by mans own industry neither by parts gifts learning or what ever man as meer man is able to attain to That its the meer gift of God flowing to Saints in the streams of the blood of the Covenant of Grace all these are but signs or preparatives to know whether godliness be in thee or no for thou maist know all this and yet be far from the power of godliness but if thou art not clearly convinced of these four particulars let me tell thee thou hast not so much as the least part or step so much as towards the power of godliness These things thus premised we shall proceed First then If the power of godliness dwel in thee thou art changed from an estate of nature to an estate of grace thou art delivered from the power of Satan and translated into the Kingdom of Christ yea This man hath the witness of the Spirit of God in himself and thou knowest it and art convinced of it in thine own conscience for it s not with thee as with a yong Christian that is onely in the nonage of his conversion for he that hath the power of godliness dwelling in him is one of a high Form in the School of Christ yea his condition is such that he can appeal to Christ and Conscience that this power dwells in him and is daily acted by him Where this power dwells there sin is mortified such a man is dead to sin sin cannot seize or take hold on him he hath no lust no affection to entertain the least sin it s not enough that thou art no drunkard no base company-keeper no profane swearer but thou must be dead to every sin of what nature soever it be He that is born of God cannot sin that is so as other men sin with consent of the Will with the least allowance of any sin no though thou mightest gain a Kingdom to tell a lye yet thou wouldst not do it yea though thou mightest be made the greatest Prince in the world if thou wouldst but swear by thy faith and troth yea thou wouldst tremble at it and refuse it esteeming godliness to be the best gain and the reason is first because the Love of God constraineth thee so to do secondly for that the fear and dread of the great God of heaven and earth lieth deep upon thy spirit and for the truth of this thou canst appeal unto God who is the searcher of the hearts and reins of his people Thirdly If godliness dwell in thee then grace is predominant in the course of thy life for grace is the very rock and foundation whereon godliness is built therefore as the cause is so is the effect as I have formerly declared even as sin hath by Adam raigned unto death so grace by Jesus Christ might raign to eternal life so that when a temtation comes and is offered unto thee thou canst say as Joseph to his Mistress How shall I do this great wickedness and sin against God how shall I sin against that God who hath been so gratious so tender-hearted and loving unto me who pitied me cleansed me and took me into his bosome when I lay in my blood and filthiness O how shall I how dare I how can I attempt to sin against the God of all my mercies and so wound the peace of mine own conscience and eclipse the enjoyment of that sweet communion with God which I prize and value more then heaven and earth yea then all that can be thought upon Fourthly He that hath godliness in him is an holy and sanctified man in all maner of conversation in his thoughts words and actions he walks up to his profession his head heart hands and feet yea all the faculties of the soul and members of the body are for God and for Christ yea he yeildeth universal obedience to all that God commands as David saith Psal 119.6 I have respect unto all thy Commandements the man doth not pick and chuse what to obey and what not he pleads no exemption of any he leaves not some and takes others his eye is upon them all his Wil is for the performance of all his obedience is not partial but total all Gods Commandements are his delight and meditation day and night the whole bent of his desires runs after the Laws of God its sufficient to him that God commands it he is as willing yea as ready to obey as God is to command It s speedy When God commands he will not delay Gen. 22.3 though it be to offer up his dearest Isaac as Abraham when he was commanded to offer up his son the Text saith He did rise very early in the morning he deferred no time and when Zacheus saw Christ Luke 19.5 6. He came down hastily to receive him joyfully It s willing and chearful obedience Zacheus received Christ joyfully David rejoyced to run the wayes of Gods Commandements Psal 119.16 yea and Christ rejoyced to do the Will of his Father for God loves a chearful doer If ye be willing and obedient then ye shall eat the good things of the Land but if ye refuse and be rebellious ye shall be devoured with the Sword for the month of the Lord hath spoken it So you see it s required to be willing to obey whatever God commands It must be diligent obedience for as the hand of the diligent maketh rich in things temporal Heb. 11.6 Psa 119.4 and is a duty commanded so much more in things spiritual the diligent inquisitive soul after God and godliness is a thirsting soul it stores up grace and comfort against the time of need it s like the Ant in the