mere calm and indolent dictates of Reason would ever do. By this means, when the Paffions are once fet right, they be come exceeding ferviceable to us, in things that relate to God and our neighbour, as well as to ourselves: it is on this account they are so useful in affairs of the utmost importance that coucern this life, and the life to come. [To be continued.] ** ****** A SER M O N [By Dr. CUDWORTH.] On 1 John ii. 3. 4. [Continued from page 537-1 RE there not many of us, that pretend much to Chrift, AR that are plainly in our lives as proud, ambitious, vainglorious as any others? Are not many of us as much under the power of unruly paffions; as cruel, revengeful, malicious, cenforious as others? That have our minds as deeply engaged in the world, and as much enflaved to Riches, Gain, Profit, thofe great admired deities of the fons of men, and their fouls as much overwhelmed and funk with the cares of this life? Do not many of us give ourselves to the pleafures of the Flesh, and though not without remorfe of confcience, yet every now and then fecretly foak ourselves in them? Are there not many of us that have as deep a share in Injustice and Oppreffion, in vexing the fatherless and the widows? I wish it may not prove fome of our cafes at the last day, to use such pleas as these unto Chrift in our behalf: Lord, I have prophefied in thy Name; I have preached many a zealous Sermon for thee; I have kept many a long Fast; have been very active for thy Cause in Church and State; VOL. V. 4 C nay, nay, I never made any question but that my name was written in the Book of Life: when yet, alas! we fhall receive no other return from Chrift but this, I know you not, depart from me ye workers of iniquity. I am fure there are too many of us, that have long pretended to Chrift, which make little or no progrefs in true Chriftianity, that is, Holiness of Life; that ever hang hovering in a Twy-light of Grace, and never feriously put ourselves forward into clear Day-light, but efteem the glimmering Crepufculum which we are in, and like that faint Twy-light better than broad, open Day: whereas, The path of the juft (as the Wiseman speaks) is as the fhining light, that shineth more and more unto the perfect day. I am fure there are many of us that are perfect dwarfs in our fpiritual ftature, like thofe filly women (that St. Paul fpeaks of) laden with fins, and led away with divers lufs, that are ever learning, and never able to come to the knowledge of the truth; that are not one jot taller in Christianity than we were many years ago; but have ftill as fickly, crazy, and unfound a temper of foul as we had long before. Indeed we seem to do fomething: we are always moving and lifting at the ftone of Corruption that lies upon our hearts, but yet we never fir it notwithstanding, or at least never roll it off from us. We are fometimes a little troubled with the guilt of our fins, and then we think we must thrust our lufts out of our hearts; but afterwards, we fprinkle ourfelves over with, I know not what, holy water, and fo are contented to let them ftill abide quietly within us. We do every day truly confefs the fame fins, and pray against them; and yet fill commit them as much as ever, and lie as deeply under the power of them. We have the fame water to pump out in every prayer, and ftill we let the fame leak in upon us again. We make a great deal of noife, and raise a great deal of duft with our feet; but we do not move from off the ground on which we ftood; we do not go forward at all or if we do fometimes make a little progress, we quickly lofe lofe again the ground which we had gained: as if Religion were nothing else but a dancing up and down upon the fame piece of ground, and making several motions and friskings on it; and not a fober journeying and travelling onwards to fome certain place. We do and undo. We weave fometimes a web of Holiness, but then we let our lufts come and undo and unravel all again. Like Sisyphus in the Fable, we roll up a mighty ftone with much ado, fweating and tugging up the hill and then we let it go and tumble down again to the bottom: and this is our conftant work.. What is it that thus cheats and gulls us out of our Religion? that makes us thus conftantly tread the fame ring and circle of Duties, where we make no progrefs at all forwards, and the farther we go, are still never the nearer to our journey's end? What is it that thus flarves our Religion, and makes it look like those kine in Pharaoh's dream, ill-favoured and lean fleshed, that it hath no colour in its face, no blood in its veins, no life nor heat at all in its members? What is it that thus be-dwarfs us in our Christianity? What low, fordid, unworthy