fast in fetters and Irons To please our selves with a Notion of Gospel-liberty whilest we have not a Gospel-principle of Holinesse within us to free us from the power of sinne it is nothing else but to gild over our Bonds and Fetters and to phancy our selves to be in a Golden Cage There is a Straitnesse Slavery and Narrownesse in all Sinne Sinne crowds and crumples up our souls which if they were freely spread abroad would be as wide and as large as the whole Universe No man is truly free but he that hath his will enlarged to the extent of Gods own will by loving whatsoever God loves and nothing else Such a one doth not fondly hug this and that particular created good thing and envassal himself unto it but he loveth every thing that is lovely beginning at God and descending down to all his Creatures according to the severall degrees of perfection in them He injoyes a boundlesse Liberty and a boundlesse Sweetnesse according to his boundlesse Love He inclaspeth the whole World within his out-stretched arms his Soul is as wide as the whole Universe as big as yesterday to day and forever Whosoever is once acquainted with this Disposition of Spirit he never desires any thing else and he loves the Life of God in himself dearer then his own Life To conclude this therefore If we love Christ and keep his commandments his commandments will not be grievous to us His yoke will be easie and his burden light it will not put us into a State of Bondage but of perfect Liberty For it is most true of Evangelicall Obedience what the wise man speaketh of Wisdome Her wayes are wayes of pleasantnesse and all her paths are peace She is a tree of Life to those that lay hold upon her and happy are all they that retain her I will now shut up all with one or two Considerations to perswade you further to the keeping of Christs Commandments First from the desire which we all have of Knowledge If we would indeed know Divine Truths the onely way to come to this is by keeping of Christs Commandments The Grossenesse of our apprehensions in Spirituall things and our many mistakes that we have about them proceed from nothing but those dull and foggy Stemes which rise up from our foul hearts and becloud our Understandings If we did but heartily comply with Christs commandments and purge our hearts from all grosse and sensuall affections we should not then look about for Truth wholly without our selves and enslave our selves to the Dictates of this and that Teacher and hang upon the Lips of men but we should find the Great Eternall God inwardly teaching our souls and continually instructing us more and more in the mysteries of his will and out of our bellies should flow rivers of living waters Nothing puts a stop and hinderance to the passage of Truth in the World but the Carnality of our hearts the Corruption of our lives 'T is not wrangling Disputes and Syllogisticall Reasonings that are the mighty Pillars that underprop Truth in the World if we would but underset it with the Holinesse of our Hearts and Lives it should never fail Truth is a prevailing and conquering thing and would quickly overcome the World did not the Earthinesse of our Dispositions and the Darknesse of our false heares hinder it Our Saviour Christ bids the Blind man wash off the Clay that was upon his eyes in the Pool of Siloam and then he should see clearly intimating this to us that it is the Earthinesse of mens Affections that darkens the Eye of their understandings in Spirituall things Truth is alwayes ready and near at hand if our eyes were not closed up with Mud that we could but open them to look upon it Truth alwayes waits upon our souls and offers it self freely to us as the Sun offers its beams to every Eye that will but open and let them shine in upon it If we could but purge our Hearts from that filth and defilement which hangeth about them there would be no doubt at all of Truths prevailing in the World For Truth is great and stronger then all things all the Earth calleth upon Truth and the heaven blesseth it all works shake and tremble at it The Truth endureth and is alwayes strong it liveth and conquereth for evermore She is the Strength Kingdome Power and Majestie of all ages Blessed be the God of Truth Last of all if we desire a true Reformation as we seem to do Let us begin here in reforming our hearts and lives in keeping of Christs Commandments All outward Formes and Models of Reformation though they be never so good in their kind yet they are of little worth to us without this inward Reformation of the heart Tinne or Lead or any other baser Metal if it be cast into never so good a Mold and made up into never so elegant a Figure yet it is but Tin or Lead still it is the same Metal that it was before And if we be Molded into