronouncing fome of their Ser-
mons, or attended S. Paul in fome of his
pathetick Strains of Preaching, I Ihould
never mourn a Want of Acquaintance with
Tully or Demofthenes.
A Preacher whofe Mind is well ftored
and enriched with the divine Senfe and Sen-
timents, the Reafoning and the Language
of Scripture, (and efpecially if thefe are
wrought into his Heart by Chriftian Expe-
rience) fuppofing his other Talents are equal
to thofe of his Brethren, will always have
a confiderable Advantage over them in com-
pofing fuch Difcourfes, as fhall be mod po-
pular and mo ft ufeful in Chriftian Affem-
blies: And he may better expedl the Pre-
fence and Bleffing of God to make his
Word triumph over the Souls of Men, and
will generally fpeak to their Hearts with
more
Of the 'Compofure of Sermons. 69
more Power for their eternal Salvation.
Shew me one Sinner turned to God and Ho-
linefs by the Labours of a Chriftian Preach-
er, who is generally entertaining the Audi-
ence with a long and weighty Chain of
Reafoning from the Principles of Nature,
and teaching Virtue in the Language of
Heathen Philofophy; and, I think I may
undertake to fhew you ten who have been
convinced and converted, and have become
holy Perfons and lively Chriftians by an
Attendance upon a fcriptural, affectionate
and experimental Miniftry : The whole Af~
fembly hang attentive upon the Lips of a
Man who fpeaks to the Heart as well as the
Underftanding, and who can enforce his
Exhortations from a manifold Experience
of the Succefs of them. They delight to
hear the Preacher, whofe plain and power-
ful Addreffes to the Confcience, and whofe
frequent Methods of Reafoning in the Pul-
pit have been drawn from what they them-
felves have read in Scripture concerning
God and Man, Sin and Duty, our Mifery
and divine Mercy, Death, Refurredtion,
Judgment, Heaven and Hell. They at-
tend with holy Reverence and Affe6lion on
fuch a Minilter, whofe frequent Argument
both in Points of Do&rine and Praftice is,
*Tbus faith the Lord,
X. Bj not flothful or negligent in your
Weekly Preparation for the Pulpit: Take
due
jo Of the Compofure of Sermons.
due Time for it: Begin fo early in the
Week, that you may have Time enough be-
fore you to finifli your Preparations well ;
and always allow for accidental Occur-
rences, either from Indifpofition of Body,
from Interruptions by Company, from un«
forefeen Bufinefs or Trouble, Kr, that you
may not be reduced to the Neceflity of hur-
rying over your Work in hafle at the End
of the Week, and ferving God and the
Souls of Men with poor, cold and carelefs
Performances. Remember that awful Word,
tho' fpoken on another Occafion, Jer. xlviii.
10. Cur fed he he that doth the Work of the
Lord deceitfully. Manage fo as to leave ge-
nerally the Saturday Evening, or at leaft the
Lord's-day Morning, entire for the Review
and Correction of your Difcourfe, and for
your own fpiritual Improvement by the
Sermon which you have prepared for the
People.
If it fhould happen that the mere Pro-
vidence of God, without any Negleft of
yours, has hindered you from making fo
good a Preparation as you defigned, you
may with Courage, and hope of divine Af-
fiftance venture into the Affembly with
more (lender and imperfedt Furniture : But
if your Confcience tells you that your Pre-
parations are very flight, and the Negleft
is all your own, you have Ids Reafon to
expe& Aids from above without great Hu-
miliation
Of the Compofure of Sermons. j\
miliation for your Negligence. And what
if God fhould forfake you fo far in the
Pulpit, as to expofe you to publick Shame,
and thus punifh you for your CarelefTnefs in
the mid ft of the Congregation ?
Study your Matter well by Meditation
and Reading, and comparing Scriptures to-
gether, till you have gotten it compleatly
within your Grafp and Survey: Then if
you fhould happen to be fo fituated in
Preaching, that you could not refrefh your
Memory by the Infpe6tion of your Paper
every Minute, yet you will not beexpofed
to Hurry and Confufion ; a ready Thought
will fuggeft fomething pertinent to your
Purpofe. Let your Preparations be ufually
fo perfect that you may be able to fill up
the Time allotted for the Difcourfe with
folid Senfe, and proper Language, even if
your natural Spirits fhould happen to be
heavy and indifpofed at the Hour of Preach-
ing, and if your Mind fhould have no new
Thoughts arifing in the Delivery of your
Difcourfe. Labour carefully in the For-
mation of your Sermons in younger Years:
A Habit of thinking and fpeaking well,
procured by the Studies of Youth, will
make the Labour of your middle Age
eafy, when, perhaps, you will have much
lefs Time and Leifure.
This fhall fuffice for the fecond general
Head) which exhorts you to take heed to
2 your
52 Of Public k Minijlr attorn.
your private Studies^ both thofe which may
furnifli you for the Work of the Mini-
ftry in general, and thofe which are necef-
fary to your particular Preparations for the
Pulpit.
SECTION III.
Of Publick Minijlr ations.
WE proceed now to the third general
Head, and that is, Take heed to your
publick Labours and Miniftratiom in the
Church \ ' which may be done, by attending
to the following Particulars.
I. Apply yourfelf to your Work with
pious Delight; not as a Toil and Tafk,
which you wifh were done and ended, but
as Matter of inward Pleafure to your own
Soul: Enter the Pulpit with the Solemnity
of holy Joy, that you have an Opportunity
to fpeak for the Honour of God, and the
Salvation of Men. Then you will not
preach or pray with Sloth or Lazinefs, with
Coldnefs or Indifference : We don't ufe to
be flothful and indifferent in the Purfuit of
our Joys, or the Relifh of our chofen Plea-
fures. Stir up yourfelf to the Work with fa-
cred Vigour, that the AfTembly may feel
what you fpeak. But if you deliver the molt
folemn and lively Compofures like a Man
that is half aileep, it will be no wonder if
your
Of Public k Minijlratiom. 73
your Hearers (lumber. A dull Preacher
makes a drouzy Church.
II. Endeavour to get your Heart into a
Temper of divine Love, zealous for the
Laws of God, affe&ed with the Grace of
Chrift ^ and companionate for the Souls of
Men. With this Temper engage in pub-
lick Work. Let your Frame of Spirit fe
holy with regard to your own inward De-
votion, near to God, and delighting in him t
And let it be zealous for tfie Name of
Chrift, and the Increafe of his Kingdom.
O pity perifhing Sinners when you are fent
to invite them to be reconciled to God. Let
not Self be the Subjc6t or the End of your
preaching, but Chrift and the Salvation of
Souls. We preach not our felves^ faith the
Apoftle, but Chrift Jefus^ and our felves
your Servants for Jefus fakey 2 Cor. iv. 5.
Speak as a dying Preacher to dying Hear-
ers, with the utmoft Companion to the Ig-
norant, the Tempted, the Foolifh, and the
Obftinate ; for all thefe are in danger of
eternal Death. Attend your Work with
utmoft Defire to fave Souls from Hell,
and enlarge the Kingdom of Chrift your
Lord.
Go into the publick Afiembly with a
Defign (if God pleafe) to ilrike and per-
fuade fome Souls there into Repentance,
Faith, Holinefs and Salvation. Go to open
blind Eyes, to unftop deaf Ears, to make
E the
74 Of Pub lick Mi nijl rations.
the Lame walk, to make the Foolifh wife,
to rajfe thofe that are dead in Trefpafies
and Sins to a heavenly and divine Life, ai.J
to bring guilty Rebels to return to the Love
and Obedience of their Maker, by Jefus
Chrifi, the great Reconciler, that they may
be pardoned and laved. Go to diffuie trie
Savour of the Name of Chriji and his Go-
fpel, thro* a whole Affembly, and to allure
Souls to partake of his Grace and Glory.
III. Go forth in the Strength of Chrifi,
for theie glorious Elfedts are above your
own Strength, and tranicend all the Powers
of the brightelt Preachers. Be fir ong in the
Grace which is in Chrifi Jefus, 2 Tim. ii. 1.
Without him we can do nothing, John xv. 5.
Go with a Defign to work Wonders of
Salvation on finful Creatures, but in the
Strength of Jefus, who hath all Power given
him in Heaven and Earth, and hath promifed
to be with his Minifters to the Eiid of the
World,- Matth. xxviii. 20. Pray earneftiy
for the promifed Aids of the Spirit, and
plead with God who hath fent you forth in
the Service of the Gofpel of his Son, that
you may not return empty, but bring in a
fair Harveft of Converts to Heaven. *Tis
the Lord of the Harveft who only can give
this divine Succefs to the Labourers. He
that plants is nothing, and he that waters is
nothing, but all our Hope is in God who
%iveth the Increafe.
Of the Publick Minijiratiom. 75
IV. Get the Subflance of the Sermon
which you have prepared for the Pulpit fo
wrought into your Head and Heart by Re-
view and Meditation, that you may have it
at Command, and fpeak to your Hearers
with Freedom ; not as if you were reading
or repeating your Leflbn to them, but as a
Man fent to teach and perfuade them to
Faith and Holinefs. Deliver your Difcour-
fes to the People like a Man that is talking
to them in good Earneit about their moil
important Concerns, and their everlafting
Welfare \ like a Meffenger fent from Hea-
ven who would fain lave Sinners from HelJ,
and allure Souls to God and Happinefs. Do
not indulge that lazy way of reading over
your prepared Paper, as a School-Boy does
an Oration out of Livy or Cicero^ who has
no Concern in the Things he fpeaks. But
let all the warmeft Zeal for God, and Com-
panion for perifhing Men, animate your
Voice and Countenance •, and let the People
fee and feel, as well as hear, that you are
fpeaking to them about Things of infinite
Moment, and in which your own eternal
Intereft lies as well as theirs.
V, If you pray and hope for the Af-
fiftance of the Spirit of God in every Part of
your Work, do not refolve always to con-
tine your felf precifely to the mere Words
and Sentences which you have written down
E 2 in
y6 Of Publick Minijlrations.
in your private Preparations. Far be i%
from me to encourage a Preacher to ven-
ture into publick Work without due Prepa-
ration'by Study, and a regular Compoiiire
of his Difcourfe. We mult not icrve God
with what coft us nothing. All our wileft
Thoughts and Cares are due to the facred
Service of the Temple : But what I mean is,
that we fhould not impofe upon our felves
juft fuch a Number of precompofed Words
and Lines to be delivered in the Hour,
without daring to fpeak a warm Sentiment
that comes frefli upon the Mind. Why
may you not hope for fome lively Turns of
Thought, fome new pious Sentiments which
may ftrike Light, and Heat, and Life into
the Underftandings and the .Hearts of thofe
that hear you ? In the Zeal of your Mi-
niftrations, why may you not expe£t fome
bright and warm and pathetick Forms of
Argument and Perfuafion to offer themfelves
to your Lips, for the more powerful Con-
viction of Sinners, and the Encouragement
and Comfort of humble Christians ? Have
you not often found fuch an Inlargement of
Thought, fuch a Variety of Sentiment and
Freedom of Speech, in common Converfa-
tion upon an important Subject, beyond
what you were apprized of before-hand ?
And why fhould you forbid your ftlf this
natural Advantage in the Pulpit, arc! in
rhe
Of Public k Minijlrations. 77
the Fervour of facred Miniftrations, where
alio you have more Reafon to hope for di-
vine Affiftance ?
Befides, for us who are Proteftant Dif-
fenters, and confine our felves to no (et
Forms in Prayer? it feems more unreafon-
able to confine our Lips conftantly and pre-
cifely to the Words written in our Papers
in the Work of Preaching. Do wq plead io
earneftly for the Liberty of Prayer, and yet
never give our Spirits a Liberty to exprefs
their prefent warm, lively and affectionate
Thoughts, in miniflring the Gofpel of
Gbrift under the Plopes of his Afiiilance ?
Why muft we never dare to add any Thing
to our premeditated Notes in fpeaking t >
the People, while we can take this Free
dom in fpeaking to the bleffed God ? As
there has been many a fervent and devout:.
Petition offered to God in our Addreffes to
him, which has not been thought of before,
fo many a Sentence that was never written
has been delivered in our Addreffes to the
People with glorious Succefs -, it has come
more immediate and warm from the Heart,
and may have been blefs'd of God to fave
a: Soul.
VI. Here would be a proper Place to in-
terpofe a few Directions concerning Elocu-
tion^ and the whole Manner of Delivery of
your Difcourfe to the People \ which includes
both a Voice, Gefture and Behaviour iuited
E3 to
yb Oj Publick Mmijlrations.
to the Subject and Defign of every Part ci
the Sermon. But the Rules that are neceC
;ary for this Part of our Work, are much
better derived from Books written on this
Subject, from an Obfervacion of the beft
Preachers, in order to imitate themvandan
Avoidance of that which v/e find ofFenfive
when we ourfelves are Hearers. Befides,
as I have had an Opportunity fometimes,
my dear Brother, of attending your Per-
formances in publick, I think I may be bold
to fay, that in this as weJl as in feveral other
Parts of your Miniftration, you Hand in no
need of any Advice I can give. But lince
you have called me at prefent to this Ser-
vice, I have endeavoured to fulfil it.
If I had a defign to go thro3 the Whole
of the Minifterial Office, I fhould here alio
find a proper Place to fpeak of the Manner
of your Performance of publick Prayer, of
your Direction of the Perfon who leads the
Pfalm in that Part of Worfhip which is cal-
led Pfalmcdy, and in your Miniftration of
v nances of Baptifm and the Lord's
tr \ but this would require much more
1 xine, and my chief Defign was to put you
in mind of a few ufeful Things which relate
:o Preaching. I proceed therefore to the
iaft Particular.
VII. Be very felicitous about the Sucqefs
of all your Labours in the Pulpit. Water
the Seed fown not only with publick, but
fecret
Of Pub lick Minijlratiom. 79
fecret Prayer. Plead with God importu-
nately, that he would not fuffcr you to la
hour in vain. Be not like that foolifh Bird
the Oltrich, which lays her Eggs in the
Duft, and leaves them there, regardlefs whe-
ther they come to Life or not : God hath not
given her Under ft anding, Job xxxix. 14 — 17.
But let not this Folly be your Character or
Practice : Labour, and watch, and pray,
that your Sermons and the Fruit of your
Studies may become Words of divine Life
to Souls.
'Tis an Obfervation of pious Mr. Bax-
ter'a, which I have read fomewhere in his
Works, that he has never known any con-
fiderable Succefs from the brighteft and no-
bleft Talents, nor the moil excellent kind of
• Preaching ; and that even where the Preach-
ers themfelves have been truly religious* it
they have not had a felicitous Concern lor
the Succefs of their Miniftrations. Let the
awful and important Thoughts of Souls be-
ing faved by my Preachings or left toperijb and
be condemned to Hell by my Negligence, I fay,
let this awful and tremendous Thought
dwell ever upon your Spirit. We are made
Watchmen to the Houfe of Ifrael, as Ezekiel
Was, Ezek, iii. 17, &c. and if we give no
Warning of approaching Danger, the Souls
of Multitudes may perifn thro' our Neglect,
but the Blood of Souls will be terribly re*
quired at our Hands,
E 4 SECTION
8o )
SECTION H
Of the C onver fat ion of a Minijler.
WE are come now to the Fourth and
laft Thing which I propofed, in or-
der to the fulfilling of your Minijlry, viz. Take
heed to your whole Converfation in the World \
let that be managed not only as becomes a Prc-
feffor of Chriftianity, but as becomes a Mini-
Jier of the Gofpel of Chrifl. Now amongft
other Rules which may render your Con-
verfation agreeable to your Character, I
entreat you to take thefe few into your
Thoughts.
I. Let it be blamelefs and inoffenjive. Be
vigilant, be temperate in all Things, not
only as a Soldier of drift, but as an Un-
der-leader of part of his Army. Be tem-
perate, and abftain fometimes even from
lawful Delights, that you may make the
"Work of Self-denial eafy, and that you rriay
bear Hardfhip as becomes a Soldier, 2 Tim.
ii. 3. Be watchful or vigilant, left you be
too. much entangled with the Affairs of this
Life, that you may better pleafe him who has
chofen you for an Officer in his Battalions,
and that you may not be eafily furprized
into the Snares of Sin. Guard againft a
Love of Pkaftire, a fenfual Temper, an
Indulgence of Appetite, an excefTive Relifh
of
Of the Convcrfation of a Minifter. 81
of Wine or Dainties y this carnalizes the
Soul, and gives Occafion to the World to
reproach us but too juitly.
Watch carefully in all your Conduit,- that
you give no offence, as far as poffible, nei-
ther to Jew or Gentile, nor to the Church of
God, that fo the Miniflry may not be blamed^
i Cor. x. 32. 2 Cor. vi. 3. Maintain a holy
Jealoufy over your felf and your Conduct,
that the Name of Chrifi and his Gofpel (of-
fer not the Reproach of Tongues and im-
pious Blafphemies thro' your Means. Oh
how dreadful is the Mifchief that a fcanda-
Jous Minifter does to the Gofpel of our bl ef-
fect Lord ! Wiiat a fearful Train of Confe-
quences may attend his Indulgence of any
finful Appetite, or any fingle criminal Ac-
tion,, even tho* it be not repeated ! What a
fatal Stumbling-block does he lay before
the Feet of Saints and Sinners ! He turns
away the Heart of Sinners from God and
Religion, who perhaps began to think of
fetting their Faces towards Heaven : He dif-
courages the Hearts of young Chriftians,
and weakens the Hands of all the Friends
of Chrifi. Woe be to the Preacher by whom
fuch Offences came. /
II. Let your Converfation be exemplary
in ail the Duties of Holinefs and Virtue, in
all the Inftances of Worfhip and Piety to-
ward God, and in thole of Juftice, Honour,
and hearty Benevolence towards Men. B:
E 5 forw
82 Of the Gbtpoerfatiok of a M'unjicr.
forwaru and ready to engage in every good
Word and Work,., that you may be a Par-
tern and a Leader of the Flock, that you
may be able to addrefs the People commit-
ted to your Care in the Language of the
biefled Apoftle, Be ye Followers of me even
as I o.lfo am of Chrijl : Brethren, be Followers
together of me, and mark them which walk fo
as ye have us for Enf ample, for our Conversa-
tion is in Heaven, Thofe Things which ye have
both learned and received, and heard and feen
in ?ne, do you pra<5tife, and the God of Peace
(hall be with you, i Cor. xi. i. Phil. iii.
17, 20. Phil. iv. 9.
III. Let vour Converfation be Grave and
manly, yet pleafant and engaging. Let it
be grave, manly, and venerable : Remem-
ber your Station in the Church, that you
fink not into Levity and vain Trifling, that
you indulge not any ridiculous Humours or
':hildifh Follies, below the Dignity of your
Chara&er : Keep up the Honour of your
Office among Men by a remarkable Sanftity
of Manners, by a decent and manly De-
portment. Remember that our Station does
not permit any of us to fet up for a Buf-
foon -, nor will it be any Glory to us to ex-
cel in Farce and Comedy. Let others ob-
tain the Honour of being good Jefters, and
of having it in their power to fpread a
Laugh round the Company when they,
pleafe : But let it be our Ambition to act
en
Of the Converfationofa Minifler. 83
on the Stage of Life as Men who are devo-
ted to the Service of the God of Heaven,
to the real Benefit of Mankind on Earth*
and to their eternal Interefts.
Yet there is no need that your Behaviour
mould have any thing ftiff or haughty,
any thing fallen or gloomy in it : There
is an Art of pleafing in Converfation that
will maintain the Honour of a fuperior Of-
fice without a morofe Silence, without an
affefted Stiffnefs, and without a haughty
Superiority. A pleafant Story may proceed
without offence from a Minifter's Lips ;
but he ihould never aim at the Tide of a
Man of Mirth, nor abound in fuch Tales as
carry no ufeful Inftrudtion in them, no Lef-
fons of Piety, or Wifdom, or Virtue.
Let a cheerful Freedom, a generous
Friendihip, and an innocent Pleafure gene-
rally appear on your Countenance •, and let
your Speech be ever kind and affedtionate.
Do not put on any forbidding Airs, nor let
the humbled Soul be afraid to fpeak to you.
Let your whole Carriage be civil and af-
fable \ let your Addreis to Men be ufually
open and free, foch as may allure Perfons to
be open and free with you in the important
Concerns of their Souls, Seek as far as pof-
fible to obtain all your pious Defigns by
foft and gentle Methods of Perfuafion.
If you are ever called to the impleading
and painful Vvrork of Reproofs this maybe
E 0 done
84 Of the Converfation of a Minifier.
done cffe&ualiy upon fome Occafions v/ich-
oj: (peaking a Word: When vicious, or
Uncleanly, or unbecoming Speeches arife in
pubLck Converfation, a fudden Silence
with an aflumed Gravity will often be a fen-
fible and fufficient Reproof. Or where
Words of Admonition may not be proper
becaufe of the Company, fometimes a fud-
den Departure may be the belt way to ac-
quaint them with your Difapprobation.
But there are Cafes wherein fuch a tacit
Rebuke is not fufficient to anfwer your
Character and your Office. Sometimes 'tis
neceffary for a Minifter to bear a publick
and exprefs Witnefs againft (hocking Im-
morality, or againft vile and impious Dif-
courfe. Yet in general it tnuft be (aid, if a
Reproof can be given in fecret, 'tis beft,
and mod likely to prevail upon the Offen-
der, becaufe it lefs irritates his Paffions, nor
awakens his Pride to vindicate himfeif, and.
to defpife all Reproof.
Whenfoever Providence calls ycu to this
Work, make it appear to the Tranfgreffor
that you do it with Regret and Pain : Let
him fee that you are not giving vent to your
own Wrath, but feeking his Intereft and
Welfare y and that were it not for the Ho-
nour of God, and for his Gaod, you would
gladly excufe your felf from the ungrateful
Talk •> and that it is a Work in which your
Spirit takes no delight, If the Cafe, amd
Cir-
Of the Conver fat ion of a Minijler. 8.5
Ci re urn fiances require fome Speeches that
are ;iwful and fevere, let it appear (till that
your Love and Pity are the prevailing Paf-
fions, and that even your Anger has fome-
thing divine and holy in it, as being raifed
and pointed againft the Sin rather than
againft the Sinner.
Study to make the whole of your Car-
riage and Difcourfe amongft Men fo enga-
ging, as may invite even Strangers to love
you, and allure them to low Religion for
your fake.
IV. In order to attain the fame End, let
your Converfation be attended with much
Self-denial and Meeknefs : Avoid the Cha-
racter of a Humourift, nor be unreafonably
fond cf little Things, nor peevifh for the
want of them. Supprefs rifing Paffion early.
If you are providentially led into Argu-
ment and Difpute, whether on Themes- of
Belief or Pra6lice, be very watchful left
you run into fierce Contention, into an-
gry and noify Debate. Guard againft eve-
ry Word that favours of Malice, or of bit-
ter Strife : Watch againft the firft Stir-
rings of fudden Wrath or Rfcfentment •:
Bear with Patience the Contradiftion of
others, and forbear to return Railing for
Railing. A Minifter muft be gentle^ and
not apt to firive^ but meekly injiruffing Gain-
fayers,
He
36 Of the Convcrfation of a Minijler.
He fhould never be ready either to give
or take Offence, but he fhould teach his
People to neglect and bury Refentment, to
be deaf to Reproaches, and to forgive In-
juries, by his own Example, even as God
has forgiven all of us. Let us imitate his
divine Pattern who cancels and forgives our
infinite Offences for the fake of J ejus Chrijl.
A Bijhop mufi not be a Brawler or a Striker ',
but fuch as the Apoftle was, gentle among
the People, even as- a Nurje cberifloes her
Children ; and being effectually defirous of
their Welfare, we fhould be willing to im-
part not only the Gofpel of God to them, but
any thing that is dear to us, for the Salva-
tion of their Souls.
Never fuffer any Differences (ifpoflible)
to arife between you and any of the People
who are committed to your Care, or at-
tend on your Miniftrations : This will en-
danger the Succefs of your beil Labours
among them, and for this Reafon, tho* you
viiit Families with Freedom, yet avoid all
unncceffary Enquiries into their domeftick
Affairs by a prying Curiolity •, the Plea-
fure of fuch Secrets will never pay for the
Danger that attends them, and your own
Bufmefs is fufficient for you.
Avoid entring into any of the little pri-
vate and perfonal Quarrels that may arife
among them, unlefs Providence give you
an evident Call to become a Peace- maker :
But
Of the Converfation of a Minifter. 87
But even in this bleffed Work there is fom?
Danger of difobliging one Side or the
other ; for though both Sides are often to
blame, yet each fuppofes himfelf fo much
in the right, that your fofteit and mod can-
did Intimation of their being culpable even
in little Things, will fome times awaken the
Jealoufy of one or both Parties againfl you ^
this will tend to abate their Efteem of you,
and give a Coldnefs to their Attention on
your facred Services. We had need be wife
as Serpents in this Cafe, and harmlefs as
Doves.
V. Let your Converfation be as fruitful
and edifying as your Station and Opportu-
nities will allow. Wherefoever you come,
endeavour (if poffible) that the World may
be the better for you. If it be the Duty of
every Christian, much more is it the indif-
penfible Duty of a Minifter of Chrift, to
take heed that no corrupt Communication pro-
ceed out of his Mouth, but that which is good
for Edification, that it may minifter Grace to
the Hearers, Ephef. iv. 29.
In your private Vifits to the Members of
your Flocks, or to the Houfes of thofe who
attend on your Miniftry, depart not (if pof-
fible) without putting in fome Word for
God and Religion, for Chrift and his Go-
fpel : Take Occafion from common Occur-
rences that arife, artfully and infenfibly to
introduce fome Difcourfe of Things facred,
Let
88 OftheCofivcrjationofa Minijler.
Let it be done with Prudence and holy-
Skill, that the Company maybe led into it
ere they are aware. • The ingenious Mr.
Norris's little Difcourfe of Religious Conver-
fation, and Mr. Matthew Henry's Sermon of
Friendly Vifits^ have many excellent and va-
luable Hints in them for our Ufe.
'Tis to be confefs'd, that the beft of Mi-
nifters and Chriftians fometimes fall into
fuch Company, that 'tis hardly poffible to
fpeak a Word for God and the Gofpel
among them. Try then whether you can-
not introduce a Word of human Virtue, of
Goodnefs, Meeknefs, Humility or Tempe-
rance. Try whether you cannot lead the
Difcourfe to fome ufeful Theme in Matters
of Science, Art and Ingenuity, or to Rules
of Prudence, Morality, or human Condudl.
There is a Time of keeping filence^ and re-
training our Lips as with a Bridle*, even from
every thing that is pioufly Good^ while fome fort
of wicked Men fiand before us. The beft
Men are fometimes dumb with Silence^ and.
dare not fpeak of God or Religion, left they
fhould caft their Pearls before Swine^ and
give their Holy Things to Dogs, and left they
fhould provoke the unclean or the envious
Animals to foam out their Impurities, or ia
turn again and rend them. But I doubt this
Caution has been carried much farther by
our own Cowardice and Carnality of Spirit,
than David ever prattifed it in the 39th.
Pfahu
Of the Co fiver /at ivn of a Minijier. 89
Pfalm, or than Jefus Chrijl meant it in the
7 th of Matthew. Let us take heed then
that we abufe not this prudent Caution to
a manifeft Negleft of our Duty, and to
with-hold our Lips from the Things of
God, where Providence gives us a fair Op-
portunity to fpeak of them.
Now and then take occafion to fpeak a
kind and religious Word to the Children oi
the Houfhold ; put them in mind of avoid-
ing fome childifh Folly, or of praftifing
ibme Duty that belongs to their Age. Let
your Memory be well furnifhed with the
Words of Scripture fuited to the feveral
Ages of Mankind, as well as to the various
Occafions of Life, that out of the Abundance
'ef the Heart your Mouth may fpeak to the
Advantage of all that hear you, and parti-
cularly improve the younger Parts of Man-
kind, who are the Hopes of the next Ge-
neration. Make the Lambs of the Flock
love you, and hear your Voice with De-
light, that they may grow up under your
Inflruftion to fill up the Room of their Fa-
thers when they are called away to Hea-
ven : Nor let Servants be utterly neglected,
where Providence may afford you an Op-
portunity to fpeak a Word to their Souls.
Learn what are the fpiritual Circum-
stances of the Families whom you vifit, and
addrefs them- with a Word in Seafon where
you can have proper Opportunity. Converfe
perfonally
90 Cfthe Converfation of a Minijlcr.
perfonally with them (if you can) about
their eternal Concerns. Let the Eafe and
Gentlenefs of your Addreflcs to them, in a
natural and familiar Way, take off all that
fhy and bafhful Tincture from their Minds,
that is ready to prevent their uttering a
Word about the Concern of their Souls.
Inquire tenderly into their State with regard
to God : Draw Sinners by Words of Com-
panion to repent of their Crimes, to return
to God, and to trull in Jefus the Saviour.
Teach Chriftians fincerely to love and prac-
Duty, and to endure with Honour the
Vis of Life. Teach them to be fick and
die as becomes the Difciples of Chrift.
Treafure up your own Experiences of divine
Things, not only as Matters of delightful
Review in your own Retirements, and for
the Encouragement of your own Hope, but
as Leffons to be taught your People upon
all proper Occafions. Whether you are
affiiiled, or whether- you are comforted, let
it be for their Confolation and Salvation.
2 Cor. i. 6.
A Minifter, v/hofe Bufinefs and known
Employment is to fpeak of the Things of
God, fhould never be afhamed to impart
divine Knowledge, or to exhort to Holinefs
with his Lips, and to preach the Word of
the Gofpel of Grace, whether the World
calls it in Sea/on or out o/Seafon, 2 Tim. iv. i.
He that has the happy Talent of Parlour
Preaching,
Of the Converfation of a Minifter. 9 1
Preachings has fome times done more for
Chrift and Souls in the fpace of a few Mi-
nutes, than by the Labour of many Hours
3.nd Days in the ufual Courfe of Preaching
in the Pulpit. Our Charafter fhould be ail
of a piece, and we fhould help forward the
Succefs of our publick Miniftrations by our
private Addreffes to the Hearts and Con-
fciences of Men, where Providence favours
us with juft Occafions.
In order to promote this Work of parti-
cular Watchfulnefs over the Flock of Chrifi^
where he has made you a Shepherd and
Overfeer, 'tis ufeful to keep a Catalogue of
their Names, and now and then review
them with a paftoral Eye and Affe&ion.
This will awaken and incline you to lift up
proper Petitions for. each of them,, fo far
as you are acquainted with their Circum-
fiances in Body or Mind. This will excite
you to give Thanks to God on account of
thofe who walk as becomes the Gofpel, and
who have either begun, or proceeded and
increafed in die Chriftian Life and Temper
by your Miniftry : You will obferve the
Names of the negligent and back-Hiding
Chriftians, to mourn over them and admo*
nifh them : You will be put in mind how to
difpofe of your Time in Chriftian Vifits,
and learn the better to fulfil your whole
Miniftry among them.
Ifhall
9 2 Afolemn Enforcement of thefe
I (hall enlarge no farther in the Enume-
ration of our Duties, which would eafil/'
iwell into a Volume, if they were fet be-
fore our Eyes in their* full Extent : But in
genera!, I fay, thefe are the Methods where-
by we rnuft take heed to' cur fielves if wt
\vould fulfil the Minifiry that zve have re-
ceived of Chrifi. To fupply what I have
, omitted, read frequently, and with holy
Attention the Epiftle of Paul to Timothy
and Titus, which will furnifh you richly with
Directions for your Work : And I would*
recommend to you the Examples of St.
Paul and Timothy, as they are put well to-
gether in a little Book by the Reverend Mr.
Murray, which was printed bur a few Years
ago. And as the Account of the Lives of
many ancient Minifters may furnifh us with
Patterns for our Imitation, fo the Life of
the late venerable Dr. Cotton Mather, of
New-England^ ha^ many excellent Hints
in it for this Purpofe, Chap. 2. SeEi. 1. and
Chap. 6,
SECTION V.
Afolemn Enforcement of thefe Exhortations'
on the Confidence.
TH E Things which I have fpoken hi-
therto have been a Difplay of the
belt- Methods I can think of for the Execu-
tion
Exhortations on the Confcience. 93
tion of the facred Office of the Miniftry :
And fo far as they are . conformable to the
Word of God, we may venture to fay,
thefe are your Duties, my dear Brother,
and .thefe are ours. It remains now to be
confidered in what Manner fhall we enforce
.them on our own Confciences, and on
yours ? What folemn Obteftations fhall I
ufe to prefs thefe momentous Concerns on
all our Hearts ? What pathetick Language
fhall I chufe, what Words of awful Efficacy
and divine Fervour, which may firft melt
our Spirits into Softnefs, and then imprint
thefe Duties upon them with lading Power :
We exhort and charge you, we exhort and
charge our felves, by ail that is ferious and
facred, by all that is important and everlaft-
ing, by all the folemn Tranfaclions be-
tween God and Man which are pad, and by
all the -more folemn and awful Scenes which
are yet to come, by all things in our holy
Religion which are dreadful and tremen-
dous, and by all Things in this Gofpel
which are glorious and amiable, heavenly
and divine ; we charge you by all that is
written in this Book of God, according to
which we fhall be judged in the lafl Day,
by all the infinite and aftoniffiing Glories
and Terrors of an invifible World and an
unfeen Eternity, we charge and exhort you,
we exhort and charge our felves, that we .all
take heed to the Miniftry which zve have re-
ceived
94 Afolemn Enforcement ofthefe
ceived of the Lord Jefus that zve fulfil it. But
let us defcend to more particular Forms of
folemn Exhortation, which perhaps may
ftrike our Confciences in a more fenfible
Manner, and print the Duties deeper upon
our Hearts,
Firjt then, we exhort and charge you,
we charge and exhort our own Souls, by
all the ancient Tranfadtions between God
the Father and his Son Jefus Chriji for the
Salvation of finful Men, by all the eternal
Counfels of Peace that pafs'd between them
to recover loft Mankind to the Favour and
Image of his Maker, that we preach this
Gofpel with faithfulnefs, and be inftant in
the facred Work. It is the effeft of thefe
divine Counfels that we publifh to Sinners ;
*tis the merciful Product of this facred Co-
venant of Redemption that we are fent to
proclaim to a loft World : This is the Go-
fpel which is put into our Hands : God
grant we may fpeak as becomes Creatures
entrufted with Meffages cf fuch a heaven-
ly Original, with Affairs of fuch divine So-
lemnity.
Secondly, We exhort and charge you, and
we would charge our felves to fulfil our Mi-
niftry, by the invaluable Trcafure of this
Gofpel which is put into our Hands, by
that Word of Life which is committed to
our Miniftration. Let us fpeak with fuch
a ferious Zeal as becomes the Oracles of
i God
Exhortations on the "Conference. 95
God and the Embaffies of his Mercy, with
fuch Companion to dying Souls as is mani-
felted in this Gofpel of Love, with fuch in-
ward Fervour and holy Solicitude for the
Succefs of our Labours, that if it were pof-
fible not the Soul of one Sinner within the
Reach of our Preaching might mifs of this
pardoning Mercy and eternal Joy. Oh let
us not dare to trifle with God or Men : Let
us not be cold and lifelefs in pronouncing
the Words of everlafting Life, nor lazy and
indolent in carrying thefe Errands of divine
Love to a loft and perifhing World.
Thirdly, We charge and befeech you, and
we charge our felves, by the Mercies of the
living God, which ^we hope both you and
we have tailed, by the Grace of our Lord
J e fits Chrift, which we hope we have felt
and received, that you and we proclaim
thefe Mercies with a facred Zeal, and that
in the Name of God and of our Lord Jefus
we offer them to a miferable World with
holy Importunity.
If ever we have known this wondrous
Companion of God to our felves, if ever
we have tafted that the Lord is gracious, let
us remember the Relifh we have had of this
infinite Compaffion and condefcending
Grace, when we were perifhing under the
Power and Guilt of Sin ; and with an Imi-
tation of that divine Piety, let us entreat
Sinners to be faved, Let us remember all
the
96 Afolemn Enforcement of thefe
the alluring Charms, the heavenly Sweet-
nelfes of forgiving, fandtifying and faving
Grace ; and do our utmoft to fet them all
before Sinners in the molt inviting Light,
that we may win finful Men to accept of the
fame Salvation.
