in loc but because hee was a thief and had the bag and bare what was put therein Joh. 12.5 6. Thus many men wee see pretend the publick good when it is their own private benefit and advantage that they onely aim at they are very zealous and active instirring up others to contribute liberally and such and such good uses they pretend but it is that they may steal for themselves which is evident in that they convert so much of what they receive to their own use afterwards 7 The Scribes and Pharisees made long prayers but it was but for a pretence while they devoured widows houses Matth. 23.14 Thus many make great shews of holiness that others taking them to be conscientious and honest men may trust them with their estates and then they will bee sure to cheat them But that no imputation in case it should bee divulged may fasten upon them they still continue their long prayers and other religious exercises trusting thereupon that what-ever is laid to their charge they having so great a name for prosession it will never bee credited This then is one way of Selfes answering the question by propounding something which is evil in it self under the notion of good There is another and that is 2 By propounding something which is good in it self under the notion of the chief good Self never propounds that which is the chief good in deed for its end in any good work but some other inferiour good under the notion of the chief good God is the chief good and in this sense there is nothing good but God Matth. 19.17 But Self never propounds God for its end It often propounds him for a means in order to some other good beneath him but it never propounds him for himself It is something besides God that Self acts for in all that it doth but that which it acts for it acts for it as it 's God because what ever it acts for it acts for it as it 's chief good That which Self acts for as its chief end in any thing that it doth that it acts for as its chief good for as to be an end and to bee good are all one so to bee the chief end and to bee the chief good Now whatsoever Self acts for besides God as all that it acts for is something besides God it acts for it as its chief end therefore whatsoever it acts for it acts for it as it 's chief good and consequently as its God The chief thing that the Glutton acts for is the filling of his belly and therefore his belly is said to bee his God Phil. 3.19 The chief thing that the Covetous acts for is his Money therefore Money is his God therefore Covetousness is said to bee Idolatry Col. 3.5 and a covetous man is called an Idolater Eph. 5.5 And this is not onely true of covetousness but of every other vice that it is n Unusquisque adorat sua vitia Every one Idolizeth his own vice Jerom on Amos. The Politician idolizeth his brain the Heretick his fantastical opinion the Glutton his belly the Wanton his Mistriss the Ambitious his honour the Covetous his money c. See more in Eng. Annot. on Eph. 5.5 2d Ed. Idolatry because thereby Self acts for something besides God as its chief good and therefore as its God To act for something besides God in subordination unto God as the supreme end hath nothing of Self in it such an end is not to bee deemed a self-end But then it is a self-end when a man acts for something besides God as his chief end when something besides God though good in it self and that which may lawfully bee aimed at is the chief thing that moves him to and carries him through the performance of any duty so that were it not for that thing hee would not set about it hee would not persevere in it Thus it is whensoever Self hath the determining of the Question That such a thing is the will of God and makes for the glory of God and that communion with God is to bee had in it are arguments that can do nothing with Self but this consideration that it makes for ones worldly profit or pleasure or honour prevails presently Come to a selfish man and tell him that this is his duty that the Law of God requires it that God will be well-pleased with it and that hee will reward it hereafter in heaven these things make no impression upon him but tell him that hee shall get in with such a party as will promote him to honour that hee shall have a place of preferment a good office that will bring him in so much by the year and this wins him presently This hath won off a great many in our dayes to a form of godliness which before they could never endure and the power whereof for the present they still deny Convictions from the word are pretended but convictions from the world are the cause Where one is wrought upon by convictions from the word there are hundreds that are wrought upon by convictions onely from the world The glory and honour the pleasures and profits of the world are the onely things that many of those that seem most zealous in the Profession of Religion do most zealously follow after There are many whose faces are Christ-wards but like Skullers they row with all their might to quite contrary objects Hence it is that they are said to go away backward Isa 1.4 Wee read of those that came along with Judas to apprehend Christ that as soon as hee spake unto them they went backward and fell to the ground Joh. 18.6 These came as professed enemies to Christ others though they come as professed friends yet are reall enemies to him and although natural conscience or some common works of the Spirit may drive them in an outward profession towards Christ yet so strong is their inbred enmity and secret antipathy against him and so powerfull their sympathy with the world that ere long they go backward and fall to the ground their proper place Dust to dust Earth to earth Ashes to ashes Many that for a long time together have seemed to walk hand in hand with Christ have in the interim been going backward and at last have fallen to the ground Men may bee a long time going back before they fall but observe it ordinarily they fall to ground This is a pretty fallacy whereby multitudes of Professours think to cheat their brethren amongst whom they live in their outward motion they go forward with the rest of the company and it may bee will bee Ring-leaders but in their inward motion they go backwards The Prophet saith of Israel Hee slideth back as a back sliding Heifer Hos 4.16 Sliding is sometimes an insensible motion and therefore backsliding is elsewhere called a drawing back such is the retrograde motion of these men many times one cannot perceive them going till they bee gone
