the Text from whence the whole is educed is to manifest how it is Life and Peace which is affirmed by the Apostle This shall be done with all brevity as having passed through that which was principally designed And two things are we to enquire into 1 What is meant by Life and Peace 2 In what Sense to be Spiritually Minded is both of them 1 That Spiritual Life whereof we are made Partakers in this World is threefold or there are three Gospel Priviledges or Graces so expressed 1 There is the Life of Justification Therein the Just by Faith do live as freed from the Condemnatory Sentence of the Law So the Righteousness of one comes on all that believe unto the Justification of Life Rom. 5.18 It gives unto Believers a Right and Title to Life for they that receive the abundance of Grace and the Gift of Righteousness shall reign in Life by one Christ Jesus vers 17. This is not the Life here intended for this Life depends solely on the Soveraign Grace of God by Jesus Christ and the Imputation of his Righteousness unto us unto Pardon Right to Life and Salvation 2 There is a Life of Sanctification As Life in the foregoing sense in opposed unto Death spiritual as unto the the Guilt of it and the condemnatory Sentence of Death wherewith it was accompanied so in this it is opposed unto it as unto its internal Power on and Efficacy in the Soul to keep it under an Impotency unto all Acts of Spiritual Life yea an Enmity against them This is that Life wherewith we are quickned by Christ Jesus when before we were dead in Trespasses and Sins Ephes. 2.1 5. Of this Life the Apostle treats directly in this place for having in the first four verses of the Chapter declared the Life of Justification in the nature and Causes of it in the following he treats of Death spiritual in Sin with the Life of Sanctification whereby we are freed from it And to be Spiritually-Minded is this Life in a double Sense 1 In that it is the principal Effect and Fruit of that Life The Life it self consists in the Infusion and Communication of a Principle of Life that is of Faith and Obedience unto all the Faculties and Powers of our Soul enabling us to live unto God To be Spiritually-Minded which is a Grace whereunto many Duties do concur and that not only as to the Actings of all Grace in them but as unto the Degrees of their Exercise cannot be this Life formally But it is that wherein the Power of this Principle of Life doth in the first and chiefest place put forth it self All Actings of Grace all Duties of Obedience internal and external do proceed from this Spring and Fountain Nothing of that kind is acceptable unto God but what is influenced by it and is an Effect of it but it principally puts forth its Vertue and Efficacy in rendring our Minds Spiritual which if it effect not it works not at all that is we are utterly destitute of it The next and immediate Work of the Principle of Life in our Sanctification is to renew the Mind to make it Spiritual and thereon gradually to carry it on unto that Degree which is here called being Spiritually-Minded 2 It is the proper Adjunct and Evidence of it Would any one know whether he be Spiritually alive unto God with the Life of Sanctification and Holiness The Communication of it unto him being by an Almighty Act of creating Power Ephes 2.10 It is not easily discernable so as to help us to make a right Judgement of it from its Essence or Form But where things are in themselves indiscernable we may know them from their proper and inseperable Adjuncts which are therefore called by the Names of the Essence or the Form it self Such is this being Spiritually-Minded with respect unto the Life of Sanctification it is an inseperable Property and Adjunct of it whereby it infallibly evidenceth if self unto them in whom it is In these two respects it is the Life of Sanctification 3 Life is taken for the Comforts and Refreshments of Life So speaks the Apostle 1 Thes. 3.8 Now we live if you stand fast in the Lord now our Life will do us good we have the Comforts the Refreshments and the Joyes of it Non est vivere Sed valere vita The Comforts and Satisfactions of Life are more Life than Life it self It is Life that is that which makes Life to be so bringing in that Satisfaction those Refreshments unto it which make it pleasant and desirable And I do suppose this is that which is principally intended in the Words of the Apostle it is Life a chearful joyous Life a Life worth the living In Explication and Confirmation whereof it is added that it is Peace also Peace is twofold 1 General and absolute that is Peace with God through Jesus Christ which is celebrated in the Scripture and which is the only Original Spring and Fountain of all Consolation unto Believers that which virtually containes in it every thing that is good Useful or desirable unto them But it is not here precisely intended It is not so 1 As to the immediate ground and Cause of it which is our Justification not our Sanctification Rom. 5.1 Being justifyed by Faith we have Peace with God So Christ alone is our Peace as he who hath made Peace for us by the Blood of the Cross Ephes. 2.14 15. Hereof our being Spiritually-Minded is no way the cause or reason only it is an Evidence and Pledge of it as we shall see 2 Not as unto the formal nature of it Peace with God through the Blood of Christ is one thing and Peace in our Minds through an holy Frame in them is another The former is communicated unto us by an immediate Act of the Holy Spirit dwelling in us Rom. 5.5 The latter is an Effect on our Minds begun and gradually carryed on by the Duties we have before at large declared The immediate Actings of the holy Spirit in sealing us witnessing unto our Adoption and being an Earnest of Glory are required unto the former Our own Sedulity and Diligence in Duties and the Exercise of all Grace are required unto the latter 2 Peace is taken for a peculiar Fruit of the Spirit consisting in a gracious Quietness and Composure of Mind in the mid'st of Difficulties Temptations Troubles and such other things as are apt to fill us with Fears Despondencies and Disquietments This is that which keeps the Soul in its own Power free from Transports by Fears or Passions on all the abiding Grounds of Gospel Consolation For although this be a peculiar especial Grace yet it it that which is influenced and kept alive by the Consideration of all the Love of God in Christ and all the Fruits of it And whereas Peace includes in the first Notion of it an inward Freedom from Oppositions and Troubles which those in whom it is are outwardly exposed
Judgements Dangers Sicknesses Apprehensions of the approach of Death Psal. 34 78.35 37. These things take men off for a season from their greedy Delight in earthly things and the pursuit of the Interest of Lust in making Provision for the Flesh. On many other Occasions by great variety of Causes there may be temporary Impressions made on the Affections that shall seem for a season to have turned the stream of them And thereon we have many who every day will be wholly as it were for God resolved to forsake Sin and all the Pleasures of it but the next return unto all their former Excesses For this is the Effect of those Impressions that whereas Men ordinarily are predominantly acted by Love Desire and Delight which lead them to act according unto the true natural Principles of the Soul now they are for a Season acted by Fear and Dread which put a kind of Force on all their Inclinations Hereon they have other thoughts of Good and Evil of Things Eternal and Tmporal of God and their own Duty for a season And hereon some of them may and do perswade themselves that there is a Change in their Hearts and Affections which there is not like a Man who perswades himself that he hath lost his Ague because his present Fit is over The next trial of Temptation carries them away again unto the World and Sin There are sometimes sudden Impressions made on Spiritual Affections which are always of great Advantage to the Soul renewing its Engagements unto God and Duty So was it with Jacob Gen. 28.16 17 18 19 20. So is it often with Believers in hearing the Word and other Occasions On all of them they renew their cleavings unto God with Love and Delight But the Effect of these Impressions on unrenewed Affections are neither Spiritual nor durable Yea for the most part they are but Checks given in the Providence of God unto the raging of their Lusts. Psal. 9.20 Secondly They are liable unto an habitual Change This the Experience of all Ages gives Testimony to There may be an habitual Change wrought in the Passions and Affections of the Mind as unto the inordinate and violent pursuit of their Inclinations without any gracious Renovation of them Education Philosophy or Reason long Afflictions Spiritual Light and Gifts have wrought this Change So Saul upon his Call to be King became another Man Hereby Persons naturally passionate and furious have been made sedate and moderate and those who have been sensual have become temperate yea and haters of Religion to be Professors of it All these things and many more of the like nature have proceeded from a Change wrought upon the Affections only whil'st the Mind Will and Conscience have been totally unsanctified By this Change where it is alone no man ever became Spiritually-Minded For whereas there are two parts of the Depravation of our Affections that whereby they are turned off from God and that whereby they inordinately cleave unto other things their Change principally if not only respects the latter They are brought into some Order with respect unto present things The Mind is not continually tossed up and down by them as the Waves of the Sea that are troubled and cast up mire and dirt They do not carry those in whom they are into vitious sensual Actions but they allow them to make Vertue in Moderation Sobriety Temperance Fidelity and Usefulness in several Ways to be their Design And it is admirable to think what Degrees of Eminency in all sorts of Moral Vertues upon this one Principle of moderating the Affections even many among the Heathens attained unto But as unto their Aversation from God and Spiritual things in the true Spiritual Notion of them they are not cured by this Change At least this Change may be and yet this latter not be wrought Again This Alteration doth but turn the Course or Stream of Mens Affections it doth not change the Nature of them They are the same in their Spring and Fountain as ever they were only they are habituated unto another Course than what of themselves they are inclined unto You may take a young Whelp of the most fierce and savage Creatures as of a Tygar or a Wolf and by custom or usage make it as tame and harmless as any domestick Creature a Dog or the like But although it may be turned unto quite another way or course of acting than what it was of it self enclined unto yet its nature is not changed And therefore frequently on Occasion Opportunity or Provocation it will fall into its own savage Inclination And having tasted of the Blood of Creatures it will never be reclaimed So is it with the depraved Affections of men with respect unto their Change their streams are turned they are habituated unto a new Course their Nature is not altered at least not from rational unto Spiritual from earthly unto heavenly Yet this is that which was most beautiful and desirable in nature the Glory of it and the utmost of its Attainments He who has by any means proceeded unto such a moderation of his Affections as to render him kind benign patient useful preferring publick Good before private inordinate and temporate in all things will rise up in Judgement against those who professing themselves to be under the Conduct of the Light of Grace do yet by being morose angry selfish wordly manifest that their Affections are not subdued by the Power of that Grace Wherefore that we may be Spiritually-minded there is yet another work upon our Affections required which is their internal Renovation whereby not only the Course of their Actings is changed but their Nature is altered and Spiritually renewed I intend that which is expressed in that great Evangelical Promise Isai. 17.6 7 8 9. The Wolf shall dwell with the Lamb the Leopard shall lye down with the Kid and the Calf and the young Lion and the Fatlings together and a little Child shall lead them and the Cow and the Bear shall feed their young ones shall lye down together and the Lion shall eat Straw like the Ox and the sucking Child shall play on the hole of the Asp and the weaned Child shall put his Hand on the Cockatrice Den. They shall not hurt nor destroy in all my holy Mountain A Change and Alteration is promised in the Natures Principles and first Inclinations of the worst and most Savage Sinners who pass under the Power of Gospel Grace This is that which is required of us in a way of Duty Ephes. 4.13 And be ye renewed in the Spirit of your Minds There is a Renovation of the Mind it self by the Communication of Spiritual Saving Light and Understanding thereunto whereof I have treated elsewhere at large see Rom. 12.2 Ephes. 1.17 18. But the Spirit of the Mind that whereby it is enlivened lead and disposed unto its Actings that is to be renewed also The Spirit of the Mind is in this Place opposed unto