Fourthly , We exhort and charge you,
.and we charge our felves, by the dear and
glorious Name of our bleffed Jesus, whofe
Servants we are, whofe Name we bear,
whofe Authority gives us Commiflion, and
who hath chofen us to be the Minifters
of his Grace, the Meffengers of his dying
Love to the Sons of Men \ we charge and
befeech you to take care of the Honour of
his Name in your Miniftrations, for we are
fent forth to difplay before the Eyes of the
World the unfe arch able Riches of Chrijl :
We are intruded to fpread abroad the Ho-
nours of his Name ; O let us labour and
ftrive that our Zeal bear fome proportion
to the Dignity of our Truft, and let us
take heed that we do nothing unworthy of
our great and glorious Matter in .Heaven,
who dwells at the Right hand of God ; no-
thing unworthy of that holy and illuftrious
Name, in which we are lent forth to preach
this Gofpel, and to enlarge his Kingdom.
He has fet us up as Lights upon a Hill in this
finful World, this benighted Part of his Do-
minion ; let us burn and fhine to his Ho-
nour. He has affumcd and placed us as
Stars
Exhortations on the Confcience. 97
Stars in his Right-hand, let us fhine and
burn glorioufly, that we may give Light
to a midnight World. O that we may
point out to them the Morning-ftar, that
we may bring them under the Beams of
the rifing Sun of Right eoufnefs, and guide
them in the way to the Hills of Paradife
and everlafting Joy !
Fifthly, We befeech and charge you,
while we charge our felves, by the inefti-
mable Value of the Blood of Chrift which
purchafed this Salvation, that you and we
dilplay this illuftrious and coftly Purchafe
to finful perifhing Creatures ; this precious
Blood, which is fufficient to redeem a
World from Djath, and which is the Price
of all our infinite and everlafting Bleffings,
demands that we publifh and offer them in
his Name, with holy Zeal and Sollicitude,
to (inful Men. Oh may our Hearts and
our Lips- join to proclaim this Redemption,
this Salvation, thefe everlafting Bleffings,
with fuch a devout and facred Paffion as
becomes the divine Price that was paid for
them, Let us not be found Triflers with
the Blood of Chrift, nor let us bring cold
Hearts and dead Affections when we come
to fet before Sinners the rich and ineftimable
Stream of that Life and Blood that comes
warm from the Heart of the dying Son of
God. Let perifhing Creatures know that
it coll: the Prince of Glorv fuch a dreadful
F Price
98 Afokhnn Enforcement of the
Price as this to redeem them from eternal
Mifery ; and at the fame time let our own
Spirits feel the powerful Workings of Gra-
titude to the divine Friend tha and
died for us, and let our Language make it
appear that we fpeak what we fed.
Sixthly, We intreat you with all Tender^
nefs, and with holy Solemnity and Fear,
we charge you and we charge our felves,
by the invaluable Worth of perilling Souls,
that we fulfil all our Miniftiy with a Con-
cern of Heart equal to fo important a Cafe.
How can wre dare to fpeak with lifelefs Lips,
with cold Language, or a carelefs Air,
when we are fent to recover immortal Souls
from the Brink of everlafting Death ? Oh
let it never be faid, that fuch or fuch a Soul
was loft for ever thro5 our Careleflhefs, thro*
our Coldnefs, thro3 our finful Sloth in pub-
lishing the Offers of recovering Grace.
How tremendous and painful will fuch a
Thought be to our Hearts ! How dreadful
the Anguifh of it to the awakened Confci-
ence of a droufy Preacher !
Seventhly, We charge you folemnly, and
we charge our felves, by the Honour that
Chrift has done to us in Times pall, and has
done to you this Day, by the Dignity of
that Office with which We have been for-
merly invefted, and which you have this
Day received, that neither you nor we do
any thing unbecoming this honourable Cha-
racter.
Exhortations on the Confcience. 99
rafter. Does Jefus the divine Shepherd
appoint us Under -Shepherds of his Flock,
are we confcituted Stewards in his Houfet
to difpenfe the Myfteries of his Grace, and
the good things of his Gofpel ; are we the
Mejfengers of our rifen Lord to a dying
World, are we the Minifiers of our exalted
Saviour in his Kingdom here below, are we
the Stars in his right Hand, are we the
earthly Angels of )m Churches? Oh let us
take heed that we do nothing to difgrace
the Titles of Dignity and Honour which he
has put upon us in his Word : Let us re-
member that every Dignity brings an equal
Duty with it -, and by fulfilling the various
and difficult Duties of our holy Station, let
us make it appear that our Office was not
conferred upon us in vain.
It behoves us well to remember that a
Blemifh upon the Name of a Minifter, ari-
fing from his own criminal Condudt, brings
:: foul and lafting Scandal upon the Office
it (elf, and upon the Gofpel of our glorified
Lord, in whole Name we acr : And he will
not fail to relent it.
Eighthly, We exhort and charge you
therefore, my dear Brother, by all die
facred Solemnities of this Day, by the Vows
of God which you have this Day taken up-
on your felf, and the Bond wherewith you
have bound your Soul ; and we would each
of us charge our own Conferences, by
our
F 2 own
ioo A fokmn Enforcement of fhefe
own former folemn Way-, that neither you
rior we ever fuffer our felvesi to forget or
disregard our holy and powerful Engage^
ments \ that we be awake at all times to ful-
fil our Work, and that we never indulge
low and trifling Thoughts of what has for-
merly appeared to us, and what this Day
appears to you of fuch awful Importance.
Oh let us ever refrefh upon our Spirits the
ferious and important Tranfa&ions of that
Day wherein we gave up our fclves to
Chrifi, in the facred Service of his Church.
Let us often review the Vows of thefe re-
markable Seafons of our Life, and renew
and confirm them before the Lord.
Ninthly , We charge you, and we charge
our felves, by the decaying Intereft of Re-
ligion, and the withering State ot Chrifti-
anity at this day, that we do not increafe
this general and lamentable Decay, this
growing and dreadful Apoftacy, by our
flothful and carelefs Management of the
Truft which is committed to us. 'Tis a
divine Intereft indeed, but declining •, 'tis a
heavenly Caufe, but among us 'tis linkin
and dying. O kt us ftir up our Hearts,
and all that is within us, and ftrive migh-
tily in Prayer and in Preaching to revive
the Work of God, and beg earneftly that
God, by a frefh and abundant Effufion of
his own Spirit, would revive his own Work
Revive thy own Work, O Lord,
in
^
Exhortations on the Confcience^ joi
in the midjl of ihefe Tears of Sin and Dege-
neracy, nor let us labour in vain, jfrhcrt
is thy Zeal, 0 Lord, and thy Strength, the
Sounding of thy Bowels and thy Mercies ? Arc
they retrained ? O let us roufe our Souls
with all holy Fervour to fulfil our Mini-
ftry, for 'twill be a dreadful Reproach up-
on us, and a Burthen too heavy for us to
bear, if we let the Caufe of Chrijl and God-
lineis die under our Hands for want of a lively
Zeal, and pious Fervour and Faithfulnefs in
our Mihiftrations.
Tenthly, We entreat, we exhort and charge
you, and we charge our felves, by the fo-
lemn and awful Circumftances of a dying
Bed, and the Thoughts of Confcience in
that important Hour, when we fhall enter
into the World of Spirits, that we take
heed to the Miniftry which we have re-
ceived : Surely that Hour is haftening up-
on us, when our Heads will lie on a dying
Pillow. When a few more Mornings and
Evenings have vifited our Windows, the
Shadows of a long Night will begin to
fpread themfelves over us : In that gloomy
Hour, Confcience will review the Behaviour
of the Days that are pad, will take Account
of the Conduft of our whole Lives, and will
particularly examine our Labours and Cares
in our facred Office. Oh may we ever
dread the Thoughts of making bitter Work
for Repentance in that Hour, and of trea-
F 3 furing
j 02 AJolemn Enforcement of theft
faring up Terrors for a Death-bed by a
carelefs and ufelefs Miniflry.
Eleventhly, We exhort and charge you,
and we charge our felves, by our gathering
together before the Throne of our Lord Jefus
Chrift, and the folemn Account we r
there give of the Miniflry with which
hath entrufled us, that we prepare' by our
prefent Zeal and Labour to render that
mod awful Scene peaceful to our Souls,
and the Iffue of it joyful and happy, Let
us look forward tov that illuftrions and tre-
mendous Appearance, when our Lord fhall
come with ten thoufands of his holy An-
gels to enquire into the Condudl of Men,
and particularly of the Minifters of his King-
dom here en Earth. Let us remember that
we fhall be examined in the Light of the
Flames of that Day, What we Lave done
with his Gofpel which he gave us to preach ?
What we have done with his Promifes of rich
Salvation, which he fent us to offer in his
Name ? What is become of the Souls com-
mitted to our Care ? O that we may give
up our Account with Joy, and not with
Grief, to the Judge of the Living and the
Dead, in that glorious, that dreadful and
decifive Hour.
Twelfthly, We charge and warn you, my
dear Brother, and we warn and charge our
felveSj by all the Terrors written m this di-
Exhortations on theConfaence. 103
vine Book, and by all the Indignation and
Vengeance of God, which we are fcnt to dis-
play before a (infill World, by all the Tor-
ments and Agonies of Hell, which we are
commiffioned to denounce againft impeni-
tent Sinners, in order to perfiiade Men to
turn to God and receive and obey the Go-
fpel, that we take heed to our Miniftry that
we fulfil it. This Vengeance and thefe Ter-
rors will fall upon our Souls, and that with
intolerable Weight, with double and im-
mortal Anguifh, if wre have trifled with
thefe terrible Solemnities, and made no ufe
of thefe awful Scenes to awaken Men to lay
hold of the offered Grace of the Gofpel.
Knowing therefore the Terrors of the Lord, lee
mferfuade Men, for we muft allftand before
the Judgment-Seat of Chrift, to receive ac-
cording to our Works, 2 Cor. v. 10, if.
In the laft place, We intreat, we exhort
and charge you, by all the Joys of Para-
dife, and the Bleffings of an eternal Hea-
ven, which are our Hope and Support un-
der all our Labours, and which in the
Name of Chrift we offer to finful perifhing
Men, and invite them to partake thereof;
Can we fpeak of fuch Joys and Glories
with a fleepy Heart and indolent Language ?
Can we invite Sinners who are running head-
long into Hell to return and partake of
thefe Felicities, and not be excited to the
warmeft Forms of Addrefs, and the mod:
F 4 lively
104 Ajblemn Enforcement of theft
lively and engaging Methods of Perfuafion ?
What Scenes of Brightnefs and Delight can
animate the Lips and Language of an Ora-
tor, if the Glories and the Joys of the
Chriftian Heaven and our immortal Hopes
cannot do it ? We charge and entreat you
therefore, and we charge our felves, by the
fhining Recompences which are promifed to
faithful Minifters, that we keep this Glory
ever in view, and awaken cur dying Zeal
in our facred Work. There is a Crown of
Righteoufnefs laid up for thofe who have fought
the good Fight, who have finifhed their Courfe,
who have kept the Faith, 2 Tim. iv. 7.
There is a Glory which is to be revealed, a
Crown of Glory which fadeth not away, pre-
pared for every Under-Shepherd who fhall
feed the Flock of God under his Care, and be
found faithful in his Work : IVhen the great
Shepherd fhall appear, he himlelf will be-
ftow it on them. O let us look up conti-
nually to this immortal Crown. Let us
fhake off our Sluggifhnefs, and roufe all
our aftive Powers at the profpedt of this
Felicity. Let us labour and ftrive with all
our Might, that we may become Pofleffors
of this bright Reward.
Before we conclude this Exhortation, let
us try to enforce k ftill with more Power,
by confidering in whofe Prefence are thefe
Solemnities tranfadted, and thefe Charges
given.
Wc
Exhortations on the Conference, to 5
We exhort and charge you then, in the
Prefence of this Church, who hath called
you to minifter to them in Holy Things,
and who give up their Souls tins Day to
your Care, to your Inftru&ions, to your
Conduft in the Miniftrations of the Gofpel.
We charge and exhort you that you take
the Over-fight of them with all Humility
and Diligence, and facred Delight, that
you make the Life of their Souls your per-
petual Care, that none of them may be loft
thro5 your Default.
We exhort and charge you in the Pre-
fence of this whole Aflembly, who are
met together to behold and hear our Faith
and Order in tht Gofpel. They are Wit-
neffes of the folemn Obligations you have
this Day laid your felf under, and will be
called as Witneffes againft you in the Day
of Chrijl, if you take no cure to perform
your facred Vows.
We exhort and charge you, in the Pre-
fence of the holy and ele£t Angels, who
are continually waiting in their Miniftry on
the Saints in the Church, and viewing with
delight the Miniftration of the Gofpel of
CJbriJlj their Lord and ours, as 'tis managed
by the Hands of Men. They fee, they
hear, and they will bear record againft you ;
a dreadful Record of broken Vows and
faithlels Promifes, if you are found carelefs
and unfaithful.
F 5 Forgive
106 Afolemn Enforcement of tbi
Forgive me, dear Brother, forgive the
folemn Language of thefe Exhortations;
we hope, we believe, we are perfuaded your
Heart is right with God, and you will be
found faithful in that Day, and that Men
and Angels will be Witneffes of your Zeal
and your Labours in the facred Work. But
we alfo feel fo much Coldnefs in our own
Spirits, that we have need to addrefs you
and our felves in moft folemn and awful
Language.
We charge you then finally in the Pre-
^nce^of God, the great God, the All-
cnowing and Almighty, the Univerfal Go-
verncur and Judge, and our Lord Jefus
Chri/l, to whom he hath committed all Judg-
ment, who hath Eyes as a Flame of Fire to
fee thro' our Hearts and Souls ; we charge
you, and we charge our felves, under the
all-feeing Eye of the great God and of his
Son Jefus our Lord, that with holy Care
and Diligence both we and you fulfil the
Work of our Miniftry with which Chrifi
ixath intruded us, that we may approve our
felves to him in Zeal and Faithfulnefs and
Love, in Zeal for his Honour and his Go-
fpel, in Faithfulnefs to our facred Commif-
fion, and in Love and Pity to the Souls of
Men.
If Sinners will continue obfiinate and im-
penitent, after all our pious Cares, Labours
and Prayers, their BJood will not he at our
door j
Exhortations on the Confcience. 107
door ; our Work is left with the Lord, and
our Judgment and Reward with our Gcd^ Ifa.
xJix. 4. But if it be poiTible, we fhouU
with utmoft Earneftnefs and Compaffion
feize the Souls of Sinners who are on the
very Borders of Hell, we Ihould pluck
them like Brands out of the Fire, and lave
them from burning, Jude 23.
O may the Spirit of the bieffed God fa-
vour us with his divine Aids, that we may
bring home many Wanderers to the Fold of
Chriji the great Shepherd, that we may ref-
cue many Souls from Death, who may be
our Joy and Crown and Glory in the Day of the
Lord Jefus ! May this be your Happinefs,
my dear Brother, may this be mine ! May
this be the Happinefs of every one of us
who minifler in Holy Things, through the
abounding Grace of Chriji and the Influences
of his Spirit : And may it be the Happinefs
of all who in different Places attend our con-
ftant holy Miniftrations, and particularly
of all that hear us this Day, to {land and
appear with us before the Judgment-Seat of
Chrift with mutual Delight and Joy : And
may each of us who preach and hear, re-
ceive our proper Portion of the everlafting
Recompence and Glory which fhall be af-
figned to thofe who are faithful by Jefus our
Saviour and our Judge, to whom he JDornin
end Praife for ever and ever. Amen.
F 6
( *o8 )
^Serious Address
/# the People.
Ma t t h. V. $j.
What do ye more than others f
SECTION I.
The Text apply' d to the Difciples.
THAT excellent Sermon which
our Lord preached on the Mount
feems to be addreffed in a fpecial
manner to his Difciples, tho* a mixed Mul-
titude might attend to hear it. The firft
Verfe of the Chapter tells us that Jefus fee-
ing the Multitude, went up into a Mountain \
and when he was fet, his Difciples came to him,
and he opened his Mouth and taught them,
faying, Bleffed are the poor in Spirit : And
there are feveral Expreffions in the Sermon
which plainly fhew that the Difcourfe was
chiefly directed to the Difciples, Matth.
v. 13, &c. Ye are the Salt of the Earth, ye
are the Light of the World \ which he would
never fay to a Multitude of mixed People
that
the text applfd, &c. 109
that followed him, made up probably of
Galilean Gentiles as well as Jews.
The Words I have chofen are a warm
and pathetick Queftion put to the Confci-
ences of the Difciples, with regard to the
great Duty of Charity and Love, which
our bleffed Saviour had beenjuft preaching
in fublimer Degrees than the ancient Pro-
phets, If you falute none but your Brethren,
if you love only thofe that love you ; or as
Luke vi. 33. If ye do good to them that do
good to you, what do you more than others ?
For the Publicans and Sinners do the fame.
Perfons who make no Pretences to Godli-
nefs, and who neither enjoy the Advantages
with which you are bleffed, nor lie under
equal Engagements : They love their own
Friends as well as you, and make grateful
Returns for Benefits received ; they prac-
tife many Duties of Morality, but I expeft
that you my Difciples fhould far excel
them, both in the Duties you practife,
and in the Manner of Performance : I ex-
peft that you fhould love your Enemies, and
fhould blefs them that curfe you, and do good
to them that hate you, as in Verfe 44. What
is here fpoken thus warmly by our Lord
to his own Difciples, concerning Love
and Civility and Kindnefs to our Fellow-
Creatures, may with the fame Juftice be
applied to moft of the Duties which we
owe to God or Man, and give us ground
to
l io The Text apply d
to raife this general Dodtrine or Theme of
Difcourfe.
Do&rine. God requires and expetts higher
Improvements in Virtue and Religion from
Perfons ivho enjoy peculiar Advantages, or lie
under fpecial Obligations.
Now to improve this Thought, and prefs
it upon all our Conferences, I fhall enquire,
i. What are the Circumftances under
which the Difciples of Chrift then lay that
obliged them to fuperior Virtue and Gcod-
nefs •, and 2. I fhall endeavour to apply
this to our felves, by enquiring what pecu-
liar Circumftances of Advantage and Obli-
gation, all or any of us lie under to exceed
others in any Inftances of Duty, either to
God or our Neighbour, and whether we
have anfwered thefe Engagements or no.
In anfwer to the firft Enquiry, What were
the Circumftances of the Difciples at this Time ?
We may confider our Saviour in this Ser-
mon exhorting them to fuperior Degrees
of Goodnefs, as they appeared under thefe
two Chara6ters ; (1.) as they were Jews
and not Heathens, as a part of the Nation
and Church of Ifrael, in diftindtion from
the Men of other Nations or Gentiles \ or
(2.) as they were the Difciples of Chrift,
and not of the Scribes or Pharifces ; as they
were Followers of a new Preacher, who
ffts neither authorized nor acknowledged
by their Priefts and Doctors of the Law,
who
to the Difciples. 1 1
who had no Countenance from the efta-
blifhed national Church, and who frequently
worfhipped in feparate Aflemblies *.
And there is good Reafon for this two-
fold Confideration of them, if we remem-
ber that in my Text Chriji compares his
Difciples with Publicans, or the Gatherers
of the Taxes whom the Roman Governors
appointed, who were moft of them Hea-
thens, and were often guilty of Oppreflion
and Injuftice, and therefore he demands of
his Difciples greater Degrees of Goodnefs
than they ever praftifed : And in the 20th
Verfe of this Chapter he compares them
with the Scribes and Pharifees, the ftridt Pre-
tenders to Religion, and the Teachers of it
among the Jews ; and aflures them, that
except their Righteoufnefs exceed that of the
Scribes andPharifees, they Jh all not enter into
the Kingdom of Heaven.
* It is granted indeed, that our blefTed Saviour did
not feparate himfelf from the Je<uui/h national Church,
fo as to abilain from the Worlhip of the Temple, be-
caufe that was exprefly of God's own Eftablifhment ;
nor did he avoid the Synagogues while they would fuf-
fer him to preach there, and to warn the People againfl
their Traditions : yet there were fo many Corrupti-
ons in that Day that had crept into the national Church,
that he found he could not fulfil his Miniftry, nor pro-
mote the Salvation of Souls according to his Defire,
and his heavenly Commillion, without holding feparate
Aflemblies.
1. if
ii2 The Text apply d
I. If we confider the Difciples of Chrijl
as JewSj as a Part of the Nation and Church
of Ifraelj they had many fpecial Advantages
for Religion above the Heathen World,
and many peculiar Obligations. They were
interefled in thofe fpecial Marks of Honour
and Love that God had fet upon the Jewifh
Nation, they were chofen to be a peculiar
People to the Lord> and were devoted to him
from their Infancy : They had their Laws
given them by God himielf, as their King
and Governor, and could have no doubt of
the Wifdom and Juftice and Equity of
them : They had a Multitude of fpecial Re-
velations both of Duty and Grace from God
as their King and their God, from God as
the Objeft of their Worfhip and their ever-
lafting Rewarder : They had the living Ora-
cles committed to them for their Inftru&i-
on, wherein divine Truths and Duties were
written down in plain Language, as the
Leflbns of their Faith and the Rules of
their Practice : They had many Inftitutions
of Religion and Worfhip didtated by God
himfelf, and they were not left to the wild
and uncertain Fancies of Men to invent Ce-
remonies of their own which God will ne-
ver approve : They had the Gofpel preach-
ed to them under Types and Shadows,
and there were many clear Difcoveries of
the Forgivenefs of Sin and Reconciliation
to God to be obtained for Sinners who re-
turn
to the Difciples. 1 1 3
turn to God by Repetance, and who rely
on the Promifes of his Grace. Well might
our Saviour fay, I expeft from you fuperior
Degrees of Religion and Virtue above the
Heathen and the Publican, above the Ro-
wan Tax-gatherers that dwell amongft you,
and even thofe of your own Nation who
make no drift Profeflion of Piety or Good-
nefs. Think with your felves therefore,
examine your Hearts and Praftice, What
do you more than they? And let your Con-
ferences be able to give an honourable
Anfwer.
II. Let the Difciples of Chrift be confi-
dered as Followers of a new Preacher, in a
way of Diftindtion from the Difciples of the
Scribes and the Jewifh Doffors of the Law.
They fat under the Miniftry of a rifing
Prophet Jefus of Galilee, the fuppofed Son
of a Carpenter, who had no Approbation
nor Authority nor Countenance from the
eftablifhed Church, who held feparate Af-
femblies for praying and preaching, and
who taught the People fometimes on a
Mountain, fometimes in the Wildernefs,
fometimes on the Sea-fhore, and at other
times in private Houfes ; and here we fhall
find that the Difciples lay under farther
Circumftances of Engagement to greater Pu-
rity and a higher Perfection in Holinefs.
They had the Son of God himfelf for
their Preacher, who /pake fo as never Man
fpake.
:i4 The Text apply d
rpakt\ who had all his Doftrines and his
Meflages from Heaven, and fpake what his
Father commanded him ; a 'Preacher, who
explained the Law in a more perfect Man-
ner, and raifed it to fublimer Degrees of
Virtue even than Mofes himfelf, who re-
ceived it from God ; and he purified it a!fo
from the falfe and corrupt Glofles which
the Scribes and Doctors of that degenerate
Age had put upon it -, an Ambaflador from
Heaven, who publifhed the Tidings of rich
Grace and Pardon and Salvation in a clearer
Manner, and gave them ftronger Encou-
ragements to Repentance and Faith and
Piety and brotherly Love than the World
had ever known before.
They had Miracles wrought to convince
them of the Truth of the Commiffion of
Cbrift from Heaven, Matt. iv. 24. The
God of Nature fpoke often to them in fome
Work of Wonder, which was fuperior to
all the Powers of Nature, to affure them
that Jefuswas the Minifter of his Father's
Grace to the Sons of Men.
They had feen fome of the Prophecies
fulfilled in him, and fome of the Charac-
ters of the Mefliah exemplified in his Perfon,
in his Doftrine and his Conduit ; for tho5
this Sermon flands near the Beginning of
St. Matthew's Hiftory, yet it was by no
means the firft Sermon that he preached,
nor the very Beginning of his Miniftry, as
will
to the Difcipks. 115
will eafily appear if we confult Matt. iv.
and Luke iv. where we have feveral Ac-
counts of his preaching before this.
Let us confider another great Advantage
they enjoyed above others ; they had the
nobleft and molt fublime Pattern of Holi-
nefs always before them, who praclifed
Self-denial, Humility, Zeal for the Honour
of God, Mortification to the World, R.e-
flftance of Temptations, and retired Devo-
tion, in a fuperior manner to what ever any
meer Mortal attained or pradtifed.
And befides all this, they made a Profef-
fion of greater Striftnefs and Purity by their
Adherence to Chrift and his Preaching,
who appeared in the World as a new
Teacher, to reform the Vices of Men, and
found fault with the Preachers of the efta-
blilhed Church, for the many Corruptions
both of Dodtrine and Practice that reigned
amongft them.
Now, " To what Purpofe (might our
" Lord fay) and for what End are all
44 thefe Advantages given you, if not to
" make you wifer and better than the reft
44 of the Nation ? And what is it you pre-
" tend in following my Sermons and at-
44 tending upon my Miniftry in feparate
44 AfTemblies ? Is it not that you may be-
44 come more ftridtly religious, and that
44 your Virtue and your Goodnefs may ex-
" ceed your Neighbours ? If the Teach-
44 ings
1 1 6 The Words apply d
u mgs of the Scribes and the Doftors of the
u Law are fufficient for your Inftruction,
M and equal to your Wifhes and your
u Hopes, why do ye follow me from
" Town to Town, and from one Part of
" the Nation to the other ? Does not your
" own Profeffion of being my Difciples
" oblige you to greater Degrees of Piety ?
" And have you not peculiar Advantages
" for this End, by attending on my Mini-
" ftrations ? I expect therefore that you
u fhould live, and fpeak, and act to the Ho-
" nour of God and the Good of Men, in a
" Degree and Manner far fuperior to what
" the Sinners and Publicans can pretend to,
" and that you exceed in Right eoufnefs all the
" Pretences and the Practices of the Pha-
" rifees and the Scribes. "
SECTION II.
The Application of the Words of the Text to
our own Age and Circumftances.
THUS having fhewn how reafonable
was this Demand of Chrifi upon his
own Difciples, we come in the next place to
apply all this to our own Cafe, to our own
Age and Circumftances. And here in order
to enforce this Enquiry upon our Confcien-
ces, What do we more than others ? we fhall
confider our Character and our Privileges ;
to our Age and Cafe. nj
( i.) That we are Chriftians^ and not Jews nor
Heathens. (2.) That we are Pro t eft ant s^ and
not Papifts. (3,) That we are P rot eft ant
Dift'enters^ who worfliip God in feparate
Ailemblies, and follow the Teachings of
Men who have no Commiflion from the
eftablifhed and national Church \ and under
each of thefe Characters we fhall enquire
how much our Circumftances of Advantage
and Obligation are fuperior to thofe of the
reft of the World from whom we are
diftinguifhed, and whether our Behavi-
our has been anfwerable to thefe fpecial En-
gagements.
I. We are Chriftians^ and not Jews nor
Heathens. Let me fpeak to each of thefe
apart.
lfty We are not born in a Land of Hea-
thenifm, in grofs Darknefs and in the Sha-
dow of Death, and therefore our Piety and
Virtue fhould far exceed all the Practices of
the Heathen World. We are not left to
the Teachings of the Book of Nature, and
to the filent Ledtures which the Sun, Moon
and Stars can read us, nor are we aban-
doned merely to the Inftruftions of Religi-
on that we may derive from the Bealts of
the Earth and the Fowls of the Heaven, or
any of the Works of God the Creator.
We are not given up in the Things of
Religion merely to the wandering and un-
certain Conduct of our Reafon, feeble as it
is
115 ltje w or as apply a
is in itfelf, corrupted by the Fall of Adam
our firit Father, befet with many Sins and
Prejudices, and turned afide from the Truth
by a thoufand falfe Lights of Senfe and
Appetite, Fancy and Paflion, by the vain
Cuftoms of the Country, and the Corrup-
tions of our finful Hearts.
We are not bewildered among the poor
Remains of divine Tradition delivered
down from Adam to Noah, and from Noah
to his Pofterity in the feveral Nations of
the Earth ; we are not left to ipell out our
Duty from thofe forry broken Fragments
of Revelation, which are fo loft and de-
faced among moft of the Nations, and fo
mingled with monftrous Folly and Delu-
fion, that 'tis hard to find any Reliques of
Truth or Goodneis in them.
We are not given up to foul Idolatry and
wild Superftition, nor to the llavifh and
tyrannical Dictates of Priefts and Kings,
who contrive what Ceremonies they pleafe,
and impofe them on the People, which
is the Cafe of a great Part of the Heathen
World.
Poor and deluded Creatures ! feeling
about in the dark for the Way to Happi-
nefs, in the midftof Rocks and Precipices
and endlefs Dangers, and led aftray into
many Mifchiefs and Miferies by thofe whom
they take for Guides and Rulers. And
what an infamous and fhameful Thing would
to oar Age and Cafe. 1 1 9
It be for us, who have the divine Light
of the Gofpel fhining among us to dire£t
our Paths, if we fhould read among the
Records of the Heathen Nations, that any
of them have behaved better than we have
done either in Duties to God or Man, and
exceeded us either in perfonal or in focial
Virtues .? Nay, what a Scandal would it be
to our Profeffion, if we fhould not abun-
dantly exceed all the fhining Virtues of the
Heathen Nations, fince the divine Light
that fhines upon us, and the divine Leflbns
that are publifhed amongft us, are fo infi-
nitely fuperior to all that the Heathen
World has enjoyed ?
And yet, to our Shame and Reproach,
there are feveral fingle Examples found in
ancient Hiftory of lome of their moral and
focial Virtues, beyond what mod of us
have arrived at. What Patience under In-
juries and cutting Reproaches is afcribed to
Socrates ? What a Contentment of Soul un-
der great Poverty, what Calmnefs under
OpprefTion and Pain, and what a noble
Difmtereftednefs in the Comforts or Cala-
mities of this Life was found in Epiffetus
the Stoick Philofopher ? What a friendly
and forgiving Spirit in Antoninus the Empe-
ror ? What a Moderation in the Enjoy-
ments of Life, what a brave Contempt of
prefent Death, and what a generous Love of
their Country and Self-denial for the pub-
lick
120 The Words apply d
lick Good do we read of in fome of the an-
cient Romans^ before the Ages of Splendor
and Luxury had corrupted them ?
*Tis granted indeed thefe Inftances are
but few and rare, and we have good rea-
fon to hope and believe that the Virtues
which are praftifed in the Chrifiian World
are abundantly more common and nume-
rous, and therefore they pafs without fuch
publick Notice and Renown : But is it not
a fliame there fhould be any one Inftance
of Heathen Virtue tranfcending the Prac-
tice of Chrifiians ?
And if we confult the Hiftories of their
religious Affairs, we fnall find feveral Ex-
amples of their Zeal for forry Superftitions
and ridiculous Idolatries, rifing higher
than ours has done in the Praftice of our
divine Religion : How far have their Self-
denial and Sufferings, their Fatigues and
Fervency in the Worfhip of their Idols,
tranfcended our Devotion to the living and
true God ? What coftly Honours have they
done to fome of their Mediator Gods and
Goddefles, beyond what we have a Heart
to do for our Jefus^ the only true Media-
tor between God and Man ? With what
Curiofity and Exaftnefs and unwearied Di-
ligence have the Votaries of thofe falfe Dei-
ties, in fome of the E aft em and Weft em
Nations, in ancient and later Times, ful-
filled their Wafhings, and Scourgings, and
painful
to our Age and Cafe. 1 2 1
painful Abftinences, and praftifed all the
auftere Rires of their Religions, while we
are cold and indifferent, fluggifh and in-
dolent in paying the facred Worfhip we
owe to the great and bleffed God and to
his Son Jefus? Lord, will not this Hea-
then Zeal condemn our fhameful Sloth and
Negligence?
Again idly, We are Chrijlians and not
Jews: How much fhould our Practices of
Piety exceed theirs? Our Gofpel is not hid-
den under Types and Figures, nor veiled
under the Smoke of Incenie and Sacrifice,
as it was in the Religion of Mofes: How
cheerfully fhould we receive and ftudy and
rejoice in this Gofpel of Salvation, which
fhines amongft us in its fulleft Light? And
while we remember that wre are freed from
the Bondage of numerous Ceremonies, how
diligently fhould we attend to the two fa-
cred Inftitutions of Baptifm and the Lord's
Supper, which Chrifi has given us, and take
Care that all the fpiritual Defigns of them
be attained in us and upon us?
We are not waiting for a Mejfiah yet to
come, which was the Cafe of many Pro-
phets and Kings and righteous Men under the
Jewijh Difpenfation : Blejfed are our Eyes
and our Ears, for they have read and heard
thofe glorious Tranfa&ions and Doctrines
relating to the MeJJiah the great Prophet,
the King of Ifrael, and the Saviour of the
G World,
122 The Words apply J
World, for which the Fathers waited from
Age to Age. With what Zeal and Joy,
with what holy Exercifes and Raptures of
Faith and Love fhouid we receive Jefus the
Son of God, the great Mejjiab, who has all
the Characters of this divine Prophet and
this promifed Saviour found in him? With
what a firm and fteady Soul fhouid we re-
ceive the Dodtrines, and maintain the Ar-
ticles of the Religion of Jefus, in Oppofi-
tion to all the Snares of Infidelity, and the
Artifices of every Deceiver.
Again, We are not left, as the Jews were,
to the obfcure Language of Prophecy, to
inform us of the Grace and Bleffings of the
MeffiaWs Kingdom ; nor are we put to fpell
out our Faith by fuch weak and idle Com-
mentaries of Men as the Jewifh Rabbins
have left us, whereby to underftand the
Law of Mofes: We have the New Tefla-
ment given us to explain the Old: Chrifl
and his Apoftles are fent to us as Interpre-
ters of the ancient Prophets: The Veil is
taken away while the Books of Mofes are
read among us, and many of the dark Fi-
gures and the typical Scenes of Providence
that belonged to the Jewifh Difpenfation
are now unfolded and explained in a divine
Light. How ihould our Hearts burn with-
in us under an Evangelical Miniftry, in Imi-
tation of the tv/o Difciples, Luke xxiv. 32.
while Chrijl was unfolding to them thefpi-
ritual
to our Age and Cafe. 123
ritual Glories and Graces of his Kingdom,
which were delivered by Mofes and the Pro-
phets in more obfcure Language? How de-
lightfully fhould we converfe with the two
Books of God, the Old Teftament and
New, when we underftand the Scripture fo
far beyond what the beft of the Jews could
do, who had only the firft of thefe divine
Writings given them, without a fecond
to explain it: How much therefore (hould
our Faith and our Hope, our Love and
our Holinefs tranfcend the Virtues and
Graces of a Jew ?
And yet, alas ! how greatly does our Pie-
ty, our Zeal, our Self-Government, our
fingle and focial Virtues, and our univerfai
Holinefs fall fhort of thofe Degrees to
which fome of thofe Jewijh Saints attained ?
Which of us can compare with the firft: of
their Leaders, Mofes, the Servant of God,
in an unwearied Attendance on the Com-
mands of his Lord, in oppofition to all
the Threatnings of the King of Egypt and
the Murmurings of his own People Ifrael?
