is evident that he continues many Old Punishments and sends New and sometimes very severe ones on those that are truly Penitent This was undeniably the Case of David 2 Sam. 12.9 10 11. Wherefore hast thou despised the commandment of the Lord to do evil in his sight Now therefore the sword shall never depart from thine house because thou hast despised me c. Thus saith the Lord Behold I will raise up evil against thee out of thine own house c. And Death at last seizes them as well as the rest of Mankind which is generally looked upon as the standing Mark of God's Displeasure against Sin And how can mere Reason assure me that that shall put a final Period to all my Miseries that there are not some very severe Penalties yet behind for me to endure in the other World The Generality of men have trembled at the thoughts and fears of future Vengeance Lucretius * At mens sibi conscia facti Praemetuens adhibet stimulos terretque flagellis Nec videt interea qui terminus esse malorum Possit nec qui sit poenarum denique finis Atque eadem metuit magis haec ne in morte gravescant Lucret. himself represents a guilty Mind as very jealous that Death was not the End of Misery but the Beginning of greater Evils And therefore among other Replies which the great Patron of meer Natural Religion makes to those who might object that Repentance was no Satisfaction to Divine Justice this is one If any †Si ulterior aliqua irrogari debeat poena Deum Summum post hanc vitam ad tempus aliquod breve vel etiam diuturnum Supplicium de peccatoribus Sumere posse Herbert de Relig. Gentil p. 199. further Punishment ought to be inflicted God may inflict it on Sinners for a shorter or a longer time after this Life Such a Notion as this is did obtain among the Heathen as is acknowledged by their Advocate * Id. p. 196. it 208. and is too plain to be denied Were it not for Scripture Purgatory would not seem to be an absurd Doctrine The Imperfection of Good mens Repentance would incline one to suspect that after this Life they might be cast into the Fire again for the further burning up that Dross that still adheres to them But of this more in the next Chapter And I do not yet see but that if the Scriptures be laid aside I may as well argue from the Instances of God's Severity in this Life and from the undergoing a very painful Death and sometimes a bloody cruel and untimely one which is the lot of many true Penitents as well as others That God does not and will not pardon men tho' they do Repent As another may argue from the Instances of his Common Bounty and Kindness to Wicked men That he will pardon them if they do Moreover by the Light of Nature we can't attain to a well-grounded Confidence that if God should turn away his Wrath from us he will besides this receive us into the Arms and Embraces of his Love become a Friend as well as cease to be an Enemy not only refrain from Chastizing but also feast a Returning Prodigal besides the laying of the Storm cause the Sun to shine and lift up the light of his holy Countenance on our Souls and bless us with a sense of his Loving-kindness which is better than Life Tho' David was so far reconciled to Absalom as not to Execute him yea to permit him to return to Jerusalem yet for a long time he would not Suffer him to see his Face But here Revelation doth thoroughly deliver us from all our Melancholy Fears For it assures us that tho' God continue Old Afflictions or lay New ones on those whom he forgives yet 't is only for their Spiritual and Eternal Advantage to purge out their Corruptions to exercise and improve their Graces That all the Strokes he gives them are like those of a Statuary on his ill-shaped Marble to bring them into a beautiful Image and Form and so make them more meet to grace and adorn the Heavenly Building which they are designed for That they shall never be in Heaviness unless there be a Necessity for it That God will remember their Frame and his own Promise and therefore never suffer them to be tempted above what they are able to bear as a Gardener by his Glasses defends his young and tender Plants from those rough and cold Winds which they can't well endure And if our Danger be Extraordinary so shall his Assistance also be Act. 7.56 When the Jews gnasht on St. Stephen with their Teeth and were ready to devour him the Heavens were open'd and he saw Christ Standing at the right hand of God In all other places of the New Testament he is represented as Sitting there How comes he at this time to be seen in a different Posture St. Stephen was now in very great Danger And so great was our Saviour's Concern for him on this account that as if the Throne of Glory had now been uneasy to him he rises up and is seen standing at the right hand of his Father that he might be in a greater readiness to afford that Help to his distressed Servant which his present Circumstances did so loudly call for The Scripture tells us Psal 89.32 That tho' he visit their Iniquities with a Rod and their Transgressions with a Stripe yet his Loving-kindness he will never take away from them That if it be not apparently their own Fault he will manifest himself to them Joh. 14.21 and fill them with that Peace which passeth all Understanding Phil. 4.7 And there have been many in all Ages who have practised upon and lived up to the Principles of Christianity and in so doing have found this to be true by a long and comfortable Experience Yea not a few have fed on this Heavenly Manna that once were some of the Chiefest of Sinners who when they were first awaken'd have lain under dreadful Agonies of Conscience and one would have thought even after their sincere Conversion should have gone drooping and mourning all their days to their very Graves Indeed a constant lively Sense of their pasts Sins hath continued engraven on their Spirits but yet they have been freed from that Distress and Terror of Soul which once they laboured under As the Print of the Nails and Spear remained in our Saviour's Hands and Side for unbelieving Thomas put his Finger into 'em but not with that Anguish and Torment which they caused in him when he hung upon the Cross Yea Gal. 6.16 walking according to Rule Peace according to the Promise hath been upon them and they have been fill'd with Joy unspeakable and full of Glory And if it hath not been thus with others 't is not the fault of Christianity but of the Professors of it CHAP. II. Of a Future State of Bliss THis is what no
Probable Opinion and wish'd it were true but could not be very Confident of it I grant indeed as Learned Men have well observed that the Later * Stillingfleet's Orig. Sac. p. 500. Platonists of the Sacred Succession out of the School of Ammonius have written with another Air and in a much higher Strain of this as well as some other important Subjects than those that went before them But 't is not unknown at what Fire they lighted their Tapers They suddenly grew rich by the Spoils they had gotten out of the Holy Scriptures which yet they had not the Honesty to own they had taken thence But disguised their Notions by giving them a peculiar Turn that it might be thought what they had transplanted from the Sacred Writings did Originally grow in their own Gardens And I do not deny but that sometimes the Older Philosophers express themselves with some Briskness and Confidence But then they assert and do not solidly prove it and we have little reason to believe them because at other times 't is plain they did hardly believe themselves in what they said They have betrayed a great Doubtfulness of Mind about it and that in such a Season when they most of all needed a firm Persuasion of it as a warm Cordial at their Hearts in the midst of Troubles and Dangers and when they were on the Confines of the Grave Let my Fellow-Souldiers Congratulate me when I am dead as Xenophon brings in Cyrus speaking in his last Moments because * 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Xenoph. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 inter opera p. 238. then I shall be in safety and nothing can hurt me whether I shall be with God or be reduced to Nothing But which of these two should be his Case was Somewhat of a Doubt with him I cannot but pity the Distress of Soul that Socrates must needs be in for this very reason when he was on the Point of Martyrdom for the Unity of the God-Head Tho' by the way he was but a sorry Martyr for it who in Prison asserted a †Plato Apol. Socr. p. 27. Plurality of Gods and with his dying Breath order'd his Friend to offer for him a * Plato's Phoedo p. 118. Edit Serrani Cock to Aesculapius and so the last thing that he did was to disown that Fundamental of all Religion for which 't is pretended that he suffer'd And as he was thus divided in his own Mind about the One God so was he no less about the Future State The very last words which Plato makes him speak to his intimate Friends in his Apology are these I must speedily die but you shall continue to live but who shall be in better Circumstances in a little while You or I is uncertain to every one but to God †Apolog. p. 42. alone Tully indeed doth endeavour to fetch him off For saith he that which he saith no one knows but the Gods alone with whom it should be better he himself knew for he had said it before Referring to that * Quod praeter Deos negat scire quenquam id scit ipse utrum melius sit Nam dixit ante Sed suum illud nihil ut affirmet tenet ad extremum Tusc Quaest l. 1. p. 1063. Passage of Socrates which he had newly quoted I have great hopes that it will go well with me c. of which more presently but he still to the last observes his usual way of affirming nothing The same do those two Learned Men †In notis ad Apolog. Socratis p. 41. Serranus and ‖ Concordia Rationis Fidei p. 156. Huetius offer in his behalf and that he doth herein no more than what he ought having set up for the first Author of Doubting and Questioning every thing and so doth but maintain the Character which he had assumed and doth only accommodate himself to the Opinion of others and the Hypothesis of the Vulgar with whom he had to do but that otherwise there was nothing which he was more confident of But this is but a very lame Excuse for him I grant indeed he doth several times say that he doth strongly hope he shall go to the * Apolog. p. 40. Phoedo p. 63. it p. 80 81. it p. 115. See this also in Tully Tus Qu. l. 1. p. 1066. Gods and to the Seat of the Blessed c. But then he saith no more concerning Himself than he doth concerning the SWANS For saith he when They are sensible that they must die as they sang before they then do it more than ever rejoicing that they are a going to that God †〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Plato's Phoedo p. 84 85. whose Servants they are Now in spight of the Oracle we may venture to say That he who talks of going to God in no other Sense than a dying Bird doth is not a very Wise and Knowing man nor like to be a very Happy one But he further adds That Dying * 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Id. p. 85. Swans do sing because they belong to Apollo and baving a sort of Prophetick Instinct they fore-see the good things of the Future State and thereupon they are far better pleased with their last Day than with any whatsoever in the fore-going part of their Lives And I reckon my self a Fellow-Servant with these Creatures and to be Consecrated to the same God which they are dedicated unto and that I have not less of a Spirit of Divination than they communicated to me from him our Common Master and that I shall not depart this Life in a more Melancholy manner than they do I think the God the Birds and the Philosopher are all of a Feather and very well match'd But besides this he doth at every turn put in so many cold and qualifying Passages as plainly shew he was like a Blind man that gropes and feels out his way and moves with great Fear not knowing where his next Step shall be For saith he to fear Death is nothing else but for a man to seem to be Wise when he is not really so For no man * Apolog. p. 29. KNOWS but that it MAY be to him the greatest Good But then it may be the greatest Evil for ought any one can tell and the way to cure Men of this Fear had been roundly to have asserted and solidly to have proved but that was more than he could do that Death will be to them very great Gain and Advantage And presently after he adds In this I differ from many and if in any thing I would affirm * Ib. my self to be Wiser than the rest of Mankind it should be in this That as I do not well understand the things which belong to the Future Invisible State so I am sensible that I don't know them But this I do certainly know that to injure and rebel against any that is our Superiour whether it be God or Man is a
Maker But how bold soever he may be with him he is very civil to the Female Sex in providing Husbands for 'em from among the Page 190. Angels tho' what he further saith on that Subject for two Pages Page 191 192. together I shall not transcribe because I will not stain my Paper nor pollute the Mind of my Reader And yet this wretchedly unconstant Man quickly after tells us That a Woman is the most lovely Page 191. at the Bottom BRUTE of the Universe A Flight this is which I hope LINDAMOUR as the Writer of Mr. Blount's Life and Death calls himself will not forget the next time he pays his Devotions to the Divine Image as he words it of the Honourable and Divine HERMIONE for whom this Deist tho' to be sure he is no Idolater has so great a Veneration that he talks of Sacrificing Account of the Life and Death of Mr. Blount p. 1 2. his own Life for her with his own Hands as Mr. B. did for Astrea his Brother's Wife This Lindamour defends and applauds as an Heroical Action in Philander with this remarkable Saying out of Almanzor I my self am King of me tho' how this is consistent with the third Fundamental of A. W's Religion viz. That 't is our Duty to Worship and Obey God as our Creator and GOVERNOR I leave to his Consideration As also how he will reconcile Mr. Blount's Practice with these Words of his in his Discourse against the Surrenderers of Charters viz. Page 178. He that commits Murder with the Sword of Justice aggravates his Crime to the Highest Degree As these Gentlemen would have done in making the Government Felo de se and Accessary to its own ruin Tho' it be not a matter of so great Moment as the rest which I have already mention'd yet I can't but observe that Mr. B. Page 128. accuses Sir H. Savil that he hath so far Complemented the Jewish as to Rob the English World of the fifth Book of Tacitus 's History by omitting any Part of it in his Version and yet he himself is guilty of the same Fault and besides the mis-translation of what he gives us hath kept back a Considerable part of Tacitus's Account But I suppose he thought that wherever there is a Jew 't is fit there should be somewhat of Circumcision I 'le add but one more tho' I could produce several others The Deist sometimes bears up very briskly about Repentance 'T is the true and only Expiation of Sin and is so agreed upon by all Men in all Ages and of all Religions wherefore take it for an Page 200. Undoubted Truth and this not revealed but innate and a part of Natural Religion Sure by his Confidence he looks on this as Full Payment And yet a little after 't is but a little part of Composition-Money but 't is all we have Repentance is what we can answer Page 209. to an Atonement and therefore we may reasonably assert 't is all God will expect from us 'T is but as a Thousand Pounds when a Man owes a Million and the Creditor can have but All. And as pert as Mr. B. is yet sometime his Heart fails him For the highest he can go is but Vero-simile est similem Deo à Deo Page 90. non negligi 'T is likely that he who is like God is not neglected of God Not to be Neglected of God is but a very faint Expression A Man may be not neglected of God and yet be but in very low Circumstances And yet even this too is but likely which is but very cold Comfort All these Flowers I have gather'd out of one Garden tho' from several Beds The Passages are written some by one Author some by another but we may look upon them as the Sense of the Party Mr. Blount hath affixed the Seal of the Company to all these Papers and publish'd them all together as Oracles of Reason He I am sure was answerable for them and so is the Writer of his Life who thus highly commends them