in fears of death and the like and withall have some renewed convictions of sin in Commission or Omission of Duties and thereon do endeavour to be more spiritually minded in the constant exercise of our Thoughts on spiritual things which we fail in and these thoughts decay as our Convictions in the causes of them do wear off or are removed we have attained a very low degree in this Grace if we have any Interest in it at all Water that ariseth and floweth from a living Spring runneth equally and constantly unless it be obstructed or diverted by some violent opposition but that which is from Thunder-showers runs furiously for a season but is quickly dryed up So are those Spiritual Thoughts which arise from a prevalent internal Principle of Grace in the Heart they are even and constant unless an interruption be put upon them for a season by Temptations But those which are excited by the Thunder of convictions however their streams may be filled for a season they quickly dry up and utterly decay 2. Such Thoughts may arise in the minds of men not spiritually minded from outward means and Occasions Such I intend as are indeed usefull yea appointed of God for this End among others that they may ingenerate and stir up holy Thoughts and Affections in us But there is a difference in their use and Operation In some they excite the inward Principle of the mind to act in holy Thoughts according unto its own sanctified disposition and prevalent Affections This is their proper End and Use. In others they occasionally suggest such thoughts unto the minds of men which spring only from the Notions of the things proposed unto them With respect unto this End also they are of singular use unto the souls of men howbeit such thoughts do not prove men to be spiritually minded Where you till and manure your Land if it brings forth plentifull crops of Corn it is an Evidence that the Soil it self is good and fertile the dressing of it only gives occasion and Advantage to put forth its own Fruit-bearing Vertue But if in the tilling of Land you lay much dung upon it and it brings forth here and there an handful where the dung lay you will say the Soil is barren it brings forth nothing of it self These means that we shall treat of are as the tilling of a fruitful Soil which help it in bringing forth its fruit by exciting its own Vertue and Power They stir up holy Affections unto holy Thoughts and desires But in others whose hearts are barren they only serve as it were some of them here and there to stir up spiritual Thoughts which gives no Evidence of a gracious Heart or Spirit But because this is a matter of great Importance it shall be handled distinctly by it self CHAP. III. Outward Means and Occasions of Thoughts of such Spiritual things which do not prove men to be spiritually minded Preaching of the Word Exercise of Gifts Prayer How we may know Whether our Thoughts of spiritual things in Prayer are truly spiritual Thoughts proving us to be spiritually minded 1. SUch a Means is the preaching of the Word it self It is observed concerning many in the Gospel that they heard it willingly received it with joy and did many things gladly upon the Preaching of it And we see the same thing exemplified in multitudes every day But none of these things can be without many thoughts in the minds of such Persons about the Spiritual things of the Word For they are the Effects of such Thoughts and being wrought in the minds of men will produce more of the same Nature Yet were they all Hypocrites concerning whom these things are spoken and were never spiritually minded The cause of this Miscarriage is given us by our Saviour Math. 13.20 21. He that receiveth the seed into stony places the same is he that heareth the Word and anon receiveth it with Joy yet hath he not root in himself but dureth for a while The Good Thoughts they have proceed not from any principle in themselves Neither their Affections nor their thoughts of these things have any internal root whereon they should grow So is it with many who live under the present dispensation of the Gospel They have thoughts of spiritual things continually suggested unto them and they do abide with them more or less according as they are affected For I speak not of them who are either despisers of what they hear or way-side hearers who understand nothing of what they hear and immediately lose all sense of it all thoughts about it But I speak of them who attend with some Diligence and receive the Word with some Joy These insensibly grow in knowledge and understanding and therefore cannot be without some thoughts of spiritual things Howbeit for the most part they are as was said but like unto waters that run after a shower of rain They pour out themselves as if they proceeded from some strong living Spring whereas indeed they have none at all When once the waters of the shower are spent their Channel is dry there is nothing in it but Stones and dirt When the Doctrine of the Word falls on such Persons as showers of rain it gives a Course sometimes greater sometimes less unto their Thoughts towards spiritual things But they have not a Well of water in them springing up into Everlasting life Wherefore after a while their minds are dryed up from such thoughts nothing remains in them but earth and that perhaps foul and dirty It must be observed that the best of men the most holy and spiritually minded may have nay ought to have their Thoughts of spiritual things excited multiplyed and confirmed by the preaching of the Word It is one end of its Dispensation one principal use of it in them by whom it is received And it hath this effect two wayes 1. As it is the spiritual food of the Soul whereby its Principle of Life and Grace is maintained and strengthened The more this is done the more shall we thrive in being spiritually minded 2. As it administreth occasion unto the Exercise of Grace For proposing the proper Object of Faith Love Fear Trust Reverence unto the Soul it draws forth all those Graces into Exercise Wherefore although the Vigorous actings of spiritual thoughts be occasional from the Word be more under and after the preaching of it than at other times it is no more but what ariseth from the nature and use of the Ordinance by Gods own appointment nor is it any Evidence that those with whom it is so are not spiritually minded but on the contrary that they are Yet where men have no other thoughts of this matter but what are occasioned by the outward dispensation of the Word such thoughts do not prove them to be spiritually minded Their Endeavours in them are like those of men in a dream Under some oppression of their spirits their Imagination fixeth on something or other that is
the present storm may as well be the secret sins of Professors as the open Provocations of ungodly men God will punish severely those which he hath known Amos 3.2 It is therefore certainly our Duty to search diligently that nothing be found resting in us against which God is declaring his Displeasure Take heed of negligence and security herein When our Saviour foretold his Disciples that one of them should betray him he who alone was guilty was the last that said Master is it I. Let no ground of hopes you have of your Spiritual condition and acceptance with God no Sence of your sincerity in any of your Duties no visible difference between you and others in the World impose themselves on your minds to divert them from diligence in this Duty The voice of the Lord cryeth unto the City and the man of wisdom will see his Name 2. A diligent endeavour to live in an holy Resignation of our Persons our Lives our Families all our Enjoyments unto the soveraign Will and Wisdom of God so as that we may be in a readiness to part with all things upon his call without repining This also is plainly declared in the voice of present Providences God is making Wings for mens Riches he is shaking their Habitations taking away the visible Defences of their Lives proclaiming the Instability and uncertainty of all things here below And if we are not minded to contend with him we have nothing left to give us rest and peace for a moment but an holy Resignation of all unto his Soveraign Pleasure Would you now know what you should fix and exercise your Thoughts upon so as that they may be Evidences of your being Spiritually minded I say be frequently conversant in them about these things They lye before you they call upon you and will find you a just employment Count them part of your business allow them some part of your time cease not untill you have the Testimony of your Consciences that you have in sincerity stated both these Duties in your minds which will never be done without many Thoughts about them Unless it be so with you God will be greatly displeased at the neglect of his coming and call now it is so plain and articulate Fear the woful Dooms recorded Prov. 1.24 25 26 27 28. Isa. 56.12 Chap. 66.4 to this purpose And if any calamity publick or private do overtake you under a neglect of these Duties you will be wofully surprized and not know which way to turn for Relief This therefore is the time and season wherein you may have an especial trial and experiment whether you be Spiritually minded or no. It is the wisdom of Faith to excite and draw forth Grace into Exercise according unto present Occasions If this Grace be habitually resident in you it will put it self forth in many Thoughts about these present Duties But alas for the most part men are apt to walk contrary to God in these things as the Wisdom of the flesh is contrary unto him in all things A great Instance we have with respect unto these Duties especially the latter of them For 1. Who almost makes a diligent search into and trial of his heart and ways with respect unto the procuring causes of the Displeasure and Judgments of God Generally when the Tokens and Evidences of them do most abound the World is full of outragious provoking sins These visibly proclaim themselves to be the causes of the coming of the Wrath of God on the Children of Disobedience Hence most men are apt to cast the whole Reason of present Judgments upon them and to put it wholly from themselves Hence commonly there is never less of self Examination than when it is called for in a peculiar manner But as I will not deny but that the open daring sins of the World are the procuring Cause of the Wrath of God against it in temporal Judgments so the wisest course for us is to refer them unto the great Judgment of the last Day This the Apostle directs us unto 2 Thess. 