he was the Christ because the Miracles Resurrection and other Proofs of it must first be made and then be Preached to win belief Luke 9.2 21. And by the Kingdom of God he meant that of Grace as related to Glory vers 27 28. It is the want of thinking more seriously what Heaven is and the certainty of it to all believers that causeth men to follow the flesh and world and to lose it by contempt or gross neglect Ungodliness consisteth much in a neglect of Heaven for want of convincing quickning Meditations of it And when you bring a sinner to be but soberly thoughtful of Heaven you have done much towards his true Conversion So that in this you and I do vastly differ if you think as you write I will crave your pardon for my over-passing all the rest of your opposition supposing that I have spoken to the main and shall shut up all with these three professions and admonitions to the Reader I. Since I find that this judicious worthy man hath made these exceptions I have considered again whether there be not cause And I find what long agoe I found that I was too blame that I observed no more the weakness and danger of melancholy persons when I first wrote it and that I was not more large in disswading them from taking that to be their work which they cannot do For I believe I have spoken with farr more than ever this Reverend Brother hath done though he be a Physicion who have been disabled by Melancholy and other weakness of brain from this work which made me so oft since give them such warning And I do here again desire most Women and all Melancholy persons to take up more with shorter and occasional Meditations and with such holy thoughts as good Books and Conference do more easily bring into their minds and not to over-stretch their brains by striving to do more than they are able and so disable themselves yet more II. The review of these things doth convince me that Learned men and all men of Opportunity and Ability to bear Meditation should use this duty much more than they do And that much of our ignorance unbelief ungodliness and uncomfortableness is for want of making a set and serious business of it And I think that few men that Labour in their Shops or ever walk or travel abroad can truly say that they are wholly destitute of leisure And I think that poverty and crosses in the world should make the thoughts of Heaven the more welcome to them And that it should be so farr from being taken for an ungrateful burden that it should be the sweetest pleasure in this World and farr more delightful than to think of Lands or dearest Friends And I admonish all that have Ability and Opportunity to take heed lest short and seldome and slight thoughts of Heaven do harden them in that unacquaintedness above which will be the unhoâ—iness of their lives and their terrour at death III. Though I said it not before I will now say that even Methodical Heavenly Meditation is a Duty to all that have the free use of Reason But not a Duty which they are presently fit and able to performe And therefore it is as the Sacrament to the unprepared a mediate duty They sin in not doing it because they sin in being unprepared for it But yet it is not Immediately to be done till shorter and easier Meditations have first prepared them But Gods Law ceaseth not to be perfect because we are imperfect nor to oblige us to duty because we are moâ—ally undisposed I will not say The highest â—orme in the School must not Learn Greek because the lowest are unfit for it nor that â—he lowest are not Mediately to be brought up to it It is every weak Christians sin â—hat he Prayeth not Methodically because his disability is sinful though it be a sin that God forgiveth to all that are sincere But as I will not be one that shall rob the sincere of the comfort of that forgiveness so neither will â— be one that shall perswade them to impeniâ—ence by saying It is no sin nor accuse Gods Law of imperfection Understand and Practise these two Texts and I desire no more of you as to this meditation Matth. 6.21 Where your treasure is there will your hearts be also Phil. 3.20 Our Conversation is in Heaven The Lord forgive my neglect of this duty and yet help me to perform it with more Heavenly Life and Light and Love till I shall be above the Life of Faith IV. Not medling now with the reasonâ— of other men against either Method or length of Prayer Preaching or heavenly Meditation my own sad experience commandetâ— me to give this caution to all Christians witâ— a special earnestness Take heed of a slothful omission or cursory performance oâ— such holy duties lest when you have losâ— the Life and Sweetness of them you losâ— next the sense and belief of their excellencâ— and necessity When you cannot perswadâ— your self to them you will be much morâ— unapt to perswade others to them And wheâ— you have suffered your hearts to grow iâ— different to them you will too easily bâ— drawn to take them for things that are 〈◊〉 indifferent Practice helpeth us to an experience and taste of the goodness of Duty which will do more to draw us to it thâ—â— bare reasoning alone will do And whâ—â— Practice is neglected Love willingness anâ— pleasure first abateth and next the Understanding it self is in danger of judging it no better or more necessary than we feel it For my