SERMONS PREACHED UPON SEVERAL OCCASIONS BY ROBERT SOUTH, D. D. PREBENDARY OF WESTMINSTER, AND CANON OF A NEW EDITION, IN FIVE VOLUMES. VOL. III. OXFORD, AT THE UNIVERSITY PRESS. MDCCCXLII. THE CHIEF HEADS OF THE SERMONS. VOL. III. SERMONS XLVI. XLVII. COVETOUSNESS PROVED NO LESS AN ABSURDITY IN REASON, UNSURE WAY TO RICHES, THAN RICHES THEMSELVES TO HAPPINESS. LUKE Xii. 15. And he said unto them, Take heed, and beware of covetousness: for a man's life consisteth not in the abundance of the things which he possesseth. P. 1. It is natural for man to aim at happiness, the way to which seems to be an abundance of this world's good things, and covetousness is supposed the means to acquire it. But our Saviour confutes this in these words, 1, 2. which contains, 1st, A dehortation, 3. wherein we may observe, 1. The author of it, Christ himself, 4. the Lord of the universe, 5. depressed to the lowest estate of poverty, 5. 2. The thing we are dehorted from, covetousness, 6. by which is not meant a prudent forecast and parsimony, 6. but an anxious care about worldly things, attended with a distrust of Providence, 7. a rapacity in getting, 9. by all illegal ways, 11. a tenaciousness in keeping, 13. 3. The way how we are dehorted from it; Take heed and beware, 15. For it is very apt to prevail upon us, by its near resemblance to virtue, 16. the plausibility of its pleas, 17. the reputation it generally gives in the world, 19. And there is a great difficulty in removing it, 20. 2dly, The reason of that dehortation, 2, 24. that a man's life consisteth not in the abundance of the things which he possesseth, 24. Because, 1. In the getting of them men are put upon the greatest toils and labours, 26. run the greatest dangers, 27. commit the greatest sins, 30. And, 2. When they are gotten, are attended with excessive cares, 32. with an insatiable desire of getting more, 34. are exposed to many temptations, 35. to the malice and envy of all about them, 37. 3. The possession of earthly riches is not able to remove those things which chiefly render men miserable, 38. such as affect his mind, 38. or his body, 39. 4. The greatest happiness this life is capable of, may be enjoyed without that abundance, 41. SERMON XLVIII. NO MAN EVER WENT TO HEAVEN, WHOSE HEART WAS NOT THERE BEFORE. MATTHEW vi. 21. For where your treasure is, there will your heart be also. P. 46. These words concerning man's heart's being fixed upon his treasure or chief good, 46. may be considered, 1st, As an entire proposition in themselves, 47. 1. Supposing, that every man has something which he accounts his treasure, 47. which appears from the activity of his mind, 48. and the method of his acting, 49. 2. Declaring, that every man places his whole heart upon that treasure, 50. by a restless endeavour to acquire it, 50. by a continual delight in it, 52. by supporting himself with it in all his troubles, 53. by a willingness to part with all other things to preserve it, 54. 2dly, As they enforce the foregoing precept in the 19th and 20th verses; wherein the things on earth and the things in heaven are represented as rivals for men's affections, 56. and that the last ought to claim them in preference to the other will be proved, 1. By considering the world, how vastly inferior it is to the worth of man's heart, 58. 2. By considering the world in itself, 60. how all its enjoyments are perishing, 60. and out of our power, 61. And on the contrary, heaven is the exchange God gives for man's heart, 58. and the enjoyments above are indefectible, endless, 61. and not to be taken away, 62. The improvement of these particulars is to convince us of the extreme vanity of most men's pretences to religion, 63. SERMON XLIX. VIRTUOUS EDUCATION OF YOUTH, THE WAY TO A HAPPY PROVERBS Xxii. 6. Train up a child in the way he should go: and when he is old, he will not depart from it. P. 71. The rebellion of forty-one has had ever since a very pernicious influence upon this kingdom, 71. To hinder the mischief whereof, Solomon's advice is best, to plant virtue in youth, in order to ensure the practice of it in a man's mature or declining age, 74. For since every man is naturally disposed to evil, and this evil principle will (if not hindered) pass into action, and those vicious habits will, from personal, grow national; and no remedy against this can be had but by an early discipline; it is absolutely necessary that the minds of youth should be formed with a virtuous preventing education, 77. which is the business of 1. Parents, who ought to deserve that honour which their children must pay them; and to instil into their hearts early principles of their duty to God and their king, 79. 2. Schoolmasters; whose influence is more powerful than of preachers themselves, 83. and who ought to use great discretion in the management of that charge, 85. 3. The clergy; who should chiefly attend first upon catechising, 87. then confirmation, 89. and lastly, instructing them from the pulpit, not failing often to remind them of obedience and subjection to the government, 91. Lastly, It is incumbent upon great men to suppress conventicling schools or academies, 94. and to countenance all legal free grammarschools, 95. |