LXXX sermons preached at the parish-church of St. Mary Magdalene Milk-street, London whereof nine of them not till now published / by the late eminent and learned divine Anthony Farindon ... ; in two volumes, with a large table to both.

PART. VII.

JAMES I. 25.

But whoso looketh into the perfect law of liberty, and continueth therein, he being not a forgetful hearer, but a doer of the work this man shall be blessed in his deed.

TO Persevere or continue in the Gospel, and To be bles∣sed for ever, are the two stages of a Christian, the one here on earth, the other in heaven, and there is scarce a moment, but a last breath, between them, no∣thing but a mouldering and decaying wall, this ta∣bernacle of flesh, which falleth down suddenly, and then we pass and enter. And that we may persevere and continue, means are here prescribed; first, assi∣duous Meditation in this Law; we must not be forget∣ful hearers of it, but look into it as into a glass;* 1.1 yet not as a man that be∣holdeth his natural face in a glass, and then goeth away and forgetteth himself, not as a man who looketh carelesly, casteth an eye, and thinketh no more of it; but rather as a woman, who looketh into her glass with intention of mind, with a kind of curiosity and care, stayeth and dwelleth upon it, fitteth her attire and ornaments to her by a kind of method, setteth every hair in its proper place, and accurately dresseth and adorneth her self by it. And sure there is more care and exactness due to the soul then to the body. Secondly, that we may continue and persevere, we must not only hear and remember, but do the work: For Piety is confirmed by Practice.

To these we may now add a third, which hath so near a relation to Pra∣ctice, that it is even included in it and carrried along with it: And it is; To be such students in Christ's School as S. Paul was.* 1.2 To study and exercise our selves to have alwayes a conscience void of offence toward God and toward

men. Not to triflle with our God, or play the wanton with our Consci∣ence: Not to displease and wound her in one particular, with a resoluti∣on to follow her in the rest: Not to let our love of the world or fear of danger make that a truth which we formerly looked upon as a foul and per∣nicious errour; to be afraid of it in a calm, and ready to embrace it in a tempest: Not to dispute and persuade our selves to that which nothing but the horrour and advantage which attendeth it could make lawful. 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉, saith Nazianzene; Do not play the Sophister against thy self, nor invent an art and method to hasten thy ru∣ine and destruction. These petty concessions, as we think, these easie but base condescensions are ominous and prophetical, and presage and foretel a greater fall: They look towards the lowest pit, to the very abyss and depth of sin, and thither they tend. What may not he be induced in time to do, who upon no better reason or motive then the love of himself and the suggestion of the flesh is ready to put up the question to himself, May I not do this? a question which he never thought of before. How far may he run in the wayes of Errour, when but to ask the question is to go too far? This is the first knock at the gates of Death: and he that is so bold as to knock will venture further, even into her chambers: For when our fears or hopes either flatter or affright us to chuse that which before we looked upon with some distaste, and had set up a resolution, though but a weak one, against it, we then begin to guild it over with some fair pretence, and would fain learn how to make it good, and so approve our choice, which appeared in another shape unto us before the course of the world and of things was altered. I would not engage my self now, and within a while, I think I am bound to it. It is now Perjury, anon a lawful and a necessary Oath. Now I cannot look upon the Idol: my pre∣sent Interest calleth upon me and cajoleth me, I soon learn to look, and at last fall down and worship it. Thus it falleth out when we are not strict observers of our Conscience in the least commands: for then we soon put her off, and fling her by in her greatest, and as fools, as the Father speak∣eth, Ludimus adversûs nos ipsos, we play and sport our selves and with dan∣ger, and are witty and subtle to our own destruction. We do more then the Pope ever did, though he be liberal of his Pardons: We grant our Indulgences to our selves. We graze, and play, and run at large; and, when the tempest approcheth, we run to the burroughs of excuses, as those little beasts in the Proverbs do to the holes of the rocks. We do that which we should not do, and which at first we would not do; and then say, God be merciful to us in this. We venture upon that which we once thought a sin; and though that thought will not quite leave us, yet we say of it as Lot did of Zoar, Is it not a little one? and my soul shall live. A little one it may be, but as little as it is, the very condescension to it un∣der that name may prepare the way and make the path smooth to let in the greatest. O quàm parvis veniunt summa mala principiis! How great a mat∣ter doth a little fire kindle! How doth he that is willing now to slip, at last fall and bruise himself to pieces? For the same motive which brought me thus far, may yet carry me further out of my way. That which brought me to sleep on the bank, may at last tumble me into the stream and drown me; especially if it arise out of worldly respects. That which maketh me slight my Conseience in the least, may gain advantage and strength by that neglect, and have force to debauch and prostitute her in the grea∣test sin. That which maketh me lie, may make me steal. That which ma∣keth my countenance fall, may make me a murtherer. It is not the last cup that intoxicateth. It is not the last day that bringeth on age. My age began in the womb. When I began to live, I began to die. It is not

