SERMON VI.a THE REWARD OF HONOURING GOD. SERM. THE I SAM. II. 30. For them that honour me I will honour. THE words are in the strictest sense the word of God, uttered immediately by God himself; and may thence command from us an especial attention and regard. The history of that which occasioned them is, I presume, well known; neither shall I make any descant or reflection thereon ; but take the words separately, as a proposition of itself, affording a complete instruction and ample matter of discourse. And as such, they plainly imply two things: a duty required of us to honour God; and a reward proffered to us, upon performance of that duty, being honoured by God. It is natural for us, before we are willing to undertake any work, to consider the reward or benefit accruing from it; and it is necessary, before we can perform any duty, to understand the nature thereof. To this our method of action I shall suit the method of my discourse; first endeavouring to estimate the reward, then to explain the duty. Afterward I mean to shew briefly why in reason the duty is enjoined; how in effect the reward is conferred. I. The reward may be considered either abso[ Ad Aulam. Aug. 1670. MS.] VI. lutely, (as what it is in itself;) or relatively, (as to SERM. its rise, and whence it comes). I For itself, it is honour; a thing, if valued according to the rate it bears in the common market, of highest price among all the objects of human desire; the chief reward which the greatest actions and which the best actions do pretend unto, or are capable of; that which usually bears most sway in the hearts, and hath strongest influence upon the lives of men; the desire of obtaining and maintaining which doth commonly overbear other most potent inclinations. The love of pleasure stoops thereto: for men, to get or keep reputation, will decline the most pleasant enjoyments, will embrace the hardest pains. Yea, it often prevails over the love of life itself, which men do not only frequently expose to danger, but sometimes devote to certain loss, for its sake*. If we observe what is done in the world, we may discern it to be the source of most undertakings therein: that it not only moveth the wheels of public action, (that not only for it great princes contend, great armies march, great battles are fought;) but that from it most private business derives its life and vigour: Even the sex which naturally is so tender and timorous hath afforded many instances, that life may be less dear than honour. What Cicero' somewhere professes to be his may seem to be the general sense of men, that nothing in life is desirable without it. MS. 1 Denique, cum omnia semper ad dignitatem retulissem, nec sine ea quidquam expetendum esse homini in vita putassem, mortem, quam etiam virgines Athenis, regis, opinor, Erecthei filiæ, pro patria contempsisse dicuntur, ego, vir consularis, tantis rebus gestis, timerem ?-Orat. pro Sext. [XXI. 48.] VI. SERM. that for honour especially the soldier undergoes hardship, toil, and hazard; the scholar plods and beats his brains; the merchant runs about so busily, and adventures so far; yea, that for its sake the meanest labourer and artificer doth spend his sweat, and stretch his sinews*. The principal drift of all this care and industry (the great reason of all this scuffling for power, this searching for knowledge, this scraping and scrambling for wealth) * Riches themselves (procuring which may seem the immediate cause of all that .care and industry employed in several ways) men chiefly (as Aristotle well observes) do seek for honour's sake that they may live in reputation; for necessity is served with a little, pleasure may be satisfied from a competence, abundance is required only to support honour; take away credit from wealth, there will be no such scraping and scrambling for it; there was not so in Rome, when poor Fabricius, Curius and Quintius were capable of being consuls and dictators there: nor in Sparta for many hundred years, where the citizens (as Plutarch tells us) enjoyed much of ease and leisure to attend nobler employments, because riches were not there at all invidious, or honourable. Yea, we daily see men to contemn or neglect riches, who can hope to procure respect some other way: