hath told us, that Wide is the gate, and broad is the way, that leadeth to destruction, and many there be which go in thereat. SERM. LXVII. Matt. vii. 13. Luke xiii. Rom. ix 27. Is. x. 22. Wherefore popular use is no good argument of truth or right; nor can yield any warrant or any colour for infring- 24. ing God's law: no plebiscitum can be of force against it. God never did allow the people to exempt themselves or us from their loyalty, or obedience to his laws; they are universally obligatory; he hath commanded all men to re- Acts xvii. pent; he hath threatened that otherwise all shall perish; and 30. that tribulation and anguish shall be upon every soul of Rom.ix.12. man that doeth evil. Luke xiii.3. Rom. ii. 9. 2. He by express prohibitions hath obviated all such pretences and pleas; Thou shalt not, saith he, follow a multi- Exod. xxiii. tude to do evil; and, Say ye not a confederacy-neither Rom. xii. 2. fear ye their fear, nor be afraid, (fear not to dissent and! Be not condiscost from the way of this people.) And, If sinners entice this world. thee, (how many soever they be, though it be a sinful na- Is. viii. 11. tion, a people laden with iniquity, a seed of evil doers,) con- 15. Love formed to 1 John ii. not the world. Isa. i. 4. sent thou not. Indeed if we consider it, it is so far from excusing sin, Is. viii. 10., that it is an aggravation thereof, that we therein conspire Prov. i. 10. with others, and the more the worse: to oppose God singly is not quite so criminal, as to join with a rout in hostility and rebellion against him; for hereby God's authority is more shaken, and his honour more rudely violated; hereby we do not only sin ourselves, but contribute to the sin of others, encourage them to it, and uphold them in it by our patronage. Hereby we become accessary to the degeneracy and general apostasy of the age. Hereby we do join our forces to pull down God's judgments on our country, and by promoting general corruption induce general vengeance. The multitude of sinners is so far from sheltering any one from wrath, that it surely draweth it upon all; forcing the Almighty, not only for the assertion of his own authority, and vindication of his honour, but for the good SERM. of the people, and purgation of the world, to pour forth remarkable vengeance. LXVII. Isa. i. 25. I will purge away the dross. For example; in the time of Noah did God spare the old world, when all flesh had corrupted its way upon the Gen. vi. 12. earth, did that stave off God's wrath, or stop the deluge? 2 Pet. ii. 5. No, it did grievously provoke him, it did in a manner ne2 Pet. ii. 5. cessitate him to destroy man from the face of the earth; bringing in the flood upon the world of the ungodly. Gen. vi. 7. Did the number of sinners in Sodom prevent vengeance 2 Pet. ii. 6. on them? was it not that which did condemn them to an overthrow so dismal, pulling down fire and brimstone on Jer. v. 1. them? What was the reason of that woful captivity, into which Jer. vi. 28. Israel was carried? was it not because they were all grievous revolters; and had so generally conspired in wickedness, that the Prophet could say, Run ye to and fro through the streets of Jerusalem, and see now, and know, and seek in the broad places thereof, if ye can find a man, if there be any that executeth judgment, that seeketh the truth, and I will pardon it? Was it not this which did wring from Jer. v. 29. God that sentence, Shall I not visit for these things? shall not my soul be avenged on such a nation as this? Isa. i; 6. When the case is such in any community, as it was in Israel, when God said, From the sole of the foot even to the head there is no soundness in it, then judgment is necessary, and it must assuredly follow, Your country is desolate-then God, his patience being tired, and his goodness Isa. i. 24. unsupportably abused, will cry out, Ah, I will ease me of my adversaries and avenge me of mine enemies. Isa. i. 7. 1 Cor. iv. 15. t God, as Governor of the world, in discharge of his office, for clearing his honour, for assuring his majesty, out of regard to public good, for the safety and welfare of his subjects, is concerned to chastise notorious, scandalous, and infectious sin he may reserve private sins for the final doom, when the hidden things of darkness shall be brought to light, and the counsels of hearts manifested, and all things shall receive just reward and recompense; but it is expedient to punish public sin publicly they who : declare their sin as Sodom, with outrageous impudence, are SERM. like to find a punishment like that in a common vengeance. LXVII. We should therefore in such a case be the more careful Isa. iii. 9. of our conversation, more shy of sinful compliance with others, for preventing public calamity; for that our single piety and innocence (or the goodness of a few) may save our country, together with ourselves, from wrath and ruin; seeing it is the gracious method of God in regard to a few righteous men to spare the rest, to release a nation from deserved punishment; for if in Sodom had been found ten righteous persons, it had escaped that horrible destruction; Gen. and Israel in Hezekiah's time (although in a very great and general corruption of that age) by a few good men did avoid the like doom; according to that of the Prophet, Except the Lord of hosts had left unto us a very small rem- Isa. i. 9. nant, we should have been as Sodom. The righteousness of one Noah did save the race of mankind from being extinct. xviii. 