SERMON XXXIV.

OF BEING IMITATORS OF CHRIST.

I COR. iv. 16.

I beseech you, be followers of me: or, I exhort you, be imitators of mea.

SERM. ST. PAUL, by an impartial reflection upon his heart and

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life, being well affured, that he by the divine Spirit was enlightened with a certain knowledge of all necessary truth, and endued with plentiful measures of divine grace; being conscious of a fincere zeal in himself to honour God, and benefit men; being satisfied, that with integrity he did fuit his converfation to the dictates of a good confcience, to the fure rule of God's law, and to the perfect example of his Lord; that his intentions were pure and right, his actions warrantable, and the tenor of his life confpicuously blameless, doth upon all occafions (not out of any felf-conceitedness, arrogance, or oftentation, from which he, by frequent acknowledgment of his own defects and his miscarriages, and by afcribing all the good he had, or did, to the grace and mercy of God, doth fufficiently clear himself; but from an earnest desire to glorify God, and edify his disciples) describe, and set forth his own practice, propofing it as a rule, preffing it upon them as an argument, an encouragement, an obligation to the performance of feveral duties. So by it he directeth and urgeth the Ephefians to a charitable compliance, or com

plaifance; a fweet and inoffenfive demeanour toward SERM. other: Give no offence, faith he, neither to the Jews, nor XXXIV. to the Gentiles, nor to the church of God: even as I pleafe 1 Cor. x.32. all men in all things, not feeking my own profit, but the 33. iv. 16. profit of many, that they may be faved: be ye followers of me fo he guides and provokes the Philippians to endeavours of proficiency in grace, and the study of Chriftian perfection: Nevertheless, faith he to them, whereto we have Phil. iii. 16, already attained, let us walk by the fame rule, let us mind 17. the fame thing: brethren, be ye followers together of me, and mark fuch as walk fo, as ye have us for an enfumple. By the like instance and argument, he moveth the Theffalonians to a fober and orderly converfation, to induftry in their calling, to felf-denial, and a generous difregard of private interest: For yourselves, faith he, know how ye 2 Theff. iii. ought to follow us: for we behaved not ourselves diforderly 7, 8, 9. among you; neither did we eat any man's bread for nought; but wrought with labour and travail day and night, that we might not be chargeable to any of you; not because we have not power, but to make ourselves an example to you to follow us. The fame perfons he commendeth, as having by this means been induced to a patient conftancy in faith and good works: Ye know, faith he, what manner of men 1 Theff. i. we were among you for your fake, and ye became followers of us, and of the Lord, having received the word in much affliction. The practice of all virtue and goodness he also thus recommendeth under this rule and obligation: Thofe Phil. iv. 9. things, which ye have learned, and received, and heard, and seen in me, do; and the God of peace shall be with you. Thus in our text (referring it to the context) he urgeth the Christians, his disciples at Corinth, to fidelity and diligence in the charges and affairs committed to them, to humility, patience, and charity; wherein he declareth himself to have fet before them an evident and exact pattern. Which practice of St. Paul doth chiefly teach us two things; that we be careful to give, and that we be ready to follow good example: the latter of which duties more directly and immediately agreeth to the intent of this place; and it therefore I fhall only now infift upon :

5, 6.

SERM. the fubje& and scope of my difcourfe shall be to fhew, XXXIV. that it is our duty and concernment to regard the prac

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tices of good men, and to follow their example. To which purpose we may observe,

I. That it is the manner of the Apoftles, upon all occafions, to inculcate this duty: we heard St. Paul: hear St. Jam. v. 10. James: Take, faith he, my brethren, the prophets, who have Spoken in the name of the Lord, for an example of fuffering Jam. v. 11. affliction: Ye have heard of the patience of Job, and have feen the end of the Lord; that the Lord is very pitiful and Heb. vi. 11, of tender mercy: and the Apostle to the Hebrews: We defire, faith he, that every one of you do fhew the fame diligence to the full affurance of hope unto the end; that ye be not flothful, but followers of them who through faith and Heb. xii. 1. patience inherit the promises: and again, Wherefore, feeing we are also compassed about with fo great a cloud of wit→ neffes, let us lay afide every weight, and the fin which doth fo eafly befet us, and let us run with patience the race that 1 Pet. iii. 1, is fet before us. And St. Peter: Ye wives, be in fubjection to your own husbands; even as Sarah obeyed Abraham, calling him Lord. And wherever the eminent. deeds of holy men are mentioned, it is done with an intimation at leaft, or tacit fuppofition, that we are obliged to follow their example.

