bad men But then this is to be noted that 't is commonly about opinions or external rites and usages and such matters as appertain to first Table Duties while usually the same men are very cold in reference to the Duties of the Second And when zeal is partial and spent about the little things that tend not to the overcoming the difficulties of our way or the perfecting of humane nature 't is a meer animal fervour and no Divine Fire And the natural man the seeker that shall not enter may grow up to another height that looks gloriously and seems to speak mighty things As III. He may have great comforts in religious meditations and that even to rapturous excesses He may take these for sweet communion with God and the joys of the Holy Ghost and the earnest of Glory and be lifted up on high by them and inabled to speak in wonderful ravishing strains and yet notwithstanding be an evil man and in the state of such as shall be shut out For this we may observe That those whose complexion inclines them to devotion are commonly much under the power of melancholy and they that are so are mostly very various in their tempers sometimes merry and pleasant to excess and then plung'd as deep into the other extreme of sadness and dejection one while the sweet humours enliven the imagination and present it with all things that are pleasant and agreeable And then the black blood succeeds which begets clouds and darkness and fills the fancy with things frightful and uncomfortable And there are very few but feel such varieties in a degree in themselvesâ— Now while the sweet blood and â—â—â—mours prevail the person whose complexion inclines him to Religion and who hath arrived to the degrees newly discours'd of though a meer natural man is full of inward delight and satisfaction and fancies at this turn that he is much in the favour of God and a sure heir of the Kingdom of Glory which must needs excite in him many luscious and pleasant thoughts and these further warm his imagination which by new and taking suggestions still raiseth the affections more and so the man is as it were transported beyond himself and speaks like one dropt from the clouds His tongue flows with Light and Glories and Communion and Revelations and Incomes and then believes that the Holy Ghost is the Author of all this and that God is in him of a truth in a special way of Manifestation and vouchsafement This is one of the greatest Heights of the Animal Religion and many times it proceeds from nothing more Divine For when melancholick vapours prevail again the imagination is overcast and the fancy possest by dismal and uncomfortable thoughts and the man whose head was but just before among the Clouds is now groveling in the Dust. He thinks all is lost and his condition miserable He is a cast-away and undone when in the mean while as to Divine favour he is just where he was before or rather in a better state since 't is better to be humbled with reason then to be lifted up without it Such effects as these do meer natural passions and imaginations produce when they are tinctured and heightned by religious melancholy To deny ones self and to overcome ones passions and to live in a course of a sober vertue is much more Divine then all this 'T is true indeed and I am far from denying it that holy men feel those joys and communications of the Divine Spirit which are no fancies and the Scripture calls them great peace Ps. cxix 165 and joy in believing Rom. xv 13 and the peace of God that passeth all understanding Phil. iv 7 But then these Divine vouchsafements are not rapturous or â—cstatical They are no sudden flashes that are gone in a moment leaving the soul in the regions of sorrow and despair but sober lasting comforts that are the rewards and results of vertue the rejoycings of a good conscience 2 Cor. i. 12 and the manifestations of God to those rare souls who have overcome the evils of their natures and the difficulties of the way or are vigorously pressing on towards this mark Phil. iii. 14 But for such as have only the forms of godliness I have mentioned while the evil inclinations and habits are indulged whatever they pretend all the sweets they talk of are but the imagery of dreams and the pleasant delusions of their fancies SECT VI. THus I have shewn how far the meer Animal Religion may go in imperfect striving And now I must expect to hear 1. That this is very severe uncomfortable Doctrine and if one that shall eventually be shut out may do all this what shall become of the generality of Religious men that never do so much And if all this be short what will be available who then shall be saved To which I Answer That we are not to make the measures of Religion and Happiness our selves but to take those that Christ Jesus hath made for us And he hath told us That except our Righteousness exceed the Righteousness of the Scribes and Pharisees we shall in no wise enter into the Kingdom of heaven Mat. v. 20 Now the