that another should do better than themselves and therefore they presently begin to imitate striving to do the like though contrary to their own genius and so mar all 2 In excelling others who in all particulars are even with them They cannot indure that others should stand upon the same levell with themselves and therefore are ever climbing up to the higher ground till at length they tumble down lower than before 2 Self-confidence and an over-high opinion and conceit of their own abilities whereby they fondly imagine they can do any thing as well or better than others they think nothing is too hard for them but that they shall either finde a way or make one to their desired glory As some despairing of their own sufficiency shun those imployments wherein had they confidence answerable to their abilities they might do worthily so others presuming upon it make many fruitless adventures to the discredit of themselves and detriment of others Other things might bee mentioned to shew how much of Self there is in this Abuse but they are all or most of them reducible unto these two Generals which indeed are the principal causes of the other Abuse also which is when they will bee medling with things 2 Which cannot bee understood when they will bee aspiring and reaching after the knowledge of things not revealed when they will bee trying to unlock and open those secret and reserved mysteries which the counsel of God hath wisely shut up and hid from their eyes Some imploy all their studies to finde out the principles of Mettals and to conjoyn them otherwise than before they have been that from thence may result a Catholick Medicine for the perfecting of imperfect Mettals and for restoring of sick and decayed bodies of what sort soever and these are they that stile themselves Students in the most Divine mysteries of Hermetick learning Some set themselves on work to foreknow and fore-tell future events as South-sayers Astrologers and divers Enthusiasts Some cast it up just how long it shall be to the day of Judgement Others how many Centuries it shall last Some beat their brains to finde out what God was doing before hee made the world Others to know whether there bee not more worlds than one whether the stars bee not peopled and inhabited in like manner as the earth is Some try experiments for finding out the first common matter of all things Others that they may see the naked essence of any thing Some inquire into the estate of Spirits and they tell us that some of them are mortal also how many years they live Others into the Hierarchy of Angels and they tell us of their several offices and imployments their several orders and the number of them Some inquire where heaven is to bee after the day of Judgement and tell us that Christ shall reign upon the earth and all the Saints with him for ever Others dig deep to finde out the place of the damned and they tell us that at the center of the earth is the fire of hell and that it is kindled by the Primum Mobile and influences of the Stars I might quickly fill up many pages should I proceed to set down but one half of the many gross fopperies and monstrous conceptions that have been Midwifed into the world by these and such like bold and presumptuous inquiries of fanatick Chymists and Theosophists But these few may serve as a sufficient Induction for the discovery of the Abuse wee now speak of the causes whereof to shew how much of Self there is in it are 1 A prurient desire and hankering after knowledge e See Culverwels Treatise of the light of Nature cap. 13. And Baxter on the Arrogancy of Reason against Divine Revelations Men long for the fruit of the forbidden Tree and would fain bee plucking some Apples from it they cannot indure that any thing should bee concealed from them they would have an open and unlimited prospect of the whole compass and extent of being They would know all that is knowable and so would bee as Gods in point of knowledge which was that which overthrew our first Parents 2 An eager desire of glory and of having the pre-eminence in all things They would be thought to be the Nonsuch in the world both for Philosophy and Divinity and therefore f See Reynolds Treat of Pass 490. and Observations upon Anthroposophia Theomagica Sect. 1. disdaining the common road wherein others have gone before them they chuse to walk in wayes of their own making studying if it bee possible to finde out some new concerning Truths never before discovered 3 A proud conceit of themselves as if they had an All-comprehending wisdome and were able to see through the nature and reason of all things yea g There bee those which fâ—â—â—e out the depth of the highest secrets of God nothing is unknown unto them neither in heaven nor hell c. Dâ— Espaigne e Popular Errors Sect. 2. chap. 7 to fathome the bottomless depths of the counsels of God