Shame that bringeth fin: and there is a shame which is glory and grace. Accept no perfon against thy foul; and let not the reverence of any man cause thee to fall*. There is, that defroyeth his own foul through bashfulness, and by accepting of perfons, overthroweth himself. But they, who have the misfortune to be of this make, fhould by no means truft to their own moft folemn purposes, or even vows. Their chief fafety is in flight; in avoiding, to their utmoft, fuch company and fuch things, though ever fo agreeable, as may endanger their innocence; and keeping at a distance from temptation, till they can hear it better. Thus they will efcape at once the uneasiness of resisting and the hazard of yielding, and increase their ftrength gradually by a cautious exercise of it: provided they rest not in human means only, but, with faith and humility unfeigned, apply for and depend on the divine affistance, promised through Jefus Chrift; the neceffity of which for every perfon, in every cafe, we prefume you always understand, and for that fole reason we do not always exprefs it.

5. With this inward weakness is commonly joined an ap prehenfion of difficulties from without: of public dislike and cenfure for condemning the public tafte by a different conduct; or at least of much ridicule, a thing full as hard to be borne, for doing conscientiously what the world despises, and abstaining from what it doth without fcruple. But let not the danger of cenfure appear to any one fo frightful. Indeed if perfons take abfurd or indifferent obfervances to the great duties; if they are frict in their performance of one duty, and grofly negligent of others; or if to the performance of many there be added, either a vain defire of making their own goodness remarkable, or the provoking fin of uncharitablenefs towards others, they must not expect very favourable treatment. But an uniformly good chriftian, without fuperftition, without affe&ation, and without fournefs, which are furely none of them virtues, may live foberly, righteously and godly in this prefent world‡, bad as it is, ever fo long, without any great danger, either of making himfelfenemies by doing no harm, and as much good as he can, or of falling into contempt, for acting only as every man in his heart

Eccluf. iv. 20, 21, 22,

† Ecclus. xx. 22.

Tit. ii. 12.

knows he himself ought to act. But if ever this prove otherwife, instead of being fhaken in our minds by it, let us confider, how much more cenfure we fhould incur and deferve by a vicious life, to fay nothing of other inconveniences: and above all, let us confider that infinitely more important cen fure, which both we, and our fcorners, are fhortly to undergo: and fince, as St. Peter argues, they who think it ftrange, that we run not with them to the fame excess of riot, fpeaking evil of us fball give account to him, that is ready to judge the quick and the dead; let us arm ourselves with this mind, that we live not our time in the flesh to the lufts of men, but to the will of Godt.

As for the ridicule, which ludicrous fcoffers love to throw upon religion: we may avoid much of it by prudence, and defpife the reft with eafe. It falls heavieft on the pretences to piety made by the vicious; and we fhall feldom be thought fuch, if we are not: or on the reservednefs and formality of fome, who are good. Now. indeed it is never advisable to go the utmost lengths of what may, ftrictly speaking, be just law. fal; they adjoin fo very clofely on what is forbidden: yet there is a contrary extreme, an immoderate fufpicioufness of innocent compliances. And they, who indulge it, lay a hea vier burthen on themfelves than they need, perhaps than they will fupport without finking under it. But at least they rob their own minds of that ferenity and chearfulness, which they might and ought to have enjoyed: they disguise religion under a gloomy uninviting appearance, which is great pity; and furnish the profane with a grievous handle for expofing both them and it; till perhaps they at length grow afhamed of their profeffion, and make a fudden exchange of their excefive rigour for the worse errors of libertinifm and infidelity. There fore, in a moderate degree, on proper occafions, let us not be backward to bear a part in fuch cuftoms of the world, as we are fure we fafely may: and let it, if poffible, be a graceful one. On the other hand, whatever, though harmless in itfelf, may be a fnare to us, or by our means to others, let us abftain from it indeed refolutely, but abftain with an eafy air and manner; keep our reafons to ourselves, rather than be eager