the last sin that hardeneth us: For Induration came in and began with our first yielding and condescension. It was a high strain of the Orator ac∣cusing Popilius for Cicero's death, Occisurus Ciceronem, incipere de••uit à patre; He could not have killed Cicero, if he had not begun with his own father, and first murthered him. But a lesser sin then that might have led him to it. That boy that hath heart enough but to put out a Quail's eyes, may at last take courage and embolden himself to imbrue his hands in the bloud of his father. The Thurificatores amongst the Ancients did not re∣nounce their faith when they offered up a little incense to heathen Gods; yet were they counted as Idolaters, and cast out of the Church. The names of the Libellatici and Traditores are infamous to this day, where∣of the one signed their Apostasie with their own hand, and the other with their own hands gave up Gods Word to be burnt in the fire. And some there were amongst them who bought it out with their money, and pur∣chased a license not to do it; yet these were numbered amongst the Lapsi, those that were fallen away, and passed with the heaviest censure of the Church upon them. And what shifts, what evasions, what witty, wit∣less devices have we heard of in these our dayes? How have men studied perdition, and gloried in their shame? What would they do? What would they not do? How have they grown worse and worse, deceiving and being deceived; learning this cursed art of cheating themselves, and teaching it others; and then applauding each other in this their discretion and wis∣dom, and laughing at and despising those simple and self-will'd souls that had so much conscience, and so little wit, as not to save themselves, that is, not to serve Christ and the world! And these are CHRISTIANS. They profess Christ's name, they hear his Word, and they never hear enough. They talk of Heaven, but mean their Purse; and to safeguard this, will forfeit that; to save a peny will give up their reason, and to satisfie their appetite, deny their conscience. Christians they are, but such Christians that, if they retire not and repent, may in time become circumcised Jews. There is as fair, or rather as foul, a probability for the one as the other. Dost thou startle at the name of Jew? Thou didst so at first, and wast as much afraid of that which now thou embracest, and hast conscience to defend even against thy conscience. Beloved, Con∣science was never given us to toy withall, but to hold and possess and keep unspotted; which when once upon low and base respects we put away, we are straight in danger concerning faith and our profession to make shipwreck, and so be fit to be delivered to Satan to fill us with all iniquity.* 1.3 Every wilful sin, every wilful violation of conscience, if deliberately drawn on by the love of the world, is a step and degree to Apostasie. E∣very wilful sin is fruitful, and seldom endeth in it self. He that telleth a lie, is in a disposition to betray a Kingdom: He that slandereth his neigh∣bour, is in an aptitude to blaspheme God. We may see Wantonness even budding out of Luxury, Strife shooting forth out of Covetousness, & out of Strife Murther. He that yieldeth up his Conscience for his flesh and State, will be the more pliable to yield it up when they call for it upon the hardest terms. Take heed of these yieldings and condescensions. Sae∣pè peccat, qui semel. One fall naturally draweth on another, and that a third, till we come in profundum, to the very bottom. Every little sin, if we commit it because we think it little, is a great one, and carrieth as it were written in its forehead, BEHOLD, A TROOP COMETH. Therefore, to conclude this, let us not trifle with our con∣science, but honour it. And we honour our Conscience as we do our God: for she is as our God upon earth. We honour her, when we ob∣serve her, and bow to every beck; hearken what she will say, and do

