findes these foveraigne waters; Bleed are they that weep now, for they Shall laugh, Luc. 6. 21. We have not yet done with St. Pauls tears; See I befeech you, who were the objects of this forrow of his: the falfe teachers of the Philippians, the rivals and adverfaries of the Apostles Ministry; whether the Simonians, (that is, the Difciples of Simon Magus, as fome have thought) or rather the Judaizing Chriftians, whom before he calls Dogs, and the Concifion; men that were not more for Chrift, then for Mefes: men not more false in opinion then foule in converfation,rebrobate perfons,fpightful enemies to him, and the gofpel; yet even thefe are the men whom St. Paul bedewes with his many tears. So far fhould Gods charitable Children be from defiring,or rejoycing in the deftruction of those who profeffe hoftility against them (though even leud, and ungodly perfons) as that they should make this the matter of their juft forrow and mourning: St. Paul had a deeper infight into the ftate of thefe men, then we can have into any of thofe goodlieft men who fall into our notice, and enmity; for he faw them (as it were) in Hell already, he lookt upon them as veffels of wrath, for he addes, whofe end is perdition: yet he entertaines the thoughts of their finfull miscarriages with tears; Every man can mourn for the danger, or lofs, or fall of a good man, of a friend: but to be thus deeply affected with either the fins, or judgments of wicked perfons is incident to none but a tender and charitable heart. Gods children are of the diet of their heavenly Father, who would have all men to be faved, and to come to the knowledge of the truth, 1 Tim. 3. 4. Have I any pleasure at all that the wicked fhall dye, faith the Lord God, and not that that he should returne from his wayes and live? Ezec. 18. 23. And to be fure, he binds it with an oath; As I live, faith the Lord God, I have no pleasure in the death of the wicked, but that the wicked turne from his wayes and Live; turne ye, turne ye from your evill wayes ; for why will ye dye, houfe of Ifrael. Ezec. 33. 11. Thole that fport in the fins, and rejoyce in the perdition of their brethren, let them fee of what fpirit they are. But I have dwelt longer then I meant in the Apostles fidelity, in his warning, and the frequence, and paffion of it.

Turne your eyes now,I beleech you,to a loathfome object,the wickedness of these falfe teachers of the Philippians; defcribed by their number, motion, quality, iffue: Their number many, their motion walk, their quality, enemies to the croffe of Chrift, their iffue deftruction.

B

We

We begin with their Number, Mark I beseech you the inference: The charge of the Apoftle in the words immediatly preceeding, is, that the Philippians fhould mark those who walked holily,as they had the Apostles for examples: and now he addes, For many walk inordinately; fee then from hence, that the rarity of conscionable men fhould make them more obferved, more valued; If there be but one Lot in Sodom,he is more worth then all the fouls of that populous and fruitfull Pentapolis: If there be but fome fprinkling of Wheat in a chaffe heap, we winnow it out, and think it worth our labour to do fo: fome graines,or if but fcruples of precious mettals are fifted out of the rubbish of the oare and duft. It is excellent that our Apoftle hath in this Epistle the 2. Chapter v. 15. That ye may be blamless in the midst of a froward and perverfe generation, among whom ye fhine as lights in the world: Mark, if there be but light held forth in a dark night, how do the birds come flying about it, how do the eyes of men though afarr off fix upon it; when as all the space betwixt us and it (which is all wrapped up in darkness) is unregarded; fuch are, and fuch fhould be good men amongst a world of wicked ones; fo much more eminent, and efteemed, by how much the fewer they are. Paucity is wont to carry contempt with it ; See, fay the Philiftims, when they law Jonathan, and his Armour-bearer come towards them, how the Ifraelites creep out of their holes ; and proud Benhadad when he heard of fome few of Ifrael coming forth against him, can fay, Take them alive, whether they come for peace, or whether for war take them alive, 1 King. 20. 18. What is an handful of gainfayers upon any occafion? We are apt to think, that the ftreatn fhould bear down all before it ; Do any of the Rulers believe in him; that's argument enough: But it must not be fo with Chriftians; here one is worthy to be more then a thousand; if he be a man that orders his converfation aright, that goes upon the fure grounds of infallible truth, though there be none other in the world befides him that followes after righteousness, that man is worthy of our mark, of our imitation; if there be but one Noah in an age( all fleth having corrupted their wayes) it is better to follow him into the Ark, then to perifh withall the world of unbelievers: Here are thefe Many oppofed to us, Paul and Timothy; It is not for us to ftand upon the fear of an imputation of fingularity; we may not do as the moft, but as the beft; It was a defperate refolution of Rabbo

dus

dus the barbarous and ignorant Duke of Frifons, that he would to go Hell because he heard the moft went that way; Our Saviours argument is quite contrary, Enter in at the ftraight gate: for wide is the gate, and broad is the way that leadeth to deflruction, and many there be which in thereat; Matth. 7. 13. And St. Pauls argument here to the fame go purpose, Many walk inordinately, therefore be ye followers of us.

We have an old faying, that Cafes that rarely happen are neglected of Law-givers: The newes of a few Enemies is entertained with fcorne; Many are dreadful, and call upon our best thoughts,for their preventation, or refiftance. The World is apt to make an ill ufe of multitude: On the one fide arguing the better part by the greater: on the other fide arguing mischief tolerable because it is abetted by many. The former of these is the Paralogifme of fond Romanifts; The other of time-ferving Politicians. There cannot be a worse, nor more dangerous Sophiftry then in both these.