Principles do we act by, that they hinder our growth, and make us ftand at a stay, and keep us always at the very porch and entrance where we first began? It is a fleepy, fluggish conceit, That it is enough for us if we be but once in a fate of grace; if we have but once ftepped over the threshold, we need not take fo great pains to travel any farther? Or is it another damping, choaking,ftifling Opinion, That Chrift hath done all for us already, without us, and nothing need more to be done within us? No matter how wicked we are in ourselves, for we have holiness without us; no matter how fickly and difeafed our fouls are within, for they have health without them. Why may we not as well be fatisfied and contented to have happine's without us to all eternity, and fo ourfelves for ever continue miferable? Little children, let no man deceive you: he that doth righteouf nefs is righteous, but he that committeth fin is of the devil. 4 C 2 Let Let us not only talk and difpute of Chrift, but let us indeed put on the Lord Jefus Chrift. Having those great and precious promifes, which he hath given us, let us ftrive to be made partakers of the divine Nature, efcaping the corruption that is in the world through luft, and being begotten again to a lively hope of enjoying Chrift hereafter, let us purify ourfelves as he is pure. Let us express a fweet harmonious affection in these jarring times: that fo if it be poffible, we may tune the world into better mufic. Efpecially in matters of Religion, let us ftrive with all meeknefs to inftruct and convince one another. Let us endeavour to promote the Gofpel of peace: the Dove. like Gospel, with a Dove-like fpirit. This was the way by which the Gofpel was at first propagated in the world: Chrift did not cry, nor lift up his voice in the fireets; a bruifed reed he did not break, and the fmoking flax he did not quench; and yet he brought forth judgment unto victory. He whispered the Gospel to us from Mount Sion, in a still voice; and yet the found thereof went out quickly throughout all the earth. The Gospel at first came down upon the world gently and foftly like the dew upon Gideon's fleece; and yet it quickly foaked quite through it: and doubtlefs this is ftill the most effectual way to promote it farther. Sweetnefs or Ingenuoufnefs will more command men's minds, than Paffion, Sournels and Severity: as the foft pillow fooner breaks the flint than the hardest marble, let us follow Truth in Love; and of the two indeed, be contented rather to mifs in the conveying of a fpeculative Truth, than to part with Love. When we would convince men of any Error, by the strength of Truth, let us withal pour the fweet balm of Love upon their heads. Truth and Love are two the most powerful things in the world; and when they both go together, they cannot eafily be withstood. The golden beams of Truth, and the filken cords of Love, twisted together, will draw men on with a fweet violence whether they will or no. [To be concluded in our next.] A true A true Relation of the chief things which an evil Spirit did HE [Concluded from page 541.] E made us hear for a long time, a harmony not unpleasant, of two little bells tied together, which he had taken from among some rufty irons in my houfe. When I heard them first, I knew by their found that they were mine, and went to the place where I had laid them, but did not find them. Neither did the Demon ufe thefe bells in my houfe only, but he carried them about to many places. Upon a Lord's-Day morning, as I was going to officiate at Urigny, with fome elders of my Church, we heard the found of those bells very near. Mr. Lullier, one of our company affirmed unto me that he had heard them many times at his house. Many others have heard them very near, but could never fee them. Neither did that Demon play his tricks only at my house, Mr. Lullier hath told me of many of his actions in his house and fhop. As the taking and hiding his jewels, &c. and then putting them where they were before. While Mr. Lullier was telling me of this, he laid a gold ring, which he had then in his hand, upon the table, with the tool that he held it with; but presently he found them miffing, and in vain fought them half an hour, wherefore he betook himself to other work; but then he and I faw both the ring and the tool fall upon the table again. One night that Lullier had not set up with us as he used to do, two that came from my house very late flaid by Lullier's fhop to give him an account of the Demon's actions and words that night. While they were talking, the Demon three times knockt very hard upon a fhed of boards that was over the fhop. The next night after, Lullier and Repay coming from my houfe 1 |