Scribes and Phaâ—isees did things in the way of Religion that were equal to all the particulars I have mentioned yea they went beyond marry of our glorious Professors who yet think themselves in an high form of Godliness They believed their Religion firmly and Prayed frequently and fervently and Fasted severely They were â—xact and exceeding strict in the observatiâ—n of their Sabbaths and hated scandalous and gross sins and were very punctual in all the duties of outward Worship and in many things supererrogated and went beyond what was commanded Such zealous people were They and They separated from the conversations and customs of othâ—r Iews upon the account of their supposed greater Holiness and Purity These were heights to which the Pharisees arrived and a good Christian must exceed all this And he that lives in a sober course of Piety and Vertue of self Government and humble submission to God of obedience to his Superiors and Charity to his Neighbours He doth really exceed it and shall enter when the other shall be shut out So that when our Saviour saith that the Pharisaick Righteousness must be exceeded the meaning is not That a greater degree of every thing the Pharisees did is necessary but we must do that whith in the nature and kind of it is better and more acceptable to God viz. That whereas they placed their Religion in strict Fastings and nice observations of Festivals in lowd and earnest Prayers and zeal to get Proselites we should place ours in sincere subjections of our wills to the will of God in imitation of the life of Christ and obedience of his Laws in amending the faults of our natures and lives in subduing our passions and casting out the habits of evil These are much beyond the Religion of the Phanatick
the Habits or Natural Inclinations He is contented with other things that make a more glorious shew though they signifie less and perhaps despiseth these under the notion of Morality and so presuming that he is a Saint too soon he never comes to be one at all such are the seekers that shall not be able to enter Their seeking imports some striving but 't is such as though it be specious yet it is imperfect and will not succeed And hence the THIRD Proposition ariseth that I proposed to discourse CHAP. III. THE danger of mistaking in the Marks Measures of Godliness Instances of the meer Animal Religion how far it may go in Faith in Prayer and in Endeavour â— discoursed in several Particulars and therein the whole mystery of the Modern Pharisaick Godliness is discovered and shewn to be short and insufficient Objections against the severity of the Discourse answered SECT I. III. THat there is a sort of striving that will not procure an entrance implyed in these words For many will seek to enter in and shall not be able 'T is a dangerous thing to be flattered into a false peace and to take up with imperfect Godliness to reconcile the hopes of Heaven to our beloved sins and to judge our conditions safe upon insufficient grounds This multitudes do and 't is the great danger of our days Men cannot be contented without doing something in Religion but they are contented with a little And then they reckon themselves godly before they are vertuous and take themselves to be Saints upon such things as will not distinguish a good man from a bad We seek after Marks of Godliness and would be glad to know how we might try our state The thing is of great importance and if the Signs we judge by are either false or imperfect we are deceived to our undoing Meer Speculative mistakes about Opinions do no great hurt but errour in the Marks and Measures of Religion is deadly Now there are sundry things commonly taken for signs of Godliness which though they are something yet they are not enough They are hopeful for beginnings but nothing worth when they are our end and rest They are a kind of seeking and imperfect striving but not such as overcometh the difficulties of the way or will procure us an entrance at the Gate Therefore to disable the flattering insufficient marks of Godliness I shall discover in pursuance of the Third Proposition How far a man may strive in the exercises of Religion and yetâ— be found at last among those seekers that shall not be able to enter And though I have intimated something of this in the general before yet I shall now more particularly shew it in the Instances that follow And in these I shall discover a Religion that may be called Animal to which the Natural man may attain SECT II. 1. A Man may believe the Truths of the Gospel and assent heartily to all the Articles of the Creed and if he procâ—eds not he is no further by this than the faith of Devils Jam. ii 19 2. He may go on and have a great thirst to be more acquainted with Truth He may seek it diligently in Scripture and Sermons and good Books and knowing Company And yet do this by the motion of no higher principle than an inbred curiosity and desire of knowledge and many times this