by getting knowledge, or any other creditable endowments: the care and pains men expend upon which do commonly grow from this same root: for take away esteem from knowledge, curiosity will soon languish and study expire. This is the reason Plato assigns, why the sciences did not flourish in Greece, in his times, because no city did then honour them; and why in the ancienter times of the Roman state, picture, music, poetry, with other ingenious arts, were altogether unknown, Cicero could not give a better account, than because honour, which feedeth arts, and glory, which kindleth studies, were wanting. MS. doth seem to be, that men would live in some credit, SERM. would raise themselves above contempt. In such request, of such force, doth honour appear to be. If we examine why, we may find more than mere fashion (or mutual imitation and consent) to ground the experiment upon. There is one obvious reason why no mean regard should be had thereto: its great convenience and usefulness: for that a man cannot himself live safely, quietly, or pleasantly, without some competent measure thereof; cannot well serve the public, perform offices of duty to his relations, of kindness to his friends, of charity to his neighbours, but under its protection, and with its aid: it being an engine very requisite for the managing any business, for the compassing any design, at least sweetly and smoothly; it procuring to us many furtherances in our proceedings, removing divers obstacles out of our way, guarding a man's person from offences, adding weight to his words, putting an edge upon his endeavours: for every one allows a favourable ear to his discourse, lends an assisting hand to his attempts, grants a ready credence to his testimony, b Ιδοις δ ̓ ἂν καὶ τῶν ἰδιωτῶν τοὺς ἐπιεικεστάτους ὑπὲρ ἄλλου μὲν οὐδενὸς ἂν τὸ ζῆν ἀντικαταλλαξαμένους, ὑπὲρ δὲ τοῦ τυχεῖν καλῆς δόξης, áñóðvýσkel éléλovras.—Isocr. Orat. ad Philip. [§ 135.] Mors tum æquissimo animo oppetitur, cum suis se laudibus vita occidens consolari potest.-Cic. Tusc. Quæst. [1. 45. 109.] Laudis avidi pecuniæ liberales erant, gloriam ingentem divitias honestas volebant; hanc ardentissime dilexerunt, propter hanc vivere voluerunt, pro hac et mori non dubitaverunt. Cæteras cupiditates hujus unius ingenti cupiditate presserunt.-Aug. de Civ. Dei, v. 12. [Opp. Tom. vII. col. 126 F.] Αἱ γὰρ δυναστείαι καὶ ὁ πλοῦτος διὰ τὴν τιμήν ἐστιν αἱρετά —Arist. Eth. IV. 3. [18.] Honos alit artes, omnesque incenduntur ad studia gloria, &c.— Cic. Tusc. Quæst. 1. [2. 4.] VI. VI. SERM. and makes a fair construction of his doings, whom he esteems and respects*. So is honour plainly valuable among the Bona utilia, as no small accommodation of life; and as such, reason approves it to our judgment. But, searching further, we shall find the appetite of honour to have a deeper ground, and that it is rooted even in our nature itself. For we may descry it budding forth in men's first infancy, (before the use of reason or speech;) even little children being ambitious to be made much of, maintaining Vide Hier. [Paulin.] Ep. ad Celant. Conscientia tibi, fama proximo tuo. Qui fidens conscientiæ suæ negligit famam suam, crudelis est.-Aug. [Serm. cccLv. Opp. Tom. v. col. 1380 B.] Galen. [Ο γάρ τοι τῶν πολλῶν ἀνθρώπων ἔπαινος εἰς μὲν χρείας τινὰς ἐπιτήδειον ὄργανον ἐνιότε γίγνεται.-De Method. Med. vi. 1. Opp. Tom. x. p. 457. Ed. Kühn.] Nec vero negligenda fama est; nec mediocre telum ad res gerendas existimare oportet benevolentiam civium.-Cic. de Amic. [XVII. 61.] Vide Chrys. Tom. vi. Orat. XVII. d Vidi ego et expertus sum zelantem parvulum, &c.—Aug. [Conf. 1. 7. Opp. Tom. I. col. 73 D.] * What hath been said of war (Fama constant bella) may be said of all business, the success thereof much depends upon credit; 'tis not he that is really stronger, or wiser, or better, but he that is so reputed, who commonly in the conduct of affairs hath the advantage. St Augustine observing this, how necessary reputation is, that a man may be able to do any good, or considerably to benefit others, says Seeing our fame is as necessary in respect to our neighbour, as our conscience is for ourselves, he, that confiding in his conscience, doth neglect his reputation, is uncharitable and cruel. MS. this: |