Which of us would have fliown fuch Meek-
nefs in bearing fo many Indignities and
Affronts from an ungrateful Race of Men,
whom he had refcued from Brick-kilns and
Tafk-mafters and cruel Bondage? Which
of us follow Godfo fully as Caleb and Jofhua
did, and could bear fuch an undaunted
Teftimony to the Truth of his Word, and
G 2 the
124 5Hk? Words apply d
the Excellency of the promifcd Blefilng?,
in oppofition to the Clamours of a whole
Nation, and the Danger of being (toned
upon the Spot? How few are there in the
prefent Age of Chriftians who are fo well
acquainted with the Efficacy and Succefs
Prayer as Hannah the Mother of Samuel,
who poured out her Petitions before God,
and left her Cares and her Burdens there,
and went away and was no more fad? When
fhall any of us arife to the blefied experi-
ences of David? When fhall we live fo
much by Faith as he did, and triumph over
our Fears even in the midft of Enemies,
Dangers and Diftreffes? When fhall we ar-
rive at fuch a humble holy Intimacy with
God, as to walk with him all the Day long,
and communicate with him all our Con-
cerns, our Comforts, our Dangers and our
Difficulties, and be able to rejoice in Hope
as he did? How far are the Ways of his
Faith and Love above ours, like the Way
of an Eagle in the Air, too high and too
hard for us? When fhall our Zeal for the
Houfe of God carry us to fuch a pious So-
1 citude about it as his did? And when
fhall we feel fuch longing Defires and infa-
t able Thirftings after thePrefer.ee of God
i • holy Ordinances as he found? Which of
us c^n fay with the humble Spirit of Mi-
cab, I w 11 bear the Indignation of the Lord
becauji I have finned againjt him, 'till he arife
and
to our Age and Cafe. 1 2 5
and plead my Caufe? Or where is the Chri-
ftian that can aflfume the Words of Ha-
bakkuk with the fame Spirit of Faith, tto*
there be no Fruit in the F-eld, nor Herds in
the Stall, ye I will I rejoice in the Lord, and
joy in the God of my Salvation? But it is
Time to proceed to fome other Characters
which belong to us, and wherein we enjoy
Advantages for Holinefs fuperior to others \
for 'tis a moil evident and heavy Reproach
upon us, that either Jews or Heathens fhould
exceed us in any Inftances of the religious
or civil Life.
II. We are Prcteftants, and net Papijls ;
and what Progrefs have we made in devout
Religion and m real Piety beyond what
fome of the poor deluded People have
done under the Power of Pcpijh DarkneLs,
Superftition and Tyranny, notwithstand-
ing ourtranfeendent Advantages?
We are not with-held from the pure and
perfect Inftructions of the Word of God in
our own Language, nor impofed upon by
the Traditions of Men as the Papijls are,
who are generally forbid to keep Bibles in
their own Cuftody in mod of the Popijh
Nations, nor are they fuffered to acquaint
themfelves with the Scriptures in their Mo-
ther-Tongue. We can fee the Doctrines
with our own Eyes which v/e are required
to believe-, we can read the Duties which
we are commanded to practife 5 we can
G 3 Icarh
126 Tbe Words apply d
learn the whole Counfel of God for our Sal-
vation, and be inftrudted in all the Articles
of Faith and Manners from the Word of
God it felf. We are not deprived of this
Key of Knowledge that leads us into the
Treafures of Heaven and Eternity: We
have the Bible in our Hands, we read it in
our Families, 'tis open before us in our Re-
tirements : Flow diligently fhould we fearch
and inquire into every Truth and Duty that
is propofed to us, as the noble Bereans did,
A5ls xvii. 1 1 ? With what Zeal and Fer-
vency fhould we practife every divine Ap-
pointment, when the Obligations come up-
on our Confciences more immediately from
the Word of God ? And how careful fhould
we be to worfhip God more exaftly ac-
cording to his own Appointments, fince we
have his own Word to inftrudt us ?
How great and unfpeakable are our Ad-
vantages beyond thofe who dwell under
Popijh Governments? Alas for thofe poor
benighted and imprifoned Creatures, held
in the Chains of Darknefs! How wretch-
edly are their Confciences governed by blind
Leaders, and they are not fuffered to be-
lieve any thing but v/hat the Church teaches
them, i. e. the Priefls, who are made the
Directors of their Faith and Practice?
Their Belief is founded on the Word- of
poor fallible Men, and fometimes of wicked
and deceitful Men too, inilead of the Dic-
tates
to cur Age and Cafe. 127
tates of Heaven and the Words of the true
and living God. They muft believe no-
thing contrary to what the Church be-
lieves, tho* it be never fo plainly written in
Scripture \ for if the Church has deter-
mined againft the plaineft Doctrines of the
Bible, they muft be conftrued to another
Senfe, according as the Church from Time
to Time fhall pleafe to interpret the Word
of God. What a Wonder is it if any of
thefe miferable Mortals under fuch wretch-
ed Difadvantages fhould attain to the Prac-
tice of true Religion and the Faith and
Holinefs of the Gofpel? But how much
more fhameful would it be to 11s, if any of
them under thefe Difadvantages fhould be
found to exceed and out-fhine our Character
and our Practice ?
We are not taught to repeat our Prayers
like Parrots in an unknown Tongue. Oh,
what a Mockery of Heaven is this! What
an high Affront to God and to the Reafon
of Man, to chatter over Words and Sylla-
bles before the God of Heaven, and to ad-
drefs him about the important Things of
Grace and Salvation and eternal Life, and
yet know nothing of our Wants or our Pe-
titions! How ierious, how fervent, how
Spiritual fhould our Devotion be, in com-
parifon of theirs who are taught to pro-
nounce a little Gibberifh in Latin inftead of
ferious Devotion? Whenever I read of any
G 4 Inftances
128 The Words apply \i
Inftances of religious and devout Papifisy
and efpecially if they are Perfons of the
lower Rank of Life, who have not the Ad-
vantages of the Men of Learning among
them ; and when I refledl to what Heights
here and there one of them have rifen in the
ipiritual Parts of Religion, I blulh and am
afhamed of my felf, who enjoy fo much
iuperior Advantages, and fink fo far be-
low them in thefe divine Exercifes.
We are not brought up in the Superfti-
tions and Idolatries of the Church of Rome;
we are not taught to worfiiip Saints and An-
gels, nor required to bow down before a
Piece of Bread in the Hand of a Priefb, nor
to pay religious Honours to Images of
Wood and Stone, of Gold and Silver; we
are not taught to addrefs our feives to
departed Saints and Angels for Mediators,
to apply to the Virgin Mother inflead of
Chrifi her Son, nor to addrefs the Apoftles
inflead of their Mafter: We are directed
only to the one Mediator, Chrifi the Son of
God, who is All-fufficient, to reconcile us
to God, and to make our Perfons and our
Prayers acceptable before the Throne;
whereas the Difciples of the Pope diftribute
the Care of their beft Interefts amongft ma-
ny Mediators, and recommend themfelves
to the Protection of many Saints and Savi-
ours. Well, let us enquire then, are our
Hearts united in the Faith and Love of Je-
JMS,
to our dge and Cafe. 129
us, the only Mediator, more than theirs?
Are we better acquainted with Jefus the Son
of God, to whom we have committed all
our immortal Concerns, fince our Thoughts
and Hopes, our Wifhes and Prayers, are
not divided amongft many Interceffors ? Do
we pay more honour to Jefus our only Sa-
viour than they do, who have fo many Ob-
jects of their Truft and Worfhip to divide
their Hearts and Devotions into flcnder
Streams ?
What fhall I fay for our own Excufe, if
I fhould find fome Papifis exceeding us in
their Love to God, in their Devotion to
Chrift, and in their Benevolence to Men? I
believe indeed their Number is but final 1,
but methinks 'tis a fhame and reproach to
us under our fuperior Advantages, if there
fhould be found any of that corrupt and fii-
perftitious Church pradtifing the Chriftiah
Religion, in the fubftantial Duties of it,
better than we. When I read Thomas a
Kemps reiigning himfelf to his Lord and
Saviour in fuch pious Language, u Give
u me v/hat thou wilt, and as much or little
" as thou wilt, and when thou wilt. Deal
" with me as thou knoweft to be moil pro-
" per, and as may bring thee mod Glory;
" place me where thou pleaieft, I'm in thy
" Hand, turn me and tofs me from Side to
<c Side : Behold thy Servant ready to be
<c and bear every Thing, for my Defire is
G 5 "not
1 3 o The Words apply d
" not to live to my fejf, but to thee : *
When I hear that excellent Man the Arch-
bifhop of Cambray lifting up his devout
Heart thus to Heaven in the fame Strains,
of pious Refignation, " I am for thee, O
44 my God, againft my felf; none could
4C have thus divided me from my felf but
44 thy Hand only. I leave my felf in thy
" Hand, O my God, mould this Clay of
" mine, turn it up, and turn it down
44 again, give it a Form, then break it and
44 new mould it; 'tis intirely thine, it has
44 nothing to reply, 'tis enough for me
44 that this Being of mine ferves thy Pur-
u pofes and thy good Pleafure: Com-
44 mand, appoint, forbid, what I fhall do
44 or what I fhall not do: Elevated, aba-
44 fed, comforted, fuffering, I for ever
44 adore thee, in facrificing all my own
44 Will to thine : H When I hear this Lan-
guage of a Papift, how am I aftiamed of
my own reftiff and unpliable Heart? How
much do I want of fuch an intire Refigned-
nefs to my Maker's Will? With what Plea-
fure do I read Monfieur de Renty in the
Zeal of his inward Piety running counter
to the Practices of his own Communion,
and declaring that " If we know not our
44 own Devotion rather by the Mortifica-
44 ticn ard Denial of our felves, than by
44 the Multiplication of our devout Exer-
44 cifes, it is to be feared they will be rather
44 Practices
to oar Age and Cafe. 131
cc Practices of Condemnation than of San-
Cc £tification : And yet we fee the Work of
44 Jefus Chrift is almoft reduced to this
44 pafs among the fpiritual Perfons of our
44 Times/' But 'tis with a facred Regret
and Self-difplicency I would look upon my
felf, while I review other Parts of his Life,
where he took upon him all the mean and
laborious Figures of Service to his Fellow-
Creatures, and conformed himfelf to all
Inconveniences for the good of his Neigh-
bour; " Methinks, fays he, my Soul is
44 all Charity, and I am not able to exprefs
4C with what Ardency and ftrange Expan-
4C fion I find my Heart to be renewed in
" the divine Life of my new-born Saviour,
44 burning all in Love towards Mankind."
How do I wifh that I could repeat from my
Heart the Words of that poor Servant
Maid Armelle Nicholas in France in the laft
Century, " God has not fent me into this
44 World but to love him, and by his great
" Mercy I have loved him fo much, that I
44 cannot do it more in the Way oi mortal
" Creatures; I muft go to him, that I may
" love him in the Way of the Blefled."
But before I difmifs this Head intirely, I
would take notice of one Advantage more
which the Proteftants oi Great-Britain en-
joy toward the Practice of Charity and
Love to their Fellow-Creatures, above and
beyond what the Papijls generally enjoy •,
G 6 and
1 3 2 The Words apply d
and yet even in this very Grace of Charity
there have been Inftances, as you fee, where-
in fome of them exceed us. Let us remem-
ber that we are not educated in fuch a cruel
and bloody Religion as the Papifts, which
Cruelty, tho' 'tis not practifed by all of
them, yet is taught by their Leaders:
Their Religion encourages and infpires Men
to murder and deftroy their Fellow-Crea-
tures for God's fake, as our Saviour himfelf
foretold, John xvi. 2. They firil call us
Hereticks, and then condemn, torment and
murder us, and blindly imagine they are
doing God fervzee. Oh blefs the Name of
the Lord for your Freedom from the Hand
and Power of thofe whofe Religion it is to
do mifchief in the Name of God, and to
deflroy thofe whom the Priefts and the In-
quifitors fhall pronounce guilty of any Opi-
nions which they are pleafed to call He-
refy. How often do they drefs up a Pro-
t eft ant as it were in a Wolf's or Bear's Skin,
and fend out all their Dogs to devour him?
Blefs God with all the Powers of your
Souls that you are not bred up in thefe bar-
barous Sentiments; nor fhould you think
your felf worthy of the Name of a Pro-
t eft ant ^ if you do not make the Bible the
Rule of your Faith and Pradlice, and give
others leave to find out their Duty alfo in
that holy Book, according to their own beft
Strife of it, as well as your felves. But if
you
to our Age and Cafe. 133
you reproach and perfecute the fincere En-
quirers after the Truth, if you bite and de-
vour thofe who differ from you in their re-
ligious Sentiments, who are humble and
fincere Enquirers, What do you more than
others? What are you better than the
bloody Papifts? And indeed how much
worfe are you than fome few of them whofe
Souls abhor this cruel and antichriftian Ty-
ranny? This barbarous Temper of yours
would run all the Lengths of Perfection
even to Blood and Burning, if the Sword
and the Fire were entrufted in your Hands.
Shew therefore that you live in a Land of
Proteftant Principles and an Age of Liber-
ty, and that the Spirit of the Gofpel, the
Spirit of Charity and Love dwells in you,
by allowing to all Men the Freedom of
their own Opinions, while they maintain the
publick Peace : And as you profefs to fol-
low the divine Rule of Scripture, and the
Diftates of your own Confciences with Ho-
nefty and fincere Zeal, believe charitably
that your Fellow-Chriflians of a different
Party may feek after the Truth with as much
Zeal and with equal Sincerity, tho* they
may not happen to fee all Things in the
fame Light, nor embrace the fame Prin-
ciples. Let not your Accufations and Cen-
fures grieve their Spirits. Make it appear
that you love your Neighbours, your Fel-
low Chriftians, and even the Enemies of
your
134 4 w rr or as apply a
your Perfon and your Religion better than
the Paprjls, from whom you would diftin-
guifh your lelves with Honour. But this
fhall iiiffice for the general Diftin&ion be-
tween Papift and Protejlant.
III. We are come in the next Place to
confider our felves as Protejlant Dijfenters:
Hereby we are diftinguilhed from our
Fellow Chriftians who belong to the Na-
tional Church of England, in our Choice of
different Modes of Worfhip and Miniftra-
tionsofHoly Things. Permit me here to
addrefs you who are my Hearers under this
Character, and inquire What do you more
than others? You who attend upon the
"Worfhip of God in feparate Affemblies,
and fit under the Miniilrations of thofe
who have no Commiflion from the fpiritual
Guides of the Nation and Rulers of the
Church; you who in this Refpeft are
placed under fuch a fort of Providence as
to be Imitators of the Difciples of Chrijl
when he maintained feparate Aflemblie?,
and preached to the People without re-
ceiving any publick Authority, or lb much
as Countenance and Approbation from the
Rulers of the national Church in his Day.
Surely this is a Queftion of very awful Im-
portance, and very neceffary, while we con-
tinue our Separation, What higher Degrees
of Piety or Virtue do we praftife ? What
fublimer Advances in Religion are we ar-
rived
to our Age and Cafe. 1 3 5
rived at ? Wherein are we better by all our
Nonconformity than thofe who conftantly
conform to the Church of England as by
Law eftablifhed? What do all our Pre-
tences to Separation mean, if we afcend to
no fuperior Degrees of Goodnefs ?
But before I enter into fo nice a Sub-
je£t as a Comparifon between the Advan-
tages and Obligations to ftrift Religion,
which are found amongft the DiJJenters, or
amongfl the Church of England^ and their
different Improvements under them, I
defire to lay down this one Caution, viz.
That nothing which I am going to fpeak
fhould be conftrued to relate to any of thofe
holy Souls who are of the firft Rank in the
School of Chrijl^ who are the moft pious
and the moft ftri&ly religious, either among
the Members of the Church of England^
or among Protejlant Di[fenters\ for I am
not going to fpeak to or of thefe Perfons,
nor would I make Comparifon between
them: I would fet them all before me as
Examples for my humble Imitation and
yours, and not as the Subjedts of my Com-
parifon. I am verily perfuaded there are
many Perfons of both Communities who
are dear to God, whofe Names have an
honourable Place in the Book of Life, who
walk humbly and clofely with God in all
the known Duties of the Chriftian State,
whofe Sobriety in what relates to them-
fdvcs,
130 1 he Words apply d
felves, whofe Juftice and Charity in what
relates to their Neighbours, and whofe De-
votion in what belongs to God, is glorious
and exemplary indeed; who are taught
and Jed by the fame Spirit of Holinefs,
and are largely interefted in the Favour of
God the Father and his Son Jefus Chriji.
To thofe holy Souls on both fides I would
only afk Leave to fay, Go on in your il-
luftrious Courfe of Chrifiianity\ rival each
other in the Swiftnefs of your Race, in your
pious and divine Progrefs toward Heaven;
and may each of you run fo far as to ob-
tain one of the larger and fairer Crowns of
Right ecufnefs that Jhall never fade *dway
Yet I can hardly with-hold my felf from
pronouncing this one Word of Juftice, That
if any of the Members of the eftablifhed
Church in this mofl pious Rank of Men
are fuperior to thofe of our diffenting
Churches, I think they ought to have the
Honour of this Superiority; and fome De-
gree of Shame will belong to the beft of
us, if we are found inferior to them either
in Virtue towards Men, or Piety towards
God, becaufe of our fuperior Advantages
and Obligations.
Having laid down this Caution, I come
to declare that the Perfons whom I would
at this time compare together are the com-
mon Profeffors of Religion in the Church of
'England^ and the common Profeffors among
the
to our Age and Cafe. 137
the Dijfenters, the Bulk of the People both
on the one Side and on the other; and I
would fain excite you who hear me this
Day, who are Profeflfors of Religion, and
call your felves Protejlant Dijfenters, to
bethink your felves a little concerning the
fenfible Decay of real Goodnefs that is
found amongft you, in order to awaken you
to the warmeft Zeal and utmoft Endeavours
to revive languifhing and dying Religion.
Give me Leave, while I have the Honour
to be a Preacher amongft you in this Con-
gregation, to addrefs you in the Words of
our Blefled Saviour, who was in his Day a
divine Teacher to a Congregation meeting
upon a Mountain, and in the Pathetick Lan-
guage of Admonition and Love I would fay
to my Hearers as he did to his Difciples,
What do you more than others? What is there
of Duty to God or Man wherein you Sepa-
ratifts from the publick Eftablifhment ex-
ceed the reft of the Nation ? And to enforce
this Exhortation, I fhail here confider,
I. What real Advantages for Religion
you enjoy above your Brethren of the
Church of England^ according to your own
common Senfe of Things.
II. Whztfuperior Obligations lie upon you
by your particular Profeilion of Religion in
a feparate Way. And under each of thefe
two general Heads I fhall run thro' various
Particulars.
SECTION
138 The Advantages of Di (f enters
SECTION III.
The Advantages of Protejiant Dijfenters in
Matters of Religion.
THEM Queftion that offers it felf to
our Confideration is this, What are
the real and fpecial Advantages for Improve-
ment in Religion zvhichyou Protejiant DifJ en-
ters enjoy, or fuppofe you enjoy, above your Bre-
thren of the Church 0/ England?
And here I defire my Readers to ob-
ferve, that I neither defign to begin nor
maintain any Controverfy with my Bre-
thren of the eftablifhed Church in thefe
Papers, which are written purely to re-
vive praftical Gcdlinefs amongft us, nor
would I willingly give them any Offence.
I confefs indeed that it may not be im-
proper in fome Parts of our Miniftrations
to enter into the Merits of the Caufe, and
modeftly to give our People an Account of
the Reafons why we feparate from the pub-
lick Worihip of the Parifh: And yet this
we have almoft univerfally declined for ma-
ny Years out of Relpedt to the Church, nor
is this my prefent Bufinefs or Intent in this
Place; nor fhall I ftand to enumerate all
our Differences, nor infift upon a Vindica-
tion of our Condudt in the feveral Particu-
lars that go to make up the Grounds of
Non-
in Matters of Religions 139
Nonconformity. You may find them put
together and well fupported by other Wri-
ters, and particularly by Dr. Calamy in his
three Volumes of Moderate Nonconformity \
and the chief Heads of them, fo far as they
relate to the People, are well abridged in
a very little Book called Lay-Nonconformity
Ju/lify'd) to which I refer my Readers who
defire to take a more particular Notice of
the Reafons of our Separation.
My only Defign in this Place is to men-
tion fome of thofe Advantages which you
Protefiant Dijfenters are generally fuppofed
to enjoy above your Neighbours in the Af-
fairs of Religion; and even thefe I fhall
cite and borrow from thofe Books which
were wTritten feveral Years ago, to make it
appear that I defign no Contention : And if
I am neceflitated to fpeak of fome of the
Differences that lie between us, the Reader
will fee that I reprefent them not in the
Language of Difpute, nor purfue them any
farther than to fhew meer Matter of Fa£t,
that I may thence derive more forcible and
pungent Warnings and Reproofs to thofe
of our own Communion, who are negli-
gent of Piety and Virtue under all their
fuppofed Advantages.
Advantage I. You are not info much Dan-
ger of taking up with the out-ward Forms of
Religion^ inflead of the inward Power and
more fpiritual Part of 'it, as your Neighbours
ma/
1 40 The Advantages of Dijjenters
may be, and that particularly in the two fol-
lowing Inftances.
Firft, You are in no fuch Danger of mifi
taking Baptifm for inward and real Regene-
ration *, as thofe who are educated in the
eftablilhed Church. You are not in the
lealt tempted or encouraged in any of our
Miniftrations to fuppofe that your Souls
are regenerated by the outward Ceremony
of Baptifm, or that you are really born
again, and made new Creatures by being
baptized with Watery to which unhappy
and dangerous Miftake the Office of Bap-
tifm in the Church of England has been
thought to give too much Countenance in
the plain Senfe of the Expreftions, and
without any fufficient Guard or Caution:
And the Anfwer in the Catechifm which
Children are taught, does but too much
confirm and eftablifh them in this miftake :
Read the fecond Queftion in the Church
Catechifm. Queft. Who gave you this
Name? Anf. My Godfathers and God-
mothers in my Baptifm, wherein I was made a
Member of Chrift, a Child of God, and an
Inheritor of the Kingdom of Heaven. And
when their Parents hear it mentioned lb ex-
prefsly at the Baptifm, that the Child, after
it is baptized, is regenerate and grafted into
* See Dr. Calamy of Moderate Nonconf. Vol. II.
p. 131.
/ • t
in Matters of Religions. 141
the Body ofChrift's Church* and that this In-
fant is regenerated with the Holy Spirit^ 'tis
no wonder if they encourage Children to
believe in a moft literal Senfe what their
Catechiftn exprefly teaches them, that they
are all born again fo as to become the
Children of God, Members of Chrift, and
Heirs of Heaven by Baptifm. I readily
grant that many of the Minifters of the
Church and the wifer Chriftians do know
and believe that there is no fuch inward
Grace and Salvation really communicated
by baptifmal Water : Yet almoft all the
Expreffions in the Offices relating both to
pubiick and private Baptifm, and to the
Baptifm of thofe of riper Years, eftablifli
Perfons in the fame Miftake, and that as I
hinted before without any manifeft Caution
to fecure them from it.
But you, my Friends, who feparate from
the national Forms of Worfhip, are afraid
of receiving this Do6lrine, for you think
it a Matter of dangerous Confequence both
with regard to your felves and your Chil-
dren. You have been taught and have
learned that Regeneration is a great and
holy Change wrought in the Powers of
your Soul, your Underftanding, Will and
Affedtions, by the Spirit of God, whereby
you come to fee the evil and defiling Na-
ture of Sin, and the dreadful Confequences
of it, beyond whatever you faw before,
whereby
142 The Advantages of-Dijfcnters
whereby you learn the Excellency and Ne-
ceflity of Holinefs, whereby your fenfual,
vain and earthly Temper of Mind is al-
tered, and your Heart let upon the Things
of God and Heaven and Eternity inftead
of the perifhing Enjoyments of this Life,
whereby your finful Nature is renewed by
divine Grace, and you are brought to
love Gcd and fear him, to hope and truft
in him, as he has manifefted his Grace in
thrift Jefus his Son, and whereby you are
inclined to praitife all the Duties of Piety
toward God, and Juftice and Charity to-
wards your Fellow-Creatures. You are
taught alfo, that tho* Baptifm or wa/hing
with Water be a Sign or Figure or Em-
blem of this great and holy Change, this
Purification, from the Defilement of Sin,
and this Renovation of your Natures to
Holinefs, yet it is not the Thing it felf, it
is not the real fpiritual Blefling; nor does
this divine Blefling always attend it; and
'tis often adminiftered to Perfons who are
never truly regenerate, who never have this
divine Change or Purification pafling up-
on them.
You lie therefore under the ftror.geft Ob-
ligations to fee to it, that you have better
Evidences of Regeneration than your meer
Baptifm with Water: You are bound by
your own Principles to feek this divine
Change of your Heart, this fpiritual and
3 important
in Matters of Religion. 143
important Bleffing with the utmoft Care, Dili-
gence, Devotion and Prayer. You are
exhorted in the Miniftry of the Word to
labour with your own Hearts to convince
them of the Evil of Sin, of the Beauty and
Neceflity of Holinefs, of the Excellency
of true Religion and the divine Life; to
imprefs your Spirits by all proper Motives
that they may repent of all Sin, that your
Will may be turned away from it with Ha-
tred, that your Love and Fear and Hope
may be fixed upon better Objeds than they
are by Nature, even upon God and Chrifty
and Things fpiritual and eternal : You are
frequently called upon to ftrive and feek
that your inward Difpofition of Soul to-
ward your Neighbour may be kind and juft
and faithful, fuch as God requires, that you
may be delivered from the Power of Sin
reigning in you, and that you may be re-
formed and made fit for the Bufinefs and
Bleflednefs of Heaven, where nothing fhall
enter that defileth. You are exhorted and
obliged to pray earneftly to God for the
Affiftance of his Spirit in this Divine Work,
for unJefs we are born of the Spirit as well as
wajhed with Water we cannot enter into the
Kingdom of God, John iii. 3, 5, 6. Now
has this been your folemn Care? Has this
been your zealous Defire, and the Matter
o£^our Labour with your own Heart in
fecret and of your fervent Prayer to God?
Do
1 44 The Advantages of Diffentcrs
Do you give your felves no reft till you
find llich a Change wrought in your Souls
whereby you are become new Creatures,
whereby you hate every thing that is offen-
five to God, and love and delight in the
Practice of your Duty toward God and
Man? What clear and convincing Evi-
dences have you that you have entered into
this new State, and obtained this divine
Blefling? That inftead of being a Child of
Sin and Wrath (as you are by Nature) you
are become a Child of Grace, and a Son or
Daughter of the moft High God ?
Again, as you profeis this Doctrine of
inward Regeneration, and the Neceffiry of
it in order to eternal Life, do you take due
Care to imprefs the Senfe of it on your
Children ? Do you let them know that,
tho' they are baptized with Water, which
is defigned to be a Type or Figure of re-
generating Grace, and of your Duty of Pu-
rification from Sin, yet this is not a fuffi-
cient Evidence of it, unlefs they find that
their Hearts are inwardly changed? Do
you inform them at proper Seafons, and
by all gentle and convincing Means, that
they are early Sinners before God, that their
Hearts and Lives are corrupt and unholy,
that wafhing with Water can never make
them Chriftians any farther than a bare Pro-
feffion goes, that they muft be born agaii*,
i\ e. they muft become new Creatures, and
have
in Matters of Religion. 145
have their Hearts and Inclinations and De-
fires and Paflions altered from what they
are in a fin fill State, and formed unto
Holinefs if ever they would be faved ?
John iii 3.
What profit is it to your felves or your
Children to avoid this unhappy Miftake
of inward Regeneration by Baptifmal Water \
if you never concern your felves to feek after
fuch a real divine Change of Heart and
Life, in your felves or in them, as may
make it appear that you are born again ?
What Advantage is it to your Off-ipring
to guard them from this Error, if you ne-
ver take care to convince them of their
corrupt Nature and finful Inclinations ? If
you never teach them plainly that 'tis their
Duty to be converted and turned from Sin
to God, and befeech them earneftly to fc t
about the Work of Converfion with all
holy Diligence ? What figmfies it to keep
them from this Miftake about Regenera-
tion, if you never pray for them, nor teach
them to pray for themfelves, that God
would renew their Hearts by his Spirit,
that he would work this glorious and di-
vine Change in them, that he would really
tranfiate them out of the Family of Sa'tan%
and make them his Sons and his Daugh-
ters ? What ! do you take Care to let them
know that the outward wafhing of Baptifm
H doe*
■146 Tbe Advantage* o/Diflintc
does not, cannot make them really the
Children of Gad, Members of Chrijl,
Heirs of the Kingdom cf Heaven, and yet
have you no Sollicitude nor take pains to fhew
t lem how they may become the Children of
God and Inheritors of his Kingdom ? Do you
Jet them grow up from the Day of their Bap-
tifm, wherein the Figure and Emblem of re-
newing Grace paft upon them, 'till they are
become Men and Women, without ever in-
Strutting and exciting them to feek after the
Subftance of this heavenly BlefTing? Fathers,
Mothers, elder Kindred, do you never concern
your felves that your Children fhould obtain
this divine Favour, and give good Evidence of
the Work of the renewing Spirit of God in
them, by a holy Behaviour and a heavenly Con-
versation ? 'Tisbut a poor Pretence for Separat-
ing from the eftablifhed Church, that you or
your Children are in danger of being led into
miftaken Opinions there, if you are not deep-
ly folJicitous that both they and you may avoid
the Mifchief as well as the Error, and that you
pradtife as well as learn the Truth.
But leaving this Miftake about Baptifm,
there's another thing alfo wherein you Pro-
teftant Diflenters are free from the Danger of
taking up with outward Forms inftead of Spi-
ritual Bieffings, and that is the Ceremony of
Confirmation *. You have no Such Rite per-
formed among you as the folemn Impofition of
the
* Dr. Calamjh Moder. Nonconf. Vol. II. p. 271.
in Matters of Religion. 147
the Hand of the Bijhop on your Head, to become
a Token or Sign of the Favour of God toward
you, as is found in the Offices of the eftabliihed
Church. See the Office of Confirmation in the
Common-Prayer. So foon as Children are
come to a competent Age, and can fay in their
Mother-Tongue their Creed, and Lord9 s Prayer^
and the ten Commandments, and alfo can anfwer
to other Queftions of this /hort Catechifm, they
Jhall be brought to the Bifhop, And every one
floall have a Godfather or a Godmother as a
Id/itnefs of their Confirmation. Then the firft
Prayer begins. Almighty and everliving God^
who haft vouchfafed to regenerate thefe thy
Servants by Water and the Holy Ghoft, and haft
given unto the?n Forgivenefs of all their Sinsy
&c. And in a folio wing Collect the Bifhop fays
— r-Thefe thy Servants upon whom (after the
Example of thy holy Aooftles) we have now
laid our Hands, to certify them {by this Sign)
of thy Favour and gracious Goodnefs towards
them. But you declare to the World that you
cannot find that God has given to his Mini-
fters any fuch Authority to certify Perfons of
the Favour and gracious Goodnefs of God to-
ward them by any fuch Sign as this. Butfincs
you rejeft this Sign, are you not bound then
to enquire what Hirer Signs you have of the
Favour and Love of God to you ? What bet-
ter inward Tokens and Evidences have you
that you are the Children of God and Parta-
kers of his Favour ?
H 2 You
1^3 The Advantages of Di [[enters
You complain that the pubiick Liturgy
tempts Children to believe they are regene-
rated or born again* and made Members of
Chrift and Children of God in Baptifm^ which
dangerous Opinion is alfo repeated in the
Office of Confirmation * ; and you com-
plain that they are further confirmed in this
Miilake when the Bifhop lays his Hand
upon their Head to certify them by this Sign
of the Favour of God : Are you careful then
to teach your Children, and to enforce it
upon their Confciences, that they mull feek
after better Signs of Regeneration and of
the divine Favour, even the Graces of Faith
and Love, and the Exercife of univerfal
Holinefs in Heart and Life ? What a vain
Imagination is it, what an idle Pretence to
guard againft the Dangers of miftaking
the Imposition of the Hand of a Man for a
certain Sign of the Favour of God, unlefs
you inflrucl your Houfhold, what are the
true and undoubted Signs of his Favour?
Unlefs you perfuade them to all holy Dili-
gence in fecuring and maintaining fuch Evi-
dences of converting Grace and the Love
of God, as God himfelf has prefcribed,
fuch
* This Miltake is dill more confirmed and eftabliihed
by the Office of Burial, wherein every baptized Perion,
except theSelf-murtherers and the Excommunicated, has
his Body commited to the Dull injure and certain Hope of
Rtfurreaion to eternal Life, and is called a Dear Brother
or 'Si.-ier, and Thanks are given for God's taki >g thiir
SouL to bimfclfy how wicked foever their Lnes.hav;
been.
in Matters of Religion. 149
fuch as God will approve of, and fuch
as v/ill (land die Tcil in the Day of
Judgment ?
II. Another Advantage that you Prote-
ftant DiiTeiiters have towards your Improve-
ment in true Religion and in acceptable
Service to God is, thaxyou are freed from the
Inventions of Men, and from the Impactions
and Incumbrances of human Ceremonies in dit
vine Worjhip * '. There need be no Proof of
the Impofition of fuch Rites in the efta-
blifhed Church, fince the Preface to the
Common-Prayer Book confeiTes they have
been devifed by Man^ and yet it is thought good
to referve themfiilL But you, my Friend*,
are required to praftife nothing in the Wor-
ship of God but what you take to be his
own pure Inftitutions.
It has pleafed God in his Provident,
and it hath pleafed our late and prefent Ru-
lers in their great Goodnefs and Juftice, to
give you Freedom from thefe human Ap-
pointments, and to permit you to worfhip
God in a Way more agreeable to his own
Word and to your own Confciences : The
Queftion of my Text then returns upon
you, What are you better than they who
fubmit to them, what do you more than they?
Do you never content your felves with meer
H 3 Forms
* See Dr. Calnmys Introuu&ion to his fecond Vol.
of Moder. Noncoufc.
1 50 The Advantages of DiJ] enters
Forms of Godlinefs ? Are you more fpiri-
tual in the Service of your Creator, and
more careful to praftife every Appoint-
ment of God, fince you are difengaged'
from the Appointments of Men ? Are your
Spirits more warmly engaged in heavenly
Things ? Are you more zealous in your De-
votion ? Have you the. Fear of God more
conilandy before your Eyes, and the Faith
of our Lord J ejus Chrift working more
powerfully in your Hearts ? Say, my
Friends, while your outward Worfhip is
more uncorrupted with a Mixture of hu-
man Forms, have you more of the divine
Power and inward Life of Religion ? And
while you make the Bible the only and the
perfect Rule of your Faith and Praftice*
are you more careful to obferve all the Du-
ties of Chriftianity which the Bible recom-
mends than thoie who join the additional
Inventions of Men with them in their reli-
gious Performances ?
Alas ! what will all your Pretences to
greater Purity in the outward Forms of
Worfhip avail you, if you are not more
pure and more advanced in the fpiritual
Parts of Piety and Religion than your
Neighbours ? You will give Occafion to
others feverely to upbraid you, and that
with feme Appearance of Reafon too, that
you really ftand in need of thefe outward
Forms to afilft you ; that you want thefe
Rites
in Matters of Religion. I 5 1
Rites and Ceremonies to flir up your did'
Minds to the Remembrance of your Duty to
God by their ?io table and jpiritual Significa-
tion, which is the very Reafon given for the
Uie and Continuance of them in the Pre-
face to the Common-Prayer. Unlefs you
are more religious and holy without thefe
Forms than they are with them, they will
fling your Pretence of Separation for the
fake of greater Purity back upon your Faces
with huge and deferved Reproaches,
" What ! are you the Perfons who proicis
" to cleave only to the pure Ordinances of
" God's Appointment ? Do you abandon
" and renounce our Ceremonious outward
4C Forms as though they were carnal, un-
" clean and unholy, and yet fhamefuliy
" neglect the inward, the fpiritual and
" more neceffary Parts of true Religion and
" Godlinefs ? n And how will you be
able to anfvver fuch ftiarp and righteous
Rebukes ?
Shall I be permitted to mention two or
three of thefe Ceremonies upon this Occa-
fion, that I may awaken and excite you
thereby to various Duties, and warn you
againft a Neglect of them.
1. You have not the divine Ordinance
of Baptifin incumbered amongft you with
the human Addition of the Sign of the
Crofs to be made on the Forehead of the
H 4 Child
I52 ^he Advantages of ' Diff enters.
Child *, which is appointed by the Church
as a Token that hereafter he Jhall not be
med to confefs the Faith of Chrifi crucified,
t manfully to fight under his Banner againft
&«, the World, and the Devil. You re-
nounce this Ceremony of the Crofs 5 but
do you remember a crucified Saviour, and
let Jiim dwell upon your Thoughts more
than they do who make ufe of it ? Are you
more courageous and manful in the Profef-
fion of the Gofpel in a dangerous Hour ?
