The impofsibility of pleajing men. becaufc he is a {lrvant to the enemies of his fervice : The wind of a mans mouth, will drive him about as the chaff, from any duty, and to any fin. How fcrvile a perfon is J Man·plcafcr ~ How many Maftcrs hath he, and how mean ones? 1t perverteth the courfe of your hearts and lives, and mrn– cth all from God to this unpr.:>titable way. DireCt. 7· §• 33· Direct. 7· Remember r'f'bat a pittiful reward you [rck. Verily, faith our Lord, concerQing hypocrites and man-pleafers, tbey have their reward, Matth. 6. 25. 0 mifcrablc reward! The thought and breath of mortal men! lnHcad of God, inficad of Heaven, this is their reward ! Their happintfs will be to lye in Hell, and remCmber that they were well fpoken of on earth ! and that once they were accounted religious, learned, wife or hon~tlrable ! and to rernem~er that they preferred rhis Reward before cver!alting happin([s with ChriJ1'! If this be not g.1in, your labour i.$ alllo·n, which you lay out in hunting for applauit. If this be enough to fpend your time for, and to neglect your God for, and to lofc your fouls for, rejoyce then in the Hypocrites Reward. Dirtll. 8. 9· 34· DireCt. 8. And remember that honmtr is foch a thing as is found [oonrr by a1t hrmejt conttmpt rfit, thaJt by an imrdinatc ajfeCI:zti~n of it, and feekjng it. It is a 01addow which goeth from you ifyou follow it, and follows you as f3.H as )LOll go from it. Whofc names are now more honourable upon eanh, than thof~: Prophets, and Apofiles, and Manyrs, and Preachers, and holy mortified Chrifiians, who in their d1ycs ft.t lighten b.y the approbation of the world, and were made the fcorn or foot– ball of the times in which they lived? Thofe that have been {atisfied with the approb,Ition of their heavenly Father, w~o faw .them i1t. [ecrct, have been rewarded by him openly. It is even in the eyes of rational m~n a far greater honour to live t11 God, above worldly honour, than to fu" ir. And fo mllch as a man is percc:ived to affdl and j"eek ir, fo much he lofeth of ic: for he .is rhoughc to med it ; and men perceive that he playes a low 311d pitiful game, that is £0 delirous of their ap– plaufe ! As they would contemn a rnan that fhould lick up the fpittle of every man where he comes, fo will rhey contemn him that liverh on their thoughts and breath, and honour him more that Jivrs o;z God. Dire/1. 9• 9· 35· Direct. 9· If '"thing e/fe wiU cure thu difeafe, at leaft let the Impoffibility ofpleafing men, and auainiHg your ends, Jiiffice againji fo fruitlcfs a;z attempt. And here I lhall lhew you how impollible it is> or at kafi a thing which you cannorreafonably expect. Unus mihi :§. 36. z. Remember n•h.1t a multitude yozt have topleafe; and when you have plelljid [ome, how many pro populo more will be fiill zmpleafed, and how many di[fleaftd when you have done your belt. Alas 3 we are ell, & pqpuinfuflicienr at once to obfcrve all tho{t that obfervc us,and would be pleafcd by \ts : You are like one lm pro uno. that harh but twelve pence in his purfe, and a thoufand Beggars come about him for it, and every Sen. 'E.p. 7· tx one will be difpleafed if he have it not all. If you refolve to give all that you have to rhe poor if ~;~5°'(~nt mi- you do it ro pleafe God, you may attain your end ; But if you do ic to pleafe tbem, when you ~ve hi pauci, fatis pleafed chore few that you gave it to, perhaps twice: as many will revile: or curfe you, becauf(: they cfi unus; u- had nothing. The Beggar that fpeeds wtUwill proclaim you liberal ; and the Begg,r that fpeeds iU, tJs eft n~Jus. will proclaim you niggardly, and unmerciful : And fo you will have more to offend and diOIOnour you, ~::~t~f' \.·:s· than to comfort you by their.praife, if that muH be your comfort. condemned bv the votes of more :tgl.infi him of hi~ Judges, than t?of.: th;r ab~oheJ.h_ n~ : :.tnd rhey would not fuRCr_ PiJtO to fpelk for hin_t : His fen..: tence wat, Jura viol:tt Socrates, quos ex m:tJorutn wfir.uto fufc:p1t cn•n;~.s, deos dfe ncglns , aha vuo 110Vl d:x:moma inducem. L~!t·t. ir:Socrat. 9·;7. 2· Remember al[o that aU men are fo {elfi.fh, that theirexpeGiatimu wilt be higher, than you are able to fotiljie. They will not confider your hinderances, or. avocations, or what you do for others, but moll of them look to have as much to themfelves, as tf you had no body el[e to mind but them. Many and many a time, when I have had an hour or a day to fpcnd , a nmlricudc have every one expected that I lhould have fpent it with them: When l vifit one, chere are ten offend .. ed that I am not vHiting them ac the fame hour; When I am difcourling wirh one, many more are offended that I am not fpeaking to them all at once : If thofc that 1 fpcak to account me courteous, and humble, and rdpetl:ful, thofe that I could not fpeak to, or but in a word, account me difcourteous, and morofe. How many ha.ve ccnfurCd me, becau{e I have not a\low~d them the rime, which God ,and Confcience comma_ndcd me to fpend upon greater and more neceifary work? If you have any Office to give, or bene~c to befiow, which OJtC on{.ycan have, every one rhink· eth himfelf the fittell, and when you have pleated one that hatli it, you have dipleafcd aU th•t went without it, and mifi of their defircs. Q.!rtgo fcao $S. 38. 3• You have abundance to pleaft that are [o ignorant, unreafon"ble, aJI(lweaJt, th.zt tbey t.tk! populu~ non )'our greatejt vertueJ for your fanltr, and know not when you do well or ill: And yet none mon: ~:~:;t·p~u~~ bold in cenfuring than rhoic that leafl underfiand the things they cenfure. Many and many a ti":'e lt'u ego ne(cio. my own and others Sermons have been cenfured, and. openly defamed, for -that which never was m sm. Epi. 19. them, upon the ·ignorance or heedlefnefs of a cenfor1ous hearer: Yea, for that which they directly lmP':riti:.t m fpoke againtl; becaufe they were nor underfiood: cfpecially he thar hath a clofe llyle, free from j~~t'~:~3~~=- ta~rology, where every word mufi be marked by him that will not mifunderfiand, flull frequently be dominltur, &. rntfreporccd. mulritudo · p. 39· 4· You wiU bave many fal1ious Zealots to pleafe, who b~ing Jfranyrs tothe Love ofHo!ineft, verborum.. Chrijfianity and Vnity, are ruled by tbe intereftof a1z Opinion or a Seft: And thtfe will never be ~:::::zu-s M pleafed by you, unlefs you will be one of their fide or party, and conform your fdf to .their opinions : If you be not againft them, but fet your felves to reconcile and' end tbe differences in the Church,
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