after having spoke very Contemptibly of other Writings as Trifles and their Authors as Whiffling Scribblers Account of Mr. Blount 's Life p. 2. But the Subjects and Compositions of these following Sheets left no room for either of these i. e. Apology or Abstract Their Merit took away all Occasion of Apology and the Majesty and Consequence of their Design all pretence to Abstracts Those that desire to see these Sacred MONUMENTS must be more nice Considerers than to be satisfy'd without attentive OBSERVATION They are TRUTHS of too great Importance to be Slightly run over of too great Beauty not to hold our Eyes some time on them to take a thorough Survey of their various Perfections I have look'd attentively into these MONUMENTS and think that Lindamour would do well to put in for what he speaks Ib. of the next Verger's Place that falls at Westminster which if he can get he cannot then point to any Tomb that is fuller of Stench and Rottenness than the Papers which in his Preface he hath so highly extolled On the whole I believe the Reader will incline to my Opinion That some Men run down Christianity because 't is Religion rather than because 't is Revealed FINIS THE CONTENTS In the Epistle to the Reader THE Necessity of opposing Desism § 1. Serious Piety in General the Best Defence against it § 2. And Humility in Particular § 3. The Rational Grounds of the Christian Faith § 3. An Account of the following Treatise § 4. In the Preface SOme Things we are in the Dark about and may contentedly be so But not as to Pardon and a Future State In the Book CHAP. I. PArdon a Matter of great Importance p. 1 Natural Light can't Assure us that God will forgive p. 2 Nor if he will how far Pardon shall extend as to Persons or Crimes p. 10. Nor of the Terms upon which p. 18 The Pleas that it will assure us of Pardon upon meer Repentance considered à p. 18. ad p. 45. Nor When God will Pardon p. 45. Nor how often p. 49 The Blasphemy against the Holy Ghost is the Sih meant in Heb. 6.4 and ch 10.26 p. 51 Nor to what Degree God will forgive p. 63 Under each of which Heads is shewn what Assurance we have from Revelation CHAP. II. A Future State of Happiness a Point of great Importance p. 72 Natural Light can't Assure us there is such a State p. 80 The Heathens uncertain of it p. 81 Nor of the Greatness of it p. 119. The wretched Notions of the Heathens about it p. 120 Nor of its Eternity and Unchangeableness p. 149 The Sentiments of the Heathens about this p. 150 Nor that we shall enjoy it immediately after Death p. 168 The Fancies of the Heathens about this p. 170 Nor who shall enjoy it p. 175. The Opinions of the Heathens about this p. 177 Nor the Terms of it p. 183. Nor where Grace is to be had to enable us to perform the Terms on which Pardon and Future Happiness are suspended p. 187 Under each of which Heads is shewn what Satisfaction we have from Revelation The CLOSE CHrist and his Gospel to be loved and adhered to p. 201. We should be careful we don't fall short of Pardon and Heaven p. 205. and clear up our Right to 'em p. 206. Directions for our so doing Ib. In the Appendix A. W 's Logick like his Religion p. 213. His Objection against Revealed Religion That it hath not and could not be Universally known p. 214. The Reasons of so large an Answer to it p. 215. The Case of Men different from that of other Creatures p. 216. The Gospel Preach'd to Adam and Noah p. 217. Mens own Fault that it did not from them descend to All in every Age Ib. God not obliged to spread it by Miraculous Methods p. 226. Preach'd to Abraham and the Jews tho' other Nations not excluded thereby from the Means of Grace p. 228 The Fault of Christians and Heathens that the Gospel is not further Spread p. 234. A. W 's Promise challenged p. 235. Heathens left to God p. 236. But certainly in a better Case than Deists among us p. 237 No want of Evidence for Christianity but somewhat else in them p. 238 Their Hopes from Infinite Mercy vain p. 244. Sacrifices not meerly Symbolical nor Repentance an Expiation much less the only one in the Opinion of all Men p. 246. The Contradictions and gross Blunders of our Modern Deists p. 254.
because of the Corruption of Human Nature And withal shews whither we should apply our selves for Divine Grace for the changing the habitual Frame of our Souls and the amending of our Lives So much for the Nature of Christianity II. Now for the Proof of it The Word began first to be spoken by the Lord Heb. 2. and was confirmed unto us by them that heard him God also bearing them witness both with Signs and Wonders and with divers Miracles and Gifts of the Holy Ghost according to his own Will And he would never have set the Broad Seal of Heaven upon it if it had been a Cheat and an Imposture and so have unavoidably led us into a most fatal Error To this may be added the wonderful Spreading of the Gospel which is very Admirable considering the Strictness of its Precepts the Weakness of the Instruments by whom it was propagated the strong Opposition that was made against it every where by Men in Authority and those of the greatest Wit and Learning the general Prejudices with which the Minds of Men were filled against it and its overturning all other Religions wherein Men had been Bred and Born and which therefore they use to be very tenacious of If it had been a Lye it would never have been so blessed and prospered of God Consider further what a wonderful Reformation it wrought in the Hearts and Lives of all that entertained it Surely that Seal could be no Forgery but must be cut by a Divine Hand which made so many Divine Impressions upon such Multitudes of Souls To all which may further be added The Case of the Jews who tho' scattered all the World over yet contrary to all other Instances in Nature do not mingle and incorporate with any People but keep themselves as a Body distinct from all the Nations among whom they dwell And they are the Filth and Off-scouring of every Place even among the Heathens as well as the Christians The very Mahometans despise them The Indians * Terry 's Voyage into the East-Indies have a very Emphatical way in their Language of calling a Man two or three very ugly Names in one Compound Word yet that of calling a Man a Jew is reckoned worse than all the Terms of Reproach heaped up together They are every where standing Monuments of Divine Vengeance for rejecting the Gospel and a lasting Proof and Testimony of the Truth of our Saviour's Prophecies against them Especially if we consider the many Attempts which they have made but always in vain but more especially their last in the Reign and by the zealous Encouragement of Julian the Apostate Emperor to rebuild the Temple at Jerusalem on purpose to prove our Saviour a False Prophet and the miraculous Overthrow of it and his Design by Balls of Fire from Heaven whereby the Workmen were consumed and the sorry Remains of the Foundations of that Temple were entirely razed and he made further to fulfil the Prophecy of Christ by his very attempt to overthrow it which is testified not only by the Christian Authors but by the Heathen Historian * Ammianus Marcel l. 23. also Neither are the Prophecies in Scripture concering Christ to be forgotten such as that of Daniel concerning the Messiah's being cut off within such a compass of Years Chap. 9.24 which tho' it hath its lesser Difficulties yet as to the main Substance is very plain and therefore Porphyry most unreasonably pretended the Book of Daniel was a History forged after the Events came to pass And that Prophecy of Christ's coming before the Destruction of the Second Temple Mal. 3. But above all that which was one great Occasion of the Conversion of that Noble * Earl of Roch. Life by Burnet p. 140 141 142. Man who was once as remarkable for his Debauchery and Infidelity as ever he was for his Wit or Quality viz. the Prophecy of Isaiah in his 53d Chapter concerning the Death of Christ which does so exactly correspond with the History of our Saviour's Passion tho' it was wrote many Ages before Christ's Appearance in the World and which the Jews who abhor the Notion of a Crucified Messiah and constantly Blaspheme our Lord Jesus Christ still kept in their Hands as a Book Divinely inspired Pilate writ an Inscription on the Cross over the Head of Christ This is the King of the Jews in Latin Greek and Hebrew Characters Every Jew is a Pillar of Brass which God has set up and whereon he has engraven in Capital Letters That Christ was a Teacher that came down from Heaven And this not in two or three but in all Languages under the Heavens And he who hath Eyes to see will read and he that hath an Ear to hear let him understand And I think we ought not to slight the Acts of Pilate which he sent to Tiberius containing a Narrative of the Life Miracles Death and Resurrection of our Saviour These are mentioned not only by * Hist Eccl. l. 2. c. 2. Eusebius but also by Tertullian †Apol. c. 5. c. 21. and J. Martyr ‖ Apol. 2da p. 76. 