it; and what she forbiddeth, avoid, not touch, not taste, not handle; ••••ye from it as from a serpent, that doth now flatter, but will hereafter sting us to death. It is no honour to commend Conscience, and wound her; to call her a Temple of Solomon, a Paradise of delights, the Court of God, and the Habitation of the Spirit, as Bernard calleth a good Consci∣ence: Then we honour her, when we make her so; when we let her keep her throne, when we bow to her sceptre, when the image of her Dictates is visible in all the emanations of our Soul; in our Thoughts, when they are such as she would mould; in our Words, when we speak after her; and in our Works, when she doth begin and finish them; When we subscribe to her first commands, which we received when we were free from all interpellations of Fear or Hope, and fall not off at their after-solicitations to the contrary, and then build up a false persuasion in honour of it, and call it Conscience; offend and sin against her, and then give up her name to an Idol. When she commandeth si∣lence, and we blaspheme; when she lifteth up our heart to heaven, and our thoughts are full of adulteries; when she prescribeth patience, and we strike; when she bindeth our hands, and we break loose; when she sealeth up our lips, and we will open them to perjury; when by-re∣spects shall win us to that of which she hath said, see you do it not; when vve are not vvhat she would have us to be, but fashion our selves to the world, and yet bear her image and superscription, are the worst of men with a Good conscience; then we dishonour her, place her un∣der our lusts and most loathsome desires, take her from her throne, and lay her in a Golgotha. They who look as she looketh, and speak as she speaketh, and do as she commandeth, they vvho obey her, these a∣lone are they vvho honour her. And then, as she is our God on earth, that is, as she is in the place of God, so vvhat God spake of himself will be verified of our Conscience also, They that honour her, she will ho∣nour. She will be as our Angel to keep us in all our wayes, that we hurt not our foot against any stone of offence; She will root and build us up in the faith, and in a constant obedience to this perfect law of liberty: She vvill settle and establish us to remain in it, and set the crown upon our heads, even all the Blessedness this life is ca∣pable of, and that Blessedness which remaineth for ever in the life to come. And so we have brought you to the last and best of all, the Reward, set down in the last words, This man shall be blessed in his deed.

This is the End of all, and the End is the crown of all. 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉, saith Aristotle; The End is that which all look upon. In this all our desires and endeavours and counsels meet and rest. It is that which giveth force to a Law, which maketh Perfection something, and Liberty a gift: And vvithout it a Law vvere void and no Law, Perfection vvere nothing, and Liberty but a name. The end shineth and casteth an influence and lustre upon all, upon the Law, upon Per∣fection, upon Liberty. For we are obedient to the Law, we strive forward to Perfection, we stand fast in our Liberty for some end, and that is Blessedness. Reward and Punishment are the two adamantine pillars, saith Plato, of a Commonwealth: And they are the two pillars vvhich up∣hold the Church. Democritus called them Gods that bear and uphold all things. These lead us under a Law, guide us to Perfection, and uphold us in Liberty. If those were not, these could not be; but all Law, Perfection and Liberty would fall to the ground. If Heaven were not happiness, it were not worth a thought, much less our violence. To enjoy something better then what we do, is the basis and foundation on which every action