never so good a Form of outward Government unlesse we new mold our Hearts within too we are but a little better then we were before If adulterate Silver that hath much Allay or Drosse in it have never so current a Stamp put upon it yet it will not passe notwithstanding when the Touch-stone trieth it We must be reformed within with a Spirit of Fire and a Spirit of Burning to purge us from the Drosse and Corruption of our hearts and refine us as Gold and Silver and then we shall be reformed truly and not before When this once comes to passe then shall Christ be set upon his Throne indeed then the Glory of the Lord shall overflow the Land then we shall be a People acceptable unto him and as Mount Sion which he dearly loved Finis Die Mercurii ultimo Martii 1647. ORdered by the Commons assembled in Parliament That Sr Henry Mildmay do from this House give thanks unto Mr Cudworth for the great paines he took in the Sermon he preached on this day at Margarets Westminster before the House of Commons it being a day of Publick Humiliation and that he do desire him to print his Sermon Wherein be is to have the like Priviledge in printing thereof as others in like kind usually have had H. Elsynge Cler. Parl. D. Com.
commendeth to his Disciples in a peculiar manner This is my commandment That ye love one another as I have loved you and again These things I command you that you love one another Let us follow peace with all men and holinesse without which no man shall see God Let us put on as the Elect of God holy and beloved bowels of mercies kindnesse humblenesse of mind meeknesse longsuffering forbearing one another and forgiving one another if any man have a quarel against any even as Christ forgave us And above all these things let us put on Charity which is the bond of perfectnesse Let us in meeknesse instrust those that oppose themselves if God peradventure will give them repentance to the acknowledging of the truth that they may recover themselves out of the snares of the Devil that are taken captive by him at his will Beloved Let us love another for Love is of God and whosoever loveth is born of God and knoweth God O Divine Love the sweet Harmony of souls the Musick of Angels The Joy of Gods own Heart the very Darling of his Bosome the Sourse of true Happinesse the pure Quintessence of Heaven That which reconciles the jarring Principles of the World and makes them all chime together That which melts mens Hearts into one another see how S. Paul describes it and it cannot choose but enamour your affections towards it Love envieth not it is not puffed up it doth not behave it self unseemly seeketh not her own is not easily provoked thinketh no evil rejoyceth not in iniquity beareth all things believeth all things hopeth all things endureth all things I may adde in a word it is the best natur'd thing the best complexioned thing in the World Let us expresse this sweet harmonious Affection in these jarring times that so if it be possible we may tune the World at last into better Musick Especially in matters of Religion let us strive with all meeknesse to instruct and convince one another Let us endeavour to promote the Gospel of Peace the Dove-like Gospel with a Dove-like Spirit This was the way by which the Gospel at first was propagated in the world Christ did not cry nor lift up his voice in the streets a bruised reed he did not break and the smoking flax he did not quench and yet he brought forth judgement into victory He whispered the Gospel to us from Mount Sion in a still voice and yet the sound thereof went out quickly throughout all the earth The Gospel at first came down upon the world gently and softly like the Dew upon Gideons fleece and yet it quickly soaked quite through it and doubtlesse this is still the most effectuall way to promote it further Sweetnesse and Ingenuity will more powerfully command mens minds then Passion Sowrenesse and Severity as the soft Pillow sooner breaks the Flint then the hardest Marble Let us {non-Roman} {non-Roman} {non-Roman} {non-Roman} {non-Roman} follow truth in love and of the two indeed be contented rather to misse of the conveying of a Speculative Truth then to part with Love When we would convince men of any errour by the strength of Truth let us withall poure the sweet Balme of Love upon their heads Truth and Love are two the most powerfull things in the world and when they both go together they cannot easily be withstood The Golden Beams of Truth and the Silken Cords of Love twisted together will draw men on with a sweet violence whether they will or no Let us take heed we do not sometimes call that Zeal for God and his Gospel which is nothing else but our own tempestuous and stormy Passion True Zeal is a sweet heavenly and gentle Flame which