400 The true Remedy againfl Vol. II. this can never be without great fault, and grofs negle& ofour feives; and much better had it been for us to have been born dumb, than thus to turnour glory into fhame andguilt, by perverting this excellent gift of God, to the corrupting our felves and others. This I hope may be fufficient to reftrain Men from this Vice, which I have all this whilebeen fpeaking againft ; at leaft to preferve thofe whichare not yet in£efted, from the contagion ofit; and I hope to reclaim many from fo bad a praftice. And ifany be fo hardned in their lewd courfe, that no counfel of this kind can make impreflion on them, what remains, but toconclude in the wordsof the Angel to St. John, Revel. 22. t. He that is filthy, let him be filthy fill : and he that is holy, let him be holy Rill. S I R M O N CLXI. The true Remedy againft the troubles of life. JOHN XIV. 1. Let not your heart be troubled : ye believe in God ; believe alto in me. The fiiff which words our Bleffed Saviour does, upon a particular occafion, prefcribe Sermon on an univerfal Remedy againft Trouble. And the particular occafion of this íhúText. y, g confolatory Difcourfe which our Saviour here makes to his Difciples, was this; He had often told them of his Sufferings; but the conceit which they had enter- tained of his temporal Reign, would not fuller them to admit any thought of fuch a thing, as the Sufferings or Death of the Me /as; and therefore it is faid that thefe things did notfink into them, and that they underflood them not ; Men being generally very flow to underftand what they donot like, and have no mind to. At laft our Saviour tells them plainly, that how backward foever they were tobelieve it, the time of his Sufferings and Deathwas now approaching, and that he fhould fhortly be betrayed into the hands of men, and be crucified and fain. At this his Difciples were ftruck with great fear, and exceedingly troubled, both in contem- plation of his Sufferings, and of their own invaluable lofs. To comfort them up- on this occafion our Saviour direds his Difciples to that courfe, which was not only proper in their prefentcafe, but is an univerfal Antidote and Remedy againft all trouble whatfoever, and will not only ferve to mitigate our trouble, and fup- port our Spirits under the fear and apprehenfion of future evils, but under prefent aí13í&ions and fufferings ; and to quiet and comfort our minds under the faddeft condition, and foreft calamities that can befal us. Let not your heart be troubled: ye believe in God, believe alto in me. He does not only forbid them to be troubled, and counfel them againft it , fuch advice is eafily given, but not fo eafily to be followed: but he prefcribesthe proper remedy againft trouble, which is, alit and confidence in God thegreat Creator and wife Governour of the World ; and likewife in himfelf, the bleffed Son of God, and Saviour of Mankind, Te believein God, believe alfo in me. The 5
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