damnation and that when the Apostles and Evangelists wrote the New Testament in which they laid the same stress upon Faith that Christ himself had done before them that they I say should mean something else by the word than what it signified according to common use and yet that they should not tell us so The Writers and first Preachers of the Gospel did indeed treat of new Subjects viz. of those new Revelations of God's Will that had been lately made but when they made use of words that had a known meaning they did not depart from the received signification of those words But by Faith or believing men always understood being persuaded of the truth of some Proposition And thus Faith is described in the Scripture where it is described most fully In St. John 11.25 says our Saviour He that believeth in me though he were dead yet shall he live but this is explained v. 27. I believe that thou art Christ the Son of God that should come into the world And again John 8.24 If ye believe not that I am he ye shall die in your sins Moreover that Faith by which the Church should stand wanted nothing surely that belongs to the nature of Faith and that is thus expressed We believe and are sure that thou art Christ the Son of the living God and this because not flesh and blood but God had revealed it Thus Abraham's Faith which was imputed to him for righteousness was his accounting that God was able to raise up Isaac even from the dead And all the holy men mentioned in Heb. 11. are said to have died in faith being persuaded of the promises As to those that think there is more in the nature of Faith than this comes to they either return to this in other words or add something that doth not belong to the nature of it those that say there must be a particular application of the Promises where there is true Faith say well but then application is nothing else but a persuasion of or an assent unto a single Proposition For instance I am persuaded that God sent his Son into the world to save mankind is a general persuasion Christ came for my Salvation which is the Application is a particular one Without holiness no man shall see the Lord therefore without holiness I shall not This last is but persuasion and there is that in the former therefore Faith in both Again if resting and relying upon Christ is said to be Faith the meaning must be either that I am assured Christ will save me and this is being persuaded of the truth of that saying or else that I rely upon his Person but a Person cannot be believed otherwise than by believing something of him or something that he has said Some there are that think the nature of Faith doth consist in a certain degree of Persuasion and the Romanists tell us there must be Infallibility in it But now there is a weak as well as a strong Faith and though a greater degree of Assent is more working and powerful yet the nature of Faith is in the least Lastly some good men are apt to think that the goodness of the Will and Affections nay and Holiness of Life belongs to the nature of true Faith but this cannot be because although Faith where it is in that degree that it ought to be there as I shall shew it will produce holiness of Heart and Life and therefore Faith is sometimes spoken of in the Scriptures as comprehending those good Affections and those good Works which it causes yet sometimes they are distinguished from one another and therefore they are not the same so that when all is done the whole nature of Christian Faith doth consist in this That it is a persuasion of the Truth of those Doctrines which Christ hath made known to us Now for the second Point 2. Concerning the power and efficacy of Faith we are to consider that there are these two things attributed to it our Justification and our Holiness or Obedience to the Gospel And here we will first consider 1. What Efficacy Faith has as to the Justification of him that believes and this I shall shew very briefly and plainly in these following particulars 1. Faith may be said to be justifying or saving in that it puts a man into a good way of being justified and thus believing that Jesus is the Christ may be said to be justifying Faith because it is the first step towards Justification and believing his Precepts with his Promises and Threatnings is in this sense a more Justifying Faith because it brings a man nearer to that state in which he shall be justified But 2. If we speak of Actual Justification and continuance in God's favour then not any nor all the proper acts of Faith taken together but separate from Repentance and Obedience are sufficient for where God hath made more conditions than one necessary there the performance of all but one will not suffice and therefore where forgiveness and salvation is promised to one single condition there the presence of all the rest is supposed He that giveth a cup of cold water to a disciple in the name of a disciple shall not lose his reward but shall cold water wash away the treachery of Judas or the injustice of Pilate He that confesseth that Jesus is the Christ hath eternal life but still to be carnally minded is death He that believeth and is baptized shall be saved Nevertheless it is true that the unrighteous shall not inherit the Kingdom of Heaven and therefore where nothing less than Salvation is promised to Believing and Baptism all that which in reason should follow is meant though it be not expressed 3. If we speak of final and irreversible Justification this is neither to be obtained by Faith nor Obedience without perseverance in both God doth in this Life justify true Believers but not once for all till they have fought their good fight and finished their course As the Lord in the Parable forgave his Servant and yet called him to account for his Debt when he proved cruel to his Fellow for this shewed that his pardon was but conditional So likewise says our Saviour shall your heavenly Father do unto you Now I confess what hath been said in answer to the first and second Inquiries gives no sufficient account why we are said to be justified by Faith so frequently in the Scripture but rather seems to make it more unaccountable For if there be no more in the nature of Faith than assent to Truth this seems to be a very common attainment not deserving those great things that are spoken of Faith in the Scripture Can that be the Faith by which all good men have wrought righteousness which hath been held in unrighteousness by as many wicked And then as to the power of this Faith in order to Justification Can that be the faith of God's elect which the Reprobates have as
well as they Do the just live by that Faith with which others perish How is that Faith imputed to them for righteousness which does but aggravate the condemnation of these Nay how is that justifying and saving Faith which the Devils have as well as we for they assent and therefore believe and tremble because they believe Let us therefore proceed to the second Consideration concerning the power and efficacy of Faith viz. To make men attain to that righteousness which God requires and accepts Now if upon a just examination of this matter it will appear that Faith if it be in men as it ought to be in them will make them obedient and holy and therefore that the wicked want Faith that is properly so called and have not that Faith which God in the Scripture requires then there will be no difficulty in conceiving why the Scripture so often and so remarkably says that we are justified by faith Here therefore I shall represent what those things are in which the force of Faith lies to govern our Hearts and Lives and then I may leave you to judge whether it would not produce the effect of holiness when they are all together and consequently that there is a defect of Faith in all ungodly men Now 2. The power and efficacy of Faith to make us holy lies in these three things 1. In the nature of the things themselves that are believed 2. In the manner of believing them 3. In the permanency of the belief it self or rather in the dwelling of our mind upon it I shall begin with considering what influence it hath by virtue of the things believed 1. The Truths we believe do represent good and evil to us they are not Points of Doctrine which we are never the better nor the worse whether they be true or not but they are of very near concernment to us and are therefore fit to work upon our desires and affections 2. What we believe does represent to us our greatest good on the one hand and what we have most reason to fear on the other If a good thing that is offered us may be disparaged by a greater good that stands in competition with it it doth not much inflame or move the Affections Now he that believeth aright apprehends the Joys of another Life to be so great that there is nothing in this to rival them this is that which made the Patriarchs to count themselves Pilgrims and Strangers upon earth they desired a better i. e. a heavenly countrey 3. We are persuaded that this Inheritance belongeth to us upon our care and faithfulness in doing the will of our heavenly Father If we had absolute assurance of the heavenly Country this Faith might well cause satisfaction in the benefit but if we are to abstain from fleshly lusts that war against the soul or we are sure to be excluded if we assent not only to the truth of the Promise but to the condition of the Promise then our Faith works by fear and hope and puts us upon fulfilling the condition but if men do not believe the condition it will be an harder matter to persuade them to obey because it will be so easy for them to persuade themselves that they need not 4. We are also persuaded that the condition viz. doing the will of our Heavenly Father is through the grace of God possible otherwise the belief of an Eternal Happiness in the Life to come would not stir us to labour for it This is one reason why the Devils tremble only though they believe because they cannot assent to the Promises as made to Them for they are not made to Them and if we should want the Faith of the possibility of Salvation all the rest of our Faith would make us miserable and desperate but not active and careful to work out our salvation In short if we believe the truth wherein the greatest good is promised and that 't is promised upon condition of obedience and that the condition is enforced by the threatning of the greatest punishments and that it may well be performed then in this Faith there is nothing wanting as to the matter of it to make us fruitful in holiness good works But if we do not believe all this but only some part of it our unfruitfulness may well be imputed to want of Faith but this I confess doth not go very far to satisfy the difficulty because many believe all needful truth and yet remain unholy Wherefore let us go to the second Point Viz. 2. The manner of believing Divine Truth for there is very much of the power of Faith to sanctify us in this very thing Let us for instance take the first Article of the Creed I believe in God or I believe that God is To believe this considerately and distinctly is to believe that there is an Infinite Being an Omnipresent Being and that he is holy just and good But now our believing that God is hath no power to make us circumspect in our actions and careful of our thoughts but by such distinct persuasions and considerations as these which are truly and properly Faith Nor will these distinct considerations have much power neither unless they be distinctly applied to our selves God is infinite in all Perfections and therefore I am to serve and worship him he is Omnipresent and therefore he is with me and sees me in all that I do and knows every one of my secrets and even every thought of my heart and therefore how shall I dare so much as to regard iniquity in my heart He is infinitely Wise and Good and therefore in this or in any other matter it would be extreme folly as well as sin to follow mine own will in opposition to his Now all this is Faith or believing true Doctrine and it is by such distinct apprehensions and applications as these that we must be enabled to overcome the World and to purify our hearts But if we believe in that manner as to rest in the general Doctrine and to go no farther I do not see how our Faith should be operative much more than if we had none at all and if the general belief of one Article is therefore fruitless because it is but general and not resolved into the awakening Considerations that are under it nor applied distinctly to our selves under such Considerations then also will the believing of the whole Creed in this fashion without particular persuasions and applications be fruitless also and it may be said of us that we understand neither what we say nor whereof we affirm and then what we say and affirm can have no great force upon us to make us subdue our Passions and mend our Lives But though this will go a great way to resolve the unholiness of men professing the Faith into want of Faith yet I think it doth not altogether satisfy that where Faith is as it should be there will be an holy mind and a