1.6 7 8 9 10. Our Duty it is to consider on what accounts Judgment begins at the House of God and to examine our selves with respect thereunto Again the other part of our present Duty in complyance with the voice of Providence is an humble Resignation of our selves and all our concernments unto the will of God sitting loose in our Affections from all earthly temporal Enjoyments This we neither do nor can do let us profess what we will unless our Thoughts are greatly exercised about the Reasons of it and Motives unto it For this is the way whereby Faith puts forth its efficacy unto the Mortification of Self and all earthly Enjoyments Wherefore without this we can make no Resignation of our selves unto the will of God But alas how many at present do openly walk contrary unto God herein The Ways the Countenances the Discourses of men do give Evidence hereunto Their Love unto present things their contrivances for their encrease and continuance do grow and thrive under the Calls of God to the contrary So it was of old They did eat they drank they married and gave in marriage untill the day that Noah entred into the Ark. Can the generality of Professors at this day give Testimony unto the Exercise of their Thoughts upon such things as should dispose them unto this holy Resignation That they meditate on the Calls of God and thence make themselves ready to part with all at his time and pleasure How can persons pretend to be Spiritually minded the current of whose Thoughts lies in direct contrariety unto the mind of God Here lyes the ground of their self-deceivings they are Professors of the Gospel in a peculiar manner they judge themselves Believers they hope they shall be saved and have many Evidences for it But one Negative Evidence will render an hundred that are positive useless All these things have I done saith the young man yet one thing thou wantest saith our Saviour And the want of that one rendred his all things of no avail unto him Many things you have done many things you do many grounds of hope abide with you neither your selves nor others do doubt of your Condition But are you Spiritually minded If this one thing be wanting all the rest will not avail you you have indeed neither Life nor Peace And what grounds have you to judge that you are so if the current of your thoughts lye in direct contrariety unto the present Calls of God If at such a time as this is your love to the World be such as ever it was and perhaps be encreased if your desires are strong to secure the things of this Life unto you and yours if the daily contrivance of your minds be not how you may attain a constant Resignation of your selves and your all unto the Will of God which will not be done without much Thoughtfulness and Meditations on the Reasons of it
and Motives unto it I cannot understand how you can judge your selves to be Spiritually minded If any therefore shall say that they would abound more in Spiritual Thoughts only they know not what to fix them upon I propose this in the first place as that which will lead them unto the due performance of present Duties Secondly The special Trials and Temptations of men call for the Exercise of their Thoughts in a peculiar manner with respect unto them If a man hath a bodily Disease Pain or Distemper it will cause him to think much of it whether he will or no at least if he be wise he will so do nor will he always be complaining of their smart but enquire into their causes and seek their removal Yet are there some distempers as Lethargies which in their own Nature take away all sence and thoughts of themselves and some are of such a slow secret Progress as Hectick Feavers that they are not taken notice of But both these are mortal And shall men be more negligent about the Spiritual Distempers of their Souls so as to have multiplied Temptations the cause of all Spiritual Diseases and take no Thought about them Is it not to be fear'd that where it is so they are such as either in their own Nature have deprived them of Spiritual sence or by their deceitfulness are leading on insensibly unto death Eternal Not to have our minds exercised about these things is to be stupidly secure Prov. 23.34 35. There is I confess some difficulty in this matter how to exercise our Thoughts aright about our Temptations For the great way of the prevalency of Temptations is by stirring up multiplyed Thoughts about their Objects or what they do lead unto And this is done or occasioned several ways 1. From the previous power of Lust in the Affections This will fill the mind with Thoughts The heart will coin Imaginations in complyance therewith They are the way and means whereby Lust draws away the heart from Duty and enticeth unto sin Jam. 1.14 The means at least whereby men come to have eyes full of Adultery 2 Pet. 2.14 or live in constant Contemplation of the Pleasures of Sin 2. They arise and are occasioned by renewed Representations of the Object of Sin And this is twofold 1. That which is real as Achan saw the Wedge of Gold and coveted it Josh. 7.21 Prov. 23.31 Against this is that Prayer of the Psalmist Turn away mine eyes from beholding vanity and the Covenant of Job chap. 31.1 2. Imaginary when the Imagination being tainted or infected by Lust continually represents the pleasure of sin and the actings of it unto the mind Herein do men make provision for the Flesh to fulfil the Lusts thereof Rom. 13.14 3. From the Suggestions of Sathan who useth all his Wiles and Artifices to stir up thoughts about that sin whereunto the Temptation leads And Temptation seldom fails of its end when it can stir up a multitude of unprofitable Thoughts about its Object For when Temptations do multiply Thoughts about Sin proceeding from some or all of these causes and the mind hath wonted it self to give them Entertainment those in whom they are do want nothing but opportunities and Occasions taking off the power of outward restraints for the commission of actual sin When men have so devised mischief they practise it when it is in the power of their hand Mic. 2.1 It is no way safe to advise such Persons to have many Thoughts about their Temptations they will all turn to their disadvantage I speak unto them only unto whom their Temptations are their Affliction and their Burden And such Persons also must be very careful how they suffer their Thoughts to be exercised about the Matter of their Temptation lest it be a snare and be too hard for them Men may begin their Thoughts of any Object with Abhorrency and Detestation and if it be in case of Temptation end them in Complacency and Approbation The deceitfulness of sin lays hold on something or other that Lust in the mind stays upon with Delectation and so corrupts the whole frame of Spirit which began the Duty There have been Instances wherein Persons have entred with a Resolution to punish sin and have been ensnared by the occasion unto the Commission of the sin they thought to punish Wherefore it is seldom that the mind of any one exercised with an actual Temptation is able safely to conflict with it if it entertain abiding thoughts of the matter of it or of the sin whereunto it leads For sin hath mille nocendi Artes and is able to transfuse its Poyson into the affections from every thing it hath once made a bait of especially if it hath already defiled the mind with pleasing Contemplations of it Yea oftentimes a man that hath some Spiritual strength and therein ingageth unto the performance of Duties if in the midst of them the matter of his Temptation is so presented unto him as to take hold of his thoughts in a moment as if he had seen as they say Medusa's Head he is turned into a Stone his spirits are all frozen his strength is gone all actings of Grace do cease his Armor falls from him and he gives up himself a Prey to his Temptation It must be a new supply of Grace that can give him any Deliverance Wherefore whilst Persons are exercised with any Temptation I do not advise them to be conversant in their thoughts about the matter of it For sometimes Remembrances of former satisfaction of their Lusts sometimes present surprizals with the suitableness of it unto corruption not yet mortified sometimes the craft of Sathan fixing their Imagination on it will be too hard for them and carry them unto a fresh complyance with that sin which they would be delivered from But this season calls in an especial manner for the exercise of the Thoughts of men about the wayes and means of Deliverance from the snare wherein they are taken or the danger they find themselves exposed unto Think of the Guilt of sin that you may be humbled Think of the Power of sin that you may seek strength against it Think not of the Matter of sin the things that are in the World suited unto the Lusts of the Flesh the Lust of the Eye and the Pride of Life lest you be more and more entangled But the present Direction is think much of the wayes of Relief from the power of your own Temptation leading unto sin But this men unless they are spiritually minded are very loth to come unto I speak not of them that love their Shackles that glory in their Yoak that like their Temptations well enough as those which give the most satisfactory entertainment unto their minds Such men know not well what to do unless they may in their Minds converse with the Objects of their Lusts and do multiply Thoughts about them continually The Apostle calls it making Provision for the Flesh