32. Lam. iii. 22 The zeal of one Phinehas did stop that plague, which had devoured Israel: Phinehas, saith God himself, the son of Num. xxv. Eleazar, hath turned my wrath away from the children of 11. Israel, while he was zealous for my sake among them, that 30. I consumed not the children of Israel in my jealousy. Psal. cvi. If there had been such another public patron of piety, at the time when Israel was so severely punished by deliverance into captivity, it would have obstructed that lamentable event; God himself so testified; for, I sought, Ezek. xxii, said he, for a man among them, that would make up the 30, 31. hedge, and stand in the gap before me for the land, that I should not destroy it: but I found none. Therefore have I poured out mine indignation upon them :-and, Run ye Jer. v. 1. to and fro, (said he again,) seek if ye can find a man-in Jerusalem, and I will pardon it. Wherefore, beside regard to our own welfare, a consideration of public good, charity toward the world, a compassion of our country should withhold us from conspiring in common transgressions, or omissions of duty. If we sin with all, we must suffer with all; nor will the SERM. having so much company in suffering yield any true comfort LXVII, to us: Socios habuisse doloris (to have companions in sorrow) is in itself a pitiful solace, and an unworthy one, saus. Ecclus. Vouring of inhuman malignity; for our fellows will bear no share with us, or take off any thing from the burden of our pains, which will be equally to them and us extreme. not oversee xvi. 17. Can it be any considerable satisfaction, that we are sick of an epidemical disease, that sweepeth away multitudes about us and with us? Is it better for one part, that the whole body is over-> spread with a noisome leprosy ? that its fellow members are tortured with grievous anguish ? Can the sorest pains of our brethren cure the achings of our heart, assuage the pangs of our conscience, or slack the consuming flames beneath? What advantage can we enjoy from going down to hell in a troop? what ease shall we find there from being encompassed with the doleful groans, the piercing shrieks, and dismal howlings of fellow sufferers in that infernal dungeon ? Alas! will it not rather augment our pains to hear the sore complaints, the fierce accusations, the desperate curses of those, whom our compliance hath engaged, or encouraged, or confirmed and hardened in that wicked practice, which did throw them into that disconsolate case? 8. Another principle (near of kin to the former) is a dislike of singularity and solitude; together with the consequences and imputations usually cleaving thereto. One would not be a man by himself; to be gazed on, to be hooted at as a kind of prodigy, to be deemed an extravagant, odd, humorous, fantastic person, conceited of his own opinion, addicted to his own way, arrogating to himself a liberty of crossing and condemning or contemning the world; therefore he runneth along with the age, complying with its sinful customs, and naughty fashions". a He is grievous unto us even to behold: for his life is not like other men's,' his ways are of another fashion. Wisd. ii. 15, &c. LXVII. But this is a vain principle; for really to be singular is SERM. no fault, to be held so is no disgrace; it is rather in many cases laudable and honourable; and if in any, most reasonably it is in this. Doth not singularity or paucity increase the price and estimation of every valuable thing? What maketh a jewel but rarity? what but that maketh a diamond more precious than a pebble? Do not men for singular eminency in any art, skill, faculty, endowment, gain credit and renown? What recommended to posterity the names of Apelles, Praxiteles, Phidias, but excelling in their art beyond the ordinary rate? what gave to Demosthenes and Cicero their esteem, but a singular knack of eloquence? to what did Alexander and Cæsar owe their fame, but to an extraordinary valour? whence got Socrates such a name, but from his singular wisdom? whence Fabricius, Aristides, Cato, but from their singular integrity? Why then should it be a discouragement or reproach to be singular or extraordinary in the noblest of all faculties, that of living well, in the most excellent of all perfections, that of virtue? In truth, a man is hardly capable of a greater commendation than this, that he is singularly good; that he surpasseth the vulgar level, and mounteth near heaven in the divinest qualities; that no bad example or fashion hath been able to seduce or corrupt him: this should render him to be most highly esteemed, and most dearly cherished, as a choice ornament of the world, as a most useful instrument of good to mankind. It were desirable that virtue were more common in the world; but surely its being more rare doth render it more admirable, more illustrious, more glorious. Heroical virtue is therefore such, because so few do attain or can reach it; -pauci quos æquus amavit Jupiter; A few, who by special assistance of God's grace, and by |