This the Apostle notes as the main cause of mens intruding themselves into things which they have not seen that they are vainly puft up by their fleshly minde Col. 2.18 that is by the conceited h Mentem carnis vocat humani ingenii pe spicaciam quantacunque eit Calv. in loc perspicacity of their fleshly understandings From hence it is that they do so Magisterially give sentence upon every thing nothing must bee true or false but according as they do apprehend Though it bee the most unquestionable truth attested to and sealed by him that is Truth it self and cannot lye yet if they do not understand i See the forementioned Treatise of Mr. Baxter of the Arrogancy of Reason c. the quiddity or nature of the thing if they cannot finde out the causes the end and use of it if they cannot see a possibility of accomplishing the matter by natural means there is then no truth in it it is but a eunningly devised fable and they will not beleeve it On the contrary though it bee the most prodigious lye yet if they fancy it to bee a truth k Sibi arrogant authouitatem de omnibus judicandi suam censuram suum judicium pro oraculis haberi ab omnibus volunt Calv. in loc supradict it must pass for an Oracle they confidently obtrude it upon the world and challenge all mens belief of it Thus wee see how much of Self there is in it when men exercise their gifts about high things that are above their own apprehensions The next particular is when they exercise them about high things that are above 2 Other mens apprehensions whose information and instruction they are more especially bound to take care of This is the usual fault of many great Scholars that are Preachers that though they do not study such things as are above their own capacities yet they preach such things as are above the
particulars that follow SVBSECT I. Motives to Self-denial from the excellency of it The first Excellency of Self-denial 1 IT is a Christians strength and sufficiency there is no greater evidence and demonstration of strength than ability to deny ones selfe A Self-denying man is the strongest man in the world Fortior est qui se quam qui fortissima vincit Moenia-which is the same with that of Salomon a 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Graec. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Plut. de irâ cohib Hee that is slow to anger is better because stronger than the mighty and hee that ruleth his spirit than hee that taketh a City Prov. 16.32 Strength is especially seen in three things in bearing great Burdens in enduring great Labours and in overcoming great Enemies A Christian while he denies himself can doe all these 1 Hee can bear great Burdens the more weight is laid upon him as it is b 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Sympos l. 8. said of the Date-tree the more hee riseth up under it hee can take up his Crosse and carry it with ease hee can undergoe the greatest sufferings without repining without murmuring under the heaviest affliction hee can say with Paul Our light affliction 2 Cor. 4.17 The reason why affliction is so burdensome is because wee are not enough humbled there is some proud flesh that cannot endure to be touched let that be mortified and affliction will not offend Compressisti a timore tuo superbiam meam mansuefecisti jugo tuo cervicem meam nunc porto illud leve est mihi saith c Confes l. 10. c. 36. Austin Thou hast taken downe my pride O Lord and tamed mee to thy yoke and now I carry it and it is very light 2 He can endure great Labours hee can walk and not faint run and not bee weary Isa 40.31 He is not weary in well-doing Gal. 6.9 hee never saith of any duty wherein he is exercised as they Mal. 1.14 Behold what a wearinesse is it Gods Commandements are not grievous to him 1 Joh. 5.3 Hee is not sloathful in business but fervent in spirit serving the Lord Rom. 12.11 hee labours in the Word and Doctrine if hee be a Minister 1 Tim. 5.17 and in Prayer Col. 4.12 gives himself continually to both Acts 6.4 hee continues instant in prayer though but a private Christian Rom. 12.12 Prayes without ceasing 1 Thes 5.17 three times a day with Daniel Dan. 6.10 Seven times a day with David Psalm 119.164 he can wrastle in prayer with Jacob Gen. 32.24 pray in prayer with Elias Jam. 5.17 offer up prayers and supplications with strong crying and tears as our Saviour Hebrews 5.7 Hee can meditate in the Word day and night Psal 1.2 Digge for knowledge as for hid treasures Prov. 2.4 and Plough up his fallow ground Jer. 4.3 in a word hee can doe all things Phil. 4.13 his body sometimes tires but his minde holds out to the last Mar. 14.36 37. 3 Hee can overcome great Enemies he goes on conquering and to conquer nothing is able to stand before him 1 He can overcome the World 1 Joh. 5.4 both the men d The Saints resisted their enemies to death by resisting their own corruptions first Sibbs Souls Conflict 1 Joh. 4.4 and the things of the world 1 John 2.15 not only the good things of the world as pleasures profits and honours ibid. v. 16. Act. 8.20 Phil. 3.8 but the evil things as tribulation distresse persecution famine nakednesse peril and the sword Rom. 8.35 In all these things saith Paul wee are more than Conquerours 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 wee doe overcome vers 37. 