them by Faith for our light affliction which is but for a moment worketh for us a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory whilst we look not at the things which are seen but at the things which are not seen And he resumes the same Argument again at the beginning of this Chapter for we know that if our Earthly House of this Tabernacle were dissolved we have a Building of God a House not made with Hands eternal in the Heavens that is we are firmly perswaded that when we die we shall but exchange these Earthly and Perishing Bodies these Houses of Clay for a Heavenly Mansion which will never decay nor come to ruine from whence he concludes Verse 6. Therefore we are always confident 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 therefore what ever happens to us we are always of good courage and see no reason to be afraid of Death knowing that whilst we are at home in the Body we are absent from the Lord that is since our continuance in the Body is to our disadvantage and while we live we are absent from our Happiness and when we die we shall then enter upon the Possession of it That which gives us this confidence and good courage is our Faith for tho' we be not actually possest of this Happiness which we speak of yet we have a firm perswasion of the reality of it which is enough to support our Spirits and keep up our Courage under all afflictions and adversities whatsoever Verse 7. for we walk by Faith not by Sight These words come in by way of Parenthesis in which the Apostle declares in general what is the swaying and governing Principle of a Christian life not only in case of persecution and affliction but under all events and in every condition of Humane life and that is Faith in opposition to Sight and present Enjoyment we walk by Faith and not by Sight We walk by Faith what ever Principle sways and governs a Mans life and actions he is said to walk and live by it And as here a Christian is said to walk by Faith so elsewhere the just is said to live by Faith Faith is the Principle which animates all his resolutions and actions And not by Sight The word is 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 which signifies the thing it self in present view and possession in opposition to a firm perswasion of things future and invisible Sight is the thing in Hand and Faith the thing only in Hope and Expectation Sight is a clear view and apprehension of things present and near to us Faith an obscure discovery and apprehension of things at a distance So the Apostle tells us 2 Cor. 13. 12. Now we see through a Glass darkly this is Faith but then face to face this is present sight as one Man sees another face to face and thus likewise the same Apostle distinguisheth betwixt Hope and Sight Rom. 8. 24. 25. Hope that is seen is not Hope for what a Man sees why doth he yet Hope for it but if we Hope for that which we see not then do we with patience wait for it Sight is possession and enjoyment Faith is the firm perswasion and expectation of a thing and this the Apostle tells us was the governing principle of a Christian's life for we walk by Faith and not by Sight from which words I shall observe these Three things I. That Faith is the Governing Principle and that which bears the great sway in the Life and Actions of a Christian we walk by Faith that is we Order and Govern our Lives in the Power and Virtue of this Principle II. Faith is a degree of assent inferiour to that of Sense This is sufficient-intimated in the opposition betwixt Faith and Sight He had said before that whilst we are at home in the Body we are absent from the Lord and gives this as a Reason and Proof of our absence from the Lord for we walk by Faith and not by Sight that is whilst we are in the Body we do not see and enjoy but believe and expect if we were present with the Lord then Faith would cease and be turned into Sight but tho' we have not that assurance of another world which we shall have when we come to see and enjoy these things yet we are firmly perswaded of them III. Notwithstanding Faith be an inferiour degree of Assurance yet 't is a Principle of sufficient power to govern our Lives we walk by Faith it is such an Assurance as hath an influence upon our Lives I. That Faith is the Governing Principle and that which bears the great sway in the Life and Actions of a Christian We walk by Faith that is we Order and Govern our Lives in the Power and Virtue of this Principle A Christian's Life consists in obedience to the will of God that is in a readiness to do what he commands and in a willingness to suffer what he calls us to and the great Arguments and Incouragements hereto are such things as are the Objects of Faith and not of Sense such things as are absent and future and not present and in possession for Instance the Belief of an invisible God of a secret Power and Providence that Orders and Governs all things that can bless or blast us and all our Designs and Undertakings according as we demean our selves towards him and endeavour to approve our selves to him the Perswasion of a secret aid and influence always ready at hand to keep us from Evil and to strengthen and assist us to that which is good more especially the firm Belief and expectation of the Happiness of Heaven and the glorious Rewards of another world which tho' they be now at a distance and invisible to us yet being grounded upon the Promise of God that cannot lie shall certainly be made good And this Faith this firm Perswasion of absent and invisible things the Apostle to the Hebrews tells us was the great Principle of the Piety and Virtue of good Men from the beginning of the World This he calls Ch. 11. verse 1. the 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 or the confident expectation of things hoped for and the proof or evidence of things not seen viz. a firm perswasion of the Being and Providence of God and of the Truth and Faithfulness of his Promises Such was the Faith of Abel he believed that there was a God and that he was a rewarder of those that faithfully serve him Such was the Faith of Noah who being warned of God of things at a great distance and not seen as yet notwithstanding believed the Divine Prediction concerning the Flood and prepared an Ark Such also was the Faith of Abraham concerning a numerous Posterity by Isaac and the Inheritance of the Land of Canaan and such likewise was the Faith of Moses he did as firmly believe the invisible God and the recompence of reward as if he had beheld them with his eyes And of this Recompence of Reward we Christians have