banks But if a Flood be turned into them they know no bounds but overflow all about them The encrease of Wealth and Riches enlargeth the Desires of men after them beyond all bounds of wisdom sobriety or safety He that labours hard for his daily bread hath seldom such earnest vehement Desires of an Addition unto what he hath as many have who already have more than they know how to use or almost what to do withal This they must have more and the last Advantage serves for nothing but to stir them up to look out for another And yet such men would on other Accounts be esteemed good Christians and Spiritually minded as all Good Christians are 2. They draw the Heart to value and esteem them as those which bring in their satisfaction and make them to differ from those whom they see to be poor and miserable Now these things are contrary unto and where they are habitually prevalent inconsistent utterly with being Spiritually minded Nor is it possible that any who in the least degree are under their power can ever attain Deliverance unless their Thoughts are fixed and their Minds thereby possessed with due apprehensions of invisible things and eternal Glory These are some few of those many Advantages which we may obtain by fixing our Thoughts and Meditations and thereby our Affections on the things that are above And there are some things which make me willing to give some few Directions for the practice of this Duty For whatever else we are and do we neither are nor can be truely Spiritually minded whereon Life and Peace depend unless we do really exercise our Thoughts unto Meditations of Things above Without it all our Religion is but vain And as I fear men are generally wanting and defective herein in point of Practice so I do also that many through the Darkness of their Minds the weakness of their Intellectuals and Ignorance of the nature of all things unseen do seldom set themselves unto the Contemplation of them I shall therefore give some few Directions for the Practice of this Duty CHAP. VI. Directions unto the Exercise of our Thoughts on things above things future invisible and eternal On God himself with the Difficultyes of it and Oppositions unto it and the way of their Removal Right Notions of future Glory stated WE have treated in general before of the proper Objects of our Spiritual Thoughts as unto our present Duty That which we were last ingaged in is an Especial Instance in Heavenly Things Things future and invisible with the Fountain and Spring of them all in Christ and God himself And because men generally are unskilled herein and great Difficulties arise in the way of the Discharge of this Part of the Duty in hand I shall give some especial Directions concerning it 1. Possess your Minds with right notions and apprehensions of things above and of the state of future Glory We are in this duty to look at the things which are not seen 2 Cor. 4.16 It is Faith only whereby we have a prospect of them for we walk by Faith and not by sight And Faith can give us no interest in them unless we have due apprehensions of them For it doth but assent and cleave unto the Truth of what is proposed unto it And the greatest part of Mankind do both deceive themselves and feed on Ashes in this matter They fancy a future Estate which hath no foundation but in their own Imaginations Wherefore the Apostle directing us to seek and mind the things that are above addes for the guidance of our Thoughts the consideration of the principal concernment of them where Christ sitteth at the right hand of God Col. 3.1 2. He would lead us unto distinct Apprehensions of those Heavenly things especially of the presence of Christ in his Exaltation and Glory Wherefore the true Notion of these things which we are to possess our minds withal may here be considered All that have an Apprehension of a future State of Happiness do agree in this matter that it contains in it or is accompanied with a deliverance and freedom from all that is evil But in what is so they are not agreed Many esteem only those things that are grievous troublesome wasting and destructive unto Nature to be so that is what is poenal in pain sickness sorrow loss poverty with all kind of outward Troubles and Death it self are evil Wherefore they suppose that the future state of Blessedness will free them from all these things if they can attain unto it This they will lay in the Ballance against the Troubles of Life and sometimes it may be against the Pleasures of it which they must forego Yea Persons profane and profligate will in words at least profess that Heaven will give them rest from all their Troubles But it is no place of Rest for such Persons Unto all others also unto Believers themselves these things are evil such as they expect a Deliverance from in Heaven and Glory And there is no doubt but it is lawful for us and meet that we should contemplate on them as those which will give us a Deliverance from all outward Troubles Death it self and all that leads thereunto Heaven is promised as Rest unto them that are troubled 2 Thes. 1.7 It is our Duty under all our Sufferings Reproaches Persecutions Troubles and Sorrows to raise up our minds unto the contemplation of that state wherein we shall be freed from them all It is a blessed Notion of Heaven that God shall therein wipe away all tears from our eyes Rev. 7.17 or remove far from us all causes of sorrow And it would be unto our Advantage if we did accustome our minds more unto this kind of Relief than we do If upon the Incursion of fears dangers sorrows we did more readily retreat unto Thoughts of that State wherein we shall be freed from them all even this most inferiour consideration of it would render the Thoughts of it more familiar and the thing it self more useful unto us Much better it were than on such occasions to be exercised with heartless complaints uncertain hopes and fruitless contrivances But there is that which unto them who are truely Spiritually minded hath more evil in it than all these things together and that is sin Heaven is a state of Deliverance from sin from all sin in all the causes concomitants and effects of it He is no true Believer unto whom sin is not the greatest burden sorrow and trouble Other things as the Loss of Dear Relations or extraordinary pains may make deeper Impressions on the Mind by its natural Affections at some seasons than ever our sins did at any one time in any one Instance So a man may have a greater Trouble in sense of pain by a fit of the Tooth-ache which will be gone in an hour than in an Hectick Feavour or Consumption which will assuredly take away his Life But take in the whole course of our Lives and
day of our Tryal This is the first thing wherein we may Evidence our selves unto our selves to be under the conduct of the minding of the Spirit or to be spiritually minded And I have insisted the longer on it because it contains the first sensible Egress of the Spring of living waters in us the first acting of spiritual Life unto our own experience I should now proceed unto the consideration of our Affections of whose frame and state these Thoughts are the only genuine Exposition But whereas there are or may be some who are sensible of their own weakness and deficiency in the discharge of that part of this duty in being spiritually minded which we have passed through and may fall under discouragements thereon we must follow him as we are able who will not Quench the smoaking Flax nor break the bruised Reed by offering something unto the relief of them that are sincere under the sense of their own weakness CHAP. X. Sundry things tendred unto such as Complain that they know not how that they are not able to abide in holy Thoughts of God and Spiritual or Heavenly things for their Relief Instruction and Direction Rules concerning stated Spiritual Meditation SOme will say yea many on all occasions do say That there is not any thing in all their Duty towards God wherein they are more at a loss than they are in this one of fixing or exercising their Thoughts or Meditations on things Heavenly or Spiritual They acknowledge knowledge it a Duty they see an Excellency in it with inexpressible usefulness But although they often try and attempt it they cannot attain unto any thing but what makes them ashamed both of it and themselves Their Minds they find are unsteady apt to rove and wander or give entertainment unto other things and not to abide on the Object which they design their Meditation towards Their Abilities are small their Invention barren their Memories frail and their Judgments to dispose of things into right order weak and unable They know not what to think on for the most part and when they fix on any thing they are immediately at loss as unto any progress and so give over Hence other Thoughts or Thoughts of other things take advantage to impose themselves on them and what began in spiritual Meditation ends in carnal Vanity On these considerations oft-times they are discouraged to enter on the Duty oft-times give it over so soon as it is begun and are glad if they come off without being losers by their Endeavours which often befals them With respect unto other Duties it is not so with them Unto such as are really concerned in these things unto whom their want and defect is a Burden who mourn under it and desire to be freed from it or refreshed in their conflict with it I shall offer the things that ensue 1. That sense of the Vanity of our Minds which this consideration duely attended unto will give us ought greatly to humble and abase our Souls Whence is it thus with us that we cannot abide in Thoughts and Meditations of things Spiritual and Heavenly It is because they are such things as we have no great concernment in It may be they are things worthless and unprofitable so that it is to purpose to spend our Thoughts about them The Truth is they alone are worthy useful and desireable all other things in comparison of them are but Loss and dung Or it is because the faculties and Powers of our Souls were not originally suited unto the contemplation of them and delight in them This also is otherwise They were all given unto us all created of God for this End all fitted with Inclinations and power to abide with God in all things without aversation or weariness Nothing was so natural easie and pleasant unto them as steadiness in the contemplation of God and his works The cause therefore of all this evil lyes at our own doors All this therefore and all other Evils came upon us by the entrance of sin And therefore Solomon in his Enquiry after all the Causes and Effects of Vanity brings it under this Head Lo this only have I found that God made man upright but they have sought out many Inventions Eccles. 7.29 For hereby our Minds that were created in a state of blessed Adherence unto God where wholly turned off from him and not only so but filled with Enmity against him In this state that Vanity which is prevalent in them is both their Sin and their Punishment Their sin in a perpetual Inclination unto things vain foolish sensual and wicked So the Apostle describes it at large Ephes. 4.17 18 19. Tit. 3.3 And their punishment in that being turned off from the chiefest Good wherein alone Rest is to be found they are filled with darkness confusion and disquietment being like a troubled Sea that cannot rest whose waters cast up mire and dirt By grace our Minds are renewed that is changed and delivered from this frame but they are so partially only The Principle of Vanity is no longer predominant in us to alienate us from the life of God or to keep us in Enmity against him Those who are so renewed do not walk in the Vanity of their Minds as others do Ephes. 4.17 They go up and down in all their wayes and occasions with a Stream of vain Thoughts in their Minds But the remainders of it are effectually Operative in us in all the actings of our minds towards God affecting them with Vncertainty and Instability As he who hath received a great wound in any principal part of his Body though it may be so cured as that death shall not immediately ensue thereon yet it may make him go weak and lame all his dayes and hinder him in the Exercise of all the powers of Life The Vanity of our Minds is so cured as to deliver us from spiritual death but yet such a wound such a weakness doth remain as both weakens and hinders us in all the operations of Spiritual life Hence those who have made any progress in Grace are sensible of their Vanity as the greatest Burden of their Souls and do groan after such a compleat Renovation of their Minds as whereby they may be perfectly freed from it This is that which they principally regard in that complaining desire Rom. 7.24 O wretched man that I am who shall deliver me from this body of death Yea they groan under a sence of it every day nor is any thing such a trouble unto them observing how it defeats them in their designs to contemplate on Heavenly things how it frustrates their best Resolutions to abide in the spiritual actings of Faith and Love how they are imposed on by it with the Thoughts of things which either in themselves or in their consequences they most abhorre nothing are they so afraid of nothing is so grievous and burdensome unto them nothing do they more groan for deliverance from When there is War