own part when my Conscience commandeth me to omit Meditation because of some greater and more urgent duty forbidding it at that time I usually find that it is my affliction to fall under any such diversions that both may not be done And I find that whatever else I think of of Christ of Scripture of Promises of Threatnings of sin of Grace c. if I leave out Heaven and make it not the chief part of my Meditation I leave out the sence and Life of all Thence must I fetch my Light or I must be in Darkness Thence must I fetch my Life or I must be Dead and my Motives or I must be Dull or not sincere and my daily Comforts or I must be uncomfortable or worse My Hearing and Reading and Studies grow to Common things if Heaven be not the principal part My life groweth towards a common and a carnal Life when I begin to leave out Heaven Death groweth terrible to my thoughts and Eternity strange and dreadful to me if I live not in such frequent and serious thoughts of the Heavenly Glory as may render it familiar and grateful to my soul. Yea I cannot think with any due Knowledge Love or Pleasure of the ever-blessed God himself if I think of him only as he is revealed to us in this World and not as we shall see him in the World of Light I find my self but a common man if Heavenliness make me not to differ And I find my self unfit to Live or to Die and that my soul is void of the true Consolation that is needful both in Life and at Death when I grow a stranger to Heavenly Thoughts and consequently to Heavenly Affections And that as nothing will serve turn instead of Heaven to be my Happiness so nothing will serve turn instead of Heaven to make up the end of my Religion and forme my Heart and Life to Holiness And therefore by experience I counsel all Christians that are able to perform it especially Ministers and Learned men to be much in the serious fore-thoughts of Heaven and to Comfort themselves and others with these words that We shall for ever be with the Lord 1 Thes. 4.17 18. And I adjure the Reader not to conceive of the worthy person to whom I write this as any Adversary to a Heavenly Life For he is a Sober Godly faithful Minister though silenced who hath been in New England and brought back with him a great deal of Judgement and Moderation in Church-matters as having seen the experience of the evil of extreams as his former Writings witness And as he opposeth not Mr. Rogers Hooker Shephard out of any ill-will to their Persons but lest those whom he best loved should wrong the Church so I have reason to believe that he doth with the same Candour deal with me And if we do differ at all which I am not sure of it is so little as is not like to cause the least disaffection I would all our differences made no wider a distance than is betwixt this faithful Brother and Me. Octob. 1. 1670. FINIS
Those that are not able to be much in serious solitary thoughtfulness without confusions and distracting suggestions and hurrying vexations thoughts must set themselves for the most part to those duties which are to be done in company by the help of others and must be very little in solitary duties For to them whose natural faculties are so diseased and weak it is no duty as being no means to do them the desired good But while they strive to do that which they are naturally unable to endure they will but confound and distract themselves and make themselves unable for those other duties which yet they are not utterly unfit for To such persons therefore instead of ordered well digested Meditations and much time spent in secret thoughtfulness it must suffice that they be brief in secret prayer and take up with such occasional abrupter Meditations as they are capable of and that they be the more in reading hearing conference Praying and praising God with others c. More such I omit I now add more particularly lest I should injure any 1. That I take it not to be the duty of a Minister to leave his necessary Study Preaching Prayer c. for this set Meditation 2. Nor for a Magistrate to leave his necessary work of Government for it 3. Nor for any man in an Active life to leave a necessary duty of his place for it 4. Nor for any weak persons to stretch their braines beyond their abilitie to do what they cannot do Greatest Duties must be preferred and men must endeavour prudently according to their capacity and power And God will have mercy and not sacrifice and would not have Religion crack our braines nor turn out our duties towards men or of our particular Callings But for all this I am of the same mind expressed in the Book which you find fault with 1. That Heavenly mindedness is essential to Holiness 2. That Heavenly thoughts or Meditations are much of the exercise of Heavenly mindedness 3. And that it is every mans duty to exercise his Thoughts or Meditations in the most clear methodical affecting practical way that his Abilities and opportunities consideratis considerandis will reach to For which useful Method I gave the best directions I could But I will not justifie my weakness nor deny that it is injurious to the Church of God nor deny the preheminence of my Brethrens understandings nor the greater usefulness of their labours And it is not unlikely that mine may have more faults that I discern which are soon discerned by