Are you lefs afliamed to confefs the Faith
of Chrifi crucified in the Company of Infi-
dels, or manfully to fight under his Banner
nft Sin, the IVorld, and the Devil, than
tiicy ? Do you teach your Children thefe
Duties, and fhew the Neceflity of Pracli-
fing them without the Afliftance of this
Figure made on their Foreheads ? Shall wc
not give our Brethren of the eflablifhed
Church Occafion to charge us with Folly
or Hypocrify for being fo much offended
at fuch a Sign of the Crofs, which they ufe
to put themfelves and their Children in
mind of Chrifi crucified, if they fee us ne-
gligent of the Name, the Doftrines, and the
Honours of a crucified Saviour ? Let us
make it appear then to the World that we
are faithful Soldiers of Jefus Chrifi without
this
* See Dr. C a farny of Mocfer. Nonconf. Vol. IT. p.
179. Vol- ILL p. 6;. La) Nonconf juitirud, p. 29.
in Matters of Religion. 153
this human Badge of DiftindHon ; ihew
your Neighbours that you can fight with
Courage and Glory under his Banner againft
Sin and Satan, without having paffed under
the Figure of the Crofs in Baptifm, and
that you fland in no need of the additio-
nal Ceremonies of Men to put you or your
Children in mind of your Duties to the Son
of God.
2. You are not required to provide God-
fathers and Godmothers for your Children in
Baptifm, who are called Sureties *, by
which the Infant profejfes to renounce the De-
vil and all his Works, and to believe God's holy
Word and keep his Commandments. You are
ready to imagine that the Promifes of thefe
Sureties ariie fo high as to give Parents too
much Indulgence and Excufe for their own
perfonal Negledt of the Inftrudtion of the
Child, efpecially when the Parent himfelf is
not permitted to become a Surety.
You who feparate from the Church of
England do not think it needful or proper
to have any Sponfors, nor do you provide
any fuch Sureties for your Children, and
thereby you appear to lay your felves un-
der a ftrong and publick Obligation to edu-
cate them your felves in the Fear of God
and in the Faith of Chrijl. Now the Quef-
H 5 tion
* See Dr. Celamy of Moder. Nonconf. Vol. IT. p. 147,
169. Vol. III. p. 66, Lay Nonconf, juftified, p. 27. .
1 54 The Advantages ofDiffenters
tion addrefsM to your Confciences is this,
Do you take mere Care in the pious and
Chriilian Education of your Off-fpring
than your Brethren or Neighbours of the
Parifh, who have provided Sureties to fup-
ply their own Abfence or Defect ? Are yen
more diligent and more follicitous to fee
your Children brought up in the Know-
ledge of the true God, and in Acquain-
tance with Chrijl Jefus the only Saviour ?
Are you more careful to inform them be-
times of their Duties to God and their Du-
ties to Men, and to train them up in all
the neceffary and important Dodtrin/es anel
Practices of the true Religion? Surely your
Brethren of the eftablifhed Church will
have abundant Reafon to reprove and cen-
fure you, who renounce the Aid of Sure-
ties in the Education of your Children,
and yet take f<x little Care of them your
felves. " O cruel and profane Parents !
■*' where is your Tendernefs ? where your
"' Bowels of Affection ? How ftrangely
" and wickedly carelefs are you of the im-
" mortal Jnterefts of your own Off-fpring,
" and the Intereft; of God in them? Have
" you not devoted them to God and
" Chrifi in Baptifm, and yet neither teach
" them your felvcs the Way to the Favour
" of God by Jefus Chrift^ nor make any
" Provificn. for your Neighbours to do it
" for you ? " You will be condemned by
the
in Matters of 'Religion. 1 55
the World and the Church, you will be
condemned by all your Neighbours and by
your own Children, and you will be ter-
ribly condemned by your own Conferences,
and by J efits the Judge of Mankind, if you
neglect this facred Work, or do it in lb
formal and trifling a Manner as can have
little or no Effect on the Hearts and Con-
fciences of your Off-fpring.
3. Shall I take one Step farther, and
mention the Appointment of kneeling at the
Lord's Supper *, which is acknowledged to
be an human Inftitution, and not required
in Scripture. It muft be granted that the
Church of England, by a foleinn Caution,
declares plainly that no Adoration of the Ele-
ments is intended thereby \ nor do I enter here
into the Enquiry how far it is lawful or
convenient, but it is certain that it offends
the Cor.lciences of many of you, who can-
not think that any other Pofture is proper
for the receiving of this Sacrament, than
that of eating and drinking at a Table, in
which Pofture it was inititutcd. But the
Qjeftion that my Text would addrefs to
your Confciences on this Occafion, is this -,
Are you as humble and as devout at this
facred Solemnity, while you neglett this
outward Sign of Humility, as your Bre-
H 6 thren
* Dr. Calamy of Moder. Ncnconf. Vol. II. p. 197.
and Vol. IIL p. 68. Lay Noncoof. jullifkd. p, 31.
156 The Advantages of Di (Tenters
thren are who praftife it ? Are you more
penitent and felf-abafed under a Senfe of
your Sins, and more thankful for the con-
defcending Love of Jefus the Son of God,
who came and died to fave you ? Have
you as great a Reverence for the Blood of
Chrift, which was fhed for the Remiffion
of Sins, and do you adore God and the
Saviour with a more contrite Spirit
and a warmer Zsal ? Do you partake of
thefe (acred Emblems of the Body and
Blood of Chrtft v/ith a moft profound Re-
fpeft to him ? Ocherwife you will give your
Neighbours juft Reafon to reprove and
cenfure you, that you negleft at once the
outward Forms and the inward Duty ; that
you renounce the Pofture of humble Wor-
ihip and forget the fpiritual Pra&ice of it \
that you have need to be rouzed from
your Seats at the Table of the Lord, and
be brought down upon your knees to con-
fefs your want of Devotion and Honour
to the Son of God, and your want of Hu-
mility and religious Gratitude for his in-
eftimable Benefits. In vain you pretend
Scruples about the Pofture of your Knees,
if your Hearts are not found in a very
devout and adoring Frame at fo folemn a
Seafon.
But give me Leave to make a further
Enquiry. While fomfc ofyouprofefs to be
difpleaied with kneeling at the Loru's Suppery
becaufe
in Matters of Religion. i $j
becaufe it is performing fuch an Inftitution
of Chrift in a Gefture which he has not
inftituted, do you think you are lefs crimi-
nal who never perform this Duty at all,
which our Lord and Saviour has fo ex-
prefly inftituted and commanded ? Is this
a proper way to ihew your Reverence for
the Body and Blood of Chrift, to abftain
intirely from the appointed Emblems and
Tokens of them ? Will you dare to tell
Jefus the Lord? upon his Throne of Judg-
ment, that you were offended with your
Brethren, who kneeled down to worihip
him while they eat his Bread and drank his
Wine, and partook of the Feail to which
he lias called them ; and yet that you dared
from Year to Year, for twenty or thirty
Years together, to neglect this facred Feaft
intirely, and turn your backs upon this
gracious Ordinance ? Can you imagine that
you pleafe him better by utterly refufing
the Remembrance of the Death of Chrift
at his Supper, than they do who remember
him at his Table in a miftakcn Pofture ?
Can you ever perfuade your own Confci-
ences, that you who never comply with the
tendered Pledges and Memorials of his
Love, and rejedt his dying Commandment,
are better Chriftians than they who prac-
tife this facred Duty with a miftaken Gef-
ture of humble Worihip, while they are
called and invited to fit around this Table ?
Examing
158 The Advantages of DiJJenters
Examine yourfelvcs, my Friends, you that
have never yet fealed a Covenant with God
the Father by the Blood of ' Chrift at his Table,
what are the true Reaibns of this Neglett ?
Is it not Sloth and Negligence in fpiri-
tual Things ? Is it not a very fhameful
Indolence about Matters of religious Im-
portance ? Is it not an Unwillingness to
make open Profefllon of the Crofs of
Chrift, and to bind your felves more publick-
ly to all the Practices of ftridt Chriftianity
and Godlinefs ? Converfe over thefe En-
quiries with your own Hearts, and let your
own Conferences determine, whether you
are not vaftjy more to blame in neglecting
to honour Cbriji in fuch an Ordinance,
appointed with his dying Breath, than your
Brethren of the Church of England, who
confeientioufly and devoutly praftife this
Command of Chrift, tho' 'tis in the Pofture
of Adoration inftead of the Pofture of
Communion at a Feaft •, and let your own
Reproof awaken and fhame you out of your
guilty Negligence.
I mention no more the Incumbrance of
human Ceremonies, but to proceed immedi-
ately to the third Advantage for the Increafe
of Piety, which you fuppofe you enjoy
amongft the Protectant Dilfenters, and raife
fome ferious Enquiries upon it.
Advantage III. You are not confined to a
perpetual Repetition of fet Forms of Prayer
in
in Matters of Religion. 159
in your publick JVorfmp *. This has been
one Ground of your Difapprobation of the
parochial Worfhip of the Nation. Some of
your felves, and your Fathers before you,
who have attended divine Service there,
have complained much, that coldnefs and
indifferency of Spirit and Formality are
ready to be introduced into your Devotion
by this Means ; and that your Hearts are
apt to grow dull, negligent and droufy,
under this uniform and confeant Rehearfal
of the fame returning Forms and Phrafes,
efpecially confidering that the Minifter is
not fuffered to omit any one appointed Line
in the Book, tho' he thinks it never fo im-
proper \ nor is he permitted to add or in-
fert one new Sentence in the midft of his
ColleEl^ tho* never fo many devout Senti-
ments and Petitions fhould arife in his
Mind while he is reading it, and tho*
thefe Petitions appear to him never fo
fuitable to the prefent Time and Place and
Congregation.
God forbid that I fhould fay or think
that Forms of Prayer are finful Things, or
improper for our Affiftance ! nor indeed
am I fo zealous againft Forms, as to imagine
that a precompofed Liturgy, in the main
distinct Parts of Worfhip, Confeffion and
Petition,
* See Dr. Calamfs Moder. Nonconf, Vol. III. p.
ico, 105. Lay Nonconf. juftifkd, p. 19.
1 60 Tfje Advantages of D iff enters
Petition, would be unlawful to be ufld.
The Direftory of the AJfembly of Divines at
Weftminfter comes pretty near to fuch a
Defign, ftilJ fuppofing that there be Liber-
ty for the Minifter to omit or add, to
change and vary according to prefent Oeca-
fions, and that he have leave to cxprefs a
warm and devout Thought which is upon his
Heart, and that he is not conftrained to
forbid and fupprefs thofe pious Sentiments
and Defires which may be hoped to be
the Motions of the good Spirit of God in
Prayer.
I never imagined that well-compofed
Forms of Prayer might not be ufed with
fuch a Liberty, and aflift the real Devo-
tion of weil-difpofed Minds either at Home
or at Church. It is my Opinion they may
be fo managed as to become a happy
Means to promote true Religion in the
Hearts even of wife and advanced Chrifti-
ans as well as Children and weaker Perfons.
I am verily perfuaded that there are many
holy Souls addrefs the God of Heaven in a
Variety of Prayers that are precompofed,
and find Spiritual Improvement thereby.
There are many devout Minds who conti-
nually worihip him in an acceptable Man-
ner, even in thefe Forms of Words, and
that not only in publick, but in their Fami-
lies alfo. And yet I cannot help think-
ing with you, that this Method of Worfhip,
if
in Matters of Religion. j6i
if there be a Confinement to the conftant
Repetition of one and the fame Form, has
naturally fome Tendency to pafs over the
Ears without due Imprefiions on the Heart,
and to leave the Worfhipper under a Cold-
nefs and Indifferency of Spirit, which would
be greatly relieved by a larger Variety of
Sentiments and Expreflions in the publick
Worfhip of every Lord's Day.
May I be permitted here to cite a few
Lines from the ingenious Writings of the
late Marquis of Halifax, who being a
Courtier in the Reigns of the two Brothers,
King Charles and James II. can never lie
under the Sufpicion of being a Diffenter.
This noble Writer, in a little Book under a
borrowed Character, gives his own Senti-
ments of Things. He tells us, that " ht
" is far from relifhing the impertinent
" Wandrings of thofe who pour out long
" Prayers upon the Congregation, and all
" from their own Stock, too often a bar-
" ren Soil, which produces Weeds inflead
" of Flowers, and by this means they ex-
" pofe Religion it felf rather than promote
" Mens Devotion : On the other fide,
" there may be too great a Reilraint put
" upon Men whom God and Nature have
" diitinguifhed from their Fellow-Labour-
" ers, by bleffing them with a happier Ta-
" lent, and by giving them not only good
" Senfe, but a powerful Utterance too ;
" this
1 62 H:e Advantages of Di/Jerzters
f* this has enabled them to guih out upon
" the attentive Auditory with a mightv
44 Stream of devout and unaffe£ted Elo-
** quence. When a Man fo qualified, en-
44 dued with Learning too, and above all
" adorned with a good Life, breaks out
m into a warm and well delivered Prayer
? before his Sermon, it has the Appear-
44 ance of a divine Rapture ; he raifes and
44 leads the Hearts of the Affembly in
44 another Manner than the moft compo-
" fed or beft ftudied Form of fet Words
44 can ever do ; and the Pray we's, who
44 ferve up all their Sermons with the fame
44 garnifhing, would look like fo many
44 Statues, or Men of Straw in the Pulpit,
44 compared with thofe who fpeak with
44 fuch a powerful Zeal, that Men are tempt-
44 ed at the moment to believe Heaven it
44 felf has dictated their Words to them. "
But I recall my felf from running out too
largely on this Point. My prefent Bufincis
is to enquire of you, my Friends, how ftands
the Cafe with your Spirits in publick Wor-
ship, who are not confined to the weekly
Rehearfal of thefe religious Forms ? What
do you mere than ethers ? Are you more
lively in the freer Addrefles of your Souls
to Heaven without a Confinement to fet
Words and Phrafes ? Are your Spirits more
humble, and your devotional Thoughts in
warmer Exercife, while you are adoring the
great
in Matters of Religion. 163
great and bleffed God in a larger Variety
of Language ? Are your Hearts more deep-
ly affedted with a Senfe of Sin in your free
Confeffions ? Are you more fervent while
you join in your Petitions for pardoning
Mercy, for fandtifying Grace, for Deliver-
ance from Temptations, and Afliftance to
perform Duty ? Are your Spirits more im-
portunate in pleading at the Throne of
Grace ? Is your Love and Gratitude more
exalted in our more unconfined Methods of
Thankfgiving and Praife ? Does your Zeal
and Joy rife higher in bleffing the Name of
the Lord your God and Jefus your Savi-
our ? In a word, are you more devout and
fpiritual in the Houfe of Prayer ? Are you
more free from that Dulnefs, that Indif-
ference, that Formality which you com-
plain of, and which you profefs to fear un-
der the ufe of a conftant Form ? If you
content your feives with cold and lazy De-
votions, with thoughtleis or wandering
Hearts in the Place of Worfhip, under
thofe free Miniftrations which you defire
for your greater Advantage, your Com-
plaints and Pretences againft the eftablifh-
ed Forms of the Nation will hardly be ex-
cufed from the Charge of vain and infin-
cere ; and you may expeft a fevere Reproof
from the Judgment- feat of Chrift. " Where
" are all your Pretences to the Life and
" Power and Spirit of Devotion, while
" you
164 The Advantages of Dijj
" you have not been reftraincd to the
" Ule of a fingle Form ? What have you
w done in the Houie of Prayer more
" than thofe who have not enjoyed your
" Advantages ? "
Advantage IV. You not only wcrfhip
God in your own chofen Way, but you have
the Choice of your ozvn Minifiers alio. You
join your felves to what worfhipping Con-
gregation you pleafe, whether it be within
the Bounds of your own Parifh or no; and
you are not confined to fit under fuch
Teachers as fome rich Patron (hall chufe
and provide for you * : And 'tis a melan-
choly Thought, that too often a Country
Parifh is furnifhed with a Preacher whom
the Patron chufes as the fitteft Companion
for himfelf, and whofe Character in the
main is not much fuperior to that of the
Patron either in the Love of Learning, in
Piety or Virtue.
And let it be numbered among your Ad-
vantages for Edification alfo, that how-
ever difficult it may be for a Parifh to get
rid of an ill Minifter, yet your Congrega-
tions have Power to difmifs your Minifters,
if they prove immoral and fcandalous, if
they grow intolerably imperious and af-
fuming, or fhamefully contentious •, if they
become
* See Moderate No-conf. Vol. III. p, 61, 154
Lay No neon tor m. jollified, p. 5.
/;/ Matters of Religion. 165
become grofsly negligent <jf die great
Work of their Miniftry* and continue fo
after all due Admonition, if they be known
to fall into grofs and dangerous Errors,
and will publifh them in oppofition to the
common Senfe and Sentiments of the Peo-
ple ; and fuch Difmiftions are fometimes
pradtifed among you, where juft Occafions
have rilen, and that without long and vexa-
tious Procefles at Law : fo that you are
not obliged to fit under the Preaching of
Perfons of a blemifhed Character, or who
are unqualified for the facred Work, or
who are utterly unprofitable to your Edi-
fication.
Well then, my Friends, if you have not
fuch publick Ministrations as edify and pro-
fit your Souls, 'tis in a great meafure your
own Fault, fince you fit under fuch a Mi-
niftry as you chufe. One would prefumc
that you hear their Meflages of holy
Things with Satisfaction and Delight. But
while you enjoy this Privilege, enquire of
your own Confciences, What have you pro-
fited more than others ? Do your Souls find
a greater Increafe in Knowledge, and in the
Power of Godlinefs ? Do you treafure up
more of their Words in your Heart, and
receive them with Faith and Love fo far as
they are agreeable to the Word of God ?
Do you feed and live upon the Sermons
you hear ? Do you attend on their Meflages
of
1 6 6 The Advantages of Diff'enters
of Truth or Duty with holy Joy, and
make them the Fbod and Support of your
Spirits ? If you chufe the Perion, and are
pLafed with the Performances of him who
minifters, 'tis a very confiderable Step to-
ward profiting by his Miniftry. The Word
mcthinks Ihould glide more eafily into the
Heart, and have a powerful Sway and In-
fluence on the Confcience, when 'tis receiv-
ed from the Man we love to hear : And
indeed what fort of Sermons can you ever
hope to profit by, if not by the Preaching
of thofe whom your felves have chofen ?
You have plainly this Advantage above
your Neighbours, but is your Improve-
ment greater than theirs ?
But if we enter into Particulars on this
Subject, we fhall find perhaps that your
Advantages are more confiderable even in
your own Efteem, arifing from the Cha-
racter and Qualifications of the Mini-
iters whole Labours you chufe to attend,
and from the Way and Manner of their
Preaching *.
It
* Let it be obferved here, that different Nations and
Ages, and Parties of Chriitians, have their peculiar
Way and Manner in Preaching. The primitive Fathers
and the Mcderns have very different Fafhions. The
Germans and French, the En^lifh and Scots, the Cocc cl-
ans and Voetians among the Dutch, the ArmirAans and
Catoinift, ih3 ancient Puritans and the zealous Church-
men of thai Day, the prtfent Cwformijis and the Non-
conform if s9
in Matters of Religion. 1 67
It was the general Defire of your Fathers,
and it is ftill for the mod part your De-
fire and Endeavour to fit under fuch a Mi-
niflry, as not only preaches the Law, to
convince you of Sin and to direct you to
the feveral Duties you owe to God and
Man, but which leads you into a Senfe of your
Degeneracy and Ruin by the Fall of Adam,
and your Impotence to reftore your felves, and
ogives you a large Acquaintance with the Me*
thods of divine Grace in the Gofpel, and the
Benefits of the new Covenant, recovering you
from your guilty and finful State by the
Sacrifice and Death of Chriji, and enabling
you by his Spirit to perform the feveral
Duties prefcribed. You defire fuch Preach-
ers as difplay the various Glories of Chriji
in his facred Offices of a Mediator and
High-Prieft, a King and a Judge, and lead
you to praftife all the divine, focial and
perfonal Virtues, by Evangelical Motives and
Evangelical Afliftances, as well as by the
Principles and Obligations of the Light of
Nature, and who infill frequently upon the
peculiar Themes of Chriflianity and divine
Revelation *.
Now
confonnlft s , have their different Manners partly in com-
posing and partly in delivering their Sermons : Nor is
it ftrange that the Protefiant Dijpnters mould think the
Way pracli&d among them preferable to any other, and
of more Advantage toward their Salvation.
* See Lay Nonconf juftified, p. 16, 17.
3
2 6 8 The Advantages of Dijjentcrs
Now permit me to make the Enquiry in
my Text. Thofe of you- who do fit under
liich Ministrations as you defire in this
reipect, What do you more than others ? Are
your Souls more Evangelical, more truly
Christian than your Neighbours ? Have
you more of the Temper and Spirit of the
Gofpe] wrought into your very Hearts and
inward Powers ? Do you love Chrift J ejus
the Lord, and live upon him by daily
Faith and Dependance, more than they who
do not hear of him fo often as you ? Are
you brought nearer to the Throne of God
in more frequent and delightful Perform-
ance of the Duty of Prayer, and in more
humble, holy and intimate Converfe with
God ♦, you who hear fo much of Jefus
Chrift, the High-Prieft, of Atonement and
Interceffion, and of his Readinefs to bring
you into the Favour and Prefence of God ?
Do you hate Sin more than your Neigh-
bours, fince you are fo often taught what
it coft the Son of God to redeem you from
it ? Is the Frame of your Spirit and the
Courfe of your Life more agreeable to the
divine Pattern that the Holy Jefus has fet
you, and to the ftrict Rules of his Reli-
gion ? You who are taught more of the
Ruin and Impotence of Nature, and the
Necefiity of divine Grace, are you more
felf-abafed under a Senfe of your Degene-
racy and Weaknefs, and do you feek the
Afliftance*
in Matters of Religion. 169*
Afliilances of the Spirit of God with more
Importunity and holy Fervours of Devotion,
that he may fubdue Sin, and raife you to
higher Degrees of Holinefs ? What Ufe
do you make of the fpiritual and evange-
lical Preaching which you profefs to attend
upon, if the great Ends of the Gofpel of
Cbrifi are not attained in and upon you, if
you do not honour him more than others,
if you are not made more like him, more
holy and blamelefs before him ?
Examine your felves ftn&ly, my Friends,
are you fo watchful, fo exadl in all the
Virtues of Temperance, Sobriety, Juftice,
Truth, Faithflilneis, Charity, Meeknefs,
Forbearance, Forgivenefs, and all Inftances
of Brotherly Love, as becomes thofe riiat
profefs much Acquaintance with the blef-
led JefuS) whofe Soul was divine Truth
and Love, and whofe Life was all Virtue
and Piety, and Goodnefs in Perfection ? Do
you never give Occafion to your Neigh-
bours to reproach your felves and your
Minifters together, that you praftife fo
little Morality becaufe you hear fo little
of it preached ? Have you not by this
means expofed the Preaching of the Name
of Chriji to Scandal, and the glorious Doc-
trines of the Gofpel to Infamy, as tho' they
indulged the Hearers of them in licentious
Practices ?
I You
j 70 The . \ >s of Dlffcnters
Your own Gonfcience
that we have endeavoured to a-
rr.wgft you the *a
ther kept back the Dc Du-
ties which our Lord ha : to publifh
to Men : We have taught y
Defign of all the glorious Tra
God and Cbriji for your Salvation is, that
you might be holy and without Blame before
him in Love, Eph. i. 3, 4. Wc have allured
you, that the Grace of God which brings
Salvation to . Men, teaches you to deny all
Ungodlincfs and Worldly Lifts, and to live Jo-
berly, righteoufly and religioiijly, and if you
are purchafed to be a peculiar People to God
by the Blood of his Son, it is, that you might
be zealous cf good Works, Tit. ii, 11, 12, 14.
Have you ever felt the Influence of the dy-
ing Love and the redeeming Biood of
Chrifi, foftening and melting your Hearts
into a fincere Sorrow for Sin and holy De-
fires to love God, and be made like him ?
Has the Gofpel (wh'ch you yourfelves
profefs to be lb much a better Spring of
Holinefs than natural Religion can furnifh
you with) has this Gofpel had its proper
and powerful and fanctifying Effects on
your Hearts and on your Lives ? Do you
behave with fo much more Honour, Juftice
and Goodnefs amongft Men, and with fo
much more Piety toward God as your Ad-
vantage requires ? You who have fo often
the
in Matters of Religion. lyi
the great and evangeiical Motives of the
Life and Love, the Example, the Sacrifice
and the Death of Chrifi fet before you in
PubJick Worfhip, has your Love to God
and Man grown fervent in proportion to
fuch Perfuaiives ? How dreadful will your
Cafe be, if after all Pretences to'' an evan-
gelical Miniftry you difgrace the Gofpel of
Chrifi in the Miniftratioqs of it, by intem-
perate, immoral or irreligious Lives ? If
you have better Helps to Holinefs and Vir-
tue, according to your own Sentiments,
than others enjoy, let your Consciences ne-
ver be fatisfied till your Heart and Life be
reformed and purified in proportion to
r proieiVd Advantages, left you make
Chrift the Minifter of Sin, and left the
Preachers of a crucified Cbrifi be expofed
by your Means as the Licenfers of Unrig!) -
teoufnefs.
Again, you profefs to chufe fuch a Mi-
niftry as not only informs the Mind in ge-
neral of the Truths and Duties of Chrifti-
anity, but makes a particular Search and
Enquiry into Souls and Confciences, and
teaches the Hearers by Evidences and Cha-
racters drawn from the Word of God to ex-
amine and judge of themfehes and their own
State and Cafe : you like fuch Preaching
beft as enters into the various Turnings of
the Heart of Man, and unfolds and difco-
vers the fubtle Workings of Sin in the Soul,
I 2 and
iyi 7 be Advant
and its manifold Difguifes to conceal it felf
from the Sword of the Spirit which is the
Word of God. You expect to hear your
Minifters addrefs them I to
Pcrfons of various C: ; to direft
their difcourfe fometimes to the indolent
and thoughtlefs Sinner, or the conceited
and prefumptuous Sou], in order to rouze
them out of their Security, and to thunder
upon the flcepy Confidences of Men who
fpeak a falfe Peace to themfelves, and awa-
ken them to a Sight of their Miftake, and
their infinite Peril. You expect your Mini-
fters would fometimes enter into the par-
ticular Cafe of convinced and awakened
Souls, and treat with them about their im-
portant and everlading Interefts, and put
them upon moft earned Enquiries about
the Way to be faved ; that we fhould affift
them in their fpiritual Conflifts amidd all
their budding Hopes, and their blading
Fears, in all the pious and fecret Jealoufies
of their own Hearts, their Doubts and
Complaints, their holy Defines and trem-
bling Tendencies toward God and Chriji^
and Salvation •, and that we fhould direft
the doubtful Foot where to tread, and the
doubtful Eye where to look for Peace and
Pardon, for Light and Strength, for Ho-
Jinefs and eternal Life. You delight to
hear your Preachers fometimes mention the
Cafe of the Affii&ed and the Tempted,
who
in Matters of Religion. 1 7 3
who are ingaged in a hard Combat with
their fpiritual Adveriaries, with the P<
ers of Sin within them, and Tempt;.
without them, and you wait to hear
give the feeble and the Oppreffed r
proper Advice and Encouragement. You
expert we fliould at other Times take
Cafe of Backfliders in hand, and prepare
a Word of Admonition and Reproof for
thofe that decline from the good Degrees
of Religion which once they profefled and
praftifed \ that wTe fliould- ftren.gthen t\w.
feeble, the humble and the fearful Chriftian,
and pafs thro' the various Parts of fpiritual
Experience, and the feveral Scenes and
Stages of iht Chriftian Life. Surely
was the Fafhion and Practice of our Fa-
thers amongft the Puritans and Profeftant
Dijfenters in their Miniftry : I hope this is
the prefent Mode of preaching amongft us,
and I wifh with all my Soul this Sort of
Miniftration, this Manner of dividing tit
Word of God, and giving to each their Due^
may never grow out of fafhion in our
Places of Worfhip.
But my Bufinefs is to apply this Matter
clolely to your Confciences : Under all
thefe Advantages (as you fuppofe) of expe-
rimental Preaching, do you live any better
than your Neighbours ? Have you learnt
more of the Chriftian Life in the various
I 3 Parts
174 ^Je Advantages of D'tjfenters
Parts of it than they have done ? Arc you
more acquainted with the particular State
and Cafe of your own Souls toward God ?
Have you traced out the Frame of your
own Spirit, or are you more follicitous to
find it ? Can each of you tell where to rank
your felves ? Are you mere nominal Chri-
itians, or real Followers of Chrifi ? Are
you among the Secure and Prefumptuous,
or the Awakened and Convinced ? Are
you among the irrefblute, the doubtful
and wavering Chriftians, or among thofe
who run the Race of Holinefi with a Stea-
dinefs and Eaablifhment of Soul ? Are
you daily growing in the Things of God,
or do you belong to the Clafs of Back-
fliders in Heart and Ways ? Have you ob-
ferved the Directions that have been given
to Perfons under thefe different Characters ?
Have you made fuch a Proficiency in Re-
ligion hereby, as to anfvver the Defigns of
thofe Miniftrations and Labours in the Pul-
pit under which you have placed your
ielves ? 5Tis in vain for you to pretend to
have enjoyed fuch a Manner of Preaching
as is moftfuited to bring Souls onward from
? State of Sin and Nature to a State of
Grace and advancing , if you
your Ielves remain ftilJ in a State of Sin,
and are Strangers to divine Grace, or if you
have never applied the difringuifhmg Evi-
d.
in Matters of Religion. 175
dences of formal ProfefTors and fincerc
Converts, (o as to learn where to rank
your fe< .
Yet once more, give me leave to put
you in mind, that you generally profefs to
deiire fuch a Miniftry as not only inftructs
the Head, but ftrikes the Heart in a power-
ful and affe&ing Manner ; you delight to
hear your Minifters in the Application of
their Difcourfes fpeak with Life and Zeal,
like Meffengers who are fent from God to
Sinners on an Errand of Everlafting Im-
portance : You love to hear them ad.:
the Conferences of their Auditory in fuch
a fericus, a penetr; and a pej
Style and Manner as becomes
are in good earneft, who feel the P
the Words which they fpeak, and who are
refolved if poffible to reach the Hearts of
the AfTembly, and to fave the Souls of
Men from Hell by the concurrent Influ-
ences of the Grace of God.
But then, myv Friends, if you chuie i
a Miniftry, and fuppofe that you enjoy
any fuch Advantages, what have yon pro-
fited thereby more than others ? Do you
frequent Places of Worfhip where there
are fuch awakening, fervent and perfuafive
Miniftrations, and why are you not more
remarkably reformed, and more eminently
religious ? Why are you not more effectu-
ally convinced of the Eyil of Sin and the
1 4 Danger
176 The Advantages of Diflenters
Da :ger of eternal Wretchednefs under the
Wrath of God ? Why are you not all more
powerfully perfuaded to break off your
Sins by Repentance, to cry out vohatjhall I
do to be faved ? to fly for Refuge to the only
Hope, to receive Jefus the Saviour in alL
his bkiTed Offices, to refign your Souls to
his Care and Grace and Government, and
devote your felves to him for ever ? Why
are you fo cold, fo indifferent in the Prac-
tice of the Duties of Piety and Virtue, which
are fo warmly recommended to you ?
What ! is all the Fervour of the Pulpit
loft upon you ? Do the Words die on your
Ears, and never reach your Souls ? Why
are you fo unaffedted with the important
and eternal Things of the invifiblc World,
which are fet before you in the Miniftry
with fome Zeal and Affe&ion ? What will
you fay for your own Defence, when fome
-of your Brethren and Neighbours of the
eftabiifhed Church, who have fat all their
Days under that which you fuppofe to be
a lefs affefting Miniftry, fnall have their
Hearts awakened and warmed with the
great and awful Scenes of Religion more
than you ? How will you anfwer it to your
final Judge, if he fhall find their Souls
have been drawn near to God, and engaged
in the lively Ex of Faith and Love
and every Grace, and yet you your felves
who profefs to enjoy fupcrior Advantages
fhall
in Matters of Religion. I Jj
fhaJl be found cold Triflers and meer For-
malifts in Religion ? A dreadful Sentence
awaits fuch Sinners from the Tribunal
whence there is no Appeal.
Thus I have finished the fourth Advantage
which you who worihip God in feparate
Aflemblies profefs to enjoy above your
Brethren of the Church of England, viz.
you chufe your own Minifters, and pur
your felves under the Preaching and the
pafloral Care of luch Perfons as you your
felves beft approve and think mod adapted
to the Salvation of Souls.
V. Another Advantage which you who
worfhip God in feparate AiTemblics are fup-
pofed to have above your Brethren of the
Church of England is this, that the Commu-
nion of your Churches is kept more pure and
free from unworthy and fcandalous Members,
by the Excercife of proper Difcipline^ in the
Care that is taken about the Admiffion to
the Lord's Table, and in excluding the
Ignorant and the Vicious from your fpecial
Feliowfhip. When a Communicant in
any of your Congregations grows vicious
or prophane, and it appears lb by evident
Proof, he is at leaf! privately admonifhed
to abftain from the Holy Communion, or
plainly forbid to attend on it : And in fome
of our Congregations he is more folemnly
caft out of the Church, as unworthy to par-
take of fo holy an Inftitution as the Table
I 5 of
178 The Advantages of Dijjentei s
of our blefTed Lord : Nor is he received again
'till he hath profefled ferious Repentance,
and hath behaved himfelf for fome proper
Space of Time as a Penitent and a Perion
thoroughly reformed. Now where fuch
Difcipline is maintained in Chriftian Con-
gregations, this remarkable Advantage is
obtained by it, that all vicious Practices
are moft evidently and powerfully difcou-
raged by the Exclufion of Criminals from
the Church. If fuch a Perfon be found
among us, he is fhunned that he may be
vfhamed : The pious Communicants have
no company with him befides what is necet
fary and cannot be avoided. This is per-
fectly agreeable to the DiredHons of the
Apoftle. Some conftrue thofe Words of
Paul into this Senfc, in 2 The/, iii. 16.
Now we command you in the Name of the
Lord Jefus Chrijt that you withdraw your
fehesfrom every Brother which walketh dtfor-
derly : But in 1 Cor. ix. io, 11. theScnfeis
ftronger and more evident ; / wrote unto
you in an Epiftle not to keep company with For-
nicators^ &c. but now I have written unto
you not to keep company^ if any Man who is
called a Brother be a Fornicator or covetous,
or an Idolater, or a Raiitr, or a Drunkard,
cr an Extortioner, with fuch an one, no, not
to eat. Whether this eating refer to the re-
ligious Feait of the Lord Vbupper, or whe-
ther to the common Entertainments of the
Table,
in Matters of Religion. 179
Table, may perhaps be doubted by Inter-
preters ; but this Inference is certain, that
if the Apoftle forbids familiar Society with
Perfons of this Character at our common
Repaft, much more are we forbid to hold
Communion in die facred Feaft with Perfons
of fuch a Character. Surely the Table of
the Lord fhould be guarded and kept as
pure as our own Tables. The Churches of
Cbrift are and fhould be feparate and distin-
guished from the World ; they fhould have
as little chofen and voluntary Society as
may be with the Wicked of the Earth, and
efpecially in Holy Things, that they may
keep up a more venerable Character and
Reputation of the Gofpei in the World,
of the Obligations • that lie upon th
profefs Chriftianity to be ftrictly reli-
ts : They are called to feparate them-
felves from every Defilement of Flejh and Spirit,
to come cut from among the Wicked and
Prophane, that they may he a peculiar Pec-
pie to the Lord
'Tis true, this cannot be praftifed tr-
niverfally and perfectly in any vifibie
Churches of Chriji here on Earth, becaufe
we are bound to judge by the fenfible Ap-
pearances of Things : And thofe who I
the vifibie Marks of Chriftianity in the
Knowledge and Profeflion of £ th of
Chrift, and whole Converfation in the
World is fober and pious to all outward
I 6 App
i So The Adv\ *ag iof Difj enters
Appearance, may claim a Place in any
Chriftian Church and in the peculiar Rites
and Ordinances of the Gofpel : And upon
this recount there may be fome fecret
Sinners who make their way into our fepa-
rate Congregations, and join with us in the
mod folemn Ordinances, tho' they are not
really worthy of any Room or Place in
the Houle of God - Yet common Swear-
ers and common Drunkards, publickly vi-
cious, riotous and unclean Perfons, and
Men of fcandalous Life, are never received
amongft us to the holy Fellowfhip of the
Supper or Communion at the Lord's Table ;
therefore in this Refpect we hope our Com-
munion is tolerably pure, and fuch as the
Gofpel requires.