earnestness after Truth proceeds from a proud affectation to be wiser than our Neighbours that we may pity their darkness or the itch of a disputing humour that we may out talk them or a design to carry on or make a party that we may be called Rabbi or serve an Interest And the zeal for Truth that is set on work by such motives is a spark of that fire that is from beneath 'T is dangerous to a mans self and to the publick weal of the Church and mankind But the man proceeds and is 3. Very much concern'd to defend and propagate his Faith and the Pharisees were so in relation to theirs Mat. xxiii 15 and so have been many Professors of all the Religions that are or ever were Men naturully love their own Tenents and are ambitious to mould others judgments according to theirs There is glory in being an instructer of other men and turning them to our ways and opinions so that here is nothing yet above Nature nothing but what may be found in many that seek and are shut out But 4. Faith works greater effects than these and Men offer themselves to Martyrdom for it This one would think should be the greatest height and an argument that all the difficulties of the way are overcome by one that is so resolved and that the Gate cannot but be opened to him And so no doubt it is when all things else are sutable But otherwise these consequences by no means follow St. Paul supposeth that a man may give his body to be burned and not have Charity without which his Martyrdom will not profit 1 Cor. xiii For one to deny his Religion or what he believes to be certain and of greatest consequence is dishonourable and base and some out of principles of meer natural bravery will die rather than they will do it and yet upon other accounts be far enough from being heroically virtuous Besides the desire of the glory of Martyrdom and Saintship after it may in some be stronger than the terrors of Death and we see frequently that men will sacrifice their lives to their honour and reputation yea to the most contemptible shaddows of it And there is no passion in us so weak no lust so impotent but hath in many instances prevail'd over the fear of dying Every Appetite hath had its Martyrs and all Religions theirs and though a man give his body to be burnt for the best and have not Charity viz. Prevalent love to God and Men it will not signifie So that Martyrdom is no infallible mark nor will it avail any thing except sincere endeavour to overcome the greater difficulties have gone before it Thus far Faith may go without effect and yet one step further 5. Men may confidently rely upon Christ for salvation and be firmly perswaded that he hath justified and will make them happy They may appropriate him to themselves and be pleased mightily in the opinion of his being theirs And yet notwithstanding this confidence may be in the number of those seekers that shall not enter For Christ is the Author of eternal life only to those that obey him Heb. v. 9 and to obey him is to strive vigorously and constantly to overcome all our sinful inclinations and habits And those that trust he will save them though they have never seriously set about this work deceive themselves by vain presumption and in effect say that he will dissolve or dispense with his Laws in their favour For he requires us to deny our selves Mar. viii 34 To mortifie the body Rom. viii 13 To love enemies Mat. v. 44
To be Meek Mat. xi 29 and Patient Jam. v. 8 and Humble 1 Pet. v. 7 and Iust Mat. vii 12 and Charitable Heb. xiii 16 and Holy as be that called us is holy 1 Pet. i. 15 And he hath promised to save upon no other terms For all these are included in Faith when 't is taken in the justifying sense and this is the way of Happiness If we walk not in this but in the paths of our own choosing our relying upon Christ is a mockery and will deceive us We may indeed be confident and we ought that he will save all those that so believe as to obey him but may not trust that he will save us except we are some of those To rely upon Christ for our salvation must follow our sincere and obedient striving and not go before it The mistake of this is exceeding dangerous and I doubt hath been fatal to many The sum is To rely on Christ without a resolute and steady endeavour to overcome every sin and temptation will gain us nothing in the end but shame and disappointment For 't is not every one that saith unto him Lord Lord shall enter into heaven but he that doth the will of his Father which is in heaven Mat. vii 21 The foolish Virgins relyed upon him and expected he should open to them Lord Lord open to us Mat. xxv 11 but he kept them out and would not know them v. 11. Thus of the First imperfect Mark of Godliness A man may upon the account of meer Nature arrive to all the mentioned degrees of Faith and yet if his endeavours in the practice of Christian virtues be not sutable he will certainly come short at last SECT III. II. A Man may be very devout and given