this Blessed State of Good Men in another World so hath he likewise assur'd us that greater Degrees of this Happiness shall be the Portion of Those who suffer for Him and his Truth Mat. 5. 10 11 12. Blessed are they which are persecuted for Righteousness sake for theirs is the Kingdom of Heaven Blessed are ye when men shall revile you and persecute you and speak all manner of evil against you falsly for my Names sake Rejoyce and be exceeding glad for great is your Reward in Heaven And nothing surely can be more Reasonable than to part with things of Small Value for things infinitely Greater and more Considerable to forego the Transient Pleasures and Enjoyments and the Imperfect Felicities of this World for the Solid and Perfect and Perpetual Happiness of a Better Life and to exchange a Short and Miserable Life for Eternal Life and Blessedness in a word to be content to be driven Home to be banisht out of this World into our own Native Country and to be violently thrust out of this Vale of Tears into those Regions of Bliss where are Joys unspeakable and full of Glory This Consideration St. Paul tells us supported the Primitive Christians under their sharpest and heaviest Sufferings 2 Cor. 4. 16. For this cause says he we faint not because our light affliction which is but for a moment worketh for us a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory whilst we look not at the things which are seen but the things which are not seen for the things which are seen are temporal but the things which are not seen are eternal So that our Sufferings bear no more Proportion to the Reward of them than Finite does to Infinite than Temporal to Eternal between which there is no Proportion All that now remains is to draw some useful Inferences from what hath been Discoursed concerning this great and difficult Duty of Self-denial for the sake of Christ and his Religion and they shall be these following 1. To acknowledg the great Goodness of God to us that all these Laws and Commands even the Hardest and Severest of them are so reasonable God as he is our Maker and gave us our Beings hath an Entire and Soveraign Right over us and by virtue of that Right might have imposed very Hard things upon us and this without the giving Account to us of any of his matters and without propounding any Reward to us so vastly disproportionable to our Obedience to him But in giving Laws to us he hath not made use of this Right The most Severe and Rigorous Commands of the Gospel are such that we shall be infinitely Gainers by our Obedience to them If we deny our selves any thing in this World for Christ and his Religion we shall in the next be considered for it to the Utmost not only far beyond what it can Deserve but beyond what we can Conceive or Imagine For this perishing Life and the transitory Trifles and Enjoyments of it we shall receive a Kingdom which cannot be shaken an uncorruptible Crown which fadeth not away Eternal in the Heavens For these are Faithful Sayings and we shall Infallibly find them true That if we suffer with Christ we shall also reign with him if we be persecuted for righteousness sake great shall be our reward in Heaven if we part with our Temporal Life we shall be made Partakers of Eternal Life He that is firmly persuaded of the Happiness of the next World and believes the Glory which shall then be revealed hath no Reason to be so much offended at the Sufferings of this Present time so long as he knows and believes that these Light afflictions which are but for a Moment will work for him a for more Exceeding and Eternal Weight of Glory 2. Seeing this is required of every Christian to be always in a Preparation and Disposition of Mind to deny our selves and to take up our Cross if we do in good earnest resolve to be Christians we ought to fit down and consider well with our selves what our Religion will cost us and whether we be content to come up to the Price of it If we value any thing in this World above Christ and his Truth we are not worthy of him If it come to this that we must either renounce Him and his Religion or quit our temporal Interests if we be not ready to forego these nay and to part even with Life it self rather than to forsake Him and his Truth we are not worthy of him These are the Terms of our Christianity and therefore we are required in Baptism solemnly to renounce the World And our Saviour from this very Consideration infers That all who take upon them the Profession of his Religion should consider seriously beforehand and count the cost of it Luke 14. 28. Which of you says he intending to build a Tower sitteth not down first and counteth the cost whether he have sufficient to finish it Or what King going to war with another King doth not sit down and consult whether with 10000 he be able to meet him that cometh against him with 20000. So likewise whosoever he be that forsaketh not all he hath cannot be my Disciple You see the Terms upon which we are Christians we must always be prepared in the Resolution of our Minds to deny our selves and take up our Cross tho we are not Actually put upon this Tryal 3. What hath been said is matter of great Comfort and Encouragement to all those who deny themselves and suffer upon so good an Account of whom God knows there are too great a Number at this Day in several parts of the World Some under actual Sufferings such as cannot but move Compassion and Horror in all that hear of them Others who are fled hither and into other Countries for Refuge and Shelter from one of the sharpest Persecutions that perhaps ever was if all the Circumstances of it be duly considered But not to enlarge upon so unpleasant a Theam they who suffer for the Truth and Righteousness sake have all the Comfort and Encouragement that the best Example and the greatest and most glorious Promises of God can give They have the best Example in their view Jesus the Author and Finisher of their Faith who endured the Cross and despised the Shame So that how great and terrible soever their Sufferings be they do but tread in the Steps of the Son of God and of the best and holiest Man that ever was and He who is their great Example in Suffering will likewise be their Support and their exceeding great Reward So that tho Suffering for Christ be accounted great Self-denyal and he is graciously pleased so to accept it because in denying things Present and Sensible for things Future and Invisible we do not only declare our Affection to him but our great Faith and Confidence in him by shewing that we rely upon his Word and venture all upon the Security which he offers us in
