'98 SERMONS upon Serm,a 2, them concerning the Providence of God, and the Laft Judgment, and the World to come, and chofe wholefome Doetrines by which Godlinefs is maintained. Nan efi j,,- dicium, nec fudex, nec Sculum aliu4 nec mums pro juflis, nec pima pro impiis. How- ever, this we are fure, it was for his Godlinefs that this outrage was committed upon him. Let us go a little lower, in the ftory of the Patriarchs, we fluff find Ifaac fcoffed at by Ifsmacl,,Gen.21.9. Upon which pra ice of his, the Apoftle glofieth thhs; Gal. 4. 29. AÍ'he that was born after the Flefb, perfecuted him that was born after the Spi- rit; fo it is now. Scoffing and Mocking is a kind of Perfecution ; ever fo it was, and ever fo it will be, while there are two Seeds in the World. Whatever civility the Men of the World have, they are all oppofice to Grace and Godlinefs; and do not only re- fee and refill it in themfelves, but hate it and perfecute it in others. I fay, they that have not the Image of God in themfelves, they cannot endure the lufìre of it in others. And therefore it is the ordinary Lot of God's Children, to fuller hard things from the Men of the World. If you go a little further, Jacob, becaufe of the Neff-mg and Birth- right, was purfued to the Death by Efiu, and driven out of his Father's Houle, Gen.27,and 28 Chap. and there was matter ofGodlinefs and Prophanenefs in this. Heb, 1 z. 1 g. Not as prophane Efau, who for anew:orfel of Bread fold his Birth- right. Inftan- ces are endlefs, but by thefe brought, you fee the Point fully made good. And over and above what was to be proved, you may coiled, that no Bonds of Duty can al- lay it ; for in thefe Inftances given, you may obferve, that Cain and Abel, Ifa.se and Ifhmael, Jacob and EA, were all Brothers, Members of the fame Church. and Family, tied to one another by the neareft and ftri&eft Bonds of Kindred and Acquaintance; yet becaufe the one was Holy, and the other Wicked, did they hate one another. Ir. Difcoveries that this Hatred that is commenced againfi the People of God, a- rifeth from an Antipathy to Godlinefs. This part of the Difcourfe is neceffary, becaufe Wicked Men will not own that they hate others for their Goodnefs ; they difguife it with other Pretences, as the Jews did excufe their Hatred to Chrift, when he told them, John to. 32. Many good Works have I (hewed you from my Father 3 For which of thefe Works do you flone me ? They could have no quarrel againft him, unlefs they would quarrel at a good turn, and reward Evil for Good. But, Veerf. 33. the Jews anfwered, For a good Work, we Hone thee not, but for Blafphemy, becaufe thou, being a Man, makefi thy felf equal with God. So will Carnal Men fay, It is not for their Holi- nefs that they hate them, but for their Pride, Covetoufnefs, Cenforioufttefs, and Hy- pocrify. But when they neither hate, nor abhor, nor avoid thefe Sins in themfelves, or other Men, yea, do wink at fouler and groffer Evils, even againft the Light of Nature, which themfelves live in, or elfe tolerate and make nothing of them in their Friends, they do clearly convince themfelves, if they would attend to it, that the pre- tended Caufes of their Hatred, are but Cloaks of their Malice, which is truly raifed in them by the contrariety of their Nature to that which is good. Shall a Leper loath another, becaufe of a few Pimples in his Skin ? Or (hall he that is tumbled into the Ocean in drink, vaunt againft another, who on flippery Ground is fallen into a Ditch? Betides, thefe Allegations are ufually falfe ; for it is the fafhion of evil Men, firft to calumniate Chrift and his Followers, and then to hate them ; as they would cloath the Primitive Chriftians with the Skins of Bears, and of Wild Beafls, and then worry them, and bait them with Dogs, as if they were Bears. From the Beginning, Satan bath been both a Liar and a Murderer, John 8.44. Left a Liar, then a Murderer with the more pretence. But to take off all Cavils, let us fee how it appeareth, that this Hatred is the effe& of their abhorrence of that which is Good and Holy. I. This is fome difcovery of it i becaufe the Servants of God have been hated moft, and troubled by the worft Men ; which is a (hrew'd prefumption, that the proper Rea - fon of this Hatred is, becaufe they are fo Evil, and the other fu Good. So David concludeth, from the ill conditions of his Enemies, their bad Nature, Violence, and ingratitude, Pfal. 38. zo. They alfa that render Evil for Goodare mine Enemies, becaufe I follow the thing that good is. In Nero's Time, about the loth Year of Chrift, Nero made a Law, &uifquis Chriflianum fe prof etur, tanquam generis human conviûus hofr, fine ulteriori fili del-ethane capite ple/letur. Trajan moderated it, Id genus hominum non inquiri, repertis atom puniri oportere. So ufually it falleth out, that the worft and moft virulent Enemies to Religious Men, are the vicious and debauched ; thole that are infamous
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