godly life because there are many men of clear and active thoughts and conversant in the study of Religion that do not live by Faith for as the Faith of such men cannot in reason be thought to be a confused and indeterminate persuasion so it is too plain by experience that some such do retain the Faith but make shipwrack of a good conscience And therefore let us consider the third thing wherein the power of Faith consists viz. 3. The permanence of it upon the mind or a constancy of frequent consideration upon what we believe That is to say let us suppose a man that doth not only believe all matters of Faith that are needful and apprehend them distinctly and particularly and with application to himself but likewise by very much consideration of these things hath made them present and habitual to himself and of such a man I say That he is under the whole power of Faith and he it is that overcomes the world For such a Believer has two advantages which cannot fail to make him a good man 1. His Persuasion or his Faith is present to his mind when he most needs it i.e. upon all occasions of temptation so that he will be ready in the strength of it to say with Joseph How shall I do this great wickedness and sin against God But now though one believes all the awakening Doctrines of Religion yet if he does not think of them nor lay them to heart when the Devil the World and the Flesh are busy with him t is all one with him at the time as if he had never heard of the Articles of Christian Faith and for the present he is as much without the Operation of Faith as if he had none at all It is with him as it is with a man in a swooning fit there is indeed life in him but it is without sense and motion and for the time he differs not from one that is dead or rather as there is a principle of sense and motion in the one without any act of either so is there indeed in the other a Principle of Faith but no Act of it and it is therefore as if it were not at all Distinct and particular application of what we believe will do much towards the restraining of a man's lusts and this is properly Faith but then that Faith which once was and now is not can do nothing at present which is the case of too many persons professing Christianity That their belief of Divine Truth is oftner absent than present because they do not think of those things which should govern them and assist them under Temptations but by chance or when they cannot help it their business is to put those things out of their minds and not to fix them there And this is the first advantage of one that is constant in his consideration of the Truths whereof he is convinced that they are present to him when he stands in need of their help and indeed never at any great distance from him The 2d Is this and that is the greatest of all That he hath a true and lively sense of these things as often as they return to his mind and he always believes them as he should do under a vigorous apprehension of his own great concernment in them To believe that there is a God and a Life to come and that the Son of God came to be our Saviour and will come to be our Judge that through the Infinite Mercy of God and through the Death and Passion of our Saviour we may obtain Forgiveness of Sins and Eternal Life to believe these things I say according to their nature and our concernment in them is to have a due sense of them and to be justly affected with them more than with all other interests whatsoever because these indeed are the greatest of all Now it is by a Constancy of Believing i. e. of Considering these things and making them present to us that we come to that Faith which consists in a right apprehension and a just sense of them Nor will any other means do without this and indeed all means of Grace are ineffectual without it and they are then effectual when they bring us to this degree of Faith The Prayers that we make are unprofitable if they do not help to fix our minds upon God and Divine Truth and by their frequent returns make a sense of Religion natural and familiar to us Our reading the Scriptures and hearing good Doctrine and Exhortation and our assembling for the worship of God is unprofitable to Godliness otherwise than by accustoming of us to think as we should do that is to be affected with the Doctrines of our most holy Faith Good education and good examples do no otherwise promote the work of God in our minds than by awakening our consideration of that Truth which is to renew us in the spirit of our minds Afflictions and Judgments the Fears and Apprehensions of Death the amazing Calls of God's Providence cannot of themselves work the reformation of an evil heart and life if they do it it is by beginning to bring men to that Consideration which they continue afterwards till they come to a Faith that answers the nature of the things they believe which consists in a just sense and apprehension of them but this is not to be gained but by a constant Consideration because they are spiritual things or future things after this life which are the main Objects of our Faith If a sick man believes that he shall gain his health by such a method or a poor man that he shall get an estate or a prisoner that he shall recover his liberty or any man that he shall come to his end in this world by such a course of means there is no need of much Consideration to persuade himself to try it because without any pains taken with himself he is naturally possest with a lively persuasion of his concernment in things of this nature But in Religion it is otherwise tho the interest be great nay the greatest of all yet it is not a sensible nor a present interest in comparison and so our Faith must be renewed day by day that we may be affected with it as reasonable creatures ought to be and by much thinking of it i. e. by many Acts of Faith arrive to such a sense of God and our interest in Religion as the nature of the thing deserves And this is that Faith which overcomes the world which purifies the heart and makes a man a new creature I deny not That wicked men believe and do contrary to a sense of their duty and of their obligations to God I acknowledge that they have so much Faith as makes them uneasie under their guilt somewhat loth to commit sin and ashamed and afraid when it is committed I grant that they have Faith truly so called but then they want Faith too that Faith which is properly
Worship viz. all kinds of virtue and moral Goodness such as Justice and Mercy Fidelity and Truth Meekness and Patience Sobriety and Temperance and 't is true of these things as well as of Worship that without faith they cannot be performed because they are all such things as God is pleased withal and 't is said in general That without Faith we cannot please him From hence 't is plain that we are thus to understand the phrase of pleasing God when the Apostle saith Without Faith we cannot please him viz. Without Faith it is impossible a man should be a worshipper of God and a practicer of Virtue More distinctly thus Without Faith a man cannot Love God or Fear him or Trust in him or Obey him or Honour him in his Thoughts Words or Deeds Nor can he be Righteous and Charitable Meek and Humble Sober and Temperate Or in a word That without Faith 't is impossible a man should be truly Religious in his life and actions If it be enquired 2. What the Apostle means by Faith without which 't is impossible to please God let us look to the following words again and we shall find the Faith the Apostle speaks of is 1. In general a persuasion of the truth of some proposition or an assent thereunto that it is true for he saith He that cometh to God must believe that he is To believe therefore to be persuaded that this proposition is true viz. that there is a God is an instance of the Faith whereof the Apostle speaks Likewise he that cometh unto God must believe that he is a rewarder of them that seek him To believe therefore or to be persuaded of this proposition That God is a rewarder of them that seek him is an instance of that Faith of which the Apostle speaks and consequently by Faith is here meant in general a persuasion concerning any Doctrine or Proposition that it is true 2. By consequence also as to the nature of those propositions which the Apostle saith we must believe if we will please God we find more particularly that the Faith without which we cannot please God is a persuasion of the truth of those propositions which are proper arguments and motives inducing a man to do those things whereby God is pleased for the Apostle saith He that cometh unto God must believe that he is And plain it is that to believe that there is a God is a reason why men should do those things which please him He says also that he that cometh unto God must believe that he is a rewarder of them that diligently seek him Alike plain it is that to believe God to be such a rewarder is a reason or motive inducing a man to do those things whereby God is pleased and consequently the Faith which the Apostle speaks of is a persuasion of the truth of those Propositions or Doctrines which are proper motives or inducements to the doing of those things whereby God is pleased But hence we must not conclude that there are no other Doctrines or Propositions besides those here mentioned that are proper motives to Religion because all that the Apostle intends as I noted before is to give some particular instances to shew the truth of the general proposition Although therefore there be other Doctrines which are motives to Godliness and Vertue yet if without the belief of these a man cannot be induced to do those things which please God that was sufficient for the Apostle's purpose to prove that without Faith it is impossible to please him And that there are other Doctrines of like use with these I shall shew in due place If it be enquired 3. Whether by Impossible the Author of this Epistle means properly something that is absolutely impossible or more largely something that is exceeding difficult or highly improbable as sometimes the word is used to that purpose I answer This is to be resolved by considering also the following propositions to be believed the former of which is of that nature that it is absolutely necessary to be believed in order to Worship and Virtue viz. That there is a God Without this belief it is utterly impossible it implies a contradiction that a man should be a Worshipper of God and a practicer of Virtue But the latter of these beliefs that God is a rewarder c. is not in the same degree necessary that the former is because it does not imply a contradiction That that man who does not believe that God is a rewarder of them that seek him should be a Worshipper of God because 't is barely possible he may Worship God upon a belief that there is a God and a bare hope that he is a rewarder c. But then if we consider the woful corruption and degeneracy of Mankind and the power of those Temptations we are under 't is so utterly improbable that without this belief men should set themselves to do those things which