among whom we should shame as Lights The same Argument St. Peter useth 1 Pet. 2. 11 12. I beseech you as Pilgrims and Strangers to abstain from fleshly lusts having your Conversation honest among the Gentiles that is Considering that you are among Strangers and Enemies and therefore ought to be very careful to bring no Scandal upon your Holy Profession among those who will be ready to take all advantages against you Particularly we who pretend to the same Heavenly Country must be kind to one another and whilst we live among Strangers have no Quarrels amongst our Selves In a Strange Country it useth to be a Mighty Endearment of Men to one another that they are of the same Country and Fellow Citizens and this alone is commonly sufficient to unite their Affections and to link their Interests together But how little of this is to be seen among Christians how shamefully do they Quarrel among themselves in the midst of Enemies and Strangers as if they had no Relation to one another and never expected to meet at last in the same Country and there to live together for ever III. Let us be as Patient and Chearful as we can under all the Troubles and Afflictions which we meet with in this Life They who are in Strange Countries must expect to encounter many Injuries and Affronts and to be put to great Difficulties and Hardships Those which are lighter and more tolerable we must bear with Chearfulness Upon a Journey Men use to put on all the Pleasantness they can and to make Sport of all the Inconveniences of the Ways and Weather and little cross Accidents that befall them And thus if we had but the Art and Wisdom to do it many of the lesser Inconveniences of Humane Life might well enough be play'd off and made matter rather of Mirth and Diversion than of Melancholy and serious Trouble But there are some Evils and Calamities of Humane Life that are too heavy and serious to be Jested withal and require the greatest Consideration and a very great degree of Patience to Support us under them and enable us to bear them Decently as the Loss of Friends and dearest Relations as the Loss of an Only Son grown up to be well fixt and settled in a Virtuous Course and promising all the Comfort to his Parents that they themselves can wish These certainly are some of the Greatest Evils of this World and hardest to be born For Men may pretend what they will to Philosophy and Contempt of the World and of the Perishing Comforts and Enjoyments of it to the Extirpation of their Passions and an Insensibility of these things which the weaker and undisciplin'd part of Mankind keep such a Wailing and Lamentation about but when all is done Nature hath framed us as we are and hath planted in our Nature strong Inclinations and Affections to our Friends and Relations and these Affections are as naturally moved upon such Occasions and pluck every String of our Hearts as violently as extream Hunger and Thirst do gnaw upon our Stomachs And therefore it is foolish for any Man to pretend to love things mightily and to rejoyce greatly in the Enjoyment of them and yet to be so easily contented to lose them and to be parted from them This is to separate things which Nature hath strongly linked together Whatever we mightily love does thereby in some sort become part of our Selves and it cannot hand loose to us to be separated and divorced from us without Trouble no more than a Limb that is vitally and by strong Ligaments united to the Body can be dropt off when we please or rent from the Body without Pain And whoever pretends to have a mighty Affection for any thing and yet at the same time does pretend that he can contentedly and without any great Sense or Signification of Pain bear the Loss of it does not talk like a Philosopher but like an Hypocrite and under a grave Pretence of being a Wise is in truth an Ill-natured Man For most certainly in proportion to our Love of any thing will be our Trouble and Grief for the Loss of it So that under these great and heavier Strokes we had need both of Faith and Patience And indeed nothing but the firm Belief of a better Country that is an Heavenly another Life after this and a blessed Immortality in another World is sufficient to support a Man in the few and evil Days of his Pilgrimage and to sustain his Spirit under the great Evils and Calamities of this Life But This fully answers all That the Afflictions and Sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the Glory which shall be revealed in us Nay that if we bear these Afflictions patiently and with a due Submission to the Will of God especially our Sufferings for his Truth and Cause it will certainly increase our Happiness in the other World and work for us a far more exceeding and eternal weight of Glory IV. The Consideration of our Present Condition and of our Future Hopes should set us above the Fondness of Life and the slavish Fears of Death For our Minds will never be raised to their true pitch and hight till we have in some good measure conquered these two Passions and made them subject to our Reason As for this present Life and the Enjoyments of it What is it that we see in them that should make us so strangely to dote upon them Quae lucis miseris tam dira cupido This World at the best is but a very Indifferent place and he is the wisest Man that bears himself towards it with the most Indifferent Mind and Affection that is always willing to leave it and yet patient to stay in it as long as God pleaseth And as for Death tho' the Dread of it be natural yet why should the Terrors of it be so very surprising and amazing to us after we have consider'd that to a good and pious Soul it is no other but the Gate of Heaven and an Entrance into Eternal Life We are apt to wonder to see a Man undaunted at the approach of Death and to be not only contented but chearful at the Thoughts of his Departure out of this World this Sink of Sin and Vale of Misery and Sorrow Whereas if all things be duly considered it is a greater Wonder that Men are so patient to Live and that they are not glad of any fair Excuse and Opportunity of getting out of this strange Country and retiring Home and of ridding themselves of the Troubles and Inconveniences of Life For considering the numerous Troubles and Calamities we are liable to in a long Pilgrimage there are really but Three Considerations that I can readily think of that can make this World and our present Condition in it in any good measure tolerable to a wise Man viz. That God governs the World That we are not always to stay in it That there is a Happiness designed