may fall out of a longer continuance into Travel and Sorrow Besides that Space is shortned with the most by various and innumerable Incidencies and Occasions Wherefore in these seventy Years consider how long it is before men begin to have a tast or gust of the things of this Life how many things fall in cross to make us weary of them before the end of our Days how few among us not one of a thousand attain that Age what is the uncertainty of all men living as to the continuance of their Lives unto the next Day and we shall see that the holy wise God hath left no such Season for their enjoyment as might put a value upon them And when on the other hand it is remembered that this Man who is of such short continuance in this world is yet made for Eternity Eternal Blessedness or Misery which State depends wholly on his Interest on things above and setting his Affections on them they must forfeit all their reason as well as bid Defiance unto the Grace of God who give them up unto things below Thirdly God hath openly and fully declared the Danger that is in these things as unto their Enjoyment and Use and what Multitudes of Souls miscarry by an inordinate adherence unto them For they are the matter of those Temptations whereby the Souls of Men are ruined for ever the Fuel that supplys the Fire of their Lusts until they are consumed by it Men under the Power of Spiritual Convictions fall not into Sin fail not eternally but by means of Temptation That is the mire wherein this Rush doth grow For others who live and die in the madness and wildness of Nature without any restraint in their Minds from the Power of Convictions they need no external Temptations but only Opportunities to exert their Lusts. But for those who by any means are convinced of Sin Righteousness and Judgement so as to design the ordering of their Lives with respect unto the Sense they have of them they fall not into actual Sin but upon Temptations That whatever it be which causeth occasioneth and prevaileth on a convinced Person unto Sin that is Temptation Wherefore this is the great means of the Ruine of the Souls of men Now though there are many Principles of Temptation many Causes that actually concur unto its Efficacy as Sin Satan and other Men yet the Matter of almost all ruinous Temptations is taken out of this World and the things of it Thence doth Satan take all his Darts Thence do evil Men derive all the ways and means whereby they corrupt others and from thence is all the fewel of Sin and Lust taken And which adds unto this evil all that is in the World contributes its utmost thereunto All that is in the World is the Lust of the Flesh the Lust of the Eyes and the Pride of Life 1 Joh. 2.16 It is not a direct formal annumeration of the things that are in the World nor a Distribution of them under several Heads but it is so of the principal Lusts of the Minds of Men whereunto all the things in the World are subservient Wherefore not only the Matter of all Temptations is taken out of the World but every thing that is in the World is apt fit to abused unto that end For it were easy to shew that there is nothing desirable or valuable in this whole world but it is reducible unto a Subserviency unto one or other of These Lusts and is applicable unto the Interest and Service of Temptations and Sins When men hear of these things hey tare apt to say let the Dream be unto them that are openly wicked and the Interpretation of it unto them that are profligate in Sin Unto unclean Persons Drunkards Oppressors proud ambitious Persons it may be it is so but as unto them they use the things of this World with a due moderation so as they are no Snare unto them But to own they are used unto what end soever if the Affections of men are set upon them one way or other there is nothing in the World but is thus a Snare and Temptation However we should be very crreful how we adhere unto or under value that which is the cause and means of the ruine of multitudes of Souls By the warnings given us hereof doth God design as unto the use of means to teach us the vanity and danger of fixing our Affections on things below Fourthly Things are so ordered in the holy wise Dispensation of Gods Providence that it requires much Spiritual Wisdom to distinguish between the use and the abuse of these things between a lawful care about them and an inordinate cleaving unto them Few distinguish aright here and therefore in these things will many find their great mistake at the last Day The Disappointments that they will fall under as to what concerns their earthly enjoyments and the use of them wherewith they were intrusted see Mat. 25.34 to the end of the Chapter It is granted that there is a lawful use of these things a lawful Care and Industry about them So it is also acknowledged it cannot be denied that there is an abuse of them springing from an inordinate Love and cleaving unto them But here men deceive themselves taking their Measures by the most crooked uncertain Rules Some make their own Inclinations the Rule and measure of what is so lawful and allowable some the Examples of others some the Course of the World some their own real or pretended necessities They confess that there is an inordinate love of those things and an abuse of them in excesses of various sorts which the Scripture plainly affirms and which Experience gives open Testimony unto But as unto their State and Circumstances their Care Love and Industry are all allowable That which influenceth all these Persons is Self-Love which inveterate corrupt Affections and false Reasonings do make an Application of unto these Occasions Hence we have men approving of themselves as just Stewards of their Enjoyments whil'st others judge them hard covetous earthly-minded no way laying out what they are intrusted withal unto the Glory of God in any due Proportion Others also think not amiss of themselves in this kind who live in palpable excesses either of Pride of Life or Sensual Pleasures vain Apparel and the like So in particular most men in their Feastings and Entertainments walk in direct Contempt of the Rules which our Saviour gives in that case Luk. 14.12.13.14 and yet approve themselves therein But what if any of us should be mistaken in our Rule and Application of it unto our Conditions Men at Sea may have a fair Gale of Wind wherewith they may sail freely and smoothly for a Season and yet insteed of being brought into a Port be cast by it at last on destructive Shelves or Rocks And what if that which we esteem allowable Love Care and Industry should prove to be the Fruit of earthly Affections inordinate and
are two other Heads of things that offer themselves unto our Consideration First The Ways Means Arguings and Enticements which the VVorld makes use of to draw keep and secure the Affections of Men unto it self Secondly The Secret Powerful Efficacy of Grace in taking off the Heart from these things turning and drawing it unto God with the Arguments and Motives that the holy Spirit maketh use of in and by the VVord unto this End and wherein we must shew what is the Act of conquering Grace wherein the Heart is finally prevailed on to choose and adhere unto God in Love immutable But these things cannot be handled in any measure according to their nature and importance without such length of Discourse as I cannot not here divert unto I shall therefore proceed unto that which is the proper and peculiar Subject before us CHAP. XII What is required in and unto our Affections that they may be Spiritual A threefold work on the Affections described TO declare the Interest of our Affections in this Frame of being Spiritually-Minded and what they contribute thereunto I shall do these three things First Declare what is required hereunto that our Affections may be Spiritual wherein lyes the Foundation of the whole Duty Secondly What are their Actings when they are so Spiritual Thirdly What are the means whereby they may be kept and preserved in that Frame with sundry other things of the like nature How our Affections are concerned in or do belong unto the Frame of Mind enquired after hath been before declared Without Spiritual Affections we cannot be Spiritually-Minded And that they may be of this use three things are required First Their Principle Secondly Their Object Thirdly The way and manner of their Application unto their proper Object by Vertue of that Principle First As unto the Principle acting in them that our Affections may be Spiritual and the Spring of our being Spiritually-Minded it is required that they be changed renewed and in-laid with Grace Spiritual and Supernatural To clear the Sense hereof we must a little consider what is their State by Nature and then by what means they may be wrought upon as unto a Change or a Renovation For they are like unto some things which in themselves and their own Nature are poisonous but being corrected and receiving a due Temperament from a mixture of other Ingredients become Medicinal and of excellent Use. First By nature our Affections all of them are depraved and corrupted Nothing in the whole Nature of Man no Power or Faculty of the Soul is fallen under greater Disorder and Depravation by the Entrance of Sin than our Affections are In and by them is the Heart wholly gone and turned off from God Tit. 3.3 It were a long work to set forth this Depravation of our Affections nor doth it belong unto our present Design Some few things I shall briefly observe concerning it to make way unto what is proposed concerning their Change First This is the only Corruption and Depravation of our Nature by the Fall evident in and unto Reason or the Light of Nature it self Those who were wise among the Heathen both saw it and complained of it They found a weakness in the Mind but saw nothing of its darkness and depravation as unto things Spiritual But they were sensible enough of this Disorder and Tumult of the Affections in things moral which renders the Minds of men like a troubled Sea whose Waters cast up Mire and Dirt. This greatly aggravates the neglect of them who are not sensible of it in themselves seeing it is discernable in the Light of Nature Secondly They are as depraved the Seat and Subject of all Lusts both of the Flesh and of the Spirit Yea Lust or evil Concupiscence is nothing but the irregular Motion and Acting of our Affections as depraved defiled corrupted Rom. 7.9 Hence no one Sin can be mortifyed without a Change wrought in the Affections Thirdly They are the Spring Root and Cause of all actual Sin in the World Mat. 15.9 The evil Heart in the Scripture is the corrupt Affections of it with the Imaginations of the Mind whereby they are excited and acted Gen. 6.5 These are they which at this time fill the whole World with Wickedness Darkness Confusion and Terror And we may learn what is their Force and Efficacy from these Effects So the nature of the Plague is most evident when we see thousands dying of it every week Fourthly They are the way and means whereby the Soul applies it self unto all sinful Objects and Actings Hence are they called our Members our earthly Members because as the Body applies it self unto its Operations by its Members So doth the Soul apply it self unto what belongs unto it by its Affections Rom. 6.13 Col. 3.5 Fifthly They will not be under the Conduct of the Mind its Light or Convictions Rebellion against the Light of the Mind is the very form whereby their Corruption acts it self Job 24.13 Let the Apprehensions of the Mind and its Notions of Good and Evil be what they will they reject them and lead the Soul in pursuit of their Inclinations Hence no natural Man whatsoever doth in any measure answer the Light of his Mind or the Convictions of his Understanding but he sees and approves of better things following those that are worse And there is no greater Spiritual Judgement than for men to be given up unto themselves and their own evil Affections Rom. 1.26 Many other Instances might be given of the greatness of that Depravation which our Affections are fallen under by Sin these may suffice as unto our present purpose In general this Depravation of our Affections by nature may be reduced unto two Heads First An utter Aversation from God and all Spiritual things In this lyes the Spring of all that Dislike of God and his Ways that the Hearts of Men are filled withal Yea they do not only produce an Aversation from them and Dislike of them but they fill the Mind with an Enmity against them Therefore Men say in their Hearts unto God Depart from us for we desire not the Knowledge of thy Ways What is the Almighty that we should serve him Or what profit should we have if we Pray unto him Job 21.14 15. see Rom. 1.28 Chap. 8. 