And indeed it muft be alfo confefled,
that neither the Rubrick nor the Rules of
the Church of England encourage fuch fcan-
dalous Sinners to come to the Table of the
Lord : But there is very little Obedience
can generally be paid to thefe Rules in the
continual Admiflion of all Perfons, as is
pra&ifed now-a-days to this holy Sacra-
ment: There are very few Minifters of our
Parifhes who ufuaily attempt to lay thefe
Bars againfb any Perfons, known or un-
k/iown, who have a mind to come : And
where a Minuter of a tender and fcrupu-
lous Confcience has endeavoured to put the
Rules of the Rubrick in practice againft
Perfons
in Matters of Religion. 181
Perfons of vile and prophane Character, he
has expofed himfelf to great Difficulties
and Troubles, and to many Hardfhips and
vexatious Suits ; and efpecially if they who
offer themfelves to the Communion, have
wanted to qualify themfelves at the Table
of the Lord, for an Office at Court or in
the City, by Land or by Sea *.
Well then, fince you who aflemble in
feparate Places of Worfhip maintain and
enjoy a purer Communion in your Churches,
fhould you not be very zealous and follici-
tous, each of you for your felves, that you
are no di (honourable Communicants at the
holy Supper ? that your Confciences and
your Hearts are pure in the fight of God ?
that you lift up pure Hands at his Altar ?
And uo you not feel this facred Engage-
ment on your Souls, to keep yourfelves
from the Infection of evil Company in the
World, fince you are not conftrained to
mingle with them in the Church ?
aire of your felves, Who are your
chofen and delightful Companions among
Men ? Is it with ycu as it was with David,
who was a Companion of them that fear the
Zjordf Pf. cx:x. 63. Are the Saints, the
excellent
* See Dr. Calamy of Mcder. Nonconf. Vol. III.
p. 64. and Mr. RaflricFs Account of bis Hardfhips in
the CI arch or England^ and his becoming a Noncon-
formiit, at the ?,nd of that Volume, p. 8, &fr. Lay
NoucOiif. juicf/'d, p. 32,. 33,
1 8 2 The Advantages of D iff enters
excellent in the Earth, high in your Efteem,
and is your Delight amongft them ? Pf. xvi. 3.
3Tis granted, and the Apoftle allows it,
1 Cor, v. 10. that if you would always a-
void the Company of the Wicked and the
Prophane, you ?nuft e*en aim oft go out of the
World, becaufe the World is fo full of
them ; and in buying and felling, in the
daily Bufmefs and Commerce of Life, their
Prefence and Converfe cannot be avoided :
But he directs you to 'avoid them, as far
2s it may be done confidently with ot
Duties. And the great Queftion is, Who
are the Companions of your Choice,
and in whofe Society do you take the
mod agreeable Satisfaction ? Are the Sons
of Vice and Impiety your Familiars and
Intimates ? And while you profefs your
Defire to be feparated from them in the
Church, do you chufe to dwell much with
them in the World ? Does not fuch a (
duct give too juft an Occafion to charge
you with Hypocrify ? What ! cannot you
bear to fit near the Lewd anc the Prpph;
the Drunkard or the Swearer in the Houfe
of God, for fear of defiling your felves
with their Communion, and yet can you de-
light in thfeir Company all the Week,
take fo much Pleafure to meet them ( \
~ in your own Houfes or in die H
publick Refort, in Taverns, in gay Af-
femblies, at midnight Clubs, and in Sca-
1 -5
in Matters of Religion. 183
fons and Places of extreme Hazard to Vir-
tue ? Can you take familiar Delight in
thofe who neither love God nor fear him in
the World, while you exclude them from
a Place in the Church ? Is there no Defile-
ment to be taken but in the Houfe of God ?
Is there no Infection but at the Sacrament ?
What flrange fort of Conduct is this ? Ri-
diculous and inconfifterit ! And to what
fevere Reproaches do you expofe the
Proteilant Biflenters, with all their Pre-
tences to purer Communion, while you
make the Company of known and profli-
gate Sinners your free Choice and your daily
Delight ?
VI. It may be reckoned among your
Advantages for ftrict Religion and Virt
that your ivbck Conduct is fir iff Iv ebferved,
and your Behaviour -is watched zvttb a nar-
row and fevere Eye by many of your Neigh-
bours of the efiablifhed Church, and efpecially
by thofe of them that hate you : They are rea-
dy to take notice of every Failing, and to
make iharp Remarks upon every Defe ft
you are guilty of in your Duty to God or
Man. You cannot ftep awry, but Cenfure
and Reproach attend you. If there fhould
happen to be any Per fons in your Societies for
Worfnip, who are a Sea::dal to Religion^ you
fhall be lure to hear of it plentifully *, even
tho'
* Lay Nonc.9uf. juftif. p. i7, 35, 43.
1 84 Tlje Advantages of Dij) enters
tho5 perhaps they are ejected out of your
ipecial Communion : And this fhould awa-
ken you to a double Watch over your ielves,
to a more conftant and fevere Guard upon
all your Words and Motions.
'Tis true, the Eyes of God and Angels
are ever upon us all, and this ought to have
the moll awful Influence on us, in order to
fecure us from every Sin and Folly : But
it fhould alfo awaken you to a conftant
Care of your whole Conduct, when you
remember that the Eyes of Men, and of
fome fuch as have no great Kindnefs for you,
are upon you too \ and they are fharp and
piercing to fpy out every TranfgrefTion,,
and 10 magnify every Inftance of your De-
parture from ftrift Piety and Virtue into a
heinous Crime and Scandal. I confefs this
is no very pleafing Circumftance and Situ-
ation of Life, to fband forth as a Mark for
every nice Obferver, to have every Word
and Motion watched and critically re-
ked by an Eye of Jealoufy or profefled
Enmity : JTis no pleafing Circumftance
indeed, but perhaps it is, or it fhould be,
a profitable one 5 for it carries in it a con-
ftant Spur to Duty, a conftant Reftraint
upon finful Appetite, and a Guard upon
our whole Behaviour.
And here I cannot but make mention
of an Obfervat:oii which 1 have often made
in the Courfe of my Life, viz. If a Perfon
who
in Matters of Religion. 185
who profeffes himfelf to belong to the
eftablifhed Church is found guilty of Swear-
ing or Curfing, if he drink to Excefs, if
he prove falfe and deceitful in his Dealing,
if his Chara&er be vicious and lewd, and
he indulge Iniquities of the groffer kind ;
there is no fuch mighty Matter made of it
in the World, nor is the Scandal of fuch a
Criminal thrown at all upon the Church
it felf : We never hear it faid upon fuch an
Occafion, Thefe are the Members of the
Church of England : But on the other
hand, if a Protefiant Dijfenter, who at-
tends conftantly on the Worfhip of God
in our feparate AiTemblies, and communi-
cates with us, be guilty of any foul or infa-
mous Crime, what a loud Clamour is raifed
in the Town ? What a noife fpreads and
echoes thro' the Neighbourhood ? And the
Name of the fingle Offender is not only fet
up as a publick Mark for the Reproach of
the World, but the whole Party of the
Jjiffenters falls under Difgrace thereby ;
Thefe are your Nonconformijis ; Thefe are your
Saints -, Thefe are the Men that pretend to
Godlinefs, and who don't think our Church
pure enough for them \ See what Hypocrite*
they are ! And thus they load the whole
Proieffion and Party with the Crime and
Scandal of a fingle Sinner. Now furely
the View and Confederation of this Situa-
tion of Things, and this Circumftance of
your
I S6 The Special Obligations
your Cafe, fliould make you all more
watchful, more itrictly religious toward
God, more fober, temperate and careful
in the Practice of a!! peribnal Virtues, and
more exaftly right d honourable in
all the Affairs of the focial Life, that you
may never fuffer your Foot to Aide, i
Occafion to thofe who wait for your ha.
to blafpheme the geed Ways of the L
wherein you prcfefs to walk. You
called by Providence to give double Dili-
gence, and walk more circumfpeftly in
every Station of Life, fince fo many watch-
ful Eyes are ever upon you : It behoves
you to keep a holy Jealoufy over your
felves, left at any time you yield to
Temptation, that the whole Body of the
DifTentcrs may not receive a 'Wound and
Infamy thro* your Misbehaviour.
SECTION IV.
Of the Obligations of Protefiant Dijfenters to
greater Degrees of Holinefs.
THUS I have finifhed the /r/? general
Head of this Part of my Difcourfe,
which relates to the real or fuppofed Advan-
tages that the Proteftant Diffenters enjoy
for their Improvement in Religion and
Virtue above their Brethren, their Neigh-
bours of die eftablifhed Church : I proceed
now
cf Pr defiant Difjenters. 187
now to the feccnd Genera], and that is to
fet before you What [pedal Obligations you
lie under to pratlife higher Degrees of Piety
and Morality by the very ProfeJJion of Religi-
on which you make in this Way of Nonconfor-
mity\ and to enquire in the Language of
our Saviour, What do you more than others^
you who have all the following Bonds and
Engagements- lying upon you from your
own Profeflion ?
I. The moil confiderable and moil uni-
verfal Realbn why you profefs to diflent
from the eftablilhed Church, and to fepa-
rate from them, is, that you may make bet-
ter Improvements in Religion than if you con-
tinued in their Communion. Mofl of you
who fpcnd any Thoughts about the
Grounds of your Separation, profefs this to
be your mofl general Motive, that you may
ferve and worfhip God in a Way more
pleafing and acceptable to him, becaufe
you think it more agreeable to his own
Word ; you hope to obtain greater Com-
munications of Grace from him by waiting
on him in a more exa£t Conformity to his
own Appointments \ you walk in this fe-
parate Path, that you may make fwifter
Advances in the Chriftian Lire, and fpeed
your courfe in the Way to Heaven.
And indeed if you divide your felves
from an Eftabliflied and National Chriftian
Church without this Dellgn, I fear you
will
1 S 3 The Special Obligations
will but deceive and difappoint your own
Souls in your Separation. But on the
other hand, if a holy Care and Sollicitude
to ferve God more agreeably to his Will,
and a Defire alter higher Attainments in
your Religion, be your real End and fin-
cere Intention ; fee then, that you make
this appear by yoi ing Piety, and
your Advancement in ever Grace ; and let
the World fee and be convinced by the
Holinefs of your Practice, that you have
chofen the right Way to obtain your End,
and that your pious Purpofes are not dif-
appointed. See that you lay qfidc every
Weight and the Sin that eajily be jets you \ and
fince you chufe a different Track, run with
double Speed the Race of Chrijlianity that is
fet before you : Prefs forward beyond your
Fellows toward the Mark of your high and
holy Calling, and take larger Steps toward
the Prize. Do you not declare you are the
Children and Followers of thofe who in
the former Age were called Puritans, be-
caufe of their ProfefTion of greater Purity
of Life than their Neighbours ? Why then
do you not with more Zeal and Sollicitude
avoid every Degree of Impurity and De-
filement ? Why do you not cleanfe your
felves daily from every Pollution of Flefli
and Spirit in a Manner and Meafure an-
fwerable to your own Prcfeflion ? In all
your religious Duties be ye more devout ;
in
if P rote jl ant Di ([enters* 189
m the Practice of every focial and perfonal
Virtue be you fuperior to others ; and kt
the tranicendent Degrees of your Fear and
Love of God, and your Goodnefs toward
Men, diftinguifh you if ponibJe from your
Neighbours, as much as you are diftin-
guifhed from your profeft and publick Sepa-
ration from their Forms of Worfiiip.
Should any one have afiked the Difciples
of Chriji after they had attended a confi-
derable Time on his Miniftry in particular
Meetings, on Mountains, in Defarts, and
by the Sea-fide \ I fay, fhould any one
have afked them, Why do you continue
in this manner to follow after a new Preach-
er, who has no Approbation or Counte-
nance from Men of Figure and Power in
the Eftablifhed Church, and who teaches
you to renounce their human Inventions
and Traditions ? Surely they would fay,
'tis becaufe we hope to pleafe our God
better, and to honour him much more
than the Scribes or the Priefts, than the
Pharifees and their Difciples do, or the
Bulk and Multitude of the Jewijh Nation :
'Tis becaufe we defign and hope to make
higher Advances in Virtue and Piety than
they : We would not expofe ourfelves to
the Inconveniencies and Difficulties, to the
long Travel, to the Hardfhips and the Re-
proaches that we fuftain, if we could con-
tent our felves with juft lb much Righteouf-
n *fs
190 The Spec i til Obligations
nels and Religion as the reft of the Na-
tion, or even the Scribes and the common
Sort of Preachers of the National Church ;
and upon this Argument we may fuppofe
our Saviour partly to build his Queftion in
my Text, What do ycu more than others ?
And as this was the Cafe of the Difciples
when they followed after Jefus a new Teach-
er, and held their particular Meetings of-
ten in feparate Places, fo it is and will be
generally the Cafe of all honeft and fincere
Perfons in their religious Separations from
any eftablifhed Church whanbever. What
Advantages is it they aim at in diffenting
from others in their Forms of National
Religion, if it be not that they hope to ad-
vance more in the valuable Defigns of fin-
cere Godlinefs, and better to fecure to
themfelves the Approbation and Favour
of God by their peculiar and feparate Me-
thods of Worfhip.
'Tis therefore a moft important and 1
fonable Queftion which I would put to
your Confciences and my own this Day,
What do voe Dijfenters more than others^ more
than our Brethren of the National Eftablijh-
7nent ? Do v/e make it appear in our whole
Behaviour, that our Hearts are more holy
and more heavenly ? Is our Zeal for the
Honour of God warmer than theirs ? Have
we a greater Deteftation of thofe Sins which
are too much indulged among fome of
them ?
of ' P rot eft ant DiJ) enters. 19 r
them ? As we refule to comply with the
Traditions of Men, are we more exaftly
conformable to the Laws of God and the
Rules of the Gofpel of Chriji ? Are we
more fober and temperate, and watchful
in our perfonal Conduct ? Do we praflife
fuperior Goodnefs towards our Fellow-
Creatures, and exceed others in the Duties
of Juftice, Charity and Love ? Alas, my
Friends, let our Pretences rife never fo
high, if we do not attain fomething of this
Eminence in Religion, or at lead zealoufly
endeavour after it, we lofe the nobleft De-
figns of our Nonconformity, and difgrace
the peculiar Profeflion that we make in the
figttf of the World. If this be the Thins:
we pretend to, why do we not better an-
fwer our Pretences ? Is there no other Dif-
ference to be feen betwixt us and our
Neighbours of the Church of England^ but
that once a Week we turn our Backs upon
the Parifh Church, and refolve to worfhip
God in a feparate Place ? Are we as vain,
as thoughtlefs of Religion throughout the
Week, as loofe and fenfual in our Conver-
fation as the reft of the World ? And are
we content it fhould be fo ? When we take
fuch a diftindt Profeflion upon us, 'tis uni-
verfally expefted by Heaven and Earth,
that we fhould diftiiiguifh our felves by our
fhining Virtues, as the Fruits of this our
Profeflion, GW, the great and blefled God,
experts
192 The Special Obligations
expe6ts it of us ; Jefus the Judge of all ex-
pedis it of us ; the Angels who are Mi-
niftring Spirits in the lower World, and
who behold our Conduct expects it of us •,
our Neighbours around us expedt it at our
hands \ and our own Confciences will tell
us that they have expected it of us too. If
we negleft to feek this chief End of our
Non-conformity, neither Scripture nor Rea-
fon, neither God nor Chrifi^ nor Men nor
Angels will approve of our Condudt, nor
will our own Confciences fpeak Approbation
or Peace to us in a wife and ferious Hour
of Review.
Before I leave this firft Head of Argu-
ment, let me take hold of another Topick,
and argue with you further upon the Foot of
your prof eft Separation. Confider the Incon-
veniencies and Difficulties in fome Inftan-
ces, and fome Seafons or Occurrences of
Life to which you are expofed by this your
Pra6tice : Perhaps you meet with now and
then a Frown, a Token of Contempt, or
a Word of Mockery and bitter Reproach
among your Neighbours, upon the ac-
count of your Profefiion ; you are often
called Schifrnaticks, and charged with divi-
ding the Church of Chrift ; and it is pof-
fible you lie under fome Difadvantages in
Trade and Bufmefs in the World upon this
account too, as well as 'tis fufficiently
known that you are excluded by certain
1 Laws
of Proteflant Dijjenters. 193
Laws from all Offices of Truft and ..Pro-
fit in the Nation merely for your Noncon-
formity. Befides this, there are fome angry
Bigots in the World who hate you and
your Profeffion, and would blaft you all
together, and would rejoice to root you
out of the Earth ; tho' for the molt parr,
I would hope thefe furious Enemies of
yours are only fuch as are no Friends to
the prefent Settlement of the Crown in the
Uluftrious Family who pofTefies it, and are
Enemies to the Happinefs of this Nation
and the Liberties of Mankind : But how-
ever,'tis certain there are many who ei
and hate us, tho' we acknowledge it with
Gratitude, to the Honour of our Ruler?,
that they have fo much Equity and Good-
nefs as to with-hold the Hands of the Sons
of Violence from perfecuting and deftroy-
ing us. *Tis certain that we are obferved
with an evil Eye, we are fometiir.es ban-
tered and ridiculed by evil Tongues ; wc
fuffer many an opprobrious Name, many
a malicious Sneer and infolent Affront, b -
caufe we cannot comply with fome Inven-
tions of Men, and dare to worfhip God in
another Manner than the chief Part of the
Nation. Now fhall we fuffer all thefe ih:.ngs
in vain ? Gal. iii. 4. And indeed it i?, and
will be in vain, that we e?:pofe our feives
by our Profeffion to thefe Sufferings, if we
no Recompence in acquiring greater
Degrees
194 ¥he Special Obligations
Degrees of Virtue and Goodnefs \ in at-
tuning firmer Hopes and a furcr Intcrcft in
the Favour of God, and the Rleffings of
eternal Concernment.
Awake, awake, my Friends, and bethink
yourfeives a little : Do you not aim at
lomething glorious and divine that wiU
counterpoife all the Evils you fuftain ? A-
wake, and let your Characier and your
Piety bnghten upon the World, let your
uncontefted Virtues fliine among Men, let
them efface all the Gioom and Darkncls
that is thrown upon your Names, and over-
power the unrighteous Scandal. What ?
Shall we be caft out of ail publick Offices,
Trufts and Salaries as Men unworthy of
Civil Benefits and Honours, and in many
Inftances be retrenched as to the more pri-
vate and common Profits of this World,
and yet content our feives to obtain none
of the Treafures that relate to another
World in the room of them ? Shall we bear
the Scoffings of our Neighbours, and be
derided as Fools and Phanaticks ? Shall we
be reviled as Men of Humour and Hypo-
crify, as Deceivers and falfe Brethren, and
content our feives to bear all thefe Indigni-
ties in the prelent Life, without gaining
any thing by it with regard to Grace and
Kighteoulhefs and the Lire to come ? This
would be to confirm the Reproach of Folly
upon our felyes with a witnefs, and juftify
the
of P rot eft ant Diflenters, 195
the World when they charge us with Mad-
ness and Phanaticifm. What is there can
bring our Wifdom, or even our common
Senfe into queftion more juftly than fuch
a foolifli Conduft, to profeis ^id afllime
a Charafter in this World which fenfibly
expofes us to Lofs and Shame, and yet not
fo much as to feck after any Recompence
in the Gains of true Religion, m the Re-
wards and Honours of Heaven, and the
Bleflings of the World to come ?
When our Saviour foretold his Difciples,
while they followed his Miniftry, that they
Jhould be perfecuted and hated of all Men for
his Name's Sake, he encourages them to
bear up under all thefe Hardfhips, by pro-
inifing them the Favour of his Father, his
own Blefling, and a large Reward in the
heavenly World, John xv. $9. and xvi. ^
Matth. v. 10,— —12. Becaufe ye are not of the
Worlds but 1 have chofenyou out of the World,
therefore the World hateth you : If they have
perfecuted me, they will alfo perfecute you : In
the World ye fhall have Tribulation, but be of
good cheer, I have overcome the World, and in
me ye fhall have Peace. Bleffed are ye when
Men fhall revile you and perfecute you, and
fpeak all manner of Evil againft you for my
Name's Sake -, rejoice and be exceeding glad,
for great is your Reward in Heaven. Thefe
are the Promifes which our great Redeemer
made to iupport the Spirits of his pcrfe-
K 2 cuted
196 The Special Obligations
cuted Difciples •, but 'tis always to be un-
load on this Condition, that they main-
tained their Character of exalted Virtue as
the Difciples of the Holy Jefus, and in this
View and Prolpedt they were wife and hap-
: y, notwithftanding all their Sufferings.
But docs not your own Reafon tell you, 'tis
c vain and ridiculous Thing in you to ex-
pole yourfelves to the unkindnefs of your
Neighbours, and the Lofs of' your Ho-
nour or Peace in any Degree for the Sake
of feparate Forms ot Worfhip and Reli-
gion, if yen take no Care to fecure Jbme
fuperior Bleflings by your Condu6t, which
will far over-ballance all the Mockery and
Ridicule, all the Hatred and Hardfhips
you fuftain ? Is it not a very weak and
ienfelefs thing for any Perfon to bear Scan-
dal and Reproach for being a Profeflbr of
ftridt Religion in any Form whatfoever, if
he has nothing elfe to comfort him but the
mere Manner, Shape and outward Form
of this ftrift Religion ? Will this empty
Form and Shadow of Non- conformity ba-
lance agafnft the folid Evils of Poverty and
real LolTes, againft the bitter Scoffs and
Jeers of an ungodly World ? Is he not a
Fool m Grain to take up with a defpifed
and ridiculed Profeflion and Form of God-
linefl., if he neglects the inward Reality,
Life and Power of it, and the divine
Hopes and Joys that belong to it, in order
to
of Proteftant Di [[enters. 197
to fupport and recompenfe his Sufferings ?
A Hypocrite in any Party or Profefiion of
Religion has but a very unprofitable Bar-
gain at the Foot and Balance of the Ac-
count ; but to be a Hypocrite amongft the
Diffenters is a Degree of Felly that wants
a Name, when he gets nothing by it but
Reproach and Contempt in this World,
and Damnation in the other.
II. You profefs by this your Separation,
that you dare to be fingidar in your Place, and
Modes of IVorfoip, and in the Miniftri
of Holy Things on zvhich you attend -3 why then
fhould you not dare to be Angular in your
Behaviour, in the Civil Life among your
Neighbours, when any other Rules of
Chriftianity call you to it ? You pr~ .
the Forms of Religion in an
ner with Courage, and why fhould y.i
not dare to pra<5tife all Virtue and G(
nefs with holy Courage too ia the .
of a World, that is afhamed of inward
and real Religion, and almcit afhamed of
the Appearances of it, unlefs it be in going
to Church ?
To be fingular in our Manner of Life,
and diftinguifh our feives from our Neigh-
bours, is no part of Religion or Virtue con-
fidered in it felf ; but there are many Sea-
fons that occur frequently, and which will
occur in all Ages of finful Mankind, where-
in every one who is a Servant of God, in
K 3 any
J 98 The Special Obligations
any Form or Party^ is called to prafrife
Singularity, and to diftinguifh himfelf
from the vicious and irreligious World.
Mofes forewarns us of it in his early Days,
and lays down this Rule in Exod. xxiii. 2.
Thou Jhalt not follow a Multitude to do Evil.
The Wicked of the Earth will always think
ji ftrange that you will not run with them
to the fame Excefs of 'Riot, 1 Pet. iv. 4. Yet
you are to remember, that you are redeemed
from this frefent evil Worlds that you might
i.e a peculiar People to God, zealous of good
Works, Gal. i. 10. Tit. ii, 14. The Peo-
ple of God in every Generation have been
diftinguifhed from a World that lies in
Wickednefs, and our blefied Lord has moft
exprelsly foretold us in feveral Places, that
there muft and will be a Difference be-
tween the Men of the World and his Dif-
ciples. Now have you arrived at this ho-
ly Fortitude bravely to maintain this Dis-
tinction at every Call of Providence, and
to fhew your felves with more Zeal to be
.Nonconformifts to a wicked World, than
to divide your felves from your Chriftian
Brethren, becauie of their different Forms
Worfhip ?
When you are in company with pro-
phane Sinners, who make a Jeff of the
Things of Religion, and trifle with the fa-
cred Names of God and our Saviour, there
is fometimes a fair Occafion in Providence,
and
of Protejlaiit Dij] enters. 1 g g
and a loud Call of Duty to Hand up tor
the Name and Honour of God, and fliew
your Zeal for Religion among thole who
feem to have renounced it : When you are
in the midft of Infidels or Apoftates from
the Ckriftian Faith, it may be fometimes
proper to appear boldly in the Vindication
of the Name cf Jefus and his Gofpel :
When you fee profligate Wretches wallow-
ing in their Iniquities, and {porting with
Things facred, Confcience will tell you
fometimes it is your Duty to bear your
Teftimony for the Authority of the Law
of God, and for the Purity of Mariners a-
mong Men : I will not fay, 'tis always a
neceffary Duty ; there are Seafcns when
we fhould not caji our Pearls before Szvlnc,
where there is no probability of doing
Good to any Perfon in the Company, and
where they will not only trample upon h$ly
Things, but turn again and rend you, Matth.
vii. 6. Under this Pretence we ought not
to maintain an everlafting Silence, and hear
the Name of God always blafphemed and
the Gofpel of Chrift ridiculed without any
Remonilrance or Reproof.
If a Church-man perfuade you to come
and worfhip God according to the parochial
and publick Forms, perhaps you would
fhew your felf to be a DiJJenter, i. e. a Se-
paratilt from the National Worfhip, and
refufe to comply : Well then, if Sinners
K 4 would
2 co The Special Obligations
would entice you to any wicked Practice,
c r would draw you away or divert you
from your prefent Duty to God, to your
Family, to your felf or your Neighbours,
I am lure that's a Seafon when you ought
to fliew your felf a Chrijlian, i. e. a Sepa-
ratiftfrom all that's finful.
Singularity in cur Ways and Forms of
Worfliip and Separation from an Eftablifh-
ed Chriftian Church, is fo far from being
a Part of our Religion confidered in it felf,
that it would be generally criminal in us, if
we did not think there was fomething in
that Church fo defedtive, fo irregular, or
fo impofing as to juftify a Separation in the
: of God. To be lingular in any Part
of cur Behaviour from our Brethren or our
Neighbours, is net a Thing to be chofen
or defired, orpraftifed for it ielf, or its own
fake ; it looks too much like Humour and
Fancy, or Pride or Conceit, unlefs there
is fomething wherein we can exceed them in
the Things of Duty and Virtue, in Mat-
ters cf Religion and Gcdlinefs by this Sin*
gularity : The DiJJenting Inter eft is neither
worthy nor fit to be maintained merely for
the fake of DiJJenting^ or for the keeping
up of a feparate Party in the Nation : But
fince we believe and are perfuaded that
God and cur Confciences call us to Singu-
larity and Separation from human Appoint-
ments in divine Worfliip, let us remember
that
cf Protejlant Diffentefs. 2 o i
that Morality fometimes as well as Devo-
tion requires its Votaries alio, to pradlife
Singularity and Courage : We muft fome-
times ftand up alone for Virtue in a vicious
Age, and maintain Sobriety, Temperance,
Truth and Juftice, in opposition to a Mul-
titude of evil Doers. Let us appear to be
all of a piece, and fince we are not afhamed
to be Separatifts in the Caufe of Religion,
Jet us never be afhamed of it in the Caufe
of Virtue.
You profefs to rank your felves among
a People with whom a publick and lincere
Regard to God and his Word, even in the
common Affairs of Life, is not yet an un-
fashionable Thing, and God grant that it
may never be Co much put out of Fafhion
among us, as it has long been among the
Bulk of this Nation ! See to it then that
Religion influences your wThole Form, and
Manner, and Fafhion of Life, that you-
dare not live as without God in the Worlds
without converfing with him by daily
Prayer and Praife : See that you dare not
plunge your felves into the World, and the
daily Bufinefs of your Calling, fo as to bu-
ry and forget Religion all the Day long,
and leave no time for fome fecret Addref-
fes to the Throne of Grace. If there be
.any Perlcn that prattifes the Rules of Tem-
■ce and Sobriety with greater Stridt-
ngfs and Prudence than his Neighbours ; if
K 5 there
202 The Special Obligations
there be any one that appears more remark-
ably juft and true, and faithful in his
Dealings amongft Men, or kind, charitable
and benevolent to hjs Fellow-Creatures,
and particularly eminent in the Pra6tice of
Meeknds, Patience and Forgivenefs to
them that have injured him, let a Proteftant
Diflenter be the Man that dares be thus
lingular. Phil. iv. 8, Whatfoever things are
eminently pure and lovely^ and of good Re-
$ort, if there be any Virtue \ if there be any
Praife% if there be any Thing of the Prac-
tice of Truth or Goodnefs that is peculiar-
ly honourable in the fight of Men, let a
Non-ccnformift have the Honour of this
Peculiarity. He that is fingular in the
Church, let him bravely dare to be fo in
the World.
O let it never be faid by thofe who dif-
fer from us, and efpecially by thofe who
hate us, " Thefe are the Perfons who pro-
44 fefs Purity in Worfliip, but lee how vi-
" cious they live ! They are as much given
" to Luxury in Diet, to Extravagance and
" Vanity in Dreis, to every Thing that is
44 fenfoai and voluptuous, or gay and vain,
44 as any of us who don't make fuch Pre-
44 fences to Religion : They give their
44 Lips as wild and wanton a Licence as
44 any amorgft us ; they are as loofe, as
44 frothy, as unfayoury in their Difcourfc
" as any of their Neighbours ; they have
44 no
of Proteftant Difenfers. 203
" no more Inclination, or at leaft no more
" Courage to fpeak one Word for God
" and Religion than we have; they are as
" ready to over-reach thole who deal with
" them, and to cheat and defraud in Mat-
" ters of Trade as any amongft us ; they
" are as often found tardy in the Perfor-
" mance of their Promifes, and in fulfil-
" ling their appointed Payments ; their
" Confciences will ftretch as largely as any
" of ours to indulge a pleafmg Iniquity,
" and they are as poor and wretched Per-
" formers of any of the relative Duties of
" the fecial Life >" Oh let it never be
faid concerning any of you, that you are
as fevere and unreaibnable Matters, as idle
and un Ichfu] Servants ; that you are as
unkind and carelefs, as faithlefs and as in--
folent Hufbands ; as vain and unthrifty, as
peevifh and as noify Wives ; as cruel Pa-
rents, and as undutiful Children; as unge-
nerous Dealers, and as deceitful Buyers and
Sellers, as any of the reft of your Neigh-*
irs : Let it never be faid of you, that
you are catched as often in a Lye, that you
are as proud and haughty, as angry and paf-
fionate, as griping, as covetous and hard-
hearted to the Poor as any of the reft of
Mankind. What a fhameful Thine; would
it be if you ftiould give Occafion to the
World to lay, " that notwithstanding all
" your Pretences to Purity in Religion and
K 6 " your
ctbe Special Obligations
" your Separation from us in our Ways of
c* Worfhip, as the? they were not pure
" enough for you, yet you make no more
'• Conscience of Sin or Duty with regard
" to God or Man, in the Courie of your
" Lives, than any of us from whom you
" feparate. " What a cutting Thought
will this be to our Conferences in a ferious
Hour, or on a dying Bed ? What inward
Reproaches, what Agonies will it raife in
our own Souls, wherefoever we have given
juft Occafion for fuch a Cenfure of our
Character, and fuch Scandals to be cad upon
our Profefiion ?
III. You profefs to maintain and vindicate
Chrifiian Liberty by your D iff ent from the
cftablifhed Church \ you profefs to bear up
and fupport the Freedom of Conference in of-
fofition to all the Inventions and Impofitions
of Men : This is certainly one Ground of
your Separation, nor can I fay 'tis an un-
juft or an unreafonable one -y for when the
bleffed God has freed Mankind from the
Burden of Ceremonies which himfelf had
invented and prefcribed to all the World
before the coming of Chrift, when he has
delivered a!l the Nations from the bloody-
Rites of Sacrifice which he appointed to
Noah and all his Sons, when he had re-
leafed the Jews from their Variety of Bon-
dage, their Yokes of Servitude, their vseak
and beggarly Elements and carnal Ordinan&es^
whit h
of Protejiant Difj enters. 205
which neither they nor their Fathers could } bear \
certainly he requires all the World in the
Language of the Apoftle, Gal. v. 1. to
ft and f aft in the Liberty wherewith Chrift has
made them free •, and not be again entangled
with the Yokes of Bondage : And if they
muft not dare to return to the various
Forms and Rites of the Worlhip which
God himfelf had once prefcribed, and has
now abolifhed, furely we cannot think it
lawful for us to fubjetSfc our felves to the
Rites which Men invent, and to take up
new Forms and Ceremonies which are not
pretended to be of divine Inftitution, but to
be meer Appointments of Men. But 'tis
not my Work here nor my Defign to enter
into the Controverfy any further than juil
to remember what our profeflion is. We
declare for Liberty in the Things of God,
and that no Man lias Authority to bind us
to fuch Ceremonies as God has not ap-
pointed. This, my Friends, is your Pro-
feffion, to aflert your own Freedom, and
to vindicate the Liberty of Mankind and
of the Gofpel of Chrift. And now my
Queftion addreffes you in the Words of
my Text, What do you more than others^
who give themfelves up as Subjects to
the Authority of Men in Matters of Con-
icience ? Since, you ftand up for Liber-
ty, aik your felves thefe two important
Queftions :
ift Qiieft.
20 0- The Special Obligations
ijl Quejl. How do you manage the Li-
berty which you vindicate ? Do you turn
your Freedom from the impofed Rules of
Men into a Releafe of your Conlcience and
Practice from any of the Laws of God I
Do you make your Difcharge from human
Ceremonies an Occaiion to tempt you to
difcharge your felves from any of the di-
vine Commands ? Do you take the Liberty
of not praftifing different Modes of Wor-
fhip which God and your Rulers have
given you, and under that Pretence indulge
a Negleft of publick Worfhip, or a Courfe
of Lazinefs and Sloth in Matters of Reli-
gion ? Becaufe you do not think your felves
bound to Fading on Afo-Wednefdays or
Good-Fridays^ do you give a loofe to finful
Appetites ? While you pretend to free your
felves from religious Bonds of Confine-
ment, do you fuffer your felves to be made
Slaves to Sin, and to be carried away captive
.by the Devil at his Will? 2 Tim. ii. 26.
Wretched and hypocritical Pretence to
Liberty indeed, if it be ftretched to this
vile Extent ! The afferting your Liberty
from all human Impofitions in Worfhip
will gg but a very little Way towards
your Acceptance with God, unlefs you are
free fror.i the Bondage of Corruption^ and in
this rdpeft tranflated out of the Dominion of
Saian^ and brought into the glorious Liberty
of the Sons of God and the Kingdom of
our
of P rot eft ant Diffenters. 207
our Lord Jefus. Be follicitous therefore
above all Things about a Releafe from the
Power and Tyranny of Sin, that you may
ferve the Law of God v/ith a ready Mind ;
and fince you are called into the Chrifltan Li-
ber ty^ take heed that you ufe it not for an Oc-
cafion to the Flejh. This bleffed Advice
does St. Paul give to his Galatian Converts,
Gal. v. 13. And the Apoftle Peter is jea-
lous of the fame Danger among the Chri-
ftians to whom he writes, and therefore
while they are fenfible of their Freedom,
he warns them that they fhould not ufe this
Liberty as a Cloak for Iniquity, 1 Pet ii. 16.