Foundation of the Confession of Faith will proceed and what Testimonies and Proofs she chiefly intends to make use of for the Confirmation of Doctrines and Reformation of Manners in the Church And no doubt all Men do see very plainly to what purpose this Foundation is laid of so large a Rule of Faith And this being admitted how easie is it for them to confirm and prove whatever Doctrines and Practices they have a mind to establish But if this be a new and another Foundation than That which the Great Author and Founder of our Religion hath laid and built his Church upon viz. the Foundation of the Prophets and Apostles it is no matter what they build upon it And if they go about to prove any thing by the new parts of this Rule by the Apocryphal Books which they have added to the ancient Canon of the Scriptures brought down to us by the general Tradition of the Christian Church and by their pretended unwritten Traditions we do with Reason reject this kind of Proof and desire them first to prove their Rule before they pretend to prove any thing by it For we protest against this Rule as never declared and owned by the Christian Church nor proceeded upon by the ancient Fathers of the Church nor by any Council whatsoever before the Council of Trent In vain then doth the Church of Rome vaunt it self of the Antiquity of their Faith and Religion when the very Foundation and Rule of it is but of Yesterday a new thing never before known or heard of in the Christian World Whereas the Foundation and Rule of Our Religion is the Word of God contained in the Holy Scriptures to which Christians in all Ages have appealed as the only Rule of Faith and Life I proceed now to the 3. Thing I proposed viz. that we are to hold fast the profession of our faith without wavering against all the Temptations and Terrours of the World And this seems more especially and principally to be here intended by the Apostle in this Exhortation I shall first speak of the Temptations of the World And they are chiefly these Two the Temptation of Fashion and Example And of worldly Interest and Advantage 1. Of Fashion and Example This in Truth and Reality is no strong Argument and yet in Experience and Effect it is often found to be very powerful It is frequently seen that this hath many times too great an Influence upon weak and foolish Minds Men are apt to be carried down with the Stream and to follow a Multitude in that which is evil But more especially Men are prone to be swayed by great Examples and to bend themselves to such an Obsequiousness to their Superiours and Betters that in compliance with them they are ready not only to change their Affection to Persons and Things as They do but even their Judgment also and that in the greatest and weightest Matters even in Matters of Religion and the great concernments of another World But this surely is an Argument of a poor and mean Spirit and of a weak Understanding which leans upon the Judgment of another and is in truth the lowest degree of Servility that a reasonable Creature can stoop to and even beneath That of a Slave who in the midst of his Chains and Fetters doth still retain the Freedom of his Mind and Judgment But I need not to urge this upon considerate Persons who know better how to value their Duty and Obligation to God than to be tempted to do any thing contrary thereto meerly in compliance with Fashion and Example There are some Things in Religion so very plain that a wise and good Man would stand alone in the Belief and Practice of them and not be moved in the least by the contrary Example of the whole World It was a brave Resolution of Joshua though all Men should forsake the God of Israel and run aside to other Gods yet he would not do it Joshua 24. 15. If it seem evil unto you to serve the Lord chuse you this day whom you will serve But as for me and my House we will serve the Lord. It was well resolv'd of Peter if he had not been too confident of his own Strength when he said to our Saviour Though all Men forsake thee yet will not I. 2. Another sort of Temptation and which is commonly more Powerful than Example is worldly Interest and Advantage This is a mighty Bait to a great Part of Mankind and apt to work very strongly upon the Necessities of some and upon the Covetousness and Ambition of others Some Men are tempted by Necessity which many times makes them do ugly and reproachful Things and like Esau for a Morsel of Meat to sell their Birth-right and Blessing Covetousness tempts others to be of that Religion which gives them the prospect of the greatest Earthly Advantage either for the increasing or securing of their Estates When they find that they cannot serve God and Mammon they will forsake the one and cleave to the other This was one of the great Temptations to many in the Primitive Times and a frequent Cause of Apostacy from the Faith an eager Desire of Riches and too great a Value for them as St. Paul observes 1 Tim. 6. 9 10. But they that will be Rich fall into Temptation and a Snare and into many foolish and hurtful Lusts which drown Men in Destruction and Perdition For the Love of Money is the Root of all Evil which while some have coveted after they have erred or been seduced from the Faith and pierced themselves through with many Sorrows This was the Temptation which drew off Demas from his Religion as St. Paul tells us 2 Tim. 4. 10. Demas hath forsaken me having loved this present World Ambition is likewise a great Temptation to proud and aspiring Minds and makes many Men false to their Religion when they find it a hinderance to their Preferment and they are easily perswaded that That is the best Religion which is attended with the greatest worldly Advantages and will raise them to the highest Dignity The Devil understood very well the Force of this Temptation when he set upon our Saviour and therefore reserv'd it for the last Assault He shewed him all the Kingdoms of the Earth and the Glory of them and said to him All this will I give thee if thou wilt fall down and worship me And when he saw this would not prevail he gave him over in despair and left him But though this be a very dazling Temptation yet there are Considerations of that Weight to be set over-against it from the Nature of Religion and the infinite Concernment of it to our immortal Souls as is sufficient to quench this fiery Dart of the Devil and to put all the Temptations of this World out of Countenance and to render all the Riches and Glory of it in comparison of the Eternal Happiness and Misery of the other World but as the very