84. Edit Paris who both of them more than once in their Apologies for the Christians boldly appeal to ' em And they must have been Mad-men in so doing if they had not been well assured of the Truth of ' em And one can't but think it highly rational that Pilate should send some Account of so Extraordinary an Affair to the Emperor But that which to me is of great Weight and which I am surprized to find omitted by Learned Men yea by those who have written warmly against them that have endeavoured to put a Slur on these Acts is this That Maximinus in his Perfecution caused Supposititious * Of which see Eusebius Hist Eccl. l. 1. c. 9. l. 9. c. 5. c. 7. Acts of Pilate to be Forged full of Blasphemy against Christ which he made to be spread throughout the whole Empire to be taught in the Schools where the Boys were to get them by heart and to declaim upon them that our Saviour and his Religion and Followers might be every-where derided But Providence put an End to his Mirth and Laughter for Divine Vengeance seiz'd him and he died a wretched tormenting Death and just before it publish'd an Edict in Favour of the Christians Now if there had been no Real Acts of Pilate what need was there of these Counterfeit ones and of all this Industry for the spreading of ' em Of all these Heads of Discourse § V I have chosen to insist only on these two viz. The Pardon of Sin and a Future State of Happiness because tho' they have been very lightly touched upon by several yet I do not know any that hath thoroughly handled ' em This Vein hath been scarce open'd and then hath been presently closed again the Skilful Work-men having chosen rather to dig in some other Parts of the
worthy who hath trodden under foot the Son of God c. 'T is further evident from the Nature of the Sin here mentioned that the Apostle is speaking of the Blasphemy against the Holy Ghost The formal nature of that dreadful Sin I take to be this A malicious reproaching our Blessed Saviour as an Impostor and Deceiver imputing the Miracles which he wrought by the Spirit of God for the Confirmation of his Holy Doctrine and Mission to the Power of the Devil A man would wonder if there were not a thousand Instances of the like kind how so many Learned Men could make a shift so much to mistake this clear and plain notion of this Sin and give us so many Extravagant Opinions concerning it as widely distant from each other as all of them are from the Truth who doth but consider how St. Mark closes the Speech of our Saviour concerning it For he winds up all with these remarkable words Mark 3.30 Because they said he hath an Unclean Spirit which give us a clear Light whereby to discern the nature of this Sin But some rather chuse as an Evidence of their great Strength to endeavour to break through the Walls than turn the Key that is very plainly in the Door and would easily open it and let them into the House Now that 't is this Sin viz. the Reproaching Christ as a Deceiver the Apostle is here speaking of will appear from the Expressions which he useth concerning it He calls it a Crucifying the Son of God afresh Ch. 6.6 Ch. 10.29 and putting him to an open Shame A treading him under foot and counting his Blood an unholy thing and doing Despite to the Spirit of Grace All which do amount to this That they esteemed Christ to be a Vile Malefactor a wretched Impostor that his Miracles which for the Matter of Fact they could not deny were wrought by the help of the Infernal Powers and therefore he was deservedly put to death and had it been to do again they would as readily have done it as ever the Malicious Jews did Moreover the Sin here spoken of in one of the Places Ch. 6.6 is called a falling away and that from the Principles of the Doctrine of Christ which in the Verses immediately foregoing he had newly mentioned Ver. 1 2. i. e. a total Renouncing of the Christian Faith and Returning either to Judaism or Paganism which these Hebrews were in great danger of and which 't is the apparent Design of this Epistle to fortify them against And tho' in the other place it be called only in the General a Sinning Wilfully or Willingly Ch. 10.26 yet thereby the same thing is meant For just before the Apostle had been exhorting them to hold fast the Profession of their Faith without wavering Ver. 23 and cautioning them against forsaking the Assembling of themselves together as the manner of some was Ver. 25 which was the natural Means and the Ouvert-Act and Sign of their Apostacy And then these Words are brought in For if we sin wilfully c. i. e. If we cast away the Profession of our Faith forsake the Christian Assemblies and renounce the Doctrine of Christ Now it is worthy of our careful Observation that the Heathens but especially the Jews were so implacably bent against our Blessed Lord that tho' a Christian did desert the Assemblies of the Faithful and offer to join with them in their Judaical or Pagan Religion and Worship yet this alone would not suffice But besides this they required an express Abjuring and Reviling and Blaspheming Christ as an Impostor And without this their Rage was never satisfied and to speak in the modern Language they never thought they had fully performed all the necessary Duties of New Converts Acts 26.11 St. Paul tells us that when he persecuted the Christians 1 Tim. 1.13 being exceeding mad with Rage he compelled them to Blaspheme as he Himself also did And giving the Corinthians a Character whereby to distinguish between Divine and Diabolical Spirits 1 Cor. 13.3 I give you to understand Saith he that no man speaking by the Spirit of God calleth Jesus Accursed which doth plainly imply that it was very usual for men to do so in that Age for otherwise this Note of his would have been of no manner of Service to them Pliny in his Epistle to Trajan informs him what was the Ordeal Fire by which he tried those who were suspected and accused whether they would disown Christianity not only by proposing to them to worship the Heathen Gods and the Image of the Emperor but also by demanding of them whether praeterea Christo maledicerent they would also revile Christ And he further adds concerning those that fell in that hour of Temptation that they not only worshipp'd the Pagan Idols and Trajan's Image but also that Ii Christo maledixerunt they reviled Christ And Justin Martyr * Apol. 2d p. 72. Edit Paris tells us That Barchochebas the Ringleader of the Jewish Rebellion did order the Christians to be severely punisht unless they would not only deny Christ but blaspheme him too And Polycarp being required in order to save his Life to reproach †Euseb Hist l. 4. c. 15. Christ replied How can I Blaspheme my King and Saviour And our Learned †Harm of N. Test p. 289 290. Vol. 1. Lightfoot saith That as early as about the 10th or 11th Year after our Saviour's Ascension Rabban Gamaliel and the Sanhedrin appointed a new Prayer in which was a Petition to God to destroy the Hereticks i. e. the Christians and this he set among the Common Prayers and appointed it to be in every man's Mouth And that the Jews had their Emissaries every where abroad that to their utmost cried down the Gospel and blasphemed it and Christ that gave it Of this saith he there is Testimony abundant in the New Testament and in their own Writings So much shall suffice to prove that 't is the Blasphemy against the Holy Ghost but a more Aggravated one than that of the Pharisees that is meant in both these Places And if any of our Modern Deists have been maliciously guilty of this Sin unto death I leave them to God But provided a man hath not gone so great a Length as this is how many soever his Sins and Back-slidings from God have been yet on a renewed deep and Sincere Repentance and a lively Faith in the Blood of Christ they shall be remitted Tho' I must add in the words of Moses Exod. 8.29 Let not Pharaoh deal deceitfully with God any more For if this Grace be turned into Wantonness tho' God forgive Men Ps 99.8 yet he may and will take vengeance upon their Inventions And this naturally leads me to the Last thing which remains to be spoken unto VI. § VI Mere Natural Light and Reason cannot assure us to what Degree God will pardon those whom he does forgive It