is raised. For who doeth any thing onely that he may do it? That action is vain that endeth in it self. Fruition is the ultimus terminus, the last end, of all Knowledge and Volition. For To know onely to know, is no better then Ignorance. And in every act of the Will it is manifest: For no man willeth onely that he may will, no man loveth onely that he may love, no man hateth onely that he may hate, no man hopeth onely that he may hope; but in every proffer, inclination and determination of the Will we look further then the act in which it endeth. When we desire any thing, we do it with an intent to be united to it, to meet and embrace it, and from that union something else in which the desire may rest and be fully satisfied. This made Moses meek, Abraham obedient, David de∣vout, Job patient. This made Apostles and Martyrs; this led them through honour and dishonour, through good report and evil re∣port, and at last brought them to the cross and to the block, the next stage unto Blessedness. For that which moveth the Will to obedience of the Law is before the obedience it self, as that which exciteth and worketh it. If this be not set up, there is no such thing as Conscience or Obedience; at least, our Conscience would lose its office, and neither accuse nor excuse us, neither be our comforter nor tormenter. If there were no Hell, there were no worm: and if there were no Heaven in the next, there were no joy in this life. The Apostle is plain. Without faith, that is,* 1.4 without a full persuasion of a future estate, it is impossible to please God. And, He that cometh unto God, must believe that he is, and that he is a rewar∣der of them that diligently seek him. And in this appeareth the glory and excellency of the Gospel of Christ, of this Law of Liberty, that it requireth no more at our hands for the obtaining of eternity of bliss but this Faith, this persuasion: If so be we be holy and inno∣cent, and remain in this Law, and by this faith overcome the world. BLESSEDNES then is as the Sun, and looketh and shineth on all; putteth life in the Law, raiseth our Perfection, begetteth and uphold∣eth our Liberty, maketh Conscience quick and lively either to af∣fright or joy us, either to seourge or feast us. If in this life onely we had hope, our faith were vain; nay, this Law, the Gospel, were vain. And therefore in every storm and tempest under the shadow and wings of this Hope we find shelter: We flie for refuge, saith the Apostle, to lay hold upon the hope which is s••t before us, 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉. We flie out of the world, a shop of vanity and uncertainty, the region of changes and chances, to this Hope, as to an anchor of the soul sure and stedfast; which cannot deceive us if we lay hold on it; for it entereth into that within the veil, and so is firm and safe, fastened on this Blessedness, as an anchor that reacheth to the bottom and sticketh fast in the ground. Blessedness upholdeth and setleth our Hope; and on our Hope our Obedience is raised to reach that Bles∣sedness on which our Hope is setled. In a word; Blessedness, like Christ himself, is 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉 and 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉, the first and the last; the end, and yet the first mover of us in those wayes which lead unto it. Christiano coelum antè patuit quàm via; Heaven is opened to a Christian, and then the way. And he that walketh in it, shall enter in; he that doeth the work shall be blessed in it. Now BEATUS ERIT, He shall be blessed, may either look upon this span, or upon that immeasurable space of eter∣nity: And it is true in both; both here, where we converse with Men and Misery; and there, where we shall have the company of Seraphim and Cherubim, and follow the Lamb whithersoever he goeth.

Here we have something in hand, there the accomplishment; some ears we have, we shall have the whole sheaf. Here we have one part of Blessedness, peace of conscience: there remaineth the greater, the reversion in the highest heavens. As Christ said of the two Commandements; This is the great Blessedness; and the other is like un∣to it, that Joy which is the resultance of every good work, which we call our Heaven upon earth. That which is to come is a state of per∣fection, an aggregation of all that is truly good, without the least tincture and shew of evil, as Boethius speaketh. This cannot be found here on earth in the best Saint, whose joy and peace is sometimes interrup∣ted for a while by the gnawings of some sin or other which overtaketh him, or by the sight of imperfection, which will not suffer his joy to be full. The best peace on earth may meet with disturbance. Therefore Peace is found alone in the most perfect Good, even God himself, who is Perfection it self, whose delight and paradise is in his own bosom; Which he openeth, and out of which he poureth a part of it on his creature; and of which we do in a manner take possession when we look into and remain in the perfect Law of Liberty, which is an emanation from him, a beam of that Law which was with God from all eternity, and by which as we are made after the image, so are we transformed after the similitude of God; which Plato himself calleth 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉 assimilation, and 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉 union with God: In whom alone those two powers of the soul, those two Horseleaches, which ever cry, Give, Give, the Understanding, which is ever drawing new conclusions, and the Will, which is ever pursuing new objects, have their eternal sabbath and rest. He that doeth the work shall be blessed in the work; 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉, this man, and none but this, shall be blessed. So then this is the conclusion, That Evangelical Obedience, the constant observation of this Law of Liberty, of the doctrine of Faith and Good works, is the onely and immediate way to Blessedness. For not the hear∣ers of the word, but the doers shall be justified, saith S. Paul. And indeed there is no way but this. For,