plain then that there is no Reason nor Necessity to extend this Precept of our Saviour concerning self-denyal to every thing that may properly enough be called by that name and therefore this Precept must be limited by the plain scope and intendment of our Saviour's Discourse and no Man can argue thus such a thing is self-denyal therefore our Saviour requires it of his Disciples For our Saviour doth not here require all kinds of self-denyal but limits it by his Discourse to one certain kind beyond which self-denyal is no Duty by virtue of this Text and therefore for our clearer understanding of this Precept of self-denyal I shall do these two things 1. Remove some sorts of self-denyal which are instanced in by some as intended in this Precept 2. I shall shew what kind of self-denyal that is which our Saviour here intends 1. There are several things brought under this Precept of self-denyal which were never intended by our Saviour I shall instance in Two or Three things which are most frequently insisted upon and some of them by very devout and well-meaning Men as that in matters of Faith We should deny and renounce our own Senses and our Reason nay that we should be content to renounce our own Eternal Happiness and be willing to be damned for the Glory of God and the Good of our Brethren But all these are so apparently and grosly unreasonable that it is a Wonder that any one should ever take them for Instances of that self-denyal which our Saviour requires especially considering that in all his Discourse of self-denyal he does not so much as glance at any of these Instances or any thing like to them 1. Some comprehend under self-denyal the denying and renouncing our own Senses in matters of Faith and if this could be made out to be intended by our Saviour in this Precept we needed not dispute any of the other Instances For he that renounceth the certainty of Sense so as not to believe what he sees may after this renounce and deny any thing For the Evidence of Sense is more clear and unquestionable than that of Faith as the Scripture frequently intimates as John 20. 29. where our Saviour reproves Thomas for refusing to believe his Resurrection upon any less Evidence than that of Sense Because thou hast seen thou hast believed Blessed are they wich have not seen and yet have believed Which plainly supposeth the Evidence of Sense to be the highest and clearest degree of Evidence So likewise that of St. Paul 2 Cor. 5. 7. We walk by Faith and not by Sight Where the Evidence of Faith as that which is more imperfect and obscure is opposed to that of Sight as more clear and certain So that to believe any Article of Faith in contradiction to the clear Evidence of Sense is contrary to the very Nature of Assent which always yields to the greatest and clearest Evidence Besides that our Belief of Religion is at last resolved into the certainty of Sense so that by renouncing that we destroy and undermine the very Foundation of our Faith One of the plainest and principal Proofs of the Being of God which is the first and Fundamental Article of all Religion relies upon the certainty of Sense namely the Frame of this visible World by the Contemplation whereof we are led to the acknowledgment of the invisible Author of it So St. Paul tells us Rom. 1. 20. That the invisible things of God from the Creation of the World are clearly seen being understood by the things which are made even his eternal Power and Godhead And the great external Evidence of the Christian Religion I mean Miracles is at last resolved into the certainty of Sense without which we can have no assurance that any Miracle was wrought for the confirmation of it And the knowledge likewise of the Christian Faith is conveyed to us by our Senses the Evidence whereof if it be uncertain takes away all certainty of Faith How shall they believe saith St. Paul Rom. 10. 14. How shall they believe in him of whom they have not Heard And ver 17. So then Faith cometh by hearing and hearing by the word of God So that to deny and renounce our Senses in matters of Faith is to take away the main Pillar and Foundation of it 2. Others almost with equal absurdity would comprehend under our Saviour's Precept of Self-denial the denying and renouncing of our Reason in matters of Faith and this is Self-denial with a witness for a Man to deny his own reason for it is to deny himself to be a Man This surely is a very great mistake and tho the ground of it may be innocent yet the consequence of it and the Discourses upon it are very absurd The Ground of the mistake is this Men think they deny their own Reason when they assent to the Revelation of God in such things as their own Reason could neither have discovered nor is able to give the reason of whereas in this case a Man is so far from denying his own Reason that he does that which is most agreeable to it For what more reasonable than to believe whatever we are sufficiently assur'd is revealed to us by God who can neither be deceived himself nor deceive us But tho' the Ground of this mistake may be innocent yet the Consequences of it are most absurd and dangerous For if we are to renounce our Reason in matters of Faith then are we bound to believe without Reason which no Man can do or if he could then Faith would be unreasonable and Infidelity reasonable So that this Instance likewise of Self-denial to renounce and deny our own Reason as it is no where exprest so it cannot reasonably be thought to be intended by our Saviour in this Precept 3. Nor doth this Precept of Self-denial require Men to be content to renounce their own Eternal Happiness and to be willing to be Damned for the Glory of God and the good of their Brethren If this were the meaning of this Precept we might justly say as the Disciples did to our Saviour in another Case This is a hard saying and who can hear it The very thought of this is enough to make Humane Nature to tremble at its very foundation For the deepest Principle that God hath planted in our Nature is the desire of our own Preservation and Happiness and into this the Force of all Laws and the Reason of all our Duty is at last resolved From whence it plainly follows that it can be no Man's Duty in any case to renounce his own Happiness and to be content to be for Ever Miserable because if once this be made a Duty there will be no Argument left to perswade any Man to it For the most powerful Arguments that God ever used to perswade Men to any thing are the Promise of Eternal Happiness and the Terrour of Everlasting Torments But if this were a Man's Duty to be content to
