19

SERMON II.

THE ADVANTAGES OF RELIGION TO MANKIND.

PSALM XIX. ver. 11,

And in keeping of them there is great reward. My work at this time shall be to show, that religion and obedience to the laws of God conduce to the happiness of mankind both in respect of this world and the other.

First, I shall endeavour to show how religion conduceth to the happiness of this life; and that both in respect of the inward and outward

man.

I. As to the inward man. It tends to the improvement of our understandings. It raises and enlarges our minds, and makes them more capable of true knowledge; and in this sense I understand the following texts;-The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom; a good understanding have all they that keep his commandments, Ps. cxi. 10.—I have more understanding than all my teachers, for thy testimonies are my meditation. I understand more than the ancients, because I keep thy precepts, Ps. cxix. 99.

Religion improves our understandings by subduing our lusts, and moderating our passions. Intemperance, sensuality, and fleshly Justs sully and debase our minds even by a natural influence; they sink us down into sense,

they indispose and unfit us for those considerations to which above all others we ought to employ ourselves. So likewise the exorbitant passions of wrath, malice, envy, and revenge, darken and distort our understandings, tincture our minds with false colours, and fill them with undue apprehensions of things.

son.

He who is intemperate, lustful, or passionate, besides the guilt he contracts, which is continually disquieting his mind; besides the inconveniencies he brings upon himself as to his health, interrupts the free exercise of his reaWhat clearness is to the eye, purity is to our minds and understandings; and as the clearness of the bodily eye disposes it for a quicker sight of material objects, so the purity of our minds, that is, freedom from lust and passion, disposes us for the most perfect acts of reason and understanding: the more we cleanse our souls from sensual lusts, so much the more active they will be in their operations; and the more we conquer our passions, so much the clearer and more unprejudiced will be our apprehension of things, and our judgments so much the firmer and steadier. And this is the meaning of that saying of Solomon; He that is slow to wrath is of great understanding; but he that is hasty of spirit exalteth folly. In short, freedom from irregular passions not only signifies that a man is wise, but really contributes to make him wise.

Religion tends also to the peace and pleasure of our minds, wherein happiness chiefly consists, and which all the wisdom and philosophy of the world always aimed at as the utmost felicity of this life. That this is the natural fruit of a religious and virtuous practice, the Scripture declares to us in these texts; Great peace have all they that love thy law, and nothing shall offend them, Ps. cxix. 165.—The fruit of righteousness is peace, and the effect of righteousness quietness and assurance for ever, Isa. xxxii. 17. When a man is once engaged in a religious course, and is accustomed to piety and holiness, all exercises of religion and devotion, all acts of goodness and virtue, are delightful to him. To honour and worship God, to pray to him and praise him, to study his will, to meditate upon him, and to love him, bring great pleasure and peace along with them. What greater satisfaction, indeed, can there be to the mind, when it is once refined from sensual pleasures, than to contemplate and admire the infinite perfections of God, to adore his greatness, and to love his goodness? How can the thoughts of the Almighty be troublesome to him who lives soberly, righteously, and godly in the world? He who loves goodness and righteousness has no reason to be afraid of God, or to be disquieted with the thoughts of him, for all the apprehensions which we naturally have of him, speak comfort, and promise

happiness, to a good man. It is for the wicked to dread God, and to endeavour to banish the thoughts of him out of their minds; but a holy and virtuous man may have quiet and undisturbed thoughts even of the justice of God, because the terror of it doth not concern him.

Now religion contributes to the quiet of our minds these two ways. First, By allaying those passions which are apt to discompose them. Malice, hatred, wrath, and revenge make us uneasy; but he who can moderate these affections, will find peace and pleasure in his mind. Secondly, By freeing us from the anxieties of guilt, and the fears of divine wrath. What a spring of peace and joy must it be to apprehend upon good grounds that God is reconciled to us; that all our sins are perfectly forgiven, and shall never more be remembered against us! What inexpressible comfort overflows the pious and devout soul from the remembrance of a holy and well spent life, and a consciousness of its own innocency! And nothing but the practice of religion can give this ease and satisfaction to the mind: for there is a certain kind of temper and disposition, which is necessary to the pleasure and quiet of our minds, and consequently to our happiness; and that is holiness and goodness, which as it is the perfection, so it is likewise the happiness, of the divine nature. On the contrary, the chief part of the misery of wicked men,

and of those accursed spirits the devils, is this, that they are of a disposition contrary to God; they are envious, malicious, and cruel, and of such a temper as is naturally a torment and disquiet to itself.

II. Religion likewise tends to the happiness of the outward man. Now the blessings of this kind are such as regard either our health, estate, reputation, or relations; and in respect of all these religion is highly advantageous.

1. A religious and virtuous life eminently conduces to health, and to long life as a consequent of it. And in this sense I understand the following texts: My son, forget not my law, but let thy heart keep my commandments; for length of days, and long life, shall they add to thee, Prov. iii. 1, 2. And again, Fear the Lord and depart from evil, it shall be health to thy navel, and marrow to thy bones, ver. 7, 8. These promises of the blessings of health and long life to good men are not only declaratory of the good intention of God towards them, but likewise of the natural tendency of the thing. For religion obliges us to the practice of those virtues which in their own nature conduce to preserve our health, and lengthen our days; such as temperance, chastity, and moderation of our passions; and the contrary vices apparently tend to impair our health, and to shorten our days. How many have wasted and consumed their bodies by lust, and brought