Serm. CXI1. of an Holy and Virtuous life. fforms may be railed fromwithout, all will be clear and calmwithin : For nothing but guilt can trouble a Man's Mind, and fright his Confcience, and make him uneafie to himfelf; that indeed will wound his Spirit, and fling his very Soul, andmake him fulloffearful and tormenting thoughts. This Cain found after he had committed that crying fin of Murdering his Brother. Gen. 4. 6. The Lord faid unto Cain, whyart thou wroth? andwhy is thy Countenancefall's,? His guilt made him full of wrath, and difcontent fill'd his Mind with vexation, and his Countenance with (hame and confufion. When a Man's confcience is awakened to a fenfe ofhis guilt, it is angry and froward, and , harder to be flill'd than a peevithChild : But the pra&ice of Holinelsand Virtue does produce jufl the con- trary effe&s; it fills a Man's Mind with Pleafure, and makes his Countenance chearful. And this certainly, if it be well confider'd, is no (mall and contemptible ad- vantage. The peace and tranquillity ofour Minds is the great thing, whichall the Philofophy and Wifdom of the World did always defign tobringmen to, as the very utmofl happinefs that a Wife Man is capable of in this Life; and 'tis that which no confiderateMan would part with, for all that this World can give him. The greateft fortune in this World ought to be no temptation to any Man in his Wits, to fubmit to perpetual Sicknefs and Pain for the gaining of it ; and yet there is nodifeafe in the World,, that for the fharpnefs of it is comparable to the fling of aguilty Mind, and no pleafure equal to that of Innocence and a good Confcience. And this naturally fprings up in the Mind of a good Man, where it is not hindred either by a melancholy Temper, or by falle Principles in Re- ligion, which fill a Man with groundlefs fearsand jealaufies of the love and fa- vour of God towards him ; and excepting thefe two cafes, this is the ordinary fruit of an holy and good courfe, which is not interrupted by frequent falling into fin, and great omiffions and violations of our duty : For in this cafe the in- terruptions of our Peace and Comfort will naturally be anfwerable to the inequa- lity of our Obedience. II. Betides the prefent and ineflimable Fruit of Holinefs, the quiet and fatfs- fa&ionof our own Minds; it is likewife a proper means to promote our Intereft and Happìnefs in this World. For as every Vice is naturally attended with force Temporal Inconvenience of Pain or Lofs ; fo there is no Grace or Virtue, but does apparently conduce to a Man's temporal Felicity. There are force Virtues which tend to the healthofhis Body, and the prolongingof his Life, as Tempe- rance and Chaftity ; others tend to Riches andPlenty, as Diligence and Induflry in our callings ; others to the fecure and peaceableEnjoyment of what we have, as Truth and Fidelity, Juflice and Honefty in all our dealings and intercourfe withmen. There are other Virtues that areapt tooblige Mankind to us, and to gain their Friendfhip and good Will, their Aid and Affiflance, as. Kindnefs, and Meeknefs, and Charity, and a generous Difpofition to do good to all, as far as we have Power and Opportunity. In a word, there is no real Intereft of this World, but mayordinarily be as effe&ually promoted and purfued to as great Ad- vantage, by a Man that exercifeshimfelf in the Pra&ice of all Virtue and Good- nefs, and ufually to far greater Advantage, than by one that is Intemperate and' Debauch'd, Deceitful and Difhoneft, aptto difoblige and provoke, four and ill- natur'd to all Mankind: For there is none of thefe Vices, but is to a Man's real hinderance and difadvantage, in regard of one kind of Happinefs or another, which men aim at and propofe to themfelves in this World. III. Aaeligious and Virtuous Courfe of Life doth naturally tend to the pro- longing of our days, and bath very frequently the Blefiing of Health 'and long Life attending upon it. The Pra&iceof a great many Virtues is a great Preferva- tive ofLife and Health, as the due government ofour Appetites and Paffions, by Temperance and Chaftity and Meeknefs, which prevent the chief Caufes from withinof Bodily Difeafes and Diftempers; the duegovernment of our Tongues and Converfation in refile& of others, by Juflice and Kindnefs, and abftaining from Wrath and Provocation, which are a great fecurity againff the dangers of outward Violence, according to that of St. Peter, t kill. 3. to. Ile that will love 5$
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