Nor let that vile Character ever be charged
upon you which the fame Apoftle charges
on fome licentious Sinners who profeffed
Chriftianity in his Day, 2 Pet. ii. 19. that
while they promife Liberty to themfelves and
others, they are the Servants of Corruption^
and allure others into Wantonnefs ; of fuch
he pronounces their latter End to be worfe
than iheir Beginning, and declares that the
Mijl or Cloud of Darknefs is referred for ever
for them, v. 17, 18, 19.
2 d Q^icft. While you affert your own
Freedom from the Impositions of Men in
Point of Worfhip, are you as careful in that
you do not impofe your own private Opi-
nions nor your own particular and unicnp-
tural Practices on your Neighbours, in any
religious Affair whatfoever ? Do you never
2o8 The Special Obligations
fct up your peculiar invented Phrafes, your
own Forms of Speech, and the particular
and darling Notions of your Sect and Party,
as a Teft of the Piety or Orthodoxy of
any of your Brethren, where the Scripture
does not go before you in plain and evi-
dent Language ?
How reafonable and neceflary is it, that
you fhould always give your Brethren of
the Church of England their Liberty in
full Meafure to judge ftfr themfelves in
Matters of Do£trine, Difcipline, Worfhip
and Praftice, while in full Meafure you
affume this your felves ? And take heed
that you judge not the States and Perfons
and Hearts of others in their feveral dif-
ferent Practices and Sentiments, while you
ib conftantly and juftly exclaim againft
their Authority to judge or to cenfureyou,.
or to impofe any Thing on your Confci-
ences. St. Paul in his 1 4th Chapter to the
Romans gives happy Directions to Peace
and Love amongft all Fellow Chriftians
that hold the few neceflary Articles of Faith
and Pra6tice, tho' they may differ widely
in their Opinions about other Things.
While you releafe your felves from the
pretended Authority of a national Church,
becaufe Chrifi in the New Teftament has
not cftablifhed any fuch Church on Earth,
fee that you do not dare pretend to Autho-
rity your {elves, nor prefume to impofe
any
&J
ofProtejlant Diffenters. 209
any Thing in Do&rine, Duty or Worfhip
on the Minds or Confciences of your Bre-
thren amongft the Difjenters> which Chriji
has not impofed, for I am fure he has given
you no fuch Power ; God alone is the Lord
of Conference, and he has appointed his
Son Jefus to be King and Ruler of his
Church. The Power of impofing Truth
or Duty on our Belief and Praftice is vefted
only in him. The Authority which is
given to the Rulers of the Church is but
to declare what Chriji has required and
impofed. Go> fays he to the Apoftles them-
felves, and teach all Nations to obferve what.
I have commanded jy^, Mat. xxviii. 20. AH
other Circumftances of human Aftions in
religious Worfhip, which are neceffary to
be determined at all, are to be fettled in
Congregations by a friendly Agreement a-
mong themfelves, without any Pretence to
fuperior Authority and Impofitions. Dr.
Calamy has fet this Matter in a very good
Light, in his Introduction to his fecond
Volume of Moderate Non-conformity. Words
of Command and Authority in Matters of
God and Confcience come out of the
Mouths of any Set of Men with a very ill
Grace, while they remember that they are
all Fellow-Servants to one Lord, even the
great and bleffed God, and to Jefus his Son,,
who is appointed Lord of all ; but there is
nothing more abfurd and inconfiftent than
the
2 1 o The Special Obligations
*h* Pretence of Protefiant Dijjenters to com-
mand and impoie Matters of Faith, Wor-
fhip and Pra&ice beyond the plain Rules
of Scripture. For a Proteftant who owns
the Bible to be a perfeft and fufficient Rule
both for himfelf and his Neighbour, and a
Dijfenier who difclaims the Authority of a
whole national Church in Matters of Reli-
gion and the Things of Salvation, I fay for
Men of this Character to aiTume an impo-
fing Power, this would be with a witnefs
to build again the Things you have defircyed^
as the Apoftle fpeaks Gal. ii. 18. and to
make your f elves Tranfgreffors with Evidence
and Shame. A Proteftant Dijfenter who
perfecutes his Brother with bitter Re-
proaches and Condemnation, becaufe he
differs from him in fome of the leflTer
Points of Religion, and excludes him as
unworthy of his Communion for the fake
of Mint, Anife and Cummin, or by the
Teft of fome unrighteous Shibboleth^ fome
Forms of Orthodoxy or Discipline of meer
human Invention, I know not a Name pro-
per for fuch a Criminal \ for while he pre-
tends to maintain his own Liberty, he make';
his Brother his Slave : Let us watch, my „
Brethren, againfl any fuch Impofitions*
creeping in among us, and whenfocver we
find any fuch Iniquities, let us purify our
fblves and cafe them out.
If
of P rot eft ant Dijfenters. 211
If there be any Perfons in the Nation
who are called to greater Degrees of Love
and Forbearance than others, and who
fhould Hand further off from impofing on
the Confcience of their Neighbour and
from judging their Brother, we are the
Perfons ; we whom the Laws of God and
the Laws of this Land have permitted to
judge for our felves, and that even in op-
pofition to the Rules and Conftitutions of a
national Church. If there be any Mini-
Iters or People in the whole Kingdom who
fhould fhine in Charity to Men, in Love
and Condefcenfion to their Brethren, and
in receiving thofe whom Chrifi has received
without laying Bars of doubtful Difputation
upon them ; we Ihould be thofe Minifters
and thofe People, we who pretend to ftand
up to vindicate our Freedom from every
Yoke of Bondage, and to fupport the Li-
berty of Men and Chriftians.
IV. Another Obligation which lies upon
you to do more than others is this % you and
your Fathers have profejfed to obferve a greater
Striffnefs in fome neceffary Practices of Re-
lizion and Virtue than the common Multi-
tude of thofe who call themfelves the national
Church ; I fay, the common Multitude : I
defire you to remember the Caution which
I gave in the Beginning of thefe Difcourfes,
that I had no Defign to compare the moft
ftridtly pious and religious Perfons of the
Church
2 12 "The Special Obligations
Church of England with thofe of the Pro-
t eft ant Diffenters : I am well affured there
are many on both fides who make a moft
ferious Profeffion of Piety, and who prac-
tife ftridt Godlinefs -, nor would they dare
to offend the great God in any Point, thro*
their great Tendernefs of Confcience : but
the Perfons whom I compare in thefe Dif-
courfes are the Bulk or Multitude of the
one Side and the other.
I will not maintain, and indeed I cannot
believe that our Fathers heretofore have
been in the right in every Punctilio of their
Severities and Reftraints which they have
laid upon themfelves and thofe of their
own Houfhold. Some of them did not fo
well underitand that great Article of Chri-
ftian Liberty by which they profeffed to
walk ; ibme of them, in order to obey that
Advice of the Apoftle that they Jhould ab-
ftain from all Appearance of Evil, were fome-
times inclined to reftrain themfelves and
their Families from thofe Things which had
no reafonable Appearance of Evil or Blame
in them. But I dare and I will pronounce,
that in ibme Inftances of their Striftnefs
they had the Word of God and the Reafon.
of things on their fide. The late Bifhop
Burnet, in his excellent Difcourfe on the
Paftoral Care, does not fcruple to acknow-
ledge that our Fathers bad a good Character
for Stritlnefs in Religion, which gained them
their
of P rot eft ant D iff enters. 2 1 3
their Credit, tho* he fufpech we in this A^e
have in a great meafure loft it*, Chap. VIII.
p. 204. Now fhall we by our finfiil Ne-
glect fupport and confirm this Sufpicion ?
Wherein foever our Fathers have been in
the right in this ftridfc Profeffion and Prac-
tice, we doubtlefs are more abundantly
obliged to awaken our felves to a pious
Imitation of them, and to do more than 0-
thers in our Day, as they did in theirs. Give
me leave here to mention a few Particulars
in which our Fathers eminently diftinguifh-
ed themfelves from the bulk of their Neigh-
bours, and this fhall be the Subjedt of the
following Sedion.
D
SECTION V.
Peculiar Practices of Virtue and Piety among
the ancient Non-conformifts.
I.AUR Anceftors the Puritans and
\_y Non-conformifts diftinguifhed them-
felves by their great Reverence of the Name
of God, and keeping a conftant Jealoufy
and Watchful nek over their Words, left
they took that holy Name in vain. This has
been your Charader in Days pafl, in the
Age of your Predeceffors, and I hope this
Honour remains ftill among (I you,
When
214 Peculiar Practices of
When Perfons, even fuch as appear fo-
ber and virtuous, have made free with the
facred Names of God and Chriji on trivial
Occafions, when upon fome ftrange Story
related in Company, or fome new Occur-
rence in Life, they cry out, O Lord, good
God, God blefs me, without any Appearances
of Solemnity or a ferious Air ; when in
their daily Language and Difcourfe they
can hardly afk each other a common Quef-
tion, or requeft a common Kindnefs, but
they enforce their Requeft or Enquiry with
ibme divine Name, for God's fake tell me,
for Chrifts fake do this for me : I fay, when
we hear fuch Speeches, we have been wont
to take it for granted that thefe Perfons are
not Diffenters, for we were never fuffered in
the Days of our younger Education to take
thofe holy Names into our Lips in fo
thoughtlefs or irreligious a Manner.
Or in the ufual Language of Life, Per-
fons have been wont to confirm the Truth
of what they fpeak by thefe fort of Oaths,
by my Faith, or upon my Salvation, or as I
live, or as I hope to be farced, or as fure as
God is in Heaven, we could readily pro-
nounce that whatever Religion they were
of, and whatfoever Sect they pretended to,
they could not be Proteftant Dijfenters \ for
we were never indulged to ufe fuch Affe-
verations, nor to make fuch trifling Men-
tion of Things that relate to our infinite
and
the ancient Non-conformt(ls. 215
and everlafting Intereft -, we were never fuf-
fered, while we were under the Govern-
ment and Education of our Parents, thus to
break the Command of Chrift, who for-
bids us in our common Difcourfe to pra&ife
Swearing, but requires that our Communi-
cation be maintained with plain Yes or no ;
for 'what fo ever Forms or Words of Affeve-
ration we uie that border upon /wearing by
God or Creatures (whether at full Length
or in Abridgment) carry fome Danger of
Guilt in them, and come from the Evil-one^
Matt. v. 37. Now I think it would very
ill become us to depart from thefe Inflruc-
tions and Examples of our Parents, to abate
our Refpcct for Things that are holy, to
caft away our Reverence for an Oath and
the awful Napie.s of God and his Son, and
to indulge our felves in this dangerous and
criminal Language, which is too much in
ufe with the common Multitude. I could
wifti indeed from my Soul, that there might
be no Diftindtion ever left arnongft us to
know a Diflenter or a Churchman by fuch
Forms of Speech, or by an Abflinence from
them : I wifh all our Brethren of the efta-
bliflied Church would be as cautious and
watchful againlt fuch unwarranted Free-
doms as fome of them are, and would for-
bear to break the third Command, which
forbids us to take the Name of the Lord our
God in vain, or to trifle with Things fa-
2 cred
1 1 6 Peculiar Practices of
cred : But if any of them will continue to
praftife it, let us not be afhamed to diftin-
guifh our felves as the Off-fpring of the
Puritans^ and as Protefiayit Dijfenters, who
have learnt of our Fathers to pay a religi-
ous Reverence to all that is holy.
Secondly ', You and your Predeceffors have
been very much diftinguifhed from the
Bulk of the Nation by obferving the Lord's
Day with greater StriEInefs^ in employing
the feveral Parts of it in religious Worfhip,
private or publick, fo far as the Strength
and Health of your Bodies would permit,
and fo far as is confident with the common
Neceffities and Occafions of Life. This
has been a Diftinftion of confiderable Hand-
ing, and that not in a Town or two, but
generally throughout the Nation.
If Perfons heretofore neglefted to wor-
fhip God publickly above once a Day, un-
lefs they were confined for want of Health,
or by the neceffary Duties of Life •, if they
counted it of no Importance how they
fpent their Time when publick Worfhip
was ended \ if they indulged themfelves
in little Recreations abroad or at home, or
in unneceffary Bufineffes or Amufements ;
if they wafted the Afternoon in prolonging
their Dinners, and filled up thofe Hours
with the Pipe or the Glafs, or with imper-
tinent Convention, which the more Serious
employed in publick Aflemblies of Wor-
fhip :
the ancient Non-conformijh. 2ij
ihip ; if they made the Lord's Day Even-
ing a Seafon of familiar Vifits, wherein they
wore away another Hour or two in Dil-
courfe of fecular Affairs, in trifling Subjects
(as now-a-days over a Tea-Table) or in the
more guftful and modifh Language of Scan-
dal and Defamation ; if they made no Ac-
count of any other Part of the Day befides
that which was actually fpent in publick
Devotion, but turned it into Hours of Di-
verfion and Entertainment, we have been
wont generally to conclude (and with good
Reafon too) Surely thefe Perfons can never
he Ncn-ccnformifts, for their Education ne-
ver would have permitted them to pay fo
flight a Regard to the Lord's Day.
Well, my Friends, hew ftands the Cafe
now amongft you ? IVhat do yon more than
others ? Does the fame DiftinJtion ftill re-
main between you and your Neighbours ?
Or is it loft and vanifhed away ? I am wel!
allured there are feme Members of the Na-
tional Church that pay a mo ft religious
Regard to the Day of Chrift and his°Re-
furredtion ; but there are Multitudes that
make but little Account of it, efpeciaUy
when divine Service is ended. Are you
careful, my Friends, to diftinguifh your
felves from thefe your looler Neighbours
in this Matter ? Or do you give your felves
up to vain Amufements and Impertinences
on die Lord's Day, or to trifling and for-
L ma I
2i 8 Peculiar Prat
mal Vifits •, and thus deprive two Families
at once of the ferious Ii of what
you and they have 1
fhip ? Are you careful to fpend as mi
Time as you can in the Worihip of God
through Jefus Cbrtft, and in the *^
of your eternal Welfare, either in the C!o-
fet and Retirement, or with fome j
Companions ? Or do you lavifti away the
Evening in familiar Forms of Complaiiance
and Ceremony, Entertainment and Di
fion, without a Word of God and Religion,
or recollecting the Sermons of the Day
for your mutual Irxreafe of Knowledge and
Grace ?
I (hail not detain you here to enter into
a Debate about the Morality cf the Sabbath,
or the Abolition of it among other Jewijb
Ceremonies, or the Changes of it from the
leventh to the firft Day of the Week : I
fhall not ftay to enquire what Degree of
Hoiinefs belongs to each Part of that Day,
or to the feventh Part of Time \ but theie
three Things I think I may lay down for
certain Truths.
J. If there had not been fufficient Com-
miffion given by the Authority of Chrifi
for appointing the firft Day of the Week,
which was the Day of his Refurreftion, to
be the conftant Seafon of folemn AiTcm-
blles for Chriftian Worihip, I am perfuaded
the Apoftles would not fo frequently have
the ancient Non-conformifts. 2 19
chofen out and fixed that Day for the pub-
lick Ordinances of Preaching and Praying
and Breaking of Bread ? Now 5tis evident
from the New Teftament they pradifed
this, and appointed it in the Churches
which were converted to the Chriftian
Faith : I add further, nor would it have
been fo univerfal and diftinguifhing a Mark
of a Gbriftian in thole primitive Times to
be an Obferver of the Lord's Day ; nor
would it have been fo early and fo univer-
fally praclifcd by all the Chriftian World
after the Examph of the Apoltles, which
is fufficiently manifeft in the ancient Hiito-
ries of the Church : *Tis certain therefore
that this was the Day appointed to the pri-
mitive Church for their religious Affem-
blies by Apoftolick Practice and Diredion,
and 'tis mod reafonably inferred they had
the Authority of Chrift for it.
II. If there had not been fuch a Seafon
as one Day in {even maintained and con-
tinued for a Day of publick Devotion thro'
the Chrifrian Nations, coniidering the Op-
pofirion of Rulers, the vicious Courfe of
the World, and the Negligence of Chrifti-
ans, it is pretty certain that the Cares and
Labours or Pleafures of Life, that fecular
Bufinefles or idle Amufements would have
long ago thruft Chriftianity almoil out of
the World, and have gone near to banifh
L 2 true
-22o 'Peculiar \ es of
true Religion and Godlineis from the Face
of the Earth : And where the Lord's Day
is molt neglected, ferious Religion is almoil
loft and gone,
III. If after we have heard Sermons on
the Lord's Day, and waited on God in pub-
lick Prayers and Praifes, we ihould make
a Cuftom of devoting all the rett of the
Day to our own Purpofes in the Labours
or Diverfions of Life, it would be a moil
effectual Way to lofe and abolifh all the
pious Thoughts and the devout Affections,
which might be railed in the Heart by any
Part of the publick Worfhip in which we
have been engaged : Thus the very De-
fign of the Seafons of Worfhip would be
loft, and all the pious Sentiments and Dii-
pofitions drowned and buried in Bufinefs or
Pleafure.
It is the Reviewing of the Truths and
Duties which we have heard in the Miniftry
of the Gofpel, 'tis the Meditation of them
in our Retirements, the Conference upon
them in our Families or in friendly Dif-
courfe, the turning them into Matter of
fecret or Family Prayer, in Confeffion, Pe-
tition or Praife, and Converie about them
between God and our own Souls, and the
Carrying on of the fame Spiritual Defigns
by reading Books of Piety and holy Con-
versation, that is the only fure Way to ren-
der
the ancient Non-conformijls. 221
der publick Worihip effectual to fit us for
Heaven, and to anfwer the religious Pur-
pofes of the Lord's Day.
If therefore any Perfons in this Nation
refolve to give themfelves a Loofe in this
Point, and take no Care to improve the
Hours of this Day to the grand Defigns of
Religion and Salvation ; if they will wafte
them away in Trifles, in ufelefs Vifits or
Amufements, let it never be faid that a
Proteftant Dijfenter is amongft them, or
gives any Encouragement or Countenance
to fuch a Practice.
Thirdly^ I am naturally led, in the next
place, to mention religious Difcourfe and Con-
ference upon Themes of Virtue and practical
Godlinefs^ as another Thing whereby Dijfen-
ters heretofore were ufed to diftinguifh
themfelves : They exhorted and comforted
one another under their Sorrows by holy
Converfation. If a Perfcn with never fo
much Prudence and Serioufhefs fhould in-
troduce a Difcourfe of Holy Things into a
friendly or familiar Vifit, and efpecally if
he fhould give a Rebuke to any prophane
Speeches, fome of the Company would
have been ready to fay, Surely this was
fome Dijjenter, fome precife Puritan : And
this Honour was done us by thofe who de-
figned Contempt and Reproach.
Well, how (lands the Cafe now ? Are
not the Diffenters as backward as others
L 3 to
222 Peculiar Practices of
to begin religious Difcourfe, to put in a
Word for God or Virtue, or to introduce
any Thing of Heaven into their Conver-
fation ? Are not we as fhy, and as much
afhamed as our Neighbours of bearing the
Face of Religion in the World ? Do we
keep upon our Tongues the Language of
Piety, and attribute the prdfperous or af-
flicting Changes of Life to God and Pro-
vidence, or only to good Luck and Mif-
fortune ? Is cur Communication fuch as may
adminifier Grace to the Hearers, and main-
rain a Savour of Gcdlinefs upon all proper
Occafions r Do we banifh entirely from
cur Vilks ail loofe and prophane Difcourfe,
and the more notorious Crime of Scandal,
and introduce in the room of it the Lan-
guage of the Children of God ? "They that
feared the Lord, in the D^ys of Malachi the
Prophet, fpake often one to another, for their
mutual Support and Affiftance in the
Things of Religion ; and they Jhall be mine,
faith the Lord, when I make up my Jeziels.
The ApofJe Paul olds the Theftalonians con-
verfe treejy with each other upon the future
Happinds of Saim0, the Appearance of
drift in his Gjory, his Defcendmg to raife
ti e Dead, to judge the World, and to carry
up his Friends to c veriafting Joy, i Thef
iv. 18. and v. ji. This Practice would
the Apoflle fain introduce as a Cuitom or
P^afhion among his Converts to Chriftia-
the ancient Non-conformijls. 223
nity, who fhould diftinguifh themfelves
from the World. Let us enquire what is
our Cuftom in this Cafe, and what do wt
more than others ? Or have we duly main-
tained the pious Cuftom, the Practice and
Honour of our Anceftors ?
Fourthly, Another Thing wherein our
Anceftors diftinguifhed themfelves from ma-
ny of their Neighbours in the Towns and
Villages where they Jived, was in Keeping
mere regular Hours for the various Duties to
God and Man , in abftaining from vain Com*
feny and much JVine^ in preferving better Or-
der in Families •, and in a more religious Con-
cern in governing their Houfholds^ in main-
taining the daily Worfhip of God thert, by
reading the Word and Prayer with an unin-
terrupted Ccnftancy, and in training up their
Children and their Servants to the Knowledge
and Fear of God, and in the Faith of Jefus
Chrift, with utmoft SolJicitude and holy
Watchfulnefs. 'Tis true thefe pious Prac-
tices were more common in the whole Na-
tion three or fourfcore Years ago than
they are now : But if there be any Dege-
neracy in that: refpedl among our Neigh-
bours, is there not as great or greater De-
generacy in proportion reigning and vifible
amongft us ?
Shall I addrefs my felf with Freedom
to the Parents and Governors of Families ?
Are you as follicitous to keep up the Sea-
L 4 fons
224 Peculiar Practices of
ions of Worfhip in your Houfholds as your
Fathers were ? Do you not fuffer every
little Pretence now-a-days to break in upon
the appointed Times of Family -Religion,
and oftentimes to prevent it intirely ? Nay,
are there not too many among you, who
fcarce ever call upon God in their Families
at all, unlefs it be perhaps on a Lord's Day
Evening ? Are you fo careful to keep re-
gular Hours for the various Parts of the
Bufinels of the Day, or have you learnt to
change the Courfe of. Nature, to turn Night
into Day, and Day into Night, and to con-
found the Order of Things ? C-;:n the Sea-
ions of Family- Worfhip be v/ell maintain-
ed, or can the Mailer perform it with ;i
clear Head and a pious Heai t in the Even-
ing, if he indulges his Amufements in pub-
lick Drinking-Houfes till near eleven a
clock at Night, or till the Hour of Mid-
night approaches ? Is not evening Wor-
fhip very often utterly neglected by this
Means ? Is there any fuch thing as Devo-
tion paid to God in the Morning, even in
thofe Families whofe Affairs and Circum-
ftances would admit of it, if there were
a fincere Defire in the Matters to main-
tain it ?
I grant there are fome Employments,
Conditions and Cafes of Life, where 'tis
hardly poffible for the Houfhold to meet
together in the Morning -9 but I am well
allured
the ancient Non-conformifts. 225
aflured there are many Families wherein
this Piece of Religion is neglefted, who can
make no fufficient Apology or juft Excufe
for it. *Tis with Pleafure that I remember
that elegant Reproof given to a degenerate
Age in a Sermon preached, (but I think
never published) by the late Bifhop Burnet :
<c In the Days of our Fathers, faid he,
" when a Perfon came early to the Door
" of his Neighbour, and defired to fpeak
" with the Mafter of the Houfe, 'twas as
" common a Thing for the Servant to
" tell him with Freedom, My Mafter is at
" Prayers, as to anfwer now, that he is
a not ftirring. " This eminently refers to
the Days of the Puritans, or the Time
before the Rejioration. In which Words
there was a fhort, a gentle, and a com-
prehenfive Rebuke given to three or four
Vices at once, (viz.) to the Wafte of Day-
light in Sleep, to diforderly Hours, to the
Neglect of Family Devotion, and to the
being afhamed even of the domeftick Forms
of Religion and Godlinefs : All which now
prevail fo much amongft us. But if this
Negledt has fo much over-fpread the Fa-
milies of the eftablifhed Church, have not
the Diffenters loft their Religion alfo in a
fad Proportion ?
Will you complain that our Fathers
did not always maintain the Decency in
their Expreffions in Family Worlhip which
L 5 becomes
ZiG Peculiar J'- .
becomes Perfons addrcning the great God,
and that you are hot capable of exprcfling
yourfelves with a due Degree of Propriety
and Decency in addreffing God while o-
thers are prefent, and therefore you entire-
ly omit the Duty : But give me leave to
afk, Is it not better to honour God in your
Houihold by daily Acknowledgment of his
Mercies, and committing your felves daily
to his Care and BiefTing, tho5 you cannot
do it with fuch Accuracy as you defire,
than to forget God entirely, and never ac-
knowledge him at all ? Befides, as you
have often heard from me, and I repeat it
again, The Woril ip of God in various
Forms of Prayer precompofed and fitted
to the common Circum fiances of Morn-
ing and Evening, is infinitely preferable to
the Negleft of Family Religion, and the
taking no Notice of God in your Houfe.
Now there are many fuch Books for daily
Devotion written by fome of the Divines
of the eftabliihed Church, where the Senfe
and Expreflions are proper and pious : I
wifh fome of our Brethren among the Dif-
fenters would not only encourage, but afiift
their Flocks to offer up fuch Morning and
Evening Sacrifices in thofe Families where
now there is no Prayer. Thofe who find
not in themfelves fufficient Courage or A-
bility to pray without thefe Helps, may ob-
tain excellent Affiftance by the prudent Ufe
of
the ancient Non-conformijls. 22 j
of them. Where any peculiar Circum-
fiances occur in Families, which may oc-
cafion the Qmiffion or Change of a few
Words or Sentences, or the inferring fome
new Petitions, it will be found no difficult
Matter to thole to practife this with De-
cency and Honour, who fet about the Work
in good Famed, and feek for the Affiilance
of the Spirit of God who is called a Spirit
of Supplication.
I might enquire further under this Head,
Are you fo diligent and ibllicitous that
your Children and Servants Ihould know
and love God, as your Anceflors have
been ? Does it appear in their Improve-
ment in the Knowledge and Practice of
Chriftianity above their Neighbours, that
they belong to the Family of a Protefiant
Diffenter, whofe Character in a former Age,
was famous for Education in all the ftriciefl
Courfes of Piety and Virtue ? Or are your
Honftiolds as ili-inflru£ted, and as ignorant
as any of your Neighbours round about
you ? What have you done in this Matter
more than others ?
But Mafiers of Families are not the only
Perfons that fall under this Head of Ad-
monition : I fear there are others in our
Age who continue from their early Educa-
tion to worfhip in general amongil Pe
fiant Dijfenters, and y^t neglect the goad
Cuftoms of their Anceflors : Who (pel
L 6
228 Peculiar Practices of
too many Hours of, Life in publick Houfes,
who fometimes raifing their Spirits a
Degree above Cheerfulnefs, protradt their
Mirth beyond the Midnight Hour, and
pacify their Coniciences with this Pretence,
that they have no Family which wants or
requires their Prefence at Home ? But do
not their Clofets mifs them ? Do not their
Bibles want their Perufal ? Doth nor Solo-
mon wait for them with a Word of Reproof
to thofe who tarry long at the Wine ? Prov.
xxii. 29, 30. Do not the Families where
they dwell feel the Inconveniencies of fuch
late Watches ? Will not their own Health
of Soul and Body find the mifchievous Ef-
fects of it ? Will not their Character fufFer
as the Off-fpring of Protejlant Difjenters,
and the Profefllon which they ftill make of
Non-conformity ? Will they continue Non-
conformifts to the Church, and be fo very
conformable to the finful World ?. Is this to
ahftain from all Appearance of Evil ? You
will find many more pertinent Enquiries on
this Subject in a Serious Addrefs to thofe who
untie ceffarily frequent the Tavern, printed
lately in New- England.
In the fifth Place, may I mention Fruga-
lity in Expences and Induflry in their parti-
cular Callings, as a remarkable Pair of Vir-
tues among our Predeceffcrs the Puritans
and the Protejlant Dijfenters our Fathers ? I
mean particularly in this Refpcft, that
the
the ancient Non-conformijls. 229
the Want of thefe Virtues fcarce ever appeared
in the Ruin of Families^ and a Bankrupt vjas
aim oft an unknown Name amongft them :
Such a Man would have borne a long and
heavy Load of Infamy, and have been ex-
communicated at once, and caft out of the
Church with Abhorrence, in our Fathers
Days, unlefs he could with the greateft Evi-
dence have made it appear that fome fud-
den overwhelming Diftrefs, fome ruinous
Providence, or fome furprizing Lofs had
been the Occafion of it.
But how (lands the Cafe now ? Is not
Bankruptcy reckoned too fmall a Crime
amongft the Diffenters as well as amongft
their Neighbours ? And that where there
can be found no other Reafon for it, but
that they have lived too faft, they have af-
fefted the Luxuries of Life in their Drefs
and Furniture, Food, Equipage and At-
tendance, and would vie with their Neigh-
bours in Splendor, Grandure and Expence,
where the Circumftances of their Eftate or
Trade have not been able to afford it ? Or
perhaps they have frequented Taverns early
and late, they have habituated them-
felves to a Morning Whet, to prepare for
fome luxurious Difh at Noon , they have
indulged their Pleafures and negle&ed their
Shop, they have trifled away their Time
in idle Company, and Jfeft the Bufi-
nefs of the proper Hour undone ; or it
may
230 Peculiar PraSiices of
may be they have fought to grow rich at
once by plunging th micives into Trade
and Debt beyond all Proportion of their
own Eftate, or Pofiibilky of Payment, if
they fhould meet with any difappointing
Accident ; and they have too often afiumed
the Character of the Wicked, who borrows
when he knows not how to pay again , and run
on borrowing without End, and without
Meafure, fo long as they could find any
Artifice to fupport Credit ; they have fup-
plied their Shops with Goods, their Table
with coftly Provifions, their Houfes with
rich Furniture, and their Family with fhi-
ning Apparel out of the Purfe of their
credulous Neighbour, and perhaps made
him pay their heavy Scores in the Tavern
alio. A Man who fhould have been found
in the Practice of half thefe Vices, would
never have been called a Biffenter in the
Days of our Fathers ; and 'tis a heavy
Shame, and an infupportable Difgrace, that
there fhould be any fuch Characters in our
Day that fhould wear the Name of a Non-
conformift : But 'tis weil there is Purity of
Dilciphne enough in our Churches to refufe
them at the Table of the Lord.
I proceed now to che fixth and laft
Thing wherein the Proteftant Diffenters
were wont eminently to diftinguifh them-
felves, and that is in their Abftcining from
thofe gayer Vanities and dangerous Diver/tons
of
the ancient Non-conformijh. 231
of their Age, which border fo near upon
Vice and Irreligion, that fometimes 'tis
pretty hard to feparate them •, fuch are
many of our midnight Ajjemblies, midnight
Balls, lewd and prophane Comedies, Mafqiie-
rades, public k Gaming Tables and deep Play,
and iiich like Places and Methods of mo-
dern Diverfion, where Temptations abound
and furprize the Unwary, where Virtue and
Religion are in extreameft Hazard, and
fometimes receive a fore and Jafting Wound.
In this refpeft fhall I put the Queftion,
What do you more than others ? 'Tis grant-
ed there are fome Perfons of the eftablifhed
Church that have avoided thefe Things as
well as our Fathers the Puritans, and in
fome few Families, even of Figure and
Condition, thefe perillous Amufements may
be difallowed or feldom frequented : But
'twas the conftant and known Mark of a
Proteftant Dijfenter in former Days, to re-
fufe Attendance upon any of thefe kind of
Diverfions, and boldly to deny his Compa-
ny when he was never fo much importuned.
I hope we have not utterly loft thole Pieces
of Puritanifm amongft us.
I grant that our prefent Age having run
fo much greater Lengths in Liberty than
the Age of our Anceftors, there may be
fome degrees of allowance, or at leaft fome
Excufes drawn from the too general Cuf-
torn of others in thofe Things which can-
not
232 Peculiar P raff ices of
not be certainly proved to be finful, tho*
they may pofiibly have a dangerous Ap-
pearance and Tendency : When a whole
Age takes large Liberties, even Perfons of
Sobriety and Virtue are under great Temp-
tations to extend the Limits of their Rules
of Practice ? 'Twac a known laying of one
of the Ancients, that " chofe Things might
" be done by Men of Virtue among the
" Rabble of Romulus ^ which ought never
44 to have been done in the Repubhck of
" Plato." 'Tis granted further, that it
is hard to prove every one of thdfe Diver-
fions I have mentioned to be abfolutely
and univerfally unlawful : And it is poflible
that Perfons of Piety and SeriouihcLs may
give themfelves Leave, upon juft Reafons,
to attend once or twice in the Courfe of
Life upon fuch Diverfions ^ perhaps it may
be done in order to know what they are,
that they may not utterly condemn Things
which they know nothing of, and that they
may pafs a juft Judgment concerning them ;
or upon fome other very uncommon Oc-
cafion and Occurrence, where the real Ser-
vice or Advantage does plainly over-
balance die Danger of hurting our own
Spirits, or of giving a bad Example to
others.
But upon the Whole, it mud be confef-
fed, that to make this Sort of Entertain-
ments a frequent Pradice, tends greatly to
corrupt
the ancient Non-conformijis. 233
corrupt the Savour of Piety, and flatten our
Relilh for Divine Things ; 'tis ready to
thruft out the Religion of the Cloiet and
the Family, to awaken the Springs of Vir-
tue, to take off the Guard of the Confcience5
to fenfualize the Mind and fill it with vain
Images, which too often pollute the Ima-
gination, and opprefs the young Seeds of
Virtue and Godlinefs, that were beginning
to fpring in the Heart. And I am bold
to fay, that if our Fathers were in any
degree too rigid and auflere in pronoun-
cing thefe Things abfolutely criminal and
finful, and in their utter Prohibition of
themfelves and their Houfhold from ever
once attending upon them ; 'tis certain that
we their Chiidren are much more criminal
in giving too great a Loofe to many of
thefe Diverfions. Can you not name the
DiiTenters who wafte that Time at a Play-
houfe, or a vain Affembly of Merriment,
at a publick Gaming-table, or a Dancing-
room, that Ttmej I fay, which belongs to
God or their Families ? Who fpend thofe
Seafons in late Vifits and private Balls or
at Cards, whereby evening Devotion is ex-
cluded utterly ? Who can wear out whole
Hours in thefe foolifli and perillous Recre-
ations, and complain they have no Time for
Prayer ? Can you point to no Perfons who
are Members of Diffenting Churches, who
intice their Acquaintance to thefe Vanities ?
Do
23+ PccullarVraclices of
Do you know no Mothers who lead their
little Daughters thither, nor Fathers who
permit their Sons to go without Controul ?
And do they know, or will they not
believe that die Read to Lewdnefs and
Impiety, to Ruin and Beggary, lies thro*
thefe Scenes of dangerous Diverfion ? The
Lpfs of Religion, the Lofs of Time, the
Lofs of Virtue, the Lofs of Reputation,
the Lofs of Eftate in many Families of the
Nation, bear a loud and iafting Teftimony
to the difmal Influence of thefe Practices •,
and, methinks, a Proteftant Dificnter, who
profefles to maintain greater Degrees of
Purity in pubhek Worfhip, fhould alfo be
follicitous to keep himfeif pure from thefe
Appearances of Evil in publick Life, and
to abftain from thofe Stages of Vanity
wherein there is fo much Danger of D. l-
ment and Mifchief.
To fum up all in general, your Fathers
had an honourable Charade
g at ReputacM^, even among the k
Parts of th-t t> i, for ft rift Virtue, for
ex mplary ac :re Godimefs beyond
ti common B . d Multitude of thofe
who called themielves the Eftabhfhed
C rch : if any Perfon appeared to be
h eligious and fearful of indulging
any Sin or Compliance with evil Company,
if he v/ere fcr i.pulous of any doubtful Prac-
tice, or attempted to give an Admonition
to
the ancient Non-confonnijh. 235
to the Sons of Vice, he was prefently called
a Puritan, or a Fanatick, or Presbyterian by
way of Reproach. This Honour was a
frequent Tribute paid by the ungodly
World to the fuperior Virtue and Merit of
your Anceftors and their Profeffion of
Non-conformity. What is become of this
your Reputation, this honourable Charac-
ter ? Have you loft your good Name ?
Have you fold your Glory for the Indul-
gence of the Follies and Vanities of Life ?