7 8. Secondly An inordinate cleaving unto things vain earthly and sensual causing the Soul to engage into the pursuit of them as the Horse rushes into the Battle Whil'st our Affections are in this State and Condition we are far enough from being Spiritually-Minded nor is it possible to engage them into an Adherence unto or Delight in Spiritual things In this State they may be two ways wrought upon and yet not so renewed as to be serviceable unto this End First There may be various temporary Impressions made on them sometimes there is so by the Preaching of the Word Hereon Men may hear it with joy and do many things gladly Sometimes it is so by
unto there are two things from which we are secured by this Peace which is an Effect of being Spiritually Minded The first is Offences There is nothing of whose Danger we are more warned in the Gospel than of Offences Wo to the World saith our Saviour because of Offences All Ages all Times and Seasons are filled with them and they pâ—ove pernitious and destructive to the Souls of many Such are the Scandalous Divisions that are among Christians the endless Differences of Opinions and diversity of practices in Religion and the Worship of God the Falls and Sins of Professors the fearful ends of some of them the Reproaches that are cast on all that ingage into any peculiar way of Holiness and strictness of Life with other things of the like nature whereby the souls of innumerable Persons are disquieted subverted or infected are to be reckoned unto this Head Against any hurtful or noxious Influence on our Minds from these things against Disquietments Dejections of Spirit and Disconsolations are we secured by this Peace So the Psalmist assures us Psal. 119.165 Great Peace have they that love thy Law and nothing shall offend them The Law or the Word of God is the only way of the Revelation of God and his Will unto us and the only outward Way and Rule of our Converse and Communion with him Wherefore to love the Law is the principal part of our being heavenly Minded yea virtually that which comprehends the whole For such as do so nothing none of the things before mentioned nor any other of the like nature shall be an Offence a stumbling Block or cause of falling into sin And the reason is because they have such an Experience in themselves of the Truth Power Efficacy and Holiness of the Gospel as that the Miscarriages of Men under a Profession of it shall never be unto them an Occasion of falling or being offended at Christ. And I look upon it as a sign of a very evil Frame of Heart when men are concerned in the Miscarriages of some that have made Profession whereby they are it may be damaged in their Outward Concerns so as that they are surprized into Reflections on that Religion which they profess professing the same themselves 2 The second is Afflictions Persecutions and Sufferings of all Sorts It is known by all It were well if it were not so well known what Disquietments Dejections and Disconsolations these things are apt to fill the Minds of Men withal What Fears Troubles Sorrows they reflect upon them Against all these Effects of them this Peace intended gives us Security It makes us to preserve a peaceable yea a joyous Life in our Conflict with them see Joh. 16.33 Both these as here joyned together Life and Peace do comprize an holy Frame of Heart and Mind wherein the Souls of Believers do find Rest Quietness Refreshment and Satisfaction in God in the midst of Temptations Afflictions Offenâ—es and Sufferings It is the Souls Composure of it self in God in his Love in Christ Jesus so as not greatly to be put out of Order to be cast down with any thing that may befall it but affords men Chearfulness and Satisfaction in themselves though they walk sometimes in the Valley of the Shadow of Death Such Persons have that in them abiding with them as will give them Life and Peace under all Occurrences 2 Our next enquiry is how this Spiritual Mindedness is Life and Peace or what it contributes unto them how it produceth the Frame of Heart and Mind so expressed And this it doth several wayes 1 It is the only meanes on our part of retaining a Sense of Divine Love The Love of God in a gracious Sense of it as shed abroad in our Hearts by the Holy Ghost is the first and only Foundation of all durable Comforts Such as will support and refresh us under all Oppositions and Distresses that is of Life and Peace in our Souls in any Condition This God communicates by an Act of Soveraign Grace for the most part without any Preparation for it in our selves He creates the Fruit of the Lips Peace Peace But although Divine Love be in it self unchangeable and alwayes the same yet this Sense of it may be lost as it was in David when he prayed that God would restore unto him the Joys of his Salvation Psal. 51.12 And so many others have found it by woful Experience To insist upon all that is required on our parts that we may retain a gratious refreshing Sense of Divine Love after it is once granted unto us belongs not unto my present purpose But this I say there is not any thing wherein we are more concerned for to be careful and diligent in than as unto what belongs to that end For men who by a meer Act of Soveraign Grace have tasted herein of the Goodness of God who have had the Consolation and Joys of it to be negligent in the keeping and preserving it in their Souls is a Provocation that they will at one time or other be sensible of There is nothing doth more grieve the Holy Spirit than to have his especial Work whereby he Seales us unto the Day of Redemption neglected or despised And it argues a mighty Prevalency of some Corruption or Temptation that shall cause men willingly and by their own Sloth to forfeit so inestimable a Grace Mercy and Priviledge And it is that which there are but few of us who have not reason to bewail our Folly in Every Intimation of Divine Love is an inestimable Jewel which if safely treasured up in our Hearts adds unto our Spiritual Riches and being lost will at one time or another affect us with Sorrow And I am afraid that many of us are very negligent herein unto the great prejudice of our Souls and Spiritual State Many such Intimations are given us by the Holy Ghost through the Word which we take little notice of either we know not the Voice of Christ in them or do not hearken unto him in a due manner or refuse a Compliance with him when we cannot but know that he speaks unto us see Cant. 5.2 3. Or if we recieve any Impressions of a gratious Sense of Divine Love in them we quickly lose them not knowing how much the Life of our Souls is concerned therein and what use of them we may have in our following Temptations Tryals and Duties Now the great means of retaining a Sense of the Love of God which is the only spring of Life and Peace unto our Souls is this Grace and Duty of being Spiritually-Minded This is evident from the very nature of the Duty For 1 It is the Souls preserving of it self in a Frame meet to receive and retain this sense of Gods Love What other way can there be on our part but that our Minds which are so to receive it and retain it are Spiritual and Heavenly alwayes prepared for that holy Converse and Communion with himself which he
excess in it both weakens Spiritual Life and disturbs yea destroys all solid Spiritual Peace I have occasionally spoken unto it before as also the way whereby our minding of the things that are above in a due manner doth deliver and preserve our Souls from the Snares of it And if we diligently examine our selves we shall find that in our inordinate Affections and cleaving unto these things the principal Causes why we thrive no more in the power of Spiritual Life and whence we meet with so many Disquietments and Dejections of Spirit unto the disturbance of our Prace and Rest in God is from hence For there is no Grace which is not impaired by it in its nature or not obstructed by it in its Exercise Wherefore to be Spiritually Minded is Life and Peace because it subdues and expells that inordinate Love unto present things which is destructive of them both and inconsistent with them 4 It preserves the Mind in a due and holy Frame in the Performance of all other Duties This also is indispensibly required unto the Preservation of Life and Peace especially unto the improvement of them They will not abide much less thrive and flourish in any Persons who are negligent in holy Duties or do not perform them in a due manner And there are four things which impede or hinder us from such an attendance unto Holy Duties as may be advantagious unto our Souls against all which we have relief by being Spiritually Minded 1 Distractions 2 Despondencies 3 Weariness 4 Unreadiness of Grace for Exercise 1 Distraction of Mind and Thoughts hath this evil Effect which many complain of few take the right way of Deliverance from For this Evil will not be cured by attendance unto any particular Directions without a change of the whole Frame of our Minds Nothing can give us Relief herein but a prevalent Delight in being exercised about things Spiritual and Heavenly For hence arise all our Distractions the want of fixing our minds on Spiritual things with Delight makes them obnoxious to be diverted from them on all occasions yea to seek occasions for such Diversions It is this frame alone namely of Spiritual Mindedness that will give us this Delight For thereby the Soul is transformed into the likness of Spiritual things so as that they are suited unto it and pleasant unto our Affections The mind and the things themselves are thereby so fitted unto each other that on every occasion they are ready for mutual Embraces and not easily drawn off by any cause or means Of the Distractions so complained of yea they will all be prevented hereby 2 Despondencys in Duties arise from the frequent Incursions of the Guilt of Sin The remembrance hereof frequently sollicites the Minds of Persons in their first entrances into Duty unless they are under especial actings of Grace stirring them up unto earnestness and fervency in what they undertake At other seasons it renders men Lifeless and Heartless so as that they know not whether they had best Pray or no when Duty and Opportunity call them thereunto To be Spiritually Minded we have manifested in many Instances is the great Preservative against these disheartening incursions of sin It is the Souls watch and guard against them whence ever they arise or proceed No lust or corruption can be