please God that according to the usual manner of speaking it may be ranked with things impossible So that I do thus understand the Apostle as to what he says concerning the impossibility of pleasing God without Faith That there are some Doctrines so necessary to be believed in order to the practice of Religion and Virtue that it is naturally impossible a man should be a Worshipper of God and a doer of Righteousness without the belief of them and of this sort he hath given us one instance viz. That there is a God That also there are some Doctrines so necessary to be believed in order to the practice of Religion that 't is morally impossible a man should be a Worshipper of God and a worker of righteousness without the belief of them And of this sort he hath also given us one instance viz. That God is a rewarder of them that diligently seek him Thus I have by comparing one part of the Text with another given you as I am persuaded the true sence of the whole and that as I hope with great clearness of truth and plainness of words And according to this Explanation the words of the Text may be interpreted according to this Paraphrase Without the belief of some such Doctrines as are proper and suitable motives to the worship of God and the practice of Virtue wherewith God is pleased it is impossible any man should fear God and work Righteousness For some Doctrines there are so necessary in order to that end that 't is impossible to conceive how a man should find himself obliged thereto without the belief of those Doctrines Some Doctrines also there are so necessary to be believed in order thereunto that without the belief of them no man finds himself encouraged to the practice of Religion For instance the Worship of God is a part of Religion without which he will not be pleased with us but it is plain that no man can be a worshipper of God without believing that there is a God because if
he does not believe this he cannot conceive himself bound to worship God 'T is also plain that no man is likely to worship God without believing that God is a Rewarder of them that diligently seek him because if he does not believe this he cannot conceive himself encouraged to be a worshipper and this is as evident in all other instances of Religion that 't is impossible men should perform them as they ought if they believe not those Doctrines whereby they are encouraged to them In the words as they are thus explain'd several truths there be which lye couched beside those the suggesting whereof is the main scope and design of the Text. 1st Of all 'T is plainly implied that the practice of Religion i. e. of Worship and Virtue is that which pleaseth God For pleasing of God here is further explained by coming to him and diligently seeking him a very considerable instance of Religion The same thing is true of all other Religious duties and all Moral virtues whatsoever that they also are well-pleasing to God and that he liketh and approveth them in us he loveth and praiseth us for them that they are delightful and acceptable to him Were the inculcating of this matter the chief design of the Text I would here at large represent unto you why the Religious practice the holiness and virtue of a Christian is acceptable and well-pleasing to God I would make it plain to you that it must be so because his Religious Practice is an acknowledgment of the Soveraign Authority of his Maker since 't is the Christians obedience to Divine Laws because also 't is his undeniable confession of the Goodness of God a plain testimony of his love to God and a visible demonstration how excellent and profitable the Laws of God are and how good they render those persons that observe them Because 't is in like manner the Christians true and sincere acknowledgment of the Divine perfections I would likewise shew you that although God cannot be pleased with this honour done unto him by his Creatures because of any advantage he himself receives thereby yet he is pleased with it because of the advantage accruing thereby to us because he delighteth in the good of his Creatures in their happiness and well-being which 't is as impossible for them to attain without the worship of God and the practice of Virtue as to reconcile light unto darkness or to make contradictions to be true If this also were the main scope of the Text I would not leave this consideration till I had convinced you throughly what a mighty spur to Religion and Virtue this persuasion is that they are well-pleasing to God I would not let you go till you granted me that it is the noblest Ambition which can inflame the Souls of men to become the true Worshippers of God and the sincere workers of Righteousness since this is your way to gratify and please so great and excellent a Being as the Eternal God to stand high in his esteem to be greatly accounted of by him to become acceptable to him and considerable with him But this is only the insinuation not the direct aim of the Text. 2. These words do also intimate to us that the practice of Religion and Virtue is the end of Faith For the Apostle plainly speaks of those Doctrines we believe under the notion of means to arrive at Godliness and Righteousness When he says without believing God 't is impossible we should come unto him he implies that it is therefore necessary we should believe there is a God because 't is necessary we should worship him When he says without believing that God is a Rewarder of them that diligently seek him 't is impossible to seek him diligently he sufficiently implies that 't is therefore necessary to believe that God is such a Rewarder because 't is necessary to seek him diligently In a word when he says without Faith 't is impossible to please God he plainly enough intimates that therefore Faith is necessary because the practice of Godliness and Virtue is so i. e. that Religious practice is necessary as the end and Faith as the means to that end I would here have shewn you what the true Notion of Fundamentals in Religion is viz. That only is Fundamental in Religion which is a Doctrine necessary to be believed in order to a Christian life and all Doctrines necessary to be believed for that end are Fundamental Doctrines That the belief of those Doctrines is laying a foundation upon which the superstructure of Religious practice of Worship and Virtue may and ought to be erected But that if it were required what is Fundamental i. e. necessary to fit a man for Heaven that then the practice of Religion and Virtue is the only thing necessary for that end but that Fundamentals in Doctrines are only those beliefs that are necessary to Righteousness and Godly living And this I should have insisted upon to confute all the vain pretences and frivolous hopes of all Orthodox believers that never yet learned to live Orthodox Lives that have laid a specious foundation of Christian Faith and Knowledge to no purpose in the world but to proclaim their own folly and madness in neglecting all thoughts of building that superstructure of Christian life and practice thereupon by which alone we can ascend to immortality of Bliss in that house of God not made with hands eternal in the heavens But this also is no more than insinuated in the words of the Text therefore I shall insist no longer upon it though so plainly hinted that I could not altogether pass it by 3. These words do expresly declare that some Doctrines there be which are fundamental to Religion i. e. the belief whereof is necessary to the worship of God and the practice of Virtue and consequently without the belief whereof we cannot conceive how a man should be induced to a Religious and Virtuous life And this is the main scope and design of the Text whereof I shall speak as fully and distinctly as I can shewing from the Text what these fundamental Doctrines be in the assent whereunto or the persuasion whereof it is most plain that the nature of Faith properly so called doth consist according to the latitude of which Doctrines the extent also of Faith as to Fundamentals is to be measured according to the influence of which Doctrines upon the wills of men to induce them to the worship of God and the practice of Virtue the right use also the true purpose and design of Faith is to be understood It remaineth therefore that we duly consider the Doctrines themselves the necessity also and sufficiency of them to induce men to Religion and Virtue And this will fully answer my design which is to shew the true nature the due extent and the right use of that Faith which is one of those Divine Qualifications and Graces whereby we are fitted for Life eternal All that
can be thought necessary to be said for this purpose may be reduced to Four heads of Discourse whereof the 1. Shall be to inquire What those Doctrines be which are fundamental or necessary to the practice of Religion and Virtue 2. To demonstrate that the belief of those Doctrines is an adequate or sufficient foundation thereof or inducement thereto 3. To give an account of those other Doctrines in Christian Religion which are necessary to be believed and why they are necessary 4. To apply the whole Discourse by an exhortation To add unto Faith Virtue and that Life wherewith God is pleased 1. I am to show what those Doctrines be which are fundamental to the practice of Religion and Virtue Before I attempt the performance whereof it will be necessary for me to premise this Apology That I do not here intend a Catalogue of those Fundamentals which that Excellent man Mr. Chillingworth refused to give and which he demonstrated to the Romanists was a vain thing to require almost impossible to lay down and if it were never so easy yet very needless to show For that Notion of Fundamentals wherein he and his adversary used that word was different from that wherein I now use it Fundamental with them was any Doctrine which upon any account was necessary to be believed by every Christian These Doctrines I do not speak of at present as such but I intend in due place to give an account of them shewing what relation they have to those Doctrines I am about to lay before you But by Fundamentals I mean those Articles or Propositions which are necessary to be believed in order to a good Life and what these be every Minister that pretends to be skilled in the Gospel which is the power of God to salvation if his pretence be tolerably good may and ought to lay down For this attempt signifies no other thing than to shew what powerful obligations the Faith of Christians engageth them by to live soberly righteously and godly in this present world In laying down these Fundamental Doctrines I shall observe no other rule and method than what is offered here in the Text. You are to remember what I even now made plain to you That it was not the Apostle's purpose to instance in all Doctrines that were necessary to be believed as a Foundation of Religion and Virtue but only in some that were so necessary because that was sufficient to prove his general Proposition That without faith 't is impossible to please God As for those others which are of like necessity to be believed in order to that end I shall as I said lay them down in that distinct Method to which I am led by the Apostle's Words the great and deep Wisdom whereof the more I ponder the more I admire For here 't is very observable that the Apostle when he designs to prove That without Faith 't is impossible to please God he doth first instance in a proposition necessary to be believed for that end which is a Doctrine of Natural Religion viz. That there is a God He doth secondly instance in a Proposition necessary to be believed for that end which is a Doctrine of Revealed Religion viz. That God is a rewarder of them that diligently seek him But in what sense 't is a Doctrine of Revealed Religion I must briefly explain to you to prevent mistakes That God will reward every rewardable Creature is to say no other thing but God is Just and this is known by the light of nature but in strictness no man is rewardable but he that is sinlesly righteous for he that offends is liable