2 He can overcome the Devil 1 Joh. 2.13 14. who flees from him Jam. 4.7 falls down like lightning before him Luke 10.18 and is bruised under his feet Rom. 16.20 3 He can overcome the Flesh Gal. 5.24 that is Self the greatest enemy of all and e Gentes facilius est Barbaras impatientesque alieni arbitrij regere quam animum suum continere tradere sibi Sen. de Benef. l. 3. nulla major est Victoria quam vitia domuisse innumerabiles sunt qui urbes qui populos habuere in potestate paucissimi qui se Quest Nat. l. 3. hardest to be overcome For 1 All other enemies are without but this is within him Mat. 12.29 2 All other enemies act against him in the strength of this without this enemy joyning with them f All the hurt Satan and the World doe us is by correspondency with our selves Sibbs souls Conslict they can doe nothing 3 This is an enemy in the appearance of a Friend Naturally he affects him as his best friend yet hee can fight against him as his worst enemy and in fighting overcome him and keep him under O what a discovery of strength is this If we speak of strength Lo here is strength indeed there is no strength like to this Natural strength is little worth Psalm 90.10 and strength to sin is no strength at all it is but 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 strength falsly so called Posse malum non est posse Evil is from a deficiency Self is called the strong man but all his strength is from a Disease As a man in a violent Feaver hee is stronger than at other times but it is because Nature is weaker A selfish man is strong to doe wickedly but to doe good he hath no ability at all hee sinks under every burden tires in every duty is not able to withstand any Temptation but is taken Captive by the Devil at his will and pleasure 2 Tim. 2.26 Here then is the excellency of Self-denial that it inables a man to doe that which no Natural man in the world can doe you complaine of weaknesse how unable you are to bear Afflictions to hold out in performances and to resist temptations doe but learne to deny your selves and you will have no longer cause to complaine of weaknesse get but a Self-denying frame of spirit and strength will not bee wanting you shall bee able to doe all to suffer all to overcome all nothing will be impossible to you And there is this further in it that the more you doe deny your selves the more you shall increase in strength as the Old man grows weaker and weaker as by continued Acts of Self-denial it doth so the New man growes stronger and stronger and therefore it may bee truly said of all Self-denying persons and it is only true of them They goe from strength to strength till they all appear before God in Heaven Psa 84.7 The second Excellency of Self-denial 2 It is a Christians beauty and perfection Beauty is that which makes one amiable and desirable that which draws the g 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Quod nunc bonum significat per initia pulchrum designabat quod dignum multa esset Spectatione 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Scal. de subt ad Cardanum Fxerc 300. S. 3. eyes and hearts of the
there is no Self-denial As for example If Moses had not esteemed the reproach of Christ greater riches than the treasures of Egypt hee had not refused to bee called the Son of Pharaohs daughter if hee had not had courage to fortifie him against the fear of the wrath of the King hee had never left Egypt as hee did Thus you see the two first particulars cleared Now consider 3 Faith hath a mighty influence to set all of them a-work as many as are required in any one act of Self-denial Faith is a working grace but herein it hath the preheminence that it is the first grace that sets all the rest a-work Hence all the works of grace are said to bee the works and fruits of faith 1 Thess 1.3 Faith saith St. James if it have not works is dead being alone that is it is counterfeit faith Jam. 2.17 therefore hee shews that the esse of faith is seen in its operari I will shew thee my faith by my works vers 18. And hee further confirms it by the instance of Abrahams faith Seest thou how faith wrought with his works and by works was faith made perfect vers 21. Now lest any should think that these works spoken of are the proper works of faith as such a particular grace as every grace hath its proper works it may easily bee shewn out of Scripture that there is no good work that is not the fruit of faith As from that Heb. 11. Without faith it is impossible to please God by which the Apostle argues that the works of Enoch were works of faith because they pleased God vers 5. God is pleased with good works Col. 1.10 Now if there bee any such without faith God is pleased without faith Again the Apostle saith The life that I now live is by faith but the life that hee then lived was the life of grace the life of good works which hee did not live before Gal. 2.20 so that the truth is evident Faith is the Primum mobile as the spring-wheel in a Watch that sets all the rest a going or as the weight in a Clock Austin saith Amor meus poudus meum co feror quosunque feror My love is my weight by that I am carried whithersoever I am carried But what is the weight that moves love Why the Apostle tells us That faith worketh by love Gal. 5.6 And as for other graces you have instances enough in Heb. 11. All the grace that Abraham and Moses c. exercised in those eminent acts of Self-denial there recorded was set a-work by faith By faith Abraham c. By faith Moses c. Faith sets grace a work proportionably to the height of the act of Self-denial that wee are called to it doth not onely stir up grace and set it a working but it makes it work to such a height as is requisite to the greatness of the present exigency See a notable instance in Abraham Rom. 4.19 20. And being not weak in faith hee considered not his own body now dead and hee staggered not at the promise through unbeleef but was strong in faith giving glory to God and therefore against hope beleeved in hope vers 18. 