Proverbs that provideth in the Summer against the Winter The power of godliness puts a man upon diligence in hearing the Word in prayer in meditation it makes a man to make his often addresses unto the throne of Grace and watchful after every opportunity to manifest his love to God to Christ and to the Saints and to be very active in doing what God commands This obedience is continual it s not to obey now and to disobey anon to serve God to day and the devil to morrow no the truly godly man cannot serve God and Mammon God will not be served by fits and starts he will admit of no interpositions or mixtures God is a perfect God and requireth perfect obedience it must be a continued act from the first hour that the power of godliness entred into the soul even unto the expiration of its last breath it must be the souls whole desire to be continually active for God in the general course of its life That soul in whom Christ or the power of godliness dwells is often in communion with God yea and it prizeth it at an higher rate then heaven and earth and all things that can be thought upon there is no pleasure profit preferment or dignity whatsoever that can divert him from this fellowship wherein
though there may be a form of godliness without the power yet there cannot be the power without the forme I mean not a bare speculative and seeming forme such as is spoken of before but a practicall and active forme represented in the whole life and conversation a man cannot carry coals in his bosome and not be burnt So no man can carry grace in his heart but it will spread forth and appear in his life it s in vain for that man to say I have a good and upright heart whose life and conversation is altogether loose and licentious the tree must first be made good and then its fruit will be good let there be soundness in thy heart and there will be no rottenness in thy life thy conversation will be suitable to thy heart and thy heart correspondent to thy conversation let the fountaine be pure and the streams will issue pure The other word is Godliness 2 Gal. 20. 2 Cor. 4. â—1 Godliness is sometimes called the life of God the Image of God the new creature a man born again Its godliness for a man to have a good conscience and love towards God man and to be void of offence 2 Cor. 5.17 John 3.5 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 It s spoken Metonymically in such a man dwels godliness Godliness is in that soul where God acteth so as it unites the soul to God as by his power it lives to God it walks with God it hath God communicating himself to it in Christ where the soul by a reflex act gives out it self to God it acts as God acts it follows the foot-steps of God this is true godliness in the soul of which more anon Habentes formam Pietatis Having a forme of godliness Quest It will be worth inquiry to see how it comes to pass that wicked men take upon them the forme of Religion or of godliness And that generally they do upon this accompt Ans 1 Men do it oft times to please their friends Jehoash did that which was right in the sight of the Lord all the dayes of Jehojadah the Priest what is the reason 2 Reg. 12.2 was it not for that Jehojadah had saved his life and made him King when all his brethren were slain by Athaliah the Queen 2 Reg 11.1 for she arose and destroyed all the seed Royal. So Absalom would draw his father into a belief that he was very godly and made conscience in paying of his vows and that at Hebron he knew this would please his father well Ans 2 Others do it to stop the mouth of conscience 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Rom. 2.14 15. I mean of a natural conscience for by nature men will be worshipping in one kinde or other All men having the law written in their hearts their consciences also bearing them witness and their thoughts the mean while excusing or accusing one another that made Saul to offer a burnt offering in Samuels absence the text saith he forced himself to offer a burnt offering because he had not made supplication to the Lord for the Philistines were drawing neer but Samuel tells him he had done foolishly in what he had done 1 Sam. 13.12 Ans 3 Others take up a forme of Religion that they may be gainers by it Judas by his forme carried the bag and the text saith he was a thief thus grew he into credit and trust by a notional and colourable forme of Religion yea how many in these days purchase unto themselves vast estates out of formal professions to Religion Religion not the cause of sin but the want of Religion whereby they profess nothing more then the delusion cozenage and over-reaching of others who are simply and really godly which Hypocritical actions the prying and curious worldling glories to bewray and thereby takes occasion though scandalously to inveigh against Religion it self in the purity of its profession Surely such men in their abundance have want and in their want abundance that is they in the midst of their abundance of their outward and formal performances have the absence and want of the soul-solacing testimony of an upright and sincere conscience towards God and the inward consciousness