much to Prayer be very frequent and earnest in it may have the gift of expâ—essing himself fluently without the help of Form or Meditation yea he may be so intent and taken up in these exeâ—cises that he may as it were be ravish't out of himself by the fervours of his spirit so that he really kindles very high affections as well in others as in himself And yet if he rests in this and such like things as Religion and reckons that he is accepted of God for it if he allow himself in any unmortified lusts and think to compound for them by his Prayers he is an evil man notwithstanding and one of those seekers that shall not be able to enter The Pharisees we know were much given to Prayer They were long in those devotions and very earnest in them often repeating the same expressions out of vehemence Ignatius Loyola founder of the Jesuites was a man almost ecstatical in his Prayers and Hacket the Blasphemer executed in the days of Queen Elizabeth was a person of Seraphical Devotion and would pray those that heard him even into transports Basilides the cruel Duke of Mosco is said to have his hands almost continually lifted up in Prayer except when they were imployed in some barbarous and bloody Execution And we have known and felt one not much unlike him There are infinite instances in our dayes of this dangerous sort of evil men And we may learn hence that the greatest gift of Prayer and earnestness and frequency in it is no good mark of Godliness except it be attended with sincere constant and virtuous endeavours For some men have a natural spice of Devotion in a Religious Melancholy which is their temper and such have commonly strong Imaginaâ—ions and zealous affections which when they are heated flame forth into great heights and expressions of devotion The warm phancy furnisheth words and matter readily and unexpectedly which many times begets in the man a conceit that he is inspired and that his Prayers are the breathings of the Holy Ghost or at least that he is extraordinarily assisted by it which belief kindles his affections yet more and he is carried beyond himself even into the third heavens and suburbs of glory as he fancies and so he makes no doubt but that he is a Saint of the first rank and special favorite of Heaven when all this while he may be really a bad man full of Envy and Malice Pride and Covetousness Scorn and ill Nature contempt of his Betters and disobedience to his Governors And while it is so notwithstanding those glorious things he is no further than the Pharisee Hearty and humble desire though imperfectly exprest and without this pomp and those wonders is far more acceptable to God who delights not in the exercises of meer Nature Psal. cxlvii 10 but is well pleased with the expressions of Grace in those that fear him So that a sincere and lowly-minded Christian that talks of no immediate incomes or communications and perhaps durst not out of reverence trust to his own present conceptions in a work so solemn but useth the help of some pious form of words sutable to his desires and wants who is duly sensible of his sins and the necessity of overcoming them and is truly and earnestly desirous of the Divine aids in order to it such a one as this Prays by the Spirit and will be assisted by it while the other doth all by meer Nature and imitation and shall not have those spiritual aids which he never heartily desires nor intends to use This I think I may truly and safely say But for the Controversie between Forms and Conceived Prayers which of them is absolutely best I determine nothing of it here And indeed I suppose that in their own nature they are alike indifferent and are more or less accepted as they partake more or less of the Spirit of Prayer viz. of Faith Humility and holy desire of the good thing we pray for and a man may have these that prays by a Form and he may want them that takes the other way and thinks himself in a dispensation much above it So that my business is not to set up one of these ways of Devotion against the other but to shew that the heights and vehemencies of many warm people in their unpremeditated Prayers have nothing in them supernatural or Divine and consequently of themselves they are no marks of Godliness which I hope no one thinks I speak to discredit those pious ardours that are felt by really devout souls when a vigorous sense of God and Divine things doth even sometimes transport them Far be it from me to design any thing so impious My aim is only to note that there are complexional heats raised many times by fancy and self-admiration that look like these in persons who really have little of God in them and we should take care that we are not deceived by them Thus far also those may go that notwithstanding shall not enter I add SECT IV. III. A Man may endeavour some things likewise and so strive in the last sense and yet for want of some of the mentioned Qualifications his work may miscarry and himself with it 1.