be Miserable for Ever neither of these Arguments would be of force sufficient to perswade a Man to it The first of these namely the Promise of Eternal Happiness could signifie nothing to him that is to be Eternally Miserable because if he be to be so it is impossible that he should ever have the benefit of that Promise and the threatning of Eternal Misery could be no Argument in this Case because the Duty is just as difficult as the Argument is powerful and no Man can be moved to submit to any thing that is grievous and terrible but by something that is more terrible for if it be not it is the same thing whether he submit to it or not and then no Man can be content to be Eternally Miserable only for the fear of being so for this would be for a Man to run himself upon that very inconvenience which he is so much afraid of and 't is madness for a Man to die for fear of death Quis novus hic furor est ne moriare mori By this it plainly appears how unreasonable it is to imagin that by this Precept of Self-denial our Saviour should require Men to renounce Everlasting Happiness and to be content to be Miserable for Ever upon any account whatsoever because this were to suppose that God hath imposed that upon us as a Duty to oblige us whereto there can be no Argument offer'd that can be powerful enough As for the Glory of God which is pretended to be the Reason it is an impossible Supposition because it cannot be for the Glory of God to make a Creature for Ever Miserable that shall not by his Wilful Obstinacy and Impenitence deserve to be so But this is only cast in to add weight The other Reason of the Good and Salvation of our Brethren is the only Consideration for which there is any manner of colour from Scripture and two Instances are alledged to this purpose of two very Excellent Persons that seem to have desired this and to have submitted to it and therefore it is not so unreasonable as we would make it that our Saviour should enjoyn it as a Duty The Instances alledged are these Moses desired of God that he might be blotted out of the Book of Life rather than the People of Israel whom he had Conducted and Governed so long should be destroyed And in the New Testament St. Paul tells us That he could wish that himself were accursed from Christ for his Brethren so earnest a desire had he of their Salvation But neither of these Instances are of force sufficient to overthrow the Reasons of my former Discourse for the desire of Moses amounts only to a submission to a Temporal death that his Nation might be saved from a Temporal ruin For the Expression of blotting out of the Book of Life is of the same importance with those Phrases so frequently used in the Old Testament of blotting out from the face of the Earth and blotting out one's name from under Heaven which signifie no more than Temporal death and destruction and then Moses's Wish was reasonable and generous and signifies no more but that he was willing if God pleased to die to save the Nation As for St. Paul's Wish of being accursed from Christ it is plainly an Hyperbolical Expression of his great Affection to his Country-men the Jews and his Zeal for their Salvation which was so great that if it had been a thing reasonable and lawful he could have wisht the greatest Evil to himself for their sakes and therefore it is observable that it is not a positive and absolute wish but exprest in the usual form of ushering in an Hyperbole I could wish just as we are wont to say when we would express a thing to the hight which is not fit nor intended to be done by us I could wish so or so I could even afford to do this or that which kind of speeches no Man takes for a strict and precise Declaration of our minds but for a figurative expression of a great Passion And thus I have done with the first thing I proposed for the Explication of this Precept or Duty of Self-denial which was to remove some sorts of Self-denial which by some are frequently instanced in as intended by our Saviour in this Precept I proceed now to the Second thing I proposed which is to declare positively what that Self-denial is which our Saviour here intends and 't is plainly this and nothing but this that we should be willing to part with all Earthly Comforts and Conveniences to quit all our Temporal Interests and Enjoyments and even Life it self for the sake of Christ and his Religion This our Saviour means by denying our selves and then which is much the same with the other that we should be willing to bear any Temporal inconvenience and suffering upon the same account This is to take up our Cross and follow him And that this is the full meaning of these two Phrases of denying our selves and taking up our Cross will clearly appear by considering the particular Instances which our Saviour gives of this Self-denyal when ever he hath occasion to speak of it by which you will plainly see that these expressions amount to no more than I have said Even here in the Text after our Saviour had told his Disciples that he that would come after him must deny himself and take up his Cross It follows immediately for whosoever will save his life shall lose it and whosoever will lose his life for my sake shall find it You see here that he instanceth in parting with our lives for him as the highest piece of Self-denyal which he requires And he himself elsewhere tells us that greater love than this hath no man than that a man lay down his life for his friend Elsewhere he instanceth in quitting our nearest Relations for his sake Luke 14. 26 27. If any man come to me and hate not his father and mother and wife and children and brethren and sisters yea and his own life also he cannot be my Disciple and whosoever doth not bear his Cross and come after me he cannot be my Disciple Which expressions of hating Father and Mother and other Relations and even Life it self are not to be understood Rigorously and in an absolute Sense but Comparatively for it is an Hebrew manner of speech to express that Absolutely which is meant only Comparatively and so our Saviour explains himself in a parallel Text to this Matth. 10. 37 38. He that loveth father or mother more than me is not worthy of me he that loveth son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me And he that taketh not his Cross and followeth after me is not worthy of me In another place our Saviour instanceth in quitting our Estates for his sake Matth. 19. 29. Every one that shall forsake houses or brethren or sisters or father or mother or wife or children or lands for my