of this want will at length work in the soul abundance of horror and confusion of spirit whereby their souls without the infinite mercy of God are swallowed up into the abysse of despair and then woe will be the lot of such by whom offences shall come such men may deceive poor weak infant Christians but alas their deceit will retort into their own bosomes and heavy and sad will be their condition Ans 4 Others have a forme onely in relation unto the present and temporary credit and fashion of Religion it may be the State favors it or the current of the times runs that way so that many men choose their Religion more out of fear of men then love of God for they think they shall be looked on with an evil aspect if they do not forme and fashion themselves unto the government of the times whether it be Ecclesiasticall or Civil Ans 5 A form of Religion doth not displease the world but the power makes them mad for a man to keep his parish Church to live peaceably amongst his neighbors to live civilly and to pay every man his own to be indifferent in matters of Religion not daring to professe too much nor being zealous in it this is the godly man in the eye and esteem of the world this man shall be honoured and live at quiet and rest though all this while he be but a meer formalist when in the mean time the power of Religion living and acting in a poor despicable and unminded godly soul is trampled under foot yea scorned and vilified Ans 6 The devil likes a form well he is the grand Formalist he is that Proteus that can assume variety of formes and no wonder if his servants affect the same You know the devil could plead Scripture again and again to Christ himself a form doth not oppose the devils Kingdom when the power beats it down a man in a form may go on long enough the devil will not disturbe him he knowes he hath him fast enough this man saith Satan will do us no hurt we are sure of him he will not disrellish any thing all things are alike with him if any be unsavory or distastful it will be the good he can swallow down any thing do as men will have him do he will make no disturbance in the parish where he lives nor question or scruple any false or ceremonious dispensation of ordinances but wormwood will be as sweet to his unsound palate as hony he will do as the most do his suffrage shall be ecchoed forth after the general vote the major conformity shall be the rule for his life he will be fair to them that will be fair to him his affections are steered by popularity he will keep
sight of God thus the fallibility of the heart causeth the infallibility of the souls ruine the full-blown sail of a treacherous heart will over-top and turn the soul and sinke it into the bottomless Ocean of hell such a man as this is in a far worse condition then he that is openly profane and maketh not the least shew of Religion for First a profane wicked man that makes no shew of Religion at all Sooner conviction is sooner convinced of his wickedness he hath no Fig-leaves to cover his nakedness he hath no painting to set off his conversation he is bad yea very bad and seems to be so he is one and the same both within and without he carrieth not two faces under one hood he will not curse with his heart and bless with his tongue his heart and lips shall both go together his mouth shall be black with swearing lying and cursing his eyes red with drinking his throat an open sepulchre to all profaneness nay he will be so far from dawbing over the rottenness of his heart with a Saint-like life that he will be alwayes boasting and taking glory in the spreading forth of his own infirmities and private and sinful actions this man will be known in his colours and will go for a wicked man in the heart and eyes of all men yea of them that are as bad as himself this man doth not steal to hell in a mist for he bids open defiance against Heaven God Christ Gospel Saints and every thing that hath but a shew of good but now how soon is this man convinced if Conscience be awakened I he hath not one word to say for himself but will cry Guilty Guilty More like to come to the knowledg of sin He is more likely to come to the knowledg of his sin every man will be ready to reprove him who is notorious and openly wicked whereby he shall become sensible of the commission of sin and is informed of such and such wicked and ungodly actions when as the hypocrite walketh blameless and irreproveable in the eyes of men and therefore not taken notice of nor reproved for sin An hypocrite more hard to convince but lies bound up in the fetters of his own private deceitful heart unto all eternity this man will be alwayes finding somewhat to say for himself as That all men are sinners it s the frailty of the flesh it s the violence of temptation that makes him commit such and such an evil Gods knows its quite contrary to his will to his desire yea to his affections to do so wickedly he allows not himself in any way of sin he constantly prays against sin he keeps his own Parish and is a frequent hearer of the Word he performs duties in his Family sometimes he hath the good word of many godly men he is acquainted