man's Friend is laid Plutarch speaks no more confidently when he endeavours to comfort * Consol ad Apol. Edit Xylandri p. 109 c. Apollonius upon the untimely Death of his very promising Son he adopts that Saying of Socrates That Death is like a deep Sleep or a long Travelling into a foreign Country or else 't is a total Destruction of Body and Soul and speaks to the last as well as the two other that he may demonstrate Death to be no Evil. This was one of the Ingredients he uses to make a Plaister to heal the Sore of his distressed Friend And the best that he could say was IF the Saying of the Ancient Poets and Philosophers be true †P. 120. as 't is Probable that it is that Good men are advanced when they die and some of them as 't is reported more highly than others and there be a certain Place appointed for pious Souls in which they live you have reason to hope well concerning your Son that he is got among ' em As for Death saith * Antoninus l. 7. §. 32. Antoninus whether it be a Dissipation of the Elements or a Reduction into Atoms or an Annihilation it is either an Extinction or a Transmigration Or as others read it it is either †Gataker in locum p. 273. a Dissipation of the Elements Resolution into Atoms Annihilation Extinction or Transmigration A Saying that much resembles that of Seneca ‖ Contemnite mortem quae vos aut finit aut transfert Seneca de Provid ch 6. Despise Death which either ends or translates you He that would see more of Antoninus's Uncertainty let him turn to the Places * Lib. 3. §. 3. l. 4. §. 14. 21. l. 6. §. 24. l. 7. §. 50. l. 8. §. 25. 58. l. 10. §. 58. l. 12. §. 5. cited in the Margent To these Philosophers I will add the famous Historian †Vita Agricolae ad finem Tacitus who speaking in very affecting Terms concerning the Death of his Father-in-Law Agricola drops this Passage IF there be any place for the Ghosts of Good men IF as Wise men define the Souls of Great Persons die not with the Body in Peace maist thou rest c. Of the same Strain is the Speech of that noble Roman Lady Veturia a Woman of an admirable Wit and Address and whose Spirit was altogether as great as her Quality who among other Arguments with which she diverted her Son Coriolanus from ruining his own Country when it was entirely at his Mercy makes use of this That if she could but succeed in her Enterprize of prevailing with him to lay aside his she should not only gain Immortal Honour here upon Earth but also IF there be a place saith she * 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Dionys Halicarn l. 8. p. 522 523. Edit Wichelii for the Reception of Humane Souls after they are dismiss'd from the Body mine shall go not to a subterraneous and dark one where 't is SAID that miserable Wretches are lodg'd nor to the Plains of Lethe as they are called but to the High and Pure Aether where 't is REPORTED that they who are descended from the Gods do lead a blessed and happy Life I am not without some Grounds of Jealousy that the Whole of her Speech whereof these Words are a part as 't is set down was made for her by Dionysius according to the usual custom of most Historians who are wont to put Words into the Mouths of those Persons whose Actions they relate and don 't so much tell us what They spake as what Themselves would have said had they been to have made a set Oration under the same Circumstances wherein they frequently over-do make them talk much finer than it can rationally be supposed They are capable of doing lay on so much Paint that it easily appears to an observing Eye to be the work of Art and not of Nature But be it the Incomparable Veturia or the Grave Dionysius 't is not very material 'T is evident the Person that spake was very doubtful about a Future State Now if it were thus with the most Learned and Sagacious Men with the most Elevated and Exalted Souls how sad in all likelihood must it needs be with the Body of Mankind If they who had got the Higher Ground above the Heads of the Common People and had the Advantage too of standing on one another's Shoulders could see such a little way before 'em what shall we think of the little Creatures that sate below In short we do not find that Everlasting Life in the other State was in any Heathen Nation an Article of Religion established by Law It was but slightly touch'd on by Philosophers when ever they did name it which was but seldom as a Motive to excite Men to the Practice of Vertue Other Arguments they use and trust to which they did better understand and it is Prudence for a man not to urge those Reasons which are strongest in themselves but rather fight with that Weapon which he is a Master of and knows how best to manage And 't is a shrewd Observation of * St. August de Civit. Dei l. 4. c. 22. l. 6. c. 9. St. Austin That tho' the Heathens had abundance of Gods to whom they did particularly apply themselves to one for one Blessing to another God for another Favour and therefore the Knowledge of the Gods was necessary that they might direct themselves to them aright and not ask Water from the God of Wine c. Yet Varro himself who was very well skill'd in the matter hath not mentioned so much as one God whom they were to pray unto for Eternal Life 'T is true indeed we who have been taught from our very Infancy by the Gospel that there is such a Place as Heaven and so glorious a Reward for the Righteous in the other State may be apt to think that we have hit upon it by the Exercise of our own unassisted Reason or that it was very easy so to have done But herein it fares with us as oftentimes it doth with a Studious Man who having familiarly convers'd with good Authors doth verily think some of those Notions and Expressions too which he hath learnt from them are the genuine Off-spring of his own Mind and Thought Just as Corn that springs up in some places seems to the Husbandman to be the natural Product of the Ground he having never sowed it with that sort of Grain the Seeds of which in Reality were taken up by the Wind from another Field whereto they did originally belong and invisibly dropt down there I can't better express my Sense of this than in the Words of a modern Author who herein speaks very well tho' judging by the main Design of his Book I take him to be a very Singular Unitarian seeing he cuts off all the necessary Articles of our Faith excepting that of the Belief of