Have you fallen into fuch a Neglect of
ftricl Religion as leaves no other Diftinfti-
on between you and your Neighbours, be-
fides your Worfhip once a Week in a dif-
ferent Place and Manner ? 'Tis time, my
Friends, when Religion is funk into fuch
an univerfkl Decay in the Nation, 'tis time
to enquire whether we have not fuffered it
to decay amongft us alio, whether we are
not Sharers in the common Degeneracy. It
is high time to awaken our Souls, and en-
quire, What do we more than others ? If the
Bulk of the Nation be gone tar in the Ne-
gled of Virtue and Godlmefe, let us not
dare to follow the Multitude, and make
our Profeffion of Separation an empty
Name, and our Pretence to purer Wor-
fhip a mere Badge of Hypocrify. Let us
remember, if God fhould take up his Rod
into his Hand, to punifh a finful Nation
with an overflowing Scourge, we who fol-
low
2 3 6 Special Advantages
low any of the vicious Cuftoms of the Age*
who conform to the Iniquity of the Times,
and never feparate our felves from the
growing Ungodlinefs of the Land, fhall
be mingled with our Neighbours in the com-
mon Calamity and Defolation : Our Pro-
fcflion of a feparate and purer Communion
will but aggravate our Guilt. If we do no
more than others in the Pra&ice of fincere
Piety, why fhould we expedl to be diftin-
guifhed from others by any peculiar ln-
flances of fparing Mercy ?
SECTION VI.
Of the fpecial Advantages for Piety which
fome Perfons of all Parties enjoy above
others.
HAving ended my Survey of the fpe-
cial Advantages for Improvement in
Piety which are found in the feparate Af-
femblies of Prcteflant Dijfenters^ above thofe
who generally attend on the Worfhip of
the Eftablifhed Churchy and the fpecial Obli-
gations that we lie under to do more than
others, I proceed one Step further, which
fhal] be the laft ; and that is to furvey any
other peculiar Advantages^ or peculiar Obli-
gations which belong to fome Perfons of all
Parties among us above their Fellows,
and to enquire into their Behaviour and Im
provement
of feme Chrijlians. 237
provement in practical Godlinefs, whether
it has been anfwerable to the fpecial Cir-
cumftances of Obligation and Advantage
with which the Providence of God has
favoured them.
And here let it be obferved, that tho*
thefe two general Heads of Obligation and
Advantage are often found together, and
belong to the fame Perfons.; for every Ad-
vantage lays a fpecial Obligation on him that
enjoys it ; yet for Method's fake it may
be more proper to treat of them diftindtly.
Fir ft. What are the Advantages which
fome of every Party enjoy above others ?
I. I will addrefs my felf then to you who
have been blefi with a more fir iElly Religious
Parent 'age \ and pious Education, among any
Party of Chriftians whatfoever ; and borrow-
ing the Words from the Lips of our Saviour
I would enquire, What do you more than
others ? You who have been trained up in
the Forms of Godlinefs from your youngeft
Years, and the Nurfery has been made as
.it were a Bethel or a Houfe of God ; you
have been early taught to read the holy
Scriptures in which Timothy was inftrufted
from his Youth, to the great Honour of
his Mother and Grandmother, whofe Names
have an everlafting Memorial in the Book
of God, 2 Tim. i. 5. and iii. 15. You have
been nurfed up in the conftant Attendance
on the Worlhip of God in the Family,
and
238 Special Advantages
and in the publick Aflembly \ you have been
taught from your Infancy to pay Honour
and Refpedt to every Thing that relates to
God and Religion ; how Hands the Cafe
with you now ? Do you pay more Honour
to God in the World than is pradtifed by
your Neighbours ? Do you maintain a
greater Reverence to Things facred, and
do you wTalk more clofely with God ? The
Examples as well as the Advices of your
Parents have been continually kt before
you ; you have been inftrufted in all the
Rules of Honefty and Virtue, of Sobriety
and Kindnefs, one would expeft that you
fhould have been a confiderable BlefTing to
the World, and honourable Inftances of all
that is pious towards God, and of all that is
charitable towards Men under fuch happy
Advantages \ enquire therefore, what is the
Frame of your Heart, and what has been
the Conduft of your Life ? Have you for-
got the Labours and Cares of your Parents,
and the religious Practices which they intro-
duced into your youngeft Years of Life ?
Are you growrn weary of them already ?
Do you defpife all thefe ferious Things in
the wanton Gaiety of your Youth, as the
Follies of Childhood, and the Errors of the
Nurfery, and the Weakneffes of your infant
State ? This is the Reproach, this the
Scandal which fome wild young Rebels have
infolently caft on all the pious Cares of
of jo me Chrijlians. 239
their Parents, and the Forms of a religious
Education : But we hope better Things of
you, and that you have grown up from the
lower Clafs of Inftruftion to fome of the
more manly and advanced Leflbns of God-
linels and Virtue ? Surely you can fhew a
fair and honourable Superflrudture, fince
you had fo happy a Foundation ? Are you
not arrived at higher Degrees of Religion
and Goodnefs than your Neighbours, fince
your early Bieflings did fo far exceed theirs ?
This ought to have been your Character,
and we hope this has been indeed your Prac-
tice.
Methinks fome of you fhould fay thus
to your felves, Am I not a Branch of an
ancient pious Family ? Am I not a young
Defcendant of the People of God thro' many
Generations ? What care ought I to take
to fupport the Honour of my Anceftors,
and the Dignity of my Family in the fight
of God and Man ? *Tis not enough for me
to compare my felf with others, and con-
tent my felf to be as pious and as fober as
they are who never enjoyed fuch early Blef-
fings ; but I am bound to maintain a vifible
Superiority in the feveral Inftances of Piety
and Virtue, if poffible, above my Neigh-
bours, that the ancient Reputation and
Credit of my Name and Family among the
Churches of Chrift may not fink into Dii-
grace, or lie buried in Fogetfulnefs, left
the
240 Special Advantages
the World and the Church fhould join in the
deferved Reproach and Infamy of fo degene-
rate a Plant as I am.
Can you not remember the wife Counfels
and companionate Advices which came daily
dropping from a Father's Lips, and from
the Fondnefs of his pious Heart ? Can you
not remember the tender Admonitions that
a Mother has given you rifing and going to
reft, while fhe foftened every Word with a
Tear of Love ? Have you not known their
painful Sonicitude of Soul for your Happi-
nefs and your eternal Interefts ? What have
you done with all thefe Leflbns of Piety,
thefe Afliftances to Virtue and Goodnefs ?
Have you caft them all behind your back,
and are you grown as negligent of God and
Chrift) and Religion and Sacred Things, as
thofe who have been brought up like the
Savages of the Wildernefs, and have been
fuffered to run at large in a wicked World,
though tlefs of God and of all that is holy ?
Have you taken no more Care to pra£tife
the Rules of Sobriety and Temperance than
thofe who have been nurfed up in a wild
and licentious Indulgence of Appetite and
Paffion ? Have you no more Striftnefs in
your Morals than thofe who were born in
Families which made no Pretences to Virtue,
and took no care to inftiJ the Principles of
Religion and Goodnefs into the Souls of
their OfF-fpring? 'Tis time, my Friends,
1 'tis
offome Cbri/iians. 241
'tis high Time to bethink yourfelves and put
fuch Enquiries as thefe to your own Con-
ferences-, thefe early BlefTings will be come a
terrible Aggravation of your Guilt in the
great Day of Account, if the Judge fhall
then find that you have abufed and loft
them.
II. You who have fat under a ferious^ a
fervent and evangelical Miniftry> who have
heard betimes of the Evil of Sin, who have
been taught the Danger of your State by-
Nature, that you are afar off from God and
Heaven, you who have been inftrufted early
in the Gofpel of Chrift, and the Methods
of his Salvation by the preaching of the
Word, What have you done more than others?
You have known Jefus betimes, and learnt
his Offices as a Mediator to bring Sinners
near to God, as a Prophet to reveal the
Mind and Will of God to you, as a High
Priefi to make Atonement for Sin on Earth,
and to intercede for you in the Court of
Heaven, as a King to give you Laws, and
to govern you, as a heavenly Example of
all that is pious toward God, and beneficent
toward Man: Have you ever endeavoured
to imprefs on your own Hearts a deep and
humbling Senfe of your finful and dangerous
State without renewing Grace and an Inte-
refl in the Mediator's Love? Have you
ever yielded yourfelves up to this bleiTed
Mediator, and received his Salvation ? Have
M you
42 Sp& ■'■ vtmtagi i
you prayed earreftly for the Divine Ii
enccs of the Holy Spirit, which you have
been often told are promiied in the Golpel,
to make ycu new Creatures, and ailift you
in every Duty? Have you had a conftant
awful Senfe of Death and Judgment, of
Heaven and Hell, which have been fo fre-
quently let before you in the Miniftry of
the Word, and iinpreft upon your E$tt and
your Confciences with Life and Fervency?
Have your Fruits of Holinefs been anfwer-
able to this favourable Cultivation which
Heaven has beftow'd upon you? Do you
remember that awful Reprefen ration of
your Cafe by the Apoftle in Heb. vi. 7. The
Earth "which drinketh in the Rain that comes
oft upon it, and ftill bears nothing but Briars
and Thorns is rcjefiedofGod and is nigh unto
Curfing^ whofe End is to be burned? Andean
your own Reafon or your Confcience afford
you one word of Apology or Defence
againft this righteous Curfe and this burning
Sentence ?
Let us think with ouifelves what Multi-
tudes there are who have not been trained up
in the ways of publick Worfhip, who thro5
the Wickednefs of their Parent?, or thro'
their great D;fharce from the Places of any
religious Afiembhes, have been very much
unacquainted with any of the Bleffings of a
Gofpel Miniftry: Think what Numbers of
Families, efpecialJy in the Country, are
brought
offome Chrijlians. 24 3
brought up to the Labours and Drudgeries
of Life at the Diftance of fome Miles from
a Church of any kind, and are not able to
attend on any Miniftrations of the Gofpel
without great Fatigue and Inconveniences:
How tranfcendent have our Advantages
been above others? Have we made a right
Ufe of thefe Bleffings? We who dwell as
it were in the Houfe of God, who Jive near
the Gates of Zion, who have the Ordinances
of Cbriji brought almoft to our Doors,
have we delighted ourfelves in the Worfhip
of the Sanftuary and in the Ailemblies of
the People of God? Or have we cried out
What a Wearinefs is it ? And have we neg-
lected the Methods of Grace which the Pro-
vidence of God has brought lb near us?
Have our Lips and our Lives and whole
Behaviour manifefted that we have been
often with God, and that we have been
nourifhed up in Holinefs with the Provifions
of the Houfe of God ? Do we think thefe
heavenly Provifions will never be accounted
for? Or that the great God will never afk
what Ufe we have made of them all ?
III. You who have been favoured with
religious Friends, Companions and Acquain-
tance in the Courfe of Life, fuch as you may
converfe with freely about the Things
of God and your own Sou!, and who will
be ready to help you onward to the Way to
Heaven, What have you done more than others?
M 2 How
z 44 Special Advantage*
How definable a Thing is it for young CKli-
ftians to have fuch a Friend as David,
Pi. Ixvi. 1 6. C id me and I will tell
you what God has done for my Soul? How
happy is it to be placed amongit fuch Ac-
quaintance who will walk with you in the
Road to Salvation, and with whom you may
go to the Houfe of God in Company ? When
young Perfons firft begin to be awakened to
a Senfe of Sin, to enquire what they mufl do
to be favedj and to Jet their Faces tozvard
Heaven, how fweet and unfpcakable a B!ef-
fing is it to have a religious Frier.d near
them, to whom they can unbofom them-
felves, who can affift them with their Ad-
vice, encourage them with their Company,
fupport them by their own Experience, and
keep Religion warm in their Flearts by holy
Conference? Who can give them a gentle
Admonition of their Danger, who can ftir
them up to Duty whenibever they grow neg-
ligent, and recall them when they wander
from the Paths of Piety and Peace ? What
Advances in Holinefs are juftly expedted
from Perfons who have enjoyed fuch an
Advantage as this ?
Howaffliftive and melancholy is the Cafe
of many Perfons in their younger Years,
whofe Lot is caft in Families where there is
not fo much as the Profeflion or Form of
Godlinefs? Who have had not one religious
Acquaintance, not one Friend to fpeak a fe-
rious
offome Chriflia?is . 245
rious Word to them for Months or Yeais
together? Who are under the perpetual Im-
preflion of evil Communications and the mif-
ehievous Influence of wicked Companions?
Who are drawn away betimes into Snares
and Defilements ere they are aware of their
Danger? How unhappy are they who in-
ftead of hearing pious Difcourfe live daily
in the midft of Prophanenefs ? Who are fur-
rounded with the Language of Hell, and
where Curfes and Oaths and Blafphemies of
the Name of God are made conftant and fa-
miliar ? And i f at any time a holy Thought,
or an awful Senfe of Sin be awakened with-
in them, the divine Spark is quenched on
a fildden, and never fufferM to kindle into
a Flame 5 and every hopeful Appearance of
Religion or Virtue is blafted and deftroycd
in the very Bud ? How much more blelTed
are your Circumftances who have been freed
from the Temptations of evil Company in
the dangerous Years of Youth ? 'Tis expect-
ed that you fliould preferve yourfelves more
unipotted and pure from all the Vices of the
Age, that your Lips and your Lives fliould
be untainted with the licentious Impiety or
Leu dnefs of the Times, that your Behavi-
our fliould be more agreeable to the Rules
of ftrict Godiinefs, and your Virtues in the
World fliould fhine with a more illuftrious
Light and your Souls be animated with
the pure Flames of Devotion, fince you have
M 3 had
246 Special Advantages
had nothing to damp or difcourage th-
But on the other hand, if ye have run into
the Paths of Folly and Madnels without the
Allurements of an evil Companion, without
the Influence of a wicked Example, without
thofe Temptations to which others are ex-
pofed, how aggravcitcd is your Guilt in the
Sight of God, and how deep and fenfibie
Ought your Repentance to be!
IV. You voho have had Books of Piety and
Religion put into your Hana from your youngeft
Years, and have been taught to read the
great Things of God and of your Salvation,
what have you learnt, whai have you done
more than others ? You who have been ex-
cited and encouraged to acquaint yourk
with the neceffary and important Things of
Religion by reading, who have had the
Rules and Advices, the Precepts, the Pro-
mifes and Threatnings of the Word of God
drawn up into a narrow Compafs in religious
Treatifes, and fet before you in a moil
powerful and perfuafivfe manner, you who
have enjoyed the Labours of your Fathers,
and are addrefied by the Dead and the Liv-
ing, in their practical and pathetick Wri-
tings, with the kindeft Exhortations to Vir-
tue and Piety, and the molt awful Warn-
ings againft every Sin, you who have been
allured by all the mod engaging Methods
your Parents or your Friends could think ot
to acquaint yourfttvcs with the Hiftories of
Scriptgre,
ofjome Chrijllans. 247.
Scripture, the Dodtrines of Religion, the
Examples of Godlinefs, and the important
Affairs of your immortal Souls; *tis ex-
pected that you fhould exceed others in
pradtical Godlinefs fince you have enjoyed
all thefe Affi (lances.
Let us be perfuaded to confider with our-
felves, how many there are of our Age
that never had one pious Book put into
their Hands, and it may be they have never
been taught to read s ot if they have learnt
the Art of Reading, it has been employed
from their Childhood in wanton Songs, in
leud" Novels, or trifling Romances ; and
thus their Fancies and their thinking; Powers
have been unhappily tinctured with iniquity,
and vitiated even from their youngeft Year :
What Degrees of Holiriefs have we attain'a
higher than they ? What Improvement have
we made of our Privileges to acquire more
eminent Advances in Piety, and get further
onward in our Way to Salvation?
V. You who have had Clofeis or /seres
Chambers at your Command^ and proper Places
of Retirement provided for you^ wherein to
retreat from the World, and converfe with
God and your own Hearts, What have you
done in Religion more than others ? This is a
moft confiderable Advantage for Improve-
ment in Godlinefs. Matt. vi. 6. our Saviour
bids us enter into our Clofets^ and pray to our
Heavenly Father who feeeth in fecret, and he
M 4 promifes
248 Special Advantages
promifes in his Father's Name that he will
reward us openly.
What Multitudes are there in the World
whofe Parents have been fe negligent of
ferious Religion both in themfelves and their
Oft- fp ring, as never to contrive or provide
for their Children either any Opportunities
or any Conveniences for fecret Worfhip -9
nor have the ycung Creatures ever been
taught to retire from the World, and call
upon God in fecret? And what Numbers
alfo have always lain under fuch ftrait Cir-
cumftances even from their Childhood, that
they are feldcm able to find a retiring Place,
the whole Family being confined to a fingle
Room or two? And if at any Time the
Word of God has reached their Conferences,,
and awaken'd them to a painful Senfe of
their Sin and Danger, if they have been
earneftly enquiring after Relief and Pardon
and Salvation, when their Souls have been
full and ready to overflow under a deep Im~
preflion of divine Things, they have neither
had a Friend into whofe Ears they could
vent their inward Sorrows, nor a fecret
Corner to retire where they might pour out
their Souls before God ? This has been a
noft afflictive and painful Hindrance to
young and early Religion : But as for you
Vvho have enjoyed bleffed Advantages for Re-
tirement, what have you profited by them ?
O fay thus to your own Souls, Have I
offome Chrijliam. 249
made more conitant Vifits to Heaven than
others? Have I converfed more frequently
with God than they ? Have I arrived at a
more humble and intimate Acquaintance
with God thro5 J e fits Chrift the Mediator ?
Have I attained greater Freedom at the
Throne of Grace, and treafured up richer
Experiences about the Duty and the Grace
of Prayer, the Pleafure and the Succefs of
it ? Have I learnt more of the Temper of
my own Heart when I have had fuch Con-
veniences for Retirement and for Self-exa-
mination, fuch Opportunities to converfe
with God and my own Soul, and to tranfadfc
the important Affairs of Eternity? Which
of us in this AffembJy who have enjoyed
this Advantage have not Reafon to fmite
upon our BreafU to acknowledge our Guilt,
and to mourn before the Lord ?
VI. You who are not fo overburdened with
the Bujinejfes and Cares of Life but you can
find frequent Seafons of Leifure^ which may be
employed in the Concerns of your eternal Inte-
rest s> What do you more than others ? Me-
thinks, when I obferve fome Peribns, and
even whole Families under fuch Degrees of
Poverty, that they are forced as it were to
plow and threfli for their Bread from Morn-
ing to Night thro* the whole Week, who
are as it were chained to the labouring Oar,
and mull fweat and toil early and late, and
break in upon the Hours of natural Sleep
M 5 and
250 Special Advantages
and Repofe in order to fupport this mortal
Lifej ai d to furnilli themfelvcs or their
Houfhold with Food and Raiment ; when
I obferve how very little Time or Lei Hire
they can employ to the Purpofes of Religion
for their own Profit, or for the fpiritual
Benefit of their Off-fpring, I cannot but
pity them at my Heart: And if at any time
they have had any Breathings of Soul after
God or Godlinefs, the perpetual Cries of
Nature in their poor ftarving FamiJies have
almofl drowned the Voice of awakened
Confcience, and made them neglect the one
thing needful: They have been fo conflantly
engaged in labouring for the Bread that pe-
rijbes that they have little time tofeek that
Which endures to eternal Life. Surely upon
a Review fome of us (hould be awakened to
reflect upon many wafted Hours of Lei-
fure that we have fpent in Vanity, and
whole Days that have been fquanderM away
in fooliih Trifling or vain Amufement. Oh
how much better might many of thefe happy
Seafons have been improved in Clofets and
retiring Rooms, in Reading or Prayer, to
carry on the Defigns of Religion and our
everlafting Happinefs!
How valuable a Thing is Time, tho* it
flies away in Silence and fo much unnoticed
and unregarded! Time for Rebels to feek
their Peace with God! Time for Guilty
Creatures to implore a Pardon? Time for
thofe
offome Chrijtiam. 251
thofe whofe Hearts are by Nature corrupt
and finful, to labour with their hard and
finful Hearts by applying the PfOffiifes, the
Precepts and the Threatnings of the Word,
in order to foften, to purify and refine them !
Time to wreftJe with God in Prayer for the
Afliftances of his Spirit! Time for miferable
Creatures to purfue Happfriefs! Time for
mortal Creatures to prepare for Death, and
for their immortal Spirits to get ready for
Eternity! How richly might Time here on
Earth be improved to lay up Treafures in
Heavrn, to gain high Degrees of Religion
and every Grace, and to make fwift and
glorious Advances towards the State of the
blefled ? How much more than others fhould
we praftife Religion and Godlinefs who are
blels'd with this Treafure of Time? What
further Advances fhould we have made id
the Road to Heaven who have any eonfi-
derable Share of Time and Leifufe at our
own Difpofal? And how many wafted Hours
and Moments have the bed: of us to account
for, which might have been employed to
fublimer Purpofes, and have railed our
Souls nearer to God ?
VII. You whom the God of Nature bds
diftinguiftjed by any natural Talents or Quali-
fications above others, what have you done in
the Service of God more than others?
You who are blefs'd with [prightly Parts%
with a Sagacity of Mind, with afolid Rea-
M 6 fon
252 Special Advantages
fon and Judgment, with a&ive and vigorous
Powers of Nature •, have you learnt more
of God than thofe who are of flow Under-
ftanding, and whofe Minds are lefs repen-
tive of Knowledge? Have you gained a
deeper Infight into the Grounds and Foun-
dations of the Religion which you profefs?'
Are you better acquainted with the great
and important Articles of the Chriftian
Faith and Practice than others? Can you
render a better Re a fon of the Hope that is in
you according to the Advice of the Apoftle
Peter , 1 Pet. iii. 15? Can you fay more for
the Defence and Vindication of the Gcfpel •
againftthe bold Attacks of the Atheift and
the Infidel? Have you fet your Ingenuity
at work in any happy Contrivances for the
Honour of God, or for the Welfare of
Men? When the great Judge (hall make an
Enquiry, Hoiv have you employ edy our brighter
Talents of Wit and Reafon? 'twill be no fuf-
ficient Anfwer to tell him how bufy you
have been in Trade, and how ingenious to
enlarge your Eftates, to build fine Dwellings,
and to add Field to Field, and grow richer
than all your Neighbours, while you have
ufed neither Reafon nor Thought in the
Service of Religion. But 'twill have a
much worfe Appearance flilJ, if it fhall be
found that you have turned the Edge of
your Wit againft Religion and made ycur-
feJvcs and your Companions- merry at the
Expcnce
of Jo me Chrijiians. 253
Expence of the Honour of Chrijl and his
Gofpel-, that you have been fharp and in-
genious for the Contrivance of new Vices
and the Practice of Folly and Madnefs *
that you have been fwift to- improve in
every thing befides Religion and Virtue,
and that you have been wife to do Evil, but
to do Good have had neither Knowledge nor In-
clination, Jer. iv. 22. Such bright and in-
genious Sinners will expofe themfeives to
the fiercer Flames of the Indignation of
God, and thofe who have thus abufed the
Sharpnefs of their Wit fhall feel the keener
Pain in their Confciences.
You who have been endowed with fir ong and
capacious Memories to treafure up much
Knowledge, to retain long what you have
learnt, and to recolleft it with Eafe, with
what Sort of Treafure have you furnifhed
this noble Repofitory of the Soul? Have
you laid up nothing there but Trifles and
Fooleries, nothing but Stories and Jefts,
but Vanity and Impertinence, or Leudnefs
and Scandal ? And have you neglefted the
folid Riches of divine Knowledge, and the
important Matters of Religion and eternal
Life? Or have you taken care to hide a
larger Portion of the Word of God in your
Hearts than others, that you might not Jin
againft him ? Have you treafured up more
of the Truths, the Precepts, and the Pro-
mifes of the Gofpel ? Does the Word of
Chrijl
2 54 Special Advantages
Chrijl dwell richly in you according to the
Advice of the Apoftle, Colof.m. 16? Are
you ready on every proper Occafion to
entertain yourfelves and your Friends with
holy Communications, with Pfalrns and
Hymns and fpi ritual Songs which have been
laid up in your Hearts? Or have vain
Rhymes and wanton Sonnets filled up and
defiled that Cabinet of the Soul ?
You who are adorned with a good natural
Temper^ who are ever ready to oblige and
pleafe, who have not fo many of the Seeds
of Malice and Envy in your Conftitution as
many of your Neighbours have, and in this
refpe£t may be faid to have more of natural
Virtue than they ; O what a bleffed Founda-
tion is this upon which to raife an honour-
able Superftru&ure of Piety and moral
Goodnefs? You have not fo many vicious
Qualities to fubdue as others, and yet have
you fuffered Vice and unruly Paflions to pre-
vail as much in your Hearts? Have you
been follicitcus to adorn Religion with tins
amiable Character which God and Nature
have given you? Have you brought this
Offering to the Service of the Gofpel ?
Have you maintained your Candor and Be-
nevolence, your Chaiity and Goodnefs
towards Mankind who converfe with you ?
And have you mad- the Prolefficn of Chii-
ftianity appear illuftrious in your Behaviour?
Have you employed thefe good Difpoutions
of
offome Chrifiiam. 255
of Nature to fliine in the Kingdom of Grace,
like Diamonds polifhed and let in a Ring of
Gold ? There is abundant Reafon to expeft
you fhould do more Honour to Religion
tian others, who are blefs'd with a Temper
that fo happily imitates Virtue and holy
Love? But have you devoted this Bleffing
merely to earthly Friendfhips, and fhewn
your Companion and Kindnefs to the Reft of
the World, with a Negleft and Difdain of
the Friends and Servants of God ?
Refle6t a little, my Friends, for what End
did the God of Nature confer all thefe Blef-
fings upon you!- Did he mould you of fuch
a happy Conftitution in vain ? Do you ferve
Sin and Senfe, the Flefh and the Devil, and
the common Offices of this perifhing Life
with thefe natural Talents and Advantages,
and never think how much you might ad-
vance your eternal Interefts by them? Do
you never confider that you are obliged to
ferve Jefus your Lord with them, and to do
more in the World for God than others?
For God, who is the Spring and Fountain
of all thefe Bleffings, and has entrufted you
with them for the Honour of his own
Name ?
VIII. You who have been favoured with
inward Workings of Heart toward God in your
early Tears , you whole tender Confciences
have been awakened betimes to a Senfe of
Sin, and have been convinced of your Guil
1 and
256 Special Advantages
and Danger by the blefled Spirit of God,
you who have enjoyed many a holy Motion
of this bleifed Spirit upon your Souls, who
have been brought often upon your Knees
to the Throne of Grace to feek Pardon of
Sin, Peace with God and eternal Life in
your Days of Childhood, what eminent
Advances in Religion fhould you have made
before this Time? What have you done more
than others? You who have been trained up
almoft from the Beginning of Life under
the Inftrudtions of God as well as the In-
ftrudtions of Men, what Progrefs have you
made anfwerable to thefe double and divine
Advantages ? You who have tafted betimes
that the Lord is gracious^ have you learnt to
live upon his Grace ? Or have you loft this
Savour of Religion, and are grown carelefs
of fecuring the Love of God to your Souls?
Shall I addrefs you in the Language of the
Apoftle, Gal. iii. 3. having begun in the Spi-
rit will ye end at laft in the flejh?
You who have learnt the firft Leffons of
Chriftianity long ago, and begun to prac-
tife them under the early Influence of inward
Awakenings, what high Degrees have you
acquired in the School of Cbrifi above others ?
Have you learnt to obey the Spirit of God
in all his Motions better than others ? Are
your Corruptions more entirely under Re-
straint ; Are your native Sins more effectual ly
fubdued ? Are your youthful Paflions and
Appetites
offome Chrijlians. 2 57
Appetites better governed ? Is your Delight
fti the Things of Religion rifen higher tharr
theirs ? Is your Patience under Sufferings
from the Hand of God more ftedfaft and
exemplary, and your M eeknefs under Pro-
vocation from Men more confpicuous ?
Have you learnt more of the Pra£tice of
Companion, Love and Tendernefs to your
Fellow Creatures, and efpecially to thofe
who love God ? What can you fay concern-
ing your Improvement in thefe Inftances?
Where are all the hopeful Appearances of
Virtue and Godlinefs which rejoiced the
Hearts of your pious and tender Parents,
and gave Pleafure to all your Religious Ac-
quaintance? Is your Goodnefs like that of
Ephraim, like the early Dew and a Morning
Cloud that vani/hes away ? Hofea vi. 4. Is
there no Reafon for God to upbraid you as
he did his People 7/h^/ofold, Jer.u. 2.
I remember the Kindnefs of thy Youth, the
Love of thine Efpoufals, when thou followed/i
me in the IVildernefs? May not Chrijl fend
his Apoftle to reprove you, O B ickfliders,
in the Language of St. Paul to the Galatians,
2~e did run well, who did hinder you that you
fhouldnot obey the 'Truth? What if God fliould
pronounce concerning you that he would
fend his Spirit to ftrive with you no longer,
and abandon you to the Madneis and Folly
of your own Hearts, and give you up to
everlafting Wanderings ?
IX. You
2 5 ^ Special Advantages
IX. You ^£0 /^w Zw# trained up as the
Children of God under the divine Difcipline of
long or fharp Afflictions ^ what have you done
more for God than others, or what have
you learnt more of inward Piety? The
Apoftle in the 12th Chapter to the Hebrews
makes it appear that thefe fatherly Chaftife-
ments of God are of great Advantage to the
Growth of Virtue, and confiderably aflift
our Improvement in Godlinefs. 'Tis a Mef-
iage of religious Profit, tho* it be a painful
one: As many as I love (faith our Saviour)
I rebuke and chaften, Rev. iii. J9. The
Defign of God in thefe afflictive Providences
is to make as Partakers of his Holinefs. En-
quire then into your own Hearts, you who
have had the Voice of the Rod joined toge-
ther with the Voice of the Word, have yoir
attended duly to the divine Warning, and
obeyed him that fpeaks from Heaven ! And •
have you found your Hearts wean'd from
thofe Vices which your Heavenly Father
defigned to chaften and fubdue?
You that have been long confin'd to Cham-
bers of Sicknefs, that have been chaftened upon
your Beds withflrong Pains^ and have felt the
Tabernacle often tottering and ready to fell
into the Duff, have you yet learnt Silence and
Submifllon to the Hand of God ? Have you
learned Obedience by the 'Things which you have
fuffered in Conformity to Jefus the Son of
God ? Are you more wean'd from this World
and
offome Chrijtians. 259
and the Love of Life, who have been
fo often upon the Borders of the Grave ? Are
you more prepared for Death than thofe who
never came within the Views of it? Has e-
very fevere Shock of Nature made you exa-
mine the Truth and Evidence of your Grace,
fo that you have acquired a more folid and
well-grounded Hope ? A re you more thank-
ful than others for fome little Meafures of"
Health which you enjoy, and more follici-
tous to improve every Inch of Time and every
Hour of Eafe to fome valuable Purpofes ?
Have not fome of us frequently (een
Death entering into our own Dwellings, or
into the Houfe of our Friends ? Have we
yet learned to die ? And are we prepared
to meet that lad Enemy better than thofe
who never have been fo near him ? Have we
learned to part with our Friends without fo
much Difcompofure as others manifeft, fince
we have had frequent Occafion to make ufe
of the Confolations of the Gofpel on this
Account? Do we live more upon God an
E/erliving and Almighty Friend ? Has the
cutting off the Streams of Bleflings amongft
the Creatures made us dwell more at the
Fountain, and abide nearer to God?
Perhaps fome of you may have been
fmitten in your Eftate, and have loft a con-
fiderable Part of your Subftance in the
World ; you have been reduced it may be
from plentiful Circumftances to a more
fcanty
2 6 o Special Advantage's ■
fcanty Diet, to coarfer Cloathing and a
meaner Appearance, and are deprived of
fome of the Conveniences of Life; have
you learnt to live without them with an ealy
and peaceful Heart ? Is your Spirit wean'd
from thofe Grandures or fhowifh Appearances
of Life which are by no means neceffary
to true Happinefs ? Are you able to fay
with St. Paul, Philip, iv. 1 2. I know both how
to be abafed and how to abound \ every where
and in all Things I am inftru5ledboth to be full
and to be hungry \ for I have learnt in what-
foever State I am therewith to be content.
Or perhaps you have been trained up all
your Days in ftrait Circumftances, you have
laboured hard to fupport Nature, and you
have been freed from the Temptations that
attend Riches and Grandure ; have you learnt
to live without Envy againft the rich and
the great, Envy the natural Vice of Mor-
tals in mean Circumftances? Have you
depended on the Providence of God for
your daily Bread on Earth, and learnt this
holy Leffpn of Faith ? Have you taken fo
much the more Care to fecure to yourfelves
Treafures in Heaven that never fade, and
the Bread that nouriflies to eternal Life ?
Are you among the Number of thofe who
are humble and lowly as your Circumftances
require? Have you been taught to be
poor in Spirit ? You have had but few Temp-
tations to Pride, have you therefore more
effectually
offome Chriffians. 261
£.ffe£tually fubdued this common Iniquity of
JNature ? Ye have tafted few of the Charms
of this World, and have had no ftrong
Allurements to Earth, is your Heart there-
fore more loofe from earthly Things? is
your Subftance laid up in Heaven, and arc
your Affections fet on Things that are on high?
Have you any folid Evidences that your
Name is written among the Number of thofe
who are poor in this Worlds rich in Faith, and
<Heirs of the Kingdom?
Are there any of the Sorrows or Difficul-
ties that any of us have paffed thro* in this
World rthat have made us more eminently
fit for a better? Have any of the affl idling
Strokes of the Hand of God made a fenfible
Separation between us and our Idols? Or
#re we found in that Rank of Men of whom
the Prophet fpeaks in the Name of God,
Jer. ii. 30. In vain have Ifmittenyour Chil-
dren^ they have received no Correction: and
whom the Prophet complains of to God
himfelf, Jer. vi. 3. O Lord, thou haflftrickcn
them, but they have not grieved-, thou haft
confumed them, but they have refufed to receive
InftruClion -, they have made their Faces harder
than a Rock, they have refufed to return?
What if the Blefled God fliould caft us out
of his Fatherly Care, and fay in the Words
in which he taught the Prophet Ifaiah to
addrefs the Jews, Why fhould you be ftricken
any more ? 2"e will revolt more and more.
How
262 Special (Migionx
How dreadful would the Cafe be, if God
ihould give us up to our own Hearts Lulls,
without anv further inftance of Paternal
Difcipline and Love ? What if he fhould
pronounce in his Wrath as he did againft a
degenerated People by the Prophet Hofea,
Chap. iv. 17. Ephraim is joined to Idols , let
him alone : Let him run on in the Courfe of
his Iniquity till he has made himfelf ripe for
utter Definition.
There is no painful Stroke of Providence
but carries with it an awakening Voice:
And if we have been often fmitten with the
Rod, we have received fo many frefh Warn-
ings from Heaven; What are become of
all thefe Warnings? Are they loft, forgot-
ten and caft behind our Back? Have we
endured fo many Things in vain, if it be indeed
in vain ?
SECTION VII.
Of the fpecial Obligations to Piety which
lie upon feme Perfons of all Parties above
others.
HAving finifhed the general Head of
Advantages which fome Chirftians
of all Parties enjoy above others, I pro-
ceed in the next Place to confider what
fpecial Obligations lie on fome Chriftians
beyond ethers to pradbfe Religion toward
God,
of/owe Chrifiians , 263
God, and Goodnefs toward Men, and to
enquire whether fuch Perfons as lie under
thefe Obligations have made anfwerable
Improvements.
I. You who enjoy eafy and comfortable Cir-
cumftances in the World, who are bled with
Riches, or have at leaftavery happy Suf-
ficiency to anfwer all the Cravings of Na-
ture without the everlafting and anxious
Cares of What jhall I eat, or what Jhall I
drink, and wherewith jhall I be cloathed?
What have you done for God more than
others?
I will not, I dare not fay, that the great
Things of this World are a certain Advan-
tage to Piety, for Riches are fane times kept
for the Owners to their Hurt ; they frequently
become Temptations to Pride and Vanity of
Mind, to the mirthful Extravagances and
the Follies of Life, and lead away the Soul
too often to forget God ; yet this I may ven-
ture to fay, that the comfortable Circum-
ftances of this Life are not in their own
Nature Snares to the Soul, but they are
always an Obligation which God lays upon
his Creatures to raife a Revenue of Glory for
him, and in a way of Gratitude to do more
for his N.ime in the World than others.
