And, after this comparison, pronounce our liturgy the greatest treasure of rational devotion; and pray God would vouchsafe long to continue to us the use of it, 837.

SERMONS XVII. XVIII.

OF THE HEINOUS GUILT OF TAKING PLEASURE IN Other Men'S SINS. Romans i. 32 - Who knowing the judgment of God, that they which commit such things are worthy of death, not only do the same, but have pleasure in them that do them. Pp. 338, 358.

The sin of taking pleasure in other men's sins is not only distinct from, but also much greater than all those others mentioned in the foregoing catalogue, 838. To arrive at which pitch of sinning there is a considerable difficulty, 842, because every man has naturally a distinguishing sense of good and evil, and an inward satisfaction or dissatisfaction after the doing of either, and can not quickly or easily extinguish this principle, but by another inferior principle gratified with objects contrary to the former, 340. And consequently no man is quickly or easily brought to take pleasure in his own, much less in other men's sins, 341. Of which sin,

I. The causes are: 1. The commission of the same sins in one's own person, 842. 2. The commission of them against the full conviction of conscience, 344. 8. The continuance in them, 346. 4. The inseparable poor-spiritedness of guilt, which is less uneasy in company, 348. 5. A peculiar unaccountable malignity of nature, 349.

II. The reasons why the guilt of that sin is so great, are: 1. That there is naturally no motive to tempt men to it, 852. 2. That the nature of this sin is boundless and unlimited, 355. 3. That this sin includes in it the guilt of many preceding ones, 856.

III. The persons guilty of that sin are generally such as draw others to it, 858; particularly, 1. who teach doctrines, 358, which represent sinful actions either as not sinful, 359, or as less sinful, than they really are, 361. Censure of some modern casuists, 862. 2. Who allure men to sin through formal persuasion or inflaming objects, 368. 3. Who affect the company of vicious persons, 365. 4. Who encourage others in their sins by commendation, 366, or preferment, 867.

Lastly, the effects of this sin are: Upon particular persons; that it quite depraves the natural frame of the heart, 368: it indisposes a man to repent of it, 869; it grows the more as a man lives longer, 370; it will damn more surely, because many are damned who never arrived to this pitch, 372. 2. Upon communities of men; that it propagates the practice of any sin till it becomes national, 372; especially where great sinners make their dependants their proselytes, 373, and the follies of the young carry with them the approbation of the ald, 874. This the reason of the late increase of vice, 374.

SERMON XIX.

NATURAL RELIGION WITHOUT REVELATION, SUFFICIENT TO RENDER A SINNER INEXCUSABLE.

Romans i. 20. So that they are without excuse. P. 876.

The apostle in this epistle addresses himself chiefly to the Jews; but in this first chapter he deals with the Greeks and Gentiles, 376, whom he charges with

an inexcusable sinfulness, 376. And the charge contains in this, and in the precedent and subsequent verses,

I. The sin; [that knowing God, they did not glorify him as God, ver. 21;] idolatry; not that kind of one which worships that for God which is not God; but the other, which worships the true God by the mediation of corporeal resemblances, 377.

II. The persons guilty of this sin; [such as professed themselves wise, ver. 22;] not the Gnostics, but the old heathen philosophers, 379.

III. The cause of that sin, [holding the truth in unrighteousness, ver. 18;] 381, that the truths which they were accountable for, viz. 1. The being of a God, 881. 2. That he is the maker and governor of the world, 381. 3. That he is to be worshiped, 382. 4. That he is to be worshiped by pious practices, 382. 5. That every deviation from duty is to be repented of, 382. 6. That every guilty person is obnoxious to punishment, 382,

Were by them held in unrighteousness, 1. By not acting up to what they knew, 883. 2. By not improving those known principles into proper consequences, 384. 3. By concealing what they knew, 385.

IV. The judgment passed upon them, [that they were without excuse, ver. 20,] 388, that they were unfit not only for a pardon, but even for a plea, 389. Because,

1. The freedom of the will, which they generally asserted, excluded them from the plea of unwillingness, 390. 2. The knowledge of their understanding excluded them from the plea of ignorance, 390.