maketh us active for God but alwayes within the Sphear of Love It never calls for Fire from Heaven to consume those that differ a little from us in their Apprehensions It is like that kind of Lightning which the Philosophers speak of that melts the Sword within but singeth not the Scabbard it strives to save the Soul but hurteth not the Body True Zeal is a loving thing and makes us alwayes active to Edification and not to Destruction If we keep the Fire of Zeal within the Chimney in its own proper place it never doth any hurt it onely warmeth quickeneth and enliveneth us but if once we let it break out and catch hold of the Thatch of our Flesh and kindle our corrupt Nature and set the House of our Body on fire it is no longer Zeal it is no heavenly Fire it is a most destructive and devouring thing True Zeal is an Ignis lambens a soft and gentle Flame that will not scorch ones hand it is no predatory or voracious thing but Carnall and fleshly Zeal is like the Spirit of Gunpowder set on fire that tears and blows up all that stands before it True Zeal is like the Vitall heat in us that we live upon which we never feel to be angry or troublesome but though it gently feed upon the Radicall Oyl within us that sweet Balsame of our Naturall Moisture yet it lives lovingly with it and maintains that by which it is fed but that other furious distempered Zeal is nothing but a Feaver in the Soul To conclude we may learn what kind of Zeal it is that we should make use of in promoting the Gospel by an Emblem of Gods own given us in the Scripture those Fiery Tongues that upon the Day of Pentecost sate upon the Apostles which sure were harmlesse Flames for we cannot reade that they did any hurt or that they did so much as singe an haire of their heads I will therefore shut up this with that of the Apostle Let us keep the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace Let this soft and silken Knot of Love tie our Hearts together though our Heads and Apprehensions cannot meet as indeed they never will but alwayes stand at some distance off from one another Our Zeal if it be heavenly if it be true Vestall Fire kindled from above it will not delight to tarry here below burning up Straw and Stubble and such combustible things and sending up nothing but grosse earthy fumes to heaven but it will rise up and return back pure as it came down and will be ever striving to carry up mens hearts to God along with it It will be onely occupied about the promoting of those things which are unquestionably good and when it moves in the irascible way it will quarrel with nothing but sinne Here let our zeal busie and exercise it self every one of us beginning first at our own hearts Let us be more Zealous then ever we have yet been in fighting against our lusts in pulling down those strong holds of Sinne and Satan in our hearts Here let us exercise all our Courage and Resolution our Manhood and Magnanimitie Let us trust in the Almighty Arme of our God and ' doubt not but he will as well deliver us from the
are as busily employed in the promoting of that which they love best that which is dearest to God whom they serve the Life and Nature of God There is joy in heaven at the conversion of one sinner Heaven takes notice of it there is a Quire of Angels that sweetly sings the Epithalamium of a Soul divorced from Sinne and Satan and espoused unto Christ What therefore the Wiseman speaks concerning Wisdome I shall apply to Holinesse Take fast hold of Holinesse let her not go keep her for she is thy Life Keep thy heart with all diligence for out of it are the issues of Life of Death too Let nothing be esteemed of greater consequence and concernment to thee then what thou doest and actest how thou livest Nothing without us can make us either happy or miserable nothing can either defile us or hurt us but what goeth out from us what Springeth and Bubbleth up out of our own hearts We have dreadfull apprehensions of the Flames of Hell without us we tremble and are afraid when we hear of Fire and Brimstone whil'st in the mean time we securely nourish within our own hearts a true and living Hell Et caeco carpimur igni the dark fire of our Lusts consumeth our bowels within and miserably scorcheth our souls and we are not troubled at it We do not perceive how Hell steales upon us whilest we live here And as for Heaven we onely gaze abroad expecting that it should come in to us from without but never look for the beginnings of it to arise within in our own hearts But lest there should yet happely remain any prejudice against that which I have all this while heartily commended to you True Holinesse and the Keeping of Christs commandment as if it were a Legall and Servile thing that would subject us to a State of Bondage I must