nec suum nec sui quicquam à quoquam censeri volebant Stoici Gataker in Annot. in Antonin p. 423. Edit Cantabrigiae 1652. Hody of the Resurrection p. 23 24 25. Men have proved that herein he was mistaken He speaks of the utter Extinction of the Soul by Death And the Answer he gives to this stabbing Question is That if it be so you must know for certain they would have order'd it otherwise if it had been just and possible and natural and ought to have been otherwise managed And yet at another time he propounds this Question * Antoninus l. 4. §. 21. If Souls do continue how will the Air contain 'em all especially considering they have been from Eternity Which he answers by propounding another How the Earth is able to contain all the Carkases which for so very long a space of time have been buried in it And then adds As the Carkases of Men when they have been for some time in the Earth are changed and dissolved so as to make room for others so Souls being translated into the Air after they have abode there for some time * 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 c. Id. Ib. are changed burnt melted down like the Metals of a Founder I suppose and so run into the common Soul of the World and thereby make way for others to come into their places and because Men die very fast I conceive this must be very quickly done lest the Place be crouded and separated Souls be stifled for want of Room and Breath tho' in the midst of the Air it self Were it not that he adds these Words That thus a Man would answer on this Hypothesis †〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Ib. that Souls do supervive their Bodies I would say that to reconcile this with the Passage which I but just now cited out of him would be as difficult as 't is to make the two Poles to meet and kiss each other He reels and staggers to and fro and knows not what Opinion to be of If he had not a more steady hand in Government than he had in Reasoning and Philosophy he would have made but a very indifferent Ruler Others of the Stoicks believed that after Death the Soul lasted as long as its Body did continue And the Egyptians were of the same Opinion and that was the reason of their embalming the Bodies of the Dead For this we have the Authority of Servius * Ad Aeneid l. 3. p. 664. which the most Learned Gataker indeed puts a Slur upon saying I don't †Unde habeat nescio Gataker Annot. in Anton. p. 140. know whence he had it Nor I neither but he who lived so many hundred years ago might have met with it in some of their Books which have not been transmitted down to us nothing being more common than 't is for Learned Men as much to bewail the Loss of many Ancient Writings as their nearest Relations could do the Death of the Authors of ' em Nor is that other Reflection of that Great Man whereby he would discredit this Testimony of Servius of any great Weight viz. as tho' the * Quasi sc à Stoâ dogma istud arripuerint Aegyptii sc Id. ib. Egyptians had borrowed this Opinion from the Stoicks For 't is very likely that Servius's Author might so misrepresent it as if the Egyptians had taken it from the Stoicks whereas in truth the latter stole it from the former according to the known humour of the Greeks who did vainly arrogate to themselves those Inventions which 't is very plain they borrowed from their Neighbours And some tell us this was the true * Hody of the Resurrection p. 12. Reason why the Egyptians were wont to keep the Carkases of their Friends in their Houses and Closets and set 'em at Table as formal Guests believing they had there the Whole Man not only the Body but the Soul too Tho' such Company I suppose would not very much support the Discourse nor greatly enflame the Reckoning Other Stoicks thought that it was with Human Souls as 't is with †Gatak Annot. in Antonin p. 140. It. 301. Material Beings there was some solid Substance at the bottom which did always remain and from which in process of time new Souls did spring when the Old ones were dissolved somewhat like new Mill'd Money produced from the old Coin that was so miserably clipt and debas'd Others of them thought Souls did last till the Universal * Id. p. 139. Conflagration which they put at a very considerable distance from the Age wherein they lived Cleanthes said All Souls did so but Chrysippus and some †Arius Didymus in his Account of the Stoical Philosophy as quoted by Euseb Praep. Evang. l. 15. c. 20. p. 822. Edit Paris Others say only those of Good Men. But then they were to cease from being individual Beings any longer and to be refunded into the Elements of the World or that Universal Soul whence they were Originally taken Which a Learned Man ‖ Huetii Concordia Fidei cum Ratione p. 159. thus very aptly represents 'T is as if a Man should fill a Vessel with Water taken out of the Sea and then some time after should break the Vessel and let the Water run again into the Ocean wherein it is as it were lost being mingled and incorporated with the mighty Mass tho' it be not annihilated And this was the Opinion of Pythagoras too and his Followers and * Id. 160. Heraclitus also the Author and Founder of a Sect of Philosophers who bore his Name But others of them did not think that Souls tho' they took them for pretty durable Beings did last altogether so long They fancied that they did †Stoici usuram nobis largiuntur tanquam cornicibus diu mansuros aiunt animos semper negant Tully Tusc Qu. l. 1. p. 1060. perish at length after they had worn out several Bodies with which from time to time they were cloathed as with so many new Suits of Apparel And herein they did agree in the main with the Pythagoreans and Platonists who held the Transmigration of Souls either into Brutes or other humane Bodies or both successively which as we observed in the foregoing Section was a most Catholick Opinion of whole Nations in the East as also it * Cluverius de Germ. Antiq. l. 1. c. 32. Hody of the Resurrection p. 6 7 8. Dr. Jackson Vol. 3. p. 424. was of the Egyptians and the Druids too and the Ancient Germans in the West How often the Soul might be a Widower and with how many Bodies it might successively Marry I do not know nor think it worth the while to enquire But herein some at least of the Stoicks did differ from others that at last they thought the Soul it self did drop away and crumble into nothing Hence Dionysius Halicarnassaeus reflecting on the unhappy Death of the brave and
immediately after our Death It seems to be too great a Leap for so very imperfect a Soul as every good Man's is in this Life to enter upon so great a Glory forthwith upon its being dislodg'd from the Body We see nothing like this in Nature all Creatures being wont from mean Beginnings gradually to creep on to the Height of their Perfection in a leasurely way by very slow and easy Steps And we have the more reason to think it should be so in the present Case because good Men in this World are not wont to improve very fast in the Divine Life but still they have many Imperfections adhering to them And one of the greatest Signs of their Growth is to be deeply sensible of the Remainders of Corruption which do still hang about them If the Scriptures be laid aside 't is hardly to be supposed that a Soul which has been so long in so muddy and defiled a Vessel can be drawn off from the Body so very clear as to carry no Dregs along with it but that it will need to pass through a great many Purgations before it be thoroughly refined And who can tell how severe and how long a Trial it must endure before it be qualified to receive and fitted to bear so great a Weight of Glory The wisest of the Heathens have thought that none but those who have been perfectly * Socrates in Platonis Phoedone p. 80 113 114. Plat. Gorgias p. 526. purged in this Life can go straightway to Heaven But as for others it would require a very considerable Time to cleanse them from that Dross that sticks to 'em before they can be prepared to enter into it They have fancied that several departed Souls did first wheel and roll about the Earth for †Tully's Somn. Scip. many Ages That some of 'em when deliver'd out of the Body are like poor ‖ Tusc Qu. l. 1. Prisoners who having lain in Irons for a long while can't presently feel their Legs and hardly know how to walk when their Shackles are off Plato was so Extravagant in his Conceits as to affirm that many of them could not recover their * In Phoedro p. 248 249. Wings in a less Space of Time than Ten Thousand Years But the Pinions of some Philosophical Spirits who were Lovers of Wisdom and beautiful Boys would grow considerably faster so that in the Compass of Three Thousand Years they would be capable of flying upwards Tho' as Eusebius * Praep. Evang. l. 13. c. 16. hath well observed we have nothing but his bare Word for all this and herein as well as in many other Points he did notoriously Contradict himself For at another time he makes Socrates tell us They who have committed great Sins but yet curable ones according to the Nature of their Crimes are cast into several Rivers of Fire where they lie for a †In Phoedone p. 113 114. Year according to the Tradition of their Poets and then come to a certain fenny marish place where they pray to those whom they have injured that they may come forth and be received into the Mansions of the Blessed And if their Prayers prevail with