with the Scriptures yea he can go for a Saint where he is not much known and he will make it appear that there are worse men in the world then he He that hath a form of godliness is not likely to come to the knowledg of his sin Not probable to come to the knowledg of sin his form is a false glass that deludes his soul it vainly perswades the soul of its loveliness and integrity when indeed it is nothing but deformity his forme is that which ballances all that men can say against him yea it blindes his own eyes stops the mouth of his conscience which is every moment ready to fly in his face he is upheld by his friends by the world he is not opposed by the flesh the devil or wicked men yea no man can speak so confidently against this man as against the former for he goes to hell in a mist slily and smoothly he is not so openly manifested to be wicked as the publike profane person yet his condition is far more desperate and dangerous the one shall have cause to bless God that brought him to a sight of his sin when the other shall have cause for ever to curse the devil and his deceitful heart that deluded him with a counterfeit sight and shew of his own holiness and hid and kept back from him the true sight of his sin This lets us see that those wicked men that have only a form of godliness are in a most desperate and bewailable condition we may well say of these men that the end of their pretended holiness will be shame The Comedy of their plausible life will end in a woeful Tragedy their glittering gold will be turned into cankering rust the moth and gnawing worm of conscience will one day eat upon and torment their rich-seeming soul O these men have so much gazed on their own idolized holiness that they are far from the sight of God Matthew saith they are the pure in heart that shall see God then the unclean in heart must never see him Mat. 5.8 they are so much enamored upon or in love with the fictitious raies of their own holiness that the true beauty of holiness is totally hid from their eyes They shall never see God unlesse it be when they come to Judgment then they shall see him and hear him to their cost I may say of these men as it was said of Judas It had been good for them that they had never been born that they had never seen the light never heard a Sermon neverheard of Christ never had a form of godliness never mentioned Religion O it had been good for them they had never heard of Judgements of mercies of Gods patience his long suffering his gentleness all these and many more shall rise up in Judgement against them yea every Sermon they have heard every prayer they have been at and every Chapter they have read shall plead against them yea their very knowledge in Religion their form of godliness all shal come against them at the last day and shall rise up as so many witnesses against them that God whom they professed to serve will be their enemy Christ will not own them no angel dares speak for them no Saint will come neer them the devil whom they have inwardly served stands ready to receive them and pay them their wages when that heavy sentence is pronounced against them Go ye cursed wretches into everlasting condemnation c. Having a Form of Godliness We shall observe further Obser 2 That in the last times many men shall content themselves with a meer outside of godliness When the Son of man cometh Luk. 18.8 shall he finde faith on the earth It will be a rare thing to finde faith Religion will be swallowed up of form And if the Apostle could say in his time 1 Cor. 10.11 We are they upon whom the ends of the world are come In quos sines seculorum deveverunt certainly we may now say we are they who live in the last times yea in the last of times I could wish that
me all ye that labor and are heavy laden Matth. 11.28 29. and I will give you rest and you shall find rest unto your souls Joh. 7.37 Jesus stood and cried saying If any man be athirst let him come to me and drink of the waters of Life freely So again in the Revelation of John Revel 22.27 The Spirit and the Bride said come and let him that heareth say come and let him that is athirst say come and whosoever will let him take the water of Life freely Many more places of Scripture might be instanced and brought for this purpose but these are sufficient to set forth the free invitation of all sinnners both by God by Christ and the Spirit of Grace the Lord looks for nothing at thy hand but to receive pardon and to be reconciled unto himself therefore why will you perish O sons of men your condemnation is of your selves Let this then take off those that do refrain to come unto Christ because they have nothing to come withall such a soul is best welcome unto Christ that is emptiest in himself thy approaches and addresses unto Christ are not to be measured with those unto great Personages here on earth there needs no rich presentations to usher in or plead thy acceptance nor purchasing of Mediators by clandestine and close-fisted bribes the dearest and highest Saint in heaven cannot so soon procure thy access unto and acceptance with Jesus Christ in heaven as the fauning Parasite and