to them But let us enquire a little farther and see how the Apostles who received this Precept from our Saviour himself did understand it Acts 4. 14. we find Peter and John summoned before the Jewish Magistrates who strictly commanded them not to speak at all nor teach in the Name of Jesus But Peter and John answered and said unto them Whether it be right in the sight of God to hearken unto you more than unto God judge ye And when they still persisted in their course notwithstanding the Command of the Magistrate and were called again before the Council Ch. 5. 28. And the High Priest asked them saying Did we not straitly command you that you should not teach in this Name and behold ye have filled Jerusalem with your Doctrine They return them again the same Answer v. 29. Then Peter and the other Apostles answered and said We ought to obey God rather than men And let any Man now judge whether our Saviour did not oblige Men to confess him even before Magistrates and to obey him rather than Men. And indeed how can any Man in reason think that the great King and Governour of the World should invest any Man with a Power to control his Authority and to oblige Men to disobey and renounce him by whom Kings reign and Princes decree judgment This is a thing so unreasonable that it can hardly be imagined that any thing but down-right Malice against God and Religion could prompt any Man to advance such an Assertion I should now have proceeded to the Fourth and Last Particular which I proposed to speak to namely To vindicate the reasonableness of this Precept of Self-denial and Suffering for Christ which at first Appearance may seem to be so very harsh and difficult But this together with the Application of this Discourse shall be reserved to another Oportunity A SERMON ON MATTH XVI 24. Then said Jesus unto his Disciples If any man will come after me let him deny himself and take up his Cross and follow me THEN said Jesus unto his Disciples that is upon Occasion of his former Discourse with them concerning his approaching Passion and that he must shortly go up to Jerusalem and there suffer many things of the Elders and Chief Priests and Scribes and at last be put to Death by them Then said Jesus unto his Disciples If any man will come after me that is If any Man will be my Disciple and undertake the Profession of my Religion he must do it upon these Terms of Self-denial and Suffering In the handling of these Words I proceeded in this Method First I considered the way which our Saviour here useth in making Proselytes and gaining Men over to his Religion He offers no manner of Force and Violence to compel Men to the Profession of it but fairly proposeth it to their Consideration and Choice telling them plainly upon what Terms they must be his Disciples if they like them and be resolved to submit to them well if not 't is in vain to follow him any longer for they cannot be his Disciples And to use any other way than this to gain Men over to Religion is contrary both to the Nature of Man who is a Reasonable Creature and to the Nature of Religion which if it be not our Free Choice cannot be Religion Secondly I explained his Duty or Precept of Self-denial express'd in these Words Let him deny himself and take up his Cross which Phrase of taking up one's Cross is an Allusion to the Roman Custom which was That the Malefactor that was to be Crucified was to take up his Cross upon his Shoulders and to carry it to the Place of Execution Now for our clearer understanding of this Precept of Self-denial I told you that it is not to be extended to every thing that may properly be call'd by that Name but to be limited by the plain Scope and Intendment of our Saviour's Discourse and therefore I did in the First Place remove several things which are instanced in by some as intended and required by this Precept As 1. That we should deny and renounce our own Sense in matters of Faith But this I shewed to be absurd and impossible because if we do not believe what we see or will believe contrary to what we see we destroy all Certainty there being no greater than that of Sense Besides that the Evidence of Faith being less clear and certain than that of Sense it is contrary to the Nature of Assent which is always sway'd and born down by the greatest and clearest Evidence So that we cannot assent to any thing in plain Contradiction to the Evidence of Sense 2. Others would comprehend under this Precept the denying of our Reason in matters of Faith which is in the next degree of Absurdity to the other because no Man can believe any thing but upon some Reason or other and to believe without any Reason or against Reason is to make Faith unreasonable and Infidelity reasonable 3. Others pretend that by virtue of this Precept Men ought to be content to renounce their own Eternal Happiness and to be Miserable for Ever for the Glory of God and the Salvation of their Brethren But this I shewed cannot be a Duty for this plain Reason because if it were there is no Argument left powerful enough to perswade a Man to it And as for the two Scripture Instances alledged to this purpose Moses his Wish of being blotted out of the Book of Life for the People of Israel signifies no more than a Temporal Death and St. Paul's of being accursed from Christ for his Brethren is only an hyperbolical Expression of his great Passion and Zeal for the Salvation of his Country-men as is evident from the Form of the Expression such as is commonly used to usher in an Hyperbole I could wish And in the Second Place I shewed positively That the plain meaning of this Precept of Self-denial is this and nothing but this That we should be willing to part with all our Temporal Interests and Enjoyments and even Life it self for the sake of Christ and his Religion This is to deny our selves And then that we should be willing to bear any temporal Inconvenience and Suffering upon the same Account This is to take up our Cross. And this I shewed from the Instances which our Saviour gives of Self-denial whenever he had occasion to discourse of it Thirdly I considered the strict and indispensable Obligation of this Precept of Self-denial rather than to forsake Christ and his Religion Without this Disposition and Resolution of Mind we cannot be his Disciples And if we deny him before Men he will also deny us before his Father which is in Heaven And this Confession of Him and his Truth we are to make before Kings and Governours and notwithstanding their Commands to the contrary which are of no Force against the Laws and Commands of God Thus far I have gone There remains only