From all these we may consider,

1. The great mercy of God in the revelation of the gospel, 392.

2. The deplorable condition of obstinate sinners under it, 393.

SERMON XX.

OF SACRAMENTAL PREPARATION.

Matthew xxii. 12. And he saith unto him, Friend, how camest thou in hither, not having a wedding-garment ? P. 395.

The design of this parable, under the circumstantial passages of a wedding's royal solemnity, is to set forth the free offer of the gospel to the Jews first, and upon their refusal, to the Gentiles, 396. But it may be more peculiarly applied to the holy eucharist; which not only by analogy, but with propriety of speech, and from the very ceremony of breaking bread, may very well be called a wedding-supper, 397; to the worthy participation whereof there is indispensably required a suitable and sufficient preparation, 398. In which these conditions are required:

I. That the preparation be habitual, 402.

II. That it be also actual, 404; of which the principal ingredients are: 1. Self-examination, 406. 2. Repentance, 408. 3. Prayer, 409. 4. Fasting, 410. 5. Almsgiving, 411. 6. Charitable temper of mind, 412. 7. Reading and meditation, 414.*

The reverend author seemed to have designed another discourse upon this text, because in this sermon he only dispatches the first part, viz. the necessity of preparation; but proceeds not to the second, viz. that God is a severe animadverter upon such as partake without such a preparation, 398.

SERMON XXI.

OF THE FATAL IMPOSTURE AND FORCE OF WORDS.

Isaiah v. 20.- Woe unto them that call evil good, and good evil. P. 416.

Here a woe is denounced against those, not only in particular, who judicially pronounce the guilty innocent, and the innocent guilty; but in general, who by abusing men's minds with false notions, make evil pass for good, and good for evil, 416. And in the examination of this vile practice it will be necessary, I. To examine the nature of good and evil, what they are, and upon what they are founded, viz. upon the conformity or unconformity to right reason, 418. Not upon the opinion, 419, or laws of men, 419; because then, 1. The same action under the same circumstances might be both morally good and morally evil, 419. 2. The laws could neither be morally good nor evil, 423. The same action might be in respect of the divine law commanding it, morally good; and of an human, forbidding it, morally evil, 423.

But that the nature of good and evil is founded upon a jus naturale, antecedent to all jus positivum, may be exemplified in those two moral duties, towards God and towards one's neighbor, 424.

II. To show the way how good and evil operate upon men's minds, viz. by their respective names or appellations, 425.

III. To show the mischief arising from the misapplication of names, 426. For since, 1. the generality of men are absolutely governed by words and names, 426, and 2. chiefly in matters of good and evil, 431, which are commonly taken upon trust, by reason of the frequent affinity between vice and virtue, 431, and of most men's inability to judge exactly of things, 432. Thence may be inferred the comprehensive mischief of this misapplication, by which man is either, 1. deceived, 434, or 2. misrepresented, 435.

SERMON XXII.

PREVENTION OF SIN AN INVALUABLE MERCY.

1 Samuel xxv. 32, 33.—And David said to Abigail, Blessed be the Lord God of Israel, which sent thee this day to meet me: and blessed be thy advice, and blessed be thou, which hast kept me this day from coming to shed blood, and from avenging myself with my own hand. P. 438.

This is David's retractation of his revenge resolved upon an insolent wealthy rustic, who had most unthankfully rejected his request with railing at his person and messengers, 438. From which we may,

I. Observe the greatness of sin-preventing mercy, 440. Which appears, 1. From the deplorable condition of the sinner, before that mercy prevents him, 440. 2. From the cause of that mercy, which is God's free grace, 448. 8. From the danger of sin unprevented, which will then be certainly committed; and in such deliberate commission there is a greater probability that it will not, than that it will be pardoned, 445, because every commission hardens the soul in that sin, and disposes the soul to proceed further, and it is not in the sinner's power to repent, 445. 4. From the advantages of the prevention of sin above those of the pardon of it, 447, which are the clearness of a man's condi tion, 447, and the satisfaction of his mind, 448.