First, God hath fitted us to this Law, and this Law to us. He hath fitted us for this heavenly treasure. For can we imagine that God did thus build us up, and stamp his own Image upon us, that we should be an habitation for owles and satyres,* 1.5 for wild and brutish imaginations? that he did give us Understandings, to forge deceit, to contrive plots, to find out an art of pleasure, a method and craft of enjoying that which is but for a season? that he did give us Wills to wait upon the Flesh, which fighteth against the Spirit and his Image which is in us? Was the Soul made immortal for that which passeth away as a shadow, and is no more? or hath he given us dominion over the beasts of the field, that we should fall and perish with them? No: We are ad majora nati, born mortal, but to eternity. And we car∣ry an argument about us against our selves, if we remain not in this Law. For take it in credendis, in those conclusions which it com∣mendeth to our Faith; though Faith indeed in respect of the re∣moteness of its object and its elevation be above Nature, yet in the soul God hath left a capacity to receive it; and if the other condi∣tion, of persevering in it, did not lie heavy upon the flesh, the bru∣tish part, we should be readier scholars in our Creed then we are. If we could hate the world, we should soon be in heaven. If we could embrace that which we cannot but approve, our Infidelity and Doubtings would soon vanish as the mist before the Sun. S. Augu∣stine hath observed it in his book De Religione, that multitudes of

good moral men, especially the Platonicks, came in readily and gave up their names unto Christ. The Moral man did then draw on the Christian. But now, I know not how, the Christian is brought in to countenance those who deserve another name. But then for the Agenda and precepts of practice; They are as the seed; and the Heart of man, the earth, the Matrix, the womb to receive them. And they are so proportioned to our Reason that they are no sooner seen but approved, they bring as it were of near alliance and consan∣guinity with those notions and principles which we brought with us into the world. Onely those are written in a book, these in the heart: indeed the one are but a commentary on the other. What precept of Christ is there which is not agreeable and consonant to right Reason? Doth he prescribe Purity? The heart applaudeth it. Doth he bless Meekness? The mind of man soon sayeth, Amen. Doth he enjoyn Sobriety? We soon subscribe to it. For what man would profess himself a beast? And from hence it cometh to pass that we see aliquid optimi in pessimis, something that is good in the worst; that we hear a Panegyrick of Virtue from a man of Belial; that Truth is cried up by that mouth which is full of deceit; that when we do evil, we would not have it go under that name, but are ready to maintain it as good; that when we do an injury, we call it a benefit. No man is so evil that he desireth not to enroll his name in the list of those who are Good. Temperance; the drunkard singeth her praises. Ju∣stice; every hand is ready to set a crown upon her head: Wisdom is the desire of the whole earth. So, you see, these precepts are fitted to the soul, and the soul to these precepts.