than in the Son of God Who is at the right hand of his Father to appear in the Presence of God for us we are sure that God always hears the Petitions which we put up to him and so does the Son of God by whom we put them up to the Father because he also is God blessed for evermore But we are not sure that the Angels and Saints hear our Prayers because we are sure that they are neither Omniscient nor Omnipresent and we are not sure nor probably certain that our Prayers are made known to them any other way there being no Revelation of God to that purpose we are sure that God hath declared himself to be a jealous God and that he will not give his Honour to another and we are not sure but that Prayer is part of the Honour which is due to God alone and if it were not we can hardly think but that God should be so far from being pleased with our making so frequent use of those other Mediators and Intercessors and from granting our desires the sooner upon that account That on the contrary we have reason to think he should be highly offended when he himself is ready to receive all our Petitions and hath appointed a great Mediator to that purpose to see more Addresses made to and by the Angels and Saints and Blessed Virgin than to himself by his Blessed Son and to see the Worship of himself almost jostled out by the Devotion of People to Saints and Angels and the Blessed Mother of our Lord a thing which he never Commanded and which so far as appears by Scripture never came into his mind I have been the longer upon this matter to shew how unreasonable and needless at the best this more than half part of the Religion of the Church of Rome is and how safely it may be let alone But now on the other hand if they be mistaken in these things as we can demonstrate from Scripture they are the danger is infinitely great on that side for then they oppose an Institution of Christ who appointed the Sacrament to be received in both kinds and they involve themselves in a great danger of the guilt of Idolatry and our common Christianity in the scandal and reproach of it And this without any necessity since God hath required none of these things at our hands and after all the bustle which hath been made about them the utmost they pretend which yet they are not able to make good is that these things may Lawfully be done and at the same time they cannot deny but that if the Church had not enjoyned them they might Lawfully be let alone and can any thing be more unreasonable than so pertinaciously to insist upon things so hard I might say impossible to be defended or excused and which by their own acknowledgment are of no great weight and necessity in which we are certainly safe in not doing them if they should prove Lawful but if they do not prove so they are in a most dangerous condition so that here is certain safety on the one hand and the danger of damnation on the other which is as great odds as is possible And they must not tell us that they are in no danger because they are infallible and cannot be mistaken they must prove that point a great deal better than they have yet done before it can signifie any thing either to our Satisfaction or their Safety I might have insisted more largely upon each of these Particulars any one of which is of weight to incline a Man to that Religion which hath such an advantage on its side but all of them together makes so Powerful an Argument to an unprejudiced Person as must almost irresistably determine his choice for most of the Particulars are so evident that they cannot upon the very mention and proposal of them be denied to be clear Advantages on our side And now to use the words of St. Peter I testifie unto you that this is the true grace of God wherein ye stand that the Reformed Religion which we profess and which by the goodness of God is by Law established in this Nation is the true Ancient Christianity the Faith which was at first delivered to the Saints and which is conveyed down to us in the Writings of the Apostles and the Evangelists of our Lord and Saviour Remember therefore how you have received and heard and hold fast for he is Faithful that hath promised which is the Second part of the Text the encouragement which the Apostle gives us to hold fast the Profession of our Faith without wavering he is Faithful that hath promised to give us his Holy Spirit to lead us into all Truth to stablish strengthen and settle us in the Profession of it to support and comfort us under all Tryals and Temptations and to seal us up to the day of Redemption and he is faithful that hath promised to reward our constancy and fidelity to him and his Truth with a Crown of everlasting life and Glory Wherefore my beloved Brethren be ye stedfast and unmoveable and alwayes abounding in the work of the Lord forasmuch as you know that your labour shall not be in vain in the Lord for he is faithful that hath promised and let us provoke one another to Charity and Good Works which are the great Ornament and Glory of any Religion and so much the more because the day approacheth in which God will judge the belief and lives of Men by Jesus Christ not according to the imperious and uncharitable dictates of any Church but according to the Gospel of his Son To whom with the Father and the Holy Ghost be all Honour and Glory now and for ever Now the God of Peace which brought again from the Dead the great Shepherd of the Sheep through the Blood of the Everlasting Covenant make you Perfect in every good word and work working in you that which is pleasing in his Sight And the peace of God which passeth all understanding keep your Hearts and minds in the knowledge and love of God and of his Son Jesus Christ our Lord. A SERMON 2 COR. V. 7. For we walk by Faith not by Sight IN the latter part of the former Chapter the Apostle declares what it was that was the great support of Christians under the Persecutions and Sufferings which befel them viz. the Assurance of a Blessed Resurrection to another life Verse 14. Knowing that he which raised up the Lord Jesus shall raise up us also by Jesus for which cause saith he verse 16. we faint not but though our outward Man perish our inward Man is renewed day by day that is though our Bodies by Reason of the Hardships and Sufferings which we undergo are continually decaying and declining yet our Minds grow every day more healthful and vigorous and gain new strength and resolution by contemplating the Glory and Reward of another World and as it were feeding upon