more judicious men for whose correction I would not be unthankful II. And now I shâ—ll tell you wherein I differ from you 1. It seemeth to me unrighteous dealing when you undertake in Print to save Christians from my Errours to overpass all the limitations before recited which I gave them and to carry it as if I had made that Manner which you except against to be all mens or most mens duty Yea not only by your preterition of my words but by your own to perswade the Reader that so indeed it was When you say pag. 314. This I see is the Meditation strongly urged upon Christians A duty very hard I am sure And if our salvation lie upon this being performed after this manner as this learned and Reverend Author hath set down then most Christians that I meet with forty to one and those whom I esteem good Christians must never come at Heaven but must to that dark place Did you not intimate in these words that I make it as necessary to salvation as these words import If so Truth and Candor should have prevailed with you to have left out all such passages You see I make it not so much as a duty to any that have not ability and conveniency much less that the mode is of necessity to salvation But yet I must add that our Salvation is not unconcerned in any of our duties though I will not say that our salvation lyeth on it so as we must else be damned What if I had given you a scheme of the admirably accurate Method of Prayer which is found in the Lords Prayer I would have said that the observation of this Method is a Duty and that our salvation is not unconcerned in that duty I would have said that all men should do their best to come up to that accurate Method in their Prayers But so as not to crack their brains nor hinder them in the Matter nor neglect any greater duty to do this But with moderate just endeavours according to their abilities and opportunities I would not have said that their salvation so lyeth on it that none that use not this method can be saved nor would I be so rough and curst as you speak to those that cannot use this Method as to deprive them of their comfort But I would tell them what is their Rule and pattern Even so do I in this case of Meditation 2. And I like not reducing the Rule to our impotent sinful natures nor to our crooked lives when our Hearts and lives should be measured by and reduced to the Rule I grant that not one of forty doth Pray in the Method of the Lords prayer no not of Godly People no nor Ministers no not in their studied Liturgies What then Is it therefore no duty because few perform it Were it not enough to have said that methodical set Meditation is a high pitch of duty which every weak Christian cannot â—each or which few can reach or that it is not so much as a duty to all as to the circumstances of Time c As I like not the Papists making Gods Law imperfect that they may make man perfect and sin Veniall or Vnivocally no sin so I as little like it in our selves to say that Duty is no Duty and so deny the perfection of the Law because that every one cannot reach it and few good people perform it God forbid I should deny all duty which few good people perform any more than justifie all sin which most or all good People commit 3. You say If I should humbly desire a Text or two from Holy Writ to prove that is the Meditation that God requireth of Christians if the Reverend Author will answer me it is a ridiculous question as he hath said in another case I must be silent Answ. The case which I call ridiculous you vainly silence seeing any understanding Reader at least of the Book you blame will see it They were ridiculous Sectaries Seekers and such like that I then had to do with If you or your most skilful Casuist whom you mention had called for a Text of Scripture to prove that we must pray twice a day in our families its like I should have given you more Reverent language though I had thought never the better of the Question nor do I think sure that you can judge it ever the less a duty because your Father used it not
THE DUTY OF HEAVENLY MEDITATION Reviewed by RICHARD BAXTER At the Invitation of Mr. GILES FIRMIN'S EXCEPTIONS In his Book Entituled The Real Christian. LONDON Printed for Nevil Simmons at the Sign of the three Crowns near Holborn Conduit 1671. Dear and much honoured Brother I Have lately perused your judicious Treatise called The Real Christian in which you seek to deliver the Church from the danger of the Errors of Mr. Daniel Rogers Mr. Hooker Mr. Shephard and Mr. Perkins And I think Mr. Shephard's Sound Believer needeth more Medication to make it sound than you have yet used Among the rest I find you have endeavoured in the End to save the Church also from the trouble and danger of my Directions for Heavenly Meditation in my Saints Rest. And though my own opinion be that seeing we have formerly had some converse by Writing it would have been better to have attempted to convince me by Letters of my Errors before you had warned the World to take heed of them that you might have heard first what I had to say for my self yet I confess those are punctilio's not to be stood upon in this age in which no great exactness of foresight prudence or justice is to be expected Nor have I a desire to abridge you of your liberty of speaking as publikely as you