II. Make several useful applications, 449. As, 1. To learn how vastly greater the pleasure is upon the forbearance, than in the commission of sin, 449. 2. To find out the disposition of one's heart by this sure criterion, with what ecstasy he receives a spiritual blessing, 450. 3. To be content, and thankfully to acquiesce in any condition, and under the severest passages of Providence, 452, with relation to health, 452, reputation, 452, and wealth, 453.

SERMONS XXIII. XXIV.

OF THE NATURE AND MEASURE OF CONSCIENCE.

1 John iii. 21. — Beloved, if our heart condemn us not, we have confidence towards God. Pp. 456, 479.

It is of great moment and difficulty to be rationally satisfied about the estate of one's soul, 456: in which weighty concern we ought not to rely upon such uncertain rules, 457, as these: 1. The general esteem of the world, 457. 2. The judgment of any casuist, 458. 3. The absolution of any priest, 460. 4. The external profession even of a true religion, 461.

But a man's own heart and conscience, above all other things, is able to give him confidence towards God, 464. In order to which we must know,

I. How the heart or conscience ought to be informed, 464, viz. by right reason and scripture, 464, and endeavoring to employ the utmost of our ability to get the clearest knowledge of our duty; and thus to come to that confidence, which, though it amounts not to an infallible demonstration, yet is a rational, wellgrounded hope, 466.

II. By what means we may get our heart thus informed, 467, viz.: 1. By a careful attention to the dictates of reason and natural morality, 467. 2. By a tender regard to every pious motion of God's Spirit, 469. 3. By a study of the revealed word of God, 471. 4. By keeping a frequent and impartial account with our conscience, 473.

With this caution, lest either, on the one side, every doubting may overthrow our confidence, 475, or, on the other, a bare silence of conscience raise it too much, 476.

III. Whence the testimony of conscience is so authentic, 479, viz.: 1. Because it is commissioned to this office by God himself, 481. And there is examined the absurdity and impertinence, 482, the impudence and impiety of false pretenses of conscience, 488; such particularly as those of schismatical dissenters, 484, 489, who oppose the solemn usages of our church; the necessity of which is founded upon sound reason, 486. 2. Because it is quick-sighted, 492, tender and sensible, 493, exactly and severely impartial, 494.

IV. Some particular instances wherein this confidence suggested by conscience exerts itself, 496, viz. 1. In our addresses to God by prayer, 494. 2. At the time of some notable sharp trial, 497, as poverty, 498, calumny and disgrace, 499. 8. Above all others at the time of death, 500.

SERMONS.

SERMON I.

PREACHED BEFORE THE COURT AT CHRIST CHURCH CHAPEL IN OXFORD.

TO THE RIGHT HONORABLE EDWARD EARL OF CLARENDON, LORD HIGH CHANCELLOR OF ENGLAND, AND CHANCELLOR OF THE UNIVERSITY OF OXON, AND ONE OF HIS MAJESTY'S MOST HONORABLE PRIVY COUNCIL.

MY LORD,

THOUGH to prefix so great a name to so mean a piece seems like

enlarging the entrance of an house that affords no reception; yet since there is nothing can warrant the publication of it, but what can also command it, the work must think of no other patronage than the same that adorns and protects its author. Some indeed vouch great names, because they think they deserve; but I, because I need such and had I not more occasion than many others to see and converse with your lordship's candor and proneness to pardon, there is none had greater cause to dread your judgment; and thereby in some part I venture to commend my own. For all know, who know your lordship, that in a nobler respect, than either that of government or patronage, you represent and head the best of universities; and have traveled over too many nations and authors to encourage any one that understands himself, to appear an author in your hands, who seldom read any books to inform yourself, but only to countenance and credit them. But, my lord, what is here published pretends no instruction, but only homage; while it teaches many of the world, it only describes your lordship, who have made the ways of labor and virtue, of doing, and doing good, your business and your recreation, your meat and your drink, and, I may add also, your sleep. My lord, the subject here treated of is of that nature, that it would seem but a chimera, and a bold paradox, did it not in the very front

VOL. I.

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