to punishment Now of all meer mortals there is no man that is sinlesly obedient Whether therefore God will reward us if we diligently seek him tho we are sinners this depends only upon the free will and pleasure of God and consequently cannot be known by us but through Revelation The belief therefore of this truth That God is a rewarder of such men as we are if we diligently seek him is the belief of a Doctrine that belongs to Revealed Religion It is further to be remembred by us that the Apostle doth instance in this Proposition of Natural Religion That there is a God in behalf of all other Principles of Natural Religion that are of like necessity to be believed with it Likewise that the Apostle doth instance in this Proposition of Revealed Religion That God is a Rewarder of them that seek him in behalf of all other Principles of Revealed Religion that are of like necessity to be believed with that It deserves also our notice That the Proposition of Natural Religion which the Apostle instances in is the first Principle and Foundation of Religion necessary to be believed first of all That also the Proposition of Revealed Religion which he instances in is the last Principle that makes up the Foundation of Faith as I shall shew in its place So that all the other Doctrines of Faith that are fundamental to Religion and Virtue lye between these two viz. The first Principle of Natural Religion That there is a God and the last Principle of Revealed Religion That he is a Rewarder My business is to shew What those Principles be which lye between the lowest and highest part of the Foundation and they are discoverable what they are by shewing what is of equal necessity to be believed with these Doctrines in order to the inducing of men to the practice of Religion and Virtue 1. I shall according to this rule shew what Doctrines of Natural Religion are fundamentally necessary to be believed in order to Worship and Virtue 2. According to the same rule what those Revealed Doctrines are which are of like necessity to be believed for the same end The Doctrines of Natural Religion are these 1. That there is a God which is here instanced in 2. That there is a Providence 3. That some things there be wherewith God is pleased and some wherewith he is offended Now concerning all these Principles I affirm That they are so absolutely necessary to be believed that not one of them can be spared 'T is the belief of all these things together from which resulteth the necessary obligation of men to worship God and work righteousness so that if the belief of any one of them ceaseth all sense of obligation to pious and virtuous practice must withal fail and perish Some there are which add unto this Foundation the belief of a life to come but unfitly upon these two accounts 1. Because the belief hereof is not in the same degree necessary to the practice of that which is pleasing to God as the belief of the forementioned things for if a man had but an uncertain hope of a future life but firmly believed the other truths it is barely possible that by the motive and inducement of such belief joined with such an hope he might be persuaded to do those things which he is
a Worshipper of God and a doer of Righteousness without the belief of them But from the firm persuasion of these things there ariseth a full obligation to do all those things whereby God is pleased But alas such is the degeneracy of Mankind our propensity to wickedness the Temptations of the World c. that if we believe no other motives besides these in order to Religion and Virtue it is very unlikely that they should have their effects upon us We know we are Sinners and should we be ready to justify our continuance in Sin by pretending that we know not whether God would pardon us upon our repentance We know our best Actions are imperfect and we should be ready to question whether God would accept what we could do and make that a pretence of neglecting to do what we might We know our own Frailties and the difficulties of Religion and Virtue and should in all likelihood deliver our selves from all care of pleasing God under colour of the impossibility of performing it by Humane Endeavours We know the enjoyments of pleasures and profits of Sin are present to us and we should be apt to question Whether it would be any thing better if we should forego them when the conscience of our duty required it It hath pleased therefore the All-wise and All-good God out of his tender Mercy and Compassion to Sinners to remove all these hindrances and by Revelation to supply all these defects and satisfy us concerning all these doubts viz. by adding to the Principles of Natural Religion these following Motives and Inducements to Godliness and Virtue 1. That God will pardon the sins of all those that repent 2. That he will accept our sincere endeavours to please him 3. That by his Spirit he will assist us in them And 4. That he will at last reward us for them All which are the Doctrines of revealed Religion and make up the entire foundation of Faith having all their dependance upon Faith in Christ The Third Sermon HEB. XI 6. But without faith it is impossible to please him for he that cometh to God must believe that he is and that he is a rewarder of them that diligently seek him I Come in the second place to shew what Doctrines of Revealed Religion are fundamental to Godliness and Virtue those are such which are immediately necessary to be believed in order to the removing or subverting of those Doubts which would hinder men from the care of Piety and Virtue notwithstanding their belief of the natural Principles of Religion If we suppose a man to believe a God a Providence and the difference between good and evil we must needs conclude this man lies under a very powerful obligation to the practice of Worship and Virtue and if the efficacy of these Motives be not subverted by other Principles destructive of all care to please God it may be expected that the man who believeth thus much should indeed be a Worshipper of God and a Practiser of Virtue But if it be most true that men are through the sad degeneracy and corruption of their Natures extreamly averse from that which is good and prone to that which is evil even all Mankind more or less and consequently that they are very ready to lay hold upon all pretences to excuse themselves the Service of God and obedience to his Will If it be true also that there are several Questions in Religion which unless they be satisfied the doubting of them will afford so many pretences to throw off all care to live vertuously and godly and that these Questions cannot be satisfied nor consequently the Doubts removed by the Principles of Natural Religion then it follows that those Principles though the belief of them be absolutely necessary yet by reason of the present evil state of Mankind are not sufficient to constrain them to the practice of Religion and Virtue but must be assisted and strengthned by such Principles of Revealed Religion the belief whereof will wholly remove all those Pretences which would be alledged in behalf of an ungodly vicious life It might be pretended by the natural man who believes that there is a God a Providence and that some things are pleasing and others displeasing to him That these are not sufficient Reasons why he should become religious and virtuous because knowing himself to be a Sinner he could not tell whether God would pardon the Sins he is guilty of without which it would signify little to his advantage to endeavour to please him for the future Clear it is by Natural light that God is a hater of Sin but whether he will pardon a Sinner depending meerly upon his Free-will the belief thereof must necessarily depend upon Revelation Almighty God hath by Revelation made known to us that he will pardon the Sins of men upon their repentance This therefore is the first Principle of Revealed Religion that is fundamental to Godliness and Virtue That God is ready to pardon the Sins of men upon their repentance But by the natural man i. e. one that believes there is a God it might further be alledged That though he were assured that God would forgive him all his past sins upon his return to obedience yet he is ignorant what degree of obedience it is with which God will be pleased for the future A perfect and unsinning Righteousness he knows no man is able to arrive unto in this state of imperfection and whether God will accept of our doing what we are able to do considering all our evil Circumstances we cannot know unless he is pleased to inform us that he will Almighty God hath therefore by Revelation made known to us that he will accept of the sincere endeavours of men in the practice of Religion and Virtue And so the second Principle of revealed Religion the belief whereof is fundamentally necessary to a good life is this That God is ready to accept of sincere obedience But considering the great Temptatations we are beset withal the natural aversation in us to good and propensity to evil the bad Examples of the World the power of Custom the prevelancy of Passions the frailties of Humane Nature It is further questionable whether Humane Endeavours can arrive at such a measure of Righteousness and Obedience which may justly be called sincerity in doing the whole Will of God and if that Righteousness be impossible to us in our present Circumstances without which God will not be pleased with us there is but little comfort in the belief that he will pardon us upon repentance and accept of our sincere endeavours of obedience there are but weak motives to those endeavours Almighty God therefore to encourage us against the fears of our own frailties and the temptatations of this World hath been pleased to reveal unto us that he will afford us the assistance of his Holy Spirit in a manner and measure proportionable to all the Difficulties of Religion and Virtue And so the
demonstrate the Being of their Maker If it be possible which for ought I know it is to deface the Testimonies of a Deity which are written within us it is not yet possible to blot out those Testimonies of his Being which are left without us Most plain it is that we find our selves in a World contrived into admirable beauty and order and furnished with that marvellous variety of things excellent and ufeful that the whole scheme and fabrick of Nature to the dullest Observer appears to be an effect of great Wisdom and Councel i. e. of an understanding Being Nothing is more plain than that this World could not make it self Nothing is more plain than that a Cause it must have if of any great Effect it be reasonable to require the Cause or at least to affirm that it hath one Whatever the Cause of this World is it could not make it self for that is a perfect Contradiction By inevitable consequence therefore it follows That something there is which is so perfect it needed no cause to produce it i. e. that there is an Infinite Everlasting Being which is God the Maker of all things But to pursue this Argument in a more obvious but equally convincing manner We ordinarily distinguish between the Works of Art and the Works of Nature By the Works of Art we mean those Effects that are produced by the skill of Man by the Works of Nature those Effects which are constantly preserved and performed to our hands Now that those which we call the Works of Nature are the Effects of a Divine Skill as we confess the Works of Art are of Human Skill is demonstrable beyond all reasonable Contradiction If I see a Statue curiously carved a Picture elegantly described or a Monument with an Ingenious Inscription engraven upon it I must so necessarily conclude that the Statuary the Painter and the Graver hath been there that if I should either affirm that these things came by chance or were eternally what they are I should be in danger of being sent to Bedlam But this I will offer at any time to demonstrate That the meanest the most minute the most contemptible Works of Nature have really more beauty and uniformity more variety and to say nothing else more wonder in