4 Faith secures them in their working I had fainted saith David unless I had beleeved Psal 27.13 It is said of Moses that through faith 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 hee endured Heb. 11.27 Christ told Peter that Satan had desired to have him but that hee had prayed that his faith might not fail and therefore Satan could not have him Luke 22.32 Paul exhorts that above all things wee should take unto us the shield of faith Ephes 6.16 hee calls it a shield because as the shield doth cover all the other parts of the Armour so doth faith all the other graces In 1 Thes 5.8 hee calls it a breast-plate because it secures the heart therefore hee saith By faith wee stand 2 Cor. 1.24 Answ 4. Faith brings in the mighty power and strength of God to our assistance and therefore must needs bee able to carry us through this duty of Self-denial Though of our selves in our own strength wee can doe nothing yet in the strength of God wee may doe it with ease Now faith brings in Auxiliary forces from heaven engageth the Almightiness of God with us There is a kinde of Omnipotency in faith all things are possible to him that beleeveth Mark 9.23 and this is the reason of it It is said of Stephen Act 6.8 that hee was full of faith and power Where faith is there is power even the mighty power of God the greatness of his power toward us who beleeve Eph. 1.19 It is said 1 Pet. 1.5 that wee are kept by the power of God to salvation but through faith the power of God through faith In Matth. 9.22 Christ tells the woman that had an issue of blood Thy faith hath made thee whole why it was the power of Christ that made her whole I but it is attributed to her faith because her faith set the power of Christ a work for that end Thus you see wherein the power of faith lyes to carry a man through this duty of Self-denial and therefore what reason you have to make use of it in this particular The Fifteenth Direction 15 Keep in minde your former experiences 1 The experiences which you have had of Self-seeking 2 The experiences which you have had of Self-denial 1 The experiences of Self-seeking in these two particulars 1 What experiences you have had of the evil of Self-seeking 2 What experiences you have had of the wayes and means whereby you have been drawn to it 1 The experiences of the evil of Self-seeking 1 Of the evill of sin in it 2 Of the evill of suffering by it First What experiences you have had of the evill of sin in it Before you were exhorted to consider what evill of sin there is in it here to remember what evill of sin you have found in it by your own experience 1 Hath it not made you neglect many a duty as praying hearing meditating c. 2 Hath it not made you venture upon many a sin as lying swearing defranding c. 3 Hath it not often put you upon a course of sinning for a long time together 4 Hath it not made you prophane the Ordinances of God using them 1 As means for compassing your base ends 2 As cloaks for hiding them 5 Hath it not made you sometimes ashamed of Religion so that you durst not confess Christ openly before a Christ-deriding world 6 Hath it not been the cause of your unfruitfulness and unserviceableness in the places where you have lived so that few have been the better by you 7 Hath it not made you unfaithful to the trust that hath been reposed in you so that you have been a staffe of broken reed to those that have leaned on you 8 Hath it not hindred you from receiving much good from those to whose precepts you should
have attended and whose example you should have imitated It may bee if you have been in any measure observant as you should you may have found some if not all of these evils now whatsoever you have found call it to remembrance and whatsoever you shall finde take special notice of it that you may never forget it Further consider how this evil of Self-seeking in any or all of these or any other particular evils hath at any time appeared to your consciences as exceeding and out of measure sinful what strange apprehensions you have had of the vileness and baseness of it how loathsome it hath been unto you how you have censured and condemned your selves for it and resolved against it This would bee a special means to prevent your relapsing for time to come When wee have lost our apprehensions of the vileness and baseness of any sin wee are then ready to return unto it again upon any new temptation and wee lose our former apprehensions when wee are not careful to record them in our memories and frequently to recollect them Keep in minde Secondly what experiences you have had of the evil of suffering by it in three particulars 1 The frustration of your hopes How often have you promised your selves great matters but have been deceived Looked for gain but have met with loss for honour but have met with scorn and contempt 2 The accomplishment of your fears You have been afraid of poverty of shame of reproach and to avoid it have dissembled your profession and yeelded in a base servile compliance with men of corrupt mindes but by this means it hath come upon you 3 The vexation of your spirits You have been allured in time of temptation with the pleasure of such sins but oh what an evil and bitter thing have you found it afterwards what an hell have you had in your consciences This likewise would bee a special preservative but men forget A woman when shee is in travel hath sorrow saith our Saviour but as soon as shee is delivered of the childe shee remembreth no more the anguish for joy that a man is born into the world Joh. 16.21 When men have fallen by their iniquity oh then you shall hear them promise and vow great matters if ever God spare them they will become new men they will never do the like again