have a list But taking your writings as I find them I shall take the boldness to tell you I. How far my judgement doth concurr with yours which shall be answered by my endeavours II. How farr I am unsatisfied in your Writings on this point I. I am glad 1. That you are tender of the peace of troubled tender Christians and would have Ministers take heed lest they should break the bruised reed 2. I am glad that you would have Ministers accurate in their words and writings and not by heedless unwarrantable expressions wrong the Church 3. I am glad that you are sensible that extreams are to be avoided and that over-doing in doctrines of piety and pretending to go beyond the Church of God even farther than God would have us is one way of injuring truth and piety 4. I am glad that you are for keeping close to that rule of Truth and duty and against making a Religion or any part of it to our selves 5. I am glad that you are for a free and faithful opening and disowning the Errors and failings of the most esteemed Divines that weak Christians may not be injured by the reverence of their names And that you are not of the pernicious opinion of a multitude of Professours of Religiousness in this age who think that none of their faults or weaknesses should be opened lest it give matter to their Adversaries to reproach them and that all that is said against them is said against Religion and that to call them to Repentance is to disgrace Religion and to strengthen the hands of wickedness I am glad that you see the horrid blindness and wickedness of this conceit and how odious a thing it is to preferr our selfish personal reputation before the honour of Christ and true Religion or else to think that it is an honour to Christ and Religion to justifie our sins I am glad that you have the wisdome of a Christian rather to disown the Errors of the Godlyest Divines than to leave it to angry contentious Adversaries to open them in another manner and to other ends and uses And that you think not as our selfish blind ones do that we may dance naked unseen and undisgraced if we are but in the net of self-flattery and that angry Adversaries will see none of our errours or faults unless we tell them of them by our Repentance In all this you and I are of a mind 6. And in particular I am afraid as well as you of screwing weak ones too high in this duty of meditation on the Glory of Heaven And therefore lest I should injure the weak or any others 1. In the Book it self The Saints Rest I have given the Reader these warnings Pag. 703. Ed. 9. Yet be cautious in understanding this I know this will not prove every mans duty some have not themselves and their time at command and therefore cannot set their hours such are most servants and many Children of poor and carnal Parents and many are so poor that the necessities of their families will deny them this freedome I do not think it the duty of such to leave their labours for this work just at certain set times no nor for prayer or other necessary worship No such duty is a duty at all times Affirmatives bind not semper ad semper When two duties come together and cannot both be performed it were then a sin to perform the lesser Of two duties we must choose the greater i. e. consideratis considerandis though of two sins we must choose neither I think such persons were best to be watchful to redeem time as much as they can and take their vacant opportunities as they fall and especially to joyne Meditation and Prayer as much as they can with the very labours of their Callings There is no such enmity between labouring and Meditating or Praying in the Spirit but that both may conveniently be done together Yet I say as Paul in another case If thou canst be free use it rather Those that have more spare time from worldly necessâ—ries and are Masters to dispose of themselves and their time c. And pag. 704 Just how oft it should be I cannot determine because mens several conditions may vary it But in general That it be frequent the Scripture requireth when it mentioneth meditating continually or day and night Psal. 1.2 119.97 148.19 Circumstances of our conditions may much vary the circumstances of our duty It may be one mans duty to hear or pray ofter than another and so it may be in this of Meditation But for those that can conveniently omit other business I advise that it be once a day at least So also pag. 707. 709. And being afraid lest I should injure unable persons in many books since I have over and over lest it should be overlookt repeated I feared ad nauseam Lectoris these Cauâ—ions As Method for Peace of Consc. p. 12. studying and serious meditating be not duties for the deeply Melancholy You must let those alone till you are better able to perform them lest by attempting those duties which you cannot perform you utterly disable your self from all c. And I thus conclude my Treat of The Divine Life But now I have given you these few Directions for the improvement of your solitude for converse with God lest I should occasion the hurt of those that are unfit for the Lesson I have given I must conclude with this caution which I have formerly also published that it is not Melancholy or Weak headed persons who are not able to bear such exercises for whom I have written these Directions