Honour the Lord with thy Sub/lance, and with
the firft Fruits of thine Increafe, Prov. iii. 9,
Tho* Riches may become a Snare if they
are unbleft, yet they alfo may be improved
to
% 64 Special Obligations
to blefied Purpofes in Religion, and enable
us to do much for God. Are you among
the Number of thofe who arc rich in this
World, and are you alfo rich in good Works ,
which is the Charge of St. Paul to the Chri-
flians of his Day who enjoyed a larger Share
of the Bleflings of this Life ? 1 Tim. vi.
17, 18. Do the Lips, and the Hearts, and
the Bowels of the Poor blefs your Name,
and give Thanks to God on your Behalf?
Do the-Churches oiChrift acknowledge your
Bounty for the Support of the common In-
tereft of Chrijl and his Gofpel ? Does your
Liberality and Benevolence in all proper In-
fiances of Piety and Charity bear a Propor-
tion to the Treafures with which God has
intrufted you ? What have you done more than
ethers, whom the great God hath made
Stewards of a larger Heap of his earthly
Bleffings?
II. You who have received great and re-
markable Deliverances from Death or Mifery,
cr Mi/chief of any kind, by the favourable
Providence cf God, you that have efcaped
imminent Dangers by Fire, by Water, in
travelling by Lard or Sea, have you offered
all due Acknowledgements to the kind and
Almighty Guardian of your Life and Peace?
Do you remember how frequently David
devotes hiuifelf to God after every frcft
Deliverance, how he engages himfelf in
Love, and bkffes the Name of the Lord for
ever,
of jo me Chrijlians. 265
ever, and what a Multitude of Pfalms lie
has written with this very Defign ? And can
your Confciences declare what are the thank-
ful Returns that you have made to the God
of your Lives and your Mercies ? What
have you done beyond others who never tailed
the Pleafure of fuch Salvations ? What fa-
cred and lafting Influence have any of thefe
Providences left upon your Hearts ?
You who have been on the very Borders
of the Grave, and ready to enter into the
invifible World, under the Terrors of a
guilty Confcience, and utterly unprepared
to die, and yet God has commanded the
Grave to fhut its Mouth again, and refpited
your Life from going down to the Pit for a
longer Seafon, have you taken any new Care
to prepare for Death, that when the next
Sicknefs comes you may not be furrounded
with the fame Horrors ? Or are you as care-
lefs of your eternal Interefts, as thoughtlefs
of God and Religion and the Concerns of
your Soul as you were before, or as others
are who never enjoyed fuch a Warning ?
What is become of all,.thofe keen Terrors
that feized you on the Brink of the Grave ■?
What is become of your Tears and Mourn-
ings, your Vows and Refolutions, and your
holy Promifes if God would fpare you but
a few Years longer ? What ? Are they all
vanilhed together with your Sicknefs ? Was
N the
2-56 Special Obligations
the Wound of your Heart healed fo (lightly
as to leave no Remembrance upon your
Thoughts, and no happy Effects in your
? Are you no better than your former
evil Companions? no better than you your-
fdves were before this Affliction and Delive-
rance ? Are you returned again to your old
Iniquities, to your Neglect of Duties and
your Forgetfulnefs of God ? Surely the next
Mefikge you may expect from Heaven is
the fudden Stroke of Death without any
Opportunity for Prayer or Seafon for Re-
pentance.
'III. You who are fixed in any fpecial Sta-
tion of fuperior Influence upon others, as Pa-
rents, as Governors of Families, as Minifters,
as InftriiLlors of Youth, as Men of Honour
and Reputation, of Rank and Character
among your Neighbours, 'tis expected that
you fhou'Id do more than others.
Are you a Parent, and have you brought
Children into the World tainted with the
common Corruption of human Nature,
have you derived to them vicious Inclina-
tions from Adam \)m firft Tranfgreffor, and
are ycu not under tne ftrongeft Obligations
to feek the Renewal of their Nature by
divine Grace ? Are they come into this
World by your Means, under the unhappy
.Circumftances of Mankind, as Criminals
v:A Strangers to God, and do you not feel
yourfelves
cffome Chrijhtins. 267
yourfelves under powerful Engagements to
bring them acquainted with the God that
made them, and lead them into the Methods
of his Love? Do you think yourfelves
bound to provide Food and Raiment for
them, becaufe you are the Inftruments of
bringing them into this mortal State, and
under thefe Neceflities of Nature ; and arc
you not as much obliged to take Care of
their immortal Interefts, fince you are alio
the Occafion of bringing their Souls into
being ? For when a Son of Adam is born
according to the common Law of Nature,
there is an immortal Creature brought into
Exiftence, and a Life of eternal Duration is
begun. You who have taken fome Care daily,
that your Children fhould be early ac-
quainted with the common Affair of this
peiiihing Life, but have you been as deeply
follicitous to acquaint them with the Con-
cerns of their Immortality ? Have you
fought out any tender Moments of Addref*
to imprefs their Confciences with an awful
Senfe of God and Religion ? to let them
know their Sin and Danger in a State of
Nature, and to lead them to Jefus xht 1
Saviour of Souls ? Have you watched
Moments when they have begun to manifeft
the firft young Efforts of Reafon, and1
you then endeavoured to make them fenf
of the important Things of Religion,
N 2 V\'( J
2 6 § Special Obligations
proceeded by Degrees as their Age would
bear, to lead them into a larger Knowledge
of Truth and Duty ? Have you taken no-
tice of thofe Seaibns when their Confciences
have been fir ft uneafy under a Senfe of Sin,
and endeavoured to improve that Convic-
tion, and to carry on the Work of God ? You
have taught them, and they have learnt to
know their own natural Wants of Food and
Raiment, and Relief under Pain, and to
addrefs their Parents on Earth for Supplies :
And have you never let them know what
their fpiritual Wants are, nor inftrudted
them in plain and eafy Language to afk
a Supply of their Father who is in Heaven ?
You have greater Advantages for this
Purpofe than Minifters or Teachers of any
kind : The Fondnefs of a Mother** Love,
and the Authority of a Father's Voice,
mixed with becoming Tendernefs, are fuited
to make deep and lafting Impreffions upon
their Off-fpring in early Years : Have your
Parental Love and Authority been duly
employed to this divine Purpofe ? Have
you endeavoured to diffufe the Knowledge
of God among your younger Houfhold, and
have you made perpetual and fervent Ad-
-dreflfes to the God of all Grace upon their
Account ? Have your fecret Chambers been
Witnefles of your Wreftlings with God in
prayer for their Salvation ? and befides all
this,
qfjome Chrijlians. 269s
this, have you fet before them a bright
Example of Piety and Virtue in your own
Behaviour ? Have the Leffons which you
have taught them by your own Practice
happily concurred with the Jnftrudtions of
your Lips to train them up for God and
Heaven ? What can you fay, my Friends,
to fuch Enquiries as thefe ? Have you been
faithful to this Truft, and have you done
any Thing anfwerable to thefe high Engage-
ments ? Or have you only brought thefe In-
fants into a World of Sin and Sorrow, and
taken no Thought nor Pains to make them
holy and happy I Have you introduced them
into a State of immortal Exiitence, and yet
employed no Care nor Labour to render
that Exiftence happy, and to bring them
up for the Bleffednefs of Heaven ? Is not
this what you owe to your young Off- fpring,
and to your own Chara&er as Parents ?
I Ihould here addrefs all Governors of Fa-
miliesy as well as Parents, and thofe whole
Bufinefs- it is to teach and inftruft Children,
or who take Servants into their Houfe.
You provide the Conveniencies of this Life
for Servants, and ought you not to have
fome Care of their Souls as well as of your
own ? 'Tis the honourable Character that
God himfelf gave Abraham, Gen. xviii. 19.
1 know Abraham that he will command his
Children and his Houjhold after him^ and they
N 3 jhall
2jcy y icil Obligations
p the IVay of the Lord: And his Ser-
B well as his Sons were circumcifed
and entered into the Bond of the Covenant.
ere fcrvants are inftru&ed and admo-
i/iihed by their Superiors with that juft Ten-
der nei-s and Refpcft as Creatures made of
the fame Flefh and Blood, there may be
much done to win them to Chrift ; and where
there appears a hearty Sollicitude for the
Welfare of their Souls and their higheft In-
terefi, they are not always fuch untraceable
Creatures as to refufe the Affiflance that a
Mailer or Miftrefs might give them in the
way to Heaven : And remember this Aflifls
d'MJe comes with a double Influence upon the
i leaits and Cor.icicnces of thofe that are
under your Government, wfien the mingled
Principled of Authority and Love join in
religious Advice.
Here I might addrefs Magifirates with a
warm Enquiry, What do you more than
others ? But we have few of that Character
who attend our feparate Affemblies. I might
Addrefs Minijters in the fame Language,
who are eminently intruded with the
Care of Souls ; but while each of us are
engaged in fulfilling our own proper Pofts
of Service, we have but very little Oppor-
tunity of giving or receiving fuch mutual
Advices in our publick Miniftry. Yet
tvouid I not fuffer this Moment for to pafs
away
cffome Chrifliaus. 27 r
away without renewing the Enquiry upon
my own Confcience, What do I more than
others ? And in prefling the folemn Charge
upon my own Heart of behaving in all my
Miniftrations, and all my Studies, as be-
comes one that is interefted in the Care of
immortal Souls.
IV. You who have given your /elves up /;
Chrijt by a folemn and public k ProfeJJion of his
Name, and have joined your f elves to the Lord
in his vifible Church, to partake of the fpecial
Ordinances of the Gofpel, What do ye more than
others ? You have declared to the World in
a folemn Manner, that you have lifted your
felves under the Banner of Chrifi, that you
have taken up Arms againft Sin and every
Enemy of your Salvation, and that you are
become the Difciples of the meek and holy
Jefus, what have you done anfwerable to
thefe foiemn Engagements, beyond thole
who have lived more at large, who have
walked at a Loofe from all fueft facred
Bonds ? The Vows of God are upon you,
and you have recognized your Obligations
to be the Lord's : Have you had your Con-
vention in the World like the covenanted
Servants of Chrifi ? Have you kept your-
felves at a Diftance from the Defilements of
the World, as a People purchafed by the
Blood of the Son of God, and devoted to
his Faith and Love ? Have you learnt to be
N 4 meek -
272 Special Obligations
meek and holy, and harmlefs, and full of
Companion to Men, and zealous for the
Honour of God as Jefus your Mafter was ?
Why do ye call him Lord and Mafter ', if
you pra&ile not the Rules of his Advice,
nor imitate his divine Pattern ?
You have often joined in the publick
Worfhip of God as your God thro5 Chriji
Jefus your great Mediator, and what have
you gained by all thefe Seafons of Devotion ?
Are you brought nearer to God than others ?
Are you made litter after every fuch facred
Seafon to join die wrorfhipping Affembly in
Heaven ?
You who have often been Partakers of
the bleflcd Inflitution of the Lord's Supper,
and by this Means lie under powerful Obli-
gations, and enjoy fpecial Advantages for
i-Ioiinefs, What do ye more than others ?
His holy Supper is provided for the Exer-
cife and Eftablifhment of your Faith on a
crucified Chrift : It is appointed for raifing
and inflaming your Love to God the Father,,
in fending his Son to die for you, and to
Jefus the Son in fubmitting to Death for
your Sakes : It is defigned to encourage and
advance ycur everlafting Hope, and your
holy Toy in the Lord ; and 'tis given you alfo
to reprefent and to promote your Union and
Love to all Fellow Chriftians, and to Jay
you under the ftrongeft and mod folemn
Engagements
of fane Chrijlians. 273
Engagements to fulfil all the Duties of
Chriftianity. Shall I intreat you to enquire
into the Frame of your Hearts, and to
look back-on your Behaviour in Life ? Are
thefe holy and happy Ends of fo facred an
Ordinance in any Meafure obtained , by you
in a higher Degree than thofe who have no
Opportunity to enjoy it, or no Inclination
to attend it ? Is your Faith in a dying Sa-
viour eftabiifhed fov that you can fay,,
you will venture to live and die by the
Faith of the Sen of God ? Is your Love
kindled into a higher Flame to him who
died for you ? Is your Hope more confirm'd ?."
Is your View of heavenly Things where
Jefus is at the Father's Right Hand, more
conftantly maintained ? And do ye walk
in the Joy of the Lord ?. Do ye feel the
powerful Influence of thefe holy Solemnities
ingaging you to a more undaunted Profeffion
of the Name of Chriji^ . and the Practice of.
every Duty toward God and Man ? Do you
find your Hearts more united to your Fel-
low Chriflians in Love, by communicating ;
with them in the fame Bread and drinkins; ,
of the fame Cup, and by this Emblem of
your vifible Union to one Plead even Chrijl
Jefus £ Are you animated to fulfil difficult
Services by thefe Heavenly Refreshments ?
Do you find your Souls nourifhed by this
Bread of Life ? Are you ftrengthened to
N 5 bear-*
2ys Sped al Obligation*
bear the Fatigues of the Chriftian Soldier, and
Jlipported by thefc holy Cordials under the
daily Trials and Troubles of Mortality ? You
ought to think with yourfelvcs, " To what
" purpofe have I eat and drunk fo often at
" the Table of the Lord, if my Religion
" be ftill in a ftarving Way ? How little
Influence have all thefe facred Vows and
Engagements had upon me, if I luffer my
felf to negle6l Duty or be defiled with Sin
as often as thofe who never partake of this
Entertainment ? And think alio what a
fbameful Difcouragement you give to thofe
who begin to fet their Faces toward Zion, if
an Inhabitant of Zicn, a Member of a Chri-
ftian Church, has not fomething more hea-
venly about him than thofe who have
not yet feparated themfelves from this
World.
V. You who have had long and large Expe-
rience of the Goodnefs and Grace of God thro*
the whole Courfe of Life, and are now arrived
at a good old Agey and drawing near to Death
Eternity , What do ye more than others ?
Do not the invifible Things of a future
State appear to you in a fairer and ftronger
Light when you are brought fo near them ?
And have they not mere conftant Influence
upon your Heart and Life ? You who have
ib often tafted that the Lord is gracious, and
have feen fo often the Intcrpofures of his"
Providence
of jo me Chrijiians. 27?
Providence to fave you from threatnipg
Dangers, and the glorious Accomplifnments
of his Promifes in the many Occurrences of
t,he Chriftian Life, are you better acquainted
with the Worth of thefe Promifes, and
more ready to truft them upon every new-
Difficulty ? Have you learned to live upon
a naked Promife more than others, and to
expe£t all from God, when you fee new
Diftrefs arifing, and the Help of Creatures
failing you ? Do you make it your Bufinefs
to encourage younger Chriftians to walk on-
ward in the way of Faith and Holinefs, and
that fometimes by telling them what you
yourfelf have feen and felt of the Grace of
the Lord, as well as what you have read and
heard of it in his Gofpel ? Do ye invite^
animate and comfort the younger Difcipies
in the School of Chrifi at proper Seaibns,
and fay, Come all ye that fear and love the Lor d^
and I will tell yon what he has done for my
Soul ? Are the many Condefcenfions of divine
Mercy to you entirely forgotten ? Is the Re-
membrance of the various Inftances of his
Grace loft out of your Minds ? Do ye dag-
ger at every new Difficulty ? Are you
frighted at every freffi Trial ? • Have ye been
trained up in the School of Chrijl fo long, and
learnt fo many Leflbns of Faith and Godii-
nefs, and are ye flill beginning again, {till
learning the firft Principles of Duty and
No Hopci? ■
276 Special Obligations.
Hope ? What have ye done with all your
Experiences of the Favours of Heaven and
the rich Grace of Chrijl ?
You whofe tottering Tabernacles give you
ywlice that they are ready to fall into the Duft^
have you attained a greater Affurance of the
Building of God not made with Hands ^ that
is referved in Heaven for you ? Have you
learnt to fay with holy Triumph, We know
that if this earthly Houfe be difjolved^ there is a
nobler Habitation waiting for us on high? Have
you this heavenly Inheritance always in
View and Hope, and are you ready to be
diflodged from your Dwelling on Earth,
that you may dwell with Chrift in Haven ?
Are ye confident and willing rather to be abfent
from the Body\ and to be prefent with the Lord^
and that upon juft and folid Grounds ? O 'tis
high Time for you who are fo near to Eter-
nity, to get your whole Souls loofened from
the little Affairs of this mortal State ? You
who make daily Approaches to Heaven, 'tis
time to be weaned from every Thing on
Earth, and be dead to all that is not divine :
You Ihould begin as it were to put on the
Veftments of Paradife and Immortality, and
to diffufe a Savour of the Holinefs and the
Joy of that Place round about you, and let
the World know that you are near to God.
Or can you wear out whole Days and Weeks
together, and never fpeak of Chrijl, of
Heaven,
of form Ghriftiam. 277
Heaven, of the Pleafuresat the Right Hand
of God, and the Happinefs to be found in his
Prefence ? And do you fuffer this little Rem-
nant of Life to wear out daily without fome
Efforts for the Honour of your heavenly Fa-
ther and your Saviour? Can you pafs your
Time away amongft Men, and walk bufily
about their Affairs without any lively or joy-
ful Thoughts of the Bufinefs and the Bleffed-
nefs of the Saints on high, and the Spirits of the •
juft made perfeft ? Are you fo near to the
Place where God and his Son J ejus dwell in
their brighteft Glories, and fay nothing of
them to your Friends round about you ? So
near the Borders of the upper World, and;
yet cleave to the Duft as others do, and dis-
cover as much Attachment to earthly
Things, as thofe who are in the midft of
mortal Amufements, and in the Vigour of
human Life ? If this be your Temper ftill,
what Apology can be made for you ? what
Pretence of an Excufe ? How much do you
difhonour Religion in old Age, and dis-
grace the Profeifion of Fifty or Threefcore
Years ?
You who have walked with God fo long
thro' this Wildernefs, and have been fed
and clothed and fupported all the Way,
who have been delivered from many Enemies
and many Dangers, from Fires and Waters,
and Penis of every kind, who have been
carried
278 Special Obligations
carried thro' Multitudes of Difficulties, and
made to triumph over huge Temptations,
and have had rich Experiences of the Grace
and Mercy of God thro* all your Pilgri-
mage, can you not rejoice in him, trufl
him in this laft Stage of Life, and venture
thro5 Death and the Grave leaning upon his
Arm ? Have you fo often committed your
Souls into the Hands of your bleffed Re-
deemer while they dwell here in FJefh, and
can you not commit your Souls with holy
Cheerfulnefs and Joy into the fame Hands
when you are departing from thofe Regions
of Flefh and Blood, and entering upon the
Paradife of God thro' the dark Valley ?
Can you not fay with the holy Pfalmift,
Pfalm Ixxi. 20. Thou haft done great Things
for me, O Gcd> who is like unto thee ? Thou
haft fhewed me great and fore Troubles, and
given me many a Salvation, thou /halt quicken
me again even from the Duft of Death, thou
/halt bring me again from the Depths of the
Earth ; my God will redeem my Soul from
the Power of the Grave, for he /hall receive
me. Has he carried you thro5 fix Troubles*
and cannot you venture yourfelf under his
Conduct and Care to pais thro5 the feventh
at the appointed Hour, and to make the
Number of your Vi6lories and Salvations
compleat ? We hope you have taught
younger Chriftians to live and walk with
God,
oj fome Chrtfltans. 279
God, by your exemplary Behaviour and
heavenly Converfation , and will you not
alfo teach them to die, by roufing your
Faith into an aciive Vigour, and railing your
Courage high at the Gates of Death and the
Borders of Glory ? Wh.it will the World
fay, this finful and unbelieving World ? And
what will younger Chriftians be ready to fay,
if they obferve fuch as you are, call down
and overwhelmed with tumultuous Fears at
the approaching Hour of your Departure,
when you have all along profeffed to the
World how divine a Support your Religion
contains in it againft all the Terrors of
Death and the Grave ?
SECTION VIII.
Perfuajhes'to fuperior Virtue and Piety.
BEFORE I entirely finilh this Dif-
courfe, perhaps it may not be amifs to
mention a few Motives or perfuq/ive Argu-
ments to awaken and excite you to improve in:
Religion and Virtue prcportionably to all your
Advantages and Obligations, I con fefs,
throughout the Train of my Difcourfe I
have given frequent Hints of this kind al-
ready, and therefore I fhall mention but a
few, and fhall be more brief in the Propofal
lieu*
I. If'
28c Pcrfuafrces tofuperior
L If your Pradtice of fincere Godlinef?-
bear no Proportion to the Obligation you
lie under, and to the Advantages you have
enjoyed, you will dif appoint ihejuft andreafon--
able Expectations of God, Angels, and Men
concerning you. 'Tis true indeed, the blefled
God, who foreknows all Things from the
Beginning, cannot be really difappointed in
a proper benfe, by any Occurrences among
the Children of Men : But he is pleafed often
to condefcend in his Word, to talk with
us after the Manner of Men, in order to
awaken us to Diligence, to Watchflilnefs, .
and to an Improvement of our Bleffings to
fome anfwerable Purpofes in Religion. So.
he argues the Cafe concerning the unfruit-
ful Nation of Ifrael, whom he called and
chofe to be his own People, Ifai. v. 3, 4, &c.
What could have been done more to my Vineyard
that I have not done in it ? When Hooked that
it Jhould bring forth Grapes, wherefore did it
bring forth wild Grapes ? The ever bleffed
God complains here of his People like a.
Vine-Dreffer difappointed of his Hopes.
Again, Angels expett it of you, for they,
are Minifters of many a Favour of God to
you : They are Witneffes of your Privileges
and your Obligations ; they rejoice at your
Converfion to God, and at your Growth in
Hdinefs, and at every Victory you obtain ;
but perhaps you give them Occafion to carry
many
Virtue and Piety. 281
many a melancholy Meffage concerning you
to their Lord in Heaven, melancholy Mef-
fages indeed of abuied Privileges and broken
Obligations. There are Seafons when the
Sons of God who are fent thro* the Earth
come to prefent themfelves before the Lord,
and give an Account of their Commiffion,
and your Condudt, Job. i. 6. O may you
furnifh thofe heavenly Minifters with con-
ftant Matter of joyful Tidings to the
Throne !
And let me add further, Men expeEl it of
you j both the good and the bad : Every one
that cbferves what Advantages you enjoy for
Godlinefs, and what fpecial Obligations you
lie under, expe6ts to fee fome Fruits of
Holinefs anfwerable to your Profefllon, and
to the Cultivation which Heaven has be-
llowed upon you. Your Fellow Chriftians
would rejoice to fee your Religion in a flou-
rifhing State, and the ungodly World watch
for your halting, and ftand ready to cover
your Names with Reproach if you fail in
your Duty. But this leads to a fecond Mo-
tive.
II. If you negleft to improve your Obli-
gations and Advantages, you will give a
fcandalous and mournful Occafion to the Wicked
tofpeak Evil of the Ways of God andGodlinefs :
They will be ready to cry out, " This Re-
" Jigion and Virtue has nothing in it, for the
" ftri&eft
282 Perfuafives to jupcrior
" ftridteft Profcfibrs of it ftiamefiiUy fail in
" their Duty." And as every Party of
Chriftians fuppofe themfelves to have fome
peculiar Advantages, you will give Occa-
sion to every different Sedt and Party, to
throw Difgrace upon your particular Pro-
f effion, if you pretend to more than others,
and pradife lefs. " What are thefe People
who would have us believe, that their
Advantages for Improvement of Holi-
nefs are fuperior to that of their Neigh-
bours ? Are thefe the Perfons that poffefs
Privileges above the reft of the World,
and yet make no higher Advances in Vir-
tue or Purity of Life, and have as little
of Sobriety, or Honeity, or of Religion
in them as their Neighbours ? "
III. Unleis you improve the Bleffings you
enjoy for the Purpofes of Godiineis, you will
forget all thefe Blejfings* thefe peculiar Advan-
tages for Religion* and provoke a righteous God
to remove them. This was the Cafe with
Jerufalem* the City that was beloved and
favoured of God with his own Prefence,
above all the Cities of the Earth, and whi-
ther he fent his own Son from Heaven with
a fpecial Commiffion of Grace and Peace to
the numerous Inhabitants of it : But they
had abufed all their Mercies, they had mif-
improved all their Privileges, and forfeited
att the Favours of a condescending God ;
and
Virtue and Piety. 2 8 3
and therefore the Son of God himfelf pro-
nounced their Deftruction, tho' at the fame
Time he wept over the rebellious City, and
fhed Tears of Pity at the Thoughts of their
Ruin : Lukexix. 41. Matt, xxiii. 37. OJeru-
falem, Jerufalem', thou who killeft the Prophets,
andftoneft them which are fent unto thee, how
often would I have gathered thy Children toge-
ther, even as a Hen gathers her Chickens under
her Wings, and ye would not ? Behold your
Houfe is left unto you de folate : If thou hadjl
known in this thy Bay, (i. e. in this laft Mef-
fage which God has lent thee by me his Son)
if thou hadjl known the things that belong to
thy Peace ! But now they are hid from thine'
Eyes, &c. The fame fort of Threatning is
pronounced againft the chief Priefts and
Elders of the People, Matth. xxi. 41, 42,
&c* The Gofpel of the Son of God was
preached to them, and rejected by them,
Therefore I fay unto you, the Kingdom of God
fhcdlbe taken from you, and given to a Nation
bringing forth the Fruits thereof. Seme of the .
primitive Chriftian Churches who enjoyed
glorious Advantages had fuch a Sentence of
Forfeiture threatned and executed flp
them, Rev. ii 5. Remember from whence ihox
art fallen, O Church of Ephefus, and repent
and do the fir Jt Works •, or elfe I will come unto
thee quickly, and will remove thy Candleftick
$ut of his Place, i e. will diilblve. thy Church,..
and^
284 Perfnajives tofuperior
and deprive thee of all holy Ordinances,
which was done effectually in the Courfe of
punifhing Providence.
And in our Day, we Chriftians in Great
Britain, by neglecting to improve our Ad-
vantages, may provoke God to take away
his Gofpel from amongft us, by permitting
a Spirit of Apoftacy and Infidelity to over-
run the whole Nation. We P rot eft ants may
endanger the Lofs of our Reformation by
fuch impious Negligence, and expofe our
felves in the Providence of God to fome
dreadful and bloody Defolation, whereby
we may be given up to Idolatry, Superfti-
tion, and Tyranny. We DiJJentcrs by the
Mif-Improvement of our prefent Privileges
and Peace, may forfeit thefe Mercies into
the Hands of a righteous God : And tho* no
Authority of Man can juftly deprive us of
our Liberty to worfhip God according to
the Diftates of our own Consciences, fo
Jong as we pay proper Duties to the State,
yet in the Courfe of Providence,, a juftGod
may fuffer fome unrighteous and cruel Fac-
tion to arife in the Land, which may pre-
vail to the Ruin of our Liberties, to the
Definition of our Peace, and to the Shame
and Scandal of a Proteftant Kingdom.
I might upon this Head addrefs my felf
particularly to thofe of every Party who
enjoy any fpecial Advantages above their
Fellows,,
Virtue and Piety. 285
Fellows, and neglecft to improve them.
What if God fhould bereave us of the Ad-
vice of religious Parents, the Affiftance of
pious Friends, the affedting and happy Mi-
•niftry of ufeful Preachers, the Conveniencies
of Retirement and a Clofet, Leifure and
Seafons for religious Worfhip, or any other
Privileges whatfoever, whereby our Souls
might have made Advancement in their
Way to Heaven ? What if in the Courfe of
-his Difpenfations in the World, he fhould
bring us into Circumflances of powerful
Temptation ? What if he fhould caft our
Lot in wicked Families, or take away all
Opportunities of publick Worfhip ? What
if he fhould confine us to Beds of Sicknefs,
and vifit us with a Variety of DiftrefTes of
every kind ? Such Sufferings may give us >
painful Remembrance and bitter RefentmfPi;
of our criminal Abufe of former Mercies.
Or what if our Rebellion againft the Dic-
tates of Confcience, and our frequent Re-
fiftance of the good Motions of God's holy
Spirit, fhould provoke him to withdraw all
thofe kind and heavenly Influences, and to
give us up to the Hardnefs of our own
Hearts ? What if Confcience fhould grow
fbupid and fenfelefs and reprove no more ?
What if the World and Spirit of God fhould
call and invite us no more ? What if we
-fhould be left to our own Folly and M^dne&i
abandoned
286 Perfuajives to fuperior
abandoned to the Power and Tyranny of our
own Iniquities, and run on without Reftraint
or Remorfe to the dreadful Precipice of
Eternity, till we fall into the Pit of Fire
and Darknefs whence there is no Redemp-
tion ?
IV. If you negleft to live anfwerable to
the Privileges which you enjoy, and the
Bonds which lie upon you, your Guilt will be
aggravated, and your final Condemnation en-
haunc*din Proportion to thefe negle&ed Obliga-
tions, and to thefe abufed Advantages. Thus
it was with the Towns of Chorazin and
Capernaum, wherein our Saviour had preach-
ed his Divine Dodtrine, and wrought many
mighty Works, Matth. xi. 20 — 24. It fhall
be more tolerable for lyre and Sidon, two Hea-
then Cities, and even for Sodom and Gomorrah,
thofe Places of abominable Wickednefs, in
the Day of Judgment, than for the Inhabitants
of Galilee, who had abufed fuch heavenly
Privileges. Think of this, O Chriftian \
there is a Day coming when every Advan-
tage thou haft enjoyed fhall appear to have
been a Talent that thou muft account for ;
every Obligation that thou lieft under to
Virtue and Godlinefs fhall be brought into
the Account : And how terrible will that
Scene be, if all thefe Privileges, Trufts and
Engagements fhall appear before the Eyes
of God, Angels, and Men, to have been
wretchedly
Virtue and Piety. 287
wretchedly mif-improved by thy Negli-
gence ? That awful Hour is haft'ning upon
us, when the Lord Jefus Chrift in. flaming
Fire, and upon a Throne of Judgment,
fhall repeat the fame Queftion to us Cbri<*
ftians, to us Proteftants, to us Inhabitants of
Great-Britain^ and to us prof eft Dijfenters,
What have you done more than others ? And
the Voice from the Tribunal fhall carry in
it another Sort of Accent and Majefty than
that in which it was pronounced heretofore in
his Sermon on the Mount. Let each of us
think with our felves what Anfwer we fhall
be able to make to fuch a Voice of folemn
and dreadful Enquiry, if we cannot now
give a tolerable Anfwer when our Miniflers
or our own Confciences put the fame Quef-
tion to us. What Tremblings will leize
our Souls, what Horror overwhelm our
guilty Confciences, if all thefe Advantage's
and thefe Obligations in the fearful Review
fhall ferve only to aggravate the condemning
Sentence, and fhall lay us under tenfold
Punifhment from Heaven ? How dreadful
will be the Anguifh of Confcience in that
Day, when we fhall find ou delves condemned
without Remedy !
V. -The laft Motive. I fhall mention is of
a more gentle and alluring kind. 'Talents
and Advantages well improved are the Way to
obtain ftill greater -Advantages on Earth, and
will
288 Perfuafives tofuperior
will increafe your Crown of Righteoufnefs and
your everlajling Reward in Heaven. Matth.
xiii. 12. IVhofoever hath, and has improved
what he enjoys, to him Jhall fomething further
he given, and he Jhall have more abundant Ad-
vantage ; and Luke xix. 16, 17, &V. He
that received ten "Talents, and improved them
wifely, was made Ruler over ten Cities : He
that had two Talents was made Governor of
two, while the unprofitable Servant who bound
up his Talent in a Napkin, and made no ufe
of it, was difpoffefled of what he enjoyed,
and was driven into everlafling Darknefs
and Mifery, where there is Weeping and Wail-
ing andgnafhing of Teeth, Matth. xxv. 30.
You who profefs to traffick for the Riches
of Heaven, have you no Ambition in you
to be poffefled of fome of the fuperior Trea-
fures, to be raifed to the fublimer Glories
there, and fhine among the brighter and
larger Stars ? One Star will differ from ano-
ther in Glory, 1 Cor. xv. 4 r . And they who
not only arrive at Heaven themfelves, but
lead others thither too, fhall be arrayed in
fuperior Splendors, Dan. xii. 3. You who
are Racers in this holy State of Chriftianity,
have you no Defire to gain fome of the firft
and brightefl Prizes ? There are Crowns laid
up for the Righteous of different Weight
and Luftre, in the Hands of Jefus the final
Judge, and he will reward every one accord-
Virtue and Piety. 289
ing to his Work : Thofe who have many
Talents intrufted with them here on Earth;,
have an Opportunity put into their Hands
of obtaining fome of the nobler Prizes in
Heaven,. and of wearing fome of the brighter
Crowns. Let each of us then fay to our
felves, " Open thine Eyes, O my Soul,
" and take a juft and wife Survey what are
4t thy Talents, what are thy Advantages :
44 Has thy improvement in divine Know-
<c ledge, thy Advances in Grace, thy fu-
44 perior Practices of Virtue and Piety been
44 proportionable to the Bleffings and Pri-
44 vileges that God has conferred upon thee ?"*
44 Awake at this Voice of Warning ! A-
44 wake, and bethink thy {elf, and mourn for
46 thy former Sloth, for thy fhameful Ne-
46 gligence, for thy Dulnefs in the Chriftian
46 Race, and all thine Abufe of the Favours
" of Heaven : Awaken all thy adtive
4i Powers, and prefs forward with new Zeal
" and Aftivity : Strive to anfwer all tlie
" Demands of thy high and holy and hea-
44 venly Calling, and of the peculiar Ad-
4C vantages which thou haft enjoyed, that
4C when Jefust thy Judge, lhall at laft re-
44 peat this folemn Queftion, What haft
4< thou done more than others ? thy Tongue
44 and thy Confcience may give a happy
" Account of thy part Behaviour : Then
44 fhalt thou receive this bleffed Sentence
Q "from
290 Perfuafives to fuperior Virtue, &c.
" from the Lips of thy Lord, Well done good
" and faithful Servant, thou haft been faith-
" fill to the many Obligations under which
" I laid thee, thou haft improved the nu*
" merous Talents and Advantages with
" which I intruded thee in the Days of thy
" Flelh \ here, take thou from my Hands
" one of thefe fairer Crowns, and afcend
*' thou into fome of the higher Regions of
" Immortality and Blefiednefs. Amen. "
The End.
BOOKS published by the fame Author.
I. TJhi losophical Essays on various Subjects,
JL viz. Space, Subftance, Body, Spirit, the Opera-
tions of the Soul in Union with the Body, innate Ideas,
perpetual Confcioufnefs, Place and Motion of Spirits,
the departing Soul, the Refurre&ion of the Body,
the Production and Operation of Plants and Animals ;
with fome Remarks on Mr. Locke's Effay on the
Human Undemanding. To which is fubjoined, A brief
Scheme of Ontology ; or, the Science of Being in genera},
with its Affections. The Third Edition, 8vo.
II. Logic k : Or, the right Ufe of Reafon in the En-
quiry after Truth : With a Variety of Rules to
guard againft Error in the Affairs of Religion and
human Life, as well as in the Sciences. The Seventh
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plement to the Art of Logick : Containing a Variety
of Remarks and Rules for the Attainment and Com-
munication of ufeful Knowledge in Religion, in the
Sciences and in common Life. 8vro.
IV. The DoFtrine of the Fajtons explained and im-
proved ; Or, a brief and comprehenfive Scheme of the
natural Affections of Mankind ; and an Account of
their Names, Nature, Appearance, Effefts, and dif-
ferent Ufes in human Life. To which are fubjoined,
Moral and Divine Rules for the Regulation or Go-
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Abufe of the PaJJions in Religion ; with a Devout Me-
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With a facred Hymn fuited to each Subjea. Defign'd
for the Ufe of Chriitian Families, as well as for the
Hours
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Joys or Sorrows of departed Souls at Death ; and the
Glory or Terror of the Refurrection. Whereunto is
prefix'd, An Effay toward the Proof of a feparate*
State of Souls immediately after Death, 8vo.
VIII. '71; e Holinefs of Times, Places and People, under
the Jewifli and Chriftian Diipenfations : Considered
and compared in feveral Difcourfes, on the Sabbath,
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The chief Springs of it opened, and its various Ad-
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Views of the contrary Vice, 8vo.
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