they will bee more wary for time to come but within a while when the fear of the present danger is past they will bee venturing again It happeneth to these according to the Proverb The dog is turned to his own vomit again 2 Pet 2.22 When they are stomach-sick they cast up their sweet morsels with loathing and abomination but they are no sooner well but they lick them up again Oh therefore keep fresh in your memories what an evil and a bitter thing you have sometimes found it to seek your selves in a sinful way that you may tremble at the thoughts of doing the like for time to come as long as you live Keep in remembrance 2 The experiences you have had of the wayes and means whereby you have been drawn to it Wee are not ignorant of Satans devices saith the Apostle 2 Cor. 2.11 but most times wee are forgetful of them which is the reason that wee are insnared the second time That which hath prevailed with you to self-seeking hath been it may bee either 1 Some over-weening thought of your selves or 2 An over-high conceit of the things of the world or 3 Neglect of watchfulness or 4 Dallying with a temptation or 5 Hearkning to evil counsel or 6 Following evil example Well what ever it is that you have found to have been at any time the cause of it keep it in remembrance by this means you will bee the better able to shun it for time to come A man that at such a place hath missed his way will bee sure to remember it against the next time to avoid it One that hath been deceived by a Cheat will know him too well to trust him another time Wee say well I will know you again another time for this So should wee say when wee have been deceived by this or that to seek our selves This is the way to have skill to overcome a temptation by this means wee shall bee able to espy the snare at the first glance and to perceive whither the temptation tends for Sathan comes with fair shews and pretences a man that hath not observed his methods and wiles is presently carryed away as mistrusting nothing but another that hath had experience and taken notice of them will alwayes suspect the worst and therefore will bee the more wary and circumspect Bee mindefull likewise of 2 The experiences you have had of Self-denial 1 The experiences you have had of the good of Self-denial 2 Of the means whereby you have been inabled to deny your selves First what experiences you have had of the good of Self-denial 1 Of the good that is in it 2 Of the good that comes by it 1 What experiences you have had of the good that is in it as 1 Have you not found that the more you have denied your selves the more you have grown in grace 2 Have you not found that the more you have denied your selves the more fruitful you have been in every good work 3 Have you not found that Self-denial hath made the strictest duties easie and delightful 4 Have you not found that the more you have denied your selves the more easily you have born the cross 5 Have you not found that the more you have denied your selves the more serviceable and useful you have been in your places 6 Have you not found that the more you have denied your selves the more freedome you have had from temptations and the more strength to withstand them 2 What experiences you have had of the good that comes by it 1 Have you not found much peace of conscience 2 Much boldness and assurance in the presence of God 3 Abundance of joy and comfort In a word 4 Have you not had an hundred fold for all that you have at any time in a way of Self-denial parted with for Christ This will bee a good means to make you persevere and hold on in the practice of this duty when you can say you have learned by experience how good it is Laban you know was a Self-seeking person now calling to minde what good as hee judged hee had found in that way hee resolves to hold on in it still and therefore by this argument hee endeavours to perswade Jacob to tarry with him that hee might make the most of him as hee had done before I pray thee saith hee if I have found favour in thy eyes tarry for I have learned by experience that the Lord hath blessed mee for thy sake Gen. 30.27 This was the reason why those Idolaters were so peremptorily resolved to persist in their Idolatry to burn Incense to the Queen of heaven
but this is the way to bring our selves into the greatest danger of all for by this means instead of falling into the hands of man wee are in danger of falling into the hands of God and as the Apostles sayes It is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God Heb. 10.31 for our God is a consuming fire Heb. 12.29 Let us not then fear them which kill the body but are not able to kill the soul but rather let us fear him which is able to destroy both soul and body in Hell Let us sanctifie God in our hearts and make him our fear and our dread carefully avoiding whatsoever is displeasing in his sight and y Honzo time Deum mundum ridebis Austin then wee need not fear what men can do unto us This is the sixth particular to shew the Excellency of Self-denial The seventh Excellency of Self-denial 7 It is a Christians freedome and liberty A self-denying man is the only free man as for others of what rank or order soever they be they are all slaves There is not a selfish man in the world but is in worse than Egyptian or Turkish bondage led captive by no better than the Devil so the Apostle 2 Tim. 2.26 That they may recover themselves out of the snare of the Devil who are taken captive by him at his will They think themselves the only free men while they do as they please walking in the way of their heart and in the sight of their eyes but the truth is they z Those that think it their only