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II. We may confider that to this end (that we might have worthy patterns to imitate) the goodness of God hath raised up in all ages fuch excellent perfons, furnishing them with rare endowments, and with continual influences of his grace affifting them, to this purpose, that they might not only instruct us with wholesome doctrine, but lead us alfo by good example in the paths of righteoufnefs. For certainly what St. Paul faith concerning the fins and punishments of bad men, is no less applicable to 1 Cor. 1.11. the virtuous deeds and happy examples of good men: All these things happened unto them for enfamples; and they are written for our admonition, upon whom the ends of the world are come.

III. They are written for our admonition: it was a special defign of God's providence in recording and recom

mending to our regard the divine hiftories. They were SERM. not framed as monuments of a fruitless memory and fame XXXIV, to them; they were not propofed to us as entertainments of our curiofity, as objects of wonder, as matters of idle difcourfe; that unconcernedly we should gaze upon them, or talk about them, as children look on fine gays: but they are set before us, as copies to tranfcribe, as lights: to guide us in our way to happinefs. So that if we will not ingratefully fruftrate the intentions of divine Providence for our good, we must difpofe ourselves to imitate thofe illuftrious patterns of virtue and piety.

IV. We may farther confider, that, in the nature of the thing itself, good example is of fingular advantage to us, as being apt to have a mighty virtue, efficacy, and influ-› ence upon our practice: which confideration fhould much engage us to regard it, applying it as an inftrument of making ourselves good, and confequently of becoming happy. Good example is, as I fay, of exceeding advantage to practice upon many accounts.

1. Examples do more compendiously, eafily, and pleafantly inform our minds, and direct our practice, than precepts, or any other way or inftrument of discipline. Precepts are delivered in an universal and abftracted manner, naked, and void of all circumftantial attire, without any intervention, affiftance, or fuffrage of fense; and, confequently, can have no vehement operation upon the fancy, and foon do fly the memory; like flashes of lightning, too subtle to make any great impreffion, or to leave any remarkable footsteps, upon what they encounter; they must be expreffed in nice terms, and digefted in exact method; they are various, and in many disjointed pieces conspire to make up an entire body of direction: they do alfo admit of divers cafes, and require many exceptions, or reftrictions, which to apprehend diftin&tly, and retain long in memory, needs a tedious labour, and continual

ἡ Μεγίς» δὲ ὁδὸς πρὸς τὴν τὸ καθήκοντος εὕρεσιν καὶ ἡ μελέτη τῶν θεοπνεύσων γραφῶν· ἐν ταύταις γὰρ καὶ αἱ τῶν πράξεων ὑποθήκαι εὑρίσκονται, καὶ οἱ βίοι τῶν μαρ καρίων ἀνδρῶν ἀνάγραπτοι παραδεδομένοι οἷον εἰκόνες τινὲς ἔμψυχοι τῆς κατὰ θεὸν πολιτείας, τῷ μιμήματι τῶν ἀγαθῶν ἔργων πρόκεινται. Baf. ad Greg. Ep. 2.

SERM attention of mind, together with a piercing and steady XXXIV. judgment. But good example, with less trouble, more speed, and greater efficacy, causes us to comprehend the business, reprefenting it like a picture exposed to sense, having the parts orderly disposed and completely united, fuitably clothed and dreffed up in its circumftances; contained in a narrow compafs, and perceptible by one glance, fo eafily infinuating itself into the fancy, and durably refting therein: in it you fee at once defcribed the thing done, the quality of the actor, the manner of doing, the minute seasons, measures, and adjuncts of the action; with all which you might not perhaps by numerous rules be acquainted; and this in the most facile, familiar, and: delightful way of inftruction, which is by experience, history, and obfervation of fenfible events. A fyftem of precepts, though exquifitely compacted, is, in comparison, but a skeleton, a dry, meagre, lifeless bulk, exhibiting nothing of perfon, place, time, manner, degree, wherein chiefly the flesh and blood, the colours and graces, the, life and foul of things do confift; whereby they please, affect, and move us: but example imparts thereto a goodly corpulency, a life, a motion; renders it confpicuous, specious, and active, transforming its notional univerfality into the reality of fingular fubfiftence. This difcourfe is verified by various experience; for we find all masters of art and science explicating, illuftrating, and confirming their general rules and precepts by particular examples. Mathematicians demonftrate their theorems by fchemes and diagrams, which, in effect, are but fenfible inftances;. orators back their enthymemes (or rational argumentations) with inductions, (or fingular examples ;) philofophers allege the practice of Socrates, Zeno, and the like. perfons of famous wifdom and virtue, to authorize their doctrine: politics and civil prudence is more eafily and. fweetly drawn out of good history, than out of books de Republica. Artificers describe models, and fet patterns before their difciples, with greater fuccefs, than if they should deliver accurate rules and precepts to them. For who would not more readily learn to build, by view