Prevalent in a Spiritual mind And this is the Principal cause of such Incursions of Sin as affect the Soul with a disheartening sense of Guilt No Affections can abide in any sinful Disorder where the Mind is so affected This also gives sin an entrance unto a distracting sense of Guilt But the fole Cure hereof lyes in this Grace and Duty The like may be said of all other wayes meanes and Occasions of such Incursions of Sin 3 Weariness in and of Spiritual Duties abate their tendency unto the Improvement of Life and Peace in us This Evil ariseth from the same Cause with that or Distraction before mentioned And it is oft-times encreased by the Weakness and Indispositions of the Flesh or of the outward man Sometimes the Spirit is willing but through the weakness of the Flesh it is disappointed The principal cure hereof lyes in that Delight which spiritual Mindedness gives unto the Soul in Spiritual things For where there is constant Delight in any thing there will be no weariness at least not such as shall hinder any from cleaving firmly unto the things wherein he doth delight Whil'st therefore we are exercised in a delight in Spiritual things weariness cannot prevalently assault the Mind And it is the only Relief against that Weariness which proceeds from the Indispositions of the outward man For as it will preserve the Mind from attending too much unto their Solicitations crying spare thy self by filling and possessing the Thoughts with other things so it will offer an holy Violence unto the Complaints of the Flesh silencing them with a sense of and delight in holy Duties 4 The Unreadiness of Grace for its due and proper Excercise is another thing which defeats us of the Benefit of holy Duties The Seasons of them are come sense of Duty carries men unto an Attendance unto them and the performance of them But when they should enter upon them those Graces of Faith Love Fear and Delight wherein the Soul and Being of them do consist are out of the way unready for a due Exercise so as that men take up and satisfy themselves with the meer outward Performance of them The Heart and Mind have been taken up with other things due Preparation hath been wanting men come unto them with reaking Thoughts of earthly Occasions and it is no easy matter in or immediately out of such a Frame to stir up Grace unto a due Exercise But herein lyeth the very Life of being Spiritually Minded The nature of it consists in the keeping and preserving all Grace in a Readiness for its Exercise as our Occasions require And this is an effectual way whereby this Grace come to be Life and Peace For they cannot be attained they cannot be preserved without such a constancy and Spirituality in all holy Duties as we shall never arive at unless we are Spiritually Minded Lastly this frame of mind brings the Soul unto and keeps it at its nearest approaches unto Heaven and Blessedness wherein lye the eternal springs of life and Peace According unto the Degrees of this Grace in us such are those of our approaches unto God Nearness unto him gives us our initial conformity unto him by the Renovation of his Image in us as our Presence with him will give us Perfection therein for when we see him we shall be like unto him He therefore alone as he is in Christ being the fountain of Life and Peace by our drawing nigh unto him and by our Likeness of him will they thrive and flourish in our Souls FINIS
a thought of him How foolish was I to be wanting to such or such an Opportunity I am in Arrears unto my self and have no rest untill I be satisfied I say if indeed we are Spiritually minded we will duely and carefully call over the consideration of those times and seasons wherein we ought to have Exercised our selves in Spiritual Thoughts and if we have lost them or any of them mourn over our own negligence But if we can omit and lose such Seasons or Opportunities from time to time without regret or self-reflections it is to be fear'd that we wax worse and worse Way will be made hereby for further Omissions untill we grow wholly cold about them And indeed that woful loss of time that is found amongst many Professors is greatly to be bewail'd Some lose it on themselves by a continual track of fruitless Impertinent Thoughts about their own concerns Some in vain converse with ohers wherein for the most part they edifie one another unto vanity How much of this time might nay ought to be redeemed for holy Meditations The Good Lord make all Professors sensible of their loss of former seasons that they may be the more watchful for the future in this great concernment of their Souls Little do some think what Light what Assurance what Joy what readiness for the Cross or for Heaven they might have attained had they laid hold on all just seasons of exercising their Thoughts about Spiritual things which they have enjoyed who now are at a loss in all and surprized with every fear or difficulty that doth befall them This is the first thing that belongs unto our being Spiritually minded for although it doth not absolutely or essentially consist therein yet is it inseparable from it and the most undeceiving Indication of it And thus of abounding and abiding in Thoughts about Spiritual things such as arise and spring naturally from a living Principle a Spiritual Frame and Disposition of Heart within CHAP. V. The Objects of Spiritual Thoughts or what they are conversant about evidencing them in whom they are to be Spiritually minded Rules directing unto steadiness in the Contemplation of Heavenly things Motives to fix our Thoughts with Steadiness in them BEfore I proceed unto the next general Head and which is the Principal thing the foundation of the Grace and Duty enquired after some things must be spoken to render what hath been already insisted on yet more particularly useful And this is to enquire what are or what ought to be the special Objects of those Thoughts which under the Qualifications laid down are the Evidences of our being Spiritually minded And it may be we may be useful unto many herein by helping of them to fix their minds which are apt to rove into all uncertainty For this is befallen us through the disorder and weakness of the faculties of our Souls that sometimes what the mind guides leads and directs unto in things Spiritual and Heavenly our wills and Affections through their Depravation and Corruption will not comply withal and so the good designings of the mind are lost Sometimes what the Will and Affections are inclin'd unto and ready for the mind through its weakness and inconstancy cannot lead them to the accomplishment of so to will is present with us but how to perform that will we know not So many are barren in this Duty because they know not what to fix upon nor how to Exercise their Thoughts when they have chosen a subject for their Meditations Hence they spend their time in fruitless Desires that they could use their Thoughts unto more purpose rather than make any Progress in the Duty it self They tire themselves not because they are not willing to go but because they cannot find their way Wherefore both these things shall be spoken unto both what are the proper Objects of our Spiritual Thoughts and how we may be steady in our Contemplations of them And I shall unto this purpose first give some general Rules and then some particular Instances in way of Direction 1. Observe the especial Calls of Providence and apply your minds unto Thoughts of the Duties required in them and by them There is a voice in all signal Dispensations of Providence The voice of the Lord cryeth unto the City the men of wisdom shall see thy Name hear ye the rod and who hath appointed it Mic. 6.9 There is a Call a Cry in every Rod of God in every chastising Providence and therein makes a Declaration of his Name his Holiness his Power his Greatness This every wise substantial man will labour to discern and so comply with the call God is greatly provoked when it is otherwise Lord when thy hand is lifted up they will not see but they shall see and be asham'd Isa. 26.11 If therefore we would apply our selves unto our present Duty we are wisely to consider what is the voice of God in his present providential Dispensations in the World Hearken not unto any who would give another Interpretation of them but that they are plain Declarations of his Displeasure and Indignation against the sins of men Is not his wrath in them reveal'd from Heaven against the ungodliness of men especially such as detain the Truth in unrighteousness or false Hypocritical Professors of the Gospel Doth he not also signally declare the uncertainty and instability of Earthly Enjoyments from Life it self to a Shoo-latchet As also how vain and foolish it is to adhere inordinately unto them The fingers that appeared writing on the Wall the Doom of Belshazzar did it in Characters that none read and words that none could understand but Daniel But the present Call of God in these things is made plain upon Tables that he may run who readeth it If the Heavens gather blackness with Clouds and it thunder over us if any that are on their Journey will not believe that there is a Storm a coming they must bear the severity of it Suppose then this to be the Voice of Providence suppose there be in it these Indications of the mind and will of God what are the Duties that we are called unto thereby They may be referred unto two Heads 1. A diligent search into our selves and an holy Watch over our selves with respect unto those ways and sins which the displeasure of God is declared against That present Providences are Indications of Gods Anger and Displeasure we take for granted But when this is done the most are apt to cast the Causes of them on others and to excuse themselves so long as they see others more wicked and prosligate than themselves openly guilty of such Crimes as they abhor the Thoughts of they cast all the wrath on them and fear nothing but that they shall suffer with them But alas When the storm came on the Ship at Sea wherein there was but one person that feared God upon an Enquiry for whose sake it came the Lot fell on him Jon. 1.7 The cause of