But, secondly, as this Law of Liberty is proportioned to the Soul, so being looked in and persevered in it filleth it with light and joy, gi∣veth it a taste of the world to come. For as Christ's yoke is easie, but not till it is put on; so his precepts are not delightful till they are kept. Aristotle's Happiness in his books is but an Idea; and Heaven it self is no more to us till we enjoy it. The Law of Liberty in the letter may please the Understanding part, which is alwayes well-affected and in∣clinable to that which is apparently true; but till the Will, which is the commanding faculty, have set the feet and hands at liberty, even that which we approve we distaste, and that which we call honey is to us as bitter as gall. Contemplation may delight us for a time, and bring some content; but the perversness of the Will breedeth that worm which will soon eat it up. For it is a poor happiness, to speak and think well of Happiness, to see it as in picture, quae non ampliùs quàm videtur delectat, which delighteth no longer then it is seen; as from a mount to behold that Canaan which we cannot enjoy. A Thought hath not wing and strength enough to carry us to Blessed∣ness. But when the Will is subdued and made obedient to this Law, then this Law of Liberty, which is from the heaven heavenly, filleth the soul with a joy of the same nature, with a spiritual joy, of which the joy in heaven is the complement and perfection, with a joy which is not onely the pledge but the earnest of that which is to come. When the Will is thus subact and framed and fashioned according to this Law, according to this pattern which God hath drawn, then it clotheth it self as it were with the light of Heaven, which is the origi∣nal of this joy. Then what a pearl is Wisdom? What glory is in Poverty? What a triumph is it to deny our selves? What an orna∣ment is the Cross? What brightness reflecteth from a cup of cold water given to a Prophet? What do you see and feel then when you inter∣cede

with your Bounty, and withstand the evil dayes, and take from them some of their blackness and darkness? when you sweeten the cup of bitterness, the onely cup that is left to many of the Prophets? when you supply their wants, and stretch forth your hand to keep them from sinking to the dust? when you do this to the Prophets in the name of Prophets? Tell me; doth it not return upon you again, and convey into your souls that which cannot be bought with money or money-worth? Are you not made fat and watered again with the wa∣ter you poured forth? Are you not ravished in spirit, and lifted up in a manner into the third heaven? I cannot see how it should be otherwise. For that God which put it into your hearts to do it, when your hearts have eased and emptied themselves by your hands, is with you still, and filleth them up with joy. Every act of Charity payeth and crowneth it self, and this Blessedness alwayes followeth the giver. But hath the receiver no joy but in that which he receiveth? Yes: he may, and ought, or else he is not a worthy receiver. It is indeed a more blessed thing to give then to receive, and therefore there is more joy. But the receiver hath his; and his joy is set to his songs of prai∣ses to God, and acknowledgments to man. There is musick in Thanks; and when I bless the hand that helped me, I feel it again. My praises, my prayers, my thanks are returned with advantage into my bosom. The giver hath his joy, and the receiver hath his. It is a blessed thing to give? and it is a most becoming and joyful thing to be thankful. In quibus operamur, in illis gaudemus, saith Tertullian: As the work is, such is the joy: A Work, that hath its rise and origi∣nal from heaven, drawn out according to the royal Law, which is the will of God, begun and wrought in an immortal soul, and promo∣ted by the Spirit of God and ministery of Angels, and breathing it self forth as myrrh and frankincense amongst the children of men: And a Joy like unto it, a true and solid joy, having no carnality, no incon∣stancy in it, a beam from heaven, kindled and cherished by the same Spirit; a joy which receiveth no taint or diminution from sensible e∣vils (which to those who remain not in this Law are as hell it self, and the onely hell they think of) but giving a relish and sweetness to that which were not evil if we did not think it so; making Poverty, Dis∣grace, and Death it self as fuel to foment and increase it; upholding us in misery, strengthening us in weakness, and in the hour of death and in the day of judgment streaming forth into the ocean of eternal hap∣piness. BEATUS ERIT IN OPERE; He that doth the work shall be blessed here in this life, in his works; and, when he is dead, his works shall follow him, and compass him about as a triumphant robe. Thus Blessedness first inviteth, then attendeth and waiteth upon Perseve∣rance in obedience; and yet obedience ushereth it in, illex misericor∣diae, first the work of God's Grace and Mercy, and then drawing it so near unto us as to bless us. And it maketh the blessing ours, not ex rigore justitiae, according to the rigour of justice, as I call that Mine which I buy with my money: (For no obedience can equal the re∣ward. And what can the obedience of a guilty person merit? All is from Grace, saith S. Paul. And when the will of God is thus made manifest, he deserveth nothing but a rebuke that disputeth longer of Merit. Nor can I see how a guilty and condemned person can so much as give it entrance into his thought. It did go once but for a work, good or evil, and no more: If it be more in its best sense, it is then more then it can be, and so is nothing;) but ex debito pro∣missi, according to God's promise, by which he hath as it were en∣tailed