to mention them: or mention them, if it may do good, without exaggerating or infifting too vehemently upon any thing; but fo as may best convince men of the folidity of our judgement, and reafonablenefs of our conduct. Behaving thus, we may well hope to become objects, at least after a while, of refpect instead of derifion, to which no part of genuine piety is on any account liable. And they, who fet themfelves to make a jeft of it, might without difficulty, if the seriousness of their cafe, and fometimes pity, fometimes juft indignation, did not prevent it, have that weapon turned upon them, and be proved the most abfurd of all human beings. Their fcrupulousness of admiting the most indubitable truths of religion; and readiness at the fame time to acquiefce in the wildeft imaginations, that are unfavourable to it: their schemes of making themfelves eafy by counteracting the dictates of their own confcience; and happy by tranfgreffing the laws of infinite wisdom and goodness, enforced by almighty power: their delight in the hopes of exifting no longer than the space of this tranfitory life, and their hafte to ruin health, fortune and reputation, all that can afford them enjoyment, in the very beginning of life: their earnest purfuits of what they frequently despise at the time, and almost always naufeate foon after they have attained it; and the tormenting inward conflicts, that they often experience, between two paffions, both of them perhaps foolish, and both pernicious, which shall be preferred: furely these things, and above all their triumphing in the wifdom of these things, and infulting thofe who are ftupid enough to follow the rules of plain reafon, and the directions of God himfelf from heaven, as the best guides to their prefent and future well-being, might, without any great effort, be fo defcribed, as to retort on their own heads a double fhare of the contempt, which they are fo liberal in throwing about them. But however unwilling or unfit a wife man may be to answer fools according to their folly, at leaft he will fee it to be unworthy of his notice; and go on, unconcerned, through the impotent attacks of it, in the steady practice of whatfoever things are true and boneft, whatfoever things are lovely and of good reports; recollecting daily that awful and repeated declaration of the holy Jefus, whofoever shall be ashamed of me and of my words in this adulter

VOL. II.

• Prov. xxvi. 4, 5.

L1

† Phil, iv. 8.

029

ous and finful generation, of him alfo fhall the Son of man be afbamed when he cometh in the glory of his Father with the holy angels*. Then shall the righteous man, as the book of Wisdom beautifully expreffes it, ftand in great boldness before the face of fuch as made no account of his labours. And they repenting, and groaning for anguish of Spirit, shall fay within themfelves, this was he, whom we had fometime in derifion, and a proverb of reproach. We fools accounted his life madnefs, and his end to be without bonour. How is be numbered among the children of God, and his lot is amongst the faints! Therefore have we erred from the way of truth, and wearied ourfelves in the way of wickedness and deftruction. What bath our pride profited us; and what good hath our vaunting brought us? All thofe things are passed away like a fhadow; and as the duft that is blown away with the wind. But the righteous live for evermore: their reward alfo is with the Lord, and the care of them is with the Moft Hight.

• Mark. viii. 38.

† Wifd. v.

SER

SERMON LXIV.

THE DANGER AND MISERY OF Loose MORALS, AND OF LICENTIOUS ASSOCIATES.

EPH. V. II.

And have no fellowship with the unfruitful works of darkness: but rather reprove them.

THE

'HE prevalence of impiety and immorality in the world, hath not only made the original duties of mankind more difficult, by increafing the temptations to tranfgrefs them, but added to their number many new obligations of great importance, relating partly to the concern of preferving ourselves, partly to the charity of guarding others, from the general infection. Our own prefervation is doubtlefs to be the first object of our attention, as we are primarily intrufted with, and anfwerable for, our own perfons, and have by nature the ftrongest folicitude for our own happiness. But zeal for that of our fellow-creatures ought certainly to fill the second place in our breafts; and is a duty much too little regarded, even by the good; confidering how indispensably both religion and humanity, and indeed our common intereft, require us to promote what is right and fit, and restrain each other from fin and ruin, by all fuch methods as we properly can. For every one is by no means qualified to use every method and therefore, without prudent reflection, many may both labour and fuffer much, without any profpect of its turning to account: nay, may involve themfelves in guilt by immoderate eagerness to reform their neighbours. But, though all must confult their own ftrength and opportunities, and leave to thofe who are better able, and to the providence of God, what they find themfelves unequal to: there ftill remains to every one of us a pro