is a dangerous Symtom of an Evil State and Condition and that those in whom it is will at last be found to be but Hypocrites I know such Persons will or may have pretended Evidences unto the contrary and that they are well enough satisfyed of and with their own Sincerity in many things so as that it is impossible to fix upon the the Sense and Conviction of being but Hypocrites But this Apprehension ariseth from a false notion of Hypocrisy No man they suppose is an Hypocrite but he that generally or universally pretends himself in Religion to be what he is not and what he knows himself not to be or at least might easily do so And it is true that this is the broadest Notion of Pharisaical Hypocrisy But take an Hypoerite for him who under Light Profession Gifts Duties doth habitually and willingly fail in any Point of sincerity he is no less a perishing Hypocrite than the former and it may alter the Case with them I do not say that every one in whom there is this prevalent Decay in Spiritual Affections is an Hypocrite God forbid I only say that where it continues without Remedy it is such a Symtome of Hypocrisy as that he who is wise and hath a care of his Soul will not rest until he hath searched it unto the bottom For it seemes as if it were thus with such Persons They have had a false or imperfect Work in that Conversion unto God which they have professed Conviction of Sin Communication of Spiritual Light and Gifts Alteration upon the Affections Change of Socicty and Conversation have made it up Now it is the nature of such a Work greatly to flourish for a Season in all the principal Parts and Duties of Profession But it is in its Nature also gradually to decay until it be quite withered away In some it is lost by the Power of some vigorous Temptations and particular Lusts indulged unto ending in Worldliness and Sensuality but in the most it decayes gradually until it hath lost all its Savour and Sap see Joh. 15.3 Wherefore whil'st men find this Decay in themselves unless they are fallen under the Power of a destructive Security unless thay are hardned through be Deceitfulness of Sin they cannot but think it their Duty to examine how things stand with them whether they ever effectually closed with Christ and had the Faith of Gods Elect which works by Love seeing it is with them as though they had only a work of another nature For a Saving Work in its own nature and in the diligent use of Means Thrives and Groweth as the whole Scripture testifyeth but it is this false and imperfect working that hath no Root and is thus subject to withering Sixthly Persons in such an Estate are apt to deceive themselves with false Hopes and Notions whereby the Deceitfulness of Sin doth put forth its Power to harden them unto their Ruine Two ways there are whereby this pernitious Effect is produced The one by the prevalency of a particular Lust or Sin the other by a neglect of Spiritual Duties and a vain Conversation in the World under which the Soul pines away and consumes As unto the first of these there are three false Notions whereby the Deceitfulness of Sin deludes the Souls of Men. The First is that it is that one Sin alone wherein they would be indulged Let them be spared in this one thing and in all other they will be exact enough This is the Composition that Naaman would have made in the Matters of Religion 2 Kings 5.18 And it is that which many trust unto Hence it hath by the Event been made to appear that some Persons have lived long in the Practice of some gross Sins and yet all the while used a Semblance of great diligence in other Duties of Religion This is a false Notion whereby poor Sinners delude their own Souls For suppose it possible that a man should give himself up unto any Lust or be under the Power of it and yet be observant of all other Duties yet this would give him no Relief as unto the Eternal Condition of his Soul The Rule is peremptory unto this purpose Jam. 2.10 11. One Sin willingly lived in is as able to destroy a Mans Soul as a thousand Besides it is practically false There is no man that lives in any one known Sin but he really lives in more though that only bears the chiefest Sway. With some such Persons these Sins appear unto others who observe their Frame and Spirit though they appear not to themselves In some they are manifest in themselves although they are hidden from others 1 Tim. 5.24 But let no man relieve himself with thoughts that it is but one Sin whil'st that one Sin keeps him in a constant Neglect of God Hence Secondly They deceive themselves hereby for they Judge that although they cannot as yet shake off their Sin yet they will continue still to love God and abound in the Duties of his Worship They will not become Haters of God and his Wayes and Persecutors for all the World and therefore hope that notwithstanding this one Zoar this lesser Sin which their Constitution and their Circumstances ingage them in that it may be well with them at the last This also is a false Notion a meer Instrument in the hand of Sin to act its Deceit by For no man that willingly liveth in any Sin can love God at all as is evident in that Rule 1 Joh. 2.15 It is but a false Pretence of Love to God that any man hath who liveth in any known Sin Where God is not loved above all he is not loved at all And he is not so where men will not part with one Cursed Lust for his Sake Let not your Light deceive you nor your Gifts nor your Duties nor your Profession if you live in Sin you love not God Thirdly They determine that at such or such a Season on time after such Satisfaction given unto their Lusts or Pleasures they will utterly give over so as that Iniquity shall not be their Ruine But this is a false Notion also an effectual Instrument of the Deceitfulness of Sin He that will not now give over who will not imediately upon the Discovery of the Prevalency of any Sin and warning about it endeavour sincerely and constantly its Relinquishment say what he will and pretend what he will he never intends to give over nor is it probable in an ordinary way that ever he will do so When mens Decays are from the Prevalency of particular Sins by these and the like false Notions do they harden themselves unto Ruine For those who are pining away under Hectical Consumption a general Decay of the vital Spirits of Religion they have also false Notions whereby they deceive themselves As First that although they have some Cause to mistrust themselves yet indeed their Condition is not so bad as some may apprehend it or as they are
warned it is And this ariseth from hence that they have not as yet been overtaken with any enormous Sin which hath filled their Consciences with Terror and Disquietment But this is a false Notion also for every Decay is dangerous especially such as the Mind is ready to plead for and to countenance it self in Secondly They are prone to suppose that this Decay doth not arise from themselves and the Evil of their own Hearts but from their Circumstances Business present Occasion and State of Life which when they are freed from they will at least return unto their former Love and Delight in Spiritual things But this is a false Notion also by vertue of that Rule Heb. 3.12 Let mens Circumstances and Occasions of Life be what they will all their Departures from God are from an Evil Heart of Unbelief Thirdly They judge it no hard matter to retrive themselves out of this State but that which they can easily do when there is an absolute Necessity of it But this is a false Notion also Recovery from backsliding is the hardest task in Christian Religion and which few make either comfortable or honourable work of In this State I say men are apt by such false reasonings to deceive themselves unto their eternal Ruine which makes the consideration of it the more necessary Wherefore I say lastly upon the whole that who so find themselves under the Power of this wretched Frame who are sensible in themselves or at least make it evident unto others that they are under a Decay in their Spiritual Condition if they rest in that State without groaning labouring endeavouring for deliverance from it they can have no well grounded hopes in themselves of Life and Immortality yea they are in those Paths which go down unto the Chambers of Death I cannot let this pass without something of advice unto them who find themselves under such decayes are sensible of them and would be delivered from them and I shall give it in a few Words First Remember former things call to mind how it was with you in the Spring and vigour of your Affections and compare your present State Enjoyment Peace and Quiet with what they were then This will be a great Principle of Return to God Hos. 2.7 And to put a little weight upon it we may consider First God himself makes it on his part a ground and reason of his Return unto us in a way of Mercy and of the Continuance of his Love Jer. 2.2 Even when a People are under manifold Decays whil'st yet they are within the Bounds of Gods Covenant and Mercy he will remember their first Love with the Fruits and Actings of it in Tryals and Temptations which moves his Compassion towards them And the way to have God thus remember it is for us to remember with Delight and longing of Soul that it were with us as in those Dayes of old when we had the Love of Espousals for God in Christ Jeremiah 31.18 19 20. Secondly It is the way whereby the Saints of old have refreshed and encouraged themselves under their greatest Despondencies So doth the Psalmist in many places as for Instance Psal. 42.6 O my God my Soul is cast down within me therefore will I remember thee from the Land of Jordan and of the Hermonites from the Hill Missar David in the time of his Persecution by Saul when he wandred up and down in Deserts Wildernesses and Solitudes had under his Fears Distresses and Exercise great holy Spiritual Communion with God as many of his Psalms composed on such Occasions do testify And the greater his distresses were the more fervent were his Affections in all his Adresses unto God And he was never in greater than when he escaped out of the Cave at Adullam and went thence unto Mizpheh of Moab to get shelter for his Parents 1 Sam. 22.13 Then was he in the Land of the Hermonites the Hill Hermon being the boundary eastward of the Israelites Possession next to Moab Deut. 3.8 9. There no doubt David had a blessed Exercise of his Faith and of all his Affections towards God wherein his Soul found great Refreshment Being now in great Distress and Disconsolation of Spirit among other things under a Sense that God had forgotten him vers 9. He calls to mind the blessed Experience he had of Communion with God in the Land of the Hermonites wherein he now found Support and Refreshment So at other times he called to remembrance the Dayes of old and in them his Song in the Night or the sweet Refreshment he had in Spiritual Converse with God in former times I have known one in the depth of distress and darkness of Mind who going through Temptation to destroy himself was reâ—â—eved and delivered in the instant of Ruine by a sudden Remembrance that at such a time and in such a place he had prayed fervently with the ingagement of all his Affections unto God Wherefore you that are sensible of these Decayes or ought so to be take the Advice of our Saviour Remember whence you are fallen call to mind the former days consider if it were not better with you than now when in your lying down and your rising up you had many thoughts of God and of the things of God and they were sweet and pretious unto your Souls when you rejoyced at the Remembrance of his Holiness When you had Zeal for his Glory Delight in his Worship and were glad when they said Let us go to the House of God together When you poured forth your Soules with Freedom and enlarged Affections before him and were sensible of the Visits and Refreshments of his Love Remember what Peace what Tranquility of Mind what Joy you had whil'st it was so with you And consider what you have gotten since you have forsaken God in any Measure or Degree Dare to deal plainly with your selves Is not all wherein you have now to do with God either Form Custom and Selfishness or attended with Trouble Disquietment and Fears Do you truely know either how to live or how to die Are you not sometimes a Terrour unto yourselves It must be so unless you are hardened through the Deceitfulness of Sin What have all your Lovers done for you that you have entertained in the room of God in Christ and Spiritual things Speak plainly have they not defiled you wounded you weakened you and brought you into that Condition that you know not what you are nor to whom ye do belong What are your thoughts when you are most awake when you are most your selves Do you not sometimes part within your selves and say O that it were with us as in former Dayes And it you can be no way affected with the Remembrance of former things then one of these two great Evils you are certainly under For either 1 you never had a true and real Work on your Souls whatever you professed and so never had true and real Communion with God in any Duties