these Men they presently are drawn out but otherwise they must lie by it Hermagoras * In Macrob. in Somn. Scip. l. 2. c. 17. a Platonist tells us Guilty Souls are punish'd for infinite Ages before they are deliver'd out of Tartarus and then when they are sufficiently purged they return to Heaven And Virgil saith according to the Platonick Notion that some dirty Souls are hung up a drying †Aliae panduntur inanes Suspensae ad ventos aliis sub gurgite vasto Infectum eluitur scelus aut exuritur igne c. Aeneid l. 6. v. 740. and bleaching in the Wind others which are very foul are rinsed and scoured in the Water but some must be cast into a scorching Fire before their Spots can be clean got out and they be fitted for a Walk in the Elysian Fields to cool and refresh themselves There is one Saying of Socrates that is very fit to be applied to all these Fooleries which Plato makes him deliver even at the end of that very place where he speaks more soberly of this Subject than any-where else as far as I have observed t is this It may be O * In Platonis Gorgiâ p. 527. Callicles these may seem to thee to be Old Wives Fables and thou wilt despise them And it would not be strange if they were despised provided that by all our Search we could any-where find what is better and truer This is not to be found any-where but by Divine Revelation whereby we know and are sure that as soon as ever Good Men die they cease from their Labours When they are absent from the Body they are present with the Lord. It is but departing and being with Christ Angels receive the dislodging holy Soul to convoy it into the Seat of the Blessed How far it is thither and how long an Angel may be in Wafting a holy Soul to that Place is uncertain tho' we may judge the time is but short This Day says Christ to the Penitent Thief when the Day was already far spent shalt thou be with me in Paradise And we find that the Angel Gabriel Dan. 9.21 who at the Beginning of Daniel's Prayer had a Divine Order to fly to him made so great a Dispatch as to be with him about the Time of the Evening-Oblation Now suppose that Prayer of Daniel's to begin early in the Morning for I will allow him to have been up very betimes at his Devotions especially on a solemn Fast as this seems to be yet from thence till Three in the Afternoon which was about the Time of the Evening-Oblation is but a very few Hours The Compass of Time is but very short before a holy Soul enters into the Heavenly Paradise after it has left the Body and it may be it usually arrives there long before the forsaken Carkase is lodged in the Grave without the trouble of any tedious Delays or the Hazard of any new Trial or the Severity of any further Discipline V. § V Mere Natural Light and Reason cannot Certify us what Persons shall enjoy all this Happiness If we were left to the wild Guesses of our own dim-sighted Reason we might well suppose that so great a Glory should be confined to a very few special Favourites and not lie open for All. Some shall be excluded And every Man that knows himself would have been apt to suspect Am not I one of that unhappy Number And especially these three Sorts of Persons would 1. Those that have been very great Sinners either as to the Heinousness of their Crimes or the Time of their continuing Impenitent under them The fabulous and idle Poets indeed have placed the Dog the Bear and the Dragon in the Heavens and succeeding Astronomers have left them in the
For the proposing vast Recompences for very slight and trivial Matters betrays great Want of Judgment in not setting a true value upon things either upon Rewards or Services or both Now by the Law of our Creation we owe God all possible Duty and Obedience a great deal more than the best of us do yield to him And should God have exacted it on the Account of his Sovereign Authority over us without promising us any thing at all much less any great Matters we had been indispensably obliged to it And our best Actions stand in need of Pardon so far are they from deserving to be Crowned Nothing in us or done by us can bear the least Proportion to the Heavenly Glory And therefore that besides a Pardon God should promise us Eternal Life as the Reward of what we do for him is what can hardly enter into our Thoughts But now Revelation does relieve us in this Matter The Scriptures tell us That Christ by his perfect Obedience and Death in our room and stead hath highly Glorified God and his Government and not only redeemed us from Hell and Destruction to which we were liable but also merited Everlasting Glory for us And that the Design of this whole Affair is to magnify the Riches of God's Grace and show the vast Regard he has to the Death and Intercession of his own Son that on his Account he offers such an unspeakable Reward to us Rom. 5.12 That as Sin has reigned unto Death so might Grace reign through Righteousness to Eternal Life by Jesus Christ our Lord. It is not for any Works of Righteousness that we have done or can do it is not because of their Intrinsick Worth that such great Things are given to us Heaven is the Purchase of Christ's Blood it is for His Sake we are accepted and rewarded And so upon our Faith and Obedience we freely receive the Blessings which he hath merited And the more we abound therein the greater is our Reward not because of our Merits but because of God's gracious Promise and Respect to the Blood of his Son for which he assigns us different Degrees of Glory in Proportion to our different Measures of Holiness and Obedience VII § VII I shall add one Consideration more which will equally reach both this and the foregoing Head viz. Natural Light and Reason cannot assure us where Grace is to be had to enable us to perform the Terms on which the Pardon of Sin and the Enjoyment of the Heavenly Glory is suspended Whosoever consults himself the Vanity of his own Mind the Corruption of his own Heart the Turbulency of his Passions the unruliness of his Appetite the Strength of Temptations the Weakness of his Resolutions and the Force of Evil Examples will quickly see an absolute Necessity of a Divine Power to turn him into and keep him in the Paths of Holiness Some Ingenious Men tell us very strange and surprizing Stories of the mighty Strength of Wheels and Pullies and Screws that 't is possible by the Multiplication of them to pull up an Oak by the Roots with a single * Bishop Wilkin's Archimedes p. 96. Hair of a Man's Head lift it up with a Straw or blow it up with ones Breath So that by these Contrivances one of Sampson's Locks when shaven off would have had far greater Strength and done greater Wonders than he himself when all of them were on As Extravagant as this may seem to be yet 't is much more easy and likely than for any Man by his own feeble Arm to pluck up those inveterate Evil Habits which Time and Custom have settled in him and made natural to him Now what well-grounded Confidence can we have from the meer Light of Nature of Divine Help for the accomplishing this great and necessary Work Whether any shall ever enjoy it seeing the same Sins that make us need it render us most unworthy of it Or in what Proportions it shall be given forth and how long it shall be continued Whether the Spirit of God shall be like those Periodical Winds which in some Parts of the World do annually blow to help the Mariner forward in the pursuit of his gainful Voyage or whether it shall only be like that bright Minute which Astrologers tell us of that comes but once in the whole Compass of a Man's Life and which if he lazily let slip he shall never have such another but is doom'd to Misery by a Fatal Necessity all the remainder of his Days But the Christian Institution is peculiarly called the Ministration of the Spirit 2 Cor. 3.8 c. as contra-distinguish'd from the Judaical one tho' that also had God for its Author so small a Portion of it was given forth under the one like little Drops of the Dew from Heaven which just wets the Ground in Comparison of what is bestowed under the other like a plentiful Shower of Rain from above that abundanly Waters it It was in the New Creation as in the Old The cold and dark Evening went before the warm and bright Morning and God appointed the lesser