Blessedness on those who look into the Law of Liberty, and re∣main in it.* 1.6 For God is not unrighteous to forget your work and labour of love. O then neither let our obedience swell and puff us up, as if God were our debtour; nor let us be so afraid of Merit as not to do the work. Let not our anger against Papists transform us into Libertines: and let us not so far abominate an errour in judgment as to fall into a worse in practice; cry down Merit, and carry a Pope, nay Hell it self, along with us, whithersoever we go. Let us not be Papists: God forbid. And God forbid too that we should not be Christians. Let us rather move like the Seraphims,* 1.7 who having six wings, covered their face with the uppermost, as not daring to look on the Majesty of God, and covered their feet with the lowest, as acknowledging their imperfection in respect of him, but flew with those in the midst, ready to do his will. Let us tremble before him, and abhor our selves; and between these two let the middle wings move, which are next to the heart, and let our constant obedience work out its way to the end, which is Blessedness. For whoso look∣eth into the perfect Law of liberty, and continueth therein, he being not a forgetful hearer, but a doer of the work, this man shall be blessed in his deed.

And here I must set a period to my discourse, as the present Pow∣er that is over us hath to the exercise of my Ministerial function. And I could not better conclude then in Blessedness. That is the end and conclusion of the whole matter; the end of this Royal Law; for thither it tendeth: the end of Perfection; for to that it groweth up: and the end of our Liberty; for thither it moveth. In Blessedness they end; or rather they do not end, but are carried on with joy and triumph and exsultation to all eternity. I might here wish you (and what good thing would I not wish you?) the blessings of the basket, the blessings of the right hand and the blessings of the left, all the bles∣sings promised in the Law, and those blessings which are the glory of the Gospel: I might here wish you those fourteen parts of Blessedness reckoned up by the Father; whatsoever is Blessedness, or whatsoever tendeth to it. But here they all meet and are concentred. This is your strength, your liberty, your security, your joy, your wisdom. Your wisdom is Obedience to this Law; and Obedience striveth and hasteneth to overtake and joyn it self with this Blessedness, which inclu∣deth all that we can desire, nay more then we can conceive. Quid à Deo praestari possit homini habenti felicitatem? saith Augustine; What can God do more for us then make us blessed? And therefore when men say, Lo, here is Christ, or, There is Christ; Lo, here is Blessedness, or, There is Blessedness, go not after them. For here, here alone, it is to be found. Seek it not in your Phansie, in a forced and false persuasion that you have attained it, when you run from it; that you are in a Paradise, when you are seeking death in the errour of your life, and are even at the mouth of hell. For Blessedness will not lie wrapped up in a thought. That hath made many thousands of Saints which shall never see the face of God. What is an imaginary Saint? What is a painted Heaven? What is Blessedness in conceit? Next, seek it not in Formalities, in the ceremonious diligence of Hearing, and Fasting, and loud Profession. All the formalities and ceremonies in the world will not make a ladder to reach it; all this noise will not call it down. But then seek it not in a Faction, in a Discipline, in this or that Politie or Government; For it will not be found in the rents and divisions which we make. It is tied to no place; it may be found in any. This Law of Liberty ne∣ver