them than the most exquisite and rich Inventions the most magnificent and ingenious Contrivances of Human Art Bring me the vilest and poorest Insect that flies above the ground or crawls upon it bring me the simplest Flower the most common Plant that is scattered abroad in the Fields I will shew beyond contradiction that the beauty the proportion the parts the growth and the motions of these the most contemptible Works of Nature do infinitely transcend all the Performances of the richest Humane Fancy That the nearer we look into the Works of Art the more unpolished and rude they appear to be as he that would please himself with gazing on a Picture must view it at a distance but if he come too near the ruggedness of the Paint makes it look like an ugly thing and so it is more or less in all the Contrivances of Human Art But as all Philosophers know the more minutely we search into the Works of Nature even those that are most contemptible to see to and which vulgar eyes pass by without observing if they be the Snow that falls on the ground the Wings of the smallest Fly or the meanest Animal that creeps upon the Earth the more advantageously and minutely they are seen the more uniformity smoothness beauty of colour and figure and variety of parts discover themselves in them which plainly shews how much the Works of Nature transcend those of Art Now shall I who confess here is more of Councel Wisdom and Power seen in these most ordinary Works of Nature than in the best effects of Human Skill shall I be ashamed not to confess the Art of Man in these and yet doubt whether those be the Products of a greater Artist What shall I then say of the Earth that bears me and nourishes me of the Air that is extended for me to breath in of the Clouds that drop their fatness upon me of the Heavens that cherish me of the Sun that divideth the Day and Night and gives light and heat to the World and of all the Ornaments of Heaven and Earth and what of my self who am endued with a Body of wonderful contrivance and with those greater privileges of Reason Will and Understanding Are all these things too without an Artist that made them thus No madness is comparable to the but doubting that they are He that does so must either want his Senses or his Soul He must either deny that these things are what he sees them Effects of great Wisdom and Understanding or he must affirm That such Effects there may be without a Cause proportionable to them he must either say that something made it self or that there was no need that these things should be made i.e. he must affirm that which is impossible may be otherwise and hold Contradictions to be true Well then might the Apostle say The invisible things of him from the creation of the world are clearly seen being known by the things which he hath made even his eternal power and Godhead So that when I consider the mighty evidence of those Arguments for the Existence of a Deity which are drawn from the Works of Nature I cannot see wherein they differ from Demonstrations though some there be who are not pleased to call them so and I do not question but he that can be an obstinate Atheist against them would also if it were for for his interest deny that three and three is six or contradict the plainest Proposition in Mathematicks Upon the whole matter when I consider the Works of God I would rather chuse if there were any choice in these matters to believe all the Tales of the Roman Legends as my Lord Bacon observes and I add tho Transubstantiation were cast into the Scale than believe that this great Body is without a Mind that inform'd it And thus at last I have said something more than I intended upon the first Doctrine of Natural Religion That there is a God proving it to be true by natural Reason as indeed 't is only to be proved For we cannot prove it by Revelation to a Gainsayer since to attempt that way is to beg what we should prove viz. That there is a God whose Revelation this is This therefore is the first Principle of Religion without the belief whereof there can be no obligation conceived to Faith and Worship and the practice of Vertue I proceed to show what the next are in which I shall be very brief because the truth of those is very evidently consequent from the demonstration of this 2. It is fundamentally necessary to Religion and Virtue That we believe there is a Providence i. e. that God is the Governor of that World which
third Principle of Revealed Religion the belief whereof is necessary to Godliness and Virtue is That God is ready to assist our endeavours of doing his will Lastly it is possible to be alledged by the natural man That though all these things be true yet he hath no sufficient inducement to Religion and Virtue unless he were assured that all his self-denial his resolution and overcoming his evil Appetites his foregoing the present pleasures of Sin his diligence and constancy in well-doing would be recompenced by obtaining of better things in the room of those advantages he foregoes to please God in the doing of his duty To take away this Plea Almighty God hath moreover revealed unto us that he will bestow a Crown of life immortal of endless glory and happiness upon every one that perseveres in well-doing And the last Principle of revealed Religion the belief whereof is necessary to the doing of those things whereby God is pleased is this That God is a rewarder of them that diligently seek him Which is the Proposition or Doctrine of Revealed Religion instanced in by the Apostle and that as I told you in behalf of all other Doctrines of Revealed Religion of like necessity to be believed And thus I have shewn you how all those other fundamental Doctrines of Faith without which we cannot do those things that please God are comprehended in and lie between those which are mentioned in the Text viz. the lowest of them That God is and the highest and last of them That he is a rewarder c. Having thus shewn you what Doctrines of Revealed Religion are fundamentally necessary to be believed to encourage men to the practice of Piety and Virtue I shall speak more distinctly and yet briefly to each of them shewing how they are to be understood what grounds we have to believe them and what force and efficacy the belief of them hath to persuade us to Godliness and Virtue And 1. That God will pardon the sins of those that repent Without Revelation we cannot have assurance thereof because it cannot be concluded from mere natural light that God will actually pardon a Sinner The reason is because a Sinner is obnoxious and liable to just punishment and to inflict a just punishment is consistent with Goodness So that we cannot argue merely from the goodness of the Divine Nature which is otherways abundantly expressed to us that God will remit that punishment because 't is not inconsistent with his Goodness not to remit it That God therefore would pardon the sins of men and remit his right to punish them as they deserv'd depended merely upon his own pleasure whether he would or not and consequently it must be a secret to us till he was pleased to manifest it to us by Revelation And we that do believe that God will pardon the sins of those that repent do believe it upon this ground That the Gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ is the true Revelation of God's Will to Mankind in which Gospel it is plainly declared that God will pardon those that repent The great and evident design of the whole Gospel being this to call sinners to repentance upon this motive That they shall obtain remission of sins if they obey that call to repentance which God hath given them by his Son Jesus That which is promised is Pardon the condition upon which it is promised is Repentance both which afford a powerful motive to the practice of those things which please God For that God will pardon a Sinner what doth it signify but this That he will not reckon his former sins to him and that all his future acts of obedience shall be reckon'd to him as if he had never been guilty of any sin Now plain it is that hereby all those Jealousies of the power and severity of God which can dishearten the Sinner from seeking to be reconciled unto him by submission and repentance are utterly removed Hereby he is assured that God is neither inxorable nor implacable his prayers will be heard his repentance will be accepted and there is a certain way opened by which he may return into the favour of God Now he that believes this is under the power of a strong motive to live so as to please God for the future For as nothing doth more deeply ingage men in an obstinate and unreclaimable course of wickedness than the apprehension that they have sinned beyond hope of pardon so nothing is more apt to soften them into dispositions of repentance than the kind and merciful offers of forgiveness which he makes who hath it both in his right and in his power to destroy them This we are sensible of in the carriage of men towards one another and why should we not suffer as kindly impressions from the Gentleness and Charity of God as we do from the good nature of men Certain it is that no one man hath been so rude and ungrateful to another as every Sinner hath been to his Maker and as true it is that no misery can equal that which would befal him from the unappeasedness of God's anger and therefore no Gentleness and Mercy no tenderness and Charity is comparable to that which God hath expressed towards him in proclaiming himself ready to pardon upon repentance 'T is true we see there are such inflexible Natures in the World as are not to be mended by forgiveness and the kindest usage there are men of such incorrigible Tempers that are not at all the better for God's pardon or the Kings but then these are veary hateful persons and deserve not to be pitied But if men are reclaimable by kindness as all men should be what can sooner melt them into thoughts and purposes of amendment than that their great and bountiful Creator against whom no man can sin without being guilty of the greatest baseness because he sins against the greatest goodness against whom no man can sin without exposing himself to the greatest miseries because he sins against the greatest Power that he I say should bear so tender a regard to his lost and undone Creatures as to forbear his right to punish them and allure them to amendment by declaring that he will do so because he delighteth not in the death of a sinner but had rather he should turn and live This if any thing must needs work upon our hearts and humble our wills and dissolve our affections into a disposition of the most ready and dutiful obedience to him for the future Again if we consider the condition upon which this pardon is offered to Sinners in the Gospel the belief thereof must needs be a strong foundation of Godliness and Virtue For that repentance upon the condition whereof pardon is promised is neither more nor less than a real conversion from the love and practice of Sin and Unrighteousness to the love and practice of Virtue and Holiness It is neither made up of confession of sin and sorrow for sin