happiness to do what they will that they might bee free cross their own desires for this is the way to make them most perfect slaves Sibs Soul-Conflict are the veriest slaves led up and down like so many brute beasts that have no dominion over their own actions Yee know saith the Apostle that yee were Gentiles carried away unto these dumb Idols even as yee were led 1 Cor. 12.2 yea they are carried unto their own destruction not considering that it is for their lives as Solomon notes of him that follows the lewd woman Hee goeth after her streightway as an Oxe goeth to the slaughter or as a fool to the correction of the stocks as a bird hasteth to the snare and knoweth not that it is for his life Prov. 7.22.23 In this condition were all self-denying men till such time as they could deny themselves as Eph. 2.2 And you hath hee quickned who were dead in trespasses and sins wherein in time past yee walked according to the course of this world according to the Prince of the power of the aire who worketh in the children of disobedience amongst whom also wee had all our conversation in time past and this was their shame because while it was thus they were the servants of sin Rom. 6.17 and of corruption 2 Pet. 2.19 and yeelded their members servants to uncleanness and to iniquity unto iniquity Rom. 6.19 and all this while they were free from righteousness vers 20. and this was their shame vers 21. What fruit had you in those things whereof yee are now ashamed Sin is the most shameful evil because it is the greatest debasing of Excellency and that for this reason because it brings a man into the most shameful vassallage and slavery of any thing in the world All slavery is shameful but this the most shameful because hereby the humane nature is most abused being used to a quite contrary end to that for which it was made The end of man is to glorifie God and to injoy him for ever in these two his chief good doth consist but by sin neither of these are attainable for as in sin there is no conformity unto God so there is no communion with him and therefore a sinner as he doth nothing for the glory of God so he doth nothing for his own good whatsoever he doth while he sins it is to his own hurt and the greatest hurt that a creature is capable of because the more he sins the more he deprives himself of the chief good because the more he sins the more hee deprives himself of God Now a selfish man such an one as cannot deny himself cannot cease from sin 2 Pet. 2.14 and therefore cannot cease from doing himself mischief therefore he works out his damnation in every thing that he doth destruction and misery are in all his wayes which shews that he is in the most wretched and miserable bondage of any in the world It is nothing that what he doth he doth willingly for the more willingly any one acts to his own hurt the more wretched and miserable he is as when a man cuts and wounds himself as every selfish man doth the woful effects whereof though for the present he doth not feel if free grace prevent not he will certainly rue to all eternity His heart is so set upon his sinful wayes that there is no turning him out of them neither promises on the one hand nor threatnings on the other are sufficient to reclaim him Hee feedeth of ashes a deceived heart hath turned him aside that hee cannot deliver his soul nor say Is there not a lye in my right hand Isa 44.20 Though he be convinced in his conscience as many times he is that the course he takes will be his ruine yet he is so miserably inthralled by his lusts that he cannot give over Though the Adulterer know that by means of a whorish woman a man is brought to a peece of bread and that the Adulteress will hunt for the precious life that shee hath cast down many wounded yea that many strong men have been slain by her and that her house is the way to hell going down to the chambers of death though he know that the dead bee there and that her guests are in the depths of hell yet hee will not obey the voyce of his teachers nor incline his ear to them that instruct him to remove his way far from her and not to come nigh the door of her house but after her he goes hee goes the way to her house in the twylight in the evening in the black and dark night till strangers be filled with his wealth and his labours be in the house of a stranger till a dart strike through his liver and his flesh and his body are consumed Though the Covetous man knows that when hee dyeth hee shall carry nothing away and that his glory shall not descend after him yet how doth he labour to be rich rising up early and sitting up late and eating the bread of sorrows though he hear that Covetousness is Idolatry and that the love of the world is enmity against God and how almost an impossible thing it is for a rich man to enter into the Kingdome of heaven though God himself say it he will not beleeve it he is resolved to have something of the world though he lose his soul for it