made Papist, or Calvenist, or Lutheran, or Presbyterian. It is the Christian Law, and maketh Christians; and maketh Christians, to make them blessed. Cùm omnes felicitatem expetant, vix centesimus quisque eam à Deo exspectat; All desire Blessedness, and not one of an hun∣dred will take it from God, or that which he offereth, but they make one of their own, such a Blessedness as leaveth them miserable: they do that which is evil, and comfort themselves with a thought: they neg∣lect the Law, and bless themselves in formalities; in Hearing, when they are deaf to every good work; in Fasting, when they fast to bloud and oppression; in Praying, when they deny themselves what they pray for; in loud Profession, which is as a loud lie. When they swim in their own gall, in the gall of bitterness, they think themselves in the rivers of Ca∣naan which flow with milk and honey. They applaud themselves in their malice and deceit, in every evil work. They are what they should not be, and yet are blessed, because they are of such a Faction, of this Consisto∣ry, of this Classis, of this Conventicle; that is, they are blessed because they are not so. Oh that men were wise! oh that they would be blessed! Then would they look for it where it is, in this Law of liberty, and Obedi∣ence to it; in this Law, which doth purge the Ear, and sanctifie a Fast, and give wings to our Prayers; which plucketh the visour from the face of the Hypocrite, and strippeth him of his formalities; which scattereth the people that delight in war, and is a killing letter to them that first dis∣please God by their impiety, and then please and bless themselves in a faction; Which is rem quietissimam inquietudine quaerere, to seek for a sad, serious, quiet thing in distraction, to seek for constancy in a whirl∣wind, reality in a shadow, life in a picture, peace in tumult, and joy and Blessedness in hell it self.

For conclusion then; That we may find Blessedness, let us look into this Royal Law, that was made for Blessedness, and Blessedness for it. And we may look into this Law in the blackest day, in the darkest time. When Superstition flattereth, we may look into it; and when Profaness is bold, we may look into it. When we are poor, this will make us rich; when we are despised, this will honour us; when we are silenced, this will speak for us; when we are driven about the world, this will make it a journey to Paradise; and though we be imprisoned, this cannot be bound; and though we die, this is eter∣nal, as eternal as that God whose Law it is, his everlasting Gospel. It will not leave us at our death, but lie down with us in our graves, and rise again with us to judgement, and set the crown of glory on our heads. And to the true love of this Law, to this Blessedness I commend you. It is my gift, my last wish, that the grace of God may dwell in you plenteously, and strengthen you to every good work. It is the blessing of him who is ready to die, and must speak no more in this place: And may it have the impression and force of the words of a dying man, and let it come up into the presence of that God who boweth the ear, and hearkeneth to the grones and sighs and prayers of them who cannot speak: That so this truth, this essential and neces∣sary truth, may abide in you, and bow you to the obedience of that Law which shall bring you to bliss. Then shall I magnifie God in your behalf, and you shall bless God in mine: Then shall we meet and be present together when we are divided asunder; and this truth remaining in you, and you in it, I shall speak when I am silent: Your prayers shall ascend for me, and mine for you, and they shall both meet before the throne of God, and God shall hear, and joyn us together in the blessing, who were so united in our devotion:

And in this holy contention and blessed emulation of blessing one ano∣ther, of praying for one another, we shall pass through this wilder∣ness, where there be so many serpents to bite us, through this Acel∣dama, this Field of bloud, through the manifold changes and chan∣ces of this world, and at the last day meet together again, and re∣ceive that Blessing which the Judge shall then pronounce to all that love and fear him, to all that look into this perfect Law of Liberty and remain in it; Come, ye blessed of my Father, receive the Kingdom pre∣pared for you, where there is joy, and peace, and fulness of all blessings for evermore.

Soli Deo Gloria.

Notes

• * 1.1

  vers. 23, 24.
• * 1.2

  Acts 24.16.
• * 1.3

  1 Tim. 1.19, 2••.
• * 1.4

  Heb. 11.6.
• * 1.5

  Rom. 12 3.
• * 1.6

  Heb. 6.10.
• * 1.7

  Isa. 6.••.