know will perish in a little time before those that will never end which indeed we do not see but which we believe and doubt as little of as if we saw them if we chuse the pleasures of sin which are but for a season and those unworthy to be chosen by us if there were no danger in them before those pleasures which remain for us at God's right hand for evermore The Fourth Sermon St. MATTH XI 28. Come unto me all ye that labour and are heavy laden and I will give you rest NO kind of grief sits so heavy upon the mind of man as that which is made by the guilt of sin and a just fear of punishment And because our Lord in this promise of rest could not mean to exclude those that labour under the greatest weight but rather to invite them above all others I shall therefore at this time consider what that Rest is which he promiseth to guilty minds persuading my self that as no Argument can be more profitable so none will be more welcome and grateful to all that desire to be saved As for those who are so bewitcht with the pleasures of Sin that they feel not the stings of it who drown the cries of their Conscience in the noise of laughter and madness these as long as they are able to make this miserable shift are not in a condition to desire other relief nor do they care where it is to be had But they who apprehend how fearful a thing it is to fall into the hands of the living God and that their sins have made them liable to his Justice they indeed are prepared to obey the Call of Jesus and to try if he will perform what he promises And this is the great Prerogative of the Gospel that it alone can pacify the Conscience and give ease to a mind that labours under the weighty care of being reconciled to the offended Majesty of God It gives that satisfaction I mean which in the end will not deceive And no other is to be valued For what am I the better for a false assurance that all is well which perhaps will vanish to morrow and then leave me under an amazing disappointment which the longer it lasts makes my danger the greater and if it lasts to the end of my life hath all along hindred me from using the true means of safety What is this better than a pleasant dream that holds a man fast asleep while the fire is raging in his House and there is none to wake him till the flames have cut off everry way by which he might escape Therefore when our Lord promiseth that we shall find rest unto our souls he does undoubtedly mean that repose of mind those comforts and joys that will not betray us in the end And this is not the least commendation of that Rest which he gives that it is well grounded that our Souls shall be staid upon Principles of Truth and such as we may safely rely upon Secondly The Rest which he promises is compleat and full and in that respect also is fit to quiet all those cares and fears that vex the minds of miserable Sinners For he has promised the forgiveness of all our sins and given us assurance of God's particular favour and protection nay and of eternal life and glory in another state when this life once vanisheth away He hath told us that his Death was a Sacrifice for the expiation of our sins He hath required us to be once baptised into his Name for the Remission of Sins and to repeat the Commemoration of his Death and our assurance of his second Coming to give us life and glory by repeating the Communion of his Body and Bloud and shewing forth his death till he come The Doctrine which he revealed and the Authority which he delivered to his Church is all a Ministry of Reconciliation and Forgiveness And we have reason to take his word for all this because he was by mighty proofs demonstrated to be the Son of God Now thus far all things are as we would have them and nothing as yet appears but that we may discharge every unquiet thought in the Arms of Jesus But in the third place let us also consider the Condition required on our part for the obtaining of this rest And this truly seems to be very easy since no more is required then coming to Jesus for it Come unto me all ye c. For whatever is meant by this Condition we might hope that it is no hard thing which is exprest by so easy a word and that we need not fear to go to the bottom of its meaning Elsewhere our Saviour saith I am the bread of life he that cometh to me shall never hunger and he that believeth on me shall never thirst So that to come to Christ is to believe in him and therefore to be persuaded of the truth of his promises which must needs be a gentle Condition because there is so much reason why we should believe them and we can have no prejudice against them And I doubt most men would be glad to rest here without travelling any farther And so without question they might if it were not for this one thing that in the Doctrine of our Saviour there are not only gracious Promises but holy Precepts also and that so great a stress is laid upon keeping them that if we do not we are but where we were before our sins remains and the wrath of God abideth on us For says our Saviour Not every one that saith unto me Lord Lord shall enter into the kingdom of heaven but he that doth the will of my father which is in heaven Now if we are to believe him in this too then coming to Christ must of necessity signify more than bare believing even doing his will also which in the following Verses is exprest by learning of him and taking his yoke upon us And here it is that we begin to fall in our opinion of the Grace of the Gospel and our Lord's Invitation because he seems to take away with one word what he promises with another On the one hand he offers rest on the other he requires labour But yet he that is Truth hath said that if we will come unto him we shall find rest and withal that we have no reason to be discouraged with the Condition Learn of me saith he for I am meek and lowly in heart i. e. be not afraid to submit to my Rules for I do not impose them in pride or for my own sake but in Charity for yours Take my yoke upon you for it is easy and my burthen is light And now we are got thus far we may with this encouragement venture to the end and dare to look upon every circumstance which seems to make our duty grievous There are but two things of this kind and they are the perfection of that duty which the Christian Law requires and the penalty
do at last confess the plain truth of the Scriptures that without holiness no man shall see God And they say farther that 't is not only hard but impossible for a man left to that freedom which belongs to his Will to become regenerate But then what comfort does this persuasion leave Why they tell us that Regeneration and Holiness shall be wrought in our hearts by an Almighty operation of the Holy Spirit such as that whereby God will at last raise us from the dead Now I confess that nothing can be more easy than to become a good man this way because under the dispensation of irresistible Grace 't is impossible to be otherwise And I am not so vain as to refuse so great a blessing if it were in my power to refuse it But what if the Scripture hath no promise of such Grace Nay what if it had unless I knew how to obtain it or that I was one of a thousand and could not miss it What if I must be left to the common way of watching and praying and working out my Salvation And what if all this will be to as little purpose as if I had done nothing at all Is this the rest that Jesus hath promised we shall find to our Souls Let us therefore try another expedient what may be done by severe fasting and penance Will the punishing of my Body satisfy for the sin of my Soul This I think would almost do the business because 't is a greater pain to deny a craving Lust to stop a growing Passion and to resist a strong temptation to wicked Pleasure or unjust Gain or desired Revenge than to go through a reasonable course of outward mortification But can these things compensate for the omission of necessary duty or satisfy for the commission of known sin when under a more imperfect Law God refused harder things than these Shall I give my first-born for my transgression the fruit of my body for the sin of my soul No He hath shewed thee O man what is good and what doth the Lord c. Bodily Austerities no doubt are pleasing to God and profitable for our Souls when they are intended to express a just indignation at our selves for having sinned when to break the wicked custom they are imposed as penalties and revenges to be inflicted as soon as we have committed any wicked Action when they are added to the inward trouble of the mind to make us weary of sinning and us'd to starve and mortify the evil Appetite For such reasons as these 't is necessary to keep the body in subjection But if bodily exercise profiteth nothing unless it be profitable unto godliness and helpeth to make the Soul the better we are still driven back to that hard point which we would fain lose the sight of That without a new heart and a new life there is no hope of God's pardon I shall try but one refuge more which indeed gives a fair prospect of relief and that is what comfort may be had from the power of the keys wherewith Christ intrusted his Church when he said Whose sins ye remit they are remitted unto them and whose sins ye retain they are retained Now this assures me that when the Church received me by Baptism into her Communion she gave me a right to remission of sins and that if she deprives me of it by excommunication she can by absolution restore me to it And therefore I will never break the Peace of the Church by Schism nor lose it by contempt of her Censures But then I doubt the Church cannot forgive sins more effectually than God does who is thus represented to forgive in the Parable of the Lord that forgave his servant ten thousand talents He forgave him indeed and yet he required the Debt afterward upon his unmercifulness to his Fellow-servant which evidently shews that the Pardon was but conditional So likewise saith our Saviour shall your heavenly Father do unto you And the Church cannot do more than God does who himself requires Conditions and therefore has not given to man the power of dispensing absolute Pardons unless we can think that to ratify the word of a man he has obliged himself to disannul his own And because he has reserved to himself the final Judgment of all whose sins are either remitted or retained in this World by the Authority of the Church therefore the Kingdom of God that is the Church is compared to a Field where the tares and the wheat grow together the time not being yet come for an exact separation For these Reasons all are forced to confess that the peace of the Church does then only ensure the favour of God when the Key does not err But what if my Conscience tells me the Key doth err and that whilst I do not forfeit the Churches Peace by scandalous Crimes I do yet depart from God by hidden Iniquities Can the erring Key open to me the Gate of Everlasting Life I would fain believe that the bringing of these secret sins to light and purposing to offend no more would help at last and that a Death-bed Repentance could by the power of the Keys be made effectual to Salvation But O Blessed Jesus how can I believe that thy most holy Doctrine should be but a Rule whereby to confess sin and to purpose against it instead of a Rule obliging me to forsake it To conclude this matter If we leave that one path of Obedience we may try a thousand By-ways but the Truth which cannot be corrupted will send us back again to that plain truth of our Saviour If thou wilt enter into life keep the commandments which like the flaming Sword that turns every way keeps the way of the Tree of Life against all ungodly and unrighteous men If therefore that Rest which our Lord promiseth is not to be had out of the way of Obedience it remains that we must find it in that way if we find it at all Let us therefore try for better success here than we have yet had Let us see whether the exactness of Rules and the indispensableness of Obedience must needs make us uneasy under the Discipline of Christianity or rather if the Grace of the Gospel doth not mitigate all the severity of its Laws without making any of them void Now the first mitigation I shall consider is this 1. That the Gospel leaves room for repentance of known and wilful Sins committed after Baptism a most remarkable instance of which Grace we have in the Discipline of the Church as it stood in the Apostle's days For when the Incestuous Corinthian was brought to Repentance St. Paul commanded the Church to forgive and comfort him lest he should be swallowed up with overmuch sorrow And surely as God forgives those open Scandals for which the Penitent was cut off from the Body of Christ so upon repentance he will forgive those secret Offences too which can make no forfeiture of Church-Communion If