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and narrow

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If the firft (hould hold, Paganisme would carry it from Christianifor it is at least by jult computation five to one: Folly from Wifdome, for furely, for every wife man the World hath many fools Outward calling fhould carry it from election, for many are called, few are chofen: Hell from Heaven, Fox ftrait is the gate, that leadeth unto life. Thou shalt not follow a multitude to do evill, faith God; But if any have a mind to do fo,and fhall please himfelf with company in finning, let him confider what abatement of torment it will once be to him, to be condemned with many; wo is me, that fhall rather aggravate his mifery; the rich glutton in hell would have his brethren fent to, that his torment might not be encreased with the acceffion of theirs.

If the latter fhould take place, that which heightens evills fhould plead for their immunity; fo none but weak mifchiefs should receive oppofition: Strong thieves fhould live, only fome poor pettylarçons and pilferers fhould come to execution; Nothing should make room for juftice but inbecellity of offence; Away with this bafe pufillanimity: Rather contrarily, by how much more head wickedneffe hath gotten, fo much more need it had to be topped. A true Herculean fuftice in Governours and States is for Gyants, and Monsters; A right Sampfon is for a whole hoft of Philiftims; The Mountains must be touch't till they fmoak, yea till they be level'd. Set your faces ye that are men in authority against a whole

B 2.

faction

1

faction of vice; and if ye finde many oppofites, the greater is the exercise of your fortitude, and the greater fhall be the glory of your victory. It was St. Pauls encouragment (that which would have difheartned fome other) a large door and effectuall is opened to me, and there are many adverfaries, 1 Cor, 16. 9. And if these Divels can fay, My Name is Legion for we are many; let your powerfull commands caft them out, and fend them with the wine into the deep, and thence into their chaines.

Thefe many fit not ftill, but walk, they are ftill in motion: Motion whether natural or voluntary; Natural, fo walking is living (Tò fine) Thus we walk even while we fit, or lye ftill: Every minute is a new pace; neither can any thing ftop our paffage ; whether we do fomething or nothing, we move on by infenfible steps toward our long home; we can no more stand still then the Heavens, then time. Oh that we could be ever looking to the house of our age and fo walk on, in this vale of tears, that we may once reft for ever. Voluntary, fo the wicked ones walk like their fetter the Devil, who came from compaffing the Earth, Job. 1. Wickedness is feldom other then active. It is with evill as with the contagion of Peftilence, thofe that are tainted long to infect others; Falle Teachers make no fpare of their Travails by Sca or Land to make a Profelite: Could Sin or Herefie be conjured into a circle, there were the leffe danger; now they are fo much more mischievous, as they are more Erraticall: How happy fhould it be fince they will needs be walking, that by the holy Vigilancic of power and authority, they may be fent to walk their own rounds in the regions

of darkness.

Yet further; walking implies an ordinary trade of life; It is not a ftep, or one pace that can make a walk; but a proceeding on, with many fhiftings of our feet: It is no judging of a man by fome one action; Alas, the best man that is may perhaps ftep afide, by the importunity of a temptation, and be mif-carried into fome odious act; Can you have more pregnant inftances then David, the man after Gods own heart, and Peter, the prime Difciple of our Saviour; But this was not the walk of either; It was but a fide-step: their walk was in the wayes of Gods commandement, holy and gracious; No, look what the course of mens lives are, what their ufuall practife; and according to that judge of them; If they be or

dinary Swearers, profane Scoffers, Drunkards, Debauch't perfons, their Walk is in an ill way to a molt fearfull end. Pitty them, labour to reclaim them, and to stop them that they fall not into the precipice of Hell: but if their courfe of life be generally holy, and confcionable, it is not a particular mif-carriage that can be a just ground of the cenfure of an inordinate walking, which our Apoftle paffes here upon thefe mif-living Philippians; Many walk.

This for their Motion; their Quality followes, Enemies to the croffe of Chrift; What an unusuall expreffion is this? Who can but hate every thing that concurs to the death of a Friend, whether Agents, or Inftruments. And what was the Croffe, but the Engine of the Death of him, whom if we love not beft, we love not at all? furely, We love thee not, O Saviour, if we can look with any other then angry eyes, at Judas, Pilate, the Croffe, Nayles, Speare. or what ever elfe was any way neceffary to thy murder: They were thine enemies that raised thee to the Croffe, how can they be other then thy Friends, that are enemies to that thy moft cruell, and indigne crucifixion. When we confider these things in themselves, as Wood and Metall, we know they are harmleffe: but if from. what they are in themfelves, we look at them with refpect to men, to thee, we foon finde why to hate, why to love them. We hate them as they were employed by men against thee, we love_them as they were improved by thee for man: as the inftruments of mens malice and cruelty against thee, we hate them: we love them as they were made by thee, the inftruments of our redemption: Thy Croffe was thy death: It is thy death that gives us life; fo as therefore we cannot be at once enemies of the Croffe, and friends of thee crucified:

As Chrift himself, fo the Croffe of Chrift hath many false friends, and even thofe are no other then enemies; unjust favours are no lefs in jurious then derogations; he that should deify a Saint should wrong him as much, as he that fhould Divellize him; Our Romanifts exceed this way, in their devotions to the Croffe; both in over-multiplying, and in over-magnifying of it. Had the wood of the Croffe grown from the day that it was firft fet in the Earth, till now, and borne croffes; that which Simen of Cyrene once bore, could not have filled fo many carts, fo many fhips, as that which is now in feveral parts of Chriftendom given cur and adored for the

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