Light to Rule the Night and the greater one to govern the Day The Jewish Dispensation like the Moon had its Glory and its Influence on these lower Bodies But the Gospel is like the Sun who may with more reason than any thing which some Ancient Philosophers dreamt of be called the Soul of the World whose bright and warm Beams give a new Life and Being to all things here below awaken the sleepy and drowsy Spirit in every Creature and cause the Fruits of the Ground to Spring up and flourish and Crown the Year with an abundant Increase Therefore our Blessed Saviour stiles himself the Light of the World Joh. 8.12 a Title which he doth deserve because of the Objects that he hath informed us of having set those Old Truths which before were but darkly apprehended in a full and clear Light and acquainted us with those New ones which had it not been for him we had for ever remained Igrant of And he doth deserve it no less because of that Vital Influence with which his Heavenly Doctrine is accompanied without which all Knowledge in our Minds would be but like decayed Drugs which tho' taken into our Bodies having lost all their Virtue never operate upon them nay Men could not act worse if they verily believed or knew those Doctrines to be false than they do now they believe and know them to be true Joh. 1.4 Ephes 5.14 His Light is the Life of Men Wherefore he saith Awake thou that sleepest and arise from the Dead and Christ shall give thee Light And by the Scriptures we are certified that God hath appointed his own Son to be his High Almoner to distribute this Royal Gift of his among us his needy Creatures That being God and Man he hath the Infinite Goodness of the one and the tender Bowels of the other united in him And
Cannot Conclude without making a little Reflection upon what has been said And 1. How should we love and value and adhere to the Gospel of Christ and the Blessed Author of such a Revelation How are Writers esteemed who treat of Matters which are of very great Use and Service to Mankind in the things of this Life And what a Price do Men set upon those Books wherein Difficulties are cleared up and those profitable Inventions are contained Now what is there of so great Importance as Pardon of Sin and Immortal Life the Doctrine whereof is encumber'd with so many Difficulties which are too hard for Natural Light and Reason but are so clearly plainly and fully Solved by the Holy Scriptures How are Men pleased with an exact Description of a Foreign Country tho' they do not so much as dream of dwelling in it nor have any thoughts or hopes of having so much as one Foot of Land there How then should we value the Gospel that gives us so full and plain an Account of the Heavenly Country and how we may be possessed of all the Glory of it What an Esteem have ingenious Men for a Book of Astronomy that gives an Account of the orderly Motions of the Sun Moon and Stars What an happy Invention is that of those Glasses whereby they discover some lesser Bodies which the naked and unassisted Eye is not able to perceive tho' thereby they have no more Benefit from their Light and Influence than those who are the most ignorant of these Affairs How should we value the Sacred Oracles which do discover the Heavenly State to us which is not to be known by mere Reason and how we may so order our own Motions as to get above and out-shine any of those glorious Luminaries Let us adhere to the Bible for if once we give up that we are off from our Center we shall find nothing whereon our Soul can rest but shall be at our Wits-end Methinks that Courtier spoke like a Man of Sense to the Pagan King Edwin whilst he was considering whether he had best to turn Christian or no when he said thus to him * Bede's Eccles Hist Gentis Angl. l. 2. cap. 13. The present Life of Man upon Earth Sir if compared with that Time which is to us unknown seems to me to resemble a little Sparrow which while your Majesty was feasting within with your Royal Retinue in your warm Parlour during the roaring of the blustering Winds and the falling of great Quantities of Rain and Snow without flew in at one Door and presently flew out at another All the time it was in the House it was well shelter'd from Wind and Weather but as soon as it got out into the cold Air we were altogether as ignorant whither it went as we were whence it came Thus we can give some Account of our Soul during its Abode in the Body while it was housed and harboured therein but where it was Before and how it fares with it Afterwards is to us altogether unknown If therefore Paulinus he was the Christian Bishop who laboured to Convert those Heathens by his Preaching can certainly inform us herein he deserves in my Opinion to be followed And the King after he had heard Paulinus's Sermon spoke like an Understanding Man when he said I have long ago been convinced that the Idols we have Worshipped were meer Nothings because the more diligently I have sought for the Truth in this way of Religion so much the farther was I from finding it But now I openly profess that by this Preaching the way of obtaining Eternal Life and Happiness is clearly laid before us Whereupon he immediately gave Orders for the Demolishing the Heathen Temples and Altars 2. Let us take heed that we do not fall short of Pardon and Heaven Sad was the Case of that wicked and prophane Lord at Samaria who barely saw the great Plenty with his Eyes but never tasted of it he stood at the Gate to let in others but was trampled to Death by the Multitude pressing in upon him Much worse will be our Case if we only hear of the great Provision which God has made for us in the other State and never feed upon it but be trodden down to Hell in the Crowd of our own unpardoned Sins It is a double Misery to be drowned within sight of Shore to miss of that Pardon and of that Heaven that are so plainly revealed and of which we have heard so much and so often 3. Let us clear up our Right and Title to both of them How long have we remained in Doubts and Fears and shall we always continue in that uneasy Posture like a Door on its Hinges moving this way and that but still hanging in the same Place where it was many Years ago To clear up our Right 't is necessary that the following Rules be observ'd 1. Don't give Way to immoderate Worldly Sorrow If we be like a Carkass that lies under the Weight of that Earth which presses upon it and never stirs Hand or Foot to help it self If we lie down under our Burdens only mourning and complaining and indulging our selves in black and gloomy Thoughts we can never expect that God should help us especially if we do worse than this if we sinfully afflict our selves we can't reasonably hope that God should comfort us and raise up them who madly cast or bow themselves down If with our own Hands we plunge the Dagger into our Breast it would be a Miracle if we did not lose our Blood and Spirits faint and feel a great deal of Pain They that will chew upon nothing but Wormwood and Gall and delight in rolling it up and down in their Mouths are likely to walk in the Bitterness of their Souls all their Days 2. Watch against the Encroachments of Bodily Melancholy This naturally disposes a Man to Fears and Jealousies is the black Root of many idle but vexatious Scruples and perverse Cavillings and will make him refuse to be comforted tho' there be ever so great Reason for it If a Stander-by convince him of some saving Work of God on his Soul and of his Right to Pardon and Eternal Life yet as soon as he is gone all is undone again the Melancholy Christian being like a faulty Watch which may be wound up and go a little while ones Hand is upon it but no sooner is that removed off but it runs down in an Instant and stands still again When such meet with Worldly Crosses from which none are exempted it casts them into deep Fits of Sorrow which in a Serious Person presently runs into dreadful and amazing Fears about his Soul and the supposed miserable and forlorn State thereof As Peter when he was over-shadowed with a Bright Cloud so any other of the Disciples of Christ when cover'd with a Black one Luke 9.33 are apt to speak they know not what especially against themselves All proper Natural Means therefore