that saith unto me Lord Lord c. Nay 2. Notwithstanding this and the like forewarnings yet men have and do in this manner delude themselves inasmuch as our Saviour upon this occasion told his Disciples before hand Many shall say unto me in that day Lord have we not prophesied in thy name and in thy name cast out devils and in thy name done many wonderful works which certainly was spoken of those Workers of Iniquity that lived in the early days of the Church whilst Mirales were yet continued in it And this was a terrible instance of the proneness of men to fall into this kind of presumption That some of them who did not only hear but preach the Gospel of Christ who did not only see but do Miracles in the name of Christ should yet be workers of iniquity that they who had faith to cast out devils out of others should not have faith enough to dispossess themselves of their vile Lusts and to cleanse their own hearts and ways But when Honour and Power and Wealth became the Rewards of professing Christianity the instances of this folly and madness grew still more numerous and more open and men more easily passed for Christians than in former times though they were as lustful and revengeful as vain and insolent and altogether as worldly and vicious as other men they then came into the Church with more ease and were turned out of it with more difficulty and they continued in it under a Discipline less severe than in former times and no wonder then that upon the encrease of Bad Examples there were still more and more who looked for Salvation by the Name of Christ that had little or nothing of his Spirit and were themselves Christians in nothing else but in name and profession And now let us consider 2dly How it comes to pass that men can thus deceive themselves as to rest upon so false a foundation of hope and comfort as a mere profession of the Name and Religion of Christ without being such persons in life and soul as their profession requires Now 1. The first and most general cause is this That men are willing to be thus deceived and no man is in greater danger of falling into a mistake how pernicious soever it be than he that has a mind to believe it no mistake Our Saviour in this Sermon whereof the Text is a part speaks against causeless Anger and an adulterous Eye and a revengeful Spirit and Vain-glory and Worldly sollicitude and a great many other things which are often as hard to reform as it would be to cut off a right hand and to pull out a right eye especially where a corrupt Inclination is confirmed by custom in sin This is indeed the principal cause why men will conceit any thing though it be never so foolish rather than they will feel an indispensible obligation to repent and reform their wicked ways 'T is true when a man has had some experience of it the practice of Religion in all his conversation becomes the joy of his life and he finds more pleasure in a constant course of piety towards God of justice and mercy towards men of a sober and temperate use of the good things of this life than can possibly be had in the ways of sin but whilst one is under the power and lust of Passion his indulgence to his own Appetite is like drink to a man in a Feaver who till he recovers his health knows no other pleasure nor is there a greater torment to him than to be denied it Now they are those Rules of Christianity which concern the government of our Affections and Passions our Manners and Practices in the general course of our conversation that are directly contrary to those corrupt Inclinations of Mankind whereas the obligation to profess a Religion and to worship God amongst those that do so doth not of it self thwart them otherways than it brings the other part of Religion to mind which is to act accordingly in all our conversation And therefore men would fain believe that their care in one part shall supply the defects in the other that is That saying Lord Lord shall stand them in good stead although they do not the will of our heavenly Father To this we may add 2. That there is as great a difficulty on the other side to throw off all fear of God and all concern for a Life to come as there is to come up throughly to that which Religion requires And we have infinite reason to bless God for this difficulty i. e. that he hath made it I will not only say as difficult but more difficult for us to become mere Atheists and Infidels than even bad men have made it to become true and sincere Christians For he hath left those natural impressions of his own Being upon our hearts and hath given such evidence to the World of the truth of the Gospel of his Son that it must needs be an hard thing for us to grow downright Atheists or even Unbelievers and for the most part do what we can we are held under the sense and awe of Religion and if we will make an evil course of life easy to our selves it must not be done by throwing off all pretence to Religion for then we should be self-condemned without any relief and have nothing at all to trust to but it must be done by putting some cheat upon our selves consistent with the profession of Religion that is by flattering our selves that a diligent profession of it will serve the turn and they are these two things taken together viz. the unwillingness of men to leave their sins on the one side and the unavoidable apprehensions of God and a Life to come and a general conviction of the truth of Christianity on the other that have not only made many Persons take up this false way of comforting themselves but have also made them easy to receive divers Errors which help to support this to expect spiritual relief from things blest by man without any appointment from God and to place Religion in things which have neither reason of their own nor Divine Authority to make them valuable Certainly if it were either easy for Mankind to throw off all pretence to Religion on the one hand or if they could easily be persuaded to break off their sins by repentance on the other it had been a much harder thing to corrupt Religion than Experience has shewn it to be But so long as there will be Conscience and a sense of God and an apprehension of a life to come as there will be while the World endures and so long as there will be lust and passion vice and wickedness more or less amongst men so long also they will be very desirous to believe those Doctrines that promise security without an effectual reformation And in the company of more mistakes tending to the same comfort it will be a very hard matter
and their Parts quicker than those of the sincere and godly and moreover that some wicked men have arrived to greater knowledge in Religion than thousands of Religious persons ever had To this Objection I answer 1. That supposing an equality of other means and abilities he that is sincere towards God hath many advantages above a wicked man in order to the gaining of that knowledge to which the wicked may possibly arrive 2. That there is some knowledge in Religion proper to the godly which the other continuing as he is can never gain Now if that which is possibly to both may be more easily and certainly attained by the good man supposed to be equal in other respects to the wicked if there be something also that cannot be attained by the wicked though in other respects never so superior to the good man then is not the Rule of our Saviour disparaged by the pretence now mentioned but we have still as great reason to take his method as there seemed to be at first Now there are these two things which I hope to make out by the following Discourse First of all That supposing the good and the bad to be equally endued with natural Abilities of understanding and equally to enjoy the external means of knowledge the former hath great Advantages above the latter for the gaining of that knowledge in Religion which is possible to both this will appear from these two general Arguments 1. That sincerity of heart with a religious life is in it self a fit means to attain knowledge and that the contrary disposition and course of life renders a man very unfit to discern divine Truth 2. That there are many great promises of knowledge and wisdom made to godly men and to none else but that of his Justice he hath threatned and by the same Justice doth often infatuate the understandings of the wicked 1. That a sincere intent towards God and doing his Will is a fit means of it self to attain knowledge For in the 1st place It takes in all that is good and profitable in any other way of coming to the knowledge of the Truth For is searching the Scripture a good means doing the will of God includes that for it is his will that we should search the Scriptures Is hearkning to our Sipritual Guides another way It is the will of God that we should know them that labour amongst us and are over us in the Lord and admonish us Is an impartial examination of those grounds upon which the several Parties in Christendom pretend to hold the truth It is the will of God that we should prove all things and hold fast that which is good that we should not believe every spirit but try the spirits whether they are of God Is it the use of our own reason and arguing from Principles of natural Religion This is plainly supposed in the command of trying their Doctrines who pretend to instruct us in Revelation Is it of any use to enquire into the sense of Ancient Churches if we are able to do it this is not hindred but furthered by doing the will of God which always supposeth a sincere desire to know the truth for this sincerity gives a prosperous influence to the labours of the diligent and learned whereas if the interest of ambition or covetousness does mix it self with the studies of men and infect them with a secret disloyalty to the truth it doth most commonly blast their endeavours through the corruptness of their end making them bend their wit not so much to know the truth as to serve their Cause This is the first consideration That whatever is good and profitable in any other way is included in this 2. The obedient and honest mind is peculiarly fitted for the evidence of Divine Truth which is enough to satisfy the prudent and considerate and those that are willing to learn but not to bear down the prejudices and passions of the untractable To this purpose we may consider That our Saviour accommodated his Instructions to the tempers of the humble and willing But when he met with the captious Pharisees he returned them Answers like their Questions designing rather to silence their Arrogance than to inform them and convince them of the truth for he perceived all that labour was lost upon men of their perverse minds which was abundantly sufficient to satisfie those there that were wise and modest and disinterested Thus after they had been cavilling at his Doctrine he asks them whose son Christ was to be they said David's if David then says he call him Lord how is he his son where he left them speechless without explaining the difficulty for he knew Reason would not serve them So when they asked him By what Authority he did those things which he did and this after they they had known his wonderful Works he did not vouchsafe to give them a direct Answer but replies to their Question with another The baptism of John was it from heaven or of men He knew they would say They could not tell Neither tell I you says he by what authority I do these things How evident and reasonable soever the institution of the Gospel is it was not delivered in such a way as should certainly prevail against the obstinacy of the wicked and enlighten the minds of them that love darkness rather than light because their deeds are evil but in such a way as would satisfy all that love the truth and are resolved to follow it Hereby God hath made great distinction between the humble and honest on the one side and the proud and insincere on the other while the best knowledge is easy and ready to the former but in comparison hard to the latter 3. Due reverence and love of God's Word is it self apt to promote the understanding of it which is a great advantage which the good man hath above all others what a man admires and delights in engages his whole Soul and makes it all attention and in that posture the mind apprehends more readily and clearly On the other side no man makes a good proficiency in that which he studies with an alienated mind and indeed it is impossible he should since he doth not put his strength to the work and his Soul is hardly present with the business he is about What other reason can we give why men that are accurate at one sort of business are heavy and inapprehensive at others for the Soul in it self hath a capacity equally open to the embracing of all Reason that therefore which makes the difference must be their value of and delight in one subject and their aversion from the other It is no wonder then if David as he speaks of himself was wiser than all his enemies and understood more than the ancients and had more understanding than his teachers themselves For saith he I have kept thy precepts I love thy law it is my meditation all the day long and the