and therefore will fawn and flatter lye and dissemble couzen and cheat do any thing submit to any thing so he may but get a penny by it Who hath wo who hath sorrow who hath contentions who hath babling who hath wounds without cause who hath redness of the eyes They that tarry long at the wine saith Solomon they that go to seek mixt wine and yet the Drunkard will not beware hee looks upon the wine when it is red when it giveth his colour in the cup when it moveth it self aright though at the last it biteth like a Serpent and stingeth like an Adder His eyes behold the strange woman and his heart utters perverse things he is as hee that lyeth down in the midst of the Sea or as hee that lyeth upon the top of a Mast They have stricken mee saith hee and I was not sick they have beaten mee and I felt it not when shall I awake I will seek it yet again How miserable is the condition of these men that are made to serve in this manner to their own destruction and yet it is not by any outward force upon them onely they are drawn away of their own lust and inticed Some perceiving they have of their own wretchedness but alas they cannot help themselves they can do nothing in order to their recovery Though the most effectual means be propounded they have no heart to make use of them they are fettered with their lusts as with chains and cannot move one step in the way that leads to life Here then is the Excellency of Self-denial that by means thereof as nothing can constrain us to do any thing that is for our hurt so nothing can restrain us from doing any thing that is for our good So long as wee deny our selves neither men nor devils can stop us in our way The greatest hindrances in the way to heaven are from within if there be none from within those from without can do nothing How should this make us in love with Self-denial we prize our civil liberty why should we not prize our a Haec est absoluta libertas in seipsum habere maximam potestatem inaestimabile bonum est suum fieri Sen. Ep. 75. spiritual liberty as much any why not much more How happy do wee think our selves when without any let or hindrance wee can follow our earthly Callings and do what is of concernment to our well-being in this world Would we not be much more happy if without any let or hindrance we could follow our heavenly calling and do what is of concernment to our well-being in the world to come This is no motive to such as think it their only liberty to sin but to such as prize their spiritual and eternal good being convinced that by the free exercising of themselves unto godliness it is only attainable it will be a prevailing argument not only to begin but to continue the strictest course of Self-denial according to the precepts and practice of their Saviour The eighth Excellency of Self-denial 8 It is a Christians Sovereignty and Dominion Christians are frequently in Scripture stiled Kings and the reason is chiefly from that Sovereign Power and Dominion they have over themselves their own lusts and passions which they obtain by Self-denial For as in the Civil government of others hee hath the Royal power who hath the Negative voyce whereby hee can stop all proceedings so that nothing can bee done but according to his liking so it is in the spiritual government of ones self When a man by denying himself can hinder the out-breaking of his corruptions when by a peremptory No. he can withstand the importunity of temptations and keep in his spirit that it stir not one way or other but according to the dictates of reason rightly informed by the word hee may be truly said to reign And he reigns not only over himself but the b He is made full Lord of the four elements and constituted Emperour of the world He is in the fire of choler and not burned in the water of flegme not drowned in the aiery sanguine and yet not blown away with every blast of transient pleasure hee descends also into the sad earthy Melancholly and yet is not buried from the sight of his God Hee stills the raging of the sea bee clears up the lowring heavens and with his breath blows away the clouds Hee sports with the beasts of the earth the Lion licks his band like a Spaniel and the Serpent sleeps upon his lap and stings him not He playes with the Fowls of heaven and the birds of the aire sit singing on his fist All the Creation is before him and be calls every one of them by their proper names See the second Lash of Alazonomastix p. 183. and Mastix his Letter Sect. 11. world also for by this means hee makes every thing become tributary and work for his good not onely that which hee hath but that which hee hath not also not onely that which is for him but that which is against him too so that hee hath the most c Sibi imperare maximum est imperium Sen. Latius regnes avidum domando Spiritum quam si Libyam remotis Gadibus jungas uterque Poenus Horat. Car. l. 2. Od. 2. Serviat uni ample Dominion the most noble Empire the most glorious Monarchy of any in the world As for others they are so Kings that they are also d Refraenet prius libidines spernat voluptates iracundiam teneat coerceat avaritiam ceteras animi labes repellat tum incipiat aliis imperare cum ipse insprobissim is dominis dedecori ac turpitudini parere desierit Dum his quidem obediet non modo Rex sed liber habendus omnino non erit Cic. Parad. Roctius appellabitur Rex quam Tarquinius qui nec se nec suos regere potuit Idem 111. De Finib slaves for while they rule over other mens bodies and estates they are slaves to their own and other mens lusts and therefore to speak properly they do not reign at all being not able to rule their own spirits nor to keep under their own bodies which every self-denying man doth and therefore is not only the most glorious but indeed the only true King the consideration whereof I would offer unto those that are so ambitious of getting up into some great place of honour and command amongst men as very proper and effectual for the making them in love with Self-denial The Ninth Excellency of Self-denial 9 It is a Christians gain and advantage A self-denying man if selfish men might bee judges is the greatest loser in the world but verily hee is the greatest e A selfish man loseth by his gains but a Self-denying man gains by his losses gainer for though hee part with all it is for him that is All in All it is for the Pearle of price Matth. 13.44 for the Lord Jesus together