here needs adde a Word or two either for the Prevention or Removall of it I do not therefore mean by Holinesse the mere performance of outward Duties of Religion coldly acted over as a task not our habituall Prayings Hearings Fastings multiplied one upon another though these be all good as subservient to an higher end but I mean an inward Soul and Principle of Divine Life that spiriteth all these that enliveneth and quickeneth the dead carkasse of all our outward Performances whatsoever I do not here urge the deâ—d Law of outward Works which indeed if it be alone subjects us to a State of Bondage but the inward Law of the Gospel the Law of the Spirit of Life then which nothing can be more free and ingenuous for it doth not act us by Principles without us but is an inward Sâ—lf-moving Principle living in our Hearts I do not urge the Law written upon Tables of stone without us though there is still a good use of that too but the Law of Holinesse written within upon the Fleshly Tables of our hearts The first though it work us into some outward Conformity to Gods Commandments and so hath a good effect upon the World yet we are all this while but like dead Instruments of Musick that found sweetly and harmoniously when they are onely struck and played upon from without by the Musicians Hand who hath the Theory and Law of Musick living within himself But the Second the living Law of the Gospel the Law of the Spirit of Life within us is as if the Soul of Musick should incorporate itself with the Instrument and live in the Strings and make them of their own accord without any touch or impulse from without daunce up and down and warble out their Harmonies They that are acted onely by an outward Law are but like Neurospasts or those little Puppets that skip nimbly up and down and seem to be full of quick and sprightly motion whereas they are all the while moved artificially by certain Wiers and Strings from without and not by any Principle of Motion from themselves within or else like Clocks and Watches that go pretty regularly for a while but are moved by Weights and Plummets or some other Artificiall Springs that must be ever now and then wound up or else they cease But they that are acted by the new Law of the Gospel by the Law of the Spirit they have an inward principle of life in them that from the Centre of it self puts forth it self freely and constantly into all obedience to the will of Christ This New Law of the Gospel it is a kind of Musicall Soul informing the dead Organ of our Hearts that makes them of their own accord delight to act harmoniously according to the Rule of Gods word The Law that I speak of it is a Law of Love which is the most powerfull Law in the World and yet it freeth us in a manner from all Law without us because it maketh us become a Law unto our selves The more it prevaileth in us the more it eateth up and devoureth all other Laws without us just as Aarons Living Rod did swallow up those Rods of the Magicians that were made onely to counterfeit a little Life Quis Legem det amantibus Major lex Amor est sibi Love is at once a Freedome from all Law a State of purest Liberty and yet a Law too of the most constraining and indispensable Necessity The worst Law in the World is the Law of Sinne which is in our members which keeps us in a condition of most absolute Slavery when we are wholly under the Tyrannicall commands of our lusts this is a cruell Pharaoh indeed that sets his hard task-masters over us and maketh us wretchedly drudge in Mire and Clay The Law of the Letter without us sets us in a condition of a little more Liberty by restraining of us from many outward Acts of Sinne but yet it doth not disenthrall us from the power of sinne in our hearts But the Law of the Spirit of life the Gospel-Law of Love it puts us into a condition of most pure and perfect Liberty and whosoever really entertaines this Law he hath thrust out Hagar quite he hath cast out the Bondwoman and her Children from henceforth Sarah the Free woman shall live forever with him and she shall be to him a Mother of many children her seed shall be as the sand of the seashoar for number and as the starres of heaven Here is Evangelicall liberty here is Gospel-freedome when the Law of the Spirit of life in Christ Iesus hath made us free from the Law of sinne and death when we have a liberty from sinne and not a liberty to sinne for our dear Lord and Master hath told us that Whosoever committeth sinne he is the servant of it He that lies under the power and vassallage of his base lusts and yet talks of Gospel-freedome he is but like a poore condemned Prisoner that in his sleep dreams of being set at liberty and of walking up and down wheresoever he pleaseth whilst his Legs are all the while lock't