commandments of God are ever with me We see by experience that men arrive to great skill in the business which they have in liking and esteem because they frequently exercise themselves in it and daily employ their thoughts about it Now that veneration of Divine Truth that value of Christian Knowledge which is implied in a sincere intent to do the will of God is incomparably greater and more operative and effectual than that which is founded either upon desire of praise or preferment or the mere pleasure of speculation only Therefore that esteem which the good man hath for Divine Truth will enforce a more frequent and attentive meditation thereupon and that assiduity will procure a better understanding of it and this again more delight and pleasure in it and if such proficiency and such satisfaction do thus whet one another and if they are not caused but by a great value and esteem of Divine truth then the good man who values it most has a singular advantage in his study and search after it 4. Every prevailing Lust and Passion is in it self an impediment to the knowledge of the Truth For instance the affection of the praise of men is that which frequently perverts a right judgment of things it was our Saviour's own Expostulation with the Jews How can ye believe that receive honour one of another and seek not that honour which cometh of God John 5.44 One would wonder what a strange delusion the Pride of the Pharisees kept them under the Delusion was so great that they could not judge whether they believed or disbelieved what they read in Moses for our Saviour tells them v. 46. Had ye believed Moses ye would also have believed me for he wrote of me Could we or could they themselves have thought that they who trusted in Moses that they who were the great Teachers of the Law of Moses that they who rejected Jesus because they thought his Doctrine overthrew the Law of Moses should be mistaken in their own belief of Moses and yet he adds v. 47. If ye believe not his writings how shall ye believe my words By which we may learn these things 1. If vain glory had not infatuated these men if the conceit of their own wisdom had not kept them from doubting of what they once thought if they had been humble enough to permit the Writings of Moses to convince them they must needs have read there that Jesus was the Christ 2. If one sin be predominant in a man's heart as Pride he may be so deluded by it as not to believe that to be in the Scripture which is plainly there and this too in a matter of great importance and concernment as the case now mentioned plainly shews 3. Much more will the judgments of men be perverted by several Lusts and Vices in conjunction with one another if to Pride and Ambition Covetousness and Envy and Revengefulness be added the fatal influence whereof upon the Understanding is so plainly discernable in the gross mistakes of those men that are engaged to serve a by-Cause and to maintain a Party against all the World Did we not know it by experience we should think it incredible that in these circumstances men of learning and subtilty should not be able to judge of the strength or weakness of Arguments of the true or false interpretation of Scripture of the pertinent or impertinent application of it even where the case is so plain that it requires neither subtilty nor learning to make a judgment of it Could any disinterested man believe that from the saying of Saint John in the conclusion of his Revelation If any man shall add unto the words of the prophecy of this book God shall add unto him the plagues that are written in it that from this Saying the unlawfulness of all Human Forms and Constitutions in Divine Worship might be inferr'd that is to say Because a Curse is threatned to any that shall attempt to corrupt the Bible by making any alteration in the Revelation of St. John therefore nothing is to be done in God's Worship which is not positively required in the Word of God And yet by such applications of Scripture as this the pretence hath been carried on by men of name and authority in the World Would it ever have come into a mans head to suspect that the Power of the Roman Bishop to depose Kings and Emperors might be argued from those words of our Lord to Peter Feed my sheep If Ambition and Covetousness and the serving of a Cause had not interven'd he would think the Sheep of Christ were to be fed with wholsome Doctrine and to be instructed in the duties of Patience and Constancy under Persecution and not with those inhuman Principles which turn them into Wolves and it is plain enough that without any wit and with infinitely greater probability the quite contrary conclusion may be several ways inferred from these words the quite contrary I say to what they of the Church of Rome would infer from them I shall not stand to expose their arguing from those words Thou art Peter and upon this rock I will build my Church in behalf of the universal Supremacy of the Roman Bishops and that because of the allusion of Petrus to Petra which if it would hold good for St. Peter's being the Rock how it will serve to make Boniface or Clement the Rock too would be hard to say or if it did that Rock implies Universal Supremacy would not suddenly have been thought of if it had not been to serve a Cause there would be a little more colour in those words and I will give unto thee the keys of the kingdom of heaven were it not plain That when the Keys were given to him as they were not till after the Resurrection of Christ they were given to all the other Apostles as fully and effectually as to him But suppose that had been said of Peter which St. Paul said of himself that the care of all the Churches was upon him which is a Saying more likely to conclude an Universal Pastorship from than the other how many learned Treatises may we think had been written upon it before now But for all that if any man should in earnest offer that place to prove that St. Paul was Christ's Vicar-General on Earth he would be answered no other way than by contempt So foully are the understandings of men overruled by their affections after they have wedded a Cause and resolved to go through with it and to maintain it right or wrong but that which is still worse is this that where the Spirit of Faction prevails and worldly Interest is carried on under the pretext of Religion the understandings of men are frequently disabled from judging right between good and evil otherwise how were it possible for men to believe that Hypocrisy and Lying and Perjury and Murder and Treason are in some cases not only excuseable but laudable that they
life and power of it in his heart for this reason it is that the Faith of good Christians who are not so well verst in subtle reasonings as in religious practice cannot be shaken by the objections of a Sophister because they have that inward sense of the power and excellency of Divine Truths which is above all other argument They know by experience that in the keeping of God's Commandments there is great reward and cannot therefore be entangled by any artificial objections against it but that I may not be mistaken I do not pretend that the pleasure which a man finds in believing any Doctrine is always an argument that the Doctrine is true There are some Doctrines in the World that tend to licentiousness that weaken the obligations to an holy life and therefore are sweet to the carnal man because they can put him in possession of great joy in himself before he has that good title to it which can only be founded upon repentance and holiness therefore it is neither false nor allowable always to argue from the experience a man hath of the sweetness and pleasure of his perswasions to the truth of them as many misguided Souls have done but for all that it is most certain that Religion consisting in the belief of truth and the practice of goodness a man shall understand the power of the one and the excellency of the other by experience better than he can by meer speculation for the nature of things that are to be done is never so fully understood as by doing them and the force of Truth is never so thoroughly felt as when it makes the Will and Affections as well as the Understanding submit to it now the best way to avoid arguing to our selves fallaciously from our own experience and being imposed upon by the joy and pleasure which those perswasions yield that tend to carnal security the best way I say to avoid this is to follow our Saviour's rule by laying the foundation even of experimental knowledge in doing the will of God and applying our selves with all sincerity to the keeping of his Commandments because then we shall never argue from experience but in favour of the truth i. e. of true Virtue and Holiness and of those Principles which lead to the practice of it And most certainly there is that comfort and satisfaction in believing Divine Truth there are those Joys in living according to it which can never be thoroughly understood but by the practice of Religion and Virtue which no man can have a just conception of till he hath tasted and seen how gracious God is Solomon says That the ways of wisdom are pleasantness and all her paths are peace but then we shall never thoroughly understand this till we walk in them in the keeping of God's Commandments there is great reward but how shall we find this reward but in keeping of them It may be described to us by others but as imperfectly as the Pencil doth Life and Motion the best descriptions will fall short of the subject and if we be alienated from the life of God we cannot fully conceive it Nay most commonly the delights of the righteous are things flat and insipid and the representation of them is nauseous and irksom to the carnal worldling and he is hardly in a better condition to understand it than one that is born Blind can apprehend that saying of Solomon Truly light is sweet and a pleasant thing it is to behold the Sun The sum of all is this That if sincerity towards God in doing his will is a great advantage towards the obtaining of that knowledge which is possible to the wicked man the knowledge of speculation if also that knowledge is gained by it which the insincere have nothing at all of if the righteous do not only better apprehend the weight of arguments but understand more by having their senses exercised to discern between good and evil then have we great reason to follow our Saviour's method If any man will do his will he shall know of the doctrine whether it be of God Only let us remember that this knowledge is not to be gained this blessing is not to be procured to our selves either by my discourse or by your hearing what hath been said concerning our Saviour's words no nor by granting the truth and reasonableness of what hath been offered in illustration of them but only by putting our selves seriously upon the trial of this way by doing the will of God for what hath been said of Divine Truths in the general holds good of this in particular That the excellency of our Lord's method for the gaining of good knowledge in the things of God cannot be thoroughly judged till we have applied our selves to the use of it and I doubt not but those that have made trial do acknowledge the truth of what hath been said FINIS