Saint-seeming Devil can with man on earth nor doth Christ accept of any creature or worthiness in creature either in heaven or earth on the behalf of a poor soul to ingratiate it into his favor and embraces but of his own breathings in a contrite spirit O then if sin be a burthen to thee come unto Christ and he will take it off he will deliver thee from that weight God he hath laid help upon one that is mighty by his Stripes we are healed by his Merits saved by his Wounds cured and by his Power preserved unto everlasting life and to press more home unto the souls of poor sinners the consideration of the free offer of Grace and Salvation of Christ let them but read the ingeminated invitation of the Spirit of God in that one Text before cited Revel 22.17 Come come come The free Word Come is no less then three times reiterated in that one Verse O then do not wilfully refuse and cast off the free offers of Life Grace and Salvation for know it is tendred as freely to thee as ever it was to any creature under heaven and know that to reject this mercy is to reject the greatest mercy that ever was tendered to any soul upon the face of the earth it is to reject not onely thine own good thine own life thine own salvation and thy sweet communion with and enjoyment of Christ and the blessed Saints for ever hereafter but also of the free Love of God and Christ the loss whereof is worse then ten thousand hells yea it shall be an aggravation of all thy sins that ever thou didst commit in thy whole life for he that will not believe is damned already there is no hope of such a man take heed therefore of Unbelief for it is worse then Hell it self as being the cause of all miseries that a soul can be afflicted with Hell that 's an Ordinance of God but sin is from the devil and mans own corruption Hell is the fruit of sin as sin is the cause of punishment by sin came death into the world yet that man that believes shall be preserved from sin death hell and what ever else is miserable yea not onely so but he shall have that sweet enjoyment of God Christ his Spirit Saints Angels Heaven Life Glory yea more then his desire or thoughts can comprehend for no eye hath seen ear heard or heart conceived what is laid up in life and glory for all them that believe there the soul shall see God as he is yea it shall be filled with the fulness of God and ravished with his presence yea more the soul shall hold communion with Christ and with the father in a more excellent measure then any creature can be capable of in this life yea there the soul shall be in union with God and Christ God will be giving out himself unto his Saints they shall partake of his glory they shall be in him and he in them this is the excellency and preeminency of faâ—th that doth instrumentally and mediatly through Christ alone act and carry the soul above the pitch of earth and conveighs and lodgeth it in the bosom of Christ O then who would be destitute of this Armor of proof Who would not be shrouded under this helmet as sufficient to defend the soul against all worldly and spiritual conflicts who would not get this wing to elevate and mount his soul into the Heaven of Heavens where the act of faith shall cease then shall believers live no more by faith but by sight there expectation shall be swallowed up of fruition invisible things become visible glimmerings of light become flames and ravishments of glory Saints here can better tell what God is not then what he is we can here say he incomprehensible and immutable but then we shall see God in his essence in his nature and excellency as he is a spirit so far as a soul can be made capable of so glorious an object O then of what happiness and bliss do unbeleevers deprive themselves that will not believe though everlasting life depends upon it O sinners remember how often hath the Gospel been preached unto you how often have you been invited unto the marriage Feast and you would not come How often have you preferred the wedding of your souls unto the profits and lusts of this world rather then unto Christ Consider Christ hath invited you your own wicked wills have refused to comply with his call he would have gathered you together under his wings but ye would be dispersed separated from him certaintly it shall be easier for Sodom and Gomorrah in the day of Judgment then for you and thus I have dispatched the first branch Having a form of godliness 2 Tim. 3.5 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Sed qui vim ejus abnegarint But denying the power thereof THe Apostle still continues his complaint of what should come to pass in the last and evil times which are accomplished in these days wherein we live which we have shewed you in the precedent part of this Treatise these men in the text retain the form of godliness at the same time when they deny the power of it things of least value most set by and those of the greatest concernment most slighted contemned and despised darkness before light vanity before verity shadows before substance weakness before power here you may see men acting much outwardly and intending nothing less inwardly men contending for